This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera on Fox Sports fourteen fifth Day powered by Nova Insurance Services ensure your most prized possessions.
Big, good afternoon, everybody.
Welcome to I on the Ball here, I'll Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
I'm Steve Rivera.
In today with me is Dave Silver and Juan at the control here. So we should be great today. Hey, how about that game on Saturday? In so many levels, so many different things happen. Huh yeah, crazy. It's almost it's almost like you could have written five stories and I only wrote one. But there's so many elements to it. And if you start one thing, you have to kind of expand on it, and it would have been a two thousand word story. First, let's go to the big picture.
They lost, you said, Juan, that was not a surprise.
Not for me, because I think BYU is a good team, and they are, and they.
I think at in Provo they just lost their touch.
Who say, I thought this game was gonna happen in Prolo exactly, and the other game would have happened here exactly.
That's that's what So when we want to were when Arizona won at Provo, I thought coming back to Tucson they were gonna lose it.
Yeah, and people don't understand they're good. I was with some people over the weekend. A few people, well they're not any good. They're not ranked, that means nothing.
Yeah, Dave, you know that they're they're they're really good. And they were on a hot streak. They've been playing well their veteran team, and I think they felt like they let their fans down probably a couple of weeks ago when the UFA played up there, so they had their chance. It was National TV. They were shooting lights out,
they were you know, they were on their game. They played a good game, and Arizona just usually isn't gonna win if they're gonna give up like ninety six points like they did.
No, I'm gonna make a comparison. Maybe it's good, maybe bad. Princeton two three years ago they pick pickpocket at Arizona a number of times, either with a long long shot or the fake of the long dra shot and the drive to the basket.
Yeah, with crafty dudes playing.
With you know, under control and just you know, very disciplined things like that. So I mean Arizona, you know, hung with him and made some you know, pretty dramatic plays in the last couple of minutes as well.
But obviously the way it ended is not how they looked for.
Did Arizona get robbed, yes, yes, but they opened the door to let the people get right the people who robbed the door the door they didn't the door in the front of the back.
True, very true.
And this is supposed to be a better team, so they they're not supposed to put the game in that type of position.
Arizona, Yeah, Arizona. Well guess what.
The guy who would have said that perfectly said that perfectly, and that was Tommy should have never been in the position that they were in.
To be in that position, never.
Uh. And they had to get lucky too, because well lucky and lucky Caleb hit that shot, that runner, and that wasn't called. That should have been an n one, I thought, I thought, oh, yeah, the one, Yeah, the previous to get him ahead. It wasn't an and nobody again.
Watching it on TV, you're there, but I'm watching it at home, and I'm like, wait a second, don't they have continue I mean, don't they haven't had one in college basketball? There was nothing you know in the replay that looked like it should have been just stopped right there in the middle of the lane, right. I mean, he was driving and he made the basket right.
So there's that extra point there. You all you had to do is hit the free throw that got up to right right, got up to and then they have that shot or the foul, whatever you want to call it. It was just a tough day, tough da all around. But Tommy's credit, he was a bit snarky as he should have been, as you should have been about it. A bit I'm saying a tad maybe a two percentage, but he was very candid. Hey, we're tough, but you know, yeah,
maybe we had a call. Ready, you're in the air nine of the ball.
Who's this?
Yes, Brian, how's it going right?
What's the word? Give me some perspective?
Well, it was, it was. It was a fun game, Okay, it was you know, uh, I know, the last play was a terrible call, but you know that's not going to cost us.
I mean, at the moment.
It costs us the game, yes, but if you look at the the whole game is itself, you know, giving up what twenty two second chance points. Yeah, turnovers and are you and are you and our usual the ball way we shouldn't be, you know, it's we just we have to clean that up or it's gonna be a tournament run.
So, Brian, you you've been calling on the show law and you're a regular listener, and you you're very savvy and what you talked about. Let me throw this at you because I hear it all the time. Okay, they lose, they lose in December, losing November December. Well we're gonna learn from this. Okay, Oh sure you're gonna learn this. But they lose in January and we're gonna learn from this. This is basketball. Tomorrow's another day for you, Brian. Do
you think you're gonna learn what you do? What you or don't do what you did today? You know, did you learn from today? It doesn't work that way every day.
I would hope so, yeah, but but every day I know.
But but you know, you know one thing too, is okay, b Y, you very very intelligent, team, very savvy, right you know?
Yes, uh, they shot the ball very well.
You know, I mean, you know everybody you could say, okay, they shot the ball. Well, we only lost by one. But the problem is, you know, our defense of lapses. I mean, there was just some easy layups that they had, you know, getting picked whatever on deep on our defense and you know, like I almost sometimes.
What were they thinking out there?
You know?
It was it was frustrating. It was a terrible end of the game.
I'm very embarrassed about what happened at the very end after the game.
