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Jun 23, 2025
Best Of A Numbers Game | June 23, 2025
Best Of A Numbers Game | June 23, 2025
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34:00
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Transcript
0:00
[upbeat rock music] A numbers game on VSiN, the sports betting network. It's our VSiN Pro early bird special. Don't forget, full VSiN Pro access until the Super Bowl, 175 United States dollars.
0:18
Hell of a deal. NFL betting guide, which drops, what's that now? In, uh, eight days, July the 1st. Kelly, I got some homework to do. When's the deadline? Oh, you still do? Come on, Gil. When is it, tomorrow?
0:28
Tomorrow, yeah. All right. Uh, daily best bets, exclusive betting splits, full access to the VSiN Watch app, deep analytics and betting tools. Check it all out, vsin.com/subscribe.
0:37
Full VSiN Pro access until the Super Bowl for just $175. We- I'm pumped. I'm pumped.
0:43
I, I took, like, five hours out of my Saturday and did some serious NFL, uh, diggin' and divin' and, uh, eh, maybe fired on some bets, wrote 'em up for the guide. Ready to, ready to talk about 'em, man.
0:54
Uh, these, the, these are some sample tweets from yesterday that we got here. Um, PhillyBoy, uh, LV says, "We know it every time. We've been saying it for years. Once you've had it happen, you can tell instantly."
1:04
Talking about people who have had their Achilles pop. Uh, Plush Revolution, "Gil, you explicitly warned against this [laughs] write this out." [laughs] "This is like your JJ Spa- It's like your JJ Spawn.
1:12
JJ Spawn is legit. Thurston Lawrence is not." And then we got, like, five tweets the next Monday, "Thanks for JJ Spawn." [laughs] Uh, Kev Wil- Kev William, "When Gil says Achilles, you listen."
1:23
Uh, so- God, you could see it. The replay was so gross. Oh, everybody could see it. Like, I, I, ugh. I, you know what? I didn't even need to see it. I just saw him, when he pounded the floor.
1:31
When he was laying down and they were running the ball up court, I immediately s- I'm like, "Oh, no." I, I, so I thought it then. Then they showed the slow-mo, and you were like, "Oh, God, I can see it."
1:40
Like, I had to w- I had to get off the couch and walk around for a while. It's gross. Yeah. Derek, you called it the other day. Topher Barrett, did you not call this? Unbelievable. Anyway, on and on and on.
1:48
And then, I, n- Let's get to the good stuff. We'll get to golf here momentarily. Teasers and parlays. Shout out to Kelly with the outright call on Keegan Bradley. Now, that was a call.
1:58
Between game seven and Kelly's outright, ANG is going to be off the hook. Um- It was a good Sunday.
2:03
But, you know, you know, like, uh, Gil, we had the, uh, we had a odd conversation outside the studio probably, like, two months ago about the betting gods and how they giveth and taketh. Yeah.
2:11
Of course, I got my butt kicked at the casino on Saturday night. Of course you did. Of course you did. But I, you know, I mean, then, so Sunday, Sunday you, you winning some back, you know?
2:18
James Saad, "I knew Kelly's gonna be super hyped to talk about his girl Marketa Vondrousova win- Yeah... winning Berlin yesterday and won't even comment on the NBA finals at all."
2:26
[laughs] Marketa Vondrousova has found her grass game again. Uh-oh. Uh-oh.
2:32
She won Wimbledon a couple years ago after only having won two matches on grass her entire life, then she wins a Slam, and she wins a grass court tournament in Berlin. My girl with the tats. He likes the tats girl.
2:43
Tats with an A. [laughs] John Balducci, "I had Kings," uh, Keegs. That's how we call Keegan Bradley, by the way. Keegs. Keegs winner without.
2:50
I also had OKC first quarter minus three and a half, landed three via missed free throw, and SGA plus 30 points, landed 29. Sports betting, what are we doing? Um, and then there's more, which I'll read.
3:02
S- S- Super jerk, not an NBA fan. Eric Biggio not an NBA fan, we're learning today via tweets. Um, okay. Ne- I gu- I guess that means they've been checking out for a lot of segments over the past couple months.
3:13
[laughs] I guess so. Next year, regular season MVP. Shai, your reigning MVP. Jokic two to one, Shai plus 250, Giannis seven to one, Luka eight to one, Ant 10 to one. Wow. Wembanyama 18 to one. Um, okay.
3:30
I- Want to put anything there? I had not even looked at these yet. No, just throwing them out there. Or you can comment on this. Oh. Champion. How about NBA champion? Oklahoma City plus 230.
