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May 21, 2026
A Numbers Game | May 21, 2026 | Hour 1
A Numbers Game | May 21, 2026 | Hour 1
00:00
45:13
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Transcript
0:00
[upbeat music] The numbers told the story, they always do. So, one of those idiots who believe in analytics. This is a Numbers Game with Gil Alexander on VSiN. Good Thursday morning to you.
0:11
It is a Numbers Game at VSiN, the sports betting network, vsin.com, Game Plus, iHeartRadio, YouTube TV, Sirius XM Channel 158. So many ways to take us in. We appreciate that you choose any of them.
0:22
One is all that's required. It's Gil Alexander, it's Kelly Bidlin. Heyo. What up? Not a mucho. Not a mucho? Not a mucho, my friend. OKC dots up the Western Conference Finals best of seven at one apiece.
0:36
We'll get to that momentarily. On the show today, Matt Grissom on college baseball conference tournaments in full effect. Zach Cohen will join us as part of the Zach and Crack comedy duo today, talk NBA with us.
0:47
Tennis, maybe he's got some clay court tennis, uh, left for today by the time he gets here.
0:52
Uh, and of course, we'll get preliminary thoughts, 'cause right now, literally right before the show, the French Open draw came out. I'm looking at it for the first time.
1:00
So then between segments, during the breaks, I'm gonna have to sort of sketch out what I think, who, who got the best of it, who got the worst of it, men's and women's.
1:08
Uh, Zach will have his thoughts on that as well coming up.
1:11
And then of course, Zach, Drew, and I will do the entire French Open betting podcast, the Beating the Book betting podcast, French Open style, uh, a little after this show today. So we look forward to that.
1:21
Joe Sheehan on baseball. I did mention Zach and Crack. Crack unscripted, back in the fold today. Looking forward to that. I think as, uh, the, the Zach and Crack comedy duo should be like improv. It should be.
1:32
Uh, uh, I... How much money would you pay to go see? Oh, are you kidding me? Like, that would be an all-timer. [laughs] An all-timer. He's, he's spectacular.
1:40
Ca- can I give you the, can I give you the potential Novak draw real quick? Sure. Of who, who he could face each? This is pretty brutal. Yeah. So round one, Pervich, uh, Perichard, right? That's how you say his name?
1:50
Perrichard. Perrichard? He'll beat him. He'll beat him. Okay. And then round two, Royer/Q. I don't know what that is. Uh, Vallentin, Royer. Okay, thank you. Uh, he'll beat him. And then, uh, Fonseca. Uh-oh. Round three.
2:00
Uh-oh. Round four, Ruud. Uh-oh. That's a big uh-oh. Quarter- quarterfinals would be Rublev, uh, de Minaur, Mensik, Echeveri. Uh, semifinals, Veriv, Fritz, Khachanov, Lehe- Lehecka. You're talking about options here.
2:16
Yes, yeah. People are gonna be like, "What do you mean?" Yeah, yeah, he's, he's- He's playing all those people in the semis... right, yeah, quarterfinal, semis. Yeah. Then finals it would be Sinner, obviously.
2:21
I'm, I'ma tell you, when you got to Fonse- Here's the thing. Novak Djokovic can make us all look stupid. Yeah, right. There's always that possibility, but I don't think he's beating Ruud. Man. Even if he gets by Fonseca.
2:34
Casper- I mean, and that's the reason- Casper Ruud's clay numbers are off the charts. I mean, and that's not even, I mean, Pe- Perrichard, like, that's not like a joke opener either, right? Well, on clay it is.
2:44
It is on... Okay. Yeah. Okay. His serve, his serve gets minimized on the s- on the slow red clay of Roland Garros. Ah, can't wait to talk about the pod today.
2:51
Uh- More, more random tennis players', uh, potential paths throughout the show from Kelly Bidlin. Oh. [laughs] As I butcher names. [laughs] We'll get Kelly to do the language of it too.
3:00
It's like he can, he can play either of these guys, kind of. [laughs] Um, also, I, I think I need to spend, uh, you know, 90 seconds in tribute to the Vegas Golden Knights at some point on the show today. Oh, man.
3:10
Because Vegas Golden Knights take a one to nothing lead over the Colorado Avalanche, best of seven Western Conference Final in the NHL with a four to two win yesterday. This franchise is amazing. We'll get to that. Yeah.
3:22
First, we'll, as we do- Okay... let's talk Spurs and Thunder. Thunder win it last night, 122 to 113. They get the cover, which closed at 7-1/2. I even saw an 8 out there at one point.
3:35
Uh, 213-1/2, it soars over that number. This was one of these games where every time it looked like OKC was going to easy-peasy cover, San Antonio had an answer. But then the OKC Thunder get it done in the end anyway.
3:49
First quarter, Spurs led by as many as five, OKC by as many as three.
3:52
A big successful challenge by San Antonio reversing a foul that was called on Wemby in that quarter, and a lot of resting of starters' legs by both teams after being taxed in game one.
4:01
31-31 after the first quarter, 13 lead changes. And by the way, I bring up that Wemby thing because part of the reason
4:09
that when a team loses game [laughs] when a team loses game one on their home court, that their record is so good in game two, boy, oh, boy, the whistles. Boy, oh, boy. Mm. Mm-hmm.
4:18
It's like, "Hey, let's try to give Wemby as many fouls as possible." Second quarter, OKC seven to nothing run to start the quarter. They led by as many as eight. 43-35.
4:26
Spurs cut it to 43-41 on a Stephon Castle posterization of Hartenstein. What a jam.
4:33
But a 15 to six Thunder run gave them the biggest lead of the game at that point, 11, biggest lead of the series at that point for them, 58-47, then 58-49 on another successful Spurs challenge after Wemby was whistled for a would-be foul blocking a Holmgren shot.
4:47
62-51 OKC at the half. Wemby immediately was like, "Challenge it. I didn't touch him." SGA with 15 at the half, Castle with 16. But 13 turnovers for the Spurs at that point, 10 OKC steals.
