It's time for Coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine
day. Now here's Nick Coffee. All right, let's get the five o'clock
hours started here on a Thursday afternoon. Thanks for hanging out with us here
on Sports Talk seven ninety. It is coffee and company. My name is
Nick Coffee. I hope you knew that. If not, now you do
the company man, mister John Alden, he's got four hours left before he's
out of here for vacation. And uh, I am jealous, are you?
Guys? I'm sure you're driving up there to Delaware area? How far
is I'm the king of driving? How far is that? Twelve and a
half hours. It's a pretty good haul. You got to stop in any
point? No, you know, you go straight story, we'll stop when
we won't like stop over night anywhere? No, Yah, you're asked.
Just you two going. Yes. Nice. We haven't had a long trip
by ourselves since our honeymoon. Really we haven't married that long. But yeah,
I mean that's good for you guys. You're you'll I hope you have
a great time. I mean I assume you will, so yeah, I'll
miss you when you're gone, but you know we'll be We'll be in good
shape. Austin's gonna be I mean, he's our he's our guy we bring
in from the bullpen, and it's nice to know that, you know,
whenever John is taking vacation days that he needs and deserves. Uh, it's
not like a stranger I mean that's happened before where they'll just bring somebodey in.
Here is like a weekend part time producer, and you know it's not
their fault, but like they get the call right, uh, and you
know they get the job done. It's fine. I'll I'll, you know,
I'll be able to make it work regardless of whoever is producing, as
long as they know how to do that role. But you know, if
it's somebody I've never talked to before and then they're just you know, it's
very odd to like make them a part of the show in any way.
So Austin has become a good backup for us, and he'll be in the
saddle all next week. And next week Thursday, we're gonna have Pat Kelsey
on the show, which I am. I know that's what's gonna happened.
I'm trying to make it to where we can do it, you know,
him and studio and that, you know, I hope that's what we're able
to do. But uh yeah, and I'm trying, you know, to
not only make it to where, well, here, here's what I hope
to do is either have him in studio or just do an interview with him
like we typically do. But I also want to make it to where it's
like a like a zoom kind of thing, to where I can take stuff
from it and you know, share clips of it on social and whatnot.
So yeah, looking forward to that. You know, I did cross paths
with Pat Kelsey during every week, didn't get a chance to like, you
know, shoot the you know what. I'm sure he had no clue of
who I was. But looking forward to having him on and looking forward to
his first season. We'll talk a little more about the Colemanhawkins situation coming up
a little bit later on. I don't have anything to add other than what
we've already said today and yesterday. But those that are super super like plugged
it, and I don't mean just plugged into where they're keeping up with what's
going on, but those that overthink every little thing about Louisville basketball because we're
just obsessed and we care that much, were so passionate about it. I
don't think there's really been any reason to be concerned. I mean, who
knows what Colemanhawkins ends up doing, but a couple of things on social media
in the last week from Pat Kelsey from Colemenhawkins. Something Pat Kelsey said in
his conversation earlier today with Ken Spencer of WHS eleven. If you're somebody that
overthinks everything, you're probably overthinking every little thing right now. But I still
believe he's gonna visit. Don't know why you wouldn't. I don't think that
report would be out there if it wasn't true, but be a massive get
no doubt, all right, Before we get back into the big news today,
which is Danny Hurley being courted by the Los Angeles Lakers tonight's game one
of the NBA Finals. And I said this at the start of the show,
I think it's going to take me watching this game and figuring out which
side I'm in, Like, I want to have somebody to root for,
and I you know, usually I do. In fact, there's rarely been
a situation where I've watched a game and I haven't eventually figured out which way
I'm leaning. Now do I really care? Probably not. If it's not
a team that I've bet on, and it's not a team that I'm a
fan of, I really don't. It's not like something that's going to really
bother me. But I usually find myself, you know, preferring one team
or the other to win, and I don't like either of these teams.
