March 24, 2025 • 20 mins
Mike DeCourcy of The Sporting News and Fox Sports joins Dave Softy Mahler and Dick Fain to talk about the ending of the Colorado State - Maryland game, St. John’s losing, Dan Hurley and UConn being eliminated, Gonzaga’s run ending, and Duke dominance.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's time for the latest on the madness of March.
Here's Hall of Fame college basketball writer for The Sporting
News and Fox Sports lead bracketologist Mike Decorsi, brought to
you by Northwest Handling Systems. From forklifts to Pellett recks
conveyors to loading duck equipment, we sell, rent and service
all your warehouse he needs. Request a quote today at
(00:22):
NWHS dot com or give us a call at four
two five two five five zero five hundred. Now with
Mike Decorsi, here's Safti and Dick.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
All right, Beck, thanks for our friends over at Northwest
Handling Systems.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Are Pal Eric Eric.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
We really appreciate for whatever reason, I don't know why
he keeps doing it, but he just does. He says yes,
and everybody else says no. Sponsoring us every single year
talking to some college basketball getting one of the greats
of all time. Let's face it on the air. Hall
of Fame writer, Big ten Network, The Sporting News, our
friend Mike Decorsi, Michael, how are you Pal?
Speaker 4 (00:57):
I am doing well, gentlemen, how are you good?
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Good?
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Why don't we just start right at the top with
the number one thing that everybody is debating today across
the country.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
And I'll tell you what.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
If I'm a Colorado State ram fan, I'll be yelling
to the clouds as long as I live. It was
a travel. It was a travel. Derek Queen with the
buzzer beater from Maryland. Did he walk or did he
not walk? In your opinion, he probably walked.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
And if you're a Colorado State fan outraged about that,
I take you back to the edge of the first
half and remind you of the fact that your best
player elbowed and a reserve from Maryland in the year
and could very very well have been a flagrant one
(01:46):
file which would have meant two free throws in the
ball and perhaps a four point possession.
Speaker 5 (01:50):
Then that maybe don't need that at the end, and
there was a.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
Very good possibility it could have been a flagrant two foul,
which would have meant your player, Nie Clifford, on the
bench for the rest of the game. So I don't
think that Colorado State wants to be talking about getting
a rough whistle there, Mike.
Speaker 6 (02:09):
We had some interesting behavior by coaches after the games.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
Let's start with Rick Patino.
Speaker 6 (02:15):
What do you think of Patino benching his conference player
of the Year for the last five minutes in their loss,
and then how he handled the questions in the press conference,
which was, you know, he had he had some saltiness
when when was asked a perfectly appropriate question.
Speaker 7 (02:31):
Yeah, I thought it was odd that he wouldn't that
he wouldn't just say this if this was the answer
that he wanted to convey, was that he did not
give us the best chance of winning or something like that,
because RJ was not r J Lewis the player we're
talking about who was a third team All American for
the Sporting News and just did not have a great
game because it was not a great matchup for him.
Speaker 5 (02:52):
He is not an outstanding shooter.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
He tried a couple early, and he had been on
a pretty good streak entering the turn, but he tried
a couple early and did not did not make those
And when that happened, Arkansas's really dynamic defense, the length
of the the athleticism that they have just they just
(03:15):
turned it up.
Speaker 5 (03:15):
They knew that they didn't.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
Have to worry about him getting from deep, so it
was just keep them away from the rim. And he
ended up having a pretty poor day. And if if
Rick wanted to convey the message that that he just
didn't feel like he gave him the best chance to win.
That would have been fine, and I don't think that.
You know, I know Roger Reubin really well. We covered
the Big East together a long time ago, and and
he he he would have just taken that for an answer,
(03:39):
but Rick wouldn't do that. Rick kept just saying, you
know why, and right, and and so he said what
what was he He said, he played thirty.
Speaker 5 (03:48):
Minutes, you know why?
Speaker 4 (03:48):
And and so Roger said, well, then because he was tired,
and he said, no, it wasn't because he was tired.
And so no, I don't know why. Then you can
explain it to me. That's why we're here. That Rick
sometimes has done that in the past. That my friend
Pat Forty from Sports Illustrated, who covered Kentucky back in
(04:09):
the Patino era, reminded everyone in the article he wrote,
which was really good about what happened with Rod Rhodes
in the nineteen ninety five Elite eight and how that
became Rod kind of became the reason that they lost
and Rod played poorly. But again, that idea of blaming
(04:29):
the player in the way that you did instead of
just riding it out and saying, hey, it wasn't our day. Yep.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Well, speaking of coaches behaving badly, I'll just follow up
on Dick's question. There used to be a time where
I really was a big fan of Danny Hurley. I
remember Dick and I, two of us were sitting here
on the air defending Yukon. They're now a blue blood
in college basketball, no question, they've arrived. And then I
don't know, maybe he was doing this already and I
wasn't noticing it, but the guy just, in my opinion,
(04:57):
kind of turned into a jackass.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
And he's walked off the court.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Last night blaming the referees when you come missed twenty
one to threes in the game yesterday and they lost
by two. What do you make of the way Danny
Hurley is approaching everything these days?
