Free Throw Merchant Talk is Lame (Hour 1)

Live from the police show yet not overly ostentatious studios of the Infinity Sports Network here in beautiful New York City sitting on top of the 10th floor 345 Hudson Street. Welcome into another week and a Tuesday edition of the Zach Gelb show across all the great local Infinity Sports Network affiliate Sirius XM channel 375 and the always free Odyssey app 88710 for ISN is the number to jump on in that's 88710. Don't forget to follow me on Instagram where I'm straight flexing or via the good old cesspool of Twitter at Zach Gelb.

That's ZACH GELB. We got the hard working crew of Stuart Kovacs and also Ryan Botcher and we're rocking and rolling all the way up until 6 PM Eastern 3 PM Pacific time. Hope everyone did enjoy themselves and had a safe Memorial Day weekend and hopefully everyone did take a few moments during barbecues or golfing or sitting by the pool or being at the beach to enjoy the rest of the day.

Remember why we do have Memorial Day and that is the importance of remembering the great heroes that did make the ultimate sacrifice. I hate to start the show with an announcement usually off of like a holiday weekend. Right. You want to tune in and you want to hear the sports talk and have us react to everything. So I always say whenever there's an announcement coming off a holiday weekend or any type of weekend, it's never a good thing.

That's usually the way that I just feel about it. But for a long story short, we have a system that streams to show on YouTube and it's called the TriCaster. Right before the Super Bowl, the TriCaster basically blew up. So Maggie and Perloff's TriCaster is different than our TriCaster. So that's why you got to see Maggie and Perloff on YouTube this morning and their TriCaster is used for different shows throughout the day. We have a different TriCaster. Our TriCaster, and it's just bad luck, it basically blew up right before the Super Bowl.

So then they gave us another TriCaster and that TriCaster now no longer works. So whenever the company fixed said TriCaster, gets us a new one, that's when we back up on YouTube. Now, I can't speak for other shows, but I will speak for a few other shows here. And I know there's just a dedicated audience in the YouTube world that tunes into us and watches us via only YouTube.

That will also include Hickey Show and Shep Show. So I'm just, that's all I can really say about it. That's all I know about it. I will do my best effort and I will continue to pester the folks in management to try to figure out when the heck we're going to get this TriCaster back up. So until they come up with an alternative or get us a damn new TriCaster, we will not be on YouTube for the foreseeable future. So Maggie and Perloff will continue to be because once again, their TriCaster is different than the TriCaster we use. Now people say, oh, Zach, why can't you just use their TriCaster? Well, we can't use their TriCaster because it's used through other shows, not on this network throughout the rest of the day.

So that's pretty much that. For probably 85% of you listening, you're like, okay, that has nothing to do with me. If you tune in on local Infinity Sports Network affiliate, yes, boom, you're still good to go that way. If you tune in via Sirius, it has nothing to do with you.

If you listen via the app, it has nothing to do with you as well. But if you are some of the listening audience that tunes in via YouTube, we will have that be down for a little bit until we figure out what the heck is going on. All right, let's get to the sports talk.

That little spiel is over. The Oklahoma City Thunder just showed you why they're going to the NBA championship last night and they're going to the NBA finals. I know they still have to win one more game. The Minnesota Timberwolves, it felt like they were dead when they lost both of the first two games. And I just did not see whether they were going to be able to beat the the Oklahoma City Thunder four times when you were already down 2-0.

Now, in Game three, they absolutely destroyed and eviscerated the Oklahoma City Thunder. So last night was really going to tell us, even though I didn't think the winner of last night was going to go on to win the series, if it was the Minnesota Timberwolves. But the way that you look back at that and you watch that game, that was the last chance for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Because if they would have won that game, it does not mean that they're going on to win the series. It doesn't mean that Oklahoma City is going to go on to lose the series, but it would have made it a series. It would have made it 2-2 and it would have made for a pivotal game five.

But that game was pretty close. If you would have told me before the game that you would have had two players on the bench of the Timberwolves go for 20 plus, I probably would have told you that the Minnesota Timberwolves would have won the game. And between four players up the Timberwolves bench, they had 64 points between four players off the bench. But you look at what the Oklahoma City Thunder did, their starters, Shay Gilders Alexander, 40 points. Jalen Williams, 34 points. Chet Holmgren, well he added in 21 points. So you had three starters for the Oklahoma City Thunder go for 40, 34, and 21. So knowing that some of that was negated by the 64 bench points that you got for the Minnesota Timberwolves, you needed your stars to show up if Minnesota wanted to get a victory. And they only lost the game by a small margin.

