The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Local Hour: The Vanessa Carlton Saga

Episode Date: March 29, 2024

Today's Cast: Amin, Mike, Billy, Tony, Jeremy. Oops, the Celtics lost to the Hawks again. Amin and Mike were left unimpressed by March Madness again, and Amin has ideas for how to fix the game. Plus,... who was the song 'A Thousand Miles' by Vanessa Carlton about? Glenn Howerton? Anthony Mackie? We break down the saga. Then, Amin discusses whether franchises should always stick to their vision or focus on being flexible. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:40 Jersey City, New Jersey, please drink responsibly. This is the Dan Lebatore Show with the StuGuts Podcast. Today's episode is sponsored by DraftKings. Stay tuned because you'll hear more about DraftKings and all it has to offer throughout the show. DraftKings, the crown is yours. Oops, they did it again. They lost to the Hawks, got lost on a switch. Oh baby, baby, oops, Mozilla's so weird. His quotes are so wild. He's not that brilliant.
Starting point is 00:01:20 That's the song of the year. Sui 2025, baby. They did, how? How does this happen twice in a week? How does it happen twice in a week? You're just informing me right now, it happened again? Did they blow a big lead again? Oh, it is even better, even better. So De'Jante Murray dropped 44 points last night. Let's not talk about how many shots it took. Dropped 44 points, including is even better, even better. So Dejante Murray dropped 44 points last night. Let's not talk about how many shots it took.
Starting point is 00:01:46 Dropped 44 points, including the game winner, Jeremy Tache. What defensive scheme did the Celtics run on that game winner for Dejante Murray? The Celtics decided to switch Chris Staps Porzingis onto Dejante Murray, which they never do. They never do that. Why would they?
Starting point is 00:02:03 Surely that was just a mistake, right? And like, oh, it got caught up and that's what happened. Yeah, you would think so, except Joe Masula said that it was good practice for the Celtics. Oh, he meant to do it? He's a step ahead of us, ladies and gentlemen. The man is a modern day Newt Rockne.
Starting point is 00:02:22 He's just got all the moves, all the plays, all the schemes, and anything that happened was by design, not by accident. Of course, that's how it works when you're Joe Mazula. Switching one through five is something the Celtics almost never do, so he decided now, against the Hawks, who they already lost to a week ago,
Starting point is 00:02:41 now was the time to do so, with De'Jante Murray, who had taken 44 shots to get those 44 points. To be fair, to be fair, the Boston Celtics have clinched almost everything, right? Like, it's a number of, a matter of math for them to clinch the overall number one seed. But it's highly unlikely, like, the Nuggets
Starting point is 00:03:00 would have to win every game out, and the Celtics would have to go on a miraculous losing streak in order for them not to have the number one overall seed. So, unlike every other team in the playoff and slash play and mix, the Celtics legitimately have nothing to play for. They have nothing to play for,
Starting point is 00:03:18 and so he's right, theoretically, you can use this time for trying shit up. I would argue that there's nothing that you're gonna try shit out on in the last 10 games of the season that's gonna make you better for the playoffs. Like habits are not built that easily and that quickly. Well just like you'd be shocked to see a team all of a sudden throwing some zone defense in there right like the heat of been playing zone defense all year if they decided to play some zone defense in the playoffs it wouldn't be Heat have been playing zone defense all year. If they decided to play some zone defense in the playoffs, it wouldn't be shocking, but if the Celtics
Starting point is 00:03:48 all of a sudden decided to do that and were getting beat late in games, we'd be surprised by it. So I don't really understand this idea. I guess maybe matchup dependent in the playoffs, they might wanna do some of that, but I don't understand why if you're running away with the top of the conference,
Starting point is 00:04:05 why you would be changing your game plan defensively now. Why not? And if you're going to experiment in a one and five switch, wouldn't you start doing it at the beginning of the game, not the very last play of the game? Again, that's one of those things. Because if we're going to experiment and play with our food and try to figure out what we like and what we don't like
Starting point is 00:04:22 and how things are going to happen defensively, let's start it from the rip, right? Point guard, switch with the center, all right, how are we gonna defend this? But the last play of the game, not great. Yeah, I mean, like again, you know what it reminds me of? It reminds me of teams that start the season saying, this is it, we're gonna make the playoffs,
Starting point is 00:04:38 we feel like we're gonna be competitive in the conference, da da da, and then they're terrible, and then they start tanking, and at the end of the year, they get a great lottery picker like oh yeah we meant to do that. No you didn't, no you didn't. You thought you were gonna be good, you thought this was gonna work, it didn't.
