March 14, 2026 • 43 mins
Should We Concerned With Joe Musgrove In 2026? John Sadak, CBS Sports Previews Tonights Aztecs New Mexico MWCT Game.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Diego Sports seven said, a global leader in digital security,
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Speaker 2 (00:34):
The support is sponsored by Anderson Keating Plumbing in Air.
The Assex continue the Mountain West Conference tournament tonight in
Vegas when they faced in Mexico. Our pregame coverage will
begin at eight o'clock and John will have the tip
after nine. San Diego FC is on the road tomorrow
to take on FC Dallas. Our coverage will begin at
(00:54):
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Speaker 3 (01:16):
Hi, John Schafern and Prince Berry San Diego Sports seven sixty.
On this Friday afternoon, have some caffeine, drink your cup
of coffee, grab yourself as Celsius.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
I don't know if I's encourage that I think I
can fry.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
We got a long night ahead of ourselves as sex
moving on last night, as many of you know, taking
down Colorado State in the quarterfinals and now two wins
away for another trip from another trip to the NCAA tournament.
Now it doesn't get easier. As we said last night,
they got to go through New Mexico tonight. It's kind
of fitting and let's start there. We have a really
good show lined up. I'm in my hotel room here
(01:51):
in Vegas, and then we've got pregame and the game
and then postgame reaction. Of course, tonight tip off at
nine pm, which means we'll probably a little after nine
pm because it's the second of two games tonight from
the Mount West semi finals. So we got a really
good show lined up and we're gonna be with you
for the next four hours. We're talking as deck. John
Sadak will be on the call for CBS Sports here tonight,
(02:15):
and he's a longtime friend. He's been on he's the
voice of the Reds. He does a lot of college
basketball in college football. He's gonna join us coming up
at two thirty. Kevin ac R Padres Insider will jone
Us at four There is developing news regarding Joe Muskrove's
health which is not encouraging and will be impactful potentially
on the padres to start twenty twenty six, and Kevin
will Jonas at four pm. And then friend of the
(02:37):
show Rocko Miller, who's our resident bracketologist. I think this
will be his third visit this season. He will Jonas
coming up at four thirty from Bracketteer dot org. This
is a fitting conclusion for San Diego State in the
Mountain West. It'll wrap up this weekend, whether it's today
hopefully not Fris Tech fans, or tomorrow with potentially another
(02:57):
Mountwest Tournament championship. But this is the end, right the
final twenty four or forty eight hours for San Diego
State men's basketball, specifically in the Mountain West Conference. And
it's kind of fitting It would end against New Mexico,
isn't it? Long time rivals. Probably the best rivalry in
the history of this conference is San Diego State and
New Mexico in men's basketball, I think across all sports,
and I think that's the case. If somebody disagrees with me,
(03:20):
text us seven zero four to seven zero started with
the word team. But I mean these teams have gone
up against each other so many times. I think they've
met over one hundred times now all time, and the
series has gone back and forth, and New Mexico has
had some unbelievably impressive wins in the Mountain West Tournament
specifically including in the championship game a couple of years
ago when they had Jael in house in Mashburn, that
(03:43):
really talented team two years ago that went to the
NCAA Tournament. And yeah, Aztecs have had some classic wins
in this series and in the regular season. For example,
this year, these two teams went back and forth at
each other. The Aztecs won a close game at Viejas
and then New Mexico won a barn Burner for games,
just a classic game just a couple of weeks ago
at the Pit. And then there's all these other ties
(04:03):
between these two programs because New Mexico's head coach spent
twenty years in San Diego at UCSD, Eric Olin, and
some of their top players are San Diegans and Luke Hopp,
who played a point Loma for four years, and Jay Hall,
who started Carlos Bad High School so you don't need
any more storylines like this thing rights itself. Winner remains
alive potentially for the NCAA Tournament, even an outside shot
(04:26):
at net large bid, and the loser, potentially their season
is over. That's what's on the line here today at
the Thomas and McK in Las Vegas. The atmosphere is
going to be incredible. I thought last night was a
really good atmosphere. I think tonight will will easily surpass it.
New Mexico has as many fans as anyone in this
league at this event year in and year out. San
(04:47):
Diego State brings a ton of fans, probably thousands of fans,
and I think the building's gonna be packed Tonight. Might
not be sold out because it's these fifteen thousand people,
but you're gonna have ten, eleven, twelve thousan people in
the building rooting for San Diego State or New Mexico
in the second game of this doubleheader because the winner
then will play for a Mountain West championship on Saturday afternoon.
(05:08):
So it's everything that you would want, I would say
if you are a college basketball fan or an Aztec fan,
and narratives.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
Will right themselves after this. You know, if San.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Diego State is fortunate enough to win this game, then
all of a sudden they're on the precipice of getting
back to an NCAA tournament. If they're unable to win
this game, then potentially the offseason begins for San Diego State.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
I mean, you're gonna wait through selection Sunday. You never know.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Although for San Diego State, you would think to remain
alive from a that large possibility, they would need to
win a game like this, so you can't have higher stakes,
and fittingly, that would play out in Las Vegas, Nevada, where,
of course there is no city with higher stakes basically
in the US, And again against the backdrop of conference
re alignment, where New Mexico is staying in the Mountain
West and San Diego State is heading forward the new
(05:54):
PAC twelve. It's like, would you want it any other way?
Would you want to be playing Grand Canyon right now?
I mean there's no real rivalry there. Games have been
played like six or seven times. Would you want to
be playing you know, Boise State. Sure that's a good
series as well, but it's not San Diego State in
New Mexico, And you know, there's there's still a scenario
here where and you can't get ahead of yourself. But
(06:16):
you know, San Diego State wins this game, and then
potentially they're playing a Utah State team that has also
been their nemesis year in recent years and is also
heading to the PAC twelve, and those two teams split
the regular season series here this year as well. But
I think, like, if you're an Aztec fan, how could
you not be encouraged based on what you saw last night? Again,
(06:36):
one game doesn't make two, but you got to win
the first to win the title, right fact, So last
night I thought they did everything you wanted them to do.
They did other than the things that you have no
explanation for. What I mean by that is, nobody can't
control going twenty two to forty two from the free
throw line, Like, that's not how they drew it up.
Speaker 4 (06:55):
That wasn't the plan going in.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
To the point where earlier to them that shoot out
and they're working out free throws, which obviously they're doing
every single day, but I think they put even a
more of an emphasis on it today based on last night.
But you go twenty two to forty two from the
free throw line and win. How's it impossible in a
tournament game you go one of eleven from three and win.
How's that even possible? Your opponent hit thirteen threes?
Speaker 4 (07:17):
So how do they do it?
Speaker 3 (07:18):
They did it with defense and rebounding, which is their
calling card. Like you can, it's a little bit like
what we say with the Padres. And we'll get into
the Padres coming up in about ten minutes with the
Kevin Acy reporting on Joe Muskrow. But it's a little
bit like what they say about the Padres.
Speaker 4 (07:30):
It's like you can.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
You can break it down until you're blue in the
face with the Padres, and we can get into anything
you want to get into at the end of the
day with the San Diego Padres in twenty nineteen, as
Manny goes, the team goes. How many times have we
said that, as Manny goes, the team goes with the
San Diego Padres.
Speaker 4 (07:47):
It's overly simplistic. It's not you know, it doesn't make
any sense.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
But it's just easy to say that if Mandy's on
a hot streak, the Padres are playing probably playing well,
and if he's not playing well, there's a chance the
Padres are scuffling, and same thing with San Diego State.
It's like you're not necessarily looking for someone to burst
out and score twenty six points in a game. You're
not necessarily looking for them to shoot forty percent from three. Again,
all of it is a luxury. You're gonna take San
(08:14):
Diego State getting a twenty six point effort from Rey
six and Waters or Miles Byrd or whomever else. Bj Davis,
You're gonna take. You know, the night where you go
nine of twenty from three and shoot forty five percent.
But the greatest predictor of San Diego State winning or
losing is what they do on the defensive side of
the ball and what they do in the glass. Like
end of sentence, if San Diego State holds opponents under
(08:37):
forty percent, they went over ninety percent of the time.
It's higher than that under Brian Dodger. If San Diego
State out rebounds an opponent, they win it a high clip.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
And last night that's what they did.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Colorado State shot thirty three percent and Colorado State was
out rebounded by twelve. The Aztecs had a fourteen nothing
advantage in second chance points at one point, and they
were able to overcome going to twenty two of forty
two from the free throw line. They were able to
overcome Colorado State making thirteen three is.
Speaker 4 (09:05):
And make no mistake, this thing was not easy.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
This got dicey briefly in the second half when San
Diego State could just not put Colorado State away. I
think you play this game ten times, san Diego State's
gonna win it by fifteen or more, eight or nine
of them. But they left all those points out there.
I mean, if they made thirty of their forty two
free throws, they would have won the game by what's
nine plus eight seventeen. That's by going thirty to forty two.
That's actually below their season average, which is seventy five percent.
(09:30):
They've been a good free throw shooting team. They weren't
last night. It was their lowest shooting percentage from the
free throw line all season. But I would say this
about missing free throws. And there was a lot of
commentary last night on our text line, which by the way,
is open. I would love to hear from you here
today as I'm in Vegas. So seven zero four to
seven zero. You can start it with the word team,
or maybe you're driving in Vegas this afternoon. Listening on
the iHeartRadio app. You can call us eight seven seven
(09:52):
seven six seven four seven sixty and you still got
time top in your car right now, We'll get to
Vegas like no joke. The game doesn't tiptoll after nine.
So you might be listening to my voice and say, hey,
let me hop in the hop in the car.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
Why not?
Speaker 3 (10:02):
You only live once, right, how about a weekend in
Vegas and let's hop in the car and do that.
We can get there by an hour before tip, if
not earlier than that. But I don't even know where
I was. I kind of lost my train of thought
on that. But where was I Brant, I forget where
I was. Oh, I know, it's gonna say. I know
what I was gonna say. With the free throw shooting,
(10:22):
it's like everyone's like, oh my gosh, if they keep
shooting free throws like that, they're not gonna win games. Well, yeah, obviously,
you're not trying to shoot fifty percent from the free
throw line every game. This is the deal with free
throw shooting. If it costs you a game, it's the
end of the world.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
And I agree.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
If you win and you shoot like you know, they
shot last night from the free throw line. I was
about to curse there. If you shoot like they shot
last night from the free throw line, you win. Who cares?
