Frank Isola: Suns Blamed Problems On Frank Vogel

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Exclusions apply. See ebaymotors.com. Sirius XM NBA radio host, Frank Isola. From the new HBO comedy special, Someday You'll Die. Comedian, Nikki Glaser. From FX's The Veil. Actor, Josh Charles. And now, it's Rich Eisen.

That's correct. Can confirm. And there I am on the Roku channel. Hey, everybody. Welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show here on this Friday. Getting set for Mother's Day weekend, everybody. As Ralph Kiner of the New York Metropolitan's broadcast team once said on Mother's Day, so to all you mothers out there, happy birthday. That's what he said. So, we're just getting it in early here.

And what better way to celebrate Mother's Day weekend than to have the mother of all roasters from this past weekend. Nikki Glaser in studio. Then, Josh Charles, one of our favorites, will be in studio in hour number three.

That's how we're rolling Frank Isola's first up. And then, there's you at 844-204-RICH. The number to dial if you're listening to us on this terrestrial radio affiliate station smart enough to have us. We say hello to you on Sirius XM Odyssey, the Roku channel. And our podcast listeners, you can't call in, but you can always contribute by just listening and hitting us with the subscribe button. Same thing on all of our social feeds. At Rich Eisen Show on Twitter and Instagram and Facebook and TikTok is the Rich Eisen Show.

I don't know why, but it is. That's the way we're rolling. Good to see you over there. Christopher Brockman, how are you, brother? I'm great, Rich. What's up, man? Hey, Jason Feller is here. What's up?

Because if Del Tufo is here, then Fox's UFO coverage should fall completely to S. So, good to see you over there. How are you? I'm great. How are you? I'm great. TJ, the candle's lit. Smells great.

Ah, good to know. How you doing? I'm better for seeing you here and all of us out there watching this program. We greatly appreciate it. We're listening to it. Listen, all of us here in this sports talk world, this is our 10th year of being on the air.

We're celebrating a 10-year anniversary this fall. And I fell into this trap because, again, as you know, been host of NFL Network since jump. And when the NBA playoffs hit, many of us in the media, certainly in this position, in this chair or chairs like it, treat the NBA playoffs like it's the NFL, where one team gets blown out. Series is over.

Series is over and done with. The Timberwolves take a 2-0 lead on the Nuggets and the Thunder take care of business against Dallas. Luca looks cooked, according to one of our colleagues out there in the media. And Luca's banged up and it looks like it's going to be Thunder versus Timberwolves, the youth being served out west, right?

Yep. And then Luca takes the court last night in the first quarter and scores 16 of his 29 in the first quarter. And then you've got the Boston Celtics just bombarding the Cleveland Cavaliers out of TD Garden in game one from three points, from three-point land 18 to 46 from three.

Derek White's turning into Steph Curry in front of our very eyes. Celtics win by 25. That series is over. And then game two hits and Donovan Mitchell scores 16 of his 29 in the third quarter. And they bombard the Celtics, who shoot eight of 35 from three.

Yikes. And the team that lost by 25 in the first game wins by 24 in the second game. And both series are now tied at one apiece. And maybe, just maybe, we should all kind of just inhale and then exhale when it comes to these NBA playoffs because we have no earthly idea. Now tonight, there's a general sense that two things are definitely going to happen tonight.

One thing is the Timberwolves are going to show the Denver Nuggets the home court advantage and put their stamp right on this series and tell the defending NBA champs, you're essentially done. In front of their home crowd, Rudy Gobert has got a new Enfant Fils, which is, I believe, French for baby boy. Hey man, I took it in high school.

My dad was a French teacher. You see what I'm saying? Did I say that right?

Do you want to Google translate that for me? I don't even know what that means. Thank you.

Hey, great new drop from Jerry. Well done. I like that. I know. I know that now.

Thank you very much. So, everybody thinks that the Timberwolves are going to take care of business, right? I think. That's the general sense of things. And here's the other general sense of things is tonight with Jalen Brunson hobbling into Indiana and Oji Ananobi, as we expected when he pulls up lane with a hamstring injury in the third quarter in game two, he ain't going to be there to use the magic.

And the Knicks are going to have a major problem on their hands, certainly because Rick Carlisle let it be known to the officials that even though the Knicks had three fewer fouls called than the Pacers in game two, that Indiana is a small market state, New York has got King Kong, and that's the end of it. Small market teams don't get any love at all, which is, you know. Makes sense. Does it?

Because I don't know. New York. I wish that big market status would have gotten them a championship in, say, the last 51 years of my life.

I'm 54. It's not called Midwest bias. It's called the East Coast bias.

Oh, but I didn't know there was a bias because then New York, which is the number one media market in the United States, there's no bigger media market than the New York market. I could give you the entire lyrics to the Sinatra, New York, New York thing. King of the Hill, top of the heap, A number one.

I've heard you do that. And all we've had is a Little Town Blues. I can give you the Jay Z, Rihanna version if you want.

I'm sure we could do all of it, sure. The Nas version. At any rate, because when a coach says small market teams can't get a good shake against big market teams, that is essentially telling people what Chris Brockman tweeted out in plain English on Twitter the other night is that, hey, the league not even hiding that they want Nick Celtics, which is also fascinating to me. Let me ask you a question, TJ Jefferson.

Okay, Rick. What's the bigger ziggy you can put on your team? Taking a photograph with the Larry O'Brien trophy in the studio or essentially saying we're advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals. Who's Cleveland? Because it's fixed.

