This is Mosher, Lombardy and Kine on demand.

Listen live every weekday morning from seven to ten on Altitude Sports Radio ninety two five and on the Altitude Sports Radio app.

Hotcaz has it on the high left side.

Ten.

He's started out there by Spencer Jones.

Seven.

He's in the paint dotted line jumper short where put back up and in Oh no, Joker has crashed down to the floor.

You're gonna hear the horn here, and he's grabbing his left knee.

Oh, I see what happened.

Spencer Jones was backpedaling on defense and he stepped on Joker's ankle and that looked like a hyper extension, is.

What that looked like.

When I'm watching the replay and he is really struggling trying to get back from the locker room.

This is part of the NBA.

Anybody that gets hurt in this game, it's kind of gut wrenching, especially somebody as special as he is.

We'll find out more tomorrow and we'll move on as a team.

Obviously, right now, I'm more concerned just about him as a person, you know, and the disappointment of going through something like that.

So it's unfortunate, hoping for the best, just like we did with Cam, you know, and the other starters that we've lost.

No God, no, God, please, no, no, no, no.

We're in a place that I don't think we've ever been, which is Yokic has been hurt.

We've seen him on the floor for a few seconds and he's clutching and grabbing it something, knees, ankles, whatever.

The level of concern though of this is something we've not experienced, and I think you just kind of see when Yokic goes down and we'll get more information today I've got Depending on how much you trust euro Hoops.

I'm not very into the euro Hoops things.

I don't know how reliable that is.

They have an update this morning that is more of a positive, right, I have an update too, You do too, Okay, well you want to say it right now.

I'm told that the Nuggets initial evaluation of Nikola jokicch The initial evaluation is a positive one where he may have avoided structural damage to the knee.

We won't know for sure until imaging this morning.

The MRI results will have everything.

There are times when you know a doc is feeling around there and feels fine and they go in get imaging and it's not fine.

But the initial tests, the physical tests to the knee, they think it could be a bone bruise, much like Cam Johnson hyper extension, that kind of injury as opposed to a long term structural injury.

So hold your breath, don't know for sure, nothing official.

I'm just going off of whatever.

So uh okay, that is good news to hear for to start the show now.

Doesn't mean anything definitive yet until you get the actual imaging of it.

But it's you know, it's weird when that happened.

You know, when you know something's of possibility, but you never really consider it.

Yokic having a long term injury is just nothing I've considered because he.

Hasn't his he's never had it before.

The style of game that he played doesn't seem like the only way this could happen is something freaky like exactly what happened last night and kind of what pissed me off was it reminded me when Jamal got hurt.

It was at a nothing point of the game, if you remember, yep, like the game didn't matter.

It's what twelve seconds left in the first half.

You're just trying to get to the locker room, and then that happens.

You're like, are you are you kidding?

Are you kidding?

It's a fluke play.

Nobody's at fault.

Like you know, I come home and my wife's like, why did his teammates step on his foot?

I mean you didn't, guys, He's just playing basketball.

It was.

It was an impromptu play where he's backpedaling.

Nobody's fault.

It's not.

Then then you get the texts and tweets from they got a they got a look at their conditioning team.

That has nothing to do with conditioning.

It's a fluke play that will happen on occasion when you play enough basketball.

And you're so right, Brett moj We spent yesterday talking about Nikola Jokicch's durability, his availability.

I know I mentioned it, and just like that, a season flashes right before you ride.

Now, best case scenario.

Again, we're talking scenarios today.

You're gonna hear a lot of speculation, But I don't know what else to tell you.

Speculation is all we got on something like this until we get the results for that Shams tweet.

Just like you guys are right the MRI results, which I'm I'm sure they're doing it right now, you know, East Coast time.

They're doing it right now.

They're in the hospital doing that right as we speak.

But the initial reaction that I got, they're hoping it's just another bone bruise, a Cam Johnson type injury.

I don't want to talk, Okay, I'll go ahead continue this conversation.

The Nuggets are now minus four starters, two of them with potential knee injuries, one with a hamstring, the other one with an ankle.

Jamal Murray is the lone survivor, and he's hobbling around with a gimpy ankle himself.

We have to talk about something else regarding this team, and that's something else is you're now, you got five games left on this road trip.

You go to Toronto tomorrow night.

When do you when do you layoff and just sort of punt a couple of these games?

Well, do you mean, like as in benching, as in.

Letting, letting Jamal just chill a little bit, because that's letting you know, or or maybe not bringing back AG and CB on the timeline you previously had.

When do you just sort of take a step back and say, let's look at this entire period of time.

When is Joker going to be available?

Hopefully he is crossing fingers.

When will he be back?

