Around the Horn | Team most likely to get back to Conference title game: Lions or Ravens?
Frank is solo when your top play is not Sports Center top play who they going to have at one let me see this man get the Brandon auk you’re getting all the points let’s go round the horn here I’ll give you points for Brandon auk that is a great
More tony I feel auk’s pain it happens to me every time I’m on the show I’m always like the r up so I get It lions and Ravens players cleaning out the lockers today the inches between that and the Super Bowl the inches they needed are everywhere you can feel that dang Campbell quote about getting back in your bones right let’s take one more listen to this I know how hard it is to
Get here I I’m well aware and it’ll be it’s going to be twice as hard to get back to this point next year than it was this year news of the day from Detroit offensive coordinator Ben Johnson who was linked to maybe becoming Seattle’s next head coach or Washington’s next head coach
Electing to stay as offensive coordinator in Detroit on Dan Campbell staff defensive coordinator Michael McDonald I’m going be there for interviews with Seattle later this week Tim kesar round the horn to you on getting back and between Detroit and Baltimore who’s more likely to get back I think Dan Campbell’s wrong I
Think the Lions have a a a fairly comfortable road to getting back it’s not easy it’s never easy to get to a conference Championship game but when you look at the NFC compared to the AFC most of the year it was San Francisco Philadelphia and heaven forbid Dallas
Seen as the top three teams and next year Philadelphia and Dallas are both going to be very hard pressed to be as good as they were this year both with the players they’re going to lose and in the cowboy case the first place schedule that adds Houston Baltimore and Detroit
To the schedule uh and so I I think San Francisco and Detroit go into the off season as the two best teams whereas the AFC you’ve always got the Chiefs you got Buffalo and you got other teams and so many young quarterbacks and Detroit has so many good young players pen Su
Leaport Gibbs Hutchinson all those guys are 23 years old or younger they have a great young core they got to keep golf on point and they do that get more out of Jameson Williams I think they’re I think they’re going around the horn to you Tony I also think it’s the Lions for
The AFF forementioned reasons AFC NFC all that but the division too if you look at the division for Baltimore uh Cleveland is going to be good obviously next year one would assume based on the way their team is structured Joe burrow comes back next season so it’s more
Challenging for the Ravens for the AFF forementioned reasons but for the Lions they’ve done an incredible job of drafting Tony you look at their last three drafts each draft has netted them at least five guys who play a big role on this team and they don’t have to pay
All those guys for at least another year when you you go back three years and there’s another several years that you have to pay the rest of those guys and ultimately when I look at the Lions they have cap space too eighth most cap space
In the league at over $58 million so you couple that with the cheap labor in theory and all the cap space in a weaker conference and weaker division than the NF than the AFC North I like their chances better frola yeah the division is definitely weaker but I’m going to say Baltimore
For this reason cuz it’s always Baltimore in a division where they have Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh always has a winning record somehow Baltimore is always there and what is the foundation of the Baltimore Ravens it’s defense and running that will always be there for them that’s why that game hurt so much
On Sunday they had a chance their defense is holding Patrick Mahomes to 17 points zero in the second half but I have a lot of faith in that coach in the defense clearly the quarterback has to play better in big moments but they’ll always be in position remember they had
HomeField Advantage Detroit eventually had to go on the road to play a championship game a little bit different Dennis J I’m going to agree with Frank here and go with Baltimore but the the to me it’s the definition of the word back back is getting to wherever Patrick
Mahomes is because he is the annihilator of Championship hopes so they can get to wherever he is that may whether that’s a conference Championship or not that’s the hump that they have to get over as far the line as far as the lines my concern here is all revolving around
Jared G he has a contract negotiation coming up uh you know we talking about how much c space he has how much of that is he going to eat up and he has a fundamental Achilles heel and the fact that he cannot throw the ball Under
