Speaker 1: Get to know the Cougar's opponents and rivals right now,
you need to know the faux segment on Cougar Sports
with Ben Kreteler.
Speaker 2: Welcome back you for sports one of three.
Speaker 1: Nine ninety point three ESPN The Fan, I bet Crital
broadcasting from our Vanderwelt Studios Vanderwald dot com.
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Speaker 2: But he's time to get to another vote.
Speaker 1: Let's get prep get ready for that BYU TCU matchup.
The BYU Cougars are balling out in the Big twelve
and TCU. They're a good team. Guys, don't get a twist.
Eleven to five on the season one and two in
Big twelve play. They have two consecutive losses, but they've
been competitive in those losses. They lost by fourd to Kansas.
That was at Kansas, who was on the road, and
then they lost to U of A. They were competitive there.
They did lose by thirteen but this team can win.
This team can score with the best of them. And
they got some great athletes as well, so they've got
some nice victory. Look, they barely lost to Michigan sixty
seven to sixty three as well. So a talented team,
a well coached team. And we're familiar with a few
of those guys that are repping that that purple down
there at TCU, and they're gonna be coming into the
marriage center.
Speaker 2: We're gonna get to know the foe here.
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dot com. Let's welcome in former BYU, great basketball player
and now we got the fight song bringing him in.
I love that I told this man like, had you
not transferred by you would have made to another sweet.
Speaker 2: Sixteen in my opinion, But he took us town.
Speaker 1: Some marquette got buckets there, played overseas and now he's
doing great things with TCU.
Speaker 2: Let's welcome in, Matt Carlo to the show. What's up, Matt, hey, Ben?
Speaker 3: How you doing?
Speaker 2: I'm doing awesome, brother. How are you? How's the fam?
How's everything going?
Speaker 4: Everything's great, man, everything's great.
Speaker 3: Can't complain love it man.
Speaker 1: We'll give us an update, give us a brief rundown
of what's keeping you busy these days. I know you're
part of the TCU horn Frogs basketball analysis team. What
else did you got cooking? Where you're living?
Speaker 3: You know?
Speaker 2: Give us update on all the things.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, I'm I'm back and forth worth. I was
a graduate assistant for Jamie Dixon back in twenty nineteen,
twenty twenty one season, when Desmond Baine was here and
we had some good players, Mike Miles, RJ and Mhart.
A lot of guys got a chance in the NBA
and uh yeah, back here with my wife her her
sister was a beach volleyball coach. Here they just won
the national championship uh in the spring. So we're uh,
we're happy to be back here. And I'm working for
a company called higginbotham uh selling insurance. So all is
well on my end, and just feel super blessed to
be here and I'm coming out back to the Marriott Center.
Speaker 2: It's freaking awesome.
Speaker 3: Man.
Speaker 1: Hey, and you were you were a baller man. People
don't People don't realize like you're were of the best
guards to ever play at b YU in my opinion,
the fantastic score underrated distributor of the basketball as well
had a handle very very rarely prior to the the
k Y era, right when we're getting the rob wrights
and all this stuff, it was a bit of a
novelty to have a point guard that could break a pass,
pressed through the through the bounce.
Speaker 2: You know you were one of those guys.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean I appreciate that. I you know, there's
been so many good players to come through BYU.
Speaker 3: I think you can get lost in the shuffle sometimes.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no doubt about it.
Speaker 1: But we loved watching to play at Brigham And congratulations
on all of your success. What are you looking forward
to getting back into the merrit Center, and I guess
calling this game, you're gonna be doing color. You're gonna
be doing sideline reporting. What do you mean doing for
the the TCU Hornfrogs.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I do the.
Speaker 4: Color with a great Brian Estridge calls the games play
by play for TCU and yeah, I'm excited, and b
YU as a really good team. TCU, like you said,
really good team. Should have won at Kansas, really could
have and should have.
Speaker 3: Maybe beat Michigan too. They're very good, have some good
wins and a lot of talent.
Speaker 4: So looking forward, I've kind of was joking after our
last game we played Arizona and we we've faced Darren Peterson,
CoA Pete and now AJ in this next one, so
we kind of went through the gauntlet of the the
big freshman. So I'm looking forward to to see how
AJ stacks up with with the rest of them.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm excited to watch it as well.
Speaker 1: Let's uh, let's do a little breakdown of who TCU is,
what the team composition looks like, what the culture's like there,
what type of what the style of play that they have.
