Hour 3 - Bruce Pearl

Thoughts on the NCAA Tournament and why the gap is wider than ever

Another edition of Best For Last

 

Guest: Bruce Pearl

#douggottliebshow

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
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Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Welcome in. This is
the Herd.

Speaker 3 (00:28):
Wherever you may be, and how are you maybe making
us part of your day. I'm Doug Gottlieb in for
Colin Calherd home the first day of the unci A Tournament.
I'm gonna do something here that we hadn't planned on
doing it. I know, like Ryan Music and.

Speaker 2 (00:52):
Craig two Ears.

Speaker 3 (00:52):
So there going what we got this whole setup? Ryan.
Ryan's sitting there, Hey, dude, just don't talk about Star
Wars like it's any of the new ones or any
good Ryan's are resident Star Wars aficionado. I just so,
I'm ten months into being a head coach in college. Okay,

(01:15):
let me start with the opening statement. It's the coolest
thing ever. And look, this is coming off a year
where my team lost twenty two games in a row
and like New and inventive waves of getting hurt, bad officiating. Hey,
we had some bad game plans. We just had some
bad games. We had some great games, and we had
one and we just couldn't close, like you name it.

(01:38):
And I'm watching high Point take on Purdue. They're down
five with fifteen and a half to go in the
second half. I'm watching Creighton and it's getting a little tighter.
It's twelve point game, and it's the high Point per
new thing is really really interesting because despite what our
record is, just about every one of those games, we

(02:03):
weren't just competitive. You know, we're down a point to
Oklahoma State, We're down I think a point to Providence
at the half. We're down a point or two to
Ohio State at the half as well. I think we
haven't even more down more to Ohia stated we cut
that thing to eight in the second half. The Drake

(02:23):
game was tied with four minutes to go, and Drake's
really really good. And then you go into our conference
and you know, we had lead after lead in the
second half, and it's it's just it's there's so much
you don't know on the outside. And I'll be interested
to see as I watch these games. How many teams

(02:45):
that are underdogs or have younger players, how much they
do some of the things that that we've done. Right,
I'll give you an example we have tried. We tried
to milk the clock in some games. We had leads in.

Speaker 4 (03:05):
Tooey.

Speaker 3 (03:05):
You have any idea how you do that? Because I
know too it because he his kids played basketball and
baseball whatever. So in college basketball, the clock runs on
a made shot, but the shot clock doesn't run until
you touch the basketball. So and like we played Oakland
and Grey Campy at the end of the year and

(03:26):
we were up fourteen the second half. Don't ask me
how we lost. Like it's it's like a it's like
a fable. I'm like watching it happen. It's hard. But
we had taught our players to, hey, we have a lead,
like we did the old milking thing, like we're gonna milk,
which means they make a basket, you let it bounce.

(03:46):
And then we did everything from like guys will tie
their shoes to guy taking the ball and bounce, finally
touches it, throws it to the ref ref throws it
back to him. If you do it, think about this, Okay,
there's on average, we're play in sixty five possession games, right,
So if you can milk ten seconds off of a

(04:08):
clock for five or six possessions, six possessions, that's two
less possessions for the other team two. And you start
to do the math and you have the lead, and
you're like, okay, you have a ten point lead. Two
less possessions. Those are massively important. Massive There's other parts

(04:30):
of the math where when we had seven fouls, if
they had a sub sixty percent free throw shooter, we
would I'd sub players in who didn't play that much
to intentionally foulow those players again using the math, when
you say somebody's a fifty seven percent free throw shooter,
they're not fifty Like, well they make one of two,
that's not actually outworks the fifty seven percent chance of

(04:50):
making each one, right, So we would we would do
the math in hey, you know, normally you'd go U
two for one. We try and go three for two
where you'd foul and then get the ball and then
if you make or miss, foul again make or miss
and then go again. So the more possessions you have,

(05:11):
the more you play. The it's called PPP points per possession.
You're trying to use math to give yourself every possible
advantage to winning a game, knowing there are better players, right,
and the more possessions they have, the more likely they
are to win. Because they got better older players, they're
going to be better or more efficient. And oh yeah,

(05:33):
by the way, probably better coaches too, because they're older
and more experienced they've done all these things. But I'm
watching you know, high Point and Creighton, and the high
Point coach used to coach at Creighton under Greg McDermott.
And so there's some aspects of it. But the way
in which you coach and do the exact same things
when you have the lesser talent or the lesser experience

(05:55):
or the shrink shrunken bench can change dramatically. And then
the other part too. It is and I've always thought this,
and then when I covered the NCAA tournament, I knew
it to be true, which is a lot of these games.
If you don't you're not paying attention or you're just gambling.
You look at the final score you're like, oh, that

