Stringy Live. I mean, iHeartRadio waft. This is I on the Ball
with Steve Rivera and Jay Gonzalez on Fox Sports fourteenth fifty. Hey, welcome
back to joining the ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve,
He's Jay. And now we have analyse with breaking news on Fox Sports fourteen.
All right, now we can do it. It's a five year penalty.
Yeah, no, we can get into the break. You guys didn't
tell me I needed to play that second. I remember from last time.
But we're training you on the fly. Here we go, Yeah, there
we go. So okay, we just saw that Benedict Matherrin has been selected
to play in the Panini Rising Stars Game, which will be at the All
Star Weekend in two weeks on February sixteenth. Our former veteran Benedict Mathrin.
I think he is a great fit. Other players from his year NBA sophomores
as they call them, or Paulo brand Cairo Chat home Grub is playing and
I thought he was a sophomore too, Yeah he was because he sat out
last year. Because yeah, I think he's still considered a rookie right again,
considered a rookie yeah, yeah, because he sat out the whole year.
He got hurt of pre season. Was like a top three pick as
well. So all those picks from from that year. Where's the where's the
NBA? INDI is an Indiana? Where's the game? I think it's indian
It is in I think it is Cambridge Field House. Okay, but yeah
that should be interesting better, Nick Mappa, I'm sure I'll do amazing.
He scored twenty four points off the bench the other night, led the Pacers
to win over the Grizzlies. I mean off the bench. It's pretty good.
Yeah. No, it is in Indianapolis, Steve, So there you
go. Yeah, the Cambridge Field House? Is that? Like the assuming
that's Indiana's Breeda. They changed names so often it's like, what the heck?
Yeah. Caleb Love has also been named a top shooting guard for the
Jerry Westward and a finalist for the Jerry West Awards. So right right,
top ten? Where would they? Where were their zon to be? Without
Well, that's that's the thing. Let's say Let's say they got another good
garden there, but it's not Caleb Love. They want to be the duke,
they'd be, they'd be wouldn't be where there are are maybe seven losses.
Maybe, Okay, what a thing that I've heard? Okay that oh
I'm interested in this. Well, it's a it's a it's it's an opinion
involving him. It's an opinion that's been expressed him well, because I've had
some people say to me, what's Kylin Love Kylin Boswell not playing well because
Caleb Love is taking on more of the load load, or that he's he's
he's got the ball more than than that, you know, kind of going
back to you know, Caleb Love's reputation when he got here, a guy
who wanted the ball all the time. I've just had some people say,
does anything does what's happening with Colin bos Will have anything to do with Caleb
Love? And he said, I don't think so. I don't think Colin
Boswell's that kind of a player. I just think he's not playing very well.
That out That's what I said. Okay, So I agree. I
agree with your friends. And it could be something else too. Whatever that
is, I do not know. But if you did, you watch your
postgame interview. Now, go to watch the post game interview, just the
interaction, just whatever. I think they're they're good teammates, right, But
I'm not a doctor. I only play it on the radio. I don't
know what. I don't know what the deal is here. But I just
had some people say that, well, it's a it's a popular thesis or
whatever, because it's happened at the same time and kind of like I think,
I don't know if it was. It was a Brian Peterson who said
that, you know, you know, umar Bala doesn't have a zulus to
ballast and I'd like that there because because like that, Johnson is not a
zulus Kishaw. Johnson has a different game. He's more out on the perimeter.
Sure, there's not he's he's not in there as a one too.
Sure he's not a score you know, he's he's more of a you know,
he's a defender. Yeah, he scores some as needed, but a
lot of his scores come from outside where azulas. You throw them the ball
down low and he was gonna score right. Well, look at the team.
There's so many individual parts that don't remember a couple of a couple of
years ago. They don't fit. The pieces fit together. This this one
are like five dudes, six dudes that they don't really fit, but it
looked like they fit at the first half of the year because they were happy
to play play again in the court. And look, look, it doesn't
look like I throw that out there just because that's an opinion. They got
its best to me more than a couple of times. And I think there's
something to it. But did you watch Houston last night? No, even
parts you saw our text, Yeah, I was watching. They look like
Arizona looked in November. Boom boom being bomb boom and the score. Arizona
doesn't do that. It goes past being passed, being or just shoot.
They don't. They don't. They don't move around like Dame Street. These
teams are making them play that way. Were able to get the fast breaks
and always yeah that's the keyshad runs the court really well, very athletic guy.
But but he's not catching long passes and dunking like sure Zulas was over
and over and over. Sure, Sure, And then we have our guy
who's kind of like still our mystery. But you want to say Pele is
the straw of the straw, how do you see it is plays he plays
well, they win. He doesn't play well they lose, but we don't
see it. It's not a visual thing, right, you can't pinpoint any
right, It's just like he's doing things well, what's he doing well?
