Speaker 1: But there we go.
Speaker 2: Fred Rogan or Rodney Peach on five seventy LA Sports,
Speaker 2: a one hour program for us today because the Dodgers
Speaker 2: are back at it in Washington, and of course we
Speaker 2: will have the game for you first pitch around three
Speaker 2: forty five before we get to the Dodgers, before we
Speaker 2: talk about what's going on with the Dodgers. Rodney, I
Speaker 2: think we'd be remiss if we didn't talk about what
Speaker 2: happened in Denver today. The Nuggets fired their coach, Michael Malone.
Speaker 2: I couldn't believe that. I couldn't believe it either.
Speaker 3: Here we are on the edge of the playoffs and
Speaker 3: they fire their coach and general manager. I just don't
Speaker 3: understand that. You know, Fredd, it when things like this happen.
Speaker 3: First of all, you wonder what's going on up top,
Speaker 3: But then you got to believe that there had to
Speaker 3: be a serious blow up for something like this to
Speaker 3: go down at this point in the season. There has
Speaker 3: to be something more that we're not privy to. Would
Speaker 3: you agree, yeah, one hundred percent. I mean I thought
Speaker 3: it was odd when the Grizzlies fired their coach, Taylor Jenkins,
Speaker 3: and the thought was they would get rid of him
Speaker 3: after the season anyway, but that close to the playoffs
Speaker 3: and you're thinking that doesn't make any sense. I mean,
Speaker 3: Adam is producing today and Adam is our NBA guy, Adam,
Speaker 3: I don't understand what happened here. Do you have any
Speaker 3: insight into what may have happened?
Speaker 4: Guys, If the Luka Donciz trade is the most shocking
Speaker 4: trade in NBA history, this is probably the most shocking
Speaker 4: firing given the timing. We're talking about a guy who
Speaker 4: is less than two years removed from leading them to
Speaker 4: a championship in twenty twenty three. I know he can
Speaker 4: be prickly, he can be salty, he can be tough
Speaker 4: to deal with. But to do this with three games
Speaker 4: left in the regular season for the Denver Nuggets, this
Speaker 4: is bizarre. Now, something else is going on behind the scenes,
Speaker 4: but this screams we need a complete makeover. We've lost
Speaker 4: four games in a row. They've lost to some good teams.
Speaker 4: They had that bad loss in double overtime to the
Speaker 4: Minnesota Timberwolves. Guys where Russell Westbrook smoked that layup and
Speaker 4: then fouled a three point shooter to lose that game.
Speaker 4: It's like, how much of this is just hinging off
Speaker 4: that one loss, like did that was that the straw
Speaker 4: that broke the camel's back. Mike Malone, though he must
Speaker 4: have lost the locker room to be fired like this.
Speaker 4: I don't see how you don't talk to the guys
Speaker 4: in the locker room, talk with your superstar Nikola Jokics
Speaker 4: before you make a move like this.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and then what about the DM booth right they
Speaker 3: fired him?
Speaker 1: Did him and Malone not get along?
Speaker 5: They didn't get along.
Speaker 4: But also this is a situation where ownership wasn't willing
Speaker 4: to pay guys. Where they let Bruce Brown go, they
Speaker 4: let Contavious Caldwell Pope go, guys who were integral to
Speaker 4: them winning that championship in twenty twenty three.
Speaker 5: They were kind of eroding. They were chipping away at
Speaker 5: their own foundation.
Speaker 4: Losing these guys, they try to replace them. Christian Brown
Speaker 4: has been good this season for them, but they are
Speaker 4: twentieth defensively and Mike Malone is a defensive head coach
Speaker 4: and they haven't been able to fix that part of it.
Speaker 5: And now Jamal Murray's been hurt.
Speaker 4: He may not be available in the playoffs.
Speaker 5: They're reeling.
Speaker 4: They're sliding, they could fall into the play in But
Speaker 4: having said all that, to do it with three games left,
Speaker 4: when there's six days left in the NBA regular season,
Speaker 4: this is incredible. This is I've never seen anything like it.
Speaker 3: And they and you said, you said they're sliding, but
Speaker 3: right now, like whether they the fourth season, I know
Speaker 3: there's a lockdawn right there with the four through eight,
Speaker 3: but they're in the four seed, Adam, with like you said,
Speaker 3: three games left. Nobody does this unless there is a
Speaker 3: tremendous problem behind closed doors.
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 4: From some of the stuff we've heard from Mike Malone
Speaker 4: recently postgame, he's made it sound like guys have tuned
Speaker 4: him out. They aren't watching film, they aren't responding to
Speaker 4: his tough love that has been there for.
Speaker 5: A long time. That's who he is. Rodney, maybe you
Speaker 5: can speak to this.
Speaker 4: But when you have coaches that wear on you, it's
Speaker 4: all good when you're winning, but things can turn very
Speaker 4: quickly when those guys start to lose and that message
Speaker 4: is no longer being received.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, definitely. It wears on you. Guys rub you
Speaker 3: the wrong way, and it's all rosy when you win,
Speaker 3: and you typically love coaches that are like even killed
Speaker 3: right same way when you win, you lose. They're constructive
Speaker 3: when you lose, but also constructive and you win. But
Speaker 3: if you go to the extremes on both sides, or
Speaker 3: you go to the extreme when you lose and you're
Speaker 3: kind of whole hum when you win, then guys see
Speaker 3: that as well. But like you said, two years removed
Speaker 3: from winning a championship, sometimes that trumps a lot of things.
Speaker 3: If you're a coach that won it two years ago,
Speaker 3: that buys you, It should buy you a lot of
Speaker 3: real estate. And in this case, it didn't.
Speaker 5: And this is Denver.
