Breaking down all the US is at alls. This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera on Box sportsporteen fifty.
Hey, welcome back to my MUTI is da Silver. I'm just trying to talk over the music here. I could hear the music. You just gotta shout, shout, shout it out. Okay, thanks, so, welcome back to the show four o'clock hour. We're gonna try to do some breaking news Dave and I. You had a pretty good one right away with the Nuggets.
Oh yeah, Aaron Gordon got hurt former wildcat for the Nuggets, that hurt his calf last night. So he's going to be out for a handful of weeks. Didn't you just sign a big contract in the off season too? So he did. It's too bad. He's had a good run with the Nuggets after kind of you know, kind of being in no man's land with Orlando for a lot of years.
Wins an NBA championship, but part of the guy.
And guess what he and I guess what you already know what? He lives and dies on those legs. Yeah, because he's a great defender and those legs. It made him a millions because of how he plays athletically, you.
Know, he's not.
He's developed a pretty good game, different, a different kind of game than we saw when he was here.
Oh yeah, he couldn't.
He can't.
He can't shoot. He's not a good shooter.
Right, but he couldn't even make a free throw when it was he when he was a Wildcat.
No, and look at look at it. Look at him now. Yeah, No, fantastic athlete, one of the better athletes to come in last week.
Oh yeah, came out of San Jose and he said he's going to be out multiple weeks. So that's kind of a bummer for him. One of the many Wildcats in the NBA.
How are they doing? They're four and three, Daniel and they're one of the favorites to win the thing again.
Yeah, maybe I think some of the guys aren't playing.
He signed a four year, one hundred and thirty three million dollar contract, so he'll be able to, you know, kind of rest on.
A pile of cash.
You rest easy.
He's averaged fifteen points.
He's averaging fifteen points a game, so he is scoring and he's shooting fifty five percent on three pointers.
Oh wow, So he's he's kind of developed.
He's so much more Channing Fry like right, all of a sudden, But you know, Channing missed out by like ten years with his cash, right, his money, But four years, one hundred and thirty three million, Jamal Murray's been hurt for them. So they're a little bit struggling a little bit. But they still have Jokic, who's, right, maybe the best player out there at this.
Pointing, Well, you know they are who they are. Did you see Cleveland? Cleveland's underfeeted too, like eight no night, Yeah, they're good. They beat Milwaukee last night. Milwaukee's like horrible. What's up with Milwaukee? I know, how does that happen? I guess they're getting old, although Yannis isn't that old. No, No, I think that they brought You know, who do you fire? You fire the coach and the players are the ones
that are guilty of the problems. So I guess they have the same team and a new coach, Doc Rivers, well the new coach from the compared to the last year where he came on the scene, and yeah, that's right. You know, he didn't fix much and here they are and they're not playing hard for him.
Ye speaking of not playing about Joel Embiid, you know, three game suspension for shoving a column.
Yeah, whatever that ever happened.
I was gonna ask you, ask me, I was gonna ask you this to me. No, but I've been I've been an uncomfortable situation with with guys approaching me and accusing me of not being unfair. But just you know, why did I have to write that or whatever? Well, it's kind of my job. I have to, you know, write that. I remember doing a story with the Tots. The Totals, I don't know if you liked back in nineteen late eighties. They didn't have the kind the goodest,
the goodest guys, the greatest guys. But it was difficult. And I thought I'd have a great time at the park.
Not so much.
It was malcontent guys, you know, And you're this twenty three year old kid out there trying to do a story and yeah, you know, they're kind of bullying you and enjoying it, enjoying it. But yeah, it was like remember Wade Bogs, he had that story about the wife and the affairs that he was having, blah blah blah. So they wanted to be a localized that story.
You know, do you found a player?
But no, No, it was just you know, it was an uncomfortable story because no one's going to admit that, but it's you know, you're talking to the girlfriends who go to the game and their wives and they sit together and don't sit together, you know it. And then the guys are saying, why did you write that? Well, kind of, my boss is made to do it. You know what I'm saying. You have to do those stories that you kind of felt uncomfortable. Yeah, I mean it happens.
And you know in the NBA and really now in professional sports, you know, they they're kind of shielded back and the media can do what they want. And the media may never go sit near Joel and B but he can sit there and write what he wants and write. It's out there and it's the way of world.
Well, if you saw the story, I saw it a couple of days ago, and he the columnist and I can't remember his name for the Philadelphia paper, Marcus Hayes, Marcus Hayes, and I don't know that name, but he did a story, mentioned his brother and his son and talked about him being out for all these all these time and his load management or whatever, and being got upset about it because he mentioned his brother I think, who since passed or had passed away, and his son
and you don't go there, you know. He just felt you just don't go there, and you know, talking about him missing a lot of games and things like that, and he confronted him.
It was interesting because when you watched him in the Olympics too, it was pretty obvious he wasn't in the best of shape and he wound up having a great game. I don't know if it was the last game. It was one of the later games in the in the in that uh, in that whole run. But you know, he's just he's always seems to be having some type of injury, and you know, he doesn't want to play in October November.
