Speaker 1: It's time for coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven to nine day, now here's Nick Coffee.
Speaker 2: Somebody asked this on the text line earlier today, and
Speaker 2: I haven't gone back and looked at and looked it
Speaker 2: up to answer your question, but you may be right.
Speaker 2: I think this is at least the third or fourth
Speaker 2: time maybe that Louisville has had roughly a week off
Speaker 2: between games, and part of me says that it's actually
Speaker 2: pretty common. We just haven't in a while been, as
Speaker 2: you know, addicted to watching this team play, because it's
Speaker 2: been a while since the has been good at basketball,
Speaker 2: and this team, man, they've been They've been awesome to watch.
Speaker 2: It's not just that we like to see them win,
Speaker 2: which they've done a lot of that really. I mean,
Speaker 2: they have one loss since December fourteenth, but just watching
Speaker 2: them play, I mean, these guys again, I don't think
Speaker 2: i'm speaking out a turn here when I say that
Speaker 2: they'll be remembered for a long time really, regardless of
Speaker 2: what happens the rest of the way. I mean, it'd
Speaker 2: be a real bummer if if they're remembered, because man,
Speaker 2: it was such a fun ride and it came to
Speaker 2: a terrible ending. I mean, I don't think that's going
Speaker 2: to happen, but I just think the way they've kind
Speaker 2: of and it's it's corny, I know, I get it,
Speaker 2: but the revival, like it's really happening. The program is
Speaker 2: being revived, and it's guys who are mostly going to
Speaker 2: only be here for about a year, and they're seeing
Speaker 2: the fans really, you know, week by week seemingly get
Speaker 2: more and more energized by how hard they're playing, the
Speaker 2: success they're having, and you can tell that they appreciate
Speaker 2: and they can certainly pick up how much this fan
Speaker 2: base loves what they've been able to do. And it's
Speaker 2: not just the players, it's Pat his staff, everybody from
Speaker 2: top to bottom. So yeah, I mean, I feel like
Speaker 2: this is this is the most we've had throughout a
Speaker 2: season ever where we have to wait a week or
Speaker 2: even longer sometimes to watch him play. And we're currently
Speaker 2: in that situation now because they played on Sunday night,
Speaker 2: which was kind of ran and we didn't talk a
Speaker 2: whole lot about that game yesterday, and it wasn't one
Speaker 2: of their better performances, but I mean, I mean, they
Speaker 2: still won without much trouble, and you know, in fact,
Speaker 2: it was another win that I believed. I believe they
Speaker 2: ended up jumping up in the in the metrics. I
Speaker 2: think that, Yeah, they went from twenty seven to twenty
Speaker 2: five after the fifteen point road win at Notre Dame.
Speaker 2: So now they've got Saturday. I don't know, is that
Speaker 2: a night game? They played Florida State at home? Who
Speaker 2: of course they're just kind of hoping their season ends, right,
Speaker 2: I don't. I mean it's Florida. Actually Florida State did
Speaker 2: steal a win against wake Forest last week, but really
Speaker 2: they've had a tough year, and Leonard Hamilton walking away
Speaker 2: and being the end of his career is obviously you know,
Speaker 2: it's just awkward. I mean, I think you've got a
Speaker 2: few teams in the ACC right now that are having
Speaker 2: some awkward finishes just because I mean, Laryone is out,
Speaker 2: he left mid season. They're not going to hire the
Speaker 2: interim Virginia is not going to hire the guy who
Speaker 2: Tony Bennett tried to get the job. I mean, we
Speaker 2: know Leonard Hamilton's moving on. I would be shocked if
Speaker 2: Syracuse doesn't make a move because of how bad they are.
Speaker 2: So it's kind of an awkward ending of the season
Speaker 2: for some teams in Florida State's one of them, and
Speaker 2: they'll be here on Saturday, and you know, Louisville again,
Speaker 2: not a whole lot to gain here because you know,
Speaker 2: a win is really just what you're supposed to do,
Speaker 2: and because of Florida State, like many of the ACC
Speaker 2: teams just not being very good at all, a win
Speaker 2: is again what you're supposed to do, and there's not
Speaker 2: a whole lot of value that you're going to get.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 2: You could beat them by thirty, which would be great.
Speaker 2: That may bump you up a little bit when it
Speaker 2: comes to the net ranking and the Ken Palm and
Speaker 2: that kind of stuff. But yeah, I mean, I just
Speaker 2: look at the rest of these games over the next
Speaker 2: five games. You know, just take care of business, and
Speaker 2: you know you can still try to get better in
Speaker 2: those games. But I would I would, you know, I'd
Speaker 2: be a liar if I told you that I feel
Speaker 2: like Louisville because again, when I say they can't get better,
Speaker 2: I just I'm probably not gonna watch much in these
Speaker 2: next five games, regardless of the score, to feel like, man,
Speaker 2: they're getting even better. They might be, but I just
Speaker 2: think it's gonna be tougher to tell because I think
Speaker 2: they're already pretty good right now. By the way, the
Speaker 2: game is at noon on Saturday, so just keep that
Speaker 2: in mind. All right, it's Coffee and Company. We are
Speaker 2: philby Thornton's. My voice sounds different, but it is me.
Speaker 2: I can promise you that, and the voice has actually improved.
