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It is. The JR Sport Brief Show? On the infinity. Sports. network.
I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Thank you so much for everybody listening, to everybody listening all over North America. I don't care if you are in Los Angeles, I don't care if you're in Toronto. Could be here in Atlanta with me. You could be in New York with our producer Ryan Botcher.
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Okay, we have discussed and been through a lot. Thank you so much to Brian Fisher. from Sports Illustrated for joining us last hour to talk some college football. We just got back into how petty lane kiff can be. We talked about college athletes gambling.
Tyler Shuck is going to get a start in the NFL for the New Orleans Saints, his first career start. We got into the Chiefs' victory over the Commanders last night. The Chiefs are rolling, man. Y'all better watch it. They got the Buffalo Bills up next.
And then, of course. We talked about the Dodgers last night. It was game. Number Three. It took six hours and thirty nine minutes.
We're getting ready. We're actually minutes away from game number four. Shohiotani, the baseball god. He's on the mound tonight. He was on first base nine different times yesterday in an 18-inning game.
Baseball record. What else is he going to do? He's just. He's a crazy guy. Let's see what he does tonight.
on the mound. We're going to talk some Dodgers. I'm going to get to your phone calls. We got another guest joining us, Nate Ryan. is a television anchor covers all things Spurs in San Antonio.
He'll be here with us. In about twenty minutes. Lamar Jackson, he speaks. Lamar Jackson is going to be back. This Thursday, Lamar Jackson is ready to roll.
Oh yeah, by the way, Lamar Jackson is the guy who said take all the games and pool tables, all the fun stuff. out of the Raven's locker room. It has nothing to do with Harbaugh. And so we got so much more to get into, and apparently. Jalen Brown of the Boston Celtics.
He has shaved his head on a live stream. People were making fun of this guy for being bald. He went bald fast, okay? He had the high top coming out of Cal. He's 30 now.
I mean, Tom, I can't believe. Bach, can you believe he's 30 years old? No, not at all. Because I remember when he got drafted and I felt young. Yeah, 'cause he got Yeah, he was flipped from the Brooklyn Nets as part of that Paul Pearce and Kevin Garnett's stupidness that basically set the Celtics up.
to win a championship. But I remember him coming out of Cal and He had the high top, Uh low top, flat top. Yeah, he had all the tops. And then he had braids more recently. And then he cut his hair down?
And then he got made fun of uh last week. He I guess he had Beijing in his hair. He rubbed his head up against OG Ananobi. It rubbed off on his jersey. Like man, how you gonna play basketball?
With basically uh spray paint in your hair. Come on, man. And he got outed.
So today he apparently went on a live stream about an hour ago. Jalen Brown, he he shaved his head. Even made some jokes about LeBron James. He says, I maybe I need to go to Turkey. and I get a hair transplant.
So Yeah, we'll actually hear some of uh Jalen Brown's commentary on going bald. Uh next hour. Bacha, I hear that's all the rage. You can go to Turkey and get hair transplants for a couple of hundred dollars, huh? Couple hundred dollars, that's tempting.
If it's a hundred bucks. You need hair transplants? No, not right now, but in the future. You're gonna go to Turkey, huh? That's the place to go, no?
I hear that's where people are going, right? The flight might be more money than the. hair transplant. Yeah, but if it's gonna cost you uh I don't know. Let's say it's going to cost you six, seven thousand dollars here for a hair transplant.
Let's say it's eight thousand dollars, okay? You can go to Turkey and for the price of the flight and the procedure, You've already saved some money, lot tons, thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars. That's true. Also Are they better they're probably better doctors over there too for the hand tr hair transplanting. Because the the amount of people I see go to Turkey to get hair transplants, they have to be specialists in this.
You don't trust, you know, the backyard doctor from Miami? Yeah, no. Not at all. He'll get you good, right? There's a guy on Canal Street.
He'll do the hair transplants for you. He'll do it. I don't know. I'd rather go bald than trust anyone in America to do a hair transplant.
Okay. All right. Yeah. I hear it. It's a reason why people are going to turkey.
Even Jalen Brown has considered it.
So. Uh we'll see. I can't believe this as I sit here in the studio. By the way, You can always call up if you want to. 888-710-4ISN is the number.
That's 888-710-4ISN. You can find me online. I exist. At JR Sport Brief. They're showing Shohei Otani jumping up and down in celebration last night.
after that Freddy Freeman home run. Six hours, thirty-nine minutes, eighteen innings later. Otani is back on The baseball field, except for this time, he's going to be on the mound. The last time we saw Otani on the mound. It's six innings.
