Steve Rivera and Jay Gonzalez. They have their eye on the ball on two
Suns Sports six yea, Fox Sports fourteen fifty streaming live. I mean I
heard Radio AM welcome back hid the ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
I'm your solo host, Ja Gonzala. Steve has had to bail out for
an event that he had to attend, but I do have Jason here working
the board and keeping me company. So we're gonna go straight into breaking news.
Eye on the ball, breaking news. Okay, The number eighteen ring
Arizona men's golf team has um there has made the Anti Double A Nationals,
which will be which is going to be having the Bay Area. The Arizona
Wildcats are the fourth seed in the double NC eight um Morgan Hill Regional,
which will be happening on May fifteen, good to May seventeen. All right,
so they qualified. That's that's good for them. I know that it
wasn't looking good in the Pac twelf tournament, so uh it sounds like they
came back and got in. So now you got men's tennis, uh hosting
an NC Double A regional. You got the the you got um uh the
um the men's golf in the regional. The women's golf was in a regional.
They didn't advance out of that, but oh no, that's still coming
up. So you know, some spring sports doing well, except not so
much for baseball and softball. It's been a struggle. Yeah. And also
Arizona won the Ncuba Brian Regional a year ago by defeating the runner of pepper
Dyne on buy five strokes on out at Texas A and L. Right,
so it's good on them with the Jim Anderson's team. Good team, they're
they're good. You know, both programs doing really well. Um uh.
You know they've got they've got new digs out of Tucson Country Club, so
that obviously that's halpening them. So good for both of those teams. Yeah,
like you already mentioned um, Arizona men's tennis will be hosting UM the
first ever nub Nuble Tournament UM at a Lannel Robinson Tennis Center on Friday,
May fifth and sixth. Right, right, then they've got I think Boise
State. Yeah, both stayed up first two o'clock tomorrow, yes, okay,
all right, yep. And some national news, Joel Embiid was named
the MVP right off the NBA season. Um, he's actually the seventh international
player to win the award ever in three which is pretty special. That's that's
the number I hadn't heard. Yeah. Yeah, so he's been is one,
right, yeah, honest is one? Um, Okage is another one.
Those guys are all recent, yea, all recent three and the past
years. Um to go a little bit further back, Tim Duncan is also
an okay one, Steve Nash as well, I'm hackem a larger one is
another one, and then Dirk Okay, he's the seventh one. All right?
Yeah wow, interesting, good well. Congratulation Joel Embing, I mean,
Bial council. You know, a good guy. I know we talked
about him and yeah, you know he's got he's got a great game.
He plays hard. Uh, he gives it everything. He's got every game.
And you you know, you like guys like that to win this thing.
Yeah, people road for him. Very cool. Uh. Some Phoenix
Suns news all right. Chris Paul is expected to be reevaluated in one week
after mri um on his growing injury, so he's expected to miss Games three
and five. Whoa, um, so, how do you three and four
H three three four and five three four and five sons are preparing to be
without him. Whoa who whoa, whoa whoa. He's old. Yeah,
I mean he's old. He's wearing out. You know that. People talk
a lot about how you know he's you know, you get to the end
of the season and you know your body is not what your body used to
be. So yeah, I mean that's unfortunate for the Suns. I mean
I think things are you're falling now, I don't say falling apart, but
working against them. Right on, somebody had them as the team to be
coming out of the coming out of the uh West West Yeah kind of thing.
It's that kind of thing. It's the Nuggets now honestly looking really good.
Right with Colden State losing last night. Yeah, um, it kind
of looks like the Nuggets are lining up and people have not been they've been
They've everybody put the Nuggets behind the Suns of Golden Stak. Yeah. For
whatever reason, the Nuggets were the best team all year long, number one
seed, you know, like one of the best offenses, defense, Like
they've been the best team the whole season. For whatever reason, the national
media, you know sports books are just not respect. I think part is
because looks like you're you're old fat that comes over at Christmas. I mean,
he doesn't look like like the physical specimen of like like a Yannis or
even a Joel mb you're you know, one of those guys. He's he's
just kind of lumpy. Yeah. Well, I mean if you really watch
his game, you can see how he can me and he can ball like.
He's a really good player, and he's incredibly physical. I mean it's
hard to get in his way and keep him from going through you. Yeah,
exactly. And unfortunately for Chris Paul, this is is what like I
feel like every o season he's been getting gets like they come up against they
the Sun's at the beginning, like really close to you know, getting taking
that next step, the winning a championship, and every single season it just
Chris BA goes out kind of injury. Unfortunately. You kind of feel like
at this point they're gonna have to do something different for next year, right,
Yeah, because and I don't know if he's ready to retire. Yeah,
I think he has one more year on his content, but you know,
you you got to get somebody who at this time of the year,
is ready to help you win a championship and he's just not available. Yeah,
and I think their backup point guard his campaign and unfortunately hasn't really produced
for them so much. So Yeah, so I know I think I think,
well, I feel I feel bad for him. I feel bad for
the Suns, But it is what it is. You know. You go
with those guys and that's what you get. Yeah, and then some more
A little bit more Suns News on Monty confirmed that Terrence Raws and TJ.
