[MUSIC PLAYING] This is 12-time Olympic medalist Natalie Coglin, wondering who you should root for at the Paris Olympics. I'm hosting my new favorite Olympian where I will introduce you to Team USA's brightest stars and the causes they are championing. It's hard to explain, and I don't think I really like talked about this with anybody. Get ready for the Paris Games by checking out my new favorite Olympian wherever you listen to podcasts. The Paris Olympics brought to you locally on NBC and Peacock by Nissan. [MUSIC PLAYING] [SCREAMING] [MUSIC PLAYING] Hello, hello, hello. This is the "Sixter Talk" podcast. Amy Fiddle alongside Noah Levick. Danny Pymels is off on a tropical vacation. I actually know where he is. He's on vacation. So Noah and I, once again, holding it down as we are just the most reliable employees here at NBC Sports Philadelphia. And I say that because Noah is-- I don't know that you've ever had a day off. I see pictures when you go on vacation, Noah. But I don't know that you actually ever take a day off because I'll see a picture and you're away. And then yet, I'll see something on NBCSphilly.com. So have you taken any time this summer for yourself, Noah Levick? So the plan is another US Open trip in late August. So that is definitely something I'm really, really looking forward to. So yeah, the plan is for that to be all caps off. And we shall see how that all pans out. But that's on the docket. And definitely a source of excitement outside of sector's basketball for me. I'm going to hold you to it. All caps off on that one. Noah headed up to the US Open, of course, up in New York. Always a fun time. That is a great, great event. I haven't been to that in a number of years. I'll have to put that back on my bucket list. I do want to mention that Citrus Talk is brought to you proudly by Wilmington University. I do not want to leave that off. We are so thankful for their sponsorship of this. But let's get right into it. A couple of moves now made official. One move I should say made official. The Reggie Jackson signing. He spoke with the media today. I know that you were able to speak with him. And then I've seen some other comments. We talked with him. I was on the radio earlier today as well. But it's interesting, maybe this is where he is in his career, Noah. But you can give me your read on this. He seems like a guy that's like, all right, I know what it takes to get to the top. I was part of the nuggets when they got there. He was a big part of the nuggets last year as far as kind of filling in that starting role when Jamal Murray went down with an injury. But to me, he thought, when people say, why Philadelphia? Which has been a question asked several times of some of these free agents who came here to Philadelphia. It's almost like, why not? They have a great situation. It looks like they have a team that can go far, if not all the way. They've got PG. They've got Joel and B. They've got Tyrese Maxie. It's a perfect situation. Is that the read you got from Reggie Jackson? Here's a guy that knows what's what, and he's looking for a really good opportunity to win a championship? Absolutely. I think that's a big part of it. And then I think also, he is very, very close friends with Mr. Drummond. It was funny. We were left waiting a little bit, because those two were literally working out together in the sixth year's practice gym. And they emerged into the lobby. And Andre listened in to the entirety of Reggie's presser. So they got really close and still have a strong, strong connection from their days as Detroit Pistons. And I don't think he was joking that much when he said this guy, as to why he signed with the Sixers. But absolutely, I think in his mid 30s, he's at a stage of his career where he's tasted a title. He very much would love to be part of another championship. And I think he understands there's no guarantees here as far as minutes or roll. But he's eager to be valuable on and off the court. And the Sixers obviously have an exciting young point guard in Tyrese Maxie. So I think the notion of being another guy that can give Maxie a tidbit or two of wisdom seems appealing to Reggie Jackson. But yeah, I don't think you can discount those personal relationships with Drummond. And then of course, with Paul George as well, they shared some years on the Clippers. And I believe still get along really well, just on a personal level. So definitely the kind of thing that you can't factor into the free agency calculus. But probably didn't hurt the Sixers case when they were talking to Reggie Jackson that Andre Drummond and Paul George are on board and are guys that Jackson definitely has strong connections with here. We also heard from Tyrese Maxie this week. We've heard from several of these players. And it's one of the things about all of these guys having podcasts as they all are on each other's podcasts. And Tyrese Maxie was on a podcast piece of Paul George's podcast. One thing-- there's two things that took away. One that he did not like that all the clips that they showed of Paul George are a good chunk of the clips they showed of Paul George were of him going against Tyrese Maxie and being successful, going against Tyrese Maxie. I don't think Maxie appreciated that all much. He's sitting there like, listen, I have good plays against them too. And they show him cooking them left or rising up and shooting a jumper over them, different things like that. Of course, it's all in love. But when they talked about or they asked, I think the co-host of Paul George's podcast, I can't remember which one asked them to why Philadelphia or Paul George was, why did you think that he's going to work? Because they had-- you're talking about the big kind of sell, the big sales job, the big enticement. They had a lot of different people on these videos talking about why Paul George had come to Philadelphia. And Tyrese Maxie said, I think when you first look at it on paper, when they first brought up the idea of Paul George to him, or he first started thinking about it, it was fit. And that's only something that I think, and I know you and I have discussed it on here before, you go out and get the best player available. It's on the creative market, if you get the best fit. And Darryl Moore, he said the word fit multiple times. He said at the end of the season press conference a couple times, we're looking for the best