Steve Rivera and Jacin Sallins. They have their Eye on the Ball on Tucson Sports Stage, Chef Fox Sports fourteen fifty. Hey, welcome back to Eye on the Ball here, I'll talk Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve, He's Jay, and I'm hoping Jay has a lot of the breaking news his Eye on the ball breaking news on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. All right, Well, since it's Monday, we've had a lot of things going on since our last show last week, so you know, let's just start with the with
the with the with the ap polls both football and basketball are out. A football poll came out SCA Basketball today. In basketball, Arizona holds at number three behind Kansas and Purdue. Purdue right now is down five at the Maui Classic against Gonzaga at halftime and we're watching We've got this thing on over here, and guess who shows up on the halftime show? Steve our friend,
who's that? Josh Pastor? And look, you knew, Shock's not shot shot cannot shot with the you know, the the personality that he's got inside inside. He's a smart guy, works hard, very well spoken. He's I mean, he looks like a TV guy. You're looking right, right, is it right? Well, he's Jets age forty five, but he's he's in the in studio on the halftime show, uh, talking about Gonzaga and Purdue, which is going on right now. Again, Gonzaga is up
thirty five thirty. So if they lose, you know, anywhere along the line here, that's a great Mali class. There's all the great team you know. I mean the fact that Purdue and Gonzaga are playing in the first round. Yeah, that tells you that there's no slouches in this uh, in the in this tournament, which incidentally is being played in Oahu instead of in Maui because of the fire earlier this year. On the football side, Arizona bounces up to number four fifteen sixteen, only up one spot, well
three spots in the eight people. There were seventeen in the football playoff poll, but bounce up three spots to number sixteen. Still not sure why they're not ahead of Oregon State, who was at fifteen, but they're still they're
sixteen again. Who would have thought at the beginning, I'm curious and I should know this, But how the how the demographics of the voters lies, you know how many and where they are just just on the east coast store you know, beyond beyond some Mississippi or whatever, because they obviously haven't seen the west coast enough. Right. I think if I'm looking at the at the thing and I've got Oregon State, I'm trying to side on a spot
between Oregon State and Arizona. Why you would put Arizona? Sure, because and you know with all their other excuse me, all the other wins. But the top the top of four have changed a little bit. Ohio State swaps spots with the Michigan. Ohio State is now number two, Georgia number one, Ohio State two of Michigan, three, Washington who's moved up into four spot. They had a Florida State, which I know, I don't know if you saw the injury to the quarterback Jordan Travis. It's one of
those his foot was pointed in the rock correction breaks. He's out for the year. And Florida State's got games left with Florida and and Louisville in the in the ACC Championship game. So there's thought that their their playoff hopes are probably gonna die because the quarterback is gone. You got Oregon at six, Texas at seven, Alabama still all the way down at eight, Louisville at nine, and Missouri at ten. Gone from the pole are Utah, USC
and l Well, you say he was already gone. So what's left for Arizona? So Arizona's the last team run four. So you got Oregon Washington, right, you got Washington for Oregon six, then Oregon State at fifteen, Arizona at sixteen. That's who's left in the pack? Ub again packed up was just as always, kind of cannibalized like it always does. Women's basketball. The women on the road in uh In in the Bahamas split their
first two games, got beat yesterday by a number twenty three. Mississippi came back today and beat South Dakota sixty one fifty two in the third place game. So they you know, they go too and one on the road right in the Bahamas. Can I stick with a girls basketball or women's basketball real quick? Brenda Freeze, you remember her, right, she coaches at Maryland. They're not in the top twenty five for the first time in two hundred
and fifty one straight weeks. Went on over there. They've lost a few couple of games already, and she's one of the national titler. Yeah, yeah, she has, she has. I mentioned the Maui Classic of the other game that's already been playing over there. Number seven, Tennessee beat Syracuse, so I saw. I'm assuming Gonzaga perdue Winter plays Syracuse in the loser's play, so I played, I mean Tennessee. So that's a great tournament,
that really is. Yeah, speaking of Syracuse, our old friend, former U of A assistant coach, Dino Babers, Yeah, was fired over the weekend yesterday, So he's gone. You know, Anthony, it was pretty close to him, smart coach, smart dude. One of the good guys too, Yeah, he was. He was one of those really good guys. We always we always remember a good guy. Remember the good guys.
