Speaker 1: Eleven o one on Sports Talk seven ninety Rossie, are
they awake?
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: Well, then I need to do it.
Speaker 3: God morning, exterrip.
Speaker 4: And here we go in the final fifteen minutes of
the Matt Thomas Show at Ross on Sports Talk seven
ninety seven one three two one two five seven ninety's
how you reach the show?
Speaker 1: Do we have Joseph Tarte on the line?
Speaker 5: We do not?
Speaker 1: All right, No, we do not. Matt, all right, he
says he's ready. I don't know why we haven't called him. Okay,
it's okay. We're working, working on it.
Speaker 2: We're we're efforting, as they say in the business.
Speaker 1: Matt, Okay, yeah we have. He just texted me, so
he should be ready to go here. Uh the madness
begins in a handful of minutes. By the way, there's
only one person you know in your life for Ross
that it's got a perfect bracket. You know who that is?
That is you, Matt sixteen for sixteen. Baby, here we go.
Speaker 6: I'm so proud of you, Matt. You know what, I'm
gonna pull that audio of you on Uh. Ain't nobody
got time for that?
Speaker 5: Are you?
Speaker 6: Are you talking about people bragging about their brackets and saying,
ain't nobody get time for that?
Speaker 1: And then you're gonna follow it up with me talking
about my perfect bracket, babe. That is correct? Okay, So
headlines the day. We got Astros baseball coming up in
forty five minutes from now, give or tank as we've
got the Astros taking on.
Speaker 5: Uh.
Speaker 2: He said, it's going to voicemail. So I don't know
if you want to have him call us.
Speaker 1: We are trying to. I'm gonna text him. We are
trying to call you. I don't know what's going on.
Speaker 2: We're having issues up here today.
Speaker 1: So seriously, when are we ever gonna not have issues?
I mean, are we freaking lufkin or what? I don't
get it.
Speaker 2: We'll save that for the eye. Just don't get it,
all right.
Speaker 1: I just text him. We were trying to call you.
All right, So Josephorty's gonna join us here in a
matter of moments from uh the Wichita Regional. By way,
do you know that which Shaw had a fifteen thousand
seed arena? Isn't that crazy? Uh?
Speaker 2: Fifteen thousand? Yes, it seems pretty major.
Speaker 1: They're not even playing it, which y'all say they're playing
it in the arena. There's torta.
Speaker 2: Let's try that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I like this seven one three two one two
five seven ninety seven one three two one two five
seven nine zero. If you want to visit with us
through Twitter, you may do that as well at Sports Empty,
at Sports RB, and at UH well, well Jonathan gets a
Twitter account, we'll be happy to pass out along as well.
Hello Joseph Dowarte, how the heck are you? Man?
Speaker 5: Does my does my phone just not want to take
calls from you and your station.
Speaker 1: It's not your fault. I don't think. I mean, I'm
not for sure on that, but I know you.
Speaker 5: I do not do not call or do not take
call lit. But hey, you know I love seven ninety
They're my guys. You're my guys.
Speaker 1: I said a rough night sleeping George you are you?
Speaker 5: Are?
Speaker 1: You cranky? For some reason?
Speaker 6: This morning?
Speaker 5: I've had better sleeps, you know?
Speaker 1: Okay, at least at least your game story was written
ten minutes after the game started.
Speaker 5: Yeah, how about that? That one was done probably probably
only a little bit behind the uh Gonzaga beat rider
when when when they went up twenty seven to three
on Georgia? So yeah, Uh, pretty much quick order for
for Houston, they looked the part of a number one
seed and kind of, you know, mission accomplished. Do you
want to go out and be if you're a number
one seeds, you want to go out in that opener,
assert yourself, not have a close call. Uh, get some
guys some rests because you're gonna have a tough one
in the second round. So yeah, I would say that
everything they needed to accomplish uh in round one they did.
Speaker 1: So let me ask you this. Uh. I know there
was a long stretch in the second half where they
did not score, but again and there were some guys
that were getting rest. Was there anything discouraging about yesterday
for you? Or was it there's nothing really super positive
that you can get out of playing SIU Edwardsville in
the first round.
