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Monday, June 24: The Sports Wrap
Welcome into sports wrap for the week. I'm Gerald Bentley joined by Rudy the Roodog Reyes and it was a busy week in sports. Amazingly the beginning of summer saw the end of the NBA season finally and we have a new long time since they won it NBA champion in Boston Celtics which I thought it would be a little bit more competitive of a series. You said Boston was going to thump the Mavericks and you were correct. It was a definite beat down for the Celtics. It was definitely was. I said that Dallas is going to win one game in the series and that's exactly what happened and I've said it before and I'll say it again they had too much too often too deep of a bench too many good players and they just found a way to get it done against and I think an otherwise outmatched Dallas Mavericks team. I mean you look at Luca didn't do as great as you thought he would Kyrie Irving didn't show up in games when he was designated to do so. They clearly are missing Porzingos who was a big difference maker in game three. Not much of an arc to his throw but at the end of the day he was able to get it done and be a factor. It did not surprise me that Jalen Brown was the MVP for the Boston Celtics however why because he was the most consistent despite Jason Kidd trying to get into the team's head and clearly did not work at all and I know Lakers fans are probably hitting me right now of course I am a Lakers fan as well but for me it's about being a fan of players the way that they play their game the way they wanted to play it how they wanted to play it and they got the job done. Yeah and let's give Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown credit because they had been holding on to the unwanted title of the best players to never win a title and they went ahead and took care of it and got the Celtics their 18th NBA championship and while they were talking about how these guys haven't won a title in a long time they're both still in their 20s and they'll be in their 20s for another two seasons so Boston is set up to make a nice run at the top of the league. The problem is that it's hard to repeat in any sport it doesn't matter if it's the NBA the NFL major league baseball MLS COPPA it doesn't matter it's almost impossible to find yourself in a situation where you're actually going to repeat and find yourself in there. Now there are teams that have done this this is not a foreign land we NFL teams explicitly know how to go back to back major league baseball on the other hand you have a very grueling schedule on the road at home whether conditions are irrelevant at this point but just the amount of reps I was watching Tennessee earlier college men's world champion series yeah actually got back into that game it was how much world series sure yeah it was out you you have to credit Tennessee's rotation you have to credit their their defense on the infield you have to credit that the batters have found ways to win and now the series goes to game three and it's best of three so this is the this is the big deal let's see who gets the best of who and who has the better dugout because I don't have a dog in the fight but both these teams are SEC competitors so they competed very hard I hated to see Gomez go out the way that he did but when it's all said and done Tennessee just racked him up and hit at least two to run home runs in this game which was the biggest difference maker above all else to pet and it had nothing to do with how good Houston's rotation was I mean I mean how many Texas A&M guys they throw in there right there's just so much ton wrap in that game and that's probably another hour for the conversation but yeah so you can't continually think you're going to repeat ideally it would be nice it'd be great but doesn't this really happen no and as it shows with their row to the finals I honestly think their toughest challenge was going to be the New York Knicks but as soon as Julius Randall went out that changed the dynamics for the Knicks completely because you'll lose that strong low-post score now Isaiah Hartstein yeah okay he's super easy to stop and they could concentrate on Brunson and he really just got beat up so the Knicks were just beaten and done by the time they got to the Pacers and the Pacers it was their first time deep in the playoffs so Boston had a relatively easy path the challenge in the NBA is going to be who can stay healthy because it's really a battle of attrition like you said Major League Baseball you got 162 games the NBA is 82 games and there's that in-season tournament now so it is a grind in the playoffs goes so long it's super hard to make it back-to-back years 100 percent it's definitely a challenge it doesn't matter how old you are but at least being younger does help it does but with the muffs of bruises you face along the way whether in the NBA and the and the hits and the bumps and the falls to the floor and in baseball hit by pitch or you know you took the wrong turn on the mound or you know you slide into second base as I seen earlier and you know somebody comes up limping or they have you know their hands jacked up I mean there's there's always something so you you have to know that when you designate a player like you know baseball has a DH I wish they'd get rid of it but they have it I'm not never been a proponent of the DH I probably never will but you always have to have those players in there in key moments to be the difference makers and that's exactly what the difference was today yeah