April 6, 2026 • 41 mins
The greatest coach in women’s basketball history lost his composure and acted in an embarrassing manner against South Carolina’s Dawn Staley during the Women’s Final Four. CBS Sports broadcaster Ian Eagle joins Dan to talk about Monday night’s matchup between Michigan and UConn for the men’s title, encountering a robot with his food, and Maury Povich.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You are listening to the Dan Patrick Show on Fox
Sports Radio. I hope you had a great weekend. Everybody's here,
Minister of Humor, Fritzie, don't call him Shorty, Seatance here,
Marv Paulie, yours truly, and.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
The back room guys as well. National Title game coming
up tonight. Iron Eagle will be on the call. He'll
be on the show coming up in twenty minutes from now.
Michigan is favored by six and a half. Last week
I gave you the hypothetical lines depending on the matchup.
This is before the Final Four, and Michigan was going
to be favored by five and a half over Yukon.
(00:36):
Now it's up to six and a half. I think
in some places went up to seven and a half.
Keep this in mind. Yukon has now covered seventeen of
its last eighteen tournament games, and no one's giving Yukon
much of a chance as a six and a half
point underdog. But this is a team. They lost to
Arizona by four to start the year, and they didn't
(00:58):
have two of their best players, Terris Reed Junior and
Brayln Mullins. But they've sort of defied the odds and
that's the great part of this time of the year.
More on that coming up in a moment. We'll have
a play of the Day poll question. Stat of the
Day is always brought to you by Panini America, the
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you're watching on Peacock, thank you for downloading the app,
and we say good morning to our radio affiliates iHeartRadio,
(01:43):
Fox Sports Radio as well. Being a number two seed
in the tournament usually means you're going to get respect,
but that's not the case going into tonight's national title
game because Yukon is a clear underdog. Michigan looked dominating
and Yukon has had to grind out everything so far
in the tournament. But the stage is different tonight because
(02:05):
you have to give you Yukon a chance. It's not
the NBA No. Seven Game series. It's forty minutes. That's it.
And you do have Dan Hurley on your side, and
that is an advantage. I don't think that this is
a great Yukon team, even a very good team, but
I think it is a Now I'm talking about the individuals,
the sum of the parts. That's what makes Yukon great.
(02:28):
They just seem to know what to do, when to
do it, and they rely on a variety of people
in doing them. So the odds are certainly in Michigan's favor.
But all it takes is one night, one moment, and
one decision and maybe Connecticut or maybe one shining moment. Yes,
exactly what type of moment are you talking about? A
shining moment or a dining moment? Marvin is flying the
(02:51):
Colors with his Yukon Huskies. How nervous are you? Marvin?
You know what?
Speaker 3 (02:56):
After watching the second game, I was like, Wow, this
is about to be real tough matchup. But I believe
in my boys though. I mean, look, it's January February,
Yukon April.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
We're here. Okay, Ray Allen former Yukon Husky will come
on now, come on, all Ray, come on, Ali, right,
shoot some jumpers.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
This is almost like if Walter Payton was on the show.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
All right, eight seven, seven to three, DP show operator
Tyler sitting by. He'll take your phone calls and uh,
once again play the day poll question satur the day
Dpatdanpatrick dot Com Twitter handled a DP show so got
out all the requirements here ready to set sales. So
I and Eagle will be on the call coming up
here in a little bit. But uh, Michigan rolling over Arizona.
(03:43):
Everybody wanted that to be the national title game. Oh
this is this is now going into that game. These
were two of the highest ranked teams in NCAA history.
Boy didn't look that way. This is one of those
if they played games, Michigan probably winning four or five
(04:04):
the way they looked. And I mean they're just an
older team, but they're dominating now. There are things to
keep an eye on tonight. And when you look at
and these this is minutia here, but it fascinates me.
Michigan is zeroing to this season with sixty three possessions
(04:25):
or less. They want to play up tempo. They want
to get the game into the upper seventies, into the eighties.
But keep this in mind, and this is what u
Come's method to the madness of pulling off a surprise
is they want this game in the sixties. They want
to slow this game down the best they can. Perdue
(04:45):
got Michigan that was a sixty three possession game. Duke
beat Michigan sixty two possession game and they won that one.
If you're gonna beat Michigan, slow it down and make
sure every possession matters. And this is what happens against
a great offense. You want to make sure that when
they get the ball, they feel like they have to score.
(05:08):
If it's running up and down, you don't have that
pressure on each possession. But this is what Connecticut is
going to try to do. They're going to try to
make you slow it down the best they can. Dusty
May did a great thing. And if you've ever shot
in a big super doome, big arena where there's seventy
(05:30):
thousand there, depth perception is real. Having done it once
before and I'm like whoa. And it took a little
while before you're like trying because the seats are way
behind the basket, and all of a sudden you're shooting.
And when you shoot, you're always looking for something. And
sometimes it feels like the basket's an illusion. It's either
(05:53):
closer or further away because of the background. Well, Dusty
May took his team to the football field so they
could shoot hoops, so they could shoot threes, so you
would have a cavernous background here. It's just a little thing.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
Now.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
I don't know how much it mattered. Michigan shot forty
four percent from three point range, Arizona shot thirty five percent,
Illinois shot twenty three percent, Yukon shot thirty six percent.
So these are real numbers. I don't know if his
team shooting in the big house helped them, but it
didn't hurt them. But you see that video where they're
(06:33):
out there shooting hoops. You know there's a gold post
there and there's a basketball hoop. But if you if
you've shot in something that has that background, that gives
you a little bit of an illusion. It takes you
a little bit of while, a little bit of time
to get used to that background. But it's the small
things here. And Dusty May has done a wonderful job,
(06:55):
and he'll go toe to toe with Dan Hurley, but
it's fun to see those little things. And for as
much as I thought Arizona was my pick because I
thought start to finish they were the best team I saw.
But I thought Michigan was the second best team I saw.
Uh boy, it didn't look like that over the weekend.
All right, setan what's the poll question? Today? Phone calls
(07:17):
always welcome, best and worst of the weekend. What you
saw that you liked you didn't like? Well, Dan, we
got to get America on record. Who are you rooting
for tonight, Connecticut or Michigan rooting for? Yes, rooting? Who
do you want to win tonight? Todd start with you.
Speaker 5 (07:32):
I want Michigan to win, and I think they will win.
No offense to Marvin Prince.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
I'll just mix it up a little bit of a
different winner. Seems like you were hesitant in giving me
a year.
Speaker 5 (07:43):
I was heard because I don't want to hurt Marvin's feelings.
But they've they've had a lot of winning Yukon. I'm
a little upset with you, kond and some of the
behavior of the men's and the coaches of the men's
and women's team. So Stan Wolfverines get it.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Who were you rooting for Connecticut?
Speaker 6 (07:56):
I don't root for Michigan ever, not for anything, right, Marvin,
especially not in this tournament, not in this game.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Hell no, okay, Marvin, that's a tough one. But okay,
all right, Paul, Yeah, Connecticut, Connecticut's the better story. Oh
you guys think Michigan winning is a better story. Yeah.
Speaker 7 (08:18):
Dusty May is saucy new on the scene, raising up
their program after a couple down.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Years, and of them but Danny Hurley as must see TV.
Speaker 7 (08:26):
Yeah, I just say, I guess the news story not
the better story.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Yeah, yeah, Yukon is more of a story than if
Michigan's favored by six and a half.
Speaker 6 (08:39):
Yeah, it's a huge turnaround though for Michigan. That yes,
that should be more of a story.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Yes, yeah, when you look at where they were with
Juwan how I mean, look at Michigan here recently, certainly
what happened with the football program, but with the basketball
program with Juwan Howard and Dusty May quietly comes in
there and it's all of a sudden, you go, they're
good team and he's done a great job. But it'll
be fun, you know, coaches going toe to toe, maybe
(09:07):
like the women's tournament with Gino Oriema Don Staley. That
was wild, you know, I'm watching the game, and I
found myself rooting for South Carolina because of the way
they played. They were playing great, they were playing hard.