I mean, it's of absolutely no relevance because it's a
completely unpredictable.
Speaker 4 (10:50):
Part of the game. It just is.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
I mean, you can't go into the game be like,
you know where San Diego State is going to be
really good tonight. I bet they're good because New Mexico
is going to miss free throws. Like you can't say
that heading into a game. And I doubt New Mexico
today in their scouting report in the team hotel it
has circled San Diego State at the line and been like,
you know what, maybe San Diego State will missed fifty
percent of their free throws and that's how we'll move on.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
That'll be our game plan.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
Let's just hope they missed fifty percent of their free
throws and that'll be our game plan. So it's one
of those things that's completely unpredictable. There's certain things in sports.
It's like how many penalties are going to be called
against you in a football game. Yeah, there's some teams
that commit more penalties than others. But like, if the
New England Patriots commit eleven penalties and a Super Bowl
and win it, do you really care? As opposed to
if they commit four penalties and a super Bowl and
(11:34):
lose it. And I made that point last night. It's like,
who cares if the Aztecs went forty two or forty
two from the line and lost. Would you be celebrating
here today? Nobody would have. Nobody would care at all
if that happened. And if they went ten to forty
from the line and won a national championship, again, it's irrelevant.
So I thought, overall, it is what you were looking
for as a nastec fan. And as I said when
(11:54):
I signed off last night, which wasn't even that long ago,
what I said was it it only goes uphill from here.
It only gets more challenging. I think Colorado State's a
very good team. The team the Aztecs beat last night,
they had one nine of ten overall. But now you're
taking on a new Mexico team that has similar aspirations
in terms of playing its way into the field. Like
it boils down to this, and we'll talk more about
(12:16):
it with Rocko Miller. Bracketologists coming up in a couple
of hours. But it boils down to this, there's only
one team in the Mountain West with a strong at
large case to reach the NCAA tournament. That's Utah State
based on their body of work this year. The other
teams are either trying to quote unquote steal a bid,
whether that's San Diego State or New Mexico or Utah
States opponent in their semi final Nevada, or they're trying
(12:40):
to strengthen their resume. Now Nevada doesn't have a resume,
but San Diego State New Mexico do. They're likely on
the outside looking in. This goes a long way in
terms of putting yourself in a position if you don't
win tomorrow, Like this is the term in bracketology, you'd
be like, this is like the most bubblicious game probably
of the day.
Speaker 4 (12:58):
Like this has bubble written all over it.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
What it means for New Mexico, what it means for
San Diego State in the whole country today in all
these tournaments, there's maybe one other game that is similar
to this. There's a game I think between Oklahoma and Arkansas,
but it's not the same because one of those teams
is already in the field in Arkansas, the other is
trying to play their way in in Oklahoma.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
With San Diego State in New Mexico.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
It is a true bubble matchup where both of the
teams needed to potentially work themselves onto the right side
of the bubble, and the loser is likely out.
Speaker 4 (13:27):
So you can't have higher stakes than this. You can't.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
I don't care if this game was played between Duke
and North Carolina here tonight in Vegas, if the stakes
were similar, you couldn't have higher stakes between Duke and
North Carolina. So for a moment, the center of the
college basketball universe is on Las Vegas tonight at nine
pm Pacific, which is midnight Eastern. And I think the
junkies that watch this stuff day in and day out,
they'll be watching tonight when San Diego State is playing
(13:50):
New Mexico.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
And of course for San.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
Diegans and for Lobo fans, people will be watching of
course tonight as for one final time in the Mountain West,
San Diego State faces New Mexico, one final time, for
the end of time for mount West history. This will
be it for San Diego State and New Mexico with
everything on the line for both of these teams. So
nine o'clock is the start time. Join us on San
(14:11):
Diego Sports seven to sixty. Turn your TV down, turn.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
The audio up.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
We'll have the radio call for you with pregame cover
just after eight pm, probably because tip off will be
after nine pm. And again I'll have the call for
you come up tonight from the Thomason mac here in
Sin City at nine pm.
Speaker 4 (14:26):
All right.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
We will spend a plenty amount of time on the
aztecs here today as well as the padres. We'll also
give away a four pack of tickets to the San
Diego Zeo Safari Park. Is Joe Musgrove out to start
twenty twenty six. The latest from Kevin Acy, who will
join us live today at four pm, plus John Sadak, We'll.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
Be on the phone. You shouldn't have to face it alone.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
Call Singleton Schreiber standing strong for San Diego eight seven seven,
six hundred six thousand, All right, San Diego Sports seven sixty,
John Schaeffer and Brent Sperry. John Sadak will be on
the cald Night for CBS Sports Network the Mount West
(15:07):
semi Final double header Utah State Nevada, followed by San
Diego State and New Mexico. Just massive games here in
the middle of March. John Sadak, longtime friend, Well Jonahs
coming up in about ten minutes or so. Also, do
I remind you've got that four pack of tickets to
give away to the San Diego zoos of Fari Park,
So be listening for your chance to win those tickets
to the San Diego zoos.
Speaker 4 (15:28):
So Fari Park. The new Elephant Valley is now open
at San Diego Zoosa Farry Park.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
You can get up close in rome alongside the world's
largest land animals. We have chances for you to win
a family four pack of tickets to see Elephant Valley.
The elephants aren't the only ones who will never forget
Elephant Valley at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. All right,
let's turn our attention to the padres. And there is
concern and this was always this is always the concern
in spring that you're gonna deal with an injury that
(15:55):
is of significance. Now we know that Joe Musgrove has
been the heart and soul by law or one of
the pieces, you know, one of the core pieces of
the Padres, I mean, one of the true leaders since
the day he arrived here. And everyone knows the backstory
obviously out of San Diego, the first no hitter in
franchise history, and clutch moments in big games like a
Game three against the New York Mets for example, in
(16:17):
the postseason in that you know, best of three wild
Card round at City Field. So you know, he's a
year removed. He's actually well over a year removed from
Tommy john last pitch of the major leagues in twenty
twenty four. And here's the thing with what the Padres
have done in terms of salary allocation or allocation, Like
they're gonna need Joe Musgrove and Michael King and Nick Pavetta,
(16:39):
simple as that. Like they have allocated a lot of
resources elsewhere. And yeah, they've backfilled at the back of
the rotation. They've got some flyers and Walker Buller and
Herman Marquez, and they've got Randy Vasquez. And people are
I think are optimistic on him in general in the rotation,
but like, make a mistake, you're gonna need the three
that I mentioned off the top, the Muskrove, Paveta, King.
Thing like is a prerequisite for the padre to get
(17:00):
where they want to go. So that's why you kind
of drop everything when you read what Kevin Ac wrote
within the last twenty four hours, which is in an
article a notebook about the Padres. Of course, he covers
them every single day in Peoria and will joinas live
coming up later on here this afternoon. But he said
yesterday that every day that passes with nothing new makes
it more likely Joe Musgrove likely will not begin the
(17:23):
season on the Padres roster, and that is just so concerning.
And I'm not casting blame anywhere, not about Joe Musgrove.
I understand the dynamics of Tommy John, having worked in
professional baseball for the first half of my career. Some
guys are able to respond to it quicker than others.
Some it takes over two years until you feel fully healthy.
(17:43):
Even others are never fully healthy coming off Tommy John,
although that's become less and less rare with the passage
of time. But Musgrove had a cactus lee outing and
at the latest reporting for Kevin just hasn't felt like
himself since then, which by the way, is commonplace for
pictures coming back from this type availabow injury. But now
you just kind of wait on the response of his
(18:05):
body and his elbow to see what the next steps are.
But you're talking about a season that gets underway in
less than two weeks. They're playing baseball games in San
Diego against the Tigers in thirteen days, and as a result,
like you know, the season is not going to wait
for Joe Musgrove, and the Padres aren't going to be
able to wait for Joe Musgrove. They're going to work
obviously with his his timeline and timetable, but like I
(18:27):
think there's a lot of people out there that are like, well,
Joe's going to be back to being Joe in twenty
twenty six, and he may at some point. You've heard
me say this if you've been listening to the show
this offseason, which is you know, I think that the
key factor to consider with Musgrove is will he be consistent,
which is probably the hardest thing for any pitcher to
(18:48):
do coming.
Speaker 4 (18:49):
Off Tommy John.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
It's not to doubt that he will have good outings
once he is healthy and back in the rotation. He will,
But will he have a good outing followed by a
bad outing a longer out followed by a shorter outing.
Will he be able to piecemeal together a successful thirty
start season for the Padres in the major leagues?
Speaker 4 (19:09):
And with what Kevin is writing and with.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
What Joe Muscrove is experiencing, honestly, it's very hard to
envision that right now, that he's going to make thirty
plus starts and he's going to give you one hundred
and fifty plus innings. I mean, that seems so incredibly wishful,
and I hope that I'm wrong, and I always bet
on Musgrove. He somehow finds ways, and he's overcome a lot,
whether it's injury or adversity, and you know, you trust
(19:33):
him to be, you know, on that mound every fifth
or sixth day at some point, hopefully consistently in twenty
twenty six, but some of it is also outside of
his control. How does the body feel? How do you
react to the surgery that you had eighteen months ago?
I mean, you haven't pitched, You have not pitched competitively
competitively in nearly two years, and like the what's the
(19:56):
return on that or what's the value on that?
Speaker 4 (19:58):
How do you overcome that? How do you quantify that.
That's the word I'm looking for.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
How do you quantify what that really means, the impact
it has on Joe Musgrove and this team and his
proagnosis for twenty twenty six. So it'll be fascinating, not
necessarily in a good way, but it's going to be
fascinating to watch play out. Because here's the thing that
I know with Joe Musgrove right now, before the season
even starts, there are going to be highs and lows
(20:23):
and probably extreme ones, and there's going to be adversity,
and they may skip a start here or there, or
you may not start the regular season on the opening
day roster, and he may not throw one hundred and
fifty innings, and his numbers might not look as good
as his career in numbers. But hopefully there comes a
time at some point this spring or summer where Joe
(20:43):
Musgrove looks completely like Joel Musgrove. And I'm not talking
about on the mound for one inning or one outing.
I'm talking about consistently for four five sixty seven consecutive starts.
