It's time for coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine day. Now, here's Nick coffee.
All right, let's get it started our third and final hour here on a Monday afternoon. Super Bowl Week is underway, and I feel like, so far, the only real talking points thus far at Super Bowl Media radio.
Row, I guess.
I mean, I think everybody got there this past weekend, and there'll be all kinds of coverage all over the place from the national outlets, and I'm sure we'll we'll get some stuff that comes from it. But I think the trade request from what's his name, Brown's best player defensively, Miles Garrett. Yeah, Males Garret, don't know. I couldn't think of his name, but he requested a trade from the Browns.
And you know, I like this move on his part because he'll, I mean, he's using this to his advantage. This comes out publicly today for obvious reasons, because he's going to be there doing multiple radio interviews. In fact, I think his first interview was going to be with
Rich Eisen once he got there in New Orleans. And he'll he'll he'll he'll be able to control the narrative here he'll be able to talk and obviously he can't get into too much as far as like details, but like he'll basically be able to sell himself to other franchises out there as to why maybe they should make some moves and try to go get him, because obviously
he's still a really, really good player. I think he's made it clear that his trade request is just based more so than anything off of wanting to win a Super Bowl. And the Browns don't really look to be in that in that in that great of a shape, in that great of shape to win it. In fact, what am I talking about? The Browns That probably never
want to role in my lifetime, but the Browns. But one of the things the NFL has has well maybe I'm wrong with saying this, but I feel like more than the in the NFL, but like players don't have like they have controlled despite being under contract, Like they can put up as big enough, as big of a fight, and more often than not they'll get traded right Like they have a contract for a reason, they can be
fined if they want to sit out. But if you are a star player and you are behaving that way, and it comes to somebody having to like budge, the team's gonna budge more often than not because they have to, right.
So in the NFL, I feel like you've got when's the last time this happened Austin in the NFL where a really good player made it clear he wanted out, and the conversation turned into, well, look, this guy's so good, they'd be foolish not to get rid of him, like they I mean, he may not like it in Cleveland, but why would they give up a guy that is
that good? Like wasn't it when Rogers became kind of prickly with the Green Bay for like the last time, Like it's one of those things where he was under contract, he didn't want to play there, but at the end of the day, like how many more good years does he have left?
That kind of thing, And maybe the same thing with Brett Fahr, but remember he like retired a couple of times, so that was his way out of it. And I don't know, being a Vikings fan, I know Stefan Diggs was very vocal about wanting to get out, but I don't think that he was like the best at his position like Miles Garrett was and then he got shipped to Buffalo and we all laughed at it because you know, it's Buffalo and Josh Allen wasn't proven yet. But both
those teams got better without him. Yeah, of course they did. So I don't know, it's it's it's just I mean, I don't know. And any other defensive end that I can remember like that, remember, oh, who was Khalil Mack member?
Oh yeah, uh started with the Raiders, right, yeah?
Yeah, and Gruden apparently didn't want to keep them or something like that, or they didn't want to pay him, and then he goes in the very next year. He just an absolute beast in Chicago.
Yeah.
I think there have been some examples in recent years like that, where you know, it looks like a guy's just kind of, you know, getting in his own way too much and his best days are in the past.
Then they go, I mean again, being within a winning culture matters a lot, and maybe more guys are realizing that now, Like maybe, I mean, as good as Miles Garrett has been in clear Eveland, you can't tell me that what he's seeing with Sequon Barkley now being with a organization, then more often than not, they do things the right way, they succeed, and the Browns aren't that.
In fact, the Browns are in this position where their future looks very, very bad, is just because they're still stuck with Deshaun Watson and that horrible contract that only the Browns would give him. So I know it's just to me, Miles Garrett's one of those guys that if you're the Browns and you know he wants to be traded, I mean I would spend the next forty eight hours
working with him. And because your mindset has to be right, now, why would we How would we get better by getting rid of a guy that we know everybody else would want and we've already invested a lot of money in him. So but again, more often than not, this day and age players do get their way, and you know.
