After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 4

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Price and coverage match limited by state law. Every 24 hours, I will be either awake and drinking my first coffee or I will be running around the house like a chicken with no head or chicken with its head cut off, whichever one. I can't remember which is the actual phrase. A chicken with no head or chicken with its head cut off.

Chicken. Yeah. Anyway, I will be running around probably throwing last minute items into my bag, into a suitcase, maybe trying to get my husband to move a little faster. He does not move quickly in the morning until there is much coffee that's been mainlined into his system, mainlined into his veins. But he'll probably be more organized than me. I tend to be one of those last minute packers, mostly because I have a to do list, which also features cleaning and yard work and I don't know, projects I've been putting off for the last 10 years. For instance, I just repotted a cactus on Sunday that I've needed to repot for six months.

But it's the prospect of being gone on a big trip that forces the issue. I don't know why. I'm a master procrastinator. Now in my defense, the weather is only just now become springy enough to be able to put that cactus outside or to be able to do some gardening slash repotting projects outside. But yeah, it is the last day of April. What? What? What?

How do we get to the last day of April? And here we are. I wouldn't say we're cruising through the NBA playoffs. We're sputtering our way through the first round of the NBA playoffs.

But here's what we know. Three of the four Western Conference semifinalists have now been determined. So we do have three of the four series in the West, which are over.

I got to tell you that surprises me a bit. Not because I don't believe that the top three in the West are great teams. Oklahoma City, Minnesota, Denver, of course, as the defending champions. But because I expected it to be a little more competitive. I was expecting that some of these series might go longer. In fact, I thought, and Jay and I joked about this, that maybe the first round in the West would still be going on when we got back from our honeymoon. That would be drastic.

There would be something horribly wrong there. But I didn't expect to have three of the four done within five games. So we've got a couple more that ended last night. We'll get to those. Plus the Boston Celtics.

We did just talk about them a little bit last hour. But they have got the Miami Heat right where they want them. And the Heat without Jimmy Butler just don't have the same teeth. Not literally.

Although I guess literally. He's got pearly whites he likes to flash. I wonder if he's able to sleep. If he's having the espresso machine work overtime.

Because you know it's got to be killing Butler to not be out there on the court with his teammates. So good morning to you. It's a Tuesday. It's April 30th.

There are goodies on social media. And I don't just mean the actual photo of the island cookies and the oatmeal caramel chewy bars that I took to my final class. We had a final round with this latest group of Syracuse students.

So proud of them. There are several students in the class. The class had 12. Kind of. There was one student who just really didn't think it was important to come to class and wasn't there.

I wouldn't even say half the time. So theoretically we had 12. But mostly we had an eclectic group of people that weren't all looking at radio as a career.

Now some of them are. Some of them were exploring the idea of radio as a career. They're early in their college tenure.

Couple of sophomores a junior in there as well. We did have a few hardcore radio students that have already been doing it for a couple of years now and were more well versed in putting together their final projects which were radio segments. They had to record a segment between 10 and 15 minutes.

I included the option. So I told them they could pick any topic they wanted but I also told them to include some of the creative options that we've talked about in class and I wanted to see what they would come up with. Really proud of them, especially those students who don't have any interest in going into radio or if they do want to go into radio and TV.

It's maybe interviewing or sideline reporting so it's not about long form radio. Which let's be honest can be scary if you've never done it before. And there were several students in the class who'd never done this project before. I told them I'm not grading you on quality. I'm not grading you on how well you speak. That's not what this class is about. I'm grading you on using the concepts, employing the concepts that we've been talking about for the last three weeks.

So so so proud of them also because they were very supportive and complimentary of one another. So the part of the grade, in fact a major chunk of your grade is not just recording the segment and putting together a radio segment, but then turning around and sharing it with the class, which can be scary. And there was one student in particular who, he's a senior, so he has been around Newhouse and around Syracuse for these four years. He was so nervous his leg was shaking.

He couldn't stop the whole time and he kept laughing at everything that he said and he tried to qualify it by telling us it was awful. A couple of the students did that. I made them stop. Don't say that. Don't tell people all these reasons why they shouldn't be listening to you.