Speaker 4 (05:11):
Pal, I, first of all, you should still be a
fan of Dan because he is a really good person
and very good for the game, and the kind of
person that you would not be concerned about coaching your son.
I think he's a good person to have coaching your son.
If that's if you had an elite college basketball player
(05:32):
for a son, but I think that Dan has an
issue of what relative to his competitiveness I think it is.
I think he is so exceedingly competitive that when he
gets adjacent to that rectangle, he really struggles to comport
himself in the way that.
Speaker 5 (05:52):
One ordinarily would.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
In that game, there may have been some difficult calls there,
but it wasn't as if they lost that game because
of some difficult call.
Speaker 5 (06:03):
Look.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
I was in the exact same position more or less
when Creighton lost their Elite Elite eight game against San
Diego State in twenty twenty three, and the call that
was made in that game that sent San Diego State
to the free throw line with like a second and
a half left was really egregious. I mean it was
(06:26):
there just wasn't enough contact to make the call, and
and they called it anyway. And so that would be
the kind of play that you would say, you would
you would leave the floor and say the things that
Dan said. Honestly, if that happened to him, I would
fear for what he would do. He needs to get himself,
he needs to get this addressed, because we've.
Speaker 5 (06:47):
Seen it, uh for the last several years.
Speaker 4 (06:50):
And and then if you if you do get it addressed,
then it's not a problem you You're you're an excellent coach.
You're the kind of coach that anybody would want their
kid to play for, and you are a normally I mean,
he's a really good human. But that is an issue,
and it's something that he can have addressed. I don't
I just don't think it would be bad for him
to sit down with a sports psychologist and try to
(07:12):
figure out how he can be as fiercely competitive as
he is, which is which is a help and which honestly,
he's no more fiercely competitive than mc cronin or or
Tom Izzo or even any of the coaches that are
less demonstrative, but he really takes it to the next level,
and it's not good for him and it's not good
(07:34):
for the sport.
Speaker 5 (07:35):
Well.
Speaker 6 (07:35):
The second part of the story is the Charlotte Reporter.
The whole reason we have Dan Hurley on film swearing
at the officials in the you know, in the tunnel
underneath this because a Charlotte reporter got it, and Danny
Hurley's sid says, take that down or I'll ruin your career.
I mean, is that even something that the side has
(07:56):
the right to do that. I mean, you and I've
been those tunnels before. You can show your phone if
you need to.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
Yeah, I don't know where he was at the time
the film was taken, but.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Right he's walking off the court. Yeah, fair game.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
I will say this that when I was when I
was waiting for when I was waiting to go into
the Duke locker room after the next game, waiting to
talk to Cooper Flag for a few minutes.
Speaker 5 (08:24):
I was in a time.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
I was in a what I think was the same area,
and they were. There were probably at least six to
eight television cameras filming Duke as they prepared to walk
out on the floor to play their game, or I
think I think that's what it was, or maybe I'm
trying to remember now exact timing of when I was there,
(08:46):
But there were six to eight television cameras that I
had to avoid to get behind the line so that
they could film whatever they were filming.
Speaker 5 (08:54):
I think we were in the same area. So I
don't think there.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
Was any reason that he couldn't have done the reporter
couldn't have done what he was doing. And I don't understand,
like the guy if the guy's not on the Yukon beat.
I don't know exactly what repercussions the Yukon se SID
could do, And as.
Speaker 5 (09:12):
Far as I know, the reporter was from Charlotte, and so.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
I don't know really what control he would have at
that point, but I guess he felt pressure to try
to get it, to get that story removed because it
was embarrassing to Yukon, and he probably did not go
about it the right way.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Well, it's an egomaniac s ID, is what it is.
And we've seen a lot of those over the years,
by the way, in this business, no question about it.
One guy who was without ego whatsoever is our friend,
Mike the Coursi Sporting News, Big ten Network talking college
basketball every Monday. Curtnesy at Northwest Handling Systems. The Sweet
sixteen is set and there really ain't no Cinderella Pal,
(09:51):
no mid majors here. We got the acc SEC, Big twelve,
Big Ten, it's the Big four and and nothing else.
How much does that kind of rub you're all a
little bet and kind of make this maybe a little
bit less interesting for you.
Speaker 5 (10:04):
Well, it doesn't make it less interesting for me at all.
In all, honesty.
