This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera on Fox Sports fourteen fifty powered by Nova Insurance Services Ensure your most Prized Possessionetso.
Good afternoon, everybody, Welcome to I on the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
I'm Steve Rivera.
In with me today at least letter later is gonna be Edgar Soto. He's gonna come in about three thirty and my guy Kobe here running the board. He Hello, we're doing yeah, good, good good. We're gonna talk by myself for a while with you Kobe. For the first ten to fifteen minutes. We're gonna have Lindsey Stell. She's from the Athletics. She's in town to do a feature I think on you of A or maybe Tommy. So she's gonna be on the phone about three fifteen to
about three twenty five, which would be good. She's one of the national beat writers for the athletic So that should that should be a lot of fun. And then then we'll have Edgar Soto on in inside the studio and we'll talk about a lot of different things, you know, his time at Pima, his time playing and his association with the WBC the World Baseball Classic. So he's going to be my second guest, but in house.
Is that cool? So you went to the game right last night?
Yeah, good game, great first half, not a good second half.
No, they lollygagged in the second half. Yeah, I had a four point lead, kind of went down to eleven with about a minute left and finished by seventeen.
Yep.
Yeah, they kind of do that. I mean, they do that a lot.
And I want to say I mean because I hate when people say I mean they do the.
Lot, Because they do.
Yeah, and in the tournament's bit them a couple of times. They can't allow leads like that to dwindle. Yeah, especially against better teams. Yeah, that's not going to fly against better teams. So what did you notice when you were at the arena?
I noticed there wasn't a lot of energy, especially like ten minutes for tip off. A lot of empty seats.
Yeah, and what about five minutes before the tip off?
Yeah?
Empty? Yeah?
Yeah.
I posted something with about five minutes left before this tip maybe even sooner than that, And there was a lot of empty seats, right, And I even said that there's a lot of empty seats here.
Apparently it might have been sold out or.
Close to it, and they two signs this this program, they show up late and and it did fill in, right, they did fill in. Yeah, but not not all the way.
No, not at all. Yeah, that's not gonna happen versus Arizona State next week. I'm sure. I'm sure it'll be much more energy.
And it's the final game of this season, home game at least. Yeah, So what do you think? So what did you think about Caleb? Caleb was great. He was great in the B y U game and this game. That's a great sign for Arizona going forward.
Did you play ball? Oh?
Yeah, well I played all my life throughout high school basketball, soccer.
Did you were your score or what?
I was a slasher, so a score? Yeah?
Okay, So did you have games? So you played really well in games when you didn't? Yeah, and what did you did they continue or did you go you know, here and there like Caleb, I would like to say.
I'm going somewhere with this.
Yeah, it would be off and on you.
So you're you're you're saying it's a good sign that he's had a couple of two three games that have played well. Do you think that means that he'll have a game, good game on Saturday, I believe.
So I feel like this is where you want him playing his.
Well oh sure, sure, so that's where you want him. But that doesn't doesn't equate just because you've had you played roulette. Yeah you play roulette, Okay, not legally right because you're yeah, so so you play you played roulette, so you you you spin the wheel and it lands on twenty. I think twenty is red and so so do you think that it's going to be on red again or on twenty again? Every every spin of the
wheel is random. And my point is just because he had a good game last night doesn't mean that he's going to have a good game on Saturday.
Yeah.
You really never know, especially with him, right, Yeah, you're hoping that happens last night. Our guest yesterday was Kevin Kevin Kevin Thomas from phn X, and his postgame show was talking about this is Kevin love time, This is love time. Well, you've seen love at this time of the year before, Yeah, and had that work out for you?
Not good?
Not good, So it's not really Kevin love.
I think everyone's hopeful like you are, Like you're saying that's a good sign.
Yeah, but is it. Yeah, I feel like the only reason I'm kind of hopeful. I feel like they might have figured something out with this offense, how to use love better, moving off the ball more, getting the ball more.
After thirty games pretty much. Yeah, I mean it took a while, but that's what you're hoping, right, Yeah, that's not what you're seeing. You're seeing that he's playing better. Yeah, Now you just gotta hope that he hits shots.
Definitely.
Yeah.
He tied his career high in threes, like yeah.
Six six, six out of fifty six out of twelve. I think it was. He went seven for fifteen. Overall.
He was my calumn for today because you know, it's just very obvious when he plays well, the team looks better. But let me also say in my story, and I wrote this a couple of times, that it was Utah, it wasn't Iowa State.
Yeah, it wasn't Kansas, it wasn't Houston.
