Speaker 1: He's the pride of Norwich, Connecticut and an adopted son
Speaker 1: of Salt Lake City. After forty years with the Utah
Speaker 1: Jazz there's no one better to talk some hoops. Richard
Speaker 1: Smitty Smith is back on the Drive on ESPN seven hundred.
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Speaker 2: dot com. Richard Smith is live in studio. I have
Speaker 2: tasked him with coming up with a jazz draft trivia
Speaker 2: question that will drop on you at the end of
Speaker 2: this segment.
Speaker 3: So stay tuned Tuesday, Sir, how are you.
Speaker 4: We're doing great, Spence, what's going on here?
Speaker 3: Great to see you.
Speaker 4: A lot of stuff going on, a lot of.
Speaker 3: Stuff going on, and I need to give you. I
Speaker 3: need to give you credit.
Speaker 2: As the kids would say, I'm gonna give your flowers wow,
Speaker 2: because you are good. To remind us that when it
Speaker 2: comes to playoff basketball, anything can happen, like a Steph
Speaker 2: Curry hamstring or a Jason Tatum achilles. Unfortunately, no part
Speaker 2: of me thought the Knicks had a chance against the
Speaker 2: Boston Celtics. Yet, for the first time since the year
Speaker 2: two thousand, the New York Knicks are back in the
Speaker 2: conference finals. In two thousand they played the Indiana Pacers,
Speaker 2: and in twenty twenty.
Speaker 3: Five they will play the Indiana Pacers.
Speaker 4: You know, so what's wild too, Spencer?
Speaker 5: Last night I was on a flight coming back to
Speaker 5: Salt Lake and I just happened to flip on the screen.
Speaker 5: It was a thirty to thirty on the Knicks two
Speaker 5: championship teams in seventy to seventy three, and just the
Speaker 5: genesis of that and all the guys talking about it,
Speaker 5: and Walt Frazier and Bill Bradley and Phil Jackson and
Speaker 5: all those eyes. And it was a reminder of how electric,
Speaker 5: uh the league can be, especially you know, with New
Speaker 5: York being the center of it, uh, when the Knicks
Speaker 5: are good and when they're competitive, and and how that
Speaker 5: kind of ramps everybody up. So it's, uh, it's a
Speaker 5: fun time of the year in the playoffs, especially when
Speaker 5: you get to the NBA version of the Final Four.
Speaker 5: But also if if you happen to be a Knicks
Speaker 5: fan wherever you are, you know, it's kind of a
Speaker 5: you know, maybe a semi unexpected, you know, turn of
Speaker 5: events to get to spar But that's why, that's why you're.
Speaker 4: Play in the playoffs. It's what happens. You know.
Speaker 5: You can get that right spence or you can get
Speaker 5: the flip side, which is what the unfortunately the Jazz
Speaker 5: had you know, three four, five years ago, and they
Speaker 5: were one of the better teams and one of the
Speaker 5: expected teams to make an extended run and then stub
Speaker 5: their toe a few times in the playoffs against the Clippers,
Speaker 5: and and and and just you know a reminder of
Speaker 5: how tenuous it is is at this time of year,
Speaker 5: and how fine that line is on the positive side
Speaker 5: or the negative side, just depending what can happen, right,
Speaker 5: everybody had the Celtics and then Jason Tatum goes down unfortunately,
Speaker 5: and but the Knicks have been playing well and the
Speaker 5: Knicks have won is it four or five road games already?
Speaker 5: Five road games in the first two two series. That's unbelievable.
Speaker 5: You know, the Houston Rockets, I believe have the record
Speaker 5: if I'm not mistaken, in ninety four where they won
Speaker 5: the championship. They won I believe it was nine road
Speaker 5: games to get to the NBA Championship and they had
Speaker 5: two series where they won three road games in particular
Speaker 5: series on their way to doing that. And that's to me,
Speaker 5: that's always been one of the great accomplishments and never
Speaker 5: gets talked about enough, is how Houston made that run
Speaker 5: that year, and especially all those road games they want.
Speaker 2: Oh, it gets talked about, Smitty get Toxic, talked about
Speaker 2: plenty because they beat the Knicks.
Speaker 3: Who did the Jazz lose to in ninety four?
Speaker 2: No, it was it was it was Rocket because I
Speaker 2: can remember so for our younger listeners, look it up.
Speaker 2: Michael Jordan had retired and as a child of the
Speaker 2: Jazz and the Knicks. I thought to myself, ninety four,
Speaker 2: yep is the year that the Jazz and the Knicks
Speaker 2: are going to play in the finals. I had forgot
Speaker 2: that Houston actually beat both teams.
Speaker 5: Yeah, well, the Houston the Jazz were favored. They came
Speaker 5: in as the three seed. The Houston was a sixth seed.
Speaker 5: The Jazz and that that was the year the Jazz
Speaker 5: that made the trade for Jeff one a second and
Speaker 5: UH and and the Jets were feeling pretty good and
Speaker 5: we're in a good spot, and UH and Houston went
Speaker 5: That was when the first.
Speaker 4: Round series were best of five, right.
Speaker 5: And the Jazz had the first two at home and
Speaker 5: went to to and then the fifth game was here
Speaker 5: in Salt Lake, and and UH and the Jazz were
Speaker 5: up seven with five minutes to go at home, and
Speaker 5: UH and Clyde Drexler went on a little runs, right,
Speaker 5: and UH and the Jazz couldn't stop him at that
Speaker 5: moment in time. And Houston got over the hump in
Speaker 5: that series and then parlayed that into a great run
Speaker 5: all the way to the finals. But that was that
Speaker 5: also precipitated, you know, a lot of a thinking and
Speaker 5: head scratching, you know by the Jazz the next couple
Speaker 5: of years really was what precipitated the Jazz bringing in
Speaker 5: a Chris Morris because when we looked at that and
Speaker 5: tried to analyze everything, and you never try and get
Speaker 5: you know, too reactionary to those things again plus or minus,
Speaker 5: because it's a series and a couple of things can
Speaker 5: happen in a couple of games, and you don't want
Speaker 5: to wipe away what you did over a six month
Speaker 5: period over eighty two games because you had a bad weekend,
Speaker 5: right or something like that. But when we looked at that,
Speaker 5: the Jazz looked at, hey, if we are going to
Speaker 5: get over this this hump, which the Jazz felt at
Speaker 5: that time, we have a good team.
Speaker 4: We have a highly competitive team.
