Steve Rivera, he's got his eye on the ball on Tucson Sports Station yet Fox Sports fourteen fIF day.
Hey, welcome back to on the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera. In with me Today's Jacins Alice and we got ray with breaking news.
All right, So obviously big news of this morning. Arizona lost their first game of the Super Regional against North Carolina eighteen to two. Personally, I just don't feel like the scoreboard reflected how the game really went. You know, Arizona had a couple of chances. They loaded the bases in the second inning and I think the third or the fourth again, and then I'm not gonna lie stopped
lot once it was twelve to two. I was like, all right, you can, we can take it a little bap right now, you know.
But I watched the whole thing.
Now.
I turned it off the minute the ball hit the glove in the third out. But I would have felt guilty if I'd changed the channel, so I didn't. Yeah, I stayed with it.
Yeah, And I mean they was hard to watch them. It was a tough one. I mean there was and like I said, there was some bright spots. I was, you know, scrolling down like my Instagram later before the show, and uh, you know you saw those Walton plays and they were two regular Yeah.
Yeah, let's let's remember with all the runs that that North Carolina has scored, they robbed him.
Of a home run. It could have been twenty.
Yeah, and it was a it was a great play by that guy.
That's that's good news that we got a couple of good guts, you know what I mean. Look, and we always say this, when you see a team get whacked like that, you see how they continue to compete and if they continue to compete, And I really thought they kept competing.
They were uptor taking hacks and trying to.
Have good at bats, diving for balls, they kept playing hard, and I thought, I think that's a that's a real important thing to consider.
There was never a point where you thought they had given in.
Yeah. Yeah, I definitely got to show some resilient in situations like that, especially against the picture like that. I mean, that's fourteen to no, you know what I mean, it's not something.
To and he you know what, he didn't look like he didn't know well, he didn't look like a physical specimen let me say that.
Oh no, but you get mister mister Cruise, what's his name, quarterback Cruse CRUs from you a Cruise.
Oh yeah, oh uh yeah, I know who you're talking. The guy who looked like who looked like a quarterback?
Yeah, looking at it, he can't throw. What's the point he looks like a quarterback? You can't throw?
Okay, good for you, keeping it on the diamond going to the MLB right now. Got some bad news for Diamondbacks fans. Corbyn Burns is set to have Tommy John surgery. So that's gonna take him out for the rest of.
The year and probably well into next year.
Yeah.
Yeah, just because it takes a while. I mean, show Hay still hasn't thrown you know, pitch. It's been a year and a half.
Yeah. Also, the Diamondbacks are starting a weekend series against the Reds following that we really thriller against the Braves.
That was the thing that, you know, watching the uf A game, one of your favorite Twitter trolls in the in the in the second inning said Arizona should just give up and not use its bullpen and stuff like that, basically saying quit the game when it was five to one, and I'm like.
What are you saying?
I swear I was watching the diamondback Sam yesterday when they scored seven in the ninth to win the game.
I mean I had that game on and I don't even know why I had it on.
It started with one out, Yeah, like the whole star.
You know, and you know, for somebody to come out and say, ah, give up in the second inning, you just want to smack the hell out of somebody.
So I don't watch Twitter that much or any of It's just this whole few weeks have just kind of like just frustrated me because people post up that they have no idea what they should be, what they're saying.
Yeah, I mean that was that was the whole classic You've never competed in anything statement, You've never been on a team, You've never you know, had guys that want to win.
Were there other comments on it? Oh, they got red as he should have.
As he should have because to say in the second inning, this is over, don't even try.
What the hell are you talking about?
No.
I think it's one of those things to where it's like not even just as an athlete, but like as a person, it's like whether you're getting beat or like you know, you're in a slump or something like that. It's like you don't want to get pumped.
You got to me and you have to finish the game no matter what. Yeah, so you compete. And that's why the point I made it was a second ago. This team didn't look like that didn't look you know, if you're walked in and not been able to see the score, you would you wouldn't have thought they were down by ten runs and and and that's you gotta get.
You got to give Chip Chip Hale a lot of credit for that.
Just like that during wrestling sometimes, man's you know, there's a big, you know, a big, old, strapped up looking guy and it's like, man, it's gonna be.
A rough one.
But yeah, but that's that's what you do, big exactly. I mean, that's what you do. You savvy them.
A way to win at least compete keeping it going. NBA Finals kicked off yesterday. A thriller of a game. I think the Pacers led for a whole of point three.
God so, uh, Jay I have money with the Chris. You know who doesn't have money with Chris? He only needs some money if he finally paid me. And then he said, I'll take Uh, you know, I don't really care who wins, and Indiana Indianapolis has two guys, right, and then I'm going for Okay because I think they're better team, so I'll take Indiana. And I said, okay, so whatever he owes me, we're gonna go over nothing. And I'm kind of pulling for Indiana, but I figured
they're not gonna win it. And then they win it. I think they're gonna go six total was okay. See winning it all in six, But it was a fantastic game. I don't even know how the guys did. Did he do you have their their stuff?