Starting point is 00:04:52 So now you're kinda playing the results as opposed to being honest with yourself. They're just bored right? This is nothing to read into. It's funny that it's the Hawks, it's funny in the fashion that you've described these losses happening in, but this is, I mean, they have literally almost nothing to play for
Starting point is 00:05:11 at this moment, outside of just professional pride. And I mean, outside of that, they might end up playing the Hawks, theoretically, in the first round, and so now you've had back-to-back games against them. So I could understand how in that second game, you could look at what happened in the first one and say so now you've had back-to-back games against them. So I could understand how in that second game you could look at what happened in the first one and say, hey, you know what, maybe it would have been
Starting point is 00:05:29 better for our defense if we were capable of switching against some of these players, and so why not practice it now while we have back-to-back games against this team who potentially we could see in the first round? Can we do a very sports radio topic here? And it's not Celtics related. So everyone in Boston, you can calm down now. Are the Hawks better without Trey Young?
Starting point is 00:05:56 Are the Hawks better without Trey Young? I got the records in front of me here. Prior to the Trey Young injury, Atlanta was 25 and 32, seven games under 500 with a net rating of minus 2.1. After Trey Young's injury, basically it's De'Jonte Murray and Dem boys, 10 and seven plus 3.2 net rating. Is De'Jonte Murray shooting 44 shots a night or?
Starting point is 00:06:25 No, not every night. Not in this hypothetical? Not in this hypothetical, but I'm talking about reality. They're 10 and seven. 10 and seven, they're three games above 500 as opposed to seven games under. They're outscoring their opponents per a hundred possessions as opposed to being at a deficit.
Starting point is 00:06:41 Is this team better without Trae Young or is it better without either Trae Young or is it just is it better without either Trae Young or DeJante Murray? Meaning those two guys together probably not a great mix but one or the other might work. So you were watching pro basketball last night and not college there was a big upset one seed goes down what started as What looked to be a continuation of a very strong tournament for the ACC unravels with UNC going down Alabama.
Starting point is 00:07:10 But raveled with Clemson beating Arizona. Yeah, no. See, unraveled and raveled. Yeah, you're right. The story headed into the Sweet 16 was, once again, ACC totally undervalued. People just hate on it all season long. And then, like always, they deliver in the tournament.
Starting point is 00:07:24 Clemson, proving a lot of people right. Arizona again, chokes it away. I thought if anybody had an opportunity, because there hasn't been a team on the West Coast to win the men's basketball tournament since what, 1997? All the stars were aligning for Arizona. They had a really good season. The final four was in Phoenix this year and they biffed it somehow
Starting point is 00:07:45 It's still Sean Miller's fault, right? I don't know how I don't know why but it is Sean Miller's fault The Arizona still can't make it to a final four. Yeah, but then UNC Takes away all the ACC feel good and it really shouldn't be be that way Alabama is a really good team. Yeah one four isn't a crazy matchup in terms of an upset, but you weren't watching any of that? I watched, I tried to watch. I tried to watch UNC Alabama. I tried to watch Iowa State and Illinois and it's woof, man. I can't imagine how people watch this and are entertained by it. I just can't imagine how people watch this and are entertained by it. I just can't.
Starting point is 00:08:27 It is a tough watch. The games, I mean it was a lot better last year for reasons I haven't quite been able to put my finger on. The tournament was just spectacular. I think I have some fixes for college basketball. That has nothing to do, look, the level of play is the level of play. Bigger balls? Not bigger balls, no.
Starting point is 00:08:43 Although we'll get to that in a second. I think the level play, you have to understand, right? When you're watching NBA basketball, everybody on the court was somebody somewhere else. They were the man somewhere else. They were the best of the best somewhere else. So you're watching the creme de la creme. When you're watching college basketball, you're watching a couple guys who might play in the NBA, a couple guys who might play in the NBA, a couple guys who might play professionally somewhere, and then you
Starting point is 00:09:08 watch a couple guys who are gonna be accountants or working as managers of a enterprise in a car. You think the game would start improving some because the average age in men's college basketball is going up. With NIL, people aren't rushing their professional careers because they sort of have them already. I know Nigel Pack is coming back to Miami. He's part of that class. It is the last of its kind, the COVID year, the extra COVID year that these people have. Some of these players are in their mid-20s. Armando Becat played for like 100 years. Yeah, he started playing before Patrick Mahomes had won a Super Bowl.
