Where are we at in society today? Come after me. I'm a man,
I'm forty. Go ahead, make my day every single week. I
put my freaking heart and soul into this. I don't go out there and
laugh. It's not funny. Nothing's funny to me. I don't want to
go out there and get embarrassed on Monday night football for everybody. I think
that at the beginning of a beautiful friendship. So I ain't nothing changed from
yesterday. Still the same person I was yesterday, and I got the same
thing for you that I had yesterday. You know why I'm here. You
play to win the day. You don't play to just play it. That's
a great thing about sports. You play to win, and I don't care
if you don't have any wins. You go play to win. When you
start telling me it doesn't matter, per retire, get out for the mat
Hey good way to start this Thursday. Welcome everyone, Bexes and bros.
Monday through Friday, six until nine throughout the great state of Michigan. Matt
Shephard, that's our producer. You can call him on the Meyer Hotline eight
sixty six eight three eight forty eight forty three Tigers, who winning yesterday four
to one. They win this series for the Cardinals. That is four straight
series wins for Detroit. Now, we focus a lot of people focus a
lot on the negative, unfortunately bothersome sometimes for me too. But that's what
it's about. Baseball is about gonna win every game. You should know that.
You do know that. There are just certain times where you look back
and you're like, that's the one game you let get away, first game
at the doubleheader two days ago. Right, okay, But it's about winning
series. If you can win series, you're in great shape. You're gonna
win your divisions as simple as that. You're gonna win the more series wins
you have. I'm not talking games, I'm talking about series wins. That's
the goal. You beat Cardinals in a series, you beat the Royals in
a series, you beat the Rays in a series, and you feel pretty
good about yourself, and you should. You also beat the Twins in a
series. So the last series loss was to the Rangers. Now, the
Twins have played really good ball as of late. They've won ten in a
row. Detroit's seventeen wins entering May is the second most in franchise history.
Only the eventual World Series champions. Nineteen eighty four World Series Tigers were better.
They were eighteen and two. What, yeah, I know, eighteen
and two. Yes, that's the famous thirty five and five. Remember though,
that team won its first seventeen road games. Those are a couple of
things. I don't think we'll be duplicated last year to give you, to
give you a perspective, last year, Detroit was ten and seventeen entering May.
Now. Granted, I mean it's May second, so yesterday was May
first. But I'm just you know, we haven't really been able to dive
into May just yet. So there's your situation right there. Kentamaieta got his
first win as a Tiger. Four hits over six innings, pretty solid.
Veerling had three RBIs. Detroit has kind of owned Saint Louis in Inner League
play. I told you yesterday anytime the Tigers take on the Cardinals, or
maybe it was two days ago, I think it was yesterday. I think
of World Series because they've met in the World Series three times, with Saint
Louis winning too out of the three, but Detroit has owned them. They're
thirty one and sixteen against Saint Louis all time in interleague play. Now they're
off to New York to take on the Yankees, and looks it's a Yankees
team that is has shown to be somewhat vulnerable at times eight and five at
home. They've come back down to earth a little bit. They split their
last ten games. They're twenty and twelve on the year. After winning Baltimore
yesterday, We'll see what happens with that. I don't know if that's the
measuring stick, but I will tell you this, we're thirty one games deep.
You're getting a little bit closer to recognizing who your team truly is.
Detroit will have today off while the Yankees play in Baltimore. Carlos Rodan throws
for the Yankees here today. Game one tomorrow against New York. Resolson against
Marcus Stroman. That's the scheduled starter anyway on Saturday, So it's a good
weekend to be in the Big Apple. On Saturday, Casey Mize against Clark
Schmidt, and then the wrap up has Trek Scoubel against Nestor Cortes. Then
it's off to Cleveland, who is lead the division. And again it's early,
but at some point and I say that quite a bit. I used
to say it. We'll call in games, and I think a lot of
people say that it is early. You play one hundred and sixty two games
and you're only thirty one games deep. It is early. However, at
some point you and I are going to stop saying it's early. When that
is is up to the individual. What did Sparky Anderson used to say?
Give me forty games and then you got a better idea. Now there are
exceptions to the rule, right, Houston two thousand and six, I think,
struggled and then reach the World Series. But the point is you're starting
to see this team and it looks pretty good at times. Right. The
pitching is definitely keeping them in it. And it's funny how a series win
can kind of change your mood a little bit, because yesterday we're talking about
missing an opportunity in Game one. Then you score eleven runs, you feel
like, oh, okay, not bad. Don't let victories or even losses.
Don't let either one cloud your judgment on what you think is happening or
question certain things. It's all right, Still, eight hits isn't a ton,
Okay, you got to give some credit work where credit is due.
Saint Louis played halfway decent two. How good are the card I don't know.
We don't know yet. We know there are three games under five hundred,
but we're just not sure. And I would guess people in Saint Louis
are saying the same thing about Detroit. Now you lost to a pretty good
team, are they? We don't know yet. We do think, and
I think it's important here. We do think that we've got some some off
issues that need to be figured out. But it's a pretty cool moment for
Matt Vierlin, who picked up his third home run of the season, a
two run blast of the third off Miles Michelis, to do it against his
hometown team. He was a fifth round draft pick out of Notre Dame but
grew up in Missouri and Saint Louis was his hometown team. So it's a
it's that's kind of a neat moment. A couple of days ago we had
win Silperez had his first two home run game. That was a neat moment.
There are certain things that take place during the season you're like, oh,
this is really cool. I like it. Memorable stuff in the NHL
last night, Stars beat the Vegas Knights three too. It's the first time
the home team has won a game in the series and they lead the series
by that three to two score. Oilers over the Kings. Edmonton win the
series and eliminates LA for a third straight year. Leon Drivesidel had two goals.
Connor McDavid had a couple of assists eleven in the series for McDavid,
most in franchise history, which surprised me. And then Boston is in Toronto
tonight. The lease Leafs get this. They have lost six straight home playoff
games. The Bruins, in the meantime, have lost five consecutive series clinching
games, which tells you what the Oak cliche. Go ahead, something's got
to give. NBA Finals from last night, and don't forget speaking to the
NBA. James Edwards of the Athletic is going to join us. We'll talk
Pistons and the NBA coming up here on a Thursday morning edition of Exus and
Bros. Stay with us. We're back with more after this across the great
state of Michigan. He and sure for my good friends from flying As Whiskey.
Now it's an American made Whiskey bottled right here in our great state of
Michigan, and Fly in a Whiskey has partnered with the Folds of Honor Michigan
Chapter to help Michigan children of men and women injured or killed in combat and
also the children of our first responders who are injured or die and making the
ultimate sacrifice while serving and protecting. And there's a simple, easy way for
you to donate with that money going to the Folds of Honor Michigan Chapter.
Look for the Flying Ace Whiskey bottleneckers on bottles all across the state of Michigan
here over the next couple of weeks and you can donate and that money will
go directly to the Folds of Honor Michigan program on behalf of Flying Ace Whiskey
and also Flying Ace Whiskey has put up four scholarships for the children. Flying
Ace Whiskey an American made whiskey, taken a lot of pride in America.
Look for it in stores and pubs all across Michigan. Friday, July twenty
sixth, that's Soaring Eagle Casino in resort the offspring Bruty fly for what same
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sixth, showtime seven pm. Details at Soaring Eaglecasino dot com eighteen after the
hour. Welcome Back Acts Bros. Monday to Friday six and till nine Here
on the Michigan Sports dot work across the Greek state of Michigan. We are
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seven NBA from last night. Celtics led wire to wire. They post a
one to eighteen eighty four win to eliminate the Heat. Jaylen Brown Derek White
each had twenty five Boston that can play either Cleveland or Orlando. And then
this is a little bit of a surprise. Maybe it's because in basketball,
probably more than any other sport, home court. I don't know. It
just seems like more home court advantage than home ice, more home court advantage
than home field in baseball or football. That's that would be my guess without
really looking up the percentages, and sometimes those can be skewed. But Dallas
a one twenty three ninety three winner over the Clippers, largest loss in playoff
history for La Luka Doncic and he's been hurt with a bad right knee thirty
five points, ten rebounds, twenty of his thirty five game in the second
half. mAbs lead that series three games to do. You would expect them
to go home and wrap things up. How you do that is similar to
you if you had a chance to watch Boston at all. Boston just dominated
Miami from the very get go. Look, they're a better team than Miami,
There's no question about that. Miami with a couple of big pieces,
really big pieces, and Rosier and obviously Jimmy Butler. So Celtics should get
that done right. But that doesn't mean it always happens. I mean,
look what Milwaukee did the Indiana the other day, and they did it without
Ante Tekumpo, and they did it without Lillard. So you just never know.