To be honest with you, I feel like I'll probably end up pulling for
Dallas over Boston just because I've always more so been anti Boston. There's not
anybody on Boston's team that I don't like. But yeah, I don't know,
but I do know what we're going to do when it comes to the
wagers and look, DraftKings already knows that you are the ace here, John,
because John's been on fire lately and just guessing, you know, putting
him on the spot. Hey, guess which you guess where Indiana's ranked in
this top forty list, and guess where I mean, I remember there was
another example there was the amount of states that have legalized it. Yeah,
I asked him yesterday. You know, he's somebody that you know you're not,
and even if you are, somebody that gambles on sports quite a bit,
which I don't think you do. It's not like you're paying attention to
states that you're never going to visit as far as what they can gamble on.
But I asked him, Hey, how many states? And was it
you guess thirty six? And it was thirty eight or pretty close. So
I asked him, hey, you know, you guess the total score of
these two teams tonight, Maverick Celtics. He guessed to eighteen and it started
and I think was it two sixteen and a half? Now it's at two
seventeen, so it's head, Yeah, they're listening to you. So that's
that's what. I don't know. If he's gonna bet him, I'm gonna
bet it. I'm gonna bet the over here over two seventeen in the total
tonight. And I'm also gonna take the over in PJ. Washington's points.
He's been playing well in the playoffs, and they were initially set at nine
and a half. They're now to eleven and a half. But I'm still
taking it. I'm still taking PJ. Washington over eleven and a half.
Yeah, the numbers here in the last Yeah. So PJ. Washington is
over in eight straight games against the Celtics and is ten and oher on the
over in his career when he plays twenty eight minutes or more. And he's
gotten that type of run in recent playoff games because he's been playing well for
him, he's been a really really nice piece for them. In fact,
I believe in the series that they just won, or it might have been,
it might have been the OKC series, but he was the second leading
scorer for Dallas in that series outside of Luca, I mean, ahead of
Kyrie. So since March sixth, the Mavericks closed out the regular season with
a sixteen to four record. They knocked off the Clippers in six games,
beat the Thunder in six games, and then beat the t Wolves in five
games, who, by the way, happened to defeat the defending champions,
the Nuggets. So the MAVs are on fire. They've got the momentum.
Boston I believe has been a better team throughout the season. But I don't
know, man, the Pacers to me, you know, I'm so glad
they beat the Knicks, but I'm well aware that if the Knicks were fully
healthy, they are a team that has more talent, better pieces. But
the Pacers, despite getting swept, I mean, they tried to lose Game
one and they should have won Game three like it was another game they just
gave away. Which doesn't mean like that the Celts, you know, didn't
deserve it. They swept him. But my point is this, like,
when it comes to the momentum of each of these two teams right now,
I think Dallas is I mean, I wouldn't be shocked if Dallas wins this
and six. All right, So get back to the Danny Hurley stuff.
This is from Adrian wood Narowski, who broke the news this morning on ESPN
that the Lakers, despite everybody talking about JJ Reddick, he believes that it's
going to be Danny Hurley who they make a big offer to. I guess
the offer hasn't happened just yet. I would imagine it's going to happen here
relatively soon, and I wouldn't be shocked if we get to tomorrow and he's
decided to take the Lakers job. We'll never know. You know, he's
a guy who kind of does things his own way. I don't think he's
one that would want this thing lingering out there because it's only going to bring
a lot more attention to him, and I don't think that's what he's seeking.
But I think he will be the Lakers coach next year, which kind
of sounds crazy, But then again, he's proven that he wants to be
in the NBA at some point, and timing is on his side, Like
what does he have to prove? At Yukon, He's like, think about
this, if you want to coach in the NBA on what like what scenario
could your momentum be any higher than it is right now? You just went
back to back national championships in college. Now, I guess maybe if you
won three in a row and that's doable. But it's the Lakers, man,
and the Lakers you could argue is the best job in basketball at any
level because it's the freaking Lakers. Now coaching Lebron. Some would say,
wow, you get a chance to coach from the best players of all time.
I would look at it as, Yeah, I don't know if I
want to deal with that, because I'm not really sure I'm going to be
coaching him. I'm pretty sure He's kind of running the show and I'm just
along for the ride. That's how most coaches who have coached Lebron James have
been treated. But one guy who did not get treated that way was Eric
Spolster at Miami. And props to pat Riley who did not cave and did
not give Lebron what he wanted. Lebron wanted. Suposter fired at one point
and pat Riley stuck to his, you know, his plan, and they
had success there. But they had success after Lebron too. I mean they're
not they don't won a title since then. But you know, I think
the Lakers are wanting to have another generational type, hire a guy that is
there that coaches maybe multiple eras of good teams that win titles. I mean,
that's easier said than done, but that's clearly I think they're their strategy
here, and I think, I mean, I had to have a hard
time if he stays at uconnor if he goes to the Lakers. I just
have a hard time right now, with Dan hurley stock being where it is,
have a hard time thinking he won't be successful no matter what he does.
