Speaker 1: Now here's Nick Coffee.
Speaker 2: When that name popped up on the screen and we
Speaker 2: knew we had Crayton, and I was like, I'm a
Speaker 2: Xavier grad and a Xavier guy, So I keep my
Speaker 2: eye on you know, the Big East and things like that,
Speaker 2: and you know, gosh, I know how good they are.
Speaker 2: So you know, we have our hands full, and we've
Speaker 2: been working our butt off in preparation and it'll be
Speaker 2: a big challenge, but we're excited about the challenge.
Speaker 3: That was Pat Kelsey discussing tomorrow's matchup against Creighton Louisvill's
Speaker 3: first NCAA tournament game in six years and it's a
Speaker 3: big one just east of us here. I mean, I
Speaker 3: got there. It took me a long time to get
Speaker 3: there today, which I probably should, you know, look into
Speaker 3: it and share that information with those that maybe making
Speaker 3: the trip. But I just I know I'm not going
Speaker 3: to be able to be there tomorrow because I'm going
Speaker 3: to well, first of all, I wouldn't be able to
Speaker 3: be there, like even if like I mean, I can
Speaker 3: be there, I just I'm choosing not to be there
Speaker 3: because one would I want to be able to do
Speaker 3: the show here after the game, and also, like I wouldn't.
Speaker 3: I would be a lunatic, like I wouldn't be able
Speaker 3: to sit still like I pay, Like I can't sit
Speaker 3: in a press seat for this game tomorrow, right, I
Speaker 3: just give mean I was forced to. I could, and
Speaker 3: I'm very fortunate that I do get credentialed to go
Speaker 3: to these games and you know, get access and whatnot.
Speaker 3: But there's, you know, there's there's limits that I know
Speaker 3: as far as myself, and you know, I don't want
Speaker 3: to put myself in a position where I'll embarrass myself
Speaker 3: anymore than I do every day on this show. I mean,
Speaker 3: I'm going to be there's no way I'm sitting in
Speaker 3: any moment during tomorrow's game. Yeah, it's gonna be wild.
Speaker 3: So it took me a while to get there because
Speaker 3: there was I guess construction going on and I'd never
Speaker 3: see the construction because I'm just going off of what
Speaker 3: my GPS told me, and then it routed me past it.
Speaker 3: So I got off in Frankfort and kind of went
Speaker 3: around a long but went a long way to Lexington.
Speaker 3: So I don't know if there's you know, I don't
Speaker 3: know what we're in for tomorrow, but just what I
Speaker 3: would recommend people doing. And I'll give a shout out
Speaker 3: to the former producer of this show, the Company Man.
Speaker 3: He's very very very organized, very prepared, very responsible, and
Speaker 3: I exactly he just you know he was. But you know,
Speaker 3: at times I need a guy like that that can really,
Speaker 3: you know, tell me the you know, remind me of
Speaker 3: like you know, you you could have avoided the goof
Speaker 3: that you just had there, man, And that's like, you know,
Speaker 3: maybe preparing and being a little bit more ready. And
Speaker 3: what I'm what I'm talking about is like driving so John,
Speaker 3: and this is if you know the Company Man, mister
Speaker 3: John Alden, this is so him. And I mean this
Speaker 3: is a compliment before he goes anywhere, even if he
Speaker 3: knows where he's going, Like even if he could drive
Speaker 3: there with his eyes closed, he puts it in GPS
Speaker 3: to see if there's ever any kind of like arrest.
Speaker 3: Still smart, it's really it's real smart. I just never
Speaker 3: think to do it, but like I think he does it.
Speaker 3: Like if he's going to McDonald's, you never know, there
Speaker 3: might be a you know, there might be a wreck
Speaker 3: on you know, a back road or something like that.
Speaker 3: So anyways, just do that before we leave tomorrow and
Speaker 3: it'll tell you the best way to go. I don't
Speaker 3: know what GPS you use. I use ways and it
Speaker 3: usually works pretty well. So I think there will be
Speaker 3: clearly more Louisville fans there than any other fan base.
Speaker 3: Maybe I don't know, Tennessee. I mean, Lexington and Knoxville
Speaker 3: aren't that far apart, and there are a lot of
Speaker 3: Tennessee fans in general. I mean, that's a huge fan base,
Speaker 3: and when they're good at something, you realize how big
Speaker 3: their fan base is. But there's also Tennessee fans that
Speaker 3: live probably closer to election than Knoxville, so maybe they'll
Speaker 3: end up having a good amount. I mean, they're gonna
Speaker 3: have some fans there too, But I just I'd be
Speaker 3: shocked if Louisville didn't have the most fans. But then again,
Speaker 3: you got to keep in mind it isn't noon on
Speaker 3: a Thursday, and that's just not as convenient for a
Speaker 3: lot of people. But clearly there'll be a home court
Speaker 3: presence to an extent, and whatever helps, whatever can help
Speaker 3: Louisville get past Creighton and keep this fun season rolling
Speaker 3: along is what I'm of course hoping and praying for,
Speaker 3: and my nerves have been have been at a high
Speaker 3: level the last twenty four hours, probably only getting it
Speaker 3: worse as we get to tomorrow. In fact, I don't know,
Speaker 3: maybe sometimes I'll sometimes I just hit a wall when
Speaker 3: it comes to the nervousness and I'm kind of all right, whatever,
Speaker 3: I can't get any more nervous than this. Let's just
Speaker 3: let's just see what happened happen. Yeah, And I'll probably
Speaker 3: be there tomorrow when it comes to this game. But
Speaker 3: my nerves are not about Creighton, not about Louisville not
Speaker 3: being good enough, because you know, I believe this team
Speaker 3: is good enough to beat Crayton, and I actually, you know,
Speaker 3: when it comes to Crayton, I think they're a good
Speaker 3: team as well. But what I'm what I'm trying to
Speaker 3: say is is that my nerves are really more than
Speaker 3: anything due to the fact that we're here, meaning you
Speaker 3: win tomorrow, we stay alive. You lose, and it's all
Speaker 3: over and we don't get to see most of these
Speaker 3: players ever again. And that's just a scary feeling because
Speaker 3: of how fun this season has been, and lost a
Speaker 3: loss tomorrow won't change the revival that took place that
Speaker 3: you know, brought us back to life. And you know,
Speaker 3: I'll always remember this group. I will, but I'd like
Speaker 3: to be able to remember them for more than just
Speaker 3: this season. I'd like to be able to remember them for,
Speaker 3: you know, making it to the round of thirty two,
Speaker 3: winning Louisville's first tournament game in you know, let's see,
Speaker 3: eight years. Last time Lee won a tournament game was
Speaker 3: when they were a two seed, and they beat a
Speaker 3: fifteen seed at Jacksonville State team in twenty seventeen. So
Speaker 3: I'd also like them to be and I'm getting greedy,
Speaker 3: I'd like them to be remembered not only for winning
Speaker 3: a game, but maybe you know, knocking up the number
Speaker 3: one overall seed as Louisville fans took over Rupp Arena
Speaker 3: and punched their ticket to the Sweet sixteen for the
Speaker 3: first time in a decade. So you know, that has
Speaker 3: clearly been on the minds of fans as far as
Speaker 3: you know, that'd be awesome. Let's just get there, but
Speaker 3: you know, you got to get past Creighton first. And
Speaker 3: I'm sure this team has not thought much about it.
