Which Sport Has The Best Playoffs? (Hour 3)

Surgeons keep our hearts beating. They do the amazing. Help save lives.

And so can you. Your CSL plasma donation can help create 24 critical life-saving medicines that can give Grandpa the chance for his heart to swell when he meets his new grandson. Or give a bride the chance for her heart to skip a beat on her wedding day. Every plasma donation helps more than you know.

Do the amazing. Help save lives. Donate today at your local CSL plasma center and be rewarded for your generosity. Alrighty, our number three of our radio program. That's right, it is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. Kevin Rae, the TV play-by-play man for the Suns, gonna join us coming up in about 20 minutes from now. You do have game number two between the Suns and the Clippers tonight. L.A. trying to take a 2-0 series lead. Suns trying to get this series tied up at one apiece before you go back to L.A. to go up against the Clippers. Alrighty, I gotta get into two things.

One we'll get to in just a second. And that's about what Von Miller had to say regarding DeAndre Hopkins. The other is Buckstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo is listed as doubtful for tomorrow's game two versus the Miami Heat. This is via the Miami Herald.

Now, Hickey, I've never felt more confident without having any inside information. But just following how this usually goes in the NBA. And I even said this last night when we were talking about the Knicks-Cav series. And you go, oh yeah, Josh Hart, who played well in game one, he's doubtful for game number two. And I go, whenever a player is listed as doubtful in the NBA, it seems like he always ends up playing. And Josh Hart, correct me if I'm wrong, he's playing tonight for the New York Knicks. Now, not saying that Josh Hart isn't a good player, because he is, but we know the impact is a lot more severe. Unless maybe if you ask Reggie Miller, who tried to tell you that Tyler Herro, who I saw today, would not be back until the earliest would be the NBA Finals, which the Heat won't get there. Where Reggie Miller is saying that Tyler Herro being out is more of an impact to the Heat than Giannis Antetokounmpo is to the Milwaukee Bucks, which I still don't get how you even claim that. But when it comes to Giannis Antetokounmpo, and you just see him listed as doubtful, and the MRI of the back comes back clean, I would be shocked.

If he doesn't at least give it a go tomorrow. And I think this is going to be another one of those things where a player is listed as doubtful and ends up playing. And I want to say it was two years ago, and I think the player was James Harden, who was like, he was doubtful, he was doubtful, he was doubtful.

And then he ended up playing those last, I want to say two games, or maybe even three, I forget if it was three, up against the Milwaukee Bucks. But whenever you see a player doubtful in the NBA, I am past the point of genuinely believing the injury report because of how many times a doubtful player ends up playing. And it's rarely in the NFL when you see a player that's listed as doubtful, do you see that player end up playing?

And there's usually a punitive action if you mislead on the injury report. But when it comes to the NBA, it seems like any time a player is listed as doubtful, he ends up playing. So I expect Giannis to play tomorrow, even though he's listed as doubtful.

I don't think this means anything when you see that come out a few moments ago. I'm with you, and I'm sure the Suns are thinking the same, excuse me, the Heat are thinking the same way we are. So it's like it's obviously a gamesmanship, oh, he's probably not going to play, don't prepare for him.

And I'm sure our exposure is sitting there saying, OK, well, we're going to draw up ten different defenses for Giannis. I agree, it's just stupid. And Spineless Silver will do nothing.

Because he does nothing. Especially now with gambling. Gambling your own money. But people do make bets now based on availabilities. And it's like if you are purposely misleading, to again get an advantage instead of just leaving it as questionable, I'm with you. This should not be allowed.

It shouldn't be. And I don't get how they list him as doubtful. And you know he's going to play. And it happens every year.

It goes to a point where you're immune to it. You see someone listed as doubtful. And I don't know how the NBA injury report works, to be fair.

Because I stopped caring when I asked before in years past, how is the player continuously getting listed as doubtful, and then ends up playing. And I forget which NBA reporter gave us the response when I asked it, because he kind of laughed and goes, yeah, you're exactly right. And then he was just talking in circles. And I'm like, okay, I need an ask. But I'm not even going to try to figure this one out. So. I think it's like if the game, I've got to double check, but if the game was today, would they play it?