How do you want to attack this so this doesn't happen again prior to the playoff runt?

Well, Vic, two things.

If you're healthy enough to play, you're healthy enough to play, whatever the timeline is.

So what if you're what if you're hobbled?

Yeah, no, I understood.

But if I'm saying if C B and AG are good to go, then they're fully healthy and good to go, I don't I don't worry about that.

You play the guys if they're healthy.

That being said, if Nikola Jokicic is out, season's.

Over, yeah, well we all know that.

I know so that so then what you're saying doesn't matter.

Yeah, yeah, But if he isn't out, let's best case scenario.

If I gave you guys a piece of paper and I said write it down right now.

If I if I give you four to six weeks, would you take that absolutely?

Yea, yeah, of course, of course, even if it comes back to to me just a two week or whatever.

But if I told you you have to sign on the dotted line four to six weeks, probably not back until the All Star break.

I might do it even if the imaging comes back.

It doesn't even have a bruise.

They're like, he could play tomorrow if you want it to be, like, yeah, maybe he needs a month, though, Man, just give him a month, you know, Vick, If you gave.

Me Kallie, I don't have to think about well, you know, with all these guys out, we worried about them slipping, slipping, slipping, slipping, slipping.

But if you said, okay, they're guaranteed a playoff spot top seven and he doesn't come back until like the middle of March or whatever, early April, I would sign up for that.

Here's is there a team in the league more heavily reliant on one player than the Nuggets are on Nikolia?

I.

You know what's funny, Vick, I talked about this in the appetizer.

I think you'd be hard pressed to find a team in really any sport.

Yeah.

More like like I was just going through like the local teams because it was just easier.

He means more of the Nuggets than McKinnon does the Avs.

Just for the amount of guys that you can you can do because the.

Avs have several All star type players.

He means And I said, he means more to the Nuggets than I think Bo Nicks does the Broncos.

And I truly mean that he does.

Yeah, he means more to his team than any player has meant to their team in any sport.

Like, here's what I here's what I would compare it to.

If the news is the worst.

It's Mahomes in Kansas City.

I was gonna say, I said it was if you go back to Peyton Manning's neck injury, where Indy went from perennial super contender to team that was like, oh to thirteen to start the year, I think it looks.

A lot like that.

Sure, And it's just because you know, he's not a he's not a big piece to your winning formula.

He's your entire DNA.

If he's out, you're different entirely.

You have to run things differently.

You can't run the same offense, you can't run the same defense.

Like everything has to change the second he leaves.

The follow when your mentality changes, your expectations change.

Guys, I don't know about you, but I was a zombie in the second half of that game, So the fact that the Nuggets got blitzed, I am not surprised one bit.

If I'm a zombie, what do you think his teammates are?

Can I can?

I be honest with you, Vic, Yeah, we'd be very honest with you.

I went straight to the abs.

I did not watch the second half.

I don't blame you one bit.

You know what I did watch, don't blame me.

I watched your halftime show, and I watched the initial portion of your postgame show to see if any any information in it in reaction.

To the game.

Doesn't matter at that point, you know, usually I watch every Nuggets game like I am blinded.

I'm sitting there just watching every bucket like it's the end of the world.

I didn't care one bit of what happened in that game.

Yeah, didn't care.

I don't care about the final score.

They gave up almost one fifty, but I don't care about that.

They care that the players were The players admitted there shocked.

Yeah, there's no doubt they're they're there.

They're shell shocked and they don't know what to do with their hands.

Does he mean more of the Nuggets than Mickey Moniac to the Rock.

I love Mickey though, I love Micky, I.

Love Okay, I love Mickey too.

Okay, that's just a little trying to lighten the mood type of thing here, a little bit, no offense, Mickey.

I just we need a full season of Case.

I'm getting ready for my thing and somebody says, do you see Joker got Oh?

No, Johnny Lyles comes up, So you see Joker got hurt?

So what do you mean?

He's like, yeah, I just ran from the set the Joker got hurt.

Check it out.

Yeah, I ruined your broadcast.

Dude.

I was on my foot.

I'm sure I'm gonna get yelled at by producer Lee at some point.

But I was on my phone all game looking for an update.

Of course, Like there's because full panic mode set into me.

Can I was full panic mode?

It was the talk of Ballerina last night.

Can I offer some behind the curtain stuff on how this works?

So when you're in this business long enough and you work with teams around teams and mosure, you face the same issue.

You're not allowed to speculate on injury.

It's a major taboo.

It's a major.

No, No, you're just not.

You let the team handle that, You let the team offer any insight, and you wait or until Sham's does it, which comes from somebody official, you just wait.

I on this one, I'm not waiting.

You can't.

It's too big.