Speaker 2: We had a we had a rough stretch in that
Speaker 2: first segment. I got about fifteen minutes in and had
Speaker 2: a flat tire essentially where I we had to pull
Speaker 2: off the road and and regroup and get that. Uh yeah,
Speaker 2: because it was it was not good. But little hydration,
Speaker 2: some throat lozenges, and uh, I'm feeling much better. Waterman
Speaker 2: cures everything. Hydration is key. It is absolutely key. So
Speaker 2: one of the things we did talk about for those
Speaker 2: of you just now joining us has just this new
Speaker 2: world of college sports where the portal matters, and NIL
Speaker 2: of course is a big factor, and why guys decide
Speaker 2: to go to certain schools once they hit the portal.
Speaker 2: Nil's a factor and why some guys even make the
Speaker 2: decision to enter the portal at all. And I just
Speaker 2: think when you look at the teams that were viewed
Speaker 2: to be real. You know, they were supposed to be
Speaker 2: really really good this year that aren't. There's not that
Speaker 2: many of them, in fact, if you look at like
Speaker 2: the preseason top twenty five college basketball pole. I mean,
Speaker 2: I'm sure there are some that have not at all
Speaker 2: been able to live up to what they were expected
Speaker 2: to do. But Kansas is certainly one of them. Because
Speaker 2: last night they lost by nearly forty points. They're probably
Speaker 2: I mean, there's no way they're going to be in
Speaker 2: the top twenty five moving forward. I mean, I can't
Speaker 2: imagine they will be. But they've now lost i think
Speaker 2: it's seven games in Big Twelve play for the second
Speaker 2: straight year. Prior to the last two seasons, they'd never
Speaker 2: lost more than six in league play. So I still
Speaker 2: am not going to write them off as if they're terrible,
Speaker 2: because I still think they have got talent and they've
Speaker 2: got a really good coach. But they're a mess right now,
Speaker 2: and it sounds like just about everybody is viewing it
Speaker 2: as an issue with just guys getting along and playing
Speaker 2: and working well together. They've got a hell of a
Speaker 2: coach and they've got a lot of talent, but they're
Speaker 2: kind of a mess right now, and they were the
Speaker 2: preseason number one team in the country for obvious reasons.
Speaker 2: I'm not bringing this up to say Bill self is
Speaker 2: a bum. Clearly it's on him. Coaches have to figure
Speaker 2: this out, but I think it's a real reminder that
Speaker 2: having all the talent is a big part of the job,
Speaker 2: right like getting the best players possible is and always
Speaker 2: will be a humongous component to how you've become successful
Speaker 2: in college basketball. I don't think there's anything they could
Speaker 2: do to the game that's ever going to change that.
Speaker 2: But you can have enough talent to beat anybody, but
Speaker 2: it's got to work well together. And it's not just
Speaker 2: about all, right, are these guys compatible on the floor
Speaker 2: as players, it's also are they compatible who work together
Speaker 2: as a team, And there's really no way to know
Speaker 2: that because it's all bad. I mean, think about how
Speaker 2: many coaches out there are coaching guys right now that
Speaker 2: they didn't they'd never met a year ago because they
Speaker 2: you know, they were playing at a different school, and
Speaker 2: they didn't recruit them at a high school, and they
Speaker 2: waited till they got in the portal in order to
Speaker 2: start recruiting them. So you've got to be able to
Speaker 2: really get through to your guys, regardless of age, Veterans
Speaker 2: that are five year college players, freshmen that are just
Speaker 2: coming in, and there's got to be a collective buying
Speaker 2: from your team, and they've got to believe in you
Speaker 2: and what your vision is. And Louisville, they're not going
Speaker 2: to be able to go get a Rain Smith every year.
Speaker 2: They're not going to be able to go get a
Speaker 2: Terrence Edwards and a Chucky Hepburn every year. I mean,
Speaker 2: I hope they can, but I actually think those guys
Speaker 2: are pretty special and we were lucky to get them,
Speaker 2: not only because of their ability, but because of their maturity.
Speaker 2: They played a lot of basketball. You know, they're they're
Speaker 2: very selfless guys, and it's not that that's impossible to find.
Speaker 2: But I just think Pat Kelsey and really Mark Pope
Speaker 2: as well, they have an element about him as people
Speaker 2: that you can see why guys would like to play
Speaker 2: for them, why they are good leaders, And I just
Speaker 2: think that's one of those things that you've always needed
Speaker 2: that to an extent, But in the previous world, without
Speaker 2: the portal and nil and all that, you could be
Speaker 2: the drill sergeant. You could be the dictator and they'd
Speaker 2: have to conform to you. But now guys can just
Speaker 2: leave at any moment. I mean they really can. I
Speaker 2: mean it doesn't happen as often, but like there are
Speaker 2: guys this year in college basketball that have already left
Speaker 2: their team. Like they're still around, but like they're already
Speaker 2: it's already. I mean, in fact, I just saw during
Speaker 2: the break there's a kid from Saint Louis. I do
Speaker 2: only know of his name because of his dad. His
Speaker 2: dad played it at Saint Louis and in the NBA's
Speaker 2: name was Larry Hughes. Larry Hughes Junior is at Saint
Speaker 2: Louis playing for Josh Shirtz and he's going to hit
Speaker 2: the portal. I mean, he's still on the team, but
Speaker 2: like it's a known thing that he's moving on. So
Speaker 2: guys can just up and leave now. So you've got
Speaker 2: to be able to balance that, right, like find a
Speaker 2: way to keep them working hard, buying in and really
Speaker 2: just again it sounds corny, but just believing in what
Speaker 2: it is you're selling, in your vision for everybody and
Speaker 2: the power of the unit is something you hear Pat
Speaker 2: Kelsey talk about quite a bit. I'm sure it's corny
Speaker 2: to some, but I can tell he means it when
Speaker 2: he preaches it, and he tries to really establish that
Speaker 2: culture within the locker room from top to bottom. Coach, players,
Speaker 2: support staff all that and these guys believe it too.
