Episode 36: The Brawl Over The Ball

None

Episode Transcript

(00:06):
Hello, Hello, Hello, Welcometo the Shamrock Sports Cast. Cali Stiegler
couldn't make the trip today, neithercould Tristan Cook. Dennis. He's actually
outside the studio at a team meeting. Yeah, they have a football team
meeting. Live from the football teammeeting. It's me and Drew Taylor rowan
Obert. How you doing, Drew, I'm doing great. I'm glad to

(00:29):
be here. Man. Oh whata day to be a Shamrock. Now
we have a lot to get intoand I went first begin with boys basketball,
undefeated, never lost, by theway. After this we'll be doing
a little bit of a Q andA. There will be some Q and

(00:49):
A questions in there. We'll beanswering. So yeah, let's talk about
boys basketball. They had two gameslast week, one against Garren Catholic,
which we talked about it in thelast episode. That's no easy opponent and
Westfield took them down. I dowant to talk about but that's the Christian

(01:10):
game. Fifty to twenty five unreal. But as a Christian only scoring two
points in quarter number one? Howwas Westfield other than their incredible defense,
how are they able to pull awayhere? Well? I think just the
talent was so much more substantial thanwhat Bethesda. Christian had no disrespect whatsoever.

(01:33):
I just think for Westfield this isan extremely talented roster all around,
with the senior class, Nick Book, guards and Trey and Charles, I
think it's just a really hard teamto be. Yeah, nick Book with
his second straight double double, andnow we're starting to get the Nick Book
that we wanted to see when hefirst transferred here in July. We're starting

(01:57):
to get that guy, a guywho can give you thirteen or fourteen along
with ten rebounds any given night.So now that Nick Book's actually like being
very aggressive on the boards, he'sgetting rebounds, It's interesting the effect he
can truly have on a team.What has been, in your opinion,

(02:21):
the catalysts behind nick Book's performance thelast couple of games. I think really
just his like you said earlier,his aggression. I mean, obviously we
know the talent anybody that knows thegame. When you just see him even
warm up, you can tell thathe's a different breed. But when he
started being aggressive, really this wholeteam it's just taken off. And I

(02:42):
think with that, the more aggressivehe can be, I really feel like
the sky is the limit for him. Oh yeah, And like Nick Book,
he's a fun guy. You knowhe obviously he loves the game of
basketball, but he won't give youthe whole spill, if you know what
I mean. Nick, Nick Book'sa guy who, like when I've interviewed
him, he is He's such anoutgoing personality, and I think that's really

(03:08):
what Westfield needs, a guy whosupports his teammates. Like I was talking
to coach Someter about it during aaulike over the summer, Nick came in
with an ankle injury, he couldn'tplay, and he was supporting you know,
Trey and all the guys. Which, by the way, I also

(03:29):
want to bring up Charles Ferrell thebreakout year he's been having. And I
guess obviously Ferrell was the starting pointguard last year. This year he's back
in that role. New jersey numberthough, But like, what's been behind
this new version of Charles Ferrell thatwe're now seeing. For me, I

(03:51):
think it's the leadership. I mean, he was a junior last year,
with that senior class gone and nowhaving to be the leader, and with
that, I think everybody's always knownthere obviously tremendous upside there, and I
think he's finally getting the showcase whohe really is as a player. Yeah,
him and Will Harvey have been guysthat I feel like have been,
you know, unreal on both ends. Will Harvey is shooting the three pointer

(04:16):
at an elite clip. I mean, he's shooting sixty percent from three.
And it's not like he's not attemptingthe three. He's attempted twenty three so
far this year. I mean,Will Harvey is a guy who's been doing
quite a bit for this Westfield team, and now we have a game tomorrow

(04:36):
night against Noblesville revenge on their mind. If you remember last year in the
sectional semi final, Noblesville beating Westfieldin a heartbreaker, Romack missing the what
was like a half court half courtfull court shot, Yeah, something like
that, which is kind of frustrate, frustrate because he made the half court

(05:01):
shot earlier in the year or afull court show it was a full court
shot. Yeah, he made afull court shot earlier in the year.
Obviously that's not a shot you expectanyone to make. But but still,
it was a very close game thatcame down to the wire. How much
do you think revenge will be onWestfield's mind. It's definitely going to be

