Speaker 1: I'll start to you to present Off the Bench with
Jacob Hester and T.
Speaker 2: Bob Abert.
Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.
Speaker 1: Off the Bench with Jacob Hester and T Bob aber
the pitch. Now here's Jacob Hester and T bob Abert.
Speaker 4: Welcome in our number two Friday edition of Off the Bench,
Taylor show up here with you filling in for Jacob
Hester and T.
Speaker 3: Bob Abert. Really quick hour number one there.
Speaker 4: We talked a little LSU football, as it appears Kyle
Williams will be named the next LSU D line coach.
We previewed LSU versus North Alabama. Look, it's not about
North Alabama, It's about LSU fixing these mental mistakes. And then, uh,
Travis Kelsey apparently had really high praise for former LSU
tight end Mason Taylor.
Speaker 3: We kind of dove into that as well. Right now, look.
Speaker 4: The NFIL free agency is now going to be underway.
The trade rumors are swirling and allow big name guys
are requesting trades at positions of need for the New
Orleans Saints, could they dive into any of them. We
talked about Joey Bosa a little bit yesterday and whether
or not the Saints would kick the tires on that.
Speaker 3: Want to kind of look at the pass catchers here.
Speaker 4: So a report came out yesterday the DK Metcalf has
requested a trade from the Seattle Seahawks. DK Metcalf big name,
made a lot of big plays, played in a lot
of big games. He's been in the NFL for six years.
He has sixty three hundred yards and forty eight touchdowns.
He's explodes. He's six threes, two hundred and forty pounds.
He runs a four to three. I mean, he's a
freak athlete. Could the New Orleans Saints trade for DK Metcalf?
Speaker 5: No?
Speaker 4: Why because the Saints are brooke. He is just too expensive.
He's going to want a new deal when he gets
out of Seattle. And look his current deal. I mean
he makes a lot. He enters the final year of
a three years, seventy two million dollar extension. Then he
sign in twenty twenty two. He's set to make over
eighteen million dollars in twenty twenty five. The Saints are
at least going to have to take on most of,
if not all, of that eighteen million. And he's going
to want to restructure his deal and just don't think
you have the money to sign a DK Metcalf when
I love DK Metcalf, Sure, but you don't have the
money to do it. Also, with Derek Carr as your
quarterback and a sketchy offensive line, is is it worth
paying DK Metcalf at this point? I guess this is
my main question. Because Saints' offense is not going to
be good with or without DK Metcalf. Why are you
gonna spend eighteen million dollars on a guy put yourself
even further into caphill going to be even harder to
get out of, and you're only gonna have him for
a season because realistically you're not going to be able
to resign him with with your current cap situation. He
would be a one year rental to prove that y're
in win now mode on a team that's not good
enough to be in win now. How about his teammate,
how about Seahawks wide receiver Tyler Lockett? Seahawks have He's
Tyler Lockett. Should there be interest from the New Orleans Saints, Maybe,
but probably only in the short term.
Speaker 3: So I'll explain. Lockett's a little bit older.
Speaker 4: He's thirty two years old, looking ten years in Seattle,
He's had eighty six hundred yards and sixty one touchdowns.
He's been awesome. He's made a lot of big time plays.
How much longer could he produce?
Speaker 6: Though?
Speaker 4: At his size being thirty two years old, he's only
five to ten.
Speaker 3: He's one hundred and eighty pounds.
Speaker 4: Also, this past season, this was his lowest receiving total
since twenty seventeen, and he played in almost all of
the games. He had six hundred receiving yards and two
touchdowns because he was already splitting time with DK Metcalf.
As far as who's going to be wide receiver won
that day. Then they draft Jackson Smith and Jigbo who
had like eleven hundred yards receiving this year.
Speaker 3: So he just kind of fell out of favor. He's
an older guy.
Speaker 4: Now, if you need somebody you can line up in
the slot that has sure hands, it's still got some
speed on him. I think Tyler Lockett's a good option.
But again, you would be investing into Tyler Lockett for
the short and he'd be a lot cheaper than his
counterpart Dk Metcalf. One, you wouldn't have to trade for
him and give anything up.
Speaker 7: Two.
Speaker 4: He's thirty two years old, he's coming off of a
down year. I think you could get him on the cheap,
But what would be the point. I mean, I see
the Saint trade now as a two, maybe even three
year rebuild. Is Tyler Lockett going to be a productive
player in two or three years? And he could probably
make some things happen for you this year, But in
three years he'll be thirty five years old. At he'll
be a five foot ten, thirty five year old wide receiver.
I don't know if he's worth signing long term.
Speaker 5: Now.
Speaker 4: If you want to bring in a guy and you
think you need that much help this year a wide receiver,
I'm fine with a Tyler Locke because.
Speaker 3: I think you could get him for cheap.
Speaker 4: Now, the guy I really wanted the Saints to go
get has since been snatched up by the Houston Texas.
The Jacksonville Jaguars Wednesday announced that they were going to
release Christian Kirk. Well, that's somebody that the Saints should
be all over, right, I mean, look at Christian Kirk.
He's under thirty years old, He's still been a pretty
productive receiver.
Speaker 6: Now.