But that's not what I said. The league wants Nick's Celtics. So the Celtics are going to advance, right? To the Eastern Conference Finals. You even put Nick slash Celtics, meaning the Celtics are going to obviously host it. So you did the right thing of putting the away team first. What's the bigger ziggy? Because this one for me would be the cooler that causes your team as soon as you tweet this to go minus 49.

Up by 25, down by 24. Am I wrong? I don't think you are in this case. Okay. The league has no say enough you play like a jerk, which is what we did yesterday.

So I'm trying to just keep up with the tinfoil stuff. So when you go out and say, not only do we not get a fair shake in officiating because we're just from small little Indianapolis and New York, come on, has got everything. Or as Charles would say, the best street meat in town. And that's the only thing that's good about New York.

I don't know where that's coming from. But anyway, be that as it may, when you say that, and then you actually name check an official that blows a call, league takes notice. And shortly before we went on the air at noon Indianapolis time, Rick Carlisle got hit by the league for $35,000. By the way, they win tonight, worth every penny.

No, and I know that. If they've got 20 free throw edge tonight, then worth it. $35,000. Or to use the Tom Brady phrase to also go ahead and continue with you with your tinfoil hat, the officials would say, why don't you just cut out the middleman and give us the $35,000? We'll give you the call that you want. Who knows? Thus admitting that they're on the take, right? Because Brady admitted that he did deflate gate. I mean, got it.

Listen, this world we live in is so off the friggin rails. We'll see what happens tonight. But of the two, Timberwolves blow out, just put their stamp on the nuggets or the Pacers get the whistles that they're looking for in front of their home crowd tonight. Since this is a what's more likely Friday.

Are you ruining his bit? I'll go with the whistles. The whistles are happening tonight people. I will go with the whistles. The whistles are happening.

They might as well have too short ref in this game tonight. I'll go with the, although the league would probably tell the officials, keep it fair, because we can't have this narrative that the coach of the Pacers has put out there in any way, shape or form legitimized. It's been a narrative for 40 years in the NBA.

Well, longer than that. I mean, as soon as he did this, you looked at me and said, that's a Pat Riley move. And we're talking about Pat from the Showtime Lakers, the New York Knicks.

I have a whistle in my pocket, by the way, just randomly. You never know. By the way, that's like what Belichick had on the roast.

Speaking of which, Nikki Glaser's in studio hour too. I do want to, before we take our first break and Frank Isola is going to join us, I'd like you as the resident Celtic fan to help me interpret this answer from Jason Tatum last night. I'm ready. This guy. Because Tatum had this to say after, again, losing game two by 24 after winning game one by 25. And essentially Cleveland's got the home court advantage now, folks, in this series. Donovan Mitchell, by the way, a terrific game last night, as I mentioned, 29. Mobley is doing some mad work too.

His fifth double-double of the playoffs, third in a row for Eric Mobley. This is what Jason Tatum had to say after the game last night about what the Celtics, what would you say here? I think there's been a narrative all season that they're a super team.

Okay. Certainly with 60 wins, right? I mean, that's what you get when you win 60 basketball games.

Hit it. I mean, that's the narrative that you might see on TV. The idea that we have a super team, we didn't have the coach of the year. We didn't have the MVP.

We only had two all-stars. So say we're a super team, but we didn't get rewarded like we are. But we know we got a good team. We're not perfect. We played the right way more often than not. And we know we got to be better. Okay. Speaking of not perfect, it's Evan Mobley.

Did I say Eric? That's what Hoskin just got out of my ears. Interpret that for me.

What does that mean? Just seems like a bunch of excuses, man, for going eight of 35 from three, seven of 17 from the field for him, 41% as a team. What do we got? Only seven turnovers, but that was fine. But this is just a team that just does this. They're the best team in the NBA. They're historically great offensively and defensively and shooting the three-point ball. But for some reason or another, they can't win home playoff games.

What's the point of being the one seed if you're going to be 14 and 14 over your last 28 home playoff games? But what is he saying? Is he saying the narrative is that we're unbeatable and we're beatable? You know what I mean? I don't know.

I don't know. Just feels like, you know, we didn't get coach of the year. We don't have a top five MVP. They're disrespected. So why would you expect us to win every game by 20? It doesn't make any sense to me.

I don't like it. I want to see Tatum have a 40 point game and put this series to bed your home. This team is not as good as you. They are inferior a basketball team compared to you and what you've done all season.

Come out and show everyone and especially in front of the home crowd on national TV. You know, you're back to back first team, all NBA player. You want to be in the MVP conversation, but you're going seven for 17 and minus 22 in the game. Come on, man. We're waiting. I've been making excuses for Tatum for the last five years. I love this guy, but let's go, bro. Put your stamp on it because Anthony Edwards is taking all your shine and it's going to be his league instead of yours when it should be yours. Brunson on half of all these guys.

Exactly. Half a body puts in 29. He's five foot nothing, a hundred and nothing. And he is the king of the fourth. This guy scored 40 points every night out. King of the fourth. I like it. He is an inferior basketball talent.

Winter is coming. Tatum is six foot 10 and has every move in his bag. And like, he's just not as good as the other guys playing 48 and triple doubling his head off. Right. The big ragu is making shots in this guy from Duke. Come on, man.

You know, be the hero we want you to be, and we've built you up to be. Come on, man. He says they're not a super team though. You're not a super team, bro. You know, these were trades. These wasn't three players conspiring to join somewhere in free agency.