(06:17):
game was a ten point game, Like well, not really,
it was a one point game. And then this and
this happened, and it spun out of control. It got
to be seven. They fouled late. It ends up being
a ten point game. Like I don't know what this
ends up as with Perdue and high Point, but right
now it's forty seven to forty one. Perdue just got

(06:38):
called for an offensive foul. It's very much a close game,
very much a close game. Now, your marching for error
is really really slight. When you're playing against a Purdue
team that has five players on the floor that played
in a national championship game last year, and they've played
you know, fifty some odd Big Ten games last year

(07:00):
years together, counting the Big Ten Tournament. You look at
the game so differently when you've been truly in the game,
truly in the game. The other part to it, which
is I would love and no one actually really knows
I would love and I would love. Oh man, here's

(07:22):
another example. Forty seven forty one high point drives in,
misses a layup, misses a layup. If they make that layup,
it's a three point game. It feels like a completely
different basketball game. Then now a excuse me, it's a six.
It would have been a five. Uh, it would have

(07:43):
been a six it would have been a four point game.
Now it's a six point game, and let's say produce
scores here, then it's eight. Now a sudden, it feels
completely different. The other thing we would do again, and
that's probably exactly what's gonna happen. The other thing we
would do is, you know, you have you have a
timeout every four minutes in college basketball. So for example,

(08:06):
right now, there's twelve minutes and fifty nine seconds to
go in the second half. High Point just fouled, and
so Purdue is going to go to the line. So
if you're high Point, you want to go and try
and obviously want to score. Work, got a box out
in the free throw, go down and score, get a stop,
go down and score. And then do you want to

(08:29):
foul if you're not in the bonus in order to
stop the clock to get that get to that timeout
so you can regroup yourself if you're fatigued. It makes sense.
There's so many different things in which you can manipulate,
manipulate the clock and try and give yourself the best
possible opportunity to win the basketball game. It does feel

(08:50):
a little bit like the election. There's four minutes to go.
I'm almost ready to call it for Creighton, uh taking
on louis taking on Louisll. They're up fourteen. There was
just either an intention or a technical foul that would
be Many people thought Louisville was underseated. I did not.
I thought they were both sort of underseated, leading to
kind of an even matchup. The point that I really

(09:13):
want to at some point get to is there's always
been a disparity in the haves and have nots in
college basketball. It's why we have It's why we have
the Cinderella stories. Right one bid league, a league that
or a team that struggled in their regular season and
then finally won the postseason and got there. But now

(09:38):
it's it's really interesting. I used this example earlier on
the show Tennessee takes on Wafford Tennessee takes on Wafford
The Vaults, which is short of for volunteers take on
the Terriers of Wafford.

Speaker 2 (09:58):
And did we come up?

Speaker 3 (09:59):
Was it thirty to one? It's somewhere in the let's
just say twenty eight twenty eight like two. What is
that two hundred and eighty percent or twenty eight to
one in terms of the ratio I would guess in
terms of salaries of Tennessee's players to salaries of Wafford players.

(10:23):
I just I would love as we come down the
end of the game. Now High Point does by all estimations,
it's a very well funded school. I think their nil
number is probably close to a million dollars for their team,
which is really really high, highest in their league, and
produce is probably two and a half to three, two

(10:46):
and a half to three. So you want to talk
about upsets, It's one thing to upset a team because
you're a team from the Big South or this you know,
the SoCon or last year the Horizon League. But to
beat a team that has that literally poaches. I mean,
Kentucky's a perfect example. Their salary structure. All those guys

(11:07):
make a lot of money. But what they did was
it's like the Noah's Ark of plans. They got two
of everything. They got two centers, they got two point guards,
they got two wings, two of everything. And the landscape
of the sport has always favored the teams with more talent,
the teams with more experience, the teams with more resources,

(11:29):
but never more so than now, never more so than
now and it will never happen. But what would it
be like if you turn on CBS or you turn
on Turner and you're watching the NCAA tournament and at
some point they flashed up the salaries because it would
feel like Major League Baseball. It would feel like the

(11:50):
A's take it on the Yankees, or the A's taken
on the Dodgers, or the Rays taken on the Dodgers. Right,
that's really what we're dealing with. Actually, commend the committee.
I commend the committee on At the end of the day,
while Oklahoma struggled in the SEC, part of it is

(12:12):
every game Oklahoma's playing against is against a virtual all
star team of coaches and portal players. Like I know
for a fact that one team in the SEC, I
have a couple of really good friends or SEC head coaches,
and their salary structure this past year was, Hey, we

(12:33):
have a couple of seven or fifty thousand dollars guys,
and then the rest of our starting lineup is like
three hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Okay, that is thirty
x to what we're spending at our level. And that's

(12:54):
not an excuse, that's just a reality. Now, do we
have to get closer and be more competitive in our
own league? Of course, But I remember playing Ohio State
and we're playing them in Columbus, and we're playing them
in a guarantee game, and you know, they kind of
fell apart late in the season. But I walked into

(13:16):
the locker room. It was an eight point game, and
then they hit a couple of shots. It got to
be twelve to fifteen. I emptied the bench. It kind
of spiraled. The game looked way worse than it actually was.
It was super competitive for about thirty two thirty four minutes,
and one of my assistants, you know, put his arm
around me, is like, Coach, that's a three million dollar team.