Speaker 4: It's it's not La it's not the Lakers, where the
Speaker 4: standard is crazy high all the time, and you're in
Speaker 4: the pressure cooker right away because.
Speaker 5: Of the history.
Speaker 4: The history is Mike Malone winning them a championship there
Speaker 4: in Denver's that's the highest they've ever reached.
Speaker 5: That is the top of the mountain for them for
Speaker 5: the first time.
Speaker 4: Like that is an unbelievable move at this time of
Speaker 4: the season. I've never seen anything like it. I guess
Speaker 4: Hubi Brown was let go in the early eighties with
Speaker 4: the same amount of games remaining. That's the only thing
Speaker 4: you can compare it to. But I thought the Taylor
Speaker 4: Jenkins move, like Fred brought up, that was bizarre, that
Speaker 4: was wild.
Speaker 5: This this is extreme.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but look at it like this. So they getting
Speaker 2: rid of Malone is shocking, but they cleaned everybody out.
Speaker 2: They took the GM out as well, So you start
Speaker 2: to think was there a power play going on here
Speaker 2: and they both lost? Was Booth gonna support Malone no
Speaker 2: matter what? In other words, they went and said get
Speaker 2: rid of them, and he said no. Well here's the thing, hey,
Speaker 2: you'll go.
Speaker 5: To Reportedly, Booth and Mike Malone don't get along. They
Speaker 5: don't like each other.
Speaker 4: So maybe it was to your point, they can't connect,
Speaker 4: they don't have great chemistry. We're just gonna start over
Speaker 4: without choosing one of these guys. We're gonna go clean slate.
Speaker 1: Here, Adam.
Speaker 3: I heard one report because, as we all know here
Speaker 3: in LA, the Denver Nuggets are owned by Stan Kronki,
Speaker 3: who also owns the Rams, And there was a report
Speaker 3: that because of the harmony that the Rams have and
Speaker 3: the success that the Rams have had in their front office,
Speaker 3: being that Sean McVay and Less need all get along.
Speaker 3: Kevin Dimoff, it's really harmonious, and Fred can speak to that,
Speaker 3: but they all seem to be all on the same page.
Speaker 3: And maybe you know after time that this came from
Speaker 3: the top going I can't have you guys button head,
Speaker 3: as you just mentioned, they didn't get along, Booth and
Speaker 3: Malone didn't get along, and then going down from there.
Speaker 3: Who knows how that building was, But could it be
Speaker 3: a thing where Stan Cronkie just got fed up and said,
Speaker 3: but I can't have this infighting and I just want
Speaker 3: some harmony here and you're both gone.
Speaker 4: Yeah, the instability, those guys not being on the same
Speaker 4: page when things go bad, when they go poorly.
Speaker 5: They have lost four in a row.
Speaker 4: They look like over the last week we've been talking
Speaker 4: about them, like, guys, they're probably gonna fall into the
Speaker 4: play it. They very well could. Even with Nikola Jokic
Speaker 4: who had to give him what fifty five minutes in
Speaker 4: a sixty point triple double to still lose that game
Speaker 4: of double overtime to Minnesota. He can't save him right
Speaker 4: now because they don't have Jamal Murray. So they're probably
Speaker 4: just thinking like, if we can just light a fire
Speaker 4: at the very end of this season. But I could
Speaker 4: only think of two examples where you switched out the
Speaker 4: head coach and it wasn't this late in the season,
Speaker 4: and those teams went on to win the championship.
Speaker 5: I'm talking about ty.
Speaker 4: Luin twenty sixteen with the Cleveland Cavaliers when David Blatt
Speaker 4: was let go, and then in two thousand and six,
Speaker 4: stan Van Gundhi was let go.
Speaker 5: Pat Riley came in led the Mammy Heat to which championship.
Speaker 4: But that was much earlier in the season, not like this.
Speaker 5: This is unbelievable.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it sounds to me, you know, as we just
Speaker 2: kind of work it out here, kind of workshop it.
Speaker 1: Both of them alone had a problem. They couldn't get along.
Speaker 2: It could have either been there both complaining to Daddy. Right,
Speaker 2: they're both airing their grievances and they didn't want to
Speaker 2: pick one or the other.
Speaker 1: It's enough, it's enough with both of you.
Speaker 2: Also, though, and Rodney, because you played, you make a
Speaker 2: move like this right now now, I know because as
Speaker 2: a sports fan, every season matters.
Speaker 1: As an owner, you want to win every season.
Speaker 2: But it's a business, and it says to me that
Speaker 2: whatever was going on was so awful. And by the way,
Speaker 2: you mentioned Kevin Demoff. You know he's got some skin
Speaker 2: in the game with the Nuggets.
Speaker 1: Now you got some skin in the game with the Nuggets.
Speaker 2: Now, Yeah, he's been promoted, he's got a little skin
Speaker 2: in the game with everything now. And it seems to
Speaker 2: me they say they're saying behind closed doors, yeah, we
Speaker 2: want to Salva just we wanna win again, but if
Speaker 2: we don't, it's better to clean this mess up right
Speaker 2: now and start again than have to live with us
Speaker 2: another day. By doing this, I think they're saying, you know,
Speaker 2: we'd like to win, but if we don't, there you go.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: But to Adam's point, that sends a message to the
Speaker 3: players as well. So now, all of a sudden, this
Speaker 3: year where you've played what they've played, seventy nine games,
Speaker 3: seventy nine games getting ready and putting themselves in a
Speaker 3: position to go to the playoffs and make a playoff run.