Meaning stan kyllege to go to the NBA. But here is wog earlier
this afternoon. Obviously, the NBA Finals are on tonight, game one,
so they've already got their crew on Hay and they're Kendrick Perkins, Richard Jefferson
and Wog. Here. Here's what Woch had to say as far as the
Lakers having Dan Hurley's attention and now again, I guess it just comes down
to what the is and does he say yes? And I happen to think
he will say yes. I think the timeline moves relatively quickly now, whether
that's the weekend, whether that's early next week. I don't think that this
is going to linger with Dan Hurley having this hangover his Yukon program and having
the uncertainty about what's next for them and the Lakers, who at some point
here really have to get on with their search. They have been focused on
Dan Hurley from the beginning and very quietly trying to lay the groundwork to get
him interested and open minded and ultimately committed to come into LA. I'm told
he's going to be presented with a massive long term contract that Rob Polenka,
Jennie Buss, what they're talking to him about is putting a program in place
in LA that they want him to be what they consider to be a legacy
coach. They've had them in LA pat Riley, Phil Jackson, coaches who
spanned a significant period obviously had great success. It's not fair to put any
young coach in that category. But they see Dan Hurley as a coach who
can be there a long time and put in place a program and give him
a lot of voice about what it's going to look like, what Lakers basketball
is, what a Lakers player is, and I think build that together.
That's what they're selling him on. Dan Hurley has made no secret of his
ambition to eventually coach in the NBA. Well, the opportunity is not only
here now, but it's certainly one of the most storied teams in the league.
And if you want to win championships, so you know you have to
have great players to do it. The Lakers always give you an opportunity if
they don't have him now, that they can get them because players want to
play there. But Dan Hurley, the Lakers have Dan Hurley's attention right now,
and this conversation is escalating as we speak here into the weekend. I
think that that's that's a really good I mean, this is it's a pretty
much a no brainer kind of thing. But you know, there are organizations
that matter. Matter how good of a coach you are, how well you
draft, like, you're just gonna have a tough time really accomplishing the ultimate
goal, winning an NBA title and then sustaining that success because players of all
the power. Even if you draft well and develop, a guy didn't have
to stay with you forever. I mean, and if you're in Utah,
I mean they lost. They've lost their last two guys that they drafted,
invested in, and developed. One was the Butler guy, who why is
he's become so irrelevant in the NBA. I've already forgot his name, Stevens
No, we said, Gordon Hayward, Yeah, Gordon Hayward sorry. And
and Donovan Mitchell, I mean Donovan. I think they ended up trading him
because they knew he wasn't gonna resign. But either way, like you know,
like in LA, you never have to worry about that. It's not
going to be about having resources with money or not having a place that not
being in a place where players would want to play. And this is,
this is what's crazy is that the one reeal like red Flag if you're Hurly
here would be you're gonna have to coach Lebron and that hasn't worked out for
a lot of coaches. And are you going to be able to say,
no, I don't want you to draft Brownie James who averaged four points a
game last year at USC, Like I don't know if you're Hurley, like,
maybe you ride it out and realize, like how many more years does
Lebron have left? And it's worth it because if they're going to give you
an eight to ten year contract, then you can really get settled in there
and develop develop players that they draft, develop a culture. And you know,
I think the Lakers are really smart in taking this approach because one Dan
Hurley is a good coach. And to me, this show's an awareness of
we can't just keep doing this random dude who played in the league a few
years ago and now wants to coach, Like, by the hell they hire
Darvin Ham Like what I mean? That made no sense? And some coaches
in the NBA have had success despite never really coaching other than when they get
their like Steve Kerr get no experience he's done pretty well for himself. Now.
I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that he
has two of the best shooters of all time playing on the same team,
Jason Kidd. You know, he's a guy who didn't have a ton of
success when he first got the job. At was he in Brooklyn and Milwaukee?