And so let me we're talking about breaking news here stuff. But so if you can, what was an uncomfortable moment or two for you? Did you have any or did you have it easy? We had it pretty easy.
I'm trying.
I really can't think of like any shouting matches or anything like that. I can't imagine getting shoved. I mean that just seems I remember seeing I remember the famous Ryan Leaf tirade as a quarterback for the Chargers, and he was screaming at somebody. It was just players usually just didn't do that. You know, they knew it was going to come off terribly so even before social media. Yeah excuse me, but you know, you just can't do that. No,
it looks bad and it's pretty rare. The thing about it is the fans who don't give a crap what happens. They don't care about the you know when they ask you the time, they don't want to know how the clock is made. They just want to read the story or get the story right for you to give the story. It's what happens. It happens, and they don't want to know about all this behind you see stuff. Well, the players control so much of the messaging these days too.
I mean, when a guy like for the Philadelphia Enquire write something, you know, Joel probably had no clue that that story was coming because he's so used to, you know, doing his own podcast or doing his own you know whatever articles that he can write and break their own websites and things like that.
Twelve years telve years, so, so twelve years. That was the beginning oh maybe early Sean Sean, Yeah, a couple of years into Sean, so two three years, did you? And before we had it made right, we could go to the locker room or we can talk to whoever we wanted or selective. Yeah, at least how did you like that or didn't like that? The change.
Did not? We just you know, everybody was getting the same thing basically.
And they continue to do that.
They still do that.
Yeah.
I mean I used to say, if if the coach is going to just talk and not break away from the podium, why am I even here? We can all someone can just get the camera and send it and that's it. You know, we're not gonna get you thing different.
But whereas in the days leading up to that, we did have those chances where we could talk to you know, especially basketball, they just come walking out and just grab whoever you wanted, basically before practice maybe once a week, and then you get him after a game.
And that was good enough for us.
Sure, sure, No, you're right. The thing about it is you need to have someone there asking the questions, whether it's you or somebody else.
Well, they probably could have provided that, you know, they're just kind of messaging in themselves, but sure does does coach ever come off the podium and talk to reporters anymore?
Good question. He did last night, and to his credit, Bruce probably had something to ask him on the side, because I waited for him as well afterward, well actually for Nate actually after to get my credential. And Tommy had given me a little guff at the beginning of the press conference, and then I saw him at the end. He says, go to sleep. I complained, it was a late night. You know, it's ten thirty or whatever, ten thirty year old. He said, No, I'm not. He said,
yeah year old. Yeah, you know, it says, you know, just joking with me, but no, not anymore. And I remember walking with Loot after every game to his car.
Yeah, I remember, I can see that. I remember you doing that because I wanted something different. Yeah, I had to get something different than the star that you read in the morning, So I got something different. Him and Bobby to the car got me the other four minutes maybe of extra stuff that I didn't ask at the podium because I didn't want anybody to know.
Well, that's that's great that you do.
I mean, we probably could have rolled our cameras out there too and tried to do the same thing. But that was one of the beauties of the NCAA tournaments, whereas it looks very you know, set up and formal, but we always had that chance like, okay, well those guys are talking the other half of the teams in the locker rooms.
You go in there. So yeah, he did get more access postseason than you did.
Oh regular, no questions, and that's how you get that's oh yeah, yeah, no, it's the same way. Now. The funny thing about it is nineteen twenty eighteen, DeAndre was a senior. Then we didn't know that he was a cut up. He was a funny dude. He like he was a kid pretty much, and we didn't get to see that until the Pac twelve tournament, Pack twelve turn Yeah, and then the in CUAA tournament and we had that
one game in Buffalo and that was it. That was but he was That was it Because you didn't, Yeah, you didn't.
Is a shame.
Yeah, you know, it really is a shame because I think that's kind of again not to harp back on the past that much, but that's really kind of what made this program, what it was in terms of personalities, and you know, we were fortunate to have the Steve Curz because we could talk to him and watch him grow up and Sean and those kind of guys, and that I couldn't tell him much about Caleb Love or Jayden Bradley.
No, no, no, no, imagine the Shawn years when come on, how many of those guys are connected to this place? Yeah, honestly, how many? Honor tej who you think that would be the guy? He hasn't He's gone now. Kid. We just talked about with Gordon. How often do they come back? Yeah, you don't know them. One of the things that I don't want to waxport a conlute all this much. But
he let them grow up. And maybe it was the times when you just said, here, that's just don't say anything stupid, you know, it was.
It was different.
And now guys are saying, don't say anything stupid on the podium, but you know, be careful what you say.
Yeah, well that's.
An interesting point too, because I mean there's been this love affair with the lute guys, and how's it going to be with the Sean Miller players, you know, because he's not going to probably come back as Loot.
I mean lived here in his later years, no question.
