March 9, 2020 • 42 mins
Pac-12 Networks’ Mike Yam and Don MacLean preview the Pac-12 Tournament, and analyze each team heading to Las Vegas. They preview Oregon State and Utah facing off in the first round (4:15), and show why the Beavers’ three point shooting is the key to their success in the tournament. They explain why Arizona versus Washington is one of the hardest 5-seed vs 12-seed matchups to predict in recent history (7:53), and both praise the recent play of Jaden McDaniels for the Huskies. Mike & Don take a closer look at Stanford facing Cal (13:48), and debate if the Cardinal need one or two wins in Las Vegas to feel good about their NCAA Tournament chances. They also examine Colorado looking to get back on track against Washington State (17:05), and break down the game plan the Buffaloes must employ against CJ Elleby and Isaac Bonton.
Mike and Don congratulate Oregon for winning the Pac-12 regular season championship, and explain why the Ducks are the favorites to win the Pac-12 Tournament as well (22:20). They chat about USC’s great balance on offense and defense (24:10) and explain why UCLA should not worry heading into the tournament with a loss (25:10). Mike and Don break down Arizona State’s chances to make a tournament run (28:16), and highlight the importance of Rob Edwards for the Sun Devils.
On “Storytime with Don MacLean, Don reminisces about facing Magic Johnson at the UCLA gym (31:16), and explains why Magic never lost a game there. Finally Don analyzes the pro potential of Oregon State’s Kylor Kelley (35:59), and breaks down how his defense might translate to the next level.
Mike and Don congratulate Oregon for winning the Pac-12 regular season championship, and explain why the Ducks are the favorites to win the Pac-12 Tournament as well (22:20). They chat about USC’s great balance on offense and defense (24:10) and explain why UCLA should not worry heading into the tournament with a loss (25:10). Mike and Don break down Arizona State’s chances to make a tournament run (28:16), and highlight the importance of Rob Edwards for the Sun Devils.
On “Storytime with Don MacLean, Don reminisces about facing Magic Johnson at the UCLA gym (31:16), and explains why Magic never lost a game there. Finally Don analyzes the pro potential of Oregon State’s Kylor Kelley (35:59), and breaks down how his defense might translate to the next level.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Ah Hill, rap the ball,Baby, Let's go. This is Inside
the Pack twelve podcast. Put ona pair of your headphones and fall back.
Listen to some ballcasts having the ballchat about the best conference in the
nation, all facts. This istruly for the hoop bluff was get who
(00:24):
running? Then gunn the didn't getin buggers. How about we discussing all
the Trojans, Husky Ducks to Cardinalthen the Conker Bears, Beaver's son,
Devil's casts influence the Buffalos and youths. I won't ever forget, got insight,
opinions, and plenty of special guests, coaches and players, be right
as an Inside is Cold and youngPack twelve legends and the lums that analysis.
(00:45):
We go farmly on the stores totake you from conference play all the
way to the final four with somehoop kind of sword just walking you through
the game. I hit your host, Mike Gamming the boar dumb acclaim,
Hey oh yeah, saw the precipiceof the PAC twelve tournament getting underway.
Later this week the podcast dropping alittle bit earlier than normal. Don McClean
(01:07):
and myself typically do the show Tuesdays, best week of the year. I
am best week of the year.It is definitely the best week of the
year, especially if you're a basketballfan. It really is basketball heaven in
Vegas. But because the tournament startingon Wednesday, Earl Watson, by the
way, one of our good buddiesat PAC twelve network, will be our
guest interview that normally comes out ona Wednesday, But because the game's actually
(01:30):
starting on Wednesday, you'll be ableto catch that podcast on Tuesday. So
and you need to listen to thatspoiler alert, We've already done the podcast
with the Earl. You need tolisten to that and a really good job.
Totally agree, I mean he wasawesome. No surprise that that was
going to be a case a sneakpeek at that episode coming up later in
this one, don I looked,I mean, final day of the season
(01:53):
on Saturday, all the seeds,well, look, Washington, we knew
was a twelve, but everything elsewas still up for grabs. Finally know
officially who the top four seeds aregoing to be. Oregon is the one,
UCLA, the two, ASU,the three, USC is the four.
Congratulations to the Oregon Ducks with theregular show. Yeah, we can
Pat ourselves on the back. Itwasn't looking like we were right the whole
(02:15):
time, but it turns out wewere right because we were saying that we
thought Oregon was the best team andthat they would win the regular season title,
and it turns out they did.And I thought, when when we
knew that they had their last threegames at home they hadn't lost all year
at home, that there was agood chance they were probably gonna win it.
And they went out and did it. I don't, guy, there's
(02:36):
like ten different places I want tostart with you. Let's we'll hold off
on the top four seeds. Iwant to go through the top or excuse
me, the five seats five throughtwelve and day number one. Keep in
mind, don you will be callinga bunch of these games for us on
Pack twelve network. You got theday session right on Wednesdays. I have
the eight nine and the five twelveon Wednesday, and then the one verse
(03:00):
is eight nine and four verses fivetwelve on our Thursday. All right,
so he got all the earlier stuff. During the day, Oregon State and
Utah starts off for our coverage thepregame show, Earl Watson, Matt Muelbach
will be with me starting at eleventhirty am on Wednesday. Keep in mind
our coverage of Pack twelve network.We're going start of the day every single
day with our pregame show and assoon as all the action is done,
(03:21):
we have everyone covered with a postgameshow. When the final game every day
is done, let's start. Yeah, I gotta tell you, We've never
talked about this, but I promiseyou I'm gonna try it even harder this
year to still have my eyeballs openfor your postgame show at eleven o'clock at
night. Oh yeah, Well,look, I think the disappointing thing for
me sometimes sometimes I the under fourtime out of the last game, I
(03:45):
might not see the last three anda half minutes of that. On full
disclosure, I'm with you. Ithink the weird thing is like I get
energized on the walk back from thearena to the hotel room that I can't
usually sleep. So this year,I am packing melatonin with me and let's
just say, in the last commercialbreak of the final postgame show, every
(04:05):
single night I will be having mymelotonin gummies just to preparation to be able
to get as much sleep as Ican. On the backside. Let's let's
dive into this here. Round numberone, Oregon State Utah, because I
do want to get you on theteam in the first round that scares you
the most. I have mine,and it might not be the most obvious
(04:26):
one, but from an Oregon StateUtah perspective, here, I don't even
know what to make of this particularmatchup because the reality is eight nine.
They weren't the worst teams in theconference, certainly weren't the best. I
think they're right. I guess they'rea reason why they're eight nine, because
it does feel like an even matchupthat can go either way. Yeah,
and I was just in core Vallasfor the entire weekend and they won both
(04:46):
games. Won a good game againstStanford on Thursday and then took care of
business against Cal with a lot goingon. You know, Trace Tinkle break
in the record, the all timescoring record at Oregon State on Thursday,
and then Senior Day on Saturday.You know, the one thing with Oregon
State is they've been pretty good allyear. They just in conference play they
couldn't make a three. They couldn'tThey were shooting twenty eight percent as a
(05:06):
team. Trace was shooting twenty fourpercent individually before this weekend, and they
made threes. They were eight fortwenty against Stanford, and I believe they
made nine against cal So to me, they're now a dangerous team and a
team that I wouldn't want to playbecause they have a lot of boxes check
defensively. Offensively, they're spreading itaround a little bit more. And if
(05:29):
they get guys making threes like Lucas, like Richael Thompson, other guys other
than Trace Tinkle there, they're gonnabe difficult to deal with. On the
other side, Utah, I thoughtthey showed their youth on the road this
year. They didn't win as muchon the road, but they showed me
a lot winning that game on Saturdayagainst Colorado without Ryland Jones. And let's
just hope that Ryland Jones will beavailable for them in Vegas because they obviously
(05:57):
are going to need him. Ilook at both these teams and they've proven
that they can beat anybody. Now, what's the difference. We're on a
neutral court, it's not home andaway. So Oregon being the one seed,
you know, who would they wantto play? I'm not sure Oregon
State got him in the Civil Warin Corpsvallis. But if you get both
these teams clicking on all cylinders inconfident, which if they win, either team
(06:19):
wins the eight nine game if it'sOregon State, even more confident. Now
now they're three in a row headinginto that game against Oregon, So an
interesting first game to kick off thetournament with two teams that are dangerous if
they're right. You know, Boothgotch for me, and you know I
especially non conference play because you andI were in studio a little bit.
(06:41):
I was a big, big,big fan of him. I mean you,
I think at one point there wasone move that he had made in
a game and I was talking abouthim, and you turned to me and
you said, hey, this iswhy you see flashes like this. This
is why people start thinking about himdown the road as a next level player,
because there are those Flashes banged upwith injuries, slow for to conference
play. These last three games,though, he looks like the dude that
(07:03):
I thought I'd get the entire season. If I'm Oregon State. That combination
of Timmy Allen and Booth gots likethat, all of a sudden becomes they
look like a different basketball team nowthan they did a month ago because of
him. Yeah, will he stayconsistent, that's the big question. I'm
the same as you like I didOregon at Utah early in conference play,
(07:23):
Gotcha had twenty four, he waslights out and then he just disappeared.
And so you wonder if he's gottenit back now, because as you mentioned,
it's three games in a row.Canny continue that in Vegas? I
think he can, And you're right, they're difficult to deal with, both
those wing players. Ball is inGotcha's hands more than Allen's in terms of
initiating offense and that. But they'reboth productive or both have been productive.
(07:47):
So a not a good game agreat game to start this PAC twelve tournament.