I think? And then you know, now he's with Dallas, and
you know he's having a lot of success, so it can work. But
I think, you know, looking at Eric Spolstra, Papovich is not a
great example. He is, but he's been there so long. But one
of the things that just makes me not take the NBA serious at some point
is when they hire coaches. We're like, who, Like, it's hard
for me to say that that's a really valuable position. You know, you
would think of me. Coaching clearly matters, we know that, but at
least, like, you know, be a little creative about it. Like
I think at times the NBA has made highers where you're thinking, like,
man, you really don't like you have a GM who's in charge of player
personnel as far as acquisitions, drafting and whatnot, and like, like you
like, how how valuable is a coach when you hire a guy that you
like who's never done it before. So I don't know, maybe just because
I'm a basketball purist who loves the sports so much that I you know,
I'd like the NBA a little bit more if, in fact, there were
guys who were coaching there a long time and you knew, you know,
you knew that, Hey, no matter what trade has been made, whatever
guy they draft, whoever retires, like, you know that that franchise they
have, you know, they have this system in place because this coach has
been there for X amount of years. I mean longest tenured NBA coaches.
Right now, I know it's Popovich number one, and after that it's it's
got to be Spolstra and Kerr, and then from then I wouldn't even know
who's next. I really wouldn't. I mean, let's see here, Steve
Kerr was hired in twenty fourteen, Spolstra was in twenty or two thousand and
eight. Again, Pop's been there since nineteen ninety six. The next longest
tenured coach after that is Michael Malone, who was hired by the Nuggets in
twenty fifteen, and Taylor Jenkins. I got to be honest with you,
if you asked me who the Memphis Grizzlies coach was, I never would have
guessed that name. I don't even know if I've ever heard that name.
But he's been the coach with the Grizzlies since twenty nineteen and then JB.
Bickerstaff career, which I'm pretty sure he was fired. Was he not fired
by the Cavaliers. I think I'm looking at an old Yeah he yeah,
he was. He was fired by the Calves. Was the coach of the
Grizzlies, and then the Calves and then they just I guess they just they
just let him go. It looks like and you know, he was the
sixth longest tenured coach and he was hired when COVID started think about that,
like they don't. They just roll him in and out And you can be
a coach for three franchises consecutively in eight years and just a retread man.
And again, I don't know if that's like bad for the league, but
to me, it's hard for me to really look at that as a valuable
position when you just throw random dudes that like you feel like might be able
to baby sit your players better. And I do know when act as if
these guys haven't deserved an opportunity. I'm sure they've grinded out and have been
in basketball their whole lives, but you know, it's just odd to see.
I mean, and the NFL has kind of done the same thing a
little bit with guy. You know, they go the young newcomer, the
young up and coming offensive mind. But yeah, in a weird way,
I'm hoping Danny Hurley does go to the NBA and coach the Lakers, and
I won't. I mean, I've never been a Lakers fan, but like
I, I would want to see how it works out. And I have
a hard time thinking anything he does won't be successful, just because all the
momentum that he has right now, he's not perfect, and he wasn't even
that successful as far as wins and loss his prior to this run that he's
on at Yukon. But I'm a big believer in Dan Hurley as far as
what would happen if he does leave. We did talk just a little while
ago with Kevin Sweeney, who covers college hoops for Sports Illustrated, and he
mentioned he believes they would be an internal higher, meaning they would just hire
from within if Yukon loses Hurly, and I thought, you know, Luke
Murray could be could be the guy, and he may be in play,
but it makes total sense. And I hadn't thought of this, But when
it comes to Luke Murray, you know, I could totally see him being
a guy that actually does fit better in the NBA than in college. And
I could see him wanting to follow Hurley to the Lakers and be an assistant
and then potentially find himself as an NBA head coach somewhere. I could totally
see that because Luke's turned down head coaching jobs before, nothing major, but
when he was at Louisville, even before he actually got to Louisville, when
he was at I think when he was at Xavier with Mac, there was
at least one d one job that he turned down just because it, you
know, it didnt make a whole lot of sense a place where you probably
can't win. So if it's not Luke Murray who gets the the you know,
the promotion, essentially sounds like it could be Kamani Young, who is
also a long time Dan Hurley assistant and was I guess he's the Yeah,
he's actually the associate head coach currently, so I think it'll be from within.