Speaker 3: I'm sure they're you know, they're humans, so therefore I'm
Speaker 3: sure it's at least in their mind to an extent
Speaker 3: that if they win, they will have another big challenge.
Speaker 3: But there's one thing I believe in this group, as
Speaker 3: far as they're being able to do, is that they're
Speaker 3: gonna They're gonna. They're not gonna overlook Creighton. They're not
Speaker 3: going to be you know, asleep at the wheel when
Speaker 3: this game starts. They're gonna be ready to go. And
Speaker 3: that I mean they're gonna win, but they'll be ready
Speaker 3: to play. And I think today, being at Reparna for
Speaker 3: the open practice and the press conferences, you'd think my
Speaker 3: nerves would be better. But it's not about again, it's
Speaker 3: not about like confidence in them winning or losing. It's just,
Speaker 3: you know, the nervousness and the anxiousness of this potentially
Speaker 3: all being over. But to see these guys in the
Speaker 3: walk through, and it wasn't a real practice, right, there
Speaker 3: were fans there, media, It wasn't as if they were
Speaker 3: really doing anything at full go. But you can just
Speaker 3: tell by the way that they carried themselves, the demeanor.
Speaker 3: They are very mature. They're older than a lot of
Speaker 3: college basketball players. It's a really old team, and there's
Speaker 3: a lot of old teams to stay in age when
Speaker 3: it comes to college basketball. But you know this group,
Speaker 3: I think even during the setbacks, really throughout the entire season,
Speaker 3: because it was a roller coaster early. Right, you come
Speaker 3: out against Tennessee, a real big build up there, right,
Speaker 3: Pat's first game, it's a white out. You've got a
Speaker 3: top ten team here on your floor. Fans showed up
Speaker 3: in a big way, and you got killed. Well, then
Speaker 3: you know, you beat up on a couple of Patsy's.
Speaker 3: And then you go to the Bahamas and you come
Speaker 3: out and you beat the hell out of Indiana, could
Speaker 3: have beat him by fifty, beat West Virginia in overtime,
Speaker 3: Chucky's going off for thirty plus, you lose to Oklahoma,
Speaker 3: and then you come back from the Bahamas thinking, Okay,
Speaker 3: we let that one get away against Oklahoma, but man,
Speaker 3: we might not have been ready for Tennessee, but we're
Speaker 3: a good team. Then you find out Cason's out for
Speaker 3: the year, you find out Korn's not coming back at all,
Speaker 3: and then you've got Ole Miss, You've got Duke, you
Speaker 3: got Kentucky. And those were tough games. Obviously you didn't
Speaker 3: win them, and and some of them you got killed,
Speaker 3: and it made you think Okay, maybe this team will
Speaker 3: be lucky to get to you know, five hundred and
Speaker 3: I never was there, but some fans were, and I
Speaker 3: don't think that's crazy. But it's been a it was
Speaker 3: a roller coaster early and then we hit smooth sailing
Speaker 3: right once you got into conference play in acc action,
Speaker 3: I mean you went eighteen and two. So throughout all
Speaker 3: of it, I think they have never been too high
Speaker 3: and never been too low. And that's a good it's
Speaker 3: a good place to be when it comes to games
Speaker 3: like this where some teams will lose because they're too tight, right,
Speaker 3: some teams will will come out and and lay an
Speaker 3: egg because you know they are a fourteen seed. I'm sorry,
Speaker 3: a three playing a fourteen seed, and they're telling themselves, yeah,
Speaker 3: we know, we gotta we gotta avoid the upset. Let's
Speaker 3: not create a Cinderella here. But then, you know, then
Speaker 3: they come out and Cinderella, she's got a she's got
Speaker 3: a mean left hook, and she knocks you on your ass.
Speaker 3: And then you start to press because you think, oh,
Speaker 3: we're not gonna do this, are we, Like, we're not
Speaker 3: gonna We're not gonna lose to this team, are we?
