Thursday, December 5, Hour 1

This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera on Fox Sports fourteen.

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Good, good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to Eye on the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera and with me today is Mike Fader. You're doing it for forever. You've been here just as long as I have.

But just means I'm old, right, eighty seven ish, I came in eighty nine, eighty nine.

I got you by two years. But you're all over the map in this town, as you like it. You're one hundred years old and you're still out there doing your stuff. I am one hundred years old. You feel like you're twenty five. How's that leg of yours, foot of yours?

Whatever?

The well, I tore my achilles tenant, So going through the rehab done everything which is rehab is tough. Well it was in the beginning. It's now next week is probably my final week. I'm getting I'm graduating. That's it's like what three months, four months? It happened July fourth, so four months. So I've got I go three days a week to Body Central and it's you know, it's you know, as I sit here right now, I definitely

I'm hurting already listening to it. But you're you're and you did it dirty. Can we see how you did it?

Uh?

I did it playing pick a ball and that's not it's not uncommon. Well, it's no. If you talk to the people in the emergency rooms and orthopedic doctors, there's a lot of pickleball injuries and can you.

Could you have prevented it? I'm even by comparing to do it.

I took a step and the other foot wouldn't go, so there wasn't an action that occurred. But I could have prevented it by stretching. Okay, that's what I mean. And you know, you know I played basketball, pick up basketball for what twenty thirty years, never stretched, just strapped it on and just went out and played.

But with this this there's a lot of different.

Moves movements, right, you wouldn't think that, right, The quick quick motion back and forth.

Well that's where it is. The hurky jerky and you know, even tennis. Here it's more of a flow, you know basketball, you're not jerking. But could I have prevented it. Probably, But let's just say I'm officially retired after after what how many months? After playing maybe six seven times? Yeah, no, I get it. I'm sure you're having fun too. I actually did enjoy it, and it definitely was fun.

Ready to get compete against Tommy Lloyd in the book.

No, I wouldn't say that. No.

Well, welcome to the show, mister Mike Vader. Mike Fader's with me today. We got Kobe here with me. I'm running the board to helping getting help from Kobe. Kobe will have some breaking news right to the top of the hour, and Mike and I will shoot the Yes's.

Bill Belichick interviewing for a North Carolina job count is breaking news?

Uh, it's broke news.

Yeah. I don't know, is he?

I just can't see somebody at his age going back into college.

How old is you?

So did you guess what mister coach Brown was? No, I understand twenty four No, no, But but I've asked you this. I don't know. You want to stay old your dot you want to say old you are.

I'm seventy two.

I asked of the kids, asked of people, how old is old?

Well, I'm not sure it's the old, but it's the change. And you know, change all of a sudden. And if you coach an NFL team, not to make it selling, that's easy.

Uh, you're just coaching, you.

Know, you're not doing all the administrative stuff if you're if you're the coach of a college football team, now you're dealing with the nil, you're dealing with the transfer portal. There's going to be a new rule rule next year on money going to athletes. Uh.

And you know players.

I can remember reading what Nick Saban said and and he said I just couldn't take any more players, backup players walking into my office and saying how much money they're going to make?

Right? You know, as opposed to why don't you earn your playing spot?

Sure?

Sure, and it's and I I just hate that world right now. You saw the Virginia coach Tony Bennet, because very successful, not an old coach.

Sure sure.

So it's you know, Brent Brennan, I'm sure we'll talk about you of a football he said, I mean the transfer portal is going to be huge on what they have to achieve because his comment was we need to get bigger and stronger.

Sure, most of the teams we played, they were all bigger than we were.

You've been at the u A football games for years now, doing your capacity right.

You have a chance to watch every now and again. I oversee the Sands Club since they opened it. I try and sit down and watch games. But do I watch it carefully?

No?

I don't so. But you could.

Gauge the compass, or you can gauge the weather of that room, the hoity tony crowd.

I'll say it's one of the more expensive areas.

