The Killer B's: Joel Blank & Jeremy Branham
10/04 Hour 3- Nico Collins is An Alpha; Ft. Barry Laminack and DJ Bien-Aime
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And one of our best friends on the show is DJB Enemy who covers the Houston Texans for ESPN. Joining us weekly on Fridays for our chat leading up to the Sunday game. DJ as always, thank you so much for joining us. I guess first and foremost, let's get into the injury situation. Let's talk about the fact that Christian Harris could have rejoined the team. But he didn't. How much of a concern is that DJ and how bad is this calf that it continues to linger? Yeah, I think it's better next year. I mean, I don't think we'll see him actually either. He hasn't even been close to practicing. But yeah, I think that it's just a certain good regard to keep an eye on. And also, again, like calf concerns the activities really easily. So really, it's just time to protect him from himself. And again, like I just can't get that image out of my head of him not being able to make it through not practice. And I make it through the first part of practice. You know, while he was having to be granted, he was being carried off. You know what I mean? So, yeah, so I mean, they got to be really patient with that. There's the last thing here. Like some of the games started kicking off, led to them. So the last thing you want to do is push it, bring it back to early, and then he heard something else. You know what I mean? So I didn't have to be very, very small with this. But I can see this extending a little bit longer. So we know that the Bills had a hard time last week stopping the run. They've got a big time running back in Derrick Henry. You've got a good running back in Joe Mixon. He's been ruled out yet again. How big a factor does that play in this game? Because of the fact that it looked like that's if you're going to look for weaknesses in Buffalo, the interior defensive line and the ability to run the football seems to be there. But if they don't have anybody that can capitalize on that, then what, you know, what really do you have in that regard? Yeah, now that this could be a game. But again, Titus may not play for the hip injury. This question will happen. We'll see what happens. But again, if you don't think you don't have him, it's going to be really awesome to run the ball. But again, they're going to have to be able to really run into areas that they struggle running in all year, which is on the interior. For whatever reason, you know, millions, they struggle blocking inside. That big guy, they struggle in that area. And that's where the bills are most vulnerable. I mean, you know, they allowed Miami to rest over 130 yards. You know, we too lost, well, the dolphin lost to them. And dolphins are bottom third Russian attacks. You know what I mean? So for me, definitely a game is going to be one of us. And they effectively run the ball. If they can't, then they're in a lot of trouble. A lot of trouble. Granted, like you touched me up in the past and they're going to be able to move the ball. But in terms of being able to like touch up on the board consistently, they're going to be a problem. If they can't run the ball and no Joe Nixon. You got the can makers, maybe, maybe Damian kids. But, you know, we'll see. I mean, if I was one time, well, he didn't touch us like one. So I got her play. But again, we just can't make it. It's like, the can makers is kind of showing you who he is. Right? I guess I always took him to everybody. People are like, "Oh, my God, I'll be doing the appreciative game against guys that are now." Show of car insurance. Now you kind of see what Damian was doing with earlier on appreciative, or it was like a lot of tough sliding. So there's no general opportunity, I think that's going to continue. So it's going to be really difficult to win the game. We talk about it. We know it's been an ongoing discussion. We know it's problem number one. It's the offensive line. You feel free to use this as much as you want when you're doing your stories. But I created the term tonsillitis because it started with Laramie and now it's spread across the offensive line. And we've seen the majority of the issues with penalties come from there. D'Amico keeps saying, they've addressed it, they're working on it. It hasn't improved. You've had three plus games, three games with ten plus penalties. Is there any reason to believe it's going to be better this week? I mean, if there's no tighter than no, like, yeah, I can get driven between last year and this year. It's a depth on the offensive line, especially the type of slide. Make sure you just isn't ready, right? And there's been different wrong with that. You know, he was second round pick, you know, second round pick. And I'm going to get up the mindset of the notion that, like, if you're second round pick at tackle, then you, you know, because if you're any good at tackle, you go for a shot. So that means you're a flawed process. You're only going to drive that high because you're at the trigger position, right? It's just a down one because those guys, they'll fly off the boards, right? They can really play. So obviously, you know, he's got some wrong to do and he's more of a developmental player at this point of his development. So if he's out there, right, tackle the panel, left tackle last week, right? You have him kind of playing both sides. I mean, that's never ideal for a young player. But, you know, if he's out there, I don't think he'll be any better, because, you know, now you're adding a rookie and you should have a second year player next to a shot, right? So this is a lot of veteran