Therefore, you probably won't see a whole lot of shakeup. However,
again, maybe some of these guys on Yukon don't want to play for the
assistant. Maybe they would hit the portal because if Yukon loses hurly, these
guys have thirty days to hit the portal and Yukon, you know, the
champs do bring back some pretty good pieces from last year's team, and if
they hit the portal, you know, it could it could give a lot
of teams out there a chance to go grab some last minute really good players.
They clearly, you know, have championship pedigree. And I'm trying to
I wonder how many schools have scholarships available. Indiana's got one. I I
know you mentioned this earlier. Wouldn't surprise me if the decommit from Purdue Canan
Catchings takes that final spot. Yes in Indiana. Yeah, what led to
that? Purdue lost their top press incoming freshman. I should say so Purdue,
they haven't oversigned, but looking ahead to next season, there's not anybody
anticipated to graduate, maybe even go to the NBA, So they're eventually going
to be over, so they can't really recruit for next year, is kind
of the thing, gotcha, Okay, that makes sense, all right,
we got to get to a quick break. We'll come back on the other
side. Talk a little more about Louisville basketball Coleman Hawkins, and if you
missed it, you have l just announced within the last hours. So a
big home went home series in hoops with an SEC team and I'm looking forward
to it. So we'll talk about that in a lot more again, keep
it locked right here on Sports Talk seven to ninety. So you've l announced
earlier this afternoon that the men's basketball program has agreed to a home and home
series with Tennessee, which Tennessee's been pretty damn good in recent years. They
still haven't broke through and made a Final four, but you know, they've
been consistently a really good team. I feel like for you know, four
of the five last five years or so, maybe longer than that. So
I love playing competitive games in the non conference. I know sometimes with that
there's a risk that you know you lose, and you know, even if
you play good teams and you don't win, you know your strength to schedule
may be strong, but you got to win. And I don't know what
the entire schedule is going to look like. But with Tennessee included with the
teams, you're going to play in the Battle for Atlantis in the Bahamas,
which is a loaded field by the way, You're obviously going to play Kentucky
in the non conference, and you might get a game in the ACC SEC
Challenge. So I feel like this could be a pretty competitive schedule from top
to bottom, even though I don't think the ACC is what it once was.
I have a hard time thinking teams like Carolina and Duke won't be,
you know, up there this year. As far as you know, top
twenty for sure, probably probably even better than that. But as far as
who that next group is, I don't know. I mean Virginia, I
don't I think Tony Bennett's Tony Bennett's days are probably his best days are probably
behind him. I mean, they haven't made the tournament. I'm sorry,
they haven't won a tournament game since he won the national championship, and they
have two early exits as four seeds, and then they got embarrassed in the
playing game last year. So I don't know, Maybe that you know,
I hate that the ACC has taken such a step back. However, I
do think that that gives Loiville an opportunity here in year one for Pat Kelce
to you know, mess around and be competitive towards the top of the league.
I mean, think about last year Carolina and Duke were your best teams
as far as wins and losses, and then after that Virginia at thirteen and
seven, and we know they weren't scary. I mean, they weren't They
Probably they didn't belong in the tournament to be honest with you. Did Pitt
end up getting in? Were they? Were? They a playoff? I
don't know why. I feel like they're always in that play in conversation,
aren't they? Yeah? But like you know, they weren't. I mean,
actually, Pitt with Jeff Cape's teams at Pitt have literally been mind boggling
to me. And I guess the answer is that he's just not a very
good coach. But in the time he's been there, not every year,
but more often than not, I feel like personnel has not been his problem
as far as why they aren't good enough to at least get in the tournament.