Warren beginning more plays time in game three Soup off the bench. I don't
know what do you think that means? Yeah, I mean I don't really
it isn't gonna help it. I mean you obviously think it's gonna help where
he wouldn't do it right, It's like he's reaching for something exactly. Yeah,
he's kind of just gonna see what happens. I putting those guys out
there, hopefully they can get the production off the bench and help them.
You'll get a win series. Man. Well, I you know they got
to win the next two. Yeah, they have. You can't go down
three one, no, knowing that there's at least two more games back in
uh back in Denver. Yeah. Okay, So Packers quarterback Jordan Love officially
signed his one year contract extension that ties him to Green Bay through the twenty
four season. So we're gonna package twenty twenty four. Yeah, so he's
gonna Packers have their quarterback and moving forward at least for this year and next.
Yeah, at least for that. Yeah, and they went and got
a quarterback in the draft, so you see, we'll see what that means.
You'll probably just need to make sure they had a decent backup or something.
But all right. Yeah, the wide receiver Randall Cobbs signs a one
year deal with the New York Jets, so another weapon or the for the
Jets. I think it's funny that that that, you know, um,
Aaron Rodgers, like, you know, felt like he didn't have guys around
him. Yet he keeps going back and getting the guys that he Yah Bay,
Green Bay. Now they're all they're all over in New York. But
yeah, I don't know, you know, I kind of I feel like
I'm I loved Aaron Rodgers. I thought he was great. I loved it
when he won a Super Bowl, especially when he went through the thing that
he went through with the draft, and then he was behind um uh Brett
Farve all those years, and I was really rooting for him. But over
the last several years, I've just kind of lost interest in that guy.
I just feel like he's been more of a pain than anything. Right,
Um, he's underachieved because he hasn't been able to get his team back to
a Super Bowl. I'm not sure I'm rooting for him anymore. Yeah,
it's been hard to root some of the things he said, you know,
in the media and what some of his on field, you know what you've
been saying. But I think he has a chance with his Jets team.
They're very talented defense and he has you know a lot of weapons offensively,
right, so I believe you can actually you know, do something in the
ABC just he might, but there he's in a tough division, so yeah,
good quarterbacks in that division. So yeah, I think he still has
another you know, year or two to really get it done, right.
Yeah, we'll see what happens with them. Um. On June twenty nine
in Las Vegas, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, We'll be playing against Travis
Kelsey at hatch from home in the Capitol One golf match. So that should
be kind of fun. I saw that, you know. I know Steph
Curry is a really good golfer. Yeah, and he's like a nearly pro
level guyfer. I don't know about those other three guys, So I don't
know if I want to turn on the TV and watch bad golf. If
I want to see bad golf, I'll go golfing, right. Yeah,
I think it might be kind of fun. See. I like those things
when it's like a Steph Curry and uh whoever last year they did like with
two pros last year they did um like Aaron Rodgers. I think Tom and
some other NFL guys are guess golf a little bit more. But I like
it when there's a couple of pros because you know you're gonna get some decent
golf and then to play with a couple of guys like that very first one
that they did. It was Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Um Peyton Manning
and Tiger Woods Peyton Manning film. Uh Tiger Woods not paying Manny, Yeah,
yeah, Tiger Woods, Peyton Manning, Phil Mickelson and was it Tom
Brady, Mike might have been. Um, yeah, I think those four
games that was fun because you know the rivalry. I think it was Payton
Manning, Tom Brady, you know the rivalry they had, you know the
rivalry that Michelson was. I watched that. Yeah, that was fun.
But I don't know if again final to watch Steph Curry and three bad players
play golf. So yeah, okay, um leono MESSI will be is planning
on leaving PSG after this season, it's over with um. He was apparently
suspended without paying for twooths by PSC by UM after visiting Saudio Rabio dopumation right,
which is huge news, and the Bleacher Report actually reported that his reps
are in talks on a four hundred million dollars pre season contract to play in
the Audio Pro League. Um, if he does end up leaving PSG,
he's like eighty years old. Yeah, they're gonna pay him another four hundred
mills. I mean him, right, he just helped win the World Cups.
Yeah, I mean I take that if i'm him, but only cow
Yeah. Well again, the decides are just like setting money on fire.
So yeah, I don't get Ronaldo, you know, to be the highest
paid football player, ever ever gonna do the same thing for Messy Yeah,
yeah, you know, all right, I got breaking his Max months and
just hit the bottom of the ninth Grand Slam to beat the Dodgers. I
mean to beat the Phillies. Dodgers come back and from a five one deficit
and went ten to six. I'm happy. I'm going home happy. I'm
a little upset with myself that I didn't take the uh the money line after
they were down five one and it was really high and I had it.
I thought about it. I looked at it. Maybe you're right, maybe
you're you're getting your understanding what goes on over here. But the Max months,
he's been hot as hell. Yeah he had I know they didn't manage.