Things right? Right? Is in the boss scot No? Okay, because
we have a I don't know if you were you were not here. We
we talked to an analyst who's on the show every now and again, and
he kind of threw these numbers at us, and you know, the key
guy on this team, Pella Larson, and we looked at each other,
how how this is? Well? His numbers show that I feel like he
doesn't presence on the court, right. It's that's what that's what it is,
a visual thing. He doesn't he doesn't look, he doesn't dominate the
court, right, But you trust when he has the ball, you trust
him exactly visually. That's a good word. Good word. Yeah, that's
that's that's a perfect word. Okay. We we sidetracked on that. Well.
I actually I wonder what you guys are thinking. What do you think
will happen with Pela after this year? He's a senior, he's not an
NBA. He's going overseas. He's just not Everyone talks about it on the
TV. How does he fit? He's a tweener, he's another tweetter though,
Yeah, he's not and he's not a shooter. He's not a shooter.
Is Is he as good as the Zulus? Taballas? We was?
Nope? And where's and he's not he's not a shooter like Caleb? Yeah,
so where do these? Where does he go? He's gotta find He's
gonna make a ton of money. Feel like he could be able to do
it, just he hasn't proven that yet. Anally, you got here when
he got here? Yeah, have you seen that happen? I don't.
I don't know what position he could play in the NBA. It's been very
consistent though, Like he's always been good and he's gotten better. You know
now he starts sure, maybe two years ago he didn't start right. Well,
he came off. He was good. That was his spot. But
how many teams are there out there in the college world that do you see
better guys than him? Yea, and they're powerful. I mean I like
him a lot, and I think he means a lot to this, to
this team, and he's been a lot to the team the last couple of
years. I just I don't see where I don't see an NBA, not
two day's NBA, not today's NBAS. It's changed, it's changed quite a
bit. And yeah, if you can shoot it tomorrow, he could get
He's not, he's not. He's not to make your own shot. Guy.
Now can he go into the lane and you know, do the turn
on stuff like it? But he you know, if he's got the ball
out on the perimeter, he's not going to create his own shot like you
need to. Yeah, and Caleb Love can do that. And Caleb Love
can do that. He absolutely can do that. That's crazy though, that
Caleb Love is a top time without award. I don't know why I didn't
see that coming because he's a scorer. He's scorings, scoring a lot of
points. He's putting a lot of points on the board on a team that's
otherwise very balanced. Yeah, right, Okay, Next, I have Jeph
Curry and Sabrina I and Escu will go head to head for the first NBA
versus w n B a three point challenge during All Star weekend. I'll watch
that be fun to watch. Who would have his record last year? She
was? She broke his record last year. Remember she had, she couldn't
miss remember that. I would watch that. I would go with Curry.
Uh and and Caitlyn I would and I would have been on yeah, yeah,
you know we got we got to see here because she played at Oregon,
you know there, they don't make a lot of those. They don't
make a lot of those, and some stuff that she did. You just
go, holy, yeah, yeah, that's fun doing that because I feel
like All Star Weekends. You've seen it over and over again, Steph Curry
doing the three points contest. Whoever takes him up, and I think this
will be on edition. Lebron James is injured last night. Now he is
questionable, is playing the next game. Left ankle, left ankle, He's
a whole. Did you see did you see that game? I put it
on Facebook day Saturday night. It was Golden State versus Sunday night maybe when
it was against Lakers. What a fantastic game, back and forth, back
and forth, and Lebron was killing it. So it was Curried, last
guy with the ball was going to win it. And he was very good,
very fun. But the Lakers lost at home against the Rockets last night
by sixteen. Ouch. H when he was that guy. Yeah, some
people are saying it was a flop. It wasn't. I mean, I
agree, it wasn't the most like physically contacted. Yeah, what made him
get injured? But a right, I'm a Laker girls, hopefully are you
why from La? Okay, all right, what other teams? We haven't
had this conversation. Are you a baseball fan at all? Yeah? Dodgers
of course? Oh god, all right, we're gonna have fun with that.
He's he's a Hugehue Dodger fan. Yeah, Dodge fan. I saw
show was practicing todayand Rams Chargers. Obviously, we're Ravens fans. My dad's
from Baltimore, grew up going to Ravens game. So we're a little heartbroken.