Starting point is 00:09:43 Who's the guy, he went to Harvard and then he transferred to Howard and he's like, he's living his eighth year of eligibility. He's been playing forever. You would think that would make for a more appealing game, but the game is- That just means you're not good enough to play in the NBA. They're just like fortifying, they're just fortifying bad habits. I think it just goes back to the talent level is the talent level, you're going to have to accept it, right? But I've got some structural changes for college basketball.
Starting point is 00:10:10 Number one, 24-second shot clock. This isn't an NBA thing. Everywhere around the world, when these kids, the best college basketball players, get to play for Team USA's under-21 team, under-16, they're playing with a 24 second shot clock over there. Every stage of basketball across the world.
Starting point is 00:10:30 College is supposed to prepare you for your next stage in life and they have these pretty archaic rules. They had to fight to get a change to 30. They had to fight. That's a great change because the finish to college basketball oftentimes is laborious because of that 30 second shot clock and the fact that they're not as good from the free throw line. You have the one and ones.
Starting point is 00:10:53 It's just not a great watch down the stretch. Laborious deal. Number two, quarters. Again, all across the world, including women's college basketball. Yeah, they figured this out. We played quarters. Why are we still doing halves?
Starting point is 00:11:08 This ain't soccer. Tradition. Jazz. Tradition to whomst. Yeah, I don't know. Not to this sport, because this sport all across the world has accepted- You don't want the rabble rousers and tobacco road to start raising a fist. Number three, the international three-point line.
Starting point is 00:11:28 Why have a random-ass three-point line? It's not the high school one that it used to be. Man, I don't, I- It's not the NBA line. That's the first one I'm gonna push back on. You don't like the international three-point line? I don't think that you should move the three-point line. Like the sport's bad enough as it is, So why make it more difficult for these guys that are on the court that already have limited range?
Starting point is 00:11:51 Play basketball Work out more you can get better Or you could do other things like this. There's not a magnet on it. Is it? Not that there's not a magnet on it, is there? There's not a magnet on it. So, if they just standardize the rules to international basketball, to where everybody plays, I think the game would be better. But can you get it off the rim
Starting point is 00:12:15 like an international basketball? What about smaller balls? Even smaller balls. Small, as I can attest, smaller balls, not a good thing. Don LeBattard. Number three, Chick-fil-A waffle fries. Yeah, we can get mine. Love it.
Starting point is 00:12:30 Nah, I think it's an overrated fry. You guys go ketchup or Chick-fil-A sauce when you have the Chick-fil-A fry? Chick-fil-A. Polynesian sauce. Polynesian, that's my brother right there. Good call. You're my brother.
Starting point is 00:12:40 Stugats. Oh my God. What a weird interaction. White guys. Wa wa wa wa wa white. Wow. This is the Don LeVatar Show with the Stugats. It's hard.
Starting point is 00:12:58 I'm gonna just say that. Number four, and this one's big. This one's big guys, you ready for this? Get this possession arrow the F away out of my life. They're not nine years old. They can jump. They tied it up. Let's jump. What's this like? What's the call Tony? The call is? No, but what's, what do they call the call when it happens? Two guys. They call it a jump ball.
Starting point is 00:13:22 Some people just refer to it as a possession arrow. No, the possession arrow tells us where we're going, but in the moment when it's tied up, the ref call is... Jump ball. He doesn't go... He goes, two thumbs up, which means jump. We're jumping it up. You can make an argument for that because it does play into the strategy defensively.
Starting point is 00:13:41 More people go for tie-ups than... Yes. Than stopping because of the weird possession arrow thing How about play defense? I really hate to to push back on one of your suggestions I mean, but I believe college basketball a couple of years ago changed their three-point line to the international There you go see Affecting change already. I didn't notice already doing it. That's a bad look for a blue blood We didn't even notice. Already doing it.
Starting point is 00:14:02 That's a bad look for a blue blood. Oh, you're the blue blood. But you have to keep in mind, college basketball only started mattering in this country last year. Oh, that's right. This is, you know what I love? Well, two years ago, the Elite Eight run. You know what I love about this take, Mike,
Starting point is 00:14:19 is it's very similar to my, I stand by this, I guarantee it. I'm gonna look right in the camera. Vanessa Carlton, A Thousand Miles, was popularized by the movie White Chicks. 100%. Nobody was checking for it. Yes, it came out a few years earlier, nobody was checking for it.
Starting point is 00:14:36 And then White Chicks comes out, and guess what? International phenomenon. Terry Crews, most specifically him. Yes. And my people were checking for it. Not really. Like, that was like your deep cut. Like, I got some shit for you,
Starting point is 00:14:49 and you put it on, and people at the party were like, okay, all right. Can you imagine playing A Thousand Miles as a deep cut? Yes. Like, really? Yes. Truly? You know why I can imagine it?