I understand that. It got tight at the end. There was opportunities at the end for the Timberwolves to maybe go on out there and force that game to overtime. We'll get to the fouling up three and all that stuff in just a second. But the Oklahoma City Thunder, they escaped by a two-point victory. And when you examine why they escaped with the two-point victory, the Thunder, now they're up 3-1 and they are one win away from going to the NBA Finals.

And it's inevitable they're going to the NBA Finals. It's because of two players for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Anthony Edwards and then also Julius Randle. When you have a night where three starters just go off for the Oklahoma City Thunder and Shay Gilders Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren, your two biggest stars, they can't do what they did in the game. And I understand some people sit there and they'll say they're, oh, well the Thunder's entire approach was just to defend Anthony Edwards and everyone else got open looks.

It doesn't matter. This is a star league. Your stars need to show up. People have said that Anthony Edwards is going to be the face of the league. Well, you can't be the face of the league in basically what felt like an elimination game, even though it wasn't. And only have 16 points. And I think he had four attempted shots or something like that in the first half. And you look back at earlier in this series where he had zero points in one of those games. I think it was game one where he had zero points or maybe it was game two. I think it was game two. He had zero points in the fourth quarter.

Whatever it was like, those things just can't happen. You can't have games where Anthony Edwards has zero points in the fourth quarter. You can't have games where basically the series on the line and your star and Anthony Edwards shoots one to seven from three and has 16 points. And I'm not letting Julius Randall off the hook. Julius Randall only had five points. So and at 16, Julius had five folks. It's not that tough to dissect how this one went the way that it did.

And I know people are going to sit there and they'll be like, oh, oh, and created other shots because of the deepness. I'm sorry. He had six assists in the game. He had 16 points. I understand the defense is unbelievable by Oklahoma City. Great players elevate their teams in those moments.

And it's not like you didn't get any help from anyone else. Alexander Walker at twenty three. Vincenzo at twenty one.

You have to find a way. Your two best players, even Jayden McDaniels, who's a starter at twenty two for them. We know Rudy Gobert is never going to make a killing, even he had 13. But when Anthony Edwards plays 41 minutes and Julius Randall plays 28, Anthony Edwards has to have more than 16 points. And Julius Randall has to have more than five points. And looking back at it, it was zero points that he had in the fourth quarter of Game one. And then in Game four, he had 16 points in the contest.

It's just not good enough. And this is back to back years, right? Where the Minnesota Timberwolves get to the conference finals. Last year, they were expected to win.

They didn't get the job done. And this year, no one really thought they were going to win or few people did. I was actually one of those doofuses that said, ah, you know what, they'll find a way to redeem what they did last year, even though Thunder the better team. I'll take the Timberwolves in six games.

And I was dead wrong. But you look at Anthony Edwards. There's a lot left to be desired in this postseason with them. Or should I say in these conference finals? And you look at the stars for the Thunder and this is a star league. I know we've seen different iterations of the NBA. We've seen big threes. We've seen even when you look at Golden State, you know, four stars. You look at recently, though, it's been an era of dynamic duos.

That's what it's been. It's been more team basketball the last few years. You've had Giannis Antetokounmpo win a championship with Chris Middleton as his two. Nicole Jokic won a championship with Jamal Murray as his two.

You know, nothing against Chris Middleton, nothing against Jamal Murray. But that's not Steph Curry and Kevin Durant. That's not LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. That's not LeBron James and Dwayne Wade. Right.

So you could win now with not having mega mega stars in terms of as the second piece. But you look at the Minnesota Timberwolves, their two best players, their two stars, Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle. They were below average last night. And you look at the difference, right, for the Thunder.

Oh, are they ready for the moment? Well, Shay Gilders, Alexander looked ready for the moment last night. He had 40. Jalen Williams looked ready for the moment last night. He was unconscious in that fourth.

He had 34 points and check home. Granat times did the gritty work and ended up with 21 points. Those three guys were exceptional. And the exceptional moments and the exceptional parts of the Minnesota Timberwolves were Alexander Walker and Dante DiVincenzo.

Think about that. If Julius Randle and Anthony Edwards were just average last night, if one of them just had a good performance, they probably win the game, but they didn't. And this time of the year, stars and depth is what wins.

Like, look how the Knicks finally beat the Pacers. They went with the deeper lineup. Their stars weren't great. You know, Jalen Brunson wasn't great, but when needed to made a big shot. Carl Anthony Towns was dreadful up until the fourth quarter.

