This is the Dan Levatorre Show with the Stugatz Podcast. Really interesting to see how torn everyone seems about who's going to win these two championships. You look at ESPN, they had 24 people pick Carolina-Vegas, 12-12. Everybody I talked to Yeah, I kind of think the Knicks have a real good shot because if they make 18 threes and a half like they did against Philadelphia, they can beat anybody on the days that they're making all of their threes. Obviously, I had a couple of quibbles with some of the stuff that Nick Wright said that I didn't get to. One of the things that he, uh, is saying while correctly talking about this stretch of Knicks basketball is 11 games— it's not just postseason, it's the best 11 games of basketball statistically anybody has ever played, regular season, pro season anytime. And so of course that's something that anyone is going to notice, but they are doing it against what I could argue are 3 worse teams than any of the ones that San Antonio just played. I could put Portland in that conversation with the Atlantas and the Clevelands and the broken Philadelphia 76ers, uh, but I can certainly put Minnesota and OKC as a level of opponent that is realms beyond anybody that the Knicks have beaten.
Everything Nick was saying about the Knicks is correct, alright? But I look at the— like, which is more impressive? The Knicks winning 11 in a row and murdering teams, buster teams, or what San Antonio just did where they manhandled Minnesota after Game 1 and they beat the Thunder in 7? So while they didn't put up the type of numbers the Knicks did, uh, isn't what Oklahoma City did more impressive?
Well, this is a weird thing that I'm about to say, Zazz, which is I believe the Knicks toughest opponent was the first one they faced. I believe the way Atlanta was playing after the trades in the second half of the season, the way their wings are that athletic, that they're young, and you saw how that series went, like it was closer than the other games because Atlanta had a lot of things, uh, youth, athleticism, uh, that, you know, Cleveland felt like it, what it just didn't have when James Harden was the centerpiece of what too much of what they were doing.
I think they broke the soul of the Cleveland Cavaliers. I think the Cavs are the best team that they've played so far. But after that 20-point up and down and all of a sudden the game is over and you're like, you're looking up the score like, how did the Knicks win? They took their soul.
It was over. Like, let me ask you something. Who do you think— and it doesn't have to be a team that New York played— who do you think was the second best team in the Eastern Conference playoffs? I mean, team that played the best in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Well, played the best.
Second best.
The reason the question's hard to answer is because if you give me healthy Embiid, who hasn't played for several months, that's a very difficult team to play. But if it's all of a sudden Embiid's got to play 5 games in 10 days and and he's all broken by the end of the playoffs because his body can't withstand any of it. It makes, it makes it very hard to answer that question, especially with the way that Boston played.
Because my, my answer would be Orlando. Like, like, they were up 3-1 on Detroit. They were playing great. Those games that Orlando played and was up 3 games to 1, that was the second-best performance in the Eastern Conference. And that's who we're comparing the Knicks to against San Antonio. And you see who they had to go through in the Western Conference. Like, that's the point I'm trying to make.
I do wonder, I really do though, the worst game the Knicks played against the Cavs was the first one. They got a bunch of rest. Jokic has said, don't give me a lot of rest, I want to roll through this. And so what you have happening tonight is, uh, I think Nick's analysis on Game 1 is that San Antonio is going to fold up because they're tired and that was a really hard series. But I think New York not playing this long, when you are a team that relies that heavily on the threes, the shooting goes. And if they get— obviously obviously behind by 22 points against the Spurs in the fourth quarter with 8 minutes left. It's not going to go the same way that it went against the Cavs.
You gotta miss me with the tired stuff. They played Saturday, they got home Saturday night, today's Wednesday. They're a young team. What, tired? Come on, miss me with the tired.
I mean, Nick brought it up, but you look at Wemby's numbers rebounding the ball, and the first couple of games he had 24, then 17, and then he only had a double-digit rebound once after that. So like you wear Wemby down, he's not going to go for boards as much as he usually does. He's going to float out into the perimeter. But if you look at what the Knicks were able to do off— okay, so they sweep the Sixers, they come in, and then they, they're down 20 early, but then all of a sudden completely come back and then take over the series. Like, they're already used to playing this style, which is, all right, we've had a week of rest, we've already swept, this is normal.
