It's time for coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine
day, Holy crap, I don't know who the hell we think when we
are get off our show, idiot, the kids are crying or turn off.
The countries are screwing it up. Gold Play Inner Murals, Brother,
gold Play Inner Murals. They're supposed to be mature adults, but they're really
not. Who's the kid here? Who's the kid here? Are you kidding
me? Now? Here's Nick Coffee? All right, let's get it started.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome in. I hope you're having a nice Tuesday
afternoon coffee and company. That is us. My name's Nick Coffee, the
company man. Mister John all on alongside today as we take you up till
six o'clock. And John, I think today maybe one of those days where
it looks a lot different outside when we leave than it did when we arrived.
Are you tracking Hurricane Beryl? Is that what they're calling it? Burrel?
Barrel? Yeah? I don't know how it's pronounced officially, but I
believe that as if you were tracking a hurricane, which I know you're not.
Jim, I know you're not doing that, but you know it's I'm
aware that the storm that was once a hurricane is moving through here at some
point today. Yeah, and it's just gonna be I guess, remnants of
you know, the actual hurricane itself. And usually you know, we can
get hit with you know, some severe thunderstorms, high winds, that kind
of stuff. And my wife and I before I left to head in here,
just a couple of hours ago, she came home from work on her
lunch and we we strapped down the trampoline. Smart movie. That's how you
know, that's how worried she is, which I always felt like, you
know, everybody, there's so many people that have a trampoline. If it
was that big of a deal, then like you'd see trampolines flying all over
neighborhoods, you know, going into people's houses, is damaging vehicles. I'm
thinking it's not that big a deal. But when we had those random I
felt like unexpected storms that Sunday afternoon about a month ago, or we watched
our trampoline just com you know, lift up like it was a leaf and
just fly. I mean, without knowing where it landed. I assumed that
it did go through somebody's home. So we are we are prepared. But
yeah, so I guess as of now where we are downtown Louisville. I
mean I just looked outside ten minutes ago, so I don't think anything crazy
has happened since then. But I guess probably around the time we leave and
then late into the evening, it's going to be pretty pretty nasty out.
And I could be wrong, but I do believe the worst of it is
supposed to be north of US. Okay, that makes me feel a little
bit better. And when you look at the so when you say US,
I'm glad you brought that up. Like when you say US, I think
of I mean I think of the Louisville metro area, right yeah, And
I also I include Bullet County considering, yeah, where, And I feel
like it's close enough to where for the most part, you know, I
mean, heck, there's parts of Bullet County that you know the address is.
But every now and then I think to myself, you know, when
you're seeing, hey, your local news station is really going all in on
some coverage to let everybody know. I mean, you could be a mile
two miles away from somebody and the weather be a lot different like that.
That sounds crazy, but like it works like that sometimes, so yeah,
it does. Look here on this map from our partners over at WLKY that
the severity is is a little bit north of us, but three pm to
midnight is the main threat isolated tornadoes, possible strong wind gusts. So you
know, everybody, everybody be safe out there. I I hate weather like
this just because it's scary, right, you know, But at the same
point in time, you know, the worst part of it for me is
before it rains and after it rains, because it's so humid outside, Like
it's just I'm even think it's that hot out today. It's just sticky.
It's just gross, and I hate it. And I'm so ready for the
summer to be over and we're not even midway through the season that is summer.
Yeah, And I can you know, I can live with it being
brutal outside as far as heat and humidity if I'm distracted by things going on
that I'm really like, you know, interested in. But I was just
bitching to John right before the show started today, how you know, this
is the worst time of the year for me when it comes to things that
I enjoy and it's really not I mean, most of it is sports,
I suppose, but like I'm bored lately, man, Like I'm trying to
stay you know, I have a routine, but it's you know, things
that really interest me as far as you know, the new cycle in sports,
Like this is the slowest time of the year. I mean, I
watched the Summer League last night. That was you know, that was something.
I mean that just feels where I'm at. Everything that's going on sports
wise this time of year is just holdover. It's for people who are just
feeling so bad for what they really love, like us with college football and
college basketball in the NFL that if we just can't stand it, all you
got is soccer baseball, a little bit of Summer League, and that's all
you can really take right now. And the Summer League is never really a
great a great talking point I think for talk radio, but it can be
here and there if there's like players of local interest, and I'm sure when
Reed Shepherd and and Rob Dillingham are playing in the Summer League, the actual
Vegas Summer League, like there'll be something there. But this is believed to
be one of the weakest drafts in the history of the NBA. And you
know, Zach Edy played last night and that was interesting. I thought,
you know, I still think he's got a good chance to have a solid,
long NBA career, and last night after watching him again, it's the
summer League. There's not much you can take from it. But I mean,
even even at times when you had Louisville players playing in it, and
you know, we're trying to see if they could, you know, potentially
gain some momentum in their pro career or land an NBA contract, but there's
like nobody. So yeah, I just I'm I'm ready for football season to
get here in a major way. And I feel like yesterday we did talk
a lot of louisvill football because we had a Jeff Brown press conference, but
I feel like I emptied the bag a little bit too early. Like that
was not to say we can't continue to discuss, but it's just now we
wait. Now we will have the TVT coming up here before too long,
and that really will I mean, that's I'm I'm so looking forward to that.
