Speaker 1: We'll get to the jazz in a moment, Craig. But
Speaker 1: of course, as you know as someone who was a
Speaker 1: big booming voice during college football season and did radio
Speaker 1: here locally, it's a big week around here with Utah
Speaker 1: and BYU playing a little American football on Saturday night.
Speaker 1: When you hear Rivalry Week Utah BYU football week, what
Speaker 1: are some thoughts that come to your mind?
Speaker 2: Ah, Man, I love it, and I'm so glad BYU
Speaker 2: and Utah in the same conference with even more impact now, Spence,
Speaker 2: you know the old days of the Mountain West. You
Speaker 2: know the whack. This is great. I mean, you know
Speaker 2: that it's going to be here, whether it's going to
Speaker 2: be home or away for whatever team. Utah you know,
Speaker 2: dials up first with a home game at right Ecles
Speaker 2: and I think it's great, man, It's it's what fans want.
Speaker 2: Coaches may not like it, but it gives you that
Speaker 2: feel good feeling. Utah is struggling in a big way
Speaker 2: this year, unexpectedly, so this game with BYU, who is
Speaker 2: winning and dominating, undefeated, there's a lot on the line here, man,
Speaker 2: to save a season or BYU really jumps into the
Speaker 2: national scene and really knocks on the door, and I
Speaker 2: think it's it's about, hey, look at us, We're for
Speaker 2: real And that's what I think by use most most
Speaker 2: interested in. But hey, every week's different, spence, as you know,
Speaker 2: rival weeks. Really you can't go with what the spread is.
Speaker 2: The emotion plays big, home crowd plays big unless those
Speaker 2: fans have sold off tickets, and there'll be more blue
Speaker 2: than red, and that will be intriguing to see.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's definitely a topic here locally, for sure, not exactly, no,
Speaker 1: you know, I don't exactly know what to expect based
Speaker 1: off of rumors here or there. It does sound like
Speaker 1: a lot of youth fans have tapped out, but I'm
Speaker 1: sure a lot of youth fans will be there loud
Speaker 1: and proud. And if you're a BYU fan, you probably
Speaker 1: want to attend because you feel good about your chances.
Speaker 1: But you know, you grew up with rivalries Case State Kansas.
Speaker 1: You called rivalries throughout the course of your broadcasting career,
Speaker 1: So as you just outlined the dynamic of this game,
Speaker 1: certainly could and in my opinion, probably will make it close.
Speaker 1: But the data tells us BYU is just simply the
Speaker 1: better team through eight games.
Speaker 3: But what is it, Craig about rivalries?
Speaker 1: You've been a part of rivalries You've covered that make
Speaker 1: the environment so intense and make the outcome of the
Speaker 1: game oftentimes impossible to ascertain.
Speaker 2: Well, in my opinion, from my experience, it's the one
Speaker 2: moment where one mistake can fuel the confidence of the
Speaker 2: underdog or fuel the confidence of the team that is
Speaker 2: supposed to dominate. And so that's what I've always noticed
Speaker 2: is a fumble early can give new life to the underdog,
Speaker 2: or it can give dominance to the team that is
Speaker 2: expected or favored to win. I think that's the one
Speaker 2: key is you cannot make mental mistakes. And b YU
Speaker 2: has taken every opportunity this year, and we've talked a
Speaker 2: lot about just being opportunistic. Look, they've earned that, but
Speaker 2: you know, to to make something out of that turnover
Speaker 2: to really be costly for their opponent, uh in case
Speaker 2: they lived it by the way, you know, that's truly
Speaker 2: what started this whole run. UH and this dominance of
Speaker 2: BYU and their confidence grew, I thought immensely after the
Speaker 2: k State victory. So you know, for Utah, if you
Speaker 2: get down and this, you know your form four you're
Speaker 2: still playing me before a Bowl game. Not sure how
Speaker 2: hype fans are about just getting the six wins, but
Speaker 2: you know this one, this one just on paper, means more.
