This week, Gottlieb discusses the vacant hole where March Madness normally exists, and talks with Fox Sports College Hoops Analyst Aaron Torres on the complete shutdown of college hoops and why there will be very little coaching movement during an uncertain offseason. Make sure you download, rate and subscribe here to get the latest All Ball Podcasts!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, welcome in your boy, Doug Gottlieb here. And this
should have been a podcast which previewed the two thousand
and Instead it's done. You're on Lockdown, you download the pod. Alright,
God lit give me something that I I don't love
these fictitious brackets because there's so much hoop that wasn't played,
(00:29):
and it's interesting. I think the outside world it's like, man,
I didn't have my bracket. We didn't have the upsets,
the Cinderella's, even the final four. The insular world of
college basketball. All of that is true, but not having
the conference tournaments like dude, conference tournaments semi final Friday
(00:50):
or Saturday is awesome. I mean I I would contend
that Thursday and Friday, you know, like the the Thursday
of Championship week, everybody plays everybody. It's literally the best
day in college basketball. Crazy, right, And that was that
was I don't know, taken away from this or whatever.
(01:11):
And I I'm not. I'm I'm actually the last guy
to be sitting here and telling you what our government
should shouldn't be doing with the n s like this is.
These are this is a first for all of us.
So I'm not bitching and moaning and saying we should
have played hoop. I do think it was weird that
they were playing and they're playing with no fans, and
they're like, no, no, no knowing fans, like let's not
(01:33):
play any basketball at all, when the kids were already there,
they'd already traveled. I don't know. I guess you could
have just played the tournaments anyway. But regardless, what's done
is done, and we kind of move on. But I
just want to point out that, and I think many
of you know it, or maybe and maybe I said
it amongst each other, but haven't articulated it out loud
(01:53):
in a public forum. Which is I get that the
n c A tournament selection Sunday we're can't old and
we never had it, but not having Championship Week Thursday
and Friday, where it's not like you get remember, on
a on a Thursday of the n c A term,
you get sixteen games, get sixteen games, and on a
(02:16):
Friday you get sixteen games. On Championship Week, you not
only get three times as many games. Everybody plays and
the games in many ways are all more competitive because
their conferences and sometimes will be uglier or whatever. But
You don't just get Kansas or Baylor playing. Get Kansas
(02:37):
and Baylor and Texas Tech and Texas UM. So this
is unforeseen, unprecedented and really weird. Now there are some
good things that come from it. Uh. Aaron Torre is
gonna join us, who's of course covered college basketball for
years for Fox Sports. UM. He's awesome and he has
(02:58):
a great energy and thought and feelings about everything being canceled.
I'll just give you mine. I don't think. I don't
think there'll be a ton of major coaching changes. And
it's not just because we didn't have finality or because
there's some sensitivity down't do. I think that plays into
it maybe a little bit. I think a big thing
(03:20):
is these buyouts are big, and the stock market continues
to to dip. Dipping is is a kind way of
saying what's actually going on. And when the stock market
is down the way it's down, remember all of your boosters,
these are millionaires. And as much as they're donating money
(03:43):
to get a new coach in there for their alma
monitor sounds like they're doing it at a good will,
they're usually doing it with some extra money they got
on the side. Nobody has that right now, we don't
know the financial future of anybody's company outside of Amazon,
which by the way, is stopped making some deliveries in
some countries. Um, Netflix, I mean, any of the major
(04:07):
stocks all down, So good luck calling your Crystal Content
Texas and Chaka lost his last game to oaklehom State.
Good luck calling one of your major boosters. Say hey,
I know you gave ten million for the arena. I
need you to give me a couple million dollars to
fire Shaka smart like my my portfolios down, call somebody else.
So with a a paucity of major college coaching changes,
(04:30):
there are some coaching changes that have been made. Let's
start with the biggest name one, which is Rick Pettino's
new head coach at Iota. Now, uh, I don't know
if I would want to play for Rick Pettino. I
think I would, Yeah, I would. Um, I don't know
if I want to coach with Rick Pettino because he's
a hard driving duty makes his his staff get in shape.
(04:51):
You know when you give scar Reporch's no notes. Um,
and I would say that even his reputation in fairness
is reputation, like part of the thing that people would says,
how can all these things be going on Louisville in
the dorms and you had no idea. His reputation was
he had his hand and everything. I don't know if
that's fair to this version of Rick Pottino, who was
(05:12):
Like the story I had heard from another coach who
had competed against him was that, you know, when we
played him at their place, he was gone before our
team bus pulled out, which is for a home game.
That's really weird. Like he wasn't as connected with his
teams late as he was throughout the life his careery.
He's a grandpa. Um. He had his own friends, He
(05:35):
went to great restaurants after games, and he did let
his assistance handle stuff, which I think is a reasonable thought.
The differences that he had a reputation of early in
his career for most of his career having his finger
in every overseeing everything that went on, um, including the
body mass index of everyone on his staff. Look, he's
at Iona. He's an unbelievable coach. This is let me
(05:59):
give you the Rick Pettino why I believe he's the
greatest coach in the history of the modern Arab basketball.
He was his use to the three point line was
way ahead of anybody else at the top end of
the sport. Right where there are other teams US International
and Loula Merremount that played fast, shot a lot of threes. Yes,
but he was the first major college coach to to
(06:20):
embrace the three point shot at Providence before anybody else.
Of course, he brought that to the NBA with the
New York Dicks. They pressed, and nobody presses anymore, but
it began the era where teams were pressing. They did
it when they're Providence. He was also you know, like
Tiger Woods gets credit for being the first golfer to
(06:42):
pay a ton of attention to getting into physical condition, right,
the same could be true for the coaching of Rick Pettino.
He was the first one in the eighties provoting Billy
Donnov had lost all that weight to really demand incredible
physical conditioning and have guys play in a lighter weight. Um,
they play small, yes, they stretched defense, Yes, they play
(07:02):
fast and shoot threes. Yes. And then when when he
was at Louisville, they also when he's with the Boston Celtics,
of course they tanked to get the Tim Duncan draft pick.
They didn't get it, and he drafted poorly and he
bailed on Chauncey Bilps too soon. But he was the
first to use tanking to get lottery picks, first shot
at a superstar in the draft. So we got three
(07:24):
point shooting, got conditioning, you got tanking. These are all
things that are part of my modern college basketball and
you want it. Got to the final four at Province
one National Championship Kentucky and essentially handed one to Tubby Smith.
