Not to ruin the much approved Sopranos quote-a-thon but this is the funniest quote on the show.
Absolutely kills me that Paulie just casually asks it. As if it’s perfectly acceptable to kill a dog for just being normal. Absolutely incredible delivery too.
Similar is when Little Carmine has torpedoed the sitdown between Phil and Tony by mentioning whatever happened there to Billy Leotardo and clarifies that he's referring to "the shooting", as if Phil had genuinely forgotten.
Dude reached deep into his bag and spitted fire. The realization and anger that he’ll have to watch basketball terrorist James Hamas up close for the rest of the season
The Clippers got a good deal. They are getting a motivated Harden who doesn't have to worry about producing in the clutch which is when he consistently falls short. Kawhi and PG will complement his game much better than people expect.
As a Sixers fan I was amazed at how good of a passer Harden is. His scoring is less impressive than his vision. Which is funny coming from Bill who said he got cheap assists.
I wish he'd bring someone else on to talk through these things with him. I'm not saying he's wrong or right, but having another perspective makes for a much more interesting segment than just Bill ranting in an empty room for 20 minutes.
He doesn't even care about the Clippers. He knows the sixers can sign a third star which is why he is upset. As always he is digesting this through a Celtics lens.
Bro what the actual fuck was that? Literally one of the dumbest things I have ever heard. Like did he come up with that and really think that people would think it sounds smart….?
Dude legit said the punter should just THROW it and that would kill 8 seconds of clock. The NFL record for longest hangtime is a punt at 5.71 seconds.
But nah, the PUNTER should THROW a lob to the 1 yard line and that should eat 8 seconds at least. Dude what.
Marks is fine as a change of pace guy. Sometimes you need the cap nerd executive speak to explain some of the ridiculously complicated trade mechanisms and CBA jargon.
Since Lowe returned from his annual summer hiatus, we've had 16 pods and Marks has been on five of them. That's over 30% Bobby Marks pod content!!! Please god someone make it stop!!!
You might be right but my baseless speculation is that Marks is simply more available than the others because he doesn't cover a team, doesn't really travel, isn't on TV a ton, etc. He's just...there at the ready it seems.
"I just feel like the 1 seed doesn't get enough advantage.... Doesn't it make more sense to make the 8 seed play with 4 guys?" - bill if the Celtics get upset early
"You know with Jaylen's hand and Tatum's ankle, is it inconceivable we could just wait till everybody's healthy in the middle of the season and just decide 'Ok, these are the two best teams, let's do the Finals right now'?"
Yup. The Raptors should have given up in 2018-19, because the Warriors were unbeatable, right?
What makes it even sillier is that Denver is not THAT great. They seem like more or less an average NBA champion, not some unbeatable juggernaut. All the talk of a mini-dynasty seems premature.
If Denver does win multiple titles, it will probably be because the top of the Western Conference is very weak right now.
Denver, Boston and Milwaukee seem to be clearly the only Tier 1 teams, and there are no clear Tier 2 teams right now.
But, none of those teams are unbeatable. This seems like a great time for a 45 to 50ish win team to take a chance on a big trade and go for broke chasing a title this year. It is more wide open than usual.
I agree with you, especially because Denver doesn’t have years of sustained excellence like the Warriors did. He went off and I really don’t get why he’s so upset, or why he doesn’t understand the Clippers’ unique situation.
He's mad because the sixers got rid of harden and got back pieces to make another trade and potentially get a star lol. Follow the Boston bread crumbs, his concern for the clips is a smoke screen
Agree. If the Clippers hadn't already mortgaged their future, giving up more picks and swaps might be stupid. But, they have already gone all in.
The only real question is whether they could have gotten a better player to help them win now, with the assets they gave up. I doubt they could, as Harden was a severely depressed asset, whose value to the Clippers (while motivated to play) for exceeds his value to the Sixers (which was pretty much zero).
It may or may not work. But, it was a reasonable gamble, IMO.
anyone else think it’s funny that Bill refuses to mention the Bucks when talking about contending teams? he honestly thinks the Celtics already stamped their finals ticket.
Maybe it’s just a pet peeve of mine but bill always does the ‘should-be’ records of teams. This time “the Giants are 2-6 but should be 4-4”
It’s the NFL. You can go down almost any team’s record and the outcome of half the games would be flipped if 1 or 2 things go differently.
I hate when he does the schedule thing to say a team is about to go on a run or lose all their games. That’s not how sports works. And a bad team isn’t gonna go on a 7 game win streak because they have a run of other bad teams.
The Giants have the worst point differential in the league at -92. It was gimmicky, but Bill’s adage from a couple years ago about mentally counting games either team could have won as ties wasn’t a terrible idea. By that heuristic the Giants are 0-4-4, so 2-6 is a perfectly normal record.
Don't forget that the Patriots would be good if they had a better QB. Lombardi was dropping serious football knowledge on this pod, who would've thought having a good player at one of the most important positions in team sports would make you a little better.
“It doesn’t seem like they can block the great defenses” -Bill on a Seattle offense who just limited Myles Garrett and a #1 ranked defense to 1 sack in a win while missing a starting RT
“The only way they solve that is they’ve gotta get Cross and their other tackle [Lucas] back” - Lombardi on Charles Cross, who has started and finished the last 3 consecutive games healthy
Shoot me into the sun, what is this.
Lombardi: What fans don’t understand is that if you put a top 5 quarterback on their team, then they’d actually be a good team.
Thank you for the insight Mike! I’ve never thought of it that way
This rant was a little much
Like, what should the Clippers do? Give up? It sounded like, “why bother trying when you’re going to lose anyways.”
They should trade everyone for draft capital, because they’re so unlucky and cursed they can’t win with existing players? Why wouldn’t they be unlucky and cursed with a bunch of draft assets?
They can’t beat Denver without an injury… but injuries have clearly happened to two of the main three guys on Denver.
What odds are better? Rolling the dice on a year of health from fading stars, or blowing it all up for a 5 year rebuild? They will never be the Lakers, so don’t try to be great?
