Pardon the Interruption| It’s time to take Pelicans seriously- Windy: NBA referees are still problem

Pardon the Interruption| It’s time to take Pelicans seriously- Windy: NBA referees are still problem

I’m Mike wilbon I hear the weather is really warmed up back East Tony you’ve been out enjoying nature Tony cornhe you’re not really a nature guy does the driving range count does that count the range you know I’m sort of in the tank for the driving range are the cherry blossoms out yet

Are they out early it’s like two weeks early are they out already they’re not out yet they’re coming out early though it appears that winter is over when it’s over 70° in March welcome to PTI boys and girls in in today’s episode mie bets moves to short Rory mroy is worried

About Golf and Brian windhorse joins us for five good minutes but we begin today with the New Orleans Pelicans they’ve won four games in a row the longest current streak in the league Zion Williamson has been relatively healthy he’s on track for a career high in games played averaging 22 points six rebounds

Five assists and he’s had a couple of highlight blocks lately so will Bon is it time to take the Pelicans seriously yeah Tony I thought it was time a little while ago before the four game streak just because of what you said about health look you that’s everything for

New Orleans and it’s not just Zion it’s Brandon Ingram as well those guys miss Seasons it seems when they are out there with CJ McCollum with herb Jones with valent Tunis with Trey Murphy coming off the bench they’re as good as anybody in the west except Denver they’re not

Denver good but they could threaten the Clippers who have slid a little bit lately they could certainly threaten Dallas or Phoenix or Sacramento or the Lakers or gold and say yes and so much of it’s on Zion as you mentioned Tony and he feels really good he does and if

I was you know anywhere around the New Orleans franchise at the top of the pyramid I would just make sure all the great celebrity chefs of New Orleans are not allowed to contact Zion cuz if you keep them away from Zion and you keep him on the court again with Brandon

Ingram he’s critical and McCollum is your experience yes it’s time to take them seriously okay let’s examine this four game winning streak for a second they beat Indiana pretty good team playoff team they beat Toronto bad team under 500 they beat Philadelphia without embiid bad team without embiid 10 and 21

Without embiid and they beat Atlanta bad team under 500 so let’s not take four games and make it into Joe Dei no not those games I I it’s it’s not that I’m not going to take new orans seriously I will I know for example they’re in the

Top 10 in efficiency offense and defense they’re in the top five in shooting percentage from three and they’re number one defending against the three but all of those teams you mentioned Mike I take them more seriously in the west and I don’t know that you mentioned Minnesota so I will mention

Minnesota can’t imagine Mike yeah I can’t imagine New Orleans I can’t imagine them in the conference final maybe you can I can’t Tony they have all the ingredients they they really do the that’s why I said I took them seriously before the four game streak because four

Game streak doesn’t mean as much to me but they’re teams ahead of them and it’s hard to climb over all of them but it’s not golf you don’t have to beat all of them you got to beat who’s in front of you but they’re intriguing Tony they

Seem to have the stuff can they put it together can they stay healthy Believe It or Not which just one week away from the opening of Major League Baseball season it’s going to open in South Korea the Padres we take another Dodgers in Soul Tony you and I have history in Soul

Who will start the season with Mookie Betts playing shortstop bets moved from right field to second base for a chunk of last season and also dabbled at shortstop but he’ll now be out there fulltime as Gavin Lux who’s been having throwing issues moves to second base tone do you see bets now

31 years old him playing shortstop as a good thing or bad thing for the loaded up Dodgers so initially when I saw this I thought it was a bad thing because it meant that Gavin Lux isn’t who we thought he was and the Dodgers have lost Allstar shortstops in the last few years

Free agency Cory Seager and Trey Turner and Gavin Lux was counted on to replace them but the more I thought about it Mike the more I thought it was a good thing and that’s because of my complete Fai in mookie bets you don’t ever underestimate mookie bets and what he

Can do mie bets this is a direct quote this is a dream come true cuz he played shortstop in high school and a little bit in the low miners when he went up to Boston they put him in the Outfield and he won six gold gloves and an MVP so you