The thing for the Knicks that gives them an advantage offensively against San Antonio is the fact that KAT plays on the perimeter, but some of what Oklahoma City did to wear down San Antonio that you're talking about is being super physical with him, with Isaiah Hardenstein and other guys in the paint. That's going to be up to Mitchell Robinson.
Like, questionable minutes matter.
Questionable.
He's playing the finger.
Is it his finger? It's not really his finger, right?
It's not technically his pinky, but it's his fifth metatarsal down here, which didn't happen in a game or a practice.
Where does the finger end and the hand start, Dan?
Have you guys seen this guy, uh, shoot free throws? It doesn't matter if he has hands. He could be that ticketed one-armed woman that he doesn't need his hands for anything.
Why not a paper hanger?
He's right about that.
That kind of thing.
Morally Abhorrent makes its return. Uh, World Cup is a week away, and, uh, 4 years ago we had a podcast soccer series that was just, man, all of this is unethical, enjoy your soccer. And so Morally Abhorrent is going to make its return, uh, in the post-game show today. And, uh, I don't know Do you know this defender for Wellington Phoenix named Tim Payne? Have you heard what's going on with him?
I have not.
Oh, I thought we might have. You went to the microphone as his inner monolog and didn't know what you were going to say. He was going to support that you knew, and we all thought you knew, but you have no idea what I'm talking about right now. The most anonymous player in the World Cup has now developed quite the following out of nowhere.
Yeah, how would I know that?
Well, this is a really cool story. There's a really influential soccer personality out of Argentina that set out on a mission. Let us find the most anonymous player in the World Cup and let's turn this player into an overnight sensation. I like it. And so this influencer settled on Tim Payne, who's had a career that has seen him go around a lot of clubs. He actually plays every position on the pitch. He's a very versatile player. He even played for Portland Timbers too. Not the Portland Timbers, their secondary squad. He had about 4,000 followers on Instagram and seemingly overnight, this is what his follower count is now. 4.7 million. He's become an absolute sensation. There are Spanish songs about him. There are murals. They played last night at Inter Miami's new stadium, new stadium against Haiti. Haiti looked pretty good. By the way, if you want to head over to the DraftKings Sports app now live in all 50 states and put a little quid on Scotland finishing last in that group, it might be worth it. Haiti in the United States, they're a tough out. We learned from CONCACAF. But either way, Tim Payne was a part of this New Zealand squad.
He is now a hugely famous dude. Inter Miami used his likeness to say, hey, Tim Payne is playing in Miami tonight. Come out and watch Tim Payne versus Haiti. The All Blacks of New Zealand, the rugby team, is super popular, right?
Yep.
The All Whites of New Zealand, the soccer team, not as popular. Tim Payne has more of a social following than the national rugby team of New Zealand, to put that in perspective. And this was all largely driven in South America. So here is Tim Payne trying through some Spanish to thank his newly found Spanish audience for this fame.
Hola a todos. Muchas gracias por todo el apoyo. Disculpen mi español, sigo practicando el Duolingo. Just want to say a massive thank you first to you, Valen. It's been a pretty crazy 48 hours, to say the least. I just wanted to also express that I'm very grateful to be representing my country at this World Cup, and I appreciate all the love from all around the world. Mucho gracias.
Okay.
A valiant effort, but I have to correct this poor man. He meant to say thank you for all the support, but instead he said thank you for all the chicken.
Yeah, I caught that.
No.
Yeah, I caught that. Apoyo is support. Pollo is chicken. And his Spanish, he's trying, but he just said— he just told Argentina thank you for the chicken.
Yeah. How do you like fame now, Tim Payne? This is what it's like. One mistake, you're done. Dan's going to jump all over you.
So I got a question. So respect to Tim Payne. So he sucks, right?
Yeah.
He's not a good player.
I mean, respect though.
Respectfully.
He's a national team player for New Zealand. Not a great soccer country, but he's, you know, he's a pro.
But he hasn't really had success on the club level.
No, like the whole— he thanked the influencer by name. The whole mission was to find the most anonymous dude playing in this World Cup.
Gotcha.
So when Inter Miami says, hey, come watch Tim Payne at the new stadium, you're coming to watch a guy who's like not that good, but you're going to watch a celebrity.
And we're living in a culture that is so driven by celebrity that celebrities go into politics successfully now. So yeah, he's become a huge sensation. So much so that sportsbooks out there have Tim Payne-specific props.
