Jayson Tatum sits in first Olympic game | Bob Ryan & Jeff Goodman Podcast
On this episode of the Bob Ryan & Jeff Goodman NBA Podcast, Bob and Gary Tanguay discuss KD and Lebron's Olympic swan song, Tatum getting a rest and Derek White being a coach's dream. Bob also tells the story of the U.S. women's basketball team in 1992 and 1996. That, and much more!
00:00 - Intro
00:39 - Olympics basketball discussion
04:44 - Future of USA Basketball
07:04 - International Players
11:14 - Gametime
13:12 - Jaylen Brown
19:31 - Tatum on Sports Illustrated
21:14 - Haliburton's role
22:56 - South Sudan matchup
27:50 - John Powers
28:53 - Women's basketball history
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00:00 - Intro
00:39 - Olympics basketball discussion
04:44 - Future of USA Basketball
07:04 - International Players
11:14 - Gametime
13:12 - Jaylen Brown
19:31 - Tatum on Sports Illustrated
21:14 - Haliburton's role
22:56 - South Sudan matchup
27:50 - John Powers
28:53 - Women's basketball history
************************************************
CLNS Media is Powered by:
Gametime - https://gametime.co
Take the guesswork out of buying NBA tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download Gametime today. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed. Terms apply.
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SportsTranscript
00:00Bob Ryan, Jeff Goodwin, Gary Tangway, Alone for the Ride, brought to you by PrizePix,
00:22the exclusive daily fantasy partner of the CLNS Media Network.
00:25Pick more, pick less with PrizePix.
00:27Jeff continues to be on assignment somewhere in the swamps of Carolina.
00:31We'll dig him up later on.
00:34I'm joking, folks.
00:35He will be back later on.
00:36I'm joking.
00:37OK, Bob, let's get to the Olympics here.
00:38And the way I'm seeing things going on now with the men's basketball team, this really
00:43is the swan song for Kevin Durant and LeBron James.
00:47And that's the way it should be.
00:51Here are some facts about the two people who brought us victory yesterday, 39-year-old
00:58LeBron James and 30-whatever-year-old Durant, OK?
01:06These two gentlemen, their career in the NBA, total points, 69,398.
01:15First-team All-NBA total, 19, MVPs, 5, NBA championships, 6, and combined all-star game
01:27appearances, 34.
01:30This is a very distinguished duo.
01:33What Kevin Durant did yesterday, I mean, it defies description.
01:38Here's a guy who he hadn't played a second, he hadn't played in three months, didn't play
01:43a second with his team except for a few practices.
01:47Comes off the bench when we're, we need him, we need somebody, we got off to a bad start
01:52against Serbia.
01:54And winds up going eight for eight with 21 points in the first half, including five threes.
02:00I mean, and Steve Kerr then proclaimed him, he said he wasn't surprised because he's coached
02:04him those two championships.
02:08But he said, and reflect on this, the most skilled player I have ever seen.
02:15So we have to ask him, please define for you what that means exactly.
02:23Since he saw Michael Jordan, he's seen LeBron James, he saw Larry Bird, he saw Michael Magic
02:30Johnson, et cetera, and he's declaring Durant to be the most skilled, quote unquote.
02:37And he did emphasize, and this is what I take from it, the game looks easy to him.
02:43Now, there are people I've seen-
02:44Right.
02:45If I could jump in, just to throw my two cents in it.
02:48When I hear him say that, I'm talking about someone who's seven feet.
02:52Like everybody forgets, Durant's seven feet.
02:55Yeah, he's six, he's-
02:56Six, 11, seven, whatever.
03:00That's what I'm like, the guy's like an inch shorter than Will Chamberlain or two or whatever.
03:05Yeah, right.
03:06He plays like Koozie.
03:07He plays like a guy a foot shorter, absolutely.
03:12So that's what I take from it.
03:14He glides around the court.
03:16Doesn't say he doesn't hustle.
03:17No.
03:18As a matter of fact, just a gospel proof for me, I watched him two or three, maybe, I don't
03:23know, times at Texas, his one year in college.
