This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera on Fox Sports fourteenth fifth Day powered by Nova Insurance Services Ensure your most prized possessions.
Hey, good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to your Eye on the Ball and you're on Fox Sports fifty. I'm Steve Rivera, They're David Silver. Are you doing it?
I'm doing well.
I'm rocking out. I'm the DJ. Okay you sound good. Yeah, Hey it's Wednesday. You were just here Monday. Yeah, you're almost irregular. Niko's gonna say you've paid them yet? I know, really was that gonna start happening? No, it was great.
Monday Night had to be one of the highlights of the sports years so far, the early early January. That was quite a quit a game, quite a what a night, what a shot.
Right now they were doomed. They were dooming all they were doing. Yeah, they're doom They should not have won that game.
No, I mean it was one of those games again and you're there, I'm watching it's one of those Uh you know, I know it's getting late. Is this game gonna you know the time you stay up?
Oh?
Yeah, I watched the whole thing.
Get out of there about twelve o'clock exactly twelve o'clock, and we hadn't written yet. Yeah, I hadn't written yet. So let me let me put this scenario to you. So, uh, you're You're Dave Silver, and people are asking you before this game, before a few of the games, how good is this team? How good do you think they are? Before this game?
Don't I thought they were getting better in the last you know whatever or five weeks. I mean they're been obviously their records much better than it was in the first month. So yeah, I mean there was positive signs there. How good are they going to be? Can they beat the number three team in the country. I wasn't quite sure.
I don't think anybody was before the game started, but you know, I think they showed kind of the way Arizona plays at home forever, you know, they just kind of they can contend with anybody.
Good point, because I say that all the time. Give Arizona a challenge, they show up, Yeah, give them a say, we just have to show up and win. They play like that, and that wasn't the case. I'm money. The reason I ask you is because for the last two three weeks, when I go out of people. They obviously recognize me with the crowd I hang out, and I tell them they haven't played anybody yet. I've said it on the show before too, right with us, they haven't
really played anybody, maybe outside of Baylor. They bake Baylor here. So I said, you know, we will know when they play Iowa State. And I've been saying this for three weeks, that will know when they play Ia State. And every time I see them, this is you still think they're not any good And they're like seven zero, right, and then they and then they go eight, and then then they lose and then they whatever. And I said, yeah,
we won't know until they play Iowa State. And last Sunday or Sunday, I ran into that group and they said, what do you think even though they're doing a seven to one or whatever I did, we'll know when they play Iowa State. So next time I see them, next time, I'm sure, says how do you feel now? How do you feel now? I don't feel any different, only inasmuch as they were able to do what they needed to do. But they should have lost that game, honestly.
They Sometimes that's the sign of teams that have something going their way maybe who knows. I mean, that was obviously, you know, once in a lifetime shot.
But they should have lost. But you know that said, even if they lost, and and and Brian Peterson tried to pose that question to Tommy, you know, hypothetical, had you lost, how would you feel about I think deep down he would say, you know what, we played pretty damn good and lost to the number three team in the country.
And they hung with them. They really did. They were with them the entire the entire game. Nobody really had much of a lead. I think maybe Arizona had somewhat of a lead every once in once in a while. But you know, I always state was tough. They've they've obviously played in some difficult environments in their season already, and yeah, this was their their first look at Michael sent So.
After that game, it comes Tuesday and you're with your group of people. I don't know if.
Yeah, actually we were. We were talking about it and what they say, Yeah, they were, well, they were excited. I don't think they look at it as closely as maybe you and I do, but they were, Hey, wait with the game, would you think I mean, for ten minutes, that's all they wanted to talk about. Was just the game last night. And there are more fans to rights
and they've been around. These are people who've lived in Tucson for a long time and they've many of them are alumni, so they have some vested interest in it as well.
They were excited, Yeah, as they should be, and beats the alternative of not winning, right, right. But here's the catch to And we've seen this number of times, Dave, how many times? I know Sean did it a few times? They win big games, go up north and get beat Yeah, when he left, he was like five and five against them up there was he really and he had pretty damn good teams. Of course. Oh look, was that last year of the year before when the guy hit the same type of shots?
That's right?
Was it last year the year before? I mean a couple of years ago when Arizona gave the Hurley some grief on the sidelines and then he went back to give them grief because they hit the shot.
And as U last night, you know, Colorado is still winless. They beat him, they you know, they knocked off Colorado on the road last night. So issue got a few wins here here and there.
Yeah, so they're capable up there to knock up your Arizona because invariably, if Arizona doesn't show up under any condition or whatever conditions, they'll get beat. Because if you're they're challenged, Uh, they're challenge they play out of their mind. If they're not challenged, they don't play out of their mind.