Whereas you know, we have these you know, fantasy camps and we have no Union games. You know, every so often those are the Loot players. Yeah, what about the Sean Miller players. It's going to be an interesting dynamic as they get older and time goes by, and maybe Sean retires, maybe he comes back to Tucson.
Yeah I doubt that.
Well really whatever, but I mean, as he leaves basketball and he's you know, he left after what twelve years.
It's a lot of players and a lot of success.
Right right. And another thing that I think the Loot's time the guys, and you see this everywhere, how many of them are broadcasters. They were dealing with media all the time. Yeah, they turned into the media. You know, Sean does his spurs, Corey does his, Matt Milbuck does his, Reggie does his Steve did.
His Steve did his go back? I bet I bet he could go back. Yeah, when he's done. He's already stepping away from the Olympics, So who knows how much longer he's gonna want to go. Sure, I'm sure you know, there's a look what's happening with the NBA on television too? In the next uh well, starting next year, there's going to be games on every night basically everywhere, from Amazon to NBC to the ESPN and TNT still so yeah, there's a lot.
Of job openings. Did you see the game last night the Chiefs? Yeah, so you watch back and forth the basketball game and.
The beauty of having a laptop and a TV and yeah, time on my hands, and yeah it was good. Yeah, prett easy games. How about some of the receivers. I know people have been talking about the catches. There's a lot of great endings to games. And that Saquon Barkley game where he turtled over somebody backwards.
Yeah, that's a great grea.
The catch for the Roger touchdown was fantastic.
Yeah, oh yeah.
On Thursday that was the first game, and then the Philadelphia catch and the Seahawks game.
So you watched the we got got a couple of minutes here and I didn't see it. I really didn't look at it. The girls, the women's game last night. What did you see a little bit? Maybe is Michael lev coming up? Maybe maybe there. I didn't watch much. I mean you know, I just didn't have time. I don't know the principals outside of Williams pretty much.
Yeah, there's a number of new players there. She's really kind of turned that roster over too in the last couple of years. I don't know, a couple of freshmen and Jada Williams seems to be the star of the show.
Yeah, so we'll see what they do. You say she turned the program, but she turned the roster over. I think they may have been they turned the roster over her and or vice you know, vice person. Yeah, maybe accommodation.
Yeah, I mean they had such a high a couple of years ago, and it just they've had a hard time, you know, getting back to that level. But again, you know, as everybody's gonna do. They got to move to a new conference. So we'll see. Well, they're facing you. You came here in eighty minute early eighties. Would you have ever ever dreamed of what she would what anybody would have done?
No, to me, it's impossible. When I went to the championship game of the of the n I T six years ago, whatever years ago, I'm thinking, how did this happen?
Yeah, even in the Bambasini years, they didn't draw like that. No, I mean, they had some success, they had you know a number of teams that made the tournament and things like that, but they didn't. They weren't putting, you know, ten thousand fans into McHale for a for a women's game. Yet that came later, and you know, it was again, maybe circumstances are different. She's it was as again as
social media was a thing. Idea is really good at that, and the un as really good at that, and there's just more attention to the team and had a dynamic player and Aery McDonald and Sam Thomas and people like that.
So it all kind of clicked. At least that one year, right right, magic happened and it worked. Yeah, yeah, and good good for her, and she'll live with that forever. I mean, because you're one shot away from winning the national title in a stunning fashion. Yeah, okay, let's let's try to do this again. We're gonna go take a break.
We'll still be here.
We'll still be here trying to figure it out and come back with Michael e.
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Streamy live on the Ihearts RADIOI. This is Eye on the Ball with Steve Rivera on Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
Hey welcome back to Winning the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifteen. I'm Steve Rivera. You're Dave Silver down on the phone. We hope to have Michael V. Are you there? Michael? I am great, You're great. It's working.
Wow.
We had a hard time last hour.
Great.
Did you get in sleep yesterday or last night because you were busy?
Oh? That wasn't that bad. I mean, look, the first game was at four o'clock, so I was.
I was home by eleven, in bed by one or so, which is pretty typical for me anyway.
So yeah, no, I was.
I was happy to be in Mikale for an opening double hatter. I thought that was pretty cool.
You must have because you didn't write right, You're probably gonna do something in the future about both things.
I wrote about it this morning.
Okay, what till what was the story?
It was basically like three takeaways.
For each team, you know, like six total observations over the course of of four hours of basketball. Let's start with the women, however, many total hours of Michale.
Yeah, your three observations. I'll never do this again. That's one of them. What what did you get from the women's game?
I think to me, the biggest away from the women's game was that they had thirty bench points, which means that they actually have a bench.
You know, last year there were.
Times when they literally had one player that they could go to off of the bench.
You know, they had there were some games because of.
Transfers, people leaving the team, injuries where they were down.
To six healthy bodies. So they had eleven.
Players that they used yesterday, and a lot of them look like, you know, they're good enough to start. So I think that's a really encouraging sign. None of those points came from Montea. Do you know Who's was a very highly touted player coming out of high school who missed all of last season because of the knee injury. I think she'll get better over the course of time, and that'll make the team even deeper.