You know, Clemson and Brad Brown. Well, they had a breakthrough
last year, made it all the way to the Elite A, didn't they
They lost in to Alabama and the Elite eight. So I don't know how
sustainable that is. I mean, they've never been good or at least that
good, other than you know, this past year, Q Stay. I
mean, look, the ACC wasn't good last year, guys. I know
that NC State was nine and eleven and May the final four, but don't
let that make you view this thing any different than what it actually was because
outside of Duke and Carolina, everybody else was whatever. I mean, wake
Forest didn't get in, and you know, I mean, the league is
not that good and I hate saying it. I wish it was. And
maybe this year you see Virginia get back to you know, the good,
the good Tony Bennett, maybe CSE in year two with their new coach,
Red Autry, maybe they take a step forward. I think Steve Forbes is
a good coach, but the results wouldn't wouldn't tell you that he's somebody you
got to be worried about. So maybe with all that gives you an opportunity
to, uh, you know, to to compete, and the standards should
never be compete. But you finished dead last in this league in the last
two years. Your you know, your record in the last two seasons in
ACC Action is five and thirty five. Think about that. Five thirty five
and ACC play in a two year stretch where the league really hadn't been that
good. So anyways, back to Tennessee. I thought that the last time
these two teams played was the epic game in Freedom Hall when Reyes, Gaines
and Bryant Northern scored nine points in very little time to pull off a very
thrilling victory, one of the more exciting finishes I can remember in Freedom Hall.
And I believe it was the first sort of notable win for Rick Patino
at Louisville. I know, I think Tennessee was ranked, might have been
ranked like twenty four to twenty five at the time. The coach at that
point, what was his name, He was a former Michael Jordan teammate,
then ended up flaming out there at Tennessee. You can't think of his name,
but they had Ron Slay who was a really good player, and yeah,
it was a big win. So the return game will be by the
way, The game that louis was going to play against Tennessee this upcoming season
is early. It's November ninth. Then the return game will be in Knoxville
the following season on December sixteenth, twenty twenty five. So they also played.
They also Louisville and Tennessee also played in the was it the n I
T not the actual n I but the preseason n I T up there in
New York in the Barclay Center. Yeah, lowill played Marquette and Tennessee in
Max's first year. Lost both games, but were competitive against good teams,
by the way, And yeah, they'll play them again. So look,
I love a competitive schedule. I do, and I think right now,
as I've said all throughout the week, with the thirteen scholarship players they have,
I feel like Louisville has a good enough team to make the tournament and
again be competitive in the ACC. That's not asking too much. That's not
unfair to Pat Kelsey to throw those expectations out there, and I'm sure he
would agree. He knows that fans don't want to hear about a rebuild or
time. That's why when he was introduced to us, when asked about you
know the program, And I don't know how the question was asked, but
something along the lines of you know what Kenny said about it being broken?
He said ready, and hopefully they're ready. Only time will tell. But
I don't think his mindset is that he's going to need you know, he's
not going to need time and patience. I mean, I think we should
be paid to an extent, but like, this guy wants to win and
he's not afraid for people embracing that, and that's one of the many things
that I like about Pat Kelsey thus far. So again, I think right
now they're in good shape. But obviously the addition of Coleman Hawkins would be
huge, and he is reportedly going to visit this weekend. I have no
reason to think that that's not true. But he's he's been. Is cryptic
the right word, because I don't even know if that's accurate, because I
don't think cryptic can mean like you're I guess maybe it's somewhat accurate. Cryptic
can be you know, there's like a coded message that people are trying to
decipher, and I don't really know what that is. But he's kind of
a loose cannon yeah, well it may be aggressive, but you know what
I mean. I know what you mean because I found myself having a tough
time really trying to describe what it like, what the Coleman Hawkins experience is
on social media because he's not like mean, he's not a jerk, but
he clearly is strategic in what he posts, rather it be like a tweet
with a two sentence response, or just with like emotion or just something real
simple. So yesterday he tweeted, don't believe everything you hear on you know
you see on the internet, and that he's gonna be logging off this app
for a few days. I don't know what the hell he meant by that,
but some people, I guess understandably so are worried that it might mean
that the reports of him visiting is not true. I don't believe that,
because I don't think that that ends up being reported by the folks that was
reported by if it wasn't real. I know enough to know that they are
pursuing him, they are interested in him, they want him, and they're
gonna make it work if he wants to come. So I'm not worried.
But there was that tweet yesterday from Hawkins, and then this answer from Pat
Kelsey when asked about his roster again. This this to me, this is
really reaching to think that this means they're not going to go after Coleman Hawkins.
