This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera and Jay Gonzalez Fox Sports fourteen to fifty, powered by Nova Insurance Services and Sure Your Most Prized Possessions, kat c R two, SAG and iHeartRadio Station. Hey, good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to I on the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera. Jay is out again today on his feet up doing nothing at home. Actually he's stuff feeling well for a second day. I have
bringing your kids to work day. I brought Juan and Adam, who otherwise this show would not be going on if they were not here. They know how to handle the board. Welcome, guys, appreciate you having me back. Good to be here. Don't screw it up, guys, let me do that. This will keep your job for the summers. Although Adam, I didn't know you were leaving pretty soon. This is it, right,
Captain down time. Yeah, I've already got the picks and everything. Oh yeah, official, it's a pick official face Facebook official, not Facebook, Instagram, whatever your kids whatever you guys do, and you kids, I do have TikTokers and all those whatever you guys call you guests. Those I know Adam to TikToker. I'm never TikTok. I've never either. Adam doesn't look like a TikToker. Well, and I'm not too sure about you. Why is that? I don't know. You're still young, hip, maybe
a little. You're not wrong, Yeah you are? I am right right? Yeah, Okay, Hey, welcome everybody. I hope to get through two hours of this should be a fun show. Uh. We normally have Jake Fisher on Fridays. Asked him to come in today. He's out somewhere and join life up north. So we'll find Jake. We haven't had Jake
in a while, so be prepared for a lot of smack talking. And I want to talk to you more about Nil because he was part of that initial group way back when that were that were fighting the uh Nancy double a tonight. He was part of all that, and I'm not sure he'll talk about it, and I know he's been reluctant to do that, just to see what he thinks, how it's become or what has become. I don't think this is what they had in mind when they were fighting the NCAA for
payment for these student athletes. So go with that for a while, see what he thinks about the football transfer portal and the playing and all that and the basketball situation. As guys are coming and going, he's always on the internet, Facebook and on Twitter talking about stuff like that. And then the second hour should be a lot of fun. The derby is Saturday. So I decided to reach out to our girl D. Obviously everyone knows D former
intered popular with everybody on the show. She's now after getting her job about del Mar, she's now with fan Dual TV covering stuff at Santa Anita. So she if you watch the TVG broadcast, she's on there talking to jockeys and the interviewing a lot of people and talking about the horses things like that. She's a horse owner herself, so that's kind of what's got her into this, and she's doing really well. One of our former interns. Now she just needs to get us ticks to sant A Nita and then my,
then my, that's part of the process. You guys get you guys good jobs, and you guys invite us to go see where you're at. Right, that's the of it, right, that's the perk. Now, you guys just got a good jobs now yeah, okay, and Juan's going to be here for the summer hopefully, sir a local kid. Yeah, we're raising Tucson born and raising twos. You and Jay. You guys could be father's son. She's never left. I don't think he's never left gotten out of the county. I don't plan to leave. It's to love to.
Yeah, I don't blame you. I don't blame you. So it's a lot of everything you need is right here. A lot of good food here, a lot of good food. I'm not sure. Well, I won't even go there because people will hate me because of the Mexican food. I do like the Mexican food, it's just not my Mexican food. Have you been the pocon Moms? You got to get out there special shout out to my family for years. Oh yeah, I know. They just changed ownership, right right. Staple that's our go to. When we lose bets to
each other, we go there. That's how we pay people, go there and feed them uh and each other. So yeah, that's a good place. Okay. So we're gonna talk about a lot of different things. You'll have breaking news. There's some things going on. You saw Kerr. We talked about curR. I want to talk about curR until d comes on. She was not a big fan of curR. Uh we and she made it known. So we'll talk about that in the second hour. Oh, what
else is going on? You're talking about a lot of things breaking news, right, you talked about Georgia and we'll get we'll get to all that. Playoffs are still going big big games tonight Philly and New York, Milwaukee and Indiana both elimination games going on. Yeah, right, you've been in since the break great spring break game. Yeah, were you here? Yeah, we talked a little about that. Did you good? You're a sportschan but you're like me, You only hay whatever, Man, it doesn't matter.
I don't need to see sports. Who cares? That's why I like you, Adam, Like, it's not life changing. Yeah, you just gonna go do your job and get the hell out right. Okay, good luck with that. Look what's done for me? So who do you guys have winning in the whole thing? Oh? You talked him. Let's talk about this real quick. He just brought it up coming in and I don't know if you can use this for breaking news, but Fields the field situation,
that's odd. I definitely find it odd that when you go and sign Russell Wilson, then you bring in Justin Fields and now you're gonna have him go and returning kickoffs, punts, whatever you want to do. Is that you think that's just a threat. What do you think that is? I think personally it's just for media attention. I think they're just trying to get the Steelers back on the map, and I think that's their way of doing it.