Then he took over. But what kept the Knicks in the game? It was their bench. You look at the Minnesota Timberwolves, their bench kept them in the game. But eventually you need your stars to elevate. You need your stars to ball out and the stars for the Thunder.

They were their heartbeat. The stars for the Minnesota Timberwolves is ultimately what's their demise. Because this is now a 3-1. I don't even care if the Timberwolves win Game five.

I'd be shocked if they did. Right? Because now you're going back to Oklahoma City. Does anyone really think this is going past five?

You know, I know, right? You could talk about the officials and maybe they're going to extend the series and the league will do whatever it takes to get this to a Game six. But even so, even if this gets to a Game six, do I have a belief right now that the Timberwolves are capable? Forget about winning three straight. Forget about that. Do I think the Timberwolves can win back to back games?

I don't think so. You know, and it's a very similar feeling to right now when you look at the Carolina Hurricanes and the Florida Panthers. The Florida Panthers in the first three games of the series are on the verge of going to back to back to back Stanley Cup finals for three consecutive seasons. And last night they lost the game on their home ice, 3-0. And I know that score got away at the end. But did anyone, does anyone believe off of last night after the Carolina Hurricanes got one? Even if the Carolina Hurricanes win Game five and that game's going back to their home ice in Raleigh, does anyone think that the Hurricanes are going on to win four straight games up against the Panthers?

Absolutely not. And it's the same thing with the Timberwolves, just different number. I don't think the Timberwolves have it in them to go on to win three straight games up against the Oklahoma City Thunder. So you could complain all you want about Shay Gilderich-Alexander trying to draw fouls. Everyone tries to draw fouls. The bitching from the NBA players is ridiculous.

Any time there is a call that is now questionable or a call that the player just doesn't like, you know, the players automatically say, no, review. Stan Van Gundy, I'll give him credit. I forget who it was, but there was a player on the Pacers that that committed a clear foul and he went right over to his bench. I don't think he had a challenge. I don't think they had a challenge at that point. And Van Gundy is like, what is this guy talking about? He's asking for a review from his coach.

Forget that they don't even have one. He fouled him three different times. So this is the problem I have with the Shay Gilderich-Alexander people saying, oh, he tries to draw too many fouls. Well, you have the entire league flops. The entire league tries to over exaggerate contact. And then when there is finally a foul called, they freak out and they whine.

So am I going to really get an SGA for whatever they're calling this? How he's trying to draw fouls? What's the term that they're using, Stu?

That Doris Burke used? Do you remember what that term is? Yeah, a free throw merchant. A free throw merchant.

Thank you. It's like that's what we're doing right now. So that means what? For most people, that Shay Gilderich-Alexander, he's just trying to commit fouls and he exaggerates or he's trying to draw free throws and he's exaggerating. Or maybe he just has a lot of hard takes and just doesn't shoot three after three after three after three every single time. You know, he was two and seven last night from three.

What did he do? Put his hard hat on, put his head down and drove to the bucket and drove to the hole and made shot after shot after shot. And yeah, did he get to the free throw line 14 times last night?

Sure, he made 12 of them. It's an aggressive approach. I respect it. It's not lazy just shooting three after three after three after three after three. It's like enough with that nonsense.

Actually, do me a favor here, Batra, please. Play me Doris Burke last night, which by the way, we used to have Mike Breen, Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy. That's the crew that we used to have.

That was an elite crew. Then you had Mike Breen. It was Doc Rivers and I think it was Doris Burke was on that crew too?

Yeah, it was Doris. And then Doc went to go coach the Bucks. So then we got that bore that drip J.J. Redick. Then J.J. Redick, because he was LeBron's podcast buddy, he then got the job with the Lakers. So now the crew that we get is Richard Jefferson, Doris Burke and the great Mike Breen. And Richard Jefferson is fine.

Is he number one? No, I'd rather have Tim Legler just with Mike Breen, the two of them. And I think that'd be great. But this is what management usually does, right? You see this in sports all the time. They don't know how to replace someone.

So then they just say, all right, we'll just hire three people. You don't need to hire Doris Burke and Richard Jefferson. But Doris Burke. Who when it was LeBron, every time he's 40, you're 22. But last night she's using the free throw merchant thing.

And then she's like, oh, no, I was like, that wasn't me. I wasn't saying he's a free throw merchant. I actually agree with you, Richard Jefferson.

Like, which one is it? You were antagonizing. And then when Richard Jefferson brought up a sane point, you then walked it back.

So here was how that sounded the other night. You see Rudy trying to contend with him, but his left arm is reaching in there. And as soon as Shea feels that and there's contact on the elbow, this is why he's called the free throw merchant. Every player in the league can do this.

