Speaker 1: Let's get a drive toime Wednesday afternoon, eleven minutes past
Speaker 1: the hour two o'clock. We do have some sunshine today
Speaker 1: after potentially the biggest snowstorm we've had all your long
Speaker 1: hit the area the region yesterday starting on Saint Patrick's
Speaker 1: Day and then going throughout the night. But sunny, still
Speaker 1: a little bit chilly, about thirty eight degrees here in
Speaker 1: downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. And we are high speed
Speaker 1: heed to seventy degree weather next week.
Speaker 2: We're almost there.
Speaker 1: You guys thought we were through it, and you know,
Speaker 1: march in Utah, you never know.
Speaker 3: How are you good?
Speaker 2: To have you long for the ride?
Speaker 1: My name is Spence Checket's host this radio show. It
Speaker 1: is called The Drive with Spence Checkets on ESPN seven
Speaker 1: hundred ninety two ANDFM. We are proud to be part
Speaker 1: of Utah's ESPN Radio network. Porter Larson producing the program
Speaker 1: as always today on a jam pack Wednesday afternoon, the
Speaker 1: day before the madness begins. We'll talk some college basketball
Speaker 1: on the show today. We will help you fill out
Speaker 1: your brackets. If you have not filled out brackets yet,
Speaker 1: we are going to help you today to do just thats.
Speaker 1: Chances are I was just outside in our canteen and
Speaker 1: talking to my buddy Todd Nukem from X ninety six,
Speaker 1: and Todd has never done a bracket before, but as
Speaker 1: a result of a promo they're doing on the station,
Speaker 1: he's going to fill a bracket out for this year.
Speaker 1: And I'll say to you what I just said to Todd.
Speaker 1: I watch college basketball. I like college basketball. I pay
Speaker 1: attention to matchups and such, and it is more or
Speaker 1: less an exercise in futility. You will not have a
Speaker 1: perfect bracket. Such a thing does not exist. But we'll
Speaker 1: give you the best chance possible and give you some
Speaker 1: advice here or there and lean into some of the
Speaker 1: local storylines. Is BYU and Utah State both are dancing.
Speaker 1: We'll talk about those matchups coming up on the program today,
Speaker 1: and then we'll kind of take a look at the
Speaker 1: brackets and we'll get you ready. If you've never filled
Speaker 1: out a bracket before, and you got a work email
Speaker 1: or a family email, maybe a friend email or whatever,
Speaker 1: and you're in a bracket challenge, that's kind of the
Speaker 1: deal this time of year in the world of sports.
Speaker 1: So we will help you out with your endeavor today.
Speaker 1: Couple of play in games last night, the first four,
Speaker 1: as they called them, great game between Alabama State and
Speaker 1: Saint Francis. It was kind of a chaotic final play,
Speaker 1: a full court pass that fell into the lap of
Speaker 1: Alabama States, and they had a game winning lamp really
Speaker 1: at the buzzer with just no time left, and so
Speaker 1: they win and they advance on I think they're playing Duke.
Speaker 1: Most people didn't believe North Carolina deserved to be in
Speaker 1: the tournament. West Virginia namely the team that most people
Speaker 1: thought should be in that spot. But North Carolina boat
Speaker 1: raced a really good defensive basketball team right of the program.
Speaker 1: Brian Dutcher, head coach of San Diego State, longtime assistant
Speaker 1: coach with Michigan and of course San Diego State as well,
Speaker 1: he is their headball coach. He believes in defense, and
Speaker 1: that was not played last night. Carolina was on fire.
Speaker 4: R J.
Speaker 1: Davis the second leading scorer in North Carolina history, which
Speaker 1: is wild when you think about all the great basketball
Speaker 1: players played in UNC Chapel Hill North Carolina. RJ had
Speaker 1: twenty six last night, and Carolina got to win a
Speaker 1: couple more playing games tonight this afternoon. First four Mount
Speaker 1: Saint Mary's An American University, home of former nick GM
Speaker 1: ed Tapscott.
Speaker 2: There's a little knowledge for you. They're gonna get going
Speaker 2: about four forty.
Speaker 1: This is the time of year that if you're not
Speaker 1: familiar with True TV, well you better get familiar True TV.
Speaker 1: Both games tonight, you're gonna have Mount Saint Mary's An
Speaker 1: American University at four forty. Then at seven to ten
Speaker 1: it's Xavier and it's Texas. A lot of people believe
Speaker 1: Texas should not be in the tournament as well, but
Speaker 1: we'll see if they can do what Carolina did.
Speaker 2: The real tournament gets rolling tomorrow.
Speaker 1: East Region first round action two oh five million time
Speaker 1: on Turner is VCU and BYU, a six to eleven
Speaker 1: seed game. We'll talk about that. We'll get you ready
Speaker 1: for that matchup. BYU remains a slight favorite, but this
Speaker 1: is not a easy matchup for Brigham Young coming off
Speaker 1: a really solid season. But we'll get you ready for
Speaker 1: that game and we'll talk some about madness. Utah State
Speaker 1: has to wait until seven to twenty five million time
Speaker 1: tomorrow night, also on TNT, to take on UCLA in
Speaker 1: rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky. BYUS at Ballerina in Denver, Colorado.
Speaker 1: But a lot of really fun matchups. Love the tournament.
Speaker 1: I think it's the best individual sporting event we have
Speaker 1: on our calendar. That's just my personal opinion. And you
Speaker 1: never know how it's gonna go down, which makes a
Speaker 1: lot of fun. So a lot of great games starting
Speaker 1: tomorrow in the NCAA Tournament. Kind of a light night
Speaker 1: last night in the world of pro basketball. Theyink only
Speaker 1: five games last night, actually four games last night, and
Speaker 1: tonight it will be a little bit more jam packed,
Speaker 1: and there's actually a sneaky big game here in Salt Lake.
Speaker 1: The race to the bottom shines on the Delta Center
Speaker 1: tonight as Washington is in town to take on the Jazz.
Speaker 1: Both teams have fifteen wins, Washington fifteen and fifty two.
Speaker 1: The Jazz are fifteen and fifty four. Quick Math says
Speaker 1: those records are really pathetic, but both teams trying to
Speaker 1: do what they can to stay at the bottom to
Speaker 1: get the best chance they have possible at drafting one
Speaker 1: Cooper Flag. Speaking of Cooper Flag, he is expected to
Speaker 1: play when Duke takes the floor, and that's going to
Speaker 1: be on Friday. So Duke with one more day to
Speaker 1: get a little bit of rest. They don't know their
Speaker 1: opponent yet. They're gonna have to wait for the playing tonight.
Speaker 1: But it is an early afternoon game for Duke in
Speaker 1: North Carolina. You know, conspiracy theories abound, but Cooper flag
Speaker 1: expected to play. I wouldn't be stunned if they hold
Speaker 1: him out on that one sixteen game, because sixteens don't
Speaker 1: beat ones.
Speaker 2: That just doesn't happen.
Speaker 1: But if you're a Jazz fan wondering why they are
Speaker 1: doing what they are doing, I would consider watching Duke
Speaker 1: basketball this year, so Washington in town to take on
Speaker 1: the Jazz. I don't know who the Jazz will sit.
Speaker 1: I don't know who they're going to play. I would
Speaker 1: imagine they're gonna sit a lot of players. And their
Speaker 1: recent answer to this is how we're going to tank
Speaker 1: is letting Walker Kessler shoots a grip of three point shots.
Speaker 1: Oh wait a second, we have the Jazz injury report
Speaker 1: Lowry market. It is out for personal reasons quote unquote
Speaker 1: personal reasons. Remember the Jazz were fined for sitting Lowry
Speaker 1: last week. John Collins out, kJ Martin out, Spee, makay
Speaker 1: Lukaut Jaden springer out Walker Kessler is available, but I
Speaker 1: bet he doesn't play. I think they're gonna sit most
Speaker 1: of their good players trying to lose to Washington tonight
Speaker 1: to maintain their spot at the bottom of pro basketball.
Speaker 1: The Minnesota Vikings are no longer in the Aaron Rodgers sweepstakes,
Speaker 1: apparently after the Steelers made their intentions well known. Apparently
Speaker 1: people are just like annoyed with Aaron Rodgers, who is
Speaker 1: just taking his time standing on a beach. Porter sent
Speaker 1: me a picture of Aaron Rodgers standing on a beach
Speaker 1: in a blanket. I don't know where that was because
Speaker 1: he's no longer the quarterback of the Jets and he's
Speaker 1: no longer my issue. But a lot of NFL offse's news.
Speaker 1: We'll kind of touch on some of that on the
Speaker 1: program today. Latest with the big story in the market,
Speaker 1: Alex Jensen hired as the head coach of the Utes,
Speaker 1: latest rumors about him filling out his staff. Will kind
Speaker 1: of get into some of that on the program today.
Speaker 1: And a lot to do, a lot to do on
Speaker 1: the program. We'll start things off today with Neil Smith.
Speaker 1: You know, I was telling Porter before we went on air,
Speaker 1: I was gonna watch Carolina San Diego State, and then
Speaker 1: Carolina went up like twenty in the first half. I'm like,
Speaker 1: you could tell that San Diego State had no answers.
Speaker 1: So I'm like, I'm gonna watch the entire Utah Hockey
Speaker 1: Club game last night and they got stopped.
Speaker 2: They got stopped by Edmonton.
Speaker 1: And it was not a close game at all, So
Speaker 1: the Utah Hockey Club tried to tread water to stay
Speaker 1: in the mix for that wildcard spot.
Speaker 2: So we'll get you ready.
Speaker 1: It was seven to one on the road at Edmonton
Speaker 1: and Connor McDavid's a good player.
Speaker 2: That's my breakdown today.
Speaker 1: But Neil Smith will be our first guest, former general
Speaker 1: manager of the New York Ranger, to break down the
Speaker 1: world to pro hockey. Get to move over to Tim
Speaker 1: McMahon for our NBA daily assist. Chris Comaradni will have
Speaker 1: a Wednesday hit today instead of a Friday hit, and
Speaker 1: it is sunny outside, so we'll see if Chris will
Speaker 1: leave his house, and then an entire hour with Ken
Speaker 1: Pomeroy and we will go over region by region to
Speaker 1: help you guys fill out your brackets today. Neil Smith,
Speaker 1: Tim McMahon, Chris Comraaddi, Ken Pomeroy, Me, Spence Check. Its
Speaker 1: all of you, the great listeners. Happy Wednesday to you.
Speaker 1: Halfway through your work week. One day closer to the weekend.
Speaker 1: What was that picture you sent me of Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 1: It looked like he was just standing on a beach,
Speaker 1: wearing a blanket. Yeah, pontificating on life, for pondering.
Speaker 5: It just looked like he's having a moment.
Speaker 2: Where was that.
Speaker 5: Honestly, it looked like me on.
Speaker 6: Like any any sort of random weekend, weekend morning on
Speaker 6: a beach somewhere. And yeah, he looked he looked like
Speaker 6: he was a little disheveled, which was kind of interesting
Speaker 6: to see a millionaire star quarterback in that formula. That's
Speaker 6: kind of his vibe. Now, I think Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 1: At what point does everybody just say we've had enough
Speaker 1: because you can deal with the mountain if he's still
Speaker 1: a good player.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I said it, like I think when the Jets
Speaker 6: were trying to sign him the first time was like
Speaker 6: kind of when I was out on Aaron Rodgers because
Speaker 6: I didn't think, and especially after the Achilles injury, was
Speaker 6: really worth the risk on a guy that's now forty
Speaker 6: plus years old playing the quarterback position at you know,
Speaker 6: an NFL average level at best. Right now, for me,
Speaker 6: it's just not worth the headache. But I mean, I'm
Speaker 6: not gonna feel bad for Aaron Rodgers. He's got plenty
Speaker 6: to do whatever he wants to do. I'm focused on
Speaker 6: the NCAA tournament and the madness we saw last night.
Speaker 6: Of course, if you are wondering Spence on True TV
Speaker 6: tonight after tournament, East Bounded Down Marathon and in Practical Jokers.
Speaker 1: By the way, I forgot what an awesome show He's
Speaker 1: Bounded Down is because I was flipping back and forth
Speaker 1: and then it was interrupted by commercials. And Danny McBride
Speaker 1: currently right now is a sewn HBO called Righteous Gemstones.
Speaker 2: I've told you this before.
Speaker 1: Danny McBride is one of the few creators that whatever
Speaker 1: he does, i'm I'm given a chance.
Speaker 6: And it's interesting because even though some of it is
Speaker 6: just completely outrageous, it's all like actually just Danny McBride.
Speaker 6: He writes it all. You know, he's part of the
Speaker 6: directing and and producing of it all. So you do
Speaker 6: see like a creative product from one source. It's not
Speaker 6: like the I feel like so much of it is
Speaker 6: commercialized streaming NBC shows. You don't really know where the
Speaker 6: storyline's coming from, how many writers are involved. So the
Speaker 6: story actually is like you mentioned Righteous Gemstones, It's like
Speaker 6: seven years of a real storyline that flows together. It's
Speaker 6: completely insane and ridiculous, but it's awesome.
Speaker 1: Adam Scott has a cameo on He's Found and Down
Speaker 1: as the agent that I still. If I'm in a
Speaker 1: bad mood, I'll pull up that scene and it is hillearo.
Speaker 2: If you've never watched Eastbounding Down, make sure the kids are.
Speaker 1: In bed, and if the significant other is a little
Speaker 1: bit squeamish for certain language and scenes, maybe leave her
Speaker 1: a side.
Speaker 2: It's an HM side it is.
Speaker 5: Or catch it on True TV and you got a
Speaker 5: censored version of it.
Speaker 1: Indeed, so following the first four, I am not going
Speaker 1: to take your bait because I've already made my point
Speaker 1: and you can die on the hill you've died on
Speaker 1: you've decided to live on after the first four, which
Speaker 1: it is labeled by, but the people in charge prior
Speaker 1: to the terminent tomorrow, you can watch Eastbounding Down on
Speaker 1: True TV.
Speaker 6: Did we at least get some madness, though recop to
Speaker 6: that the first game was awesome. It's not a great game.
Speaker 1: Yeah, then Carolina ran away from San Diego State. All right,
Speaker 1: we've misbehaved in the opening segment, so let's get to it.
Speaker 1: Neil Smith as our first guest. But before we get
Speaker 1: to Neil to talk some hockey on a Wednesday afternoon,
Speaker 1: it's time now for your opening tip.
Speaker 7: Welcome to the Drive with Spence Check its on Utah's
Speaker 7: number one sports talk. Now into the studios of ESPN
Speaker 7: seven hundred to set the scene for the show. The
Speaker 7: opening tip of the Drive is brought to you by Prices.
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Speaker 4: All right?
Speaker 2: Real quick? We do have a couple of local.
Speaker 1: Teams in action during March Madness BYU welcomes in VCU.
Speaker 1: It's going to be Ballerina Denver, Colorado BYU. After a
Speaker 1: very solid second season in the Big Twelve, some people
Speaker 1: feel like are underseeded a bit. I think that's probably right.
Speaker 1: You can make an argument for a five seed. As
Speaker 1: I've said all week, if I'm a BYU fan, I'm
Speaker 1: glad they're in Denver, and I'd rather have a six
Speaker 1: seed in Denver than a five seed in like Newark
Speaker 1: or whatever. But the matchup is a little bit problematic,
Speaker 1: and you know a lot of national people really think
Speaker 1: BYU is built for a fun run. But BYU fans
Speaker 1: have so much PTSD from good teams not doing well
Speaker 1: as recently as a year ago, then I think BYU
Speaker 1: fans just want to see a win in the NCAA tournament.
Speaker 1: The BYU Cougars have not won a tournament game since
Speaker 1: two twelve, and that was a first four play in game,
Speaker 1: and they have not advanced to the round of thirty
Speaker 1: two since Jimmerfoerdett was making a rain every night. The
Speaker 1: problem is VCU is very well coached. You guys know
Speaker 1: Ryan odlemy coach Utah State, and Ryan Odum rumor to
Speaker 1: potentially grab the Virginia job that Tony Bennett left. Mac
Speaker 1: Max Schulge is their point guard who played at Utah State.
Speaker 1: He's the A ten Player of the year. He averages
Speaker 1: about fifteen points, six boards, four assists, shoots thirty nine
Speaker 1: percent from three and is a problem as a guard.
Speaker 2: They have three really good guards.
Speaker 1: They have three really good guards, and they have four
Speaker 1: upper classmen in their starting lineup and three I should
Speaker 1: say four seniors, not upper classmen, four seniors in their
Speaker 1: starting lineup.
Speaker 2: They have two players that have played in an Elite
Speaker 2: eight that.
Speaker 1: Are grad transfers for Ryan Odum, and three of the
Speaker 1: seniors are fifth year guys and one of the seniors
Speaker 1: is a seventh year player. They also have three six
Speaker 1: to ten players that oftentimes play together. And so ultimately BYU.
Speaker 1: This is gonna sound simplistic, but I do think you
Speaker 1: can be reductive with his matchup. BYU has to create
Speaker 1: space on the perimeter and knock down threes. But if
Speaker 1: they're not shooting well, and the problem with this tournament
Speaker 1: is we see so many good teams overcome by the
Speaker 1: moments and they just can't get it done and they
Speaker 1: don't shoot the ball well. And if BYU doesn't shoot
Speaker 1: it well from three, I think they're in trouble. BYU
Speaker 1: is a three point favorite in this matchup, even though
Speaker 1: it's a six to eleven seed.
Speaker 2: I believe, and we'll talk to Ken about this.
Speaker 1: VCU I think is thirty one in the net and
Speaker 1: I think BYU is twenty five. A six team gap
Speaker 1: in the net is not a lot for a six
Speaker 1: to eleven seed. So I like BYU. I like the
Speaker 1: way they've been built. I think if they can create
Speaker 1: space on the perimeter knockdown shots, they have a shot
Speaker 1: to go to the Sweet sixteen this year. But they've
Speaker 1: got to get out a very tough first round game
Speaker 1: against a defensive minded pressure team that plays a lot
Speaker 1: like Houston. Ryan Odom does not have the personnel Kelvin
Speaker 1: Samson has, but they want to get up in you,
Speaker 1: they want to play hard defense, they want to pressure you.
Speaker 1: And I'll be interested to see how Yegor Demon responds
Speaker 1: to the pressure that VCU brings, because he has not
Speaker 1: responded to pressure well all year long. That's when Kevin
Speaker 1: Young has had to go to down Hall and taken
Speaker 1: Yegor Demon out.
Speaker 2: So we'll see.
Speaker 1: Utah State is that one of the most historic venues
Speaker 1: in college basketball rop Arena in Lexington, Kentucky, the home
Speaker 1: of the Kentucky Wildcats, and they welcome in a good,
Speaker 1: not great UCLA team. It's a seven to ten matchup.
Speaker 1: Ucla is a I believe a five point favorite. Don't
Speaker 1: quote me. I'm gonna check the line during the break,
Speaker 1: and UCLA out of the Big Ten, which still sounds weird. Ultimately,
Speaker 1: they've got some really good wins this year. They beaton
Speaker 1: Zaga home, but they followed out with losses in five
Speaker 1: of their six games after that. They've got to win
Speaker 1: over Wisconsin. They've got wins over Oregon, Michigan State. They
Speaker 1: stumbled a bit down the stretch, going three and three
Speaker 1: to finish off losing to Wisconsin in the Big Ten
Speaker 1: championship game. Mick Cronin and Jared Calhoun they're good buddies,
Speaker 1: according to what Mick had to say when the five
Speaker 1: point five is the line now, thank you porter. So
Speaker 1: UCLA five point five point favorite, so you know, Utah
Speaker 1: stay with an opportunity once again. It's I think they're
Speaker 1: fourth straight NCAA tournament. I think it's seven in the
Speaker 1: last eight years or something. But two local teams in
Speaker 1: the tournament. The madness gets rolling tomorrow after the final
Speaker 1: two play in games Tonight on True TV.
Speaker 8: This is Neil Smith, former president and GM of the
Speaker 8: New York Rangers and the New York Islanders join me
Speaker 8: and my co host Vic Morn for our podcast NHL
Speaker 8: Wrap Around for all the important news and views around
Speaker 8: the NHL.
Speaker 2: All right, we've got Tim McMahon.
Speaker 1: Stop them by the show today to drop our NBA
Speaker 1: Daily Assists.
Speaker 2: There's a big game tonight.
Speaker 1: The two worst teams in pro basketball are playing here
Speaker 1: in Salt Lake at the Delta Center, Washington, Utah.
Speaker 2: The race for the bottom is on.
Speaker 1: And then Chris Comraaddie from The Athletic We're gonna help
Speaker 1: you fill out your brackets during the four o'clock hour,
Speaker 1: and the great Ken Pomeroy from Kenpalm dot Com is
Speaker 1: live in studio. But the Utah Hockey Club went up
Speaker 1: to Edmonton last night and they got their breaks blown
Speaker 1: off seven to one. Edmonton gets the win. The hockey
Speaker 1: club trying to stay alive in that wildcard race. So
Speaker 1: let's bring in the man that educates, entertains, informs when
Speaker 1: it comes to the world of professional hockey, the Great
Speaker 1: Neil Smith on a Wednesday afternoon.
Speaker 2: Neil, Happy Wednesday, sir.
Speaker 9: How are you happy Wednesday?
Speaker 4: Do you?
Speaker 9: And happy the delated Saint Patrick's Day from Monday?
Speaker 1: Yes, indeed, Saint Patrick's Day Monday, and Neil, in case
Speaker 1: you didn't know, birthday for your guy over here, my
Speaker 1: birthday is Saint Patrick's Day.
Speaker 9: Oh that's my sister's birthday. Well look at that. That's great.
Speaker 9: Happy birthday. I know you are you your twenty six now?
Speaker 1: Oh goodness, goodness, Neil, I'm a rapidly but you know,
Speaker 1: like I'm not that old. So I always feel bad
Speaker 1: when I say that I'm old. But I just turned
Speaker 1: forty seven.
Speaker 9: Oh my well, you're a youngster. You're a youngster. You
Speaker 9: got a long way to go to catch me.
Speaker 2: Well, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1: It's but Neil, I'm old enough now to realize that
Speaker 1: just like physical pain is probably part of the deal, right,
Speaker 1: you just get up in the hip perts or whatever.
Speaker 2: It's just kind of the deal, right, That's.
Speaker 9: Just part of that's just part of the aging system,
Speaker 9: is that everything seems to start working less efficiently as
Speaker 9: we go along.
Speaker 1: Yes, indeed, hey, before we get into kind of the
Speaker 1: nuts and bolts of what happened last night and where
Speaker 1: we're at with our local hockey club, I've just got
Speaker 1: a question about Connor McDavid. And I know that people
Speaker 1: that really know hockey know that who Connor McDavid. You
Speaker 1: know who Connor McDavid is and what he is in
Speaker 1: the ecosystem.