03:27And the one thing that he jumped out at me was his rebounding.
03:31He wasn't afraid to mix it up with that skinny body that he's filled out some, but not that
03:35much.
03:36He's still a skinny body, relatively speaking.
03:40But he had that skill.
03:41But he floats around the court.
03:43He just goes from point A to point B on a cloud and gets where he wants to go and makes
03:49the game beautiful form and a jump shot, makes the thing look easy.
03:54And that's what Kerr did go on to say, that he makes the game look easy.
03:59And I've seen a few guys like that, that have jumped out at me.
04:02And certainly he's one of them for that regard.
04:05So anyway, he does what he does.
04:06LeBron does what he does.
04:08LeBron leading fast breaks, getting back on defense, making plays, just, of course, creating
04:14plays in the half court.
04:16He is pumped.
04:17I mean, he is, you saw after that one sequence, he's just pounding.
04:23It's really heartwarming.
04:24I mean, the guy's 39, he's going for multiple gold medals.
04:29But wow, the two of them led us.
04:32Now, someone on X this morning said, what does this mean about the future of USA Basketball
04:38if our two best players are 39 and 37 years old?
04:42Well, we're in good shape.
04:45Don't worry about that.
04:46We're fine.
04:47But the international game, I saw that too, and the point is well taken.
04:51Because if you win, who are the best players or the top five players in the NBA today?
04:57You have guys from Canada, you have guys from Europe.
04:59I mean, it's just a fact.
05:00I think it was the fourth, fifth of all NBA this year were international, the fifth was
05:04just one.
05:05Fifth was the DNP yesterday.
05:06We're going to get to that.
05:08But oh, they had the numbers up.
05:10I should have written it down just because they posted the numbers of the number of NBA
05:15players internationally with the Dream Team at 92 and the number today, which is over
05:24100.
05:25And, you know, no, the game is, and you can thank the Dream Team for that, right?
05:31We've had this discussion with the Dream Team.
05:33They're the reason for it.
05:35They're the biggest reason of all for the explosion of interest in international basketball.
05:39So oh, yeah, the Dream Team, they're the granddaddies of them all.
05:43But I'm okay with that.
05:45You know, the world is like a closer place.
05:47I mean, my God, there's enough strife, there's enough pain going on in the world right now.
05:52You know, the next time we play, if we don't have LeBron and Durant, which I don't think
05:58we will.
05:59And if the competition is a little better because of the gain of the European game,
06:03you know, I'm not going to boohoo.
06:05Oh, no, we have to keep up.
06:09And that's fine.
06:10And remember, once again, this is their game.
06:13They've taken our game, Dr. Nesbitt's game, and reshaped it with their rules and their
06:19concepts.
06:20Right.
06:21And we enter into their turf when we enter into international competition.
06:25Right.
06:26And that's a fact.
06:27And there have been times in the last 32 years when we have stumbled in that regard for that
06:35reason that we haven't made that acknowledgement.
06:38We continue to have the edge in raw talent, but that doesn't always mean we have the edge
06:43in team play or understanding of what the game is that we're actually playing, which
06:47is international basketball, not not.
06:50Meanwhile, I got to say, Serbia only had two people that you would know, of course, Djokic
06:56and Bogdan Bogdanovic, not to be confused with the other Bogdanovic.
07:01I always get them confused.
07:02Right.
07:03But this is the one who plays for the Hawks average 17 points a game last year.
07:06But obviously they had some other guys, if you watch that game, who are very good basketball
07:11players and playing in Serbia or France or Germany or Spain or Italy, wherever the hell
07:17they are playing.
07:18But but I didn't know any of these guys, but a couple of them caught your eye and and they
07:23were well coached.
07:24But I didn't know.
07:25You know, the coach is a well-known international guy who was coached other coach in Germany
07:31before.
07:32He's a Serb, but he coached Germany.
07:34And he's been around.
07:35He goes back his playing days in the 60s, but he's well respected.
07:40They're well coached.
07:41And as was Germany, as is Germany, well coached with a lot of good coaching going on out there.