Yes. And then there's another injury report that comes out tomorrow. So it's like, obviously, okay, if the game is today, but it's not. So why are you treating it like... It's stupid. I'm with you. It's stupid. It makes no sense.

So I'm not going to fall for it. Watch. He won't have to play tomorrow. But Giannis was supposed to miss.

Remember a few years ago? No one thought he was going to play Game 1 of the NBA Finals, and he plays Game 1 of the NBA Finals, and he was dominant. So it's like, what are we doing here? It's MB2, and he hurt his knee, and there's concern of, oh, is his knee going to be okay? And all of a sudden he comes out and drops like 40 points, and he's doing spin-o-ramas. Like, oh, this guy actually looks pretty good.

Okay. I was reading today that Von Miller said, I talked to Hopp talking about DeAndre Hopkins all the time. And it's kind of like the same thing with Odell, Miller said via the Buffalo News. I believe this is from Pro Football Talk. You just never know until you know, Hopp said. He wanted to be a Buffalo Bill, and you never know until you get that DeAndre Hopkins signature on a contract.

I'm not sure what the circumstances are or what's going on with that. But I would love to see DeAndre Hopkins be here, and I would love to have his skill set on our offense with Josh Allen and Staphon Diggs and Dawson Knox and Gabe Davis. So that was from Von Miller. I like that Von Miller actively recruits all these players. And I know that Hopkins, you have to trade for him. But if Buffalo, like Buffalo, I feel like we always talk about them as a trade destination. Remember there was that thought that Antonio Brown was going to wind up there, and it was reported by Ian Rapoport, and it was like, oh, AB's not going. Odell, that's all we heard. Odell to Buffalo, Odell to Buffalo.

Christian McCaffrey, because of the Brandon Bean connection. Oh, maybe run CMC to Buffalo. And they made a big trade in getting Staphon Diggs. But Staphon Diggs, the way we talk about him now was not the same way that we talked about him a few years ago, where it was like, OK, he's an in-betweener.

Like at times he looks like a number one, then other times he looks like a two, and then he goes to Buffalo and he turns out to be an absolute star. So we'll see if Buffalo is able to pull off the deal. But if I'm Buffalo at this point, why not? You've got to figure out how you make it work out from a salary cap standpoint. I haven't looked at that yet.

But it's really not going to cost you much. And if it ends up costing you more than what you would think, it's because it's by design because you had the Cardinals take back more money on the two years that are remaining on his contract. We talked about this the other day when Bryant McFadden and Brilliant Fashion had DeAndre Hopkins, based off his facial expression, give a team and then if he actually wanted to go there, the two teams that he positively reacted to, it wasn't the Patriots, it wasn't the Jets, it was the Bills, and it was the Kansas City Chiefs. Like if you're Buffalo, something is missing. And I know we talked about how in the trenches they could get tougher and they need more of a commitment to the run game as well to take a little bit off the plate of Josh Allen. But after last year being that first true year of it being Super Bowl or bus after establishing yourself as one of those contenders in the NFL, and you guys just got spanked around by the Bengals in that divisional round game in your own building, by the way, it's like you need a little extra jolt of energy. If you line up with Diggs, Gabe Davis and DeAndre Hopkins, like figure it out after there in terms of the touches and everyone should be willing to sacrifice to go win a championship. And you have Dawson Knox who's an underrated tight end as well and Josh Allen throwing the football. Sure, you still got to make stops defensively, but how do you stop that team in the red zone when you could use Josh Allen as a bulldozer to run, even though Brandon Bean doesn't want to do that until big moments in the year, and you line up in a red zone with Hop Davis, Diggs and Dawson Knox like hello. That would be some like they already have some offense, but that just gives them another force and another weapon to not make them an unstoppable force, but to make them a team that would be so difficult to defend. And why Hopkins would be a really good fit for Buffalo 2 is you watch last year, the Bills offense a lot of time was kind of all or nothing. Like they would go on, they would either rip off explosive plays, go on four or five play drives, chunk plays at a time right down the field, or they really would struggle to kind of put, you know, 10 play drives together.