They've had a couple of challenges. Obviously the Texas Tech game on the road, they were they were tight, tight, and then the last ten minutes they got far apart.
Yeah, but the Duke Duke here, I think that's the one game that you can kind of look back and they didn't go mono on mono with Duke. Yeah, it was maybe too early, but he just that's the one game that they failed to kind of show.
Yeah.
And it's funny how basketball works too with matchups and things like that, where you know, Dolorso has this ridiculous game a couple of games ago against coll against Colorado and then the other night he barely was on the court, you know. Or it's funny how just you know, maybe it just wasn't his style. They would call it. Colorado played that zone defense. He's a great outside shooter. Yeah, and I always he's playing more man and man in your face, and he just wasn't gonna get open.
So where I was going with this with your group? And they probably, like you said, don't watch it as closely. H my group, well, yesterday we were rather function you and I and some of the people that they talked to. They said, oh, what do you think about Arizona now? And I told them the same thing. And then he says, you know what, that Iowa State team is a Final four team. I don't disagree they have that. They have that in them because you saw how tough they were.
One of their best players had a horrible game, and they were kind of missing somebody. Somebody else's hurt. Tommy said, right, Tommy said, so that team is pretty damn good. It's like obidding on a horse that's that's a very very very good horse, but doesn't fire that day and and you know, finish his third and then you know the next race is to kill it.
You know.
And watching some of these teams, the Cats, you know, they like we talked about Baylor. Baylor played in tough last night against BYU and lost on the road. You know, Arizona took care of them also, you know, on their home court. But they've got Kansas coming up next. Yes, I mean it's at Baylor.
Okay, I mean I would venture I guess that Baylor beats Kansas. People don't understand and did you didn't go very much onto the road games right now? And if there's one thing I learned that was it it's tough to win on the road, no matter where you're at.
It was great though, whenever when I was there. There's a few times I remember I went to UCLA one time in Arizona one. I went to San Diego State, and I think it was one of the loots last years when Luke Walton was still there. It was kind of a big deal for him to be back in San Diego and Arizona one there, that was a big one.
Yeah, you'd have to be very very good, Uh, to win on the road, Wasn't.
That kind of Loot's thing, you know, like try to go five and five in fact ten those years, you know, win half your games and stay you know, perfect at home.
And which are the ones that gave him the most grief? It was the Washington States, the Oregon States. It was the teams that his guys didn't get up.
For and there usually be some kind of gimmicky defense or something that those teams were almost desperate to do. It seemed like, you know, when they went had to have with Stanford, those were some classic games. There were so many, you know, I'm sure.
But Stanford was on their par with with Mike Montgomery. You know, they were in the park. It was the Oregon States, it was the Cows. It was those teams that you have to say, come on, guys, you gotta play.
Better combination of the team and the environment. And yeah, maybe, oh he just knocked off UCLA. Now you got to go play usc There's gonna be three thousand fans in the stadium, and it's just not the same.
And then some dude that you've never heard of comes up with a thirty two point game, you know, and then you never hear from him again.
Who was that guy?
Oh he's selling you know, he's a salesman now, yeah, so insurance. Well he was actually selling the shurts that day. Yeah, yeah, okay, no, thanks for being here, Dave. Sure another day, another dollar here, We're going to have Pete Williams here. In about ten minutes, we had him here about a month ago. I think I wanted to talk to him just about the situation, what's going on with the team and Awaka. I know that they're not similar players, but they're similar players, but
they're not similarly built. But Awaka does what Pete Williams did many many years ago. Yeah, their stat lines are probably very similar.
Especially a walk would last what three or four games, all of a sudden, there's a little more offense there. He you know, basically he'd been just kind of cleaning up on the boards and doing some putbacks, but he was hitting a little get a little bit more outside of his range.
If you get maybe eight ten from him, eight ten, guess what he's doing, and then he's getting like twelve to sixteen and rebounds.
That's a double bonus. That's a big game, Yes, a huge game. Henry's kind of been up and down really in the last I don't know, three weeks. Sure, sure, but you know the Knights there, they've they've complimented each other in some ways. You know, Owaka will play, come out, Henry will come in. I mean, back and forth they go, let's see who can.
Produce right and if it's and what the game before. I think it wasn't when they did that story with the talents and Owaka and and and on, they'll dill or so because if those three dudes show up and then you have the other guys, you know, the Uh, the uh, the TJ, the kJ, the Jaden's and the and the loves, those three come together, this team could be very very good. So but now you're asking for six seven, you're asking for the team to play very
very well. Yeah, and you know that's not gonna happen.