3:40
The Houston Roquet, which we'll get to momentarily. Houston Rockets plus 750, Cleveland eight to one. Or is that plus 850? Plus 850, pardon me. Knicks plus 850, everybody else double digits.
3:52
So Thunder, Rockets, Cavs, and Knicks. Fascinating. Here's the, here's the story- Ye- Uh, yesterday. Uh, the Kevin Durant trade. Yeah, let, let's hit that. Then we can talk odds here. Yeah. Yeah.
4:03
So the reason the Rockets are where they are is the, is the Kevin Durant trade. Here's the Kevin Durant trade. It finally happened.
4:07
Rockets get KD, a 36-year-old who will be 37 when next season begins, and the Suns receive Jalen Green, their leading scorer, the Rockets leading scorer this past year with 21 points a game, young Jalen Green.
4:23
Dillon Brooks, prickly Dillon Brooks in the deal as well.
4:27
And then the 10th overall pick in this year's draft, the 59th overall pick in this year's draft, and then four second rounders in future years, beginning with two next year. Okay.
4:39
It was interesting hearing the speculation after this trade yesterday. And what I mean by speculation is the Twitter, the Twitter opinions. Because if you, if you searched
4:49
Rockets fleeced and then Suns fleeced- [laughs]... you pretty much got a torrent of things from both sides. So, you know, I think there's, there... What I'm, um, what I'm interested in here is
5:01
the Suns' side of it is, is not the interesting part to me because Mat Ishbia gives me Daniel Snyder vibes, meaning that they are a wayward ship. Oh, he, he's the worst. Right.
5:10
So the, uh, by the way, they both have, like, sort of they, they earn their billions in sort of a scammy fashion also. Uh- Oh, ch- check out that Pablo Torre, uh- That's right... uh, episode if you haven't.
5:20
So anyway, the point is, is that, uh, uh, the Suns, you know, people are like, "Oh, the Suns should've gotten way more." What did you think they were getting? Um, Dream Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler?
5:30
Like, what did you think they were getting? Did you think they were getting Sengun also here? You're, you're trading for a guy who's gonna be 37.
5:36
You're not gonna g- I mean, the fact that you got Jalen Green, who again, even if you were a, like, a Jalen Green detractor, he's still a young guy who could be a fringe all-star for some years, maybe even a legit all...
5:49
Like, we don't know, right, is the point. So, and you get the 10th pick in the draft, which I know is not, like, the highest lottery pick, but still. So I'm, from what I'm...
5:57
The Suns' side is not as interesting to me as the Rockets' side, which is- Okay. D- here's what the Rockets did last year.
6:06
They were the number two seed in the West, the packed Western Conference, and they ended up in the conference semifinals. Yes, Curry got hurt in the, in the opening round, but who knows?
6:16
Maybe they get by the Warriors anyway. They ended up in the conference semis. Um, so the question for me is this: if you're the Rockets, in trading a young asset like Jalen Green,
6:28
did you s- did you make it, did, did you make it so that you will also be either at, you know, uh, either get to the number two seed again this year or better?
6:39
Did you make it so that you will absolutely get to the conference finals, in other words, exceed what you did this past year?
6:46
And did you put yourself in the very small group of teams in a conversation of winning an NBA championship in the next two seasons? Because again, remember, after that, Durant's 40.
6:56
So what are we really talking about here? And my answer to that question, Kelly, is will you be a number two seed or better? Maybe. Will you get to the conference finals? Maybe.
7:06
Will you win a championship the next two years? Doubt- doubtful, you know, still. So to me, everybody's saying like the Suns got fleeced. I kind of in the end go with the opinion that this is about right.
7:19
It's about right. The Suns got just enough to make it worth their while, and the Rockets needed to make a move. They had to make a move to get a scorer, 'cause obviously that was their thing.
7:32
They needed a reliable- Mm-hmm... scorer. Yes. Which Green at his age was not. Jalen Green is not. That, that is important to establish. Yep.
7:38
So, so I get it, but like, I think the people who are saying, "Oh, one side destroyed the other," like I think that is just not true. So I... It was funny because it, this all goes down, I get a million text messages.
7:49
Yeah. Like you said, I could not believe the divide on this. Amazing. And then, and then like I... Th- this, this is me. This was me with Oakmont last week. This is me like whenever politics come up too.
7:59
I'm like, eh, somehow I'm down the middle. I was like, I saw this come across, I'm like, "Eh, that sounds about right. Sounds about right to me."