Like they really do struggle at consistently being able to just say third and seven, third and seven, third and seven, convert, convert, convert. And a lot of that is the play calling, which has to improve. But also too, it's okay, Safon Diggs obviously main target, he's getting double teamed a lot.

There's really no one that consistently was able to emerge to be a security blanket. You bring DeAndre Hopkins in with those hands, not only now is he that third down weapon that you absolutely trust, but also now opens up single coverage for Safon Diggs a lot of the times too. So it makes your offense more consistent than last year was, it was a lot of all or nothing.

And when it's nothing, we saw in the playoff game, you're losing. And if I'm the Bills, I would kind of take the philosophy of what John Schneider has done for so many years in Seattle, I would be in on every deal. Now it doesn't mean you're going to get every deal, but I would seriously be in on every deal.

And you got to figure out if you could make it make sense from a dollar and cent standpoint. But at this rate with how you see the way that you could kind of maneuver around and restructure contracts and push money off to future years, avoidable years of the contract. I know Hopkins says he's not looking for a new deal now. Right now, I think the Bills, they have five million in cap space, but you could go find the way to make it work. And Kansas City's the other team.

But I'll also throw this out there, who's in a similar cap situation right now. Did you see that Michael Lombardi report? Now take it with a grain of salt a little bit, because when you talk about reporters, I take everything with a grain of salt unless in the NFL you are Jay Glazer, Peter King, Adam Schefter, Ian Rappaport, Tom Pelissero. Probably that's like the short list of the four, five, six guys.

And I'm sure there's like another guy or two that I'm leaving out. But Mike Lombardi said on the Lombardi line that Lamar Jackson requested the Ravens bring in wide receivers Odell Beckham and DeAndre Hopkins this offseason. Now, they already got Odell Beckham Jr.

If you're looking to smooth over the relationship with Lamar Jackson, like just bringing in Odell probably doesn't do it for me, because there's still a big gamble on what Odell is now in the year of 2023. Like last time we saw him on the field, he was a productive piece with the Rams. He caught a touchdown in the Super Bowl, like he was playing well in a role that he wasn't really brought in for, because they had Robert Woods at the time, then Woods gets hurt right after Odell signs there.

You had Cooper Cup who's having an all-time great year. So Odell coming off the injury, like we haven't seen him play in a year. And you don't know how many more injuries he's going to suffer, and he's suffered a lot of injuries, but he's not a number one wide receiver anymore. He's not a great wide receiver anymore. But Hopkins, even with missing six games because of suspension, the numbers don't lie. He's still a great wide receiver.

When he plays an entire season, he's still a top five receiver easily with how loaded the wide receivers are in the NFL. And if you're Lamar, it's one thing to get Odell. You then get DeAndre Hopkins. It's like how many years did we sit there and did we beg and implore the Ravens to go get Lamar a number one wide receiver? You then get a number one wide receiver, a really good number two wide receiver, and if Bateman can develop and you have Mark Andrews, then Lamar, even though Hopkins only on a two year deal, Odell, the contract's one year for 15 million worth up to 18. Not that those guys are locked in long term, but then the organization asks everything you did. I know he still wants the guaranteed deal, you would think, but he's not going to get it. You come down off that asking price, 200 million guaranteed, and you get that deal ironed on out. But you haven't really heard much about the Ravens and Hopkins. You think Hopkins gets moved at the draft next week?

I do. It's been such a buildup. And that's where usually deals get done.

It's like an unofficial informal deadline. I think so. And also, I would say three other players to watch out for. Not that this is Ravens related, but I do think you got to look out for a potential Austin Eckler deal. Galvin Cook as well. And there's been some talks that maybe could just be outright released. And the same for Joe Mixon. I think if any of those three players plus Hopkins get traded in the draft, it may be multiple.

I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest. It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. So we got hoops going on right now. Two games underway. And at halftime or this game's already in the third quarter, third quarter just got started. The Celtics are up 66 to 51 up against the Hawks. 9.20 remaining in the second quarter. Cavs up 25 to 24 up against the Knicks. And coming up later tonight at two, a little under two hours from now.