And I'm sure you've heard the rumblings or the positive negatives blah blah blah. I'm sure you plenty positive last year. This year not so much. What did you hear?

Well, you know people are disappointed. I mean, obviously they're disappointed.

You know they you know.

It's it's for us. The way they express it is they leave. You know, they might leave it halftime, they might leave in the third quarter. But we've also played some late games and that's not good for trying to get people to stay around, but for us in the Sands Club.

It's the bar.

You know, people people could drink and and and in a full bar. So it's it's it's as much social as it is anything. But obviously there's people complain. I mean, I have to listen to my son complaining. You know, I just said, you know what, you know, you don't fire coaches after one year. I'm sorry, you know, you got to. He came in in January last year, coach Brennan. He really didn't have a chance to build his own program,

Uh.

You know, I think Dino Baber's was just helping out. You know, he just wanted to try to, you know, to get in here and see what he could do to help. I'm glad that Dwayne and Kena is still going to stay in some capacity.

I think with the secondary.

I actually read one of the incoming recruits saying he changes his recruiting from Texas State to U of A because of coach a Keina. I saw that, you know, so I love I love a Quina's enthusiasm. You know, just watching how excited he is in the sideline. They respect the hell out of him. Yeah, so it'll be anxious. I mean, Brendan's got it. He's got to make moves. I mean, I don't I personally, you know, I got tired of some people saying needed to get rid of them.

They don't need to get rid.

Of Well, here's the Mike Cuban in sports all this time, and I hear those things too. My problem with that is the people who are saying that aren't digging in their pockets to help nor to help pay the damn thing. You know they have. They have opinions, that's great, fine, but you fire the guy, Okay, help come up with the money to.

Pay the game.

Well, and our athletic department is not in a position at this point exactly to be paying off contracts. So it's you know, it's at least he stayed positive. I've enjoyed what I've read and heard over the last two days. Uh and and I'm glad a lot of the players have maintained their recruitment, that they're their commitment to come here. Some guys say they're coming in early in the spring, but the transfer portal opens next Monday, right.

Uh so we'll say, I mean, it's so crazy.

I was talking to somebody about this even earlier today. When you if you're a big time recruit and you're the second or third string guy on a good program, Oh, you got to get out of there. You know, I got to get out of it. That's what does that mean? I mean, earn your spot.

That that's lingo was gone. It's been gone for a while, sadly. Yeah, yeah, no question. I'm curious. And we'll get back to that. Because because Brennan had a press commerce on the on the Zoom call the day I was on it, I had a question, but I didn't ask it at the end. And then I'll say why, But to your point, what did you What does your son say, because that's the younger, younger, get rid of them crowd?

Well, my son's forty two, uh and I know it's and he basically says, oh no, they're not doing whatever it does. And I said, Nate, you know it's not what you do. You know, you were not in a university that that we could just do be doing things like that. And then so when I'm talking to him, I talking to him about the positive things about you know, the recruiting. You know, he would send me messages from

You know, Dorman Ly's the backup quarterback.

But I don't, you know whatever, the guy we got sounds like he's pretty good, the one, the one that signed, correct.

Yeah, well, the other guy's being chased now by the other schools.

You know what I found interesting?

And I'm old school, well and I'm old Uh what's your first name?

Cody? Kobe?

You know, I'm sure Kobe doesn't even read a newspaper. But you know, it was interesting yesterday to read hegh age weight and then to see what other people offered scholarships. Uh and and and we got some guys that were offered by some pretty big time schools.

Yeah.

Uh, you know I left when we get the guys out of Phoenix and they were offered by Arizona State. You know when they say they were offered, does it really mean it was a sincere offer or or they were kicking that they were kicking the tiers.

Well, you know, my guy Christy Brinkley was asking about me. Uh, you know, I had a chance, you know, yeah, right, they say that they went.

