Big Shot Bob – Ep 276 – Too Much Happening In The Front

For the first time in about a month, all three of us are in the same place. Robert Horry is back to work (and a little cranky about it), Harp is back from the casino, and Rob Jenners is off the road. Episode 282 of the Big Shot Bob Podcast. We start with the WNBA Finals. A'ja Wilson has five MVPs, so who's her NBA comp? Then the fight: Game 6 between the Dream and the Valkyries tips at 12:30 on a weekday in Atlanta and airs on E! and SyFy. Harp says the NBA should have stepped in for its little sister. Rob says this one is on the WNBA. Rob Horry has a simpler fix, and a story about the Lakers getting rushed off the floor in Philly to celebrate a title in a back hallway. From there: is State Farm Arena the best building in the league when Atlanta actually shows up? The Knicks sent employees a fake championship ring email as a phishing test, then handed assistant coaches empty boxes. That leads to Horry pulling out his own rings on camera and explaining why the '95 Rockets ring, from his favorite title, is the worst one he owns. Also this week: Jalen Williams' ankle injury and why nobody needs the slow-mo replay, Kawhi's knee (again), LeBron's golf swings during the anthem, a Warriors rookie getting under Luka's skin, and the defensive rule Horry teaches kids that you will never forget. Plus the Cavs blowing two big leads, the early unbeaten and winless teams, and Harp finally turning in his playoff picks with a week of games in his back pocket. We close with college football picks (Auburn-Ole Miss, Georgia-Florida, Northwestern-Oregon, Miami-UNC, Ohio State-USC), a fight over whether Harp gets credit for the weeks he missed, Big Shot of the Week, and a higher-or-lower game on new guys in new uniforms. 00:00 Intro: the whole crew is back 02:09 WNBA Finals and A'ja Wilson's five MVPs 03:48 Game 6 at 12:30 PM: whose fault is it? 09:41 The Hawks floor and no on-court celebration 14:59 Is State Farm the best arena in the NBA? 18:16 Darkened crowds and viral fans 20:20 Knicks ring phishing scam and empty boxes 22:27 Horry's championship rings, best to worst 29:02 Jalen Williams' injury and the replay problem 31:42 Kawhi out again with knee inflammation 34:41 LeBron's anthem golf swings and Sixers ratings 36:51 Warriors rookie vs. Luka 40:05 Horry's defense rule (and a T-shirt idea) 42:11 Cavs collapses, unbeaten and winless teams 45:19 Harp's playoff picks: East 48:24 West picks and the Lakers' big man problem 53:56 College football picks 1:03:27 Big Shot of the Week 1:04:43 Game: Welcome Back, higher or lower

NBA SEASON IS BACK!!! And the crew is... mostly back. Harp phones in from the casino floor at Harrah's Cherokee Valley River in Murphy, North Carolina, Robert Horry is squeezing us in before a flight, and Rob Jenners is just glad real basketball tips off tonight. We start with the Lakers waiving Dalton Knecht. Robert isn't surprised, shares what his old college coach told him about Knecht's scoring, and names a couple of teams that should go get him (Denver, you need a shooter). Then it's ring night at the Garden. Robert knows the other side of that one. His first year in San Antonio, he had to sit there and watch the Spurs get rings for beating his Lakers. He also tells the story of the 1995 Rockets ring that came out looking cheap. From there it's Steph's ankle scare, the Porzingis illness, Draymond showing up heavy, and Ben Simmons tearing his Achilles right when he looked like himself again. We also get into the NBA's memo cracking down on certain prop bets, and why the leagues' sudden moral compass is hard to take seriously when the sponsors are sportsbooks and beer companies. In the WNBA Finals, the Atlanta Dream finally won a Finals game and Angel Reese put up some history. We talk about the viral clip of her walking off when she didn't get the ball, and Robert explains what he'd tell her and what Shaq used to do instead. Harp had to bail once the afternoon show took over his table, so Robert and Rob lock in their East and West playoff picks without him. His are coming next week. Robert has the Wizards in the playoffs (with an asterisk), Rob has the Celtics second in the East, and we'll be holding all of it over each other until April. We close with the college football weekend where five of the top seven teams lost, picks for Miami-Pitt, Indiana-Michigan, Tennessee-South Carolina, Texas A&M-Alabama and Ole Miss-Texas, Big Shot of the Week for Brooklyn Green, and a game called Number One With a Bullet: how many No. 1 overall picks did Robert play with? 00:00 Intro: The Crew's Back-ish 02:48 NBA Opening Night & the Lakers Waive Dalton Knecht 07:41 Opening Night Schedule & Knicks Ring Night 08:38 Sitting Through Someone Else's Ring Night 11:07 Will the Sixers Spoil the Knicks' Party? 