Speaker 2: Give us a little synopsis.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Coach Dixon, he's done an amazing job of just
developing talent. Got a really good guard and Brock Harding,
who can really he can really share the boy, he's
a really good passer. David Punch who's a sophomore, good
big guy. They got some other really good pieces Michael
Robinson h and another guy in Xavier Edmonds who.
Speaker 3: Was the number one of the number one JUCO big guys.
Speaker 4: So they got pieces TCU's pieces, and uh, you know,
I think coach Dixon's one of the best coaches in
the country, Like I said, at developing talent, but also
game planning for teams, and BYU obviously has some really
talented guys, So I think it should be interesting to
see the matchup and how how they game plan for him.
Speaker 2: You're you're a well versed experience.
Speaker 1: I mean, you grew up getting buckets, right, You played
at by You played at UCLA b YU. Uh, played
up Morquette, you played, I believe, in Europe in the
NBA G League. What type of ball is being played
in the Big twelve Matt right, Like, you're very familiar
with this, Uh, I call it the the G League
with university logos.
Speaker 2: What type of ball is being played right now? Oh man.
Speaker 4: I mean I watched the U of A team against
TCU at Sholmeyer at TCU, I mean, it was ridiculous.
They were eight deep. And you know, anywhere you turn,
you know, there's a lot of guys I work with
who go to various Big twelve schools and they're just like, yeah,
you get done with BYU in Provo, and then you
got to go play Calvin Sampson at Houston, and then
next thing you know, you're you're playing at Iowa State,
and then oh, by the way, next matchups against Texas.
It's just it's insane the amount of talent and even
towards the bottom of the league. I told before conference
play started, I told a lot of people I said,
you can have not a good team, but I think
like a really good team and have a really bad
record in the Big Twelve. It's just it is what
it is. Every night is a fight to get a win,
and there's just so many good teams and so many
different styles of play. It honestly reminds me of an
upscale version of the old Mountain West.
Speaker 1: I like the breakdown and excited for this game. What
do you know about BYU? Have you been able to
scout the coups.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, I know they got you know, right
and Saunders and the Bonza and.
Speaker 3: Other than that, I know that they just have a bunch.
Speaker 4: Of guys who are solid, they can play. I've watched
I obviously watch BYU and I'm extremely impressed with the
Bonza and honestly out of the three just on film.
You obviously have to see him in person, but I
think he's the best freshman that I've seen. Just has
the most upside and you know, just an incredible talent.
And I've always been a fan of Saunders, Richie Saunders
since he, you know, was a freshman basically, and I
know what he's capable of. He just does so much
on the court and right obviously a Baylor guy, now
BUYU guy. That was an extremely good get for them
bringing him in to compliment those guys. So you know,
I think it'll be a battle.
Speaker 3: Obviously, being on the other side of it.
Speaker 4: I knew it was always hard for teams to come
in and win at the Marriott Center, so it'll be
a challenge for TCU. But like Coach Dixon always says,
every game is a challenge in the Big Twelve, and
it's just no different.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the SEC in football talks about a gauntlet. That
ain't no gauntlet anymore. The true gauntlet is in the
Big twelve basketball conference.
Speaker 4: That's funny that you said that, because that was literally
a conversation at the office today, someone said that the
SEC football is nothing compared to Big twelve basketball.
Speaker 2: It's not.
Speaker 1: Man, it's no joke, and it's been very entertaining to
watch know if sands or buts about it. Look, you
know you you transferred a little bit. You transferred before
the transfer portal. Okay, you mentioned these guards, Rob Wright,
that was a good acquisition.
Speaker 2: I remember when.
Speaker 1: BYU got you, that was a fantastic acquisition. Was coming
off the Jimmer ferdet era. We were looking for another
guard that could score, that could distribute, that could play
good defense. And for those that don't know, Matt Carlino
played in ninety six games, including seventy one starts during
his three year career at BYU. Average twelve point five points,
four point six assists, three point three rebounds per game.
Shot forty percent from the from the floor, thirty three
point five percent from the three point line, seventy one
point two percent from the Charity Stripe, scored in double
figures fifty nine times and career high thirty twice. Second
in steals per game I think in BA at the time,
I think, and I don't.
Speaker 2: I don't know if you're still there, but it's right there.
Speaker 1: Fourth and assist per game, seventh and three point field
goal attempts in BAU basketball history, and the seventh in
steals at one hundred and sixty one, Eighth in ten
assist games at three. I'm going down the list, man,
your ninth all time and assist and so you you
were getting buckets like, tell me what your thoughts are
on the transfer portal, how it impacts college athletics in
this day and age.