Said oh he’s never coming back to the infield but he was at second last year you know and a little bit at Short my feeling about this Mike is that if he’s excited about it if he’s thrilled by it then it’s a very good move even know I understand that shortstop particularly

On the throwing arm is a harder position to play than second Tony I had the same reaction as you when I first heard it I was like no he’s up there on a short list in right field with Roberto Clement when it comes to gold gloves and Dwight

Evans I mean he he’s up there on the alltime right fielders top 10 all time at the very least maybe top five but then Tony as I as I saw that same quote as I heard mookie bets say I’m excited I’m really looking forward to it I’m

Like that’s it mookie bets he’s one of those guys who gets all the benefit of the doubt there are players in every sport who may show you flashes of Brilliance they may even win they don’t get benefit of Doubt fully every day mookie bets does and if he’s excited

About the Dodgers may need a little bit of that they may need a little injection of everybody not being too cool for school no I completely agree and they’re not going to beat you on defense anyway they got offense to beat you I mean as

Long as the middle infield isn’t a Civ I think they’re going to be all right we move on the PLAYERS Championship opens tomorrow promising as always the greatest field in golf but a lot of great players have left the PGA tour for the saudy tour and this year’s players

Event is without three of the last five major winners John ROM cam Smith and Brooks kepco wil Bond do a players feel diminished to you I’m going to steal steal your move and go to the glasses yeah is diminished and they can’t get to a merger quick enough and the stuff that

That that commissioner manahan is talking about is nonsense okay because when you are missing the following people first of all just start with the three you mentioned Rah cam Smith and Brooks Kea that’s that’s letting you down okay now you diminished when you get to nean D Shambo Dustin Johnson

Terrell Hatton Bubba I know Bubba hadn’t done much lately but us Tyson Paul Casey who’ve been playing well Tony sorry this is going to be looked back as a year where it may not carry an asterisk but you look back and go H I don’t care

About the 144 I I care about those 10 guys that we just mentioned that’s a substantial chunk of the field eight of whom could win to me Rah is the best player in the world I realize he’s not number one I get that but John ROM if

You’re missing Rah alone your field is dimin finish they can say what they want even Rory said we can’t get to this thing fast enough Monahan get hey stop doubling down and realize the problem you’ve got yeah so not only is the Players diminished the entire PGA Tour as you’re

Suggesting is diminished I watch a lot of golf as you know I always call you you’re not watching and I’m watching not yet this year with the exception of Windam Clark winning at Pebble and Matsuyama um winning at uh Riviera I believe and then last week at the Arnold

Palmer Scotty Chef the winning the winners all year long so far I don’t even know who they are there was a Frenchman who won I did not know him there was an amateur who won I did not know him there was a blonde kid with

Huge biceps who used to be a bouncer in a bar I didn’t know him and I didn’t know the bar Rory hasn’t won JT hasn’t won spe hasn’t won morawa hasn’t won feno hasn’t won Klay hasn’t won they haven’t won this thing is diminish Rory is right when Rory points out that the

That the tour the Sai tour is basically handing out 100 million gift cards and he’s saying the only time the great players will see each other is in Majors Mike this is a very dangerous thing because it means that golf will become tennis that only four tournaments will

Matter and when Jay Mahan actually says the PGA Tour is stronger than ever are you drugs what are you talking about what let’s take a break coming up why is scoring down so much in the NBA we will ask Brian Windor we’ll also ask him how concerned the Clippers are or should be

About those back spasms that drove kawh Leonard from last night’s game Tony I’ll start watching you know and I’ll watch fanatically but they’re in trouble if they don’t come up with a merger they’re in trouble they are the leader boards have been terrible other than the Arnold

Pommer on Saturday and Sunday yeah you don’t know anybody on let’s dig into the NBA with our great friend ESPN’s senior NBA writer Brian windhorse Brian we’ll start with this the NBA finded Rudy goar $100,000 after he made the money sign at Scott fer and he did not back down in

The post game How concerned is the league about the perception of its officiating well I think let’s let’s separate this because this was not necessarily a comment on NBA officiating it was a comment on Scott Foster and I know I don’t know how many active NBA players know about Foster’s history but