Take the under.
Probably. They know people are suckers.
I'll tell you something. If I, if I had 4,000 followers on Instagram, and I woke up the next morning and I had 4.7 million, I don't think I would like that.
I— yeah, it's crazy. Life-changing. It's a sensation. Has got to be a whirlwind.
And too many people watching me now.
What happened, guys?
What did people see? Yeah, I don't think I'd like it.
There's so much money involved. The guy doesn't have to do anything. Play soccer for the rest of his life. He's got 4.7 million followers. Go to brands and be like, hey, this is what I got.
What's up?
Oh yeah, we'll pay you $50 million.
But what, what Zaz is speaking to, if you went to sleep at night and had 4,000 followers and then woke up in the morning without a panic attack, without checking the news, without checking anything, and just saw that it was at 4.7 million, you would think that the internet had gotten a hold of some sort of shame of yours there. You, you'd have some fear about how is it that this escalated. You think you'd wake up and say, you know what, I think the internet is feeling kind and bountiful today, or because the internet is made for snarky cruel would you immediately assume, "Oh my God, is my greatest secret that is the most shameful out in public right now?" You can go the other way, like, "Am I dating Kim Kardashian?
What happened?" Like, Tony, you'd wake up in the morning, you'd be like, "Oh nice, they finally discovered me." Yeah, absolutely.
I'd call an ad agency the second I wake up.
Tony wakes up and goes, "Bout time." That is what Tony would do.
He would wake up and be like, "Finally." I'd make like 4 or 5 calls.
One of them would be to Dan.
Funny what happened to me overnight. I suddenly discovered, uh, everyone, the world suddenly discovered, uh, everything I've known about myself, which is that I deserve the millions of followers.
I don't know about deserve, but gotta wanna learn, gotta wanna earn.
Exactly.
Well put.
Thank you.
Yeah. Summer always hits different once the big games start stacking up. Now you've got finals games on every other night, baseball's rolling all week, racing on the weekends, and suddenly everybody's looking for an excuse to get together. The other night, a buddy texted me, "We've got the game on, come through." I figured I'd stop by for maybe an hour. That was optimistic. Next thing you know, everybody's locked into the game and we're all part of the coaching staff. Somebody's yelling at the ref, somebody else is suddenly an expert on pitch strategy, and nobody's even pretending they're leaving early anymore. It's one of those nights where you take a sip of Miller Lite, look around, and realize, yeah, this is exactly what summer is supposed to be. That's why Miller Lite is always part of these nights for me. It's clean, refreshing, easy to drink when it's hot outside, and perfect for long nights hanging with friends watching games. An all-American summer starts with an all-American beer, Miller Lite. Go to MillerLite.com/Dan to find delivery options near you, or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. It's Miller time. Celebrate responsibly.
Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.
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Don Lebatard!
A woman who was out swimming with her friends is believed to have been swallowed whole by a 13-foot shark without any of her friends noticing. Hmm. That's the weirdest part about that story. You're swimming with friends, you're having a good time, and then all of a sudden people are looking around, go, "Where's Shelley?" Like, nobody screamed.
Every friend group has a Shelley though, that if they go missing because a shark ate them whole, you wouldn't notice. Classic Shelley.
Exactly right.
Stugatz.
She went quietly apparently. If I'm swallowed whole by a shark, you're gonna know it.
This is the Dan Levatar Show with the Stugatz.
By the way, there's no— is there any shame that would instantly get you 4.7 million? I don't think even that would happen.
Well, I— what I remember, and there's actually a book written about this, there was a woman who took a flight, I believe it was to either Africa or South Africa, and when she— before she got on the flight, she made some sort of racist AIDS joke, and by the time she landed where she was, her life had been ruined. Like, she lost her job, and, uh, it was sort of a tipping point on people recognizing our addiction to, uh, to the internet makes it— and our addiction to the internet and the intoxicant that is dunking on people, which is— feels like the internet is for, like, where and how can I be funny, uh, about this?
Well, but what I can't understand is Normally you lose followers by controversy and shame. Normally you don't gain followers because of that.
Right, a little further away. This is so far a nice story.
So far.
So congrats to Tim Payne until they go after your greatest shame and then we will laugh at you and chew you apart.