So you know, he's got to play well as everybody else does. I don't think I've asked you this because you haven't been here, and I've asked everybody else in the room. Who's your ex factor in terms of making this team go, like who do you hope now, who do you hope Who do you think needs to do really well for them to do well moving forward.
I've had this answer for like the whole season. I want to say, Bradley's the one most important players and he was mentioned. Yeah, he's had a little drop off recently as him playing great in what way he hasn't been. I feel like his numbers have been down a little bit. We need him to be solid. I feel like as the point guard.
Yeah, and that's probably one of the toughest positions to do because you always have It's like the quarter of great. If your quarterback doesn't do well, the team doesn't do well. If the point guard doesn't do well, the team doesn't do well. But he's he's yeah, and that's not gonna strike or criticize that pick because it's it is what it is.
It's your pick. But Bradley, they said. One of the guy said, Henry.
The guy said, Bryant Caleb, of course, And I said, you know my X factor, my ex factor, because you don't know what you're going to get for him. Last night you got very little from my X factor. Delorso Yeah, why did you say delorso I knew.
I think you mentioned that last week as well. Yeah, and I agree.
I agree because if he scores ten twelve points, that's ten or twelve points you're not getting anyway. So if he if he comes in and does really well, hits two or three shots from the perimeter, and it opens up the situation on the perimeter. Who they need shots from the perimeter right when Caleb isn't hitting, Because.
What's Arizona's problem been the last few years in Marchmadas? They haven't been.
Shooting the three exactly, thank you you honor the deep stress, right, so they need to shoot the three well with.
Door right, right are these two dudes?
Because surprisingly kJ Lewis hasn't shot the ball well, No, Bradley, you can't really depend on him and Henry you don't really want him to shoot too many of those. Yeah, but you want him to shoot him yeah, because he can a waka and I think o'waka shot a three last night.
He hit one the other game.
Yeah, shoot it occasionally, right, So we'll see. They did look good beat the alternative of losing. They played really well in Spurts. You know, had twenty four point lead the first half. Yeah, and a little in the second half before they kind of faltered one by seventeen.
So that was good.
Tommy was a little getting snarky again in a in a smallish way. So was he upset about the second half? Sorry, Tommy upset about the second Not really, not really.
But he was good. He was good.
He got on the media, of course, Bruce kind of snapped back at me for one and I kind of just said, you know, hold on, let me ask.
The question first. Yeah, So it was good. It was good.
Very emotional to He was very emotional during the time when he was talking about Smith's sons are still on the team. Smith got fired from Utah, but his kids want one's a walk on on the team and one's a like a general manager on the team, and they both travel with the team.
They're still with the team. Yeah.
Oh no, oh, no, oh no, no, our guests can't do it. That's not good. Okay, let me see. I'm just texting her real quick. She says she can't do it.
I think they might be.
Arizona twenty nine free throws.
Yeah, so they hit the twenty three ish twenty nine Okay, they have thirty three percent from three.
Outscored Utah by three in the second half.
Yeah, that was that was a yeah.
You know when you have those big leads, you kind of start, Yeah, started not playing as hard as well.
Yeah, they were loggy gagging and Utah started hitting some of their shots.
Okay, let me.
Let's just trying to communicate with her maybe, Okay, I'm just trying to sorry for these silenced guys. She's just texting me, I guess you finished early from practice and and.
Uh, I'm just trying to get it because I wanted to talk to her.
She's here for a reason for doing a story till five o'clock. Okay, so we'll see what we do with her.
And that was.
That was Lindsay Schnell from the from the Athletic. Obviously she's well read at that site with Doug Holler and some of the other guys at the national level. So she would have been my premiere guest today. But Grissoto will help me come in and anybody want to call please do so. Now we'll kind of go with a schedule that we usually do. We'll go to break about three fourteen, come back talk more. I think Edgar is gonna come in about three thirty, and that'll be fine.
If anybody want to call, I'll give us I thought, your thoughts on last night's game. That'll be appreciated. We're gonna fill some time with maybe some callers as we move forward, right, Oh yeah, okay, cool five two zero four one, six, seventy four forty if you want to call. We had a lot of calls yesterday or a few calls yesterday, so if you'd.
Like to do that.
There's a lot of stuff going on this weekend. WBC starts Sunday, The Cold Guard Classic starts next week, Early finishes next Sunday, and U of A goes to Iowa State, which is gonna be a tough game. I don't know if the two guys are coming back by then. Have you heard anythings?
Yeah, I know that there injury prone, the two top players are hurt, and they got beat last game. Yeah they got upset, Yeah by.