(05:24):
on their mind for sure, becausethat was that was a hard That was
a hard loss. I remember Iwas in attendance of that game, and
we had I believe we had likea ten point lead going into the third
or something like that. Like wewere ahead most actually until like the final
three minutes. So I think,more than anything, it was just a
frustrating loss. So I think withthat being said, Westfield's gonna come out

(05:44):
firing, gonna come out being aggressive, and hopefully can come out on the
top against some pretty talented Noblesvil team. Indeed, Noblesville is a very talented
team. They are four and oneon the year compared to Westfields five and
zero. As we take it,Let's take a quick look at their past
games. They've got a thirty pointwin against Hamilton Heights, a twenty one

(06:10):
point victory over Franklin Community, aloss of Fishers without Jalen harrelsony have a
blowout win against Carmel and then winningby five against IC eight Ica. So
honestly, this Noblesville team Fishers,I mean, we know how you know,

(06:30):
it's tough they could possibly be.But Noblesville, this team obviously a
lot of history with Westfield. SoI guess, just in your opinion,
how much does the rivalry play intothis matchup. It's very significant for a
couple of reasons. A I feellike last year's game really kind of added

(06:55):
to the storyline in a way.But also, especially in the h I
feel like, if you're good andyou're playing someone in your conference, it's
a rivalry at this point. Sofor Noblesville and Westfield, it's right across
town. So for Westfield obviously revengeson their hearts, like we said,
and for Noblesville, they're trying toreally just say like, hey we're still

(07:16):
We're still big bro here. Yeah, indeed, Aaron fine for Noblesville out
he's having one heck of the year, I mean sixteen points per game,
which, honestly, in the HCCwhere defense is king, that's pretty impressive
that he's been able to do that, and that will be the matchup of

(07:40):
the century him and Trade Buchanon goinghead to head. Tradu Cannon averaging about
fourteen and a half points per game. Going into the weekend, he was
averaging like nineteen Obviously, five gamesinto this season. But how can Trade
Bucannon come out on top with thismatchup? For Trey, if he can

(08:01):
get separation from beyond the arc andfind his shot early, I think he'll
come away with it because when hegets hot, I mean, we all
know he can shoot it from deep. So for Trey, I think it's
he knows threes. But also Ithink attribute that ghost kind of unnoticed and
I saw Itimore's junior year. I'mstill waiting to see a little bit a
senior year as he's actually really physicalwhen he drives in and can create opportunities

(08:26):
to go to the free throw line. So for Trey, just make sure
to shoot well from beyond the arcand being aggressive in the pay in on
defense. Yeah, and overall,I think with the defensively for Westfield,
I don't know if Trad b Cannonwill be the guy guarding him. I
could totally see Charles being that guybecause I think Charles on the perimeter,

(08:50):
he is the premier defensive player.But also not to mention, Trad b
Cannon is having you know, agreat year defensively, especially as a as
like a ball hound. He's beenable to pick up quite a few steals.
He's the leader on the team insteals, and that's saying a lot
when you got a guy like CharlesFerrell on your team who could pick up

(09:13):
a lot of steals. But herewe are. Now, what is your
score prediction for this matchup? Ithink it's gonna be pretty high scoring.
I'm gonna go, and I actuallythink it's gonna be really close. I'm
gonna go Westfield sixty four Noblesville sixtyooh yeah, I mean Westfield. They
have not been forced to under fiftypoints all year, and that bethes the

(09:37):
game. Like we were talking aboutearlier, that was the fewest amount of
points in Westfield history since last yearwhen they beat Munsey Burris. That was
like I think that was fifty fiveto twenty. I mean, that was
obliteration. But this matchup, Iagree with you, it will be a
Westfield win. I'm going to sayfifty nine fifty four LBA. I think

(10:03):
I could totally see what I seehappening. Noblesville will have a ten point
lead at halftime, and Westfield willbattle and claw their way back into this
game. Why do I think thatit's a feeling. I can't give you
a great reason, But that's thefeeling I have. But anyway, what's

(10:28):
now? Yeah, I see we'reranked sixty eighth in the nation according to
max Preps, which I think isquite impressive. I mean I haven't seen
like the other leader boards across thecountry, but for max Preps to have
us in the top one hundred,that's pretty cool. I will say,

(10:50):
has that ever happened before doing though? Has that ever happened? Yeah?
I don't. I don't think we'veever. Do you think this is the
highest we've ever been ranked? Iwould have to. I would have to
look that up because I think Ithink Brayden and Cam senior year we may
have been. I feel like Iremember us being in the top one hundred
and Braiden and Cam senior year onmax Preps. But anyway, before we