I know Mathern didn't do great, but he had a he had a he had a pretty good block down the lane. Let me see.
But in McConnell that said it should be a very good series. Yeah, because there are two kind of similar athletic teams.
Well, the thing is that, you know, my son Adam was over the house swatch we had the game on, and the way it wasn't just the how much.
That they were head by double digits and all that kind of stuff.
It was just the way that Oklahoma State, Oklahoma Oklahoma City was manhandling them. Yeah, I asked Adam, I said, you think Oklahoma's City can sweep them. I don't think they'll sweep them. Yeah, but I my mind had already gone to a sweep. And then Indiana comes back and wins the game.
Right. We talked about this yesterday. Fifteen points not enough? Never at this point, right, not enough. We talked about this. I thought they would go to six, so that means they have to win two. So we'll see what that.
Yeah, I just I just saw a stat that there and I don't know the last however many years, there have been like a thousand last second shots to win the game, and four hundred of them have been made. Haliburton has had fifteen last second shots to.
Win a game, and he's made thirteen.
Wowow for five. This fantastic.
Isn't that a number?
Yeah? I never. I don't know if you remember, you probably do. Rate maybe two months ago when the surveys were out and one of the guys they said was over Yeah, he got picked and he took that to hard. Yeah.
I'll show you I got some overrated for you right here.
There's so many things that came out like with Haliburton, like this whole playoff run just because he's been going so crazy. And I mean, I think a part of that was the like in the Olympics where it's like he didn't get to play a lot, you know, and he took it personally. Well, he said he took it personally, and but you know, try to be like a good sport about it for like team purposes and stuff like that. And I mean, if he took it personally, man, he's showing it now.
There's a lot of people who are paying a price for that because he has been damn good.
Yeah, yeah, that well, go ahead. Oh, I was just gonna say a cool stat about it. Teams trip. This is from Sports Center. Teams trailing by nine plus points in the final three minutes of a finals game since seventy one are one and that one happened last night.
Gosh. Well and it was funny because Dan Patrick.
Yesterday they went around the room and prediction for they wanted to know who wins the series, how many games, and who's the MVP, and all of them took except Dan Patrick took Oklahoma City with Gilges Alexander that sure, and Dan Patrick said, Indiana in six Tyre's Halberton is there.
Well, so far, so good. One game in.
Yeah, it's gonna be a good one.
That was I I'm I'm hooked.
Yeah right, well right now, So if you were I was, I thought, maybe you can get some smart money, right, you know what, he's got money. So it's it's uh, Oklahoma City minus two eighty twinning. So it went down from six to seventy whatever it was, so it one game. They just said, well, okay, you win one game Indiana and they can win it.
Yeah, before we go on to the next one. Do you remember I was telling you about that parlay, the futures parlay the thirteen went down seventeen thousand because okay, see lost last night. It was at one twenty three. I think he's at one of six, right, so I would just keep the ticket, right, I'd probably cash in right now. Well, what do it go down to one O six two hundred and six thousand.
But you still have Oklahoma City right to win it? Yeah, he jay the ticket, tell ja the ticket it was.
It was the Liberty winning the w NBA Championship, the Dodgers winning the last year's championship.
This is the last two games. This is a two series right the icket.
Yeah, yeah, Edmonton winning the like the Stanley Cup, okay, see winning the finals, and then the Eagles winning.
Okay, the super Bowl. So he's hit three out of five.
Yeah, he's hit three out so far for thirteen thirteen dollars. Way, and I think the cash outs two one hundred and seventy thousand.
I'm cashing right now.
So he's said, what was it one seventeen?
It was at one. I think it was at one twenty three yesterday.
But he can cash out at one twenty three. But it will paid right now though.
It's six one, six, yeah, six.
But still if you think that, okay, she's gonna win it, why would you? Edmonton would be my scare. Yeah, I don't know nothing about.
So he still got to hit two serious so he can catch out right now with two serious legs, with two legs left, Yeah, I take it.
Yeah, I probably.
I don't know.
I would wait one more game.
It's life changing money though, all right, moving move, keeping it moving though. The sider rubber match for the Women's College World Series tonight between Texas Tech and the Longhorns.
So I watched one hundred percent of the softball I kind of maybe flipped back here again cut the last minute of the NBA because it finished. It's been it's been crazy Boers. Yeah, these rules. Have you seen some of the rules? The obstruction? The hell, I don't know what.
Why why that's come to the forefront all of a sudden exactly because this has been a rule for a long time. Why is it suddenly now so much up front?