07:46So, you know, they're going to make us work for sure.
07:50I still think we're going to be fine, but they're going to make us work.
07:52Right.
07:53That was some I mean, that was just virtuoso performance with those two guys.
07:57And what and what Durant did.
07:59So it was good.
08:00The question does, I do think.
08:05The question does arise, will any of the current superstars that we see, you know, whether
08:12it's from Dallas or Denver or Tatum or Jalen Brown or SGA and so forth, Anthony Edwards,
08:17Anthony Edwards.
08:19Will they ever reach the level of Durant's peak and LeBron James peak?
08:25And Bob, that's a tall order.
08:28And Steph Curry in there, too.
08:30OK, it's funny, you know, you wonder what was going on, why this is his first Olympics,
08:36because he's been on our radar screen for a long time now.
08:38But he wasn't a part of it in Tokyo.
08:42And I know he wasn't a part of it in either London or Beijing.
08:45So because I was there for those two.
08:47But yeah, and throw him in there.
08:49He's 36 or whatever he is.
08:51No, that's that's that's exactly right.
08:54And now we keep, you know, we keep getting exporting and bringing in, importing these
09:00great players from Europe.
09:02Now, even Jokic, like those guys like Jokic now or.
09:11The issue with because of their bodies, you know, I don't see them reigning long term.
09:18Right.
09:19I mean, well, he's not playing at thirty nine now and he doesn't want to either.
09:25I don't think, you know, he's wants to go back to his horses.
09:28He's a very interesting guy.
09:29I mean, he really is.
09:30He's got a he's very much in control of his life, but he knows how he wants to present
09:36himself to the public.
09:37He knows what he wants.
09:38He's in control.
09:39Nobody's telling him anything.
09:42He doesn't want to hear.
09:43I can tell you that.
09:44No question about that.
09:45Yeah.
09:46No, he does.
09:47He's not he's not going to beat LeBron.
09:48There's no doubt about that.
09:49Yeah.
09:50I mean, enjoy him while he is here.
09:51But we did a good job with him yesterday.
09:53Once again, I'm sorry, folks, but the end of another indispensable man is Anthony Davis.
09:59You know, we need him on the floor.
10:01Well, let's talk about that, because he had to go in there down 10 to when you then made
10:05the change.
10:06Absolutely.
10:07That that start was annoying because it once again, it was turnover produced.
10:11You know, right.
10:13It was turnover stuff.
10:15I got it here.
10:16I got some notes here.
10:17Sloppy again to turnovers.
10:19And when it was 10 to two, Davis enters.
10:22And first thing that happened with Curry hit that three in the guy's face that got us started.
10:28The other guy that came off and did a nice job was Booker.
10:32And I'm I'm sure that's the guy that Jalen Brown has targeted.
10:35Why him and not me?
10:36Is Booker.
10:37I think I'm just thinking that that's me out loud.
10:40Yeah.
10:41You know, I was thinking about that.
10:42Yeah.
10:43I get about like.
10:44But again, well, I want to get the Jason Tatum next to.
10:47Yeah, we'll get there.
10:48And it's very easy for me to have this point of view because I'm not them, but I just look
10:53at this as LeBron and Durant Swansong and, you know, and maybe Steph, Steph, too.
11:00Good for them.
11:01I hope they enjoy it.
11:02They deserve it.
11:04You know, they're going to win the gold medal.
11:07And I just if this is like a moment of international appreciation for those two or three guys,
11:12that's great.
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13:10I was thinking like in my head, I said, what would I be telling Jalen Brown right now?
13:14And I would be telling Jalen, look, you won the MVP for the finals.
13:20You won the MVP for the Houston Conference.
13:23You won an NBA championship.
13:26Everybody thinks you should be there.
13:28You'll get your shot.
13:29You'll get your shot.
13:30You're going to be there in four years.
13:32And it's just about LeBron and KD right now.
13:34Like even Tatum.
13:36Like Tatum didn't play, he got a DMP.
13:39And it also shows why Steve Kerr wanted Derek White instead of Jalen Brown.
