Streaming live on the iHeartRadio WAPP. This is I on the Ball with Steve
Rivera and Jay Gonzalez on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. Hey, welcome back toning
the ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve, he's Jay.
Now we have at Lisa with breaking news. This is I on the Ball
Breaking news on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. All right, so let's start off
with the most pressing news we have right away. kJ Lewis earlier today declared
he is said he's declaring for the NBA Draft. Yeah, sorta sort you
know the funny thing, I'm not hiring, not with the chance to come
right, with a chance to come back, just like Caleb love the funny
thing about it. Okay, So in today's world, like the kid from
the Duke, the guy who signed, who's the number one guy? You
know this? No, no, no, the recruit. Okay, So
he's he's hired c A. A to represent him, he's got an agent.
He's going in gonna get paid millions or whatever. And how could you
not hire an agent like kJ? It's all backwards now, It's like you
have an agent, now, how could you declare to come back? With
a hier agent for Cooper Cupp or Cooper whatever his name is. Well,
I don't know, it's I don't know what the answer, what the rule
is there? I mean, if you can, if you can have an
agent for Nil, if I can't, you have an agent for them.
Maybe he does exactly. But whatever whatever step that's taken that he can't knock
back to, he's not going to take. But you understand what I'm saying,
there's a lot of craziness in this fine line of walking the fly line.
Oh I can't do this, but you can do this and still get
money and get paid. Five years ago, you couldn't do anything. No,
you couldn't. Yeah, exactly nothing you can do any of that.
But whatever, Steve, this is all happening so fast. We don't know
if they've changed that rule. That's true. Okay, probably already got an
agent, So that's that's not what keeps you from coming back. But whatever
it is, you know, you take a next step that says I'm not
coming back. I don't know what it is. Do you guys think he'll
get picked up by a team. Here's what you brought up in that two
years ago. Two years ago, almost to the day, right, daylan
Terry declares, and what do you and I think? We said, well,
he'll be back, he'll be back. He's not ready. Yeah,
he's not ready. He's not you know. And then he went in there
and lit it up in the combine and stuff and the next thing, you
know, and not only did he stay in the draft, he was the
first round draft pick. Right so, and I'm thinking kJ Lewis is better
than Dayling Terry and we were talking about it in the break. He's probably
the most NBA ready guy. Yeah, and you wouldn't think that because he
doesn't start. He maybe he just didn't fit into the team in the steps
starting five as well, but he does have that he would be the one
to go. The funny thing about is in the final game against Clemson,
and he did it in a couple of other games. He was the reason
when he came back. He's the one that brought the team back before the
other guard, Dayden Bradley. Those two dudes kept him in the game.
KG brought him in and Bradley kept him alive. But there's no question in
my mind that kJ Lewis is the most well an NBA ready got yeah,
he's what we know. What we know is that it's something that's always said
to me by what by one of my friends. The NBA drafts on potential,
right, if they say, okay, this kid is ultimately going to
be in the NBA, then they'll say, then let's take him now,
right, and let's get him before somebody else better and get him ready.
And they believe they can get him ready more than another year in school.
It would not shock me. I thoct I'm going to change my fifty to
fifty to forty sixty that he stays because he's that good. I mean,
he is that good. Well, he's got the attribute certainly, the body
of the athletic ability and the things that you can't teach your right, you
can't teach that size for the type of player he is. Both of you.
The question you're taking you're taking kJ lewis you're taking Caleb Love as an
NBA player today? Yeah, I'm taking no question right there? Yeah,
right there tells you. No, I don't say Caleb Love is ready at
all. You're right in my mind, right, he's gonna make a lot
of money, just not that at the NBA level. Yeah, yeah,
I don't think he's ready at all, Caleb Love. If you're not ready,
how consistent? If you're not ready, now, you're not ready.
Yeah, and it's almost like he's hit his peak. Yeah, look at
you taking notes. It's a great it's yeah, you're right. No.
I don't know how much better he can get. But kJ lewis I could
see him getting developed and it's all about being athletic, and he's exactly that.
Yeah, more consistent. Yeah, and only eighteen nineteen years old.
Yeah, how old. Yeah he's a sophomore. He'll be a sophomore.
Yeah, he was a fresh Yeah, the true freshman. Good for him,
all right, So moving on PACKED twelve Women's golf. So Gila Beata
Star Starcute is a golf player at the U of A. She was named
the Women's Golf Scholar Athlete of the Year for the PAC twelve. So that's
pretty cool. Your name. Stop stop getting that for us so quickly.
Hope we got it. We still hope we got it right it right?