I texted the cant after the previous one two days ago. He says, where's this rule coming from? He says, Yeah, they need to kind of look at that again, because she was not in the lane when she tigged the girl out and they kept her on second and she was a winning run, she'd go ahead run. They eventually came out and won the game. But still I'm thinking, when is that the case back in the day we get in front and put her foot down and kind of make sure you got to get through the bag.
Well, we spent the whole day in Rocky Point arguing about that Oregon call in the in the baseball Oregon Baseball the Oregon uh was the c L A.
Baseball game Oregon and no organ and no organ. Yeah yeah, and and and.
That was weird too. Again.
I mean you slow mowed and stuff like that, and it's like, yeah, he was trying to slide, but he didn't slide soon enough.
And you know, if he'd just.
Slid right away playing the game, I mean you to get to But on the.
Other hand, the letter of the law, the rule said if you're not if you're not sliding me and by it to find side as being on your butt.
If you're so, if you're not on the ground on your butt and.
You make contact above the waist, that's that's a malicious contact and you're out.
And so they fought. You know, they followed the rule.
But when you look at he was trying to slide, he just took too long to slide. He didn't start his slide soon enough and ended up contacting the guy and then they called him out.
I didn't understand that one.
Now, we were all okay with it because it was Oregon who paid the price, and it helped Arizona because they didn't have to play Oregon in the in the in the tournament.
Well how about the one with the home plate. Yeah, stuff on the plate and it's Okay, well she went back and touched it but still did it was.
Because called the game right, Like the game was over at that point and like that was the decide and run to call the game and then like.
You couldn't review it. It was not reviewable.
But was it because like was it not reviewable because the game's over kind of thing?
No? No, because it was a tie. These rules, I think, where are these rules coming from?
Stuff?
Yeah?
Yeah, anyways, back to that call Women's College World Series Nazari Kennedy, Like you mentioned it right at the right before we went to break. But yeah, she got another seven figure deal from Texas Tech. Doesn't come back next year, Yeah, doesn't say, doesn't say number.
You're twenty one years old and you got two million dollars now and the year you're done, you're saying, and she's gonna play pro obviously, Yeah, because she's that person who can.
But she'll she'll go play and she'll make whatever bits of money that she makes from that.
She's said for life.
Yeah, if she's smart, right, she was a Stanford so she.
Goes back to Smartford.
Yeah, go finish the.
Degree at Stanford and and then and you know, and use your two million dollars to change your.
Life, keeping it going. Game two of the Stanley Cup Finals is today. Uh, Florida Panthers trying to avenge that overtime loss against Edmonton. Edmonton trying to avenge that series from last year. Good storyline. I don't know that that guy's ticket.
Edmonton wins again, that'd be two and all right, yeah, obviously one and one. Yeah, I'd wait for one more.
Dudes call that guy's like twenty four man, and I know I'm putting myself.
Like, oh.
It was a great a great video on social media, sort of an end zone shot of the play that Edmonton scored with just showing up in slow of showing all the passes where I know there's order to what they do there, you know, because it looks chaotic, but they do things that they mean to do right. They run plays right. And to watch the passing in this thing that ultimately led to the goal being scored, you go, poet, that's how you play hockey soccer the same way.
Space.
Yeah, the space, but you know there were like five maybe five or six passes that had to take place that ended up with you know, the the Edmonton guy in front of the goal, nobody on him and he just like shift shot it into the corner of the neat great.
It's a great video.
You anymore?
Uh, It's okay?
Can we go? Okay? School? Get ahold of Bruce.
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Streamy live on the Ihearts Radio. While this is Eye on the Ball with Steve Rivera on Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
They welcome back to One of the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera. In with me today is Jaginsaus got Ray Hendling Machine here and now we got Bruce Pascal from the Data Star. Bruce, how are you doing good?
How are you good.
We're doing fine. Hey it's the summer, but you're still going at it giving us information on the basketball team. A nice story today, just kind of like what's led up to what's going on now with the roster and all that fighting. No big surprises, right.
No, actually, you know it's funny. I mean, like usually April and May are just completely hellish and it wasn't actually to cover anyway. This and April was kind of nuts, but nothing hugely surprised.
You know, a mild surprise that Carter Bryant left.
Because he was kind of thought of his maybe fifty to fifty, but I think everybody thought that it was possible that he would blow up with his kind of uh skill set and size and they would fall in love with him during the pre draft process, and that seems to have happened. But and then you know, I mean, I guess I was another mild surprise. You thought maybe they'd pull another guy out of the portal, but instead that he went. They went hard on international, and you know,
they got it obviously. They got a couple of good, really good five star US freshman as well as some other you know, key guys. So they kind of kind of, you know, kind of almost old fashioned in that sense of relying a lot on the recruiting class more so than transfers.