Now, he drives more, he does it more. But if you put your hand there, you try to raise your left hand to shoot a jump shot. And for me, the free throw merchant stuff, the numbers prove that it's not true. It's just a frustrating thing. I get it. But if the numbers don't prove it, then it's just your opinion.

And you know what they say about opinion. You were making the plot the other night that you had seasons where you averaged eight free throws. Multiple times. So seven, eight, nine free throws for an elite score for a top team score, especially the leading score in the league. That's not a lot. You averaged eight free throws.

What arrow was that? And pull up the stats. NBA stats.

Pull them up. So it's like, what is Doris Burke doing? She's dangling the carrot, basically saying, oh, free throw merchant.

And then when Richard Jefferson makes a sane point, she's like, oh, no, I actually agree with you. Then why bring it up? That makes no sense to me. So here's the bottom line. And let me just be abundantly clear with this free throw merchant nonsense. Shay Gilges Alexander gets accused of that because he does a very few players do in this league. And that's actually put his head down, drive to the bucket and try to look for contact.

So what? That's a part of the game. It's 100 percent a part of the game. And if you're going to sit there and be like, oh, well, he flops. Oh, he just tries to initiate contact. Oh, he's overdramatic. The entire league is overdramatic.

I love Carl Anthony Towns. Every time that guy drives, he's begging for a call. He's imploring the officials. He probably weighs two seconds getting back on defense with how much bitching this guy does. And all these players, every time there's a foul, though, oh, we got a review. Twirl the finger.

We got a review. It's a constant bitch fest in the NBA. So I'm going to get on the guy because he actually tries to drive hard to the basket anytime there's foul. He maybe is a little bit overdramatic. The entire league SGA free throws or not is one of the best players in the league.

And he showed up last night along with Jalen Williams, along with Chet Holmgren, why Anthony Edwards and also Julius Randle were basically big nothings in that game. Come on. It's ridiculous. You know, people are just trying to take away from what the Oklahoma City Thunder, because they're a small market team, is that what it is? This is a great team. You know, I didn't do it last night, but what, they have 60 wins this year by double digits?

And they're one win away, one win away from going to the NBA Finals. And we have to sit here and we have to complain about a player trying to draw fouls. Why? Because he's not just lazy.

And when things aren't going for him, he just doesn't chuck up four hundred threes from behind the arc. Give me a break. The stuff about the free throw merchant nonsense, please. Go crumble up that thought and go shove it somewhere.

All right. I'm going to say that as politely as I can, because it is ridiculous. I like, you know, Jalen Brunson and Shay Gilders Alexander, good on them. They go into the paint to try to get some points. And yes, do they try to draw fouls? Absolutely. But if you're going to get on them, get on the rest of the league that complains every other part of the court. And they always try to draw fouls as well.

Or I didn't touch him when you clearly touched him. So stupid. It is the Zach Gelb show on the Infinity Sports Network. We'll take a break. We'll come on back. What a crazy comeback for the Knicks. Was it just a one off or do they got life to go make this comeback? What's going to happen with New York tonight? We'll discuss that as we continue on the NBA conversation next. You're listening to the Zach Gelb show.

All right. It is Zach Gelb show on the Infinity Sports Network. I will say the crew that I'm working with today, Stuart Kovacs is a very smart man. And then Ryan Botcher, I feel like when we put you on the spot, usually very good at guessing things.

So I'm going to put the two of you on the spot right now. There's one hundred days until the NFL season opens. There was a graphic that was tweeted out by Adam Schefter putting the number one hundred up out there. And there was one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine players that were associated, obviously, with the NFL that Schefter is using to market one hundred days until the season opens.

If I tell you the quota. So, like, for example, X amount of quarterbacks, X amount of pass rushers, X about amount of running backs and X amount of wide receivers. Let's see if you can name the people that were that were posted here. So there is one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine.

I just want to make sure I got that right. There are four quarterbacks. Do you think you could name the four quarterbacks that were posted on this graphic? Let's see.

Just guess whatever you have. Mahomes won. Mahomes, Allen Lamar, probably.

Yes. Josh Allen was on the left of this graphic on the top, bigger than the other players. Lamar Jackson was in the middle and then Patrick Mahomes is on the right.

Those were the three largest players, like just physically in size, taking up the graphic. There is one other quarterback. Do you think you guys know who the other quarterback is? I would assume it's Joe Burrow.

That would be inaccurate. It is not Joe Burrow. Would it be Jalen Hurts after winning the Super Bowl? It is not Jalen Hurts. Jane Daniels? Yes. So those are the four quarterbacks.

