The "Thunder Storm" Edition

Oklahoma City heads into Game 4 needing a win after falling behind Indiana 2-1 in the Finals. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Each time, or Clipson Sports Talk with Lawton Swanny. Finally,

(00:44):
Clemson Sports Talk has come back to drive time. Hello everybody,
and Swan back in the saddle once again. It is
the show that shakes the south Land. Clemson Sports Talk
for you each and every afternoon as you make your
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(01:07):
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(01:29):
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(01:50):
as well. Glad to be back with you here on
a Thursday afternoon, No Timberrey. Timboret's got golf this week,
not not golfing, but golf tournament with the US Open underway,
so we'll try to keep you a little bit updated
on that, But no Timbres, he's out at the US

(02:13):
Open taking care of business. And again, thank you yesterday
to our buddy Faxon Childress for jumping into the program
on a Wednesday. And we hope to catch up with
Faxon throughout the summer and into the fall. Coming up
this week. We'll also next week we'll catch up with

(02:35):
Josh Graham. Josh does a tremendous job up in the
research triangle of North Carolina talking sports, and I've always
enjoyed having him on the show at the ACC kickoff.
But we'll have Josh Graham on the show next week.
He's on vacation. This week. We're gonna try to catch

(02:57):
up with a number of different individuals just to get
a little precursor or kind of a look ahead to
the expectations not just for your Clemson Tigers, which are
clearly through the roof, but also on the expectations for
teams around the conference, the Atlantic Coast Conference, and certainly

(03:18):
even a look at some of the expectations for teams nationally.
So again, no timber to day, more of me less, guest,
that's a good thing as we roll along with you
here on a Thursday afternoon. Now, let's begin with the
hot topic, the Indiana Pacers getting the job Say it

(03:42):
with me now, Dne the job done one sixteen, one
oh seven over Oklahoma City. The Indiana Pacers take a
two to one series lead. And it was a game
that I called a must win for the Indiana Pacers,

(04:03):
and they were not only competitive throughout, they led for
a good portion of the game, and they closed it
out taking a lead one oh one, one hundred or
excuse me, one oh one ninety eight with six minutes

(04:24):
and twelve six minutes and forty two seconds remaining, and
never relinquished that lead, taking down the top team in
the NBA, the Oklahoma City Thunder, one sixteen, one oh seven,
out scoring the Thunder by fourteen points in the fourth

(04:45):
quarter thirty two to eighteen, the Thunder crumbling in the
fourth quarter on the road, and with Game four looming
on Friday, an eight thirty start on ABC, it'll be
a quick turnaround for the Oklahoma City Thunder to try
to bounce back because my expectation has been throughout the

(05:10):
entire playoffs that Oklahoma City was the best team. I
still think they are likely the better team in this series.
But as I've heard several people on social media express,
what if? What if the Pacers are just the better team.

Speaker 2 (05:39):
Now?

Speaker 1 (05:39):
I can't extrapolate that from a fifty to thirty two
record given the fact that these two teams obviously play
in opposite leagues, the Indiana Pacers and the opposite conferences,
the Pacers in the Eastern Conference in Oklahoma City in
the Western common Friends. But it appeared all year that

(06:03):
that logjam that we saw out west outside of Oklahoma
City was indicative of the Western Conference being the better
of the two leagues by a large margin in my opinion.
And yet here we sit with the Oklahoma City Thunder
needing to win three out of the next four games

(06:24):
to be the NBA champions, in Indiana putting themselves in
a great spot with another home game and a chance
to take a three to one lead. Because I will
credit the Indiana fans with this, their fans were absolutely relentless.

(06:47):
It felt like a hostile college environment. It felt like
you were playing in Durham. Like Indiana recognized the opportunity
before them. The fans recognized the opportunity before them, and
they were electric. The Pacers were led and scoring off
the bench by Benedict Mathern, who scored twenty seven points

(07:10):
on nine of twelve shooting. Mathern looked very comfortable. Tyrese
Haliburton had twenty two with eleven assist and nine rebounds,
nearly a triple double. What a bounce back for Haliburton
after a disappointing Game two. And then Siakam scored twenty

(07:31):
one and the Indiana Pacers take control of the series.
For the Thunder, they were led and scoring by Jalen Williams. Now,
of course they have two Jalen Williams, of which they
draft in the same year. This is the better of
the two. Number eight. He scored twenty six points to
lead the way for the Thunder. They got twenty four

(07:54):
from Shay Gilgess Alexander and twenty from chet Holmgrum, but
Home was zero for six from beyond the arc. That's
wasted possessions in my opinion. Not saying that home Groom
can't shoot that ball. We've seen him able to shoot
that ball, but you're watching that game unfold. And it

(08:16):
felt to me, by the way, Holmegram also had ten
rebounds in the ballgame. But it felt to me as
the game got later and later, we started to see
one of those shifts that we see a lot oftentimes
in sports, especially in the NCAA tournament, where the better

(08:40):
team or the team that's been perceived to be the
better team, and in the NCAA tournament most times that's
the team with the better seeding. Right, it felt like
one of those games where the underdog was able to
kind of play free and loose, and in this case,
in their home environment, and the favorite began to choke.

(09:06):
The favorite began to let the games slip through their fingers.
And as I watched it, especially in that fourth quarter
and really late in the third quarter as well, there
were several possessions where I felt like Oklahoma City was

(09:28):
going to take control of the game, yet they ended
up being empty possessions. And when that happens, not once,
not twice, you know five or six times in a game,
you end up on the losing end of the stick.
And that's where the Oklahoma City Thunder now find themselves
down two games to one, with four games remaining and

(09:53):
game four in Indiana. Now the series, of course, back
in the day, the NBA at one point had switched
to a two three to two format for the finals.
I believe that was in the mid eighties or so.
They had originally started with a two two one one one,

(10:16):
meaning two games at the better team, two games on
the road, then back, you know, kind of a back
and forth in the final three. That's what we have now,
and we've gone back to that. A few years ago
they went back to that. And for the Pacers, can
you imagine if indeed it was a two to three

(10:38):
two series, that would be they would have two more
home games and they could potentially close it out on
their home court. Instead, they'll get one more game to
really push things to the brink. But if Oklahoma City
can win on Friday night, you get into a three
game series where two of those games are going to

(11:00):
be on Oklahoma City's home court. So or I should say,
at that point, what potentially two of those games on
Oklahoma City's home court, depending on how those games shake out.
But yeah, I mean last night, especially in the fourth

(11:21):
quarter in front of their home fans at the game
Bridge Field House, it felt like Indiana may very well
be the better team. And so off we go to
Game four and we'll see who comes away with a

(11:43):
win in that one. It feels like a must win
for Oklahoma City and for the Indiana Pacer fans out there,
whose last championship was the nineteen seventy three ABA title.
Here they are with their feet on the doorstep with

