DOM AMORE- HARTFORD COURANT

The guys chat with the friend of the show and recaps the UConn players selected in this year's NBA draft!

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Dom How are you, sir?Good guys, what's going on? Just
going over the draft a little bit. Spine Castle, fourth pick, Clingings
the seventh pick. Looking back lastyear, Jordan Hawkins went fourteenth in the
first round. A few years ago, when Dan Hurley was hired for the
job, did you think the programin five years would be pumping out a

(00:21):
bunch of first rounders? Well,he hoped so, because you know,
the one number I always point toRob is Yukon had thirteen lottery picks in
eighteen years, ending in ending intwenty twelve, and then they didn't have
one at all, any lottery picksfor ten years. And I think that's

(00:42):
certainly a direct correlation between that andthe fortunes of the program. So,
you know, winning and lottery pickskind of go hand in hand. Talent
win. I mean, coaching isobviously vital, and recruiting is vital,
and talent is vital. So it'snot surprising that Yukon has when the fact

(01:03):
that Yukon's winning is certainly emblematic inthe fact that they have lottery picks coming
in and going out of their program. Again, some say that and I
believe this too. The NBA,when it comes to success in the league
is a lot more about fit thananything else. Even Lebron James runs around
the country. You try to findthe best fit for a championship caliber team,
even though he is one of thebest to do it. I think

(01:26):
the fit for Stefan is just superb. I think everyone will agree with that
him going to San Antonio be pairedup with Wemba Yama and coach Pop.
That is perfect for that kid.But Donovan his fit in Portland, what
do you think about that? Howsuccessful can Donovan be as a star or
a five slash four role there withScoot Henderson and the Trail Blazers. Well,

(01:48):
of course, you know, bothguys have a lot to learn and
both are going to have to dohave some work to do to improve their
games to the NBA level. Certainlyfor Donovan to be an NBA center,
like any big man, who's goingto need some work on his offensive game
and his footwork and in his athleticism. But the one thing he does right
away at Portland, they were veryvery weak in uh defense around the around

(02:15):
the rim. I think to giveup the worst shooting percentage or the highest
shooting percentage around the rim of anyteam in the league last year. So
Donovan immediately plugs that all. SoI think that's going to be the fact
that he can immediately do something thatyou need is going to buy him some
time to learn the other things.Uh and uh, you know, and
and and become a really great player, as you pointed out Steph, uh,

(02:38):
you know, being the one bigbook, guys said, because Donovan's
going out there with Henderson, hSteph has gone to San Antonio where they've
got one Byana. Neither one isnecessarily needed to come in and be a
savior. You know that the SaviorsI just got there last year. So
both can really be uh you know, and I don't want to say secondary

(03:00):
and figures, but neither one hasto go in and basically lift the franchise
by himself the way you know,a lot of very high draft picks are
often expected to do. I mean, Clingon played a couple of years,
here, Castle played one year.I think it's pretty impressive you played one
year under early win a national titleat his age, and Steph Castle to

(03:20):
go in the top five of thedraft. I mean, how impressed were
you with the development of stefan Castlelast year. Well, I was just
incredibly impressed, as anyone would be, and was with the fact that a
guy who is a five star player, who was talked about in terms of
being the one and done, comesto Yukon and is willing to play maybe

(03:45):
a little bit differently than he wouldthan he would have liked, maybe play
more of a role, to befunctioned as part of a winning team,
and be an unselfish guy. Imean, he was incredibly popular with coaches
and team. It's because there wasno arrogance or entitlement about him, and
you saw by the end of theseason that he was playing like a pro.

(04:08):
I mean, he looked like apro from the moment. He came
in, built like a pro,moves like a pro, but he played
like a pro in the tournament,especially the final four. So he's really
is a great young talent who isalso a winning player, and that's very
hard to find. So in thatsense, san Antonio really got a good
one. But you know, justthe concern that I have for both both

(04:30):
of these guys is, you know, you know, Greg Popovitch is seventy
five years old and they haven't hada winning season in four or five years,
and you wonder if he's going tobe around to see this rebuilding process
through if it doesn't make a bigjump this year. You know, they're
twenty two and sixty the last twoyears, that's what they were drafting for.