leadership that is only so far, you know, veteran leadership can go and not ask that. So, I mean, I just, I don't think there's going to be that much better. I think it'll be better the year it was on because that kind of was last year, right? They struggled at blocking the TV and running the ball by any year they got better. So I think that's what's going to be like this year, and this is going to be part of the patch, rough patch. I was trying to get the continuity so that everybody can finally get one in court and blockage one as an offensive line. DJ, real quick, you know, Joe Nixon was brought in, obviously, to be the lead back, but now we're starting to see that depth is an issue. I'm with you and when they signed Campmakers, everybody was gushing over and I didn't see it. I was like, I don't think he is who you guys think he is. Is there anything this team can do to go out and get somebody to back up Joe Nixon that is actually worth a darn at this point? Or is this just too late in the season? No, I think, I mean, it's really, the back of the game is so, like, the issue is he's also hurt, you know. I think that's more of the issue. Is that a baby? It's hurt? Yeah, I mean, he's, he's kind of proven not to be, you know, who we thought he was going to be after his rookie season. Right, right, right. But I think Daniel is better than anybody that you could probably get on the shoot right now. Honestly, so I think he's got way on. Daniel and Joe, you're happy. At this point, you know what I mean? And I think it's better off. Just hoping that the offensive line just gets better on the interior. But she's trying to bring somebody. Because it holds available really out there that they get right now and he's going to step in and go crazy. You know what I'm saying? Like, you just got to make the options. Because they're on the street right now. Where are we talking? There's a reason. There's a reason. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. We thought, you know what I mean? Like, they're going to play an increase to bring it back across the leads, right? And the fact that they're still available then for good reasons. You know what I'm saying? Maybe they can call it talkierity. No, I'm playing. [LAUGHTER] What do you expect out of digs? What do you expect out of the emotions and everything and the focus? I really think that this should be a national TV game or a Sunday night game or something. Because there is so much around it. But how does he handle it? What do you expect from him as he goes into this matchup with his former team? Yeah, I think he's not going to lie in emotions to get the best of him in a game like this. One, like, usually when you let your emotions get the best of you, it can never ever. It's never ever like, to the point where you look back on anger and you say, "Yeah, that's what I wanted to get across." You really always have to do just a little bit better. And it's definitely not really good about making sure that, you know, there's not many of his teammates the wrong way. You know, he's very straightforward. He's very straightforward. But I don't necessarily think, like, in a game like this, he's got a lot of emotions to take over. Because I get, like, what I'm really learning about Stefan, so my confidence is when I lost the record. And my confidence is, you know, just talking to people. Stefan wants to win, but he has to be a step-on. Like, a lot of guys say they want to win, but Stefan, they want to guys that really want to win. And the reason why, like, he's been a first year, like, he didn't feel like they're all on page with, like, trying to win by any of these, necessary. And again, like, in Buffalo, if he wasn't getting a ball, you know, that didn't necessarily mean it equates to, like, them winning games, you know what I mean? Um, well, here, if he's not getting a ball, I mean, if he goes getting a ball, take getting a ball. And, like, those guys can make big plays, you know? So I think that he's not going to allow the moment to oversee or overtake the fact that he wants to win. He wants to win at the end of the day, because, like, I think he would rather go for five catches, 65 yards a win versus eight catches, 130. Touchdown, and they move like those digits. You know what? It's so cool to hear you say that because we literally just had, uh, Joe DBSC, the beat rider for the Bills on. And he said the exact same thing that you just said, and he spent years covering Stefan Diggs, where he said, it's not that he was ever selfish. It's that he wanted to, he called him a psychotic winner. Yeah. He wants to win so bad, he was so driven about winning and that, really, he felt like nobody on the team was as driven as him, and it bothered him so bad because nobody really had the drive. Like, everybody wants to win, but not like he does. And that's where he got his reputation from. And so that's, as a Texas fan, you got to kind of, like, take a, take a breath and feel a little better about that because it's like, oh, so he's, I mean, every wide receiver is a little bit of a diva in the NFL, but you got to kind of feel a little better about like, oh, so he's just psychotically driven to win and not just me first. So that's, it's great to hear you say it and then hear somebody else say that in the same show and kind of y'all are just basically backing each other up on that. That's, that's really great to hear. Yeah, yeah, yeah, like, you're awesome. And I'm like, I'm like, yeah, most, most of the more artists you have some diva to them, like, it makes sense. The position is set up to produce us out of personalities. It's like how the line and a lot of backers, that position is made