Almost at the top of the hour, but it's at 10 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. Pacific. It's the Clippers and the Suns. And the man that's going to be doing the play-by-play for the Suns on their local TV network is Kevin Ray. He will join us on the other side when the Zach Gelb show does return in five minutes.

Donate today at your local CSL Plasma Center and be rewarded for your generosity. You're listening to the Zach Gelb show. That's right, it is the Zach Gelb show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. Game number two between the Clippers and Suns coming up later tonight at 10 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. Pacific. The Suns are in an 0-1 hole.

We'll see if they can tie things up before this series does shift to L.A. And now joining us is the TV play-by-play man for the Phoenix Suns. And that, of course, is Kevin Ray, who once again joins us right now on the Zach Gelb show. Kevin, appreciate the time. How are you? I'm great.

Thanks for the invite as always. So let's go back to game one. It was a sluggish start for the Suns before they eventually made it a game. What type of effort do you expect early from the Suns tonight in game number two?

Well, it's not too much what I expect. It's what has to happen, which is, you know, you've got to come out with a lot sharper focus, certainly a lot more physicality, and, you know, better execution. You know, and that's exactly what, you know, Ty Lue had said about an hour and a half before tip-off in game one, you know, knowing that they were a little undermanned, missing Paul George. And he just said, you know, we've got to come out, set the tone, be physical, and attack.

And that's exactly what they did. And, you know, the Suns were playing in a hole for much of the entire first half, got themselves kind of corrected a little bit. But, you know, you do that and you expend a lot of energy and you also allow the other team to build up a little confidence. And I thought that's what, you know, what played its hand in the Clippers coming away with a victory. It was surprising how flat the Suns were right out of the gate. Just wondering, what was the vibe like in the arena a few minutes right before tip-off?

What the expectations are with the Suns of being very high this year? I mean, you know, if you're talking about the crowd, the crowd came ready to play. I mean, the crowd was amped up, you know, 45, 50 minutes before tip-off. So, the crowd came with their A game and, you know, like you say, for whatever reason, and Monty Williams acknowledged it at practice yesterday that, you know, it just came out slow. The ball wasn't popping around the floor the way that, you know, that they wanted and needed it to. And we've seen it do so in the past.

You know, and that happens from time to time. You just don't expect it or anticipate it in Game 1 of the playoffs. Kevin Ray here with us. So, Russell Westbrook in Game 1 has the greatest 3 of 19 performance you'll ever see just because of the hustle plays at the end of the game. It's kind of bizarre to ask you how they're going to contain Russell Westbrook because the stats were so horrendous, but how do they try to out-hustle Russ at the end of the game? Well, you said it.

That's the key word. You know, you have to hustle and look, it should come as no surprise and it's certainly no secret as to who Russ is and what Russ has been, you know, throughout his career. It's one of the things that I have always admired and respected about Russell Westbrook. And, you know, you can say about, you know, his shooting performances and, you know, talk about the kind of the failed experiment with the team down the hall, the Lakers.

You know, I think there was shared responsibility on both sides. But look, you know, Tyloo has done for Russ exactly what should have happened in L.A., which is just go be Russ. You know, we're not going to try to change who you are.

We still respect and appreciate all the qualities that you bring to the game. And I'm not going to get hung up on a three of 19. And yeah, there's moments in a game where I'm sure Tyloo will cringe from time to time at the turnovers. But, you know, from start to finish, Russell Westbrook is going to come 100 miles an hour.

And if you are the opposing team and you don't account for that, then shame on you, because it's like I say, it's no secret. Do you put a lot of that emphasis in terms of trying to out hustle Russ on DeAndre Ayton just because he was getting rebounds down low late in that game? Well, it's not just on DeAndre Ayton. Look, DeAndre has got his own big man that he's got to account for. And whether it was, you know, Plumlee or Evita Zubats, who had a double double, mind you, at halftime. So I don't put Russ's ability to grab off into rebounds solely on DeAndre Ayton.

And we saw a situation, Tory Craig even acknowledged, you know, he didn't get a body on him soon enough. Devin Booker didn't block out a couple of times. So when it comes to Russ, that's not on D.A.