In terms of the personnel, and he wont to ask
chance of a Louisville I mean, it's unbelievable. So yes,
(07:45):
the his personal issues, aside his n c A issues
late put a stain on anybody's resume, But in terms
of what he's brought to the actual sport of basketball
coaching areas of empty assists, how you play. There have
been no more impactful guys than Rick Pettino. And obviously
(08:06):
I think he'll win at Iona. It's a great campus,
not far from you know where his apartment is in
New York City. He's hiring Tom Bettamarco, who helped get
him players. The guy can coach. They have good they
have good enough facilities of great history. It's it's really
sad what happened to Tim Cluse, who a Long Island
(08:27):
legend who had to retire essentially because of health issues.
Do do I think the personal story is all perfect
like No. But in terms of basketball, Rick Pettino is
unbelievable and I can't believe he's coaching at IONA after
not just coaching but winning in Europe. Let me tell
you about a couple of the other hirings potential hires.
(08:49):
Wyoming's hiring Northern Colorado's Jeff Lindner Lender of course a
former he's a Boise State guy. Right, it's not a
really good job at U n C, which is in
Greely that part of the country. I think that that
makes sense as a higher it just does does it?
Does it blow you away? No? And I think it's
gonna be interesting Leon Rice, whose team that kind of
(09:11):
plateau a little bit. Let tell a little bit in
a very very tough league. It looks like Craig Smith
is gonna have to stay stand pat right because no
big jobs came open to drag him away from Utah State.
So you got Craig Smith, but he'll lose, you know,
I would guess he'll he'll lose n Makada. I guess
who had kind of a wash of a year, And
(09:33):
of course he'll lose Sam Merrow, who had an incredible
career and plays his last game it hits a game
winning three to win the Mountain West Conference Tournament title.
That's a pretty good way to get would would you
prefer to go out in the n c A Tournament, Yes,
but to go out on a game winning three to
beat San Diego State, it's pretty awesome. Um, Leonards are
really good coach, really good coach. I think Leon's a
(09:55):
really good coach. They're kinda going from the same pool.
And the middle of that league is it's all give
me a lot like the w c C right, like
the difference that well, the reason that w CC is
so good, I'll get to that. One of the jobs
that's opened a second is the middle. Everybody knows Gonzaga
and I think b y U had probably underachieved the
(10:16):
past five years or so, and now I think Mark
Pope and the energy, Chris Burgess and that staff they're
gonna be obviously getting having only childs this year helped them,
but you have their resources, their reach, as the Mormon University,
I think they're always gonna be competitive at the top
of that league. St. Mary's and Randy Betts. You've got
three big boys that league. The difference now is San
(10:39):
Francisco Pacific legit good teams, well coached. We'll see San
Francisco who lose a lot but did have guys sitting out.
But you're the middle of the league even without seeing
Diego and l M you truly being competitive. Santa Clara
is good, Pacific's good. San Francisco is good. Like you
start to get six havan deep, and you can see
(11:01):
why the Big West is so down in comparison. Some
of it his resources, a lot of his resources coaching.
I think the Mountain West is gonna be the same
U and l V will. They'll probably never be. They're
never gonna be back to where they were Attark, but
they'll be They'll be much closer to where they were,
I think with LN Krueger. So if you have Sanyo State,
(11:23):
they need New Mexico to figure it out. And UM
I think dr We're like look to have your to
your best players get kicked off the team and to
still be able to survive. But you need New Mexico
and see any of the state and un LV to
be your big boys. The middle of that league. Nevada good,
well coached, Alford knows what he's doing, he knows how
(11:44):
to win the league. And then you got the front
range teams. Wyoming should be better, should be back, Colorado State,
Utah State like and I know I'm I'm forgetting like
six teams in Boise State. That's a really, really good leak.
The depth of the w c C should be matched
(12:07):
at some point by the Mountain West Conference. I don't
think the Mountain West Conference was a very good league
this year in terms of town WCC probably better, better teams.
But now that you're getting the depth of quality coaches
who are recruited for your guys and transfers and have
a plan, I think soon the Mountain West will get
back to being the second best league in the West.
(12:30):
Even though the w c C is clearly the second
best and some people would think the best league in
the West, I don't think it is. I think the
PAC twelve is clearly better. Be sure to catch the
live edition of the Doug Gottlieb Show weekdays at three
p m. Easter noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and
the I Heart Radio app. All right, let's welcome him in.
He's college basketball analysts, he's been a college basketball writer.
(12:50):
You here him on Fox Sports Radio. He's one only
Aaron Torres. Okay, Aaron, Um, tomorrow or actually today when
this pod drops, we would have had games and now
we don't. How are you doing with all this? Well,
you know I'm doing Okay, Um. It is surreal. I
was a guest on the Odd Couple from from Las
(13:11):
Vegas the Pact twelve tournament, and Christian Rob asked me,
do you think we're gonna play games in the n
c A tournament without fans? And I said yes, And
they were both very surprised and sort of go from
where we were that day to the following day with
the Rudy Gobert news too. Now you know, we're all
dealing with it differently, but essentially the entire country on shutdown.
(13:32):
It's surreal. It's unbelievable. Uh. And I do think in
terms of the sports REALMD college basketball will be hit
the hardest because as of right now, it's the only
sport that isn't going to crown a champion. I actually
I'm gonna take the other side. Um, only in that
look that losing the tournament, losing the conference tournaments a huge,
(13:55):
huge financial hit. But you did have the season, right, Um,
But we don't play again until November or maybe December,
and so I do think by then it will be
business as usual. And for a year where we really
didn't know who was good and outside of you know,
maybe Kansas, I know and really knew how good Dayton
(14:18):
was in the grand landscape of things, we thought they
were really good. But outside of those couple of teams, like,
there wasn't there wasn't an it team. There wasn't an
it guy. And I'm I think the numbers would have
been down for the n c A Tournament because of it.
Now you've got a chance to recharge and refocus. Maybe
it's that actually ends up being a kind of good thing. Um. Okay,
(14:40):
So let's let's get to let's let's get to this
the ramifications of it. First thing is, I don't think
any of the big jobs are coming open. Tell me
I'm wrong. I can't tell you you're wrong, because you
know I think that. Um, you know what I've told
everybody that will listen to me is is that the
college basketball world is very much in a holding pattern,
just like the real world, and so um to fire
(15:03):
a head coach right now, What that means is you're
probably unless you're a hundred percent positive that you have
a guy ready to to line up and take a job,
you're not going to be able to interview anybody for
the very foreseeable future. Keep in mind, current players are
not on campus, so you can't really get with the players.
And Doug, you and I know how all this works.
(15:24):
Players at home, no coach, Well, guess who's gonna be
hitting up those players? Uh, coaches from other programs. And
that's tampering, but it is what it is. It's part
of the sport. Oh, by the way, you want to
hire a guy, A guy wants to upgrade the roster,
but he can't bring recruits on campus until at least
April fifteenth, And realistically that's probably gonna get pushed back.
(15:45):
And so I think when you factor in that, it's
gonna be really hard to hire someone in this environment.