fit. Because they've seen guys that were maybe the best players or the best available, and they didn't necessarily fit. You don't have to go that long to think about the whole Al Horford experiment and how that went. And there's other instances in between on a smaller scale, but that's the one that's going to stick out for a lot of people. But Tyrese Maxie's saying it just fits. You have one of the premier wings out there. You have probably the best, if not the second best, but his mind, the best big man. And then, of course, he said to me, a guard, like he didn't give himself any accolades. He didn't say an all-star, most improved player. But I think he views himself as absolutely in that top tier on this team. And the fit is incredible. That's exactly what he said. And then from the outside, I think for people that are still wondering about the Paul George, how it's going to fit in, for lack of a better reward, I think the more you think about how his game is, and how Tyrese Maxie's game is, and how Joel Embiid's game is, it does seem to have the most sense fit-wise. What did you make of what Maxie had to say as far as the fit goes for this team? Yeah, it was a really interesting point to raise, I think, in part, because Daryl Morrie has candidly been a best player available guy in many circumstances. He certainly tends to trend that direction as far as his draft philosophy. And then we all know that he's all about just like, get stars together. And if you have three stars, that's a heck of a lot better than two. And I think the situation, it just so happened that the best player on the market was also one who seems to fit quite nicely with the Sixers to already established stars. So yeah, I think on paper, of course, is different from what it's actually going to look like on the court. Everything might not be super intuitive from the jump. But I think there's very justifiable optimism from all the key pieces about how this is going to work together. And you just don't imagine many scenarios in which it's going to be awkward and clunky as far as who should do what job on the team. I do think it'll be interesting to see, of course, where the Sixers go and clutch situations, how they divvy up the defensive assignments as far as who's Kelly Oubre guarding, who's Paul George guarding, who's Kayla Martin guarding. And yeah, what spots and beats used on the court and how he can mesh with Paul George as far as their two-man game. A lot of little nuances that they'll figure out as they go. But none of it, I think, should be envisioned as especially difficult or it just doesn't look like they're a lot of really obvious major obstacles ahead as far as meshing together on the court. So definitely a big reason that the Sixers were all in on Paul George. And I think it's telling to hear more about that from the players. And definitely you get the impression that they don't see this as something that's going to be especially difficult from the jump. I think they know they're going to have to do some trial and error, that Nick Nurse is a guy who's going to throw some things out there and see how they work. But yeah, just as far as the trio, there's a lot of really good reasons to have optimism fit wise, no doubt. It's interesting that we have these podcasts to listen to because this would be a time not that long ago where you wouldn't have heard from any of your new players, aside from an introductory press conference. And you get to hear from them whether it's on their own podcast or someone else's podcast. It's totally different. It's a different vibe now. And they're obviously a lot freer to speak on their podcast, I think, to a certain extent without making it billboard material or anything like that. But I really took a lot away from Tyrese Maxie. He is who he is. And he's not different on the podcast. And I don't think the Paul George is either. But Tyrese Maxie is exactly who you expect him to be. And I thought he was very forthcoming and honest with his answers. When they were talking, of course, they talk about everything, not including, I mean, obviously they include basketball, there's a bunch of other stuff that they cover too. And that's what makes some of those podcasts a lot of fun. Could you get to see personalities? Well, basketball wise, I actually think for a second, he might have been a little bit perturbed that they did show him a kind of getting cooked by Paul George a couple of times. Like maybe not really. But there was a hint there for a second. I was like, he might actually be a little bit angry. It's like too strong because I would love-- I don't know that I've ever seen Tyrese Maxie. The anger you've seen him fired up or questioning. But he's probably only been angry maybe five times in his life if you ask him. He's not an angry guy. He doesn't have that emotion that way. He channels it in a different way. But what did you make of him trying to make lighter the fact that he was like, yeah, I was so great. All these videos had come out. And then I look at it and it's me, like three different, four different clips of him getting cooked. One where there's a shooting a jumper, bearing a jumper, right in his face. Yeah, I think Tyrese Maxie very understandably thinks he works as hard as anyone in the world. And I think that dictates a lot of the ways in which he's extraordinarily competitive. He thinks his work should allow him to be great and beat anyone that's in front of him. And I think we have seen that manifest not in Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan-ish ways. But I go back to that incredible, you know, miraculous performance he had in Game 5 at the Garden. And, you know, the Sixers get to overtime thanks to Maxie. And he's yelling right in the faces of the celebrity row. And I remember he said that night he was saying some words his grandma would not approve of. Not approve. So yeah, we see those little bursts where the competitiveness comes out in a way that is not, you know, pure smiles and joy. And yeah, I think, you know, a lot of people can overlook that and just think he's having the time of his life and cruising through it all. But there's most definitely a steely competitiveness. And I think just instinctively, if you present him with the opinion or with the visual that someone is better than him or someone is cooking him on the court, he's not going to be happy about it. So yeah, obviously, you