Speaker 4 (10:08):
One of the things that's kind of cool about this,
if you think about it, is that there aren't any
games where you say, oh, that, I'm not going to
watch that until the last five minutes. And let's be frank,
when Saint Peter's played Purdue a couple of years back
to three years back, nobody was saying, oh, I just
know Saint Peter's is going to take down Purdue.
Speaker 5 (10:27):
I can't wait to watch that.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
No, they found out about the fact that it was
I don't know whatever, the score was a six point
Saint Peter's lead with five minutes left, and they jumped
on their remotes and turned it on. But now, I mean,
who doesn't want to sit there and watch BYU versus
Alabama from the very beginning.
Speaker 5 (10:46):
That's a game that is fascinating.
Speaker 4 (10:48):
That maybe the two best pure offensive teams in college
basketball this season playing one another and playing against two
of the mediocre defenses that are left as which means
there won't be a lot they can do to stop
each other. So those are the kinds of games I'm
excited about. Kentucky, Tennessee of Maryland, Florida. Those are all
(11:09):
fabulous college basketball games and now they have the consequence
of whoever wins has a shot at the national championship.
Speaker 5 (11:17):
I'm not that vexed by this.
Speaker 4 (11:19):
I don't know yet whether it's an anomaly or whether
it's a future trend.
Speaker 5 (11:24):
We had more.
Speaker 4 (11:25):
Upsets in college basketball's NCAA Tournament over the first couple
of years of the transfer portal.
Speaker 5 (11:32):
Than we ever really did before. We never saw a
fifteen seat in the Elite eight before. We had San.
Speaker 4 (11:38):
Diego State from Florida Atlantic in the Final four.
Speaker 5 (11:42):
A couple of years ago.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
So I'm not ready to decide that this is what
it's always going to be because of how the transfer
portal works and how more mid majors are transferring up
and all that.
Speaker 5 (11:55):
It may be. But I don't think one year sets
a trend.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
No, I'm with you.
Speaker 6 (12:00):
Always fun to see a Cinderella win, but usually that
Cinderella comes to a crashing halt in the Semats sixteen
where they lose by twenty seven and we're not gonna
get not gonna get that. Mike de Corsi joining US
Northwest Handling Systems brings us Mike every single week. Well,
we were hoping for a Zags Houston Classic it didn't
look like it was going to be a classic, but
it certainly turned into a classic in the last few minutes.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
And you gave a shout out to Gonzaga.
Speaker 6 (12:23):
On Twitter, and Kelvin Sampson gave a long shout out
on the floor after the game to Mark Few and Gonzaga.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Would you make of that whole scene?
Speaker 6 (12:31):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (12:31):
And Mark Mark has done a phenomenal job with the
Gonzaga program, so phenomenal that people now say, gee, they
never won a national championship.
Speaker 5 (12:40):
It's like, oh, yeah, this tiny.
Speaker 4 (12:42):
Catholic school in Spokane that plays in a mid major league,
how dare they not win a national championship? Clearly not
a clearly not a successful program without it. I mean,
it's what they did was historic. The other teams that
are in that conversation about NCAA tournament straight are North.
Speaker 5 (13:01):
Carolina and Dukes. North Carolina and Dukes.
Speaker 4 (13:04):
Two of the bluest blue bloods in college basketball, and
then there's Gonzaga in that tournament streak deal two national
championship games in that stretch of elite eights. They've had
a phenomenal run. And it's not over by any stretch.
I do worry about Postmark when they go into a
(13:25):
more challenging league.
Speaker 5 (13:26):
I'm not sure.
Speaker 4 (13:27):
Whether they whether they'll be equipped to continue the success,
but Mark still wants to keep going at it, and
they will help them to compete by getting the extra
money that the PAC twelve will provide. We'll see what
the next chapter holds, but we don't know what anything
is going to be in ten years for college sports,
(13:49):
So why not give the Zags the best possible chance
to continue this great success that they've had.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Well, Mike de Courcy again as our guest on the
radio show Talking to Basketball Sweet sixteen starts on Thursday.
We'll have Thursday's games on AM. By the way, we're
gonna be down at the ballpark with baseball Friday, switch
to the FM, and I guess simple question, man, why
in the world where they would anybody right now, with
the way they're playing, the way they look, want to
bet against this Duke Blue Devil basketball team because they
(14:18):
look awesome.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
Yeah, the only reason to bet against them is the
vagaries of the tournament. That's the only thing that you
would say is a negative for them. The only thing
that's not a glare like a gleaming positive is the
fact that they're trying to win a championship with a
converted point guard. Now, Fion James has done a terrific job.
He's a great leader for that team, really intelligent, really
(14:44):
understands what his role is on this team. But it
is still a little bit different than having yourself a
Raymond Felton or a Ty Lawson or a Tias Jones,
guys who played that position at a high level there
lives and know every single element of it and that
(15:04):
that comes into play in the biggest games.
