Tony Pike's Cincy 360 Hour3 -- 11/20/25

Tony and Austin talk with Keegan Nickoson, Wes Miller, and Chad Brendel on ESPN 1530!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is Tony Pike Cincy three sixty about Cincinnati from Cincinnati,
sponsored in hard by Penn Station East Coast Subs. Hand
prep it hot grilled subs, fresh cut fries and lemonade.
It's all about good taste. Penn Station East Coast Subs
orderum line Today. This is ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
All right, welcome back our number three. We thank our
friends at Penn Station. We thank you for sticking with us,
listening along on ESPN fifteen thirty or via the iHeartRadio app.
Let's keep it going on a Thursday afternoon and our
number three. We kick things off now and through the
college basketball season with our guy covering the Bearcats for
Bearcat Journal dot Com. Kegan Nickoson is with us right now. Hi, Kegan,

(00:53):
how are you?

Speaker 3 (00:55):
I could not be better.

Speaker 4 (00:57):
It's Thursday at two, so it's my favorite minutes of
the week.

Speaker 5 (01:00):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (01:01):
Thank you, Kegan. We appreciate that. I can tell your
excitement to join us today. Does that match, in your opinion,
the excitement from Wes Miller about playing tomorrow night at
Heritage Bank Arena.

Speaker 4 (01:16):
It matches my excitement for me getting a crown on my.

Speaker 3 (01:19):
Teeth like in a month maybe, or getting like a
root canal, because that's what the Arcy cola is going
to do to my life. But I don't know.

Speaker 4 (01:29):
This whole situation is weird. I don't know the exact
ins and outs of how scheduling these things works or
why they couldn't do a home and home. I'm sure
as every negative thing about College of Athletics, it came
down the money, just like the Arrowhead.

Speaker 3 (01:45):
Game to start the football season. So yeah, I don't
think he loves it.

Speaker 4 (01:50):
I don't think Pat Kelsey loves it, and I know
the fans definitely don't love it seeing the amount of
tickets that are still available for this game.

Speaker 2 (01:57):
All right, so let's take away the arena, which I
know makes a difference with depth, perception and things like that.
Let's take away the arena. Let's take away the crowd
this game itself. Is there a path that you see
can keep this close and put pressure on to maybe
upset Louisville late in the game, And if so, what
is that path?

Speaker 4 (02:17):
I think the path is using your size. I think
that they're more talented at the center and the four
with Baba Miller and your staffa cham than Louisville is
at those positions.

Speaker 3 (02:30):
But I just think that.

Speaker 4 (02:31):
Their guards are way too good for you see to
deal with them. And you see has two good defensive
guards in Dayde Thomas and Sincere Harrits, who are both
they might have to play like thirty minutes. It's louis
built in order to come out with a win somehow.
But you know, Isaac McNeely, Ryan Conwell, Michael Brown and

(02:53):
then that kennisaf State kid, they're all really, really, really good.
And I think Brown is averaging nineteen point eight and
Ryan Conwell is averaging nineteen point three through four games
this year.

Speaker 3 (03:05):
Both had really good games against Kentucky.

Speaker 4 (03:08):
So I think the past is there as in it
can happen. Cincinnati's a talented team with experienced players, but
I would be really really surprised if they were able to.

Speaker 3 (03:20):
Pull out a win. I think Louisville, as I said
last week, is a national.

Speaker 4 (03:23):
Championship contender, and they've shown it through four games so far,
and especially against Kentucky.

Speaker 2 (03:29):
If the Bearcats can rely on something I know a
lot of people look into Ken Palm, you see as
rated very highly as it comes to team defense in
Ken Pom what makes them so talented or such a
tough matchup on the defensive side of the ball.

Speaker 4 (03:46):
I think it starts with since Your Harrison and Daya
Thomas taking away opposing team's best scorer. They did it
against Dayton with Javon Bennett kind of struggled in the
first two games. Jelanie Hamilton scored a lot for Georgia State,
and then the other leading scorer I think was at
Cole Stansbury.

Speaker 3 (04:07):
For whoever they played first.

Speaker 4 (04:10):
It's hip in my head right now, but I think
he went for twenty plus as well, so they kind
of got that together since then. But then you look
at the size and Nustafa Cham He supplies a lot
down low and he's starting to get his blocks going,
which is one of his best features of his entire game,
which he didn't really contribute much through the first two
or three games. So I think it starts to Sincere

(04:33):
Harris taking away a leading scorer, and if he could
do that against MIKEL.

Speaker 3 (04:37):
Brown or Ryan Combo, whoever he's.

Speaker 4 (04:39):
Going to be on, I think that would just contribute
a lot to the game and kind of putting Louisville
off of their game plan maybe or catching them off
guard and then that's when you can attack. So I
think with those two with Dana Thomas and since your
hair it's big, with the Dustafa Cham's length, it's big,
but then also.

Speaker 3 (04:57):
Got the glue.

Speaker 4 (04:58):
Guys like Tyler McKinley have played a really really good
role and especially rebounding and turning over.

Speaker 3 (05:04):
Possessions for Uce.

Speaker 4 (05:05):
So yeah, I mean, Wes Miller loves defense and he's
always going to pride himself on defense, and I am
kind of surprised that he's been able to consistently have
that top fifteen, top ten defense and it looks like
he's got another one this year. I have.