Actually thought you're really doing well, and when that was the case. But but you I know exactly what you're saying. Everybody has this. Well they you said, flipped uh from Texas State. Okay, well that's not Alabama, No, that's Texas State. But there was one guy and I remember his name, that was recruited by Alabama, Alabama, Florida State ASU. I'm at least glad to see that those goals.

Are interested in players. Right.

One of the things today on zoom he went about fourteen fifteen minutes and it's a zoom thing and the locals are asking the question. And he talked about changes, right, the changes you had just mentioned my whole thing. And I was gonna ask him and I didn't.

Is okay.

He said he was going to look in the mirror on Saturday after the game. He was, you know, very forced, right, very candid about his situation, which was very refreshing, and he said, I'm look at the mirror, you know, look at what it needs to be done. I wonder what the changes within it himself need to be done. And I say this because you've been around coaches all your life, right in your capacity, You've seen give me twenty twenty five coaches at the baseball.

Level, managers all right, well, Pat Murphy, yeh, so.

Okay, so you've seen these great ones of it, and some of them are are not good. You know, you could probably main right, if you had twenty five, you can give me five bad ones. But they're in that capacity where they're not good people people, Well you're not.

You know, you got to own the locker room. You know, it's because you're building the chemistry. For me, that part of the game is sometimes just as close as physical talent on the field, no question, because no question that that determines approach.

And how are you gonna do it? I mean do we? You and I you probably more than me. You know.

I read somebody complaining, well, the weight program wasn't as good as it was the year before.

Somebody credible. No, okay, just some guys. You've got heard that.

Well, that's just well, somebody's knew somebody whose son played on the team's cans with my wife. My wife reads all those stupid comments, and you know, and I said, these people they're not credible. They're people who are cowards and they want to put there with a crazy name, and they're not going to even identify themselves as meaningful very much. That's what I hate about society right now

I mean, even the other.

Day, I mean the Fafita thing, I mean, who got that one started that he's leaving.

One of the guys. Yeah, I kind of believed it because another source kind of repurposed that and it and people are still hanging on to that that could be very well true.

Well my son, my son obviously shares Oh my god, Forfita is leaving, don't believe it. And then the local the people you know who post talk to Fefita's dad and they said and they said, oh, Fefeite is in the building working out right now.

So where's he going.

So I think if you keep a Fafita just like you did last year, he keeps a lot of the nucleus, you know, that Polynesian culture the West Coast. I think it is an important oh, no question to keep him. And talked about it, and I think is probably disappointed with the year he had.

Yeah, yeah, well, no question. He was to get better. He'll have to get better. Well offensive line didn't help him, No, no, And then you talk about owning the locker room. I think part of that was he's new, right, Brendan's new. They're not his guys, right, they he has to prove it to them. At the same time realizing maybe he isn't that he's not jed.

He's not jed.

You've seen it. You've seen these things work wore. You have good talent, but they don't play well because of whatever reason, he didn't win the.

Locker room or what it? Right? Well, even jed, what was there? What was Washington's record?

Five?

Six and five?

Yeah?

I thought it was one game over?

Yeah, well you know what that team was in the National Championship game last year?

Yeah?

They to his six and six. Okay, so to his credit or whatever. Uh, they lost a lot too. They lost a lot too. And it's tough coming in as the first year, without question, and that's what the situation was here.

My whole thing look at as how you can build two years? Yeah right, well you could.

You can have the fanciest cars and all that stuff, but if you can't get from pointing to point, what's what's the point? He did in two years? And maybe he too struck lighting a bottle. We'll see.

If I'm just Joe fan, and and I'm saying to myself last year, how do you bring in a guy that young and Kemy Dillingham?

What does he do? Well, he's proved me wrong this year. Right, Well, let me tell you, and you may or may not agree with me. To me, he's Josh Pastor. He's Josh passionate to the t. Just the enthusiasm, the things he says. Uh, obviously the kids want to play for him or play hard for him, But is that sustainable.

That's the whole world, that is anything sustainable nowadays?

