February 12, 2022 • 42 mins
Mike and Gus talk Villanova's changes for a third National Title, identify key "glue guys," and preview the Saturday games!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:16):
Welcome do the Screen The Screen orCollege Basketball podcast with your hosts, Mike
Randall and Gus Kerns. Welcome inlisteners to the Screen, the Screen or
College Basketball Podcast. We're always talkingeverything college hoops. Could have been anywhere
else in the dial, but youchose to be here with us Mike and
Gus, and we appreciate that collegebasketball season has flipped to February. That
(00:40):
means we're one short month away fromholding a bracket in our hands. Mike,
how does that projection sound for you? Would you like to mark up
a bracket with a pencil, asharpie, maybe maybe an expo marker in
some sort of smart pal Like,what are you excited about the possibility of
holding a real bracket? I amuber excited, as you know, for
(01:03):
the Brackett preview show. I mean, I this is at a level.
Gus. You and I used toalways get together for the NBA draft.
Remember when Webber went first and Ijust kept pausing the draft and playing pictures
of Webber dunking before he was tradedor whatever happened okay with Penny, I
guess I don't know whatever. Anyways, I am so excited for this.
(01:23):
I cannot wait for the bracket preview. I'm excited to hold a brackets so
much that I just want the previewshow so we can go back and forth.
And to prepare for that, allI've done on Twitter is continue to
annoy fans of teams that I'm notputting high enough. In the bracket preview,
I started with UCLA. That wentvery well, very they're very happy.
(01:44):
And now it went with Purdue okay. And what's funny is I got
I did not have Purdue as aone because I did not think prior to
the destruction of Illinois that they wereone. I thought the metrics, again,
this isn't what I want, it'swhat I think is going to happen.
Correct, So I had them asgasp a two. Okay, and
(02:04):
somebody sends lol Purdue over can CansPurdue lol. Right, and then they
then give me the winky face,the winky face when Kansas loses. Okay,
So do I give them the winkyface back now that Purdue was taken
to the woodshed nan arbor tonight,No, I think I have to be
more mature, although being mature isnot one of my better characteristics. Guss.
(02:28):
I think anytime a winky face emojigets involved, I think we can
just steer clear of it. Ithink that's my general rule of them.
I think Purdue fads you are nowa dose. Just say it. I
don't think you're a one, butwhatever. Okay, Michigan looked great tonight.
You know at Caleb Houston actually lookedreally great on the wing, complimenting
(02:50):
the inside force that is Hunter Dickinson. Hunter Dickinson hit a couple of threes.
You know, Debt is really impactfulon both ends of the floor.
It seems like Jones is figuring somethings out for Michigan. So yeah,
I'm a little bit back in withthem, even though they're very similar to
Oregon No Mike like where they looklike a little bit of a train wreck
(03:12):
and now they have some things figuredout along the way. And I don't
know if i'd want to try tomatch up with Houston and Hunter Dickinson inside,
I'm not sure i'd like to dothat. I full disclosure, Gusts,
I can't lie to you. Iwill be very excited to fade them
in their next game. I'm reallylooking forward to that. I think they
(03:34):
had a night. I think itwas a spectacular night and kudos them for
a fantastic performance. But if you'reif you're asking me, I am very
uber excited to see this team Michiganbe faded their upcoming schedule Ohio State State.
I will be all in on OhioState this sec say, right now,
(03:55):
right now, Ken Pom has itsMichigan minus one, thank you very
much. Then they go to Iowa. Okay, I just dropped one hundred
and ten, and then down screen, back screen with at Wisconsin. So
I get it. I'm going tobe fading them. I think it was
a nice win. But I've I'vebeen down on Michigan the whole year and
(04:15):
it's been profitable for me. Buttonight they were perfect. So I guess
that leads us into our initial talkingpoint on the podcast this evening, and
that's going to be a question thatcame from a listener, Tanner out in
Roxbury. What's up? Thank youfor joining the pod and contributing. His
question is pretty simple, Mike,does Villanova have a shot at the national
(04:40):
championship this particular season. I thinkwe can dive into this and help Tanner
out. What do you think?Yeah, let's take a look at it.
And thank you, thank you forthe question. I'll look at it
two ways, Gus. I'll start, then you do your thing. I
think if we're gonna look at wherethey can win the national title, we
should look at how they won thenational title in twenty sixteen. Tw the
eighteen just my thoughts, Okay,So I went back and looked at twenty
(05:02):
sixteen. Now what jumped out aboutthe twenty sixteen Valinnoble wildcast veteran team fifty
six in experience, excellent balance onoffense and defense. They were third and
adjusted offensive efficiency and fifth and adjusteddefensive efficiency per Kenpom. They were super
efficient on two point percentage. Iremember you interviewed John Gasaway and talked about
this about how important and how muchof a weapon it is if you're efficient
(05:25):
on your two pointers. They hadthe second best two point percentage in the
nation. That you're fifty seven pointfour percent. They made their free throws
always a nice bonus, seventy eightpoint two percent that was second in the
country as well. And they forcedturnovers, but they didn't turn the ball
over themselves. I mean, really, the twenty sixteen team was a poster
(05:46):
child on how to do this.Because they covered all their bases, even
though gus they paid played at apretty slow pace. So let's go to
twenty eighteen. Take a look atthis team. Still had a veteran team
again at ninety six in the countryand experience. They had brilliant balance again
on offense and defense. They werefirst and eleventh on offense and defensive efficiency
again, super efficient on the twopointers fifty nine percent from two pointerers,
(06:11):
just as good as they were intwenty seventeen. They also made their free
throws again top ten. They didn'tproduce as many turnovers defensively, but they
did not turn the ball over andthey compensated for that with a much better
three point percentage. In twenty eighteento twenty sixty is a team they shot
over forty percent from three point rangeand the pace was a little faster.
(06:33):
Now take those two things, Tanner, look at twenty twenty two. What
do we have here, Well,veteran team sixty first in experience, brilliant
balance on offense and defense, sixthand nineteenth on both ends of the floor.
They're not producing a ton of turnovers, but they're not turning the ball
over themselves, and they are shootingthe three fairly well over thirty six percent.
(06:56):
Their pace is closer to twenty sixteen. However, the biggest difference between
this team and the last two Villanovateams is their two point percentage efficiency.
It is under fifty percent, fournine point six percent. What I'm saying,
Tanner is I think they can,but they need to improve on that
two point proficiency. They're playing ata slow pace. They need to be
(07:16):
efficient on offense. They're also notas deep. They're not as deep with
some weapons coming off the bench asthey were in those other two years.
So the bench is a difference.The two point efficiency is the difference.
If you start seeing Villanova hit ahigher percentage of their twos, they do
gus. I think have the samesort of schematic as they did in their
two national championship years. Look,I think the numbers aren't gonna lie there,
(07:42):
and you're correct. When we talkto a John Gasway of ESPN,
he highlighted that two point efficiency numberfor Villanova during that title run and said
that's going to be an important partpreviewing that that tournament, saying like that,
this is going to be a weaponfor them moving forward. Here's my
only takeaway or my only reason tostep back. Both of those teams had
(08:09):
NBA talent on the roster. Bothof those teams had we can say NBA
starters on the roster. How aboutthat. I don't know if this roster
contains that level of talent, AndI think at some point you kind of
have to look at the players onthe floor and say, what is the
(08:30):
ceiling for this roster or team ofplayers talent wise? It are are there
a bunch of NBA players on theroster? Are there one or two?
Is it a Wisconsin situation with JohnnyDavis and everybody else? I don't know
who that player might be. Orwe're gonna say, like Samuel's is going
to have like a seven year NBAcareer. Okay, maybe I'm down with
(08:50):
that. I'm not opposed that.I don't know if I think Galepsie finds
a spot. I don't know ifhe knows impactful as Brunson is for the
Mavericks. I'm not sure if that'sa thing. So I think the numbers
are going to tell you the truthhere, Tanner. But then I think
you also have to incorporate the eyetest of what the talent tells you and
(09:13):
I think they're gonna fall a littleshort this year because of that talent level.
And you know, just to backup what Mike was referring to,
that talent level speaks to that twopoint efficiency, like you need shot makers,
and that's what Villanova had at anumber of different positions, whether we're
talking about Josh Hart, whether we'retalking about Chris Jenkins, whether we're talking
(09:33):
about Brunson, whether we're talking aboutVincenzo, Like, all of those guys
are shot makers. I'm not surewho the elite shot makers are on this
particular Villanova roster. And that's whatgives me pause. It's a really good
point, Gus, looking back ontwenty sixteen Josh Hart, Jalen Brunson,
McCall Bridges was a freshman. Yeah, and many players yep. Going to
(09:54):
twenty eighteen Bridges again, de Vincenzo, Jalen Bunsen pass, Okay, NBA
players. Yeah, it's a goodpoint. So that's the question. I
guess you want to look at itthat way. I think that's totally fair,
which goes back us to the pointthat if they're going to make or
run, if we're assuming that they'renot two NBA players on this roster,
(10:16):
not G League. I'm talking NBAplayers, correct. They have to be
efficient. They have to be moreefficient because they don't have depth this year.