I was out of town the whole time that went on last year,
so this go around, I am going to be Uh, I'm gonna be
all in. I'm gonna go to every game. You know, I got
a credential, But I think I'm actually gonna buy some tickets and go with
some friends and just you know, like fan out like I did back when
these guys played here. So they're still dominating when it comes to ticket sales.
So if you've not got ticket, chet go get them because I'm sure
there's a lot of people out there like me that you know, maybe you
enjoy it, maybe you're maybe you're fishing like I don't. I don't have
a lot of hobbies. John. That's another thing. It's not just this
show. It's not just not having any Like. There's a whole lot that
goes into doing this, more than people would ever know. But part of
it is like, you know, talking about things that people can relate to
and you know, human interest, right, Like everybody loves the summer,
they go hunting, or they go not hunting. I guess you can't hunt
this. Can you hunt the summer? I don't hunt. I don't think
you can hunt like ducks and stuff like that. But like hunting, deer
hunting season starts like later on closer to the fall, but you know,
people are out on the water, they're at the lake, they're fishing,
they're they're just doing outdoor stuff, enjoying the summer, and like I hate
summer. So I just feel like I'm in like I'm in the minority here.
But anyways, it'll be here before before too long football season, will
I mean, we're less than two months away, which still sounds like a
long time. But you know, do you treat media days as the unofficial
start to college football or is that just a joe? I mean, I
because it really is kind of a joke. It's all a joke, yeah,
I mean, and it's not just it's not something that should be like
completely ignored. But I went three or four straight years to the ACC to
one of the aces I did, I did both one year basketball and football,
And I don't know why they don't just call it media Day in the
ACC. They call it Operation Basketball or oh yeah, or the ACC like
football kickoff, and it's it's the media Days, but they don't call it
that for some reason. But I've I've done it off and each time I've
gone, I felt as if there was just there was really no I mean,
it was a commitment to coverage at the time, and you know,
when I would do basketball. I mean I think every time I went for
basketball, I was the only person from the market there, certainly on radio,
and I think even I think even there was I think Eric Crawford might
have went one year as well. So you know, it's not when you
know we're not partners with u L anymore. But that and that that,
I guess made it feel like it was worth going. But like the last
time I went, I remember saying like, look, I think I think
the show I'm doing here on Radio Row in Charlotte to get ready for the
football season, I think it absolutely sucks. It's just because it was boring
it, you know, and they give you the hey, you know,
they they just passed these coaches around on the on different radio shows and broadcasts
and just kind of do their their little radio hits and there. You know,
it wasn't as if I was not interested in talking to anybody other than
you know, Jeff Brahm or Sadderfield, who was the coach at the time.
But like, if you bring Dino Baber's over to me and it's eight
ten in the morning, I'm just thinking, like, yeah, I think
I'm good, you know, have a good day, Dino Baber like I
just that's not really the way I you know, it's just not my style.