Well, let's talk about that, because I was going to go that was part that's part of the complete picture of the story, right, We're gonna go there.
Uh and we saw that.
Were you there, Brian, Yes, I was, oh, okay, so you're kind of well aware. You talk about the fans that Arizona it wasn't so much the fans, and you know that depends where you were sitting.
It was.
It was the student section, right, you know, And to me, that was that was you know, that was just that was totally embarrassing, you know, exact you know, I mean, Okay, they beat us, so what you know, it's just a game in life, you know, and you know, to yell what they yelled I thought was, you know, that was just terrible.
Well, here's here's a couple of issues. I'm one hundred years old. And then okay, shoot me if you have to. I've been there for thirty some years. I haven't missed the game much in that Most times, Uh, it's the f U c l A's Yep, it's the throwing stuff on the floor. And they did. They did Saturday.
They also when the refs were leaving, they were throwing stuff at the reps.
Yeah, it's so totality of it, not just Saturday, but it's it's other days too, where it's these privileged kids.
I'll use that word that what are you thinking? What are you thinking?
Yeah, yeah, you know, I I you know.
To me, it was luckily I did not watch the replay of the game. I recorded it also, but I haven't watched it yet, And I don't know if all that was caught on I wouldn't think it was caught on TV. Know, I probably would have gone to Sports Center right away.
I was watching, and they did show.
They showed the guy's kind of getting a little bit of a scuffle, you know, as they were heading to shake hands, and then they came back. They came back maybe thirty seconds later. They did have kind of a tight shot of Kleb talking to one of the players, one of the YU players. As far as the chanting and things like that, I don't think I heard that on TV.
Well that's good, Okay, maybe some other people did.
Maybe one, he says, maybe he did.
Maybe I just turned it down or turned it off at that point and we didn't realize that was happening.
And I saw, I mean, you know, that was I mean, you know, to be on national TV and to have that at the face of Arizona and you know you hear that, and it was it just it was embarrassing and it was you know, it was.
A headline yesterday all day long, I mean like ESPN dot com and on the bottom line there was all kinds of you know things spoken about it.
So you know, it wasn't not a good look for the school.
Well here's another issue, right, and you're aware of this. Everyone on Twitter, Facebook, whatever, ESPN hates us, right, and I'm talking abouts a fan hates us. They don't give us this.
This is one of the reasons why Jesus.
Yeah, you know, and and also too, you know, we had that issue up at a issue you know where Bobby her I mean Bobby and heard it calls us classless, okay, and you know, and then you hear what happened the other night and then going, well, gosh, you know maybe some of the fans are pretty classes Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, and we know the fans, I know, we want to put you know, ten thousand people, nine thousand people all behind. It was the student section. It was the student section, right, and Juan, you're a student. And it didn't surprise.
You, not at all, not at all. It didn't surprise you. No, you've been in that section.
Yes, and I'll be honest, I have part taken in the end of the yes. Uh so it was it was surprising. It was more surprising of who was directed at.
Yeah, you know, what's going to be bad and what a little over a week or eight days when we play.
As you here, yeah you hear you'll hear it for sure.
Oh yeah, I mean Herley is going to hear everything. And you know, it may be a nine o'clock game, but those students will.
Be in rare form. Yeah. Yeah, all right, Brian, thanks for the calling.
You know, it's sad because there's there's probably I don't know ten times it happens during the school year.
It happens during football season.
It happens, you know, the emotions of the game gets you, especially when it ends that way at home. I mean not to say that that should be happening, but that's when it usually happens, is when you know the game just doesn't go your way and you know you're you've been sitting there all game hoping your team's gonna win, and you're frustrated, and I don't know, just to go with those kind of slurs is just just a one.
You're a fan of the sports, right, you love sports, juve, Yes, At what level do you just kind of say I just want to be a fan and watch the game and not get emotion involved.
Actually I hit that point last year where I just wanted to enjoy the game. I didn't care really the outcome so much anymore. Fresh my freshman year, of course, first year, I'm getting into it. I was chanting those chants with them. But I think it was right after I said that that's not something I should probably be saying.
And let's just just make it a good game. It's a game. At the end of the day. The b YU game was a great game. Yeah, Yeah, you got your buddies Worth. Yeah, Dave, what about you? Well, you're a good guy. I missed a good guy.
But you know what, I spent all those years having to, you know, just kind of put my hands behind my back and not cheer and not really really rude.
We're not supposed to.
Be as reporters, so I've I've kind of kind of had that in my background forever. And even though I'm out of the business now it's I'm more of a fan, but I still sit there pretty quietly during games. I mean I sat and watched that game by myself with a sound sort of on, sort of off, and you're just kind of like, oh, you know, just kind of talking to myself. Yeah, that's kind of how I've lived my life the last forty.
