Big Sports Radio (Weekend of February 15, 2025)

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Reaching across the country for the biggest sports news this weekend,
from Atlanta to Seattle, from Boston to la This is
Big Sports Radio.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Another weekend, another time spent with a fellow this Big
Sports Radio, Larry Smith, Mike Hegley, Brad's journey. So glad
you're with us in this one. Lots coming up. Obviously
Super Bowl fifty nine they hangover. You can't take enough
iberprof And if you're in the midle the heartland in
Kansas City, sorry you've had your run, but it's just
a painful headache there. Meanwhile, headaches in Philadelphia for different reasons,

(00:42):
the celebratory kind.

Speaker 3 (00:43):
We'll talk about that.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
And also, you know, the sad news in Chicago with
the passing of the Bears elderly owner of Virginia McCaskey.
We'll talk about hoops coming up here. Also some insiders,
Zach Braziller from the New York Post talking Saint John's basketball,
and we've got to ucla insider as well.

Speaker 3 (01:02):
He is joining us from talk about the Bruins men
and women's seem the women number one. Don't forget.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
We stick with hoops for the moment right now, and
the big story is this weekend is in champagne. Tom Izzo,
the venerable coach who has been on that sideline as
head coach for almost thirty years. Last week he caught
Bob Knight top the all time Big Ten wins list,
had a chance to break the record, but stumbled at
home and got upset by Indiana. Now the Spartans go

(01:29):
to Illinois, a team they beat last month, but a
team afterwards a tom Izzell called, he felt when they're
all healthy and pieces together, the best team in the
Big Ten. A lot of emotion, a lot of stuff
happening in the Big Ten, and again tom Izzow chanced
to go into really a team that's been a rival
of theirs to try to make history.

Speaker 4 (01:48):
Tom Izzo's had a legendary career, obviously that it's shown
by his Big Ten wins. He is the kind of
the you know, he's the longest tenured guy, He's the
guy who's kind of been the standard bearer for years
of late guys like Matt Paynter have kind of moved
past him in that you know, hierarchy I think, but
Izzo's still kind of the standard that you want to
reach and get to. So now the question becomes, can

(02:10):
he make that you know, his you know kind of
at the end here?

Speaker 5 (02:13):
Can he make another run? I think that's what he's
looking for. He's got a team that has.

Speaker 4 (02:17):
An opportunity here, but we'll see if they are able
to kind of finish strong.

Speaker 6 (02:22):
Yeah, Izzo has done remarkably well, particularly this season, with
a team that people were not impressed by, and he's
exceeded expectations to this point in the season. And his
detractors will say it's because their schedule, unbound schedule was
a little bit easy to start with. Well, we have

(02:42):
the rest of this season to play out and then
the Big Ten Tournament. The NCAA's and tom Izzo's teams
generally get stronger as the season goes, So be a
big game in Champagne.

Speaker 3 (02:52):
Yeah, really will.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
And to your appoint Michigan State, I'm sorry in March,
they're still Michigan State. It doesn't matter where they're seated.
They're going to find a way to get whins more
often than not. And we know is what's going to
break this record. If it's not, you know, this weekend
in Champagne, then he'll do it next week. It's going
to happen. I know that there are some Illinois fans
over in Champagne don't care for Tom Izzo for a
lot of different reasons. Uh, Brad, I know you've interacted

(03:14):
with him. I think Tom's a great guy. Yeah, he
whinds a lot, so to Mike Skrzewski. And I'll tell you,
Tom is a much nicer guy than Shozewsky.

Speaker 5 (03:22):
Not not even close.

Speaker 4 (03:23):
One thing about it is though sometimes their sideline demeanor
is not what they're like off the court. Mick Cronin
is another guy off the court, much different guy than
you would see when you see on sideline. And so
they're actually you know, Izzo's really fun to hang out
with and uh and talk to, especially talking basketball.

Speaker 6 (03:39):
Yeah, and he's got such a unique, you know, bond
with some coaches because he earned his way to that
position as head coach. You know, he he was there
for years under jud heath Coat, the guys like Bruce
Weber who were there for years under Katie. So you've
got this guy who's kind of learned the ropes and

(04:00):
and really is a masterclass at how to be a
head coach.

Speaker 2 (04:04):
Yeah, he's been a head coach for so long at
the same place Bill Clinton's in the Oval office when
he took over for Jeddie heath Cote. I mean, that's
that's how long it has been, just been forever. Uh
but Tom is yeah. I mean, there's no question, and
it's funny. I think part of the reason why everyone
freaks out over his antics is because we have social
media and everyone has camerons in their pockets where they

(04:24):
can capture this and put it up live within seconds
or put post a video up. And I've told somebody
earlier this week, I said, clearly, you never saw Bob Knight,
and you didn't watch mike Y chefskin his heyday, and
you didn't see Raleigh Massamino, I mean, who just also
looked like just a raving, you know, raving lunatic, pulling
his little pulling his hair out of you know, I
mean literally so but uh yeah, Sozo in Michigan State

(04:47):
at Illinois. By the way, the ALINEI already had a
raised a jersey Tuesday night with Kolfie Kober and the
former two time All Americans that they'll do it again
Saturday night with Terrence Shannon Junior, who has the week
off from Minnesota Timberwolves and he'll be in the house
for his jersey celebrations. So a lot of stuff going
on in Champagne right now with the one basketball team

(05:07):
just east of that. Lots going on in Indiana after
well it really we heard it with the twenty five
point loss to Illinois last month in imbomy Do we
began to hear a chance in the first half of fans,
Indiana fans chanting fire Woodson. Finally he agrees with him
and has come to terms he's going to step down
at the end of the season. What He's the guy

(05:28):
that I like, but I never thought was a good
fit with this team.

Speaker 4 (05:31):
I'll be honest, No, I totally agree. I don't think
it was a great fit. I think he was the
Indiana guy and that's what they wanted at the time.
The weird part about it is, I feel like this
team some you know, obviously we know some people around
the program there in Indiana, and they said this team
really bought in after he basically said he was stepping down.
He just starting to see them maybe play at the
higher level now with a little more passion, a little

(05:52):
more urgency, because they feel like they kind of I
guess he had a really great meeting of speech with them,
and so it'll be What I think is going to
be interesting is how they close out because they can
be a spoiler team because there is talent on that
team they can put You can change the way seating
or who a team doesn't make the NCAA tournament, or
maybe they make a run and sneak in.

Speaker 6 (06:14):
Yeah, they've got an opportunity to kind of come together
under him. But I just think that Woodson wanted to
construct a roster that was better set for twenty five
years ago. And that doesn't mean he's a bad guy.
It just means he may not be the best at
putting together a roster for the modern basketball game.

Speaker 2 (06:37):
That's what we look at it. Yeah, so Mike Woodson
again is out again. Just could not get there. And
I saw something online and when get your thoughts very quickly,
is is Indiana a great job or do they just
have a great coach. In the last three decades, Indiana
has reached the Sweet sixteen or further only four times,
four times in thirty years, and only one Final four,

(07:00):
and that was back in two with Mike Davis, who
got the job by default because you know, Night was
kicked out. There are all the stuff that he did
on campus, and that's the final straw. And the fan
base never liked him either. And he made the one
run to the title game and then they've done nothing
since then. So so I say, again, great, great, great
program or just a great coach.

Speaker 4 (07:20):
I think the potential is there because there's a lot
of basketball is big there. They they draw more fans,
they have I think the highest revenue basketball program in
the Big Ten, which is you know, Illinois was second,
I think as I remember. But here's the thing about them.
They have a lot of nil money that they're able
to throw it.

Speaker 5 (07:38):
Guys.

Speaker 4 (07:38):
If you get the right coach who knows how to
put a roster together, they'll they will win. But and
there are some guys that are scary out there might
be really good at Indiana, but if they make another
hire of you know, you know, a guy just getting
a Hoosier legacy or something like that, it's not going
to be successful.

Speaker 7 (07:57):
Yeah. I think great program. It used to be.

Speaker 6 (08:01):
But it's got a huge fan base that they built
that is incredibly loyal.

Speaker 7 (08:07):
And you have Eli Lilly.

Speaker 6 (08:09):
You've got Mark Cuban, So there's deep pockets that can
be drawn upon. And as Brad said, basketball, college basketball
is largely a sport that's built around great coaches.

Speaker 7 (08:24):
So you make the right selection, they'll be just fine.

Speaker 3 (08:29):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (08:29):
So in the end, like you said, they're a very
dangerous team because they are talented, they do have some pieces.
They have some experienced players over there who've kind of
been through it before, and yeah, they could be a
double digit scene in the Big Ten that you do
not want to see coming your way, upsetting some team
and getting into the quarterfinals or beyond.

Speaker 3 (08:47):
Okay, So Mike.

Speaker 2 (08:48):
Woodson's out play ad for me. Who should they go
after as the next coach of the Hoosiers.

Speaker 4 (08:56):
Well, obviously the guy that everybody throws around every time
Indiana's open. As Brad Stevens supposedly, they were going to
offer him seven years, seventy million dollars back in twenty
twenty one, and you know, which should be a nice contract.

Speaker 5 (09:10):
I've agreed to accept that if they offer it to me.

Speaker 4 (09:13):
But but you know, there's a lot of I think
Chris Beard, I think you start talking about him. I
think he's the first guy on my list that I
would Dusty May was a guy, but I Beard is.
Obviously he's got some baggage, but at the same time,
all he's done is win. Everywhere he goes, he wins,
And that's kind of the guy they need right now

(09:33):
in Indiana because right now they're probably wishing they would
have kept Kelvin Sampson and his baggage because they'd be
in a little different place.

Speaker 6 (09:41):
Yeah, if I were them, I would call up Billy
Donovan and say, what in the heck are you doing
with these Bulls? They stink and they're not going to
be any better. It doesn't matter what you do. And
I would try to convince him to come to Indiana
where he will be better funded, he will have a
fan base. It's doesn't have to be loyal to Michael

(10:03):
Jordan because that's all that the Bulls have ever really been.
And I just think there's a lot of opportunity there.
And Billy Donovan, I think he can still coach basketball.
I don't know, being the head coach of the Bulls
when you go from college has not been a good
career path.

Speaker 3 (10:18):
It has not.

Speaker 2 (10:20):
Yeah, I think Donovan is still a coach, and he's young,
He's got a lot of years in front of him.
There's one name that I have not seen mentioned that
I think you have to make a phone call to
and make him tell you no. Is Rick Patino. I
know he's seventy two years old. I know he's older, he's.

Speaker 3 (10:36):
Toward the end.

Speaker 2 (10:37):
He's a New York guy, probably at home at Saint John's,
may retire from there.

Speaker 3 (10:41):
But I throw mega money at him.

Speaker 2 (10:42):
I offer to offer to make him the highest paid
coach in the country and give a five year deal
and say, we know this could be your last job.
We're fine with that. Get us to the Promised Land
before you go. Make him tell you no, Make him
tell you know that?

Speaker 7 (10:55):
Good? Yeah?

Speaker 5 (10:56):
Yeah, I agree with you.

Speaker 4 (10:58):
Do you do you go after an up and comer,
maybe like a Ben McCullum who just killing it at Drake.

Speaker 5 (11:04):
Do they you know?

Speaker 4 (11:05):
And then there's always the you know, you start looking
around at hot young coaches and you try and find
a guy. I'm not sure there's a can't miss type
guy out there right now, so we'll see, Yeah, agreed.

Speaker 2 (11:18):
Yeah, I don't know. I mean, you know, I think
one name that we haven't talked about. I don't know
if he leaves the job he's at because it's home
for him. Is is shocka smart at Marquette that he
didn't do very well at Texas, but he's done a
fantastic job at Marquette.

Speaker 3 (11:33):
Obviously, VCU made his name.

Speaker 2 (11:35):
He's a name out there still a young guy has
gotten it done. But again, he's in a really good
situation at Marquette. Not much of a pressure cooker he's
got he's got him cooking without a crazy fan base.

Speaker 3 (11:45):
And so we'll see, we'll see what's out there. I mean,
they've got money.

Speaker 2 (11:49):
You know my probably if I had to put my
money on it, probably Chris Beard to your point. But
we'll see what happens. We'll miss may say no to
that and throw more coin at him. All right, stay
with us. We're gonna talk a little Super Bowl recap
here coming up in just a moment. That more hoops chat.
It's a big, big weekend as we count down it
closer to March and the conference tournaments and then March
Madness will break down some of the games coming up here.

