Le Batard broke down last night’s 78-75 loss to the Pacers: ”Miami has a lot of trouble scoring — even with two of the world’s best players — when they don’t have Chris Bosh,” Le Batard said.

Le Batard said Bosh is so valuable, because if Wade goes out, LeBron can do what he does and vice-versa. But when Bosh goes out, guys who wouldn’t even be in the League are filling in for him.

Le Batard said LeBron has to win a title.   “The standards are different for him than anyone else in the sport,” Le Batard said. He pointed to Wade made mistakes late and no one jumped on him because he has a hall pass after winning a title. “Once your golden once, your golden forever,” Le Batard said.

Le Batard said Bosh is not going to play in this series. He said the Heat say day-to-day because “that’s what espionage teams do.”

Karl commented on LeBron James’ fourth-quarter struggles. ”I’m rooting for LeBron to have more confidence and more savvy,” Karl said. He said he’d take him on his team in the fourth quarter any time.

Karl said there are a lot of great players who haven’t won a championship. “There are a lot of guys on that list,” Karl said.

Karl said the Lakers have trouble dealing with speed. He said they need to keep it physical and keep it inside. “The possession game is very much on their side,” Karl said. Karl also said the Lakers need to get something from Steve Blake and Ramon Sessions as well.

Karl said that he thinks San Antonio and Oklahoma City are well ahead of every other team in the West. He said the No. 3 seed in the West wasn’t too far from the No. 10 seed.

– Emrick gave Dan his due for jumping on the Kings bandwagon early. “If you can go five weeks and only lose one playoff game, you’re doing pretty good,” Emrick said.

– Emrick weighed in on Kings goal Jonathan Quick. He said he would get more attention on some other teams, but he’ll get that kind of attention if he makes the Stanley Cup Finals.

– Emrick said that the Rangers are the best defensive team left in the playoffs.

– Emrick said it’s easy to stay excited about calling the NHL after all these years. ”I love the sport I have ever since I saw my first game in Fort Wayne in 1960,” Emrick said.

Dan asked Carlisle if he was surprised the Pacers beat the Heat in Game 2. Carlisle said no, because they suffered a bad loss to Indy this season:  ”They beat us senseless. They have size and strength.”

Carlisle won’t rip the Heat and LeBron for the end of Game 2. He said it’s very hard to get a three-pointer at the end of the game when you need one. Carlisle said defenses take away the star players at the end. They can’t always get Dirk Nowitzki the shot in that situation.

Carlisle said that it’s not as simple as people are making it out. ”I don’t think it’s case where James doesn’t want the shot,” Carlisle said. “I don’t want my best player to take a shot with two guys draped all over him.”

Carlisle had a lot of praise for the Spurs. He said they do a better job of spacing the floor and it opens up all there three-pointers.

Carlisle said that Gregg Popovich is the best coach he’s gone against. Dan asked if he puts him ahead of Phil Jackson. “I do, because he hasn’t had the same kind of talent,” Carlisle said. Carlisle said that there will never be another coach who wins four titles in the same city in 16 years.

Dan asked if the Orioles are here to stay. ”I don’t know,” Showalter said. “I hope so. It’s about the pitching.”

Showalter talked about how being in the media has affected how he deals with them. He said he has gotten better. He said he’s more patient if he gets the same question over and over again. “Instead of fighting it, you just flow with it,” Showalter said.

Showalter commented on managing in Boston and New York and how tough it is. He said Bobby Valentine has gotten a tough rap in Boston. ”Bobby is a good manager,” Showalter said. “He’s had to deal with the injury problem.”

Showalter said that as tough as New York and Boston are, every manager in the league faces pressure.

Showalter said the toughest job he ever had is Triple-A. He said guys are going up and down and no one is really happy.

Showalter said that he thinks that players should be able to police the game to some extent and isn’t sure getting the umpires involved always helps. “Every time a pitch is thrown on the inner side of the plate, there’s drama,” Showalter said.

McNamara tried to talk about what it was like to ride that kind of wave. “It’s like snowboarding with an avalanche chasing you,” McNamara said.

He said he feels really natural in the water and he gets excited instead of nervous.

McNamara said that he didn’t even mean to surf that day. He was beat up from the day before when the waves were actually bigger.