D.A. has got his responsibility with the two bigs, who both had double figure rebounding. You know, it's on the perimeter guys to account for where Russell Westbrook is. And yes, he is an absolute tornado.

So you've got to have your head on a swivel and recognize real quickly, you know, where he is coming from on the floor. Kevin Ray here with us, the Suns TV play-by-play man. Covering it from afar, last year when the series ended in the second round and it was embarrassing for the Suns. I thought that was going to be it for DeAndre Ayton and Phoenix. We know he gets the contract. But even when he got the contract, some of the conversation was once the deadline did go past, maybe he ends up getting traded so they get more back for him. After seeing how this year's played out, where's that relationship at with Monty Williams and DeAndre Ayton? Oh, I think the relationship with D.A. and Monty is just fine. Look, they've gone through, you know, the offseason, they've gone through an entire regular season.

There are no issues in regards to the relationship. You know, their only focus, both Coach Williams and DeAndre Ayton, is how we correct the issues from Game 1 and get a win here in Game 2 tonight. Kevin Ray, going to the locker room, I saw the interaction that Russell Westbrook had with the fan and then I saw a good local TV report explaining that that is a shortcut. Why don't they just make the players go the normal way? Because bringing players in a playoff series right in that lounge with the fans, it just is asking for problems for me. You're right, but look, as we all know, you know, players can be strong-willed and they can be determined and they can kind of have their own mindset. And as many, you know, assistant coaches and security personnel as you have, it's a little bit like herding cats, man.

So, you would think, and I'm sure at this point now, that everybody will be on high alert. It's one of those unfortunate things that happened. From what I gather, it sounds like and looks like that it was initiated by that fan, which is unfortunate because, you know, we don't want one fan to give the rest of the fans here in Phoenix a black eye. Russ is the guy who has squared off with many fans because, and look, I'm in Russ's corner here. You know, it's often time we see it in social media.

Everybody's brave behind their social media or email, or in this case, from the safety of their seat. But when a player kind of stands up and draws the line, everybody shrinks and gets a little quiet. So, I would just remind fans, you know, be loud, you know, be passionate, but don't be disrespectful because you've just given yourself, your team a bad name. This has been a topic of conversation and I kind of roll my eyes at it ever since game one. People are pointing out that Kevin Durant has not won a playoff game since that heroic game five performance up against the Bucks when he was in Brooklyn in 2021. He played great in that Bucks series last year. He did not play great up against the Celtics, but they didn't really have a shot. Has that been a topic of conversation locally in Phoenix that it's been a while for Kevin Durant winning a playoff game?

I mean, it's only been a, you know, a minimal source of discussion. Really, the main focus has been the slow start that KD got off to, you know, didn't score in the first quarter. And then the very few touches that he had there in those final six or seven minutes. And I would fully expect that to be, you know, corrected in the Suns to counter with that. I do think that it does speak to some degree, just the little body of work and time that this collective group had in the eight games. And then you factor in, you know, in those eight games only once were they really challenged where they had to execute down the last three or four minutes. And that was on the road against Dallas. And, you know, KD ends up hitting the eventual game winner.

So I think that there are a few things that played a role in that. Look, his past shortcomings with his other teams, there's nothing they can do about that. Right now, it's looking back, examining the things they can correct from Game 1. And I fully expect both he and the Suns to do that tonight. I don't think this was a bold take, but heading into the playoffs, I know it was only eight regular season games.

And now it's a ninth total game when you add in the one postseason game from Game 1. I thought this is a championship year or bust for the Suns ever since adding KD. Do you think it's fair to put that title on it and that tag on it even with Durant barely having a lot of time to gel a mesh with his new teammates? No, not at all.

Because you look at the core. Kevin Durant still has three years left on his deal. It's not a situation like they're dealing with in Dallas with Kyrie Irving, who is a free agent. You know, they know they've got KD for the next three seasons. Yes, I don't think it's any secret that this team will likely look different, could be significantly different next year. But you've got Devin Booker, you've got DeAndre Ayton, you've got Kevin Durant, a couple of other pieces under contract. So, yes, you certainly put your eggs in the basket from the standpoint of you pull the trigger on this deal. You loved it to win the championship this year.

