Takes

James Harden definitively lacks the clutch gene

Now we finally have a guy who we can say lacks the clutch gene. Definitively. He and Chris Paul. No clutch gene between the two of them.

I would want Robert Horry taking a last-second shot over Kobe Bryant

[Big Cat asks: Who would you rather have taking that last shot?] Robert. Robert, yeah, Big Shot Bob. Big Shot Bob. There was never any doubt at the end of the game. He could have three points that game, and he had the ball, he was going to make it.

Jason Kidd is a bad coach

I don't understand what the Lakers are doing. Their obsession with Jason Kidd is very bizarre. Jason Kidd is a bad coach. He's a bad coach.

Frank Vogel was hired by the Lakers specifically to be fired

Actually, it won't be interesting to see what happens with Frank Vogel. Frank Vogel is like – he got hired to get fired. Essentially. How long until Jason Kidd is the one that's drawing up plays on the sidelines?

I am officially 'Team Targaryen' and defend Daenerys' actions as a battle tactic

I want the Targaryens to be ruling at the end... You show up for battle, you've got to fucking battle... If a team against Alabama is getting blown out, they're not just going to quit halfway through the game. You don't take a knee in the third quarter.

Daenerys Targaryen has officially turned into the 'Mad King' and is exactly like her father.

This is exactly why the Mad King was the Mad King. He wanted to blow up the entire King's Landing... She did what her dad was trying to do, kill all the innocent people. She murdered everyone... History repeats itself. Targaryens are assholes and they blow everyone up.

Arya Stark will be the one to kill Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones

Arya is going to kill Dany, by the way... Aria's going to try to kill her, get killed, and then Jon's going to kill her. If Arya gets killed, the internet riots.

Arya Stark will not survive the series finale of Game of Thrones.

Aria's going to try to kill her, get killed, and then Jon's going to kill her. If Arya gets killed, the internet riots... Aria's not going to survive.

Bran Stark will be the one sitting on the Iron Throne at the conclusion of Game of Thrones.

I think it's got to be Bran [to win the Iron Throne].

Jon Snow is responsible for the massacre at King's Landing because he wouldn't sleep with Daenerys

Jon Snow should get some of this blame because if he just had sex with her, she probably wouldn't have gone crazy. Exactly. Just sack up and fuck your aunt and save millions of lives... You can flip out while you watch a city burn and be like, we shouldn't be doing this. Or you can just squeeze off a nut the night before.

The Warriors winning the Rockets series without Kevin Durant will be viewed as an indictment of Kevin Durant's impact.

If the Warriors win this series, it will be an indictment on Kevin Durant by everyone else. Are the Warriors better without Kevin Durant? People are going to ask that. I'm already asking it.

Kevin Durant will sit out the Western Conference Finals to save himself for a potential NBA Finals matchup against the Bucks.

In which case, I think [Kevin Durant] would probably sit out and save himself for the finals against the Bucks. Something to be on the lookout for.

James Harden has consistently disappeared in the fourth quarters of the 2019 Rockets-Warriors series.

James Harden on Wednesday night with 10:47 left, he hits a bucket. He shot one more shot until there's 18 seconds left in the game... The Rockets win game four, James Harden scores 38 points... [but] he scores three points after that, the Warriors come all the way back. That's two straight fourth quarters where James Harden, Jimmy Harden has kind of been nowhere to be seen.

The Celtics should not re-sign Kyrie Irving and instead let the asset walk.

I feel like I don't care what's going on with the team during the year. Lose that asset. It's all about the assets... for [Kyrie Irving] to do what he did in the playoffs it's like Brad Stevens' problem.

Brad Stevens was labeled a 'genius' by the media far too early in his career.

Brad Stevens' biggest issue is that he was inaugurated a genius too early. Like he was called a genius basically from winning nothing... the national media had him as, like, Pop.

Brad Stevens is still a top-three coach in the NBA despite the Celtics' struggles.

I still think Brad Stevens is probably top three coach in the league. And then there's the whole part of managing egos.

The speed at which an NFL team's offensive linemen chug beers at other local sporting events correlates directly to that team's success.

I think that the speed at which offensive linemen pound beers at other teams' sporting events has a direct correlation to how successful that team is. Remember the Nashville Predators when they had Taylor Lewan... I'm officially upgrading McGlinchey to a tackle from a guard. I think he showed me something.

If the Hurricanes lose their playoff series, Big Cat will track down and kill Hamilton the Pig.