Speaker 2: And you may have times where guys come in and
Speaker 2: they don't buy in, and that could be an issue.
Speaker 2: In fact, I think a good example is Jeff Brom.
Speaker 2: That happened last year in the portal. They went to
Speaker 2: the portal and brought in some guys that went through springball,
Speaker 2: and Jeff Brom packed their stuff and told them to
Speaker 2: hit the road when springball concluded, because they were not
Speaker 2: good locker room guys. They were not there for the
Speaker 2: right reasons. And that's I think that's almost impossible to vet.
Speaker 2: So sometimes you may get a guy who might be
Speaker 2: more of a knucklehead than you anticipated, but it's your
Speaker 2: job as a coach to rain that in and get
Speaker 2: everybody on the same page. And some coaches are just
Speaker 2: not going to be good at that at all, Like,
Speaker 2: for example, I don't think Cala Perry's good at that,
Speaker 2: but he can still have success if he has the
Speaker 2: right pieces that he needs. I'm not picking on him.
Speaker 2: But I just feel like he's a guy that his
Speaker 2: most successful teams have not been you know, teams that
Speaker 2: have been put together the way that teams are put together. Now,
Speaker 2: there's a reason he had a dramatic decline as a
Speaker 2: coach in the last few years at Kentucky and even
Speaker 2: currently at Arkansas. So like Bill self is struggling with
Speaker 2: that this year, maybe next year he's learned from this
Speaker 2: and he gets guys that are more so willing to
Speaker 2: buy in and be a part of what they're doing
Speaker 2: rather than just coming there to you know, try to
Speaker 2: be the same guy they were at their previous school,
Speaker 2: because I think that's probably bad to guess that's probably
Speaker 2: the issue. Kansas brought in a lot of transfers that
Speaker 2: had some big options, right, paid a lot of money
Speaker 2: to come to Kansas because it's Kansas. But they also
Speaker 2: brought back a core from a team last year that
Speaker 2: was pretty good and it's just not it's not gelling
Speaker 2: and that happens, and as a coach, you can blame
Speaker 2: it on that. Hey, these guys just don't like each other.
Speaker 2: And look, sometimes that's not really your control, but you
Speaker 2: know what, it's your job. That's that's that's where we
Speaker 2: are now. That that's that's that's the game. You got it.
Speaker 2: That that's a big important component. So I just think
Speaker 2: both both coaches around here louisll and Kentucky Mark Pope
Speaker 2: and Pat Kelsey, I think they both have, you know,
Speaker 2: that that kind of that that kind of an element
Speaker 2: about them as individuals that can get guys to collectively
Speaker 2: buy in. And I know, all this just sounds like,
Speaker 2: you know, corny, and you know, you just need the
Speaker 2: best players, and look, you need all that. But I
Speaker 2: think there are examples of teams right now that have
Speaker 2: a lot of talent but it's not working. And maybe
Speaker 2: it's because the guys they got weren't as good as
Speaker 2: they thought. But I don't think that's the case with Kansas.
Speaker 2: I just don't think it's it's working. I mean some
Speaker 2: other teams that I would say are probably and again
Speaker 2: there's no way to know for sure why a team
Speaker 2: is disappointing. But Baylor was preseason number eight. I thought
Speaker 2: Baylor had a roster that was as good as anybody's
Speaker 2: because you have nor Shadowmere, who's been a great college
Speaker 2: player forever, a proven double double, really good player, Jeremy
Speaker 2: Roach played at Duke for how many years? Really good
Speaker 2: guard at Duke, really good shooter. Those are two transfers
Speaker 2: coming in that are probably picking wherever they want when
Speaker 2: they hit the portal. I mean, Omeir went to the
Speaker 2: Final four with Miami. You mix that in with freshman VJ. Edgecombe,
Speaker 2: who I think is probably the best NBA prospect in
Speaker 2: this class outside of Cooper Flyag. I'd take VJ. Edgecomb
Speaker 2: over the kids at Baylor. I really would. Robert White,
Speaker 2: another five star freshman guard that's not working at Baylor.
Speaker 2: I can't tell you that it's because they're not getting
Speaker 2: along and you got too many old guys not getting
Speaker 2: along with the young guys vice versa. But again, it's
Speaker 2: just they're not as good as they should be. And
Speaker 2: nobody can claim it's because they don't have players that
Speaker 2: are good enough. And I just think as a coach,
Speaker 2: it's going to be such a roll of the dice.
