March 22, 2018 • 45 mins
Doug thinks we make stories about the Spurs and the Patriots a bigger deal because we rarely get any information about them. Basketball analyst Jim Jackson joins the show to talk about the Cavaliers win over the Raptors and to preview the Sweet Sixteen. Plus Doug talks to former NBA All Star Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway about getting the Memphis head coaching job.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the best of the Doug Gottlieb Show on
Fox Sports Radio. What Up, Doug Gottlieb Show, Fox Sports Radio.
I got a lot to tell you, a lot to
talk about one time about Sweet sixteen, a moment um.
There's this this this story out of San Antonio is
super super interesting to me. But it's more interesting not
because of the story out of San Antonio, but because
(00:23):
the story out of San Antonio. Does that makes sense? Like,
I don't know if Kawhi Leonard is gonna play anymore
today than he was yesterday. I don't really know. Do
I think Adrian Wardzanowski missed on the story. Probably not,
although technically he's not actually reporting the story as much
as Michael C. Wright, who works underneath kind of his umbrella.
(00:44):
So Woades writes the story Spurs hold players only meeting
to implore Kawhi Leonard to return. That's the headline. But
then he goes on to say that Spurs guard Tony Parker,
four time NBA All Star, our quarterback the meeting after
the team's victory over Minnesota on Saturday night, non players
(01:05):
werest to leave the locker room. A source told Michael C.
Wright in other words, there's a little bit of game
of telephone here, and that doesn't mean that any of
the story is incorrect, but it can be made more
and more and more pronounced. Ramos and Buyer are both married.
Music is essentially Mary. He's been with the same girl
(01:26):
for over a year. They're going on trips to Hawaii together.
You know he turned vegan because of her. He actually,
I mean all this stuff. He really only has a
beard because she says grow a beard or else she
has like a Kenny Rogers thing. Right, At some point
the beard is gonna become silver and soil his hair,
(01:46):
and he'll start singing the gamble, humming the Gambler every day. Anyway,
anyone who has a significant other that's a woman knows
there's a word that actually doesn't mean anything bad, but
can be taken to means something really awful. Fine. How
(02:09):
are you fine? How are you fine? Right? How are
you fine? No? I'm fine, I'm fine. Can I get
some drink? No, I'm fine, No, I'm fine. Like fine
is a completely neutral It means fine, I'm okay. It
actually means I'm good. But she didn't say I'm good.
(02:33):
She said I'm fine. She didn't say I'm okay. She
said I'm fine fine, can what do you mean fine?
And I use that because just because they might have
been speaking loudly, and just because there might have been
a player's only meeting, does not necessarily mean that they
(02:55):
were yelling at Kauai, and because because when you hear
players only meeting, players call it telling Kawhi Leonard to
play automatically like, oh, they think he's soft and they're
telling him be soft, and dude, you better get that
back out here and play because we need you and
we know you're not hurt. Right. Isn't that the isn't
that the kind of the hoops that your mind mentally
(03:15):
goes through players like you don't ever tell me about
my money, don't ever tell me about my I don't
say anything about my girl or my wife or whatever,
my family, my kids, And players don't usually talk about
whether or not somebody's hurt or not hurt. So when
you hear they talked in the locker room loudly about
(03:36):
Kawai Leonard Portly's injury, you automatically think, oh, well, they
think he's not hurt and he should be playing, and
they're essentially calling him either a faker or soft. But
that's us trying to that's me me reading my wife
said she was fine, and assuming I know what the answer,
has a bad way to do it, because this is
(04:02):
a story that's written by a writer who's who's taking
the word forward from another writer who was actually there
but not in the room, and got it from a
source like things can be taken completely out of context.
And Danny Green called him out as such, And we've
(04:22):
had others Danny Green saying couldn't be any more inaccurate
L O L. There were other players that said the same.
I tend to believe the reporter. I tend to believe
the sources. I tend to believe that there probably was
a meeting it was players. Only they did discuss quide
Leonard's injury. I don't know if it was imploring him
to play or just to just kind of a fact
finding mission. But once it becomes a game of telephone,
(04:46):
it's like somebody saying fine. Unless I heard them say
fine and saw their facial reaction and the context of
where they said fine a sentence and how they said fine,
And do they use fine to describe things that are
good or bad. Some people say things are fine, I'm fine,
she fine, Oh, she's fine. Right, finds a good word.
Some people like fine fine, and it's really a bad word.
So I don't know. What I do know is it's
(05:09):
really interesting because this is the Fort Knox of the NBA,
This is the Patriots of the NBA, and in the
same year to which we had some dysfunction within the
Patriots Malcolm Butler, Robert Gronkowski saying it's not fun trading
away Jimmy Garoppolo for like nothing. Now we have meat
on the bone to talk about with the San Antonio Spurs.
That's interesting. Sweet sixteens tonight. And look, the first weekend
(05:36):
is generally about the upset, especially the first night's about
the upset. The first day. I think a lot of
teams play with a ton of pressure. You don't want
to be that, you don't want to be Virginia, right,
you don't want to be Arizona, you don't want to
be Michigan State and get beat earlier that Michigan State
got beaten the second But generally the first weekend, the
(05:57):
first game very pressure field and it's embarrassing to lose
in the first round. If you're an elite team second weekend,
it's not the same amount of pressure. It's much and
it's weird because there's a lot more build up to it,
but there's not the pressure to it because if you
(06:19):
lose it lost to Sweet sixteen, right, even if you're
in Nevada and you lose the loyal to Chicago you
got to a Sweet sixteen, doesn't don't really matter. You're
Syracuse and you get beaten by Duke he lost in
the Sweet sixteen. It's really interesting on how because Sweet
sixteens now are like Final four is twenty five years
ago in terms of the amount of attention they get
(06:41):
in most of these individual cities. But let's say, just
for for a second, just for giggles, Perdue loses, Michigan loses,
Michigan one the Big ten tournament, huge expectations. Some people
had them going to a final for let's say they
lose the text A and M like, ah, they got
two sweets of steam. It's weird because you can get upset. Duke,
(07:05):
for example, was I think eleven and a half even
a twelve point favorite in some books over Syracuse, the
team they beat by sixteen orlier. This year Duke gets
beat by Syracuse, and even though Syracuse was the last
team in the field based upon the rankings they released
after they released the field, He's still like he lost
(07:26):
the Sweet six team, and that is that fascinating to
anybody else? Uh? The other thing that I find I
find interesting is that the games are at Staples Center,
where the Lakers play in l A. And we've had
Sweet sixteen Elade eight games there before. I live in
law we live in Los Angeles. To live in Los Angeles,
(07:56):
do you guys, is there any hype over these games
at all? Like it's, Oh, it's one of those things.
I think the one big city you can go to
and you get the hype, some hype when you play
the n c A tournament there is New York City.
They do seem to care. When they had the Sweet
sixteen e Leade eight theory was kind of a big thing.
But it's it's weird. One of those is like, well,
we gotta get to l A. That's a big market.
(08:17):
They're in l A, they're in Atlanta, there in Boston,
and they're in Omaha. And I kind of feel like
Omaha is the perfect market for this sort of this
this sort of event. Omaha loves the College Baseball World Series.
Omaha will be packed to the gills by the way
Omaha's I mean, you got Kansas there, it's right down
(08:39):
the road from Kansas City. You've got Syracuse and Duke. Oh,
you got Clemson too. Um, the one in boston's good
because you got Nova, but West Virginia, Texas Tech and Perdue.
Like Atlanta, you got Kentucky. That's Catlanta, they call it.
(08:59):
But you know, look, gonzag in l A should be
a bigger thing, but it's not. Really. I'm not doing
a man on the Street pole. But it is interesting
on how you can get in these big markets and
kind of have the opposite the attendant effect, Like I
don't I'm going to watch it, but I don't know
anybody else's like, let's a watch party Sweet sixteen tonight music?
(09:24):
You you listen, you know you and romis you guys
listen to sports radio trying to find the stuff for
what did the Fox say? How much hype do you
think there's over Sweet sixteen in town for l A
specifically none? And I think a lot of it has
to do with something that we kind of talked about
at the end of last week or maybe earlier this week.
And I think a lot of it has to do
(09:45):
with the fact that the PAC twelve has no footing.
Uh you know, USC missed the tournament entirely. You see
l A lost in that first playing game, and then
all of the other teams that I think people in
l A could have gravitated tour as members of schools
that they've would have played against. I mean there's essentially
after the first weekend all of them were gone. And
(10:07):
I know l A's a transplant city, but that's there
aren't that many college die hard fans here as much
as they are transplants of like other professional teams. It
feels like the opposite of New York. In New York.
Um in New York, there are a lot of college
(10:28):
transplant and some of it's like it's a lot of
big ten people moved to. If it was if it
was the University of Arizona, I think it would be big.
Arizona of course has lost a bunch of times at
the Pond and Anaheim, which is in Orange County, that's
a big USC and Arizona kind of hotbed. Also u
C l A as well. Dan Buyer. I was gonna say, Doug,
(10:51):
when you mentioned Arizona into what Ryan was mentioning seven
years ago at Honda Center in Anaheim. You had Arizona
and San Diego State making it to the Sweet sixteen
with Duke and Yukon being there, and well, Duke and
Yukon maybe didn't have the biggest of followings just because
of the travel in the side of the schools. I mean,
it was electric to see the Arizona fans cheering on
(11:14):
Derrick Williams in that Duke game. In the San Diego
State fans were out there. But really, how many options
does the West Coast have to bring an electric atmosphere
with the top teams of the West Coast? What maybe
for Arizona, U, C, l A, Gonzaga. Um, well, you know,
I used to be, you know, used to be, But
(11:35):
I just don't think that there are a lot of
options for like West Coast regionals that those schools aren't
any good to to grab any electric It's hard. It's
a hard one. It's a it's actually a very very
hard one. Um. Maybe the new the New Warriors Arena
eventually becomes a homewoe. I look, I still think you
do it in Vegas. Like I understand that. The n
s A is like, man, we got this. We want
(11:56):
to separate gambling from the kids, and I got it.