Okay, now you should be pissed, not heart broken. Yeah,
because that was that was crap. Yeah, couldn't catch a break, all
right, Okay, so right, I'm like, my biggest thing is heard
Duke fans, my mom fans. Okay, that's why I saw them in
San Francisco because we flew up there. You said, your mom and dad
went to my mom just your mom went to Duke. Okay, how long
ago I think she age? Yeah, I think she was there when j
Billis was there six So have you been to the arena? I have not.
We were gonna go for Arizona at this year, but my mom she
said she didn't want to go all the way there and watch Duke glues like
she yeah, wow, So we might go come back for in November when
Duke is here. Well they'll ruly now again. Yeah they're rolling now.
Okay, all right, okay, got more? Nothing too crazy. I'm
sure you guys talked about Lucas scoring Maybe you didn't. Lucas scoring seventy three
points like a few days ago, which was more than any player since Kobe
in two thousand and six is eighty one, and it's just kind of crazy.
There was two games within a week where two players scored more than seventy
point and then a couple of sixty point games. Right now, what's going
on? I don't know, but people are saying that they're wrecking the NBA,
and I'm like, I don't agree. And it didn't wasn't it who
was it? Was it Embiid who scored seventy and lost or something like that,
right one of the Yeah, it was a seventy two, seventy games,
and it was crazy. And even what's the name deep Silver, Deep
Silver, the silver the commissioner said he didn't read it. Yeah, that
day, the day we Love you, man was talking about why he gave
us the theory on defense and why it's gone in the NBA. It's just
a different game. Steve Kerr is the one that brought it in. It's
passing past pass mass shooting three, shooting past past SHOOTO three, pass past
shoot to three. Now, that's what they're doing. That's why you think
these Arizona players would be good for the NBA because they're used to they play
that bass game. And you think the NBA would see that in the well
and and and yeah, I guess they did with you know, yeah he's
playing Larry and Nico Nico Mannion. He just wasn't good enough. Yeah,
you know, Sean, but you know, but you know, what's his
name, Josh Josh Green is running around out there, So you still have
to be telling talented enough to make it. I when you think about look,
you know, you look at Zeke Nagy. I mean, you know,
we didn't think a lot of him as an NBA guy, but guy
could run up and down the floor and and play and play facing the basket,
not just with his back to the basket, like you know our friend
DeAndre Ayton. So you know, you look, you just don't know what
works in the NBA and what and what does still though, I always like
watching college basketball way more. Oh yeah, I didn't watch the NBA till
the playoffs. It doesn't really matter where my jersey here. Okay, you
want to just take a break, are you done? Yeah? Yeah,
okay, all right, let's go and take Let's go ahead and get out
of here. We'll take our break and at least we'll queue up some up
some tunes here and we'll have and we're gonna come back with a Clancy Shields,
head coach of the Arizona men's tennis team, and uh, you know
they're off to a good start again. He is. We mentioned he's got
quite a program going, So stick around for that, okay, m The
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evaluation today. Breaking down all the exes at OHS. It's Steve Rivera and
Jacin Salmis. This is I on the Park on Fox Sports fourteenth thefty.
Hey, welcome back to Eye on the Ball here onl Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
I'm Steve Rivera. He's Jacin's aws. Now on the phone. We
have Clancy Shields from the Arizona men's tennis team head coach. How are you,
Clancy A? Thanks for having me on. How are things going in
your world? You guys are always good. Yes, it's early. I'll
say that we're also a good start. We're thirteen in the country. We're
four and oh we had a great weekend last weekend to qualify for the first
time the program hits feet to the national indoors. Maybe it's in New York
City at the US Open, and we took down a you know, a
top twenty five Baylor team and a very Miami team and so yeah, we're
off to a good start. But as a coach, man, I just
I was. I was up all weekend trying to identify all the areas where
we're not very good at and we've got a lot of enough plates. Well
that's what coaches do, right, It's going good, but you figure out
what's bad. Could I ask a question here because I wanted to ask it?
Maybe later on, but okay, so I'm naive to anything but basketball,
baseball, and football, the bigger sports. So what makes a good
tennis coach? If you have good players, what do you do to make
them better? Is that a stupid question by me? No, I think
it's a really good question. I'm still trying to say, figure it out.
Number one. I mean, you have to develop your players, and
I think we've done. I think that's why you know, we landed the
number six recruiting class that came out yesterday, because I think people know that
we developed players and going to get better. I think you've got to recruit
really well because you're not gonna you know, you're not going to compete for
national championships without having talent. And then, you know, I think the
thing that we've really honed in on here at Arizona is the family environment and
these guys. They play hard for each other. And even though it's an
individual sport. I mean, if you've come up says you'll see the energy
our team have. I think it's unlike any other college team in America.
So is this kind of found up on that a little bit? You know,
we've talked, for instance, golf coaches, right, they get players.