Bruce not too bad, just kind of looking back for a second. And you know, it's the million dollar question about about last season. When you have Carter Bryant, who's ah, you know, high first round draft pick.
What's your take on why he never started?
You know, I mean, you know, I think I've been thinking about that, and it's kind of like, if you're Tommy Lloyd, is this a good thing or a bad thing? Because you could say, like you said, well, what the heck why didn't he play? But on the other hand, you could say, well, he was growing as a freshman, a young freshman, and then boom he developed into a lottery pick or a potential lottery pick. So that looks good.
So I don't know, you know, I do know that, you.
Know, I just remember the first month of the year, particularly in the Bahamas and the Duke game and and you know, the UCLA game into December, and you just thought this team is out of whack, there's something wrong, the parts aren't sitting.
And you know, and he and I think.
Briant was lacking confidence, and you know, there's an argument that you've used stuff him and you put him in the starting lineup on day one that you know, maybe that boos is confidence and something different happens, but that wasn't the way it was going. And a lot of coaches would do it. Tom, What did You're going to start the veteran guy, uh, you know, the veterans ahead of him and and and let them, you know, let him kind.
Of prove himself.
And I think that's what they're trying to do. But at the same time, the team was kind of messed up, and then you know that I think it was a lot of just and he's a I think he's a nice guy, and I think he was willing to defer, and you know, and then all of a sudden, the older players in front of him, they were kind of it was just kind of messed up too, And I think that that maybe played a little bit of his confidence.
And I think we saw with with Carter Bryant and the whole team that you know, once once uh the previous was out for the year and that UCLA game pass, they really got it together and more defined roles seemed
to really benefit him. But at the same time, you saw and and he did get you know, he did get better at most freshmen do, and he and he So that's that's actually the other question is he he shot a lot better, got a lot more more effective both at the three and the four as the season one on, even in the Big twelve play and so then you could say, well, maybe he should have played even more towards the end of the year, and you
know that there's there's an argument for that. But but again I think, you know, Tommy Lloyd like the way Anthony Delors started games being a little bit more of a threat as the floor space throw that that you know, that may have changed down the road with the way Carter Brian was coming on, but that's that's what he
went with. And you know, like a lot of coaches again, you know, once he got kind of set in that way with that rotation, right, uh, you know, into early January, they didn't change and so so Brian was kind of buried there, but it was you're right, it's very weird and and you know, you know, I don't think as all the years I've been around about you guys, you know, I mean, I think we remember we used to talk to Richard Jefferson became a lottery pick after averaging eleven points.
I think last year Arizona Carter Brian average was six and a half.
You know, like, so it's really unprecedent, you know.
Yeah, No, I think that's the perfect question answer to your question, Jake, And you wouldn't really get a real answer from Tommy if you ask that question, He's gonna look a question because I mean, they'll give you this point though, because back you were in the you were in the tournament. I know, I wasn't on the on
the tournament role. But the girl from the Athletic and I can't we've had her on the show, asked Tommy that at the podium, some people think that you're hiding Henry Henry Henry Basary.
That was That was Lindsay Schell was actually kind of half joking. But but Tommy was very sensitive. But I don't think he took it the right way. I think he thought it was a serious thing, and he was pretty he he it seemed like he steels kind of insulted about that, you know, And the fact.
Is this, you know, it's I mean maybe he was hiding him, but I mean, he wasn't hiding him.
From North Carolina and.
That got him anyway.
Ye, to that point, what was the point of.
That, right, No, to that point is one, you can't hide him one. But you can understand the questions why didn't you have him in the lineup if he's this good? Well, to your point exactly is it was copathetic for the situation of the team, right right, exactly right.
He you know, you're not you know, we're working well and he could always adjust things and he did as far as the matchups or the you know, the the amount of minutes, maybe Basar got a lot more minutes than than some of the starters. And he did. And we saw the Oregon game how he played in tobay Waka, the starter who was what one of the probably the best rebounder in the Big twelve, fat on the bench for the last four minutes. And that's because Basar was
a better fit offensively for what their scheme was. With that Dana Altman was coaching against, and and so it all kind of evened doubt. So I think as a coach, you're you're like, hey, this is fine. The players are okay with it like they're getting they're getting whatever they deserve. But if you look at it on the outside like that, it can be a little bewildering.
And and you're right, but you know, but it is.
Funny regardless of what you're thinking. Like you said, Steve, it's like you can't hide anybody from anybody. They can tell as you see with Carter Bryan, you know they don't. They can see in this stuff. They can see potential, and they can see what guys can do and how they rejected that league and the same and again the other teams that are probably looking for some help and see that as well.