Years or so.
My whole thing is how looney Tune fan you have to beat it. That's stupid, that's awful. You know, there's no defense. You're throwing stuff and whatever.
And it's not just overall privilege of some of the students.
Good good word.
I live in the privilege of being an Arizona basketball fan. We are supposed to be good. We're not supposed to lose at home, right, I'm seeing we as talking about as a STUDIENTO. We're not supposed to lose. The teams on ranked teams like.
B White have that privilege, right, they have that hoity toity privilege.
Yeah, we're supposed to be a blue blood. We were not, Thank you one. Arizona is not a blue blood.
It's not.
It's not.
Back of the day sometimes too, I don't know, you know, what happened at the end of the game, and people were, you know, in and out of McHale. But in the old days, they used to eyeball the student section, you know, and there were police or so someone you know, looking at those kids, at those kids and see who's who's the one throwing, especially if they're throwing stuff. Good point, you go ahead. No, I was going to say, I've
been to some football games. I remember going to a game years ago, all places in Berkeley, and I'm in the press box and I'm sitting next to two cops who have like telescopes or binoculars looking at the student section for a cow.
Well, here's an idea.
And I don't know if it's happened or not, because they won't confirm or deny this. In the McHale Center. What's the what's the We see those little what's they have it on? Those little little balls there who scan everything, the little cps. They even have a TV show in
Eye of Evil. Or there's just cameras, cameras why not cameras in mchil at the top of the thing scanning the kids, just scanning the kids area and see throughout the time who's doing what and if those kids and maybe they do it now and we just don't hear about it. I wouldn't be surprised if they do. I'm sure there's some security that we don't know. Exactly my point, exactly my point. I'm sure they do. They just don't say, right, okay,
we'll get another call, quick call. Oh okay, cool, if you called a callback, we're gonna have Josh Passner.
We just get the schedule here set.
Josh Pastler is gonna come on here once we take a break here in a second and then talk about college basketball itself, just his thoughts in the whole situation, and then come back with Jim living Good at four seventeen to get his perspective on the NCAA seedings. Things like that he was the president of that he did that, there's spokesman for that back in the day and just you know his thoughts on what's going on at you now. So we'll take the break, get a hold of Josh.
Take that call that didn't get answered after Josh.
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Down all the is it?
Ohs?
This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera on Blox Sports foteen fifty.
Hey, welcome back to in the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera and with me today's Dave silver Nile on the phone. We have Josh Passner, you no one former, you of a coach, player, all that good stuff now on ESPN, Josh, how are you.
I'm doing doing well, Steve Dave. Great to beon with you guys.
Dave.
I'm sending you a big hug through the radio waves here, same as.
You, Steve. And all's good.
Tough one for Arizona on Saturday. I was in the ESPN studio during that game, and there's no doubt that it was a I thought, two plays, let's just get right to the point on it. I thought there was it wasn't the South that it was good defense.
Uh.
And then I thought there's a continuation yes on the and one on Caleb Love and they didn't call the n one. They said it was on the floor. I thought those are two big However, a few plays prior to the non call to the foul call on a townsend, there is a switch and Caleb Love was on the big and the shot was up and the big just out competed in cayleb Love on the glass there and got the offensive rebound and put it back. So that was a big play that that happened. That had nothing
to do with the officials. It was just a fifty to fifty ball and BYU won that fifty to fifty ball. Look, Arizona's really good, very talented, and I think Coach Lloyd would say the same thing. Yes, you can magnify. The call is late, and the officials have a hard job. It's not it's not an easy job. It's a hard job they do. Officials do about as good of a job as they can. They get the majority of the calls right. There are times that they don't get them right.
That's just the reality of it. But look, you still get Arizona and I can. Like I said, Coach Lloyd would back me up on this. You did give up over ninety points defensively, and that's where probably Coach Lloyd's thinking, Hey, and he said, this is his postgame. It doesn't come down to one play. And I think that's probably where that he was like, we didn't do a good enough job defensively as a team, because they have been good
defensively this year. They just had some breakdowns going into that game during that game versus Uyu Saturday.
Have no question, you hit it on the head. We had already talked about exactly what you were talking about. We didn't talk about the Caleb Love thing.
No.
It's interesting, Josh, because I remember I was watching it on ESPN, and it had a great angle. I mean he was basically just backed up to the basket and was almost kind of pushed away and didn't didn't have any chance to get that ball at all. I mean, there was somebody a much bigger player right in front of him.
You're talking about the on the on the foul or the Caleb Love where you got the rebound, the play.
Where you were just describing where he just was really had no chance of getting getting that rebound.
The offensive rebound went in by the un you played.