The fact that even if somebody is interested, maybe they're
having second thoughts about how they're going to upgrade the roster. Oh,
by the way, the little things like selling your house,
moving your family. I'm a hundred percent with you. If
it didn't really open by now, I don't think we
(16:08):
really see any of these major major openings happening. Giving
guys like Danny Manning at wake for Shaka smarted Texas
another season on campus. Well. The other issue is how
do you call up a booster and say, hey, man,
I need a cup million here to buy out a
coach and the boosters like, look, I just lost thirty
(16:28):
of my wealth because of the stock market calls somebody
else right like I, that's a that's a legit. That's
a legit problem. Um. What about the documentary that the
Christian Dawkins documentary, It's coming out in two weeks. Yeah,
I haven't had a chance to see it. I've read
the quote. Dan What's obviously wrote up a piece and
from what I understand, Dan What'son was prominently involved in
(16:49):
just the documentary itself. Um, from what I could tell,
it doesn't look good. Um for Sean Miller, will wait
the calls that we all knew happened or act played.
I don't know necessarily that there is that smoking gun
that is going to definitively give the n c A
a h proof that cheating happened or a school caused
(17:11):
to fire one of those two guys. I'm trying to
wrap my head around and I haven't seen it yet.
I'm hoping to see it out before premiers in a
couple of weeks. But I think it's gonna be interesting.
I think it's just another tricklegown effect. And again in
these uncertain times, Um, I think it's hard to say
definitively the effect that it's gonna happen. Aaron Torres is
our guest here in the All Ball Podcast. Of course,
(17:31):
Uh you hear Aaron. Aaron on the weekends on Fox.
Sport Trading has covered college basketball for years. All right,
what's going on with Greg Marshall losing like half his roster? Um,
it's it's a great question. Um. First of all, you
know that was a team that literally a week ago
was on the custom making the n c A tournament,
(17:52):
and so you talked about tricklegown effect. Now, I tend
to think that if this many guys were unhappy, something
like this was gonna happen. But if you can just
sneak in of the tournament, you know, it's a little
bit harder of a cell to those kids that hey,
things are so bad blah blah blah blah, and maybe
you win a game. UM, I have no in that
particular case. An he's super inside knowledge. Other than that,
(18:12):
we all know that Greg Marshall has been a hard
guy to play for four years. UM. And it's a
little bit easier when you're winning. It's a little bit
easier when you're in the Missouri Valley. Uh, you're recruiting
a different caliber of kid, one maybe with fewer options,
but to you're also just beating the you know what
on the twenty eight teams here and you're going you know,
twenty nine and five and making the n c A tournament.
(18:35):
So UM, I use all that to just say that, UM,
I don't have a great deal other than that, he's
always been a tough guy to play for. And now
maybe you're recruiting a higher caliber of athlete, like I said,
with more opportunity. Uh, if they do enter the transfer market.
And last night I saw I think we got five
guys in the in the portal from which tested, including
their second and third league scores. Uh, It's it's crazy.
(18:58):
The the American is generally a disaster. Like that's the
part that I don't think. I don't think enough people realize.
And what happens is if you're a fan of the
American Athletic Conference, like, whoa, we've had this team we
have I think like, look, Yukon was dying to get
out of that league the second they were in that league.
Since then I didn't want to be in that league.
Wichita only took that league because they felt, like, you know,
(19:21):
the Valley had trended to becoming a one bid league
and they wanted to get into bigger markets. It was
their way of keeping Greg Marshall will play against high majors,
but I mean, you know, it's hard to sell tickets
in stores Connecticut when Central Florida's come to town or
when two Lanes come to town, you know, as opposed
to anybody in the Big East. And for Wichita stight
as much as they can sell seats no matter who
(19:43):
comes to town. There's just a lot more energy and
excitement over teams that are closer in proximity. And then
I also think that the point that you brought up
is a great one. The step up in weight class,
like Look, you can be really good and even have
NBA players in your team, but when you're playing against
a higher caliber of dude every night, you're you're gonna
lose more games. Like that's just kind of the way
(20:03):
it is. Um, Okay, let's get a couple other couple
other interesting ones. Bill self has fended off these Bill
self to the NBA for the entire season. Now, I
don't know how the timelines even match up. I guess
you could go now because the season's over, maybe it
does change. Is Bill self Kansas head coach next year? Well?
(20:25):
You know, this is just another one of those things
that is so in flux because of everything. Um, to
answer your question, like, I do think he is back
in large part because when does the regular season in
the NBA resume? When does it end? Are we talking June?
Are we talking July? What are we talking there? By
the way, this whole process in terms of the n
(20:47):
ci A legislation, they have their notice of allegations, they've responded,
uh pretty proactively. Actually, Um, what happens in terms of
getting that done? Um, that's just one that that I
just think it it's way too hard to speculate right now.
I would assume he's back at Kansas and listen. I
will also say this too, is you know, there have
(21:08):
been these rumors forever, and I know that there has
never been a, you know, like I said, a notice
of allegations, there's ever been a major investigation into his program.
But until I see something a little bit more definitive,
just in terms of, you know, getting the sports world
back on its feet, I would just say he's probably
gonna be back, because again, it's there's so much uncertainty
(21:30):
with pretty much everything to do with sports right now. Yeah, um, yeah, no, no,
it's it's it's it's kind of kind of crazy. I
guess here's my other thought. This, This is where I
was taking the opposite point of view of you. Is
not just that there's no games. It's like, and maybe
it's because doing the radio show, we've been so overwhelmed
(21:51):
by the Tom Brady and NFL free agency news. We
do miss the games, but I'm not sure we missed
the tournament as much as we thought we'd missed the tournament.
I don't know, Like and when I when I say we,
maybe I shouldn't include me and you and people listen
to this podcast. I think America like we move on
kind of quickly. Now, this Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday is
(22:13):
gonna be weird and different. Um, gonna be weird and different.
But Monday through Wednesday is usually just bitching and complaining
about teams that most people don't even know about, right,
Like I didn't even know Syracuse was on the bubble
this year. Okay, maybe Jim Beeheim should be in right,
That's that's what it feels like Monday through Wednesday is.
And then you know, in terms of sports radio, you
(22:34):
don't really cover the games that much as much as
the coaches. And there's like a story that America gravitates to.
We'll miss that. But it's weird, Like college basketball is
in this weird place where it's it's searching for national
relevance in the landscape, and this really hurts it and
it it maybe puts it in its place because um,
(22:54):
because it's not as missed as people thought it would be. Yeah,
it's it's totally be fair, you know, I think that.