Bridges came off the bench in twentysixteen. They don't have depth this
year. They got to be moreefficient on offense. I think that is
what it comes down to. Iagree. I think if you're not going
to be more efficient on offense,and that's going to be a deficiency,
then you have to make it upsomewhere else. And when you ran through
(10:37):
those numbers, there wasn't necessarily acategory where they were making it up someplace
else. So yeah, I thinkin my eyes, I like the breakdown
of the numbers. I'm always goingto follow the numbers and look at the
metrics deeply, just like you would, Mike just Tanner, just like you
would and any other fan out therewould. But we also have to pay
attention to like what type of talentis on that team and listeners. If
(11:00):
there's anybody else out there that wouldlike a breakdown of any other teams,
reach us reach out on Twitter oremail the show We're at SCS podcast on
Twitter. Efficiency of keystrokes, ofcourse, and you can email the show
SCS podcast at gmail dot com.And don't forget to give Mike a follow
over on Twitter as well, RandallRant, you're gonna want to see his
projections for this bracket show and thefeedback that he gets from it. So
(11:24):
anybody else need a breakdown for theirchampionship possible roster team program, happy to
do it on the next podcast ifneeded. Mike, what else do you
think you want to dive into hereas far as a rundown for the listeners
on what we should pay and attentionto well the missus and I watching Providence,
as you know, every week verygood. So I've seen every Providence
(11:48):
game, I think anyone that's televisedI've seen. And so this triggered my
discussion with you. I want toget your opinion. Gave me some guys
that you have noticed in college basketballwho are maybe not the best player on
the team, but a really criticalpiece. And I will start off with
one and then fire away. JaredBuyingham is so important to Providence. He
(12:13):
has hit multiple big threes at theend of the game. First that jumps
to mind Xavier. He has alsobeen a terror on the ball out dorm
is not a great on ball defender. By him will pick your pocket twice
in a row. That's a skill. And I'm not even talking about Justin
Manier, who maybe the biggest defensiveplayer of the year. And we still
(12:35):
haven't talked about Nate Watson. No, no, yeah, aj Reeves is
back. I'm very high in Providence. I know the metrics say that.
You know that maybe that their luckmetrics stop if they have a great point
guard and Al Dorham really solid divisionone point guard at a big conference.
Jared Bindham could be point guard,but he's making big shots. He's a
shot maker, and he's a greaton ball defender. Mania has been great
(12:56):
doing all the glue stuff for them. Reeves can big shots. He's finally
healthy. Nate Watson the middle,I hate Croswell. But besides that,
this team is very, very good, and so Jared buy him to me
is a critical point because you don'tthink of him when you think of Providence.
But I think he's really important.So I'm curious. Give me these
critical juncture, critical player guys thatyou've noticed in college basketball who may not
(13:18):
be the lead scorer, may notbe the best player, but are really
important a team's success. Okay,so a couple come to mind right away.
I was actually going to bring upMania as well. So I think
that's a great point on your end. He has been indispensable for them,
and they coach Cooley has refused totake him off the floor. I mean,
he's played thirty eight minutes, thirtynine minutes, forty minutes, Like,
(13:39):
he is so crucial to what they'retrying to do on both ends of
the floor, but especially as thatdefensive stopper. And then if you think
about defensive stopper big yeast, Ithink you have to go directly to Marquette
and think of Daryl Morsell, thetransfer for Maryland. Yeah, I think
you have to include him. AndI think a good way to look at
this is the success of their currentteam and maybe the lack of success from
(14:03):
their former team. So if youjust take a peek at Maryland, I
mean, I know they're on theother side of an unbelievably ugly result due
to IOWA, but they've been downand Marquette arguably is one of the biggest
surprises in college basketball this year,and definitely the biggest surprise inside the Big
East, you know, maybe alongsideProvidence. So I think Darryl Morsell is
one of those guys, and he'smade big shots and he defends multiple positions.
(14:28):
Shot Shock is doing a great job, and it's allowed Justin Lewis to
be the lead dog, but Morsellcan make a shot at the end of
the game as well. That's agreat call. That's a great, great
call. I think another guy weshould pay attention to, and this is
he is. He's the leading scorer, he's the leading everythinger. He is
the only player in college basketball rightnow that's averaging twenty points, five boards,
(14:50):
and five rebounds. And I lovethese student athletes that just you know,
filled the box score and do everything. You know, Altis Williams a
wake Forest. If you take alook at what wake For is doing,
they might be one of those teamsthat reaps the benefit of the overall acc
being down and they sneak in andgrab one of those bids. But also,
if you take a look at Oklahomawhere he came from, they're very
(15:11):
bubblicious right now. They are notthe normal lock that they you know,
are have been in years past orin the conversation the proper part of the
bubble conversation. And he's made wakeForest like very viable inside the ACC and
I wouldn't be surprised if he wasplayer of the player of the of the
year inside the league. He's playingthat well excellent. And did you see
(15:33):
the other night he made some passin their game, The one hand in
cross court skip pass was insane.I think it was his offhand too.
Yeah, I like to thank himfor that was an easy win for me.
I'm a god NC States just Imean place it's train wreck. But
uh, wake Forest is good,folks, and he's the key. He
is the most underrated, best guyon the team. You know, such
a such a critical player. Andhow about a camera from Dayton another George,
(16:00):
your guy that was on that teamwith you, Katie Johnson and Wheeler
right, and now you look atwhat he's doing. He's kind of in
a leadership role at Dayton. Andthis Dayton team is an absolute eight ten
monster. They took down Kansas earlierthis year. They're playing, they're starting
(16:22):
three or four freshmen and they canbeat anybody any night. Like I would
if they sneak in, I wouldnot want to see them on the other
side of the bracket. So Ithink that I think I think Camera from
Dayton is one of those players aswell. He's not going to be the
leading score. You know, Holmes, the freshman there is doing great things.
Love the little guard Smith. He'salso running a tight show. But
(16:44):
the lefty from downtown, he isreally having an impact and really helping define
Dayton on the floor on both endsof the floor. I remember the beginning
of the year. I was watchingthem closely because they opened against Illinois Chicago
like them. But then they lostthree order UMass Lowell at home, awful,
Limbscombe home off Austin, PA.Those are three really rough losses early
(17:06):
in the year. But then theybeat Miami like okay. Then they beat
Kansas and I said, oh okay. They follow that with a win over
Belmont. They lost on the roadto SMU No shame there. They beat
Virginia Tech at home, it's anice win. They lost a way to
Kermit, but they've had a goodrun here where they won seven of eight.
They lost away at Saint Louis,No shame. They padded the Duquesne.
Oh, dear God, Duquesne,I mean place Dambro's gonna get fired,
(17:29):
but they have a nice group ofteams coming up here. They can
finish off very strong. They're eightand three in the eight ten. They
have g dub at home away RoadIsland. That'll be a battle away Saint
Joe's not easy home, You Massenough, LaSalle away, Richmond away,
Davidson home. So they end withreally two really tough games, but they
can get a couple of these gameshere. They can get themselves eleven twelve
wins in Conference Dayton for a teamthat started one and three with three consecutive
(17:52):
home losses to you Mass, Slow, Limbscomb and Austin pa absolutely should be
in the tournament. This is great. Yeah, I think he's a big
part of that that success that theyfound and they got rolling in the right
direction. And the next two thatcome to mind for me, Mike are
are both from UNC, and it'sWalker and Walker. We can take obviously
(18:12):
the big name is Walker Kestler fromAuburn and we can see, you know,
Auburn getting the first number one nationalrating ranking in school history. Pretty
much behind him in Jabari Smith inthe front line. So maybe UNC might
have might have wanted to hold onto him, but also on a lower
level, but justice impactful Walker Miller, who transferred to Mamouth for his final
(18:36):
year of eligibility, and you lookat Mamouth maybe their last result aside,
Mamoth has been a factor inside theirconference, and Walker Miller is playing at
an all conference level. He's putup twenty points multiple times, and he's
an old school big man. Hewas a walk on at UNC obviously,
you know, helped push around Baycottand all of those other bigs that you
(19:00):
and see the past couple of years. And now he finally is in a
starting role and he's really thriving.And Mamouth is reaping the benefits of Walker
Miller finding success in New Jersey.So I think both of those walkers from
UNC are impactful guys. Obviously forthe number one team in the country,
and then for another team, youknow with King Rice that's you know,
(19:21):
looking to finish high inside their conference. Yeah. I wouldn't sleep on Mammoth
either, folks. I know thatthey've fallen off and that the mac is
pretty much eleven and one iona SaintPeter's has bounced back Sienna again, got
he does it every year. Idon't know how, but he does.
Yeah, they were picked like middleof the pack. Now the seven and
four conference, Mamouth has hit theskids. It's still being tremendous against the
(19:42):
spread. Early on four straight losses. Hofter Saint Peter's maris Iona Iah no
t that was a tough loss,and they did lose to Maris Home,
so they got swept by Marist.Really rough here, but hopefully they got
to go in there the type teamthey get hot in the MAC tournament.
That's an excellent call. And asfor Walker Kessler, I mean, just
looks domin they're at Auburn. Imean, how is he not more dominant
(20:02):
North Carolina? Um, I don'tknow. But two guys that are really
good that are playing key roles.Kessler at a bigger school, a bigger
terms top five school in Auburn andthe other and the other person going to
Momouth here Walker Miller. So bothhave made an impact Ray Cole. And
then I think the final one,and this one's kind of obvious with recent
results, is Xavier Pinson at LSU. LSU started off like a house of
(20:27):
fire, one of the last losslessteams in the nation, climbed their way
up inside the top fifteen national rankingand have really just a precipitous drop and
it's all due to when Xavier Pinsongot hurt. Once he left the lineup,
(20:48):
they have really had trouble finding theirway offensively and they've really had to
rely on their defense, so that'skept them in games, but they are
not getting into anything that is productiveon the offensive side, and that's because
Davier Pinson is missing. And thenif you just look at you know,
he left Missouri and we see howyou know, who how scatterbrain Missouri is
currently and you know, he's oneof those players that kind of kept Missouri
(21:14):
I'm going to say, on thelevel before he left, and then he
brought LSU to a higher level.And hopefully they get him back this season
and can write the ship. Yeah, I think we have to be leary
of LSU in the tournament and peoplearen't going to want to hear about him.