Don Typically, I like to thinkof myself as a person who doesn't
go all in on one specific momentand be in the moment, like you
know, if a team comes witha big win or it's a great game,
Oh it's the greatest game of theseason. Like, I'm not typically
that dude. But after Washington sweptthe Arizonas and Jada McDaniels now is playing
(08:13):
the way that he is. Ilooked at Seeds five through twelve, and
I said, my lord, ifthere's one team that's so dangerous and scares
me the most of the entire group, it's you, Dub Right now,
I wish they weren't playing Arizona becauseArizona obviously is a talented team. But
they just beat him at mcale andnow it's mccal north in Vegas. Because
Arizona fans do a tremendous job traveling. How difficult is it to beat a
(08:37):
team twice in one week? Reallydifficult? But I would take a step
back. Yeah, I was sayingthat I wouldn't want to play Washington even
before they swept the Arizona schools,just because of their talent level and Mike
Hopkins being such a good coach thateventually they would probably figure out how to
shore up not having Quaddy Green,and I think they have. You don't
(09:01):
go, you know, to theArizonas and win both unless you have some
stuff figured out based on results fromearlier in conference play. That being said,
you're right, like, you beatthem on Saturday, can you flip
it around and beat them on Wednesday? Again? That's a tough ask because
you know that Arizona is going tobe motivated. It's a revenge game.
(09:22):
But Arizona just isn't right offensively,Yeah, and something's wrong there. They
just they're not clicking. They don'tshoot a high percentage. And against that
Washington zone, if you're not rightoffensively, you're gonna struggle. And it
just hasn't gone well enough. Andyou're relying on two freshman guards and Manning
(09:43):
and Green to carry you and makeyou better offensively. That's a tough ask.
But they're a talented group, Arizona. So maybe they're like Booth Gotch
and that the light bulb comes onand all of a sudden, maybe they
play a good f first half againstWashington and then they're off to the races.
We'll see. If Arizona's roster waswearing a different uniform, would we
(10:07):
be as worried about this game,like I feel like for me, I
look and I see the name,I know the brand, I know the
success that this team, this programhas had over the last however many years,
and I almost go I give themthe benefit of the doubt because they're
Arizona. Whereas if their jersey said, I don't know, Oh, I
(10:31):
see what you're saying. You know, Colorado on I'm just picking another,
you know, team in this league. I know if I'd be as scared,
I think and I do the samething. Yeah, Like Arizona has
been so good for so long thatyou think about those teams. Let's not
forget that they weren't a tournament teamlast year, so they're much improved this
year. But it's not a it'snot a classic, you know, make
(10:54):
a deep run in the NCAA TournamentArizona team. I'm not saying they can't,
but when you think about Arizona andall their success and the rosters that
they've had, Yeah, this thisArizona team isn't as good as those teams,
but it's still a talented group.And you never know unless you're in
that locker room why exactly things aren'tgoing as well as maybe people expected them
(11:18):
to. But we do know thatthey're relying on three freshmen, three starters
that they need production from night inand night out. But you flip back
to the talent conversation, and theyhave enough talent. They have enough talent
to win this tournament, no doubt, but it just hasn't gone well enough
offensively for them to you know,maybe get away with not being as good
(11:41):
defensively because they're relying on young players. But we're gonna find out which way
it's gonna go. But no doubt, one of the harder five twelve matchups
we've seen in this conference tournament's history. I'd see, Yeah, ever,
I mean, this is gonna bea hell of a basketball game, and
you're gonna be on the call.It's on PAC twelve network, one of
the thing on on Washington, Arizonaon this specific game. Am I crazy
(12:03):
here? There's a part of methat says, at their best, at
their best, best player on thefloor on either side is Jada McDaniels.
I know it sounds like I'm goingover the top and I'm gushing, but
his length, when he's engaged onthe defensive side, he's got an impact.
And then offensively he is a He'sa walking mismatch on the floor like
(12:26):
Peyton Pritchard in this tournament is Look, he's going to be player of the
Year, the whole deal. JadeMcDaniels. My god, this is the
guy that everyone was talking about.We're seeing that now in these last few
games. Yeah, and you wonderwhy it hasn't been that way the whole
year. But I do know thisthat with Washington's commitment to try and get
it into their best player in IsaiahStewart, teams got smart about defending him
(12:50):
and surrounding him and double teaming him, and no one really emerged. And
it didn't help the quade Green wasn'tplaying. But now that McDaniels is emerging
here this weekend, now it givescoaches pause on what you're going to do
with Stewart because now you have tocount for McDaniels. And I have a
feeling what we're going to see isif you take some pressure off of Stuart
(13:13):
because you're hedging towards McDaniels a littlemore, you may see Stuart go off.
In this tournament's one of those eitheror type situations. So good news
for Washington and we'll see how Arizonadeals with both of those guys. But
fascinating this time of year to watchcoach's scheme for the other team. Yeah,
keep in mind too. In onday number one, Oregon satan Utah
(13:35):
split the season series, Arizona UDUPsplit the season series, Stanford Cal split
the season series. Colorado and WashingtonState only played one. See you actually
won that game, but the cardinalfor me in the seven ten matchup.
Don you know a couple of daysago I would have said, this is
the team in the first round thatI thought had the potential to make the
(13:56):
deepest run. Look, they contendethe inconsistent seat from three. I think
you had said this, if thingsare working for them for three point range,
their defense is good enough with threepoint shooting to carry the squad.
I get worried about the lack ofconsistency though right now. Yeah, and
that's why they didn't win the OregonState game. Frankly, I think there
were three for fifteen or something likethat from the three point line. And
(14:18):
you asked Jared Hastad, he'll tellyou it's like, if we make shots,
we're probably gonna win. If wedon't, we're not. And so,
and one thing that we should talkabout is we're now playing in an
arena, you know, a twentythousand seat arena. This isn't like Guilt
Coliseum or Alaska Airlines are you know, this is a real arena, and
(14:39):
from my experience, much harder toshoot in bigger boxes than it is smaller
ones. But everyone's different so youjust wonder of all these teams, and
I've heard this a lot lately goingaround the conference doing all these games of
coaches simplifying its saying, if wemake shots, we're pretty good. If
we make shots, we'll win.Okay, Well, which team is going
to get comfortable bowl and t mobilefrom behind the three point line? But
(15:03):
Stanford relies on it. They haveto. They're not big. They're really
good defensively and have been. That'swhy they've stayed in almost every game they
played in. But getting them overthe hump has been do we make threes?
And their free throw shooting hasn't beengreat. They're a tick under seventy
percent, so you wonder if that'sa factor. But if they put it
together, they're really good. Likewhere was our lab two weeks ago?
(15:26):
And they played really well in oneand so you saw it. You're like,
okay, yeah, that's a Stanford. We saw it earlier in the
year. And who knows, everybodyflips the page, yeam, when you
get done with the regular season.Everybody knows this is a tournament. It's
one and done. But we gota new least, we're not in a
conference race anymore. Let's just winone and move on and maybe Stanford can
(15:46):
do it. Stanford, for youneeds to win one or two games to
feel good about for sure one.I think if they lose to Cal,
whose net is a one hundred andforty, I think somewhere around there like
that's not gonna be good. They'regoing to be very nervous on selection Sunday.
I think if they win. Ithink if they win one, they're
(16:07):
feeling pretty good. If they winto there, it's no doubt. I
mean, would you agree with that? I think that's agreed. And look,
the computers have loved Stanford just interms of their NAT but you can't
lose to Cal. I think theinteresting test case right now is how many
surprises do we get in the otherconference tournaments? And test State winning the
(16:27):
other day that doesn't help the leaguegets seven teams in, which has been
kind of the conversation recently. Butif I'm or you know, the usual
suspects have got to be feeling prettygood about themselves. U CLA Is going
to be the interesting team. We'llget to them in just second. Here.
Most worried about heading into the tournamentfor me is Colorado and Washington State,
(16:49):
and I'd make this argument for prettymuch everyone like Washington col and Washington
State and their individual matchups being thehigher seated number team, so like the
worst team in the in the duo, they're all playing with house money and
Colorado done. Like that was ateam that people they were the darlings of
the preseason. Everyone said, Oh, this is a team that's going to
(17:11):
come out of the pack twelve andthey could make a run in the nc
doable A tournament. They're reeling rightnow, and I know there's some questionable
calls depending on who you talk to, regarding that Utah game down the stretch,
but the reality is like they weren'tplaying good basketball and into that game
anyway now and you just wonder what'shappened there or what's happening. I mean,
they're going to be an NCAA tournamentteam because of the work they did
in the non con but for themto go ten and eight is a bit
(17:33):
head scratching in the conference, especiallywith you know, McKinley wright, who's
one of the best point guards inthe league, you know, maybe the
best floor general in terms of managingthe offense, getting people involved. That
kind of thing, but they justthey definitely underperformed what we thought that they
would do. That being said,when they're right, they're pretty good and
(17:57):
their team that you're looking at Washingtonin State. The thing that concerns you
about Washington State is Bonton or Ellobycan go for thirty plus at any at
any minute. And you know thatEllaby likes this stage, and you know
that he's going to be trying toget thirty plus in this game. And
if he does, does that meanWashington State could beat Colorado. It's kind
(18:17):
of been proven if you look atbox scores that if Bonton and Elloby go
they won. And so Colorado's gotto be careful and have a really good
game plan for both those players sothat they don't go off and upset Colorado.
But it's certainly for Colorado is alet's take care of business and move
on and take on Arizona State inthe next round if they do win.
(18:40):
Yeah, I gotta find the numbers. I don't have my notes in front
of me from that particular game.Those dudes go seven to forty four.
Lab and Bonton combined against Ay Likeyou can't look they were in it.
Which kind of also speaks volumes tothe job that Cosmis has done. That
their team on the road could havetheir two most potent players shooting. What
does that fifteen, eighteen, twentysent whatever the number is. I'm not
great at math, which is whyI talk for a living. But the
(19:03):
point is those dudes can't have agame like that and expect to win.