to produce. That's how the nasty personality rights and the whole line. Well, our receivers, it's the, you know, the stuff for them to kind of have a little bit of that selfish, whatever. But again, like he wants to win, man. It's like that, that guy, that man wants to win by any mean necessary, you know. So, um, and I could, I could sense that pretty early. And I think, I just think that the narrative never painted it in that state, right? And the narrative kind of won't put the lazy route, which is evil, right? Because just calling somebody a D was easy, right? People would get attached to it. People run with it. It's easier to digest. It's easier to justify whatever emotions you had towards the guy. If his frustration, and we just said, no, he just wants to win with you badly. That's not going to resonate the same way as calling somebody either. Divas, it's, it's, it's, I don't think it's a cop out, but. It's a generalized, it's a generalized term for what can be a very specific designation based on the individual, right? Right. Exactly when a reality made a major was a win by any means necessary. So. That's what I'm learning from dinner with stuff on. That's what we learned with you, DJ. You're just, you're just a win by any means necessary kind of guy. I hope they come out with a win. I hope they come out and play better and they reduce the penalties and allow CJ to do his job. But I hope that you still come back and talk to us next week because we enjoy it so much. Well, the winners, you guys win a win. So I'll be back. Appreciate your brother. Have a good weekend. Enjoy the game. DJ B enemy, Texans beat writer for ESPN who joins us every Friday right here on the show. We're going to take a breakstep away and keep going in the final hour of the program. We'll get your guys' thoughts in as well. If you want to hit us on the show, 713-780-3776, you can call us. You can text us. You can hit us on social media. Some of that we don't pay attention to others. We do. 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On ESPN 97.5 and 92.5. Broadcasting live in the Mobile Veritex Community Bank Studios, located at D1 Training in the Woodlands. Hey, back. As we continue to roll on the final hour of the program, it is Barry Lammonack sitting in for Jeremy Branham who's got a little Cougars football action to get called on the road. So very graciously joining us for another Killer B's edition of the usual suspects. And we just heard a lot of interesting things from DJB Anime. And a lot of things that you caught on immediately too were that it kind of syncs up with what Joe Dibiasia, the Bills Radio Network, was telling us in terms of this game and things to work on and look at and focus on. And I thought you were spot on. Yeah. You know what? I love -- I mean, because you came into this season kind of fingers crossed that it doesn't get out of hand. Because on the outside, looking in at Buffalo, that was what you thought as a non-Buffalo Bills fan. That's what you thought about Stefan Diggs. At least that's what I thought is that he's a diva. He's a typical 1A wide receiver in this league. Man, this is the first I've really heard. Because he mentioned the Jeremy Fowler article and I read that this morning and I was like, "Oh, man, that's crazy." And then you hear from two guys that cover the team. And like DJ said, he sits down and talks to him. He can't say everything because it's off the record. But he can tell you that. He's just -- I love the description. Psychotic winner. It's perfect. It's what we always talk about too, right, in the fact that you don't know unless you actually know. Yeah. So we can take what we -- This is so unfair to a guy like that. It's a perception of what we see on TV, what we hear at press conferences, what we try to observe on the sideline. But unless you're truly in the locker room and on the sidelines and in the conversations, you don't know. You see him demonstratively shaking his head and waving his hands and pointing at guys and talking to coaches. And you immediately assume it's all about him. It's all about getting the ball. It's all about not getting the targets. But then when you hear from multiple people, no, it's about the fact that he wants to win at all costs. And if he sees guys that aren't doing what needs to be done to do that, and he thinks that they're not calling plays that are going to get you the result that they need to do that, then he's going to speak out about it because he can't stand the thought of losing alone, but then losing because they didn't do those things. And it's not like he -- Keishan Johnson didn't come out and just said, "Give me the damn ball." Yeah, I mean, it's just -- he wants to win. And so if he thinks that him being more involved in the offense or, I don't know, particular play is what would be the best option, then that's what he wants. But it's like he said, if he goes four for 60 in a touchdown, but Nico and Tank Dale getting the ball more, getting more touches is the best thing for the team, that's what he wants. I love hearing that. And that's great. And that's what you want. A little bit of a cause to take a deep breath and go, "Maybe we might be overreacting a touch too much about the ticking time bomb that could be Stefan Dick." Yeah. Well, you know what? All you've heard, Joe, all off-season and then coming into this was how great of a teammate he's been and how much everybody in the organization and in that locker room loves him. That's all you've heard. And you know, I think you've -- I'm not in the locker room, but you kind of take it with a baited breath. Well, that's just coaches speak. That's just them telling us what