13:44How he's using him.
13:45Right?
13:46I mean, actually, Kerr is actually coaching this team.
13:48Right?
13:49He's actually coaching them.
13:50Like Jason Tatum.
13:52It's all good, kid.
13:54You know, easy for me to say.
13:56Well, Kerr says he talked to him, let him know.
14:00And that he was, quote, very professional, unquote.
14:03I'm sure he was.
14:04He promised him he's playing tomorrow against South Sudan.
14:07We'll see.
14:08But he didn't answer instead of whom.
14:11Yet.
14:12You know, we'll see.
14:13But yeah, you have to buy his explanation that it was about matchups, number one.
14:22He wanted three big guys out there for Joe Gich to rotate.
14:26And Tatum is not considered to be a muscle guy.
14:30He's a mass guy.
14:32Okay.
14:33So that it's only so many people can play in a 40 minute game as opposed to a 48.
14:38That's another thing.
14:39And another thing here, Bob, is that back to my original point.
14:45Is no matter as Celtic fans, we love Tatum and we should, but I mean, Tatum is not Kevin
14:50Durant or LeBron James, you know, I mean, he's just not.
14:53I mean, I don't know who else is.
14:55No.
14:56Well, no.
14:57He's a terrific player, but if you're going to grade them, he's the next level.
15:02It's the second level.
15:03The next level.
15:04It's high level.
15:05But you're right.
15:06He's not LeBron James or Durant and no one should hold him to that standard.
15:12So I just wonder when I see Durant play like this, I just rue the day he went to Brooklyn.
15:17I was like, man, you know, just like lost years, just lost years of a great player.
15:24I think he's a misunderstood guy.
15:26I think all that matters to him is basketball.
15:30He seemed to get a little cantankerous, but yet he just loves to play basketball.
15:35And I always will feel bad for Kevin Durant that he lost those years in Brooklyn.
15:38Yeah.
15:39Well, but people aren't going to feel sorry for him that still are not happy that he muscled
15:45in with the Warriors, you know, at OKC.
15:49Right.
15:50Right.
15:51People, it's where we're living in.
15:52You can't win.
15:53You know, there's almost nothing you can do.
15:54You're not going to have somebody criticizing you in public if you're a public person for
15:58something.
15:59You know, he's got that one.
16:01That's the black mark on his resume in the eyes of some people.
16:04Not me.
16:05I know.
16:06I'm like, get over it.
16:07The guy can't win.
16:08It's like LeBron took less money to go to Miami to win a title.
16:12And people say he abandoned Cleveland.
16:13He took less money, people, and he wanted to win a championship.
16:16Well, LeBron, he still how long did it take so many people to get over the decision?
16:22Oh, you know, that was in 2010, folks.
16:26Oh, good decision.
16:27I know it was.
16:28Yeah, it was.
16:29He shouldn't have done it.
16:30You know, I mean, the worst thing you can ever say about a guy, I mean, please.
16:34His defense was, you know, that it was done at the boys club for a reason.
16:38You know, they were going to raise a little money of some consciousness on the boys club
16:41or whatever.
16:42Anyway.
16:43No, he he submitted that it was a misstep.
16:46I'll just say that.
16:47And now, my God, you know, get over it.
16:50Now let's talk about Anthony Davis.
16:53Why is he fitting in so well?
16:55He is just so damn good people.
16:57You know, I think we've had this discussion during the course of the year, and I know
16:59I've heard it during the course of the season.
17:02You kind of forget how great he is.
17:03You kind of forget sometimes.
17:04We're playing with LeBron now, you know, I don't know.
17:07For some reason, he people have he has entered into the take for granted category about it.
17:15And that's that people.
17:16He's a multi skilled guy at 611.
17:19He's been reminding us during these Olympic venture about his defense, his shot blocking
17:24intimidation.
17:25But, you know, he's got the complete package.
17:28He can hit a three.
17:29He can post up.
17:30He can run.
17:31He can defend.
17:32He's a damn good player.
17:34And he's he has he's been a defensive force for what I've seen.