But if Yukon won and continued to win, you know,
(09:30):
and then matched up with UCLA, I would have been
fine with that. But once again, I'm rooting for the story.
And I thought Don Staley's team put on a defensive clinic.
This is where you have a team that is not
in tight games the entire year. They're probably not roughed
up the entire year. They're not pushed up. Nobody ripped
(09:50):
anybody's jersey. That was Sarah Strong or did that to herself.
But Gino, when he did that interview with Holly Row,
I go, oh, he knows he's in trouble. And I
thought South Carolina's going to win this game. In fact,
Pauli goes, I got Connecticut winning by three. I think
I go pie to the face and Pauli goes, well,
I don't feel that competent, no, And I go, you know,
(10:14):
South Carolina was the better team that night. Now if
they play seven games, Ucun's a better team. Yukon got surprised,
and I think Gino knew Gino's mad because he lost,
but he's I think really mad because he lost to
Don Staley. And Don Staley is not afraid Gino greatest
women's coach of all time. Don Staley doesn't take a
(10:35):
backseat to anybody in her style. The players, they played hard.
That was a team effort, and they were beating Connecticut
to spaces on the floor. They were being physical, and
that's one of those where you roll the dice where
you go, will they will they let us play? Or
are they going to call this? Because if they call
it tiki tak, that game would be different. They allowed
(10:58):
South Carolina to play the way South Carolina wanted to play.
It's almost like the Legion of Boom with the Seattle Seahawks.
If you let Richard Sherman Earl Thomas play this way,
they will play this way and they'll beat you. But
if you call it now, all of a sudden, it's different.
But here is Gino Orima talking about why he was
(11:21):
upset with Don Staley.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
For forty one years, I've been coaching, and I've been
I don't know thirty twenty five final fours, and the
protocol is before the game, you meet at half court.
Anybody ever seen that before two coaches meet at half
court at j cans correct the said dan ansaid on
the on the last Weekerd and I waited there for
like three minutes.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
So it is what it is, all right? Here is
Don Staley post game with the interaction with Gino Orima.
Hold on, you can ask Gino the question.
Speaker 8 (11:56):
You know, he's the one that is initiated them. I
don't want you know what happened there to damping what
we were able to accomplish today.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Yeah, I wasn't quite sure what was going on what
was said, But then in his interview with Holly Rowe,
he was talking about the language Don Staley was using
towards the official. Somebody ripped Sarah Strong's jersey talking about
the fouls. It was a double standard. So there was
a lot going on in that moment, and I thought, man,
(12:29):
he is losing composure here, and you could tell that
because I think he was. I don't know why he
would say this to Holly Rowe in the moment. She
can't do anything, she can't change anything. That's where you
got to talk to the officials to try to get
them to understand what's going on. But Hey, Gino should
(12:49):
be criticized. I always say, these head coaches always are
preaching composure. They want their players to be cool under fire. Hey,
don't let the pressure get to you. The coaches, they're
the ones you got to watch out for. They don't
do well under pressure. And that happened to Gino. He
melted down right there in front of us greatest coach
(13:12):
women's basketball history, Don Staley. That's who she is. She
not afraid of anybody. But I think South Carolina played
their national title game against Connecticut and then all of
a sudden, UCLA said, oh, by the way, you got
to play us for the national title, and they demolished him.
(13:33):
I mean give credit Ucla. Hey, the Big Ten wins
another national championship. They long standing UCLA bruins of the
Big Ten. It was like when I saw all the
Big Ten with the national title, I go, who oh,
that's right, UCLA, long standing member of the Big Ten.
Speaker 7 (13:52):
Yes, Paul, it felt on Sunday like UCLA had seven
players on the court. It was just a swarm the
whole game, you know, fun game. It was never a game.
And that was a disappointing part.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Yeah, because you want that national title game like tonight.
I think this tournament has been great. I think there
have been great moments here. Now we haven't had Cinderella.
They're talking about expanding to seventy six teams next year,
maybe as early as next year, and I get that,
and I want to talk to Ian Eagle about this
because nil has worked, hasn't it. I know we don't
(14:28):
like guys transferring, and you know, the transfer portal on
all of that, But it feels like college football gave
us Indiana this year. College basketball is going to give
us a great championship game coming up tonight. We've had
great stories here and I'm curious. Are college athletics in
that bad condition that the President of the United States
(14:51):
is issuing in executive order to help clean this up.
I would probably be on the side of college athletics. See,
you have had a pretty good year. We'll take a break,
we'll come up with a poll question. We'll get to
phone calls. Coming up eight, seven to seven to three
DP show Iron Eagle calling the National Title game. He'll
(15:11):
join us next year Dan Patrick Show.
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Speaker 2 (15:54):
I've tried to keep you informed through my college basketball source,
and he's been giving me information whether Tommy Lloyd chances
that he could go, decided to stay at Arizona. They're
going to make him a top five paid coach. Also,
he wanted total autonomy. I told you that there was
maybe a disconnect in the administration. Well, Arizona fixed that
(16:16):
that he doesn't have to report to the athletic director,
so he's going to stay at Arizona. I was told
all along that Dusty May is not going anywhere. Michigan's
athletic director is not going to let him go anywhere.
So you might have Scott Drew's name coming up. You
also have Billy Donovan's name, and my source said, hey,
here's something to keep an eye on. The Chicago Bulls
(16:38):
travel to DC and they're there through Thursday. North Carolina
has Billy Donovan there for four days in one location.
Bill Belichick also reported, well, I'm reported as involved. He's
tight with Donovan, so he's going to be there for
four days. They want to see if they can get
(16:59):
a deal with Billy Donovan by tomorrow. Yes, Paul, does.
Speaker 7 (17:03):
This North Carolina basketball coaching situation feel a little bit
like Penn State five months?
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Yeah? That's great call. Great call. Also, some people want
to know why I didn't bring up the Chain Smokers
in the first segment. I want to stay in my
lane on the chain Smokers. No, I think they were
mocking that the Chain Smokers were performing, and I kept
thinking when I'm watching, I'm like, who asked for this? Correct? Like,
(17:33):
what happened here was chain Smokers? Were they scheduled for
the building and then they had a basketball game that
and so we just combined both of them.
Speaker 7 (17:41):
Yes, Paul, to be clear, you could not be anti
Chain Smoker and just anti having a concert. They're a
fine band. I'm sure they do good work and a
nice people. It's just a placement of any band at
that junction.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Stay in your lane, Paul with the Chain Smokers. Yes,
I an Eagle or Ian Eigel. He is the play
by play voice for the Nation Little Title game, and
he joins us, Now, what did you think of the
Chain Smokers?
Speaker 9 (18:08):
What an opening question? Do I stay in my lane
or do I just give you my genuine thoughts? The
shocker for me in all of it. Bill Raftery was
in the mosh pit. Couldn't believe it.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
But where's Bill? I didn't see this team, Dan, But
you knew the Chain Smokers were going to be performing.
You had to be ready for that moment. Correct the
crazy part.
Speaker 9 (18:36):
This is not shocking considering just the timing of everything.
We have a green room in between games. So I
go to the green room. You know, you freshen up,
you grab a slider. It's it's a little bit of food,
have a bite.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Move on.
Speaker 9 (18:53):
I now walk out of the green room and the
area in which to get back to our seats is
roped off, and I know I have to get back
there because we have to do our stuff immediately after
the chain smokers. So I get around the roped off
area and I start walking and someone is freaking out
(19:13):
running towards me, and I look up and the chain
smokers are standing there with a camera facing them. I
was this close to being the third chain smoker walking
out onto the floor. I was so discombobulated and disoriented
and man, that that would have been a career highlight.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
Uh, well, you already had it. You had the call
in the Yukon game, like, have you had anything that
compared to that moment? Yeah, that was wild.