Well, you know that that that that staff that he had in the nineties with you know, with Larry McDuff and Johnny Lynn and right, you know all those guys that were just good guys. They all those guys that were really good guys to be around. So he's he's gone. Over there. A little a little Arizona football news. Jalen Harris, guy you know,
used up as Algibida last year to the son of Sean Harris. I guess all along, he's been on the Bears practice squad, been drafted by the Bears, right, and so he's been on their practice squad all year long. And we never found out where his brother left to. Yeah, remember left the beginning of the year, right, But Jalen Harris has been signed by the Commanders and put on their active squad. So he is now
with the Washington Commanders. Good for Jalen Harris. You know. Look, it's always cool when you see one of those, one of those guys land somewhere. Look at some months, John Rothstein has been a guest on on the show. He's got Arizona number. He's got Arizona produce swapped in his in his top ten, he's got Arizona number two behind Cam. Yeah. Well they they received three number one votes. Yeah. I don't know who did that, but probably it's it's right now, it's it's what late November.
Yeah, it will work itself out, it will it will. And the one thing that everybody loved what Tommy said against Duke is Okay, we beat Duke. What does it matter now? Nothing? It matters what happens in March or we do the rest of the way. A lot of discussion again with that, with that outcome of the usc U c L A g Us he got blasted thirty eight to twenty. It wasn't even that close. Uh, Caleb Caleb Williams wouldn't even talk to the media after the game,
so he didn't talk to the mediated. Again, he's he declined to doctor the media. A lot of discussion, What does you know? What does that say about what kind of pro he's going to be if he can't handle this kind of you know deal at the college level. You know, when you have to you have to do those things as a pro. What do you can to do? Well, here's here's the issue. Uh, it doesn't matter because he still draft him. He's somebody and and you don't have
to deal with it. Yeah, but is he going to be the number one pick? Somebody said, you know, I'm a guy who's got a little stronger I'm not going to say character, but just has a little more you know, can handle the adversity. I know you wouldn't take it. I know you wouldn't take him. I probably wouldn't unless unless he was so overwhelmingly better physically talented, yeah, than everybody else. And I don't know that he is Daniels is playing, is playing incredibly. He's jumped into the
Heisman Trophy race. That's part of the makeup of the thing. Because you remember Bike Baker Mayfield. He was kind of like a malcontent, petulant guy and he became who he became. And he's kind of at not a maverick, but uh well he's in the league, but he's kind of picked around. He's kind of, I can't find the word bag amount or whatever it is, a vagabon carpet, just around. He's been working for a lot
of teams, So I don't know. You know again, I mean I'm not an owner of team, and you know, there's other things that come into play when you're deciding whether or not you're gonna you're gonna take a guy. You know, the the they go so deep into a guy's character. But to me, what he's done, as far as that goes, that's a negative. Now how much of a negative is it, I don't know, but it's a negative. And he's gonna have to convince me that he
can handle things better than he's handled that. Sure, you know, if I'm gonna take well, I still think that the nil stuff is a problem. I just really do, because you're making he's making in the millions. Yeah, and he's getting paid no matter what. And then this happens. Yeah, the bad stuff happens, and again goes back to your things, Steve. How many guys on the USC teams? What what thet Caleb Williams,
he's on Doctor Pepper commercial, sure, the Heisman House commercial. You know, he's all over the place, and they might be wonder to wait a minute, I'm working my ass off over here. I went to school and he's out there making they're making money. How much work is he putting into that? Totally totally thought that right when it happened, because it's it's there's nothing fair in this world. There's nothing. I don't care what people
think. There's no nothing fair. But if I'm blocking forth these guys that are doing really well, what the hell? Yeah? Yeah, I worked just as hard. And then how many us you guys are getting a bunch of money in that? How many guys are not or not? Yeah? Right? And how does that, you know, affect things? It has to doesn't it does it have to, And don't forget the egos it brings. The ego it brings because because I don't care what you say or what
people say, that money kind of affects us. How affects how you think and how you play, right, because your poop doesn't stink? Or sure you think? You know if you're you know, if you're playing in Colorado and you're riding up to practice on your bike and you see the Sanders rolls booted over there. Yeah yeah, yeah, you're thinking, what are you think? You're probably one of the guys saying good Ram, Yeah, good for him. I mean that his mooted. All right. So times in
Vegas last week? I did you know? I had a little bit of interest in the in the Vegas Grand Prix, not in terms of who won, just watching the spectacle. Did you watch? I stayed up late and watched at least the beginning. I fell asleep. How long it was long? Because it started at eleven o'clock. I didn't want to I started stopped about ten thirty. If no, it's not for me anyway, So what did you think? The first It was cool? You know, it is
a spectacle. It was very cool. I watched the beginning of the race. A lot of issues with it. There were a lot of different issues with it. You know, things about you know, you you know, you paid all this money for a seat and you couldn't see you know that all the you know, there was that whole thing with the man whole cover that that came up and wrecked that guy's car. Yeah, there were a
