JR SportBrief Hour 2

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That's 855-212-4227. Thank you so much to Law Murray for joining us last hour as we talked about the Clippers. Clippers are going to take on the Mavs on Sunday.

He covers the Clippers for the Athletic. We talked about the Los Angeles Lakers taking on the Nuggets. And how about this, in another 20 minutes, we're going to have a conversation with Jim Ozarsky, who covers the Milwaukee Bucks for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The Bucks, they're going to take on the Pacers on Sunday evening. And it appears that there will not be a Giannis Atetokounmpo, who's still dealing in healing from that calf injury. It looks like Damian Lillard is going to be a go. Had a bit of a core issue, but he was able to practice today in the Milwaukee Bucks.

Let's be real. They haven't looked all good this season. Had to swap coaches going from Griffin to Rivers and trying to mesh in between Giannis Atetokounmpo and Damian Lillard. Things haven't worked out quite the way they wanted them to in Milwaukee. So we'll talk to Jim Ozarsky about what the current situation is for the Bucks as they get ready to take on the Pacers. The likelihood that they get them the hell up on out of here and then also go out and try to win another championship.

We'll find out sooner than later. Meanwhile, we have two playoff games that, well, play end games for tonight. A couple of teams, well, four teams battling it out for the respective eighth seeds in their conference. The Chicago Bulls are going to take on the Miami Heat with no Jimmy Butler.

He's done with that MCL. We won't see him for a few weeks unless they advance. And then also the Sacramento Kings taking on the New Orleans Pelicans. The respective winners, as I said, get the eighth seed. And for the Pelicans, no Zion Williamson. Zion dropped 40 points against the Los Angeles Lakers earlier this week.

Lakers were able to win. Zion had to walk out with a few minutes left, went up for a layup, came down, strained hamstring. And for Zion Williamson, a strained hamstring means we won't see him until next season. And you know what? Someone who had an opinion, someone who has an opinion on Zion and his hamstring is another NBA player.

You know what? He's not just an NBA player. He's a legendary NBA player. He's a former MVP. He is a former Olympian. He is a, he's a former everything except for a champion. But he is one of the greatest players the league has ever seen. Also one of the greatest television personalities you've ever seen. His name is Charles Barkley.

And he was on Mad Dog Sports Radio. And from one former fat player to one who's dealing with it right now, Charles Barkley said, Zion, man, hit the gym, brother, hit the treadmill. He's lost 25 pounds during the season. He can't use the season to get into shape.

He's got to learn from that. He's got to get in shape over the summer and come into the season, getting it in shape. He made a tragic mistake getting in shape during the season.

I hope there's a learning experience for him. You can't come in and shake him 25 pounds overweight. He looked bad at the beginning of the season when you saw his body. And you can see he worked his behind off to get in shape, but you can't get in shape during the season. Right.

Yeah. So I hope this is a learning experience because it probably cost his team the series, to be honest with you. Because if he's healthy, you know, they beat Sacramento every game this season by double digits. And they would have had a good chance against Oklahoma City. Not saying they beat Oklahoma City, but they would have had a good chance with the health design. So he really cost his team because even if they win tomorrow night, they got no chance of beating Oklahoma City without him.

Zero. Oh, absolutely. That's why I said all of these teams are a bunch of first place losers. And New Orleans is definitely a loser. Sacramento is going to be a big old loser. If they can't eliminate New Orleans tonight, that'd be an embarrassment.

Sacramento, at least they'll go out there and give Oklahoma City a little bit of a run. And by the way, Hickey Charles Barkley sounds like I did about a month ago. Yeah, he sounds terrible.

Hopefully that voice is better. I don't know if he's working tonight. I believe TNT is the late game. They do.

TNT has the Sacramento New Orleans game. Do you think they're bringing Charles in for that? Oh, of course. Okay. Right.

No, I don't know. I mean, I get it with LeBron and Steph for, you know, Tuesday night. I understand that. Right. I just wonder. Well, who's going to make fat jokes about Zion?