Speaker 5: No, I wouldn't read too much into what happened. Yeah,
you're right. They cleared the bench with about ten minutes
left in the game, guys that normally wouldn't get playing time,
and frankly, guys that you probably won't see much of
any of the rest of the tournament. I was amazed.
I think they missed sixteen out of seventeen shots at
one point in the second half. But think about this,
Houston could have gone scoreless the entire second half and
still won the game with the lead that they had
at halftime. So that sort of blew my mind of
the dominance that they had the first half. They shot
over sixty percent. You got what you needed out of
Jaywon Roberts testing that ankle. Silos was milos, LJ was LJ.
I mean they basically it was a twenty minute game.
They did what they needed to do and Kelvin's not
gonna lose a minute sleep over what what you know.
Shortcomings there there may have been there in the second half,
just because that's that's not the Houston team that that
you'll see most nights anyway.
Speaker 1: So most the guys that were kind of aching had
aches and pains or in the cold tub. I'm assuming
pretty much after the game is over Worth uh. I
know you'll be visiting with them, some of the folks
later today, but they're as healthy as they can be
going into this game against Gonzaga.
Speaker 5: Correct, Yeah, exactly. And you know with with Roberts, that
was the key. You sat him out the two games
at the Big Twelve Tournament, which was the right decision,
and you wanted to get him some minutes uh in
the in the opener just to one get the russ
off and to see where he's.
Speaker 7: At and watching him and pre game that looked like
there was a little tenderness, but nothing that you say
that this could be a lingering problem for the rest
of the tournament, And that's saying thing because Houston's had
injuries in the.
Speaker 5: Past that have just been nagging and have just carried
the one tire way through. So I thought that was
very promising that Jaywon Roberts got out there, played about
you know, twenty minutes, look good on some of the
moves that he does there in the post, and everybody
else is good. So yeah, that's a good sign because
you're gonna need all hands on deck Saturday against a
very underseeded Gonzaga.
Speaker 1: Joseph Towarte Houston Chronicle with us here on Sports Talks
that I joining us from Wichita, So I know you
are gathering audio and writing your story. How much did
you get to see directly of the game that with
Gonzaga and if you have may maybe just happen to
see it on television. Any initial thoughts about them because
that is obviously a round two matchup that a lot
of people are like. As you said, underseated is probably
the term as being most associated with the Bulldogs.
Speaker 5: Yeah, he is the number three overall seed and they
did not get treated like it with this bracket. This
is a game that you could see in the Elite eight.
I know it's not Gonzaga of Old, but it's still
you know, metrics wise, I think they're number nine or
eight and Ken tom So to see this game, this
could be one of the top three or four games
of the entire tournament. And we're not even to the
second weekend yet. But to answer your question, just watching them, Matt, uh,
they're They're very athletic, They're very long, They they run,
you know, they they they have a fast pace to them.
And that's going to be interesting because you know, I
kind of equate equate their style, uh to maybe like
a BYU or Arizona, and those are the teams that
Houston did well against this year. Houston sort of makes you,
uh been to to their will and then the style
that they play, and I think that's kind of what
you're gonna need that to happen. You're not gonna be
able to let them get into the eighties and have
a lot of possessions. You're gonna have to bring the
game down into the sixties where you're more comfortable that
that blue collar, nitty gritty uh you know, just get
down in dirty type game and and and low scoring.
So just watching them, you know, Kalife battle is going
to be a load. Uh. Gradmite is another guy that
you know, he's averaging close to a double double if
not or They've got some players on this team. And
you know the interesting thing, both teams in the last
eight years have the you know, they're both the winningest
programs in the country with two hundred and thirty nine wins.
Dog has been the nine straight Sweet sixteens. US have
been to five this this is a heavyweight matchup in
round two, so buckle up.
