PMT DB
PMT DB
Cowboy Joe West, NBA Playoffs & NFL Draft Recap
The NBA Playoffs are in full swing and the Celtics are officially in trouble after dropping Game 1 to the Bucks. Hank is trying his best to stay calm, but it's hard when your team makes the fewest two-point field goals in franchise history. Being tall turns out to be a massive advantage in basketball, and Giannis and Bobby Portis made sure the Celtics felt every inch of that. Big Cat isn't ready to bury Boston just yet, but the reality check was loud.
HankI would much rather lose a game playing like absolute dogshit than lose while playing well
Spin zone is I would much rather lose a game where you play like absolute dog [and] play worse than lose a game where you're playing really well and the other team just beat you. Like the Celtics played so bad. Jaylen Brown was so bad. Jason Tatum didn't play well, no one was playing well.
While Hank is doing mental gymnastics to feel better about a blowout, Big Cat is looking at the long game. The Bucks' size is a shock to the system after the Nets series, but this feels like a battle that is just getting started.
Big CatThe Bucks vs. Celtics series is definitely going seven games
I already think this series is going seven, so I wouldn't freak out. ... I think the series is going to go the distance.
Giannis Is the King
The conversation shifted to the sheer dominance of Giannis Antetokounmpo. Between his triple-double and that self-pass off the backboard that looked like a video game glitch, he's making a case that there's no one else on his level. Big Cat thinks the only reason it's even a debate is because the Greek Freak is too nice to tell everyone how much better he is than them.
Big CatGiannis Antetokounmpo is indisputably the best player in the NBA
I wonder, I think that we've all decided that Giannis [Antetokounmpo] is the best player in the NBA right now. Like, I don't know if that's a debate anymore. I think that's just because Giannis is too nice. If he was meaner, I don't think it would be a debate.
On the other side, the spotlight is on Jason Tatum. If the Celtics are going to climb back into this, their superstar has to play like one. Big Cat is betting on a Tatum explosion sooner rather than later.
Big CatJason Tatum will take over multiple games in the Bucks series and prove he has fully arrived
I also think this is going to be a great test of has Jason Tatum fully arrived because he will take over some of these games and then we'll be like, oh yeah, he's really fucking good. That's that's my prediction.
Cowboy Joe West
The guys welcomed the most controversial man in baseball, Joe West, to the show. The legendary umpire came on to talk about his new podcast and his country music career, but he spent most of the time defending his honor and explaining why he never actually missed a call. Whether it was the Andre Dawson incident at Wrigley or the stare-down with Madison Bumgarner, Joe West remains the ultimate alpha in the blue uniform.
He had some choice words for the modern game, specifically regarding the technology that fans use to tell him he's wrong. According to Joe, the human eye is still the gold standard, and the machines aren't as perfect as they look on your TV screen.
Joe WestRobotic umpires are less accurate than human umpires
The biggest problem with this K-Zone system is it's not exactly accurate. ... They grade the umpires on a machine for home plate every game. ... a year or so before I retired, we didn't have a single umpire—not one umpire—that scored under 95%. ... the robotic computer, they already know it misses 7% of the pitches. We don't have an umpire missing five.
Joe also went off on the Universal DH, arguing that the strategy of the game is being diluted. He thinks taking the pitcher out of the lineup doesn't just change the offense; it fundamentally changes the pace and the danger of the game.
Joe WestThe Universal DH is a bad rule that will slow the game down
This designated hitter's going to slow down the game because—and I've said this before—if Tom Seaver threw more than nine pitches to the seventh, eighth, and ninth hitter... in the old National League, they would go right after [them]. In the American League, they didn't go right after [the DH]. ... It's going to slow the game down.
NFL Draft Grades and Chaos
To wrap up the show, Big Cat and PFT broke down a wild NFL Draft weekend. PFT is fully leaning into the Sam Howell era in Washington, already drawing comparisons to the Greatest of All Time after Howell fell to the fifth round.
PFT CommenterSam Howell is the Tom Brady of the Washington Commanders
If I just completely forget everything I saw from Sam Howell last year, I can convince myself that he is our Tom Brady. ... we got the number one overall pick in the draft in the fifth round this year.
Big Cat was particularly impressed with how the AFC contenders built their rosters. The Ravens and Eagles seemed to be playing chess while everyone else was playing checkers, specifically with the Eagles snagging Nakobe Dean in the fourth round.
Big CatThe Eagles and Ravens absolutely destroyed the 2022 NFL Draft
Regrettably, I think that the Eagles killed this draft. I think they just destroyed it. Like when they got Nakobe Dean, I think everybody who was watching was like, oh yeah, that guy should have been the first overall pick. ... I think I might put a future on the Baltimore Ravens set it right now. ... [They're] just going to run the ball and play defense and have a bunch of fucking crazy ass dudes on defense.
The Chiefs also earned some praise for getting grittier. While everyone talked about their lost speed after the Tyreek Hill trade, their defensive additions and the selection of Skyy Moore caught Big Cat's eye.
Big CatThe Chiefs got much tougher and better on defense in the 2022 Draft
The chiefs I thought got better. They, they added a lot of defense and like, I think they got a lot tougher on defense. ... They also got Skyy Moore. Yeah. Which is that's the guy that, that we were told, like here's a guy that you should pay attention to.
Finally, the guys looked at the leftovers of the quarterback market. Baker Mayfield is currently the odd man out, and his trade value has plummeted to levels no one saw coming a year ago. Between Baker's limbo and the looming decision on Deshaun Watson, the AFC North is a total mess.
Big CatDeshaun Watson will be suspended for the entire 2022 NFL season
I don't think that Deshaun Watson is going to play next year. The more I think about it, the more I think that Roger Goodell is going to step in and be like, that's me, Roger Goodell champion of women everywhere. And we're suspending Deshaun Watson next year. Holy fuck.
Hopefully the Bears' eleven draft picks result in at least one player who knows how to block, or Big Cat might have to start complaining to the manager.