That's just where we are. The one guys that come to mind.
For me, And this wasn't really about a trade, but if you remember when Le'Veon Bell held out in Pittsburgh, I mean, could that have worked out any better for the Steelers? I mean he never did anything of no after that and they never missed a beat. You know, they had some better teams, of course, when he was
there and Brown was there. But you know, for the most part, they like it wasn't as if they never recovered from those two players who kind of, you know, felt like they needed more than what they were getting. But anyways, as you could expect, despite it being Super Bowl week, we've talked a lot of college basketball because that's what we do around here, and on Mondays we react to the weekend. And it was not a good weekend for Louisville fans or for Kentucky fans.
And with this Louisville loss to Georgia Tech.
A couple things And I'm going to try to go through this quickly because I don't want to, you know, regurgitate too much, because it's been a big talking point for the show, uh so far throughout the show today.
But I still feel like Louisville is the.
Same team that they were during that ten game winning streak where they went undefeated in the month of January,
because you know that that had value. And I don't mean that they were out there mowing down teams that are going to be Final Four contenders, but they were playing good basketball, and they were playing against better teams and winning me meaning better teams than than Georgia Tech who got him so more than anything for me, it's just a remind because you actually saw it right, it played out right in front of your eyes, that Louisville
could lose to a team like this. There's a reason I kept mentioning here and there as far as when we would look ahead, I would mention, well, you know that Noah Waterman bucket against Ku.
How big was that?
And it wasn't because I was trying to act like we should be doubting Louisville because they nearly lost to Eku. I'm just referencing it as a real reminder that if they don't play well, if they miss free throws, if they let a team get hot where they're just making big shots, then then you could, you know, you could lose, and Georgia Tech did that. I mean, I don't want to act like it was all Georgia Tech Louisville. You know, they miss free throws and I just missed some shots
around the room you typically don't miss. I think the flow that they need in the amount of possessions that they really want, meaning Louisville was disrupted by the fouls that were called and I think, you know more than anything for Saturday. As far as like Louisville as a team, I thought they called I mean, I don't think there were many foul calls that I was like, like stunned by.
There were a couple, but with Chucky and really Louisvill's guards, I feel like, and Javon Hadley's not a guy that's guarding perimeter players, but he's also a physical defender and it works out well for him. But I feel like sometimes they don't call thousand, they easily could, And I think Saturday was a reminder that you may get that kind of a whistle. And I mean, all you want is consistency. But I think Louisville during their run where
they were really playing good basketball. They were physically imposing from the beginning of the game and kind of setting the tone to where they you know, they were able to play with some contact when you know Chucky's you know, basically harassing the opposing point guard and keeping him from from getting his team into an offense. So you know, it's just one game, but it is a game that now changes your resume. Right Louisville right now, according to Leonardi,
is a seventh seed. I think the other bracketology updates that I saw today had.
Him as an eight seed.
But one thing we could say for a while that did have value we can no longer say, and that is that one of the things that makes Louisville a team safely in the tournament it might be able to even get a good seed, top four seed maybe, is because they had no bad losses. Well, now they have
a bad loss. It's not a killer, it doesn't ruin your season, but it not only is one that's going to hurt you as far as the metrics, it now again changes Really what I mean, I guess because you only have one loss, and all your other losses are against good teams, I guess technically you can, you know, you can claim that Louisville outside of Georgia Tech, really they only have you know, one bad loss, but overall, I mean without any signature win, right, and there's not
a win Louisville has against a team that I mean, That's what's kind of scary to me. And the more I look at the numbers, the more I'm thinking, all right, please don't slip up and lose to another team like Georgia Tech.
Because I don't want to.
I don't I don't want to have to really sweat it out on selections Sunday. And look, I'm not I'm not there yet thinking that we're going to be in that position. But this resume is just weird.
Man.