And that's my point.

You know, I I don't know if we're in a different world. And and if you think sports is going to be the same as it was ten years ago, you're kidding yourself.

We gotta go. We already way over.

So we gotta get Brad Alice here on the first hour and then come back.

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Breaking down all the etsys and ohs. This is I On the Ball with Steve Rivera on Box Sports fourteen fifty.

Hey, welcome back to Why in the Ball Hero Fox Sports fourteen fifteen. I'm Steve Rivera. In today with me is Mike Vader. And now when the phone we have Brad Alice, Brad, how are you?

Can you hear me? Brad? Yes, Brad? Can you hear me? Brad? Can you hear me? Technology?

He got off, He's no, That's why I'll have to call him back.

Uh.

Yeah, that's what See, that's what it is. When you couldn't hear, you could hear. But we'll ask Brad about what things going on. He's kind of in tune with what's going on with the with the football program in terms of recruiting and all that that. With this with his podcast, I'll have him call us actually.

Uh And if I could just preface what I was saying before, it was just as a fan, I mean, there was It's not like Steve, oh yes, being on the inside and then being on the press conferences, I was just kind of just giving out servations of what I saw. So like Brad and Steve and people like that, Uh, they really know the insight as opposed to me just being on the on the end. Well, for me, when I was asking you, I was more of what you've seen with writers and people.

Your Brad, can you hear me? Okay? Great, thanks for coming back, mister Brad Alice. Good to hear from you. I'm sure you're keeping up with what's going on with the football and basketball programs. Where do you want to start? How about now? Can you hear me?

Yeah?

I can hear you. I'm not sure why you can't be Okay, let's talk.

Maybe we can see you can't hear me, Guys know I can't hear I can hear you.

Fine, Okay, I just heard them. Okay, good, okay, So where do you want to go first? Let's go basketball first, then le's talk football. What what do you see in this program that we've seen for a long time? Well, I have my two two key misses. What do you see that's missing?

First and foremost there the primer defense is really bad, and that's been one of the few criticisms I've had for Tommy Lloyd over the past few seasons is their ability to you know, they're constant switching, their ability to fight under screens which these guys open.

And the problem is, even if you would just and tighten.

That up, if a guy gets hot early, he stay easily, stays hot, he builds that confidence and then he starts taking logo threes and things like that. Secondly, I think there's just a couple of guys who don't look like they're any better this year.

Yeah, you know, some of that to understandable.

Crevious is hurt for a long time. He's still probably not one hundred percent, but you know, you've seen some other guys. kJ Lewis doesn't look vastly improved. Caleb Love has actually regressed from where he was for most of the year when he was a PAC twelve Player of the Year, So that's a concern to me.

The only guy who.

Really looks noticeably better who was with the program last year is Jaden Bradley. Yeah, and then his defense hasn't been quite as good.

Right, Yeah, No, I agree with every point you're making. My two things is when you mentioned originally or the first one was the defense on the perimeters, absolutely horrible. Teams are killing them on the perimeter, and even when they try to get back, the other teams are getting back better than they get back, which you know is rarely happens in the years that we covered him, right for a number of years. That and two, this team hasn't been able to go in transition. They don't score

Yeah, when you can't score in transition, you can't force those turnovers.

And again you know Sean, Sean didn't.

Yeah he might steals right, played.

For shot clock, but you can't get on the runs of death.

You can't get on those big runs because those are typically you know, everyone talks about what great offensive players were at the U of an that's two, but how many steals did Damon have that led the fast break points? Gilbert or Renis? I mean, that's how he got hurt in the one final four was the steal at the top of the key. You know, that's how Arizona basketball has been when it's been at its best, is using defense to offense, and this team just hasn't.

You know.

They don't seem to get that key rebound with the outlet pass, they don't get the steel at the top of the key, they don't get that.

Block shot that leads to a transition.