I think the the documentary that came out a couple year year and a half ago about Tim donahe really opened a lot of players up to already have more animus there and I think what he was referring to and was referencing was you know past you know allegations about Scott Foster

Which the NBA has had investigated and I just think it’s another reason for players to dis like Scott Foster having said that I think the NBA probably needs Scott Foster more than anything else which is a commentary on the quality of officials right now because they’ve had so many veteran officials leave in

Recent years either by retirement or for other reasons and so I don’t you know they kind of have to have him he is still regarded as one of the best officials in the league and I think that’s what the league is focused on they’re more more focused on the

Challenge of getting their officiating as a whole better than what their perceptions are but that money sign that was a message to Foster that wasn’t a message to every referee oh the players versus Scott Foster on and on it goes meanwhile Brian scoring is down since the All-Star break

I think that’s way too small a sample size to matter at all but I know other people think differently what do you thinking what’s being said about it well the conspiracy theorists are going to have to take their pick are the NBA officials like bumbling stumbling and incompetent or are they so organized

That with the flip of a switch they can instantaneously change the entire direction of the NBA because of their incredible Brilliance which is it so pick one or the other I will say this this is not a conspiracy back in January the league put out publicly a video from

The head of officiating Monty McCutchen talking about the midseason points of emphasis and better than half of that video was was focusing on eliminating or reducing foul hunting by players this is something the NBA told the world in I think January 19th or 20th it came out

Said we’re going to try to get a point of emphasis to not let these guys get away from this foul hunting generally since that video not just since the All-Star break but even in late January onward fouls started going like this all that stuff started going like this I

Think the NBA was reacting to their mid-season adjustment I don’t think it was a grand conspiracy that said there’s no doubt it’s down and it’s interesting and I think we’re going to continue to watch it but I agree with you wilbon let’s not make a blanket statement until

We see how the rest of the season finishes yeah and and tied to that in a way Brian is the athletic reporting that the League’s competition committee is reportedly discussing more defensive Freedom going forward defensive Freedom seems awfully vague to me it ain’t going to go back to the 1980s what are we

Talking about here yeah I think first when when something gets to the competition committee most of the time it results in new rules and so the competition committee which meets throughout the year and then we’ll make recommendations to the NBA Board of Governors the owners essentially over the summer will

Probably recommend putting some things that allow defensive players to be a little bit more physical the where that goes down how it gets discussed that’s all being you know handled right now but I think what you will see going into next season is the NBA turning the dial

Back trying to correct the situation this is what the league generally does I know because it’s scoring and because records are falling it’s very uh it’s a hot button issue but the NBA is always tinkering with that knob on various things on traveling on flopping on other

Stuff and right now they’re trying to turn back the defense because I think one of the things that the coaches have been making clear to the to to the league is they don’t know how to coach defense they don’t know how to tell their players how to play because

They’re telling in them things and instructing them the players are following their instructions and getting called for fouls and so I think that’s what they want to to to tone down I think we will see that into next season because nobody wants to watch 140 to 135 three days a week nobody really

Does we’ll get you out of here on this we’ll go from the theoretical to the absolute real kawh Leonard left the game and the arena last night with backs spasms after only 12 minutes what is the level of concern about this from the flippers well this has been bothering

Him apparently for a few days now if you’re dealing with a Kawhi Leonard injury that’s not to his knee or to his quad it’s okay it’s something that the Clippers can manage they may need to give him some time off you know he has been very healthy James Harden has

Played every game since he’s been traded there he’s dealing with the shoulder injury now too but the Clippers bigger challenge is that they’re they’re seven and seven their last 14 games and their defense in that stretch has collapsed and so whether kawh Leonard is out there

Or not and they obviously have to make sure his back is okay they’ve lost the momentum that they had there was a golden opportunity there for the Clippers to pass the Timberwolves with Carl towns out and you know get into that you know one or two seed which

Could make home court in the second round and they’ve sort of let that go through with this with these struggles and there was a golden opportunity with the wolves on their floor to try have a double win with the tiebreak on the line as well so the Clippers have a number of