That's bad practice anyway. But it's good for you to listen. You'll hear some of your crutches.

You'll hear some of the things that you want to change, elements that you want to add maybe when you listen back. So I know it was nerve wracking for them. I remember being in that place. It was nerve wracking for me too.

And the fact that you're putting your stuff out there to be criticized, to be critiqued, and it's scary. But they did really well. Very proud of them. I don't know if the Island Cookies and the Oatmeal Caramel Chewy Bars will lead to me getting better reviews. They actually have a review process, professor review process. I don't do reviews on Yelp. I very rarely do any type of review.

When I'm at Walmart and I'm checking out with my groceries, they have something that pops up on the screen and you can rate them between one and five stars. That's about the extent of my reviews. I really don't engage in any of that stuff because I feel like it's mostly just a way to track your information and collect data from you. Maybe I'm cynical in that respect.

And probably all of my intel and information is out there anyway, but I don't generally do it. So I am pleased that last year I had three students, three or four students that actually completed the review and gave me high marks and then spread the word about the class. I have one student who is, I think he's got more energy than I do at this point. He's still sitting here with me. Paul, who is a grad student, he's done, except for one more project, right, that you have to turn in. When's it due?

The eighth. Okay, so he's got some time. And he, for some reason, would prefer to be here than sleep, which actually I think is the case for a lot of you listeners. You forego sleep to listen to the show.

Maybe you sleep weird hours like I do. But Paul's still in here hanging out. And so every time I talk about the class, he's nodding, nodding away, which is good. But I know that it was the very last class on the schedule. There were no more classes. They have a couple of reading days, maybe some of them already have finals.

But there are no more classes and they were so great to stick around until even 10 minutes after. It's the review. Are you filling out the review? Okay, good. Considering that you've been here three weeks in a row and that I put you on the radio and you're going to have a podcast that you can share with family and friends of all ages, I better get a good review.

Not to mention you had a handful of baked goods. Yes. So I'm going to get one good review from Paul. So yeah, he's here.

He's just teasing him, but he's still hanging out. Told the story of actually his experience at the NFL draft a couple hours ago because he went on a credential and it was his first big event. Detroit, he gave you high marks. It was wall to wall bodies, though, he said, nonstop people everywhere for three days.

And it really did not wane from Thursday to Friday to Saturday, he said. And producer Jay told me there were videos out there. I haven't seen them, but he said the fans didn't care at all about barriers or where they were supposed to stay or supposed to stand that they were essentially like a herd of elephants. Just whenever wherever they wanted to go, they went and that there are videos out there of barricades being run over and Detroit fans going roughshod. I like it.

The standard is now Detroit. So we've had a lot of fun here on the campus of Syracuse University. If you want to see the picture of the goodies. I'm sorry, I don't do mail order. You can blame the U.S. Postal Service, but also I think or I thought maybe my dreams are dashed now. I thought that I should be in the Guinness Book of World Records for a feat. A wordle feat that I've now accomplished not just once, but twice.

Maybe it's a very selected elite group. I may never run a full marathon. People tell me if you run a full marathon, you are in a very small percentage of people on this planet that have actually ever completed a full marathon.

I don't know that that entices me much. But for a second there, I thought I might be the only person who's ever guessed the wordle word twice on my first try. You may not believe me, but the evidence is now out there on both Twitter and Facebook. I'm really proud of myself. It's not like it has anything to do with how smart I am or how smart I'm not. But somehow I managed to get it twice. Jay, why am I such a nerd that getting wordle on the first try is about the best accomplishment of my entire year? The odds of getting it once are insane. Getting it twice are astronomical, so it's quite the feat.

I get it. Okay, so remind people what you were saying about the stats when it comes to wordle and how many people play per day and how many people get it on the first try per day. So if roughly 2 million people on average play the game per day, it said 860-something were projected to get it in one guess, so that came out to about.2%. Per day, though. Yeah, but per day. That's pretty impressive that that many people get it on the first try per day. That's just the average. That's what they say how many people should get it if 2 million plays. So I don't know, it's probably give or take a couple hundred, but that's about the average, yeah.

