Wednesday, February 26, Hour 1

This is I on the Ball with Steve Rovera on Fox Sports fourteenth fifth day, powered by Nova Insurance Services insure your most prized becausess yet.

Thank good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to Eye on the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifteen times. Steve Rivera in with me today. It's almost my regular guy.

Dave Silver. I'm back. You're back. Get rid of me. You can't.

You can always not answer that, Phoe, that's true text. Oh damn, Steve, I can't come on. I was gonna try that today. Wasn't doing anything else.

The price is right's over. You can't stay and wats that all day?

Yeah?

How many?

How many soaps or podcasts to I don't know.

So it's good to be back Sports Center. You can't what. I've got a game day.

So you got a little preview action today, and so that's good.

We've got a guy Juan, Yes, sir, it'll be tell us all about today's game, tonight's game, and I know it all. What kind of say the good The good news is guess what, it's not a nine o'clock game. That's not feel this feels really good. I get home and get some sleep. Well, head over right after pretty much. Yeah, should should be a who's in town? There's there's a better winter. You might hear some chance from the sidelines.

I sure hope not.

Uh so since the last two three days, uh, since we've been on the show. Uh you have a the students on zoo should an apology?

Right? Yes? And so did the Big twelve? Did you see there?

Yeah?

Yeah, and see that?

What did what did the How did the Zona Zoo thing even happened?

How did that? How does that even?

Is there there's a president or is there's like a chair who runs the zoo that will.

Make that statement? They do? They do have that.

They have leadership, some type leadership a student, I think so, I think advisor.

They probably have an advisor, but I think the students kind of run the place.

Yeah, they do. How it's been run.

Yeah, it'll be interesting to see how things play out tonight. If there's any like, you know, people watching.

I guarantee you know, I guarantee you they did. Hey, you don't look like a student. You look like you're forty. Why are you in the sec.

Why are you wearing that pop outfit? It's stay security in the back of year as it should. I mean, I still believe that they probably put those cameras in there and they help. There's probably more than then we know what's going on, and people has been I'm just guessing suspended for stupid.

And sadly it's usually from that section to I mean, you know there's too many people on scholars should row, you know, chanting things like.

Mildred in section five is not throwing or popcorn or glass of water or bottled water.

Hell, but that's nourishment. Yeah, No, it's gonna be good.

I think, just with the publicity that's been coming out the last you know, since the weekend, they need to.

Have a calm that. You know, it's gonna again.

It's gonna be on ESPN too, so I'm sure there's gonna be some comments there all right, subject matter.

It's it's more than a one day New Day situation, right or a news cycle thing.

Yeah, it's now you're we're still talking.

Yeah, and you know, basketball games just pile on top of each other, so you know, here we are just a couple of days later talking.

So we'll see how good the game is. We'll talk more about it in a bit. Today we're going to have one of my former interns who's got a job, a real job kind of yours for pH X pH X I believe, And next a pH pH X out of Phoenix. He's one of the podcast guys for or for Arizona Wildcats, Kevin Thomas. I really liked him when he was with us. I got a job right once he left last year, so he's been with us here in the first hour. And then we have Jason Barr, the Channel nine anchor and sports anchor.

Yeah, I had that job for a few years.

Yeah, you fund to see what's going on in the Let me in the newsroom today.

Let me ask you a dumb question because I'm just worried for a dumb answer or a good answer. So you how long were you in the how long have you in the work your work life? How long was your work life?

Total? Total? Forty four years? Four years? And you were here for.

I've been here, no no, no, on TV on TV twenty eight, twenty eight years.

Okay, I was retorn three. So was this was that your best time in your life?

Oh?

Yeah, yeah, by far? I mean, you know, it was what I wanted to do. I mean I wanted to do that basically coming out of so high school.

So in in uh in cow Poly.

Where were you before? I was in San Elisabeth. But so that that doesn't that wasn't part of it.

No, that was my that some learning experiences before that. Palm springs right right out of school. So yeah, it's a couple of jobs before I got here, and you know, I stuck around again I've mentioned a million times, but you know I got here loosey first year and I was, you know, here the entire run, which was great.

Yeah.

So and that's kind of what has kept people like me and you probably you know, we know we were going to be having you know, some big moments every year with something to look forward to. It was big time sports, and you know, I had a lot of stuff, a lot of stuff going on.

So yeah, I stayed right, And that's what my boy here Won is hoping trying to capture, recapture or whatever. Right, be patient, I mean, yeah, yeah, yeah, you got to be paid, right, yeah.