I mean that that that would bewild um because in and as far as
I know, both are playing inthe PAC twelve tournament. But if one
of them's out, then it's reallydifficult for them to win because the other
team just loads up on one ofthem. But we'll see what Tad Boyle
(19:25):
and his staff come up with.The last thing you want, though,
again, is either one or bothof those guys going bananas, And because
if they do, they got achance to win. Do you want to
make picks in the first round?I want them ready to do that just
yet, now, I think Ithink let's go at this surprise Okay that
you talked about, Okay, surpriseteam day one? Who do you got?
(19:49):
I still think I'm torn because I'veI've seen them both recently and I've
seen them both recently win I'm I'mtorn between Stanford in Oregon State. I
think Oregon State really got themselves somemomentum wow in over the weekend. But
(20:11):
I'm gonna go with Stanford because Ilike that matchup better. I wouldn't be
surprised if Utah eat Oregon State.I wouldn't be surprised if Oregon State beat
Utah. I think Stanford's going tobe motivated knowing that their in state tournament
lives are on the line. SoI think they win that game against Cal
and move on to play UCLA,who they beat a few weeks ago in
(20:32):
Pauli, so they feel like theyhave some confidence there. I think Stanford's
a team that we could be talkingabout by Thursday. Okay, I'm that
would I'm going, I think tome, and I'm just gonna go really
out on a lamb Washington. I'llstick with those guys just because they scare
me. Still concerned about Arizona offensivelybeing a team twice in one week I
(20:53):
think is really hard. I wishWashington was playing someone else other than Arizona.
But look, I look at Daytwo and if CU and ASU plays
gonna be a hell of a game. Stanford Ucla is going to be a
heck of a ball game. EitherArizona or you dub against USC is going
to be a ton of fun.And Oregon looking at either Oregon seat or
(21:14):
Utah I think could be somewhat intriguing, although I picked the Ducks well to
your point, Yeah, how aboutthis Washington. Let's say they do beat
Arizona, who do they have inthe next round? USC? They beat
them by thirty Yeah in Seattle earlyin the season, so they're looking at
that. But the flip side ofthat is you know USC sitting there saying,
okay, if we if we playWashington, we owe them, oh
yeah for what they did us inSeattle. So doubt fascinating stuff if it
(21:37):
does happen. And book both teamsare really different too, which is the
other I think playing very different.I mean SC's got to have so much
confidence with the with the win,with Jonah Matthews hitting the big buzzer beater
three. He was an awesome guestlast week, by the way, on
the podcast. So if you're anSC fan, believe me, we didn't
jam. I'm looking you agree tocome on the podcast. Good thing,
(21:59):
Tom. We'll think about that everyweek and the week before it was mccronan
and they come up at the sweepand they were knocking on the door for
a regular season conference championship. I'mwith you, I'm with you, the
good luck charm banging down our doornext year to do this podcast, I'm
with you is Oregon, clearly,I'll use the air quotes. Best team
(22:25):
in the field. I think theyare, and I think getting Dante back
is We're going to see that paiddividends as this moves along with their depth
and just his size and length atthe rim, dealing with certain matchups they
may run into, especially once theyget to the the NCAA Tournamentum, but
if if you're ever gonna say theone seed could go down this year,
(22:45):
or it could go down any year. This is year just based on what
happened in the regular season. Imean it's not often we see it's happened,
but we don't see it often wherewe see a conference champion at thirteen
and five. Yeah, I meanthat's a little behind schedule per usual.
Usually it's fourteen and four, fifteenand three, something like that. So
it speaks to anybody can beat anybodyin this conference. And we saw it,
(23:11):
but we also know because we sawit last year, Oregon understands this
time of year. They came intothis tournament last year needing to win fourt
again in the NCAA Tournament. Theydid it, and you just wonder if
they're kicking it in to another gearright now saying we want to win the
Packswall tournament so that we carry allthis momentum into the NCAA Tournament and try
and make a deep run. There. So a lot a lot of good
(23:33):
things going for Oregon. And oh, by the way, the player of
the year in the conference, potentiallyNational player of the year Dante five minutes
in his return the other night elevenminutes. Then against cal and then against
Stanford played looking here sixteen minutes.So yeah, I think that's gonna keep
going up, Like I think he'llbe over twenty probably in this tournament.
(23:56):
No, No, it's it's andhe is kind of the difference maker or
this team being a really good teamor a team that's gonna win a conference
championship in the tournament and then makea run in the nc Double A Tournament.
Sc I know they're the four seed. Done. I look at them
though, as I don't want tosay the most balanced team, but there's
(24:18):
a part of me that thinks ofthe top four seeds, and they play
great defense that no one talks about. The guard play has gotten better as
the season's gone on, and theyalready have the best front court in the
conference. Like SC to me,has got all the tools in the toolbox
to win this tournament, no doubt. If we're standing there on Saturday night
and SC wins, it would I'dbe surprised, not at all. And
(24:41):
you've got a couple of seniors thatare motivated. Speaking of talking to Jonah
last week, he talked about himunderstanding and realizing that it's a senior year.
This is his last go round,this is his last chance. They've
probably done enough that they're solidly inthe NCAA tournament, but why not go
out with a PAC twelve tournament championshipand get that momentum that we always talk
about heading into the NCAA tournament.So yeah, I'm with you. I
(25:04):
I have no problem with anyone pickingUSC to win this Pack twelve tournament.
You lose on a buzzer beater orthree if you're UCLA and it snaps a
seven game winning streak and you wereplaying for at least a share of the
regular season title. Does that changeat all your perception of this team.
No? And I only say nobecause of how they're built and what got
(25:26):
them that center seven game win streak. And to quote myself and one that
I've used for years, Yeah,that's right. Defense travels. And so
normally, if you're a team builton skill or you just got hot from
like behind the three point line,that's why you were on that winning streak.
I could see it maybe affecting you. But the way mccronin has has
(25:48):
coached these guys this year and finallygotten them to buy in on the defensive
end, just bring what you've beenbringing. Look tip your captain Matthews.
You made an unbelievable shot, butyou had the game one if he misses
it, And so you can't loseany confidence from that. You can't lose
any belief from that, because beliefis what's gotten you that win streak before
(26:10):
that. So i'm i'm I thinkUCLA will be fine, and it'll just
be whether or not teams well itfigured out how to beat that UCLA defense.
Um and if the UCLA defense isas right as it has been for
the last month or so. CanI throw something your way of Stanford wins
and beats Cal and I don't knowif that's gonna happen. I love Matt
(26:32):
Bradley. I think he should bemost Improved Player of the Year. But
let's just already gave it to him. Yeah, it's done. Oh it's
talking about um Stanford. If Stanfordand UCLA play, can you imagine a
game? It might be first tofifty two in that and shooting field goal
percentages in the low thirties. Imean, that could be a really ugly
game. What's interesting is when Stanfordbeat Ucla. I I believe I have
(26:57):
to look it up. I thinkwhen stan for beat UCLA and Pauly that
was the right before UCLA went ontheir run. I think that was the
last game they lost at home becausethey beat Cal at home, right and
I think that started the win streakif I'm not mistaken. So you know
Stanford was obviously playing, but becausethat was the game for Stanford. Speaking
(27:18):
of momentum, where they win thatgame, they're up twenty at halftime to
USC. They falter in the secondhalf and blow the game. At the
end, and that started Stanford's downwardspiral, losing seven of eight. So
it's so interesting what happens from whatthe outcome of one game can do or
seemingly do. But it'll be agood game, no doubt, because UCLA
(27:42):
is way better than they were whenStanford beat him in Polly And I think
Stanford, even though you know theydidn't have a great weekend in Oregon,
has gotten back on track to acertain degree. As us offense right now,
I think is the one thing thatcarries them, Like if I'm looking,
I'm looking at my bracket right nowor in best Player. Pretty balanced
(28:03):
on both offense and defense. I'dsay sc really like them in terms of
efficiency offense and defense. Worried aboutUCLA's offense, and we saw that kind
of over the weekend as well,especially in that first half the other day.
But asu, I don't I don'teven know what to make of this
team. I mean, offensively,it's it sometimes feels like Verge and Remy
(28:25):
make it happen, and then onthe defensive side, I get concerned.
I think there's some radic play attimes, which is part of the reason.
Now I think the draw is nicefor him, right because Colorado I
think they can. That's a goodmatchup for him. I think if it's
either Stanford or UCLA a little bitlater in round number three, like that
to me is also a good matchupfor him. You know, although if
(28:47):
it's UCLA or Stanford, I mean, heck, maybe they just lock them
down and defensively, shots aren't goingdown and they lose. Like here's here's
the deal with Arizona State, Likeyou know, you're what you're gonna get
with Remy, he's one of theelite players in our conference. Verges come
on and become more consistent. It'sreally about same as Stanford. For them,
they have to make threes. They'renot a very good three point shooting
team or haven't been. But ifEdwards gets going and he can make threes
(29:11):
along with Virgin and Remies, Iguess my point is, if you get
all three of those guys going atthe same time, they are awfully hard
to deal with. But it's justbeen kind of hit and miss with them
from behind the three point line isa three man group. Defensively, I
feel like they've been pretty good.They're not big, they're not a great
rebounding team because they're not big.But I just think what teams have figured
(29:34):
out what Arizona State is. Youcan't let them just catch rip and go,
meaning drive it and get into theteeth of your defense. So teams
have packed it in a little bitand said, you're not beating us with
penetration, So you're going to haveto make some perimeter shots. But in
the games where Arizona State has wonand played well, they have made threes.
And so again I go back tothe building that we're playing in.
(29:56):
Are they going to be able tomake enough threes playing in that give an
arena? We're gonna find out.But to me, it's pretty simple with
ASU. They have to make perimetershots to win. So we'll see.
Don if look if they go fourteentriples like they did and the win at
home against UCLA, right, justtake the sharpie out, put him in
the semis. I mean, that'sright, beating Stanford or UCLA, it
(30:18):
doesn't even matter they're beating Colorado.If all three of those guys have it
going, that's that's semi finals.That's pactwelve championship, no doubt. And
you hate to simplify to that tothat just one area. But I really
think it is because you look atthe games where they've really played well,
they have way more threes made thanthe games where they didn't play as well.