Good question. Glahoma State. It was yeah.
Last night, issue hung close but lost to b y U I think by ten, and they only had like seven players. I think they almost finished with under five really, because everybody was either fouled out or or or in foul trouble. So they're there. I'm sure Tommy and Tommy Bobby is probably not going to return.
For next year.
Yeah, I don't think you return.
You're going You're going to Monday Tuesdays game.
Yeah, I'm minnygo. Do you think they'll boohurly?
Do I think?
Oh it's going to be brutal. Yeah, his last time there. They always blew him. I hope they're just not vulgar.
Yeah, I agree.
Yeah, So well you'll be there. Yep, you can kind of be the lead. Ye where you Where were you sitting? We were in the Zona Zoo in the middle. We were at the at the back area, and there were so many empty seats we actually we actually moved up to like the regular seats.
Yeah.
Yeah, because the pizzas were delivered right there, right in the middle of the whole white of the band.
Did you see that?
I did it?
Contend?
And coach Brennan was the one in the football team was there, yeah, because they were sitting right to the left of you.
Probably yeah, right.
Yep, and they I think they left early, but yeah, we're there.
They were there, So was the So was the volleyball team. Beach volleyball team. There's another team too, I can't remember who was beach volleyball. Yeah, it's one of those teams because they were just there to help out. I guess okay, shoot, I was just I'm disappointed that she's not gonna be able to go. So let's take a break down that
we're running out of team. Uh, and then come back and maybe uh, mister mister Soto will be here by that time, but I expected him about three thirty, and then we can still take calls from the people who want to talk to us.
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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 to forty.
Bok two Eye on the ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve ROVERA, you're Kobe. We're waiting for some calls, waiting for some calls and maybe Bruce is going to call in unless sure of us. A couple of people and we're waiting for Edgar Soto. You said he'd be about three thirty, three thirty between thirty and four. Uh, to sit in for my co host situation. Uh, there was something I wanted to say. You have a lot of you have a lot of breaking news.
I think, yeah, there's a lot of stuff today.
NFL college things like that. Yep, this crazy time.
Right now in the Arizona Auburn.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, don't break your own breaking news. Yeah right right, yeah, so no, that's a lot of cool stuff. Arizona's I just finishing practicing practice now for today. They head out on the road tomorrow to go to Iowa State. Should be probably one of the best games of the year on the road, specifically if they could put If Arizona could pull this off, that'd be good. There probably will be a four seed, three seed maybe yeah, yeah, even if it's uh, even if I was State's hurting.
We'll see what happens with that. I think it's an early game, right, it's a mid midday game. Yeah, I want to check that.
I think it's mid day game like last nick. Next week's is a midway game, mid day game with Kansas two thirty game.
You see. It is March first, Saturday, seven pm.
Seven pm. Okay, so it's a that's good. This later in the day, so I have things to do in the day. No, fantastic, So we'll see. Y oh, yeah, yeah, you wanted to do that.
Let's do that.
Let's listen to some of Tommy's post game, right, yep, this post game, guys.
Today they played on Utah.
Brady and Landon Smith are Craig's kids, and one is the director of operations.
Yeah, there's a walk on. And both those kids showed up today, and which is pretty amazing.
I mean, I know, you guys, this is a business, and it's a hard business, and I get all those things.
But like we all have families, we all have kids.
And for his kids to show up today, and you know, and and and Craig I talked to him today and had not didn't have one bad word to say, straight class. For his boys to show up today with their teammates, you guys have opinions. I think it's neglected because what we're doing to try to, you know, to prove our work as a coach, to prove our value, to prove that that we belong at this level. And and so I got a lot of respect for those two young men. Yeah,
it's impressive. Those dudes showed up with our teammates today. And and and the Utah team they played their ass off today and uh I knew, I knew they were gonna throw some curveballs at us, and they obviously did with the triangle and two in the second half, and uh, hey.
We got the victory. That's what that was.
Mission accomplished. Our guys played pretty well for certain parts of the game. And and uh, and and and and you know, we respect Utah and those guys showing up today with considering everything they're going through.
So I'll take some questions.
How about did you call Craig Smith? I mean, was that an awkward conversation that happened?
I mean, I mean that, Bruce, every exchange between humans is that to be awkward?
And and he and I are colleagues, and and you know, we got to know each other coaching in the Pac twelve and we kind of came into the league together. So you know, but I think you know, to Craig and I talk on the phone a lot. No, do
we completely understand what every he goes through all the time. Yes, So you develop a brotherhood because there's not too many people that know what your life's really like and and and and the stress you feel and uh, and the and the pressure is it's on you and and trying to figure out your team and everything comes with it. It was just one guy calling another guy because he respects him, and I just wanted him to know that, Hey, he's a great dude.