Speaker 5 (15:06):
They don't have that, uh in their in their defense in.
Speaker 4 (15:10):
That regard, there's a lot of teams that are contenders
that don't have that. Uh Kentucky and and Tennessee will
play each other this week and they both have one
but one of them is going to be gone after
that night.
Speaker 5 (15:24):
The Kaysigler or Lamont Butler will be gone.
Speaker 4 (15:27):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (15:27):
There are Auburn.
Speaker 4 (15:29):
Has really really capable talented point guard play, but they
don't They kind of split the position.
Speaker 5 (15:35):
Uh So that so for them it's a question. Uh
So there there are other teams.
Speaker 4 (15:41):
You look at Walter Clayton at Florida, who's an All
American and he does not. He is not a natural
point guard. He's also a converted point guard again, doing
a phenomenal job. Made First Team All American for every
single UH consensus selector.
Speaker 5 (15:56):
But so, but that's so.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
That's about the only thing that I don't like about
in terms of trying to win it all. They've got
everything else. They've got a superstar who's gonna be.
Speaker 5 (16:05):
A lottery pick. They've got multiple lottery picks.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
Beyond that, they've got depth, They've got size, They've got
a backup size. Patrick Gogba has done a phenomenal job
since the ACC tournament started. He's different than come on
Mala watch. He's a more offensive oriented player. There's just
so many different things that they bring to the floor
that they might pick at the beginning of the tournament,
(16:28):
and after watching them up close yesterday and Friday, I
feel even better about that.
Speaker 6 (16:33):
Is Florida the most equipped of any team left to
beat them? I'm trying to you know, what's the list
of teams that if Duke still plays like a B
B plus game, how many other teams can actually beat
Duke if Duke still plays a requisite good game.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
Yeah, I think if Houston gets to the final four.
That's a team that could beat them.
Speaker 5 (16:54):
I don't.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
I still don't necessarily believe in them as a national champion.
But you put them all on the floor in one game,
then Houston could cause defensive with their defense, I should say,
could cause offensive problems for Duke. They could they could
mess up Duke's offense. I think I could see that.
I don't know whether I would then feel that would
(17:15):
be a semi final game. The way the brackets structured,
I don't know that I would then feel great about
them going on and win the championship. But I think
on a given day, I think they can do it.
Their defense is really special. But you saw what Gonzaga
did to that defense late, so so even that you know,
I mean when grahamy k hits them for twenty seven
(17:35):
and I didn't think anybody, I think it took four
days to get twenty seven for a big guy against
that defense. When Graham did it, Now all of a sudden,
I'm not so sure that I feel that fearsome about
about the about playing that defense. So I do think
that that's a team that could do it, And I
agree with you. Flora has always been the team since
(17:56):
I don't. I'm not saying the whole year, but since
the bracket came out that I felt like that's the
team that Duke will have to probably ultimately beat in
order to win it all.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Well, Mike, before you go, Mike to COURSEI with us
and we'll talk next week when the final four set. Obviously,
I saw where the portal opened up today and by
lunchtime there were five hundred kids in the portal and
we haven't even gotten you know, round three of the
NC DOUBLEA Tournament.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
How is this okay? For lack of a better question, I.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
Think it comes down to the fact that the academic
calendar is not concerned about the sports calendar, and that's
why we have it open up when it does relative
to the college football playoff, and that's why we have
it open as it does relative to the NC DOUBLEA Tournament.
That you need to be able to get yourself in position,
(18:46):
beat in the right place next year, and there's a
recognition of that. And it's not great for the sports teams,
but it is more fair to the athletes, and that's
why it is what it is, and so I think
that they just have to kind of live with it.
I know it's harder on the coaches, but hey, when
did the window open for all the coaches to go?
(19:08):
I mean, we saw Will Wade basically openly and declaring
while he was coaching McNee State that he was going
to be leaving for NC State the minute they lost
their final game.
Speaker 5 (19:22):
So I don't.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
Feel that badly for the coaches and the schools or
the athletic departments. I guess I should say when they
quite clearly are very willing to not worry about that
relative to coaching hires.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Mike de COURSI great stuff, appreciate it, Enjoy the sweet
sixteen Elite eight and we'll talk in a week. Palasach, buddy,
I will you bet guys, thank you.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
You got it.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Mike de Corsi, Sporting News, Big ten Networks joining us
on the show.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
We're at the Emeral Queen Casino.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
Get on down to get your bets in before Thursday,
and don't forget all of Thursday's games will be.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
On nine to fifty am.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
Friday's games on the FM stick right right here on
ninety three three KJRFL. We're gonna break a lot more
to get to from the Emerald Queen Casino. Baby, on
a big Monday. It's opening week in baseball. You're fired up,
aren't you. Come on, let me hear a baby Thursday,
let's go. We're talking about it all week. That guy's
jacked up right here on ninety three to three KJRFM
It's time for the latest on the madness of March.