Speaker 2: But you also just have to know regardless. I gotta
Speaker 2: figure it out. I gotta figure out how my twenty
Speaker 2: four year old senior is going to be a good
Speaker 2: teammate to my eighteen year old freshman who, by the way,
Speaker 2: hasn't proven anything as a player, but he's gonna get
Speaker 2: all the hype. He's gonna get all the accolades because
Speaker 2: he's a Burger boy. He's going to be a top
Speaker 2: five draft pick if he scores a point for us
Speaker 2: or not. Like, finding out how to make that work
Speaker 2: easier said than done, and I think we're seeing that
Speaker 2: play out in college basketball. All right, let's talk about
Speaker 2: the potential expansion of the NCAA Tournament, because I don't
Speaker 2: want it. I'm somebody that fears change. I mean, I
Speaker 2: don't think there's anything college basketball could do that would
Speaker 2: make me not love it. Don't I wouldn't know how
Speaker 2: to not love it. I love college hoops. I really
Speaker 2: learned about myself when Louisville was as bad as they
Speaker 2: were in the last couple of years. I still found
Speaker 2: myself consuming the sport NonStop, and really I became more
Speaker 2: so into gambling on the sport, which I still am
Speaker 2: into that. But you know, it's nice to have a
Speaker 2: team that's alive again. So I'm not going to act
Speaker 2: as if like it'd be the worst thing in the
Speaker 2: world if they expanded it. But what it comes down to,
Speaker 2: it's just not necessary and it wasn't even necessary to
Speaker 2: have the play in games, right, Like, we didn't need
Speaker 2: to do that. And I still think it's an absolute
Speaker 2: krock of you know what, that two of the sixteen
Speaker 2: seeds or is it four of them that do the
Speaker 2: playing game in Dayton, Like, that's not the same experience
Speaker 2: like those guys, those teams that end up in dating
Speaker 2: in the playing game, the two sixteen seeds that essentially
Speaker 2: play in to get to the number one seed, Like,
Speaker 2: I just feel like they're robbed of the experience like
Speaker 2: we should just I mean, so again I would go
Speaker 2: back to just having sixty four teams and it being
Speaker 2: the way it was before they added these playing games.
Speaker 2: But they're not going to do that. If any change happens,
Speaker 2: it's going to be expanding, and it sounds like they
Speaker 2: may do it. This report from Awful Announcing has a
Speaker 2: has a breakdown here that let's see. Yeah, it says
Speaker 2: that the NCAA, if they expand, what they're aiming is
Speaker 2: for seventy two or seventy six teams to be in
Speaker 2: the field. And I mean, there really hasn't been meaningful
Speaker 2: expansion in over forty years. So we all everybody knows
Speaker 2: this is just for money. You put more games, that's
Speaker 2: more inventory, that's more money you can make. I mean that,
Speaker 2: and that's that's what makes the world go round. So
Speaker 2: you know, I'll still enjoy it the turn. I'll still
Speaker 2: enjoy the tournament just as much. But I think we
Speaker 2: are at a point now in every level of sports,
Speaker 2: pro or college, any expanded postseason, it's just money. And
Speaker 2: it's probably always been that way. But I think, you know,
Speaker 2: for those of us that just enjoy sports and don't
Speaker 2: consider it, or at least we don't think about it
Speaker 2: from a business standpoint, we know it is a business,
Speaker 2: but we look at it for entertainment. We're not in
Speaker 2: the business of, you know, sports, as far as you know,
Speaker 2: we're not. Our livelihood's not dependent upon how many millions
Speaker 2: that the NCAA or the NBA or the NFL breaks in.
Speaker 2: It's just it's more of an escape for us. So
Speaker 2: we've always known that, but man, it's so obvious now
Speaker 2: because there's no I mean, when's the last time there
Speaker 2: was something that expanded that actually led to Wow, it's
Speaker 2: a good thing they expanded because that team was great
Speaker 2: and they wouldn't had an opportunity just I mean, it's
Speaker 2: just not necessary. There have been playing games that have
Speaker 2: led to in fact, is it. I think there's been
Speaker 2: two teams that have gone from the play in game
Speaker 2: to the Final Four. I know one and that was
Speaker 2: Shaka Smart and BCU. And then after that I didn't
Speaker 2: didn't mit Cronin do it? Am I crazy? Because I
Speaker 2: think when UCLA made it all the way to the
Speaker 2: championship game, I'm sorry the final four they lost digging
Speaker 2: zag on that buzzer beater. I feel like they were
Speaker 2: were they were they? They weren't a sixteen seed? No, no, no,
Speaker 2: I'm talking about playing games eleven seeds. Oh okay, no, no, no, no, yeah,
Speaker 2: there's elevens that play in every year and those are
Speaker 2: the teams like like last year was at Virginia that
Speaker 2: got in as the eleven seed, I mean I think
Speaker 2: it was and they got beat by like forty and
Speaker 2: again like they didn't belong. It wasn't. I mean, you
Speaker 2: could have put a different team there, maybe they would
Speaker 2: have made a deep run. But anyways, Yeah, in twenty
Speaker 2: twenty one, UCLA made the was that twenty one? What
Speaker 2: am I looking at? Here? Do you have my years?
Speaker 1: Wrong.
Speaker 2: Am I crazy?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Ucla, Yeah, they played in the playing game, and they
Speaker 2: played in the eleven seed playing game. They beat MSU
Speaker 2: as that I don't know. I can't tell if that's
Speaker 2: Mississippi State or if that's uh who is it? Yeah?
Speaker 2: They so, yeah, Michigan State not Michigan State. Uh, And
Speaker 2: I'm sorry. Ucla beat BYU after they beat whoever they
Speaker 2: played to get into that game, and then they beat
Speaker 2: Abilene Christian who upset Texas. Then they beat Alabama, which
Speaker 2: was a big upset. They beat Michigan, who was the
Speaker 2: one seed in that region, and then they ended up
Speaker 2: losing in the final fourd Againstzagas. So again, that's a
Speaker 2: cool story. But if you don't, if you don't get
Speaker 2: it like that doesn't. This is one of the dumbest
Speaker 2: things that you hear from time to time from people
Speaker 2: when it comes to like the tournament. If you get
Speaker 2: in and you're a bubble team that did not belong in,
Speaker 2: and like there's teams that quite literally had better resumes
Speaker 2: that that didn't get in, and you did, but you
Speaker 2: make a final four, you didn't prove that you belonged.
