San Antonio Spurs' Jeremy Sochan on Arsenal’s title chances and football banter with Victor Wembanyama: Switch the Play 12/02/25

0:00You're listening to the Men in Blazers media network, Suboptimal radio. You just keep pushing. There's no excuses. It doesn't come like this. And hopefully this year is the one. We're deep. We have a bunch of injuries right now and we're still able to bring out an 11 that is very talented. Trust in the process and just, you know, wait your time.

0:25Today, we've got Jeremy Sohan. I'm Larry Nance. And I'm Roger Bennett. Oh, Jeremy Sohan. A lockdown defender Mikel Arteta would admire. Switch the Play is presented by our great friends at Alipop. Our guest today is an elite NBA defender, Swiss army knife of a player, and an international man of wonder. A self-proclaimed citizen of the world, born in Guyton, Oklahoma, but spent his childhood in Milton Keynes, England, where he learned to play basketball from his mom. After the pandemic derailed his senior year of high school in the U.S., he traveled to Wiesenthorn, Germany to hoop at the Orange Academy.

1:00And only after one year at Baylor, he declared for the NBA draft. was selected ninth overall by the San Antonio Spurs and legendary coach Greg Popovich, a man with more hairdos than Dennis Rodman. It's a joy to welcome to the show, Jeremy Sohan. Thank you very much. Nice to meet you. Man, thanks so much for coming. For sure. Jeremy, it's amazing to have you on because you are quite an inspirational man. Your journey has been so different. Talk about the NBA road less taken. But you were born in Guymon, Oklahoma. You moved to England when you were three, I think. you ended up living in Southampton.

1:35Yes, Southampton and then Dele Alli's Milton Keynes. We know all about English football culture and we'll dive into that in a minute. But just base setting, what was the basketball culture that you grew up with in England? What were your early encounters with it like? There wasn't a lot. You know, my mum played basketball. She still played a little bit. So it was around the community in Southampton, which is a pretty good, you know, basketball community in England. And actually my dad, he actually played basketball too they weren't together but he actually played in England he played in Reading and in Bristol so I would sometimes travel to Reading and Bristol and watch the games there but again you know how it is in England and there's not a lot of basketball culture so he was just trying to get out of the mud I remember playing in Liverpool when I was a kid because Michael Jordan we knew it was like a thing but there were no nets in the entire city We'd bounce a soccer ball around the schoolyard without ever shooting.

2:36Exactly. Even like the parks, you know, you'd have to like two and one football court with a football pitch with a basketball rim above it. And, you know, no nets, you know, metal cage. So, no, it's definitely difficult. But, you know, you just had to figure out and, you know, find ways to play basketball. I've got to ask, you know, as a football fan growing up in the States, you know, our access to watching international football was. scarce and limited right how was it trying to find access to watch the british basketball league or even nba games over there yeah i mean british basketball you know you didn't have a lot of stuff on tv to watch it american basketball nba i was difficult it's illegal websites at 2 a.m 3 a.m in the morning exactly exactly vip books um just just it's crazy you know it'd be during the school days too so I'd have to you know ask my parents if I could fall asleep a little earlier and then wake up at like 2 a.m to watch it sometimes my parents would watch it too I grew up being a you know big OKC fan when KD Westbrook and Ibaka was on the team so I remember like a couple times in the playoffs you know my parents would wake up too during the third quarter fourth quarter you'd fall asleep because it's already like 5 6 a.m so it's like damn you're missing the whole you know the the crazy part of the game so it was tough it was definitely tough when you were watching that on vip box in milton keen's what was feeling like young jeremy's head were you like that that's where i'm going or did it feel you know just like the premier league to so many american kids it just felt like another world another planet it definitely felt like another world um even like not even the basketball part But just watching the commercials, just like how they, you know, show it on the TV just looked amazing.

4:30You know, I mean, you see all these different fast foods, you know, in England, you know, all we have is Burger King, McDonald's, KFC and Subway. These commercials, you see all these different types of foods for cheap, 99 cents for a whole meal. And I'm like, damn, like I want to go back to America and, you know, be in this, you know, this kind of lifestyle. out. I felt like for me, I always had a feeling that I will make it to the NBA. I don't know why I always had a feeling, but it was definitely exciting to watch it all. It was the KFC that you're here.