I under stand like you want the games to be
on the up and up, but I feel like I
feel like we keep tiptoe around it. And I'm not
a legalized gambling everywhere guy. I just think there's unintended constut.
The people in Vegas know what they're doing, but those
(12:17):
they know what they're doing. And I know there is
plenty of illegal gambling that takes place. And you know,
this is like the drug legalization guy, right, legalized drugs
and that way it cuts out the illicit illegal drug suppliers.
Like yeah, but it doesn't. It's not really the message
that we want to send. I don't know. I just
(12:38):
I feel like tiptoeing around whether or not we uh,
we have games in Vegas. That that's a it's just
having Vegas. Vegas is a destination. It would be a
big thing in Vegas and everybody be psyched to go
to Vegas. Be sure to catch live editions of The
Doug gott Leaps Show weekdays at three p m. Easter
noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart
(13:01):
Radio app. Who has a greater sense for teams in
and the old players only meeting than Jim Jackson. He
joins us now on the Dougo j j I want
to get to college basketball Sweet sixteen a moment. But
Kauai has only played nine games this year, and there's
various reports about players only meeting, which guys are trying
to figure out why he wasn't playing. What what's your
(13:22):
sense of exactly what's going on in San Antonio? It's
the same thing. It's kind of weird because this is
kind of out of character in regards to what we've heard.
You've been around us a long time, Dougy with how
many times if we heard San Antonio having a players
only meeting ever? You know what I mean. So it's
kind of unstarted territory in regards to in the circles.
(13:45):
Maybe they've had some before, we didn't. It just hasn't
come out. But it's kind of a delicate situation because
Kauai is so quiet, we never really get a sense
to what he's thinking. And if this is the case
in regard arts to Kauai in the stalemate with the Spurs,
and there's a lot more to his injury in regards
(14:08):
to his ability to play, because I don't think as players,
if you know a guy's hurting injured and can't was
injured and can't play, you don't have a meeting to
implore him to come back on the team or get
back in the mix in fear that that may you know,
endanger him, you know, long term. So that just indicates
(14:30):
to me that something else is going on in regards
to his injury, and it may not be as serious
um as what it was, but it may be some
some conflicts between Kauai and upper and management. Right So
I feel like you hear players only meeting and because
the Spurs, because it's Kauai, we freak out because we
(14:51):
don't we get no information from them and the church
and the truth might be a little bit less sinister
than players because as you know, like one of the
things that players never do, like guys never talked about
somebody else's money, right, Like I'll never you stay away
from what their their personal relationships, right Unlet's like not
not in front of the team, like that's not your deal,
and you never question at least I've never questioned whether
(15:14):
somebody's hurt or not. It feels like it's more realistic
to say, like, hey, just tell us what's going on
so that we can answer the questions properly, and we
can we can fight for you in the media without maybe,
on the other hand, we want you to play like
is it is it kind of a clearing of the air,
but in a less sinister way in which is presented
from the media. Is that fair? Well? I would like
(15:37):
to say that the players sincerely want to know what's
going to want to hear from Kauai, because I don't
you know, the thing is, what's the dynamics of the
players relationship on the team, who's closer to Kauai, who
has his he or who does he talk to? We
we just don't really know that, you know what I mean.
So obviously the team, the teammates are getting mixed signals
(15:59):
from I'm were on his availability, and that's that's the
tricky part here, because when you have teammates that they've
been around, they've been together for quite some time, so
they know each other, especially Parker and Genoblee with Kauai, Okay,
they know each other, so it's something there for them
(16:21):
to have to do it, and it's a trust thing
to do. They are they the Kauai led on to
somebody that the reason why he's not playing has to
do with more than the injury. And I tend to
look at things a little bit differently just because I've
been in those locks rooms before, because if a guy's hurt,
you know, a guy's hurting, the guy's injury, you know it.
(16:41):
He's gonna tell you. But I can't play. I can't go.
This is what's going on. But if there's a question
about it, then that tends to let me that is
more to this than just the injury. And that's the
that's the tricky part. Jim Jackson joining us in the
Dougallan Show, Fox Sports Radio. I want to even Toronto.
I swear to you, Jim, I do. I do. But
(17:03):
then um A hundred and thirty two given up last night,
hundred thirty two given up in the gutel Oklooma City.
Those are both playoff caliber games, and in both cases
they couldn't get stops. And like, look, I like that
they're moving the ball more. I like their talent. I
like DeMar De Rosen seemingly taking his game to the
next level, to to maybe superstar caliber level. I like
(17:26):
a lot of those things. But you can't give up
a hundred and thirty two to both the Thunder and
the Calves and lose both those games and me take
you seriously. Yeah no. And here's the thing. I was
listening to Colin earlier today, and Colin made a great point, Okay,
in regards to playoff basketball, situational basketball, you need to
have superstar And that's true because I always look at
(17:49):
it like this is not like the n C Double A,
where it's a one game scenario. It's some stuff hits
the fan, uh lord, I mean underdog team to win
in the seven games series. It's about making adjustments within
the game, but also going into the next game. It's
also being relatively healthy. It's also being strategic. To me, coaching,
(18:13):
I look like coaching like this. In the NBA during
the regular season, you're coaching minutes, you're coaching um injuries
and health, and you're coaching egos to kind of keep
all those in line so you can get to the
playoffs in the prime position. Where now the coaching, the
strategic part of it really comes out. I mean, look
(18:36):
I'm gonna run that again again, say that one more time.
So in the regular season, you're coaching minutes, injuries, injury egos.
That's that's what you're doing in the regular season. Now
what you because you have so many dynamics going on
and so many things with injuries and how you've manipulate
the line of this guy feels he needs to play
my my, my main guy may be heard and it
(18:58):
may win. Does rehappen? How do I uh game plan
for not having maybe my core group for ten games?
All that stuff, But once you get in the playoffs, man,
it's I'm drilling in on what's the four or five
go to play that this team really loves to do.
How can we make adjustments offensivity? And that's the difference. Now,
(19:21):
who do you have that can execute these our game
plan the best? See does everybody wants to mbulate Golden
State right, shoot the three ball, getting multiple guys to handle.
But what they're missing and people, really you know this
because you played at a high level of this maybe
not the most athletic, but here's what you had and
(19:42):
a lot of players Golden State high i Q. So
youve got eight or nine guys on that team you're
starting four or five have high i Q. So when
you go to your bench, Okay, you've got three more
guys in Igua Dollar, David West and also Sean Livingston.
They got high i Q. So what do you lose
from that? You may lose athleticism, but you don't lose
(20:04):
the field for the game and how to execute and play.
So if you put a swaggy p um or other
guys out there that maybe don't understand the game as
much Veil McGee, but you balanced that because you have
three other guys that understand how to play basketball is
so tough to beat and to boot. You have Steve Kerr.
So with Toronto, look at it. They've been proved so much.
(20:26):
But when you're playing against Cleveland high i Q. Lebronze
ain't off the chart. Okay, Kevin Um you're talking about.
You may lose Kyrie, But when you have a guy
that's won before, like Kevin loved, they don't give him
enough credit but how he plays. So we saw last
(20:47):
night of State in the game with lebron like, hey,
I'm still the best player in the world and we're
still the favorites doing knees. Why do you think he's
played better since Tylwis has stepped away? Why do you
think he's played better? But you know, you know what,
don't know the thing. Let's go back about a month though.
(21:09):
He's been trending towards this for about a month though.
Think about how he's playing. Okay, I think he's really
been sending a message. Okay, you want to talk hard
m VT, that's fine. Let me show you. Oh, Toronto
is the best team. Yeah, I got the number one tea,
but remember we get to Boston last year when they
had the number one seed. Late this season blue the
(21:30):
doors off of them. So let me just show you
just a quiet things down a little bit. How do
you have thirty six seventeen and Noah and you were no, no, no,
no turnovers. No I mean, I mean no turnovers. I
don't do that. I don't know. I don't know. I
don't understand like I do. I knew his shooting would
get better, because everybody shoots better the older they get.
(21:50):
I just didn't know he'd be able to maintain this
level of athleticism and his body, his body not breakdown. Bro,
It's it's incredible it's it's really can you hang from minute? Okay? Cool?
Make sure, by the way, you check out Jim's new
show on Fox Sports Radio every Sunday alongside Mark Willard
three to six Eastern time. So you get Tough Juice,
(22:11):
you get you get who's hosting with Tough Choice with
Karen Butler, Chris Mannix and Karen Butler, and then you
get Jim Jackson and Mark Willard. Like that's that's not
six hours great radio on Sundays. I don't know. And
by the way, um, so I guess Jim, you're confirmed
you're gonna join me next Wednesday? Oh, no doubt. All right,
it's early. It's like I know you like to smoke
(22:32):
cigars late at night in in really really nice places
that I can't afford to get into. That's that's six
am East Coast time. And that's all right. I have
my big boys who have his R and B Boys going.
Jim and I gonna fill in on the Dan Patrick
Show next week next Wednesday on Fox Sports Radio. Let
me find out what else is going on in the
(22:53):
world of sports. He's Dan Byer in the last year
about to sweet sixteen. Yeah, sweet six scenes, And I
had a double dose in Atlanta in l But there's
other college troops news. Dan Hurley leaving Rhode Island to
be the next head coach at Yukon. Reports say he'll
get a six year deal to coach the Huskies. Well.
The Louisville Courier Journal says Xavier coach Chris Mack will
meet with Louisville officials on Saturday about the school's coaching vacancy.
(23:15):
Buck Forward honest and did a Coomboat Doubtful to play
tomorrow against the Bulls because of a sprained ankle suffered
and last night's lost to the Clippers. Hornets center Dwight
Howard has been suspended for Tonight's game against Memphis after
picking up his sixteen technical of the season. Wait, so
he had a thirty for thirty, thirty rebounds, thirty points,
thirty rebounds and then he can't play the next game.