Speaker 2: Of pro hockey.
Speaker 1: But I was telling my producer reporter during the break like,
Speaker 1: even if you don't know a sport, you always know
Speaker 1: the guy that's different, right, And there's just something I
Speaker 1: don't know if it's just his speed.
Speaker 2: I don't know if it's just his skill.
Speaker 1: There there's something about Connor McDavid that sets him apart
Speaker 1: from the best players every time I watch him play.
Speaker 2: What makes him as special as he is.
Speaker 9: I think it's his speed. A it's his fact that
Speaker 9: he's six over six, what he's about six ft three.
Speaker 9: He can do things at a higher rate of speed
Speaker 9: than some people could do it in on his shoes on.
Speaker 9: You know, he can do things on the ice at
Speaker 9: a very high rate of speed that people can't just
Speaker 9: can't imagine. So I think that he embodies what people
Speaker 9: love about hockey, and that is the speed, the physicality,
Speaker 9: and the skill. And I think that he's able to
Speaker 9: He's certainly not a physical player in the sense of
Speaker 9: throwing out big body checks, but he can take whatever
Speaker 9: physical play you want to play on him, and I
Speaker 9: think that that's why you always notice ninety seven. If
Speaker 9: you go to an Edmonton game, there's no way you're
Speaker 9: leaving without having seen and noticed ninety seven.
Speaker 4: In the eights.
Speaker 2: They had one play last night.
Speaker 1: They had a power play opportunity, and I honestly don't
Speaker 1: know how often hockey teams run like set plays the
Speaker 1: way basketball teams do, like a one four flat, a
Speaker 1: pick and roll, or you know whatever it is. But
Speaker 1: it was very intentional to get Connor McDavid the puck
Speaker 1: as he had momentum, and the rest of the guys
Speaker 1: looked like they were just flat footed. I mean, it
Speaker 1: was pretty remarkable. What's your take on Edmonton overall as
Speaker 1: a team. I mean, obviously we're prisoner of the moment
Speaker 1: because they just stomped the hockey club seven to one.
Speaker 1: But I was very impressed with what I saw last
Speaker 1: night from the Edmonton Oilers.
Speaker 9: Well you'd have to be, because there was a beatdown.
Speaker 9: But Edmonton is a very inconsistent team. You really don't
Speaker 9: know what you're going to get from one night to
Speaker 9: the next. They have the ability to do what they
Speaker 9: did last night, and they also have the ability to
Speaker 9: turn around and lose to a bottom feed or team
Speaker 9: because they're for whatever reason. And last night, here's the
Speaker 9: impressive thing about last night, and it happened to be Utah.
Speaker 9: It could have been anybody. Anybody in that building last
Speaker 9: night was going to get beat. The impressive thing for
Speaker 9: Edmondson was seven goals, fourteen assists probably on those seven
Speaker 9: goals or however many and Leon dry Title, the leading
Speaker 9: scorer in the NHL goals wise, didn't get a point,
Speaker 9: So that means they had contributions from all kinds of
Speaker 9: people those to get those seven goals, but none of
Speaker 9: them were Leon dry Sitle. Usually you'll go to you'll
Speaker 9: watch an Oiler game and dry Title will get one
Speaker 9: or two. I thought he might get his fiftieth last
Speaker 9: night in Salt Lake, I'm sorry, in Edmonton against Utah,
Speaker 9: but he wasn't able to do it. But just think
Speaker 9: how stacked is your team when your best scorer doesn't
Speaker 9: get a point and you win seven to one.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that is impressive.
Speaker 1: I wonder so coach Tourney pulled the Melka after Correll
Speaker 1: gave up three goals and went with Jackson.
Speaker 2: Staberg didn't do any better. He gave up four.
Speaker 1: But last night was Correll's twelfth straight start in goal,
Speaker 1: and that's a career high. Connor ingram away from the
Speaker 1: team dealing with some personal things as we discussed last year,
Speaker 1: do you think you could draw a straight line? I mean,
Speaker 1: I just thought it was kind of ironic as the
Speaker 1: broadcast was outlining that Vimelka had never started twelve straight before.
Speaker 1: Then suddenly the game starts and he just he was
Speaker 1: up against it. There wasn't much she could do. Do
Speaker 1: you think it's a fatigue thing? Is that a concern
Speaker 1: now that there are other kind of first choice guys
Speaker 1: on the sidelines, that Vimelka looked as tired as he
Speaker 1: did last night?
Speaker 9: You know, certainly could be it, because you know, that's
Speaker 9: tough to keep playing night after night in the National
Speaker 9: Hockey League, in today's NHL, where you're playing almost every
Speaker 9: other day on average. So you know, it could be
Speaker 9: that it could be a combination of him being tired
Speaker 9: and Edmonton also being at the top of their game
Speaker 9: last night. You know, he played two days earlier in Vancouver,
Speaker 9: they fly over to Edmonton get ready for that game.
Speaker 9: Now they've got one day off and they're going to
Speaker 9: be two more night against Buffalo and that's just the
Speaker 9: way the NHL works. But it's hard when you're running
Speaker 9: one goalie all the time. And you know, Jackson Stauber
Speaker 9: is a fine young guy, but he's you know, is
Speaker 9: he ready for the show?
Speaker 4: You know, I don't know.
Speaker 9: He wasn't up. The only reason he's up is because
Speaker 9: Connor Ingram has had to take his leave of the absence.
Speaker 9: So we'll see. I mean, Vanilka is a good goalie,
Speaker 9: may have had an off night, or maybe coach Torny
Speaker 9: thought that he was having an off night, so he
Speaker 9: better to rest him, get him out of there. A
Speaker 9: lot of coaches too, you know, they think they're down
Speaker 9: for nothing to Edmonton and they say, look, we're not
Speaker 9: winning this game, so I'm taking my guy out to
Speaker 9: give him a rest. Let him wait for the Buffalo
Speaker 9: game now. And you see that happen a lot.
Speaker 2: So where we find ourselves now?
Speaker 1: And I don't know, Like I was talking to a
Speaker 1: couple of guys with the hockey, the work on the
Speaker 1: broadcast side, and a gentleman who's producing games, who used
Speaker 1: to produce the Arizona Coyotes games, and he's been around
Speaker 1: the NHL for about twenty years and This was about
Speaker 1: a week and a half ago, and I said, do
Speaker 1: you think they're gonna make it? He said, I don't
Speaker 1: think most people understand how hard it is to make
Speaker 1: up even three or four points over the final fifteen
Speaker 1: sixteen games.
Speaker 2: And he painted kind of a bleak.
Speaker 1: Picture as far as the hockey club qualifying for the
Speaker 1: wild card, Neil, and where we're at now is a
Speaker 1: four point gap with fourteen games left to play. Have
Speaker 1: stranger things happened, certainly, But what's the Neil Smith? I
Speaker 1: guess I'll say, like handicap, the chances of us seeing
Speaker 1: playoff hockey here in Utah this year.
Speaker 9: I don't think they're very good. Because your friend was
Speaker 9: absolutely right. You've got to jump so many teams and
Speaker 9: you've got to put together a string of wins, and
Speaker 9: even then you might gain two points up. Because here's
Speaker 9: the thing that people have to understand. Well, it looks
Speaker 9: like you're only you know, four points back of Vancouver
Speaker 9: and Saint Louis, who are tied. Everybody's playing every night,
Speaker 9: and everybody's getting points here and there, or teams in
Speaker 9: between you and that wild card spot are getting teams
Speaker 9: top points. Last night, A horrible thing for the Utah
Speaker 9: Hockey Club. Happened. Everybody thought that Calgary would go down
Speaker 9: to the Rangers. Calgary had got killed in Toronto the
Speaker 9: night before. They got in at three am. They put
Speaker 9: their backup goalie in and they beat the Rangers. The
Speaker 9: Rangers had only four of their forwards had shots on
Speaker 9: net last night, so they put in a horrible effort.
Speaker 9: Calgary comes away with the two points. Stuff like that
Speaker 9: really hurts Utah's chance to jump over teams. Now, if
Speaker 9: they put together a string of five or six teams
Speaker 9: and then go back to five hundred after that, you know,
Speaker 9: then they're you know, they got a real shot. But
Speaker 9: they at this point to hurdle over these teams who
Speaker 9: are playing every night, because what will happen is you'll
Speaker 9: win a game, say the Buffalo, and then you look
Speaker 9: back at the standings and you'll say, oh my god,
Speaker 9: we're still four points behind. Well, the reason for that
Speaker 9: is because Vancouver went in and beat Saint Louis on
Speaker 9: the same night as you beat Buffalo, so they got
Speaker 9: two more points. You've got two more points. You're still
Speaker 9: the same number behind. So it's very difficult. You've got
Speaker 9: to put together a string of wins to make up
Speaker 9: some ground.
Speaker 2: And only fourteen games left.
Speaker 1: I mean, there's not a lot of opportunities now to
Speaker 1: make up the ground.
Speaker 2: God Neil Good.
Speaker 9: Let me give you the optimist side of this. They
Speaker 9: play only eight games out of those fourteen, eight of
Speaker 9: them are against non playoff teams, teams that currently sit
Speaker 9: in outside the playoffs eight out of their fourteen, meaning
Speaker 9: only six of the fourteen are the battling playoff teams.
Speaker 9: They played Tampa Bay twice, once in Utah, once in Tampa,
Speaker 9: they play Florida, they play La King's, Winnipeg, and Dallas.
Speaker 9: That's the playoff teams that they've got to play against.
Speaker 9: They're going to make sure that when they get the chance,
Speaker 9: like with Buffalo, who's one of the weak sisters last
Speaker 9: in the East, they got to take advantage of that.
Speaker 9: And they have to beat Buffalo on Thursday night to
Speaker 9: make up some ground that we've been talking about.
Speaker 1: So if we just kind of exist in reality and
Speaker 1: we just admit that it's going to be tough while
Speaker 1: maintaining a little bit of hope, because that's what being
Speaker 1: a sports fan is. What would you say about what
Speaker 1: this year has meant to the club, being in a
Speaker 1: new market, and what would you say to the fans
Speaker 1: about the future of where we could find ourselves based
Speaker 1: off of the way that Bill Armstrong and his staff
Speaker 1: have put together this roster.
Speaker 9: Well, what I think is really optimistic and good or
Speaker 9: positive for this hockey club is that they've gotten to
Speaker 9: a new market, They've gotten settled in, they've got a
Speaker 9: fan base, they've got a beautiful arena. They're going to
Speaker 9: change the name or even leaving it the same, will
Speaker 9: be changing it, if you know what I mean, because
Speaker 9: it's still that's still something exciting that's out there that's
Speaker 9: going to happen in the offseason. They got a lot
Speaker 9: of good young talent. They're an up and coming organization.
Speaker 9: They do have a cover that has quite a bit
Speaker 9: of assets in it. So I think that you're seeing
Speaker 9: a team, but we've talked about this from the first
Speaker 9: day that's on the verge of getting into that group
Speaker 9: of playoff teams. And once you break into that, then
Speaker 9: somebody's trying to knock you to get you out and
Speaker 9: let them get in, and that's really hard, as you
Speaker 9: can see. But I think they've made megas Epps since
Speaker 9: they've gotten to Utah compared to where they were at
Speaker 9: in Arizona. With Arizona, there wasn't a lot of hope.
Speaker 9: There wasn't a lot of money to be spent on
Speaker 9: free agents. There was Bill Armstrong was basically operating with
Speaker 9: one arm, handcuffed. Now he's not. He's got a good owner,
Speaker 9: he's got a good fan base, he's got people that
Speaker 9: want hockey in that city, unlike Arizona. So I think
Speaker 9: you're miles ahead of where you were last year.
Speaker 1: You know, before I said you loose, I know you
Speaker 1: got to get going today. I wanted you to settle
Speaker 1: a debate that I was having with my brothers, actually,
Speaker 1: who are hockey hockey guys? In a way that you know,
Speaker 1: I just never have been entirely. I enjoyed the sport,
Speaker 1: loved growing up, going to ranger games and all that.
Speaker 2: We were talking about the Four Nations, and you know,
Speaker 2: we were.
Speaker 1: Talking about the tournament because it was such a pleasant
Speaker 1: surprise for so many people that didn't think it was
Speaker 1: going to be anything all that entertaining. If Russia is
Speaker 1: allowed in, are they the best hockey country or is
Speaker 1: it still Canada?
Speaker 9: You know, I'm Canadian, so of course I'm going to
Speaker 9: think that it's Canada, but I think that Russia produces
Speaker 9: a ton of great hockey players, and on any given
Speaker 9: year it could go either way. I think that the
Speaker 9: I think that the only way you know who truly
Speaker 9: is the world's best team is when you have a
Speaker 9: full complement of countries in it, which includes Russia. But
Speaker 9: I don't want to see them in as long as
Speaker 9: they're going in and trying to take over other countries
Speaker 9: and do what they've been doing in the last two years.
Speaker 9: I just don't think that we should we should ignore that.
Speaker 9: I think that we should, you know, say, okay, in
Speaker 9: our little world of hockey, you know, if you're going
Speaker 9: to do that, you're not part of our world. So
Speaker 9: but they are a tremendous breeding ground for hockey players.
Speaker 1: Neil, where can our listeners go find the podcast before
Speaker 1: I set you loose.
Speaker 9: Anywhere anywhere on any platform NHL wrapped around. We had
Speaker 9: Paul Maurice, Stanley Cup winning coach on a couple of
Speaker 9: weeks ago, and we're coming down the stretch here and
Speaker 9: we're looking at everything as closely as we can and
Speaker 9: give you everything we can of tidbits on the NHL.
Speaker 9: But do you know who I'm going to dinner with tonight?
Speaker 4: Who's that? Your father?
Speaker 10: Oh?
Speaker 2: Very nice, very nice, very nice. Where you guys going
Speaker 2: to go in.
Speaker 9: The city at Wolfgang Steakhouse and Amy k will be
Speaker 9: there and ken Unos will be there. Oh, I don't
Speaker 9: know all those names, so that it's going to be
Speaker 9: a lot of fun and I'm really looking forward to that.
Speaker 1: Oh, and you're going to Wolfgangs. He likes you more
Speaker 1: than like he likes me. He takes me to check
Speaker 1: fil A when we go to dinner. So enjoy your
Speaker 1: state deal. But please tell him hello and tell everybody
Speaker 1: high and have a good time.
Speaker 9: Okay, thanks buddy, see you soon.
Speaker 1: The Great Neil Smith Utah Club. Yeah, they got dog
Speaker 1: walked last night. Like I was telling Porter, I was
Speaker 1: gonna watch that Carolina San Diego state game, and after
Speaker 1: Carolina ran away with him, I'm like, all right, let's
Speaker 1: check out the hockey club. And I turned it over
Speaker 1: in time to see Edmonton put three on Vamelica in
Speaker 1: the first period, and then coach Torney pulled Themelka and
Speaker 1: decided to try his hand at the starboard kid as
Speaker 1: Connor Ingram was still on the sidelines and UH all
Speaker 1: due respect to UH to Staburn, it didn't go better
Speaker 1: for him at all. Jackson Starborough allowed four goals after
Speaker 1: the Melca allowed three, and it's just gonna be tough,
Speaker 1: you know. Ultimately, I would love to see it happened
Speaker 1: playoff hockey rules. If you've never seen Stanley Cup playoff hockey,
Speaker 1: you should check it out.
Speaker 2: It's a lot of fun.
Speaker 1: Connor McDavid, what is the what's the equivalent of a
Speaker 1: Connor McDavid in another sport? Like if somebody doesn't know
Speaker 1: the game of basketball, they could turn on the Warriors
Speaker 1: game and tell that Steph is just different based off
Speaker 1: the way he makes shots. I was just watching that
Speaker 1: game last night, and I don't grind on hockey tape
Speaker 1: every night, but every time McDavid got the puck with
Speaker 1: a full head of steam, it's like that dude is different.
Speaker 6: It's it's hard a number one, I'm to be clear,
Speaker 6: not Neil Smith. I haven't won a Stanley Cup, so
Speaker 6: my expertise not yet.
Speaker 4: Not.
Speaker 6: Yes, you never know who the Smith Entertainment group might
Speaker 6: hire as the hockey team keeps going on.
Speaker 3: But no, are you throwing your name in the ring.
Speaker 3: If Bill Armstrong moves on, you want to be the
Speaker 3: GM why not?
Speaker 2: Why not?
Speaker 6: But the name you brought up with Steph Curry and
Speaker 6: while he is like a similar we talked about the
Speaker 6: term gravity in sports and he has that. It's it's
Speaker 6: not as much on the scoring side as it is creating,
Speaker 6: right you You look at Wayne Gretzky and I think
Speaker 6: if you take out like all of Wayne Gretzky's goals,
Speaker 6: he still is like second all time in scoring with
Speaker 6: all the assists that he he creates. And Connor McDavid
Speaker 6: has more of that than he does, say Alexandrovetchkin, who
Speaker 6: just puts shots in the back of the net over
Speaker 6: and over and over and over again. So it's really
Speaker 6: interesting to watch because he he creates for his teammates
Speaker 6: as he is at you know, every player has a
Speaker 6: little bit of it, but the way he does it,
Speaker 6: you're just seeing open shots for other guys, and that
Speaker 6: is something that I don't know how to compare that
Speaker 6: in the NBA ranks, like lebron Ish, like a guy
Speaker 6: that has the scoring title but also kind of is
Speaker 6: more of a passer. That's that's you know, he's not
Speaker 6: sixty nine to sixty. But that's kind of the name.
Speaker 6: I look at a magic Johnson Lebron, a guy that
Speaker 6: puts up a bunch of points and somehow has the
Speaker 6: gravity to bring in the players around him. Luka Doncic
Speaker 6: if you're looking at kind of a new era, new
Speaker 6: new age guy.
Speaker 2: It was wildly impressive.
Speaker 1: Now the hockey club has a uphill climb at this point,
Speaker 1: as I referenced, fourteen games left to try to make
Speaker 1: up a four point gap. That doesn't sound like a lot,
Speaker 1: but it is coming up on Thursday. So tomorrow Buffalo's
Speaker 1: in town. Three game homestand for the hockey club, it's Buffalo,
Speaker 1: It's Tampa Bay and then Detroit. Then a three game
Speaker 1: road trip following a following that, it's a four game
Speaker 1: homestand then they're going to finish off with three on
Speaker 1: the road at Dallas AD Nashville and at.
Speaker 2: The Saint Louis Blues.
Speaker 1: Neil Smith joins us today courtesy of our friends at
Speaker 1: IFA Country Stores. Now the snow will belt at some point,
Speaker 1: maybe over the next couple of days. We're high speedhead
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Speaker 1: no matter its size or shape. Their four plus lawn
Speaker 1: care program can promote a healthy, green lawn for you
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Speaker 1: can consult IFA's team of experts for your yard this season,
Speaker 1: Visit them online at IFA dot co op, or stop
Speaker 1: by one of eighteen Utah stores today. IFA Country Stores
Speaker 1: you to grow the things that you love. All right,
Speaker 1: we will catch a break coming up on the other side.
Speaker 1: We will preview a massive game tonight in Salt Lake
Speaker 1: at the Delta Center, the Washington Wizards in the house to.
Speaker 2: Take on the Utah Jazz.
Speaker 1: And then we'll talk some big picture NBA with Tim McMahon,
Speaker 1: Chris com Ronnie makes his weekly appearance later on, and
Speaker 1: then Ken Pomeroy an Hour in studio where a guy Ken,
Speaker 1: We're gonna help you fill out your brackets.
Speaker 7: Next on the Drive, Tim McMahon dropping dimes for your
Speaker 7: NBA daily assists.
Speaker 10: Van McMahon, Van McMahon batted old Land.
Speaker 9: Texas flood as it gets muddy and Main Van McMahon,
Speaker 9: Van McMahon.
Speaker 1: Then, man, gonna help you fill out your brackets. Today,
Speaker 1: Ken Pomeroy, the legend himself Kenpalm dot Com is live
Speaker 1: in studio during the four o'clock hour.
Speaker 3: We're gonna go region by region. We'll preview some of
Speaker 3: the local stuff and.
Speaker 1: Get Ken's reaction on the hiring of Alex Jensen, which
Speaker 1: became official yesterday. Excuse me on Monday, I was there.
Speaker 1: Should know Chris Comaraddi from the Athletic later on. But
Speaker 1: there is a massive game tonight here in Salt Lake
Speaker 1: City at the Delta Center as Washington rolls into town
Speaker 1: to take on the Utah Jazz.
Speaker 2: Our next guest covers the.
Speaker 1: Jazz and the NBA as a whole, and Tim McMahon,
Speaker 1: if Wizards Jazz can't get you to Salt Lake, I
Speaker 1: don't know what to do.
Speaker 4: Man. Yeah, well, I would say if things go the
Speaker 4: Jazz is way tonight and then again in the lottery,
Speaker 4: I'll probably make it a lot of trips to Sulti
Speaker 4: City next season.
Speaker 2: All right, there you go, there you go. So what
Speaker 2: what are we expecting? Tonight? The Jazz released the injury report.
Speaker 1: Lowry is out with quote personal reasons, Walker is available,
Speaker 1: John Collins out. Neither of these teams obviously want to
Speaker 1: win this basketball game. They're both stuck on fifteen wins.
Speaker 1: The Jazz have two more losses than Washington. But what
Speaker 1: sort of game are we in for here in Salt Lake?
Speaker 4: You know, it's crazy. The Wizards actually haven't been playing
Speaker 4: terrible basketball, no sin since the trade deadline. And they
Speaker 4: got a couple of bets in there. They got Chris Middleton,
Speaker 4: they got Marcus Smart. How about the Wizards sweeping the
Speaker 4: season series with the Denver Nuggets. It's incredible, But like
Speaker 4: they've made up some and they were in danger of
Speaker 4: like historically horrendous territory, and you know, there is kind
Speaker 4: of this thing of like do you want to have
Speaker 4: lose and just seep into every pore of the culture
Speaker 4: of the franchise and those habits, and so they've been
Speaker 4: playing better basketball, but tonight, you know, obviously this is
Speaker 4: a this is a tanka to loser type of game.
Speaker 4: And I don't know that it's one that I would
Speaker 4: purchase tickets to see. Perhaps some you know, lead pass
Speaker 4: drive bys just for comedic, comedic reasons, you know, listen,
Speaker 4: I enjoy the Walker Kessler really leaning into the player
Speaker 4: development aspect there, and maybe he can get up ten
Speaker 4: or twelve threes in nighty, get eleven in the last
Speaker 4: two games after I think six all season before that,
Speaker 4: something like that. So I enjoyed. You know, Walker Kessler
Speaker 4: stretch five.