I just thought that was I just thought that was a fifty to fifty ball there, and and that was a big play because that would have and I'll pay another play in a second, but that was a big play, and he just it was a And yes, he was bigger than Caleb Love because they were switching on those screens and so Cayla Loved and once goes on a bigger guy, and that's where you've got to kind of just root him out with your with your butt on their thighs and kind of just move them out as
much as you can to the best of your ability. But you know, that was a fifty fifty ball. But there's another play.
Before you before you say that, just let me see if I can predict the play because you haven't mentioned it yet. It was the three pointer that Caleb Love took and missed, but the other guy was called for a foul that didn't know.
It was Carter. It was Carter Bryant earlier in the game who threw it ahead and he threw it to b Yu. Yeah. Yeah, and Arizona was about to go on a run and they had numbers and he.
Threw it to the b YU.
I mean literally threw it to the Yu and they came down and hit a three and it was a huge momentum swing game play on that. I don't know if you remember that exact play, but you know, and so hey, look, here's the here's the great news with Arizona's really good. They've got really good players. Caleb Loves is a really good player, Carter Bryant is a really
good player. Tommy Lloyd is an elite coach. You know, they've got a chance to to great opportunities in front of them coming up, uh, you know, and then and then obviously the Big twelve tournament, they're gonna be a team that's going to be reckoned with in the in the n C two A tournament. But look, this is a new deal now, Dave and Steve. You know, players are getting paid, is as much as you want to say about Nil's pay to play, and so more so
than ever. Coaches are going to get criticized at times and on their performance, and so are the players now. I mean, just because it's a different climate, you know it it's more it's more like pro sports than ever before.
And and so because of that, you know, that's that's kind of the difference of the climate that we're in with with all three of us now, you know, I've been on the other side of it, but now being on the media side, and I think you two have been in at your whole you know, you two have been in your whole life. But I think you would agree with me that's probably a change in the coverage of college athletics. I don't know if you agree with me on that one totally. I think you do totally.
At least is a fair more fair grain than ever. I kind of still kind of shy away from it. But you're right, they're making they're making half a million dollars A million dollars depends what you talk about, and they should be held accountable whether they're nineteen or twenty one or twenty five.
Yeah, and at that at this level, I mean that's part of part of the Again, never a personal attack or doing anything, as you guys know, but you can, you can. It's it's the ability to talk about the performance in this day and age, because it's it's changed now. For the Arizona fans out there, Look, I know that was a tough because no, I get it, the fans
are upset for Saturday's loss. But Arizona is a really good basketball team and and uh, they're gonna have chances like I mentioned in front of them, and they can do damage in the in the Big twelve tournament. And look, they beat BYU at BYU just a few weeks ago, which is one of the toughest home atmospheres in the country. They got a great win there, and they should have had.
Youth and beat.
They really had them beat. They had them down thirty five to thirty six minutes of the game, kind of blew it at the very end there, and so they had been beat. They so they're capable and Houston's potentially can win the whole national title. They're going to possibly be a one seed. So Arizona's right there and can really do some great damage in the Big Twelve tournament once they get into that tournament.
Yeah, what about the Big Twelve that I you know, I think everybody here was kind of sort of worried about how the U of A would do.
How do you think they've kind of fared through?
Like you mentioned, they they win at Baylor, they win at BYU, They have been able to win as some of these tough places. They still have to go back to Iowa State, they still have to go to Kansas even before this is all said and done.
Well, Look, I think I think the Big Twelve is a really good basketball league. There's you know, from top to bottom. I do think Kansas is They destroyed Oklahoma State on Saturday, but before that they were playing as poorly as a billsof Kansas coach team as I had seen ever they had. They're just their pieces didn't fit, you know. They they they paid a lot of money for certain guys, and guys aren't producing and and they're just not playing well. They didn't look like a spin
I've never seen that from a coach self team. I mean, he's one of the greatest to ever do it. So this is not your typical Cansas year, I would say. But but what I would tell you over on the Big Twelve, it's a really really good basketball league. When you're looking at Houston, you're looking at Iowa State, those two teams are outstanding. Arizona, I think BUYU is really good. You've got you know, there's there's there, it's a deep,
deep you know league. Texas Tech is a outstanding basketball team. And it looks Central Florida. They've been up and down, but they've got a lot of talent. Do you look at their roster just basically strictly on a roster, high level talent, a lot of really good players there. So
it's gonna be wide opening tournament. I thought i Was State played really well Saturday for Houston without Gilbert, without Jones or two leading scorers, and they really had great success against Houston, even though Uston held and got the win. And going back to Dave, you said this, credit to Arizona, rate win at Baylor, rate win at BYU. They've had some really good road wins and you both know this.