And and sorry that that happened, and I hope he and his family are okay.
I called him when when cambll plays like does like did tonight, how much different is the team?
I mean, Kay, Caleb was great today at both ends of the floor.
You know, he really took that challenge to guard matts and Mattson's a heck of a player.
We have played them for three year. Three years.
You talk about an enernergizer bunny and relentless energy. That dude is moving all the time, and the degree of difficulty of some of his shots that he can hit are impressive. I thought Caleb did a great job. I think, I mean he guarded for the most game. I mean, I think I looked at the final stats. He ended up two for ten from three, but I only think he had eight, you know, until to the last minute. So Liam Lloyd and Grant Whiteman each gave him a three,
so they probably got to set a lines tomorrow. But Caleb did an amazing job for the Worsham And I think he banked one of those threes in, right, didn't he In the first at the first one was a bank three.
I think, So Caleb did an amazing job.
You know what.
But but but here's your reward. You get a chance to do it again on Saturday. So you know, what you did today was great, but now it's March basketball. It needs to be again.
Saturday doesn't lift the team because it just look different.
Well for sure, I mean listen, Caleb obviously gives us a higher ceiling, and he plays with that energy and focused at both ends of the floor. Obviously we're a better team. You know, you probably can say that for a bunch of other guys in our team too. But when when when guys play well and we play well and and so uh, you know, Caleb, Caleb was a standout tonight, and other guys have been standout in other days.
Kind of like to the.
Second half feel casualbe from the efforts standpoint, I mean, listen a little bit, I mean maybe a little bit casual, you know, but they were throwing a lot at us.
You know, they're going down switching defenses every possession.
And you know, this time of year, you know you're playing teams, and you know, the deeper you get into March, and in this time, teams are pretty.
Set in the ways they do things.
And obviously there's a little curveball here, and you know, I had not seen him play much trianglin too.
But I also knew Josh, you know.
And he's been in this situation before, he went through it last year at West Virginia.
You know.
I mean sometimes when you're in that in that role, you could come in and and and you know, throw pitches that maybe aren't your repertoire. And he did that today, and so that kind of made the game feel a little bit disjointed. But but I'm proud of the way our guys handled And listen, I could have coached it different. I could have called time outs and started get on the whiteboard and all this stuff.
But I'm fine that we struggled a little bit. You know, we got the win. We dealt with a little bit of adversity.
Hey, you know, maybe now next time, if somebody tries to triangle two on us, we can address it a little bit and be a little bit more familiar with it.
We've been changing up so much people's finish. It was seven turnovers, so just that number of your expressions something. Yeah, we had two in the first half at seven.
We've really been talking about taking care of the ball and I think for the most part, our guys are doing a good job as a team taking care of the ball. I think we've just been having some individual lapses, so we really get trying to focus on that as the teams have more as individually, Like if each one of you could take away that one turnover, that one habit that you're having, you know, the individually, collectively, that'll mean a lot.
And so I think our guys did a good job of that.
Individual is better, but seven turnovers in a forty minute game is that's a great thing, and that's so that's a winning formula for us.
You mentioned the higher seal and obviously with Cable, how different do you feel like as this season's gone, are you in the sense that you can win maybe when he's not doing that and then when you don't.
I think that's important, you know, I mean, you know, it's it's it's a team game. We can't just be dependent on one guy.
And you know, we've never tried to be dependent on one guy, So you know, we got to be able to as we get to the conference tournaments and in the march or even through a big twelve season, you know, you've got to be able to survive games where a guy like Caleb doesn't play well.
And we've done that, o' The last few weeks beig kind of stressful games, close games, you know, one position games.
Last few weeks.
That's a couple of weeks.
You know, how about a few months, let's two weeks? Okay, okay, it was this kind of a relief game.
You needed the game just to.
Get through it. I mean, I mean, I don't know if it's a relief game.
I mean, I'm sitting over there trying to figure it out in the second half and I'm not worried about what the score is.
But uh, yeah it was. It was nice.
It's nice to get a win, and maybe you have it be a little bit more comfortable, but we're not asking for things to be comfortable, because you know, I know Saturday it's going to be very uncomfortable, so we better be comfortable in an uncomfortable environment. And and for the rest of the season, I think that's just kind of how it's going to be. So I thank the Big twelve for that, and I honestly do in a
good way. Not not that we didn't have stressful moments in the Pac twelve but we've had a good stretch of him here and I think it's I think we're going to be better for it in the long run.