I was gonna say, much like the men's team, you know, it's a mixture of college basketball.
Is crazy.
I mean, it's a mixture of so many different elements of transfers and young players and veteran players. It's just I don't know how these coaches do it. I mean, how how do you think they are able to work their magic just to get these rosters put together.
I think it's easier in basketball because there's just fewer players that you need compared to say football. The difference with basketball, though, is that you're dipping into the international pool a lot, especially here, which I think is really smart strategy for both men and women. I would bring over as many European players as I could, because number one, they usually have a stronger base of fundamentals than a lot of the American kids do. And then number two,
they're much less likely to transfer. I mean, they're already traveling, however, a thousand, however, many thousand miles from home to come to this college destination.
They are probably less.
Apt to switch schools after making that particular commitment. But yeah, that's why the you know, that's why the coaches get paid as much as they do to to bring together, you know, players from all over the place, different styles, different personalities, and make them into a good team. And the best teams usually have good camaraderie and good chemistry.
So let me ask you, and this is a candid question. In your time here you covered football mostly and now you're doing a columnist work. How many games had you gone to for the women's side, women's basketball.
I'd say I've probably gone to at least half a dozen.
Okay, so okay, maybe more.
The reason try to.
Watch them, try to watch them on TV if I'm available as well.
Well.
The reason I'm going to ask the question, I just wanted to get some background. So have you noticed anything different from idea? Obviously, she she built this program, she had some success. Now she's trying to sustain it. Have you seen anything noticeably different? Maybe the same? Is she the same person?
Well, I think she's acknowledged that things have changed in the industry, and you know, if you don't change along with it, you're probably not going to be successful. She's had a lot of players leave. I mean, it's no secret, but that's happened. I mean, I think she's a she's a tough coach. She's a real old school she She's going to make you play defense whether you want to
or not. But I think, you know, there is uh she's had a realization that maybe she has to be a little bit more flexible with the modern player, right because you know, if they don't like the way things are, they can just go and there's there are no penalties for it. You don't have to sit out. You know, you can go anywhere you want, anytime you want. So, I mean that's a that's a very different paradigm that she's dealing with. I think it's affected her.
Recruiting approach a little bit.
I mean she's talked about, you know, like kind of trying to find the right personalities and role players to fit in with, like, you know, the big class that she brought in last year with m Jada Williams and Bray Playingham and Skylet Jones and Montea do because everyone wants to play and one of the main reasons that kids get unhappy is when they're not playing.
So I think that's one of the sort of the things that she's looked at, is how do I put the roster together?
You know, what are the types of players that I need to look for in this modern world to to kind of in dovetail with your previous question to put together a good team.
Yeah.
Yeah, I was gonna say the roster it's it's full.
I mean last year there were there were moments where there was what six or seven players, as you said, So, you know what about Montea do that she's a player that came in so highly touted. What eighth ranked player in the in the country gets hurt. What's her potential?
I think her potential is very high.
I didn't really realize this until I was talking to some of the other reporters, But she hasn't played like in real games, and I think over two years because she was amed, she decided to be a mid year en roie, you know, like leaving school early, coming here, you know, the equivalent of halfway through her senior year of high school. So I don't think she played high school ball her senior year, and then she didn't play after she got here that for that half season, so
that's essentially kind of her pseudo freshman year. And then she didn't play all of last year either.
So it's going to take a.
Little bit of time for her to get acclimated to you know, get comfortable with the speed of the game, to overcome critically the mental hurdle playing with repaired me, which you know, like she probably has never done that before, and you have to kind of you have to to defeat the injury in your mind. So I've heard that she's really smart, that she's a great facilitator, a great passer, someone who can play multiple positions, kind of like Helena
Poeo was. But she's also six two, Like I was struck watching her yesterday, Like this girl's big, Like she could legitimately play power forward in the women's games.
So I think there's a lot of potential there.
But they're going to be patient with him with her, I should say, and the fans should be patient with her as well.
Yeah.
I mean it's quite a class because you got Brea.
She was ranked just looking at some ESPN list here, I mean, excuse me, Jada was twenty first, and then Brea was fourteenth, and then well yeah, so they're Montea eight.
So they've got three three. You know, we'll see what comes over. And let's move to basketball really quick. Well we have you, We're going to go to football last, because but what were your impressions of last night? And Tommy.
I thought, well, first of all, Canisius is really small. I mean, every they didn't play anyone who was taller than sixty eight, so it's really difficult to to kind of each what you're watching, Uh, when you play an opponent like that, I mean, the teams that they're going to face sooner than later are going to be much bigger and much stronger.
But the thing that.
Stood out to me the most probably was just the play of Jaden Bradley, kJ Lewis and Caleb Love together. It was with the help of my colleague Brian Peterson. He showed me, uh the a Ken palm that that trio played together last year year about fourteen point three percent of time on the floor and last night I think it was over thirty five percent. Yeah, And I think that that those three players together there's a lot
of potential there. They are all really quick athletic, They can all jump like, they can harass opposing guards and defense, they can flash to the basket.