But Kent Spencer of WHS eleven talk with Pat Kelsey earlier today and asked
him about his roster being set, and you know, his initial answer is,
you know, is really why I wanted to share this. But I
also will let you hear the clip in its entirety because it should get you
excited about this team, because again, there's a lot to like with what
he's already added as it stands right now, do you feel like your roster
ha set? Yeah? I mean we love the makeup. I love first
of all, the fact that we have a veteran, mature team. Right
we have guys that come from programs with winning DNA's. We have guys that
have logged a ton of minutes at the collegiate level, not just played minutes
at a high level college basketball, but had a lot of success and it
won. And you know, I think in this day and age of college
basketball, they say getting old staying old is very very important. But just
the makeup of these guys, their basket YQ, their basketball intellect, their
experience I think is going to be one of the major advantages in the hallmark
of this team. So again, I think Pat Kelsey will probably not try
to recruit the same exact guy every year, But I feel as if it's
not a coincidence when you look at the makeup of the guys they have now,
the vast majority of them are experienced and they've been a part of program
that were successful. Now, no we're not talking national championship success, but
they're not coming from a losing program that did not have a culture that resulted
in winning at least to some extent, and that matters. I mean,
I think there's going to be enough proof throughout the coming years with the portal
that if you got twenty four points a game and your team won five games,
you're still probably going to get some looks, but the film will probably
show that you were able to get a lot of points because your team's stunk.
It doesn't mean you're not talent, it doesn't mean it's your fault your
team lost. But I think coaches are wise to really pursue guys that one
have the talent and the ability obviously to do what you need them to do
to play at that level. But also you're not having to teach them about
like you're not having to. It's not gonna be a culture shock for them
to join your program when you're trying to, you know, consistently win.
So we'll see what happens with Colemanhawkins. I don't think there's been any update
on the situation other than you just knowing that he's scheduled to visit this week
according to reports twenty four seven Sports and on three Sports. So fingers crossed
because it'd be a big addition, no doubt. All right, let's talk
about my friend's over at Eveland and England. When it comes to buying and
selling a home, that's never fun at least, you know, in my
opinion, it's not. I mean, it's nice and it's exciting to get
yourself in a new home. Most purchases of a home or the biggest purchase
that someone will make in their life. And I don't mean, you know,
like the most important, although it is important, but it'll probably be
the most expensive thing you buy. So it's a big investment and you want
somebody that can help you throughout that process every step of the way. That's
going to make it easy for you that it's going to make sure they're not
cutting any corners that you end up in your home and you feel good about
that overall process. And that's what Eland and Eland can do. They're full
service residential real estate brokerage. They've been in business since nineteen seventy six.
They'll help you save money throughout the process too. You know, there's a
lot that comes with being a full service residential real estate brokerage, but saving
money is probably what people are going to notice more than anything, which,
hey, I get it. Money matters, and the list you're over just
one percent. They also have a one percent buyer's rebate and those are things
that they do to make sure a lot of your hard earned dollars throughout this
process of buying and selling a home are kept in your pockets and not you
know, spend elsewhere. So keep them in mind. It's Eatland in Etland.
You can check them out online at eatland dot com or give them a
call five two five nine nine twenty eight hundred. All right, quick break,
we'll come back on the other side. Put the finishing touches on a
Thursday edition of Coffee and Company. We are fueled by Thornton's And this is
Sports Talk seven ninety a. Right about five minutes left before we get out
of here. Until you goodbye. You want to talk about some food,
John, bring on the food. So the let's see the annual Technomic Top
five hundred report is out, which has given us the updated list of the
top restaurant chains in the country based on sales twenty twenty three sales. So
this anytime you get into the top restaurant chains, you got to ask yourself,
Okay, are they talking fast food? They talk and sit down?
Maybe fast casual, which I think is more of the Chipotle kind of thing,
where you know, it's kind of fast food. I mean it kind
of is, but you don't have a drive through. And I don't know,
do you have to have a drafted to be fast food. I feel
like you kind of do. Yeah, But I think some fast casual chains
can also have drive throughs. Yeah, Like I think fast food like you're
having a draft through is a big part of why it's called fast food,
because if you're going in and sitting down and ordering it. Yeah, maybe
it takes you. Although I will say this, I've gone to Mexican restaurants
mostly just elm the poll and I'll order food there and get it quicker than
if I order a fast food meal and there's no line. Like it's crazy
how fast they can get your food out at certain places. But there's been
rankings like this that are it's more just about like customer survey as far as
the experience, like consistency, wait time, that kind of stuff is just
this is literally just on the amount of money they make, like in sales.