8:04
I mean, this was, first of all, if you'd have- You're the, you're the only politics person in this country that- [laughs]... has that reaction. [laughs] Yeah. The- Kelly's like, "Yeah, that sounds about a good reaction."
8:13
Sounds about right. Sounds about right. Um, the... I think what's tough, like okay, first of all, if you're the Suns, I could sit here and me and you could argue about Jalen Green.
8:23
I was very excited about him come, uh, coming out. He is still very young. He's shown glimpses of the quality scorer and quality player that he can be.
8:33
But I'm very glad you brought it up because I think last year was his real s- his real time to say, "Hey, if you're gonna be a big-time player in this league, you're surrounded by great players on this Rockets team, time for you to take a big step forward," and he didn't really, and the lack of consistency is troublesome when they relied on him so much to be a scorer.
8:52
However- But you would concede he's young enough that you don't know. However, coming back- Yeah... to, to, for the Phoenix side- Yeah... you would gladly take that because he's young enough- Of course...
9:00
that you don't know what he could turn into. Of course.
9:01
And my God, if you saw what some of the reports were for the other trade offers that were on the ta- I mean, first of all, it sounds like it was down between the Rockets and the Heat, and that's where they got to.
9:13
I saw, I saw d- reports yesterday of the Heat, what they were not willing to offer, and it was like, well, what, what are the Suns getting? Andrew Wiggins and like a couple second round picks? No.
9:22
Like it was, it was gross compared to what the S- uh, what the Suns ended up getting from the Rockets.
9:27
So I, like I know it might be tough as a Suns fan out there, Zach Cohen, [laughs] to know that like you're losing Kevin Durant. I think this- Yeah... was about as best as you were going to get back. Yeah. Yeah.
9:39
Now, to switch to the Rockets side of the conversation, there's one other thing I kept thinking about all day yesterday.
9:46
I agree with you, this doesn't put them in a, this doesn't put them in a tier by themselves above everyone else. No. Right? And Kevin Durant is, is older. But this team is still s- based around such young quality pieces.
9:58
Alperen Şengün and Ben Thompson are the future of this team. What they saw with now was that the ability to go get a Kevin Durant to put them in that mix of win now. And-
10:07
Do, how many teams do you think were watching the NBA finals and said, "You know what? That team that looked unstoppable during the regular season, we can beat them. The Pacers can take them to seven games.
10:18
We can beat them if we have the right pieces"? I'm wondering how much that factored into some thinking over, over this time. Yeah. I, I'll still take the Thunder and Nuggets over the Rockets in the, uh, in the West.
10:29
I also think if KD was really serious about winning a championship, he just would've gone back to Golden State. I really do. Be like, "Well, Steph, let's go out together. Let's make a run."
10:38
Well, that, that's almost more curious thing, right? What else? What else happened with Durant around the All-Star- No... break trade, or around the trade deadline?
10:44
Anyway, that's why Houston is your second shot to win the title based on that trade yesterday, which I do not agree with. Golf. Kelly takes a victory lap next. What a tournament this turned out to be.
10:56
Intrigue in many directions next. [upbeat music] A numbers game on VSiN, the sports betting network.
11:13
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11:22
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11:44
Uh, it's Gil Alexander, Kelly Biln alongside here, Numbers Game, VSiN, the sports betting network, live from Circa Resort Casino, downtown Las Vegas.
11:51
Uh, before we move on to golf, uh, you wanted to say one other thing about, uh, Durant and Toronto. Kinda what, yeah, I kinda wanna say something about ProfitX too. Oh, please. The, uh... It's great.
12:00
You have to check it out no matter what state you live in that you have access to this. But however, Gil, especially, especially in these states Where there are limited outs.
12:09
Like, you have to take advantage of this stuff. I know some of the e- exchange, so, uh, in, in, in some of the lottery format stuff might be confusing at first to people. It might not be the first thing you...
12:21
But you have to have more than one out or two outs. Like, you cannot be betting at one or two places. That's right. Um- It's nice, what, what's also nice about Profit is that it, it looks like a sportsbook too. Yes.
12:30
So, so it will not be unfamiliar to you. Yeah, yeah. I think there's some people struggling with that with like, with Kalshi and some [laughs] like- Yeah... compared to some of that stuff right now.
12:37
Um, yeah, I think the other important thing about Durant, right, still one year left on the contract.
12:41
So like, there was, uh, JVT, Zach, and I were kicking around like, [laughs] what are the Toronto reported offers of this? And it was like, it was pretty dang light.