Speaker 5: You know, we can really do some damage, you know,
Speaker 5: in these coming years with the core we have now
Speaker 5: with Stockton Malone and Horniseeck. But we have to have
Speaker 5: someone if we get to this spot again, that can
Speaker 5: play a match up against a Clyde Drexler type guy,
Speaker 5: because we're going to be seeing him again. And so
Speaker 5: that precipitated the move that eventually became Chris Morris being
Speaker 5: added to the team, and then we play Houston in
Speaker 5: ninety seven in that Western Conference finals, and now they've
Speaker 5: got a Keeam, but they've also added Barkley to go
Speaker 5: along with Drexler, and the Jazz were able to counter
Speaker 5: with their big three, but also Chris Morris to match
Speaker 5: up some against Drexler just in terms of his length
Speaker 5: and athleticism, and and the Jazz you know, pushed through
Speaker 5: at that time and got to their first finals in
Speaker 5: ninety seven.
Speaker 3: B Russ on that team.
Speaker 4: B Russ was, Yeah, he was the starting three.
Speaker 5: So he oh yeah, yeah, yeah, he was, and and
Speaker 5: and he became a he worked his way, you know.
Speaker 5: Brian Russell was a second round pick out of Long
Speaker 5: Beach State and came in as as really a post
Speaker 5: player out of college and made himself into a viable
Speaker 5: NBA wing defender and what is commonly referred to now
Speaker 5: as a three and D guy, and became a reliable
Speaker 5: enough three point shooter that that helped offset what Jeff
Speaker 5: Hornisack was able to do on the other wing with
Speaker 5: his shooting, and then of course space that floor for
Speaker 5: Carl and John to run pick and rolls and for
Speaker 5: Carl to have some space to operate.
Speaker 3: Down low Shandon too, right.
Speaker 5: And Anderson was a rookie in ninety seven, so his
Speaker 5: first two years in the league were the two years
Speaker 5: at the Jazz run to the finals.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 2: So I was thinking about this when I saw you
Speaker 2: on the rundown today, because you had a front row
Speaker 2: seat to the early Jalen Brunson experience with the Dallas Mavericks.
Speaker 2: The final, I guess I'll say nail on the coffin
Speaker 2: without trying to be too dramatic of Gobert Mitchell Quinn.
Speaker 2: You know that group was the series you guys played
Speaker 2: against Dallas. Luca gets hurt Rick, Carlisle gives the ball
Speaker 2: to Jalen. You're our ball and hand guy, now, yep.
Speaker 2: And it worked really well, and I think it caught
Speaker 2: a lot of people off guard. And of course the
Speaker 2: Knicks did their calculation. They said, we're going to go
Speaker 2: all all in on that kid. His dad Rick as
Speaker 2: an assistant. He was a Nick back in the day.
Speaker 2: Are you surprised to see Jalen elevate to this level
Speaker 2: or did you see it coming based off of what
Speaker 2: you guys experienced.
Speaker 5: No, I'm personally I'm surprised. I always liked Jalen Brunson
Speaker 5: coming out of college at Villanova, you know, where they
Speaker 5: won two championships. But he was he was always a
Speaker 5: steadying influence. He always played with a calm demeanor. He
Speaker 5: got to Dallas as a second round pick. Give give Dennis,
Speaker 5: Dennis Lindsay some props. Dennis, who's the general manager of
Speaker 5: the Jazz at the time, liked Rick Brunson in the draft.
Speaker 5: It didn't it didn't go our way. He ended up
Speaker 5: going early in the second round to Dallas, you know.
Speaker 5: And again the way sometimes these things happened, Spence and
Speaker 5: and people people try and write it differently than it
Speaker 5: really was. But but Rick brunt Rick, Jalen Brunson was
Speaker 5: a nice player for the Dallas Mavericks and a good
Speaker 5: rotation guy. Donc just goes down. You look down the
Speaker 5: bench and and I can give you countless times that's
Speaker 5: happened over my years in the NBA where a coach,
Speaker 5: you know, looked down the bench and said, well, uh,
Speaker 5: pointed to and guys said, you're up, and you're you're
Speaker 5: expecting not anything great, be expecting someone to maybe plug
Speaker 5: their finger in the dike and just hold you in place.
Speaker 5: Somehow while some of your main guys go to work
Speaker 5: or somebody does something in that regard, and then somebody
Speaker 5: comes out of the woodwork like Jalen Brunson against the
Speaker 5: Jazz in that playoff series, and uh and and again, Spence,
Speaker 5: you look at it and people will have their own
Speaker 5: version of of what you should or could have would
Speaker 5: have done and whatnot. But Jalen Brunson was a surprise
Speaker 5: in that series, played well, helped them immensely to win
Speaker 5: that series. Okay, the Jazz stubbed their toe in that regard,
Speaker 5: but now here we are several years later and Jalen
Speaker 5: Brunson is doing the exact same thing when everybody knows
Speaker 5: he's going to do the exact same thing, and they
Speaker 5: haven't been able to stop it. So it shows his persistence,
Speaker 5: his development, his talent and skill level that he has
Speaker 5: the confidence to play that way. And he's become obviously
Speaker 5: a main guy in the NBA and has showed everybody
Speaker 5: that he can lift that kind of heavy load when
Speaker 5: it's called upon him. But he may never have gotten
Speaker 5: the chance to show that, and he may still be,
Speaker 5: you know, a good rotation guy for Dallas on his
Speaker 5: second mid level contract. Whatever, if if Doncich hadn't gotten hurt,
Speaker 5: that's that's that proverbial, you know, be ready when your
Speaker 5: number is called, you know mantra and that you always
Speaker 5: tell guys. And then when you're in there, here you go.
Speaker 5: You always said you wanted more playing time. Here's your
Speaker 5: more playing time. Let's see what you got. And to
Speaker 5: to Jalen Brunson's credit, he's been able to parlay that
Speaker 5: into you know what is he is now in the
Speaker 5: middle of a of a terrific NBA career and uh
Speaker 5: and the main guy for the Knicks at the at
Speaker 5: the moment.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I've been so impressed with his both mental
Speaker 2: and physical toughness. I know it sounds cliche, but you
Speaker 2: look at him and he's a sturdy kid.
Speaker 3: But even Drew Holliday, who's one of.
Speaker 2: The best primeter defensive players that we've had in a generation,
Speaker 2: Drew had some good moments on it, but Jalen would
Speaker 2: take him down on the block. Derek White didn't have
Speaker 2: a prayer against him because Jalen just backed him down
Speaker 2: and six' one maybe six to one quite honestly, And again, Bill,
Speaker 2: but I don't know that I really knew that he
Speaker 2: had this physical presence and mental toughness, and he seems
Speaker 2: like a perfect nick.
