The Recap Show is an unfiltered inside look into the world of global soccer and women's sports. Follow and listen to The Recap Show wherever you get your podcasts. Hey everyone, I'm Josh Radner, and I am so excited to tell you about How We Made Your Mother, a rewatch podcast looking back at how I met your mother. And I'm here with Craig Thomas, who co-created the show along with Carter Bays. Hi, Craig.
Hey, Josh.
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It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you, coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. Man, today's been a busy day. The NBA season just got started two nights ago. The NBA has dominated the headlines. Uh, unfortunately for some of the wrong reasons.
We have some great performances that we've seen from guys like Anthony Edwards, Victor Ebenyama, VJ Edgecombe. And then, of course, we all learned earlier today the arrests of not just Terry Rogier, but the coach of the Portland Trailblazers and Chauncey Billips. To talk about the past few days and what we've experienced, what we could expect over the next few days, weeks, and months, joining us right now is someone who covers all things NBA for CBS Sports as a writer. Welcome to the show, James Herbert. James, welcome back.
Thanks so much for having me. No doubt about it. What was your level of shock? uh given all the news that came down earlier this morning. Um I mean I I wasn't sure Shocked that this came up again.
I wasn't expecting it this morning. I wasn't expecting it. this early in the season, that timing is interesting. Uh, to me, and I had no idea that Chauncey Phillips was going to be a part of this story. I didn't know that.
um it was going to take a twist and a turn. I think If you've been paying attention to this story, This investigation into this gambling ring has been going on for a couple of years now. You knew it was an ongoing thing. You knew the Jante Porter story was not the end of that story, but I didn't know there was going to be this separate but related investigation into rigged poker games.
So that part of it completely blindsided me, and I spent a lot more time today Reading the ins and outs of that and reading these indictments and getting up to speed on all of that, then. Honestly, I've spent like as much time doing that as I've spent like catching up on games from last night.
So it's been an interesting first couple of days of the NBA season. It certainly has been.
Well, James, we we just saw there well, there's footage now online of Chauncey Billops walking out of of his arraignment. We know he just got a contract extension to help lead this young Portland Trailblazers team. He's now placed on leave. A Tiago splitter is now going to take over. as the interim head coach, who who knows how long that lasts or whether or not Chauncey even gets the job back or is welcomed back in the NBA.
What effect is this going to have on the Trailblazers team that they're they're trying to put the pieces together for? I mean, I think it's immediately very d destabilizing. It's an opportunity for Tiago Splitter. I mean, the rest of the coaching staff is there. It's not like it doesn't sound to me like they are immediately going to just outright dismiss John C.
Phillips and try to replace him with With somebody else. But yeah, of course, it's a shock to the system. I mean, even if it were under like totally different Um and less fraught circumstances, just if you have your head coach taken away From the team in the middle of the season, let alone basically right at the beginning of the season after training camp, that's going to be disorienting. It's going to change the way that that staff. Works just in terms of even practical stuff, like who was doing the various scouts?
Who was like, how were you, you know. assigning the duties at practice in terms of who is leading Um like what drills and and all of that like Everybody is going to have to kind of band together there and make up for the absence of Chauncey Billips, who was the guy that was supposed to be setting. Um, the culture for that team. He just signed an extension. Everybody seemed happy with the defense that the Blazers had played in the second half of the season last year, and they wanted to kind of bring that momentum into this year.
Obviously, it is extremely disruptive. Like, this becomes the biggest story around the team right now, not just how Shaden Sharp is. Developing like what what um you know Jong Hansen looks like in in his first season, um on how Denny Avdia can build on what he did last year. Like, no, like th this is There's no real way to sugarcoat it. I think for the Blazers, as these games get played, they're going to have to still show up and play, and they're still going to have to go to practice.
It will. get more normal for them. If Billips is out for an extended period of time, you do adjust. I mean, the Spurs went through this under obviously completely different circumstances last year with when Pop stepped away and they didn't know exactly how long that was going to be with Mitch Johnson taking over. You you get used to it, but I mean this is obviously not the plan and it has to be extremely just strange for everybody in that organization right now.
James Herbert is joining us. He covers all things NBA as a writer for CBS Sports.
Well, we know the Portland Trailblazers they they most definitely are a young team that has now been thrown into quite a bit of turmoil with the arrest of Chauncey Billips. Last night, and unfortunately this was overshadowed Uh with the news today, Victor Webanyama, 40 points last night. You got the San Antonio Spurs who go over the Dallas Mavericks. And Victor Wembanyama, if he can do this, and I don't think anybody's expecting 40 a game. you know, every single night.