Speaking of Kayleb, what do you what kind of reception do you think he'll get out there?
Do you have to talk to him about that or do you think you know, you know, I don't know.
I mean, I'm not going to pay attention to that. Like you know, how much that kid's been booting his life. Yeah, so probably business as usual.
Yeah, I was just wondering, you know, I mean, or if you talked to him just in general about you know, whether how he approaches things mentally or is he at this point in his career you pretty much so in touch him.
Well, I think he's been through the battles in the war, so I mean I would expect him to show up and be unaffected.
That would be that that that that better be what happens.
They mentioned how kind the prompt king for dinner ended your basketball caps not things and rocks type of something else.
Hard during the game.
But yeah, I mean I didn't know they were doing that tonight. Billy right, it's a big time. I mean, that's really cool. And listen it's not my basketball camp. It's Arizona's basketball camp. So let's make that clear. You know, they've been running bastball camps for here for years, and it's about Arizona basketball.
It's not about me.
So you know what's really cool about the camps here is you know how many people have come up to me and their first, like initial intimate experience with Arizona basketball is probably watching the game with their.
Family then maybe coming to a game at McHale.
But the connection is driven for a lot of these kids, and like they went to the Littels and Basketball camp, they went to the Shawn Miller basketball camp, they went to the Tommy Lloyd basketball That's amazing.
I mean, I got guys telling me, like, I mean.
From forty years ago, So I think that's really special, like what those camps mean to this community.
And for Billy to come here and for what he's gone through, I mean, you.
Know, Billy, you know, it's obviously I think he's had a leg amputated, you know, like like you know, and it's amazing. The more I get into Tucston, the more I'm learning about all the amazing programs and community you know, things here that that support, you know, people that are going through tough times, and that's really special stuff and that really really touches my heart.
So good for Billy and that's awesome.
And uh, you know, he's probably a little bit too old to come to camp now, but I can't wait to see him and give him a big hug.
Okay, yeah, good stuff. It was again a little snarky, a lot of fun. Yeah, people canna hear me? Yeah?
Yeah, okay, cool? Yeah you get anything from that?
Yeah, I mean he's saying klebloves, he's not concerned about the booze because he's been booed.
Yeah.
Yeah, that was a really kind of odd question because and I know what Bruce was trying to get at, because he had the last second shot right to get him to the wind.
Yeah. Will how he How will he be? It's just another game, no doubt, Yeah, another game.
Let's do this.
Let's take a break here, Brian. I know you are trying to get in, so let's going to take a break here, come back, take some calls and then maybe Edgar will show up. But we will take some more calls if we have more time on this end, right, Okay, 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 Loudelsen era in my new book, Lessons
from Loot. It was a labor of love through the eyes of twenty five former players, coaches, and friends to give insight to the coach and the man who led them, competed against them, and inspired them. Twenty five chapters for his twenty five years as Arizona's beloved coach. Lessons from Lut is an insight to how he built the program into a national powerhouse. Want one, email me at Steve dot RIVERA ninety five at gmail dot com.
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Steve Rivera he's got his eye the ball on Tucson sports station Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
Hey, welcome back to wying the ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera or Kobe. We're waiting for Edgar Soda to come in. Probably get a call from Lindsay Schnell on the other side of the four o'clock hour. She's with Tommy right now, so we'll see how much time we have to.
Get with her.
Anybody want to call. I know Brian was trying to call during that interview. Please do Brian, if you're listening to just give a quick call back. We're ready for you. Five to zero, four one, six, seventy four to forty if you guys want to call a call about last night's game, maybe moving forward or looking forward to to to Iowa State and then Tuesday to ASU and then the final game against Kansas and then the Big twelve tournament. I mean, it's gone by quick for me. I thought, Yeah,
I don't know if it's going by fast for you. No, the season's gone by really fast.
Yeah.
Yeah, so when you cover the game, so it seems like a doesn't go fast, but it went by really fast, especially with this new schedule that we have to deal with with Big twelve. Yeah.
Yeah.
Unfortunately for a lot of people in Tucson, they don't get to go to Vegas in a couple of weeks because of the Pac twelve tournament. Yeah, well, the Big twelve tournaments in Kansas City. But I do we got a call below. You're on the air and on the ball.
Who's this, Brian? Can you hear me? I can hear you?
Okay, you were the one calling earlier, right, yeah, I was. What's the word what's the word.