I think you know this, this happened yesterday. Mike Trout is out
for a good part of this season. He'd be lucky to play I don't
know, ninety five games or so. He's got to have surgery. We
mentioned this yesterday. I think there are some people starting that they're not questioning
whether or not he's a Hall of Fame player. There's no doubt he is.
There's no doubt, all right, he's the best player of his generation.
And if you can't give him that, one of them. The injuries
are troublesome. Thirty six games in twenty twenty one one and nineteen games the
year next, eighty two games last year. Let's say he plays ninety five
this year. For as durable as he was early on in his career,
playing at least one hundred and fifty seven games in each of his first four
seasons. He has struggled since with injuries. Why that is, I don't
know. People speculate. I'm not going to go there. We do know
this in his career, he's a three hundred hitter two ninety nine. If
you'll allow me to round up, he's gotten much better defensive lane wins above
replacement is really big for a lot of people. And he's fifth all time
amongst center fielders. You know who's better Willie Mays, the Tigers, Ty
Cobb, Tris Speaker, and Mickey Mantle. Mays's war, just so you
know, one hundred and fifty six point two. That's nuts. It's absolutely
crazy. Speakers at one thirty five point two, cob Is at one point
fifty one point four. You're not there's no way you're you're surpassing that,
all right. Trout's War is about fourteen over the last few years. It's
pretty damn good. I don't know if you've ever done this. Go to
Baseball Reference dot com and it's easy to access, and they have a baseball
grid that you can play. I've played it quite a bit and my son
and I, my oldest son and I play it quite a bit and then
we kind of compare, and we played it yesterday and it's just a cool
little grid where you'll say it. You'll say like the Times at the top
and then on the left it will be Saint Louis. So they want you
to fill in. Give you a player who's played for the Tigers and the
Cardinals. Every actually, basketball does this, football does this, hockey does
it? They all have this grid, Ben, have you ever? Have
you ever played that? By chance? No, it's really cool. It
really tests you, okay, and what you try to do. The easy
thing to do, you know, it would be like Jack Flaherty for Tigers
and Cardinals. You don't want to do that because the percentage is probably very
high. So you want to find somebody who has played for both. But
it's a rare combination. It's not someone most people would think of. Okay.
So for example, you know, my son put in Edgar Renteria that
was his for the Cardinals and the Tigers. That's a good one. Or
a Cardinal or Tigers and White Sox was next. So down the left side
you had Cardinals and you had White Sox and you had another category, and
then you have something along the top three. All right, So for example,
Tigers, White Sox, who would you put? So A lot of
people immediately go, oh, chet Lemon. I put Steve Kemp, And
the percentage for Steve Kemp was point three percent. In other words, point
three percent of the people got Steve Kemp. Another one was three hundred home
runs for a White Sox player. I put Frank Thomas my Son, put
Paul Konerko. Those are the only two of hit three hundred homers. You
don't want to go look it up. That's kind of cheating, but you
want to figure it out. You put a MVP, all right, who
was a Tiger's MVP? They had that down left side? Was most Valuable
Player? And then the category is MVP. So I had Hank Greenberg because
I figured a lot of people put Miguel Cabrera, right, I put Hank
Greenberg. Anyway, the rarity I got was sixty six, which is pretty
I was pretty happy with. Mike Trout will be in that discussion down the
road. But one of them was a six war. Did you have a
who had a six war and an MVP season? Because six Wars was pretty
good, I put Carl Yastrimsky. But just to give you an idea,
what made me think of it was, you know, the wins above replacement,
Trout posting about fourteen war since the start of twenty twenty. So he's
not catching any of those guys. He's not catching Cob, he's not catching
May's, he's not catching Speed. Probably won't catch Mickey Mantle, who's at
one hundred and ten point two. And then people wonder about the homers and
the RBIs and the hits and so and so. I don't think Mike Trout's
getting three thousand hits, He's sure. I don't think he's getting five hundred
homers. You'll get four hundred easies. He's the three hundred and seventy eight
right now. The RBIs, you know, okay, and runs those are
those to me, the RBIs I think are important. But look, this
is a good excuse me. This is a guy who drives in what can
easily he'll easily average eighty five RBIs, ninety RBIs, but he hasn't had
more than eighty since twenty nineteen. You know, MVPs all that stuff.
No doubt he's the first ballot Hall of Famer. It just here's the thing
that differentiates them. Will he be can Sittered one of the greatest of all
time in center field if the injuries continue, if he does, if he's
not playing games, it's hard to do that. It's hard to think that
now when you've got so many others. Our phone number, by the way,
on the Meyer Hotline eighty sixty six, eight three eight forty eight forty
three. James Edwards of the Athletic We'll join us at eight thirty five.
It's a little bit later on here on Exis and Bros. On a Thursday
morning throughout the great state of Michigan. Stay with us. Huge here for
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five after the hour. A couple hours from now, we'll talk with James
Edwards of The Athletic. If you missed any of our conversation yesterday, remember
the conversation with Ben Raven from Mlive. We'll play that about an hour from
now. Okay, we'll do that because it was an informative one. So
seven thirty five Ben Raven from Mlive a replay and then eight thirty five James
Edwards from the Athletic. I wanted to ask people about covering games. I've
read some things recently. We're more and more broadcasters are calling out umpires.
It happened the other day in the Twins broadcast Byron Buxton was injured and one
of the umpires was telling telling him, in so many words, let's hustle
it up, okay, to get off the field. He wasn't feeling really
good all right. So Rob Drake was the first base umpire and kind of
was a little upset with Buxton's pace and wanted him to hurry to get off
the field. And well, the Bally Sports North crew didn't like it too
much, La Troy Hawkins, Corey provis So they were critical of him,
which is, you know, that's fine. Same thing happened in the Baltimore
game Baltimore Orioles, I forget who. I don't know if it was Gunner
Henderson at the plate, but of course, who do you have behind the
dish? Cebe Buckner, who's you shouldn't know? Umpires names, you shouldn't
know, referees names you were. I mean, those are the people who
are supposed to be silent but help the game along. It's not a good
thing if you're recognizing umpires on a regular basis. Oh boy, we got
Angel Hernandez. Oh boy, we got Cebe Buckner. Uh oh, we've
got Teddy Valentine. Those are not good things. TV ted is what they
call them. He embraced that stuff in college basketball. Cebee Buckner behind the
plate calls a strike three that was clearly low. It was gunner head,
Yeah, thank you. And Jim Palmer just says, you know what,
he shouldn't be umpiring, and he is and they know it. There's two
different situations where they are calling out the people who are policing their game.
Do you remember, before the playoffs began in the NBA, Anthony Davis called
out the league itself. Do you remember this at all? Anthony Davis said,
Remember the three players announced for Defensive Player of the Year, Anthony Davis
is not one of them. It was Rudy Gobert. It was Bam Autebayo
from Miami, and it was of course Victor Webbin Yama. And it won't
surprise me if Weben Yanama women wins it. Even though he's a rookie.
There is no Anthony Davis, and Anthony Davis came out and said, quote,
I'll never get Defensive Player of the Year. They're not giving it to
me. The league doesn't like me. I'm the best defensive player in the
league. I can switch one through five, I can guard the pick and
roll the best in the league. From a big standpoint, I block shots,
I rebound. I don't know what else to do. I'm over it.
I'm done with accolades and individual awards, done with winning a championship too,
because the team was eliminated. But yeah, that's more and more teams
or players, I should say, And more and more announcers are feeling comfortable
about calling out either players or leagues. Charles Barkley did it. Charles Barkley
said, for all you punks and idiots and jackasses on other networks who want
to be who want to be media and want all the players to like y'all,
do your damn job. The Lakers suck and the sun suck because of
the players. This goes back to what I was saying earlier on the show.
Not this morning, but in the past. We want to criticize coaches,
and for good reason. I'm not saying there they don't deserve any blame.