They're really good players, right. A lot of those players have their
own coaches, and so they just as you said, you're just trying to
enhance what they do or help them, you know, be better, better
managers of their game or that kind of thing. Is that what we're talking
about when you say you know what you do to develop your players. Yeah,
I didn't get into this to manage players. I got into this to
develop them. Yes, that means if that means going back to square one
and change in technique, I mean, we'll do it all. I mean
I've seen players come in here and we retold their whole game, and they
started, they may have taken five steps and then all of a sudden they
were enabled them to take ten steps forward. That's the fun thinking about this.
I mean, you know we're not here the babysit. We're not a
day there. You know, we want to we want to challenge these kids
to get better. And it's a really fine motors for skill and it's you've
got to spend hours upon hours. That means got to be perfect your contact
points, your technique. I mean it is. It is an endless sport
of coaching. I mean, once you open one door, you almost open
up three more doors of where you take your game next. And so it's
a really it's a really fun challenge and I think we have a really good
staff who you know, we work with the guys about an hour each day
one on one, and a lot of that is just beating them thousands of
balls and working on small, little technical chances. And then we do like
a team practice in the afternoon where they compete and they shut their tools teammates.
But that's that's part of what makes our program unique is we will spend
that individual time one month. So that's when you said compete, That's where
I kind of in my eyes, where who is if you're the number one
guy and you have the number six guy, he's facing the number one guy,
Well, the number six guy is going to get better. He's either
gonna get tired of getting his butt kicked, or he's got he has no
choice but to get better. Right. Uh, that's how in my mind,
that's how it works. I could be wrong. No, in this
in particular, I think this is the deepest team we've had. I mean,
our number ten, we only have ten players, but our number ten
player who's red shooting this year, he was the number one player in the
country when he was fourteen, he was top five. And uh, class
is the blue tipp recrew. He's playing number ten for us, and he
can beat up on our number one guys. So it's just a really competitive
practice. If there's only six guys right in the singles lineup, so you
know, the number six guy knows if he's not bringing it. There's always
this four hungry guys, right right. Yeah, No, well you found
some magic because you're doing really well. Yeah, so you mentioned your number
thirteen ranked ranked thirteen, you know in a you know, in your sport.
How meaningful is that? Because we talked about, you know, Arizona's
ranking in basketball and we just kind of say, okay, they're nine,
they're nine, They're always up there. But how meaningful is it to you
that your team is ranked at thirteen and you know, getting into the top
ten. Uh maybe at some point. What does that mean to you guys?
You know, if it was a flash in the pan, it wouldn't
mean But we've been a top fiveteen for five years and you've been consistently there
and I think that's a testament that you know, this is a problem that's
built the last and if I was never here, this program would go to
be great because we've played a really good foundation, uh to have a ton
of success. And I think that's what we would say pride is we're not
just the flash in the pan one year. We're going to be good.
You know, we want to be good every year and we build it that
way. And we've been fers in a row, top twenty five and we're
really pregnant. So you you're I don't know famous is, but you you
go after international players. How have you been successful getting them to come to
Tucson. Yeah, I want to say, you know, we're just going
to try to find the best player. I mean, our number one player
is he's number five in the country and I remember recruiting him four years ago.
He's a small farm town, a you know, population a thousand people,
and you know, you just find these kids these great stories and the
awesome fans like, man, this kid is going to do so well in
our program. And I think all ten ofids we're in our fro believe worry.
And if you look at their actual rankings before they came to the University
of Arizona, they wasn't so impressive. I mean it was good. But
what they've been able to do once they've gotten here, you know the testament
that you know, you really have to do your homework on recruiting the kid's
character and who he is as a person and when he shows up, how
hard is he going to work for the next four years? And I think
we've been able to do a good job with that. So so you get
a kid, you know, guys like to come. You know, they
play college, college tennis, you know, whatever sport it is. What's
on their minds? Are they are? They coming here to develop to become
pros? All of them? You know what, what's you know, what's
out there for them? Yeah, I would say most of them want to
play professional tennis. And you know it's it's a really difficult sport because only
one hundred and fifty pros. The top one hundred and fifty pros are making
a living. If you are two hundred in the world, and I know
the Australian Open was on, but if you're two hundred in the world,
you're not making any money. And so I think college is really an opportunity
for these kids to continue to mature and develop. And the average eight of
the top hundred in the world is actually twenty eight years old. And so
we kind of recruit on that of saying, hey, don't go out there
when you're seventeen, eighteen nineteen and get your butt kicked. Come to Arizona.