they want us to hear so that we're not like, "Oh, they really messed this up by signing the guy," turns out, that might really be the case. But they might really be telling us the truth because I feel like that maybe if it wasn't the case, they just wouldn't say anything. But let's be honest, sometimes actions speak louder than words. Yeah. Regardless of what we know, don't know, and what we hear, don't hear, no matter how much people tell you, "Hey, in football and also professional sports," behind the scenes, you can get the intel you need in a lot of ways. The only reason that they went and made the contract adjustment that they made and the fact that this is a strictly one-year deal now is because they had apprehension, too. Because they wanted to protect themselves in the case that he did fly off the handle, meaning that there was at least something there that said, "I'm not going to commit to two years of this with what I've really worked in from Casserio's standpoint, what I really started building here that looks like it's got the potential to go a long way and have something blow it up because I'm committed to a guy that I traded for." So instead, they restructured so that he gets more upfront, but they don't have the commitment on the backside in case it doesn't work out. Yeah. And I think part of it is, if the bills are willing to do it, and it's like, "Well, can you trust me?" "No, he's great. Trust me. It's not as bad as everyone making it out to me." Like, "Uh-huh, you're just telling me that so you can get rid of him." You know, so yeah, you make it a one-year deal type thing because you're not quite sure who to believe because it's just like, "It's not a problem. Everyone's telling you that because they want you to take him." Right. So you don't know who to believe, but yeah, I tell you what, man, it's good news. But it also makes you look at and, "Gosh, I got to be honest with you, dude. I have such a healthy respect for Niko Collins right now." I really do, dude. After watching him last year, I was even like, "Okay, it's one year. You're going to have to really prove it to me." But just even through four games, dude, I'm watching him and I'm just like, "Okay, I give, you win. You're one of the better receivers of football right now." I think I give up. He's really, really good. I wasn't bought in, but I kind of am now. Gary Douglas picked his quarterly MVP, gave it to Niko Collins, leads the NFL in receiving yards. The fact that to your point, drafted in the third round, kind of underachieved with a bad quarterback. Terrible quarterback. He starts to make progress. But then, you know, and how many times do we say this? We said it with Bernard as well. When you see a guy that has a breakout season, is that an anomaly or is that going to be the consistency of a guy that's going to continue to kind of get better and better? He signs the big deal. Now he's got to prove it. Now there's even more on his shoulders and you're starting to question more, yet he comes out of the shoot and just becomes everything that you could have asked for and more in terms of, "We were wondering, who's the one? There's no doubt. Who's the one on this team now?" And that's the other thing about the whole Diggs psychotic winning and not, you know, being okay with not being, because I think it's a 1-1-A type of thing, right? I mean, I think you know that if Niko is down or having an off-game, if Diggs, it becomes the go-to target for a game or a string of games, you're fine with that and he can still be a 1. I mean, that's not act like the dude was trash last year. He wasn't. So you've got a couple of ones on this team and that's fine, but Niko Collins is obviously the alpha. And I think the other thing, no matter how much we thought it was going to work out and be a prolific passing game with the three guys you got in Schultz, they're still figuring it out. And so the fact that the line has had so many problems too and because tank's been out, you really can't truly define roles and you really can't peak as an offense until you get a rhythm and the rhythm comes from reps and the reps come from games and the games come from, you know, being able to do what you want to do and throw it where you want to throw it. And we've seen everything be out of sync in the first four weeks of the season yet. Here we are three and one going, "Hey, you haven't seen their best football, but yet you still have three wins and one loss." Yeah, and I'll tell you, part of the problem, and I agree with you, but I think also part of the problem is after that first game plus and the hip drop tackle and Joe Nixon, it's basically been, "All right, well, we know what you're not going to do. Run the ball." Because no team that the Texans have played since Joe Nixon has gone down and is scared of anybody in that backfield. They're not scared of Damian Pierce. They're not scared of Cam Akers, they're not scared of anybody else that's going to run the ball. And so they know that, "Okay, well, you're going to have to beat us through the air." There's no balance. The coordinator's planned for it, and then you are forced to try and get your short passing game to kind of recreate your running game, which essentially we know is not the running game. Yeah, you can get the same kind of output, but defenses have an easier time scheming for that than they do if you have a true running game. Dude, their best rushing touchdown was to find digs. Wasn't supposed to run the ball. It was a designed pass play. I think it was going to throw it back to CJ Stroud or find somebody else in the end zone, and it just wasn't there, so he ran the ball. Like that's, "Okay, maybe