lot of issues with it. There were issues about you know that it wasn't bringing in the business that you know, and the and the crowds expensive mission. You see how much money they really lost on it. But in the end when the race came on, it was really cool to watch these guys on this track because, you know, getting to and from our hotel, we were on the track, you know, in a cab. We were on a part of the racetrack with our hotel was basically at the end of
the circuit where they're coming to back to the start finish line. I looked out the window when it was right there. Well do you think that for the common man, because most of us take cabs or uber to get around, right, will that help the city? Because because you're always wondering, it's just gonna take me for extra charge because he's gonna go longer than we think he's gonna go. You know what I'm saying, because it happens all the time, right, I mean, it's crazy when you think about the
magnitude of what they had to do to that city. I mean, they
built overpasses for cars to get over the track. I mean it wasn't like, oh, we had to go find it, but I'm literally there three or four overpasses to get to where to work, to get from the outside of the circuit to the inside of the circuit or you know, to your hotels that were inside the inside the street street, regular street, not like the bridge, not like the trap, not like the traps, to have temporary bridges for cars to go over to get inside, because you know,
the work it was a circle, and so when the thing was closed for for the race or practice or whatever you can get around, you had to be able to still get inside. So I guess we'll know the results. We'll start to hear I'm sure about what the money came in or didn't come in or whatever. Right, and then, as you mentioned, Arizona won two games over the weekend in basketball, now this game comes up with the Michigan State right on Thanksgiving Day, two o'clock our time. It's perfect,
watch the game, go have dinner. What time is the the second game of the NFL about that time? Yeah, yeah, I think it's the first game is the ten thirty? I think the second game like two, and then another one out or whatever, and then there's another one a night game. But you know, yeah, we'll be you know, we'll be watching the basketball game. I'm sure that'll be fun. It'll be all right.
We've got ut muel. I was I was you a basketball game right into your brother in the in the s I the office and your daughter. Wass you guys? A bunch of old guys, You guys guy snapping each other, you know, snabbing Joe Trump candidate. How did you forget that I Sna was your brother? You didn't remember his name? It sounds like what I remember. I all remembers, like give me eight inches of light and I'll get through that hole or whatever. I don't remember. Yeah,
but Matt will be joining us. Uh. He worked at last couple of games backed off networks, So we'll see what he's asking, what he's been seeing whatever he's seeing, it looks pretty damn good. Yeah, they're really really good. So we'll we'll get to Matt. So stick around from for Matt mule Back and we'll we'll pick his brain on what he's been seeing. From Arizona Basco's cigaret, Steve Rivera here to talk about Dorato Rock and Materials. I needed a lot of gravel for my driveway, so I called Eric
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Serving Tucson and Southern Arizona since nineteen forty seven. Go to azypest dot com to schedule your free evaluation today. Steve Rivera and Jacin Salez, they have their eye on the ball on Tucson's sports. Stay yet Fox Sports fifty streaming live. I mean I hid radio wa Hey, welcome back to alball here Fox Sports fourteen fifty of Steve Rivera. He's Jakins Austin on the phone. We have mister triple double meal bubble. How you doing that? What's happening?
How we're doing fine? What are you do working on your car? What are you doing on that? I'm working man, I'm at the shop. I'm in my office. Head walk outside to take this call home. I love talking to you guys. So happy Monday, Yes, happy Monday to YouTube. You got you're back again on the show. Second game that you've covered Arizona. I think it was your second game. Uh did you
continue to improve what you hope for? Right? Yeah, you know, I was telling somebody, I can't believe how you know we've had we've had over the years, these comparisons to you know, to Loop with Tommy. And the one thing that you guys will both appreciate this is how good Tommy has gotten his team so early. Yeah, I'm amazed at it all. You know, the last three years, they've been so good on like November first, and pretty amazing how he's been able to integrate him that quickly.
Well, and that was the thing that you know, I mean, you guys did and LOOTS teams were you know what, We're always winning the MAI Tournament, the preseason inn I t yeah, you know all that stuff, And that was the characteristic of of of LOOTS teams. But you know, you feel like with what kind of with what Tommy does, it looks different because the way they play and how how it seems like it's all very seamless from the get go well. And two things jumped out at me when I
thought about it today. Actually I probably should have said it during the game, but it just sometimes it hits me. I'm slow, so it hits me a day later. But I was thinking about that and the two things. Number One, he gets them to share the ball so much. That's why it looks good, because you know, on offense, it doesn't look good when you don't share it and you see and you can see it. And because he's so adamant about people sharing the ball and playing the right way,
that's why it flows and that's why it goes early. And I'll tell you the other thing. I was at shoot around yesterday, and he is so strategic. You know, you see a lot of coaches that shoot around, just roll the ball out, shoot some fre throw, shoots some threes, you know, get in maybe an out of bounds play, and go home and get ready for the game. He did an amazing thing. I
thought. He did like these sort of like fifteen minutes, like ten to twelve minute little sessions where okay, they did some classic shooting, but then they went into like five or zero offense and did a lot of dummy offense. Then they did some more shooting, then they did like a press break, then they did some more shooting and you know, shot some free throws. But then they did they implemented like another thing that they were doing.
