NBA Coast2Coast - Analyzing Team USA's Shockingly Close Call and Impact of Steve Kerr's Rotations

Should Steve Kerby fired from Team USA? Yes, there are people out there actually taking that extreme of a measure regarding that one-point miracle they squeezed out against South Sudan. I've got Casey Stern of Unfiltered, formerly of Inside the NBA on TNT, and yours truly. We're going to break it all down. I got the wrong overlay, Casey. You got to call me out on that. It's not that one. No, there it is. There it is. That's the right one. And now let's play the right open. Here we go. This is NBA Coast to Coast. That's right. The program is called NBA Coast to Coast. He's Casey Stern. You can follow him on Twitter at Casey Stern. Super easy. You can follow me, Cyrus Sotts, on threads and Instagram at Dogwild. I am also on Elon's platform at Surf Journalist. If you are embedded there and want to follow me, I sometimes post content. And again, this program. Subscribe to Unfiltered. It's super easy to find. In case, actually, in case by some reason it's not easy to find, just add the words Casey Stern after Unfiltered and it'll pop right up. Make sure you hit the subscribe button for Casey's program. He goes beyond just the Warriors, just the NBA. So if you're like most people out there who are not narrowly focused on your interests to just the Golden State Warriors, subscribe to Casey. He's got every other base covered for you, no pun intended. And meanwhile, if you love the Warriors and the NBA, follow the Golden Days and follow me. Jaleel Lindsey says, What is up? And don't forget, Casey. Casey, how are you doing, brother? Before we get into it. I was just saying, I mean, Jaleel gets a hello before me. I mean, you know, it's a Coast to Coast with Jaleel now. I know. Yeah, no, I'm doing good, man. I'm doing good. Yeah, obviously, for people who want to get on board, whether you're a baseball fan, UFC, football, basketball, I do all the different sports you can get me at Unfiltered with Casey Stern on Instagram and go to the YouTube channel for 300 episodes of Unfiltered. Coaches, players, managers, former players, former co-hosts of mine all across my broadcasting career over the last 20 plus years. You can get all of that Unfiltered with Casey Stern over on YouTube. What is going on, Jaleel? Good to talk to you, buddy. Yeah, there you go. And Jaleel is showing you some love now. Douglas Mike's hello. Hello to everyone else as well. We're going to be going for the next 30, 45 minutes. This is the time of year where it's a struggle. I feel like folks like you and I earn our money talking about the NBA. Imagine what it would be like if Olympic basketball was not around the corner. Casey, like before we get into Team USA, what would be the topic of discussion right now if the Olympics weren't about to start? What would be on the docket, you think? Well, having hosted on NBA TV five nights a week during four off seasons, I could tell you that if you are there right now, and God bless the beautiful people over there, you are talking about the offseason, assessing damages, doing team by team breakdowns, talking about scheduling next year, and also who's gone where. You're getting into fantasy. You're getting into all sorts of different things. You're doing basically anything you can to keep yourself busy. And that's the way that all of these seasons are in the off seasons. And it is even worse for the NBA and the NHL because unlike in baseball, which is more of a drawn-out, slower process to free agency, that hot stove that's more of like a lukewarm stove, in the NBA and the NHL, it's 48 hours and you're done. So once you get through those 48 hours of free agency where everything is hot to trot, it's a dead zone for everybody for months. I mean, you'll see NHL writers literally take off for the entire summer. So yeah, there's not much to do, not much to talk about. So thank God for the Olympics. Team USA is going to be fun to watch. There's certainly a lot of players to discuss. And it gives us something to talk about for sure. Absolutely. And it's kind of interesting. You talk about the fact that NBA free agency came and went super fast. It depends on who you ask. And it depends on the team you're looking at. Like the Philadelphia 76ers, for example, are a case study of a very fascinating offseason in the sense that they have an open... I think they have like six, seven roster spots open. If what I have in front of me is correct, the only players under contract for the Philadelphia 76ers right now are Caleb Martin, Joel Embiid, and we're going to talk about him in terms of Olympic play. Paul George, who they signed as their blockbuster free agent. Andre Drummond is back with the Sixers. Or maybe he's never been there before. I don't know. And then two players, well, KJ Martin I've heard of. I've never heard of Adam Bona though. But the point is, Daryl Morey is nowhere near finalizing that Sixers roster. And we're almost in August, Casey. Like, is that weird to you? Or is that a sign that maybe the free agency, maybe the offseason is not so settled, is not so come and go? I mean, the Warriors are still waiting on Laurie Markkinen. What are your thoughts of the Sixers though, man? That is weird that they only have six players under contract right now. Well, I think the Paul George thing was obviously their big move. And that was setting and solidifying their big three with Maxey and Embiid. And they're probably going to get some also-rans and mid-level exemptions. You know, guys up the street. And, you know, you used to be like Jeff Green every year. You know, find the guy who's got to go join a different team. And, you know, make the minimum and jump on board the squad. But they are going to obviously live and die with those three players. Regardless of what Philly does to fill out the rest of the roster, depth may be in question. But how good they are in the Eastern Conference on paper is not going to be. They're clearly going to be a favorite in the East to be right there behind Boston. I can't hear you. I don't know if you're muted. I don't know if I am muted and I didn't do that myself every once in a while. For some reason, the system has done that before. Sorry about that. Yeah. So the Sixers don't have a backup point guard. Like they don't have a power forward. It's just it's just interesting. Like it's like, OK, great. You're going to fill out your roster. What are you waiting for? And maybe more importantly, who's left? I mean, like the big transaction news today was Spencer Dinwiddie signs a one year deal with the Dallas Mavericks. Like, oh, boy, breaking news. It's like, I don't know who's Philly. Who's Philly going to go after? And part of me wonders. I see a team like Philly and I'm still of the fervent conviction that the Golden State Warriors are going to add Lowry Marconin, Casey. It's not Lori Marconin. It's like Mike Lowry from the Bad Boys movies. It's Lowry Marconin. And I still am of the utmost belief that that's going to happen. I don't know if the August 6th date has something to do with this. That's when Lowry can sign a contract extension. Maybe it's going to be a massive sign a trade