But you and I both know. You and I both know the NBA,
for example, is a players league. We see these great shots of
team huddles. Let's go full sound up with the players listening to the coach
and the coaches miked up. Let's go inside the huddle and hear what Manty
Williams has to say. Give me the dry erase board and drop up a
play. That's great stuff, and it is. It's good access. I
love it. You should love it too. But for the most part,
for the most part, that is it's a player's league. We say it
all the time. The only time we criticize coaches is in losses wins we
credit the player. Look, I did it too, I said it this
morning. Luka donciz thirty five and ten. How come we're not getting any
throwing any flowers at Jason kids feet? Charles Barkley said last night in the
postgame Boston in Miami, they're raving about what the Celtics did. He goes,
I'm not going to give them any flowers. I'm not giving them any
candy. They should have blown them out. He's right, He's absolutely right.
This is what's become though I don't know where it started, or when
it started, or who it started with, but there is the fear that
you're not going to get your exclusive You're not going to be able to sit
a guy down, You're not gonna be able to talk to him in an
extended interview because he holds the power Tiger Woods, Lebron James whatever. Have
you ever noticed that if you criticize certain individuals, they hold it against you,
And that's what's happened. But those are good examples right there of broadcasters
Bill and willing to say, you know what, this guy's he's not very
good. He hasn't done a good job. I've done that in the past.
I think you have to pick your spots, and I think you have
to be careful with it. Charles Sparkley doesn't have to worry about it.
He doesn't have to face the same team every single day, he doesn't have
to travel with that team. He's being honest, he should be. He
doesn't take friendships into his job. It's part of the reason he is so
effective at what he does. I don't think he's I don't think he's a
great analyst. I don't think he'd be a really good court side analyst.
Of course, they do have stan Van Gundy for crying out loud DNT.
Why doesn't that ever get brought up just out of curiosity? Remember when Matt
Millan was the second analyst on Fox. It was John Madden and then it
was Matt Millan. Matt Millan was really good. He becomes the general manager
of the Detroit Lions and proceeds to stink just awful, goes back to the
booth and it's primarily Big ten network now and people just don't want to hear
it. People are like, give me a break, this guy was so
bad, so on and so forth. Okay, hurt the reputation, I
understand it. How come I done? Happened with stan Van Gundy? Like
people go to seek out his advice. I mean he literally said not too
long ago. The problem I think for Detroit is what are you going to
do with your cap space? Where are you going to try and win.
My guess Tom Gores wants to get this thing done quickly, not sit around
and wait on a young core. I think that's probably the right approach.
You screwed this franchise and you've got members of the media seeking your advice.
What would you do now for the Pistons when he was in charge of the
Pistons? How absurd is that we blame so many people we blame This is
so hypocritical in the media. We blame so many people for so many different
things, different walks of life, avenues. Doesn't have to be the sports
while they're doing it. Then when they're done, we all, hey,
let's let's get their advice. What do you think you'd do. Man,
here's a guy who says, you're gonna have to supplement as you go along.
They've got good pieces. Durren Thompson, Sasser Ivy, he's naming Kid
Cunningham. He's name in five six guys for a team that won thirteen fourteen
games this year. Thanks Stan, who in their right mind goes to him
and says, I got an idea. I want to do an interview.
Let's bring on Stan van Gundhy and ask him, what would you do with
the Pistons. Are you flipping kidding me? That's ridiculous. But those same
people who do that, what do they do. They'll go out and they'll
criticize this and criticize that. But they were good friends with stan Van Gundy
while he was here in Detroit. So let's ask him what he would do
in free agency or to rebuild this team. Didn't you already ask him what
you would do to rebuild this team? And all he did was sink it
further into the toilet. Well that's James Edwards at eight thirty five. See
if he's got a thought on that. I do want to ask him because
there was a podcast out there. I didn't listen to it, but they
actually had stan van Gundy on and asked them asked him his opinion of what
he would do with the Pistons. It's laughable. But the same person who
had that podcast, what are they gonna do. They're gonna go out there
and they're going to criticize this person and that person and so on and so
forth. I mean, oh my god, the hypocrisies. But we don't
say anything about it. Nobody says a thing about it. It's maddening,
absolutely maddening. Meyer hotline is eight sixty six eight three, eight forty eight
forty three. The text line is Sports Radio twenty one thousand. That's how
you can jump on board. Speaking of getting something together and being an architect,
whether it's Matt Millan and stan Van Gundy blowing up their franchises, or
is it Brad Holmes who has had an unbelievable run with the Detroit Lions.
Who's the best architect in Detroit? Slash the state of Michigan history. Brad
Holmes is getting all kinds of flowers right now, and for good reason.
It's been incredible. His moves for the most part a right, not just
the drafts. I'm talking about his moves overall. I think really good general
managers they have to decide, they have to recognize when things go awry,
what's working and what's not working. Cut bait if you will. I can
think of probably two others. Look, Scott Harris is trying to do this.
Troy Weaver is trying to do this to no avail. Steve Eisaman is
trying to do this. Who are the best architects that Detroit has ever had?
Jack McCloskey of the Pistons. I mean, he's the one who drafted
Isaiah Thomas. He's the one who drafted Joe Dumars and John Sally and Dennis
Rodman. He's the one who traded for Vinnie Johnson and Bill Lambier and Mark
Aguire and Rick Mahorn and Adrian Danley. You can't you can't deny that he
got championships out of it. Bill Lejoy, he's the one who built the
eighty four Tigers. And look, I don't think it's just an architect of
a championship team. Dave Dombrowski was pretty damn good. Did he set the
organization back to quote unquote go for it by trading a lot of young talent.
A lot of that young talent wasn't very good, So that's the downside
of his tenure in Detroit. But he did make them extremely competitive. If
you don't think Joe Dumars was a really good architect, you haven't paid attention.
Look at how good the Pistons were, not just with the one championship,
but contending regularly in the Eastern Conference finals, regularly in the postseason,
and of course Jimmy Devellano. Jimmy Devellano is probably the best architect. How
do you deny that? And I'm not picking just one guy from each team
because I said Bill Joy and Dave Dombrowski. You don't have to go to
from just one team. I said Joe Dumars and Jack McCloskey. Now,
granted, except for Dombrowski, it ended up in a World championship. Tigers
should have had I think two World Series championships under Dombrowski. I think they
should have won in two thousand and six when losing to the Cardinals, and
I think two thousand, what was it thirteen when they lost to the Orioles
his mistake bringing in Brad Ostmas or twenty sixteen? Is that what it was?
I forget which was here? That was because they lost to Boston in
one of those years? Was that twenty thirteen? Okay, either way should
have had it right, the Joaquing Ben Wah giving up the Grand Slam to
David Ortiz, losing to Baltimore. I'm not counting the San Francisco. The
Giants were just better that year period twenty twelve. Anyway, those architects,
these are the art that's who Brad Holmes is trying to be. Brad Holmes
will probably if if the Lions ever win that Super Bowl. And Ben Raven
is a guy we talked to yesterday. Well replayed that at seven thirty five.
He covers the Lionsfranlive dot com. We asked him about Brad Holmes.
If he does, he'll probably viewed as the greatest architect this city has ever
had because the Lions have never done it. Because the Lions were so bad,
the other guys inherited just as bad situations. When Jimmy Devellano took over
the Red Wings, they were horrid, you know the stories. They were
called the Dead Wings. They were giving away cars once in a while just
to get people into the building. And it started with what the key piece
for Devil Lano, It was drafting Steve Eisman, It was the start.
Took a while to get there, but it was the start. For McCloskey,
was drafting Isaiah Thomas. Took a while to get there, but it
was a start. For l Joy, it was multiple players. It was
the drafting of Trammel and Whittaker, first round pick of Kirk Gibson, so
on and so forth. You know, the stories. I don't need to
rehash it for you. For Dumars, it was overcoming some of his mistakes,
but bringing in guys. His wasn't as much drafting. I don't think
his was more about trading for Ben Wallace, trading for Richard Hamilton, acquiring
Rashid Wallace, bringing in Chauncey Billups. That wasn't a home grown team.
Phone number on the Meyer hotline eight sixty six eight three, eight forty eight
forty three. We'd text to the show sports Radio to twenty one thousand or
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People are upset about the Old Valley situation with Exfinity, aren't they. Somebody
tweeted the other day they said, it's time to do right by your fans,
especially those depending on DEALI Sports lift the blackouts already. It's a blackout
with Exfinity. The contract is with Exfinity. That's part of the issue.