Starting point is 00:15:00 Because I remember it. I remember it as a deep cut. They used to play A Thousand Miles in the movie theater. You go to AMC movie theater Before the movies before the previews there were commercials you get a coke commercial You get a commercial for like progressive insurance like a local dentist. We're getting local dentist Hey, by the way, you can rent out this theater for parties Have you seen the reddit thread that a thousand miles is about Dennis from it's always sunny. Yes, I have I don't believe it
Starting point is 00:15:25 Not not not my my I want't believe it. Not my Glenn Howardson. I want to believe it. Not my Glenn Howardson. I mean, they, I want to believe it. The case that they lay out, it's one of those theories that is just so good, like go ahead, let's run with it. They kind of narrow it down.
Starting point is 00:15:38 If you don't know, Glenn Howardson, the actor who plays Dennis on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, a lot of people don't know this. He's Juilliard trained. Like this isn't just some funny guy who does some silly shtick on a show. He is a classically trained, the best among us, right? Like when they identify you, Jeremy, your dream was-
Starting point is 00:15:57 Watch Blackberry and you can find out what a great actor he is. Well watch It's Always Sunny. Well yeah, of course. But like if you're looking for the classic trained actor range element, oh my god. Although the podcast has revealed that Dennis is just who he is.
Starting point is 00:16:12 Absolutely. He is 100% Dennis. But he always talks about, I'm so different from my character on the podcast. Not at all. But then he gets irritated about the weirdest things. It's perfect. Yeah, the Reddit theory puts out a couple suspects,
Starting point is 00:16:25 most notably among them that aren't Dennis Farman's always sunny is Anthony Mackie. I believe that one. I believe that one a lot more. Anthony Mackie sounds like the kind of guy who might break a girl's heart to the point where she has to write a song like that. So Dennis System doesn't mean anything to you?
Starting point is 00:16:43 The Dennis System means everything to me. I have a Dennis system. Is it? The Dennis system, that would be a byproduct of the Dennis system right there. Does he talk about engaging physically? Interesting note, she wrote the initial piano riff for this song at her parents' house in Philadelphia.
Starting point is 00:17:01 Whoa, okay, hold on. Wait a second. Let me put some pimpin' in okay, hold on. Wait a second. Hold on. Let me put some pimpin' in this. Hold on. So, Vanessa Carlton goes to Juilliard. Glenn Harrington goes to Juilliard. Glenn Harrington, good looking dude, golden god, according to some people,
Starting point is 00:17:20 employs the dentist system on her. He demonstrates value, he engages physically, he nurtures, et cetera, et cetera, all the way, and then separates entirely at the end. Vanessa Carlton is heartbroken. She's playing this little ditty that she's played all her life since she was back in Philadelphia at her parents' house.
Starting point is 00:17:41 Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. And then the words start tumbling out of her, pouring in, she's like, I gotta write this down. She's writing down, I could walk to the sky. Do you think time would pass me by? Cause you know I walk a thousand miles if I could just see you tonight. And she's like, oh my God, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Starting point is 00:18:07 Rushes to the studio, records it. She's like, guys, I think I have a hit. Label manager comes in and is like, okay, he's at the recording studio, hit it. At the session. And she's, no, no, no, no, no, she sings a song and the guy's like, oh my God. We've got it.
Starting point is 00:18:22 We've got a banger. Immediately gets on the phone. We gotta print out zillions of copies, send it to every Sam Goody across the country. This is going to light the world on fire. They put it out. I think Sam Goody's were still around when this song came out.
Starting point is 00:18:36 They ceded to all the DJs. This is the newest, hottest song. This girl is a Juilliard. They were on their last legs though. They thought, right? They thought, and then like DJs were like It's cool. No, you're it made TRL It had a moment reached number six on the Billboard charts in 2002 and the white chicks came out in 2004 no no no no no
Starting point is 00:18:57 I'm sorry to burst International three-point line you went you went to you went to the strip club and the DJ will put it on and then everyone look At him like, who requested that one? Like, okay, my bad. Dude, it's still getting rotation top 40. If White Chicks is being filmed, like it's probably charting at the time
Starting point is 00:19:12 White Chicks is being filmed. No way. It was like, no one, everyone was like, ah, yeah, I've heard it, I'm not really that crazy about that song. And then it disappears and Vanessa Carlson's like, my life is ruined. I put my heart and soul into this.