5:01
Third quarter, first bucket, OKC takes their biggest lead of the game, 13, 64 to 51. At 66 to 58, Hartenstein picks up his fourth. There's no J Dub already.
5:12
He had to leave a game with that hamstring injury that made him miss the whole Lakers series. Was great in game one, but there goes the hammy. Brutal. And eventually a 15 to two Spurs run to cut it to 68-60...
5:24
Excuse me, a si- uh, to, to rather to tie it at 66-66. And then 72-69 OKC, Wemby follows up his own shot with a putback slam.
5:33
He did this, like, three times last night, where he saw he was gonna miss, took his other hand, and just put it in. It's incredible. [laughs] That's amazing. 72-71 at that point.
5:43
Then 77-73 OKC with 4:50 left in the third, Harper goes to the locker room with an apparent hamstring injury himself. Ugh. And that, ladies and gentlemen, was the fly in the ointment. Yeah.
5:54
Dylan Harper, locker room, apparent hamstring injury. So the Spurs now, as I said, we, we already ha- didn't have De'Aaron Fox. We see your J Dub, now we raise you- Mm-hmm... Dylan Harper. That's not good.
6:08
Never to return OKC im- OKC immediately builds it back up to 87-77, part of a 16 to six run. Then 11-4 San Antonio run, it cut it to 91-88. And that was about as close as they'd get down...
6:20
Well, no, I shouldn't say that. 96-88 OKC end of the third quarter. At that point, SGA with 24 and nine assists, Castle 18 but seven turnovers, the bugaboo. Wemby 17, 12, and 5 at that point with four blocks.
6:33
Fourth quarter, Spurs start the fourth with a nine to three start. They cut it to 99-94 on another Wemby follow of his own shot, this time with the left hand. Then a Barnes three cuts it to 99-97 with 9:05 to play.
6:47
And at that point you're like, "Are they gonna do this again?" But no. An 11 to nothing Thunder run kicked it back to 110 to 97, matched their biggest lead of the game with 6:38 left. Here come the Spurs.
6:59
Vassell three, Wemby steal, Castle three, 110-103. Hartenstein floater, though, to stem the tide. 112-103. Johnson bucket, 112-105. They're trading buckets at this point. SGA 114-105 with a bucket of his own.
7:11
Champagnie misses a three on a possession with two Hartenstein boards. SGA halfway down, no good. Johnson three. Keldon Johnson coming up big last night. 114-108. And Hartenstein misses two free throws with 3:19 to go.
7:26
Spurs are within the cover, still trying to win this. But Champagnie misses a three, foul on Vassell over SGA's back. SGA makes both. 116-108 with 3:04 left. Castle then steps out of bounds. Mitchell fade away. 118-108.
7:39
Vass- uh, Vassell three, pardon me. 118-111, under two minutes. Shae misses from 18. Wemby bucket. 118-113. Offensive foul on SGA elbowing Castle.
7:50
You're down five, this is your chance if you're the Spurs, but Vassell misses the three. Offensive board, but Castle eventually throws it away. 1:01 left. Shae jumper. 120-113, so now it's the spread that matters.
8:03
But Castle misses a three. Caruso drive. 122 to 113, 19.2 left. "Good night," says Mike Tirico. And Vassell misses the three that could have impacted the spread. Yeah. Ballgame. Castle 25, 5, and 8,
8:19
but nine more turnovers in defeat. Mm-hmm. Did they take a turnover away from him in game one so he ends up with 19? No, no, d- uh- I thought he had 20. As you're going through this right now. Yes.
8:31
'Cause I sent you the, I sent you the note about 19 being the record. It should be 20. And then I just saw on ESPN 20. It is 20. That's what w- And I was w- I was wondering the same thing when you sent me that tweet...
8:38
'cause you saw me the thing 19 this morning. Yeah, yeah. I'm like, I think it's 20. 20 in, in two games for Castle. Wembanyama 21, 17, and six with four blocks. Vassell with 22. SGA 30, four, and nine.
8:50
That's 30 points, four boards, nine assists. Hartenstein 10 and 13. But here's really, if you wanted to isolate one stat, the difference between game one and two.
9:01
Remember in game one, Kelly, the Spurs out-rebounded OKC 61 to 40. Mm-hmm. Which had them overcoming their own 21 turnovers, 11 by G- uh, by Castle in game one.
9:18
This time, instead of a 61 to 40 advantage overcoming 21 turnovers, the Spurs once again had 21 turnovers, but the rebounding advantage was only 45-41. Yep. And that is really the difference in these two ballgames. Yeah.
9:34
One to one as we head back to San Antone. Series knotted up. Yeah, we were talking about it yesterday. Y- y- you were wondering...
9:42
I, I was surprised by how the Thunder approached this game, 'cause I, I really thought you were gonna have to go with only one of the bigs and continue to throw Caruso, Dort at Wemby, and back it up with Shed on the, on the backside.
9:56
Um, and man, they ch- they chose to, we're gonna throw Isaiah Hartenstein on Wemby and make this a physical matchup and- Did y- did you see the post-game, uh, uh, interview? No. Oh. They immediately go to SGA.
10:08
I forget the l- young lady's name who's doing the, uh, interview. "Did that change up with Hartenstein going on, uh, Wembanyama? Was it, was that a good, was that a good change?" And, and Wemby's like, "Nah, not good."
10:19
Uh, excuse me, uh, SGA's like, "Nope, not good." And then he caught himself. [laughs] He's like, "I probably shouldn't say that publicly." [laughs] He's like, "I mean, g- it was good. It was good." And she followed up.
10:26
She was like, "What do you mean?" He's like, "No, it was good. It was good." So he, like outwardly, he's like, "Yeah, that didn't work." Wait, wait, what? He, he was asked directly after the game. SGA. SGA, on camera.
10:39
He was asked, "Hey," right in the m- you know, the, heat of the moment after the game, they won, they've tied up the series. Uh, "Does those, do those, do those adjustments work?" And he's like, "Not really."