And yeah, Arizona tends to have always been a transit even under Sewan when they did go on transition, they were very effective and they build up those big runs, right, But yeah, that just hasn't been happening with this group.

Is it something?

Well, here's here's my issue with when people ask Bill about that, and I say that's my number one issue. Okay, so it's brass playing me and that's what I do. Well, guess what Brad's gonna do prevent that from happening. Right, So I need to ship the ball better from the perimeter. I got to be better on defense. So it sounds easy, but is it fixable?

So that's what my question is. They're I mentally talented.

My fear is that they are built like a Steve Alford and even to a lesson TOI a Sean Miller team where I used to joke that they were like getting baseball cards. Got it, got it, needed, got it? You try to get all the good cards. Well, who cares if they fit together? And my worry is this team doesn't fit together. Wow, whether you don't have you don't have a Pella Larson, who's a blue guy?

You know, can Caleb kJ and Bradley play?

And last year they did play together, so they should be able to. But you know it is previous just not the right guy is a walk on his towns and not the right guy. And that's my fear is because we know they're all individually talented, but you know what, so are some of those Sean Miller teams. I mean, the team that missed the tournament has I think seven guys, eight guys who were playing pro basketball somewhere, whether it's G League, NBA. Sometimes teams just don't fit together, and

I'm not sure because.

They're certainly not that now, but but they have.

That individual ability. It's can they get them together? And that leads to my other questions. How important was coach boy? Who was your player development coach? Now you've brought in a much younger coach, a good recruiting coach, but you know, do you you know you don't necessarily have maybe the

With Rodney, you know.

So each guy had his.

Role and maybe you're missing what coach Foy brought to the to the table, which was player development and maybe some exces and that stuff we don't see now.

Sure you're you're not getting the same excitement on the sidelines too, the bench because of the coach, because they were they would get after it on the side. In fact, you talk about glue guy, what about lead guy. There's no captain, there's no leader.

What should be Caleb Lover, Jaydon Bradley And I'm not sure yeat either guy has quite betten that guy.

So yeah, that is that is a concern.

But they were you know, Love was the leader last year and that was a very good basketball team who had a bad night against Clemsons.

Was was he a leader or leader by via default? Because he scored like he scored?

You know, you might be right, we maybe find it.

Maybe maybe it was Cayla uh Pela Larson and Kashaw Johnson maybe as you know, two guys in there or early twenties that they were the leaders of this team. And Caleb was just the really good player who wasn't necessarily the leader.

And maybe that's what we're saying as well.

And then your point, and then if he doesn't score what he scores or plays like he does, he loses some magic, right, we think of him differently. We already are because he hasn't had that magic. You I think you talked about this on the air. He's not the same player, no.

And he's not getting the line you know a lot of times last year with the change in his game was if he can't shoot his way to a win, he'll he'll drive you.

He'll get those big free throws.

The other night he had no free throws, he had.

No drives to the hoop that led the contact and led to those cheap points because he's a great powl shooter.

Yeah, no, it's strange. This team is uh and so how much of it.

Is on Tommy At the end of the day, it is on Tommy because it's his team.

He put it together, he put the roster together, he hired to replace them coaches, and his job to coach them out of this funk. And he's certainly capable, or I think he is again, because it's not like he's working with a lack of talent.

It's chemistry, it's fine tuning.

So but whether getting him out of the funk means they're a nine seed or they're a three seed, I don't know.

And this is going to be one of the great challenges of his career.

We're gonna learn a lot about Tommy Lloyd this year.

Yeah, Hey, Brad, Mike Vader, just crazy question for you, Wesar Henry Vasar is he going to contribute this year?

I think what we've seen from him is what you're gonna get from And he'll have some games where he can give you seven or eight and there's other games where he won't barely get off the bench. He is clearly the fourth big. I think he's better than a lot of people thought he was last year when he didn't play it and he was kind of out of side, out of mind. But I don't think he's ever going

And he's not that guy.