I just need some type of statistic on how many people get it twice. Yeah, that's what we need to find here. That's right. Let's see.

I did see a post on our Facebook page. Okay, here we go. This comes from Robert.

I think you'll like this. Assuming 1,000 players out of 2 million per day get wordle on the first try, it would take, oh goodness, he's a math nerd, it would take on average five and a half years to accomplish this feat. Right, so if you played the same word every day, probably. Or 11 years to do it twice.

Since wordle started in 2021, you may not be unique, but you are a member of a very, very, very exclusive club. How about that? Sounds about right. Now, his math is assuming a few things, but he can't be that far off.

I can't check his math, but yeah. Jay, I love that you just admit it. I did not start right away. Jay, when did we play our first ever wordle?

Remember, we did the video. Yeah, was it 2022 maybe? It might have been 2022. It wasn't too long after it started. It was right when it started getting very popular. Super popular.

I mean, the fact that my nieces were doing it every single day and the rest of my family was doing it every single day kind of wrote me in. But Jay had this great idea that we would play wordle together for the first time on video. And it was YouTube gold. I mean, it's so authentic. We couldn't have faked that enthusiasm and excitement, but also nervousness if we tried. So if you haven't seen it, it's on our YouTube channel.

Jay never played again. I got hooked. I love these types of mind games. So check it out on Twitter, ALawRadio, also on our Facebook page. So it was March 2022 we played. I just looked it up. March 2022.

Okay, cool. Now, my line that I've used on the radio here tonight a couple times has been lightning strikes twice because I almost can't believe the fact that I got it twice on the first try. You know what the Lakers can't believe? That lightning struck twice in the form of Jamal Murray. This series between the Nuggets and the Lakers relatively even.

Maybe you don't believe me, but it's true. The Lakers actually had the lead the majority of minutes in the series. Remember, they coughed up a 20 point cushion in Game 2 and Jamal Murray hit the authentic, legit, real, actual buzzer beater. He shoots the ball, buzzer goes off, ball goes through the hoop, crowd goes wild.

Those are the classic iconic moments. Well, if the Lakers led the majority of minutes in this last Game 5, no one led by double figures. The Lakers had the lead a good chunk of the first half again in the third quarter.

Denver kept reeling them in, reeling them in. The only major difference is Denver had six more three pointers. That's one stats difference. And then Jamal Murray. I mean, that's really the difference maker in this series.

And I can imagine that if Nightmares had a face, if Nightmares were the same every single night, it would be Jamal Murray for the Lakers. Because he hit on Monday night, excuse me, not one, but two massive go ahead shots in the late stages. Six on the clock. Murray jumper.

No good. Rebound Gordon. Wants to go back up.

Dribbles out of trouble. Murray three. Come on now. Come on. Nuggets up two.

106 to 104. Get a stop here and win the game. That's Jason Kosmicki who's all in. Okay, so with just over a minute to go, a back and forth affair in the fourth quarter, Jamal Murray nails the go ahead triple. On the other end, LeBron James, who's been aggressive all night, takes the ball the hoop. He gets fouled with 26 seconds to go. He ties the game again by making both free throws, which puts us well, exactly where Jamal Murray wants them.

Here we go. Denver can win it. Difference between game and shot clock, 2.9 seconds. We were here in game two. Do the Nuggets drive and try and get that whistle?

I severely doubt it. High right side is Jamal Murray. Nine on the shot clock. Denver looking for a game winner. Murray has it on the high right side. High pick from Jokic. Murray jumper from eight.

Got it again. 3.6 seconds left for the Lakers. LeBron over to Prince. Jumper's no good at the horn. And the LA Lakers can take that L on the way out along with that whistle. Denver takes care of La La Land for the second game in a row.

He's so extra and yet it's so great. Jason Kosmicki on Nuggets radio. That's the Nuggets version. We'll hear the Lakers version after the break because of course the questions are already being asked of LeBron James about his future. Both with LA and outside of LA and there are a lot of rumors and reports.