But they're still number two in thecountry in defense, their number their
number nine and three point percentage defense. They've really gotten going with Pinson in
(21:41):
the lineup and have not been greatwithout him. While six of seven went
from three and one to four andsix in conference, but they beat Texas
am away that isn't impressive when nowthey have Mississippi State, they have Georgia
South Carolina all in preparation for thegame away at Kentucky. They're the type
of team that can battle Kentucky.Kentucky looks absolutely like a number one seed,
(22:03):
absolutely like a national championship contender,but LSU is the type of team
that can go in there and givethem trouble. They're gonna they're gonna battle
them, They're gonna play defense,they're gonna offensive rebound, and they just
need a couple of guys to gethot. And Pinson plays a huge role
because their offensive metrics have been putridin conference, mainly because he hasn't been
there. They're shooting sixty five percentfrom the free throw line and the second
(22:25):
worst team and two point percentage offense. I mean, that's rough because you're
going against you know how much Ilove the SEC. But that's the game
I'm looking for Wednesday, February twentythird, They're headed to Kentucky. Let's
see even get a four winning streakhead into that game. And we've seen
with recent results between these two teamsthere there could be something exciting that that
ends up there. We's that's beena thing the last couple of seasons between
those two programs. All right,Mike, let's do a quick look back
(22:48):
of a couple of results from thepast week and just get your I just
want to hear your quick thoughts.What were your quick takeaways? I'll give
you three right off the bat,and then we'll give you a few more.
Just tell us, ex actually,what went through your college basketball mind
when you saw that Arkansas kept itrolling and the mus bus carried on and
handed Number one Auburn a loss eightysixty seven at bud Walton. We had
(23:12):
Purdue humbling Illinois, and then wehad Wisconsin getting right at Michigan State.
What were the three out of thosethree games? What are a couple of
trends or a couple of thoughts thatyou had floating around that college of basketball
brainiers. Well, the Arkansas isfor trick tech right, for tractic whatever
we called it for tractic because Auburn'sfavorite on the road here going to Arkansas.
(23:34):
Arkansas has won eight games in arow coming into this game and just
played a fantastic game against Auburn.They knocked him off JT not a big
shots after big shots Jayalen Williams reallyplayed very very well in this game.
You look at the box score betweenAuburn and Arkas Arkansas, Auburn only shot
twenty five percent from three point rangeand turned the ball over nineteen times.
(23:57):
That Arkansas defense fantastic. I've beenon Musselman, you know that. I
think, much like Shock is smart. He has found the type of team.
He had a lot of success inthe tournament last year. He's got
a home, he's done a greatjob. He had rotator cuff surgery,
he's got a sling on. He'sstill coaching. Really excellent job here by
muss over at dark and so theylook great. No, no bad loss
(24:18):
for Auburn, but again winning onthe road is going to be difficult.
They went to Ota, couldn't pullit out. Next game you mentioned,
I think Perdue is the best teamin the Big Ten. I don't really
care about tonight. They at abay A game against Michigan, Fine,
no problem. I still think theyare. That was a great win over
Illinois at home. Illinois is goingto match them every step of the way.
I have noticed the KOFE Coburn strugglesagainst quality bigs. He beats up
(24:42):
on some of the weaker bigs,but he's not as dominant. Just something
to notice because if he's not,if he can't score, that team is
going to struggle because they need himto open up shots on the outside.
I think Purdue is a terrible matchupfor Illinois, much like Loyalist Chicago was
last year. It's all about thematchups. I just think Perdue they meet
Illinois again, I think they're gonnabeat him again because they are one of
(25:04):
the few teams that can match upinside with Coburn and Wisconsin with Michigan State.
Folks, I don't want to hearabout this luck metric anymore, Okay.
I understand that if you're making yourbets, you want to stay on
the right side of the luck.And if you have a team that is
really lucky, you look for regression, and a team that's really unlucky,
you look for positive regression. Wisconsin'sgood. Wisconsin is good. I talk
(25:26):
to path fitz mars Over at FantasyPros for Fantasy Football because he lives out
in Milwaukee and he loves this team. He said that a lot of what
went on last year he told mewas because Orlando Tucker was on the staff,
and he said the reports that hesees out there is that he was
poisoning the team by like turning themagainst Guard, that there was a lot
(25:47):
of that backstaff and going on.He said it was in the papers and
that once they got rid of Tucker, it really changed the whole dynamic and
those other players came out. ButGreg Guard is in the running for Coach
of the Year. Has done asuperior your job. But this Wisconsin team,
they are nineteen and four, they'reten and three. That's a big
win on the road at Michigan State. Really well done, and as we've
(26:08):
mentioned, they're doing it with alittle bit of a faster pace. They're
doing it while not shooting as wellfrom three point range. But what they
are doing is they're not turning theball over and they're rebounding one and done.
Really impressive. Now they have Rutgersat home on Saturday, which is
the type of team that can messwith them a little. You know,
Rutgers has the stigma that they can'twent on the road. Okay, so
that's the type of team that couldreally battle Wisconsin because they like to get
(26:30):
dirty. Then they have Indiana,Michigan, Minnesota, Rutgers again away get
your popcorn for that Perdue at home. That's a huge one. And Nebraska
And remember gus last thing on Wisconsinwhen they played Perdue earlier in the year
January third at Purdue. They didcover. I know that because I lost
that bet seventy four to sixty ninewithout Johnny Davis in that game. Just
(26:52):
keep that in mind, right,And I think them Wisconsin playing at that
quicker piece is an absolute result ofhaving Johnny Davis on the roster and letting
him go and do his thing atiny bit and to get him more touches
because he's one of the more talentedpeople they've had since Orlando Tucker probably,
Like so that's that's not or EvanTurner. How about that? Like that
(27:15):
that that might be a thing nextthree that will pay attention to. And
you mentioned I can't ignore this,um. You mentioned the big man from
Arkansas. He is shooting the ballunbelievably well from downtown and he is also
defending at a super high level.He's been playing unbelievably lights out during their
little streak here. All right,Mike, how about Yukon outlasting Marquette in
(27:37):
a great big East grind game.We got Santa Clara shocking Saint Mary's,
Luke Near's Saint Mary's, and wehave Toledo kind of stopping on Ohio and
you thought that game would be reallyclose. So what were your takeaways from
from Yukon Marquette and then maybe SantaClara and the WC you see in general,
(28:00):
and then Toledo taking out Ohio inthe top two teams inside that conference.
I'm not high on Yukon this year. I think he's done a good
job and I think they're solid.I struggle to pick them against good teams,
but they have Marquette's number because insideSnogo can't be stopped. Marquette does
not want to see these teams withplayers inside that they can really match up
(28:23):
with. I am shocked that Marquette. I mean, they beat Illinois earlier
this year. Now in that gamethere was no kofe Coburn. If they
play them again, Ellinois is goingto take him to the woodshed. Shaka,
fantastic job. Everyone's buying in.We all have a Kryptonite US and
there's is the interior game. It'sjust a bad matchup. I love Marquette.
(28:44):
I just think Connecticut matches up wellwith them. I am not a
Connecticut guy. They have been greatagainst the spread either, and I have
no problem picking against them. ButI do think that in this situation,
when you have a big against Marquette, that is their kryptonite. The Santa
Clara with Saint Mary, Saint Mary's, we've talked about this. They played
a slow pace, you know,so there's gonna be more variant. When
(29:04):
you play slower, you don't makepossessions. That's why the fast teams want
the possessions, because they feel thetalent will eventually win out. That's what
happened with Saint Mary's here. Itwas a shocker. I still like Saint
Mary. I think they're playing verywell tonight. They blew somebody, blew
somebody outside Pepperdine. Maybe they blewsomebody out home and they covered by the
way, so I have no problemwith that. Toledo, you know,
Toledo is at the point where againyou have to come up with a reason
(29:27):
for me to pick against them inthe in the Mid American Conference, their
first overall, they're eleven and twoin conference. Big win over Ohio.
So now they're tied fifteen point winover Ohio. They swept them on the
season series, they beat them byeighteen. They are the favorite to me
to win the MAC Tournament. Koalchuckcoach Koal Chuck has done a wonderful job
(29:51):
there for many years. They havea lot of games coming up. They
are projected to win all of thegames. I guess you want to say
away, Buffalo could be frisky,Gusts could be I guess only by one.
But Buffalo has sort of disappointed methis year, just a little too
sloppy, herky jerky up and downhere with the ball. But Toledo does
not do that. They don't turnthe ball over. Their solid fundamentals.
And how do you not like aToledo Rockets team, Gus, that is
(30:12):
number one in the MAC in twopoint percentage fifty five point six percent and
number one in the MAC in twopoint percentage defense at forty five point six.
Joe, you're gonna beat him.You gotta beat him by turning them
over, which is hard to do, and you gotta beat him from beyond
the arc, which is difficult todo. Agreed. And if we're just
gonna take it. You know,my favorite part of this breakdown is taking
(30:33):
look at the players. And ifyou look at Williams, the guard from
Santa Clair, he played really wellagainst Saint Mary's and is looking like one
of the better guards inside the WCC. And Ryan Rollins is absolutely rolling for
Toledo. He's averaging about twenty pointsa game, shooting at almost fifty percent
from the field, he's shooting inyou know, a decent percentage from three,
(30:55):
and he's just filling up the boxscore on all fronts for Toledo.
He looks like the best player inthe conference by far. And then Mike,
we have to touch on Wyoming gettingthe ot win against Utah State and
then Colorado State and David Roddy overNevada. And if you remember last year,
Grant Sheerfield hit that game winner toput down Colorado State in one of
(31:18):
those makeup games, which really droveColorado State fans crazy. So they kind
of flipped the script on last year'sresult. So a little takeaway from the
Mountain West. Yeah, Wyoming Again, Wyoming's one of these teams. They
are currently in Ken Palm eighth inluck Okay. So therefore They're not good,
all right, Wyoming, you keepgetting favorable numbers. Becau. People
(31:41):
don't think Wyoming's good at basketball.They thinking back to the Finnis Dembo years.
Sorry, how to drop that one? Look at up folks, half
too, But Wyoming is good.The only thing I was shocked about this
is I did I got this pickright overall, but I lost on the
live line because Gus when they gotto halftime and Justin Bean had zero points
and Utah State was winning, I'mlike, this is not gonna be a
problem. But they came back.They're gritty, they're gutty, e k
(32:02):
tremendous Hunter Maldonado as superior. Greatwin for Wyoming. They continue to be
undervalued in the market. Correct Wyomingnow nine and one, and don't look
now, Gus, San Jose State, New Mexico away all right? Maybe
I guess Patino maybe Okay, airForce at home? No way, then
Colorado State on the road. That'sgoing to be the game. So Wyoming.