Greg, infamous also works. Notoriety also works. It's not— there, I don't think there are a whole lot of people on the internet that it's just like, hey, you're 100% positive. In fact, who is that person? Give me the person that, that you believe is, uh, the most positively popular on social media where it's just all applause and what they're getting from the internet is not an assortment of jokes at their expense about their eyebrows. Jeremy, can you look up for me please who would be the most anonymous player in baseball if we were to try and start some sort of campaign that, uh, and— tried to get the most anonymous player in baseball the pain treatment.
I had a feeling that you might bring me here, and I'm very excited about this because I have a perfect pitch. Daniel Lynch IV. Now, he's leading the Royals in ERA and in holds, but he's a left-handed reliever. He's the first player ever to wear IV on the back of his uniform. The first fourth. Okay?
Okay.
But his name is Daniel Lynch IV, and he plays for the last-place Kansas City Royals. He's a reliever. Doesn't have any saves. He's just leading the team in holds. How do we feel about Daniel Lynch IV? He has 5,000 followers. Do you need me to find somebody else? Do we like Daniel Lynch IV?
No, keep looking.
Left-handed reliever for the Royals? That's not random enough.
That's pretty good. Yes, it's, it's plenty random.
That's my guy.
But we need the most anonymous. All right, I'm on it.
He's got too much flavor with the 4 on the back of the jersey since the first one ever.
We can't have that. No, that's fair.
I just need someone who's not going to get sent down.
Yeah, I don't think it can be a guy leading in holds or anything like that. I think it needs to be the last guy on the bench who all season long has played in one game and had two pinch hits.
Today's Chris Aguila.
Just a guy who rarely plays, and if he does, he barely gets—
No, what Jeremy is saying, he doesn't want to find someone who could get, you know, uh, options at AAA, right? Needs to be someone who is on the team.
I want to get, uh, for a second to this Mitchell Robinson stuff because the Knicks are super healthy this basketball season. I mean, you've heard me say before, a broken sport is breaking its players. Like, physical act of playing basketball led to so many injuries this year that it becomes clear that the tissue and the people that are this size, the game is being played in a way that just breaks the bodies. Mitchell Robinson is their big— the Knicks' big health problem. And as Tony mentioned, it's not his pinky, it's the back of the hand. And Windhorst was saying on ESPN, it's known as a boxer's fracture because most of the time it means that you, you hit something and In 184 minutes of action this postseason, he's collected 40% of the available offensive rebounds. It's a rate that would lead the league in regular season and playoffs. He's a beast. And I told you, like, he does things to Mobley and Jared Allen that reduces that team to we've got to count on Harden. And he's got a, a broken hand essentially. And I'm legitimately asking you guys, What do you think it's going to do to Mitchell Robinson's game?
Because I don't think his hands have much of anything to do with how he gets offensive rebounds. I think everything there is physical, it's physical, and he's using just about everything except his hands. But it seems to me like it would be really tough to play basketball at the highest level with a broken hand, even if offensively all you're being asked to do is Jalen Brunson is going to lob it up at the basket and you have to dunk I, I just think he's a lock to get someone to take a swipe at his hand.
Like, that's, that's the way it goes. That's, that's how professional sports work in these spots. Like, somebody is gonna hit him on the hand. Maybe it was by accident, maybe it wasn't.
Probably it wasn't. Uh, but I'm, I'm curious, is it gonna— is the pinky gonna be taped to the second finger? Uh, is it the type of an injury where it would be smarter for him to sit tonight and then play?
But again, it's not, it's not the pinky actually, because that catching the ball with a bad pinky, that would hurt and I can see people being able to do it, but it's the— it's sort of the back of his hand near the pinky.
Begs the question, where does the hand start and the finger begin? I screwed that up.
It's been great today.
Uh, would you like another shot at it?
Where does the hand end and the finger start?
Very good. I, I thought that we all agreed that the finger starts right above the knuckle. Like, do you have it beneath the knuckle?
Oh yeah, beneath the knuckle.
You have, you have the finger starting beneath the knuckle as opposed to above the knuckle. Put it on the poll @LebatardShow. Where does the finger start? Above the knuckle or beneath the knuckle? What do you guys, what do you guys answer that question with as we all score this game?
I think Greg's right. I think it starts below the knuckle because you could feel in your bone, you could feel the finger beneath the knuckle.