He really coached through the shoot around, but did it in you know, small snippets, so guys aren't going to get kind of bored or tired on the day of a game, you know. And I just thought the strategy that he's already employing, you know, early in the year, that's one of the reasons they're so good early. So one of the things I liked, and you guys talked about the success like loot in November December. Guess what happens in November and December not a damn thing unless you want to bring
some championships. So you got to be good in March. So after beating Duke, he said, Okay, we beat Duke. We got this has to happen in March. Yeah, he you know. One of the things also that I that I was I'm with you, I was talking to, you know, just people around the program, and one of the takeaways was how cool the Duke Winn was, but how fast he got over it. Yeah, like he was literally in his press conference saying, we got, we got you know whatever that next game was. It was Belmont, I
think, but he's he's not impressed. He's impressed for about eight seconds and then he's not impressed. After that, he's like ready for the next one. And I think that's a pretty cool thing to have. It is because we said we you know, around the media, I mean, is that we dwell on that stuff, right. We talked about it all week, All week long, we kept talking about the Duke game, the Duke game,
the duke game. He had so far moved on, you know, and then they come out and blast Belmont and they blast uh yu see Arlington last night. And I guess that explains why, you know, one he's a coach and why two he's a really good coach and we're not. Yeah, yeah, no, they're no question. And I'll tell you the other reason that he's a really good coach is it takes a lot for coaches to be reflectives, look at themselves, look at what their team looked like,
and look at what they need to do better. And he did such a great job, you know, in roster construction this summer saying hey, we need to get a little tougher, you maybe get a little more athletic. Yeah, and he changed the roster and you're seeing it already. And I'll tell you the one thing they do that you know, we talked a little bit about in the game last night, but it's different than what we've seen in the last two years, is how well they offensive rebound. And that's
where I don't care. If you're missing shots in the tournament, you're having a bad night. If you offense the rebound, you're getting the ball back. There's a guy named Keishaw Johnson that's doing a lot of that. But before we go to that real quick, let me give you a compliment. And wanted Tommy too. So you meet him, and we meet him early, and he's just a to me, he's just a normal dude, right, just the kind of a dude's dude. And he reminds me me of
you. He reminds me of Steve Kerr. You're this high high falutin lawyer, you know, but you're just but you're just a normal dude because you you're in every dude's dude, you know. And then Steve too, he's got he's got millions in the bank and he's just a dude who knows how to deal with people. And guess here's this dude, another dude, Tommy Lloyd, who's very good at what he does. But it's just another dude. Is am I off on that? Am I off? You're not?
You're not? But I would I would. I think you're totally right, But I would add to that, and that is I always would tell people like, don't don't let my my being nice, uh, distract you from the fact that I'm pretty damn without question and without question, you know, and and and you know, to the extent someone rubs me the wrong way, that I'm not nice anymore, and and that that's that's the way Steve is. You know you're around Steve. That's the way we see him in
the NBA. That's the way Tommy is too. Like he's a really good guy, but you can't mistake it his nice guy sort of feel for the fact that that dude's a killer, like he wants to win, he's gonna do it, and and and and by the way, how cool is that as fans of to have a guy like that, right, you get you get the best of both worlds. You know this town needed that exactly well, you know, and you talk about his competitiveness. I don't remember the
play there was. There was a play, uh last night or yesterday where a ball got thrown into the under the basket and I think it was Keishaw Johnson got yanked down, I mean literally dragged to the ground and the ball just went out of balance and Tommy lost his mind, like I haven't, he was he got under He yelled at the ref for five minutes about that play, and which tells you that in the end, you know, yeah, he's a dude, but don't mess don't mess with it. Don't mess
with him. He's now, he's got it in his veins. He he competes, He competes at the highest level. And he doesn't he doesn't take you know, he's not taking short cuts or days off. I don't know if you could talk about this because you're in the media now, so don't where your media has so it's for four games in whatever. You have a guy that you've kind of attached yourself to a favorite player to this point, you know, you know, well, I'll say this like I can say
as a media player, I love watching certain guys play. I mean, I can tell you, you know, for for for years, I'll pick a guy out on any team, whether it's you know, Colorado or Utah or whatever. I think when I watch this team, just as a basketball fan, I think the coolest part about the team is that the moment I say, man, I really love how you know, Kylon Boswell is playing, five seconds later I'm saying, well, I really love how Keishad Johnson's