Speaker 1: That's gotta be the Jazz trolling the NBA right after
Speaker 1: they find them for city and marketing. They're like, oh, okay,
Speaker 1: if you're gonna find us, we're just gonna let let
Speaker 1: our big guys shoot threes all game.
Speaker 4: Well, I controlling the NBA, I don't. I don't know
Speaker 4: that that's that's aggressive. What I would say about it
Speaker 4: in all seriousness is this Walker works on his threes
Speaker 4: every single day. He would love to be a Brook
Speaker 4: Lopez type of stretch five, And at this point in
Speaker 4: the season, I would say there's no downside and letting
Speaker 4: him fire away. Maybe he stumbles into something and becomes
Speaker 4: comfortable and it's actually a tool in his tool belt
Speaker 4: at some point moving forward. Certainly he's likely to do
Speaker 4: something like go one of eleven from three point range
Speaker 4: over two games that quite frankly, are in their best
Speaker 4: interest to lose. So there's not a downside there, but
Speaker 4: it is like, it's not like, you know, the guy's
Speaker 4: never walked out to the three point line and fired
Speaker 4: one up. He does it every single day. I mean,
Speaker 4: he's trying to develop that, so you know, give him
Speaker 4: a shot. Hey, I remember when the Mavericks are tanking
Speaker 4: trying to get Luca suddenly Solid Measure. I don't know
Speaker 4: if you remember the most, but but Solid Measure was
Speaker 4: firing up some threes. And the funniest thing is there
Speaker 4: was a total tank up to lose a game late
Speaker 4: in that season in Memphis, and the Mavericks will won
Speaker 4: it because Solid Measure he got hot from three point range.
Speaker 1: That's a good pull. I haven't heard that name in
Speaker 1: a while. And you know, like Walker has a decent struke.
Speaker 1: It's not like I can remember the Jazz used to
Speaker 1: every preseason there would be a video on social media
Speaker 1: of like go Bear hitting a corner three, and they'd
Speaker 1: be like, hey, stay tuned. I'm like, don't do that.
Speaker 1: Like that's not like I like, don't do that with Rudy.
Speaker 1: But Walker actually has a decent stroke, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean. It doesn't look like it's aesthetically unpleasing. It's
Speaker 1: pretty fundamentally sound. Maybe someday he can develop it to
Speaker 1: a point where occasionally, when it makes sense, he'll be
Speaker 1: able to knock one down.
Speaker 4: Well, you know, unfortunately, the counterpoint to that would be
Speaker 4: he's not a good free throw shooter. That's typically guys
Speaker 4: who are able to stretch their range out. It's like, hey,
Speaker 4: they're good free throw shooters, and then you know that
Speaker 4: that's an indication that the three point ball is a possibility. However,
Speaker 4: you know, I mentioned brook Lopez. Brook Lopez was a
Speaker 4: prototypical back to the basket score for the first half
Speaker 4: of his career. It wasn't until Kenny Atkinson got to
Speaker 4: Brooklyn pretty deep into Brooks time. There was his last
Speaker 4: season in Brooklyn. I believe that he started marching his
Speaker 4: butt out to the three point line and fining away
Speaker 4: and then they just leaned all the way into it.
Speaker 4: You know. A couple of stops later for him when
Speaker 4: he got to Milwaukee, and now he's like the epitome
Speaker 4: of a rim protecting stretch five, which I mean, that's
Speaker 4: absolutely a new archetype of big man in the NBA.
Speaker 4: And if you've got a guy who can protect the
Speaker 4: rim and then you have to guard him on the
Speaker 4: three point line, Like, that's a big time weapon. I don't.
Speaker 4: I don't think it's necessarily likely that Casper becomes that,
Speaker 4: But why not, like, at least at this point of
Speaker 4: the season, when you know you're trying to stack a
Speaker 4: lot of house as high as possible, why not lean
Speaker 4: all the way into it?
Speaker 2: For sure?
Speaker 1: I mean, at this point, you know, try whatever you
Speaker 1: need to try, because we all know what time it is.
Speaker 1: But since I referenced the Jazz being fined tim for
Speaker 1: city marketing, can you help us understand this? I mean, ultimately,
Speaker 1: it's it feels like teams sit players every single night
Speaker 1: and star players every single night.
Speaker 2: Like why the Jazz? Why would Larry what happened here?
Speaker 4: Because it was an extraordinarily aggressive tanking measure and there,
Speaker 4: if we're being real honest, this is three straight years
Speaker 4: this time that the Jazz were extraordinarily aggressive with tanking measures.
Speaker 4: I mean, that's the simplest reason. And then what was
Speaker 4: it like nine straight missed games?
Speaker 2: Correct? Yeah?
Speaker 4: So I mean so look, I mean, let's just be real.
Speaker 4: It was pretty flavorant violation of the player participation policy,
Speaker 4: and so they hit them with one hundred thousand dollars fine,
Speaker 4: and look, if you end up with Cooper Flag, you'd
Speaker 4: pay ten million dollars in fines to get there. So
Speaker 4: I mean, it's it's not pretty, it's not fun, but
Speaker 4: it is in the best interest of the Jazz to
Speaker 4: be tanking aggressively, and the league called them out on
Speaker 4: it because what they were doing marketing it was pretty flagrant.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and there's no debate as far as how, you know,
Speaker 1: how they were handling it. It just feels like it
Speaker 1: happens across the landscape of the league. So I don't know,
Speaker 1: I thought it was odd that they on the Jazz.
Speaker 4: Well, but there's been an investigation in Philly. They're investigating.
Speaker 4: I mean, they investigated the player participation policy violations for
Speaker 4: the Oklahoma City Thunder, the number one seed in the
Speaker 4: Western Conference for a game that they won by double
Speaker 4: figures because Portland despite sitting there like top six players.
Speaker 4: So it's not only the Jazz. But again, I really
Speaker 4: like the real honest answer is the Jazz have been
Speaker 4: pretty aggressive tankers, at least late season in each of
Speaker 4: the last three years. I mean, I don't know if
Speaker 4: I've told you this before, but when the Mavericks tanked
Speaker 4: the last couple of games a couple of years ago
Speaker 4: when they had that top ten protective pick and post
Speaker 4: Kyrie trade, like, things did not go well and they
Speaker 4: couldn't win, and they're at a point where, hey, they
Speaker 4: had a small chance of being a playing team. But
Speaker 4: the most likely scenario that kept their foot on the
Speaker 4: gas was they land the eleventh pick, which would have
Speaker 4: gone in New York. So they tanked. You know, I
Speaker 4: called the league office and I'm talking to make the
Speaker 4: league office and I'm like, hey, like, are you guys
Speaker 4: gonna make any kind of comments? They're going to be
Speaker 4: kind of punishment. And this person said, have you called
Speaker 4: me about the Jazz And my response was, has Ryan
Speaker 4: Smith been fined six hundred thousand recently for publicly discussing
Speaker 4: tanking measures? Has that happened in the last few years?
Speaker 4: And so you know the Mavericks will repeat violators of
Speaker 4: Flagan tanking and you know had actually been fined before
Speaker 4: and this is the first time. Then look, one hundred
Speaker 4: grand is a slap on the wrist. Let's just be real.
Speaker 4: But they got slapped on the wrist. And because they've
Speaker 4: been very aggressive over multiple years now.
Speaker 1: So you referenced something with Washington, the concern of allowing,
Speaker 1: you know, losing to permeate throughout the culture of your organization.
Speaker 1: And with Washington, we're a little late for that conversation.
Speaker 1: I mean, my goodness, that organization. Whenever Jazz fans getting
Speaker 1: their feelings, I'm like, dude, you look around the league
Speaker 1: for a little bit, namely Washington. But I always believe
Speaker 1: Tim when there's a team that has leaned into simply
Speaker 1: losing consistently. While I understand and agree with oftentimes the approach,
Speaker 1: there has to be a little bit of a danger
Speaker 1: for the Kyle Philipowskis and the Isaiah Colliers and the
Speaker 1: Cayante Georges.
Speaker 2: Of the world to get accustomed to this.
Speaker 1: Now, what I will say is the past month, month
Speaker 1: and a half, there have been several games where the
Speaker 1: Jazz have been close at the end against good teams,
Speaker 1: which I think is valuable experience. But is there a
Speaker 1: danger to leaning into this when you are trying to
Speaker 1: develop young players and teaching them how to be professionals.
Speaker 4: Well, there absolutely is. And that's why I think that
Speaker 4: this is an extraordinarily tough task for will Hardy because ultimately,
Speaker 4: like he's responsible for establishing the standards and the you
Speaker 4: know what's unacceptable and you know, really instilled in the
Speaker 4: kind of culture that he wants. And look, let's like
Speaker 4: that's why you know, there have been instances, for example,
Speaker 4: where he's publicly called out the complete lack of effort
Speaker 4: defensively and young players have lost minutes because you know,
Speaker 4: they haven't had the level of acceptable effort defensively. So
Speaker 4: it's a it's a it's a really no pun intended
Speaker 4: to kind of a no win situation, uh for a coach.
Speaker 4: But the challenge is you understand the organizational path right,
Speaker 4: and you've got to get high in talent to ever
Speaker 4: have any chance of getting that thing turned around. And
Speaker 4: you get what the easiest way to get there is.
Speaker 4: But you just can't let bad losing habits seet in
Speaker 4: and and you know, honestly, that was a huge issue
Speaker 4: in Houston during their three years of blatant tanking after
Speaker 4: the James Harden trade. You know, Emiodoko was able to
Speaker 4: come in and fix those problems really quickly. You know,
Speaker 4: I do think that Will Hardy's got a very bright
Speaker 4: future as a head coach. I do think that he
Speaker 4: has a level of authority, uh, and and respect in
Speaker 4: that locker rooman And you know the other thing is like, hey,
Speaker 4: if these guys don't live up to those standards, they
Speaker 4: won't be there very long. And so if they if
Speaker 4: they don't respect what he's trying to, you know, the
Speaker 4: standards he's trying to enforce, then you know they'll probably
Speaker 4: be looking for a job somewhere else.
Speaker 1: Sarah Todd des red News Front of the Show wrote
Speaker 1: a piece last week that has received a lot of traction,
Speaker 1: and we talked about it with her on the show,
Speaker 1: and essentially it felt like she was talking to somebody
Speaker 1: at the organization, and I think she probably was. That
Speaker 1: has now kind of coined the term of the last
Speaker 1: three years were a tear down and the rebuild starts now,
Speaker 1: all right, Like I, you know, you and I have
Speaker 1: talked to that.
Speaker 4: I've got a pretty good idea who she takes to do.
Speaker 1: But go on fair enough, fair enough, And I guess
Speaker 1: that's a spin you can put on the situation three
Speaker 1: years later when you didn't handle it the right way
Speaker 1: from the start, is my opinion on that. But if
Speaker 1: the rebuild starts now, Tim, does it feel like next
Speaker 1: year is going to feel a lot.
Speaker 4: Like this year, you know what, I think that depends
Speaker 4: on a lot of factors. And frankly, one of those
Speaker 4: factors is do they win the lottery? And if so,
Speaker 4: the second factor would be how ready is Cooper Flag
Speaker 4: to make an immediate impact?
Speaker 7: You know?
Speaker 4: Now, look, are there is there going to be like
Speaker 4: some massive jump and wins next year? Are they going
Speaker 4: to you know, be a sixth seed in the Western Conference?
Speaker 4: I mean unlikely? But again, if if if Cooper Flag
Speaker 4: is as good immediately as people think he might be,
Speaker 4: who knows, yeah, And then like say they win the lottery,
Speaker 4: how do they approach the rest of the summer? You know,
Speaker 4: are they are they aggressive to kind of get veterans
Speaker 4: in there, to to put a you know, realistic competitive
Speaker 4: team on the court. Stranger things have happened. The Detroit
Speaker 4: Business won fourteen games last year. They're in sixth place
Speaker 4: in the Eastern Conference right now. So I'm not saying
Speaker 4: it's impossible. I am saying, one, the West is a
Speaker 4: lot tougher than the East, and and and two you know,
Speaker 4: for the for that reason and others, it's it's pretty unlikely.
Speaker 4: You know, typically rebuilds our multiple year processes.
Speaker 1: So interesting though, because according to what Sarah Road, let's
Speaker 1: operate off the fun hypothetical that Lady Luck shines on
Speaker 1: us here in Salt Lake in a way that it
Speaker 1: hasn't so far in the jazz.
Speaker 2: It's wild.
Speaker 1: The Jazz have only been a lottery nine times, but
Speaker 1: they've had nine chances. They've never moved up outside of
Speaker 1: a trade that they've made. That's how they got d Will.
Speaker 1: But if it actually goes down and Cooper Flag is
Speaker 1: a jazz man, Sarah kind of pontificated on the possibility
Speaker 1: of actually that being the start of the timeline for
Speaker 1: what they're trying to build, meaning, do you move on
Speaker 1: from Lowry now that you're gonna be able to once
Speaker 1: this offseason comes down? Do you even considering move on
Speaker 1: from Walker Kessler, which pontificated about in her piece for
Speaker 1: the d News, like if they get the prize of
Speaker 1: Cooper Flag. The tone and tenor of the piece was, Okay,
Speaker 1: now we start our rebuild, and maybe we move on
Speaker 1: from everyone because tim if we're honest outside of Lowry
Speaker 1: and Walker, I don't know.
Speaker 2: I just don't. I think there are moments good, go ahead, good.
Speaker 4: I would say it's fair to say you don't know.
Speaker 4: I think it's premature to say, you know, none of
Speaker 4: these guys can be contributors to a to a competitive team.
Speaker 4: Oh sure, I wasn't saying that now, But look like
Speaker 4: the Lowry thing, Hey, you've got to consider all options.
Speaker 4: And if you're building around here, I is going to
Speaker 4: be eighteen next season, so like probably unlikely that he's
Speaker 4: going to be able to drive winning right away. And like,
Speaker 4: you know, I think you have to be open mind
Speaker 4: to do all possibilities. And you have to just like
Speaker 4: they did last summer with Lowry, you have to be
Speaker 4: willing to listen to conversations. You know, you have to be,
Speaker 4: you know, even willing to begin conversations, to initiate conversations.
Speaker 4: He's not untouchable. You can't. You know, you can't win fifteen, sixteen,
Speaker 4: seventeen games and consider somebody untouchable. Now, having said that,
Speaker 4: I would be pretty hesitant to move Walker Kessler because
Speaker 4: he's twenty three years old. He's going to be you know,
Speaker 4: he's the type of guy who I think can be
Speaker 4: a high, high, high quality role player on a good team.
Speaker 4: And I think he's got at least a decade long
Speaker 4: runway in front of him, And again we're basing this
Speaker 4: on like they win the lottery. It's Cooper Flagg, who's
Speaker 4: supposed to be just a potential, like tremendous impact defensive player,
Speaker 4: like a like a andre Kirolinko type of defender. You know,
Speaker 4: if you have that type of defender with one of
Speaker 4: the two or three best rim protectors in the league,
Speaker 4: that's this, you know, the foundation of potentially an elite
Speaker 4: or an elite defense. For a long time, the asking
Speaker 4: price was very high for Walker Kesterper, you know, even
Speaker 4: going back to last summer when people thought the Jazz
Speaker 4: might be down on him. Me, maybe he could be
Speaker 4: at for a discount. And I don't see any reason
Speaker 4: that would change were.
Speaker 1: They ever close moving on from Walker, either last offseason
Speaker 1: or prior to the trade deadline this year.
Speaker 4: That to my knowledge, I've not heard. You know, I
Speaker 4: know there's been a lot of teams that have inquired
Speaker 4: about him. I to my knowledge, there's never been anything
Speaker 4: that was a serious consideration.
Speaker 1: So let me revisit what I said. And I didn't
Speaker 1: mean to imply that none of these guys are ever
Speaker 1: going to turn out. I just very much have questions
Speaker 1: about all of them. But if I removed Lowry and
Speaker 1: if I removed Walker from the equation, who do you think,
Speaker 1: based off of what you've seen, has a chance to
Speaker 1: be here when they are good again.
Speaker 4: Well, unfortunately, we barely have seen Taylor Hendris, and you know,
Speaker 4: we'll see if he's even ready for training camp next year.
Speaker 4: I know they're very encouraged by the progress that he
Speaker 4: made last summer after a tough rookie season for a
Speaker 4: kid who was a teenager at the time. You know,
Speaker 4: Isaiah Kaier has definitely had stretches of really endearing himself
Speaker 4: to Will Hardy this season. You know, Kyante George is
Speaker 4: in some ways it's kind of like Walker where the
Speaker 4: second season has been disappointing. I think he's more of
Speaker 4: a you know, of a Jordan Clarkson than he is
Speaker 4: a Darren Williams. You know, I don't think he's ever
Speaker 4: going to be a league or for somebody, can he
Speaker 4: be a bench bucket getner. I could see that, And
Speaker 4: then honestly, this year's rookiees like, let's let's see, let's
Speaker 4: see summer league. Let's see how they handle the summer.
Speaker 4: I mentioned Collier, but I'm talking about like Cody Williams, Philipowski.
Speaker 4: Philipowski shown a little something. I don't you know. I
Speaker 4: think he's a bench player, uh if he's able to
Speaker 4: carve out a long career. And then Cody Williams is like,
Speaker 4: let's be honest, he's more of an idea than a
Speaker 4: than a player at this point. This summer is gonna
Speaker 4: be huge for him.
Speaker 2: All Right, one more jazz thing then we'll move on
Speaker 2: from this.
Speaker 1: And like you, I don't do the you know, draft
Speaker 1: grind on tape every day thing the way that people
Speaker 1: do it that have it as a full time gig,
Speaker 1: like your guy Jonathan Givodi or others that cover the draft.
Speaker 1: But it does feel like I mean, even when wem
Speaker 1: Benyama was there to be had, you had hipsters and
Speaker 1: NBA media say things like well I kind of like Scoot,
Speaker 1: You're like, all right, dude, whatever. But it it feels
Speaker 1: like we've moved into a space where at the start
Speaker 1: of the season you would hear Dylan Harper, you would
Speaker 1: hear Ace Bailey, you'd hear vg Edge Comb. And after
Speaker 1: what Cooper's done, is it safe to say that, like
Speaker 1: wen Banyama, this is Cooper on his own level, then
Speaker 1: everybody else after him based on your understanding.
Speaker 4: That's my understanding. And you know, I've talked a little
Speaker 4: bit to scouts and executives, and I if Cooper flags
Speaker 4: not the number one pick, people throughout the league can
Speaker 4: be absolutely shocked and dumbfounded. So you know, I would
Speaker 4: say that would put him very much on his own level.
Speaker 1: You brought up the Detroit Pistons. Do you still stay
Speaker 1: in contact with Dennis? With Dennis lindsay and I wonder
Speaker 1: what sort of role he's played in kind of this resurgence.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know what, I'll be honest with you, I
Speaker 4: have not been in touch with Dennis this season. I
Speaker 4: have not. I don't get East a lot, and I
Speaker 4: haven't run into him this season. But I would say
Speaker 4: that he had his fingerprints all over a very productive
Speaker 4: off season for the Mavericks a couple of summers ago,
Speaker 4: and you know, the Pistons made it a priority to
Speaker 4: hire him With a rookie general manager in Trajan Langdon,
Speaker 4: they obviously also had a very productive off season, and
Speaker 4: so look, you know, you start to credit with a
Speaker 4: guy who's in charge and making the decisions in Trajan Langdon.
Speaker 4: But Dinnis Lindsey's gotten off the good track record, and
Speaker 4: this is too straight, too straight summers that he's been
Speaker 4: part of a front office that's that's made some moves
Speaker 4: that really paid immediate dividends, and you know, you got
Speaker 4: to think he had something to do with it all.
Speaker 2: Right before I set you loose.
Speaker 1: The big news story regarding the local sports scene is
Speaker 1: that it is official as of Monday afternoon, that Alex
Speaker 1: Jensen is the seventeenth head coach in Utah men's basketball history.
Speaker 1: The Jazz played the Tea Wolves a few I had
Speaker 1: to go Gobert post game was asked about the higher
Speaker 1: and Rudy gave a great answer. It's up online. It's
Speaker 1: up on the Utah page, the Jazz page. Will Hardy
Speaker 1: was asked about Alex. I mean, everybody said everything that
Speaker 1: you would expect. And I know that you know Alex,
Speaker 1: and this is a bit redundant because I did ask
Speaker 1: you about it last week, but now that it is official,
Speaker 1: as somebody who covers both the Jazz and the MAVs,
Speaker 1: tell youth fans what they should know from your experience
Speaker 1: about their new head coach.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I didn't actually see Rudy's comments. I would be
Speaker 4: interested to see those because look, I've said it before,
Speaker 4: like other than Rudy Gobert, nobody deserves more credit for
Speaker 4: that raw, gangleing, goofy young French guy developing into a
Speaker 4: future Hall of Famer than Alex Jensen. And you know,
Speaker 4: Alex I think has a great feel for player development.
Speaker 4: He has been a very successful head coach at the
Speaker 4: G League level. I think that his style of their
Speaker 4: you know, direct communication is I think it's a great approach.
Speaker 10: You know.
Speaker 4: I think that the recruiting stuff, like you know, his
Speaker 4: hires as assistant coaches are going to be very important
Speaker 4: because he's not necessarily a naturally gregarious type of guy.
Speaker 4: I also think that the alumni, you know, the alumni
Speaker 4: donations to the Nile Fund are going to be even
Speaker 4: more important than that. If Alex Jensen is a heck
Speaker 4: of a coach, if he has the support, if necessary
Speaker 4: to win in the in college basketball, I think he's
Speaker 4: going to do so.
Speaker 2: Is the all right?
Speaker 1: March twenty fifth, dam the book is on its way
Speaker 1: here the next little bit and so two questions where
Speaker 1: can people go?
Speaker 4: Get it?
Speaker 1: And number two is based off of this next iteration
Speaker 1: of Luca's career. Are you considering additions to this book.
Speaker 1: I mean, there's a lot of Luca Tonsci's basketball left
Speaker 1: in front of us.
Speaker 4: Now listen, the last edition of this book, there's actually
Speaker 4: eight thousand copies were printed befo or the trade, every
Speaker 4: other copy, the e book, the audiobook, all those they've
Speaker 4: got the last chapter that I wrote in the two
Speaker 4: weeks after the trade, and it's it's kind of a
Speaker 4: perfect and into to the story. It's his entire run,
Speaker 4: all the drama, all of this function, all the chaos,
Speaker 4: all the success. Uh, and the shocking plot twist at
Speaker 4: the end of his of his tenure with the Dallas Mavericks. Uh.