and now hey let's talk about another NBA story that hit this week now there was a lot of talk last week and last two weeks and hey they're gonna the Lakers are gonna hire Danny Hurley he's gonna leave Yukon where he did what we were just talking about being hard one back-to-back championships won the NCAA tournament back-to-back which honestly is probably the hardest one because it's a single elimination he stayed at Yukon turn down the bags oh cash from the Lakers so they go with the guy who was doing color commentary for the finals on ABC JJ Redick he is going to be your new head coach of the LA Lakers and if you're thinking JJ Redick did he ever have any coaching experience no you're right he did not but he is the new head coach and I think he has one of the key qualifications for being the head coach of the Lakers LeBron likes him well look you look you look at this and I almost chuckled and almost spit out what I was drinking because JJ Redick and of course that wasn't Kool-Aid by the way because JJ Redick has zero coaching experience yet okay fine so you can throw in whatever euphemism you want to use he's the next you know tylu Jason kids Steve Kerr you the list goes on and on and on but but it's a short list it's not a very lengthy list of guys who come in with almost a zero coaching experience now to the credit of all the aforementioned guys Jason Kidd was a part of a front office uh tylu was part of front office Steve Kerr was part of front office he started off as a it's a ball boy I mean so you it's not uncommon to find this but as generational talents go there are not very many of them and JJ Redick is certainly one of those guys that is not a generational talent now could that pose a better for the LA Lakers as far as picking the number two guy instead of the Dan Hurley at a Yukon yeah okay yeah Jerry's still out on it I'm gonna say probably not they mean when you talk about the runner up you're always going to be that runner up you're always going to have that chip on your shoulder so perhaps this hiring of JJ Redick by the Los Angeles Lakers certainly could be dividends if for some reason he gets into a playoff matchup if he wins that series then I'm on board he doesn't win that series I got nothing but nothing for him I got zero because it just goes to show that just because you're a good player wasn't a great player he was a very good player doesn't necessarily mean that you're the best coach and we know that with Michael Jordan we know that with Larry Burr we know that with a variety of guys who tried their hands being the best player on the court not being such a great coach on the side of the court well to be fair he wasn't the best player he was a role player and a very productive role player for a long time he may fall into the mode of baseball coaches who were role players mostly catchers and end up being terrific managers right out of the box the manager for the Cleveland Guardian Steven Voight he he was just a guy in Major League Baseball backup catcher had a couple years where he started had some decent years for the A's went straight to managing and he's he's done a great job in Cleveland the best comparison I could think of and this isn't exactly a true comparison you got to go all the way back to Lenny Wilkins when he was the head coach of the Seattle Super Sonics and still played a little bit because you know he was basically the backup point guard then quickly stopped playing and the Super Sonics you know he took him to a championship he was a he was a great coach right out of the box and then did some great work with the Cleveland Cavaliers towards the end of his career was the probably the biggest thorn in the side of Michael Jordan for a while back during that era of the Cavs with Mark Price Ronnie Harper Brad Doherty so it has been done in the NBA Bill Russell was a coach for the Celtics but it's definitely a bold move so it'll be interesting to see if JJ Riddick is able to keep enough of a hand on the wheel to keep LeBron and Anthony Davis in line and then find a way to get a few other guys in that team who can play besides Reeves and drag him to a winning record. Let's hope so look what this is basically my surmise when you look at what what he brings he brings he brings personality he brings hard work he brings being able to communicate clearly LeBron James signed off on this when I he has a couple of years left in Los Angeles he probably not going to go for any more than two years but but don't forget Darv and him was not on the laundry list of going for more than just two years he was there for two years and that was it for Los Angeles and they said out the door you go don't knock because we won't hear you JJ Riddick could be on the very same threshold the difference between Darv and him and JJ Riddick is that JJ Riddick um to to his credit despite not coaching so we'll take that out of the equation the fact alone that LeBron James signed off on him says a lot about LeBron James knowing talent if it wasn't for LeBron James Anthony Davis would not be Los Angeles Laker nor would he have a championship ring so you have to give to an all look in all fairness there are people out there and say well this is a LeBron's team and Jeannie Butts makes the decision yes you're right you're absolutely right the problem with that theory is is that if players don't buy in on the coach the coach does not get in just like you see players who want to get out of their legitimate franchise and go somewhere else they'll make a big stink they'll be injured all of a sudden and they'll