That is correct. That is correct, although maybe he's like
(23:37):
most of us and would want to miss Hornet's Grizzlies
um the Giants traded defense eve end Jason Pierre Paul
to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Giants sent jpp in a
fourth rounder to Tampa for a third round pick and
a fourth round pick and the golf I know something
that's goes to Jim's heart as well. Jordan's Speth won
his Day two match at the match Play Championships Tony
Romo five over car seventy seven playing at the Arralys
(24:00):
Championship in the Dominican Republic five of a par and
he's not gonna make the cut, is he? No? That
that that would have been magnificent miracle if he did,
But no, he's not. Is he in last place? Well,
you know what, I was gonna save it for game time,
but he's not in last place. So Jim Jackson continues
(24:21):
to join us check him out Sundays on Fox Sports Radio.
Let me let me ask you about about tonight. Let's
start with Kentucky. Um, what's your reaction to Kentucky's resurgence
and the fact that, I mean, like, look, he complained
about their seed. They get a twelve and a thirteen
and now Kansas State and the winner of Nevada and
and loyal, I mean, the Highest Seat of Might plays
a seven to go to a final four. But they're
(24:42):
they're playing better basketball. What's your thoughts on what Cal
has been able to do their well. Listen, they were young,
I thought from a point guard perspective perspective, it just
wasn't there at the beginning the season. Young guys figured
and you think about Kentucky played their best basketball. From
win guard perspective, they were solid to two, really good,
(25:03):
and that kind of drove them when you don't have
the right guy running the ship at the time in
regards to understanding how the player is gonna happen what
you do. But I always said that this team was
long athletic and they were gonna be a better team
at the end of the year than they were at
the beginning. And Cal has done that in the past.
So it's one of those dangerous teams that you hate
(25:24):
to see in one game scenario. But to boot, they
put themselves in a position by winning a lot, like
Duke okay Um when you have some questions maybe at times,
but because those other teams dropped off. Now they're the
teams that you look at, blue bloods that you thought
maybe wouldn't be there, they're there, you know. So it's
it's it's it's incredible with if you just take care
(25:46):
of your business, especially in today's world. That you can
put yourself in a position to be able to get
to potential final for the National Championship game. But there
I love them. They're long, athletic, they can play call. Yeah,
I just I don't know if they can shoot man
and right. And I think Kansas State, now you're stepping
up in weight class and I know they Kan's State
(26:08):
only at A nine C. I thought they were underseated. Um,
but you know, big thing is this this case s
they have to Dean Wade. If they do Dean Wades
a face up for All League player in the Big twelve,
good player, that's gonna be a fascinating game. Um, let's
let's let's go to Michigan. You did a ton of
Big ten games, and let's be honest, Michigan was beaten
by Houston. Houston makes uh, Devin Davis makes uh any
(26:30):
of his he had he missed three free throws in
row to when the game was essentially done. And this
is a different story. But we know how they play
four out, one in and Mr Wagner has not played
great in the n c A tournament. After the week
and a half off, they're playing against Texas A and
m who's got a tremendous front line, but I don't
I don't know how they'll guard Michigan. What are your
thoughts on Michigan and A and M. We got practice
(26:53):
yesterday because I'm calling the game tonight, both games here
in l A. And the challenge is gonna beat us
for Texas Day. And because you have bigs, can they
guard on the perimeter and stay engage because as you know,
with the multiple movements to pour in one out for Michigan,
they're going to make you have to think the game
and really react to a lot of downscreens, picks, misdirection plays,
(27:17):
especially for a post player, and that's a little bit
more challenging. Plus I think Michigan the advantage they have,
they end up pulling those bigs um Tyler Davis and
Robert Williams away from the basket. So you've got some
you've got some offensive rebound opportunity. But talking to Billy
Kennedy said, sometimes we can play small and match up.
So it's gonna be interesting. Is there their attention to
(27:39):
detail in regards to what they're doing game planning wise?
How those bigs react Because Michigan, I'm gonna give you
this Douggie. You don't get credit for their defense. They're
playing pretty good defense. They went up against some teams,
okay from a side perspective during the tournament, and they
competed where they only give up eight nine offensive rebounds
(27:59):
the last two or three games. So their rebounding board
the ball to higher rate during the tournament defensively, So
I think that boat was well from Michigan. That's that's
that's Florida State Gonzaga your other game tonight. Look, the
Zags have obviously been here four times in a row
in the streets team, but this is a this is
a new Gonzaga team against the Florida State team that
(28:21):
was also dead to right speating, but one that when
they walk on the floor, Like if the two teams
in the lamp lines you you pick Florida State. Um,
but Gonzaga has you know, found a way cultural wise
and just making enough shots. Who do you like in
that matchup? Well, two things talking to Mark for you,
this is what he said. He said, we're a different
team than last year because now we had traditional post
(28:41):
up players. But now what we're doing with Jonathan Williams
and accrue their more face up Okay, so the offense
is totally different. Okay, so they're playing better. They don't
have the super superstar that they had in the past,
but this group is different. They rely on two or
three four guys to kind of get it done. A
challenge is gonna be talking to Hamilton's we are with
(29:03):
disaster gonna face is this? Then Hamilton tell you, listen,
our top seven guys teams are better, our top seven
guys versus their top seven, but our top eleven to
their eleven, we got it. And what he means by
that is that he got eighteen guys on the team.
Have you're saying eighteen guys on the team he plays eleven.
So they're gonna press and try to wear you down
(29:24):
and try to keep the game close, that you wear
it down that they can win it in the end.
And he's comfortable doing that. So the Zags have had
problems turning the ball over against pressure. Will they be
able to handle that? There was ways the bodies, fresh
bodies coming at them in order to I think extending
the lead. So it's not within a one or two
(29:45):
possession game going down the stretch because that may not
bowl wolfen them from a mental perspective, but the physical perspective.
And in my favorite Florida State, UM, Penny Hardway's coaching
Memphis obviously went coaching high school coach in high school ball,
and Penny, if you've ever spent any time with him,
he's super bright and UM, I think he'll obviously be
(30:05):
great with the kids and anybody who's a mentor and
AU coach. We all grew up watching Penny bequest. The
ads were really good. I don't see it as nearly
as big a challenge as some people do. What's your
thoughts on Penny and whether or not it's a huge
challenge for him to be successful as a college basketball coach. Well, first,
it's it's a lot of pressure and weight. I don't
(30:29):
think he realized it yet because he's from Memphis. He's
a hero to Memphis. He played at Memphis State, he
coached UM. Their high school was AU program. So what
they're expecting, their expectation that's gonna be I think the
initial part of of how he impacted early on, what
(30:52):
are the expectations for the program with a coach who
hasn't coached in college, who hasn't gone on recruited, who
has a strategy, uh as in game plan, what is
the time frame that we're looking to have in order
for the program to grow? Those expectations that you are
so important because no matter how great Penny Hardaway is
(31:13):
as a player and as a person and as a
high school coach, you know, and I know, coming into college,
this is a this is a period situation where it
takes a little bit of time, especially from an inexperienced coach,
to be able to come in. So what are your
expectations as a program? You know, that's to me is
going to be the key to the timeline on their
(31:35):
patients to kind of get Memphis back on the map.
You know, they're thinking that a Penny will be to
go right in and get all the Memphis players. But
that's not necessarily true. That's you know, that's not necessarily true.
So what are the expectations? And I think he could
be great there, but they got to give him a
chance to really build this program the way he wants to,
(31:59):
but also has some realistic expectations the first one to
three years. Yeah, no, listen, I think it's totally fair.
I do think that it brings energy back. I think
the most interesting thing is yes, you can get all
the guys from Memphis, do you want them all? And
and then the other part is like, just because guys
all grew up in the same hometown doesn't mean they
all like each other, you know, or want to play dude.
(32:21):
So sometimes you will take one and that means you
can't get another, like, well, what what what happened? Like
I thought you guys are boys? Like, yeah, I don't
really want to. It doesn't mean I want to play
in college with him. So it's a it's a little
bit of a minefield there. But I do think I
I think it's the little things outside of the coaching
that make it harder. The actual ball coaching. I kind
of think that stuff you can do pretty well with
a little bit of help. It's gonna be fascinating to watch.
(32:42):
Go ahead, but think about this. If you're a people
say you want to listen. I love to teach. I
love the game. But most of coaching college coaches is
on the court. The rest of the stuff is can
you deal with the alumni, can you deal with the administration?
Can you do it with recruiting? A you the parents
to handlers? Ready to get that three o'clock in the morning,
(33:05):
phone called us something that's happened. That's the crux of coaching.
A lot of times the on the court stuff. Got
to tell you, man, I love it as easy. It's
the other stuff that if you haven't been in that
situation now you're dealing with, can you really handle that
part of it and still grow the program? That's that's
also gonna be the channel great stuff, j J. And
(33:27):
enjoy the call tonight on Westwood One. That's Jim Jackson.
You see you on Fox Sports one. You'll hear him
next week hosted with me and the Dan Patrick Show,
and weekends on Fox Sports Radio three to six Eastern Time.
Who want pal Mark Willard, j J. Thanks so much.
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox sports
Radio dot com and within the I Heart Radio app.
(33:49):
I thought two years was too short tenure for Tubby Smith,
but it was still an odd fit for Tubby at
this point in time in his career to be coaching
in Memphis. But once I heard the idea of Penny
and I understood what he was gonna do, or what
I thought he was gonna do, I was like, now,
my my ears are perked up. Let's hear from him
(34:10):
ourselves and find out what his vision is, what he
thinks is realistic and some of the challenges in coaching
at Memphis being from Memphis having coached high school basketball
and AU basketball Memphis. Penny Hardaway joins this new head
coach of University of Memphis on the Doug Gotlip Show
on Fox Sports Radio. How you doing, man, I'm doing good? Okay. So, um, look,
(34:33):
it was leaked out as a possibility a couple of
weeks ago. When did this become When did the rumors
become really kind of tangible to which you started to
go like, Okay, this is gonna happen. Oh you know, like, um,
maybe a couple of days when he took that coach
wasn't gonna be retained topter that I knew it's gonna
(34:54):
be a reality. It was really unfair to coach Smith
for them to kind of, I know, the media had
to do their job, but to to broadcast that out
there like that before the conference tournament even came about.