And then there's others who just think, well, I'm not in TV,
I know how to handle this. Here's what you do. Just put them
on regular television. That's not the way it works. Man. Sounds just
simple as just well, let's just flick a switch. They can't put put
on there, so let's go broadcast on Channel four in Detroit or Channel eight
and Grand Rapids Nope, it's not the way it works. Man. It's
surprising to me that people are in this business and they just don't get it.
Welcome to the second hour of Exus and Bros. Here on the Michigan
Sports Network throughout the great state of Michigan. Bottom of the hour, we
will replay our interview with Ben Raven from m Live. In case you missed
it, he joined us yesterday. We'll play it again today for those of
you who didn't get a chance to listen in and at eight thirty five,
James Edwards of the Athletic will join us as well. In case you missed
it. Last night, Dallas beat Vegas on ice three to two. They
lead that series, and Edmonton eliminated the Kings for a third consecutive season four
to three, the final there in favor of the Oilers. We know already
that Tampa has been eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs. The question is down
in Tampa, at least while they're talking hockey anyway, what do you do
with Captain Stephen stamcos he has spent sixteen years in Tampa. He will be
a free agent right now this summer and will get no doubt a ton of
interest from other teams. How would he fit with the Red Wings? I
think it's a fair discussion. Not sure how many people want a thirty four
year old he can still play, man, he can still play. Where
would he fit well? Toronto May believes are a team for sure Florida.
If he wants to stay in Florida and not and Tampa isn't the right fit
for him, then that's a possibility. And people have speculated Detroit and for
good reason. See others have said, well, maybe Utah is a good
fit. I don't know. Man, he wants to win. Who gives
them a chance to win? Maybe this is home cooking on my part,
Completely open to that criticism because I think the Red Wings should have made the
playoffs this year, and I think they're on that bend if they stay healthy
to do just that. Do they need certain pieces? Yes? Is Steven
Stamcos one of those pieces. You could always use more scoring, But you'd
rather them focus on the blue line or in net, wouldn't you. Absolutely.
I'm not saying they're going to go out and get Connor Hollibuck, but
they need somebody who can stop the puck a little bit more consistently. Anyway,
I read an article the other day about this, and here's what they
had to say about the Red Wings chances. It said projected cap space twenty
nine million, which surprised me because I didn't think it was quite that high.
Anyway, they said, Steve Eisaman's team just narrowly missed the playoffs,
and this upcoming offseason seems like a pivotal moment for the Red Wings rebuild.
Bringing in Stamcos would help infuse a championship culture into a locker room that hasn't
seen the postseason since twenty sixteen. So let me just stop right there for
a moment. Infuse a championship culture. I've talked about this before. There
are guys who have played on championships Olimana, Patrick Kane this past year,
and guys who've made the playoffs plenty. It's not a championship culture necessary.
That's missing. It's talent on the blue line and defensive talent up front too,
because, as we all know, it's defense isn't only by the two
defensemen who are on the ice at the time. It continued and said stamp
Coos could also add some offensive pop that was lacking at the top of Detroit's
lineup in twenty twenty three to twenty four, with the exception of a few
key players. Fair enough. I think that's an excellent point. They still
need to score goals, we think, not necessarily you. I'm just I
use we as a generality here. Okay, First of all, can Steven
Stamkos let's address you know, one thing at a time? Here? Can
Steven Stamkos still score you? Damn right? He can't without a doubt.
He's still especially on the power play. Now. Is he Nikita Kutcherov on
his team? No, but Kutcheroff won the scoring title. Is he bredon
point? Not quite. He's still pretty damn good. He still had eighty
one points. He still had forty goals year. Forty goals would have led
the Red Wings, for crying out loud. So he can still play now
the ice time. Yeah, that's up to coach Laan to figure that out.
And he's familiar with him, so that's a plus. Right. So
the question is, look at age thirty four, you guy's got to be
committed, and he sure seems like he would be committed. Absolutely, So
it makes a ton of sense. I think can he still get goals,
no question about it. Does this team need goals, no question about that
either. We think, based on the regular season numbers from based from up
from a year ago, that this team is a really good offensive team.
And they are they finished what top half? They're not Colorado, They're not
Toronto. Toronto could be a eleminated tonight. Colorado's advanced. Dallas is leading
Edmonton, is there? Tampa, Vancouver, New York, Carolina, All
those teams better in goals four during the regular season than the Red Wings all
in the playoffs. Now here's what you might say, Well, wait a
minute, shot, Nashville, Florida, Boston, Vegas, Jets, Kings
all right behind Detroit, and they didn't make the playoffs fair enough defensively or
maybe special teams wise, Like, what do you think the difference between the
Oilers and Kings series was. I'll tell you what it was. It was
special teams. And Edmonton had another power play goal last night. They had
nine overall in the series. But when I bring up those teams Winnipeg,
La, Florida, Boston, know this, All those teams led by Florida
best in goals against Detroit's bottom half. There no team below Detroit in goals
against made the postseason. Tampa was barely above them and they made the playoffs.
So does Detroit need it? Yeah, you can always use Like I
said, you can always use more scoring. But defensively, that's where they
have to get better. Is Steven Stamco's viewed as a better defensive forward than
a lot of guys that they have not really anyway, So the article continued
and said, this potential marriage may come down to the length of the contract.
That's always key. How much you're willing to give him and over how
many years. That's the hard with teams who haven't made the playoffs for eight
years and many who feel like they're not ready to turn the corner yet attracting
a guy like that. That's what they mean by overpaying. It's not always
in money, it's in years. Two. What would you give a guy
like Steven Stamkos number one, number two? If you're willing to give it
to him? Why not? Why not? Patrick Kine? Those guys want
multi year deals, and I don't blame him. Are you willing to commit
a long term deal to a thirty four year old forward or a short term
deal? What do you consider a short term deal two years, three years.
Guys in hockey can play a long time if they can stay healthy.
And stam Cooast has had some injuries, what would be the max that you
would give him? Meyer hotlines open for you eight sixty six, eight three
eight forty eight forty three. You could TECHT Sports Radio to twenty one thousand.
Bottom of the hour, we'll replay our interview from yesterday with Ben Raven
eight thirty five. James Edwards from the Athletic joins us to talk Pistons and
NBA, on x'es and bros. Throughout the great state of Michigan on the
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At seven eighteen on this Thursday, bottom of the hour, venravenplive dot com,
who joined us yesterday, will replay that interview from yesterday in case you
missed it. Meanwhile, at eight thirty five, James Edwards of the Athletic
will join us. We'll talk Pistons and NBA here on ex'es and bros.
We're open to any conversation you'd like on the Meyer hotline eight sixty six eight
three, eight forty eight forty three to the phone lines. Ben, who's
waiting for us? Yeah? We got Kenan Burton, Hi, Ken,
how are you today? Happy Thursday to you? Happy Thursday to you?
Shep now, shep. When you were a basketball announcer for University of Michigan,
was Dave Brandon The Athletic directors in it started with Bill Martin, and
then it went to David Brandon, Yes, which one hired John Beeline Bill
Martin. Bill Martin did, Okay. The reason I'm calling is and I
hope I'll try to talk as fast as I can so I can quicker than
I can take your time my friend, my lifetime best friend passed away of
cancer in two thousand and thirteen, and we were I was a Michigan season
ticket holder and my friend was a Michigan fan. And I wrote Dave Brandon
a long letter on email and asked we were having an outing form to raise
money because he was a self business owner and he was hiring a hard time
making a living. And Dave was nice enough to send a hat signed by
him he sent. I asked him if he could send the picture, and
he sent the picture with his signature on, and we had a frame and
a couple other things like a T shirt and stuff, and I of course
sent them back and thanked them for everything well. And then I sent him
also back after the outing was over was and thanked them again an email.
And I could tell these were his emails because he wasn't been like me.
He had a hard time sleep in the middle night. They were like two
thirty three thirty at night. And so when my friend passed away in twenty
thirteen, two years later, I wrote again to Dave and thanked him for
all he did and sent him a nice card thanking him and told him my
friend had passed away. And he wrote me two or three more times on
email and told me he was a cancer survivor. And I knew that because
he's about three or four years younger than me, and I remember him when
he played foot Bowl because I could back in them days when I had more
of a mind than I do now, I could remember every player on the
team. And what I'm trying to say that he got such a bad rap,
especially from the guys at WTKA, and I won't mention the names.