12:50
But he, he w- basically Durant had told Toronto, "I'm not re-signing with you guys." So, I, there's all that that's in the air, too. I, I don't, I haven't seen any reports with that as far as the Rockets.
13:01
I would assume since he was on their shortlist that he would be willing to re-sign. But even if you're given a year to try to court the guy, right?
13:08
It, it, that's very different than s- than Durant flat out telling your team, "No, I'm not re-signing after next year." So, it also kind of limits some of the teams from, from that standpoint as well.
13:18
Back to the injuries, by the way. Bucks gotta do everything to keep Giannis now, right? That's a great point.
13:22
I hadn't really thought about that last night, uh, d- until you just said it, where you're like, yeah man, like, it, it's so, it's so sad to say it that way, but like, the Bucks with Giannis are way more alive than they were a few months ago.
13:33
'Cause what Cleveland and New York are now your, your top dogs in the East- Yeah... with the injuries to Tatum and Haliburton. The Tatum and Haliburton injuries are going to- Yeah...
13:40
severely affect that top of that Eastern Conference.
13:42
It also, I, I mean, not that they could have seen it coming, but I, I thought one of the teams that had gotten mentioned a little bit more towards the end with the Durant sweepstakes, the Detroit Pistons. Mm-hmm.
13:55
Like, they're right there, and how much do the... How much does Detroit basketball, would they love to be right back in the top of things? And they are, they're just like one mo- one move like that away.
14:05
And they have the ammunition to make a move like that. What a chasm between conferences next year. Oh, it's wild. It is, it is insane. Uh, to golf, the Travelers. Congratulations to Kelly Billing.
14:15
Congratulations Dave Ross. By the books, everybody who had Keegan Bradley pre-flop, what number did you get him at? 38 to 1? 38 to 1 here at Circa.
14:23
38 to 1, Keegan Bradley with a one-stroke victory over Tommy Fleetwood and Russell Henley, which we'll get to momentarily. Uh, for those who missed it, Keegan bogeys 14. Uh, he had an easy approach shot. He botched it.
14:38
Uh, Fleetwood had a six-footer for birdie on 14. Could have put Keegan away. Instead, he missed it on the low side. So he's up three after 14. Four holes to play. Could have put him away. He's up three still.
14:50
Up three still. What could go wrong? 15th hole, uh, Fleetwood, despite a bad drive, he saves par. Keegan sinks a 36-footer. So he's down two. Uh, 16th hole, par three. Keegan pars, Fleetwood bogeys.
15:03
Fleetwood's only up one. 17th, they both par. They go to 18, both drives in the fairway. Again, Keegan down one here. Fleetwood goes first, leaving his approach short and left.
15:14
Bradley follows with the, uh, the gut punch approach shot to five feet.
15:19
And what happens is that, uh, Fleetwood not only came up six feet short with his birdie effort then, he left it just short of Bradley's mark, eventually showing him the line. [laughs] It was just double jeopardy.
15:33
Yeah, for real. Yeah. Fleet- Fleetwood misses, suddenly putting his chances of just forcing a playoff in danger. Bradley ends any hope of that with a middle-of-the-cup birdie conversion.
15:41
Picks up his eighth career PGA Tour victory. And now, Tommy Fleetwood, ladies and gentlemen, who has won multiple times in Europe, becomes the guy with the most... He, he still is now, he just increases this.
15:56
He has the most top 10 finishes in the US without a win on the PGA Tour. 42 top 10 finishes without a win. That's cra- 42. 42. 42, where you're doing something two through 10. Oh my God. Um, and so congratulations.
16:12
Fleetwood gacks it, and Keegan Bradley in front of a, uh, a, a Northeastern crowd, which is where he's from, generally speaking, um, they acted like it was a Ryder Cup.
16:24
I don't know how that broke out in the middle of this. He's chest bumping his caddy. I'm like, "What is going on?"
16:28
Uh, the other part of this- Well, you had the captain and one of the, one of the best European players seemingly going head-to-head at the end, right?
16:33
Well, so this, this is interesting because now Keegan Bradley, who has never competed in a Ryder Cup, just want... He's the captain this year. He just wanted to be captain. Mm-hmm. Now he has to consider playing now.
16:45
It is be- I, I make fun of Dave Ross all the time because he can talk Ryder Cup every single day of the year- Yeah... for, uh, uh, for two years in between. Yeah.
16:52
It, this is gonna become a fascinating conversation Da- because after that win, he, first of all, he's right up there in the rankings to be considered anyways as a captain, a captain's pick.