Is he a guy who can contribute on a good night, Yes, but they're also gonna be matchup Nightmare and Knights where he won't He won't see more than one or two minutes on the floor.

So I think he is what he is, and that's.

A role player.

So that's funny because I still have my hope for him, but I've been zero for one of my predictions with because I had the kid who went to Borvichin and who went to New Mexico. I thought last year he'd be great.

He will.

He didn't play much and vsar who could who could stretch the floor, He can hit three pointers. He just hasn't been able to do that or just hasn't been doing it. But you're right, he is like the third or fourth big coming off.

He could.

He can create some matchups for the other team. He just hasn't been able to do that. You talked about it.

He'll have his moments, but I don't think he's a consistent enough presence this year at least where we'll say, oh, yeah, Henry Besa, that was the sleeper, you know, that was when they put him in the lineup that turned everything around. I don't think he's that guy.

So if Arizona, here's my question. If Arizona is to succeed to whatever degree success means to you, what needs to happen The one thing.

Honestly, I think it's Caleb Love becoming an All Big twelve caliber player. Yeah, be a guy who is playing like an All American.

Whether he you know, he makes the America team.

NOPs, we're done.

But he needs to be a guy who four out of five games is scoring you know, fifteen to seventeen points.

He can't disappear in big games. You know, if he If.

You're at TCU one night and he gets you eight and three rebounds, that's fine because you've got enough guys who are.

Going to torch team.

But when they play Kansas, when they play Iowa State, he's got to be the guy. You got to be one of the best two or three players on the court.

You know.

Again, I'm speaking as a fan as opposed to you two guys, you know, both being involved. I think the most important thing this year is we have to get back to protecting the home court.

You know.

I think if you watched last night's Kansas game against Creighton, create led almost the entire game, and oh, by the way, Kansas was the number one team in the country. I if we get back to and we almost need the crowd to inspire us and get that fireback and the guys like you guys have been talking about, but we can't not play well at home if we're going to do anything in the Big Twelve this year.

No, you're absolutely right.

If they if they win every game we're all but one at home and go five hundred on the road, they're challenging for the league titles. And that's how I mean, You're not going to have a one or two lost team in the Big Twelve winning it. This isn't You're gonna have three four losses. It's just a meat grinder of a league.

But yeah, whoever.

Protects their home court the best and sneaks out a few key wins on the road, there's gonna be the team that wins this league. So you're absolutely right. If if they make Michale the place it is usually, and that's one of the toughest places to play in the country, the Arizona is going to be in very good shape. If they drop two, three four games at home this year. I don't think they're talented enough or good enough, and the league's too good to make too many of those

So let's uh, let's kind of maybe transition to football. Brennan, how does you know zoom press conference today? What did you make of his his changes on the on the on the coaching situation, and some of the kids that he's bringing in.

You know, overall, I think the class is solid. It's it's it's not a great class. It doesn't have that four star, five star talent, but it's not. You weren't beating out bad teams for for for for players, and when you did, they were intangible players. You know the kid they just got the commitment from yesterday or the day before.

I think it's case in Brown.

He's a six four safety. So if you're rolling the dice on a six four safety, okay, this isn't like rolling the dice on a five six wide receiver like rich Rod used to. You know, So they brought in the I think he's six seven, three forty lineman. Okay, I'll roll the dice on that. I don't care if he's from New Zealand or you know, New England or you know whatever. Let's let's take roll the dice on that,

Because I can't tell you what it is. Was it pro style, was it I don't know.

All I know you have a five to eight quarterback. You were dropping back twenty yards and then throwing over the top of the line. You know you need to play him, you know, Steve you Ewan, I'm sure Michael Mrcoo, he Smith roll him out, slide that protection.

Get you know, get even.

What they did when when Sunny was here with the two and yard splits between the linemens, you can throw between them with a shorter quarterback.

I am couldn't see.

The field much this year.

No, And I don't mind that because you've real didn't have anyone behind him.

Right, but you need to you just you know, it was a lot like what.