10:48
[laughs] That's, was such a weird answer. And then, and then he s- [laughs] and she followed up. Credit to her, she followed up. "What do you mean?" And he smiled and he goes, "Oh, it was good. It was good."
10:58
[laughs] All right. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I mean, look, it is the Thunder. I think we're gonna continue to... I mean, it's, it's the Thunder and it's Victor Wembanyama.
11:05
I think the Thunder, every game, are gonna continue to throw different looks at the guy. You have to. You have to try to do something. But I, I mean, Hartenstein, it was game one,
11:17
10 field goals in the paint, 13 free throws for Victor Wembanyama. Game two, that was down to three field goals in the paint, three free throws a- attempts.
11:25
Hartenstein was the final defender on Wembanyama at 47 plays in game two, compared to only three in the opener.
11:32
Uh, that was a big ti- I thought that was big time, but also we talked about you leave in the two bigs, gives you more rebounding opportunities, right? It evens that out. Interesting adjustments.
11:43
It's what the playoffs are all about. These injuries- Injuries, man... are gonna be everything... suck. We gotta follow up on all this before you can even approach game three. Coming back.
11:52
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11:59
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12:07
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12:19
[upbeat rock music] A numbers game on VSiN, the sports betting network. VSiN.com has everything you need to be a smarter bettor.
12:33
Right now on VSiN.com, Greg Peterson's MLB Best Bets, Steve Makinen's 13 WNBA betting systems. How many WNBA betting systems do you have, Kelly Bedell? Only 11. Yeah, he's got 13, buddy. Weak.
12:45
Matt Youman's first 2027 Super Bowl wager. Find out who he bet. Ooh. Youman's firing on the Super Bowl. And coming later today- Huh... Zach Cohen's NBA Best Bets. We'll have Zach on the show coming up.
12:55
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13:09
We get tweets at Betting The Book, so it's some- I always say y'all are the best in the game. Sometimes y'all are so good that, uh, you, uh, you read my mind.
13:17
Some of these tweets, I don't even have to say certain things 'cause everybody listening says them. Jesse Welch, I have a... Well, first of all, this is a different subject. Listen to this.
13:25
Jesse Welch, "I have a theory," he says, "that the delay in the Coach of the Year announcement has to do with Missoula refusing to accept it.
13:33
After what he said about the award mid-season and how they were bounced early, I wouldn't put it past him." Jesse's gonna lose his damn mind. I love the theory, by the way.
13:41
Jesse's gonna lose his damn mind over this award. Don't worry, we have an official date finally, the 26th. Yeah. Mark your calendars, Jesse. Yes, we do.
13:48
Money Capperletti, "Adding to the stat Kelly mentioned yesterday, Spurs losses now in the playoffs. Wemby off night." Mm-hmm. "Wemby KO'd." Mm-hmm. "Wemby ejection.
13:58
Last night," he goes, "Wemby mugged and assaulted for 48 minutes." [laughs] This is what I mean by y'all read my mind. I just- Yeah... say what you w- you, you tried to give them two fouls that weren't there. Mm-hmm.
14:08
That was just one thing. Tronsky, "Hey, Gil, we got what we wanted last night, a Thunder win and better odds on the Spurs and Wemby MVP.
14:14
Sometimes it feels square as heck, but when you recognize it, even with good futures already, can't help but add more. Am I square last night for plus money?" I don't think you're square at all.
14:23
It's the second time the Thunder have beaten them in seven tries. Oh, yeah. That's all I have to say. I wanna, I wanna talk more about that, though, going forward, ab- absolutely. It's interesting now.
14:31
Johnny Brock sent this on Twitter. It's something I sent you this morning, you and Danny. He says, "Gotta fix this.
14:39
Trying to get to the stripe is one thing, but making it the main part of your game is a key reason the NBA's viewership has plummeted in my opinion." What he's referring to is someone put together a montage.
14:48
Can we call it a montage? Sure. Of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander- It's incorrectly labeled... flopping on every single play. It's not his, it's not every single shot attempt, so it's mislabeled to start. Just saying.
15:00
On almost ev- no. [laughs] He's, he flops r- it's ridiculous when you put it all together. Yeah. It is ridiculous.
15:08
Ryan Hyatt, uh, commenting on our, uh, show rundown for the day, what we put out, the VSiN, uh, Twitter account puts it out. Mm-hmm. He says, "Looking forward to the show with Kelly and Gil today.
15:16
As for Bill, Pablo Torre will let us know if it's unscripted or not. Y'all have a day." [laughs] That's pretty good. That's very true. That's very good, Ryan. [laughs] Chris Heath, "I had plus seven and a half.
15:25
Couldn't help but notice that Wemby was the last Spur to score. Three misses and a Castle out of bounds turnover to finish." Hey, man, that's basketball.
15:31
Sometimes you're on the right side of those, sometimes you're on the wrong. Mike Marker420, "Crack reminds me of a friend of mine, George, uh, Wegers, RIP. He was the international president of the Banditos.
15:42
Like Bill, man, did George have stories, and they were the best. His best line was, as you were leaving, he would always say, 'You got time for a quick story?'" [laughs] Right as you were leaving.
15:50
I love people like that. "Hey, you got time for a quick story?" [laughs] L Yessie, RIP, by the way, to your friend George. L Yessie, "I think Shay, uh, thought she was talking about the other Isaiah, Isaiah Joe." Maybe.
16:03
Maybe he was. Oh, all right. That could be. Uh, it was very awkward is what it was. [laughs] It sounds like it was, yeah. Jeffrey S Devore, "Good afternoon from Brussels.
16:11
Enjoying your sporting recaps before making my way out for dinner." Ooh. "Nice to watch some friendly, familiar faces overseas on YouTube Live." Thank you, Jeffrey. Ice. What's going on? What's going on in Brussels?
16:20
Watch- Why weren't we invited? Watching us in Belgium. Um, real quick, couple things before we get ba- back to basketball.