Speaker 9 (19:43):
I think the fact that it was such a frenzy
makes it different than you know, a normal buzzer beater
or last second clutch shot, because when they're triggering the
inbound you just assume foul game. It's going to be
two or three more possessions. And for it to turn
(20:04):
as quickly as it did, and for Mullins for it
to end up in his hands, to get it done,
to advance to Indianapolis and his hometown, to come back
from nineteen down, to do it against Duke, to have
Raf and Grant in a state of shock next to me.
(20:24):
I know that that seemed to get a lot of
attention the next day, and that's cool that you get
this behind the scenes look. Grant said it might be
the first time in his life that he's a meme,
and Raff said, what's a meme?
Speaker 2 (20:40):
He had no, but are you watching the monitor or
the game in a moment like that.
Speaker 9 (20:48):
I was watching the game, and then what I tend
to do is the second the play ends, I go
to the monitor to try to match whatever pictures are
being shown. So that's just muscle memory. And I was
lifted out of my chair when the ball went in Grant.
If you look very closely, because the way the camera
(21:09):
was set up, a ball hit the camera late in
the second half and shifted it over, so it made
it a two shot, which is normally a three shot
with all three of us in there. So I was
right on the periphery. As the steel takes place, Grant
digs his arm into my rib cage, and I think
unknowingly lifted me a bit. And as it all developed,
(21:35):
I went up and made the call and then sat
back down. And it really is one of those slow
motion type of situations where you're processing in real time
that this is going to go down as an all timer.
But here's the crazy thing we were talking about this Dan,
there have been buzzer beaters and incredible ones prior to
(21:58):
the championship round. I think they're only really remembered, truly
remembered in history and to live on forever if you
win the title. Their highlights and their moments, and he'll
always be remembered in stores, remembered in his home state.
(22:21):
But to resonate and get to that other level, I
think you got to win it and then that thing
just lives on in perpetuity.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
I an Eagle will be on the call with Grant Hill,
Bill Raftury, Tracy Wolfson and tip off his eight p
fifty Eastern. Yeah, when did it change from nine to
twenty to eight fifty?
Speaker 9 (22:41):
This is this is a college basketball history that I
can't answer. I'd like to phone a friend. When did
it change? Day needs to know? Okay, yeah, get on
it a few years ago.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Okay, thank you great research staff there that you have. Oh,
just have them calling a game in a dome or
in a arena or at a school university.
Speaker 9 (23:12):
Biggest difference, huge, huge site lines, completely different you're not
at your normal level of watching the game, so the
action is actually above you, and certain things that you
just know based on where your eyes go from doing
game after game after game. You've got to retrain your brain.
(23:35):
In the first five minutes. Site lines in the corners,
I can tell you, and it'll probably happen again. Anything
in the far corners, I can't tell if it's a
three pointer or not. I have to wait, I have
to pause. I have to be patient and not commit normally,
you know right away. So that it's a little disconcerting
(23:57):
because it's the biggest game of the year and you
can't go through the normal mode of your brain. And
then everything is far away. The fans are far away.
You can't see the fans' faces normally, and college basketball
set up they're really close. Regular NBA arenas they're close enough.
(24:18):
So everything's just a little bit detached, and it feels
like it's on a bit of a one second delay.
I can't hear the crowd burst through like I would
in an intimate setting. You know, there were seventy thousand
plus people there, and it's cavernous, and I do think
(24:39):
it's real. I know, we say it every year. I
do think they have a problem the players do in
the first few minutes of getting adjusted, making shots, feeling comfortable,
getting acclimated. But it's the same for both teams, and
it's part of the deal. It's the biggest stage possible
in college basketball, and it's obviously wor.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
How much will you hear Danny Hurley tonight zero zero?
Speaker 9 (25:07):
We are so far away it is impossible to hear
what's happening on the other side of the court. So
interesting NBA local broadcast, you are normally Normally they've changed
this a bit, but in the good old days you
were courtside, on the benches side National you were on
(25:30):
the other side, which was an adjustment for me that
first couple of years of doing it, because there were
things you would pick up, small little nuances, facial expressions,
body language between coach player between coach official that you
just don't see on the other side, and now, obviously
with this broadcast setup, you are on the other side.
(25:52):
There's also a roving camera that looks like one of
those robots that would deliver your food for door dash,
which I don't know if you've had that yet. I
had a game in Dallas this year, and I ended
up ordering out and then they inform you that the
robot is coming to deliver your food. So I go
(26:13):
downstairs to meet the robot and I see it from
two blocks away, and now I'm concerned for the robot
because I don't know how he's going to negotiate the sidewalk,
and I think, now should I should I go meet him?
Speaker 2 (26:30):
Do I wait?
Speaker 9 (26:31):
Do I do? I stop and get there a little
earlier and knock on the door. I don't know what
to do. So finally it comes up and two people
that just happened to be walking by as I'm now
perfumfering with my phone, They're like, what's.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Going on here?
Speaker 9 (26:47):
It's a delivery robot And I hit the button on
my phone and it opens the hatch and it was
as if I was walking on the moon. They were
astounded at what took place, and not my chicken sandwich
like rises up, so that that's also happening. It's it's
(27:09):
going back and forth in front of me during game
acts and you could hear like shush, sh shush sh
that I hear.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
I won't hear Dan Hurley, Uh, the Michigan story. What
Dusty May has done and this run like they're blowing
people out. People were, you know, ranting and raving that
Arizona Michigan should be for the national title. Yes, well
heard that.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
I don't know if Dusty mayl get the credit. He
probably deserves the turnaround at Michigan. Now what they've done
in the tournament and blowing people out, and of course
you got to win this. But how do you encapsulate
what he's done at Michigan.
Speaker 9 (27:50):
Well, I think his ability to build the program so quickly,
to identify talent, to figure out which pieces would work together. Look,
there's a financial aspect of this, you can't ignore it.
It's there, but they've done it correctly. They've really had
an architect in Dusty May that knew what to do
(28:14):
and how to do it quickly. And that is one
thing now in the way the college basketball is set
up for these major programs because of the money. If
you evaluate talent well, identify it, and then develop it
in one season, you can be right here playing for
a championship. There are other teams that have the same money,
if not more money, and they identified the wrong talent,
(28:36):
or they didn't evaluate correctly, or they didn't develop correctly
and they're not here. So credit has to be given
to Dusty Mate basically now as a head coach. In
my mind, in college basketball, you are a GM, you
are a scout, you are a coach, You are a dad,
(28:57):
you are a teacher, you are a mentor. All of
those things rolled into one, and when ads are looking
for someone to be the face of their program, they
have to take that into account. You have to check
a lot of boxes. But what he's done here is
really incredible. And you're right they want eight games. Two
(29:18):
seasons ago they wont eight games, and now they're they're
playing for a chip.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
College athletics. If we look at nil transfer portal, I
think this has been a great year for college athletics.
I agree, maybe that's not a popular opinion, but you know,
you have Indiana winning the football championship, you get transfers. Now,
(29:44):
I would like for them to sign contracts, you know,
have it a little more uniform a little more uniformity here.
But you know, the nil transfer portal, the you know,
the president with an executive order kind of wants to
limit this stuff. But I think if you sign a
contract you want to transfer, why can't there be a
(30:04):
buyout to that make it transactional? Everything's above board.
Speaker 9 (30:10):
Yeah, it is transactional right now. It does feel that way.
I do agree that it's been a banner year. You're
getting highly competitive games, You're getting a deeper pool of
talent because players are staying longer based on the fact
that they can make money and they don't just take
their chances to go to the NBA and start the clock.
(30:31):
That's a term I heard quite a bit for a
number of years for players that were certainly going to
be NBA stars. If you're Cooper Flag, yes you're going
to the pros, you're starting the clock for your next contract.
It makes perfect sense from a financial standpoint, But for
someone that was a borderline first round pick or a
(30:52):
second round pick, I don't know if the logic was
there for that same approach. Now, you stay, you develop
your skills, you maybe have a shining moment or two
in your college career, you get paid for it, and maybe,
just maybe you come out on the other side a
(31:13):
better player. Yaxel Wendeborg is a more complete player now
than he would have been a year ago if he
came out of UAB Right to the NBA and instead
he gets this incredible experience and maybe he caps it
off with a championship. Look, it's not perfect. I recognize that.