Speaker 2 (05:24):
Offensively, I know it's a little bit different style and
a pace in which they play that could be conducive
to turning the ball over a little bit more than
what is comfortable. They cut down on the turnovers against
Mount Saint Mary's and by the way, you watch Dayton
go on the road and beat Marquette last night, that's
a good sign. Mount Saint mary on the Road took
Maryland overtime. But the way they play and their style offensively,

(05:45):
is that just going to lead to this team turning
the ball over a little bit more than maybe you're
comfortable with.

Speaker 4 (05:51):
Probably, I would say they'll probably be in the outside
top one hundred of offenses in terms of turning the
ball over when you look at those numbers about the
entirety of the season. But I think where the game
is decided and where you really.

Speaker 3 (06:05):
Have to pay attention is those last eight minutes.

Speaker 4 (06:08):
How is the opposition handling the offensive and defensive sides
of the.

Speaker 3 (06:14):
Ball and are they wearing down?

Speaker 4 (06:16):
Are they committing fouls? They are they committing turnovers? Are
they getting beat on the boards because they're just half
a second too slow because of UC's pace and how
much they've been able to wear them down.

Speaker 3 (06:27):
I think that's the important thing.

Speaker 4 (06:29):
You saw that against Mount Saint Mary's, you saw it
against Dayton, and how YUC is just kind of able
to take over the game and run run away with it.
So yeah, I think you're going to turn the ball
over and it's going to be frustrating. But I think
Cincinnati fans are pretty familiar with frustrating stuff with the
basketball team over the past few years, especially the free

(06:50):
throw numbers. But as long as they're winning and as
long as they're making a push a kidding in the tournament.
If you turn the ball over a few times, I
don't think fans will be that upset. String together some
key wins in the non conference, and as long as
the turnovers aren't horrible.

Speaker 3 (07:05):
And costing you games, I think they'll be okay with
the pace.

Speaker 2 (07:09):
Let's switch gears to Saturday, big noon kickoff comes to
town BYU comes to town. This game a little less
big game feel because UC did not get it done
against Arizona and it was a lot of the same.
Just this team offensively has not had answers, it seems
to man demand has not had many answers to pressure.
We saw that against Nebraska, saw it against Utah, saw

(07:32):
it again last week against Arizona. How concerning is that
for you going forward, that these three toughest opponents have
caused this offense to sputter at times?

Speaker 4 (07:42):
Yeah, it's very concerning, especially since YU is going to
come in and probably play a lot of man as well,
not as much as Utah for Arizona did, but they
have the horses on defense to give U see a
lot of trouble. I think another big concerning thing is
they had thirteen days after the Utah game to try
to figure out a plan, and they all knew that.

Speaker 3 (08:06):
You know, teams are going to see what Utah.

Speaker 4 (08:09):
Did and see that as the blueprint, and then they're
going to bring pressure and play tight man, and they're
going to see if they can beat us. And they did,
and there wasn't really any response. If you look at
that offense what they have done without those two big
plays by Toylie Walker, I think it was a forty
and fifty yard rush to kind of set up some scores.

(08:31):
So this offense cannot thrive on boom or bus running
plays and that's what it's been. And I think you
have to get back to your identity up front and
just run for six and seven yards of play if
you can, and then hit those play action shots. But
right now, I mean, the Joe Royer thing is really

(08:53):
interesting to me.

Speaker 3 (08:54):
How he only has four targets through the last three games.

Speaker 4 (08:58):
I don't know how much of a different Evan Pryor
can make besides maybe just bring some relief. And I'm
not under I'm not underplaying him at all because I
think he can make a big difference and just being
a guy who can get a dump off and make
a guy miss and go for fifteen yards in a
play that was.

Speaker 3 (09:16):
Going to be an incompletion or maybe even a sack,
and then Caleb Goodie can take the top off.

Speaker 4 (09:21):
But I think the issues with this team are much
bigger than what those two guys coming back can fix.
And it's kind of feeling like last year when it's okay,
they just don't have the players that can beat Man
and they just have to get those players in this
offseason and then attack it again. And you know, they
took another step forward this year compared to last year,

(09:44):
And are you going to be able to get that
good of guys to the point where they can beat
zone and Man, Because those are the kind of guys
where LSU, Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State, Notre Dame, those big
time teams are going to be knocking on the door
offering those guys a ton of money. So yeah, I
think it's going to be tough to fix it for

(10:05):
the BYU game.

Speaker 3 (10:06):
And that's probably why you see BYU being a favorite.

Speaker 4 (10:09):
But let me let me ask you, Tony, You've taken
a lot more snaps at a power for or a
Division I college football team at quarterback than I have.
What are you seeing that I'm not seeing or that
most fans might not be seen, you know?

Speaker 2 (10:26):
To me, for it's just I don't know if it's
a lack of confidence, but but I go back to
the answers and not having them. You know, it's one
thing if you're just exhausting the playbook. This team doesn't
run many screens to slow down the rush. You don't
see a ton of crossing routes against Man. Demand to me,
Joe Royer is the answer. He's the guy that you're

(10:47):
you're look leaning on to win those matchups. He's not
getting targeted. I feel like every defense pushes them outside
the hash marks. I feel like they don't attack the
middle of the field nearly enough.

Speaker 6 (10:59):
And I'm with you.