Hopefully today? Yeah, today's the final day, the final round. Let
me see how how they're doing, because they they were kind of in the
middle of the pack yesterday. So let me, let me look them up
and see where they are. Okay, no, great, you got the
name. Yeah, but she was named Women's golf Scholar Athlete of the Year.
Yeah. You guys come for academic right. Yeah. And then sticking
on the golf note, Arizona women's golf player Charlotte Back posted a Pack twelve
championship record of sixty four on Monday, so she was eight under par in
there tournament. Well that's quite a thing. Let me say, this is
the final round, I guess, and it looks like they finished in sixth
place, So what does that mean isn't over Well, they had there's a
committee, so Stanford won won the thing, so they're in and uh,
you know, because there's an one automatic bid and then after that, you
know, there's a committee that determines who the rest of the the the teams
in the in the tournament are. Arizona finished sixth. Actually they shot for
into part of day, so that's that's pretty good. Moved up from seven
to sixth. But it was Stanford, USC, Oregon, U C l
A, Washington and then Arizona. Stanford ran away with a twenty eight under.
Yeah they killed it today. Okay, Well, she wrote the record,
So all right, and then I know I kind of wanted to talk
about this with you guys. So this in this article by Arizona Desert's Worm,
Elijah Arena, who's the son of gilb Arenas, is a top high
school prospect coming to got an offer from Arizona and he's a top high school
prospect. I think they have him as like third in his class right now.
He's a sophomore, and he I think when he's already got his offer
from here, he's gone from u C l A too. Yeah. You
think in Arizona the top two right now? Yeah? Right. I thought
he was older than that. But that's great because and you know he's gonna
be good. You know he's gonna be good. Yeah, And he said,
the question is is he's going to be a nut? Like that's what
I want, because that's exactly it's just that means that we have three years
left to deal with Gilbert coming in and being a nut, because let me
tell you, when he was here, he was a nut. He was
a nut. He drove Louke crazy. And next time we have Geenet who
said, Wilves have some stories about Areas when he was nut in the NBA
too. Oh he was squelling. Come on, how many times you take
a get into a nutting and that's got him out of the NBA locker room.
You know, That's why Vid loves his Ketsunes. But I didn't listen
to Gilbert when he was in school. Here, I quoted him because I
had to. I ain't gonna listen to him. Now do we know anything
about his kid? He's fantastically. He's fantastically Gilbert talent. Yeah, and
Gilbert, if you remember, Gilbert went under the radar for everybody. I
remember when he declared, I'm like, what are you doing? You know?
And then well you know how he got him right. Luke goes into
the room and he's living with his dad in la in Hollywood wherever he was
that and Luke, you know, being the state. The guy has his
championship ring, national championship ring, and Louke with his big fingers, it's
knocking on the table like purposely to make some noise. Yeah, and then
there what's the noise? It's obviously what's the national championship? You know?
That was enough? Yeah? Do you think he'll go here? I think
there's a good chance, he said the staff. Yeah, how much does
Gilbert care about Arizona? Though I think he does that, I mean,
will he want his kid to come here? Well, wasn't he pretty critical
of Tommy Lloyd? Most of them were? Most of them were. In
fact, you you had a clip about Oh you didn't use the clip at
the this luson n CUA a tournament where some guy the first question was,
you've been here for three years and nobody really wanted you as the class You
remember that you didn't use it. But he says, well, I understand
they didn't know me. I'm not from here. I understand the ex guys
had no idea who I was, but they love me now or Yeah.
I remember him saying, you know, I had to prove myself here and
then I did that. I don't think you did because you and it was
kind of it was a weird question, the first question. It was.
It was weird for that to be the first question out of the box,
right, like, Okay, nobody liked you in Arizona, so what do
you think now or whatever? But I kind of remember Tommy Lloyd saying,
I appreciate the fans for making me earn their respect. And earned their attendance.
Sure, sure, and now everybody loves him, of course. Yeah,
Richard was one of the guys too where they says Damon should have been
the guy or my you know whatever, and then no, that changed pretty
quickly. Yeah, so yeah, I forget that a lot of people were
pretty critical of him. Yeah, but because now you just think of him
and he's done a good job. So all right, So now we're going
to switch over to the NBA. I don't know if I know you said
you saw some of it, Jay, but the Lakers lost in a butter
in a buzzer beater to the Nuggets. Crazy. They were up by like
twenty in the second half, and the Nuggets came back and now lead the
series two to zero. I don't know what's going on with these Lakers.
They suck, Yeah, what it is? They suck? At home?
We came up, we came up with a new turn. Well, I
don't think it's a new term. My son said, he was he was
surprised that I had never heard the term. But we were using it.