where he gets the extension as part of the trade. Maybe the Sixers are going to be in on this and there's some moving pieces that are going to go to them as well. I mean, they're in a win now mode. So if let's say a player like Andrew Wiggins costs you a first round pick in 2030, maybe a team like Philly is down to do something like that. Right. Because so many of the audience members are Warriors fans. Casey, if you don't mind indulging for just one second, what are your thoughts on the Lowry Marconin deal? And what are your thoughts on the fact that maybe a team like Philly, who has that many empty spots, are going to be part of something when this deal finally happens, which is frustratingly on hold for a long time. I mean, look, I'm in the same spot, not to be putting myself in the same position we were in the last two episodes, but the same spot. I think he's a helpful player. I think he'll be really good. I still don't think they're good enough. I think we're sitting there in a leveraged position between Utah right now and Golden State, where neither one wants to budge. Golden State doesn't want to give younger players, and Utah is going to try and ask for the moon. But right now, if there were other people that were hot to trot, Marconin would have already left and gone elsewhere. They'll probably end up a Warrior. It may take a little bit longer time. May have something to do with getting him extended. But as far as Philadelphia is concerned, and look, I like Dinwiddie and that kind of move your Dallas is going to be. Those are the kind of moves that nobody pays attention to, that when you're a team that is looking to fill out a roster trying to win a championship, 17 minutes from a Dinwiddie could be a difference maker because those guys are automatic offense off the bench. He's a good player. So at the end of the day, you know, I look at this situation with the Warriors, and we're just in a standstill. At some point, Marconin will move. Good news is he hasn't gone to another team, which means that there's nobody right now battling against you. And once that leverage goes the other way, when Utah realizes they don't have a bidding war, I think you become Dr. J. 30 in the chat is asking, like, do I have inside info or is a speculation or wishful thinking all of the above? What my inside sources have told me is that and there's nothing new. I reported this like a month ago, is that Kaminga is someone the Warriors are willing to move. I heard his name early on in all this back and forth. Beyond that, part of it is I part of it is just logic. I don't see how the Warriors go into the season with the roster the way it is. It's a colossal disservice to Steph. It makes no damn sense to have a team with, like, nine guards on it. And that's what the Warriors have right now. But anyway, so how are you? Anything with the Knicks or anything else in the Eastern Conference that you want to discuss when we talk about Team USA? Not really. I mean, it's Team USA right now. I mean, that is the NBA. I mean, as far as no offense to Warrior fans or anybody else. I mean, if you're a basketball fan, that's what you're watching and that's what you're getting into, because it's giving you a high profile star talent and either a complete disaster that everybody can go ahead and talk about being the catastrophic of all catastrophes, or it's going to be watching them go ahead and waltz or whether they just win the gold overall, but doing it with a set of players that we've never get to see play together. And that's fun to watch. And in an area where you might see that in an all-star game, but nobody plays any defense or tries. And I promise you, they will be doing that with their a lot of pressure, obviously, all on them, all eyes on them coming up here in Paris. And just, yeah, yeah. And let's get it to you. And just to finish up real fast, going back to the Warriors thing, I really do believe something's going to happen. And I really also believe that the holdup is the Warriors trying to get more assets to the Jazz. It makes no sense for them to go into next season with Lowry, considering they're tanking for flag, similar to a few other teams. Casey, have you ever seen a like I was looking at the Western Conference started to keep procrastinating talking about Team USA, but I'm looking at the Western Conference in the NBA, 13 of the 15 teams could be playoff contenders next year. Like the only teams that I think you could safely say are not contenders. Is the Utah Jazz. And especially if they give it to Lowry, like that's that's a blatant tanking team. And the Portland Trailblazers who like, you know, they still don't know what they have with Scoot yet. They still have this weird logjam of three centers. I don't know what's going to be the resolution there. But everyone else in the West, you could literally write down as being a playoff contender unless you start including the Warriors and the Clippers among teams that are already lottery bound. But I don't know if we're there yet. Casey, what are your thoughts on the fact that the West has never been this deep? And then I don't and then the East, I don't think is in a similar position. But your thoughts, man, I look, I think the West is deep with contenders to make the playoffs. I don't think it's deep with contenders to make the finals. No. So I think, you know, end of the day, I think, you know, the logjam at the bottom will be a fun race, but it'll be a race to get in. And then good luck with what has happened with what, you know, Oklahoma City has done. And you think, excuse me, you think about Denver, who obviously going to be there again. You think about Dallas, you think about Minnesota, there are some really dangerous teams out there in the Western Conference. And then, you know, down at the bottom, the interesting thing is you're going to have some big names and some high profile talent with teams like the Lakers and with Golden State and others. But let's not forget Sacramento and adding DeBar DeRozan. There's a lot of depth in the West, but I still contend that the teams that are riding with a lot of youth and you think about, obviously, Anthony Edwards, who we'll talk about with Team USA, you think about Donchich and you think about what they got going on with Shane Company and adding Hartenstein and some size there. And I think kind of filling out a roster that already had the best record, as you pointed out last week in the Western Conference last year. You're looking at, I think, teams that are young and on the rise. So it's going to be very difficult for these aging teams that are led by veterans to battle with that youth as a long NBA season goes on, no matter how much you're wrestling players. And that's going to be a problem. Who in the East is it? Can you safely say is a lottery team like Charlotte? I would guess to be one. Yeah. Then who else? The Nets. Brooklyn. That's an obvious. That's it. So those two are the obvious ones. Is there anyone else or is it the Wizards? Right. Could be. Yep. But yeah, the NBA is so good, man. And I had the I did a show on Friday with or Thursday or Friday. I think it was Friday with Rick Barry. And the Rick Barry