But he had an interesting stat He was the only player other than Barry
Bonds to have less than twenty hits in a month but have double digit home
runs in nineteen hits and eleven home runs in the month of April. Crazy,
Okay, that's yeah, all right, Um yeah, so uh,
I think we're we're getting close to our break. We're gonna have Greg Hanson
coming on in a couple of minutes. Um. For those of you,
we're just talking golf. For those of you interested in golf, Horry McElroy
is the favorite is the favorite to win the Wells Fargo Championship, which starts
tomorrow in North Carolina. Patrick He's at plus seven hundred to win to win
the whole thing. Tony Fena, who just won, he's plus four hundred.
Patrick Canley, who has been good all all season long, He's a
plus twelve hundred. UM. The odds for the game tonight, the Celtics
are currently a seven and a half point favorite. UM. They're minus three
fifty on the money line and the over hundreds two sixteen and a half the
money. The over hunder seems low, don't you think? No? Really,
no, did you watch the first game? I think they smashed the
overall field because the first game was only offense. So I feel like both
teams will adjustment the over it's going to be a lot lower. Yes.
The Warriors, who play tomorrow are currently minus at five and five and a
half and their minus two thirty on the money line. So if you want
you want some basketball stuff to do, there's a there's a a couple of
great uh boosted parlays. Jason Tatum to have twenty five or more points and
uh and um um, I can't think Jaylen Brown to have more than to
have two plus three pointers. So you can get that at plus one hundred
pretty good odds. I mean I like that honestly. Well, we we
got taken to the to the woodshed last night on on on Lebron and okay
Lebron and Steph scoring uh scoring sixty plus points. Yeah, I mean Jalen
Brown the other day he only attempted ten shots, but he was eighty percent
from the field. Yeah, so he let you in the ball really well.
Yeah yeah, yep, yep, yep. So all right, um,
so you know, just a lot, you know, the normal stuff
happening. We want to we want to talk to Greg Hanson today just a
little bit about some of the ceo A stuff. There's a lot of other
you know, a lot of things going on. Like I said, locally,
Greg's just you know, good friend. Would love to love to get
him on always and just talk some stuff with him. So you know what,
let's go and take our break and we and we'll come back. We'll
have Greg Hanson for about fifteen or twenty minutes. For more than twenty years,
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I Mean my Heart Radio Whip. This is I on the Ball with Steve
Rivera and Jay Gazalas on Fox Sports fourteen fifteen. Welcome back down Ball.
You're on Fox Sport fourteen fifty. I'm I'm your host, Jay Gonzalez.
I'm here without my partner Steve Rivera. He had to leave for a for
an event that he had to take care with all torty two soon, but
I got Jason here and on the line. We've got Greg Hanson from the
Arizona Daily Start part time from the AARs on Day to start now, right,
Greg? Uh? Still uh you're still writing that Sunday column, which
you're not. You're you're so you need to write that until you can't anymore.
Okay, just so you know that that my Sunday, my Sunday can't
begin. I can't do anything on Sunday till i've I've been through your Sunday
column, so that that's just gonna have to be. I'll just let you
know that. So what one of the topics Greg that we been Steve and
I've been talking about a lot and it, you know, over and over
against I just want to get your take on it because we haven't chatted about
it. There's this whole idea that because we don't already know the entire Arizona
basketball roster for the fall, that somehow Tommy Lloyd is falling down on recruiting.
He doesn't know what he's doing. Some people say I've lost faith in
him as a recruiter. You've got other people saying, you know, we
need to know who he's recruiting. We have a right to know because we're
fans. I mean, how do we get the how do we get fans
to just relax? They probably won't because the expectations are so high. And
I mean, people are going to complain in the pact. Well, why
don't you complain about Mike Hopkins or Jared Hoss or Bobby Hurley? Right?
I noticed hur Hurly's lost nine guys since the season ended, and he's bring
he brought in a guy today from Houston Christian, not Houston Baptist or Houston
or Sam Houston State, Houston Christians. Yeah, that's who they signed.
I mean, Tommy Lloyd's not going to sign a guy from the Houston Christian
right. And I don't know if people are because Tommy is such the opposite
of Sean Miller, where people had no doubt that Sean Miller was living,
living and breathing basketball at all times, whereas you've figured Tommy Lloyd is too,
but he doesn't show it like Sean Miller did, so people feel like
maybe he's too relaxed or something. I just feel like that that's sort of
a field that people have for him. I think you're I think you're right
in the aspect that he probably has a lot more well rounded life than Sean
Miller did, who was basketball only who never you know, going out in
public. Tommy Lloyd's got a social life, like his daughters on a rodeo
tour, which takes a ton of time. He's got a real life,
which is to me encouraging. And look, there's not one person and in
the PAC twelve is a more qualified recruiter than Tommy Lloyd. Twenty two years
he recruited for Gone zagat the highest levels in America, and everywhere else.
Who else would you want recruiting that Tommy Lloyd? Really in the PAC twelve?
Name one person? Well, that's that nobody, right, that's the
point. Right, Yet do you have all these people say, well,
he's only got seven guys on his roster right now, so I don't think
he's got it. I don't think I don't think he can do this.