Pressure he has never been able to show that throughout his career and on Sunday he was 0 for8 with zero yards when pressured and that team overall was had 10 plays when he was under pressure and negative 13 yards and that has followed him through his career and they have to
Decide are they going to you know give him a huge contract or start over with another quarterback and that is the huge thing they have to figure out one of the things I loved about Dan Campbell’s quote was that it grounded everybody in a reality of the sport and that can be
Used to motivate but then there’s also the trauma of the way these two teams lost this weekend Frank another question who do you think it’s a longer winter for Dan Campbell or Lamar Jackson well for Lamar it’s going to be rough from this standpoint you if you
Went into that game saying we’re going to hold momes to 17 points you have to find a way to win that but I thought he was taken off the hook a little bit by Dan Campbell I don’t care what analytics there are how much he went for on fourth
Down in week five in that situation right after San Francisco scored you kick a field goal to go back up by this audacity the audacity to sit there and say we may never get back to that point yeah Dan you may never be up 14 points again in a
Conference Championship game with a chance to k a field go that’s why in that moment you K did you just put that on analytics though do you view Dan Campbell as the analytics coach do you so you thought because he’s hearing that well you think the kneecaps is an
Analytical move as well you you think the way he coaches is he goes on field Tim kales showw to you I don’t want to hear about coaches going on field though that’s no better than the opposite uh you know I I’ll say this I don’t think
It’s a hard winter for Dan Campbell yeah he’d like to have won that game obviously but he coached a hell of a game he had that team ready to play Lamar is is a guy who now has two playoff wins and people are looking at
Him sort of like they look at Dak here when are you g to move Beyond well Dak hasn’t even made the conference Championship game at least Lamar’s done that but quarterbacks are judged that way and especially if he wins the MVP which we all think that’s going to feel
Pretty Hollow when he couldn’t get more than 10 points on the board we’ve been horn we move on NBA now Luca donic only 45 points last night that’s a joke what’s also a joke to Mavs fans is Don didn’t win Play Over the week last week
The week he scored 73 Devin Booker did who averaged a whole hum 42 for the week which is to say scoring has been absurd in the NBA this season the last month the last two weeks 73 70 62s all over the place George Sedano Around the Horn
To you are those numbers still those numbers to you or does the NBA have a scoring problem Tony I do think the NBA has a scoring problem I think that we’ve gone way too far in not letting defenses be able to play I’ve talked to multiple coaches over the last several years and
These are guys who are defensive type guys who have been deep in the playoffs and have won championships and they’ve told me it is almost impossible to play defense in the NBA now because of the skill set of the players and of course the rule changes between the athleticism
The ability to shoot and the way the rules are set up it just is all out of whack right now it feels like the arena league to the NFL back in the day right I so the same question to you does the NBA have a scoring problem well well
Speaking of those analytic people they tell you like we’re dumb you know if you take more three-point shots it’s better yeah but that doesn’t make it more entertaining every team plays the same way and I’ll be this guy Michael Jordan’s third year in the league he
Averaged 37 points a game he made a total of 12 three pointers if he played today he’d be easily over 40 points a game you have to be able to play defense I remember late 90s I’ll be that guy again 24 straight 24 times the Knicks
Played the heat in a playoff series over four four years I was at every one of those games I don’t care what the score was those games were exciting it was intense that’s what people want to see not 147 like theet put up last night on the Utah Jazz who basically laid down
All game it was terrible look at Frank is Sola holding on to the pant leg of the 1990s NBA I love it David Dennis Jor kind of true uh F fun fact the first allstar game of this Century the final score was 111 to 110 which would be a defensive
Fight uh in in the year 2024 which an incredible thing so you believe this is a problem too then yeah but this is not necessarily an offensive problem it’s a competitiveness and a regular season problem one of the things that we have here is that teams they don’t get up and
Play defense against these other teams when they’re down by 10 they just sort of Punt and let team score and there’s so many bad teams in the league look at who these scores were against embid did this against a bad Spurs cat did it against a bad Hornets team Luca against