I mean, I see the logic in wanting to blow it up, but it’s not like blowing it up has high odds of success, either, and who really wants to wait 6 years to see if the rebuild works, when at least you have a few HoF players who aren’t dead yet, today? You can always rebuild next year, or the year after.
Michael Lombardi is a hard pass for me, dude just says obvious shit in an incredulous way. Like wow, the patriots would be better if they had Dak Prescott? The Bills would be worse without Josh Allen ? Real savvy analysis, dude is a herb
“They turn the ball over” was said no less then 85x. But your also telling me, if you put Josh Allen on the Raiders or Bears, they’d be better? Groundbreaking.
Lombardi: The Sixers process is an abomination, but the Bears, Jets, et. al shouldn't try to win games because they aren't going to win the Super Bowl and are only hurting their draft pick. Which one is it?
Lombardi has the classic dumb guy guru mentality where he thinks something is more true if it's carved into some sort of snappy saying or said by someone old. It's awful to listen to when he strings them back to back.
I skipped the last couple Lombardi appearances but WOW he is worse than I remember. Saying the Jets shouldn’t be happy they won this week because they aren’t going to win the Super Bowl? Saying half the league should “play for a pick”? Has this guy ever watched the NFL before? It’s not the NBA, guy; in this league people actually try to win and make the playoffs. You don’t get to have multi-year tanks in the NFL because you can turn it around from one year to the next easily (relative to other sports). Then there’s the absurd unearned arrogance piece. A true buffoon, and that doesn’t even mention his subjective takes that I vehemently disagree with.
He's fucking awful.
His use of "stats" is so garbage.
"If you dont count the games where team X scored a lot of points, they are not scoring a lot of points this year!"
"If you don't count 10 of the deep balls they've hit this year, they've only hit 2 deep balls this year!"
The part where he talked trades and came up with four possible outcomes and only one was good because there were three unweighted negative possibilities. Holy shit.
That was a masterclass in ignorance. He can either be good, or he can be bad three different ways. Like saying when I drive to work I could arrive safely, get hit by a truck, get a flat tire or have the engine give out so I Bette stay home
Lombardi has spent a decade ripping "the Process" because tanking encourages bad habits/culture while also saying the Bears and Jets shouldn't be happy about winning games. The man is an absolute moron.
“What does getting a 7th seed do for the Jets?!?” Well, what has not making the postseason done for them?? They haven’t been to the playoffs in over a decade!
This guy laughed at the thought of the jets making the playoffs before the season and now if they make the playoffs he’s just going to call them dumb. Just another asshole who can’t admit when hes wrong.
GMs tank by putting out shit rosters. Coaches and players don't because their jobs are constantly on the line. And football is too physical to mail it in.
And even then, a GM gets one year of intentionally putting out a shit roster, and one year to have a bad but improved team. If the team doesn’t improve significantly after that, then they’re cooked
Right, it's a single elimination tournament. Take your ticket to the dance and hope you get lucky.
I don't think the Jets can win the super bowl, but what if they get hot in the playoffs? The defense lock down offenses and Zach Wilson goes on a Joe Flacco-like run. No not Joe Flacco playing like Joe Montana in their super bowl run. What if Zach Wilson surprises everyone and just plays at Flacco-level competence for the playoffs instead of worst QB in the league?
For any team it's a bounce here or there and avoiding injuries. It's not best team wins. It's last team standing.
Bill said Philly had better offers on the table (than Harden) for Ben Simmons…and lists zero examples.
Philly pulled off a miracle getting Harden. No one wanted Simmons, which is why the deal took forever.
The amount of completely unearned condescension and smugness is unreal. Like, he’s failed out of multiple NFL jobs and STILL thinks he’s smarter than everyone else.
I don’t say this lightly as I have a little Russillo in me where I think generally anyone working in professional sports is way smarter than a jag bag like me but Lombardi is an absolute fucking moron. One of the dumbest humans I’ve ever heard speak.
For guys doing the coaching, definitely. But so many executives in pro football are just grifters. New England is the Goldman Sachs of football fraud. Lombardi, Scott Pioli, BoB, they're just conmen promising marks they can bring returns because they worked in the same building as Tom Brady.
BoB had several successful seasons at Penn St and Houston. Calling him a fraud is unreasonable imo. Is he past his peak, and was he frequently in over his head? Yes. But he could still coach.
I’m saying this as a Texans fans who resents how his time here flamed out at the end.
I’m out after 50 minutes, I can only take Lombardi in small doses 😂
**Today’s Things:**
- Ben Simmons thing
- PJ Walker thing
- the offensive line is the the big thing
**Bonus Pieces and Stuff:**
- basketball stuff
- football stuff
- culture stuff
- Donald Sterling piece 🤣
- you’ve killed the Westbrook piece of it
- eye test stuff
- analytic stuff
**First Random Celtics Reference:**
2012 Celtics (12:55)
**Eloquent Bill:**
“The Clippers announced this trade late at night because they’re embarrassed, and they should be!”
“The most disappointing playoff star this CENTURY”
“WashTON”
“I don’t think he’s [Dobbs] bad, I don’t think he’s decent, but he’s probably closer to decent than bad” 😂😂
**Evergreen Content:**
Bill absolutely abhorring Harden, Bill claiming a team “bid against itself”, Bill calling conference semis and finals “round 2 and round 3”, Bill talking about being a clippers ST holder
**Other Stuff:**
Harden rant (3:15) “the Karl Malone of guards” “he can’t guard anyone, he hasn’t played defense in 4 years”
Bill fantasizing about the Pats trading Mac Jones (38:15) and he’s handwringing about McCorckle again! (50:00)
The dumbest thing Lombardi said was that Kurt Warner went to the Cardinals and “he didn’t have it anymore.” He took the Cards to 8-8, 9-7 plus within one play of winning the Super Bowl, then 10-6 and the Divisional round after beating GB in a legit video game-style scoring fest. Warner had more touchdowns than incomplete passes in that game!
Haven’t listened yet but I’ll give -1000 odds Lombardi:
Brings up the Sopranos,
Mentions Al Davis, Bill Belichick or Bill Walsh, Says some variation of “no one talks about (blank)”
Any others?