It's too big.

So I made calls.

I did what everybody else was trying to do.

You try and get as much information as you possibly can from as many people as you possibly can close to the situation.

Nobody really knows until that MRI.

Nobody knows.

But you get a sense.

And the sense I got is that they dodged a major bullet.

That's the sense.

It's not the result, it's what we have for now, and that makes me feel good.

At the same time, I still can't breathe easy, right, It's just it's the It's there, so there's no avoiding this.

Guys, I mean, this is your season.

There's no this isn't With all due respect to Cam Johnson, right, Cam Johnson, that was a heavy injury.

And you're like, oh boy, this is on a different level.

This is your franchise, this is this is why you have all those expectations.

This is your guy, your horse yep.

And and it's combined with the fact I've just I've never I've never seen Yokic go down and stay down.

Like the staying down was the one thing that freaked me out.

I've shaking his foot with ye he's left foot.

I was like, oh, I've never seen him grab a body part like that.

I've never seen him go down and both hands are around the knee.

He's sort of pulling it towards his chest.

Yeah, And I'm like, oh my god, no, I've just never seen him do that before.

He's taken a lot of abuse.

He's been cut, he's been banged, he's been ah, you know, shaking the wrist, this kind of He's done all that kind of stuff.

But I've never seen him in what appeared to be a great amount of pain.

You know, and the and then and then trying to walk off so you could have the initial pain.

But he couldn't get off the court.

They showed him go to the locker room and he was hobbling so badly.

He had to be helped by Dan Schaminsky and Jason the associate trainer.

They had to help him get to the locker room and at that point I'm like, oh my god.

You know again, I'll go back to this, this this injury.

You like, when you lose three starters in your starting lineup, You're like, that's that's a whole lot to overcome.

When you lose Jokic, everything about it changes.

And just like, the perspective that hit me was we for five years have been talking about non Jokic minutes, which have been six seven at a time, right, but.

We've never talked about non Jokic seasons.

Yes, And that's the whole thing.

It's like, if seven minutes results in like a minus fourteen, then what does seventy games look like?

Like that's because you can't replicate anything of what you previously do With him out of the lineup for an extended period, You're going to have to be an entirely different basketball team.

The way you run your offense has to be entirely different, The way you do everything has to be entirely different.

You know what's lost.

A lot has been made about Nikola Jokicic's defensive woes, right, you know, he's not a room protector.

Do you guys ever notice when jokers out of the game, how bad their defense of course, Yeah, their offense, their defense.

So everybody likes Scoffs at his because he actually has really good analytical numbers as a defender.

And everybody goes, oh, those are just fake, and I'm I don't I don't know what to tell you, guys.

The defense is better when he's on the floor.

It's statistically proven.

You saw it last night.

My god, they were just getting sieged.

But they were also mentally gone.

Yeah, yeah, they understand that third quarter they were mentally they were zombis onto.

Yeah, it was zombies.

They they they couldn't play.

The game was over.

I mean I saw it the first five buckets of the second half.

I said, let's just get to the locker room, get him to the hospital, get the MRI.

They have to wait for the swelling to go down.

Uh, but I cannot stress enough.

Initial reaction is a positive one, as positive as it can be.

Yeah.

So, uh, we'll get back to this obviously throughout the course of the show with and Avs ticket Tuesday, So we get another keyword coming uh to you guys in just a couple of minutes.

On top of all this, the Avs get a sort of lunch pale grind it out win last night at home.

Harbaugh makes the announcement that yeah, I'm not I'm not doing the Herbert thing this weekend.

So here is gift wrapped with a bow or a bow on top.

Hey, broncos you want the number one?

There you go.

If any of you guys, well, hold hold it, hold it, mosh, because I know where you're gonna go.

Well, I swear to the Lord above we'll.

Get there in just a second.

Another keyword coming to your guys's way stick around AVS Ticket Tuesday.

Every hour on the twenties a new keyword for you, and this is for a chance to win two tickets to tomorrow night's Aves and Blues game the New Year's Eve game, which is always fun.

Moje were there at Ballerina.

Uh.

The keyword for this hour is confetti.

So text that in your first and last name to three oh three five four nine two five.

You can catch the Avs they're nor Deek sweaters on January twelfth and be part of Throwback Night scoring exclusive Nordeck's hat with the ticket package at UH, says CEO Avs dot com.

Jesus, isn't it just Colorado Avalanche dot com.

It's a CEO avs dot com slash hat has it changed?

I don't know.

Let's cutter onto avalanche dot com?

Thank you?

Are they shortening it?

I don't know, not that I know.

I'm trying to do this.

I do live.

That's not your fault.

You're right, thank you.