10 strikeouts, did not give up a run. And then in the batters box, the guy hit three home runs. Last night, he was four for four, two home runs and two doubles. And then they said, screw this, we just gonna walk him. Every time he went up to the plate, He ended up on bass.
It's hilarious. And they pretty much said We ain't throwing to this guy no more. Like you can't stop him from pitching. But when it comes down to the batter's box, They're basically gonna tell this guy, We we ain't serving you up nothing. It's a hit.
It's pretty hilarious. It's not, well, it's not hilarious if you're Shohi Otani or you're a fan. Uh John Schneider? He said, listen. Shohei, are we going to keep walking him?
Hell yes. You know, he had a great game, he's a great player, but I think you know, after that, You just kind of take the bat out of his hands. And not to give away secrets, but this is pretty much what we should expect going forward. Yeah. Yeah.
They're not gonna give him nothing just intentionally walk him every time? This is the postseason you're just going to put him up on base? And so, what happens if Mookie bets? I don't know, if he gets hot or Freddie Freeman gets hot, it's still a bad idea. You can't just put em on base every single time, I guess you can, depending on the situation.
Dave Roberts, he was asked about Shoe Otani and his His stamina, is he going to be ready to pitch today? Uh what's the deal? He he's spent I mean he was on base eight, nine times tonight, running the bases. Um he's Elated. But yeah, he's taking the mountain tomorrow.
He'll be ready.
Okay, you'll be on the mound, but Dave, what do you think? About them walking him. They're not even giving him a chance to swing the bat. This is what we want to see. I get it.
You know, he's the best player on the planet and On the heels of a huge offensive night, and you know, John smelled that and wasn't going to let Johe beat him at all, obviously. And even when nobody's on base and putting him on to make the other guys beat him. Respected. And fortunately we have other guys behind Shohei that can still do some things. And yeah, I mean a hard-fought game.
Man, don't let this backfire on you. I get it. You can't just. But you can't walk him every time, right? No.
It's just not it's not smart. And you saw y in the l in the last game before he got dragged out and he probably had to save some stamina. He is still a threat to run the bases. I know he got caught stealing. But he was only called out because he came off the bag.
Yeah. So if you keep doing this, he's going to take advantage. Yeah, guys are going to end up on second base, and then Mookie Betts will single him in, and boom, automatically. A run. I don't know if that's gamesmanship or how they're going to pitch around him, but we'll see what.
What happens? There is another guy who's going to be on the mound. His name is Shane Bieber. He has a 4-3 ERA.
so far throughout this entire postseason. I don't feel all that confident about him tonight. But Shane Bieber says, Yeah, I'm in a World Series. I'm in Los Angeles. Let's go.
It's fantastic. Um yeah, growing up not too far from here. Um stepping off the plane, albeit it was like 4 a.m. Um I was a little bit loud about it, like, oh, doesn't this just feel great? Guys weren't so happy about that, but um.
Very fun to be back here with friends, with family. It's a very familiar place. Guy who's not going to be in action tonight.
Well, That's George Springer. He had to exit the game yesterday, had an injury to his side. He's not in the lineup. We saw him come through with that big hit, basically helping them to win the American League Championship Series against the Mariners. Not in action, not in the lineup for now.
This is what John Schneider had to say about his injury. It's uh some bright side discomfort, you know. Um He's already went for an MRI. We'll see how it comes back and see how he wakes up tomorrow. Sucks.
You know, he he's obviously a huge part of our lineup. Glad I got him out when I did and hopefully it didn't make anything worse. Yeah, well. That's certainly not going to help. Yeah.
You know, last night's game. Can really be one of these demoralizing games. Like you lose. You're playing almost seven hours. You got nothing to show for it.
And then if they lose again tonight with Shohei Otani on the mound. You pretty much just put this one in the books, it's over. And I know this is a Blue Jays team just in the American League Championship Series. They were already down 0-2. It looked like they were over, and they came back.
to beat the Mariners. Man, are they going to do any of that here against these Dodgers? Hell no. If the Dodgers go up three one today, It is Curtains. Botcha, they should start planning the parade, man.
Ah, that's some bad vibes. That's bad juju. G started planning a parade.
Okay. Baseball is so weird. Where all it takes is one game. where a team somehow Goes for an insane amount of runs, and they can carry the momentum for the rest of the series.
So. Granted, it's not looking good right now, especially because you wasted your bullpen. But you can't I w I'm not I wouldn't go out there and say it's over if they lose tonight. Oh, the uh the Blue Jays? Yeah, I I would not.