(11:13):
get into girls basketball, I dowant to do a little Q and A.
Here. I'm gonna pull up thequestions right now. We'll see how
many of them I could we couldtruly answer. A lot of these questions
are from our former hosts, EvanCummings. I mean, if you know
him, when heck of a guy, you gotta love him. Yeah,
he's killing it over at Ball Stateand Evan, if you're listening, if

(11:39):
you're listening today, I want youto be here tomorrow. There I said
it. Anyway, when's the secondedition of International Snack Taste Tests coming out?
If you remember that was an episodelast year. I gotta, I
gotta, I gotta go to JungleGems. I guess, yeah, Alan,
he's gotta go to the store,go to Jungle Gyms. Oh it's

(12:03):
in Ohio, right bus Cincinnati?So okay, So yeah, that's like
what three hours drive? That's Isit worth it? Are the chips worth
it? It's like it's one ofthe biggest international markets. It's like you
go in there and it's like,oh my gosh, this place is insane.
Wow, it's worth it. Yeah, but probably some time after break?

(12:26):
Oh yeah, that would that wouldwould that would be fun. Christmas
traditions what what are your let's goeven with Alan here, what are your
Christmas traditions or holiday traditions? Sorry, hanging out with family, I mean
that's that's kind of what we dohere. For me, it's hanging out

(12:46):
with both sides of the family thatwe may not see all the time.
But yeah, uh huh. Forme, it's just Christmas Day, you
know, watching the NBA. Thatthat's my big thing. I watched the
NBA every Christmas. And okay,now we got a pretty good question here.

(13:07):
How far do you see boys basketballgoing this year? And I'll go
ahead and I'll answer this. Howfar do I see them? It's interesting.
I could totally see this team winninga sectional championship, but you have
to remember how tough the sectional canbe. But also remember that I feel

(13:28):
like it's gotten weakened. I feellike it's weakened quite a bit. I
think Carmel they aren't what they usedto be. Carmel's not the powerhouse that
I remember them being even two orthree years ago. They are a very
weak team. They've had losses toZionsville, who Westfield destroyed. So I

(13:50):
think if Westfield were to draw Carmel, I think that would go in the
Shamrocks favor. Really, I thinkNoblesville's our main competition in that sectional.
It's going to be interesting see howthey battle that. So yeah, what
are your thoughts? Yeah, Icould I could see that as well,
But like I say, a lotthough, it's any any given night,

(14:11):
So Westfield could go as far asto say, semi state maybe, but
they could also lose first round.You just never know with what you get
in the HCC. For me,I could very well see him way in
another sectional championship. This talent isone of the most talented teams we've ever
had, So yeah, it's mine. Anyway, let's uh go on.

(14:33):
We're gonna We're gonna move on.We're gonna talk the starting rotation for baseball.
That's interesting the lineup though, Icould give you this for the lineup.
I heard from a source. We'regonna keep him anonymous. He I've
been told that it's very well possibleCaden Lindsay will be the leadoff man in

(14:56):
the lineup. Rotation wise, it'sgoing to be interesting. I think it's
pretty clear Ty Anderson is going tobe the ACE. I mean, I
think we know that for a fact. Then I think two and three,
I think it would be probably definitelyTam and Bodenberg. Bodenberg he had quite
a few great outings, but thensome outings where the command wasn't quite there.

(15:20):
Then after that, I mean we'reat three guys right now. After
that you kind of get into shortterm bullpen guys. I think we could
see Matt Jarroslick pitching more than hedid last year. I mean, I
don't see him being a full timestarter or anything, but I could totally
see him being a pretty heavily reliedupon reliever option, possibly like some bullpen

(15:46):
games, like with Owen Swinford beingthe opener. I mean, hey,
what are your thoughts. I think, for me, put Braiden Hibler either
at the two or the three spot. For me, I don't remember what

(16:07):
he hit. I don't remember whathe was in last year, but I'm
excited to see what he's gonna dohis senior year. There's a lot of
potential there. No, I likethe idea to have probably have Braiden be
the second guy in the lineup,because I mean, think about a lot
of these MLB teams nowadays, they'reusing their second they're using their best hitter,

(16:27):
which let's be honest here, BraidenHibbler is the best hitter. Here.
They have them batting second, usuallynot lead off. I mean,
look at the Dodgers they're playing onhaving show Aotani be the second guy,
and really I like that, Ithink. After so, if we're thinking
here center field, Caden Lindsay shortstopBraiden Hibbler. Then after that, I