You know, listen, here's the bottom line. Tom Brady um
would have sucked the oxygen out of the room under
any circumstance. I mean listen the NFL draft. Does you
know ten million people, um during the NBA playoffs, and
(23:15):
so I think the NFL always sucks the oxygen out
of the room. UM. I think that, you know, the
NFL very smartly decided to kind of continue business as
usual because there is nothing to talk about. And so listen,
if Tom Brady became a Tampa Bay Buck, it could
be on the day of you know, Game four the
NBA Finals, and it would still be the thing that
we're all talking about. I don't disagree that college basketball
(23:38):
is kind of searching for its place, but I do
still think those storylines do always emerge, and even if
it is only for two three week period, like, it
is a relevant thing. I mean, John Morant went from
some dude that guys like you and I know too,
oh my god, like like like you know, and does
Obe Topping the kid from Dayton have that moment? Do?
(23:59):
Does you know? I don't. I don't know exactly what
those narratives would have been, but we find those every year.
I don't disagree that it's unfortunately become a two or
three weeks sport for everybody except for a few die
hards and people that follow their each individual school. But
I do still think we will miss the tournament. I
think not having all this NFL news impacts it. But
we're going to miss the tournament, just just just to
(24:20):
give us something to do, especially in the time when
people have less to do than they ever have in
a long, long time. You know, you may have a
great point though about and this has kind of been
my argument about everyone thinks he's college players are what's exploited,
and I always like, I'm always like, look, the perfect
example of why they're not actually exploited is the fact
(24:41):
that none of them get a chance to promote themselves
here over the past couple of weeks. You know, we don't.
They don't become the household names that you become only
through the n c A tournament. Right there, there's there's
a fine line between exploitation and promotion, and I think
it's still along the line of promotion. I would just say,
really quick, I have been on board with you on
this all along. Basically, Um, there's no disrespect to a
(25:04):
kid of Kentucky. But they're gonna get twenty thousand people
in rupp Arena. Um, and there isn't a single player
on Kentucky this past season that someone has said, hey, honey,
we gotta get to Rupp Arena to see this pit. Now,
that's not to say that they don't have guys that
are going to the NBA. Doesn't mean to discredit what
the individuals on that team accomplished. But with all due
respect to Ashton Hagans, who's their starting point guard, who
(25:25):
might be a first round NBA draft pick. Like I said,
nobody's saying, honey, you know Ashton, or you know nobody
in Knoxville saying honey, Ashton Hagan's is rolling through town
this week. Let's get tickets for UT Kentucky. So I'm
a hundred percent on board with you on that. UM.
I think it's easy to argue about on social media.
I think the people like you and I that are
actually on these campuses that actually see how kind of,
(25:47):
for lack of a better term, the sausage is made,
how the process and how the system works. I think
more people probably don't realize that, but I think guys
like you and I will continue to say that and
will end up being right, whether people want to listen
to us or not listen. You know my thing real quick,
I think it might be Obie Toppin because that dude,
(26:10):
I know he's a third year junior and he's twenty
one years old, but that dude was a star, and
Anthony Edwards had his moments. James Wiseman, who even knows
where he is or what he's doing right now, Like
I really think, and I think if the if the
tournament had happened, I think Obie Toppin would have been
the number one pick because he would have been so
dominant without it. I think it does depend on the team,
(26:32):
and maybe somebody quote unquote plays it's safe by taking
the eighteen year old freshman over the year old third
year sophomore. I would not be surprised at all if
that kid ends up being the first overall pick. Really yeah,
I just I don't know. I mean, I don't even know.
I don't know if he's a high level starter in
the NBA. I think he's a good player. I think
he's a stretch five. I don't know. I don't know.
(26:57):
I like him, I mean, like I know what I'm
gonna get. I don't know. Like I have a lot
of guys saying rotation big, you know, whereas they they
take a shot at the Wiseman's. They take a shot
at some of the younger players because they have a
greater upside. Well, and that's what happens every single year.
I mean Steph Curry when he came out, was he
a point guard? Was he a shooting guard? Where do
(27:18):
you play him? Who does he defend? Due the two
time m v P. And I'm by no means saying
that Obi Toppin is going to evolve into um uh
uh m v P caliber player. I'm just saying is
that the longer you stay in school, the more they
pick apart your game. And we have now a pretty
good track record of if you're not uber uber uber elite,
whether it is James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Damee Lillard, whoever
(27:40):
it is, stay the extra year, get the seasoning. The
point that you always bring up, Doug, which I steal
from you all the time. Learn how to become a star,
Learn how to be a role player first, then learn
how to become a star as a sophomore junior. More
and more guys are having success with that route at
the NBA level. Yeah, I would agree with I would
agree with that. Okay, last thing, uh if you to
bet your salary on who would have won the n
(28:02):
c A tournament. Who would you put your money on?
So I'd probably say Gonzaga, And I feel terrible. Um,
I didn't buy Kansas because they couldn't shoot threes and
because the kid has a bouquet who they ran everything
through was a forty three fall shooter and at a
certain point somebody was just gonna start following him with
(28:23):
six minutes to go and send it him to the line.
I thought they were really good. I thought they were
deserving in the number one overall seed. I would have
probably without knowing what the bracket looks like, probably ended
up taking Gonzaga. Aaron, great stuff. Can't wait to hear
you on the weekend on Fox Sports Radio. Thanks so much,
Dog appreciate the toime of man. Be sure to catch
the live edition of The Doug Gottlieb Show weekdays at
(28:45):
three p m. Easter noon Pacific. All right, we'll have
more pods regarding the NBA, and obviously these jokes right
themselves with Kyrie Irving and Isolation. A right, Gary and
Katie and Isolation. See, they've already changed the culture of
the Brooklyn Nets. But you are bummed out that the
NBA is the only professional sport to have guys contract
(29:06):
the coronavirus, but they all thankfully appear to be fine.
They gotta be quarantined. I don't know what it means
for the playoffs. I think it could be awesome. Like,
has anybody thought of the idea? And this was the
same thing for college basketball? I mean, I guess you
couldn't do it because the time away in college basketball
and school will be over, which school basically has been canceled.
But has anybody thought about the possibility? This is just
(29:27):
a thought that um that the NBA should go to
more of a an AU model. Eric Garret Chott like,
this is what I mean. Pool play into a tournament field,
Like why not? Right, we have to play five to
ten games five to ten games before we get ready
(29:51):
for whatever the postseason is, and so the tournament doesn't
have to be a one and done tournament. But you
do pool play against all of the teams that are
in your your division, right, so the travel cost last
whatever you get it going and the same things your
division do pool play, and then you put them all
into a field where everybody makes the playoffs for one year,
(30:13):
and the first round becomes you know, uh, three or
five game playoff. The second round becomes a five game playoffs.
At the run, I do know that the reason that
they like those elongated playoffs is because there's fewer upsets.
You want the best teams to be the best teams.