That's what you're hoping for, is a Padres fan at
some point in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 4 (20:56):
The good news is you don't need to see that.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
You don't need to see that level of consistence to
see March twenty sixth through April twenty fourth. You don't
necessarily need to see it. May twenty fourth through June nineteenth.
You're gonna need to see it in the second half
of the year. I think to feel good about Joe Musgrove,
to feel good about the Padres, to just have a
good feel in general about the state of the rotation,
because I don't even know where you turn, Like if
if the Muskrove Tommy John response is not a good one,
(21:22):
and now you're down to King Paveda and you're kind
of on Vasquez, and now you're adding someone to the
back of your rotation behind you know again not just
Vasquez and not just Walker Buehler, but now you're writing
another picture to like, all of a sudden, it gets
thin quick. This was the This was always the issue
with the Padres, that they didn't have the starting pitching
depth that they would potentially need if they were dealing
(21:43):
with injuries, and that remains the issue with the Padres
heading into twenty twenty six. So we'll talk to Kevin
ac Moore about this story that he's been writing on
this week, and he will join us live at four pm.
John Sadak, though on the other side, longtime voice of
the Cincinnati Rads, actually not a long time voice the
Cincinnatia Cincinnati RESI. We's been doing it for three or
four years for a long time college basketball and football
(22:03):
broadcast or Hopey on the call tonight on CBS Sports
Network for San Diego stick.
Speaker 5 (22:08):
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and tonight the Estex continue their Mountain West Conference tournament
against New Mexico. Our pregame coverage will begin a little
after eight o'clock and John will have the tip after nine.
(22:47):
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Speaker 3 (23:06):
All right tonight, huge showdowns in the Mountain West.
Speaker 4 (23:09):
Kind of fitting that it is these matchups.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
You've got San Diego State and New Mexico coming up
in the second game of the doubleheader, Nevada as well
with Utahs State and again the winners move on to
the mount West Championship game tomorrow afternoon here in Las Vegas.
Great to reconnect with John Szadak, who is a long
time friend. I mean we're talking twenty plus years. We've
worked together as broadcasters and colleagues and friends now for
(23:33):
over two decades. And our Aztec fans will have the
fortune of watching the broadcast on CBS Sports Network. John
Szadak will be on the call tonight for both of
these doubleheader games, and he's with us right now in
San Diego Sports seven sixties. So, first of all, John,
it's great to see you this weekend here in Las Vegas.
And secondly, you can't ask for a better matchup than
this nightcap tonight, right San Diego State in New Mexico
(23:55):
with essentially everything on the line from an NCAA tournament
and Mount West perspective for both of these teams.
Speaker 5 (24:01):
You're exactly right, and it's great to be with you.
Thank you for having me going back to the Carolina
League days and now here talking about the bubble, right.
I mean, this is the ultimate bubble game. The truth is,
this is an elimination game. The winner is guaranteed nothing,
but the loser is done. I just don't see with
how crowded the field is and with how many big
(24:22):
thieves have emerged with so many one seeds going down
in the mid major landscape. You know, I actually think
something I'll bring up on the broadcast tonight. Ryan Dutcher
probably put it better than any coach that I've heard
frame it this way. The first time I've heard it
framed this way, and you're probably already familiar with it.
I'm sure he shared it with you that he said
it's the Power conferences and that everyone else is essentially
(24:44):
one group. You know, all the the majors are one
giant conference fighting for X number of spots, and one
of those spots won't be determined by tonight, but one
of the teams in the running for where it will
be eliminated by tonight. And I think it speaks to
the great two powers in the league, arguably the greatest
rivalry in the league. These are the two teams that
(25:05):
have combined for the most championships, and it's a fitting
likely end, you know, barring some kind of other unforeseen
circumstance and scheduling in the future, to a storied rivalry.
Speaker 4 (25:16):
Yeah, it's like you just can't write it better than this.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
I know you and I were not necessarily bracketologists, but again,
we cover college basketball. Would you envision the winner of
this game if they didn't win tomorrow to make the field.
Speaker 5 (25:33):
It's a great question. I mean, right now, are bracketologists
with CBS Sports have both among those first four out
in fact, in that second and third ranked spot out
of those four teams right now? I think you have
a very compelling case. And I think also one of
the other compelling cases. And each year to some extent
is a vacuum, right or that's part of the idea.
(25:54):
But I do think there is heften waight to some
carryover of the pedigree of a league and what is
it has meant in San Diego State's one of those
flagships with the Mountain West. You know, going to the
title game only a handfully years ago. You know, this
league has put four teams in the tournament for four
straight years. Two years ago a half dozen teams made
the tournament. So the concept of if it were Utah
(26:18):
State to advanced from the other semi final and if
Utah State were to fall, that that would be necessary
to make it a multi bid league. That does seem
kind of odd, right because I don't see that giant
drop off In fact of anything. Utah States record is
indicative of how competitive this league has gotten. You know,
they were the regular season champs with five losses, the
(26:40):
most losses ever by a Mountain West regular season champion.
That shows the depth that this league has right now.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
Yeah, it's great perspective. John Sadak will be on the
call tonight again. The mount West Semi Finals getting underway
six thirty San Diego State in New Mexico, a little
after nine from the Thomas and Max Center. I go
back to it wasn't long ago We're sitting at the
pit in New Mexico, that blaring building, an incredible game
that the Lobos were able to pull out. There was
a controversial call late in that game as well. They
(27:08):
went to replay, and there was a lot that went.
Speaker 4 (27:11):
Into that game. You know, hopped the San Diego hit
that big three on the wing as well.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
When you think about a game like this, I thought
that game at the pit, and really the season series
between these two teams has come down to rebounding. New
Mexico has an outstanding rebounder inside and THOMASLV bullion. San
Diego State at their best has been good on the glass.
But you know when they haven't been at their best,
they've been you know, out rebounded, and second chance points
is have piled up against them. Does this simply come
(27:38):
down to rebounding tonight for the Assets and the Lobos.
Speaker 5 (27:41):
I think that's one of the critical keys, right. It's
it's a critical critical part of it, the possessions that
you can create, because that can just erase a lot
of other types of mistakes or diminish many other advantages.
I think it's a crucial part of You know, is
just a beast. He is just so different. And I
(28:04):
think the analogy that I've heard other analysts and coaches
bring up I did not come up with the concepts
in any way, but that he probably fits the best.
He has a gravitational impact on play, the spacing, what
it allows for teams to do so eroding that I
think changes the dynamic of New Mexico's offense significantly. If
(28:26):
he still possesses it, then it liberates so much, and
I think that's where the jaggedness or lack thereof. Bluntly,
I don't think New Mexico wants to deal with an
up and down type game. They would prefer its more
half court so that his size and that offensive rebound
impact can be so significant. Where San Diego State, I'm sure.
(28:49):
I mean the win Miles byrd was the critical factor.
His tips, the amount of times he touches the ball
on defense, particularly on help and jumping passing lanes to
his offense. I mean his words after that game, when
he was asked about putting in a team high twenty one,
the first thing he brought up was his steels, his blocks,
and his tips, and he said at the time, I've
(29:10):
been trying to tell you know your local media, that
leeds right into my offense. My offense comes from that
defensive side, igniting it, And I think you're exactly right
because that's where rebounding is probably the central constant for
both sides. That if one team wins it, particularly in
convincing fashion, it's just going to domino into everything else
(29:30):
that that respective team does.
Speaker 4 (29:32):
Well.
Speaker 3 (29:32):
Yeah, that's well said and absolutely could be the difference
side for one of these teams between winning and losing.
Speaker 4 (29:37):
You know, it's not every day.
Speaker 3 (29:38):
What I find amazing about San Diego State New Mexico
this year John and John Sadek is with us. He'll
be on the cald Night on CBS Sports Network. What
I find amazing is San Diego does not produce a
ton of Division one men's basketball players. There have been
some great players out of San Diego County, but it's
not rich in talent like maybe San Diego County area
football would be, for example. But now you look at
(30:00):
New Mexico team where Eric Olin spent twenty years at UCSD,
took him from Division two to Division one. He then
brings Luke Copps with him, who played at a non
D one at Point Loma and is playing his final
college year for the Lobos. Jake Hall is a true
freshman out of Carlsbad High School playing for New Mexico
as well. It isn't this game just littered with San
Diego storylines, which is just entirely unique when it comes
(30:21):
to men's college basketball very much.
Speaker 5 (30:24):
So, you know, I was having that exact conversation with
my partner Dan Dickau when we were coming back from
the shoot rounds today and asked him his general impressions
of San Diego High school basketball, and he confirmed pretty
much what you're saying that that's his perspective of that
of national recruiters is that you can dismiss the time
some of the gaudy numbers that come out because it's
(30:46):
hard to judge it based upon level of competition. And
you know, Jake Hall was set to be bound to
UCSD with Eric, you know, before he wound up changing
jobs and then with that, you know that school allegiance
changed for Hall as well. But clearly he is demonstrated
against high level competition he is an elite shooter. I mean,
(31:07):
he is one of the best shooters in the country,
you know, one of the top scoring freshman period and
the three point shot is a critical part of what
New Mexico does. They deny the three point shot incredibly well.
They take a ton of threes and they shoot it
at a very good clip, not quite great, but they
have a great single shooter that shoulders that load significantly
(31:29):
and it's a giant part of the interconnectedness, particularly in
college basketball, that that style.
Speaker 4 (31:37):
Is a big deal.
Speaker 5 (31:38):
I mean, that's something that New Mexico shoot came up
as just a concept of playing against San Diego State.
The complementary basketball is so necessary and you have these
you know San Diegans that I'm sure San Diego State
has been a long time power. That there's some kind
of connectivity to that, right, it means something no matter
(32:02):
who you are, no matter where you're from anywhere in
the world, when you're in something that's related to competition,
and that competition now has on the other side, something
that's tied to home, something that's tied to your family,
your background, whether that's something you feel close to or
the opposite, no matter what. The sport is so fueled
by emotion. It's a huge part of the story in
(32:23):
this game.
Speaker 4 (32:24):
It really is.
Speaker 3 (32:24):
And by the way, they had another San Diego that
was supposed to be a huge part of their team.
It's just been out Chris Hallell, who played at Tory
Pines High School but has been out and played last
year for U See San Diego, John before you go,
I know you got a busy one with two games
coming up. Just give us the thirty thousand foot view
of Utah State and Nevada. What's playing out in the background.