Mean whoever comes up with those addresses figure it out enough what these abbreviations.

By the way, aves to get Tuesdays are powered by Matthew's fine watches.

But the keyword for this hour is confetti.

You're so out of practice, mo.

If you read what I just read, you would have done the exact same thing.

I don't blame emotion some of those things.

Hell, it wasn't until last year I stopped reading the Www portion of those.

That's true.

Wait did you make it?

What was it ten years ago?

You have passed http pulland slash slash.

I should have gone back in the day, the late great IRV Brown, back in the day.

Oh yeah, he goes, Just go to www dot com and you're good to go.

I might get irby.

You forgot the rest of the address.

By the way, I talked to Joe Williams not too long ago, he's doing great, just great, dudes.

Anyway, are we gonna get to some football here?

Yeah?

Yeah, Before we get football, I do.

I want to add one thing, speaking of the dot coms in the Internet, I had no idea that the Internet housed all of these doctors who were injury analysts.

I until last night, because my my feed was just all kinds of these doctors that came at me that other people said.

I'm like, what the hell's going on?

There must have been twenty of these orthopedic doctors who have their you know, television angle of the injury and then their doctor opinion on what happened.

I had no.

Idea that was a practice.

But in the cottage industry.

Let me tell you what I think in response to you, because I agree with you, Vick.

If any of them, they could not even be doctors.

They could be some dude living in his mom's basement in Wichita.

And if he says, listen, I'm a doctor and what it looks like to me is not as bad as you, I'll believe him.

I'm like, I'm taking all these people at their word.

Yeah, and I'm like, whatever you say, man.

Let me let me tell you guys, something right.

I'm a vet and I work on hamsters, but I saw no rotation.

And I'm like, did I ever tell you about the weatherman in Omaha?

I'm not joking outside Omaha in a small market.

And my buddy Eric, who worked with the Channel four, he worked at a small TV station and the weatherman couldn't get to the doctor for some reason.

He had a veterinarian set his left leg which broke.

What did it for him?

Only Nebraska.

Let me tell you something right now.

I don't trust any of those kooks on the internet.

Okay, I don't trust any of these guys.

As people keep sending me these doctors and I'm like, oh, you saw one camerangle and you know what happens inside somebody's knee.

I don't believe you.

I don't care if you're SANJ.

Gupta.

Yeah, but they're pretty some of these guys are pretty on.

They see this every day.

I mean, they they understand how the body moves, what it's supposed to do.

You know the.

Difference between Cam Johnson's injury and nicolokicch big difference.

Cam was jumping and the knee moved a lot more than Nicola's having said that you never know what takes place inside the knee.

It's only one doctor I trust, and that's doctor Dre.

If he had thoughts, it's it's my version of Chappelle's jaw rule.

I want to get doctor Dre's thoughts on this.

Well, I watched.

Doctor Demento guy.

Yeah, yeah, hey.

How about this?

It's so funny to I'm want to play this clip.

It is such a Harbaugh sound.

I think you guys have heard because coach Sanford has coached with Harball when he was at Sanford.

Sandford at Stanford, he does a spot on Harball and it almost sounds like Sandford is doing an impression of Harbaught during this clip.

But here's what he said yesterday.

The guys that need to you know, have the most bruises, that need the the most healing.

Will we pull them back?

Justin Herbert would would be one.

Uh.

We'll see how the rest of the week goes with with who who all they who all they are?

Uh yeah, And there'll be some situations where some starters, uh are our backups?

Yes?

So just.

So taking a whole bunch of starters out.

It sounds like for this game it's going to feel.

I would imagine a lot like last the last week of last season when you played against the Chiefs and they set everybody down.

Now here's something I'll say, off the rip and mot, I know what you want to get to, and so just hold it for a second.

I don't think that this is Jim Harbaugh just saying, hey, we're good with where we're at.

Let's not risk anything and let the chips fall where they may.

I think down deep, he knows that there's some screwy stuff that could happen last this last week, and us getting a win could put us in better position to play against you know, maybe a Steelers or somebody like that.

I think the reason why he's doing this is simple.

It's twofold and they're both compliments to the Broncos.

Number One, it's gonna be a really tough game to win anyway.

Playing in Denver against a team that's got thirteen wins is not gonna be an easy task.

Number Two, if you do have any concern about health heading into the postseason and a quarterback that's been banged up this year, why the hell would you trot him out against that group.

I think this decision has made the second he looked at the depth chart and saw Benito, Alan Cooper, JFM, Malcolm ru I think the second he saw that, he goes.

No, thank you.

I don't care where we end up.

That is not a risk I'm taking.

The second day lost to Houston, it was the second they lost to Houston.

We're not We're not doing this.