17:03
I have a feeling the top guys on that team are gonna make him pick himself.
17:06
Like, he doesn't, he wants to stay out of that, I think, unless he played his way in, but he's right on the doorstep, and I think as a captain's pick that the rest of the team's gonna make him pick him, pick himself.
17:16
The other, the other person here I mentioned, Russell Henley, finished one stroke back. That would've been a lot nicer, by the way.
17:21
I really hate to complain about an outright winner, but Henley getting home would've been a lot nicer. He was- What would Henley have been for you?
17:26
Uh, he was 40 to 1, but I had almost double the money on that than I had on Keegan. I was very, very bullish on Russell Henley last week. Eighth hole on F- uh, eighth hole Friday.
17:37
Eighth hole Friday, uh, Henley calls a stroke penalty on himself. Yeah. No one was watching. Nope. Was there any cameras on it, Gil? His playing partner wasn't around. There was no cameras on it.
17:49
His son saw it though, apparently. And so Russell Henley calls a stroke penalty on himself because he says on his approach shot to the green, the ball, he was in the rough, the ball moved what he called by a dimple.
18:03
Ball moved a dimple on his backswing, and he still hits it. And he hit, by the way, hits it on the green three feet away from the pin But he calls a stroke penalty on himself. What was your comment at that point, Kelly?
18:13
What did you say? Oh, I'm sure that one won't come back to matter. [laughs] Fast-forward to the 18th, to the 18th hole on Sunday, and Henley chips in for, for birdie.
18:27
And so there was a point there where it looked like Russell Henley could get into a playoff.
18:31
Didn't happen, but with that call, well, he, he had a third round 61, by the way, in between, should be pointed out, which got him up into this position.
18:38
He was in a tie for second with, uh, Bradley, uh, behind Fleetwood after three rounds. But anyway, so he, he ends up one stroke back. This ends up c- look, this ends up costing him.
18:50
So the runner-up, if he were the runner-up outright, he would've made 2.16. Because he's T2, he makes 1.76, so that's, so he already cost himself $400,000. By the way, I'm just using the phrase cost himself.
19:02
We'll get to the other part. Um, but four, he, he makes $400,000 less, and if it had gone to a playoff and he had won, he would've cost himself 1.84 million in the wash. Yep.
19:20
It is, uh- So I'd, but I'd, honor, Kelly, honor has a place in this sport. Good for him, right? Right? Yeah. Yeah. [laughs] I mean, it's a, it's how the game's supposed to be played, right?
19:30
It's, it's if you, it's if- Self-policing...
19:32
it's if tennis had to be played without any officials out there and they had to call whether the ball's in and ball's out, like, it's- Oh my God, that happens all the time where they're arguing about calls. Right. Yeah.
19:41
Yeah. I mean, it, uh, look, it's, it's painful. As a bettor, it's painful. And of course that was my, it's my, it's my classic free throw, missed field goal line, right?
19:49
I'm sure that one won't come back to matter at the end, but, like,
19:53
I gotta, uh, with, but the thing I gotta give him credit for the most, Gil, when he was asked about it, I think it was on Saturday when I f- I first heard him speak about it, it was no hesitation answer from him. No.
20:04
He's like, "It, this was," he's like, "This is how the game's played." Yep. "And my, my son got to see it." Well, it was his- "And it was a learning lesson for my son."
20:11
And I- If his son wasn't there, it probably doesn't happen, but his son was there. May- maybe. [laughs] I mean- His son was there... that was, that was his snap answer, and I was like- Yeah...
20:20
well, it's hard not to respect that answer. Uh, when he thinks he's gonna, I, it's, he's gonna make his son a better man for doing something like that. Yep, he will. And he probably will. Yeah.
20:30
But oh boy, Russ, just let, let it go next time, man. Just let it go. Sure, there's a lot of sympathetic bettors who had a ticket on Russell Henley who feel- Which-... a little differently about it...
20:39
which, y'all, the other, the other part of the if his son wasn't there, also how much is in his mind i- I didn't see it. I didn't see it, by the way. Again, there was no ca- cameras on this. No. So I didn't see this.
20:49
No, you were just going on his word. But how- He was at the temple... how much in his mind too is like, "There might be a camera on me, so I gotta call it," right? Mm-hmm.
20:55
Like, like, do you think he was angry afterward [laughs] when he figured out that there was no cameras or video footage of this at all? I, listen, good for him. Good for him. Good for him. Good for him. Good for him.
21:05
The, uh, the other one that's the, I, like, I hate to complain about winter, sorry, this was one of my better golf tournaments of the year. It was great to get back on track.
