December 2, 2025 • 16 mins
Tony Castricone, voice of Washington Huskies athletics, joins Dave Softy Mahler and Dick Fain to talk about the UW loss to Oregon, the season overall and defense, what’s next for the team in the portal, and the basketball team starting Big Ten play tomorrow.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Joining us right now on the radio show. First time
in a long time. He's been ducking us all year long.
He's just been too busy for us, Pal, he's got
the basketball game tomorrow, just came off the football game
on Saturday. Our friend, the voice of the Husky's Tony castrakone,
how are you, man?
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Man, you don't like not invite some of your party
and then call him out for noting to the party.
Come on, like, I would love to come on with
you guys, morow, what are you talking about? You guys
are my boys?
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Tony told me the other day, you said, look, man,
I can only handle you and Dick once a year,
all right, So you just pick when you want to
come on the show or want me on, and we
shows right now because we're in between football and basketball.
But hey, dude, before we talk some hoops and get
into the weeds, on on football, man, what'd you make
of what you saw Saturday? Disappointing day for sure for everybody, Pal.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Yeah, disappointing. I think missed opportunity. I think they had
a chance to win that game, and I think the
defense really played well enough. I mean, consider this, they
went all season long without giving up more than twenty
six points in a game. That's really unbelievable. And that's
the third that's the third best max points allowed given
(01:15):
up in a game in the country, behind only Ohio
State and Indiana and the top two teams in the country.
And so, you know, I think we kind of were
wondering what we'd get out of Ryan Walter's new defense
and everything as he came in. I thought they rose
to the challenge and played really well. I think it
was just, you know, some missed opportunities on offense, which
(01:35):
you can't have against the top six team in the
country and still hope to beat them. They just missed
on a few crucial plays. And then again the turnovers,
you know, I mean you look at Michigan, Wisconsin, Oregon
minus seven and turnovers in those two games, in those
three games, right like, I mean, that's that's gonna be
the difference right there. And yeah, it just disappointing. But
(01:58):
I think you got to look obviously, you know, I
like to look at things within the broader perspective, and
I think, man, what direction is this program headed generally?
And it's obviously generally headed in the right direction. Six
and seven in year one, eight and four. In year two,
you know, we'll see what kind of bowl game they're
(02:19):
going to get assigned to on Sunday. But you know,
I and they got a top fifteen Classic Country. You
guys just talked about the receiver that flipped to Washington.
I mean, I just think of having a season next year,
which is kind of hard to leave in this era
of transfer portal and everybody moving around. But Jed likes
(02:41):
to play really young guys, and we're looking at the
prospect of next year being a team almost entirely recruited
by Jed Fish because he's going to play a lot
of first and second and third year Huskies guys that
he recruited, which is kind of unbelievable to think about.
And it's going to be I think the program's in
(03:02):
good hands. They're moving in the right direction, but I
think the fan base is just kind of hungry to
see them win one of those marquee games. It's a
shame they weren't quite able to get over the hump
in those I.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Want to talk more about that defense, because you're exactly right.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
I mean, do you think this defense will get the
preseason hype next year that they should have gotten all
season this year. I cannot think of a unit in
the Big Ten that was better with less hype than
the Husky defense.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Yeah, I mean, no doubt. I think that's a super
encouraging sign. And you got to remember, like how prolific
Oregon's running game was heading into this game, and that
was the one thing that they were going to ride
to come, rain or shine. They were going to run
the football and do it at an explosive clip. And
(03:51):
I think here's like, I don't know, like maybe just
a glimpse into the future when you talk about how
football is won and lost at the line of scrimmage.
Washington had the better running game against Oregon. And even
when you know, even when Washington was you know, they
had Michael Pennix a quarterback and all that stuff, I
don't know that you really felt like Washington was going
(04:13):
to go in there and outrun Jordan James and all
those guys. Like I mean, I just think that they
went up against an Oregon offense to average six point
one three yards per carrie, the third best in the country,
and they held them to under three yards of carry.
That's an extraordinary feat. And then on the flip side
of the ball. Jonah Coleman clearly hampered. You have to
(04:35):
go with your number two guy who runs for one
hundred yards against Oregon. Like, I mean, I'm just extraordinarily
I know the question was about defense. I'm extraordinarily encouraged
by how they were able to hang in the trenches
against an Oregon team that, like that's supposed to be
where they're gonna outclass us, right, Like I thought, I
(05:00):
I thought that there were a lot of really positive signs.