You've covered it long enough. Winning games is hard, Winning road games is extremely hard, and winning road games in conference is extremely, extremely, extremely hard, and so they've been able to get some of those. And guys, this is new for the Arizona fans. This is new for you too. This is not the PAC twelve or the PAC ten or the most recent PAC twelve, where you're playing a few you maybe get three or four Quad one opportunities the entire league season. Every night you're either getting the
Quad one or Quad two and that's the difference. Yeah, you might take more losses, but you have more opportunities, and that's a good thing about being part of the Big twelve.
Well, we'll get back to the to the regular Seaton regular schedule program here, but let me ask you about the good old days real quick. About the person in your good old days lout And we had I think last week we had Harvey Mason on and asked them the same question. I'll ask you, how do you think that Loot would have handled the nil situation?
One?
And two? Why in the world would you ever want to come back to this?
Well, uh, the second problem, answer the second part. First, I love my gig with TV.
I love it.
But listen, if there was a right opportunity to coach again, then I would would would love to. I'm you know, I being kind of out for two years. You've got a chance to really taking a you know, gather your notes, gather your thoughts. Yes, I've been parting. We've won a lot of games for fourteen years as the head coach, I've won a lot of games, part of teams that have won championships at both schools. And but I would be excited to have another opportunity if it's the right sit,
if it's you know, it doesn't it. They've got to feel on the right sit and I've got to feel they're the right sit.
Uh.
And I do think in this day and age, with the.
With the you know, dealing with people now more so than ever, in every facet of the program, I you know, as you both people's guy. So I would I would be enthused about that. In regards to coach Olsen. In regards to coach Olsen, how would he handle the nil? I think and I can only speak on on my just knowing him. Look, he would adapt because he he adapted. Look how he adapted going from a two post offense
to spread the offense with guard plays. He was the first guy to kind of run the two point guards plan. I mean he he revolutionized that before anyone. You look at some of the offensive things that he did was way before anybody. I mean he would his evaluation skills and everything else. Now would he be in for paying the guys and and and the guys making you know, more money than than possibly assistant coaches and things like that, I don't know if if that would be up his alley.
I don't I can't see him being for that. I think he would probably like, I'm out of here. If we're gonna if we're gonna do this, this is not what I'm gonna do. But but I got to say, the guy adapted as well as any buddy. I think you both would agree with that. How he played, who you recruited, how he changed his style and system.
So I'm sure he would have.
Adapted the nil some way somehow.
Hey, there's got to be some like young coaches, I guess. I mean, it's gonna be an interesting evolution of the coaching. Well, you seems you see, you know a lot of the guys you know that stepped down in the last five years kind of saw this coming.
Coach ks and people like that.
Yeah, it's just going to be interesting to see who is coaching and where they're coming from, say in the next ten years, you know, because you're.
Growing up in this environment. You're only like forty five ish, aren't you.
Yeah, yeah, I'm I'm I still got a long time. I want to Hey, if the right opportunity to present her stuff, I hope I can coach on seventy five if God willingly, But if not, I'll be doing TV and my number one stressor will be where am I going to dinner tonight? You know what I mean. So so either way, I look at it a good it's a good situation. Yeah, so either way it's a good situation.
Sure, yeah, no question.
Let's go to the national landscape real quick, because you talked a little about Arizona.
A lot of very good teams.
Auburn seems to be the jewel, but there's a lot of teams in the two to ten mark where if they catch hot, even Arizona, if they catch hot, they could pull it off.
I think the best team in the country is all here. Here's why I think the four best teams in the country personally Auburn, I think Duke, I think University of Houston, and I think Florida, And I think out of those four, Florida is probably the most dangerous and could be winning.
The whole thing.
Really, the two teams that are playing at the very highest of high levels right now are Duke in Florida, and so I would say those four are the best right now. But I do think it's wide open this year. Anything can happen. I think it's a wide open race. A lot of it's going to come down, as it always does, to match up seedings, all those things that
go into it. But you know, I think it would be a complete upset, shocking and probably just disappointing if two teams from the SEC are not in the final four, because they're going to get to they're definitely getting two seeds at the one line. They could possibly get three. I think if Houston wins the Big twelve regular season the tournament championship, they're gonna knock off one of the SEC teams because there's gonna be Auburn is gonna be a one seed. I think Florida is going to be
a one seed. I think Duke's going to be a one seed in that fourth number one seed, either going to be Houston or an SEC team. And so what I would tell you though, is if anything can happen, because it is, it is. There's a lot of parody all throughout. And that's one of the positives of NIL.