But I just I knew, like maybe like a day
day after day before he was he was getting fired,
and I was gonna be coming in, and I was
(35:15):
super excited for me kind of said to him and
his stuff, because, like I said, it was only a
tier run. So so when you you come in to
do the interview, what was the you know, did you
did you line it out for them this is how
it's gonna be. Did you simply answer questions? How did
you approach the Q and A the interview with them? No?
(35:35):
They really just asked what was I dedicated to doing this?
They didn't have any questions that I could turn to,
you know, the program around that I could do some
things that they knew that I could do. And basically
all they wanted to know was am I willing to
put my legacy that I've had here in mentors? People
love me here, I'm going to raise here. I played
here on the line because it could be an ugly
game when you're coaching and you're not winning, and how
(35:57):
the fans and how the media you know, looks at you.
UM could have handled that part and could have handled
the media side of it, could have handled the UM
the ants and outs of what comes along with the job,
with the ambassadors, with the boosters, with all the appearances.
And I told him yes, and That's basically all I
had to do was tell them that I was all
(36:18):
in and they were fine with that. You know, It's
it's interesting because that's the it's the Tony Bennett said
this last week when they got beat University of Virginia.
He was like, look, I told our guys, you haven't time.
You enter the arena. Everybody thinks of the great things,
but the bad things can happen to this even more so,
like you are a legend, you are a deity, you
are a I've I've been to Memphis games when you're
(36:39):
there and everybody stops and everybody wants to talk to you.
I mean, but have you really had that thought, like
what if this goes really bad? Dude, No, I'm not
wired that way. Um, I know that things can't happen,
but we won't wallow in the sorrow, you know, And
I know things can. You can have a tough loss
and then they could kind of be bad around the
town until the next game, because I did that at
(37:00):
the NBA. You have a tough loss and next day
you look at the paper you're like, oh man, this
is this is not good and you're filling down into
the next game. But I'm never I don't come in
with that attitude. I come in with a Winders heart.
I win his mindset. I wanted attitude that we're gonna
be successful and we're gonna have some bumps, but the
bumps aren't gonna linger. We're gonna smooth it back out
and keep rolling. You know, people forget you're a prop
(37:20):
for it. Your first year, you couldn't practice the team,
you couldn't play with the team. I remember there's an
article done on you and you're you're alone. I think
Sports Illustrated did a piece on you. You're alone shooting
in arena. I bring it up because, um one, you
had a really strong year that you're academically and you
you stayed in college for three years. Do you know
how it is in Memphis, like some of the kids
(37:41):
that you've coached in high school and in au ball, like,
there's some dire poverty and there's this sense that kids
go to Memphis and they see they got to see
success immediately and then they got to go off to
the league. How do you handle that now as a
college coach? How do you handle the expectations, many of
them unrealistic, about the kids that you're gonna true. Well,
(38:01):
I do agree with you saying most of them, many
of them unrealistic. But you just have to tell a
kid man have to work, allowed to allow the nation
to talk about you. Don't come in saying what you're
gonna do, I'm one and done. I've heard so many
kids that they were wanting done like three or four years. Uh,
you can get yourself into trouble doing. I would hope
that they would listen to me and, uh, let me
(38:21):
give them the advice on when they should go or
if they could go and just keep working on the game.
If most kids like focused on working on the games
and getting better versus saying what they're going to do
and where they're going, there'd be much better office players.
And uh, it's since though, in this in this society
with kids, this generation, everybody thinks that they're one and
done and they're not. You're not. It's not true, no,
(38:42):
I know. And then the other thing you run into
is now all the kids in Memphis, like even the
kids you coached at East High School, they're all gonna
just assume that you want them to play and play
the same role in college. And there's all these other
kids you're gonna recruit. How do you handle that? The
the look just because I use you this way in
high school, that doesn't mean I'm gonna use you the
same way at at the university. Memphis is a little
(39:05):
bit different deal there. How do you handle those expectations? Well,
you know, you just played the best players. You know,
I don't show favoritism just because the kids from Memphis
or he played for me, um that he has favoritism
over a kid that we recruited from Georgia or Texas
or Florida or even California. No, it's the better player plays.
And I tell every kid competition is healthy. You're going
(39:26):
to compete, and if you earn your minutes, you earn them.
You We're not gonna give you anything. And most kids
don't like to hear that. The parents don't like to
hear that they wanted to be given to him. They won't.
They won't so many minutes or my child had to start,
or my kids had to start. No, not here. The
way we handled it is it's fair. You're gonna earn everything.
It's gonna be fun though, right, I mean this is
(39:46):
I saw you, I saw you tour in the facility
and and looking around there had to be inside your
brain you had to be like, this is sweet. I
get to be the head coach of Memphis. This is awesome.
Oh my god man, this new practice facility. And I'm
not trying to, you know, brag, but the new practice
facility is on the internet right now with me walking
through it, my first time in it. In the facility.
Uh no, Stone Turn, unbelievable facility. And it's only like
(40:10):
three months old. Uh, It's only been open for like
three months. And I'm I'm able to come in, uh
to an unbelievable situation, to even coach my alma mater.
But to be in a building like this and then
have my home gym be the FedEx form, I mean,
you can't. You can't. You know, you can't beat that. Um.
Something weird though, when when Cal had it going there,
it wasn't really with Memphis kids. And you know, early
(40:32):
on he had some Memphis kids, but you know d
Rose and c DR. Those guys weren't Memphis kids. Josh
Pastor did a good job of getting Memphis kids, they
just didn't win maybe enough games. Um, what what's the
real challenge of recruiting Memphis kids and getting them to
compete at a high level, not just the seven nationally. Well,
the good thing for me is that I've been in
(40:52):
the community. I've been with these kids, uh since middle school,
this generation of kids that are that are going to
be coming out of the next two or three years,
and I've gotten to know them well, They've gotten to
know me well. So we've been doing the ring to
the normal Kis morment these moment anybody, I know who
the real guys are, the guys that can really play
at the level that we need here at Memphis. So
(41:13):
I don't want to shut Memphis kids out because you
know they're not gonna reach the expectations. I know who's
gonna reach the expectations, and you still have to recruit nationally.
I'm not just gonna just limit myself to Memphis. But
I'm not gonna forget about Memphis kids either, So there
has to be an even balance with with it. I'm
not gonna, you know, shut down Memphis because I'm trying
(41:33):
to do Monster's Gonna cloud in it. And I feel
like I have a better relationship with the with the parents,
with the kids around here, and I know who's who
because I'm going to rain here. Are you gonna bring
back to Memphis state uniforms? So that's a big question. Yes,
I'm saying that. Everybody's saying that we're gonna bring back
the throwback Memphis State uniforms. We have to do it
for a couple of games. Can you believe though, these
(41:53):
all the kids going the short shorts, like like, we
fought for years to get the shorts lengthened, and now
everybody wants the shorts shorter, Like you have to there
has to be a straightened out of this thing because
this this trend of the shorts getting mid thigh length.
This that's a bad trend. You know. We fought so hard,
just so much to try to get longer shorts. We
kept pulling our shorts down and we tried to make
(42:15):
them longer, and now the kids are folding them to
make them shorter. It's it's it's just crazy. What's what's
going on? Um Having coached in high school but played
so long in the nbaing so successfully in the NBA.
One of the things that I've seen in colleges, there's
kind of a mix a lot of the old school
college coaches. They're struggling to adjust to not just a
(42:35):
three point shot, but to the new style kind of
of how they're playing in the NBA. Have you thought
about style wise, do you know how you how you
want to play? Do you want to have kind of
more NBA style attack or more of a college style attack? No,
I want to I want to get up and there.
You know I'm I'm a fast paced guy. And then
if we don't have anything, then we can set some
type of motion or or run a set. But initially
(42:55):
I want to run. We want to be fast paced team,
getting up down the floor. A lot of hockey teams
from regular says, I'm a big guy, throwing the ball
ahead and allowing my wings to attack downhill. Big man,
rim running, have a trail, big and we're we're out
and we're running. And if we don't have anything, we
get into some secondary action or even get into a
safe But I want the kids to be free. They
(43:16):
have a lot of freedom. I want them to play
basketball and not be micromanaging them and and and and
coach every possession. And defensively, I love West Virginia style.
That's how I've always taught. I've taught that type of pressure.
I don't believe in letting someone walks the ball up
the court. It's almost like a slow death, you know.
I don't like that. I want to dictate the tempo
(43:36):
and I'm not going to I'm not gonna allow teams
to just walking up on the game. All right now.
You know they foul a lot, so you can wheel
in a lot of dudes. When when if you're you're
picking up full court, Penny Hardaway joining us, When when
was the little Penny campaign? When was that proposed to you?
When did some When did Nike sit you down and
show you that you mean back? And when I was
in the league, yeah, the first year, but you remember,
(43:59):
you remember like it came to me and said, hey man,
we had a brilliant idea, which was it was brilliant
that we help alter ego to be a doll, and
we'll name Little Penny and he'll talk so much smack
that you will never have to say anything. And then
he'll talk to smack before you just keep doing what
you're doing, continue to play at the h lebel and
he'll do all the trash talking. And I thought that
was sin and it ended up being a huge hit,
(44:21):
you know, that Like when you walk in the door,
everyone's gonna everyone's gonna want you to. Like you go
to a recruiting visit, people are getting all the parents
all day. You guys, everybody's just gonna talk about Little
Penny like you no, like almost your your NBA career,
the fact that you were, you know, um, a four
time NBA All Star, that you were third team All NBA,
even you know, even your great college career. Everywhere you go,
(44:45):
they're gonna talk about Little Penny just as much as
they talk about how great a player you were. Yeah, well,
you know that's that's that's a testament to Nike, and
that's also a great testament to what my career was
because Little Penny was a big part of my career.
I don't mind him talking about Little Penny. I don't
get jealous, becau that's a part of me. Uh Larry Brown,
will he be on the staff? I can't answer that
(45:06):
right now. I have to talk about suspect for coach Brown,
one of my favorite coaches ever, and I'll just have
to discuss with my with my admitted director. Hey, listen,
I wish you nothing but success. I can't wait to
see your team's play, especially if they play up and
down and garden people. More than anything, I'm happy for
you get a chance to steer the ship of your
alma mater. Best of luck to you, I'll see in
(45:27):
the recruiting trail alright, pleasure is mind. It's Penny Hardaway,
who joined us on The Doug Gottlieb Show.