McNamara wasn’t sure if there has ever been a bigger wave that went undocumented. But he said it was for him for sure. He had surfed a couple of 70-footers.

McNamara said he’s still looking for a “much bigger wave” and he’ll celebrate then.

Robinson commented on the lack of true big men in today’s game. Robinson said even if he came out now, he’d still play the same way even though everyone wants to play differently now.

“I loved being a big guy,” Robinson said. “I loved anchoring the team. There’s a lot of little guys around. There’s not that many big guys.”

Robinson weighed in on former teammate Tim Duncan’s place hin history. He thinks he’s the greatest power forward of all time.

“His statisitcs will hold up against everyone,” Robinson said. He also pointed to his leadership and attitude. He said two things work against him when it comes to legacy: 1) playing in a small market, 2) not drawing attention to himself.”

Dan asked Robinson the one one big guy he had the most trouble with. He said it was Hakeem Olajuwon because he was so sound.

Robinson talked about his son playing football at Notre Dame. He said that was out of his control. He thinks football is a bit nuts and admitted he is worried about all the news on concussions.

Dan asked if he tried to talk him out of it. “Absolutely not,” Robinson said. “He’s his own man. There’s a few things I’ve tried to talk my son out of. Football is not one of them.”

Robinson talked about Brian Kelly recruiting his son and the kind of pressure goes along with that program.

DONE-DER?…..Are The Lakers Finished?

BYNUM and Bailey….Oklahoma City Blowout Turns Game One Into Circus

Go WESTBROOK, Young Man….Russell Has LA Longing For Home

Boo DEREK….LA No Longer Likes Fisher

PAU-erless…..Lakers Seem Helpless Against Quicker Opponent

DURANT, DURANT……Thunder Hungry Like The Wolf For Title

That’s Just Swell-bow….Lakers Left Shaking Their Heads After 29 Point Loss

Don’t Be SEFOLOSHA…..Thabo Needs to Distribute More

Tone Choke….Funky Cole Aldrich Contrbutes To Laker Demise

Breaking The EBANKS….Devin Gets Ejected

Have They Chesapeaked?….Thunder Can Only Go Down From Here

METTA Their Match?….World Peace And Lakers Should Accept Fate

– Kerr weighed in on the Lakers’ chances against the Thunder after getting blown out in Game 1.

“It’s just a bad matchup,” Kerr said. “I don’t see the Lakers beating them four times. Any more than once would surprise me.”

– Kerr said the Miami Heat will be able to cover for the loss of Chris Bosh easier at home because the role guys are more comfortable there. He thinks they’ll really miss Bosh on the road.

– Kerr thinks there’s something “magical” about the Spurs — the way they move the ball and play together.

Kerr acknowledged that people don’t get excited about the Spurs, but he thinks they should.

“To me they’re maybe the most fun team to watch in the entire league,” Kerr said.

– Dan and Kerr talked about Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant’s place in history. He said they both belong in the top 10 of all time. Kerr said that Kobe is probably the second-best shooting guard behind Michael Jordan. He said Duncan is probably the best power forward ever.

– Kerr commented on Steve Nash’s future. “It probably makes the most sense for both parties to move on,” Kerr said, “but politically it’s tough for the Suns.”

Kerr also said Nash likes a lot of things about Phoenix. ”It’s almost like they’re just stuck until one of them says it’s time to move on,” Kerr said.

– Kerr talked about flopping and said when a big man picks a guard, the guard has to run into him hard and go down. ”Sometimes you have to make the official aware,” Kerr said.

Dan asked Kerr if he thinks flopping is a problem.”Not really,” Kerr said. “I always thought it was part of the game. It makes it hard on the game. But it’s gamesmanship.”

Griffin talked about why he was on the bench late in the game against Memphis. ”As I was sitting there, my knee kind of tightened up and it wasn’t really working for me,” Griffin said.

Griffin talked about the impact about having Chris Paul in Los Angeles. “He’s brought a lot,” Griffin said. “Not just scoring and passing. His basketball IQ … he’s been huge for us.”

Griffin answered the flopping charges some people have directed at him. Griffin said his plan was to “just keep playing through it.”