Speaker 3: And they all know how to do it. They all
Speaker 3: know what it takes to win a championship because they
Speaker 3: did it two years ago. You're telling those players, well,
Speaker 3: you know, this season is washed now, we don't care
Speaker 3: what you did for those seventy nine games, and if
Speaker 3: you win it, you win it. You don't, you don't,
Speaker 3: We're gonna move in a homele different directions. What that does,
Speaker 3: oftentimes is when that next guy comes up for a contract,
Speaker 3: he's looking to get out, or somebody's looking to get traded.
Speaker 3: It's like, I don't want to be a part of
Speaker 3: this mess. They could fire and I will say, like,
Speaker 3: as prickly as as Mike Malone probably was, and it
Speaker 3: might be a case if he lost the locker room,
Speaker 3: but I think the guys respected him to the point
Speaker 3: where I don't think I would. I would bet that
Speaker 3: ninety percent of the guys thought this was a BS
Speaker 3: move to fire him at this point, regardless of how
Speaker 3: prickly he may have been. And so when guys come
Speaker 3: up for contracts or they say, well, we want you
Speaker 3: to be a Nugget for life, or we want you
Speaker 3: to be here for multiple years as a player, you're
Speaker 3: going to take Paul, Do I really want.
Speaker 1: To be a part of this organization?
Speaker 2: You think the players are not pleased with this decision?
Speaker 2: I think I think it may be split. Look, I'm
Speaker 2: not in there, but I think when you get to
Speaker 2: this point in the season, no player wants a change
Speaker 2: like this. At this point, now midseason is a different
Speaker 2: things at all. Start break, if there's all that kind
Speaker 2: of stuff, that's when you make a move. But at
Speaker 2: this point, the players, your mindset is, Okay, we got
Speaker 2: to win this first series. We got to get into
Speaker 2: who we play and all that kind of stuff. Let's
Speaker 2: just grind it out and we'll deal with it in
Speaker 2: the offseason. Nobody wants to deal with this right now
Speaker 2: as he entered the playoffs.
Speaker 4: Well, like you think, this can't be a distraction to
Speaker 4: Rodney's point, for the players to have to answer this now, Yeah,
Speaker 4: there's three games left. What's funny is their next game
Speaker 4: is in Sacramento. Ten years ago, Mike Malone got fired
Speaker 4: by the Kings, which turned out to look like a
Speaker 4: very bad move. They haven't been able to figure it
Speaker 4: out since they lost him. And he got fired because
Speaker 4: DeMarcus Cousins got meningitis and after a hot start of
Speaker 4: the season, they went into a tailspin because he didn't
Speaker 4: have his best player. Well, Mike Brown got fired from
Speaker 4: the Sacramento Kings earlier this season.
Speaker 5: You know what Mike.
Speaker 4: Malone said about that that organization has no balls, no class.
Speaker 4: See that's what he went right after them and now
Speaker 4: because of the wild and craziness to that firing and
Speaker 4: making it look like there's such instability there. Well, now
Speaker 4: he gets fired with three games left in the regular season.
Speaker 4: I mean, Mike, Mike Brown was fired early in the
Speaker 4: season by Sacramento. This is much more shocking. This is incredible.
Speaker 5: It must have been so toxic.
Speaker 4: There like nothing we have ever seen between ownership, the
Speaker 4: GM and Mike Malone.
Speaker 5: Nothing must have been working.
Speaker 1: They didn't even pick the GM in all of this.
Speaker 1: That's the point.
Speaker 2: They didn't even say, Okay, we know this is bad
Speaker 2: and we really don't want to do it, but Mike,
Speaker 2: you're done and you're still the GM.
Speaker 1: They got rid of both of them. I mean, they
Speaker 1: are in.
Speaker 2: Essens, starting fresh. They're starting over in the structure of
Speaker 2: their management and with it. Now, let me throw this
Speaker 2: into the mix. Do you think as they look at it,
Speaker 2: they believe that window of opportunity for them, including this year.
Speaker 2: I'm talking about the management now, not the team the players.
Speaker 2: Do you think they looked at an analytic when he said,
Speaker 2: we think the windows closing, you've got to go in
Speaker 2: a different direction.
Speaker 1: Now, could that be a possibility with Jo being in
Speaker 1: his prime. I know they're seeing the windows closing.
Speaker 3: Well, the window may be closed now because of what
Speaker 3: they did, but I don't know if that's the case.
Speaker 3: And and again the option of the players revolting and
Speaker 3: said we can't take any more could be. I mean,
Speaker 3: that's definitely a possibility. I don't know what three games left,
Speaker 3: the players have a player's only meetings, then let's get
Speaker 3: rid of the coach. It may happen, like Adam said,
Speaker 3: mid season, and it might be a guy on the
Speaker 3: bench that they love, like when they brought tylu in,
Speaker 3: but that was way before the end of the season
Speaker 3: and they like him. And I guess what, Adamman is
Speaker 3: going to take over the team, right, Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's going to take over the team.
Speaker 3: And you know, maybe he is a well liked assistant
Speaker 3: to coach that they you know, they'll they'll rally behind.
Speaker 3: But it's still late in the season, and I don't
Speaker 3: know if you're throwing a towel when you've got the
Speaker 3: jokers still there in his prime saying the windows closing.
Speaker 4: Guys, Nikoljokicic is still the best player in the NBA.
Speaker 4: SGA is probably gonna win the MVP. His team has
Speaker 4: won twelve to fifteen more games. But you look at
Speaker 4: the numbers when Jokic is off the floor for the
Speaker 4: Denver Nuggets, they're like a bottom five team in the NBA.