But by no means, if they do come up short, do you say, oh, well that was a failed experiment and now we've got to hit the full reset button here. Chris Paul about to turn 38 coming up early next month. How much longer do you think he'll play in the NBA?

That's a great question. Chris obviously missed a bunch of games early in the season, so it has minimized his usage rate. I think that both Chris and the Suns will sit down and examine how they finished and how he can best serve this organization. He has a couple of years left on his deal. Of course, next year there is an opportunity.

It's not fully guaranteed, but I don't think either side is looking at making a decision anytime soon with Chris. He's still playing at a high level. Yes, he struggled in Game 1, but this is a guy that can still get it done and I would expect him to the rest of the series. Wrapping up with Kevin Ray, the TV play-by-play man for the Suns.

Game 2 tonight, Suns and Clippers. You've been around this team for a long time. We know they were up 2-0 in the finals, weren't able to finish off the Bucs last year. The disaster performance late in that series up against Dallas, now being back in the playoffs.

What do you think this team is at from a mental standpoint? It's interesting because that loss the other night was the first Game 1 loss that this small collective. There have been several new faces on this team from that club that advanced to the finals a couple of years ago, but it's the first game that they have lost. First Game 1 that Devin Booker and De'Andre Ayton and Chris Paul together have lost.

They're coming at it from a different mindset and who knows, maybe that will be the difference this year versus jumping out the 2-0 series lead, which we've seen them do and falter the last couple of seasons. Kawhi is going to get his. We all know what he's done in his playoff career and what he's done in this league. He's going to get his even more with Paul George being out what it looks like for the entirety of this series. Do you just kind of say, okay, Kawhi is going to get his number and just if it's in that 30 range, it is what it is? Or do you think there's a way that they could do a better job up against Kawhi Leonard than what we saw in Game 1? Well, I think when you examine the numbers from Kawhi, there were a number of those shots that were just tough shots, well defended. That's Kawhi.

So I still think at the end of the day, you'd love to try to make it a little more challenging for him. You'd also like to think that a few of those shots that he made in Game 1, he might not make in Game 2. But as strong as Kawhi was, I thought really kind of the difference makers was Ari Gordon. He got up to a hot start. I think he scored 10 of his 19 in the first quarter and hit two of his threes in that first quarter. And what that does when you've got a superstar like Kawhi, it puts him at ease because he feels like, okay, I don't need to take over early.

I don't feel like I've got to take care of these guys. And so it affords them kind of a chance to be a little more balanced. And then Evita Zubats came out and set the tone early on the glass. And then Norman Powell played like Norman Powell has been for the last couple of weeks. So as great as Kawhi was, I look at the performances of Ari Gordon and Norman Powell as two big catalysts. And then you throw in Mason Plumlee's 11 rebounds.

So those are the guys that, you know, they're not going to grab the headlines. But to me, that combined with Russ's just ferocity in that last five minutes proved to be the difference. Last thing I'll ask you, so you've fallen in the league for a long time. I'm sure you saw what happened last night was the bonus in Draymond.

Just how did you process it? I just saw Shams tweeted out that Draymond's not expected to get suspended for game number three. Yeah, and he shouldn't be. Look, I thought that the penalties, the infractions that were given last night were justified. I do believe that the bonus was in the wrong. If you look at that, you know, I've watched the replay like most of you have a dozen different times from about 12 different angles. And it is pretty obvious to me that the bonus, you know, took some contact from Klay, maybe, you know, marginally a flop there. As he falls, there was a little bit of a body collision and he reaches up and he grabs the ankle of Draymond Green. You can't do that, you know, and it's one thing if you're protecting yourself. If you're protecting yourself, you know, you're covering your face and your head.

You don't reach up and lock onto something. So Draymond trying to break free, but you can't do the WWE stomp in the process of trying to shake free. So, you know, both sides got penalized, but I'm happy that he's not going to be suspended. I know that there was a lot of feeling like his past history, you know, should have been factored in and should have kicked him out.

But I don't believe that that should have been the case and I'm glad that won't be the case. Yeah, you could break free and you should try to break free, but to me that was definitely intentional last night on that stomp. Oh, absolutely. Yeah.