Uh but wh what are your thoughts on on what this guy can do? I mean, he's an unprecedented player. He has absolutely no ceiling. I think. Um I he was the play like the player I was mo more excited to watch than anyone else in the league coming into this season.
But even I couldn't have forecasted a debut like that on opening night to just do absolutely everything on both ends. Um to make like I don't know like half a dozen like unbelievable highlight plays. That might be conservative. Um he was dominant on the defensive end. And then offensively, I mean, he looked like a completely different player than he was last year.
I mean, you saw some flashes of it. In the preseason, if you've been paying attention, you've seen the sort of the stories about him going and spending time with everyone from monks to KG to Hakeem Lajuan. In the offseason, he clearly took his summer extremely seriously in terms of working on his body, working on his game, and honestly, I think even working on his mindset. That's one thing. If you just look at the way That he was attacking the basket in this game.
And not. Forcing it exactly, but getting all the way there when he needed to. And then, if he was cut off, he'd make the smart, simple pass and get. His teammates open looks. I thought his decision-making was really good, but his mentality was to go in there and try to rip your head off.
And he's the most sudden dunker. I think I've ever seen in my life like you think Um, he's too far, he's not going to get there. You think he might be about to give it up or take a floater or something, and all of a sudden, he's just at the rim. Um, part of that is just. He is the longest player that you could possibly imagine.
So he just has these crazy dimensions. But I mean, it it's the ball handling has improved. The passing has improved. He's just so in control. of his game right now and I mean He plays like this, and I don't, like you said, I don't mean 40 points a night, but if he plays with that kind of mentality and if he's.
as efficient as I think he can be. I mean, he's gonna like force his way into the MVP conversation this year, which doesn't shock me. Like I I sort of thought that was going to happen coming into the year, but it it just makes you wonder like how good can the Spurs team be um i if if Wemby is already like, you know, a top five or six player in the NBA.
Well, James, outside of Wembanyamo, we saw V. J. Edgecombe come through and drop thirty four points.
Well, Wembanyamo also went out there. He opposed Cooper Flag, who made his professional debut. Is there another player, a young player, that you expect to take a big step? the seat. Botox Cosmetic, Atobotulinum Toxin A, FDA approved for over 20 years.
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The Recap Show is an unfiltered inside look into the world of global soccer and women's sports and all things culture. From two U.S. women's national team World Cup champions and Olympians, follow and listen to The Recap Show wherever you get your podcasts. Hey everyone, I'm Josh Radner, and I am so excited to tell you about How We Made Your Mother: a rewatch podcast looking back at how I met your mother. And I'm here with Craig Thomas, who co-created the show along with Carter Bays.
Hi, Craig. Hey, Josh.
Somehow, it has been 20 years since the show premiered. That seems, I'm going to check the math on that. 10 years since it went off the air, and we thought that made this a perfect time to look back, see what the hell we did, and why the show still seems to resonate with fans around the world today. Follow and listen to How We Made Your Mother wherever you get your podcasts. Um I mean I I think There's a lot of them there's a lot of younger players.
If you want to stay with the Spurs, I thought Stefan Castle was really impressive. um in their first game. It was it was both ends too. Like he was Getting a lot of deflections out there offensively. I mean, you just cannot keep that guy out of the paint.
And I think that's really impressive because. You would think teams would just be able to kind of lay off of him. He's not the most threatening pull-up shooter. In the world, but he just has such control of the ball, he's able to kind of operate. Um, with a lot of poise out there, and he just sort of like Wemby, like, he was just.
A killer in that game. He was so aggressive. He is obviously one of the more athletic guards. In the NBA, but he actually uses that athleticism all the time. It's not just like you see this when he's out there on a one-on-one.
fast break. Like he he Has a really aggressive attacking mentality, and I thought he just looked like he had gotten better over the summer. This was already. The rookie of the year last year. He's a guy.
He's a little bit divisive within the NBA in terms of.
some people kind of having different reactions to To his rookie year, but I think in San Antonio, they were always really, really excited about that guy. And I think even more so coming off of night one.
Well, James, let's talk about some of the old guys. We got some teams that are very old, like the Clippers. We have LeBron James, who is old. He's currently not playing with that sciatic nerve issue. I mean, we got a game going on right now between the Champs and the Pacers, a little bit of a rematch with no Halliburton.