But you guys are, you guys are doing roots of the finger, and I'm just saying that the hand is everything that's beneath the fingers. Because you, when I'm doing the hand, I'm not doing the back of the hand, I'm doing the front of that.
You don't know how hands work.
I'm doing the front of the hand, and the front of the hand doesn't have any knuckles. The front, the front, the, the knuckles are only—
my hands, you got knuckles here.
Put it on the poll at @LebatardShow. Are the knuckles in the front also, or the knuckles only in the back? Because I have the knuckles only in the back. I do not have the knuckles up front.
Of course, this is the knuckle right here.
Yeah, you need to learn about hands.
Yeah, you don't know fingers.
You— but no, but the knuckle—
the front of the hand—
the front of the hand— the knuckles are in the— the knuckles are in the back.
Okay, the joint of the—
the knuckles are not in the front. Nobody has the knuckles in the front.
Guys, the knuckle is round. It's on both sides.
I got these knuckles right here.
These are the knuckles.
Hahaha. You were gonna stay with it until it caught. The knuckles are not in the front! Nobody thinks the knuckles are in the front!
Like Mike said, they're circular, they're everywhere.
Can you have a kneecap in the back? I don't think so.
You can have a kneecap in the back, that's my point! That the kneecap would be in the front and the kneecap would not be in the back. The knuckle would be in the back and not in the front!
What is your front?
What do you mean— what's pointing at the back? I'm not pointing at the back! I'm pointing at the front of my hand, the palm of my hand. Palm, okay because "front" could be this way or that way if I gave you the back of my hand would I be giving you my palm? No, I'd be giving you the back of my hand but I wouldn't say the front of the hand. What do you mean you wouldn't say the front of my hand?
This is the front of the hand right here.
No, that's not the front of the hand, that's the back of the hand.
There is a chance his free throw shooting gets better there's not a chance it can get worse.
This is the front of my hands right here.
Semantics.
That's a palm.
That's the back of my hand.
I was mentioning earlier in the show, because I— the probabilities of this are just infinitesimal. I've said that José Canseco has the greatest play in baseball history. It's not merely because he seemed to be miles from the warning track catching a routine fly ball that at best would have been a ground-rule double, and instead what happened was as he approached the warning track, it bounced off of the top of his head and over the wall, uh, right when he got to the warning track. Track. It bounced off, hit the top of his head, and over the wall. And that is statistically improbable by itself, but to have it happen off of the top of the head of the biggest clown in baseball is a statistical improbability. Like, if I were to just give you the entirety of the sport, there would have been no one funnier that that could have happened to. And so I called it the greatest play in baseball history. Can you guys give me the details? Because I have not seen that this has happened 2 more times in the last 2 weeks, even though we talked about a month ago about a minor leaguer that had it happen and he wasn't even close to the outfield wall.
What are the details on this? And show me these videos because I have not seen replicated what I believe to be the greatest play in baseball history. Show me first, please, the minor— is this the minor? Yes, college baseball.
Let's see a regional here. We have a little audio that goes with it.
Out to left center field and room in the cavern, I think. Back to the fence, a leap and off the fence. Now that got out. Was that the Jose Canseco off the body parts and over the fence?
He didn't know what to call it. Was that the Jose Canseco, uh, off the body?
Well, the reason he said off the body part is because these guys are rare, very regimented about getting the details right, and he couldn't tell whether whether it was the back of his head or off his neck or what the hell it bounced off of because he was so far from where they were sitting. And so he couldn't see. It was like Jeremy's writing on the board. He couldn't see at that distance, uh, what was happening. But that, Karem, was crazy in that that bounced off the back of his head and sort of went 40 feet behind him in the opposite ricocheting, uh, direction. The last two of these, we've— they, they are physics defying, the last two of these we've seen.
You already know how I feel about it. We've done this already. I don't think that's a home run.
Uh, it is a home run. It is. It goes in the record books as a home run. And we have another one. Is this from Major League Baseball last night? Are you kidding me? This is Adele. This happened to Adele. The guy who had— whoa, that guy. Hello. The guy who had, uh, 3 catches this year. He had the best defensive game a player has ever had.
3 homers in a single game.
3 homers in a shutout. In a shutout, he robbed 3 home runs, the last of them in the 9th inning.
He fell into the stands, which should have been a home run because the ball was then in the stands.