Speaker 4: They're that bad without him. He completely carries them. And
Speaker 4: so the head coach of the best player in the
Speaker 4: NBA was let go three games before the playoffs, where
Speaker 4: you still feel like, look, I know Denver is in
Speaker 4: a bad spot currently, but nobody wants to play them
Speaker 4: still because Nikola Joki is going to average forty two
Speaker 4: minutes per game in the playoffs, He's going to be
Speaker 4: a problem. You might be able to beat them, but
Speaker 4: it's going to take everything. The only thing I could
Speaker 4: see is if they believe Jamal Murray has done for
Speaker 4: the year and he's had a hamstring issue, and Mike
Speaker 4: Malone did just talk about that, saying he's hopeful he'll
Speaker 4: be able to start the playoffs. But they were hopeful
Speaker 4: a couple of weeks ago two with him. This has
Speaker 4: been an ongoing issue. If they think he's done, maybe
Speaker 4: that's where they go. What Fred was saying this season
Speaker 4: is a rap. Anyways, let's just rip the band aid off.
Speaker 1: But now.
Speaker 5: Now, oh you doing I'm saying it makes sense.
Speaker 4: I'm just trying to follow some line of logic here, Fred,
Speaker 4: that's all, No.
Speaker 1: I hear you.
Speaker 2: Well, look, I would say this, and maybe it's the
Speaker 2: incorrect thing to say. I think his chances of winning
Speaker 2: just were reduced greatly. I think they've actually reduced their
Speaker 2: chances of winning. Now not okay, guys, adaman's here, let's
Speaker 2: go get him. And by the way, who's in the
Speaker 2: front office, who cares he's done anyway? Don't listen to him.
Speaker 2: I'll get you through this, guys, and let's just get
Speaker 2: out there and give it our best shot. It's really strange,
Speaker 2: But as part of it is given that we know
Speaker 2: Kevin Demoff is now got a seat at the table.
Speaker 2: He's got a seat at the table. This is not
Speaker 2: how he operates, This is not how he does things.
Speaker 1: He wouldn't do that.
Speaker 4: This is completely reflexive and impulsive. It's it borderline to
Speaker 4: most people from the outside. I'm sure Michael Ola would
Speaker 4: say this right now, since he's stuck up for Mike Brown.
Speaker 4: He'd be like, well, this is unprofessional. How could you
Speaker 4: do this with three games left? I mean, what does
Speaker 4: this mean for Niko Jokic's future because whoever comes in
Speaker 4: as the new head coach and the new GM are
Speaker 4: gonna have to sell him on the fact that, hey,
Speaker 4: we have a direction, don't worry, stay with us, don't
Speaker 4: demand a trade request.
Speaker 5: We got you.
Speaker 4: This could turn into something much worse this offseason if
Speaker 4: Jokic now wants out.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and you hope you better hope that Jokic and
Speaker 3: Malone didn't have a tight relationship, because if they did,
Speaker 3: this becomes a real problem. To Adam's point, it's like,
Speaker 3: you're gonna now you got to go try to sell him.
Speaker 3: And if they were tight, regardless of you know who
Speaker 3: he might not have been tight with in that locker
Speaker 3: room as well.
Speaker 1: If he and and the.
Speaker 3: Joker had a great relationship, that's a tough sell for
Speaker 3: him to say, this is what you did to my guy,
Speaker 3: and you want me to be loyal to this franchise.
Speaker 1: You kidding me?
Speaker 3: I want to get out and that and you and
Speaker 3: you're gonna start maybe hearing you would hear that like
Speaker 3: in the room, Oh, there's reports that the Joker wants
Speaker 3: he traded the reports and there you know, if something
Speaker 3: wants if something is leaked, that somebody wanted it to
Speaker 3: get leaked, and that's what could happen.
Speaker 1: So you know, it's a dangerous game that they're playing.
Speaker 3: I don't want to call it a game, but it's
Speaker 3: a dangerous situation that the Nuggets are playing right now.
Speaker 2: Since we're talking about the Nuggets, we might as well
Speaker 2: stay in the NBA. And the Lakers tonight in Oklahoma City, well,
Speaker 2: I don't know if they are the real Lakers. A
Speaker 2: lot of guys that had him on the injury list tonight.
Speaker 5: Yeah, just a little bit.
Speaker 4: Everybody is questionable pretty much. Mario Hachimora is already out.
Speaker 4: Now we've seen this before, and then Lebron and then
Speaker 4: Luca are magically available right before tip off. But I
Speaker 4: think the Lakers are planning it like this. Guys that
Speaker 4: game against Okay see, they just won. We're cool with that.
Speaker 4: We prove to ourselves we can beat Oklahoma City, and
Speaker 4: it's probably unlikely we beat them for a second time
Speaker 4: in okac in three days. So why don't we actually
Speaker 4: rest and go full force at the Dallas Mavericks in
Speaker 4: Luca's return tomorrow night.
Speaker 5: That's the issue.
Speaker 4: It's the front end of a back to back tonight
Speaker 4: where they're going to Dallas tomorrow.
Speaker 1: That makes sense.
Speaker 3: And also, you beat Okac and again, do you want
Speaker 3: you want to give them the revenge of beating you
Speaker 3: again if you've got all your guys out there since
Speaker 3: you've beat them, say okay, we're gonna rest our guys.
Speaker 3: We don't give them a chance to beat Lebron and
Speaker 3: Luca and us at full strength and say, oh, you
Speaker 3: know that was a fluke or whatever. We came back
Speaker 3: and blew you out the next night. They're not going
Speaker 3: to give him that opportunity. And I think you're right.
Speaker 3: This is a opportunity for Luca to go back to
Speaker 3: Dallas and them wanting to be at least at full
Speaker 3: strength as they possibly can for that game and call it,
Speaker 3: which you will and say it's another game. And I
Speaker 3: know Anthony Davis is trying to play downplay and say, oh,
Speaker 3: it doesn't mean much and no big deal, just another game.
Speaker 1: But for both him and Luca, this is a big deal.
