Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Fox Sports Radio.
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This is up on game Cock.
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Bye Hush, Mazada for the touchdowns.
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Leo with LeVar airing Test, TJ, Hush, Benzada and Blaxicico
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I love the way you break the game down. Lady, Man,
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Around her man three of the best to ever do
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Speaker 4 (00:44):
Hey, Hey, hey, hey, what's up everybody? Happy Saturday to everybody,
Happy to beat back? Man, I took the week off.
I'll tell you what. I feel rejuvenated. I feel energized.
I feel fine. Like my man, Coach Crime says, if
you feel good, you dress good, they pay good. And yep,
we're gonna pay y'all today. We got a lot to
get to. Are you excited? Madness? Man, The madness has
(01:10):
come upon us. As you heard in the intro, TJ
and plexco r off.
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That's all right. You can shoot them a message.
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Up on game and up on Game Presents to get
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buying should be. As I mentioned, we got a lot
to get to and it's full of madness. That's March madness.
(01:59):
It's winding down. One two teams have punched their tickets
into the championship round. Two more will do it today
and while TJ and plex are off, in order for
us to really really get into what took place in
the games last night, let's bring in my man cuffs.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
The legend we're gonna do this with cuffs today. Let's
do it Now it's time to.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Check in with Cuffs. The legend from some Dude Show
podcast on up on Game Presents, Cuffs is giving you
a spicy takes on what's going down. Take the heat
like Lebron and now here's Cuffs. The legend, it's go town.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Legend.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
Legend.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
That's right.
Speaker 4 (02:50):
When you hear that music and you hear that imagery,
that imaging. The next voice you're gonna hear after mine
is that one of Cuffs. The legend of this some
dude show. Cuffs appreciate you coming in. Got to bring
my expert on for us to be able to discuss
what we're watching and what we're witnessing. How you feeling,
first and foremost.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Man, I'm feeling great the ball. My adrenaline is still
pumping from last night's performance from Caitlin Clark. Man, I
was watching that game. I was in my living room,
jumping up and down my face. I was two inches
from the TV screen, Like it was amazing, Like it
was amazing. I haven't seen a player like galvanized her
(03:34):
whole team like this, Like she's coming from Iowa doing
this and it's absolutely amazing, Like I can't wait until
the national championship game South Carolina. Dawn Staley, you know
she's she's starting to like really put South Carolina on
the map. Now, I can't wait till the championship game.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
Man, Now we're gonna talk about in detail the matchup
of the time Iowa versus USC, the USC in Carolina,
not the USC in California.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
But before we.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
Get to that, let's talk about this Iowa game versus
Yukon Cuffs.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Now.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
I watched the same game you watched. I felt like
a Yukon team that has not looked. They did not
look like and people would admit this, It did not
look like a historical dominant Yukon team. It looked like
a well coached team that was an overachieving team. But
going into this game, I gotta say, I think they
(04:35):
had the winning game plan going against Iowa in this game,
which was, to me, pressure, pressure Caitlin Clark, make sure
that that it's someone else, and it was someone else
that that was able to have great success against Yukon,
but nonetheless pressure her, make her work for everything that
(04:57):
she does.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
God did you hear me? Did we lose them?
Speaker 4 (05:03):
Okay? So to me, I think that by the time
when we get to the fourth quarter. One, they forced
Caitlyn off to a very slow start. She couldn't make
any threes, too much pressure, not a whole lot of room.
But then you get to the fourth quarter and my
observations of Caitlyn Clark was she was too tired to
run around. She was too tired to move around, and
(05:25):
then some of the biggest moments of the game, she
didn't have enough energy to pop open and pop free
and it seemed as though she was giving the ball
up in order to give it to somebody who may
have had a little bit more in them to try
to get them through this game. But Yukon had the right,
right idea. And then we'll get to the bad call
(05:45):
or was it a bad call in a second, But
what was your take? Like? I feel like that was
what Yukon came out to do and actually could have
possibly clipped the wings of the Hawkeyes if that fiul
doesn't get called in the end.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Yeah, gino Oriema, he had a masterful game plan last night.