He's not the head coach at Arizona needs Um, all right, who would
you hire Tommy Lloyd? It's just the same. In the same period,
Utah hired Craig Smith away from the Utah State and that's on a scale of
one to ten, that's a five, right, Um, Kyle Smith went
to Washington State from San Francisco, He's maybe a five and a half.
I think that's about it. Callis hired a zero point zero and now and
now they got their new coaches Utah Valley State and that's probably a one point
five. So how about Wayne Tinkle. I'm taking us too far, but
yeah, there's just nobody better in the league than him to go out and
talk your roster. And beyond that, it doesn't get mentioned very often,
said Jack Murphy has been a dogged recruiter for twenty years. Yea, he
knows. He's the guy who went over and got Lori Markin and those guys.
So he got all of Sean Hiller's European guys, you know, Leydon
Miller's career. So they got two guys who you would trust more than almost
anybody in this league. Yeah. Well again and well as we speak,
so it looks like somebody named a player named Jaden Bradley has just who Arizona
has just announced him as having signed with Arizona. He's a freshman out of
I don't know where. They didn't they didn't put any of his bio up
there, but Jaden Bradley signed with Arizona. Yeah, you know he he
averied six a game at Alabama? Oh god, was he the kid?
Was he the kid that was with uh Brandon Miller at that uh the night
of that shooting. I don't know if he was with him or not.
Um, but I watched him. They played they were eliminated by San Diego
State, right, and he played five minutes in that game. So well,
that's maybe he's got a big upside. Maybe he's really got a big
upside. Well, that's it. They picked up that's it. They picked
up Hazy. He was a five star coming out of high school. So
yeah, he visited Memphis, I know that, and two weeks ago,
and I think North Carolina State was his other visits. So he did have
reasonably good schools after him. Yeah, well he was at Alabama, so
that's who. That's what they got. So anyways, all right, um,
okay, let's move on. So I want to talk about your really
bad Yankees because now they're already talking about getting rid of you know, I
mean, what the hell brouh Greg, what the hell they leave they leave
major League Baseball and injuries there's not even closed. Yeah, and until they
get those guys back and performing, there's no way they can challenge Toronto and
Tampa Bay. So I'm not going to get freaked out over it because They've
won enough that I'm good with it. I mean, when the Dodgers have
a bad year, do you freak out? No? I don't think I
do. Um, you know, I mean I freak out when people give
me crap about it. But uh, you know, I mean, like,
you know, am I disappointed when they losing the playoffs? Shure?
But you know, but they haven't won as many championships either as the Yankees
have over the over the last years, or at least in our lifetimes.
Right, You're right, you do have planning, But um, you know,
I guess I don't live. I know, I don't live and die
with these teams like maybe I used to. I remember watching the eighty eight
World Series just pacing back and forth during every game. I wouldn't even say,
I just have the game on in my living room and I'm just pacing
back and forth around my couch, you know, watching these games and those
days when I went by the wayside a long time ago. But you know,
I mean looking at a team like Tampa Bay that you know what they're
doing, Baltimore's come out and they're they're pretty damn good. I mean,
and then then on the flip side of that, you got Oakland and they're
awful and they just want to get the hell out of Oakland. I mean,
when you're paying attention to Major League Baseball, what are the things that
you're paying attention to? Um, you know what struct me more than anything
is I don't know the players like I used to. Yeah, And it's
not that there's a ton of turnover. It's just as there's so many good
young players, and many of them Latino players, right, who are just
really good and you don't appreciate. Like when you watch the Atlanta Braves.
Yeah, I've watched a couple of instance them the other nine. I went,
Oh, the Yankees don't have players like this. Yeah, Yankees got
guys you've heard of. But man, the Braves actually have players. Yeah,
and so did the Rays. Yeah, and the Astros. Every time
the Astros win the World Series, I go, where do they get these
guys? Yeah, you've never heard of them, and suddenly you can't get
them out. Yeah. Yeah, I went to I went to I finally
went to Fenway Park earlier this year and caught a game. Oh yeah,
And you know, I used to be that guy that I'd go to.
I'd go to a baseball game and I'd want it to last three hours because
I didn't want it to end fast, because I wanted to, you know,
soak it all in. We go to Fenway Park, catchy game goes
just a little over two and a half hours, and I was happy,
and I got the hell out of there, had a great time. What
do you think of all the new rules, and especially the way games have
been shortened. Do you like it? Do you not like it? Do
you think it's wrecked the game? What do you think? Yeah? I
love it. When I saw the average two thirty six, you know,
down the full half hour, the games just went on and on and on,
and as a lifelong baseball fan, even I I couldn't watch the nine
in the game. I don't watched the nine in the game for a long
time. Yeah, And so to me, it's encouraging. And it's going
to stay that way. You know, they're not going to change it now.
And now they're gonna have the auto. They're gonna try the automatic umpiring
computer write TRIPLEA this year and probably use it next year. Would Yeah,
I think think for that too, because all those low breaking sliders that almost
no umpire in the world knows if it's a strike or not anymore because they
break so sharply and so quickly. Yeah, but now the computers will call
it accurately. I think I read about a week ago somebody, as you
would expect, tracks all the umpires calls and one home played umpire miss nineteen
calls in a game. You know, we'll all go for them. We
asked it, but we had ed Bospa the show a few weeks ago.