But yeah, you're right about the defense. I mean, I
thought the defense really the one thing. The next step
for them is going to be more havoc plays. You know,
that's the one thing that they didn't quite have at
an elite level of this year, is ability to turn
over the football and create the havoc plays. Obviously, they
(05:22):
played a lot of teams that were not going to,
like have the traditional dropback style, so like you can
still have havoc plays with tackles for loss, right, they
didn't have a ton of those this year. But fortifying
the front, not giving up the big play over the top,
which the secondary did a great job of. I just
thought Ryan Walters came in, I think he had to
(05:44):
tweak his scheme as the year went on. I think
we're expecting to see much of five down line fronts.
And I just thought, you know, as they had to
deal with their injury issues and everything, they did an
unbelievable job of coaching up these guys to have a really,
really strong defense.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Yeah, one hundred and twentieth in TFLs.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Like you said, so there definitely is room for improvement
on a pretty good defense already. But Tony Kasher goes
with us and look, I mean now we can talk
about going shopping, right. I mean, they just went shopping
today and got a new wide receiver who was committed
to Baylor and he flipped and went to U dub
I mean, we know that he did great things in
the portal a year ago. So when Jed Fish grabs
that shopping cart and heads down Aisle four, what's he
(06:23):
looking for?
Speaker 2 (06:24):
You think, Yeah, you know what, that's That's a good question.
I'm not sure I've put a ton of thought into that.
You know, I've kind of been looking back on this
year a little a little bit right now, and I
think it's a it's a compelling question. I mean, I
think my first guess on defense would have been like,
let's let's look at the inside linebacker position. But then
(06:46):
I think you got some really good signs out of
like Rainy Salas year came along. You know, I think
there's still is there still an idea as to whether
or not Buddha can come back next year? I mean,
is that still hanging out there? You know?
Speaker 3 (07:00):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
I think that they're looking pretty good on the defensive
side of the ball. I'm sure there's going to be
some opportunities to get a little bit deeper, but I
think that's kind of the next step too, right his depth.
You know, injuries are going to creep out this year
goes along. I thought they got really creative with what
they did on the offensive line. The line clearly, I
(07:22):
think was the most improved unit on the team. But
but now you want to get deeper too to be
able to handle the injuries. So you know, there's not
something to jump to me right away to answer my
question is like the piece you absolutely need, but you're
gonna need depth all over the team, and I'm sure
they're gonna be putting that two you together a little
bit stronger.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
Tony a lot of us, definitely including me, got caught
up in the Demand hype at the beginning of the season.
And what does he need to do to go from
a guy that we hope will be a Heisman contender
to a guy that's actually a Heisman contender.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
You know, it's a good question, and I think it's
gonna be, uh a collaborative team unit where you know,
he's clearly Jed Fish's guy, right, and Jed has anointed
him this is Damon's team. He said that very clearly.
He made he pulled no punches on saying what he
thought Demon could accomplish in his career. And I think
(08:21):
Jed is a guy that's been really good if you
look back over the course of his career of like, Okay,
here's here's what we've got, and let's build the team
to these sets of strengths and weaknesses and then maximize
the potential from there. And so now that Demand has
one full year under his belt of running the team,
(08:41):
now I think you know, he and Jed are gonna uh,
you know, sync up on Not only is Jed going
to coach him up on the areas where he needs
to improve, which you know clearly he just missed on
a few throws at times, you know, decision making as
to when to hang in the pocket and when to
bail take a little bit better care of the football
and some crucial situations. But then Jet is also going
(09:04):
to have the opportunity to decide, you know, how do
I better position him in certain things? Right? And like
you know, whether or not he's able to see certain
defensive coverages, can I put him in a better position there?
And so yeah, I think it's going to be a
team effort. Yeah, and I think they're going to do it.
I mean, I you know, clearly he's who Jetfish wants
(09:26):
running this team, and he showed extraordinary talent this year.