I really like the potential of that kind of big three for Arizona moving forward, which was.
As mentioned, like a configuration that they just didn't use that much last year because you know, they had Kylon Boswell, they had Telo Larson. kJ was just a freshman coming in. You know, when you're able to bring some guys back, which they were able to do, you know, they can build up some chemistry over time.
And I thought, I thought it really showed with those three.
Last night, right, No question, I've asked that question a few times since since the season started, or you know, the early season started, because it reminds me. It reminds me having covered the team for so long that the the Bibi Simon Dickerson group, and they had and they had Terry coming off the bench, which is like a four, And I remember raveling tell me this, this team is so good that you don't expect two guys to get in trouble. Maybe one guy will have a bad game,
two guys will be okay, one guy. You know, it depends on the combination. The only you know, the three cups there the pick, the poison whatever, and then you have another guy with Terry. But now you have three guys who can do a lot of different things. The thing about it they did all at one time in Utah was a Utah game when they all failed. But you don't, you know what I'm saying, they're that good. They're all not exactly interchangeable.
Yeah, they're not all the same.
Like they used kJ at the point last night a little bit, which was interesting becauld he'd be the last one of those three that I would view as a point guard. Yeah, I just still don't think he's a fullyformed player. He's still not a great outside shooter, hasn't really shown that yet, but excellent sensively, always plays with a lot of energy, hustle, He's strong. I think that is important for Tommy to figure out what.
He wants his rotation to look like. And I suggested in the column today that one of those three guys should be on the floor all the time.
Seemed like they got their their their offense really bogged down, and defense too. You could you could say yesterday when he kind of went to an all bench look instead of kind of mixing and matching, and that's something you just struggled a little bit. And I think you want to have one of those three guys out there all the time.
It's a lot like you know the NBA too, where it seems like I'm just thinking, I'm a big Warriors fan and all these it was always going to be Steph or or Draymond or Clay was going to be on the court. One of those guys was always out there, no matter who was the other combination. You always got to have, you know, one of those guys just to kind of keep things calm. And then having having some experience and some talent as well.
Yeah, and of course he just he just got previous back, yeah, previous last night. So that's, you know, an important piece. And there's there's still time to figure out the rotations.
Even you know it won't be figured out.
I'm sure you won't have it finalized and like, oh, I've got it via the Wisconsin game with the dude game. There was that one year a couple of years ago when he switched Paula Larson from the starting line up to the bench and I think January, Yeah, and it just like changed everything, you know, like it just became a much better team.
And they did that, so you know, it's it's it's always a work in progress.
That's got a football. Before we run out of time here, what are your thoughts to this point, and let me ask you specific to to to Brennan. Has he well this goes I want to say, has he had any missteps? Uh, we don't. We don't have enough time for that. But anything over the last few weeks that you've kind of struck you to say maybe he should not have said that or or anything like that. Because you watch the games, you know, you watch it twice in a week.
I haven't been watching these these last week minus, but I can't stomach it. So I did, you know back in my like.
The reporter days, I actually I did watch every game a second time, including that sixty nine to seven loss in at Washington State in twenty sixteen. So yeah, talk about a gutmant for punishment. I wouldn't say anything that he's said. It's just more what they've done on the field. Like I thought, against West Virginia, I saw some things on offense that were encouraging, like mixed it up a little more.
They had more motion.
They were using the tight ends and running backs like on the wings to help the offensive tackles, and I barely saw any of that against UCF. They've given up pressure off the edge all season, law and they haven't fixed the problem. That that worries me a little bit about this coaching staff is they've had some glaring issues and they haven't been able to solve them over the course of the season. I feel like on the other side of the ball, defensively, far and away their worst performance.
I did not like the scheme that they brought into this game. Duanne Keenas decided to stick with the dime package because he feels like, you know, those are the eleven players he could trust the most. But to do that against kind of a power running team never really made sense to me. It didn't work very well. So yeah, it's been a i'd say, just a deeply disappointing season on many levels.
Any pointing question, Dave, any more questions, Well, we're gonna they have a buye you think what are they could do in this bye week? Because Steve and I were talking about, well, they're going to make some coaching changes on the staff.
Do you do you see that happening before the end of the season.
Sure, sure doesn't seem like it. Ma's done with that. Brandon told us yesterday. We thought, you know, if it was going to happen that Monday would be that day, and it didn't.
So it seems like he's gonna stick with what he has for now, probably through the end of the regular season.
Which is only a few weeks away. At this point, you know, he's got a he's fighting for his.
Own job, and as crazy as it sounds, and that we all know what like what the buyout is, I mean, this is this is a serious situation for him and for that program Desiree read Francois. She's she knows how important football is, like you have to get football right or else, like whatever the money problems that they have now, they're only going to be worse. She also and she doesn't want to be left behind either, like should the whatever the super League or whatever you want.
To call it form, So.
You got to get it right.