We were playing golf the other day. We were in a scramble. We
were sucked. I can't wait, Oh my, my, son and a
couple of friends of mine. It was just my high school had a their
foundation had a golf turnament. You know what's turn Embrace the sock. Okay,
I don't know if we were sucking and we and well, actually we
weren't sucking. One of the guys in our group was sucking and he was
getting upset that he he is not a good golfer. In fact, he's
a very very bad golfer, and every time he hit a bad shot,
he would cuss. And I say, dude, you're not any good.
Quit expecting to hit a good shot. You suck, So just embrace the
sock. Embrace the sock. I feel like to hear that. My son
asked me stop, he goes, He goes, did you make that up?
I said, well, yeah, you've never heard that before and I
said no, he said I've heard it for years. I hadn't heard it.
And I'm like, he said, so you didn't hear that somewhere And
then I said no. I was just telling him you're you're a terrible golfer.
You suck at it, so just embrace it. See eventually you become
cool. Yeah, you know, my son was cool that he was impressed
that I came up with that without hearing it from somewhere else. So what
it's our tagline. We have a few tags on great guests, great interviews,
good sports, Embrace, Embrace, so that we used it the whole
because this is like on the third whole and I'm like, you got to
stop getting pissed and you're hitting bad shots because you're not any feel about that.
He embraced it, and it's like he's like he realized, Okay,
you're right, I'm not any good, so I'll just play and we just
played and we had a great time. He embraced the sock and it made
for a great day golf. Who do I know him? Yeah? Dale,
my friend. I would be Dale because I'm horrible. Yeah, but
that's why I don't. But you know, look, I'm not. I
don't suck, but I'm just a little bit above suck. You don't embrace
it. Yeah, I think that's called for me. It's it's embrace the
almost sock. Okay, okay, because I do embrace it. I mean
yet, if I hear about you know s or whatever, but I don't
get upset at myself because I'm not any good you know I'm not good enough.
I'm going to shoot ninety four every time. You're self aware, I
know where you are, you know where you lie. Right. I stopped
throwing clubs years ago. I stopped throwing my bag in the trees. I
stopped supposed to be fun. It's supposed to be fun. And I get
mad at myself if I feel like I'm not having fun because it's supposed to
be fun every time I play. Yeah, So if that works for you,
I embraced the almost suck. Yeah, be self aware and look at
you with a quick shot. On Caleb, someone told him that at the
door. So what about stop shooting? Talk if we have a a few
seconds. I wanted to talk about this too, that the NBA I admitted
the last two minutes, the last few calls of the games of the Knicks
versus the seventy six Ers, that the calls were wrong. They missed the
calls. Yeah, two big calls that they they would have at the at
the very end where they they just mauled, uh, you know, a
player on the inbounds and then Sixers lost the inbounds and lost the game.
So yeah, but what are you gonna do? And then the Knicks lost
by three one. Oh well they were up they were up five with twelve
seconds left or something like that, and they were up one at that time.
I went to do you have anymore? One quick thing? So this
is breaking news. This is real breaking news. Uh, Team Mac practice
today with a moot and a scooter. I'm just seeing Troy's tweet here,
so we'll get them on the phone right now. All right, we'll take
our break. When we come back, Troy Hutcherson with the latest on what's
going on. It's bring practice, including apparently an injury to take the Royal
McMillan, So stick around for that. We'll be right back. The Windows
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free evaluation today. This is i on the Ball with Steve Rivera and Jay
Gonzalez. So Fox Sports fourteen fifty subscribe now to the podcast on the iHeartRadio
w app just search I on the Ball A Welcome back to Islam. All
here in Fox Sports fourteen fifty. Oh, Steve, he's day. You've
got to at least with us. Now we have Troy Hutchinson from Goasycats dot
com. Troy, what is what's going on over there? A lot of
heat and you know t Mac coming out in a scooter and a boot on
his left ankles. So no t Mac today practice after suffering a little tweak,
it seemed like Saturday's practice. Oh did did did everybody see that?
Did you see what happened on Saturday? And so I mean did you yeah?
Yeah? Did you guys know he was going to be out? Yeah?
You know, I didn't know he would be out today. But Saturday,
at the beginning of practice, he just went on a one on one
route versus Nacario. Davis made the catch, just seemed to land a little
bit awkwardly, walked off fine, but it kind of stepped away from everything,
got looked at and then take it to the locker room. And today
you know, at the start of practice he rolls out and a scooter and
a boot on the left leg. I don't know if it's anything too serious,
but it definitely is not anything in the knee area. So that's always
good to hear. That's good. Then maybe he won't be available on Saturday,
just to keep him safe. My guess is not. You know,
you never know with these situations. But if I was a coach and you
had a player like that, why risk it? I just you know,
heel it up and get ready for training camp. We know what you can
do and we need to do for training camp in the season. Exactly.