And then tonight, we got another old squad as the Nuggets take on the Warriors. When it comes to these older teams, Is there one of these squads that you think legitimately has a chance to compete, or has time kinda passed a squad like the Warriors and Clippers and maybe Lakers by? Um, I think for the Lakers, I wouldn't put them in quite the same category 'cause I mean, yeah, LeBron is older. But that's not really how the whole team is built. I think they're kind of in a transition phase where they're they're kind of trying To build a contender, I don't think time has passed them by as much as they're not there yet.
Now, when they are there, will LeBron be on the team anymore? Honestly, probably not. But I think they're in a little bit of a different category. As far as the Clippers and the Warriors, Going into the year is pretty high on both teams. I don't know what in the world happened to the Clippers last night in that game against Utah.
I don't expect that they are going to To look like that for the rest of the season. I think they do have. chance to be a really good team. They're an extremely, extremely deep team. I thought they looked really good in the preseason.
Um I don't know that I see them as like a an inner circle contender, but they're kind of like right there in that second tier. I think the Warriors though Um maybe not like on the same level as the thunder. and the nuggets, but I think if anybody else is going to you challenge one of those teams if anybody else is going to be In the Western Conference finals, potentially make the finals. That would be my pick. I love the construction.
of that team. I loved the way that they looked. In their first game, I was honestly, it's not just the old guys. I was quite impressed with Jonathan Kaminga, just his approach. in that game, not just the shooting, but the decision making I thought was improved.
versus what we've seen in the past from him. And then, yeah, I mean, I think those old guys can all still really play. I mean, they were awesome at the end of last year. And I think Al Horford brings a lot to the table. For that team, what he does on both ends.
He takes nothing off of the table, he spaces the floor for everybody, and he does that while also being able to fit in defensively. And that is absolutely huge for a team like that.
Well, James, there's so many storylines between the teams and who's winning, who's losing, who's injured, who's not. And then, of course, we got the news that we received earlier today. There's Wembenyama, there's LeBron, there's MB, there's the Knicks, there's the Celtics. We can go on and on. With all the basketball, and the NBA is also built on storylines throughout the year.
Is this case, is this gambling probe? And we know these things can take months and sometimes years. Is this ultimately just going to be another storyline hanging over the NBA all season long? I think it it'll hang over, but it won't be a thing that is kind of drowning out the attention from everything else the way that it did today. I don't think.
I mean, it's sort of like you know, the the Kawhi Leonard story, the aspiration story with with the Clippers That was the biggest NBA story for a while there, while nothing else Was going on. The difference now is this dropped while there were a ton of things going on actually on the basketball court, but I think. Um much like the the Kawai one, it's like There has to be some sort of Newsy element for people to keep talking about it. And I think that will dry up pretty quickly until. there's an update on these cases.
So yeah, I mean, I I think the the like the aspiration thing will hang over the clippers. All year long. It also won't be something that we're discussing every day as you and I do our jobs. And I think that's sort of the same thing. with this case.
Like it it is an enormous story right now. It clearly will have consequences for the people involved in in one way Or another, and I think this there will be updates to this story. It's an ongoing investigation, obviously. Um but you know I I I do think we will be able to get back to just mainly talking basketball uh fair fairly soon. Yeah, I think hopefully very, very soon.
We know this NBA season is going to roll all away. That's a June, so it's going to be quite Oh wow. Hey James, I appreciate you coming through to have a chat with us, at least at the onset of this season. Tell everybody where they can follow you, find your work with CBS, fill us in. Yeah, all my stuff is up on CBSSports.com in the NBA section.
Thank you so much for having me. Absolutely, James. Always a pleasure having you on. Make sure you go ahead and check out James Herbert, covers all things NBA for CBS. I'm Kristen Press and I'm Tobin Heath.
We're World Cup winners, Olympians, and the hosts of The Recap Show. Every week we sit down with the icons, disruptors, and game changers on the field and beyond it to talk victories, heartbreaks, and everything in between. We've built a space where athletes, change makers, and people creating the future of women's sports can show up and show off as their full, unapologetic selves. Follow and listen to The Recap Show wherever you get your podcasts. Hey everyone, I'm Josh Radner, and I am so excited to tell you about How We Made Your Mother, a rewatch podcast looking back at how I met your mother.
And I'm here with Craig Thomas, who co-created the show along with Carter Bays. Hi, Craig. Hey, Josh.
Somehow, it has been 20 years since the show premiered. That seems, I'm gonna check the math on that. 10 years since it went off the air, and we thought that made this a perfect time to look back, see what the hell we did, and why the show still seems to resonate with fans around the world today. Follow and listen to How We Made Your Mother wherever you get your podcasts. Did you know Tide has been upgraded to provide an even better, clean and cold water?
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