Speaker 4: Will it be another Luca book? Whether there be a
Speaker 4: Luca Lakers book, that's a great question to ask when
Speaker 4: you have Dave mcmanhiman on. Okay, I've handed old mac
Speaker 4: Tima baton, but no, I appreciate you mentioned that. As
Speaker 4: far as where to get it, you know, everywhere you
Speaker 4: get books. You can you know, Amazon right now, you
Speaker 4: can get the you know, hey, if you want to
Speaker 4: go for the Triple Crown, you can get the book,
Speaker 4: you can get the audiobook, and you can get the
Speaker 4: hard copy.
Speaker 7: Uh.
Speaker 4: You know, old school, pretty cover and all that. So
Speaker 4: you know some people in Dallas are bullcott in the book.
Speaker 4: It's actually pretty humorous. There's a there's a conspiracy theory
Speaker 4: that I was colluding with Nico Harrison over the last
Speaker 4: few years on Lukadancis out of Dallas.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh.
Speaker 4: All right, well, yeah, never underestimate the creativity of the
Speaker 4: angry Internet, Bob.
Speaker 3: Well said, Well said, thank you, my friend. I have
Speaker 3: a good week with chat soon.
Speaker 4: Okay, all I appreciate your brother.
Speaker 2: Hright, the great Tim McMahon.
Speaker 1: Yeah, his book comes out officially on March the twenty fifth,
Speaker 1: called The Wonder Boy. It's about Lukadocic. Tim stops Spot
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Speaker 2: The field is.
Speaker 6: Set for March Madness. Six seed BYU takes on eleven
Speaker 6: seed VCU. The Cougars one of seven Big Twelve teams
Speaker 6: to make the Big Dance. Ten seed Utah State takes
Speaker 6: on seven seed UCLA, with both local games tomorrow. First
Speaker 6: four playing games are in progress. North Carolina and Alabama
Speaker 6: State advancing with two more games tonight. Utah not involved,
Speaker 6: but they will be playing postseason basketball if they have
Speaker 6: accepted an invite to the inaugural College Basketball Crown in
Speaker 6: Las Vegas. Utah tips off against Butler in just under
Speaker 6: two weeks. On the women's side, Utah is going dancing.
Speaker 6: Eight seed Utah takes on nine seed Indiana on Friday
Speaker 6: at eleven thirty. Each of Gavin Peterson and the Youth's
Speaker 6: tournament games will be live right here on ESPN seven
Speaker 6: hundred and ninety two point one FM. Utah Jazz are
Speaker 6: back in action at the Delta Center tonight seven pm
Speaker 6: tip off against the fifteen and fifty two Wizards. The
Speaker 6: Jazz the only team in the association behind Washington.
Speaker 5: As NBA Draft.
Speaker 6: Lottery watch begins in earnest and the Utah Hockey Club
Speaker 6: allowed seven goals in a loss last night to the
Speaker 6: Oilers at thirty twenty seven and eleven. UHC drops to
Speaker 6: four points out of the Western Conference Wildcard. Now back
Speaker 6: to the Delta Center for a three game homestand beginning
Speaker 6: tomorrow at seven against Buffalo, fourteen games remain on their
Speaker 6: NHL slate. This Hour of the Drive is brought to
Speaker 6: you by IFA Country Stores. They have everything you need
Speaker 6: to care for your lawn, no matter its size or shape.
Speaker 6: Four plus Lawn Care program can promote healthy green grass
Speaker 6: for you this summer. Consult ifased team of experts online
Speaker 6: at IFA dot co op or stop by one at
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Speaker 6: grow the Things you love with your Sports Center update,
Speaker 6: I importer Larsen on Utah's number one sports Talk. It's
Speaker 6: ESPN seven hundred ninety two point one FM live on YouTube,
Speaker 6: man at ESPN seven hundred sports dot com.
Speaker 2: It sounds like a ck request, is it?
Speaker 10: It is?
Speaker 1: Yes, we got Lake Street Dive all right, Christopher Camarade.
Speaker 1: Wednesday afternoon. It's sunny and you know, kind of nice.
Speaker 1: Why aren't you sitting across from me today?
Speaker 10: I have a sick kid home with me who is
Speaker 10: getting to digest all of the cartoons and he knows
Speaker 10: that he can milk it for as long as he can.
Speaker 10: So that's where we find ourselves in this chapter of parenthood.
Speaker 2: Godspeed. What's the deal with the track today? I know
Speaker 2: nothing about it?
Speaker 10: Well, I guess in honor of the happy gilmour Io
Speaker 10: trailer going to My Happy Place. And my happy place
Speaker 10: is jam band music in the Summertime, which is about
Speaker 10: as opposite as it can get from right now.
Speaker 1: Jam band music in the Yeah, jam band music in
Speaker 1: the summertime. I'm with you on that seat, with you on.
Speaker 10: That I know you are. I know you are, and
Speaker 10: I think if you got it, Lake Street Dive saw
Speaker 10: him at one of the Twilights, one of the years
Speaker 10: fun jam band from Boston. I think you would dig them, man,
Speaker 10: I mean, I know, I know that you can get
Speaker 10: a little bit, you can get down with the jam bands.
Speaker 10: I know that if you can let the guitarist riff
Speaker 10: for a while, maybe let the trumpets go, you can
Speaker 10: get into it.
Speaker 1: Oh you'll find me shoes off, gummy jam band summer
Speaker 1: at some point. You'll you'll find me at some point
Speaker 1: this summer withes and a gummy and joined it.
Speaker 2: There's no doubt.
Speaker 10: One with the earth.
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, well said Chris Well. Well said c K.
Speaker 1: Lake Street Dive. Okay, I'll check it out. What what
Speaker 1: are the kids into? When Connor was Leo's age, it
Speaker 1: was Blues Clues, it was Dora, it was that dumb Barney,
Speaker 1: that freaking purple dinosaur. Oh my gosh, what like None
Speaker 1: of the cartoons that Connor liked were digestible for adults.
Speaker 2: What's Leo into these days?
Speaker 10: There's a show called Paw Patrol.
Speaker 2: I've heard of Patrol.
Speaker 10: Yes, And as soon as I said that, he looked
Speaker 10: over at me and smiled. There's this show on PBS
Speaker 10: called Wildcrats, which is cool because it's like a human
Speaker 10: to cartoon show where these two guys are supposedly like
Speaker 10: adventure anthropologists Indiana Jones types, and they go into the
Speaker 10: world of animals in a cartoon version. So he likes
Speaker 10: that as well.
Speaker 4: But it is.
Speaker 10: Reprehensible to say the least. I spend a lot of
Speaker 10: time with my EarPods and let's just say that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they if somebody could create a cartoon, the kids
Speaker 1: love that. Adults kind of latched on SpongeBob doesn't count. Like,
Speaker 1: if you could create a cartoon, the kids are glued
Speaker 1: to that. Adults don't want to rip their hair out.
Speaker 1: I think that's a million dollar idea.
Speaker 10: There's this show called Bluey out of Australia and it's
Speaker 10: about an Australian shepherd and its family. And the episodes
Speaker 10: are very short and it is tender and it is
Speaker 10: heartwarming and it is one that actually is decent, and
Speaker 10: it is the one show that my son cannot stand.
Speaker 10: So the irony and that is very thick.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I'm out of the market for having children.
Speaker 1: Mine's grown, so I'll never experience it. Did you ever
Speaker 1: have to watch Dora the Explorer? For any reason at all.
Speaker 10: I did not, but I remember hearing about it.
Speaker 2: Dude.
Speaker 1: It just like I can sing the Map song still
Speaker 1: to this day, and it used to bother me so
Speaker 1: so badly. But let's move on from that into more nonsense.
Speaker 1: So Porter and I were talking earlier. NCAA tournament time
Speaker 1: means we have to get familiar with True TV, and
Speaker 1: True TV is airing reruns of Eastbounding Down after basketball?
Speaker 2: Did you consume Eastbounding Down?
Speaker 10: Maybe my favorite comedy show of all time? Oh wow, okay, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 10: I mean so much so that back when streaming wasn't
Speaker 10: really a thing and you had to buy episodes on
Speaker 10: Apple back in the day. Do you remember this?
Speaker 2: Of course, yes, of course.
Speaker 10: I have them all on my phone still all these
Speaker 10: years later, and travel days, like when you're on one
Speaker 10: of the Delta flights that doesn't happen to have the
Speaker 10: Wi Fi connector doesn't have the screens. I pull it up, man,
Speaker 10: and I just sit in that. I sit in my
Speaker 10: window see and I just laugh out loud, and I
Speaker 10: probably look like a weirdo. But it is a show
Speaker 10: that takes me to a place that just makes me happy.
Speaker 10: It's brilliant and offensive and no way could be done today,
Speaker 10: but man it is. It's so ironic you bring that up.
Speaker 10: My buddy and I were driving home from our indoor
Speaker 10: game on Monday. We were talking about Eastbound and how
Speaker 10: much we loved it, and yeah, it's a great show,
Speaker 10: probably my favorite comedy series of all time.
Speaker 1: The Adam Scott cameo is the agent kills me every
Speaker 1: single time. But Danny McBride, for me is a benefit
Speaker 1: of the Dowd creator. Like, if I hear that Danny
Speaker 1: McBride has done something, he's got my attention.
Speaker 10: I mean, I'm with you without a doubt.
Speaker 4: I think.
Speaker 10: Yeah. That show also had like insane cameos beyond Adam Scott,
Speaker 10: like Craig Robinson as the one eyed like villain, the antagonist,
Speaker 10: the guy who Kenny took out his eye, Will Ferrell
Speaker 10: Elite as the as the car salesman, Ashley Schaeffer Plums
Speaker 10: mcconnag was in it. I'm trying to think who else.
Speaker 2: Marilyn Manson had a cameo in it.
Speaker 10: Su Dakis as his best friend Shane, who did bodysurfing
Speaker 10: It's in Myrtle Beach, and Ike Baron holds like it's
Speaker 10: it's it is so bad and it is so I mean,
Speaker 10: like if if I know, I know, there is the
Speaker 10: twenty percent of the Drive Monday to Friday two to six.
Speaker 10: It gets too woke. I don't think this for for
Speaker 10: your listeners. This is where we're a little anti woke
Speaker 10: on me spounding down. But it's a great show. It's funny.
Speaker 10: Danny McBride has carte blanche Vice Principles was amazing. I
Speaker 10: don't know if you saw that. It was only two seasons,
Speaker 10: but kind of. Goggins is like coming out party from
Speaker 10: like a comedic point of view, and laid the groundwork
Speaker 10: for maybe my favorite comedy character of all time. Uncle
Speaker 10: Baby Billy and Righteous Gemstones like yes to your point,
Speaker 10: got their bench league, Danny McBride can do no wrong.
Speaker 1: Is Walton Goggins properly rated? It feels like he is
Speaker 1: having a moment because are you watching White Lotus? He's
Speaker 1: killing in White Lotus?
Speaker 10: He is, and he was really good in Fallout, which
Speaker 10: is a adaptation of a video game, popular video game
Speaker 10: like ten years ago. But yes he is. I think
Speaker 10: he's having his moment. Excuse me having his moment justified
Speaker 10: I don't know if he saw Justified. He was great
Speaker 10: and Justified so but baby Billy Man so good, so good.
Speaker 10: The song when he's singing with like the clam on
Speaker 10: his back, hallelujah. Would a payday at this fake Jesus resort?
Speaker 10: I mean, I'm just yeah, we could go on for hours.
Speaker 1: If you're having a bad day, just google Will Ferrell,
Speaker 1: Craig Robinson, Danny McBride. He's founding down out takes. That's
Speaker 1: one of the funniest things I've ever seen in.
Speaker 2: My entire life. I'm not kidding. Let the boy watch,
Speaker 2: Let the boy watch.
Speaker 1: All right, Well, last week we did fifteen minutes on
Speaker 1: Phillips Hoffman. So yeah, you never know where we're going
Speaker 1: to go. But we will move on now and talk
Speaker 1: a little sports. So it is official, Christopher that Alex
Speaker 1: Jensen has been hired as the seventeenth head coach and
Speaker 1: Utah men's basketball history. The press conference was on Monday night.
Speaker 1: Did the show at the John John M. Huntsman Center
Speaker 1: on Monday afternoon. Actually, let me start here. It's going
Speaker 1: to get a facelift. The Huntsman Center is and it
Speaker 1: could be a massive construction project. Several boxes have to
Speaker 1: be checked before we're there, and I am one certainly
Speaker 1: as I age that I'm prone to nostalgia and memories,
Speaker 1: and walking into the Huntsman Center on Monday certainly reminded
Speaker 1: me of a lot of fond days when Alex was
Speaker 1: playing and I was a student at at Utah and
Speaker 1: the Huntsman Center has a lot of history.
Speaker 2: But I think this is probably the right move. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I mean it feels like it does need a little love.
Speaker 10: Yeah, without a doubt. I mean, if you look at
Speaker 10: that campus, even from the time I went to school,
Speaker 10: which is sixteen years ago, like it is night and day,
Speaker 10: just from the like the academic facilities, like the buildings.
Speaker 4: That were up there when I was there.
Speaker 10: Was like, if that earthquake hits that's supposed to hit,
Speaker 10: we are all done. Like we're in a building that
Speaker 10: is like mad Men era built. So the fact that
Speaker 10: they're going to give a facelift or you know, potentially
Speaker 10: have a new place for what I would assume will
Speaker 10: be called the Huntsman Center still is necessary. It's a
Speaker 10: it's a cool place. It has a great history. You know,
Speaker 10: the Magic Bird Final four run was here, but like
Speaker 10: there hasn't been that much. There's been no Huntsman magic
Speaker 10: man like like you know, Lynn Roberts teams have have
Speaker 10: been fun the last couple of years, but like other
Speaker 10: than that, it just really hasn't you know, obviously hasn't
Speaker 10: struck the chord with the fan base for a multitude
Speaker 10: of reasons. So it's a cool old building, but I
Speaker 10: think it makes sense to be a to fund a
Speaker 10: significant revamp on a antiquated building, even though it's cool
Speaker 10: for sure.
Speaker 1: And we had Doctor hill in studio yesterday, and you know.
Speaker 2: Doctor hill the course hired.
Speaker 1: Rick mcjerrison was around when Alex was a player, and
Speaker 1: Alex reached out to doctor Hillton talked to him before
Speaker 1: he decided to take the job. And this feels, Chris
Speaker 1: like a hire that simply has just been given the
Speaker 1: thumbs up by everybody all over the place, whatever wherever
Speaker 1: your spot is in this ecosystem, if you played for
Speaker 1: the school, if you're in the administration, if you cover
Speaker 1: the team, or if you're a fan or whatever. Feels
Speaker 1: like everybody's on board. But then of course the next
Speaker 1: step is understanding how the staff is going to look.
Speaker 1: But what what are the boxes that have to be checked?
Speaker 3: Until you know, prior to finally seeing consistent big crowds
Speaker 3: in that in that building.
Speaker 10: Yeah, I would start with I mean, if we're going
Speaker 10: to invert the pyramid, like one star talent, two cantilizing style,
Speaker 10: play three wins, like you kind of have to have
Speaker 10: an amalgamation of all those three. And obviously they can come,
Speaker 10: you know in waves, like you can have star talent
Speaker 10: that might underachieve for a while and blossom into something major.
Speaker 10: You could be like those BYU teams that frankly, like
Speaker 10: in the last decade haven't been great in the postseason,
Speaker 10: but like they've played an enticing style of basketball, and
Speaker 10: you know, whether it was Dave Rose or Mark Pope
Speaker 10: or whomever, like they got people to want to go
Speaker 10: to their games or watch their games. Utah just simply
Speaker 10: hasn't had that for quite a long time. And like
Speaker 10: there are other teams in college basketball across the country
Speaker 10: that I figure that out. Utah, for whatever reason, amongst
Speaker 10: you know, several you know, generations of coaches now in
Speaker 10: the last twenty years, hasn't really been able to nail
Speaker 10: that down. So I think that is one thing that
Speaker 10: faces Alex like right right off the back, like he
Speaker 10: has to get good players, and he has to install
Speaker 10: a system where it's like I know in this you know,
Speaker 10: you know, pay and space era, like that is going
Speaker 10: to be you know, key for a lot. Yeah, I
Speaker 10: got you, but I know that is going to be
Speaker 10: paramount for a lot of teams, and it might work
Speaker 10: for some teams, but like just I don't know, man
Speaker 10: end up on Sports Center Top ten, like, give give
Speaker 10: a casual college basketball fan a reason to tune in
Speaker 10: to watch Utah play whomever who we're gonna throw out
Speaker 10: there for the sake of being funny this week West Virginia, Like, like,
Speaker 10: give the people a reason to tune in. And I
Speaker 10: guarantee you Utah fans not only haven't really been tuning
Speaker 10: in the last ten years or so, but like the
Speaker 10: casuals who probably remember Utah being you know, fun way
Speaker 10: back when, definitely haven't been paying attention. So that matters too.
Speaker 2: When it comes to the staff.
Speaker 1: We've discussed it, but it seems like every time I
Speaker 1: read anything about it or hear anything from people, there
Speaker 1: is this feel like, yeah, you got to just get
Speaker 1: all the Utah guys. You just got to get And look,
Speaker 1: I've said this probably twenty times. I'll say it again
Speaker 1: for those that haven't heard. If Andrea wants to come,
Speaker 1: that's the higher you make. To me, that's a no brainer.
Speaker 2: And part of that is me. I'm sorry. I know
Speaker 2: you want to be a gen xer, but I am.
Speaker 1: And as a gen xer, you walk into a gym
Speaker 1: with Andre Miller on your bench, that's cache and credibility
Speaker 1: that's hard to find.
Speaker 2: But beyond that, I think we're doing Alex maybe a.
Speaker 1: Little bit of a disservice by saying, Okay, just hire
Speaker 1: everybody else that wants to have the job that, once
Speaker 1: upon a time may may have played at Utah. He's
Speaker 1: been away from the college game, certainly for twenty years,
Speaker 1: and he's been in pro basketball on a number of
Speaker 1: different levels during that timeframe as well. And I'm sure
Speaker 1: he has relationships and his cultivated relationships that are beyond
Speaker 1: this ecosystem and this community what sort and I've been
Speaker 1: and I talked to Doc Hill about this yesterday. If
Speaker 1: we use the coach with model, he has coaches of
Speaker 1: all different races, and he tries to balance things out
Speaker 1: within state guys, out of state guys, and certainly you
Speaker 1: need people that understand the just the way things work
Speaker 1: around here. Sometimes I feel like that's a little bit overstated.
Speaker 1: But generally speaking, as we wait to hear how Alex
Speaker 1: fiells out his staff, what are you expecting to see?
Speaker 10: I mean, the fact that he's coming from the league
Speaker 10: probably lends to the theory that he might be willing
Speaker 10: to bring some guys that he's met along the way
Speaker 10: to work with him, and maybe not premier front bench
Speaker 10: NBA assistants, but guys that he got to know over
Speaker 10: the years, whether it was in the G League, D League, Jazz, Mavericks, whatever.
Speaker 10: Alex doesn't really strike me as like the really like
Speaker 10: super nostalgic type in that, like, I don't think he
Speaker 10: believes that they'll only be successful if they only have
Speaker 10: guys with Utah guys and like all you have to
Speaker 10: do is look down in provo and I know Utah
Speaker 10: fans hate hearing something like that. But like Kevin Young
Speaker 10: hired a bunch of dudes who really don't have much
Speaker 10: many ties to BYU at all. I mean, he hired
Speaker 10: Wild Boite, who was you know, Rudy Gobert's League g
Speaker 10: LEA coach back in the day, and like was like
Speaker 10: coaching in Germany, so like, all you have to do
Speaker 10: is find the right mix of guys and find the
Speaker 10: guys who are good at recruiting and recruiting lea, it's
Speaker 10: the good players period.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it does, honeymoon period. Uh, you know, because we
Speaker 2: do this weird thing.
Speaker 1: I've talked to you about it before where sports fans
Speaker 1: just seem to love you until they don't. And the
Speaker 1: Donovan Mitchell example in our market is what I always
Speaker 1: go to where like that dude walked on water until
Speaker 1: he very much did not. And right now, everything, as
Speaker 1: you like to say, as the kids like to say,
Speaker 1: the vibes are high and good vibes around the program,
Speaker 1: you know, and that's that's a good thing.
Speaker 10: You know.
Speaker 1: Me though, I'm gonna say it results over vibes. How
Speaker 1: long how long does Alex get before we start doing
Speaker 1: the thing where we're like, hey, maybe this wasn't the
Speaker 1: right will.
Speaker 10: Well, I'll start off by saying it depends on what
Speaker 10: his nil budget is, because I think in this in
Speaker 10: this era of college athletics, you have to take that
Speaker 10: into account right off the bat. So if Alex has
Speaker 10: a you know, treasure trovee of money, to go out
Speaker 10: and compete then, Like, I think you are going to
Speaker 10: be leaned upon to get results very quickly because money
Speaker 10: gets good players now and we've seen that at BYU.
Speaker 10: So what are you saying, dude, I'm on the radio. Sorry.
Speaker 10: We are in an era now where you have to
Speaker 10: be able to pay good players and Utah hasn't had
Speaker 10: good players lately and he's going to have I mean,
Speaker 10: is it is it unrealistic to say four or five
Speaker 10: years like this is? This is kind of the tricky part,
Speaker 10: you know, bringing home a legend of a program that
Speaker 10: was representative of a heyday that's always going to be
Speaker 10: measured up to. Like I'm not saying it's not going
Speaker 10: to work out by all accounts. Alex is a you know,
Speaker 10: a really good coach and a guy that should be
Speaker 10: able to turn things around. But homecomings don't always work out.
Speaker 10: I mean, like you can look as recently as you
Speaker 10: know Mike Woodson at Indiana, a guy who was a
Speaker 10: head coach in the NBA for a very long time,
Speaker 10: and I think Mike Woodson was like a star player
Speaker 10: under Bobby Knight back in the day, and like Mike
Speaker 10: Woodson didn't have much success at Indiana at all. So
Speaker 10: I know every example at every school is different, but
Speaker 10: for me, it's going to start with how much money
Speaker 10: does Alex and his staff have at their disposal and
Speaker 10: what kind of players they can bring in in I say,
Speaker 10: one or two years.
Speaker 2: Nor of ball and grinder of tape.
Speaker 1: Apparently, Chris Camaraddi on the program, good Mike Woodson knowledge
Speaker 1: the example I keep coming back to. I can remember
Speaker 1: when BYU hired Ty Dettner, and all of my BYU bros,
Speaker 1: all my BYU family men are like, all right, Championship
Speaker 1: game over tied is the man Heisman Trophy and within
Speaker 1: like four games, people down there were like, he has
Speaker 1: no clue what he's doing. He's never coached college football before.