I think a lot of us though, jumped the gun
(31:34):
and thought, man, this is.
Speaker 2 (31:35):
Going to be rough.
Speaker 9 (31:37):
This is going to be a really chaotic time in
college athletics. It's worked out from a competitive point of view.
And yes, I'm saying this. I recognize that the mid
major is still left out a bit, but the reality
was the mid majors were outliers in this to begin with. Now,
(31:59):
at the very least, you hope that you're getting a
higher quality of play when you get to the biggest
stages of the season.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
Well, I look at Braylan Mullins and he's going to be,
you know, projected to be a first round draft pick. Yep.
Now he's not ready, but teams are going to say, hey,
we'll take him and let him develop for two years. Yep.
And like read Shepherd with Houston, Yes, took him high,
and then we're like, all right, we'll bring him along.
(32:29):
Now all of a sudden, you see, you know, read
with some highlights there, and that might be the case
for Braylan mullins that do I do I stay and
make a little bit of money, or do I go
and get started on that first contract in the NBA.
And it feels like that you're either ready to go
you jump in, or maybe you're not even ready to go,
but you go because you're going to be a long
(32:50):
time NBA player, or you stay because you might not
be that long term player.
Speaker 9 (32:56):
Yeah, there was a stretch of time Dan obviously working
both in college troops in NBA, I was privy to
a lot of conversations and got to ask questions to
people that do this for a living, that evaluate talent
and make these decisions that teams have to live by.
When you use a first round big those are serious
(33:16):
pieces of valuable merchandise because you're trying to change the
whole culture of your team. There were players that I
look back on and it's just how it is. They
stayed in college because they thought they were doing the
right thing. They may have been a first round draft
pick after their freshman or sophomore year, it was not
a guarantee. And because they stayed their junior and senior
(33:39):
year before they were getting paid, their flaws came out
and they dropped in the draft because it actually gave
scouts more time to see some of the faults that
they had. So there's no right answer here. I've never
ever said emphatically to any kid that has to make
(34:01):
a decision to come out and be available for the draft.
Speaker 2 (34:06):
Hey, that's a bad call on your part.
Speaker 9 (34:07):
I don't know their financial situation. I don't know their
family situation. I just have never been in that corner
that it does occur, where people have very strong opinions
about it. You got to do what's best for you.
I just think now there are at least some options
for kids out there to make a more prudent decision.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
By the way, I'm going to give you credit if
you're watching on Peacock or NBC Sports Network, you did
give almost a presidential backdrop. I mean great lighting here.
Speaker 9 (34:39):
Yeah, Dan, I didn't want to tell you, but I
am in a vestibule of a Vegas hotel. I flew
there last night to do the interview and then I
boord in fifteen minutes, so you know, every would be fine.
But I just wanted to make sure the backdrop look good.
I'm a big Earth Tones guy.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
I like it, yeah, very much. Very very earthy. Yes
you are. Yeah, thanks, all right, We're counting on you tonight.
Speaker 9 (35:07):
Thanks.
Speaker 5 (35:08):
Thanks.
Speaker 9 (35:08):
I'm gonna go through my normal routine game day and
have some Nutter butters and watch some Moripovich.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
You are the father.
Speaker 9 (35:23):
You are not the fun.
Speaker 3 (35:26):
Every time it gets me.
Speaker 9 (35:27):
Every time. The intrigue. It's like March madness. It's so unpredictable.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
Save your voice, Save your voice. Okay, thank you, Ian
see it. That's Iron Eagle. They started eight fifty tonight.
He doesn't know why or when they started it. I
thought it used to be nine to twenty for a while.
But Tracy Wolfson, Bill Raftory and Grant Hill, all right,
take a break. Play the day next.
Speaker 1 (35:50):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app f s R
to listen live.
Speaker 10 (36:02):
Oh my god, the day, Caley.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
This is the play of the day.
Speaker 6 (36:12):
Check this out.
Speaker 10 (36:13):
You are telling you all the timeouts. Rubinson five seconds
goes to us left for the win. Tell you it's masterpiece.
Speaker 2 (36:32):
Heard see of ESPN plus. That's the Division three national
title game the University of Mary Washington. Uh Emery knocked
out Mary Washington last year in the tournament, but this
was payback time. You don't want to mess with Mary Washington,
not on a national stage. That is your play of
(36:54):
the day. Play of the Day brought to you by
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the way tire buying should be. I always like when
there's a coaching vacancy and it's a big one and
(37:16):
your coach gets mentioned, and then all of a sudden
they go to their athletic director they say, well, now
we're going to take care of you at Arizona. We'll
take care of you at Alabama, maybe take care of
you at Illinois. So this is where you got coaching.
We'll take care of you at Baylor. But from what
(37:36):
I'm told, North Carolina had a bag waiting for Tommy Floyd. Lloyd,
they had a bag waiting for him, and he got
what he wanted and decided to stay at Arizona. And look,
I'd never think that I would say Arizona was on
par with North Carolina, but it is. I mean, I
(37:58):
don't know what I'm getting at North Carolina. I'm always
going to be compared to Duke Arizona. If you're compared
to Arizona State, you'll take that. Arizona's always good. And
you know, he spent all that time at Gonzaga, got
the head coaching job. He's done a great job and
he got paid. But I don't know what's going to happen,
you know, with some of these other coaches. If Billy
(38:19):
Donovan is going to take it, it feels like he's
not going to be coaching the Bulls next year. I
don't know what that means. But if I'm North Carolina,
you've been handing out bags like it's trigger treat and
nobody has taken it. Maybe Billy Donovan is your guy. Alrighty,
I did watch a little bit of the Well. I
don't watch a lot of the Lakers and the MAVs.
(38:41):
I watched a lot of Cooper Flag last night. Dude,
you're dropping bars right now, handed out bags like his
trigger treat. Okay, Eminem write that for you, Big Eddy Kane.
Speaker 6 (38:53):
Snoop put that together for yourself to hand it out
bags like his trigger treat.
Speaker 2 (38:56):
I don't maybe somebody picks that up, you know, hand
that you know, I'll co drop him. Bars coach Son on.
Speaker 10 (39:08):
You know me?
Speaker 2 (39:09):
You know me? You know me? I'm sorry, do you
know me? I'm odp. Don't step to me here. I
just crush a lot. Cooper Flag played really well last night,
so watching Lebron, I wanted to see Lebron on Cooper
(39:31):
Flag and vice versa. They got switched on each other
a couple of times. But Cooper Flag, he uh, that's
his team. He does whatever he wants. In nineteen. He
won't be twenty till next December. Oh boy. And here's
another thing that'll come up. And I'm not a voter
anymore with the NBA Awards. Actually, I'm not sure why
(39:54):
I'm not. Well, that's for another day. I should ask
next time the commissioner's on, like what But what did
I do? I lose my NBA scholarship here. And I
did vote when Grant Hill and Jason Kidd tied for
Rookie of the Year, and I actually changed my vote
that morning. I was at NBA Entertainment and I probably
(40:16):
brought about a tie for the Rookie of the Year.
But Conkinipple's been great and his team has been really good.
Cooper Flagg's numbers are incredible. You normally don't base the
Rookie of the Year off of what your team did.
I don't think history has proven that Cooper Flagg is
(40:37):
the rookie of the year in my opinion, He's doing
some incredible things. Con car Nipple has surprised us, therefore
people are going wow. Whereas Cooper Flag, I'm not surprised anymore.
Con Canipple has had an unbelievable year and they have
been a competitive team this year. Dallas is not, but
(40:58):
I would say Cooper Flag. Oh. By the way, I
didn't even talk about Joker or Wemby. Oh, I didn't
know who I was rooting for. Yes, Morbon.
Speaker 3 (41:09):
Why was that game on a Saturday afternoon?