know, funny stuff. But I think absolutely there's some truth to the idea that you can strike a nerve with Tyrex Maxie if you try to show him that that someone is better than him at basketball. He's not going to agree with that. And he's going to want to prove you wrong. How about when one last thing up on Tyrex Maxie? So he posted it a while ago. So he's been out working out in LA maybe last week, I guess it was maybe a little bit this week too. I don't know the exact timeline, but these guys obviously post on their Instagrams and TikTok and everything else. But he was working with one of the trainers, Chris Johnson. And it was ball handling drills. And he was really going at it. And I guess the video came out maybe right before, right after he signed, I can't remember, right after his press conference, I should say. So it's been out for like about a week. And then all of a sudden, I guess people started to notice it nationally. It probably popped up on some people's feeds, maybe with their algorithm or whatever. And then he said, you guys got me drug tested, which I thought was great, because we've seen him since then. But for a lot of people, maybe they haven't seen him in that light. And they're thinking, here's this kid they probably saw like a year or two ago. Keep in mind, when he's sitting out there before he resigned, he told us this. He couldn't work out as far as being in a gym for fear of anything happening. So I'm guessing it was just arm day all day. So he just kept lifting weights. But he was in this particular clip, he's working. So Chris Johnson's kind of coming out and trying to jab the ball, and he's really working hard. And I think his ball handling is one thing that he's always taken seriously, but he had some turnover issues is too strong. But he had some turnover at times, some problems with it. So you could tell he was working on the strength handling with the ball. And they got him drug tested, apparently Noah, because everybody couldn't believe their little Tyrese Maxie had turned into like this swole, really ripped guy. But he's always been broad shoulder, but now he's really feeling into it. And I love that that clip came out. And he was like, really? Like now I'm getting a drug-- Tyrese Maxie's getting a drug test. But listen, when you go from what you looked like a year ago and some people's mind to what you look like in this clip working on your ball handling skills, that's what happens. That's what happens. Yeah. I mean, it's been the last few off seasons where I know he's focused on that. And he's understood that that's a controllable area of his game that can yield some real benefits. I guess it was two seasons ago. He really felt that it would be essential as far as drawing more fouls and being sturdier defensively and more switchable as a defender. So yeah, I'm interested to see whether he can make some more progress there as far as the on-court results. I think there was a lot of frustration on his end and on Nick Nurse's end with him not getting many whistles that he thought he deserved. Maybe the added muscle makes it a little more obvious but yes, that's a foul. And that was illegal contact on this guy who's now fully jacked. That would be great for the Sixers if that's the case. But yeah, and I think the defensive side of it's obviously really important. It would be ideal for the Sixers. I think if there are a lot of lineups where Nick Nurse is very comfortable switching 1 through 4 and just having Joelle indeed as the backline of the defense and Tyrese Maxie, we know he doesn't want to be the weak link if he's really sturdy. I think that's going to give him a greater chance to hold up against players who are 4, 5, 6 inches taller than him. I think Kyle Lowry is the epitome of that. He is not a hair over 6 feet, but we know he's exceptionally strong in the lower body and has savviness that complements his strength very well. So yeah, I think that that's kind of the general model that Tyrese Maxie will hope to follow. And I think that would be very positive for the Sixers if the muscle enables him to be a better or more switchable defender. I thought he was significantly improved defensively last year, but I still think there's a lot of room to grow. I know Nick Nurse feels the same way. And I think that that's going to be vital for him come playoff time to be like a legit two-way player. And yeah, I think the Sixers view him as a guy who can not only be a passable defender, but can be downright positive and defend better than you typically expect from someone who's 6'2. I mean, look, Nick Nurse has the history. Kyle Lowry, Fred Van Vliet, really strong guard defenders. So he's trying to chip away there with Tyrese Maxie and make him better and better on the defensive end of the ball. Yeah, and as you mentioned, not a zero on defense, but certainly not a liability. He's never been a zero, but his defense has certainly grown each year and you've seen it. And he has acknowledged multiple times as a part of his game. And he knows it's on the same level as his offense. I don't think that's any secret he's talked about it. So I appreciated him acknowledging that and certainly being able to work on it, but also getting in the weight room so he can now terrify those guys. It can't hurt, right? Bigger you are, bigger you look, I guess, for those refs. Maybe they'll actually give him a call. I think that's a general idea. And honestly, I think there's some residual James Harden influence here, too. Like he's-- Agreed. He's had those one-on-one workouts with Harden. Obviously, he knows all about the foul-drawing tricks that are in James Harden's bag. But I think being up close and even facing that in their one-on-one workouts, he understands that just being very, very strong enables you to do more than your size or even your surface level athleticism would suggest. And obviously, he's got great athleticism as far as his speed and his explosiveness. But yeah, I think the bottom line is like strength can be a big asset as far as your switchability. Even Eric Gordon is someone who was able to hold up in those switch everything rockets lineups, despite being a mere 6-2-6-3. James Harden has always been a good post-defender. And yeah, I think there are many role models in the general area of switchable defense for Tyrese Maxi. And I do generally view it as an area where he should be capable and he should