But I mean, if if it works, their genius. They quote him saying I'm willing to do it, Well, that's just saying that I read was Jalen Warren, the running back talk to the special teams coach. With the new kickoff return rules, they were planning maybe on utilizing fields, but I think that I don't think I agree. I don't think that's gonna happen. Being a Bear fan, I've seen fields. That's not the best
use of him. As you mentioned earlier, like you could get hurt, right, ole plan goes to a crashing and so no way, no way, I don't think that happens, right. But okay, and you were in your Bears jersey, Okay, tells you how much I pay attention. Whose is it just anybody? It's just started the new ones? Oh okay, cool? Okay, anything else, guys that you want to talk about? The Derby is coming up. You guys probably don't follow us, Sam, We did. We talked about it a little yesterday. It's always it's
always great to watch the Derby. I love it. I'm not sure is there a favorite? Yeah, there is fierceness. Fierceness looks like the favorite, right the horse I like this is Sierra. Uh god, I want to say sire a miss, but the stuff you're a miss of thirsty. But we'll talk more about that with the in the second hour. I've been reading the form most of the morning to get ready for that segment and trying
to find a winner. What else, guys, anything at U of A. Everyone's pretty excited to get the heck out of town, right because you get about a week? Yeah, yes, one week. Yesterday was the last day of classes at the oh was it official last day? But then we still have finals and everything. Yeah, yeah about Wednesday right from Eagles until Monday, So I'm I'm officially a senior on Monday. Okay, Cool? Cool, and you're talking about the playoffs more. Milwaukee's gonna do what
they need to do. So Milwaukee, Uh, Lillard is gonna play from what reports are saying, what about you? Honest, honest, probably a game time call. H If they're back, they're the better team. But obviously missed. They did well without them. They did know that last win was pretty big with both of them mount in Indiana not closing the deal. But the line right now is around six and a half for Indy Giannis as
of right now. Oh, you just gotta rolled out. So okay, So uh this game six, right, game six in Indiana, they need to win it. And then I kind of I'm impartial to Indiana because of because of TJ McConnell and uh, that's so much's been Yeah, but he hasn't been playing for a long time because of an injury. But but but TJ McConnell one of the best guys around, just the fundamental point guard that
you like. Yeah, you know, we talk about that all the time, right, Arizona hasn't had one forever, well since him, you know, the prototypical point guard. Even though they've had talented people, they haven't had those guys, right, I mean, yeah, they could use the point guard like him. Absolutely that any predictions. You got a prediction for tonight. I think the fact that it's in Indie gives the over it's over. I think it's over tonight. I think Pacers move on to a second
round. Who do they play? If they will, they would play Boston. That should be fun. But you know what, he's gonna miss round two? Probably not, but nobody's probably beating Boston. But you have a boxers shot, maybe hitters chance. Yeah, okay, we'll see. Because they can score and he can score. They can score. They don't play defense. But Milwaukee losing Drew Holliday, they they've been awful defensively. So
there's this trend in the East that the home teams win. So I think and a good honest do you know what, I may have that wrong. I think I think they play the winner of the Knicks Sixers. I think Cleveland and Orlando would play Boston. Oh okay, yeah, you're right, you're right, because he talked about that last night. The white guy. What's the first thing white for Boston? I think it's Boston. He had a big game guard. Sure, no white, No, not a white guy. Yeah, what you look at me? I said, no,
not that, not that. He's quite Yeah, and he's come on, he's played well. Tremendous move by Boston. San Antonio could have used him. Yeah, he's a Spur fan. I know, I know, I know we lost, but no, he does everything right. He plays defense, he can score much better shooter. Now you guys, you guys, uh your age, follow that stuff right here. We got a call real quick, probably saying that we suck right now. Hey, you're on the air, eye on the wall. Hey, you choose your Tommy Sue.
Hey, you guys, man haven't called in for a while. Tommy, where you been then, Well you don't have to tell. I've just been listening. I'm really glad we got umar Bano. But you got these young guys on there saying the faces aren't ain't good, don't play any defense, and they didn't even know which team's playing? Who next? What is going on? That's all Adam, Well, Temmy, you got to agree.
They don't play defense in the NBA. Although although the scoring is down in the playoffs, which is kind of probably normal, the Pacers played just enough defense to keep them honest. Well, if we make three steals a game, that's all we need. We don't need anything else. Are they gonna get by their next opponent? Well after they get by tonight. Oh. I put when they were one hundred thousand to one odds before the playoffs started to win the championship, I put ten dollars down on them. So I'm
gonna make like, what's ten times one hundred thousands. Well, you won't be calling us anymore if that happens, you'll be somewhere. I might buy the station. Hey, that's fine. Just be a good boss. It's all I care about. Just be a good viel right. Hey, thanks to have fun, be well, Thomas, take care of going. Thanks for calling. This kind of makes a point. We're talking a lot of crap and not annoying. What the but that's called every day on the show.