We asked him that, We said, would you like that? He said,
I absolutely one would like it because you just know that if you throw
a strike that it's going to be called a strike. And uh, I
mean, I guess they'll have, you know, fine tune the way that
they do they set that up, because you know every players strike zone is
different. But you know, if they if they have a foolproof way of
setting that up and if a guy throws a strike it's a strike, then
yeah, I mean, how can you not like that? Right? It's
it's just like instant replay. You want them to get the thing right.
Yeah, And it's um to me it's the hardest job in sports as being
a baseball home plate umpire getting those calls right. I mean, I'm piring
the NFL or no, I take that back, NBA, So I don't
know, that's got to be harder on home play on Pire. Yeah,
but I to me, it's kind of like, okay, let's see what
that looks like when you know when or when they do it. But I'll
be sh all right, hey man, Bejean Robinson, how cool is that
for not just for him, for his grandfather Cleo, who we all know,
for that family, Um, you know, for two soon to have
a guy like that, I mean, how much did you follow that?
And how cool did you think that was? It was so historic in a
Tucson perspective that it just captured me that there's a guy that good. It
was just unfortunate he didn't play at the u of A came along at the
wrong time. And to me, if he's injury free, he could be
one of the most identifiable players in the NFL in the next seven or eight
years. Right, But we both know that injury free is the hardest part
of it, especially for a running back. Um. You know, my
son Adam said, we had this conversation last night. He said, do
you think Bijon can be the greatest athlete ever to come out of Tucson?
Wow? And I'm like, so I started thinking, Okay, who are
they right? You know you're minded? Me goes to Sean Elliot. You
think a guy like Eddie Leone who had a you know, long major league
baseball career, Eddie Vossberg. But you know, you look at where he
is today and if he materializes the way you think he can or should.
I think you might be able to say yes to that, yeah, because
you put it in the perspective that only Sean Elliot's been drafted higher from a
major sport ever out of Tucson, and he played what thirteen years in the
NBA, was an All Star, won an NBA championship, and then his
career basically got injured because he needed a kidney transplant. But I mean,
that's a really good career for anybody. So I would say if Vjean can
have anything that compares to Sean Elliott's career, it would be a very successful
yeah for him. You know, you're talking maybe at at best, you
know, five to seven years as a running back, because you look at
even a guy like se Quon Barkley, right, he's already kind of on
the downside. You know, you see and you go, that guy was
incredible, such a specimen, and he's already on the downside. What's the
name Derrick Henry, who's like two years ago? Would you want to get
in his way? And now it's like again, a guy who's started to
become an afterthought at running back. You know, now one of the top
running backs in the league anymore. He's one of the top running backs,
but not the top running back in the league. You know, you hope
for for Bejean to haven't you know, a really good five years and then
maybe a couple of years after that that he's still you know, considered one
of the top guys. You know. I think there was something to that
with Tadame Cherry because he cherried I think it was seven hundred and forty three
times and three years at Arizona, which was a load and then some Yeah,
and I remember when he declared for the NFL draft and somebody mentioned the
rich Rod that he probably cherried too much, and rich Rod lost if I
don't know if you were there, though I wasn't thought that was the worst
statement he'd ever heard. And then but in retrospect, and at the time,
I thought rich Rod was wrong because he overused him. Yeah he did.
I mean, you think about that guy to the NFL. He just
he was out of he was out of carries. Yeah, you know,
yeah, I mean that that Oregon game here when they beat Oregon in the
rain over here. What do you care? You like forty four times or
forty six times? In that game. I mean, and I mean,
you can't your body has so much And you're right, I truly believe when
he got you went to the NFL like that. Man, This this is
gonna be tough because he did get used up quite a bit during that period
of time. This is a long time ago, but you remember it when
Vance Johnson came to Arizona as a tailback. Joy. You remember how good
he was that first year and a half some tailback and then he got to
snot knocked out of him and he was never the same guy again until fortunately
for him, and they moved him to receiver and found his place. Yeah,
and he didn't get the snot knocked out of remember game, Yeah yeah,
but I always said that that's what happened to Vance. Yeah, no
doubt, no doubt. And you know some of these other guys that you
know, again you think of the you know, these great running backs who
were great. They're great for three years, four years, and then and
then you know, then they slide and that you know, they hang on.
I mean, you know, I remember Emmitt Smith coming to the Cardinals.
I'm like, that guy was like one of the greatest running backs ever
and yet boom. He was you know, he was done and it happened
fast, right and I and it makes you understand why a guy like Barry
Sanders said, that's it for me. I'm I'm you know, I'm out
of here because I got to live my life. How about Christian McCaffrey.
Yeah, when he's healthy, he's he's the best running back in the league.
And right, yeah, that's where that's the key. When he's healthy.
I've had him on my fantasy team enough to know how often he he
isn't healthy. Uh so I don't know. All right, let's let's let's
skip forward. We got about another minute, a minute and a half.
