Vikings trade for Kirk Cousins, Wolves stay hot without Ant | H&H Podcast

What's going on? Welcome back to the H&H Podcast. And before we get started, we just want to apologize. It's been a busy couple of weeks. Obviously, the election last week, some historical results around the world. We obviously had to take some time off. We had to talk about politics on the show. I had to do a lot of stuff with the Vikings and everything around here. But we're back now. Ain't nothing happening in the area. Ain't nothing right now, you feel me? So it's like, but we got some stuff to address. Some stuff has happened this week. We'll start by going back, though. Henry, when we talk about the Timberwolves, we were over the moon excited about this season, the potential, what it looked like with LaMelo Ball after one game, and then... They played the third game of the year versus the Cavaliers, and Ant goes for 47, but they lose because Jonathan Kaminga couldn't hit free throws at the end of the game. But then we're like, all right, dang, that's all right. Ant dropped 47. We're good. We're still looking good, yeah. Then you wake up the next morning and it says, breaking news, Shams Charania is Anthony Edwards out two to three months with knee surgery. It's like, what? You just dropped 47 last night. You know what's so crazy about that? Yeah. I'm in a Vikings locker room last week after it happened, right? Day after it happens. So I'm talking to Jordan Addison. And I say, you going to a game this year? Because he's a big Timberwolves fan, goes to a lot of games, sits on a hardwood. So I said, when you hitting up a game? He said, they play tonight, don't they? I said, yeah, they play tonight. They play the Warriors tonight. He was like, yeah, I may slide. I said, well, you know Ant not playing, right? He was like, I was like, he dropped 47 last night. And I said, yeah, he's having an arthroscopic procedure today. He was like. Are you serious? And I was like, yeah. He was like, he just dropped 47 last night. I was like, he's Superman. Like, you play through something like that and drop 47? But the Wolves 6-2 without him right now. Yeah, the chemistry for the team is pretty good. Thank It's been interesting to watch because you can see the development of Jaden McDaniels, you can see the development, continued growth and development, even though he's a vet, now a vet. Naz Reid, he's been phenomenal. You can see LaMelo Ball is really starting you. to get a little bit comfortable. But there's still, and Jonathan Kuminga has been awesome for this team. He's been exactly what they've needed at the four. He's going to get paid. Yeah, and Trey Luckwell, I don't know about getting paid. I don't think he's done enough quite yet to get. The type of bag that he thinks he's worthy of. You can have five good games in the NBA and get paid next year. Still to be determined, okay? But they're looking good because of the chemistry, and a lot of credit has to go to LaMelo Ball. Because I think that his confidence and the way that he plays, guys enjoy playing with him, for sure. Yeah, they love playing with him. The one person, though, that has to continue to try to get on the same page with him is Rudy Gobert. There's been moments where you can tell they're not on the same page. And some of it's Rudy. I think some of it is on Melo, though, too, because he's the point guard. He's the conductor. And there's certain things that you have to be aware of with Rudy. You have to know that you can't throw the 10-foot lob to Rudy and he's going to go get it. He's not a go-get-it guy. Like, he's big. I get that. But he's not a go-get-it guy. Um, he's not somebody you can throw the ball to right at his knees and he's athletic enough to go down there and get it. And he's not that dude. So they have to continue to try to mesh and get, get, get on the same page. Can I ask you a question? When you say Rudy has to be better, has to, has to do better. What does that look like for you offensively? It, it, it, when I say Rudy has to get better, he has to consistently, consistently. Get rebounds, be the defender that he's been, and make your bunnies. All this stuff where he's catching the ball, he's taking a couple threes this year. And of course he has not made them. Which is crazy. Which is crazy. But make your bunnies. I'm not anticipating he's going to make free throws. We know that's not what he does. But when you are right next to the basket, you've got to finish, bro. If I'm not mistaken here, like... I think if we go back to some recordings last season when we were talking about the Timberwolves right here on this H&H podcast, I brought up numerous times how Rudy Gobert needed to step it up offensively. He needed to provide the Wolves with a little bit more because right now. I