(32:23):
Jeff flind a great job. Wyomingwants a Mountain West title. They
want it, they can sniff it. They want it. They're tied with
Boise State. Tremendous job. ColoradoState. Roddy the body. We liked
the party. Gus said it.We went from Hunter Maldonado David Roddy.
You're looking at possible Mountain West playerof the year right there for either one
of those guys. You know whatI think about my rams. That was
(32:45):
a payback spot in the biggest way. I was positive they're going to get
that annoyed me. I should havebet the revenge spot for Wagner today against
Mount Saint Mary's at home. Igot thrown off because Elijah Ford is out,
so I wasn't sure about that way. Yeah, Wagoner's rolling. They
won by loven The spread was nine. Very annoyed by that, but they
had it pretty handily. But thiswas a similar spot for Colorado State because
(33:05):
they don't lose that game to Nevada. Surefield doesn't hit that shot, they
win that game. They're in thetournament. Last year, that alstom being
in the tournament one hundred percent payback. There's such a good team.
My only concern, Gus, youplay a team with a big that's the
same thing. But Roddy's so goodhe can stretch the floor. I just
love Colorado State. I'm just gonnabe so happy when for Nico Medvo when
they make the tournament, they arelegitimately good. I don't know if they
(33:25):
can win the conference. Miami's gonnahave to slip up here right now if
you look at it, Colorado Stateis eight and three in conference, so
assuming they take care of business athome against Wyoming, there's still a game
back, so they're gonna get anothergame somewhere. But either way, maybe
they go for the Mountain West Tournament. That'll be exciting. But love it,
love folks, Wyoming, Providence,Wake Forest, and Wisconsin are good
(33:47):
enough. You know, sometimes theluck metric you're just looking you're looking for
something that you want to define.Like sometimes you just have to pay attention
to the winning law, probability andthose columns as well, and those those
four teams that you outlined obviously hitall the marks in the win loss.
Let's do it, because I getI get the I do get the luck
(34:09):
metric. I get it, butI understand it's like it's like the look
ahead, spot contrarian, play flat, that's the sprinkle, and create your
own narrative however you like with thisright, Like if you want to say
to me I like pick X,Y and Z blah blah blah blah,
and oh, by the way,the luck metric. But you can't say
Providence is a fraud the luck metric. You can't start with the luck metric.
(34:32):
It's it's a sprinkle, which Ilove sprinkles. It's not the Sunday.
So tell me why you don't likeProvidence in the matchup, and then
tell me the luck metric. Don'tgo You're not fade and wyoming luck mat
stop. They're good, They're verygood. If you want to say it's
a tricky spot and maybe they're duefor us slip up or something of that
(34:53):
nature, yea, Like you canhave that as part of I don't know,
maybe like the third or fourth ofyour conversation about that matchup. It
shouldn't be the leading topic. Itotally agree with you there, Yeah,
that's I think it's ridiculous. Andthen like then you're relying on a number
that's microscopic, by the way,and you know via Ken Pound that number
(35:15):
is like multiple decimals, and you'reletting that define how you're going to grade
out a game, whether you're gonnawager on it or grade out a game
on whether you're going to pick out, you know, prospects or whether you're
gonna grade out a game on whoyou think is gonna win the conference.
That's that's silly, ye silly.All right, let's do a quick look
ahead, which is not silly.We have a couple of cool games.
(35:35):
On Friday night inside the Big East, we have Iona playing that A ten
has a couple, Mountain West hasone. And then on Saturday we got
a couple of Big Mike We gotTexas Baylor, Seaton Hall, Villanova,
Murray State, Morehead State and moreHead State and Belmont like knocked heads this
evening and Belmont squeaked it out byone, so that game is going to
(35:59):
be huge. We have Gonzaga SaintMary's and then of course we have ucla
USC. So out of those matchups, or maybe you got your eyes on
something else, do you have anythingthat might stick out or something that you're
really like paying attention to, whetherit be for the casual watcher, for
the wager out there, those areall such great matchups. Colorado State hosting
Fresno. I understand, Orlando Robinson, Folks, Let's just take it easy
(36:21):
on Fresno a little bit. Iget it. You know, they were
playing very well and Jamal Baker.Losing him is a critical piece to this
team. They have to make threeswith Robinson. I just in colorod State's
gonna run him off the floor.This game is going to be Colorado State
by three or four. Grab itright away. Yep. They are not
losing this game. So I'm takingColorado State no problem. There other games
(36:45):
on Friday Night that jump out rightaway. I own a going to Sienna.
I'm gonna take ten with carm I'mgonna ta talk to coach Masscerello.
We had it on the YouTube channel. I think this is a tough spot
for them. They're gonna play hard. I'm expecting I would to win Gus,
but if it's gonna be ten oreleven, you're gonna give me a
coach palm here. I'll take itin two seconds, no problem. He's
proven that he can do that.That's pretty much it on you and LV
(37:07):
Boise if that interests you. SaintBond Adventure, Saint Louis. I love
Saint Louis and home. Eight's alot. I know Saint Bonnie's going in
the wrong direction, but eight isan awful lot, and I have no
interest in Xavier whatsoever. I'll takeYukon. I just so didn't like Ukon.
But in this situation, I don'ttrust Xavier at all. I got
And then how about on Saturday,you're looking at anything on Saturday? We
have I guess if you want tojump into Gonzaga, Saint Mary's, or
(37:30):
maybe something else on the West coast. So is there anything else that you're
looking at on Saturday. Yeah,Zag's by a billion. I'm not falling
for that. The one time Idid pick Saint Mary's, they you know,
they one time I picked Saint Mary's. Every time they lost, I
finally picked Nzaga. They win.I'm going Gonzaga. There no problem Homegren's
playing a different level right now.A difference maker can't really say anything about
that. I expect Baylor to playvery well at home. They need to
(37:52):
make sure that they're healthy. Iwant to see, you know, Flaggler,
is he healthy? LJ. Cryerdid not play. I think he's
a difference make for them because Ido not trust Texas. I think that
was a great win over Kansas,but I do not see staying power with
Texas whatsoever. I don't. Ithink they're I think Chris Beard's first year
has been really solid. Yeah,but I think Baylor's at a different level.
(38:13):
I will be taking Baylor in thatgame. Like I said, Ohio
State big against Michigan, not buyingthe Michigan turnaround right now. I agree
with that. I agree with thatwholeheartedly. And the other part with you
mentioned with Texas, They're going tobe able to get up for these games,
but I think Texas finding consistency isgonna be tricky because of the roster
(38:34):
makeup. Every other team in collegebasketball has super seniors coming back, the
transfers that have been in like andcontinuity on both the offensive and defensive end.
That's what Texas lacks. So Ithink game to game they're really interesting,
But as far as putting them ona streak, I think that's a
little tricky. I've found this year, Gus, when I'm wagering that my
(38:57):
initial instinct is usually right. SoI'm just gonna go through a couple of
games here. I don't want toget your reaction. I just found,
like my initial since we watch onmuch college basketball and we're my initial reaction
is always usually right. Ready,I'm going by kem pom wake Forest minus
seven and home over Miami. That'sa lot of points. This is my
first reaction. I don't know,what do you think. I think it's
(39:19):
a lot of points too, andI think Miami still thinks they have a
crack at this thing. So Iend they've played every big game pretty close.
I don't I think it's too much, too much. Drake app Bradley
three. I'll take Bradley, Yeah, I will too. Mississippi State at
strong ass offer, strong ass offerminus eight. Really, yeah, they
(39:43):
have an How are you not takingMissisippi State there? Yeah, it's a
lot of points. They're coming offof loss. By the way, can
we give a quick shout out here, tom No, I love coming on
the podcast, folks. The teamthat is leading the Atlantic Coast Conference is
the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Iadded three. Actually, they'll probably be
Duke one tonight to the Duke isten and three also, but coming into
tonight, Notre Dame was leading theconference. They are on the road at
(40:06):
Clemson. They're gonna be favored bythree, and they're doing this without Laschevski,
who hopefully will be back for thisgame. If he's back, I
like them. If he's not back, are we taking Brad brim Allen getting
three at home? No? Ithink this goes back to your your premise
earlier. I love notre dame inthat spot. Are you kidding mege?
I agree? That's all I got, buddy. That's fabulous listeners out there.
(40:29):
Thank you so much for letting usjoin you during the college basketball season
and putting us in your lineup oryour queue as far as your basketball information
goes. Mike and I love puttingit together and love talking like to you,
at you with you and alongside youand watching the games with you.
So thank you so much. Wetotally appreciative of your time and thanks for
(40:49):
allowing us to, you know,keep your company during the season. It's
really cool. If you really likewhat you're listening to, please don't forget
to give the podcast a kind reviewand maybe subscribe on your podcast asked the
vehicle consumption. Vehicle choice kindness isalways cool, so hit that up and
then don't forget to give the podcastto follow over at Twitter at SDS podcast
and give Mike a follow over onTwitter as well at Randall Rant. And
(41:13):
we're working on a few other itemsvia social media that we might let out
in a little bit. So hopefullythere'll be some other cool stuff that you
can just check out and we'll pullthe curtain back a tiny bit. Mike,
anything else for the listeners out there, that's it. Let's just see
if we can get Chris Paul oversixteen and a half points right now,
suns up ninety one, seventy four. He's got thirteen in the third,
(41:37):
all right, he's got to hita three and then just put it to
bed. Right, Yeah, he'sgot the over. He's got the over
undergust for points, rebounds and assists. He got that. He's at thirty
two. It's thirty two and ahalf a one. But we could use
four more points here, so Bucks, keep it close. Let's do the
fouling game. Four points. Getto the Windows Sea on Friday. Bucks
playing incredible, by the way,the holy smokes, Wow, look at
this moment demolition of the Lakers.All right, listeners, catch you the
(42:00):
next time. Thank you so muchfor tuning in. Mike, always so
good to do this. Go cheersa lot you guys, Alatzi, everybody
already gotta side
Welcome do the Screen The Screen orCollege Basketball podcast with your hosts, Mike
Randall and Gus Kerns. Welcome inlisteners to the Screen, the Screen or
College Basketball Podcast. We're always talkingeverything college hoops. Could have been anywhere
else in the dial, but youchose to be here with us Mike and
Gus, and we appreciate that collegebasketball season has flipped to February. That
(00:40):
means we're one short month away fromholding a bracket in our hands. Mike,
how does that projection sound for you? Would you like to mark up
a bracket with a pencil, asharpie, maybe maybe an expo marker in
some sort of smart pal Like,what are you excited about the possibility of
holding a real bracket? I amuber excited, as you know, for
(01:03):
the Brackett preview show. I mean, I this is at a level.