be able to make continued improvement, despite being the most improved player in the league last year. I'm so glad you brought up the James Harden thing, because I know we're always going to say his name around here with a sigh and then whatever. But he did impart some serious, I think-- it's not even advice. It's just the way that he worked and the admiration from Tyrese Maxi on looking at James Harden in his game and how he plays it and what he does. I think that that's something that's lingered and carried over. And certainly has helped Tyrese Maxi. Maxi's been the first to acknowledge it. He still talks about James Harden and what he learned from him. And it's not just that you mentioned, not just drawing the fouls, but in a lot of different ways that he takes his game, including the Stepback 3, which everybody loves now. Let's pay some bills real quick, as Danny Palmells likes to say. I'm going to tell you, get to know Wilmington University at its virtual open house. That comes your way on Wednesday, August 7th, details at willmu.edu/openhouse. Celebrity Cook Steve Moderna brings his Italian American cooking back home here to Philly. Enjoy Moderna's prime at Rivers Casino and Steve's famous meatballs with Sunday gravy. Prime Stakes and more make reservations for Moderna's prime at open table. A US senator destroyed by blackmail. He was not bound by the truth or by facts. The country's most outrageous political demagogue ascending toward the peak of American power. Millions upon millions of devoted followers. This is a story of heroes willing to face down tyranny and the risk to the country if they fail. Rachel Maddow presents Ultra Season 2 of the Chart Topping Original Podcast. Listen now. There's no distance too far for the perfect trip. Hi, checking in for-- or the perfect table. Hey, where are you? Coming. And when you get access to resi priority notify with your MX Platinum card-- Hey, this looks amazing. I'm so glad you made it. And travel benefits at fine hotels and resorts book through AMX travel. It's worth the trip. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Terms apply. Learn more at americanexpress.com/withamax. All right, so we're talking a little bit about what the Sixers are doing. They're all over the place. Paul George is back out in LA. I'm sure he's preparing to move here. Reggie Jackson was in town today. There's a lot of different-- everybody's kind of dispersed. I know Tyrese Maxie's back this weekend because he has his Tyrese Maxie Foundation Family and Friends Foundation golf outing that's on Friday. He has a dinner on Thursday. And then he has a skills camp on Sunday. We will be here. We will be that. And so make sure you check all that out. We'll be at both of those things. The golf outing and the skills camp. Make sure you check that out over the weekend on NBCSphilly.com. But we have to talk about the Olympics and Joe LMB. Because one, Team USA, they got down early to Serbia. And then I guess they just looked over and said, OK, no more playing around. Katie came in and saved the day. And then a 107-year-old LeBron James also decided to save the day. But so Serbia, they dispatched pretty handily. 20 plus, 26 point win. Spain beat Greece. That's not maybe a big surprise. Greece has Giannis. They don't have much else beyond that. A couple of these decent players. So I think a lot of people are looking at Spain as a viable metal type contender. I still think it's Team USA to go all the way. But I think everybody else does, too. But I feel like it's not going to be that close. But I'm alone in that, because I know our one, Noah Levick, has expressed some concerns about France, which I understand. Because I saw Victor Webb and Yamba dunk, and it looked like the guy from Space Jam. I've never seen anything quite like that. He was dunking from the free throw line, and his feet hadn't left the court yet. He is amazing. But so Joe LMB played, I thought, quite well, in their final tune up against Germany. Joe LMB has been in the starting line up. Steve Kerr has tried. And one thing I go back to something Tyrese Maxie told. We were talking with him. I don't know if it was in my one-on-one or whenever. But he said it on his day that he was resigning this contract. France will run Olympic basketball in 2028. OK, no, I'm catching strays from Ben Berry, our producer, in the chat about France coming up strong. A 2028, LeBron will be 111, and he'll still be winning. So let's not talk about it. But Tyrese Maxie pointed out one thing, and I know it brought it up to you before Noah, that all these guys on Team USA have played in some sort of like, whether it's AAU, U19, Team USA, or actual Team USA, big Team USA, some sort of really high-level All-Star event. Not the All-Star game, because that's not high-level basketball. They're just out there running drills, and we all know that. We've all seen the All-Star game over the years. Joe LMB one didn't even start playing basketball till 15, but he's never played anything like that. He never played for any kind of team, whether it was Team France, Cameroon, or now Team USA. He's never played in that environment. He never played AAU ball. Didn't do any of those things. So these guys are more accustomed to trying to kind of match their skill set with the other players that are around them. They're at very, very, very high level. So I'd say that with a grain of salt, because he did not have a very good opening couple of minutes against Serbia. He drew a flagrant. He missed free throws. I guess one of them was an air ball, but it didn't go in. I don't know if it hit rim, but it didn't get close. So it was like panic time. Steve Kerr spoke afterwards, and basically we said, "Listen, he's our guy. "We're still going with him." They took him out. They put in Anthony Davis, who's obviously not a true center either, and when you think about it. But I was curious. One thing that we had talked about was, this is gonna be a chance for Joe LMB not to be the feature of the offense, right? They're not gonna run the offense through him. And then he watched the first couple of minutes of the game against Serbia. And I'm like, they're running the offense through Joe LMB. Maybe that's because Steve Kerr's like, well, this is what they do in Philadelphia, so that's what we're gonna do here. Meanwhile, you've got LeBron and Steph Curry out there, and I'm thinking, that's not, that's not