Speaker 3: And then sure, enough, you let a team like that
Speaker 3: stay alive long enough, and they they pull off the
Speaker 3: magic and Louivell's not in that position tomorrow. They're I mean,
Speaker 3: they're playing a nine seed, they're an eight seed. But
Speaker 3: I'm just saying that things that you know, from an
Speaker 3: emotional standpoint, I don't even want to call it like
Speaker 3: lack of maturity. It's really just experience and maturity and
Speaker 3: focus that I think bodes well for this group as
Speaker 3: far as tournament games. Now, it doesn't guarantee they're gonna
Speaker 3: win because they've got to they've got to have an
Speaker 3: answer for for Cauugh Printer. They've got to be able to,
Speaker 3: you know, limit him as best they can. And what
Speaker 3: I really really just keep kind of remembering, and I
Speaker 3: don't know why, because again, Rain Smith's been been a
Speaker 3: guy we've talked about all year, and we talked about
Speaker 3: him more in the last two weeks than we ever
Speaker 3: have because his status has been up in the air,
Speaker 3: right we don't know is he gonna be able to go,
Speaker 3: is he not well? Now we know he's gonna play
Speaker 3: after missing two weeks, and he looked good today, but again,
Speaker 3: he wasn't doing anything at one hundred percent. It was
Speaker 3: just to walk through kind of thing. But he was,
Speaker 3: you know, he was he was shooting shots and you know,
Speaker 3: it wasn't like he was just out there doing layup lines.
Speaker 3: But they also weren't doing the full practice. But he
Speaker 3: looked he looked like he wasn't really dealing with any discomfort.
Speaker 3: And even if he is tomorrow, which he probably will
Speaker 3: be considering the injury, he's gonna try to play through it.
Speaker 3: That's what we know. But what I keep you know,
Speaker 3: when I do have that brief moment Austin where I'm like,
Speaker 3: you know what, we are gonna win this game. We're better,
Speaker 3: it's because of rain, not because I'm envisioning him hitting
Speaker 3: four threes in the first half. It's more so just
Speaker 3: because Louisville is just a different team to be prepared
Speaker 3: for on the defensive side of the ball. When he's
Speaker 3: out there, Yeah, it's just spacing the floor. It's just
Speaker 3: the threat of him being open and what you miss
Speaker 3: and guys like you know, Chucky played great in the
Speaker 3: ACC tournament for the most part. Didn't have a great
Speaker 3: game against Duke. I think he really ran out of gas.
Speaker 3: You know, he played three games in three days and
Speaker 3: he's played thirty five plus minutes a game all year,
Speaker 3: so you know, also Duke was a factor in that
Speaker 3: as well. But I think for Terrence, and it sounds
Speaker 3: crazy because Terrence went off for thirty against Duke, so
Speaker 3: he was doing just fine. But I just think for
Speaker 3: those for those guards that are creators, their ability to
Speaker 3: create is a little bit easier when Rain is on
Speaker 3: the floor. And then once they're creating, and then you
Speaker 3: got to account for Chucky getting pain touches and get
Speaker 3: into the free throw line. That's when somebody just for
Speaker 3: a moment falls asleep and Rain Smith's left wide open somewhere,
Speaker 3: and as soon as everybody in the arena sees he's open,
Speaker 3: you realize they're going to have to pay for that mistake.
Speaker 3: Maybe it may not be that shot, but eventually he'll
Speaker 3: he'll get hot and he could flip a game in
Speaker 3: a hurry. So again, I'm confident in Louisville. I just
Speaker 3: you know, this is such an evenly matched game. I
Speaker 3: feel like somebody asked me on the text line earlier,
Speaker 3: do I feel like this is the opponent that is
Speaker 3: the most evenly matched for Louisville that you can remember
Speaker 3: all year and there's really no way to know about
Speaker 3: because we don't mean again, all we're basing this off
Speaker 3: of is the conferences, Right, Like Creighton finished second in
Speaker 3: the Big East, Louislle finished second in the ACC and
Speaker 3: clearly the committee didn't think that was worth much of
Speaker 3: anything because they put him against each other in the
Speaker 3: eight nine game. So when you get to the tournament, like,
Speaker 3: you really don't mean you can go back many months
Speaker 3: ago and base it off of what teams did in
Speaker 3: non conference play, and a lot of people do that,
Speaker 3: and I understand, but that was also a long time ago,
Speaker 3: Like teams are different now than they were then, So
Speaker 3: you really just don't know. But I think Clemson, I
Speaker 3: think Clemson is a pretty comparable team to Louisville, but
Speaker 3: also Louisville, you know, they if they didn't if they
Speaker 3: didn't slip up late and let that one get tight,
Speaker 3: Louisville really just I mean, I don't want to say
Speaker 3: they dominated that game, but they punked them, like they
Speaker 3: just they were kind of bullies out there. And that's
Speaker 3: one thing though that as we sit here, you know,
Speaker 3: just forty minutes left in the show before we start
Speaker 3: the tournament, tomorrow. It's like the last you know, and
Speaker 3: there's really no point in bringing up now. But this
Speaker 3: is another thing I think you can add to the
Speaker 3: list as far as reasons why I like Louisville's chances
Speaker 3: in this game against Creighton, what they did against Stanford
Speaker 3: at times, and especially with did it against Clemson, and
Speaker 3: also what they did against Duke at in the first half.
Speaker 3: They were bullies like these are grown men, guys like
Speaker 3: these are grown ass men twenty three, twenty four years old,
Speaker 3: and they may not be you know, look like they
Speaker 3: live in the weight room, but like they were pushing
Speaker 3: Clemson around the whole game. They pushed Duke around the
Speaker 3: first half. There's a video that Duke shared the cinematic
Speaker 3: footage of Duke's championship in the ACC Tournament last week,
Speaker 3: and they show a clip of Shire at halftime calling
Speaker 3: out his team for being soft, and basically he's saying
Speaker 3: that Louisville's pushing them around and they were, so you know,
Speaker 3: I know, the point guard Ashworth for Creighton looks like
Speaker 3: he's thirty five, but he also looks like somebody I
Speaker 3: could throw around a little bit. I'm sure that's delusion
Speaker 3: in my party might whoop my ass. I don't know.