Gus. You and I used toalways get together for the NBA draft.
Remember when Webber went first and Ijust kept pausing the draft and playing pictures
of Webber dunking before he was tradedor whatever happened okay with Penny, I
guess I don't know whatever. Anyways, I am so excited for this.
(01:23):
I cannot wait for the bracket preview. I'm excited to hold a brackets so
much that I just want the previewshow so we can go back and forth.
And to prepare for that, allI've done on Twitter is continue to
annoy fans of teams that I'm notputting high enough. In the bracket preview,
I started with UCLA. That wentvery well, very they're very happy.
(01:44):
And now it went with Purdue okay. And what's funny is I got
I did not have Purdue as aone because I did not think prior to
the destruction of Illinois that they wereone. I thought the metrics, again,
this isn't what I want, it'swhat I think is going to happen.
Correct, So I had them asgasp a two. Okay, and
(02:04):
somebody sends lol Purdue over can CansPurdue lol. Right, and then they
then give me the winky face,the winky face when Kansas loses. Okay,
So do I give them the winkyface back now that Purdue was taken
to the woodshed nan arbor tonight,No, I think I have to be
more mature, although being mature isnot one of my better characteristics. Guss.
(02:28):
I think anytime a winky face emojigets involved, I think we can
just steer clear of it. Ithink that's my general rule of them.
I think Purdue fads you are nowa dose. Just say it. I
don't think you're a one, butwhatever. Okay, Michigan looked great tonight.
You know at Caleb Houston actually lookedreally great on the wing, complimenting
(02:50):
the inside force that is Hunter Dickinson. Hunter Dickinson hit a couple of threes.
You know, Debt is really impactfulon both ends of the floor.
It seems like Jones is figuring somethings out for Michigan. So yeah,
I'm a little bit back in withthem, even though they're very similar to
Oregon No Mike like where they looklike a little bit of a train wreck
(03:12):
and now they have some things figuredout along the way. And I don't
know if i'd want to try tomatch up with Houston and Hunter Dickinson inside,
I'm not sure i'd like to dothat. I full disclosure, Gusts,
I can't lie to you. Iwill be very excited to fade them
in their next game. I'm reallylooking forward to that. I think they
(03:34):
had a night. I think itwas a spectacular night and kudos them for
a fantastic performance. But if you'reif you're asking me, I am very
uber excited to see this team Michiganbe faded their upcoming schedule Ohio State State.
I will be all in on OhioState this sec say, right now,
(03:55):
right now, Ken Pom has itsMichigan minus one, thank you very
much. Then they go to Iowa. Okay, I just dropped one hundred
and ten, and then down screen, back screen with at Wisconsin. So
I get it. I'm going tobe fading them. I think it was
a nice win. But I've I'vebeen down on Michigan the whole year and
(04:15):
it's been profitable for me. Buttonight they were perfect. So I guess
that leads us into our initial talkingpoint on the podcast this evening, and
that's going to be a question thatcame from a listener, Tanner out in
Roxbury. What's up? Thank youfor joining the pod and contributing. His
question is pretty simple, Mike,does Villanova have a shot at the national
(04:40):
championship this particular season. I thinkwe can dive into this and help Tanner
out. What do you think?Yeah, let's take a look at it.
And thank you, thank you forthe question. I'll look at it
two ways, Gus. I'll start, then you do your thing. I
think if we're gonna look at wherethey can win the national title, we
should look at how they won thenational title in twenty sixteen. Tw the
eighteen just my thoughts, Okay,So I went back and looked at twenty
(05:02):
sixteen. Now what jumped out aboutthe twenty sixteen Valinnoble wildcast veteran team fifty
six in experience, excellent balance onoffense and defense. They were third and
adjusted offensive efficiency and fifth and adjusteddefensive efficiency per Kenpom. They were super
efficient on two point percentage. Iremember you interviewed John Gasaway and talked about
this about how important and how muchof a weapon it is if you're efficient
(05:25):
on your two pointers. They hadthe second best two point percentage in the
nation. That you're fifty seven pointfour percent. They made their free throws
always a nice bonus, seventy eightpoint two percent that was second in the
country as well. And they forcedturnovers, but they didn't turn the ball
over themselves. I mean, really, the twenty sixteen team was a poster
(05:46):
child on how to do this.Because they covered all their bases, even
though gus they paid played at apretty slow pace. So let's go to
twenty eighteen. Take a look atthis team. Still had a veteran team
again at ninety six in the countryand experience. They had brilliant balance again
on offense and defense. They werefirst and eleventh on offense and defensive efficiency
again, super efficient on the twopointers fifty nine percent from two pointerers,
(06:11):
just as good as they were intwenty seventeen. They also made their free
throws again top ten. They didn'tproduce as many turnovers defensively, but they
did not turn the ball over andthey compensated for that with a much better
three point percentage. In twenty eighteento twenty sixty is a team they shot
over forty percent from three point rangeand the pace was a little faster.
(06:33):
Now take those two things, Tanner, look at twenty twenty two. What
do we have here, Well,veteran team sixty first in experience, brilliant
balance on offense and defense, sixthand nineteenth on both ends of the floor.
They're not producing a ton of turnovers, but they're not turning the ball
over themselves, and they are shootingthe three fairly well over thirty six percent.
(06:56):
Their pace is closer to twenty sixteen. However, the biggest difference between
this team and the last two Villanovateams is their two point percentage efficiency.
It is under fifty percent, fournine point six percent. What I'm saying,
Tanner is I think they can,but they need to improve on that
two point proficiency. They're playing ata slow pace. They need to be
(07:16):
efficient on offense. They're also notas deep. They're not as deep with
some weapons coming off the bench asthey were in those other two years.
So the bench is a difference.The two point efficiency is the difference.
If you start seeing Villanova hit ahigher percentage of their twos, they do
gus. I think have the samesort of schematic as they did in their
two national championship years. Look,I think the numbers aren't gonna lie there,
(07:42):
and you're correct. When we talkto a John Gasway of ESPN,
he highlighted that two point efficiency numberfor Villanova during that title run and said
that's going to be an important partpreviewing that that tournament, saying like that,
this is going to be a weaponfor them moving forward. Here's my
only takeaway or my only reason tostep back. Both of those teams had
(08:09):
NBA talent on the roster. Bothof those teams had we can say NBA
starters on the roster. How aboutthat. I don't know if this roster
contains that level of talent, AndI think at some point you kind of
have to look at the players onthe floor and say, what is the
(08:30):
ceiling for this roster or team ofplayers talent wise? It are are there
a bunch of NBA players on theroster? Are there one or two?
Is it a Wisconsin situation with JohnnyDavis and everybody else? I don't know
who that player might be. Orwe're gonna say, like Samuel's is going
to have like a seven year NBAcareer. Okay, maybe I'm down with
(08:50):
that. I'm not opposed that.I don't know if I think Galepsie finds
a spot. I don't know ifhe knows impactful as Brunson is for the
Mavericks. I'm not sure if that'sa thing. So I think the numbers
are going to tell you the truthhere, Tanner. But then I think
you also have to incorporate the eyetest of what the talent tells you and
(09:13):
I think they're gonna fall a littleshort this year because of that talent level.
And you know, just to backup what Mike was referring to,
that talent level speaks to that twopoint efficiency, like you need shot makers,
and that's what Villanova had at anumber of different positions, whether we're
talking about Josh Hart, whether we'retalking about Chris Jenkins, whether we're talking
(09:33):
about Brunson, whether we're talking aboutVincenzo, Like, all of those guys
are shot makers. I'm not surewho the elite shot makers are on this
particular Villanova roster. And that's whatgives me pause. It's a really good
point, Gus, looking back ontwenty sixteen Josh Hart, Jalen Brunson,
McCall Bridges was a freshman. Yeah, and many players yep. Going to
(09:54):
twenty eighteen Bridges again, de Vincenzo, Jalen Bunsen pass, Okay, NBA
players. Yeah, it's a goodpoint. So that's the question. I
guess you want to look at itthat way. I think that's totally fair,
which goes back us to the pointthat if they're going to make or
run, if we're assuming that they'renot two NBA players on this roster,
(10:16):
not G League. I'm talking NBAplayers, correct. They have to be
efficient. They have to be moreefficient because they don't have depth this year.