Yeah, but nobody they didn't say anything. They didn't give you say it
was just a tweak or anything like that. Did they just say, Okay,
you saw him. He's in a boot. That's all you get.
Yeah, we saw that he's in a boot. That's all we get.
This coaching staff, they have been pretty adamant on not talking about injuries during
training camp or practices. They would like to keep those more in house.
That makes sense. How has it been We got three four days we haven't
been there because of the show. So you know, does it looking good?
Looking sharp? What do you what do you see? Flocking good?
Offensively, a lot of different formations, a lot of motion in this offense
from Dino Babers to tight end sits, so you're going to see a lot
of tight end usage for Arizona. Defensively, very aggressive. You know,
Duynea Keena talked about bringing the desert swarm defense mentality back to Tucson but keeping
the four to two five system. He really likes that defensive base. But
you know it's been as promised, a lot of blitzes, a lot of
zone blitzes. So two things are clear. There's gonna be a lot of
motion on offense and defensively they're going to attack the football. Interesting. Interesting
again over the last couple of weeks, standouts that you've seen in particulars.
Let's start with the defense. You know who who's been sticking out that you
guys have seen really Genesis Smith, you know, safety that came from the
Chandler area in his second year with the program. So far this spring he's
actually lined up more in the nickel position, so you might see a switch
there later on come training camp. But he's had a great spring practice,
very athletic and made a couple of plays on some balls, so that's good
for Arizona there. And then on the offensive line really has been Windell mo.
You know, he had a rate season last year, but he looks
a little bit more mobile. I don't want to say he's trim weight,
but it just looks like he's carrying it maybe a little bit better, you
know. Right now some of the offensive line is beamed up. But he's
been very consistent and one of the more consistent guys outside of obviously Jonas Savnea.
So some of the guys have left of as you guys have written about
it, talked about it, and one's going to Texas right any of the
other guys settled on where they're going, And I think it's not a surprise
to you guys. No, right now, the guys that have recently entered
the portal, like DJ Warnow, you had Howkins entered the lawn snapper and
then also another safety as well. His name's escaping me right now. But
they're actually at practice, practicing. They're going to practice with the team and
make their decision at a later date if they're going to even come back to
the team or not. And then Borgeon Joseph Borjon It looks like Washington State,
Colorado State, Preslo State are interested in him. So those are the
ones to watch right now. And you know, as this window remains open,
you could see more names either go in or it was going to add
more names to its roster. But until that window closes, which I think
is about fourteen thirteen days. That can't do math right now. But in
the short amount of time that we have, you're gonna see a lot of
movement. Okay, Troy, you just mentioned some schools for Borjon that are
let's just say, a notch below Arizona. Why why is he leaving then?
I mean he's playing right? I mean is he playing? I mean
isn't he Does he have a chance to start or does he not have a
chance to start? No, on the offensive line right now, if nobody
leaves again, I always say that because of this portal situation. Right now
you have Jonas salvne on right tackle and then left left tackle is Raymond Palito,
So the tackle positions are pretty much sad and Borjeon for most spring has
been working with the third unit. This is guy that was, you know,
with the second unit and even played in some games last year and uh,
Rhino and I'm not even gonna try to say the last name right now
has been more of that second string uh left tackle slash whee tackle for Arizona.
So right now, this coaching staff clearly didn't favor Borjon like the previous
staff got it. Okay, So so how safe is Polluta for Arizona?
Is he safe to be stayed? You know, I think it's a day
to day situation. Obviously he hasn't put his name in the portal, but
you never know with other programs interested in offensive linemen and relationships that players have
built with other coaches throughout their time. But as of right now, he
is an Arizona Wildcat. He's had he's had a pretty good spring practice.
He's been out a couple of times, but in general it's been a solid
practice for him. But until that portal closes, he can't say for sure
if somebody is going to be on the roster coming twenty twenty four. All
right, what's happening in the running back room? You know, we're saying,
you know, we know who they've got, But now you've got Damien
Martinez possibly coming here. You had a guy that was coming here? Who's
not coming here? What does it look like so far? And are you
hearing anything about the Oregon State kid? Yeah? So right now, you
know with Klawley Connley, he looks like the number one back with what they
have on campus right now, very steady. Right now, he's dealing with
some stuff, so he hasn't been at the last couple of practices. Nothing
major, but he'll be back. And then after that it's ray Sewn Luke.