But these are some extenuating circumstances. All right, keep your
questions coming. We'll do some Q and A on our
(30:34):
next podcast, which we'll try and have dropped tomorrow. In
the meantime, I'm Doug gott Leave. This is all ball
Hey, welcome in your boy, Doug Gottlieb here. And this
should have been a podcast which previewed the two thousand
and Instead it's done. You're on Lockdown, you download the pod. Alright,
God lit give me something that I I don't love
these fictitious brackets because there's so much hoop that wasn't played,
(00:29):
and it's interesting. I think the outside world it's like, man,
I didn't have my bracket. We didn't have the upsets,
the Cinderella's, even the final four. The insular world of
college basketball. All of that is true, but not having
the conference tournaments like dude, conference tournaments semi final Friday
(00:50):
or Saturday is awesome. I mean I I would contend
that Thursday and Friday, you know, like the the Thursday
of Championship week, everybody plays everybody. It's literally the best
day in college basketball. Crazy, right, And that was that
was I don't know, taken away from this or whatever.
(01:11):
And I I'm not. I'm I'm actually the last guy
to be sitting here and telling you what our government
should shouldn't be doing with the n s like this is.
These are this is a first for all of us.
So I'm not bitching and moaning and saying we should
have played hoop. I do think it was weird that
they were playing and they're playing with no fans, and
they're like, no, no, no knowing fans, like let's not
(01:33):
play any basketball at all, when the kids were already there,
they'd already traveled. I don't know. I guess you could
have just played the tournaments anyway. But regardless, what's done
is done, and we kind of move on. But I
just want to point out that, and I think many
of you know it, or maybe and maybe I said
it amongst each other, but haven't articulated it out loud
(01:53):
in a public forum. Which is I get that the
n c A tournament selection Sunday we're can't old and
we never had it, but not having Championship Week Thursday
and Friday, where it's not like you get remember, on
a on a Thursday of the n c A term,
you get sixteen games, get sixteen games, and on a
(02:16):
Friday you get sixteen games. On Championship Week, you not
only get three times as many games. Everybody plays and
the games in many ways are all more competitive because
their conferences and sometimes will be uglier or whatever. But
You don't just get Kansas or Baylor playing. Get Kansas
(02:37):
and Baylor and Texas Tech and Texas UM. So this
is unforeseen, unprecedented and really weird. Now there are some
good things that come from it. Uh. Aaron Torre is
gonna join us, who's of course covered college basketball for
years for Fox Sports. UM. He's awesome and he has
(02:58):
a great energy and thought and feelings about everything being canceled.
I'll just give you mine. I don't think. I don't
think there'll be a ton of major coaching changes. And
it's not just because we didn't have finality or because
there's some sensitivity down't do. I think that plays into
it maybe a little bit. I think a big thing
(03:20):
is these buyouts are big, and the stock market continues
to to dip. Dipping is is a kind way of
saying what's actually going on. And when the stock market
is down the way it's down, remember all of your boosters,
these are millionaires. And as much as they're donating money
(03:43):
to get a new coach in there for their alma
monitor sounds like they're doing it at a good will,
they're usually doing it with some extra money they got
on the side. Nobody has that right now, we don't
know the financial future of anybody's company outside of Amazon,
which by the way, is stopped making some deliveries in
some countries. Um, Netflix, I mean, any of the major
(04:07):
stocks all down, So good luck calling your Crystal Content
Texas and Chaka lost his last game to oaklehom State.
Good luck calling one of your major boosters. Say hey,
I know you gave ten million for the arena. I
need you to give me a couple million dollars to
fire Shaka smart like my my portfolios down, call somebody else.
So with a a paucity of major college coaching changes,
(04:30):
there are some coaching changes that have been made. Let's
start with the biggest name one, which is Rick Pettino's
new head coach at Iota. Now, uh, I don't know
if I would want to play for Rick Pettino. I
think I would, Yeah, I would. Um, I don't know
if I want to coach with Rick Pettino because he's
a hard driving duty makes his his staff get in shape.
(04:51):
You know when you give scar Reporch's no notes. Um,
and I would say that even his reputation in fairness
is reputation, like part of the thing that people would says,
how can all these things be going on Louisville in
the dorms and you had no idea. His reputation was
he had his hand and everything. I don't know if
that's fair to this version of Rick Pottino, who was
(05:12):
Like the story I had heard from another coach who
had competed against him was that, you know, when we
played him at their place, he was gone before our
team bus pulled out, which is for a home game.
That's really weird. Like he wasn't as connected with his
teams late as he was throughout the life his careery.
He's a grandpa. Um. He had his own friends, He
(05:35):
went to great restaurants after games, and he did let
his assistance handle stuff, which I think is a reasonable thought.
The differences that he had a reputation of early in
his career for most of his career having his finger
in every overseeing everything that went on, um, including the
body mass index of everyone on his staff. Look, he's
at Iona. He's an unbelievable coach. This is let me
(05:59):
give you the Rick Pettino why I believe he's the
greatest coach in the history of the modern Arab basketball.
He was his use to the three point line was
way ahead of anybody else at the top end of
the sport. Right where there are other teams US International
and Loula Merremount that played fast, shot a lot of threes. Yes,
but he was the first major college coach to to
(06:20):
embrace the three point shot at Providence before anybody else.
Of course, he brought that to the NBA with the
New York Dicks. They pressed, and nobody presses anymore, but
it began the era where teams were pressing. They did
it when they're Providence. He was also you know, like
Tiger Woods gets credit for being the first golfer to
(06:42):
pay a ton of attention to getting into physical condition, right,
the same could be true for the coaching of Rick Pettino.
He was the first one in the eighties provoting Billy
Donnov had lost all that weight to really demand incredible
physical conditioning and have guys play in a lighter weight. Um,
they play small, yes, they stretched defense, Yes, they play
(07:02):
fast and shoot threes. Yes. And then when when he
was at Louisville, they also when he's with the Boston Celtics,
of course they tanked to get the Tim Duncan draft pick.
They didn't get it, and he drafted poorly and he
bailed on Chauncey Bilps too soon. But he was the
first to use tanking to get lottery picks, first shot
at a superstar in the draft. So we got three
(07:24):
point shooting, got conditioning, you got tanking. These are all
things that are part of my modern college basketball and
you want it. Got to the final four at Province
one National Championship Kentucky and essentially handed one to Tubby Smith.
In terms of the personnel, and he wont to ask
chance of a Louisville I mean, it's unbelievable. So yes,
(07:45):
the his personal issues, aside his n c A issues
late put a stain on anybody's resume, But in terms
of what he's brought to the actual sport of basketball
coaching areas of empty assists, how you play. There have
been no more impactful guys than Rick Pettino. And obviously
(08:06):
I think he'll win at Iona. It's a great campus,
not far from you know where his apartment is in
New York City. He's hiring Tom Bettamarco, who helped get
him players. The guy can coach. They have good they
have good enough facilities of great history. It's it's really
sad what happened to Tim Cluse, who a Long Island
(08:27):
legend who had to retire essentially because of health issues.