Bridges came off the bench in twentysixteen. They don't have depth this
year. They got to be moreefficient on offense. I think that is
what it comes down to. Iagree. I think if you're not going
to be more efficient on offense,and that's going to be a deficiency,
then you have to make it upsomewhere else. And when you ran through
(10:37):
those numbers, there wasn't necessarily acategory where they were making it up someplace
else. So yeah, I thinkin my eyes, I like the breakdown
of the numbers. I'm always goingto follow the numbers and look at the
metrics deeply, just like you would, Mike just Tanner, just like you
would and any other fan out therewould. But we also have to pay
attention to like what type of talentis on that team and listeners. If
(11:00):
there's anybody else out there that wouldlike a breakdown of any other teams,
reach us reach out on Twitter oremail the show We're at SCS podcast on
Twitter. Efficiency of keystrokes, ofcourse, and you can email the show
SCS podcast at gmail dot com.And don't forget to give Mike a follow
over on Twitter as well, RandallRant, you're gonna want to see his
projections for this bracket show and thefeedback that he gets from it. So
(11:24):
anybody else need a breakdown for theirchampionship possible roster team program, happy to
do it on the next podcast ifneeded. Mike, what else do you
think you want to dive into hereas far as a rundown for the listeners
on what we should pay and attentionto well the missus and I watching Providence,
as you know, every week verygood. So I've seen every Providence
(11:48):
game, I think anyone that's televisedI've seen. And so this triggered my
discussion with you. I want toget your opinion. Gave me some guys
that you have noticed in college basketballwho are maybe not the best player on
the team, but a really criticalpiece. And I will start off with
one and then fire away. JaredBuyingham is so important to Providence. He
(12:13):
has hit multiple big threes at theend of the game. First that jumps
to mind Xavier. He has alsobeen a terror on the ball out dorm
is not a great on ball defender. By him will pick your pocket twice
in a row. That's a skill. And I'm not even talking about Justin
Manier, who maybe the biggest defensiveplayer of the year. And we still
(12:35):
haven't talked about Nate Watson. No, no, yeah, aj Reeves is
back. I'm very high in Providence. I know the metrics say that.
You know that maybe that their luckmetrics stop if they have a great point
guard and Al Dorham really solid divisionone point guard at a big conference.
Jared Bindham could be point guard,but he's making big shots. He's a
shot maker, and he's a greaton ball defender. Mania has been great
(12:56):
doing all the glue stuff for them. Reeves can big shots. He's finally
healthy. Nate Watson the middle,I hate Croswell. But besides that,
this team is very, very good, and so Jared buy him to me
is a critical point because you don'tthink of him when you think of Providence.
But I think he's really important.So I'm curious. Give me these
critical juncture, critical player guys thatyou've noticed in college basketball who may not
(13:18):
be the lead scorer, may notbe the best player, but are really
important a team's success. Okay,so a couple come to mind right away.
I was actually going to bring upMania as well. So I think
that's a great point on your end. He has been indispensable for them,
and they coach Cooley has refused totake him off the floor. I mean,
he's played thirty eight minutes, thirtynine minutes, forty minutes, Like,
(13:39):
he is so crucial to what they'retrying to do on both ends of
the floor, but especially as thatdefensive stopper. And then if you think
about defensive stopper big yeast, Ithink you have to go directly to Marquette
and think of Daryl Morsell, thetransfer for Maryland. Yeah, I think
you have to include him. AndI think a good way to look at
this is the success of their currentteam and maybe the lack of success from
(14:03):
their former team. So if youjust take a peek at Maryland, I
mean, I know they're on theother side of an unbelievably ugly result due
to IOWA, but they've been downand Marquette arguably is one of the biggest
surprises in college basketball this year,and definitely the biggest surprise inside the Big
East, you know, maybe alongsideProvidence. So I think Darryl Morsell is
one of those guys, and he'smade big shots and he defends multiple positions.
(14:28):
Shot Shock is doing a great job, and it's allowed Justin Lewis to
be the lead dog, but Morsellcan make a shot at the end of
the game as well. That's agreat call. That's a great, great
call. I think another guy weshould pay attention to, and this is
he is. He's the leading scorer, he's the leading everythinger. He is
the only player in college basketball rightnow that's averaging twenty points, five boards,
(14:50):
and five rebounds. And I lovethese student athletes that just you know,
filled the box score and do everything. You know, Altis Williams a
wake Forest. If you take alook at what wake For is doing,
they might be one of those teamsthat reaps the benefit of the overall acc
being down and they sneak in andgrab one of those bids. But also,
if you take a look at Oklahomawhere he came from, they're very
(15:11):
bubblicious right now. They are notthe normal lock that they you know,
are have been in years past orin the conversation the proper part of the
bubble conversation. And he's made wakeForest like very viable inside the ACC and
I wouldn't be surprised if he wasplayer of the player of the of the
year inside the league. He's playingthat well excellent. And did you see
(15:33):
the other night he made some passin their game, The one hand in
cross court skip pass was insane.I think it was his offhand too.
Yeah, I like to thank himfor that was an easy win for me.
I'm a god NC States just Imean place it's train wreck. But
uh, wake Forest is good,folks, and he's the key. He
is the most underrated, best guyon the team. You know, such
a such a critical player. Andhow about a camera from Dayton another George,
(16:00):
your guy that was on that teamwith you, Katie Johnson and Wheeler
right, and now you look atwhat he's doing. He's kind of in
a leadership role at Dayton. Andthis Dayton team is an absolute eight ten
monster. They took down Kansas earlierthis year. They're playing, they're starting
(16:22):
three or four freshmen and they canbeat anybody any night. Like I would
if they sneak in, I wouldnot want to see them on the other
side of the bracket. So Ithink that I think I think Camera from
Dayton is one of those players aswell. He's not going to be the
leading score. You know, Holmes, the freshman there is doing great things.
Love the little guard Smith. He'salso running a tight show. But
(16:44):
the lefty from downtown, he isreally having an impact and really helping define
Dayton on the floor on both endsof the floor. I remember the beginning
of the year. I was watchingthem closely because they opened against Illinois Chicago
like them. But then they lostthree order UMass Lowell at home, awful,
Limbscombe home off Austin, PA.Those are three really rough losses early
(17:06):
in the year. But then theybeat Miami like okay. Then they beat
Kansas and I said, oh okay. They follow that with a win over
Belmont. They lost on the roadto SMU No shame there. They beat
Virginia Tech at home, it's anice win. They lost a way to
Kermit, but they've had a goodrun here where they won seven of eight.
They lost away at Saint Louis,No shame. They padded the Duquesne.
Oh, dear God, Duquesne,I mean place Dambro's gonna get fired,
(17:29):
but they have a nice group ofteams coming up here. They can
finish off very strong. They're eightand three in the eight ten. They
have g dub at home away RoadIsland. That'll be a battle away Saint
Joe's not easy home, You Massenough, LaSalle away, Richmond away,
Davidson home. So they end withreally two really tough games, but they
can get a couple of these gameshere. They can get themselves eleven twelve
wins in Conference Dayton for a teamthat started one and three with three consecutive
(17:52):
home losses to you Mass, Slow, Limbscomb and Austin pa absolutely should be
in the tournament. This is great. Yeah, I think he's a big
part of that that success that theyfound and they got rolling in the right
direction. And the next two thatcome to mind for me, Mike are
are both from UNC, and it'sWalker and Walker. We can take obviously
(18:12):
the big name is Walker Kestler fromAuburn and we can see, you know,
Auburn getting the first number one nationalrating ranking in school history. Pretty
much behind him in Jabari Smith inthe front line. So maybe UNC might
have might have wanted to hold onto him, but also on a lower
level, but justice impactful Walker Miller, who transferred to Mamouth for his final
(18:36):
year of eligibility, and you lookat Mamouth maybe their last result aside,
Mamoth has been a factor inside theirconference, and Walker Miller is playing at
an all conference level. He's putup twenty points multiple times, and he's
an old school big man. Hewas a walk on at UNC obviously,
you know, helped push around Baycottand all of those other bigs that you
(19:00):
and see the past couple of years. And now he finally is in a
starting role and he's really thriving.And Mamouth is reaping the benefits of Walker
Miller finding success in New Jersey.So I think both of those walkers from
UNC are impactful guys. Obviously forthe number one team in the country,
and then for another team, youknow with King Rice that's you know,
(19:21):
looking to finish high inside their conference. Yeah. I wouldn't sleep on Mammoth
either, folks. I know thatthey've fallen off and that the mac is
pretty much eleven and one iona SaintPeter's has bounced back Sienna again, got
he does it every year. Idon't know how, but he does.
Yeah, they were picked like middleof the pack. Now the seven and
four conference, Mamouth has hit theskids. It's still being tremendous against the
(19:42):
spread. Early on four straight losses. Hofter Saint Peter's maris Iona Iah no
t that was a tough loss,and they did lose to Maris Home,
so they got swept by Marist.Really rough here, but hopefully they got
to go in there the type teamthey get hot in the MAC tournament.
That's an excellent call. And asfor Walker Kessler, I mean, just
looks domin they're at Auburn. Imean, how is he not more dominant
(20:02):
North Carolina? Um, I don'tknow. But two guys that are really
good that are playing key roles.Kessler at a bigger school, a bigger
terms top five school in Auburn andthe other and the other person going to
Momouth here Walker Miller. So bothhave made an impact Ray Cole. And
then I think the final one,and this one's kind of obvious with recent
results, is Xavier Pinson at LSU. LSU started off like a house of
(20:27):
fire, one of the last losslessteams in the nation, climbed their way
up inside the top fifteen national rankingand have really just a precipitous drop and
it's all due to when Xavier Pinsongot hurt. Once he left the lineup,
(20:48):
they have really had trouble finding theirway offensively and they've really had to
rely on their defense, so that'skept them in games, but they are
not getting into anything that is productiveon the offensive side, and that's because
Davier Pinson is missing. And thenif you just look at you know,
he left Missouri and we see howyou know, who how scatterbrain Missouri is
currently and you know, he's oneof those players that kind of kept Missouri
(21:14):
I'm going to say, on thelevel before he left, and then he
brought LSU to a higher level.And hopefully they get him back this season
and can write the ship. Yeah, I think we have to be leary
of LSU in the tournament and peoplearen't going to want to hear about him.