Starting point is 00:19:23 This timeline does not work out. I thought this was gonna be the biggest hit I was gonna be rich I was gonna be like Mariah Carey just hit after it after instead of my two hits instead of Mike snow And I have this one-hit wonder and I wrote a pop song that people forgot Mike snow isn't a one-hit wonder It reached number one on the billboard eyes or 2002. Mike Snow was a one-hit wonder, and then he wrote A Pill in Ibiza because he was a one-hit wonder. That's Mike Posner.
Starting point is 00:19:50 Mike Posner, my bad. Yeah, Mike Snow is fronted, it's a collective. All the Mikes will collect. Great producer. All the Mikes will collect. Andrew Wyatt's won several Oscars for his work. Mike Posner, one-hit wonder, until he wrote A Pill in Ibiza.
Starting point is 00:20:02 Andrew Wyatt, by the way, kicked a speaker at my wife at a Mike Snow show. Really? It was at Faena. It was like the first show at Faena. I went to go see Mike Snow and we were sitting in the front and during one of the songs, he goes to do a front man thing and step up on the speaker,
Starting point is 00:20:17 kick the speaker out from underneath him, it goes flying at my wife's knees. We got free cocktails. I thought you were gonna say like, Wyatt was at Wyatt was playing and he was like, lady, I said move! And then he punched the speaker. He was feeling it and then the speaker flew out from underneath him.
Starting point is 00:20:33 He was very nice and kind about it, checked on her, but it was awkward. Back to my Vanessa Carlton story. She's bereft, she's got bills. Who's Mike Snow? Mike Snow is this- It's a band. It's a band, yeah.
Starting point is 00:20:43 But there's no one named Mike Snow. It's not a person. No, it's like Pearl Jam It's like Alice Cooper. It's like Pearl Jam. Like there's no lady named Pearl I know but if Mike Snow kicked a speaker at you know, I said it and your wife I don't know what the hell you guys are talking about at all today. I got super I don't know who that'll Dennis is. Dennis from It's Always Sunny. I've seen that guy. That guy seems kind of like an arrogant fellow.
Starting point is 00:21:08 Yeah, that's who he is. He really is that person. That's just a character. And Vanessa Carlton had two jams. No, hold on. Ordinary Day. Don't miss merch. Sing it.
Starting point is 00:21:17 Just a day, just an ordinary day. Never heard of it. Maybe if she gets into White Chicks 2, then I'll know that song. So anyways. They can't do White Chicks 2. then I'll know that song. So anyways. They came to White Chicks 2. That will not happen. She's bereft. She's got bills to pay.
Starting point is 00:21:29 She bought all this stuff thinking she's gonna be a big star. She's not. On credit. Like yeah. And now it's like. The timeline does not support this series. She's got like the pink envelopes that come in
Starting point is 00:21:37 when you're really, really late on your bills, right? And then in 2004, all of a sudden, she starts getting royalty checks. What's this? Another one? Wait, I can keep the house? I can keep it? What's happening?
Starting point is 00:21:51 She called her agent, like, what's going on? Why is this happening all of a sudden? Haven't you heard? Your song is a massive hit. Like, wait, I thought it failed. Like, no, some movie with the Wayans brothers put it in there and because of that seating, now we're rich. And she starts crying and sobbing and she says,
Starting point is 00:22:10 thank you Sean, thank you Marlon, thank you so much, thank you Terry Crews. And the rest is history. Actually, she helped Terry Crews out just as much as he helped her. Ridiculous. What? We're not for that scene. And Terry nails the assignment.
Starting point is 00:22:27 Yeah, but he got all those roles after White Chicks. It was the guy from White Chicks that was pulling all those roles. Training day. I think Terry Crews would even tell you, and it's probably been on record, that the role in White Chicks changed his life. Prove it.
Starting point is 00:22:42 I'll find an interview. You're just throwing out like his career like improved drastically after Whitechicks. I don't know about that. Look it up. You don't know that his career after Whitechicks is better than his career before Whitechicks? The only theory that has actually held water
Starting point is 00:22:57 was the one that you didn't want to believe with Dennis. I don't even understand this argument. You want to believe it's Anthony Mackie. Oh, he was in Friday After Next as Damon? Come on, man Making his pecs jump was he hosting America's Got Talent before white chicks did white chicks do that for him Yeah, as it did ordered or did soul plane do that for him. No, he probably forget the longest yard Yeah, well said don't forget
Starting point is 00:23:20 My bad, yeah, but I don't understand you can just fold that's a losing hand I'm right history will prove me right I Mean even your basketball like takes on how to fix it one of them was wrong which one but the three point no It was a right. It was right. It was just they did it. Yeah, you can't Never stop arguing. Yeah, but it So what do you do with a three-point line now that you found out that they've already done that You can't lose an argument if you never stop arguing. Yeah, but it hasn't ended. So what do you do with a three-point line now that you found out that they've already done that?