I you would. But I just I can't risk that.
Okay. I'd be planning a parade. I mean, this is not the New York Knicks putting up street signs. What round was that? Was that the Eastern Conference finals?
Every Knick got a street sign? Yeah, before they lost to the Pacers. They're a bunch of dumbasses. Stupid nicks. Dodger's better position.
And as I say that, here comes Shohei Otani. This man is on the mound. This makes no sense. The fact that he's out here getting ready to pitch. Just makes no sense.
at all. None. None. Let me see how many pitches between both of them. Was it nineteen of them yesterday?
Yeah, nineteen between two. Yeah. He had 19 pitches on both teams. Even saw Clayton Kershaw go out there and get a big out. The bases loaded.
I enjoyed that. 18 innings, 6 hours, 39 minutes, 609 pitches. And they're going to expect Otani to come out here. after almost seven hours last night and uh Bust some ass. Can't wait to see what this baseball freak does.
Excuse me, I called him the baseball god. Shohayo Tani. What a day, what a night. Hey, this is a great time to tell you about the defensive player of the week. Brought to you by the Navy Federal Credit Union.
Our members are the mission, And the defensive player of the week. How about this? He's billion in Major League Baseball. Will Klein.
Okay, and uh in this eighteen inning marathon last night. He threw four innings. Shut out ball. only gave up one hit. and struck out five.
He kept the Dodgers in the game. And then we ultimately saw what Freddie Freeman did. He came through and hit that home run. uh allowing them To take this 2-1 Series lead tonight, the Dodgers. are trying to go up.
3-1. against the Jays. Yeah, oh damn. How about that? We already got one out, Shawheil Tani through one pitch.
What a world this is. What a lucky dude he is. How about that? 888-710-4ISN. Not just lucky, but gifted.
Rashawn is calling from Baltimore. You're on the JR Sportry Show. What's up, Rashawn? What's going on? JR?
I'm good. What's on your mind? Gotta go quick. Uh Oh man, the Ravens, man. Big Wynn went out back up Huntley the other day.
Um, with Lamar coming back, um, Well, what do you see as the Ravens chances of? When we two or five two and five right now, we we kind of we got like a margin for Ever maybe losing maybe two more games. That's the only games we can afford to lose. Like, do you see the Ravens, you know? Um Possibly winning this division.
They gotta go on. I know it's a possibility. They got to go on one of these ridiculous winning streaks. That's basically what it is. Lamar Jackson is coming back.
The Dolphins, oh, they're going to play the Dolphins. We saw the Dolphins get a win against the Falcons on Sunday. Am I expecting them to do that again? No. Um, so yeah, look, every one of their the rest of their schedule is easy as hell.
The division sucks. Can they beat Miami? Yes. Can they beat Minnesota? Yes.
Let's see what J.J. McCarthy looks like. Can they beat Cleveland? Yes. Can they beat the Jets?
Yes. They got Cincinnati? Yes. They got him twice. They got Pittsburgh, New England.
I mean, it it's gonna come down to the wire. They can still win the division because the division sucks if they go on a winning streak. Right, now that you put it like that, hand all them teams we gotta put the left Possibly run the table though. I mean, I know them originally. They got green with the Steelers.
They got Green Bay in New England. Yeah, so oh, yeah.
Well, I mean, like I said, even if we lose the Green Bay, it may be split with. With Pittsburgh, that's put us in position, maybe to win a division. Because I think that's the only way we can get in is winning the division. Because I think the wild card is going to be a little bit too hard. Wild card will probably come out of the wild card will probably come out of the AFC West, somewhere between what the Chargers are doing.
Also, you got the Broncos. They're now dealing with an injury to Pat Sertan. And of course, the Chiefs are surging stuff. I I would expect a a wild card team. Yeah, them three teams right there, I think they're going to beat each other up in that AFC West, though.
Yeah, but you referred to the wild card. I think one of the wild card teams is going to come out of there. And take solace in the fact that the AFC North stinks outside of Pittsburgh. And let's see what your swap can do. Rashawn, appreciate you, man.
Alright man, always. You as well. Shout out to Rashawn for calling in from Baltimore. Yeah, thank God if you're a Ravens fan, Lamar Jackson. Is going to be back against the Dolphins.
You know what? We'll get into Lamar Jackson later on this hour. We're going to take a break when we come back. Speaking of all these athletically gifted freaks, We got Shohei Otani on the mound. We're going to get into Lamar Jackson.