So I actually to be honest with you, because I appreciate you,
John, You're trying to give me something that at least, you know,
gives us another sign that football season is approaching and all of the coaches and
the top players in the league all gather together in one city to kind of
like, you know, kick off the season. But it's such a tease,
and I hate it because it's a tease. It makes you feel as
if there's going to be really something there and rarely is there anything to really
talk about. And it does feel like it comes a little early because once
you do hit that media day window, those couple of weeks that they are,
you still have another month, sometimes a month and a half until you
your team plays, and you'll get to I don't know, a week after
the actual event takes place. Then you'll find out what ACC media, SEC
media voted on the order of finish in the league, first team, second
team, third team, all that kind of stuff. So, you know,
I it's something, but it's just you know, I can't act as
if I can really make that into like compelling, entertaining content for a radio
show, and if others have the ability to do that, then they're far
more talented than me. I just it's it's not interesting to me. I
will say this with everything going on in college athletics in the last few years,
I mean the portal and nil and now the House Bill Settlement that's about
to pass, which means schools are going to be allowed but essentially going to
be forced to pay twenty two million dollars annually throughout the entire athletic department to
all their student athletes. Because if you don't do that, it's hard for
anybody. You're not going to want to compete. And by the way,
there's already been some ads out there that have said exactly that, like,
look, we're gonna we're gonna have to do it, like we want to
compete, we want to do we want to we want athletics to matter,
and if we don't pay what everybody else is paying, then it's not going
to be possible. So you may hear a coach say something that does give
you something to really run with. Maybe a player like that can happen every
now and then, but you know, for the ACC, which I'm not
even sure when their media day is. I think it's coming up probably later
this month. In fact, it might be while I'm on vacation, to
be honest with you. But anyways, I wish I could, you know,
have some belief in Jim Phillips, that he would he would give us
some kind of a statement, some kind of a sign and really sell us,
meaning fans of schools in the ACC, that, like the league is,
is innovative and they're they're doing creative things to try to, you know,
minimize that revenue gap that's only going to grow bigger. Instead, he's
an empty suit that has never given me any anything that makes me feel confident
in his leadership. And he you know, by all accounts, I'm sure
he's not. But by all accounts, he's sitting on his rear end while
the big twelve commissioner is out there and again cool and innovative things to try
to because the perception matters, and the perception of the ACC right now is
that it's it's as soon as somebody can find a way out of the grain
of rights deal, then the League is done. And I just wish,
you know, maybe his hands are tied, because literally, there's quite literally
there's nothing he could do. But speaking of that thing, the Big Twelve
Media Day is going on right now, and again I'll say something I said
a few weeks ago, Like anytime Brett yormark ends up, you know,
in the college football news, you know, newswire essentially for saying something or
some kind of an idea, it reminds me like this guy, like he
knows the Big Twelve has lost a major, major amount of momentum and really
value with the brands like Texas and Oklahoma leaving. And somebody put out a
graphic that had like the forty best college football matchups of the upcoming season,
not a single one was in the Big Twelve. Let's be real, their
league was gutted with those two teams leaving, right Like, who's the best
all time program in the Big Twelve right now? Is at Oklahoma State?
Is a Kansas State? Like their league is not at all what it once
was. But there's not a whole lot of noise out there about that because
they're doing cool and innovative things. Perception matters, and like the ACC is
just the lame duck, and I mean just to give you, just to
give you a little rundown here. Look, this doesn't this isn't like that
big of a deal. But this is again a commissioner that is trying to
you know, do things to create or I guess, to eliminate the gap
between revenue because they're going to have a chance to re up their deal before
the ACC does. But they're going to have the Big twelve Conference is launching
a twenty four to seven audio station that's going to be on the tune in
app Apparently Garth Brooks of course, you know, big Oklahoma state guy,
he helped facilitate that partnership. So that is a new Big twelve revenue sharing
opportunity from the league. They're going to have a twenty four to seven radio
station. And I'm not sure what kind of revenue is there as far as
advertisements, but there's something, right, it's something, and again nobody else
is doing that. That's kind of cool, right. Uh. They also
have ads that are going to be on officials uniforms, So referees are going
to have logos and sponsorships on their on their out uniform, you know,
the striped shirt right. And again I'm not sure what kind of revenue is
there, but I know anytime there's a flag, who do they put the
camera on a ref? Like there's gonna be your your logo, right,
there would be there's a lot of value there and that's money. You know,
they're gonna have Microsoft turfed surface tablets for football because again, there was
a rule change this year where you can have like there's there's there's I don't
know if it's I don't know if it's to the level that you can do
it in the NFL or whatnot, but like the technology, you're now allowed
to utilize that while you're you know, in game, which you usually used
used to not be able to do that. And he also talked about and
I'm not really sure if this would be a this would be a lucrative thing
or if I have no clue if this is something that would be a great
deal for the or just a smart thing to do. But they're also looking
into having a different television arrangement for the different sports, have one for basketball,
one for football, and then have one for Olympic sports. So look,
their their next TV deal is in twenty thirty, so by then,
if they're still doing cool, innovative stuff, and you know their viewership is
solid. You know they'll get a new deal with ESPN, and the ACC
will be sitting with everybody making the same amount of money because they're locked in
on twenty thirty four. So, in fact, when is the ACC Because
I thought there's an idea. I'm not going to put it out there just
yet, but I've had an idea of doing something on media. I've had
it for the like last two three years, and I've just never decided to
do it because it's essentially just mocking everything that comes with a media day for
a conference. And I used to think like, yeah, you know,
maybe that wouldn't be a great look. Maybe you know, maybe I should,
But actually no, I think if I'm not on vacation at the time
when that goes on, I think I'm gonna do it. It's July twenty
second through the twenty Yeah, I'll be here and I'll and we're gonna do
it because why not, right? Why not? So again, we're gonna
continue. I mean, I'm not We're not going anywhere. It's just this
is the worst time of the year for me because there's always things I can
talk about. There's always things we can discuss, have some fun. That's
what I enjoy out of this job. But when it comes to like the
heavy hitting things that you would just expect if you're like a casual listener,
just tune it in like that, there's not really anything there and I'm not
gonna force it. So at times, you know, I feel like that's
that's a no brainer, right, Like, don't just feel like you have
to talk about sports when there's really no sports going on that the majority of
your audience cares a whole lot about. So you know, I'm gonna stick
to my guns and just you know, mix it up, have some fun,
and hope you guys don't, you know, turn us off. But
if you are busy throughout the rest of your afternoon, you could take us
with you by listening live on the Ahart Radio app Listen live. It's seven
ninety Louisville dot com and a lot to get to today. Again, these
aren't things that probably are of great interest to you when it comes to the
teams you care about. But the Cooper flag hype, like, I don't
know if people are paying much attention to that, Like it sounds like this
dude, like could be like a goat, which I guess can you?