You know, the Cincinnati job comes open. Jared Calhoun has
been a successful two year head coach at Utah State.
(32:47):
Ur in the midst of this incredible year. How do
you see this first semi final shaping out?
Speaker 5 (32:52):
You know, similar to what the second one is. The
home team took each game the first time and defense
ultimately won the day and to those games I was
a decided run for Nevada at the closed. Utah State
also missed some shots that it would normally make during
the Wolfpack win that happened in Reno and Utah State
forced turnovers from a Nevada team that doesn't give it
(33:13):
away fewest turnovers in the Mountain West. I think Cory
Camper Junior's ability to cut off ball the motion style
going back to the Bobby Knight Indiana days against the
tactile shuffling zone that has a lot of deception from
Utah State, you know, in similar fashion to San Diego State.
Utah State can hum offensively like nobody in the Mountain West,
but it starts at the defensive end. It's those live
(33:35):
ball turnovers that result in transition and run that are
a huge part of it. And I think the defensive
side and the jagged nature of it. I mean, we
saw foulfest yesterday throughout the day, particularly in the San
Diego State game and also in the Nevada game where
they said a single game Mountain West tournament record for
free throws made. So I think that other element could
(33:56):
have an even bigger impact in that game. How is
it whistled? It doesn't take many threes. They probably have
to be plus at the line to beat Utah State,
but that's part of what they do.
Speaker 4 (34:07):
John, love your perspective and the insight.
Speaker 3 (34:09):
Looking forward to seeing you tonight out here in Vegas
and for our listeners if you're watching on television, John
Satak on the call for this massive doubleheader in the
Mountain West late night here in Sin City. Appreciate it,
my friend, and I'll see you later on tonight at
the Thomas I Mac. You got it, Thank you, John,
all right, great stuff from John Sadak.
Speaker 4 (34:27):
All right.
Speaker 3 (34:27):
On the other side, we can react to that. Plus
Team USA returning to the field in the WBC later
on today. We will react to that and get you
ready for it. Kevin acwill joinas at four pm. We've
got ours.
Speaker 1 (34:38):
Bergallan bonus San Diego Sports seven sixty high heard radio
Staate guaranteed humans.
Speaker 3 (34:54):
All right back with you, San Diego Sports seven sixty
from Las Vegas, Nevada, where San Diego State will yet
New Mexico coming up tonight at nine. We'll have pregame
coverage for you right here on seven sixty beginning a
little after eight pm. I'll be on the call for
you a little after nine pm tonight San Diego State
and New Mexico. Oh, you just know everything on the
line stakes tonight in Sin City, so we'll have that
(35:15):
for you. A lot more reaction coming up. Kevin Ac
will join us at four pm. Roco Miller resident bracketologists
bracketeer dot Org.
Speaker 4 (35:22):
You can catch them on the field of sixty eight.
He will join us coming up at four thirty now.
Speaker 3 (35:27):
Also tonight high stakes between Team USA and Team Canada.
This is the WBC quarter final matchup a rematch of
the Olympic hockey gold medal match, although they won't be
playing hockey, they'll be playing baseball.
Speaker 4 (35:41):
You like that, Brent.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
And obviously we know how this all played out, which
is the US got lucky to even get here. They
lost to Italy and then it was out of their hands.
They got a break because of what Italy did to Mexico,
and now they move on. It's like you got your mulligan,
you've got in your second life. You have to capitalize
on this right now. It's as simple as that. This
(36:06):
will still be seen as woefully disappointing if the US
loses tonight to Canada. Shoot, I think it's woefully disappointing
if they don't win this tournament truthfully being played on
home soil. And me you just look at you know,
you got Logan Web in the mound, and you got
this lineup just loaded from the Bobby Wits to the
Aaron Judges to the Bryce Harper's and you know the
(36:26):
College Warbers.
Speaker 4 (36:27):
It goes on and on and on.
Speaker 3 (36:28):
And the US looked really good for a couple of
days and then they ran into someone that was their
equal on that day. I mean, they sat guys for
whatever reason. We talked about that obviously obsessively. And now
it's again the US and Canada and again when you
think about it's interesting because I never really thought about
baseball from an international perspective until the WBC launched, like
(36:51):
twenty years ago, and I didn't really overly think that,
you know, I never questioned growing up, like is this,
you know, does America have the you know, the best
baseball in the world?
Speaker 4 (37:01):
Right That wasn't necessarily discussed. If you're in your forties,
you weren't really.
Speaker 3 (37:04):
Thinking about that in the eighties and the nineties, would
be my guest, like, do Americans play the best form
of baseball?
Speaker 4 (37:09):
Now?
Speaker 3 (37:10):
Of course the world has called up, which I think
is a good thing overall for the sport. I think
the popularity of the sport, the globalization of the sport
is a very good thing. I mean, look no further
than the NBA. The NBA, it's growth and stream team,
the way it's played everywhere, specifically in Europe. Some of
the biggest stars in the NBA right now and in
the last twenty five years have been European or non
(37:30):
American players. Canadian born players like a Jay Gilles Alexander
for example, or you know Victor Weebinyama out of France.
The list goes on and on and on, obviously, and
that's been great for basketball and in turn the NBA.
I think the same could be said for Major League Baseball.
The growth of the game worldwide has been beneficial for
a the sport of baseball and b major League baseball.
(37:52):
But I just don't really see it from like a
nationalistic perspective. I don't look at baseball as the type
of sport where I'm like, I want to dominate the
world by claiming that the US has the best national
baseball team. You know, I don't really see it as
an Olympic sport like I see basketball, because again, basketball
has used professional athletes since the nineteen nineties, or hockey,
for example, that oftentimes has used professional athletes. When I
(38:15):
think about baseball and Olympic Baseball, they are amateurs by
and large historically that have played in Olympic Baseball. So
the WBC has kind of provided a new perspective on it.
Will I think two things can be true. Will I
critique and blame the US and call it a significant
disappointment if they don't win this game today or a
semi final or even a final. Yeah, probably, But also
(38:38):
will I lose a lot of sleep over it and
pretend like you know the balance of power has shifted
worldwide with the sport of baseball. No, I'm not going
to do that at all. And I don't think the
WBC personally, for me, holds a candle to watching Major
League baseball games and specifically just watching Padres games day
in and day out.
Speaker 4 (38:56):
So listen, I mean, I'm curious.
Speaker 3 (38:59):
You know, you'd like to think that the US, with
their rotation and with Logan web and with this lineup,
you know, can win going away. But it is a
baseball game, and anything can happen obviously in a winner
go home baseball game, just like in a college basketball
game tonight between San Diego State and New Mexico. And yeah,
they've got a second lease on life, Brent, and we'll
see if they can capitalize on it tonight in the
quarterfinal round.
Speaker 2 (39:20):
Yeah, DeRosa particularly has a second lease on life, because yeah,
they need a big win, and they showed in the
Italy game that there is no they can't just show
up and win by ten runs, because I think that's
what they thought was gonna happen in the Italy game,
(39:41):
that they were just gonna walk in there and they're
just gonna be so much better that you know, they
could just throw anybody out there and we're still gonna
win by seven or eight runs. And they found out
that's not the case. So hopefully they can at least
make the finals. I don't think they have to win
(40:01):
it necessarily to make up for it, but yeah, if
they get bounced like right away, then yeah, it's it's
gonna be disappointing. I think that is a good point about,
like you're right, like, if you make a finals and
you lose in a winn or go home like championship
type game in baseball, where we understand, like there's so
many variables in play, it's hard to be like, what
(40:24):
a massive disappointment you were one of the final two
left standing when they were like twenty something teams at
the start of this in the event. But again, I
look at it like this, it's on home soil, and
you know you've been in a position historically where you
haven't always capitalized on these opportunities. How many times has
the US even won this once. We did that exercise previously.
Speaker 3 (40:46):
I want to say, yeah, so all times Japan has three,
the US won it in twenty seventeen, and the Dominican
won it in twenty thirteen. Those are your five champions.
Three Japanese teams two thousand and six, two and nine,
twenty twenty three, Dominican team in twenty thirteen, an American
team in twenty seventeen, and then the event was.
Speaker 4 (41:04):
Not played during COVID.
Speaker 3 (41:06):
So there's only the sixth tournament ever in the history
of this event in the WBC.
Speaker 4 (41:11):
So it'st growing and emerging.
Speaker 3 (41:13):
You probably need like another twenty five years of data
before you can, I mean, and this will probably still
change a lot the way they constitute this tournament moving
forward as well.
Speaker 4 (41:21):
It's definitely grown.
Speaker 3 (41:22):
Like, make no mistake, I mean, I think it's got
the attention of sports fans, specifically baseball fans. I think
it is a decent time of year because again, who's
paying attention to the Cactus League or the Great Fruit
League in the middle of March. Like you pay attention
for a couple days when games start, and then you
turn your attention back a couple of days before opening day,
so you know, it's probably the right time to do it,
(41:43):
and I think ultimately you have a chance to have
some really phenomenal baseball played, like I'd love to see,
and I don't know what the bracket feeds into, but
I'd love to see along the way Dominican against the US,
or I'd love to see Japan against the Dominican or
Japan against the US, right Like, I think those.
Speaker 4 (41:59):
Are intriguing right now.
Speaker 3 (42:01):
By the way, in Vegas, I think the shortest odds
still belong to the US at plus one forty. The
Dominican is plus two thirty, Japan is plus four fifty,
and Venezuela is plus nine hundred. Those are the four
nations that have the shortest odds to win the WBC
in twenty twenty six. But again, the team that is
favored to win it is the US that is the
(42:22):
team that is favored. And again they're coming off that
loss to Italy. We know about the Turik Skooble saga,
but they do have Logan Web and they've got Paul Skins,
and they've got a path obviously beginning tonight against Canada
in the quarterfinal round. All right, tons to get to
We're here until six pm. Kevin Acy is gonna join us,
coming up at four pm. The latest on a possible
(42:42):
sale of the Padres. He has some recent reporting on
that from earlier today. When can we expect the sale
of the Padres to be finalized? Plus a health update
on Joe Musgrove. In addition, Roco Miller are resident bracketologists
with selection Sunday just forty eight hours away. I think
it's literally forty eight hours way. Rocomiller bracketeer dot org.
He will join us life coming up at four thirty.