Speaker 10: Well, correct me if I'm wrong. I feel like Ki
Speaker 10: jumped from like one a Texas private school football to
Speaker 10: being BYU's offensive coordinator. I think that was I think
Speaker 10: that was the jump. So yeah, I mean, I'm sure
Speaker 10: if you ask Polani in retrospect, that was a learning
Speaker 10: moment for him and like proof that no matter how
Speaker 10: far you back, how far back you go in terms
Speaker 10: of nostalgia, it doesn't always equate two results in present
Speaker 10: day and but there are also you know, tons of
Speaker 10: examples as well. So it's it's hard. Man. I'm always
Speaker 10: going to be with you on results over vibes, and
Speaker 10: I'm always going to be with you on you have
Speaker 10: to understand this place, the culture here, and how to
Speaker 10: get to people. And for too long, Utah has missed
Speaker 10: out on some of the best and state recruits, not
Speaker 10: only to be yu, I mean they were losing guys
Speaker 10: to Utah States fence. I mean, like I know, Utah
Speaker 10: State has, you know, as a legacy school. Guys like
Speaker 10: Sam Merrill will go to Utah State because their legacies.
Speaker 10: But like you got to get some in state players
Speaker 10: that are really really good. I mean growing up, like
Speaker 10: when I moved here, there weren't that many good high
Speaker 10: school basketball players. But since I got into this job
Speaker 10: thirteen years ago, there have been a lot of good
Speaker 10: players come out of the state. And like we churn
Speaker 10: out pro players quite often now. So it's not hard
Speaker 10: to be able to set your recruiting boundary not too wide,
Speaker 10: but you've got to be able to win the head
Speaker 10: to heads with people in state.
Speaker 1: Yeah, one hundred percent, you know, and we keep talking
Speaker 1: about the majeris model where you were able to get
Speaker 1: superstars like Van Horn and Andre from out of state
Speaker 1: Doliak and then supplement it with the Britain John Soon's
Speaker 1: the Josh Grants of the world that played here locally.
Speaker 1: All right, speaking of results over vibes the Red Hot
Speaker 1: Real Salt Lakes streak. As RSEL has won two of
Speaker 1: their last three, they go down to Houston and get
Speaker 1: a result, which they never do. My guy Diego gets
Speaker 1: his first goal. Your guy Diogo also opens his bank account. Kids,
Speaker 1: that's a soccer term. So it e changed in the
Speaker 1: k take on RSL after a couple of decent results
Speaker 1: over their past three I mean, I'm refreshing our guy
Speaker 1: Tom Bogert every day to see if a nine's on
Speaker 1: the way, but we continue to wait.
Speaker 10: No change. RSL ran into a team whose fortunes and
Speaker 10: current roster construction is much worse than their own. They
Speaker 10: lost their starting goalkeeper to a torn acl like five
Speaker 10: minutes into the game, so the Dynamo or downs fence.
Speaker 10: But you know, credit to ourself. They won in a
Speaker 10: place that historically is very difficult for them to win.
Speaker 10: At Diego Luda man like I shudder to think where
Speaker 10: this club would be without him, not only from an
Speaker 10: on field point of view, but from a you know,
Speaker 10: marketing point of view, from an excitement point of view,
Speaker 10: Like eventually, we talked about this a few weeks ago
Speaker 10: when I was in the studio with Trey before the
Speaker 10: Conquer CAF series started, Like when not if, When Diego
Speaker 10: is sold, it's going to be a huge bummer for
Speaker 10: the fan base. And I think, like a fan base
Speaker 10: that's already kind of on edge trying to figure out
Speaker 10: what their plan is where they want to go, that
Speaker 10: that to me is a very fascinating subplot to this
Speaker 10: season because they simultaneously need this kid and need him
Speaker 10: to star and ball out like he does and like
Speaker 10: he can. But if a number comes across the desk
Speaker 10: of Kurt Schmidt and those guys and you talk to
Speaker 10: Diego and he wants it, you have to do it. So,
Speaker 10: Like I know, you've talked about how this is an
Speaker 10: odd point of like contention for you as a as
Speaker 10: a fan learning that like some players just exist to lead.
Speaker 10: But this is the reality of international club soccer and
Speaker 10: it's going to hit ourself pretty hard here, I would
Speaker 10: say in the next I don't know, I don't. I
Speaker 10: think he might finish out the season, but it could
Speaker 10: happen as early as summer. Last year, nobody really saw
Speaker 10: andrascomas being sold to Europe in the summertime, so you
Speaker 10: never know how quickly these things can move.
Speaker 1: Why haven't you deleted Twitter? I mean you don't even
Speaker 1: send out your work anymore.
Speaker 10: It's a good place to find things to make fun
Speaker 10: of people to send to my friends.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I would be sad if that threat ended.
Speaker 1: I'm just wondering, like, are you you got anything in
Speaker 1: the hopper? Anything cooking? Eckpieces dropping anytime soon?
Speaker 4: We'll see, you know.
Speaker 10: I'm just I'm still decompressing, man, I'm I'm hibernating Spence.
Speaker 10: I'm I'm not down bad, but you know me, man,
Speaker 10: I I need these I need these rays to come
Speaker 10: out and grace my skin for several days before I
Speaker 10: can really turn things around. I'm joking. I'm gonna help
Speaker 10: out with some March madness on remote and we'll see. Like,
Speaker 10: you know, I'm living the the plush life of taking
Speaker 10: care of a sick toddler and watching Pow Patrol. So
Speaker 10: that's that's my day.
Speaker 1: As I was fighting through a and you know, Monday
Speaker 1: was your boy's birthday, a little Saint Patti's day. So
Speaker 1: I'm fighting through the hip, the shoulder, the back shoveling
Speaker 1: wet snow yesterday morning.
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna lie. You came to my mind, How
Speaker 2: did that storm hit you?
Speaker 7: Oh?
Speaker 10: It hit me hard, man, Like I don't know what this.
Speaker 10: I feel like this season, of all seasons, we're getting
Speaker 10: like really crappy, like East Coast wet snow, like the
Speaker 10: greatest snow on earth has not graced Salt Lake City
Speaker 10: like one time this year. It's just been this wet,
Speaker 10: sloppy snow, and it's I get. I mean, in theory,
Speaker 10: I guess it's easier to just push. But you don't
Speaker 10: want to lift it. You want to throw out your back.
Speaker 10: I know they say like like shoveling heavy wet snow
Speaker 10: is a leading cause for heart attacks and older men.
Speaker 10: So like we're we're in the age now, Spence where
Speaker 10: we gotta we gotta watch it a little bit, So
Speaker 10: don't push yourself. I didn't push myself. Leo helped me,
Speaker 10: and he's I'm probably the reason he got sick. But
Speaker 10: I guess I'm looking outside right now and the snow
Speaker 10: is giving way to brown brass, which is a transition
Speaker 10: to to next weekend. It's going to be seventy degrees
Speaker 10: and I'm sure my guy is going to be out
Speaker 10: somewhere getting getting his bag.
Speaker 1: Of clubs, chomping at the bit. I cannot wait to
Speaker 1: get out and play. And we're gonna drag you out
Speaker 1: at least couple of times this year.
Speaker 10: Right, I'm ready, man, I don't think I got out
Speaker 10: last year. And there's only one person not to blame,
Speaker 10: and it's me. It's everyone else's fault. I hope you
Speaker 10: know that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, it always is, Christopher. I go attend to
Speaker 1: your child, buddy, Thanks for the time.
Speaker 10: Thanks man.
Speaker 3: Foo Fighter's best songs. Possibly it's in the it's in
Speaker 3: the mix, it's in the conversation.
Speaker 2: I think it might be. I think it's it might
Speaker 2: be my favorite food food food Fighter song.
Speaker 1: Excuse me, but Ken Palmeroy is sitting across from me,
Speaker 1: Foo Fighters fan, I believe, Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, best
Speaker 1: Food Fighters song in the mix, in the conversation.
Speaker 2: Yes, that's in the conversation. Certainly, Okay, fair enough. How
Speaker 2: are you Ken? I'm doing well, Spence.
Speaker 1: It is your time of Year Ken Pomeroy live in
Speaker 1: studio for an entire hour, So buckle up. If you've
Speaker 1: not filled out your brackets, it's time to get some
Speaker 1: some tips, some knowledge here and I'll take this opportunity
Speaker 1: to encourage you to go to ESPN seven hundred sports
Speaker 1: dot com and join our bracket challenge. You can play
Speaker 1: against us the talent on air. That's where the call us.
Speaker 1: That's not my term, that would be pretentious. You don't
Speaker 1: fill out brackets very often, if I remember correctly.
Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, I try to avoid it. I try to
Speaker 2: avoid it.
Speaker 3: I mean I filled out one. I do have one
Speaker 3: hair spence that I filled out nice against my will,
Speaker 3: but just to appease folks like you, I have a.
Speaker 2: Bracket folks like me.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I don't exactly know what that means. That just means
Speaker 3: Like when I do media appearances, people are always like, oh,
Speaker 3: you got in your sweet sixteen in the South Regin
Speaker 3: or whatever, and like, okay, I have I have an answer. Okay,
Speaker 3: that's good for that purpose. I'm not entering a pool
Speaker 3: of any type. I just want to make that clear, Okay,
Speaker 3: no pool.
Speaker 1: Ken Palm is not entering a pool, but coming up
Speaker 1: in our second segment, we are going to talk about
Speaker 1: your bracket, and I'm going to take notes because I
Speaker 1: have a family bracket, i have a friend bracket, and
Speaker 1: then I've got to try to win this thing again
Speaker 1: at work, which I've done five straight years.
Speaker 3: It's not a big deal. Wow, humble brack.
Speaker 1: So North Carolina, nobody thought that they should be in,
Speaker 1: right at least that's I felt like most people thought
Speaker 1: that they, you know, kind of got lucky to get in.
Speaker 2: West Virginia whatever. San Diego State's a good team.
Speaker 1: That was not a fair fight. Are you okay with
Speaker 1: Carolina getting in? I'm assuming that you know that's kind
Speaker 1: of your your feeling.
Speaker 3: Yeah, the the Yeah, the narrative kind of got out
Speaker 3: of control of the respect to Carolina. I mean, part
Speaker 3: of it is because their ad is on the is
Speaker 3: the head of the basketball selection committee, so that was
Speaker 3: one issue. The second issue is that the ad got
Speaker 3: a bonus if their teammate the field, So that probably
Speaker 3: didn't be allowed if you're on the committee, I don't
Speaker 3: think it should be in your contract that if your
Speaker 3: team gets in, you get a bonus.
Speaker 2: It's a bad look. It's a very bad look.
Speaker 3: Even though the ad Bubba Cunningham was required to not
Speaker 3: be in the room for any discussions about Carolina. Nonetheless,
Speaker 3: bad look, but the reality was Carolina actually did deserve.
Speaker 2: To be in the tournament.
Speaker 3: If you look at some of the more useful resume
Speaker 3: based metrics, it was really Xavier was the team that
Speaker 3: got in that shouldn't have got in. But because Xavier
Speaker 3: did not have representation on the committee, nobody cared about
Speaker 3: Xavier and everybody focused on Carolina. And as we saw
Speaker 3: last night, I mean, that's not proof that they should
Speaker 3: have been in. But obviously, at their best, Carolina is
Speaker 3: a very very good team.
Speaker 1: I mean I've watched I've watched them here or there
Speaker 1: this year, and they've they've got some good wins. But
Speaker 1: like San Diego State's a good defensive basketball team, they
Speaker 1: could not do a thing against Carolina last night.
Speaker 3: This is like a long running issue with Mountain West too,
Speaker 3: where it's like, yeah, you think, you know, you look
Speaker 3: at their profiles and you think some of these teams
Speaker 3: should be more competitive than they are in these first
Speaker 3: round games, and yeah, ultimately that was I mean just
Speaker 3: a brutal look for the Aztecs. This was not a
Speaker 3: you know, a great San Diego State team, not on
Speaker 3: the level of the team you know two years ago
Speaker 3: they got to the title game, but it's still a
Speaker 3: team that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was a pretty good defensive team.
Speaker 3: They got Magoon gwathe Back, who is a sneaky, fringy
Speaker 3: NBA prospect Rin protector type of guy, but they were
Speaker 3: no match for the Tar Heels.
Speaker 1: So Ken Pomeroy, who is one of the most wildly respected,
Speaker 1: widely and wildly but widely respected college basketball minds in
Speaker 1: the country, has his bracket sitting on the counter in
Speaker 1: front of me. I feel like it's like the Holy Grail.
Speaker 1: There's this like magical kind of feel around it. But
Speaker 1: before we get to the bracket, which we'll do a
Speaker 1: little bit later, let's start with general tips and pieces.
Speaker 3: Of advice as people.
Speaker 1: I know you don't love this stuff, but hey, it's
Speaker 1: you know, people are going to fill out brackets, and
Speaker 1: a lot of people filling out brackets now that haven't
Speaker 1: watched basketball year. I told you this is the time
Speaker 1: of year where I'll get text from my aunts or
Speaker 1: you know, family members I haven't talked to in a while, like, hey,
Speaker 1: will you fill up my bracket? I'm like just so
Speaker 1: you know, it's an exercising futility. But you hear things
Speaker 1: like great coaching, You hear things like great guard play,
Speaker 1: you hear things like matchups whatever. Just for our listeners
Speaker 1: that are about to sit down and fill out a bracket,
Speaker 1: just generals, generally speaking, thirty thousand foot view pieces of advice.
Speaker 3: Ken, Yeah, I wouldn't latch onto any one, you know,
Speaker 3: hyper specific aspect and pretend like that's going to be
Speaker 3: the key to your success. I mean, coaching, of course
Speaker 3: is important, but it's not an overwhelming quality if the
Speaker 3: talent isn't there. Like Bill Sell, for instance, outstanding coach,
Speaker 3: maybe the best coach the last twenty five years in
Speaker 3: college basketball.
Speaker 2: His team is not very good this year.
Speaker 3: There's nothing, no sort of magic potion he's going to
Speaker 3: come up with to get that team to the final four.
Speaker 3: The general idea is you want to be just kind
Speaker 3: of loosely informed on how good these teams are. Like
Speaker 3: then say, turn but this year really top heavy in
Speaker 3: terms of the quality. You know, one, twos and three
Speaker 3: seeds are all probably a better quality than they normally are,
Speaker 3: so you know, picking against them, picking some sort of
Speaker 3: wild upset, you know, I'm not against having fun with
Speaker 3: the upsets, but if your goal is to you know,
Speaker 3: stay in contention for your pool, you probably want to
Speaker 3: avoid picking crazy upsets in the first round or two.
Speaker 2: Well.
Speaker 1: And also, and you correct me if I'm wrong, it
Speaker 1: feels like the I went to the final four in
Speaker 1: Indianapolis back when Florida had Noah and Horford and it
Speaker 1: was UCLA with there on a Falaalow. I think George
Speaker 1: Mason was the team that made it in that year
Speaker 1: as a wild card cindereround, and they got smoked more
Speaker 1: often than not. Elite eight final four, the cream typically
Speaker 1: rises to the top.
Speaker 2: Is that fair? That's correct, That's correct. But obviously you
Speaker 2: do you do get upsides.
Speaker 3: You know, you have the NC State situation from last
Speaker 3: year where they were like just amazingly lucky to win
Speaker 3: their conference tournament and then they got in in one
Speaker 3: four games in a row and got to the final four.
Speaker 3: This year, it seems like it's less likely for something
Speaker 3: like that to happen, just because there is such heft
Speaker 3: at the top of the bracket that there just won't
Speaker 3: be It's gonna be very hard for these teams to
Speaker 3: get knocked off early. It's not to say you're gonna
Speaker 3: four one seeds in the final four. The chances of
Speaker 3: that happening are even this year, are only like five percent,
Speaker 3: so so not great.
Speaker 2: But you're gonna see.
Speaker 3: I would really be surprised if you have any teams
Speaker 3: in the final four outside of the top three seeds.
Speaker 1: Let's say, all right, of the four to one seeds. Okay,
Speaker 1: here's your cliche media guy question of the day. You've
Speaker 1: got Auburn, who's the number one overall seed. You have
Speaker 1: Duke Cooper flag expected to play on Friday. Duke will
Speaker 1: learn their opponent tonight as the final play in games
Speaker 1: are taking place. Then you've got Houston out of the
Speaker 1: Big twelve, of course. And then I told you this
Speaker 1: a few weeks ago for whatever reason, And this is
Speaker 1: a problem I run into when I fill out my brackets.
Speaker 1: I'll watch a team randomly four or five times throughout
Speaker 1: the year and they'll blow me away.
Speaker 2: That was Florida this year.
Speaker 1: Every time I watched a Florida game, I'm like, nobody's
Speaker 1: talking about them, and they're awesome. Well, they just won
Speaker 1: the tournament the best conference in America, So Florida is
Speaker 1: the other one. Seed of the four to one seeds,
Speaker 1: which team would you say either is most prone to
Speaker 1: be upset early or is the weakest of the four
Speaker 1: And why I would.
Speaker 2: Go with Auburn.
Speaker 3: I mean, first of all, they are the lowest rated
Speaker 3: team in my ratings, so they're the number four team
Speaker 3: in the country, which is still awesome obviously, but the
Speaker 3: weakest of the four seeds. The second issue is that
Speaker 3: potentially in their second round game, that will be matched
Speaker 3: up with the Louisville team that has kind of themselves
Speaker 3: been under the radar all year, was kind of badly
Speaker 3: underseeded in this tournament. Probably should have been a five seed,
Speaker 3: maybe a six at worse, stand up with an eight.
Speaker 3: But the good news for Louisville is that they are
Speaker 3: playing in Lexington, Kentucky, which is like an hour drive
Speaker 3: from Louisville, and so, as you may know, Kentucky is
Speaker 3: a basketball crazed state. Sure should be a pretty good
Speaker 3: turnout there. I mean, Auburn will have some fans, they'll
Speaker 3: travel too, but I have a feeling that Louisville will
Speaker 3: have the lion's share of the fans if they do.
Speaker 3: If they are able to get by Creighton in their
Speaker 3: first round game and matchup with Auburn, and so that's
Speaker 3: easily the toughest second round game and need these one
Speaker 3: seeds will have, so that that could be a potential
Speaker 3: issue for the Auburn Tigers.
Speaker 2: While we're in the South.
Speaker 1: Does the Committee just take a vacation during conference tournaments?
Speaker 1: I mean, Michigan wins the Big Ten tournament, they beat
Speaker 1: two four seeds, they beat a three seed, and.
Speaker 2: They're on the five line.
Speaker 1: Like, does the committee just fundamentally ignore what you do
Speaker 1: in conference tournaments?
Speaker 2: I think they ignore what you do on the weekend
Speaker 2: in conference tournaments.
Speaker 3: So yeah, I thought I found it interesting that, you know,
Speaker 3: there was some complain about, you know, miss like the
Speaker 3: committee not paying attention to the Big Ten Championship. I mean,
Speaker 3: the Big Ten Championship game ends like fifteen minutes before
Speaker 3: the selection show starts, so it's really not feasible for
Speaker 3: the committee to go in and tweak a bracket based
Speaker 3: on that result. I mean, the graphics are surely already
Speaker 3: made for the show, and so yeah, that game doesn't count.
Speaker 3: If you want that game to count, you know, play
Speaker 3: your championship game on Saturday like most other conferences.
Speaker 2: So there's that issue. I don't think Saturday counts very
Speaker 2: much either.
Speaker 3: I think the committee has admitted much in the past,
Speaker 3: like it's just so complicated to put these brackets together
Speaker 3: with all the rules that they have to deal with
Speaker 3: that for the most part, they're going to lock things
Speaker 3: in on Saturday unless you get some sort of you know,
Speaker 3: non traditional team winning a conference tournament that you have
Speaker 3: to slip into the tournament and then give another team
Speaker 3: in that large bid and maybe another team gets knocked
Speaker 3: out because of that. But barring a situation like that,
Speaker 3: they're mostly gonna say, hey, Saturday morning, our bracket is
Speaker 3: pretty much locked.
Speaker 1: You reference Xavier grabbing a bid when you didn't think
Speaker 1: they should give me. Just kick the tires on some
Speaker 1: over seeded teams, underseeded teams, some teams you think.
Speaker 3: The committee got wrong. Well, it's not even so much
Speaker 3: that the committee got wrong. They got Louisville wrong based
Speaker 3: on resume. Some of the other cases are just cases
Speaker 3: where teams are fundamentally either better in the metrics or
Speaker 3: worse in the metrics than their resume would indicate. So
Speaker 3: a team like in Zaga is the prime example of that,
Speaker 3: and it's not an unusual situation for them, But you know,
Speaker 3: they get an eight seed. They're ranked ninth in my ratings.
Speaker 3: You know, they struggled early in the year against some
Speaker 3: of the quality opponents they played. Some of the teams
Speaker 3: they beat early in the year ended up not being
Speaker 3: as good as we might have thought. And then they
Speaker 3: got into conference play struggled a little bit. I mean,
Speaker 3: the only truly like high end quality wins you can
Speaker 3: get in that leaguer agains Saint Mary's. They lost both
Speaker 3: of their games in the regular season against Saint Mary's
Speaker 3: and then ultimately they did beat Saint Mary's in the
Speaker 3: conference tournament. But it's a team that the fundamental metrics
Speaker 3: are way higher on them than the resume, so they're
Speaker 3: they're more of a quality of a two or three seed.
Speaker 3: But playing as an eight seed, they'll get matched up
Speaker 3: with Houston in the second round if they're able to
Speaker 3: get by Georgia, and you know, Houston will be favored
Speaker 3: in that game, but it's a it's a pretty tough
Speaker 3: test for Houston in that second game. And then the
Speaker 3: flip side of that would be Memphis, who got a
Speaker 3: five seed, won a ton of close games plays in
Speaker 3: a weaker conference, they ranked outside the top fifty in
Speaker 3: my ratings, So what are the weaker five seeds you'll
Speaker 3: ever see? And then they get matched up against Colorado
Speaker 3: State in the first round, who's one of the hottest
Speaker 3: teams in the country. So a chance here for you know,
Speaker 3: if the Mountain West is ever going to sourage some dignity,
Speaker 3: certainly a chance here for Colorado State to play a
Speaker 3: Memphis team who is weak and also possibly probably I
Speaker 3: would say, missing their normal starting point guard in Tyree's Hunter.
Speaker 1: So BYU fans and members of the BYU media, and
Speaker 1: it's just the deal where we have to be upset
Speaker 1: about everything, whether it's the CFP committee and football getting
Speaker 1: it wrong, whether Swig closes too earlier, they run out
Speaker 1: of sugar, or their basketball team doesn't have the proper seed.
Speaker 1: I don't know that six is egregious. I think you
Speaker 1: could make an argument for a five seed. But to me,
Speaker 1: the game's in Denver. You'd rather be a six seed
Speaker 1: in Denver than a five seed in like Newark or whatever.
Speaker 1: So BYU fans can drive down there before we get
Speaker 1: to the matchup. What do you make of the seed
Speaker 1: BYU is a six?
Speaker 10: Yeah?