playing. And by the way, oh yeah, I really love how Crevius is playing. He's a I mean at about seven dollars. I mean, they just have so many dudes over there that you really just love the way they play. kJ Lewis, the freshman, might be in the long run, he might be one of the best NBA prospects on the entire team. And so that they all bring an ingredient or two or three, that to
me is pretty special. Well, the thing that's getting talked about it and we've probably talked about it with you even, but though, is that there aren't big holes in you know, ever on the floor right in every every position there's a guy and and that's what sort of amazing. Yeah, I mean, I mean, and to your point, like I haven't even talked about, you know, Hella Larson. How unbelievably affecting has he been, you know, and what he will be. I'll tell you what though,
I really like watching them all play. I mean, Boswa's pushing the best player that packed the hole after five games, as you pointed out, has brought so much toughness and and physicality. But but there's one guy I will say this, I haven't mentioned it yet. And then to that question, Caleb is a gunslinger. If if you want to go down to Tombstone a hundred years ago and walk into the bar and you know, go through the doors, and that's the dudes you want with you, right, he is
a He is a fearless guy that is going to take big shots. He did it at Duke. I thought a couple of times he got a little maybe too aggressive, and that's something you have to work for. But look who hit the big free throws down the stretch. Caleb. You know that that that guy's a gunslinger. And I think he's one of those guys that he's going to be an incredibly good, good asset when it comes tournament time.
Right, no question, So did you read me today, and I asked, Jay, this too, not that I try to have you read. No, man, I have not read you today. But but but it's it's on my it's not my sure, it's my list. I'm saved. Sure you haven't even read my chapter on you in the book. So you let's let's not get carried away. I have to. So I read
that every night. Funny funny. So I went to the coach. I was the only one that talked to the coach, and I said, one question, you coach the Kentucky You've been in Oklahoma, You've seen some good teams. How good is this team? Obviously very good? He said they're a good final They're a Final four team. And he says, what's what they have? The inside? They have the outside of the complete package.
And I'm sure you see that too, Yeah, I do. And I think when you think back, when you think back to like the Sean Miller teams of fourteen fifteen that easily could have been Final four win the title, you know they they were definitely on the on the side of a distensive team, right, not when you think of Tommy Lloyd's team two years ago that was an offensive team and I think last year was a little bit of what we saw in the first year, but maybe just a little bit less of
a ceiling on offense. But this year, to your point, I don't think I could say it's one or the other, because there are times last night that the defense dominated the game and really that's what you know, made them go on the huge run. But at the same time, their offense can be special too, So I think it's I think a great call by
that by coach k T. Turn. I mean, it's it's incredibly I have the best win of anybody in the country right now, and I don't think anyone could say that anyone out there is better than Arizona unless you make maybe Kandas right, and those are the two best teams. I don't. I mean, I don't know who else is ranked. Right there's a Purdue or somebody else. None of those teams right now is good. Arizonian Kansas. Yeah. No. And again what you see though, is that you
see a team that's built for the long haul. Right now. Again, we're five games into it. We're talking a lot of stuff, and they've played you know, some some some easy games. But the way they look in terms of guys who come in and out of the game. You know, you take up Balo, you put in previous you know, you take out Uh. You know, you take out Caleb Love, you put in Jade and Bradley or or kJ Uh. It's like there's very little drop off
when it when a guy comes out of the game. And that's to me, that's what's amazing because there were there have been times even with even with Tommy's a couple of teams, and certainly with Shawn Miller's teams, for there were five guys on the court and you were going, who's going to score? And right that's that's not a question there are that question isn't isn't happening right now? You there are guys on the floor who are going to score,
no matter where they are in the rotation. Definitely, definitely and be and partly because that offense the continuity how they play together. But every one of them has a skill. It's really high level. Like Jaden Bradley is not necessarily a score, but many gets to the rim, you know, he uses his athleticis and gets to the rim, gets to the foul line, you know, and and and and like you said, all of them
have it. How about Creeps? Cres has been I mean, he's been I don't know if i'd say sensational, but he's been an incredibly good player after four or five games. The dude's gonna grow up quickly because he has to. And we haven't even talked about a guy who's not even playing. Henry Yeah, who would have been another seven footer, right, played some big minutes last year and and and played well at times, and you know as a skill set. So no, they're they're they're deeper and their death