21:12
Uh, it was, I mean, top fives on Henley get home, on Keegan get home, bet those. Had big, biggest bet of the tournament I had was a top 20 on To- uh, Tommy Fleetwood. Uh, those all get home. It was a great tournament.
21:23
We had some, we had some bad ones go the other way. Sepp Straka, see I might need a break for a while. Um, Tommy Fleetwood, though, I had in my one, a one-and-done pool. Like, I have a pretty big one-and-done pool. Oh.
21:34
That- That's brutal... I had four outright winners in already, and I, with him winning yesterday, I would've been top 10 in, like, real money online. So that would hurt, that would hurt me [laughs]
21:47
like, whatever, he'll take, I'll take it. It's never all good, is it? It's never all good. [laughs] Uh, we'll come back. Baseball, Paul Spoor on the other side. And oh, how about that college baseball final, too?
21:56
Coming back, Members Game, VSiN, the sports betting network. [upbeat music] The numbers tell the story, they always do. It's one of those idiots who believe in analytics.
22:13
This is a Numbers Game with Gil Alexander on VSiN. Hour number two of a Numbers Game at VSiN, the sports betting network. VSiN.com, Game Plus, iHeartRadio, YouTube TV, and of course, SiriusXM channel 158.
22:26
Uh, we thank you for tuning in as we do, uh, each and every morning. Thank you for allowing us to, uh, be part of your morning, whether in the heart of football season or the middle of the summer. That's right.
22:35
We love you for that. Um- Man, I love the NBA so much. I know everybody knows that, but, uh, as soon as that NBA finals ends, it's like, whoo, boy. Bro, June 22nd- When does NFL start?...
22:45
June 22nd is, yeah, it's time to wrap it up. Um, we will talk NBA draft, though, here momentarily. All right. Uh, Ra- Rafael Barlow, NBA draft a- uh, analyst at the NBA Big Board,
22:59
uh, NBAbigboard.com, will join us to talk NBA draft, which is two days away, Wednesday night, first round- Mm-hmm... of the NBA draft.
23:06
And don't worry, Gil, they're televising the second round just for you as well on Thursday. Oh, cannot wait for that. Yep. Oh boy, I'll totally be into that. Nope. Um, so we'll, we'll talk NBA draft. I have one bet.
23:17
Kelly, you've made two, correct, so far? I have two. Yeah. Yes, that's it. Um, so we'll get into that here momentarily. West Reynolds Stadium. But I just wanna say this real quick, though.
23:25
I, I, uh, do you remember your dreams? Oh, not at all. I am that person that doesn't remember, uh, dreams at all. So I w- I went about 25 years, never remembered a dream.
23:35
Lately, maybe 'cause the sleep is a little more- This is interesting... staccato. This is interesting. And it's not really a dream. It's like a 30-second vignette of a dream that I remember.
23:45
The other night, not last night, but the night before, I dreamt that the Redskins-Cowboys game, and it was the game in Washington, because, you know, outdoor field,
23:59
there was a sinkhole that happened on the second drive of the game right at the line of scrimmage. And then what did I do heroic to save the day? You, you were not involved. I wasn't in the dream? That's weird. Okay.
24:08
This is, but it's how weird dreams are, right? So there- Did you recently watch Batman: The Dark Knight? No. Was there a sinkhole in that? Yeah. Oh, no. In a football game.
24:16
No, I never thought about a sinkhole in my life. I don't know if I'm getting the right Batman r- movie, but whatever.
24:20
But somehow a sinkhole crept into my dream, melded into a Skins-Cowboys game- At FedEx Field, and a defensive lineman for Washington with, with the number 76, which is not a defensive lineman's number, and a name that of course I couldn't make out in the dream because he's not a real person, he fell to the f- f- to the field and it, as appeared right as the, at the snap as that, as if he had an injury.
24:46
But instead it was his legs going into the ground. And then once you realize that, well, the split second you can realize that, five other players started to fall, and then it became this heroic thing.
24:58
And in my dream vignette, you know what my next thought was? How are they gonna reschedule this game? [laughs] That was the whole dream. That's crazy. That's what I was worried about.
25:06
Like, you li- like, literally just described a, a scene out of whatever Batman movie Bane's in. I saw [laughs] I never, I never saw that movie. You made the wrong choice, Batman. Bane.
25:16
Ladies and gentlemen, uh, Wes Reynolds joins us in one of the more conflicted mornings- Yes... perhaps of his entire, uh, adult sports fanhood and sports betting, uh, in his sports betting career.