I guess you You can only have one goat, right, I know that's
it's such an overused term. Yeah, can you say goats greatest of all
time? Yeah? I don't think you you know, so, maybe goat's
not the right way to describe it. But he is with I guess the
Junior Olympic team, the under I don't know if it's there's a group of
guys that are practicing against Team USA before they go to the Olympics, and
it's not you know that Cooper flag is about to become a freshman at Duke.
I think Trace Jackson Davis is actually playing for one of those teams too,
So anyways, it's not just you know it. I think there's some
young NBA guys just to help get the United States team ready before they go
off to the Olympics. And Cooper Flagg, you know, at times,
has looked like the best player on the floor according to those that are there,
which sounds like an exaggeration, like I'm not sure I believe that,
But to know that he's, you know, going head to head against some
of the best players in the world and holding his own and at times getting
the best of them. Like that's that's pretty scary. And I feel like
there was so much hype about this guy, like two years ago and then
last summer it was huge. But I think the portal when it comes to
like college basketball, has changed how we really get, you know, excited
about freshmen. I don't mean just us around here, I mean just college
basketball fans in general. But if this hype is real, like if what's
happening as they get set to leave for the Paris Olympics is real, I
mean, this guy could end up, like we could have something that hasn't
happened in a long time, and that is where maybe the best basketball player
in the country is a freshman again, Like, when's the last time that
happened, Zion Williamson. Maybe yeah, I mean yeah, yeah, I
would say that probably was the last time. And I think before that,
I'm not really sure. I mean, maybe Anthony, Like there's been years
where you've had really, really good freshmen that were great, but you know,
this guy apparently is his next level. Also, I know a lot
of you probably are not fans of Steven A. Smith, but I am
very interested just because I'm a nerd for this kind of stuff with his contract
negotiation that's going on with ESPN, because I'm not sure if if you guys
have seen this, but you know, he wants he wants a lot more
money than what's been offered to him, and he wants to be the highest
paid guy in sports media. And I don't know if it's bluffing, but
like there's there's some talk that he may walk if he doesn't get it,
and I kind of feel like if he did that, nobody would hire,
like because it be to be fair, he could make a ton of money
doing his own thing, like he already has, like this Steven A.
Smith show that's like a video podcast that's sponsored by one of the big sports
books. But like, at what point does ESPN realize, like you know
what we we you know, probably can not have you around and still be
just fine. But then again, if they're offering if they if they've put
him on every show they have seemingly for this long and they pay him as
much money as they pay him, there's clearly value in that, right,
Like it's not like they're doing it just to do it. But I want
to take a look at some of the highest paid people that work in sports
media just because like it's it really is insane and good for them, right,
Like I'm I'm you know, I will never be able to relate,
but it is wild to see that you've got some analysts that that, you
know, whether it be a play by play guy or a color analyst,
or a radio host or TV you know, a TV host for one of
these networks like ESPN or Fox or whatnot, and like they're making way more
than the player a lot of the players they talk about, which is just
you know, kind of crazy, but hey, shout out to them.
Also, I want to take a look at this good breakdown that I saw
from twenty four to seven sports and it really gives you a perspective as far
as where you are, Like when it comes to the food chain and recruiting
and college football, do you get out do you get as much out of
what you bring in? When it comes to recruiting, Like, there are
some programs out there that have consistently been above average to pretty good, and
they've done it with not having any really good recruiting chops. And there are
some programs over the years that have always done really well in recruiting and they
have nothing to show for it. I think some of the results there may
surprise you a little bit, So I do want to take a look at
that a little bit later on, and then I don't know if this will
be something people are that interested in. But did you see the Nike layoffs,
John, I didn't. Forty percent of employees at Nike were laid off.