(30:40):
And I go back to that seniorthink Edwards is a senior and maybe
he's viewing this the same way Matthewsis. It's my last go round.
I'm gonna go off from behind theline, and if he does, that's
the great sign for a SU anda great sign that they could win this
pactwelve tournament. All right, onceagain, just a reminder all the games
Wednesday, start coverage eleven thirty amon PAC twelve network. Earl Watson will
(31:06):
be on the show tomorrow with uson the podcast. A sneak preview of
that interview coming up here. ButDon, it's my favorite time of the
show, the story time with DonMcLean. All right, Yeah, so
I spoiled it earlier telling everyone thatwe're having Earl Watson on tomorrow, that
we already did the podcast with him, and we spent we spend a lot
(31:30):
of time with Earl talking about UCLAand the men's gym and the impact of
that and what happens there and youcan tune in tomorrow to hear all that.
But it triggered my memory of astory. And he brings up Magic
Johnson a few times as well.And so with Magic at the men's gym,
he didn't come all the time,like there was guys that came here,
(31:51):
like Michael Cooper was there, ByronScott, those guys were there like
most days. Magic didn't come everyday, probably because he was Magic Johnson.
But when he did come, he, similar to Michael Jordan's, Magic
would just take whoever, like hewasn't trying to get like a loaded team
because he knew he was winning regardless. And it was understood by them by
the time I started coming to themen's gym that Magic was on the middle
(32:14):
court. You know there's three there'sthree courts in the men's gym. The
main court was the middle court obviously, and Magic started on the middle court
and ended on the middle court.Like Magic Johnson never lost a game in
the men's gym. And you're saying, well, wow, he was that
good that he never lost one,Well, this is the story. So
this was probably I think I wasa junior going into my junior senior year
(32:36):
at UCLA and it's the last gameof the day. So games games went
to nine by ones. I believeI should ask or all I forget.
I think, yeah, I thinkit was nines or maybe a change.
It might have been seven or nineor eleven whatever. So let's just say
we're going to nine and oh no, it was seven by ones. That's
what it was. And so we'replaying the game, and it didn't cross
(33:00):
it didn't. It didn't. Itdidn't cross my mind at the time.
But we get to six to six. You know, they have six,
we have six, and so I'mplaying it and I'm guarding Magic Johnson K
for game winner. I'm thinking,man, I I need to get a
stop. You know, you neverloses on this court. And so I'm
(33:21):
guarding him, and he was shootingthe shot, that whole thing where you
know, the best player on thecourt shoots the last shot kind of thing.
Yeah, I am not exaggerating.He called thirteen straight fouls on game
point, and probably six of themwere actually fouls, until finally on the
thirteenth that he called. He threwup some wild hook shot from like fifteen
(33:45):
feet and it went in game.And so I said to him, I'm
like, Magic, So like,were you going to call a foul the
whole time? And he just walkedoff game over his team won. And
so a couple of years ago whenhe was in the Lakers front office,
this is funny. I Uh,we were doing we had our pro day
for CIA for pre draft, andhe was there and Chris Paul was there
(34:08):
all the CEA guys. So I'mstanding with Chris Paul with Magic and a
couple other guys, and somehow itcame up about the men's gym and I
said, and I said to Chris, I'm like, CP, can you
believe this guy one time called thirteenstraight fouls and on game point And Chris
goes yeah, and I'm like Magic, He's like and your point yeah.
(34:35):
And so we laughed about it.But just just a funny story from back
then that Magic and how competitive hewas. He never lost a game in
the men's gym game. Blouses,Um, I'm breaking out something that Earl
had said over the over the weekend. You did you watch Chapelle show back
that day, said the Prince momentswhen they're playing basketball a game. Blass
(35:00):
has anyway beside that point. Sowe're just thinking about some of those vowls
and Magic Man, I can't evenimagine just how he did. And not
for nothing, Don, and Iknow you weren't shy about talking because you
imagine though, if there was anotherNBA player that was checking Magic and kept
calling vows, it would have beenthe same thing. He's Magic freaking Johnson.
It doesn't matter. Like nobody trumpedat that time, Magic Johnson.
(35:22):
I mean, I guess if MichaelJordan had walked in there, maybe,
but like Magic Johnson was Magic Johnson. And you can complain all you want,
but it's a foul. Just wildwild absolutely love that stuff. And
you've talked about your experience with alot of those NBA guys the last couple
of years. There's definitely some playersand at least on this podcast, Don,
(35:45):
you've been tracking guys that are hopingto play at the next level,
different guys that you've analyzed, evensome over the years that you've worked out
to get ready for the draft.You're focusing in on one big right now
and the back twelve to the NBA. So let's talk about Kyler Kelly.
(36:08):
I like to do guys that I'verecently seen and I was being Corvallis for
the weekend doing both games, andhe's obviously a senior so will be part
of the pre draft process. Let'sstart with the measurables. You know,
the wide shoulders for a seven footguy, which he like, long arms,
which he like. He's a goodathlete, he's a good runner,
(36:29):
and he's really bouncy. So froma from an athletics standpoint and from a
measurable standpoint, you really like himat the next level. The problem is
he I shouldn't say the problem whathe doesn't have is a lot of basketball
playing experience. He's it's not likehe started playing at seven years old and
here we are as a college senior. He picked a game up late,
(36:50):
so he misses out on a lotof not a lot of some of skill
that would you would hope that hewould have in terms of on the offensive
side. That being said, he'scome along like he can shoot it much
better now from the mid range.He can put it on the deck a
little bit. He had to movethe other day against Cal that was really
good where he crossed the guy overand then spun back. It was good
(37:13):
stuff. You can tell he's beencoached on that and so, but really
in terms of instincts is where he'sbehind a little bit and you say to
herself, well, he leads theleague in block shots, what do you
want? I didn't realize this untilthis weekend. Yeah, he's not in
the top twenty in the league andrebounding And how is that as a seven
(37:34):
foot, bouncy, long arm guy. It's because of those instincts or lack
of instincts that put him out ofposition a lot. Like you appreciate that
he wants to block a lot ofshots, but good shot blockers don't jump
at everything. They understand and theyfeel in they sense when they can go
get a shot and go get it. Kelly just kind of jumps at everything
(37:54):
and misses a lot of block shots. So now there's a ton of week
side rebounding. Race Tinkle gets sevenand a half rebounds a game because Kelly
a lot of the time is outof position. And so if you're looking
at him as a draftable prospect,is he an elite shot blocker? No,
because the numbers would say he is. But if you watch tape on
(38:15):
him, he's out of position waytoo much. Can that be coached?
Yeah? I think it can becoached to a certain degree, but really
what I think it comes down tois more games played for him in more
reps to understand that and get moreof a feel for the defensive side in
terms of rim protection, because whenpeople say rim protection, it's not just
block shots. That's part of it. It's banging shots at the rim,
(38:37):
but more importantly being in position torebound. And that's just something that he
hasn't gotten ahold of in his coupleof years at Oregon State. But that
doesn't mean somebody's not going to lookat him and see what I'm talking about
and see the physical talent he hasand give him a chance. It's going
to be similar to Drew Eubanks thatthey had where he went way too early,
(39:00):
shouldn't have declared, and he becamea G League guy and now he's
getting some time with the Spurs.He's been up and down a little bit,
and I think that's gonna be thepath for Kyler Kelly, where somebody
will give them a two way contractor put them on their G League team,
and then it's going to be upto him to put in the work
to make him make himself an NBAplayer. You Banks better offensive player though,
(39:21):
right, I think so? Yeah, at this stage, I would
say they're similar, yeam in termsof and I'm talking about offense, meaning
can you get me a bucket onthe block, can you step out?
Can you pick and pop and screenrole? But all these guys have to
get out to the NBA three pointline eventually, Like they don't want you
picking and popping shooting twelve footers,like that's not a part of NBA offense.
(39:45):
But I would say similar at thisstage, Mike, with you Banks
and Kelly in terms of offense.Well, look, he's gonna have to
have a big impact because you likeOregon State in round number one. You
feel like they're confident basketball team whenthey take on Utah, and then if
they win, they'll get the oneseed in Oregon and their arrival, which
could make for a pretty good gameas well, especially because now we'll get
(40:07):
to see a little bit of Danteand hopefully he's out there creeping closer to
full strength against Kyler Kelly. Sojust something to keep in mind. By
the way, Oregon State Utah startsthe coverage Wednesday, eleven thirty am.
We got the pregame show for everyonethat pregame show, Matt Muellbauch and Earl
Watson will be on set with mefor the entire day, in fact,
(40:30):
the entire three days of the tournament. Tomorrow on the podcast, Earl Watson
is going to be our guest.Don You've made reference to it. He
was absolutely tremendous. Here's a sneakpeek at that conversation. My first guy
to UCLA, The first person Imet in the office was Coach Wooden.
Then Doug who is Doug is?You know, there's a lot of coaches
(40:52):
to come through us, but DougEricson is our stable. He's been there
for at least twenty five thirty years. Dug with me from the off this
of meet and coachwood into Pauli Pavilionand that's where I met Magic Johnson,
who was you know, about toplay pick up with Michael Cooper and Norm
Nixon, Keiki Vanderway. And Magicwas like, hey, nice to meet
you, welcome. If you wantto get better, be here tomorrow morning
(41:14):
at eight And I got there thenext day at seven o'clock. So like
just being a mentor about Magic andWho and Derek Martin and Mitchell Butler,
Chauncey, Billups, Kobe Bryant,Shouldquille O'Neill. The list goes on and
own. You can't get there anywhere, You can't get there anywhere else.
Don day one on campus for youand Westwood. Do you remember what that
was like? As we heard Earl'sDay one, which is pretty spectacular.