the way. Who am I to tell Steve Kerr how to coach? He obviously figured it out, and they won by 26 points. But Joe LMB is obviously trying to learn on the fly. There's a lot of positives that I can take away. One is that he was dealing with that injury towards the end of last season. He came back in the postseason. You know he wasn't 100%. Talk about getting into shape quickly. You're playing at the highest level in the world against some of the best players in the world with some of the best players in the world, which I appreciate getting to be around them, you know, both in the locker room and on the court. But can they start to integrate Joe LMB without him having to have the offense run through him? Like, that's what everybody wants to see because going forward for Sixers fans, they need to be able to see, like, when Joe LMB is not on the court, we can't have that big drop off. Now, Paul George, obviously, you know, he's going to help out in that regard a lot, but the Sixers team needs to learn how to play without him. And if he's not 100% and still out there, you can't always go through him. So what did you make of one? How he started out two, can he get better? And three, do they continue to run the offense through him? - Started out, like, quite poorly. So therefore, yes, he can get significantly better. He's an incredibly talented player who surely can knock down a couple of those mid-range shots and have some better instincts defensively, et cetera, et cetera. I mean, I thought, you know, sometimes you're going to miss shots for whatever reason, but I thought it was a disappointing game for him defensively. He got cooked a couple of times by Yokech one-on-one in the post and definitely was at his best as far as one-on-one defense or rim protection. And yeah, just had a super shaky start and never seemed to fully find his footing. I thought his second and third stints were slightly better than his first, but neither was great. And yeah, it doesn't give you a lot of confidence for him moving forward, but I do think he's not someone who needs to rely on his scoring to be a positive impact guy. I think we know he can deter and block shots at an all-world level. And I think he's got to be very, very good for Team USA defensively, regardless of whether post-op and ISO touches are coming his way. I do think we saw promising flashes in the exhibition games as far as him doing dribble handoffs and setting off ball screens and sort of actively looking to be a supplementary player as opposed to a feature guy who's kind of pounding the rock. But I think we need to see more of that from him moving forward. And it was in no way an encouraging start. I mean, apparently he had an illness that caused him to miss the final practice before the game. That's clearly not ideal. And maybe if he feels a little healthier, the results will be a little more positive for Joellen Bied. Yeah, I don't think one rough debut means that his Olympics are doomed and that he needs to be benched and that there's no way he can be productive for Team USA. But I think various concerns about his fit in international basketball and on this team were somewhat validated. But by the way, he played in that first game. So yeah, he's got to be ready to go. From the jump against South Sudan, an opponent obviously that the US faced recently in a very, very close exhibition game. And yeah, I think in all likelihood, Joellen Bied will be better. I think the question is just how much better? And I'm really curious to see and I don't have a great gauge on it. 'Cause as you said, this is his very first time playing international hoops and we're all just kind of guessing as far as whether he'll be able to figure it out and be effective on this team. But I think for the time being, it's not a great situation for him personally. I think it is nice that the Team USA still crucial to the win. But I think everyone would feel a lot better about the makeup of this team and Steve Kerr's decision making on the rotations and the starting lineup if Joellen Bied were to look like Joellen Bied tomorrow afternoon Eastern time, 3 p.m. Eastern against South Sudan who had an awesome win in their first game. So the USA knows that that could be a tough test and it would be great for them if Joellen Bied looks a lot better. - Yeah, of course everybody's talking about, oh, you know, South Sudan almost beat them before. I'm like, yeah, Katie did not play in that game. Katie is the rare, not I shouldn't say rare, but usually they're like, I always think about Carmelo Anthony who is a tremendous international basketball player. Just his game is so perfect for international play. It's not to say he's not a good NBA player. Obviously Carmelo Anthony, an all star, like so many times over, whatever, great NBA player. But his international game is at another level. And then I see a guy like Katie who apparently is good at everything. And I already knew that, but his international game, it's a little bit different. For those who maybe aren't familiar, it's worth a Google search for you. There's a little bit of a different rule frame. Obviously there's different dimensions. It's a different vibe out there with that, with the international game, the FIBA rules, slightly different from the NBA. Not much so that obviously it takes the NBA players out of it, but there is an adjustment period. Speaking of, what about Steve Kerr with a DNP for Jason Tatum? You look down there and Steve Kerr is like, that can't happen, but you only get 10 players to play. And he looks down at the bench, he went with, Shawnee, my nine-year-old was the first one pointed out when he looked at the box score because he was playing baseball. So I showed it to him when he was done with his baseball game. And I said, "Oh, you know, Team USA won." He scrolls down and goes, "Whoa, whoa, whoa." Derek White got in, but no Jason Tatum. I'm like, "Well, I'm sure it was a match up there." Like, what is happening? But Steve Kerr had to say something afterwards. Like, that can't happen. Tater Tot's sitting out there being like what? Like, I'm not finals MVP, and now I can't even get in my first game for Team USA, but that won't happen again. I don't think you're gonna see a game where you don't have Jason Tatum. You probably will see another game where you don't have Tyree's Halliburton. That's not a knock on Tyree's Halliburton, but the guard play of