I can't tell you which ones are which, but a lot of rumors and reports out there already. So Jamal Murray is the lightning that strikes twice in this series as the Nuggets end it with the Lakers and yeah, it was competitive for the most part and it's over in five. The Lakers end up getting game four so they end the lengthy losing skid against Denver.

Ultimately the result is the same, but here's the issue. They squandered so many opportunities, not just the 20 point lead in game two, but they had a double figure lead in game three. They couldn't protect.

Really have nobody to blame but themselves. Although I think if you hold up the rosters and you watch the way the last two years have gone with these two teams facing each other in the postseason. Going pound for pound to use a boxing analogy or UFC term, the Nuggets just have more at every position, toe to toe, pound for pound.

They're just too deep. The Lakers can't keep up ultimately over the course of a series, but I am still surprised that this one ended in five only because it seems a lot more competitive than what a five game series would indicate. And Jamal Murray loves the Lakers.

That's it. Jamal loves the Lakers all. Also, he almost did not play last night. So the fact that he was out there gutting it out.

Right. The fact that he was out there and he was playing on what was a gimpy calf. Everybody's got the calf.

Everybody's dealing with the calf. Both he and Mike Malone were talking about it after the fact. I came a little earlier today to see if I was going to be able to go and I felt like I could and they just didn't want me to risk it. They told me no. They told me no.

And I didn't I didn't say no. So I just I didn't want to leave my teammates out there. You know, we've been battling all season. Everybody's hurt at some point. Everybody's going through some.

And I just wouldn't be able to live myself if I wasn't able to play this game. Conversation before the game, without getting into too much detail, I was an emotional one about him playing tonight. And as he just told me, he goes, I'm glad I played because I don't know if we win if I don't play tonight.

I said, well, that's the understatement of the year. The kid's a warrior, man. I can't say enough good things about Jamal Murray. Really impressive to see the way that he has embraced these moments, these big stages.

And that's the confidence of a champion. We know Mike Malone has talked about it when you're a champion, when you've finished the race, so to speak, and you're the last team standing and you played a major role. And remember, Jamal missed the better part of two playoff runs because of injuries. And so we remember last year when he won the title with the Nuggets, how overjoyed he was because he was out there because he had missed it because he he struggled to be on the sidelines. So last night, despite the calf, 41 minutes, 32 points to go along with seven assists. And again, Jamal Murray strikes twice against the Los Angeles Lakers with, in this case, not a buzzer beater, but the go ahead shot with about four seconds left on the clock. And just I'm happy for him. The Nuggets are a tough out.

And they're confident, which makes them even tougher. All right. On Twitter, a law radio also on our Facebook page. There's goodies. There's wordle Jay. We just got a tweet from a listener who is showing me a screenshot on his phone that indicates he's also hit wordle twice on the first try. Now, I don't know if you could fabricate that. I have no idea.

But he did seem to to say he said it's the best feeling in the world. So there's two of us there. OK, you do some investigating. There's at least two of us in the meantime, because of the Lakers early exit.

There are already sharks circling around Darvin Ham and questions that persist about LeBron's future. You'll hear from both of them next. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence from Syracuse University on call from mom. Answer it. Call silenced. Instacart knows nothing gets between you and the game. That's why they make ordering from your couch easy. Stock up today and get all your groceries for the week delivered in as fast as 30 minutes without missing a minute of the game. You have forty seven new voice mails. Download the app to get free delivery on your first three orders while supplies last minimum ten dollars per order.

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Download the app or visit Carvana dot com today. The infinity sports network. You are listening to the after hours podcast. Murray dribbles left toward the basket pulls up ten footer good. Nuggets 108 Lakers 106 series over game over nuggets on to the second round and the Lakers who led in every game at halftime lose the series in five games.

