Is coaching LeBron James and the Lakers a good job? | The Domonique Foxworth Show

Is coaching LeBron James and the Lakers a good job? | The Domonique Foxworth Show

off top in 1973 the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest Was Won by a 14-year-old named Michael Ren but because of the meat shortage Nathan has kept it secret which is why his name is not on the list of Champions Play music This is the Dominique Foxworth [Music] show all right welcome to the Dominic Foxworth show one of my favorite things as uh loyal listeners and viewers will know is not warning a brand new guest of the off top so we’re welcoming in a new guest John Fanta Fox Sports uh broadcaster reporter um for college basketball and right now he seems like the go-to guy for all Dan Hurley conversations so we’re so grateful for you to join us thank you fellas it’s great to be with you I’m happy to be a firsttime guest on the show I appreciate you having me and yeah uh it’s been a little bit busy in the Dan Hurley cycle if you will over the last 96 hours just a a very eventful five day stretch and and cycle and at the end of the day he is staying in stores which know creates several different effects and and has uh several different layers to it a lot of layers to this story line to begin with the number one most awesome and exciting thing is college basketball is still exciting and interesting like that was the biggest concern for me was like Dan Hurley going to the NBA does not make me any more excited about watching next basketball season Dan Hurley leaving college basketball with a three pen on the line and the the most uh in the only Dynasty right now in college basketball him leaving that made me really sad so I’m happy he staying yeah I think that that’s a huge point in this is that Dan Hurley has pictures of John Wooden in his office and looks as wooden as an inspiration you know he look at John Wooden as the guy that he wants to be mentioned in the same breath as and that’s pretty strong company it’s one thing so I already be one of only three coaches in the last 40 years they could say they’ve gone back to back joining Billy Donovan and Mike sheski by the way Dan’s Brother Bobby uh was on those Mike sheski teams that went back to back and Bobby now at Arizona State Dan has forever lived in the shadow you know of his dad and of his brother that’s no more you know he’s the king of his family he’s a Northeast guy he’s got enough cloud and Power in Connecticut that he got the the governor of the state to break yesterday and say you know what we’ll give Dan the money to make him the highest paid college coach now I think that that guys that that’s what’s going to be interesting here to see how that transpires because Bill self was just made the highest paid college coach this past November with a fiveyear $ 53 million deal that included $13 million in year one of that contract so what gets done if the governor’s words turn into results what Hurley ends up making in his new deal is not going to be that far off from the Lakers so that that’s one of my biggest takeaways here is what the Lakers offered but for Hurley he has been outspoken about his mental health you know he’s found a place and and I admire him for that too he’s found a place of Happiness a place of basketball Nirvana he got Alex cariban to stay at Yukon caraban could have been an end of first round draft pick he brought in a five-star freshman very late a kid named Liam mcney who I think people are going to love watch play he did these things he built this team he’s going to make a huge paycheck and when it’s all said and done if he accomplishes the goal that he has for this upcoming season and three pets in this current college basketball climbing of chaos I think that’d be harder than what John Wooden accomplished because everything changing holy hot damn you’re good you answer like 13 questions and I only asked one Charlie something that he’s not ready for so I gotta ask you about this he’s turned down the Lakers The Prestige NBA franchise he’s turned down Kentucky one of the blue blood college basketball Powers one of the great jobs in college sports does that make you think that Hurley is going to be a Yukon lifer not necessarily yet Charlie I I he could be and and life would be fine and he could win multiple other titles but he tells all his players and and I had heard that he he told someone very close to to him on Saturday when he was weighing this decision you know I tell all my players when I recruit them I aspire to be an NBA coach now that’s part of the recruiting pitch that he runs NBA type sets he’s got that attention to detail all of that but guys I I I think that for me what this comes down to is that the Lakers are that great restaurant back in your hometown that you went to as a kid and now you go back to that restaurant when you return home for a weekend you walk in the menu has the same items then the food shows up and you say this sandwich is nothing like what I was used to as a kid or I don’t remember this I don’t remember this chicken parmesan being like this it was better it was it tasted better the the lake here they low balled Hurley I don’t know how that gets out into The Fray because when this