This is the best of the Doug Gottlieb Show on
Fox Sports Radio. What Up, Doug Gottlieb Show, Fox Sports Radio.
I got a lot to tell you, a lot to
talk about one time about Sweet sixteen, a moment um.
There's this this this story out of San Antonio is
super super interesting to me. But it's more interesting not
because of the story out of San Antonio, but because
(00:23):
the story out of San Antonio. Does that makes sense? Like,
I don't know if Kawhi Leonard is gonna play anymore
today than he was yesterday. I don't really know. Do
I think Adrian Wardzanowski missed on the story. Probably not,
although technically he's not actually reporting the story as much
as Michael C. Wright, who works underneath kind of his umbrella.
(00:44):
So Woades writes the story Spurs hold players only meeting
to implore Kawhi Leonard to return. That's the headline. But
then he goes on to say that Spurs guard Tony Parker,
four time NBA All Star, our quarterback the meeting after
the team's victory over Minnesota on Saturday night, non players
(01:05):
werest to leave the locker room. A source told Michael C.
Wright in other words, there's a little bit of game
of telephone here, and that doesn't mean that any of
the story is incorrect, but it can be made more
and more and more pronounced. Ramos and Buyer are both married.
Music is essentially Mary. He's been with the same girl
(01:26):
for over a year. They're going on trips to Hawaii together.
You know he turned vegan because of her. He actually,
I mean all this stuff. He really only has a
beard because she says grow a beard or else she
has like a Kenny Rogers thing. Right, At some point
the beard is gonna become silver and soil his hair,
(01:46):
and he'll start singing the gamble, humming the Gambler every day. Anyway,
anyone who has a significant other that's a woman knows
there's a word that actually doesn't mean anything bad, but
can be taken to means something really awful. Fine. How
(02:09):
are you fine? How are you fine? Right? How are
you fine? No? I'm fine, I'm fine. Can I get
some drink? No, I'm fine, No, I'm fine. Like fine
is a completely neutral It means fine, I'm okay. It
actually means I'm good. But she didn't say I'm good.
(02:33):
She said I'm fine. She didn't say I'm okay. She
said I'm fine fine, can what do you mean fine?
And I use that because just because they might have
been speaking loudly, and just because there might have been
a player's only meeting, does not necessarily mean that they
(02:55):
were yelling at Kauai, and because because when you hear
players only meeting, players call it telling Kawhi Leonard to
play automatically like, oh, they think he's soft and they're
telling him be soft, and dude, you better get that
back out here and play because we need you and
we know you're not hurt. Right. Isn't that the isn't
that the kind of the hoops that your mind mentally
(03:15):
goes through players like you don't ever tell me about
my money, don't ever tell me about my I don't
say anything about my girl or my wife or whatever,
my family, my kids, And players don't usually talk about
whether or not somebody's hurt or not hurt. So when
you hear they talked in the locker room loudly about
(03:36):
Kawai Leonard Portly's injury, you automatically think, oh, well, they
think he's not hurt and he should be playing, and
they're essentially calling him either a faker or soft. But
that's us trying to that's me me reading my wife
said she was fine, and assuming I know what the answer,
has a bad way to do it, because this is
(04:02):
a story that's written by a writer who's who's taking
the word forward from another writer who was actually there
but not in the room, and got it from a
source like things can be taken completely out of context.
And Danny Green called him out as such, And we've
(04:22):
had others Danny Green saying couldn't be any more inaccurate
L O L. There were other players that said the same.
I tend to believe the reporter. I tend to believe
the sources. I tend to believe that there probably was
a meeting it was players. Only they did discuss quide
Leonard's injury. I don't know if it was imploring him
to play or just to just kind of a fact
finding mission. But once it becomes a game of telephone,
(04:46):
it's like somebody saying fine. Unless I heard them say
fine and saw their facial reaction and the context of
where they said fine a sentence and how they said fine,
And do they use fine to describe things that are
good or bad. Some people say things are fine, I'm fine,
she fine, Oh, she's fine. Right, finds a good word.
Some people like fine fine, and it's really a bad word.
So I don't know. What I do know is it's
(05:09):
really interesting because this is the Fort Knox of the NBA,
This is the Patriots of the NBA, and in the
same year to which we had some dysfunction within the
Patriots Malcolm Butler, Robert Gronkowski saying it's not fun trading
away Jimmy Garoppolo for like nothing. Now we have meat
on the bone to talk about with the San Antonio Spurs.
That's interesting. Sweet sixteens tonight. And look, the first weekend
(05:36):
is generally about the upset, especially the first night's about
the upset. The first day. I think a lot of
teams play with a ton of pressure. You don't want
to be that, you don't want to be Virginia, right,
you don't want to be Arizona, you don't want to
be Michigan State and get beat earlier that Michigan State
got beaten the second But generally the first weekend, the
(05:57):
first game very pressure field and it's embarrassing to lose
in the first round. If you're an elite team second weekend,
it's not the same amount of pressure. It's much and
it's weird because there's a lot more build up to it,
but there's not the pressure to it because if you
(06:19):
lose it lost to Sweet sixteen, right, even if you're
in Nevada and you lose the loyal to Chicago you
got to a Sweet sixteen, doesn't don't really matter. You're
Syracuse and you get beaten by Duke he lost in
the Sweet sixteen. It's really interesting on how because Sweet
sixteens now are like Final four is twenty five years
ago in terms of the amount of attention they get
(06:41):
in most of these individual cities. But let's say, just
for for a second, just for giggles, Perdue loses, Michigan loses,
Michigan one the Big ten tournament, huge expectations. Some people
had them going to a final for let's say they
lose the text A and M like, ah, they got
two sweets of steam. It's weird because you can get upset. Duke,
(07:05):
for example, was I think eleven and a half even
a twelve point favorite in some books over Syracuse, the
team they beat by sixteen orlier. This year Duke gets
beat by Syracuse, and even though Syracuse was the last
team in the field based upon the rankings they released
after they released the field, He's still like he lost
(07:26):
the Sweet six team, and that is that fascinating to
anybody else? Uh? The other thing that I find I
find interesting is that the games are at Staples Center,
where the Lakers play in l A. And we've had
Sweet sixteen Elade eight games there before. I live in
law we live in Los Angeles. To live in Los Angeles,
(07:56):
do you guys, is there any hype over these games
at all? Like it's, Oh, it's one of those things.
I think the one big city you can go to
and you get the hype, some hype when you play
the n c A tournament there is New York City.
They do seem to care. When they had the Sweet
sixteen e Leade eight theory was kind of a big thing.
But it's it's weird. One of those is like, well,
we gotta get to l A. That's a big market.
(08:17):
They're in l A, they're in Atlanta, there in Boston,
and they're in Omaha. And I kind of feel like
Omaha is the perfect market for this sort of this
this sort of event. Omaha loves the College Baseball World Series.
Omaha will be packed to the gills by the way
Omaha's I mean, you got Kansas there, it's right down
(08:39):
the road from Kansas City. You've got Syracuse and Duke. Oh,
you got Clemson too. Um, the one in boston's good
because you got Nova, but West Virginia, Texas Tech and Perdue.
Like Atlanta, you got Kentucky. That's Catlanta, they call it.
(08:59):
But you know, look, gonzag in l A should be
a bigger thing, but it's not. Really. I'm not doing
a man on the Street pole. But it is interesting
on how you can get in these big markets and
kind of have the opposite the attendant effect, Like I
don't I'm going to watch it, but I don't know
anybody else's like, let's a watch party Sweet sixteen tonight music?
(09:24):
You you listen, you know you and romis you guys
listen to sports radio trying to find the stuff for
what did the Fox say? How much hype do you
think there's over Sweet sixteen in town for l A
specifically none? And I think a lot of it has
to do with something that we kind of talked about
at the end of last week or maybe earlier this week.
And I think a lot of it has to do
(09:45):
with the fact that the PAC twelve has no footing.
Uh you know, USC missed the tournament entirely. You see
l A lost in that first playing game, and then
all of the other teams that I think people in
l A could have gravitated tour as members of schools
that they've would have played against. I mean there's essentially
after the first weekend all of them were gone. And
(10:07):
I know l A's a transplant city, but that's there
aren't that many college die hard fans here as much
as they are transplants of like other professional teams. It
feels like the opposite of New York. In New York.
Um in New York, there are a lot of college
(10:28):
transplant and some of it's like it's a lot of
big ten people moved to. If it was if it
was the University of Arizona, I think it would be big.
Arizona of course has lost a bunch of times at
the Pond and Anaheim, which is in Orange County, that's
a big USC and Arizona kind of hotbed. Also u
C l A as well. Dan Buyer. I was gonna say, Doug,
(10:51):
when you mentioned Arizona into what Ryan was mentioning seven
years ago at Honda Center in Anaheim. You had Arizona
and San Diego State making it to the Sweet sixteen
with Duke and Yukon being there, and well, Duke and
Yukon maybe didn't have the biggest of followings just because
of the travel in the side of the schools. I mean,
it was electric to see the Arizona fans cheering on
(11:14):
Derrick Williams in that Duke game. In the San Diego
State fans were out there. But really, how many options
does the West Coast have to bring an electric atmosphere
with the top teams of the West Coast? What maybe
for Arizona, U, C, l A, Gonzaga. Um, well, you know,
I used to be, you know, used to be, But
(11:35):
I just don't think that there are a lot of
options for like West Coast regionals that those schools aren't
any good to to grab any electric It's hard. It's
a hard one. It's a it's actually a very very
hard one. Um. Maybe the new the New Warriors Arena
eventually becomes a homewoe. I look, I still think you
do it in Vegas. Like I understand that. The n
s A is like, man, we got this. We want
(11:56):
to separate gambling from the kids, and I got it.
I under stand like you want the games to be
on the up and up, but I feel like I
feel like we keep tiptoe around it. And I'm not
a legalized gambling everywhere guy. I just think there's unintended constut.