But they're still number two in thecountry in defense, their number their
number nine and three point percentage defense. They've really gotten going with Pinson in
(21:41):
the lineup and have not been greatwithout him. While six of seven went
from three and one to four andsix in conference, but they beat Texas
am away that isn't impressive when nowthey have Mississippi State, they have Georgia
South Carolina all in preparation for thegame away at Kentucky. They're the type
of team that can battle Kentucky.Kentucky looks absolutely like a number one seed,
(22:03):
absolutely like a national championship contender,but LSU is the type of team
that can go in there and givethem trouble. They're gonna they're gonna battle
them, They're gonna play defense,they're gonna offensive rebound, and they just
need a couple of guys to gethot. And Pinson plays a huge role
because their offensive metrics have been putridin conference, mainly because he hasn't been
there. They're shooting sixty five percentfrom the free throw line and the second
(22:25):
worst team and two point percentage offense. I mean, that's rough because you're
going against you know how much Ilove the SEC. But that's the game
I'm looking for Wednesday, February twentythird, They're headed to Kentucky. Let's
see even get a four winning streakhead into that game. And we've seen
with recent results between these two teamsthere there could be something exciting that that
ends up there. We's that's beena thing the last couple of seasons between
those two programs. All right,Mike, let's do a quick look back
(22:48):
of a couple of results from thepast week and just get your I just
want to hear your quick thoughts.What were your quick takeaways? I'll give
you three right off the bat,and then we'll give you a few more.
Just tell us, ex actually,what went through your college basketball mind
when you saw that Arkansas kept itrolling and the mus bus carried on and
handed Number one Auburn a loss eightysixty seven at bud Walton. We had
(23:12):
Purdue humbling Illinois, and then wehad Wisconsin getting right at Michigan State.
What were the three out of thosethree games? What are a couple of
trends or a couple of thoughts thatyou had floating around that college of basketball
brainiers. Well, the Arkansas isfor trick tech right, for tractic whatever
we called it for tractic because Auburn'sfavorite on the road here going to Arkansas.
(23:34):
Arkansas has won eight games in arow coming into this game and just
played a fantastic game against Auburn.They knocked him off JT not a big
shots after big shots Jayalen Williams reallyplayed very very well in this game.
You look at the box score betweenAuburn and Arkas Arkansas, Auburn only shot
twenty five percent from three point rangeand turned the ball over nineteen times.
(23:57):
That Arkansas defense fantastic. I've beenon Musselman, you know that. I
think, much like Shock is smart. He has found the type of team.
He had a lot of success inthe tournament last year. He's got
a home, he's done a greatjob. He had rotator cuff surgery,
he's got a sling on. He'sstill coaching. Really excellent job here by
muss over at dark and so theylook great. No, no bad loss
(24:18):
for Auburn, but again winning onthe road is going to be difficult.
They went to Ota, couldn't pullit out. Next game you mentioned,
I think Perdue is the best teamin the Big Ten. I don't really
care about tonight. They at abay A game against Michigan, Fine,
no problem. I still think theyare. That was a great win over
Illinois at home. Illinois is goingto match them every step of the way.
I have noticed the KOFE Coburn strugglesagainst quality bigs. He beats up
(24:42):
on some of the weaker bigs,but he's not as dominant. Just something
to notice because if he's not,if he can't score, that team is
going to struggle because they need himto open up shots on the outside.
I think Purdue is a terrible matchupfor Illinois, much like Loyalist Chicago was
last year. It's all about thematchups. I just think Perdue they meet
Illinois again, I think they're gonnabeat him again because they are one of
(25:04):
the few teams that can match upinside with Coburn and Wisconsin with Michigan State.
Folks, I don't want to hearabout this luck metric anymore, Okay.
I understand that if you're making yourbets, you want to stay on
the right side of the luck.And if you have a team that is
really lucky, you look for regression, and a team that's really unlucky,
you look for positive regression. Wisconsin'sgood. Wisconsin is good. I talk
(25:26):
to path fitz mars Over at FantasyPros for Fantasy Football because he lives out
in Milwaukee and he loves this team. He said that a lot of what
went on last year he told mewas because Orlando Tucker was on the staff,
and he said the reports that hesees out there is that he was
poisoning the team by like turning themagainst Guard, that there was a lot
(25:47):
of that backstaff and going on.He said it was in the papers and
that once they got rid of Tucker, it really changed the whole dynamic and
those other players came out. ButGreg Guard is in the running for Coach
of the Year. Has done asuperior your job. But this Wisconsin team,
they are nineteen and four, they'reten and three. That's a big
win on the road at Michigan State. Really well done, and as we've
(26:08):
mentioned, they're doing it with alittle bit of a faster pace. They're
doing it while not shooting as wellfrom three point range. But what they
are doing is they're not turning theball over and they're rebounding one and done.
Really impressive. Now they have Rutgersat home on Saturday, which is
the type of team that can messwith them a little. You know,
Rutgers has the stigma that they can'twent on the road. Okay, so
that's the type of team that couldreally battle Wisconsin because they like to get
(26:30):
dirty. Then they have Indiana,Michigan, Minnesota, Rutgers again away get
your popcorn for that Perdue at home. That's a huge one. And Nebraska
And remember gus last thing on Wisconsinwhen they played Perdue earlier in the year
January third at Purdue. They didcover. I know that because I lost
that bet seventy four to sixty ninewithout Johnny Davis in that game. Just
(26:52):
keep that in mind, right,And I think them Wisconsin playing at that
quicker piece is an absolute result ofhaving Johnny Davis on the roster and letting
him go and do his thing atiny bit and to get him more touches
because he's one of the more talentedpeople they've had since Orlando Tucker probably,
Like so that's that's not or EvanTurner. How about that? Like that
(27:15):
that that might be a thing nextthree that will pay attention to. And
you mentioned I can't ignore this,um. You mentioned the big man from
Arkansas. He is shooting the ballunbelievably well from downtown and he is also
defending at a super high level.He's been playing unbelievably lights out during their
little streak here. All right,Mike, how about Yukon outlasting Marquette in
(27:37):
a great big East grind game.We got Santa Clara shocking Saint Mary's,
Luke Near's Saint Mary's, and wehave Toledo kind of stopping on Ohio and
you thought that game would be reallyclose. So what were your takeaways from
from Yukon Marquette and then maybe SantaClara and the WC you see in general,
(28:00):
and then Toledo taking out Ohio inthe top two teams inside that conference.
I'm not high on Yukon this year. I think he's done a good
job and I think they're solid.I struggle to pick them against good teams,
but they have Marquette's number because insideSnogo can't be stopped. Marquette does
not want to see these teams withplayers inside that they can really match up
(28:23):
with. I am shocked that Marquette. I mean, they beat Illinois earlier
this year. Now in that gamethere was no kofe Coburn. If they
play them again, Ellinois is goingto take him to the woodshed. Shaka,
fantastic job. Everyone's buying in.We all have a Kryptonite US and
there's is the interior game. It'sjust a bad matchup. I love Marquette.
(28:44):
I just think Connecticut matches up wellwith them. I am not a
Connecticut guy. They have been greatagainst the spread either, and I have
no problem picking against them. ButI do think that in this situation,
when you have a big against Marquette, that is their kryptonite. The Santa
Clara with Saint Mary, Saint Mary's, we've talked about this. They played
a slow pace, you know,so there's gonna be more variant. When
(29:04):
you play slower, you don't makepossessions. That's why the fast teams want
the possessions, because they feel thetalent will eventually win out. That's what
happened with Saint Mary's here. Itwas a shocker. I still like Saint
Mary. I think they're playing verywell tonight. They blew somebody, blew
somebody outside Pepperdine. Maybe they blewsomebody out home and they covered by the
way, so I have no problemwith that. Toledo, you know,
Toledo is at the point where againyou have to come up with a reason
(29:27):
for me to pick against them inthe in the Mid American Conference, their
first overall, they're eleven and twoin conference. Big win over Ohio.
So now they're tied fifteen point winover Ohio. They swept them on the
season series, they beat them byeighteen. They are the favorite to me
to win the MAC Tournament. Koalchuckcoach Koal Chuck has done a wonderful job
(29:51):
there for many years. They havea lot of games coming up. They
are projected to win all of thegames. I guess you want to say
away, Buffalo could be frisky,Gusts could be I guess only by one.
But Buffalo has sort of disappointed methis year, just a little too
sloppy, herky jerky up and downhere with the ball. But Toledo does
not do that. They don't turnthe ball over. Their solid fundamentals.
And how do you not like aToledo Rockets team, Gus, that is
(30:12):
number one in the MAC in twopoint percentage fifty five point six percent and
number one in the MAC in twopoint percentage defense at forty five point six.
Joe, you're gonna beat him.You gotta beat him by turning them
over, which is hard to do, and you gotta beat him from beyond
the arc, which is difficult todo. Agreed. And if we're just
gonna take it. You know,my favorite part of this breakdown is taking
(30:33):
look at the players. And ifyou look at Williams, the guard from
Santa Clair, he played really wellagainst Saint Mary's and is looking like one
of the better guards inside the WCC. And Ryan Rollins is absolutely rolling for
Toledo. He's averaging about twenty pointsa game, shooting at almost fifty percent
from the field, he's shooting inyou know, a decent percentage from three,
(30:55):
and he's just filling up the boxscore on all fronts for Toledo.
He looks like the best player inthe conference by far. And then Mike,
we have to touch on Wyoming gettingthe ot win against Utah State and
then Colorado State and David Roddy overNevada. And if you remember last year,
Grant Sheerfield hit that game winner toput down Colorado State in one of
(31:18):
those makeup games, which really droveColorado State fans crazy. So they kind
of flipped the script on last year'sresult. So a little takeaway from the
Mountain West. Yeah, Wyoming Again, Wyoming's one of these teams. They
are currently in Ken Palm eighth inluck Okay. So therefore They're not good,
all right, Wyoming, you keepgetting favorable numbers. Becau. People
(31:41):
don't think Wyoming's good at basketball.They thinking back to the Finnis Dembo years.
Sorry, how to drop that one? Look at up folks, half
too, But Wyoming is good.The only thing I was shocked about this
is I did I got this pickright overall, but I lost on the
live line because Gus when they gotto halftime and Justin Bean had zero points
and Utah State was winning, I'mlike, this is not gonna be a
problem. But they came back.They're gritty, they're gutty, e k
(32:02):
tremendous Hunter Maldonado as superior. Greatwin for Wyoming. They continue to be
undervalued in the market. Correct Wyomingnow nine and one, and don't look
now, Gus, San Jose State, New Mexico away all right? Maybe
I guess Patino maybe Okay, airForce at home? No way, then
Colorado State on the road. That'sgoing to be the game. So Wyoming.