Speaker 2: Because that's never what it's about. That's the conversation, the
Speaker 2: type of conversation that people have that that really they
Speaker 2: don't realize that they're really making a point that we
Speaker 2: shouldn't ever play any game outside of the tournament because
Speaker 2: what you do has to matter. If in fact, a team,
Speaker 2: you know, you can't tell me we're not this good, Okay,
Speaker 2: well you're not. You're not living up to that. You
Speaker 2: have a bad record, you have terrible losses, like you
Speaker 2: know that. That's that's what the SEC hawks do. You
Speaker 2: can't tell me we're not one of the best teams.
Speaker 2: We'll look you got four losses, like I tell you,
Speaker 2: I tell you whatever you want me to tell you.
Speaker 2: But the results of the results and the results have
Speaker 2: to matter. If a team making a final four despite
Speaker 2: their resume not being good enough to even get in
Speaker 2: as an eleven seed like that, that just proves how
Speaker 2: much they underperformed. So again, the tournament's probably going to expand,
Speaker 2: and I'm still gonna love it, but it's certainly not necessary.
Speaker 2: I don't think anybody would argue that. And I think
Speaker 2: the more you make it a bigger thing with more there,
Speaker 2: the less it feels special to certain teams. Now there's
Speaker 2: certain programs that aren't going to look at this as anyway,
Speaker 2: Like making a tournament is not a big deal to
Speaker 2: a lot of programs. Louisville will be this year just
Speaker 2: because it's been a while, but for other teams, man,
Speaker 2: it's it's a big deal. But if you get to
Speaker 2: seventy six or even more, I mean, you really lose
Speaker 2: the It's going to turn into where you're comparing teams
Speaker 2: saying they made the tournament to teams going six and
Speaker 2: six and claiming they made a bowl game. That's that
Speaker 2: Scott Satterfield loser ass kind of stuff that we just
Speaker 2: don't need. All right, quick break, don't go anywhere. It's
Speaker 2: coffee and company fuel about Thornton's here on Sports Talk
Speaker 2: seven ninety.
Speaker 1: Now back to coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven nine day.
Speaker 2: So, I don't know what happened, and it doesn't look
Speaker 2: like anybody does because every update I've seen from this
Speaker 2: story is the same. But LeVar Ball he had to
Speaker 2: have his foot amputated. I don't know if again, maybe
Speaker 2: there's an update out there, but an unknown serious medical
Speaker 2: issue has resulted in him losing his his his foot
Speaker 2: and there's a picture of him in a wheelchair.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's Did Dion Sanders have that too, or was
Speaker 3: he close to get.
Speaker 2: I think he had to have a toe imputated, but yeah,
Speaker 2: he had a I mean he was in a he
Speaker 2: was in a wheelchair a walking boot for a long time.
Speaker 2: And you know, the internet's the Internet. I'm not surprised
Speaker 2: that there are many people already making jokes about LaVar
Speaker 2: ball and blaming it all on those infamous Big Baller
Speaker 2: brand shoes that you know clearly, you know it.
Speaker 3: Was a monic's sacrifice. Your three sons get to be famous.
Speaker 3: Maybe that was a sacrifice for Leangelo to finally get
Speaker 3: on an NBA court and seeing swerving, Yeah.
Speaker 2: I mean that. Did you see he performed at the
Speaker 2: NBA All Star Game? Yes?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean that people are making jokes that that's
Speaker 3: the only time he's going to get on an.
Speaker 2: NBA basketball court. I mean, I'm telling you, but take
Speaker 2: advantage of it, the fact that the fact that all
Speaker 2: of his sons have have legitimately done something six. I mean,
Speaker 2: Leangelo signed a thirteen million dollar record deal. The one
Speaker 2: player who wasn't good enough to be a pro, and
Speaker 2: then the others are good enough to be pros. Obviously,
Speaker 2: Alonzo's had some health issues, but when healthy, he's clearly
Speaker 2: a good player, not a not an elite player in
Speaker 2: the NBA. And you can make the case that LaMelo
Speaker 2: is I mean, I think he is, in fact the
Speaker 2: best player, but he might have been one of the
Speaker 2: biggest All Star snubs this year when it comes to
Speaker 2: just how productive he's been. So in the end, LeVar Ball,
Speaker 2: you know, he wins. Now, I will say this, I
Speaker 2: always felt like this was something that did not get
Speaker 2: enough attention. There was another trio of brothers that didn't
Speaker 2: have the LeVar Ball circus parading around trying to get
Speaker 2: them more recognition and whatnot. And I'd like to believe
Speaker 2: that with Lebar it was always for him trying to
Speaker 2: help his kids. But you know, sometimes he probably didn't
Speaker 2: help him when he thought he was. But there were
Speaker 2: is it the Holiday brothers. Yeah, their father. Nobody knows
Speaker 2: who he is at all. And he's not somebody that's
Speaker 2: ever trying to get attention. He's not somebody that has
Speaker 2: ever you know, made it. I mean, I'm not I've
Speaker 2: never seen him, but I remember the youngest Holiday brother
Speaker 2: I think it was I think it was Aaron Holiday
Speaker 2: who got drafted in the me. Look here, Aaron Holliday
Speaker 2: got drafted in twenty eighteen by my Pacers in the
Speaker 2: first round with the twenty third overall pick. The other
Speaker 2: is Drew Holliday, of course, the best of them. He's
Speaker 2: the oldest. I mean, he's won a championship with the Celtics,
Speaker 2: he won a championship with the with the Bucks. I mean,
Speaker 2: he's he's awesome. I mean, he's a known player. He's
Speaker 2: the oldest of them. And then there's Justin Holiday, who,
Speaker 2: in fact, Justin may be the oldest, but he also
Speaker 2: has played in the NBA. I mean, he played in
Speaker 2: the NBA from two thousand and fourteen to twenty twenty four.