As you saw, they were face guarding her for ninety
four feet and that was that was really his game
plan was to tire her out, to take her into
that deep water in the fourth quarter, they were denying her,
but Iowa's head coach, she did a great job in
the second half. She made some real good adjuspers to
(06:22):
have time because they were face guarding her. So if
you noticed in that second half she was Kaitlyn was
playing off the ball a lot more and it was
allowing her to free up. You get free and pop
out and she got some shots off. It was It
was a legendary performance. Though, like like I said, I
cannot wait to see this, to see this matchup with
(06:43):
South Carolina, because South Carolina is they have pretty much
essentially two starting five. You know, they have like they
have a they're starting five, which we know Cordova she's
a bat, she's six seven. They have size. So when
it's gonna be a chess game, because last night we
saw on two contrasting styles, you know, like Yukon is
(07:03):
missing five of their top rotational players. So that's why
they kind of look like they don't look like the
old Yukon of bold because they are missing some of
their rotation pieces. So it's actually amazing that Gino even
got them to this point, Like to get them to
this point is one of his best coaching jobs in
my in my opinion, because he's always had a stacked team.
So for him to get this far his twenty third
(07:27):
final four appearance, like he don't even sound real to
say that out crazy twenty three final fours and not
only winning you know, like eleven national championships, He's went
undefeated in six of those national championships. So hats off
to Gino. I call him go Oriema because he is
the quinn essential college basketball coach. Like what kid wouldn't
(07:48):
want to send their daughter to Yukon to play. But
Kaitlyn Clark, Like, the thing that oppresses me the most
about her is not just her scoring prowess, like she
really she has like a Steve Nash Jason Kidd type
court vision as you saw last night Hannah Stucky yep
number forty five the center for Iowa. She made herself
(08:12):
a lot of money last night. And and it's really
due to Caitlyn Clark's court vision because she was finding
her teammates. And that's what I love about Caitlyn is
she trusts her teammates. We've seen a lot of we've
seen the jimmer for debts before that, you know, with
BYU back in the day where they you know, scored
the average thirty plus in college, but we never really
(08:33):
saw them get their teammates involved. But last night we
saw on the biggest stage, in the biggest moments, like
Caitlyn was doing it all. Like she had the points assist.
I think she ended with twenty one points. She had
not rebounds, she had nine rebounds that she gets a
lot of rebounds, a lot of rebounds. She does a
lot of little things like and like I said, with
(08:55):
their coach for Iowa, if you notice in the second
half they used Kitland as a her to free her up,
kind of like how Golden staked up with Steph Curry
where he's a screener. You know he does a lot
of slip screens that he popped open. But man, it
was a great performance by her overall. But we got
to give some love to Hannah Stocky, Gabby Marshall. You know,
she was good on that. Like, yeah, Kate Martin has.
Speaker 4 (09:18):
Been got hitting the nose, got thumped in the face,
came on back out, kept on going.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
Yeah. I was telling my family last night when we
was watching the game with my daughters and my family,
I was like, Yeah, like these other girls, they are
in the spotlight as well, and they're going to have
some legendary stories because everybody's not going to go to
the w NBA, like Kaitlyn from Iowa, but like these
girls on her team, man, they are going to have
so many campfire stories when they're older that they played
(09:47):
who I considered one of the top two college women's
players ever.
Speaker 4 (09:53):
Now I'll say this, there were a lot of guys
Lebron Larry Fitzgerald. People were chiming in on on the foul,
the moving pick, and that effectively kind of ended the game.
There was one more opportunity. People may blow over this
and breeze over that that Yukon actually had the opportunity
(10:15):
to get a rebound when they fouled Caitlin.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
She gave them a chance. She may want, she missed one.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
They did not get the end, They did not get
the rebound, and they had a time out left. So
they actually did have another opportunity at it had they
gotten the rebound. But with that being said, you have
ten I believe it was ten seconds left on the clock.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
You get a time out, you come out of the timeout.
Speaker 4 (10:40):
It's a it's a scripted play obviously, to make that
call now and and real in real time, it did not.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Look like a bad call.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
Like she did move, she did lean in, and by
the rule of of that foul, she did break the rule.
But and that moment cuffs. You can't make that call.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
You can't. You can't.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
It's not it was not egregious enough where you make
that call, especially in a game where there were a
lot of things that were let go, a lot of
plays or calls that could.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Have been made that weren't made.