We saw from Khalil Tate when collel Tate was in the pocket. He couldn't see the middle of the field and couldn't read the middle I think for feet at times physically could not see those passes five to fifteen yards downfield because of the traffic.

In front of him.

And it's well the year before he did and if he didn't see it this year, what makes them next year?

How many times though, was he booted out? How many times did he have those quick throws to the perimeter under jetfish? How many times? You know there's some subtle things that I didn't see flighting protections.

So here's here's here's a point. Then, Okay, you saw it.

I saw it.

We all saw it, except for the coaching staff. He didn't see it.

And that's my biggert.

There are things Brennan was talking about in week eight that I mentioned in week two, and that to me is the big concern because again, I'm not going to pretend I know as much as coaches. You know, I haven't coached the football game since two thousand and one at TROYA High School.

When you know teams.

Did not we're still running the veer. But there are simple things that I'm saying, and that's what I cannot fathom that was allowed to.

Continue this year.

And so that's why when you're only maybe changing one or two offensive coaches, I'm a little concerned. Now, maybe it's all comes down to Baber's in Atkins design of the offense, and it can all be solved with the new offensive coordinator. Great, but I've got I've got concerns. I've got some concerns about the strength and conditioning because there were a lot of injuries that that staff is you know, returning intact One of the things I didn't

Of that yet.

Speaking of that, Bratt is our best recruiting advantage going to be getting our injured guys back healthy. I mean, when you lose captains on defense to season long injuries, I mean you got to you got to maintain that those guys are going to return. But all of a sudden, our secondary was unbelievable the start of the year.

It wasn't at the end of the year.

We were playing guys that that were just incoming freshmen and transfers and and and I think ultimately excuses. People always have excuses for injuries, but they're real, and you know, when you lose your starting middle linebacker Manu. Uh, that's it. That's a big difference. And and what do you get hurt celebrating or something.

Yeah, it was a fluke injury. But yeah, when you lose, you're getting back in theory, assuming they don't transfer, and we never know, Jacob Banu, Gunner, Maldonado, Trendon Stokes. That's three impact guys you can put in. And I'm assuming Tacario Davis is own pro, but you should get Genesis Smith back.

I know they've made them a priority.

With the nil that's you know, a couple of the other guys keenerally looked solid. That's you're instantly bolstering your back, your back six, your back seven with Manu. So yeah, so that's gonna help imntally. You're right, Yeah, that the some of the most important recruits are getting those guys off injured. And if you can get some of those offensive line men healthier who were in and out of

Well, Brad, I appreciate you. Where can we find your stuff?

You know, right now it's mostly on Twitter at WSR.

Brad.

I'm hoping to get the podcast up and running again.

Just been you know, dealing with coach in Little League and life stuff and some work stuff that's been kicking my butt.

But hopefully we'll start.

Going back with the podcast a couple of times a week and you can catch that. It's the Wildcast Sport Support and you find out on all the platforms on Spotify, Google, Apple, Podcast, things like that.

Well, Brent, thanks for coming on the show today. Appreciate it.

Daytime. Good talk to you again too, Mike.

All right, seyah, great, great, let's up. Let's take a break here, we have a little time. If you're an Arizona men's basketball fan, you know it's been successful for nearly forty years now take a look back at the Ludelsen era in my new book, Lessons from ut It was a labor of love through the eyes of twenty five former players, coaches and friends to give insight to the coach and the man who led them, competed against them, and inspired them. Twenty five chapters for his twenty five

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This is I on the Ball on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. Want to take part in the show?

Call up?

Steve now went five to two oh four one six seventy four for night.

Hey, welcome back to Playing the Ball Hero Fox Sports Fortune and fifty. I'm Steve Rovero. You were Mike vader Man. We got about twelve minutes, we went well, we got about eleven minutes.

Uh.