The people in Vegas know what they're doing, but those
(12:17):
they know what they're doing. And I know there is
plenty of illegal gambling that takes place. And you know,
this is like the drug legalization guy, right, legalized drugs
and that way it cuts out the illicit illegal drug suppliers.
Like yeah, but it doesn't. It's not really the message
that we want to send. I don't know. I just
(12:38):
I feel like tiptoeing around whether or not we uh,
we have games in Vegas. That that's a it's just
having Vegas. Vegas is a destination. It would be a
big thing in Vegas and everybody be psyched to go
to Vegas. Be sure to catch live editions of The
Doug gott Leaps Show weekdays at three p m. Easter
noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart
(13:01):
Radio app. Who has a greater sense for teams in
and the old players only meeting than Jim Jackson. He
joins us now on the Dougo j j I want
to get to college basketball Sweet sixteen a moment. But
Kauai has only played nine games this year, and there's
various reports about players only meeting, which guys are trying
to figure out why he wasn't playing. What what's your
(13:22):
sense of exactly what's going on in San Antonio? It's
the same thing. It's kind of weird because this is
kind of out of character in regards to what we've heard.
You've been around us a long time, Dougy with how
many times if we heard San Antonio having a players
only meeting ever? You know what I mean. So it's
kind of unstarted territory in regards to in the circles.
(13:45):
Maybe they've had some before, we didn't. It just hasn't
come out. But it's kind of a delicate situation because
Kauai is so quiet, we never really get a sense
to what he's thinking. And if this is the case
in regard arts to Kauai in the stalemate with the Spurs,
and there's a lot more to his injury in regards
(14:08):
to his ability to play, because I don't think as players,
if you know a guy's hurting injured and can't was
injured and can't play, you don't have a meeting to
implore him to come back on the team or get
back in the mix in fear that that may you know,
endanger him, you know, long term. So that just indicates
(14:30):
to me that something else is going on in regards
to his injury, and it may not be as serious
um as what it was, but it may be some
some conflicts between Kauai and upper and management. Right So
I feel like you hear players only meeting and because
the Spurs, because it's Kauai, we freak out because we
(14:51):
don't we get no information from them and the church
and the truth might be a little bit less sinister
than players because as you know, like one of the
things that players never do, like guys never talked about
somebody else's money, right, Like I'll never you stay away
from what their their personal relationships, right Unlet's like not
not in front of the team, like that's not your deal,
and you never question at least I've never questioned whether
(15:14):
somebody's hurt or not. It feels like it's more realistic
to say, like, hey, just tell us what's going on
so that we can answer the questions properly, and we
can we can fight for you in the media without maybe,
on the other hand, we want you to play like
is it is it kind of a clearing of the air,
but in a less sinister way in which is presented
from the media. Is that fair? Well? I would like
(15:37):
to say that the players sincerely want to know what's
going to want to hear from Kauai, because I don't
you know, the thing is, what's the dynamics of the
players relationship on the team, who's closer to Kauai, who
has his he or who does he talk to? We
we just don't really know that, you know what I mean.
So obviously the team, the teammates are getting mixed signals
(15:59):
from I'm were on his availability, and that's that's the
tricky part here, because when you have teammates that they've
been around, they've been together for quite some time, so
they know each other, especially Parker and Genoblee with Kauai, Okay,
they know each other, so it's something there for them
(16:21):
to have to do it, and it's a trust thing
to do. They are they the Kauai led on to
somebody that the reason why he's not playing has to
do with more than the injury. And I tend to
look at things a little bit differently just because I've
been in those locks rooms before, because if a guy's hurt,
you know, a guy's hurting, the guy's injury, you know it.
(16:41):
He's gonna tell you. But I can't play. I can't go.
This is what's going on. But if there's a question
about it, then that tends to let me that is
more to this than just the injury. And that's the
that's the tricky part. Jim Jackson joining us in the
Dougallan Show, Fox Sports Radio. I want to even Toronto.
I swear to you, Jim, I do. I do. But
(17:03):
then um A hundred and thirty two given up last night,
hundred thirty two given up in the gutel Oklooma City.
Those are both playoff caliber games, and in both cases
they couldn't get stops. And like, look, I like that
they're moving the ball more. I like their talent. I
like DeMar De Rosen seemingly taking his game to the
next level, to to maybe superstar caliber level. I like
(17:26):
a lot of those things. But you can't give up
a hundred and thirty two to both the Thunder and
the Calves and lose both those games and me take
you seriously. Yeah no. And here's the thing. I was
listening to Colin earlier today, and Colin made a great point, Okay,
in regards to playoff basketball, situational basketball, you need to
have superstar And that's true because I always look at
(17:49):
it like this is not like the n C Double A,
where it's a one game scenario. It's some stuff hits
the fan, uh lord, I mean underdog team to win
in the seven games series. It's about making adjustments within
the game, but also going into the next game. It's
also being relatively healthy. It's also being strategic. To me, coaching,
(18:13):
I look like coaching like this. In the NBA during
the regular season, you're coaching minutes, you're coaching um injuries
and health, and you're coaching egos to kind of keep
all those in line so you can get to the
playoffs in the prime position. Where now the coaching, the
strategic part of it really comes out. I mean, look
(18:36):
I'm gonna run that again again, say that one more time.
So in the regular season, you're coaching minutes, injuries, injury egos.
That's that's what you're doing in the regular season. Now
what you because you have so many dynamics going on
and so many things with injuries and how you've manipulate
the line of this guy feels he needs to play
my my, my main guy may be heard and it
(18:58):
may win. Does rehappen? How do I uh game plan
for not having maybe my core group for ten games?
All that stuff, But once you get in the playoffs, man,
it's I'm drilling in on what's the four or five
go to play that this team really loves to do.
How can we make adjustments offensivity? And that's the difference. Now,
(19:21):
who do you have that can execute these our game
plan the best? See does everybody wants to mbulate Golden
State right, shoot the three ball, getting multiple guys to handle.
But what they're missing and people, really you know this
because you played at a high level of this maybe
not the most athletic, but here's what you had and
(19:42):
a lot of players Golden State high i Q. So
youve got eight or nine guys on that team you're
starting four or five have high i Q. So when
you go to your bench, Okay, you've got three more
guys in Igua Dollar, David West and also Sean Livingston.
They got high i Q. So what do you lose
from that? You may lose athleticism, but you don't lose
(20:04):
the field for the game and how to execute and play.
So if you put a swaggy p um or other
guys out there that maybe don't understand the game as
much Veil McGee, but you balanced that because you have
three other guys that understand how to play basketball is
so tough to beat and to boot. You have Steve Kerr.
So with Toronto, look at it. They've been proved so much.
(20:26):
But when you're playing against Cleveland high i Q. Lebronze
ain't off the chart. Okay, Kevin Um you're talking about.
You may lose Kyrie, But when you have a guy
that's won before, like Kevin loved, they don't give him
enough credit but how he plays. So we saw last
(20:47):
night of State in the game with lebron like, hey,
I'm still the best player in the world and we're
still the favorites doing knees. Why do you think he's
played better since Tylwis has stepped away? Why do you
think he's played better? But you know, you know what,
don't know the thing. Let's go back about a month though.
(21:09):
He's been trending towards this for about a month though.
Think about how he's playing. Okay, I think he's really
been sending a message. Okay, you want to talk hard
m VT, that's fine. Let me show you. Oh, Toronto
is the best team. Yeah, I got the number one tea,
but remember we get to Boston last year when they
had the number one seed. Late this season blue the
(21:30):
doors off of them. So let me just show you
just a quiet things down a little bit. How do
you have thirty six seventeen and Noah and you were no, no, no,
no turnovers. No I mean, I mean no turnovers. I
don't do that. I don't know. I don't know. I
don't understand like I do. I knew his shooting would
get better, because everybody shoots better the older they get.
(21:50):
I just didn't know he'd be able to maintain this
level of athleticism and his body, his body not breakdown. Bro,
It's it's incredible it's it's really can you hang from minute? Okay? Cool?
Make sure, by the way, you check out Jim's new
show on Fox Sports Radio every Sunday alongside Mark Willard
three to six Eastern time. So you get Tough Juice,
(22:11):
you get you get who's hosting with Tough Choice with
Karen Butler, Chris Mannix and Karen Butler, and then you
get Jim Jackson and Mark Willard. Like that's that's not
six hours great radio on Sundays. I don't know. And
by the way, um, so I guess Jim, you're confirmed
you're gonna join me next Wednesday? Oh, no doubt. All right,
it's early. It's like I know you like to smoke
(22:32):
cigars late at night in in really really nice places
that I can't afford to get into. That's that's six
am East Coast time. And that's all right. I have
my big boys who have his R and B Boys going.
Jim and I gonna fill in on the Dan Patrick
Show next week next Wednesday on Fox Sports Radio. Let
me find out what else is going on in the
(22:53):
world of sports. He's Dan Byer in the last year
about to sweet sixteen. Yeah, sweet six scenes, And I
had a double dose in Atlanta in l But there's
other college troops news. Dan Hurley leaving Rhode Island to
be the next head coach at Yukon. Reports say he'll
get a six year deal to coach the Huskies. Well.
The Louisville Courier Journal says Xavier coach Chris Mack will
meet with Louisville officials on Saturday about the school's coaching vacancy.
(23:15):
Buck Forward honest and did a Coomboat Doubtful to play
tomorrow against the Bulls because of a sprained ankle suffered
and last night's lost to the Clippers. Hornets center Dwight
Howard has been suspended for Tonight's game against Memphis after
picking up his sixteen technical of the season. Wait, so
he had a thirty for thirty, thirty rebounds, thirty points,
thirty rebounds and then he can't play the next game.
That is correct. That is correct, although maybe he's like
(23:37):
most of us and would want to miss Hornet's Grizzlies
um the Giants traded defense eve end Jason Pierre Paul
to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Giants sent jpp in a
fourth rounder to Tampa for a third round pick and
a fourth round pick and the golf I know something
that's goes to Jim's heart as well. Jordan's Speth won
his Day two match at the match Play Championships Tony
Romo five over car seventy seven playing at the Arralys
(24:00):
Championship in the Dominican Republic five of a par and
he's not gonna make the cut, is he? No? That
that that would have been magnificent miracle if he did,
But no, he's not. Is he in last place? Well,
you know what, I was gonna save it for game time,
but he's not in last place. So Jim Jackson continues
(24:21):
to join us check him out Sundays on Fox Sports Radio.