That's true? How do you guys know it's true? It's not true. I'm just joking. It could be true. Know you're right? Okay, basketball basketball, We were talking real quick about the guys that you know, the U of a guys. Bradley like you to come back, right, don't you think you think so? I think he's just testing it out what he can work on for next year. Yet, what what do you think he needs to work on next year? Well, he's gotta play true
point guard some more of them he's not because he has. He did not play right? What do you think that? What do you how do you think he played it? Because I get them this, this this discussion with people all the time. Not a distributor, I don't think so. But he can easily work on that. He's a slasher. I think he needs to work on his jumper obviously more. But he's a downhill guy, right. He goes to the basket every time. To me, it's a downhill, head down, get to the basket, get fouled, and get a
shot. Okay, okay, But he's not that guy. He can't be that guy at the pointe No, not in college. It's like the ball disappears into his hands and and if you're gonna be the point guard, you got to distribute. You can be that player, but just not as much as him. I think that's the biggest issue they had last year, not having a true point guard to settle things down when things were getting a little radic and just like Boswell, just up and down to up and down and
he's not a true point guard in my opinion. So well, he h two years ago he seemed like he was a little it seemed like in a less reduced roll off the bench being the spark plug. Yeah, you can give that scoring punch, but as as a main focus, yeah, no, Well I think if that you're doing your evaluation, that's how it plays
out. But I think there is some of that in him. Yeah, and maybe it changes a scenery, helps that, but here it just kind of was a freaky situation where after the first maybe eight games, it was like, what the hell happened to Boswell? It's a mystery. It's a mystery. Yeah, well, what do you think too? Same thing?
One. I think had a little bit of with him with his confidence, But I also think the fans of Tucson and Arizona can be a bit harsh the question of his head without question, do you think he cared about that? I mean, do you think right, I got to a point where the noise was too loud. And he's young too, he's just a kid and that yeah nineteen yeah, yeah, but I also heard the eighteen nineteen he was doing stuff. Yeah, you should not have been doing well,
and we're all you guys were college kids, you know whatever. I was a college kid. I didn't do that. But wait, he tell us twenty one. Yeah, of course, of course. Sure, okay, Hey, let's take a break. Uh go to find mister Jake Fisher. The Window Depot has everything you need to create the kitchen or bathroom of your dreams. Frowsy aisles of instock cabinets, available in a variety of sizes and configurations, and instantly elevate your space. Today, visit a showroom and let
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or rodents. Serving Tucson and Southern Arizona since nineteen forty seven. Go to azypest dot com to schedule your free evaluation today. Steve Rivera and Jake and Salez they have their eye on the ball on Tucson's Sports Stage Jet Fox Sports fourteen fifty streaming live on the IHID Radio lapp, Hey, welcome back to Iying the ball here Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve, Jay's out cut a guy, Adam and Juan with me today. Now we have Jake Fisher. Jake, how are you? I'm doing well. Guys, how
are you doing? We're doing well. Thank you very much. Been a long time you've been out and about it has been in a while. Last week I couldn't get on because we were out off roading. And this week I'm up in Christopher Creek with my wife. We're just hanging out in a cabin. We got a bunch of elks that are hanging out by the cabin right now and doing some other off roading activity stuff like that while we're up here. It must be nice, must be nice, that good business must
be good. We'll get tech is. We'll get to that later. So let's talk real quick about basketball. Go to football. Let's go to football first. You like or not like what's going on with the transfer portal with Arizona. Well, I like the results, I thought. As soon as Jeed Fish went to Washington, I was assuming probably like everybody else, he'd take quite a few people with him. And to be honest with your coach, Brennan and those guys did a hell of a job keeping Sacario and you
know, just the main guys there. You know, obviously we're gonna have to fill in some pieces depth wise, and might need to find another starter on the offensive line. But I mean we're looking solid. I have no you know, obviously we're going to need to see what the x's and o's look like, but we already know what the defense is going to look like.