initially broke the thought was they’re going to have to pay him this sum for this deal to get done and there was a lot of information being sputtered when this process was happening the fact of the matter is this the Lakers brand should not be confused right for what the Lakers job is right now and right now that job is far from a great one in the NBA one that since Phil jaon you’ve had six head coaches none have made it past year three yeah yeah I’m sure he’s looking at Frank Fogle Darin ham even the Mike Brown sttinton was like yeesh maybe not for me right now um I do on on the college side of it one of the one reason people thought he might leave was not just the Lakers being a glamour franchise but also because the instability of college basketball and the land landscape shifting so much he’s specifically in the Big East a conference that’s built around basketball now how important was this for the future of the Big East like remaining a big conference it’s important winning Championships in college sports it’s massive for the Big East and and it’s no secret that the conference is deep in talks right now for whatever their next media rights deal will look like well if Dan hurle is a part of that that that matters that’s more Buzz that’s more money that’s more ratings that’s not that doesn’t take a rocket scientist if he leaves that hurts the conference severely because he’s the face of college basketball right now when you’ve won the last two titles you have earned that right he’s in a market in Connecticut a brand that matters they are a blue blood they’ve won six championships since 1999 sure you might think of Duke and Kentucky before them but if you look at the success for the Lakers example of the brand and the actual results not matching it’s quite the opposite for Yukon you know they might not be the first brand you thought of two or three years ago but six titles in a quarter of a century more than anybody else in that span of time that’s going to create what they have reached and that is blue blood status so this is huge for the Big East the Big East has the most Buzz it’s had in a long time because Rick patino’s at St John’s Ed made this compelling move to go from Providence down to Georgetown they were abysmal this past year they will not be as bad this year Villanova with what Jay Wright built that was almost the type of thing where even though they’ve been down recently guys when you win two titles out of three years you almost have a grace period off of that and your brand is able to just survive off of what you’ve been able to win here recently which this league this league has accounted for four of the last eight national championships so you can’t tell the full story of college basketball unless you talk about the Big East we appreciate you Georgetown optimism as we’re down here in DC and one of our producers I’m sure is grinning in the green room because it’s been Grim around here for a while and it it’s tough for a I mean rarely do you say it’s tough for a private school but going up against the money that potentially Yukon could have it’s a tough spot to be in and although we’re all happy that Dan Hurley’s leaving I don’t think uh I mean excuse we’re all happy that Dan hurle standing I don’t think Georgetown is particularly happy that’s a great point in this a lot of the narrative have been and for people that I respect that Dan Hurley would be leaving college basketball for the NBA because he’s tired of college basketball on the climate well take a number in the deli line there’s a bunch of coaches that are upset about the climate but you can both say that you don’t like the climate of college basketball and that there’s fixing that has to happen and will happen it it’s going to happen I don’t know what exactly it will look like but we’re going to head into a world where it looks different and perhaps there’s contracts down the road at a certain point but you could both say that you don’t like the climate and that at Yukon you have a distinct advantage in your league in your area of the country and where you sit in college basketball over everybody else the Big East is filled with schools that were when you have to have when you have a need for money throughout history of Villanova Georgetown St John’s Providence what’s the common factor you probably had to go to a priest or a nun or both to be able to get that money signed off of right it’s old school basketball there there’s been documentaries done on it at Yukon they don’t have to battle those things they’re a state school so when the governor says I’m G to give the coach the money to make them the most the highest paid coach H just plummet that State deficit a little bit more like it is what it is what’s the difference at that point if it means that you get to be the best college basketball program in the state you’re making it back in advertising and Buzz and revenue and all all that this led Good Morning America today this story of him staying in stores so the point is is that Yukon doesn’t have to battle all these other things I would argue Hurley staying at Yukon for the opposite reason of everybody saying that he would leave because he enjoys life at Yukon he is King of the Hill he has every