find themselves out of their situation and the team says well we're better off treating you than actually sitting you and in most cases that's exactly what happened so I think this is an okay move for Los Angeles clearly not the man they really wanted in Dan Hurley but again the runner up in JJ Riddick and again if he goes to a series they win the series then I'm in on it why because it shows that he has the medal as a head coach in order to take the Lakers where they need to go now to your point they need more players they need more than just Reeves they need more than LeBron they need more than Anthony Davis they need guys who are who are younger they don't need the mob squad they they don't need guys with the double air key cards hanging around they need the younger talent from the G league the draftees you know the NBA drafts just happening on Wednesday so they have a chance to look at who their prospects are and already clearly know who they're going to pick so we're going to find out what that looks like on ESPN but I'm really interested to see what happens this season because they left off at 47 and 35 last year so any room for improvement is a room that I want to be in and of course a room that I want to be in is watching JJ Riddick actually win the series I think he'll be okay I actually think they may have backed into the right move because control-free coaches in the NBA now doesn't work well you can change the coach a lot easier than you can change the players and I can tell you NBA players aren't going to listen and they're not going to do what college players do and I think college players are going to start acting more like NBA players because now they're getting paid and they have a restricted free agency so the age of the control freak we're going to practice until you guys collapse coach is probably about over in the NCAA too yeah no I I think that these two leagues between the NCAA you have the NIL monies and you have you know now they've approved for lack of a better term sponsors as a part of jerseys and jersey sales which will increase their revenue and people will actually buy them I actually may end up by it well not because there's a sponsor on it but because I think it's I think it's the right move I have had a couple guys on on the rudoxshow.com that kind of tests of that who you talk about the NIL and the movement within the NCAA landscape that really makes this move to NIL and guaranteed monies and things of that nature relatively legitimate and I think that moving forward I think the NBA clearly has set the tone and precedence for the NCAA to model after yeah I mean it's it's coming wait let's talk about the team that's up behind me there's Captain America himself Christian Pulisic and Timothy Wayaf from the US men's national team they kicked off their participation in Copa America with a I mean I'll just say a dominant performance against Bolivia it was only two NIL they honestly should have had probably four or five goals will this team this US national team led by Christian Pulisic Timothy Wayaf, Geno Reyna and Tyler Adams is this the team that can put the US men's national team up at the top of the table you know I believe so this as dominant as I would have liked for this game to actually take place Pulisic leads these guys in so many different ways right he leads him with tempo he leads them with speed he leads them and not only on the two we're talking off the field as well he leads them in such a way that people want to emulate him and be on his side right to to help him navigate what the future of this this team looks like throughout the Copa right so too well not very dominant I didn't expect it to be dominant but Bolivia has been known to kind of I don't know shake the trees a little bit making you kind of wonder are they going to get down field fast what does that look like I see in Mexico to take a 1-0 lead against Jamaica earlier today and it was kind of interesting how they wiped one goal away and the Mexico just comes back and just nails it or Ciega just did so much so early so often he just nailed it so it doesn't surprise me to see other teams follow suit in the way that Pulisic does for this men's team and I think moving forward you may not see a ton of dominance but to be honest with you 2-0 is kind of a good recipe and clearly a great way to start yeah and they kicked it off with a strong definitive star too as Pulisic hammered in that goal three minutes and the next game they're going to take on I believe it's in Atlanta and they're taking on Panama so a little bit better competition but still should be a US win so they should go up with two wins in the group stage and you get two wins you're you're going to be in good shape big big week for US soccer they're getting their chance to play on a huge profile and it's really kind of a preview of what we're going to see with the World Cup coming here in two years so a nice pre-start for the World Cup they're actually going to have a game here in Kansas City at Arrowhead Stadium on July 1st which is going to be one of the key hosts of the World Cup as well not coincidentally the games that they're playing in Dallas and Atlanta so they're they're hitting those venues really kind of making it a dry rod I want to talk about the other football too this week Trevor Lawrence signed an enormous contract he is now one of the highest paid quarterbacks in the national football league has quarterback pay gotten so out of control that the only way the NFL can save themselves from just destroying the salary cap is to take