We're gonna pay for you to be here, to train, to keep
you know, getting the gym, to work on your mental game, every
little thing you can develop and mature, and then when you're done, we
hope you have the tools to go out and play in front of the you
know, thousands of fans of the US Open, Australian Open, whatever it
is. That is our mission. So we talked to a number of coaches,
obviously all the time, how has the NIL affected you if at all?
Because we had Ray Wells on yesterday and we asked them a specific question
to like Geist all right, Jordan Geist and Deanie Schnell two of the most
successful athletes out in the programs, But NILS is not really for them.
Yes, you know, look, I think I think it's really happening in
every sport. And I just think too, we do a good job in
our program that these guys they are so appreciative of being here at Arizona to
what we get these kids. We really make sure they understand that, hey,
they're really fortunate to have what we have here. I mean, we
take care of their meals, they're travel they're coaching. We do a lot
for these kids, and I just think we sometimes don't do a great job
telling the kids, you know, hey, how great this is, and
we have to almost explain it. Hey man, we're investing a lot into
you, and they kind of I think there's a level of gratitude there that
the kids really appreciate. Now there's also this space that we're playing in a
little bit. But you know, I'm just not trying to do an arms
race. I'm not trying to do those type of things. I think we
can have a great foundation and a great program without being you know, one
of the time programs in NL and and maybe they'll come back to bite me.
But currently where we are right now, you know, I like where
our program is. We've got really a bunch of humble, loyal, great
kids on our team and they really love being at Arizona. Well, let's
talk about some of those kids that. You know, if somebody comes out
and watches, you know, watches one of your matches, you know,
who are they looking for? Who's going to stick out to them? When
you watch somebody play and you're going to say, Okay, that guy,
you know, he's special, he's got something. Yeah. Well, I
mean our number one players currently ranked five in the country, just one.
You know, Packel. The week he is physically, I mean, this
is a kid. He goes to bed at nine pm every night. He's
basically he won't eat any feed oils. He's like his diet styled in,
his sleep styled in. I mean, he's all about this and it is
impressive to watch him work. When you go watch him play, I mean
just sheer power. I mean, if you want to see a serve one
hundred and thirty plus miles or if you go to the court next him.
We have a sophomore day friend he's you know, he's absolutely electric on the
court. Moves well, he's number thirty one in the country and only a
sophomore. I mean those two guys that definitely stick out. And then my
number three players was ranked top fifteen in the country at twelve Freshman of the
Year and he's I mean, lightning speed, world class backhand. I mean,
all these guys are super fun to watch. But what I think when
you come to our match, it's like a It's like a soccer match.
These guys are a lot of them are international, and they just have these
chants and they're staying and I mean last mess they were doing sweet or they
were doing take me Home Country out Arizona. Those were hilarious just a watch,
and yeah, I had a smile on my face a whole time.
Who's your number one guy? Did you say cold So Colton? When who
you said go to sleep at nine o'clock? Is Colton and I have something
in common until you mentioned his diet and it ended there. You must be
happy with all this talent you have, because, uh, come on,
you men's tennis hadn't been this good in a while, and we've talked to
you maybe two or three four years now, I can't remember, but you've
you've been at the top of the heap, you know. I just keep
preparing myself for the day when it's not great, you know. And I've
been fortunate that every year we just kind of kept setting the bar higher and
higher. You know, It's not going to be like that every year,
and I've just kept my blasting. We're really fortunate We've got some good players.
But ultimately, yeah, we've We've been really fortunate to continue to build
our program, and I just want to keep seeing how far how high we
can take it. I mean, can we take it to ten? Can
we push it for a national championship? I mean, those are all things
that we're working towards. But and I'm tickled that we are. We have
an elite program and I'm holding the holding the wheel right now. Well,
I'm looking at your schedule going forward to your conference schedule. You've got a
couple of top ten teams in there with USC and Stanford. But you know,
just tell us that this is the last rodeo for the Pac twelve.
Uh, what's you know, what's the expectation for the Big twelve? What?
What's that going to look like, what's the competition over there? Yeah,
it's it's gonna be. It's not as good. I mean, the
Pac twelve has won fifty four of the last not seventy national championships. I
mean us when you think about college tennis, you think about you know john
Man, Stanford, you know uca USC. I mean those three schools have
won, you know, probably some national championships. So going going over to
the Big twelve will be a little bit of a drop. But TCU is
always very good. Baylor's always been, you know, one of the top
programs. I mean, I say, at the top, there's some really
good teams, and you know, we're gonna we're going to be in for
a battle to be competing for championships over there, and we're excited for the
new challenge. And personally for me, you know, I as a coach,
you kind of have like a shelf life of eight years and things kind
of get a little bit now. And I mean my eight season here at
Arizona, and I feel like I'm being reborn next year, going into a
new conference and new places and new bonus, and it's like starting the job
all over. So I'm really excited for it. I hope it's a good
step for our athletic department. I hope it will be, and I think
all of us coaches are excited about tackling a new challenge. Yeah, okay,
well, coach, appreciate your time again. Going to going to southern
California this weekend real quick. What do you expect up there with the San
Diego and Pepperdine. Yeah. San Diego is always a top twenty team.