(12:07):
a great opportunity in front of them Friday night, because
that home crowd is going to be electric. And one
of the other things that we might need to also
consider in this ballgame or not in this ballgame in
this series is the coaching matchup. And Rick Carlisle is

(12:37):
one of the more seasoned, one of the more successful,
and maybe one of the best coaches active in the
NBA right now. And how much has he been able
to squeeze out of his team perhaps then his counterpart

(13:06):
on the opposite sideline, who is much younger, the Oklahoma
City Mark Dagno has been in basketball for years and
has been with the Oklahoma City Thunder dating back to
his time with the Oklahoma City Blue in twenty fourteen,

(13:27):
and he's been the head coach there with the Thunder
since twenty twenty. It was the NBA Coach of the Year.
This past season, they had the best record in the league.
But can it also be that when you get to

(13:47):
this point and it's kind of like if you go
back and you think about Texas Tech versus Texas and softball,
and we talked about Texas Tech's pitcher having to go
against the Texas lineup three consecutive days, and I said

(14:12):
on this program, I said, there's no reason if you're
Texas Tech that you need to start Niaja Canaday for
a third consecutive game. Like my suggestion, I don't care
if she's a million dollar player in softball and in baseball,

(14:34):
when you get enough looks at someone without changing the look,
players can get locked in. And you saw in that
championship game she got lit up. And my suggestion was
at the risk of giving up a few runs, if

(14:56):
you were Texas Tech, pitch your second best pitcher for
a couple of innings, and if you're lucky, maybe you
get three innings or even four out of your second
best pitcher and then you can bring in your ace
and then what you've at least done is you've disrupted
the line of sight and you make the Texas ball

(15:21):
players have to go back in readjust end game and
in this situation maybe in the third or fourth inning,
but maybe in addition to the teams in the NBA finals,
perhaps Rick Carlisle in his experience as a championship head

(15:41):
coach and a coach who's been in the NBA as
a head coach for gosh, it feels like forty years.
He's been a head coach in the NBA for twenty
two seasons, going back to his time with the Detroit Pistons,
before original stint with the Indiana Pacers from three to seven,

(16:06):
and then during his time with the Dallas Mavericks where
he won a championship in twenty eleven. When he was
with the MAVs from eight to twenty twenty one, Well,
it's possible to make an argument that the coaching advantage
that Carlisle has is paying off in this situation. And

(16:31):
maybe it's not all about the x's and o's. Maybe
it's about substitution patterns. Maybe it's about momentum and motivation
and having that underdog mentality. All of that may very

(16:52):
well be part of the reason that we sit here
and find ourselves with a series where Indiana is surprisingly
ahead two games to one and getting another opportunity at

(17:13):
home to take a commanding lead. And again that Game
three will take place at eight to thirty on ABC.
Speaking of which, I don't know if you guys have
noticed this, but I've talked about it during football season,
and I don't know what it is about ABC specifically.

(17:33):
It does not happen to me on the ESPN, and
I have tried multiple televisions, but for whatever reason, the
ABC signal does this strange warble. And as a matter
of fact, last night, and I saw a couple of

(17:54):
other people on social media tweeting about it, the fans
are a lot louder than the announcers. And I even
there was a point in the third quarter where I
could not hear any announcing none. I only heard fans,

(18:19):
And then as it went into the fourth quarter, I
started to get the announcers back a little bit. But
this same type thing happens for me with college football,
and I tried turning off my soundbar, I tried turning
off the TV. Now, the thing I didn't do I
didn't flip over to YouTube TV to watch it. I
tried watching it on over the air, and I also

(18:42):
considered and I probably should have done this as a
good troubleshooter, right, anytime you have an ID ten T problem,
anytime you're running into an ID ten T problem, are
you guys familiar with that? If you're not, just write
it jotted down on paper when you get to a
stopping point if you're driving ID ten T all right,

(19:04):
when you have an ID ten T problem, you probably
should troubleshoot a little more than I did. Probably should
have gone to the ESPN app. Probably should have, you know,
check the YouTube TV app just to see. But the
audio is atrocious. I mean is It's almost as if

(19:26):
I'm on my own planet when it comes down to
the audio, except I see other people talking about it.
And what's to deal with that. I don't have that
problem when the games are on the ESPN. I don't
have that problem when the games are on ESPN. But
when they come on ABC College Football, Speaking of which

(19:49):
ESPN and ABC. Oh baby, it's early yet, but we
gotta kick off time for Clemson to South Carolina and football.
We'll talk about that when we return. Stay with us.
That shakes the South lland Clemson Sports so long and
swam with you on a Thursday afternoon. So I was
talking about ESPN and ABC and the audio issues that

(20:11):
I seem to have for whatever reason with games that
are being played on ABC. That's football season. Throughout football
season had the issue, and now with the NBA Finals
even seeing the issue, hopefully, hopefully that'll be fixed. And

(20:34):
maybe you guys don't have that issue. Maybe it is
my TV, but I've tried multiple televisions. Anyway, Yesterday the
news came out that Clemson in South Carolina a matchup
in November. I mean, look, I get it. We already
had the Clemson Louisville game on the books that matchup

(20:59):
all on November the fourteenth, So it's not unprecedented to
have a little late season kickoff in the books that's
a Friday night game in Louisville at eight pm. But
to get the Clemson South Carolina kickoff on June the eleventh,

(21:24):
when that came out yesterday, I felt like I was
living in like this alternate universe, like to me, to me,
this is a game that deserves to have the season

(21:48):
play out before we get a kickoff time.

Speaker 2 (21:54):
I guess that's your theory.

Speaker 1 (21:56):
Yes it is. I think given the resumes of these
two teams a year ago, given the expectations of Clemson,
certainly South Carolina doesn't have the same level of expectation
that Clemson does this year. But either way, I don't

(22:22):
mind when you have to get a two week old
or to find out when you're gonna play. And I
don't think I would necessarily be disappointed in the noon
kickoff if you had given it to me, oh, November
the fifteenth or sixteenth, after that Clemson Louisville game, you

(22:44):
know what I mean, let's just see where the teams are.
But giving me a noon kickoff for November twenty ninth,
if I had to make sure it was actually Clemson's
football count. They tweeted it out quite frankly, like that's
how odd it is to get that information this early.
I thought, well, somebody must have somebody must have pulled

(23:08):
a fast one here. It's kind of like there's the
you know on three sports, where there's one called no
three sports inn oh, And it looked the logo and
everything looks so similar that people often to retweet and
it's just fake meme news that they're coming up with
or whatever, but it wasn't. It was Clemson's real account.
And so the Tigers and the game Cocks will kick

(23:30):
off at noon except November twenty ninth. Even if it
was September twenty ninth, it would see m early November
twenty ninth on either ABC or ESPN. So we've got
a kickoff time for the Tigers and the game Cocks.
And to me, that truly came from out of nowhere,

(23:58):
just simply the fact that these two teams again have
such expectations this year. To find that game already listed
with the start time seems strange. Now. I think the
other issue that I have with it, and I'll read
some of the things people said about it, is that

(24:23):
this game could very well, I would think, go head
to head with like Michigan in Ohio state, and maybe
you want that. Clemson addicts, saying we couldn't even get
the three pm slot. Coach Hall said, not mad, Why

(24:46):
why give them all day? Just you know a lot
of people just want to get after it instead of
having to sit around and wait for it. Jacob said,
why did they decide that so early? I don't know.
I really don't know why it was slated as a
noon game. I don't know what the reasoning behind putting

(25:08):
it out this early could possibly be. T. Pavlik says,
awful noon games should never happen, and like, here's the
other thing I think more than Clemson people, I think
South Carolina fans are the ones that have the right

(25:29):
to be the most upset about it, because what we
do know about college football is the nighttime environments are
much more intimidating. And look, as a media member, I'm
great with it, Like it makes my day so much easier.