Speaker 4: This is the biggest game of the season, maybe in
Speaker 4: the NBA in the regular season. It is Luca's return
Speaker 4: to Dallas. We're expecting a revenge game where he dropped
Speaker 4: sixty on them. We're expecting fire Nico Harrison chance throughout
Speaker 4: the entire game. But the only problem here with the
Speaker 4: Lakers doing this is there is a battle in the
Speaker 4: Western Conference with standings implications, and you can't just throw
Speaker 4: away a game.
Speaker 5: Now.
Speaker 4: Working in their favor is the fact that there are
Speaker 4: a game and a half up on the Denver Nuggets,
Speaker 4: who aren't a tailsman obviously, and I believe they even
Speaker 4: have the tiebreaker over them, so it's really two and
Speaker 4: a half games. I think the Lakers know the three
Speaker 4: seed is theirs. They're gonna be just fine as long
Speaker 4: as they hold onto that three seed, and there's a
Speaker 4: really good chance that that's where they end up, meaning
Speaker 4: they'll take on the sixth seed in the West, and
Speaker 4: that is yet to be determined. There's plenty of teams
Speaker 4: that could end up there, including Denver, so they can
Speaker 4: take tonight off, they can afford to chase the win
Speaker 4: tomorrow in Dallas instead.
Speaker 5: In Luca's return, do you think it'll mean more?
Speaker 2: And I understand you know it'll mean a lot to
Speaker 2: Ad playing against the Lakers, But my god, Luca going
Speaker 2: back to Dallas, I think you're right at him. I
Speaker 2: think he is going to try to light them up.
Speaker 2: Light them up tomorrow. Oh, make them know they made
Speaker 2: a mistake. Just look Nico Harrison directly in the eyes
Speaker 2: and keep winking at him.
Speaker 5: Well, here's the thing.
Speaker 4: The entire fan base is going to be behind Luca
Speaker 4: in that game. The Dallas Mavericks fan base are rooting
Speaker 4: for Luca to light them up. They want this to happen.
Speaker 4: They want to stick it to Nico Harrison. They're still upset,
Speaker 4: they're still irate, as they should be with him being
Speaker 4: traded in the first place. They thought he was gonna
Speaker 4: get a statue eventually next to Dirks outside the arena.
Speaker 4: So really, he's not an enemy territory at all. This
Speaker 4: is the type of heroes welcome that you can be
Speaker 4: looking for returning to your old stomping grounds. Luca's gonna
Speaker 4: have everybody behind him. It's him versus Nico in the
Speaker 4: front office. It has nothing to do with the Dallas
Speaker 4: Mavericks fans. I don't expect them to boo.
Speaker 5: Him at all. I think they're gonna give him a
Speaker 5: standing ovation guys.
Speaker 3: Honestly, yeah, yeah, kind of like I mean, Adie didn't
Speaker 3: play when he came to LA But La gave him
Speaker 3: a tribute. I don't know if there'd be a tribute
Speaker 3: in Dallas, but LA gave him a tribute, and the
Speaker 3: fans gave him a standing o. Had he played, I
Speaker 3: don't know, but they did that. But I think you're
Speaker 3: right at him. I think the Dallas fans are going
Speaker 3: to go crazy for him when he steps on that quart,
Speaker 3: when he runs out for warm ups orhere he's introduced,
Speaker 3: They're gonna go crazy for him. And that's going to
Speaker 3: be an ugly look for the front office of Dallas.
Speaker 2: Gonna be tough, no question about it, and I think
Speaker 2: it puts Ad in a tough spot too. Honestly, how
Speaker 2: would you like to be Anthony Davis? Who is a
Speaker 2: great guy, Yeah, very talented, and the entire crowd is
Speaker 2: now cheering for the person that you were traded for.
Speaker 2: So no matter what you do, you are not going
Speaker 2: to be able to live up to that. I mean,
Speaker 2: Ad is gonna have to score fifty seven points, grab
Speaker 2: thirty two rebounds, and have nineteen assists and then people
Speaker 2: will go, oh my god, now this worked.
Speaker 1: This is the move we're looking for.
Speaker 2: And it makes it worse if tomorrow the Lakers go
Speaker 2: out and blow them out. Could you imagine how bad
Speaker 2: that's gonna be for the Mavericks and the emotion Ad
Speaker 2: will feel because not only is he not the most
Speaker 2: popular guy in the room, the fact he was traded
Speaker 2: for it's the guy that was traded away. And then
Speaker 2: if they blow him out, the fans have to sit
Speaker 2: there and watch this, and it kind of dots the
Speaker 2: exclamation point about how this is.
Speaker 1: Not going to work.
Speaker 3: Then that day, on the verge an art, the Mabics
Speaker 3: ran on the verge of the of the play in
Speaker 3: right now.
Speaker 5: Yeah, they're tenth.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think they're likely going to be the play in.
Speaker 5: I'm not even sure.
Speaker 4: Well, Phoenix just fell apart and that has helped them,
Speaker 4: but they're a game behind Sacramento from being the ninth.
Speaker 4: Neither of them can move up past ninth or tenth.
Speaker 4: But yes, it looks like Dallas is going to be
Speaker 4: the play in, which was part of the reason why
Speaker 4: Ad came back to begin with, and just to show
Speaker 4: a good face. Hey, this is what we trade for.
Speaker 4: He's available. Look, he's good. He's a star too. He
Speaker 4: can be really good. But if Luca drops fifty on
Speaker 4: him and Anthony Davis has thirty points in a twenty
Speaker 4: point loss to the Lakers. It's not gonna matter. There's
Speaker 4: going to be a revolt tomorrow night. The fan base
Speaker 4: is going to be livid and they have been frothing
Speaker 4: at the mouth waiting for this moment. This is sticking
Speaker 4: it to Nico, not just Luca doing it, the entire
Speaker 4: Dallas Mavericks fan base.