Speaker 3: I mean if you're equippling over a five or six
Speaker 3: to reevaluate what's important to you in life.
Speaker 2: In the end, it doesn't. It doesn't make a whole
Speaker 2: lot of difference.
Speaker 3: I mean, last year BYU is a six, and they
Speaker 3: were a bigger favorite in their first round game than
Speaker 3: you know, some four seeds were. So a lot of
Speaker 3: it depends on the opponent. And the issue here is
Speaker 3: that their opponent is, you know, pretty formidable. I mean
Speaker 3: VCU is you know, coush by Ryan Odam. Obviously we're
Speaker 3: familiar with him. It's just a really sound defensive team,
Speaker 3: really good interior defense, tries to take away the three
Speaker 3: point shot to some extent, so you know, they have
Speaker 3: the ability to make BYU uncomfortable offensively, which is obviously
Speaker 3: an issue because BYU really depends on his offense to
Speaker 3: win games or defense lags behind a little bit. So
Speaker 3: so the issue here is more the opponent. But I
Speaker 3: would agree, like you're playing at altitude, I think that
Speaker 3: is of some benefit. You're playing somewhat close to home,
Speaker 3: so you're going to have, you know, undoubtedly going to
Speaker 3: be more BYU fans at ball arena than there there
Speaker 3: will be VCU fans. So I think some of those
Speaker 3: things will help the Cougars in their first round game.
Speaker 2: Are you a fan of a flavored soda from time
Speaker 2: to time?
Speaker 3: I'm I'm not really no, It just you know, I'm
Speaker 3: at that age where you know you just can't cram
Speaker 3: a bunch of sugar down your throat.
Speaker 1: Sure, I'm not judging. I'm sure Swig is a porter.
Speaker 1: Have you ever did you frequent Swig? Have you ever
Speaker 1: tried one of the I've got their menu pulled up,
Speaker 1: for instance, a Raspberry Dream is doctor Pepper raspberry pure
Speaker 1: quote coconut cream.
Speaker 2: That's a lot of sugar. Did you frequent swig?
Speaker 6: Definitely not a frequent I don't really do the soda
Speaker 6: thing in general, so the soda with more soda or
Speaker 6: sugar is not my lane. But I have tried what
Speaker 6: I believe is called a dirty Doctor Pepper. Ah, it's
Speaker 6: pretty good.
Speaker 1: All right, Okay, let's get wild on a Wednesday with
Speaker 1: a dirty Doctor Pepper. But over to the matchup, Ken, Yes,
Speaker 1: so as you referenced, and I'm not saying Vcus Houston
Speaker 1: at all, but like when you kind of dig into
Speaker 1: what they like to do defensively, they've got three six ten. Dudes,
Speaker 1: they've got the A ten Player of the Year. Former
Speaker 1: Utah State kid Ryan Otamav was here coaching Utah State.
Speaker 1: The line moved about an hour ago by use a
Speaker 1: two point five point favorite. Now it opened up at
Speaker 1: three point five. The Vegas action has gone the way
Speaker 1: towards VCU. Is this upset alert? How does by you
Speaker 1: get this win round one? Yeah, it's not gonna be easy.
Speaker 1: I mean it's it's it's gonna be uh, it's gonna
Speaker 1: be a grind, you know.
Speaker 3: That's the other thing with vcus that their defensive possession
Speaker 3: length is tenth slowest in the country, So that will uh,
Speaker 3: you know, it gives you an idea, like they just
Speaker 3: forced teams to take some time to define good shots.
Speaker 3: And it also leads to the fact that vc is
Speaker 3: thirtieth in the country in turnover eight, so they're going
Speaker 3: to force some turnovers in those long possessions. They're number
Speaker 3: one in the country's shooting defense once you factor in
Speaker 3: the value of threes and two's number one in the
Speaker 3: country and shooting defense against a weaker schedule. So take
Speaker 3: it with a slight grain of salt, but they are
Speaker 3: they are not Houston. We don't want to go crazy there,
Speaker 3: but they are the the A ten kind of version
Speaker 3: of Houston. And yeah, I mean by He's gonna have
Speaker 3: to make some shots. It's gonna make some tough shots
Speaker 3: to to earn a win here.
Speaker 1: Well, the reason I brought up the Houston parallel is
Speaker 1: and it wasn't just Houston Iowa State, b Yu bet
Speaker 1: Iowa State. But as much as there is to like
Speaker 1: about jegor Demon as a pro prospect, every time they
Speaker 1: face pressure, he just he can't deal with it yet
Speaker 1: he's young. And then Kevin goes to Dollon down Hall
Speaker 1: and look, Dollen has gone through Big twelve battles.
Speaker 2: He's a vet. There's a reason Mark wantam in Kentucky.
Speaker 1: But what happens if byu h is not knocking down
Speaker 1: their threes and the VCU pressure gets to them, because
Speaker 1: against teams that don't have elite length like VCU as
Speaker 1: we've talked about, bring in foos, let him go to work.
Speaker 1: But Treori's six' five, maybe and these three six ten
Speaker 1: kids are gonna give them trouble with. Length If byu
Speaker 1: isn't knocking down shots and the pressure is getting to,
Speaker 1: Them What's what's the.
Speaker 3: Answer, uh they have to they got to figure that.
Speaker 3: OUT i don't know if there is an. Answer, YEAH i,
Speaker 3: mean but you bring up a good. POINT i MEAN
Speaker 3: vcu does have size and length of more of A
Speaker 3: Power conference. TEAM i, mean they actually have this, Kid
Speaker 3: bamboye who is h starts at center and he's not.
Speaker 2: Much he's very limited, offensively but the brit is he the,
Speaker 2: kid but he's the second best in terms of like.
Speaker 3: Rate he's the second best shot blocker in the, country
Speaker 3: blocks the higher percentage of opponent shots than anybody in
Speaker 3: the country except for one.
Speaker 2: Person and, uh and so that's you, know that's what they're.
Speaker 3: Facing but, yeah They're, yeah you worry about yegor against the,
Speaker 3: defense it's, aggressive enforces. Turnovers kevin's shown that he's not you,
Speaker 3: know late in the season, here he's not just gonna
Speaker 3: Leave yeager out there for starters.
Speaker 2: Minutes he's gonna make a switch when when they need.
Speaker 2: It but, uh but it it will be a.
Speaker 3: Struggle BUT I i, mean hopefully they're gonna have to
Speaker 3: figure out how to make shots because there's no other
Speaker 3: other way around.
Speaker 2: This mainly, Threes, yeah mainly. Threes mainly. Threes.
Speaker 3: There, YEAH i would say they're figure out to make
Speaker 3: some threes and they're going to get fewer of those
Speaker 3: shots than they normally.
Speaker 2: Do SO i mean that's, why you, know that's why
Speaker 2: you're just talking about.
Speaker 3: IT i mean you can kind of figure out why
Speaker 3: the margin heres is so thin that they don't have,
Speaker 3: to you, know go eighteen of thirty six from. Three
Speaker 3: but if they go you, know at the dude nine
Speaker 3: of twenty four or something like, that that would be really.
Speaker 1: Helpful so if they advance PAST, vcu they're most likely
Speaker 1: going to run Into wisconsin round two they get to
Speaker 1: the sweet.
Speaker 2: Sixteen what are your thoughts on that?
Speaker 3: Matchup, Well, wisconsin this is not kind of your Typical
Speaker 3: wisconsin team of the last twenty five.
Speaker 2: Years you, Know Greg guard has really modernized their.
Speaker 3: Offense they play at a much faster, pace actually faster
Speaker 3: than average pace across college. Basketball so you know that
Speaker 3: this is not a Bow ryan team that's going to
Speaker 3: grind a game down to fifty five sixty.
Speaker 2: Possessions they're going to play normal.
Speaker 3: Basketball they two love to shoot the, three top twenty
Speaker 3: in terms of three point. Rate they're not necessarily a
Speaker 3: great team in terms of percent. Percentage but they're going
Speaker 3: to have five guys out there at that shoot. Three
Speaker 3: they're gonna you, know they're they're. Big stephen kraw is
Speaker 3: a guy that can shoot plenty of threes and try
Speaker 3: to you, know invert the offense and Enforce kVA cato
Speaker 3: Or fos or whoever it is to you, know play
Speaker 3: some defense on the. Perimeter so that's the challenge that
Speaker 3: that by you would face in the second. Round it's you,
Speaker 3: Know wisconsin went thirteen and seven In Big ten, play
Speaker 3: which doesn't necessarily sound, great but The Big ten was
Speaker 3: really good this, year And wisconsin did make The Big ten,
Speaker 3: finals so it's a it's a very, solid solid team
Speaker 3: and it's only a step up FROM. Bcu before we.
Speaker 1: Catch a, break we're gonna get Into ken's bracket coming up,
Speaker 1: next which is sitting across from.
Speaker 2: Me are you gonna take that with? You do you
Speaker 2: want to just leave it?
Speaker 3: Behind And i'm gonna, actually after this because this is
Speaker 3: really my last media appearance of this, Week i'm going
Speaker 3: to crumple it up and throw it in the.
Speaker 2: Trash will you let me crumple it up and throw
Speaker 2: it in the trash if you? Want do you want the,
Speaker 2: honor you can have.
Speaker 1: It, okay fair, enough so let's move. On we Referenced
Speaker 1: Ryan otam used to Coach Utah. State Jared calhoun is
Speaker 1: their coach, now and they're back in THE Ncaa tournament
Speaker 1: again and they're going to get A ucla team that
Speaker 1: on the.
Speaker 3: Season you, know they had to win At, oregon they Beat.
Speaker 1: Gonzaga they lost four or five during conference play when
Speaker 1: they got, rolling but they do have a win Against Michigan.
Speaker 2: State they've got to win Over.
Speaker 1: Wisconsin and it's weird to SAY ucla out of The
Speaker 1: big Ten, ken but here we. Are Utah state's a
Speaker 1: five point five point. Dog tell us about this, Matchup, well.
Speaker 3: IT'S ucla is actually quite similar TO. VCU i, mean you,
Speaker 3: know typical kind Of mick Cron an outfit. Here dependent
Speaker 3: somewhat on. Defense they force a lot of. Turnovers it's
Speaker 3: actually number one in kind of an obscure stat but
Speaker 3: it's a non steel turnover, percentage which essentially means they
Speaker 3: like to take a lot of.
Speaker 2: Charges so that's something to watch for in this.
Speaker 3: Game they do force opponents to take more threes than,
Speaker 3: usual which could work In Utah states favor but overall
Speaker 3: it's been kind of an up and down year for The.
Speaker 3: Bruins never really got a whole lot of. Consistency did
Speaker 3: win seven in a row in the middle Of Big ten,
Speaker 3: play but struggled a little more down the, stretch got
Speaker 3: bounced pretty emphatically By wisconsin in The Big ten, tournament
Speaker 3: and so that's kind of the.
Speaker 2: Story so it's you, know you're.
Speaker 3: Facing a team that's not necessarily doesn't have the firepower
Speaker 3: necessarily to run away from you, offensively but that defense
Speaker 3: is going to Give Utah states in.
Speaker 1: Trouble Lazaar's stafonovich former you A Ucla bruin for a
Speaker 1: little bit of a local. Tie we'll catch quick. Break
Speaker 1: coming up, next The Ken Pomeroy. Bracket, okay so if
Speaker 1: you don't know what you're, doing you're about to fill
Speaker 1: out a. Bracket ken's going to help you. Out ken
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Speaker 1: Com Ken palm himself live in studio for another big
Speaker 1: segment coming up next right here ON espn seven, Hundred.
Speaker 2: We've Got Ken.
Speaker 1: Pomeroy live in studio for one more big, segments and
Speaker 1: it is. Time it is time for The Ken pomeroy brackets. Reveal,
Speaker 1: KEN i will not go game by game by. GAME
Speaker 1: i will not do that to. You, okay we can
Speaker 1: do WHATEVER i, mean that's one of my favorite radio. Bits, wait,
Speaker 1: wait are you willing to go game by?
Speaker 2: GAME i, mean if you want to hear a bunch
Speaker 2: of radios turn? Off, yeah we can do.
Speaker 1: That, no, no, No first of, All Frank, laydon WHEN
Speaker 1: i got into this, business he gave me some great.
Speaker 2: Advice he, said just remember nobody's.
Speaker 3: Listening.
Speaker 2: Okay So i'm, like, thanks. Coach so the radio is
Speaker 2: probably have turned. Off but, look it's that time of.
Speaker 1: Year THE Ncaa tournament starts, tomorrow so let's let's let's
Speaker 1: dig into.
Speaker 2: It let's start in The south.
Speaker 1: Region let's start in The south and we'll kind of
Speaker 1: jump around a little bit where you reference To auburn
Speaker 1: as the most potentially vulnerable number one, seed but they
Speaker 1: are technically the number one overall. Seed SO i would
Speaker 1: imagine you Have auburn And louisville, advancing, right those. Two that's, correct, Yep,
Speaker 1: okay so let's jump to the next. Round who do
Speaker 1: you have winning out Of auburn And.
Speaker 3: Louisville i'm going With. Louisville's, yeah we're gonna take A
Speaker 3: we're gonna take a chance. Here nothing more boring than
Speaker 3: the chalk. Bracket, RIGHT i. Agree, so uh SO i
Speaker 3: like to have a, little you, know a little spice to,
Speaker 3: it and uh yeah it get spop For. LOUISVILLE i really,
Speaker 3: think you, know the conference narrative gets overplayed as we
Speaker 3: get into the tournament and uh my bracket is is
Speaker 3: fading THE sec and step one here is Knocking auburn
Speaker 3: out in the second.
Speaker 1: Round, okay so there you, go upset number one on
Speaker 1: The Ken palm. Bracket auburn advances Past Alabama, State louisville
Speaker 1: advances Past, creighton and Then louisville Beats.
Speaker 2: Auburn let's move down five.
Speaker 1: Twelve there's always weird five twelve Upsets, MICHIGAN, Uc San,
Speaker 1: diego then below Them TEXAS a AND M.
Speaker 3: Yale how do you have those matchups playing? Out we're
Speaker 3: going with the favorites in those. Games you See San
Speaker 3: diego a popular upset pick, Here michigan not a huge
Speaker 3: favorite in this game will be a tough win for The,
Speaker 3: wolverines BUT i think they get it. Done and then
Speaker 3: we'll go WITH a and m over the ivy leaguers From,
Speaker 3: yale who obviously pulled off a huge upset last year
Speaker 3: and Beating auburn BUT i don't think they can do
Speaker 3: it two years in a.
Speaker 2: ROW i was going to ask you who The nerds
Speaker 2: beat last.
Speaker 4: Year it Was.
Speaker 1: Auburn that's, Right yale Beat. Auburn So TEXAS a AND
Speaker 1: M michigan. Advance who do you have advancing out of that?
Speaker 2: GAME i am going to go With.
Speaker 3: Michigan, YEAH a And m's point Guard Wade taylor shoots
Speaker 3: like thirty nine percent on two pointers or something like.
Speaker 3: That not an ideal situation for key buckets down the.
Speaker 3: Stretch so, yeah we're going With michigan and that. One
Speaker 3: dusty may obviously past experience getting to a final fourth Forward.
Speaker 1: Atlantic, Okay, okay moving down, Now Old, miss we'll welcome In.
Speaker 1: Carolina After carolina curb STOMPED sdsu last.
Speaker 2: Night what do you think of this?
Speaker 3: Matchup Old Miss? Carolina, yeah we're Going. Carolina they're, upset
Speaker 3: they're mad at The. Worlds they properly. Motivated i'm not
Speaker 3: Sure Old miss carries that same motivation, here although they
Speaker 3: are a fine team out of THE. Sec But, carolina,
Speaker 3: REALLY i mean down the. Stretch you, know last three
Speaker 3: weeks of the season was playing quite. Well they, WERE
Speaker 3: i mean the acc is week, sure but they were
Speaker 3: beating their opponents fairly, easily and then of course The
Speaker 3: duke loss extremely close and an unfortunate ending. There, SO i,
Speaker 3: Mean carolina really is playing much better than an eleven
Speaker 3: seed at this?
Speaker 2: Point AM i remembering The Iowa state?
Speaker 1: Upset drake Was drake a fourteen seed that Upset Iowa
Speaker 1: state WHEN i Was stay was a three seed back
Speaker 1: in the.
Speaker 2: Day is that ringing a bell to.
Speaker 3: You it's not ringing a bell to, me, okay but,
Speaker 3: anyway definitely could have happened once upon a.
Speaker 1: Time Iowa state is a three seed this, year b
Speaker 1: why you beat them? Twice of, Course iowa stayed out
Speaker 1: of The big, twelve. LIPSCUM i know nothing about who
Speaker 1: wins this. GAME i just want to report On Iowa state. Upsets, First,
Speaker 1: okay in two thousand and, one they lost as a two.
Speaker 1: Seed is that prior to the to the Infamous drake
Speaker 1: loss that we're talking.
Speaker 2: About i'm not. Sure maybe who? Did they lost To.
Speaker 1: Hampton Hampton Craig Bowler jack called that, game, okay, Okay, yeah.
Speaker 3: The coach like ran off the court and like that
Speaker 3: one of their players like raise them. Over it seems
Speaker 3: to be the most famous first round, loss and Then
Speaker 3: Fred hoiberg lost as a three seed TO UA.
Speaker 10: B so.
Speaker 3: Some some pretty ugly first round losses, there AND i
Speaker 3: was stayed as the team is really banged, up got some.
Speaker 3: Injuries Taman, lipsey their starting point guard and defensive, pest
Speaker 3: did not play in The big twelve, tournament but allegedly
Speaker 3: we'll be back for this.
Speaker 2: One Keishawn gilbert did not play as. Well he is
Speaker 2: not back for this.
Speaker 3: ONE i do think they have enough to get By,
Speaker 3: lipscomb AND i do think they have enough to get BY.
Speaker 2: Unc so you'll Take iwish stay Beating. Carolina, Right, well
Speaker 2: we'll say the run For carolina comes to an. End,
Speaker 2: okay there you.
Speaker 1: Go marquette seven seed taking On New mexico out of
Speaker 1: The Mountain. West and you've you're on the record about
Speaker 1: The Mountain west failures in THE ncaa. Tournament Does New
Speaker 1: mexican have a shot of the upset?
Speaker 2: HERE i mean they have a, shot But marquette here
Speaker 2: the clear.
Speaker 3: Favorite and, yeah it's just you, know when you see
Speaker 3: A Mountain west team at this, point you really better
Speaker 3: have a good reason to take. Them marquette a disappointing.
Speaker 3: YEAR a lot of people thought they might be something
Speaker 3: like a top ten. Team never really quite. Materialized But
Speaker 3: Cam jones has been outstanding number seven in The kenpalm
Speaker 3: dot Com player of The year.
Speaker 2: Ratings he's their go to guy and senior and a.
Speaker 3: Leader And i'm gonna throw all the cliches here as
Speaker 3: the Y marquette wins this. Game who was the?
Speaker 2: Player Was Cooper flag the Ken Pom player of the.
Speaker 4: Year he.
Speaker 2: Is here's the thing about The Ken Pom player of The.
Speaker 3: Year on like all the Other player of The year,
Speaker 3: awards we also include THE ncaa, tournament so we really
Speaker 3: haven't crowned the player of the year.
Speaker 2: Yet If Cooper flagg is able to, play he'll get.
Speaker 3: It but if he for some reason doesn't, Play jannibroom obviously,
Speaker 3: second And auburn has a deep, run it's still possible
Speaker 3: For Janny broom to overtake.
Speaker 1: Him Michigan State bryant right as they, say what do they?
Speaker 1: Say death taxes and Izzohen?
Speaker 2: March is that the? Deal so what's kind of the?
Speaker 2: Deal two? Fifteen what do you?
Speaker 3: MAKE i mean not he's not a bulletproof in In
Speaker 3: march and he lost a first four game TO ucla
Speaker 3: in twenty, one been knocked out of the second round
Speaker 3: and the second round to the last three. Years but
Speaker 3: this is certainly one of his better teams PROBABLY i don't,
Speaker 3: know going, since going back at least to THE covid
Speaker 3: year or maybe the year. Before, yeah this is a
Speaker 3: Legit final four. Threat they have been getting better as
Speaker 3: the year goes. On finish the season pretty strong by
Speaker 3: winning seven in a row at the end of the regular.
Speaker 3: Season And Jace richardson the name to watch. Here some
Speaker 3: of Of Jason richardson FORMER nba, player but he's a
Speaker 3: freshman who's played really, well much better down the stretch
Speaker 3: and he did in the first half of the. Season so,
Speaker 3: yeah team to watch Playing bryant who is coached By
Speaker 3: Phil Martelli. Junior good, knowledge there you. Go Jason richardson
Speaker 3: has a college age. Kid like WHEN i heard The boozer, twins,
Speaker 3: like it just makes you feel really really.
Speaker 2: Old yeah.
Speaker 3: EXACTLY i mean we've been we've been through that a
Speaker 3: few times here the last few, years so it's kind
Speaker 3: of kind of immune to that at this.
Speaker 1: Point it's, true all, Right so let's finish off this
Speaker 1: bracket in the sweet, sixteen you Have louisville And.
Speaker 2: Michigan who wins that. Game i'm going With michigan in that.
Speaker 3: Game just a little, bit a little bit stronger team
Speaker 3: at this, point And louisville will not have home court
Speaker 3: vibes when they get out to the second.
Speaker 2: Weekend Iowa State, Michigan Michigan.
Speaker 3: State excuse? Me three to two there in the sweet?
Speaker 3: Sixteen who advances? Here, yeah we'll go With Michigan. State
Speaker 3: it's a little, bit a little bit better. Team Iowa
Speaker 3: state banged up a bit AND i think that'll be
Speaker 3: the difference. There so we Have Michigan Michigan state in
Speaker 3: The elite.
Speaker 2: Eight yeah about? That that's pretty fun little rival.
Speaker 3: Reaction we're gonna go with Tom izzo that, occurs by the, Way,
Speaker 3: Spence if that, Occurs Michigan state will become the first,
Speaker 3: team get, this the first team to be seated first
Speaker 3: or second that was not ranked in the preseason eight.
Speaker 2: P pole to make a final four of all, time
Speaker 2: of all. Time that's. Wild yeah.
Speaker 1: Wow, okay let's move over now to The east Where
Speaker 1: duke is the number one seed and they await the
Speaker 1: winner of tonight's playing. Game oh, MAN i just had
Speaker 1: this coreboard. Up, Anyway Tonight's American Mount Saint Mary's american
Speaker 1: wants co by former NEXT gm Ed. Tapscott there you. Go,
Speaker 1: okay do we even need to discuss? This duke moves on.
Speaker 3: Easily mount Say mary's coach By Donnie, lynn first year head.
Speaker 3: COACH i once had breakfast with him at A panera In, Blacksburg.