You have Jordan Washington and Brandon Johnson. Those guys have a lot of
speed, very physical backs. In terms of Brandon Johnson and Luke, he's
put on the weight so you're seeing improvements from him. I think you need
to add another back like you just saw that they tried to do with Corey
Merritt who just left for Ole Miss. You need a back like that be
what is, you know, the workhorse in today's college football. So Martinez
is going to be a big question mark for Arizona. Are they able to
get them? If not, where do they go from there? And right
now with Martinez, I would say it's coming down to Arizona Miami. Is
it going to be nil or potentially you know, being an offensive weapon in
what might be one of the better offenses in college football. So we go
to these practices, especially in the fall, Jay, you know, we
kind of do a little pack routine with the with the with the beat guys
and whatever, and I'm sure nil comes up. Has nil come up a
lot with you guys that are going to this this, uh, the spring
practices because it's important obviously, and every everywhere. How much do you talk
about that? Is Arizona actually doing a good job with that? Do you
know? You know, Arizona's NIL situation has improved from the last couple of
years. I think Jad did a great job of starting that. And then
Brennan once he has hirt, once he was hired, Arizona got a lot
of or from boosters and donors and alumni that new Brennan very well, and
we're excited about the hire, even though seeing a head coach leave and a
great situation is always tough. So their NIL numbers have gone up for football
during that time. But is it going to be enough to get a guy
like Martinez right, that's the question. But they're still in a much better
situation than they were let's say two years ago. Even a year ago.
Yeah, interesting, interesting stuff. You know, We've had a lot of
conversation about this, and I hate to keep kicking this can down the road,
but I mean, you know, how much of you hearing that it's
such how big of a deal is If some coaches say it's the first thing
people talk about, other coaches say, well, if that's the first thing
you talk about, I don't want them. Do you have any idea where
Brendan sits in all this and how he's handling that as far as that goes,
You know, I think it's somewhere in the middle. He's more of
a coach that realizes it is the state of college football, but he doesn't
want that to be the determining factor for a player coming to his programs.
He wants players that want to be there, that want to compete at a
high level and want to win and care about that first more than nil.
Because at the end of the day, and you know, he said this,
and a bunch of coaches on airson a staff I said this as well,
if you're winning and you're all doing well, everybody will you know,
move on to the next level and play at the next level and make more
money. So you know, having the short term money now compared to the
long term money later. Yeah that makes sense. Yeah, that makes sense.
So what are we going to see on Saturday? We were talking about
grunk coming, but that's not going to happen, right Are they going to
have special activities coming Saturday? You know that? I really don't know.
I know Brennan said it's going to be mostly run like a practice with some
scrimmaging. But they're not going to have a complete scrimmage game right now.
They don't have the numbers on the offensive line with some players out, and
you know, they're just going to write like a normal practice with half of
it being practiced and then the other half being a scrimmage. That's no fun.
That's no fun. Troy, can you can you go have a talk
with him and say we want Dane gain, we want to gain. I
get it. You guys know it's not in the heat. Well that's true.
I'll give him, but dang it, there's no fun. I'm not
gonna go. Yeah you can, I'll see you there. Yeah, you
know, I'll be there. Dang it. All right, I'll think on
my Saturday, not going is this spring practice? This is his first,
you've been to maybe three four years of these, any different than the than
the previous ones with fish or something, you know, I think in terms
of energy from the coaching staff, it's a little bit of a difference.
Obviously you have Duwayne Aquina and other members of the coaching staff that are very
vocal, but in terms of Brennan, it's not the same. Like you
sense his presence on the field like you did Jedge. It was right in
the middle of it and you could hear him from all the way across the
field. Brennan's more laid back, trusting businessses and coaches to do what they
do. You know, Dino and Aquina have a lot of experience and he
trusts those guys where I don't say, I'm not gonna say Jed Dinnon,
but he was definitely involved with a lot of parts of the football program and
compared to someone, to be quite honest, Jed and Brennan, these are
just much more well ran practices than what we've seen in the past, and
there's a purpose to the drills. There's a purpose to what they're doing,
and you can see their vision and what they want in terms of culture and
their program as you're going throughout this practice. Well, you would almost expect
that, you know, with Brennan being you know, hiring the guys that
he hired. Uh. I mean, if you're not gonna let those guys
coach, then don't hire those guys, right, I mean those you know,
and I'm talking about you know Aquina and Uh and Uh and uh Babers.
If you know, if you're not gonna let guys coach, then those
aren't the guys you want to hire. So I'm not surprised to hear that
he's actually letting them do that. And not only that, but you have
a guy like Danny Gonzalez, who were going to talk to you on Thursday,
who's the new Mexico head coach. Has been a defense coordinator at ASU
and San Diego State, and although he is a special teams and linebackers coach,
he's helped out on the defensive line. He's helped out in the secondary.