resource available and he could have a statue bill for him if you goes for a three repeat next year they’ll start building it for him in stores all right um couple things before I let you go one congratulations you were the first one to get that he was staying like you beat out all these other reporters if I’m right so congratulations on that little bit of buttering you up now that I in order to set you up to go out on a limb a little bit you went down a path that this show likes to visit a lot it’s like what’s the future of college sports going to be because it feels like it’s a bit uh a shambles so given given that you yeah Charlie and I have both made predictions about what we think it’s going to be like but given that you are much closer to it and have some insight what is your prject projection for how um college sports is going to eventually settle it’s a terrific topic there’s there’s so many U storylines to it I will I will try to dissect it into just a couple of major themes that I think are important to consider here number one this report of Revenue sharing and that each school will distribute you know $22 million well the biggest topic with this is Title Nine will these resources have to be distributed equally among Sports it it is my thought process that that is not going to have to happen Okay because I think that there’s gonna we’re going to get to a point where it just is point blank that and this is not to not to offend the athlete but that there’s a difference between the top basketball player at a school and the the Gen the revenue generation that they create versus a top swimmer at a school it it’s just part of the reality of money and part of the reality of of this college sports conundrum that we Face scholarships they’re going to be the bare minimum there’s going to be no scholarship limits in across these Sports you know college baseball has the College World Series okay in two weeks they’re going to change this that you’re allowed to have 40 some OD scholarships these other schools can’t compete with that they they they can’t so but but by the same token it’s not going to be about what you get in scholarship it’s going to be how much money can I make in addition to that what is the revenue sharing what does that look like I’m told by several schools they’re not going to be able to to afford $22 million you know what I just talked about in the Big East a vovas they don’t have $22 million and they’ve got a lot they got a lot of money but they don’t have $22 million lying around just to hand out some of these schools will make a hybrid system you know where they’ll give out where they’ll distribute 12 million they will they will package it down from 22 million and and get to a a place that’s Middle Ground here’s another big thing to consider and it’s happening it’s going to happen I think it’s going to happen this summer who dips into private Equity who makes the move to private Equity to generate the money you’re some people out there say you’re dancing with the devil news flash if it’s the only way get your dancing shoes out because you better start figuring out a way to dance what what is Happ right now I was at an nil event this past weekend and one of the people giving money to nil said Point Blank I’d like to see how the money’s getting distributed across the roster coaches are going to have to be willing to solicit that information to the people that are giving the most money because for them to survive those people are now going to be looped in it’s a business it’s paid for play what has to happen for us to find some sort of a structural Road is two things number one if you’re not college football or college basketball you have to find a an Avenue where your sport is just overseen by someone at the top softball is just overseen by the US softball coaches association soccer is overseen by United States soccer and not the NCAA the NCA has no role anymore they just don’t let’s acknowledge the reality or or we choose not to that that’s number one and number two college sports leader whoever those people look like have to make serious concessions that athletes are no longer amateurs and they have to say here is what a unionized system could look like here’s what collective bargaining looks like let’s get contracts into place because we can no longer have 2,200 transfers in the portal during the college basketball off season or over a thousand transfers in the portal whatever the number is in the college football off season that’s got to end for that to end for for us to get some level of sanity people got to acknowledge what the truth is and put documentation into place that allows for actual contracts and actual structure happening because right now everyone’s like college sports is pro sports no no no no no in Pro Sports there’s a system in place right now in college there is no system it’s a bunch of people it’s like that SpongeBob Meme when he’s running around in his brain with fire and papers burning somebody’s got to speak up and say enough is enough we’ve made mistakes for years let’s start charting A New Path but as you both know change in college sports is like a dinosaur system that has to change John Fanta Fox Sports college sports machine