So I think the Dogs aren't get hand offensively.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
The thing with Buddha Tony, I don't know. I mean,
he would get a redshirt year. I would assume he
only played in three games this season, got hurt in
the Cougar game, right the Apple Cups, So he would
have I think two more years left. I mean, obviously
the injury, we'll see what happens next year. But man,
you get him and Manu back together next year, that'd
be pretty that'd be pretty awesome. To get those two
guys playing so basketball tomorrow. I mean, this wacky world
(09:54):
we live in where Big ten plays starts in twenty
six hours against you see LA and then go into
usc and then coming back for four non con games
before you head to the Midwest and take on Indiana
and produce. So Dick and I were kind of debating
about this team, and I like, Tony, I just don't know, man,
I'm just in a pure weight and see mode with
this basketball team. What's what's kind of your take and
(10:16):
what you've seen after the first seven eight games of
the year.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
So I love this team and they're five and two. Start.
To me has been explained and defined by what in
my nine years at Washington has been unprecedented injuries on
a basketball team. Like I've never seen a team this
injured at the same time, this many guys banged up.
(10:43):
You know, I'm doing the game at Washington State and
Hanns Steinbach rolled his ankle. He comes out of the
ballgame and I'm looking over at that bench and I'm like,
here's who the Huskies have injured right now. They have
a McDonald's All American, a potential lot of pick, an
honorable mention all big ten last year at USC the
(11:05):
a Sun Player of the Year and one of the
top five Juco players in the country. That's five guys
that could win twenty games together, and that's who you
don't have access to. And you're still going out there
and starting five and two. Now you could say, oh, Southern,
that's you know, closer than it should have been, or
(11:27):
missed opportunity against Colorado, Like I think that Colorado game
was like a classic bike. I looked at Jason at
the under sixteen time out in the first half and
I was like, we're in trouble today, matchup wise, like
with you don't have Steinbach, you don't have Agnasadeki, you
don't have all these other bigs that you recruited, Like
that was a bad matchup. A front court that goes
six ten, six eleven seven foot all athletic, all play
(11:50):
euro style, like that was a bad matchup. I think
Washington with Danny Sprinkle, who is a chip on the
shoulder kind of has recruited a bunch of chip on
the shoulder kind of guys who are hungry to win.
There is no doubt in my mind that once these
guys get healthy they are going to be one of
the toughest outs in the entire Big Ten Conference. The
(12:13):
real concern I have is because they're all, you know,
banged up and everything, like how comfortable. How quickly can
they get comfortable playing together? That's really the question because
all that's been disrupted here early in the season.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Well, then give us an injury update.
Speaker 4 (12:31):
Let's start with Steinbach and then the rest of the
guys you talked about. When do you think we'll get
those guys back?
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Stein It sounds like there's a chance he could play
a little bit on Wednesday, which would be great. I mean,
you're going to need him in the front court. You know,
it's probably not gonna get one hundred percent, but it
sounds like he'll be a game time decision. Bryceon Tucker
still might be a game or two out, you know,
still dealing with the ankle injury that suffered against I
(13:02):
think it was Baylor when he went down, and that
was a tough one to see because I think he
was gonna be one of my favorite players on the team.
But again, it's an ankle sprain. He'll be ready when
he's ready, but it might be a week or so.
Still away. And then I think, you know, jacob on
massivi itch, they're still looking at him as rejoined the
(13:24):
team in January. You know, I mean he's still out there,
his boot is off. That's great news. We're talking about
a guy that averages twenty points and eight rebounds a
year ago and was shooting forty percent from three. So
like you're talking about a guy that instantly changes, you know,
a team with what he brings to the front court.
So if they're able to get him back in January,
which I think you look at red shirting him or
(13:46):
gray shirting him, I think you need him for your
front court depths. Oh it looks to me when you're
playing in the Big ten. You know, Christian nietzschu is
going to red shirt this year. It sounds like so
like that's that's kind of where you're at. You know,
Maddie Trey War is out for the season, so you know,
when you're looking at your big you probably need Agnosivic
(14:08):
back and you really need sign back back as soon
as possible. But you know, I still think like there's
a lot of guts to this team and a lot
of talent that's going to be out there on the floor,
and there's still plans to be well despite the fact
that they're banged up. So excited for this weekend against
Big ten teams.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
Now, no doubt.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Seven thirty pre game, eight o'clock tip tomorrow. We're gonna
hear your voice twice in two nights on this radio station,
which I want to get used to that. Let's do
it every night, man, Okay, don't be a stranger. We'll
talk sooner, right, Buddy spent All right, sounds good, Tony
kastro Con. I'm just curious as to whose team this is?