But. In five minutes, we're going to have a conversation with Nate Ryan. He covers all things San Antonio Spurs for KENS Channel 5 in San Antonio. We'll talk about Victor Wemben, Yama, and the Spurs. They're 4-0.
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You're listening to the JR Sport Brief. It is the JR Sport Brief Show here with you coast to coast on the Infiniti Sports Network. Man, we livin' an amazing time in sports. We got Otani, doing things we've never seen on a baseball field and Now you think of things on the basketball court. We got Victor Wembanyama.
These guys seven four seven five Playing inside, outside, doing just about everything that he wants to do. The San Antonio Spurs, yes, it's early in the season. They've already started 4-0. And Victor Wembanyama, people are already putting him in MVP conversation. And so, to talk about these Spurs who just keep hitting the jackpot with these generational big men joining us right now.
It's someone that you can catch. On Ken's 5 in San Antonio. He's a sports acre for them. He covers all things Spurs. Welcome to the show, Nate Ryan.
Nate, how are you, man? Yeah, what's going on, man? I like that comparison with Otani, man, because it really is something like. I don't think anyone has seen before, seven foot four and a half. And he even grew from last season to this season.
His height was a little taller on Media Day. But yeah, what Victor Wimbanyam has been able to do. through four games uh is just out of this world. Otani esque on the basketball floor for sure. No, without a shadow of a doubt.
And then this is a team that's been able to roll without De'Aaron Fox up until now. We got Stefan Castle. It's Dylan Harper, who people don't even talk about him. He just got drafted. When you think about the San Antonio Spurs team, we all know Victor Mebanyama, but some of the guard pieces around him.
Everybody's young. The the the sky's the limit. Yeah, and I think it's been a long time coming for San Antonio. I mean, they've. Obviously for for the last You know Century, in this century, the Spurs have been synonymous with success.
I mean, the five championships in 20 years under Greg Popovich. But Those have been further and further away. The Spurs right now have the second longest playoff drought in the NBA. It's been six years since they last tasted the postseason.
So the fans down here are getting a little bit restless with it, but it's been a process. The Spurs are very much a unique organization where they don't skip steps. They take their time in development. And so this nucleus that they've been building around Wembanyama has really taken shape even before Victor got here. For me, it really took shape when they traded to Jante Murray about.
A little over three years ago because the Spurs then they were just coming off an appearance in the play-in tournament. They just lost to the Pelicans as the nine seed, and their season was over. DeJounte Murray was coming off his first. All-star appearance. They had guys Devin Vesselle, Keldon Johnson, who are still with the Spurs, right?
And now they're the two longest tenured players. but then they decided to trade DeJanta Mari off his first All Star appearance And they got a boatload of draft. They got three unprotected first-round draft picks from the Atlanta Hawks for Murray. and picks that are still going to be conveying in next year's draft. The hawk?
Pick swap this upcoming draft. I mean, so if the Hawks have a tough year, the Spurs are going to. I get that pick as well. But that season after they traded Murray, You know, it was tough to watch, right? They were without a main ball handler, and that enabled them to fall to the bottom of the standings and get Victor Wembanyama.
And obviously, when you have a player like that, it's a lot easier to build around. But you look at How they built through the draft, where they picked Stefan Castle. Castle was the fourth pick, and he won the NBA's Rookie of the Year award. I mean, there were three guys picked ahead of Stefan Castle: Reese, Tsar, the two French big men, and then Reed Shepard in Houston. And I think thus far we can look at those four guys and say Stefan Castle's probably been the most impactful player of those guys, right?
Obviously, they got lucky with. the lottery numbers and getting Dylan Harper at the number two pick last year. But then looking at some of the other guys, a guy like Julian Champenny, who started every single one of the four games for the Spurs this season. Champeny was a guy who two years ago when the Spurs were at the bottom of the standings He was cut loose from the 76ers and struggling to stay in the league. His birth gave him a chance down the stretch of a losing season, and he shot the lights out of the ball and got himself a four-year contract.
He's now playing minutes every single night. Despurs took on the salary willingly of Harrison Barnes. in the DeMar de Rosen trade when the Bulls sent DeRosan to the Kings, the Spurs got involved to say, hey, we'll take a draft pick, but we'll also take on Barnes' salary just as a as a dump, right? But Harrison Barnes is a guy who's an NBA champion and a workhorse in the NBA.
So the guys that are all around Wembanyama right now, and then you look at Vassell and Keldon Johnson, who are guys that were here before Wembanyama. very, very calculated too. And now they're all you know, w with with how much better Victor has gotten, they're all starting to mesh around the same time. And it's you're really seeing the dividends of it. But it's really not something that's Happened overnight, too.