I think that's the point. Like a super team is something that's no, no, no, no, no, no, no. A super, a super team is, yes, is, is collecting all world.

Right. This super team is there. They are a super team, but they drafted well and drafted well and made moves.

Yeah. They're a super team. Like they play incredibly well together. They are very deep Celtics history.

Which means that they shouldn't lose a playoff game at home by 24 after winning by 25. Unless they're Fugazi. Are they Fugazi? No, no. The problem is, no, but that's, but just the toughest player that we've ever had on our, this collective team was the head coach who got himself fired. Yudoka you're talking about?

Yes. He's been, he was the toughest guy on this team. He's the only player that would sack up in a big moment. Well, you traded your other toughest guy to Memphis. We, we had maxed out with Marcus Smart, unfortunately. I would take Jeru Holiday over Marcus Smart and I love Marcus Smart. I love him too when he really tapped into the fans, but he did a lot.

He was the king of the, what are you doing? The turnovers. Just dumb shots, bad turnovers. Listen, just to bring it all full circle, we're treating this like it's the NFL. It's frustrating. You know what I mean? The NBA playoffs are not like the NFL.

It literally happened a week and a half ago and then they blew out Miami in the last three games. Exactly. So we'll see what happens.

But one thing is, I want to calm down. One thing we definitely know for sure. One thing we definitely know for sure in tonight in Indianapolis is the Pacers are going to get a ton more calls. And then on top of it, somebody, somebody from the Knicks is going to wind up getting a hangnail and, and then get wind up on crutches because of it. And they're going to turn to John Starks and say, how many minutes can you give us? So I hope he made the flight. It's very possible. Cause that's what's happening with the Knicks these days.

And they might win anyway. Fantastic. That's a segment. Fantastic.

Frank Isolo will be joining us next here on The Rich Eisen Show, the Sirius XM NBA radio host and frequent contributor to many of the split screen conversation shows on ESPN next on The Rich Eisen Show. . Afford Anything talks about how to avoid common pitfalls, how to refine your mental models and how to think about how to think. Paula, while certainly you can mess up on a million dollars a year, it is far less likely than it is on $30,000 a year. I would meet wonderful people that were struggling with a budget that was super tight.

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Just search B L E A V on YouTube or wherever you listen. So many things go viral in an NBA night, NBA playoff night. No question about that, but in terms of the most viral moment of last night, Luca's press conference turned out to be the hub of activity.

Wow. Just our energy. I think we shared the ball really well. We were knocking down shots.

We were open shots, so just our sharing the ball and our energy was great. What do you think? Okay. Okay. Okay. Moving on.

That's not life. Well, it sounded like life being conceived. What it sounded like, or at least attempted to bring. And then Luca, you know, it's just like, what's going on? And then he kind of realized something is up a foot potentially. Something's up for sure. Saying what the hell is going on? Disconnect the Bluetooth. It's really simple.

Just do it right beforehand. Who is watching such things during the press conference? I see.

I thought it was a teammate just like making those noises behind them in the background. Chris thinks it's... I don't know. Where was the step?

Hold on a minute. I don't know, man. I'll use it because, you know, where did they place the step and repeat that he's sitting in front of? Where are they? Because usually it's in a press room. Usually. Yeah. But they're... Where are they? They're on the road. Oklahoma City.

You know, maybe outside of the locker room. Okay. Well, it does appear that everybody in that room got the wi-fi passcode back on the Rich Eisen Show, sitting at the Rich Eisen Show desk furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you.

Call clickgrainger.com or just stop by. You think they had a Grainger desk there? Our friend from Sirius XM NBA Radio, also a frequent contributor to shows like PTI and so many more on ESPN. Our friend, Frank Isola, back on the program. How you doing, Frank? Good.

Let me just make sure all the necessary windows are closed on the phone. Mute. If only that's the way that happens. Stuff happened in Luca's press conference. I could get caught doing that too.

I could get caught doing that too, so I better be careful. How are you doing? I'm just paying rent in Luca's world, is what I'm doing right now. So let's just jump right into a couple of headlines that have occurred in the last 24 hours outside of the world of the playoffs. Frank Vogel being bounced in Phoenix. What is Matt Ishbia up to, man? What's going on with the owner of the Phoenix Suns?

Yeah, the easiest thing to do is to say, or I should say the hardest thing to do is to say, you know what? We didn't really put this roster together the right way. We had Kevin Durant already with Devin Booker. Did we really need to go out and get Bradley Beal? Should we have tried to just fill out the roster with really good role players that could play both sides? No, they didn't do that.

They decided, you know what? We'll just blame it on the coach. So Mike Boonholzer is a terrific coach who they're going to bring in, but they still have a lot of problems with that roster. You look at Kevin Durant now, I think he's 6 and 15 in his last 21 playoff games. Kevin Durant is still a great player, whether he's a superstar player that can carry you.

I think the evidence now suggests that isn't true. So they got to do something with that roster more so than the coach. Frank Vogel was getting 31 million bucks to walk away, but I think it was a mistake with what they did with the roster. It's easy to blame it on Frank Vogel. Well, I mean, you bring in Frank Vogel, no matter how much of a pain in the you-know-what DeAndre Ayton can be, don't you hold on to him? I mean, isn't that the idea when you bring in somebody like Vogel, Frank? I agree, and I also think too, you know, you look in the NBA with Steph now gone, you know, out of the playoffs, LeBron, Anthony Davis, Giannis, Damian Lillard, Kevin Durant as well. It's all these younger guys. It still is a young man's sport.