he's going to have to be your debo for the next few weeks until Joe Nixon gets back." I don't know, but that's, I think, a little bit of the problem as well is that this offense, it was kind of like this last year, but it wasn't as bad, but it's kind of one-dimensional right now. Yeah, absolutely. Well, because the fact that- I mean, Singletary gave you a little bit better than acres and pierces going to give you, but it was still kind of one-dimensional last year, but not this bad. Here's the thing. Yeah. You look at it and say how much better would you event with a healthy mixin, but it all comes back to what I've been talking about all along with, even if mixing is totally healthy for the first four games, how much better is the running game if the offensive line has struggled the way it has, you know? Because Kenyon Green, as much as he has struggled except for the Colts game in terms of the pass blocking, his specialty is the run block. Yeah. They ran the crap out of it and what you thought was a good defense in Indy, now you're looking at it going, was it the running game was so good, or was it the fact that the Colts are so bad? Yeah. Well, and I wonder too, you know, when you have a good run game, you start to- you can like establish that rhythm, right? Because I think too, when you get to the line and you know you're going to run the ball, you kind of just get up and unless the defense is- it just set up as such a way that you're running right into the teeth of the defense, you don't really have to check out of it, you don't have to- you might switch which side of the ball you're going to run to, but it doesn't require a whole lot of audible-ing out or so, and you can kind of establish more of a rhythm. But I think when you're past first, like they have had to be the last two plus games, you know, it changes things and it's harder to establish a rhythm. So that might have a lot to do with it, right? I'd be curious to see how many penalties they had in game one versus two, three and four. We know the last three games have had ten plus and the majority of those are all on the offensive side of the ball which means they're all offensive line-based and we know that Tunsel had a couple, I think he had one or two in the indie game, but I know that he said multiples and he had the one game where he had six. I mean, Shaq is a guy that you didn't expect to have the penalties that he had last game. So they went from five to three games to double digits and that's why I said it's the crux of everything right now because of the fact that you can't do anything and no matter who, what talent you have at the skill positions, if your line can't pass block and they can't run block and all they do is put, you know, kind of put you behind the chains. They had the ball for 40 minutes, time of possession in that Colts game. They had full, they had the ball for 40 minutes. They had 40 rushing attempts and let's see, 32 passing attempts. So, yeah, they were in 72 plays, 40 of those were rushing attempts and they only had five penalties the whole game. And I'd be curious to know how many of those were, you know, if any of those were defensive penalties. So that just tells you man, running cures all even in today's pass after the offense. I don't care. You know, Jeremy and I have gone back and forth. He said, you know, if you can't run the football, you can get in the short passing game to do the same things. I just believe that if you really want to keep a defensive coordinator on his toes, they have to respect your running game enough so that they can't just focus on shutting down the passing game. Because then even if you get the short pass, you still got to get first downs, you got to move the chains and it's tougher to do when they know you have to pass the football. And that's been the biggest problem for this team no matter what else you say has been less than for this team in the first four weeks. Yeah. All right. We'll take a quick break. We've got the final half hour of the show as we already have kind of gotten into it, but we'll take you all the way to the top of the hour. So stick with us. It's the killer bees on ESPN 97 5 and 92 5 FM. Before we go to the break, I want to tell you about the good people at all state siding and windows. All state siding windows best in the business at what their name says, siding windows front door so much more. But the fact is, is I speak from experience and what they can do and what they've done with the windows at my house, they are absolutely fantastic. And the fact of the matter is, is that what they do and the way they do it is from over 50 years of experience. So the family owns the business that they've been in business for over 50 years, Mary kind of at the headquarters back at the office. Her brother is one of the guys that goes out and gives you free estimates. 