Everybody knows who they are. And I wrote them with a letter to saying
what he did for my friend and myself as a friend. And they're trying
to tell me that I didn't know the whole story, and I probably don't
know the whole So all I know is the man was nice to me,
and I would I would speak good about him the rest of my life.
And I know you probably know him. I don't really know him personally.
I just know him as somebody that wrote me back at two three thirty in
the morning and made a way out of it being friendly to me. Yeah,
well forgive that from him. Yeah, Well that's Look, this is
what happens anytime you come in contact with person. That's why I was just
talking about this with somebody yesterday. They were talking about certain race car drivers.
They were asking you about athletes and who athletes make an impression on you
and how do you form those impressions. And we have had a pretty deep
conversation. We have to remember sometimes when we run into athletes or general managers
or coaches or managers whomever, sometimes celebrities, we may be catching them at
an off day. It's tough to be on all the time. You know,
it's tough to be the person you want to be all the time because
things happen in people's lives that we're just not always familiar with. Obviously,
he's made an impression on you because more than once, so that tells you
something about the man, at least when it comes to your situation. I
don't blame you. I'm not going to try and change your opinion, even
if I had a different opinion about David Brandon to you, because first of
all, it's not fair. Second of all, you have this impression,
and it's a rightful impression because of what he would the time he took for
you, and I would say this and thanks for the phone call. I'm
sorry you lost your best friend. That's heartbreaking. I would say this to
anybody. I say this to my kids all the time too. Time is
very valuable in anybody's life. You take that. This is why it's important
for us. This is much smaller scale. I get it, it's just
a talk show. But you take the time to call. That's taking time
out of your day to listen to us and have the guts to call in
and express your opinions. You deserve to be heard. I'm not going to
rush you off the phone. It's not fair, it's not right. Dave
Brandon took the time to email you more than once, the time to actually
heed to what you had requested for your friend. I would never forget that
either, And to me, if I were in your shoes, I would
always feel obligated and honored in that situation, because not everybody does that.
Do you remember when you were a kid, Well, this is dating myself.
When I was a kid, I used to write letters to certain players
because they were my favorite players and I wanted something from them. I didn't
care what it was, whoever that player may have been. If they sent
something back, all that does is endear you. More to the person who's
making the request. It's not that hard, you know. I've been fortunate.
There's a lot of people who have sent me letters and send it to
Komerica Park always wrote him back. Have to really important. It's just the
right thing to do. Sometimes there's just the right thing to do. Sometimes
I think we've lost that in our society. It's just a nice and the
right thing to do. You can't I get guys like guys who are superstars,
guys like Mike Trout for example, Guys like Show ayo time they get
it all the time. It's almost impossible. You've got to have somebody to
actually do that for you because you're trying to, you know, play a
baseball game every single day. It's impossible to do that, it really is.
But a guy like David Brandon in your situation, yeah, I mean,
that was the right thing to do, and kudos to him. Not
everybody has the same experience, Not everybody knows him the same way. That
doesn't make him a bad guy if it comes in a different form of a
relationship. I can't say that I had that same experience, that same relationship
with David Brandon. We knew each other obviously, but I enjoyed my time.
There are certain certain things that happen with athletic directors that kind of stick
out with you, as you know, a representative of a university. So
I'll just give you a quick thought. We were at the Big Ten Tournament
and we're getting ready to do a broadcast. Usually, I mean Bill Martin
would always come up, how you guys doing, always always say hello,
right or manually did the same thing when he was when I was calling games
at Michigan and he was in charge, David Brandon didn't do that. We're
at the Big Ten Tournament and you're going, wait a minute, you're talking
to everybody butt your home broadcasting team, which was a little surprising. And
Mark Hollis and Michigan State, who was actually at the tournament. He's the
one who came over and said hello to us, Michigan State eighty, which
was a little surprising to us. When we come back, Ben Raven of
m Life joined us yesterday to talk Lions at NFL. We'll replay that conversation
for you in case you missed it, and then bottom of the eight o'clock
hour, James Edwards from the Athletic joins us here on Exis and bros across
the great state of Michigan. Stay with us Huge here for my good friend
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come back and seebe. Get some facts and come back and cev. Don't
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You can't handle the true now told our players you need a bit more
like a dog. We don't need a bunch of cats in here. Looking
in the mirror, I look good. I got my extra bands on,
I got my other shoes. Be a doll. We don't need no meals.
We don't need no cats. We need more dogs. How you wanted
to train? Are you not at ocay? We weren't good. There's no
sense of asking me things about the game. I'm telling you we laid an
egg, so I'm not gonna break it down for you. He sucks,
He sucked. He laid an egg. That's all I have to say.
Guys, I'm sorry. I'm not going to break it down for you.
Nothing went well for us. It's on us. We have to figure it
out. And we went eighth. Dad Platalauer of the show here on XIS
and Bros. Throughout the Great State of Michigan. Matt Shepard, we'd have
been our producer. You can call him on the Meyer hotline eight sixty six
eight three, eight forty eight forty three. You can always text the show
as well. Sports ready to twenty one thousand James Edwards from the Athletic joints
us at the bottom of the hour if you missed it. Tiger is a
four to one winner yesterday over Saint Louis. They win two out of the
three games. Yes, most of us feel like they should have swept them,
but let's be careful. There four straight series win for Detroit and there's
seventeen wins entering this month of May. The eighteen wins overall second most in
franchise history. Only the eighty four eventual World Series champions were better at eighteen
and two. Remember they won seventeen straight road games to start the year.
That's unheard of. Last year, this team was ten and seventeen entering the
month of May. They had a decent month of May and a good September.
That's about all they had a year ago, But there's optimism there.
Matt Verling, with a two run homer yesterday propelled Detroit to the four to
one win. They have today off. They are in New York for a
weekend series against the Yankees, and then they go to Cleveland. Cleveland atop
the division, Minnesota charging hard. The Twins won their tenth in a row
yesterday. Byron Buxton was hurt or is hurt? I should say? And
I think he's a really good example of a really talented player who just can't
seem to stay healthy. I don't know what it is. I really don't.
I mean, this is a guy who you talk about talent. He's
got a ton of it. He was recruited as a wide receiver to Georgia.
I like him a lot. I've had the opportunity to talk to him
a number of times, do interviews at his doll He's a really welcoming and
a really easy dude to like. The problem is, you know, he
just can't stay healthy, right knee injury a year ago, limited to eighty
five games. When he's in the lineup, Minnesota's numbers are incredible compared to
when he's not in the lineup. He's that much of a difference maker.
But it's interesting there's a national broadcaster who has a talk show host on a
four letter network who came out and was just criticizing Mike Trout, why can't
you stay healthy? He doesn't say that about, you know, Zion Williamson
for some reason. He doesn't say that about Byron Buxton. Byron Bucksin is
one of those guys who as a center fielder, just like Mike Trout,
although Minnesota wanted him use him as more as a designated here a year ago.
Those are two guys. They put a lot of force on their body
with how they play the game. It's always a really tough discussion when you're
talking with players or coaches or managers on how to reel a guy in,
Like I think it was Jim Leland who wants it. You don't want to
take the mustang out of the horse. If he's if that's who he is,
let him be that player. When a guy goes diving for a ball,
in left center field and lays out to make the catch in early May.
People will say, Oh, you can't make that play, and you
can't. You can't do that in May. You do that later in the
season. What do you mean do it later in the season. Those games
later in the season might not be worth it. Damn if you're not making
those plays innerly May. I don't want a player to be different and play
timid. Don't go crashing into the wall. You don't want him to make
the catch. He doesn't do that. You know what you're going to say.
You got to go all out to make that catch. How do you
let that fall? How do you let that hit off the wall? Why
don't you try? Why don't you give your a effort. I'm not making
I'm not trying to change players. Man. The reason you got to where
you are is because of who you are and how you play. I want
that in them. It comes with the price sometimes, and for Buxton and
Minnesota it's absolutely come with the price. It's the hell of a player.
You just wish he could stay healthy. And that's where not load management in
baseball. You're playing, but you can do other things instead of being out
there in center field every day you can be the DH. So maybe early
in the season this is simplicity, I know, but early in the season
maybe you're playing him defensively once in a series and he's DH and two other
times. A lot of guys don't like that. Buxton hated it. He
wanted to be out there every day because you feel like you can be a
difference maker even if you're not hitting the ball. But Minnesota charging hard.
They've won ten in a row. NHL Stars beat Vegas three to two.
That's the first time the home team has won a game in the series.