16:26
For VSiN subscribers, while we prep for the French Open pod today, and the draw is out, and I still gotta look at it, d- I have been playing the Fecocda Clay tournaments this week.
16:35
Had five plays for VSiN subscribers this morning. Uh, we're one and one. Mariano Navone beat Jaume Munar in straights. Marie Bouzková lost to Ann Li, so those split, so you didn't miss anything.
16:50
Of the three remaining, Anhelina Kalinina has already started. Uh, she is up a break in the first set, so that's already begun. But the two remaining men's matches have not. Those are still to come today.
17:03
Uh, they're a little later. I think they're, like, a l- a couple out, couple hours away and three hours away. Thank you, Danny. Lerner TN -123 versus Alex Michelsen, a battle of two Americans.
17:15
And then, Arthur Rinderknech, Kelly, +155 versus Alexander Bublik. Bro. Is the dog play of the day. You wanna, you wanna- The big dog play of the day... you wanna bet on A and G props, A and G side prop real quick?
17:27
Sure, sure. Did Danny Higgins know the start time of those matches because he tailed you and made bets on those, or he's being a great producer?
17:34
He knows the start times because right before we came to this segment, I said, "Two remain," and then he checked it. Tell me if I'm right, Danny. And he's like, "Gil is correct, two are, two remain." Okay, all right.
17:45
And he knew the times. All right. He says, "I am correct," in my ear. Quality producing. That's right. Um- By the way, real quick, uh, the, the golf update, uh, Dave Ross might have to fill me in here.
17:54
Uh, e- we said during the break, did you just see that shot from Scheffler real quick? I did not. Okay. Is this a replay of it? No? No, no. Oh. We were talking about how gloomy it looks out there. Oh, it looks horrible.
18:02
Yeah. And then, like, there's th- it's raining. Oh, there you go. It is raining, and then they just showed a sand trap that looked like Scotty Scheffler just hit it out of mud.
18:10
So, like, I don't really know what we're doing out there with the PGA Tour right now. Oh, that's, that's what happen when liquid, uh, liquid, uh, com- you know, combines with sand. Yeah.
18:17
[laughs] Usually they take the golfers off the course too. You ever walked on a beach before? Um- Real quick before we get ba- back to basketball. I said I had to say something about the Golden Knights. I'm just, uh...
18:26
The Golden Knights last night beat, uh, beat the Colorado Avalanche, game one of the best of seven Western Conference Final. They do so by taking a, uh, a three to nothing lead. They score twice in the second period.
18:37
They go up three to nothing. They did have to, uh, withstand, uh, a comeback. By the way, Dylan Coghlan w- uh, Coghlan with the first goal for Vegas. Carter Hart, 36 saves. But Colorado came back.
18:50
Uh, they cut it to three to two on a Gabriel, uh, Landeskog goal, but then Nick Dowd sealed it for Vegas with the empty netter to, uh, seal the deal four to two. The Golden Knights win it.
19:01
And just as we live in Vegas- Mm-hmm... so we, we almost bend over backwards on this show not to, like, sort of focus completely in on the Vegas Golden Knights,
19:09
but as a guy who grew up as a Washington Capitals fan, I just have to rem- I just... It's just remarkable what the Golden Knights franchise is doing.
19:16
Washington Capitals, just by comparison, just to use my team, took them 44 years to win a Stanley Cup, famously in 2018. Ovechkin, Peeve Ovechkin, he's gonna stand right there, see if you can stop him.
19:27
That was their, that was their, kind of their strategy. That was my Capitals strategy- Mm... in a, in a nutshell. It's a good one. Yeah. Anyway, it took them 44 years to win the cup.
19:33
The Capitals have been in existence now 52 years.
19:37
They have been to the Stanley Cup Final the year that they beat the Golden Knights, coincidentally, for the purposes of the discussion, and one other time they got swept by the Red Wings in the '90s. That's it, twice.
19:48
Vegas Golden Knights are now in their ninth year of existence. Mm-hmm. They are three wins away now after last night from going to their third Stanley Cup Final. It's absurd. It, it, it's, it's wild.
19:59
They got to the finals their first year under Gerard Gallant. Um, [laughs] it's amazing the, the brief history of the Golden Knights. They got to the finals their first year and possibly lost to the Caps.
20:11
Lost in the first round the next year. Then remember right before the pandemic, strangely again mid-season, the Golden Knights fired Gallant and Peter DeBoer took over. They lost in the Conference Final.
20:21
They lost in the Conference Final again the next year. So by the way, it's not like they're sucking the other years either. Mm-hmm. Then they did miss the playoffs, the only year they missed the playoffs.
20:29
So after that season, they fired DeBoer. They, they hired Bruce Cassidy. He immediately wins the Stanley Cup for them.
20:35
Um, then they lose in the first round, then they lose in the second round, and then here eight games before the end of this season, the Golden Knights are like, "Well, this is just... We can't handle this wound."
20:46
They hired J- [laughs] John Tortorella, who has now, uh, regular season and playoffs combined, gone 16-4-1, and here they are with a one to nothing lead over the Avalanche, three wins away from getting to their third Stanley Cup Final in nine years with two,
21:02
you know, odd mid-season- Right, yeah... and this one late-season coaching changes that both worked out. Y- you know what stat jumped out to me this morning when I was looking at this? This is
21:13
the eighth time in the past nine playoff match-ups go- dating back to '23, that they've won the first game of a series. Yeah. Like, that, that's crazy.
21:25
Like, the fact he's starting a one oh start, like, every time, it's wild. Now, it's not all, it's not all rosy with the, uh, Golden Knights. I don't know if you know this, uh, off-ice stuff with him. No, not at all.
21:34
Tortorella was not made available after their, uh, after they clinched the series against the Ducks. Oh, no, I did see this, yes. Yeah. They got docked a draft pick. Really? Oh, yeah.
21:43
Second rou- I think it was a second round pick they got docked. The Golden Knights have done a mea culpa on that. They've said, "Yeah, we were wrong."