Speaker 2 (41:11):
No, it snuck up on me. I'm like, whoa, And
it was great TV Ray Allen's going to join us
and your phone calls on this Monday, best and worst
of the weekend
You are listening to the Dan Patrick Show on Fox
Sports Radio. I hope you had a great weekend. Everybody's here,
Minister of Humor, Fritzie, don't call him Shorty, Seatance here,
Marv Paulie, yours truly, and.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
The back room guys as well. National Title game coming
up tonight. Iron Eagle will be on the call. He'll
be on the show coming up in twenty minutes from now.
Michigan is favored by six and a half. Last week
I gave you the hypothetical lines depending on the matchup.
This is before the Final Four, and Michigan was going
to be favored by five and a half over Yukon.
(00:36):
Now it's up to six and a half. I think
in some places went up to seven and a half.
Keep this in mind. Yukon has now covered seventeen of
its last eighteen tournament games, and no one's giving Yukon
much of a chance as a six and a half
point underdog. But this is a team. They lost to
Arizona by four to start the year, and they didn't
(00:58):
have two of their best players, Terris Reed Junior and
Brayln Mullins. But they've sort of defied the odds and
that's the great part of this time of the year.
More on that coming up in a moment. We'll have
a play of the Day poll question. Stat of the
Day is always brought to you by Panini America, the
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(01:21):
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Nothing compares to cooking on a Rectech. Good morning. If
you're watching on Peacock, thank you for downloading the app,
and we say good morning to our radio affiliates iHeartRadio,
(01:43):
Fox Sports Radio as well. Being a number two seed
in the tournament usually means you're going to get respect,
but that's not the case going into tonight's national title
game because Yukon is a clear underdog. Michigan looked dominating
and Yukon has had to grind out everything so far
in the tournament. But the stage is different tonight because
(02:05):
you have to give you Yukon a chance. It's not
the NBA No. Seven Game series. It's forty minutes. That's it.
And you do have Dan Hurley on your side, and
that is an advantage. I don't think that this is
a great Yukon team, even a very good team, but
I think it is a Now I'm talking about the individuals,
the sum of the parts. That's what makes Yukon great.
(02:28):
They just seem to know what to do, when to
do it, and they rely on a variety of people
in doing them. So the odds are certainly in Michigan's favor.
But all it takes is one night, one moment, and
one decision and maybe Connecticut or maybe one shining moment. Yes,
exactly what type of moment are you talking about? A
shining moment or a dining moment? Marvin is flying the
(02:51):
Colors with his Yukon Huskies. How nervous are you? Marvin?
You know what?
Speaker 3 (02:56):
After watching the second game, I was like, Wow, this
is about to be real tough matchup. But I believe
in my boys though. I mean, look, it's January February,
Yukon April.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
We're here. Okay, Ray Allen former Yukon Husky will come
on now, come on, all Ray, come on, Ali, right,
shoot some jumpers.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
This is almost like if Walter Payton was on the show.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
All right, eight seven, seven to three, DP show operator
Tyler sitting by. He'll take your phone calls and uh,
once again play the day poll question satur the day
Dpatdanpatrick dot Com Twitter handled a DP show so got
out all the requirements here ready to set sales. So
I and Eagle will be on the call coming up
here in a little bit. But uh, Michigan rolling over Arizona.
(03:43):
Everybody wanted that to be the national title game. Oh
this is this is now going into that game. These
were two of the highest ranked teams in NCAA history.
Boy didn't look that way. This is one of those
if they played games, Michigan probably winning four or five
(04:04):
the way they looked. And I mean they're just an
older team, but they're dominating now. There are things to
keep an eye on tonight. And when you look at
and these this is minutia here, but it fascinates me.
Michigan is zeroing to this season with sixty three possessions
(04:25):
or less. They want to play up tempo. They want
to get the game into the upper seventies, into the eighties.
But keep this in mind, and this is what u
Come's method to the madness of pulling off a surprise
is they want this game in the sixties. They want
to slow this game down the best they can. Perdue
(04:45):
got Michigan that was a sixty three possession game. Duke
beat Michigan sixty two possession game and they won that one.
If you're gonna beat Michigan, slow it down and make
sure every possession matters. And this is what happens against
a great offense. You want to make sure that when
they get the ball, they feel like they have to score.
(05:08):
If it's running up and down, you don't have that
pressure on each possession. But this is what Connecticut is
going to try to do. They're going to try to
make you slow it down the best they can. Dusty
May did a great thing. And if you've ever shot
in a big super doome, big arena where there's seventy
(05:30):
thousand there, depth perception is real. Having done it once
before and I'm like whoa. And it took a little
while before you're like trying because the seats are way
behind the basket, and all of a sudden you're shooting.
And when you shoot, you're always looking for something. And
sometimes it feels like the basket's an illusion. It's either
(05:53):
closer or further away because of the background. Well, Dusty
May took his team to the football field so they
could shoot hoops, so they could shoot threes, so you
would have a cavernous background here. It's just a little thing.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
Now.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
I don't know how much it mattered. Michigan shot forty
four percent from three point range, Arizona shot thirty five percent,
Illinois shot twenty three percent, Yukon shot thirty six percent.
So these are real numbers. I don't know if his
team shooting in the big house helped them, but it
didn't hurt them. But you see that video where they're
(06:33):
out there shooting hoops. You know there's a gold post
there and there's a basketball hoop. But if you if
you've shot in something that has that background, that gives
you a little bit of an illusion. It takes you
a little bit of while, a little bit of time
to get used to that background. But it's the small
things here. And Dusty May has done a wonderful job,
(06:55):
and he'll go toe to toe with Dan Hurley, but
it's fun to see those little things. And for as
much as I thought Arizona was my pick because I
thought start to finish they were the best team I saw.
But I thought Michigan was the second best team I saw.
Uh boy, it didn't look like that over the weekend.
All right, setan what's the poll question? Today? Phone calls
(07:17):
always welcome, best and worst of the weekend. What you
saw that you liked you didn't like? Well, Dan, we
got to get America on record. Who are you rooting
for tonight, Connecticut or Michigan rooting for? Yes, rooting? Who
do you want to win tonight? Todd start with you.
Speaker 5 (07:32):
I want Michigan to win, and I think they will win.
No offense to Marvin Prince.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
I'll just mix it up a little bit of a
different winner. Seems like you were hesitant in giving me
a year.
Speaker 5 (07:43):
I was heard because I don't want to hurt Marvin's feelings.
But they've they've had a lot of winning Yukon. I'm
a little upset with you, kond and some of the
behavior of the men's and the coaches of the men's
and women's team. So Stan Wolfverines get it.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Who were you rooting for Connecticut?
Speaker 6 (07:56):
I don't root for Michigan ever, not for anything, right, Marvin,
especially not in this tournament, not in this game.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Hell no, okay, Marvin, that's a tough one. But okay,
all right, Paul, Yeah, Connecticut, Connecticut's the better story. Oh
you guys think Michigan winning is a better story. Yeah.
Speaker 7 (08:18):
Dusty May is saucy new on the scene, raising up
their program after a couple down.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Years, and of them but Danny Hurley as must see TV.
Speaker 7 (08:26):
Yeah, I just say, I guess the news story not
the better story.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Yeah, yeah, Yukon is more of a story than if
Michigan's favored by six and a half.
Speaker 6 (08:39):
Yeah, it's a huge turnaround though for Michigan. That yes,
that should be more of a story.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Yes, yeah, when you look at where they were with
Juwan how I mean, look at Michigan here recently, certainly
what happened with the football program, but with the basketball
program with Juwan Howard and Dusty May quietly comes in
there and it's all of a sudden, you go, they're
good team and he's done a great job. But it'll
be fun, you know, coaches going toe to toe, maybe
(09:07):
like the women's tournament with Gino Oriema Don Staley. That
was wild, you know, I'm watching the game, and I
found myself rooting for South Carolina because of the way
they played. They were playing great, they were playing hard.
But if Yukon won and continued to win, you know,
(09:30):
and then matched up with UCLA, I would have been
fine with that. But once again, I'm rooting for the story.