Speaker 3: I'm just saying, like Creighton to me, outside of the
Speaker 3: big fella, the big call runner, I mean, they should
Speaker 3: be They should be a team that you won't have
Speaker 3: to worry about them, you know, being the physical aggressor
Speaker 3: and just you know, bullying you, and that could be
Speaker 3: an issue with foul trouble. That's another thing you got
Speaker 3: to keep in mind. We don't know how the officials
Speaker 3: are going to call this, because you know, Louisville has
Speaker 3: been officiated pretty concillered. I don't know I was gonna
Speaker 3: say consistently. I'm not sure they have. But you really
Speaker 3: just never know, like if you maybe you get in
Speaker 3: a fit, maybe you get a crew that hadn't had
Speaker 3: a Louisville game all year. I mean that seems rare,
Speaker 3: but I don't know. Maybe it does happen, and you
Speaker 3: just don't know, like what you could get away with
Speaker 3: as far as contact and reaching for the majority of
Speaker 3: the season, are you going to be able to get
Speaker 3: away with it in the tournament. There's so many unknowns,
Speaker 3: which again is one of the things is one of
Speaker 3: the many things that makes the NSAA Tournament great. But Anyways,
Speaker 3: let's get to some more Pat Kelsey sound. This is
Speaker 3: Pat talking about facing this Creighton team, and of course
Speaker 3: they're all American caliber big man Ryan kaulk Brenner Calk
Speaker 3: Brenner is the name.
Speaker 2: You mentioned. James as a matchup, you got to guard
Speaker 2: him with all five guys, which is hard to do
Speaker 2: because they got other really, really good players. One's one
Speaker 2: of the best point guards in the United States of
Speaker 2: America with range when he gets off the bus. They
Speaker 2: got a bunch of other guys with range when they
Speaker 2: get off the bus. He's special.
Speaker 3: I mean, this is him talking about Cock Branner brother.
Speaker 2: He superlative that I could possibly imagine. He's tough, he
Speaker 2: is a motor, he's skilled, he's got unbelievable hands, he's
Speaker 2: ridiculous rim protector. He's you know, I talk about James's
Speaker 2: lob threats, he's, you know, right, the potentially the best
Speaker 2: lob threat in the country.
Speaker 3: So I think another thing to consider. And again this
Speaker 3: is not I'm not I'm not building a list here
Speaker 3: to tell you why Louis was gonna win, but just
Speaker 3: reasons as to why I think, you know, despite the
Speaker 3: circumstance with you finishing eighteen into in your league, getting
Speaker 3: a seed that like nobody saw coming. And again, I
Speaker 3: believe the committee is the only and again they're the
Speaker 3: only ones who matter, But they also seem to be
Speaker 3: the only ones who actually thought Louisville was an eight
Speaker 3: seed type of team. Everybody else seems to think they're
Speaker 3: in a much different tier. But nonetheless, I think these
Speaker 3: guys their story, right, like, yeah, he played in the
Speaker 3: tournament last year, but like Terrence comes from James Madison,
Speaker 3: ray Smith comes from Charleston to where they're only going
Speaker 3: They're never gonna get a seed high enough to where
Speaker 3: they're gonna If they're gonna win a tournament game, they
Speaker 3: gotta pull off a massive upset, right Trey, they played
Speaker 3: at Long Beach State last year, so you know, Javon,
Speaker 3: he did play in the tournament, I think at Colorado,
Speaker 3: but you know, different world there than it is here.
Speaker 3: So I think overall these guys, they they probably were
Speaker 3: as bummed about the seating as anybody surprised, but I
Speaker 3: still think there's a level of like appreciation that like
Speaker 3: they're not gonna dwell on it because one of they
Speaker 3: seem to be mature enough to kind of realize, you know,
Speaker 3: only thing that could you know, only just dwelling on it.
Speaker 3: All that could do is potentially hurt you. So you know,
Speaker 3: I think they're able to move on from it more
Speaker 3: so than than than a lot of people, just because
Speaker 3: again they still just think, hey, this is still crazy.
Speaker 3: We brought Louis back, Buttle back to life and we're
Speaker 3: in the tournament and yeah, this seating is off the
Speaker 3: we're top ten team right now. Like they have a
Speaker 3: lot of belief in themselves and I think they're still
Speaker 3: enjoying the uh you know, the ride that they're on,
Speaker 3: and they don't want it to end. Like I think
Speaker 3: you're gonna see a level of desperation from this group,
Speaker 3: which is what's needed in March, because you know, you
Speaker 3: lose now it's all over. But here is uh, here
Speaker 3: is let's see where is it at. This is Javon
Speaker 3: Hadley talking about hearing their name called early on selection Sunday.
Speaker 4: We were a little bit shocked that our name was
Speaker 4: called that early, for sure, but like I said, we're
Speaker 4: just grateful to be in the star in this place.
Speaker 4: And you know, just probably after that we got we
Speaker 4: got right to work. So we were a determinment right away.
Speaker 3: And here's Teraron Edwards Junior also kind of talking about
Speaker 3: the same same thing.
Speaker 2: Here. You have a.
Speaker 3: Veteran team, someone's been here before.
Speaker 5: So it's just it's just grateful to be able to
Speaker 5: get a bit, to be able to get in the tournament. Yeah,
Speaker 5: just like Javon said, we're just grateful to be here
Speaker 5: and playing Lexington and our family able to drive down
Speaker 5: to the game. So yeah, everything works out.