this particular team is exceptional. And so he'll probably have limited minutes going forward. I'm pretty sure a guy like Tyree's Halliburton probably realizes that and he's okay with it. There was a funny clip that was posted, I think yesterday with Team USA walking in, I guess to practice and fans going crazy for LeBron, fans going crazy for Steph, here comes Halliburton. And it was like, I kid you not know. It was like golf clap. I was like, "This poor kid." I'm sure they just didn't know who he was. Maybe they thought he was like a manager or something. What did you make of no Jason Tatum in that opening game? - Yeah, I definitely didn't see it coming, but yeah, like rotations are not infinite. And Steve Kerr likes what Devin Booker's bringing to the table as more of a pure shooter. - Right. - And yeah, like what guy he feels very comfortable, taken up a lot of wing minutes on this team. And you know, Kevin Durant did not feature in any of the exhibition games and now that he's in the mix, like he surely should be featured for Team USA. He's as good as it gets when it comes to making tough mid-range shots and it congested, you know, sort of environment. Yeah, with Tyree's Halliburton, like Drew Holiday, it's ridiculously good on the international level, right? Like the consummate to let two-way player is kind of make a bunch of winning plays and just be really impactful for you as a point of attack defender. But yeah, it's tricky to manage, you know, egos and expectations and whatever and didn't seem like Steve Kerr nailed it on that front. If he's publicly saying after the game, you know, I screwed up and didn't seem like Tatum entirely expected that or had a great idea coming in of what was to come. So yeah, I think it was just a little weird to see him not play and then also to see, you know, a championship winning coach, it-- Forget about a guy. Well, yeah, and saying that he made a blunder in a game that is Team One by 26 points, like just a lot of factors here that are rare, that are rare to see in basketball. So yeah, I guess Tatum is gonna be in the rotation in some way, shape or form moving forward. And Steve Kerr has some tough decisions, I guess, to come despite coaching a team that looks very good for the most part. So yeah, like I think in some ways, you know, it's a job that you don't envy because it's hard to make everyone happy, even on a team where the environment is genuinely selfless and everyone just wants to, you know, contribute for the greater good, it's pretty hard to get everyone in positions where they're comfortable and at their best. And sometimes it's just impossible. So I'm curious to see how that Tatum storyline develops. And again, I'm not really too sure what to expect other than he is gonna be on the court against South Sudan. I do not know him many minutes he's gonna play. - He's the first guy off that bench, I bet on Saturday afternoon. - Yeah, and the starting lineup, I mean, we'll see, I guess we're expecting he's relevant to be back out there. But it does seem like there's some willingness to decrease his role, right? Like he played 11 minutes in this game. I guess he picked up his third foul in like the middle of the third quarter, but it wasn't really, really foul trouble. And then he didn't play the rest of the game because the other lineups were quite effective. So I'm not too sure what it's gonna look like as far as the starters, but I think it's already been established that Joel and be on the roster does not equal, you know, Joel and be at place 25 plus minutes. So I think that expectation has been set and in order for indeed to play a healthy volume of minutes, he's gonna have to be deserving of that as sure seems. - I do like that there's a certain part of the fan base out there that didn't want him playing because they were worried about him getting hurt. And now they're gonna complain that he only played 11 minutes. Like you can't have it both ways, either he's in or he's out, but I hear your point on, as far as the usage rate, it'll be interesting going forward. And obviously it could be matchup based as they continue on with the tournament. I do wanna point out Ben Barry said that he thinks that the reason Tatum isn't gonna get some run is because he's a four on this team and obviously there are better options at four. That is true, but it is hard to keep a guy that is as good of a finisher and clutch shooter, certainly in the mid-range game that you have it in Jason Tatum. What was more surprising? No Tatum or that LeBron James got 21 points and was nine to 13 at his age on the Olympic stage? I think no Tatum, 'cause as we were saying, LeBron. LeBron was a vintage throwback LeBron in most of those exhibition games. So it didn't come out of nowhere for me. I think LeBron looks like he's rounding into form that is very much not that of a guy who's 40 years old. It does remind me like we should give a hat as well to Diana Tarasi for being older than LeBron James. Yes. On the USA women's team. So LeBron is not the eldest in the USA basketball world, but it is unprecedented to be as great as he is at this age. And he started very, very strong. Funny moment two with him where there was some sort of dispute with the officials and a debate about whether he should be allowed to sub back in. I think in those situations everyone assumes like the officials know the rules and whatever their first instinct is is going to be how it plays out. But sure enough, we see LeBron James running back out onto that. - He knew. - So he's like, he's the king, I guess in all senses of the world, even when he is not in his country. - Yeah, after that, being the flag bearer, I think he's Captain La Merica, I believe is what he was tapped by his teammates. He did look like General Washington there crossing the Delaware. There's a lot of memes on that, him holding that flag. Just that the whole thing was a cool moment. I know a lot of people have talked about the opening ceremonies. I liked the parade of boats. I liked the big pomp and circumstance type of thing. When you mentioned Team USA for the women's team, I believe they've now won 56 straight. There's something like 72 and four, 73 and four. They're going for their eighth straight gold medal. Dawn Staley is over there. She's responsible for three of those gold medals. Two as a player, one as a coach. I thought it was interesting. Her comments, and I'll