(13:41):
You're like, yeah, it is, it really is. Wouldn't that
be interesting? Again, It'll never happen. But if they put
the salary just the overall you don't have to put
the individual salaries for players, but if you put the
salaries for the teams on the screen when you're coming

(14:02):
down the wire, here's Wafford, whose overall salaries in their
nil collective is two hundred and ten thousand dollars. I
don't know that's the number. I'm just making that up.
I'm guessing it somewhere between one hundred and two hundred
and fifty. I have no idea where it lands. Take
it on Tennessee, whose salaries total four million dollars. Again,

(14:27):
I don't know if it's four. I'm guessing it's between
three and a half and four and a half. That's
what it takes to be an elite team in college basketball,
and they are an absolutely an elite team. How would
you look at the game, how would you look at
the chance of an upset? Who would you cheer for?
What would it be like for you as a fan?
It's just a question. I don't know what the answer is.

(14:49):
That's how the landscape of sport has changed. I spoke
to a couple of I talked to an athletic director
who's in the Big twelve.

Speaker 5 (15:00):
Next year.

Speaker 3 (15:00):
And again, I don't know if you guys know this.
They're doing what's called revenue sharing. Right, So football gets
I think it's like thirteen million dollars, and then basketball
get between twelve two and a half and three and
a half million dollars. You pay from the school, you
pay the players. The difference is in the sec They're
still going to have their collectives and they'll throw in

(15:21):
probably two and a half million more six million dollars payrolls,
which is what Indiana reportedly had this year. So the
reason these jobs are coming open more quickly than they
ever have before is people have always donated money, but
now they feel like they're donating money for players. I'm
buying players for you. You need to perform and produce

(15:42):
right now, and there's no question. I'm just be candid.
I felt like there was a portion of time in
the season when home games felt like more pressure because
all of the people that sit right across from our bench,
no matter how reasonable they were, that we got the
job late. We had some academic restrictions, the portal was

(16:05):
essentially fleeced. Just it wasn't time or money or resources.
And it's just hard. And we went with young players
as opposed to getting guys with bad track records. But
we know that no matter the amount they're giving their
hard earned money to try and help you, help you
get a basketball team that can perform, and you want

(16:26):
to perform for them. It's different, more pressure packed than
ever before. And I guess I just wonder two things. One,
how would you look at it, and two, doesn't it
feel like there's a greater gap in talent and in
resources than there's ever been Because they still have the

(16:47):
new arena, they still have the practice facility, they still
have the charter planes, they still have the better gear,
they still have more coaches, better training, they still have
all those other things. And then they have all the
money for their players, which isn't just at the top end,
but those schools will pay freshmen six figures to not play,

(17:11):
which gives them great depth at they're practices, and if
somebody goes down, they have the next guy up, whereas
everybody else has to figure out do I put most
of my money in a player or two and what
happens if that player or two go down with an injury.
It's fascinating, and yet all people care about the bracket.

(17:34):
Creighton is up twelve with a minute forty five to go.
Purdue is up eight with nine and a half to go.
We'll keep you updated. I'm Doug Gottliebin for Colin. This
is the herd Hey earlier this week, speaking of one
of those elite teams, Bruce Pearl's been a friend of
mine for thirty twenty five years or so, and I

(17:57):
don't know if you guys know, I have a show.
It's called The Doug Gottlieb Show. It follow this show
on most Fox Sports Radio Phillis. I caught up with
him earlier this week. We thought it was fun, we
thought it was interesting. What's it like to go from
a Division two coach coaching inter National champions champion, taking
Auburn to a Final four and now being the hunt

(18:17):
dead as opposed to the Hunter you'll find out from
Bruce Parl next in the Herd.

Speaker 6 (18:22):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and Noone Eastern not a im Pacific, Noug goll They've
been for Collin.

Speaker 4 (18:28):
This is the Hurd.