Speaker 3: Virginia why did you Go panero of all the? Options,
Speaker 3: well it was it was on very short, notice and uh,
Speaker 3: yeah it didn't have a lot of time to make it.
Speaker 3: Happen but that was in like twenty. Nineteen and look
Speaker 3: where he is, now Spat i'm gonna take a little.
Speaker 2: Bit of credit for.
Speaker 1: That, okay go to breakfast With Ken, palm you get
Speaker 1: a college coaching. Job So i'm sure the breakfast was.
Speaker 1: Great does he have a chance in the? Scamp not Against. Duke,
Speaker 1: no he has a chance Against. AMERICAN i think he's
Speaker 1: gonna pull it. Off but, Yeah duke will beat them
Speaker 1: by forty two. Points For jazz fans out, there If
Speaker 1: baylor advances Past Mississippi, state you will SEE. Vj edgecomb
Speaker 1: take On Cooper flag two very good, prospects But Mississippi State,
Speaker 1: Baylor ken who'd you?
Speaker 3: Like we're gonna.
Speaker 2: Close our eyes and go With baylor on that. One
Speaker 2: it's a pretty even.
Speaker 3: MATCHUP i think my maybe MY i guess against THE
Speaker 3: sec at this point is coming into, Play baylor maybe
Speaker 3: was slightly, better like higher end, talent not JUST. Vj,
Speaker 3: edgecomb but nord Chado mere who previously played some meaningful
Speaker 3: tournament games At. Miami he's one of their better players as.
Speaker 3: Well so we'll go With.
Speaker 1: Baylor five twelve out of The East region is The Oregon,
Speaker 1: ducks out of The Big, ten which sounds so. Weird
Speaker 1: they're taking On. Liberty liberty make this? Interesting you think they.
Speaker 3: Could they've been playing well down the stretch coming out of.
Speaker 3: Conference THE usa another you, know kind of mid major
Speaker 3: team that has generally had success at their level and
Speaker 3: made a bunch of tournaments in recent. Years and, yeah
Speaker 3: it could be an interesting. Game But oregon's just kind
Speaker 3: of the more talented, Team So i'm going to go with.
Speaker 1: Them Arizona, akron and If arizona, wins we'll have some
Speaker 1: OLD tac. Twelve but he's getting. Together of, course oregoning
Speaker 1: out of The big. Ten arizona of The big twelve
Speaker 1: is Wild akron thirteen, Seed arizona four.
Speaker 3: Seed how do you see this one going? Down we'll
Speaker 3: go With arizona in this. One did you Like Akron
Speaker 3: John gross running a pretty up tempo system? There that
Speaker 3: first round game should be high. SCORING i have the
Speaker 3: score of. Forecast it is eighty nine to seventy, Six
Speaker 3: so it might be the most high scoring game in
Speaker 3: the first. Round but kind of want to See arizona
Speaker 3: advance here a round or. Two they're always just never
Speaker 3: know what you're going to get with. Them in a
Speaker 3: team that's run By Caleb love on the, court a
Speaker 3: whole lot of things could. Happen so but, yeah two
Speaker 3: teams that really love to get up and down the.
Speaker 2: Court.
Speaker 3: There Did arizona lose in the first round last?
Speaker 2: Year they lost in the second round last. YEAR i
Speaker 2: want to, say did they lose in the first round
Speaker 2: the year? Before they lost in the sweet sixteen last
Speaker 2: year To, Clemson so.
Speaker 1: It must have been the year BEFORE i picked them
Speaker 1: to win the whole. Thing they lost like the first
Speaker 1: or second round they lost To. Princeton, yeah that's What
Speaker 1: that's what it. Was, yeah all, right that brings us
Speaker 1: to the six Seeded Brigham Young cougars hailing From, Provo
Speaker 1: utah taking On VCOs the eleventh.
Speaker 3: Seed we've already broken this game. Down Can Kevin young
Speaker 3: get it? Done, yeah you can get it. Done we'll
Speaker 3: advance them on to the second. Round and you, Know
Speaker 3: i'm not just saying that because there might BE byu
Speaker 3: fans out. There actually kind of enjoy picking against the
Speaker 3: local teams IF i. Can but but NOW i truly
Speaker 3: think B yu will will take care of this one.
Speaker 3: Though it is the highest rated game in terms of
Speaker 3: like watchability on my site in the first.
Speaker 2: Round, okay, yeah just two like good teams should be
Speaker 2: a close.
Speaker 3: Game so it's to, me just as someone who doesn't
Speaker 3: have a stake in, This i'm really looking forward to
Speaker 3: seeing how this turns.
Speaker 1: Out Wisconsin montana three, Fourteen ken who we got The?
Speaker 2: Griz, Really, no we're not going with oh, man that
Speaker 2: would have been. Awesome it would have been. Awesome but
Speaker 2: we'll go With wisconsin in this.
Speaker 4: One.
Speaker 1: Okay Saint mary's of course the old conference fellow bringing
Speaker 1: me on seven seed taken On vanderbilt as a ten.
Speaker 2: Seed who do you like?
Speaker 4: Here?
Speaker 3: Yeah once AGAIN i Will i'll pick against the Sec
Speaker 3: Saint mary's with the eighth best defense in the, country
Speaker 3: led By Augustus. Marshallonis, yes shout out To. Sarunas right
Speaker 3: out out To.
Speaker 2: Sirunas.
Speaker 1: Yeah remember The Tai die The lithuania Tidye jerseys back
Speaker 1: in the. Day all, right, absolutely, yeah all, Right So
Speaker 1: Saint mary's advance is Past vandy absolutely. Yep alabama two
Speaker 1: Seed Robert morris fifteen, Seed, ken you should know that
Speaker 1: you are talking to A Robert morris recruit circle nineteen ninety. Six,
Speaker 1: Really i've got like three letters From Robert. Morris that's.
Speaker 1: Amazing that wasn't. AMAZING i, mean they're they're. Decent, now
Speaker 1: it was just like a throwaway.
Speaker 2: THING i wouldn't throw that. Away, well that was.
Speaker 1: Kind of a LEVEL i should have tried to play
Speaker 1: out instead of BELIEVING i could play it to you
Speaker 1: because that didn't work. Out But alabama Two Robert morris
Speaker 1: fifteen we. Got, yeah it's going to Be. Alabama but
Speaker 1: shout out To Robert. Morris they back in your, DAY
Speaker 1: i believe we're in The Northeast. Conference, indeed now they're
Speaker 1: in The Horizon, league so you, know advanced up a
Speaker 1: level and they have been up to the.
Speaker 2: Task and won the league this, Year so shout out to, Them. Bud,
Speaker 2: Yeah obama's the far superior outfit.
Speaker 1: Here round two in The East, Seas duke And cooper
Speaker 1: flat taking On baylor and Vj.
Speaker 2: Edgetroum who you got, Here, KEN i Got duke winning.
Speaker 2: This we're Assuming cooper's gonna be.
Speaker 3: Healthy but even if, Not baylor has really struggled against
Speaker 3: top flight competition this, year So duke is still gonna
Speaker 3: be able To they're still gonna be able to get
Speaker 3: to the second weekend if even if they don't Have
Speaker 3: cooper flag this.
Speaker 1: Weekend since you brought that, up do you think they
Speaker 1: should even Play cooper On friday against whatever the winner
Speaker 1: of this playing game.
Speaker 2: Is, right it's a, yeah it's a little.
Speaker 3: SUSPECT i, mean if he does, play you have to
Speaker 3: think that he's like fully, healthy, Right like it's a
Speaker 3: great sign if he does.
Speaker 2: Play but, yeah there's really no reason to risk it
Speaker 2: Against Mount Saint Mary's.
Speaker 1: Oregon five Seed arizona four, seed round to two Former
Speaker 1: pac twelve buddies, Here, ken who gets it?
Speaker 2: Done we're gonna go with The? Wildcats were still on board.
Speaker 3: With arizona just a really consistent season this year in
Speaker 3: The big, twelve so we think they'll they'll get.
Speaker 1: It DONE Byu advances according to our. Model here to
Speaker 1: round two to take On. Wisconsin so who you Got
Speaker 1: round two By? Wisconsin i'm going with The. Badgers, yeah
Speaker 1: just the advantage. There you, Know wisconsin has a top
Speaker 1: flight defense and bou does. Not Saint mary's seventh Seed,
Speaker 1: alabama two, Seed ken who you got round?
Speaker 3: To a fascinating, matchup you, know to just polar. Opposite
Speaker 3: Saint mary's loves to slow it, down prevent three point,
Speaker 3: shots defense, Heavy bama's speeding it up offense, heavy loves
Speaker 3: to take. Threes it's gonna be a fascinating, matchup BUT
Speaker 3: i do Think bama will.
Speaker 1: Prevail alabama advances on all, right back up To Duke
Speaker 1: arizona in the let's The sweet sixteen Matchup Duke Arizona sweet.
Speaker 2: Sixteen who we Got.
Speaker 3: Duke arizona and we're gonna again assume Assume Cooper flag
Speaker 3: is back and if he, Is duke should have no problem.
Speaker 1: Here Wisconsin Alabama sweet. Sixteen where we're Going alabama back
Speaker 1: to The elite, Eight elite eight and now for the
Speaker 1: final four team out of The, east the winner Of
Speaker 1: Duke alabama is.
Speaker 2: That's gonna be The Duke Blue.
Speaker 1: Devils all, right we'll Go. Duke so we Have duke
Speaker 1: out of The. East we Have Michigan state out of The.
Speaker 1: South we'll move over now to The west. Region and
Speaker 1: AS i referenced in our previous, segment sometimes there's a
Speaker 1: year where every TIME i watch a, Team i'm, like
Speaker 1: they might be the best team in basketball in college,
Speaker 1: basketball that team for me Is.
Speaker 2: Florida this, year we'll start With. Florida Norfolk. State, uh,
Speaker 2: yeah of course that will Be.
Speaker 1: Florida, okay let's just move right over to the back
Speaker 1: to back national champs and a very grumpy coach on
Speaker 1: the sidelines and One Dan.
Speaker 2: Hurley But yukon Gets. Oklahoma where are we going?
Speaker 9: Here?
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, no what's talking About yukon this? Year what's the?
Speaker 2: Deal they won back the back back back. Titles can
Speaker 2: we give him a little little?
Speaker 1: RESPECT i, mean, LOOK i mean, here you, KNOW i
Speaker 1: grew up forty miles away from. Campus i'm A hurley.
Speaker 1: GUY i Want yukon to. Win can they get Past?
Speaker 1: Oklahoma they can get Past?
Speaker 3: Oklahoma, Yeah so it has been a down year for The,
Speaker 3: huskies Or Danny hurley missed on missed on some, transfers
Speaker 3: and Freshman leam McNeely is kind of the leader of
Speaker 3: the team and he's been pretty. Inefficient but they do
Speaker 3: have enough to get By Oklahoma memphis five, Seed Colorado
Speaker 3: state twelve. Seed will The Mountain West conference hate ken
Speaker 3: manifest itself in this, matchup or you Think Colorado state.
Speaker 2: Can get it.
Speaker 3: Done we will go With Colorado. State they're ACTUALLY i
Speaker 3: think a slight favorite even In. Vegas it's not even
Speaker 3: like necessarily going on a limb, here but they have
Speaker 3: been playing so well down the.
Speaker 2: Stretch Nie, clifford player to, remember.
Speaker 3: Has not appeared on any All american teams have been
Speaker 3: released the last couple of, days presumably because people make
Speaker 3: up their mind about like two months before the. Deadline,
Speaker 3: yeah but he has been awesome down the stretch and
Speaker 3: certainly one of the ten best players in the.
Speaker 1: Country So Dan marley once upon a time was the
Speaker 1: head coach At Grand, canyon, right that's. Correct, now for some,
Speaker 1: REASON i didn't follow the news cycle AND i just
Speaker 1: thought he was the head coach until like a few months.
Speaker 1: Ago he very much is not But Grand canyon thirteen,
Speaker 1: Seed maryland as a four.
Speaker 2: Seed who we got?
Speaker 3: Here we Have Bryce drew as the head, Coach Ran
Speaker 3: cannon don't Forget valpo ninety eight tournament, hero but it
Speaker 3: will Be. Maryland maryland one of those underseeded teams as
Speaker 3: a four. Seed really tempting to pick them to come
Speaker 3: out of this. REGION i don't want to spoil, it.
Speaker 2: But they do win this. Game Is Kendrick lamar the?
Speaker 3: Tournament?
Speaker 1: No But drake is see WHAT i did their kids
Speaker 1: pop culture. Reference let's move over To Missouri drake six
Speaker 1: to eleven.
Speaker 3: Seed drake plays at the slowest base in the, Country
Speaker 3: so this is not a game THAT i would recommend
Speaker 3: tuning in for unless you have money on it or.
Speaker 3: Something BUT i will Squeak missouri By. Drake but this
Speaker 3: is going to be a real grind and a close.
Speaker 1: One another big twelve, Team Texas TECH Unc wilmington is
Speaker 1: the fourteen.
Speaker 2: Seed three to Fourteen, Ken what's what happens? Here?
Speaker 3: Yeah Texas tech has been outstanding all, year number seven
Speaker 3: in my ratings and never seems to get the. Respect
Speaker 3: they do have some injury, issues a little banged up
Speaker 3: at a couple of starting, positions but they will get
Speaker 3: by you and see well LinkedIn number Seven, kansas number Ten,
Speaker 3: Arkansas Little bill, Self John calipari action round.
Speaker 2: One, wow what have you got?
Speaker 3: Here else is not a uh, yeah this is not
Speaker 3: like when was it two thousand and eight two eight title?
Speaker 2: Game Memphis? Kansas?
Speaker 3: Right so, yeah not quite on that. Level we will,
Speaker 3: Again we'll go With. Kansas but these this is a
Speaker 3: game that looks like it'd be looks like it'd be
Speaker 3: a great one to, watch but it's just really much
Speaker 3: weaker versions than these coaches are used to.
Speaker 1: Coaching Rick patino has taken The johnnies back to. PROMINENCE
Speaker 1: i was once upon a time A Saint john's, fan
Speaker 1: back in the Old Big east days With Chris mollan and.
Speaker 2: Such omaha the fifteen seed didn't do, it.
Speaker 1: Didn't mean to do A Peyton manning impersonation, There But
Speaker 1: Saint john's Two omaha.
Speaker 3: Fifteen what happens? Here Saint john's has the best defense
Speaker 3: in the. Country they've lost their four games by a
Speaker 3: combined seven. Points nobody in college basketball has lost their
Speaker 3: games by fewer. Points, Now Saint john' didn't play a
Speaker 3: super difficult non conference, schedule but, nonetheless this team's legit
Speaker 3: and they.
Speaker 2: Will they will Beat omaha round of thirty two out
Speaker 2: of The.
Speaker 1: West according to the model that we have in front of,
Speaker 1: Us florida yukon round.
Speaker 2: Two what happens, Here florida will put an end to
Speaker 2: the dream For Dan.
Speaker 1: Hurley Can Colorado state keep The cinderella run going against
Speaker 1: the number four Seed Maryland.
Speaker 2: TURPINS i think in a different circumstance they.
Speaker 3: Could But maryland is just a really solid team and
Speaker 3: it definitely plays better than that four, seed so they'll
Speaker 3: get by.
Speaker 2: Him missouri sixth, Seed Texas tech three. Seed do we got?
Speaker 1: Here we will go with The Red Raiders Kansas Saint
Speaker 1: John's bill, Self Rick patino another heavyweight. Matchup it'll Be
Speaker 1: Saint john's, Here, Okay Florida maryland for the right to
Speaker 1: go to The elite.
Speaker 3: Eight we'll Put florida in The ELITE. A but do
Speaker 3: not if you want to Pig. Maryland there not a bad.
Speaker 2: Idea Texas Tech Saint john's at the bottom of the.
Speaker 3: Practice we'll go With Texas tech to upset the offensively
Speaker 3: Challenge Red storm.
Speaker 1: Okay and going to the final. Four out of The
Speaker 1: west Region Florida Texas. Tech have we got it will
Speaker 1: Be Texas tech wow or upset. Special there we.
Speaker 3: GO i was waiting for.
Speaker 2: One there we.
Speaker 1: Go so so far we Have Michigan state out of The,
Speaker 1: south we Have duke out of The, east and we
Speaker 1: Have Texas tech now out of The. West our final
Speaker 1: bracket portion of the racket will be The. Midwest any
Speaker 1: intrigue with The Houston cougars round one or no Intrigue
Speaker 1: Gonzaga georgia round.
Speaker 2: One gonzaga will pull that.
Speaker 10: Out all?
Speaker 4: Right all?
Speaker 3: Right we do not have a five to twelve upset so?
Speaker 3: Far do we have one With clemson and. McNeice we
Speaker 3: actually do Spence Colorado state Over. MEMPHIS i bet. Yeah
Speaker 3: we do not have it With clemson over. McNeese Will
Speaker 3: wade is already thinking about his next, job which appears
Speaker 3: to BE Nc, State So clemson will capitalize in that.
Speaker 1: DISTRACTION i win that game perdue four seed High. Points,
Speaker 1: yeah as your thirteen seed we.
Speaker 2: Got we will go with High. Point they are the out.
Speaker 3: Number they are the top team in terms of their
Speaker 3: dependence on offense in this, tournament And i'm a sucker for.
Speaker 3: Offense they have the twenty fifth best offense in the.
Speaker 3: Country don't ask me what their defense is. Ranked it's very,
Speaker 3: bad but their offense is really.
Speaker 1: Good, Okay illinois sixth seed will await the wain of
Speaker 1: Tonight's Texas xavier.
Speaker 2: Matchup does it? MATTER i don't think. SO i, mean,
Speaker 2: YEAH i don't think.
Speaker 4: So i'll go To.
Speaker 1: Illinois kentucky shout Out Mark, pope FORMER byu. Coach they
Speaker 1: take On troy as a fourteen.
Speaker 2: Seed what goes down?
Speaker 3: Here, YEAH i Think Mark pope has gotten more out
Speaker 3: Of kentucky than you could have. Expected they, are Like Texas,
Speaker 3: tech a little banged up heading into the tournament, here
Speaker 3: but they'll obviously they'll get By.
Speaker 1: TROY Ucla Utah state local. GAME ucla a five point
Speaker 1: five point.
Speaker 3: Favorite do The bruins get by THE AGGI i, Mean
Speaker 3: i'd love to see The aggies do, it but it's
Speaker 3: hard for me to.
Speaker 2: Envision them getting by. This THIS ucla team.
Speaker 1: Two Fifteen Tennessee, Wafford tennessee get this done pretty. Easily, Yes,
Speaker 1: okay all, right let's head back up.
Speaker 3: Now round.
Speaker 2: Two Houston, gonzaga who you got, here should be a
Speaker 2: great one in the second. Round houston has just been
Speaker 2: so good this.
Speaker 3: Year they've lost four Games spence and only one of
Speaker 3: those was in, regulation so they've only been hot scored
Speaker 3: in regulation one time all.
Speaker 2: Year they've just been so. Good so, YEAH i think
Speaker 2: we'll get Back gonzaga.
Speaker 3: Five teen high point gets By. Purdue do they get By?
Speaker 3: Clemson they do? Not Brad Brown now back to The sweet.
Speaker 3: Sixteen fair Enough Illinois. Kentucky Does Mark pope keep it?
Speaker 3: GOING i think so close call, here but, YEAH i
Speaker 3: do believe In Mark. POPE ucla seventh seed after Beating Utah.
Speaker 3: State they'll take On tennessee as a. Two what happens, Here,
Speaker 3: well we're gonna Go tennessee despite the long term struggles
Speaker 3: Of Rick barnes in THE Ncaa. Tournament tennessee one of
Speaker 3: the best defensive teams out, there and they'll have enough
Speaker 3: to get BY. Ucla Houston clemson won. Five who advances
Speaker 3: to The elite. Eight we are a believer In Covien
Speaker 3: samson And. Houston Kentucky tennessee three to. Two that should
Speaker 3: be a good. One who you got it would be
Speaker 3: a good one if it. Occurs kentucky has Beating tennessee
Speaker 3: twice this, year but we Think tennessee gets revenged in
Speaker 3: this situation.
Speaker 2: And gets to the elit.
Speaker 1: Date, okay now for the right to go to the final,
Speaker 1: four it'll Be, Houston. Tennessee what goes down?
Speaker 2: HERE i will go with The Houston.
Speaker 1: Cougars, Okay so final four matchup number, one let's start
Speaker 1: on THE i Guess i'll just say left side of the,
Speaker 1: Bracket Michigan State Texas tech for the right to play
Speaker 1: for The national championship In San.
Speaker 2: Antonio what do we? Got we are going to go WITH. J.
Speaker 2: T toppin and The Texas Tech Red.
Speaker 3: Woh, Yeah, okay A Ken palm Surprise Texas tech in
Speaker 3: The National championship game and they will play the winner
Speaker 3: Of duke And. Houston who you got that's kind of
Speaker 3: that would end up being the de facto national title.
Speaker 2: GAME i THINK i just Think duke is a team of.
Speaker 1: Destiny Year duke advances to take On Texas tech Your
Speaker 1: National championship?
Speaker 2: Game who Is ken your national?
Speaker 3: Champ duke will win seventy eight sixty Eight cooper, flag
Speaker 3: twenty two, points nine, boards eight, assists and two. Steals,
Speaker 3: wow did you say seventy eight to sixty. Eight, yes all,
Speaker 3: Right i'm writing this down right.
Speaker 1: Now seventy eight to sixty, Eight duke is your national
Speaker 1: champs beating The Texas Tech Red.
Speaker 2: Raiders, correct that's. Correct, there you got it down all?
Speaker 2: Right hopefully you were taking.
Speaker 4: Notes.
Speaker 3: Porter you didn't Copy ken's bracket thick by, pick did
Speaker 3: you one of?
Speaker 2: THEM i knew.
Speaker 4: IT i knew.
Speaker 2: IT i knew. It here the, sound hear the. Sound
Speaker 2: there you, go it's going. Away SO i hope you
Speaker 2: guys were paying.
Speaker 1: Attention there really is nobody better that we could have
Speaker 1: in the studio to walk you through this, exercise which
Speaker 1: more often than not ends in extreme.
Speaker 2: Frustrates all, Right, ken where can people go get your?
Speaker 2: Work kenpom dot.
Speaker 3: Com it's twenty five dollars for twelve, months so even
Speaker 3: if you sign up, tonight you'll get twelve months of,
Speaker 3: access so you'll basically have it for all next. Season very,
Speaker 3: nice my. Friend, well great to see you enjoy the.
Speaker 1: Action it's such a great, tournament and even though you
Speaker 1: don't have any clue what's gonna, happen it's still fun
Speaker 1: because you never know.