Speaker 4: He signed a big contract two years ago, and since
then he's been in and out of the lineup. But
his last full season, playing in all sixteen or seventeen games,
he had over a thousand yards and eight touchdowns. He
was really good enter though Brian Thomas and Gabe Davis.
Gabe Davis, he's a fine number two, but Brian Thomas
proved last year he could be the number one option.
Christian Kirk's a guy that's going to line up in
the slot. He's not going to beat anybody deep out wide.
The Saints do need a slot receive. So when I
saw that, I'm like, Hey, this is the guy who's
twenty seven years old. He's been productive at both Arizona
and Jacksonville. Sure he's had a little bit of injury issues,
but when he's on the field, he's productive. And then
releasing him, he's not on that current contract. You're not
gonna have to trade for him. Would he take a
little bit less money? Well, it doesn't matter now because
the Houston Texans have traded for Christian Kirk. That kind
of tells us the future of Stephan Diggs in Houston.
I think that's over with Stephan Diggs is set to
be a free agent, speaking of Steffan Dicks. Look, when
you look at the free agency for wide receivers, you
have Devonte Adams, you have Stefan Diggs, you have Chris Godwin.
Those are all great names, and I've heard a lot
of Saints fans say, hey, could you go sign DeVante
Adams on a one year deal? Reunite him with Derek Carr.
You could, but again, kind of like a Tyler Lockett.
Now he's a lot better than Tyler Lockett. Sure, but
he's over thirty years old. He's going to be very expensive,
and you'll likely have him for no more than two years.
Speaker 3: Is your roster good enough to win for the next
two years? I don't know. We'll see how quick the
kelled More turnaround is.
Speaker 4: But are you gonna spend that much money on Devonte
Adams when your quarterback is still Derek Carr? You still
don't believe he's the long term answer a quarterback. I
think the Saints have kind of made that clear, even
though Mickey Loomis says we're rolling with him in twenty
twenty five.
Speaker 3: We'll see, We'll see what happens.
Speaker 4: I think Kellamore is gonna want to bring in his
own guy So even if you signed Van Adams, him
and Derek Carr I only played with each other for
one year, and let's just call it like it is.
Speaker 3: The same.
Speaker 4: Aren't winning anything this year, Monte Adams, Stefan Diggs.
Speaker 3: They're a little bit on the older side.
Speaker 4: They're going to Those two guys are gonna want to
go to a contender, right They're going to be quote
unquote ring chasing at this point in their career. And
I totally understand that they've been productive players for a
number of years. They've never been able to get over
the hump in the playoffs. Those guys want to go
ring chase, more power to him. But then you also
have Chris Godwin, who is now an unrestricted free agent
who was with the Tampa Bay Buccaneer. Saints fans know
Chris Godwin well, He's a heck of a football player.
He is still under thirty years old. He has dealt
with a lot of injuries the last three seasons. The
guys when he is on the field, he is one
of the best wide receivers in the NFL. Look I
like Mike Evans. I think Mike Evans is a really
underrated wide receiver.
Speaker 3: In this league.
Speaker 4: I'm not sure who was the more talented of the
two in Tampa Bay, whether it was Evans or Chris Goddwen.
Evans was the more system of the two. But Godwin,
I mean he would have games where he was unguardable.
I mean he'd have games where he had one hundred
and fifty yards receiving two touchdowns. He did that multiple times,
and he's done it with essentially three different quarterbacks. Here's
the problem with DeVante Adams, Stephan Diggs, and Chris Gotten.
Speaker 3: A Lot.
Speaker 4: Like DK Metcalf, they're all flat out too expensive. I
don't think the Saints can afford him. They can't afford
Chris of Godwin, because he's probably going to be the
hottest commodity on the open market in terms of free
agent wide receivers. Again, he's the youngest of the three,
and yes he's had some injury issues, but he's only
twenty nine years old. Still, I think he still has
a lot of football left in front of him. If
he could stay healthy, he's super productive. I think he's
going to command probably the most money out of the
three of the guys I just mentioned. But then also
Devontae Adams is Stephan Diggs. Not only are they expensive,
they're on the back half of their career. We saw
Stephan Diggs, even when he was healthy in Houston, was
not the same player we saw in Buffalo, which part
of the reason Buffalo agreed to part ways with.
Speaker 3: Vonte Adams has been good, but.
Speaker 4: Is he worth signing for two years when he's going
to ask for a lot of money that you probably
can't afford and you're really not in win now. I
do think the Saints need a pass catcher, though, and
we may have found one also coming from the Jacksonville Jaguars. Ironically,
this news broke last night about eight o'clock. The Jacksonville
Jaguars planned to release tight end Evan Ingram. This is
a move that will save the Jags about six million
dollars a year. This comes on the same day that
the Jaguars announced they were trading Christian Kirk to the
Houston Texas, So they're freeing up a lot of money.
They've actually freed up a combined thirteen million against the
cap with all the moves that they have made yesterday.
Speaker 3: Look Ingram is thirty years old.
Speaker 4: He signed a one year, nine million dollar contract with
Jacksonville back in twenty twenty two.
Speaker 3: When he did that, there was a one year proved deal.