Here's Hall of Fame college basketball writer for The Sporting
News and Fox Sports lead bracketologist Mike Decorsi, brought to
you by Northwest Handling Systems. From forklifts to Pellett recks
conveyors to loading duck equipment, we sell, rent and service
all your warehouse he needs. Request a quote today at
(00:22):
NWHS dot com or give us a call at four
two five two five five zero five hundred. Now with
Mike Decorsi, here's Safti and Dick.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
All right, Beck, thanks for our friends over at Northwest
Handling Systems.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Are Pal Eric Eric.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
We really appreciate for whatever reason, I don't know why
he keeps doing it, but he just does. He says yes,
and everybody else says no. Sponsoring us every single year
talking to some college basketball getting one of the greats
of all time. Let's face it on the air. Hall
of Fame writer, Big ten Network, The Sporting News, our
friend Mike Decorsi, Michael, how are you Pal?
Speaker 4 (00:57):
I am doing well, gentlemen, how are you good?
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Good?
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Why don't we just start right at the top with
the number one thing that everybody is debating today across
the country.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
And I'll tell you what.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
If I'm a Colorado State ram fan, I'll be yelling
to the clouds as long as I live. It was
a travel. It was a travel. Derek Queen with the
buzzer beater from Maryland. Did he walk or did he
not walk? In your opinion, he probably walked.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
And if you're a Colorado State fan outraged about that,
I take you back to the edge of the first
half and remind you of the fact that your best
player elbowed and a reserve from Maryland in the year
and could very very well have been a flagrant one
(01:46):
file which would have meant two free throws in the
ball and perhaps a four point possession.
Speaker 5 (01:50):
Then that maybe don't need that at the end, and
there was a.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
Very good possibility it could have been a flagrant two foul,
which would have meant your player, Nie Clifford, on the
bench for the rest of the game. So I don't
think that Colorado State wants to be talking about getting
a rough whistle there, Mike.
Speaker 6 (02:09):
We had some interesting behavior by coaches after the games.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
Let's start with Rick Patino.
Speaker 6 (02:15):
What do you think of Patino benching his conference player
of the Year for the last five minutes in their loss,
and then how he handled the questions in the press conference,
which was, you know, he had he had some saltiness
when when was asked a perfectly appropriate question.
Speaker 7 (02:31):
Yeah, I thought it was odd that he wouldn't that
he wouldn't just say this if this was the answer
that he wanted to convey, was that he did not
give us the best chance of winning or something like that,
because RJ was not r J Lewis the player we're
talking about who was a third team All American for
the Sporting News and just did not have a great
game because it was not a great matchup for him.
Speaker 5 (02:52):
He is not an outstanding shooter.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
He tried a couple early, and he had been on
a pretty good streak entering the turn, but he tried
a couple early and did not did not make those
And when that happened, Arkansas's really dynamic defense, the length
of the the athleticism that they have just they just
(03:15):
turned it up.
Speaker 5 (03:15):
They knew that they didn't.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
Have to worry about him getting from deep, so it
was just keep them away from the rim. And he
ended up having a pretty poor day. And if if
Rick wanted to convey the message that that he just
didn't feel like he gave him the best chance to win.
That would have been fine, and I don't think that.
You know, I know Roger Reubin really well. We covered
the Big East together a long time ago, and and
he he he would have just taken that for an answer,
(03:39):
but Rick wouldn't do that. Rick kept just saying, you
know why, and right, and and so he said what
what was he He said, he played thirty.
Speaker 5 (03:48):
Minutes, you know why?
Speaker 4 (03:48):
And and so Roger said, well, then because he was tired,
and he said, no, it wasn't because he was tired.
And so no, I don't know why. Then you can
explain it to me. That's why we're here. That Rick
sometimes has done that in the past. That my friend
Pat Forty from Sports Illustrated, who covered Kentucky back in
(04:09):
the Patino era, reminded everyone in the article he wrote,
which was really good about what happened with Rod Rhodes
in the nineteen ninety five Elite eight and how that
became Rod kind of became the reason that they lost
and Rod played poorly. But again, that idea of blaming
(04:29):
the player in the way that you did instead of
just riding it out and saying, hey, it wasn't our day. Yep.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Well, speaking of coaches behaving badly, I'll just follow up
on Dick's question. There used to be a time where
I really was a big fan of Danny Hurley. I
remember Dick and I, two of us were sitting here
on the air defending Yukon. They're now a blue blood
in college basketball, no question, they've arrived. And then I
don't know, maybe he was doing this already and I
wasn't noticing it, but the guy just, in my opinion,
(04:57):
kind of turned into a jackass.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
And he's walked off the court.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Last night blaming the referees when you come missed twenty
one to threes in the game yesterday and they lost
by two. What do you make of the way Danny
Hurley is approaching everything these days?