These coaches kind of move round. Obviously they stick to their one position,
but all of them give pointers to every position. They know what they're
doing. They've had coaching experience on the staff and it shows because they're able
to give pointers even to guys that aren't in their position group. So at
the end of the day, the guy who came from from New Mexico to
Arizona then he left. UWA, what was the real story behind that?
Did he think that, I turn Martinez is gonna come here, so he
was going to lose some time? You know? I think with that he
was he was command its Arizona. But when you have a transfer that commits
well before spring and they're not at spring practice, that usually means that they're
probably still looking for a better opportunity, whether it be nil or whatever it
is. And I think ole Miss just came in and offered a lot of
nil. Again Merit is a very good running back, one of the top
backs in the portal, and ole Miss is going to be good with him.
And I think it was just came down to that where, you know,
there was a better opportunity for him in terms of nil. Okay,
okay, anything else that we missed, get about a minute, you know,
No, I think fans should watch this spring game coming up. Watch
to see how the offense moves and the tight ends on the field and all
the motions on the field, and then defensively, watch who's in the nickel
position. You're going to see a lot of rotation there, but it will
be interesting to watch from a schematics perspective. Okay, thanks a bunch.
Appreciate you. Joy, have a good one, guys. I see you
Saturday. Joy, Thank you. Okay, no fun. Well, we
got to go. We haven't been there. I know we have to go.
I'm not saying I'm just saying you can bring party favorites. I'm going
to take something to read. Actually, you know that's not true because I
don't read. Well, let me ask you this, because we talked about
this forever. Did you read the book The Molkey Story? You did not.
I still haven't read that. It's it's ancient history. Now you're gonna
get an f this semester. You're supposed to curiosity because I called you.
I know, I know, you know, maybe if I go, you
know, if I know I'm going to be in the bathroom for a long
time, I might take it in there. That's where you have my book?
Yeah, my grandson had it again. He keeps ripping the cover,
you know. Yeah, it doesn't look it. He was he was gonna
take it to my sister to have her read it. Okay, yeah,
what's up at the time? Exactly? All right, let's take our next
break, our last break. We'll be back. We'll take your calls.
Five twos. There are four one, six, four, one, six,
seventy four forty. So you were analysas going, what the hell am
I doing in this room with you? It's pull it out? Okay,
all right, we'll be right back. If you're an Arizona men's basketball fan,
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today at a team security dot net. Steve Rivera and Jacob Salles they have
their eye on the ball on Tucson's sports stage Chat Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
Hey, welcome back to the ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifteen. I'm
Steve. He's jay Analis went best for fifteen minutes. It goes by fast,
guys, It's already fifteen minutes, and I can't. I mean,
we're like fifteen minutes and the whole show is all this left. Don't you
feel like we've been here that long? Today went really fast? Yes,
yes I did so. Let me tell you. I got a text just
about twenty minutes ago. Both of you guys, us too need to adopt
Atalisa's attitude because she's so happy and I'm happy. I said, well,
what are you talking about? She finds the bride slide and everything. Give
it time there. At least you'll get graty like that's at some point it
may take you sixty years open, but you might so. So I run
into listener Bill right. The first thing he says to me beat It's the
first thing he says, at ast hardware. He's stuck, he is,
man A, you're on the air and eye on the ball. Hey man,
no f bombs today? Okay, I had to beat that out from
our podcast. Hey man, my bed with the jet lag? Okay,
okay, what's going on? What's up? Hey man? I didn't listen
yesterday because I was working. Man, See what's wrong with your voice?
Went out Friday? I think it's allergies are pretty bad because I had my
yard worked on and it's not good. It's not improving. Man, I
thought you I thought you did. It's funny because it was four twenty one
and I said, oh it was everyone missed fortune. I didn't see ye
didn't hear anything about it. Yeah, it's funny, though. No,
I don't do that that that stuff. Unfortunately, you probably should, Man,
It would it would relax, Nico would know you're right. Nico would
know that would be less less stressed out. You're probably right. How you
doing? What's up? Man, is that that work? Is that what
you called about? Just to wish to ask Steve what's up with his voice?