25:28
'Cause- He joins us now courtesy... I'm sorry. Wes owned that golf tournament too. Wes owned the golf tournament. He also happens to be a Pacers fan. Wes joins us now courtesy of Progressive Guest Line.
25:37
Wes Reynolds one, the number one is where you can follow him on Twitter. Wes, congratulations on golf. I'm so sorry about basketball. Yeah.
25:48
Um, yeah, my dream was that the Pacers were gonna win an NBA championship for the first time, and then, uh, that went away several minutes into the game, uh, uh, sadly last night, uh, with, uh, Tyrese Haliburton's injury.
25:59
But just, you know, you knew that the Pacers were gonna be up against it, being that they were facing a s- 68-win team that was, like, the number two all-time net rating behind the '95, '96 Bulls.
26:11
So it's like, you knew that they were up against it, but then all of a sudden you get some belief. It's like, okay, we're in game seven, man. Anything can happen.
26:19
And even if you lose, there's always that, okay, we've, we're close so, you know, do we go above the tax to try to, you know, really run this back?
26:29
And that's what the hard part of today is, Gil, 'cause now the sobering reality is hitting that it's not that you just lost, that you got beat. You can live with that.
26:37
It's that I can't come on here and say, "We'll wait till next year." Yeah.
26:40
I now can't do that because of obviously what happened with Tyrese Haliburton, because this wasn't like the 2000 Indiana Pacers where if you remember that 2000 NBA finals where they faced Kobe and Shaq and the Lakers and lost in six games.
26:55
That was gonna be it for that Pacer team. That was an aging, veteran, older team that this was gonna be their one shot and their one opportunity to win an NBA championship.
27:05
This group, it's like you felt like, okay, if they lose this time, they've got the core there. They've got Haliburton. They've got Siakam.
27:13
They've got a core team that is playing together that's gonna just keep getting better.
27:18
And now I can't say wait till next year here, because the Pacers probably, if you look at them today, as currently constructed with Tyrese Haliburton certainly out till probably, I would say, next March, they're probably a six or seven seed in the Eastern Conference.
27:33
Yeah, that's the part, right?
27:34
It's, it's the fact that that, that feeling that had to have sunk in, it sunk into everybody, but to a Pacers fan of that double whammy, like oh my God, now are we that much more unlikely to win this game, followed by that, right?
27:48
That you're done for a year of basketball. Um, you know, this is, it's, it's, it's Tatum for the Celtics, uh, with the Achilles. It's obviously, you know, injuries abound in the Eastern Conference, so it, so it knocks...
28:01
I don't know if it knocks out the Celtics and Pacers, but as you, but obviously they're not going to be the favorites. The Cavaliers and the Knicks are.
28:07
If you're the Bucks now, do you make, do you absolutely keep Giannis? I mean, it's anybody's conference at this point, right? Yeah, certainly.
28:16
And, and I think if you're the Pacers, uh, one thing that they have to look at is that Myles Turner is now having an expiring contract, because they made a move last week where they traded a, a draft pick to try to clear up some extra room and clear up some cap space presumably to re-sign Myles Turner, uh, you know, and be able to kinda run this group back, whether they were gonna win or lose in the NBA finals.
28:38
But now you have to look at it as a, like, okay, we're without Haliburton till at least mid to late March, and we have a Myles Turner who did not have a very good NBA finals, to, to put it mildly.
28:50
And do you now re-sign him, uh, to that big deal where it's like, well, you didn't really show up when we needed you the most, or do you do a sign and trade and now have to kinda, you know, p- pry apart the team a little bit?
29:03
Because, uh, you know, Herb Simon, who's the owner of the Pacers, who's now 90 years old, has indicated, and it was leaked through various NBA media last week, that he's willing to go o- over the luxury tax for the first time in probably about 15 to 20 years.
29:19
And now it just changes the whole ball game. I'm sure the Celtics are kinda feeling this right now, where it's like, now we might be willing to trade some of the pieces, uh, you know, on the team.
29:29
We might be willing to trade Porziņģis. Yeah. Or you might be willing to trade Derrick White or, or, or, uh, Jaylen Brown. So the East is, like, totally wide open next year.
29:39
And, uh, you know, the Pacers, you just feel like they're kind of on the outside looking in of that. Cavaliers to win the East next year, plus 265. Knicks plus 295. Celtics plus 550.
29:50
Magic after the Desmond Bane d- kit- uh, Desmond Bane kitchen sink trade, six to one. They're in the fourth spot. Sixers 12 to one, Pacers 12 to one, Pistons 17 to one, Bucks 18 to one.