Speaker 2: I think this year he's currently looks like he's currently
Speaker 2: playing in Europe somewhere. Yeah, he's playing in Italy. So
Speaker 2: this is a guy who had three sons that all
Speaker 2: played in the NBA for a long time, and they
Speaker 2: all went to I think they all went to you know,
Speaker 2: one of them, Justin Holiday, went to Washington, but the
Speaker 2: others went to UCLA and like you would have never
Speaker 2: known about their dad, you know what I mean. Like
Speaker 2: and by the way this was all playing out around
Speaker 2: kind of the same time that LaVar Ball was doing
Speaker 2: his Shenanigans, sending his kids to Lithuania, having them drop
Speaker 2: out of high school. I mean, it was a long
Speaker 2: road to get there, but they are successful. But you know,
Speaker 2: I just remember thinking, they showed Aaron Holliday on draft
Speaker 2: night getting drafted by my Pacers, and I think that's
Speaker 2: probably why I remember it, because it was my Pacers,
Speaker 2: and they showed his dad, who was there at the
Speaker 2: table as he got drafted, and you know, hugged his son,
Speaker 2: and you know, he walked up to the podium and
Speaker 2: shook Adam Silver's hand and whatnot, and he gave his
Speaker 2: dad a real big, you know thank you in that interview,
Speaker 2: basically saying, you know, for pushing him, and just thinking like, well,
Speaker 2: that was a great story. But because he's not parading
Speaker 2: around like a clown like LeVar Ball is, like nobody,
Speaker 2: but this guy could walk into anywhere, nobody would know
Speaker 2: who he is. But he just cared about, you know,
Speaker 2: his kids and clearly supported him enough and believed in
Speaker 2: them to where they I mean, as a dad myself,
Speaker 2: I have no clue what my what my kids are
Speaker 2: going to do when they get older. My daughter's especially child,
Speaker 2: and you know her, her road's going to be different
Speaker 2: than most. And and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Speaker 2: My son, he loves sports, and I have no clue
Speaker 2: if he's going to be able to play competitively, even
Speaker 2: like a high school I mean, maybe he didn't make
Speaker 2: the high school team. I would doubt that's the case.
Speaker 2: I'd probably have a real tough time if that was
Speaker 2: the case. And maybe, like now that I'm in the
Speaker 2: Hall of fame at the school, like, is he just
Speaker 2: required to be on the team, Like they can't cut him? Right,
Speaker 2: I'm kidding, But anyways, Like I have no clue what
Speaker 2: my kids will will end up doing when they get older.
Speaker 2: But I cannot imagine the feeling that you would get
Speaker 2: being a parent to see your kid really have high
Speaker 2: levels success in anything. Right, Like I'm proud of my
Speaker 2: kids now, like when he's well, when they're well behaved,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean. But whenever they get older
Speaker 2: and they do well in school, hopefully hopefully they become
Speaker 2: good students, Like I just I can't wait for that
Speaker 2: feeling being proud of your kids. I mean, it's got
Speaker 2: to be one of the being I'm going full dad
Speaker 2: mode right here. But it's you know, it's like I
Speaker 2: went to sleep one day and I woke up and
Speaker 2: now like that's my whole personality is being a dad,
Speaker 2: and it's the best part of my life. It's the best
Speaker 2: thing that ever happened to me, is having kids. But
Speaker 2: I don't know, I just feel like I was kind
Speaker 2: of like learning on the fly when we had our daughter.
Speaker 2: And regardless of what people tell you, And you'll know
Speaker 2: this one day, Austin, I'm sure when people ask you
Speaker 2: are you ready? Are you ready? Like if your wife's
Speaker 2: pregnant or your girlfriend's pregnant, whatever it may be, you don't.
Speaker 2: You're not ready. You're you're never read, You're never ready.
Speaker 2: It's you just gotta you gotta, you gotta learn on
Speaker 2: the go. And I don't mean like trial and error
Speaker 2: to keep a human being alive. I don't mean it
Speaker 2: that way. I mean you've got to. I mean it's
Speaker 2: it's an experience that you can't get ready for and
Speaker 2: there's no real like I'm glad I went, and it's
Speaker 2: worth going just to be supportive from my for my wife.
Speaker 2: And at the time I'm thinking it's really important. But
Speaker 2: like we went to those classes that you go through
Speaker 2: that the hospital puts you in before you have a baby,
Speaker 2: which you know is you get some valuable information. But
Speaker 2: like none of that is is what you know, had
Speaker 2: nothing to do with me. You know, like it. I
Speaker 2: don't want to say it was a waste of time,
Speaker 2: but like even that, it's there's no harm in doing it.