Speaker 2: All right, one hour four is today when we come back.
Speaker 2: Dodgors are in Washington. Let's talk about what's happening. And
Speaker 2: if we really wanted to talk a lot about it,
Speaker 2: it's not very good, So we'd have a short conversation,
Speaker 2: but we'll try to figure out what is going on.
Speaker 1: Oh, yes, welcome back.
Speaker 3: Quit short show on a Tuesday, Rodney Pete, Fred Rogan, Yes,
Speaker 3: a lot of things going on right now.
Speaker 1: Fred I, it's.
Speaker 3: You know, the Dodgers just get uh and we'll talking
Speaker 3: about the Dodgers just get started with their season that
Speaker 3: winding down in the NBA as we get ready for
Speaker 3: the playoffs. Mart's madness has happened. To think about the
Speaker 3: Florida Gators kind of pulling off that win last night.
Speaker 2: That was absolutely incredible. That was incredible. Yeah, and the
Speaker 2: poor kid from Houston at the end.
Speaker 3: Felt bad for him, amazing, Yeah, because the closeout was
Speaker 3: incredible and he had no choice because that shot was
Speaker 3: either he had no choice because the chot was gonna
Speaker 3: get blocked and knocked all the ways probably to the
Speaker 3: other basket that he had to let it go and
Speaker 3: then couldn't touch it. It's just a rough way for
Speaker 3: it to end like that.
Speaker 1: Yeah. And Houston had such a magnificent run.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, coming back the way they did the
Speaker 2: game before in one of the great college basketball games
Speaker 2: of all time, and then really putting up a great
Speaker 2: battle last night. And Florida having dominated the game, they
Speaker 2: dominated the game for or what for thirty eight minutes
Speaker 2: fred yep. And then to lose it like that, just
Speaker 2: so you a little bit resilience of Florida and who
Speaker 2: they've been all season long and never never never were
Speaker 2: too far out of it, always stayed in striking distance,
Speaker 2: and then then they struck and and but you know
Speaker 2: what it reminded me was is say again, it goes
Speaker 2: back to what you know, we talk about football, and
Speaker 2: when Eric Sony talked about a lot you gotta run
Speaker 2: the football, you gotta play defense, but it reminded me
Speaker 2: of old school, because you gotta play defense basketball.
Speaker 1: At the end of the day.
Speaker 3: You can have the high flyers, you can have the
Speaker 3: three point shots, you can have the big boys and
Speaker 3: the dunks and the crazy wild plays, but the end
Speaker 3: of the day, you got to get stops and you
Speaker 3: gotta play defense. And both those teams know how to
Speaker 3: play defense, which is why they got there. But at
Speaker 3: the end, Florida's defense went out, which was Arkansas's claim.
Speaker 3: The fame going into that is that they they smothered
Speaker 3: teams defensively.
Speaker 1: Mm hmmm mm hmm. It was a great series.
Speaker 2: I mean, it was a great game, and really the
Speaker 2: final four came down to the four best teams, which
Speaker 2: was great. I mean it kind of loses a little
Speaker 2: of its luster. I think in the process, when you
Speaker 2: don't have that Cinderella somewhere, you go, well, maybe they
Speaker 2: got a shot, but the best team's finished and Florida really,
Speaker 2: let's say, earned that. But my heart went out for
Speaker 2: him last night. That final shot. He dropped the ball
Speaker 2: and you could see in his eyes it was like
Speaker 2: he was praying, somebody pick it up and shoot it.
Speaker 2: Somebody get over here, Somebody kick the ball out of bounds,
Speaker 2: you know, kick the ball at a bound Florida said,
Speaker 2: he touches it.
Speaker 3: It's it's Florida's ball. Anyway, Yeah, it's a dead ball.
Speaker 3: It's Florida's ball. So he's trying to block people out
Speaker 3: and again he never saw the guy coming. He thought
Speaker 3: he had a wide open three shoot it, and all
Speaker 3: of a sudden, he's got a wall in front of him.
Speaker 1: Take what do I do? I can't shoot this? Yeah
Speaker 1: I was.
Speaker 2: That was a tough way to lose. But what an
Speaker 2: exciting championship game.
Speaker 1: All right.
Speaker 2: So now let's talk Dodgers. And the thing about them
Speaker 2: is they go back at it today again. I think
Speaker 2: Robleski's gonna pitch. It's just so strange. You know, you
Speaker 2: said they weren't gonna win every game. Yeah you were right.
Speaker 2: I kind of knew it too. But I'm sitting here going, yeah,
Speaker 2: they can keep winning forever.
Speaker 1: Okay, well, they weren't gonna win forever.
Speaker 2: But it's the way they're not winning that at this
Speaker 2: early part of the season is troubling.
Speaker 1: What does it mean? Not much? And we know that.
Speaker 2: And you don't get too up and you don't get
Speaker 2: too down and everything will be all right. But the
Speaker 2: thing that is troubling about this Rodney is the mistakes
Speaker 2: they're making, and that is very uncharacteristic of the Dodgers.
Speaker 2: They are making physical mistakes, they are making errors, they
Speaker 2: are making mental mistakes, base running errors, and that's the
Speaker 2: thing that makes you take a step back for just
Speaker 2: a second here and go, wait a minute, this is
Speaker 2: not how these guys play.
Speaker 1: Are you saying that you're it's troubling? Is that what
Speaker 1: you said?
Speaker 2: Yeah, you don't want to see you don't want to
Speaker 2: have them beat themselves. There's a long way to go,
Speaker 2: but just overall.