Speaker 5: Yeah, well he's he's got the demeanor spence that when
Speaker 5: things don't go right, you never see him. All these
Speaker 5: guys always always go crazy. They're yelling at the ref
Speaker 5: or they're you know, throwing a temper tantrum in the
Speaker 5: middle of the game and whatever way they want to.
Speaker 5: Jalen Brunson always just has a calm demeanor. Whether the
Speaker 5: ball went in, whether the ball didn't go in, or
Speaker 5: he got the call he didn't get the call. You know,
Speaker 5: he's just playing. He's playing. You know, John Stockin was
Speaker 5: one of the greatest at doing it, you know, just
Speaker 5: looking ahead to the next play and not worrying about
Speaker 5: what happened ten seconds ago, good or bad. And Jalen
Speaker 5: Brunson's got that skill. And again to the point Dewey
Speaker 5: as an NBA fans, ever see that if the scenario
Speaker 5: with Doncic years earlier, you know, doesn't doesn't occur. I
Speaker 5: mean a lot of guys just need the chance. And
Speaker 5: and that's why we always when we talk about the draft,
Speaker 5: which which obviously will be doing a lot of in
Speaker 5: the next month or so and trying to project guys
Speaker 5: at the NBA. You just never know how someone is
Speaker 5: gonna play, no matter what their talent or skill level
Speaker 5: or or innate athletic abilities are, until they get in
Speaker 5: the fire and you put them in there and the
Speaker 5: pressure's on, and now you see, you know how they think,
Speaker 5: what their twitch is, what their confidence level is, all
Speaker 5: those kinds of things you never quite know. It's the
Speaker 5: old it's the old Mike Tyson accident.
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 5: Everybody's got a plan until they get hit in the
Speaker 5: face and then the plan goes out the window, and
Speaker 5: now we see what you really got. And and Jalen
Speaker 5: Brunson's doing that in spades.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 3: Frank is Sola, friend of the show.
Speaker 2: In fact, Porter reach out to Is Sola, tell Is
Speaker 2: Sola that with the NIS in the conference finals, he
Speaker 2: has to come on the show.
Speaker 4: He I like this, I like this supporter.
Speaker 5: By the way, your guy here calling out like a
Speaker 5: national figure by his last name, call I Sola.
Speaker 2: Oh I made without me? Isola is not a thing.
Speaker 2: I Sola's not a thing without me. But but Frank
Speaker 2: always talks about and then he'll tweet, he'll write about
Speaker 2: there really isn't any hard data to support the narrative
Speaker 2: that Tom Thibodeau plays his players too much. It does
Speaker 2: not exist. And when you look at it, this year
Speaker 2: Steve Kerr was playing ten guys. Steph does his hamstring,
Speaker 2: Boston's ten d Tatum does his achilles.
Speaker 3: The data does not exist.
Speaker 2: It's a narrative that exists that Tom plays his guys
Speaker 2: too much. However, I know you were traveling. But Friday Night,
Speaker 2: Game six, the score is one hundred and ten to
Speaker 2: seventy four. Yep, with six minutes left and Jalen Brunson
Speaker 2: is fighting over screen set by Xavier Tilman.
Speaker 4: Yep.
Speaker 2: Pull the guys, Pull the starters. I know it's top stick.
Speaker 2: And again, I want to be clear, there really is
Speaker 2: no data. A soul has been on this for years.
Speaker 2: There's no data to indicate Tom plays his players too much,
Speaker 2: so they all get hurt. Guys just get hurt, no
Speaker 2: matter what. But what do you make of that with
Speaker 2: five and a half minutes left in the game, all
Speaker 2: the starters are in and they're up forty Why do
Speaker 2: you think he rolls that way?
Speaker 5: Well, if you know TIBs, which I know you do,
Speaker 5: is somewhat he is a high strung guy and he
Speaker 5: is all in and he is he is he He's
Speaker 5: one of those guys who just believes and he just
Speaker 5: feels with his gut that no lead is safe and
Speaker 5: it doesn't matter. And you can talk to him, and
Speaker 5: I know Rick Brunson, one of the assistant coaches, is
Speaker 5: probably the best at it to be able to go
Speaker 5: up to him and say, hey, coach, coach, it's you know,
Speaker 5: let's get him out or something, and he'll he'll like
Speaker 5: look at him and give him a scowl like what
Speaker 5: are you talking? You know, you know, okay, yeah, and
Speaker 5: wave them off or whatever. And it's just against Tim's
Speaker 5: nature to do that. That's just the way he coaches.
Speaker 5: He's gonna go down with with with those guys. Okay,
Speaker 5: it's smart, it's not smart whatever, but you're right, Spence.
Speaker 5: All during the season, whenever the Knicks had a little
Speaker 5: ripple or something didn't go right during the season, or
Speaker 5: they had a you know, lost three or four, whatever
Speaker 5: it was, there would always be people harping on it.
Speaker 5: While he's playing this guys too much and it's too
Speaker 5: many minutes and you gotta cut it back. As when
Speaker 5: you get to the playoffs, they got to have some
Speaker 5: energy left and blah blah blah and whatever, and and
Speaker 5: but now they're in the conference finals. They've beaten the Celtics,
Speaker 5: they had some tough games against Detroit, which is an
Speaker 5: up and coming team. They were in the final four
Speaker 5: of the NBA. You don't hear anybody complaining about tims
Speaker 5: is playing the guys too much, right, I mean, it's
Speaker 5: just a narrative that that somebody gets on and somebody
Speaker 5: takes it and runs off with it. And whether it
Speaker 5: makes sense or not or whatever, you know, you always
Speaker 5: people always are going to use it to whatever way
Speaker 5: they want to skew the argument, right, And if they're
Speaker 5: if they're losing some games, it's gonna be oh they
Speaker 5: ran out of gas. They played brunts and forty three minutes.
Speaker 5: You can't do that then to play you know whatever,
Speaker 5: it's gonna be. And so you know, Tibbs is gonna
Speaker 5: coach the way Tibbs has. Look he did it in Chicago, Uh,
Speaker 5: he did in Minnesota. You know the way he's he
Speaker 5: always coaches the Knicks new That's how he coaches.
Speaker 4: That's how he's.