Yeah, And things don't happen unless you pursue them, and things happen organically or you know, serendipitous.

Definitely, if you can get into the business, that's probably the first hurdle, and then it's what you make of it once you get in there, because I mean a lot of people get in and they just fail or they don't care.

Well in your business specifically because oh I didn't, I didn't.

I didn't. Well.

Even now they're all doing their own cameras, their own right and this, and they're studying that too, right there, because before you had a cameraman and most of the time, and then now no one has a cameraman.

Do you have their own cameras? So you learn that. I guess it's part of the job.

I mean, when I first started in television all those years ago, I had to shoot most of my stuff.

So I learned.

I learned that part of the business, but I didn't want it to be the main part of the job. That's one of the reasons I came here. And then eventually it did become part of the job here, and that's kind Did you catch a catch tail end of it a little bit?

Yeah?

Yeah, And it was more volunteer. Sometimes it was like, well, do we want to get an extra highlight. I'll take the camera and go shoot it, and you know, come back and and use that. No times have change times have changed, no question. So they play you touch a night. They play Iowa State Saturday and guess what. One of the best teams in the country lost last night in a huge fashion. Oklahoma State beat them, probably one of

Yeah, they were.

They're pretty injured last night, more than the two than they were missing against Houston.

Probably probably about the same. So so let me me if you learned anything from me. One, there's been a few things I hope you can put on your resme sports in general, and this maybe win or two on the list. If you're not emotionally ready, emotionally ready for anything, you're gonna get drass kicked. Just you just will. They were emotionally ready for Houston because it was a monster game, right, So they play Oklahoma State, one of the worst teams

Always, always, always happen.

Always.

You could people if they had money and you wanted to bet it and consistently bet it, you'd make a lot of money. Yeah, because you kind of knew when to do it, what he had come and.

You could exactly.

And last night when I saw that they had lost, I'm thinking not that shocked. They had just come off of the what do you call it, the h I don't know what this is, the the trap game. Yeah, you play hard, play hard, to play your ass off almost win look very oppressive. And people are still saying that's the final four team when they get a ready back and then lose to that what.

Yeah, And it's interesting that the conference, other than really Houston, there's been a lot of that.

I think.

I mean every kind of time you turn around, there's a you know, a Texas Tech upsetting somebody, or you know, Arizona upsetting somebody going on the road winning games they didn't think they would win. It seems, you know, obviously the game here with BYU, I don't think we thought that was going to happen. So maybe it's just the nature of this conference we have to kind of yeah, everything's not predictable.

And no, no, you're you're you're probably right on that too. Yeah, No, and that's the fun part of it.

Yeah, it is, I mean, we come on, Dad, We all knew this was gonna be crazy good, crazy good when.

We got into it, right, Yeah, because I don't know about football, and I didn't really care about football, but basketball. You said, God, I wish you had tickets.

So I wish I had a season tickets because this is what you want to see.

Yeah, because you looked at the non conference schedule, remember when we were talking back in like you know, September October.

And things like, oh god, this looks terrible.

Then you think, oh, wait a minute, when they have like ten big twelve.

Games here too, right, and the only thing that we're not gonna have was the Kansas game.

Yeah, well you know they're not even that great this year, yes, at this point, but yeah, that would have been fun to have.

Isn't that good for Arizona?

Yeah kind of because maybe there's a chance, with good chance, it's gonna be tough there, But.

Yeah, they could do that.

And it's you know, it's a it's a weekend game, right, isn't it like a Saturday next Yeah, it'll be on.

And then they turn around right away and guess what happens.

The big twelter day there in Kansas is a big twelfth from Missouri. Always an adventure, understand, we have we got a button five minutes. Okay, so there's that, you'll have breaking news. I don't want to take away breaking news from you. Anything else? Did I say my four for seventeen?

Oh?

Jason Barr? Yeah, you can compare notes. You probably left prepared. Did you leave some stuff there?

There's probably some things stretch you go and remember I left something and you know in this drawer?

Yeah, yeah, Dave Silver was here. Yeah. No, I don't think they want that there.

Okay, they see Baylor loss last night too? Who did to I didn't see that. They're kind of enough little prefall, yeah.

A little bit that the kind of doing what Kansas did for a good while, or you're just shouldn't.

Be a good team on paper, but you never know. You never know. Who do you have you hanging around with your buddies?

Right?