Well, this game, I guess you'd call it.
We won? Yeah, right, No, let me tell you. I mean I was bored. Did you go to the game? Yeah?
Were you?
Were you bored to some of it?
Oh?
I was?
It was terrible.
You know, I think you had a forty minute game and they played twenty five minutes.
Yeah, that's about right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean.
It's I just don't understand sometimes, maybe since I'm not an athlete in that sense. You know that you know, you can't play inspired ball. You know, I don't care if you're playing Utah or whatever. Right, you know, you're coming down to the diddy gritty of the season, and you know, I'm we won and everything, but made terrible passes, you know.
Yeah, well it was That's a team they talked about we should be by thirty at least.
Yeah.
Brian, Brian asked, you know, did he feel that the team was uh what's that word he used again, con carm Was it passive or whatever word he used the day before? I'm not sure passive any And he asked me, did you feel that way? And he like you thought or saw? Brian, he did say that they were a little bit uh lax in circumstances.
Yeah, and you know, and I know, you know they I just hope they got it out of their system. And we know Saturday is going to be a tough day, and then we know next Thursday is gonna so and and we can't play with that kind of inconsistency, you know, And still we still had the problem. We're a terrible
passing team, you know. You know, I'm watching them pass the ball and go, wait a minute, they're going to pass the ball and the guy's gonna see it really easy because the way they the way they throw passes, there's nothing on a pass and they and they telegraph their passes, and.
You know, right, I think that, Well, I think that Caleb does that a lot.
Yeah, well so does Todas Lewis.
Yeah, yeah, he's you know, I know he's a so did you.
You're a great athlete, but a basketball player. I think he's he hasn't really done.
Much this year.
I mean, at times he looks great and the other times he looks terrible.
So I know you listen to us a lot, Brian, And I don't think I've asked anybody who listens to this question.
Who's your X factor guy moving forward?
Yeah, k Lewis.
Yeah, why is that?
Because I think they need him to be able to go uh it rebounds and also to drive the ball in and you know, you know, like what Caleb's been doing, uh, you know, driving inside to get some points in there too. We need more than just Caleb to be able to do that and kay and Lewis has all of the athletic ability. Yeah, he does, and you know, I don't know if maybe he just doesn't feel comfortable doing it as much.
You're coming in and out every now and again. Yeah, yeah, are there? Yeah? Yeah, you're just coming in and out. You're probably somewhere, Oh I'm on the freeway. Yeah, that's what it is.
No, No, so I told everybody, not everybody. A lot of people have had the same, same kind of different opinion. It's not the same different opinions on different people. But I don't don't disregard yours because he is. He is as les athletic as anybody. He's They need him defensively and if you can score ten twelve points, he's like my ex factor in in Dolorso you don't get those points very often, right, Yeah?
By what Delloso last night. He just he just doesn't seem to have that confidence, you know. You know, I understand what Tommy says, grab the ball and shoot it. Yeah, and he just kind of go get the ball, and that split second hesitation will throw them off.
Well, here's here's the issue, Brian, and I think you might like this one. We're twenty nine games in and he's still struggling with that Townsend. We're twenty nine games in and he still struggles with what he struggles with. Other than that, I don't think, and maybe maybe your guy kJ still still is kind of missing some stuff.
But this team, Martinez is not going to be playing very much the rest of the way.
We know that.
No, so there's seven So there are seven dudes deep.
Right, Yeah, that's gonna be it. Well, you know that's basically most teams about this time.
Eight.
Yeah. Yeah. They just better hope they'll get into foul trouble with the big guys.
Oh, I know, yeah.
I mean I thought.
Henry Bassar did pretty well last night.
He did in the second half.
I think he was scoreless in the first half, and then he came up with that the rebound dunk and then he kind of became a person again.
Know, I'm pursue the reason that we used to see.
Yeah, he didn't he didn't score that much.
No, no, they they didn't really need him that much. So we'll see and remember, and Brian, and you're realistic.
Like me, it was utah. Yeah yeah, so okay, okay, thank you very much. Thanks, thanks for calling it. Hey, Jay's with us tomorrow. She might want to call him tomorrow. I saw him last night. Oh you did?
Oh?
Sorry about that?
Yeah he was.
I went the game.
He was working hard.
Yeah yeah, no, no, thanks, Brian, Thanks, Brian, appreciate it. We got our guest guy. That's cool. If anybody else want to call, please do five to zero four one six seventy four forty.
And we'll take the call.
Coobe's got COBE's got it, My guy, Edgar Soto. Did you find the post? No problem? Yeah, yeah, okay, okay, here's your headphones. Welcome to the show.