Yeah, I'm sure as soon as the game is over, he's walking off the field.

It's like we're done with Week eighteen, forget about it.

Is there a path that he's trying to pinpoint two in the playoffs to avoid a certain team?

Is he trying to avoid Jacksonville?

I don't know, Vick.

I Again, he made it sound like, would.

He rather go to New England, mos or Jacksonville.

I'd rather go to Jacksonville.

But he said he said that, he he said that vill Really he said that that.

That's not figuring into his discussion.

You know with which players are gonna play or not.

But I how do you really know?

Only he knows what's inside or what is his coaching staff knows.

I have no idea, Vick.

For the record, if you gave me that choice, I'd rather go play against a quarterback who's never been in the playoffs before, versus one who's taking his team.

Didn't that one didn't Trevor take his team to the AFC title game one year?

I think he did not the title game, but I think it was the second round.

Okay, Wait, did I think were the Jags the team that came back and beat the Chargers when they were up like twenty four to a couple of years back?

Right?

Yeah, and take a look at what the Jags did to the Chargers earlier this season.

That's what I'm saying.

Was this an avoidance?

Does this just trying to clear your path in the playoffs now that the division is out of the question?

Right?

Yeah?

There could be a lot of things that play here more than just injuries.

I I think, look, could you be Yeah, twenty twenty three, they overcame a twenty seven nothing deficit to beat the Chargers in the wildcard round with four tds from Lawrence.

Yeah, after three early picks.

There you go.

Yeah, it could be some of that playing against the the second year quarterback, he's never played in the playoff game before.

Thing.

I think a lot of it is just I'm not I mean, have you guys seen it.

I'm not sure that matters.

That kid is good.

Yeah, but hang on with that dude is I don't care if it's the dude's really good.

Herbert's got broken bones in his hand, He's got a rap on his arm.

He looks like every time he falls, every bone in his body hurts.

I you aren't having.

Him go against Nick Benito and Jonathan Cooper, especially with a Chargers offensive line that is like virtually all backups this year.

So wait a minute.

If you're sitting, if you're sitting in your quarterback for this game, do you sit everybody else?

Think?

Yeah, you don't play McConnell.

He's already hamped in.

You don't play Derwin James.

You don't.

I don't think you play anybody.

If you're making that choice.

He made it known that they're gonna go through the lineup and see he's got the bruises and whatnot.

But he just said, and a lot of starters could be behind the backups.

Yes, if if Derwin James does not have a bruise, he's going to do this on Wednesday.

Boom there, Now you're bruised.

So what you're telling me is the NFL is not like the NBA.

When NBA everybody's criticized for load management.

In the NFL, screw it, we're not playing you.

We don't want you hurt.

Well, you guys that need to you know, have the most bruises that need the most healing.

I think the difference is, I mean, every game matters in in the regular season and blah blah blah.

But there's a difference, Like.

You don't see NFL team sitting guys for load management in week ten.

No, there's not enough games.

I mean, you're playing eighty two games in a hockey and basketball season.

When you're kind of locked into a spot already.

Like I'm sure I guess this does have a little bit to it, But if you had a game that directly affected some seating implications or whatever, like maybe maybe that would be bothersome.

And I know that the Broncos are on the hook for like the first the number one seed, but like if a team was going to be in or out of the playoffs, I'm sure the NFL would not like the idea that if the Broncos had to win to get in.

Although they did that last year against the Chiefs.

Right to win that last week and smoked them.

So I don't know.

I just think it's last week of the season.

It's just accepted that some teams are doing this.

You know what, The holiday gift giving has been bountiful for the Denver Broncos, the Chiefs who were not fully staffed for that Thursday nighter, and now the Chargers come in here and they're gonna sit players.

Can you can you ask for a better set of gifts for the holidays?

Oh?

I went through this, Vic.

Here's the teams that the Broncos have faced in beaten that have not had their starting quarterbacks in They beat Cincinnati without Burrow, yep, that helps.

They beat the.

Texans where CJ.

Stroud was knocked out of the game.

They beat the Commanders that didn't have Jayden Daniels at the time.

They beat the Chiefs without Mahomes that second game.

Even Gino missed a lot of that game because they had what's his face come in.

Play for a little bit.

I can't remember.

I can't even.

Remember who was the face.

And then Herbert is gonna be out this way like that's five different or six to five or six different quarterbacks that have not been playing or at least been knocked out of a game early.

Hey, take advantage of the opportunity.

I mean, here's what you're going to hear.

They're not the real You know, this team hasn't beaten anybody.

This team got some breaks.

Who cares take advantage of it.

It's an opportunity that's been bestowed upon you because you know what, You've won thirteen games already.

These teams haven't cool.