Speaker 4: He set career highs seventy three catches seven hundred and
sixty six yards that season, they used a franchise tag
on him. They worked out a deal before camp. Following season.
Evan Ingram called one hundred and fourteen passes, nine hundred
and sixty three yards and four touchdowns in the first
year of his new deal. Last season, he missed eight
games because of hamstring and shoulder injuries. He finished with
just forty seven catches three hundred and sixty five yards,
but that was a nine game still pretty productive. If
you remember, he's a guy that was with the Giants.
He was productive there as well, and he didn't have
a whole heck of a lot of work with quarterback wise.
I mentioned he took that one year proved deal and
it worked out for him.
Speaker 3: With the Jaguars.
Speaker 4: Would he take a one year proved deal again, because
this is a team in the New Orleans Saints that
desperately need a tight end. Juwan Johnson's going to be
an unrestricted free agent. Do you want to resign him?
Moros in the last year of his contract. He shall
up Taysom Hill under contract, which like he's injured, but
you can't really trade him either, and he's thirty five
years old, and also Taysom Hill is not a traditional
tight end.
Speaker 3: Anyways, We've seen a lot.
Speaker 4: Of people mock Tyler Warren at nine overall to the
New Orleans Saints, which frankly, I would be happy with.
I think Tyler Warren is a heck of a player,
But the Saints need so much. If they can get
any sort of help and free agency to kind of
eliminate one of their needs in the NFL draft, you
should do it again. He made a lot of money,
He's thirty years old, he's been a productive player, but
the last time he took a proven deal was when
the Giants agreed to release him. He goes to Jacksonville,
he set career highs, he got a big contract down
the road. So he's bet on himself once and it's
worked out. Would he be willing to bet on himself again?
Because if he is, if I'm the Saints, I'm calling
him up to day. You need a tight end. You
don't have to worry about resigning Jawan Johnson. You can
go get Evan Ingram, who I mean, I think everyone
would agree is definitely a step up from Juwan Johnson.
And you can take Tyler Warren off the board. It's
good of a tight end as he is. And maybe look,
maybe you still want a tight end down the road.
This is a pretty deep tight end class. We broke
it down the other day. And you got Mason Taylor,
who could be round two or three. We just talked
about him. You got Harold fannin junior who might be
there like round four or five. He let all tight
ends and basically every receiving category. I get it, even
have a great pro day. But he's a guy that
was super productive at college. So if you still want
a tight end, you can get one later in the draft.
But if you go get in Evan Ingram, now you
completely flip your strategy for round one. You can take
Tyler Warren off your board. You don't need him anymore.
Then you can focus on do I want to tutoro
at McMillan and further strengthen my receiving corps, Or do
I want to go d line? Do I want to
go ed rusher? Do I want to go safety? Another
position that you desperately need. If you're the New Orleans Saints.
I'm not saying Evan Ingram's going to be a franchise
changing player. If the Saints are able to get a
one year, proven deal done with Evan Ingram, which we've
seen that he's able to take before and it's worked
out for him in the past, I think you got
to go.
Speaker 3: Do it again.
Speaker 4: It doesn't put you over the top, but it makes
your picture for the NFL Draft a lot more clear.
And the Saints need all the help they can get
because they basically need help in every single position. All right, Look,
we're going to take a quick time when we get back.
A Pro Bowl cornerback is now a free agent, and
uh he's being linked to an NFC South rival. I'll
explain why that's bad news for the Saints coming up
here on Off the Bench.
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Speaker 8: More Power, More Protection.
Speaker 2: Welcome back to the best morning sports show around sorta,
it's Off the Bench with Hester and t Bob.
Speaker 4: Welcome back in Friday edition of Off the Bench, Taylor
Sharp here with you in for Jacob Ester and t
Bob Abear. San Francisco forty nine ers are set to
lose a lot of players in free agency, potentially, whether
it's Hufego who we talked about the other day, but
another name hitting the free agency market is Cherviius Ward
and the guys over at The Sporting News believe that
the Buccaneers have a strong chance of landing Cherviarius Ward
and free agency. This is not good news for the
Saints because here's what If the Bucks would do that,
it would be interesting because their offense was so good
last year. It was top five in passing and rushing
in the NFL. That means a few things for the Saints. One,
it increases the importance of resigning pauls and a Debo
in free agency because if Travari's Ward comes off the
board this early, more and more people are going to
be knocking on pauls and a Debot's door. You have
to resign a guy like that. We talked about it
a little bit yesterday. Your cornerback room, at least up
front is pretty deep paulsen A, deebot Alante, Taylor, kool Aid, McKinstry.
But outside of that, you don't have them a lot,
so you have to resign it. Also, it makes adding
a pass catcher even more important. If you remember the
game where Spencer Ratler went off, it was against the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers right before halftime. Spencer Ratler was able
to have success against that defense because the Bucks defense
wasn't great, especially in the secondary. Again, offense top five
and passing and rushing, it was their defense that let
them down. You have to keep pace in the NFC.
Cut have to re sign Pauls and Adiba. The Bucks
already had a better offense than you last year, and
they're likely going to have a better offense than you
again this year because they're going to keep Mike Evans.
They have their quarterback locked in long term. Bucky Irvin
was the best rookie running back in the NFL last season.