Pleasure.
How you doing?
Yeah?
Good good? Are you busy like your boy? Got your boy Blake with the WBC. I am busy, but where's this going underneath? Yeah no, I'm busy, but it's a good busy.
Yeah, yeah, so with the WBCs, that's been my focus right now. But of course I'm still doing my Pima jobs. So yeah, that's where you're coming from. Yeah, well actually I came so you want to hear some funny as I I'm going to coach a team on Saturday. It's gonna play this team called Asian Breeze. But it's a bunch of you know, local guys, a couple of guys from Phoenix. Yeah, all stars kind of. So we put
a team together to play Team Germany. And so we actually put together a pretty good team and then we played an independent team and beat him. But the guy that you know, I was kind of like the GM sitting in the stands, just gonna put the bill. But Ben Granger from the Tucson Men Senior Baseball League's he's gonna be gone this weekend. So I'm gonna have to put on my baseball pants and go back to my coaching roots.
And you know, would you already put a team together right this week? Yeah, it's the same Germans, the Germans. Yeah it's the same it's the same team. I mean, give a take a few guys, but yeah, it's the same team.
Okay, we got another call, Well you're on the air and nine on the ball. Who's this? It's tannering, Well, what's going on?
I was just wondering, Steve.
I feel like that atmosphere yesterday was one of the worst atmospheres I've been in since my time there.
Yeah, I get we're not playing a.
Great team, but you still got to get more excited as you're the fans.
I feel like, right right, because you guy Kobe here and I said this, I put this on Facebook and maybe Twitter, where it sounds like there was like ten thousand people five minutes before the game started, and how disappointed they gave free towels and all that, and then I didn't know you guys were there, and then it slowly started to fill, but there was still another two thousand, probably empty.
No energy.
I feel like there was no point in the game where the fans are standing up trying to get the team going, especially in the second half when you started coming back.
So so, Henry, you're realistic too. Since you've been with me, Uh, you've been to a lot of games. What do you what do you what do you think about the fan base?
I think it definitely has been better than I expected coming into the school. But I just think that's why yesterday was so disappointing to me, because I expect more from the fan base.
Yeah right, but you'd say in football, probably the fan base isn't as good as I would want it to be.
But basketball, it's definitely exceed an expectation.
Right, and and obviously you've gone to the bigger games, so you you know how it is big games, big crowd, not not a big game, not so big ground. Yeah yeah, okay, well thanks for taking You're not you're not in this class right now. What are you doing about the I'll see tomorrow all right, thanks?
Thanks? So okay, editors, So wait, so but we won yesterday, right, Yeah, it was it was It was not.
It was a nondescripted game outside of Caleb Love doing well and they need him to do well.
Yeah.
So I've been talking about this all the time with players. You have a good game on a Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, you're a former player, Yeah, it doesn't mean you're going to have it again Thursday, Friday. Every game is a different game. Yeah, you know what I'm saying. It might feel good, may translate to maybe some momentum as the word they use. I hate that word, but it doesn't always happen that way, you know.
I think a lot of it has to do with matchups, you know.
So I know in baseball, when I was coaching or when I was playing, sometimes there was this guy that just had a little cutter and and I always had trouble with it. But then the guy that was throwing ninety four, Oh man, I could do something with that, or somebody could, you know. So I think it has a lot to do with matchups and right, and like also, yeah, you know, there's something to be said as far as sometimes you play a few games and all of a sudden,
energy is low. But I think that's the job of the coach, right You've got to figure out how to connect with guys and really know what butns to push to get a motivated that that's part of the coaching.
Oh, the you probably coached, coached and played.
Yeah, I coached that, PEMA for fourteen years. I coached the USA Baseball.
Okay, so let's use your coaching situation.
PEMA, for fourteen years, you played fifty games in a year, fifty six games, fifty six games in a year, all those fifty six in a game in a year? How many did you and you saw this, this team is not ready to play? Oh yeah, how many times? Fifty six?
Yeah? Five? Ten?
No, No, it is probably about you know, thirty percent of the time they feel like they're not ready because it's better.
As a coach, you think that, man, they're just not ready and you can see it.
Yeah, So how in the hell you you kick eighteen twenty year old kids and you know what I'm saying, U in the butt to get them ready if they're not emotionally involved, you know.
So here's a story I'm going to tell you real quick that that I used while I was coaching a lot from you know, when I was coaching that PEMA to when I was coaching first rounders with USA Baseball.
Is I would go in there and try to connect with them individually.