It's certainly a unique experience. But with a guy like Bradley Beal, that's who they went all in on. And by the way, he has a no trade clause as well. You know, he's been hurt a lot. He really hasn't had a lot of success from a team standpoint in Washington. To me, the move never made sense. This idea of just going out now, you're trying to like build a fantasy team.

It doesn't work like that. Look at what Minnesota has done. Look at what Boston did a few years ago when Brad Stevens made a move to go get Derek White. Now, the name's not going to blow you away, and now you look at what Derek White does. He shoots threes, he defends. That was a huge pickup. Derek White for Boston is a lot better than Bradley Beal for Phoenix.

Frank Isola here on the Rich Eisen Show. Also, just before we went on the air, $35,000 fine for Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle. This is straight out of the Riley Phil Jackson playbook, right? Where you get ejected when you know the game's over to make your point, and then make your point verbally, but calmly at the podium, get fined, but still affect the change in officiating that you're looking for. Do you think that's going to work?

Yeah, a couple of things. I think you're 100% right. It reminded me of kind of the 90s with Phil Jackson and Pat Riley, all the gamesmanship, the going back and forth. I think it was smart for Rick Carlisle to do it from this standpoint. He's not going to sit there at the podium and say, you know what, Miles Turner hasn't done enough. In fact, he's been kind of soft the first two games. And Tyrese Halliburton didn't do anything in game one.

So what does he do? He turns it into, we're not getting calls. And really it all goes back to the kickball violation that was incorrectly called. And then they were upset about the moving screen on Miles Turner in game one. Game two, the officiating wasn't bad at all. It's just that they allowed the Knicks to get back in the game. The Knicks made shots. So Rick Carlisle is sitting there and he's playing to his audience.

The whole idea of, they're never going to let these small market teams win. So I've been in Indiana for playoff games against the Knicks. The crowd there is incredible. He's going to have everybody fired up. He knows that they need this game. No one's ever come back from a 3-0 deficit before in the playoffs. So he's trying to get everything working in his favor. And the biggest thing is that he's going to be facing a depleted Nick team, but I think it was money well spent by Rick Carlisle.

Take the pressure off of his team a little bit, put it on the referees and get the fans involved ready for a Friday night in Indiana. Well, if Rick Carlisle was right, then speaking as a Knicks fan, Frank, what the hell happened in the finals against Houston in San Antonio, right? I mean, I'm doing the math.

I'm looking at the population centers and what San Antonio is in the market meter rating compared to New York. You know what I mean? Josh Hart even said that. We haven't won a chip in 51 years. What's he talking about? You know, I've been at playoff games in places like Portland and Utah, Indiana.

Sacramento, Sacramento with the bells. And it definitely is a thing where the fans of these teams think the league is out to get us. The league does not want us in the finals, but of course, look at a team like San Antonio or franchise like San Antonio, what they've been able to do.

Look at Minnesota this year, what they're doing. So Rick Carlisle knows it's not true. And I think he knew he was going to get fined. But again, I think he's just doing it to rile up his fan base because they need, yeah, I have no, I know the fans of Indiana going to show up and they're going to be into it. The big question is going to be, will his team rebound and what's Tyrese Halliburton going to do?

Frank Isola here on the Rich Ozzin Show. The Knicks are calling Brunson's injury a sore foot, which is what happens after I play tennis. You know what I mean?

That's what it's called. This doesn't seem like a sore foot. Like what is the general sense of what ails Brunson right now, Frank? And if, you know, last year against Miami, a lot of people didn't realize it, but he was playing with a really badly sprained ankle, but he kept playing. And his way of doing things, maybe this has something to do with growing up in an NBA household. And he certainly is going to, he's not going to need the money, but he could certainly be a coach one day.

He's never about making excuses. I have a funny feeling the injury is bad, not bad enough to keep him out from playing. He'll fight through it. Now, how much that impacts him this series. That's why you try to get these series over as quickly as you can.

And these is a quick turnaround. It's a day off, then they're going to have to play Sunday afternoon. That's why the idea, and I know it came up at the Shootaround today with the players about punting the game, which would be one way of, you know, giving Jalen Brunson a little bit more extra rest, but knowing his mentality, knowing Tom Thibodeau's mentality, they'll leave it up to Jalen. If Jalen Brunson feels like he can go, he'll be out there. If Jalen Brunson says, you know what, I don't think I'm up for it, they'll pull him out. I think they're going to leave it up to the player in this case. Punting the game, meaning, as you said, because they're in an every other day cadence right now, because Oji Onunobu is out. So, so I guess if we see Deuce McBride starting and Alec Burks get 40 minutes, then that's, that's the version of punting, is what you're saying.

Yeah, and, yeah, and Rich, you know, I keep referencing this game. In the 2001 Conference Finals, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, the series was tied at 1-1, and Allen Iverson was the MVP of the league that year, and he had taken a beating all year long, and he was hurting going into that Game 3. He did not play Game 3 on the road in the Eastern Conference Finals with the series tied 1-1. He ended up, he came back for Game 4, which tied the series at 2-2. Philadelphia ended up winning in Game 7, so it's not the craziest thing.