Speaker 2 (11:00):
I think the alarming part is having the bye week
to come up with a game play and understanding, Okay,
the book's out, We've got to have an answer against Man,
and it doesn't feel like they have the answer. So
I think it's a little combination. I think Brendan Sowerzby's
playing with a little less confidence, which is easy to
get drawn into that when you're not winning and seeing
the results. But I also think they haven't equipped him

(11:21):
with enough answers to the puzzle that the defense is
throwing at him. And I feel like they have the
personnel to do that. That's the frustrating part. And to me,
it starts with Joe Royer, as you mentioned.

Speaker 4 (11:33):
Yeah, and I'm also curious because Isaiah Johnson has been
really really good with the ball in his hands, especially
with those like pop passes and and to rounds. Is
it as easy as just, hey, let's draw up a
play for him, see if he can get a first
down and get the offense and rhythm or is that
something that you have to get into like as the
offense starts working now.

Speaker 2 (11:52):
I think that's something important in like those first ten
to fifteen scripted place which we've seen at times this year,
and then we didn't see as much motion last week.
We didn't see as much formation changing last week, and
I think there's something to be said for that as well.
How much, in your opinion, we saw this team get
the five and two last year and lost their last five.

(12:13):
This year, they win seven in a row, they've now
dropped too in a row. How much do they need
Saturday Night one because there still is an outside chance
things happen and you can find your way back to Dallas.
But two, if you lose Saturday and then you got
to turn to TCU to try to avoid losing four
in a row to to end the season, I feel
like it just almost erases the goodwill that was building

(12:34):
those seven games. How much importance of because of that
do you put on Saturday Night?

Speaker 3 (12:41):
Absolutely? And I think that the.

Speaker 4 (12:45):
Pitchforks are going to be out if they've finished seven
and five as much as they were after last.

Speaker 3 (12:49):
Season finishing five and seven, because.

Speaker 4 (12:53):
There was so much made about how much more talent
they brought in, and I think that they did bring
in a ton of talent, and I think think that
all the receivers are much better. And we've talked about
all this and the running game was so good for
so long. Brendan swersby having a great season and then
somehow you're still finding ways to lose games that if
you want to be a Big twelve contender, which is

(13:16):
what they say their goal is, it's to play in
a Big twelve championship, you have to win those games,
and you're finding ways to lose them, and sometimes it
just seems like.

Speaker 3 (13:24):
You're latantly unprepared to play those games.

Speaker 4 (13:28):
So I think the difference between nine and three and
seven and five is obviously huge, but the difference between
eight and four and nine and three is also pretty big,
because if you lose the BYU and then beat TCU
is proving that they're just not a great team.

Speaker 3 (13:46):
Still, people are going to think, Okay, who did.

Speaker 4 (13:48):
You really beat and whether it's fair or not, that's
what they're going to say. Because I think that an
eight and four season for this team is good and
I think it deserves the momentum.

Speaker 3 (13:57):
But people are just going to think we were right.
They're so close to.

Speaker 4 (14:02):
Get into a big Toeve championship and get into back
to feeling like it's twenty twenty one, maybe even getting
into a playoffs, a few games or a few plays
for your way in that big top championship game, and
then it's just a complete and other collapse.

Speaker 3 (14:16):
At the end of the year.

Speaker 4 (14:17):
So yeah, I think Saturday is huge. If they win,
if they beat YU, I would expect them to carry
that momentum over and beat TFU, finish nine and three,
and then that sets them up for what can be
a successful offseason and then and then bouncing back next year.

Speaker 2 (14:32):
On the defensive side of the ball, Key, and I
feel like people are starting to grow a little impatient
with this bend but don't break style of defense, not
because of what it does for much of the game,
but in key moments a third down or a fourth
down where an easy throw is made and they move
the chains. And yes, they've done well to shrink the
field in the red zone, But do you sense a
little bit of a growing frustration in the style of

(14:54):
defense and their inability to get off the field at times.

Speaker 4 (14:58):
Yeah, The only thing I would say is that there's
a growing frustration, mainly because the offense is starting the
play worse. Like everyone was talking about, Hey, this defense,
this defense is at the end of the day.

Speaker 3 (15:10):
Good enough. Like they're good enough.

Speaker 4 (15:12):
They're playing good enough to win games. They have good
enough players to make big plays with Jake Goldey, Jalen
Hunts had a really good year, Micah Coleman had a
good game against Arizona. And I think the other big
thing is Matthew McDoom was supposed to be a lockdown
player before the season, and then through the first six

(15:34):
games you kind.

Speaker 3 (15:34):
Of saw, Okay, maybe we should peel back our expectations.

Speaker 4 (15:38):
He's not going to be that guy where he just
takes away a whole side of the field, but he's
still playing decent enough to prevent huge plays. Now against Arizona,
he gives up multiple big plays. I think he gave
up eighty four yards and was targeted eight times, so
that's a glaring issue. And then you're starting to see
the lack of discipline and safety's biding on run fakes,

(15:59):
leaving areas of the field wide open for Arizona to
hit through the pass.

Speaker 3 (16:04):
So I think the defense.

Speaker 4 (16:07):
Against Arizona, despite everything I just said, still played good
enough for them to win that game.

Speaker 3 (16:13):
I don't think anyone would argue that.

Speaker 4 (16:15):
But the offense, it's the offense struggling just puts such
a magnifying glass on everything, especially since they were scoring
like thirty eight points a game for so long.

Speaker 3 (16:26):
But yeah, I think.

Speaker 4 (16:27):
Anytime the team's losing, the frustrations are going to be magnified.
But I also don't blame people for when it's third
and five and the dv is playing nine yards off,
basically just handing them a first down as a great
opportunity to get off the field and get the offense momentum.