Not not older people.

Like me who think that there was someone who needs to be better better than the show, you know, and I'm sure you have guys like that too, what the hell's going on? And probably ask you now that you kind of they think that you're in the know, which we're not.

All in the No, No, we're just analysts. Who I want to say, if you want to put that label to us, But there's no such thing as experts.

No, no, no one's ever an expert. So what do they ask you? What the hell's going on?

Pretty much almost after every loss, I get the we need a fire tommy someone someone's not playing as well as they should. There they were a first round draft pick begin the season. Now, yeah, who knows, maybe they'll play in the G League.

You on Twitter? You're on Twitter? Yeah, sure, yeah, I see it all. I see it all.

And I wish I could just I told you before they even show started. I wish I could a run away.

Twitter, Twitter World and the only I've basically given up Twitter, but I'll look at it, damn you. I've good to other places now, reds, Blue Sky like that. Why even torture myself even because I can't stand looking at Twitter. I look at it, I look at it. It's really good for sports. I have to admit.

Oh, oh yeah, you know.

I mean when a game's ending, like you know, whatever happened with the b YU thing, as soon as that was over, I mean because I was watching it. But you know, I learned more after Twitter after I signed it on Twitter.

But for the most part, I'm not on there. Oh oh god, I'm on Facebook. I'm on that too. Got to keep up on my birthdays, my memories, memories. I remember that four years ago. I'm not gonna lie I do.

I do keep Facebook for birthdays, notification.

Every once in a while there's some party I get invited to just because I'm on Facebook.

I'm losing friends like crazy on Facebook. Now I'm just deleting you have friends barely my relative relatives. But yeah, the points I do.

I just I have a lot of friends that I have no idea who they are. I don't know about you, all right, half of them are Hey.

I know Dave Silver. All of a sudden, I'm a friend with them. Okay, oh what time is it good? That's cool, that's cool. Yeah, that's cool. Work. Ren Esteine, get ahold of mister Thomas. He's gonna call us. Actually, are you ready?

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Steve Rivera, he's got his eye on the ball on Tucson Sports Station yet Fox Sports fourteen fifty eight.

Hey, welcome back to the ball.

You're a Fox Sports frteen fifty I'm Steve Rivera in today with me Dave Silver.

We've got quant controls now.

We have our former guy, mister Kevin Thomas, your former intern here at the.

Eye on the Ball. I miss you, man, or do you miss me? I should say I do?

I do indeed miss you. It's good to be back on the show in this capacity, but I definitely miss working the ones and twos, and I know my guy one is holding it down. So I did miss on the show.

No, I learned from the best. Oh that's right, did you get Okay, that makes sense. It's almost a year ago. It's not a year ago, right, Yeah, just about Kevin Thomas. They're paying you in your in you're buying groceries.

Yes, yes, I can afford groceries. I can afford eggs.

Life is good.

Eggs pay you will only God. Yeah, my cholesterol levels is good because I'm not eating eggs. Hey up, well, what the heck are you doing?

Are you like a five a tool guy with five jobs or what do they have you doing? Yeah?

I'm pretty much a five tool player over here. I came up here to pH X as a producer, so that's just you know, running the shows, making thumbnail that ving videos, and then I got called up to do the Wildcats pod and it's been a really fun ride since then. So now I co host the Wildcats podcast with my guy gaming, and I produce some of our other podcasts like the Diamondbacks podcast and the Mercury Podcast.

Cool. So you're busy.

Are you guys doing things like right after the games or do you give yourself a day to kind of think about what just happened. How soon do we see your product on the air.

Yeah, So we do a live show at noon five times a week every day but Thursday and Sunday, and then after every game we go live for a post game for at least an hour to break down what happened, give out a player of the game and break it. We'll just break everything down, kind of react to the good and the bad.

Good for you, it's good, yeah, good for you. You must be having fun and and and how uh, well, you're having fun and you're probably frustrated because you're a fan. You're allowed to be a fan of podcast.

Yes, yes, yeah, no, I'm having a ton of fun. I think the format that we we use here at Page Next is a good one because it allows us to kind of be pundents in a way where we have our fandom still at our core, but we try to be pretty fair with our analysis.

Uh.

And that's kind of where I kind of you know me, you know, you know.

Me, see you.

I'm a pretty pragmatic guy, so I'm never too far out there with my takes. But it's nice to be able to still be a fan at the end of the day and and react in that way.

That's true because you are a pragmatic guy.