Speaker 5: Gonna be if he can get his team uh, to
Speaker 5: a to a high level, which obviously they have. And
Speaker 5: they made the big trade last summer, and they went
Speaker 5: all in on this group by making the trade for
Speaker 5: Karl Anthony Towns and also bringing in Michael Bridges and
Speaker 5: giving up a bunch of their draft picks and all
Speaker 5: that kind of stuff they had in the bank, and
Speaker 5: they rolled the dice on it. And again things have
Speaker 5: fallen their way, right, they won, They won three games.
Speaker 5: I think it was in the Detroit series, like in
Speaker 5: the last thirty seconds, things the ball fell their way.
Speaker 5: They made a shot, they got to stop, they got
Speaker 5: to steal the Celtics the same thing in game one,
Speaker 5: and then they got the they got the thing with Tatum.
Speaker 5: And so to this point, those breaks that they some
Speaker 5: of them they've made themselves, but some of them have
Speaker 5: happened for them. And in whatever way you want to
Speaker 5: interpret it, they find themselves now in the conference finals.
Speaker 5: And uh, you know, in being New York, as you
Speaker 5: know very well Spence firsthand, you know, whether they win,
Speaker 5: they'll be the greatest, the greatest thing on earth. And
Speaker 5: if they lose, they'll they will be down in the
Speaker 5: depths of you know, in the under six feet under
Speaker 5: the ground and and they will be this guy's fault
Speaker 5: and that guy's fault and the other guy's fault and whatever.
Speaker 5: And that's just the way it is in New York.
Speaker 5: And at the moment, the ride and high. So we'll
Speaker 5: see what happens at starting tomorrow night.
Speaker 2: Honestly, I was just I was kind of chuckling, but
Speaker 2: I was a little bit nervous. I mean, We're watching
Speaker 2: Ogiannaobe guarding Baylor Shireman, and I'm like, what what are
Speaker 2: we doing here on the other side of things. I'll
Speaker 2: continue to give you credit as a guy that's like, look,
Speaker 2: anything can happen. Come playoff basketball, and more often than not,
Speaker 2: in a seven game series, the best team does advance.
Speaker 2: And maybe Indiana was just the best team. But Cleveland
Speaker 2: was so good in the regular season. And Kenny gets
Speaker 2: Coach of the Year and Donovan's probably going to be
Speaker 2: first team All NBA, Mobley gets Defensive Player of the Year,
Speaker 2: and you know, it was interesting, Smitty. After Game six,
Speaker 2: it was a game six or game five, Game six,
Speaker 2: when the Pacers one, whichever the clothes out was, Kenny
Speaker 2: Atkinson readily admitted, like they're at a level that we're
Speaker 2: not like they're better than we are right now, and
Speaker 2: then Rick Carlisle steps to the podium and owns it.
Speaker 2: He's like, yeah, we're flying. We're playing the best basketball
Speaker 2: we played all year long, which is the old cliche, right,
Speaker 2: play the right way at the right time of year.
Speaker 2: What do you make of the way the Pacers were
Speaker 2: able to get rid of Donovan and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Speaker 4: Well, it was it was a great series for them.
Speaker 5: First of all, they have been running, running hot the
Speaker 5: second half of the season. They've been playing very well.
Speaker 5: The Indiana Pacers. They after they stumbled out of the
Speaker 5: gates early in November and December, and Halliburton, you know,
Speaker 5: maybe wasn't his usual self whatever early in the season,
Speaker 5: but they got their feet under them. They got through
Speaker 5: the All Star break, they played very well the second half,
Speaker 5: and they've just they've just gotten on a you know
Speaker 5: what some people would call a heater.
Speaker 4: They've they've played, they're playing well.
Speaker 5: It's not a surprise because they're a good team and
Speaker 5: they've got good players. But when they play together and
Speaker 5: the way Rick Carlisle has them, how they share the ball,
Speaker 5: they move it, it doesn't matter who gets the credit,
Speaker 5: but Halliburton is the key for them, and he's got
Speaker 5: that kind of a personality like Gildess Alexander does or
Speaker 5: for OKC and Jalen Brunson does with the Knicks where
Speaker 5: they're the catalyst, but they don't. They all have that
Speaker 5: mindset that they don't care who else does it as
Speaker 5: long as it gets done. And the Pacers are on
Speaker 5: that kind of a role. And winning that first game
Speaker 5: in Cleveland where they came back and they were doubt
Speaker 5: they should have lost it, and they they again, the
Speaker 5: ball bounced their way a couple of times and Mitchell
Speaker 5: got the offensive foul call that was questionable, and then
Speaker 5: Haliburton misses a free throw, but he ends up with
Speaker 5: the ball back as a rebound, which should never happen
Speaker 5: in the NBA, and is able to stick that three
Speaker 5: at the buzzer. You know, those are the things that
Speaker 5: have to take place along the way if you're going
Speaker 5: to have some kind of an extended playoff run. So
Speaker 5: none of these things are a surprise. It's just when
Speaker 5: you're the team that that it's happening too in a
Speaker 5: positive way. You want to keep those things going and
Speaker 5: you want to make sure that your mindset doesn't trick
Speaker 5: you into thinking that you're better than you are.
Speaker 4: That you understand. Okay, we got to break there.
Speaker 5: Okay, the other game the guy fell down and lost
Speaker 5: the ball, you know, whatever it is. And so but
Speaker 5: we have to stick to what we believe we can
Speaker 5: do to the best of our ability to give us
Speaker 5: a chance to be successful. And I think they're going
Speaker 5: to be two terrific series, I really do. I think
Speaker 5: it's gonna be fun to watch.
Speaker 2: Before we catch a break, I have a question about Donovan,
Speaker 2: and in the question I will insert an opinion and
Speaker 2: then I want you to go.
Speaker 3: And you might get mad at.
Speaker 4: Me for this. I'm already mad Spence.
Speaker 3: Okay, well that's that's the smitty mo.
Speaker 4: I can see it coming.
Speaker 2: Always angry, because here's the thing, Like, ultimately, if you
Speaker 2: just look at the numbers and you look at some
Speaker 2: of the playoff explosions he has, he's in the most
Speaker 2: rarefied of air, including Mike, including Iverson, including like individual
Speaker 2: playoff scoring, Donovan is on a short list of somebody
Speaker 2: who's been able to do what he's done throughout the
Speaker 2: first seven eight years of his career, never been out
Speaker 2: of the second round, and certainly, I'm not putting a
Speaker 2: team sport on one player, but I noticed at times
Speaker 2: here and maybe he was out of necessity and at
Speaker 2: times in Cleveland, like when he just goes all in
Speaker 2: on doing his own thing. It's really fun to watch
Speaker 2: at times because he's that talented and he's that good
Speaker 2: and he can get his own But at times it
Speaker 2: feels like his teammates stand around and watch him and
Speaker 2: suddenly they're not cutting, or they're not guarding, or they're
Speaker 2: not boxing out, and you've got a bunch of guys
Speaker 2: standing watching one dude do his thing, and at times
Speaker 2: maybe at the expense of the team, and then at
Speaker 2: times he runs out of gas. We saw it a time,
Speaker 2: and look, Cleveland has to rely on him in a
Speaker 2: very heavy way offensively because he is that good, and
Speaker 2: you guys did the same thing because he is that dynamic.