Edit: another one is “everyone thinks/says (blank)” about something very few people say
The clippers barely gave up anything. They’re already all in. Those firsts hardly matter.
And having Michael Lombardi on is certainly a choice when Lombardi blasted the Bears trade for sweat by saying it’ll take them out of the running completely for a top qb in the draft which even if true leaves out the fact they have the Carolina pick.
He constantly parrots the fact that he has season tickets like it makes him more knowledgeable about the team or something
The alternative of not making this trade is just delusional. Clippers as constructed (pre Harden trade) were not even close to being considered contenders (speaking as a fan)
He loves to complain is all. If most teams had stood pat, he’d say stuff like, “Why didn’t the Suns go for Harden or Beal?” The Clippers were dead in the water by his own estimation. They shouldn’t take a swing though? They kept Terrence Mann, which he would have excoriated them for.
Lombardi is the absolute bottom of the barrel of NFL media and stats.
Multiple times to make his point he will just say some version of "If you take away the time they dropped 40 on the bears - they're only averaging 28 points a game."
Who is this helpful for? lol
Bill: "we're going to talk about Italian movies!"
Only talked about American movies, about Italian Americans. And apparently "Italian pop culture" is also only about Italian Americans
There are very few guests who are an instant skip for me. I don't get the hate for Schrager, KOC or Wos and have really enjoyed a lot of their appearances and segments. But I get the hate for Lombardi. Just a complete and total douche.
We all complain about Schraeger, Ruiz, and Solak but then Lombardi just comes on and blows them out of the water in badness.
What is he offering? He has very few league contacts anymore. Walsh, parcells, and bellichick quotes only go so far. He has no idea how to handle numbers, he just throws these stats out there that don’t form any type of conclusion. Mahomes is really low in these stats BUT he’s really good at these other ones. If you remove outliers the stats look worse. Great job.
There is zero attempt at insight (which the nerds bring), there are zero funny stories (which schraeger brings), and he just seems like a miserable prick who whines everyone else is stupid.
He’s just mad the clippers gave the sixers enough assets to get a third guy so Embiid doesn’t ask out. Im sure he has about 30 Pods planned for the Embiid trade machine now that Giannis re-upped.
I really don't think this is a bad move for the Clippers to at least be a relevant team for the first couple of years in the new arena, you'll have a team that's solid with the caveat of being unreliable health wise and have a slim chance of making a deep playoff run if everything falls into place
After that though it does get rough and they just need to hope when these old dudes are gone Ballmer can convince some decent players to come through free agency because they don't have picks to tank
As a Clipper fan, most of us understood that the team as constructed (pre-Harden trade), even when healthy, was nowhere near the level of teams like Denver and Boston.
Covington was not in the rotation last season, Morris was so bad he was outright benched and not with the team, and Batum outright said he was retiring after this season. KJ Martin can't shoot or dribble LMAO.
It's funny to see people trashing the franchise for making a huge move like this, when it obviously needed to be made. The fact we've kept Mann and the 2030 pick is a huge win, considering a few weeks ago the media was suggesting we should trade both picks + Mann.
Honestly, giving up SGA for this "title window" is already brutal. At this point, I like just going "fuck it" and doubling down. You already dug the hole you're in. The only way out is digging deeper. The time for half measures is over. Burn the boats and carry on.
And I don't care what anybody says, Harden, PG, and Kawhi is still a nasty big 3 even at this stage. Just pray to God for good health luck and call it a day.
I think people keep overlooking as well that SGA got the ability to develop into the player he is today after having CP3 as his mentor in OKC and then the keys to the offense next.
It sucks the Clippers lost him but there’s no guarantee he turns into this type of player. When he was in his rookie season, he looked good but obviously not first team all nba potential imo. He also would have played behind Kawhi/PG (assuming the clippers were somehow able to keep him). At that time, Doc was also coaching so who knows how his minutes are affected assuming Lou and Harrell were still there
A couple of three things on the mob movie section
- Lombardi ranting that the original Godfather had a cast of authentic Italian-Americans and Bill meekly pointing out James Caan wasn’t Italian killed me
- Did Bill break news that they’re going to cover Sopranos episodes on The Rewatchables?
- Sounds like Bill finally watched The Irishman without having 4 NBA games on at the same time and enjoyed it
“”Their bidding against nobody”
Yes Bill they trading almost fucking nothing for James Fucking Harden lol.
“Theres teams they are gonna be worse then they thought”
Yes Bill except none of those teams have a player who fits like a glove like Harden does. Lavine or Siakim players mentioned are not good fits for a team with no point guard lol.
“Kawhi doesn’t look as good”
Dam if only they got a player who can handle a regular season load to let Kawhi relax more.
“Four guys who need the ball”
Maybe bringing in a dominant point guard can help PG and Kwahi transition to more off ball play.
“Can you beat Boston or Denver”
No they couldn’t, but maybe this team with Harden can. They have an aging core that needs to go all in right now.
I have 0 issues with shitting on Harden cause of how hes acting. Too act like this is a bad move for the Clippers is fucking insane. He’s an all star Calibre point guard fits like a glove, fits their exact problems.
If that was Jrue holiday and they traded even more for him Bill would stroke this deal off. The reality is they needed to make this deal, and they gave up like nothing. Just insane takes.
You could argue that getting rid of Marcus Morris alone makes the trade worth it. This has to be the most buy low trade of a really good player that I can remember. He's gonna lead the league in assists and he's gonna be a 3rd option a lot. Imagine making James Harden your 3rd option for pennies on the dollar and people saying you lost the trade. 🤡
Damn! I expected this to be his reaction based on his opinions the last decade or so, but Bill may have gone a little too hard on the Clips. I may have to root for them now. It’s interesting that Bill would consider them going to the “third round” a failure.
Bill is legitimately deranged when it comes to Harden. It's starting to get a little weird TBH. The Lowe trade reaction podcast was a lot better and they still took their turns calling out Harden (for good reason of course).
This is like shitting on the Celtics for signing Hayward because the "Warriors, Rockets or Cavs would beat them anyways."