Speaker 3 (18:28):
Fox Sports Radio, iHeartRadio app high point for doing is close.
We'll get you updated on that one. Looks like Creyton
is going to beat Louisville. So I can ten point
lead fifty nine point four to go. I'm gonna I'm
not gonna call it. It's college basketball, not gonna call it,
but definitely trending in the way of Creighton, trending in

(18:50):
the way of Creighton. More on that, we'll get you
an update with Herd Line News, but I wanted to
bring you a conversation I had with Auburn head coach
Bruce Parol par Full disclosure. Bruce and I have known
each other for years. My dad from nineteen seventy five
to nineteen eighty was head coach at EDW Milwaukee. When
Bruce took over that job. That was his first Division

(19:11):
one job, coming from Southern Indiana. Southern Indiana is now
Division one, but used to be Division two. They won
Division two national championship. One of the first calls he
made was to my dad to say, hey, like, how'd
you do it here? What's it like anybody you know
that's still around again. I know it was like thirty
years later, but that's one of the things that you
do when you get a job. And we're both Jewish,

(19:32):
we're miss Booka. I actually got a chance to be
his assistant coach on a team that went to Israel.
I didn't make the trip because my wife had had
a baby. Was just turned sixteen yesterday, so this is
sixteen years ago, or actually seventeen years ago. I did
a training camp with him, we did roster selection, everything,
and we've been really close friends ever since. So I

(19:54):
hosted Doug Gottlieb Show, which you can download and listen
to wherever you download podcast. We have a daily podcast
and radio show three hours of content just typing. Doug
Gottlieb and Bruce joined me two days ago and I
asked him about the ever changing landscape of NIL and
college basketball.

Speaker 4 (20:13):
Well, you know, Doug, it's the SEC our slogan, is
it sort of? It just means more and the toughest
league in the country is the one you're in. Okay,
So when you were in the Horizon League this year
at green at Green Bay, that was the toughest league
in the country for you. And so what that means
was we recognized that the SEC was going to be

(20:35):
committed to supporting student athletes in the area of NIOL. Obviously,
you know football is going to take the lion's share
because of you know just how much revenue is driven
from those football programs. But the basketball programs weren't terribly
far behind. And the difference between our league and most
other leagues, well, let's just say specifically, take the ACC

(20:58):
for example, the only Duke or Louisville or Clemson or
a couple other schools were committed in the in the
area of nil for their basketball programs and the others
weren't and as a result, they're tele level dropped off.
Still great coaches, still great programs, whereas in the SEC
sixteen schools invested, I mean really invested. And yeah, you know, look, Doug,

(21:24):
I still look at this as this profession, as ministerial.
You know, recruiting has become more transactional. At the same time,
you know, I'm a free market guy. I'm a capitalist.
I believe in this republic, in this country, and I
believe that you know, the market is going to set
with some is worse and all. All that's happened is
we have recognized finally that these student athletes are are

(21:48):
really of greater value, value than what they were really
appreciated for. Everybody else was making money except the student athletes.
That was wrong. The NCAA was slow to adjust. Now,
of course, you know, we have a situation where there
are no guard lines, there are no guard rails. We
won't really have it. We did not really have a
national chip in football this year. Ohio State had had

(22:11):
the longest down. I also did Texas. So did the
people of schools. They were the schools that advanced and
you know, in basketball it won't quite mean the same,
uh because because we're not all playing by the same rules.
I hope Congress can get some legislation done, get some
anti trust protection and there so we can pay the
student athletes. But on a more you know, on on

(22:33):
on a level that we're all playing by the same rules.

Speaker 3 (22:37):
On one hand, you get a top seed. On the
other hand, you've lost three of your last four. I
think that the only question with losing is has it
adjusted or hurt the confidence level of the team into
where you actually stand in the landscape. Do you know
the answer to that?

Speaker 4 (22:56):
I don't know that great question. I don't know the
answer to it yet, you know. But but I don't
think we're winning, Jeffy, because we're confident. And I don't
think we've lost because we've lost our confidence. Now we
we we we did miss some free throws in our
last game against Tennessee that would have made a big difference. Okay,
and sometimes confidence the three free to line, you know,

(23:18):
can can be a factor. But the three teams we
lost to we lost to a four seat at six
A and M we lost to a two seat in
UH Alabama and lost to a two seat at So
we lost to all, you know, really really good teams.
But all I can tell you is the practices have
been good, the attitude has been really good, and we're
in you know, we're excited about playing and we're you know,

(23:40):
we're in a good position to finish this thing, right.

Speaker 3 (23:42):
Having been to the final four income oh so close?

Speaker 4 (23:45):
Right?

Speaker 3 (23:45):
Losing just a crazy, crazy controversial call. Uh, you know
you've won this thing at the Division two level, But
how do you not get ahead of yourself?

Speaker 4 (23:54):
Right?