(43:03):
His thoughts on the importance of tonight for both San
Diego State and New Mexico. And we're also giving away
a four pack of tickets to the San Diego zeos
Offari Park and we'll do that coming up here this
Diego Sports seven said, a global leader in digital security,
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Diego and iHeart Radio Station guaranteed human Men.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
The support is sponsored by Anderson Keating Plumbing in Air.
The Assex continue the Mountain West Conference tournament tonight in
Vegas when they faced in Mexico. Our pregame coverage will
begin at eight o'clock and John will have the tip
after nine. San Diego FC is on the road tomorrow
to take on FC Dallas. Our coverage will begin at
(00:54):
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Speaker 3 (01:16):
Hi, John Schafern and Prince Berry San Diego Sports seven sixty.
On this Friday afternoon, have some caffeine, drink your cup
of coffee, grab yourself as Celsius.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
I don't know if I's encourage that I think I
can fry.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
We got a long night ahead of ourselves as sex
moving on last night, as many of you know, taking
down Colorado State in the quarterfinals and now two wins
away for another trip from another trip to the NCAA tournament.
Now it doesn't get easier. As we said last night,
they got to go through New Mexico tonight. It's kind
of fitting and let's start there. We have a really
good show lined up. I'm in my hotel room here
(01:51):
in Vegas, and then we've got pregame and the game
and then postgame reaction. Of course, tonight tip off at
nine pm, which means we'll probably a little after nine
pm because it's the second of two games tonight from
the Mount West semi finals. So we got a really
good show lined up and we're gonna be with you
for the next four hours. We're talking as deck. John
Sadak will be on the call for CBS Sports here tonight,
(02:15):
and he's a longtime friend. He's been on he's the
voice of the Reds. He does a lot of college
basketball in college football. He's gonna join us coming up
at two thirty. Kevin ac R Padres Insider will jone
Us at four There is developing news regarding Joe Muskrove's
health which is not encouraging and will be impactful potentially
on the padres to start twenty twenty six, and Kevin
will Jonas at four pm. And then friend of the
(02:37):
show Rocko Miller, who's our resident bracketologist. I think this
will be his third visit this season. He will Jonas
coming up at four thirty from Bracketteer dot org. This
is a fitting conclusion for San Diego State in the
Mountain West. It'll wrap up this weekend, whether it's today
hopefully not Fris Tech fans, or tomorrow with potentially another
(02:57):
Mountwest Tournament championship. But this is the end, right the
final twenty four or forty eight hours for San Diego
State men's basketball, specifically in the Mountain West Conference. And
it's kind of fitting It would end against New Mexico,
isn't it? Long time rivals. Probably the best rivalry in
the history of this conference is San Diego State and
New Mexico in men's basketball, I think across all sports,
and I think that's the case. If somebody disagrees with me,
(03:20):
text us seven zero four to seven zero started with
the word team. But I mean these teams have gone
up against each other so many times. I think they've
met over one hundred times now all time, and the
series has gone back and forth, and New Mexico has
had some unbelievably impressive wins in the Mountain West Tournament
specifically including in the championship game a couple of years
ago when they had Jael in house in Mashburn, that
(03:43):
really talented team two years ago that went to the
NCAA Tournament. And yeah, Aztecs have had some classic wins
in this series and in the regular season. For example,
this year, these two teams went back and forth at
each other. The Aztecs won a close game at Viejas
and then New Mexico won a barn Burner for games,
just a classic game just a couple of weeks ago
at the Pit. And then there's all these other ties
(04:03):
between these two programs because New Mexico's head coach spent
twenty years in San Diego at UCSD, Eric Olin, and
some of their top players are San Diegans and Luke Hopp,
who played a point Loma for four years, and Jay Hall,
who started Carlos Bad High School so you don't need
any more storylines like this thing rights itself. Winner remains
alive potentially for the NCAA Tournament, even an outside shot
(04:26):
at net large bid, and the loser, potentially their season
is over. That's what's on the line here today at
the Thomas and McK in Las Vegas. The atmosphere is
going to be incredible. I thought last night was a
really good atmosphere. I think tonight will will easily surpass it.
New Mexico has as many fans as anyone in this
league at this event year in and year out. San
(04:47):
Diego State brings a ton of fans, probably thousands of fans,
and I think the building's gonna be packed Tonight. Might
not be sold out because it's these fifteen thousand people,
but you're gonna have ten, eleven, twelve thousan people in
the building rooting for San Diego State or New Mexico
in the second game of this doubleheader because the winner
then will play for a Mountain West championship on Saturday afternoon.
(05:08):
So it's everything that you would want, I would say
if you are a college basketball fan or an Aztec fan,
and narratives.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
Will right themselves after this. You know, if San.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Diego State is fortunate enough to win this game, then
all of a sudden they're on the precipice of getting
back to an NCAA tournament. If they're unable to win
this game, then potentially the offseason begins for San Diego State.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
I mean, you're gonna wait through selection Sunday. You never know.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Although for San Diego State, you would think to remain
alive from a that large possibility, they would need to
win a game like this, so you can't have higher stakes,
and fittingly, that would play out in Las Vegas, Nevada, where,
of course there is no city with higher stakes basically
in the US, And again against the backdrop of conference
re alignment, where New Mexico is staying in the Mountain
West and San Diego State is heading forward the new
(05:54):
PAC twelve. It's like, would you want it any other way?
Would you want to be playing Grand Canyon right now?
I mean there's no real rivalry there. Games have been
played like six or seven times. Would you want to
be playing you know, Boise State. Sure that's a good
series as well, but it's not San Diego State in
New Mexico, And you know, there's there's still a scenario
here where and you can't get ahead of yourself. But
(06:16):
you know, San Diego State wins this game, and then
potentially they're playing a Utah State team that has also
been their nemesis year in recent years and is also
heading to the PAC twelve, and those two teams split
the regular season series here this year as well. But
I think, like, if you're an Aztec fan, how could
you not be encouraged based on what you saw last night? Again,
(06:36):
one game doesn't make two, but you got to win
the first to win the title, right fact, So last
night I thought they did everything you wanted them to do.
They did other than the things that you have no
explanation for. What I mean by that is, nobody can't
control going twenty two to forty two from the free
throw line, Like, that's not how they drew it up.
Speaker 4 (06:55):
That wasn't the plan going in.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
To the point where earlier to them that shoot out
and they're working out free throws, which obviously they're doing
every single day, but I think they put even a
more of an emphasis on it today based on last night.
But you go twenty two to forty two from the
free throw line and win. How's it impossible in a
tournament game you go one of eleven from three and win.
How's that even possible? Your opponent hit thirteen threes?
Speaker 4 (07:17):
So how do they do it?
Speaker 3 (07:18):
They did it with defense and rebounding, which is their
calling card. Like you can, it's a little bit like
what we say with the Padres. And we'll get into
the Padres coming up in about ten minutes with the
Kevin Acy reporting on Joe Muskrow. But it's a little
bit like what they say about the Padres.
Speaker 4 (07:30):
It's like you can.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
You can break it down until you're blue in the
face with the Padres, and we can get into anything
you want to get into at the end of the
day with the San Diego Padres in twenty nineteen, as
Manny goes, the team goes. How many times have we
said that, as Manny goes, the team goes with the
San Diego Padres.
Speaker 4 (07:47):
It's overly simplistic. It's not you know, it doesn't make
any sense.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
But it's just easy to say that if Mandy's on
a hot streak, the Padres are playing probably playing well,
and if he's not playing well, there's a chance the
Padres are scuffling, and same thing with San Diego State.
It's like you're not necessarily looking for someone to burst
out and score twenty six points in a game. You're
not necessarily looking for them to shoot forty percent from three. Again,
all of it is a luxury. You're gonna take San
(08:14):
Diego State getting a twenty six point effort from Rey
six and Waters or Miles Byrd or whomever else. Bj Davis,
You're gonna take. You know, the night where you go
nine of twenty from three and shoot forty five percent.
But the greatest predictor of San Diego State winning or
losing is what they do on the defensive side of
the ball and what they do in the glass. Like
end of sentence, if San Diego State holds opponents under
(08:37):
forty percent, they went over ninety percent of the time.
It's higher than that under Brian Dodger. If San Diego
State out rebounds an opponent, they win it a high clip.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
And last night that's what they did.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Colorado State shot thirty three percent and Colorado State was
out rebounded by twelve. The Aztecs had a fourteen nothing
advantage in second chance points at one point, and they
were able to overcome going to twenty two of forty
two from the free throw line. They were able to
overcome Colorado State making thirteen three is.
Speaker 4 (09:05):
And make no mistake, this thing was not easy.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
This got dicey briefly in the second half when San
Diego State could just not put Colorado State away. I
think you play this game ten times, san Diego State's
gonna win it by fifteen or more, eight or nine
of them. But they left all those points out there.
I mean, if they made thirty of their forty two
free throws, they would have won the game by what's
nine plus eight seventeen. That's by going thirty to forty two.
That's actually below their season average, which is seventy five percent.
(09:30):
They've been a good free throw shooting team. They weren't
last night. It was their lowest shooting percentage from the
free throw line all season. But I would say this
about missing free throws. And there was a lot of
commentary last night on our text line, which by the way,
is open. I would love to hear from you here
today as I'm in Vegas. So seven zero four to
seven zero. You can start it with the word team,
or maybe you're driving in Vegas this afternoon. Listening on
the iHeartRadio app. You can call us eight seven seven
(09:52):
seven six seven four seven sixty and you still got
time top in your car right now, We'll get to
Vegas like no joke. The game doesn't tiptoll after nine.
So you might be listening to my voice and say, hey,
let me hop in the hop in the car.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
Why not?
Speaker 3 (10:02):
You only live once, right, how about a weekend in
Vegas and let's hop in the car and do that.
We can get there by an hour before tip, if
not earlier than that. But I don't even know where
I was. I kind of lost my train of thought
on that. But where was I Brant, I forget where
I was. Oh, I know, it's gonna say. I know
what I was gonna say. With the free throw shooting,
(10:22):
it's like everyone's like, oh my gosh, if they keep
shooting free throws like that, they're not gonna win games. Well, yeah, obviously,
you're not trying to shoot fifty percent from the free
throw line every game. This is the deal with free
throw shooting. If it costs you a game, it's the
end of the world.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
And I agree.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
If you win and you shoot like you know, they
shot last night from the free throw line. I was
about to curse there. If you shoot like they shot
last night from the free throw line, you win. Who cares?