Speaker 3 (12:10):
Just getting started on a great weekend. It's big sports.

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Speaker 4 (14:24):
We're back on the show here My Kagle, Larry Smith,
Bret's story. Tony Cordero is our producer this evening, and
I just, uh, Mike football season's over. It's kind of sad,
you know what I mean. It's a sad time the
Super Bowl ends, And you know, the bad part about
the Super Bowl is we couldn't really debate any of
the calls because it wasn't really competitive. So all we

(14:46):
did was talk about the Kendrick Lamar Show at halftime.
I mean that was the only thing on. Everything else
was like wow, I didn't know that. The you know,
you know, they became like Mahomes isn't Jordan and that
was our thing and he's not Brady and all this stuff.

Speaker 5 (15:00):
And Mike, what what are your thoughts at the end
of the Super Bowl.

Speaker 6 (15:03):
Well, I got a lot of thoughts. Oh God, First off,
the whole thing, I really get the I don't I
don't think Brady's the goat. I don't think Mahomes is
the goat. I think football is the most team oriented
sport there is, and you have to have a defense
to be a great quarterback. Or you can be a

(15:25):
great quarterback, but you probably won't win a Super Bowl
if you don't have a great defense. And stinky quarterbacks
can occasionally win a Super Bowl if they have a
great defense. You know, Brad Johnson has won a Super Bowl.
Trenton Dilfer has won a Super Bowl. So I look
at I look at like the total picture. Obviously, Brady's

(15:46):
one of the greats. Mahomes is one of the greats.
But I just don't think you worry about these guys
while their career is still going on. Let him, Let
Pat Mahomes play his whole career and then you see
how he compares to Brady, to Montana, to you know,
the guys of the past who are so great.

Speaker 4 (16:05):
Yeah, I think it's it's way too early started annointing
any of these guys that are you know, they're winning,
you know now, I mean because we don't know. I mean,
you know, for for all we know, who knows, maybe
the Josh Allen might win like six Super Bowls exactly.
He's young enough that could legitimately happen. So you know,

(16:26):
it's hard to say, you know, he's the this guy
or that guy. But I think Mahome's off to the
best start probably from as a winning quarterback.

Speaker 5 (16:33):
I mean, I think that's fair to say.

Speaker 2 (16:34):
So.

Speaker 5 (16:35):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (16:35):
But the one thing is that the defense is really important,
and Kansas City's defense had played fairly well this year,
but I don't know if they had they just didn't
have the defensive talent that Philadelphia has Philadelphia's defense, and
we've talked about this.

Speaker 5 (16:49):
That was the thing where we.

Speaker 4 (16:51):
Thought Philadelphia had the equaliser was the better defense. We
just thought Mahomes would be able to overcome it and read,
you know, be able to overcome those things. Clearly that
had not happened. He was running for his life from
a four man. They didn't even have to blitz to
chase him down. I mean, there was nothing there.

Speaker 7 (17:06):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (17:06):
The interesting thing is now, Trent Dilfer was a quarterback
who couldn't throw accurately, but he does understand the game
of football. And I'm going to steal from him because
it was the best analysis I think I've heard. And
he said, basically, in a game of football, when you
get into the into a game and they can the

(17:30):
defense can put pressure on a quarterback with just four guys,
that allows the defensive back the seven guys in the
backfield to not only cover their guys, but they can
actually have their eyes on the quarterback the whole time.
And he said, when you are able to play his
zone defense and have seven guys watching the quarterback, it

(17:55):
makes an average quarterback, he said, like myself.

Speaker 7 (18:00):
Relevant.

Speaker 6 (18:01):
And then he said even a guy like Mahomes and Brady,
they can't do as much because when they throw the ball,
you know, many times they take advantage of the fact
that a defender's out of position, they aren't watching, et cetera.
And he said, so, basically, you saw the Eagles with
that defensive line being so dominant over a porous an

(18:23):
injured Kansas City line that they were able to throw
the to throw the they were able to watch him
throw and break on the ball just as fast, if
not faster, than the receivers. And I hadn't really thought
about it that way, but that matches what we saw
on TV. Because Mahomes was playing so bad. I think

(18:44):
I texted somebody and said, did he get concussed? And
maybe it was just that everybody knew where the ball
was going.

Speaker 5 (18:52):
Yeah, I think you're right. It just they were reading
it very well.

Speaker 4 (18:56):
And I do think I don't know as you kind
of look at it, you know, if you look at
the you know, recently, offenses have been kind of you
have to have a really good offense to win, and
I think that, but I think that at the end
of the day, you also you have your defense has
to be able to get teams three and outs to

(19:17):
get off get off the field, because.

Speaker 7 (19:19):
One more time than they do.

Speaker 5 (19:21):
Yeah, and you know, and you have.

Speaker 4 (19:22):
To get off the field and you can't the other
thing I think that is kind of lost. It's not
always just defense too, It's like it it is so
hard to if you don't make chunk plays, if you
don't get big plays and get I mean you saw
the Chiefs. I mean even when they start, they start,
they made a couple of plays down the field at
the end, but during the game, I mean it was
like a six yard game and it's like, WHOA a
big game? Maybe it's like everything's dink and dunk. They

(19:46):
can't get anything down the field where the Eagles they
are able to get. You know, they were able to
extend those get the big you know, they stopped the run.
They did a great jobs stopping Barkley, but they were
able to get plays down the field.

Speaker 5 (19:56):
And you know, whether it's a J.

Speaker 4 (19:58):
Brown, Devontae Smith, or it was, that really definitely changes
the way the game works. It makes it so hard
on that defense to get those to get those stops.

Speaker 5 (20:07):
So does that mean that so are we are ready
to anoint the Eagles the next dynasty.

Speaker 7 (20:12):
That's what. Isn't that what we're supposed to do?

Speaker 9 (20:14):
Yeah?

Speaker 7 (20:14):
Super Bowl? Yeah.

Speaker 6 (20:16):
I will tell you though, that defense is young enough
that they're just entering their prime, so you can see
the temptation of doing that. They do have a good
team in their division and the Commanders. They also have
a Detroit Lions team that most likely won't be as
injured defensively when the playoffs come around next year.

Speaker 5 (20:39):
And you've got the Vikings.

Speaker 7 (20:41):
Aren't bad.

Speaker 5 (20:41):
Yeah, I mean they're solid team.

Speaker 4 (20:43):
And what is what if the forty nine ers, you know,
remember the forty nine ers have been like the team
that was going to be the next team.

Speaker 5 (20:49):
Ye, maybe they get healthy.

Speaker 4 (20:51):
If they have a healthy season, they're definitely a team
that could come out of the there.

Speaker 6 (20:55):
And Dak Prescott must have been hit in the head
because he said the Cowboys are close.

Speaker 7 (21:01):
He didn't say what they were.

Speaker 5 (21:02):
He didn't say they were. Isn't that far from New Orleans?
That is what he meant. It's like easy to get there.

Speaker 7 (21:07):
It's a short flight, but they're close to the Gulf
of America. I think that's what exactly.

Speaker 5 (21:13):
We're just right down there. We can be in the
Gulf of America.

Speaker 6 (21:16):
So yeah, I really think, don't you think, though, Like
when you look at this game, it was one that
we all got fooled by the fact that the Chiefs
have figured out a way to get things done, but
they hadn't run into a defense. And I really think
that Eagles defense, for at least for three quarters of

(21:37):
a game, they looked like the eighty five Bears or
the eighty six Giants or the Ravenous Ravens, and they
looked tough.

Speaker 4 (21:44):
They just dominated that they were just had no idea.
You saw Mahomes, he was scared to death back in
the pocket. I mean, just didn't know what to do.

Speaker 7 (21:50):
I was just scared to death for him.

Speaker 5 (21:51):
No, I thought he was going to get killed. And
then he never went to He would never catch Brady
for sure.

Speaker 4 (21:56):
But yes, but you know this happened to the Chiefs
the last time they lost the Super Bowl was basically
Tampa Bay. Remember, they were able to just get so
much pressure on him he was running for his life.
It was the same type of thing. The offensive line
was exposed. They weren't as good, and they had beeped
up their offensive line hoping they wouldn't have that again,
and obviously it it didn't work out for him, But
you know, I do think it's gonna be interesting. I

(22:17):
still don't. I mean, you look at how many close
games there were. Easily could have seen the Ravens beat
the Bills, you know, the way the Bills could have
seen the Bills beat the Chiefs very easily with a
couple of catches. And then you know, I don't know that.
I don't know that the Bills, And this sounds crazy.
I don't think the Bills get run out of the
stadium like the Chiefs did. I agree with you because

(22:39):
I think they would have been better offensively. They would
have had a better chance of doing something offensively.

Speaker 6 (22:45):
The Chiefs offensive line struggled and then they had injuries
on top of it. Bad combination, Yeah, a bad combination
when you're facing that front four and yeah, and boy
those you give Georgia players a couple three years to
adjust to the NFL, they get pretty tough.

Speaker 5 (23:01):
Yeah, exactly, No, I agree, I totally agree.

Speaker 4 (23:05):
Yeah, So I I do think they could have had
a different because I think, you know, they could have
done more because Ken say didn't do anything for three quarters,
I mean, did nothing. I mean, it's like almost like
they weren't out there. So it's like they weren't playing offense.
They just give them all back to Philadelphia every time.

Speaker 6 (23:21):
But it did it remind you of the the Joe
th Eisman Redskins against the Bears a little bit, That's
what That's what it reminded me of. They just couldn't
get anything going, you know, and and it just it
didn't matter. And and I have to be honest with you,
at tend to nothing. It occurred to me like, are
the are the Chiefs gonna score today?

Speaker 5 (23:43):
Because well we were.

Speaker 4 (23:44):
I was looking up as my wife looks at me
and goes, has there ever been a shutout in the
Super Bowl?

Speaker 5 (23:50):
I was thinking that.

Speaker 4 (23:51):
I looked and I said, no, no, there hasn't but
three so I don't know, but you know, it wasn't
It wasn't gonna but it didn't happen anyway. Yeah, we
do want to offer our condolences to the Chicago Bears family,
the McCaskey family. You know, one hundred and two years
old Virginia McCaskey passes away. You know a lot of
Bears fans, I know listen to the show and you know,

(24:12):
arcadolence is there, and you know what does this do
for the Bears moving forward?

Speaker 7 (24:16):
Well, it's really going to be interesting. You know.

Speaker 6 (24:19):
It's people theorize that the that it could be split
up among eleven or whatever, you know heirs. They've got
to figure out what they're going to do. Could you
get the Ryan family, who is so influential with the
Northwestern program, Could they, you know, start buying up ownership

(24:42):
shares and maybe become the owners. I think there's going
to be an interesting off season drama there. And I
think the mccaskeys are one of the last of the
you know, we we make our money on the NFL
team owners as opposed to this new type of owner
who I just dropped five billion on a football team.

(25:05):
I got nothing else to do, and so I don't
know if that type of ownership model has the finances
to compete in the long term in the NFL anymore.

Speaker 5 (25:15):
I would agree with you.

Speaker 4 (25:16):
I think it's sometimes just like, as you're playing, the
NFL is their fun money, and I think.

Speaker 5 (25:20):
Those are the guys that are the most successful.

Speaker 3 (25:22):
Now.

Speaker 6 (25:22):
Meanwhile, you and I are digging around the couch trying
to get pizza money.

Speaker 5 (25:26):
Well, yeah, pizza is expensive now though, so yes, tough pizza.
Football teams, they're all expensive, all.

Speaker 4 (25:32):
Expensive, especially if you go a deep dish. Oh yeah,
all right, we'll be back right after them.

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Speaker 1 (27:41):
You're listening to the Big Sports Radio Network with Larry Smith,
Mike Kegley and Brad's Dirty.

Speaker 3 (27:51):
I'm back around Big Sports Radio.

Speaker 2 (27:52):
Larry Smith, Brads Dirty, Mike Kegley, producer Tony is helping
us out as well.

Speaker 3 (27:56):
Josh Ewing on Audio. Appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (27:58):
The entire team I working hard for us here this
weekend and bring you this this broadcast.

Speaker 3 (28:02):
Hey, we're talking to the break.