Let me ask you, sus I don't you marry or maybe I have already written about this. I said this to Jay when he was here this when you first started the show up. Do you think any of the kids from overseas will have a hard time getting in because of the situation politically?
Oh, that's you know, that's that's actually something to watch out for. But we've seen no indication yet that you know that that any that's been an issue, you know, you know, if anything, you think you know, because those guys have another layer of agents and this and that, and I think, you know, there's at least a thought,
you know, I don't know. It just seems like in general, the sports world doesn't seem to be affected by this, and things seem to not not be an issue there as far as the administration or what the results is going on, and so, you know, I don't see that if anything, you know, I was actually kind of wondering about particularly.
I think it was.
I think Mabel Mawut and his situation being a Sudanese citizen. And I asked him and he said, you know, he's already been in the US.
He didn't seem worried.
About it, because I don't know the exact latest, but the last I looked and what he was talking about that Sudan there was a negotiation with him and the US administration and that they had decided to you know, take some people back and the negotiay. He felt confident negotiations were going okay and that he would be okay, but certainly that that could be a concern. And then you never know this the way things are going which which way, but it does seem like things are okay.
I mean, we were, you know, Malods from Duke. We were also, you know, I remember in the Sweet sixteen there was some talk about him, and he's from Sudan as well, you know what, what's gonna happen to him? And there's nobody's even been talking about that, you know, just seems like just as usual.
So you were looking to ahead to next season and the roster that Arizona's looking at, you know, and Steve and I were talking about, Look, this is just again we said this million times.
This is just the way it is.
You're going to lose good players, you got to go replace them with good players. You know, Tommy loses Carter, Brian, he goes and gets his kid from from Germany. I mean, that's just the way it's going to be. And you don't know how good your team is going to be until you get him on the court. But you know, what do you think about what they've done so far?
You know, I think considering in the context of the travel, the Chansfer portal, and the amount of money that's been flying around, and that maybe Arizona might not have eight million dollars like Michigan had to go get some players in the spring. You know, that's I think they probably fill those holes as well as you could imagine, you know, getting you know, the obviously they pulled in you know three four, certainly two really good freshmen that are gonna
help probably start right away. And then they've got CD Guey and uh Dwayne Aristote who could put on playing significant roles. You know, these are four so you're talking about four freshmen, and then uh and then and then and then then uh carchenkof the the the German wing sounds like he's physically uh, you know, able to really
help him. And the kind of kind of way they play, so you know that that's you know, they're going to have a lot of maybe some issues near with you know, youth and you know, certainly maybe some learning curve there to take to get going on that. But but Brayton Burry's and co Peter both you know, older mature freshmen. I don't see them needing much time to adjust to
this level. And then they've got three returning starters who are all veterans, and then Creavas, who's you know, kind of a four starter.
So you know, I think I think.
They filled the holes as well as you can expect, and I think that's reflected in the the kind of top twenty five votings you're seen out there. Most people have them in that ten to twenty range, ten fifteen, ten twenty. And that's that's where they were.
A year ago.
I mean, they didn't you could argue.
They didn't really get noticeably any better. Maybe, but but it doesn't look like they're going to slip back, and they might even be a tabbit better.
Who knows.
So do you know I read a story either last night or this morning that there was a number, maybe ten or so of the programs that I've spent fourteen million dollars around that figure you threw out an eight, But do you know what Arizona's playing with?
Yeah?
No, I just know, and they you know, I want I've asked around a lot.
They're trying to keep it, you know, pretty much under wraps. Lloyd doesn't like to go there at all, right, and you know a lot of people have been kind of quiet, I mean, and then it's also kind of it's a mix now because it's like, well, are you talking about nil collective budget? Are you talking about revenue sharing budget? You know, we do know that they're probably going to get around four million, I think from a new sharing and that's what they're expecting to give out, and those
are that the amounts that they're basing. You know, they said they signed their returning guys and that actually helped them get some stability to spring. And then those returning guys that are coming back, they announced their they had resigned h pretty early on, so they you know, we weren't hearing about them getting into the portal to kind of test the market out they was going to lock them out. So so guessing that.
They have around four I believe they had.
Around three from that I could tell in anile collective last year. So I'm guessing that's the least you know, maybe you know, maybe another four of that, so collectively maybe around eight nine. That's kind of what I've been, you know, my educator hopefully guests whereas, but you are seeing that. I think it was what I think twenty four to seven had a list of about about uh.
Fourteen I think that were over ten or something like that.