It's going to be aggressive, and I'm just you know, I'm hoping that we can establish a really good run game so that that passing threat, you know, especially with some of the young receivers coming back, you know, hits well, so were there was there a player or two that you thought, okay, if we guy, if we get this guy to come
back, we'll be okay, Like Tacario is one of them. Maybe yeah, just because you know, I thought we were going to have him in Pristock coming back, and I thought we were going to have you know, the best hande met starting corner in the Big twelve. And you know when he left, I was like, Okay, well, now we just got to hang on to ta Caio because some of the draft boards have him as a first round draft pick. Now we just need to find someone to pair up with him. I you know, I think that the safety, you
know, position is pretty well counted for. We got a couple of NFL guys back there, but we just needed that one solid corner to pair with Tacario, and I thought that our defense was going to be fine. I thought as long as as Noah and Team Matt came back, I thought that the offensive line would stay in tax just because, like apparently those guys have
a solid relationship and they love playing for Noah. So you know that, as soon as they went out to the court during the UCLA home game and they announced that they were staying, I knew we were going to have quite a few guys coming back. But there was still just because of the way the transfer portal is nowadays, there's still always something in the back of your head saying, well, you know, let's hurry up and get the same closed because I don't want to lose any more guys. What's your I don't
think I've ever asked you this impression. But question about your impression on Noah, given the fact that god's been a number of years since you played, maybe ten twelve, I think you were one of the team's leaders, kind of a spokesman to Jake Fisher with his long hair and all that stuff. Noah handles himself very well. What are your impressions of that part of his
game? Well, I think obviously he was raised extremely well. It is very very well spoken, humble, and he just got he has kind of got that silent swag about him when he's on the field, you know what I mean. He just looks comfortable in any situation, And especially if you're a young guy or you're someone that hasn't started many games, as soon as you go in and you have that and you know that he's gonna lead you down the field and do well, it kind of helps you settle in a
little bit more. And then if you're on the defensive side, you know, especially with a guy that can you know he might throw for thirty five plus touchdowns this coming year, you know you're going to be in every game, so that that quiet humbleness that you know, silence swag he's got is awesome. Right right, Okay, today as we speak, and having played here yourself, who are maybe the top three football players to have ever shoot
it up for Arizona in your mind? There's no wrong answer. Obviously, I'm gonna go ahead and go with the top three guys that I ended up playing with, just because obviously you got the Teddy brus Kis, you got, you know, Waldrive, you got uh, you know, Gronk, you got those guys. But the guys that I played with that I'm gonna put in my top there are going to be Kadeem Scooby, and then we're gonna go ahead and put Nick Foles in there. Yeah, okay, that's
your kind of and I'm gonna do four. We're gonna put Bruces Reed in there too, Oh okay, another NFL guy. Yeah, So not a bad list. Uh. And I was telling the kids here now because they saw him and I've seen him now, I think when all is said and done, and I think t Meck will have one more year that he'll be the best all time player that I've ever seen here. Yeah. Well, you know we didn't get you know, a full three years from uh from
Gronk. Unfortunately, I you know that last year he didn't get to play and then uh, you know, Foles us here during the h that transition when the Steus regime came to an end, and I think that just him not having some of those uh those receivers to throw to that kind of hurt him that last year, even though he's still balled out. But I can see team being the best pro prospects, to be honest with you, I mean him and that and you know Jonas Savina. I mean, I think
those guys have a twelve to fifteen year career in the NFL. They're gonna make a lot of money, They're gonna make a lot of people happy. And but yeah, I can I can see t Mac being the at least he's the best receiver right right right, very talented. And what do you think about MANA man who is just awesome. He's got a nose for the ball. You know, there's a few young young linebackers who since I've been
there and left, have come in and done really well. You know, you got Scooby Collin, Schooler, those guys, and then Man who kind of fits that same, that same mold where he's just always around the ball and He comes from a great uh you know, a great program where they actually taught him, uh you know, all the ax of the os, ins and outs of a it seems like of a you know, like a college scheme. So he is well prepared and even though he's a little undersized,
he he gets some people's face and he hits them. I love watching it, right right, Okay, let's move to basketball. What do you think about what's going on now? We got Bradley testing, you have kg Lewis testing, you have others guys coming and going. Well, the fact that we haven't distsed back into the portal to get any replacements for those guys tells me that they're testing the waters. They're going to go ahead and hear from these NBA teams what they need to work on, and I think they're
going to come back another year. I mean, if we get those two back, which I think they are coming back, if we get Caleb Love to come back along with the transfer that we got that you know, power forward, and then if Krebus makes the type of jump I think that he will. I mean, I think we have a top five, top eight starting five again. Now we just need to fill out some of the role players make sure some of these freshmen hit. But you know, Tommy Lloyd's
always got summed up asleeve. He's got connections just everywhere, and it just seems like even though some of these guys could have went elsewhere to get a bigger bag, they want to play for a guy that's going to develop them and get him to the next level. Okay, So I'll ask you the question I ask a lot of people just randomly. I think we talked about this yesterday. I don't have heard this or a day before. Do you want Caleb to return? Is he you know, simple, simple as that.