I mean again, looking at those box scores, and I don't know, I can't always tell just by that, but I mean even Love wound up with over twenty points the other right, and it was he was not very good until the last had six eleven eleven in the last five point one seconds exactly.
Yeah, you know he made what threes and those two free throws? I think, yeah, yeah, so you know he can and he's capable of that. The thing is, it's funny because I asked him that question, how could you be really good? No, no, really bad, really bad, really bad and missing those shots and then all of a sudden be really good, really good, really good.
You know, there's no rhyme or reason to it sometimes and you just have to let him play and see what kind of what happens.
Especially especially from a god that came who who missed? Who missed a bunch? He was one and one for ten right before you hit that. Every who are who shooting? Maybe twenty one footers, twenty two footers, nineteen footers, YadA, YadA, And then he only hits one of those and then hits the fifty five foot shot.
That's amazing, amaze that happens sports.
Let's take a quick call here, Let's see what happens. Hello, you're on the air and eye on the ball. Who's this.
Is this?
Hey buddy, it's Rick?
Rick?
What's going on? But Donald or something? This is two days in a row?
Wait a minute, Am I listening to yesterday's show on the radio?
I think we talked about this on Monday? Didn't what's up?
Oh?
Are you guys live?
You called us? You called us? We're live? Are you alive?
Okay?
Hey Dave Hi.
The only thing about.
That game to impress me other than the final shirt, you know, shot it before the regulation. So the defense that Arizona played, I haven't seen them play with that much intensity and then in overtime, if they were to play that way for forty minutes, that is one heck of a basketball team.
Okay, so they have about they have about fifteen eighteen games left. I bet you you don't get seven of those games.
Well even you know, they played faster with the ball, moving around location when they had the ball. They weren't walking up and just start a lot of ganging around. And number two, but the defense for the whole game, but that overtime defense, that was just very, very impressive.
Yeah, thirteen steals yet I mean at thirteen steels, which is a pretty big number.
Yeah, I mean, it's just but they were in those guys grill even without a steel, those guys, they didn't look like the same Iowa was eighteen. They played in the first five six minutes, I think Arizona showed that they could play up in their chest, they could play physical, and they weren't intimidated by anybody. And I have tipped my hat off to coach for getting them defensively in a position to be so good. Like you said, if they'd lost the game, they'd have lost to a top
final fourteen. But the fact that they more important. They played defense like they're willing to do what it takes to.
Get to the top. So yeah, yeah, no question they earned it. Yeah all right, Rick, thanks so much. Your live You're thank you, I'm alive. Goodbuye.
No, he's right, he's right there. They were in their faith. There was definitely a definitely a feeling of intensity on defense that you haven't seen often with the u of A. And they played strong on the defensive side of the ball. They had sick like I said, thirteen steals. They didn't have a whole time of fouls. You know the game maybe that's big twelve officials, although they were saying these officials were from everywhere, Yeah they are. The broadcaster said, like,
this is a Final four type crew. I mean there were some names yeah there the I even recognize.
So you know, the game is called well right, and it's it's one big pool now of refs. Let me let me say this. The one thing that was kind of maybe understold in the game was Love's defense on their best scorer. He didn't do a good job. I mean, the guy didn't do a good scoring baskets. Love did a pretty good dog defensively.
Yeah, defensively, it was pretty good. I mean Bradley had how many steels?
Seven? I think?
Yeah.
But the thing is, how many times have you said Love did a pretty good doug job defensively? Yeah?
Ever, kJ you know coming off the bench, he paid thirty seven minutes. You know that was he's not a bench. I mean, he doesn't like what.
Is dill orso barely three fours non factor, no not factor. Well didn't score, Yeah, you might be taken maybe two three shots.
I mean after what he had twenty Yeah, the game before.
Right, well, it kind of shows there's no retrue leader, which is I guess fine. Uh, but they're all kind of stepping up in their own way.
I mean, again, as I said a few minutes ago, I think the fact that Colorado played that zone defense kind of opened things up for him. Yeah, he's the kind of guy that you need to be able to knock down a shot, get past the ball in the middle, passed the ball outside, Marius standing are wide open?
Possibly, So right with that, With that, we're going to take a break here, get ahold of Pete Williams and talk more about basketball.
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Authority, streaming live on the Ihearts Radio AB. This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera on Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
Hey, welcome back to win the Ball hero Fox Sports fourteen fifteen. I'm Steve Rivera. He's Dave Silver, and now I want to pub we have former you a guy, big guy, Williams Peth Tony, Steve.
I'm doing great, great, great to be on here with you, my man, Dave Silver.