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If you're looking to work out, if you're looking to get good training, if you're looking to get your children involved at the right time being taught the right way from whatever age they are, you need to check out the D1 plan here at D1 training in the Woodlands. They got plans for everybody of all ages and they know exactly what to do and how to do it and how to show you how to get into the best shape that you can be. Yeah, man. Oof, by the way, Cougs, 16 and a half dollars against TCU. Hey, real quick, before we continue, as soon as I saw it go down, I was like, man, I wonder what Joel thinks about this. I'm sure you've probably already talked about it, but I didn't get to hear about it. So I want to know your thoughts. It's October, which means we're getting into NBA season soon quickly, but I got to know your thoughts on the Carl Anthony Town's deal or trade to New York and PG, I think kind of surprising the world, shocking the world and going to Philly. One, your thoughts and two, which one do you think is the bigger move, bigger splash? See, it's tough because of the fact that when you look at the PG move, I think PG was expecting the Clippers to throw the bank at him and keep going with what they've been going on. And something had to change. You know, Kawhi's not going to change, and he's locked in, and he continues to be at his own pace with his own schedule with whenever he's healthy, which is not very often, and they were looking to try and mix it up. They're going into a new building. They committed to harden instead of him. I think that was also something that he didn't really care for a whole lot. Philly has always, and Deromori has always been enamored with him, and they needed help. They knew that finally getting out of the Tobias Harris contract, they needed a third weapon to go with what they had and to try and help him bead, and Tyrese Maxie, who has really come into his own to be a star, they needed that third weapon that they thought harden was going to be. I think it's a big move for the Sixers. I think they're going to compete with the Celtics, and I think that that was a move. They were desperate to make, but couldn't make until they got Tobias Harris's contract off the books. So I think that's a very substantial move. I think in terms of the Minnesota and New York trade, the big thing for me was the Knicks got rid of someone they didn't need. Julius Randall, and I said when he came into the league, and I think I said it on your show as well, that he had already reached his ceiling in terms of there wasn't a high ceiling for him. He was an older guy coming out of college. He was a very, very solid player, but how much better could he be? I think he's maximized a lot of that, but in the process of doing that, he got real comfortable and started to feel that star status to where he started to be very vocal. He started to pout a lot. He started to do things that the Knicks were questioning when they know that they had him on the books and for how long and what they did. And then when he didn't play, they played better and they made the run that they made. And then they go and bring bridges in and they say, "Hey, we're adding even more pieces. We don't need a guy that wasn't with us when we made one hell of a run last year. If we can unload that guy and we could get something in return that could possibly make us better that we don't have like a big man like Carl Anthony Towns, I think it's both teams actually kind of auditioned by subtraction, but also adding something that they needed. From a Minnesota standpoint, the two bigs wasn't working. Right. Cat and Rudy was just too much. Cat could hurt you and he could help you and you just didn't know he was inconsistent which one he was going to give you, but you needed help as a power forward that's more versatile and I think Randall gives you that. So you're willing to take that chance and the kicker is Finch coached Randall when they were both in New Orleans. So having Finch in Minnesota, a guy he knows that he knows he can coach unlike Tibbs and his dictatorships, sometimes rubs guys the wrong way. I think there's a chance that works and I think from a New York perspective that they lost their big man and who got completely overpaid, the X rocket draft pick. They needed another big and to get a Carl Anthony Towns to go with they had. I think the bigger loss for the Knicks is going to be Devin Chenzo because of the fact that Devin Chenzo was awesome for them from a shooter's perspective from a three point shooting perspective. He helps Minnesota no matter what and if Randall gives him anything, I think I actually think that trade helps both teams. So it's a win win. I think that's a win win. I think Philly got better. I think that in the East you look at it and say Philly can compete with Boston Milwaukee. They were limited. They had contracts. They couldn't move around. They couldn't do a whole lot. Now Dame says I'm going to be a totally different better player this year. We'll see. But even even still at that standpoint, is that enough to compete with a Boston team that's so deep, so talented and has literally four stars when you start thinking about what white has become and the fact that they still have holiday from a Western conference perspective. It's a good conference, but Minnesota got there kind of less than two trying to figure out what they had and what they needed. Now that they've been there and gotten a taste of it and I think the Ant-Man's going to continue to get better, adding a guy like Randall Randall that can give you a big shoot the three versatile, more athletic guy than Carl Anthony Towns, but then more specifically adding a shooter for depth and defense. And so I think it makes them a better team. Right now, Nick's and Philly, both plus 750 to win the NBA title. Only the Celtics at plus 340 and the Thunder at plus 700 had better odds. I like the Thunder and I think it's a great model to hope the Rockets can kind of follow. I just think they need more than Shay to be. I don't know who's going to I don't know if Chet can step up. I don't know if they have that guy on the roster. I don't know if it's at a certain point that they decide, "Hey, we've got all this young talent, but you know what we really need? We need another veteran that can come into this locker room and provide kind of that leadership and punch that maybe because Shay needs some help. And I'm not sure