Well, I guess he didn't have that performance anymore. This cancels it out. I actually asked the question back here, does this cost him the Gold Glove?
I think he goes back to just neutral. Those 3 robbed home runs was like, oh my God, this guy's amazing. Jose Canseco thing brings you back. You're not negative, we don't think bad, but you've lost all positive thought.
Yeah.
Uh, let's see the B-roll on this here, uh, so that we can see what it is that happened to Adele. This is just straight error. Oh wow, that's the rare— hits the glove, hits his forehead.
He's tracking it. Oh my God, it goes almost through his glove, hits the head, and then goes over.
It hit multiple things in the field of play. That's a home run.
That one, I'm actually— this one I'm actually with Zazz here. Hitting the glove for some reason does change it a little bit for me.
That's a ground rule double in my book.
Yeah. Okay, but in the record books, it's a home run.
A ground rule double bounces over the fence.
Bounces where?
Bounces off the ground. Off the earth.
Well, this bounced off something else.
That's why it's not a ground rule double. This is a forehead rule double, if anything. It's not a ground rule double.
It's a home run.
Put it on the poll, please, @LebatardShow. If you rob 3 home runs in a game, but then a home run bounces off your forehead, are you an average total outfielder? Are you average as an outfielder because of the shame involved? Uh, I, I cannot believe the statistical improbabilities of home runs flying out of the park off someone's forehead. I've told you guys, I want you to go to Marlins Park and I want you to try to track outfield balls and see how poorly you do it, because I don't think people realize how hard it is to track something that small when you're 350 feet away and it's coming at a great rate of speed. Like, I know those outfielders make it look easy. I don't believe any of us would catch outfield balls well. I know that Chris Cody— hey, I had an opposite field single off Matt Laidos in high school.
We'll let these guys try first. I don't want to make you look bad.
Okay, you, you think it's going to be easy to track, uh, fly balls in the cavernous Marlins outfield? You think you're playing center field in that, that ballpark? You're playing center field. You think it's going to be easy to track something into left center field?
I'm more of a corner outfielder, but I could try center.
I think people underestimate how hard that is to do. That and catching punts. Just because Major League Baseball players make it look so easy.
Remember in Houston, you used to have to run up that hill in center field to catch a fly ball?
Minute Maid Park.
Let me come out, Jerry. Get me out there for BP just to catch them.
Just BP. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
You got it.
We bring a camera person, we'll get your content.
There you go.
Don Lebatard, you owe me everything. You owe me everything.
You have added 10 years to my career.
Yes, I have. This man has.
You haven't.
That man—
who the hell are you?
Who the hell are you? Stugatz. I am! Who the hell are you? Who should be thanking?
Bullshit!
Me!
You're a rude young man.
Me!
You're a fool!
You're a fool!
I already called you a fool. You're a fool right back!
You can't call me a fool!
You're an idiot again!
It's a fool law!
You're an idiot twice!
You're an idiot for dismissing how much I've helped you! This is the Don Levitar Show with the Stugatz.
Damn, it was a hill you had to run up and there was a pole in the hill.
What is that? Uh, dangerous.
The Yankees used to have their like monuments like in play.
Did they really?
Yeah, there was a time back in like the when, you know, Monument Park, the Great Depression.
Yeah, they were behind the wall.
No, there was a time when those were in play. I can look it up.
Get the hell out of here.
Really?
Yeah, yeah, they moved the fences in.
Well, I don't think there were fences, actually. I think it was just sort of a graveyard, like they just had a graveyard in center field that looks like monuments, but what it is is a cemetery where it's just, yeah, Babe Ruth is back there somewhere. It's 500 feet from the home plate. No one will hit it out here. And then the whole sport now, every— now everybody hits it 600 feet, tearing off headstones instead of heads. There you go.
It began in 1932, but not until the mid-'70s when Yankee Stadium had a renovation did they move the center field fence in 44 feet to then make sure that the plaques were not in play. And in 1985, they opened it to the public.
Also, we're not in play.
Hello!
Joel Kunal has 1,619 followers on Instagram. He's a left-handed reliever for the Athletics, a team that doesn't even have a region. How do we feel about I feel like we're overthinking this.
Let's just pick a Marlin.