Yeah. Yeah, I mean he's gonna be He's gonna be an All American candidate. You know, he's gonna be one of the better players in the Big twelve. And you know he's proved it. You know what you're getting back with him, and it's just one more year in Tommy Lloyd's system, so you know he's going to improve. I just love the fact that last year, I mean his passing has gotten better. Uh, he always
played hard on defense. He's a dog. Even if he goes zero for ten, I always trust him with that shot, and he kind of shot himself and us in my opinion, along with a couple others out of that uh that game against Clemson. But you know, with a with a point guard and Jaydon Brawley that can actually get to the bucket, kJ Lewis can get to the bucket. I think he's gonna have a lot more open threes where he's not happened to, you know, take somebody off the dribble and
try to hit it. And just the fact that you have a four now that can actually shoot a little bit. I just think it's gonna be a much better situation for him. So do you think next year's team potentially could
be better than this year's team? I think so, and I think it's just purely not maybe shooting wise, but the fact that Jaden Brawley and kJ you know, down the stretch, especially against Lempson, with Jayden, he shows that he's got a little bit more offensive firepower than people gave him credit for. He was getting to the rim, getting to the free throw line, he hit a couple of nice, you know, step back threes. I mean I didn't know that he had that in his game. But you
have him and kJ who are going to be absolutely ridiculous. On the defensive end, I think we're gonna get a lot of a lot of fast break points next year. And I think that Delane, I don't think he's going to be clogged. I think previous think he's going to do a little bit better than nor Ballo did in terms of providing a little bit more spacing.
And then that kid that we got from from Tennessee, if he's going to be the small ball five, you're just gonna bring another guy off the bench and you know, maybe a Carter Brian or one of these guys that's gonna be able to stretch the floor even more. So. I think we're going to have better spacing. I think that defense is going to be better overall, you know. And then I think that I think losing you know, I can't even remember his name now, but I think losing Pella is going
to hurt a little bit more than people anticipate. I don't really think that losing Boswell is going to hit too hard. I think that Jason's gonna be a better, you know, a better point guard in general. But I think the loss of Pella is going to hurt the most. Yeah, And then don't forget the kid from Oakland who's a pretty good player. Yeah, that's the power forward I was talking about. He's going to provide another scoring
threat. So if you got him and Caleb Love coming back, I think again, you're gonna have your entire starting five that's averaging ten plus points. I think him and Caleb Love are go going to average over fifteen. Yeah, okay, let me transition to something. Uh. Someone sent me a text maybe two weeks ago because we had an ed you on the show. He says, Uh, hey, Steve, can you be sure to teach you, mister Fisher Jake Jake this question, And I'm probably gonna mess it
up because it's been two weeks just about the nil stuff. It was your time in a little before your time. You guys wanted to be paid all granted, everybody said, yes, you guys need to get paid. You you guys probably didn't think that it would come to this and how it looks today. No, it's it's still you know, it's still in in you know, it's kind of a whilest right now. You know, you got
all these these collectives and stuff like that. I love the fact that if you're a good player, you can you know, go and do a commercial for you know, Jim Klick or you know, something like that where you get paid because you know, you're bringing a lot of money into the UH, into the program. But I mean, just remember back in the day how much different it was, where you know, eventually they had to selling jerseys with year on it, which was as like, imagine what a guy
like Kadean Perry would have made. And then I l in Tucson. I mean, you know, just you have these guys that light up the field and they just do such an incredible job and they weren't able to get paid for it. And then the fact that you go home and if you don't have you know, if your parents don't make you know, under a certain dollar amount, you don't get you know, pell grants or you don't get
you know, assistants. And then you know, if they you know, make over a certain amount, you're basically just getting a stipe and they can't really help you with the bills. So yeah, I was very very blessed
that I had, you know, family that helped me with that. But the fact of the matter is, these guys deserve a lot, and I love what some of these colleges are doing where they're taking less money and they're spreading it out over the entire you know, over the tire team, just to make sure that they have money to you know, feed themselves and do a little bit more. And then just the fact, to be honest with you, that they're feeding the guys more, they're able to keep a little
bit more money in their pocket. Yeah, okay, so you're fine with it. But is that pretty back great? You know, how do you My thing, My thing is more and I don't mean to cut you off. My thing is more to transfer portal kids. You know, I want kids to be able to go somewhere where if they want playing time or you know, if they can make more money or whatever. But you know, doing a different school every single year kind of gets ridiculous, you know.