Speaker 2: You know, in the SEC when I was the CBS,
Speaker 2: I mean, every game felt like a rivalry game because
Speaker 2: the competition is so keen in that conference. Uh the
Speaker 2: l s U, Alabama, Auburn, Alabama. I mean I got
Speaker 2: to call all those and man, it just it just
Speaker 2: has a special hum. You know, you'll feel the energy
Speaker 2: in the building unless Yu is able to take it out.
Speaker 2: And that's what I mean by something early that has
Speaker 2: to dictate maybe the outcome of the game. There's always
Speaker 2: a chance to rally back. But I'll tell you that
Speaker 2: that first defensive series or that first offensive series, whoever
Speaker 2: wins the coin flip and how they decide to go.
Speaker 2: But Spence, that's what I've always called is that you
Speaker 2: can change it quickly if you take advantage of what's
Speaker 2: given to you. And if you don't, then the opponent's
Speaker 2: going to I think, roar back and try to dominate.
Speaker 1: One more thing here, And you just kind of alluded
Speaker 1: to it because coming from a guy who has called
Speaker 1: some of the biggest games in the landscape of college football.
Speaker 1: You know, you can pull up lists like greatest Rivalries
Speaker 1: in college football. You're going to see Michigan, Ohio State, Bama, Auburn, Army, Navy, Oklahoma, Texas, USC,
Speaker 1: Notre Dame most of the lists. You know, you'll have
Speaker 1: Utah BYU around fifteen or sixteen. And I think that's
Speaker 1: going to change because we've been waiting for BYU and
Speaker 1: Utah to be in the same conference, but not just
Speaker 1: the same conference, the same P four conference.
Speaker 3: This isn't the whack of the Mountain West, all due respect.
Speaker 1: So now it's this new era starting on Saturday where
Speaker 1: more people are simply going to see it as somebody
Speaker 1: who's called some of the biggest rivalry games and has
Speaker 1: been a part of Utah BYU. How does this rivalry
Speaker 1: stack up with the Auburns and Damas in the USC
Speaker 1: Notre Dames of the world.
Speaker 2: Well that's another great conversation to have because look, you
Speaker 2: know k U K State was just more a four
Speaker 2: state area. Okay, so was Nebraskan Oklahoma back in the day.
Speaker 2: Is Switzer right, and Osbourne? But this becomes it spreads,
Speaker 2: is my point. And in the Southeastern Conference. It's religion spence.
Speaker 2: It is, and you have to experience it on game
Speaker 2: day and even the whole week because people travel miles
Speaker 2: and they actually have the thirty five foot you know,
Speaker 2: RVs and make it a religious you know moment and
Speaker 2: a way football is. Football is what people just do
Speaker 2: from August until December or the first of the year
Speaker 2: when the playoffs come in for BYU and Utah. I
Speaker 2: think it ranks higher than people give it credit for, honestly,
Speaker 2: I do. And and you know, when I was at
Speaker 2: CBS and Fox and ESPN, they always talked about, Hey,
Speaker 2: what do you think is it? Is it really that
Speaker 2: big of deal? It's it, absolutely because it splinters a
Speaker 2: state of and you always talk about it. The religion
Speaker 2: part of it, red and blue Mormon or non Mormon,
Speaker 2: that feeds it. Maybe not as much as it once did,
Speaker 2: but I still think it's very real. But then you
Speaker 2: add in this year the fact that you have two
Speaker 2: big twelve teams back and now a team that Utah
Speaker 2: was favored to be a real player nationally, not only
Speaker 2: in the conference spense, but my gosh, they were talking
Speaker 2: about hosting the first round of the of the playoffs,
Speaker 2: that's not going to happen, but Byu could easily. And
Speaker 2: that's what makes I think this such an intreaking game
Speaker 2: is how the turn of events throughout the last three
Speaker 2: months have occurred, and you know the injury to Cam
Speaker 2: and and the way that Dyu's defenses has really bowed
Speaker 2: their back and played incredibly well, and what Jake's been
Speaker 2: able to do to just to handle the offense in provo.