won't say he's useless, but if he's just not catching a wide-open, easy layup, he struggles. Wait, wait, wait. How can you say a guy that struggles offensively needs to step up his offense? That's what I'm saying. That's not a reality. What I'm saying is that when I say he's got to— So making layups ain't stepping up your offense? It is, but he's not going to get a ton of those opportunities. How many shots a game do you anticipate Rudy Gobert is going to get in this offense without Anthony Edwards? He is going to get about seven to eight. That's good. But my point is, is that for him, a lot of that is the in transition or when guys are double teaming Melo and when he's, you know, drawing attention and kicking or him and I, you doing that, whatever. It is not. You're like going down the court and you're drawing something up for. for Rudy Gobert. That's just not what it is. He is going to get it off of second chance points and off of he is going to be the recipient of somebody dumping it off to him. That's where he's got to score. He's going to get fouled, and he's going to miss free throws. So my point is that at the end of the day, Those seven to eight opportunities that he gets. You got to capitalize. He got to capitalize. That's all I've been saying since last year. You gotta do it, dog. You're 7'4", 7'5", whatever. Go dunk on somebody. You see the frustration on the Timberwolves. Because sometimes this season, you're watching Rudy Gobert, and he just looks like a lost puppy out there. Like the play where Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball in the Cleveland game where he just stopped playing. Maybe he heard a whistle. Yeah, that was terrible. But they're looking at him like, what are you doing? 6 seconds left. Why are you stopping playing? I think it's too many of those space out moments with Rudy Gobert. But it's like if this guy can just. Catch the easy alley-oop. Not the 15-footer above his head, just the easy alley-oop. Or just catch the ball in the post and just turn and hit a little left scoop. Something that can give him 12 to 14 consistently every game. The other thing that has to happen, though, is I hope that there are more moments where we see that Rudy is having fun out there. Like, we don't have enough of those moments right now, and we should. Like, we're seeing those moments with IU. We're seeing those moments with Jaden. We're seeing them with Yoann. We need to see more of it with Rudy. We've even seen it with Trey Lyles, who's been better than I ever would have imagined. Right, yeah, I think it's the pressure on Rudy right now. He's under a different spotlight, being asked to play a position he's really never had to play here in Minnesota. But he's got to do better. The Wolves are doing good right now, though, 8-3. We'll Still one of the top teams in the West without Anthony Edwards. He was seen at practice earlier this week on crutches, see had a big brace on his knee. So it looks like he's not even close. you Putting weight on it and walking around. But I would disagree with you. I don't think that he's in a position that he hasn't been in before. next His role hasn't changed, nor will it change. Well, I'm just talking about the style of, like, time. you talk about a point guard who can get him the basketball in a variety of different ways, like the type of bounce passes, the alley-oop scoops. Like, I think LaMelo Ball is trying to help unlock a different version of Rudy Gobert from what I've seen, and I feel like Rudy's just still trying to get acclimated to LaMelo. It's a trust thing. It is. The reason why Mike Conley Jr. was so good. At meshing with Rudy Gobert, it wasn't because Mike Conley Jr. was some savant with getting creative with getting him the basketball. It was just the trust factor. Yeah, very, very true. Before we touch on Vikings, because I know everybody wants to talk about that, quick thoughts on the MLB World Series. We haven't talked since then. Milwaukee swept the Dodgers. Well, they didn't sweep them, but they beat them 4-1. That's kind of what we were expecting and hoping for, right? Well, in the championship, you had Milwaukee beating... Excuse me, yes, yes, yes. They swept the Dodgers, and then they beat Tampa Bay, 4-1. Yeah, sorry. I was just excited about the Dodgers, because that's what we talked about that series when we were last here. How remarkable of a run was that for the... Remarkable. ...Pat Murphy and his Brewers? It was remarkable. And, you know, I'm going to give props to props to do. I didn't see Milwaukee... Any of y'all winning the World Series this year going into it, but, man, they were just a phenomenal team. They were the best team, hands down. Dominant in the playoffs. And I hate that that happened over in Wisconsin, but, you know, it is