They leave that series three too. Is a really good game. Last night
watch that and then I watch a little bit of the start of the Oilers
Kings game. Edmonton wins at four to three. They eliminate LA for a
third straight yearly On Recitle had two goals. Connor McDavid had a couple of
assists eleven assists in the series overall. They move on to the second round.
Will play either Nashville or Vancouver, who play tonight. Boston will play
in Toronto tonight. Celtics led wire to wire they eliminate the Heat one eighteen
eighty four. Jaylen Brown Derek White each with twenty five. Boston's going to
play either Cleveland or Orlando. They played an and Dallas went into LA and
handed the Clippers their worst playoff loss in history, one twenty three to ninety
three. Luka Doncicz had thirty five points ten boards. Twenty of his points
came in the second half. The MAVs lead that series three games to two.
Speaking to the NBA, we will talk with James Edwards of the Athletic
at eight thirty five, so hope you can stick around and join us for
that. Yesterday and we just played the interview with Ben Raven from m Live.
We were talking about the Lions obviously in the draft and so on and
so forth. This is what the NFL does so very well, right,
I mean, it's it's amazing how they can go draft and then you got
or you have the combine before the draft, and you get the draft,
then you got OTA's and then you got you know, rookie camps, and
then you've got training camp, and then you've got the season, and after
the season and after the Super Bowl. Nobody cares about the Pro Bowl,
but then you've got the combine. I mean, they just keep you engaged
all the time, and writers are instantly giving you something to think about as
well, like Jeff kerrvcbssports dot com ranking the NFC teams following the draft.
You and I both know this is just filling up space. And I'm hypocritical
right now because I'm sitting here talking about it, but it does peak your
interest. I'm just wondering what they think of my team filling the blank.
San Francisco reached the Super Bowl a year ago? Would they be the favorite?
According to him, they are, but the Lions are right behind him.
Here's what he writes about the Lions. The draft is where the Lions
shine. They hit a home run by selecting Terry on Arnold in the first
round. Should be a Week one starter and a playmaker in this Rake Straw
fell to number sixty one in the second round, giving the Lions needed depth
at the corner position as well. Cione Vaki, who can play running backers
safety which again that to me is irrelevant, appears to be playing the former
for Detroit, giving the lines more depth behind David Montgomery and Jamier Gibbs.
Detroit Eddi Kevin Zeitler. Then he goes into you know, for Jonah Jackson,
a'man Ross Saint Brown with a massive extension Jamie Wims. They don't mention
anything about Penney Seool. He just basically tells you why he thinks they're the
number two seed. And in the words of Bob Seeger Blank, I've known
that for a long time. He's got the Eagles three, Packers, four,
Cowboys five, Rams six, Tampa seven, and Chicago eight. Interesting
that three of the top teams in the conference, three of the top sixteen
teams in the conference are in the NFC North A Bottom of the hour,
James Edwards joins us from the Athletic will talk NBA and more, your phone
calls and your texts. On the other side on Exis and Bros. On
the Michigan Court tell with Dan Dickerson, step up to the play that Eagle.
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The Meyer Hotline eight sixty six eight three eight forty eight forty three.
A reminder, if you want to call it, it doesn't require what we're
talking about. If there's something you have had on your mind, something you
noticed last night that we may have missed, something that took place during the
day, a story you want to share. That's what we're here for The
Meyer Hotline eight six eight three eight forty forty three. Or you could text
us Tech Sports Radio to twenty one thousand. Ben. I know we had
a caller earlier couldn't hold through the breaks, right, what's on their mind?
Are people complaining about Trout because of him getting hurt or because of his
contract and that's Breton Grand Rapids. That's a great question. That is a
great question. The bigger contract you have the more is expected, So are
you getting your money's worth? Excellent question, don't know the answer to it
really is up to you to decide on whether or not that place a factor.
I think you'd be lying to yourself. And I like Mike Trout a
lot. I think he's an incredible player. I think, look, the
numbers speak for itself. Sometimes I don't even get involved in the All Star
stuff because it's oftentimes a popularity contract contest. But if you're a three time
MVP, you're a nine time Silver Slugger, you're a two time All Star
Game MVP, you're a Rookie of the Year, you're the Player of the
year, you lead the league in all those categories, and so on and
so forth, you're a hell of a player. I bet you. Bret
will say that too. He brings up a very valid point, though.
When you're making thirty seven million dollars, I think is what he's making a
year, right, and he's going to make that until twenty thirty. Yeah,
I know I feel the same way. I'm shaking my head too,
right along there with you. He's thirty two right now, They've got him
until he's thirty eight. It's Miguel Cabrera type situation, and remember it can
go, it can go quickly. You see what happens with jose A Brahu.
Did you see what they did? They pulled with him? What they
what Toronto did with Alec Manoa. Manoa started the All Star Game a couple
of years ago, and then what happened he was he was sent down,
and you're sent down because you're struggling to the Complex League. That's what happens
to Josea brew They optioned him to the Florida Complex League after an April that
saw him hit below one hundred and he's thirty seven. I'm not saying that's
going quickly. I'm just telling you things. Those things happen, and when
it comes and it comes quickly, you're just like, oh man, that's
not how I want to see him end his career. Jose bra you third
all time in Chicago White Sox history in home runs. This is a guy
who is He's an absolute hell of a player. He's been a hell of
a pro. But it's gone, at least for now it is. I
don't think that's Mike Trout yet, but I love that perspective from Brent Yeah,
thirty seven million bucks. You expect him to be out there more often
than he is. I think that's fair. Got another caller, Yeah,
we got a Paul and gr All right, Hey Paul, how are you
today? Hey? What's up? Chap? How are you? Good man?
Hope your Thursday goes well? What's up? Oh? You you as
well. First of all, I want to give a big shout out to
Friday the Pizza Man three one three on Twitter. I went to his pizza
joint yesterday and man, it is the best pizza I've had my ever had
in my life. And I've been to Italy. So I just want to
give a big shot out of that guy. He I know he's a fan
of the show. I know he calls in all the time. I want
him to know I appreciate it. That's really cool, that's really cool of
you. He's got great I mean, I think his food is outstanding.
I just got back from Italy in the fall. I just got back from
Italy in the fall. The food there in Italy best food I've ever had
in my life. But I love going to Freddy's place because he's got great
stuff. You're right, good for you, Thank you for that go ahead.
I still think his pizza is better than the stuff in Italy, But
I digress. So, yeah, I just want to talk a little Tigers
man. I think they they look a lot better than what I expected this
year. You know, I figured we'd be pretty good. I figured.
I think I still think we're gonna win the Central. But I mean,
it's so exciting and it's so nice to finally just see it come together,
you know, And yeah, well why they why are they better than you
thought? What I mean, I'm interested to know what you're what you thought
they were going to be number one and number two? Where are they better?
In what regard? Uh? The bullpen is is so good, and
you know, Riley Green up to this point is doing much better than I
actually thought he would. I mean, dude, he's already got seven home
runs. And you know, we're seeing guys like once Gio Orchella comes back.
He was a nice addition by Scott Harris. I really love Mark Canna,
and not only like you know he has He's just a professional hitter.
You know. He every single at bat from Mark Canna seems like a professional
at bat. And it seems like the younger guys are learning from that.
Karen Scoogle, I mean, man, he is good. He's I figured
he would be in the running for the cy Young this year, but man,
I didn't know he was going to be this good, Like he is
best in the MLD good right now. And you know, we got we
just got a dominant Moulten and I figured we'd be around five hundred you know
the rest, you know, for April and May. But you know,
five games over five hundred is awesome. So, you know, I think
they're I don't think they're overperforming. I think they're They're right where they should
be. Yeah, you think this is who they are, This is who
they are right now. Interesting. Okay, that's great, love it,
go ahead? Oh yeah, sorry man, Sorry, so yeah, I
know right now. I still think they're going to win the Central this year.
Yeah, I agree with you, you know, and thank thanks for
the phone call. Sorry, we're almost up against it and James Edward's going
to join us. I'm with you on that. I said when I started
doing this show, I said before the season, they should win the Central
period and that was my expectation. So I'm sure not surprised at the back
end of the Bullpen or the bullpen in general. It was really good a
year ago. I am still worried about the offense. They still don't score
enough runs for me anyway, but it'll come as the weather heats up.
I'm sure that will come all right, because I think Spencer Torkolsen is not
going to be this kind of hitter right now at June nineteen or whatever.