12:22 Wednesday's Slate & the Clippers 13:51 Steph's Ankle & the Porzingis Illness 17:17 Draymond's Weight & Off-Season Conditioning 21:40 Ben Simmons' Season-Ending Achilles 23:34 The NBA's Betting Crackdown Memo 27:24 WNBA Finals: The Dream Get Their First Win 28:14 Angel Reese's Viral Walk-Off 33:54 Eastern Conference Predictions 39:21 Western Conference Predictions 45:13 College Football's Chaos Weekend 46:52 College Football Picks 53:51 Big Shot of the Week: Brooklyn Green 55:57 Game: Number One With a Bullet 1:03:03 Does Going No. 1 Even Matter? 1:05:11 Wrap-Up

Episode 280, and B-Dawg is somewhere out on the ocean on a Carnival cruise, so it's Robert Horry and Rob Jenners holding it down. Bob's calling in from Vegas, where he's working the Lakers preseason game for season ticket holders. That gets the guys talking about the new ownership, what it means to be a Lakers legend, and why Bob respects teams like the Rockets that keep bringing back the older guys who never saw the big money. (Also: Bob is never getting on a cruise ship. Jaws, the Titanic, the Poop Cruise and a 6'2" shower for a 6'9" man. Case closed.) Walker Kessler says he's been asked to be the Lakers' defensive anchor, and Bob is not a fan of coaches handing out roles. "Your role is to win games." That turns into Luka's defense, Devin Booker shutting people up at the Olympics, and whether anybody ever had to tell Hakeem or Tim Duncan to anchor a defense. Also on the table: LeBron calling Mike Breen a liar over the Embiid practice story, Paul George's rough Celtics debut, John Collins grabbing Dillon Brooks by the throat five minutes into a preseason game, and the Knicks shutting down extension talks with KAT, Josh Hart and the rest. The WNBA Finals are set with the Golden State Valkyries and the Atlanta Dream, and the Dream are stuck playing for a title in a 3,500-seat arena. The guys go back and forth on where it should have moved (McCamish seats 8,600, for the record), whether the Angel Reese haters owe her an apology, and who wins it. Then football. Nick Sirianni kicks it short with eight seconds left and loses in London, and the Commanders sit in field goal range and let the clock run out for a tie. Bob tells the story of an inbound play at South Alabama from his freshman year that still haunts him. He was at Georgia-Alabama with his son Nick and has thoughts on the missed PI, the targeting no-call and Kalen DeBoer's sideline moment. Kentucky walks off another one, LSU turns out to be fool's gold, and Arch Manning takes some heat. College football picks for Ohio State-Indiana, Florida-Texas, Auburn-Georgia, Alabama-Tennessee, Mizzou-Ole Miss and Notre Dame-BYU. The Big Shot of the Week goes to Ben Miller and the neighbors who pulled a 90-year-old woman out of a pond in Champaign, Illinois. And in How About Them Underdogs, Bob goes 4 for 5. The one he misses? His own '95 Rockets. Subscribe, hit the bell, and drop your questions for the guys in the comments. 00:00 Episode 280 and Harp's on a cruise 01:35 Why Bob will never go on a cruise 03:38 Bob in Vegas and life as a Lakers legend 07:35 Teams that take care of the old-school guys 11:58 Walker Kessler, defensive anchor? Bob on roles 15:55 Luka's defense and Devin Booker's Olympic turn 18:01 LeBron vs. Mike Breen over the Embiid story 20:27 Paul George's rough Celtics debut 21:26 John Collins grabs Dillon Brooks 23:29 Knicks shut down extension talks 26:58 WNBA Finals: Valkyries vs. Dream and the arena drama 31:15 Angel Reese and the WNBA Finals picks 33:07 Eagles lose on a short kickoff in London 35:39 Commanders run out the clock into a tie 39:08 Bob's inbound play disaster at South Alabama 40:57 Bob at Georgia-Alabama: the PI, targeting and DeBoer 46:22 Kentucky, LSU and Arch Manning 50:20 College football picks 56:43 Big Shot of the Week: the Champaign pond rescue 58:22 Game: How About Them Underdogs