Speaker 2 (16:44):
Lastly, Keegan Saturday Night not only a nip at night,
but it's senior night as well. Talk about the importance
of what this group of seniors, a guy like Dante
Corleone has had on this program. Not only is time here,
but on the trajectory of where they're trying to go.
Always a special night for Senior Night, especially in this
it's such a different college football now with transfers and

(17:06):
guys not hanging around as long. How special and how
appreciative should those fans be of this group of seniors
on Saturday Night?

Speaker 3 (17:15):
Yeah? I think they should be very appreciative. And I
think one of the big things that guys like Dante Corleone.

Speaker 4 (17:23):
Gavin Gerhart, and even Brady Lichtenberg did was they kept
belief in the fan base because a lot of the
fan base probably would have thought, well, why aren't these
guys leaving like they probably had better opportunities to play elsewhere.

Speaker 3 (17:38):
I know for a fact Dante corleon did after.

Speaker 4 (17:40):
Last offseason the seeries that he had coming after him.

Speaker 3 (17:45):
So they kind of.

Speaker 4 (17:47):
Infused the leaf to tell the fan base, Hey, if
they're not leaving and if they see something in this
coaching staff, maybe there's a chance that they could turn
it around and for this season they did. There's a
chance that it could be, you know, another flop with
these last two games, but I'm happy that these guys
got to go out on what could be a successful season.

(18:08):
Like Gavin Gerhardt has basically been a Bearcat since his
sophomore year of high school when he committed to U SEE,
and then he was at every game day for basically
every for all the seasons through his high school year,
and then he's six years that you see, he's pretty
much vacationed at Higher Ground every summer since he was

(18:28):
like fourteen, which is crazy.

Speaker 3 (18:30):
And then Dante Corleone could have.

Speaker 4 (18:32):
Went to the NFL after last year, decided to come back,
and I talked to him after practice on Tuesday and
he said, hey, like, I think a lot of high
school recruits in Cincinnati should heavily consider playing for the
Bearcats because it's awesome to represent your hometome program. And
then he also just said, look, it's fun to have
moms cooking, so don't overlook how good it is to

(18:54):
have moms cooking when you're in college and be able
to drive twenty minutes down the road. But those guys
have been high character, great personality guys who have been
great representatives of the university University of Cincinnati, and I
think it's the end of an era when you see
those guys, especially like Kevin Garhart and Datta Cordeo, and
play their last game at Nippers Stadium. So I'm looking

(19:17):
for those guys to play out of their minds knowing
that it's their last chance to kind of get the
home crowd pumped.

Speaker 2 (19:23):
Up, make it extra special to have it Nip and
Night be that last opportunity. Fans have been waiting for
it They've finally delivered. It should be a great atmosphere
Saturday night, a great opportunity Tomorrow night, Keegan. For those
following along, whether it's hoops, whether it's football, or everything
else bear caav related, what's the user way to do
so with.

Speaker 4 (19:40):
You follow at ka Nikos and forty two on X
and then make sure you're subscribe to Barricutt Journal.

Speaker 3 (19:47):
I'm going to have a ton of great stuff for
the Louisville basketball.

Speaker 4 (19:50):
Game coming on Friday and then also the DYU game
coming on Saturday, So it's going to be a really
exciting weekend in Cincinnati.

Speaker 2 (19:59):
Awesome, ke and I appreciate your time as always. Tell
my favorite Nickoson. I said, Hi, I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Speaker 5 (20:04):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (20:06):
Yes, it's Keegan Nickoson Ericatjournal dot com. Why don't you
get his brother to come on next week? We knew
we should have that happen. We need to make that happen.
I'll tell you who's coming on next. The head coach
of the Cincinnati Bearcats ahead of his tilt tomorrow night
at Heritage Bank Arena, Wes Miller joins us next on
ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 6 (20:26):
And fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station. Welcome back.

Speaker 2 (20:34):
Since he three to sixty. We're rolling along in the
third and final hour of the Thursday afternoon edition here
on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station. Let's keep the
Bearcat conversation going. Let's talk about the Hoops Classic. It
happens at Heritage Bank Arena Friday night, tomorrow night, A
big time matchup, one of college basketballs. I think you

(20:54):
could say contenders to cut down the nets right now
in Louisville, coming up here to take Wes Miller and
the Cincinnati Bearcats team. A huge season ahead for the
Bearcats and a huge test tomorrow night. Let's spend some
time with the head coach of the Cincinnati Bearcats, Wes Miller.

Speaker 6 (21:09):
Coach, how are you.

Speaker 5 (21:12):
I'm doing great, Tony, Thanks for having me on.

Speaker 2 (21:14):
You've you've had a chance to to watch this Louisville team,
and I wanted to get into your team in just
a second. It's obviously a team that's scoring a lot
of points and they can come at you in a
lot of different ways, a lot of assists, numbers, a
lot of players that can hit you on different levels.
What stands out the most about watching this Louisville squad.

Speaker 5 (21:33):
The depth. The depth. You know, they're playing eleven.

Speaker 7 (21:37):
And they're they're grad at every position, but the guard
play right there's there's there's four guys, uh and they
play five guards. But there's four guys that would be
the number one option on any perimeter team in America
and they're all on Louisville's team. So give those guys
a lot of credit for putting that group together. And

(21:58):
because of that, you get a lot of you mentioned
play making, but there's a ton of shooting on the floor,
and they've played four games.