get this real quick for you since I know it's six to talk podcast, but it's Dawn Staley, she's from Philly. She said recently, I think it was either Sunday or Monday, I can't remember which, that they should have given maybe a little bit of hard or look at Caitlyn Clark and adding her to this, because when they first made the roster, there were only what a dozen games or so into the WMBACs, and then we know that Caitlyn Clark struggled a little bit to start out, but now Dawn Staley's words. She's playing better than some of the players on the team, and that's not saying that some of the players are bad. Certainly not. Team USA women, they just beat Japan handily. They struggled a little bit at the beginning, and then they figured it out. Brianna Stewart with Tremendous Game, Major Wilson, we didn't know. Also Tremendous Game, Brittany Griner as well. But I thought it was interesting. These coaches, Steve Kerr, coming out and saying, "Well, I messed that up." And Dawn Staley, not saying we messed it up, like maybe we should have given her a better look because she has turned into a player, and Caitlyn Clark will obviously get her time, no doubt in my mind for Team USA, but it would be interesting to see her on this. Team for Team USA, who is a loaded team, if they, maybe she would be the Jason Tatum, has been very pointed out and wouldn't get in any run. But what'd you make of Dawn Staley coming out and saying, "Maybe we should have, you know, she should be on this team." - Yeah, I guess the way she framed it was like, she's played a lot better since that decision was made, and then, you know, if she was playing the way she is now, we would have given her, you know, high consideration or something. So yeah, some attempt to be diplomatic there, but I thought also admirable transparency to say, "Hey, like, there's a certain time "where we gotta make the decision," and, you know, she wasn't having a bad start in the world to her rookie year and was still adjusting to the WNBA. Also had like a brutal, brutal, early stretch of the schedule that was probably contributing to her efficiency being a little subpar. So yeah, I think Dawn Staley's always been very up there, which is being super real, super authentic with the way she connects to just about anyone she's talking to. And yeah, I think she commands a lot of respect and, you know, is clearly an authoritative person, but also as an adult hesitant to admit when she might not have been spot on with a decision. So I think that, you know, is one of the many reasons she's a Hall of Famer. She is, you know, willing to look back at decisions and say, "Hey, I didn't, maybe didn't get this one "entirely right," or maybe would have looked at it differently if given a second chance. So yeah, I know that all things Caitlin Clark are going to be hot button topics, but yeah, it's interesting to hear Dawn Staley's commentary and yeah, it is incredible just to look back at all she's accomplished in her career, both, you know, domestically and internationally. Like she is fully through and through and she is also just straight up one of the all time greats of women's basketball. So never a bad time to appreciate, appreciate Dawn Staley. - Oh, I love Dawn Staley. And like you said, she does keep it real. She's a tremendous follower on social media because she's over there and she's, that's one thing I've enjoyed about the Olympics is seeing all what I call them super fans, all these, you know, people that are, whether they're sports figures or not. I mean, you're seeing, you know, Snoop Dogg's obviously over there for NBC, Flavor Flav is the, you know, benefactor for women's polo, the women's polo team, which you're seeing just Jason Kelsey's over there. There's a lot of people that just show up because they want to go and experience it and they're going to see, you know, different events they would women's rugby. And like I said, water polo, that's how Snoop Dogg at gymnastics. He's not commentating on that. He did commentate on badminton, which was everything you wanted to be. And more it sounded like how we all would. Like he has no idea what's happening, but he was impressed for them getting to the bird. They so called the bird, I think they called it something else. Well, I call it the birdie, but whatever. So, as we're leaving, the Olympic Games are happening. Team USA basketball plays three o'clock on Saturday, three o'clock Eastern time on Saturday. They get play again. Tomorrow? It's a tomorrow? It is tomorrow, not Saturday. That's right, because it's a big, I've got the triple header. I've got the Phillies game at 12.30. I'm watching Team USA. You're right, Wednesday, three o'clock against South Sudan. And then we're going to the Liverpool Arsenal match at the link. So big, big day for me with sports watching. But before we go, yeah. I don't know. Are you a supporter of one of those teams? So, yes, so Shawnee, my youngest, or not my youngest, my nine-year-old is a Liverpool guy. He likes Liverpool, so he was very excited. We went to the matches when they were here. They had not Liverpool. Chelsea came, Brighton came, Aston Villa, and somebody else. I can't remember. We went down for that at the link. It was a tremendous experience. They really do it up. But when I saw that Liverpool was coming, and I showed it to him, it was one of his Christmas presents. So we got tickets for this to go to Liverpool. He's got his jersey. There's a Liverpool supporters club here in Philadelphia. He's got his scarf for that. So he's all excited. I know they don't have everybody. I know Salah's going to be here most of all. But I don't know that McAllister be some of them. If anybody knows who I'm talking about, it's Liverpool people. I've had to learn this stuff kind of on the fly. I'm not as familiar with them. The one thing I was disappointed when Chelsea came, it was right before-- I think the Pulisic transfer had just gone through to Milan, like two weeks prior. And I thought, you couldn't have waited. It was a great atmosphere. Chelsea has a tremendous supporter section, I think, in the area. So they had a lot of people. But I think a lot of people were there, hoping to see, obviously, the kid from Hershey. But before-- are you going to any of this, Matthew? You like soccer. I think you like-- I know you're a big cricket guy. But who's your soccer team? I love soccer. So my soccer club is Hall City. We