They have until Saturday no bad loss at all, and their best win was is Clemson, I mean Clemson in Pittsburgh and I guess West Virginia although they're they're you know, they're they're borderline top fifty, like those are their best wins. So if you get to the end of the season and you don't have any more I mean again, you will play pitt one more time and they're going to be at your place, so that's still going to be
a win that has value. It'll be at home, so it won't be a quad one unless Pittsburgh can climb back into.
The top thirty.
But you know, I still resume, aside from what I've watched with this team, I still think if they play well and really continue to be the team they've been since their run started, even despite Saturday, I still think they're a team that that you can think second weekend is a real possibility, now, is it? A game you should just bank on happening. Meeting Louisville and the Sweet Sixteen.
Probably not, But I still think that what happened Saturday was they just weren't able to withstand one more run by Georgia Tech. And then once he got real tight, they didn't. You know, they didn't make winning plays. They missed some shots, clearly miss free throws in a major way. And that's what sucked about the free Like, the free throws.
Have been an issue all year. We've known it.
And I shouldn't say that they've like every game they've shot it poorly from the line. But what I mean is during their ten game winning streak, there were at least three four games where it didn't matter because they were up by so much or they just played well enough to where it didn't kill them. But like, they left a lot of points at the free throw line.
And I don't think anybody would tell you that that was wrong, but it's just not something you really think about when your team's riding some real riding a ten game winning streak. That doesn't happen too often really anywhere in college basketball. So free throws are I mean, it is what it is I think they've got guys that you feel pretty confident in the line at the line, I should say, And you've got guys you don't feel confident in it, like James Scott, not somebody I really
love seeing go to the free throw line. CANi Russ to me, he's like super inconsistent at the line. He might miss four in a row, he might make all six of them in a game. Trey ol Ray don't love him at the line. And then you've got guys like, honestly, all outside of Rain, like Chucky and Javon and Terrence, they're good free throw shooters. The percentages, you know, indicate that.
But I've also seen them like not have good nights at the line, right, So it's it's just something that I feel like for the first time, it did kind of come back to bite you. But but even with that, you still could have won that game even if you still had a tough night at the free throw line. So Louisville will play Boston College on Wednesday night on the road. Hopefully they can bounce back get right because obviously, you know they now have their first bad loss of
the season. But if we learned anything about this group, I think it's that they don't mean, they don't get.
Too high, too low.
I'd be highly shocked if they're not ready to play and maybe get a big time win against a Boston College team that, yes, they are coming off a rare win, but when you go back and look at how it happened, I mean, I don't think that. And again, I guess they won. They deserve credit for making the shots. But the way in which Florida State crumbled there at the end with the you let them get an offensive rebound, you're up four. They come down and score less than
ten seconds left. In fact, I'm sorry they try to score less than ten seconds left. They get thrown offensive rebound, throw it in. They're only down two, and then Florida State craps their pants on the inbounds play. Don't know who they were trying to throw it to, but it just so happens to land about five feet seemingly behind the three point line, and a Boston College guard grabbed it,
chucked it up, and they win. They scored five points in less than ten seconds, and that's how Florida State lost. And I'm going to assume that the news earlier today of Leonard Hamilton resigning at the end of this season. I'm going to assume that that was not a coincidence. I don't know, maybe they had that prepped to put out regardless of what happened in Boston, but wouldn't be shocked if that was like the ultimate Hey, let's just at least let fans know that we're gonna put them
out of their misery at the end of the year. Now, Kentucky, I mean, before we get into what happened, the energy, the tension that you could feel, I mean that was as somebody who is a real nerd for college basketball and I love it so much, like that was an awesome moment when you saw Cal walk out. Clearly he was getting booed. Clearly that place was sold out. I mean it was a late tip, I mean it was.
And also, again, I feel like there was an element that even if you didn't follow Arkansas or Kentucky closely and you don't care about either team, you just knew that the game was interesting because Cali Perry was making his return to Arkansas and that I mean, that's that regardless of where the teams were at this point in the season, they could both be terrible, both be great, one be great, one be awful, which is kind of the way it was Saturday. None of that really mattered
because it was just all about Cal. He's a larger than live figure within college basketball. Certainly he's not had many recent good years when it comes to winning in the tournament, but still he can, you know, he can generate interest and attention, I should say more, in fact, probably better than I mean, is there a college basketball coach left that sort of has that, like that aura of cal and I don't mean that like everybody loves him.