5:04That Taco John's down in San Antonio. Well, what's crazy is it feels so reversed to what I live. Again, so for me, I grew up playing football. My dad played in the NBA, but I grew up playing football. That was my sport that is my sport to this day um but like again in trying to find access to the games early on it was so difficult it was so difficult to try to find you know to try to find hey where's that on what time are they playing do i have to wake up early do i have to wake up late you know the time difference but it's just crazy to me the the kind of resources that i was provided as as you know being in america and basketball being a predominant sport that you got to the same place that we all got without those resources.

5:49Like, it's incredible. Do you have to book gym space or do you have to? Yeah. It can't be that prevalent there. It was wild. I mean, it would be like a community gym, a basketball court, but it's like a multi-use. So badminton is way more popular than basketball. So half of the time during the day, it would be booked out. So figure out a time. And then again, it was super expensive to book out a court. So you would ask a couple of your mates, your whole team sometimes, to book this out and it would cost like I don't know 60 to 100 pounds um across all of us and again you know we was young so 10 pounds like it was a lot for us you know what I mean so it was tough as a team we only had like two practices a week um and that's only because I was playing under 16s and under 18s like I would play in two different age groups um so there wasn't a lot of like you know access to to basketball so how did you realize in this kind of setting where it is it was you played everything you were doing the long jump you were playing do you even know what do you know what badminton is larry is that even a thing over here yeah yeah it's with the rackets and the uh the shuttle the shuttle yeah yeah we played it in gym class well save that for our other podcast badminton today you played rugby too you play football which we'll get to but like how did you realize you're playing like in england where we're all like five foot six and we barely got electricity when did you realize that you weren't just like english good but you were like you had an nba possibility to me your story is like being an incredible shutdown cornerback but like growing up in sunderland it's interesting like i feel like my mom always pushed me to play with older people older players older older kids and i feel like that's the way i learned real quick um again i was pretty tall for my age so uh i was tearing over my my classmates my mom always pushed me to be open to trying and playing against older people and again also I traveled a lot for basketball too around Europe different camps in Poland in Spain all over Europe so I think you know that kind of you know opened my eyes and you know I learned quickly and I think that's what really helped that's one thing that I have I've noticed about your game specifically is like I so I grew up playing around older folks as well my dad had My dad had me playing in rec centers with 40 and 50-year-old guys learning how to set screens and set flares and roll the right way and all the fundamental stuff.

8:20You can tell the guys that come in learning how to get to it. You know what I mean? The bag work guys, right? And then when you came in, it was like, all right, this is an IQ guy. This guy understands the game, knows how to play it, knows how to win. And to me, I've always thought that you get that from playing with older guys, more established guys. For sure. That really understand the game. Is that something that you found playing against that higher level of competition taught you? 100%. And I also think, you know, again, you're playing with, you know, players that have more experience. And, you know, going into practice or games, you know, I wouldn't know that at the start.

8:54I never knew that. I was lucky to have people who, you know, saw something in me and would talk to me, grab me to the side and kind of just talk to me and teach me. And I think, you know, I was so, you know, so hyper focused on, you know, trying to be better. And I was listening to it and, you know, trying to evolve my game and have a better understanding of it. The European way kind of is, you know, we didn't really have any chances to get off and, you know, show off the bag. So, again, you know, playing with older people, I kind of had to, you know, learn the right way to get on the court and have playing time.

9:30And as somebody that appreciates, like, the fundamentals of the game and the right way to play the game, that's perfect. That's exactly, that's what basketball needs more of, in my opinion. 100%. It's guys that understand that, hey, look, I've never developed much of a one-on-one game. Yeah, I don't have the between cross-cross, you know, bag for a second. But again, you want to win a game? I want Jeremy Sohan, you know what I'm saying? So I got to give you props on that for growing up. It's being so hard to find access to watching and playing. The fact that you understand the game at the level that you do is just so impressive.

10:07I appreciate that. Jose Mourinho said there are many poets who play but never win anything in the game of football. Ultimately, I'm talking with two incredible winners. When did you guys first encounter each other? I got to tell you, I have one story. It wasn't even in-game or anything like that. I was playing for the Pelicans, and I happened to be in San Antonio, and I'm in the weight room bumping some new Dave or whatever centricity is. I'm big into British rap, so I'm in the weight room really just getting after it. I'm Trojan horse, clash, something is on that I'm playing lifting to. You run by, and all of a sudden, you just got backpedaled, and you poke your head and go, hey, who's listening to that?