That's Larry Brown, old school coach like Tom Thibodeau. That's Allen Iverson, who was an MVP and as tough as any player you're going to find, and they felt, you know what, we got to give, we got to give him a blow here. It's just, I don't know if he'll survive throughout the playoffs, and it ended up working, and again, that was with the series tied at 1-1. The Knicks have a little wiggle room, but I get it.

You don't just feel like giving up games, because you know, this series could change pretty quickly. Frank Isola here on the Rich Iverson Show, and you, because I follow you at the Frank Isola on Twitter, you're in the midst of the conversation non-stop about the Tom Thibodeau minutes debate and how he just, you know, there's no load management with him, and he throws his guys out there, and Josh Hartz played 48 in four games in the playoffs already, and so on and so forth. Is it fair, though, to say that what we're seeing with Brunson and Ananobi and all the other stuff, is this potentially that coming home to roost, or the Knicks are now going to be excellently equipped for having a short-handed situation because they're used to playing so many minutes?

What's your two cents on that, Frank? All right, number one, their best player, I think, was 13th in the league in minutes. You know, behind guys like Kevin Durant was a history of injury problems.

You know, guys like that, and you know, look at the playoffs this year. Kawhi Leonard got hurt. Nobody's blaming Tai Lu for it. Luca Dacha seems to be struggling. Nobody's blaming Jason Kidd for it. So in the case of Josh Hartz, you know, if you go back especially to the Philadelphia series, and even in these first two games here, with all the minutes that are being played, which team looks like they're the freshest in the fourth quarter?

Which team looks like they have an extra bounce to their step? And I think the biggest issue that the Knicks have right now is that he's basically playing his backups. You know, because Julius Randle had the injury when, who was it, Jaime Jaquez, I think, took the charge, and he messed up his shoulder. Obviously, Mitchell Robinson's been dealing with injuries the past two years, and the OG Ananobi one hurts, but if you look at OG's career as well, if you go back to 2019, when he was on Toronto, he did not play in the finals because he was coming back from injury.

So he has a history there. So I'm not worried about guys like Josh Hartz, because he seems to be durable enough to do it. But the other thing is, they're kind of running out of options at this point. They could try some of the guys on the bench and see if it works, and maybe that's why you completely pump the game. Don't even play Josh Hartz tonight.

Don't even play Dante DiMincenzo. Make it like a tryout. See all these other guys that never play, and see maybe who can be, become the sixth, seventh, or eighth man down the road. But I'm not buying the minutes thing, because it happens, this, you know, there's a lot of players, you know, all over the NBA. Look at Jamal Murray right now. He's dealing with an injury as well, and he missed a lot of time this year.

So I don't necessarily think minutes contributed, contribute to guys necessarily always getting hurt. So Frank, where, what's your opinion on the, the, the name Michael Jordan being bandied about for Anthony Edwards as much as we're hearing right now? Well, you know, it's, so a couple of months ago he came to Brooklyn, Anthony Edwards did, and when I watch him play, and I said this on the radio show that Monday morning, I said, I'm not saying he's Michael Jordan, but his mannerisms and the way that he plays remind me. The little fadeaway jumper that he has, his movement going to the basket.

What you love about Anthony Edwards, and you could tell that his teammates love him, he always gives his teammates credit. He doesn't really like hearing that comparison, and you talk about minutes, the guy goes out and he plays like Michael Jordan did. He plays all the time, and he tries to play both ends of the court, and he also has a bit of a killer instinct, because right now that team is 6-0, and that's 6-0 with four road games, four road wins, I should say, Kevin, beating Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, and now Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and the defending champs. So he's got a little bit of that killer instinct for a young player. I think the comparison, when you look at him play the body movement, that, that definitely reminds me of Michael Jordan.

Yeah, because you, you also have to have many other things to be compared to be compared to Jordan. You have to have one of the best defensive games, period, that ever, not just in the game today, like ever. You also have to have that stone cold killer mentality, not just in the game today, just like ever, and you also have to hold, you know, your teammates, or not be afraid to hold them to account, and just seeing him sitting next to Karl Anthony Towns the other day, we had Karl on the show yesterday, and I even asked him like, how'd you take it? When he basically told Karl Anthony Towns in front of the whole media, stop f-ing fouling, you know, like you're, you're kind of screwing it up when you're not on the floor, and that is what reminded me of Jordan. You're 100% right, and I also think, you know, you mentioned the thing with Jordan holding teammates accountable. Jordan also put confidence in his teammates, and I thought about it when Jalen Brunson made that pass to Josh Hart in game six against Philadelphia, where in that moment the better decision was passing it to an open teammate. We've seen LeBron do that before he actually has gotten criticized for it, and Michael Jordan did a lot in his career. John Paxson was responsible for a big shot in the final. Steve Kerr, even on Michael Jordan's 55-point game at Madison Square Garden, he passed at the end when he was double and triple team, and Bill Wenington got a dunk out of it. So those are all the qualities that you need to be a great player. It's not just about shooting a fadeaway jumper, a contested three, with, you know, two guys on you.

It's about making the play. Good for Carl Anthony Towns. I'm happy for him. You know, my wife and kids got invited to his Sweet Sixteen birthday party, obviously, that was a while ago, and I was invited too, but I had a nickname that night.

How dumb am I? I should have gone to the party. I should have become his agent for crying out loud. He's a good kid. I like him when he calls in or zooms in.