Let me let me ask you about about tonight. Let's
start with Kentucky. Um, what's your reaction to Kentucky's resurgence
and the fact that, I mean, like, look, he complained
about their seed. They get a twelve and a thirteen
and now Kansas State and the winner of Nevada and
and loyal, I mean, the Highest Seat of Might plays
a seven to go to a final four. But they're
(24:42):
they're playing better basketball. What's your thoughts on what Cal
has been able to do their well. Listen, they were young,
I thought from a point guard perspective perspective, it just
wasn't there at the beginning the season. Young guys figured
and you think about Kentucky played their best basketball. From
win guard perspective, they were solid to two, really good,
(25:03):
and that kind of drove them when you don't have
the right guy running the ship at the time in
regards to understanding how the player is gonna happen what
you do. But I always said that this team was
long athletic and they were gonna be a better team
at the end of the year than they were at
the beginning. And Cal has done that in the past.
So it's one of those dangerous teams that you hate
(25:24):
to see in one game scenario. But to boot, they
put themselves in a position by winning a lot, like
Duke okay Um when you have some questions maybe at times,
but because those other teams dropped off. Now they're the
teams that you look at, blue bloods that you thought
maybe wouldn't be there, they're there, you know. So it's
it's it's it's incredible with if you just take care
(25:46):
of your business, especially in today's world. That you can
put yourself in a position to be able to get
to potential final for the National Championship game. But there
I love them. They're long, athletic, they can play call. Yeah,
I just I don't know if they can shoot man
and right. And I think Kansas State, now you're stepping
up in weight class and I know they Kan's State
(26:08):
only at A nine C. I thought they were underseated. Um,
but you know, big thing is this this case s
they have to Dean Wade. If they do Dean Wades
a face up for All League player in the Big twelve,
good player, that's gonna be a fascinating game. Um, let's
let's let's go to Michigan. You did a ton of
Big ten games, and let's be honest, Michigan was beaten
by Houston. Houston makes uh, Devin Davis makes uh any
(26:30):
of his he had he missed three free throws in
row to when the game was essentially done. And this
is a different story. But we know how they play
four out, one in and Mr Wagner has not played
great in the n c A tournament. After the week
and a half off, they're playing against Texas A and
m who's got a tremendous front line, but I don't
I don't know how they'll guard Michigan. What are your
thoughts on Michigan and A and M. We got practice
(26:53):
yesterday because I'm calling the game tonight, both games here
in l A. And the challenge is gonna beat us
for Texas Day. And because you have bigs, can they
guard on the perimeter and stay engage because as you know,
with the multiple movements to pour in one out for Michigan,
they're going to make you have to think the game
and really react to a lot of downscreens, picks, misdirection plays,
(27:17):
especially for a post player, and that's a little bit
more challenging. Plus I think Michigan the advantage they have,
they end up pulling those bigs um Tyler Davis and
Robert Williams away from the basket. So you've got some
you've got some offensive rebound opportunity. But talking to Billy
Kennedy said, sometimes we can play small and match up.
So it's gonna be interesting. Is there their attention to
(27:39):
detail in regards to what they're doing game planning wise?
How those bigs react Because Michigan, I'm gonna give you
this Douggie. You don't get credit for their defense. They're
playing pretty good defense. They went up against some teams,
okay from a side perspective during the tournament, and they
competed where they only give up eight nine offensive rebounds
(27:59):
the last two or three games. So their rebounding board
the ball to higher rate during the tournament defensively, So
I think that boat was well from Michigan. That's that's
that's Florida State Gonzaga your other game tonight. Look, the
Zags have obviously been here four times in a row
in the streets team, but this is a this is
a new Gonzaga team against the Florida State team that
(28:21):
was also dead to right speating, but one that when
they walk on the floor, Like if the two teams
in the lamp lines you you pick Florida State. Um,
but Gonzaga has you know, found a way cultural wise
and just making enough shots. Who do you like in
that matchup? Well, two things talking to Mark for you,
this is what he said. He said, we're a different
team than last year because now we had traditional post
(28:41):
up players. But now what we're doing with Jonathan Williams
and accrue their more face up Okay, so the offense
is totally different. Okay, so they're playing better. They don't
have the super superstar that they had in the past,
but this group is different. They rely on two or
three four guys to kind of get it done. A
challenge is gonna be talking to Hamilton's we are with
(29:03):
disaster gonna face is this? Then Hamilton tell you, listen,
our top seven guys teams are better, our top seven
guys versus their top seven, but our top eleven to
their eleven, we got it. And what he means by
that is that he got eighteen guys on the team.
Have you're saying eighteen guys on the team he plays eleven.
So they're gonna press and try to wear you down
(29:24):
and try to keep the game close, that you wear
it down that they can win it in the end.
And he's comfortable doing that. So the Zags have had
problems turning the ball over against pressure. Will they be
able to handle that? There was ways the bodies, fresh
bodies coming at them in order to I think extending
the lead. So it's not within a one or two
(29:45):
possession game going down the stretch because that may not
bowl wolfen them from a mental perspective, but the physical perspective.
And in my favorite Florida State, UM, Penny Hardway's coaching
Memphis obviously went coaching high school coach in high school ball,
and Penny, if you've ever spent any time with him,
he's super bright and UM, I think he'll obviously be
(30:05):
great with the kids and anybody who's a mentor and
AU coach. We all grew up watching Penny bequest. The
ads were really good. I don't see it as nearly
as big a challenge as some people do. What's your
thoughts on Penny and whether or not it's a huge
challenge for him to be successful as a college basketball coach. Well, first,
it's it's a lot of pressure and weight. I don't
(30:29):
think he realized it yet because he's from Memphis. He's
a hero to Memphis. He played at Memphis State, he
coached UM. Their high school was AU program. So what
they're expecting, their expectation that's gonna be I think the
initial part of of how he impacted early on, what
(30:52):
are the expectations for the program with a coach who
hasn't coached in college, who hasn't gone on recruited, who
has a strategy, uh as in game plan, what is
the time frame that we're looking to have in order
for the program to grow? Those expectations that you are
so important because no matter how great Penny Hardaway is
(31:13):
as a player and as a person and as a
high school coach, you know, and I know, coming into college,
this is a this is a period situation where it
takes a little bit of time, especially from an inexperienced coach,
to be able to come in. So what are your
expectations as a program? You know, that's to me is
going to be the key to the timeline on their
(31:35):
patients to kind of get Memphis back on the map.
You know, they're thinking that a Penny will be to
go right in and get all the Memphis players. But
that's not necessarily true. That's you know, that's not necessarily true.
So what are the expectations? And I think he could
be great there, but they got to give him a
chance to really build this program the way he wants to,
(31:59):
but also has some realistic expectations the first one to
three years. Yeah, no, listen, I think it's totally fair.
I do think that it brings energy back. I think
the most interesting thing is yes, you can get all
the guys from Memphis, do you want them all? And
and then the other part is like, just because guys
all grew up in the same hometown doesn't mean they
all like each other, you know, or want to play dude.
(32:21):
So sometimes you will take one and that means you
can't get another, like, well, what what what happened? Like
I thought you guys are boys? Like, yeah, I don't
really want to. It doesn't mean I want to play
in college with him. So it's a it's a little
bit of a minefield there. But I do think I
I think it's the little things outside of the coaching
that make it harder. The actual ball coaching. I kind
of think that stuff you can do pretty well with
a little bit of help. It's gonna be fascinating to watch.
(32:42):
Go ahead, but think about this. If you're a people
say you want to listen. I love to teach. I
love the game. But most of coaching college coaches is
on the court. The rest of the stuff is can
you deal with the alumni, can you deal with the administration?
Can you do it with recruiting? A you the parents
to handlers? Ready to get that three o'clock in the morning,
(33:05):
phone called us something that's happened. That's the crux of coaching.
A lot of times the on the court stuff. Got
to tell you, man, I love it as easy. It's
the other stuff that if you haven't been in that
situation now you're dealing with, can you really handle that
part of it and still grow the program? That's that's
also gonna be the channel great stuff, j J. And
(33:27):
enjoy the call tonight on Westwood One. That's Jim Jackson.
You see you on Fox Sports one. You'll hear him
next week hosted with me and the Dan Patrick Show,
and weekends on Fox Sports Radio three to six Eastern Time.
Who want pal Mark Willard, j J. Thanks so much.
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox sports
Radio dot com and within the I Heart Radio app.
(33:49):
I thought two years was too short tenure for Tubby Smith,
but it was still an odd fit for Tubby at
this point in time in his career to be coaching
in Memphis. But once I heard the idea of Penny
and I understood what he was gonna do, or what
I thought he was gonna do, I was like, now,
my my ears are perked up. Let's hear from him
(34:10):
ourselves and find out what his vision is, what he
thinks is realistic and some of the challenges in coaching
at Memphis being from Memphis having coached high school basketball
and AU basketball Memphis. Penny Hardaway joins this new head
coach of University of Memphis on the Doug Gotlip Show
on Fox Sports Radio. How you doing, man, I'm doing good? Okay. So, um, look,
(34:33):
it was leaked out as a possibility a couple of
weeks ago. When did this become When did the rumors
become really kind of tangible to which you started to
go like, Okay, this is gonna happen. Oh you know, like, um,
maybe a couple of days when he took that coach
wasn't gonna be retained topter that I knew it's gonna
(34:54):
be a reality. It was really unfair to coach Smith
for them to kind of, I know, the media had
to do their job, but to to broadcast that out
there like that before the conference tournament even came about.
But I just I knew, like maybe like a day
day after day before he was he was getting fired,
and I was gonna be coming in, and I was
(35:15):
super excited for me kind of said to him and
his stuff, because, like I said, it was only a
tier run. So so when you you come in to
do the interview, what was the you know, did you
did you line it out for them this is how
it's gonna be. Did you simply answer questions? How did
you approach the Q and A the interview with them? No?