And Nico? That throw me off? But plus, what are you
hoping for from the Cardinals Thursday? Right? Draft? The draft? You
gotta trade that pick? Trade that pick. Wow, that's a lot of
people are saying. I mean that's next year. Yeah, so you can
be patient enough for all this team to get better. The Cardinals. I've
been a fan for years and they've been what they sucked for years. You
know what we say, you know what we say to that, Nico,
embrace the suck. I just don't even watch anymore. You you need to
embrace it, Nico. You need deo man, all right, I sound
like him, honestly, don't don't cross that line. That's a legend in
the radio. So I'm about to say right now, okay, now,
yeah, okay, all right, nego, thanks much. It's good to
know Nicos alive. I'm glad. I'm glad, and we got out of
the way out of that. People ask about people ask about Gabe Gabe A
lot of I think those are our two most I hear a lot of requests
for how's Gabe doing and you know all that kind of stuff, right right
right, Yeah, just drop that. I did drop that. This is
a new one there and I'm blinking it is no. You gotta hit no,
just hit the drop. But there you go, there you go.
We got open line now, yeah, we do have one open line for
you called five zero four one six seven four four zero. And remember to
be positive like ye be positive, unlike unlike Steve and I gorgeous, grouchy.
Right, bring something. Okay, here's a personal question. What do
you tell your parents about us? Well, my mom met Steve. Oh
your mom met where Yeah, she looks like an older, older version of
Yeah. People say like, I look exactly like my mom that they could
tell they knew if they didn't even know she had a daughter and they saw
me, they y, I can open her phone. We do you have
a cock hold that thought hold. You're on the air and I on the
ball. So, guys, who was the best point guard? You've seen
it the U for five years? Jim in my time, it's not even
a question. When was the last time you won a national championship with Bibby?
So well? Yeah, well, of course, yeah, we know
that. I know you want to kind of expect yesterday's conversation. T J
McConnell was fantastic. They had every chance to win the national title with that
team right for two years, and that and that team that the you know,
the team that Brandon Ashley got hurt could have You know, I had
a really good chance. You twitter, No, I know, uh,
Jim, But TJ McConnell was that quality. He wasn't Mike Bibby, but
he was the last really really good true point guard that Arizona had and they
could have gone to the final four two times with him. Yeah, nobody
questions that. And that's and that's how and why they won their last championship,
no question. In fact, I've said this publicly for years that Bibby
should have been the m o P for the final four and the tournament because
he was much better than Miles. Yeah, no, no doubt, nobody's
gonna nobody's gonna argue with you on that one. I mean, we we
do know that. And again, you know, I got all kinds of
arguments yesterday about my suggestion, and the truth is X marks the spot.
Who was fighting with you? I heard a lot of none. No,
that's not what it was no. No, I mean no, there was
a whole lot more to why Arizona didn't go any further than the point guard.
That's the that's the point we were making four other players, that's the
point we were making that it wasn't all I mean, yes, you needed
a better book point guard than Colin Boswell, at least a point guard who
played better than than Boswell. But there were other you know, Caleb buff
couldn't you know, couldn't shoot out of his way out of a paper bag
at the end of the day. So your point guard takes care of the
distribution set on the floor and he overcomes a lot of those whatevers and what
happens and and externalities that don't even come about because he just made a pinpoint
pass under the basket. Okay, but let me say, let's say it
this way. I guarantee you, all other things being equal, if Caleb
Love is Mike Bibby's shooting guard instead of Miles Simon, they don't win the
national championship. So you know, it was more more to it. Say
that again, how far would this team this year have gone in your estimation
if you trade Mike Bibby in and Boswell out maybe one more game because Caleb
Love could not. They did not have a guy, a shooting guard who
could shoot those last few games of the season. Although you would have taken
up some slack, he would have. But that's why I say one more
game they would have lost. They would have lost eight games. They would
have lost probably three games. Four games. Been very, very good,
But at the end of the day, you still need Ballow to hit pree
throws and and and then you need Caleb Love to hit shots. No matter
who your point guard is, you could add, you know, Magic Johnson
is the point guard. Jim, do you at the at the end of
the day, did you think Arizona had any chance I'm winning the title?
No, exactly, for probably the reason we're talking. Yeah, I guess
I have different reasons than you. But I didn't think they would win.
I thought they I thought they I thought they would. Yeah, I thought
they wouldn't want more game, I really did. I was they would,
but I did. I didn't break my heart. I mean I could see
what was going on. Yeah, Okay, Jim, thanks a bunch for
calling as always. Yeah, appreciate it. Yeah, Jim hadn't call in
a while, So that was good. Two days in the right yet before
Yeah, we still have time for another couple of quick calls. Six and
a half minutes left. Uh, it's when it's Tuesday. We will see
you for until next week, right as you get ready for graduation. And
then we have some more interns coming in, so we're gonna be busy though
we already have our right we have for tomorrow. Matt Reynoldson, he's the
uh semi you sports guy over at kV away hold that toot? Do we
have a call? Okay, not the call? Holy cow, Hi,
you're on the arm and I on the ball. I just want to get
a quick call in on Arizona. What's your name? Malick? Malick?