Speaker 2 (25:49):
Now.

Speaker 1 (25:49):
It's a little pain in the rear end to get
over to Williams. Brice Stadium that early, but the game
gets over the reasonable hour, Like if it's if it's
a night game, I don't get home till two three
in the morning. Sometimes I see one person tweeting they said,
this is a sad day for America. Ah man, Yeah,

(26:10):
I don't know. Did South Carolina. Let's see did Gamecock
Football put it out? Let's see if they what the
responses are on the game cop FB account. Let's see
did they post it? Doesn't I don't see that South
Carolina tweeted anything about the Clemson Carolina kick. Tom I'm

(26:32):
looking through their account right now, so give me a
moment here. I'm just yeah, No, I don't see that
South Carolina tweeted anything. I don't know if that's disappointment
or hope. Maybe the game Cocks are hoping there some
way they can shift that thing. I see a tweet
about their first two games. Their first two home games
are under the lights against se State on September the

(26:55):
sixth at seven o'clock and then versus Vanderbilt at either
seven or seven forty five on September thirteenth. But they
act as if nothing's been decided, or at least they
haven't been willing to share it with their fan base yet.
Taking a look at South Carolina's Twitter account. But yeah,
Clemson South Carolina noon kickoff. I just can't believe we're

(27:18):
talking about it in June like that. I get it,
South Carolina hasn't tweeted it out, or at least I
haven't seen it yet. But noon kickoff announced for Clemson
in Carolina in June. What are we doing? Yeah? The
show that shakes to south Land Clemson Sports, Tall Law
and Swan If you don't forget about our friends in

(27:39):
Alumni Hall on the corner of campus on College Avenue
in downtown Clemson, it's Alumni Hall for all. You're officially
licensed Clemson merchandise. Get your Clemson hats, T shirts, tailgate
gear and more. Don't forget about their Alumni Hall rewards,
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(28:01):
ten percent off when shopping in store at Alumni Hall.
Go check them out today. Right downtown Clemson, it's Alumni
Hall where Tiger fans shop.

Speaker 2 (28:12):
All right.

Speaker 1 (28:12):
So I see William Qualkinbush saying that playing a on
a network at noon is a compliment. We were talking
about Clemson in South Carolina kicking off on November the
twenty ninth at noon. Te says, how do you already
have this time settled? By the way, noon is way
different as a fan as opposed to seven or eight o'clock.

(28:35):
The joker Shaquille Oatmeal says, fans don't give a crap
about the ratings. They want a tailgate and enjoy the
festivities of the rivalry leading up to the game. Now,
one thing that I see that's pretty cool and I
think convenient about this. Somebody noted you know, at least

(28:59):
now we don't have to wait for six days before
Thanksgiving to get the plans together with the family. So
there you go. I mean that's a bright side, right,
Like everybody knows, this is when the game is going
to be played, this is the time it's going to
be played. This is what our Thanksgiving festivities need to

(29:23):
look like. And again, I did see some people talking
about that big noon kickoff, and I think that's one
of the broader problems for Clemson to South Carolina being
a new kickoff is the fact that I think a
lot of people will be watching that big noon matchup.
Speaking of Witch, I believe that Ohio State Texas game

(29:46):
is scheduled to be a noon kickoff on Fox. Remember
that's the first game of the season or the first
weekend of the season. That game not only will be
the big noon kickoff, but it will also be the

(30:07):
site of ESPN's Game Day for Lee Corso's final headgear moment.
ESPN putting that information out through their college Game Day
channel the other day and kind of highlighting the fact
as we did here on the program, but we kind
of recognized that look, Lee Corso's first head gear was brutus.

(30:29):
I would imagine to make it full circle. His last
head gear will be brutus. I can't imagine that he
starts by picking Ohio State and finishes his tenure by
picking against Ohio State, but maybe that's that might be
what Lee Corso wants to do. But ESPN's College Game

(30:52):
Day did pick the Ohio State Texas game for Lee Corso.
Lee Corso's final show. There were some thoughts that maybe
Lee Corso's final matchup might be Florida State or at
Florida State, partly because the Seminoles were where he played football,

(31:17):
but in addition to that, they also host the Alabama
Crimson Todd to open the season. The biggest marquee game,
at least at this point I think in the mind's
eye of most people was the Clemson LSU game for
a multitude of reasons, especially given the high profile quarterbacks

(31:39):
in k Klubnik and Garrett Nussmeyer that'll be facing off,
the momentum behind both of those teams heading into the
season with the expectations of a college football playoff birth.
You know, one thing I did see somebody tweet though.
You know, we talk a lot about the head gear
and the first head gear selection, but during ESPN's College

(32:03):
Game Day, the first road show when they went to
that Florida State Notre Dame game back in nineteen ninety three,
and you can go find this. Lee Corso threw on
a Florida State seminole hat like that was the original
rendition of the headgear selection. Now, I get it, it's

(32:26):
different than putting on the head gear of a mascot.
But in fairness, Florida State's mascot does not really have
a head gear right, Like they have a student that
dresses up like Chief Asciola, and Lee Corso in the
past has thrown on like a Native American head gear

(32:48):
or when he's doing Notre Dame because they don't have
a mascot with a with a head gear, he's thrown
on like a little Irish eleprechaun kind of outfit. But
if you think about it from the standpoint of Corso's
selections in headgear, that Florida State Seminole one could represent,

(33:13):
you know, one of the first time, the first times
we've ever seen him put ahead gear on like that.
And again, I think we're gonna miss Coach Corso. I
know at times it was painful to try to watch
him navigate through a segment or some time with the

(33:39):
guys on the set. There are just in a sense
of giving his insight into a game, as he would
after the stroke and other health issues that he had,
he would kind of fumble and stumble. But I think
one of the things we all enjoyed and appreciated as
his time continued with that program was the father son

(34:01):
relationship that he and Kirk Herbstreet had and how Herbstreet
would so often help him and carry him through those moments.
And you could probably flip the script much like a
father and son in real life, to the earliest years
of Herbstreet being on that show and how a guy

(34:23):
like Corso would have helped him navigate the early goings
of his television career. But the selection has been made.
Lee Corso in College Game Day will emanate from the
Ohio State Texas matchup in Columbus to open the season.