shows part of the Golden Days channel. We upload all the broadcasts there after the after the live stream on the mic up app. And and we were just talking about just the fact that the NBA is so long overdue for expansion. Like there is so much talent. The sport is so popular. But it also frustrates me to no end that these small market teams, there's eight to ten of whether you know, these include Charlotte's, the the Indianas, the OKC's. You have these small market teams that hold the rest of the game hostage because while most of the sport is enjoying prosperity, while most of the big market teams are raking in cash, whether it's with ticket sales, with regional sports networks actually doing OK, the small market teams are not doing that great. They're doing well in the sense that they get a chunk of the overall revenue pie from these bigger squads that are successful. And part of my ire comes from the fact that I've been clamoring for years for teams to be rewarded if they draft well, that if they actually organically develop their team successfully. But the small market teams would never go for that because they're getting so much of that money from the luxury tax penalties that these big market teams are paying that they'll never be OK with that because that means less money for them. And my point is these small market teams, there's eight to ten of them. They're holding the NBA hostage because they're the ones that are not, you know, relishing from all the success. And so we are not going to see four to six teams expanding in the NBA like I think we should. We're going to see two at some point. It's ridiculous. It's been this long and we still have no news on it. Seattle and Vegas are probably going to get those teams. But Casey, like, does it bug you the way it bugs me that these small market teams are preventing what should be astounding growth in the NBA that includes four to six expansion teams? Look, I think the NBA does pretty well. So I'm not I'm not as angry as you are, because I think, you know, the sport does pretty well. And, you know, these teams are making tons of money. And a lot of times the small market teams don't want to do anything in terms of extra expenditure, because if they spend hand over fist, then they can't make all their money back. They're not looking to win championships. They're looking to get playoff tickets. They just want to get in. And all you're going to do there is be on the fringe. Look, I think it has an impact. I do. But at the end of the day, you know, look what I think about expansion. I'll go right to all the things you just mentioned. Basketball needs to be in Seattle. That that's what stands out to me. So I'm a little bit of a different spot. Doesn't really bother me that much, to be honest with you. Not right now, because we've got so much young talent. The NBA has never been in a better place, in my opinion, to be honest. So, you know, with it thriving the way it is, it's hard to find any angst. But I think for me, basketball always has needed to be and should have stayed in Seattle and needs to get back in Seattle. And that should be the number one spot. If you're looking at the NBA, it is a hoop haven there. People do not understand that, don't know that. You think about the amount of players who come from that area, think about players who have played in that area. There should be basketball in Seattle. Yeah, but I just think there should be basketball in other cities. I mean, why not? And part of the part of the thought process for this is like, I don't I don't like good players being squeezed out like that. Like there's a lot of players who do not play in today's NBA. And one example of that is like when I was looking at the South Sudan roster, the team that pushed Team USA, they were leading by 14 at the half. They barely lost by one point, thanks to LeBron James, just putting his head down and driving his shoulder and body into a lot of other individuals that have no chance in hell of stopping that. It's an old tried and true formula that has worked for LeBron for 20 years, still works. But without that move, without the bucket going in, the Team USA loses to a South Sudan squad that does have like winning Gabriel, for example, is on South Sudan. And when I saw him, I was like, oh, yeah, that guy. He was on the Lakers just two years ago. He was a solid player, still probably could be a solid player in the NBA. But the NBA is so deep. You don't see guys like him. He's out. He's at this point, he's probably playing in Thailand. I don't know where the hell he's playing. But the point is, I just I don't like seeing progress impeded because because of a few bad apples out there, who for whether it's greed, whether it's just selfishness, whether it's just a narrow minded philosophy of thinking that they're impeding it, they're getting in the way of this sport growing even more. And I just I would like to see a team besides Vegas and Seattle. I'd like to see a team in Pittsburgh. I'd like to see Vancouver, Canada, maybe get a team back or explore Montreal or St. Louis. Or there's so many markets out there that could have hoops. And I don't know, it just it just bothers me that these small market teams just hold the whole thing hostage. And from a Warriors fans perspective, Casey, and I don't know if you agree with this or not, I had a fun debate with this last year with with I can't remember his name from Bleach Report. Eric Pink is the cap expert about how NBA teams should not be penalized for drafting successfully. Like you saw the Warriors spending hundreds of millions of dollars in tax penalties, despite for their own players that they drafted. And they're never going to change that rule again, because if you let's say a Stephen Curry, if you count him, his contract for 75 percent of the cap because he was a drafted player, that 25 percent that you're saving the Warriors is money not going to these small market teams that would otherwise benefit from it. And that's why you're never going to see that rule change. And it just it just annoys the ---- out of me. Casey, I don't I'll move on now, but I just I had to get that point out there. And I don't know if you feel the same way or feel completely differently. But yeah, that's where I'm at. Yeah, no worries. Yeah, I not really, to be honest. No, but I think, you know, look, that's just how sports are and all sports are that way. And whether you have no cap like a major league baseball or you do in the NBA, small market teams are not trying to win championships. They're just trying to make money. And it's always going to be that way. So there's always going to be. And, you know, at the end of the day, if you're an NBA fan, you should be happy there's a cap, because if there wasn't, then you wouldn't have as much competition as you have right now. You wouldn't have the depth in the Western Conference that you have right now, because if it was, you know, you could spend whatever you want to spend. It would be the Knicks, the Lakers and about three other teams. And that's the only teams that would have a chance every year because of the amount of money that those organizations are worth and that those owners