Speaker 2: So I think this is top five personally. People may
Speaker 2: laugh and shuckle, but I think if you're in this
Speaker 2: part of the West, yeah, it's real. It just hasn't
Speaker 2: been exposed as much. And I'm still not in favor
Speaker 2: of an eight to fifteen kick because again on the
Speaker 2: East Coast, that's late and you may not see the
Speaker 2: ending of it. I'd still like to see it more
Speaker 2: in a quote prime Time Arena six o'clock, the five
Speaker 2: point thirty window and let people really enjoyed around the country.
Speaker 2: But you're still going to see a hell of a
Speaker 2: football game, and you should see a lot of the
Speaker 2: pomp and circumstance that goes with it. And I love
Speaker 2: calling those games. Scott Mitchell. The one year we had
Speaker 2: it down in provo I called, and boy did Mitchell
Speaker 2: put on a show. And you know, the dominance of
Speaker 2: BYU was so keen for so long, and then you know,
Speaker 2: Matt came in and changed the whole, the whole culture,
Speaker 2: and Levelle and him actually were friends, and that didn't
Speaker 2: sit very well Spence. You know that with the Cougar's
Speaker 2: the Cougar and the ute fans is how did how
Speaker 2: these two guys get along? But they were, they were
Speaker 2: bonded up until Lavelle's passing and beyond. But I just
Speaker 2: think it's special, and you know what, I hope fans
Speaker 2: have a great time because it's it only happens once
Speaker 2: a year, and it looks like it's gonna come back
Speaker 2: for a long time.
Speaker 1: All right, let's move over to some jazz. And you
Speaker 1: know I did uh we do talking jazz over over
Speaker 1: at Ku t v uh with Day and Me and
Speaker 1: Dave Fox, and we were just looking at the schedule
Speaker 1: and wondering aloud, like when's the first win gonna come?
Speaker 1: Because the schedules tough, man Like, they're on the road
Speaker 1: and then they're home with the Sons and the MAVs
Speaker 1: and they're back on the road and look Chicago in
Speaker 1: a way is kind of where Utah is. They're trying
Speaker 1: to figure out what they have with their young players.
Speaker 1: They have some decent vets in Nicola, Vusavik and obviously
Speaker 1: Zach Lavine who didn't play.
Speaker 3: So that's not a great team.
Speaker 1: But I was just really happy for him Craig just
Speaker 1: to get one. Yeah, And I was really happy for
Speaker 1: Keyante to have a game.
Speaker 3: That reminded everybody why he has so much potential.
Speaker 1: So let's just start in the vacuum as the guy
Speaker 1: that called the game with kind of the fuel around
Speaker 1: the team after getting their first win in a road
Speaker 1: went against Chicago Spence.
Speaker 2: I think John Collins was a fuel. I really do.
Speaker 2: I thought he would not let this team get beaten again.
Speaker 2: Collins has come off the bench and whatever you want
Speaker 2: to say, you know, as a veteran, he's accepted a
Speaker 2: role of a bench guy. He can start if he
Speaker 2: has to, but he's shooting the ball extremely well from
Speaker 2: three and two. He's a rebounder almost eight a game.
Speaker 2: He had twelve against Chicago. I thought that his veteran
Speaker 2: energy helped fuel Keyante. It helped fuel Cody Williams to
Speaker 2: a nice you know game and Walker Kessler Man has
Speaker 2: really turned his game up. The way he finished last year,
Speaker 2: the way he started, you know, two different polar opposites.
Speaker 2: But you know, Walker's been able to find some confidence,
Speaker 2: find some muscle, and that's been a good thing for
Speaker 2: the Jazz. You know, twenty two rebounds through seven games, spences,
Speaker 2: you know, three plus blocks a game. I should say
Speaker 2: twenty two blocks, and so yeah, three plus blocks a game.