Softball and baseball. What the hell Arizona softball and baseball? I mean,
what do you do? I looked up yesterday the NCAA softball statistics. Arizona's
team ERA and softball is two hundred and first out Oklahoma, which is you
know, the Oklahoma is what Arizona used to be right there. TM ERA
is old point eight oh and Arizona's is four point two eight out. So
it's pitching, Okay, it has to be said. You know, Taran
Moats, the pitching coach over there, legend, you know, wildcat royalty
and softball. Um, how much vat do you put at her feet?
Or is it just flat out they got to recruit better? Or is it
obviously both? But you know, how much? How much can you lay
a tearn moats feet? I would say, now it's on recruiting, not
on terran because if you look at Oklahoma's Oklahoma's forty eight and one, forty
eight and one, they have three pitchers, one's fourteen and all one's fifteen
and all one's fourteen and one, and they were all like the National Gatorade
Players of the Year. I looked it up, and they're out of places
you never would recruit in Nebraska, Illinois. Yeah, so it's to me,
it's it's recruiting plus. And I read this maybe two days ago that
Oklahoma's NIEL is now paying each softball starter fifty thousand a year. There's nowhere
as own as matching that for softball. Wow, And who knows if that's
true or not, but somebody wrote it. And but Oklahoma has so much
money, I wouldn't be surprised if they can pay fifty thousand to a softball
player. Geez, that's a whole that's a that's a discussion for a whole
another, a whole another show. Because we did have Adam Lazarus from Arizona
assist on a little bit ago, explaining, you know, Claire find some
things for us, but that's become such a whole another thing, so we'll
have that conversation another day. Hey, Greg, appreciate you taking the time
with me to Daniel. We did this last minute, but it's always fun
to get you on and pick your brain on so many things. So thanks
a whole bunch for doing this. Thanks all right, talk you later.
All right, let's take our last break of the day. We'll be back.
We'll take your calls. Five two zero four one seventy four forty.
Jason and I will be here to wrap up the wrap up the show.
So give us but five to zero four one six seventy four forty. Now,
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security dot net. Breaking down all the excess at als. It's Steve Rivera
and Jacon Salmis. This is I on the Ball on Fox Sports fourteen fifteen.
Welcome back time the balling on Fox Sports fourteen fifteen. From your post
to Jakin Zalez. Steve Rivera had to leave for a previous engagement part of
his other business if he does, and but I do have Jason here,
so we talk a little bit of NBA and here in a minute. But
again the breaking news said Jaden Bradley, of freshman from Alabama who jumped into
the transfer portal, has said he's committed to Arizona. He's a point guard,
was on the SEC All freshman team is apparently headed to Arizona. There's
a little bit of baggage there, I think, and that he his name
was associated with that tragic shooting in at Alabama. He was at the scene
when that occurred. Don't know what all the circumstances are as to why he
was there. He was not. He was not the player who brought the
gun to the scene Brandon Miller, who a lot of people felt should have
been suspended because of all that. So his name is just shows up in
those reports. I thought, in the interest of complete transparency on this that
we should mention that. But by all accounts, you got guys like Jeff
Goodman all the local media saying that it's a good pickup for Arizona. Yeah,
and Tommy Lloyd is also excited about the pickup. He actually said in
the quote that I have here that we were excited Jada and his family joined
our program. He had an outstanding freshman season for one of the top teams
in the country. We know that as he continues to grow his game,
he can really make an impact on our program to help make everyone better as
well. So the fact that Tommy is out there actually talking about him means
that it's official he signed or whatever whatever a commitment. There has to be
uh that he you know he has coming to Arizona. It's not like you
know, a high school recruit of commitst eight months ahead of signing day.
The fact that Tommy is actually talking about it means that he is coming to
Arizona next year. So again, you know, now you're starting to see
if well we had faith in you all along, Tommy, we knew yeah,
and you know you Steve and I and you know earlier Um Adam Green.
Today on the show, we've been talking about how fans have just been
losing their minds, that Tommy hasn't been getting enough guys out of the portal.
But um, for the most part, a good reaction to the uh
to Jade Bradley joining Arizona So very cool, all right, Jason, you're
our resident NBA expert, so uh to uh, you know, you know,
there's you know, we've been paying as much attention as we could to
the Steve and I are you know where we we know just enough to be
dangerous to make stupid bets like we did last night. But you've got uh,
You've got the the Sixers and the Celtics to night. Give us,
yeah, your thoughts on that. I think it's a musk win for the
Celtics. I know that might be kind of crazy to some people hearing a
game to hes a musk win, but I believe that the Sixers are very
hungry, very desperate team right now. Joel and beat is coming back with
Game two and they're looking to take a two leading the series to all go
road on the road. Yeah, so I think the Celtics are, you
know, in very you know, very very like desperate, like urgency,
urgency to get this win tonight, to even end out before they go back
to Philadelha. They have to they have to, they have to do.