Nobody else. Can you though if he's not in the lineup? Well, I guess maybe that's the time.

Yeah, you can. I mean, hopefully he's drinking tea and honey. I don't know. Every time I turn on TNT, you know, I get surprised about who's out there. I'm like, hey, it's Jamal Crawford.

It's Jamal Crawford. And I go, no, thanks. You know, it's like, hey, I like Candace Parker. So I got to watch my mouth there. But yeah, I just don't.

Yeah. Everybody wants the classics. You want, you want Charles Barkley, you want a Shaq, you want a Kenny and you want Ernie. And if they're not there, come on now. This is the most entertaining group on television. So if they're not there, I don't care. I don't feel that way about any other, you know, pregame show. Do you watch like the NFL, you watch like CBS and Fox, you watch their pregame? I actually would like to, just so that I'm not caught off guard by anything going into the games. But most of the time I don't get around to it.

Yeah, I'm not watching that. I mean, after watching football all day long, I do not need to hear them talk. Anything, anything that they say, I can read. Like I can read. And yeah, you're going to get different perspectives, but it's so many damn opinions and perspectives. Just give me the facts and I can read the facts without a commercial break.

Get the facts without listening to, you know, Michael Strahan make jokes with Howie Long. I'll, I'll pass. As I actually talk about passing, Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls getting ready to play any minute now down in Miami, the winner has an opportunity to move the hell on. The Chicago Bulls had a Kobe white go out there and drop 42 points against the Hawks. Hawks don't play no damn defense. And so we'll, we'll, we'll see what happens there.

8 5 5 2 1 2 42 27 8 5 5 2 1 2 42 27. Yeah, just waiting to get this matchup done, Chicago. And there's, there's no meat here. Like Jimmy Butler is not playing.

We probably won't see him for a long time. Hickey, this was a, this is a throwaway game. Whoever wins this has to take on the Celtics. Why I get it. You got to have somebody that's like fresh meat, but this is a waste of time.

Yeah, this is, I think they're playing tournament has been an overall success. But this is one of those games where, yeah, we could have done without it and we could have just done with you're the eight seed. Let's just skip the pomp and circumstance and get right down to a beat down. Yeah.

I'm at this point for the Miami heat. I'm more interested to see what ridiculous look Jimmy Butler is going to have by the time we get to what is it going to be October? Is he going to have dreads?

Is he going to be emo? Like what else is there for him to do? It's a good question. Go balls. Maybe do you just shave it off completely? Oh man. Wow. Wow.

I don't think I've ever seen him ball. I mean, he's had his hair cut real low when he first came is he had a, he's had a low cut. Yeah, but you can, you can straighten your hair. He's done that. Yeah.

Yeah. You can straighten it. You can put extensions in it with like them locks that he put in his hair.

He's done that. But once you go bald, it's just. And your hair will grow back.

He's got a good, good head of hair on him. I mean, it may take a little bit. Yeah. It takes, it takes, it takes months and months and months to, to the length that he has his hair.

It takes months. Then you know what? He's gotta be more creative then. I don't know.

What else is there to do? What about a dye job? What color? Like blonde? Blond. Oh my God. Maybe, you know, Miami heat red.

I don't know exactly what accent they are, but maybe like the heat red. Why doesn't he just call up Dennis Rodman and just try to figure out what he should color his hair? That may, he may get some advice there.

Oh, he'll get some advice for sure on that. And Dennis Rodman. I feel like I've seen Dennis Rodman somewhere recently, or maybe it's me. Has he been on any political shows? Is that what he does? Is he like helping out North Korea?

Well, that's, yeah, I feel right. I mean, I don't know if he's still doing that, but now is the time we need peace in the world. Maybe, maybe he could be the unlikely hero. And that's what he's doing. Dennis Rodman for, well, yeah, he can go broker of peace in the Middle East, right?

Maybe. We could send him to Iran. Can't hurt at this point. Yeah, Dennis, Dennis Rodman is here for the people. And I'm just glad that, A, he's alive.