Speaker 3 (14:47):
Whose team is this?
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Right, like when Isaiah Thomas was here, Isaiah Brandon Roy
Brandon Roy right, even John Brockman Brockman, whose team is this?
Speaker 3 (14:55):
Is this Wesley Yates's team? Is it? Zoom's team? Is it?
Speaker 1 (14:59):
Hanna Steinbach's? I mean, can you have a big man,
a European guy. I don't even talked to him. Does
he speak English? I got no idea what his deal is?
Whose team is?
Speaker 3 (15:09):
When he's on the floor, he is the best player
for both teams?
Speaker 4 (15:15):
Yeah yeah, So, I mean, I don't know if that
translates into a young guy like that being a leader
of the team. I would imagine it would default to
maybe a Claude or a Yeats, a guy that's played
much more college basketball than he has, but he's the
best player on the floor, and Maniquit has a just
a natural leadership vibe around him, even though he's still very,
(15:36):
very young.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
And Tea, yeah exactly. I just don't know whose team
this is.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
And I think that's not a bad thing that they've
got options, right, I mean, it's not like we're saying, God,
there's nobody here on this team who could step up
and be the best player and be the guy in
the clutch that you want the basketball. That's kind of
a it's kind of the silver lining to all of this,
but it's also potentially a nightmare managing all of these individuals.
(16:01):
And I don't know what their egos are, Like, I
have no idea, right, I mean, Tony would know, Jason
would know. They're sitting there, they're traveling with these guys,
they're hanging out behind the scenes. But you got a
bunch of dudes. I mean, you look at all these
players married and all of them have accolades, all of them,
and all of them came from a spot where they
were the number one guy somebody somewhere or is going
(16:22):
to have to take a back seat.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
How does he handle that as a coach?
Speaker 4 (16:25):
No, that's right, And I think that's one of the
reasons why I was so optimistic when I spoke earlier
about this team, about them, I think they, I said,
rifle through the end of that schedule. Well, one of
the reasons I'm so optimistic that they'll rifle through the
end of the schedule is because most of these guys
are going to be back by the end of the year,
and you're going to be a massively better team in
February than you are right now, not only with the health,
(16:47):
but also just that they've played together and they've been
through the battles through the month of January, which is
going to be a bear. The month of January is
going to be so tough for this team.
Joining us right now on the radio show. First time
in a long time. He's been ducking us all year long.
He's just been too busy for us, Pal, he's got
the basketball game tomorrow, just came off the football game
on Saturday. Our friend, the voice of the Husky's Tony castrakone,
how are you, man?
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Man, you don't like not invite some of your party
and then call him out for noting to the party.
Come on, like, I would love to come on with
you guys, morow, what are you talking about? You guys
are my boys?
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Tony told me the other day, you said, look, man,
I can only handle you and Dick once a year,
all right, So you just pick when you want to
come on the show or want me on, and we
shows right now because we're in between football and basketball.
But hey, dude, before we talk some hoops and get
into the weeds, on on football, man, what'd you make
of what you saw Saturday? Disappointing day for sure for everybody, Pal.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Yeah, disappointing. I think missed opportunity. I think they had
a chance to win that game, and I think the
defense really played well enough. I mean, consider this, they
went all season long without giving up more than twenty
six points in a game. That's really unbelievable. And that's
the third that's the third best max points allowed given
(01:15):
up in a game in the country, behind only Ohio
State and Indiana and the top two teams in the country.
And so, you know, I think we kind of were
wondering what we'd get out of Ryan Walter's new defense
and everything as he came in. I thought they rose
to the challenge and played really well. I think it
was just, you know, some missed opportunities on offense, which
(01:35):
you can't have against the top six team in the
country and still hope to beat them. They just missed
on a few crucial plays. And then again the turnovers,
you know, I mean you look at Michigan, Wisconsin, Oregon
minus seven and turnovers in those two games, in those
three games, right like, I mean, that's that's gonna be
the difference right there. And yeah, it just disappointing. But
(01:58):
I think you got to look obviously, you know, I
like to look at things within the broader perspective, and
I think, man, what direction is this program headed generally?
And it's obviously generally headed in the right direction. Six
and seven in year one, eight and four. In year two,
you know, we'll see what kind of bowl game they're
(02:19):
going to get assigned to on Sunday. But you know,
I and they got a top fifteen Classic Country. You
guys just talked about the receiver that flipped to Washington.
