The Drive

In hour 3 of The Drive, Zach, Phil and the guys compete in our weekly trivia competition against the morning show. Can we follow up our 4-0 performance from last week? How will we fare with Mike Evans taking over asking the questions? With Bo Nix throwing out the first pitch tonight for the Rockies and Yankees, the guys remember their favorite first pitches in history. Has Nix become the face of the Broncos? Does the quarterback need to be the face of an NFL franchise? Is it a bad sign if Sean Payton is the face of franchise a year from now? Zach and Phil react to PFF’s ranking of the top 32 wide receivers in the NFL. What tier will Courtland Sutton fall in and do we agree with his ranking? How much should we take PFF’s opinion into account?

In hour 4 of The Drive, Zach and Phil question if Sean Payton and the Broncos made a promise to Courtland Sutton a year ago that now they are questioning. Have the Broncos invested enough in the past few drafts to walk away from Sutton at the end of next season? Could any Broncos sit out if they do not get the extension they are looking for? What did the guys make of Michael Malone walking back his claim that SGA is the league MVP? Does Michael Malone have mixed emotions when it comes to Nikola Jokic? Who makes up the Denver sports coach Mount Rushmore? Should Malone be on the list? We wrap up the show with Mike Rice joining the show and debating who the 4th head of Denver sports coaches on Mount Rushmore would be.

Hour 1 of The Drive kicks off with Zach and Phil cross talking with Dover and Cecil. The guys react to the breaking news of the Nuggets hiring David Adelman to be their next head coach. Phil explains why he thinks Adelman can get the most out of Jamal Murray while the other guys are not enthusiastic about the hire. Should the Nuggets have hired a general manager first and allow the future GM to have an input on who his head coach is? Should the Nuggets have gone through a full coaching search before landing on Adelman? Will Adelman have more of a say in organizational decisions than the next GM? Will the Nuggets go with another internal hire for their general manager? Did the Kroenke’s hire Adelman because they were comfortable with him and is that a negative? Will Josh Kroenke be more involved with the Nuggets organization going forward? Was Michael Malone taking a shot at Denver fans and Jokic with his comments on ESPN’s broadcast the other night?

In hour 2 of The Drive, Zach and Phil react to Nuggets owner Josh Kroenke’s comments from his press conference today. Did Adelman prove enough in his short stint as interim coach to be the full time head coach? How much of the Adelman hire came down to finances and him being a cheaper option? Should the Nuggets purposely hire outside of the organization for their general manager search? Today’s “Three Count” includes Josh Kroenke’s answer to how close the Nuggets are to competing for a championship, the Pacers having yet another miraculous comeback last night, and the NFL introducing a “protector of the year“ award for the best offensive lineman. Who will be a bigger story line in the NFL this season, Shedeur Sanders or Travis Hunter? Will Sanders be able to take advantage during training camp and pre-season to be the starting QB for the Browns?

In hour 3 of The Drive, Zach and Phil continue to react to audio from Josh Kroenke’s press conference today.  Will the current Nuggets players be too comfortable with David Adelman when the team seems to need some sort of shake up? What was the biggest takeaway for the guys from Josh Kroenke’s press conference today? Will the Nuggets go outside of the organization to hire their open general manager position? Will Adelman be able to maximize the roster from the starters to the bench rotation? Will the Nuggets truly be able to develop their bench or will the starters still see heavy minutes in the regular season? Should the expectation for the Nuggets be to win Jokic another championship? How much of the Adelman hire came down to finances and him being a cheaper option? Should the Nuggets have gone through a full coaching search before landing on Adelman?

In hour 4 of The Drive, Zach and Phil continue to react to audio from Josh Kroenke’s press conference today. After hiring David Adelman, the interim coach, will the Nuggets go internal for their general manager hire as well? Has Kroenke set up the Nuggets to fail after letting multiple front office members leave in the past decade due to finances? Will Christian Braun get a fair contract from the Nuggets? Will the Nuggets be able to sell Braun on taking a lesser than deal to keep playing with Jokic? We react to Michael Malone’s comments on ESPN the other night. Did Malone take a shot at Jokic and the Denver fans during the broadcast? How should Nuggets nation feel about Malone at this point? We wrap up the show with DenverSports.com’s Will Petersen joining the show to share his biggest takeaways from today. Why was David Adelman not at today’s Nuggets press conference?

Hour 1 of The Drive kicks off with Phil and Aniello cross talking with Dover and Cecil. The guys react to a hypothetical trade of Michael Porter Jr. for Draymond Green and Buddy Hield. Would Draymond bring an edge to the team that the Nuggets could use? We also have breaking news as SGA has officially won the NBA’s MVP award. Why did the NBA wait so long to hand out the award? Phil and Aniello react to Michael Malone’s comments from the ESPN broadcast, last night. Was Malone taking a shot at Jokic and the Nuggets when he said, “SGA showed why he’s the MVP”? Phil answers if David Adelman is the right guy to be the next Nuggets head coach after a short stint as interim head coach. Will Adelman be able to get the most out of the Nuggets roster? What is Adelman’s philosophy? Should the Nuggets still perform a full search for their head coach opening? How do the guys feel about NFL players being allowed to participate in the Olympics for flag football? Would Phil have played in the Olympics if he was still in the league? Who would be the best option for team USA’s quarterback?

In hour 2 of The Drive, Phil and Aniello react to Michael Malone’s comments from last night as well as from months ago regarding the NBA MVP. Which quote is actually how Malone feels about who deserves the award? Did Nikola Jokic make Malone who he is? How deserving of the MVP award was SGA? Did the league and the media push for SGA to win the award? Today’s “Three Count” features the “tush push” nearly getting banned from NFL owners but falling 2 votes short, the discourse on Twitter surround SGA’s foul baiting, and Bo Nix throwing out the first pitch at the Rockies and Yankees game on Friday. DenverSports.com’s Jake Shapiro joins the show to discuss where the Nuggets stand in the NBA’s CBA, how does a Christian Braun extension impact the Nuggets finances, and how being in the second apron restricts a team.

In hour 3 of The Drive, Phil and Aniello react to James Palmer’s comments on Sean Payton and the Broncos, going pedal to the metal and wanting people to know they’ve arrived. Does Sean have reason to be so confident in his group? Will the Broncos defense be able to make life easier for Bo Nix and the offense? Phil walks up through what the Broncos rookie class is going through. What is there to like from this Broncos rookie class so far? We react to the NFL rule changes and the ones that didn’t pass. Should the league ban the “tush push”? How can the NFL improve their kickoff and onside kick rules? Phil answers if David Adelman is the right guy to be the next Nuggets head coach after a short stint as interim head coach. Will Adelman be able to get the most out of the Nuggets roster? What other names should the Nuggets interview during the hiring process? 

In hour 4 of The Drive, Phil and Aniello dive into the NBA MVP discourse as SGA was officially announced as the winner today. Was Nikola Jokic snubbed from the award after having his best season yet? Did the league award SGA the MVP because “it was his turn”? Has SGA’s “foul baiting” gone too far and ruined the viewing experience of Thunder games? We react to James Palmer’s comments on Sean Payton and the Broncos, going pedal to the metal and wanting people to know they’ve arrived. Does Sean have reason to be so confident in his group? Will the Broncos defense be able to make life easier for Bo Nix and the offense? We wrap up the show with breaking news of Colts owner Jim Irsay passing away as well as how the Nuggets ownership should proceed in the offseason.