Speaker 2 (28:04):
We kind of restarted while we were away at break
about the coaching stuff.

Speaker 3 (28:08):
Right, So, so there's actually.

Speaker 2 (28:10):
A lot of jobs out there to talk about here,
starting really probably you know, middle of the next month. We've
already kind of broken down Indiana.

Speaker 3 (28:17):
What about Iowa.

Speaker 2 (28:18):
It's pretty much kind of a foregone conclusion that that
Fran's gonna gonna step down in Iowa City after a
long run there with the Hawkeyes and had some success.

Speaker 3 (28:28):
Where do they go next for a coach?

Speaker 5 (28:30):
It's interesting.

Speaker 4 (28:31):
Do they go with like a Ben McCullum from Drake
who's having a you know, a fantastic first year but
it has limited high major experience. Do they go with uh,
you know, and there's some other guys too. Do they
find a guy who's kind of beaten a posse out,
you know, or do they find a maybe another up
and comer guy Tom Crean, John or a guy who's
you know, had been there but maybe he didn't succeed
John Gross, another at Akron who's just killing it. I mean,

(28:54):
there's a lot of options there in Iowa that could
be successful. I think it'll be interesting to see what happens. Friends,
I think Fran is one of the best offensive coaches
in the country. I mean, but they are kind of
going through a downcycle here after being you know, back
in twenty twenty one they were two seeds in the
NCAA tournament. They were six, two and five seeds in
three consecutive years. That's you know, they've just kind of

(29:16):
taken a back seat now.

Speaker 5 (29:18):
So when his kids start transferring, you know, it's maybe time. Yeah.

Speaker 6 (29:21):
Yeah, who would have thought that Iowa, you know, with
the transition of the women's coach retiring and and now
with Fran looking in trouble, and even when you go
looking at Kurt Farrin's over on the football side, they
may that athletic department may be totally redone in a
year or two and not be recognizable from a revenue

(29:42):
sports standpoint.

Speaker 7 (29:44):
That's that's a big change, you know for that for
that university.

Speaker 3 (29:48):
Yeah, no question about that when you look at that.

Speaker 2 (29:51):
Some other Big ten programs that nothing right now that
we're hearing that they may not be around, but Rutgers
in minnesot are two jobs that could come up.

Speaker 5 (30:02):
Yeah. I think Steve Pichael is a really good basketball coach.

Speaker 4 (30:05):
But at the same time, you know, Rutgers is on
the verge of missing another NCAA tournament third year in
a row, and they have paid a lot of mini
own money to to you know, two of the best
freshman the country. They got two top five draft picks
and they're under five hundred and Dylan Harper and Ace
Bailey and those guys are fantastic, but they weren't able
to put a roster around him, and so it hasn't

(30:26):
been successful. And I guess, you know, so Minnesota would
be another one where Ben Johnson has had four years
now and just not gonna has a lot of veteran
guys on this team and they're not successful. And you know,
how long does do you get? I mean Dawson, Garcia
and Patterson and o'dukealle and Mitchell and all seniors and

(30:51):
so Parker Fox senior. I mean, they got so many
seniors and yet they're still twelve and twelve. So I
don't know how you kind of say, well, we're gonna
be better next year.

Speaker 6 (31:01):
Yeah, And I also think that that athletic department needs
to do a better job of mining their alumni and
some of the big corporations that are in the Minneapolis
Saint Paul area. This is not like West Lafayette or Champagne,
where you have one hundred and fifty thousand you know,
people around you in the immediate area. They've got to

(31:24):
do a better job to provide the nil that will
help the basketball and football coach keep players from going
out of the state of Minnesota.

Speaker 3 (31:33):
Yeah. I Meanwhile, in the ACC there's already a huge void.

Speaker 2 (31:37):
You know, already six coaches leaving in the last three years,
and now there'll be a seventh at season's and Leonard
Hamilton says he'll step down Florida State's all time winning
his coach. What a job he's done. There no final fours,
but boy, he's had great success. Leonard Hamilton, by the way,
people don't realize this has been in the game so long.
He was the first black assistant coach at Kentucky under

(32:00):
Joby Hall back in the seventies.

Speaker 3 (32:03):
Fifty years ago.

Speaker 2 (32:04):
He was there and just his run has been incredible
what he has done.

Speaker 3 (32:08):
But he's had enough. And of course Jim Larrinaga stepping
down as well.

Speaker 2 (32:11):
Has a couple of final fours, one with George Mason,
one with just a couple of years ago with Miami.
Two programs right there that are you know, fairly well
off financially and curious to see who will step in
there in the a SEC.

Speaker 4 (32:25):
Yeah, definitely, you know, some some possibilities there for some
good programs. I don't I would have a hard time
telling you who's going to take those jobs. I think
they're gonna look for a young guy and who can
you know or up and coming type guy to take
that job. But I could see a guy like you know,
we mentioned Tom Crane earlier. He might be an interesting guy.
Boston College is another job that could very well, you know,

(32:48):
be be open misforce straight tournaments for real grant. There
so a lot of a lot of possibilities there in
the ACC. The other thing I have questions I have
about the ACC is they're always just struggling financially a
little bit compared to me be the big ten at SEC.
Do they have the bio money to buy these guys
out if they still have millions of dollars on their contracts.

Speaker 7 (33:07):
Yeah, one wonders on that.

Speaker 6 (33:08):
And I do think that the TV contract being extended
by ESPPN and agreed upon by the ACC probably gives
a little bit of runway to hire some people, but
that gap between the the Big Ten and the SEC
on an annual basis, if I'm a coach, I would

(33:28):
much rather be a coach in the Big Ten or
the SEC where I can compete a little more than
I would be if I was in the ACC.

Speaker 7 (33:36):
And that's so different to the past. Yeah, at least
in basketball.

Speaker 3 (33:41):
No, I agree with you.

Speaker 2 (33:41):
And it's like a guy like Dennis Gates at Missouri,
you know, has ties to Florida State and learning Hamilton
might be a good fit in Tallahassee, but why would
you take that job when you've got the SEC money
in Columbia with the Tigers Exactly right, Same for Chris
Beard anybody else you try to poach from one of
those programs in the Big Ten or in the SEC.
Let's get to some of the games said this weekend.
Two teams that are very well set a coach and

(34:03):
going anywhere. Michigan, State of Illinois. We talked earlier about
tom Izzo again trying to break I get another win
and break Bob Knights all time Big Ten wins record,
the legendary late Indiana coach. You passed away a couple
of years ago, tied right now with Iszo. On the
other side, Illinois for the first time in several weeks
out of the top twenty five. They kept losing inexplicably
while they battle through injury and illness. How big is

(34:25):
this game for them as they try to write the
ship and kind of get back to where they were
at the turn of the calendar the first week of
January and so as we head into March.

Speaker 4 (34:36):
I think a lot of people, a lot of Big
Ten coaches and I've talked to some of them, will
tell you that Illinois is the most talented team in
the Big Ten team that when they're clicking or they're
the best team, but they haven't been whole, and so
they need this win and they just kind of start
winning some games. It's kind of been a fifty to
fifty split every week, it seems like for the line eye.
But they need to put on a little win streak

(34:56):
starts showing being consistent with their strong effort. So if
they can do that, you know they're a team that's
a little bit dangerous come March.

Speaker 6 (35:04):
Yeah, I think Brad Underwood needs to have that team
stay at the Ie Hotel and pretend like it's a
road game because they have played better, or at least
they haven't played as well at home as one would
expect based on the last four or five years, and
they've got to That's probably the reason why people want
to win so bad, is because you have to defend

(35:25):
your home floor. And they've already got a couple losses
in the Big Ten at home. And you can't win
a Big Ten title losing at home. You just can't.

Speaker 3 (35:34):
Yeah, you can't.

Speaker 2 (35:35):
One thing for Illinois, they did lose only by a
duce up in the East Lancing despite not having Casper
A shakatonas they're outstanding freshman Freshman the Year candidate and
the Big Ten because of all the foul trouble it
played only nine minutes in that game. Meanwhile, Purdue kind
of like a wounded bear coming back home to Mackie
after losing to the Wolverines their home against Wisconsin in

(35:56):
the top twenty five matchup.

Speaker 4 (35:59):
Yeah, this is a game where Wisconsin has been a
really big surprise in the Big Ten of how well
they played, and Purdue is also kind of, you know,
found their way without Zach Edy, and that's a hard
thing to do. But I'm not Purdue's just I think
Matt Painter's a fantastic coach. He does so well in
Big Ten. But I'm not sure they have the Maybe
they can't make the Final four this year like they

(36:22):
did last year. But I do think they're a team
that can be dangerous, and I think at home they're
gonna win because if you've ever been to Mackie is
the it is probably the toughest place playing college basketball.

Speaker 6 (36:33):
Yeah, I think that that is a big, big order
to win, and they at Mackie and Ohio State has
already done it. I don't see anybody else doing that
for the rest of the season.

Speaker 7 (36:46):
It's just such a rare event.

Speaker 2 (36:48):
Yeah, Ohio State did it, like you said, and that
we don't see somebody else doing that. But hats off
to Greg Guard, but he has done up there with
losing some key players. It's in transfers to Nebraska, Chucky
Hepburn has helped Louisville's resurge in his first year down there,
and yet here the Badgers are back in the top
twenty five again, no question. The game of the night

(37:08):
Saturday night is number one. At number two, Auburn at
Alabama in the SEC. Usually this as a big deal
in football, but it's basketball now, and whoever thought you'd
have this matchup be a musty game in mid to
late February in the SEC.

Speaker 4 (37:25):
This game is fun too. These teams are really athletic.
They will get it out, they will run the Alabama's
gonna they like to shoot the three, get up and
down the floor. Arburn plays great defense. Alabama's defense little suspect.
I think that's what's holding him back from being maybe
even better.

Speaker 5 (37:40):
But yeah, this should be. This is a blast.

Speaker 4 (37:42):
I mean, these coaches are both Pearl and Oates are animated.
It's it's gonna be. This is great college basketball. I
don't think you'd ask for better than this.

Speaker 6 (37:49):
Yeah, I think this type of game that people want
to tune into. Two teams that are fantastic. They don't
particularly like each other. You've got this rivalry for the
state of Alabama. It has all the earmarks of a
classic game.

Speaker 3 (38:04):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (38:04):
I remember about a dozen years ago when Anthony Grant
was down in Tuscal Luisa getting twenty win seasons but
couldn't get more than half of the arena field. I
mean It's just what a turnaround, right they've done down there.
Coming off the final four year the first in program
history biggast matchup Creighton at Saint John's, the Blue Jays
saw that wind streak snapped to the night they finally

(38:24):
lose a game to Yukon. And by the way, Danny Hurley,
how old are you? You got some random fan point
to your finger mentioned you got two rings as you
walk off what's basically an empty arena, But it goes
viral now and just makes you look like even more
of a tool than what.

Speaker 5 (38:38):
We thought you were. Dude, really not saying something.

Speaker 2 (38:42):
That is Yeah, I didn't think you'd get any worse.
But I mean, if the tantrums in mall we weren't enough,
that was one. I'm like, say, some random fan yell
something at you. Who cares your dad Hurley? Yeah, we
know you have two rings. Yeah, you know it's funny, Larry.

Speaker 4 (38:55):
We've talked a lot about how you know the coach
k wasn't the guy that everybody saw everybody way he
was portrayed. You know, we we saw the behind the
scenes stuff with all stuff. Danny Hurley doesn't hide it.

Speaker 5 (39:08):
He is what he is right.

Speaker 4 (39:09):
I mean, so I almost respect it a little bit
because at least you know, this is what he is.

Speaker 5 (39:14):
He's just he's just a jack wagon and that's the
way he's gotta be.

Speaker 6 (39:17):
He should have got those two rings fitted for his
middle fingers so he could show them off to people
more readily.

Speaker 2 (39:25):
Exactly exactly, by the way, Okay, there's our Dan, our Dan.

Speaker 12 (39:28):
Hurry, that's right, count one two right here, that's right.

Speaker 4 (39:37):
Lines And hey, how about the baldy comment? Though, what's
he calling another guy baldy for?

Speaker 5 (39:43):
Like what?

Speaker 3 (39:45):
That's right? That's right? That looks older than me and
he's not.