(04:50):
And out in Portland, you know, Chauncey Billups, you think after
three years there well under five hundred, that this might be, you know,
his last chance to get something done. So I was just worried with
both players that they're going into organizationsthat might have some upheaval or turmoil in
front of them, and that's somethingthat they're going to have to be able

(05:11):
to overcome as they as they developtheir career. Talking to Don Memory from
the Hartford Current Dom, what doyou think about tonight? Cam Spencer is
listed as the thirteenth best available andyou got to go to another page to
even find Tristan Newton, which Ithink is just a shame. Does Tristan
get drafted and where do you thinkCam goes? Well, I'm not sure
either one will get drafted because oftheir age. I mean, I mean

(05:34):
teams just don't like to draft playerswho've been spent five or six years in
college. So if they do getdrafted, it'll be because the team is
worried that they're not going to beable to get them as undrafted free agents.
So you know, I don't Iwouldn't. I wouldn't bet on either
one getting drafted, except maybe verylate. But you know, certainly it

(05:59):
might be to their advantage not tobe drafted and signed with a team that
is going to give them a legitchance after the drafted if they if they're
free agents, they're free agents,they can pick the team that might be
the best fit for them. They'renot at the mercy of the draft,
So you know, I don't knowthat either one will get drafted tonight then,
but I don't think that's terribly importantin terms of their long term development.

(06:24):
I think they will both get opportunitiesto play in the NBA, and
those opportunities will be what they makeof them. Talking Don Moore from the
Harford Kerrent, he's also got aHall of Fame pick in MLB covers that
has been covering them for four decades. Subway series usually it's really good.
Last couple of games the Mets havedominated the Yankees. Kind of a shocking

(06:45):
turn of events. Fifteen to fourrecord for the Mets in the month of
June. Your thoughts on the lastcouple of games. Yeah, I mean
the Mets have really turned it aroundand played great baseball, and they have
for a while. Red Sox twostarted the Yankees on this on this slide
a couple of weeks ago in Fenway. Uh, you know, Wheels have
just come off the wagon for forthe Yankees, Rob and they've you're almost

(07:09):
looking at him now and you feellike they're the same team as last year,
except with Juan Soto, which isnot insignificant, but it may not
be enough just right now. They'rejust too many players not having good two
players having Hall of Fame type seasons. I mean, Garns has just seventy
five RBIs at the under eighty firstgame, but two guys having great years,

(07:31):
and the rest of the team isjust not having a good year and
are not having good years. Andthey if they're going to turn turned around
and start winning again and go getthat hundred win mark that looked like they
were a leg pipe since for that, then obviously they're gonna have to get
Soto and Judge some help. Hyou know, not not a surprise.
I suppose that's Stanton heard again.But you know they have to go I

(07:55):
didn't think they would have to goout and get offense at the training deadline,
but now it looks like they're goingto have to think about getting something
for the corner infields, infield spotsat the good line. So there there,
they've got some problems. And youknew the starting pitching wasn't going to
keep going the way it was going, but boy, it's been really when
I run downhill, it really wentdownhill fast. So they've got to figure

(08:16):
that out. In their bullpen isthe one area which I thought was a
big vulnerability for them. So theroof has kind of falling in on the
Yankees for a couple of weeks.Doesn't mean it's going to stay that way.
But right now that you know theydon't look good, you know the
Mets, can they keep this up? Can they put any kind of pressure
on the Phillis? Can they canthey outlast the other teams to get a
wild card? I didn't see whynot. You've been baseball, you have

(08:37):
nine lives and now they're now they'reat five hundred, and if you're around
five hundred, you got a shotand the Red Sox. I kind of
like the way they play, especiallyin this day and age where stolen bases
are maybe going to become more invogue. They might be on the front
end of that that curve. Soright now, it's a complete composite of
what you would have said a coupleof weeks ago. The Yankees have the

(08:58):
problems and look a lot like theyhave looked in the other two teams seem
to be on the upswing or areon the upswing for sure. We're talking
about this yesterday. We all knowthe Yankees are going to be buyers.
Even if they were below five hundred, they'd be buyers. That the New
York Yankees, the New York Metsand Red Sox, that's a different story,
especially with their ownership groups. Whatdo you think if they keep on
winning, they stay above five hundred. Well, these two franchises make moves

(09:22):
during the deadline deadline July thirtieth,so you've got a lot of time to
make that decision. But Boston,Red Sox, New York Mets buyers are
sellers. I see no excuse forthem not to be buyers. I mean,
they're in contention. These are notsmall market teams. These are not
necessarily mean the Red Sox. Iguess they're a rebuilding team, but they