Are you surrounded by sun devils at work or the scene ex People?

How how's that breaking down for you?

Yeah, there's there's a there's a bunch of enemies up here. It's it's house every day. But no, there's there's actually a fair amount of wildcats in the office. Our our GM is a wildcat. Our head of content is a wildcat, and obviously me and Damon are wildcats. So we have we have our we have army up here. But it's definitely trying to spread the good word in a bad place, so to speak.

Any questions for you, guy, John, Yeah, so just obviously you're able to be the fan, able to be the analyst.

Where is this Arizona basketball team right now? In your eyes?

You know?

I think this Arizona basketball team, like for a good part of this season, after they kind of turned it around after starting under five hundred, I had hopes that they were rounding their game out to be the best game that they had played all year, and then this recent stretch has kind of hit them, and I felt like it was out of the blue. And what Tommy Lloyd had to say after last game about how the guys were casual and they're approached to BYU and maybe

Okay, so Elite eight potential. What would be that extra push that they need to be a Final four team, possibly a national championship contender.

I think there are a couple of things that I've noticed over the course of the season that have been plaguing the team. Obviously, they just don't have shooters on this roster, right, And Tommy Lloyd spoke about this, He's spoken about this where if you're not a good shooting team, you got to take care of the ball. And I think consistent, consistent ball security and also consistent intensity on the offensive end. Arizona doesn't really have a go to offense.

Am I right?

You gave me a bunch of things that they don't have, and you're talking to Elite eight.

What you've dropped?

I said, they're feeling. I said, that's their ceiling. I think like, if if things are working, if the defense, because let's be honest, that defense is championship level like the defense is really good, it's it's it's the offense and the lack of consistency. Like, when's the last time Arizona's played a full forty minute game this season? I really can't. I'm I'm stuggling.

You know, I love you, but we've got to call it's the BYU coach defense?

What defense?

Yeah, No, they didn't.

They didn't show up. They didn't show up, and they lost on home court. And that's what happens. Like I'm totally with you on that, but that kind of plays into the consistency piece that I'm talking about. I don't know what's got to change, but here Tommy Lloyd say that they took preparation for BYU of all teams casually was a real red flag. And so I think that the potential of the defensive championship level, the potential of

Yeah, they've been pretty inconsistent.

And again some of these late game you know, slumps, I guess you could call it where there's just nothing's working in the last sometimes last ten minutes. We've seen that so many times this year, and you know that happens in March. It's going to be quick, quick, and they're going to be out fast. Yeah, just can't play that way.

Then, right, And depends on the matchups obviously, if they play a team that slows them down, plays defense and that and and to your point, Kevin, they are who they are, and you listed some of the don'ts or the nut haves, and that's who they are, and that's a that's a concern.

Yeah, because it's it's the intangibles that like, like again I keep bringing it up, but the red flag of them taking it casually really struck me because when you when you are deficient in areas like shooting and and uh, bench depth to an extent, I think that controlling the controllables is one of the one of the most important things.

I think, Daves, I don't know.

Will you hear when I asked about the intangible and intensible? So the X factor? Guy, No, I don't think. Okay, So you were here, weren't you? And I asked you who? And you said uh.

I believe the questioning was who's been Arizona's most consistent player outside of Caleb Love?

No, no, no, no, who? I said, moving forward? Who's the X factor? Who needs to show up? And moving forward for the rest of the year. You got four regular season games, a tournament game, and then a possible run at the tournament. Who's the X factor moving forward to be this team better?

I don't think I was. If I were to choose someone, it would be Carter Bryant.

Okay, and that's been mentioned before, Dave. I'd say Jaden Bradley, and that he too has been mentioned.

What do you got? What do you got?

You know, I'm tired of I'm tired of calling Caleb Love an X factor just because of the fact that.

Yes, right he is, well just yes, yes, who did who? You worked with him? Yes?

Oh boy, oh boy, you've got to stop golfing.

You've got to stop golfing either. But I have a different dude than these two sos.

You know, honestly, I I think my pick would be would be Carter Bryant. But if if I don't want to, you know, copy anybody there, but that would be my pick, I'm gonna go with Henry Vasar. I think if he if he can, if he can be a dominant force down low and figure out how to be consistent. Uh, he's shown real flashes of being an NBA caliber guy, which I think coming into the year I didn't really

So I I went out of the box because I think that what he can provide is important. And it was still also because he can open up the spread the court, he can hit shots, and you've seen him when he's done well recently. H he got twelve points to eleven points last time. Those were points you don't usually get, don't don't usually get from him. And what he can do is, you know, they need a shooter.