Now there are. Well, let's get this one's easy. There's one wide receiver. Who do you think the wide receiver is? Justin Jefferson.

That would be correct. You were like disgusted when I asked that. How dare you even ask the question.

You looked at me like your nose was up, like just disgusted. I was actually surprised Jamar Chase didn't make the list. No bangles. There are two pass rushers. Two pass rushers. You know, dead air isn't good guys. You guys. I don't want to be wrong. Well, you could be right. It's fine. It's an exercise.

What's going to happen? I'm not going to yell at you if you're wrong. Micah Parsons. Micah Parsons is one.

Wow. That's a good guess. I wouldn't have guessed that. I would have guessed Miles Garrett and T.J. Watts. So I'll say T.J. Watt is the other one. Correctamundo. There we go. Now there are two running backs. One you will be able to get the other one. I'll be a little bit surprised if you end up getting it without a few wrong guesses. Okay. Saquon Barkley is one of them.

That was the easy one. Who do you think the other running back is on this graphic by Schefter? Since you're saying this, I'm guessing it is not Henry and it's not McCaffrey. So is it Jameer Gibbs? Wow. Look at Stu. Right?

Because you would have guessed Derrick Henry and you would have guessed. Those two before Gibbs. Yes.

Yeah. So Jameer Gibbs. So those are the nine players that Adam Schefter used to kind of make this graphic or whatever his graphic was did to just get up this 100 days of the NFL season open. It's Josh Allen, it's Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, T.J. Watt, Micah Parsons, Justin Jefferson, Jaden Daniels, Jameer Gibbs and also Saquon Barkley. Alrighty.

Let's real quickly touch on the Knicks. So on Sunday night, I had a very good Sunday. I went golfing out east and then my friend in his Hamptons house, they have an outdoor pizza oven. Now, an old friend of ours, Craig Cardin, got very mad at me last time when I went to this guy's house and I used the pizza oven because Craig's like, oh, you got to make your own pizza. Those pizzas you made look pretty good.

I go, Craig would be honest. The guy had a massive party and he hired someone from the local pizza place to just like make pizza after pizza after pizza after pizza for all the guests. Well, this time around, there was only seven or eight people at this house.

So I golfed in the morning. Then afterwards, right before the Knicks game, we all made our own pizzas. They had like an abundance of toppings, steak, pesto, burrata, ricotta cheese.

They had some mushrooms, which I can't eat. Meatball, like a bunch of different toppings, chicken, really good stuff. So we made our own pizza. So I made like a meat lover's pizza, pretty much. I put the pesto on the on the crust. I did a little pesto, then put the marinara sauce, then loaded up with steak, chicken, meatballs and also pepperoni. And it was delicious pizza.

So maybe I found a way to. I'm sure Craig wasn't watching on social media or monitoring on social media, but you never know, Cielo, right? With food, when it comes to Craig Cardin, he probably this is the one thing you probably would say anything is possible with Craig and food.

That is correct. So we made it probably like 13 smaller pies and everyone was eating them and they were delicious. You know, someone was creative. They did a stuffed crust. So they they rolled up the crust and they put the cheese in.

Someone did a barbecue chicken. It was very good. So that was my Sunday. But I was watching the Knicks at night. And in the second quarter, when there's five minutes to go in the first half, I'm thinking to myself, they just got to survive because they weren't playing that great.

They were in foul trouble. And the next thing you know, the Pacers are up by 20 points. But then going into the fourth quarter, the Pacers were only up by 10. And it felt like the Knicks should have been at least down by 15 points, if not more than that. And Carl Anthony Towns came alive. I'll give credit to Tom Thibodeau because everyone likes to just slam Tibbs, even though he's the first Knicks coach since Pat Riley to win back to back 50 games in a season. And everyone wants to run this guy out of town, whether that was on his own accord or he just had to because of the foul trouble that Carl Anthony Towns was in.

And Jalen Brunson was in. And Deuce McBride picked up three fouls in a minute. I've never seen someone pick up three fouls in a minute.

Like even the most out of shape, fattest dude in the world that is like playing in a pickup game. He couldn't even commit three fouls in a minute. So they had to trust the bench, whether it was Shamit, whether it was right. Deuce eventually got back in. But you saw from those bench guys, because the Knicks do have defensive lapses, because Jalen Brunson is not a great defender and Carl Anthony Towns is a great defender.