(41:38):
Well, I told the story earlyin the in the in the year of
my first freshman summer program. Ihad obviously been to UCLA because I lived
close to it, But first dayof freshman summer program men's Jim first opponent
James Worthy, which was pretty coolstuff. So I guess the point is
if you go to UCLA as arecruited basketball player, your first day,
(42:00):
you're probably going to meet somebody famous. That's the moral of the story.
Not bad, some pretty good namesthat have walked through that gym. Don
awesome job by you is always geta little bit of a rest before the
travel to Vegas. You and Iwill be getting after it all week long
on PAC twelve network, and yeah, we'll have some fun this week.
Yeah, I'm looking forward to Welook forward to it every year, and
(42:22):
I know every year we say,oh, anything could happen, but like
this year, you can really sayit did. Anything's gonna happen. I
am anything could happen. Totally withyou on that. Can't thank everyone enough
for listening to the podcast. Ifyou see it on social media, give
it a share rate, subscribe orreview the pod. Greatly appreciate that are
always holding it down for us.Don I will see you this week in Vegas.
Ah Hill, rap the ball,Baby, Let's go. This is Inside
the Pack twelve podcast. Put ona pair of your headphones and fall back.
Listen to some ballcasts having the ballchat about the best conference in the
nation, all facts. This istruly for the hoop bluff was get who
(00:24):
running? Then gunn the didn't getin buggers. How about we discussing all
the Trojans, Husky Ducks to Cardinalthen the Conker Bears, Beaver's son,
Devil's casts influence the Buffalos and youths. I won't ever forget, got insight,
opinions, and plenty of special guests, coaches and players, be right
as an Inside is Cold and youngPack twelve legends and the lums that analysis.
(00:45):
We go farmly on the stores totake you from conference play all the
way to the final four with somehoop kind of sword just walking you through
the game. I hit your host, Mike Gamming the boar dumb acclaim,
Hey oh yeah, saw the precipiceof the PAC twelve tournament getting underway.
Later this week the podcast dropping alittle bit earlier than normal. Don McClean
(01:07):
and myself typically do the show Tuesdays, best week of the year. I
am best week of the year.It is definitely the best week of the
year, especially if you're a basketballfan. It really is basketball heaven in
Vegas. But because the tournament startingon Wednesday, Earl Watson, by the
way, one of our good buddiesat PAC twelve network, will be our
guest interview that normally comes out ona Wednesday, But because the game's actually
(01:30):
starting on Wednesday, you'll be ableto catch that podcast on Tuesday. So
and you need to listen to thatspoiler alert, We've already done the podcast
with the Earl. You need tolisten to that and a really good job.
Totally agree, I mean he wasawesome. No surprise that that was
going to be a case a sneakpeek at that episode coming up later in
this one, don I looked,I mean, final day of the season
(01:53):
on Saturday, all the seeds,well, look, Washington, we knew
was a twelve, but everything elsewas still up for grabs. Finally know
officially who the top four seeds aregoing to be. Oregon is the one,
UCLA, the two, ASU,the three, USC is the four.
Congratulations to the Oregon Ducks with theregular show. Yeah, we can
Pat ourselves on the back. Itwasn't looking like we were right the whole
(02:15):
time, but it turns out wewere right because we were saying that we
thought Oregon was the best team andthat they would win the regular season title,
and it turns out they did.And I thought, when when we
knew that they had their last threegames at home they hadn't lost all year
at home, that there was agood chance they were probably gonna win it.
And they went out and did it. I don't, guy, there's
(02:36):
like ten different places I want tostart with you. Let's we'll hold off
on the top four seeds. Iwant to go through the top or excuse
me, the five seats five throughtwelve and day number one. Keep in
mind, don you will be callinga bunch of these games for us on
Pack twelve network. You got theday session right on Wednesdays. I have
the eight nine and the five twelveon Wednesday, and then the one verse
(03:00):
is eight nine and four verses fivetwelve on our Thursday. All right,
so he got all the earlier stuff. During the day, Oregon State and
Utah starts off for our coverage thepregame show, Earl Watson, Matt Muelbach
will be with me starting at eleventhirty am on Wednesday. Keep in mind
our coverage of Pack twelve network.We're going start of the day every single
day with our pregame show and assoon as all the action is done,
(03:21):
we have everyone covered with a postgameshow. When the final game every day
is done, let's start. Yeah, I gotta tell you, We've never
talked about this, but I promiseyou I'm gonna try it even harder this
year to still have my eyeballs openfor your postgame show at eleven o'clock at
night. Oh yeah, Well,look, I think the disappointing thing for
me sometimes sometimes I the under fourtime out of the last game, I
(03:45):
might not see the last three anda half minutes of that. On full
disclosure, I'm with you. Ithink the weird thing is like I get
energized on the walk back from thearena to the hotel room that I can't
usually sleep. So this year,I am packing melatonin with me and let's
just say, in the last commercialbreak of the final postgame show, every
(04:05):
single night I will be having mymelotonin gummies just to preparation to be able
to get as much sleep as Ican. On the backside. Let's let's
dive into this here. Round numberone, Oregon State Utah, because I
do want to get you on theteam in the first round that scares you
the most. I have mine,and it might not be the most obvious
(04:26):
one, but from an Oregon StateUtah perspective, here, I don't even
know what to make of this particularmatchup because the reality is eight nine.
They weren't the worst teams in theconference, certainly weren't the best. I
think they're right. I guess they'rea reason why they're eight nine, because
it does feel like an even matchupthat can go either way. Yeah,
and I was just in core Vallasfor the entire weekend and they won both
(04:46):
games. Won a good game againstStanford on Thursday and then took care of
business against Cal with a lot goingon. You know, Trace Tinkle break
in the record, the all timescoring record at Oregon State on Thursday,
and then Senior Day on Saturday.You know, the one thing with Oregon
State is they've been pretty good allyear. They just in conference play they
couldn't make a three. They couldn'tThey were shooting twenty eight percent as a
(05:06):
team. Trace was shooting twenty fourpercent individually before this weekend, and they
made threes. They were eight fortwenty against Stanford, and I believe they
made nine against cal So to me, they're now a dangerous team and a
team that I wouldn't want to playbecause they have a lot of boxes check
defensively. Offensively, they're spreading itaround a little bit more. And if
(05:29):
they get guys making threes like Lucas, like Richael Thompson, other guys other
than Trace Tinkle there, they're gonnabe difficult to deal with. On the
other side, Utah, I thoughtthey showed their youth on the road this
year. They didn't win as muchon the road, but they showed me
a lot winning that game on Saturdayagainst Colorado without Ryland Jones. And let's
just hope that Ryland Jones will beavailable for them in Vegas because they obviously
(05:57):
are going to need him. Ilook at both these teams and they've proven
that they can beat anybody. Now, what's the difference. We're on a
neutral court, it's not home andaway. So Oregon being the one seed,
you know, who would they wantto play? I'm not sure Oregon
State got him in the Civil Warin Corpsvallis. But if you get both
these teams clicking on all cylinders inconfident, which if they win, either team
(06:19):
wins the eight nine game if it'sOregon State, even more confident. Now
now they're three in a row headinginto that game against Oregon, So an
interesting first game to kick off thetournament with two teams that are dangerous if
they're right. You know, Boothgotch for me, and you know I
especially non conference play because you andI were in studio a little bit.
(06:41):
I was a big, big,big fan of him. I mean you,
I think at one point there wasone move that he had made in
a game and I was talking abouthim, and you turned to me and
you said, hey, this iswhy you see flashes like this. This
is why people start thinking about himdown the road as a next level player,
because there are those Flashes banged upwith injuries, slow for to conference
play. These last three games,though, he looks like the dude that
(07:03):
I thought I'd get the entire season. If I'm Oregon State. That combination
of Timmy Allen and Booth gots likethat, all of a sudden becomes they
look like a different basketball team nowthan they did a month ago because of
him. Yeah, will he stayconsistent, that's the big question. I'm
the same as you like I didOregon at Utah early in conference play,
(07:23):
Gotcha had twenty four, he waslights out and then he just disappeared.
And so you wonder if he's gottenit back now, because as you mentioned,
it's three games in a row.Canny continue that in Vegas? I
think he can, And you're right, they're difficult to deal with, both
those wing players. Ball is inGotcha's hands more than Allen's in terms of
initiating offense and that. But they'reboth productive or both have been productive.
(07:47):
So a not a good game agreat game to start this PAC twelve tournament.
Don Typically, I like to thinkof myself as a person who doesn't
go all in on one specific momentand be in the moment, like you
know, if a team comes witha big win or it's a great game,
Oh it's the greatest game of theseason. Like, I'm not typically
that dude. But after Washington sweptthe Arizonas and Jada McDaniels now is playing
(08:13):
the way that he is. Ilooked at Seeds five through twelve, and
I said, my lord, ifthere's one team that's so dangerous and scares
me the most of the entire group, it's you, Dub Right now,
I wish they weren't playing Arizona becauseArizona obviously is a talented team. But
they just beat him at mcale andnow it's mccal north in Vegas. Because
Arizona fans do a tremendous job traveling. How difficult is it to beat a
(08:37):
team twice in one week? Reallydifficult? But I would take a step
back. Yeah, I was sayingthat I wouldn't want to play Washington even
before they swept the Arizona schools,just because of their talent level and Mike
Hopkins being such a good coach thateventually they would probably figure out how to
shore up not having Quaddy Green,and I think they have. You don't
(09:01):
go, you know, to theArizonas and win both unless you have some
stuff figured out based on results fromearlier in conference play. That being said,
you're right, like, you beatthem on Saturday, can you flip
it around and beat them on Wednesday? Again? That's a tough ask because
you know that Arizona is going tobe motivated. It's a revenge game.