Speaker 2 (39:51):
Meanwhile, Creighton at Saint John's, I think that's just a
fantastic game. You know, between these two. We already talked
about Rick Patino, uh and what he's done. They're coming
off a loss. They don't want back to back losses
right now in the Big East.

Speaker 4 (40:04):
Yeah, it's Saint John's has been a huge surprise as well.
I guess we shouldn't be surprised when Rick Patino does something.

Speaker 5 (40:09):
Well, but you know, he wins.

Speaker 4 (40:11):
But Creighton has also, I mean, this is the These
are the top two teams right now in the Big East.
So this is a great matchup I from a record standpoint,
and Creighton has been you know, before the Connecticut loss,
they had one you know what nine to row or
something like that, so they're really kind of clicking and
going into that. And so I think it's interesting to

(40:32):
see how Saint John's attacks like Calprinner and how he's
able to keep them out of the paint, block shots
and also you know, score inside because I don't know
that they can match up with him. So I think
that's the interesting thing for me in this matchup.

Speaker 6 (40:45):
Yeah, Patino's amazing how you turn this team around and
get this type of response, you know, at results, I
should say. And I'm really excited to see what he
can do in the tournament because that'll be one of
the premiere stories of this year's tournament. And for people
who've you know, watched him for years and respect his

(41:07):
coaching ability, it'll be cool to watch.

Speaker 2 (41:09):
Yeah, no question, Creighton Saint John's by the way. One
final thought, look out for Florida. We're always talking about
Auburn Alabama to a season number one for a while.
Florida the fourth SEC team in the top five.

Speaker 3 (41:20):
This week.

Speaker 2 (41:21):
We believe the Gators are for real as well. Stay
with us as Spikes Sports Radio back with more after this.

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Speaker 4 (43:20):
It's the heart of basketball season. We're in conference play,
and of course we're getting into February almost to March,
and so what happens is we've got March madness, which
means we've got bubble talk. Mike, NCAA basketball tournament bubble talk,
and I'm excited to talk about some of these blue
blood teams that maybe aren't as I don't know, maybe

(43:41):
they're just bloody right now and be mattered.

Speaker 5 (43:44):
How about North Carolina? Mike in or out.

Speaker 6 (43:48):
I gotta think they're right now. They're not in. It's
a that conference. The weird thing is, and I thought
I would never say this in my lifetime, but the
ACC is so weak it doesn't allow you to make
up ground. And you know, it used to be that
the ACC was a murderers row. You could have two
good weeks in the ACC and find yourself in the tournament.

Speaker 7 (44:10):
No more.

Speaker 4 (44:11):
Yeah, you know, you look at them, they're they're fiftieth
in the NCAA net. They're fourteen and eleven overall, which
means they probably can't afford if they lose three more games,
they're probably they don't have a chance right out of
their next whatever seven games counting the ACC tournament, at
least they have.

Speaker 5 (44:27):
One Quad one win.

Speaker 4 (44:28):
They are one in ten against Quad one opponents, only
six Quad one and Quad two wins together. So yeah,
I think they're out right now. I would agree with you.
I think they're definitely on the outside looking in. Obviously
there's a chance to play themselves in, but like you mentioned,
don't have the number of marquee games that going forward
that they probably are gonna need to win unless they

(44:51):
beat Duke at the end. Obviously that's a that's a
big one.

Speaker 7 (44:54):
All right.

Speaker 5 (44:54):
What about Arkansas?

Speaker 4 (44:57):
Not a blue blood, but they've got the old coach
cal there, and they've played a lot better of late.

Speaker 6 (45:02):
Yeah, they've got the opportunities be in the SEC. They
can make it up. Right now, I probably wouldn't have
the men. I'd have them maybe one of the first
three or four teams out of the tournament. I think
it's ironic that most a lot of the team, I
shouldn't say most, but a lot of the team is

(45:22):
the Kentucky team moves south and they are now looking
at the new Kentucky team that is probably gonna make
it in and maybe even you know, be a four,
five or six seed, and Arkansas could be on the
outside looking in. And I think there's gonna be a
lot of Kentucky fans who are gonna say we told

(45:43):
you so.

Speaker 4 (45:44):
Yeah, no question. The one thing I'll say about Arkansas there,
they're forty one in the net. They've they've done, they're
playing much better of late. They've got three Quad one
wins three and seven agast Squad one, four nine against
Squad one and Quad two, and they are currenturrently, uh
you know They're a team that's probably in that eleven
seed range if they're if the tournament was today, bracket

(46:06):
Matrix has them probably an eleven seed, which I think
is fair at the moment. Now, they they definitely have
some work to do, though, I think if they want
to feel good about their chances on selections Sunday, and
but again in that conference, boy, they've got they've got
a lot of opportunities to get marquee wins. Yes, but
you still have to go out and beat those teams,

(46:26):
which isn't always easy. There's a team in this team.
I'm gonna throw this this in an ad lib, Mike,
this is not our list of teams we are going
to discuss. How about Kansas State. Is Kansas State like
the hottest team in basketball right now? I think I
was looking over the last six games. They are the
number one team in the country in advanced metrics, in

(46:46):
point differential.

Speaker 6 (46:48):
Well, when when Coleman Hawkins starts cooking, you know it's
he's he's a heck of a player. And I I
gotta be honest with you, as a as a guy
who watched him in the Lini jersey for four years,
I'm rooting for Kansas State unless they're playing the Aliini.
I would love to see them in the tournament and

(47:08):
I would love to see them make a mini run
and then maybe Illinois puts them out of it.

Speaker 4 (47:14):
Yeah, they you know, Kansas State seventieth in the net
obviously moving up.

Speaker 5 (47:19):
So that's really though.

Speaker 4 (47:20):
Thirteen eleven overall, four and five and four Quad one wins,
four and five, six and nine against Quad one and
Quad two. But they're making a huge jump and they're
definitely a team on the rise if they get hot here.
I think they're a team, you know, you look at
them with the wins they have gotten over the last
couple weeks that they're an intriguing team that might be
able to sneak their way in. They're definitely a team

(47:41):
that's come on the radar of late. So all right,
here's another one. We got another big team in the SEC.

Speaker 5 (47:49):
How about Texas? Where do you see the Longhorns.

Speaker 6 (47:52):
I don't know that they're a team that I can't
figure out. Obviously they're not they're not winning enough big game.
Rodney Terry, Yeah, that's that's exactly. I wonder if they're
looking back and saying, you know, we got this guy
in there, you know, how is he in trouble? I mean,
do you know are they are the boosters gonna be

(48:14):
behind him?

Speaker 5 (48:15):
I haven't heard much.

Speaker 4 (48:16):
They're they're thirty third in the in the net, they
are probably sitting on Most people have them in that
ten to twelve range of as a seed.

Speaker 5 (48:24):
I'd see them as eleven.

Speaker 4 (48:25):
Maybe they're only three and eight against Quad one, they're
six and ten against Quad one, Quad two, eight Quad
four games, they're eight No there, so I guess they
got that going for them. But you know, yeah, Texas
again in a conference where they have a lot of
opportunities for wins, but sitting at fifteen and ten definitely
work to do.

Speaker 5 (48:44):
They're definitely not.

Speaker 4 (48:45):
They're a team that's right on that bubble and we'll
see how they see how it plays out. Now here's
my last I got to pick on our team here
and I'm gonna throw this one out there. What do
you think of what we kind of talked about this
in the in the break? How about Georgia? What do
you think of Georgia and that team? Is that another
like Jekyl and High team or what they are?

Speaker 6 (49:06):
Another Jekyl and Hide team and you do not want
to face them on the wrong night. You know, they're
one of those classic teams. You know that they've got
I don't know that they have a high ceiling, but
in an individual game, they have a pretty high ceiling,
and they have a pretty low floor. So you don't
know what you're going to get on any given night.
But when they come to play, you're like, how did

(49:27):
they win that game? And then three nights later you're like,
how did they lose that game? And I actually will
now tune them in occasionally just because I have no idea,
so it could be a very good game.

Speaker 5 (49:38):
Yeah, I think i'd see them.

Speaker 4 (49:39):
See that they're also an their team on that eleven
twelve line, you know, ten to twelve, somewhere in that range.
On most of the brackets they're ranked, let's see thirty fifth,
I think in the net sixteen to nine, only two
and nine against Quad one teams, only two and nine
against Quad one opponents, five and nine against Quad one
and two. So yeah, they're they're a team that, again,

(50:02):
a team that's gonna have to finish well even you know,
records solid at sixty to nine, but they're gonna have
to get some more quadrun wins. I think quad one
and two wins to kind of move up that that
that into that bracket and feel good about where they're
at on selection Sunday, Is.

Speaker 5 (50:17):
There anybody what you got? Anybody else?

Speaker 7 (50:20):
Mike, No, I'll be honest with you.

Speaker 6 (50:22):
You look through the Big Ten and this week, you know, Rutgers,
it just didn't play well. You look at the talent
and I think to myself, two of the most talented
freshmen to come through in years, and we're not going
to get a chance to see him in an NCAA game.
And Pikel is a good coach, So I do you

(50:43):
got any theories on what's going on there?

Speaker 4 (50:45):
It's hard to win when your stars are young and
you don't have veterans to kind of help them through that.
And I think that really and people don't appreciate that.
You know, these guys are special, but their supporting cast
is very, very, very inconsistent. And so when you have
a very inconsistent supporting cast, you don't have guys that

(51:05):
you can count on, it really is hard to win
behind those freshmen. And I think that's what we're seeing
with Rutgers. I don't think Michael's a bad coach. I
think he's a great, really good defensive coach. Over years
he's shown that. But they really needed a guy like
you know, Big Cliff to stick around and help nurture
these guys and teach them how to win.

Speaker 6 (51:26):
And that goes to show you that budgeting for nil
is really important.

Speaker 5 (51:30):
It really is. So all right, we'll be back right
after this.

Speaker 4 (51:33):
We're gonna pay Art in il bills.

Speaker 1 (51:39):
You're listening to the Big Sports Radio Network with Larry Smith,
Mike keg Ley, and Brad Sturdy.

Speaker 2 (51:48):
One of the great stories that I think doesn't get
talked about enough because my God is Cooper Flag is
Saint John's and what they have done on Rick Patino.
I don't know who your coach of the Year is
this year, but this guy be coach of the past generation.
I mean, it is just, you know, it's one thing
to be Mike Krzyzewski or a Tom Mizow and stay
in one place, But everywhere Rick Patino goes.

Speaker 3 (52:10):
He gets it done. He just gets it done.

Speaker 2 (52:12):
It doesn't matter Providence, Kentucky, Louisville, Iona and Saint John's
now back in the top ten.

Speaker 3 (52:19):
Let's talk more about that Zach Baziller.

Speaker 2 (52:20):
He's a college sports reporter for the New York Post's
that great.

Speaker 3 (52:24):
Welcome to Big Sports radio.

Speaker 5 (52:26):
Listen.

Speaker 3 (52:26):
How much fun is it these days? Right?

Speaker 2 (52:28):
Had the Johnnies back in the news where everyone's paying
attention again?

Speaker 12 (52:32):
I mean I went from Mike Anderson to Rick Patino.
I mean, is anyone luckier than me?

Speaker 3 (52:37):
Wait?

Speaker 12 (52:38):
Wait, mines, Well it's Look this year, even last year,
where they weren't great, didn't really you know, kind of
caught fire late, just came up short.

Speaker 5 (52:46):
Even last year was a lot of fun.

Speaker 12 (52:48):
But this year is just I mean, it is off
the charts. It's absolutely off the charts. I mean, top
ten team, top of the Big East, twenty one to three.
I don't even like the biggest Saint John's hoverer, I
don't even think would have dremped this up.

Speaker 5 (53:04):
I mean, it's pretty incredible.

Speaker 12 (53:05):
And they can't even you know, they're not even you know,
they're not good offensive team yet. I mean, I think
they're gonna get better, but they're not.

Speaker 3 (53:11):
You know, they're they're one.

Speaker 12 (53:12):
Of the worst three point shooting teams in the country.
But it doesn't matter because they're just they're awesome. On defense,
they rebound, they play so hard, and they they just
find ways to win.

Speaker 2 (53:22):
You know, I think for me, it what epitomizes what
the season has been so far. Was that sequence late
in the game last week against Marquette, and Marquette's got
to get a bucket, right, You're down to the final minute,
and and they the defensive they just they were Saint
John's was stifling on defense. I mean, they just they
ran twenty seconds off the clock running their sets, couldn't
get anything going. And the crowd at MSG just goes

(53:43):
crazy because they they appreciated the effort there and getting
to win a pair of ranked wins, you know, Marquette.