Speaker 5 (22:04):
Three of the four games.

Speaker 7 (22:05):
They've gotten to one hundred I think the one they
did in there in the nineties against Kentucky. And so
certainly they're just they're a prolific offensive team and it's
not as if they're not doing things on the defensive
end as well.

Speaker 2 (22:19):
For you guys, the early results this year, I've watched
and been at the games. Dayton is a tough game.
We've talked about the turnovers, but the style in which
you guys play that that's going to be a little
bit of the cause of that at times. But I
watched Dayton go on the road and beat Marquette. Last night,
I watched a team in Mount Saint Mary's. You guys

(22:39):
just played go on the road and take Maryland to overtime.
You guys have been tested. You guys have played some
good teams early in this non conference late. What have
you learned the most about your team?

Speaker 7 (22:52):
I think, Tony, we're learning a lot every time we
take the floor. You know, certainly we have the summer, now,
we have the fall in the preseason that we've we've
made the most of our practices. But you learn a
lot more when you play against a different opponent. I
thought the exhibitions were very important for us, but early

(23:13):
in the year, whether it's making sure we're figuring out
the right combinations, the rotations, getting guys into the correct roles.
We're learning every game every week right now, and I'd
say eighty percent of college basketballs in that boat right
with with all the moving around year year to year

(23:33):
that's going on in our sport, so there's a ton
of learning going on.

Speaker 5 (23:37):
Listen. We've we've had some some high turnover games. We've
had some games we haven't right.

Speaker 7 (23:43):
So obviously, uh, that's something that we're not going to
be successful the way that we want to be if
we're throwing the ball over the gym. But we we
do think that we can be a great team and
transition offense, that we can put pressure on the other
team every night all year, and we got to get
to a point where there's never a high turnover game.

(24:03):
But there's gonna be some growing things there. I think
we're if we're consistent, if we stay the course, we
don't overreact on some bad stretches in January and February
and March.

Speaker 5 (24:15):
That can be a real calling card of this team.

Speaker 7 (24:18):
So yeah, there's some things to correct that we're learning
every night, some things we've been trying to correct from
day one. I've said it, this is not anything about
the game to morrow night. Our best basketball be played
in January, February March if we continue.

Speaker 5 (24:32):
To do the right things every day, and I'm committed
to that.

Speaker 7 (24:36):
All that said, I want to play a great basketball
game tomorrow night when Louisville comes here to Cincinnati.

Speaker 2 (24:40):
Talk about Louisville coming up to Cincinnati. They're coming to
the Heritage Bank Center. Tickets still available to come down.
This game in itself. I know the comments yesterday and
every team would obviously like to play it in your
whole arena, But you get a chance to go to
Heritage Bank Arena, and the little basketball I played, I
always remember arenas like this. You think of things like

(25:01):
the debt perception, and you think of how it's different
than just maybe your everyday gym, And is there a
positive to playing in an arena like this If the
the ultimate goal is is March madness and playing in
bigger venues, does this help along the road for what
you want to.

Speaker 6 (25:16):
Get to later?

Speaker 7 (25:18):
Well, the way I look at it, is this we're
playing against, you said, a team that is thought of
as a team that could cut down nets at the
end of the season in the NCAA tournament. We're playing
them here in our city, in our backyard. I'd be
excited to have that opportunity if we had to go

(25:40):
play the game in the parking lot, you know, that's
that's just what it is. So the fact that we
get the opportunity to play against a team that's ranked
top ten in the country in our backyard here in Cincinnati,
in front of our fans, I think that's that's where
my focus is, and that's an exciting opportunity.

Speaker 2 (25:59):
I look at your team and the offense and the
way you guys push the ball and can score in
a wave of different opportunities. That is exciting to me.
But I look at this team and growing up, you
see has always been that tough, blue collar You know
you're going to be in a dogfight, and you know
you're going to get the best defensive performance a team

(26:20):
can throw out there. Early in the season, you guys,
according to Ken Palm, are very highly rated on the
defensive side of the ball. What has been some of
the early success you found with the way this roster
has been constructed that you've been able to find success
on defense.

Speaker 7 (26:37):
Well, and I think we have a long way to
go defensively, Tony, you know, a long long way to go.
But that said, I think we have un protection with
Mustafa and Baba. You know, those guys can block shots,
they can alter shots, they can cover ground in ways
that a lot of guys that are said six eleven

(26:59):
and seven who can't. I think the front court guys
that maybe don't have that kind of length and shot
blocking like a Tyler McKinley, they have rim protection and
presence with how they rotate, in the physicality.

Speaker 5 (27:13):
That they play with.

Speaker 7 (27:15):
I think we have some toughness on the perimeter that
can defend the ball, that can cover grounds and guys
like Dada Thomas and Cincire Harris and others. That kind
of goes back to what you were saying, kind of
the roots of what makes Cincinnati Cincinnati is a certain
mindset and approach.

Speaker 3 (27:33):
I think we have some guys that do that.

Speaker 5 (27:34):
Jalen Haynes was a guy they kind of.

Speaker 7 (27:36):
Brought that type of approach that unfortunately lost. But no,
I think this team has the ability to be a
very good defensive team. I'm not work i want to
be there yet, but I'm committed to get our team there,
and I think these guys have the right mindset, at
least to this point, to work at it every day.