Speaker 2: But you don't really like life changes in every way
Speaker 2: when you at least it should. If it doesn't, then
Speaker 2: that's probably not a good thing. But when you become
Speaker 2: a parent for the first time, I mean, I can't
Speaker 2: put into words what that does as far as just
Speaker 2: changing everything about your mentality because you're you know, you're
Speaker 2: you have to be. You become without even any decision,
Speaker 2: you just become more selfless and you realize now they
Speaker 2: are the most important thing in your life. And it's
Speaker 2: not even by design, it's just how it works for
Speaker 2: for it did for me, and I know for a
Speaker 2: lot of people as well. To where you now are
Speaker 2: doing everything you can to not only keep this human
Speaker 2: alive and give them a good life, but you know,
Speaker 2: to do everything you can to support them. I don't
Speaker 2: know how this turned into the Doctor Phil Show. Maybe
Speaker 2: it's that cough medicine I was taken during the break
Speaker 2: because I'm convinced there's some kind of drug in it,
Speaker 2: because yeah, it gets me feeling pretty good and and
Speaker 2: you know it's working, so good stuff. All right. Tonight's
Speaker 2: college basketball slate not super super loaded, but and usually
Speaker 2: Louisvill's played on Wednesdays, so again I'm missing out on
Speaker 2: watching the cards in action before I breaks. Men, it's
Speaker 2: not fun. But tonight, I would say, really, the best
Speaker 2: game is probably Alabama at Missouri. Currently, Missouri is projected
Speaker 2: to win this win eighty six to sixty five. Eighty
Speaker 2: six to eighty five. I mean, to me, this screams
Speaker 2: take Bama. They're coming off the lost to Auburn. I
Speaker 2: think Missouri is one of those teams that is good,
Speaker 2: but I don't look at them as one of the
Speaker 2: teams that I feel like is elite for the for
Speaker 2: the for the sec. They're nineteen and six, and yes,
Speaker 2: they've got some good wins. Right Their win against Florida
Speaker 2: earlier this year was huge, they won in Gainesville. But
Speaker 2: their other wins, in my opinion, for the most part,
Speaker 2: in acc play, have not come against bumps, but they've
Speaker 2: come against the not so great teams in the ACC.
Speaker 2: When they've played the better teams in the ACE. In
Speaker 2: the I'm sorry the SEC like Tennessee and Texas A
Speaker 2: and M. They haven't won. When they played Texas, they lost.
Speaker 2: So I think Bama bounce is back here. What are
Speaker 2: you seeing on the line? Let me, I'm looking at
Speaker 2: ken one? Is it Bama minus one?
Speaker 1: Uh?
Speaker 2: Missouri minus? Oh my god? What am I missing about Bama?
Speaker 2: They think there's gonna be like a letdown. And I
Speaker 2: know I know that Missouri right, yes, and I know
Speaker 2: that Missouri is good, and I know that they're at home,
Speaker 2: but Bama is Bama, and I just feel like NATO's
Speaker 2: coming off a loss. I feel like this is I mean,
Speaker 2: are you you got you got your sheets in there?
Speaker 2: What are you seeing?
Speaker 1: Uh?
Speaker 3: It's it's telling me take Alabama. But it's got eighty
Speaker 3: five to eighty four Alabama.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, if they're dogs, I'm taking Bama money,
Speaker 2: of course. And then elsewhere I would say, I mean
Speaker 2: as far as because the kin palm when you look
Speaker 2: when you go to the you know the the you
Speaker 2: click on the date at the kim Palm the kimpom website.
Speaker 2: It gives you all the games and it just goes
Speaker 2: from like best match up, so the next best matchup.
Speaker 2: As far as the two teams collectively, Oregon and Iowa,
Speaker 2: that one doesn't do much for me. And I don't
Speaker 2: West Coast teams in the Big Ten. I stay away
Speaker 2: because I don't think it's a coincidence. And Mick Cronan,
Speaker 2: he's Mit Cronan and we're actually going to play some
Speaker 2: sound from him coming up here in a moment because
Speaker 2: he's he's hilarious and he doesn't know it. But when
Speaker 2: you have teams that are from the West Coast that
Speaker 2: make the trip across the country to do a couple
Speaker 2: of games or whatever, it may be, in fact that
Speaker 2: they don't do a couple of games, they actually come back,
Speaker 2: which is crazy. But either way, like that jet lag,
Speaker 2: whatever you want to call it, that matters. I mean,
Speaker 2: that's why you know you have teams that have made
Speaker 2: the trip to play two West Coast teams like Michigan State.
Speaker 2: Michigan State went out to where was it Michigan State
Speaker 2: went last week or I'm sorry, I guess two weeks ago.
Speaker 2: Roughly on the first of February. In the fourth of February,
Speaker 2: they played USC and UCLA. They're substantially better than both
Speaker 2: those teams. They lost both games, and I think it's
Speaker 2: got to be because of the travel. It's just not
Speaker 2: normal for a college team to have a conference game
Speaker 2: where they got to travel that far away. So I
Speaker 2: tend to pick Oregon, but they are traveling to Iowa,
Speaker 2: which I guess isn't as far as traveling to you know, Rutgers,
Speaker 2: but I tend to stay away from that one. You
Speaker 2: got any play on the Kentucky game tonight.
Speaker 3: If anything, I will probably like because what you're seeing
Speaker 3: is Kentucky minus five, right. I like Kentucky to win
Speaker 3: by more than five.
Speaker 2: Me too, and I'm I'm probably not gonna touch it,
Speaker 2: just because I feel weird betting on him, but especially
Speaker 2: when I know that if I was gonna truly be
Speaker 2: objective and bet here what I think is going to
Speaker 2: make me money, I would bet Kentucky because it's minus
Speaker 2: four and a half right now at DraftKings, and I mean,
Speaker 2: I wouldn't be shocked if they win that thing by fifteen.
Speaker 2: Because Bandy again credit to their first year head coach,
Speaker 2: the Guy who came from James Madison. He's doing a
Speaker 2: pretty good job. In fact, he's doing a really good
Speaker 2: job at Vandy, especially considering how loaded the conferences this year.