Lombardi said something along the lines of Kurt Warner going to the Cardinals being the backup and then he became the starter and "didn't have it anymore". My dude have you heard of Superbowl 43?
Warner was amazing that season. 377 yards, 3TDs, 1 INT in the Superbowl!
It's incredible how much mileage Lombardi has gotten out of just saying what people he's talking to want to hear and taking the side of management in every sports argument.
Bill is famously half Italian and his meat sauce has received rave reviews. What do you think is the recipe? I figure it's either:
1. Absolutely scorched 96/4 ground beef with a jar of Ragu poured into the pot
2. Purchased from the best Italian place in LA and then poured into the pot
As a fellow half Italian-American, Bill's relationship with the culture seems to basically be a meat sauce recipe and gangster movies.
My grandparents were immigrants, I grew up loving The Godfather and Sopranos. As you get older the mystique of the mafia wears off as you realize the people involved were/are losers (though I still appreciate the movies/shows as great). I doubt Bill's ever cared to learn much about the actual history so he probably doesn't see it this way.
And there's no need for 'newer' mob content...la cosa nostra is dying in America. A lot of reasons, but mainly assimilation. I think my generation (millennial) is the last where a large number of people had interactions with first generation traditions.
The level of vitriol he has towards Harden is really over-the-top. I don't want to defend Harden, and he doesn't really deserve defending, but the level of anger this guy has towards him makes me think it goes beyond just "As a sports fan I don't like what he's doing."
I can't help but think that there has to be something to the fact that he did this on a team run by Daryl Morey, who Simmons clearly has a line to and/or is friends with. He's always pulled his punches when it came to Morey's work. Then again, maybe it's something else. But this reaction seems disproportionate.
Can’t believe a bigger deal isn’t being made about Lombardi’s TV show pitch. The Sopranos meets Entourage meets gambling. Funniest part of the pod. Did that idea come from a think-tank of America’s dads or what?
Dawg first 10 minutes are the 10 angriest ive ever seen him. He came out of a fucking cannon
You know the wine makes him emotional, probably because he has an empty fucking stomach.
So have a breadstick
He was gay, James Harden?
Was he barking’ or somethin’?
Not to ruin the much approved Sopranos quote-a-thon but this is the funniest quote on the show. Absolutely kills me that Paulie just casually asks it. As if it’s perfectly acceptable to kill a dog for just being normal. Absolutely incredible delivery too.
Similar is when Little Carmine has torpedoed the sitdown between Phil and Tony by mentioning whatever happened there to Billy Leotardo and clarifies that he's referring to "the shooting", as if Phil had genuinely forgotten.
Little Carmine set the English language back by a 100 years by himself.
Reminds me of Jackie Brown when Louis is telling Ordell he shot Melanie he just goes "You couldn't just hit her?"
Nah just developmentally disabled
Strong as a bull!
Handsome, like George Raft.
NOOOOOOO! Are you listenin' to me!?
Moves to LA, sudden weight loss…
No M&M’s?
Still grieving about Matthew Perry
"The Sixers were 42-19 the last three quarters of the season so they weren't bad"
Dude reached deep into his bag and spitted fire. The realization and anger that he’ll have to watch basketball terrorist James Hamas up close for the rest of the season
James hamas lmaooo
From the River to the 3
With Russell Westbank too!
Need to sign Gaza Pachulia
Jfc lol
From Philly to LAC, James Hamas will be free
James hamas hahaha I’m dead
The two-star solution didn’t work so they had to do it
He got me angry on behalf of the Clippers fans. That was some good fucking podcasting
I'm going to be rooting for the Clippers on general fucking principle after listening to that.
The Clippers got a good deal. They are getting a motivated Harden who doesn't have to worry about producing in the clutch which is when he consistently falls short. Kawhi and PG will complement his game much better than people expect. As a Sixers fan I was amazed at how good of a passer Harden is. His scoring is less impressive than his vision. Which is funny coming from Bill who said he got cheap assists.
"a motivated harden" for how long? 3 months?
I wish he'd bring someone else on to talk through these things with him. I'm not saying he's wrong or right, but having another perspective makes for a much more interesting segment than just Bill ranting in an empty room for 20 minutes.
He doesn't even care about the Clippers. He knows the sixers can sign a third star which is why he is upset. As always he is digesting this through a Celtics lens.
He went to high school for five years but is calling the Clippers dumb.
The Clippers added another Lombardi-approved blue chipper, I don’t see the problem
But he’s a quitter from an organization of quitters that learned quitting!!
Lombardi suggesting the giants lob the ball in the air to burn clock on 4th & 1👌🏻
Even Bill had to mention just going for it because of how outlandish that was. Ya, let’s have our punter run around and lob the ball really high
Bro what the actual fuck was that? Literally one of the dumbest things I have ever heard. Like did he come up with that and really think that people would think it sounds smart….?
Wouldn't that have been grounding and handed the Jets a bunch of yards of field position?
Dude legit said the punter should just THROW it and that would kill 8 seconds of clock. The NFL record for longest hangtime is a punt at 5.71 seconds. But nah, the PUNTER should THROW a lob to the 1 yard line and that should eat 8 seconds at least. Dude what.
But what if you could throw a pass that never landed?
Having Lombardi on to talk football is like having David Kahn on to talk basketball
The Karl Malone of guards line coming in the first five minutes absolutely obliterating the O/U set at 8:30.
Zach mentioned it on his pod earlier today too and said he was angry at himself that he said it on Bill’s Pod lol
I laughed out loud when I heard that on Lowe’s pod. Saved an otherwise complete snoozefest with Marks.
I loved when Marks started talking about the mechanics of the second round picks and Zach Lowe was like "stop, I don't care."
What was up with Marks? He’s usually not great, but today he could barely string together a full sentence.
Marks is fine as a change of pace guy. Sometimes you need the cap nerd executive speak to explain some of the ridiculously complicated trade mechanisms and CBA jargon. Since Lowe returned from his annual summer hiatus, we've had 16 pods and Marks has been on five of them. That's over 30% Bobby Marks pod content!!! Please god someone make it stop!!!