have. So because it's not that way, NBA is in a great spot. It's the best it's ever been. It's got the most young talent it's ever had. And we're in a position right now. We're a few days away from seeing some of the best players in the world go at it. And it's a fun time. It is a fun time, man. Let's hear from so Team USA barely beat South Sudan, a country that came into existence 11 years ago. A lot of African countries are rife with civil wars and calamities. And so you see these borders changing quite a bit on that continent. And it's unfortunate, man. I my entire philosophy in terms of governance in this world is I just believe in policies that make most people happy. And civil wars don't make people happy, obviously. So South Sudan is a relatively new nation in that regard. And they were underdogs by, I believe, 43 points, 43. OK, that's that's a massive spread for any sport. And yet Team USA trailed by 14 at the half. They barely won this game by one. First of all, here's Steve Kerr. Let's hear from him real fast. He took the blame for this. And I think a lack of focus would be the easy scapegoat in terms of the reason why Team USA struggled the way they did. And here is the coach of Team USA, the embattled coach, Steve Kerr. Let's hear quickly what he had to say following this game. For this game, I did not do a great job preparing our team. You know, I think we did not focus enough on what they're capable of. And that's on me. And that I think that really allowed South Sudan to gain confidence early. And, you know, once we turned it up in the second half, they had already knocked down a bunch of threes and they were feeling really good about themselves. They were great. They played a wonderful game. And, you know, the ending was good for us just to feel that, you know, to feel what it's going to be like in Paris and Lille. So good experience for us. Good reminder that when we play against teams, it's the biggest game of their lives. And we have to expect everyone to play like that. And so it's on me and on our staff to have our guys more prepared next game. Your thoughts, Casey? Well, I think first of all, I think Steve Kerr did what he's supposed to do. Because if you're in a spot there, and I know that with your your audience can be different. The people who are here on the Warriors side than most would. But if they're correct, they would say that's what you're supposed to do. When you have players like LeBron James and Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis and Steph Curry and all of the talent that you have on this team, you can't lay out players. This is not the NBA season. This is not a team losing in the NBA preseason to some team they shouldn't. This is not the middle of a long NBA campaign. This is not any of that. You're talking about the highest of high egos that exist in this sport all on one team. You're never going to lay out those players. You just can't. And, you know, it would be coaching suicide if you did, because they're not going to play for you. Because you have to be well liked in this position. It's not that way. That's number one. Number two, he's right to give credit to the other team. Because at the end of the day, Steve Kerr knows his team didn't play hard enough. They didn't care enough about winning this game because it didn't mean anything. And because they basically thought it would be a walk in the park. Because right now, the big issue that this team is having that all all star teams of any OCAV is they don't know how to step back from what they usually do in their roles on other teams and step into a role on a new team. Now, very famously, you go back to with the situation with the college kids who, you know, basically beat up on Team USA and Chuck Daly throws a fit. And all of a sudden, you know, this team in a second, I got to plug in my PC before the battery dies and do that. Chuck Daly goes crazy and the team goes out and goes on that run that they went on. Maybe this will be that's kind of a thing. But the team didn't focus. The team doesn't need Steve Kerr. This this is not the Warriors. This is not an NBA team. You don't need to do anything with the talent that's on this team, except have them accept what their roles are and to set up what their roles are going to be. When Anthony Edwards stepped out, we should be talking about is, you know, you talk about, you know, issues behind this team. Go back to the comments he made two weeks ago when he said, I'm the number one option on this team. That's a problem. Now, I happen to love him as a player. Right. And I love that confidence. That's what helped almost single handedly carry that franchise to a championship this year. Right. So I give him all the love. And he was amazing in the playoffs and then clearly was wiped out tired. Right. But that can't be the attitude of him. When you look and you see Kevin Durant and LeBron James and Steph Curry and the players that are on this team. You have to then be in the same attitude Derek White has who played 11 minutes because compared to those players in this format, that's who you are. You're not the most popular guy here. And you're not the guy with the credentials. And you're not the leader of the team. But that is what the issue is right now is I think they're having a hard time functioning because everybody wants to give the ball to somebody else or have their one-on-one moments. And right now there's no clear leadership on the floor. And it's a hard spot for any coach, including Steve Kerr, because these are not guys, quote, you tell what to do. They know more about basketball than any of us would ever know when you talk about the players who are on this basketball team. But that's the issue. And that's what the interesting conversation is, is how do you get them there to the point where they're going to say, OK, well, you know what? Kevin Durant's going to be our number one option, and we're going to go through him all the time. Or here's where here are the plays we're going to run for Steph. Or LeBron's going to have the ball all the time, which he should, and facilitate off of him because that's what he's best at. But they need to figure out what they're going to do. Because look, you could give the ball to Joel Embiid and Anthony Davis 40 times each and go win this whole thing by 30 points a game. Let's be honest. There's enough where they're going to get one-on-one because of the shooters. They're not going to play that way, and no one's going to do that. But there are a million ways, my point is, for this team with that talent to win this thing easily. But they have to pick one, and that's where Steve Kerr has a job to do, is they have got to figure out what the game plan is, and he's going to somehow have to tell them, this is how you're being used. And that's not easy when everybody's the number one option of their own team in the NBA. Not easy. Are you, you know, I'm looking at the box score of the USA-South Sudan game. Let me plug in a minute. You talk for one second. I'll be back in three seconds. Of course. And the box score for this, and Case is going to go make sure that his computer is juiced so we don't lose him in the