Speaker 3 (53:50):
I think Yukon was still ranked at the time.

Speaker 2 (53:53):
Yeah, I mean it's just you know, to me that
that and I'm watching Patina on the sidelines.

Speaker 3 (53:57):
I'm like, man, this guy he's just so good. Yeah,
he's got stuff.

Speaker 2 (54:00):
Everybody's got stuff in their life, everybody, we've all done stuff,
but maybe he just coaches. It's it's so refreshing you
see a guy who just just gets it done. And
and the way they came out, like you said, they're
not a great offensive team, They're not a great three
pointing team.

Speaker 3 (54:13):
I mean, there's a lot of flaws in this team.
Like you said, they're twenty one and three. Yeah, look,
they have flaws.

Speaker 12 (54:18):
But the thing that I thought, Shaka Smart broke it
down better than anyone where he said. Maybe he exaggerated little,
but he said, look, there are fifty things we talk
about when it comes to winning games, and only want
them to shoot it, and they're great at everything else. Now,
obviously there's some exaggeration there, but you know he's right.

(54:38):
I mean, yes, they are not a good shooting team,
no one's could argue that, but they are elite defensively.
They are an awesome offensive rebounding team. They they have
positional size, and they play so hard.

Speaker 3 (54:51):
That's the thing, and that's why I big.

Speaker 12 (54:53):
I mean, look, any Saint John's team, you know, is
top ten all of a sudden, New York. Look, New
York City is a front I grew up in the city.
It's a front runner, t all of a sudden. Now
everyone wants to talk about Saint John's and oh I
love Saint John's and all this stuff, but it's a
front rounder of town. But I do think there is
a component, especially to the diehards that we really like
this team is because they play so hard. You know,
like they'll be up twenty and you got guys diving

(55:15):
for loose balls. You know, they're you know, after the
huge win over Yukon, R J. Lewis, one of their stars,
is talking about, well, we got to get ready for Villanova.
You know, like they're they're a throwback team. You know,
they kind of kind of remind me of the nineteen
ninety Knicks, you know, which were this hard hat team
that you know, that played great defense, that rebounded, that

(55:35):
was so tough. Kind of remind me like the college
version of that because they just you know, they they
they spot. They've had now four wins where they've been
down fourteen or more than one. You know, they they
don't blink facing adversity, and that's that's a really good
quality to have to be a team that just doesn't
doesn't you know it can they can really take a punch,
and you know, he's sort in the Yukon game when

(55:57):
they were down fourteen in the first ten minutes.

Speaker 3 (55:59):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (56:00):
Talking with Zach Brazilla of The New York Post, who
at this Saint John's basketball team finding themselves in the
AP Top ten this season for the first time. Is
But I think when I think ten in a row,
what is it about this team? Like you said, you're
in New Yorker, you follow You're a college sports reporter,
so you it's your job to follow this stuff, right,
I mean, it's not just a passion, but it's also
a profession.

Speaker 3 (56:20):
What is it about.

Speaker 15 (56:21):
This this team? The changes that that that maybe happened
behind the scenes once Patino came over from my ownA
and began to put his stamp on this program.

Speaker 12 (56:33):
You know, he last year team he kind of had
to put together on the fly. They really only had
one returning guy, Joel Soriano, So he brought in a
lot of guys, and he brought a lot of offensive guys.
He brought a lot of shot makers, but they were
they were not a good defensive team and really didn't
kind of figure out a little bit until late February.
But the key was he was able to keep guys,
you know r J. Lewis, who was one of the

(56:54):
better players on the team last year. Zoobi Edgeford, who
was the backup center and is emerged as one of
the best big men in the country.

Speaker 7 (57:01):
Simeon Wiltshire.

Speaker 12 (57:02):
They're starting two guard, so like he was, those guys
kind of knew what to expect in year two and
then they and then they fit other guys around them
that kind of fit the way he wants to play,
like Kadari Richmond, Davon Smith, Aaron Scott, like really athletic,
tough minded guys.

Speaker 7 (57:19):
You know.

Speaker 12 (57:19):
Aaron Scott comes from North Texas, a program that if
you don't play defense, you don't play And this is
a team that just plays so hard and like, I
can't say that enough. I mean, you know, I think
people really appreciate that. I know, I mean, Patino's talked
about a million times just like how hard they play
and it doesn't matter the score. And that's something that

(57:41):
you know, you just haven't seen a lot of around
here in a while. And you know, it's Look, it's
his second year, magic man. It's happened everywhere he's gone
that second year. His teams just take a huge lead.

Speaker 2 (57:53):
Yeah yeah, and every turn it's and I think about
just in terms of again the success he's had everywhere.
They always go to the NCAA tournament. Talk a bit
about this this Big East conference right now, you know,
it's the it's the one power conference that isn't you know,
thirty teams large, right, I mean it's I mean it's
it's it's still you know, a smaller team and you
got to kind of get some you know around Robin

(58:14):
going and kind of play each other a home and home.
I should say, what is it about this conference right now?
That to me it makes a Big East even even
more special? You always had the great you know, Villanova
and Yukon and and Marquette has come on with with
Shakas Smarty's got a great job since arriving in Milwaukee.
But how does it make this this conference special now
that it's still a smaller conference, it's not a mega conference,

(58:37):
and you know, you can't hike anybody in the Big East.

Speaker 12 (58:41):
Yeah, Look, everyone plays each other twice, which I like,
you know around Robbins, so you gotta you gotta go
to the other teams building every you know, every time.
And look, can't I believe it's four of the last
eight national champions have come from this league. Villanova twice,
Yukon twice. This year's I think you have four pretty

(59:02):
good teams with with Saint John's Yukon, Creighton, and Marquette
Right now, I think you're you know, Marquette and Saint
John's are kind of that three four range. Creton's probably
around a six and Yukon's a little further behind that. Obviously,
Yukon hasn't had McNeely their star freshman, so that's been
a factor as well. He just came back. But yeah, no,

(59:23):
it's it's a it's a really fun league. The biggest
tournament is always an awesome event. It's it's never gonna
be what it was. Sadly, it was just such a
such a mammoth juggernaut of a conference.

Speaker 3 (59:34):
But it's it's still really good.

Speaker 12 (59:36):
And you know, last year they only got three teams
and everyone was really from the league was really upset
about that. Fans are really upset about that. I think
you're probably looking at for this year unless someone just
comes on out of nowhere. Xavier, I thought I had
a shot. Losing at Villanova was a tough one, but yeah,
it's you know, it's it's kind of like I mentioned
Saint John's, that throwback. The league is a throwback because

(59:56):
it's besides Yukon, it's basketball only schools Catholics, and you know,
at a time where you have always just wonky matchups,
you know, you know, Michigan gets usc and stuff like that.
It's it's definitely kind of an old school throwback.

Speaker 3 (01:00:12):
Yeah, and it's it's very cool.

Speaker 2 (01:00:13):
I mean, I know some changes a few years ago
when Butler was added, Creighton was added and in for
a minutes like wait a minute, wait Butler in the
Big East. But they came in to fit in very well.
Xavier and and it's been a lot of fun to
watch getting to March right now. And again the Saint
John's team, you know, to me, they've got two things
in their pocket, obviously, Rick Patino, and the point, like
you said, that they play defense, and that's the thing

(01:00:34):
in March is that you have to play defense. I
think this is one of the most balanced tournaments we've got.
I mean, obviously Gown, Auburn and Duke are at the top,
and we'll see Alabama. But I think really you could
take there's twenty five thirty teams you can kind of
throw into a bowl and say any of these teams
are capable of winning six games in a row, and
I think you'd have to include Saint John's in that.

Speaker 7 (01:00:54):
Yeah.

Speaker 12 (01:00:55):
I mean, you know the other thing they have that
they have two guys in the last five minutes that
could get their own and try any time they want.
Between Richmond and Lewis, they're guys are six six sixty seven,
they're super athletic, they're you know, it's it's it's kind
of against analytics where they take a lot of immediate
mid range twos, but they're good at it. And that's
you know, in the Yukon game, it was Kadari and

(01:01:16):
r J. Lewis who really took over, you know, the
Marquette game. Both those guys were great at the end
of that game. You know, they're very few teams are
going to have guys at their position with their size
and athleticism, And that, to me is another big thing
Saint John's have is they have two guys.

Speaker 3 (01:01:32):
They have like two closers.

Speaker 12 (01:01:33):
You know, Lewis and Richmond are actually both closers and
guys who can make huge plays in the in the clutch.
And I think that's another thing. Yes, they don't shoot threes,
but when you need a bucket, they got two guys
they can go to that can get one.

Speaker 2 (01:01:45):
Yeah, I want to get your thoughts about just college
basketball overall, and we talked about again the Big East
and how they're unique. What's been the biggest big difference
overall in college basketball? You think this year with the
mega conferences we've seen uh in SEC, ACC, Big twelve all,
you know, getting larger thanks to the Pac twelve. Obviously

(01:02:07):
NIL changing things transfer portal. What's the biggest change in
your mind this season that you've seen overall in college basketball.

Speaker 12 (01:02:14):
I think they're more good, you know, they're more good
matchups because you have those kind of super leagues. And
I think it's been a really good year because look,
you have you have all these star freshmen too. That's
another thing NIL has done where maybe the people who
the detractors don't mention is NIL basically ran the NBA
G League nine team out of business and so now

(01:02:37):
you're getting the Dylan Harper, the Ace Bailey, the Cooper
flag in college and that's a great thing for the
sport to get, you know, even if they're only there
for a year, that is a great thing for the
sport instead of them going to the G League and
playing in a non you know, in front of nobody,
nobody's paying attention. Nobody cares, and that to me is
another thing where NIL has been really good. Look, I

(01:02:59):
do think they need to find figurestnging out with the portal.
You need some kind of contracts. Can't be a free
for all every year. I'd like to see two year contracts.
But look, I think the overall NIL has been a
good thing because it's it's keeping guys in college, it's
sending guys to college.

Speaker 3 (01:03:16):
And I don't see a negative to that.

Speaker 2 (01:03:19):
Yeah, yeah, and I think too, Like you said, there's
there's some dollars involved, but listen, let's be honest. In
major sports, there've been dollars involved. Right, Let's let's not
get ourselves. It's still not totally above board. It's still
there's si a lot of mystery kind of behind the curtain,
what's really happening. But to your point, it has level
of playing field where now there is at least it's

(01:03:40):
it is allowed. And so if a kid pulls up
in an eighty thousand dollars car, you don't turn and
and and and look the other way and curious. You know,
our producer Tony, who's a New York native as well,
wonders kind of what how this team measure up to
that great team of yesteryear. It's Chris Mullen and the
big Canuck, Bill Whittington.

Speaker 12 (01:04:00):
It's very it's a very different team. It's better defensively
than that group. But obviously that group had had some
incredible star power. You know, this team's got a long
way to go though. You know it's yes, it's off
to a great start. I guess seventy percent or or
you know, or so through the season. But look, that
team had NBA guys. You know, they great NBA guys.

(01:04:21):
Mull In one of the top fifty all time. So
I think it's way too early to make comparisons. It's
just look, it's fun. They're off to a great start,
but we all know March.

Speaker 3 (01:04:32):
Is what matters.

Speaker 12 (01:04:34):
And you know, if they lost their one and done
or they win a game and go down, you know,
there's gonna be no comparisons to that team. So before
we even make comparisons, let's see what they do in March.
But hey, I mean, for a program for the last
twenty four years that's been irrelevant for the most part,
outside of a few years, they're a huge story now,
one of the best stories and old in the entire sport.

(01:04:54):
And look, I think they're getting better. They're going to
get better. Like they're a better offensive team than they've
played like the last few weeks. You know, they're a
better I'm they're never gonna be a great shooting team,
but I do think they're a better shooting team than
they've shown. And last year's team took a leap in
mid to late November with their weakness defensively. If this
team can even take any kind of a leap offensively

(01:05:17):
by March, I mean, who knows how good they can be?

Speaker 2 (01:05:21):
Wow, Yeah that's true. Hey, quick question for I let
you go. I'm handed in New York, New York. Click
next weekend to go to MSG for the very first time.
What's your what's your what's your recommendation? What should I
do when I get there at the garden?