gun Gatlin gun of information Legend yeah that was incredible we appreciate you um I’m not going to ask you to come on again I’m going to tell you that we must have you on again thank you so much enjoy hopefully some quiet time uh before the college sports season starts again and basketball season starts again but yeah we’ll have you back sometime soon I hope thank you thanks fellas appreciate you up next Dominique foxw show Hall of Famer wasney [Music] lambre Charlie’s jealous of my butt I’ll have you now Dominic just stared at the stared at his his Vis in the camera and said I have a good butt and then turned around and popped a little bit at the camera it was a mini pop I’m proud of you Charlie that is how you SC the story right there spice it up it was a little talking about a Kyle Lowry level or something different n cuz Kyle Lowry is hard to appreciate because there’s a lot like to who is that’s fair think yourself N I got a sprinter’s booty that’s okay it’s nothing wrong with having a sprinter booty it’s all right don’t be jealous this is not how we you did this on purpose this is not how we want to I guess we don’t need to introduce wasney was if you listen to the Dominique fox show you know the Hall of Famer wasney lamb um he’s joining us we’re going to do some NBA stuff but I think the place to start feet up on the table you comfy as hell I know started comfy as hell your feet off my table it’s called a cold open Charlie that’s what we call that in the business yeah it’s a hot open when I’m here but let’s start with uh a little bit of uh Dan Hurley from the NBA perspective Charlie where you want to start yeah um was to you you heard the news Dan Hurley turns down the glamour franchise Los Angeles Lakers we just heard about this from the college perspective from John Fanta but what does it say to you about the Lakers job that Dan Hurley turned it down it doesn’t say anything to me about the Lakers job at all I think it says something about Laker management um in the sense that often times they go after coaches and things don’t work out I’m sure you guys will remember the tyu Fiasco where they low balled the guy um and so he turned down their offer I think people don’t people think of the Lakers as a glamour franchise but for better and For Worse they’re one of the last mom and pop operations in existence meaning the bus family operates this thing and Dr bus’s kids this is their income this is how they pay their bills is via the Lakers franchise it’s not like other teams where it’s like hedge fund guys and private Equity guys or the Clippers who you know their owner is a Microsoft killionaire um or Joe Sai made his money in other businesses the Nets owner like that’s not who the Lakers are and so often times man they’re cutting Corners financially um in terms of who they hire for management positions in terms of who they let into the fold of who gets to make management type decisions right it’s Kobe’s agent it’s Kurt Rambis a former player it’s his wife like they operate this thing as a family business and I think that’s why sometimes when their hiring stuff comes up it can seem a little janky or not as corporate as other teams I think that’s why yeah I think the family business point is one that people have brought up and how it pertains to their ability to pay going in going forward not only for players but for coaches and uh willingness to go into the apron which they have been willing to do in recent years but maybe less willing to do going forward but I think you touched on something that’s hugely important in my view of all this is my guess is that it’s been viewed at least that they low balled Dan Hurley also on this offer but my guess is it wasn’t the money that scares him away as much as it’s the point you were referencing is they got their hands in this like a lot of people got their hands in this and I don’t necessarily think that Dan Hurley wants his NBA future dependent on what Rob pelinka can do in the off season his legacy dependent on whether Kurt Rambis got ideas or not I think when you have a certain amount of Leverage and power you want to get the perfect situation and that is not a perfect situation it’s a lot of attention a lot of pressure and not as much control I’m surprised you guys are taking such a um not cynical view of what happened between Dan Hurley and the Lakers um I been sitting here have you guys ever heard of John caliper like this happened literally every two years while he was at Kentucky he’d pretend to be interested in some NBA job and lo and behold Kentucky would pop up with a brand new deal that was way richer than his last one um that seems to me what happened with Dan Hurley and the Lakers and I think it was mutually beneficial in two ways one obviously Dan Hurley gets a raise from Yukon probably higher than he would have you know ordinarily got after back-to-back championships I think he was going to get a raise anyway but you know it’s always nice you guys have you know looked for jobs and had offers before in your own life whenever somebody else is willing to come in with a bigger bag your company magically finds some more money under the seat cushions right and so I think that’s what happened and I think on the Lakers