10:53Which for me, I just thought was funny because like it's in America, guys don't listen to British, UK rap. But for me, they don't even want to hear it. No, it's the best. They don't want to hear it. But like Dave, Dave, Central Sea, again, AJ Tracy, these guys, Loyal Karner, like the guy there is so good. And so that was the one interaction like we've really like that that I took and was like, oh, that's my guy. That's my guy there. I just thought that was funny. Now you're bonding over your central C You've got to turn him on to SD Kid next SD Kid, exactly Four rules, yep SD Kid, you've got to tell me You've got to show me about SD Kid I'm going to send you a playlist I've got a couple English, you know Oh, do you?

11:36Okay, because I've got one or two Do you use Spotify or Apple Music? I'm a Spotify guy Real one Ah, respect I knew we got along I knew we got along Spotify You do remind me of that line I got kicked back sometime and wonder how life would have been if I never did take them risks because you have taken so many. The last basketball question I've got because I do want to pivot to the football, but just how hard it was. I know you love the football. I know you played the football, but it's like, it is reverse culture. Everyone was playing football. That was the dominant thing. And I know ultimately you had to choose your athletic path.

12:13You're a very gifted, multi-opportunity human being. You could be on our Badminton Today podcast. You could be on the top 10. It must have been difficult because everyone was playing football. That was all that mattered in England. Was that difficult for you? It was definitely difficult. Again, I was on a really good team as well, club. We were doing really well and I think I was a really good goalkeeper too. But at some point, I think I was maybe, I don't know, 13. It was, I think, right before secondary school, I started playing basketball more and, you know, football, we had a lot of practices you know games on the weekend um basketball games were on the weekend too so the schedule was you know just colliding and it was it was causing trouble um I felt like both you know both sports needed me at the time and I felt like I just had a you know a real conversation with my parents and just had to figure it out and it was tough at the start I didn't really know what I wanted to do and again all my boys were playing football in school again I met some you know cool people because because in England I don't know if it you know America isn't like that but you have school and then you have like your club so like the club isn't affiliated with school so I had friends from basketball you know and then I had friends from school and um it was tough it was it was so tough but I'm not really sure why but again my parents were like you know just whatever you feel is you're you know more natural and you you feel comfortable with that's what you pick in the moment i said basketball and i you know it's it's a good it's a good choice at in the end of the day but yeah it was it was a it was a weird one it was a pretty good choice we had opposite stories right i was the foil of yours but so i was a striker when we went to tournaments i was spray paint target on my head like corner kicks set pieces right like we were bigger than everybody else so again you it was great but the moment that made me stop playing football was when i got a little too tall and they said hey man it might be time to go and goal what did you enjoy about keeper because that's what made me go like oh basketball it's basketball i'm going to play basketball for sure man it was to me it was so fun uh to me i feel like i transitioned this to basketball too but i was always entertained and like just felt some type of you know crazy dopamine from just like stopping people and you know whether it was a penalty kick or just again you know just live play a keeper has to be a little crazy you know to make it to the Premier League to make it to the top level a keeper has to be crazy and I just felt like as a kid I was a little all over the place so to me like I always wanted to you know just stop people and do stuff for the team to to help us win and it was always entertaining to just you know be able to save stuff kind of control the game from the back at the same time it was fun to you know be in midfield and be on the ball and and and and create like that but i don't know it's always it was always fun to just be in the goal that just makes a lot of sense like my man's in passing lanes he rebounds well he got great hands that's a keeper skill set like and again for me like again i was a striker attacking set pieces like for me it's catching lobs and and learning when to you know dive towards the rim and stuff like that do you feel like as you're playing now there are skills that you've maintained that you got from playing keeper from an early age?

15:39100%. I think, like you said, like hands, being able to rebound, defense, positioning. I feel keepers, you know, you need great positioning and reflexes as you get older. The goal is getting bigger. Of course, we're really big and tall, but again, you still need to know positioning. And I think, again, the IQ part was great. Donnarumma, five blocks a game guaranteed in the NBA. Maybe. I don't know about it. In the NBA. Yeah, yeah. He might be little for our sport. I don't know. Walter Marder, baby.