But it's not just the Bucks. Other teams in the
NFC South are passing you. The Bucks have a long
term answer a quarterback. We'll see with the Falcons and Panthers.
Falcons are going with Michael Pennox junior. He showed sparks
last year. He was inconsistent, but he was a rookie.
If he takes that step year two, then do the
Falcons have a better quarterback than you, at least long
term after you move on from Derek Carr? And then
what about the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers are a team
that look they grabbed a Bryce Young. I thought it
was a mistake, a lot of other people did, and
then they started getting clowned after year one under Bryce
youong saying, oh, you should have taken Sea Destroud. Look
out good Sea Jay Stroud's been And I get that
Bryce Young was really bad as a rookie, and he
was bad for basically the first half maybe two thirds
of the season last year. But hiring Dave Canalis as
their head coach last year was an excellent move for
the Carolina Panthers because Dave Canalis was actually the quarterbacks
coach in Seattle the year Gino Smith turned everything around.
Then he goes to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers turns things
around for Baker Mayfield. He gets hired as the coach
for the Carolina Panthers. And you see Bryce Young struggle
out the gate. They go to Andy Dalton. Dalton goes
down with injury. They go back to Bryce Young, and
what do you see? You see a huge improvement from
Bryce Young. Now, look is Bryce Young the future of
this franchise? Is Bryce Young a franchise quarterback? Is he
one of the best players in the NFL?
Speaker 1: No?
Speaker 3: Maybe not. I mean, we'll see, but.
Speaker 4: The reality is he's gotten better. Have the Saints gotten better?
At quarterback in the last year and a half. No,
they have as a matter of fact, they probably gotten worse.
Is Derek Carr in what year eleven twelve in the NFL?
Derek Carr is not going to take a significant jump.
Kellen Moore, No, Kelling Moore. Doug ness Meyer, No, Doug
ness Meyer. Derek Carr is what he is. So the
Falcons they have a young quarterback in Michael PENNOCKX. They're
hoping he could take a step forward. Panthers have Brade Young.
He's already taken a little bit of a step forward.
Can he take another jump under a really good quarterback
and offensive coordinator and Dave Canalis, who is his head coach.
You have to get better at every other position this offseason,
whether it's pass catcher, whether it's a defense, so that
the next quarterback you bring in is ready to roll
a day one. I know that's a lot of pressure
to put on a young guy, but that's what has
to happen. Because you're getting passed up in the NFC.
Cell you're already passed up by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers,
It's going to be hard to catch them. That's why
they've won the division four years in a row with
two different quarterbacks. Falcons. I didn't think they were good
on paper. I thought Kirk Cousins was going to be
a lot better than he was. But Falcons were still
better than you a year ago. You were able to
rely on the Carolina Panthers kind of be in the
doormat of the NFC South for a number of years. Now,
what happens if Bryce Young continues to trend in the
right direction. I think he's only going to get better
under Dave Canallis. Now, do I think Bryce Shaw is
going to be the long term answer in Carolina?
Speaker 3: No, I don't.
Speaker 4: I don't think Brycejon' is a very good quarterback. I've
said that multiple times on this show. I stand by that.
But can he be a competent quarterback? Dave Canallis is
a good enough offensive coordinator, at least he was in
Tampa to make everything fit perfectly around the quarterback. That's
why Baker Mayfield was so efficient two years ago. Still
a good year this year, but his interception numbers were
way up without Dave canals can Dave Canalis not necessarily
turn him into a Mayfield? But can he turn Bryce
Young into Gino Smith, who he's worked with. Juni Smith
had a really good year under Dave Canws Silks made
the playoffs that year. Can he do that with Bryce Young?
If he can? The Saints are kind of getting left behind.
The Saints are so many years even poster Drew Brees
post Sean Payton, when they've struggled at quarterback. You know,
their cap situations have been bad, They've missed on draft picks.
One thing is played in your favorite You play in
the NFC South. You've had the privilege of playing in
possibly the easiest position in the division in the NFL
for multiple years now. But if the Bucks get better
on the defensive side of things. The Falcons figured it
out with Michael Pennix Junior and Bryce Young shows that
he can be a competent NFL quarterback. That may not
be the case for much longer. It may be a
case of are the Saints or the New Carolina Panthers
because they don't.
Speaker 3: I mean, they have a quarterback, but he's not gonna
take you anywhere. You don't know who your quarterback of
the future is going to be. You don't have a
lot of money to spend in free agency, this year.
You have to hit on your draft picks, and Saints
have been hit and miss there at best. They've had
more first round misses than they've had hits over the years.
For sure, you have to do something in free agency,
whether it's receiver, bringing back Pauls on a deboat. You
have to fill every single position, and you have to
hit on your draft picks because if you don't, you're
going to get left behind. In the NFC South.
Speaker 4: It's not going to become an easy division, and you're
going to very quickly become the worst team in that division,
and you're going to be in NFL purgatory for a
number of years. All right, Look, we're going to take
a quick break right now, a little bit of a
shorter segment there.
Speaker 3: When we get back.
Speaker 2: Welcome back to the best morning sports show around sorta
it's Off the Bench with Hester and T Bob.