Speaker 2: But I just thought John was really the fuel of
Speaker 2: what that win was. Sixty pay points, how about thirty
Speaker 2: five assists? We haven't seen that. And maybe the biggest
Speaker 2: stat of all is the Jazz finally did not just
Speaker 2: put themselves in a ditch with turnovers at thirteen that's doable,
Speaker 2: and they only gave up twelve points and that's just
Speaker 2: that was a season and low in that stat. So
Speaker 2: the bench continues to play well. He's rotated, you know,
Speaker 2: about ten to eleven guys in and without marketing, it's
Speaker 2: even a I thought, probably even a sweeter win and
Speaker 2: JC as well. So the young guys had to really
Speaker 2: take control of that game.
Speaker 1: So it doesn't pop off the screen when you're looking
Speaker 1: at the box score. But you know, you and I
Speaker 1: discussed the dynamic of who would get the minutes on
Speaker 1: the table after Taylor went down. There's twenty eight thirty
Speaker 1: minutes available. Looks like Cody's going to be the guy.
Speaker 1: That was the best game Cody has played. It's only
Speaker 1: seven games at Sports Talk Radio, so we're going to
Speaker 1: talk about what we have and through seven games, that
Speaker 1: was a grown up game from Cody. Had eleven points,
Speaker 1: he had five boards, he had four assists. He did
Speaker 1: not turn it over in thirty minutes. Okay for your
Speaker 1: seventh NBA game and no turnover, staying clean and being
Speaker 1: able to board a little bit and being able to
Speaker 1: guard a little bit. That to me was the best
Speaker 1: game I've seen from Codyeah, give me your thoughts, Greg.
Speaker 2: No, I think he feels like watching and after that
Speaker 2: game talking to him is like, you know, it's that
Speaker 2: switch Thuroll always talks about, when do you actually believe
Speaker 2: I belong? Okay, And I thought this game probably the
Speaker 2: light he turned the light switch up and on because
Speaker 2: he realized that he can compete and his body is
Speaker 2: not one that you're going to dominate guys with, but
Speaker 2: yet he's smart angles. I thought he played angles better
Speaker 2: than he has in the early part of this season.
Speaker 2: You're right, he can go in and rebound eleven points.
Speaker 2: I like it. He was still getting his teammates involved that.
Speaker 2: You know, you're the tenth pick and he play and
Speaker 2: you're a young guy out of Colorado, and the immense
Speaker 2: pressure to perform instantly is there for all these guys now, Spence,
Speaker 2: you know, you get one year of college and now
Speaker 2: you have to be developed. And it's not When Thorough
Speaker 2: came out four years and won a national championship with
Speaker 2: North Carolina State. One of the last guys I remember
Speaker 2: was Wesley Matthews, right that the Jazz picked up and
Speaker 2: played four years at Marquette. That just doesn't happen, right,
Speaker 2: because if you're not out after two something's not right
Speaker 2: and teams don't want to touch it. Ed he's an
Speaker 2: exception right at Purdue coming into the NBA, But I
Speaker 2: thought I thought he played well. I think Flip has
Speaker 2: done an amazing job as well. By the way, he's
Speaker 2: twenty one today. Can you believe that that's how we're Yeah,
Speaker 2: that's how we're talking about. Most of these guys are twenty.
Speaker 2: They came in at nineteen. It seems like most of
Speaker 2: them have November birthdays, so you know sense of Baf
Speaker 2: and the others in Keyante who had you know, how
Speaker 2: about the nine to two turnover ratio nine assists and
Speaker 2: two turnovers? And Kyante continues to make maybe baby steps,
Speaker 2: but I thought he made a big big step in
Speaker 2: Chicago on Monday night.