It's just been fun when he's done it. The starting lineup on Sirius XM NBA channel, Monday through Friday, 7 to 10 a.m. Frank Isola here on the Rich Ozzenshow, a couple of minutes left here. So I know it's a simple thing to say, you got to make your shots. If you don't make your shots, you're not going to win. That's an easy thing to say about anybody in the NBA, but the Celtics in particular, it's just, if they don't make their threes, it seems like they're toast, you know, and then you sprinkle in the turnover problems that they seem to have every now and then in the playoffs, and it looks like we saw that last night in game two. What's your opinion of the Celtics right now, Frank? Yeah, I don't like the way that they play with always trying to make so many three-pointers.

To me, they always have a size advantage. You know, why not, you know, try to find a mismatch where you have it, whether it's Drew Holliday with Darius Garland trying to guard him or Jason Tatum. I'm not saying you have to do it every possession, but just stick those guys down in the post. Now Brian Scalabrini, who I do the show with, in the morning, he says they were trying to hunt for that, but he says it takes them too long to get into their offense. I thought they looked really soft last night, just like they looked soft in game two against Miami, and I think that's the one edge, if we ever saw a Knicks-Celtics series.

Now the Knicks, who knows how many players they would have available, but the Knicks are tough, both mentally and physically. I'm not so sure we've seen that yet from the Boston Celtics, and after the game, Jason Tatum comes out and says, you know, everyone thinks we're supposed to blow everyone out by 20, 30 points. No, we don't, but we're expecting to see a better performance and maybe play with a little bit of fight, and they certainly didn't have it last night. So it's the second series in a row where they dropped that home game, and what's that crazy stat? They lost 30 home playoff games over the last four years.

They're 15 and 15. You know, it's hard to think of them as a championship team if they're going to be 15 and 15 at home when it really counts. Yeah, I hear you. I just, you know, when Porzingis gets back in there, right, Frank? And we're assuming he's gonna soon, and I don't know, they just seem to be so talented, and we're kind of having a tongue-in-cheek fun here that if they do take on New York, it'll be the Ickerbockers, you know, because, you know, Brunson on half a leg, and Josh Harder with an IV bag, and the ghost of Alan Houston needing to come off the bench.

I don't know, man. I just... But, Rich, if you go back to 99, and Jalen's dad was on the bench, he was at the end of the bench, but he was on the bench, and Tom Thibodeau was an assistant coach with that Nick team in 99. Patrick got hurt. I think that was game two against Indiana in the conference final, so he was done for the rest of the playoffs. Then if you go back to that game six, Alan Houston, you know, that was the game where the Knicks clinched. Larry Johnson got hurt in the first half.

He was done, so the Knicks were missing former number one overall Patrick Ewing, former number one overall Larry Johnson. They were just going to Alan Houston the whole time. That's why I got to laugh a little bit with all the Reggie Miller, like, over-the-top stuff.

Reggie Miller could not stop Alan Houston. I know they don't bring that up when they talk about Reggie Miller, you know, dominating Madison Square Garden, or owning the Knicks, owning Madison Square Garden. They don't bring up game six in 99, I can tell you that. Well, they yada yada yada'd 99 in the broadcast the other night, and then just stuck on the other one, you know. I like that. Listen, I'm all for talking about iconic moments in Madison Square Garden, and it just feels like we're seeing it again, man.

It just does feel like it, right? I agree. That's why I'd like to see my boy Charles Oakley there. I know, you know, there's been like a nasty falling out, but we're seeing all these other Knicks sitting there, some of whom never even won a playoff game, much less a playoff series, and it's the 30th anniversary of the Knicks. I saw you mention that, so where are we on that?

You know, I know that's the third rail. I don't think it's good. I talk to Charles a lot. Charles, you know, Charles loves talking basketball, and he's excited about this team because he likes the way that they play, and I think you know this, Rich. Every time the Knicks have a good team, and back in 2013 they had one, and right away, the 90s Knicks, the 90s Knicks, and I know people are going to roll their eyes. What do you care about the 90s Knicks?

You guys never won anyway. That's what they'll say to the fans, but there was something about that team that resonated with New Yorkers, how hard they played, you know, diving for loose balls, and I think this team has a little bit to them. They don't get caught up in all the nonsense, you know, it's not a lot of the, it's just going out there, playing hard, and they clearly take their cues from their point guard, who's just a no-nonsense player, who plays for a no-nonsense coach, and it's all about winning, because ultimately that's all the fans really want, and that's what you're getting now in New York. Well, every time I hear people, oh the 90 Knicks didn't win anything, it's like the 90 Knicks, the 90s Knicks were like everybody else in the Jordan era. They were like, they were like Drexler, they were Charles Barkley, they were Karl Malone, and John Stockton, they were everybody else, name it. The Pacers, the Pistons, the bad boy Pistons, after the Bulls finally got past them, the Knicks were just like everybody else, where they could have been champions at another time, and unfortunately when Jordan finally did have to depart the scene, there is Hakeem Olajuwon saying, it's my time, I get it, I understand, but it was a time where after the doldrums of the, you know, 80s hit, and Bernard King was kind of the only bright spot outside of getting Ewing's envelope chosen out of the lottery machine, whether it was frozen or not. This made it feel like it's back, the feeling is back, and I kind of feel that way right now, and speaking as somebody that swore off the team because of Oakley, because of what happened to him, Brunson's pulled me back in, man.