And it really isn't a lot of time to waste.
So the Brent Brennan, he really he has to prove himself over these last three games and in the month of December if he remains on the job with the other transfer portal and whatever all their moves.
She she thinks he needs to make.
All He's on the clock and we got to get off this clock. Thanks, Michael, appreciate it.
Thanks guys, good you, ladies.
I tell you, thank you very much. Hey, let's take a break, Dave and come back Hey and talk the rest of the way. Sounds good, okay. Thanks. If you're an Arizona Man'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 lut 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
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More Streamy Live on the iHeartRadio AB. This is I on the Ball with Steve Ramira on Fox Sports fourteen fifty eight.
Hey, welcome back to my the ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty I'm Steve Barbara in with me today is Dave Silver dealing with my stuff on the board, doing a good job. Oh, I'm surviving on We got a lot of commercials. Don't jinx me because we have twenty minutes or fifteen minutes, okay, minutes.
Hell.
We just want to say real quick. We're going to be back at the Dell Soul in about to nine days. Jay and I look forward to seeing people there. We had a great time. Don't forget to have a lot of stuff swallows the Great golf course. Now you guys can enjoy the weather out there and in golf, and this is going to be what seventy degrees sixty degrees golf thank golf.
Weather's nice a little bit occasionally occasionally. Never played the the casino, of course, No, so low. Yeah, yeah, and have you done bingo down there? You're you're not a gambler, Well you'd be surprised.
Now, I'm just kidding. No, not that much. But you know it's you know, I don't.
I don't gamble a lot, so you know when we make our trips to Las Vegas or or wherever. Tahoe was in Tahoe this past summer, didn't gamble there, but I've never been.
Oh it's fantastic.
Yeah, I bet the weather's fantasticatiful, so eire doing the golf golf ro.
Now we were a little bit maybe about two or three weeks before that, but yeah, we used to go to Tahoe when I was younger.
Okay, so this is like some people noticed, we don't talk about gambling much. Not Jay's gone, which finem fine with these you know, didn't you guys used to be sponsored by one of these draft drunkings. Yeah, for two three years. Yeah, it was great, it was great. Now they don't do marry many of those things anymore. Yeah, except for TV. But if you're at if you're at The Soul, Moby's seasonal selections, visit Mobi's for Chef's seasonal selections. A lot of good sandwiches, a lot of good meals
to sit down and order there. Uh, they have us Pizza Place, they have om the Asian Place, they have Malitaz, the Mexican Place, Steaks at Py Steakhouse, right you probably you know, I.
Think I mentioned this before. We used to go to the bar there and they had a fantastic happy hour in the middle. Yeah, in the middle all right by the elevators over there. I haven't done that for a number of years, but that was.
Kind of a cool.
Yeah, you're talking about the hotel at the hotel yeah, hotel y Yeah. Yeah, it's nicery. Yeah, because the convention's just over the big.
Big yeah, like right right by there, not far from the actual Convention Center park.
And then they have the little big Wheel where you can win big money. Club sold members have a chance to win up to one thousand dollars in free play at Del Soul every Saturday or every Sunday. Through the November thirtieth went up to five hundred dollars in casino at the Sun. You know, you got to get an invite for the grand Finale on a Saturday, November thirtieth, for the chance to win up to ten thousand dollars
in cash. So a lot of things going on. Of course, you can always bet the games, the Sunday games, Thursday games of Saturday games, all the games college football. It's very popular. So we'll see you next Thursday out there. A lot of people showed up last week. It was a good time. People come in and ask us questions on air, so that was fine.
Nice.
Yeah, I mean we're really kind of in the glory time of the year when it comes to sports. You know, everything is kind of coming together, especially as college basketball started last night with official official games.
And you know who won that game last night. I'm sure Gonzaga did beat there wasn't it pretty close?
I don't know.
I thought they were killing them and then you might have ended up close. Yeah, I'll check that out.
You you had something to h not to tout ESPN plus that much, but I mean again, if you're a Wildcat fan, I pretty much recommend you get that. And there are so many games on that service that it's almost confusing when you when you first log on, there's got it. There'd have been twenty five games of all
different levels and locations, and you know the magnitude. Some of were just nothing type games like you know, the Air on a Canisius wasn't you know, right, big, big time, but there was other pretty good ones.
Yeah, so you had some time to talk about rather than indoor football. Indoor football, you're excited about this? The super Bowl of Indoor Football coming to Tucson, Well is a surprise. We're going to try to get Kevin Guy on here in the next day so to talk about it because he was instrumental in doing that. But yeah, tell me more.
Yeah, it's coming next year, in twenty twenty five, August twenty third, so right, speaking of the dead of summer, right before college football season starts. So it's going to be the it's going to be the first of three straight years that they're we're going to host the Indoor
Football League Championship game at the Tucson Convention Center. So before it had been in Las Vegas and other cities that they were thinking about, where Vegas, in Nashville, but Tucson has done pretty well with indoor football with the Sugar Skulls, they get pretty good crowds. Wow, and yeah, I mean Rio Nuevo went for it. Your buddy Edmund Marquez, you know him, right, had then.