I mean, even though the even though the professionals sometimes you know, or the coaches sometimes have the ability and the pros to move around and do what they want to do, they're still contracts, you know, so they got to get that figured out. But you know, as long as the guy, the guys are getting paid for their efforts, that's really what I care
about most. So eventually, and they talked about this. Could they eventually would you be okay if they become employees of the university, Well, that's tough. I you know, I would like them to get paid purely based on their effort. And if you know, if some of those guys were to become employees, that's fine, but I want to make sure that they get paid. You know, if you got to that's a row of McMillan. He needs to get paid more than your next you know, average guy.
Yeah, yeah, that's tough. That's tough too, because you know, the average guy is gonna say, well, I'm here to work just as hard. Oh yeah, no, trust me, like it's it's it's tough, and there's not a perfect solution in my opinion. And you got to remember back when we were back when we were playing, the walk Ons are the usually the hardest workers on the team. They're usually the ones they always getting extra work, and they couldn't even come up to the training table
unless they paid. So there's got to be something, you know, to where some of these guys not only going to get compensated, but there's got to be something where all of these things get addressed. I just don't know what it is, right, right, that's the whole thing that you have to figure out at the end of the day where to put the bumpers or the guidelines to make this work better. Yeah, exactly. You know, you guys know that my my whole family's from Nebraska and they I mean,
they have they have it down. I mean, they've they've got so much money there. And I mean you got guys that are foregoing a scholarship because they're making enough money through NIL to also join the program. So I mean there's loopholes and things like that that people take advantage of. But you know, like I said, I just want the guys to get paid for their
efforts. And I want to make sure that you know, these guys, with what we went through with the money stuff, I want to make sure that they actually, you know, don't have to go out by Ramen and you know, kind of sit on ten bucks for like, you know, nine, ten days at a time because that was frustrating. No, well that's what Steve Rivera does. So good luck, all right, Jake,
thanks a bunch, go enjoy your your outing in the mountains. Absolutely, guys, thank you for having me on again, right, Jake to talk to you next week. Yeah, Jake Fisher, former u of a football player, under rated, undersize all that good good stuff when he played here a few years back. Okay, let's take the break then kind of see what we talk about after that. If you're an Arizona men's basketball fan, you know it's been successful for nearly forty years. Now take a look back
at the Ludolsen era. In my new book, Lessons from Loot, it was a labor of love through the eyes of twenty five former players, coaches, and friends to give insight to the coach and the man who led them, competed against them, and inspired them. Twenty five chapters for his twenty five years as Arizona's beloved coach. Lessons from Lout is an insight to how he built the program into a national powerhouse. Want one Email me at Steve
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food, fun, and music, all while supporting local charities. Proceeds benefit TMC for Children, Courtney's Courage, Candle Lighters, Childhood Cancer Foundation, and Assistance League. Get your tickets and sponsorships online at the Centurions dot com. That's the Centurions dot com. Streamy Live, I mean, iHeartRadio. Wow. This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera and Jay Gonzalez on Fox Sports fourteen fifteen. Hey, welcome back to TYE on the Ball here Fox
Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Barbera, jays out today, got Adam and Juan with me in the studio. If you'd like to call, please do five two oh four one six seven four four. General. Uh, appreciate it. Howard called yesterday, talked about the Sons Cave, his apologies. Taking me to dinner again, that'd be great. His sons were just bad. Yeah, disappointing your sons, your I'm always always root for any Arizona team. It's been a tough life for you. Yes, tell me about
it. Cardinals, I don't even know where to begin, Cardinal Dim all the Diamondbacks gave you some happiness last year until they didn't. It's always cool to see a city that hasn't won a championship in a while get close to it, right, and then being Arizona, sure, sure d the Dallas Cowboys of the of the of the world. Yeah, and you're a Laker, I'm Laker. And then Chicago for the rest. It's been a tough life. Well, I guess Lakers in two in the COVID year. Yeah
what the title? Yeah, yeah, of course I counted it. Always like Jake Canada Dodgers that same year. Yeah, I mean COVID COVID SMO bit doesn't matter. It happened. Everybody got the same opportunity to play, So I'm not gonna knock him for winning where it was probably baby, this could be another thirty three years before it happens again. No, no,
no, that's Lakers. Lakers get whoever they want generally. Yeah, yeah, and then this year not so much this year now Ron, I was just gonna say he wasn't bringing up his name because you guys are hearing. I don't really care about this, but is he And I know you're an You like the Lakers, so I know what I'm gonna get. So that's one the same question. Is Lebron that guy of being the baby of the league where he gets what he wants? He has his tantrums. I don't