I mean that's like a human Like, Nike's one of the biggest corporations
in the world, and that's I mean, that's that's huge. So like
if Nike is, you know, forty and I'm sure there's still I mean,
they're not closing up shop or anything like that. But when I see
that you've let go thirty two vice presidents, one hundred and twelve senior directors,
whatever the hell that means one hundred and seventy four directors, Like it
could just be you trim in the fat and getting rid of people who make
a lot of money. But I feel like there'll be some noticeable change potentially
in Nike. If that's the case, you know, maybe I'm not looking
at it the right way. So again, we'll have some fun today.
Another thing we can take a look at it's such a tired and silly thing
because it's all a matter of opinion. Nobody's going to be able to really
prove anybody wrong because there's a lot of goalposts moving with this. But we
talk blue bloods in college basketball, but blue blood's in college football. I
actually think is a more it's a better debate, right because I think when
it comes to basketball, it's actually pretty clear who is and like who's clearly
one, who's kind of one, and who's not but thinks they might be.
With football, it's it's much different. So again, started to take
a big crap on the sports landscape here as we start the show, but
I'm being honest with you. But regardless, we'll have some fun. I
mean, you know, there weren't any sports at all when they shut down
the NSAA tournament, John, and then we didn't have anything for how long.
I can't imagine what you mean. And we made it work. We
made it work. It kind of does. It doesn't even seem like that
really happened, but it did. So we'll get through right. Stick with
us again, Coffee and Company Field. Bututh Thornton's right here on Sports Talk
seven ninety so I mentioned I did watch some Summer League action last night,
and I can I can stay locked into that. I mean, I realized
it. It's just really pick up basketball with some slight organization, which honestly,
I enjoy watching it because you see guys that you know, you don't
know who they are, and you look them up and you're like, oh,
wow, this guy averaged thirty eight points a game for an AI school.
And you see another guy and you're like, wow, I forgot about
that guy. He played, you know, five years ago for this school.
But it really is, especially once you get past like the first six
seven minutes of a game. I mean, it's the ultimate you gotta try.
If you get an opportunity in the summer league and you're not trying to
get yours, what are you doing? You know what I mean? Like
there's so many guys on the roster. Everybody gets to play, you know,
not the same amount of time. Like you just see guys that they're
gunning, and there is something slightly entertaining about seeing guys just chuck up shots,
especially if they get hot. But I did not see any of this,
but of course it has gotten some attention. Somebody brought it up on
the text line there during the break, but justin Edwards his summer league debut.
Yikes, I'm starting to feel bad for this kid, because I mean,
it's it's not his fault that he's just not nearly as good as anybody
thought he was. Like, if you think about it, John, this
guy's probably gonna end up having a pretty good life, yes, regardless of
really what happens in the NBA. I mean, I would hate to hear
that, you know, down the line, maybe his life takes a turn
for the worst, but I mean, it would be awful to be an
athlete that just as insanely overrated. And you know it, you know what
I mean, Like, you can't anything about it. What are you gonna
do? Come out and say, actually, I want everybody to know this
recruiting service they did rank me number five in the country. I'm here to
tell you that's nonsense. I'm actually not that good. Like you're not gonna
do that, but you have no control, right, Like it makes you
wonder if there's something underlying that obviously hasn't been spoken, that kind of thing
that's kind of hindered his true development, And obviously that's just assuming you don't
really know, but if somebody was rated to have that type of talent and
it didn't pan out to be that way, something isn't right. I feel
like, yeah, I mean, well, I think what happens with guys
like that. And by the way, I'm just gonna double check here,
because I think there might have been one of the recruiting services that ranked him
as the number one player in the country, and that sounds crazy, but
I feel like there was way wrong and I just don't think, you know,
in that class, by the way, as everybody remembers, was not
believed to be that elite, and maybe that's why I just didn't get a
lot of attention, because you if you're the number one player, number two,
number three, like you're you're sort of a known name nationally within college
basketball before you get there. But he wasn't that I don't feel like.
But again, the portals changed it to where now you know, there's just
not as much attention given to freshmen incoming, even if they're ranked that high,
because you know, there's a lot that's been changed. Maybe Cooper Flagg
gives us a shift back in the other direction. If he's as good as
advertised, but looking here at the twenty four to seven rankings, he's the
number three player in the country, and the twenty four to seven composite he's
number three, So maybe he was number one at one point, but either
way, this is a guy who was the number three player in America.
Very underwhelming at Kentucky. I mean it was. It became a really noticeable
and awkward thing whenever he kept starting and getting big minutes for Kentucky, and
he just clearly was nowhere near as good as the other guys that were.