(34:44):
That'll be Corso's final show. All right, with a quick break,
we'll come back. We'll put a boat on our number one.
I can't believe we're already an our in here on
the show that Shakes the south Land. Now, we talked
a little bit about attendance yesterday from State and their
baseball program. Let me tell you how Clemson's softball did

(35:05):
stick around to find that final segment of our number
one here on a Thursday afternoon. So the Murray State
Racers unprecedented what they've done to make a run to
the College World Series. Now, they were fifteen and six

(35:27):
at home this season, and that would mean they if
they played in front of a packed house every game,
which I'm sure they did not, the Racers would play
in front of a grand total of sixteen eight hundred
people home games, again eight hundred seat stadium. To put

(35:52):
that into comparison, Clemson softball put out a graphic yesterday
that they had fifty thousand, four hundred and sixty four
fans in total in attendance at mcwater Stadium, obviously making
the Clemson softball program one of the most respected softball

(36:15):
programs in America, but not to mention, one of the
most well supported. But when I saw that number, I
couldn't help but thinking to myself, with eight hundred fans
in attendance, how many games did Murray State play at home?
And how many fans could have possibly seen a Murray
State Racer game and it is well under the mark

(36:40):
of four hundred and sixty four fans that saw Clemson
softball this season now keeping it with Clemson baseball and
on that side of campus for a moment. We talked
about this a few weeks ago and it's now come
to fruition. Western Kentucky's Ryan and Widman has committed to Clemson.

(37:04):
Wiman hit three ninety eight with sixty eight RBIs this
past season for the Hilltoppers. And if that name seems
somewhat familiar to you, it should. He is the son
of former Clemson Tiger basketball player Tom Wiman Tom Wibman.
As a matter of fact, we did an interview with

(37:26):
Tom years ago and Tom talked about how, you know,
baseball was sort of his first love and then he
just continued to grow and grow into the frame that
he currently has, which is about six ten six foot eleven.
So the Tiger baseball team picking up another piece of

(37:50):
the proverbial baseball puzzle. Looking at it, I think Clemson's
had Leyton Lackey, Luke Brown, Ethan Darden, Chase kick Arkayak,
and Tristan Bassetta. I believe those are the guys that
the Tigers have in the portal, or that have ventured

(38:10):
into the portal thus far. But man keeping up with
the portal is difficult, believe you me. I think according
to the last thing I saw, there were about three
thousand plus players who had already gone into the portal
across the country. I mean, I think that's going to

(38:35):
be one of the big talking points when it comes
down to maneuvering around the new College Sports Commission. I mean,
it's very hard for me to imagine in an era
where we don't see some sort of change to that

(38:57):
free flowing movement a player, as I like to call it,
in part because there comes a point where I think
you just have to admit that it's not good for
the player. And I get it. The arguments about what's

(39:19):
good for the player and whose decision that should ultimately
be is certainly up for debate. But at some point
continuity has to be a significant factor, you know, just
making sure that you've got players in position to be

(39:41):
successful in the classroom. And I don't see how that's
possible when you bounce around the country the way some
of these guys are doing through the transfer portal. In
the current iteration of college athletics. So we'll see where
that all heads. But man, a big addition for Clemson,

(40:04):
at least with the addition of another Wideman. Well, I
guess you can't say of another Wiman, but a new Wieman.
My sister, who's a little bit older than me, when
I told her, I said, hey, have you heard about
Clemson's latest baseball commit? She goes, no, who is it?

(40:26):
I said, Ryan Widman? She said Wiman. I said, yeah,
like Tom Widman's son. She goes, oh, God, I'm old.
I feel you. I understand. That's the way I feel
Tom Wyman. I was a freshman with me at Clemson,
and boy, I'll say this that that time, and I

(40:47):
know that there are a lot of people out there
who would certainly have every right to talk about this
era of Clemson basketball being the greatest because the level
of success that the Tigers have had at this point
in Brad Brownell's tenure, It's incredibly difficult to argue now
a few short years ago, before that run to the

(41:11):
Elite Eight, before the success they had this past season
in conference play, et cetera. I don't know. I think
you could have made an argument that the Rick Barnes run.
And the fun that we had back then with that
group of freshmen was maybe the best we'd ever seen
in Clemson history. And that included guys like Tom Wiman

(41:32):
and current staffer Terrell McIntyre, and Harold Jamison and Andris Dracunas,
Tony Christie. Greg Buckner was on those teams for a
couple of years. Like man, that was that Not only
was that a fun group, here, here's what that group
had that these teams under Brad Brown now have not

(41:55):
the continuity of the same roster, right because those guys
came in as freshman and had such a big impact,
and and you had a guy like Greg Buckner who
was only a sophomore. So they were all together like
that collection for essentially three full years. All right, quick break,

(42:17):
we'll come back our number two right around the bin
here on Fox. So each time Clipson and Sports Talk
with Luwton Swan, it is our number two. That's drivetime

(43:08):
right here on the show that shakes the south Land,
Clemson Sports Talog swam with you on a Thursday afternoon,
No timber Ray to day. Apologies, Tim's working the US
Open And where I am or I guess I should
say when I am as far as the US Open

(43:31):
is going, here's what things look like. JJ Spawn was
at minus four and he was in the clubhouse. Thurston
Lawrence was at minus three with a whole to play. Sewu,
Kim Brooks, Koepka and Sam Burns we're early in their
rounds at minus two, and then a slate of players

(43:54):
at minus one. So that's the way it was for me.
As the US Open gets underway on NBC USA Network
and also Peacock. They're out at the Oakmont Country Club
in Oakmont, pennsyl As for last year's winner Bryson d Chambeau,

(44:16):
he was at plus three through his opening round and
there were still several players that needed to tee off
at last. So again that's the US Open taking place
over the next few days. We'll talk about the standings
tomorrow and certainly send you off into your weekend. Rory

(44:38):
McElroy is another name everybody wants to keep up with, obviously,
after his victory at the Augusta National. Rory with a
four over par seventy four to open his play this afternoon.
So not a great on all right. Shifting gears back
to college football, I mentioned earlier about Clemson in South

(45:02):
Carolina and that game being scheduled for a noon kickoff.
We talked about Oklahoma and excuse me, Ohio State and
Texas opening up the season there in Columbus and that
being the game day site. Well, what about the teams
that have the toughest schedule? Who's got the toughest schedule

(45:27):
in twenty twenty five in the world of college football?
And there's a couple of them that pop up pretty
quickly in the mind's eye of most fans, one of
those being the Florida Gators. We'll take a look at
Florida schedule in a minute. The others include the Oklahoma