And then a guy like Jeremy Sohan was a first-round pick before Wemodyama. He's yet to play in a game this season. But It's definitely been a and they haven't skipped any steps here in San Antonio and they're really starting to see see it to come to fruition here. And San Antonio Sports Anchor from Ken's 5, Nate Ryan, is joining us here on the JR Sport Reef show. You talk about the pieces around Victor Wembenyama.
We've seen some of the improvement that he's had on the court. Being more aggressive, go into the basket, less threes. The shooting percentage is still absolutely ridiculous. From what you've seen, and it's an early sample size. Outside of, I don't know, getting even stronger, and I'm not waking up expecting him to be shacked by any stretch.
But where are some elements of his game where you can still potentially see improvement? Uh well I think he's passing for sure, and his ball handling as well. He's a fantastic ball handler, but The more his teammates around him are able to get themselves free and make shots, I've really, you're seeing the full bag of tricks right now. I mean, I think it's fair to say through the first week of the regular season, I mean, he was the Western Conference player of the week. He would be the MVP.
Aside from getting stronger, it really is just. adding on top to what he already has. And you talked about he's shooting less three pointers. Uh he last night Well, did we lose Nate? I think we may have lost A nay.
Nate was referring to the, well, he was bringing up. Victor Wembanyama's threes from last night. The San Antonio Spurs went out there and beat the Toronto Raptors 121 to 103. And this is Wembanyama's stat line. from that game.
Hey Nate, do we have you back? Yeah, yeah, sorry about that.
Sorry about that. I think I think you do. Go ahead, go ahead, Nate. What were you saying about Web and Yama? I I was saying that you you mentioned it, where last night he he didn't even attempt a three-pointer and and it was a game in which the Spurs led wire to wire, never trailed against the Raptors.
Um and you look at last season. He took over 400 three-point shots. And maybe the knock on him was he was taking too many. And there were a lot of times Were he probably felt like he had to because there were games that the Spurs We're trailing a lot, but learning how to play with the pieces around him and buying in on the defensive end of the floor. running out in transition.
Obviously, the blocks have been at an all time high. I mean, no other player through four games, I don't think, in history has had one hundred points and eighteen blocks through the first three games of the season, which Wembanyam has had. But After every block shot, you're seeing this team get out and run in transition. And it's a result of Castle getting a lot better, Devin Vessel buying into a role on the defensive end of the floor. I really give a lot of credit to Mitch Johnson, too, who's the full-time head coach for the first time.
But this team's ability to move quicker in transition and have Wembanyama trail and Rim run a little bit more is making them a lot more a lot deadlier. I mean, just it's the it's the ensemble cast that's making him better for sure.
Well, Nate, you bring up Mitch Johnson, who, after almost 30 years of Greg Popovich, takes over full time after Popovich's health issues. There's only one Greg Popovich. What are some similarities or differences knowing that Popovich is still in the building? But what what makes Mitch stand out as an individual? Uh I think With Mitch.
First off, he's able to connect with the guys. a lot easier just being naturally a younger guy. Who he's surrounded himself with. I think on this year's coaching staff, you look at some people that he's brought in. For example, his associate head coach, he tabbed as his number two.
Sean Sweeney, who is the number two Assistant in Dallas prior. He'd been the defensive coordinator for Jason Kidd in the Dallas Mavericks. He'd you know, was part of that staff that went to the NBA finals. Sean Sweeney's been very vocal on the defensive end of the floor, which is what the identity of this Spurs team really is. I mean, you look at their defensive rating.
currently sitting at 101 right now, and that's one of the best. in the NBA you looking at other guys on staff. I mean, a guy in a del development role brought in for the first time this offseason. You might remember an NBA player, fantastic NBA player, but Richard Lewis, who was you know, an all-star with the uh Seattle Supersonics a a while back. Richard Lewis is now a part of the Spurs staff.
And he's a guy who Mm-hmm. Helped raise DeAren Fox. De'Aaron Fox was playing on his AAU team in the Houston area. who Mitch has surrounded himself with, in addition to being his own vocal leader. You see Mitch Johnson sometimes getting down in defensive stances with his players on the sideline.
But also too, you know, he does have an element of Of being closer to the game from a player standpoint. I mean, he was a former player himself, never played in the NBA, but, you know, he was a. He was a very solid point guard at Stanford. I mean, when the Lopez Twins were at Stanford, Mitch Johnson was the point guard and helped take him to the NCAA tournament. Very cerebral, very, very smart player.