I mean they're they're really good, and we've had some absolute battles with them,
and then Pepperdine is one of the national championships. I mean it's not
a hard sell to tell a player to come. You know, you hit
tennest balls and you're looking at the ocean the whole time. So, I
mean, both those teams are fantastic. If we can get a win on
either of those places, it's success. It's a hard road trip, so
we'll get ourselves ready. But yeah, it's it's gonna be a tough roach
trip. I think our guys will be ready. Well, thanks going right,
coach, thank you, Hey, we will we will all right.
Uh. Clancy Shields, the head head men's tennis coach, off to another
good start and again for all these coaches. Right, it's the last rodeo
for the for the Pac twelve. So we'll see, uh see how that
goes. So hey, let's take our next break. We're gonna come back.
We'll take your calls five two, zero, four, one, six,
seventy four, forty. But still love to hear from you on what
you think of the Pac twelve football schedule. That guy, excuse me,
the Arizona is Big twelve football schedule that got released today. So stick around.
Don't stop the running back guys. Stop base world's running back guy.
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teamsecurity dot net. Streaming live on the iHeartRadio app. This is I on
the Ball with Steve Ravera and Jacinzalez on Fox Sports fourteen to fifteen. Hey,
welcome back to myne on the ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
I'm Steve. He's Jake at least handling the board today, getting used to
the board. We've got fifteen minutes. If you want to call, please
do five to zero four one, six, seventy four forty. We'd like
to hear from you. A lot of buttons over there, hind at least
a lot of buttons that screens. That's why I couldn't do it. I
s couldn't even a Steve doesn't want to be the old dog learning and then
I'm colorblind, so I read button little but that's the hard part. So
yellow, they're all the same to me, all the commercials. If you
guys forgot to tell me to play the break, we forget a lot of
stuff. Yeah, so you have some breaking news kind of well, you
know two four seven Sports they put out like they do this thing called crystal
ball, just where they're hearing somebody, uh might wind up, and they
have put a crystal ball on Keona will Height, the former South Point guy
who committed to Arizona then committed to Washington. Now they're saying he may be
headed to UCLA. Yeah, okay, so that'd be be very interesting.
But you know, you know who knows, right, I mean, he
signed with Washington, right, he actually signed with Washington, but he got
to go in the portal because of the coaching change. So now the saying
looks like Ucla is a destination for him. So we'll see what happens there.
So Steve, I was, you know, looking at Joe Lenardi's bracketology.
Yeah I saw it too, and yeah he's got three PAC twelve teams
in there. Okay, okay, Arizona, all right, Utah, he's
got them in as a solid nine seed, and then Colorado as a as
a team that would get in the playing game in the in the playing game.
So I went straight to the to the pack twelve standings to see where
those guys are because I didn't really realize Utah was doing that great. So
you got Arizona in first place, you know, fifteen and five, six
and three in the conference, Oregon, Colorado and third play Washington State,
ASU Stanford, then Utah in Utah is fourteen and seven, they're five and
five in the league, so technically they're in seventh place in the league.
But yet they're looking at him. So I'm trying, why is that?
So I went over to the Ken Palm standing ratings and Utah's is, uh
twenty is forty, Yeah, they're forty. So it's like, okay,
that's obviously where they're just you know, they're they're basing that. But Colorado
is a twenty four. So what's is the expectation that Colorado is gonna you
know, flame out a little bit in this last part of the season.
Arizona is five in Ken Palm. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I you
don't know what team you're gonna get though, right. They could be five,
they could be twenty five, they could be fifty. We've seen both
all the teams. You know in Oregon who's in second place. It was
in first place and was well, actually not second place. There aren't they
they're tied for first with Arizona. They're all they're all the way down at
fifty. So he's got them out of the tournament right now. None of
this makes any sense to me. I'm just saying, Okay, I mean,
yeah, well, these guys know they know the numbers. I don't
know, because to me, there's only probably one or two teams in the
Pac twelve that I've seen capable. I even like Washington State. I like
Oregon. Yeah, see what makes you like Oregon. They've got good players
in a good coach. They're not great. I mean, you know,
they've lost some crap games. But I just let me say it this way.