It creates a lot of parody because maybe where some players would go to originally with and wouldn't go to another school are now going to those schools because of the opportunity of the financial and maybe they can, you know, offer more or maybe there's a there's a better package there because another school put more money somewhere else. Plus you've still got to do a great job evaluating, I think, evaluating and player developed, and it's still at the forefront
of it all. But you know, on a national landscape, and I'll tell you another team out West that I don't think a lot of teams talk to people talk about I think it's really good and you look at their numbers or they're really good. At Saint Mary's, I think they're going to go to sixteen. I think I
think they're outstanding, And so that's kind of my thing. Look, the SECNE going back to the SEC, they possibly could probably going to get thirteen teams in the SEC Tournament and the NC three Tournament from the SEC, which is a record. The last the record was eleventh from Big East and I think in twenty eleven. But the secson to get thirteen teams in they they need to get they should and need to get two teams in the
final four this year. I think that's something that would be an expectation if they're going to get that many teams in the tournament based on how good their league is and how deep their league is this year, it's really incredible. So you know that that's just some little things.
On the on the national landscape.
So are you a favor of expanding the tournament?
Absolutely?
I think they should expand it. I think it would be great. I know some people have gone against said they shouldn't, but I think it's great and and they don't have to. Look when I was coaching, I won it all three hundred and sixty four teams to be in the tournament. You know, I'm like, get everybody because it's so you know, it's good for all coaches.
But but they.
Should they can expand it. And use Tuesday and Wednesday in those first four days instead of just playing night games playing, you added a couple of games and play in the afternoon. I think it's great. People love the Thursdays and Fridays where you're starting at noon, you know, or Arizona time ten am or Eastern time noon, and you're going all the way to midnight. I mean you
can do a couple. You can add a couple afternoon games on the on the Tuesday Wednesday docket on those first four and so yes, I have them for the expansion. But look, obviously CBS and Turner have it until twenty thirty two, and you got to remember that it could it's as long as they have the tournament, which is till twenty thirty two in their contract, they're never going to go past. They always have to finished the weekend before the Masters. So because CBS has the Masters, so
they're never going to go past that. So the dead the last weekend they can play the final four of that Saturday is the week weekend before the Masters. So however you add it, you're not going to add a whole nother weekend or anything. You're talking only a half a day here, to half a day there, So I don't think it's that much of a of a big difference.
And and again, you know, part of it too is is is I think those first you know, those first that first week of the n C to A tournament is about the exciting of a of an atmosphere of college hoops around the country. And look, if you include betting now, I mean think how much you know betting has become legalized. I don't gamble, but but I see it and all the TV things that I do, I mean everyone is sponsored by some form of bet and
that becomes a big deal. And I and I and there's a billion dollars or bet on the first four days of the n C Toy Tournament, So that that I'm sure goes into the play too. And because it's it is a big finance, she'll deal now, So you know, I think you guys just can see that as as well, which I also think there could be some dangers with that when you're dealing some stuff, But that's for a whole other topic and another deal. But uh, that's the reality of the world we're in right now.
You don't gamble, you don't drink caffeine, but you're still gonna buy me dinner next time you're in town.
You're making the big.
Bucks, man, I need you to buy the dinner.
Come on, you and Dave.
You and Dave got to buy me dinner. Come on, you guys are making the big bucks.
When are you going to be back in Tucson anytime soon?
Not?
I would not that I'm initially planning. But uh, but you know, I I was there last summer because my wife's family's out and out on the east side of Tucson in Sierra Vista. So I was there and I actually went by and saw Tommy's workout coach Lloyd's workout a day or two, and he does a great job. And and so that was the last time of there. But I you know, look, I I love my time in Tuson. I love the mountains, love the outdoor. You have a I have a great appreciation for the West Coast.
So so I've enjoyed it. You know, sometimes not everyone everyone gets on about the dry heat or you know, hey it's one hundred. I'm like, look, sometimes I'm in Florida and it's ninety and it's ninety five degrees. Yeah, it's not a hundred, but it's one hundred percent humidity, So what's the difference.
You know what I mean, it's all the same with the hot hot.
What do you mean, I've enjoyed my time with two son. What do you mean?
You have? One of the favorite suns is Kerr Elliott Passenger.
I love listen. You know how much I love Tucsons, you know, and I love the people there too as well, too, love I loved everyone there. I like some of my great years and time there was with with with Coach Olsen and all the all the friendships and the experiences that we were able to accomplish in.
What are your job duties here in March? Are you going to be in studio? Are you going to be out? What are you going to be doing?
Yeah, I'll be doing I'll be doing a lot of studio work, so a lot of stuff with ESPN, especially as we get into the last two weekends of Championship week. I'll be doing stuff with with NBC Peacocks for the last couple of weeks of Big Ten and then the first weekend of the Big Ten, first day of the
Big Ten Tournament and the Big East Tournament. I'll do some things with Turner, which is the n C two A. In those first they do the NCAA fast Break, which you know if you ever watched those commercials, they tell everyone to go to NCAA dot com. And so I'm on that where they you go to and you can watch all the different games. Is sort of like the red Zone with the NFL, but it's the fast break. So I'll be on that and and there'll be a couple of other things for TV y so yeah, so
I'll stay busy and and it's good. Look, I've got a face for radio, but they keep putting me on TV, so so God bless.