I mean, I just think of having a season next year,
which is kind of hard to leave in this era
of transfer portal and everybody moving around. But Jed likes
(02:41):
to play really young guys, and we're looking at the
prospect of next year being a team almost entirely recruited
by Jed Fish because he's going to play a lot
of first and second and third year Huskies guys that
he recruited, which is kind of unbelievable to think about.
And it's going to be I think the program's in
(03:02):
good hands. They're moving in the right direction, but I
think the fan base is just kind of hungry to
see them win one of those marquee games. It's a
shame they weren't quite able to get over the hump
in those I.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Want to talk more about that defense, because you're exactly right.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
I mean, do you think this defense will get the
preseason hype next year that they should have gotten all
season this year. I cannot think of a unit in
the Big Ten that was better with less hype than
the Husky defense.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Yeah, I mean, no doubt. I think that's a super
encouraging sign. And you got to remember, like how prolific
Oregon's running game was heading into this game, and that
was the one thing that they were going to ride
to come, rain or shine. They were going to run
the football and do it at an explosive clip. And
(03:51):
I think here's like, I don't know, like maybe just
a glimpse into the future when you talk about how
football is won and lost at the line of scrimmage.
Washington had the better running game against Oregon. And even
when you know, even when Washington was you know, they
had Michael Pennix a quarterback and all that stuff, I
don't know that you really felt like Washington was going
(04:13):
to go in there and outrun Jordan James and all
those guys. Like I mean, I just think that they
went up against an Oregon offense to average six point
one three yards per carrie, the third best in the country,
and they held them to under three yards of carry.
That's an extraordinary feat. And then on the flip side
of the ball. Jonah Coleman clearly hampered. You have to
(04:35):
go with your number two guy who runs for one
hundred yards against Oregon. Like, I mean, I'm just extraordinarily
I know the question was about defense. I'm extraordinarily encouraged
by how they were able to hang in the trenches
against an Oregon team that, like that's supposed to be
where they're gonna outclass us, right, Like I thought, I
(05:00):
I thought that there were a lot of really positive signs.
But yeah, you're right about the defense. I mean, I
thought the defense really the one thing. The next step
for them is going to be more havoc plays. You know,
that's the one thing that they didn't quite have at
an elite level of this year, is ability to turn
over the football and create the havoc plays. Obviously, they
(05:22):
played a lot of teams that were not going to,
like have the traditional dropback style, so like you can
still have havoc plays with tackles for loss, right, they
didn't have a ton of those this year. But fortifying
the front, not giving up the big play over the top,
which the secondary did a great job of. I just
thought Ryan Walters came in, I think he had to
(05:44):
tweak his scheme as the year went on. I think
we're expecting to see much of five down line fronts.
And I just thought, you know, as they had to
deal with their injury issues and everything, they did an
unbelievable job of coaching up these guys to have a really,
really strong defense.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Yeah, one hundred and twentieth in TFLs.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Like you said, so there definitely is room for improvement
on a pretty good defense already. But Tony Kasher goes
with us and look, I mean now we can talk
about going shopping, right. I mean, they just went shopping
today and got a new wide receiver who was committed
to Baylor and he flipped and went to U dub
I mean, we know that he did great things in
the portal a year ago. So when Jed Fish grabs
that shopping cart and heads down Aisle four, what's he
(06:23):
looking for?
Speaker 2 (06:24):
You think, Yeah, you know what, that's That's a good question.
I'm not sure I've put a ton of thought into that.
You know, I've kind of been looking back on this
year a little a little bit right now, and I
think it's a it's a compelling question. I mean, I
think my first guess on defense would have been like,
let's let's look at the inside linebacker position. But then
(06:46):
I think you got some really good signs out of
like Rainy Salas year came along. You know, I think
there's still is there still an idea as to whether
or not Buddha can come back next year? I mean,
is that still hanging out there? You know?
Speaker 3 (07:00):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
I think that they're looking pretty good on the defensive
side of the ball. I'm sure there's going to be
some opportunities to get a little bit deeper, but I
think that's kind of the next step too, right his depth.