16:15Talk about your fan life, because you are mad passionate. I know just talking to you before we came on, I know exactly the depth of your love. But tell us your journey. You grew up in Southampton. You moved to Milton Keynes. How did you choose your team? It's interesting. I think at the start, I didn't really have a team. and then you know when I moved to Milton Keynes I was a little more aware kind of knew more we moved in with my stepfather and he was a huge Arsenal supporter Milton Keynes you know our team's MK Dons we have a beautiful stadium but that's it you know I mean like that's it we're not a great football team I always just you know was watching football with with my stepfather and it was it was all about Arsenal and again I think at that time was you know we had a pretty you know good team and it was fun to watch and the way Arsenal played I think from the start I kind of just got hooked onto it it was it was an interesting way to play and it was fun.

17:11Who were your first early players that were iconic for young Jeremy? Yeah a bunch of players not even on Arsenal but Santi Cazola I loved like Toure or Man City Alexis Sanchez on the wing for us it wasn't like I was only hooked onto like one specific player or like position I think I would look at you know the whole team and I would enjoy like every part of it you know what I mean like even in defence Mertesaka who's who's tall and and slow as hell but would get it done We're talking just a couple of days after Arsenal that emphatic that dominant I mean it was an absolutely battering 4-1 win of your local rivals Tottenham Are you able to watch these games?

17:52Are you able to take them in? How does watching it now fit into your NBA life? At times it's tough especially when we have shoot round like it's the worst i'll be watching it and then it's like oh shit it's shoot around time so i'd have to go and then right after shoot around get straight back on my phone and see what the score is and stuff but if we have an off day or you know it's early in the morning at 6 a.m then you know that's perfect but again it's a little tough at times you know champions league is easy because it's at like 1 p.m uh 12 p.m so uh that's easier to watch but sometimes the premier league games it gets a little tougher oh man it's to the to the highest degree right i mean to the highest degree because it's like right in that time slot too i'm like bro no way sitting there watching got your phone up watching the game all right all right trying whole begging you get to halftime before practice starts but so one of the major reasons that i like i like i'm i'm a classic i have to go to the back i just hey coach i use the restroom i use the restroom um but like i'm i'm on there checking fop mob i'm on there checking like i'm checking my fpl to make sure my guys for sure um but no during shoot around it is a it's it's a moment in time where like i'm just begging leads and not be at that 10 o 'clock time slot please please either before that or after that but like the 10 o 'clock time slot man yeah it's tough isn't it it's tough it's so tough at At times, like during the shoot-around, I asked one of my coaches, because he would have like an Apple Watch, and he would have the notifications of the Arsenal game.

19:27I'm like, yo, what's the score? What's the score? And he would like, show me it real quick. And, you know, sometimes it's good news, positive news, and I'll be happy. But at times, especially the last couple of years, it was like, we need this one. Man, last couple of years, I don't want to hear it. You guys, you don't want to hear it. You got second, second, second. You guys are winning most of the game. Consistency. Consistency. For sure. A couple of days ago, I was arguing with my boy. he's a Man U supporter and I forgot it was before the Tottenham game and he was like oh like Tottenham you know they won the Europa and I was like yeah I hear it but again I'd rather be a winning team and not maybe make it to the you know the first and like be a winning team consistently than just having like one you know Europa League is crazy but they finished 17th and they haven't been great for a while too so I'd rather be a team that's consistently winning at the top not making it unfortunately to that number one but I'd rather be that than you know Tottenham It is amazing the three consecutive second place finishes and in England as you know Jeremy you grew up there everyone loves to laugh at you just mock you deride you and I'm not an Arsenal fan but I do admire them so much I mean you guys understand this from the inside on teams to get kicked and mocked three times but to have that mentality I mean, you both know what it takes to rise up, become harder.

20:51It's kind of incredible what they're doing this season. You just keep pushing. There's no excuses. Again, I feel like these last couple of years, when you look at the team, at times we didn't have a lot of players. Injuries, which is a normal thing in, you know, sports. But I feel like at times the regular fan, they can't see further than that. And, you know, sometimes again, in life, just in general life, you know, you don't always get what you want and it doesn't come like this. and hopefully this year is the one we're deep we have a bunch of injuries right now and we're still able to bring out 11 that is very talented trust in the process and just you know waiting your time you guys you guys gabriel going out and being right bring in mascara and hincapies what are we doing crazy unbelievable it's unbelievable i'm not even worried even like all the guard like again getting injured and as they being able to just plug in right there it's amazing I was hoping I had my fingers crossed for you guys that I'm hoping at some point I'm hoping at some point Eze moves out left and you bring in Guarneri yeah yeah you gotta get him some experience he's so good even Dowman yes oh my goodness well whoa whoa next Messi baby not Dowman not Dowman because Dowman came his first appearance came against us so like I'm a little bitter I'm a little bitter but you know he is a heck of a talent that's for sure crazy when you watch that back line Gabriel Saliba whoever's playing they play with such a ferocity and a tenacity you're a player who takes pride in this defending what goes through your mind when you see them do you appreciate them even more than just you know mere mortals it's crazy to think and i've seen it all over you know social media for us there's like you know they're they're complaining and getting angry at each other because of you know a shot on target not even a goal you know i mean like that's how locked in they are and how much they want it and how much they want to you know succeed in the end of the day embedding that culture is super important and again it just shows because of you know how consistent we've been in the last few years and you know where we at right now and I think they're putting the fear into people because of you know how you know together they are and you know how locked in they are on the defensive side and I've always said this I don't know how you feel but So, you know, I think defense wins games, wins, you know, championships.