Speaker 4 (11:18):
And knowing that this Iowa team has so much on them,
so much being stated about them, you can't make a
call that could diminish what this team has represented in
terms of what they're run is right now.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
Yeah, it was a bummer for US basketball fans because,
like I said, I was standing up in front of
the TV.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
I was hyped.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
But to make that call, You're right, a lot of
people have issues with the call, but it really was
an illegal screen she did, the electric slide she did.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
It was a call.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
Yeah, It's like, I know, it's tough being a rep.
A lot of reps get a lot of flats sometimes,
But like that, in that and that magnet in that moment,
like I did want to see like maybe a buzzer beating.
We was all standing up. We want to see the theatrics.
We want to see the cinema. We want to see
Page Beckers take that last shot. We want to see
(12:12):
it make or missed. We still want to see great players,
you know, in that moment, can they make the big shot?
It was nerve wracking. To be honest, I was stressed
out because I never saw myself rooting for Iowa basketball.
That's the funny part of this, Like that's why I
say Caitlin is the goat. Because Yukon has Perennial All
(12:33):
Americans every year. Tennessee back in the day Kennis Parker
Perennial All Americans. We've seen it now with South Carolina
Perennial All Americans every year. This girl took the Iowa
Hawkives to back to back final fours. But that was
a very questionable call that I know that referee did
not sleep wells last night. He couldn't have said well,
because you saw the Twitter verse last night. Everybody had
(12:57):
they had real strong opinions about that all. But I
will say it wasn't a legal screen it was so
she the fact that she stuck her foot out and
the elbow. Yes, yes, Gabby Marshall, she sold it. You
gotta admit she sold it.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
She sold it.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
But I did want to see the theatrics. I did
want to see the drama at the end. It wasn't
let down not to see that final shot go up,
because I know Paige Beckers.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
She can shoot.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
She can shoot it.
Speaker 4 (13:25):
If there was one person who was going to make
the shot, which they were in position to cover at cuffs,
they were in position to cover. The defense was in position.
But this is the final four. This is March madness.
You can't call that foul, whether it's right or not.
You can't call that foul, but you called it.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
It reminds me LeVar, It reminds me of the Miami Hurricanes,
Ohio State. I think it was the rog Bowl that
passed interference calls and stuff like that, where it's like,
we would just want to see the players.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
That you want to see. The players decided, you want
to see the players.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
You want to see the players decided because they did fight.
Both teams were fighting and scrapping. Iowa was down in
the first half and it was looking pretty It was
looking pretty grim in the first half, to be honest,
like Yukon had it rolling Aliyah Edwards. She was the
one that committed that illegal screen. But Leah Edwards was
a beast last night as well. She's gonna be a
top five pick in the WNBA draft coming up, you know,
(14:17):
a couple of days. But if you look at if
you go back and look at that replay Geno Orima,
it's called like a crackback play, similar football, but that
she was really designed for her for her to get that.
It was more like a pick and roll where she
was gonna throw that pocket pass right there if you watch,
because Hannah Stukey was was kind of stagging in the paint.
So Aaliyah Edwards would have got that pocket pass right there,
(14:40):
right at the free throw line where she could take
that mid range that she's really good at, or she
could have got to the rim. But I think she
should have slipped that screen, that ball screen. If she
would have slipped that screen, we would have never had
that file call. You know, she would have slipped that screen.
She would have been wide open. But like they say,
man were crying over spilled milk.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Now Bill Milt.
Speaker 4 (15:02):
Ain't no reason to cry about it. But they got
a juggernaut that they're gonna have to deal with. That's
cuffs the legend. I'm LeVar Arrington. This is up on game.
Can Iowa win? Let's have that conversation and it is
the final four? Yeah, the men are playing today. Go
figure North Carolina State. What a year they're having in basketball.
(15:22):
We're going to talk about that, all that and more
on up on game. Will take a quick break and
then we will be right back.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
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Hey it's me Rob Parker.
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(16:08):
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Speaker 4 (16:12):
All right, Welcome back, into up on game. We're live
from the tyrack dot com studios. I'm LeVar Arrington. I
got my man cuffs the legend with me. We're talking
NCAA basketball. We'll get to the men's previews of the
final four that will take place later on today as well.
You know one thing before we start talking about this
(16:33):
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Speaker 1 (17:02):
All right now, I gotta.