I remember having a conversation with Brooke Lopez last year, who's now in Los Angeles. But I remember asking Brooke, is this a surprise that Mitch Johnson is a head coach? And he told me, he goes, Absolutely not. We all called him back in college. His nickname was Maestro because you you didn't even really need the coaching on the sideline.
He was he was coaching on the floor. You know, and that goes back to his college days. And he's a Stanford guy, so you know, he's a smart guy. But you know, he's brought a very, very fresh kinda a a younger face to to lead this organization. But also at the same time, if you ask Mitch Johnson who's his co coaching mentor, he's been in the organization now for 10 seasons.
So he's Been a part of that Spurs fabric. He also knows, which is something that this organization doesn't do. is skip steps. Uh j patience is a virtue here in San Antonio. Oh, Nate, you talk about the youth of the team, the youth of the coach, the players, all of the talent.
We know sometimes it takes a little bit of time for things to marinate. We had a very young team that won a championship last year. With the Oklahoma City Thunder, I don't think anybody's jumping out the window to say the Spurs are going to be champs this year. But what are some realistic expectations for the squad this season? I I mean, i it it's tough around here because People are used to winning championships and they don't want to get too excited, right, because it's been a couple of years since they've made the playoffs.
But with the start that they've had and obviously the changing factors in the West, You know, ask folks again here in two weeks when D'Aaron Fox returns to the lineup. But looking at how the West is. you know, looked thus far. I don't think it's out of the question to think that this is a top four seed. in the West, especially with how they've looked So far in their early games, I mean, I'm counting.
You know, the Thunder are going to be tough. The Houston Rockets are going to be tough, but it depends. Are the Rockets going to go out and get a point guard like losing Fred Van's Leed? is a big blow to that rotation. It looks like they might need to go out And get themselves a ball handler.
And we'll see how the Spurs match up here in the coming weeks.
Next week, You know, they'll go on the road and they'll play the Lakers on Wednesday night on national TV. They'll host the Rockets next Friday night. for the first time. But when you look at how they've looked thus far against competition, they haven't beaten teams that have been top five seeds in the league by any means. But you know with with how good that they've looked i there's nothing holding them back, I would say, from being a top at least aiming to be a top four seed in the West.
And the thing that's different about it too. from my vantage point is last season Going into last year. Obviously, people thought that the Spurs might be hanging around the play-in just because it was Wembanyama's second season. You had Stefan Castle joining the rotation pee. It was a lot of excitement, a lot of optimism.
And you heard players before the season say the playoffs are our goal, the playoffs are our goal. And they n they didn't make the playoffs. Wembanyama was shut down midway through the season. They got DeAaron Fox midseason, but he and Victor have only played five games together. But Talking to Vassell, Keldon Johnson, they were all saying we want to make the playoffs.
The playoffs are a goal. The players, not obviously the coaches. This season though, Before the season, you didn't really hear the word playoffs being thrown around between the guys as much more. When they'd be asked about the playoffs, they'd just say, we're taking things day by day. We're not looking at the law.
Obviously, we want to be successful, but we're looking forward to tomorrow. We're looking forward to the next day. And I think that just sort of goes to show how locked in sort of this team is. And I think that's a good thing for the long run. Yeah, I think it's a a good thing for the NBA.
Victor Wembinyama must watch, must-see TV. He is uh he's the guy a lot of people are looking forward to seeing. Hey, Nate, I really appreciate the time and your first-person expertise. Tell everybody where they can keep up with you on Ken's 5, online, on the internet, fill us in. Yeah, yeah, got hit me up on social media, you know, I'm at All the games.
At Nate Ryan Sports is the social media handle. I mean, I'm the. I'm the sports director here at the CBS affiliate in San Antonio, but I also Serve is the Pre- and post-game host and sideline reporter for the Spurs.
So, you know, I'm a working for the team as well too, the last couple of nights and then I'll be on the road with them a couple games this season, but yeah, no, it's a fun time to. Fun time to be a Spurs fan down here for sure. And I appreciate you guys having me on. No, we appreciate your time and and your expertise. We'll catch you soon down the line, okay, Nate?
You know it. We'll hear from you hear from me soon. No doubt about it. Thank you so much. That, Nate Bryan, Ken's five sports anchor, reporter, director.
Also Spurs Insider, we appreciate the time. And we know Victor Wembanyami, he's must-watch. And we got a must-watch guy on the mound right now. In Los Angeles.