Speaker 3: But at times does feel.
Speaker 2: Like he puts blinders on to the point where maybe
Speaker 2: it's not conducive to team winning.
Speaker 3: Is that fair or what are your thoughts on it?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I would push back on that somewhat spence. He
Speaker 5: you know, he does those things because he knows that
Speaker 5: he can do them. He knows that his team is
Speaker 5: relying on him, that the heavy load is on him.
Speaker 5: But that stuff you're talking about, that's on the other guys. Sure,
Speaker 5: the other guys, that's their problem, their fault if they're
Speaker 5: standing around watching him instead of instead of cutting baseline,
Speaker 5: instead of spacing out weak side, instead of going and
Speaker 5: getting a screen on somebody or rolling to the front
Speaker 5: of the rim or whatever it is. That's on the
Speaker 5: other guys to not be ball watches on the other
Speaker 5: guys to understand this is what's going on. My guy
Speaker 5: is about to spin dribble to his left and get
Speaker 5: in the lane and try and do a double pump
Speaker 5: or something at the dotted line. So I got to
Speaker 5: get in a position for potential rebound, or I got
Speaker 5: to at least get in front of my guy and
Speaker 5: try and box him out so maybe we can get
Speaker 5: offensive tip or something in those In those circumstances, Donovan,
Speaker 5: I can tell you he's all about trying to win.
Speaker 5: He's all about trying to do what he can to
Speaker 5: affect winning for his group, and uh and those things
Speaker 5: that when they've come up short, it hasn't been because
Speaker 5: of him. He gives a maximum effort, as you alluded
Speaker 5: to you know, big scoring numbers and all that. That's
Speaker 5: what he's there to do in those instances, and it's
Speaker 5: on his teammates to fill in the cracks and do
Speaker 5: the other things, you know, to get you over the hump.
Speaker 2: Are you ready with your Jazz draft trivia question for
Speaker 2: one lucky listener to go play eighteen holes at Bonneville
Speaker 2: or just a basketball.
Speaker 5: I got yeah, Well, I'm trying to think of something
Speaker 5: that's not easy for people to just remember.
Speaker 3: Google it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I know, find it.
Speaker 5: I know it's okay. The Jazz the nineteen nineteen ninety
Speaker 5: seven draft the NBA. The Jazz had as their point
Speaker 5: guards John Stockton.
Speaker 3: And Howard Eisley.
Speaker 5: Howard Eisley, and yet they still decided in the late
Speaker 5: first round to pick another point guard. It did you know,
Speaker 5: to give them three point guards in a in a
Speaker 5: in a summer where Howard Eisley was going to be
Speaker 5: a free agent, and so caused a little consternation, But
Speaker 5: it was a best player available.
Speaker 4: Thing.
Speaker 5: Who was the Jazz's first round pick in nineteen ninety seven.
Speaker 2: Went on to become a head coach. Can we give
Speaker 2: that hints? Can we give that hintra now?
Speaker 5: See now now the walls are crumbling. Now you're giving it,
Speaker 5: giving it all away.
Speaker 2: Eight seven seven three five three zero seven hundred text
Speaker 2: in the name, and we're going to send you to
Speaker 2: play golf at Bonneville, my home course. Eighteen holes to
Speaker 2: Bonneville eight seven seven three five three zero seven hundred
Speaker 2: more with Smithy coming up on the.
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Speaker 3: Corey, thanks man, all right, thank you.
Speaker 2: I have Morris Smitty coming up next right here, AUDIESPN
Speaker 2: seven hundred NBA Playoff basketball returns tonight. The conference finals
Speaker 2: in the West is first Oklahoma City taken on Minnesota,
Speaker 2: and then tomorrow night it will be the Knicks and
Speaker 2: the Celtics live from the Mecca, the world's most famous arena,
Speaker 2: Madison Square Garden. Let's get his mic on Richard Smith.
Speaker 2: I didn't always I always love that Spence. I always
Speaker 2: love the world's most famous arena.
Speaker 3: It's such an audacious player, and I.
Speaker 5: Always I always quickly say myself self proclaimed.
Speaker 3: It's very it's it's very audacious.
Speaker 2: It's one of those things you just say it out loud,
Speaker 2: and you know, people just tend to latch onto it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I know, I know, I know.
Speaker 2: But we we did a lot on the Knicks Pacers
Speaker 2: last series. Talked a little Donovan, talked a little Calves.
Speaker 2: Let's move over and ow to the West and we'll
Speaker 2: end with some jazz for this segment, Smitty, Let's start
Speaker 2: in Minnesota, where your old friend Rudy Gobert resides, your
Speaker 2: old friend Mike Conley resides, Joey Ingles, Nikkeil, Alexander Walker.
Speaker 2: Kind of the jazz version Midwest Jazz, Midwest team that
Speaker 2: actually is still playing and actually is good.
Speaker 3: Unlike the jazz. We'll get to that in the moment.
Speaker 2: You know, we talked about this with the Tatum stuff,
Speaker 2: and I don't know if Golden State beats them with
Speaker 2: Steph Curry. I know it looks a lot different, certainly,
Speaker 2: But what do you make of And I read this earlier,
Speaker 2: and I was unaware the top two records in pro
Speaker 2: basketball since March first, Oklahoma City won Minnesota two didn't
Speaker 2: start out that well. They were trying to figure out
Speaker 2: the Randall stuff, you know, and Julius Randall is a
Speaker 2: very talented individual, offensive scorer. At times, I think the
Speaker 2: Knicks asked a little too much of him, and he
Speaker 2: was an All Star once upon a time, obviously a
Speaker 2: very capable player. He seems to have settled in quite
Speaker 2: a bit. What do you make of how Chris Finch's
Speaker 2: coaches team of the Western Conference Finals.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think that it's taken a little while to adjust.