Speaker 4: Man, that's a whole segment in and of itself. I
you know, I'm glad the ear that I played in
even though I did transfer. I mean, not to toot
my own horn, but I did all that in two
and a half seasons, not even three. So but you know,
more transfers would have would have happened back then. It's
free agency every year, and it's just one of those
things that I'm glad that I got to play at
just two places in Marquette, and BYU and because you know,
quite honestly, I probably would have transferred every season. You know,
you're just getting more money and you know, you get
to experience. I mean, maybe at the most you stay
it somewhere two years.
Speaker 3: Because it's just a good fit.
Speaker 4: But you know, it's just so wild. I don't want
I don't like it. It's really hard to follow because
guys just change teams every single year, you know.
Speaker 3: I I'm I was told that I transferred a lot,
but I.
Speaker 4: Always tell people, man, I on even play it at
two places. I see guys who play at four now.
So you know, I don't like it. But at the
same time, it's just changed so much.
Speaker 1: Okay, go back in time. I've asked you this question,
and I've made the pitch. I've texted you this. I'm like, hey, B,
why you have B, Why you retained you and you
not transferred. I know there's a lot of things that
move and uh, you know, certain roles and playing time
and vision of coaches and scheme. There's a lot of
things that contribute to transfers. We all know that, and
it's even more complicated now than ever. But if you
could go back and do it, again. And I know
you loved your time at Marquette. You balled out there.
You had a great time there and were featured and
it got to see a lot of different things, that
experienced a.
Speaker 2: Lot of different things.
Speaker 1: If you go back and do it again, would you
have stuck it out at Brigham and led us to
another Sweet sixteen baby, because I guarantee you we go
sweet sixteen with you.
Speaker 4: You know, I don't live my life with regrets. But
you know, unfortunately at Marquette we didn't win as much.
I enjoyed winning a lot. I loved all my teammates.
I still stay in touch with them from BYU, And
you know, it was really it was kind of sad.
It was sad for me to leave BYU. I didn't
necessarily want to leave BYU.
Speaker 3: In a lot of ways, kind.
Speaker 4: Of felt like I was forced my hand a little bit.
I don't know if you remember, I kind of came
off the bench as one of the best players in
the conference my junior year, so I feel like they
just kind of and you were a team captain.
Speaker 2: I think you were a team captain.
Speaker 1: I was, and one of the best players, and they
moved you kind of to a six man role, which
was tough.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and it wasn't only that. I think they just
had a little bit different vision. They wanted, you know,
to feature some other guys more maybe, And I don't know,
like if we would have went to a Sweet sixteen,
of course, it's easy to sit here and say that
we would have.
Speaker 3: But we did have a lot of talent on that team.
Speaker 4: And you know, honestly, the year before, I definitely think.
Speaker 3: We would have beat.
Speaker 4: Oregon if we would have had a healthy Kyle Collinsworth
my junior year, because you know, we should have beat
them in your gene that same year. So and then
who knows what happens after that you win one, you
start to build some confidence.
Speaker 3: But yeah, no, I mean, I know.
Speaker 4: I felt my time in at Buyu is awesome. I
loved all of my teammates there. I still a close
with them and speak with them, and it was it
was sad and I had had to leave vieu Iu.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was looking at the two thousand and fourteen
twenty fifteen roster and what was there and what we
what we lacked with you not being there, And look,
I I'm.
Speaker 2: In sports radio. So I lived my life in the past,
so you don't have to. But I we talk about
the future. We talk about the past a lot, and
we do talk about the present.
Speaker 1: But you know, Tyler Hawes was a senior that year,
Kyle Causers was a junior. We had Jake Toolson as
a freshman obviously became a good player. Anson Winder was
a senior. Kyle Davis, I think transfer from Utah State
as a as a junior, Frank Bartley, Skyler Halford. Because
we lost you, you know, we acquired we know, went
into the JUCO ranks. And I remember Frank Bartley in
the in the Old Miss game in the NCAA tournament,
he had to play some point guard. We just didn't
have a point guard. We turned the ball over a
lot in in that NCUBA tournament game. Corbyn Cafus and
Luke Worthington, Jamal Aids, Isaac Nielsen, Dalton Nixon.
Speaker 2: It was a good squad.