are in the championship, which is below the Premier League. That's the next one down. And that's the point of you for that, and that's OK. Well, no, I appreciate the grind of trying to get up there. Again, Andy Robertson, as a young player, the all-world Liverpool left back, helped us get promoted to the Premier League, and he's a guy that I still love. So rooting for him on an individual level. No, that I'm sure that'll be tons of time. I think it'll be fun. I think they're spending $60,000. So it'll be-- it'll be crazy, because the Yankees play at Citizens Bank Park, and that'll be sold out. And then we're going to stop in probably to infinity to watch Team USA basketball, and then we'll head over to the link. So it'll be a busy, busy day. But the Olympics will be happening. So before we go, we asked Noah this beforehand, but I want to get on record. If you had to pick the Summer Olympics sport that you could possibly qualify in-- I don't need you to meddle, because just you being there is enough, Noah. But if you could qualify in, what would it be? Yeah, so the straight up honest answer is none. That's nothing. For an athlete of my caliber, to get anywhere close, I think, to Olympic qualification. I think even some of the more niche sports, I guess, like surfing. I don't have what it takes. Those are really difficult sports, even if they're not as popular. So what I ended up landing on with the caveat of you probably need to give me a few years of elite 24/7 training is fencing. I do think I played baseball back in the day. I have some hand-eye coordination and instincts and appreciation of strategic nuances. It also looks like a lot of fun, so I think I'd enjoy it. So I landed on fencing. But, again, being brutally honest, the answer is just, I'm not in that world. And that's OK. They are the top 0.01% of athletes. And I am never going to be that no matter how hard I might try. I'm not even the top 0.01 of athletes, probably, in our newsroom. So I know that I would not qualify for anything. I chose something that is obscure. But I thought you could get a lot of air and it looked like fun, and that's artistic trampoline. It's fun to watch. You just jump up, and obviously they have a lot of skill. And they're doing very elegant acrobatics. Elegant and I, and grace that we don't usually go hand in hand. That's the reason I played field hockey and not something a little bit more. I did, for five years. Big field hockey. But I've watched the field hockey in the USA field hockey match when they came back to beat Brazil, I think it was. Either Brazil, I can't remember. And I thought that was-- that's not the sport I played. It's like when I go out there on the golf course. And then I watch golf. I'm like, I don't know what's the word I'm playing if that's golf. Our team USA field hockey is tremendous, very, very, very skilled. We have a local player from around the area who's on team USA. But it was like, we have actually a lot of local ties. I did a story with Justin Best. He's on-- he's a rower. He's on the four-man boat. I think there was a chance he could mail the eight-man boat, but he's on the four-man boat. So watch out for him. Justin Best went to Drexel from the area. They did-- they just finished off the medal stand in Tokyo. So they're hoping to have a good bounce back. But Ben Berry wants me to weigh in. He says weightlifting, which there's not a chance. I've seen him weight lift on his Instagram. That's not 100 meter, 200 meter, and then the four-by-100. Unless that's millimeter races, and they forgot an M, there's no chance he's gold in any of those. Unless he's racing, I don't know. I don't even know. My grandma, I don't even know. And then break dancing is not a sport, Ben Berry. Though maybe it will be, because we have surfing and some other things. But it will be a sport. Metals will be awarded. Exactly. If you got some moves, my moves are, again, not nearly good enough to mail in break dancing. But if you are an aspiring break dancer, you can, in one day, contest for Olympic gold. Well, if you were in-- if you were like break dancing, then hopefully you like the movie, break in and break into Electric Boogaloo, because it is a tremendous movie. And Iced Tea is in one of those movies. This is a fun fact for you. That shows you a little bit about my childhood and what kind of movies I watched. They were nonsensical. All right, we have derail in the podcast. And that's because of me. And that's what I do. I am so sorry. Noah is here to keep us on the level. But he did not, because I sidetracked him by getting his fencing take, which I appreciate. Because I enjoy fencing. I watched the US women, or the one woman won. She won it in foil, I believe it was. She won gold. And she is a med student. If you're feeling really inadequate, think about what she's doing. She's just won gold, and she's in med school. So as you were-- Back-to-back gold for Leaky Fair in the foil. So pretty darn impressive. And again, I think makes us feel very small, as far as what we are capable of ever accomplishing, but pretty, pretty awesome stuff. I will say that like, you know, NBC Olympics, I don't consider this around. Like, this is all very good stuff for us to touch on. And again, Joellen Bied, who, too, does play for the Philadelphia 76ers, is an Olympian. And he will be playing Olympic basketball tomorrow afternoon at three Eastern. Thank you. Thank you, see? Noah does keep us on the level. And I love all things Olympics. I can't get enough of it. I'm watching all of it. Anything I turn on, I'm locked in on what doesn't matter what it is, especially if it's a sport that I've never really locked in on before. But I thank you, Noah, for bringing it back and saying, yes, we are all together, synergy with the Olympics, NBC, Joellen Bied. It's all on the same kind of plane, even if that plane is kind of a little bit, you know, wonky at this point, as it's trying to come in. This has been the "Sixters Talk" podcast brought to you by Wilmington University 4. The aforementioned "The Wonderful," the man, the myth, the legend, always keeping it real. Noah Levick, I'm Amy Fiddle, Ben Barry. Of course, our producer talking nonsense about how he would win gold in anything. That is just not the case, but we appreciate him. And we appreciate you. We'll see you next time. [CHEERING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [APPLAUSE] [BLANK_AUDIO]