Speaker 2 (27:56):
You mentioned playing your best basketball January February March. It's
a unique time in college sports and the roster construction.
You've got leaders who have been in this program, You've
got transfers, You've obviously got highly touted freshmen that have
come in as well. That process of just being able
to rely on a guy like Dayda Thomas. How important

(28:16):
is that when you've got this melting pot of different
players all coming together.

Speaker 7 (28:22):
He's been like, honestly, Tony, I don't have like the
appropriate words here in an interview to describe his value,
So I'll just say his value is beyond description because
like he gets he gets what playing at Cincinnati's about,

(28:43):
Like he understands the expectation, the standard. He represents what
it's about in the way that he goes about his
business every day. And now he's of alved as a
young person to have some natural leadership qualities. He always
led by example, but now he's willing to kind of
step into that role more willingly, more naturally. So and

(29:04):
there and then there's other things, right, but having just
he knows our principles, he knows the things that we do,
he knows how we practice every day, and then he's
able to kind of lead the guys in those ways.

Speaker 5 (29:15):
So his value is beyond measure.

Speaker 7 (29:19):
I've said he's worth more than one returner, and you know,
you could have five returners, but one day they might
be worth five and that type of thing. And like
you said, there's challenges, but I think the vast majority
of collage basketball faces those challenges and you just adapt
and you keep rolling, and that that's our job.

Speaker 2 (29:35):
Lastly, there are folks obviously that that are still on
the fencer or maybe that are thinking about going to
the game. And obviously if if you want to go
and find tickets, there's different avenues to go find tickets.
How how would you describe if if someone is on
the fence or wanting to go, how important is it
to have a Cincinnati crowd in a game like this

(29:57):
against an opponent like Louisville And what can fantics back
to see from your squad tomorrow night?

Speaker 7 (30:03):
Yeah, it's very important to us, Tony certainly, you know,
I want our fans to feel like it's an affordable
and fair I heard yesterday of the Planet Fitness had
a code that you could type it on tic ticket
Master Planet fifty, I think, which gets you half off
the tickets. I'm not on social media, I haven't don't

(30:25):
even have it on my phone at the moment, so
I don't know if that's all. I'm not the right
guy to be uh pushing that out there, but assuming
that the word of mouth is accurate, I hope that
makes it affordable for people. Certainly, we love our fans support.
We know we'll have great fans support. But the more
the merrier, we appreciate that what our guys are, uh,

(30:48):
they're gonna they're they're learning what it means to put
the Bearcat uniform on again. Guys like Day Day help
help help that process. But they're gonna go out there
and play the butts off tomorrow night.

Speaker 5 (31:00):
Again.

Speaker 7 (31:00):
We're going to keep getting better and better as the
year goes on. I hope we played great basketball, but
we're going to go play Cincinnati basketball in terms of
the effort that we play with and again, we'd love
to see our fans out there. So thanks for the
opportunity to get on here on the radio, and I'm
going to get back to focusing on the game.

Speaker 2 (31:16):
I hear you, coach, thank you so much for your time,
good luck tomorrow night, and we look forward to catching
up again soon.

Speaker 5 (31:23):
Thanks Tony.

Speaker 2 (31:24):
That is the head basketball coach of the Cincinnati Bearcats,
Wes Miller, giving us some of his time today. Awesome
stuff and a very big time exciting matchup coming to
Heritage Bank Arena with Louisville and UC tomorrow night. We'll
roll along hour three next to ESBN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati
Sports station.

Speaker 8 (31:41):
You seek wise since it's time for Cincy three sixty
quick hits on ESBN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 3 (31:48):
Was looking for mo.

Speaker 2 (31:49):
I haven't seen mo.

Speaker 3 (31:50):
I don't think you.

Speaker 6 (31:51):
I don't think he's here. I also haven't seen Chad.

Speaker 5 (31:53):
Chad looking for MO.

Speaker 2 (31:54):
I know Chad's here, all right, I told Chad two
forty two. All right, Well, Chad is now coming in there.
He is right on top, A few seconds late, you know,
would Chad come in late? Would Chad come in late?
To West Miller or Scott's Outderfield press conference about it.
Probably not, No, I wouldn't he comes in late to
hear you said forty two. I was here forty two, Lessen.

Speaker 6 (32:19):
Everything's on brand so far.

Speaker 2 (32:20):
So last minute prep for you for for the show today?

Speaker 6 (32:23):
What do you got coming up?

Speaker 9 (32:25):
I was looking up the productivity of Ellie da La
Cruz from late July oh through the end of the season,
and uh, I've talked to some medical professionals today. You
know what I you know what a lot of medical
professional professionals out there now there is, but these are
actual medical professionals, and you know what I you know

(32:48):
what I compare it to after talking to some people.
It's like a phone battery, right, Okay, so like Ellie
gets hurt, right, the phone battery drops. Yeah, you playug
him in for ten days. You know he's he's not
going to get one hundred percent because it's a quad injury.
That's a difficult injury. From everybody I've talked to, it's

(33:09):
a difficult injury to get back to one hundred percent. Yeah,
because it's connected to your hip, it's connected to your knee,
like it controls your base. But you can plug him
in and recharge him a little bit and then let
him go down the stretch. He's gonna at some point
he's gonna have to play through it because you weren't
going to get him back to one hundred percent. But

(33:32):
what what they they thought that that version of Ellie
that didn't steal bases, couldn't hit for power, and was
bad in the field, was better, right or Tony?

Speaker 6 (33:42):
Did they want to sell tickets? Well, that's the thing.