So take advantage of the opportunity.

Get to your fourteenth to win, enjoy that week off.

You know, I think the real reason Harbaugh's doing this in the Broncos, the real reason is so that we can play our moji's during that Bible.

Yeah.

So, Vick, am I going to get a prediction out of you?

Most style?

I can?

I get one on this Tuesday?

Yeah, I'm gonna give you a prediction, and the prediction is not gonna be what you want to hear.

I think there's gonna be times during this game on Sunday we beginning what the hell's going on?

And the Broncos will win, but you will be like, what the hell's going on?

If you if that truly happens, if you really believe that and that truly happens.

What does that say about the Denver bronc Who cares what it says?

Okay, who cares?

Hey?

What did it say about the Broncos in Kansas City?

Motion?

It says that they're they're playing with their food.

VIC.

They should have beat they should have beat those guys big time.

Shout.

What what did it say about the Nuggets in the second half last night?

Well, no, no, no, don't human don't even don't even humans react to certain things.

I'm gonna do something.

I'm gonna WinCE when I say it.

I'm gonna defend motion on this first damn right yard.

And here's here's why.

Here's why, here's why, hear me out.

One team is entirely motivated to get the ultimate goal, which is a bye on a path to the super Bowl.

The other team doesn't give a damn.

Now, this happened last year.

The Broncos had to win to make the postseason.

They were entirely motivated to beat a team that did not care whether they won or lost.

And they did they and they beat the holy hell out of the Chiefs last year that final week.

I think it's different when we're talking about middle of the regular season where teams are out of the playoff hunt that you're playing against and you play up and down in competition, versus a week like this where the Chargers are literally saying to their team, don't get hurt.

That's our entire message.

So whatever you got to do out there to not get hurt, don't do it.

And the Broncos are like, all right, fine, give me four quick touchdowns in the first quarter and a half and then we'll all kind of gear down and wait for the postseason decided.

Listen, we know the Chargers are a playoff team, so they've got some very good players.

But if those very good players are sitting on the bench, yeah, and Justin Herbert's not even going to dress.

They got the DJ kid is going to be the backup quarterback, so they're going to activate him and put him in uniform.

If that's going down.

I'm not saying it's gonna be exactly like this, but what it should look more like is what you saw last year in that game where Kansas City sat everybody, And it should look like what we saw this past weekend when Drake May was wearing a baseball hat at halftime.

Yeah, because the Patriots were up thirty four to three or thirty thirty five to three.

I agree with you at the New York Jets, that's what it should be.

Resembling bow knicks.

Should be in that baseball hat by the time you get to the middle of the third quarter.

Should be I think so too.

Now.

And if it's not that, if they steady struggle against backups for the Los Angeles slash Anaheim of Orange County Chargers, then I don't know what to say.

Man.

I just think that it's time they behave like a number one seed.

Stop squeaking by the Raiders and the Chiefs and whatnot.

Go kick some daiale.

I'm with you.

I think they and and I tend to agree.

I think this should be and will be a butt kicking.

Now.

I'm sorry the I'm getting some information.

What what what what?

It's nothing pressing.

Uh, We're gonna find out soon.

On on Nicola Jok's MRI results.

Sarah, No, I mean, I don't know the results.

I'm just saying they're they're at the that's what they're doing right now, Okay.

I just I felt it.

I felt my heart rate change.

I know.

I'm not even kidding.

I'm not even he quiet have gotten here.

Yeah, Vick bro Bro, I love you.

You can't do that kind of thing.

You can't say I got some information.

It's not really, but we should know soon.

I mean, that's good.

I mean to do that.

I mean, I touch you.

Guys are talking to me.

I was no, it's just you're making my heart my heart rate change a little bit.

I'm gonna here's what I know.

Here's what I'm gonna repeat it one more time.

The initial evaluation last night, when you get your hands on the knee right.

Every doctor does this, every trainer.

The initial evaluation.

Are jiggling and exactly.

They don't think there's any structural damage in there.

They don't think that.

They hope that there's not.

The MRI may reveal something else, but the initial hope is that it's a bone bruise hyper extension, much like Cam Johnson's injury.

Gonna miss time regardless, but they think he may have avoided major injury.

And that's all we're hoping based on this MRI, which will come out anytime.

So we'll get as soon as we get that information, it will be relayed directly to you, I don't care if we gotta do it during a break.

We will do it one last time.

The keyword for this hour is confetti.

So text that in your first and last name to three zero, three five, four, nine to five gives you a chance to get in the building tomorrow for the Abs and Blues on New Year's Eve, a pair of tickets to that game.

Now, speaking of the Avs, sort of a lunch pale win yesterday, but a quote from Bednar postgame, he was not happy with We'll get to next again.