Speaker 2: Exactly that's the whole. Point all, right my. Friend good
Speaker 2: to see you all, right Thanks.
Speaker 1: Bence the sun is shining here in Downtown Salt Lake
Speaker 1: city To it's about forty degrees or. So expected to
Speaker 1: heat up throughout the course of the rest of the
Speaker 1: week and through a really nice weekend leading into some
Speaker 1: seventy degree weather next.
Speaker 2: Week so if you've been waiting for the warmth.
Speaker 1: LIKE i, have it is on the way and it's
Speaker 1: good to have you along for the. Ride The drive
Speaker 1: at five is brought to you either the twenty twenty
Speaker 1: Five Big Twelve Gymnastics. Championship you can watch the best
Speaker 1: of the best coming up On, Saturday march the twenty
Speaker 1: second After Maverick. Center gets your tickets today At maverickscenter dot.
Speaker 1: Com The Utah jazz are in action. Tonight it's a,
Speaker 1: massive massive, game two teams with so much at. Stake
Speaker 1: The Washington wizards roll in town to take on The Utah.
Speaker 1: Jazz now The jazz and The wizards are fighting for
Speaker 1: the honor of being the worst team in pro. Basketball
Speaker 1: wizards are fifteen and fifty. Two they're eight and twenty
Speaker 1: six on the. Road The jazz are fifteen and fifty.
Speaker 1: Four they're eight and twenty six at. Home so something's
Speaker 1: got to give two teams with eight and twenty six
Speaker 1: records in their respective. Situations tonight busy night in THE
Speaker 1: nba after kind of a light night last.
Speaker 2: Night of, course the madness Of march is upon.
Speaker 1: Us if you Missed Ken Pomeroy live in, studio, specifically
Speaker 1: the last segment we, did we went Over ken's brackets
Speaker 1: And ken Me ken's.
Speaker 2: Bracket ken never fills out a.
Speaker 1: Bracket he was kind enough to do it for us
Speaker 1: on the show, today and if you missed, it a
Speaker 1: lot of good, information a lot of good. Breakdown nobody
Speaker 1: pays attention to the matchups and the teams and everything in.
Speaker 1: Between Like Ken, Palmer i'd encourage you to go To
Speaker 1: kenpalm dot. Com i've been a subscriber Of ken's for
Speaker 1: a number of. Years it's very affordable and it gives
Speaker 1: you a lot of. Knowledge So ken's we'll just we'll
Speaker 1: call It. Ken's we'll go over The elite eight real
Speaker 1: quick in case you missed. It out of The south,
Speaker 1: Region ken Has michigan And Michigan state advancing to meet
Speaker 1: in The elite, eight which is pretty. Fun of, course
Speaker 1: in state, rivals there in The east. Region he Has
Speaker 1: duke advancing a tick On, alabama and that is predicated
Speaker 1: on the health Of Cooper flag and that is still
Speaker 1: somewhat in the up in the. AIR i think there
Speaker 1: have been a lot of reports indicating that he will
Speaker 1: play coming up On. FRIDAY i don't know that you
Speaker 1: play him On friday against the winner of the play
Speaker 1: in game tonight that's going on right. Now we'll update
Speaker 1: you there in a. Minute it probably, them and then
Speaker 1: save him for what could be a pretty difficult. Path
Speaker 1: ken also Referenced auburn is the most vulnerable number one.
Speaker 1: Seed upset Special Ken pomeroy style Is louisville Beating auburn
Speaker 1: in round, two but he Has duke advancing Past bama
Speaker 1: there in The elite eight out of these, brackets and
Speaker 1: then down to The, midwest His elite aid matchup Is
Speaker 1: houston And. Tennessee by the, way from a local, Flavor
Speaker 1: ken HAS byu BEATING vcu and then losing To wisconsin
Speaker 1: in the second, Round wisconsin Losing. Alabama so as we
Speaker 1: scroll on down to The, Midwest ken Has houston And.
Speaker 1: Tennessee he Has houston advancing to the final four to
Speaker 1: take On duke out of The West. Region His ELITE
Speaker 1: aid matchup Is florida And Texas. Tech Texas tech to
Speaker 1: three seed out of The big. Twelve they're the number
Speaker 1: seven seed in The kenpalm dot com, rankings and he
Speaker 1: actually Has Texas tech advancing to take On Michigan state
Speaker 1: in the final. Four ken believes Tex tech will Beat
Speaker 1: Michigan state to advance and take On. Duke he Has
Speaker 1: duke winning the national championship Over Texas tech seventy eight
Speaker 1: to sixty. Eight as far as the local side of
Speaker 1: things With Utah, State ken HAS ucla Beating Utah. STATE
Speaker 1: ucla is a five point five point. Favorite so the
Speaker 1: madness of marches. Here THE ncaa tournament is. Here it's
Speaker 1: my favorite event that we have on the sporting, calendar
Speaker 1: and you can get involved by logging ONTO espn seven
Speaker 1: hundred sports dot com to fill out your bracket to
Speaker 1: play AGAINST, us play against, me play AGAINST, oc play
Speaker 1: Against porter And, james and some celebrity folks stopping by
Speaker 1: as well to fill out some, brackets namely Coach Gordy
Speaker 1: chiasa and. Others so if you are interested in playing with,
Speaker 1: us log ONTO espn seven hundred sports dot com and join.
Speaker 2: Us all, RIGHT i want you to be. Honest.
Speaker 1: Porter During ken's comprehensive, breakdown were you filling out your
Speaker 1: own bracket in real time based offs?
Speaker 5: NEGATIVE i still haven't even filled out a single. Matchup
Speaker 5: i'll wait till after the.
Speaker 2: NIGHT i have something to. Admit what's that you?
Speaker 1: Did, well it's not the Bracket i'm using for the,
Speaker 1: station BUT i did pull up THE espn bracket in
Speaker 1: front of, me AND i just filled it in with
Speaker 1: every one Of ken's. Picks i'm not submitting it to
Speaker 1: our work, bracket but you're submitting it. Somewhere i'm submitting
Speaker 1: it ON espn dot. COM i respect that it will
Speaker 1: not be the bracket that represents my picks in in
Speaker 1: our in our bracket. Challenge any early hot, takes Like
Speaker 1: auburn being the most susceptible number one, SEED i know
Speaker 1: you're going to dig in a, night but any, early
Speaker 1: any early, THOUGHTS.
Speaker 5: I don't agree. There ACTUALLY i Think.
Speaker 6: Auburn, well MAYBE i agree there in the fact of the,
Speaker 6: schedule the route That auburn, takes BUT i ACTUALLY i
Speaker 6: think that they are one of the teams That i'm
Speaker 6: most confident in being a top seed going. Forward one
Speaker 6: hot take that you, KNOW i don't know if it's
Speaker 6: it's super hot as of last, NIGHT i don't think
Speaker 6: THAT unc necessarily should have been. In you could have
Speaker 6: gone back and forth on.
Speaker 2: That i'm not on the.
Speaker 6: Committee i'm not going to PRETEND i dove in at
Speaker 6: the depth that they, did but that has no bearing
Speaker 6: on what they do in the. Tournament and WHAT i
Speaker 6: saw last, night the versatility that roster, has the shooting
Speaker 6: that they, have that's a team that if the jumpers are,
Speaker 6: falling that's a playing team spence THAT i could see
Speaker 6: making a legitimate run in THE ncaa tournament just because
Speaker 6: of the talent they have on the roster.
Speaker 2: Man they looked really good last.
Speaker 1: Night San Diego, STATE i, think according To Ken, palm
Speaker 1: one of the top fifteen or twenty defensive teams in college.
Speaker 2: Basketball they couldn't do.
Speaker 1: Anything and AS i referenced, earlier as As carolina was
Speaker 1: Running San Diego state off the, floor like all, right
Speaker 1: let's check out Some Utah Hockey club, action which did
Speaker 1: not go. Well The Utah Hockey club got dog walked
Speaker 1: In edmonton last night at seven to.
Speaker 2: One final Score Utah Hockey club.
Speaker 1: Has fourteen games, LEFT i believe, thereabouts and they need
Speaker 1: to make up a four point, gap AND i hate
Speaker 1: to break it to, you it's probably not gonna. Happen
Speaker 1: would be really fun to have playoff hockey here In
Speaker 1: Salt lake during the first year of OUR nhl, experience
Speaker 1: but ultimately too many games early on that you let
Speaker 1: slip away at, home so many games where you led
Speaker 1: going into thirty and you just couldn't. Close So Hockey
Speaker 1: club got smoked last night by The oilers seven to.
Speaker 1: One they're going to take on The. Sabers coming up
Speaker 1: tomorrow here In Salt Lake, city The Utah. Women friend
Speaker 1: of the, Program Gavin, PETERSON i don't. Forget coming up
Speaker 1: On friday, morning eleven thirty, am The Utah women will
Speaker 1: take On. Indiana utah is an eight, Seed indiana is
Speaker 1: a nine, seed and If utah is able to advance Past,
Speaker 1: indiana most Likely bard in some, crazy crazy, Upset Don
Speaker 1: staley In South carolina will be the opponent round. Two of,
Speaker 1: Course South carolina the reigning national champs and the best
Speaker 1: team in the. Country fun conversation we have With Gavin
Speaker 1: peterson when we did our show up at The Huntsman
Speaker 1: center On. Monday for Your utah women's basketball, fans head
Speaker 1: over TO espn dot com and check out that. INTERVIEW
Speaker 1: a lot of. Fun so you can hear that game
Speaker 1: here on the. Station it's eleven thirty am coming up On,
Speaker 1: friday and if they're able to advance Past, indiana we'll
Speaker 1: see what they can do against the best team in
Speaker 1: the nation In South.
Speaker 2: Carolina so a lot of basketball.
Speaker 4: This time of.
Speaker 1: YEAR a little bit OF nfl offseason, news The Minnesota.
Speaker 1: VIKINGS i don't know why you have to announce that
Speaker 1: you don't want to Sign Aaron, rodgers but apparently they're
Speaker 1: out of The Aaron rodgers. Sweepstakes so a little bit
Speaker 1: OF nfl offseason stuff kind of going. On but right
Speaker 1: now it is the badness Of march with THE Ncaa
Speaker 1: Tournament get And roll and coming up tomorrow. Morning, now
Speaker 1: the final two games of The mini four team play
Speaker 1: in tournament are taking place.
Speaker 2: Tonight right.
Speaker 1: Now Mount Saint mary's has a thirty six to twenty
Speaker 1: eight lead Over American.
Speaker 2: University it is On TRUE.
Speaker 1: Tv stick around For eastbound And down replays after the
Speaker 1: basketball tonight and Then Xavier texas will be the game
Speaker 1: coming up at about seven to, ten depending on.
Speaker 2: When the first game ends On TRUE.
Speaker 1: Tv As ken pomp pointed, Out xavier kind of a
Speaker 1: bid stealer this. Year ken doesn't believe that they were
Speaker 1: worthy of making it in even in the first. Four
Speaker 1: so we'll see if they can do the same Thing
Speaker 1: caroltta did last night To San Diego state by taking
Speaker 1: care Of xavier and advancing to the tournament which gets rolling.
Speaker 1: Tomorrow NOW BYU vcu is at two five mountain, time
Speaker 1: so right as we start our, SHOW byu will be
Speaker 1: tipping off AGAINST vcu Ball, Aerena, Denver Colorado elevation will
Speaker 1: be On Brigham young's. Side, now the line moved about
Speaker 1: an hour and a half ago for the second time
Speaker 1: towards the way OF.
Speaker 2: Vcu line opened up minus three point.
Speaker 1: Five as we sit here today at five thirteen mountain
Speaker 1: time on A wednesday, AFTERNOON byu is a two point
Speaker 1: five point favorite OVER vcu two.
Speaker 3: To five mountain.
Speaker 1: Time and then the late night game as far as
Speaker 1: the local state, goes will Be Utah STATE. Ucla first
Speaker 1: game right out of the gates will be interesting Because
Speaker 1: louisville is a team That Ken palm told us to
Speaker 1: watch out For louisville eight, Seed creighton nine seed ten
Speaker 1: point fifteen ON. Cbs then it'll be High point In, Purdue, Montana,
Speaker 1: WISCONSIN Siu edwardsville taking on The Houston, Cougars Alabama state
Speaker 1: taking On auburn, McNeice, Clemson, Georgia, Gonzaga, Wafford, Tennessee, Arkansas.
Speaker 1: Kansas That's Bill, Selph John, Calipari, Yale TEXAS a AND
Speaker 1: M Drake Missoo, Omaha Saint JOHN'S Uc San, Diego, michigan
Speaker 1: THEN Unc, Wilmington, texas Tex so a Jam pack day
Speaker 1: of college basketball tomorrow and the show will be out
Speaker 1: on the. Road, Okay so if you're looking to come
Speaker 1: hang out with us and watch them, games we'll let
Speaker 1: you know where we're going to be prior to us saying.
Speaker 2: Goodnight right about six, o'clock The.
Speaker 1: Jazz aren't action taking on The Washington, Wizards so if
Speaker 1: you want to go Watch Jordan poole And Isaiah, callier
Speaker 1: go ahead to. HEAD i don't, know, MAN i haven't
Speaker 1: heard your. This SO i Thought tim was good on
Speaker 1: this today and we've talked about. It as a result
Speaker 1: of What sarah, Wrote Sarah todd front of the show
Speaker 1: at the Des Reed, News so of course she covers
Speaker 1: The jazz and joins us very. Consistently if The jazz
Speaker 1: are able to luck in to a, little you, know
Speaker 1: lottery magic in a way they've never been able to
Speaker 1: luck into it. Before and let me just say we're,
Speaker 1: due all. Right, So Adam, SILVER i know you listen
Speaker 1: to the. Show, OKAY i know you're a big fan
Speaker 1: of the sports soccer radio In Salt. Lake let's get it, done,
Speaker 1: man all. Right The jazz are trying to do everything
Speaker 1: they can to get top shelf.
Speaker 3: Talent.
Speaker 1: Here Cooper, flag for people that don't, know reclassified and
Speaker 1: should be a senior in high. School, okay he will
Speaker 1: be eighteen during his rookie season in THE. Nba, Okay
Speaker 1: AND i don't care if You're Cooper flag Or Lebron.
Speaker 1: James it's tough as an eighteen year old to really
Speaker 1: dominate or do anything super. Special lebron was insanely effective
Speaker 1: as a rookie and as a young kid in a
Speaker 1: way that was pretty. Stunning but if The jazz were
Speaker 1: able to do, that and if they get the number one,
Speaker 1: pick if they Draft Cooper, flag who is eighteen years.
Speaker 1: Old do they just say and according to What sarah,
Speaker 1: WROTE i mean that's kind of the beginning of the,
Speaker 1: Rebuild like this whole narrative, of, hey we've been tearing
Speaker 1: it down so we can build it back up like.
Speaker 1: That i'm, sorry that's a little silly to me and
Speaker 1: kind of falls on deaf. Ears i'm not knocking On.
Speaker 1: Sarah that sounds like remorse for not doing this the
Speaker 1: right way starting three years, ago WHICH i talked about
Speaker 1: three years, Ago like if you're Trading rudy and you're
Speaker 1: Trading donovan And quinn's, Like i'm not working for this,
Speaker 1: dude And Dennis lindsay leaves and you get rid Of
Speaker 1: royce And bogdanovitch and, ever like that's when this.
Speaker 2: Started let's not get it.
Speaker 1: Twisted but if they want to further this dumb narrative like,
Speaker 1: hey we've been breaking it down so we can build it.
Speaker 1: Up if they Draft Cooper flag and they, Say, okay
Speaker 1: now we're starting this, year might be exactly what we're
Speaker 1: in for next.
Speaker 4: Year.
Speaker 6: YEAH i guess it just depends on how you look
Speaker 6: at the, timeline how you view the. TIMELINE i don't
Speaker 6: think it's linear enough to, say, hey this is when we,
Speaker 6: start this is when this, starts this is the.
Speaker 5: Phase that we're in.
Speaker 6: HERE i think The jazz are very much keeping more
Speaker 6: options open, then you, know it would be possible to
Speaker 6: have that kind of linear view of the timeline of your.
Speaker 6: Rebuild but like you, said when you trade basically the
Speaker 6: entirety of your, roster you move on from your your
Speaker 6: head coach part ways with your head coach on both.
Speaker 6: Accounts you trade your cornerstone. Pieces that's a. Teardown there's no,
Speaker 6: if ans or buts about. That, however that doesn't necessarily
Speaker 6: mean that's the day you can start on rebuilding what
Speaker 6: you think the future looks, like because that relies spence
Speaker 6: on a couple of. Variables, Right that relies on how you,
Speaker 6: draft how you acquire pieces through free, agency if those
Speaker 6: pieces work, out if they remain.
Speaker 5: Healthy.
Speaker 6: Right we're seeing that right now with The, jazz where
Speaker 6: there's a draft pick that they really do, like but
Speaker 6: he hasn't seen the he hasn't seen the floor in four.
Speaker 3: Months.
Speaker 6: Right that's that's part of this situation as. Well so
Speaker 6: WHILE i do believe the teardown is very much maybe
Speaker 6: still in the in the, process because there are pieces
Speaker 6: on this. TEAM i don't think we'll be here for
Speaker 6: the long. Haul you can't say it's just starting as
Speaker 6: far as the rebuild, goes because you are well into that.
Speaker 6: Process my take would be that it's just a longer
Speaker 6: process than most fans are comfortable. With so you have
Speaker 6: to kinda get cute with how you talk about it
Speaker 6: because in the reality of THE, nba unless you trade
Speaker 6: for A Kawhi, leonard unless you go out and trade
Speaker 6: for A Jannisana Ta kumpo or A Luka, doncic these
Speaker 6: things take three four sometimes in certain markets five or six.
Speaker 6: Years they don't happen. Overnight you're seeing it In okac
Speaker 6: while it looks, good they're still on the, upswing they're
Speaker 6: still building. There that's where The jazz want to be
Speaker 6: in two or three, years not. Tomorrow and that's that's
Speaker 6: kind of WHERE i see. It where you can't look
Speaker 6: at this in such a linear timeline because that's just
Speaker 6: not how it works in THE. Nba you strike while
Speaker 6: the iron's hot and hope that you're able to do
Speaker 6: so when those opportunities.
Speaker 1: Arrive, yeah and you've got to count on some things
Speaker 1: that are unseen to fall into, place you, know a
Speaker 1: mid round lottery pick Like Donovan mitchell popping and becoming,
Speaker 1: awesome Or john's, Doctor Karl malone or Go bar at
Speaker 1: the end of the first. Round but the problem is
Speaker 1: during this three year period where, yes you have been,
Speaker 1: rebuilding it's so silly that they would believe anybody would
Speaker 1: buy into this, nonsense, like, hey this has been a
Speaker 1: because all the players you've drafted so far have left
Speaker 1: a lot wanting. NOW i think there's some stuff to
Speaker 1: like About Isaiah. Collier you can't shoot twenty five percent
Speaker 1: from three if you want to be a lead guard
Speaker 1: in THE. NBA i think there's some stuff to like
Speaker 1: About Kyle. Philipowski but the guys you've drafted early as
Speaker 1: early as you've had the opportunity to And Cody, williams
Speaker 1: he has not shown. Anything AND i feel horrible For Taylor,
Speaker 1: hendrick WHO i like a. Lot he just hasn't been.
Speaker 1: Healthy so many questions About kyante because some nights he
Speaker 1: looks like a real key, piece and another nights he
Speaker 1: just looks. Lost he does not guard at. All there's
Speaker 1: not a lot of effort. THERE i know he's trying to.
Speaker 1: LEARN i, guess and then there are moments where the
Speaker 1: shot selections, horrific the turnovers are. Bad like at least With,
Speaker 1: donovan we saw some things. Early at least With, gobert
Speaker 1: after one year you kind of saw some of the
Speaker 1: evolution and started to see him elevate it in a
Speaker 1: way that nobody saw coming. There just there isn't that
Speaker 1: with this, group and outside of marketing and outside Of,
Speaker 1: KESSLER i don't know what you.
Speaker 10: Have so we'll.
Speaker 1: SEE i, mean it's gonna be a long, game and
Speaker 1: there are a lot of teams that try to do
Speaker 1: this and it takes a number of years before you
Speaker 1: kind of back at. It so of local interest, tonight
Speaker 1: The jazz are getting, going of, course a couple of
Speaker 1: play in games in THE Ncaa tournament before the tourney
Speaker 1: gets rolling tomorrow And ernest. Tomorrow The Utah Hockey club
Speaker 1: is an ACTION rsl is taking On dallas coming up this.
Speaker 1: Weekend so a little soccer coming your way as the
Speaker 1: weather starts to get a little bit. Better all, RIGHT
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Speaker 2: Hundred all, Right, porter what comes our? Way on A
Speaker 2: March Madness thursday edition of the, Show.
Speaker 6: Yeah a game day edition of The, drive we'll have
Speaker 6: live reactions to a lot of the tournament action as
Speaker 6: you see it in the studio. Here we'll also Have
Speaker 6: Craig Bowler. Jack you mentioned one of the games you
Speaker 6: were talking about. Earlier Craig bullerjack was on the, call
Speaker 6: not anymore but still doing jazz, games still talking plenty
Speaker 6: of college. Hoops Pablo. Mastroenni we'll discuss the latest With
Speaker 6: real Salt. Lake Andy larson stops, by and we may
Speaker 6: hear From Frank Gordon monson as. Well still working through
Speaker 6: a few things on the afternoon side on A. Thursday all,
Speaker 6: right there you.
Speaker 1: Go so if you're looking for a place to Watch March,
Speaker 1: madness come join us as we'll be out and about
Speaker 1: on The thursday, afternoon but we'll say good night for
Speaker 1: A wednesday show. Special thank you today To Neil, Smith tim,
Speaker 1: McMahon Chris comaradi And Ken. Pomeroy if you missed The
Speaker 1: Ken palm, interview go listen to it before you fill
Speaker 1: out your.
Speaker 2: Brackets it was good.
Speaker 1: Stuff and if you miss any of the sound at
Speaker 1: all from the show today or, ever quite, frankly we've
Speaker 1: got that thousands of episodes up on our podcast, page
Speaker 1: which is Called The drive With.
Speaker 3: Spence check. Its that's available wherever you get your.
Speaker 1: Shows check out the WEBSITE espn seven hundred sports dot
Speaker 1: com and download our mobile app for port Im SPENCE.
Speaker 2: Sa goodnight and enjoy the madness.
Speaker 3: Tomorrow.
Speaker 2: Guys it's a lot of fun to have a Great wednesday.
Speaker 1: Evening we'll talk to you on A thursday show and
Speaker 1: as well as you can catch it right here ON
Speaker 1: espn seven hundred ninety two ONE.
Speaker 2: Fm we are proud to be part Of UTAH'S Espn radio.
Speaker 2: Network