I think Cole Keith will get adjusted a little bit, so I'm with you
on that. I think they could use another stick. Quite honestly, I
still don't think they have the home run power that I would like to see,
and I am slightly concerned about the defense. But I do like their
pitching an awful lot, and I love their bullpen. Despite what happened with
Shelby Miller the other day, I think they're the best team in the division,
and I think Tigers fans should be have that expectation. And I don't
think there's anything wrong with that. Ben. We got a text or two,
I believe, before we get to James Edwards from the Athletic Yeah,
Ken Griffy Junior is a better center fielder than Mike Trout in my opinion,
it's not even close. Get rid of both players' injuries and if they never
missed a game, it still wouldn't be close. And Trammell got robbed of
the MVP in nineteen eighty seven, right George Bell was the MVP that year.
That was super frustrating. Never said that Mike Trout was better than Ken
Griffy Junior ever, Nope, Ken Griffy Junior is one of the greatest players
of all time. Smooth, fluid, phenomenal player. Ten gold gloves.
You know you have as many gold gloves as al Kline. You know you're
saying something there because that's incredible. Yeah, I didn't think so. I
was just using that as a perspective, So I hope that wasn't misleading in
any way. I was just bringing up certain names that Mike Trout was on
track for with war wins above replacement, because that is a that is a
I really believe that is it's a statistic that more and more people are especially
voters for the Hall of Fame. Look at now they if they did,
they would they would pay more closer attention to to Lew Whittaker because he should
be there. But Ken Griffy Jr. Like I said, is to me
one of the greatest players of all time. His war wins above replacement is
right around eighty four. All right, it's at eighty three point eight.
Mike Trout's got a higher WAR. That doesn't make him a better player.
I'm giving you a perspective there, so when you say it's not even close.
Mike Trout led the league in war for five consecutive years. He led
the league in offensive war five consecutive years, and seven out of eight he
had some of the more dominating seasons in history. Quick time out and when
we come back. James Edwards from the Athletic joins us on Exus and Bros.
After this, we're teaming off our tenth year at the Meyer LPGA Classic
for simply gives. Get ready for the best who are yet to help neighbors
in need while enjoying golf, food and family fun. Join us June thirteenth
through the sixteenth at Blakefield Country Club for fabulous food, discoveryland for kids,
and of course, elite women golfers from around the world competing to help feed
our neighbors. Get your tickets now Admire LPGA Classics dot com thirty five after
the hour he's as good as it gets and what he does, James Edwards
writes for The Athletic you can fall him on x at J L. Edwards
the third he writes about the Pistons, about the NBA and there's a lot
to write about going on right now after some finals in the NBA Playoffs that
we'll get to coming up at. James Edwards joins us here on Xes and
Bros. Across the great state of Michigan, throughout the state of Michigan and
the various markets Flint and Cadillac, Grand Rapids, Grayling, Gaylord, Midland,
Saginaw, Bay City, Pataski, Charlevoy, Traverse City. That's where
we are and that's where we can bring you this coverage of a little NBA
talk with James Edwards. James, good to have you, buddy. Glad
that we're back talking again about the Pistons a little bit and as we look
forward to the NBA Draft, it seems like we say this an awful lot.
Tell me where you think this franchise is in. If you want to
call it a rebuild, go ahead, But where are they in the process
of trying to get better in your mind? Good to hear from you too,
Matt, appreciate you having me on. I think they're in a vulnerable
state. It's a situation that I don't think anybody could have imagined. Whether
that's the fans, whether that's the players, the front office, the ownership,
the coaches. It is a very vulnerable state, and usually out of
vulnerability, big decisions are made. And I think this team has to do
something of great significance. They cannot afford to allow all of these young guys
to continue to develop and hope that they get better. They tried that last
year. It very clearly presented the worst season in franchise history. So I
think they're at a very vulnerable and almost franchise altar in summer, and I
think they're going to have to shake things up across the board in order to
try to one try to build back optimism within the fan base, and two
to get back on track in this rebuild and show that there is progress and
that these things aren't always linear. What's an example of shaking things up?
Yeah, I mean, I don't think they can afford kind of as I
mentioned, like, I don't think they can afford to have as many young
guys as they have you look across the NBA, and you look across you
look at these teams that are contending and in the second round or still fighting
in the first round. The majority of them have made moves that made a
trade or two that gave up young players to get better players. You look
at Minnesota with Rudy Gobert, you look at somebody like Denver gave up picks
and Gary Harris to get Aaron Gordon a few years ago. You look at
Boston and the moves that they've made throughout the years to try to build this
roster. Obviously, all that stuff starts with drafting well and getting a guy
or two that you can build around. I think credit to Detroit, like
I think Kate is that guy, and the hard part is done. You've
got a guy that got better in the midst of the worst season ever while
coming off season ending injury with a metal rodney his leg, and he walked
away. I think if you didn't believe that Kate was the guy, I
don't see how you don't walk away from that. Now, despite the records,
I don't think a lot of it was his fault. So they got
the hard part done. They got the guy to build around and how it's
time to go build around him. I just think that they should highly consider
moving on from one or two young guys. Joins us here on Exis and
Bros. You can fall him on Twitter on x JL Edwards the third.
I'm with you on that, especially with the young guys you've mentioned teams getting
better. Og On and ob going to New York is a really good example
of that too. I continue to be amazed by a guy like Jalen Brunson.
I could talk to you all day about this, but I mean a
second round pick and how good he has been. When you say shake things
up, I'm with you on that. Does that mean I don't want to
read too much into it? So I want clarification. Would you not take
advantage of the top five pick your due in the upcoming draft? What if
you got number one overall? Or would you trade that to try and get
a stabilized veteran force that might help some of these young guys along. I'd
trade it. I would trade it if it's one, two, three,
four or five, whatever it ends up being, I would trade it.
You talk to people around the league, this draft is not a desirable draft
at the top Obviously, every year there are Hall of Famers or as soon
to be Hall of Famers selected drafts, So there will be one in this
draft. Don't get me wrong, like that's just the way things shake out.
But talk to everybody across the league, and they don't know where that
player will be picked. That player could likely be picked at seventeen like he's
picked at one. I've been told that there are executives in the league that
think picks one through three could have some value in a trade. But I
think a lot of teams would probably be afraid to have the number one or
two pick in this draft because there is a little bit more margin for error
in comparison to previous years in previous prospects. So I think there is value.
I think, and I had a piece of scuz last week or earlier
this week where talk to my colleague Sambasini, who is massive in draft coverage
and one of the best, And a lot of teams also see the number
one pick this year as like four or five, six in a normal draft.
So I caution fans that if the Pistans gets the number one pick,
don't think that this is like Lebron or Victor Winbinyamo or even Kid. This
is more like I would say, like Anthony Bennett type stuff. So I
would one hundred percent tury to pick, and I'd even package it with a
young player or two to try to get because I don't know how much value.
I don't know if those a couple of young guys like an Ivy or
during if they're peak value right now after this season. But if you have
the number one pick to that, it can kind of enhance that and you
could probably get a good piece or two or three from a team that's maybe
looking to get a little bit younger. One hundred percent agree, one hundred
percent with you. I'm so glad you said that. But a couple of
other things you bring up Kid Cunningham, and for good reason. I think
he's a solid ball player, I really do. What kind of leader do
you think he is? Because I think sometimes we get that thrown around an
awful lot. It can be challenging for a young guy to lead a team,
especially through navigating these difficult waters like he's had to you, what kind
of leader? How would you describe him as such? Yeah, I think
is a legitimate leader. I know it's probably hard for people to see that
just giving their record. But you know, I hear stories about him talking
to halftime, stepping up and speaking. I hear stories about him at practice.
I hear stories about him sitting with guys on the plane to talk.
This guy is somebody that all of his teammates respect. I think one thing
that's important to remember is Cade was that guy coming up through the high school
and college ranks. So all of his teammates who are similar in age are
very very familiar with him, and they all saw him as the guy as
such, and there's a big respect for what he did and who he is
as a player, and even more so now as their teammates, for him
as a person. I think people who haven't been around Kate, I think
the best way to describe him is like you could just tell he was raised
right, like his parents did a great job. He's very polite, he's
very just aware, he's not there's no diva to him. I think he's
very real, and I think it comes across with his teammates. I think
they genuinely appreciate that. I also think that you hear stories like for somebody
like Simone Fantechio as soon as he got to Detroit there in the middle of
a West coast trip and we're out there and he tells the story of Kate
comes up to him. They've never met, and he's like, where do
you like the ball? Where can I get you the ball? And Simona,
He's like, nobody's ever asked me that before. And you hear anytime
Simone talks about him, it's as glilling as it gets. So I think
he just handles people the right way. I think he speaks up in an
aggressive way when he needs to, but I think he also just leads by
example, and I think he has great respect in that locker room, and
I think he also has great respect from some of the star players in this
league. Yeah, thanks for sharing that. I think those are important anecdotes.