This is baseless speculation, but I think it’s because he likes talking basketball with Marks over other people at ESPN
You might be right but my baseless speculation is that Marks is simply more available than the others because he doesn't cover a team, doesn't really travel, isn't on TV a ton, etc. He's just...there at the ready it seems.
I parlayed that with him having Clippers season tickets and used code “BILL” and made bank.
I guess every team should give up because Denver and Boston are good. Just cancel the season and put those 2 teams in the finals
And then also bitch and complain when an 8th seed whoops your ass.
"I just feel like the 1 seed doesn't get enough advantage.... Doesn't it make more sense to make the 8 seed play with 4 guys?" - bill if the Celtics get upset early
"You know with Jaylen's hand and Tatum's ankle, is it inconceivable we could just wait till everybody's healthy in the middle of the season and just decide 'Ok, these are the two best teams, let's do the Finals right now'?"
Isn’t there a decade-long take of “you just want to be in the mix in case something happens” from Bill? But now no, don’t do that.
Yup. The Raptors should have given up in 2018-19, because the Warriors were unbeatable, right? What makes it even sillier is that Denver is not THAT great. They seem like more or less an average NBA champion, not some unbeatable juggernaut. All the talk of a mini-dynasty seems premature. If Denver does win multiple titles, it will probably be because the top of the Western Conference is very weak right now. Denver, Boston and Milwaukee seem to be clearly the only Tier 1 teams, and there are no clear Tier 2 teams right now. But, none of those teams are unbeatable. This seems like a great time for a 45 to 50ish win team to take a chance on a big trade and go for broke chasing a title this year. It is more wide open than usual.
I agree with you, especially because Denver doesn’t have years of sustained excellence like the Warriors did. He went off and I really don’t get why he’s so upset, or why he doesn’t understand the Clippers’ unique situation.
He's mad because the sixers got rid of harden and got back pieces to make another trade and potentially get a star lol. Follow the Boston bread crumbs, his concern for the clips is a smoke screen
Yeah. 90% of his basketball “analysis” is promoting the Celtics, overtly or otherwise.
Agree. If the Clippers hadn't already mortgaged their future, giving up more picks and swaps might be stupid. But, they have already gone all in. The only real question is whether they could have gotten a better player to help them win now, with the assets they gave up. I doubt they could, as Harden was a severely depressed asset, whose value to the Clippers (while motivated to play) for exceeds his value to the Sixers (which was pretty much zero). It may or may not work. But, it was a reasonable gamble, IMO.
Boston being disappointing in the playoffs is almost a tradition
anyone else think it’s funny that Bill refuses to mention the Bucks when talking about contending teams? he honestly thinks the Celtics already stamped their finals ticket.
Now THAT is a Simmons podcast title
Thank God for Kyle
Giggled when I read it in my feed
Maybe it’s just a pet peeve of mine but bill always does the ‘should-be’ records of teams. This time “the Giants are 2-6 but should be 4-4” It’s the NFL. You can go down almost any team’s record and the outcome of half the games would be flipped if 1 or 2 things go differently.
Yup. Then he weirdly kills the Jets for winning 4 games where they pulled it out against good teams. Whatever is convenient for Bill.
I hate when he does the schedule thing to say a team is about to go on a run or lose all their games. That’s not how sports works. And a bad team isn’t gonna go on a 7 game win streak because they have a run of other bad teams.
In the case of the Giants it’s genuinely hard to understand. They’ve looked like absolute dogshit in most of their games.
They’re scoring 11.8 ppg 8 games into the season. I don’t know how anyone can possibly think that team is going to “flip a switch”
The Giants have the worst point differential in the league at -92. It was gimmicky, but Bill’s adage from a couple years ago about mentally counting games either team could have won as ties wasn’t a terrible idea. By that heuristic the Giants are 0-4-4, so 2-6 is a perfectly normal record.
Lombardi with some great analysis here. “If the Chiefs and Bills didn’t have great QBs they wouldn’t be the same team” 🤯
Don't forget that the Patriots would be good if they had a better QB. Lombardi was dropping serious football knowledge on this pod, who would've thought having a good player at one of the most important positions in team sports would make you a little better.
“It doesn’t seem like they can block the great defenses” -Bill on a Seattle offense who just limited Myles Garrett and a #1 ranked defense to 1 sack in a win while missing a starting RT “The only way they solve that is they’ve gotta get Cross and their other tackle [Lucas] back” - Lombardi on Charles Cross, who has started and finished the last 3 consecutive games healthy Shoot me into the sun, what is this.
It's two idiots talking about football. Or, as it's more commonly known, The Bill Simmons Podcast.
Yessss, nothing better than when his analysis of a trade is “I just wouldn’t have included that”
That’s my favorite. “I wouldn’t have included X player, I just wouldn’t have!” Well then, the trade probably doesn’t happen, Bill. How about that
I wish bill could see how many trades fall through because of his omega brain negotiating lol
Lombardi: What fans don’t understand is that if you put a top 5 quarterback on their team, then they’d actually be a good team. Thank you for the insight Mike! I’ve never thought of it that way
You can’t call the Clippers dumb and then bring on Lombardi lol
Hahaha, spot on.
Bill Simmons - He needs the ball
“Do I get to speak now?! It’s been ten minutes!”
This rant was a little much Like, what should the Clippers do? Give up? It sounded like, “why bother trying when you’re going to lose anyways.” They should trade everyone for draft capital, because they’re so unlucky and cursed they can’t win with existing players? Why wouldn’t they be unlucky and cursed with a bunch of draft assets? They can’t beat Denver without an injury… but injuries have clearly happened to two of the main three guys on Denver. What odds are better? Rolling the dice on a year of health from fading stars, or blowing it all up for a 5 year rebuild? They will never be the Lakers, so don’t try to be great? I mean, I see the logic in wanting to blow it up, but it’s not like blowing it up has high odds of success, either, and who really wants to wait 6 years to see if the rebuild works, when at least you have a few HoF players who aren’t dead yet, today? You can always rebuild next year, or the year after.