Helped out with that.
He's one of my sponsors.
Yeah, so he had the vice chairman of Rio Nuevo. And it's nice to have an event like that really during a kind of a slow time. School's kind of coming back at the u of A as I think about it right around then, so could be some activity with students coming over. But it's a good opportunity beat out Las Vegas to get something like that, which is nice.
Yeah, he had no question, and it's surprised by this because his well, historically they haven't really I had a lot of attendance, a big attendance, you know, three thousand, three and a half thousand, maybe I've been to a couple of first ones and okay, I get it. But now they're gonna have the big daddy of them all. Yeah.
Well they evidently they bid for it. Nashville doesn't even have a team and they bid for it. Yeah, so it was like between Las Vegas and Nashville and Tucson and Tucson and.
Well, apparently I don't know in the story, does it say that the Rio Nuevo gave a.
Lot of money money a million dollars?
It was a million oh for three years? Yep, okay, yeah, because I thought it was the three hundred and thirty three for a year, So that makes sense they broke it down into three years, right. Yeah, it's good a city, good for the you know, Kevin guy, maybe he'll get that team in there, you know.
And the road Runners are in the early stages of their season two, so Rhana we able to help keep them here as the Coyotes were heading off to Utah. Right, but they're saying this championship game is going to be a multi day event. They're going to have some type of Hall of Fame inductions and some press conferences and celebrity celebratory festivities.
I'm wondering, well, you know, you're in Vegas and there's so much going on, right that maybe it didn't get highlighted enough. Yeah.
Well, it turns out, you know, I mentioning you of a football Their season next year is going to start August thirtieth, so it'll be exactly a week before that, so there'll be no conflict if you want to go week zero as they call it. I guess maybe August thirtieth against Hawaii. They're coming here up.
Here wturn game from the little take game.
Yeah, I guess so.
So you paid much attention to the bracketology like now now college basketball basketball now?
No?
So the latest the latest is ut huh already play? They have it the day after the Final four? Okay, I guess, I guess I've stated it. They updated. Where do you think Arizona is? And and the seed I'm gonna say probably a five seed. Five seed you're not being as generous as they are. Three seed, you know in the in the West, obviously going to Denver first round, which I hope does happen because I have relatives there, so I've been there before a few times. So uh
in in uh in watching basketball there. So three seed maybe playing a six seed Kentucky in the second round, but in Kentucky's now more of a how can I say this, more of a folklore than it is a basketball program.
Well, the beauty of of of last night to watching the Kentucky game is the re emergence of kerkkrisa on thirteen.
So did you watch that game a little bit? So what happened?
They won? I don't remember who they were playing.
Oh, to admit, but you've got a really good Kentucky fan here in Tucson that we text back and forth. And I'm like, Kerr Crease, I completely missed that story.
Yeah, he went in Gin and they went to so there he was so the guy, the guy knows how to sell himself.
Yeah, he's going to do like six years in college and then probably go back to Estonia and play professionally there. But sure it probably gets some good nil cash. And did they get I l he got a car or two when he went to West Virginia, Okay. And that was you know, whether it's true or not, that was one of the reasons what he wanted here. He wanted some dole here and they were going to do it. So he said, you know, good luck. They played right State okay, one O three sixty two.
Yeah. Yeah, Kerr had fourteen minutes, zero points. Oh really, but my assists? How many turnovers? That's the key for him. I'll have to check deeper, curs Kerr. He was good, he was you know outspoken guy year, very quittable, cussed on on camera a lot.
Yeah, you know, very energetic and emotional, and you know, made some interesting gestures during the during the game to the fans and kissing Michaelson the center court and Arizona ate it up. I remember he hit games like you go like, you know, seven for eight, for three, and then the next game you go like, oh for ten.
Yes, I remember that.
It was pretty erratic.
You either loved him or you hated him, or he was kind of polarizing.
Yeah, so it is.
But I just want to say there's number three right now, and you know what that means in November. Not a damn thing, not a damn thing for you know, Arizona went to do last year at this time and obviously surprised everybody, and the beat Duke on the road. And you know, Tommy, I don't say bless his heart, but bless his heart. And he says, I asked him, what does this all mean? He says, well, it doesn't mean much. Yeah, and he's right. I mean's it's what you're determined or
what happens in March. Yeah, I mean it was a great win. It you know, it's a good The good thing about it's short term kind of situation too. You're on TV one, was watching it. Maybe it was the only big college game that night. You know, Arizona going into to do is a big, big deal, So didn't hurt. Didn't hurt then, But you're right, like, who cares three
months later? Yeah? No, No, It's like when they when I covered the team when they're going to New York and win to the n I T after nobody gave them any kind of respect and they'd win it, finished out of the rankings, and then by the week and they're number four in the country. What did it mean?
Right?
Nothing? Right?