side I think pinka and his sort of regime has been extra sensitive about the perception of how the front office operates ever since they made that God aful Westbrook deal and I think this was more good PR for the Lakers Management in terms of them doing a thorough head coaching search and that they didn’t just give the job to JJ reck and so it looks like you know they’re doing their due diligence they tried to get this hot shot candidate out of the college ranks a guy who has an incredible reputation for his actual coaching Acumen and not just recruiting great players to his program um a guy who their best player has already praised on his very popular podcast about X’s and O’s um and you know they get to look like they’re doing their job as a management situation where they’re getting other cult involved and not just handing the keys to JJ reck um again who is LeBron’s podcast co-host and so to me I’m look I’m not going to disrespect anybody’s reporting here I’m not going to say that this was all smoke screen and smoking mirrors but I’m not going to pretend that I’ve never seen this happen before yeah I mean we’ve seen lots of coaches run this play it’s a har harb but but to that point eventually where is he now and I was going to say the same thing about a lot of the college coaches that we we talk about doing this they actually do pull the trigger and I think that if it were uh some random job not a Prestige franchise then maybe I would have given this a lot less Credence you might be 100% right but Dan Hurley himself like uh tells people that eventually he wants to get to the NBA so I think it’s a realistic opportunity something that we should take serious and something that is going to happen at some point for W’s Nicks yeah oh W for your nicker boers you think he’s going to end up there that’s what people are saying right he’s definitely a Northeast tri-state area guy through and through I mean just the other day the man was at the Garden watching Billy Joel for Christ sakes like does it get more native tri-state area white person than a Billy Joel concert at the Garden come on now um I mean U hold on hold on hold on I I want to try to outdo you Bruce Spring Street yeah oh yeah b or or wuang fair fair I like I I’m picking up what you’re putting down there don’t get much Northeastern white than going to a wuang show at the guard anyway I’m sorry you were going to make a much more interesting point than that no I I I I think that’s what makes it genius right um he’s already said that he would like to coach professionals he’s obviously a hyperco competitive guy the NBA is the highest level of basketball that is played in all the world how could he not want to coach there but you know I’m not dumb enough to think that he needs to jump into this thing as at the first turn especially if he can get competitive salaries at a place that he’s already cemented himself as a living legend he’s already done it he’s done it and they’re going to pay him to do so he’s very comfortable like I’m not surprised that he’s not super thirsty to already Chase these NBA dreams cuz he’s a fairly young guy um when you consider head coaches anyway and you know there’ll be plenty of opportunities down the road to chase this when he wants to again that’s the fair point I think that I wasn’t taken in consideration before this is that there will be plenty of opportunities and I think Charlie was making the point that Billy Donovan uh had some pretty bad Seasons after long after it was eight years after his back-to-back championships he left for the NBA and is he had close to 500 record I think at that point when he ended up leaving the the NBA so the jobs will be there and it’s kind of absurd for me to think that the jobs wouldn’t be there while it appeared that he was in competition with JJ reick for the job like I imagine that he’s gonna have whenever he wants to make that leap he’s gonna it’s not like my view of it is very I think tanked by the way NFL coaches are hired NBA coaches is kind of a Vibe sometimes you got the vibe will give you a job also if you guys remember Billy Donovan turned down that Orlando Magic job that was allegedly a done deal it was a done deal he’s just going to go down the road to Orlando from Gainesville and if this thing was signed still delivered then he changed his mind and eventually ended up in the NBA where he’s had a damn long go of it man like uh I I remember at the time a lot of people I talked to thought he would flame out pretty quickly in the NBA and he’s you know he’s he’s made it through and so I I don’t know I guess I I’m not surprised by any of these outcomes at all like honestly when the guy who was allegedly the front runner was the the whole time allegedly since the Darin hiring becomes the third person interviewed and then after this interview I’ll think about it I mean guys we kind of the writing was on the wall after that the idea that this guy could get on a plane after having met with the Lakers brass without that job without them having him you know locked in as the next coach you know I feel like the writing’s been on the wall with that so can I put on my tin foil hat for a second let’s do it I’m here for it so there’s a a very famous Lakers player