a look at soccer look at major league soccer and adopt their designated player rule where the team has a hard salary cap except for three spots and those three spots those designated players go not to pay them whatever I think so look the the benefit to that is this a in your own point key salary caps add a a controllable amount right we we look at exceeding numbers like the one the give Trevor Lawrence which by the way I don't believe that he's worked that kind of money we see nothing but regression for him in 2023 okay let's just be honest just call it what it is he went from being you know five in the year prior being the 2021 pick to regression you know his dropback EPA went to like 19th there's so many things that you want to see from him that didn't quite meet meet the expectations clearly did not meet his own expectations forget the team's expectation when you as a player don't navigate and learn how and what that looks like and how that feels to navigate your own your own path in not just regression but progression your your your own worst critic and ultimately can get inside of your mind and prevent you from making those plays down feel that you otherwise could have me and so I look at this contracting for myself this is absolutely ridiculous $275 million dollars for what for what exactly now to his credit it wasn't all of his fault it wasn't he except clearly enough responsibility I place enough blame on him myself personally but offensively they didn't use uh covered really the way they were supposed to come over from Atlanta the year prior I just think that there he does he's not a good separation guy downfield but to your point in regards to the having that designated player I think the the NFL should adapt and look at this rule and think to themselves okay well who are going to be our three biggest guys right okay pass rusher defense that's easy quarterback okay that's obvious and then utilizing maybe the last one as a what a wide receiver well what do you know big shocker there sure anybody yeah it can be but the the problem with that is is that not every NFL team is equal meaning that you have you have tears of differentiation between the AFC South North East and West singing with the NFC so that's not as if you can find any one specific team so you know what we're going to use that rule for them but then you have owners up in arms well why not them why just us why not them so you get into this this hodgepodge of this just the way it is at Roger Goodell for all attempts purposes it's not going to hammer down on this and make some type of executive decision to use that rule I like the rule I can see the benefits to that rule because that does owners a great benefit the problem is is that once you take it to the NFL PA that's where you're going to run up with a lot of brick walls and if you're a player and well I'm just saying if you're a player in the NFL PA and you're not there to sign off on it and it becomes rule you really have no one to blame but yourself because you weren't there to participate oh no it would have yeah it wouldn't happen until the next collective bargaining issue I think it's something that goes in with the owners request to get 18 games the the NFL is collective bargain they can't impose it themselves but I think they need to the save themselves from themselves because teams are making horrible decisions with quarterbacks and just burying themselves for a couple of years look at the Denver Broncos they gave Russell Wilson an enormous contract where he'd ever played a game for him get in there deciding hey man this guy's done we can't play with them we got to let him go okay now on last bone next hits their toast for three four years because they're buried in the salary camp by making the bad decision on Wilson and all the chips are in on bone next if he can't play which a lot of first round quarterbacks can't you're done and that's what's leading teams to make these decisions like the one the Jaguars made with Trevor Lawrence like the one the dolphins are going to come up and have to make soon with two attack of the Ola they all know we need a quarterback we don't have a good quarterback we're done and the coaches are all looking at okay we got to win the next year or two there's no building out a team so let's go let's get them and it's costing linebackers jobs and money it's costing running backs dearly because running backs have become disposable full backs are gone because now you're dedicating if you have a player like a Patrick Moms like a Josh Allen you're dedicating 50 60 million of your cap to him it's got to come from somewhere yeah and and that right there is the problem and and that's when you get into ticket prices going up concessions going up parking going up you know everything is it is being held to an increase and and that standard of an increase is not going to hold well with NFL fans any length whatsoever now now what what they what they could do is use a UFL as a farm system and you can designate that for a guy you're bringing up let's just say the NBA does it in the G League right you get an actual contract will they give you a three-day try out to see how well you're going to do within those three games they don't give you a contract they work with the money you already have now that that comes from the G League money it doesn't come from NBA franchise money so those are two separate entities however if they can designate that and say okay well we're going to grab this guy this guy this guy this guy from any given team within the UFL then we're