Speaker 4 (17:04):
Say, uh, cuffs this this this game that's coming up
with with the women in the championship round. This is
a rematch, but not a rematch of the championship game
where we saw Angel Reese put the ring me up
in shorty Girl's face and all that stuff. No, it
took Caitlyn Clark and Iowa coming back and outlasting the
(17:28):
game Cocks last year to get this victory. Now this
year they're undefeated. Don Staley has done a masterful job.
The game Cocks are undefeated and come into this game
with as you mentioned, their bigs are crazy.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
The length that that this team has.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
Everyone has has has raved about how how well they
use their length and and how deep they are on
their bench. Seemingly a juggernaut that can't be derailed. This
Iowa team beats an undermanned team kind of undersized really.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
And Yukon to get in.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
But last year, one of my takeaways, one of the
large takeaways I think a lot of people took away
from last year is that the game plan against South
Carolina was amazing in the sense that they dared them
to beat them from the perimeter and really really tried
to take that length that they.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Had last year as well.
Speaker 4 (18:30):
They had the size advantage last year as well, and
they took it away by by stacking the paint, by
not giving them too much space on the inside, and said, listen,
if you're gonna win this game, then you're gonna have
to win it on the outside. Now, with that being said,
I do think that this year's team for for Don
Staley's Game Cocks actually can get it.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
They showed it in yesterday's game.
Speaker 4 (18:53):
They can hit from the outside as well as from
the inside.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
What's your take on.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
On this game and can this Can this game be
won by Iowa?
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Do they have enough left in the tank?
Speaker 4 (19:05):
Do they have enough to be able to beat this
this South Carolina Game Cocks team.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
I will say South Carolina should be an overwhelming favorite
because of their their depth. They have so much they're
They're a very deep team. Like I said, they have
essentially two starting fives like fool Whilely the backup point guard,
she's one of the top, you know, high school players
coming in. She comes off the bench and she's amazing.
(19:33):
Like you said, Cordoza is six seven. They run a
lot of high low action with they're bigs, which is
pretty unstoppable as you saw last night against NT State.
But I'll say the difference in this game this year
with Iowa and South Carolina is there's Noah Leah Boston.
There's South Carolina is great. They have depth, but they
don't have a superstar this year. It's a team, it's
(19:55):
a team effort, it's a collective effort. So I think
it's going to be very, very tough. It's gonna be
an uphill battle for Caitlyn because last night, like you said,
Yu Khan was able to play the box and one
on her faith guard her, and they were pretty much
what like six deep, seven deep they had They didn't
really have much depth. So I think, you know, it's
gonna be a tough game because she's gonna be She's tired.
(20:16):
These are human beings. This is not a video game.
I try to explain that all the time. The basketball
players like, she's tired.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
Bro, she was tired in that first quarter.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
Yeah, those legs are heavy. She was you know, her
lungs are on fire. So she's gonna get her recovery in.
But she's playing pretty much the whole game. Caitlyn is
out there pretty much playing thirty eight to forty minutes.
She barely gets a chance to come out of the game.
So Don Staley, she was a point guard. You know,
she understands that position, so she knows how to guard
(20:45):
that position just as much as playing that position. So
I know Don is going to come with a similar
game plan as Gino Oriemma did with the face guarding,
and South Carolina had even better athletes and better athleticism
than even you Kon had last week. So Kitlin's gonna
have to have one of those, as I call it,
like a team wolf performance. She's going to She's gonna
(21:07):
have to go to full team wolf mode tomorrow because
she didn't really shoot it well last night. She was
like three out of three, four eleven from three. She's
gonna have to get back to like she did against
an elite eight round against LSU, where she was nine
for twenty from three. She's gonna have to bump that
up to at least forty percent from deep because they're
not going to allow her to get downhill. I see
(21:28):
them face guarding her was pretty much as a Boston one.
You got what Yukon did last night. They played gap
help defense, so the one girl was guarding her full court,
but everybody else is just sitting back, pretty much like
in the cover two in football. They're just sitting back.
They're playing gap defense. And it's a great game plan.
So John Steady should come out there tomorrow with that
(21:50):
same game plan. But man, it's gonna come down to
the others, Like shocking, those guys always say the others
are gonna win you a championship. So it's gonna come
down to moret and once again Gabby Marshall, Hannah Stophie.
They're gonna have to win. At least two of those
players are gonna have to have at least double figures
for Iowa to even have a chance tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
I feel like I don't.