(45:53):
Sooners and Brent Vinnables, which that's not great if you're
Brent V because obviously he needs a really good year.
And then a sneaky pick for a lot of people
is Wisconsin. So let's start by taking a look at

(46:17):
the Florida Gators, which most people across the board recognizes
having the most difficult schedule out of the Gates. You know,
in the preseason viewing of it, it's Florida, That's what
a lot of people will say. So let's take a

(46:37):
look at the Gators. They open with Long Island on
August thirtieth. They'll then play South Florida at home on
September the sixth, Then they go to LSU, they go
to Miami, they face Texas at home. They go to

(46:59):
Texas and m they host Mississippi State. Are they still
doing the neutral site game with Georgia. I remember there
was some debate about that. Let me just double check
that that is still yep. Neutral site in Jacksonville for
the Georgia game, at Kentucky, at Old Miss versus Tennessee,

(47:20):
and against Florida State. Now, what makes this schedule unique
is the fact that there are ten Power five games
on that schedule. Only Long Island in South Florida are
not Power five teams Power four. Excuse me after that,

(47:43):
it is a gauntlet for Florida. Now, the other team
most people will point to is Oklahoma. The Sooners open
with a matchup against Illinois State, then they host Michigan,

(48:05):
Then they're at Temple. They face Auburn versus kent State,
neutral site against Texas in the Red River Rivalry, at
South Carolina versus Old Miss, at Tennessee, at Alabama versus
Missouri versus LSU, and I got to say that feels

(48:28):
like it pales in comparison to the schedule that Florida
has because they face Illinois State, Temple, and Kent State.
And I think South Florida is better than all three
of those, meaning, in my opinion, Florida plays eleven teams

(48:57):
better than everybody. Let me rephrase that, eleven teams better
than the bottom three teams on Oklahoma schedule, right, can
we all agree with that? Now, the other name that's
most often mentioned right now preseason and again and look
for Oklahoma and Brent Minnables. That's it's a big year,

(49:23):
but it's also a huge year for Wisconsin and their
football coach, Luke Fickle. You know, when he came over
from Cincinnati, they're big expectations and they've underwhelmed during the
Luke Fickle era. And I would make the argument that

(49:44):
the fans when you when you make a big move, right,
fans expect a lot and fair or foul. He had
Cincinnati in the College Football Playoff and finishing number four
in the country, and then of course he played he
coached I should say, one more season. They went nine

(50:05):
and three, six and two, and then he was hired
at the end of the year, and I believe coached
the bowl game for Wisconsin. They're thirteen to thirteen and
eight and ten. Overall, their fan base is frustrated and disappointed.
But when you ask around who's got one of the

(50:26):
toughest schedules in college football, the Wisconsin Badgers pop up
on that list, in addition to the Florida Gators and
the Oklahoma Sooners. And again, when I compare, and there
may be some more out there, feel free to text
me eighth three four or five zero zero zero eighty
six if you have one that you think is tougher

(50:50):
than Florida's. And I get it. Look, I spend a
lot of time here downplaying the strength of the Southeastern Conference,
and I do believe in some of that stuff across Like,
I think there's some frivolous conversations to be had, but
I can also objectively look at the schedule and go, man,
that's tougher than this, And Florida's schedule is tougher, in

(51:10):
my opinion, than the schedule Oklahoma has to face. Here's Wisconsin's,
and again they're a team that gets mentioned a lot.
Wisconsin will host Miami of Ohio. They will host Middle Tennessee.
They go to Alabama, they'll they will host Maryland. They

(51:31):
go to Michigan, they host Iowa, they host Ohio State,
they go to Oregon, they host Washington, they go to Indiana,
they host Illinois, and then they play Minnesota. Now, don't

(51:52):
don't get me wrong. When you've got Alabama, Michigan, Ohio State,
and Oregon, those games alone put you in one of
the top schedules in the country. But I think Florida
again ten Power five games, and look, Wisconsin's in the

(52:21):
same boat ten. I keep saying Power five, ten, Power
four games, But that Florida slate I feel like is
more difficult than Wisconsin. I mean LSU, Miami, Texas, Texas

(52:43):
A and m Georgia Old Miss. Now, if we want
to say who plays the toughest team teams, I think
Wisconsin probably plays for teams. But I think the collective

(53:05):
whole of the schedule, the tougher slate of games is Florida.
And let's see, is there anybody else that people buy
into having a tougher schedule than Florida. Now, there is
also I've often said this too, there's also like who

(53:28):
you are versus your competition, right, Like I get I
think compared to who say, Vanderbilt typically is their schedule
is probably more difficult than Alabama because of course they
play Alabama, but Alabama plays Vanderbilt, right, So there's like

(53:48):
how tough you are perceived also becomes a part of
that conversation. And speaking of the Crimson Tide, they are
a team that does get mentioned as having a pretty
tough schedule, and I see people on social media hitting
me up saying, hey, what about South Carolina? What about

(54:10):
their slate? All right, in fairness, we'll take a look
at the game Cocks before the end of this break,
because I don't deny the fact that South Carolina certainly
has a tough schedule. But here's Alabama in twenty twenty five,
and again you've got the comparisons. I think Florida's is
tougher than Wisconsin's. I think Wisconsin's, though, is far and

(54:32):
away tougher than Oklahoma. And again, anybody that's playing ten
Power four teams is probably gonna get a little notch
in the belt from me. So Alabama opens at Florida State,
They'll host Louisiana Monroe, they face Wisconsin. We mentioned the

(54:53):
Badgers is one of the tougher schedules in the country.
Alabama will go to Georgia, they play Vanderbilt, They're at
Missouri versus Tennessee, at South Carolina versus LSU, they face Oklahoma,
Eastern Illinois, and Auburn. I gotta tell you that to me,

(55:14):
is tougher than Oklahoma's schedule. That to me is tougher
than wisconsin schedule. I still think Wisconsin plays better teams
across the board, including the fact that Alabama in this
sense plays Wisconsin and Wisconsin plays Alabama. But I think

(55:38):
from top to bottom ten Power Four games, I think
that that might be the second toughest I've seen. And finally,
South Carolina, let's see the game Cocks open with a

(55:58):
neutral side game against Virginia Tech. Then they face sc
State at home, Vanderbilt at home, at Missouri versus Kentucky
at LSU, versus Oklahoma versus Alabama, at Old Miss at
A and M versus Coastal and versus Clemson. Okay, So

(56:24):
this to me goes back to the thought process that
I had about who you are typically and who you play,
and for South Carolina, given what they did a year ago,

(56:45):
I look at matchups against Vanderbilt and Kentucky and think
that the game Cock should be better than those teams.
And I'm not sure how many teams on Florida's schedule
i'd have to go back. I've looked at so many
now that I would feel similarly to like I look

(57:09):
at Florida's schedule, and the only team I maybe feel
that way about is other than the non Power four games,
is maybe Kentucky, maybe Mississippi State. Everybody else, I think
they're looking up South Carolina. Missouri's one you might be
looking up at too, though, Ah Man, that's tough. I

(57:34):
think South Carolina's looking down at Virginia Tech though. So
I'm gonna say Florida slightly tougher, slightly tougher than South
Carolina because I think the game Cock should be better
than Virginia Tech. I think there are more teams on
South carolina schedule that the game Cocks are better than
than teams that are on Florida's schedule, that Florida is

(57:58):
better than How's that but just bare let's close. I
might give the game Cocks the second toughest schedule we've
looked at. So if you've got if you've got one
that you think is tougher than those, let me know.
I would probably rank it based off of what I've
been handed Florida, South Carolina, Alabama, Wisconsin, and then Oklahoma.