Friday Shoot Around. Harp is somewhere recovering from a week of NLDS parties, so it's Big Shot Bob and Rob. Rob opens by telling Bob he never has to apologize for springing Allie Clifton on him Tuesday, and then it's straight into the story everybody kept asking about: Gregg Popovich marrying Mary Beth Budenholzer. Bob knows her personally, and his take is simple. Love is love, Pop needs somebody right now, and if anyone deserves a roast it's Bud. Listener questions carry the rest. Casey asks about the viral Giants game video, the mom carrying a baby and an armful of nachos and the husband asking where the ketchup is, and whether the couple deserves the beating they're taking online. Steven wants to know why nobody believes in Buddy Hield after four teams in one year, which gets Bob talking about what it's like to be a specialist, plus Dennis Schroder and Rudy Gay. Then: which teams can't outspend their own legacy? The Mets, the Browns, the Cowboys and the Jets all get named, and Bob and Rob try to find the NBA version. The back half goes off the rails in the best way. Rob just finished the Lanterns finale, which turns into the best and worst TV finales ever (Sopranos, Seinfeld, Fresh Prince, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, 24), Rob catching grief for watching Elsbeth, and Bob's movie pet peeve: the guy who runs right past the gun. Plus Reacher's bulletproof walk, John Wick's suit jacket and the monologuing villain. Subscribe, turn on notifications, and drop your best and worst TV finale in the comments. 00:00 Friday Shoot Around: Harp's NLDS hangover 01:22 Pop marries Mary Beth Budenholzer 04:20 Falling for someone at work 06:10 Casey: the Giants game mom and the ketchup 10:03 Steven: does anyone believe in Buddy Hield? 12:15 Specialists who keep moving: Schroder and Rudy Gay 13:18 Teams that can't outspend their own legacy 15:29 The NBA version: Wizards, Jazz, Blazers 17:42 Lanterns and the best TV finales 20:27 Why 24 got ridiculous 21:56 Elsbeth, The Good Wife and Denny Crane 23:46 Movie pet peeves: pick up the gun 26:28 The monologuing villain

Harp is across the street working the Braves-Dodgers NLDS game, so it's Big Shot Bob and Rob this week. Rob had a surprise sitting in the waiting room, though. Allie Clifton jumps on in the middle of her walk to talk WNBA playoffs: the Dream and Angel Reese, Becky Hammon's "play like ass and only lose by 10" speech, and who actually got her MVP vote. Then she reminds Bob he never won Defensive Player of the Year, and the Ohio State vs. Alabama trash talk starts. Bob breaks down what he liked from the Lakers' first preseason game. The ball moved, and the full-court pickup took him back to the old "wolf" trap call from his Lakers days, because basketball is like dancing and you have to mess up the other team's rhythm. Is Dalton Knecht the odd man out with all the wings L.A. brought in? Jalen Duren finally signs his five-year, $200 million deal, and Karl-Anthony Towns goes public about his extension. Bob took less money to stay with a winner three times in his career, including turning down Shaq's call to come to Miami, and he explains why his peace of mind was worth $5 million. Also this week: LeBron's helicopter commute, Hakeem Olajuwon's son committing to SMU and what any young guard should take from the Dream's footwork, Bob still salty about getting bumped from the Macau trip, Mike McCarthy's hot mic, an NFL ref telling Trey McBride exactly how he felt, and a Gainesville call-in that got referred to university police. College football picks: Texas A&M at Mizzou, Texas vs. Oklahoma, UCLA at Oregon, LSU at Kentucky, and Georgia at Alabama, with Bob in the building in Tuscaloosa. Big Shot of the Week goes to the plumber who helped pull a flydubai jet out of a nosedive. We close with a high-low game on what owners really paid for the Falcons, Rockets, Seahawks, Bucks, Washington and the Blazers, plus the $67 million Rockets story Bob still isn't over. Subscribe, turn on notifications, and tell us your Georgia-Bama pick in the comments. 00:00 Harp's at the NLDS, Bob's headed to Georgia-Bama 02:27 Allie Clifton crashes the show: WNBA playoffs 04:41 WNBA MVP vote: A'ja Wilson or Kelsey Mitchell? 06:16 Lakers preseason and the old "wolf" trap 08:45 Bob's Defensive Player of the Year snub 09:27 Allie's college football trash talk 11:30 Left on Unread: Allie's rise 12:50 Dalton Knecht, Lakers trades and Jalen Duren's deal 15:36 KAT's extension standoff with the Knicks 21:09 Take less to win? Bob's Spurs decisions 22:47 LeBron's helicopter commute 24:38 Hakeem's son commits to SMU + the Dream's footwork 27:36 Upcoming NBA dates and Bob's Macau snub 29:10 NFL hot mics: McCarthy, Rodgers and a ref 31:05 The Gainesville call-in 33:00 College football picks 37:51 Georgia at Alabama: the Babadook pick 40:18 Big Shot of the Week: the plumber who saved a flight 42:10 High-low: what owners paid for NBA and NFL teams