that he's got it right now on that roster. They brought it. They made a couple of moves to get some veterans that aren't to that level. They need a kind of an upper echelon veteran with talent to be able to do what they need that team to do. I don't see that as much. Boston is at the top of a reason. Yeah, they're by far the favorite in the East, but I mean the West is kind of bunched up. It's the Thunder at plus 300, the Mavs at plus 360, and the Nuggets at plus 380 to win the West. So it's pretty tight up there in the West as far as who would win, and then the Timberwolves at plus 400 after the trade. Yeah, I just I like what they have. I think they're well coached. I've known Chris Finch. I think he's a very, very good coach. I think he's going to get the most out of his players. I think that D'Vincenzo, like I said, is the key to that trade for me, but they add a depth. And I think that they're a much better squad. So and I think another year of maturity for Ann, look, don't don't discount the fact that what he was able to get from that Olympic experience with all those guys that have been there done that. Yeah, some of that didn't rub off on him in the right way so that I think he's going to be better this year from a maturity standpoint as well. So I think that's an interesting team to watch. I think they got better. I think the Knicks were there. They were a good team without ran. I think they got better with the move with bridges already. But the fact that, you know, I think they're going to I think they're going to miss D'Vincenzo no matter what cat gives them. Is there a surprise team? Is there a team that we should all be paying attention to that nobody is? It's hard to say until you see some of the moves and how they're going to fit with their new teams. You know, I look at teams of a year ago and I look at a team like Sacramento going. They had so much young talent and they added a Demar to Rosen. That could be a veteran type guy that goes with Fox and goes with Sabonis and gives you an extra so that team is better. But how much better do they have to be? Because if you're talking about like teams that can compete to win the finals, I mean, you touched on them. I think Milwaukee is the one team that has the talent to be an upper echelon team. But they don't have the supporting cast that makes me believe in them like I did a year ago when they failed me. And so I think that until we see like some of the draft picks and some of the kind of shrewd moves that were made in the off season, how they fit, look, I like what the rockets have done. I think that as much as Reed Shepherd comes into this league younger, the one desperate thing the rockets needed was shooting. And everything that I've heard and talked to the people inside and seen is that he is exactly what the doctor ordered from the standpoint of one of the things that they lacked the most on a team that had so much young talent. I mean that is a true shooter that can create that has the handles of a point guard. I don't know how much that he means going to play him early on. But I do know that by mid season you're going to see a guy that is going to make you forget any other chance you had to draft anybody else in that draft. I was going to say track record says probably not a lot. Do they make the play in? I won't even say playoffs. That's where I'm at. Do they make the play in game? I think they got a legit chance to make the play in tournament. But I don't believe that they're there yet look and I think Cam is a guy to keep an eye on. I mean he's fun. I've told you before like you can't teach the size and athleticism at the size that he has the jumping ability, the strength, the power. And now he's kind of refined it to know what the NBA game is about. We knew when he came in he didn't want to play defense. Now when you when he comes into this situation I think he sees this as an opportunity where he can really kind of create a niche for himself with this team to get better and contribute more. And I think that's exciting. Yeah. Very much. So last last question I know we've got to get out. LeBron and Bronnie thoughts. I mean family pictures are going to look nice. I don't think he should have been drafted. I don't think he belongs in the NBA. Same. I think that if he wants to do whatever the other prospect does and prove his way into the NBA and earns real playing time that's one thing. But if JJ's got to do LeBron a solid and like the Lakers did by drafting him period like Polinka did then I think that it's a travesty that this kid is going to be in the league just for the for the marketing in the show of you know daddy son opportunity to play the game. He has to prove a whole lot to a whole lot of people starting with me from the standpoint of I don't think he belongs in the league. Facts. That's just that's just as simple as I can put it. Agree. All right. So let's let's get to the car wreck of the day. We've got one segment to go on the show. That means we're going to let you lead you into your weekend with a car wreck of the day because we don't do mean text on a day that Jeremy and B. Mack aren't here. We'll take one quick break. Come back and wrap it up. It's the killer. He's on ESPN 97 5 and 92 5 FM for we go to the break. Do you want to tell you about a good friend Doc Lindville Doc Lindville best in the business at the Neograph procedure. 