The Hawks these are bad teams this is happening to but when the playoffs start there’s actually great defense that’s being played in the finals last year the heat nuggets offensive rating was below 98 which would be below at the bottom of the league in the mid99s so these teams
Do know how to play defense they just don’t do in the regular season because of the schedu good your view of it uh just a message to Frank he doesn’t have to tell us I’ll be that guy we know which guy Frank is going to be after 700
Shows now as far as this this goes Frank actually got something right Everybody Plays the same way Everybody Plays the same style everybody shoots at least 33-point shots a game everybody runs about 50 pick and rolls a night the games all look the same there’s some great talent great Superstar players not
All 30 teams have one but uh there’s there can be great moments but every game like so you’re going to be the one to tell Devin bucker or or LCA donic that that you’re 73 is in 73 and then allow Luca to say you’re 20 right now
Tim kalish show is not 20 scoring is too high on around the hord too one more thing here Jason kid said it today he said he’s better than Dirk he’s in the atmosphere of MJ the best to ever do it LeBron Kobe Jason kid on Luca dones Tim
This is your account is he better than Dirk and right there with MJ LeBron and Kobe well he plays a position that’s going to allow him to be better than Dirk statistically Dirk was not a point guard he was 7 feet tall Dirk reinvented uh the role of the seven-footer shooting
Three-pointers and Dirk won a championship which Luca is going to have to do at some point he’s only 24 so he’s got lots of time Dallas fans are just hoping that’s lots of time in Dallas we don’t know that I’ve actually had this conversation with Jason kid prior like
He’s called him a prodigy and he’s not the only one that calls him a prodigy so I I certainly think he’s in that classification uh is he better than Dirk I think he will be Tony look at it this way in the last three games he has he
Has assisted or scored on 80 points nearly in the last three games in the last six he’s had a 40o triple double the only person to do that in NBA history is him okay so but you just told me the stats don’t matter because of the
Way the game is being played now Frank I sold it to you he just has to cut down the whining a little bit his Fitness needs to improve he overall he is a better player but got to cut down theing oh that is Rich he does Jason kid said that which I
Think why now Jason kid is stroking him a little bit but to Tim’s Point Dirk made it to two finals and won a championship so he’s got to get there and David Denis Jor let me do my Frank I solo impression back in my day Michael
Jordan had won an MVP by the time Luca he was had this many years in the league as Luca and by this time LeBron had been to the finals there’s a long way to go before you put him in that category Jason kid is trying to you know he’s
Hyping up his guy but that’s a little too far Gorge I’ll let you get back in I need to do that pretty Qui if Luca wants to be in that particular group Tony the one thing he really needs to work on defense he needs to be a Defender as
Well like those guys were all right we’re taking a break here I love all our sponsors I’m thankful for all our sponsors but I am fully expecting John Deere to sign on now for tractors and lawnmowers to get everybody off your lawn here National panel we be back by
Yourself next get off my they’re going to take calls on Angel Wiggins Chris Paul you know could they get interest even on a guy like Klay Thompson everyone is on the table except for Steph Curry the athletic sham chania on fanduels run it back you all saw Steph’s reaction to the
Loss to the Lakers this past weekend David Dennis Jr by yourself Golden State breaking up the team trading Klay Thompson or Chris Paul I’m selling this this is why I get all my uh NBA inside information from from woes I just do not see a move that involved clay or Draymond here uh
Because that seems like a Warriors would have to get St Curry to sign off on that and I don’t see him doing that and far as far as uh you know Wiggins Chris Paul might be on the table in terms of relieving some cap room but I just don’t
See a move for E those guys that get them over the hump they just need to play better or figure out something else to win these close games but there’s no trade uh that that’s going to you know change things you know for them right now
Solo this is why Bob Myers left the Warriors and went into TV and is going to help the commanders pick their head coach because these are tough decisions that they have to make the big one here for me is going to be Draymond Green I would not be shocked if something