Yeah, they can't go back to Philly down to no way. And from
what I've been seeing from Boston a lot is they've been playing with a lack
of urgency for whatever reason, Like in the in the last years against the
Hawks, like they're a better team. They had a chance to put the
Hawks away when Johnson Murder was out for a game and they let try Young
you know I a game winning shot on them, and they just extend the
series and give Joe and Be more time to rest. And then in this
series, Joe and Be missus game one because of his injury, and they
lay James drop forty five on them and do the same thing basically James,
Yeah, old James exactly, James Harden, who's never been mister clutch in
the playoffs. Yeah no, so yeah, tonight is a musk went for
the Celtics. They cannot go down boat. So who who at the Celtics
has to take charge of this? Dalen Brown, Jason Tatum, the big
two, the super star players. They have to you know, they have
to come out fast, you know, urgency, play defense hard. Do
you not come up anything easy? And really just you know, gnol it
up on the Sixers, right, okay? And then the Warriors and the
Lakers smarter than now. The Warriors they lost a game at home, so
they're in the same situation, yeah as the Celtics. Right, the Warriors
cannot afford to lose another game to the Lakers at home. Yeah, no
way. I think the Warriors made like twenty one threes, I believe,
and now the first time they've ever done that and laws the game. The
Wars also typically never lose the game one at home, so they also are
kind of in the same as spot where they need to win game two,
and I believe they will. Like Steve said earlier, they ended the game
like a fourteen old run to close it and then Jordan pools you know,
crazy shot at the end. Did you think it was a crazy shot.
I did. Yeah, I think he needed to step in if he could
have or passed it and look better shot. But I think the moment as
soon as you caught the ball, he immediately shot it. I don't think
he should have done that at that time. Yeah. Yeah, well,
when you when you have a little bit of time and I look, I
know that we all saw the video the Lakers blanketed Steph Curry. He probably
wasn't gonna get a shot. But you have Clay Thompson, Yeah, right,
you have you know, Jordan Pulls like number three on the list of
guys you want to taking. Of course, I just think if you want
have stepped in a little bit closer or maybe pass it and then like maybe
try and cut and like look for a better shot. I just think,
yeah, there was fourteen seconds on the clock, had enough time to make
another pass or two, or try and drive in the lane for like a
two point shot. But he just immediately caught him. They just shot it.
If he doesn't miss it so badly, it was just it was a
claim. Yeah, I mean it was a suit. I mean if it
goes like you know, looks like it's got a shot. I mean he
let it go and you knew that wasn't a right close. Yeah, you
think that people would have felt a little bit better about if he not if
he made I was, if he hadn't missed it by so much. It
was like you had no business right because you missed it by that much.
I think. I don't think so. I think because where he shot it
was like thirty one feet out, I believe, um, which was a
second suppression Um stated. I think it was so far away, which is
why people were like, why did he shoot that shot so far away?
Like he has that range, but at that moment, I feel like he
shot us look for a better shot, right all right? And then on
Friday, the Suns are going to the Suns are at home. But yeah
to Zip Yeah, man, we were talking about without Chris Paul. Yeah,
I mean, Suns are in a bad spot right now. I mean,
you know, lack of Banch, no Chris Paul. You know they
are going back home, but they just haven't looked great in the first two
games, I believe. I think, you know, a second game,
they made him more of a game throughout throughout, but they still looked rough
at different times. During the game. So can can Katie single handedly do
this? No? You can't. I mean, I don't know what's going
on with Katie. He's he's having trouble keeping the hand of the ball.
He's had a lot of turnovers. He's been playing, you know, up
and down throughout the first few games. Um, you know, and they
need help, like Kevin or is a great players always different booked obviously,
but they need more. You can have a two v five out then expect
to win a championship. You just can't happen, all right, So do
you take the three desperate teams to win these next games? You know,
let's say putting together, right, you know somebody who might put together a
three game three teams? I see, I see. You go with the
desperate teams? Or do you think that you know the seventy sixers because of
the way they won, the confidence they might have. So, I mean,
people listening might not like this, but I believe that the Nuggets will
beat their Suns, the Celtics will beat the Sixers, and the Warriors will
be the Lakers. I have honestly no faith in the Suns. If they
got swept, I would not be surprised whatsoever. Honestly, I just think
the Suns are they're done. His sons got swept. I mean, what
does that do for Monnie Williams. I mean, like, I don't know.
I just think they're in a really bad spot, Like they just they're
looking for anything to help them and they just don't have anything off the bench
to like really help the team. So I don't know, but I think
the Celtics do win. Now. I wasn think the Lake the Warriors,
um get game too. Who's your gonna be a champions of now? Um?
Honestly, I'm not too sure. I like the Lakers a lot right
now. I like the Nuggets round right now, I think it's gonna be
Lakers Nuggets Western Conference Finals and Miami Heat. I'm philadefin Philadelphist Sexers Eastern Conference
Finals. So I need to see who how they look. Yeah, yeah,
it might be surprised early. Yeah, I think it's too early,
but I need to see more. But that's why I'm kind of looking at
well again, as we were saying, you know, last hour, it's
it's been fun playoffs because it's unpredictable exactly right. It's just I mean the
fact that the Bucks are not even in it right now, that was crazy.