Do do I think the personal story is all perfect
like No. But in terms of basketball, Rick Pettino is
unbelievable and I can't believe he's coaching at IONA after
not just coaching but winning in Europe. Let me tell
you about a couple of the other hirings potential hires.
(08:49):
Wyoming's hiring Northern Colorado's Jeff Lindner Lender of course a
former he's a Boise State guy. Right, it's not a
really good job at U n C, which is in
Greely that part of the country. I think that that
makes sense as a higher it just does does it?
Does it blow you away? No? And I think it's
gonna be interesting Leon Rice, whose team that kind of
(09:11):
plateau a little bit. Let tell a little bit in
a very very tough league. It looks like Craig Smith
is gonna have to stay stand pat right because no
big jobs came open to drag him away from Utah State.
So you got Craig Smith, but he'll lose, you know,
I would guess he'll he'll lose n Makada. I guess
who had kind of a wash of a year, And
(09:33):
of course he'll lose Sam Merrow, who had an incredible
career and plays his last game it hits a game
winning three to win the Mountain West Conference Tournament title.
That's a pretty good way to get would would you
prefer to go out in the n c A Tournament, Yes,
but to go out on a game winning three to
beat San Diego State, it's pretty awesome. Um, Leonards are
really good coach, really good coach. I think Leon's a
(09:55):
really good coach. They're kinda going from the same pool.
And the middle of that league is it's all give
me a lot like the w c C right, like
the difference that well, the reason that w CC is
so good, I'll get to that. One of the jobs
that's opened a second is the middle. Everybody knows Gonzaga
and I think b y U had probably underachieved the
(10:16):
past five years or so, and now I think Mark
Pope and the energy, Chris Burgess and that staff they're
gonna be obviously getting having only childs this year helped them,
but you have their resources, their reach, as the Mormon University,
I think they're always gonna be competitive at the top
of that league. St. Mary's and Randy Betts. You've got
three big boys that league. The difference now is San
(10:39):
Francisco Pacific legit good teams, well coached. We'll see San
Francisco who lose a lot but did have guys sitting out.
But you're the middle of the league even without seeing
Diego and l M you truly being competitive. Santa Clara
is good, Pacific's good. San Francisco is good. Like you
start to get six havan deep, and you can see
(11:01):
why the Big West is so down in comparison. Some
of it his resources, a lot of his resources coaching.
I think the Mountain West is gonna be the same
U and l V will. They'll probably never be. They're
never gonna be back to where they were Attark, but
they'll be They'll be much closer to where they were,
I think with LN Krueger. So if you have Sanyo State,
(11:23):
they need New Mexico to figure it out. And UM
I think dr We're like look to have your to
your best players get kicked off the team and to
still be able to survive. But you need New Mexico
and see any of the state and un LV to
be your big boys. The middle of that league. Nevada good,
well coached, Alford knows what he's doing, he knows how
(11:44):
to win the league. And then you got the front
range teams. Wyoming should be better, should be back, Colorado State,
Utah State like and I know I'm I'm forgetting like
six teams in Boise State. That's a really, really good leak.
The depth of the w c C should be matched
(12:07):
at some point by the Mountain West Conference. I don't
think the Mountain West Conference was a very good league
this year in terms of town WCC probably better, better teams.
But now that you're getting the depth of quality coaches
who are recruited for your guys and transfers and have
a plan, I think soon the Mountain West will get
back to being the second best league in the West.
(12:30):
Even though the w c C is clearly the second
best and some people would think the best league in
the West, I don't think it is. I think the
PAC twelve is clearly better. Be sure to catch the
live edition of the Doug Gottlieb Show weekdays at three
p m. Easter noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and
the I Heart Radio app. All right, let's welcome him in.
He's college basketball analysts, he's been a college basketball writer.
(12:50):
You here him on Fox Sports Radio. He's one only
Aaron Torres. Okay, Aaron, Um, tomorrow or actually today when
this pod drops, we would have had games and now
we don't. How are you doing with all this? Well,
you know I'm doing Okay, Um. It is surreal. I
was a guest on the Odd Couple from from Las
(13:11):
Vegas the Pact twelve tournament, and Christian Rob asked me,
do you think we're gonna play games in the n
c A tournament without fans? And I said yes, And
they were both very surprised and sort of go from
where we were that day to the following day with
the Rudy Gobert news too. Now you know, we're all
dealing with it differently, but essentially the entire country on shutdown.
(13:32):
It's surreal. It's unbelievable. Uh. And I do think in
terms of the sports REALMD college basketball will be hit
the hardest because as of right now, it's the only
sport that isn't going to crown a champion. I actually
I'm gonna take the other side. Um, only in that
look that losing the tournament, losing the conference tournaments a huge,
(13:55):
huge financial hit. But you did have the season, right, Um,
But we don't play again until November or maybe December,
and so I do think by then it will be
business as usual. And for a year where we really
didn't know who was good and outside of you know,
maybe Kansas, I know and really knew how good Dayton
(14:18):
was in the grand landscape of things, we thought they
were really good. But outside of those couple of teams, like,
there wasn't there wasn't an it team. There wasn't an
it guy. And I'm I think the numbers would have
been down for the n c A Tournament because of it.
Now you've got a chance to recharge and refocus. Maybe
it's that actually ends up being a kind of good thing. Um. Okay,
(14:40):
So let's let's get to let's let's get to this
the ramifications of it. First thing is, I don't think
any of the big jobs are coming open. Tell me
I'm wrong. I can't tell you you're wrong, because you
know I think that. Um, you know what I've told
everybody that will listen to me is is that the
college basketball world is very much in a holding pattern,
just like the real world, and so um to fire
(15:03):
a head coach right now, What that means is you're
probably unless you're a hundred percent positive that you have
a guy ready to to line up and take a job,
you're not going to be able to interview anybody for
the very foreseeable future. Keep in mind, current players are
not on campus, so you can't really get with the players.
And Doug, you and I know how all this works.
(15:24):
Players at home, no coach, Well, guess who's gonna be
hitting up those players? Uh, coaches from other programs. And
that's tampering, but it is what it is. It's part
of the sport. Oh, by the way, you want to
hire a guy, A guy wants to upgrade the roster,
but he can't bring recruits on campus until at least
April fifteenth, And realistically that's probably gonna get pushed back.
(15:45):
And so I think when you factor in that, it's
gonna be really hard to hire someone in this environment.