Starting point is 00:23:49 Do you move closer? Check it out the list. Oh, you think, oh, perfect. Perfect. Like we were one step into the immune plan. Look, how many times do I have to prove to you guys that the immune plan works? If you just complain about something long enough,
Starting point is 00:24:02 they end up changing it. Look at the All-Star. I fixed All-Star weekend you're welcome nobody thank me you did you did 100% nobody thank me no I'm thanking you right now you're welcome yes Billy scoffing back there but you know what Billy nobody went on any national media platform and argued about all-star weekend year after year other than me they'd say it quietly behind the scenes though I'm not scoffing at that if anything I'd say that quietly behind the scenes though. I'm not scoffing at that.
Starting point is 00:24:25 If anything, I'd say that you could be right about Terry Crews because Soul Plane was before White Chicks. So you could argue that Soul Plane got him White Chicks that got him all the other stuff. So you can say White Chicks changed my life, but had he not been in Soul Plane or Starsky and Hutch, would he have been in White Chicks? But he was in Training Day before all that.
Starting point is 00:24:44 Yes, Training Day and also the sixth day. The sixth day is really the one that changed his life. Shout out to Arnold. Yeah. That's a banger, by the way. Future Cynephobe. Arnold vs. the Devil? I'm in. That's end of days.
Starting point is 00:24:57 Oh. You're wrong again. Don Lebatard. Are you back on the caffeine? Are you back on the Red Bull? Yes. Something's wrong. See, we are. Something's wrong.
Starting point is 00:25:09 I mean, it's unbelievable how manic he is and he sort of just, he keeps, he keeps, you know, chewing on his bottom teeth in a way that's scaring me a little bit. Stu Gatz. I've been up since 5.30 a.m. producing content and in terms of being able to be on My body needs a little boost and that's why I turn to cocaine. This is the Don LeBattar show with the StuGuts Got an idea and it's the best like no one's ever was Real ballers know that it's too small, enlarging it's my cause Let it resound throughout the league, spread it far and wide
Starting point is 00:26:02 Make Adam Silver understand The power that's inside Bigger balls, let's say basketball We all agree They're hitting too many threes Bigger balls, oh And this could end A most disturbing trend
Starting point is 00:26:21 Bigger balls, let's say basketball You know it's true Hard made balls will pull us through I love that in the middle of that song, Lewis very helpfully whispers in my ear, by the way, this is a Pokemon parody. Like really? No shit. I have kids. Bigger balls! Tony, you have a rebuttal.
Starting point is 00:27:00 I've got a rebuttal to Bigger Balls. Yeah. And as Mike was saying it the other day, it made me think, I'm like, bigger balls. I'm like, OK, I go with Amir, because I've shot on a women's ball, and I've shot on a men's ball. Thank you for taking it seriously. This has become like an internet joke,
Starting point is 00:27:15 and that was not my intention. This is a real plausible solution that I came up with. No, and I want to rebuttal. Iron sharpens iron, Mike. So this is a theory, right? Yeah, don't chew on it. We're trying to figure out how we can make it a little bit better take it in chew on these my my issue is in the MBA These guys's hands are so big that I don't think a bigger ball would matter. No, it's not about the grip
Starting point is 00:27:35 I don't want to I don't want to eliminate. I just want to make a very Imperceptible change to the eye. I'm not taking away dunks or anything like that. It's just Perceptible change to the eye. I'm not taking away dunks or anything like that. It's just Three point percentages will go down with a slightly bigger ball. Mike's theory is that because the ball is bigger there's less Margin for error in terms of going into the rim Yeah, and so a shot that if two balls fit in one rim Yes, then wouldn't a slightly bigger ball just also fit normally it will write because you're shooting one at a time I'm not trying to make a carnival game here bigger ball just also fit normally. Well, right, but if you're shooting one at a time, not two. I'm not trying to make a carnival game here.
Starting point is 00:28:06 I'm trying to make a very slight change. And I don't appreciate like people not taking me seriously just because bigger balls is a catchy little slogan and it's got a great song right now. But I do think that this is a solution to something that ails the NBA. I would argue that smaller balls, given my personal experience, smaller balls are the way.
Starting point is 00:28:28 You wanna make it harder, you wanna make people completely lose their shooting form, make the ball smaller and lighter. Really? Yeah. Hard. Lighter's terrible. Lighter's terrible. Lighter's tough. Lighter's terrible. You feel it just like the wind is carrying it.