I mean, it's of absolutely no relevance because it's a
completely unpredictable.
Speaker 4 (10:50):
Part of the game. It just is.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
I mean, you can't go into the game be like,
you know where San Diego State is going to be
really good tonight. I bet they're good because New Mexico
is going to miss free throws. Like you can't say
that heading into a game. And I doubt New Mexico
today in their scouting report in the team hotel it
has circled San Diego State at the line and been like,
you know what, maybe San Diego State will missed fifty
percent of their free throws and that's how we'll move on.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
That'll be our game plan.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
Let's just hope they missed fifty percent of their free
throws and that'll be our game plan. So it's one
of those things that's completely unpredictable. There's certain things in sports.
It's like how many penalties are going to be called
against you in a football game. Yeah, there's some teams
that commit more penalties than others. But like, if the
New England Patriots commit eleven penalties and a Super Bowl
and win it, do you really care? As opposed to
if they commit four penalties and a super Bowl and
(11:34):
lose it. And I made that point last night. It's like,
who cares if the Aztecs went forty two or forty
two from the line and lost. Would you be celebrating
here today? Nobody would have. Nobody would care at all
if that happened. And if they went ten to forty
from the line and won a national championship, again, it's irrelevant.
So I thought, overall, it is what you were looking
for as a nastec fan. And as I said when
(11:54):
I signed off last night, which wasn't even that long ago,
what I said was it it only goes uphill from here.
It only gets more challenging. I think Colorado State's a
very good team. The team the Aztecs beat last night,
they had one nine of ten overall. But now you're
taking on a new Mexico team that has similar aspirations
in terms of playing its way into the field. Like
it boils down to this, and we'll talk more about
(12:16):
it with Rocko Miller. Bracketologists coming up in a couple
of hours. But it boils down to this, there's only
one team in the Mountain West with a strong at
large case to reach the NCAA tournament. That's Utah State
based on their body of work this year. The other
teams are either trying to quote unquote steal a bid,
whether that's San Diego State or New Mexico or Utah
States opponent in their semi final Nevada, or they're trying
(12:40):
to strengthen their resume. Now Nevada doesn't have a resume,
but San Diego State New Mexico do. They're likely on
the outside looking in. This goes a long way in
terms of putting yourself in a position if you don't
win tomorrow, Like this is the term in bracketology, you'd
be like, this is like the most bubblicious game probably
of the day.
Speaker 4 (12:58):
Like this has bubble written all over it.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
What it means for New Mexico, what it means for
San Diego State in the whole country today in all
these tournaments, there's maybe one other game that is similar
to this. There's a game I think between Oklahoma and Arkansas,
but it's not the same because one of those teams
is already in the field in Arkansas, the other is
trying to play their way in in Oklahoma.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
With San Diego State in New Mexico.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
It is a true bubble matchup where both of the
teams needed to potentially work themselves onto the right side
of the bubble, and the loser is likely out.
Speaker 4 (13:27):
So you can't have higher stakes than this. You can't.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
I don't care if this game was played between Duke
and North Carolina here tonight in Vegas, if the stakes
were similar, you couldn't have higher stakes between Duke and
North Carolina. So for a moment, the center of the
college basketball universe is on Las Vegas tonight at nine
pm Pacific, which is midnight Eastern. And I think the
junkies that watch this stuff day in and day out,
they'll be watching tonight when San Diego State is playing
(13:50):
New Mexico.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
And of course for San.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
Diegans and for Lobo fans, people will be watching of
course tonight as for one final time in the Mountain West,
San Diego State faces New Mexico, one final time, for
the end of time for mount West history. This will
be it for San Diego State and New Mexico with
everything on the line for both of these teams. So
nine o'clock is the start time. Join us on San
(14:11):
Diego Sports seven to sixty. Turn your TV down, turn.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
The audio up.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
We'll have the radio call for you with pregame cover
just after eight pm, probably because tip off will be
after nine pm. And again I'll have the call for
you come up tonight from the Thomason mac here in
Sin City at nine pm.
Speaker 4 (14:26):
All right.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
We will spend a plenty amount of time on the
aztecs here today as well as the padres. We'll also
give away a four pack of tickets to the San
Diego Zeo Safari Park. Is Joe Musgrove out to start
twenty twenty six. The latest from Kevin Acy, who will
join us live today at four pm, plus John Sadak, We'll.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
Be on the phone. You shouldn't have to face it alone.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
Call Singleton Schreiber standing strong for San Diego eight seven seven,
six hundred six thousand, All right, San Diego Sports seven sixty,
John Schaeffer and Brent Sperry. John Sadak will be on
the cald Night for CBS Sports Network the Mount West
(15:07):
semi Final double header Utah State Nevada, followed by San
Diego State and New Mexico. Just massive games here in
the middle of March. John Sadak, longtime friend, Well Jonahs
coming up in about ten minutes or so. Also, do
I remind you've got that four pack of tickets to
give away to the San Diego zoos of Fari Park,
So be listening for your chance to win those tickets
to the San Diego zoos.
Speaker 4 (15:28):
So Fari Park. The new Elephant Valley is now open
at San Diego Zoosa Farry Park.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
You can get up close in rome alongside the world's
largest land animals. We have chances for you to win
a family four pack of tickets to see Elephant Valley.
The elephants aren't the only ones who will never forget
Elephant Valley at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. All right,
let's turn our attention to the padres. And there is
concern and this was always this is always the concern
in spring that you're gonna deal with an injury that
(15:55):
is of significance. Now we know that Joe Musgrove has
been the heart and soul by law or one of
the pieces, you know, one of the core pieces of
the Padres, I mean, one of the true leaders since
the day he arrived here. And everyone knows the backstory
obviously out of San Diego, the first no hitter in
franchise history, and clutch moments in big games like a
Game three against the New York Mets for example, in
(16:17):
the postseason in that you know, best of three wild
Card round at City Field. So you know, he's a
year removed. He's actually well over a year removed from
Tommy john last pitch of the major leagues in twenty
twenty four. And here's the thing with what the Padres
have done in terms of salary allocation or allocation, Like
they're gonna need Joe Musgrove and Michael King and Nick Pavetta,
(16:39):
simple as that. Like they have allocated a lot of
resources elsewhere. And yeah, they've backfilled at the back of
the rotation. They've got some flyers and Walker Buller and
Herman Marquez, and they've got Randy Vasquez. And people are
I think are optimistic on him in general in the rotation,
but like, make a mistake, you're gonna need the three
that I mentioned off the top, the Muskrove, Paveta, King.
Thing like is a prerequisite for the padre to get
(17:00):
where they want to go. So that's why you kind
of drop everything when you read what Kevin Ac wrote
within the last twenty four hours, which is in an
article a notebook about the Padres. Of course, he covers
them every single day in Peoria and will joinas live
coming up later on here this afternoon. But he said
yesterday that every day that passes with nothing new makes
it more likely Joe Musgrove likely will not begin the
(17:23):
season on the Padres roster, and that is just so concerning.
And I'm not casting blame anywhere, not about Joe Musgrove.
I understand the dynamics of Tommy John, having worked in
professional baseball for the first half of my career. Some
guys are able to respond to it quicker than others.
Some it takes over two years until you feel fully healthy.
(17:43):
Even others are never fully healthy coming off Tommy John,
although that's become less and less rare with the passage
of time. But Musgrove had a cactus lee outing and
at the latest reporting for Kevin just hasn't felt like
himself since then, which by the way, is commonplace for
pictures coming back from this type availabow injury. But now
you just kind of wait on the response of his
(18:05):
body and his elbow to see what the next steps are.
But you're talking about a season that gets underway in
less than two weeks. They're playing baseball games in San
Diego against the Tigers in thirteen days, and as a result,
like you know, the season is not going to wait
for Joe Musgrove, and the Padres aren't going to be
able to wait for Joe Musgrove. They're going to work
obviously with his his timeline and timetable, but like I
(18:27):
think there's a lot of people out there that are like, well,
Joe's going to be back to being Joe in twenty
twenty six, and he may at some point. You've heard
me say this if you've been listening to the show
this offseason, which is you know, I think that the
key factor to consider with Musgrove is will he be consistent,
which is probably the hardest thing for any pitcher to
(18:48):
do coming.
Speaker 4 (18:49):
Off Tommy John.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
It's not to doubt that he will have good outings
once he is healthy and back in the rotation. He will,
But will he have a good outing followed by a
bad outing a longer out followed by a shorter outing.
Will he be able to piecemeal together a successful thirty
start season for the Padres in the major leagues?
Speaker 4 (19:09):
And with what Kevin is writing and with.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
What Joe Muscrove is experiencing, honestly, it's very hard to
envision that right now, that he's going to make thirty
plus starts and he's going to give you one hundred
and fifty plus innings. I mean, that seems so incredibly wishful,
and I hope that I'm wrong, and I always bet
on Musgrove. He somehow finds ways, and he's overcome a lot,
whether it's injury or adversity, and you know, you trust
(19:33):
him to be, you know, on that mound every fifth
or sixth day at some point, hopefully consistently in twenty
twenty six, but some of it is also outside of
his control. How does the body feel? How do you
react to the surgery that you had eighteen months ago?
I mean, you haven't pitched, You have not pitched competitively
competitively in nearly two years, and like the what's the
(19:56):
return on that or what's the value on that?
Speaker 4 (19:58):
How do you overcome that? How do you quantify that.
That's the word I'm looking for.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
How do you quantify what that really means, the impact
it has on Joe Musgrove and this team and his
proagnosis for twenty twenty six. So it'll be fascinating, not
necessarily in a good way, but it's going to be
fascinating to watch play out. Because here's the thing that
I know with Joe Musgrove right now, before the season
even starts, there are going to be highs and lows
(20:23):
and probably extreme ones, and there's going to be adversity,
and they may skip a start here or there, or
you may not start the regular season on the opening
day roster, and he may not throw one hundred and
fifty innings, and his numbers might not look as good
as his career in numbers. But hopefully there comes a
time at some point this spring or summer where Joe
(20:43):
Musgrove looks completely like Joel Musgrove. And I'm not talking
about on the mound for one inning or one outing.
I'm talking about consistently for four five sixty seven consecutive starts.