going to superimpose them and incorporate the same method that the NBA does within our team so now the NFL is or the UFL is actually footing that bill on a temporary basis and tell that team signs that contract so I think there could be some margin in that from a player camp standpoint that would if the guys know good you just send them back and call it a day just like major league baseball though you send them back to AAA you know and call it a day you know be done with it you don't you don't owe them anything because now they have but what the player walks away with is they walk away with playtime at an NFL speed they come away with networking which they will when they're there for a week or two weeks or however long they want to do it but that money isn't something that the NFL team is going to have to pay out of their pocket I think conceptually of course everything looks good on paper but I think conceptually this is something that they could kind of navigate to and use that three MLS you know a standard on those particular players whoever they are and save themselves a ton of cash at the end of the day and realize hey you know what this could actually work well I think they do want to have a legit minor league and they are going to have to make some changes because it's getting out of control well let me ask you here just as we're uh we're going into the third uh third quarter of the show who do you think are the top five quarterbacks in the league accounting for their ability and their value to the team so how much money they take up and what they bring to the team hmm that's got to be tough um you know what and there are so many guys and I take nothing away from from Josh Allen but he did lose Stefan Diggs and when you lose a guy like that it will keep fine forget postseason or forget the Buffalo Bills game right playoff game where Stefan was nowhere to be found Josh Allen did a little too much too often couldn't connect with him for whatever reason but Josh Allen is a guy who needs to find a way to get it done if he doesn't he's not worth the money bottom line and we're talking about then now going into his what his final year of his life he's uh he's under a new contract he's got three years oh he's new contract so he's 32 yeah well you're okay so I'll get it off my right my top three in terms of value what they bring to the team and correlating how much they make I'm gonna go Patrick Mahomes in number one because man the guy's won two super balls and he restructures his contract every year for the team number two I'm going Matt Stafford for the Rams because when the Rams have Matt Stafford they went when Stafford's hurt they lose and Stafford's contract is still in line I think the Jaguars would happily take Matt Stafford right now versus Trevor Lawrence number three I'm gonna go CJ Stroud with the Texans because rookie contract the guy looks like he is the next big quarterback and he's ready to go you're you're top three using that kind of value standard I'm gonna say Justin Herbert why because he does so much for the Chargers he he has outplayed his contract time and time again he gets he outperforms any expectation that anybody has for him broken finger or not injure or not know his offensive line didn't do him any credit but based on his athleticism based on his football IQ be able to get the ball downfield the guy's just to me is is my number one I'm gonna have to get a great coach now - absolutely does and I think that's gonna pay dividends for him because he's already won a national title so that's going to help Justin Herbert further along than who he has had as a head coach for the Chargers and of course there's only one guy that comes to mind obviously but then you have Matthew Stafford Matthew Stafford just an absolute beast he again a guy who is outperform his contract and a very selfless guy as well member interviewing him when they faced off against the Cincinnati Bengals not that long ago in a Super Bowl so Matthew Stafford worth every dime he outperforms his own expectations that would be my number two number three I would I would have to climb on board with Patrick Mahomes and yeah it has to do with him winning titles but but three he just does so much with so many people he makes Travis Kelsey look like a mega star you know he has so many new weapons coming this season whether they start in special teams or wherever the coach wants to put them and so on or position coaches make the decision to stick you know the fastest guy on special teams for punt returns kick returns things that nature so Patrick Mahomes just makes everything better around him makes people better around him I want to see his drawback ratio increase this year and I also want to see his completion ratio this year be raised also and I say that because last year there wasn't a whole lot of continuous flows him running the ball he's trying to carry Tony yeah any throw to get Terry's Tony yeah I got and then Travis Kelsey has the had the droppies you know things of that nature so I look for him to get some other guys involved in the process no no Valdez Cantlin he's gone you don't obviously have two years removed I think but look the bottom line is is that if there was a number one in reverse order it definitely be Patrick Mahomes no doubt about it I would say the guys who are up and coming in that respect that they are here show what they can do we got four and five so two more I would say Lamar Jackson's gonna have to put his money where his mouth is because some of the the the bungles that that he's made and