middle of the show. The box score here, I mean, there's really only two players whose minutes were considerably lower than everyone else's. One was Tyrese Halliburton, who played a total of seven minutes in this game. In those seven minutes, he was a minus 12 in terms of net rating. Did not even put up a three-point shot. Put up one two-point field goal. Finished the game, and he missed. Finished the game with zero points. Zero. So you could say Tyrese Halliburton had an awful game, and he was in, he was out, seven minutes, and that's that. The other one was Derek White, a player who was an alternate, who made this team last minute because of Kawhi Leonard and his leg injury preventing him from actually participating in Olympic basketball. I don't have from my box score here, I was hoping that the Team USA box scores would provide first half and second half lines, but I don't see that right now. But if my memory serves correct from watching that game, Derek White played most of his 11 minutes in the second half. And he was a negative one in terms of plus minus. Had no points. He did a five assist, so he was playing a facilitator role primarily. If my memory serves correct, his defense was solid. But everyone else is getting a good chunk of minutes, right? Like Drew Holliday, Joel Embiid, they got 18 minutes each. Jason Tatum got 16 minutes each. Steph and LeBron led all players with 23 minutes. Devin Booker got 21. Same with Anthony Edwards. Are you back, Casey? Are we all good? I've been here the whole time. Oh, good, good. Okay, I'm sorry. I was reading a box score here. I was looking at the screen. No, so my question to you, Casey, is do you think maybe that not everyone should be playing? Like, I feel like one strategy of Steve Kerr's in these Olympics so far is I want to give everyone a run. He doesn't have to. And maybe certain players should just be cut out. Like maybe Halliburton and Derek White should not be getting minutes in this game. Anthony Edwards in a game like this, he had a team worse or tied for a team worse with Anthony Davis, who coming into this game was playing awesome. But he had issues in this game. They both were a team worse minus 14. And Anthony Edwards really struck out in terms of shooting. He was only one of seven from deep, was very frustrated after the game. I think he had just a short little two-word answer to explain what happened. My point is, do you think maybe the thing Kerr should be doing is not trying to make everyone happy, not appease everyone with minutes, and just stick with who actually are the best players? Your thoughts, Casey? I think he will. Okay. All right. In an NBA season, what's the rotation like? In an NBA playoff, what happens to the rotation? This isn't the playoffs. They weren't in the medal round. They're not even at the Olympics. They're playing exhibition. They're not doing anything. So he hasn't done anything wrong. I get, I don't get, I'll be honest. I mean, I sort of get because I don't want to get into a diatribe, but Bruce Bochy, who is the best baseball manager I probably have ever covered, who won multiple World Series with the Giants, three of them, every other year, was a guy who was basically ran out of town by the same fans who loved him because the bullpen decisions he were making, they didn't like, when the same players just all of a sudden sucked. So real quick, Casey, I don't follow baseball nearly as much as you. So I will defer to you in anything related to Major League Baseball. Now, with that said, I just want to confirm, do you really feel like Bochy was run out of town by the fans? Or do you think it was more the front office making a stupid decision in that regard? I'm just saying I was doing a call-in show, afternoon drive on Mumbley Network Radio for 12 years and was there every day, Monday through Friday for those years. And the fans couldn't stand him and thought he made bad decisions. So there may be morons who think that Steve Kerr is a bad coach, but they're morons. Sorry. Sorry. Well, you want a national respect? Because at the end of the day, we could sit there and we could say, like, this is like Steve Kerr's fault, or try and find ways that this is Steve Kerr's problem in an exhibition where these players just played in a whole entire effing season. It makes me want to curse it so crazy, right? And they're trying to stay in some sort of shape. At a time period in a year, they don't ever freaking play, okay? To then get to a Game 7 mentality that they're usually on a golf course for. You have to freaking play them minutes. Morons. Sorry. Like, no offense. Yeah, because first of all, you already saw Kawhi Leonard, and that's a different situation. But these guys are because of the fact that, A, they're investments to teams, so if there's even a knicker, an injury, or anything, they're not going to play. So I got to have other guys ready. You could win the gold medal with Tyrese Halliburton playing 35 minutes. I don't know if people are paying attention, but he's one of the best players in this sport. Did anybody watch him this year? He's also one of the best players with the ball in the sport. Now, when you play seven minutes, it's a little freaking difficult when your season ended due to injury how many weeks ago, and you just played seven minutes in a game. I wouldn't think anybody would play well at that time period. But you have to keep these guys ready. So I think the rotation is going to shorten down, and you're going to see guys, at the end of the day, where Team UFC, despite all the talent that it has, can separate itself is going to be defense. And when you're going to sit there and you put out there on the floor some of the guys that they can, and you think about it, and that's where the Drew Hollidays are going to get minutes, right? They're going to be able to stymie a lot of teams as long as they bear down. I don't think they're bearing down an exhibition game. They have too many guys on the floor. But the Anthony Edwards point, I think, is a valid one, because it goes back to the mentality he has. First of all, how many minutes did he play? Why are you taking seven threes in that amount of minutes? It's not necessary. How many of them were open? I bet you not all of them, right? So with this kind of team, there should be open shots all over the place. Think about how many guys would pick and roll, set up open three-pointers in the NBA with shittier players than any of the guys who will be on the floor at current. You've got options who all can hit from deep, especially when Embiid's in the middle, right? You could pick and roll and have open guys everywhere. So to me, Anthony Edwards is the kind of a guy who, if he doesn't kind of figure out his role, because, look, he's going to carry you in some game and score 17 points in eight minutes, because he's capable of doing that. But I just think that it's going to be, you're going to see some of the vets on the floor. I think you're going to see the older players, and that's where Steve Kerr, obviously, is going to lean anyway. But you're going to see a lot of Steph, a lot of Durant, a lot of LeBron, a lot of Drew Holiday because of his defense, and a