That's what you're hoping for, is a Padres fan at
some point in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 4 (20:56):
The good news is you don't need to see that.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
You don't need to see that level of consistence to
see March twenty sixth through April twenty fourth. You don't
necessarily need to see it. May twenty fourth through June nineteenth.
You're gonna need to see it in the second half
of the year. I think to feel good about Joe Musgrove,
to feel good about the Padres, to just have a
good feel in general about the state of the rotation,
because I don't even know where you turn, Like if
if the Muskrove Tommy John response is not a good one,
(21:22):
and now you're down to King Paveda and you're kind
of on Vasquez, and now you're adding someone to the
back of your rotation behind you know again not just
Vasquez and not just Walker Buehler, but now you're writing
another picture to like, all of a sudden, it gets
thin quick. This was the This was always the issue
with the Padres, that they didn't have the starting pitching
depth that they would potentially need if they were dealing
(21:43):
with injuries, and that remains the issue with the Padres
heading into twenty twenty six. So we'll talk to Kevin
ac Moore about this story that he's been writing on
this week, and he will join us live at four pm.
John Sadak, though on the other side, longtime voice of
the Cincinnati Rads, actually not a long time voice the
Cincinnatia Cincinnati RESI. We's been doing it for three or
four years for a long time college basketball and football
(22:03):
broadcast or Hopey on the call tonight on CBS Sports
Network for San Diego stick.
Speaker 5 (22:08):
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(22:47):
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Speaker 3 (23:06):
All right tonight, huge showdowns in the Mountain West.
Speaker 4 (23:09):
Kind of fitting that it is these matchups.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
You've got San Diego State and New Mexico coming up
in the second game of the doubleheader, Nevada as well
with Utahs State and again the winners move on to
the mount West Championship game tomorrow afternoon here in Las Vegas.
Great to reconnect with John Szadak, who is a long
time friend. I mean we're talking twenty plus years. We've
worked together as broadcasters and colleagues and friends now for
(23:33):
over two decades. And our Aztec fans will have the
fortune of watching the broadcast on CBS Sports Network. John
Szadak will be on the call tonight for both of
these doubleheader games, and he's with us right now in
San Diego Sports seven sixties. So, first of all, John,
it's great to see you this weekend here in Las Vegas.
And secondly, you can't ask for a better matchup than
this nightcap tonight, right San Diego State in New Mexico
(23:55):
with essentially everything on the line from an NCAA tournament
and Mount West perspective for both of these teams.
Speaker 5 (24:01):
You're exactly right, and it's great to be with you.
Thank you for having me going back to the Carolina
League days and now here talking about the bubble, right.
I mean, this is the ultimate bubble game. The truth is,
this is an elimination game. The winner is guaranteed nothing,
but the loser is done. I just don't see with
how crowded the field is and with how many big
(24:22):
thieves have emerged with so many one seeds going down
in the mid major landscape. You know, I actually think
something I'll bring up on the broadcast tonight. Ryan Dutcher
probably put it better than any coach that I've heard
frame it this way. The first time I've heard it
framed this way, and you're probably already familiar with it.
I'm sure he shared it with you that he said
it's the Power conferences and that everyone else is essentially
(24:44):
one group. You know, all the the majors are one
giant conference fighting for X number of spots, and one
of those spots won't be determined by tonight, but one
of the teams in the running for where it will
be eliminated by tonight. And I think it speaks to
the great two powers in the league, arguably the greatest
rivalry in the league. These are the two teams that
(25:05):
have combined for the most championships, and it's a fitting
likely end, you know, barring some kind of other unforeseen
circumstance and scheduling in the future, to a storied rivalry.
Speaker 4 (25:16):
Yeah, it's like you just can't write it better than this.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
I know you and I were not necessarily bracketologists, but again,
we cover college basketball. Would you envision the winner of
this game if they didn't win tomorrow to make the field.
Speaker 5 (25:33):
It's a great question. I mean, right now, are bracketologists
with CBS Sports have both among those first four out
in fact, in that second and third ranked spot out
of those four teams right now? I think you have
a very compelling case. And I think also one of
the other compelling cases. And each year to some extent
is a vacuum, right or that's part of the idea.
(25:54):
But I do think there is heften waight to some
carryover of the pedigree of a league and what is
it has meant in San Diego State's one of those
flagships with the Mountain West. You know, going to the
title game only a handfully years ago. You know, this
league has put four teams in the tournament for four
straight years. Two years ago a half dozen teams made
the tournament. So the concept of if it were Utah
(26:18):
State to advanced from the other semi final and if
Utah State were to fall, that that would be necessary
to make it a multi bid league. That does seem
kind of odd, right because I don't see that giant
drop off In fact of anything. Utah States record is
indicative of how competitive this league has gotten. You know,
they were the regular season champs with five losses, the
(26:40):
most losses ever by a Mountain West regular season champion.
That shows the depth that this league has right now.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
Yeah, it's great perspective. John Sadak will be on the
call tonight again. The mount West Semi Finals getting underway
six thirty San Diego State in New Mexico, a little
after nine from the Thomas and Max Center. I go
back to it wasn't long ago We're sitting at the
pit in New Mexico, that blaring building, an incredible game
that the Lobos were able to pull out. There was
a controversial call late in that game as well. They
(27:08):
went to replay, and there was a lot that went.
Speaker 4 (27:11):
Into that game. You know, hopped the San Diego hit
that big three on the wing as well.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
When you think about a game like this, I thought
that game at the pit, and really the season series
between these two teams has come down to rebounding. New
Mexico has an outstanding rebounder inside and THOMASLV bullion. San
Diego State at their best has been good on the glass.
But you know when they haven't been at their best,
they've been you know, out rebounded, and second chance points
is have piled up against them. Does this simply come
(27:38):
down to rebounding tonight for the Assets and the Lobos.
Speaker 5 (27:41):
I think that's one of the critical keys, right. It's
it's a critical critical part of it, the possessions that
you can create, because that can just erase a lot
of other types of mistakes or diminish many other advantages.
I think it's a crucial part of You know, is
just a beast. He is just so different. And I
(28:04):
think the analogy that I've heard other analysts and coaches
bring up I did not come up with the concepts
in any way, but that he probably fits the best.
He has a gravitational impact on play, the spacing, what
it allows for teams to do so eroding that I
think changes the dynamic of New Mexico's offense significantly. If
(28:26):
he still possesses it, then it liberates so much, and
I think that's where the jaggedness or lack thereof. Bluntly,
I don't think New Mexico wants to deal with an
up and down type game. They would prefer its more
half court so that his size and that offensive rebound
impact can be so significant. Where San Diego State, I'm sure.
(28:49):
I mean the win Miles byrd was the critical factor.
His tips, the amount of times he touches the ball
on defense, particularly on help and jumping passing lanes to
his offense. I mean his words after that game, when
he was asked about putting in a team high twenty one,
the first thing he brought up was his steels, his blocks,
and his tips, and he said at the time, I've
(29:10):
been trying to tell you know your local media, that
leeds right into my offense. My offense comes from that
defensive side, igniting it, And I think you're exactly right
because that's where rebounding is probably the central constant for
both sides. That if one team wins it, particularly in
convincing fashion, it's just going to domino into everything else
(29:30):
that that respective team does.
Speaker 4 (29:32):
Well.
Speaker 3 (29:32):
Yeah, that's well said and absolutely could be the difference
side for one of these teams between winning and losing.
Speaker 4 (29:37):
You know, it's not every day.
Speaker 3 (29:38):
What I find amazing about San Diego State New Mexico
this year John and John Sadek is with us. He'll
be on the cald Night on CBS Sports Network. What
I find amazing is San Diego does not produce a
ton of Division one men's basketball players. There have been
some great players out of San Diego County, but it's
not rich in talent like maybe San Diego County area
football would be, for example. But now you look at
(30:00):
New Mexico team where Eric Olin spent twenty years at UCSD,
took him from Division two to Division one. He then
brings Luke Copps with him, who played at a non
D one at Point Loma and is playing his final
college year for the Lobos. Jake Hall is a true
freshman out of Carlsbad High School playing for New Mexico
as well. It isn't this game just littered with San
Diego storylines, which is just entirely unique when it comes
(30:21):
to men's college basketball very much.
Speaker 5 (30:24):
So, you know, I was having that exact conversation with
my partner Dan Dickau when we were coming back from
the shoot rounds today and asked him his general impressions
of San Diego High school basketball, and he confirmed pretty
much what you're saying that that's his perspective of that
of national recruiters is that you can dismiss the time
some of the gaudy numbers that come out because it's
(30:46):
hard to judge it based upon level of competition. And
you know, Jake Hall was set to be bound to
UCSD with Eric, you know, before he wound up changing
jobs and then with that, you know that school allegiance
changed for Hall as well. But clearly he is demonstrated
against high level competition he is an elite shooter. I mean,
(31:07):
he is one of the best shooters in the country,
you know, one of the top scoring freshman period and
the three point shot is a critical part of what
New Mexico does. They deny the three point shot incredibly well.
They take a ton of threes and they shoot it
at a very good clip, not quite great, but they
have a great single shooter that shoulders that load significantly
(31:29):
and it's a giant part of the interconnectedness, particularly in
college basketball, that that style.
Speaker 4 (31:37):
Is a big deal.
Speaker 5 (31:38):
I mean, that's something that New Mexico shoot came up
as just a concept of playing against San Diego State.
The complementary basketball is so necessary and you have these
you know San Diegans that I'm sure San Diego State
has been a long time power. That there's some kind
of connectivity to that, right, it means something no matter
(32:02):
who you are, no matter where you're from anywhere in
the world, when you're in something that's related to competition,
and that competition now has on the other side, something
that's tied to home, something that's tied to your family,
your background, whether that's something you feel close to or
the opposite, no matter what. The sport is so fueled
by emotion. It's a huge part of the story in
(32:23):
this game.
Speaker 4 (32:24):
It really is.
Speaker 3 (32:24):
And by the way, they had another San Diego that
was supposed to be a huge part of their team.
It's just been out Chris Hallell, who played at Tory
Pines High School but has been out and played last
year for U See San Diego, John before you go,
I know you got a busy one with two games
coming up. Just give us the thirty thousand foot view
of Utah State and Nevada. What's playing out in the background.
You know, the Cincinnati job comes open. Jared Calhoun has
been a successful two year head coach at Utah State.