what it is. I was just watching, like, because, you know, my fiancée, she worked in Milwaukee, so. We were watching every Brewers game in the playoffs, and she was so locked in. And this is a lady who doesn't watch a ton of baseball. So it was pretty cool to see what that did for her. And I could only imagine the rest of the Wisconsinites and how they felt during that remarkable run. Yeah, shout out to them and what they were able to do. Maybe one day we'll be able to revisit the Twins, and they can do something like that, and we can have some fun. Wait, don't troll the Twins now. It's been a while. That's not what we – hold on, hold on. How many championships the Brewers got? One. Okay, and how many championships the Twins got? Two. Okay, then. So until they got up. You know, until they win another one, get on our level. But who won more recently? I get that. You were as good as your last game. I get that. Come on now. I get that. What have you done for me lately? You know what sports is. I get that. So the Twins got to step it up. We want to brag on you. And there was a little bit of news with Ryan Jeffers declining the qualifying offer. But that was to be anticipated. That's a lot of money they offer him, though. But the qualifying offer is the qualifying offer. $23 million? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, when you're in a position like this, you want a multi-year deal. That's what you do. You think he gets 23 mil average a year? He's going to get multiple years, so it doesn't matter. All right, well, we've got to touch base on Vikings before we wrap this up. It's been a while. The Vikings have lost two straight. They started 6-0. We started talking about that offense. He was talking about the quarterback whisperer. I wanted to hear your thoughts on Kevin O'Connell and the game. Planning the game, calling, all that stuff, because I have an interesting take, but I want to see your take, and I want to see what side you're on right now. With regard to what? How KOC has called the offense in these eight weeks under Kyler Murray, Carson Wentz, and Max Brosnan. What do you think about it? Yeah, I don't think it's been great. I don't think the play calling has been great, but just the level of quarterback play just has to be better. And I think it's clear, and you may disagree on this, Kyler Murray as an under center guy, it just ain't it. Yeah. That's not his forte. No, it's not it. They tried. They tried to make everything work. They exhausted every avenue. It didn't work with Kyler Murray. I think they got. I won't say bailed out because I think had Kyler Murray still been healthy and had he went out there and won one of the last two games, this is your quarterback for the rest of the season. But because he got hurt, because he got that hamstring injury, and because Carson Wentz went out there and stunk it up on Monday Night Football, they were able to go trade for Kirk Cousins, bringing him back to Minnesota for his second stint. Now, though, that said, he's here in Minnesota. It's a 6-2 football team, a Super Bowl-caliber defense. Great special teams, great kicker. What are you expecting for round two from Kirk Cousins? I expect Kirk Cousins, and I talked about this on the show the last couple of days. You know, Kirk Cousins, this has to be a different version of Kirk Cousins. Not from the standpoint of... Being a different type of quarterback, we know what he is. He's an in-the-pocket, not a mobile guy that's going to be able to be a general from the position of getting guys the football and being accurate at doing that. But from a mental perspective, viewing the situation for what it is, a great opportunity for him to win a championship, and this possibly being his final window. I feel as though in years past, Kirk Cousins has been in the mode of, I've got to get the bag. That's been his mindset. I got to get the bag. He said when he left here, and by the way, we should remind ourselves that Kirk Cousins left the Minnesota Vikings. Kirk Cousins said, it's not about the dollars. It's about what the dollars represent. And he took the bag in Atlanta, okay? Now that he is back, he has to be different from a mentality standpoint of understanding that I'm back with the best receiver in football. This defense is much better than when I was here the first time around. My window to win an NFL championship is right now. I would assume, and you may view this differently, and I've talked to others, they're not really sure about this, but I would assume that not only is Kirk Cousins in this for this year, but also for next year because they have the team option. At $10 million, and why would you not pick up that option? Nolan Teasley was asked about that yesterday, Vikings general manager. He said all options are on