(16:56):
think I totally see Matt Droslick battingthird at first base, then fourth and
fifth. I think that's interesting.I can totally see that being you know,
Alex Rudolph for one, and thenIan Wilson I think he's going to
have a big year this year atthird base. So and then also you
have guys who were on varsity lastyear who could you know it's next man

(17:22):
up make that those big steps likeEthan calling at catcher, and you know
with Colin Lindsay and Nick Alm goingaway, it's you need you need a
good catcher, especially when those twoguys defensively with their framework too, I
mean, it was unreal. Soit's great to have a guy like Ethan

(17:42):
calling. We'll see if he couldtruly step up to the plate though no
pun intended. So we had wehad the question about boys basketball how far
they could go? We actually haveone about girls basketball too, how far
they could go? And honestly,what are your what are your thoughts?
First? How far do you thinkgirls basketball can truly go? I'm definitely

(18:04):
not going to be opposed to saythey can't go at least past the sectional,
because the way they've come out alreadyreally kind of surprised me. So
for them, I think the skuy'sa limit. I they play as a
unit like they have been, Ithink they could win their sectional and possibly
make it a semi state. It'spretty high hopes, I know, but
yeah, I mean, we're talkingone of the best ten games starts they've

(18:30):
had in a long time. They'reeight and two. Ellie keller Heer,
we know the drill here. Elliekeller Heer is a great player to surround
yourself with, especially with her facilitation. That's a word, right, facilitation,
and not only that, the wayshe's able to get shooters open,
like Reagan Lorenzen, Aubrey Crockett,Lindsay Van Dyke, Mikayla Hatcher. Anyway,

(18:55):
so I think, in my opinion, this Westfield team they're going to
exceed last year. Last year lostin the first round to Zionsville. They
definitely exceed that in my opinion.Let's talk about girls basketball and their last
matchup against Avon. They lost ina heartbreaker the Zionsville That was a matchup.

(19:17):
Going back to that Zionsville game forWestfield, they were down, not
down. They were up by tenor more points in the second quarter.
Then third quarter came around, Zionsvillewas shooting the lights out. Emma Han,
I think Westfield had it, hadit in the bag in overtime.

(19:37):
They had the game went to overtime, they had it in the bag.
Then Emma hon for Zionsville two straightclutch threes and then Westfield last shot attempt,
they tried to inbound, it's pickedoff and Westfield loses by two.
But they got revenge going up againstAvon the other night on Tuesday and Westfield

(20:03):
picked up a nine point win sixtyfive fifty six. How is Westfield able
to pull off a win like this, especially considering coming off of a heartbreak
loss Desionsville. I think in away that heartbreaking loss designs will kind of
fueled the win against Avon, andthat's what you want with the team the

(20:27):
UF high hopes for the resiliency.I'm going to compare it to Purdue basketball.
So Perdue lost in a similar wayto how we lost Desionsville against Northwestern
and it came out the next gamebeat a decently tough Iowa team, and
I think that's generally what the girlsbasketball team has going for him as the
resiliency, Oh, I know,it's been great. I think you have

(20:49):
to give credit where credit is dueto coach Steele and what she's built.
Obviously, when you're coming off ofwhat coach Smith built, it's very hard,
especially when your first year you loseyour best player, or I shouldn't
say lose your best player, yourbest player from the year before graduated.

(21:10):
I'm talking about Lisa Crockett. Whenshe graduate, we're talking about miss basketball
here. I mean, that's avery hard job to take over. But
she's done it very well. Itwasn't quite a rebuild, not by any
stretch of the imagination. They wereabove five hundred last year. But they
went from an okay team last yearto a great team. And again,

(21:37):
I think, in my opinion,the difference between an okay team and a
great team is ball movement. AndWestfield they've been moving the ball at an
elite clip, at an elite pace, and it's because of all the playmakers
they have, like with Ellie kellerHeer, Lindsey Van Dyke and Aubrey Crockett.
Those are three facilitators and you haveat one point, at some points

(22:00):
in the game, you have allthree of them on the court at once,
so that's great. We actually havea upcoming game for girls basketball Saturday
on IHSAA Champions Network with Years trulyon play by play taking on Noblesville at
home. The girls finally return homeafter a very long road trip in Noblesville.