I know you've written it before, but it's still worth mentioning because not
everybody knows that. It's a great example of what kind of person, not
just a player, but kind of person. Kid Cunningham truly is you mentioned
the draft now. I was talking about this yesterday because Tyres Maxie went off
for forty six the other day. You saw it the most points by as
tied for the most points by an opposing player in a playoff game at Madison
Square Garden. Ever with Michael Jordan. That says something. He was in
the same damn draft as Killian Hayes. Everyone talks about Tyreus Haliburton and I
loved Haliburton coming out of Iowa State, but MAXI was taking twenty first overall.
Another miss by stan Van Gundy and the Pistons. So many foreign players,
James, that one that are mentioned, right, what's that? That
one was actually Troy? That was Troy's first draft? Well was that Troy's
I'm sorry, you're right, Troy, but there are so many foreign players
who are viewed near the top and not as many college players. And this
is tough for you because you see all these guys and you write it,
but so many fans and usual members of the media. We don't watch guys
play in France. Okay, we don't know who a lot of these guys
are. Why do you think I think the league shift might be the run
word, but has seen so much of an influx on young players from foreign
lands rather than college players. Are the college players just not as good as
we think when we watch them in the NC Douale League tournament. What's your
belief on that. It's a good question. I think that some of it
is intrigued, right, Like it's hard to equate their leagues to the NBA,
while I think historically the natural comparison for the NBA has always been the
college game, so there's some of that. I also think that the Spurs
and what they did early in the late nineties and early two thousands, with
the likes of Tony Parker and Montagnobili, started to have teams look more European.
And I mean, if we're being honest, the best players in the
league are not from here right now, Jokic, Luca Jannis. I mean,
you make a top seven list, those three are in there, embeed,
so there's four. I think there is a it's just been an untapped
historically, hasn't been as tapped dating back like twenty ish years as it is
now. And I think they're just trying to find diamonds in the rough and
they're trying to the game has just expanded so much globally. And I also
think, like I said, there's intrigue, like we're so able to watch
available college games that I think even scouts are like Okay, well, I've
watched this guy since he was twelve years old. Let me let me see
what I can see over here in these in these European state air countries,
and see how I feel that this equates to our game. So I think
there's a little bit of it. I also think, like I said,
there's been a lot of talented players coming from overseas and it. But I
think primarily it's the intrigue in the ability to not necessarily know how it will
translate. But you see these sets, and I also do think European players
are more fundamentally sound in most cases, but that is that is something that
plays into it, for sure. That's interesting. You talk You've been in
every NBA arena, every NBA city, talk to just about every NBA player,
I would guess. Do you think there is a growing concern from American
based basketball players and who want to play in the NBA and realize that they're
you know, there's only sixty four times sugar sixty four spots to get drafted.
Do you think in general they're worried about the security that America has in
that regard with more Americans playing in the NBA. I've never heard that personally.
I've never posed the question either, But I mean, you hear a
lot of players talk about players like you don't find too many that don't love
Jokic, that don't love Giannis and Lucas. So I mean maybe guys that
are fringe roster guys maybe have concerns. They probably also have concerns about the
the age limit in the NBA. But yeah, I haven't heard that directly.
Yeah, fair enough. James Edwards joined to share on Exus and Bros
fall him on Twitter. J L. Edwards third team president. Why is
it needed and what type of criteria does that person need to possess in order
to get the job. I think there's a couple of things. I think
one that they just need a funneling of leadership. It needs to be one
person who is everybody knows who they report to, everybody who knows that they
are directed to, everybody, somebody that can make the right play or the
right call, the right shot. It's all about having one voice be the
final say. It's a position that the Pistons ever had since twenty eighteen.
It is a common position an NBA franchise. I know a lot of people
like to say that there's too many cooks in the kitchen. I understand that
that critique and what it is. But if you look around most NBA front
offices, there's owner, there's a team president, there's maybe a vice president,
there's a GM, and then a coach. So there's usually three or
four solid voices in an organization. It's just a matter of making sure that
everybody knows who's getting the final say, and who everybody is, who everybody's
direct what's the sort of looking for direct talk, who they're directly talking to,
and who they're directly reporting to. I think that's of great importance.
And then also I think, yeah, there just needs to be a little
bit more structure. I think there needs to just be a different voice and
team building. I think those are the big things that they're looking for,
and I think there's some big names that they're going to go after. Some
of those guys are in the postseason now, which is why if there are
people who think that this hobo search has gone on too long, it's really
only been two weeks. But there are protocols in place where if they want
to go get one of the best guys, and one of those best guys
are they have a team still playing. They got to kind of wait out
that process. So it's certainly it's a moving target. Currently, you're not
just a basketball fan and a basketball writer who covers the Piston that you're also
a Detroit sports fan. You see the symmetry that the Lions have built that
has made them so successful under Brad Holmes. Compare that symmetry to the symmetry
in the Pistons front office, if there is one, and how far they
need to go? Can you? I think that there, I think it
seems like Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes are more on the same page then I'd
say even a lot of president and head coaches, not even in the city,
but in the league. I think that's a big thing. I think
that I think that's the big thing. I think that those two really seem
to value the same type of players, the same type of the character.
It's the one thing that sticks out to me about them. And while I
think in the NBA you can have different visions of how NBA you can play
different styles in basketball football you can, but at the end of the day,
it's still quarterback, drop back, handoff, Like it's still this it's
pretty universal, but basketball there can be different styles. Whether or not a
style is outdated or not, that's another conversation. But I do think that
in terms of how a team should be built, there seems to be a
little bit of a disconnect there with the Pistons and maybe Steven Alliance. All
Right, lastly, before I let you go, and I appreciate the time
Monty Williams, how can he be better in year two along the Pistons bench
and how much, say, will he have in personnel with this team moving
forward? Yeah, if he's back next year, I think one way you
can get better is is I think shortening the rotation, depending on what they
do this offseason, if they're able to add two or three legitimate NBA players,
maybe keep that tation down to nine to eight. I think that's one
way. I think maybe being a little bit more emphasizing the development. Obviously,
he comes from a program where he was coaching veteran players and and and
maybe had a different type of emphasis. I think obviously this team is young
and has some young players, and that needs to be the focal point.
But yeah, I think just certainly like how many players he plays, trying
to understand who he has as a as a rotation and if he needs has
to whittle it down to try to give this team the best chance to win.
I think that should be the case. But yeah, if he is
back next year, he'll have some things to clean up himself. All right,
you said that twice. Then if he's back next year, why wouldn't
he be Why wouldn't he be? Yeah, they just won fourteen games.
There's a change. Definitely a chance. I think I think it'll be interesting
to see. I don't I don't think it's as likely as people also,
that's people think very interesting. We'll be watching and we'll be reading The Athletic
with James Edwards. Thank you, my friend, great stuff as always,
appreciate your time very much and your friendship. Take care of Thank you.
You got all right, James Edwards. Follow him on Twitter. Jay Edwards,
the third rights for the Athletic. Fantastic stuff. If you missed any
of that, We'll play tomorrow six thirty five. Really enjoyed that conversation.
Could have gone on a lot longer because there's a lot of different things that
we wanted to hit on. But maybe we'll do it at another time with
James and Talking Pistons and the NBA thanks to Ben our producer, are thanks
to you for your text your phone calls and James Edwards for his time.
Hope you can join us again tomorrow here on exes and bros. Have a
great rest of your Thursday. Everybody enjoy We're teaming off our tent here at
the Meyer LPGA Classic for simply gives. Get ready for the best who are
yet to help neighbors in need while enjoying golf, food and family funjin Us
June thirteenth through the sixteenth at Blakefield Country Club for fabulous food, discovery Land
for kids, and of course elite women golfers from around the world competing to
help feed our neighbors. Get your tickets now at Meyer LPGA Classics dot com.
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