Speaker 3 (23:55):
Because I just wonder, like you all, every coach has that,
you know, as players, you have it where you think
of all the things you should have done, and I've
done this, we would have won the national championship. How
do you not get ahead of yourselves to game five
in game six when you got to worry about games
one through four?

Speaker 4 (24:12):
Well, you know the answer to that. It's real simple.
Right now, I can only see four other teams in
this tournament, and that's Saint Francis and Alabama State, Creighton
and Louisville. And we are in a tournament. We're gonna
play two games and one of those four teams or
five including Auburn is advancing to the Sweet sixteenth, and
that's what we're focused on, truly, what we I'm not

(24:33):
even sure what's next weekend. You know, I think Mission
States of two. I think IWA States in our bracket too,
But I mean, I'm really not looking ahead. I'm just
taking a look at this right now and making our
making sure our team is at the same time. But
I will say this, I've never been a one seat,
but I was born to be a twelve seat, Okay.
I was born in a twelve seat, okay. And so

(24:56):
but we do have a team that I feel life,
I should get to the final fourth. I'm going to
feel like we should. I feel like we're good enough
to And what you would like to have happened is
you would like along the way, if you do lose,
you would like for somebody to beat you, like somebody
really played exceptionally well, and as a result of playing

(25:17):
exceptionally well, we lost. And that's like the position I
had to put my team.

Speaker 2 (25:22):
In, right down, Yeah, it is. It is weird.

Speaker 3 (25:24):
Right twenty years ago, you took UWM to the Sweet
sixteen right now, and you know, and and it was all,
it was all We're the hunter now you're the hunt dead.
That's that that's an amazing kind of transformation. But it's
it's different for you. It's different for Auburt now. I
I Albert was a one seed. We played against him
in the second round in ninety nine. Chris Porter, Doc Robinson,

(25:48):
Scott Poulsen I think was his name. He lived, yea,
oh he lit us up in Indy. Really close game
we lost. But it's a it's a different thing because
because the crowd turns on you, right like if you
if that game is closed, all of a sudden, you
look up, You're like, hold on, wait, why how do
we get How does this become a road game? Have

(26:10):
you ever experienced Have you experienced that yet in the
tournament where you've experienced being in a road game? But
when you're the favorite and suddenly the crowd turns on
you because everyone cheers for the upset.

Speaker 4 (26:19):
Yeah, well we we We felt that way last year
in Manzaga. UH against against UH when we're we're against you,
but you know what, we're gonna have plenty of people
from Auburn and Lexington. The crowd made sure that the
crowd may turn on us, that's fine. UH and I've been,
I've cross turned on me my whole life. So I

(26:40):
don't care. I have Doug, Doug I want to be.
I want to be the coach that everybody else in
the league hates, okay, because you know why they You
know when the road teams actually like opposing coaches, then
they like opposing coaches that can't beat their team. I'm
going to bring a team and that's gonna be able
to beat you tonight. And I don't care if you
like me or not. Get over it. And so I've
been my whole life. So that's like think my name

(27:01):
is Bruce. So they when I come out, they're already
brewing me. And so I'm used to it.

Speaker 3 (27:07):
All right, I know you got to go, but I
got two things. First, I'm thinking late October exhibition game.
We raise money, hold on, we raise money for any
Israeli cause you would like, Okay, we get mister Gruber
to sponsor it at the Rest Center, and then we
go and we and then we go in your my treat,

(27:28):
we go to lambeau Field. Afterwards.

Speaker 4 (27:31):
Let's let's talk about it. Let's talk about it.

Speaker 6 (27:34):
Is a no, give me a yes, Bruce.

Speaker 4 (27:37):
Hey, listen, you know. I. I try to raise a
lot of money for Israel Obviousrael Kai, but when it
comes to Auburn basketball, I gotta raise the money. Money.

Speaker 3 (27:46):
Hey, we can do we can do that, Listen, we
can definitely, we can definitely do that.

Speaker 2 (27:50):
That dude, last thing.

Speaker 3 (27:52):
Have your birthday?

Speaker 4 (27:53):
He did? How about that? Hey, listen, when you become
a senior citizen, do you stop celebrating birthdays? That's what
I want to know. I'm now a senior citizen. My
brandy makes so much funny. I'm getting all kinds of
male from Medicaid. I'm getting all these a ARP cards.
I now can get a senior cit again, early bird discount,
and being Jewish, I'm looking for all that. I'm looking

(28:14):
for a discount on a meal or I'm looking for
that senior citizen discount. I can say that.

Speaker 3 (28:20):
By the way, we know what your age is. Fitzing
all over yourself, Bruce, bess of luck. We'll see in
San Antonio, hopefully on the sidelines. Thanks for joining us.

Speaker 4 (28:26):
Have birthday. I missed you, my friend, I missed.

Speaker 2 (28:29):
You, all right.