I'm not joking. I'm glad that Dennis Rodman is alive. And then I'm also glad, and speaking of the Bulls, I'm glad that Dennis Rodman is, there's nothing crazy going on.

For all the wild ass stories that we hear about former athletes, come on now. We got Scottie Pippen, his son, and by the way, it looks like they're dating again. Scottie Pippen is dating, well, let me say that again. Scottie Pippen's ex-wife is dating Michael Jordan's son.

We got that. Michael Jordan done sold his stake in the Hornets. He's like, hey man, somebody else can come run this.

I don't got time for this crap. And then the guy who's not in the news, the man who's not in the tabloids, if you would have told me in the year 2000, between Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman, who would be the quietest? Who would be out of the news?

I'd be like, I wouldn't pick him. Like Michael Jordan be living on a farm somewhere. Maybe Scottie Pippen be back in Arkansas. But it's actually Dennis Rodman.

No troubles, no issues. God bless him for all the ridiculous podcasts that we currently have in the world of sports. Dennis Rodman is not sitting around podcasting every week. And if he is, I've missed it.

Thank you so much. Dennis Rodman got a lot of time on his hands and is staying out of trouble. He's been in more trouble as a player than he is in retirement. Good for him. Dennis Rodman found his purpose in life. I know his daughter plays for Team USA on the soccer field. Speaking of time, there's a football player.

He got a lot of time on his hands right now. His name is Zach Wilson. New York Jets are going through OTAs. New York Jets already have their quarterback who just says and does wild things. And Zach Wilson is not at New York Jets voluntary training camp. The New York Jets are trying to get him the hell up on out the team. They've signed Tyrod Taylor to be the backup to old wild man Aaron Rodgers. And so today, Joe Douglas talked about Zach Wilson and whether he's an asset that's going to be a backup unlikely or he's an asset that's going to be traded highly likely. Joe Douglas says this man has value.

Listen to this. I know you guys talk to Woody about Zach and I share my thoughts are in line with what Zach is an asset. And you at that same time, we're obviously open to trading Zach. There have been discussions. Nothing's really changed since we talked down in Florida.

But we're open to trading him. There's just no news to report on that. With his status, Joe, did you tell him that he doesn't have to come here for the spring program? I think it's each player's choice whether they want to be here for phase one.

And these are all voluntary. You know, there's there's more there's quite a few players that haven't come for the first week. So look, that that's a decision for Zach to make if he wants to be here. Why does he sound afraid to say all of this? Zach is an asset. We're trying to trade Zach like it ain't no secret.

Why are you trying to hide and be quiet about this? It's just a matter of the fact that ain't nobody wants Zach. He can't come out and say that, but nobody wants the man. They're going to have to trade him for pennies on the dollar by the time we get to the NFL draft next Thursday for the quarterbacks that are going to be available in the draft at the top of the draft. Like who wants Zach Wilson?

Maybe the New York Jets won't have an opportunity to trade the guy until they actually get into training camp. Zach Wilson is like the couch that you leave outside your house. He's like the cabinet that you leave outside the house before the garbage men come to pick it up overnight. And then you wake up in the morning and the garbage man didn't take the cabinet. None of your next door neighbors or some idiot driving by didn't pick up the cabinet. And now you're just left with a piece of junk. You got to wait for some desperate person to come through and pick it up.

That guy who picks up cabinets and somehow some way is able to drive down the block or excuse me, ride down the block with a cabinet on his bicycle. Zach Wilson is nothing but unwanted junk and the Jets can't get rid of him. Unfortunately, they can't say that, but I can't.

I don't care what Zach Wilson thinks and I like the Jets and they like me, but I don't care what they think either now anyway. Hey, it's the JR sport re-show here on the infinity sports network eight five five two one two forty two twenty seven. This next guy that we're going to talk about this next team.

Well, they might be in a junky situation. We're going to talk about the Bucks. Giannis was going on with his leg, his calf.