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Think about it from a lawn talk perspective in the fact that he basically takes hair where you're never going to lose it. The sides in the back of your head kind of like sod puts it where you need it most where you have bare patches and bald spots like you do with your hairline in front or the shiny spot on top. It looks like a baboon's butt. You can fix all of that with the Neograph procedure and almost overnight when they do after they do the procedure, you will see the follicles there and they will grow. They will get stronger. They will get longer and they will be with you for the long haul. And then when you do the PRP treatments as well, it's like fortifying that, it's like fertilizing your lawn. You have some hair there and the new hair is also growing in. The PRP kind of speeds up the process and gives it the fertilizer it needs so that it can get maximum growth yet again. Check them out today. Go to 975hair.com. Sign up for that free consultation and tell them I sent you by. Hello Ryan. Hello Ryan. This is the car wreck of the day. Well you heard the man, we've got one segment to go on the show and I don't believe in the mean text like others so I'm just going to head it on over to my partner here Barry Laminack filling in admirably as he always does. I love working with the guy and I'm happy to have him in when Jeremy is out and it has been a pleasure to do the show with you sir but as you know, it's a car wreck of the day Barry. It's the opportunity at the end of the day to point out some of the car wreck, some of the ugly situation, some of the messes that people create in sports and other things and with that I just kind of hand it off to you and say where would you like to go? So it can be like anything? Sure. You know what? Well I know you within reason. Okay, I'm going to just take a guess, you know, I wasn't there, I didn't see it, I didn't look but I'm going to guess that my car wreck of the day was probably the Twitch chat. Well you are king of Twitch right? The well, nope, nope, nope, that's nope. King of love on Twitch? Nope but I'm going to guess just based on past experience that when I do this show that well, I mean in general y'all's Twitch chat is pretty atrocious. It's full of hate and vitriol but when I'm on the show it's even worse. So I'm going to guess that the car wreck of the day was, yeah, all the psychos in the Twitch chat. I'd love to tell you that I'm saying psychotic things. That I closely monitor it now because I think that the one thing you didn't mention when you talk about all that which is really special especially with our chat is you didn't mention toughness. No. Right? No. Because like nothing says normal behavior like guys that hide behind no identity to bring your family into discussions and criticize them. These are grown men. Grown men? Wow. And the good thing is they have so much to do in life. That's not psychotic. At all. They're in from 7 AM to 7 PM. That's not crazy. Solid right? No. Solid is a loose stool. It's not weird at all. No. Well yeah you're probably right. So there's your car wreck of the day. I don't think it's- What's yours? Oh I'm going to go with you. You're going to go with you. I got out. I'm like I am in this business and we do have a Twitch chat but when you've got guys that are that off their rocker. Yeah. Like you know what you know what you got guys that go in and look at your college baseball stats and think you still care and know what they were. That's so weird. You know what I did? I played college baseball. You didn't guess what? I don't care what the stats were because I had fun and it got me places and I did things and I traveled and I'm like and that's not why I'm here and I don't need to prove anything to you. So weird sir. I think. So weird sir. I wouldn't know. Sir and or ma'am. Yeah. You can never be too careful. They. They. They like to participate in a heavy manner so that I would always back you up on that car. All right. Who you got? Bills Texans. I just don't feel it. I don't think they're there yet. I think I think the bills went by a field goal. I'm going to say 27. What? 27. 24 bills. I have it 23.20 bills. Okay. It's still a field. Yeah. Yeah. Because the spread is what? One. One. Yeah. That's weird for a home team. Right. One is a very weird spread. Unless it's changed. I think that tells you that Vegas doesn't believe in the text. Has the spread changed? Nope. It's still one. Yeah. Because the spread is normally two and a half for a home team. So. Right. Two and a half to three. Yeah. All right. Abigail we appreciate you doing everything that you did. Be Mac. We appreciate you and we'll see you Monday. Same with Jeremy. Always appreciate my man Barry Lamen. Good times. Barry is funny on social media. Make sure you catch up with him on his podcast and follow him and get to see a show whenever you possibly can. We love having you with us all week long. We always appreciate the hive and it's always alive and supportive and that's what we love about you guys the most. Have a great weekend everybody. Go Texans. Hopefully they get a win. You don't have to watch baseball. We understand. And we'll talk to you again on Monday right here on ESPN 97 5 and 92 5 FM. The kids are back in school the cooler temperatures are on the way. That's why now is the perfect time to replace your windows. 52 80 exteriors can give you and your family energy efficient windows that will keep you warm all winter long. Now 52 80 exteriors is giving you a free low-E glass upgrade all through September. Not valid with any other offers schedule now at 52 80 exteriors.com 52 80 exteriors. The altitude of quality. Since the beginning driving was all about fuel engines and stepping on the gas. But now driving can create change for your community. And when it comes to helping children in your community hit the gas on making a difference. 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