Starting point is 00:28:41 Like the AC of the arena blows it off course. They'll no doubt Adjust and then the the percentages will skyrocket with a smaller ball bigger and lighter You want a beach ball a beach ball? Make it really difficult to shoot guys keep making you push this out to extremes I just want to increase the ball size by like a centimeter And if it doesn't change things all that much, we'll go back to the drawing board. Maybe we'll increase it two centimeters, something crazy like that.
Starting point is 00:29:10 This is not gonna take away the ability of the basketball player to palm the ball. Well, it will for some of them. At a centimeter, come on. Yeah, man. Not in the NBA, those guys' hands are ridiculous. Just to clarify, Mike is not talking about like a NBA street cheat code level of a humongous
Starting point is 00:29:27 ball. You're talking about like some swollen, like ripe ball, just a little bit bigger than usual. Yeah, just the circumference increases by a centimeter and we can take in the data. We're already talking about it and I can already feel people being annoyed because they think I'm doing a bit, but I do think it would help mitigate what's happening in the game right now because the percentages dictate that you have to take all these threes. Also the point value. You could also change the point value. How about this? Two and a half point shot. Now we're into decimals.
Starting point is 00:29:59 Where, wait, hold on, hold on. Let's not throw out the baby with the bathwater. Where would the two and a half point shot come from? The same spot. But right now, as I mentioned, the field goal, the three point percentages and the point value are dictating that you basically have to attempt all these threes in a game. So by reducing the value of a three point shot,
Starting point is 00:30:18 you bring more balance to? Right, you make it a half point more as opposed to a full point more. Okay, so let me ask you a question because I had this idea a couple years ago, or maybe Tom Havishaw did and I just stole it from him. But what if, like in baseball, every home team got to dictate the dimensions of the court? I love that.
Starting point is 00:30:39 Meaning, if I, Milwaukee, I have Giannis, he dunks a million times, I'm going to make the three point line basically like the restricted area. Yeah, there was a, was it Tom that actually wrote this article? I think Tom. Yeah, no, I remember this article. I stole this from Tom, now I'm pretty sure. If you're at Golden State and say, hey, we got shooters, this is what we do.
Starting point is 00:30:55 We move the three point line like to 35 feet. Why didn't he get laughed out of the room? Why am I like? Because Tom Harris was a serious journalist. Yeah, but he's done the math too, Mike. I think that's the issue. And also, Tom. He's done the math? Yeah, he's done the math to Mike. That's the On the math fantasy books. I'm doing math to I'm changing point. Are you said centimeter? We don't know what that means
Starting point is 00:31:16 Ball This is a metric system, this is America Jack exactly right you go you take that over to France. Exactly, go across the pond. Centimeters? Centimeter, dog, you tell me by inches. You tell me inches. Thank you. Look, dude, what Tom posed, which I'm all in favor of new ideas, what Tom posed was drastically more kooky than what I came up with. I'm gonna tell you why Tom gets to write this
Starting point is 00:31:40 and say this, right? Because Tom has a track record of writing things that end up being ahead of their time. So, Tom once wrote a long time ago that Steph Curry doesn't shoot enough threes. At the time I think Curry was averaging like four or five three-point attempts a game. He's like, he needs to shoot more.
Starting point is 00:31:57 Somewhere around like nine or 10. And everyone lost their mind. Like 10 three-pointers a game? What do you think this is? A three-point shootout? No, no one plays basketball like that. That's forward thinking. I said podcast, we should concentrate on that. You know what? Touche touche and now you're cashing
Starting point is 00:32:15 Question for you guys How do you balance the difference between vision and flexibility This and this this came up. How do you mean? So this came up for me when I was- Are we still talking about the bigger ball thing and changing the game? Because that is a vision.