We know he ain't junk, but his body may not be able to hold up through a first round series. The Bucks are getting ready to take on the Pacers. We'll talk about Giannis. We'll get into Lillard. We'll think about the roster construction. Will the Pacers run them up and down the court and out of the postseason and another disappointment? And how long is it going to take before Doc Rivers throws somebody under the bus? We'll talk about it on the other side with Jim Ozarsky, who covers the Bucks for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

It's the JR sport re-show here on the infinity sports network. We really need new phones. T-Mobile will cover the cost of four amazing new iPhone 15s. And each line is only twenty five dollars a month.

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Download it today. You are listening to the J.R. Sport Brief, the J.R. Sport Brief show here with you on the Infinity Sports Network NBA playoff action.

Well, we got to wait a day, get through this playing stuff and then we get to the real games. Well, one of the real games by a defending champion that people are going to pay real close attention to because the season has been a little bit of a disappointment. It's the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks are going to take on the Pacers this Sunday evening. It appears that there is likely to be or no Giannis Atetokounmpo. Damian Lillard looks like he is likely a go.

And Doc Rivers, is this what he signed up for? To talk about the Bucks in front of their matchup against the Indiana Pacers, we're being joined by Jim Ozarsky, who covers the Bucks for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Jim, how are you? I'm good. Thanks for having me.

Well, thank you for taking the time to hop on. I guess the first question, what's the current status of Giannis Atetokounmpo? Yeah, it was interesting. So today's practice, Doc Rivers says Giannis you know, participated in walkthrough and I think that's exactly what that is, right? Stand around on the court, kind of be, you know, in position where, you know, as you kind of skeleton around coverages, offensive stuff, et cetera, but nothing live.

He hasn't done anything live like that. And so it was interesting, JR, because earlier in the week, Bucks President Peter Feig went on a local radio show and said, you know, Giannis is out for sure for game one. And Doc today was like, well, I don't know, you know, like, we hope, you know, maybe. And if we have to throw him out there, we will.

So I don't know. I mean, it feels unlikely, JR, that he's going to be good to go. It's less than two weeks since he injured that calf muscle on April 9th. But I would say just the fact that he's in a position to be out on the court moving around, you know, as opposed to, you know, in a boot, you know, in rehab all the time, you know, take that for what it's worth. But I think it'll be a little bit before we actually see Giannis, you know, play in this playoff. Well, Jim, having said that, and you talk about what we heard from Feigin early in the week and what we heard from Doc Rivers today, do you think Doc Rivers was just participating in a little bit of public gamesmanship for the Pacers?

You know, I feel like there's a little bit of that, you know. Look, I covered this team in the championship season when it looked like Giannis totally wrecked his knee in game five of, or game four, excuse me, of the Easter conference finals. And then six days later, you know, he's playing game one of the finals and we know what happened there. And I've seen, yeah, I've been around him enough, JR, on a daily basis to see him play through stuff that regular basketball players can't play through.

So it's a weird thing. Like, there always has to be a little bit of Superman attached to Giannis when it comes to injury recovery. But that said, it's still less than two weeks. It's a pretty severe cap strain. Daniel Lillard suffered this exact cap strain a year ago and said it hurt like heck.

He used an expletive. And it took him 15 days to come back. And so we're still less than two weeks, JR. I do feel maybe a little bit of gamesmanship, but it's Giannis. You have to allow him that because, if anything, over these years, he's proved to be like Wolverine sometimes.

Yeah, and built with adamantium. Jim Ozarsky is here with us from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. You talk about Damian Lillard, underwhelming this past season.

How have the two of them meshed and what's been the issue? Yeah, I mean, it hasn't been great, that's for sure. At times, it's been very good. And look, JR, they made a coaching change for a reason after 43 games. And so it's an admission by the organization that Adrian Griffin wasn't the right hire. And Damian was pretty candid about this after the change to Doc Rivers.

Jerry says, hey, our two-man game, meaning me and Giannis, is finally being addressed by Doc. And meaning they're actually running that stuff in practice. And it sounds pretty simple, but obviously what that means is, under Griffin, maybe it wasn't run as often or as much as they maybe needed it to be. And who knows, maybe there was some part of them, JR, that thought it would just be simple, that would just be easy to do.