Do you have any guesses to who the top five are? I'm sure
McDonald's is one of them. McDonald's is number one, and it ain't even
close. Wow, fifty three point one billion coming in at number two?
Can I guess? Can keep guessing you can get this top five? Yes,
I'm not gonna tell you who it is, but this is the gap.
Fifty three point one is McDonalds at number one. Number two is thirty
one point six. So there's a twenty two million dollar difference of two twenty
two billion dollar difference between number one and number two. I'm gonna go with
Taco Bell for Taco Bell's number four, So you're not you know you still
are? You still are two for two. As far as just the top
five, how about Chick fil A? Chick fil A number three? Okay,
I'm gonna go with Wendy's. Wendy's is number five. I would have
never guessed Wendy's. Yeah you you? Number two is number two's trick questions
A trick question, okay, because I do not think this is fast food
restaurant. I don't think that it is. Oh is it? Is it
like Domino's or something? No? No Starbucks? Okay, like Starbucks sell
food like I really sell something things that breakfast food. I feel like in
the mornings. This isn't something I say to like brag, because I don't
find it to be like impressive. I've never been to a Starbucks. Never
never ordered anything there, never went inside one, never been a Starbucks guy,
mostly because I'm not into coffee, but like I feel like even if
I was, I wouldn't want to get it. There. Not no offense
to them. It's just like, you know, it's probably a lot more
expensive, but clearly it's really good. People love it because they wait in
long, long lines for it, and the sales numbers prove that Starbucks is
super expensive, are super successful, and it probably is expensive too. Everything's
expensive now, by the way, no matter where you go now with these
restaurants, and by the way, cost of living inflation all that. Like,
you know, we're told to believe that, or I guess maybe some
people just assume that the reason that we're paying so much more for all these
for everything is because you know, they have to charge that much. I
bet a lot of these places post record profits because they're just you know,
we got to you know, everything else is expensive, so let's raise the
prices of this and that, and we'll just all chalk it up as hey,
it's what we have to do to make money as a business. I
think it might've been. And one of the Walgreens or CBS has recently announced
they were going to, like I guess it wasn't even like a sale.
They're just gonna start, you know, lowering prices. I guess. So
the number one thing during all this inflation that I think, I want to
say it made me mad because it's kind of a stretch. But then I
was I guess surprised to see happen was when little Caesars finally ditched the five
dollars hot and ready to say we're no longer doing five dollars, going to
make it six. Yeah, it's probably more than that now. Oh yeah,
but yeah, like I don't know when that changes or how like usually
you don't go back right, like, you know, I feel like gas
is one thing that can clearly fluctuate all over the place over years even decades.
But if they're able to get business and make fifty three point fifty three
point one billion a McDonald's and thirty one point six billion at Starbucks, twenty
one point six billion at Chick fil A, and they're doing well enough with
those prices, people are bitching and complaining, but they're still buying, and
they're not going to lower their prices untill they start losing money. Yeah,
I mean, there's no reason for them too. And what's crazy, and
it's also kind of sad, is that fast food is like it's something that
people I guess just become so dependent upon that, like they'll pay whatever,
right, I mean, they don't want to cook. Yeah, they're they're
going to fast food because they don't want to cook. If they wanted to
cook, they wouldn't even consider fast food. I wouldn't think fast food used
to be something that I think was done based out of a convenience for a
lot of people. And now I don't know if that's the case, because
it's not convenient, it's expensive. Yeah. So Duncan Donuts came in at
number six, Burger King number seven, Subway eight, Chipotle nine, and
Domino's number ten. I like Dominoes. You had Dominoes. Lately it's gotten
better. It has gotten better. I think of all the pizza chains that
deliver and whatnot, like the Pizza Pa, Papa John's, Pizza Hut,
Dominoes, those places. I feel like Dominoes has been on the come up
for a while. They've raised the bar. Yeah, good stuff, no
doubt. All Right, we're out of time. I can't believe I quickly
this show went by. We're back at it tomorrow. Hopefully you'll join us
for a Friday good vibes on a Friday as always right here on Sports Talk seven ninety