(32:23):
Jeff flind a great job. Wyomingwants a Mountain West title. They
want it, they can sniff it. They want it. They're tied with
Boise State. Tremendous job. ColoradoState. Roddy the body. We liked
the party. Gus said it.We went from Hunter Maldonado David Roddy.
You're looking at possible Mountain West playerof the year right there for either one
of those guys. You know whatI think about my rams. That was
(32:45):
a payback spot in the biggest way. I was positive they're going to get
that annoyed me. I should havebet the revenge spot for Wagner today against
Mount Saint Mary's at home. Igot thrown off because Elijah Ford is out,
so I wasn't sure about that way. Yeah, Wagoner's rolling. They
won by loven The spread was nine. Very annoyed by that, but they
had it pretty handily. But thiswas a similar spot for Colorado State because
(33:05):
they don't lose that game to Nevada. Surefield doesn't hit that shot, they
win that game. They're in thetournament. Last year, that alstom being
in the tournament one hundred percent payback. There's such a good team.
My only concern, Gus, youplay a team with a big that's the
same thing. But Roddy's so goodhe can stretch the floor. I just
love Colorado State. I'm just gonnabe so happy when for Nico Medvo when
they make the tournament, they arelegitimately good. I don't know if they
(33:25):
can win the conference. Miami's gonnahave to slip up here right now if
you look at it, Colorado Stateis eight and three in conference, so
assuming they take care of business athome against Wyoming, there's still a game
back, so they're gonna get anothergame somewhere. But either way, maybe
they go for the Mountain West Tournament. That'll be exciting. But love it,
love folks, Wyoming, Providence,Wake Forest, and Wisconsin are good
(33:47):
enough. You know, sometimes theluck metric you're just looking you're looking for
something that you want to define.Like sometimes you just have to pay attention
to the winning law, probability andthose columns as well, and those those
four teams that you outlined obviously hitall the marks in the win loss.
Let's do it, because I getI get the I do get the luck
(34:09):
metric. I get it, butI understand it's like it's like the look
ahead, spot contrarian, play flat, that's the sprinkle, and create your
own narrative however you like with thisright, Like if you want to say
to me I like pick X,Y and Z blah blah blah blah,
and oh, by the way,the luck metric. But you can't say
Providence is a fraud the luck metric. You can't start with the luck metric.
(34:32):
It's it's a sprinkle, which Ilove sprinkles. It's not the Sunday.
So tell me why you don't likeProvidence in the matchup, and then
tell me the luck metric. Don'tgo You're not fade and wyoming luck mat
stop. They're good, They're verygood. If you want to say it's
a tricky spot and maybe they're duefor us slip up or something of that
(34:53):
nature, yea, Like you canhave that as part of I don't know,
maybe like the third or fourth ofyour conversation about that matchup. It
shouldn't be the leading topic. Itotally agree with you there, Yeah,
that's I think it's ridiculous. Andthen like then you're relying on a number
that's microscopic, by the way,and you know via Ken Pound that number
(35:15):
is like multiple decimals, and you'reletting that define how you're going to grade
out a game, whether you're gonnawager on it or grade out a game
on whether you're going to pick out, you know, prospects or whether you're
gonna grade out a game on whoyou think is gonna win the conference.
That's that's silly, ye silly.All right, let's do a quick look
ahead, which is not silly.We have a couple of cool games.
(35:35):
On Friday night inside the Big East, we have Iona playing that A ten
has a couple, Mountain West hasone. And then on Saturday we got
a couple of Big Mike We gotTexas Baylor, Seaton Hall, Villanova,
Murray State, Morehead State and moreHead State and Belmont like knocked heads this
evening and Belmont squeaked it out byone, so that game is going to
(35:59):
be huge. We have Gonzaga SaintMary's and then of course we have ucla
USC. So out of those matchups, or maybe you got your eyes on
something else, do you have anythingthat might stick out or something that you're
really like paying attention to, whetherit be for the casual watcher, for
the wager out there, those areall such great matchups. Colorado State hosting
Fresno. I understand, Orlando Robinson, Folks, Let's just take it easy
(36:21):
on Fresno a little bit. Iget it. You know, they were
playing very well and Jamal Baker.Losing him is a critical piece to this
team. They have to make threeswith Robinson. I just in colorod State's
gonna run him off the floor.This game is going to be Colorado State
by three or four. Grab itright away. Yep. They are not
losing this game. So I'm takingColorado State no problem. There other games
(36:45):
on Friday Night that jump out rightaway. I own a going to Sienna.
I'm gonna take ten with carm I'mgonna ta talk to coach Masscerello.
We had it on the YouTube channel. I think this is a tough spot
for them. They're gonna play hard. I'm expecting I would to win Gus,
but if it's gonna be ten oreleven, you're gonna give me a
coach palm here. I'll take itin two seconds, no problem. He's
proven that he can do that.That's pretty much it on you and LV
(37:07):
Boise if that interests you. SaintBond Adventure, Saint Louis. I love
Saint Louis and home. Eight's alot. I know Saint Bonnie's going in
the wrong direction, but eight isan awful lot, and I have no
interest in Xavier whatsoever. I'll takeYukon. I just so didn't like Ukon.
But in this situation, I don'ttrust Xavier at all. I got
And then how about on Saturday,you're looking at anything on Saturday? We
have I guess if you want tojump into Gonzaga, Saint Mary's, or
(37:30):
maybe something else on the West coast. So is there anything else that you're
looking at on Saturday. Yeah,Zag's by a billion. I'm not falling
for that. The one time Idid pick Saint Mary's, they you know,
they one time I picked Saint Mary's. Every time they lost, I
finally picked Nzaga. They win.I'm going Gonzaga. There no problem Homegren's
playing a different level right now.A difference maker can't really say anything about
that. I expect Baylor to playvery well at home. They need to
(37:52):
make sure that they're healthy. Iwant to see, you know, Flaggler,
is he healthy? LJ. Cryerdid not play. I think he's
a difference make for them because Ido not trust Texas. I think that
was a great win over Kansas,but I do not see staying power with
Texas whatsoever. I don't. Ithink they're I think Chris Beard's first year
has been really solid. Yeah,but I think Baylor's at a different level.
(38:13):
I will be taking Baylor in thatgame. Like I said, Ohio
State big against Michigan, not buyingthe Michigan turnaround right now. I agree
with that. I agree with thatwholeheartedly. And the other part with you
mentioned with Texas, They're going tobe able to get up for these games,
but I think Texas finding consistency isgonna be tricky because of the roster
(38:34):
makeup. Every other team in collegebasketball has super seniors coming back, the
transfers that have been in like andcontinuity on both the offensive and defensive end.
That's what Texas lacks. So Ithink game to game they're really interesting,
But as far as putting them ona streak, I think that's a
little tricky. I've found this year, Gus, when I'm wagering that my
(38:57):
initial instinct is usually right. SoI'm just gonna go through a couple of
games here. I don't want toget your reaction. I just found,
like my initial since we watch onmuch college basketball and we're my initial reaction
is always usually right. Ready,I'm going by kem pom wake Forest minus
seven and home over Miami. That'sa lot of points. This is my
first reaction. I don't know,what do you think. I think it's
(39:19):
a lot of points too, andI think Miami still thinks they have a
crack at this thing. So Iend they've played every big game pretty close.
I don't I think it's too much, too much. Drake app Bradley
three. I'll take Bradley, Yeah, I will too. Mississippi State at
strong ass offer, strong ass offerminus eight. Really, yeah, they
(39:43):
have an How are you not takingMissisippi State there? Yeah, it's a
lot of points. They're coming offof loss. By the way, can
we give a quick shout out here, tom No, I love coming on
the podcast, folks. The teamthat is leading the Atlantic Coast Conference is
the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Iadded three. Actually, they'll probably be
Duke one tonight to the Duke isten and three also, but coming into
tonight, Notre Dame was leading theconference. They are on the road at
(40:06):
Clemson. They're gonna be favored bythree, and they're doing this without Laschevski,
who hopefully will be back for thisgame. If he's back, I
like them. If he's not back, are we taking Brad brim Allen getting
three at home? No? Ithink this goes back to your your premise
earlier. I love notre dame inthat spot. Are you kidding mege?
I agree? That's all I got, buddy. That's fabulous listeners out there.
(40:29):
Thank you so much for letting usjoin you during the college basketball season
and putting us in your lineup oryour queue as far as your basketball information
goes. Mike and I love puttingit together and love talking like to you,
at you with you and alongside youand watching the games with you.
So thank you so much. Wetotally appreciative of your time and thanks for
(40:49):
allowing us to, you know,keep your company during the season. It's
really cool. If you really likewhat you're listening to, please don't forget
to give the podcast a kind reviewand maybe subscribe on your podcast asked the
vehicle consumption. Vehicle choice kindness isalways cool, so hit that up and
then don't forget to give the podcastto follow over at Twitter at SDS podcast
and give Mike a follow over onTwitter as well at Randall Rant. And
(41:13):
we're working on a few other itemsvia social media that we might let out
in a little bit. So hopefullythere'll be some other cool stuff that you
can just check out and we'll pullthe curtain back a tiny bit. Mike,
anything else for the listeners out there, that's it. Let's just see
if we can get Chris Paul oversixteen and a half points right now,
suns up ninety one, seventy four. He's got thirteen in the third,
(41:37):
all right, he's got to hita three and then just put it to
bed. Right, Yeah, he'sgot the over. He's got the over
undergust for points, rebounds and assists. He got that. He's at thirty
two. It's thirty two and ahalf a one. But we could use
four more points here, so Bucks, keep it close. Let's do the
fouling game. Four points. Getto the Windows Sea on Friday. Bucks
playing incredible, by the way,the holy smokes, Wow, look at
this moment demolition of the Lakers.All right, listeners, catch you the
(42:00):
next time. Thank you so muchfor tuning in. Mike, always so
good to do this. Go cheersa lot you guys, Alatzi, everybody
already gotta side
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