21:49
Um, great way to touch with our fan, get in touch with our fan base, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We were wrong. The thing they're not apologizing for
21:56
is they're not letting Bruce Cassidy interview with other teams, which is just this weird thing because in sports or in any- Yeah... sort of business, if you fire a guy...
22:05
Well, by the way, you're on the hook for his salary too. Mm, yeah. So it's in your financial best interest, "Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead and interview with those people." Right.
22:12
Uh, they mu- I, I, I would like to talk to- Must have been bad. [laughs] I would like to talk to Stormy. Maybe she knows something. Maybe Stormy knows something about this because she's closer to the team, but
22:21
it's, it seems really petty. Uh, yes. They must really hate him. It must have ended badly for you to, to- Yeah... to not only fire someone, but then it's... I mean, you're ruining their future.
22:32
Y- you are possibly ruining their future job opportunities. You're doing that, and you're costing yourself money. Yeah, that too.
22:37
Millions of dollars in the process 'cause usually when you go to, when a, a coach goes to another team, you just pay the difference. Right, yeah. Right? Whatever his salary ends up being.
22:47
So it's, it's not without their warts, but boy, on the ice, this franchise is, is... I was about to say they're golden. Did you catch your, uh, did you catch the, the, the tennis players',
22:58
uh, uh, objections re- You know, we were talking about them boycotting- Yeah... Grand Slams? Yeah. They boycotted media too. That's what they did. That's their, that's their little start to, to their boycott.
23:09
That's their start. Yeah. Uh, let's talk some college baseball. Matt Grissom joins us. If you haven't followed, we'll have him explain it to us like we're two-year-olds. Nick.
23:18
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24:01
Uh, Kelly gives me a rundown every morning and, uh, you know, I take a glance. Mm-hmm. This morning you had a little note on here. LSU has finalized a deal to hire Ed Orgeron on Lane Kiffin's staff. Yeah.
24:15
That wasn't what caught my attention. After that, it says, "Orgeron's agent Zvi Grossman tells ESPN" [laughs] Svee. Habibi mashomcha. Um, so I just- It's onl- it's only really funny 'cause it's Ed Orgeron. That's right.
24:31
So Svee is, so Svee is like, "Ed, you should take it." Ed's like, "Mm, I'll do it." I kinda- So there you go... you know what I... To the actual story itself, though, Gil- Yeah...
24:41
I, I, don't ask me what the impact's gonna be, but I lo- I love Ed O. Like, it's great to see him at L- LSU, man. Just pictured me looking at, looking at the rundown giggling this morning to myself. Oh, that's great.
24:51
Uh, let's talk some, let's talk some college baseball. If you are on, if you have not paid attention to college baseball all season long, this is the time you should.
24:59
And to help us navigate all of this, give us a background on the season, where we are, what the format is, all of those for the College Baseball 101 story of the day, it's Matt Grissom, our buddy from collegebaseballinsiders.com.
25:13
Matt joining us courtesy of the Progressive guest line. What's happening, Matt? What's going on, gentlemen? How are we? Uh, very good. Now, is this the correct Twit- Twitter handle, MGrissom? That's what we have now?
25:23
It is. Okay. Yeah. Ol- Elon let, let you, uh, s- uh, upgrade your handle, so I had to take advantage of it. Still can't get Matt Grissom, though. He's out there with his two followers. Oh, yeah.
25:35
But, you know, we, we make due with what we can. He's holding out on you, man. He's, he's, he's holding it for a big price. That's what's happening. So okay. I know it.
25:43
Give, give us, before we get to, 'cause I know we're in conference tournaments right now, give us just sort of a sense, if you could in a paragraph, what has the college baseball regular season looked like?
25:53
Who's at the top? Who are the contenders in your opinion? So Georgia Tech kind of ran away with the ACC, but not as bad as UCLA ran away with the Big Ten. They are the rightful one-two right now.
26:09
But as we've seen in years past, you don't really wanna be the n- number one overall seed, which UCLA looks like they're gonna be slated to do. Georgia Tech's pitching concerns me. UCLA's hitting concerns me.
26:23
They really don't do both well. UCLA kind of slept, walked through the Big Ten. It was not very challenging. So they're entering the postseason
26:34
kind of in a weird spot, where the talent's there, but their starting pitcher, their ace, Logan Redeman, has not played in, I think the last four weeks, maybe just three. But that's still concerning.
26:47
You're not at that point resting guys, waiting for the postseason. That's more of like a, an ongoing issue. For Georgia Tech, they look really good. They have the best offense in, in the country.
26:59
They're leading in WOBA, WRC+. Uh, but the pitching staff outside of Tate McKee kind of worries me. They've kind of bounced around between a game two, game three starter.
27:10
Jackson Blakely and Dylan Loy have kind of filled in that role. They did drop a series to North Carolina, so interestingly enough they're at number three.
27:19
But if you notice there, the top three teams in the odds market, none of them are SEC schools. That's right. And as we've known in years past, the SEC has kind of been the one that wins it by the end of the year.
27:31
So Georgia ran away with the SEC this year, and it's kind of scary, 'cause I think I said preseason, like, that was the team I was holding out on to see what kind of J- uh, Wes Johnson pitching staff he would put together through the transfer portal.
27:48
Got some guys from Stanford, got a guy, Kade Nyoki from USC. I, it, they're- they're making it work, and that's kind of scary 'cause they've got the number two offense in the country behind Tech.
28:00
Now, Tech did beat them at Truist Park in a midweek. Don't really put a whole lot of stock into that. But as far as overall balance right now, Georgia and Texas are kind of leading the way at that point. Now,
28:13
before we get into something else, I, I know you've, we still fantasize about that 2022 Ole Miss ticket. Yes, we do. Yes, we do. And I knew you were gonna ask me about that Ole Miss team.
28:23
Florida 35 to one, Arkansas 50 to one. Those are two teams that have all the metrics. They have an above average weighted runs created. They have a top 25 strength schedule. They have a top 20 pitching staff.