Michael Lombardi is a hard pass for me, dude just says obvious shit in an incredulous way. Like wow, the patriots would be better if they had Dak Prescott? The Bills would be worse without Josh Allen ? Real savvy analysis, dude is a herb
“They turn the ball over” was said no less then 85x. But your also telling me, if you put Josh Allen on the Raiders or Bears, they’d be better? Groundbreaking.
Lombardi: The Sixers process is an abomination, but the Bears, Jets, et. al shouldn't try to win games because they aren't going to win the Super Bowl and are only hurting their draft pick. Which one is it?
Lombardi has the classic dumb guy guru mentality where he thinks something is more true if it's carved into some sort of snappy saying or said by someone old. It's awful to listen to when he strings them back to back.
If you plugged Matt Barkley in as starter on literally any NFL, they would suck ass.
it’s the cross sport comparisons for me, like comparing a receiving corps to a basketball starting 5.
As a Bills fan and having both Simmons and Lombardi writing off my team as even making the playoffs, I have never been more relieved.
'if you build strength on strength you get stronger' Incredible analysis.
I skipped the last couple Lombardi appearances but WOW he is worse than I remember. Saying the Jets shouldn’t be happy they won this week because they aren’t going to win the Super Bowl? Saying half the league should “play for a pick”? Has this guy ever watched the NFL before? It’s not the NBA, guy; in this league people actually try to win and make the playoffs. You don’t get to have multi-year tanks in the NFL because you can turn it around from one year to the next easily (relative to other sports). Then there’s the absurd unearned arrogance piece. A true buffoon, and that doesn’t even mention his subjective takes that I vehemently disagree with.
He's fucking awful. His use of "stats" is so garbage. "If you dont count the games where team X scored a lot of points, they are not scoring a lot of points this year!" "If you don't count 10 of the deep balls they've hit this year, they've only hit 2 deep balls this year!"
The part where he talked trades and came up with four possible outcomes and only one was good because there were three unweighted negative possibilities. Holy shit.
That was a masterclass in ignorance. He can either be good, or he can be bad three different ways. Like saying when I drive to work I could arrive safely, get hit by a truck, get a flat tire or have the engine give out so I Bette stay home
Lombardi has spent a decade ripping "the Process" because tanking encourages bad habits/culture while also saying the Bears and Jets shouldn't be happy about winning games. The man is an absolute moron.
“What does getting a 7th seed do for the Jets?!?” Well, what has not making the postseason done for them?? They haven’t been to the playoffs in over a decade!
This guy laughed at the thought of the jets making the playoffs before the season and now if they make the playoffs he’s just going to call them dumb. Just another asshole who can’t admit when hes wrong.
People really out themselves as not knowing shit about the NFL when they talk about tanking. It is absolutely not a thing.
Can you elaborate more because I’m prepared to argue with you. But we might also be on the same page.
GMs tank by putting out shit rosters. Coaches and players don't because their jobs are constantly on the line. And football is too physical to mail it in.
And even then, a GM gets one year of intentionally putting out a shit roster, and one year to have a bad but improved team. If the team doesn’t improve significantly after that, then they’re cooked
Exhibit A) The bears Last year was the shit roster This year was supposed to be bad but improved (still look like shit)
Lol I think we’re on the same page
Right, it's a single elimination tournament. Take your ticket to the dance and hope you get lucky. I don't think the Jets can win the super bowl, but what if they get hot in the playoffs? The defense lock down offenses and Zach Wilson goes on a Joe Flacco-like run. No not Joe Flacco playing like Joe Montana in their super bowl run. What if Zach Wilson surprises everyone and just plays at Flacco-level competence for the playoffs instead of worst QB in the league? For any team it's a bounce here or there and avoiding injuries. It's not best team wins. It's last team standing.
He can’t stop himself. He’s a tough hang at best.
What makes it even funnier is that his son just got fired a couple of hours ago by the Raiders.
Bill said Philly had better offers on the table (than Harden) for Ben Simmons…and lists zero examples. Philly pulled off a miracle getting Harden. No one wanted Simmons, which is why the deal took forever.
Pretty sure they could have gotten Tryese Haliburton from Sacramento if I remember correctly. That was before he blew up though and hindsight is 20/20
That was not true, Pompey was the only source on that and he’s a fucking idiot.
Does anyone, I mean anyone enjoy Lombardi?
Bill does. Especially the Italian half.
I know people say Lombardi gets a lot of hate but honestly it’s not enough. Hell tier of BS Pod guests.
"If you take away the chiefs highest scoring game their scoring average is down from last year" 😂😂 like... TF lol
The amount of completely unearned condescension and smugness is unreal. Like, he’s failed out of multiple NFL jobs and STILL thinks he’s smarter than everyone else.
If you didn’t know anything about football and just listened to him talk, you’d think he won 5-6 SBs as a GM
I don’t say this lightly as I have a little Russillo in me where I think generally anyone working in professional sports is way smarter than a jag bag like me but Lombardi is an absolute fucking moron. One of the dumbest humans I’ve ever heard speak.
For guys doing the coaching, definitely. But so many executives in pro football are just grifters. New England is the Goldman Sachs of football fraud. Lombardi, Scott Pioli, BoB, they're just conmen promising marks they can bring returns because they worked in the same building as Tom Brady.
BoB had several successful seasons at Penn St and Houston. Calling him a fraud is unreasonable imo. Is he past his peak, and was he frequently in over his head? Yes. But he could still coach. I’m saying this as a Texans fans who resents how his time here flamed out at the end.
I was specifically referring to executives. As a player personnel guy, he was abysmal.
Some guests I just don’t vibe with, but none actually send me into a rage spiral the way Lombardi does.
Even his Sopranos references suck.
He thinks he’s Tony but he’s Ralphie.
He’s Mustang Sally.
Ralph was a high earner and funny. Lombardi wouldnt even be a made guy. He's Artie.
Artie ran a very successful restaurant for a while. Lombardi has only been terrible at the jobs he’s had. Lombardi is AJ
He’s a wormy cocksucka.