He said that the flopping storyline is about hype: “It will all go away. It’s a phase … a bandwagon people want to jump on.”

Curry said his rookie year there was about 15 minutes in training camp where head coach Don Nelson worked on helping players sell calls.

Curry stuck up for flopping. ”I call it smart,” Curry said. “I don’t think it’s a big problem. There are so many plays, you have to be able to get the benefit of the doubt.

Curry said he doesn’t think the Lakers can overcome the Thunder unless the players other than Kobe Bryant really step up. “I don’t think they can rely on 30-plus a night and [pull this one out,]” Curry said.

Curry also said his ankle is recovering well.

Dan asked Palmer if he would have been ready to start as a rookie (he sat behind Jon Kitna in Cincinnati).

“I definitely would have been ready to start,” Palmer said, “but I wouldn’t have been ready to perform at the same level Jon Kitna was performing at.”

Palmer said Kitna knew that system well and called him one of the “true greats” when it came to being a mentor.

Palmer said now teams think that it’s better to put in young guys and let them work out the rust. Then they can look at film of things they may have done wrong in the offseason.

Palmer weighed in on the state of Raiders. He said it had been rough over the last decade, but he sees a turnaround.

“I’ve been more and more impressed the longer I’ve been here,” Palmer said. “It’s a true organization.”

Dan asked Palmer if he worries about patching up a relationship with the Bengals. Palmer said no, because both parties have moved on … there’s nothing to patch up. Palmer said that “it was just time” for the Bengals to move on and for him to move on: “In years to come, both organizations will look back and say this is the best thing that could have happened.”

Palmer said that he retired for six games and all he did was watch football on Sundays. He couldn’t get DIRECTV so he had to go over to a buddy’s house.

Wynalda said he’s glad they’re talking about flopping for a sport other than soccer.

“It’s just as bad if not worse in basketball,” Wynalda said.

Wynalda shared a story about selling a foul against Guatemala. Then he had his father call him in for a special meeting. His dad said to him: “If you ever do that again, you’re not welcome back in this house. That is my name on the back of your jersey.”

Wynalda said that was the last time he flopped.

Wynalda thinks that the European influence starting this flopping trend in basketball.

Wynalda said everyone loves Lionel Messi because he doesn’t flop.

Jackson doesn’t think the pressure of winning three MVPs and not having a title will bother LeBron. “I think he emancipated himself from outside pressure after last year’s Finals,” Jackson said.

Jackson said that LeBron has gotten back to enjoying basketball and isn’t worried about the outside noise.

Jackson had interesting comments on the LeBron-D-Wade relationship. ”Before being teammates, they’d see each other during Olympic trials and two or three [other times],” Jacksons said, “but this is really where there friendship has developed and blossomed.”

Jackson said Wade, who is already a legend in Miami, is telling people that LeBron has really developed his leadership skills.

Jackson did say the Heat have a healthy respect for the Boston Celtics.

– Harden said he remembered everything about the elbow that knocked him out from Metta World Peace. He said that he had wanted to get out of the way, but World Peace was like a “freight train.”

Dan asked Harden if World Peace has apologized to him. “I haven’t talked to him,” Harden said. “I heard he apologized in Twitter. But he hasn’t personally apologized to me, which I’m fine with.”

– Harden said that it shows something that they could finish off Dallas so quickly. He said they didn’t want to let the Mavs have any life in that series.

“We’re ready,” Harden said. “We’ve grown a lot.”

– Dan asked Harden the best shooter on the Thunder. ”Daequan Cook,” Harden said. “He’s a sharpshooter, a sniper.”

– Dan asked if Kobe talked trash to him. Harden said all the time. Harden said Kobe told him he “couldn’t sit at his lunch table.”

Dan asked Rich about all the stories we’re seeing about concussions and the long-term affects of the game.

“This is the topic of the offseason, no doubt about it,” Eisen said. “Everything is intertwined. … The offseason stories we’ve been talking about. Tebow is the only thing that separates from this topic.”

Eisen weighed in on rookie quarterbacks. He thinks RGIII starting in Washington is a no-brainer, and it won’t take too long for Brandon Weeden to get in in Cleveland. ”If you take a first-round choice [at quarterback], he’s coming in,” Eisen said.