He's totally pulled me back in, Frank, 100%. And he's got that DNA in him from those 90 Knicks, obviously from his father and from Tom Thibodeau, and you know, he kind of knows, he has an idea of what it could be like there and what's expected. I'm glad you brought up Michael Jordan, they should have hit, they should have had him on the telecast for the last game, because that's the guy that did own the Knicks, because the Knicks can never beat Michael Jordan. Reggie Miller, they were 3-3 against, and at Madison Square Garden, I love Reggie Miller, I'm not trying to kill Reggie Miller, but he was 6-12 in playoff games at Madison Square Garden, so let's slow it down. Or he was 6-12 in the last 10 seconds of that one game, you know what I mean?

That's the way it felt, that's the way it felt. Game 7 of 94, he also shot an airball with like 24 seconds left in the air. I love the guy. He's not Michael Jordan, put it down. I love the guy, but let me kill him.

No, I'm just kidding. Frank, thanks for the time, we'll do this again soon, thanks again. Thanks Rich, say hello to your boy Larry David for me.

I will do that, you got it, thank you. Frank Isola, everybody, right here. Frank's like, don't get it twisted about Reggie, okay? I love the guy, but. Shot an airball, I mean, come on.

He had that one game, sure, but. Yep, yep, yep. All right, we will take a break, 844-204-Rich, number to dial here on the Rich Eisen Show. Matt Eberfluss has spoken in Chicago. Oh, Caleb Williams has spoken as well? Caleb Williams has spoken as well? Caleb Williams, too, yeah. Caleb Williams has spoken.

Did Eberfluss name a starter? We'll talk about, I don't know. I don't know, we'll hang on to your hats.

I did not approve this, but you know, that's part of me delegating to you, our social media grand maester. You put out on Instagram a photograph, it says, Breaking Bears Trading for Russell Wilson. And what's today's date? What's today's date? It is April 1st, Rich.

And that is what? It is April Fool's Day. So, it's five minutes to air and my phone's on the desk and it's buzzing and I see it is, you know, it's Jeff Garland. Is the caller there? Is the caller there on the Rich?

Yeah, from Chicago. What's funny about it? Nothing's funny about it.

Nothing is funny about it. Our friend, Doug Robinson, texts me, the Capitol, Russell Wilson. He says, you know, Rich doesn't usually get the scoops.

Adam Chester should be on this. Well, that should have made me suspicious. But no, I have so much respect for the Rich Eisen Show that I know that they have connections that nobody else has.

That's true. Well, you know what, Rich? I'm not going to swear, but I got to tell you, your little social media boy, he's going to get his. TJ, do you have anything to say to Jeff Garland? Yeah. Happy April Fool's Day.

All right. Hey, TJ, you don't know what you've brought down on yourself. You don't even have a clue. You know the powers that I have, especially in practical jokes. I'm going to nail you so hard. You know what? I hope you enjoy your testicles right now because they're going to disappear. No, but I need them.

Oh, boy. Always lots of fun. YouTube.com slash Rich Eisen Show for our full almost 10 year long archive. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show game time tickets is the mobile app for you to buy tickets. Certainly you play off basketball tickets. Maybe you're in the Indianapolis area tonight.

Maybe you're in Minnesota or Minneapolis and you're thinking, you know what? I'd like to go to the game. You want to check out the prices, check out the views from your seat. You get the all in prices before you hit the button to purchase. You get the entirety of the cost of your ticket right up front. And the best thing about it is you can wait till tip off because the prices actually go down the closer it gets to tip off. The prices actually do that on game time. Take the guesswork out of buying basketball tickets with game time. Folks, download the game time app, create an account and use our code rich and you get $20 off your first purchase.

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Thank you. The Chicago Bears have their rookies in camp. You know what that means? They've got Caleb Williams. Guys, Caleb Williams is in Chicago, everybody.

He's in Chicago and we know he's a bear. Oh my God. Let's go. This is, this is official. He's now starting a process.

Is he starting though? That's my goodness. Oh my goodness gracious. Okay. Did somebody actually ask Matt Eberfluss?

Is he your starter? Did that actually happen? Oh my God. Oh my God.

Oh my God. I need to know. All right. Two things. We need to hear the answer. And two is Eberfluss still in that, you know, like with his, the hair he's got the, he's got the beard.

Is he like the tight beard? Okay. Who was he courtside with?

Wasn't he courtside? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That created a stir down the toll road on both sides up and down the toll road.

Okay. Here's Eberfluss on the very thorny, thorny subject of who his starting quarterback's going to be. You can really tell that he's comfortable with himself in his own skin and he is who he is and his personality starts, you know, in his light comes out from the inside. You can certainly feel that energy. He's a one plus one equals three guy, you know, so he's an enhancer. He's the guy that brings out the best in people.

And you can certainly feel that within five minutes of beat. Has he been told that he's the starter going to try and get you to have to have that conversation? No conversation.

He's the starter. Oh yeah. Now we know straight forward stuff. And I can tell the guys in my Bears group chat. We also need a split screen of Eberfluss, the day he was named the coach in Chicago and now.

Okay. Because he just looks, he's gotten, he's got the do, he's got like confidence. He's got elite quarterback here. He does kind of. You know, the tightening the beard look is somebody who's, I go beard because I'm out of options. I kind of like it. Susie likes it, which is great. Taylor don't like it. She does not.

She does not. Yeah. He's freshly clean shaved. When he first got this bears, honestly, he first got the job introduced photo, you know, it's like somebody just got here to Los Angeles, you know, with an, with an old, an old outfit, you know, and, and, and now, and now he comes, he's in here. He's like on his, this is not personally what he's, but it's like, he's on his third wife out here in Los Angeles. You know, he's got a new sports car. He got, he's got a cleaned up.