17:39And, you know, and he can do what he wants to do.
17:42So he's he's to me, he's proving his worth in these in this venture, this Olympic.
17:48Well, it's nice to see, because you sit there and you realize or you recognize that if the
17:54guy wasn't hurt all the time, what you'd have.
17:56Yeah.
17:57You know, I go back to the championship that he won in Kentucky.
18:02He was over 10 that night and he was best player on the floor.
18:05Yeah, I swear to God.
18:08Yeah.
18:09No, everything else he did.
18:11And, you know, so now he he he's just not getting the full recognition.
18:17He probably never will, unless somehow he continues to dominate to the point where people
18:24have to pay attention to him now.
18:25Well, he's going to win a title.
18:26I mean, that's what happens now.
18:27Yeah.
18:28All right.
18:29The NBA, if you want, if you want to be on the Mount Rushmore, you know, Tatum is going
18:33to be Tatum is going to fit in there somehow.
18:36So is it Jalen Brown?
18:37Because they want a title.
18:38That's just the way it is.
18:40You know, and, you know, Durant fortunately won a couple.
18:43So he's good.
18:44But if Davis doesn't.
18:45Yeah.
18:46Well, by the way, you did see the the cover of the new Sports Illustrated.
18:52It's a 70th anniversary issue.
18:56It was in 1954 in August that the first copy of Sports Illustrated came out with Eddie
19:03Matthews at the plate and Milwaukee County Stadium.
19:06Yeah.
19:07And then he came.
19:08Hey, Garrett.
19:09No, Eddie Matthews.
19:10Oh, Eddie Matthews.
19:11Eddie Matthews isn't bad.
19:12I have a copy here right here in this file cabinet to my immediate left.
19:17Thank God I've got a copy of that magazine.
19:19And but it's and Jason Tatum's on the cover.
19:24And it's about oh, I've seen that that I've seen.
19:27Yes.
19:28It's out.
19:29It's now out.
19:30Yeah.
19:31I came in my mailbox yesterday.
19:32So one of these days.
19:34So anyway, we got that.
19:37OK.
19:38I want to ask you something else, Bob, before we go.
19:41But I got to we got to talk about Derek White.
19:46You know, when White was put on the team, we were all thinking, well, what about Jalen
19:50Brown?
19:51And Brian could have been put on the team.
19:52But now you understand why.
19:54I mean, Jalen Curt certainly could have filled the role that I think White is filling.
19:59I mean, I think I know he's not that he's not the same type of player, but, you know,
20:03Curt loves the guy because he's going and he's playing defense and he's doing all those
20:06little things.
20:07And that's why they put him on the team.
20:09Dwayne Wade was so enraptured by him yesterday in this broadcast that he pointed out his
20:15shot blocking and pointed out these to, you know, statistically, he's the best shot blocking
20:18guard in the league.
20:20And the numbers aren't there.
20:22And we saw it with our eyes to know that that is an accurate reflection of the season that
20:26he had.
20:27But Dwayne and not what's his name, the young Mr. Eagle, you know, Ian Eagle's son, his
20:35son, I forget his name already, the broadcaster.
20:39He said, well, you were a great shot blocking guard, weren't you?
20:41Well, yes, he said.
20:43One difference is that he said he said he doesn't jump that high and wait that he jumped
20:48higher.
20:49You know, he's about right.
20:50I don't know how high he does.
20:51It doesn't matter because he said it's just timing and his anticipation and his intelligence,
20:57he said, that make him it was very high praise from an all hall of famer and very nice for
21:04Dirk Wade.
21:05No, he's he's already proven he belongs.
21:07There's no question.
21:08Yeah.
21:09Yeah.
21:11I know he's got a lot of experience, but I definitely I'm happy for him.
21:14I know Jalen Brown is, too, you know, but Jalen will will definitely get his.
21:19I don't know what they're saying, by the way, in Indianapolis and in the state of Hoosier
21:23State about the excursion, the exclusion of Haliburton.
21:26He's not getting a lot of time.
21:27But Haliburton in general has now become the 12th man.