This year we got the Bahama the Bahamas games right around Thanksgiving, so that'll be you know, good exposure if they do.
Well and well.
The reason for watching that or going to that, I wish I could. I wanted to, but there's so much going in on in my life is that the Bahamas. They could very well play good Sega. Yeah, in the finals, and we haven't we been waiting for that for three four years.
Yeah.
Did you see the highlight of Mark Fu's son getting dunked on last night? He was in late late in the game, and they just look on Twitter or some place like that and there's he just got destroyed on a dunk, one of those you know, posterized kind of plays.
I didn't even know he was on the team, but by Baylor. Yeah, yeah, I'm just trying to find a score here with that. I think in Kenzaga won pretty easily. But you know, welcome to the sports world of college basketball. In my mind, the best the best time of the year, well not so much, not till March. March. The best time one on one sixty three and it was not close. Really, Yeah, that's Baylor, a big twelfty.
They were up. I was nineteen at halftime.
Yeah, I saw I saw a herd that and then because it was it was a later game than Arizona, Baylor's has not won, They've they've actually played a second game.
They got really outscored, demolished by nineteen in the first half and by nineteen and the second half.
Well, so they got wiped out. Maybe well the Big twelve may may not have that better team in Baylor. Then that's good for Arizona. No, I mean she they are the rank eighth Baylor. Oh yeah, there was a little go higher than that. Yeah, So we'll see. And the Zaga's pretty good. They always good and there they're another team that plays really well in November December, Yes, and then March comes and we'll see. Do you think Yukon is gonna win three in a row.
It sounds like he had a lot of roster turnover finally, so maybe not. You know, yeah, but he's had a new coach. He's Actia coach.
Yeah.
I enjoy watching it.
You talked about this with with I think with Michael h and maybe even with Saul that that it's a hell being a coach right now because you've got to recruit players and then you've got to recruit the ones you have, and and I know that Brendan did that, he did that very well. With these guys. Now they're just not playing for him. They're not playing hard for him.
In my mind, I mean, he got here, he didn't he miss the first and transfer portal too. So January literary, Yeah, I don't know, but I'm just it's just amazing how when you really think about it and you look at it from way above, like wow, they do have you know, three players from last year and two players from international and a bunch of transfers and how these frosters are put together, especially basketball.
Yeah, well, Tommy's got a knack for this, right, he's got He's kept that European international connection, which helps. We don't know anything about the guys, and then they come in they play very well. Yeah. The guy that I thought would play better last night, del Orso, who didn't he He was one for nine, one for whatever it was. He didn't have a good shooting, and that's what he's kind of being paid for. Yeah, so I think he's gonna be okay down the road, but last night was
not a great debut. Did you see his press conference? No, you should. You should watch it. He I didn't know who he was, didn't know much about him, but I listened to press concert. Very bright dude came in from Campbell I think it was, and he's from Australia. Very bright dude, like he's like one of my favorite players now, just in the things he said, very very insightful. You know, I'm here doing this. I dreamed about the NBA, but I had a process.
You know, did he graduate at Campbell enough years?
He may have, He may have. I'm not sure. I'm not sure about that, but the great press conference is very smart someone's I think he was talented who does a lot of different things, or Waka who's kind of there's more to them besides basketball, right, you know, and those are the stories that we love telling Townsend.
You know, didn't have much last night, but that was you know again, a lot of these guys are chalking it up to kind of opening game jitters, right, but we saw him in the exhibition, so I'm sure that'll switch up and you know what, he's capable.
Yeah, I mean they get I'm.
Sure there's they're nervous and if they don't do well right off the bat, you know, they lose some confidence and next thing you know, they're off, they're on the bench because they've got twenty guys on the bench that can come in.
The guy that you're kind of hoping for or pulling forward at least for me, and I'm not sure why, because it's going to be tough for him. Is Martinez is you know the guard who does get time? Because now Luke he has in front of him right the threesome and then he but I think you get some time?
Yeah? Did he I know he came in later.
Yeah, he had some points. He had some points. He had a couple of big threes I think it was, and he looked good, you know. For he probably end up playing five six minutes a game, right, you know, and being serviceable.
Which is kind of with these teams like this need I mean most of them. How deep is are they going to go right eighty?
Because Tommy did go ten deep and then he went to the bench, but ten deep with two different starting fives almost yeah, will he do that down the road?
You know, coaches don't do that well when you're playing duke now, probably not right.
Right, But the good thing is if they get enough feel for the game that they'll get him in it or two or whatever. Right, but especially for this because I don't know if there's a big drop off. There's gotta be some drop off, but not a ton of it, just to give him a blow and kind of come in and get out and you know whatever.
Yeah, I think, you know, it's like anything else.
You want to get him some experience and hopefully it's some quality time and not just garbage time at the end of the game.
So sure where you may need them.
You never know, Guys get hurt or there's you know, there's foul situations, and that seems to be kind of what undos teams undo teams.
You know, at the end, okay, I think we gotta go, we gotta go down.
We're done. You see you next time.