This is after hours with Amy Lawrence. Within minutes of this game being over between nuggets and Lakers in fact they were still watching the watch they were still cleaning up in the arena and still watching the press conferences. When shams tyranny who is a longtime NBA insider very respected very connected put a post out on social indicating that a lot of stakeholders with the Lakers do not want Darwin him to return. Now he's only two years in to his tenure with the Lakers. But because of how much the stings to go out again and the way they squandered opportunities against the nuggets and couldn't make more traction against the nuggets and they did. I suppose you could say they got a game off the nuggets but this much earlier in the playoff run. So according to shams and this is just a few hours ago the Lakers finished the season has left coach Darwin him's future in serious peril as some stakeholders indicate he is highly unlikely to return according to sources. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence from Syracuse University few more minutes here as we sift through the rubble that was the Lakers first dealing with Darwin him now he was asked about the finish to the game of course. But I think more pointed maybe his answer to the question of what else needed needed to happen this season for them to go farther for them to even get back to where they were last year.

And his answer was pretty specific. Stay healthy stay healthy. That's true but I don't love that answer. Because the same way you would like to stay healthy. Other teams in the NBA are dealing with similar injuries. We just talked about Jamal Murray, the fact that he had a calf injury and wasn't even sure he'd be able to go on Monday night.

See I don't, I don't love that. There's got to be more to it then stay healthy. I mean Anthony Davis was out there, posting yet another double double, despite dealing with all kinds of nagging eggs and pains. And so, that to me.

Now it's in the throes of the emotion of them losing. And so I wouldn't expect the most in depth, thought out, organized answer right away. But I also think that comes across as a bit of an excuse, like hey, if we stay healthy, then, of course. And there's no way to gauge if that's accurate or inaccurate, not to mention every other team in the NBA is dealing with injuries as well. But yes, the season did end abruptly and earlier than they wanted.

It's tough man, you know, the completion of my second year in this seat, it's a lot. You know, this year started last year to us getting to the deadline, making the moves we made, trying to make a push on the fly, which we were able to do. Fell short to the champs, same team. Never an easy way to process the end, but the Lakers end certainly came with a wah wah wah this season, much more of a fizzle. Last year was impressive, and at the time, you could see AD and LeBron running on empty. I mean they were running out of gas, by the time they got to the Western Conference Finals, they'd pretty much exhausted any of the energy they had left. They carried the Lakers as far as they could, I would say last year they were a bit of a surprise entering into the Western Conference Finals, though they were swept by the Nuggets. A team that was not just far superior, but was champion. Championship quality. Now, to go out like this, in the first round it stings a little more, is it on Darvin Ham?

DeAngelo Russell, while he had an incredible finish to the regular season, about six weeks or so, where he was a legit third option, at times he would even lead the team in scoring. But he's had a couple of games in the series, including game five, where he was ineffective. Two of ten from beyond the arc in last night's game.

I say only fourteen points. The whole starting lineup was in double figures, but for instance, Austin Reeves, now I think he's too hard on himself, but he laments the fact that he couldn't do more and that he didn't have the big shot when the Lakers desperately needed it. Frustrated with myself, not really playing well the first couple of games, and even into that game three, I wasn't good enough. I hold myself to a high standard because I believe in myself. And those first couple of games, I didn't do what I needed to do to help us win one of those two or two of those three. I'll think about that all summer and train to be better and try to come back and be better next year.

So there's accountability. You need that kind of leadership. You need that kind of a guy who is running your team or is part of the backcourt. I know LeBron really runs the team. But there was also that comment by Anthony Davis after they coughed up the big lead in game two in which he indicated that at times in the second half as the Nuggets were rallying that they didn't know what they were doing on either end of the court. That's quite an indictment of the coaching staff.

Now, Darvin Ham said later, we'll have to agree to disagree, but that also doesn't play well. Oftentimes, the coach takes the hit because he's the easiest piece. The Lakers would owe Darvin Ham for the rest of his contract. They would have to pay him. But if you are the Lakers and you want to keep LeBron James and then there's another report out there that the Lakers are willing to consider drafting Bronny James.