Give us what do you got? So one thing I've noticed it seems like
for quite a while, Jove seems to get a lot of great talent coming
in. But it seems like every year the team is playing four on five,
there's always it's usually the point guard. It's a small point guard,
not a shooter, not a scorer, more defensive, and when it comes
down to the tournament, that's what really comes back to by this, when
we need that extra funt right, extra shooter, the extra score. Eve
doesn't tend to do that. I don't know if that's by design, but
it just seems like if they could get a team with five players that actually
contribute consistently, they can go all the way. No, that's that's a
really good point. And that's why you see that the teams that have the
great point guards that when needed can score and and you know, pick things
up like that's what Mike Bibby did. That's exactly what he did in that
ninety seven tournament run. Is that he contributed not only by by as dealing
the ball, but he made some big shots, particularly in the final four.
And I agree with Steve he was he was the key to why they
won. I know, I know Myles Simon scored all those points, but
Mike Bibby was the best player on the floor in all those games. Absolutely,
no one agree with you on that. And and those are the teams
that win the tournament every time you go back and look at it. Every
time they've got a great point guard. That's right. Thanks for calling.
This's your first time calling us. I think it was my second time calling
in like the last five years. Thanks for you appreciate your calling, but
I'm always driving home from all right, thanks for listening. Feel free to
call more. Put us in your contacts. You can do in auto dial.
We don't get there as many sensible callings, did you. Yeah,
I'm putting this in my contact with today. All right, appreciate it.
Thanks for colling. Say great, Malik, Yeah, that was great,
No, Steve, I mean yeah, look I agree with Jim. You
know. The thing of it is is that, you know, Colin Boswell
looked like he was a really good point guard for a while and then it
all went to got another call to poopy. All right, let's take this
one. Hi, you're on the aaron I and the ball? Hey,
Jay, this is done. How you guys doing? How are you done?
What's up? All right? Hey man, we got to get off
of the basketball thing, Jim. It's twenty twenty four. Nobody has their
true point guard anymore. That yeah, get over it, Arizona. For
years since t J. McConnell was gone, and before he got here,
whoever had the ball brought it up. If it's Caleb Love, it's Pelly
Larson, it's Kylin Boswell, whoever. So that's that's a moot point anymore
going forward? Yeah, okay, but but the real reason I'm calling is
somebody is lying about the football team. Okay, in what sense? In
the Wildcaster, when Damian Martinez was here on his visit, he was quoted
as saying that he's not transferring over ni L. He's trying, he's playing
the long game. He was looking for the best situation for the next level.
And then your guest just said, if the nil money is there,
we'll see if he comes back. Which is it's it's probably both. It
could be both. What are you going to say, I didn't marry her
because she's pretty or you know, what are you gonna say? What's the
right answer? Do you like Santa Claus? Oh? Yeah, I love
Santa Claus. Of course he's gonna say it's not nil at the end of
the day, are you well he could I'm he didn't have to say that.
It wasn't if he's looking, if he's looking to get to the league,
do you want to play an Arizona schedule or do you want to play
I don't even know who Oregon State is going to play next year. Well,
he's not going to Oregon State. He's he's he's going, He's going
somewhere. And what what Troy Hutchinson said is he thinks it's between Arizona and
Miami. Yeah. I heard that part too. And the one good thing
that that Croy did say was that, which I thought was funny, was
as soon as they hired Brennan that a lot of a lot of the boosters
started chipping in more. Yeah. Yeah, then when than when Fish was
here. I think that I think that I could be totally wrong that Fish
was overbearing. I want to say that in a sense of that's what he
coaches do this. Now they're out there chasing the money because they have to.
And I'm not too sure if that may be in too much. You
know what I'm saying, asking for too much? Well, he may have
been demanding for the moneys of asking for it. That's it. That's it.
That's a good good word to say. And and that's that's what I
took. You your your your statement to me, and Steve was he was
probably a lot more Hey, I need this, yes, instead of I'd
like to have whatever you can give. No, I think exactly if you
want us to be this program, you need to give, right, you
know exactly, Dog you thanks for coming. All right, Don, we
got to hit the road. Were at the end of the show, so
hey, thanks for the call, as always, appreciate it. Have a
good evening, guys. Okay, before we said it, so is Matt
Reynoldson tomorrow and and Pat Finley Patrick Finley Chicago Sun Times covers the Bears.
He'll be in here. We'll talk about the draft as a whole, and
then if the Bears really are going to pick Caleb Love so not Caleb Love,
Caleb Williams. All right, thanks for being here. We'll be back
tomorrow. We hope you'll tune in, follow the podcast and we'll catch you
tomorrow. Thank you. Ales.