And then and then uh and then Evan Maya Kyle who's really respected analytics guy, and I don't know where he was based in the central offer, but he said there was I think he had eight that were spending at least six or more just for players this spring, not not not the whole budget, so, you know, and it does seem like and I asked somebody, I asked you a couple of people that should know, you know, in the last couple of weeks about you know, are
these are these budgets we're hearing ten to twenty million for some like Texas, Tag Buyu, et cetera. Are they legit or is this this agents trying to pump up How much money is really out there? And everybody's telling me it's pretty legity, you know how I think right, I think those top tier teams are north of ten million,
and Arizona maybe just a hair below that. I said to your point earlier, Jay, that the Arizona spring recruiting, if you consider all that, you know, Arizona did did as well as you could have.
But we were born a little too early and a little too short. Steve, Yeah, talented, this going? Keep on this going? Is it?
Tom?
I was gonna ask you, Bruce, because you and I did this together for a number of years. I don't know it's fun or not, But now it seems like the rich just get richer, and you're gonna see the better teams because they have better I don't know if that. I don't know if I agree with that. I don't because Houston and Arizona, you know what I'm saying, they still got to go win the game. I still got to win the game, exactly, and they're still good players right to point.
Yeah.
Yeah.
In fact, I was talking to Corey Williams about that the other day, you know, the former UK guy who's you know, he's running the summer Pro league with the kids and obvious and all the time, and we were talking about how that, you know, those big teams have always whatever the rules are, however it is, you know, the big dogs are going to get They're going to
get players. I think the only thing I've noticed it around the edges a little bit is is that you're seeing, you know, teams like Arizona and the top tier teams are picking off the best mid major players more and more now at the NIL And that's and and I think I think we saw for the first time this year really how they kind of you know, diluted the Cinderella effect that really was drella in the tournament this year, and you know, in Arizona, you could argue they're kind
of part of that deal because they took Anthony del orso who might have who knows, maybe he would have shot Campbell into some right And Trey Townsend's already had an upset, so who knows what you might have done if they came back at Oakland again this year. But but both of those guys made individual decisions that you know, helped them professionally and certainly you know, financially, I would imagine,
so you know, you can't blame them. But but that's if you look at the aggregate of teams, all of the big teams all over the country doing that sort of thing, and I think I think that's the biggest difference I'm seeing anyway. I think it's significant, and frankly, if it keeps going like this, it's not going to be good for them today.
Tournament, Well, Bruce will probably get a hold of you in another month or so. Enjoy what the next week, months and weeks whatever before? Yeah? Thanks?
Yeah, well, yeah, I mean it should be some the NBA Draft coming up, and I think I ansure to see how Tommy does with this U nineteen.
You a team, and you know, the Fever World Cup, that's a big.
Deal internationally, and you know, and there's no there's no more USA is the lockedo and the global kind of thing anymore. They don't even meddle two years ago last time had a tournament. So that'll be interesting to see how that guy.
Yeah, okay, thank you, Bruce, appreciate it.
Thanks Bruce.
All right, Thanks guys.
Let's take a break here and come back for a final second. If you're an Arizona men's basketball fan, you know it's been successful for nearly forty years. Now take a look back at the Ludolsen era. In my new book, Lessons from Loot, it was a labor of love through the eyes of twenty five former players, coaches, and friends to give insight to the coach and the man who led them, competed against them, and inspired them twenty five chapters for his twenty five years as Arizona's beloved coach.
Lessons from Lut is an insight to how he built the program into a national powerhouse. Want one Email me at Steve dot Rivera ninety five at gmail dot com.
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Breaking down all the I says at OHS. This is I on the ball with Steve Rivera on Box Sports fourteen fifty.
Hey, welcome back to whying the ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera, you're Jay Gonzalez and your Ray. You got about twelve minutes, maybe minutes.
I've got a little more.
You guys could want to call us, Please do five two zero four one six, seventy four forty I'd like to hear from you. What if you guys want to talk.
About Oh, I'm sending your handicapping my bellman for tomorrow stave.
Yeah, Well, you just what you need to do, because I already know what I'm gonna do. You need to kind of spend less, Yeah.
Move it around or maybe maybe you know that. That's why I was asking d you know who do you key right? Because you know you gotta bet like you too. You got to bet like a trifecta and and and maybe throw a long shot in there and hope if you want, if you want to win someone and hope it comes in. Because you know, we hit that race in the in the Preakness, we had the long shot on the you know in the Exactly what.
Did that pay thirty four bucks for?
I wonder it was a twenty four dollars on a two dollars we had It was a twenty four dollar bet.
It was a two dollars exact, it's it's it's twelve bets, yes, and it was twenty four dollars and we won another ten dollars.
Yeah, So I thought we I thought we had it if a long shot.
Comes in, you know, now we're talking about something probably eight yeah, probably seventy five eighty dollars.
Now, now it's fun. I mean we're happy we hit it.
Uh and and the fact that it was a long shot, but you know, we got to figure it out, so I gotta check it out.
Hello, you're on the air. Nine on the ball. Who's this? Yes, Nico?
What's up?
Man?
Hey?