Speaker 1: I mean it was definitely guard heavy, and it would
have been more guard heavy with you, but you needed
scores and you need ball handlers. On that team, we
had some good shooters. Chase Fisher was a live a
transfer from Wake Forest and he was a good bucket
getter And obviously we know how good Tyler Hawes and
Kyle Collinsworth were and he had young stars and and
Jake Toolson, but I did oh, Josh Sharp Senior also
kind of a slasher type, small forward type.
Speaker 2: You were, you were.
Speaker 1: Familiar with his game, but uh, what we missed, in
my opinion was a ball handler and a distributor.
Speaker 2: And you know, is it I mean, look, is it?
Are we far enough removed to Tom?
Speaker 1: We didn't prep for this, By the way, we're just
talking and I'm getting a bunch of texts because they
love hearing from you, by the way, the fans love
hearing from you, mat But like, are we far enough
away removed now to say, okay, like what was you know,
the key contributing factors to why you ended up transferred?
Speaker 2: I know you alluded to it a little bit, and.
Speaker 1: You know, are we far enough way now to talk
about specifics or do we want to keep it you
know general?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 4: I mean I they kind of came to me my
junior year and just you know, you said some of
the stats and what they brought me in to do,
and they were like, hey, you're you're not a point
guard anymore. And I was like, what do you mean,
I'm not a point guard. I'm leading the conference and
like assists and like, at that point, I don't think
I was leading, but I think my junior year I
did lead the conference and assist the turnover ratio. And
I was like, okay, so what are we doing here?
And they just said, hey, we want to like move
you to the two. And I was like, all right,
like ill, I'll try it out. Well, I've never played
the two in our offense or anything. And I actually
remember it was the Eugene game at Oregon. It was
around that time when we were kind of making the
switch or they wanted to just move me strictly off
ball to the two. And I was just like, hey,
you know, I'll try to do whatever. I don't agree
with this, but i'll do whatever, you know, and to
try to help us win. And it was one of
those things where you know, it was what it was.
And I think they wanted to move Kyle Collinsworth to
the point and just basically have him do the majority
of the ball handling. And I was like, you know,
that's all great, but it doesn't really seem like I'm
too much of a fit. Like I even told him
straight up, I said, you should play Anton Winder. He's
been playing the two all year and I think, you know,
he knows more of it and he's more comfortable with it.
I straight up told him that. And then it just
got to the point.
Speaker 3: Where there was friction there.
Speaker 4: And yeah, it was kind of just that was the
start of it, and when they moved me to the
bench and things of that nature, I kind of just
was like, Okay, well, if this is kind of the
way that you view me and what I've tried to
do for the team being a captain, then you know,
I feel like there's a lot of friction there. Even
though I love love that coaching staff and I've still
talked to them, it was just a difference in opinion
of I guess who they thought I was as a
player and where they wanted me to fit in. But
you know, I still talk to all those guys. I
talked to Pope, I talked I've talked to coach Rose,
and like I said, I've had amazing relationships with my teammates,
but there was just a lot of turmoil that I
was kind of upset about and felt like they kind
of forced my hand and yeah.
Speaker 2: No, dude, I completely understand it.
Speaker 1: I'll continue to live in the past and say, hey,
what if what if we could have synergized a little bit,
what if we could have have figured out a way
to still have you at point and in the in
the starting rotation, right, and and you know, I mean, look,
there's offenses that you can get creative.
Speaker 2: You don't have to have a primary point guard anymore.
Speaker 1: Right, it's kind of an uh, even in even in
that day and age, right, I mean we're talking about
a little over a decade ago.
Speaker 2: It's not like you have to have a primary your
only point guard. Right.
Speaker 1: You have sets, you have I mean, you have you
have five out offenses. Now, all these guys can handle.
Look at Ajtabonsa. He's a point forward, for the love
of pete. Do we really have to put labels on it?
And I think once you start to put labels on
things too, uh, that's where it's like, well, oh, it's
like this identity crisis. It's like to me, it's about
you know, utilization and scheme and and winning and uh,
you know, like if you're if you're a fantastic ballhandler
that averages averages five assists per game, well, you should
probably still be distributing the basketball, would be a primary
ball handler some way, shape or form.