30:04
So eight teams, this just in, eight make the playoffs after the play-in. Eight teams 18 to one or shorter.
30:11
If I force you to make a bet, Wes Reynolds and Kelly Bidlin, right now, you must make an Eastern Conference, to win the Eastern Conference bet, who do you make based on those numbers? Hmm. Wes, I'll let you go first.
30:22
The Detroit Pistons, uh, would, would, would, would be my sleeper here. Uh, I, I, I was really impressed with them.
30:28
I actually thought they were the better team In that Knicks series, and yet they didn't win enough games to be the better team in that series.
30:35
Uh, I just thought they, they, they had so many opportunities, they just couldn't hit shots late. But they've been putting together a good young core up there with, with Cade Cunningham and with Jalen Duren.
30:46
Uh, so I really like the Pistons. I think next year is kinda when they take the step up into maybe, like, the top three of the East.
30:54
So from a down the board maybe if I see a little bit more value there, because this is such a wide open Eastern Conference, I'd say the Detroit Pistons.
31:02
All right, so my answer's gonna be complicated because it's, uh, well, [laughs] if it... Is Giannis back on the Bucks? Yes.
31:10
Then Bucks at 18 to one, except for the Bucks won't be 18 to one once they get it now that Giannis is coming back. Okay. So you'd, you'd have to, you'd have to get ahead of that. So yeah, I, no, I can't play that.
31:18
I, also from a betting standpoint, like Wes just brought up with the Pistons, at this time of year I would only consider a longer shot. Mm-hmm. But to me it, it would be the Cavs.
31:29
The Cavs right now, right now of who's the best in the East i- it's the Cleveland Cavaliers. Wes, you had Keegan Bradley like Kelly did, like Dave Ross did. Uh, congratulations to you.
31:39
Tommy Fleetwood, we mentioned earlier, 42 American top 10 finishes. In other words, 42 top 10 finishes on the PGA Tour. Nary a win. Was yesterday his shot and it will never happen again?
31:53
I don't know if I could say never happen again, but, uh, 'cause I've been on Fleetwood where he's won, but that's been on the DP World Tour. Never here, of course.
32:01
But, uh, you know, golf's a funny thing when you're betting this because there are events that you should win, like I felt I should've won the RBC Canadian Open with Sam Burns. He loses in the playoff.
32:11
And then there's event that I shouldn't have won, which I shouldn't have won yesterday even though I had Keegan Bradley and Russell Henley, because Fleetwood you felt like had this well under control.
32:20
And then, you know, how about Keegan Bradley, drained a couple putts, including a 64-footer, which really kinda kept him in the race here. Mm. And eventually wins at the hometown event in the Northeast.
32:32
And now if you're Keegan Bradley, I think you're gonna select yourself for the Ryder Cup, and you damn well should even though you're the captain.
32:39
You gotta be, I think, a playing captain at this point because are there 12 better American golfers right now than Keegan Bradley? No. And I don't think that there are.
32:46
Yeah, and he was saying he just wanted, he, you know, he just wanted to be the captain. Now he has to, now he has to consider that, for sure. Um, what about this week? Rocket Classic. Uh, Keegan's playing, isn't he?
32:57
[laughs] As of now, yeah. As of now. He is. Yeah. He, he, he is, yeah.
33:01
This is a, this is a kind of a, a downfield because it's in between obviously the US Open from, uh, a couple weeks ago, and then the Open Championship is in mid-July. So Collin Morikawa is your headliner.
33:12
Patrick Cantlay also in this thing.
33:14
Keegan Bradley, Ben Griffin, who's been as hot as anybody outside of Scottie Scheffler in golf, so those are the, uh, four top choices here at the Detroit Golf Club, which, uh, this event here at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, this is a birdie fest.
33:27
So lotta guys in play. This, uh, this is gonna be 20-something under par wins this thing, a very easy course up there in Detroit. Oh, one of those.
33:35
Yeah, Wes, I know we were laughing about it on long shots, but, uh, just looking down at this, uh, leaderboard, uh, just a T12 for Patrick Cl- uh, Cantlay once again at the Travelers.
33:43
It just, I don't know, I don't think either one of us bet it, but just lock that in top 20 for every year going forward.
33:48
Well, we didn't even mention Rory and S- That, that was one of my, that was one of my placement winners this past weekend. Rory and Scottie after all that, T6. Mm-hmm. It's amazing. Uh, Wes, on football. Next.
A Numbers Game
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