Speaker 4 (22:11):
Think they have a real chance, and it led me
to the thought process of what does this mean for
Caitlin Clark's legacy in terms of being a great ever
like calling her the goat and not having a championship?
Speaker 1 (22:24):
Is it? Is it feasible?
Speaker 4 (22:26):
And that's that's my biggest kind of what I'm wrestling
with if they don't win, because it is truly a
team game. When I look at her greatness, her greatness
should not be diminished by the fact that she wasn't
able to get a championship within a team sport because
at the end of the day, it took them as
a team. As we mentioned in the last segment, it
(22:49):
took the team to be able to win that game yesterday.
I just don't know that she has enough. There's just
not enough in the tank, Like there's not enough of
a rest period for this turnaround time going into this game.
I don't think we're going to get the best Caitlyn
Clark that we would expect in the biggest game of
probably her career against this team.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
And with it being.
Speaker 4 (23:10):
Said, cuffs don Staley has has been able to use
her bench masterfully and by using it that way, they're
going to be a lot more fresh, fresher than what
I and and put this on all of Iowa there
there's because Kate Kate played like thirty nine thirty eight
minutes as well. They there were their best players have
(23:33):
had to put in a ton of minutes. I just
if i'm if I'm don Staley. I know I'm sitting
there looking back and I'm looking at my chops and
I'm saying, we're going We're going to work them to death.
So I feel like if Iowa is going to have
a chance and the opportunity to get this game, they're
going to have to get out to a really really
fast start and try to build up a really really
(23:54):
big lead and try to try to try to ride
it out, Like see if you can ride it out
because I think if it's a close game, just like
what happened yesterday, if it's a close game, they gonna
reel them in and they gonna chew them up, and
they're gonna spin them out, and it's gonna be another
championship for USC.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
That's how I see it. That's how I look at it.
Speaker 4 (24:15):
I don't know, we'll see how it all plays out,
but we're gonna talk Men's Final Four on the other
side of his break. But you know, we always got
to take a break to talk about the Juggernaut or
let it better yet, let the Juggernaut talk about what's
going on in sports. Let's get an update from our guy,
Isaac Low and Crown. What you got my guy?
Speaker 7 (24:31):
All right, LeVar, We got big news in Major League
Baseball today, the Cleveland Guardians announcing that their ace pitcher
Shane Bieber needs season ending Tommy John surgery. The Guardian
said that Bieber experienced a recurrence of right elbow pain
after his first two starts of the season, and that
imaging and evaluation then revealed a re injury to his
(24:52):
ulner collateral ligament. What's crazy, he was pitching through that
pain and discomfort. He won both of those starts. He
did not allow a run in twelve innings that he
struck out twenty. Now he needs season ending Tommy John surgery.
The Basketball Hall of Fame class of twenty twenty four
has officially been announced. It includes Vince Carter, Chauncey Phillips,
(25:13):
Michael Cooper, Doug Collins, Walter Davis.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
And Bo Ryan.
Speaker 7 (25:18):
On Friday night, at the women's Final four, Iowa held
off Yukon seventy one to sixty nine Caitlin Clark twenty
one points, nine rebounds, and seven assists. Iowa will face
South Carolina for the national championship tomorrow after they defeated
NC State seventy eight to fifty nine to improve to
thirty seven and oh men's final four tips off at
six h nine Eastern with Purdue and NC State, followed
(25:42):
at eight forty nine Eastern by the Yukon men's team
taking on Alabama.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
LeVar all yours appreciated.
Speaker 4 (25:49):
I lows great update, and you know what, man, that
Tommy John surgery stuff.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
I don't know about it.
Speaker 4 (25:56):
This sounds painful and sounds like it's hard to come
back from, but I guess it's easier to so good
luck to him on that surgery.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
We got cuffs to legend. This is up on game.
Speaker 4 (26:07):
Let's talk final four for men's basketball.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
Cuffs.
Speaker 4 (26:11):
Going into the games today, you got you got an
interesting matchup of bigs. One is bigger than the other big,
but the other big is kind of athletic and kind
of like big Baby you know when he was at
LSU type of deal. The NC State wolf Pack, they
have had an amazing run, both men and women's but
(26:33):
they now run into a Purdue boiler Maker team that
is pretty hot. They're shooting very well, and Edie is
dominating both defensively, he's making it very difficult and offensively
he's proving very tough to defend. How do you see
this one playing out as a preview of today's games.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
Well, well, I'm rooty for NC State because I'm right
here in the Triangle area. I'm right here in the
RDU area. Aunty State is like literally twenty minutes from
where I'm at right now. It is a frenzy right
now in this area. You got Dreamville going on this weekend,
So North Carolina sports everything is going crazy in the state.