Speaker 7 (01:05:34):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (01:05:34):
Yeah, yeah, enjoy Which which game you're going to? Illinois Duke?

Speaker 12 (01:05:39):
Oh you probably you know, go to Stout. It's a
pretty good bar right by the garden. It'll probably be
jammed because it always is. Okay, but yeah, that'll be
that'll be fun. I mean, Cooper Flag Illinois obviously a
fun team. Go to stout, you know, have a beer

(01:05:59):
or something and enjoy yourself. But yeah, that's gonna be
a wild crowd. Get there early because that place.

Speaker 3 (01:06:03):
Is going to be happened. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Well. I
had to ask.

Speaker 2 (01:06:06):
I've been to New York, been Times Square, I've done
you know, been out to US Open, I've been to
Yankee Stadium, but I have not done MSG something. I
want to ask an expert, and I got to take
some notes here, all right, Zach, listen, great to spend
some time with you have enjoyed this ride.

Speaker 3 (01:06:23):
Man, it's been so long.

Speaker 12 (01:06:25):
I've covered this team for a decade, so I'm I'm
definitely enjoying this.

Speaker 2 (01:06:31):
And folks, by the way, he's smiling ear to ear
right now talking about Zack. We appreciate it. Thanks so much, buddy,
have a good one, guys. All right, man, I appreciate it.
Zach Bazilla. Once again, he's a college sports writer of
New York Post. Be sure to check him out on
social media. I just doing a great job following this
Saint John's Listen, you can tell it's it's they had
to twist his arm right to go cover this team.

Speaker 3 (01:06:49):
Right, the Saint John's Johnny's.

Speaker 2 (01:06:51):
But it's been fun to watch them twenty one and
three here midweek as they get into March.

Speaker 3 (01:06:55):
Right now, all right, keep it with us. We want
to come on Big Sports Radio.

Speaker 16 (01:06:59):
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Speaker 9 (01:07:46):
Eight hundred five oh seven seven two nine three eight
hundred five oh seven seven two nine three. Eight hundred
five oh seven seven two nine three. That's eight hundred
five oh seven seventy two ninety three.

Speaker 4 (01:08:11):
Talking some NFL controversy controversy of Lamar. No, not Kendrick Lamar.
Lamar Jackson is who we're talking about here. Lamar Jackson
doesn't win MVP, but his first team AP quarterback Josh
Allen wins MVP. Mike, did Lamar Jackson get robbed?

Speaker 6 (01:08:31):
I think a lot of voters decided, well, I'll give
one guy one award and the other guy another award.

Speaker 7 (01:08:36):
That's what I think.

Speaker 6 (01:08:37):
You know, it's hard for me to tell Lamar is
a gifted guy, hasn't won in the playoffs, and and
you know neither and Allen hasn't won far enough into
the playoffs.

Speaker 7 (01:08:51):
So I think both of those guys.

Speaker 6 (01:08:53):
Almost need a Super Bowl ring to consolidate a few
votes to put themselves ahead of the other. And I
think the first one that wins the Super Bowl might
be the guy to get both those awards and step
ahead of the other guy. I'm not saying that's right.

Speaker 4 (01:09:10):
Well, you know, it's not like Mahomes has win MVPs,
but he keeps winning the AFC, so he's doing something right,
you know what I mean at the end of the day.
But I don't have a problem with Josh Allen winning.
I really I thought Lamar Jackson had better numbers this
year than he had a year ago. I think that's
the issue. And he wins last year, probably shouldn't have
won last year. Let's be honest.

Speaker 5 (01:09:27):
He probably shouldn't have been the MVP a year ago.
So I think that that.

Speaker 4 (01:09:32):
But I didn't hear any controversy then, you know what,
So I always find that interesting.

Speaker 5 (01:09:36):
You know, there is one a million once he won.
He's won twice his third MVP Awards.

Speaker 6 (01:09:42):
So here's the interesting thing is is did Dereck Henry
make Lamar a better player? Or did Lamar make Dereck
Henry a better player this year? I think it's interesting
to try to I don't know how you pull that part,
but I think analysis.

Speaker 4 (01:10:01):
Well, I mean, I think you look at his numbers.
Lamar's numbers is much better this year. Having Derrick Henry
on his team, I think I think that was a
big part of it. So, but I you know, I
understand the MVP argument too, because if Josh Allen wasn't
on the Bills, what is their record?

Speaker 7 (01:10:15):
Yeah, I mean.

Speaker 5 (01:10:17):
Like seriously, it's like are they five and eleven, five
and twelve or whatever?

Speaker 6 (01:10:19):
I mean, like Josh Allen I'm trying to figure out,
is he more of a yeah, is is Josh Allen?
Is he this eras John Elway?

Speaker 4 (01:10:33):
He could be he you know, he's got the talent
and then but eventually he's going to break through.

Speaker 5 (01:10:38):
He needs Terrell Davis. That's what he needs and he'll
be okay. Now.

Speaker 4 (01:10:42):
But he's younger too. I mean, he's got you know,
he's younger, he's still young. You know, he's still got
a lot of time left. And these guys are playing
until their forties. So what about you know, let's talk
Hall snubs and the Hall things. I thought, you know,
Eli gets snubbed, doesn't make the Hall, but.

Speaker 7 (01:10:58):
Didn't have any problem with that at all. He won
two Super Bowls.

Speaker 6 (01:11:01):
His defense got hotter than HG double tooth picks two times,
and they had amazing runs. They had two Super Bowls
that were largely each one was was a key play,
was a catch that you literally couldn't replicate if you
threw it a thousand times. And so I think he's

(01:11:25):
a solid QB. I don't know that I would say
he's Hall of Fame worthy, but you know, but again
I'm not one on the rings mean less to me.
Than most people, because again I am a firm believer
that the NFL and football is the greatest team sport
out there, because you can't convince me in any way,

(01:11:49):
shape or form that there's more than one or two
quarterbacks who were better than Dan Marino. But he had
no he had no defense for the entire career and
maybe two season of having a decent running game.

Speaker 4 (01:12:02):
Yeah, no, I I agree. I I think that that's
a huge I totally agree with that. But I do
think Eli's probably gonna get in at some point.

Speaker 7 (01:12:11):
He'll get in.

Speaker 15 (01:12:12):
I do.

Speaker 4 (01:12:12):
I think That's my big thing was you know, Sterling
Sharp was one of the was a dominant receiver for
a really short time. Like we're talking to break reminds
me a little bit Don Mattingly in baseball. But Sharp
gets in and guys like Tory Hol I thought, Tory Hole,
you look at his career numbers during that run, when
the when the the you know, the greatest show on
turf with the Rams is Marshall Falk and Isaac Bruce
and to they were fantastic. I really thought he was

(01:12:35):
a guy who could be in there. You know, Sterling
Sharp obviously great for a while, short period of time,
so that that that also gives you that argument. Is
it just your peak, how great you were at your peak,
or do you have to have longevity?

Speaker 5 (01:12:48):
What's the key? And I and I guess that's.

Speaker 6 (01:12:50):
Hard to well that The guy that I don't understand
is Darren Woodson from the Cowboys in the nineties, was
All Pro and multiple times was at times was the
best player on their defense. And I listened to some
sportswriter talk and he said, well, you know there's certain

(01:13:10):
players that they get it in the first five years,
and then other players I think they have like twenty
years of eligibility. And this guy kind of indicated that
that Woodson would probably get it in year eighteen, nineteen
or twenty. And I'm like, okay, so there's some sort
of grading scale that these guys might be using. And

(01:13:31):
I know that Sterling Sharp, you know, was on pace
to set all sorts of records, and then that neck injury,
you know, cut short his career and holds another one.
I think that will inevitably be in the Hall's Yeah,
but they've got this little chart and they're like, well,
maybe he should be ahead of somebody, but behind somebody

(01:13:52):
else Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:13:53):
It's an interesting concept. I mean, what do you determine?
You know, I always look at the baseball side. There's
certain guys that should be in there, and some people
don't vote for him because it's the first ballad or
this that dumbest thing I've ever heard of.

Speaker 7 (01:14:05):
But I agree with you.

Speaker 5 (01:14:08):
Guys.

Speaker 17 (01:14:08):
Guys are either good enough or they're not good enough.
It's just a simple and I don't really care about
their behaviors. This makes me different than everybody else.

Speaker 6 (01:14:16):
Totally agree. And Pete Rose should be in there. Barry
Bonds should be in there, Rogers Clemons should.

Speaker 5 (01:14:22):
Be Here's the thing, here's my thing.

Speaker 4 (01:14:24):
Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds did enough before they were
juicing to be in this Hall of fame.

Speaker 3 (01:14:29):
You know what I mean.

Speaker 5 (01:14:30):
I mean when you look at what numbers they did, and.

Speaker 6 (01:14:32):
The hypocrisy of these guys who took the greenies in
the fifties, sixties and seventies and and took the amphetamines,
you know, for literally twenty years, and now they're pointing
at the steroid guys saying those guys are bad, but
what ours was?

Speaker 7 (01:14:47):
Okay?

Speaker 5 (01:14:48):
Well, but or some steroid guys get in because we
like them and they're nice. Yeah, and the other steroid
guys that we didn't like them, so we're not going
to put them in because we didn't like those guys.
So well, it's we Well, we don't have enough time
to solve all the Hall of Fame problems, but we
should just be in control. Next maybe next week we'll
take it over. We'll see what we do.

Speaker 7 (01:15:09):
We'll have Elan appoint us.

Speaker 5 (01:15:10):
There we go, we have Hall of Fame dose. So
all right, we'll be back.

Speaker 3 (01:15:16):
Right after this.

Speaker 8 (01:15:17):
Do you know someone with a drug or alcohol problem?
Get help right now. Insurance may cover everything. Stop the
drug and alcohol nightmare. Are drug and alcohol problems hitting
you too close to home? Get help right now. Insurance
may cover everything.

Speaker 9 (01:15:34):
Eight seven seven nine two seven three three eight oh
eight seven seven nine two seven three three eight oh
that's eight seven seven nine two seven thirty three eighty.
Life can be full of risks. One thing you shouldn't
take a risk with, ever, is your family's health insurance.

(01:15:54):
If you're self employed or you now need affordable health insurance,
you need to make this free call right now and
see how the Health Insurance Helpline can help you get
it eight hundred four four eight oh wait two eight
eight hundred four four eight oh wait two eight eight
hundred four four eight oh eight two eight. That's eight
hundred four to four eight zero eight twenty eight.

Speaker 4 (01:16:18):
Little NBA talk here and Mike as as guys, who
are you know from Illinois?

Speaker 5 (01:16:24):
Are we ready for the Bulls to just tear it down?
Just burn it all down and start from scratch.

Speaker 10 (01:16:29):
Uh.

Speaker 6 (01:16:29):
Look, you've seen it with other teams that you know.
The Detroit Pistons now are starting to come back. They've
got a team stocked full of high draft picks. Indiana
Pacers are better. The Bulls need to burn it down.
They need to trade every asset that could be that
could possibly get them a draft pick, possibly get them something,

(01:16:53):
and they just need to start over. And to be
honest with you, if I were Billy Donovan, I would
be looking to get back into the college game or
do what you really do when you want to be
a great coach, go to ESPN for a year, rehab
your image there, and then pick your job, whether it's
NBA or college that you'd like.

Speaker 4 (01:17:15):
Yeah, I just don't see it, and I know they
it's almost like they built around zach Lavine, and I
never saw Zach Lavin as being you know, he's a
he's a fine player, but he's not your star guy,
you know. So it's always interesting to see how this
how it plays out in the NBA because it is
so you know, it is one of those things where

(01:17:35):
yet if you're not and I was listening to actually, uh,
it was Colin Kawer talking about the NBA draft. Now,
if you're not one of those top teams like getting
that top pick, you get Wemby, you get somebody like that.
Lebron obviously was a game changer, those types of things,
if you're not that team, it's a crapshoot.

Speaker 3 (01:17:54):
You know.

Speaker 4 (01:17:55):
This isn't like the NFL draft either, So it is
really hard to build through the AFT. You got to
sign the right guys, you got to get lucky, and
you got to lose big I think before you can
kind of do that. I mean, has there ever been
a franchise more just resting on the laurels of one
player than the Chicago Bulls.