follow it enough. I see what I see in what context that he gets whatever he wants. Well, you know, you know I got fouled. I didn't get fouled. I fouled, you know, stuff like that. Where he's here, he's coddled a little maybe maybe maybe maybe a little bit. But I can't say that they call their fouls just to call more. For there is a superstar treatment, no doubt, but I don't think he gets what do you think? Does he get more calls? Do you think
than another superstar? With rising stars? As of recently these last past couple of years, he doesn't get as many as he used to. But I think he still has his moments where he'll go and get a foul call because he's Lebron James. Yeah, especially if he's been working the refs right, begging for it or whatever word you want to use, right, Yeah, No, especially this last game because he was bouncing up and down and ranting and raving and they got beat. Yeah, frustrating trading. So it is
what it is. It's there's still you know, he's still Lebron's for what almost thirty nine forty it's going to be forty in December. Yeah, so you know, the guy can still play with the best of them the lead level. Yeah, absolutely right, and he just needs help like everybody else, the Suns, they the Lakers need a third guy. Phoenix needs a point guard, some depth, more more defense. Obviously ur Kitch doesn't cut
it. Bradley Beal's Yeah, that was you couldn't. I don't know where to go there, but it was a disaster and his contract, got a giant contract, and he's you know, over thirty now, so he's on the wrong side of thirty with some injury history. So Booker, I still love KD. Maybe slowing down in some respects, but still dominant. So I thought this year he wasn't as consistent. Who Booker could he could he
Yeah, especially in the playoffs. I felt like his entire career he was a playoff guy, and this one I don't think he showed it as much. Maybe that's just with age or what's been going on with the team, but I just didn't think he was as consistent this year. Yeah, that was just me. Maybe that was just my frustrations as an Arizona You guys followed teams, You guys Royal. Few teams like Arizona know, you guys
are gonna be graduates, Adam and one eventually. Do you do you like the fact that the Caleb Loves of the world, the curves of the world, are able to come here, stay a year or two, jump to another team, jump to another team. It's one of the reasons why I'm not a big sports fan. There's no loyalty. And then they mean that's too far reaching for me. I just you know, it's not that important
in my life, although I do it for a living. You know what I'm saying, Where it's hard to be or fall in love with a team when that happens, mhm. I'm an old school guy. I've used to love college footbotn't like where it's heading right now. I don't like the I think it's great for them personally, the players. As a fan, I
don't like it at all. I don't like believing in the guy for a year and then he's gone going against another might end up playing right now, I was gonna say, maybe even a chance to see see you play against him? Yeah, I mean, I think I remember a transfer rules used to be like you had to sit right. It's everything so sporadic now it's to your point, it's very hard to get attached to somebody of constant movement, right. But they're trying to do what's best for the players, and
you know, you can understand from their point of view. With that being said, though, I think the other side of it, when they do decide to come back, it's it's amazing because giving everyone was very unsure, and I think all of us had a feeling that they were going to Seattle, and when they came onto that court against UCLA, I think the city of Tucson. I'm in love with these guys. Sure, I know for the most part, everyone was in love with t mac. He's this tall
guy, wide receiver making some tacular plays. The FIDA was the catalyst for how our season went last year, and now that they decided to come back against all odds, the city loves them for that. Right. Somebody called earlier this week, I don't remember who it was, maybe it was one of our guests, but said that Arizona Universe sh Arizona should trumpet these guys as Heisman potential winners or candidates because of what they've done for the program.
And and they're that good. And then that's not to say they won't do that, but that's a good idea because of what they've done. Those two coming back helped others stay. They they're the foundation for what they've been calling the Brotherhood of Arizona Football, people like Takario, and I think even Speedy Luke, Speedy Luke has connection. You know, he goes from California. He laid under Sure. I'm looking forward to seeing him more too, because
this year might be his breakout year, I think. And I saw a lot of tweets on ags or whatever you want to call them, that he looks bigger, yeah, more muscular right or toned in right. And and you all have an opportunity now with some of the other guys gone and I was kind of scared with the they were pursuing Amy and Martinez out of Oregon State, right I was. I thought he might have and they would have created a tension with that. But now that he's with Miami, I think
speed Luke will pop pop off this year. Right, Well, we'll see. I thought Martinez had a chance to come here given the situation. But obviously if you get a gift. I hate to talk about d n L and in that way where you say, well he went over there just for the just for the money, there could have been a better opportunity. You know, what do you guys think their outlook is this year? Yeah? I think we talked about it. They have twelve games. If they go
eight and three, that'll be good. That'll be good. Anything less than that might not be given what we what we've seen, right, I think the perfect situation, and Jay and I talk about this a lot. It's a perfect move to the Big twelve given given the quality of play. But it's not the Pac twelve where they have to go against Oregon, USC, Washington and those better schools, and they're never gonna be in the top three or four. I should say never. It'll be a rare thing here.