Starting point is 00:32:31 That is vision. And he didn't totally dismiss my two and a half point shot as opposed to a three point shot. I'm intrigued. It's not that hard of a math problem. It's just, you know, they make two, you're back to a nice round number. A smaller inside three point on that's two and a half so like the mid-range game has basically disappeared nobody shooting mid-range shots anymore but what if you make an arc that's basically in the mid-range you can make two and a half points do
Starting point is 00:32:54 you think the introduction this has actually been tossed around the four point shot do you think the introduction of a four point shot would would change the game or just make things worse it would make things worse it would make people start to at first it would be great. And then at some point, We'll have great rebound opportunities. People would start really in earnest practicing those four point shots
Starting point is 00:33:12 and then it would just dominate. Cause everyone was like, why would you take a three? You take one step back, you can take a four or whatever. So I'm not a fan of that. But I asked a question about flexibility and vision. Meaning it comes up in a lot of different instances, all across sports. The example that came to mind for me was,
Starting point is 00:33:30 there was a news report that the Rockets had a deal to send Jalen Green to Brooklyn for McHale Bridges, right? And they were gonna send a bunch of picks and Jalen Green to Brooklyn for McHale Bridges, and ultimately, I think the Nets turned it down. And then Jalen Green to Brooklyn for McHale Bridges, and ultimately, I think the Nets turned it down. And then Jalen Green now has had this most incredible run of his career. And I say,
Starting point is 00:33:54 Vision says, hey, we already didn't believe in this guy. Let's not get seduced by 10, 15 games. Let's still try, and now it's even better. He's played his value up, we can get more. Flexibility says, no, no, no, the plan has changed. He's good now, so now we're gonna stick with him. So how do you balance those two concepts
Starting point is 00:34:18 as a decision maker? Like, do I keep doing this thing that just started now because it seems to be working, or do I stick to my overall vision? I had a plan, I should not let this divert my plan. I think a good example is how the Miami Heat have built their roster and how they've learned from their mistakes.
Starting point is 00:34:37 Maybe Tyler Johnson, you can say that that was a mistake. Hassan Whiteside, that was a mistake. And they decided after getting enough data that we can let Max Truss go because we can develop another Max Truss. And it took them a couple of times to realize that they had this developmental power that can really make things easier for them if they don't just knee-jerk and give someone a big contract after career years. Well, and even to stick with the Miami Heat, like Tyler Hero is a great individual example of this,
Starting point is 00:35:12 where every year it's, are the Miami Heat going to capitalize on what his value is as a young player to trade him for a older veteran player who's already established, or are they going to let him try to maximize his ceiling as an individual player? And so if you look at Jalen Green, a young player who seems to be getting better,
Starting point is 00:35:34 and you could say, oh, don't let yourself get fooled by X amount of games, you know, there's a lot of Heat fans, and I wouldn't agree with this, that said, oh, the Heat got fooled by the bubble right off the bat. He played so well in the bubble that they thought his ceiling was here, and so in turn, they've been waiting for that to happen and haven't been willing to make that move.
Starting point is 00:35:52 I would obviously disagree with that and say, look, this player continues to get better, and so you want your young players to develop and build your core around a couple of young guys. Is he that much better, though? Oh, yeah, no. Tyler? Yeah, significantly. Amin, your opinion of Tyler Aero? Has he made enough str though? Oh yeah, no. Tyler? Yeah, significantly.
Starting point is 00:36:05 Amin, your opinion of Tyler Aro? Has he made enough strides? Since his rookie year. Since his rookie year, I think he's better, yes, for sure. But like, is he what people thought he was gonna be out of the bubble? He's not Devin Booker. Kenneth Crooked said he was gonna be an all-star,
Starting point is 00:36:16 people said he's gonna be the next Devin Booker. Did he improve from last season? He's not Tyrese Matthews. If he had been healthy this year, his play in those first 10 to 15 games statistically would have put him closer to that conversation. I don't, I don't disagree, but at this point, like the injuries are part of his story. No, that doesn't matter. It's no different than what Jazz Chisholm Jr. is with the Marlins where it's,
Starting point is 00:36:37 you got to be on the floor to be able to produce and be that guy. I think on the flip side of that too, there's a lot of sunk cost fallacy where people, especially in the NFL or in the NBA, where you have a lot invested in a number one pick and a number two pick and a lottery pick, that your quarterback, where you're looking at being like, we've sunk so much into this guy already. He's not panning out, but we have so much invested
Starting point is 00:36:54 that we need to kind of ride it out just to see if he turns that corner. And I feel like a lot of people got stuck in that. I think it's the opposite though, a lot of times, right? A lot of times it's not like, hey, he's bad, but we gotta keep sticking with it. It's, hey, oh, all of a sudden he started being good you knew this happens a lot with coaches we're like you know this guy wasn't the
Starting point is 00:37:11 guy and then but you see but now because they're winning all of a sudden like well I guess he is the guy no you know he's not the guy just make the move but how do you balance that with that with the other thing which is what you got to give it a chance you got to give it a chance to play out. And the flip side of that is Shay Gilder's Alexander being traded for Paul George, where the Clippers seem to know, like this guy's gonna be great,
Starting point is 00:37:35 but we have to make that move right now. If you want Kwi Leonard. I mean, that's why they did it. If you want Kwi Leonard. All right, let's take a break here. When we come back, the Panthers lost, but it turned out it was good news? Mike Ryan will explain right here on The Dan LeVittar Show.

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