Even though with the losses that Arizona has, I don't think any of
the teams, any of the conference teams that's got three conference losses, Stanford,
Washington State, and and none of those teams are better than Oregon,
are they? Even though Arizona Washington State might be have they plaid each other
already. Washington State. Washington State is a pretty good team. They are,
and they just beat Colorado. You know, Arizona will be very lucky,
very fortunate to sweep or to sweep in the Rocky Mountains. I don't
think they will. They will sweep. Do I Oregon be Washington State?
Okay? That game was okay? So you know, I don't know.
I don't know how you're trying to figure out the Pac twelve. You're gonna
lose a lot of sleep. Yeah, I'm not gonna I'm not gonna lose
sleep, but I'm gonna get a headache from that. Well, I wouldn't
bet, and I wouldn't bet any teams in the Pac twelve or otherwise.
You know, it's too it's too crazy today. Do you think Arizona's a
two seat potential Final fourteen? Okay? If I said, you have to
say yay or nay that they're in the final saying no, no, no,
there's too there's too many things to to, too many scary things to
depend on, way too many. You have to have Caleb to shoot the
way he shot. You know, it's one of those gamblers words. If
if, if Caleb shoots the way he does, if Cavin plays the way
he did, uh, and everything falls into place? Sure if this if
if there's a lot of ifs, Man, don't all the other schools have
if if? Sure, but you didn't ask me about those things. Yeah,
it's Purdue of it's a sure fire final four too. No, you
know what you saw them, right? I saw the history history. Yeah,
and they get beat two why weird teams? Yeah, Kansas just lost
again? Yeah night. Yeah, I really like Houston. I saw again
last night on the road in Tech that Texas really looks good and they're kind
of due and Calvin is kind of even. Yeah, but they're due to
get you know, break breakthrough. Uh, to do more than that.
Yeah, it's hard to say. Maybe the old old Guard comes through.
I perdue. I don't think so Arizona. If I were to bet them,
and maybe I do, they're fourteen, they're fourteen and one, fourteen
hundred. I think it was. I do it now because if they continue
to win, they're gonna go back to second favorite. Yeah, back to
going nine hundred. Yeah. I sign an interesting stat. North Carolina has
not law US at home or in a true road game, they've only lost
neutral psychas well. Here's another thing, and we know about Caleb's situation right
lay there, blah blah blah. Who's benefited more by his departure? Yeah,
than North Carolina and Arizona's success here it was a marriage that just had
to be dissolved, and it's worked so far from teams right, So yeah,
No, I don't know. Just I'm looking through this stuff and I'm
I feel I feel more confused, maybe not confused, less, I feel
like there's way more up in the air in college basketball this year than I
can remember. Well, we can't say it every year, but it's even
more so this year. We talked about it last year, and then Luca
shows up. Yukon who had them? Fau who had them? Right,
You don't even know who they were until they get to the sweet six team
and they're bringing up teams Miami, did you have them? No? They
said, no, come on the strangers for the final four? Yeah horrible.
Yeah, well not Yukon, no, No, But just they had
had a great reputation that they got a repetition for four teams that got hot
at the right time, you know, and everybody else went by the wayside.
Arizona ninety seven and ninety eight with a better team. Yeah, and
where did you talk come from? And they wound up in the final exactly
exactly in Stanford, Stanford. They were a Mountain West team at the time.
Yeah, yeah, you got a peak at the right time. We
talked about that yesterday. So you're you're you're an athlete, right you play
is there? Do you believe in that stuff, the peaking at the right
time, or you play well that day and you play well. I'm affirma
believe you played that well that day, then you play it's because you probably
played well, yeah previously well at all? About who plays better that day
that night? Thank you very much? Ask her the question, Oh,
do you go ahead and ask what do you believe in momentum? Of course
I believe see and I don't for that specific reason. What of March madness
is all about momentum? You played well that day? You played well that
day. Arizona in ninety seven had a great run, the great run ninety
eight they were very good, better than the year before. They had momentum
four straight games, kicking the crap out of ey that fifth kme put up
into the momentum, it was gone right? How and if I have momentum
to the door, but I don't reach the door. Did momentum? It's
a momentum, but also being solid and relying on like your skills that are
that I believe in that. I believe in momentum. You could play one
day really well, and you're an athlete. You've had those days where you
wake up one day and you get your ass kicked. Yeah, but I
think the momentum does exist in that. Like there'll be spells where you're doing
good for a while. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you
feel good. I call it a run. You have a good run momentum
I really don't believe. Don't believe it because it happens. Is one step
a momentum, is two step a momentum? How what constitutes momentum? Yeah,
that's a good question, right, But but to me, I feel
like I feel like you have a better chance of playing better in the next
game if you played well, you're more confident. Yes, I agree with
that. We have a color coming in another momentum. Guy, Hi,
you're on the air and I on the ball. Hey, j Steve,
this is still you still fiel what's going on? And so you have the
conversation about momentum. Yes you don't. You don't believe in it. It's
Steve right, No, I one hundred believe in it. I believe momentum
is real. The reason I say that, The reason I say that is
because what comes out of momentum, what is the result of momentum, is
a real, real thing that that are is key to athletes, which is
confidence that I believe it comes out of momentum. Is that confidence. It's
what it is built gets built up, and the momentum is there because of
that confidence that I believe in confidence, but not moment So you you followed
the Lobos forever together the same thing thing, Well, what causes momentum?