And I thought Don Staley's team put on a defensive clinic.
This is where you have a team that is not
in tight games the entire year. They're probably not roughed
up the entire year. They're not pushed up. Nobody ripped
(09:50):
anybody's jersey. That was Sarah Strong or did that to herself.
But Gino, when he did that interview with Holly Row,
I go, oh, he knows he's in trouble. And I
thought South Carolina's going to win this game. In fact,
Pauli goes, I got Connecticut winning by three. I think
I go pie to the face and Pauli goes, well,
I don't feel that competent, no, And I go, you know,
(10:14):
South Carolina was the better team that night. Now if
they play seven games, Ucun's a better team. Yukon got surprised,
and I think Gino knew Gino's mad because he lost,
but he's I think really mad because he lost to
Don Staley. And Don Staley is not afraid Gino greatest
women's coach of all time. Don Staley doesn't take a
(10:35):
backseat to anybody in her style. The players, they played hard.
That was a team effort, and they were beating Connecticut
to spaces on the floor. They were being physical, and
that's one of those where you roll the dice where
you go, will they will they let us play? Or
are they going to call this? Because if they call
it tiki tak, that game would be different. They allowed
(10:58):
South Carolina to play the way South Carolina wanted to play.
It's almost like the Legion of Boom with the Seattle Seahawks.
If you let Richard Sherman Earl Thomas play this way,
they will play this way and they'll beat you. But
if you call it now, all of a sudden, it's different.
But here is Gino Orima talking about why he was
(11:21):
upset with Don Staley.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
For forty one years, I've been coaching, and I've been
I don't know thirty twenty five final fours, and the
protocol is before the game, you meet at half court.
Anybody ever seen that before two coaches meet at half
court at j cans correct the said dan ansaid on
the on the last Weekerd and I waited there for
like three minutes.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
So it is what it is, all right? Here is
Don Staley post game with the interaction with Gino Orima.
Hold on, you can ask Gino the question.
Speaker 8 (11:56):
You know, he's the one that is initiated them. I
don't want you know what happened there to damping what
we were able to accomplish today.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Yeah, I wasn't quite sure what was going on what
was said, But then in his interview with Holly Rowe,
he was talking about the language Don Staley was using
towards the official. Somebody ripped Sarah Strong's jersey talking about
the fouls. It was a double standard. So there was
a lot going on in that moment, and I thought, man,
(12:29):
he is losing composure here, and you could tell that
because I think he was. I don't know why he
would say this to Holly Rowe in the moment. She
can't do anything, she can't change anything. That's where you
got to talk to the officials to try to get
them to understand what's going on. But Hey, Gino should
(12:49):
be criticized. I always say, these head coaches always are
preaching composure. They want their players to be cool under fire. Hey,
don't let the pressure get to you. The coaches, they're
the ones you got to watch out for. They don't
do well under pressure. And that happened to Gino. He
melted down right there in front of us greatest coach
(13:12):
women's basketball history, Don Staley. That's who she is. She
not afraid of anybody. But I think South Carolina played
their national title game against Connecticut and then all of
a sudden, UCLA said, oh, by the way, you got
to play us for the national title, and they demolished him.
(13:33):
I mean give credit Ucla. Hey, the Big Ten wins
another national championship. They long standing UCLA bruins of the
Big Ten. It was like when I saw all the
Big Ten with the national title, I go, who oh,
that's right, UCLA, long standing member of the Big Ten.
Speaker 7 (13:52):
Yes, Paul, it felt on Sunday like UCLA had seven
players on the court. It was just a swarm the
whole game, you know, fun game. It was never a game.
And that was a disappointing part.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Yeah, because you want that national title game like tonight.
I think this tournament has been great. I think there
have been great moments here. Now we haven't had Cinderella.
They're talking about expanding to seventy six teams next year,
maybe as early as next year, and I get that,
and I want to talk to Ian Eagle about this
because nil has worked, hasn't it. I know we don't
(14:28):
like guys transferring, and you know, the transfer portal on
all of that, But it feels like college football gave
us Indiana this year. College basketball is going to give
us a great championship game coming up tonight. We've had
great stories here and I'm curious. Are college athletics in
that bad condition that the President of the United States
(14:51):
is issuing in executive order to help clean this up.
I would probably be on the side of college athletics. See,
you have had a pretty good year. We'll take a break,
we'll come up with a poll question. We'll get to
phone calls. Coming up eight, seven to seven to three
DP show Iron Eagle calling the National Title game. He'll
(15:11):
join us next year Dan Patrick Show.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
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Speaker 2 (15:54):
I've tried to keep you informed through my college basketball source,
and he's been giving me information whether Tommy Lloyd chances
that he could go, decided to stay at Arizona. They're
going to make him a top five paid coach. Also,
he wanted total autonomy. I told you that there was
maybe a disconnect in the administration. Well, Arizona fixed that
(16:16):
that he doesn't have to report to the athletic director,
so he's going to stay at Arizona. I was told
all along that Dusty May is not going anywhere. Michigan's
athletic director is not going to let him go anywhere.
So you might have Scott Drew's name coming up. You
also have Billy Donovan's name, and my source said, hey,
here's something to keep an eye on. The Chicago Bulls
(16:38):
travel to DC and they're there through Thursday. North Carolina
has Billy Donovan there for four days in one location.
Bill Belichick also reported, well, I'm reported as involved. He's
tight with Donovan, so he's going to be there for
four days. They want to see if they can get
(16:59):
a deal with Billy Donovan by tomorrow. Yes, Paul, does.
Speaker 7 (17:03):
This North Carolina basketball coaching situation feel a little bit
like Penn State five months?
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Yeah? That's great call. Great call. Also, some people want
to know why I didn't bring up the Chain Smokers
in the first segment. I want to stay in my
lane on the chain Smokers. No, I think they were
mocking that the Chain Smokers were performing, and I kept
thinking when I'm watching, I'm like, who asked for this? Correct? Like,
(17:33):
what happened here was chain Smokers? Were they scheduled for
the building and then they had a basketball game that
and so we just combined both of them.
Speaker 7 (17:41):
Yes, Paul, to be clear, you could not be anti
Chain Smoker and just anti having a concert. They're a
fine band. I'm sure they do good work and a
nice people. It's just a placement of any band at
that junction.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Stay in your lane, Paul with the Chain Smokers. Yes,
I an Eagle or Ian Eigel. He is the play
by play voice for the Nation Little Title game, and
he joins us, Now, what did you think of the
Chain Smokers?
Speaker 9 (18:08):
What an opening question? Do I stay in my lane
or do I just give you my genuine thoughts? The
shocker for me in all of it. Bill Raftery was
in the mosh pit. Couldn't believe it.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
But where's Bill? I didn't see this team, Dan, But
you knew the Chain Smokers were going to be performing.
You had to be ready for that moment. Correct the
crazy part.
Speaker 9 (18:36):
This is not shocking considering just the timing of everything.
We have a green room in between games. So I
go to the green room. You know, you freshen up,
you grab a slider. It's it's a little bit of food,
have a bite.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Move on.
Speaker 9 (18:53):
I now walk out of the green room and the
area in which to get back to our seats is
roped off, and I know I have to get back
there because we have to do our stuff immediately after
the chain smokers. So I get around the roped off
area and I start walking and someone is freaking out
(19:13):
running towards me, and I look up and the chain
smokers are standing there with a camera facing them. I
was this close to being the third chain smoker walking
out onto the floor. I was so discombobulated and disoriented
and man, that that would have been a career highlight.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
Uh, well, you already had it. You had the call
in the Yukon game, like, have you had anything that
compared to that moment? Yeah, that was wild.
Speaker 9 (19:43):
I think the fact that it was such a frenzy
makes it different than you know, a normal buzzer beater
or last second clutch shot, because when they're triggering the
inbound you just assume foul game. It's going to be
two or three more possessions. And for it to turn
(20:04):
as quickly as it did, and for Mullins for it
to end up in his hands, to get it done,
to advance to Indianapolis and his hometown, to come back
from nineteen down, to do it against Duke, to have
Raf and Grant in a state of shock next to me.