Speaker 4 (05:11):
Pal, I, first of all, you should still be a
fan of Dan because he is a really good person
and very good for the game, and the kind of
person that you would not be concerned about coaching your son.
I think he's a good person to have coaching your son.
If that's if you had an elite college basketball player
(05:32):
for a son, but I think that Dan has an
issue of what relative to his competitiveness I think it is.
I think he is so exceedingly competitive that when he
gets adjacent to that rectangle, he really struggles to comport
himself in the way that.
Speaker 5 (05:52):
One ordinarily would.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
In that game, there may have been some difficult calls there,
but it wasn't as if they lost that game because
of some difficult call.
Speaker 5 (06:03):
Look.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
I was in the exact same position more or less
when Creighton lost their Elite Elite eight game against San
Diego State in twenty twenty three, and the call that
was made in that game that sent San Diego State
to the free throw line with like a second and
a half left was really egregious. I mean it was
(06:26):
there just wasn't enough contact to make the call, and
and they called it anyway. And so that would be
the kind of play that you would say, you would
you would leave the floor and say the things that
Dan said. Honestly, if that happened to him, I would
fear for what he would do. He needs to get himself,
he needs to get this addressed, because we've.
Speaker 5 (06:47):
Seen it, uh for the last several years.
Speaker 4 (06:50):
And and then if you if you do get it addressed,
then it's not a problem you You're you're an excellent coach.
You're the kind of coach that anybody would want their
kid to play for, and you are a normally I mean,
he's a really good human. But that is an issue,
and it's something that he can have addressed. I don't
I just don't think it would be bad for him
to sit down with a sports psychologist and try to
(07:12):
figure out how he can be as fiercely competitive as
he is, which is which is a help and which honestly,
he's no more fiercely competitive than mc cronin or or
Tom Izzo or even any of the coaches that are
less demonstrative, but he really takes it to the next level,
and it's not good for him and it's not good
(07:34):
for the sport.
Speaker 5 (07:35):
Well.
Speaker 6 (07:35):
The second part of the story is the Charlotte Reporter.
The whole reason we have Dan Hurley on film swearing
at the officials in the you know, in the tunnel
underneath this because a Charlotte reporter got it, and Danny
Hurley's sid says, take that down or I'll ruin your career.
I mean, is that even something that the side has
(07:56):
the right to do that. I mean, you and I've
been those tunnels before. You can show your phone if
you need to.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
Yeah, I don't know where he was at the time
the film was taken, but.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Right he's walking off the court. Yeah, fair game.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
I will say this that when I was when I
was waiting for when I was waiting to go into
the Duke locker room after the next game, waiting to
talk to Cooper Flag for a few minutes.
Speaker 5 (08:24):
I was in a time.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
I was in a what I think was the same area,
and they were. There were probably at least six to
eight television cameras filming Duke as they prepared to walk
out on the floor to play their game, or I
think I think that's what it was, or maybe I'm
trying to remember now exact timing of when I was there,
(08:46):
But there were six to eight television cameras that I
had to avoid to get behind the line so that
they could film whatever they were filming.
Speaker 5 (08:54):
I think we were in the same area. So I
don't think there.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
Was any reason that he couldn't have done the reporter
couldn't have done what he was doing. And I don't understand,
like the guy if the guy's not on the Yukon beat.
I don't know exactly what repercussions the Yukon se SID
could do, And as.
Speaker 5 (09:12):
Far as I know, the reporter was from Charlotte, and so.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
I don't know really what control he would have at
that point, but I guess he felt pressure to try
to get it, to get that story removed because it
was embarrassing to Yukon, and he probably did not go
about it the right way.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Well, it's an egomaniac s ID, is what it is.
And we've seen a lot of those over the years,
by the way, in this business, no question about it.
One guy who was without ego whatsoever is our friend,
Mike the Coursi Sporting News, Big ten Network talking college
basketball every Monday. Curtnesy at Northwest Handling Systems. The Sweet
sixteen is set and there really ain't no Cinderella Pal,
(09:51):
no mid majors here. We got the acc SEC, Big twelve,
Big Ten, it's the Big four and and nothing else.
How much does that kind of rub you're all a
little bet and kind of make this maybe a little
bit less interesting for you.
Speaker 5 (10:04):
Well, it doesn't make it less interesting for me at all.
In all, honesty.
Speaker 4 (10:08):
One of the things that's kind of cool about this,
if you think about it, is that there aren't any
games where you say, oh, that, I'm not going to
watch that until the last five minutes. And let's be frank,
when Saint Peter's played Purdue a couple of years back
to three years back, nobody was saying, oh, I just
know Saint Peter's is going to take down Purdue.