And that's just not how it works. So I think some of their growth as a two-man game was stunted through those first 43 games. And then there's only been so much they could do after that with limited practices. And look, the big three of Giannis, Dame, and Chris Middleton have played six full games, six full games together under Doc Rivers. That's just, I think all of that speaks to why the Dame-Giannis thing has been so herky-jerky all year. Well, Jim, we know that Doc Rivers, since he's taken over, he has a record of 17 and 19. He's typically not someone to hold his tongue, may tick off his players here and there.

If this doesn't work out in the first round or at any point, what do you think is going to be the first issue that he addresses? Well, I think it might just be the last thing I said, which was, hey, January 29th, I had the big guys together for just six games. They played eight total. Giannis left one early. Middleton left one early. I think the fact that, you know, no training camp with Dame and Giannis to get those two right on game one. I think, and look, I understand the national perception of Doc. And if he were to say those things, let's say they lose in the first round, it's going to come across as an excuse or whatever.

But being here, J.R., that's a reason. When you dedicate $120 million or so to three players and they don't play together, it leaves the rest of your team exposed. I mean, let's be honest. The sixth to 10th men, if you're asking them to play two to five minutes, that's not great for you.

So yeah, you're right. Doc has been pretty honest. He has said, we haven't won enough.

They own that. There have been things that haven't looked great. And to his credit, he has owned that and said, we need to be better and find this out as coaches. I guess we'll see this week, J.R., if having the time off to prepare for Indiana helps them mitigate, you know, Dame's maybe hobbled, you know, his issues, as well as Giannis maybe missing some games. Jim Ozarski is here with us, covers the Bucks for the Journal Sentinel out in Milwaukee. Speaking of the Pacers, we know it's a young team and even to a certain degree, Halliburton hasn't looked the same since he's come back from his hammy injury. What do you expect this series to look like, especially not knowing what's going on with Giannis? Yeah, I mean, the Pacers are going to come in with all the confidence in the world. You know, beating the Bucks four out of five, even though it was back in the first three months of the season, even though the Bucks are a different team under Doc Rivers, you know, the Pacers are different too. You know, two players who really hurt the Bucks in those five games, Benedict Mather and his hurt buddy, Heald, is gone.

Bruce Brown was traded. Pascal Thiokam is interesting because he adds some things for the Pacers, but also slows things down a little bit, you know, but that said, I think the Pacers are brimming with confidence in every right they should. And Tyrese Halliburton was going to have a cheering section, Oshkosh, Wisconsin native. There are people going to root for him at Pfizer Forum. And so, yeah, I think for the Bucks, it's important to hold the home court, be it a split or two games, they need to win a game or two at Pfizer Forum to sort of hold the rope for Giannis down the line there, but also the Pacers. Look, I mean, Cambridge Fieldhouse is going to be rocking. They haven't had much playoff time in years down there.

They're really excited. It's a tough place to play, especially if Tyrese has got those guys running like they have, you know, most of the season. All things considered, Jim, when you look at what we've seen throughout the entire season, what's currently going on with the Bucks, do you think they're still championship contenders and could they still peak at the right moment in time? Just so interesting, Jayar, because I have to say yes, because as we talk, I don't know that Giannis isn't coming back, right?

They haven't done that. He's not ruled out for the season. So if the expectation is that when he's finally cleared to play, he's healthy, the last time we saw Giannis healthy in a playoff was 2022 against Boston and that Celtics team went to the finals and he dragged the Bucks to two elimination games. They were up 3-2, tied 3-3. Basketball references it up. It's one of the greatest single performances in a playoff series ever.

I mean, I think over 300 points, 100 rebounds, 50 assists. If that's the Giannis that's going to show up because he'll be healthy after this time off, Jayar, I mean, the Pacers have nothing for him, to be honest. And then you're talking about a second round series between the Knicks and 76ers that, what, six, seven games?