(58:29):
I think that's how I would put it. If you
think of a tougher one, text me eight zero eight
zero three four or five zero zero zero eighty six.
But I think those are the toughest schedules that I've
been submitted and after vetting them thoroughly. Uh, That's that's

(58:51):
the way I would lay it out. I would say
that the Florida Gators have the number one toughest schedule
in the country, and I would say that South Carolina,
of the ones you guys submitted, would be the second toughest.
So that's the way. That's how I think it looks Now,

(59:15):
ESPN put out their Future Power Rankings, and that might
give us an idea as well as we, you know,
kind of look through these these teams. Now, according to
ESPN's Future Power Rankings, they currently have Texas as the

(59:39):
number one team in the country and in the Power rankings.
And I struggle, like a lot of people have struggled,
to anoint arch Manning as a definitive spectac National Championship

(01:00:01):
type player, Like I'm afraid for Arch more than anything
that he's not going to be able to live up
to the expectations that fans have for him in his
first year as the starting quarterback. Now that Quinn Ewers
has moved on to the NFL, and you might recall

(01:00:26):
that yours was not exactly a top selection, going in
the seventh round to the Miami Dolphins. Now number two
on the list the Ohio State Buckeyes, and again it's
another situation where much like Texas, it's truly an unknown

(01:00:53):
situation at quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Julian saying
is the guy when I talk to Ohio State people
that say, hey, they think that's who's gonna end up
being the straw that stirs the drink for the Buckeyes
this year. Georgia checks in at number three according to ESPN,

(01:01:15):
And again, what are we talking about with this? And
this is kind of a theme. Quarterback Carson Beck now
gone to Miami, Gunner Stockton takes over as a red
shirt junior, and again he's the guy that most people
feel will be the next quarterback in Athens, Oklahoma, same theme.

(01:01:42):
Got to replace Dylan Gabriel as he moves on to
the NFL. He was a third round selection by Cleveland.
Dante Moore will be entering his third college season and
the second at Oregon after transferring from UCLA and is
expected to be their starting quarterback and then number five
on the Power They've got the Notre Dame fighting Irish

(01:02:03):
and again Riley Leonard gone looking at a quarterback. This
is a big deal for teams like Clemson with kay
Klebnick and Penn State with Drew Aller. Returning starters could
be a significant storyline in the college football campaign. Rocket
and rolling along with you on a Thursday, no timber

(01:02:24):
eyed day. But that doesn't mean the phone lines aren't
open and you can call us eight oh three four
or five zero zero eighty six. That's the text line
in the phone line. And quite frankly, if you want
to do it live, uh, just text me and say swiney,
give me a buzz. I'll give you a call. We
can set it up. We'll knock it down. Double Ow's
on the guest line, Double Ow. What's up?

Speaker 2 (01:02:44):
Man doing fine? How are you doing? Lawton? My superhero.

Speaker 1 (01:02:50):
I'm good man. Talk to me. What's on your mind today.

Speaker 3 (01:02:53):
I don't know why they scheduled my gang, Cox and
Tigers playing at noon.

Speaker 2 (01:02:59):
That doesn't make can't lick a sense.

Speaker 1 (01:03:02):
I don't understand why they schedule it this far out.
Like I said, now, were one, I'd be okay if
they made it a new game two weeks before. Uh
it's I checked my calendar. It's June. This game is
November the twenty ninth.

Speaker 3 (01:03:15):
Like I said, does that make any sense? If you
can make sense out of it, please inform me so
I can understand.

Speaker 1 (01:03:25):
I can't. I don't now. I think for guys like
me and the media. I said this earlier too, I
think it's great. I mean, I'll be done covering the
game by four o'clock. I'll be home, you know, those
those link night games. But what about you, you're a fan,
I mean, what do you think if you're going to
the game, don't you want to be able to mill
around in Colombia and down at the tailgate spot and

(01:03:47):
see everybody?

Speaker 2 (01:03:48):
Yes, And I see your point. It's good for you guys.
You get your job done and do do what you
gotta do.

Speaker 3 (01:03:55):
Not it's not good for fans that want to party
during the problem. Will believe one of the most important
games out of the schedule.

Speaker 2 (01:04:04):
You know the've got the fans want a party.

Speaker 3 (01:04:06):
And you know that's supposed to be the for the
state championship. So at noon makes not No, I don't.

Speaker 2 (01:04:16):
I don't get it.

Speaker 1 (01:04:18):
Now, you've been to the Clemson Carolina game before.

Speaker 2 (01:04:23):
Silly question, Lawton. I used to go every year in
I was. Yeah, I was a.

Speaker 3 (01:04:36):
Clemson I used to buy season tickets. I go to
all the games at Clemson. I was a season ticket buyer.

Speaker 2 (01:04:46):
I don't, I don't, I don't.

Speaker 3 (01:04:48):
I stopped going to the game. The last game I
went to was a national championship and out and out
in Arizona, and I said, I'll never get on another
airliner again.

Speaker 2 (01:04:58):
I'm an old man. I can't take it anymore.

Speaker 1 (01:05:01):
Well, goodness is you don't have to take a plane
to get to Williams Brice. When was the last time
you went to UH Carolina Clemson in Colombia?

Speaker 2 (01:05:07):
Do you remember? Oh, gosh, that's a good question. Probably
in that was the last one. With two thousand and one. Okay,
went with the girl I was. Her parents were big game.
I was dating this girl.

Speaker 3 (01:05:23):
Her parents were big game Cock fans, and they invited me,
and you know, Longton, when I go to the games
with them, I would you know, I would.

Speaker 2 (01:05:34):
Have to pull for Carolina. Oh what well, not.

Speaker 3 (01:05:39):
At the Clempson Carolina game, but they would have season tickets,
and they wanted me to pull for you know, if we.

Speaker 2 (01:05:45):
Weren't pulling, if they weren't playing Clemson, they want me
to and I would.

Speaker 3 (01:05:49):
But one day I was rooting for Carolina, the game Cocks,
and they announced the Clemson score and Clemson that was
losing at the time, and the people that took me
to the game, they started cheering. I said, okay, well
I'll start pulling for the team immediately, which I did.