I don't know if there's any question about that. When you see Draymond as he kind of looks down and is like, oh, there is a human underneath me. I think I'm just going to raise that knee just a little bit and bring the WWE stomp down on him. Kevin Ray, have a great call tonight at the Footprint Center. We appreciate the time. Thank you. You got it, my man.

Thanks for the invite. You're listening to The Zach Gelb Show. Hey, hey, hey, hey. Three nothing for the Rangers in the second. Got to love it. Absolutely love it.

It's allowed to scream. I've been nervous all day. I don't know about you, Hickey, playoff hockey just takes a different level out of you. Like the build up to the game is just so ridiculous because, you know, when you watch playoff hockey, it's the most nervous that you get, in my opinion, in any sport.

It's just so many different emotions because of how quickly the game can change. And this game is far from over. I range up three nothing against the Devils with 259 to go in the second period. But like last night, you look at some of those games just to start off the postseason and the first two games like they were fine games.

Right. Hurricanes win. Law offensive game 2-1. Hurricanes get two power play goals. Bruins win 3-1.

Expected. But then the Wild beat in the Stars in double overtime in Kings Oilers. Now imagine being an Oilers fan today. I know it's only one game and you're down 0-1 in the series, but you think you scored the game winning goal and then it gets waved off.

And the next thing you know, the Kings end up getting a goal in overtime to take the 1-0 series lead and go up and win that game by a score of 4-3. Like when you look at all the playoffs, I don't know where you stand on this one. If I had to rank just a 5, playoff hockey, March Madness, NBA, MLB, and NFL, I would rank it playoff hockey 1. I think the environment of playoff hockey is second to none, especially when you're in the building for one of these games. And you take a glance and you take a look around and every year it seems like you could be president's trophy winner and then you don't find a way to even get to the cup final or win it all. Like Boston this year. Most wins in NHL history. Most points in NHL history. We'll see if they get to the cup final and win it all.

Clearly they're expected to do so. But it was a few years ago, Commissioner Bettman even said this the other day and he's exactly right. Tampa Bay had the most points, president's trophy winner, and they get swept to the first round.

I remember they released that letter and then they went on that run where it was starting to look like it was going to be a dynasty and they ended up winning two cups. But playoff hockey to me is number one. Two would be March Madness because it's so quick. It's that three-week stretch and sometimes the final four championship game could be a dud. And I'm not saying that was the case this year because you did have that great ending between FAU and San Diego State on the game-winning shot. But you look at the two-week stretch that we went through with a 16 beat and a 1, a 15 for the third straight year beat and a 2. You then found the way to even have Furman win a 13 beat and a 4. And you see a school like FAU has a 9 get to the final four.

And what was it? It was then also two fives and a four, I believe. Or is it two fours and fives, whatever it was. It was just crazy when you look back at this year's March Madness. Then three for me would be NFL. If you listen to this show, you know that's my favorite sport. But the wildcard round, sometimes it gets a little bit sloppy. Divisional round, always great. But I do like this new wildcard setup, which I did not think I would like. And I don't think they should have added the two extra wildcard teams, but it's ended up working. Then after that, I would say Major League Baseball. It's also very quick too, which I do like.

You get that over in a month. I do like the format, even with the change. Actually, excuse me. I don't like the new format. I like the old format. But when you get into this new format, the wildcard being the best of three, then the divisional round still being the best of five is good. And it also got me thinking, I don't know where you stand on this one, but a friend said this to me the other day and I thought it was a brilliant idea to shift back. Kind of feel like this first round of the NBA playoff should be a best of five.

Especially how long it takes. You have like two, three days off, sometimes three in between games. I would be a fan of seeing these, and I don't love the playing tournament. And I think it's worked because you got big stars in it. But if I was Adam Silver, and he won't do this, I'd make the first round best of five. But that's how I'd rank it. I go playoff hockey one, March Madness two, NFL playoffs three, Major League Baseball four. And I also like I hate kind of putting Major League Baseball at four because it's always so entertaining.