Happens with Draymond Green between now and next Thursday’s trade deadline I don’t think it’s going to happen to Klay Thompson but something’s going on there he wasn’t with the team he wasn’t with the team when he was suspended could have worked out and didn’t comes back he
Needed an extra 5 days to get ready now he comes off the bench I would not be shocked if he’s on the Move George Sedano Tony I’m buying it because I do think that the window of opportunity for this particular group is probably near closing if not closed so if you’re Steph
Curry there is visible frustration from Steph Curry not just that game against the Lakers you saw it during the Lakers Playoff Series last year as well and I think that perhaps he may start to think about what is next for his last chapter Tim khaw you know two years ago let you know
Less than two years ago right now when they won the title and they had all those young players we thought this team is going to be great forever and and now it’s time to uh to dismantle him and it probably is and I know those guys have expiring contracts but that’s the only
Attraction to Chris Paul or Klay Thompson nobody’s trading him trading for him for their skills at this point well let’s kick around Draymond Green then Frank you brought it up I mean there’s value in in a defensive player like Draymond at the trade deadline what teams could be
Interested I mean to me it has to be a team that’s ready made to try to make a run at a championship remember one thing about Draymond Green makes really good decisions with the ball he’s a really good defensive player and he has a winning pedigree I don’t think it’s the
Craziest thing I I think it could happen all right but no team offered up there George Sano you I I think if there’s any team that would be interested and this is me just speculating uh a little bit is the Dallas Mavericks I think the Dallas Mavericks would be a great fit
For Draymond Green Tim keshaw you’re in Dallas draymond’s not going to have the ball in his hands if he’s in Dallas and Luca and Kyrie are on the floor so yeah that would give him one defense player that would be a start Gorge I think you’re on to something there we’ll give
Some points to the guy not in Dallas for talking about Dallas we’ll move on buy or sell too Kevin Durant he said he doesn’t deserve a tribute video from the Brooklyn Nets Phoenix plays in Brooklyn tomorrow he was asked this after a game he also of course had an exchange with
The fan on Twitter about it but he also said he has no expectations just wants to have fun and is looking forward to this game in Brooklyn for the fans who’ll be there Frank will you be there buy or sell a tribute video for Durant
I’m going to be there I think the media and the fans care way more about it than the players do Kevin Durant believe it or not even though he has to be traded actually left on pretty good terms and go back to his press conference when he
Ended up in Phoenix now Tuesday Kyrie Irving comes to Brooklyn I’m not so sure you’re going to you’re going to get a tribute video there so they have one tomorrow night for Durant next Tuesday for Kyrie not so sure about GE Tony I can’t wait for the day Frank
Moves on and we get the Frank Isola tribute video either with the Nets or perhaps you’re on around the horn but I’m with KD we’ve jumped the shark on a lot of these tribute videos if he doesn’t want one they shouldn’t give him one Tim kisher you think he deserves one
For the three years there yeah sure I mean look each NBA team gets like seven timeouts there’s a lot of time to kill game let’s get some videos up on the board and I like Kevin’s answer you know he’s absolutely right he he doesn’t feel like he accomplished what he went there
To do but yeah give him give David Dennis J of course he deserves one cuz everybody gets one RJ Hampton has gotten one deari Carol has gotten one nobody even knows what teams gave them one but they got them Chuck Hayes got two tribute videos from the Houston Rockets
Everybody is getting tribute videos there’s a lot of timeouts and the toe is going to get thinking back on those four years three years that he played there David Dennis Jr should the Nets be celebrating that or should Durant be acknowledging that yeah they should I mean he there
Were some injuries that derailed that team but they did make a deep playoff run he gave them some incredible moments while he was there in spite of how it ended no one’s saying retire his jersey or retire his shoe with the toe that was on the line they just saying Jan turn my
Time out you know we’ll play a video for him Sano and is I feel like you guys need to have a conversation back there keshaw Dennis Showdown next for Fore spee Speee for for for for for for for for for speee fore spee Foree fore spee spee speech For for a spe For for for for spee spee