Speaker 3 (28:31):
That's Bruce Berler this week on The Doug Gottlieb Show.
If you missed any of the Doug Gottlieb Show. Have
you never heard of it? Just download it, subscribe, rate,
review all that stuff. Check it out wherever you pick
up podcasts. In the meantime. This is the herd Uh
Doug gotliebin for call. Let's get to write music with
the news.

Speaker 2 (28:46):
No, no heard on the news. This take the herd
line news.

Speaker 7 (28:51):
Hey ran, oh, Doug one in the books, my friend,
one of the books. Creighton getting a win over Louisville.
So one of the termament round first round games already done,
Creighton advancing past Louisville.

Speaker 3 (29:08):
The winner gets Auburn, right, likely Auburn likely likely likely.

Speaker 2 (29:12):
You know, no guarantees, no guarantees these days.

Speaker 3 (29:15):
By the way, poor Siue. Oh, they had to play Houston.
Ooft they're down at forty to eighteen. Yeah, my guy,
Brian Barny, good friend of mine. We actually beat Siue
this year. They were out of gas and we played them.
They were so tired. It win's a win, Doug, I
will take it. It was a twenty five point win too.

Speaker 2 (29:32):
Here you go.

Speaker 3 (29:33):
That went out.

Speaker 7 (29:34):
Other games in action. Currently third seeded Wisconsin forty to
thirty two over fourteen seed Montana at half, so that
one a little tighter than I'm sure the Badgers would
have expected. And then coming down the stretch here little
under four minutes left to play, you have the fourth
seed Purdue boiler Makers taking on thirteen seed high Point Panthers.

Speaker 2 (29:56):
We learned that earlier Doug Panthers.

Speaker 3 (29:58):
We learned that that's a mail in nick name, right, mailing,
Like I actually my team to think name was the Panthers,
which I can think of high Point, I know, northern Iowa.
Why don't they the Panthers, just a couple of pats Panthers,
pit Panthers. Yeah, I would, I would propose the name
nickname change. Bulldogs are only cool because you can have

(30:22):
a bulldog, right, like Blue the bulldog for Butler, really
really cool. Ugga the Georgia, Like that's the only reason
that otherwise that's kind of a male in nickname.

Speaker 2 (30:32):
A little bit.

Speaker 3 (30:33):
Uh Wildcat's the biggest male in nickname. Okay, just so
even Arizona, it's like, yeah, you're kind of right.

Speaker 7 (30:44):
What about uh cal Golden Bear?

Speaker 3 (30:50):
Well, I mean you know it's like they had the
bear on the flag, the bear flag for California, and
then U C. L A is the bruin, which is
the other sort of bear. All you know, you have
Baylors allow it, allow it.

Speaker 7 (31:04):
By the way, so as we were talking about the
high point, Panthers currently trailing Purdue sixty seven fifty eight.
So that is where things currently stand with the games.
And then after that great conversation that you had earlier
in the week with Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl, they're
getting ready to tip off here in about ten minutes
or so, maybe closer to fifteen minutes.

Speaker 2 (31:23):
All right, here we go, let's take a look at
the NFL.

Speaker 7 (31:26):
Well, we know that the San Francisco forty nine ers
lost a lot of talent, that also including Deebo Samuel,
who is a member of the Washington Commanders. Adam Schefter
reporting that Deebo Samuel had a little bit of a
contract adjustment with Washington, giving him a fully guaranteed salary
of seventeen million for this year, a little bit of

(31:47):
a bump off his previous contract that he was on
with the forty nine ers, and reportedly a potential up
to three million incentives. How do you like this debo
fit in Washington? You know, here's what I like.

Speaker 3 (32:02):
I like that they can take that chance because they
have their quarterback on a rookie deal absolutely for the
next couple of years, and so you know you can
go short term overpay for a debo who's oft injured
and maybe not the guy that used to. But the
other thing is it's like a it's one of those
pieces for Cliff Kingsbury that you kind of got to
like right where absolutely he's his running back, he's him

(32:24):
on jet sweeves throwing the ball occasionally. Again, it's all
about your position salary wise. If you're Washington and you
have an elite young quarterback, you get him another weapon
while he's under that deal, and then once he has
once you re up him and by the time he
re ups it's gonna be probably one hundred million dollars
per year. Sure, then you're gonna have to jettison a

(32:46):
couple of players.

Speaker 7 (32:46):
Yeah, I mean, And to that point, obviously, we see
that everything's different in today's day and age of the
NFL as the salary cap just continues to go up,
upping up, meaning that we just saw Jamar Chase get
a contract of annual value in the forty million dollars
per season range. So if you even get some modest
production out of Deebo Samuel, who will be seventeen million,

(33:08):
you're in a good space. You're in a good space.