So, we're going to get an update on what's going on in the World Series. We're going to take a break when we come back. I'll give you an update on another athletic freak. That happens to be Lamar Jackson. We have so much more to do.
You're locked in. You're listening. It's the JR Sport Re Show on the Infinity Sports Network. And right now, it's a news flash with Rich Ackerman. Listen up football fans, you won't want to miss this.
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Yeah. have been married for 56 years. Unfortunately to four different women. It turns out the people I was looking for all my life is what you people would call nerds. Follow and listen to The Moth on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.
You're listening to the JR Sport Brief. No. Nobody's ever called me that. Thank you for coming up with it, though. I appreciate it.
It is the JR Sport Brief Show here with you coast to coast. On the infinite.
Okay, that's a foul ball. I'm about to say, here the Dodgers go with the nonsense to go. It is the JR Sport Brief Show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. And right now the Dodgers in Toronto zero zero But the Dodgers are are threatening to get some runs up here. In the second.
Matter of fact, they just scored. The Dodgers now lead 1-0, bottom of the second. If you've been wondering what Choi Otani is doing, Uh two innings so far, one strikeout. He's only given up a hit. And so Otani, he's not tired.
And so we get a pop fly From Kique Hernandez, who drives in a run, The Dodgers now lead 1-0 here in the second. Hopefully, this isn't a baseball game that takes. You know, six hours and thirty-nine minutes to complete. But the Dodgers are already on the board. Thank you so much as well to Nate Ryan from Kens 5.
Let's send Antonio Spurs reporter for coming through and joining us to talk about Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs team and what they can do. Man, it just he's so much fun to watch. He's just Botch, is there am I missing anybody? Like he has to be the number one player. Just out of curiosity in the NBA to see, right?
Am I bugging? Yes, as of now he is the most exciting player. You could argue rookie year Zion Williamson was a bigger watch just because of his athletic prowess. I ain't talking about the past. I'm talking about today.
And by the way, Zion has started missing games already. What is he doing? He got fat again? Oh, he's just injury prone. He's probably made of.
Plastic. Oh my goodness. No, but as it stands today in the league. If you had to buy a ticket to watch somebody play. It'd be Victor Wimba and Yama, right?
I don't even who would be number two? Yannis? Nah. No. Jokic?
Yeah, Jokic is yeah, but he's not exciting. He just I've seen Jokic play a bunch in person. And the way he just dominates and controls a game from every time the ball is in it, his efficiency is just completely underrated. He's not making mistakes. He's just.
Controls the game. I guess Anthony Edwards' athleticism, people would want to see him, right? I guess. I don't know. He's athletic, but at the same time.
You have to find someone who Steph Curry is still up there. You're right. It's just you have to find someone who makes a ton of highlights. And at this point, everybody shoots threes.
So you're gonna have you have to find a balance between Crazy athleticism, but also great shooting. Yeah. Yeah, people will still want to see Steph Curry. That's it. But me, sign me up.
I've seen Wembenyama play, I watched him play. Is it last year he was here in Atlanta? And the Spurs sucked, and he sucked. And it was like a Martin Luther King Day game. It's like Monday afternoon.
The game was so bad, and then he all of a sudden got hot at the end of the game, and I had to leave. I don't know what I had to do, but I had time to sit around and watch them be garbage. Uh next time, Wembinyama. Uh next time. And speaking of of stars, Well, his team has been playing like garbage while he's been out.
It's Lamar Jackson. Shoutouts to Rashawn from Baltimore. He called us about him.
Well, we saw what the Ravens did. They actually picked up a victory against the Chicago Bears. Had fans in Chicago in shambles losing to a team with Nolamar Jackson. I get it. The Ravens, they got a two and five record.
Lamar Jackson returns in two nights to take on the Miami Dolphins. And coming off of that hamstring injury. Lamar Jackson He is back. And he basically said, If we don't just win every single game. We just cooked.
We sucked. Listen to this. Coach pretty much touched on that, talking about that.
Well that's in a team meeting. You know, each and every game gonna be like a Winter Go Home game, you know. Um, we started off. First season ever starting off like this slow, so We're gonna have to just do a die right now, each and every week. It is do or die each and every week.
God bless them. They play in a historically bad division right now with the Browns, you're welcome, and the Bengal, you're also welcome. And then we gotta see what the Steelers can do. And so, like, for instance, they got two games the rest of the season against Cincinnati with no Joe Burrow. They're probably biggest competition as the season continues on.
The Ravens do have a matchup against the New England Patriots. They do have a game against the Packers. We just saw what the Packers did against the Steelers. On Sunday night football. And so it's good to have Lamar Jackson back.