is really good. They you know, I really, I really feel like at this point they almost have seven starters if you have yeah, Bradley and and Crevas. Right, that was the story from last night, because we talked about that and balls to the same peace. So let me let me ask this because Jay and I were both here. So eighty seven, eighty eight, eighty eighty nine, you played on those teams, very very good teams, some of the best all the time. How deep could you have
realistically gone? Well, like eighty eight, you know, Sean Rooks was red shirting, you know, and he was eventual NBA player for twelve years. You know, jud didn't play a lot, was an NBA player, you know, So I mean we could have we could have definitely gone ten guys. And I felt like, you know, I felt like those years, like the Gumbies were they were probably the fifth best team in the fact twelve. Yeah, that's true. And the reason I said that just because
look at all the depth here. He's gonna he could go ten if you wanted to. But let me ask you. Yeah, and and and we haven't really talked about some of the fringe guys on the bench, but I think they had those guys have an excellent chance of producing them being very big Morauscus especially. I love this game. You know, even the Martinez kid can play. I mean, he's he's an interesting player. Yeah, but
we'll see, we'll see. Let me hear, just to hear the story one more time about Loot and the Gumbies facing the Starters and how how he
wouldn't let you guys go and tell something happened. Well, I mean, yeah, for the record, the Starters were, you know, number one team in the country, so they would beat us Gumbies most of the time, of course, but every once in a while we'd get hot and then you know, we beat them, and I remember two or three occasions we did, and we beat them really good, like we had big you know,
some big moments or whatever. And it was at Iowa and so it's a lot of stress because Luke was going back for the first time to Iowa City. I think they were ranked number two. We were ranked number three. And the day before practice, we the Gumbies destroyed the starters. I mean we hit every shot possible. Me and Harvey were playing I think bj Armstrong and Jeff No, and we didn't for the whole the whole scrimmage, and we blew them out. And I think lut was so stressed out about
that. The next day in shoot around, instead of our normal shoot around, we imaged and he he wanted the starters to beat us, and I think they got up like eight to two or something. He said, that's it, We're done. We're good. Looking around like, well, I'll tell you the other thing, you know, I wish Lout was around because you know, as you guys know, he loved to talk to Smack and uh, I love talking Smack with him the last you know, ten years
or so. Uh over a glass of line. But one yet one one game we were playing in Oregon and it was the day before the same thing, and we were beating the starters pretty easily, and lot Lou had the same thing going on, and he started calling fouls against us, and they were they were cheap fouls. He was just trying to get you know, get the game back, so they had the confidence in his mind. But I would get all over it. I got over him about that later,
like you guys, you screwed us, screwed us all the calls. Just so the starters. Matt, what are you talking about that? Faer? There you go, Thanks you, thank you as always, Thank you man, Thanks a bunch, Matt, you got it. We'll see it, Mikay all right, Alice, Hey, thanks a lot. It'd be well, that was a little fun you know, ay man. This part of the game, part of being the coach. Sure your team is ready to go, and I'll I'll take my ball home, you thing exactly. That's
pretty funny. All right, we're gonna take our last break. I would love to take your calls. Five to two, zero, four, one, six, seventy four forty Oh. It's a short week for us. If you want to get in and talk about either of the games. We're only here today and tomorrow, so be sure to give us a call five to zero four one, six, seventy four forty. If you're an Arizona men's basketball fan, you know it's been successful for newly forty years. Now.
Take a look back at the Ludelsen 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 inspire them. Twenty five chapters for his twenty five years as Arizona's beloved coach, Listens from Nut is an insight to how he built the program into a national powerhouse. What one
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security dot net, Dreamy Live, I mean, iHeartRadio. Wow. This is I on the Ball with Steve Ravera and Jacob Salz on Fox Sports sporteen fifteen. Hey, welcome back to I on the Ball hero Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve. He's Jake. We have about twelve minutes if you guys want to call. We haven't had any calls so far. Are we done with Jed? We're done with Jed? Poly No, No, I
want to play, actually want to pay one more? Okay, let's go do what the question came up about if you know the Oregon State Oregon game, Yeah, Friday night, Okay, yeah, So Arizona's gonna know on Saturday if they're playing for a spot in the PAC TELF Championship game. How can that affect if it happens it's a week later, when is it? That's the next week, it's the next Friday. Oh man, we got to go to Vegas the next week. Hard work, but but you know,
so you know? And and the question was you know, are you you know? Are you guys talking about it? Are you not talking about it? And here's what he had to say. Our guys understand the significance of that game. I told our team yesterday. We're PAC twelve South champions. They just decided to change the rules of the PACTEVE Championship game a year ago. But if you look at it, you know, we clinched it.