I want to go back for a second to what Zaslo was saying. Is the name of the— it had a name. I had a very funny argument one time with, with Boog Shambe. I think that center field in Houston is named after a former scout, Tal something. I think it's—
what else?
Hill.
But is it? That's what it's called.
It's called Tal's Hill.
Tal's Hill. And what? What Zaslo is saying there that is truly absurd is there's just a pole in the middle of the outfield that seems wildly dangerous if you're climbing up a hill. Like, the warning track has always been interesting to me because of what it is that I'm telling you about how hard it is to track these fly balls. You're tracking a fly ball at full speed, and now what you feel under your feet is gravel. And so now you know without looking at the wall, I'm running full speed to something that's 10 feet away from me. But now make it a hill, and now make it a pole. Instead of a padded wall, there's a pole in the outfield, and it really is surprising that no one ever hit it in a way that was violent, because how can you run up a hill, Towles Hill, and have a pole out there that structurally needs to be behind the wall, not in front of the wall?
I just don't understand how there's a hill. Like, why don't they put a bunker in shallow left field?
Or a pond?
A moat?
Yeah, the argument that I had with Boog, and he called that scout— is it Tal Smith? Because what he did is he reduced me to rubble in the argument because at the time it was in the Braves outfield, a very young Michael Tucker and a very young Andrew Jones. And I'm like, defensively, I think Michael Tucker's as good as Andrew Jones. It was very early in their careers. And so he just called a scout, and Tal, who that hill is named after, just began laughing on the phone at my assessment defensively of Michael Tucker. And Andrew Jones because of how much better Andrew Jones was than Michael Tucker. Uh, we, uh, Jim Edmonds had a catch, uh, on that, on that hill at one time that isn't even his best catch. Like, Jim Edmonds made the greatest catch I've seen in baseball history, uh, but the one up the hill is something that, uh, was also wildly impressive because he was like 420-some-odd feet, uh, from home plate.
Chris could do that.
Willie Mays.
Uh, do you guys always overestimate your ability to do things the professionals do? Because the place that we started with making fun of Greg Cody on tearing his hamstring and a 50-yard field goal is how insulting I find it that somebody who's been writing about sports for 50 years, uh, underestimates the greatness of what it is that he's writing about. Uh, I understand that in basketball we're all expecting all of these guys to make their shots when they fly to the rim. But some of these shots, just because they make it look— but some of the things Jalen Brunson does at that size are completely mystifying to me. The way that he can in the mid-range just dominate anybody at his size and get to the rim against any human being who exists. And tonight he faces the most difficult one in the— close to in the history of the sport. Part to getting to the rim on— like that, when you talk about in that, was it the Minnesota series that Wemby started the first 5, was it the first 5 games that he had 5 blocks a game, like he was averaging 5 blocks a game?
What do you guys expect Jalen Brunson to look like in this series? Do you believe he's going to be able to drive and dish to open 3-point shooters the, the same way he's done against all these other teams that don't have Wemby in the paint?
I think you're going to see him use that mid-range a lot. Like, he's good at that mid-range shot. He'll drive, he stops at the elbow, he shoots mid-range because nobody challenges— like, nobody goes at the basket when Wemby Yama's in the paint.
But the teams they've played against, right, whatever your other analysis is of, uh, Knicks-Spurs, the teams Brunson has played against— Evan Mobley's a very good defensive player. You can make an argument that he is in the conversation for Defensive Player of the here, but he's not that kind of shot blocker. Who's— Embiid is not that kind of shot blocker. Atlanta does not have that kind of shot blocker. Uh, nope, nobody does really. But in terms of affecting Jalen Brunson's game with a shot blocker, they've not seen anything that comes close to this.
In the Minnesota series, I think there was a stat that Wemby had more blocked shots than they had field goal made at a certain point in the series.
That can't be It's right.
I'm telling you it's right.
It's because he blocked the shot the first play of the game.
Maybe if that's how it happened, that maybe at a certain point in the series he had more blocks than they had field goals made.
I want you to think again what you're saying.
Doesn't make it right.
Think about what you're saying.
That, that stat can't be right, Tone.
Say it again, but think about it.
At one point in the game, at one point in the game, at one point in game 1, like, there are many field goals made. He didn't have 400 blocks, he had 35 blocks.
And say it again, but think about the words as you're saying.
Okay, at one point in the He had more blocks than they had made field goals.