(01:06:10):
They were playing the Tar Hills that day, and I
started pulling for the Tar Hills immediately. And they didn't
like that, of course, But that's the way the cookie
cookie crumbles.

Speaker 1 (01:06:23):
Double o. My man always appreciates you got anything else?

Speaker 3 (01:06:26):
Yes, one more thing, real quick, Brad. He's gonna have
a losing season next year. I mentioned this last last
time I was on there. They're gonna lose two or
three games more than you know. I think they're gonna
have I think they're gonna have a losing record of

(01:06:47):
like six or seven more losses maybe, yeah, six or
seven more losses than they will wins because they have
they have no Do you tell me who's coming to
play ball for a ticking year?

Speaker 1 (01:07:05):
Listen, double man?

Speaker 2 (01:07:06):
How about the chef? How about the chef on the
football field?

Speaker 1 (01:07:10):
Yeah? I mean, it's going to be interesting to see
what happens with this basketball team this year. We actually
found out today that the acc SEC Challenge matchups. I
haven't gotten it down in the air, but I'll tell
you Clymson is going to Alabama, and that's an Alabama
team that is one of the best in the country.

Speaker 2 (01:07:30):
Correct sir, That is correct sir.

Speaker 3 (01:07:33):
And then and then that game will Clempson will lose
by at least twenty five points.

Speaker 2 (01:07:42):
Oh wow, more more Yeah, a beat a beat.

Speaker 1 (01:07:45):
Down, double o buddy?

Speaker 2 (01:07:47):
Oh speaking, yeah, one more thing before you let me go.
Tell me what talent we have the talent coming back
for Brad? Who tell me?

Speaker 1 (01:07:58):
Well, Dylan Hunter's back. You gotta I hope that Greg
Buckner's son aas Buckner. Does you know a good job
as a young guy, Red Shirt freshman R J. God
three transferred back from Georgia. I mean it's it's it's
not exactly a who's who of returning players, that's for sure.

Speaker 2 (01:08:14):
Well you mentioned Hunter, right.

Speaker 1 (01:08:18):
Yeah, yeah, Dylan Hunter.

Speaker 3 (01:08:20):
Yeah, he's he's probably gonna be the best player they've
got next year.

Speaker 1 (01:08:24):
I think he has to be, quite frankly, double ow oh.
He's appreciate you, my man.

Speaker 2 (01:08:29):
He enjoyed talking with you, buddy. All right. Uh double
ow is out out.

Speaker 1 (01:08:33):
Out again there he is double oh not giving us
the signature double oh sound off. I guess.

Speaker 2 (01:08:47):
All right.

Speaker 1 (01:08:48):
I mentioned the acc SEC Challenge. Clemson will play at
Alabama December the third, twenty twenty five. The Tigers played
their first game in the acc SEC Challenge back in
twenty twenty three against the Crimson Tide. All time, the

(01:09:11):
Tigers are nine to five against Alabama, including a four
to oh mark on the road in the series, as
Clemson won that game back in November of twenty twenty
three by score of eighty five seventy seven. But again,
Alabama's been one of the top teams in the country
the past few years. These two teams faced off in
the twenty twenty four Elite Eight game with the Crimson

(01:09:33):
Tide advancing to the Final Four with an eighty nine
eighty two win. We'll come back take a look a
little bit more at that Clemson roster that Double O
brought up. It's a good point, and also the other
games that have been scheduled for the acc SEC Challenge.
When we get back right here on the show. That
shakesare south Land Clempson's Sports Talk Well, Fox Sports Radio
fourteen hundred Lawton Swan with you a Thursday the show.

(01:09:58):
The shakesare south Land, Clemson Sports talt We're on Twitter
at Clemson Sports, Instagram, TikTok. We are where you are.
And don't forget about Alumni Hall up in Tigertown on
the corner of Campus on College Avenue in downtown Clemson.
Get all your officially licensed Clemson merchandise, hats, t shirts,
tailgate gear more. Don't forget to ask them about becoming
an Alumni Hall Rewards past member where you can save

(01:10:19):
a little money. And speaking of saving money, hey, if
you're a Clemson student, faculty member, or in the military,
you shop in stored Alumni Hall and you save ten
percent off of your purchase. Also you can go to
their website through our site, Clemson sports Hall dot com
and when you find the link to Alumni Hall, you

(01:10:39):
go there and do your shop and we'll get some
support from them as well. It's Alumni Hall where Tiger
fans shop. All Right, we were talking about the acc
SEC Challenge, and we did get those matchups. Today we
can go through what they look like right now. And

(01:10:59):
they try to pair these up, as you know, pretty
good teams or expected good teams, they try to balance
it out. Let's give them some fearness here. Here's what
you're looking at on Tuesday, December the second. You're gonna
get Florida at Duke. You're gonna have North Carolina travel
to Kentucky. You're gonna have Tennessee at Syracuse. You're gonna

(01:11:25):
get Texas A and M at Pitt Missouri at Notre Dame,
Georgia at Florida State, Oklahoma at Wake Forest, Miami at
Old Miss, and Virginia Tech at South Carolina. Kind of

(01:11:45):
fitting those two teams opening up the regular season in
football and NOLAL face off in the acc SEC Challenge. Also,
I think Tennessee and Syracuse face off to open the season.

Speaker 2 (01:11:58):
Right.

Speaker 1 (01:11:58):
Let me just double check that at I want to
be one hundred percent sure that I'm correct on that. Yeah,
Tennessee and Syracuse. So they sinked up those matchups from
the college football season opening weekend. You know, they could
have tripled up on that and put Florida State hosting

(01:12:20):
hosting Alabama.

Speaker 2 (01:12:21):
They did not.

Speaker 1 (01:12:22):
Clempson the courses I mentioned, goes to Alabama on Wednesday,
December third. It'll be North Carolina State at Auburn, Louisville
at Arkansas, SMU at Vanderbilt, Clemson at Alabama. Mississippi State
will go to Georgia Tech. LSU will be on the

(01:12:44):
road at Boston College in Virginia. We'll face off with Texas.
The Men's Challenge will take place again December the second
and December the third. The Women's Challenge will take place
on December the third and December the fourth. Speaking of
the Women's Challenge, Clemson will play at Alabama as well.

(01:13:07):
So those matchups the same, but not every matchup across
the board the same. Georgia and Florida State is the same.
I look at to see if I see anybody else
that's got the same matchup. I don't think so not
right off the hoof. Other than those two, I think

(01:13:29):
that's it. Clemson and Alabama both in the men's and women's.
Georgia and Florida State both in the men's and women's.
But back to Clemson and back to the thoughts that
double Ow had about this Clemson men's basketball team. The
Tigers really returned Dylan Hunter. As far as players who

(01:13:53):
have played at Clemson, I mean r J. Godfrey obviously
he played at Clemson. As matter of fact, he was
in the graphic the background that Clemson used for the
Alabama game because he played in that game in Alabama
in twenty twenty three. And so just kind of thinking
through the group again. Ace Buckner, the son of Greg Buckner.