I want to ask you, so I know you went to coach. You weren't the manager. You've done this for forever. You could probably tell. You could probably tell just in your walking around observation stuff the good teams for the bad teams, and how much of that chemistry we talked about you talked about is important, if not always important, even in baseball.

Right.

Well, I ran minor league teams for thirty years, and I will always tell you not the most talented team one.

Uh, it's it's one. It was with Pat Murphy.

Uh. You know, I and I call the guys, you know, the the grunts. You know, the guys will do the extra things on the field. And baseball's a little different, you know, moving runners, uh, taking extra base, taking more pitches to get pictures deep in pitch and pitch counts, doing things like that. But sometimes and it's it is really different than the minor leagues because the players have an eye on what's above them and and you.

Know and what I mean there. So we were triple A.

You know, if somebody had a hangnail in the big leagues, the guy in Triple A probably knew. Uh, you know, if if you had a sore arm, whatever it was. But you can't have the im guys, Uh, if you want to win, if you want to win, it's got to be we and that pertains the college sports and it pertains to the NFL. I mean I could tell, uh, guys who are cancer, Uh watch their interaction and you

I think that's important to see.

Uh, you know, just there are guys that and Brad mentioned it a little, you know, about leadership and who's gonna step up. And in baseball it was easy for me to see because we played one hundred and forty four games.

Yeah, we got to call hello, you're on the aaron I on the ball.

Who's this?

Hey, duds? Shall how you doing?

Hey? John good Goods? What do you have on your mind?

So, you know, it's interesting. I was listening to Brad talk and you know, if you're asking what the team is missing or what what has to happen for them to be successful this year? To me, it's getting stopped. When you talk about, you know, our basketball team, it's can we actually get consecutive stops? You know, because there's gonna be nice where we shoot it really poorly. And

To me, well, they're zero for four of that category.

But you know, I feel like the makeup of this team actually is more suited to progress and get better and do those things. You know, we do have bigger, stronger guards. Can we actually cohesively come together and get those stops?

Does you know, does the does the schedule, I mean not Saturday Saturday Saturday withstanding, does the schedule scare you with that?

Though?

Because you've seen them face what three or four quality teams and lose those quality games.

You know no, I mean, yeah, yes and no. The schedule is what it is. But we are still a really quality basketball team, and you know we should be able to compete in those games. But you know, I watched the Baylor player the other day literally just almost bulldoze his way in. You know, I'm getting caught our travel, But can our guys physically stand up to that and not just get pushed around? You know, the biggest thing I've noticed with this team is we don't box out

So, John, I followed the team for thirty five years. You've watched it obviously being here and being a big fan for a long time. How many times have you seen an Arizona team be physically physically good? I can tell you maybe one maybe.

Well, I mean that's yeah, that's yeah, you know, I mean a lot of Sean Millers teams were pretty were that way. We're built a little bit that way, you know, the Rendee teams with Aaron Gordon, I thought, you know, Kevin Parum, they didn't give up a lot of easy

Don't make sure, don't wait to call me in March, then you call me in between.

Now and Mike, you have on the community for a long time time. You know, I followed too on sports closely, and I just want to say thank you for all that you've done and all that you do. You know you've impacted You've impacted this community for a long time. Both of you have so just wanted to pass along just it's very appreciated for those that actually take close enough attach thank.

You the checks in the mail. Yeah, I really appreciate it.

One thing to what you guys are talking about is a walk of that guy that could bring an attitude and bring as looks like it.

Oh my god, John, what do you think?

It's kind of like Caleb though that have tough enough on defense and Jayden. To me, it's it starts at the It really starts at the three point line. And if you can actually keep guys from getting in the lane a little bit, it from basically doing what they want to, you know. I mean, I think we'll be okay. I think we can mix it up with BSAR well, not VI Star so much, but you know a little bit with with UH, with Creeve us Like there's I feel like this team has the potential to actually be

Okay, John, thanks for the call. We got to take the break right now. Thank you for your appreciate you.

Here we go. You gotta take it the break