Probably, you know, it's just it, you know, and that's why
I always you know, I'll never be able to prove it. But I
feel like Cali Perry has often had an arrangement with guys that you will play
and you will start because if not, like he's played some dudes, and
I know loyalty is a big factor too, but there's some guys that have
started for Calipari when he was a Kentucky that there was like, you know,
you'll take him out after he plays four or five minutes and then maybe
not put him back in again. AT's the point, why are you've been
starting? Maybe because you have to honor some kind of an agreement. I'm
not sure, but he was very underwhelming at Kentucky, had no business going
to the NBA, got some bad advice. Clearly he ended up coming out
and not entering the portal and just made it. I think he might have
been one of the first players from Kentucky once their season ended and that loss
to Oakland that announced he was leaving and he is heading to play professional basketball,
didn't give any consideration to the portal anything like that. And then he
goes undrafted, and then yesterday in his summer league debut, it was it
was less than stellar. He did not score a single point. In fact,
his stat line he played eighteen minutes oh of two from the field,
oh of one from behind the arc, and he had one rebound, one
assist, one steal, and two turnovers. So I mean eighteen minutes in
a summer league game. I mean that's that's getting some decent clock, especially
for an undrafted guy that just signed on with the team. So you know,
I I think he's probably overthinking it now, Like you know what I
mean, Like this is a guy that all throughout high school probably just got
buy based off of his physical ability, which he has that. I mean,
he's he's I mean, how big is he mean he's like six foot
six foot eight six seven six eight? I mean I'm not really I mean,
he's a wing, but he also has, you know, the ability
to knock down a perimeter shot every now and then. So he got to
Kentucky and at that level, high level college basketball probably rocked him mentally,
right, Like, he probably never been in a situation to where he was
clearly not good enough to have a big role. He had some flashes here
and there, and then now he's probably overthinking it and he's eighteen nineteen years
old, so maybe he eventually develops. But to me, he'll just be
another one of those guys that checked the box when it comes to potential because
at you know, sixt' seven six eight, two hundred pounds, he doesn't
really have a true weakness. But he also doesn't really have a true strength.
His true strength is his size and his athleticism. He's not great at
handling it, not a great shooter by any means, but he's physical and
he can. You know, just he probably got by without really being that
skilled, and it got him to where he had all this hype and the
tension, but the end of the day, as far as playing basketball and
having especially when you get me, I think you have to do this at
the high level of college basketball, but especially in the NBA. What tool
are you pulling out of your bag? Right? Like, what are you
bringing to the table that give that is an that will make you a weapon
for a team. And sometimes it can be something as little as, hey,
you are really really good at defending the pick and roll as a big
man. And I'm not joking, Like, if you have the ability to
defend the pick and roll and keep a team from shredding you with P and
R action, and you know you've got good size and you're a professional,
you can play an NBA for a long time. You'll be a you'll the
last guy on the bench a lot of times, and you won't have,
you know, a contract that compares to the All Stars. But you can
play like you have to have an asset. Some guys are just knocked down
shooters. Some guys are just defensive specialists, you know. Some guys are
you know, energy guys. Like when Mantres Harrald was in the NBA,
that dude just ran rim to rim rebounding and dunking, and it worked.
He won NBA six Man of the Year. So like, at some point,
if I'm evaluating high school players and there's enough guys like Justin Edwards,
and there's been plenty of them, right, I mean, look back at
last year Isaiah Collier six three point guard. He was the number one player
in America in the composite rankings. He was one of the last guys taken
in the first round, and you know, didn't get a whole lot of
hype. So if there's more and we can go back and look at other
years where there's a top ten guy and you're thinking, like, damn,
whatever happened to that guy? I would start even at the early evaluating these
guys when they're that young. I want to I would recognize potential and upside
and know that there's a lot of value there, but also like try to
think down the line, all right, what what's the asset? Like what
is this guy in? Look, the guys can get better at certain things,
right, they're not finished products. But at some point I feel like,
even if he's seventeen eighteen, there's going to be some level of a
sign of what you could potentially down the line really excel in and some guys
are blessed to where they're really good at a lot of things. Right,
those are the guys that make the insane money, that are all stars.
But that's a very small percentage of the NBA. I mean, actually,
I'm not picking on former UK guys here, but actually I think the Aaron
Bradshaw and DJ Wagner are perfect examples of that. You know, DJ was
just a scoring phenom in high school and has the genes and he may be
a good player this year at Arkansas, but I didn't see anything in Dj
Wagner that like, like, again, what is his asset? He doesn't
run a team well enough to be like a point guard that's just really getting
everybody involved. He doesn't play above the rim, and he's not a consistent
shooter. He's not a bad player, but like, what does he do
that the NBA would find attractive? Same thing with Bradshaw. He's you know,
long and lanky, can run for a big man, but he doesn't
have any offensive skill, right, I mean, I don't know, Like,
these guys are usually pretty good if you're to be honest with you,
if you see guys that are being drafted in the lottery. There's the occasional
guys like a Dalton connect, right, that'll just that those kind of stories.