(09:22):
But Arizona just isn't right offensively,Yeah, and something's wrong there. They
just they're not clicking. They don'tshoot a high percentage. And against that
Washington zone, if you're not rightoffensively, you're gonna struggle. And it
just hasn't gone well enough. Andyou're relying on two freshman guards and Manning
(09:43):
and Green to carry you and makeyou better offensively. That's a tough ask.
But they're a talented group, Arizona. So maybe they're like Booth Gotch
and that the light bulb comes onand all of a sudden, maybe they
play a good f first half againstWashington and then they're off to the races.
We'll see. If Arizona's roster waswearing a different uniform, would we
(10:07):
be as worried about this game,like I feel like for me, I
look and I see the name,I know the brand, I know the
success that this team, this programhas had over the last however many years,
and I almost go I give themthe benefit of the doubt because they're
Arizona. Whereas if their jersey said, I don't know, Oh, I
(10:31):
see what you're saying. You know, Colorado on I'm just picking another,
you know, team in this league. I know if I'd be as scared,
I think and I do the samething. Yeah, Like Arizona has
been so good for so long thatyou think about those teams. Let's not
forget that they weren't a tournament teamlast year, so they're much improved this
year. But it's not a it'snot a classic, you know, make
(10:54):
a deep run in the NCAA TournamentArizona team. I'm not saying they can't,
but when you think about Arizona andall their success and the rosters that
they've had, Yeah, this thisArizona team isn't as good as those teams,
but it's still a talented group.And you never know unless you're in
that locker room why exactly things aren'tgoing as well as maybe people expected them
(11:18):
to. But we do know thatthey're relying on three freshmen, three starters
that they need production from night inand night out. But you flip back
to the talent conversation, and theyhave enough talent. They have enough talent
to win this tournament, no doubt, but it just hasn't gone well enough
offensively for them to you know,maybe get away with not being as good
(11:41):
defensively because they're relying on young players. But we're gonna find out which way
it's gonna go. But no doubt, one of the harder five twelve matchups
we've seen in this conference tournament's history. I'd see, Yeah, ever,
I mean, this is gonna bea hell of a basketball game, and
you're gonna be on the call.It's on PAC twelve network, one of
the thing on on Washington, Arizonaon this specific game. Am I crazy
(12:03):
here? There's a part of methat says, at their best, at
their best, best player on thefloor on either side is Jada McDaniels.
I know it sounds like I'm goingover the top and I'm gushing, but
his length, when he's engaged onthe defensive side, he's got an impact.
And then offensively he is a He'sa walking mismatch on the floor like
(12:26):
Peyton Pritchard in this tournament is Look, he's going to be player of the
Year, the whole deal. JadeMcDaniels. My god, this is the
guy that everyone was talking about.We're seeing that now in these last few
games. Yeah, and you wonderwhy it hasn't been that way the whole
year. But I do know thisthat with Washington's commitment to try and get
it into their best player in IsaiahStewart, teams got smart about defending him
(12:50):
and surrounding him and double teaming him, and no one really emerged. And
it didn't help the quade Green wasn'tplaying. But now that McDaniels is emerging
here this weekend, now it givescoaches pause on what you're going to do
with Stewart because now you have tocount for McDaniels. And I have a
feeling what we're going to see isif you take some pressure off of Stuart
(13:13):
because you're hedging towards McDaniels a littlemore, you may see Stuart go off.
In this tournament's one of those eitheror type situations. So good news
for Washington and we'll see how Arizonadeals with both of those guys. But
fascinating this time of year to watchcoach's scheme for the other team. Yeah,
keep in mind too. In onday number one, Oregon satan Utah
(13:35):
split the season series, Arizona UDUPsplit the season series, Stanford Cal split
the season series. Colorado and WashingtonState only played one. See you actually
won that game, but the cardinalfor me in the seven ten matchup.
Don you know a couple of daysago I would have said, this is
the team in the first round thatI thought had the potential to make the
(13:56):
deepest run. Look, they contendethe inconsistent seat from three. I think
you had said this, if thingsare working for them for three point range,
their defense is good enough with threepoint shooting to carry the squad.
I get worried about the lack ofconsistency though right now. Yeah, and
that's why they didn't win the OregonState game. Frankly, I think there
were three for fifteen or something likethat from the three point line. And
(14:18):
you asked Jared Hastad, he'll tellyou it's like, if we make shots,
we're probably gonna win. If wedon't, we're not. And so,
and one thing that we should talkabout is we're now playing in an
arena, you know, a twentythousand seat arena. This isn't like Guilt
Coliseum or Alaska Airlines are you know, this is a real arena, and
(14:39):
from my experience, much harder toshoot in bigger boxes than it is smaller
ones. But everyone's different so youjust wonder of all these teams, and
I've heard this a lot lately goingaround the conference doing all these games of
coaches simplifying its saying, if wemake shots, we're pretty good. If
we make shots, we'll win.Okay, Well, which team is going
to get comfortable bowl and t mobilefrom behind the three point line? But
(15:03):
Stanford relies on it. They haveto. They're not big. They're really
good defensively and have been. That'swhy they've stayed in almost every game they
played in. But getting them overthe hump has been do we make threes?
And their free throw shooting hasn't beengreat. They're a tick under seventy
percent, so you wonder if that'sa factor. But if they put it
together, they're really good. Likewhere was our lab two weeks ago?
(15:26):
And they played really well in oneand so you saw it. You're like,
okay, yeah, that's a Stanford. We saw it earlier in the
year. And who knows, everybodyflips the page, yeam, when you
get done with the regular season.Everybody knows this is a tournament. It's
one and done. But we gota new least, we're not in a
conference race anymore. Let's just winone and move on and maybe Stanford can
(15:46):
do it. Stanford, for youneeds to win one or two games to
feel good about for sure one.I think if they lose to Cal,
whose net is a one hundred andforty, I think somewhere around there like
that's not gonna be good. They'regoing to be very nervous on selection Sunday.
I think if they win. Ithink if they win one, they're
(16:07):
feeling pretty good. If they winto there, it's no doubt. I
mean, would you agree with that? I think that's agreed. And look,
the computers have loved Stanford just interms of their NAT but you can't
lose to Cal. I think theinteresting test case right now is how many
surprises do we get in the otherconference tournaments? And test State winning the
(16:27):
other day that doesn't help the leaguegets seven teams in, which has been
kind of the conversation recently. Butif I'm or you know, the usual
suspects have got to be feeling prettygood about themselves. U CLA Is going
to be the interesting team. We'llget to them in just second. Here.
Most worried about heading into the tournamentfor me is Colorado and Washington State,
(16:49):
and I'd make this argument for prettymuch everyone like Washington col and Washington
State and their individual matchups being thehigher seated number team, so like the
worst team in the in the duo, they're all playing with house money and
Colorado done. Like that was ateam that people they were the darlings of
the preseason. Everyone said, Oh, this is a team that's going to
(17:11):
come out of the pack twelve andthey could make a run in the nc
doable A tournament. They're reeling rightnow, and I know there's some questionable
calls depending on who you talk to, regarding that Utah game down the stretch,
but the reality is like they weren'tplaying good basketball and into that game
anyway now and you just wonder what'shappened there or what's happening. I mean,
they're going to be an NCAA tournamentteam because of the work they did
in the non con but for themto go ten and eight is a bit
(17:33):
head scratching in the conference, especiallywith you know, McKinley wright, who's
one of the best point guards inthe league, you know, maybe the
best floor general in terms of managingthe offense, getting people involved. That
kind of thing, but they justthey definitely underperformed what we thought that they
would do. That being said,when they're right, they're pretty good and
(17:57):
their team that you're looking at Washingtonin State. The thing that concerns you
about Washington State is Bonton or Ellobycan go for thirty plus at any at
any minute. And you know thatEllaby likes this stage, and you know
that he's going to be trying toget thirty plus in this game. And
if he does, does that meanWashington State could beat Colorado. It's kind
(18:17):
of been proven if you look atbox scores that if Bonton and Elloby go
they won. And so Colorado's gotto be careful and have a really good
game plan for both those players sothat they don't go off and upset Colorado.
But it's certainly for Colorado is alet's take care of business and move
on and take on Arizona State inthe next round if they do win.
(18:40):
Yeah, I gotta find the numbers. I don't have my notes in front
of me from that particular game.Those dudes go seven to forty four.
Lab and Bonton combined against Ay Likeyou can't look they were in it.
Which kind of also speaks volumes tothe job that Cosmis has done. That
their team on the road could havetheir two most potent players shooting. What
does that fifteen, eighteen, twentysent whatever the number is. I'm not
great at math, which is whyI talk for a living. But the
(19:03):
point is those dudes can't have agame like that and expect to win.
I mean that that that would bewild um because in and as far as
I know, both are playing inthe PAC twelve tournament. But if one
of them's out, then it's reallydifficult for them to win because the other
team just loads up on one ofthem. But we'll see what Tad Boyle
(19:25):
and his staff come up with.The last thing you want, though,
again, is either one or bothof those guys going bananas, And because
if they do, they got achance to win. Do you want to
make picks in the first round?I want them ready to do that just
yet, now, I think Ithink let's go at this surprise Okay that
you talked about, Okay, surpriseteam day one? Who do you got?
(19:49):
I still think I'm torn because I'veI've seen them both recently and I've
seen them both recently win I'm I'mtorn between Stanford in Oregon State. I
think Oregon State really got themselves somemomentum wow in over the weekend. But
(20:11):
I'm gonna go with Stanford because Ilike that matchup better. I wouldn't be
surprised if Utah eat Oregon State.I wouldn't be surprised if Oregon State beat
Utah. I think Stanford's going tobe motivated knowing that their in state tournament
lives are on the line. SoI think they win that game against Cal
and move on to play UCLA,who they beat a few weeks ago in
(20:32):
Pauli, so they feel like theyhave some confidence there. I think Stanford's
a team that we could be talkingabout by Thursday. Okay, I'm that
would I'm going, I think tome, and I'm just gonna go really
out on a lamb Washington. I'llstick with those guys just because they scare
me. Still concerned about Arizona offensivelybeing a team twice in one week I
(20:53):
think is really hard. I wishWashington was playing someone else other than Arizona.