Speaker 3: Welcome back in Friday edition of Off the Bench. Guys.
Next segment, something for a laundering Cassie.
Speaker 4: Very interesting sporting event that is not what you guys
may think it is.
Speaker 3: Occurred last week in Louisiana.
Speaker 4: They actually did it out at Laberge and Bad and
Rouge I can't wait to talk about it. It's the
Louisiana Truck Driving Championships that occurred. If this doesn't scream
South Louisiana, I don't know what does.
Speaker 3: Guys.
Speaker 4: They give out a Rookie of the Year for this event.
It is one of the most phenomenal things I've read about. Uh,
I'm excited.
Speaker 3: I have a little fun there talking about that right
now though, we have Bill Bender with the Sporting News
joining us right now. Bill, how are you? Thanks for
hopping on this morning.
Speaker 5: Thanks for having me.
Speaker 4: Yeah, absolutely, Bill, your guy from the Sporting News that
you dip your toes in a lot of different sporting waters,
right and I saw yesterday morning that you had your
latest March Madness bracket predictions for this upcoming season. Come out,
you put out a whole sixty eight team. You know,
you did it all. You did last four in first
four out all that. I want to kind of pick
your brain on that a little bit, you know, yesterday
and this very seed I said here and I said,
I think three teams have kind of stood out to
me in college basketball, Duke, Auburn, and Houston. And what
do you know, you have those as three of your
four one seats. The fourth one seed is the one
that I want to get into because coming into the year,
I don't know how many people expected it in Florida
as your final one seed.
Speaker 3: What has made the Gators so good this.
Speaker 5: Year guard play and they get up and down, and
you know, Walter Clayton's kind of at the heart of that.
I've got a story on him coming next week. As
you know, in the NCAA tournament, guard play goes a
long way. Yeah, and they they've been able to, you know,
survive and advance in this SEC. All of these teams
are battle tested. But I will admit there's a little
bit of when you're trying to figure out that second
best team in the SEC, it's a little bit of
flavor of the week. Who's hot this week? It was
Alabama three weeks ago, Tennessee last week, and now it's Florida.
And that's what's going to make that SEC tournament so fun.
Speaker 4: As far as the SEC goes bill you have thirteen
SEC teams in your projection. You have Texas right there
in the hunt as well. Is this the best basketball
conference in the country this year?
Speaker 5: It's the deepest one, yeah, you know, and again, you know,
when you're playing all the way down to like I
thank Kentucky being around a four and they're like eight
or nine in the conference, it's really wild. And that bubble,
I think the SEC tournament bubble is going to be
a lot of fun to sort out. With Texas and
Oklahoma and Arkansas even you know, I think they're safe,
but take it down the Vanderbilt. I mean, it's quality
basketball night in night out. And I think as far
as you know, the whole realignment thing, adding Texas and
Oklahoma probably made it a little bit deeper than the
Big twelve is.
Speaker 4: As far as as far as the SEC teams go,
because we are in Ben Rouge are basketball team is awful.
Want to give you a little bit of a spoiler there,
Bill if you haven't been paying attention, h they're SEC
bottom feeders.
Speaker 3: It's not looking good for them.
Speaker 4: But as far as the conference as a whole go, Look,
we know the the Auburns, the Florida's, the Alabama's. Is
there an SEC team that you know, maybe a little
bit onunder the radar you think can maybe make a
run in the tournament?
Speaker 5: Well, first of LSU, I mean you could take Solis
that even up here in Ohio we recognize that you
have three of the coolest College of Basketball players of
all time in Maravich Shack. And then I like Chris
Jackson growing up. I'm that old, so he was really good.
So maybe someday, right you can get back to that.
As far as an SEC team that could make a run,
I mean, I'm looking at Old miss They've won some
games in there. Prespare's done a nice job. They play
that tough stuff. He's an experience when it comes to
making tournament runs. And you know, for the state of Mississippi,
what a year Mississippi Old miss Mississippi State. They're both
really good. So I think there are a couple of
teams to watch when you don't just pass over them
when you're filling out your bracket.
Speaker 6: Bill.
Speaker 4: As far as the SEC goes, I think maybe the
surprise team of the year. I mean, Georgia is certainly
one of them. But the Missouri Tigers. The job that
that staff is done up there in Colombia. What have
you made of the Missouri Tigers this year?
Speaker 5: They're gonna be a fun team in the tournament because
they get up and down. They don't. You know, their
defense isn't great, but they could get in one of
those tournament games where they're playing to like ninety five
and then you're like, man, this was one of the
best teams ever, kind of like Florida and Colorado last year.
And that's the other part of this is the SEC
teams not only are they good, they can score all
of them. So but when you get in the tournament,
stiles make fights, and you know, there's a lot of
different styles that come into play in the tournament. They
you know, you can get you can catch a slowdown team.
You know, how does Auburn react playing Houston? I don't know.
Houston's defense is the best in the country, So you know,
if those matchups materialize, you've got to understand that styles
can dictate how game goes, especially in the tournament, where
I think one of the biggest things about the NCAA
tournament is the team. Because of the way the game
is now, I think I always look at a couple
of things. I look at free throw shooting, I look
at which teams defend the three point line well, and
then I look at turnovers. You know, turnovers can change it.