The big thing of the day here is whatever the update is going to be on Nikola Jokich.

Vickas said at the beginning of the show that the initial sort of doctor messing around with the knee afterwards with no imaging was positive.

It didn't feel like there were structural damagers.

More reports coming out this morning, one from euro Hoops, another one from Meridian Sports saying the same thing.

But vick you said that he is undergoing testing like at the moment, and we'll get information sometime soon.

The Denver Nuggets have to get on a bus and head to Toronto soon here, within the next hour or so.

He ain't doing that yeah, I don't think he'll be on that bus.

So whatever he's going to undergo, it'll be done in Miami and probably gonna stay there for a little bit.

Either way, he's going to miss some time and the Nuggets are going to be down four starters.

Yeah, now if they can go let's say, let's say they lose Joker, best case scenario for a month.

That that to me is my best case scenario.

I don't know about you, guys, Yeah, yes, I would agree.

If you're without him for a month and the other guys come back and you're able to win a few games here and there.

Like you're fine, hover five hundred years, You're fine, You're fine.

There's you know, there's nothing to worry about because now you're just looking at the postseason and what seeding you would like, right, Stay away from the OKC seed to start right, Stay away from that.

Well, Vick, I want to say, oh, I've got to say that, no matter where they finish in terms of seeding, I don't want to be number eight.

Okay, let me make that abundantly clear.

But just a fully healthy Nuggets team going into the postseason, to me, I will take that.

After all, after all the crap that they've been through, all the injuries they've dealt with a couple of months each at least for a G and C B and who knows now and Cam Johnson ford six weeks and whatnot.

I'll take a fully healthy team ready to be ripbrourn and firing in the postseason against whomever.

In a weird way, it takes a lot of pressure off the regular season, because you know, every game's like, oh, I gotta have this, gotta keep you, gotta keep pace, gotta keep pace.

Now you're like, just just be there, just be there at the end.

Well, let's uh, we'll jump back to this at the top of the hour, and especially if we get any sort of news in the next however many minutes hours we got left in the show, Mosha, do want to talk about the Avs?

Last night?

They find another way to get the dub score was a little bit different than what the game felt like.

Had a three to one leading the third.

Didn't like that second goal that was giving up a little bit of a squeaker underneath the pad.

Now again it feels like the same sort of story.

Five on five hockey, they played pretty well.

They had four power play opportunities last night to capitalize on zero of them.

And this was Bednar's approach after the game talking about the power Play.

Are there any rising concerns with the power Play?

It feels like some you guys will have two or three good games and then you'll have one.

Yes.

Yeah, I mean it's because it's been too long without us figuring it out right.

So there's concern for sure.

I still have lots of belief in it, though.

I mean, you can talk about concern and it's nice to have concerns while you're still beating the snot out of everybody on your schedule.

Mos.

But yeah, you get four power play opportunities, you'd hope with the amount of talent you have, you capitalize on.

One, you'd think.

So it's a lot of talent out there.

I don't know if you're gonna have to start doing something drastic like breaking up some of the best players on the planet and playing with each other.

Yeah, I don't know what the answer is.

I think shot volume would be better.

But last night it was hard to even get set up because the Kings were so aggressive on their PK.

Yeah, I mean they were incredibly aggressive.

Is that because they knew what the as you're going to do and it was predictable or what.

No, it's because they just they sold out hard.

Now here's the thing.

If you write was so right, if you get a couple of quick three quick passes, bang bang bang, you're gonna have a two on one someplace, period, end of story.

Because they only have four guys out there.

I mean, watching these guys leap from the top of the circle to the point like that and get on a guy and force a turnover or force a you know, a bad pass, whatever it may be, it was pretty impressive to watch.

I mean I looked at the Kings and I thought to myself that that's really aggressive.

Ryker was right.

Guys were finishing their checks on the p K, which means you're burying a guy in the corner.

But now it's a four on three over here, and typically you don't want to do that, man, you because there's so much open ice then, and you know, a team like the Avs can move it around and not get past your goalie.

I just they were very, very aggressive.

It is a concern.

I think it has to be a concern at this point.

At the same time, what they're capable of doing in the five on five game.

I'll tell you what I love the most right now is obviously you're getting high end play from your best players, your top line.

You're getting contributions now from brock Nelson who just looking up his numbers earlier, Brock has now given you seven goals this month and twelve points.

He had twelve points in the month of November.

If he's a twelve point a month guy, that feels like a pretty good number for your second line center.

I think he's finally gotten into the rhythm of what his role is and what he's supposed to be on this unit.

But here's the one that I love the most.