If the hurricanes lose, I'm going to try to track down the pig and kill it... I'll kill a pig. Let's do bacon until it dies of a heart attack.

Modern baseball players lifting heavy weights leads to more oblique and muscle injuries compared to the past.

Aaron Judge, someone wrote an article that said it's because they lift too many weights... Baseball players look like linebackers... I personally [think it has something to do with higher injury], yeah, with all the obliques and stuff like that.

A modern hitter will never hit .400 again because of the prevalence of specialized relief pitchers.

No, I don't think [hitting .400] is [going to happen again]. I think there's too much specialty in pitching... You've got a guy, a lot of the three, four, five starters, you get five innings... Then they bring in a guy that's making probably $6 million a year to pitch the sixth, maybe the seventh.

If modern teams used the defensive shift against George Brett, he would have hit .450.

If they put the shift on me, I'm not bullshitting you. I'd hit 450. Because I could hit a ground ball to the shortstop or third baseman whenever I wanted... I stood far enough off the plate that it didn't matter.

Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez should not be in the Hall of Fame.

[Barry Bonds, in or out?] Out. Alex Rodriguez. Oh. [Steroid era guys] had already broke my record... they were always saying, if they let these guys in, I'm never coming back. And I respect their opinion.

Reading children's books is more effective for Jeopardy preparation than using the internet.

I went to the children's section of the library and I picked a basic book on every subject that I had lots of pictures, kept the reader engaged... usually I'd read two or three books on every subject just to make sure I was covering all the basics. I thought that that kind of intro level interesting books really helped me more than like an encyclopedia [or the internet] would have.

Aggressive, large betting on Jeopardy is actually less risky than conservative play because it protects a lead.

I'm not sure this is correct, but the way I look at it is it's actually less risky to make big bets because if you think about it, if you have a big lead, you're pretty safe... if you don't have a big lead, the person who's behind you can hit a daily double... You need those big plays to win sometimes.

It is better to spend big on top-tier free agents than to sign middle-market players who hamstring a team's salary cap.

I think that it's often better to play at the top of the free agent market than in the middle. In the middle, the Tyler Chatwoods are the real signings that kind of hamstring the team in the long run. And, you know, you can't criticize Yu Darvish without also saying, Oh, John Lester, it's worked out great for the Cubs.

MLB is the hardest sport to beat in gambling because oddsmakers' models are now as accurate as the advanced stats.

Baseball, I think might be the hardest game to beat now because it's the one where the bookmakers have really caught up to the stats guys in terms of utilizing numbers to set their odds accurately. They're still making more mistakes on things like in-game betting and halftime lines.

The best strategy for in-game sports betting is to wager against the most recent momentum.

If I'm betting in-game, I'm often betting directly against the momentum. You know, I find myself, if a touchdown's just been scored, I'm probably betting the under, not the over, or, you know, I'm probably betting on the team that just gave up the touchdown... fans overrate the impact of a play that just happened.

Mastery of the buzzer is 60% of the game on Jeopardy when playing against elite contestants.

The buzzer becomes the most important factor at that point. And I think that I would say the buzzer is maybe like 60 percent of the game. And then there's another 30 percent that's your trivia knowledge and 10 percent maybe is the strategies.

The Golden State Warriors will win the 2019 NBA Finals.

Well, I have to say the Warriors. But, you know, as a fan, I'm rooting against it. But, you know, they're obviously the best team, so boring answer, but there you go.

The Chicago Cubs organization banned the 'circle game' fan without a proper investigation to gain positive PR.

If the Cubs didn't actually investigate it and they were like, hey, we can get a quick fucking W here before we have Addison Russell, who is a shitty person... Cubs, if you didn't actually, if Crane Kenney didn't actually investigate this, I fucking hope he did. Because if he didn't and he was just like, we got to catch a quick W right here. Yeah, that sucks.

Bill Belichick manipulated Sean McVay into watching too much film for Super Bowl LIII by praising his dedication.

I believe that Bill Belichick knew that [Sean McVay] was going to go and watch too much film... He's been calling Sean McVay all season long... Telling him stuff and being like, Sean, one thing I really admire about you is your dedication to film study.

The Warriors will re-sign Kevin Durant this summer and trade him to the Lakers for LeBron James.

Here is the perfect 'this league' this summer. The Warriors re-sign Kevin Durant and then trade him to the Lakers for LeBron. Holy shit. This league, baby.

Game of Thrones should end in a way that makes the most fans angry.