Speaker 5 (01:18:13):
I mean it's basically it's.

Speaker 4 (01:18:16):
Michael Jordan's era and then everything else about the Bulls.
I will say Dereck Rose did almost get there right injury,
But really, the Bulls are just Michael Jordan's and everybody
else doesn't matter. I mean, and I hate to say that,
it's just reality. That's the only time they've really been
you know, you know Rose had the time before the injury.

Speaker 6 (01:18:37):
But you know it's just it's a took care of
that with his extensive minutes. And he'll probably do the
same thing to the Knicks, oh.

Speaker 5 (01:18:45):
For sure, no question.

Speaker 4 (01:18:46):
That's where Brunston's gonna be in the same mode. So Lakers,
how about the Lakers trade? You know, they make the
big trade, get Luca. Then they wanted to get a
guy to run the ball screen, lobs and all those
things and get to the rim.

Speaker 5 (01:18:58):
And the Dalton connect was just way over to Charlotte
and he's back. And so because they didn't pass physical,
the Williams Williams didn't pass physical. It's always interesting to
see this happened in the NBA. So what happens now?

Speaker 7 (01:19:12):
You think you get cousins. You know, the old Kentucky player.

Speaker 6 (01:19:15):
I think he's playing Turkey go pulling back, pulling back
from Turkey bringing. I mean, look, jlil Okafer's back in
the league.

Speaker 5 (01:19:24):
Hey, Kofy Kofe Coburn.

Speaker 6 (01:19:26):
Well, I'll tell you right now, if you need somebody
to get I would just tell co I would just
get Kofe and say, look, you just got to get
every rebound you possibly can. I don't care what you
do beyond get a rebound, and then if you get
the ball in the lane, dunk it. Beyond that you
do whatever you want. You get some popcorn, you have
some hot dog. I don't care rebound and dunk in

(01:19:46):
the lane.

Speaker 4 (01:19:47):
Instead, they have the vaunted alex Lynn back. So yeah,
we'll see, we'll see how that goes. How about another note,
how about uh Marshall falk Right, he goes to where
where's he going with coach?

Speaker 7 (01:20:04):
Prime?

Speaker 5 (01:20:05):
Prime? Prime?

Speaker 6 (01:20:06):
I tell you, you know, falk is another guy. He
he certainly was prepared on his TV stuff. He was
never a guy who at least I never got the
impression he was a guy who was just winging it
or not putting his time in.

Speaker 7 (01:20:20):
So that bodes well for a guy who wants to coach.

Speaker 6 (01:20:24):
And at his peak, you know, when you consider you know,
catching the path, catching the ball, and then obviously his
skills as a running back, he's probably top five all time.

Speaker 7 (01:20:36):
If you if you get both modes of gaining yards together.

Speaker 5 (01:20:41):
Yeah, I mean he was MVP, right, I mean, this
guy was MVP of the league. He was at his peak.
He was fantastic.

Speaker 4 (01:20:46):
He was one of the most fun players to watch
in the He was like a past catching version of
He's like poor man's Barry Sanders a little bit, but
past catching was on another level.

Speaker 5 (01:20:57):
You know, they could use him in the passing game.

Speaker 4 (01:20:58):
So he's fantastic. So, I mean, there's a lot of
street cred there on that staff man. What do you
got three three Hall of Famers or something on their
coaching of I guess that's pretty good. I guess we're
gonna go big, go home, go big, or go home
right in Colorado.

Speaker 6 (01:21:11):
Yeah, And they landed a QB out of the portal.
So we'll see where coach Prime is next year. There
was a lot of people who said when Shaduur was gone,
so was he. He's proved those people wrong. Now we'll
see if he can be successful without his son.

Speaker 4 (01:21:38):
Talking some NFL controversy, Mike controversy of Lamar. No, not
Kendrick Lamar. Lamar Jackson is who we're talking about. Here,
Lamar Jackson doesn't win MVP, but his first team AP
quarterback Josh Allen wins MVP. Mike, did Lamar Jackson get robbed?

Speaker 6 (01:21:58):
I think a lot of voters decided, well, I'll give
one guy one award and the other guy another award.

Speaker 7 (01:22:03):
That's what I think.

Speaker 6 (01:22:04):
You know, it's hard for me to tell Lamar is
a gifted guy, hasn't won in the playoffs and you
know neither and Allen hasn't won far enough into the playoffs.

Speaker 7 (01:22:18):
So I think both of those guys.

Speaker 6 (01:22:20):
Almost need a Super Bowl ring to consolidate a few
votes to put themselves ahead of the other. And I
think the first one that wins the Super Bowl might
be the guy to get both those awards and step
ahead of the other guy.

Speaker 7 (01:22:36):
I'm not saying that's right.

Speaker 4 (01:22:37):
Well, and you know, it's not like Mahomes has win MVPs,
but he keeps winning the AFC, so he's doing something right,
you know what I mean at the end of the day.
But I don't have a problem with Josh Allen winning.
I really I thought Lamar Jackson had better numbers this
year than he had a year ago. I think that's
the issue and he wins last year, probably shouldn't have
won last year.

Speaker 5 (01:22:53):
Let's be honest. He probably shouldn't have been the MVP
a year ago. So I think that that.

Speaker 4 (01:22:59):
But I didn't hear any controversy then, you know what,
so I always find that interesting.

Speaker 5 (01:23:03):
You know, there is one a million vs. What's he won?
He's won twice, his third MVP award.

Speaker 6 (01:23:09):
So here's the interesting thing is is did Derrick Henry
make Lamar a better player? Or did Lamar make Derreck
Henry a better player this year? I think it's interesting
to try to I don't know how you pull that part,
but I think it'd be interesting analysis.

Speaker 8 (01:23:28):
Well.

Speaker 4 (01:23:28):
I mean, I think you look at his numbers. Lamar's
numbers much better this year. Having Derrick Henry on his team.
I think I think that was a big part of it. So,
but I you know, I understand the MVP argument too,
because if Josh Allen wasn't on the Bills, what is
their record? I mean like seriously, it's like, are they
five and eleven, five and twelve or whatever?

Speaker 7 (01:23:46):
I mean, like Allen, I'm trying to figure out is
he more of a fourteen?

Speaker 3 (01:23:53):
Yeah?

Speaker 7 (01:23:54):
Is Josh Allen? Is he this eras John Elway.

Speaker 4 (01:24:00):
He could be he you know, he's got the talent
and then but eventually he's going to break through.

Speaker 5 (01:24:05):
He needs Terrell Davis. That's what he needs, and he'll
be okay. Now.

Speaker 4 (01:24:09):
But he's younger too, I mean, he's got you know,
he's younger, he's still young. You know, he's still got
a lot of time left. And these guys are playing
until our forties. So what about you know, let's talk
haul snubs and in hall things. I thought, you know,
Eli gets snubbed, doesn't make the Hall bots.

Speaker 6 (01:24:25):
Didn't have any problem with that at all. He won
two Super Bowls. His defense got hotter than HG double
tooth picks two times, and they had amazing runs. They
had two Super Bowls that were largely each one was
was a key play, was a catch that you literally

(01:24:46):
couldn't replicate if you threw it a thousand times. And
so I think he's a solid QB. I don't know
that I would say he's Hall of Fame worthy, but
you know, but again I'm not one on the The
rings mean less to me than most people because again
I am a firm believer that that the NFL and

(01:25:09):
football is the greatest team sport out there, because you
can't convince me in any way, shape or form that
there's more than one or two quarterbacks who were better
than Dan Marino. But he had no he had no
defense for the entire career and maybe two seasons of
having a decent running game.

Speaker 4 (01:25:29):
Yeah, no, I I agree. I I think that that's
a huge I totally agree with that. But I do
think Eli's probably going to get in at some point.

Speaker 7 (01:25:37):
Oh, he'll get in, I do.

Speaker 4 (01:25:39):
I think that's my big thing was you know, Sterling
Sharp was one of was a dominant receiver for a
really short time. Like we're talking to break reminds me
a little bit Don Mattingly and baseball. But Sharp gets
in and guys like Tory Hol I thought, Tory Hol
you look at his career numbers during that run, when
the when the the you know, the greatest show on
turf with the Rams is Marshall Falk and Isaac Bruce
and to they were fantastic. I really thought he was

(01:26:02):
a guy who could be in there. You know, Sterling
Sharp obviously great for a while short period of time.
So that also gives you that argument, is it just
your peak? How great you were at your peak or
do you have to have longevity?

Speaker 5 (01:26:15):
What's the key? And I guess that's hard to Well.

Speaker 6 (01:26:18):
The guy that I don't understand is Darren Woodson from
the Cowboys in the nineties was All Pro and multiple
times was at times was the best player on their defense.
And I listened to some sportswriter talk and he said, well,
you know, there's certain players that they get it in

(01:26:39):
the first five years, and then other players I think
they have like twenty years of eligibility. And this guy
kind of indicated that that Woodson would probably get it
in year eighteen, nineteen or twenty. And I'm like, okay,
so there's some sort of grading scale that these guys
might be using. And I know that Sterling Sharp, you know,

(01:27:00):
was on pace to set all sorts of records, and
then that that neck injury, you know, cut short his
career and and holds another one. I think that will
inevitably be in the Hall. It's yeah, but they've got
this little chart and they're like, well, maybe he should
be ahead of somebody, but behind somebody else.

Speaker 4 (01:27:19):
Yeah, it's an interesting concept. I mean, how what do
you determine? You know, I always look at the baseball side.
There's certain guys that should be in there, and some
people don't vote for him because it's the first ballot
or this that dumbest thing I've ever heard of.

Speaker 17 (01:27:32):
But I agree with you, guys. Guys are either good
enough or they're not good enough. It's just a simple
and I don't really care about their behaviors. This makes
me different than everybody else. And Pete Rose should be
in there, Barry Bonds should be in there, Rogers Clemons should.

Speaker 4 (01:27:49):
Be Here's my thing, Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds did
enough before they.

Speaker 5 (01:27:54):
Were juicing to be in this Hall of fame. You
know what I mean. I mean when you look at
what numbers they did, and.

Speaker 6 (01:27:59):
The hipocris of these guys who took the greenies in
the fifties, sixties and seventies and took the amphetamines, you know,
for literally twenty years. And now they're pointing at the
steroid guys saying those guys are bad, but what ours
was okay?

Speaker 5 (01:28:15):
Well, but or some steroid guys get in because we
like them and they're nice, yeah, and the other steroid
guys that we didn't like.

Speaker 4 (01:28:22):
Them, So we're not going to put them in because
we didn't like those guys. So well, it's we we well,
we don't have enough time to solve all the Hall of.

Speaker 5 (01:28:29):
Fame problems, but we should just be in control. Next
maybe next week we'll take it over. We'll see what
we did.

Speaker 7 (01:28:36):
We'll have Elon appoint us.

Speaker 5 (01:28:37):
There we go, we Hall of Fame doge. So all right,
we'll be back right after this.

Speaker 8 (01:28:44):
Do you know someone with a drug or alcohol problem?
Get help right now. Insurance may cover everything. Stop the
drug and alcohol nightmare. Are drug and alcohol problems hitting
you too close to home? Get help right now. Insurance
may cover everything.

Speaker 9 (01:29:01):
Eight seven seven nine two seven three three eight oh
eight seven seven nine two seven three three eight oh
that's eight seven seven nine two.

Speaker 8 (01:29:12):
Seven thirty three eighty. Life can be full of risks.
One thing you shouldn't take a risk with ever, is
your family's health insurance. If you're self employed or you
now need affordable health insurance, you need to make this
free call right now and see how the Health Insurance
Helpline can help you get it.

Speaker 9 (01:29:31):
Eight hundred four four eight oh wait two eight eight
hundred four four eight oh eight two eight eight hundred
four four eight oh eight two eight. That's eight hundred
four four eight zero eight twenty eighty.

Speaker 4 (01:29:45):
Little NBA talk here and Mike as as guys, who
are you know from Illinois?

Speaker 5 (01:29:51):
Are we ready for the Bulls to just tear it down,
just burn it all down and start from scratch.

Speaker 14 (01:29:56):
Uh.

Speaker 7 (01:29:56):
Look, you've seen it with other teams.

Speaker 2 (01:30:00):
You know.