But look, I look at Daytwo and if CU and ASU plays
gonna be a hell of a game. Stanford Ucla is going to be a
heck of a ball game. EitherArizona or you dub against USC is going
to be a ton of fun.And Oregon looking at either Oregon seat or
(21:14):
Utah I think could be somewhat intriguing, although I picked the Ducks well to
your point, Yeah, how aboutthis Washington. Let's say they do beat
Arizona, who do they have inthe next round? USC? They beat
them by thirty Yeah in Seattle earlyin the season, so they're looking at
that. But the flip side ofthat is you know USC sitting there saying,
okay, if we if we playWashington, we owe them, oh
yeah for what they did us inSeattle. So doubt fascinating stuff if it
(21:37):
does happen. And book both teamsare really different too, which is the
other I think playing very different.I mean SC's got to have so much
confidence with the with the win,with Jonah Matthews hitting the big buzzer beater
three. He was an awesome guestlast week, by the way, on
the podcast. So if you're anSC fan, believe me, we didn't
jam. I'm looking you agree tocome on the podcast. Good thing,
(21:59):
Tom. We'll think about that everyweek and the week before it was mccronan
and they come up at the sweepand they were knocking on the door for
a regular season conference championship. I'mwith you, I'm with you, the
good luck charm banging down our doornext year to do this podcast, I'm
with you is Oregon, clearly,I'll use the air quotes. Best team
(22:25):
in the field. I think theyare, and I think getting Dante back
is We're going to see that paiddividends as this moves along with their depth
and just his size and length atthe rim, dealing with certain matchups they
may run into, especially once theyget to the the NCAA Tournamentum, but
if if you're ever gonna say theone seed could go down this year,
(22:45):
or it could go down any year. This is year just based on what
happened in the regular season. Imean it's not often we see it's happened,
but we don't see it often wherewe see a conference champion at thirteen
and five. Yeah, I meanthat's a little behind schedule per usual.
Usually it's fourteen and four, fifteenand three, something like that. So
it speaks to anybody can beat anybodyin this conference. And we saw it,
(23:11):
but we also know because we sawit last year, Oregon understands this
time of year. They came intothis tournament last year needing to win fourt
again in the NCAA Tournament. Theydid it, and you just wonder if
they're kicking it in to another gearright now saying we want to win the
Packswall tournament so that we carry allthis momentum into the NCAA Tournament and try
and make a deep run. There. So a lot a lot of good
(23:33):
things going for Oregon. And oh, by the way, the player of
the year in the conference, potentiallyNational player of the year Dante five minutes
in his return the other night elevenminutes. Then against cal and then against
Stanford played looking here sixteen minutes.So yeah, I think that's gonna keep
going up, Like I think he'llbe over twenty probably in this tournament.
(23:56):
No, No, it's it's andhe is kind of the difference maker or
this team being a really good teamor a team that's gonna win a conference
championship in the tournament and then makea run in the nc Double A Tournament.
Sc I know they're the four seed. Done. I look at them
though, as I don't want tosay the most balanced team, but there's
(24:18):
a part of me that thinks ofthe top four seeds, and they play
great defense that no one talks about. The guard play has gotten better as
the season's gone on, and theyalready have the best front court in the
conference. Like SC to me,has got all the tools in the toolbox
to win this tournament, no doubt. If we're standing there on Saturday night
and SC wins, it would I'dbe surprised, not at all. And
(24:41):
you've got a couple of seniors thatare motivated. Speaking of talking to Jonah
last week, he talked about himunderstanding and realizing that it's a senior year.
This is his last go round,this is his last chance. They've
probably done enough that they're solidly inthe NCAA tournament, but why not go
out with a PAC twelve tournament championshipand get that momentum that we always talk
about heading into the NCAA tournament.So yeah, I'm with you. I
(25:04):
I have no problem with anyone pickingUSC to win this Pack twelve tournament.
You lose on a buzzer beater orthree if you're UCLA and it snaps a
seven game winning streak and you wereplaying for at least a share of the
regular season title. Does that changeat all your perception of this team.
No? And I only say nobecause of how they're built and what got
(25:26):
them that center seven game win streak. And to quote myself and one that
I've used for years, Yeah,that's right. Defense travels. And so
normally, if you're a team builton skill or you just got hot from
like behind the three point line,that's why you were on that winning streak.
I could see it maybe affecting you. But the way mccronin has has
(25:48):
coached these guys this year and finallygotten them to buy in on the defensive
end, just bring what you've beenbringing. Look tip your captain Matthews.
You made an unbelievable shot, butyou had the game one if he misses
it, And so you can't loseany confidence from that. You can't lose
any belief from that, because beliefis what's gotten you that win streak before
(26:10):
that. So i'm i'm I thinkUCLA will be fine, and it'll just
be whether or not teams well itfigured out how to beat that UCLA defense.
Um and if the UCLA defense isas right as it has been for
the last month or so. CanI throw something your way of Stanford wins
and beats Cal and I don't knowif that's gonna happen. I love Matt
(26:32):
Bradley. I think he should bemost Improved Player of the Year. But
let's just already gave it to him. Yeah, it's done. Oh it's
talking about um Stanford. If Stanfordand UCLA play, can you imagine a
game? It might be first tofifty two in that and shooting field goal
percentages in the low thirties. Imean, that could be a really ugly
game. What's interesting is when Stanfordbeat Ucla. I I believe I have
(26:57):
to look it up. I thinkwhen stan for beat UCLA and Pauly that
was the right before UCLA went ontheir run. I think that was the
last game they lost at home becausethey beat Cal at home, right and
I think that started the win streakif I'm not mistaken. So you know
Stanford was obviously playing, but becausethat was the game for Stanford. Speaking
(27:18):
of momentum, where they win thatgame, they're up twenty at halftime to
USC. They falter in the secondhalf and blow the game. At the
end, and that started Stanford's downwardspiral, losing seven of eight. So
it's so interesting what happens from whatthe outcome of one game can do or
seemingly do. But it'll be agood game, no doubt, because UCLA
(27:42):
is way better than they were whenStanford beat him in Polly And I think
Stanford, even though you know theydidn't have a great weekend in Oregon,
has gotten back on track to acertain degree. As us offense right now,
I think is the one thing thatcarries them, Like if I'm looking,
I'm looking at my bracket right nowor in best Player. Pretty balanced
(28:03):
on both offense and defense. I'dsay sc really like them in terms of
efficiency offense and defense. Worried aboutUCLA's offense, and we saw that kind
of over the weekend as well,especially in that first half the other day.
But asu, I don't I don'teven know what to make of this
team. I mean, offensively,it's it sometimes feels like Verge and Remy
(28:25):
make it happen, and then onthe defensive side, I get concerned.
I think there's some radic play attimes, which is part of the reason.
Now I think the draw is nicefor him, right because Colorado I
think they can. That's a goodmatchup for him. I think if it's
either Stanford or UCLA a little bitlater in round number three, like that
to me is also a good matchupfor him. You know, although if
(28:47):
it's UCLA or Stanford, I mean, heck, maybe they just lock them
down and defensively, shots aren't goingdown and they lose. Like here's here's
the deal with Arizona State, Likeyou know, you're what you're gonna get
with Remy, he's one of theelite players in our conference. Verges come
on and become more consistent. It'sreally about same as Stanford. For them,
they have to make threes. They'renot a very good three point shooting
team or haven't been. But ifEdwards gets going and he can make threes
(29:11):
along with Virgin and Remies, Iguess my point is, if you get
all three of those guys going atthe same time, they are awfully hard
to deal with. But it's justbeen kind of hit and miss with them
from behind the three point line isa three man group. Defensively, I
feel like they've been pretty good.They're not big, they're not a great
rebounding team because they're not big.But I just think what teams have figured
(29:34):
out what Arizona State is. Youcan't let them just catch rip and go,
meaning drive it and get into theteeth of your defense. So teams
have packed it in a little bitand said, you're not beating us with
penetration, So you're going to haveto make some perimeter shots. But in
the games where Arizona State has wonand played well, they have made threes.
And so again I go back tothe building that we're playing in.
(29:56):
Are they going to be able tomake enough threes playing in that give an
arena? We're gonna find out.But to me, it's pretty simple with
ASU. They have to make perimetershots to win. So we'll see.
Don if look if they go fourteentriples like they did and the win at
home against UCLA, right, justtake the sharpie out, put him in
the semis. I mean, that'sright, beating Stanford or UCLA, it
(30:18):
doesn't even matter they're beating Colorado.If all three of those guys have it
going, that's that's semi finals.That's pactwelve championship, no doubt. And
you hate to simplify to that tothat just one area. But I really
think it is because you look atthe games where they've really played well,
they have way more threes made thanthe games where they didn't play as well.
(30:40):
And I go back to that seniorthink Edwards is a senior and maybe
he's viewing this the same way Matthewsis. It's my last go round.
I'm gonna go off from behind theline, and if he does, that's
the great sign for a SU anda great sign that they could win this
pactwelve tournament. All right, onceagain, just a reminder all the games
Wednesday, start coverage eleven thirty amon PAC twelve network. Earl Watson will
(31:06):
be on the show tomorrow with uson the podcast. A sneak preview of
that interview coming up here. ButDon, it's my favorite time of the
show, the story time with DonMcLean. All right, Yeah, so
I spoiled it earlier telling everyone thatwe're having Earl Watson on tomorrow, that
we already did the podcast with him, and we spent we spend a lot
(31:30):
of time with Earl talking about UCLAand the men's gym and the impact of
that and what happens there and youcan tune in tomorrow to hear all that.