Speaker 2: But man, they only have one win on the road
Speaker 2: in the SEC and that was at LSU. This is
Speaker 2: at Reperna in Kentucky. Yes, they're short handed, but Kentucky's
Speaker 2: a lot better than LSU even when they're short handed,
Speaker 2: I would say. And I just think the atmosphere is
Speaker 2: going to be a factor. And Vandy's been a good
Speaker 2: story for year one and they did beat Vandy. I'm
Speaker 2: sorry they did beat Kentucky and Tennessee when they had
Speaker 2: him at home, but I just don't think they're going
Speaker 2: to be able to get it done because again, even
Speaker 2: even with Kentucky not having Butler and and and Robinson,
Speaker 2: I mean clearly that matters, but they still have guys that,
Speaker 2: you know, Kobe Bray at any moment could get hot
Speaker 2: in drain five threes like that's a weapon that Bandy
Speaker 2: most teams, including Vandy, would have a tough time countering.
Speaker 2: And then I know it came in a loss, but man,
Speaker 2: I tell you what, they're they're big man for Kentucky
Speaker 2: Amari Williams. I mean he's he's a tough guy to stop,
Speaker 2: and again Texas was able to outlast him. But I
Speaker 2: kind of feel like, without without your two really two
Speaker 2: of your best players, and Jackson Robinson and Lamont Butler,
Speaker 2: I would just force feed Amari. I know that's not
Speaker 2: at all how Pope typically plays. He's somebody that really
Speaker 2: likes to space it out, a lot of possessions, a
Speaker 2: lot of threes. But Mario Williams is physically a presence
Speaker 2: that you don't see often in college hoops. And oh,
Speaker 2: by the way, he's a really good passer, Like I
Speaker 2: would run everything through. I mean they're doing a lot
Speaker 2: of that, but I would do it even more so
Speaker 2: if I'm being honest.
Speaker 3: Another game, I like here possibly and I'm kind of
Speaker 3: confused by this. I'm seeing New Mexico and Boise State.
Speaker 3: How do you feel about New Mexico. They're four and
Speaker 3: a half point underdog.
Speaker 2: I like New Mexico a lot, but I never do
Speaker 2: well whenever I bet on them. I mean those late
Speaker 2: ten o'clock games. Yeah, so this is at Boise and
Speaker 2: what's the spread. I'm seeing four and a half Boise State. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I mean, Ken Palm would tell you to take New
Speaker 2: Mexico to cover seventy seven to seventy five. And they're
Speaker 2: not ranked, are they New Mexico. No, they are, No,
Speaker 2: but they I mean they're They're twenty two and four,
Speaker 2: fourteen and one in the league. Their only loss in
Speaker 2: league play was a real upset because they lost to
Speaker 2: San Jose State, who's bad. So yeah, look New Mexico
Speaker 2: twenty two and four, they have one real head scratcher
Speaker 2: in conference play, and then they lost to big, big Patino.
Speaker 2: They lost to Saint John's earlier this year, lost to
Speaker 2: Arizona State on a neutral court, and then they lost
Speaker 2: to somehow they lost to New Mexico State. So yeah,
Speaker 2: I would. In fact, I mean, you haven't really talked
Speaker 2: me into it, but I think plus it'll suggest I
Speaker 2: think New Mexico plus four would be the play here,
Speaker 2: just because they're better than Boise. Boise is not not
Speaker 2: a bad team by any means, but they're seventeen to
Speaker 2: eight and they're going to have to absolutely win their
Speaker 2: league tournament to get in. They're They're not usually Boise
Speaker 2: is a team that might get in without winning the
Speaker 2: Mountain West but not this year. All right, quick break,
Speaker 2: we'll take our final brick, actually come back on the
Speaker 2: other side and then wrap it up. So hang out
Speaker 2: right here. Sports Talk seven.
Speaker 1: Niner now back to coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's
Speaker 1: on Sports Talk seven nine day.
Speaker 2: Not something you see very often. North Carolina has announced
Speaker 2: that with snow and ice causing some travel issues, I
Speaker 2: didn't realize the snow has gone from this area to
Speaker 2: Chapel Hill or at least that area, you know, that region.
Speaker 2: They've decided to let fans in for free, so if
Speaker 2: you can get there, you just walk in. They're not
Speaker 2: even taking tickets. Nice. I'm gonna also factor in that
Speaker 2: they suck as another reason why they did this, But
Speaker 2: and I mean, I guess when it comes to just
Speaker 2: looking at raw numbers that that's the only reason they
Speaker 2: can still be considered for the tournament according to these bracketologists.
Speaker 2: But I am, I mean, they just keep losing, and
Speaker 2: when they do beat teams that are like really bad
Speaker 2: that they're supposed to beat, they don't beat them by
Speaker 2: very much Like they nearly lost to who was it
Speaker 2: like Carolina. Their their last four wins have come against
Speaker 2: cal Boston College in overtime, pitts Burg by one, and
Speaker 2: then Syracuse by six, and Syracuse sucks out loud. I
Speaker 2: mean Syracuse lost to Miami, So I don't know. Just
Speaker 2: Carolina being fifteen to eleven and yet still people mentioning
Speaker 2: them as a potential tournament team as wild insane. It
Speaker 2: is absolutely insane. So I'll watch a little college hoops
Speaker 2: tonight and then it's right back to land Man Austin
Speaker 2: let Go. I'll let you know when I finished it
Speaker 2: so we can have a segment on it, because one
Speaker 2: of the best shows I've watched in a long time.
Speaker 2: Me and Sydney are excited for you. It's good, good stuff.
Speaker 2: All right, have a good night, everybody. We'll talk to
Speaker 2: you tomorrow right here on Sports Talk seven ninety