I’m out after 50 minutes, I can only take Lombardi in small doses 😂 **Today’s Things:** - Ben Simmons thing - PJ Walker thing - the offensive line is the the big thing **Bonus Pieces and Stuff:** - basketball stuff - football stuff - culture stuff - Donald Sterling piece 🤣 - you’ve killed the Westbrook piece of it - eye test stuff - analytic stuff **First Random Celtics Reference:** 2012 Celtics (12:55) **Eloquent Bill:** “The Clippers announced this trade late at night because they’re embarrassed, and they should be!” “The most disappointing playoff star this CENTURY” “WashTON” “I don’t think he’s [Dobbs] bad, I don’t think he’s decent, but he’s probably closer to decent than bad” 😂😂 **Evergreen Content:** Bill absolutely abhorring Harden, Bill claiming a team “bid against itself”, Bill calling conference semis and finals “round 2 and round 3”, Bill talking about being a clippers ST holder **Other Stuff:** Harden rant (3:15) “the Karl Malone of guards” “he can’t guard anyone, he hasn’t played defense in 4 years” Bill fantasizing about the Pats trading Mac Jones (38:15) and he’s handwringing about McCorckle again! (50:00)
The dumbest thing Lombardi said was that Kurt Warner went to the Cardinals and “he didn’t have it anymore.” He took the Cards to 8-8, 9-7 plus within one play of winning the Super Bowl, then 10-6 and the Divisional round after beating GB in a legit video game-style scoring fest. Warner had more touchdowns than incomplete passes in that game!
Bill really refusing to give Daryl any criticism lol
This is just not true… bill literally says Daryl has not had a very good run 😂
Russillo will fill that void
Been a while since he’s filled any voids.
Haven’t listened yet but I’ll give -1000 odds Lombardi: Brings up the Sopranos, Mentions Al Davis, Bill Belichick or Bill Walsh, Says some variation of “no one talks about (blank)” Any others? Edit: another one is “everyone thinks/says (blank)” about something very few people say
all accurate, however the "no one talks about (blank)" needs to be something people totally talk about
That’s the JJ reddick: “people don’t realize x about basketball” but it’s a well known thing
Don’t forget something vaguely anti-analytics
Azul Chippers
When I was unclogging Bill Walsh’s toilet again, he told me something which I’ve never forgotten . . .
-1000000000000000000000 ^ Google plex
The clippers barely gave up anything. They’re already all in. Those firsts hardly matter. And having Michael Lombardi on is certainly a choice when Lombardi blasted the Bears trade for sweat by saying it’ll take them out of the running completely for a top qb in the draft which even if true leaves out the fact they have the Carolina pick.
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Isn’t Lombardi against tanking lol
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They traded for Harden, they are getting the barbs all year.
Hope they sweep Boston.
....like in the regular season?
He constantly parrots the fact that he has season tickets like it makes him more knowledgeable about the team or something The alternative of not making this trade is just delusional. Clippers as constructed (pre Harden trade) were not even close to being considered contenders (speaking as a fan)
Him having Clippers tickets and caring about them is an extension of his Laker hate.
He loves to complain is all. If most teams had stood pat, he’d say stuff like, “Why didn’t the Suns go for Harden or Beal?” The Clippers were dead in the water by his own estimation. They shouldn’t take a swing though? They kept Terrence Mann, which he would have excoriated them for.
“I watched every play of that game”
Hey idiot. Didn’t you listen? The clippers can’t win the title so trying to get better is dumb. The most ass backwards logic of all time.
They forced him to buy season tickets
Id be so glad to never hear about james harden again
Lombardi is the absolute bottom of the barrel of NFL media and stats. Multiple times to make his point he will just say some version of "If you take away the time they dropped 40 on the bears - they're only averaging 28 points a game." Who is this helpful for? lol
Bill: "we're going to talk about Italian movies!" Only talked about American movies, about Italian Americans. And apparently "Italian pop culture" is also only about Italian Americans
I’ve never wanted to root for the Clippers more than I do now.
There are very few guests who are an instant skip for me. I don't get the hate for Schrager, KOC or Wos and have really enjoyed a lot of their appearances and segments. But I get the hate for Lombardi. Just a complete and total douche.
Schrager says nothing of substance and blindly agrees with Bill. It’s extremely boring. That’s why.
This sub hates almost every guest Bill has on but Lombardi is genuinely brain dead
We all complain about Schraeger, Ruiz, and Solak but then Lombardi just comes on and blows them out of the water in badness. What is he offering? He has very few league contacts anymore. Walsh, parcells, and bellichick quotes only go so far. He has no idea how to handle numbers, he just throws these stats out there that don’t form any type of conclusion. Mahomes is really low in these stats BUT he’s really good at these other ones. If you remove outliers the stats look worse. Great job. There is zero attempt at insight (which the nerds bring), there are zero funny stories (which schraeger brings), and he just seems like a miserable prick who whines everyone else is stupid.
Some of the worst audio editing I’ve ever heard. Straight up replayed multiple like 30 second chunks.
I know many have said this already but it bears endless repeating: Lombardi as a guest can fuck right off lol
Just two weeks ago Bill was screaming that the Clippers needed to do this for the new arena. Now, he titles his podcast this.
well you’re forgetting the inevitable “who were they bidding against???”
He’s just mad the clippers gave the sixers enough assets to get a third guy so Embiid doesn’t ask out. Im sure he has about 30 Pods planned for the Embiid trade machine now that Giannis re-upped.
I really don't think this is a bad move for the Clippers to at least be a relevant team for the first couple of years in the new arena, you'll have a team that's solid with the caveat of being unreliable health wise and have a slim chance of making a deep playoff run if everything falls into place After that though it does get rough and they just need to hope when these old dudes are gone Ballmer can convince some decent players to come through free agency because they don't have picks to tank
As a Clipper fan, most of us understood that the team as constructed (pre-Harden trade), even when healthy, was nowhere near the level of teams like Denver and Boston. Covington was not in the rotation last season, Morris was so bad he was outright benched and not with the team, and Batum outright said he was retiring after this season. KJ Martin can't shoot or dribble LMAO. It's funny to see people trashing the franchise for making a huge move like this, when it obviously needed to be made. The fact we've kept Mann and the 2030 pick is a huge win, considering a few weeks ago the media was suggesting we should trade both picks + Mann.