Speaker 3: From a guy that said he didn't care about the
Speaker 3: word regular season, he didn't worry about it, you know,
Speaker 3: no big deal. They're going to have moments like this. Look,
Speaker 3: this is the longest you know, when you go and
Speaker 3: you win, you win the World Series, you're you're playing
Speaker 3: probably a month and a half longer than anybody else.
Speaker 1: And really playing.
Speaker 3: Because teams that even even though a team is playing
Speaker 3: when they're out of it, they're not really playing. The
Speaker 3: mental mentality is not there. But if you're in the
Speaker 3: playoffs and your your mentality is to win, get seated
Speaker 3: and go to the playoffs on a roll. You're you're
Speaker 3: you're playing about a month month and a half more
Speaker 3: so than the teams that don't make the playoffs and
Speaker 3: don't win.
Speaker 1: The World Series. And there is a time period.
Speaker 3: Then there's the commitments after that, and then then there
Speaker 3: are the things that you have to do because you
Speaker 3: are the Dodgers, which is go to spring training with
Speaker 3: the microscope, and then you've got to get on a
Speaker 3: plane and go halfway around the world and play in
Speaker 3: Japan before everybody else plays, and you gotta come back,
Speaker 3: catch your breath, you go to the White House. You
Speaker 3: got to do all these things, and and so early
Speaker 3: in the season you're gonna have these type of situations.
Speaker 3: And I'm I'm I'm with you on on the mental
Speaker 3: park because that shouldn't happen. But the physical part, I
Speaker 3: get it. You know, the guys are gonna make physical mistakes.
Speaker 3: Mickey Row and Mookie had errors yesterday. We've seen, you know,
Speaker 3: Max Muntsey have some situations and airs at third base
Speaker 3: early on in this season. Those things are gonna happen,
Speaker 3: but you don't you certainly don't want the mental plays
Speaker 3: to happen. But this physical stuff is going to happen,
Speaker 3: and there there is going to be a fatigue factor
Speaker 3: that is going to set in a little bit. Yes,
Speaker 3: they got off to a great role and just going
Speaker 3: on adrenaline, but there's going to be a fatigue factor
Speaker 3: that setting in or going to set in with the
Speaker 3: doubt as an already that they're gonna have to deal
Speaker 3: with throughout this season as they kind of get themselves
Speaker 3: back acclimated. Okay, we're in twenty twenty five, now, let's
Speaker 3: just totally focus on that.
Speaker 2: So you think, honestly just the amount of baseball they
Speaker 2: played last year contributes to fatigue and that we might
Speaker 2: be seeing that right now.
Speaker 1: Yes, I do believe that.
Speaker 3: I do believe that it does contribute to that, where
Speaker 3: you know, mentally and physically, I believe, you know, things
Speaker 3: that they're committed to individually as players, where sure a
Speaker 3: lot of the players got, you know, some more endorsements
Speaker 3: than they normally have, or more commitments to go speak
Speaker 3: or go sign autographs than they normally have. And you know,
Speaker 3: then the attention in spring training and then you know,
Speaker 3: doing the Japan trip coming back and not only coming
Speaker 3: back but coming back then I have to go back
Speaker 3: to spring training baseball to play the Angels and then
Speaker 3: start the season. You start off hot, and I think hot.
Speaker 3: They started off just really on fumes. And now it's
Speaker 3: starting on this road trip, starting to kind of set in.
Speaker 3: It's like, man, this is this has been a lot.
Speaker 3: This has been a lot, and uh, you know it's
Speaker 3: gonna you know, we're gonna have some moments like this
Speaker 3: early in the season. I wouldn't get too worried about it.
Speaker 3: What about Andy paie Has. I mean, he's not a
Speaker 3: center fielder by trade. They put him out there and
Speaker 3: the other day he got spun around like a top
Speaker 3: not exactly tearing the cover off the ball. Uh do
Speaker 3: you think from a perspective Andy paie Has. Obviously they
Speaker 3: like him, he's here, he's going to play. But you know,
Speaker 3: if he struggles hitting.
Speaker 2: Wise, do you think then they think, all right, maybe
Speaker 2: we we call somebody up from Trumple Lane, send him
Speaker 2: down and get him some more at bats.
Speaker 1: I'm not ready to do that with him yet.
Speaker 3: I think that when you say call somebody down, I
Speaker 3: think him and James Outman is going to have the
Speaker 3: maybe going some back and forth. But I wouldn't I wouldn't.
Speaker 3: I'm not ready to send him down. I think he
Speaker 3: contributed so much last year and had such a really
Speaker 3: a big impact on this team as a as a
Speaker 3: rookie last year that you got to give him some time.
Speaker 3: I think he's talented enough that you got to let
Speaker 3: him play through it. Sometimes when you do this and
Speaker 3: to a young player early on, uh, you your thought
Speaker 3: process is you don't want to break down their confidence either.
Speaker 3: And so for Andy pater has who I think, you know,
Speaker 3: and if they if he does stick around, is going
Speaker 3: to be a very good player for the Dodgers if
Speaker 3: they can keep him in the uniform.
Speaker 1: So I would. I would ride with it.
Speaker 3: As long as you can, as long as it's not
Speaker 3: coming and at the expense of winning ball games, I
Speaker 3: would let him play through it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you know there are full.
Speaker 2: Starts, yeah, you know. I mean, and we talk about
Speaker 2: it every year. You know, Max Months's either going to
Speaker 2: hit it or he's not. It's pretty simple. If he
Speaker 2: hits it, it's gone. If he doesn't hit it, then
Speaker 2: that's that.
Speaker 1: I mean. He has not had a great start to
Speaker 1: the season, No, not at all.