The fact that even if somebody is interested, maybe they're
having second thoughts about how they're going to upgrade the roster. Oh,
by the way, the little things like selling your house,
moving your family. I'm a hundred percent with you. If
it didn't really open by now, I don't think we
(16:08):
really see any of these major major openings happening. Giving
guys like Danny Manning at wake for Shaka smarted Texas
another season on campus. Well. The other issue is how
do you call up a booster and say, hey, man,
I need a cup million here to buy out a
coach and the boosters like, look, I just lost thirty
(16:28):
of my wealth because of the stock market calls somebody
else right like I, that's a that's a legit. That's
a legit problem. Um. What about the documentary that the
Christian Dawkins documentary, It's coming out in two weeks. Yeah,
I haven't had a chance to see it. I've read
the quote. Dan What's obviously wrote up a piece and
from what I understand, Dan What'son was prominently involved in
(16:49):
just the documentary itself. Um, from what I could tell,
it doesn't look good. Um for Sean Miller, will wait
the calls that we all knew happened or act played.
I don't know necessarily that there is that smoking gun
that is going to definitively give the n c A
a h proof that cheating happened or a school caused
(17:11):
to fire one of those two guys. I'm trying to
wrap my head around and I haven't seen it yet.
I'm hoping to see it out before premiers in a
couple of weeks. But I think it's gonna be interesting.
I think it's just another tricklegown effect. And again in
these uncertain times, Um, I think it's hard to say
definitively the effect that it's gonna happen. Aaron Torres is
our guest here in the All Ball Podcast. Of course,
(17:31):
Uh you hear Aaron. Aaron on the weekends on Fox.
Sport Trading has covered college basketball for years. All right,
what's going on with Greg Marshall losing like half his roster? Um,
it's it's a great question. Um. First of all, you
know that was a team that literally a week ago
was on the custom making the n c A tournament,
(17:52):
and so you talked about tricklegown effect. Now, I tend
to think that if this many guys were unhappy, something
like this was gonna happen. But if you can just
sneak in of the tournament, you know, it's a little
bit harder of a cell to those kids that hey,
things are so bad blah blah blah blah, and maybe
you win a game. UM, I have no in that
particular case. An he's super inside knowledge. Other than that,
(18:12):
we all know that Greg Marshall has been a hard
guy to play for four years. UM. And it's a
little bit easier when you're winning. It's a little bit
easier when you're in the Missouri Valley. Uh, you're recruiting
a different caliber of kid, one maybe with fewer options,
but to you're also just beating the you know what
on the twenty eight teams here and you're going you know,
twenty nine and five and making the n c A tournament.
(18:35):
So UM, I use all that to just say that, UM,
I don't have a great deal other than that, he's
always been a tough guy to play for. And now
maybe you're recruiting a higher caliber of athlete, like I said,
with more opportunity. Uh, if they do enter the transfer market.
And last night I saw I think we got five
guys in the in the portal from which tested, including
their second and third league scores. Uh, It's it's crazy.
(18:58):
The the American is generally a disaster. Like that's the
part that I don't think. I don't think enough people realize.
And what happens is if you're a fan of the
American Athletic Conference, like, whoa, we've had this team we
have I think like, look, Yukon was dying to get
out of that league the second they were in that league.
Since then I didn't want to be in that league.
Wichita only took that league because they felt, like, you know,
(19:21):
the Valley had trended to becoming a one bid league
and they wanted to get into bigger markets. It was
their way of keeping Greg Marshall will play against high majors,
but I mean, you know, it's hard to sell tickets
in stores Connecticut when Central Florida's come to town or
when two Lanes come to town, you know, as opposed
to anybody in the Big East. And for Wichita stight
as much as they can sell seats no matter who
(19:43):
comes to town. There's just a lot more energy and
excitement over teams that are closer in proximity. And then
I also think that the point that you brought up
is a great one. The step up in weight class,
like Look, you can be really good and even have
NBA players in your team, but when you're playing against
a higher caliber of dude every night, you're you're gonna
lose more games. Like that's just kind of the way
(20:03):
it is. Um, Okay, let's get a couple other couple
other interesting ones. Bill self has fended off these Bill
self to the NBA for the entire season. Now, I
don't know how the timelines even match up. I guess
you could go now because the season's over, maybe it
does change. Is Bill self Kansas head coach next year? Well?
(20:25):
You know, this is just another one of those things
that is so in flux because of everything. Um, to
answer your question, like, I do think he is back
in large part because when does the regular season in
the NBA resume? When does it end? Are we talking June?
Are we talking July? What are we talking there? By
the way, this whole process in terms of the n
(20:47):
ci A legislation, they have their notice of allegations, they've responded,
uh pretty proactively. Actually, Um, what happens in terms of
getting that done? Um, that's just one that that I
just think it it's way too hard to speculate right now.
I would assume he's back at Kansas and listen. I
will also say this too, is you know, there have
(21:08):
been these rumors forever, and I know that there has
never been a, you know, like I said, a notice
of allegations, there's ever been a major investigation into his program.
But until I see something a little bit more definitive,
just in terms of, you know, getting the sports world
back on its feet, I would just say he's probably
gonna be back, because again, it's there's so much uncertainty
(21:30):
with pretty much everything to do with sports right now. Yeah, um, yeah, no, no,
it's it's it's it's kind of kind of crazy. I
guess here's my other thought. This, This is where I
was taking the opposite point of view of you. Is
not just that there's no games. It's like, and maybe
it's because doing the radio show, we've been so overwhelmed
(21:51):
by the Tom Brady and NFL free agency news. We
do miss the games, but I'm not sure we missed
the tournament as much as we thought we'd missed the tournament.
I don't know, Like and when I when I say we,
maybe I shouldn't include me and you and people listen
to this podcast. I think America like we move on
kind of quickly. Now, this Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday is
(22:13):
gonna be weird and different. Um, gonna be weird and different.
But Monday through Wednesday is usually just bitching and complaining
about teams that most people don't even know about, right,
Like I didn't even know Syracuse was on the bubble
this year. Okay, maybe Jim Beeheim should be in right,
That's that's what it feels like Monday through Wednesday is.
And then you know, in terms of sports radio, you
(22:34):
don't really cover the games that much as much as
the coaches. And there's like a story that America gravitates to.
We'll miss that. But it's weird, Like college basketball is
in this weird place where it's it's searching for national
relevance in the landscape, and this really hurts it and
it it maybe puts it in its place because um,
(22:54):
because it's not as missed as people thought it would be. Yeah,
it's it's totally be fair, you know, I think that.