Man?
First, Steve, I'm finally happy you got the softball.
Man.
Oh no, I've had the softball bug. But I kind of like my NBA. I wait till the end. But no, you're right, I mean, how could you not? How could you not watch the playoffs this year? They were walk offs. There were crazy things going on. I'm sure you watched a lot of it.
A million dollar picture.
Yeah, well, you know she's worth every any of them, and she.
May not be the best. The Tennessee picture was pickings. Is that right?
Yeah? I think so.
But she just throws. She had the fastest pitch, I'll give you that.
Yeah, seventy nine miles per hour.
Nine.
Oh my god, it's crazy.
Man.
And a second, man, my dad sent me a screenshot of that one. Fool you were talking about on Twitter.
Man, Oh, so you know who I'm talking about.
I know who you're talking about. I was sitting there on my couch. I'm like what, because I don't have Twitter. I'm like, man, this dude he just needs to go take a shower or something.
He doesn't shower, he doesn't look like Yeah, if you saw him, you'd know.
I didn't want to. I didn't want to. Man have to wear a suit like a has mask suit around that exactly.
All right, Nico, thanks for calling me as always. Thank you going on the call. Yes, we're going into the call. Hello, you're on the air and on the ball. Who says, hey Steve, this is done? Hey hey man, yeah you know.
Yeah.
I don't take that dow showers at all. I've been in Twitter.
Fights with that food.
Yourself.
Because he was encouraged to support ship and everything else and blah blah blah. And I tweeted back at his partner. I was like, dude, don't even make him.
Do it because he's not going to mean it. This guy came, he's come into all these other.
Non revenue sports acting like he's a he's an insider, and you know, and he just knows nothing because at the bottom line, today's game has nothing to do with tomorrow exactly.
That's exactly what we've been saying in here.
It's it's today's game has nothing to do with tomorrow's game. And I tweeted out earlier, was why would you leave this kid in when he's going to be one of the top pitchers next year. He's only a sophomore. Our original rotation this year was sophomore, sophomore, freshman. So those three guys are going to look a heck of a lot like our starting rotation from the end of last year than what.
They look like this year.
Yep.
You know, if they stick around, if they stick around and they progress, they're just going to advance more. Now we're going to lose a lot of other guys. But today's game has nothing to do with tomorrow's game, and the Smalls game could be flipped upside down.
Yeah, And we were saying, because it's baseball, that's how baseball is.
Yeah.
Yeah, the first two innings have nothing to do with the last innings. It's just that that's just the way it is, you know, And I think that, you know, Chip has done a really good job. You know, as far as getting himself to this point in these these few years, I was concerned with, you know, him learning the college game and everything else. And his first season looked like he was coaching one hundred and sixty two
game season. It's like, bro, all these games matter, yeah, the two because I we went to at least one game of every series this year. And but where we what the game we like to go to is on Tuesday nights. And the thing is that a lot of people that don't watch the team, they go, how can Grand Canyon? How can Grank Canyon beat Arizona? Well it's not South Mountain Community College over there? You know, their former head coach is the head coach of USC who
was playing deep in their region. How do I forget if they got.
To the Supervil.
Okay, yes, that's right.
Yeah, but Stankowitz he had them rolling. This other guy he's just picked it up and kept going. And and that's not that's not a program to be messed with, you know. And and they still play with They still have the big brother attitude with Grank Canyon, which which needs to be fixed. Because anyway, that's that's what I have to say about that. I mean about the program stuff, but I really think that that has come a long way.
I sure wish he would coach offensively like a college baseball, a little bunting, a little bit more running, or more, because in college you got.
To have a cohesive offense. It has to be an offensive.
Mentality from one to nine. Because when Jay Johnson was here, as soon as they got a runner on base, they would put the pressure. They would start showing bunt. They might still try to steal the base, and then the merry go round would start.
And it was always it was like and it was.
The same way it was.
It was like constant pressure for the other team. They had to figure you know, they're looking all.
Over the place, whereas in the in the first.
Couple of years Chip had him and it was hey.
Go do what you can do, and then the next guy will do something, and then you run.
To whatever's according accordingly to whatever the other. You know, he hits a gapper, you can score from first, but you know otherwise we go station the station, And I don't think that works in college.
Yeah, I agree, thanks so much. Thanks about john Do they win tomorrow? Do they win tomorrow?
Cut them off? I think they do. I think I'll go to three games.
I don't know that they'll win the series, but I think they I think they come back show some show some nead or whatever you call it, gas and uh and they and I think they come back when so some pride. I mean, you know what, their pride was hurt today. But you know, they're a good team that they're not gonna sit there and think, oh, we can't beat these guys. They're gonna sit there and think, let's go keep the crap out of these guys. For what they did was today.