You just saw a level of grit and a level of effort. And where I give Tibbs credit is late. I'm sitting there and I'm like, they survived without Brunson. Get him back in, get him back in. And he trusted those guys and they still were able to maintain that lead.

And Carl Anthony Towns. It's wild. Like basketball out of any sport where people react in the moment, like in a baseball game, a football game, hockey game, you know, basketball, you always know that it feels like it goes down to the final two minutes. You know, you could be up 3-0 in hockey right in a game and you could come on back.

That's not crazy. Football, if usually it teams up by 20 plus points in a game, they're going to win. Baseball, if you're up by 10 runs in a game, it's very tough to lose that game. But basketball is a game of runs. And even when the Knicks were down by 20 and as bleak as it did look, there was still going to be a moment where they could get back into the game. And they got back into the game because of their bench, but also Carl Anthony Towns went off in the fourth quarter.

But it's amazing. The first three quarters, I was reading tweets all this is the type of game where Cat gets traded for KD in the offseason. Like if anything for basketball, you got to let it breathe a little bit and you got to see what the end of the game is. Heck, I was at the Garden for that game one where the Indiana Pacers down 14 with 245 to go, nine with 52 seconds to go and they won that game. So basketball is the one sport where I hate to say it this way because I like to watch the entire game. But if you could just say out of any sport in America, the four major sports, you only need to watch the final two minutes.

Basketball is the one. And it once again was proven to be true on Sunday night and the Knicks ended up with that game. Now, for that game to mean something, the Knicks have to win tonight because of the Knicks lose tonight.

Then Sunday was all for nothing. And let's be real in the Pacers will win this series. But if the Knicks win tonight and you get it back up at 2-2, then you go to Madison Square Garden for a game five for the Knicks have already lost two. You would think then the Knicks would win game five, then probably lose game six and then they would maybe win game seven. So just like I was in the Minnesota Timberwolves last night, their season was on the line. You go down 3-1, the chance of you coming back are not good. If the Knicks go down 3-1 tonight, you could start to write your eulogy and have your thank you fans post on social media.

That's what will happen. But the Knicks win tonight, it's a brand new series and man, that would really be something because the NBA is going to need it. Because the series out west, now they're going back to OKC, that thing's probably over in five. And this one has been a fun series in the first four games, first three games between these two teams. Game one was a classic. Game two even came right down to the wire. And game three was a great comeback. And the Knicks now have three 20-point comebacks this postseason. Two up against Boston games, one in games two.

And then you did get to see what happened in game number three. So you could make a case, just as easy as the Knicks are down 2-1 in this series, that they should be up 2-1 in this series. So tonight it's all the marbles pretty much on the line for the New York Knicks. The Knicks lose tonight, I got nothing positive to say about them in terms of this series and trying to give you hope moving forward. Alright, this is the Zach Gelb Show on the Infinity Sports Network with the latest on Aaron Rodgers. When we come on back, update time first though. Here is the great Chris LaPresti.

You're listening to the Zach Gelb Show. The defensive play of the week is sponsored by Navy Federal Credit Union. Proudly celebrating all who go above and beyond during Military Appreciation Month.

Learn more at NavyFederal.org. Slash Celebrate, our members are the mission. This week's player is Canes goaltender Frederick Anderson. He saved 20 shots that came his way in last night's 3-0 victory and helped Carolina avoid getting swept. Nice little shutout there for the Hurricanes, but that series is 3-1 in favor of Florida. And I would still anticipate, whether it's game five or game six, that the Florida Panthers do advance to the Stanley Cup final. This team last year in the Stanley Cup final in the Panthers, and they've been to the last two, they're looking to go to three straight. They were up 3-0 up against Connor McDavid, Leon Drysidel, and the Edmonton Oilers. They lost then games four, five, and six, but then they won game seven. So do I believe that this Carolina Hurricanes team that does have limitations, even though they're a very good team, that they're going to find the way to win four straight up against the Florida Panthers who are clearly the best team in hockey?

No, I do not. And it is stupid good how the Florida Panthers win a Stanley Cup last year after going to two straight Stanley Cups, and then they get Brad Marchand right before the deadline. That should be illegal, that that team was able to get Brad Marchand because they didn't need him.

But that's what the rich do, right? The rich get richer, and the Florida Panthers are pouncing, and even though they lost last night, they'll still be going to the Stanley Cup final. If they are not playing in the Stanley Cup final this year with only having to win one more lousy game, and they were up 3-0 and now they're up 3-1, I would absolutely be shocked. I'd be mystified.