No, I don't believe that. You're from New Mexico, right, Rich.
Okay, so you've been following a long time. In seventy nine when
they had Johnson and they had Michael Cooper, they had a tremendous amount seventy
eight Okay, same, So what happened to the momentum when they got to
the tournament. We'll see. But see, if there were momentum, they
would have had the confidence they were wont see. And I'm not saying that
when the team has momentum that they can't lose. I'm just saying momentum matters,
and sometimes another team comes along and and overcomes that. Because you have
momentum doesn't mean you're gonna win. But you can have momentum going into a
game and then somebody else beats you. They were better to yes to Richard's
point. To Richard's momentum, you build confidence, so that confidence is a
real magible. So Richard, did you say they had confidence? I'll have
no argument there. They don't have momentar Richard, I'm sorry, are you
in New Mexican? Guys freaked me out. That's why I freaked myself out
too well, when even when Steve Afford was that New Mexico that's just you
know, a mood point. But Arizona, uh, Arizona, I've seen
it too many times. It's how you play that day and how and the
opponents matchups matter things like that, right. Yeah, again, I still
think, and I think analyst agrees with me, that if you played great
the last game, you feel like you're gonna play great the next sure,
And that's to me, that's because it right you use you're using confidence and
momentum in the same Verbidge, it's not the same word. Yes, I
am, yeah, but it's not the same word. But they build off
each other. That's a solid opinion. Yeah, of course each other.
No, No, that doesn't make it. That doesn't make him invincible,
No, because nothing is. But it makes them harder to be because of
confidence from momentum. Agree, Phil, I don't believe. Hang up on
the sky. Hang up on the sky, right Phil? Your yeah,
and Lisa and I agree with you. So thank you for the call.
We appreciate it. Well, last thing, how but you be can think
about my lobos. They're playing very very well right now. You just they
have momentum, Phil, they have momentum, even confidence exactly, they have
confidence, all right, Phil, Thanks Abuch, appreciate the call. Hey,
thanks for taking my call. You're messed up, sty It's all inertia,
your momentums. Inertia, not games. How many times you have to
win or lose before you have or don't have a momentum. No, but
again, it's a it's a trite word. It's try again. You can
have momentum. You can still lose. It can give you an advantage.
But yeah, you play, Yeah, you walk in you know you're playing
really well. You're walking into the next game feeling pretty cood. Arizona I
won two games before they went to Oregon State. They had momentum and all
of a sudden right and also they got beat Now they don't have. Now
they're at a risk for the next game because they lost. Right, You
guys could do whatever, say what. I don't believe it at all.
It's how you played that day. Every game is a different game. If
I play a volleyball game and I lose, going into the next one,
I feel like I'm I'm at a disadvantage because we got to get you a
psychologist to stop figure that way. Because you're as good as you were the
previous game. You just gotta be John, you gotta be on. I
know. But but the mental aspect of it matter of course, No,
I get it. I get what you're saying, but doesn't constitute momentum.
His confidence is one word, different word. Momentum is a different thing.
You get all the confidence in the world if you when you win, even
maybe you get confidences when you lose, but it doesn't come but Steve,
but you know you're using the mental aspect of it today, your your your
your mental your frame of mind is great, and you go out there and
you play great and you win. You're the same player the next game physically
okay, but your mind may be different. You might be thinking about your
girlfriend or your boyfriend that you just broke up with, and your meant the
mental aspect of your game is in the crapper you're the same player, but
you're not because the mental piece of it. And that's that's the momentum piece
of this is that you know you if you feel good about yourself going into
a game you have, you have a better shot of playing well. Well.
It doesn't always work out, but sometimes it does. We have momentum
to end the show with. We're headed now. You can get your momentum
to the door. Try not to chip trip over anything. He never got
there. All right, We'll be back tomorrow. Thanks for being here,
follow the podcast and will catch you tomorrow.