Speaker 1: All right, before we get to tonight's let me just
Speaker 1: because you you touched on Walker, but I want to
Speaker 1: expand it because as you and I discussed to start
Speaker 1: the year, I am really keen in on him because
Speaker 1: this is his third year under Will and they traded
Speaker 1: Oachi's so like this is the third year example. Because
Speaker 1: we know that Quinn and his staff were able to
Speaker 1: develop young players. We saw with Heyward, we saw with Mitchell,
Speaker 1: we saw with Gobert, you know, and obviously previous iterations
Speaker 1: of the Jazz have been able to develop. It's an
Speaker 1: organization known for its development. But this is a new staff,
Speaker 1: it's a new front office. And if they can develop players,
Speaker 1: Walker is going to be art example, because this is
Speaker 1: year three and it's just as different after you've done
Speaker 1: some things for a while, and he's had a couple
Speaker 1: of off nights, he wasn't great against Golden State, he
Speaker 1: wasn't great against Sacramento. But overall, this to me is
Speaker 1: the one piece of the start where I go okay,
Speaker 1: that's like an A plus start for him. You know,
Speaker 1: overall on the season, his splits are really, really impressive,
Speaker 1: and he is back to what we saw at the start.
Speaker 3: Of the career and he's actually playing better.
Speaker 1: He's double digit points, he's ten points, he's twelve boards.
Speaker 1: He's four offensive rebounds tonight, which is a massive number.
Speaker 1: He's blocking three shots tonight, and ultimately, to me, again,
Speaker 1: as a result of this quote development situation, we need
Speaker 1: to see what he's about year three. What has stood
Speaker 1: out most to you about what I perceive to be
Speaker 1: the brightest spot of the start to the jazz season.
Speaker 2: I think you got to get credit my first song
Speaker 2: when you asked a question was Will Hardy. I think
Speaker 2: that he has not let up on on Walker, and
Speaker 2: I think he's encouraged him at the same time. Look,
Speaker 2: coaching is you have to have a psychology degree alongside,
Speaker 2: and you have to know your players. Their personality is
Speaker 2: what switch to turn on, which one to turn off.
Speaker 2: I think he's been brilliant with Walker, I really do.
Speaker 2: He's been hard on him, you know what. He's been
Speaker 2: very public about that conversation about quit looking at me,
Speaker 2: you know, and Walker has He's finally grown, he's maturing,
Speaker 2: he understands who he is, and he's finding little bits
Speaker 2: of confidence Spence along the way. And the Chicago game
Speaker 2: was just another piece of the puzzle. So I give
Speaker 2: Will a lot of credit for just helping him along
Speaker 2: and through last years at times a bit of a debacle.
Speaker 2: But I've talked to Walker a ton and he knew
Speaker 2: he's left hand dominant. So when he heard his elbow,
Speaker 2: the left elbow, he knew that he wasn't going to
Speaker 2: be able to perform and couldn't perform at the level
Speaker 2: he won. And so what happens during the you know,
Speaker 2: people always say this, oh the sophomore slump. It bit him,
Speaker 2: And how do you respond to it? Spence. That's the
Speaker 2: biggest thing Hardy I think has helped helped Walker come back,
Speaker 2: grow up and go out and play with a bit
Speaker 2: more of a Now he's not a mean guy, but
Speaker 2: on the floor he can least express it right. He
Speaker 2: can he can play with some high level energy and
Speaker 2: those numbers you spoke of. He's shooting sixty six percent
Speaker 2: from the floor, he has the three plus block shots,
Speaker 2: and the guy's rebound in nearly twelve boards a night
Speaker 2: and average in ten. So that's that's a big man
Speaker 2: who's making a difference on this team. And you know,
Speaker 2: the point is if they can develop Walker Kesser from
Speaker 2: basically just kind of a babyfaced kid out of Auburn
Speaker 2: and make him into, you know, a legitimate big who
Speaker 2: can run the floor and still has to improved his
Speaker 2: free throws. But that is that developmental parts bench you
Speaker 2: speak of. The Jazz have done very well, but this
Speaker 2: is Will's baby, right, this is Will's first test. Can
Speaker 2: you develop a guy and make him into an All
Speaker 2: Star or close to it and be an integral part
Speaker 2: of your starting five?