It's crazy, right. So I think it's you know the fact that
it's so out of whack. It's kind of like the NCUBA A tournament right
right right, it's just like throw all the books out because it's it's this
anything could happened, so you never know. Yeah, yeah, yeah fire
the Nuggets so good. I think they just have a system and everyone plays
their role to perfection. Um. You know, they have you know,
your kids, to have Jamal Murray number two, and then you have a
lot of good pieces around those two guys, um, Jeff Green, Aaron
Gordon, um, KCP. Like you just have a lot of you know,
pieces around and then you have um the head coach, Mike Malone.
He just has a system that just works. And they played they play play
really good basketball all the time. They don't really really hurt themselves that much,
and they just play smart basketball, you know every time. They So
why why why people so many people picking against them? I mean, I
mean, like you said, because it's not sexy. Yeah, I think
so. I think it's not sexy. They don't have the big name,
you know, super so Lebron and staff, Kevin Durant books, like they
don't have Jason Tatum. Like the way Yokish plays is really beautiful basketball,
but for whatever reason it is not to it's not appealing to like the general
like NBA fan or the support books or whatever. But like, there are
a really good team if you actually sit down and watch them play. I
mean, I you know, I guess I haven't seen the Celtics, Lousi
the other nights. I got a bad of them. Yeah, but I'm
looking at the eight teams in that are left in the in the playoffs,
and I feel like the Nuggets are the best team. Yeah. I mean
I would agree, like I think the Lakers aren't better team, but as
of right now, the Nuggets, I looked they're playing better. Yeah.
Then the Nuggets have looked the best team in the entire pall season right now,
right so, you know, I believe they should be favorited, but
for whatever reason they're not. Yeah, yeah, all right. I don't
know, man, I don't know that I've paid more attention to the NBA
playoffs ever than they have this year, and I guess part of it is
because of that. It's just been so so unpredictable. I mean, you
know, I've been fascinated by the Suns, and not fascinated like because I
love them, fascinated by the fact that here's a team to finish in the
middle of the pack in the Western Conference. Yet so many people think that
they should, not that they could, but that they should win this thing.
And I'm like, yeah, if they should win it, why weren't
they better the rest of the season. Another didn't get kad too late in
the year, but still, you know, they weren't that great. And
then they add a piece like kd Okay, but all of a sudden that
makes them the best team. Yeah in the NBA, I didn't. I
don't see. Yeah, people they general like media but what what whatevers?
And they believe once you got a superstar to a team, that team immediately
should be in championship contention. But when it comes to the playoffs, it's
not just one or two players, not not anymore. At least I can
just you know, take care of a team to do the championship and win
at all. Right, Um, you need a team like even Lebron when
he was doing it all those years, he didn't always win it, right,
he came again. He usually played a team that had you know a
lot of players are pretty good, and then they had superstars and then you
know, he lost most of his finals because it was just him and then
you know, average players around him. Yeah, so I heard you remember
him when it was him and Dwayne Wade and Um Bosh and Chris Bosh.
Yeah, those Miami teams. You know that there were other guys, right,
and they were complimentary guys, right, Dwayne Wade did way different from
things than Lebron did. Yeah, Chris Bosh, who was a really good
player. Yeah, he did what he did, and so they had pieces,
as I said, Yeah, but then you know the other two like
that, what that first Cleveland team that that that Lebron got to the NBA
finals, You know, I mean it's like it was him and nobody else
basically, right. And you know this Phoenix Suns team, you have Devin
Booker, you have Kevin Durant, like well it exactly know he's struggling against
the cage. And then yeah, you know Chris bog just got here.
You have campaign Terrence Robs, but like you don't really have you know,
anyone else. I saw that the starting five or starting or six for six
people. So I mean it's gonna be tough for the Suns to you know,
be the there's a Nuggas team. All right, you're taking or giving
the seven and a half points tonight with the Celtics. I mean, are
you giving the seven and a half or you're taking the six ers and plus
the seven and a half I'm taking you're taking the points? Yeah, I'm
taking the point all right? Yeah you think, but you think the Celtics
win? Yeah, all right, man, Okay, I'm gonna take your
word. I'm not gonna do anything with it. I don't, I don't
Steve did anything with it. I'm not gonna be able to watch a game.
So yeah, well it's about to start it because speak about fifteen minutes,
so it should be fine. So we'll be back to talk about it
tomorrow. Um, Jason, I appreciate stuff, you know, you and
all of our interns are all back NBA guys, and Steve and I are
we know most other stuff. But any days it thinks I appreciate the time
doing this is fun. I hope you're having a good time with us.
Oh yeah, definitely. All right, we're gonna check out. Steve will
be back tomorrow. We'll have U, we'll have some some more guests for
you. We are going to talk Sugar Skulls on Friday. Hurt his Chin,
the head coach of the Sugar Skulls. There's a home game on Saturday.
It's gonna be a bobble Head day at at the Arena. So we'll
we'll line up some stuff for you guys for tomorrow and so we'll be back
with Steve. So be sure to come back tomorrow. Thanks for being here.