But for the most part, guys who end up playing high level NBA
basketball usually we're pretty highly coveted coming out of high school and then were highly
ranked. So I don't want to make it sound like these guys suck at
evaluating players, but sometimes I feel like you just get you see a sixteen
seventeen year old kid, and it's just all about the physical attributes, which
again that matters too, right, Like you can be super skilled and you
know, have basketball IQ and vision and all the intangibles, but you know,
if you're five to ten, unathletic and slow, you're probably you know,
gonna max out as a basketball player at the Division III level. I
think I'm kind of describing myself, to be honest with you, not that
I had all those great things, but like, you know, like it
was quite clear if somebody come evaluated me or you know, John in high
school, they would just know, Hey, those guys don't look like they'll
be in the NBA one day. Although it's not over for us. John
was there always a chip on your shoulder back. Because I feel like whenever
you're young and you're an athlete and you're thinking about potentially could I make the
professional leagues in whatever sport you're doing, I feel like teachers and sometimes coaches
will they kind of try to give you an early reality check that that's probably
not going to be you Did you fight against that. I accepted it.
I just kind of realized I'm not built for this. Well I was.
I was so obsessed with with basketball that I had I had the I mean
I feel like it, you know, I mean early age, I knew
that I could have a I could basketball could be a big part of my
life, and I could potentially play like after high school, but like I
knew it wouldn't be U of L. Like I knew or just because I
fought Like again, I was a kid who knew a lot about Division III
in Division NAI basketball, not like I was an expert, but like I
was so obsessed with it that I understood there's different levels. And with that
I understood, Okay, junior college or Division III, that's probably a little
bit more realistic for me. And uh, there's a there's a trainer that
my dad hired to work with me when I was young. His name was
Jay Collins. He's still very active in the basketball community, and he he
that's what he would do, is he would work you out. And you
know, he was an agent for a while. He ran some he ran
some camps for for Nike in Asia whenever he was younger. So his job
was to work you out and really just help develop your game. But also
he would give your parents a realistic, you know, level of what you
could play at. Doesn't mean you are capped out there or doesn't even mean
that you're gonna be good enough to get there. But like I had a
pretty good realization of it. But I used to go I used to get
asked, like, you know, did I have a chip on my shoulder?
Because like I was short compared to a lot of you know, I
mean even in high school, I was probably the shortest guy on the floor
more often than not. But I never even thought about that, like I've
been I mean I've I've been short my whole life. So therefore, like
it wasn't ever in my mind. I feel like if it was, it
would I worked against me. But I go back and look at pictures when
I was at age, and there's videos and stuff, and I'm like,
Daln, I was tiny because you know, I weighed thirty five forty pounds
less than I do now and I was maybe an inch shorter. So yeah,
But anyways, justin Edwards, I hope you know, I'm not gonna
act like I'm pulling for him like crazy, because I don't. I genuinely
don't care. But he's a kid man, and that's gotta be Like,
imagine where he was a year ago and where he is now today, with
an underwhelming career, goes underwhelming freshman season, ending his college career, going
undrafted after being the number three player in America, and then having a dud
of a summer league debut. Like that's tough, man, that's tough.
All right, let's talk about my friends over at the Louisville Men's Clinic,
shall we. I stepped on the scale earlier today, and I was happy
with what I saw. I'm now down to one hundred and sixty four pounds,
and it took a little while for me to really notice on the scale
the benefits of testosterone, because, to be honest with you, I was
developing muscle. I mean, I'm not. You know, trust me.
I know you guys can tell I've been working out, but it's not as
if I'm, you know, swoll patrol here. I'm just you know,
adding a little muscle, getting getting rid of a little fat, which did
not really translate a whole lot to the scale. Well now I'm eating less
and that's because I'm doing the Semi Glue Tide the weight loss program, and
it will help you in a way that really I don't think there's any other
type of weight loss option that can do this because this weekly injection of this
medicine called semi Glue Tide, it it makes it to where you're not going
to be craving things, and when you do eat, you just simply cannot
eat as much. And takes a little while to get used to that because
you realize, like, hey, I'm full, but this is so delicious.
Well then you get too full and you're like, oh man, this
this stinks. But once you get past that, like you know, it
really does make it to where you're not just gonna shove food down your throat.
Like the portion sizes in our culture here in America are insane, if
we're being honest. So this what it does is eliminates that to where like
now my wife and I can share a meal when we go out to eat,
and like we each get very full, saves us money. We don't
eat as much. But I was one hundred and seventy two pounds like ten
days ago, and I'm now down to one hundred and sixty four. So
again, they've helped me in a variety of ways. Let them help you.