(32:47):
Ur in the midst of this incredible year. How do
you see this first semi final shaping out?
Speaker 5 (32:52):
You know, similar to what the second one is. The
home team took each game the first time and defense
ultimately won the day and to those games I was
a decided run for Nevada at the closed. Utah State
also missed some shots that it would normally make during
the Wolfpack win that happened in Reno and Utah State
forced turnovers from a Nevada team that doesn't give it
(33:13):
away fewest turnovers in the Mountain West. I think Cory
Camper Junior's ability to cut off ball the motion style
going back to the Bobby Knight Indiana days against the
tactile shuffling zone that has a lot of deception from
Utah State, you know, in similar fashion to San Diego State.
Utah State can hum offensively like nobody in the Mountain West,
but it starts at the defensive end. It's those live
(33:35):
ball turnovers that result in transition and run that are
a huge part of it. And I think the defensive
side and the jagged nature of it. I mean, we
saw foulfest yesterday throughout the day, particularly in the San
Diego State game and also in the Nevada game where
they said a single game Mountain West tournament record for
free throws made. So I think that other element could
(33:56):
have an even bigger impact in that game. How is
it whistled? It doesn't take many threes. They probably have
to be plus at the line to beat Utah State,
but that's part of what they do.
Speaker 4 (34:07):
John, love your perspective and the insight.
Speaker 3 (34:09):
Looking forward to seeing you tonight out here in Vegas
and for our listeners if you're watching on television, John
Satak on the call for this massive doubleheader in the
Mountain West late night here in Sin City. Appreciate it,
my friend, and I'll see you later on tonight at
the Thomas I Mac. You got it, Thank you, John,
all right, great stuff from John Sadak.
Speaker 4 (34:27):
All right.
Speaker 3 (34:27):
On the other side, we can react to that. Plus
Team USA returning to the field in the WBC later
on today. We will react to that and get you
ready for it. Kevin acwill joinas at four pm. We've
got ours.
Speaker 1 (34:38):
Bergallan bonus San Diego Sports seven sixty high heard radio
Staate guaranteed humans.
Speaker 3 (34:54):
All right back with you, San Diego Sports seven sixty
from Las Vegas, Nevada, where San Diego State will yet
New Mexico coming up tonight at nine. We'll have pregame
coverage for you right here on seven sixty beginning a
little after eight pm. I'll be on the call for
you a little after nine pm tonight San Diego State
and New Mexico. Oh, you just know everything on the
line stakes tonight in Sin City, so we'll have that
(35:15):
for you. A lot more reaction coming up. Kevin Ac
will join us at four pm. Roco Miller resident bracketologists
bracketeer dot Org.
Speaker 4 (35:22):
You can catch them on the field of sixty eight.
He will join us coming up at four thirty now.
Speaker 3 (35:27):
Also tonight high stakes between Team USA and Team Canada.
This is the WBC quarter final matchup a rematch of
the Olympic hockey gold medal match, although they won't be
playing hockey, they'll be playing baseball.
Speaker 4 (35:41):
You like that, Brent.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
And obviously we know how this all played out, which
is the US got lucky to even get here. They
lost to Italy and then it was out of their hands.
They got a break because of what Italy did to Mexico,
and now they move on. It's like you got your mulligan,
you've got in your second life. You have to capitalize
on this right now. It's as simple as that. This
(36:06):
will still be seen as woefully disappointing if the US
loses tonight to Canada. Shoot, I think it's woefully disappointing
if they don't win this tournament truthfully being played on
home soil. And me you just look at you know,
you got Logan Web in the mound, and you got
this lineup just loaded from the Bobby Wits to the
Aaron Judges to the Bryce Harper's and you know the
(36:26):
College Warbers.
Speaker 4 (36:27):
It goes on and on and on.
Speaker 3 (36:28):
And the US looked really good for a couple of
days and then they ran into someone that was their
equal on that day. I mean, they sat guys for
whatever reason. We talked about that obviously obsessively. And now
it's again the US and Canada and again when you
think about it's interesting because I never really thought about
baseball from an international perspective until the WBC launched, like
(36:51):
twenty years ago, and I didn't really overly think that,
you know, I never questioned growing up, like is this,
you know, does America have the you know, the best
baseball in the world?
Speaker 4 (37:01):
Right That wasn't necessarily discussed. If you're in your forties,
you weren't really.
Speaker 3 (37:04):
Thinking about that in the eighties and the nineties, would
be my guest, like, do Americans play the best form
of baseball?
Speaker 4 (37:09):
Now?
Speaker 3 (37:10):
Of course the world has called up, which I think
is a good thing overall for the sport. I think
the popularity of the sport, the globalization of the sport
is a very good thing. I mean, look no further
than the NBA. The NBA, it's growth and stream team,
the way it's played everywhere, specifically in Europe. Some of
the biggest stars in the NBA right now and in
the last twenty five years have been European or non
(37:30):
American players. Canadian born players like a Jay Gilles Alexander
for example, or you know Victor Weebinyama out of France.
The list goes on and on and on, obviously, and
that's been great for basketball and in turn the NBA.
I think the same could be said for Major League Baseball.
The growth of the game worldwide has been beneficial for
a the sport of baseball and b major League baseball.
(37:52):
But I just don't really see it from like a
nationalistic perspective. I don't look at baseball as the type
of sport where I'm like, I want to dominate the
world by claiming that the US has the best national
baseball team. You know, I don't really see it as
an Olympic sport like I see basketball, because again, basketball
has used professional athletes since the nineteen nineties, or hockey,
for example, that oftentimes has used professional athletes. When I
(38:15):
think about baseball and Olympic Baseball, they are amateurs by
and large historically that have played in Olympic Baseball. So
the WBC has kind of provided a new perspective on it.
Will I think two things can be true. Will I
critique and blame the US and call it a significant
disappointment if they don't win this game today or a
semi final or even a final. Yeah, probably, But also
(38:38):
will I lose a lot of sleep over it and
pretend like you know the balance of power has shifted
worldwide with the sport of baseball. No, I'm not going
to do that at all. And I don't think the
WBC personally, for me, holds a candle to watching Major
League baseball games and specifically just watching Padres games day
in and day out.
Speaker 4 (38:56):
So listen, I mean, I'm curious.
Speaker 3 (38:59):
You know, you'd like to think that the US, with
their rotation and with Logan web and with this lineup,
you know, can win going away. But it is a
baseball game, and anything can happen obviously in a winner
go home baseball game, just like in a college basketball
game tonight between San Diego State and New Mexico. And yeah,
they've got a second lease on life, Brent, and we'll
see if they can capitalize on it tonight in the
quarterfinal round.
Speaker 2 (39:20):
Yeah, DeRosa particularly has a second lease on life, because yeah,
they need a big win, and they showed in the
Italy game that there is no they can't just show
up and win by ten runs, because I think that's
what they thought was gonna happen in the Italy game,
(39:41):
that they were just gonna walk in there and they're
just gonna be so much better that you know, they
could just throw anybody out there and we're still gonna
win by seven or eight runs. And they found out
that's not the case. So hopefully they can at least
make the finals. I don't think they have to win
(40:01):
it necessarily to make up for it, but yeah, if
they get bounced like right away, then yeah, it's it's
gonna be disappointing. I think that is a good point about,
like you're right, like, if you make a finals and
you lose in a winn or go home like championship
type game in baseball, where we understand, like there's so
many variables in play, it's hard to be like, what
(40:24):
a massive disappointment you were one of the final two
left standing when they were like twenty something teams at
the start of this in the event. But again, I
look at it like this, it's on home soil, and
you know you've been in a position historically where you
haven't always capitalized on these opportunities. How many times has
the US even won this once. We did that exercise previously.
Speaker 3 (40:46):
I want to say, yeah, so all times Japan has three,
the US won it in twenty seventeen, and the Dominican
won it in twenty thirteen. Those are your five champions.
Three Japanese teams two thousand and six, two and nine,
twenty twenty three, Dominican team in twenty thirteen, an American
team in twenty seventeen, and then the event was.
Speaker 4 (41:04):
Not played during COVID.
Speaker 3 (41:06):
So there's only the sixth tournament ever in the history
of this event in the WBC.
Speaker 4 (41:11):
So it'st growing and emerging.
Speaker 3 (41:13):
You probably need like another twenty five years of data
before you can, I mean, and this will probably still
change a lot the way they constitute this tournament moving
forward as well.
Speaker 4 (41:21):
It's definitely grown.
Speaker 3 (41:22):
Like, make no mistake, I mean, I think it's got
the attention of sports fans, specifically baseball fans. I think
it is a decent time of year because again, who's
paying attention to the Cactus League or the Great Fruit
League in the middle of March. Like you pay attention
for a couple days when games start, and then you
turn your attention back a couple of days before opening day,
so you know, it's probably the right time to do it,
(41:43):
and I think ultimately you have a chance to have
some really phenomenal baseball played, like I'd love to see,
and I don't know what the bracket feeds into, but
I'd love to see along the way Dominican against the US,
or I'd love to see Japan against the Dominican or
Japan against the US, right Like, I think those.
Speaker 4 (41:59):
Are intriguing right now.
Speaker 3 (42:01):
By the way, in Vegas, I think the shortest odds
still belong to the US at plus one forty. The
Dominican is plus two thirty, Japan is plus four fifty,
and Venezuela is plus nine hundred. Those are the four
nations that have the shortest odds to win the WBC
in twenty twenty six. But again, the team that is
favored to win it is the US that is the
(42:22):
team that is favored. And again they're coming off that
loss to Italy. We know about the Turik Skooble saga,
but they do have Logan Web and they've got Paul Skins,
and they've got a path obviously beginning tonight against Canada
in the quarterfinal round. All right, tons to get to
We're here until six pm. Kevin Acy is gonna join us,
coming up at four pm. The latest on a possible
(42:42):
sale of the Padres. He has some recent reporting on
that from earlier today. When can we expect the sale
of the Padres to be finalized? Plus a health update
on Joe Musgrove. In addition, Roco Miller are resident bracketologists
with selection Sunday just forty eight hours away. I think
it's literally forty eight hours way. Rocomiller bracketeer dot org.
He will join us life coming up at four thirty.
(43:03):
His thoughts on the importance of tonight for both San
Diego State and New Mexico. And we're also giving away
a four pack of tickets to the San Diego zeos
Offari Park and we'll do that coming up here this
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