And he's the next guy.

And if he could show up and be more consistent like he kind of has recently, that he'd be my ex guy. You know.

That's actually that's actually a really good and interesting opinion to have because I think ad Oh, like you said, they don't have any shooters outside of Ado on this roster. I just is he gonna get enough clock to be an X factor?

Right?

Because Tommy Lloyd was talking about in the BYU post game, I think maybe or maybe it would. Yesterday actually was talking about this about can he went to ad Oh and say, can you get me three open threes in three minutes? Right? And I like, he's not going to have enough. Lease, I don't think really impact the game the way maybe he should. But that's just because the big twelve is so physical. But yeah, that's been interesting one for sure.

Yeah.

Well he was kind of joking with that because I think is Brian and asking the questions. He said, what do you want me to tell him? Can you give me three straight? But yeah, but he needs he needs something like that, just take your shot, don't be afraid to shoot it and catch a catch and shoot type of thing.

Yeah, which he did.

He's the one guy on the team that really has that trade, right that the one guy on the team that really will shoot it and just believe it's going to go in. I think I almost feel like Caleb Loves kind of lost that from his game well to the season. I don't know where it went, but.

To your point one, I think the next guy would be Carter Bryant, who can do that too, and we've seen that where he can. He said, God, he's got he's coming along he's coming along. He can hit that fifteen eighteen twenty footer.

Yeah, and he can.

He can do it in a variety of ways. Honestly, on offense because he's so he's so athletic, and he's so lengthy. But I love Carter Bryant. Whether his potential could be on defense. Honestly, the reason that Carter Bryant's not getting the minutes that maybe everyone thinks that he should, including myself, is because he does have those weird lapses on defense that a freshman is going to have. But if he can clean up some of those mental lapses

Well, you guys, we didn't even talk about another cute guy, and that's kJ Lewis, who provides so much and offensively he's been out of it all year, right, yeah, but defensively you need him because he does shut down. Last game, he was not kJ Lewis three.

We don't.

I think we were talking the other day too. I mean he played nineteen minutes, He had five fouls. I mean, he had a bunch of turnovers, he had a bunch of assists. It was a weird a weird line for him. And maybe maybe that hand injury or whatever risk injury.

Has he talked about that and no he hasn't. But he didn't play with the thing.

This time, Okay, so maybe that's over with, yeah, or maybe he needed to Yeah, But I mean, and he's definitely a you know, if not an X factory's a wife factory. He's a guy that plays that great defense and you're gonna need that in these tournament games. You know, they're that continue playing like this are gonna they could be like a five or six seed and game number two is not going to be an easy one like sometimes those second games are, but you gonna be careful.

Yeah.

No, I think that kJ Lewis he kind of is like Jayden Bradley in a sense where you know that those two guys are gonna show up and do what they do every night, right, And I think when they don't do that, when they do have an off night, it definitely stands out because we're so used to them, Like kJ Lewis We're so used to him playing top end defense and kind of being that multi school guy, kind of affecting the game in any way that he can.

Ever.

Garden one through five really impressive stuff.

So so I'll ask you, I don't want to beat a dead horse, but I'm want to beat it anyway. And we talked to you on Monday about the crowd and the kids.

Surprise. Not surprised of what happened on Saturday in the student section.

Not surprised, but I don't approve of it, right, I think that DYU unfortunately experiences this. I was talking to a coworker about this. YU experiences this on a lot of campuses, unfortunately, and it's an ugly thing that the student section did. It wasn't really a good representation of the fans or the university, and it was really unfortunate.

It's gonna be I mean, I've been around a long time and I do remember the years of Arizona and BYU, and it's going to be a good rivalry. There's a lot of people in this state who care about both those schools, and they're good and they're good they I mean, they're good and the major sports that we see them in, and you know, it's it's unfortunate that this really first big basketball game there against the between these two since what since the Gimmer game backim months ago. Yes, you know,

And and you know what, the I didn't even think about this until you had just mentioned that, But it's it's another disappointing thing, is I think McHale was really showing itself as one of the best places to play in the nation this season on a real stage, Like I think that it was a This season has been an introduction into the Big twelve, an introduction to a lot of new fan bases that don't really understand what

And it's gonna take a while to get that fixed if they can get a fixture. Yeah, yeah, Okay, what do you think about tonight?