I interviewed him when he was picked up by the Baltimore Ravens last 30 second overall in the first round with first-round monies who negotiated his second deal not only just his first but his second deal he just had some tomfoolery types of plays things I wish he hadn't done you know I'm sure place it he wished he had never executed and and wanted to get those back you know let's start all over again unfortunately did happen that way and then Dak Prescott my gosh I was a Cowboys training cab last year it was his birthday like it is every year for everybody and he's no exception that rule and he's he's got to play to the expectations everyone he started off just red hot and just fell off the wagon as a playoffs approached and playing inside the playoffs so those are my two guys that really need to step it up to to justify the monies that they're being paid and to just execute the way they need to okay fair enough and I'm going to say my fourth best value is Brock Purdy because man the guy's winning and he's making nothing he actually made the last then the University of Kansas quarterback made last year on NAO money so and he got to the Super Bowl so I'm going to go Brock Purdy number four best value that's going to change because he's due for a new contract coming up next year they can renegotiate he's going to get a huge raise number five he just signed a new contract Jared Goff because the guy's won with the Rams he's shown the Lions that they can be a winning team and he has some has some liabilities to his game but what he's good at he's really good at and the guy's really taken to Detroit and Detroit loves him I think he's a great fit for that team on the flip side the quarterbacks who I think you can't pay again you can't resign them because they're going to kill the team deck Prescott I think the Cowboys need to find somebody else it's time to walk away and if I'm the Miami Dolphins I'm thinking long and hard before I sign up to a Tagalogoula to a long-term deal so two guys do you think the team needs to you kind of said that actually and I think they're really kind of your four and five two with Lamar and deck Prescott who have the capability to be terrific quarterbacks but it just hasn't been consistent enough and not enough to get him over the top and win though and and that's that's what it takes in your respective spot you're you're being paid an exorbit amount of money and if you don't capitalize on the monies and being incentivized to play at the highest possible level then you need to be replaced and take your millions and either a go somewhere else or b call it a day in retire fair enough and let's go ahead and we'll wrap it up here with our champions of the week Rudy anyone in the wide world of sports who's your champion this week who gets the belt who gets the championship belt for the week that is tough I would have to say sky shepler the guy is just an absolute beast boat he's just getting it done he he ties Tiger Woods for the most wins it's six I mean how how can you go wrong with a guy who nearly emulates Tiger Woods in so many different ways from the way that he plays to his mentality he just gosh the guy to shot 22 under I mean he's had four playoff games I mean he's just the epitome belt holder in in in my wide world of sports he just really is he's done so much for the game he's done so much to keep other people interested for those that do watch golf for you and for those that don't watch golf maybe tune in to a golf game um and I would say if there was a runner up it would be angel Reese because she's just been extremely dominant and she does it in such a sensual fashion she's a fashion needs to off the court but when she's on the court she's a baller to the bone so that would be my my runner up first player this year first drafted player in the WNBA this year to score 100 points and also I have a hundred rebounds and yeah you see the Chicago sky they walk into the arena on the green carpet every night so she's leading the team on and off the field making them buy into the dress up like stars it's really pretty neat and they put a video out every day I'm gonna go close to home because this is a pretty good day for Travis Kelsey he was at Wembley Stadium in London went on stage with Taylor Swift did a little dance with her spent time with the royal family with Prince William and the kids and even spent time with Ethan Hunt himself Tom Cruise so that's a pretty good day for Travis Kelsey getting that all in before training gap starts for the kids of City Chiefs coming up here on July 15th I don't think too many people are going to have that busy of a weekend so I'm going to go with Travis Kelsey and with that I'll remind everybody that you can watch the fired up network on the True TV plus app you can get it anywhere there's apps now Amazon Roku Apple Google Chromecast available for free ready work and everybody find views throughout the week oh well you can find me on kspy.com I certainly come out with news reports that are tantalizing to say the least and also my interview yesterday with Pat McSweeney tight end for the New York just what a great story that was that was fabulous to cover and you go check that out on the rudoxo.com and just buy the buy throw me a follow at rudog Reyes on Twitter always trying to bring the the best of the best to the best and those are the fans. There you go and with that we'll wrap it up for this week in sports for Rudy Reyes I'm Gerald Bentley stay tuned to the fired up network for more breaking sports talk and entertainment have a good night.