This guy's game is built off of athleticism. He's become a ridiculously efficient passer, an accurate passer, and we know he uses his legs. I mean, the threat of this guy running off. Is something that everybody has to pay attention to. Let's take a listen to head coach John Harbaugh explain.
Lamar, he been looking good in practice. We know you didn't like to talk about him being hurt. See you look good in the walkthrough. You looked uh He looked like a it was a great walkthrough for him. He looked excellent.
He did. Great. Wow, but now all of a sudden he's just he's like, ah, he looks great. And what is he going to say? Oh, he looked bad.
We had to tell him to stop running. We had to tell everybody, don't run at him. Just, what is he going to say? He's a coach. He's going to lie to protect his team.
and to protect his players as he Should.
Now, because these Ravens stunk. Got a record now of 2-5. We haven't seen Lamar Jackson since week number 4. We heard the story last week. About how the the Ravens removed all the fun stuff.
Out of the locker room. the games, the entertainment. That's for good teams. Bad teams don't get that. Shout out to my main man, Eric Kelly, by the way, the boxing trainer.
former Olympic standout, Uh I'm going to butcher his saying. You know, Bacho, Eric, he still trains a lot of fighters, he trains a lot of people for fitness. And at one point in time, I heard Eric say, and I think he might have said it to me. In regards to fighters. He said About taking a break, like having some water.
He said good fighters don't need water. and bad fighters don't deserve it. That's that's a good line. But sometimes I think we all need water.
Now we all need water. Yeah, but if you're a good fighter, do you need a sip of water? Probably not. And if you're a bad fighter, you don't deserve it. It's kinda like uh.
Brown in Syracuse who says Frank Brown, he's just like, hey, you know, if I lose, I don't shower. I don't deserve water. I don't deserve to clean myself. But that's a. another discussion.
Lamar Jackson says we suck We don't deserve fun in the locker room. Listen to what he said. I told Caniko uh I I had equipment God told him to take all the games and ping pong Turn T V's off. If we could have took the T V's out, it would have been out too, but. I appreciate Mr.
Steve for putting that in there for us, you know. But yeah, we had to focus. I wouldn't say people don't take the job serious, don't get me wrong, but like, I didn't feel like it was the time for that, you know. We got a lot of work to do. Yeah.
Mabacha, don't y y y'all got games, right? Isn't there games in Odyssey New York and they have a Pac-Man game behind you? Yeah, we have a single Pac-Man game, and then I think there's a uh Is it NBA GM? I don't know, it's something. I d I don't see many people using it.
Why not? Because everybody's working so hard? We're hard at work, or there's nobody here.
So we were like, why are we going to use it?
Well, why don't you? You don't play it? Never. I've never touched it. Why?
I just have no reason to go over there. You ain't working every second. You won't just get a quick minute break, a second, play it? I don't know. No, no, but I don't see, I don't love Pac-Man like that.
No, okay.
So it's like I don't want to. Waste my time.
Okay. Alright. You have a chance to win. And indulge in a game that's free and You're just like, hey, I'm at work. I'm just going to keep working.
Why not take a break? What do you think the them putting a game there is a trick? kind of weed people out. No, it's just there. decoration mainly.
Something to pass the time during breaks. It's there, but I don't like using it. Yeah, that that nobody uses. I botcha.
Well, that's good. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. The Dodgers up one and nothing against the Blue Jays. It's the top of the third. Otani hasn't hit five home runs.
He hasn't struck out a million people yet. But the Dodgers, they lead. We'll talk more about this on the other side. There's more to get into. As the show continues on, Jalen Brown is over here going bald on the live stream.
Nothing left for the private anymore. It's the JR Sport V show, The Infinity Sports Network. That 365 is paying out before the final whistle. Check out Bet365's unrivaled early payout offer. When you bet on the team to win and they take a 17-point lead, you get paid no matter the final score.
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Call 1-877-718-5543 or visit morethanagame.nc.gov. Must be physically located in North Carolina. TNC Supplies. I'm Dr. Mary Claire Haver, and my new podcast, Unpaused, is the place for bold, unfiltered conversations about what it takes for women to thrive in the second half of life.
Listen to and follow Unpaused, available now wherever you get your podcasts. Every week on the Moff Podcast, we share stories that are funny, strange, heartbreaking, and above all, true. I'm myself. have been married for 56 years. Unfortunately to four different women.
It turns out the people I was looking for all my life is what you people would call nerds. Follow and listen to The Moth on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.