(01:14:17):
We talked about Greg earlier. He's a red shirt freshman.
Dallas Thomas is another kid that Cleps is gonna have,
a young guy that Clempson is gonna have to have
an impact from. He's another red shirt freshman. And the
Tigers went to the portal and brought in six players,
five in addition to r J. Godfrey, with Nick Davidson

(01:14:39):
transferring in, Carter Welling coming in as well. Jake Wallen,
he from Buddha Johnson, which I think could be a
good addition, and then justin Porter those guys all joining
Brad Brownell and the freshman Zach Foster from Atlanta over

(01:15:04):
at Woodward Academy, Chase Thompson out of Minnesota's Andrea Area,
and then Trent Steinhauer out of Huntersville, North Carolina he
played at Lake Norman, and Blake Davidson, another kid out
of Modern Day High School, the brother of Nick Davidson,
the transfer we mentioned earlier. So look like, what's to

(01:15:27):
know about this team? You know, I guess as as
fans in the world of college sports, we just have
to resign ourselves to the belief that this is what
college basketball might look like, not every year.

Speaker 2 (01:15:50):
Right.

Speaker 1 (01:15:51):
I don't think any reasonably minded fan, even in the
transfer portal era, would believe that this is like the
complete car wash reset that Clemson has got. The biggest
problem I think I have with it more than anything,
is like if this were a business, and it is
a business, but I mean if it were literally a

(01:16:14):
business and you had individuals coming in to do the job,
and you had to hire all new people every year,
the operation and the level of efficiency of the operation
are going to be less than they should be right now.

(01:16:37):
There's always been turnover in college sports. Ay, there's always
been a senior class. There's always been guys that can't
come back. But when you have this level of turnover
to try to you know, if somebody you take it
back to the business front and you say, hey, how
successful do you think you guys are going to be
this year? Man, I don't know that anybody can give

(01:16:58):
you a good estimate, whether it's business or basketball, when
you have this type of turnover to decide, Yeah, you
know what, I think they're the fourth best team in
the ACC. How do you do that? How do you
figure that out? There's too many variables, Like all that
stuff they taught me in science that I thought didn't
make sense about variables in high school, makes a lot

(01:17:18):
of sense to the older I get. In basketball in
college at this level, it's a perfect fit. So many variables,
hard to justify what the results will be. Stay with us,
What have you done for me lately?

Speaker 4 (01:17:34):
It's a fair question. Just don't lose sight of the
bigger picture, don't forget history. Lucky for us at Clemson,
the answer to the questions what have you done for
me lately and what have you done? Always are the same?

(01:17:57):
We win.

Speaker 1 (01:18:44):
Final segment on a Thursday afternoon the show The Shakes
of south Land, Clemson sportst. Let me see if I
can give you a little update when I am now
where when I am on the US Open. So j
j Spawn still at minus four, Thurston Lawrence finished at

(01:19:05):
minus three. He's tied for Segon with Sam Burns. Burns
is still out on the course at minus three, Seewoo
Kim in the clubhouse at minus two, Brooks Koepka out
on the course, he was at minus two. Soon J
M was at minus two as well on the course,
and Patrick Reid at minus two, and then a slew

(01:19:28):
of individuals at minus one, carrying us all the way
down to the guys that are even par, which began
with Adam Scott, who is in the clubhouse even par
in twenty fourth place after one round thus far, and
then again there could be plenty of movement, but I
think almost everybody was on the course. Maybe some guys

(01:19:51):
got some late starts, but that's what we're looking at
from the standpoint of the US Open. And again we'll
continue to update you on that tomorrow again. The big
topic today out of the gates here the NBA and
what a victory last night and convincing. I mean, it
wasn't a dominant win, but a one sixteen one of

(01:20:12):
those seven win by Indiana, giving the Pacers a two
oher series lead. You know it was double ow. He
didn't say it today on the air, but he said
it to me off the air via text that the NBA.
I think it was via text that the NBA is rigged.
He said, Man, this thing's going seven games, and he

(01:20:36):
might be right. You know what I didn't pay attention
to last night. Let me go back and look at
some of the highlights. What did what did the court
look like? I watched the game, but it never I
don't know why I never thought about it. I never
thought to even take a look at the court. Let

(01:20:57):
me see if I can get some highlights from last
night's game and just take a take again. Or here
we go Game three? All right? What am I looking
at here? I was too busy worried about the fact
that I couldn't hear the game because of the subpar commentary.
All right, NBA Finals Game three highlights. If you're an

(01:21:21):
Oklahoma City fan, you might say, is the game three
low lights? All right? So they just went with the
finals presented by YouTube TV overlaid graphic. I don't get it,
Like if there's been a miss in this postseason, it's
and it's a small esthetic thing, but it is about

(01:21:45):
making the NBA Finals, and you'll feel significant, like if
you think about the NFL and the job that the
NFL does with making the Super this incredibly significant event.
I mean so much so that they won't even move

(01:22:07):
it off of Sunday, which would really open up I
think celebrations of the game across the country and parties,
they already exist, but I think it pales in comparison
to what it would be if it was played on
a Saturday night. But they put up they do the
big pomp in circumstance. I mean, I even feel like

(01:22:28):
Major League Baseball, which again is a series, a seven
game series, much like the NBA. And that might be
the one thing about the Super Bowl, right, like it's
a it's a single game exclusive. But either way, the
fact that and I think the biggest argument that the
INBA has was the graphics that the NBA put out
during the n season tournament and how customized they make

(01:22:50):
the courts look. And I'm not asking for custom courts,
not to the degree that you see them in the
n season tournament. But the the large Larry O'Brien trophy
in the middle is the thing that would accentuate the
point when you watch these videos back years later, because

(01:23:11):
here I am even watching these highlights right now. And
first off, because they are graphically created on the court.
When you get the alternate camera angles, they're not there,
but they're not so big that you would watch a

(01:23:33):
highlight and think, oh, this must be in the finals.
This might as well be a regular season game. And
I felt the same way at Oklahoma City and now
looking at it here during the game last night at Indiana,
I feel the same way, like there's nothing special done
to highlight the significance of these games, and when when

(01:24:00):
you go back and watch them down the road, I
think it should matter. I think it does matter that
those games don't have a logo embedded there the photos
that fans are taking. Think about the photos that fans
are taking. The arena looks one hundred percent like it
does in the regular season. There's no visible signage outside

(01:24:25):
of the backdrop on the basket at times in the
game that even show that it's a finals game for
fans that are taking pictures, I think it's a disservice.
Get the courts right, NBA. All right, we'll be back
tomorrow for the Friday edition. Until then, it's always you'll
take care now and to pump