(20:24):
I know that that seemed to get a lot of
attention the next day, and that's cool that you get
this behind the scenes look. Grant said it might be
the first time in his life that he's a meme,
and Raff said, what's a meme?
Speaker 2 (20:40):
He had no, but are you watching the monitor or
the game in a moment like that.
Speaker 9 (20:48):
I was watching the game, and then what I tend
to do is the second the play ends, I go
to the monitor to try to match whatever pictures are
being shown. So that's just muscle memory. And I was
lifted out of my chair when the ball went in Grant.
If you look very closely, because the way the camera
(21:09):
was set up, a ball hit the camera late in
the second half and shifted it over, so it made
it a two shot, which is normally a three shot
with all three of us in there. So I was
right on the periphery. As the steel takes place, Grant
digs his arm into my rib cage, and I think
unknowingly lifted me a bit. And as it all developed,
(21:35):
I went up and made the call and then sat
back down. And it really is one of those slow
motion type of situations where you're processing in real time
that this is going to go down as an all timer.
But here's the crazy thing we were talking about this Dan,
there have been buzzer beaters and incredible ones prior to
(21:58):
the championship round. I think they're only really remembered, truly
remembered in history and to live on forever if you
win the title. Their highlights and their moments, and he'll
always be remembered in stores, remembered in his home state.
(22:21):
But to resonate and get to that other level, I
think you got to win it and then that thing
just lives on in perpetuity.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
I an Eagle will be on the call with Grant Hill,
Bill Raftury, Tracy Wolfson and tip off his eight p
fifty Eastern. Yeah, when did it change from nine to
twenty to eight fifty?
Speaker 9 (22:41):
This is this is a college basketball history that I
can't answer. I'd like to phone a friend. When did
it change? Day needs to know? Okay, yeah, get on
it a few years ago.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Okay, thank you great research staff there that you have. Oh,
just have them calling a game in a dome or
in a arena or at a school university.
Speaker 9 (23:12):
Biggest difference, huge, huge site lines, completely different you're not
at your normal level of watching the game, so the
action is actually above you, and certain things that you
just know based on where your eyes go from doing
game after game after game. You've got to retrain your brain.
(23:35):
In the first five minutes. Site lines in the corners,
I can tell you, and it'll probably happen again. Anything
in the far corners, I can't tell if it's a
three pointer or not. I have to wait, I have
to pause. I have to be patient and not commit normally,
you know right away. So that it's a little disconcerting
(23:57):
because it's the biggest game of the year and you
can't go through the normal mode of your brain. And
then everything is far away. The fans are far away.
You can't see the fans' faces normally, and college basketball
set up they're really close. Regular NBA arenas they're close enough.
(24:18):
So everything's just a little bit detached, and it feels
like it's on a bit of a one second delay.
I can't hear the crowd burst through like I would
in an intimate setting. You know, there were seventy thousand
plus people there, and it's cavernous, and I do think
(24:39):
it's real. I know, we say it every year. I
do think they have a problem the players do in
the first few minutes of getting adjusted, making shots, feeling comfortable,
getting acclimated. But it's the same for both teams, and
it's part of the deal. It's the biggest stage possible
in college basketball, and it's obviously wor.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
How much will you hear Danny Hurley tonight zero zero?
Speaker 9 (25:07):
We are so far away it is impossible to hear
what's happening on the other side of the court. So
interesting NBA local broadcast, you are normally Normally they've changed
this a bit, but in the good old days you
were courtside, on the benches side National you were on
(25:30):
the other side, which was an adjustment for me that
first couple of years of doing it, because there were
things you would pick up, small little nuances, facial expressions,
body language between coach player between coach official that you
just don't see on the other side, and now, obviously
with this broadcast setup, you are on the other side.
(25:52):
There's also a roving camera that looks like one of
those robots that would deliver your food for door dash,
which I don't know if you've had that yet. I
had a game in Dallas this year, and I ended
up ordering out and then they inform you that the
robot is coming to deliver your food. So I go
(26:13):
downstairs to meet the robot and I see it from
two blocks away, and now I'm concerned for the robot
because I don't know how he's going to negotiate the sidewalk,
and I think, now should I should I go meet him?
Speaker 2 (26:30):
Do I wait?
Speaker 9 (26:31):
Do I do? I stop and get there a little
earlier and knock on the door. I don't know what
to do. So finally it comes up and two people
that just happened to be walking by as I'm now
perfumfering with my phone, They're like, what's.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Going on here?
Speaker 9 (26:47):
It's a delivery robot And I hit the button on
my phone and it opens the hatch and it was
as if I was walking on the moon. They were
astounded at what took place, and not my chicken sandwich
like rises up, so that that's also happening. It's it's
(27:09):
going back and forth in front of me during game
acts and you could hear like shush, sh shush sh
that I hear.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
I won't hear Dan Hurley, Uh, the Michigan story. What
Dusty May has done and this run like they're blowing
people out. People were, you know, ranting and raving that
Arizona Michigan should be for the national title. Yes, well
heard that.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
I don't know if Dusty mayl get the credit. He
probably deserves the turnaround at Michigan. Now what they've done
in the tournament and blowing people out, and of course
you got to win this. But how do you encapsulate
what he's done at Michigan.
Speaker 9 (27:50):
Well, I think his ability to build the program so quickly,
to identify talent, to figure out which pieces would work together. Look,
there's a financial aspect of this, you can't ignore it.
It's there, but they've done it correctly. They've really had
an architect in Dusty May that knew what to do
(28:14):
and how to do it quickly. And that is one
thing now in the way the college basketball is set
up for these major programs because of the money. If
you evaluate talent well, identify it, and then develop it
in one season, you can be right here playing for
a championship. There are other teams that have the same money,
if not more money, and they identified the wrong talent,
(28:36):
or they didn't evaluate correctly, or they didn't develop correctly
and they're not here. So credit has to be given
to Dusty Mate basically now as a head coach. In
my mind, in college basketball, you are a GM, you
are a scout, you are a coach, You are a dad,
(28:57):
you are a teacher, you are a mentor. All of
those things rolled into one, and when ads are looking
for someone to be the face of their program, they
have to take that into account. You have to check
a lot of boxes. But what he's done here is
really incredible. And you're right they want eight games. Two
(29:18):
seasons ago they wont eight games, and now they're they're
playing for a chip.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
College athletics. If we look at nil transfer portal, I
think this has been a great year for college athletics.
I agree, maybe that's not a popular opinion, but you know,
you have Indiana winning the football championship, you get transfers. Now,
(29:44):
I would like for them to sign contracts, you know,
have it a little more uniform a little more uniformity here.
But you know, the nil transfer portal, the you know,
the president with an executive order kind of wants to
limit this stuff. But I think if you sign a
contract you want to transfer, why can't there be a
(30:04):
buyout to that make it transactional? Everything's above board.
Speaker 9 (30:10):
Yeah, it is transactional right now. It does feel that way.
I do agree that it's been a banner year. You're
getting highly competitive games, You're getting a deeper pool of
talent because players are staying longer based on the fact
that they can make money and they don't just take
their chances to go to the NBA and start the clock.
(30:31):
That's a term I heard quite a bit for a
number of years for players that were certainly going to
be NBA stars. If you're Cooper Flag, yes you're going
to the pros, you're starting the clock for your next contract.
It makes perfect sense from a financial standpoint, But for
someone that was a borderline first round pick or a
(30:52):
second round pick, I don't know if the logic was
there for that same approach. Now, you stay, you develop
your skills, you maybe have a shining moment or two
in your college career, you get paid for it, and maybe,
just maybe you come out on the other side a
(31:13):
better player. Yaxel Wendeborg is a more complete player now
than he would have been a year ago if he
came out of UAB Right to the NBA and instead
he gets this incredible experience and maybe he caps it
off with a championship. Look, it's not perfect. I recognize that.