I'd be dumbfounded. It would be one of the most surprising things in the history of sports if that team doesn't get to the Stanley Cup final. And we'll see who will join them, because there's a big game four tonight as Edmonton's up 2-1, and you get stars and Oilers in Edmonton. That series feels like it's going seven.

I won't be an expert, right? I love hockey, but I would not call myself an expert, or someone that knows it all with hockey, but I love hockey, and I'm a big hockey guy. I've got a lot of hockey games, but it would be pretty damn cool if we see stars and Oilers at the Conference Finals last year, if we see that go seven. That just feels like a seven-game series. You knew the Panthers would win. I never thought the Panthers were going to have to go to seven games, up against what is a good Carolina Hurricanes team, but not a great Carolina Hurricanes team.

Alrighty, let's do this. So Aaron Rodgers, he spoke at this event. It was kind of weird. I guess it was open mic, and people would just walk up and they would ask questions, but I don't know how open the mics were, because there wasn't anything, from what I've seen, too controversial about the questions that were being asked.

So it must have been some sort of a controlled environment. By the way, Aaron Rodgers was asked if he'll ever play for the Chicago Bears, and this is how it sounded like. Will Aaron Rodgers ever go to the Bears? Oh boy. Can security, can we get her out of here? Can you take security?

Can you take it easy on her? No, but I believe there's a team that might play in Chicago this year. On a road trip. I don't know. I'm not sure.

Gotta check it out. So that sounded like a kid that was asking that question. You know, what type of event was this? What parent is taking their kid to go see Aaron Rodgers basically speak unfiltered? Maybe it's a charity event or something like that. You know, Rodgers could say some wacky things, there's no doubt about it, but that was a good way that Aaron Rodgers handled that question. Also, why did the host freak out? I guess it was done in like jest a little bit.

It was funny. You know, get that kid out of here because it's the Bears, but it's a pretty creative and funny question from the kid. Now, off of that, he said something along the lines of, oh, there is a team that plays in Chicago this year. Well, if you're just perusing through the Steelers schedule, November 23rd, the Steelers are in Chicago.

The Steelers actually have a good schedule in terms of Aaron Rodgers is there. I don't know how good Aaron Rodgers is going to be because he hasn't been a great quarterback in the last three years. Even four years, really, because his last year in Green Bay, which was twenty twenty, he did not perform all that well.

Or no, what was his last year in Green Bay? Because it was twenty twenty two. Yeah, because you had twenty twenty three and twenty twenty four were with the Jets and twenty twenty three he missed. And then this past year was twenty twenty four. So, yeah, Aaron Rodgers. His last good year was was twenty twenty one.

Right. We were in the back to back MVPs, but that final year in Green Bay, it wasn't a horrible year, but it wasn't an Aaron Rodgers year. Then obviously he missed the entire season after three plays with the Jets because of the Achilles. And then this past year, a slow start was miserable in the beginning of the season. Turnover machine up against Denver and Minnesota.

And then at the end of the season, he played fine. But the Jets are already so out of it anyway. So just because the Steelers end up getting Aaron Rodgers, they do feel like it's inevitable. Rodgers doesn't want to go to this all season crap right now. It doesn't mean that Aaron Rodgers is going to play this great football. But I don't really think it matters, like outside of Mason Rudolph being the quarterback, because Stu, right? People are throwing out against Kirk Cousins today.

That's the backup plan. If Aaron Rodgers doesn't sign, does it really matter if you have Kirk Cousins or Aaron Rodgers the starting quarterback still? Does that do a difference with what the Steelers are going to do one way or another?

I think very much. Very little would change. Maybe an extra win for Rodgers, but it's not like one's a Super Bowl contender, the other one's a playoff missing team. They're probably about the same team. I could actually argue that maybe Kirk Cousins would be a better option now than Aaron Rodgers. Now, Aaron Rodgers to me is washed. Kirk Cousins, even though at his peak was nowhere close to touching what Aaron Rodgers was able to do in a football field, as Rodgers is one of the best throwers of the football that we've ever seen. But Kirk Cousins, I'm not ready to say he's washed.

He's just the definition of a good, not great quarterback. But last year, people are going to say, oh, well, he got bench. Yeah, well, they drafted Michael Penick Jr. eighth overall. And Kirk Cousins was still recovering a year removed from an injury.

And I understand, right? It was the same thing that Rodgers going through. And Kirk Cousins happened later on in the season. But Kirk Cousins is younger than Aaron Rodgers. So could Kirk Cousins be maybe a better leader and just be consistent from start to finish of the season? Yes, I think Rodgers going to the Steelers. The problem is you still look at Aaron Rodgers, you think he's great, but he hasn't been a great quarterback in three years. And also, you never know when the heck he's going to show up anyway. But either way, I would tend to agree with you, Stu.