You know, injuries are going to creep out this year
goes along. I thought they got really creative with what
they did on the offensive line. The line clearly, I
(07:22):
think was the most improved unit on the team. But
but now you want to get deeper too to be
able to handle the injuries. So you know, there's not
something to jump to me right away to answer my
question is like the piece you absolutely need, but you're
gonna need depth all over the team, and I'm sure
they're gonna be putting that two you together a little
bit stronger.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
Tony a lot of us, definitely including me, got caught
up in the Demand hype at the beginning of the season.
And what does he need to do to go from
a guy that we hope will be a Heisman contender
to a guy that's actually a Heisman contender.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
You know, it's a good question, and I think it's
gonna be, uh a collaborative team unit where you know,
he's clearly Jed Fish's guy, right, and Jed has anointed
him this is Damon's team. He said that very clearly.
He made he pulled no punches on saying what he
thought Demon could accomplish in his career. And I think
(08:21):
Jed is a guy that's been really good if you
look back over the course of his career of like, Okay,
here's here's what we've got, and let's build the team
to these sets of strengths and weaknesses and then maximize
the potential from there. And so now that Demand has
one full year under his belt of running the team,
(08:41):
now I think you know, he and Jed are gonna uh,
you know, sync up on Not only is Jed going
to coach him up on the areas where he needs
to improve, which you know clearly he just missed on
a few throws at times, you know, decision making as
to when to hang in the pocket and when to
bail take a little bit better care of the football
and some crucial situations. But then Jet is also going
(09:04):
to have the opportunity to decide, you know, how do
I better position him in certain things? Right? And like
you know, whether or not he's able to see certain
defensive coverages, can I put him in a better position there?
And so yeah, I think it's going to be a
team effort. Yeah, and I think they're going to do it.
I mean, I you know, clearly he's who Jetfish wants
(09:26):
running this team, and he showed extraordinary talent this year.
So I think the Dogs aren't get hand offensively.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
The thing with Buddha Tony, I don't know. I mean,
he would get a redshirt year. I would assume he
only played in three games this season, got hurt in
the Cougar game, right the Apple Cups, So he would
have I think two more years left. I mean, obviously
the injury, we'll see what happens next year. But man,
you get him and Manu back together next year, that'd
be pretty that'd be pretty awesome. To get those two
guys playing so basketball tomorrow. I mean, this wacky world
(09:54):
we live in where Big ten plays starts in twenty
six hours against you see LA and then go into
usc and then coming back for four non con games
before you head to the Midwest and take on Indiana
and produce. So Dick and I were kind of debating
about this team, and I like, Tony, I just don't know, man,
I'm just in a pure weight and see mode with
this basketball team. What's what's kind of your take and
(10:16):
what you've seen after the first seven eight games of
the year.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
So I love this team and they're five and two. Start.
To me has been explained and defined by what in
my nine years at Washington has been unprecedented injuries on
a basketball team. Like I've never seen a team this
injured at the same time, this many guys banged up.
(10:43):
You know, I'm doing the game at Washington State and
Hanns Steinbach rolled his ankle. He comes out of the
ballgame and I'm looking over at that bench and I'm like,
here's who the Huskies have injured right now. They have
a McDonald's All American, a potential lot of pick, an
honorable mention all big ten last year at USC the
(11:05):
a Sun Player of the Year and one of the
top five Juco players in the country. That's five guys
that could win twenty games together, and that's who you
don't have access to. And you're still going out there
and starting five and two. Now you could say, oh, Southern,
that's you know, closer than it should have been, or
(11:27):
missed opportunity against Colorado, Like I think that Colorado game
was like a classic bike. I looked at Jason at
the under sixteen time out in the first half and
I was like, we're in trouble today, matchup wise, like
with you don't have Steinbach, you don't have Agnasadeki, you
don't have all these other bigs that you recruited, Like
that was a bad matchup. A front court that goes
six ten, six eleven seven foot all athletic, all play
(11:50):
euro style, like that was a bad matchup. I think
Washington with Danny Sprinkle, who is a chip on the
shoulder kind of has recruited a bunch of chip on
the shoulder kind of guys who are hungry to win.
There is no doubt in my mind that once these
guys get healthy they are going to be one of
the toughest outs in the entire Big Ten Conference. The
(12:13):
real concern I have is because they're all, you know,
banged up and everything, like how comfortable. How quickly can
they get comfortable playing together? That's really the question because
all that's been disrupted here early in the season.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Well, then give us an injury update.