Speaker 3: I mean, why do they make me want to be
Speaker 3: a better person, Austin. I know this is like insane
Speaker 3: level of cringe and corny because you know, it's just
Speaker 3: a basketball team. I don't know these guys personally, but
Speaker 3: I need did to have their approach. I've been bitching
Speaker 3: and moaning all week about this, about the selection committee
Speaker 3: and whatnot, which again they do deserve the criticism. But
Speaker 3: like there, I believe those guys they're not worried about
Speaker 3: it anymore. They're over it, like they're just happy to
Speaker 3: be here. Not in a way of like hey, they
Speaker 3: don't care if they win, but they're just look, hey,
Speaker 3: we're in. We we get to go just down the
Speaker 3: road here to Lexington, and uh let's go win. So
Speaker 3: I love this team, Austin, if you can't tell, I
Speaker 3: love them a lot, and I don't want it to
Speaker 3: be over. And it might be over tomorrow and I
Speaker 3: might be sad. It's not going to be over, all right,
Speaker 3: all right, I believe it now. So we've got we've
Speaker 3: There are three people today that have that have that
Speaker 3: have shared their confidence with me, and it's been infectious.
Speaker 3: One was my sweet mother who talked who I called,
Speaker 3: We talked. I talked to her earlier on the phone
Speaker 3: and she told me she's confident in the Creton Games.
Speaker 3: So you know, she may not even be confident, but
Speaker 3: she knows that I'm gonna be put put at ease
Speaker 3: knowing Mam is confident, right, because you know, if she's
Speaker 3: not worried, then I shouldn't be worried. It's my mom.
Speaker 3: And then Hippy let us Jeff he called in and
Speaker 3: gave me some great advice about the the gummies and
Speaker 3: the doses and you know, did some Hippi Lettuce Jeff stuff.
Speaker 3: But he also said that he's not worried about Creighton either.
Speaker 3: He's he's ready to see LOI will take on Auburn.
Speaker 3: And then Austin's telling me that it's not going to
Speaker 3: be over tomorrow. You guys, I'm believing in the power
Speaker 3: positivity and I'm hoping that you're right. But we got
Speaker 3: to get to a quick break. We'll come back on
Speaker 3: the other side rep that. Well, we've got two more
Speaker 3: segments left and a lot more to get into. We'll
Speaker 3: talk about tonight's games and a little bit more about
Speaker 3: just the overall first and second round, because you know
Speaker 3: it starts tomorrow and when we when we get on
Speaker 3: the air, it'll be in full swing. Keep a lot
Speaker 3: right here. It's coffee and company. Feel about Thorton's on
Speaker 3: Sports Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 1: Now back to coffee and company fueled by Thornton's on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven nine day.
Speaker 3: That's right, coffee and company fuel about Thornton's here on
Speaker 3: Sports Talk seven ninety. Appreciate you hanging out with us.
Speaker 3: Got about thirty minutes left here. We're gonna get to
Speaker 3: the bowl lines in just one second. But as we speak,
Speaker 3: I mean, I procrastinate out a lot of things in life,
Speaker 3: but I'm actually just now filling out a bracket for
Speaker 3: the first time. Wow, And I've got I've got the
Speaker 3: South and the West regions complete. I have a very
Speaker 3: chalky final four matchup on that left side of the bracket,
Speaker 3: Michigan State and Florida. But some notable upsets that I have.
Speaker 3: I do have Drake beating Missouri, and I also have Mayrill. No,
Speaker 3: never mind, I have let's see. Well, I'm looking at
Speaker 3: it now and I want to change it.
Speaker 1: I have.
Speaker 3: I have Memphis beating Colorado State, although I'm very tempted
Speaker 3: to take Colorado State, but I just can't trust the
Speaker 3: Mountain West. I mean San Diego State. That was not
Speaker 3: a good look for the Mountain West. The Mountain West,
Speaker 3: in fact, has been all full of the tournament overall,
Speaker 3: outside of the one year that San Diego State did
Speaker 3: in fact make it all the way to the championship game.
Speaker 3: I have let's see, I've got Oklahoma taken out Yukon,
Speaker 3: and so again, my Sweet sixteen is Florida, Maryland, Texas Tech,
Speaker 3: and Saint John's. So yeah, very chalky one through four,
Speaker 3: and I've got Florida getting past Saint John's. But when
Speaker 3: it comes to the South, I do have Louisville. You know, again,
Speaker 3: this is clearly me being a homer here. I have Louisville,
Speaker 3: and in the Sweet sixteen, getting past Auburn and then
Speaker 3: knocking off Dusty May in Michigan, only to then fall
Speaker 3: short to Michigan State, who I have winning the South region.
Speaker 3: Some other upsets, this time from the South. I have
Speaker 3: New Mexico beating Marquette. I think Richard Battino being able
Speaker 3: to utilize his old man's expertise when it comes to
Speaker 3: playing Marquette. Clearly, Saint John's and Marquette met a few times,
Speaker 3: and I just think New Mexico's a really good team
Speaker 3: and Marquette has kind of fallen a little bit. And
Speaker 3: I just don't know how great the Big East is.
Speaker 3: I was tempted to take Kansas by the way to
Speaker 3: beat Saint John's in the second round, but one Kansas,
Speaker 3: I just can't give them the benefit of the doubt.
Speaker 3: They really did not have a good year, especially for
Speaker 3: their standard, and they should be a lot better. And
Speaker 3: I think that weighs on you when you get to March,
Speaker 3: you know that you were very underwhelming. And Rick Patino,
Speaker 3: I mean, getting the Sweet sixteen is something he's pretty
Speaker 3: good at, and I just I'm trusting Rick in that one.
Speaker 3: And then I have and this is not acc HOMERSM.
Speaker 3: I have Carolina beating Iowa State after they beat ole
Speaker 3: Miss to get to the Sweet sixteen. I just think
Speaker 3: Carolina has always had the pieces, and they're playing with
Speaker 3: more confidence than ever. And I don't think ole Miss
Speaker 3: is as good. I mean, ole Miss is a team
Speaker 3: that I think one enough games in the SEC to
Speaker 3: get a six seed because they're tough and they're really
Speaker 3: well coached. I don't know how talented they are overall.
Speaker 3: And then I have Yale beating Texas A and M.