In fact, he's really polarizing. Most people don't like him, but you know, he's a He's just a he's an og. What I mean by that is you could be a rock star in coaching now, but you wouldn't be doing it the same way guys like Cal and Rick did it back in the day. It's just different now now. I think the way to be on top is to be relatable and you know, high energy, humble, that kind
of stuff. I mean, Cal and Rick say a lot about him, but I don't think anybody'd claim that they appear humble, And I don't mean like they're the biggest a holes out there, but like those guys carry themselves like they are rock stars within the sport of of of college hoops, and they also they still are, to be honest with you, I mean, and I was gonna ask, is there anybody that could do something that could command attention quite like Caliperry? And if there is somebody, it'd
be Rick Patino. But I kind of feel like Rick, like he's done it enough now and he so much injected himself into the I mean, like the video last week encouraging them to cheer.
I mean, he didn't say anything.
Crazy, but like now we are just now we're not surprised when when Rick does things like that. But anyways, the moment was was awesome for college basketball and the result, of course was great for Caliperry, not great for Kentucky fans. And I said this at the beginning of the show, Cal I think what Kentucky fans that were worried about the game, And I don't know how many of them were actually worried.
I think it was pretty clear as.
Far as you know, I'm sure everybody you know, I know, everybody's different, not everybody's the same. As far as how you feel, But I think Kentucky fans knew they were better and that they should expect to win that game. Kentucky is one of the top ten teams in the country at that time, and Arkansas's one and six in the SEC. But you also know the guy on the other sideline in moments like that, when the stage is set and there's a lot of attention, he may lose
because he has lost games like that. But man, the one thing that would be a real show was his guys not coming ready to play and really embracing that moment in really playing their best in that situation. I mean, I know, as a Louisville fan, Kentucky had teams that I knew weren't nearly as good as a lot of Cow's teams.
I knew they had teams that weren't good right that Louisville should be.
But I knew going in, Hey, cal Perry, this is a personal game for him, not because he hates Louisville, because he hates Rick, and he's going to have his guys loose. They're going to be ready to play, and that's exactly what played out the other night. I mean, that Arkansas team was not the same team that you've
watched all year. I mean, they clearly have had talent, but Nellie Davis, I mean, that guy was easily one of the biggest I guess, you know, fraudsters in the portal, meaning he got a ton of money from those Chicken people, right Tyson Chicken Nuggets to go play at Arkansas, and they were getting very little return on that investment because he was he was like their fourth best guard earlier this year, and he really hadn't been good this year overall.
But what he did do the other night probably had his that's got to be his Arkansas career high eighteen.
I mean think he had eighteen the day before too, or the game before. I think that's what the commentators are.
Saying really against in their loss. I guess I don't know.
I mean, look, he's averaging less than double figures, which is crazy considering he was the most talked about player in the portal.
But he was hot. He played well from the jump.
I mean, you had Theerro who kind of Theerra kind of did what he always does, but he did it like he really dominated Kentucky. And I think he's the actual guy that really from a physical standpoint, he could expose them, and he did. But other guys like DJ Wagner going for seventeen points and by the way, I mean, yeah, DJ Wagner, all of them in the second half, right, I mean, let's see, Yeah, DJ Wagner had What the hell is it?
Oh?
I keep going. This is where I get confused.