28:37
All of those things that we look for in a championship future, those two teams have it at unrealistic odds. So what you're saying is if there- I would jump on them... if there, if there is an Ole Miss- Ooh...
28:49
if there is an Ole Miss to come out of the SEC, an Ole Miss 2022 style, which was 100 to one, you're saying it's Florida and Arkansas, one of those two clubs? Yeah. At that, at this point, I think it would be Arkansas.
29:01
Okay. 55 to one long shots. I think they're like 55 to one right now. Yep. Oh, don't, yo- They're gonna be a two seed- Matt-... more than likely... don't you, don't you do this to me. I'm getting my juices flowing.
29:11
I know, but you know, we all kind of joke this is the one that Arkansas wins. Last year they were kind of the best team on paper, the team of destiny.
29:20
They get snubbed by LSU there in the, in College World Series, and then, you know, LSU goes on to win it. This is the year that they're gonna screw around and, and go win the whole damn thing. So- Mm... we'll see. Okay.
29:32
Is, is this, Matt, is this the year, like is this a good example of what... I, I mean, is the SEC just beating up on each other and just kind of in general there's value on a lot of these SEC teams?
29:42
'Cause yeah, I think it's notable to me how many ACC, Big 10 teams we have near the top of the board here. Yeah. I mean, outside of Georgia, who just kind of rolled through the SEC, Texas lost two out of two to A&M.
29:56
They didn't get to play a game three, so that was kind of confusing. A&M may look like a host, like a regional host in the top eight. Auburn looks really good, but their offense kind of falls asleep.
30:08
They've, in my opinion, Auburn's got the most complete pitching staff, but there's not really a team that does both well.
30:16
Mississippi State kind of did at the beginning of the season, and then they started dropping series that had you scratching your head. I don't agree that they should be plus 950.
30:26
I mean, they're the shortest shot out of the SEC to win it all. I, I don't, I think they're maybe the fifth or sixth best.
30:33
You know, uh, for those who weren't around for what we're referencing, it's 2022 Ole Miss run to the, uh, title.
30:39
And Kelly, just to, [laughs] just to let you know, I, all my pr- all my, uh, windows here on the computer, I keep up just to remember that 2022 Ole Miss run window on my computer just to inspire at 100 to one going two.
30:53
You keep up a, a separate window of 2022 baseball stats? I got the whole bracket of the College World Series that year and everything just because it was such a magical run.
31:01
I- Well, figured out the internet issues for Gil Alexander in the studio. [laughs] That's what the problem is. All right, so okay, I appreciate that.
31:09
Can you, for, for those listening who are like, "All right, College World Series, how does this work?" So we're in the conference, can... You, you can explain this way better than I can.
31:16
We're in the conference, uh, conference, uh, tournaments. Then we go to regionals, then we go to super regionals, then we go to the College World Series.
31:23
Explain how all that goes and what the pods are and what schools get those and all that to everybody.
31:29
Yeah, so right now you have conference tournaments going on, which a lot of teams that have already sewed up a top 16 regional hosting spot really aren't gonna care. They'd rather rest their guys. So that is something...
31:43
I know DraftKings has a odds right now on to win the conference tournament. Uh, be careful if you see like, oh, why is Georgia, if they're the best team in the SEC, why are they fourth best odds to win it?
31:55
Well, it's because Wes Johnson's probably gonna try to win one and then go home. Uh, for regional round next week, we're gonna have selection Monday,
32:05
uh, this coming Monday, and basically 64 teams will get put into 16 different regionals hosted by the number one seed, and the other three will be seeded two through four.
32:18
We will then play a double elimination round robin essentially at each regional host spot, and then the winner of each one of those will take on the super regional winner, which is the best two out of three.
32:32
It aligns, basically one will play 16, two will play 15, on and so forth. If you've paid attention to March Madness bracket, you know that's how that works out. But, uh, then super regionals, best two out of three.
32:48
They go to Omaha, and then you basically repeat the regional round but on your side of the bracket. They could have done this a much easier way, but for all intents and purposes it works. Why do that? Yeah.
33:00
So basically- [laughs] Why do that? Yeah... yeah, double elimination. It, basically the rule, uh, it, the easiest rule is don't lose more than once in a weekend. That's right. You can lose once, but don't lose twice.
33:12
That's right. That extends all the way- Then you're still playing... all the way into the College World Series- Yep... which is a combo of what, what Matt was saying.
33:18
Uh, double elimination, best of threes, that whole thing. Um, Matt, appreciate it. Uh, it's always, because I think that's always a good reminder for those who don't follow this closely. So Arkansas
33:29
first, Florida second, but let's go Arkansas. 55 to one is the big one, but Florida's also in there as well as, uh, we look to rekindle some, uh, SEC love here in 2026.
33:40
You b- you do believe, though, in closing, in 10 seconds, you do believe UCLA and Georgia Tech and North Carolina, six to one, six to one, nine to one respectively, they are properly priced, though, as the top three?
33:51
Yeah, I mean, I think they're overpriced for what they are. But yeah, I mean, I, I, I wouldn't bet any of them at this point. Okay. I think your 11 to one and on is, is a better price.
34:02
Matt, College Baseball- And check out collegebaseballinsiders.com. We've got all of the championship formula on there. It's all absolutely free. You beat me to it. Boom. Thank you, Matt. Appreciate it. All right.
34:14
Appreciate y'all. Coming back with some tennis next.
34:16
[upbeat music] A numbers game on VSiN, the sports betting network.
34:34
Back on a numbers game live from Circa Resort Casino, downtown Las Vegas. Gil Alexander, Kelly Millen alongside.
34:41
Willie B betting on Twitter regarding boycotting the French Open, reading that Sinner has been quoted as saying, "It's tough to say if he'll sit out the tournament." Come on, man.
34:49
Could you imagine Sinner sitting out the tournament with Carlitos on the shelf? Not a chance in hell. Uh, he n- no one's sitting out this year. Okay. My God, don't scare me like that. No, no, no.