Cats? Should cover. I think that the Cats, you know this is I, like Tommy Lowyd, expect this to be maybe the first complete game of the season for Arizona. Right Utah just fired their head coach in kind of what seemed to be a confusing timing of the decision, but maybe not the result, you know, the results might have been the result anyway. Craig Smith was pretty much a five hundred coach there had you have to reach

Okay to your mouth, to Jay's gambling habits ears, he's gonna.

Okay, thanks man, I'll be on.

I'll be on the spread again as well. Put my money with my mom.

So you're on after the game, yep.

We'll be on about ten minutes after the game to wrap up everything and and talk about hopefully in Arizona Wildcat victory. Back on track.

What what's the website again? Remind everybody?

Yeah, so you can find me on Twitter at keV O post k e v O p O s T s U. We have a YouTube channel. It's pH and X Sports. That's kind of the hub for all of our all of our content and that's the kind of where you can find our show mostly phn X underscore wildcasts on Twitter as well.

O good, great, great, great to hear from you, Kevin. Thanks for coming on.

Great, great to be back. I missed being on the show, and I gotta get I gotta get one of those books you've I got to get one of those books from you.

Yes, of course, now that you've got money, you can't get too exactly, tell your mom, tell you your folks, Hello, your mom, Hello, I will, I will, thanks man. All right, yep, you well, here we go. We just take a break here and come back onto side. So if you're an Arizona men's basketball fan, you know it's been successful for newly forty years.

Now.

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Streaming live on the iHeartRadio app. This is I on the Ball with Steve Raverra on Fox Sports fourteen fifty.

Hey, welcome back to Whying the ball here on Fox Sports fortune fifty.

I'm Steve Rivera.

In with me today is Dave Silver if he's got Juanta control and we got you got a call?

Who's this?

Hey, Steve?

Hey, what's up? Gentlemen? This is Garry.

I've got to call in now and then.

Okay, great, but he got well to Utah.

The Utah game got me thinking and I forgot it wasn't this coach a coach before? This guy was I believe his name was Larry. Was Larry Christoviac?

Yes, yes, big tall guy.

From what I remember, I thought he was kicking.

Butt over there.

Did he let go for performance or do you run into some kind of a scandal because I remember that a surprise when when they you know, cut ties with him.

Harlan got rid of him too.

Mark Carlile, Yeah, I don't remember if there was a scam.

I think there was. You know, they were just kind of mediocre and been there a long time when he was meeting.

Yeah, and I don't know if they were visioning going on the Big twelve.

But you know, no, no, you remember the uh that pelet used to play there for Tella Larson.

For some reason I had him confused with was that Oregon State? Was it Wayne Wayne Tinkle Tinkle?

I believe it's his name. Yeah, no, No, he's still never doing what he does there.

Well, do you guys remember the back twelve tournament? I want to say it was about three four years ago.

I wanted.

I don't know if they were at twelve seed, but they were way down there, and I just remember they kept winning and you they must have got knock dirted because I was rooted for those guys. What I remember Oregon State went four four games and four days to win the whole damn thing.

Sure, no, no, and they made a run in the tournament. I didn't you do the sweet sixteen? Are? Yeah? Yeah, eight?

I think yeah, they were like beat UCL beat teams or USC. I think it was, uh no, you're you're exactly right. They went on a roll and continue to that roll into the tournament.

Yeah, it's hard to follow him now because I don't know how.

To do them.

But I guess once you get into the NCAA, we're gonna it'll be weird playing some of these teams. Wait, Mike, I still think we're in the conference with those guys, but not anymore so. It's it's all kind of spread.

Out well a lot.

I figured you guys would kind of have some in depth idea. You know what happened to guy?

One of the last bracketologies that I saw.

I don't know if it was the second to last one or this last one that has Arizona playing Oregon and the second round of both teams win, which.

Would be you know, Okay, we got to be a three or four.

I doubt we're any better than that.

It was a four, I don't think Gary, right, I don't think they're going to be less than a four.

I don't think so.

But okay, I'll take that.

Yeah, I think I think that's fair. In that fair they're one of the top sixteen teams in the country.

What about the women, Yeah, they're making it or not got right now?

One one looks like tough. I don't know, it's just really tough.

Ok Yeah, Yeah, I understand that they trying to climb out of a hole. Yeah, I figured out. Okay, gentlemen, I'd like to catch it up with you now, and I appreciate.