I hear DJ Wagner, I say, DJ Wagner, I'm thinking he plays for Kentucky, but he doesn't. But yeah, DJ Wagner he ended up having all seventeen of his points in the second half, was seven of eight from the field, two of two from three. I mean, he was phenomenal and he never does that. But Cali Perry has a way in those moments. The talented players, if they end up being busted or not, they're gonna play some of their best basketball in a moment like that for Calipari,
and that's what they did. I mean, maybe they do turn it on and they make the run to the tournament. But I mean I watched enough Arkansas this year to know that what I was watching on Saturday night, I mean, that's not who they've been. I mean, big z, I mean, that's not typically what you see from him either, But gotta be a tough one for Kentucky fans. I'm sure quick Break will come back on the other side. Keep
this thing rolling along. It's coffee and Company fuelbouth Thornton's right here on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Now back to coffee and Company fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven to nine day.
As you could expect, the majority of our conversation today has been about what happened with the basketball teams around here over the weekend. But we are getting set for Super Bowl just six days away, and we had I think still one of the most surprising trades ever in the NBA, and it'll probably blow over and who knows, maybe both teams like benefit from this, and you know it's not it doesn't get remembered quite like it was.
But I think everybody had the same reaction because how quiet everything was and because of when the news broke. But I know everybody thought Shams had to be getting hacked. But I think maybe the most and what made you think he was hacked more than anything wasn't just how quiet and out of nowhere it came, was that the deal itself, just as a head scratcher and clearly the I guess conditioning of of Luca has been a talking point,
but I don't, I don't. I mean, has it ever been like a real thing to where Dallas has like made it clear he's got to lose weight. Like we're not talking about Zion here. I mean, I mean even James Harden if you remember he got he got pretty hefty there when he got traded. I don't even know where. I think he's with the Clippers now. But you know, and then the internet's great, We get all kinds of
great memes. Who is in that one you just sent me, Austin, Oh, it's one of the one of the late talk shows, right.
Yeah, he does the carpool karaoke h yeah, I forget his name.
Yeah, But like you know.
It's it's making fun of Luca being you know, on the heftier side, and look, because he does look. I mean again, Luca is one of those guys that if you saw him in person, I think you may be able to tell he's probably an athlete, because you know, he's not James Corden. Yeah, James Cordy, he's not. He's not short, but like obviously he doesn't. He doesn't necessarily look like, yeah he's a little chunky, but it's but
it's worked. And by the way, the guy who's been the best player in the NBA for five years running now seemingly nobody would claim that he's in good shape. He takes off his shirt at the pull. You would never guess that he plays sports at all. Like, I mean, he's just like me. Yeah, he's humongous, but like I mean, so, I just I feel like that they well as of now, I feel like it would have come out if there
was more. But the first twenty four hours of trying to process this trade, it just made me think that they are really worried about the future of Luka Doncic and they know something that we don't know, because if not, none of this makes any sense at all. I mean, Anthony Davis is a fine player, really good player, but
he's also seven years older than Luca. I mean, Luca is on track to be one of the best players that ever played the game, I mean at twenty five years old, and if you watched him play, you know how good he is. But also he's somebody that just makes everybody else better. I mean, he was phenomenal. They didn't win the finals obviously, but their run last year Dallas.
I mean, he's not the only reason for that. He's got some good teammates. But I just.
This move being made simply because you just think it makes you better right now, that just doesn't make sense because even if it was because you felt like the window is closing, because the other pieces you've recently added are old. I mean, Kyrie Irving is not young, and if he does, like your best case scenario with Kyrie is that he kind of just stays, stays the course because if he now kind of explodes as a guy that can be the face of your franchise again, like he was viewed many years ago.
I guess now you'd be able to sign him because you don't have Luca.
But like Kyrie, you would never sacrifice Don Chick because you still want Kyrie and Klay Thompson, you know, good legendary player.
He's thirty five years old, like you.
Know, so if you were making the move and it was because Davis only has a few good years left, but man, he's the missing piece. Well, first of all, is he the missing piece for you.
To win a championship?
If you've gotten rid of the guy who got you to the finals last year, and any scenario where you're making a move to get away from Luka Donchick, I'm sorry, has to be non basketball related and I could see, you know, I don't know him at all, none of us do, but I could see him maybe being somebody that's a little bit like not difficult to deal with, but you know, at times he's had bad body language.