lot of Embiid. And that's what you're going to get, and Anthony Davis. And you're going to win that way. So Derek White playing 11 minutes, this does not bother me for anybody who is upset by that. So when you're saying that the people out there who are calling for Steve Kerr to be fired from this game, and we're going to highlight here one media personality who has gone that far, this is Steve Hartman, a longtime LA radio personality. Here's what he had to say on a recent show about Steve Kerr. That was embarrassing. Honestly, if it were me, I would fire Steve Kerr right now. Wow. His mismanagement of this team is already evident. And by the way, I've said this, I've been saying this the last couple of weeks since this team was put together. This is the oldest team we've ever put to the Olympics. Defensively, they have Anthony Davis. They have... LeBron James. LeBron James does not play any defense anymore. Way to forget Drew Holliday is the best defensive player. There are people like that literally calling for Steve Kerr's head. I've never said Steve Kerr is a moronic head coach, but when it comes to personnel decisions, he has failed so many times that I can't let him off the hook anymore for that. But as a coach, yeah, I don't know how you can point the finger specifically at him in this case. He didn't even play yet. Wait until the games count. This is the preseason. It's like, I get it, right? So Team USA is supposed to win by 70 every time. But when you tell NBA players or any professional athletes the games don't count, that's like the preseason. Does anybody care about the preseason? No offense to Summer League, but if you're sitting there, you're watching preseason games before, are you thinking, well, if the Brooklyn Nets beat the Celtics by 10, that means they must win the championship and all of a sudden, Missoula should be fired. I mean, come on, man. I'm sorry. Come on, man. And like, what's his name? Who's that? Leo? Leo. Leo Giancarlo, yeah. Leo, look, I really, I hope that you follow, please follow me at Casey Stern. Please jump on board with Casey Stern on YouTube. But that's just stupid. Come on, man. And smart people do stupid things. Seeing how bad of a coach Steve Kerr is, you can't win the championships. Let me tell you something. Regardless of what kind of player, anybody who thinks that Phil Jackson only won because of the players he has is a moron. I don't think that. Okay, so just as an example of that, we've seen bad coaches screw up great teams and talented teams all of the time. And if the Warriors had only won when Kevin Durant was there, because that might be a year where I could have coached the team. Yeah. Let's be fair. It was two years, by the way. Yes. But that time period, that is, it's insanity. I mean, honestly, what we were witnessing is insanity. Okay. Outside of that, you can't, if you think that Steve Kerr is a bad coach. Now, look, does that mean every decision that he's had is right? No. Does that mean that he's coached his best basketball in the last couple of years? No. But has the team been very good? No. Did he have a lot to deal with? Yeah. He's got a lot to deal with. I don't think he's the best coach in the NBA, but if you think he's a bad coach, you're not watching basketball. And I'm sorry. And please still follow me at Unfiltered. Casey, is this Casey Stern, the former TNT host who was Steve Kerr's partner at TNT talking? Or is this? He did not know. Actually, I got there after he left. Okay. So you never worked with him? No, I never worked with him. Casey, here's the thing. I did work with Jason Kidd. I worked with Frank Vogel. I worked with current NBA coaches across the landscape, but not with Steve Kerr. Yeah, because he was fantastic as a broadcaster. I worked with Tibbs for a week. For a whole week. But here's the thing. Here's what sticks out to me when we talk about the coaching debates and arguments and who the all-time greats are and where Steve Kerr ranks as a coach overall. When we go back to history, let's say Phil Jackson, right? Because I had an interesting debate a couple weeks ago with a viewer who was stalking me. I still let him on the show after he stalked me for three days and then it turned into a fiasco. But the point is, he sat there and he was like, well, do you think Greg Popovich is a bad coach? And my response was, I think Popovich is overrated. But we're Phil Jackson, where to me, the all-time greats, Phil Jackson. You don't think Greg Popovich has... What level do you put him on as a coach? Not at the Phil Pat Riley level. You don't think he was a good coach? He was a good coach, not a great coach. I think he's an overrated coach. Okay, based on what? Based on 2013 blowing a championship by not having Tim Duncan in there. That was a foolish move. Absolutely foolish. And then mishandling Kawhi Leonard. I mean, you bungle that. And the difference to me between Greg Popovich and Steve Kerr, who to me are one level, and then to me, Phil Jackson, Pat Riley, even Chuck Daly are another level. I can't think back, and I've been watching basketball since the 80s. I can't think back, and I don't remember a single moment where I look at those three, and I'm not old enough to remember Red Auerbach, so I can't judge him objectively from a person perspective. But I can't think of a single boneheaded move they made. Not one. And part of why I respect Phil so much is because he did it with multiple teams. And it was three different iterations. The Bulls dynasty you could say was one, even though it was split up into two. But those Lakers teams, outside of Kobe, those were two very different teams. Those are two different eras. He did it two, maybe three different times. And that to me is like, you are the GOAT for that reason, right? And maybe Auerbach is up in the discussion with you. When I look at Pat Riley, and I've been watching him since the mid 80s, and maybe early 80s, maybe he made mistakes. I don't know. I don't remember him ever doing anything that I think back and go, what the hell were you thinking? That was dumb. And also what he did with the Miami Heat was very impressive in my book. Same with Chuck Daly. I think Chuck Daly was one of the greatest coaches ever. But when I look at Popovich, again, maybe my standards are very high, but there are a few moments where Popovich has left me scratching my head. Steve Kerr has left me scratching my head a lot with decisions that make no damn sense. And I don't remember ever having that feeling with Phil, with Riley, with Chuck Daly. So I'm not saying they're bad coaches, but they might be a little overrated. And I'm not at a point where I just bow down and whatever they say, I agree with, right? Like to me, they do things that are questionable that I think are worthy of critique. And Phil, to me, I don't remember him ever doing one thing that made me go, what the hell are you thinking, man? Like that was stupid as, you know what? So that's where I kind of separate the two. Your thoughts. I think all coaches make stupid decisions because none of them are 100%. It is the players who make those decisions work. A stupid decision could still turn out right or the right decision