I'm becoming obsessed with Gavin Brindley because every second he's on the ice, he's just going a million miles an hour.

When you go back to the team that won the Cup, you obviously had incredibly talented players.

When you played a team like Edmonton, they could match McKennon to McDavid.

They'd matched Miko to.

Dry Side, like they had talented players that they get stack hat on hat.

The third and fourth lines are what killed them, Like those are the guys that got after you and I'm looking at your bread and Journey and yes, yes, but this version with Brinley and Drury and Parker Kelly and like, that's that's your your guys getting the least amount of ice time and it feels like they're kicking ass, all of them.

I saw some really good shifts out of the bottom two lines last night.

Yeah, some really good shifts, momentum changing type of shifts that.

I mean, again, it does your heart good, does it not to see that and you're like, Wow, those guys are are really bringing it.

And it's, as you talked about, more of a lunch pale scenario.

They're dumping it in, they're going and chasing, they're winning a punk battle, they're starting to cycle.

I mean, they're they're or or on the flip side.

They're for checking the snot out of the Kings.

You know, they're forcing the Kings to retreat back in their own zone for another breakout and what you know, whatever the case may be, they're doing a good job in that regard.

Yeah, I mean, I I completely agree with you.

And as far as the five on five play is concerned, I want to try to put things in perspective.

Vic Wayne Gretzky, top points man of all time, his best season as a pro, he was plus one hundred.

Okay, jeez, it's pretty good.

The best of all time was Bobby Orr for the Bruins in seventy seventy one.

He was a plus one twenty four.

That's incredible.

Larry Robinson and again we're talking plus minus.

Everybody knows what it means, but he was a plus one.

He was plus one twenty was Larry Robinson in the late seventies from Montreal.

So Gretzky was a plus one hundred.

That being said, Nathan McKinnon right now is a plus forty eight and we're not even halfway through the season.

It's not okay.

So I mean think about McKinnon and the lack of power play pointage that he could be accumulating or would have accumulated, so on and so forth, and he's still right there now.

Again, if you score on the power plates, not a plus, but it shows you five on five they're kicking major major butt, major butt.

So if he continues at that pace, can he make a run at ors record?

I short just a little bit.

Well, Vic, that's a great question, my goodness.

So we're gonna be halfway through the season.

In three games.

Let's say he's another plus two or three, so then he's a plus fifty one.

Let's say plus fifty.

No, he's not gonna make a run at that that would be.

But he'd be like top five, So that is correct.

Yeah, I learned something yesterday.

What's up all the analytics that are out there?

The nerds have come up with so many numbers.

I appreciate you, I really do, because I learn every day and I love learning.

So what Nate is doing on the hockey side, just he's crossing rivers and seas like never been cross before.

What Nikola Jokic is doing on the NBA side is very similar, if not more impressive.

Listen to this.

Do you guys know what BPM stands for?

Box plus minus?

I asked Tansac that last ninety said beats per minute.

That's what I was just gonna say, beats permitted.

So do you know what box plus minus is?

My friend?

Can you tell us what it is?

Is that like the average plus or minus that you have on a given game description?

What's that?

It's a horrible description, But let me tell you.

What I don't know what it is.

It feels like that's the layman's term for it.

It's an advanced NBA statistic estimating the players impact per one hundred possession based on traditional box score stats, showing how many points better or worse a player makes their team compared to an average player.

That sounds like that sounds like good will hunting stuff.

Yeah, it's ridiculous.

It sounds like the professor putting the equation on the board, all right, and dudes mopping the floor and solves it.

That's what.

Let me tell you how good Nikola is.

Here's what it sounds like to me.

It sounds just like this, why what Nie?

So the compression that expansion lb longitude in a way cause the erratic oscillation.

It's there, all right?

So based on BPM, right, permit, listen to this.

If you're if you're in the negative range of BPM, like if your minus two point zero, you're considered a bench player in the NBA.

If you're even zero point zero bpm, you're a decent starter or six man.

If you're a two point oh, you're a good starter.

Four point oh, you're an all star, six point oh, you're all NBA.

If you're eight point zero on BPM, you're an MVP season type player.

If you're a ten point zero on BPM, you're a peak player like Jordan or Lebron.

Do you know what Jokers BPM is this season?

I just gave you all these You know what his is this season right now?

Sixteen point five?

Oh my lord?

That yeah, that's I don't understand.

There's two and one yes, think about that for a second.

So it's a war stat.

Yep, highest of all time.

That's pretty crazy.

Beats permittent.

Please be okay, Please be okay, Please please again.

The second we get an update, we will give it to you with the O kitch imaging that's happening as we speak.

Three oh three five O four nine two five apps TA get Tuesday.

Another keyword at eight twenty stick around