Not that I'm a body language expert, but like you know, if they're getting beat, he may look like he doesn't care, if he's getting exposed defensively, like those are things that stand out, but like you live with that. It's not ideal, But I'm pretty sure he's he's one of many phenomenally talented players that can get away with that kind of behavior because that's just how it is. So I don't know, I keep thinking that we're going to hear something that
make things fall apart for Dallas in Luca. But Luca was surprised, and as his buddy Chandler Parsons used to play with him said earlier today on his show, that Luca had just bought a like a was it fifteen million dollar house? Yeah, fifteen million dollar house in Dallas within the last couple of weeks.
It's crazy.
So I mean again, maybe I just more than anything, it's one of those trades that doesn't make a lot of sense in my opinion, for Dallas to get rid of Luca. But I'm not even really sure what it does I mean for either team, Right, Like Luka Doncik is a guy that to get the maximum value out of him, which there's a lot of it, do you know what, he has to have the ball in the ball? Yes, and Lebron. Honestly, the longevity for Lebron is better if
he's not handling the ball a whole lot. But I've also never seen Lebron have a sidekick like Luca that you know, like is so ball dominant, right, Like Dwayne Wade. The first year that Lebron was in Miami, Dwayne Wade, that was still his team and he actually the one year I can ever the only year I can ever
remember watching. Look, Lebron was still phenomenal, his stats were great, but like in the playoffs, like Wade was still prim Wade at the very beginning of the Miami run and he was the guy like that was his team, Lebron was the best, you know, sidekick you'll ever see in basketball, but like that was Wade's team. Other than that, I've never seen Lebron, even when he's getting older and older
every year. He's Anthony Davis was a big factor in them breaking through and winning the Bubble title and all that. But I mean, one that was just a weird scenario. But also, you know, Ad is a frontcourt player. He's a little bit you know, hybrid, kind of positionless, I guess, but he's certainly not a guard. Luca is a guy that needs the ball in his hands NonStop. So maybe this is just how you get more life out of
Lebron long term. But I mean, can you imagine Lebron just kind of fitting in as Luca runs the show, because you know that's what Luca does.
Yeah, that's what I've been trying to have a hard time like imagining is where Lebron fits in this scenario.
And you don't bring in Luca to be anything other than Luca.
Yeah, exactly. And it's not like you're gonna tell Lebron to slow his roll down. Lebron's still gonna do what he's doing at forty years old. But it's not like he's gonna be going off screens and posting up in the corner and let Luca create for his shot and then him happen to hit him when he's open because Lebron's gonna need the ball too.
Yeah, I think, I think.
And by the way, if you like, even though he's old and you want to get as much out of him as you can before he retires, before father time actually hits him, imagine knowing what you have and being like, you know, we need to limit him because people know, like you, this is the point where you if he wants to play forty minutes, you let him because you never know whenever that that clock is going to hit him.
But I mean, I think when it comes.
To this roster overall for the Lakers, I mean, they really were good. They were good with the draft picks that they did good drafting right, like Dalton connect and Austin Reeves are two really good young pieces that are still on their rookie deals. And then of course you had Ad and Lebron and then really just some role players everywhere else. And now you don't have Ad and you've added Luca, who I think is clearly a better
player than Anthony Davis, but maybe I don't know. I'm just trying to really envision the conversation internally with the Lakers or even with Dallas as far as like why this was the move that needed to be made because D'angela Russell was back with Lakers and it just wasn't working.
He end up getting traded, I think.