Those are three statistics that I think really matter in
the NCAA tournament.
Speaker 4: Yeah, absolutely, speaking of Houston Bill that that kind of
gets me into the next point. You mentioned best defense
in the country. They were number one in like team
defensive efficiency in all the rankings and analytics. You want
to dive in, like what how far can this team go?
I get to their offense, you know it and great,
but it's actually a little bit better than they have
been in recent years.
Speaker 5: Yeah, they've spoiled us a little bit. I mean, you
go on autopilot when you look at Houston. This will
be their third straight year as a number one seed
more than likely. I mean, that's an accomplishment for Kelvin Sampson.
The way that they do play defense, guard the perimeter,
and you know, sometimes they have rough shooting nights. Last
year they have key injury and that didn't help. But
this is a team that absolutely, you know, looking to
break through and looking to break through the last three years. Now,
what can they do? They could win it all, but
I mean, what's the ceiling on them? They've done the
final fourth thing, They've done the Elite eight thing. I
think it's for Kelvin Sampson, the ultimate redemption would be
not redemption, but the ultimate prize would be to win
a national championship.
Speaker 4: Bill is Look, Pelicans fans here in Louisiana, we haven't
had a lot to cheer about in a number of years,
but a lot of fans down here are hoping that
New Orleans can get the number one pick. And the
reason is is because of a guy named Cooper Flag.
What have you made of him this year at Duke
as a freshman.
Speaker 5: Yeah, the whole capture the Flag thing is starting, and yeah,
I like that. He's amazing. Well number one, he's really
well rounded, awesome basketball player who's ahead of his age,
fantastic rebounder, which does it all. You know, it's this rebounds, scores, dunks,
when you name it, he can do it. I think
the first I was just having this conversation on a
thread with a couple of friends. I said, is he
the first likable Duke superstar that we've had? And he
might be? You know, I go all the way back
to like Danny Ferry and remember watching him play. I mean,
I haven't seen a guy like this at Duke where
he's really really good and not hated by everyone. So
I think that's a good thing. I think they're built
to make a tournament run. They are young. I always
pause when you have freshman you have to be truly special.
A guy like Anthony Davis Carmelo Anthony, they made that
run as freshman, and I think with this group at Duke,
Cooper Flag is entirely capable of doing that. Fantastic player.
Love watching him.
Speaker 3: It's so funny you just mentioned that.
Speaker 4: I was thinking that exact same thing the other day
because I have sat down and like made it a
goal to watch Duke with Cooper Flag. And I really
like Cooper Flag. And to your point, like I've always
been like they always called the Duke haters. I've been
a Duke cater for a number of years.
Speaker 3: You know, whether it was Grayson Allen, you know, you
go back to the late Iner days, like there there's
always this guy who's the star at Duke that that
nobody likes. Cooper Flag's not like that.
Speaker 4: I don't know if it's because you know, Coach K's
not there and people don't look at him as quote
unquote as dominant as they used to be.
Speaker 3: But no, I agree with you.
Speaker 4: I mean, Cooper Flag has kind of captured everyone in
the college basketball world grabbing their attention. Bill Bender joining
us right now of the Sporting News Bill lo Shoes
basketball team may be in the seller, but a team
down the road in Lake Charles is not. I'm sure
to the dismay of a bunch of Tiger fans, what
have you made of the job Will Wade's done at
McNeice and what do you think of the team had
been to the tournament.
Speaker 5: They're gonna be a dangerous twelve seed. You know you're
you're gonna have to pick your twelve seed and brother
if as long as they win their conference tournament, right,
So McNee Drake, you see San Diego, those is the
three I have got my eye on. I love conference
tournament weekend.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 5: I went to a max school, so you know you
appreciated a little more because you know the stake you
got to win the tournament get in. And I think
mcneisee is a team that will see if they can
bust somebody up in the first round. If they catch
the right matchup, they certainly can. I know they're equipment
manager's gone viral. Yeah, and that'll be a story next week.
But yeah, we'll Wade to send a nice job there.
They've been they This isn't the first year they've done that,
so I think keep an eye on them. One thing
to keep in mind, I was doing some research on
this last night. Eleven seeds are actually the better bet
than the twelfth seed. They won three games last year.
Eleven seeds have won forty percent of the time since
the tournament expanded in the first round. That is a
wild stat to me, you know what I mean, Like,
you're getting forty percent out of eleven seed. So if
McNeese is an eleven seed, I've put penciled them right
into the second round.
Speaker 3: How deep realistics is a guy? I get it.
Speaker 4: McNeese has had a great season, had a great season
last year as well, not exactly the toughest basketball conference,
but like, how deep could you actually see that team going?
Speaker 5: I mean, that could be a second weekend team. But
remember when you fill out your bracket, I tell people
that you get one. But it's really tough to get
that double digit seed into the sweet sixteen. I do
remember when when Ohio University did it, that's where I
went to school. They did it and they beat you know,
they beat Michigan. Then they caught a breaking. They did
catch it. They have to catch a break like we
caught a break and caught South Florida in the second round.