Peterson talked about that they lost a number of the first round game and then they come then they come back in the next two. Yeah, not that that's gonna happen, but yeah, this promising.
But I you know, look, Arizona is a good team. I mean they I mean the way they obliterated you know the regional break break yeah break with Organ. Yeah they did, they did. But you know what Oregon played, played Portland, those other those other two teams to beat Oregon, and they beat the teams that beat Organ. So uh, you know, I I I just think that they'll come
back and play with some pride. And I think they'll win tomorrow, but I'm not so sure about I'm not gonna say say I think they win the series, but.
They go back, they go back Saturday to double eda.
No, No, they'll play on Sunday. Okay one one, Yeah, yeah, it'd be yeah.
It kind of reminds me of that conversation that we were having yesterday where it was like like you don't know what you don't know kind of thing when it comes to like coaches and stuff, because it's like I think, like you know, getting to like the conference finals, it has to count for something, or like the conference championship, like the game, it has to count for something. Because I mean, like you know, getting to the College World Series, that's an excellent thing. There's only eight.
It's a hard thing, you know, And.
I know we talked about that with a couple of things with a couple of coaches, and then I asked Coach Lopez, it's probably harder than the Final Four because there's a lot of landlines you have.
To doe, you do and and again baseball. In basketball, the better team usually wins, usually wins. In baseball, it's different. It's just different. Again we're talking off air, how the hell, did the angel sweep the Dodgers, you know, a couple of weeks ago, because that's how baseball is on that day. You know, things if everything's going right for somebody like they were for North Carolina today, that's what can happen. Now, all those things can flip tomorrow and Arizona can go
off and be beat North Carolina eighteen to two. I mean, that's just how baseball is. It's different from the other sports. You know, the Chiefs are going to beat the Jaguars nine out of ten times, right, and maybe eight out of ten. And that's not to say that they walk on the field and you know the game's over. But you know what, you know, baseball is not like that.
Yeah.
Well, I think we had well Blake who used to be a pitcher, you know, and talks about you're facing the number one, the number one, right, and it's gonna be a tough game, especially against the cal Parlis or whatever, and then you have your number one. If you can get through the number one or not through, then you have some chances.
Yeah.
So their number one was better than Arizona's number one today. Now let's see who's got the better number two. Yeah, right, yeah, and and and see what happens tomorrow.
And mentality too, because I'm sure there's a big senior team. They came back because they you know, everybody talks about how they came back because they weren't satisfied about the last year ended, you know, losing in the regional and stuff. So it's like, you know, they have a I would imagine that like they got to have a chip on their shoulder, you know what I mean, just because it's like, yeah, you beat us today, We're not done yet. We get back for a reason, We're about to try to try
to give you some of your own medicine tomorrow. You like to think they have that that in them, that pride in them to do that.
We'll see, We'll see a lot going on. We have the the NBA Final, the next game of Sunday, Sunday, the hell it takes forever, it's won't be. It won't be untill like Father's Day when they finished this.
Yeah.
Uh, tonight is the the softball.
Champion Ball and Stanley Cup Cup.
Softball starts in about ten minutes.
No, yeah, but they take forever to kind of go spive fight thirty this really Yeah, it takes while to do all the the ceremony stuff, and then it's start about five twenty five three.
Are you are you in for anybody takes attack?
Yeah, I mean it's I've been I don't even know why I'm doing it, but this is fascinating to me. And I covered Kendra for a long time, and I don't know, maybe it's it's Kennedy just because and I just think they have a number last night and the seventh you watch it, yeah, yeah, they started hitting her.
Man, everybody in that stadium was sweating. There's no way they weren't.
Have you watched any of it. She's and then you're thinking she can't be hit, and then all of a sudden, they're hitting here like just I'll have another one one. They're not going to pull this off.
Yeah, And they were right there, they were right there. They Yeah, they had them in the corners, I think, yeah, yeah, and they couldn't get them. They couldn't get that, I mean one out. But it's it's a quick game. Yeah, it's an easy watch, right, Well, this is the championship, so this is it. And just to think that Arizona was at this level for a number of years and.
Look at it.
I know Oklahoma won a bunch in a row, and you know they took advantag of, you know, being able to start paying players and stuff like that. But you know, it's it's going to get spread around, and it's been spread around. And how many times when we talked about Candre that you know, he created this and and it and it.
And too many people think that that can be done again. Maybe it can now, but it ain't that easy now they're there. The talent is too spread out anymore.
Yeah, good players can go to different places and they go for different reasons, right, and and you don't you can't hog all the good players.
Anymore like U. C.
L A.
And Arizona used to.
Okay, we got to go. Yeah, okay, thanks all.
Right man, Thanks thanks for having me a little love being here on Friday.
Great, great, Thanks everybody. Talk to you Monday