Speaker 2 (33:10):
Sure, Okay. And we talked a little bit about this earlier.

Speaker 7 (33:13):
With the rule change proposals from NFL teams coming out
around this time of year, the Packers putting in a
rule change to ban the tush push brotherly shove. This
one coming from the Detroit Lions. Playoff seeding, they no
longer want it based solely off of division winners. They

(33:35):
wanted to come down to record. Obviously, if we look
back for this past season, here's what that would have meant.
The three wild card teams, the Vikings, the Packers, and
the Washington Commanders, well two of them lost, correct, would
have been higher seeds than the Rams or the Bucks,
who each won their divisions. I'm gonna erodis, Oh, you

(33:57):
like the division winners. Well, I don't think there's a
perfect system. Sure, And I used the NFC North. That's
the perfect jumping off point.

Speaker 4 (34:04):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (34:04):
Why was the NFC North Why was the record better
than everybody else in the NFC.

Speaker 7 (34:11):
I'm guessing maybe something to do with scheduling for that particularly.

Speaker 3 (34:14):
Who they who they cross over against, the NFC West
and the AFC South. The NFC West was down, San
Francisco had all kinds of injuries, Rams just okay, Seattle
was was down. Who's the enter team? And Arizona was
just right. So I mean, you look at the green
Bay Packers. I know this because I went to seven

(34:37):
of their home games, right. They they only won one
division game and that was against the Chicago Bears when
they uh when when Chicago joinked out a field goal
to win the game. Right, But they went to the
plus and I actually think green Bay was really good. Sure,
but they didn't do it in division. They did it
where they crossed over against. You know, they played Tennessee

(34:58):
who stunk, Indy who didn't have a quarterback, Jacksonville who
wasn't very good, Houston they beat at home, great football game.

Speaker 2 (35:05):
The Cardinals went over the Cardinals which was at home.

Speaker 4 (35:07):
Right.

Speaker 3 (35:08):
So the point is that the schedules aren't equal, So
I don't I don't think you can go by raw record.
I actually think there's no perfect system, and you're trying
to much like everything else, when you're trying to make
something that's imperfect. Perfect you end up screwing up even worse.
And that's why music with news.

Speaker 2 (35:27):
Well that's the news, and thanks for stopping by the line.

Speaker 3 (35:31):
Oh the best for Lass is up coming next. Wait
to hear what Bronnie had to say. That's next in
the Hurt One More Heard. The Herd streams twenty four
hours a day, seven days a week within the iHeartRadio app.
Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you like.

Speaker 8 (35:47):
Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together we're
Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 5 (35:52):
You could catch us weekdays from five to seven pm
Eastern two to four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and
of course the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 2 (36:00):
Should you listen to Covino and Rich.

Speaker 5 (36:01):
We talk about everything life, sports, relationships, what's going.

Speaker 2 (36:05):
On in the world.

Speaker 8 (36:05):
We have a lot of fun talking about the stories
behind the stories in the world of sports and pop culture,
stories that well other shows don't seem to have the
time to discuss.

Speaker 5 (36:14):
And the fact that we've been friends for the last
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Speaker 2 (36:17):
I mean that says something, right.

Speaker 8 (36:19):
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Speaker 5 (36:24):
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Speaker 8 (36:29):
Be sure to check out Covino and Rich live on
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Speaker 3 (36:43):
Doug Golliman for Collins, I heard Fox Sports Radio, iHeartRadio
ap Are we ready to call this one for Purdue?
It looks like that way. My son Hayes Gottlieb's in
the house. Happy sixteenth birthday to Hayes. He's calling it
for Purdue. Maybe that's because he hasn't in the bracket.
I don't know, Or maybe it's because it looks like
they're gonna win. Braden Smith huge three that seemed to
solidify this thing. Creighton has already taken down Louisville. All

(37:06):
the updates you need, plus all the sports talk you
definitely need right here on Fox Sports Radio all day long.
Let's get to the best for last.

Speaker 6 (37:14):
It's almost the end of the show. But that doesn't
mean we're phoning it in. Nope, we grind it. The
very last segment, it's time for Best for Last.