23:10So, again, it all starts at the back, in my opinion. No, dude, 100 % in any sport across the board. It all starts at the back. It all starts at the back. I don't want to say it, but, like, look, I think, you know what I mean? I think that Chelsea record could be, we're talking about a back four that could touch it up a little bit. Did you ever get any experiences at the Emirates? Did you ever get a chance to go watch them play? A few times. Never got to watch a Premier League game until last year. What did you get to catch? Newcastle, the last game. The last game. Which felt good, but again, we kind of knew what the story was going to end in.

23:52I remember right after the season, I had a chance to... I was thinking about going to the PSG. And I was thinking of going. and I was like damn lucky I didn't because you know it was pretty dark it was pretty dark you shouldn't have gone it was dark I was there right that was that was so I've been in the Emirates a few times but that one right there being able to catch that environment was crazy one I can't believe you guys didn't win that game right one but two when I first came in the league in around 20, I would say I went over the first time in around 2016, 2017, when you guys were in transition, right?

24:36In transition, trying to reset. Yeah, that's a nice way of putting it. That's a nice way of putting it. You guys were in transition. And then just seeing the turnaround from like last year, you guys were at PSG. That place was rocking. It was rocking. It was unbelievable. It's been so cool to see you guys go from, in NBA terms, right? Like going from like playing to contenders. Like, obviously, again, like that's kind of a similar situation you find yourself in right now. In San Antonio is like trying to go from, hey, we've got potential to really be something to going to be something. Exactly.

25:12Have you been able to kind of look at them and see any kind of similarities or see somebody that you see yourself into where like, hey, I can play this kind of role for this team to turn us around? Like you said, I think there's a lot of resemblance. The situation we're in now, it didn't happen from nowhere. It started from, you know, kind of rebuilding, embedding that culture, finding what our identity is and trying to work on that every day and building that consistency. I definitely see it in, you know, Arsenal and, you know, what we're doing now. For me, I think one thing we're, you know, trying to, and we are taking pride in is playing defence and just the way Arsenal play.

25:47and you see there's a transition and everyone's sprinting back from a corner from Arsenal and that's what we're trying to show and do and I think, again, it's crazy how you could look at one sport and then see similarities and your team identity is and you can kind of see stuff on the pitch too. So it's pretty cool. Your Spurs teammate, Victor Wembejana, huge football fan also. You talk about Paris Saint-Germain, He's a huge PSG fan, right? No, he is. What's it like for you when Arsenal play against Wembe's PSG? Yeah, I mean, there was a lot of trash talking, a lot of disappointment for me. But no, it's great.

26:32We was lucky to play in Paris last year too. And we caught Man City PSG Champions League. Crazy game. You know, it was my first time watching PSG in person. The ultras, oh my goodness. like what they have going on there is crazy it's intimidating and it's pretty cool because again you know with victor understanding kind of the european culture and the football culture i don't know if you've seen but we kind of tried to implement that in in in our arena and we kind of have our own little ultra you know group right now and you know hopefully over time it's going to grow and it's going to get more fierce uh but yeah i think that's a cool thing because you know in the NBA we don't have a lot of that so shirts off flares out that's the future yeah we need that you know that's one of the things that I've been fascinated about I can't wait to come see you guys play or come play against you guys because like that is one of the things that drives me crazy about the difference between uh English football and and American sports is our not not to say anything negative about our fans because they're great and we love them and we're so thankful for them but like sure the the diehardness the tribal mentality of it like if it's crazy if you guys can if you can get that like kind of ultra section going and chanting because i'll tell you what being in the emirates when psg were really like the ultras were going they were on that drum all they would go crazy you could hear them it was unbelievable if you guys can get something like that going like that could really shift yeah that could shift a whole lot about not just basketball american sports yeah even as a kid you know going into the train because you know milton keens is pretty close to london so we'll take the train um just seeing like how you know diehards you know act and you know it's intimidating as a kid i was like i was kind of shook i was like oh you know these guys are kind of scary um so again like if you if we could like embed that into the nba and and the spurs i think again it will it'll create more exciting moments.