Speaker 3: I mean he had the big hit and the rally
Speaker 3: that they had the walk off win. But but now
Speaker 3: he has definitely struggled offensively, which is why he's in
Speaker 3: the lineup. But also he's he's had some issues at
Speaker 3: third base a little bit early on Fred. But he's
Speaker 3: another guy that you want, you want in a line
Speaker 3: because you feel like at some point he's going to
Speaker 3: break through. And and Max has done it for this
Speaker 3: team in multiple years, so you feel like he's going
Speaker 3: to eventually get it going. But yeah, you're right, he's
Speaker 3: off to a slow start, which happens. We're a lot
Speaker 3: of guys.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so, I mean it's just part of the season
Speaker 2: currently against Washington. You don't expect what happened yesterday against Washington,
Speaker 2: you don't expect.
Speaker 1: No, no, you don't. And look.
Speaker 3: Even even in the game, like you mentioned the defensive
Speaker 3: part of the game. The other game, I think that
Speaker 3: Blake Snell started. You know, they got five runs and
Speaker 3: all of them were unearned. That's that's something that doesn't
Speaker 3: happen in August September when you're talking about the Dodgers,
Speaker 3: and then you know Dustin May, even Dustin May, I
Speaker 3: you know, you look up and go, well, how did
Speaker 3: he really do it? But it wasn't Dustin May. I
Speaker 3: think Dustin May had a quality start. He did, and
Speaker 3: and then you you know, you fast forward, the bullpen
Speaker 3: didn't perform well. Then there were the errors and and
Speaker 3: so it looks bad for the Dodgers to lose to
Speaker 3: the Nationals. But I think they'll they'll, they'll be okay.
Speaker 3: And it's not a time right now, at least right
Speaker 3: now to overreact, because I think they will.
Speaker 1: They will write the ship.
Speaker 3: They got too many good players and they're too stacked
Speaker 3: with this roster to not work it out.
Speaker 1: And the beauty of.
Speaker 3: The Dodgers and what Dave Roberts has to work with
Speaker 3: is that they can allow Max Mounsey to kind of
Speaker 3: get off to a slow start because they've got so
Speaker 3: many other players that can pick him up. They can
Speaker 3: allow Pajez to kind of work himself through it and
Speaker 3: not necessarily not to cover off the ball right away,
Speaker 3: but work through it because they've got so much depth
Speaker 3: that they can go to and win ball games. That again, no,
Speaker 3: you know, nobody outside of Fred thought they were going
Speaker 3: to go on sixty two and oh all right one
Speaker 3: for us, We're back to wrapping up, come on quick
Speaker 3: sprint today Rodney, p Fred Rogan, let's go.
Speaker 1: Couldn't go on trigger than this. We're done. No, that
Speaker 1: was fast. That was a quick sprint.
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, three five today, Dodgers back at it. So
Speaker 2: we'll jump out of here, Petros and Money will jump in,
Speaker 2: take up to the pregame, and then we'll have to
Speaker 2: call the game here on the radio station. Tomorrow we
Speaker 2: will not be on. It's a getaway day for the Dodgers.
Speaker 2: It's a morning game in d C at least our
Speaker 2: time here, so we're not gonna be on tomorrow, and
Speaker 2: then we'll be back Thursday for our normal three hours show.
Speaker 2: During Dodger season, it gets a little iffy for us,
Speaker 2: you know. If they're on the road, it's a getaway
Speaker 2: day there where we're not on. Some days we're only
Speaker 2: on for an hour when it's an East Coast started
Speaker 2: six forty five, which is three forty five our time.
Speaker 2: But it'll be you know, it's we talked about it.
Speaker 2: It's not that big of a deal. I'm just saying,
Speaker 2: you just don't expect a team like the Dodgers to
Speaker 2: commit those types of mistakes. Although I thought Rodney that
Speaker 2: was very good perspective. Maybe they're exhausted. Yeah, and it's
Speaker 2: not an excuse. You're not using it as an excuse.
Speaker 3: No, but think about Yeah, the trip to Washington, it's
Speaker 3: not only just the trip that they can just go, Okay,
Speaker 3: I'm just going to play baseball. Good, Now, we got
Speaker 3: to do the White House stop. And then then there's
Speaker 3: talk about the running that they're on and oh, you
Speaker 3: you know you guys were undefeated. Do you went to Philly?
Speaker 3: Do you think I mean they got bombarded. I'm sure
Speaker 3: about the Phillies, you know series who you know, you
Speaker 3: guys maybe not as invincible as everybody thought you were,
Speaker 3: and the Philly is gonna give you a run.
Speaker 1: So they had answered all those questions. But let's just
Speaker 1: get through the month.
Speaker 3: Let's get through the first month of the season and
Speaker 3: let them settle in and then we can start really
Speaker 3: evaluating this team.
Speaker 2: All right, fair point, And we appreciate you jumping on
Speaker 2: with us for just one hour today. Ah, Ronnie, thank you.
Speaker 2: Really your work was exemplary and you should be commendous.
Speaker 1: Ronnie. Yes, Ronnie, good job.
Speaker 2: Adam, thanks for filling in for Kevin, and thanks for
Speaker 2: the insight on the NBA stuff that Michael Malone story
Speaker 2: is still mind boggling. How you fire your coach at
Speaker 2: this point in the year and then tell the GM
Speaker 2: he's out two Yeah, I'm sure in days.
Speaker 1: To come we'll learn more about it. Jesus got to
Speaker 1: win a title for you two years ago.
Speaker 2: Well, you know there's job opening Sacramento. Oh, I'm sorry
Speaker 2: he had that one before, Adam. Thanks for filling it again, Rodney.
Speaker 2: Have a good day off tomorrow. We'll talk Thursday, Yes, sir,