named LeBron James who I think it’s G to be very hard for any coach to look him in the face and say I don’t want to coach that guy even if he’s I don’t know a thousand years old like he actually is that guy’s also a free AG this summer do you think any little birdie got in Danny Hurley’s ear and was like LeBron he’s out of there you’re gonna have an unhappy seven foot Hospital case on your team and Anthony Davis and outside of that your best asset is Austin Reeves does a tiny part of you think that this is an indication that LeBron is out of there and maybe going to be the starting small forward for the Dallas Mavericks next year I don’t see that I to respond at this I think the Hurley I think Hurley not showing up um you know after it’s been said that JJ’s the guy and JJ’s clearly LeBron’s guy to me that would seem like a bigger indication of the opposite that LeBron is going to be there and I’m somebody who you know as a LeBron Watcher a expert so to speak in the field i f i I’ve given myself a PhD in Lebron Aly um after that trade deadline all of that you know Heming and hawing from both him and management um our Guy Brian windhorse putting out a report that like look LeBron just wants a Max three-year extension this summer then very shortly after my former colleague and very good buddy yovon bua puts out a report that the Lakers are completely fine with offering LeBron his max extension um it seems like that’s where this is going um and so I’m yeah I I’m until I see it I don’t believe LeBron is going anywhere everything seems to be pointing in direction of him you know staying put being completely happy content doesn’t really care about like I need to maximize Championship potential of every season I think he’s just cool with being in LA and fine with ending ending the career there thank you for ripping off the tfold hat and stomping on LeBron did tweet yesterday oh God at cuffs saying it was fake news that he didn’t want to still compete for championships okay I trust all of R tweets um more importantly what do you think is Dan Hurley’s favorite wuang song like it’s got to beat favorite album is definitely the 36 Chambers right like he’s definitely not one of those guys that’s like oh I I I I love the second one or the most recent one he’s definitely Tri guy I I got him in headphones going iama atomically he definitely loves the song The the album but he’s definitely like no I’m 36 Chambers I got the album the first day it came out all the way back and he like to say that he like to name the Obscure members to show y’all like oh yeah I’m a big inspector deck guy of course yeah he’s telling guys at his bar that you know he had a capid phase at one point like we know the Vibes oh man he’s he’s definitely one of those guys like yeah I like rap but I’m mostly into 90s stuff he’s he’s one of those guys oh that’s great all right let’s talk some finals let’s pick a tiny bit to the finals we have news about 40 minutes before we recorded this Shams tweeted that Chris ABS porzingis is day to-day with a rare injury to his left leg um it is I’ll I’ll probably butcher this I’ve never heard of this a torn medial retinaculum which is allowing for a dislocation of his posterior TI Alis tendon he has an ankle injury okay um lower leg injury in his left leg uh this is coming while Boston has comfortably won the two first two games of the series and look like the better team um how do you think the Mavericks can get back into the NBA finals this um the the the Boston Celtics uh have been plus 32 in kp’s 44 minutes in two games he’s clearly been the decisive factor in putting Boston over the top of Dallas and if he’s at all limited uh that’s a big problem for Boston and it’s the the slight daylight that Dallas would need to get back in this series um first of all you know Kyrie Irving’s going to have to make some shots I think Dallas is going to have to be smarter about taking care of the ball they’re going to have to be smarter about defensive rotations keeping Luca you know off of islands against Boston’s best players like they’re going to have to be better at their defensive navigation of Boston’s attack but if KP is hobbled and limited that is the door cracking open for Dallas to get back into this thing cuz again to reiterate Boston has been utterly dominant in Chris DS’s minutes so far in this series yeah um playing out how having christops out there could impact the game I do think my initial reaction when I hear that news is like ah they’re still much better than them but I do think that there are a few lynchpin characters in this that makes them so malleable on offense and defense that makes them hard to beat and I think that Chris STS is obviously if not the guy in that spot is one of them I guess um holiday’s ability to shoot combined with his defense is also a big factor but I I can’t think of very many players but if you pull holiday you have guys who can do like white can do a holiday imitation having them both on the same floor on the same floor on the floor at the same time is valuable but there isn’t that’s why they call him the Unicorn like there’s not there’s a few christops in the league they don’t have another one they’re they’re now out Horford territory which he’s