They pulled an upset. We upset them and then ended
up playing North Carolina in the Sweet sixteen. And I'll
never I mean, that's the thing to me when if
McNeese were to go to Sweet sixteen, I promise you
for that fan base, that would feel like the Final four.
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, one hundred percent. Look as far as Will
Wade goes up, everybody here in bad Ruge knows what
occurred and how has time here ended. You know, there's
there's always been this kind of black cloud over Will
Wade ever since. But look, if he gets this McNeese
team to the NCAA tournament, I mean, or some of
the big boys gonna come knocking on his door again.
Speaker 5: Right, Uh it is? And uh you know, I think
I know there's some baggage there. But you know, Sean
Miller got another jub, didn't he he got He's back
at the Eager and you know Bill self never really
got fired. So I mean from that skin, and I
think the fanscape of college basketball with now that we're
in the ni l Age. I think a lot of
that's being not redacted or forgotten about, but certainly something
where you know, the game's changed a little bit, and
I think he may get another look because as far
as another one of those deals where x's and o's wise, uh,
really good at it, and I look no further than
you know the to me, other than Cooper Flagg, the
largest story on the tournament is going to be the
the Rick Bettino angle. You know, Saint John's and what
they've been able to do and how well they've played.
They can't shoot the three very well, but they play
all some d And for Rick Tettino, who again I'm
a little I'm forty five years old. I remember being
in high school watching those Kentucky teams. It's cool to
see them and him do his thing, and obviously he's
had to go through some things.
Speaker 4: Speaking of Saint John's, look, we know Saint John's, right,
I mean, they've been in the top ten in the
polls this year. Rick Patino has done an excellent job.
Maybe outside of Saint John's because that's probably going to
be everybody's pick. As far as like a mid major
to make a run, maybe outside of Saint John's.
Speaker 3: Who do you like mid major wise?
Speaker 5: Well, I think those big East teams you never can
count out in Yukon, right, I think they've had ups
and downs this year, But you know who, does anybody
really want to play them in the first or second round?
It depends on what you qualify as a mid major.
I know Memphis has had a really good year and
they have Haggarty among the When you have a score
that can score twenty plus points a game, Penny hardaway.
They haven't had the best tournament runs, but I think
they're a team again with their athletic Billy, they can
make a run as well. So I mean I've got
those two kind of circled. I know the Mountain West
is going to have a hard time getting multiple teams
in like three or four. But New Mexico with Richard Fatino, Yeah,
I'm the Patino family should be paying me at this
point for being their pr people. But I mean that's
a nice team as well. They won the conference in
the regular seasons. Looking to make a run in the tournament,
probably gonna get some speed disrespect. And then I forgot
about Saint Mary's. The Gaels are having a fantastic's normally
Gonzaga spot, but that's the gals this year. They look
equipped for a deep run.
Speaker 3: Bill before I.
Speaker 4: Get you out of here, If you had to pick
right now, like let's say Bill Benders filling out his bracket,
who do you like to win it all?
Speaker 5: I'll probably pick Duke. But I do that every year,
not every year since nineteen ninety two, So yeah, Duke,
I think that mix and if they but it does
feel a little bit like that year when they had
Zion Williamson and RJ. Barrett where I did it that
year and it just they end up planting. They end
up planting Michigan State in the Eliteate, and Michigan State
is one of those you just never want to see them.
I can't believe I haven't mentioned them to this point.
Martin's are having a fantastic year this year with Comtzel.
He's got a very experienced team that plays what they're
playing well together. Watch them just dismantled Michigan last week.
So I would probably pick Duke, and it would be
you know, uh, Saint John's, Auburn, Florida, maybe Michigan State
and Auburn. You know those are the teams I'm looking
at depending on who plays who to make.
Speaker 4: A four bill bender of the Sporting News Bill. Thank
you so much for your time this morning.
Speaker 5: I had no problem. Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 3: Think yep, absolutely all right. Look when we get back.
Speaker 4: Pretty unique event occurred in batter age last week that
I had no idea about. What again a launder and
Cassie's thoughts on it as well. That's coming up here
on the other side, and then we're gonna kick off
our number three after that.
Speaker 3: That's coming up here on off the bench, off to
the inch.
Speaker 4: What a song a Landra, I mean, I know everybody
compliments your your taste and bump music.
Speaker 3: That's always one of the better ones you play right there.
Speaker 7: I love linger, love the Cranberries. They're great.
Speaker 4: The first movie I ever heard this song in was Click.
I don't know if you guys remember any scene, Cassie,
have you even seen Click?
Speaker 5: No?
Speaker 7: I don't know what that is. Oh my god.
Speaker 4: See, we're already getting too old to where coworkers we
work with didn't watch the movies we watch.
Speaker 9: I don't like this, No, it's awful, Like okay, it's
not that old of a movie though, I don't feel
like like in the two thousands, like late two thousands,
I think, or maybe two thousand and ten.
Speaker 4: Maybe two thousand and six. Were you born two and three,
you would have been yea three years old. Cassie was
born in two thousand and three. My younger brother is
older than you. Oh my, we are coworkers. Like, okay,
I'm going to be twenty nine in September.
Speaker 9: Like the end click is really sad. Sorry, I just
read a comment it did. The end a click does
make me a little.