If he's still in the draft, it's a interesting situation because his college career obviously has not gone the way that he anticipated or hoped the hard issue first and transfer portal and everything else. But if the Lakers are willing to draft him, there's only one reason why. Because they want to keep LeBron. And if you have to get rid of Darvin in order to keep LeBron, are you willing to go through both those hoops, jump through the Bronny hoop and then jump through the Darvin Ham hoop? But we don't even know what LeBron's future holds at this point. He was asked, of course, it comes up every postgame, but now it's a little more impactful. It's a little more immediate.

Could this potentially be his last game as a Laker? I'm not going to answer that. Appreciate it. And that's actually his response. The question was posed. There's a dramatic pause. It's funny because you would think at this point he would absolutely have his answer committed to memory and there would be no hemming and hawing. He's been asked it so many times, although not in the wake of the end of the series and the end of the 2023-24 campaign. Appreciate it. It's a little bit like Bill Belichick when he says, I appreciate the question.

I really do. Which, you know, he doesn't actually mean. Just as a side note, he has received rave reviews for what he did during the draft coverage. I didn't see it because I was watching NFL Network, so I wasn't doing any of the other kind of ancillary draft broadcasts, extra adding to.

I was watching NFL Network and taking my own notes, but I've heard he knocked it out of the park and all of a sudden people are in love with Bill Belichick. Never had a cup of coffee in my life. Right. You had to remind me.

I was talking you up and you had to remind me that you've never had a cup of coffee in your life. One more from LeBron, and again, this is about his future and about what his future holds and whether he's done with the Lakers, whether he's ready to hang it up, yada, yada, yada. I want to get on to the family, honestly. Started looking at the schedule. Obviously, I got, you know, my son, one of my boys is just trying to decide if he's going to, you know, enter the draft or go back to school. I got another kid that's playing A.U. ball right now. My daughter's playing volleyball and my wife is doing so many great things. So it's about family right now. And then in a couple of months, I got to go to Vegas for training camp.

So, you know, I got to rest my body for her for USAB, but that's kind of the initial thoughts. Good for him. He deserves it, whether it's year two or it's year twenty one.

It's exhausting when you put it all out there. And he does. He takes the losses hard, though. I'm sure he'll get over it.

He actually mentioned Bonnie there, right? Is he going to go draft? Is he going to do portal? Is he is he going to stay in school? Is he going to declare for the pros? I like that his daughter's different.

She's playing volleyball. So we don't know about LeBron James. I suspect he might not know yet. The Lakers definitely don't know. I'm not sure if they'll be the first to know or the last to know. I don't know that Darvin Ham is in the mix.

Just Darvin Ham. Get to know anything at this point. So a murky, uncertain future. Lots of questions circling and swirling, better swirling around the Lakers. Coming up, the Oklahoma City Thunder are flying under the radar, despite the fact that they are the top seed in the West.

And they have swept the Pelicans on the way out. And final words. Oh, it sounds like a eulogy. Yep, that's it. This is all she wrote. Final words. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates.

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This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Huh. Not sure I've ever heard that post-game celebration before.

But whatever. If you become the youngest team in the NBA to ever close out a playoff series as in NBA history, youngest group collectively by average age ever to win a playoff series, you can do whatever you want to do. And that includes barking on NBA TV. Matt Pinto with the final call is the Thunder Sweep. The Pelicans, that from Thunder Radio Network.

And if you missed my conversation with Ryland Stiles earlier in the show, he joined us live from New Orleans. I was asking him about the passion of Thunder fans. And he mentioned that even at 3 a.m. Oklahoma time, there were fans at the airport waiting to greet the players as they got off the team plane, the charter flight. And they were just wanting a high five through the fence. That's how passionate they are. And they've been rewarded not only with the top seed, a young team that plays beyond its years, has some collective maturity.

I asked him where that came from. And also the NBA Coach of the Year in Mark Dagnall. And kind of funny, he came into the post-game press conference looking not exactly like, but potentially resembling a drowned rat. Our players are idiots. It's just a quick shower from the fellas. So not a volunteer or voluntary shower, I should say.