(22:25):
They're not off to a great start, but not a terrible one.
Six and five. They've played moregames than Westfield, will won more game
than Westfield. So how does Westfieldin this game? How can they learn
from the mistakes from Zionsville, whichI'm sure they definitely did in the Avon
game, But how do they continueto play the way they've been playing against

(22:48):
a conference opponent, Like, likeyou said, good ball movement, making
sure to pass the rock around.But also I want them to say coming
out on a fast star. Ithink that the games. I don't see
Noblesville as a team that can ifWestfield comes out firing could come back.
So for them, just making thosegood decisions in the paint, taking good

(23:12):
shots, playing defense, locking uparound the perimeter, and I think this
one's theirs. Oh, I totallyagree, And let's get a quick score
prediction for this matchup, I'll giveyou mine. I think Westfield's going to
be a lot more high scoring thanwhat people think. And I think Westfield
they're going to score fifty eight pointson Noblesville and Noblesville I don't see the

(23:37):
offense being there. It hasn't trulybeen there as much this year. I
think they're gonna put forty three points. So Westfield gets a big time win
at home. I'm gonna go Westfieldfifty two, Noblesville forty. I think
that, like you said, Westfold'sgonna have a big one at home.
But just I don't think this Noblesvilleteam as quite the talent that this Westfield

(24:00):
team does. Yeah, let's talkabout swimming now. Let's move on here
the boys and the girls. It'sbeen tough sledding and the last couple of
meats have been not what they hopedfor. I mean, especially for the
boys their first two meets of theyear finishing last, and then the girls,

(24:23):
after finishing first in their first meet, they finished last in the next
two. How do I guess bothteams bounce back just swim as a unit,
I guess for both these teams.I know the culture there is great.
I've seen at my neighborhood clubhouse.They have a lot of parties and

(24:45):
stuff, so I know the culture'sdefinitely there. But for them, there's
definitely talent there. But they alsodid have a really good senior class that
left last year, so that couldalso be partially what's causing some of these
results. Anyway, now that wetalked about that, I do want to
ask you all a national sports question. Let's talk about the incident last night

(25:10):
the Pacers and Bucks. I'll giveit. I'll give it context real quick
here. So Bucks get a blowoutwin over the Pacers. Jan santed to
Cumbo breaks breaks a Bucks franchise record, and but at the same time,
Pacers forward Oscar to shebwe former aNatesmith Player of the Year. Uh,

(25:33):
he got his first NBA points.So a Bucks that a Bucks staff member
gives to Shebe the game ball,but Jannis wants the game ball and he
goes running back into the Pacers tunnel. A big altercation breaks out there.
They had one earlier in the night, a fight earlier in the night that
involved aaron Ne Smith and Bobby Portis. But this fight it happened after the

(25:59):
game in the tunnel and apparently itended with pacers GM and the father of
Trey Buchanan, Chad Buchanan, gettingelbowed in the stomach. Wow. I
guess how could that situation have beenhandled better? I'm not going to put
down Giannis here because I understand whyhe wanted the game ball. I do,

(26:23):
but I think he should have handledthat situation a little differently instead of
running back. I think there wasdefinitely a way that security could have got
the ball back versus him going inthere and causing a scene. So that's
just my take. But also Ithink there was definitely a sense of urgency
that whole night that ned was tensejust between Halliburn and elbowed by Honis in

(26:44):
like the first quarter or something likethat. Yeah, yeah, I agree
with the fact that Yannis should havegotten the ball. I think what he
did was historic. I mean,sixty four points and the most enfranchised history.
We're talking about franchise or the likesof you know, Sidney Monkreef,
Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Michael Red,Oscar Robertson, They've all played for that

(27:07):
franchise, Brandon Jennings. I'm justlistening off random bucks here but anyway,
I just think Jannis deserved the ball, but not after what he did.
I think, after the way hehandled it, I think I think he
didn't deserve the ball. I heardhe got the ball back eventually, I
don't think he truly deserved it afterthe way he acted. Like Yannest,

(27:30):
he seems like a good guy.He'll tell these dad jokes and all that,
but really he's a manchild. IfI'm being honest with you here,
the guy is a he is almostthirty, and he's acting in this way.
It's unacceptable. I completely agree withyou. Yeah, kind of a
harsh note to end the podcast onby I thought i'd bring it up.

(27:53):
And yeah, thank you for everyonewho submitted questions for the q A means
a lot. And yeah, peace, peace,