You know, listen, here's the bottom line. Tom Brady um
would have sucked the oxygen out of the room under
any circumstance. I mean listen the NFL draft. Does you
know ten million people, um during the NBA playoffs, and
(23:15):
so I think the NFL always sucks the oxygen out
of the room. UM. I think that, you know, the
NFL very smartly decided to kind of continue business as
usual because there is nothing to talk about. And so listen,
if Tom Brady became a Tampa Bay Buck, it could
be on the day of you know, Game four the
NBA Finals, and it would still be the thing that
we're all talking about. I don't disagree that college basketball
(23:38):
is kind of searching for its place, but I do
still think those storylines do always emerge, and even if
it is only for two three week period, like, it
is a relevant thing. I mean, John Morant went from
some dude that guys like you and I know too,
oh my god, like like like you know, and does
Obe Topping the kid from Dayton have that moment? Do?
(23:59):
Does you know? I don't. I don't know exactly what
those narratives would have been, but we find those every year.
I don't disagree that it's unfortunately become a two or
three weeks sport for everybody except for a few die
hards and people that follow their each individual school. But
I do still think we will miss the tournament. I
think not having all this NFL news impacts it. But
we're going to miss the tournament, just just just to
(24:20):
give us something to do, especially in the time when
people have less to do than they ever have in
a long, long time. You know, you may have a
great point though about and this has kind of been
my argument about everyone thinks he's college players are what's exploited,
and I always like, I'm always like, look, the perfect
example of why they're not actually exploited is the fact
(24:41):
that none of them get a chance to promote themselves
here over the past couple of weeks. You know, we don't.
They don't become the household names that you become only
through the n c A tournament. Right there, there's there's
a fine line between exploitation and promotion, and I think
it's still along the line of promotion. I would just say,
really quick, I have been on board with you on
this all along. Basically, Um, there's no disrespect to a
(25:04):
kid of Kentucky. But they're gonna get twenty thousand people
in rupp Arena. Um, and there isn't a single player
on Kentucky this past season that someone has said, hey, honey,
we gotta get to Rupp Arena to see this pit. Now,
that's not to say that they don't have guys that
are going to the NBA. Doesn't mean to discredit what
the individuals on that team accomplished. But with all due
respect to Ashton Hagans, who's their starting point guard, who
(25:25):
might be a first round NBA draft pick. Like I said,
nobody's saying, honey, you know Ashton, or you know nobody
in Knoxville saying honey, Ashton Hagan's is rolling through town
this week. Let's get tickets for UT Kentucky. So I'm
a hundred percent on board with you on that. UM.
I think it's easy to argue about on social media.
I think the people like you and I that are
actually on these campuses that actually see how kind of,
(25:47):
for lack of a better term, the sausage is made,
how the process and how the system works. I think
more people probably don't realize that, but I think guys
like you and I will continue to say that and
will end up being right, whether people want to listen
to us or not listen. You know my thing real quick,
I think it might be Obie Toppin because that dude,
(26:10):
I know he's a third year junior and he's twenty
one years old, but that dude was a star, and
Anthony Edwards had his moments. James Wiseman, who even knows
where he is or what he's doing right now, Like
I really think, and I think if the if the
tournament had happened, I think Obie Toppin would have been
the number one pick because he would have been so
dominant without it. I think it does depend on the team,
(26:32):
and maybe somebody quote unquote plays it's safe by taking
the eighteen year old freshman over the year old third
year sophomore. I would not be surprised at all if
that kid ends up being the first overall pick. Really yeah,
I just I don't know. I mean, I don't even know.
I don't know if he's a high level starter in
the NBA. I think he's a good player. I think
he's a stretch five. I don't know. I don't know.
(26:57):
I like him, I mean, like I know what I'm
gonna get. I don't know. Like I have a lot
of guys saying rotation big, you know, whereas they they
take a shot at the Wiseman's. They take a shot
at some of the younger players because they have a
greater upside. Well, and that's what happens every single year.
I mean Steph Curry when he came out, was he
a point guard? Was he a shooting guard? Where do
(27:18):
you play him? Who does he defend? Due the two
time m v P. And I'm by no means saying
that Obi Toppin is going to evolve into um uh
uh m v P caliber player. I'm just saying is
that the longer you stay in school, the more they
pick apart your game. And we have now a pretty
good track record of if you're not uber uber uber elite,
whether it is James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Damee Lillard, whoever
(27:40):
it is, stay the extra year, get the seasoning. The
point that you always bring up, Doug, which I steal
from you all the time. Learn how to become a star,
Learn how to be a role player first, then learn
how to become a star as a sophomore junior. More
and more guys are having success with that route at
the NBA level. Yeah, I would agree with I would
agree with that. Okay, last thing, uh if you to
bet your salary on who would have won the n
(28:02):
c A tournament. Who would you put your money on?
So I'd probably say Gonzaga, And I feel terrible. Um,
I didn't buy Kansas because they couldn't shoot threes and
because the kid has a bouquet who they ran everything
through was a forty three fall shooter and at a
certain point somebody was just gonna start following him with
(28:23):
six minutes to go and send it him to the line.
I thought they were really good. I thought they were
deserving in the number one overall seed. I would have
probably without knowing what the bracket looks like, probably ended
up taking Gonzaga. Aaron, great stuff. Can't wait to hear
you on the weekend on Fox Sports Radio. Thanks so much,
Dog appreciate the toime of man. Be sure to catch
the live edition of The Doug Gottlieb Show weekdays at
(28:45):
three p m. Easter noon Pacific. All right, we'll have
more pods regarding the NBA, and obviously these jokes right
themselves with Kyrie Irving and Isolation. A right, Gary and
Katie and Isolation. See, they've already changed the culture of
the Brooklyn Nets. But you are bummed out that the
NBA is the only professional sport to have guys contract
(29:06):
the coronavirus, but they all thankfully appear to be fine.
They gotta be quarantined. I don't know what it means
for the playoffs. I think it could be awesome. Like,
has anybody thought of the idea? And this was the
same thing for college basketball? I mean, I guess you
couldn't do it because the time away in college basketball
and school will be over, which school basically has been canceled.
But has anybody thought about the possibility? This is just
(29:27):
a thought that um that the NBA should go to
more of a an AU model. Eric Garret Chott like,
this is what I mean. Pool play into a tournament field,
Like why not? Right, we have to play five to
ten games five to ten games before we get ready
(29:51):
for whatever the postseason is, and so the tournament doesn't
have to be a one and done tournament. But you
do pool play against all of the teams that are
in your your division, right, so the travel cost last
whatever you get it going and the same things your
division do pool play, and then you put them all
into a field where everybody makes the playoffs for one year,
(30:13):
and the first round becomes you know, uh, three or
five game playoff. The second round becomes a five game playoffs.
At the run, I do know that the reason that
they like those elongated playoffs is because there's fewer upsets.
You want the best teams to be the best teams.
But these are some extenuating circumstances. All right, keep your
questions coming. We'll do some Q and A on our
(30:34):
next podcast, which we'll try and have dropped tomorrow. In
the meantime, I'm Doug gott Leave. This is all ball
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