Really tough. So that's a second round opponent. And now you're thinking, okay, maybe you see Boston on the other end. And they did split their series this year for whatever it's worth.

Both teams held serve on home court. Yeah. And I think once you get to a conference final, that's, I mean, you're talking about, right, the best of the best.

So yeah, Jayar, I do think there is that path for as raggedy as it's looked at times. That's the path, is the Bucks keep this a series and then Giannis comes in healthy to close out this first one and really maybe catch some momentum going forward. Hey, Jim, what are some issues?

Well, not issues. I mean, win, lose, draw. What are the Bucks going to have to do in the offseason? When it comes down to the roster, what are some points of concern and thought?

Well, look, I think it does matter the end result, Jayar. Let's not kid ourselves here. I mean, this is what the third highest payroll in basketball in a mid-market for several seasons now, right? They swung bid again on Damian Lillard, no draft capital date till 2031. They're spending hundreds of millions of dollars. They're paying three coaches right now. So I would think if this flames out before a conference final, I think ownership has every right to examine how this was built, right? What's the front office been doing? Were these the right decisions?

Was this the right internal scouting? Now, that said, again, we'll go back to six games together with your head coach. So I don't think this is some sort of, well, it didn't work this year.

Let's just do something else. I don't think that's the case. I don't think that's the case. He's under contract for another handful of years. It runs concurrent with Damian Lillard. The core is aging, but it is under contract. Yes, it looked bad, Jayar, but this team was 30-13. They finished for 49 wins. If those guys are healthier, we talk about a 52-53 win team here, and maybe the mood's different, right? So it's all about, I think, the end result for sure. But as a high salary, high dollar team, second apron team, all that boring stuff, it's about the edges and who are your minimums, who wants to come play with these guys, that kind of thing. And what does Doc Rivers do after a full summer and a full camp? I mean, that's going to be a big part of this organization going forward. Well, Jim, I see the answer. He's on the bench.

The Nasus is going to be most improved next year, a sixth man. It's okay. I will say this.

Look, I will say this. He is beloved in that locker room, and I get it. He's a good vibes guy, but sometimes that is needed. Great podcast, too, by the way, for the Nasus. Hey, Jim, you do amazing work yourself. Where can people follow you and everything you got going on with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel?

Well, I appreciate that so much. We're at JSOnline.com. Easy way to find all of our stuff about the Milwaukee Bucks, about this playoff run. Damian Lillard and Giannis Anacubo injury updates. It's like every day. It's like football season, JR. It's like, you know, questionable soft tissue. Who's doing what?

Yeah, JSOnline.com. Now, and final question here, now that you say that, now I told a lie. Is there not concern? Yes, Giannis is Superman. Is there not concern that this injury could turn into a more severe injury?

I mean, I think initially there's always a concern. I mean, right? They do the Achilles test in the building that night. His Achilles was intact. A very specific calf strength. Look, he did have left hamstring issues. He had left Achilles tendonitis. This is a left calf strength.

Obviously, there's a pattern there, right, JR? So, I think for sure there is a broader concern, right? You know, big muscles, soft tissue, ligaments, etc. Which is why I think, you know, he's got to feel nothing in there. You know, meaning feeling great to really be cleared.

And for them to feel, the imaging must show some lack of inflammation type of thing. So, I think they are going to be very careful with this because, look, if they get to game five, it's over two weeks. If it goes beyond, you're getting into that three-week period. And then you can play, right?

And you're not risking maybe being done for the entire run as long as the rest of the guys can kind of do what they're supposed to do. All right, we're going to find out soon enough that game one is on Sunday. Hey, Jim, safe travels. We'll catch you on down the line and see what happens with these butts, okay?

All right, sounds good. Thanks for having me. That Jim Ozarski covers the butts for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Yeah, everybody wants to know what's going to happen with Giannis. How is Giannis going to mesh with Damian Lillard? I mean, this was a massive investment and a switch-up to move on from Drew Holliday and bring in Damian Lillard.