Episode 278 gets recorded with a playoff game going on about 500 feet away. The Braves and Phillies are playing the NL Wild Card at Truist Park, so B-Dawg spends the first part of the show downstairs dealing with the chaos before he finally makes it in. It's been a day, and you can see it on his face. NBA media days gave us plenty to work with. JJ Redick had the line of the week about the Lakers' starting five, something very strange is happening behind Austin Reaves during his scrum, and Big Shot Bob explains why he never once did a radio station drop. Walker Kessler reportedly pushed his way out of Utah, Kawhi shut down questions before anybody could ask them, and Tyrese Haliburton and Kyrie Irving both say they're fully cleared. Kyrie is coming up on 600 days since his last game, and Robert wants to see him move before he makes any promises. LeBron says the Sixers have to get comfortable being uncomfortable, which gets us to the real question: who takes a back seat in Philly? Jenners is worried about VJ Edgecombe. Robert says it's Tyrese Maxey and compares it to what happened to Darius Garland in Cleveland. Then he explains why "who's the alpha" doesn't mean much on a team that wins, using the Shaq and Kobe Lakers as proof. (He did not say he was better than Kobe. Jenners tried.) Also this week, Jalen Duren's contract standoff and the weight clauses in Detroit's offer, which sends Robert into a story about Pat Riley's body fat tests in Miami and why he was happy to be in San Antonio. Giannis meets his first Florida iguanas. And Steph Curry says he played through blurry vision during the Warriors run. Robert isn't buying it, because teams check everything "from the rooter to the tooter." That's your episode title. On the football side, Michael Penix drops a live "pause" in his postgame, and Iowa's student radio crew barely survives their call of the win over Michigan in the Big House. Then it's college football picks. Jenners is 3-12 on the season, so he's going full George Costanza and picking the opposite of every instinct he has, including against his own Hurricanes at Clemson. Dan Lanning, Lincoln Riley and the big buyout club all come up along the way. Big Shot of the Week goes to Erin Howell. An 81-year-old man delivering lost airline luggage in Dallas-Fort Worth brought bags to her house, she helped him carry them in, and then she started a GoFundMe that raised $700,000 so he could stop working and pay for his wife's cancer treatment. That turns into a conversation about the healthcare system, and Robert breaks into an ad read for SureCo out of nowhere. Five and a half years into this show, that's how we found out he's the company's chief impact officer. We wrap with Preseason Prediction Fails, looking back at how far off Vegas and the NBA GMs were last year on the Spurs, Pistons, Pacers, Knicks, Mavs, Lakers and Thunder, along with this season's numbers. 00:00 Intro: Recording During a Braves Playoff Game 01:05 Anniversaries, Gifts & Grandkids 05:04 JJ Redick's Starting Lineup Comment 07:08 Media Day Photo Shoots & Radio Drops 11:20 Walker Kessler's Exit From Utah 13:45 B-Dawg Arrives & Braves vs. Phillies 16:35 LeBron's Sixers: Who Takes a Back Seat? 24:07 Who's the Alpha? Horry on Shaq & Kobe 25:45 Jalen Duren's Contract & Weight Clauses 28:29 Giannis Meets the Miami Iguanas 30:19 Kawhi Shuts Down Questions at Media Day 33:03 Haliburton & Kyrie Are Back 36:06 Steph's Blurry Vision: The Rooter to the Tooter 39:25 Football Audio: Penix's "Pause" & Iowa's Call 41:43 College Football Picks: The Costanza Method 45:25 USC, Oregon & the Big Buyout Club 51:28 Miami at Clemson Pick 54:37 Big Shot of the Week 56:16 Healthcare & Robert's Surprise SureCo Plug 59:27 Game: Preseason Prediction Fails