34:57
No one's sitting out this year. I think it, I think this is a, a slow burn to next year. Yeah, let's not. D- don't, don't screw with Kelly on that one.
35:07
I only have more money backing Jannik Sinner this, uh, French Open, Gil, than I ever have in any tennis tournament ever. But by the way, I'm on the player's side on this. It's like, hello, we're the t- we're the sport.
35:19
Give us our fair share. Yeah. Las Vegas 514, yo. Arkansas 55 to one, just bet it. Let's go Ole Miss 2.0. Uh, and this is, uh, let's see.
35:30
Bees Bets, "Always enjoy you on, uh, VSiN," talking to Matt Grissom, "With, uh, Gil and Kelly. Where can I get that sick CBI cap you were rocking today?"
35:38
Yes, that's the College Baseball Insiders baseball cap he was wearing. Mm-hmm. Is he selling those? I don't know. I don't know. I'm sure he will for the right price. Patrick Kelly, FOMO, Pig Sooie, let's go 55 to one.
35:50
And Kelly, you should just tell Gil a framed pic- uh, you should just get Gil a framed picture of the screen. What does that mean? I don't know. I don't either. I don't know what that refers to. Anyway.
36:00
Uh, very happy birthday. I gotta wish someone a happy birthday. Please. Friend of the show. Yeah. Big time friend of the show. Josh Allen, happy 30th birthday. [laughs] Dude, he's 30, man. This man loves Josh Allen.
36:12
He's 30. He's 30. Wow. I didn't realize that. 30 years old. If you would've asked me to guess how old he is, I w- I would've said 28. Yeah, I probably would've guessed that as well. 30.
36:23
Remember, I mean, the one guy who has defied more than anybody the old axiom that you can't teach accuracy after college. Mm-hmm. He was not accurate at Wyoming. That was the knock on him, and the rest is history.
36:34
And also that you can be a bulldozer of a running quarterback and not, never be hurt. Still has not been to a Super Bowl, though Still has not been to a Super Bowl. Should point that out It's true.
36:44
It's factual Should point that out. By the way, when I was gone, shocking news. Aaron Rodgers coming back to the, uh, Steelers. But he did break some news yesterday by saying this will be his last year.
36:54
Did you, did you catch that b- by any chance? Like, the, the press conference Little s- little smile at the end from him Well, it was like...
37:00
It was, I don't know, it was very unexpected for Aaron Rodgers, at least for me, where, like, they didn't make a big deal out of it.
37:06
It was the end of a press conference, and someone was just like, o- one reporter at the very end- Yeah... was like, "Hey, is this your last year?" He's like, "Yeah, for sure." I was like, "Oh, okay." Do you believe him?
37:16
Um, dude. I think I have to. This- He's f- he's 42. He's gonna be 43 in December. So, like, yes, I, yes, I think it's very likely his last year, but, like, I don't know, man.
37:26
These, these old quarterbacks these days, I don't trust any of them. Hmm. Well, by the way, Vees and, uh, Killer Sports NBA Playoff Challenge, which you can follow at contest.killersports.com. I lost one yesterday.
37:39
God, you suck. Uh, 70% in the first round. You're terrible at this. 14 and 6. 70% in the second round, 7 and 3. Is that, that's what you did in the second round too? Uh, uh. Jeez, man.
37:49
I'm now 2 and 1 here in the third round, miraculously somehow. But, you know, Kyle Aikens from Killer Sports is only one game in the loss column behind me.
37:58
Now, he's a, he's a few back on the win column, so it's, you know, a two-game lead really. But loss column is loss column. He does... He, he's one game out of controlling his own destiny, let's put it that way.
38:10
We might have to, uh- Steve Fezz, Zach Cohen lurking, 'cause they're lurkers. Yeah. And there's Carl Sack himself, creator of said contest, in fifth. Or back.
38:20
We might have to get Kyle on the show, because I can put a, I can put a face to every other name- Me too... that I- But I can't to Kyle... that I can get a little angry at for losing to, but I can't to Kyle.
38:30
I see you, Kyle Aikens. Yeah. Though I don't really see you, if you know what I mean, 'cause I don't know what your face looks like. Right. But I see you there in the standings. I've got five picks left, Kelly.
38:38
How do I mess this up? Two this round, three next round. You crushed, man. What about, what about tonight? Uh, Knicks and Cavaliers game two, which I do not believe. I haven't looked at the contest lines.
38:49
If the contest lines are somehow- I was just pulling them up right now... far different from the actual line of the game, perhaps I would play it. Otherwise, I don't really have much conviction. Uh, Knicks and the Cavs.
38:58
Knicks up a w- after that just absolutely historic comeback in game one against the Cavs. Knicks, once again, are six and a half point favorites. The total is 216 and a half. Total a little lower in the contest.
39:11
Any thoughts? I mean, unlike ga- we said this yesterday off-air, I think. So excited for game two of OKC and the- Mm. Yeah... and, and, and the Spurs. So excited. Are we excited for this [laughs] in the same way?
39:23
Or was like, "Hey, that was a great comeback. I'm not really expecting much"? [sighs] It's just... Look, this is, this is the, the... I know the styles of basketball.
39:32
Like, I, I, I, I got a little, I only got a little frustrated with the Shay foul thing earlier, 'cause I'm like, the, like, I got five people send me this.
39:39
And it's like, okay, you could d- you could do this with every SGA game ever if you want. That's true. Like, it's just...
39:44
W- but then there's the part- I can see how that would upset the hardos who get this 82 games a year... Well, hardos, like, I'm gonna tell you what upsets me about this matchup, right? Yeah. It's the...
39:52
I, like, people freak out about the SGA thing. Why don't we freak out more about, like, this is the Cavs and Knicks for however many more games it's gonna last.
40:00
It's, "Okay, Knicks offense, let's get Harden or Donovan Mitchell in pick-and-roll actions." And then, like, and then reverse script. "Okay, the Cavs are on offense. Let's get Brunson in pick-and-roll actions." Yeah.