Speaker 5: But you know, I think Randall is in a good
Speaker 5: spot because he doesn't have to be the guy. He
Speaker 5: doesn't have to be doing all the heavy lift. And
Speaker 5: obviously with with Anthony Edwards there and so he takes
Speaker 5: a lot of the spotlight off. But Randall is a good,
Speaker 5: good player in the mid post. And he's also a
Speaker 5: better passer than most people think, and a willing passer,
Speaker 5: and I think he fits in well with that group,
Speaker 5: you know, on the other side from Jade McDaniels, who's
Speaker 5: who's really a good wing defender, has become a serviceable
Speaker 5: three point shooter, and they've gotten a nice rhythm going.
Speaker 5: And Rudy has always been the ultimate team guy. He
Speaker 5: just you know, tries to fill in the cracks where
Speaker 5: he can and make himself available on the offensive end
Speaker 5: and does what he does defensively.
Speaker 4: And so they're on a nice role, you know.
Speaker 5: And I think it's gonna be a really competitive series.
Speaker 5: I really think the home teams are going to are
Speaker 5: going to prevail during this this round. I just think
Speaker 5: that those guys, they seem to both play better a
Speaker 5: little bit more energize with their home crowds, which are
Speaker 5: both really terrific you know, during the playoffs, and so
Speaker 5: I think it's gonna be fun to watch, and it's
Speaker 5: gonna be interesting to see how they come out the
Speaker 5: old Rust versus Rest, you know, a debate will happen
Speaker 5: tonight between Okay, see just coming off a tough seven
Speaker 5: game series and finishing up forty eight hours ago basically,
Speaker 5: and Minnesota having almost a week off, and so it's
Speaker 5: gonna be interesting to see how the two teams come out.
Speaker 2: Oddly enough, OKC six and two with one day of
Speaker 2: rest during the playoffs in Minnesota two and four with
Speaker 2: more than three days of rest, and they have five
Speaker 2: days of rest obviously, Okay, see a bunch of bunch
Speaker 2: of young players probably don't need as much rest as
Speaker 2: some of the teams that are a little bit older.
Speaker 2: Let me let me ask you about Rudy though you know,
Speaker 2: I was watching it was game six Nick Celtics, and
Speaker 2: there was one possession where Mitchell Robinson was guarding I
Speaker 2: think it was Luke Cornette. A pass went out to
Speaker 2: the wing, Robinson goes out and closes out, comes back
Speaker 2: down check Cornette. Then the ball goes to the corner
Speaker 2: to Jalen Brown and Mitchell Robinson goes out and closes
Speaker 2: out guarded.
Speaker 3: Like three different positions.
Speaker 2: The way that the game is played now, it asks
Speaker 2: a lot from a big to guard on the perimeter,
Speaker 2: to get out and close out, to guard multiple players.
Speaker 2: And Rudy does as well as anybody, but for some
Speaker 2: reason does not get the credit.
Speaker 3: Why do you Why do you think that is?
Speaker 2: It feels like there's just people that have dubbed their
Speaker 2: heels in and they're just gonna hate everything he does.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and I.
Speaker 5: Think that that's Uh, I think you just said a
Speaker 5: lot there, Spence. I think some people get out a
Speaker 5: certain narrative and then they just won't let it go
Speaker 5: for whatever reason. It's you know, it's unfortunate. You know,
Speaker 5: you have to really watch the games and pay attention
Speaker 5: to to what's going on, and and and you realize
Speaker 5: all of the we we had a in house metrics system.
Speaker 6: Uh.
Speaker 5: That was a proprietary thing that we that the Jazz
Speaker 5: developed when I was there to gauge our our defensive
Speaker 5: analytics and stuff and to go off off the page
Speaker 5: of of what what the numbers showed you and uh,
Speaker 5: and Rudy constantly, you know, graded so so far above
Speaker 5: everybody else in the league in terms of what he
Speaker 5: meant on the defensive end to teams in games. And
Speaker 5: he continues to do that. You know, he's gotten to
Speaker 5: the point in his career where he knows that he
Speaker 5: doesn't have to do all of these you know a
Speaker 5: bunch of things in the basket. He just has to
Speaker 5: do some of them, and do them very well and
Speaker 5: and let the other people do what they're supposed to
Speaker 5: be doing in order to have have some level of success.
Speaker 5: And he's he's learned how to do that, and he's
Speaker 5: smart about it, and and and he's a guy that's
Speaker 5: going to be a very valuable key from Minnesota in
Speaker 5: the series if they're going to have any success.
Speaker 2: It's funny you reference and I don't pretend to know
Speaker 2: the ins and outs of your in house metric system
Speaker 2: as it pertains to the way Rudy impacted winning, But
Speaker 2: it reminds me of an interview I did when I
Speaker 2: was doing the show at Gordon and we had Dennis on.
Speaker 2: We had Dennis lindsay on, and he hit us with
Speaker 2: like ten straight stats about everything Rudy.
Speaker 3: Does you know?
Speaker 2: Offensive field goal percentage, rebound percentage, black percentage, the opponent's
Speaker 2: field goal percentage against Rudy at the rim.
Speaker 3: I mean I lost track after a while.
Speaker 2: He just boom boom boom boom boom boom. Did you
Speaker 2: guys ever feel like you had to stand up for him?
Speaker 2: Did you ever feel like the heat he was getting
Speaker 2: with so unfair that as an organization you had to
Speaker 2: get out in front of it a little bit?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean there was some of that because it's
Speaker 5: you know, a lot of the noise you hear, you know,
Speaker 5: is around up from people who are lazy, who just
Speaker 5: you know, take some you know, the cream off the
Speaker 5: top and and and leave the rest of the dessert
Speaker 5: there and don't don't bother digging in to see what
Speaker 5: else is going on and and uh. And it always
Speaker 5: felt bad for him because not only was Rudy an
Speaker 5: integral part of what those jazz teams did as his
Speaker 5: as his career progressed, but he also we also knew,
Speaker 5: you know, behind closed doors, that Rudy was one of
Speaker 5: our guys who was really about helping the team to
Speaker 5: whatever extent he could to be successful. It wasn't about
Speaker 5: his own honors, it wasn't about you know, getting attention
Speaker 5: to himself. He really cared about how the team was doing.
Speaker 5: And and sometimes when he got attacked, and in that regard,
Speaker 5: you felt bad for him because you knew that he
Speaker 5: was trying to do the things that the coaches were
Speaker 5: asking him to do, you know, within his ability and
Speaker 5: his skill level to be able to execute that. And
Speaker 5: when it didn't go well, or you know, you missed
Speaker 5: an assignment, or you missed something that happened and people
Speaker 5: were pointing to you. You know, you just felt that
Speaker 5: it was unfair because you knew he was one of
Speaker 5: your guys who was trying to do the right thing,
Speaker 5: even if if he failed.