could still turn out wrong. You could tap the right guy on the shoulder and come out of the bullpen. And if he throws a fastball down the middle, that doesn't mean you picked the wrong guy. Right, but Casey, I'm glad you said that, but it's the manager who chooses which pitcher comes out, right? And that to me is where as a coach, you can make fundamental mistakes is deciding which players should be playing when. That is the ultimate power you have. And to me, Greg Popovich in 2013, I will never forget him at the end of game six taking Tim Duncan, one of the greatest players ever. I remember it. That was ridiculous. I still think back now, look, they came back in 2014, thanks largely to Kawhi Leonard emerging as a player. But that to me, I remember thinking back to that going, that is Greg Popovich thinking he's smarter than he really is. Because in his mind, he's going, well, Tim Duncan's slow. He might not be as good defensively. No, he also would have rebounded that ball. And Ray Allen and LeBron are not getting second chance shots to push it to a game seven. So there is a difference. It might be a fine line, but to me, there's a difference, Casey. I don't know what your thoughts are on that. I know you got to go here in just a second, but I don't think anybody could pick 10 coaches in the last 20 years that are better than Greg Popovich. Fair. I couldn't pick five. That's fair. So if you're in that boat, pretty darn good. How many teams are in the NBA? 30, 32, 30, 30, 30, 30, 30, 30, 30. 34, 36. Okay. If they're 13. Right. So there's been a lot of coaches. And 20 years, and there have been a lot of damn coaches. And if you can't pick 10 guys that I can't pick five who are better than that guy. That's good enough. I mean, does he have to be the best coach that's ever lived? No. Now, how many coaches can you pick? You think there are 10 coaches right now in the NBA in this current landscape that are better than Steve Kerr? I don't. Because I look around this landscape and there just aren't. There's a lot of bad NBA coaches. And it's so bad that the Lakers had to go, and I actually think J.J. Ruddick would be good someday, but it's so bad that that's where they had to go. Everybody thought the Knicks were dumb for going back into the well of Tom Thibodeau that everybody should have gave up on long ago. We found out, oh, by the way, he could still coach basketball teams. So. He'll run your players to the ground, but he can still coach. And hey, hey, hey. But I follow your gist, too, right? Like, I could be too harsh on Steve simply because you look at the rest of the landscape. You're right, man. Incompetency at the head coaching level is so ridiculously high. You're right, he's a top 10 coach. I don't doubt that. But it's just, it bothers me when you see individuals making decisions and you're sitting on a couch watching this on your TV going, well, why is it that I could do better than that person? Like, I never once got that feeling with Phil or Pat Riley or Chuck Daly. The fact that I had that moment even once with Greg Popovich is why he got, and again, this is me maybe being super overly critical, but why he's just a notch below those guys. I still have Popovich on the Mount Rushmore, which goes to show how thin NBA coaching is in terms of greatness. But Steve Kerr has done it so many times. And part of it is me just paying attention to this team with the level of nuance I have to to cover this team efficiently and effectively. But he makes a lot of decisions that are head-scratchers, man. And that just makes me go, you know, that's the other perspective, Casey, for Steve Kerr. Have we exhausted this topic, by the way? Yes, the Kerr topic for sure, yes. Any final thoughts? I know you gotta go, man. Any final thoughts about Team USA? It's interesting that you treat this game as, because technically you're right, it's an exhibition. It would not have counted. But if they did actually lose this game, Casey, I mean, the blowback on this, man, it would have been huge. Wouldn't you agree? Yes, that's why they had to win at the end, and luckily they did. But they were down 14, but then they still won. But at the end of the day, it didn't count. And look at what the NBA players look like in an All-Star game when it doesn't count. The players who are making this kind of money and have those kind of egos, it's not how it works. Let's see what happens when it's balls to the wall and they're looking across and that team's trying to take a medal from them. I don't think they're gonna lose a game. I wouldn't be surprised if they won every game by double digits. I wouldn't be surprised if there's one or two that are close. But I think the rotation will get downsized, and I think the players that are gonna be on there who are all championship-laden several times over some of them are gonna get in a moment. Look, you put Devin Booker and Steph Curry and LeBron and Durant and Anthony Davis or Embiid or Drew Holiday or however the hell you wanna do it out there on the floor. With the amount of championships of the guys I just mentioned, the amount of finals appearances I just mentioned, and you tell them if they lose, they're out, they're not, I don't think, I would be shocked if they lost the game. By the way, is Team USA playing right now? I don't know. I mean, what, another exhibition? No, I mean, to me, the exhibitions don't mean anything. They don't mean anything to me. I'm doing research right now. There's a live score. I believe you. I don't even, the exhibitions don't mean anything to me. That's ridiculous. Tell me when it counts. Yeah, yeah, I feel like they should be doing a better job marketing these games, man. Like, we should be knowing when this is happening. Yeah, right now, according to my computer, Team USA is up 77-73 over Germany. And Germany is hot, man. Can someone in the chat confirm? Is this really going on? Yes, people in the chat are confirming there's an actual game going on right now. My apologies, man. The fact that I didn't know that, I'm a little embarrassed. So I guess next week, we'll, first of all, Casey, it's 77-73 right now. I believe we're in the third quarter. What are your thoughts on the fact that, given all the focus following that one point win, what are your thoughts on the fact that right now, they only lead by four? I think they still don't know how to play together. But I think that's on the players. I mean, look, we can laugh all we want, but this is, that's breaking down basketball. That's the game that we all love. That's, if you don't play as a team, you're not gonna win. There have been a million teams, you know, look, how many super teams have failed? How many teams that have had high-priced talent come in have not worked in the NBA? Most of them don't work. How many teams has James Harden been on? When you got five guys trying to play like James Harden that don't win, that's what happens. Or they're being too unselfish, which often happens, facilitating because they're all friends and they all love each other and respect each other. Somewhere in that, that's gotta go out the window. And to be honest with you, there's more pressure on LeBron than there is Steve Kerr, because in that room, that's probably the guy who's going to have to get in everyone's face at some point. And no one's gonna say a peep if he does, I promise you, because most of those guys respect the hell out of him and his IQ and who he is. But he's gonna have to get in that room and he's going to have to wrangle them together and say, enough of this ----. I'll shoot four times a game if that's what it takes for us to win and just pass the ball and play defense. But we need to figure out how to win. We need to figure out how it's best for us to win, not best for you to shine in your 25 minutes. And those minutes are gonna go way up too, by the way. You're gonna see a rotation of eight, not a rotation of 12. I'm looking at the box score right now. And again, this is an exhibition. It's the final exhibition. Olympic play starts on July 28th. Again, when the games count, I will be live for all of those. If Case is available for any of them, he'll obviously join in as well. I gotta quickly, I know we're only 45 minutes in. 