(35:35):
They really just asked what was I dedicated to doing this?
They didn't have any questions that I could turn to,
you know, the program around that I could do some
things that they knew that I could do. And basically
all they wanted to know was am I willing to
put my legacy that I've had here in mentors? People
love me here, I'm going to raise here. I played
here on the line because it could be an ugly
game when you're coaching and you're not winning, and how
(35:57):
the fans and how the media you know, looks at you.
UM could have handled that part and could have handled
the media side of it, could have handled the UM
the ants and outs of what comes along with the job,
with the ambassadors, with the boosters, with all the appearances.
And I told him yes, and That's basically all I
had to do was tell them that I was all
(36:18):
in and they were fine with that. You know, It's
it's interesting because that's the it's the Tony Bennett said
this last week when they got beat University of Virginia.
He was like, look, I told our guys, you haven't time.
You enter the arena. Everybody thinks of the great things,
but the bad things can happen to this even more so,
like you are a legend, you are a deity, you
are a I've I've been to Memphis games when you're
(36:39):
there and everybody stops and everybody wants to talk to you.
I mean, but have you really had that thought, like
what if this goes really bad? Dude, No, I'm not
wired that way. Um, I know that things can't happen,
but we won't wallow in the sorrow, you know, And
I know things can. You can have a tough loss
and then they could kind of be bad around the
town until the next game, because I did that at
(37:00):
the NBA. You have a tough loss and next day
you look at the paper you're like, oh man, this
is this is not good and you're filling down into
the next game. But I'm never I don't come in
with that attitude. I come in with a Winders heart.
I win his mindset. I wanted attitude that we're gonna
be successful and we're gonna have some bumps, but the
bumps aren't gonna linger. We're gonna smooth it back out
and keep rolling. You know, people forget you're a prop
(37:20):
for it. Your first year, you couldn't practice the team,
you couldn't play with the team. I remember there's an
article done on you and you're you're alone. I think
Sports Illustrated did a piece on you. You're alone shooting
in arena. I bring it up because, um one, you
had a really strong year that you're academically and you
you stayed in college for three years. Do you know
how it is in Memphis, like some of the kids
(37:41):
that you've coached in high school and in au ball, like,
there's some dire poverty and there's this sense that kids
go to Memphis and they see they got to see
success immediately and then they got to go off to
the league. How do you handle that now as a
college coach? How do you handle the expectations, many of
them unrealistic, about the kids that you're gonna true. Well,
(38:01):
I do agree with you saying most of them, many
of them unrealistic. But you just have to tell a
kid man have to work, allowed to allow the nation
to talk about you. Don't come in saying what you're
gonna do, I'm one and done. I've heard so many
kids that they were wanting done like three or four years. Uh,
you can get yourself into trouble doing. I would hope
that they would listen to me and, uh, let me
(38:21):
give them the advice on when they should go or
if they could go and just keep working on the game.
If most kids like focused on working on the games
and getting better versus saying what they're going to do
and where they're going, there'd be much better office players.
And uh, it's since though, in this in this society
with kids, this generation, everybody thinks that they're one and
done and they're not. You're not. It's not true, no,
(38:42):
I know. And then the other thing you run into
is now all the kids in Memphis, like even the
kids you coached at East High School, they're all gonna
just assume that you want them to play and play
the same role in college. And there's all these other
kids you're gonna recruit. How do you handle that? The
the look just because I use you this way in
high school, that doesn't mean I'm gonna use you the
same way at at the university. Memphis is a little
(39:05):
bit different deal there. How do you handle those expectations? Well,
you know, you just played the best players. You know,
I don't show favoritism just because the kids from Memphis
or he played for me, um that he has favoritism
over a kid that we recruited from Georgia or Texas
or Florida or even California. No, it's the better player plays.
And I tell every kid competition is healthy. You're going
(39:26):
to compete, and if you earn your minutes, you earn them.
You We're not gonna give you anything. And most kids
don't like to hear that. The parents don't like to
hear that they wanted to be given to him. They won't.
They won't so many minutes or my child had to start,
or my kids had to start. No, not here. The
way we handled it is it's fair. You're gonna earn everything.
It's gonna be fun though, right, I mean this is
(39:46):
I saw you, I saw you tour in the facility
and and looking around there had to be inside your
brain you had to be like, this is sweet. I
get to be the head coach of Memphis. This is awesome.
Oh my god man, this new practice facility. And I'm
not trying to, you know, brag, but the new practice
facility is on the internet right now with me walking
through it, my first time in it. In the facility.
Uh no, Stone Turn, unbelievable facility. And it's only like
(40:10):
three months old. Uh, It's only been open for like
three months. And I'm I'm able to come in, uh
to an unbelievable situation, to even coach my alma mater.
But to be in a building like this and then
have my home gym be the FedEx form, I mean,
you can't. You can't. You know, you can't beat that. Um.
Something weird though, when when Cal had it going there,
it wasn't really with Memphis kids. And you know, early
(40:32):
on he had some Memphis kids, but you know d
Rose and c DR. Those guys weren't Memphis kids. Josh
Pastor did a good job of getting Memphis kids, they
just didn't win maybe enough games. Um, what what's the
real challenge of recruiting Memphis kids and getting them to
compete at a high level, not just the seven nationally. Well,
the good thing for me is that I've been in
(40:52):
the community. I've been with these kids, uh since middle school,
this generation of kids that are that are going to
be coming out of the next two or three years,
and I've gotten to know them well, They've gotten to
know me well. So we've been doing the ring to
the normal Kis morment these moment anybody, I know who
the real guys are, the guys that can really play
at the level that we need here at Memphis. So
(41:13):
I don't want to shut Memphis kids out because you
know they're not gonna reach the expectations. I know who's
gonna reach the expectations, and you still have to recruit nationally.
I'm not just gonna just limit myself to Memphis. But
I'm not gonna forget about Memphis kids either, So there
has to be an even balance with with it. I'm
not gonna, you know, shut down Memphis because I'm trying
(41:33):
to do Monster's Gonna cloud in it. And I feel
like I have a better relationship with the with the parents,
with the kids around here, and I know who's who
because I'm going to rain here. Are you gonna bring
back to Memphis state uniforms? So that's a big question. Yes,
I'm saying that. Everybody's saying that we're gonna bring back
the throwback Memphis State uniforms. We have to do it
for a couple of games. Can you believe though, these
(41:53):
all the kids going the short shorts, like like, we
fought for years to get the shorts lengthened, and now
everybody wants the shorts shorter, Like you have to there
has to be a straightened out of this thing because
this this trend of the shorts getting mid thigh length.
This that's a bad trend. You know. We fought so hard,
just so much to try to get longer shorts. We
kept pulling our shorts down and we tried to make
(42:15):
them longer, and now the kids are folding them to
make them shorter. It's it's it's just crazy. What's what's
going on? Um Having coached in high school but played
so long in the nbaing so successfully in the NBA.
One of the things that I've seen in colleges, there's
kind of a mix a lot of the old school
college coaches. They're struggling to adjust to not just a
(42:35):
three point shot, but to the new style kind of
of how they're playing in the NBA. Have you thought
about style wise, do you know how you how you
want to play? Do you want to have kind of
more NBA style attack or more of a college style attack? No,
I want to I want to get up and there.
You know I'm I'm a fast paced guy. And then
if we don't have anything, then we can set some
type of motion or or run a set. But initially
(42:55):
I want to run. We want to be fast paced team,
getting up down the floor. A lot of hockey teams
from regular says, I'm a big guy, throwing the ball
ahead and allowing my wings to attack downhill. Big man,
rim running, have a trail, big and we're we're out
and we're running. And if we don't have anything, we
get into some secondary action or even get into a
safe But I want the kids to be free. They
(43:16):
have a lot of freedom. I want them to play
basketball and not be micromanaging them and and and and
coach every possession. And defensively, I love West Virginia style.
That's how I've always taught. I've taught that type of pressure.
I don't believe in letting someone walks the ball up
the court. It's almost like a slow death, you know.
I don't like that. I want to dictate the tempo
(43:36):
and I'm not going to I'm not gonna allow teams
to just walking up on the game. All right now.
You know they foul a lot, so you can wheel
in a lot of dudes. When when if you're you're
picking up full court, Penny Hardaway joining us, When when
was the little Penny campaign? When was that proposed to you?
When did some When did Nike sit you down and
show you that you mean back? And when I was
in the league, yeah, the first year, but you remember,
(43:59):
you remember like it came to me and said, hey man,
we had a brilliant idea, which was it was brilliant
that we help alter ego to be a doll, and
we'll name Little Penny and he'll talk so much smack
that you will never have to say anything. And then
he'll talk to smack before you just keep doing what
you're doing, continue to play at the h lebel and
he'll do all the trash talking. And I thought that
was sin and it ended up being a huge hit,
(44:21):
you know, that Like when you walk in the door,
everyone's gonna everyone's gonna want you to. Like you go
to a recruiting visit, people are getting all the parents
all day. You guys, everybody's just gonna talk about Little
Penny like you no, like almost your your NBA career,
the fact that you were, you know, um, a four
time NBA All Star, that you were third team All NBA,
even you know, even your great college career. Everywhere you go,
(44:45):
they're gonna talk about Little Penny just as much as
they talk about how great a player you were. Yeah, well,
you know that's that's that's a testament to Nike, and
that's also a great testament to what my career was
because Little Penny was a big part of my career.
I don't mind him talking about Little Penny. I don't
get jealous, becau that's a part of me. Uh Larry Brown,
will he be on the staff? I can't answer that
(45:06):
right now. I have to talk about suspect for coach Brown,
one of my favorite coaches ever, and I'll just have
to discuss with my with my admitted director. Hey, listen,
I wish you nothing but success. I can't wait to
see your team's play, especially if they play up and
down and garden people. More than anything, I'm happy for
you get a chance to steer the ship of your
alma mater. Best of luck to you, I'll see in
(45:27):
the recruiting trail alright, pleasure is mind. It's Penny Hardaway,
who joined us on The Doug Gottlieb Show.
Host
Doug Gottlieb
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