Still feel good about that?
We're researching.
It could be accurate if you talk about the first 2 minutes of a game.
Yeah, but then it's a meaningless stat.
Thus far, only thing I could find is through 5 games, Wemby had more blocks than the entire Timberwolves roster. Not field goals, but I'm looking.
He's looking.
I believe you're gonna be looking for the rest of time, and you're not gonna find anything unless you find that the first shot of the game was blocked and then when the Spurs had more blocks than the Timberwolves had field goals made.
Do you want to try that stat again, but with different words?
No, I'm going to look it up.
Well, you can do that now. You're not going to find it. You're going to spend the—
Let's try that on the front end.
Before you speak. Usually a pretty good idea to see if you can get that right before the words tumble out of your mouth and then everyone's heard them. And the next thing you know, you got 4.7 million followers because everyone can see your shape.
More blocks. More blocks. Than the team has field goals made.
Could be right.
No, it couldn't be right.
Yes, it could be right.
There's no circumstances.
In the first 2 minutes of the game, Webber's got 2 blocks. They haven't made 2 field goals yet.
That doesn't make it a relevant stat.
It makes it a stat, though. It makes Tony accurate. That's what I'm saying.
Thank you, Greg. I'm looking, by the way.
That kind of thing. Yeah, and you know it.
It's one of the worst stats I've ever heard.
But it's a stat.
You acknowledged it.
It's remarkably stupid stat.
They're not all stat of the day. Some of them are bad stats. Nothing wrong with that. BS. Bad stats.
That was BS. And then what poured from Tony's mouth—
Okay, sorry, I had, I had one piece missing. One detail missing. Okay, are you ready? I had one detail missing.
Doesn't make it right.
Thank you, Jason Benetti. During the 2026 Western Conference Semifinals, Victor Wembanyama recorded more blocks blocks than the Minnesota Timberwolves had made field goals when he directly contested their shots over the span of the series. Oh my God, I had it in there somewhere, I just missed that little piece of it. So he had more blocks than they had made field goals when he was the main defender.
Yes, good stat.
Was that better for you, Dan?
He also had 2 blocks before the Timberwolves made a shot in the first game.
Okay, thank you, Greg.
That is accuracy right there.
So if someone gets a steal on the first possession of the series, you could say that team has more steals goals, then the other team has baskets in series?
Yes! Yes! Because for a point in time, that was right.
But how is that a relevant stat?
I didn't say it was relevant, I said it was a stat.
So, just to set the record straight so that there is no more confusion about this, what Tony was saying, though we arrived there inefficiently, is when you challenge the 7-foot-3 guy directly, it's more likely to get blocked than it is to go in, and that's why he's the Defensive Player of the Year.
Zagac.
That seems obvious though.
Yeah, okay, sure, it seems obvious, but when I tell you the actual, the actual stat was he had more blocks than they had made field goals when he was the defender, is amazing. What other, what other player can you talk about like that?
Relevant stat.
Only the 7-foot-3 one who's better at blocking shots by a good deal than anybody else in the league. And he's, he's not the best in the history of the league, right? But he's tough. He's got to be top 3, correct, in terms of just being able to block everything? I would assume Shaq actually was a pretty bad shot blocker for his size.
Mark Eaton was pretty great.
Yeah, I mean, but let me think about this for a second. Is Wemby gonna go down statistically, empirically, not an opinion, is he gonna go down as the greatest shot blocker in history? Because I would assume without looking at any of the numbers that there would be better shot blockers in the past just because we were all trying to get our shots at the rim. We thought that that was the way to play basketball, not with the 3-pointer. So I would assume the way that we're playing now would lead to more, to fewer shot blocking opportunity not to wade into these waters again without looking at it.
But I'm pretty sure I heard that Wemby has the record for playoff blocks for the Spurs, and this is his first playoff for him.
And so your choices there would be who? Tim, uh, Tim Duncan, David Robinson, anybody ever wearing a Spurs jersey ever.
Manu Ginobili has more playoff blocks than Victor Wemby.
"I didn't say it was relevant. I said it was a stat."
Who has had the more impressive Playoffs between the Knicks and the Spurs? Would you panic if you woke up with 4.7 million new followers like Tim Payne? Where does the finger end and the hand begin? Thank you for all the chicken?
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