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BetOnline, the game starts here. Casey, always a pleasure, my man. Love you. And hopefully Team USA. But again, next week we'll, so it starts next Sunday. So not this Sunday. So yeah, we'll get to preview and get into it because look, we are blessed. Normally basketball would be inept and the depth of zero right now and nothing to talk about. So the fact that we sit there, some of the best players in the world under a lot of pressure, it's gonna be fun. Get your popcorn. And by the way, just an update right now. Team USA is losing 82 to 80 to Germany. And just a quick read of stats. Stephen Curry is four of five. I'm sorry, oh, Stephen Curry has a bad shooting night. One of six, I apologize. From deep, he has 13 points. Anthony Edwards right now has 10 points and four of seven shooting, no three point attempts. Nothing in the box for that that seems to be outside of the norm. But Casey, let's wrap it up with this. If Team USA loses to Germany, are you saying it's not a big deal? It's a big deal. I don't think it means, to be honest, it might be the best thing for them. Even after they barely beat South Sudan? Yes, because the only thing that damn matters is winning when it counts. This is how players work. This is how real athletes are. If they don't give a ---- and their backs aren't against the wall, it's hard for them to get their backs against the wall. Losing and that embarrassment of that might help if it wasn't enough in the last game. But at the end of the day, I wanna see how the fourth quarter and the closing minutes are run. I wanna know who's on the floor. I mean, look, if you can't sink your teeth into this kind of basketball when you've got those kind of guys on the floor, you know, sit there and just go to sleep, wake up when the season starts. Because Summer League is horseshit compared to this. Sorry. You seem very confident, though, that Team USA is gonna get gold. Is that fair? I mean, I feel if they play the way they're capable, they should. Yes. You sit there and break down the Steve Hartman with his, first of all, you've got the best defensive player, probably pound for pound in the league, who's on this team and is gonna play tons of minutes down the stretch and probably was the biggest factor in what the Celtics did this past year, if you wanna be fair. And you wanna talk about mistakes, how Milwaukee just let that slip, when, by the way, he was as big a factor there with Drew Holloway. That was a mistake. He is as valuable as any player in the sport because late in games, his defense is just at a different level. So, and he makes plays because of it, right? So he also can score, too. But I think when you look at this team, if they play the way they're capable, the answer is yes. But I gotta know who's gonna be on the floor and I wanna know who's gonna be the number one option when it comes down to it. And that's, Steph Curry is used to everything revolving around him. Anthony Edwards, everything revolves around me. Kevin Durant, Bambi Booker, Joel Embiid, players who are on the bench who aren't even gonna play on this team. Tyrese Halliburton is used to a team that revolves around him. How is this team gonna revolve around each other? If Steve Kerr, and I really do believe LeBron is probably more pressure on this than anybody because this is a peer-to-peer thing when you're dealing with egos of this size. I think if they can do that, they'll win. I'm not saying it's gonna be easy. Some of these teams have real good players in case anyone has noticed, right? Like Germany's got dudes on that team. The Sudan's another thing, I get it. But I think when you sit there and you look at France and some of these other teams that can really play, it's, they're gonna have NBA players. And by the way, guys who know how to play international basketball better than NBA players do because that is a whole different thing. So there's a lot at play here. But yeah, if they lose, it's a big deal. But it may be the kick in the face that they need. Might be. Yeah, it sucks that they might need that kick in the face and kick in the ass. There's millionaires who are in an off-season. Yeah, yeah. Playing games that don't count. You would think that the national pride, you know, the Olympics itself. It will on the 28th. Yeah, so. It will when they go to the opening ceremonies and they're there with their flag. Well, and as we've seen so far with Team USA's play, they definitely wake up in the fourth quarter. They now lead 87-82. So it looks like they're gonna pull this off. Anyways, so you're right. Next week, when we are back, Olympics are gonna start, man. So these games will count. I'm super excited to talk to you about actual games that will reflect reality as opposed to exhibition games. Casey, let everyone know how they can follow you. Obviously subscribe to Unfiltered. Everything else going on in your life, Casey Stern, that people can help you out by hitting simple buttons. You can follow me at Casey Stern on X or Twitter, whichever you call it. To hop up into the bio there, you'll see in the Instagram by Unfiltered with Casey Stern. Also, my YouTube channel, Unfiltered with Casey Stern, where you can get all 313 episodes of Unfiltered, including everything from the UFC to basketball to a lot of baseball, football, hockey, all kinds of players and coaches and analysts who have been on as guests. You can go get all of those interviews and conversations and continue to be up-to-date. There'll be new ones out this week. And yeah, we'll see you next time Monday at four o'clock Eastern time. Absolutely, man. This is Coast to Coast. Casey Stern is in Georgia. I'm here in California. And please do support Casey. His channel is phenomenal. Beyond anything, just warriors, because that's pretty much all I cover. Yeah, so every Monday, 4 p.m. Eastern, 1 p.m. Pacific, we're coming at you. Subscribe, please, because that's how this thing works with the digital media platforms. Hit that like button, and obviously spit on that thing. Hawk to you. Casey, love you, man, as always. You too, bud. We'll see you soon. Bye, everyone. Take care.