Speaker 3: So there you go. I'll get to the East and
Speaker 3: the Midwest before we get out of here, because I
Speaker 3: know you guys just been dying to hear how my
Speaker 3: bracket I was. I was waiting for it, honestly. So far,
Speaker 3: very very underwhelming. As far as surprises, I've got you know,
Speaker 3: one and two on the left side, as far as
Speaker 3: the final four, and then the real upsets that I have,
Speaker 3: you know, include Louisville. Of course not the only one,
Speaker 3: but the only deep upsets are are Louisville. And again
Speaker 3: it's wishful thinking on my end. All right, Babo, twobove
Speaker 3: seven one seventy nine hundred is the number if you
Speaker 3: want to give us a call. You can jump in
Speaker 3: on the phone line. So let's welcome in JP. How
Speaker 3: we doing JP?
Speaker 6: I'm good, Nick.
Speaker 3: How are you doing well?
Speaker 2: Brother?
Speaker 3: Good to hear from you, man.
Speaker 6: I haven't called in a long time. I listen to
Speaker 6: your show every day, appreciate it. But I guess I
Speaker 6: just wanted to call in and kind of I guess
Speaker 6: I can bitch and complain about us being an eight
Speaker 6: seed just like everyone else. I've been doing it all week,
Speaker 6: but I guess I kind of wanted to switch gears
Speaker 6: a little bit. On Friday night when we played Clemson,
Speaker 6: my thought was we were up by I don't know
Speaker 6: a ten. I thought we were going to fall off.
Speaker 6: So if I'm playing Louisville, I mean obviously watching Chucky
Speaker 6: I mean Chucky. I guess they kept Chucky Hepburn from
Speaker 6: getting the ball. But watching uh Terrence Edwards Junior try
Speaker 6: to dribble out of those presses.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was stressful.
Speaker 6: Yeah, So I guess my thought. I mean, you're a
Speaker 6: basketball guy, I'll hang out much comment, but what are
Speaker 6: your thoughts on I guess that's my thought. I'm scared
Speaker 6: of death. Now somebody's gonna press this and I've not
Speaker 6: had that feeling until we played Clemson on Friday night.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I and JP. I appreciate the call man, good
Speaker 3: to hear from you, appreciate you listening. Yeah, I think
Speaker 3: when it comes to the late game panic where the
Speaker 3: turnovers were, I mean really bad. And it's not that
Speaker 3: I forgot about him. I just haven't really thought about
Speaker 3: them since, because you know, you survived and you moved on.
Speaker 3: I think Louisville right now, as far as personnel, they're
Speaker 3: just not built to be a great team at dealing
Speaker 3: with that. That doesn't mean that you should just expect
Speaker 3: them to cough it up at all times. I mean,
Speaker 3: I think Chucky, you know, credit the defenders for doing
Speaker 3: a good job at keeping him from getting the ball,
Speaker 3: But I think if he can get the ball, I'm
Speaker 3: not as worried. But even Chucky, you know, there wasn't
Speaker 3: a whole lot of repetition this year where he was
Speaker 3: being pressed full court because you don't really see that
Speaker 3: a lot in college basketball, and Chuckie Eburn's the kind
Speaker 3: of guy that'll make you pay if you do that.
Speaker 3: You know, if it's just you're just trying to speed
Speaker 3: him up, Chucky wants you to speed him up, because
Speaker 3: then he gets change of pace, he can get you
Speaker 3: on his hip, he can draw a foul. I mean,
Speaker 3: he's really good in that spot. And he's somebody that really,
Speaker 3: no matter how goo you are as a defender, he's
Speaker 3: not gonna be easy for you to defend. So if
Speaker 3: Chucking can get the ball, I'm not as worried. But Chuck,
Speaker 3: he did have some turnovers that, like, you just don't
Speaker 3: know how the hell that happened. I mean, chalk it
Speaker 3: up to mistakes. Mistakes happened, fatigue set in. Maybe that
Speaker 3: leads to you making a decision you typically wouldn't make.
Speaker 3: But you know, when Chucky got the ball and just
Speaker 3: had it ripped away from him, and then he fouled
Speaker 3: the Clemson defender and then they scored the next play
Speaker 3: I think it was, or maybe maybe they had just
Speaker 3: scored either way, like that was a disaster scenario. And
Speaker 3: then Terrence. Terrence is a good enough ball handler to
Speaker 3: operate in the half court and he can clearly help
Speaker 3: you when it comes to breaking the press. But he's
Speaker 3: somebody that I think if he gets sped up and
Speaker 3: he picks up his dribble and the double team comes.
Speaker 3: You know, he might be playing hop potitto, just wanting
Speaker 3: to get rid of it, and that's what happened. That's
Speaker 3: how he turned it over. So I would say, you know,
Speaker 3: he's big enough though to where if he does pick
Speaker 3: up his dribble and he gets trapped, just call a
Speaker 3: time out or you know, I mean, you're better off
Speaker 3: at getting a five count. Then you are just lobbing
Speaker 3: it across the field the court, not knowing who's over there.
Speaker 3: And they did that a couple of times. So long
Speaker 3: story short, they're not from a personnel standpoint, I think
Speaker 3: great if Korin Johnson was here, he would absolutely help
Speaker 3: you in that regard. Not to say that like you
Speaker 3: wouldn't be able to turn Louisville over in the half court,
Speaker 3: but like he's a dynamic guard that that is really
Speaker 3: really shifty, he's quick, he's got a really good handle,
Speaker 3: and he would like he would make you quickly realize
Speaker 3: we probably are not gonna we probably shouldn't stay in
Speaker 3: this full court press. So I think teams doing that
Speaker 3: to Louisville, like right out of the gate, I just
Speaker 3: don't think it's it would be wise for them to
Speaker 3: do that because if Creighton does that that's gonna speed
Speaker 3: the game up. And not to say they can't play,
Speaker 3: you know, and pick their spots when it comes to
Speaker 3: up tempo, because they can, but they can't. But like
Speaker 3: their bigs aren't running with Louisville. Like as good as
Speaker 3: Ryan Coulbriner is, he's not gonna be enjoying a game
Speaker 3: that is played at like a really fast pace because
Speaker 3: he's gonna tire out and he's just not as effective
Speaker 3: whenever he's running like that. That's where that's how a
Speaker 3: seven foot plus guy he's seven to one. I think
Speaker 3: that's how a guy that tall starts missing shots around
Speaker 3: the rim that you feel like anybody his size could
Speaker 3: make because his legs aren't where they are. He's not
Speaker 3: you know, he doesn't have his footing because he's sped up.