I'm at the point where I'm now rooting for them to do whatever will make people the most angry... I just want them to do whatever. There's a lot of things people are excited for, and I want them to fuck it all up.

Jon Snow will die in the penultimate episode of Game of Thrones.

Well, here's my hot take preview. I think Jon Snow dies on Sunday.

There are other dragons hidden in the world of Game of Thrones that have yet to be revealed.

I think that there are other dragons out there. That one that was that beyonds riding them... I know that's no... Brand's gonna come in.

Nick Nurse is an awful name for a head coach

I'd like to just go ahead and apologize to Nick Nurse. I judged a book by its cover big time when they hired him. And I'm wrong. It's a terrible name. Nick Nurse is an awful name for a head coach. I stand by that take.

The Sixers will win Game 6 against the Raptors and force a Game 7

I think the Sixers probably will win game six, will go seven. But this is a beat. Whenever a team loses like this in a series, you're like, how the hell? I know we're just doing knee-jerk reactions, but how the hell are the Sixers going to come back from that.

I do not miss LeBron James in the NBA playoffs anymore

I don't miss LeBron. I don't miss LeBron in these playoffs anymore. I missed him in the first round. The first round felt hollow without LeBron. But I do not miss LeBron anymore because these are the best playoffs we've had in a very long time.

True basketball fans prefer the Nuggets-Trail Blazers series over Warriors-Rockets

If you're a basketball purist, you say, forget about the Rockets and the Warriors just tricking each other into fouling on three-pointers. That's not basketball. You know what my basketball is? Guard play. Excellent guard play and good, crisp dribbling. And that's what you get in the Nuggets Trailblazers.

If the Nuggets or Trail Blazers win the NBA title, I will swim in a sewage pipe

If the Nuggets or the Blazers win an NBA championship, I will eat Portland or Denver's asshole, meaning I will swim in one of their sewage pipes.

Kyrie Irving is primarily to blame for the Celtics' disappointing season

Kyrie, one. Far and away. He's supposed to be the leader. He's the guy. He kind of fucked himself here because the whole way he left Cleveland, he's like, I want to be the guy. You're going to get judged as the guy.

Kyrie Irving is only the seventh or eighth best player in the NBA and cannot be the 'alpha' on a title team

Kyrie, he's right below it, but he's not one of those guys. He's not a Giannis. He's not a Kawhi. He's not a KD, a LeBron... He's, like, maybe the seventh, eighth best player in the NBA, but the top five guys are the guys that you need to win to be the alphas on a championship team.

The 2019 Browns have high talent but are destined for heartbreak

In my opinion, they definitely have the most talent inside their entire division, if not one of the top two or three in the AFC. And I hope that they do really well, but I've been watching the NFL for long enough to know that when you're certain of something being good, that's when it's going to be bad.

Larry Fitzgerald is a 100% lock for the first-ballot Hall of Fame

There's never been more of a lock for Hall of Fame than Larry Fitzgerald. He will be 100% first vote.

Hollywood lacks real stories because it is run by third-generation nepotism

I think Hollywood just didn't see like they thought that they just like narrowed everybody's mind and cornered them and owned them so much and corporations that they had just owned them so much that they could do whatever they want with them... it's nepotism now. It's a lot of third generation. Nobody from the middle of America. Nobody has any stories.

Louisiana is the stray animal belt of America where animals still have 'alphaness'

I mean, I think look dude, a lot of legend lives down there... I wouldn't say a zoo, but I think [the lemurs] escaped somebody, somebody who may be a startup zoo... I just like there to be alphas because you got to even it all out, man... you had dog balls everywhere. You had more of an ecosystem.

Joe Rogan is like a golden retriever that's brave enough to do DMT

I think Joe Rogan's the best interviewer because he's curious. He's genuinely curious. He's like a golden retriever that's brave enough to do DMT.

Country House skipping the Preakness is a smart move to protect his legacy

If I'm country house, if I'm that horse, I'd probably do the exact same thing. Because you're never going to top that. You are going out completely at the top of your game. You're a Kentucky Derby winner. And why would you ever try to follow that up?

Maximum Security's disqualification from the Kentucky Derby was 100% the correct call

The actual change from Maximum Security getting kicked out of the race at the end, that was the correct call. 100%. You can't just drift in front of other horses. You have to give them a path.

Giannis Antetokounmpo is like a fifth grader who hit puberty before everyone else on the playground

[Giannis] looks like a fifth grader that hit puberty before everyone else on the playground and [is] just dominating everyone.