But I the reason why I want to see Anti
(27:15):
State pull this upset off and continue this magic harpie ride.
Is because the eighty three team, right, remember about the
teams Charles, you know, Derrick Wittenberg, Thorough Bailey, all those
guys right that eighty three championship team Leavar those guys
are tired of doing the reunion tour. It because in
North Carolina. In North Carolina, so it's a running joke
(27:37):
where every not just one time of year, they honored
that team and they deserve their flowers. But I know
those those guys are tired of doing the ceremony every
year at Anti State basketball games because they're still living
in the past. That's my point. Anty State Basketball. Anybody
who knows the acc knows what I'm saying right now.
Anc State basketball has always been like the black sheep
(28:00):
for the family because the Duke UNC they've been perennial
powerhouses throughout the nineties to two thousands coach k Roy Williams,
Dean Smith. So they've been hanging on to the glory.
They've been hanging on to that eighty three team and
this team right here, they really do have the same
spirit of that eighty three team being eleven seeds. You
(28:21):
know this team right here, man. Just three weeks ago,
going into the ACC Tournament, they were calling for Kevin
Keach's job, like the fan base was. The UNC State
fans were saying, look, we need a new change the scenery,
we need a new coach, we need to change this
up right. They were really they really had Kevin Keeths
(28:41):
was really on that hot seat. And for him to
go into that a SEC tournament win five games in
five days, which we've never seen anybody do that, Like
it's can you imagine, Like I've seen kids play a
you games, two or three games in one day, but
to play five games at a high level like that.
You beat UNC, you beat Duke Virginia, if you run
the whole gauntlet to get to the NC DOUBLEA tournament,
(29:04):
and then you get disrespected by the committee. The ACC
tournament champion was an eleven seeds. So NC State has
felt disrespected, Kevin Keats has felt disrespected. And what I
love about this team is they have really rallied around
Kevin Keath Like DJ Burns. These are like local kids
from North Carolina and South Carolina, DJ Horns, the Raleigh kids,
(29:26):
like these kids really really loved their coach, so I
would love to see that for the state of North Carolina,
for NC State's universities, like we've seen the women's team
make the Final four as well. It's a great time
to be a wolf Pack fan. And I think the
game plan tonight with Zach edy is kind of similar
to how they played Caitlin Clark last night with Yukon.
(29:46):
But you want to let the others beat you, like
you want to let the other role players on Purdue
beat you, like Brydon Smith those other guys. Because we've
seen Purdue they do have some kinks in their armor.
They lost a couple of games in the Big Ten.
And I will say this anti State team, they're momentum
right now. They really believe, like they really believe they
can do this. So that matchup right there with DJ Burns,
(30:08):
he's giving up like seven inches, like he said, no Diddy,
he's giving up seven Zach Dy, He's giving up seven
inches in the paint. But he's gonna make Zach Edie
work unlike any matchup. His faith in the Big Ten
and in this tournament so far, because he looks like
I call him baby Zack, Baby Zach Randolph.
Speaker 4 (30:27):
Okay, okay, he kind of looked like Zach Randolph too
a little bit. Yeah, you think he's as good as
Zach Randolph, bro.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
He's not as Zach.
Speaker 3 (30:39):
Zach was also six eleven, sixteen, you.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
Know, yes he was, yes, yes, oh yeah, but they
both they.
Speaker 3 (30:45):
Both Neither one of those guys can jump over a
phone book. So it's like they played below the rim.
It's amazing to see a guy that's six nine that's
playing belowder rhythm and we gonna he's gonna he's gonna
put that footwork on Zach ad He You're gonna see
a lot of He ain't.
Speaker 4 (31:02):
The most flea of foot type of dude. Man, if
he could get the position, he's good.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
But he ain't. He ain't the most flea of foot now.
Speaker 3 (31:10):
And I think they're gonna put him in a lot
of ball screen actions today. You're gonna see a lot
of pick and roll. They're gonna try to bring him
out of the paint and really force him to move
those puppies. But he gonna have to really defend the
day because NC State's guards. That's gonna be the key
to the game. I think NC State's guards. DJ Horn
you know Morsel O'Connell. Those guys have been tremendous this
(31:31):
whole ACC tournament run and this NC double at tournament run.