They have a chance to finish in the top three, if not win it all, if things come together. Yeah, I mean, do you who do you think the biggest threat in the Big twelve is? I personally would say a team like Kansas State. Yeah, that would have been my first. Sure, very experienced team are, But then you also have a wild card like Iowa State. They go up and down with their season. You just never know what you're gonna get from them. Oklahoma State two every now
and again. Not sure they weren't that good, but and have talent, and have talent, it's gonna be a lot of fun. I know a guy, a friend of mine, told me, I guess two nights schol or last night he did not renew his basketball tickets. I'm saying what he
says. Yeah, I just don't feel it anymore. And I'm thinking this is the worst time to give up your tickets because you're gonna have the Big Twelve coming in here, Houston, Kansas, all these great schools, no better, no time, and in the last ten twelve years, if not longer, has everyone, I'm gonna have a better non conference or non conference and conference schedule because these guys are coming in and they're gonna have more losses, but there'll be more battle tests. I think. I think it's great
for them if that's what it comes down to, have the losses. Yeah, and maybe you'll go deeper into the tournament. Absolutely, there's a trade If you're gonna take that trade off, you're gonna take that trade off. They weren't tested last year, so no, they were. They were in November and December, and guess what, they passed that test and then they stopped passing tests. Yeah, now they're too inconsistent. It's like, it's like you, guys, and I don't know if this analogy fits you.
Guys, go to class, you're good in a course. You study for your courses against expecting a tough test, right, and it's all I got this stuff, and there's another test that you. I got to know this stuff. I don't have to study to stand the Stanfords, the Oregon States, those easy tests and you say, oh, crap, I didn't study enough, right, and then it beats you. Yeah, yeah, no, no, absolutely, And that's what happened to them. A few times, a few too many times played down to their opponent. Yeah, I
mean what do you think. I think Arizona's always had the issue of playing Yeah, I think that might again that's gonna change in the big one. You've been here too long to know that. Yep, because that's what happens. People don't People don't believe me. I've covered this team for thirty some years, written some books. I firmly believe that it's more of a it's
more of a swagger that they shouldn't have when they play those teams. They think that also comes with the program of Arizona basketball that've been so relevant. So what does it matter if they go loose to Oregon State or Stanford. Well, I don't know about that, but I like the swagger stuff or what did you say that they're Arizona and they have this this I think entitlement.
Entitlement's the perfect word. And you go in go to Oregon maybe even here, Washington State here a couple of years ago, you're thinking, how in the world did this happen? And it's something that they need to get over. But the thing about it, it's not a one off, it's not a two off, it's a lot off. This is a programming team that really it'll change in the Big twelve, but they should have never lost at home Under Tim and Lloyd. There were two good teams. I think
the one thing that Tommy the maybe I'll run into him. He even talked about this for his first year when Arizona fans were not showing up to home games, and he got on them and said, if you guys are going to consider are you guys going to consider yourself a basketball program, don't you think you should show up? You kind of had to get on them for doing that. Okay, they started showing up as well as a team.
If you guys think you are good players and have a good program, don't you think you have to show up at the end of the day, you show up more than you show up. Because they're showing up just not to the ability that they could play. I think a little bit of that is due to timing and schedule. There's some late tip off times. But it's even hard to get score as a student. Well, the thing about it
the other team, I had to do the same thing. So and what team if you're if you're did you play ball a little bit as a kid? Okay, if you and you're playing against your guy, that you know is better than you. What do you want to do? Kick the crap out of them? Because why no one thinks you can. That's what I had to do. I was put at the center position. I was in
the you're undersized. I was in a big sense. So you had you have to play over your head, right, You're you're always the target when you're the big boy sometimes, and it makes no sense because if you look at Arizona's history of playing higher seeds or lower seeds whatever, and they're the better seed, what happens they don't play. It's not it's not a secret,
it's a reality. It's true, unfortunate reality, but exactly. And you're thinking, well, and it's kind of being a dead horse, but I've seen it too many times in any Arizona fact say that, right, right, how come nobody else can? How come they can't? Yeah? Seeing no, no, Jay and I have this argument because he's kind of denial, but you're not in denial because you've seen it. And you're a
young man over the last hold you twenty one? Yeah, and so you found out about Arizona sports as a ten year old, what pretty much? So in this eleven year span, you've seen it. Yeah, every year, every year, every year. I mean those back to back Wisconsin years those were but second area was just kind of like, well, yeah, here we go again. Well and in fact sometimes sometimes you do face a better team or just just as good team, and those two years that was
that team. But any other the years Buffalo, which does exactly how do you explain that just not just it's just the part. It's also hard to win in the turn of course, of course, but there's a lot of samples. But if you have ten darts, don't you and you're a pretty good dart guy, don't you think you hit the center once or twice? Yeah? Yeah, yeah, yeah, not if you're Arizona. Sorry to depress, any Arizona, Sorry to depress. You want just take a break and come back.