Speaker 2 (33:44):
Like, I was shocked when Nick Crawl not only talked
about the injury but openly talked about you know, we
we threw him out there and his his gloves struggled
and the power numbers went out. So you are as
an organization, you're watching your best. You're watching that piece
out there struggle to hit, struggle to field, and you

(34:05):
know why, But you just keep running him out there.
And if they do it right away, and if you
take the time, maybe he comes back healthy and you
go on to run.

Speaker 3 (34:12):
Right.

Speaker 9 (34:14):
That's the thing, right, Like what are great players supposed
to do? They're supposed to have stretches where they carry
the team. Did Ellie do that at any point in
time over the final two and a half months of
the season. Was there any ten days stretch where it
felt like Elie de la Cruz has been the superstar

(34:34):
that we expect him to be. No, and that to
me is the most maddening part about this. The other
thing I really want to get to town. Nick Caral
is now insulting our intelligence because what did he say
last night live on the radio, what's up partial tear
of the quad?

Speaker 6 (34:51):
Yeah?

Speaker 9 (34:51):
And then he walked it back right, Yeah, it was
a quad strain. You know what a quad strain is,
Tony partial terear. You're insulting our intelligence. You have reach
the point where I'm out on you now, Yeah you have.
You have played Atlantics and you're insulting our intelligence.

Speaker 6 (35:06):
I'm out.

Speaker 2 (35:06):
It's also one thing too, like with the Lli day
of the cruise saying, like Ellie, players want to play.
This is the Joe Burrow conversation. It's the organization and
the trainers and the team's job to make sure you're
doing that in your player's best interest. It's not on
Ellie for saying I want to play every game. Of course,
he wants to play every gay that's what you wanted
to play. It's not Hunter Green, of course he wants

(35:27):
to play. Yeah, you it's your job to take I
I equated it earlier today, I am I I joke
with Bob Mangina.

Speaker 6 (35:38):
You see a lot.

Speaker 2 (35:39):
But Bob I always knew at the end of the
day that regardless of any pressure Bob may have got
from a coach or anyone else, that at the end
of the day, Bob had my best interest in mind.
And what Bob said, I knew he was going to
take care of me. If Bob said I was good
to go, then I'm gonna go. If Bob said I'm
limited or you're vulnerable to something, I'm going to listen
to that. It's the organization. It's the club's job to

(36:00):
take care of your best assets.

Speaker 9 (36:02):
Absolutely. I just don't understand. And and it goes to
the borough thing. I think one of your talkbackers said
it best. You're gonna it's looking more and more likely
they're gonna run Joe Burrow out there Sunday, right, Okay,
Now you're gonna run.

Speaker 6 (36:14):
Him back out there Thursday.

Speaker 9 (36:16):
Yeah, Like what wouldn't wouldn't logic say, Okay, Joe, we're
gonna we're gonna wait this game and then we're gonna
bring you back Thursday.

Speaker 2 (36:26):
How healthy. Does Joe Burrow have to be to say
we're willing to bring him back on Sunday? Quick turnaround
and oh, by the way, we're gonna bring him back
without Jamar Chase. Yeah, who would probably alleviate some of
the pressure by getting it out to Jamar Chase. It
look again, I I equate it to the same thing
with Eli Day, other cruisers, Joe Burrow.

Speaker 6 (36:45):
Who are the adults in the room?

Speaker 9 (36:47):
There has to be? Of course Joe wants to play, sure,
that's what he is for either of these franchises. Who
are the adults in the damn room that that are
gonna actually make the calls?

Speaker 6 (36:59):
Because players will play.

Speaker 9 (37:00):
They're gonna play if you if you open that door
at all, they're gonna get out there and play. And
Joe Burrow goes out there Sat Sunday and and something
else happens to that toe. And now, like the thing
with Ellie that really upsets me about this Tony is
now you've pushed him all the way to the end
of the season. You drained that battery down to zero.

(37:23):
Essentially he's still rehabbing. Yeah, we dealt with that with
McClean all off season. What's gonna happen. You know what's
gonna happen when spring training rolls around. Yeah, you know
what's gonna happen as the start of the season, Royle,
we're still still easing Ellie back in.

Speaker 2 (37:38):
We're still you know, it's a pipe dream too. But
for those that wanted Ellie to to be able to
sign a long term deal here, probably some of that's
gonna come down to him and his agents saying, Okay,
who's got the best interest of Ellie in mind as
a player.

Speaker 9 (37:50):
Do they really think, and this is an important interesting
subplot here, do they really think that playing him one
sixty two is? Is that like Ellie wants to play
one sixty two, So we're gonna play him one sixty
two because that means maybe we're gonna get a hometown discount.

Speaker 6 (38:09):
Really, that's what you think. I have a hard time
finding that to be true.

Speaker 3 (38:14):
Are you right?

Speaker 2 (38:15):
Do you believe after hearing from last night that Kyle
Shwarbur will be a Cincinnati read No?

Speaker 6 (38:21):
No, why not? They couldn't get Schwarber here with Tony salary.

Speaker 2 (38:27):
That's well then one of the trolley drop weight. Yeah,
I wanted to hit more singles, Yeah, be a more
to contact guy. We're not gonna highlight the power numbers.

Speaker 9 (38:36):
Power is expensive, Tony. We we can't afford power here
in Cincinnati. That's why we draft shortstops. Shortstops don't have
a lot of power. Uh, those guys are easier to retain.
Forget the fact that we play in this one of
the easiest ballparks to hit home runs in yep, and
we don't have anybody that can that can hit thirty
home runs.