Speaker 5 (10:27):
I can't wait to watch that.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
No, they found out about the fact that it was
I don't know whatever, the score was a six point
Saint Peter's lead with five minutes left, and they jumped
on their remotes and turned it on. But now, I mean,
who doesn't want to sit there and watch BYU versus
Alabama from the very beginning.
Speaker 5 (10:46):
That's a game that is fascinating.
Speaker 4 (10:48):
That maybe the two best pure offensive teams in college
basketball this season playing one another and playing against two
of the mediocre defenses that are left as which means
there won't be a lot they can do to stop
each other. So those are the kinds of games I'm
excited about. Kentucky, Tennessee of Maryland, Florida. Those are all
(11:09):
fabulous college basketball games and now they have the consequence
of whoever wins has a shot at the national championship.
Speaker 5 (11:17):
I'm not that vexed by this.
Speaker 4 (11:19):
I don't know yet whether it's an anomaly or whether
it's a future trend.
Speaker 5 (11:24):
We had more.
Speaker 4 (11:25):
Upsets in college basketball's NCAA Tournament over the first couple
of years of the transfer portal.
Speaker 5 (11:32):
Than we ever really did before. We never saw a
fifteen seat in the Elite eight before. We had San.
Speaker 4 (11:38):
Diego State from Florida Atlantic in the Final four.
Speaker 5 (11:42):
A couple of years ago.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
So I'm not ready to decide that this is what
it's always going to be because of how the transfer
portal works and how more mid majors are transferring up
and all that.
Speaker 5 (11:55):
It may be. But I don't think one year sets
a trend.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
No, I'm with you.
Speaker 6 (12:00):
Always fun to see a Cinderella win, but usually that
Cinderella comes to a crashing halt in the Semats sixteen
where they lose by twenty seven and we're not gonna
get not gonna get that. Mike de Corsi joining US
Northwest Handling Systems brings us Mike every single week. Well,
we were hoping for a Zags Houston Classic it didn't
look like it was going to be a classic, but
it certainly turned into a classic in the last few minutes.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
And you gave a shout out to Gonzaga.
Speaker 6 (12:23):
On Twitter, and Kelvin Sampson gave a long shout out
on the floor after the game to Mark Few and Gonzaga.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Would you make of that whole scene?
Speaker 6 (12:31):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (12:31):
And Mark Mark has done a phenomenal job with the
Gonzaga program, so phenomenal that people now say, gee, they
never won a national championship.
Speaker 5 (12:40):
It's like, oh, yeah, this tiny.
Speaker 4 (12:42):
Catholic school in Spokane that plays in a mid major league,
how dare they not win a national championship? Clearly not
a clearly not a successful program without it. I mean,
it's what they did was historic. The other teams that
are in that conversation about NCAA tournament straight are North.
Speaker 5 (13:01):
Carolina and Dukes. North Carolina and Dukes.
Speaker 4 (13:04):
Two of the bluest blue bloods in college basketball, and
then there's Gonzaga in that tournament streak deal two national
championship games in that stretch of elite eights. They've had
a phenomenal run. And it's not over by any stretch.
I do worry about Postmark when they go into a
(13:25):
more challenging league.
Speaker 5 (13:26):
I'm not sure.
Speaker 4 (13:27):
Whether they whether they'll be equipped to continue the success,
but Mark still wants to keep going at it, and
they will help them to compete by getting the extra
money that the PAC twelve will provide. We'll see what
the next chapter holds, but we don't know what anything
is going to be in ten years for college sports,
(13:49):
So why not give the Zags the best possible chance
to continue this great success that they've had.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Well, Mike de Courcy again as our guest on the
radio show Talking to Basketball Sweet sixteen starts on Thursday.
We'll have Thursday's games on AM. By the way, we're
gonna be down at the ballpark with baseball Friday, switch
to the FM, and I guess simple question, man, why
in the world where they would anybody right now, with
the way they're playing, the way they look, want to
bet against this Duke Blue Devil basketball team because they
(14:18):
look awesome.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
Yeah, the only reason to bet against them is the
vagaries of the tournament. That's the only thing that you
would say is a negative for them. The only thing
that's not a glare like a gleaming positive is the
fact that they're trying to win a championship with a
converted point guard. Now, Fion James has done a terrific job.
He's a great leader for that team, really intelligent, really
(14:44):
understands what his role is on this team. But it
is still a little bit different than having yourself a
Raymond Felton or a Ty Lawson or a Tias Jones,
guys who played that position at a high level there
lives and know every single element of it and that
(15:04):
that comes into play in the biggest games.
Speaker 5 (15:06):
They don't have that, uh in their in their defense in.