I think a lot of us though, jumped the gun
(31:34):
and thought, man, this is.
Speaker 2 (31:35):
Going to be rough.
Speaker 9 (31:37):
This is going to be a really chaotic time in
college athletics. It's worked out from a competitive point of view.
And yes, I'm saying this. I recognize that the mid
major is still left out a bit, but the reality
was the mid majors were outliers in this to begin with. Now,
(31:59):
at the very least, you hope that you're getting a
higher quality of play when you get to the biggest
stages of the season.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
Well, I look at Braylan Mullins and he's going to be,
you know, projected to be a first round draft pick. Yep.
Now he's not ready, but teams are going to say, hey,
we'll take him and let him develop for two years. Yep.
And like read Shepherd with Houston, Yes, took him high,
and then we're like, all right, we'll bring him along.
(32:29):
Now all of a sudden, you see, you know, read
with some highlights there, and that might be the case
for Braylan mullins that do I do I stay and
make a little bit of money, or do I go
and get started on that first contract in the NBA.
And it feels like that you're either ready to go
you jump in, or maybe you're not even ready to go,
but you go because you're going to be a long
(32:50):
time NBA player, or you stay because you might not
be that long term player.
Speaker 9 (32:56):
Yeah, there was a stretch of time Dan obviously working
both in college troops in NBA, I was privy to
a lot of conversations and got to ask questions to
people that do this for a living, that evaluate talent
and make these decisions that teams have to live by.
When you use a first round big those are serious
(33:16):
pieces of valuable merchandise because you're trying to change the
whole culture of your team. There were players that I
look back on and it's just how it is. They
stayed in college because they thought they were doing the
right thing. They may have been a first round draft
pick after their freshman or sophomore year, it was not
a guarantee. And because they stayed their junior and senior
(33:39):
year before they were getting paid, their flaws came out
and they dropped in the draft because it actually gave
scouts more time to see some of the faults that
they had. So there's no right answer here. I've never
ever said emphatically to any kid that has to make
(34:01):
a decision to come out and be available for the draft.
Speaker 2 (34:06):
Hey, that's a bad call on your part.
Speaker 9 (34:07):
I don't know their financial situation. I don't know their
family situation. I just have never been in that corner
that it does occur, where people have very strong opinions
about it. You got to do what's best for you.
I just think now there are at least some options
for kids out there to make a more prudent decision.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
By the way, I'm going to give you credit if
you're watching on Peacock or NBC Sports Network, you did
give almost a presidential backdrop. I mean great lighting here.
Speaker 9 (34:39):
Yeah, Dan, I didn't want to tell you, but I
am in a vestibule of a Vegas hotel. I flew
there last night to do the interview and then I
boord in fifteen minutes, so you know, every would be fine.
But I just wanted to make sure the backdrop look good.
I'm a big Earth Tones guy.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
I like it, yeah, very much. Very very earthy. Yes
you are. Yeah, thanks, all right, We're counting on you tonight.
Speaker 9 (35:07):
Thanks.
Speaker 5 (35:08):
Thanks.
Speaker 9 (35:08):
I'm gonna go through my normal routine game day and
have some Nutter butters and watch some Moripovich.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
You are the father.
Speaker 9 (35:23):
You are not the fun.
Speaker 3 (35:26):
Every time it gets me.
Speaker 9 (35:27):
Every time. The intrigue. It's like March madness. It's so unpredictable.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
Save your voice, Save your voice. Okay, thank you, Ian
see it. That's Iron Eagle. They started eight fifty tonight.
He doesn't know why or when they started it. I
thought it used to be nine to twenty for a while.
But Tracy Wolfson, Bill Raftory and Grant Hill, all right,
take a break. Play the day next.
Speaker 1 (35:50):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app f s R
to listen live.
Speaker 10 (36:02):
Oh my god, the day, Caley.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
This is the play of the day.
Speaker 6 (36:12):
Check this out.
Speaker 10 (36:13):
You are telling you all the timeouts. Rubinson five seconds
goes to us left for the win. Tell you it's masterpiece.
Speaker 2 (36:32):
Heard see of ESPN plus. That's the Division three national
title game the University of Mary Washington. Uh Emery knocked
out Mary Washington last year in the tournament, but this
was payback time. You don't want to mess with Mary Washington,
not on a national stage. That is your play of
(36:54):
the day. Play of the Day brought to you by
on Tire Ratcock cot Cock. They've been helping you find
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the way tire buying should be. I always like when
there's a coaching vacancy and it's a big one and
(37:16):
your coach gets mentioned, and then all of a sudden
they go to their athletic director they say, well, now
we're going to take care of you at Arizona. We'll
take care of you at Alabama, maybe take care of
you at Illinois. So this is where you got coaching.
We'll take care of you at Baylor. But from what
(37:36):
I'm told, North Carolina had a bag waiting for Tommy Floyd. Lloyd,
they had a bag waiting for him, and he got
what he wanted and decided to stay at Arizona. And look,
I'd never think that I would say Arizona was on
par with North Carolina, but it is. I mean, I
(37:58):
don't know what I'm getting at North Carolina. I'm always
going to be compared to Duke Arizona. If you're compared
to Arizona State, you'll take that. Arizona's always good. And
you know, he spent all that time at Gonzaga, got
the head coaching job. He's done a great job and
he got paid. But I don't know what's going to happen,
you know, with some of these other coaches. If Billy
(38:19):
Donovan is going to take it, it feels like he's
not going to be coaching the Bulls next year. I
don't know what that means. But if I'm North Carolina,
you've been handing out bags like it's trigger treat and
nobody has taken it. Maybe Billy Donovan is your guy. Alrighty,
I did watch a little bit of the Well. I
don't watch a lot of the Lakers and the MAVs.
(38:41):
I watched a lot of Cooper Flag last night. Dude,
you're dropping bars right now, handed out bags like his
trigger treat. Okay, Eminem write that for you, Big Eddy Kane.
Speaker 6 (38:53):
Snoop put that together for yourself to hand it out
bags like his trigger treat.
Speaker 2 (38:56):
I don't maybe somebody picks that up, you know, hand
that you know, I'll co drop him. Bars coach Son on.
Speaker 10 (39:08):
You know me?
Speaker 2 (39:09):
You know me? You know me? I'm sorry, do you
know me? I'm odp. Don't step to me here. I
just crush a lot. Cooper Flag played really well last night,
so watching Lebron, I wanted to see Lebron on Cooper
(39:31):
Flag and vice versa. They got switched on each other
a couple of times. But Cooper Flag, he uh, that's
his team. He does whatever he wants. In nineteen. He
won't be twenty till next December. Oh boy. And here's
another thing that'll come up. And I'm not a voter
anymore with the NBA Awards. Actually, I'm not sure why
(39:54):
I'm not. Well, that's for another day. I should ask
next time the commissioner's on, like what But what did
I do? I lose my NBA scholarship here. And I
did vote when Grant Hill and Jason Kidd tied for
Rookie of the Year, and I actually changed my vote
that morning. I was at NBA Entertainment and I probably
(40:16):
brought about a tie for the Rookie of the Year.
But Conkinipple's been great and his team has been really good.
Cooper Flagg's numbers are incredible. You normally don't base the
Rookie of the Year off of what your team did.
I don't think history has proven that Cooper Flagg is
(40:37):
the rookie of the year in my opinion, He's doing
some incredible things. Con car Nipple has surprised us, therefore
people are going wow. Whereas Cooper Flag, I'm not surprised anymore.
Con Canipple has had an unbelievable year and they have
been a competitive team this year. Dallas is not, but
(40:58):
I would say Cooper Flag. Oh. By the way, I
didn't even talk about Joker or Wemby. Oh, I didn't
know who I was rooting for. Yes, Morbon.
Speaker 3 (41:09):
Why was that game on a Saturday afternoon?
Speaker 2 (41:11):
No, it snuck up on me. I'm like, whoa, And
it was great TV Ray Allen's going to join us
and your phone calls on this Monday, best and worst
of the weekend
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