Speaker 3: And also is as much as Pat Kelsey's praising their
Speaker 3: point guard, which again he deserves praise. Steven Ash was
Speaker 3: a good player, I mean nineteen I'm sorry, sixteen points,
Speaker 3: six point eight assists per game. He's a good player.
Speaker 3: But he also, you know, turns the ball over like crazy,
Speaker 3: averages about four a game. So if the game is
Speaker 3: sped up, that favors Louisville. So I just think the
Speaker 3: scenario where they're gonna want to try to do that
Speaker 3: to expose a louis of a weakness that really really
Speaker 3: became visible in the ACC Tournament. I just don't think
Speaker 3: that would be wise for them. But what you do
Speaker 3: worry about is, all right, you're up eight, you're up six,
Speaker 3: four minutes left. Then they got to turn it on.
Speaker 3: Are you gonna are you gonna crab your pants? And
Speaker 3: I mean this group shouldn't do that. I don't feel
Speaker 3: like it should be like an expectation because they don't
Speaker 3: have anybody that can help break a press. But you
Speaker 3: just had I think a I mean, it was really
Speaker 3: a perfect storm of Louisville errors for Clemson and even
Speaker 3: even Stanford to get back in the game in the
Speaker 3: ACC Tournament. Not excusing it, but I think one or
Speaker 3: two of those things happening collectively in both games. You
Speaker 3: know that that even that'll put you in a tough
Speaker 3: spot to where you feel like, all right, we can't,
Speaker 3: we can't, we can't. You know, we can't blow this.
Speaker 3: But the way in which it all kind of crumbled
Speaker 3: in those games again, it could happen again. I hope
Speaker 3: it doesn't, but I would just I would trust that
Speaker 3: Chucky Hepburn would be able to, Like, if you're gonna
Speaker 3: try to press Louisville with Creighton's personnel, I just I
Speaker 3: think even even given what we saw against Clemson and Stanford,
Speaker 3: I still think Louisville would be able to more so
Speaker 3: take advantage of that than than you know, give the
Speaker 3: game away. But again, I'm with you, JP. I was.
Speaker 3: I was stressed as anybody because I mean, I keep
Speaker 3: thinking of the Clemson game where they they let them
Speaker 3: get back in it late, and it just seemed unreal
Speaker 3: that the game was that close down the stretch. But
Speaker 3: also you know, they had an eight point lead against
Speaker 3: Stanford that disappeared instantly and you needed the Chucky buzzer
Speaker 3: beater to get past them. All right, quick break, we'll
Speaker 3: come back on the other side, try to. I want
Speaker 3: to try to give us as much time as possible
Speaker 3: in our last segment here before we wrap it up,
Speaker 3: So stick around. We'll finish strong, taking you up till
Speaker 3: six o'clock. It's coffee and company, and we are fuel
Speaker 3: about Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 1: Now back to coffee, and Company, fueled by Thornton's on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven nine.
Speaker 3: Day final segment before we call it a day and
Speaker 3: go home and try to sleep. I suck at sleeping anyway.
Speaker 3: I never never been something I'm great at. But I
Speaker 3: think tonight I may be a little bit more, you know,
Speaker 3: tossing and turning because I'm ready for tomorrow. It's not
Speaker 3: like the excitement about, you know, like a kid on
Speaker 3: Christmas morning, because you know that usually just is nothing
Speaker 3: but excitement, and I'm excited tomorrow. But again, the nerves
Speaker 3: that I have, it's really just due to knowing that
Speaker 3: we're here meeting. You win and you get an awesome
Speaker 3: feeling and you survive, you advance, but you lose and
Speaker 3: it's all over, and that's just, you know, it's an
Speaker 3: unfamiliar feeling. It's been a while since we've been there.
Speaker 3: All right, let's talk about the Little Men's Clinic really quickly.
Speaker 3: Imagine how bad I would be if I didn't have
Speaker 3: my testosterone levels corrected. I mean, could be even worse.
Speaker 3: But my levels are where they need to be because
Speaker 3: I was smart enough to realize, hey, they may be
Speaker 3: talking about someone like myself when it comes to not
Speaker 3: even realizing what it is and how it could affect you.
Speaker 3: And that was me, you know, I thought at my
Speaker 3: mid thirties that maybe it was just okay, this is
Speaker 3: life now, but it you know, it didn't really make
Speaker 3: a whole lot of sense, right, Like, yeah, I'm getting older,
Speaker 3: but I don't know why I'm developing more you know,
Speaker 3: more belly fat, more you know, man boobs, Like I'm
Speaker 3: not getting the same the same results from my workout.
Speaker 3: I'm lethargic after work and wanted to laying, you know,
Speaker 3: go to bed at seven o'clock because I'm just like
Speaker 3: a slug. And it did make a lot of sense.
Speaker 3: So finally I realized, Okay, all these symptoms that apparently
Speaker 3: are caused by low tie, maybe that's me. Oh you're
Speaker 3: telling me that it's not something that only happens, you know,
Speaker 3: to dudes that are, you know, in their sixties. So
Speaker 3: went over to see doctor Wood. He educated me on
Speaker 3: really how common it is and how it all works,
Speaker 3: and they checked my levels and I didn't know what
Speaker 3: to expect, but sure enough they were not where they
Speaker 3: needed to be. But now after a year over a
Speaker 3: year now actually of getting that treated at the little
Speaker 3: Men's Clinic. I'm I'm a brand new man and life's
Speaker 3: never been better. So again they can help you, two fellas.