21:32It's very obvious he's he's a guy who's become the garbage time guy.
21:36So it's not messing around.
21:39You know, at least you're going to get a better win.
21:41It's got the best.
21:42Right.
21:43I mean, you know, at least she occurs like, OK, we're here to win.
21:46This isn't this isn't you know, we're not the Globetrotters.
21:49Right.
21:50Right.
21:51By the way, our next game opponent is interesting.
21:53Who would have thought who would have thought a month ago that we would have reason to have
21:59an interest in a game against South Sudan?
22:02Right.
22:03No one would have dreamed that I would have thought it would be a replay.
22:06Well, there's 92 40 point victories and it might be because, boy, these guys got to have
22:11a motivation.
22:13Our team should have lost to them and we could easily have lost to them.
22:17Right.
22:18Took a driving layup by LeBron for the winning basket with eight seconds to go and then sweating
22:22out very good looks.
22:23But they had to win the game anyway.
22:26So we were a one point victor over the latest, the newest nation on Earth.
22:31Let's get that down for geopolitics.
22:32OK.
22:33South Sudan in a country in which, of course, it ends and the cut Sudan was having more
22:40turmoil.
22:41Right.
22:42What's new?
22:43Right.
22:44It's a troubled area of the world.
22:46No question.
22:47Anyway, that we were we enter a game against South Sudan with a conceivable revenge motive.
22:53Wow.
22:55But you know what?
22:56Good for them and that what they're doing and good for Coach Royal Ivy, a name that
23:00might be familiar to you.
23:01Good basketball.
23:02You college basketball fans.
23:03University of Texas, I believe, played for Tommy Penders, if I'm not mistaken.
23:07So but I'll be looking forward to that game and to see how we do.
23:11And Royal Ivy is one of the best names ever in sports when I wonderful.
23:15So there we go.
23:16So we're going to have your thoughts and we do.
23:19I do want to get to the USA women's Olympic basketball in general.
23:25I just love the backdrop of Paris for the Olympics.
23:28There's just something about having the Olympics in European city.
23:32And I know that Boston tried to get them.
23:34And I was like, great, Boston can pull it off.
23:36Fantastic.
23:37Didn't work out.
23:38But there's something about winter in the winter and the summer games in Europe that
23:44just is a role.
23:45The Eiffel Tower, just the whole thing is just.
23:48Well, it's paint.
23:49I mean, France, you know, they tried to take full advantage of that with the opening ceremony
23:53the way it was on the Senate, went by all the iconic places, including Notre Dame, which
23:59hasn't got the scaffolding down yet.
24:00It's coming along.
24:02And the Place de la Concorde and the Louvre and, of course, ending up at the Eiffel Tower,
24:08you know, of course, was a coup.
24:10Oh, no, not many cities could do that.
24:12And now there's all the controversy about that Last Supper thing, which is really ridiculous.
24:18The controversy is legit.
24:19That was a stupid thing.
24:20Yeah.
24:21Yeah.
24:22I just heard a little bit about it today.
24:23I don't know.
24:24I don't know.
24:25But no, that's awful.
24:26Bad judgment.
24:27Some of the other stuff was what I did see.
24:29I didn't see it for some reason.
24:30I was occupied.
24:31But I did see a lot of the other things.
24:33And the dancing was great.
24:34And Lady Gaga was great.
24:35And Celine Dion was great.
24:37And all the stuff.
24:38They did a lot of really cool things to pull that off.
24:41And we're going to have a backdrop of, you know, this great now I'm a Paris.
24:45I'm a Francophile.
24:46I've been to Paris 19 times.
24:49So I'm kind of proprietary toward Paris.
24:51So that's that.
24:52But yeah, it's nice to have.
24:54It's nice having it there.
24:55And as far as us not having it, I was much in favor of it in an aesthetic way.
25:00But I'm not ignorant of the financial burden.
25:03I'm not ignorant of the of the IOC's arrogance and what it means to have Olympics.
25:10It should be a better deal than it is.
25:13But it's been allowed to get totally, I won't say corrupted, but distorted.