We clinched the Pact of South. So our guys understand that they had a that's a nice that's a nice little feather in their cap and to be to finish going into Week eleven, to finish ahead of the other programs, regardless of the outcome of the final week. The second part of it is, uh, there's no concern at all in my mind about the emotions of our team for this game. We are playing our bitter rival, and it
is a duel in the desert. It is two teams in the state of Arizona going at it, and I have no concern that, no matter what happens on Friday night between the two Oregon schools, that our play will be any different at one thirty pm on Saturday. He's right, yeah, he says all the right thing. Yeah he does. And you know, as an Arizona fan, and look, you really have to dig deep, real deep, like deep deep to come up with any kind of a silver lining
for the crappy seventy to seven loss. Okay, but it was just the most horrible thing that's ever happened to an Arizona fan in the ASU series. Yeah, but what you know, you had that, So what you what you think is that will forever be a thing that they'll be trying to fix right that they'll be playing Okay, okay from now until forever. So let me do you thld you threw the word out? How do they how do
they do that? It's just something that we want you know, we want to make amends for that, and ten years down the road they saying we want to kick their asses because they beat a seventy seven ten years sure, you do the same thing. What does that? Does that directify it? No, it doesn't ever rectify it. I'm saying it never never rectifies it.
What I'm saying is that if you're you know, as an air as an Arizona football player, you know, you'll think back to what they did to your program ten years ago, and whatever little bit of extra motivation or incentive or sure whatever that he gives you, it gives you something. You know, And and Jed talked about there's thirteen guys who are still on the
team who had to experience that. He thinks they're going to have a little extra juice on Saturday, including two guys that you give him a little extra juice. Who knows what happened. And he was a little juiced in his response, Right, he didn't even think about it. He came out of his mouth, right, Yeah, he said, well, you know, what are you talking? I show him the billboard. Showing the billboard.
That's what I'm saying is that that will always be there as something to say, this is why we need to go out and play a little harder, a little better, you know, do more of the work, because this happened to us, and you have thirteen dudes or whatever that were here that we're witnessing to it, that had to suffer through it. So, you know, and maybe twenty five years down the road it's not a big deal,
but maybe it is. Maybe somebody said, you know what, let's kick there, you know, let's try and beat him seventy to seven the way they be does whether that can ever happen again or sure, I doubt it could. You know, Look, big difference between this this ASU team who was really bad, you know right now, and it's been getting beaten bad. But they're playing for their coach, right, Sure, they're playing
hard. You know that the seventies, the Airzone team that got seventy seven had cashed it in a long time higher the aren't not on the ball. Hey god, what's up? This is it? Oh man, I'm on cloud nine. Haven't come down yet? Holy moly, happy happy Vic today? What do you call him? I had a blast over there at the game through all the rain and uh and the cold, and it was cold, Steve. It was definitely cold. Okay, I cracked up my nephew. We got out of the car and he said, you're gonna take your
jacket. I said, yeah, I am, because I'm not. And the second quarter he was crying his blood off. Man, did you have you I'm sure you've already seen mister Fafita already I did. And man, after the game, t Max Dad, they brought a boom back, a boom box, like an eighties boom box down there, and he t Max Dad was dancing and dancing. They were pounding Rick James and it was a good party down there in the parents. Uh after the game, so uh, you know, one of the things that we've been talking about is,
you know, the fans weren't showing up. I'm pissed out. I'm pissed at him. Uh. You know, you go to the games, you sat through the rain. You know, what do we say to those guys, Vick, what do we say? Yeah, that's pretty tough because I'm an old geezer too. And I parked a little bit of ways away and got to hook it to the game. I don't get it because it's so fun, so fun. I mean, I go to all the girls' basketball games. I don't miss a softball game, and it's a blast, especially
when you're winning. Especially when you're winning. Yeah, I don't I don't get it. But I did have a question. I'd been wanting to talk to you guys for a couple of weeks. How big is the Arizona contingent of coaches being to this team? Oh, I think it's been if Jud's the guy. I mean, these guys are like a skill of one to
ten, probably eight or nine. Yeah, because you know Ricky Hunley, they say, right, uh, Jay try to be here for years and years and and couldn't get in and and now he's here, and we you know, Brandon Sanders is here. I mean that Kino's I think is is kind of an X factor. Well, I think I think Duaya Kin is an X factor because when you think about the coaching staff from last year to
this year, what's different? And he's the one that's different. And when you have a guy like that, I mean you can tell you can feel or sense how he resonates with the players even though he's you know, he's an old guy. It's an eighties and nineties guy, and he's still resonates. It's resonates the perfect he's it's in the delivery because we saw him coach back in the day and he hasn't changed. He just got greater. That's
all amazing. But even dead bringing, I mean that you know, Gronk and Bootski and and all that stuff on the sideline, even he even had ideas as a scrimmage coach that one year. And I mean, I think all that matters. It matters to me because it brings me out, makes me proud. I think part of you used to be a coach, right,
didn't you coach? I've coached my share of youth baseball and travel ball, okay, But I think that even the kids, the kids and the young men know that they don't want to disappoint the people that have brought this opportunity to them, you know. And there's something too that there's there's no question you're out there on the field playing for your your coach or whatever. That's just again one more thing that you're playing for that motivates you exactly.