I mean, you lose someone who's now going to be on the Olympic team. Drew Holliday is participating on Team USA basketball, selected as one of the 12, just because of what he brings to a team. Can knock down shots, can get to the hole, plays defense. And yes, he's not Damian Lillard.

He's not a top 75 all-time player, but he certainly has the intangibles that we've seen for a championship squad. And I just don't know if the Milwaukee Bucks, they would really have to turn it on and turn it up in a way that we haven't seen consistently all year. If they want to compete for a championship, they're going to be underdogs.

Even if they took on the Boston Celtics, they're going to be underdogs. I need you to think O'Reilly Auto Parts for all of your car care needs. Get guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts.

855-212-4227 is the number. It's the JR Sport Reshow here on the Infinity Sports Network. We're going to take a break. When we come back, we're going to talk about another team. They've been eliminated, but they're trying to hang on to compete for future championships. We're going to get into Jayden Daniels and the Washington commanders at the top of the hour.

You're listening to the JR Sport Brief, the JR Sport Reshow on the Infinity Sports Network. Thank you to Jim Ozarski for joining us in the last break. Took a look at the Milwaukee Bucks. No Giannis at the Kumpo. Well, we don't think.

You know what? We don't know if it's going to be a Giannis onto the Kumpo against the Indiana Pacers this upcoming Sunday night. We have no idea. Based on that fact, it's tough to draw a conclusion as to what's going to happen with this series with Giannis out. And we don't even know even if Giannis plays. So what degree is he going to be efficient? Is he going to be effective?

We have no idea. This is a massive wildcard. I know last hour we talked about the Los Angeles Clippers as they get ready to take on the Dallas Mavericks. But really, Kawhi Leonard out. Kawhi, I really, you know, he got no hope in Kawhi. At least the Mavericks have been in the playoffs. They've been through this situation with Tyrese Halliburton. This is this is brand new territory for him, especially given his current standing in the NBA. This is also a man who just made a Team USA Olympics basketball roster. So there are some expectations for him to make some noise here for the Pacers.

Hickey, this is a tough one to judge. What are your initial thoughts on this matchup between the Bucks and the Pacers? I like the Pacers a lot in this one, actually, because, I mean, number one, like you just said, Giannis's health at this, like I'm going to go with the perspective of he's not going to play the series at all, at all.

Wow. And if he does, I'm questioning his, you know, how limited he's going to be. I mean, a calf injury, it's pretty impactful injury. And like you said, there is I know Jim was saying that there's, you know, the ACL or the Achilles is intact.

There is always in the back of your brain, though, that fear. I do think if you're the Bucks, maybe be a little bit more careful. So even if he does play later on the series, I still am not so that he'll be, you know, 2022 Giannis, like we saw in previous post-seasons. And then this is a bad matchup for the Bucks. You know, the Pacers treat it like a NASCAR race, up and down the floor, nonstop, pedal to the metal. Their defense, which rightfully so has been much maligned, has been a lot better since the All-Star break. And it's like with the lack of chemistry with with Damon, Giannis, Doc and the playoffs.

It's one of those things, I guess, a long way to say this Bucks team has been scuffling all year long. It's not as simple as, oh, the playoffs here, let's flip the switch. That isn't happening.

Yeah, not advantageous. That's what your to your point. Yeah, they're going to try to get up and down that court with reckless, no regard.

They're just going to go up and down and up and down. And as Jim pointed out, you think about Giannis and the injuries. You don't got to be a doctor to go, hey, well, left ankle hurts. Well, now your left knee hurts and now left quad hurts and now the calf hurt.

And then so what do you do? And then you blow out your right leg because you're trying to overcompensate. It's just just you don't know because everybody's body is different. We certainly see Giannis instead of Kumpo recover fast from injuries. I mean, I could think about Patrick Mahomes in the NFL. I mean, a few seasons ago, look like he hyperextended his knee.