the table right now. He said, but we're focused on 2026. Here's my thing with Kirk Cousins. I think Kevin O'Connell has been under the spotlight, rightfully so. He's the head coach of this football team. It all starts with him. It all ends with him. When I go back and I go watch these all 22 copies, though, where you get to see all 11 guys on offense, all 11 guys on defense. When I left that game Monday night, I was like, Kevin O'Connell has to make a change. Kevin O'Connell has to do better. This is all on Kevin O'Connell. Then I went back and I watched that tape. And I'm like, oh, man, this is not on Kevin O'Connell. Like, you go back and you look at some of the throws that Carson Wentz missed. You look at some of the reads that he didn't make where you got Justin Jefferson or Jordan Addison beating press coverage, no safety over the top, and you're not even looking their way. I mean, it was so many plays like that where in weeks past you kept hearing the Vikings offense say, man, we're just a couple plays away. Man, we're right there. And it's like, are you guys really right there? And it's like I watched the tape and it's like, I don't believe it. Man, you watch last week's tape or the Lions tape, and it's frustrating. I believe that if you had halfway decent or competent quarterback play in the last two games, you'd be undefeated still. I agree with that. No, but here's my thing, though. Here's my thing moving forward. And some people looked at me funny when I said this. Some people looked at me like, wow, you're right. So in order for Kirk Cousins to be at his best, he needs a great defense. Check. Need a good special teams Check. Got that. Great offensive line. Yeah, yeah, yep. Thank you. When you think about when Kirk was here and how he struggled three seasons ago, his starting offensive line, Christian Darrisaw, Brian O'Neill on the right guard, you had Garrett Bradbury at center, and you had Blake Brandel, who was a backup. He was a guy that was here. And I can't remember who we had at the other guard back then. It was Ed Ingram. All right, so you still have Christian Darrisaw. You still have Brian O'Neill. You have a... I won't say a makeshift center in Blake Brandel, but he wasn't a starting center. But yeah, now he's your starting center. Your starting guard, Donovan Jackson, is out. And Will Fries plays like a roller coaster at times. He's up and down. He's inconsistent. That said, if they don't play great every game, Kirk's not elusive. He's not getting out of the pocket. He's not going to scramble for 35 yards like we saw Kyler Murray do. So what's your area of concern for this offensive line based on what you've seen in the eight games? I'm concerned. Yeah, I'm concerned. Like, that is a big deal. You've made the move to get Kirk Cousins here. So now we feel more confident in the position of quarterback. We know that we have the skill position players to get it done. If the offensive line doesn't improve and get better, the trade won't mean that much. And you also need to open up holes for those running backs. Absolutely. How many times have we seen over the course of the last three weeks, Jordan Mason run for like 20 yards and it comes back on a holding call. We saw it in Detroit. We send it too many times. So we can't continue to have that. And they just got to stick with the run. I mean, it's easy to say that in hindsight, 2020. But Kevin O'Connell said after the game, we should have run the ball more. He's like Jordan Mason was doing a good job. He was trying to find a way to get that drive win. Carson Wentz threw that interception. Yes. They had three first down runs or two first down runs by him. And then they threw that pick. So Jordan Mason needs the football more. The Vikings need to run the ball more, but luckily for them, Kirk Cousins is back. Their offense will go back to what we've been accustomed to seeing. They'll be under center. The play action will be alive. The run game, the new scheme that they have should open up holes for Jordan Mason, Aaron Jones, and Kevin O'Connell just needs to stay consistent. He said last week was the most challenging process he's ever gone through as a play caller. Hopefully. There's a little stress relief now that Kirk Cousins is back. So we've got to wrap this one up. Big game coming up this weekend against the Packers. No Josh Jacobs, no Micah Parsons again for Green Bay. So the Vikings have a chance to sweep their rival, Green Bay, in the NFC North. Going to be an exciting weekend, and we'll be here, what, on Monday or Tuesday to recap it. What do you think, Monday? I don't know. We've got to figure it out. We've got to figure that out. it out. We'll figure it out, but we're going to be back here next week to recap everything. We appreciate you guys tuning in.