25:17OK, how's that?
25:19Right.
25:20And it does cost too much money.
25:22And there's too many silly things that go along thanks to the IOC's arrogance.
25:26And it shouldn't be that way.
25:27But unfortunately, and that they have a hard time finding people that want to take it now
25:31for that reason.
25:32I know.
25:33And I just sit back and I forget about all that.
25:34I want to look at the pretty pictures.
25:36Yeah.
25:37Well, so you'll have one more thing I just have to say, because I'm a big advocate of
25:44the awareness of mental health in this country, especially after going through.
25:49We went through with covid.
25:51Simone Biles, oh, I and my daughter, it was a gymnast.
25:58My wife watches it.
25:59I don't know anything about it, but like I just had to watch.
26:02I mean, the beam.
26:03I don't know anything.
26:04I mean, when my daughter's done it, I just know you don't want to fall off.
26:07I watched her on the beam and I went, I she's got to be like the greatest athlete of all
26:11time.
26:12How do you do that?
26:13I mean, just I mean, she's amazing.
26:14She's the greatest bundle of energy ever.
26:16She's four feet eight, you know.
26:18And she's she's an extraordinary athlete.
26:23You cannot have enough superlatives.
26:25There's no that you need.
26:26That's a source.
26:27You can't do it with your normal.
26:28No, I mean, she's right.
26:31She she she she takes herself out of the games and then she gets herself right.
26:37She gets help.
26:38We have people need to do mentally and physically.
26:42You need to address the needs of your body and of your mind.
26:44And then she comes back better than ever.
26:48And I'm like, wow, look, that isn't an inspiration for people who would be in need of it.
26:52I don't know what would be.
26:53Yeah, that's it, man.
26:54I mean, she's phenomenal.
26:55I mean, I'm not a biggest, you know, I've I wasn't I don't know the nuances.
27:01One of my best friends is a former gymnastics coach and, you know, I know he's reveling
27:06in this watching these gymnastics, but, you know, I just don't, you know, thank God John
27:11Powers is there for us because he gets it.
27:14Tara Sullivan, I think, gets it for the Boston Globe and John Powers, of course, that one
27:18of the premier Olympic writers anybody's ever had in America is on are still on our payroll.
27:24Thank God he's he's there to pay proper homage to this.
27:27You know, you want you.
27:28I know from as a writing standpoint, when you're confronted with something like this,
27:32it raises it.
27:33It's got to raise your game.
27:34So that's why I felt about writing about Larry all those years.
27:37You know, I was inspired.
27:39I better bring my A game because it's he you got to do it for and she's with her.
27:47You got to bring your A plus plus plus game.
27:49So good luck.
27:50Writers try to describe it.
27:51I mean, Powers is amazing, but he's a hall of famer.
27:53He's one of the you know, and when we mentioned the Globe guys, because he covered the Olympics,
27:58sometimes we forget to mention him just because he didn't do the Patriots or the Celtics or
28:02the Bruins.
28:03But he's right there with all the guys on.
28:04They succeeded me on the Celtics, you know, directly in 1976.
28:08I didn't know that.
28:09And two years and he got a book out of it.
28:11Good for him.
28:12Short season, got a book out of it.
28:15And and he introduced nuances to the notes, including his favorite restaurant of the week.
28:23Only John, you know, combined of culinary arts with basketball.
28:28Yes.
28:29Restaurant of the week and on a national scale, you know, and he's priceless.
28:34He's a greatest one of the great treasures the Globe's ever had or anyone's ever had
28:37journalistically.
28:38But he's still going strong.
28:39He's like the LeBron James now of writing.
28:41I mean, he's he's he's way past his his shelf life and theory, but not so, baby.
28:49Oh, yeah.
28:50He's still got it.
28:51And as we close, you have a historical nugget involving the women's game.
28:57You know, in 1992, when I went to my first Olympics and I was a wide open minded, I covered
29:02men and women.
29:03And naturally, the women were the afterthought, frankly, to the dream team.
29:09But I was there for all their games and practices and so forth.