good but he doesn’t impact the offense or defense frankly the way that Chris steps does so big one I want to say Big Al has been pretty damn good in this series so far like those times that he’s been left on an island against Kyrie Al Luca he’s held up pretty nicely but guess what he’s only being asked to do that in spurts he’s not being asked to do that for 36 40 minutes a night because believe me uh if we get into Luke cornette territory here it could be scary hours for for Boston but what kp’s done is like the the Mavericks just cannot guard Boston when he’s out there um kp’s presence allows for these wide open drivein lanes where Brown Tatum you know uh White and Drew holiday have had just open lanes like they have to hug KP at the three-point line even out to 28 ft right and which you know which just doesn’t allow for people to send help from from any direction it’s a legitimate five out and so Tatum and brown they just been they’ve been having their way you know in terms of what what what uh Dallas has done uh with their perimeter Defenders and then on the other end the poor zingis has been a legitimate yeah deterrent at The Rim this man looks like Matumbo out there it’s ridiculous and he’s in he’s been comfortable as you mentioned earlier he’s been comfortable in switches that that’s one of the special things about their defense is that they can switch everyone as you mentioned Luke cornette I’m not feeling confident about cornette being switched on to any of those top guys and that is something that they are going to hunt yeah I mean it’s been amazing that Boston has been able to essentially eradicate Dallas’s transition offense and like those are loud plays by porzingis when he’s in there and then stopping two-on-one fast breaks by himself by protecting the rim it’s pretty spectacular that in the corner threes and I just wonder if Boston still will just go small and force Dallas to not be able to play those big guys all the time good question we’ll find out the real question though is how you feeling about Joe Missoula right now wasy I mean I’ll say this their game plan has been one sound and two they’re executing it to a te uh the the the idea of like look we’re going to switch everything we’re going to force Kyrie and Luca to beat us oneon-one we’re going to stay home on every single Boston excuse me Dallas Maverick shooter we’re not going to put ourselves in rotation we’re going to leave these guys on an island and Drew holiday Jason Tatum Jaylen Brown Derek white these guys have held up beautifully against Kyrie specifically I think we saw Luca in game two got cooking and Boston got out of the heavy switching um they had a couple of times where they sent blitzes they had a couple of times where KP got into a drop coverage and LCA made him pay Luca was excellent in game too but he was not you know a super nova Kyrie on the other hand they’ve had absolutely no problem guarding this guy face up one onone not allowing all of those Corner threes that that that Dallas has been so expert in generating um when they got defenses into rotation not allowing any of these lob passes that have been a staple for Dallas’s entire playoff run against every other opponent um the game plan has been solid and these guys have executed and I think the other thing man that that I didn’t expect especially in game two after the threes weren’t Fallen this team is playing desperate they’re playing like a team that’s been there before and knows that they have to execute on literally in the high 95 96% of your possessions in a finals atmosphere they look like a team that understands that you can’t play around when you get to this stage and they are executing at an incredible level and I think Missoula deserves deserves a credit even if he hit me with Jesus Freak stuff every now and again in a press conference I mean he’s hilarious man is entertaining his his post game if they win the championship oh he’s gonna give us some gold he’s unpredictable I’ll say that I never know what’s gonna come out of that man’s mouth whenever there’s a mic in front of him um was do you owe Drew holiday an apology offensive he was a Drew hater he’s not getting an offensive Factor I’m I’m not a Drew hater I I was a little Disturbed at the Victory lap that the the collective NBA media threw um for Boston when they landed Drew holiday cuz you know I remember quite distinctly Drew holiday shortcomings in previous playoffs particularly on the offensive end however um on this team he doesn’t have to be some kind of Creator offensive driver he gets to be a cleanup guy he gets to clean up finish possessions and initiate them or start them and he’s been guess what he’s been excellent at the task um that that sequence of Defense three-point making stripping people at half court at the end of the fourth quarter when they sealed the game by going up four um 14 points against Dallas in game two that was Drew holiday basically detonating okay like this guy is not just on the offense sure he’s doing cleanup plays on defense he’s just blowing stuff up he is just straight up being a play playmaker and eraser he deserves the praise that he’s getting I’m not getting on his Finals MVP bandwagon with the rest of these people Dallas