Speaker 4 (12:31):
Let's start with Steinbach and then the rest of the
guys you talked about. When do you think we'll get
those guys back?
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Stein It sounds like there's a chance he could play
a little bit on Wednesday, which would be great. I mean,
you're going to need him in the front court. You know,
it's probably not gonna get one hundred percent, but it
sounds like he'll be a game time decision. Bryceon Tucker
still might be a game or two out, you know,
still dealing with the ankle injury that suffered against I
(13:02):
think it was Baylor when he went down, and that
was a tough one to see because I think he
was gonna be one of my favorite players on the team.
But again, it's an ankle sprain. He'll be ready when
he's ready, but it might be a week or so.
Still away. And then I think, you know, jacob on
massivi itch, they're still looking at him as rejoined the
(13:24):
team in January. You know, I mean he's still out there,
his boot is off. That's great news. We're talking about
a guy that averages twenty points and eight rebounds a
year ago and was shooting forty percent from three. So
like you're talking about a guy that instantly changes, you know,
a team with what he brings to the front court.
So if they're able to get him back in January,
which I think you look at red shirting him or
(13:46):
gray shirting him, I think you need him for your
front court depths. Oh it looks to me when you're
playing in the Big ten. You know, Christian nietzschu is
going to red shirt this year. It sounds like so
like that's that's kind of where you're at. You know,
Maddie Trey War is out for the season, so you know,
when you're looking at your big you probably need Agnosivic
(14:08):
back and you really need sign back back as soon
as possible. But you know, I still think like there's
a lot of guts to this team and a lot
of talent that's going to be out there on the floor,
and there's still plans to be well despite the fact
that they're banged up. So excited for this weekend against
Big ten teams.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
Now, no doubt.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Seven thirty pre game, eight o'clock tip tomorrow. We're gonna
hear your voice twice in two nights on this radio station,
which I want to get used to that. Let's do
it every night, man, Okay, don't be a stranger. We'll
talk sooner, right, Buddy spent All right, sounds good, Tony
kastro Con. I'm just curious as to whose team this is?
Speaker 3 (14:47):
Whose team is this?
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Right, like when Isaiah Thomas was here, Isaiah Brandon Roy
Brandon Roy right, even John Brockman Brockman, whose team is this?
Speaker 3 (14:55):
Is this Wesley Yates's team? Is it? Zoom's team? Is it?
Speaker 1 (14:59):
Hanna Steinbach's? I mean, can you have a big man,
a European guy. I don't even talked to him. Does
he speak English? I got no idea what his deal is?
Whose team is?
Speaker 3 (15:09):
When he's on the floor, he is the best player
for both teams?
Speaker 4 (15:15):
Yeah yeah, So, I mean, I don't know if that
translates into a young guy like that being a leader
of the team. I would imagine it would default to
maybe a Claude or a Yeats, a guy that's played
much more college basketball than he has, but he's the
best player on the floor, and Maniquit has a just
a natural leadership vibe around him, even though he's still very,
(15:36):
very young.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
And Tea, yeah exactly. I just don't know whose team
this is.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
And I think that's not a bad thing that they've
got options, right, I mean, it's not like we're saying, God,
there's nobody here on this team who could step up
and be the best player and be the guy in
the clutch that you want the basketball. That's kind of
a it's kind of the silver lining to all of this,
but it's also potentially a nightmare managing all of these individuals.
(16:01):
And I don't know what their egos are, Like, I
have no idea, right, I mean, Tony would know, Jason
would know. They're sitting there, they're traveling with these guys,
they're hanging out behind the scenes. But you got a
bunch of dudes. I mean, you look at all these
players married and all of them have accolades, all of them,
and all of them came from a spot where they
were the number one guy somebody somewhere or is going
(16:22):
to have to take a back seat.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
How does he handle that as a coach?
Speaker 4 (16:25):
No, that's right, And I think that's one of the
reasons why I was so optimistic when I spoke earlier
about this team, about them, I think they, I said,
rifle through the end of that schedule. Well, one of
the reasons I'm so optimistic that they'll rifle through the
end of the schedule is because most of these guys
are going to be back by the end of the year,
and you're going to be a massively better team in
February than you are right now, not only with the health,
(16:47):
but also just that they've played together and they've been
through the battles through the month of January, which is
going to be a bear. The month of January is
going to be so tough for this team.
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