Speaker 2: Sometimes, do you think that it affected him on a
Speaker 2: personal level, like behind closed doors? You know, because the
Speaker 2: Draymond stuff it got so old, but it wasn't just Draymond.
Speaker 2: I mean, it felt like and it still feels like
Speaker 2: quite Frankly, I was watching I was watching some earlier today.
Speaker 2: It was Gilbert A. Renus who just decided to attack Rudy.
Speaker 2: He was like, he's the liability on this Minnesota team.
Speaker 2: And like I said, it feels like there's a faction
Speaker 2: of people in the league that have just decided I
Speaker 2: don't like him.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Do you think behind closed doors it really hurt him?
Speaker 2: Do you think it got to him?
Speaker 4: Sure?
Speaker 5: Yeah, No, I think he I think he's he's human
Speaker 5: like anybody, and you know, he would like to be
Speaker 5: recognized for his efforts and for the work he puts in.
Speaker 5: And you know, I'll tell you what nobody worked harder
Speaker 5: on on his body and on his ability to move,
Speaker 5: you know, from side to side, and you know with
Speaker 5: his hips and being able to u recover uh than
Speaker 5: he did. And he always uh, you know, he always
Speaker 5: put the work in. He always put the time in. Look,
Speaker 5: he's he's seven to two. He's got some limited true
Speaker 5: athletic ability.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 5: And then the rest of the stuff he asked to
Speaker 5: you know, make up with, you know, whether with his
Speaker 5: length or with his smarts, or with his instincts or
Speaker 5: what have you. And and he was always someone who
Speaker 5: would do that. And it's it's easy that you know,
Speaker 5: a lot of the national guys, it's just a lazy
Speaker 5: narrative because they don't want to do the work and
Speaker 5: they don't really look at it. They just kind of
Speaker 5: jump on a bandwagon. And you know, as you know,
Speaker 5: spencing this business, it's all about you know, clicks and
Speaker 5: you know, sound bites and whatever, and you know, whatever
Speaker 5: is easy and and and so that's unfortunate, you know,
Speaker 5: and you know, but but Rudy has never backed down,
Speaker 5: you know, from his teammates and his coaches, and has
Speaker 5: always been there to to uh to give a maximum
Speaker 5: effort from what he can do. And yeah, he'd like
Speaker 5: to be one of the boys in the room. And
Speaker 5: you know, have all the other guys, you know, dap
Speaker 5: them up and all that kind of stuff, and you know,
Speaker 5: accept them into the club, so to speak. And there's
Speaker 5: some guys who are jealous that he's been recognized as
Speaker 5: uh four time NBA Defensive Player of the Year. And
Speaker 5: you know it's interesting, uh you know, similar, not the same,
Speaker 5: but maybe in the same uh, in the same boat as.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 5: Now now I'm blanket out on his name that the
Speaker 5: center who won the defensive Player of the Year awards
Speaker 5: for the Detroit Pistons in the in the two thousands, who.
Speaker 4: Was also a non Ben Wallace.
Speaker 5: Yeah, Ben Wallas a non a non offensive guy, you know. Uh,
Speaker 5: but Ben Wallace, you know, Rudy was longer. Rudy's you know,
Speaker 5: more effective. Maybe I don't know, Ben Wallace presents you know,
Speaker 5: maybe a little tougher persona or personality maybe.
Speaker 4: I don't know.
Speaker 5: But you never heard any of those criticism of anybody
Speaker 5: about Ben Wallace, you know, or you know that he
Speaker 5: was short on offensive production or couldn't do this or
Speaker 5: that or whatever. And and for whatever reason, Rudy has
Speaker 5: gotten that.
Speaker 4: I don't know what that is. You know.
Speaker 5: Again, I think somebody way down the road, you know,
Speaker 5: started that narrative and then just kind of, you know,
Speaker 5: jumped down the bandwagon and decided to ride with it man, you.
Speaker 2: Know well and with little jazz stuff. But before we
Speaker 2: get there, I know your reference. You like both teams
Speaker 2: that have home court advantage. My only hesitancy with Oklahoma City,
Speaker 2: I guess is the way I'll put this.
Speaker 3: I mean, look, they have everything that you want.
Speaker 2: They have depth, they have star power, they have great coaching,
Speaker 2: they guard, they can score in a myriad of different ways.
Speaker 2: I always hesitate to anoint a team if I haven't
Speaker 2: seen them do it before. Minnesota was in the Western
Speaker 2: Conference Finals a year ago. Oklahoma City beat the Pelicans,
Speaker 2: then got smoked by the MAVs. Do you feel like
Speaker 2: this is Okayse's time or which way you leaning.
Speaker 3: On both sides?
Speaker 5: No, I just I think it's gonna be, you know,
Speaker 5: come down to, you know, beating a dead horse or spence.
Speaker 5: But but the team that can avoid injury can avoid somebody,
Speaker 5: you know, not.
Speaker 4: Playing in a game.
Speaker 5: Say, for example, somebody picks up three quick fouls and
Speaker 5: is out extended time and the other team is able
Speaker 5: to take advantage of that. Hopefully we don't get another
Speaker 5: Steph Courry or Jason Tatum thing and everybody can play
Speaker 5: at full strength and you can just see, you know,
Speaker 5: what's going on. I think if all the guys are
Speaker 5: on the floor, and all the guys are available and
Speaker 5: playing the way that they're capable, that's that's why I'm
Speaker 5: excited for both series, because I think they're both going
Speaker 5: to be very competitive. I think the team that keeps
Speaker 5: its head within itself doesn't get caught up in all
Speaker 5: the you know, the historyonics they can happen at this
Speaker 5: point in the playoffs and people yelling at the referees
Speaker 5: every other whistle and and getting upset about things, If
Speaker 5: you can keep your calm and just stay and in
Speaker 5: your moment and and try and concentrate on what you
Speaker 5: need to do next, I think that that's those are
Speaker 5: the teams that are going to have a head up
Speaker 5: and have a better chance.
Speaker 4: Of succeed succeeding in getting to the finals.
Speaker 2: All right, before we let you go for today, let's
Speaker 2: do a little Jazz basketball. So the draft is coming
Speaker 2: up on June the twenty fifth. The Jazz have number five,
Speaker 2: they have number twenty one, They have forty three and
Speaker 2: fifty three, So to first two seconds. You know, Bobby
Speaker 2: Marks joined us yesterday and did a really really good
Speaker 2: job of outlining you know my question him was okay.