28:38It'll be more fun. A real home atmosphere. Exactly. Can't wait for the first NBA team to get a bubble machine like at West Ham. Yeah, that's fire. Then we'll know that the two sorts of combined. Yes, for sure. We recently had Joel Embiid on this show and he compared his game. He said he was just like Manchester City great Yaya Toure. Which footballer would you compare Wemby's game to? Wemby's? oh that's tough i'm kind of in the camp of like could you create a basketball comparison to cristiano or messi i don't know if you can i think you can i feel like you'd have to go with with a player that's kind of you know out the books that you know came in and you again you can could could tell that he was like okay he's different on a different planet yeah exactly so like I would think of players like Neymar R9 players like that who like again they're kind of their own system and they're when they're on the court I'm here you know I mean like that's it you're going to have to deal with me exactly there is no system that you know put him in he's you know he is the system he's very richie he's a bit tall kind of yeah finally Arsenal fan two questions how's the season going to end and what makes you so short number one we're finishing we're going to win we have so much depth now we kind of understand you know what we have to do and I think the consistency is there I think from even you know the Tottenham game last weekend you could just tell from the start of the game we was on it I think at times you know sometimes we started off really slowly and again it was tough to score goals I feel like we're a very fair team right now in Premier League and also Champions League the most feared I don't know how you guys are going to take that but I think we're the most fair team I've had a ton of arguments with my boys about that but yeah I think we're just the most fair team What's it like playing for as an Arsenal fan playing for a team with the name Spurs in it?

30:42Yeah Arsenal is not affiliated with San Antonio Spurs so I always you know look at it that way and Tottenham Spurs in the nicest way yeah

30:56what do we think of Tottenham what do we think of Tottenham thank you that's right Jeremy you're an incredible you're an incredible human being huge huge love to you and I hope the season ends up for both of your teams with glory thanks so much I appreciate this was a lot of fun

31:20good lord I love that guy What an inspiration. He makes me almost, almost want to root for Arsenal, Larry. I mean, I wouldn't say that, but he's a fantastic listener and a fantastic basketball player. But, yeah, no doubt. It's a long-winded way of saying almost, almost. Larry, you're a host now. You open your heart. You open your heart to the world, man. But really, Larry's trying to shunt us towards the segment that makes his heart soar. It's time for a little bit of Larry Nance on Leeds today. and I've got to say we're doing this after a bit of a dark weekend the club you love just suffered a 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa they've gone ahead in the first half surrendered two second half goals to Morgan Bloody Rogers manager Daniel Farker in Leeds now in that awful moon door of relegation I'm an Everton fan I've been there you in 18 placed a lot of football to go I did make the mistake of reaching out texting you congratulating when you were 1-0 up just so you know I'm no longer responding.

32:23When you text me expect a 90 minute wait time you're in the queue I'll respond to you after the game. Are you saying it was my fault Larry? I'm not saying it was your fault. The fact that Leeds conceded twice. Look I'm not saying it's your fault but I'm saying I'm not responding until after the game's over. So take that as you will. By the way listeners that is how it works. If I had not text the cosmos the butterfly's wings would not have flapped the seismic changes would not have led to Leeds crapping the bed. But this is all irrelevant. I need to know, how are you feeling? You kind of rose.

32:55You've kind of dropped. You've kind of dropped to where you thought you would be probably in a relegation dogfight at the beginning of the season. What's the mood? Can we get a temperature check? It was never going to be easy. You know, staying up in this league is hard. However many teams that have gotten promoted have been relegated. So, you know, I'm cautiously optimistic, I would say. You know, I think, you know, we got some tough ones coming up. By tough ones for Larry, he's saying the next three games This one will have been played by the time this comes out, but Manchester City, Chelsea, and Liverpool.