Speaker 3 (37:24):
The Best for Last takes us to the Lakers, where
Bronnie James said, I see everything that people are saying,
but I just take it. I just take that and
use it as fuel. Kurt Hyland, who writes for Basketball Talk,
says Bronnie has improved the season, but still has ways
to go, especially with his shot. He was always a
long term project. Quote it's from Bronnie James. My first

(37:44):
thought about everything is I always try to let it
go through one ear and out the other, put my
head down and come to work and be positive every day.
But sometimes it just feels it just fuels me a
little bit. I see everything that people are saying, and
I feel like I'm an efting robot, like I don't
have any feelings or emotions. But I just take it
and use it as fuel for me to go out,

(38:05):
wake up every day, get to the gym, get my
work in, watch extra film every day, and be better
every day. That's what Rob that's Plinka wants me to do.
Is young guy coming in playing in the G League
and learning from far. It should be a far on
the bench watching the Lakers play. His numbers have improved,
right struggle with his field goal percentage was in the

(38:27):
thirties and twenties. Thirties from field, twenties from three in
the G League. He's up now I think to the
forties and thirties in the G League, which is which
is in fact improvement. It's gonna be fascinating. He Here's
what people are saying. I I love the using it
for fuel. That's smart.

Speaker 4 (38:47):
Use it.

Speaker 3 (38:48):
You have to use all negativity for fuel. And I
have no doubt that it's got a few like a lot.
I actually have a tremendous amount of empathy and understanding
for Bronnie in what he trying to do and how
much he has to feel like the weight of the
world is on him. That's why I suggested, and of
course they're not taking my suggestion that this season he

(39:10):
goes in place for like Lebron's high school teammate best
friend who's the head coach at Duquanine. Go there, get buckets, improve,
then go But Lebron didn't want that, didn't want that.
So the issue has never been at least for me,
that Bronni shouldn't want to improve. And again, I don't

(39:33):
know whether he can ever get to the point to
where he's a legit NBA rotation player or even a
legit NBA and of the bench player. He's not to
that point yet. And cart was put way, way, way
way before Horse. And again, if we're honest, I think

(39:53):
anybody who has any jealousy, it's not over. It's it's
over the fact that why would he get this opportunity
to develop when he's never been viewed as that level
of prospect, never been viewed as that level prospect from

(40:14):
in real NBA talk. But none of that actually matters
now now that he's in the g now that he's
on the Lakers bench, it's just about can you do
the work, can you make the shot, and can you
get into the end. Like, Look, here's what's really hard.
When you get to the NBA. The rules are more difficult.
You know, eight seconds to get across mid court, deeper

(40:35):
three point line, shorter shot clock, wider laney and oh yeah,
by the way, you're playing against the four hundred and
fifty or four hundred and forty nine best players in
the world, and you're doing it usually in a shorter
period of time than you've ever done it before. Most

(40:55):
guys come in from college or high school and they
played most of the whole game, and now you've got
to come in like, hey dude, two or three minutes.
You got to change the game and guards your guy
hitting open shot. That's incredibly difficult. It takes years upon
years to make that transition. The one thing Bronni has
going for him is he's never been a star. He
was not a star go to guy in high school.

Speaker 2 (41:16):
He was not.

Speaker 3 (41:19):
He was not somebody who scored forty in high school.
Get on my back. I'm like most future NBA players are.
He's always been a bit of a role player, so
that adjustment isn't great. He's actually had to learn to
take more shots and probably taken too many being encouraged
to to take chances while he's in the G League.

(41:44):
But I don't see any negative there in the Hey,
I hear everything that people are saying. I'm using in
his fuel.

Speaker 4 (41:48):
Great.

Speaker 3 (41:48):
You should prove people wrong. Prove people wrong. Hey man,
I'm trying to do the exact same thing in my profession, right,
prove people wrong. We have no idea what you go through.
They have no idea what I go through, And honestly,
nobody cares. All they care about is when you get

(42:09):
the ball end of the game in the corner, or
when you get in can you make a shot? Can
you guard your guy? If you do that, regardless of
what your name on the back is, James or not,
those same people who doubted you will then get in line.
So I think the criticism or the critique is fair
because I think most of it is not really about Bronnie.

(42:31):
It's more about Lebron putting Bronnie in a situation where
he's not ready for. And I have no doubt that
Bronnie obviously takes that personally. Lebron takes it personally. That's
why Lebron came at me. That's why Lebron theme at
Steven a right, because it's his son. Anybody says something

(42:53):
about my son like we're gonna go I love my
kid more than anything on earth. But there's also the
reality of, hey, you're a dad, but you're also Lebron
James to who much is given more is expected. On
the other hand, I'll back Lebron in this standpoint. If
I've said this before, if the worst thing he's done

(43:15):
is force his son too early into the NBA, in
comparison to what other fathers have and have not done,
we're talking about a pretty good dude, right. May not
be my best player of all time, but definitely not
a bad dad for trying to protect his son and
trying to help his son pursue his dreams, even if

(43:38):
he's been in by my estimation, a little too forceful
and he's benefited a little bit too much from it.
All Right, enjoy the games. I'll be back tomorrow. You
can see our picks online. Just go to Fox Sports
Radio dot com see how you did against our picks.
I'm Doug Gottlieb. This is the hurt.