Speaker 1: I'm curious Annal of Mark. Few will address this at
all today if they've seen anybody as physical as you
of age. I mean, we always talk about who the
Cougars are facing. H Look, I'm not trying to stereotype
West Coast Conference teams, but in the WCC, if you
looked at the last twenty or so years, it's up
and down the court first to eighty. It's not it's
more of a finesse up, perimeter shooting teams, not the
boy big bulky low post presence that you of h
can throw at him.
Speaker 5: Right, And you know, whether it's been Tommy Lloyd or
Bill self or or any number of teams Mark Hope,
they've all said the same thing. You don't see the
brand of physical bruising, just defense and rebounds that that
Houston throws at you. There's if I'm another team preparing
for Houston, I can't simulate that. That's very hard to simulate.
And I think that's where the advantage comes in because
you're right, there are teams out there that that can
look similar with the fast paced that you know, all
that stuff, But but Houston just takes it to another
dimension with all that stuff. And then oh, by the way,
they've got shooters now, they can hit the three, they're
over forty percent. They've got three or four guys. They
got three or four guys that on any nine can
put up fifteen to twenty points. And that's something they
haven't had in the past. But yeah, the aspect of
having the game plan around a defense that just and
and the hustle points as they call it, the hustle
stat you don't get that and a lot of places
that's very many at all, And I mean, I think
that's what separates Houston, especially when you get into the
tournament this time of year, when you.
Speaker 1: Were you've been on the UHBAT for a long time.
Joseph Torte with us here, we were, I mean, honestly,
I mean, as a Cougar fan was afraid of Kansas.
I mean, this was the most dominant basketball team in
this league for a long period of time. National championship
a few years ago. They've been basically on the map
for about forty years. They looked pedestrian. Yesterday, they looked pedestrian.
Over the course of the year. What do you know
if you know anything about what happened to Kansas, Not
that we're gonna send a whole lot of time about it,
but you of age, it took them literally a year
to be the most dominant team in this otherwise very
good basketball conference.
Speaker 5: Yeah, looking from the outside in, it might be a combination.
I think they might have whisked a little bit on
portal and the developing aspect. Maybe it didn't it wasn't
the right mix or guys needed it a little bit
longer or now. Now Hunter Dickinson is a great player,
came back this year. Guy like a kJ Adams, guys
like that. But it just you know, you watch Houston
every day and you see how they prepare and how
they are, Uh they just stay out work you. And
then you see Kansas one night where after the game
all the alums are saying put the managers in. They
might have more heart and more effort than the actual players.
So it was a really weird year to go from
preseason one to unranked to bounce out of the tournament. So, uh,
you know, I look at it as you know, this
is a changing of the guard. Houston has dominated this
league in two years. I don't think they're going anywhere
anytime soon. And that's the new reality of this league.
You have to go through Houston until further notice. And
who would have thought that. I thought they'd be good,
and I thought they'd compete and be at the top,
but I didn't think that they would just steamroll in.
And so they basically went into your house, Matt Thomas,
took your remote control, sat down on your favorite recliner,
put it on their channel to you know, took all
your movies out. This is their home now, this is
their house and the Big twelve. That's that's what they're
gonna have to be faced with moving forward.
Speaker 1: I got thirty seconds left if your mark few and
you were staring at you of h game tape? Where's
the Achilles here on the on the Cougar squad? Did
you see this playing the second round game?
Speaker 5: I think that song go at them, hit him in
foul trouble. I think especially with the bigs like a
Francis or Tuggler, I would go at them immediately, try
to get them on the bench because that if there's
an issue, it's staying on the court, and there they
struggle when they don't have their full compliment.
Speaker 1: All right, get some rest of man. We'll look forward
to reading your coverage tomorrow in the Houston Chronicle.
Speaker 5: Thank you, buddy.
Speaker 1: That's Joseph Torte from the Houston Chronicle with us from Wichita.
All right, adies and gentlemen, it is time for you
to apologize. It is time for you to say you're sorry.
What do you need to say sorry about? We are
here for you to say you're sorries seven one three
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want to tweet us you're sories, use the hashtag sorry Friday.