is gearing their defense towards putting out fires created by Jason Tatum and Jaylen brown but Drew holiday in his role has been a superstar and has been excellent and no I’m not going to apologize for having takes I mean that’s the right it’s amazing seeing him as a fourth or fifth option depending on who’s out there that was the point that listening to you it’s something that I should Mark down in my head when we’re doing projections going forward we don’t appreciate how exhausting basketball is cuz guys hardly ever look tired and even like when you’re asking a lot of them with the exception of Luca asking to come out early in that game but at the end of games guys don’t look tired but they clearly are impacted by fatigue and that’s one thing that we’re seeing in this game is Drew holiday does not have to be the primary defender on the best offensive player all the time like he would have to be in some situation he does not have to try to initiate offense just about ever and so when you get down to the fourth quarter yeah you going to get a little bit a slightly better version of Drew holiday you get a slightly better version of everyone except for Jason [Music] Tay yeah I’ve I’ve I’ve already gone on record and and been like we need to cut Jason Tatum some slack like at the end of the day he is being tasked with generating the the you know the thrust of Boston’s offense it’s him creating those that getting those help Defenders to commit which is putting Dallas in rotation which is getting Drew holiday these wide open layups these wide open threes it’s Tatum that’s creating that yes I’d like to see him finish some layups at the cup yes I’d like to see him make a step back or two and not shoot six of 22 but one he’s excellent on defense two he’s playing an incredible floor game I know that’s not what people want to see from him people want to see him drop 40 but listen man the second that these guys are committing to him he’s getting the ball out spraying it and he’s creating great opportunities uh my memory is long enough I was in the building for a few of those finals games in 2022 that man looked like a pumpkin he was horrible in 2022 it’s just a fact he’s playing way better than he did um in 20 like a lot of times these drives were turning into turnovers or just the most horrible like I’m talking about hell marry prayer of a shot that he was putting up against Golden State that’s just not been the case in this series he’s been better he’s driving the success he’s making Dallas’s defense look bad yes the shooting percentage needs to be upped um but I think he’s been pretty damn good honestly I mean I’m with you all that stuff is smart and accurate and right give us give us one game man give us one game just give us one one game where you cook right Wy as as levelheaded as you want to be you also recognize he going to have to cook for us once for sure and and the thing is throughout the playoffs we’ we’ve been watching guys who we think are on Tatum’s level have these kind of games and big moments whether it be Ant Edwards forget about Luca in the closing game against the wolves in the first quarter where this man he looked like an alien from outer space it was ridiculous right um we’ve seen guys have like uh you know uh uh jayen Brunson for the Knicks where he where he just put the team on his back and being in the first like we’ve seen guys put the like um joic I think it was five where he just made Rudy go be lar like we’ve seen all of these guys one game like that from Jason yes yes I understand that I understand that we would like to see Jason Tatum do you know I put the team on my back though uh just one time but you know I I don’t think he’s going to need to for them to win this series ultimately that’s fine well we appreciate you putting the show on your back so I don’t have to shoot that much I can fumble down the lane and dribble the ball out of bounds and we still get a D thank you wasney that was another great episode of Dominique foxer show thank you very much Charlie the vanilla snack for all your contributions appreciate John Fanta for joining us and of course wasney lambre was here and all the great producers Megan saraphina Brian Kevin Taz and I love you P this is the Dominique Foxworth show [Music]

In this episode of The Domonique Foxworth Show, John Fanta joins the show to discuss Dan Hurley turning down the Los Angeles Lakers to remain head coach at UConn before Wosny Lambre discusses the Lakers’ continued search and LeBron James’ future.

0:00 Welcome back to the Domonique Foxworth Show!
1:49 Thoughts on Dan Hurley staying at UConn
4:08 Do you think Hurley is a UConn lifer?
6:17 Was Hurley staying important for the Big East conference?
8:41 Can other schools compete financially with UConn?
11:35 How will college sports eventually settle?
16:46 Welcome Wosny Lambre!
18:10 Is the Lakers’ head coaching job attractive?
23:56 Will Hurley eventually end up with the Knicks?
27:42 Is the writing on the wall that LeBron is leaving?
31:31 How can the Mavs get back into the NBA Finals?
35:34 How do you feel about Joe Mazzulla?
37:50 Does Wos owe Jrue Holiday an apology?
40:04 Thoughts on Tatum in the Finals

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