29:14And they were favored and they were kicking butt all around until they met the team from
29:20the then newly crowned EUN.
29:23This is after the breakup of the Soviet Union.
29:25And the women who of the former Soviet Union were representing several of the republics
29:33of that, you know, constituted the Soviet Union.
29:37And they all were facing uncertain personal futures about where what their what their
29:43country there was going to be like or whether it's going to be there or what the hell.
29:48And they were absolutely a unit because, you know, you hear this phrase.
29:55We did this.
29:56You'll have somebody say, we just did this for the women, the people in this room.
29:59You know, you hear that after some athletic conquests, right?
30:02Well, if there ever was a group of athletes who did what they were about to do for themselves
30:08and themselves only, it was this a group of women coached by Alexander Gomelsky's younger
30:13brother.
30:14And Gomelsky was the men's coach and his younger brother was the women's coach.
30:18And they were up against the favorite Americans.
30:21And they put on a clinic, a clinic of dissection on offense.
30:29They just played a magnificent game and beat the USA team and coached by Teresa Grintz
30:37and shocked the world, shocked the basketball world.
30:41And it was one of the most inspiring I mean, I wasn't saying I wasn't I was rooting for
30:45us, of course, but but I admired what was going on and what they and what they had accomplished.
30:51And that stuck is one of my high all time Olympic highlights.
30:55Number one.
30:56Now, let me just fast forward four years for the Americans in 96.
31:01Don't worry.
31:02Not, you know, redemption.
31:05We talked about the men's redeem team in Norway.
31:07Well, redemption was on the on the on the docket for the USA women in 96.
31:12And they put a team together, they assembled a team in 95.
31:16And they had an exhibition extravaganza to the point of over 50 some games.
31:23And so finally, they get to the gold medal game against Brazil in Atlanta, with the largest
31:27crowd then ever to see a women's basketball game at that time.
31:31And in the in the in the in the dome, and Georgia Dome, yeah.
31:37And they think they buried him 111 to 87.
31:41But but and they may have.
31:43And I remember thinking, this is a team that just runs like 60 in a row may have saved
31:48their best for last.
31:50They were just magnificent.
31:51We're talking to a team with Lisa Leslie, who I still think is the best post player
31:54woman we've ever known.
31:56And Cheryl swoops and company that group.
32:00And oh, and the ubiquitous right to this moment, she's probably on the air as we speak, Dawn
32:06Staley was, of course, the point guard of that team later would, of course, go on to
32:11coach us as well.
32:12And she's the winning coach and champion, South Carolina Gamecocks undefeated this year.
32:17She's on NBC now, you know, every night.
32:19And she's I'm proud to say I wrote about her in the during the as the best point guard
32:26in the world.
32:27You know, I noted her over, you know, at that time.
32:30But anyway, they they they were a redemption team.
32:34And they won under Tara Vanderveer, who, by the way, was still still with us coaching
32:38us right through this year.
32:40And so that's so my first two experiences, the Olympics have very much were impressed
32:47and meaning made meaningful by our USA women's basketball and the UN.
32:53Never forget those wonderful women from the UN.
32:55Yeah, I'm putting you on the spot.
32:57Did anybody chronicle where those where the women went after?
33:01I'm sure everybody.
33:02You know, I know at least one of them, I know, went to the NBA, WNBA or initial was a very
33:07good player.
33:08I'm trying to get a name now, but I can't.
33:09Right.
33:10OK.
33:11But, you know, but I know there was some they had Ukrainians, they had Uzbekistan, they
33:17had Georgia, you know, they had they had Russian, you know, there were Russians, pure Russians,
33:23you know, but but it was just.
33:26But they that's what they did.
33:27They're better that year.
33:28But it was EU when the unified team, because, you know, we no longer had the Soviet Union.
33:34Yeah.
33:35Bob, great stories, as always, my friend.
33:38Excellent stuff.
33:39Excellent, excellent stuff.
33:40All right.
33:41We'll talk to you again soon.
33:43We are brought to you by Price Picks, as always, the exclusive daily fantasy part of the CNS
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33:53See you next time.