So, for example, I had this coach his name was Tony, and I remember before a game he would just were stretching. He would come say something like, hey, Edgar solto best hitter in the conference, you know, just something like that, and it would just kind of sticking there. I remember those were some of the best games I had. You know, was when I just had somebody nudge me a little bit. Sometimes people just need a little nudge, and that's I feel like as coaches, like you know what, what buns
to push? And there's been guys that are go ahead, we got a call. Yeah, okay, you are Troy. Okay, Hello, you're on the air and nine the ball?
Who's this? Hey see if it's Troy, Troy, what's up?
I just want to point out one thing that nobody's talked about.
The last five minutes of.
The game, it felt like both teams kind of didn't want to be on the court, like, let's wrap this up, let's get this going.
This is going to be the result. You know, we're missing our head coach. You guys don't want to be here. What's in this?
Yeah?
You know what about that time, guess what happened in the crowd? They started to leave.
Leave, Yeah, they did.
It was in my opinion, it was probably the worst crowd of the season.
Yeah, I'm Michael. Yeah.
I turned to Juan in the back behind me and I said, look at this. This is something we talked about. The fans weren't there, and you were there, right, you saw it. They gave all those white towels and there was a lot of white seats out there, and then that started, maybe with about five minutes into the game, they started to fill it up. And then at the end, five minutes left, they were starting to take off.
And you know what that tells me is no more complaining about nine am games, I mean nine pm games. It doesn't matter if it's six seven, nine pm that this is going.
To be the result.
Who cares what time it is?
Yeah, yeah, no, how long you've lived here all your life, this is not news to you. Yeah no.
But you know what, though, I would say the last ever since COVID, I feel like that was the changing point for you of a hoop. The crowds haven't been the same. It's been, you know, kind of exciting when you know a big moment of the game, but it's not the same environment. It's not a top ten arena anymore. And you know, it's kind of hovering around that fifteen twenty range. But very disappointing in the last five six.
Years for McHale.
Right right, Well, they have one more chance to make it better on Tuesday.
Well, I would give one guys, thank you, thank you, Troy.
No, you know, so no, I want to talk about that because I went to a basketball game up in Albuquerque.
I went to got University of Mexico.
My niece is a cheerleader there, and so I went hung out with some of my baseball buddies just recently, just recently last it was a Sunday. I was there Saturday, Sunday Monday. But we went to a game in the pit and the pit. I don't know if you've heard of that, but you of a got beat there a long time ago, I think eighty eight, and then Ludelsen didn't want.
To go back over there.
Yeah, it's a tough place to play because you know, it's a i' when were you there?
I was there from ninety one ninety two, a little bit of night.
Okay it was okay, yeah, okay, So that place was crazy, like it was just so much energy.
And I did go to the U of a game about a week ago. I'm trying to figure out who they played that day.
On a Saturday.
No, no, no, no tech it yeah, text tech, text tech game. Yeah, that was a really good and the energy was good there. But I got to tell you the pit, Oh my goodness, it was. It was crazy.
I grew up there, you went to school there, You grew up in Albuquerque. Okay, sobra and all that stuff, you know.
So but I went to a lot of the Global games because we had tickets, and uh, the Global fans are like Arizona fans probably everywhere fans. Right, if you're good, they go and show up and die with you, and that's who they are. When they're bad, they don't show up at all. So I'm trying to figure out the time that you were you were there, they weren't that good.
I don't think. Yeah, they weren't that good.
Now they had a couple of Luke Longley was on the team, But no, they weren't as good as they are now.
They're having a really.
Good seat's see Patino stays yeah, because he's going to be to take another job.
Oh yeah, yeah yeah. But but you're right.
It is kind of crazy, and it's a different fan base, you know, that's who they live in the state.
They're a really young fan base from what I noticed. But yeah, so there was some some craziness going on in the in the stands. One thing I got to tell you though, so I get these tickets online, right, and I'm like, oh, second row tickets.
I'm like, this is great. No, not at the pit. Second row means you're up at the top, so yeah, no, no, not up there.
It's it's like the closest tickets to the to the court are are like forty five is the front row. But it's because it's a pit it goes underground that they're like the only place in the country that does it like that.
But I was that was disappointing that I have these great seats.
But you saw a good game, I'm sure. Oh it was a really good game. Yeah, it was a really good game. Okay, well you got to wrap it up. Okay, Edgar, thanks for showing up. But we're going to have you for the next hour. We'll talk a lot about what's going on all over the place and then have some breaking news on the other side.
Yep, great, Thanks