A Louile Men's clinic dot COM's the website. Fibo two four four four
four thousand is the number, and we certainly appreciate him. Here a litle
men's clinic dot com. All right, quick break, we'll come back,
wrap up the three o'clock hour. Keep the party going on right here.
Coffee and Company feel by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven ninety the company man on
the ones and twos here going from Keith Urban to ice Cube. That's what
we do. I love coffee in company. I love it. I wouldn't
have it any other way. Good stuff, my man. All right,
we don't have a lot of time left here in the first hour, but
we still have two more hours left to go, so make sure you guys
stick with us. We'll take you up to six o'clock like we always do.
Some nasty stormy weather on the way apparently, so stay safe out there.
Just to pick up where we left off with not a whole lot of
time left here. In this segment, we were talking about Justin Edwards and
how it's been a real rough road for him since he left the high school
ranks as the number three player in America after going scoreless last night in the
NBA Summer League. But this could point of the text line that Edwards really
just being a top three pick and having all that hype for years as a
high school player and not getting drafted at all in the weakest draft ever is
a sign that these guys can no longer just get by based off of hype
from when they were young. And I don't I mean, I can't think
of any other examples recently, but maybe Edwards is one. Again, I'm
not to pick on the guy, but we talked about it the day after
the draft. He's the only top three player ever to not go since the
rankings existed, to not be drafted, and all the other guys, you
know, most of them were drafted in the first round or the lottery.
So you know, like Scalabasia, there's no scenario he did anything at Kentucky
that would make you think he was going to be an NBA player long term.
Well he still got drafted the first round. You know why because they
just assume, well, hey, this guy was the best prospect in that
class for however many years. Eventually it's gonna hit and he's gonna be a
great player. And there are some examples of like when that's worked out,
Like this to me is more of a more of a sign that like James
Wiseman, I think will be out of the NBA before too long. He
actually just signed with my Pacers yesterday. But this is a guy who was
drafted with the number was it, the number two overall pick in twenty twenty
after one season at Memphis, and he's been I mean, he's been a
bum in the NBA. Like he's just not he's not he's not very good,
and he's coming off of a season where he had the worst season in
his career. So you know, like eventually, I just think like he
does. He's a huge. He's seven foot tall and he is two hundred
and forty pounds and he's long, but what, like, what's his skill?
So like there's gonna there already are enough of these guys to where I
feel like if you are an NBA, like, if you're an NBA GM,
like you just have to like more often than not, these guys may
turn into be solid players, but like they do they ever turn out to
be like superstars and I can't tell, like sometimes if you are a like
I'm trying to think of some good examples here, but there are some guys
that don't end up playing in college because of it didn't happen as much anymore.
But guys used to go to the G League or they would go to
the Australian thing like trend Flowers did, and really that that's where you go
to hide. And that can hurt you in a way because you kind of
could be forgotten if you end up playing like limited minutes in your stat line
stinks like that could be a red flag that, yeah, this guy,
he's way far away from being you know, any good and the potentials not
what we thought it was, you know. Or if you play in college
for a year and you play, you know, for a good team and
you're clearly just not nearly as good as the rankings had you projected to be,
Like it could be kind of telling on yourself, you know what I
mean. It's like sometimes it's like if Trent Flowers would have gone to Louisville
and not gone to Australia, which by the way, he didn't get drafted,
and I think he signed with the Clippers maybe, but you know,
that's one of the things that I thought he was doing when he decided to
go to Australia. I think there's probably some layers to that situation. I
think he knew this was going to be a train wreck at Louisville and wanted
to get out. But I also think that he wanted to go to the
NBA and he could go hide in Australia, and at Louisville he'd be a
part of a really bad team, and the thought of him going pro then
probably wouldn't have even been an option. And I guess, you know,
I guess it could have been an option. I mean, it could have
still declared. But yeah, like I I think if if certain players in
this draft class, like if Dalton connect ends up being like a really good
NBA and he's just one guy, but like I'm so tired of hearing that
dudes are not draftable because they're twenty one or twenty two instead of eighteen or
nineteen. Like. There have been enough samples of the NBA drafting eighteen nineteen
year old kids based off nothing but potential and they're so raw, and then
it ends up being a waste of an investment. All right, we still
got two more hours to go, so stick with us. A lot more
to get into. We'll take a look at this college football recruiting breakdown.
That'll tell you the local teams around here do we do better, do we
do more with less, or do we do less with more based off of
the recruiting talent. I think that's an interesting thing to consider, and again,
I think the results here may surprise you. To stick with us.
It's coffee and Company. Philbuth Thornton's right here on Sports Talk seven ninety