Speaker 2 (38:56):
Maddening.

Speaker 10 (38:57):
I'm looking at the statistics on the MLB website right now,
there's only, by my count, like fifteen players that played
more than one hundred and sixty games last year.

Speaker 6 (39:13):
Yeah, what what did you accomplish by letting Li play
one sixty two?

Speaker 2 (39:16):
Twenty of those players had parsonally torn.

Speaker 10 (39:20):
There's only Schwarber, Brent Rooker, Matt Olsen, Ellie Pete Alonso,
and Rafael Devers that played all one sixty two. Most
of those guys spend a lot of time at theh
and Devs was as well, and he played one sixty
three because he got traded middle of the season.

Speaker 6 (39:39):
But I mean, there's only some.

Speaker 3 (39:41):
Guys that did it.

Speaker 6 (39:42):
What do you really get out of this I did.

Speaker 9 (39:45):
I wanted to briefly touch on something that that Austin
tweeted out over the weekend, that that you know he's
going to give the Bengals the benefit of the doubt,
and you know why he's going to give the Bengals
the benefit of the doubt. Did you give the Bengals
the benefit of the doubt when you were in your
early twenties, late thirties and what happened, Yeah, what happened

(40:06):
as you got older and you saw.

Speaker 6 (40:09):
It wouldn't have been a bit of a doubt.

Speaker 9 (40:11):
What did I say this about about like blaming ownership?
Like this is what it is, Audie. I admire because
I had the same when I was in your mindset,
your age range. I had the same kind of mentality
of we got to stop complaining about ownership because ownership
is not going to change. We got to start focusing
on things that are that are functional, that are gonna

(40:35):
that are fixable. But as you get older and you
see it continue to happen cycle after cycle, time after time,
you realize none of that really matters because the ownership
is what controls the entire thing. And if ownership isn't
going to change who they are and how they operate
all the other stuff, And this is Reds and Bengals.

(40:58):
All the other stuff is nominal. It's all you know,
deck chairs on the Titanic.

Speaker 6 (41:03):
Wow, So why be a fan, don't? I mean, I
don't know.

Speaker 9 (41:07):
That's why I stopped really being that enthralled with That's
why I started watching the Bengals as a comedy instead
of a drama, because I got tired of at the
end of every every game, like the Jets game, ruining
your Sunday, being upset on Monday still like I just
I'd had enough. Like That's why, because I was in

(41:29):
that cycle, same as you, Austin, trying to fight the
good fight.

Speaker 6 (41:32):
This can be fixed.

Speaker 9 (41:33):
It's about the GM, it's about the coach, it's about this,
it's about that. But the Reds and the Bengals are
in the same cycle. They don't have ownership that wants
to really do what it takes to win, and until
that happens, the cycle never breaks. Yeah, you have a
good year here and there, and you have a really
bad year here and there, but you just go through

(41:56):
the same process over and over and over again. Because
they they don't understand the way that they operate is
not how winning franchises operate.

Speaker 6 (42:09):
Yeah, frustrating.

Speaker 10 (42:10):
I think I've said that many times that they have
flawed processes that they believe in, and Mike Brown especially
is a little too faithful I think in certain people
in processes, and Duke Tobe is an example of that.

Speaker 5 (42:24):
I do.

Speaker 10 (42:24):
I will say this though, and I get your point,
and I hear it. I'm sure I know a lot
of people agree with you, and as far as the
Reds are concerned, I would agree on And I think
that the way that Major League Baseball is constructed, I
think it makes it even harder to overcome the shortco
comings of ownership. In the NFL, though, I do feel

(42:46):
like there's at least a path there, like you can
turn it around quickly. You don't have to be as
buttoned up in perfect We saw him go to the
super Bowl a couple of years ago. So I think
it's the Bengals are a lot closer and in the NFL,
it's doable to have those processes maybe get you to

(43:07):
where you want to go. But I get your point,
and again to reiterate what I said, I think last
week is like for most of my life, the Bengals
have been pretty competitive. They haven't sucked my entire life.
But for a lot of people, I know that's not
the case. And that's fair because for a good portion
of Marvin they were good and there have been good

(43:31):
periods under Zach Taylor.

Speaker 6 (43:33):
But like you know, if.

Speaker 9 (43:37):
You're looking back, really those good periods have followed bottoming
out and then they get high level draft picks that
they they I mean, they did screw them up in
the nineties, so there was a period where they were
getting the good draft picks and screwing them up. They've
screwed up the good draft picks less, but the rest
of the process is a system failure.

Speaker 6 (43:58):
Building around.

Speaker 9 (44:02):
Andy Dalton and aj Green, building around Carson Palmer and
Chad Johnson, building around Joe Burrow and Jamar and t
failed at those things.

Speaker 2 (44:10):
Those failures have been backed up by the numbers. After
those contracts, We're done, Ellie Burrow, Big weekend for the Bearcats.
That all comes up next with Chad Brenda and from
Mowagger on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 6 (44:24):
Have a great rest of your.

Speaker 8 (44:25):
Thursday, Wise, Cincinnati, make us the number one preset on

(44:59):
your car radio and on the free Knew It Improved
iHeartRadio app Free never sounded so good.

Speaker 6 (45:04):
ESPN fifteen thirty Man Trouble