He might take some time. The next thing you know, he was right back out there. Some players and I wish they were more, especially given the rash of injuries that we always see in sports. Some players bounce back faster. Some players are more durable than others.

I mean, please tell me you got a guy like Mikel Bridges, who plays for the Brooklyn Nets. He's basically an Iron Man here in the NBA. He's wiry. He's thin. He's athletic. He's going up and down the court. How come he can stay healthy? But someone like, I don't know, Kawhi Leonard can't. And given the different age ranges, why is LeBron James here still playing at this high level, even though he has to sit down a couple of games here and there?

So, yeah, I'd go with Hickey. If Giannis is going to be out for an extended amount of time, I'd give it to the Pacers. If Giannis is going to be out there and if he can be effective, I'd go ahead and give this to the Bucs. It's very, very, very difficult to think about what's going to happen when these guys are hurt. That's the wild card.

And typically, that's how a lot of these games in these series, it's what they ball down to. 855-212-4227. It's 855-212-4227. Johnny D. He's here from Chicago. Hey, Johnny, got to go quick. You're on the Infinity Sports Network. What's up? Hey, Jay. Thanks for having me on. My favorite national broadcaster there is.

Better than Rome and all the other guys. Hey, I had three quick things. I wanted to give a shout out to Bill Tobin who passed today at age 83. He's the guy that built the 85 Bears between scouting director and eventually he was the GM. And he's the guy that drafted Jim Harbaugh for the Colts.

So it's a quick shout out to him. And then the Chicago Sky. I think they won the draft, other than the obvious. I think the Sky won the draft with Camila Cardoso, Angel Reese, and Breanna Maxwell. They got Breanna Maxwell as the second best shooting guard in college.

Of course, you don't compare to you know who. So I got the Sky. They're actually planning to play when the Liberty comes to town. And the United Center. Yes. Yeah.

They're trying to get the United Center for the Fever games. So that's pretty cool. Well, let me ask you this, Johnny.

And good point. I got to get ready to hit the break. Yes.

Rest in peace to Bill Tobin. Thank you for referring to that. We were going to do that later in the show. And here's my last question.

I guess my only question to you before we hit the break. Did you go see the Chicago Sky last year? Did you buy a ticket? I did not.

I did not. You're going to go this year? I was working.

This year I am because I just retired. Oh, OK. I'm still shoulder. I'm still recovering from this darn shoulder surgery.

OK, well, good luck. Can I get a quick retraction from last week about that Lonzo Ball comment I made? I called him garbage by mistake.

Oh, yeah. Well, I wanted to say what I what I should have said is what's the best ability an athlete can have, whether it's a javelin, availability. That's what I should have said about Lonzo Ball. It's the Lakers drafted them, you know, number two overall in the country. And after knee, shoulder, ankle, two years later, they got rid of them.

Well, we just did the same thing. We just talked about a crap ton of players that can't stay healthy to save their lives. So, hey, Johnny, healthy health ain't there for everybody, especially as a professional athlete.

Hey, feel better with the shoulder. And thank you so much for calling from Chicago. Thank you so much, Johnny.

I appreciate that. Hey, I didn't realize that was the guy. He called him garbage.

I'm like, the man can't play basketball. Give him a break. And J.R.'s wisdom taught Johnny some nice knowledge. Now he's a little bit more wiser and kinder. And you've changed Johnny a little bit.

Look at you. I changed Johnny. I'm a I'm a wear shirt like that. I changed Johnny. I don't know if that's the appropriate conversation starter. I changed. You know what? I'm not going to get a shirt that says that probably. Yeah, I think I'd get the wrong conversation started. Anyway, it's the J.R. Sportbreeze show here with you on the Infinity Sports Network.

I did not change Johnny. But what I will do is come back on the other side of the break and I'm going to talk to you about a quarterback. Maybe he's changing his mind about where he wants to play next season. Oh, yeah, that's right. He hasn't even played an NFL game. I'm going to tell you about the Washington commanders in their interviews with multiple quarterbacks.

Don't move. The J.R. Sportbreeze show, the Infinity Sports Network.