Things that are bothering them right now Paul George talked about fol being an issue there’s a number of things for them to address in addition to kawai’s health thank you Brian always a pleasure for thank you appreciate it thanks guys have a great show let’s take one last break still to

Come the Chargers release a big name wide receiver and the Yankees are going to be without gar Cole for a little while now Mike I find it interesting that when things get to the competition committee it means change is coming yeah got enough happy time people happy 29th birthday Michaela shiffrin shiffon just

Came back from a knee injury and won her eighth World Cup slalom season Championship last Sunday in Sweden this win ties shiffon with downhillers Lindsey vaugh and inar stenmark for the most seasoned titles in a single discipline but chiffon has the all-time individual World Cup wins record all to

Herself she has 96 of them she broke Stark’s record of 86 l last year and she is the preeminent slom and giant slom skier of all time chiffon has two gold Olympic medals and one silver but she was famously shut out in Beijing in 2022 the Colorado natives next Olympic

Chance will come in Italy in 2026 at a course she loves I know you remember this stuff clearly but Dan Jansen Tony he had struggles in Calgary and then he you know struggled again in next Olympics against lammer you were there but he bounced back right and he won two

Gold actually in L Hammer where you were bounce back he won in liy Hammer I Hopey in Norway recovers like that I hope she does not so happy anniversary Kevin Love on this day 13 years ago Love’s consecutive double double streak was put to bed when the Warriors held him to six

Points love held the post merger NBA record at 53 consecutive double doubles now 53 is a lot but if you go pre merger the number is 200 27 in a row set of course by Wilton Norman Chamberlain who also had double double streaks of 220 and 133 which make 53 look like

Something you’d work on in a garage the current active leader Damon sabonis he’s working on 47 in a row sabonis leads the NBA with 60 double doubles so far this season and 22 triple doubles it’s sa bonus and Kevin Love Kevin Love one of my favorite players in

The league in the last 20 one of my favorites these guys are tremendous players people need to stop talking about records and look to wilt first look and see what wil did then you can mention the other numbers boys and girls you don’t just start with something since the merger start with

Wilt everything starts with Wilton basketball Happy Trails it does to the West Coast Conference Championship for Gonzaga the zags had won four straight West Coast Conference Championship Finals and 10 of the last 11 losing only in 2019 to St Mary’s well St Mary’s beat Gonzaga again last night 6960 to get the

Conference’s automatic NCAA bid now both teams knew they were going to the tournament Gonzaga is ranked 17th St Mary 21st it usually owns St Mary’s having beaten the gals 26 of the last 32 I wonder if both schools will enter into a basketball agreement with the Pack 12

What do you think well they ought to both be in the same conference whatever it is they can p each other their game are fabulous to watch Tony and I know yesterday I wound up saying I pushed because I couldn’t figure out which one I thought St Mary’s had the edge their

Games are just worth watching it’d be great to see them like in a regional final or wait the final four let’s go to the big finish if we could let’s do it Louisville fired Kenny pay your no the Blackhawks are now not in last anymore San Jose is last and the

Blackhawks are next to last s spech Spee everyone a weak First Blood you have defeated an enemy double Kill team desty Tower triple kill an ally has been defeated F in The Purge an enemy has been defeated On double Kill down enemy double kill an ally has been defeated Your tower has been destroyed an enemy has been defeated you have defeated an enemy double kill an enemy has been Defeated our base is under attack Victory look look spe Sh Moon spee Spee spe what did go that you got some Good First Blood enemy double kill double kill you have been defeated an ally has been defeated your to has been destroyed an enemy has been defeated you have been defeated ultimate double kill enemy double kill an ally has been defeated enemy onot our base is under attack you have defeated an Enemy blood back an enemy has been defeated enemy under attack beating up you have been defeated enemy legendary our base is under attack only prev you have been defeated ATT kill enemy legendary an enemy has been defeated [Applause] Defeat good toy

Pardon the Interruption | “It’s time to take the Pelicans seriously” – Windy: NBA referees are still a problem