Them, you know, let me see this, let me see this.
So so I'm watching you over the weekend on studio and I'm thinking, God, I'm old.
I'm old. You know how I know I'm old. You've got great hair.
Yeah, no, well that's what happens when when you've got kids running around and then ahead basketball coach. Yes, no, I've got I've got some great haired a bench. I might have to color it, but right now I'm keeping the great good.
Josh as always, Thank you very much.
Man.
Think the world will be you know that, you too.
I think the world about you, guys. I appreciate you having me on. Let's talk as we get.
Closer to us, we will, we will. Thanks, Thanks, Thanks jo Okay. Josh Josh Pastner former U of a guy. You know, he's one of the favorite guys in this town by far. If you drank a beer, they'd buy him a beer but didn't drink. We used to do a thing called Sundays with Josh. We would get him on and he would just kind of give us a little inside scoop on our Sunday night news during the
basketball season, and it was great. So, I mean, there were times I remember again we're talking in the twenty two thousand and nine ish years, and he'd come walking in.
He had two phones going at the same time. He had like these earpieces and I go, Josh, are you talking to me? He had like two I mean, he was always on, always recruiting, always, you know, on those players.
It's made him good, that's what he did when the recruits. Yeah, always on the phone.
Let's go.
We took a break.
We're gonna run a clip here, maybe enlightened people. We get a caller too coming in, so we'll talk to you after that. Steve Rivera here to talk about Dorotle Rock and Materials. I needed a lot of gravel for my driveway, so I called Eric at Dorato Rock. He found out the amount and color I needed and boom, it was taken care of and at a great price. How do I know radio commercials work. I heard one
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Lender, Streamy Luck on the Ihearts Radio Act. This is Eye on the Ball with Steve Rivera on Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
Hey, welcome back to the ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera and will be today is Dave Silver. Don't want of controls here. You guys want to call please? Do I know you guys are a couple of you guys are waiting five two zero four one six seventy four forty uh. I want to keep his eye on the phone and we're gonna run a
clip about a minute and a half. Maybe I saw something that was pretty interesting to me, and today we've talked about it a little about the Indiana situation through Purdue and coach Painters was asked about what any suggestions about the new coach and blah blah blah, And I'm not talking about the fan I'm not talking about the coaches.
I'm talking about the fan base.
And you can put any team in that fill that Indiana word with any team and we'll talk.
About it if we can cue it up and really.
Go, I mean this would be kind of similar to the Arizona Arizona States, right, yeah, yeah, you're.
Happy about what just happened, like you like, so you a fan base, isn't the people that tweet. A fan base is the people when you're bleeding, they support you, like they jump in and off, they jump on and off things here way too much like support your coach man, support your players. Don't tweet negative things about them, like be supportive, like see how that works for you. But they build them up, like and they overdo.
Things minute and a half of a minute and a half of stuff that he said. But that was kind of the just I heard and I see and I do it every day, right you kind of read Twitter and Facebook and everybody's kind of complaining and complaining. And I'm always wondering, I say, when Jay was with me, and who knows by myself doing the show, at what level of fan are you?
Are you an emotional fan? Are you a financial fan? Are you both? Does it really hurt that much? Really?
Does open up your computer or your phone and say this needs to happen or this should happen, and this is yes, Really, it's.
Pretty crazy that the fan bases have a pretty strong voice these days. I really think that we went through that with football this year, this last year here in Tucson, where the you know, there was all kinds of thought about you know, Brent Brennan lasting more than one year, and it seemed like most of the noise was coming from social media, wasn't necessarily coming from the real media. It was coming from other people who wanted to chime in.
And maybe they feel like they have, you know, reason to feel like they're part of the program.
Maybe they're donating a lot of money. That's it could be, but probably not. We'll get to we'll get to that. Got the call first, n Hello, you're on the air and I on the ball. Who's this?
Hey? Hey Ben? How you doing today?
What's going on?
Three things?
Number One, I thought the officiating at the DYU Arizona game, I thought, for the very most part of it was very fair.
I think they were calling the same stuff on both sides of the court. So I think this last minute no call or the last minute call, I think you could look at the history of that game and you can see the same types of call being called both ways. So enough crying over the call.
Number two.
I heard about the I was back and forth to Phoenix, and I heard on some talk shows about the fan behavior, and I was like, because I didn't see it on TV, they didn't, or maybe I didn't keep watching it long enough to but I heard around on the radio or national radio, and I was really surprised.
To hear that. I was disappointed to hear it.
And I remember.
Experiencing that kind of behavior at ASU Arizona Games years ago up at ASU. So these kids got to grow up and stuff at acting like, you know, respectable adults. Otherwise they're I don't need it, We don't need it here in Arizona. Three number three, I was a great listening to Josh. I missed him. He's a good friend.