Give us a call anytime.

Yeah, Larry Christoviacs last two years finished in eighth place in the conference.

So what were the under five hundred?

Obviously the last year they were under five hundred, that might have been a COVID year twelve and they only played twenty five games.

Oh, twenty twenty.

Yeah, the twenty twenty one season, and he's done. He's been done since then for four years. Yeah, but he had a pretty good I mean he was there for from twenty eleven to twenty.

They've had a hard time.

They've had a hard time replacing the Jarras since I know, really since the ninety eight game the trend.

Do we have to go that far back? Sorry, sorry for the reminder.

No, I mean they have not won in Michale since nineteen eighty six. Yeah, you know, you don't remember. They looked it up.

I mean I was trying to remember who's their coach. I looked at this guy, Lynn Archibald. Oh yeah, yeah.

Yeah, And I looked at their roster and there's like not a name I can recognize.

On any given day, Dave.

But in eighty six was that let's see now, was that the curR injury year?

I don't remember. Was they lost UTAP in the first round in the tournament? I don't know. If I don't know if the game was you need to really dig into the eighty seven the year eighty seven, Yeah, it was the year he was out. They lost. I think they lost the UTAP that eight year. Yeah, but they have not won.

And you know they played Arizona all these years in Pac ten, pack twelve twelve Man.

Well, you know there's a there's that trend, always that trend.

And we're you know, we were talking about their coach being fired, gonna have you know, they're gonna have extra motivation. How how's that gonna fly? They'll probably come out, they'll be fired up. I'm gonna guess at the beginning.

Typically it always happens that way.

Usually, Yeah, it's always that we're gonna play hard for him, We're gonna show them, show them what they did, and then it's next week after that they fall into who they are.

Yeah.

So yeah, I think this is a game where they they possibly have a lead of the half and then Arizona, Yeah, decides to get their act together because I think this is gonna be Utah team that plays freely. They they don't have the expectation on their head anymore of Hey, maybe we can make a run of the the March madness, but probably not. No, let's just go out there and compete and possibly win.

Let me ask you, did uh And I kind of agree with Kevin, but what did you make of the uh uh? They played non Chilantra? What was the what was the casual? Casual?

Casual?

What did you think when Tommy said that? That hit me too, Not to the degree that Kevin is, but it was a little bit concerning to me when he said that night and he was upset.

Were he in the room?

I was not?

He was?

He was?

I asked Tommy, I Troy of this one. And and you've been around a couple of years now, right, Tommy's changed a little. He's more snarky, he's more fighting.

I think because he sees a lot in this team. Unless he's a lot of the potential, like Kevin talked about, the ceiling can be high for this team. It's a matter of wanting it.

Get it and get them, get him, getting them to to understand that.

Because realistically they they shouldn't have been casual for real let's you know this is these are his guys.

I mean, he put together this roster, and it makes him look bad if they're going if they're not playing as hard as he wants them to play, and if he watches them after the game and says, you know what, you guys weren't playing that hard. I mean you're chasing after guys that were wide open half the time. There are a lot of wide open three pointers that game. I don't know if that's is that the sign of the casual iness? Who knows what you what? He's pinpointing there totally.

So I traveled with the team for twenty three years and and that word just it's a good word because I saw that casual work and.

Loot and loot.

Every game was the same for loot, right, whether it was a championship game, it was a He never got too high, never got too low. Everything was important. You learned what you learned Monday through Friday. You're show them what you learned on Saturday.

Right.

He was just that dude.

But but when you have guys who are good, who have egos, and we covered them day. I'm not telling you things you don't already know. Show up and say we just got to show up, give me the ball and we'll play.

It doesn't work that way. We've talked about that.

Wisconsin two thousand, I don't remember the number one seed in the whole tournament. Lauren was out because of a back injury, and Jim wore, we've had him on the show. They lost to Wisconsin. Jim the Dick Bennett team and Jim says that one of the first Christians lose is do you think you guys were over confident and Loot went reserve and he says, well, lou I saw the guys in the hallway saying we got this, We'll get this game on Saturday.

You know what I'm saying. They were already thinks.

Explain to me. East Tennessee State. Explain to me, Sata Clara, Explain to me. Miami and Ohio explain to me. Explain to me.

Explain to me. There's a lot of those.

Yeah, well it's you know, it's always the psychology is sport. You just sometimes don't know. You think, oh, I'm coming home, it's a Saturday game.

It's b yu. We can beat these guys.