Speaker 6 (01:30:00):
The Detroit Pistons now are starting to come back. They've
got a team stocked full of high draft picks. Indiana
Pacers are better. The Bulls need to burn it down.
They need to trade every asset that could be that
could possibly get them a draft pick, possibly get them something,

(01:30:20):
and they just need to start over. And to be
honest with you, if I were Billy Donovan, I would
be looking to get back into the college game or
do what you really do when you want to be
a great coach, go to ESPN for a year, rehab
your image there, and then pick your job, whether it's
NBA or college that you'd like.

Speaker 7 (01:30:42):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:30:42):
I just don't see it.

Speaker 4 (01:30:44):
And I know it's almost like they built around Zach Lavine,
and I never saw Zach Lavin as being you know,
he's he's a fine player, he's not your star guy.
You know, so it's always interesting to see how this
how it plays out in the NBA because it is
so you know, it is one of those things where
yet if you're not and I was listening, actually, uh,

(01:31:07):
I think it's Colin Cower talking about the NBA draft. Now,
if you're not one of those top teams, like getting
that top pick, you get Wemby, you get somebody like that.
Lebron obviously was a game changer, those types of things.
If you're not that team, it's a crap shoot.

Speaker 3 (01:31:21):
You know.

Speaker 4 (01:31:22):
This isn't like the NFL draft either, So it is
really hard to build through the draft. You got to
sign the right guys, you got to get lucky, and
you gotta lose big I think before you can kind
of do that. I mean, has there ever been a
franchise more just resting on the laurels of one player
than the Chicago Bulls. I mean, it's basically it's Michael

(01:31:43):
Jordan's era and then everything else about the Bulls. I
will say Derreck Rose did almost get there, right Andrew,
but really the Bulls are just Michael Jordan's and everybody
else doesn't matter. I mean, and I hate to say that,
it's just reality. That's the only time they've really been
you know, you know Rose had the time before the injury,

(01:32:04):
but you know, it's just it's.

Speaker 6 (01:32:05):
A rom Thibodeau took care of that with his extensive minutes,
and he'll probably do the same thing to the Knicks,
oh for.

Speaker 5 (01:32:12):
Sure, no question.

Speaker 4 (01:32:13):
That's where Brunston is gonna be in the same mode.
So Lakers, how about the Lakers trade? You know, they
make the big trade, get Luca. Then they wanted to
get a guy to run the ball screen, lobs and
all those things and get to the rim. And the
Dalton connect was on his way over to Charlotte and
he's back. And so because they didn't pass physical, the
Williams Williams didn't pass physical. It's always interesting to see

(01:32:35):
this happened in the NBA. So what happens now?

Speaker 7 (01:32:39):
Do you think you get cousins? You know, the old
Kentucky player.

Speaker 6 (01:32:42):
I think he's playing Turkey go pulling back, pulling back
from Turkey bringing. I mean, look, Jilil Okaffer's back in
the league.

Speaker 5 (01:32:51):
Hey, Kofy Kofe Coburn from I'll tell.

Speaker 6 (01:32:53):
You right now, if you need somebody to get I
would just tell co I would just get kofe and say, look,
you just got to get every rebound you possibly can.
I don't care what you do beyond get a rebound,
and then if you get the ball in the lane,
dunk it. Beyond that, you do whatever you want. You
get some popcorn, you have some hot dog. I don't
care rebound and dunk in the lane.

Speaker 4 (01:33:14):
Instead, they have the vaunted Alex Lynne back. So yeah,
we'll see, We'll see.

Speaker 3 (01:33:22):
How that goes.

Speaker 4 (01:33:22):
How about another note, how about uh Marshall falk Right,
he goes to where where's he going with coach?

Speaker 7 (01:33:31):
Prime?

Speaker 3 (01:33:32):
Prime?

Speaker 5 (01:33:33):
Prime?

Speaker 6 (01:33:33):
I tell you you know, falk is another guy. He
he certainly was prepared on his TV stuff. He was
never a guy who, at least I never got the
impression he was a guy who was just winging it
or not putting his time in. So that bodes well
for a guy who wants to coach. And at his peak,
you know, when you consider you know, catching the path

(01:33:56):
and catching the ball, and then obviously his skills as
a running back, he's probably top five all time if
you get both modes of gaining yards together.

Speaker 5 (01:34:08):
Yeah, I mean he was MVP, right, I mean this
guy was MVP of the league. He was and his peak,
he was fantastic.

Speaker 4 (01:34:13):
He was one of the most fun players to watch
in the He was like a past catching version of
He's like poor man's Berry Sanders a little bit, but
past catching was on another level. You know, they could
use him in the passing game. So he's fantastic. So,
I mean, there's a lot of street cred there on
that staff.

Speaker 3 (01:34:29):
Man.

Speaker 4 (01:34:29):
What do you got three three Hall of Famers or
something on their coaching of I guess that's pretty good.
I guess we're gonna go big, go home, go big,
or go home right in Colorado.

Speaker 6 (01:34:38):
Yeah, and they landed a QB out of the portal.
So we'll see where coach Prime is next year. There
was a lot of people who said when Shaduur was gone,
so was he. He's proved those people wrong. Now we'll
see if he can be successful without his son.

Speaker 3 (01:35:05):
I just know whether they were on the show.

Speaker 2 (01:35:06):
It's about that time. Come up to the top of
the hour, end of the show where we make our picks.
Uh Starney probably do.

Speaker 5 (01:35:13):
Last week, Mike tied for first with all us.

Speaker 3 (01:35:17):
How how did he do that?

Speaker 4 (01:35:19):
Because we missed everything it's called Super Winner, Super Super Winner,
superl m v P, and prop bets.

Speaker 5 (01:35:25):
We missed them all.

Speaker 7 (01:35:26):
It's called Tiger Blood Baby we.

Speaker 5 (01:35:30):
I think it's better to say we tied for last
with Mike.

Speaker 3 (01:35:37):
Let's face, that's right, That's right.

Speaker 5 (01:35:41):
I mean it was.

Speaker 3 (01:35:42):
It was boy, it was brutal.

Speaker 5 (01:35:44):
I mean, how bad is it?

Speaker 2 (01:35:46):
Because here's the thing when you've got and my wife
had some show on this week and I don't know
what it was, but they it was a show with
some women on it, and they were saying, you know,
I really don't know about football, but I know, I
just I really felt bad for Kansas City.

Speaker 3 (01:35:58):
And I just said, well, the.

Speaker 2 (01:36:00):
One woman she said I would. I was telling them
the screens stopped scoring, let's.

Speaker 5 (01:36:03):
Let them score once.

Speaker 6 (01:36:06):
Yeah, it was tend to nothing. When it hit me
that there was no chance for Kansas City.

Speaker 7 (01:36:11):
Yeah, it was.

Speaker 5 (01:36:12):
That was bad. They just domination.

Speaker 4 (01:36:14):
You know what, I don't feel bad for the Chiefs
fans because the Raiders haven't been in Super Bowl since
well I don't Mike was a little kid, so and
neither of the Cowboys.

Speaker 3 (01:36:23):
So just long for the Raiders.

Speaker 2 (01:36:26):
The cell phones had been hadn't been in existence yet
that it's been a really long time, and so question.
Funniest thing I matter super Bowl party. Briefly, I don't
care what super Bowl parties. I roped into one. Beautiful people,
my neighbors. They were great, we had we stayed for
the first half.

Speaker 3 (01:36:39):
That's fine. But someone's had a great quip.

Speaker 2 (01:36:42):
This guy is a Bears fan, and he said, well,
at least we know what Mahome would look like if
the Bears were smarting enough to draft him so many
years ago.

Speaker 3 (01:36:48):
Just like that, no line thirty for his life exactly
so so, but hats off to the Eagles.

Speaker 9 (01:36:54):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (01:36:55):
Jalen Hurts loved that story. You know, loses his job
in Alabama due to injury. He goos Oklahoma and now
here he is. Two super Bowls, one championship, MVP, gorgeous fiance.
He's a great young man. What an ambassador for the game.
I just, you know what, hats off to him and
the Eagles and godless. So all right, let's get to

(01:37:16):
this week's picks. It's all hoops.

Speaker 3 (01:37:18):
Let's start in the Big Ten Michigan State at Illinois.

Speaker 5 (01:37:22):
What a fun matchup.

Speaker 4 (01:37:23):
This is tom Izzo going for the Big Ten record
for wins trying to pass Bob Night wasn't able to
do it against Indiana at home.

Speaker 5 (01:37:30):
But I like Illinois here.

Speaker 4 (01:37:32):
I think Illinois is getting healthy, getting whole, and that's
why I think they're going to be able to pull
this one out.

Speaker 7 (01:37:39):
Yeah. I like Illinois as well.

Speaker 6 (01:37:41):
You just don't want to get a couple of calls
against you like they got when Joe Paterno won his
last game and there was just bad call after bad call.

Speaker 7 (01:37:49):
So let's go Illinois.

Speaker 2 (01:37:51):
Yeah, I think it only ran out of their quotas
of a bad use them all up in these lanting
last month.

Speaker 3 (01:37:57):
So we'll see KG actually play thirty minutes in this one.

Speaker 2 (01:37:59):
I'll tell Illinois as well, to beginning to write the ship,
they understand how important it is. Obviously the e motion
with Terrence Shannon Junior's jersey, we raise the rafters. I'll
take the Alani before they hit the road Wisconsin at Purdue.

Speaker 4 (01:38:11):
I'll tell you what, playing in mac Arena is not
for the faint of heart, and this is why I'm
going to take the boiler Makers over the Badgers. Badgers
are playing well, They've had a really good season. Greg
Gard is really overachieved with this group. But I just
think Purdue at home is going to be tough to beat.

Speaker 6 (01:38:25):
As we've seen, that place is a deafening place to
play at if you haven't been there. It's worth going
there if you feel like you're coming out of a concert.
And I don't think Wisconsin is good enough to beat
this Purdue team, not at Mackie.

Speaker 3 (01:38:41):
Yeah, produce at home.

Speaker 7 (01:38:42):
I agree with you.

Speaker 2 (01:38:43):
At Wisconsin, I'd give the Badgers a shot, but I
think it's purduing this. They did lose it home against
Ohio State, we know that, but I think they take
your business in this one to the SEC. Now number
one versus number two Auburn at Alabama.

Speaker 4 (01:38:57):
This is one where I love Alabama on offense. I
think they are just fantastic. They're so fun to watch.
But I think Auburn pulls this one out even at Alabama,
and I think Auburn gets to win.

Speaker 6 (01:39:09):
I like Auburn a lot, but I think Alabama is
gonna be up for this with a home game and
they're gonna come out of this with the victory.

Speaker 2 (01:39:17):
I'm gonna take the home crowd spurring them on and
give me that extra bit of jish to get over
the hump against the Tigers. Listen, I know Auburn already
lost a game. They should lose another couple of games
as well, just to kind of know what that feels like.
Bruce Pearl, I know all the altin nation feels about
him three decades later.

Speaker 3 (01:39:33):
Fantastic coach.

Speaker 2 (01:39:34):
But I'm gonna take Alabama in this one to now
the Big East as Saint John's coming off a loss
against Villanova a couple of nights ago at home against Creighton.

Speaker 4 (01:39:42):
In this one, give me the Johnnies. They have Patino.
I think he's the best coach at college basketball.

Speaker 6 (01:39:49):
I'll take that bet, and I'll even raise it one.
I think he's the best coach in basketball period. I'll
take Saint John's as well.

Speaker 2 (01:39:58):
Yeah, I can't go against you know. I think he's
just fantastic. And like we've said before, we all got baggage.
Whatever he did was ten years ago. Let it go,
let's move on. This guy's fantastic and I can't wait
to see what his team does.

Speaker 5 (01:40:10):
It's only like thirty seconds too, so yeah, exact exactly, all.

Speaker 2 (01:40:16):
Right, I guess we Producer Tony tell Us, we got
to go listen. Appreciate all the guests who came by. Man,
it was jam pack a lot of visitors. We enjoyed them.
Hope you did as well. Enjoy the weekend, enjoy the game,
stay safe, take care of each other. We will talk
to you next week and the same place, same station.

Speaker 3 (01:40:32):
See you.

Speaker 1 (01:40:36):
This has been a presentation of LMBC Sports LLC and
Revision Sound.

Speaker 3 (01:40:42):
We'll be back next week on Big Sports Radio Network.

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