Speaker 4 (15:10):
That regard, there's a lot of teams that are contenders
that don't have that. Uh Kentucky and and Tennessee will
play each other this week and they both have one
but one of them is going to be gone after
that night.
Speaker 5 (15:24):
The Kaysigler or Lamont Butler will be gone.
Speaker 4 (15:27):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (15:27):
There are Auburn.
Speaker 4 (15:29):
Has really really capable talented point guard play, but they
don't They kind of split the position.
Speaker 5 (15:35):
Uh So that so for them it's a question. Uh
So there there are other teams.
Speaker 4 (15:41):
You look at Walter Clayton at Florida, who's an All
American and he does not. He is not a natural
point guard. He's also a converted point guard again, doing
a phenomenal job. Made First Team All American for every
single UH consensus selector.
Speaker 5 (15:56):
But so, but that's so.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
That's about the only thing that I don't like about
in terms of trying to win it all. They've got
everything else. They've got a superstar who's gonna be.
Speaker 5 (16:05):
A lottery pick. They've got multiple lottery picks.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
Beyond that, they've got depth, They've got size, They've got
a backup size. Patrick Gogba has done a phenomenal job
since the ACC tournament started. He's different than come on
Mala watch. He's a more offensive oriented player. There's just
so many different things that they bring to the floor
that they might pick at the beginning of the tournament,
(16:28):
and after watching them up close yesterday and Friday, I
feel even better about that.
Speaker 6 (16:33):
Is Florida the most equipped of any team left to
beat them? I'm trying to you know, what's the list
of teams that if Duke still plays like a B
B plus game, how many other teams can actually beat
Duke if Duke still plays a requisite good game.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
Yeah, I think if Houston gets to the final four.
That's a team that could beat them.
Speaker 5 (16:54):
I don't.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
I still don't necessarily believe in them as a national champion.
But you put them all on the floor in one game,
then Houston could cause defensive with their defense, I should say,
could cause offensive problems for Duke. They could they could
mess up Duke's offense. I think I could see that.
I don't know whether I would then feel that would
(17:15):
be a semi final game. The way the brackets structured,
I don't know that I would then feel great about
them going on and win the championship. But I think
on a given day, I think they can do it.
Their defense is really special. But you saw what Gonzaga
did to that defense late, so so even that you know,
I mean when grahamy k hits them for twenty seven
(17:35):
and I didn't think anybody, I think it took four
days to get twenty seven for a big guy against
that defense. When Graham did it, Now all of a sudden,
I'm not so sure that I feel that fearsome about
about the about playing that defense. So I do think
that that's a team that could do it, And I
agree with you. Flora has always been the team since
(17:56):
I don't. I'm not saying the whole year, but since
the bracket came out that I felt like that's the
team that Duke will have to probably ultimately beat in
order to win it all.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Well, Mike, before you go, Mike to COURSEI with us
and we'll talk next week when the final four set. Obviously,
I saw where the portal opened up today and by
lunchtime there were five hundred kids in the portal and
we haven't even gotten you know, round three of the
NC DOUBLEA Tournament.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
How is this okay? For lack of a better question, I.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
Think it comes down to the fact that the academic
calendar is not concerned about the sports calendar, and that's
why we have it open up when it does relative
to the college football playoff, and that's why we have
it open as it does relative to the NC DOUBLEA Tournament.
That you need to be able to get yourself in position,
(18:46):
beat in the right place next year, and there's a
recognition of that. And it's not great for the sports teams,
but it is more fair to the athletes, and that's
why it is what it is, and so I think
that they just have to kind of live with it.
I know it's harder on the coaches, but hey, when
did the window open for all the coaches to go?
(19:08):
I mean, we saw Will Wade basically openly and declaring
while he was coaching McNee State that he was going
to be leaving for NC State the minute they lost
their final game.
Speaker 5 (19:22):
So I don't.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
Feel that badly for the coaches and the schools or
the athletic departments. I guess I should say when they
quite clearly are very willing to not worry about that
relative to coaching hires.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Mike de COURSI great stuff, appreciate it, Enjoy the sweet
sixteen Elite eight and we'll talk in a week. Palasach, buddy,
I will you bet guys, thank you.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
You got it.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Mike de Corsi, Sporting News, Big ten Networks joining us
on the show.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
We're at the Emeral Queen Casino.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
Get on down to get your bets in before Thursday,
and don't forget all of Thursday's games will be.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
On nine to fifty am.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
Friday's games on the FM stick right right here on
ninety three three KJRFL. We're gonna break a lot more
to get to from the Emerald Queen Casino. Baby, on
a big Monday. It's opening week in baseball. You're fired up,
aren't you. Come on, let me hear a baby Thursday,
let's go. We're talking about it all week. That guy's
jacked up right here on ninety three to three KJRFM
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