We already beat them once, and I'm sure that gets into their head. Before you know it, you're in a close game and a really close game and it doesn't go your way. So you know, I guess, as I said before, you know, these are Tommy's guys.

He's the one that you know, may got these.

Grad transfers to come or these nil people to stick around for a year or two extra. I mean it's you know, he's got pride too. He looks at his players, what are you doing?

And we kind of talked about the privilege of being Arizona basketball on Monday. That definitely has to be in their head right right, like about five minutes left, right you're saying, you're saying, all right, we're Arizona basketball. We're gonna go and make some plays and we're gonna beat BYU and we'll look ahead to thous and times.

Yeah.

No, Wan, you're exactly spot on with that too, because we've seen it. You've you grew up watching it, you observed, and we've covered it exactly because.

Those later Sean Miller teams, they definitely had that where you get a DeAndre and on your team and these number one overall prospect, of course we're going to be Buffalo right where Arizona basketball, no question.

After after being casual for most of the season, if not the whole season, even even Sean said I'm not sure I can get to these guys, and then.

He kind of walked it back.

But you could tell you think that DeAndre Trier and the Alkins wanted to be there. They were already getting ready for the NBA the next the next week after that, and they showed up and got their ask kicked after after running a great packed Pac twelve tournament.

Remember they killed everybody. It was a great highlights nuts.

And we're back four days later they were gone. I mean you you're a perfect example because.

You see, and you know you talk about all those guys are already ready for the NBA their NBA talent.

Only one of them really made it right.

You had, you had Rawley Alkins kind of they're not really are Usually You're played i think season and a half with the Knicks, and Deander at and made the finals to his credit with the Suns.

You're a pragmatic guy too.

One let me say this, you're you're leaving, You're gonna graduate here in a couple of months.

If you were, if you were, if you were, if you had.

A job lined up already wins, you're kind of like fancy free. You know my stuff is doesn't stink. I got a job.

You're not that right now. No, you're a little concerned. That's how they should have been playing. Yeah, I'm very much concerned. I don't know if I'm NBA talent right now.

I gotta focus on great analogy to I gotta focus on the little things, the details. I gotta show up prepared every morning to play byu right and making a deep en CIA tournament run, right, That's that's the goal.

Yeah, in their mine, they're twenty one years old. I got the world by the shorties and we could do whatever. We gotta just wan and win that. I think, Hell, you're on the air and one on the ball. You got about a minute on.

The bay Steed quickly.

I wanted to ask. During the loud Olson era, it was like magic. They'd play the first half, he'd make some great adjustments and everything would be fine. Do you think that's happening now? And my thing with all these close games and the Big twelve and everything else is are you entertained? I always likes better than the question the blowouts.

You get to see.

The the backup guys.

Are you entertained?

No question?

In fact, in fact, I've used that line a few times on Twitter, because, uh, if you're not entertained, here's something's wrong with you. Because they're fun, they're fun to watch.

I mean, the whole things. The whole thing's fun.

Yeah, the new the New Conference.

Is fun.

And games like b YU it's having slow they get going and then they fall or they keep going.

Or I don't know if that's a good way to put.

It, but I think we're saying like you're talking about with the conference. I mean, just the other night, I'm watching what tex Texas Tech in Houston. I mean, that was a pretty entertaining game. And Houston's they're like a pain in the neck, but they're a fun team to watch, and Arizona's got to see that first hand.

Here, Okay, we got one more call on quick call. Hello you on the air and on the ball. We've got about thirty seconds.

Hey, Steven Dave, this is Frank. Yeah, when you're talking about being casual. I think it shows up in the passing, some very sloppy passing. So the other thing is I hope that Arizona doesn't try to throw that long pass past half court at the end of the game. They tried it once, didn't work. They tried it the same thing the second time, didn't work. So anyway, hoping for a good game, good Wildcat.

Thanks, thanks, thanks for calling. It's funny he talked about that at the push covers. I think is they just can't be in that position though. Don't put yourself in that position now.

I mean I had that great you know, for fortune to play against Iowa State almost the exact same thing, and they barely got the ball in pack.

Thinking today was the second year anniversary of what the assu shot that beat him.

To Yeah, yeah, yeah, I saw that. I think it was yesterday.

Yeah, it was two years since the Freeman Cambridge Cambridge, Cambridge, Cambridge hit the beyond half court.

Show almost like almost like a Caleb Bumps, Okay, we gotta go now. Cool