Speaker 4: Yeah, And that was always a struggle for me. I
was probably my best I was always asked to score
and was able to score, But my best attribute was
probably facilitating. And I think, you know, Kyle Collinsworth was
also a great facilitator from his position, And then you
had guys that were just natural, more natural scorers like
a Ty Hawes, who I thought it could have been
a great mix, and it was at times, but I
don't know why. It seemed like they could never like
we could just never synergize the whole thing, because truthfully,
you called out me being a part of like that
Sweet sixteen the next year, but in reality.
Speaker 3: They needed Eric Meika.
Speaker 4: They needed him and he was unbelievable and I don't
even think we got that enough out of him. We
could have got more because he was just an extreme talent.
So that that junior year team when we lost to Oregon,
I think if Kyle's healthy, we were very we were
very good. And I think if we could have gone
far that year, and if Mika would have I mean,
he went on a mission so, but that next year,
if they would have had him, they would have went
an farther.
Speaker 1: Now, we didn't have a big the following year, right, well,
we had a four man. Kyle Davis was a nice
pickup for for BYU that year. But Eric obviously essentially
a borderline NBA guy I mean, definitely a G League
overseas guy that could play.
Speaker 2: He played forever.
Speaker 1: Just a big, strong, fast, explosive, you know, pick and
roll kind of specialists that can run in transition. And
he had pretty good back to the basket game as well,
even in his youth.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: But you're right, there's definitely an argument to be made
there in case he getting injured that season definitely hurt.
But like I said, I still think the NCAA tournament
is run by guards, the guard line.
Speaker 2: It's not the bigs. I really believe that year.
Speaker 1: I believe if you can have four or five guys
that can all handle and all, you know, get their
set set shots in, they can create for themselves and others,
that's a winning formula.
Speaker 2: I think if you can master it. You know, it's
not hard.
Speaker 1: I mean it's not it's not easy, but if you
can if you can get that dialed in, you can
go a long way to the NCAA tournament.
Speaker 2: And that's that was their weakness, honestly.
Speaker 1: That years, like you know, breaking presses, getting the ball
of court, if Kyle got in foul, trouble versus all miss,
and then you didn't have a backup guard you didn't like.
Anson was was decent, but he's not as you know,
he wasn't necessarily a point guard.
Speaker 2: He's more of a two.
Speaker 1: Skyler was more of a two. He was more of
a scoring guard. Frank Bartley was more of a two
at the time. He developed into a point guard, but
he was more of a two. We had a bunch
of twos everywhere. Even Tyler Hawes is a two three
right Chase Fisher was a two. We had a ton
of twos. We had only one one. I'm doing everything
I can. I'm offering up the world to a guy
that for for my for my ones. I need my
ones too, and and Kyle and and Matt to me
needed to be the ones.
Speaker 2: And it's it's hard. I understand, it's not easy, but
that was my pitch h at that time.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well I'll let you live in the past.
Speaker 1: I shall Matt Carlito Matt. Let's break down a little
bit more of this b YU TCU game. How do
you see this game playing out?
Speaker 4: Yeah, like I said, I think that, Uh, you know,
TCU has a really good team coach kicks and teams
are extremely tough. He's one, like I said, he's one
of the best coaches in the country at game planning
and his staff does an amazing job.
Speaker 3: Uh, They're gonna play.
Speaker 4: Hard, and I think it'll be you know, I haven't
dove into BUYU and and got into the numbers and
what makes them really kick. Just more of a personnel
standpoint is what I've seen.
Speaker 3: But like I said, it's.
Speaker 4: Really hard to win in the Marriott Center. But TCU,
you know, we can play anyone tough, and I think
that if b YU, the thing that is going to
be big for TCU is not letting b YU get
on those runs because when you get on a run
in the Marriott Center, it's tough. I mean, they were
just at Kansas and the same thing happens. So you know,
for TCU, I think what they need to do is
just stay consistent and whether those storms. If they can
do that, they'll have a chance to win. There and
b Yu. You know, I think it's going to be
come down to fifty to fifty balls for them. And
because this TCU team is tough, so if they can
rebound and win the fifty to fifty battle, I think
they'll they'll have a good night.
Speaker 1: I hope we give you a standing go when you're
announced as one of the analyss here on the play
by play Matt Carlino. Ladies and gentlemen, say hi to
him at the Marriage Center when you see him, and
welcome him back to a place where he made a
ton of memories for us and produced at a high level. Matt,
we appreciate you man, Thanks for hopping on, Thanks for
catching up with us.
Speaker 2: We'll see you down at Marriott Center tomorrow.
Speaker 3: Thanks, man, really appreciate it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, much love to you and your family. That's Matt Carlino.
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