(09:43):
had a lot of good young players, and I think it's important for the
Red Sox to reward these young playersfor how hard they've played and how well
they've played by going out and gettingthem some help if they can. So
I think they should be buyers.I mean, unless they go on a
long losing streak and fall well underfive hundre, they should be buyers.
Unless the Mets go on a longlosing streak and fall away below five hundred,

(10:03):
again, they should be buyers.They have a chance to win.
And when you have a chance,look look at what I mean. I
don't have to tell you what Arizonadid last year. Once you get into
tournament, anything can happen. Soif you have a chance to get into
the tournament by by behind and tryto get in, so to me,
I don't see any excuse for eitherone of them not to be buyers.
As we look at the standings todayon just twenty sixth or whatever today is

(10:26):
going back to the NBA draft forjust a second, were you a little
shocked by some of the foreign bornplayers that were picked so high in the
draft. You know, I wasn'tI think in a year where you feel
like there isn't delete talent at thetop, you know, in a year
where I mean it's considered there wasconsidered a weak draft, there was considered

(10:48):
maybe maybe a deeper draft rather thana top heavy draft. I think when
you have a lot of players thatlook that look the same, I think
ways you could go. You couldgo for players who won, like the
guys in Yukon, or you couldgo for players who've played against better competition,
more experienced competition, who are moreknown quantities. So I think the

(11:11):
guys from Europe, because of thecompetition they've played and the way they've played,
are probably more mature, more readyfor the NBA. Think some of
the other players, and the Yukonplayers because they played for Dan Hurley and
on two championship teams or one championshipteam, Yeah, they're probably more NBA
ready maybe than some of the others. So I wasn't surprised at the way
that turned out. You figure ina draft where there's some question marks,

(11:35):
maybe the European players the more knownquantities. Another Travelers Championship coming down to
the eighteenth tol matter of fact,the playoffs, and we had a lot
of drama on eighteen, but pairsof three we dealt with Wheather, no
cut, signature event, no rory, no problem. Are you probably are
kicking yourself that you didn't write yourstory on Wednesday that Scotti Scheffler was going

(11:58):
to win on Sunday, But heis the twenty twenty four champion out of
minus twenty two. What were yourthoughts on the Week Travelers Championship twenty twenty
twenty twenty four. Yeah, well, I thought it was a great a
great tournament. I thought they dida great job with it. I thought
the crowds were loud and they wereenthusiastic. I think everybody was excited to

(12:18):
see that so many of the topfour or five players in the world in
contention at the end on Sunday,you know, the weather was a bit
of a downer, but even youknow it three hour delays, fans stayed
and went back out there to tosee the end of the of the rounds
on Friday and Saturday, and sothe grounds crew out there, the grounds

(12:41):
keepers, the agronomy team did atremendous job of getting those the course playable
after those downcours. I wouldn't havegiven a nickel for their champions of continuing
either day, and they continued andfinished both days. So I think all
that stuff was great. You know, what happened on on Sunday very unfortunate

(13:03):
for the simple reason that I youknow, when you do something like that,
to me, it's like shouting firein a crowded theater. You know,
you could so easily cause a stampeeor a panic, and people can
really get hurt. It's not aboutjust disrupting the golf tournament, you know.
It's in this day and age,that kind of thing could lead to
much more than that. So Ido whatever the security loopholes, I'm sure

(13:24):
they'll look at them and see howthat happened and try to short things up
so it doesn't happen again. Icertainly hope that it doesn't happen again.
But a little more drama obviously thanwe needed. But I thought they,
you know, they did the rightthings that they had to do to get
the tournament finished. The ratings werevery very good, I noticed, even
though everything was an hour earlier thananticipated on Sunday, and it's a great

(13:48):
finish. You have the number oneplayer in the world winning Garren Hartford.
You know how we haven't seen alot of that through the years, and
are Poner won some tournaments in theearly days, but you have to have
all those great here in our backyard, playing great and having a chance to
win. I mean, heany I'llsign up for that every year once you
guys, absolutely absolutely don Mary,thank you so much for joining us today,

(14:11):
Draft Night, Round two. Hopefullywe get a couple more Huskies drafted
tonight. Always a pleasure. Dom, Thank you, Thanks Tom, Thank
guys. You got it anytime.