But it triggered my memory of astory. And he brings up Magic
Johnson a few times as well.And so with Magic at the men's gym,
he didn't come all the time,like there was guys that came here,
(31:51):
like Michael Cooper was there, ByronScott, those guys were there like
most days. Magic didn't come everyday, probably because he was Magic Johnson.
But when he did come, he, similar to Michael Jordan's, Magic
would just take whoever, like hewasn't trying to get like a loaded team
because he knew he was winning regardless. And it was understood by them by
the time I started coming to themen's gym that Magic was on the middle
(32:14):
court. You know there's three there'sthree courts in the men's gym. The
main court was the middle court obviously, and Magic started on the middle court
and ended on the middle court.Like Magic Johnson never lost a game in
the men's gym. And you're saying, well, wow, he was that
good that he never lost one,Well, this is the story. So
this was probably I think I wasa junior going into my junior senior year
(32:36):
at UCLA and it's the last gameof the day. So games games went
to nine by ones. I believeI should ask or all I forget.
I think, yeah, I thinkit was nines or maybe a change.
It might have been seven or nineor eleven whatever. So let's just say
we're going to nine and oh no, it was seven by ones. That's
what it was. And so we'replaying the game, and it didn't cross
(33:00):
it didn't. It didn't. Itdidn't cross my mind at the time.
But we get to six to six. You know, they have six,
we have six, and so I'mplaying it and I'm guarding Magic Johnson K
for game winner. I'm thinking,man, I I need to get a
stop. You know, you neverloses on this court. And so I'm
(33:21):
guarding him, and he was shootingthe shot, that whole thing where you
know, the best player on thecourt shoots the last shot kind of thing.
Yeah, I am not exaggerating.He called thirteen straight fouls on game
point, and probably six of themwere actually fouls, until finally on the
thirteenth that he called. He threwup some wild hook shot from like fifteen
(33:45):
feet and it went in game.And so I said to him, I'm
like, Magic, So like,were you going to call a foul the
whole time? And he just walkedoff game over his team won. And
so a couple of years ago whenhe was in the Lakers front office,
this is funny. I Uh,we were doing we had our pro day
for CIA for pre draft, andhe was there and Chris Paul was there
(34:08):
all the CEA guys. So I'mstanding with Chris Paul with Magic and a
couple other guys, and somehow itcame up about the men's gym and I
said, and I said to Chris, I'm like, CP, can you
believe this guy one time called thirteenstraight fouls and on game point And Chris
goes yeah, and I'm like Magic, He's like and your point yeah.
(34:35):
And so we laughed about it.But just just a funny story from back
then that Magic and how competitive hewas. He never lost a game in
the men's gym game. Blouses,Um, I'm breaking out something that Earl
had said over the over the weekend. You did you watch Chapelle show back
that day, said the Prince momentswhen they're playing basketball a game. Blass
(35:00):
has anyway beside that point. Sowe're just thinking about some of those vowls
and Magic Man, I can't evenimagine just how he did. And not
for nothing, Don, and Iknow you weren't shy about talking because you
imagine though, if there was anotherNBA player that was checking Magic and kept
calling vows, it would have beenthe same thing. He's Magic freaking Johnson.
It doesn't matter. Like nobody trumpedat that time, Magic Johnson.
(35:22):
I mean, I guess if MichaelJordan had walked in there, maybe,
but like Magic Johnson was Magic Johnson. And you can complain all you want,
but it's a foul. Just wildwild absolutely love that stuff. And
you've talked about your experience with alot of those NBA guys the last couple
of years. There's definitely some playersand at least on this podcast, Don,
(35:45):
you've been tracking guys that are hopingto play at the next level,
different guys that you've analyzed, evensome over the years that you've worked out
to get ready for the draft.You're focusing in on one big right now
and the back twelve to the NBA. So let's talk about Kyler Kelly.
(36:08):
I like to do guys that I'verecently seen and I was being Corvallis for
the weekend doing both games, andhe's obviously a senior so will be part
of the pre draft process. Let'sstart with the measurables. You know,
the wide shoulders for a seven footguy, which he like, long arms,
which he like. He's a goodathlete, he's a good runner,
(36:29):
and he's really bouncy. So froma from an athletics standpoint and from a
measurable standpoint, you really like himat the next level. The problem is
he I shouldn't say the problem whathe doesn't have is a lot of basketball
playing experience. He's it's not likehe started playing at seven years old and
here we are as a college senior. He picked a game up late,
(36:50):
so he misses out on a lotof not a lot of some of skill
that would you would hope that hewould have in terms of on the offensive
side. That being said, he'scome along like he can shoot it much
better now from the mid range.He can put it on the deck a
little bit. He had to movethe other day against Cal that was really
good where he crossed the guy overand then spun back. It was good
(37:13):
stuff. You can tell he's beencoached on that and so, but really
in terms of instincts is where he'sbehind a little bit and you say to
herself, well, he leads theleague in block shots, what do you
want? I didn't realize this untilthis weekend. Yeah, he's not in
the top twenty in the league andrebounding And how is that as a seven
(37:34):
foot, bouncy, long arm guy. It's because of those instincts or lack
of instincts that put him out ofposition a lot. Like you appreciate that
he wants to block a lot ofshots, but good shot blockers don't jump
at everything. They understand and theyfeel in they sense when they can go
get a shot and go get it. Kelly just kind of jumps at everything
(37:54):
and misses a lot of block shots. So now there's a ton of week
side rebounding. Race Tinkle gets sevenand a half rebounds a game because Kelly
a lot of the time is outof position. And so if you're looking
at him as a draftable prospect,is he an elite shot blocker? No,
because the numbers would say he is. But if you watch tape on
(38:15):
him, he's out of position waytoo much. Can that be coached?
Yeah? I think it can becoached to a certain degree, but really
what I think it comes down tois more games played for him in more
reps to understand that and get moreof a feel for the defensive side in
terms of rim protection, because whenpeople say rim protection, it's not just
block shots. That's part of it. It's banging shots at the rim,
(38:37):
but more importantly being in position torebound. And that's just something that he
hasn't gotten ahold of in his coupleof years at Oregon State. But that
doesn't mean somebody's not going to lookat him and see what I'm talking about
and see the physical talent he hasand give him a chance. It's going
to be similar to Drew Eubanks thatthey had where he went way too early,
(39:00):
shouldn't have declared, and he becamea G League guy and now he's
getting some time with the Spurs.He's been up and down a little bit,
and I think that's gonna be thepath for Kyler Kelly, where somebody
will give them a two way contractor put them on their G League team,
and then it's going to be upto him to put in the work
to make him make himself an NBAplayer. You Banks better offensive player though,
(39:21):
right, I think so? Yeah, at this stage, I would
say they're similar, yeam in termsof and I'm talking about offense, meaning
can you get me a bucket onthe block, can you step out?
Can you pick and pop and screenrole? But all these guys have to
get out to the NBA three pointline eventually, Like they don't want you
picking and popping shooting twelve footers,like that's not a part of NBA offense.
(39:45):
But I would say similar at thisstage, Mike, with you Banks
and Kelly in terms of offense.Well, look, he's gonna have to
have a big impact because you likeOregon State in round number one. You
feel like they're confident basketball team whenthey take on Utah, and then if
they win, they'll get the oneseed in Oregon and their arrival, which
could make for a pretty good gameas well, especially because now we'll get
(40:07):
to see a little bit of Danteand hopefully he's out there creeping closer to
full strength against Kyler Kelly. Sojust something to keep in mind. By
the way, Oregon State Utah startsthe coverage Wednesday, eleven thirty am.
We got the pregame show for everyonethat pregame show, Matt Muellbauch and Earl
Watson will be on set with mefor the entire day, in fact,
(40:30):
the entire three days of the tournament. Tomorrow on the podcast, Earl Watson
is going to be our guest.Don You've made reference to it. He
was absolutely tremendous. Here's a sneakpeek at that conversation. My first guy
to UCLA, The first person Imet in the office was Coach Wooden.
Then Doug who is Doug is?You know, there's a lot of coaches
(40:52):
to come through us, but DougEricson is our stable. He's been there
for at least twenty five thirty years. Dug with me from the off this
of meet and coachwood into Pauli Pavilionand that's where I met Magic Johnson,
who was you know, about toplay pick up with Michael Cooper and Norm
Nixon, Keiki Vanderway. And Magicwas like, hey, nice to meet
you, welcome. If you wantto get better, be here tomorrow morning
(41:14):
at eight And I got there thenext day at seven o'clock. So like
just being a mentor about Magic andWho and Derek Martin and Mitchell Butler,
Chauncey, Billups, Kobe Bryant,Shouldquille O'Neill. The list goes on and
own. You can't get there anywhere, You can't get there anywhere else.
Don day one on campus for youand Westwood. Do you remember what that
was like? As we heard Earl'sDay one, which is pretty spectacular.
(41:38):
Well, I told the story earlyin the in the in the year of
my first freshman summer program. Ihad obviously been to UCLA because I lived
close to it, But first dayof freshman summer program men's Jim first opponent
James Worthy, which was pretty coolstuff. So I guess the point is
if you go to UCLA as arecruited basketball player, your first day,
(42:00):
you're probably going to meet somebody famous. That's the moral of the story.
Not bad, some pretty good namesthat have walked through that gym. Don
awesome job by you is always geta little bit of a rest before the
travel to Vegas. You and Iwill be getting after it all week long
on PAC twelve network, and yeah, we'll have some fun this week.
Yeah, I'm looking forward to Welook forward to it every year, and
(42:22):
I know every year we say,oh, anything could happen, but like
this year, you can really sayit did. Anything's gonna happen. I
am anything could happen. Totally withyou on that. Can't thank everyone enough
for listening to the podcast. Ifyou see it on social media, give
it a share rate, subscribe orreview the pod. Greatly appreciate that are
always holding it down for us.Don I will see you this week in Vegas.
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