NC State is not getting enough creditor guard play has
been phenomenal. And Mohammed Diarra, he's averaging double figure rebounds.
He's a long, wiry, you know, six ten six eleven reboundery.
He can give you a double double as well. Uh
middle Brooks has played well for NC State, the big
man transferred from Clinton. So I'm looking forward to this
(31:53):
matchup being in North Carolinian. Like I said, my grandfather
was a State fan, Tommy Burrelton, David Thompson back in
those days. My mother was a big anti State fan,
So I'm partial to anti State. I think they can
pull it off, but I will say Yukon and Alabama,
that's gonna be a molly wapping out.
Speaker 4 (32:10):
Well, we're gonna, we're gonna, we're gonna preview that one
on the other side of this break, and and and
I like that you did that because we're gonna get
your prediction for this this game with what your your
Southern your your n C staters, and and obviously and
in that game would Purdue. We're gonna get that prediction,
and we're gonna get what you're thinking of the Yukon
(32:32):
Alabama game because I think it's an uphill battle for Alabama.
Speaker 1 (32:36):
Yukon is looking strong, but we're gonna get that.
Speaker 4 (32:39):
We're gonna get your take on that, and we're gonna
get to the end of well, I hate to say it,
the hour with Cuffs the Legend, but he has crushed
it for an entire hour. Stay tuned, Uh, We're gonna
take a quick break Yukon Alabama expert pick on the
other side of the break. This is up on Game
Fox Sports Radio. Welcome back in. It's up on Game YEP.
(32:59):
We live from the Time dot Com Studios. Slavar Arrington.
I'm here at Longside, my guy, Cuffs the Legend. What
a crazy hour he's given us. All right, shortly after
the show, if you want to hear everything that he
had to say. If you missed anything, make sure you
check out the podcast. It'll be going up. If you
miss any of today's show, just be sure to check
out what we did on the podcast. Just search up
(33:19):
on game wherever it is you get your podcast from,
and be sure to follow rate review the podcast again.
That search up on game wherever it is. You get
your podcasts, and you'll see this show. Post it right
after we get off the air, before we let you
get up out of here, cuffs. We got seven minutes, Playboy,
seven minutes, and I want to hear all about what
(33:40):
you're thinking Alabama can do to beat the unstoppable looking
Yukon Huskies. Hurley has done an amazing job with these dudes.
They look to be the clear favorites in winning it all.
But what can Alabama do to spoil it and make
March more matter than what it already has been?
Speaker 1 (34:00):
Man?
Speaker 3 (34:00):
I love Alabama's run so far. Mark Steers, he looks
like a baby Jalen Brunton. Right now, all American lefty
point guarf Obama. But I don't. I don't think Alabama
has a chance unless they call the trails free well
Robert or James Hollywood Robinson, So they go back and
get some of the Obama players. They might have a
chance against this Yukon juggernaut. But I don't see it
(34:21):
happening because Dan Hurley's looking like the best coach in
college basketball right now.
Speaker 1 (34:27):
Today.
Speaker 3 (34:27):
He had these guys running like a tight ship. It's
all disciplined over there. If you watch Yukon stets right now,
it's precision on offense. Man, the screening, the back cut,
everything is just looking perfect for Yukon. Donovan Klingman, he's
dominating inside seven footer. You got Tristan Newton, Stefan Castle,
you got cam spencer like these they're loaded. Man. So
(34:49):
I see Yukon. I see them cutting down the net overall.
But they're definitely gonna win this game. I think the
point spread is like eleven and a half. They should
cover that easily. Alabama, they just don't have the size
like Grant Nelson to transfer from North Dakota State. I
love his game. I've been speaking highly of him even
when he was at North Dakota State. He's just a
little too small inside, and I don't think Alabama has
(35:11):
that in that positional size on the interior to hang
with Yukon. Because Yukon is kind of similar to South Carolina,
like they come at you in waves. You know, they
have eight nine deep. Man, they got guys they could
play eight nine ten deep sometimes. So it should be
you know, I don't want to say a blowout, but
they should cover the spread pretty comfortably, and they should
(35:32):
be in a championship game on Monday night. And I
think my heart is saying go with Anti State. My
mind is saying go with Zach Gedy and Matt Painter
at Purdue the boiler Makers. No, But I just want
to go out on the limb. I want to say
the ANC State wolf Pack. They didn't come this far
for nothing. In the ball but it didn't come this
far for nothing. The eleven.