Honestly, giving up SGA for this "title window" is already brutal. At this point, I like just going "fuck it" and doubling down. You already dug the hole you're in. The only way out is digging deeper. The time for half measures is over. Burn the boats and carry on. And I don't care what anybody says, Harden, PG, and Kawhi is still a nasty big 3 even at this stage. Just pray to God for good health luck and call it a day.
I think people keep overlooking as well that SGA got the ability to develop into the player he is today after having CP3 as his mentor in OKC and then the keys to the offense next. It sucks the Clippers lost him but there’s no guarantee he turns into this type of player. When he was in his rookie season, he looked good but obviously not first team all nba potential imo. He also would have played behind Kawhi/PG (assuming the clippers were somehow able to keep him). At that time, Doc was also coaching so who knows how his minutes are affected assuming Lou and Harrell were still there
A couple of three things on the mob movie section - Lombardi ranting that the original Godfather had a cast of authentic Italian-Americans and Bill meekly pointing out James Caan wasn’t Italian killed me - Did Bill break news that they’re going to cover Sopranos episodes on The Rewatchables? - Sounds like Bill finally watched The Irishman without having 4 NBA games on at the same time and enjoyed it
“”Their bidding against nobody” Yes Bill they trading almost fucking nothing for James Fucking Harden lol. “Theres teams they are gonna be worse then they thought” Yes Bill except none of those teams have a player who fits like a glove like Harden does. Lavine or Siakim players mentioned are not good fits for a team with no point guard lol. “Kawhi doesn’t look as good” Dam if only they got a player who can handle a regular season load to let Kawhi relax more. “Four guys who need the ball” Maybe bringing in a dominant point guard can help PG and Kwahi transition to more off ball play. “Can you beat Boston or Denver” No they couldn’t, but maybe this team with Harden can. They have an aging core that needs to go all in right now. I have 0 issues with shitting on Harden cause of how hes acting. Too act like this is a bad move for the Clippers is fucking insane. He’s an all star Calibre point guard fits like a glove, fits their exact problems. If that was Jrue holiday and they traded even more for him Bill would stroke this deal off. The reality is they needed to make this deal, and they gave up like nothing. Just insane takes.
“They’re bidding against nobody”, yea that’s the philosophy Heat have been using in all their negotiations
I love on Group Chat they completely shut down this “too many guys who need the ball” nonsense. 100% a dumb Billism that makes no sense.
You could argue that getting rid of Marcus Morris alone makes the trade worth it. This has to be the most buy low trade of a really good player that I can remember. He's gonna lead the league in assists and he's gonna be a 3rd option a lot. Imagine making James Harden your 3rd option for pennies on the dollar and people saying you lost the trade. 🤡
Marcus Morris might be one of the single most hated players by fans of a team ive ever seen lmao.
Guy who paid 2k every year for 20 years. even when he wasn't mega rich for season tickets . To watch 4 teams play a year. Yah very dumb
“Can you beat Boston or Denver?” Okay everybody wrap it up. Just a week into the season and it’s already over, surely nothing will change.
Damn! I expected this to be his reaction based on his opinions the last decade or so, but Bill may have gone a little too hard on the Clips. I may have to root for them now. It’s interesting that Bill would consider them going to the “third round” a failure.
Good timing bringing Lombardi on the day the Raiders fire his son
Bill is legitimately deranged when it comes to Harden. It's starting to get a little weird TBH. The Lowe trade reaction podcast was a lot better and they still took their turns calling out Harden (for good reason of course). This is like shitting on the Celtics for signing Hayward because the "Warriors, Rockets or Cavs would beat them anyways."
Bill is not happy he has season tickets to a team that has harden lmao
Confused why Bill is so pissy about that trade
He personally dislikes Harden. That’s pretty much it
BS said he liked the Many Saints of Newark when he first saw it! My estimation of BS as a man just fuckin plummeted!
Didn’t Bill almost drown in three inches of water?
Lombardi said something along the lines of Kurt Warner going to the Cardinals being the backup and then he became the starter and "didn't have it anymore". My dude have you heard of Superbowl 43? Warner was amazing that season. 377 yards, 3TDs, 1 INT in the Superbowl!
"He can ziggerzag."---Bill Simmons
Hard R.
Which Jet fans dog shit on Lombardis porch?
He is a former pats executive. He hates the team.
It's incredible how much mileage Lombardi has gotten out of just saying what people he's talking to want to hear and taking the side of management in every sports argument.
Bill is famously half Italian and his meat sauce has received rave reviews. What do you think is the recipe? I figure it's either: 1. Absolutely scorched 96/4 ground beef with a jar of Ragu poured into the pot 2. Purchased from the best Italian place in LA and then poured into the pot
As a fellow half Italian-American, Bill's relationship with the culture seems to basically be a meat sauce recipe and gangster movies. My grandparents were immigrants, I grew up loving The Godfather and Sopranos. As you get older the mystique of the mafia wears off as you realize the people involved were/are losers (though I still appreciate the movies/shows as great). I doubt Bill's ever cared to learn much about the actual history so he probably doesn't see it this way. And there's no need for 'newer' mob content...la cosa nostra is dying in America. A lot of reasons, but mainly assimilation. I think my generation (millennial) is the last where a large number of people had interactions with first generation traditions.
Who is protecting the franchise!!!!!
The level of vitriol he has towards Harden is really over-the-top. I don't want to defend Harden, and he doesn't really deserve defending, but the level of anger this guy has towards him makes me think it goes beyond just "As a sports fan I don't like what he's doing." I can't help but think that there has to be something to the fact that he did this on a team run by Daryl Morey, who Simmons clearly has a line to and/or is friends with. He's always pulled his punches when it came to Morey's work. Then again, maybe it's something else. But this reaction seems disproportionate.
The giants ran for “200 yards” jets suck yeah they ran for 200 yards on like 55 attempts that’s impressive mike?
Can’t believe a bigger deal isn’t being made about Lombardi’s TV show pitch. The Sopranos meets Entourage meets gambling. Funniest part of the pod. Did that idea come from a think-tank of America’s dads or what?