Speaker 3: Littlemen's Clinic dot com is the website BABO two four
Speaker 3: four four four thousand if you want to give him
Speaker 3: a call and tell them I sent you. All right,
Speaker 3: So I have the other the other side of the
Speaker 3: bracket complete in the uh in the East, another one
Speaker 3: seed for me. I've got Duke getting past number two Alabama,
Speaker 3: and I look, we'll see. I'm sure there's gonna be
Speaker 3: upsets to the ones, because it happens, but I do
Speaker 3: believe this year the ones in the two who have
Speaker 3: really created some separation when it comes to everybody else.
Speaker 3: I think ones in twos are kind of in a
Speaker 3: league by themselves. I think threes through fives are are
Speaker 3: also kind of, you know, in their own tier behind
Speaker 3: the ones in twos with some separation. And then six
Speaker 3: through nine I think you're, you know, actually really six
Speaker 3: through six through eleven, to be honest, could be you know,
Speaker 3: kind of in the same group as well, So you know,
Speaker 3: I don't. I mean, I'm a lot of times one
Speaker 3: seeds do make it to the final four, so it's
Speaker 3: not like I'm crazy here, but I just think Duke's
Speaker 3: playing that well, and I think Cooper Flag is going
Speaker 3: to be back. And you know, maybe this is some
Speaker 3: acc biased on my part, but I have Duke getting
Speaker 3: past Baylor and then getting past Arizona. So it's really
Speaker 3: chalky there. But I have an upset in the five
Speaker 3: to twelve. I have Liberty taken out Oregon. Oh, and
Speaker 3: I also have this is my biggest this is my
Speaker 3: biggest upset of the tournament as far as like my
Speaker 3: Cinderella sleeper, if you will. I have VCU beating BYU
Speaker 3: and then VCU beating Wisconsin. So I have Alabama getting
Speaker 3: past Wisconsin in the sweet sixteen. Oh, so we'll see.
Speaker 3: I don't know, you know, I have Montana beating Wisconsin. Okay, yeah,
Speaker 3: so I think the Big Ten good league. But like
Speaker 3: I I'm gonna, I'm gonna, you know, use my memory
Speaker 3: here and remind myself that that the Big Ten has
Speaker 3: not really done well in the tournament in quite some time.
Speaker 3: Like Perdue, I thought about having them lose early, but
Speaker 3: I just I couldn't do it. I just don't think
Speaker 3: that hot Point's gonna be able to get him, and
Speaker 3: I think Purdue will avoid the early upset this year
Speaker 3: just because I think the strength of their team is
Speaker 3: guard played with Braden Smith, and I think you can
Speaker 3: become this may sound crazy, I think you become a
Speaker 3: little more vulnerable whenever everything is so dependent upon a
Speaker 3: giant named Zach Edie, who's a tough guy to stop.
Speaker 3: But you know, when they focus so much on him
Speaker 3: and you limit him, they're vulnerable. And I just think
Speaker 3: this year Purdue they're not gonna get there, won't get
Speaker 3: got by a lower level team, but their ceilings not
Speaker 3: as high. So I think I have McNee State beating Clemson,
Speaker 3: so Will Wade will move on past Clemson, and then
Speaker 3: I've got Purdue taken out McNee State, and then Houston
Speaker 3: beating Purdue, and then I have I have Kentucky beating Illinois,
Speaker 3: and then I have Tennessee beating Utah State. Noticed the
Speaker 3: upset there. I have Utah State beating Ucla and then
Speaker 3: Kentucky and Tennessee. Round three. I'm taking Tennessee just because,
Speaker 3: to give you the old cliche, it's tough to beat
Speaker 3: a team three times. You know Tennessee is a good team,
Speaker 3: but you know, if Kentucky's in that matchup. They got
Speaker 3: to feel good. They're playing a team that they've already
Speaker 3: beat twice in order to get to the to the
Speaker 3: to the Elite eight. So I've got Houston taken out Tennessee.
Speaker 3: So again, my my final four is Michigan State, Florida Duke,
Speaker 3: and Houston. And I actually have Florida beating Houston in
Speaker 3: the National championship game. Wow, what do you? What do you?
Speaker 3: What are you rolling with?
Speaker 5: Mine is?
Speaker 3: Excuse me?
Speaker 1: Mine?
Speaker 3: I have the good old f My final four Louisville, Florida.
Speaker 1: I love it.
Speaker 3: Cards in the final four, baby duke in Illinois. All right, Oh,
Speaker 3: so you you you're a big believer in the big
Speaker 3: believer in Illinois. I put it in a lot of
Speaker 3: college basketball parlays this year. Were were Illinois's woman. I
Speaker 3: do feel like he's the kind of tough coach that
Speaker 3: that could really could really take advantage of the areas
Speaker 3: where Kentucky's vulnerable. I just again, I think Kentucky. I
Speaker 3: don't know I'm gonna keep it that way for the bracket,
Speaker 3: but it wouldn't shock me because again, I just think
Speaker 3: the Kentucky team that deserved the three seed, just unfortunately
Speaker 3: for them, is not the same team as they were
Speaker 3: because of the injuries that they they had and the
Speaker 3: valuable wins that got them there. They got credit for them,
Speaker 3: as they should. But those wins. You know, you didn't
Speaker 3: beat Duke two weeks ago, right, you beat them four
Speaker 3: months ago, I think.
Speaker 2: So.
Speaker 3: Anyways, we're out of time. Let's uh, let's let's hope
Speaker 3: for the best tomorrow and we'll be we'll be on
Speaker 3: air as soon as it ends right here on Sports
Speaker 3: Talk seven ninety