Speaker 1 (35:52):
You get caught up in the being a fan. Bro.
Speaker 4 (35:54):
You sound like you're talking about the Lakers right now,
Matt got Where's.
Speaker 3 (35:58):
When you need now? But I just want to see that.
I just want to see DJ Burns and Anti State
get at least to that championship game. I just want
to see that that nineteen eighty three nostalgia where we
could see ANC State get back and maybe they could
possibly pull off one of the greatest upsets, because if
they were to beat Yukon, if anybody beat Yukon in
(36:21):
his final four, I would consider that a huge surprise.
But I'm gonna go with NC State to be perdue,
and I'm gonna go with Yukon to destroy the Crimson Tide. Man,
And I think the championship game, you know, it's gonna
be it's gonna be a it's gonna be a good
championship game. But I got Yukon winning.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
You know.
Speaker 4 (36:40):
My my thing about this game with with Yukon and
Alabama is ken Alabama running gun for two halves right
like Yukon. For as much as you talked about what
they've done on offense and the precision on offense, they've
been gangsters on defense too, right. They've they've guarded, They've
guarded down low very well. They have they have done
(37:02):
so well on perimeter guarding, and that's what Alabama has
been able to use to to get this far right.
They've shot so well from the outside, but they've also
attacked the rim if they can keep Yukon because Yukon
is their long they're long dudes too, and and what
I've seen from them, they they tend to they can
(37:23):
start slow like they they sometimes they don't come out
as quickly as they need to, and they can let
a team get into their rhythm. If Alabama can find
a rhythm early on in this game, and it's very
very up tempo, and it doesn't allow for all that
precision that we're talking about, and all that execution to
(37:45):
take place with Yukon and a precision executed game plan,
game flow definitely plays into the the I guess the
favor of uk But if Alabama can keep their foot
on the gas and don't slow up.
Speaker 1 (38:06):
And can get through it and do it.
Speaker 4 (38:09):
For two halves, they got a chance to make it
an ugly game and a nasty game and could get
them out of get Yukon out of rhythm, and actually
create a mismatch a disadvantage for Yukon, even though they've
been so well coached, they've been so well prepared. I
don't see that happening. I think that there we can
(38:30):
see spurts of it, but I don't know that.
Speaker 1 (38:33):
I don't know that.
Speaker 4 (38:34):
Alabama can do it for two halves against this type
of team, because I think that they'll figure out a
way to adjust. I figure I think they figure out
a way to slow down the pace if they need
to and start playing Yukon basketball, which leads to them winning.
And so I got Yukon winning this one against Alabama.
And if I'm giving my prediction for the NC State
(38:56):
game and Purdue, I really think that is the more
athletic team, but I think Purdue is is the better
shooting team. And I think if it comes down to it,
in terms of the size and the sets, I think
Purdue has has the advantage. And and I gotta say,
I think that Purdue is playing too good, too well
(39:18):
of basketball right now in order for them to to
be Purdue. So I got Purdue going against Yukon, and
I think Yukon is too much for Purdue in the
in the final game. Now, now we got one, we
got less than a minute left. But it's Don Staley
and and and and the gang cockx right.
Speaker 3 (39:38):
Once again. My heart is telling me Caitlyn clark Man.
But I really think South Trilana is gonna be too much.
Like I said, they're gonna play and they're gonna hit
you with waves. And I think we're gonna see don Stanley.
You know she's gonna be she gonna be dripped on
the sideline. We've seen the outfit. She's gonna pull out
her best Louis Baton for the national championship, and I
think he's gonna get another national championship. He's gonna bring
(39:58):
another one back to Columbia. South Carolina and I'm happy
for it. Man, there you go. She was a great player.
She's went to Temple, she went to South Carolina. Now
she's taking them to the mountaintop. So I can't wait
for it. I can't wait for this weekend's games.
Speaker 1 (40:10):
Here we go. That's cuffs the legend. Man, I appreciate you.
Speaker 4 (40:13):
On hour two, is coming at you A short legged
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