He got that newly divorced look. Is that what you're trying to say? I'm not saying that. No, no, no.

It's called the Tom Brady, you know, is that what it is? Are we roasting? That's second hour. Nicky Glaze is making her way to our studio right now.

He looks great right now. By the way. And I don't care. I told him that at our dinner in Indianapolis. I'm like, dude, you are really, I like the, I like the re I like the reload.

I like the, I like the look. He said it, he said, it's all his wife. His wife told him that he liked, she likes the beard.

She likes the whole thing. And he's like in and he's showing up like, yeah, look at me when he first showed up, you know, no Kelly Williams, no first show. Now he's got the brand new sports car.

Let's hear from the sports car. What are we, what is he at? What is he being asked about on his leadership? We need to, you know what we need to know about his leadership. We've got to know about his leadership because he's just a kid. Well, we know he can't, how's he going to lead this team?

How's he going to lead in the NFL? I'd like to know this. Okay. Would you? I would.

Cause here's his answer. Oh, to be a great leader, you got to learn how to follow first. So right now I'm following all the vets and following all the coaches. I'm listening. You know, having, having both ears open and my mouth shut.

You know, just, just kind of sitting back listening. And then, you know, when I, when I get to the point of, of, of, of, you know, when I learned everything, when I learned the ways of how we do with the culture, the playbook and, and, and with the offensive line wide receivers and are all doing running backs and tight ends and things like that. Then you can start taking the lead. Then you can start taking the helms of all of it and, and take the next steps. For right now though, I'm listening more than I'm speaking and talking. And I'm taking it one step at a time, being the moment. Awesome.

Go Bears. Oh yes. Is he going to go Swarovski as he drives, as he leaves every time?

I hope so. Well, no, no, but you can't do that. You can't do that after you've lost by like 17.

That's true. Well, no, that's learn from Russell Wilson. You know, you know what I mean? Go Hawks.

Let's ride after you get blown. Did you hear how he did the first time? He kind of sang it the first time he did it. He was like go Bears. And I don't think that went over. By the way, I just think it's a great way to go Bears.

By the way, the name Joe Mantegna came out of our, our potential booking list in June. I'm like, absolutely. It's all good right now.

It's O and O. The Bears have not played a game yet. It's all upside right now. Caleb Williams is coming in and he's got Roma Dunze coming in with him. And you've got Keenan Allen and DJ Moore to help them learn the ropes.

I'm excited to watch this Bears team, man. Straight up. And Eber Flus looks 20 years younger. What hot seat? What hot seat?

What? I'm just a defensive coach here. And I'm not going to really be in the quarterback room with this kid. Who needs a coach to do that? You don't need a coach to do that, even though that's what Andy Reid did in Kansas City with the guy that everybody's equating Caleb Williams to. Why do we need him?

Why do we need anybody like that? I'm here. I'm going to run the defense. That's what puts the monsters in the midway. I'll take care of that. This kid's got this other thing.

And look, the way I look, I need to see a split screen. When Eber Flus showed up, he probably looked like he was wearing a burlap sack and his hair was probably all over the place. There wasn't a pomade in the, in the, it was in Chicagoland that he was thinking about. Nothing. Are you saying it's the opposite of the Obama picture where he looked very young at the start and an older, you know, that means, no, that means the job.

Okay. This looks like, again, like some guy comes to Los Angeles. He doesn't know what the life is in Southern California. And then he's here for a couple of years and boom. Oh, got the lingo. That's what's happening in Chicago. That's our update on the bears.

Nikki Glaser, hour two in studio. Okay. Fantasy rankings, Caleb Williams, ahead of Gough. That's nuts.

Stafford. That's nuts. Rogers. That's nuts. Right now. You like Caleb Williams next year?

That's nuts. Please do me this favor. And I will say this, and this might age poorly.

This might age very poorly, but okay. But if I'm in a fantasy league and I'm holding and I'm like Braveheart holding, don't have my quarterback yet, and it's the seventh, eighth round and Gough and Stafford are sitting there and you choose Caleb Williams in front of me, I will appreciate it. Oh, wow. So Rich Eisen does not believe in Caleb Williams? No, no, no, no, no. That is untrue. How dare you say that? How dare you say that?

And if I was at home at Roku, I'm sure that's what Roku Joe's thinking right now. There are more first year quarterbacks who aren't statistically off the charts than there are CJ Strouds or Mahomes. Okay. Haven't you heard this is Mahomes, but Rich.

Okay. You would take Caleb Williams over those other guys? I think he's going to have a pretty good year, man. Well, it's going to be must see television. That is for sure. That's for sure. That bears. But let's stop the fantasy talk in May.

First of all, it's May. Two Nikki Glazers here and that is just opening us up for criticism. I don't want Nikki Glazer criticizing me.

No, you don't. That was Chris Long. That's what Chris Long said yesterday. He goes, if she's at the roast, I'm not going to be the roastie. The last person you want to see show up, unless of course you want to watch a roast, then that's the winner. Welcome to talk the ultimate small rewatch podcast guest star Sarah Carter as Alicia Baker. Although I didn't really work with her a lot, but Tom did. And they had some real big smoochy scenes. Yeah. Should we talk about that? Could there be any more sex? What was a three page make-out scene that just kept going? Good Lord, we get it. They have chemistry. Jump in now or catch up on any of the past seasons of talk Ville on YouTube or wherever you listen.