To back to Brooklyn maybe, but he's kind of like a Luca but nowhere near as good and no offense to d Lo. I know he's a Louisville guy from here, and he's certainly done a great job in the NBA, had a phenomenal career, was an All Star once, but like he's a guy who also ball in his hand, like he's going to be dancing with it, he's going to be distributing, Like that's kind of what he does. He runs the show and spine at it, but like
you know, sometimes he gets doing it too much. So like maybe they liked the idea of having a guy like that, but they know with Luca now and I know they didn't trade for him, but they did get rid of Dillo earlier this season, so maybe they just like having a dynamic guard. They can do all those things. But it's just what you said, Austin is the biggest question for me is more because again, you don't trade
for Luca and then not let him be Luca. So it's more so just all right, what's Lebron gonna do? Are we gonna see him in a role that we've never seen him have before in the NBA? And I mean it would make sense, right, I mean, if in fact Lebron can be you know, just out there doing you know, a little bit of everything in that you know, maybe he turns it on late and does Lebron things because Luca's been carrying the team up to that point, like I could see, Like somebody asked this question earlier.
I'm gonna get your thoughts on it. Ceiling for Lebron better with Kyrie as his running mate or Luca?
Oh, I mean that's tough because I would say prime Kyrie. It's hard for me to say not him.
Yes, I mean because obviously we want a championship with them and Kyrie I feel like is a completely different point guard than Luke is.
Oh yeah, totally different.
I mean one plays defense.
One is just a revolving door.
But I don't know, just the talent, And it just goes back to I mean, don't let the image deceive you, because there's talent everywhere with Luca and what he can do with dribbling the ball and split in defense and getting Lebron open. But I just I just never seen Lebron with that kind of guy before. And Kyrie is a guy you know step back shots just as well. But it's just gonna be a little bit different, Yeah, I think, but I do like on conversely, I sort
of do like this for the MAVs. I don't like the whole trade package that they got because they got a first round pick and what four or five more.
Years A D and Kyrie could really work.
Yes, I think that that. I mean, they they shooter. I mean, but I mean they have that have a couple other centers too. They still have PJ. So I really don't trust a lot of teams with two center front. But I mean, if you, I mean, if you get wide open and let them run the floor, Kyrie and Ady can be pretty unstopped.
And it is it is worth mentioning that Luca has been out for a while, so you know, they've been playing without him, and you know clearly they're better with him, But you know, maybe that sort of maybe them seeing what life was like without Luca because of injury, maybe that just got them thinking, Okay, maybe we could. But again, I just keep trying to envision a scenario where they're like, yeah,
let's move on from this guy. I mean, not only was he phenomenal and led you back to the finals, but I mean he was I mean, he was a fan favorite, like you would have thought somebody died in Dallas with all the reaction from fans.
I mean, and I get it.
He rarely do you get that as an NBA fan, right where your team drafts in the top five because they were really bad, and you know this pick is going to either get you to believe in that your team could get back to winning at a high level, or it's going to be a pick that you know didn't exactly do what you needed as far as kind of shift things in the opposite direction. Well Luca, I mean he it made him more notable just because of how funny is to watch play, how successful he was,
and again he got him back to the finals. I mean, I just think that's that's I don't know what else he could have done that that would have made that would have made the Mavericks organization think that, you know, they shouldn't keep him like it's just crazy. That's why I don't want to act like I think there's some like big controversy that we're going to find out and he's like some awful human being or something like that.
But I just I don't know. It's it's kind of a head scratcher.
But to your point, I do think at least in the now, the duo of Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis could be could be very very I mean, it should be very very successful. I'm being honest with you. All Right, quick break, we'll come back here on the other side, wrap things up. Talk a little more college basketball, as you could expect. We've talked a lot about that today, But no doubt that NBA trade not something you see very often, especially out of nowhere. And you still wonder
did that really happen? And yes, if you're a Louisville fan and you're wondering that really happened. Did we go from winning ten in a row to losing to Georgia Tech, Yes, Kentucky, Yes, happened. Cal came back and man, he was at his very best at the one time you hoped he would probably be at his worst. So we'll wrap things up here on the other side, stick aroun right here on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Now back to Coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine day.
We wrap it up a Monday it issue of Coffee and Company.
Don't forget.
If you've missed anything on the show today, you can always go back and listen to the podcast.
We'll have it up here soon. And apologies for Friday.