33:25I see at least three points there, Larry. Tell me how you're feeling about those. To me, it feels like nine where I'm sitting right now. I'll take a nine, Larry. I'll take nine. Nine will suffice from these next three. I'd be okay with that. No, look, I think we've got an opportunity. We've been presented opportunities. We're creating decent XG if that's what you go by. We just got to put our chances away. So I'm a believer. Again, I need to ask you, as somebody that has been staring in the hatch of relegation and gotten out of it, any advice? Yeah, you deal with life differently than I do. The notions of cautious optimism are not ones.

34:06I can't even take a color. I can't even see a taste or a smell that just doesn't register. I believe we're going to lose every single game right before kickoff. When it happens, it doesn't hurt as much. And when things turn out the other way, it's just a delightful, pleasant surprise. But you're right about the XG. It is so hard to score in this league without an 80, 90 million dollar striker. It's like the same you and us and Burnley. So many teams. that's really the difference in this league right now between really 6th or 7th place and 17th or 18th that clinicality no you're 100 % right I mean you look at the teams at the top of the table and it's because they've got somebody just leading the charge in terms of goals they've got somebody just putting their backpack on like I got you guys you know you've got Holland up top you've got Voldemort you've got you know obviously Arsenal's doing it by committee but you've got teams that have that 80 million a 90 million dollar striker that are just banging them home and look cautiously optimistic.

35:08I believe in our boy DCL. We're going to figure it out. I love that man. He smells so bloody good. I can attest to that. I did text you this after the loss of the weekend for you. It's from the poet Eduardo Galeano. The phrase football is a pleasure that hurts. And my text back to you was, that's beautiful. Whoever said that is a smart man. Because I'll tell you what, there's nothing I love more than getting up early or just separating myself from the family for a quick moment to go watch my 90 minutes of leads. And it's the best, but at the same time, it's the worst. Love to slip away from the family, flip the TV on, get absolutely battered.

35:50Larry, let's move on to happier, more fascinating, more uplifting fair. News that the NBA says it's planning on starting a league called NBA Europe within vaguely the next few years. They aim to have 10 to 12 teams scattered across the continent, UK, Spain, France, Germany, possibly a few others mixed in there. Based on that conversation we just had with our guest, Jeremy Sohan, the talent that's over there, what do you think of it? I mean, it is a fascinating idea. It's a fascinating prospect. In reality, what do you think? The game has changed so much and basketball has changed so much. You know, it used to be the top, the best 450 players in the world are in the NBA.

36:29And that has shifted. You know, the NBA is a specific brand of basketball. If you don't fit within that brand of basketball, you go overseas or you go somewhere else. And so it may not be the best 450 that are over here, but it's the best that fit this current league. If they start in NBA Europe, if they include other players, it's going to be an awesome brand of basketball. There are talented players everywhere. And let me tell you, if there's the Yorkshire somethings team captain right here, I'll tell you what, I'll leave. There's one place I might leave Cleveland for and Leeds maybe. I was going to ask you that because there is talk of Manchester United starting a team.

37:05No, no, they don't care. Yeah, yeah. But just genuinely, I was like, could you imagine yourself winding down the career when you're ready? No time soon, but a season or two leading the Leeds United team just dunking on small Englishmen. I haven't, but I will now. I will now. Yeah, look, if Manchester United get a team, I'll go over there strictly just to beat them. I have no love in my heart for anything red anymore they can wine and gold yes Cavs but red anything if there's a Manchester United team I'll leave specifically to go ruin their season United will sign Nick Vultemar like that there'll be Nuts of Vultemar the Mano Mano Vultemar Sesco what have you got what have you got it's time for your questions dear listeners remember you can email whatever you want to ask Larry and switch the play at meninblazers.com we're going to pick a couple by random here's the first from the great Casey Knight Double K on Twitter who asked Larry what basketball play do you think will be the next that could work in football in the Premier League we're seeing a lot of set pieces a lot of set plays borrowed the coaches now watching the NBA watching the NFL Larry what do you think that works on the NBA court will be the next thing essentially that Arsenal will be ripping off and dunking on the silk?

38:27Oh, man, that's a really good question. And I haven't necessarily considered it from that angle. Most of the time when you see sports, when you see basketball, football, American football, international football interacting, it's most of us, American sports, taking from the international game. I haven't been too aware of them taking from us, but I would say the biggest thing that I can see headed their direction is the pace of play. The NBA has amped up its pace of play in terms of its possessions and, you know, back and forth intensity to such a high degree that I think that's going to start to roll over in other sports.