But I just think the other three are better. And then for me, it's the NBA five. We've had some great finals, especially in my lifetime. But how long it takes, and I'll sometimes, and it may not be the case this year, at least in the Western Conference, but in the East, does anyone expect really when you look at the Eastern Conference like Celtics Hawks to be much of a series? I know that he took a 1-0 series lead. We'll see if Giannis plays in game two. I know he's listed as doubtful.

I think he will. Let's see if the Heat can take down the Bucks, but it's a few times where you do see the 8th beat of one. It's like hockey where it feels like the division winners or the top seeds they lose all the time.

Cavs, Knicks, you know, I think will be a good series. The West is a little bit more competitive, but a lot of times you look at the first round, it's like, ah, it doesn't feel like the playoffs are actually starting. So that's how I'd rank them, one through five. Stanley Cup one in playoff hockey, March Madness two. And I would, last year if I did this, I'd probably put the NFL two. But after more thoughts, I go March Madness two, NFL three, Major League Baseball four, and then the NBA five. How do you rank them?

Do you go the same way? No, I would put March Madness number one. I think it's the three best weeks in sports.

It's tremendous. With all the games, all the uncertainty, the upsets, hockey right there, number two playoff hockey. I would put baseball at number three. Over football, wow. Yes, oh yeah. I think baseball is a tremendous postseason.

Like you said, I think it's a great point you made. It's a month. It's fast.

You get, what, now four series? Which is ironic. Go, go, go, which is nice. Which is ironic because I know the pitch clock makes it a little bit different. But how many conversations have we had about the attention span just not being there for baseball? And then when you look at the postseason, outside of March Madness, because it's just a totally different structure, it's the quickest postseason that there is out of the major sports. And there's true tension on every pitch.

Doesn't matter if it's the first thing. It's like you can't recreate that thing in almost any sport. Like there is legitimate tension. I would go NFL four, NBA five. Real quickly, it is a good point you bring up on Major League Baseball. Because in football, you could kind of see a comeback coming. And let's say playoff hockey, it just comes out of nowhere as well. But for Major League Baseball, you truly don't know what's going to happen on each and every pitch. There's like no guide.

There's no formula. There's no playbook. And we've seen games that go to like 18, 19 innings and then it ends in some crazy way. Like you look at all those years ago with Aaron Boone and what he did, who had Aaron Boone having a walk-off home run up against Tim Wakefield, and also had the Red Sox choked and collapsed in that game, the great little decision. It's like the game could change so quickly and you never see it coming where you do see a little bit of a buildup in football. You could see momentum or sense momentum, even though it comes out of nowhere shifting though in hockey. March Madness, you know basketball, and this also goes to the NBA, it's a game of runs as well.

And even if a team gets off to a good start, you probably know the final three, four minutes is going to be a competitive game. For baseball, it just comes out of nowhere. And you can't even see it coming from a mile away with Major League Baseball. Beyond predictability, who would have thought we'd see the Phillies in the World Series after being the last team in?

They were great, so it's tremendous. And I don't love the new format necessarily in baseball. I thought with the two wildcards, it was working perfectly with the wildcard, the one game and all that. But with the changes, I do think it's fine compared to where the playing tournament, outside of them just getting big stars, it has never resonated with me. Like I will say, when I did attend Padres-Mets last year in those wildcard rounds, those games were intense. It's like the playing tournament, you win, okay, you're in. If you lose, you still have a chance. Outside, if you're a 9-10, I'm talking about more from a 7-8 perspective, it doesn't seem like the same intensities there in the playing tournament as... Not that it's exactly a playing tournament, but you are basically playing to get into the divisional round when you look at the new Major League Baseball setup as well.

Alrighty, this is Zach Gelb's show on CBS Sports Radio. And I saw that Gary Bettman in another radio interview yesterday said they wouldn't consider doing a playing tournament for hockey and I think that's great. Eight teams in the East, eight teams in the West, you have 32 teams in the league. That also helps. Sometimes these leagues just have too many teams that end up getting into the playoffs. Or they keep on trying to add incentives for teams that aren't in the top eight to find a way to get into the playoffs as well. Take a timeout, we'll come on back, we'll talk Draymond Green next. At your local CSL Plasma Center and be rewarded for your generosity.