40:11
It's not even- And it's one- What, what you're saying is of all the un-aesthetically pleasing, un-aesthetically pleasing ways of playing basketball, that should rank up there as well.
40:19
And I, but, I'm gonna say, like, give me SGA trying to do Reggie Miller leg kicks at the end of jumpers over that.
40:24
Like, 'cause it's 20 seconds of run the clock trying to like- Oh, it's, oh, it's not leg kicks It's a lot. Oh, it's a lot of things. He's got a lot of moves. He's got a lot of moves. I- It's...
40:32
Oh, my God, I've been shot [laughs] I did late six with the, uh, with the Cavs yesterday at the end of the show. We were talking about that. I, like, I think the, uh, we haven't brought this up in a while.
40:42
Knicks still one of the most dominant home teams, uh, in the NBA this season. 36 and 11 straight up, 32 and 15 ATS. That's- I thought you said late six with the Cavs. You mean late six with the Knicks. Yes. Oh.
40:52
Thank you. Did I say Cavs? I might- I don't know. I mi- I might've misheard. Yeah. Okay. I probably screwed up. Uh, the Cavs, reminder, they won those two against Detroit at the end of the series.
41:00
Otherwise, it is a big time road struggles from them from the All-Star break on. Uh, those, p- brought that up earlier in the week.
41:06
The three wins they had of the regular season after the All-Star break at Memphis, at the Pelicans, at Dallas. That is road wins and cover, uh, for Cleveland. This was a smaller Knicks bet for me though tonight.
41:19
Kel, this sucks, and we gotta get back to it with Spurs and Thunder too. Like, the injuries. The injuries, the injuries, the injuries.
41:23
And OG Anunoby, I would feel stronger about tha- this, this bet tonight if I thought OG was close to 100%, but I thought he was really looking like he was playing at about 80%. This just kinda stink.
41:36
I, we say this every year. It just stinks that- It sucks... injuries are such a big part of this now. It sucks. Yeah. And no, we gotta talk. We, we, we will get back to that with Thunder-Spurs- Yeah...
41:43
'cause I think this, there's a trickle-down effect that affects the entire rest of the series. Oh, man, if you don't have Harper or Fox and, and, and J Dub on the other side, I mean... Anyway, we'll get to that.
41:54
Yeah, we'll get to that. I, I don't really have much more on this though actually. It, I d- I think a co- couple of trends to be aware of just with both of these teams. It's been a lot of overs recently.
42:03
Five of the last six for Cleveland. Overs hitting five of the last seven for the Knicks. So you got that colliding here in New York tonight. I do like the Knicks. I'm very interested to see.
42:15
I, I liked our conversation about it yesterday, but the... I, I d- I am, 99% of the time I'm usually thinki- we make too big of a deal of, like, how is this team gonna recover?
42:24
Oh, that was, that was my question three times yesterday- Yeah...
42:26
to different people, including yourself, which is the, the mainstream media reaction is always, "Oh, how are the Cleveland Cavaliers gonna recover from that?" My question was do we make too much of that? Yeah.
42:36
I, I think most of the time we do. I don't know after that game though how... Like, who's looking at each other in the locker room? Like, you, you don't...
42:44
The troo- the, the coach screwed up And, and then, and then backed up his screw-ups in the press conference. You got Donovan Mitchell who had three great quarters and then disappeared, right?
42:53
Like, he's supposed to be the leader of this team. Yep. And James Harden's just been a punching bag through this entire playoffs. Like, he's gotta feel that way on his own team a little bit, too.
43:01
I just, man, I, if the guy... Look, the, we also joked at- You know, real part of the James Harden thing that gets lost also- Yeah... is that your teammate is, like, is Sam Merrill. Mm-hmm.
43:12
So the other team is basically saying, "Oh, there's Sam Merrill. Quick, find Harden." [laughs] Like, that's even better. [laughs] It is. It is bad. It is bad. Look, I, I, I do think, though, the Knicks have been amazing.
43:24
You and I were joking about this off-air, though. New York Knicks fans, I really need you to prepare for something that is somehow- Oh, I love it... for, like, the seventh straight year gotten away from you. I love this.
43:34
I love this. The, the excitement level from New York Knicks fans and backers, it's like, don't we remember how this ends, like, every year?
43:41
And, like, there will be a just mind-blowing defeat at some point that you're not gonna be able to get over, and I really need you guys to start preparing for your, that, uh, preparing yourself for that now 'cause you don't seem to be prepared.
43:53
They are not that much better, though, of a team than the, uh, Cleveland Cavaliers.
43:56
That is such a great call that th- that fan base in specific because it's not just a del- it's not just a, your, your garden variety restaurant quality- Yeah... delusional fan base.
44:07
It's you're a New York Knicks fan, and they believe, right? That not only are they playing in the mecca of basketball, that their city is the mecca of basketball. Mm-hmm.
44:17
Their team is, is, uh, you know, touched to be this team. Right, right. Y- yeah, they're not that. They- They're never that... they're, like, they're really good.
44:25
This is a really good basketball team, and these first two round, like that last round against 76ers is the best I've seen this Knicks unit look ever t- uh, together, ever, since this tea- uh, since Carl Anthony Towns has come over.
44:37
But it's gonna happen, Knicks fans. It's going to happen. A really bad L at some point. If not this series, the next series. No, it's gonna be several bad L's the next series. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I don't know.
44:48
Maybe the Thunder and Spurs will just keep hurting each other. [laughs] Zach Cohen is gonna join us, uh, to discuss the National Basketball Association and tennis. Maybe he's got some more clay court tennis today.
44:59
And, uh, though we are doing a podcast on the French Open after this show with Drew Dinsick, Zach, and I, we'll touch on the draw, which I'm frantically looking at in between breaks as well.
45:08
We'll get our preliminary thoughts on the other s- I- it's a numbers game right here at Feazit.
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