I don't think it makes a difference, really, in terms of the steel. Like if Kirk Cousins is our quarterback, what's the expectations? All right. Maybe your wildcard team. If Aaron Rodgers is the quarterback, what's the expectation? Maybe your wildcard team. Do I really believe that their stage of their career, that either guy makes me feel more confident over the other in terms of winning one playoff game, which some of the Steelers haven't done since the 2016 season?

No, I don't. Like at the best, Kirk Cousins in Pittsburgh wins a playoff game. At the best, the absolute best, Aaron Rodgers in Pittsburgh wins a playoff game. But if you tell me Aaron Rodgers playing for the Steelers, there is more intrigue. You know, there is more intrigue than it being Kirk Cousins. There's definitely more intrigue than it being, here's the hot take of the year, Mason Rudolph as the quarterback. But look at the Steelers' schedule if they do have Aaron Rodgers. They play the Jets week one. Hello, Justin Fields Aaron Rodgers.

Fun. Then they play Seattle. All right, who cares? Then they're at New England. All right, who cares? Then they play Minnesota.

Now that would be fun because we know that Aaron Rodgers, all he wants to do is be a member of the Minnesota Vikings and the Minnesota Vikings are like, oh, we're not interested. And that game. Hey, Stu, can you look up where that game is? Because I know it's not in the U.S., it's one of those 9.30 a.m. games.

I want to say it's in Ireland, maybe? That game right now, the cheapest ticket on the secondary market, according to Vivid Seats. When you go through, tickets are as low as $799. That's like little less than Super Bowl face value ticketing in terms of the upper deck. And that would be face value.

This is on the secondary market. Now you can see why the NFL wants to spend as many games and go to as many games as possible that aren't in the U.S. Where's that game? That game's in Dublin. It is in Dublin, okay. Oh, geez. $799 they're spending in Ireland to go to a football game?

Now that's now on May 27th, but that's crazy that the price is right there. All right, then you get Cleveland who cares. All right, Thursday night, Cincinnati. You give me Aaron Rodgers up against Joe Burrow for a matchup. Then Aaron Rodgers up against the Green Bay Packers. That game is in Pittsburgh, though. But that would be a good game. Right, that's intrigue.

Cults who cares. Chargers, all right. You have a little Herbert Rodgers. You play the Bengals again. Obviously, you get them twice in the season. Then you go to Chicago.

That's going to be fun. Rodgers going to Chicago. Then you get the Bills. You get the Ravens. You get the Dolphins. The Lions, big game. The Browns.

And then obviously you get the Ravens again because of the divisional matchup. Just real quickly still, win-loss with Aaron Rodgers on the Steelers. At the Jets. Win. Seahawks. I will say loss.

At the Patriots. I will say loss as well. Oh, wow. Vikings. Loss.

Wow. Cleveland. Win. At Bengals. Loss. Packers. Loss.

Cults. Win. At the Chargers. Loss. Wow. Three wins.

They're 10 weeks. Bengals. Loss.

Oh, wow. At the Bears. I'll say they win that one. Bills. Loss. At the Ravens. Loss.

Dolphins. Win. At the Lions. Loss. At the Browns. Win. And then Ravens. Last week of the season, Ravens were us and you guys, I say they win. You only have seven wins? Yeah. So that'd be the first time they'd be below.500 in the Mike Tomlin era.

What a sad end to Aaron Rodgers' career if that's his final season. Seven and ten. And even if you let's say disagree with Tuisto.

Alright, like let's say Tuisto's picks you thought were Jackassery. That only gets them to nine and eight. Nine and eight's not a guarantee to get to the postseason.

Man. I think maybe there's a few at the beginning of the season. Like the Seahawks, New England stretch maybe people could disagree with.

But outside of that, I don't think it was totally unfair. And maybe some of you win a division game that people aren't expecting you to win. But yeah, expectations aren't high. If it's Aaron Rodgers or Kirk Cousins, expectations aren't high for the Steelers. And at best you maybe just say, alright, it doesn't feel like they should be a wildcard team. But Tomlin always gets his team it feels like to the wildcard and they lose the first weekend. So maybe they just find a way to get it together and get to that point. But that's not the Steelers' way. The Steelers' way used to be winning Super Bowls. Now you'd be lucky if they could win a playoff game. Because they haven't done it for a long time. We'll do a little overreaction, proper reaction when we come on back. And this is that Gelb show right here on the Infinity Sports Network.