Speaker 1: All right, Craig, Before I say you lose, Tonight's an
Speaker 1: interesting game and I try to stay tuned into Milwaukee
Speaker 1: games because we cheer for Dame around here. Milwaukee's an
Speaker 1: eight point five point favorite. From what I have in
Speaker 1: front of me. As far as the injuries go, right now,
Speaker 1: we know that Chris Middleton is out.
Speaker 3: He hasn't played this year and it looks like surgery.
Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly, and it looks like Giannis is questionable from
Speaker 1: what I'm seeing. Yes, okay, yeah, Lowry questionable, Clarkson questionable,
Speaker 1: and Isaiah Collier questionable as well. So let's start with
Speaker 1: a helped update. What do you know about the health
Speaker 1: of both teams right now?
Speaker 2: Well, I do know that the three players of the
Speaker 2: Jazz you just mentioned have all been upgraded a probable. Okay,
Speaker 2: so I think we're gonna see Lowry, We're gonna see JC,
Speaker 2: and you know what, I'm anxious to see Callier kind
Speaker 2: of more of a bulldog point guard who was basically
Speaker 2: raised as a point guard, unlike Keyante who's making strides.
Speaker 2: But Caller will be an interesting fit. That means no
Speaker 2: minutes for Patty Mills, and that was kind of the
Speaker 2: plan anyway. But to fit marketing back in means less
Speaker 2: minutes for Philipowski to get JC back in. You probably
Speaker 2: won't see much of Johnny Guzang or Bryce Senza Baw,
Speaker 2: but I still think you'll see minutes and depends on
Speaker 2: how Will wants to divide those up. I haven't heard
Speaker 2: any update since I walked in here to the pressure
Speaker 2: room yet on Onto Decombo. Look, he's been he was
Speaker 2: listed as a hip then than a right adductor. I'm
Speaker 2: not really sure you know what's going on? Look there,
Speaker 2: just it's not between you and I because everyone's listening.
Speaker 2: But Milwaukee's won in six man, they've lost six in
Speaker 2: a row after they're opening night win against Philly, and
Speaker 2: things aren't good here, and there's a lot of heat,
Speaker 2: you know, mentioned in the local press and around the country. Hey,
Speaker 2: what's up with Milwaukee and Doc? So you know, they
Speaker 2: made the change last year, they moved Adrian Griffin out
Speaker 2: and then Doc comes in. So I don't know, it's
Speaker 2: going to be interesting to get a feel when I
Speaker 2: get out on the floor here in a bit, to
Speaker 2: kind of see what's going on. But they haven't won
Speaker 2: a home game, by the way, They're zero to two
Speaker 2: and their only win was on the road in Philadelphia
Speaker 2: and that was on opening nights. So interesting to see
Speaker 2: if giannis Is is bucking for change or if he's
Speaker 2: actually hurt. But Lillard, you know, can't carry this team alone.
Speaker 2: They don't have the deepest bench except for Bobby Portis,
Speaker 2: who I like a lot and you know about the
Speaker 2: way he plays. He's just you know, consistent guy coming
Speaker 2: off the bench. But it's interesting to see how the
Speaker 2: Jazz respond tonight. They come in with confidence, spence. And
Speaker 2: this is where you have to wonder as a Jazz fan,
Speaker 2: how many wins you know, do you really actually want
Speaker 2: to put in your pocket? Right and you know with
Speaker 2: this young team, but Will wants to win. He wants
Speaker 2: these guys to jump and make progress. And then I
Speaker 2: could be an interesting scenario with a team Milwaukee I'm
Speaker 2: speaking of. This seems that a it'll be a little
Speaker 2: bit upside down.
Speaker 1: All right, Bowler, Well, I appreciate the time from the road.
Speaker 1: Have a great call tonight, and hopefully we can see
Speaker 1: you back in the studio soon.
Speaker 2: Okay, all right, bell talk soon.
Speaker 1: All right, Craig Bowler. Jack will be on the call tonight.
Speaker 1: It's the Jazz are taking on Milwaukee. We'll see which
Speaker 1: players actually participate, because NBA basketball these days, you never know.
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