Yeah, you're what's that saying, run through a wall for that guy or whatever? Right, And they're beating, they're beating the crowd. They're beating the teams that I never thought they would beat them, and they're not even making it close. Yeah. Well, I had one last thing to say. So with all this talk about Jed and him leaving if he does leave in the next year, So you your caller, Gabriel scooped everybody. I know. I know that. You know. Look and when you're at Arizona
and you have a good coach, that's just what happened. Sure, you know, that's just what happened, unless unless miracles happen. Right, I mean, how many times did did somebody try to hire Dick? How many times somebody try to hire It's just gonna happen. Well, I'm praying to stay. I don't got much money, but I'm gonna go. Kid, Well, you're you're going to the games. Yeah, and that's the thing you're going to know. That's a big deal. You're you're there as opposed
to other people who are not. So yeah. Yeah, okay, all right, you guys, hut foot down and I'm on pins and needles till Friday. And have you just said you were on cloud nine. I was gonna say, have fun the cloud. Yeah, there's pins and needles up there too. Holy cow, all right, you have so much fun. We sat in back of the CDEO football team and when that first quarter you guys were high fiving and hugging them young kids, and it was a blast.
I can't believe more people don't go. Man, it's upsetting. Okay, thanks, thanks, Okay, you take care. Yeah, because dudes, he's just always nervous. Well again, I've told you meal times. I hate this game. I hate it. You don't even go, You're not I don't go. We're here this weekend. We I'm sure we could get tickets and go to the game, and we're just not going to go. You know, I hate being up there with those fans and it look
and they hate being down in the rest. I mean, it's vice versus I'm not saying anything, you know, but I would just rather I would rather not go be comfortable than to go up there with all the tension that and probably I put on myself, right, you know, I do it, you know I do it to myself. But they do things too, So I'd just rather put it on, put it on. We'll have a watch party or something at our house maybe or whatever, and go and have
a great time watching. I'm going up and it's gonna be a long day because you drive two hours, you know, park and walk and watch and then right and then two hours back. I don't know. Okay, we we talked about this just before we went to break. Our last show of the week is tomorrow is tomorrow, so no pickskin picks. So yeah,
we're gonna skip the picks. Well, we'll pull, we'll do We'll do our picks because we have to make not tomorrow, at the end of the week, right, we'll make our picks, you know, at the end of the week or whenever Steve wants to take some games on Thursday or whatever. But we'll post our picks this weekend. You'll see what we've done. Steve and I are tied this week, and we're gonna stay tied because we both have the chiefs. Tonight, I'm really really really really really really mad
at the Lions. That's six seven really, I had a perfect week going. I was three for three On Saturday. I took the Lions against the Bears, thinking that was an easy money and the Lions they did the worst thing possible, they won, but they didn't. So I have a couple of friends that picked the Lions in their in their suicide pool or whatever they call it, and they said, well, don't look good, and then they and then we got teased. I got teased. See how it ended.
But they fumbled the ball and rolls into the end zone, fall on the damn ball, and we cover and they got kicked out of the end zone. It's like, you know, the life of somebody's picking games. It's just it's just we We reported the scorel of Bitegos. Gonzaga was up five at the half or Purdue in the in the Maui invitation. They are
now down twelve. Uh with less than a minute lest people are hoping that Purdue Tode doesn't lose, gets maybe to the one or two spot, and then Arizona eventually faces Yeah, so be careful what you wish for, man. But well, so they're still up there, so I think they will take on Tennessee tomorrow. So she's good too. Yeah, they're good. Well, they're seven in the country. So hey, thanks everybody for being
here. We had a great time with you. We hope you had a great time with us, and we'll be back tomorrow for our last day. Of the week. So if you want to get your your thoughts in on theirs, on an ASU game or Arizona's game against Michigan State and basketball on Thursday, give us a call tomorrow five because there are four one six EEV before forty. Listen to the podcast and subscribe and we'll be here tomorrow. I have a good sampling in Atlanta.