Speaker 2: So the narrative is the NBA is now built for parody,
Speaker 2: and the NBA is now built by design for every
Speaker 2: team in every city to have a shot. So over
Speaker 2: the past seven years, we've seen Denver win a championship,
Speaker 2: We've seen Milwaukee win a championship. This year we have Indianapolis,
Speaker 2: we have Minnesota, Oklahoma City. Three of the final four teams.
Speaker 2: It is a perfect time for a team that plays
Speaker 2: their basketball in Salt Lake City to be able to
Speaker 2: capitalize on the landscape of the NBA. Unfortunately, the Jazz
Speaker 2: aren't ready, and there's five years left in the CBA.
Speaker 3: It expires in twenty thirty. I don't know what's going
Speaker 3: to happen.
Speaker 2: I know there's a lot of pushback from people that
Speaker 2: don't like the way this thing has played out. There
Speaker 2: are several reports. I don't know how much of this
Speaker 2: is real. I don't know how much of this is
Speaker 2: true that the Jazz are going to be bold. They're
Speaker 2: going to be bold this offseason. They have the assets,
Speaker 2: they have the picks, they have the space, they have
Speaker 2: the young players. What does a successful offseason look like
Speaker 2: for the Utah Jazz midty.
Speaker 5: Well, I think they are they have to be bold
Speaker 5: because they have nowhere to go but up there there.
Speaker 5: They not only had the worst record in the in
Speaker 5: the league this past season, but they by a lot
Speaker 5: of defensive metrics, they were one of, if not the
Speaker 5: worst defensive team, uh in a lot of years historically.
Speaker 5: But yeah, I mean they just you know, they're just
Speaker 5: not very good at the moment. So there's nobody that's
Speaker 5: on the on the team that's untouchable. In my opinion,
Speaker 5: I think you know, when you're when you have the
Speaker 5: worst record and you're not showing that you're making any
Speaker 5: progress because this this defensive malaise, if you will, has
Speaker 5: been the the mantra the last couple of years. You know,
Speaker 5: then then uh, you you have to make changes. So
Speaker 5: it wouldn't surprise me that they try and make a
Speaker 5: lot of moves. Uh, make a lot of changes. What
Speaker 5: does that yield? What does it look like? All those
Speaker 5: things you know are up for grabs. I think they're
Speaker 5: going to be doing a lot of soul searching, uh,
Speaker 5: in terms of what is the next step that we're
Speaker 5: going to have to make to be able to start
Speaker 5: seeing some kind of a relevant improvement in what we're
Speaker 5: trying to do. Again, people get frustrated, people get upset
Speaker 5: about what's what's taking place at the moment. Obviously, you
Speaker 5: you go from hoping you get the first pick to
Speaker 5: the fifth pick. Doesn't work out, and so now you're
Speaker 5: even more frustrated. But Spence, they've only been doing this
Speaker 5: for three years, and you know sometimes these things take five, six,
Speaker 5: seven years, and and and some times longer. You know,
Speaker 5: you don't have control over some of the things, like
Speaker 5: the draft, like the draft lottery last week. So to
Speaker 5: your point, a lot of things are gonna be on
Speaker 5: the table, a lot of things are gonna they're gonna.
Speaker 4: Be trying to do.
Speaker 5: How much do they do, you know, to to to
Speaker 5: the to the Danny angel A mantra of big game hunting.
Speaker 5: They're gonna be trying to do a lot of that
Speaker 5: in different ways. Uh, do they come back with anything,
Speaker 5: Do they have a whole different scheme in terms of
Speaker 5: their team and and what their personnel looks like in
Speaker 5: uh next October remains to be seen. But but I
Speaker 5: think everything's on the table for them because they've gotta
Speaker 5: they've got to show that they're which I know they're
Speaker 5: willing to do, because Danny angels Willing has shown in
Speaker 5: the past he's willing to do anything. Uh, but they
Speaker 5: have to show that they can start making moves that
Speaker 5: that look like they're making improvement and look like that
Speaker 5: they're they're moving in the right direction. Uh, you know,
Speaker 5: for the uh, for the benefit of their of their
Speaker 5: season ticket holders, their fans, everybody who who are die
Speaker 5: hard jazz fans.
Speaker 2: Do you think they approach next year with best foot
Speaker 2: forward instead of inventing injuries and having Walker Castler shoot
Speaker 2: seven threes a night.
Speaker 4: Well, I think they.
Speaker 5: I think they have to get they have to make
Speaker 5: some kind of a show that looks like they are
Speaker 5: getting better, they are improving, you know. To do another
Speaker 5: year of this thing that they just did is gonna
Speaker 5: be difficult, only from this standpoint that they're gonna be
Speaker 5: having people breathing down their necks to say, hey, you
Speaker 5: just did that and it didn't it didn't work out,
Speaker 5: so you're gonna do it again, you know, And so
Speaker 5: that's that's gonna that would be a hard sell, you know,
Speaker 5: to their fan base, and uh and look, nobody wants
Speaker 5: to lose, and nobody wants to do it on purpose.
Speaker 5: Everybody wants to try and be a better version of themselves.
Speaker 5: And I'm sure sure they're going to kick the tires
Speaker 5: on a lot of different things in the next several
Speaker 5: months to see, you know how they can get that
Speaker 5: going in the right direction.
Speaker 2: Great to see you, my friend. We'll let you get
Speaker 2: some rest. Thanks for the time, Okay, all nice fense.
Speaker 2: Richard Smith. I want to remind you guys to join
Speaker 2: me Monday, June the twenty third for the twenty twenty
Speaker 2: five Van neud Charity Golf Challenge at the Black Desert
Speaker 2: Resort in scenic Saint George. All the proceedings from this
Speaker 2: tournament go to benefit the Van nor Valor Foundation that
Speaker 2: helps foster kids in the Adoption Foundation. Kyle was adopted
Speaker 2: as an infant, so this cause is very meaningful to
Speaker 2: him and his family. We're going to be down there,
Speaker 2: come hang out with us. It starts on Sunday, June
Speaker 2: the twenty second, with a welcome cocktail party at seven o'clock.
Speaker 2: Then on Monday it's an eight am check in and
Speaker 2: breakfast welcome is at eight forty five. A shotgun start
Speaker 2: is at nine am, then the awards will take place
Speaker 2: at two thirty. Lunch is served on the course. Van
Speaker 2: Nei Golf twenty five. Dot givesmart dot com is the website.
Speaker 2: Van Neid Golf twenty twenty five. Dot giftsmart dot com
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