I did not get it up until a little later, the usual that it happens, but it happens. In fact, if that's an issue that you have, go see my friend doctor Wood at the Louisville Men's Clinic. But usually a podcast is up shortly after the show ends, and you know that'll continue to be the case for the most part. But Friday, I recorded it on my end as the show was rolling along, and then I just completely forgot to post it.
So it's on me.
I can't blame anybody but myself. You'll learn, buddy, y'all learn, and we'll get more into the super Bowl throughout the weekend.
I don't mean we're gonna break it down, get real deep into the weeds.
When it comes to the strategy for the Eagles, how do they contain Patrick Mahomes that kind of stuff. I guess the question actually would better so be how does Kansas City stop Sakwon Barkley, who's been a monster. But I just think super Bowl does it's such I mean, it's the pinnacle of sports, right. I mean, and I don't mean and I don't mean like it's well it is. I mean it's winning super Bowl is a big deal.
But what I mean when it comes to sporting events and like you know what this is, right, we talk about sports, the super Bowl is the most followed in I mean, it's it's the super Bowl. I don't really need to explain it to you. So we'll continue to do that. But because of that, it just it it gives us a lot of fun stuff to talk about.
I mean, I this, let me just give you an example, because the interviews that you get on radio row as far as like celebrities that are there that are you know, making the rounds, right, Like, so all the national shows are there this week, the national sports talk shows. And I'm sure there's plenty of other local shows of from NFL markets that are there to you know, cover it, because you know, I get it. If I was in an NFL market, I'd love to do a show on
Radio Row one time. In fact, even if we even though we don't have an NFL team, that's still be interested in doing that if we could ever make it work. But there's a lot that comes with it, and it's beneficial. But this is what more people should. I've only seen one person do this. This was Caleb Presley at Barstool before he became you know, the kind of the star that he is. But he does the Sunday Conversations videos that you've probably seen on social media, really really funny stuff.
But because it became so obvious that if you wanted to get interviews with certain people like you had to let them pimp out the product that they're there being paid by this company to promote. Right, Like, hey, you can have an interview with Jerry Rice if he can talk about sketchers and you ask two questions about why he loves wearing sketchers, And I'm just making that up. I'm not sure I Jerry Rice war sketches or not. But Terrell Owens was there on behalf of a butterfinger.
Nice in the candy bar.
Yes, nice, and it's not is really random and yet t o. I mean, he's a known name in sports, but like I don't know where i'd put him, Like, he's not an a lister in sports?
Is he?
I probably put too maybe top five receivers ever really yeah, I would probably put him maybe number either number five or probably like outside of that realm with like Chad Ocho Cinco.
I mean he was he was really good. I didn't know. I didn't necessarily mean like how good of a player he was, but like.
To me in terms of like yeah, celebrity status though, okay, okay, yeah, well my bet, well there's my takes.
But no, no, no, no, wouldn't. I wouldn't.
I would to put him as like a lister. He's an afterthought. He's been out of football for like fifteen years.
Like if he just kind of retired quietly and didn't do any interviews and like we wouldn't forget about him, but we wouldn't think about him. So anyways, this was this was a funny bit that like even too laughed at because he got what was going on pretty quickly. But they they got allotted eight minutes of time with to as long as they asked at least one question about Butterfly nice, and they did nothing but ask him Butterfinger questions for eight straight minutes to where he stopped
having any answers. He couldn't say anything else that he hadn't already said about Butterfinger, and again he played in on it. And I just thought that was really funny, because look.
Everybody's different. I wouldn't want to do those interviews.
It's probably good for me, but I know that I would not be good in an interview if I had to interview somebody who clearly didn't have any interest in talking to me, and that I had to act like I really cared about them talking about Butterfinger or you know, just for men gel or something like. But anyways, there's also some drama, some shenanigans that you typically get on Super Bowl week on radio rows, so maybe that'll happen. But all I do know is we got to get
out of here. We're out of time. Enjoy your evening, everybody. We'll be back at it tomorrow right here on Sports Talk seven ninety