He got doused with water pretty good. So I love that he can tease them, he can give it right back. It sounds like they have a healthy locker room chemistry. Our guys are idiots.

That's essentially what it comes down to. Our players are idiots. Jay, we have to keep that. That is a fantastic drop. I was actually using you as an example and using some of our drops as an example of how they can be so strategic in building a radio show and layering it with different creative elements. Yes, of course. Drops. Our players are idiots.

Do you want to know who I use for them as a great example of drops? Could it be Mike Tomlin? Actually, no, but that would have been fantastic.

Good idea. I did mention Aaron Rodgers and how he's a personal favorite, but then I dialed up and because I had access to the media center at the front of the classroom, I dialed up the Toronto Raptors coach and his entire rant after the Raptors lost to the Lakers. It's a complete crap.

Right, but there was a lot more from Darko before that and we failed to induct him into the after hours Hall of Flame. I blame the rest of you who are listening because I voted for him. I've been calling you back.

I've been holding you back. It is a complete crap and they loved it. They were all laughing. So here's another drop. Another drop. Our players are idiots.

That's good for you. I guess when you're the NBA coach of the year and you just swept a playoff series and made history, you can do exactly that. Our players are idiots. On a more serious note, Coach, what about the significance of this moment? I'm happy for the players. First of all, I mean the energy that they exerted, focus, commitment, togetherness.

I thought all that was on display. Obviously, we had never been in this situation as a team. And so I think everybody was curious.

I was curious to see what version of ourselves we'd bring into the series and we were very much in character. And so credit to them and then credit to everybody in the organization that's worked hard not only this season but in the last few years during this build from really everybody in the organization. A lot of people who believe that Shay Gildas Alexander will be the NBA MVP.

He's got a smile a mile wide. And yeah, a sweep, I think, if nothing else, gives them just an indication of what they're capable of. When you take a step back, it's very hard to be the NBA team no matter what NBA team four times in a row.

You have to do a lot of things right and a lot of possessions. And there's so many possessions in the game just to get one W. And for a group of guys that I guess you can say we're young and don't have the most experience in winning basketball games, to figure it out and to stick with it the way we have is very impressive. And it's just cool to be a part of it. When you're down for your teams, you got to try different things to get back in the series. And credit to them, you know, that's a talented team. It's a well coached team and they gave us a lot of different looks.

They brought it to us all series. And we didn't take them lightly at all. Even going up 3-0, we knew tonight was going to be a challenge. And guys came in with the right mindset.

0-0. And we put it to bed. As players, these are the moments we love to be in, love to play in. So it's not time to shy away now that we're here. Alright, I'll be honest. What Josh Gitti had to say wasn't earth shattering. But I just love the accent. It is tremendous. I'm pretty sure that's why Jay gave me a pair of Josh Gitti bites to choose from. So it wasn't just one.

You got me too low. And defense is a major piece of what they've done. So I give them credit for that too. Again, talked about it with Ryland Stiles who joined us from New Orleans. The unique maturity of this team despite the fact, and you hear Shay say it, I guess we're young or we're young.

We're little buggers. No, not that. That would be a euphemism. Oh shoot.

What's the drop that we have? It's not a euphemism, Greg. It's not a euphemism, Henry. Henry. Sorry, Henry. It's not a euphemism. That's right. It's not a euphemism, Henry. Anyway, that was a euphemism from Tim Roy. But this is actually maybe the baby thunders.

Or baby thunder. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence heading up toward the top of the hour here, wrapping up my last, gosh, 90 seconds before I'm on vacation. You all have sent some really sweet messages about the honeymoon.

Not even 90 seconds. About Hawaii and your suggestions. And that's awesome. Thank you so much. There will be photos, but probably only one from Pearl Harbor to let you know that we made it the beginning of the trip.

And then after that, going dark on social media, going incognito on emails. I can't wait. But I will be back with you May 14th. Circle it on your calendar.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on Infinity Sports Network. Boom! I definitely felt like the pros far outweighed the cons. The diseases that I am protecting my child against. They're still here, and at the end of the day, it's my job as a mother to keep my child safe.

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