Speaker 3: Pissed off for you with that movie, right, because the first.
Speaker 7: It's funny the entire time.
Speaker 4: Seventy the movie is great, and it's like, oh, by
the way, you got divorced and you have cancer and
then you had a heart attack at your your daughter's wedding.
Speaker 3: Royler, Cassie, I know you hadn't seen it, but uh,
I think that it's.
Speaker 7: Adam Sandler, all right. It is Adam Sandler.
Speaker 3: Adam Sandler.
Speaker 4: And then Kate began sales his wife and then he's like, oh,
all these bad things happen, and then like.
Speaker 7: He's like, actually your life sucked.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so do you know the plot of it?
Speaker 7: Okay?
Speaker 4: He gets a universal remote. They're like literally fast forwards time,
you can pause it whatever. Because he's like, my life's
too busy. He's highly dedicated to his job, doesn't have
time for his family and all that. And he's like, okay,
well I'm just fast forward through the bad parts of life.
But then the remote like it's a mind of its
own and it's like, no, we're fast forward than you
were festward. And then it jumps like ten years and
he wakes up and he's got the big promotion that
he's always wanted, you know, at his job and everything.
But he's like the horse now. He goes home to
his house, like his wife is married to another guy
now and like his kids are grown. He missed their
childhood and everything. So it's like it's awful, but like
the parts of it are so funny. Well, anyways, in
the movie, when he gets the remote and it's cool
at first, his wife was like, oh, this reminds me
of our first date. You don't remember the song that
was playing. He's like, of course, I remember this song
that's playing. So he pauses it and he's like, take
me back to whenever whenever and it's this and he
goes obviously it's a linger by the Cranberries is playing.
He's like, and you look so good in that whatever dress,
and she's like, oh my god, you remember what I
was wearried and all that. Like the movie's got some
funny parts, but yeah, gotta lead.
Speaker 3: That movie pissed me.
Speaker 7: All very very depressing at the end.
Speaker 3: Oh and he gets the remote from bed Bath and Beyond.
Speaker 7: Rip to bed Bath and Beyond and beyond. They there's
one there's.
Speaker 9: Old Navy right, that's a bed bath and beyond like
next to Load's.
Speaker 4: And yeah, the Hooters and Denim survived the bed Bath
and Beyond a jubn not okay. That should tell you
the priorities of the people of Livingston Parish.
Speaker 7: I mean, Hooters is great. You need food to survive.
You don't need furniture.
Speaker 4: Even even if like you're not big on the wings
or whatever, like you gotta go to Hooters, right, Like
I remember, oh god, I was probably in fifth grade
and a buddy of my like I wanted to have
his birthday party at Hooters, and like all the parents
in the class were like, no, you're not going to
We went to that birthday party.
Speaker 3: Guys that may have been my first time having fried pickles,
and you know what, Hooters was awesome to this day,
my favorite fried pickles because it's the first place I
ever had.
Speaker 9: Okay, everyone's trying to say that the bed Bathroom Beyond
his class. I'm pretty sure, Like I was just remember I.
Speaker 3: Remember them saying they bankrupted, and all I know is
whanted ju been closed?
Speaker 7: I don't know anything. Okay, let me see real fast.
Speaker 3: The one in juben is like a Barnes and Noble
or something.
Speaker 7: Now that's crazy.
Speaker 9: I didn't even I was just over there and I
didn't notice it was closed. I thought I saw people
going in there.
Speaker 3: I don't know. Maybe was that saidler look coming up
into hour number.
Speaker 7: Three opens at eleven A. Oh no, this is bath
and body works. Never mind, maybe there is no.
Speaker 3: Bedbout to beyond bath and they're all the same thing.
Speaker 4: By the way, do you an't know why bed About
and Beyond went out of business because it's fretty expensive.
We went into the one at Jubin right before they closed,
and they were like everything's fifty percent off, and I
was like, this is crazy.
Speaker 7: Well, clearly didn't why they're out of business.
Speaker 3: Like coming up at hour number three. Uh, we're gonna
have some fun.
Speaker 4: We'll do Netflix shows, We'll do truck driving championships, all
that coming up off.
Speaker 3: The bench.
Speaker 6: At ktiz Blinds dot com k t o z blinds
dot com.
Speaker 8: And I just I can't tell you enough.
Speaker 6: And actually, like during the last couple of weeks, our
shade has just consistently stayed down that we have in
the back of our home and that's where the sun
kind of before we got it, just.
Speaker 8: Really ruin TV viewing during the day.
Speaker 6: You're trying to watch like a big NFL game or
a big baseball game. Else she's got an early one
today and you couldn't get it done. Just wasn't the same, right,
you got this huge galare on the TV. Well, I
didn't think putting something on the exterior of our home
would change the interior of our home, but it has
certainly done that.
Speaker 8: Now it's done its original job.
Speaker 6: Like Harlow loves going out to our little patio, we
dropped the shade down there.
Speaker 8: She plays out there, absolutely loves it.
Speaker 6: It's not as hot, it's not bright, but it has
changed the dynamic of our entire home. The house is
cooler whenever we have the shade down, they'll do it
for you as well.
Speaker 8: Ktoo z Blinds dot com