But when he was in Memphis and I have family there, I called him up because he was our spokesman for one of our restaurants, for barbecue barbecue restaurants, and I said, Josh, I hate to say it, but you're a barbecue country right there in Memphis. They got they take their barbecue very very seriously. So anyway, you guys have a good afternoon, all.
Right, Thank you, thanks, thank you. So you're talking about the people who tweet and all that stuff. I guarantee you people that you go after for money and the people I talked to and make money, they're too busy making money rather than sitting down and tweeting.
Yeah, you know what I'm saying. They're not good.
They're not Oh, let's get on Facebook and rag the program and I you know, people who listen to me, I'm not a favorable guy for Arizona. I'm not a non favorle that. I'm kind of middle of the road. The people with the money aren't tweeting.
They're not right.
You're right. But again, it's just weird.
It's just weird to watch how it evolves, Like especially during the course of the game, right after the game, what you see.
And what you see posted. Let's take the call.
Hell, little you're on the air and on the ball. Who's perfect call? Perfect timing on my fan base?
Wow, I've got a call and argue with you guys. Last Friday when Jay was on there, he was crying about his buddies and everything, and I'm like, how can you not with this team? See, it's uh, it's a three guard offense that turns the ball over like crazy and his friends and I don't know them obviously, but the reason they're crying and bitching is because they know it's one and done. And guess what. This team can't
shoot turn the ball. And even in wins. I'll give you the analogy to you and Dave, and you tell me, it's like telling your kids, Hey, go watch the dishes and they are half hour they say I'm done, but you go in there and there's three holy still on the ford and and chili stelling the dishes and you're like, well, you're done. What are you talking about your Yeah, you
did the dishes, but you did them crappy. So every win is almost like god, dang, it's horrible, like rooting for this team, and you know what the thing is, I'm so hypocritical. I love watching the team, but it's hard because you know, like I said, they can't shoot, they throw the ball away, Like like, can.
You how old are you? How old are you?
Give me?
Just arrange you don't need to tell me you a hundred I'm sixty five, Okay.
So you've seen this team for the last forty years, and every year you're disappointed, except for one. I would either say get off the band, get off the ship, or just watch the ship.
Because you're gonna be disappointed this year. You're gonna be you're.
Wrong the team, and then you enjoy the heck out of watching. And I'm not disappointed.
This team is just tought. Do you mean to tell me last year's team was it? And year before was it? And you you know I think the world of you two. You're my buddy, and this is this is not an argument. This is a discussion.
When you text me and you text other people, I'm sure, what the hell are you thinking.
That most of the time it's been jets, that's for sure.
To give me a laughing mode. You to let me know when you're in jest, because you're saying.
Of the time it's like and and even even today, I'm just calling this as a fan and and and it's true. And like I said, the analogy, these guys are so talented. We have such a good team. How can a three guard offense be committing turnovers to lead to twenty two points?
You used to coach, you used to play. Do you mean to tell me you didn't lose because the other team was pretty good.
And nobody I'm not taking anything away from BYU. But when you have kJ Lewis, he has to leave the nation and following three four shooters, that's not good. And I've had that All star shortstop believe me, that made great play after great play, but then he blew three balls to cost you the game and you're like, what the heck just happened? So I just this team is as a head scratcher. It definitely is a head scratcher.
You guys are and that's why, like I said, I sided with Jay's buddy because they know it's one and done. And you know what, I wouldn't be surprised if this team loses in the first round, and I wouldn't be surprised.
To go to the final four.
kJ had an interesting line on this last game, nineteen minutes, so it didn't play half the game, scored thirteen points, had five fouls, turnovers to assists.
But you know what they're talking about with him five assists? Interesting? Yeah, yeah, yeah, this is this is one of Victor's analogies.
I love him, I love it. Oh, I hate Hi when he does this, but I love him when he does this. So one, what are they talking about with kJ?
Now?
His defense right that you cannot go without Kj's defense because he's the terror.
Well, either you take the good and you take the bad. You can't. You can't have it both ways.
I guess you can.
You can clean it up a little bit. How about that one one ball when he ran the guy was sitting in the corner and he ran after him like you run after your little kid, and just goes right past him. Like you don't play defense like that. You're not taught that way. That's my thing. You don't follow a jump shooter. How many times have you heard that, whether you're a basketball player or you read it. And he just continues to fly out those guys and follow them.
Well, I'm gonna go get my plates and put them in my dishwasher because I know I can't clean them.
So we'll see.
Well then, indeed, but if your kids are doing them, have them do it the right way.
You know, I'll get e Coli. You gotta go, You gotta go appreciate it. We gotta go too, don't we. Pretty soon? Hey, good, good, first hour, We're gonna go get some breaking news from Wine and then we're gonna have Jim liven Good on the other side.