Could you hear from you again?
Yes? Yes? Hey? You know, uh, you watch the games regularly and you do it with a keen eye. I think how much I don't I don't know how can I say this? Does a wako remind you of anybody? And maybe even you? Uh?
He's he's more of an under the rim player, but and obviously he's bigger and stronger than I was. But he, uh, what is the given? He works well with it. I won't necessarily say he works.
I mean he's.
Similar to me because our body frames are different and I was more of an above the rim type player, where to me, he necessarily isn't. But his motor is awesome. That's why he's as effective as he is.
Yeah, yeah, because you were a little bit more versatile away from the rim too than he is. But he's doing a nice job a getting.
Really I could.
I could.
I could dribble the ball and get although although he had to play the other day on the right side he dribbled, I'm like, where's it going? And he got to the bucket of leg and then I'm like, wow, so hey, we maybe see he's actually involving, evolving into something a little more than we expected. But again, I wish I would have had, you know, a little more pounds on me or whatever. But like him, I had to work what I was dealing with and I was effective with it.
So before you say, Dave, so what did you play out like? Under two?
See I don't think I hit two hundred two. I was probably maybe thirty five ninety.
Oh wow wow, and he's got to be about to fifty. Maybe I thought something to said two fifty yeah wow. So what would you have been ideally? In your mind if you had what what was your what would you have liked to have been.
In I'd have loved have been at uh maybe two twenty. No really, I don't want to be any more higher. And I was just wishful thinking back then. But yeah, through twenty I still think I would have been able to keep my my quickness, which was, you know, a very key part of my gat Sure twenty would have been ideal.
Yeah, makes sense.
It's funny how that position is kind of evolving a little bit, you know, like your old team, the Nuggets. I mean, look at look at Yokich, I mean, what what is he? I mean, he's you know, he's shooting three pointers, he's putting up thirty points.
He's just fantastically skilled. So that the physical attributes for was athleticism. When you blessed with as much skill as he has, Hey Soto, athleticism out the window because he's just.
Amazing, averaging thirty thirteen rebounds. I mean, it's it's crazy and the same.
No, he better get me over fifty a sist tonight or I'm gonna be hot.
I wonder what I wonder? Why so so can you? We're gonna have half a year. On the other side, he did a big story on All Sports two sons about the big Games. Uh, you were there for the mcshot right?
No shot?
Yeah, No, I've seen highlights. No, I was long.
You were gone a year later. I guess, David, you were there there. I'm trying to.
Think of what I was doing. I think I was covering it. I think we were if I remember, I was in the kind of at the very top of the lower section, like you know, in the aisle, and I saw it happen live. I mean, I remember the toss and the catch, and I don't I don't even know if we were even on the air. Honestly, I cannot remember what I was doing, but I was in the arena. It was amazing.
Wow.
You know, I only wish only with the two shots that at Eddie Smith. Yeah, up in ASU, if they were in Tucson and they could go in the category and some of the best shots you know, clutched outs made and Michel center.
To explain those to me because I was gonna ask you about some in al Paso. Yeah, didn't. He didn't went through a couple of the lace last second shocks in the tournament in al Paso, maybe against Texas.
That was it was both years up at tim Peek and Thesu.
Okay, okay, yeah, I was not at the age I remember watching. I think I might have been at the station on that after it was an afternoon game. If I remember the the issue game.
Jocks, what were those? What were those?
Like?
I Pete, You you know more about him than I do. I can't remember him that well. I just remember they were what seven points and twenty seconds or something like that.
I think it was.
It was.
It was like seven points with like thirty five or thirty seven seconds, and we just had a little frenzy, got some turnovers. Morgan Taylor hit a big shot the last one. I got the deflection that led to Eddie Steel when he went to the basket, and I think was Bobby Thompson from ASU followed me. He was going up and Eddie just slipped the ball up off the backboard and it went in and we went still had to knock down the free throw, which he did, but
uh yeah, Eddie much clutched down there. Two years in a row in Tempee now and Tucson, we worked them up real good. We didn't need those roars at the end. But in Tempe both games were really close.
Yeah, could you talk to the audience? And I know this because it's so difficult to win on the road. Why, you know, with all things equal, Why.
Well, I guess, you know, you can throw to the human nature aspect of it. If there's a kind of walkless cloud or whatever, you know, it can you know, I guess kind of get to you. And then it's not the same comfort level as playing at home. And I can even relate this to you know, even playing over in Europe the times your home environment, you're just
so much more comfortable in there. Although I did kind of like going on a road because sometimes you get fired up, you know, when the people are really calling your names, this type of stuff. But the comfort level is just different if you're used to the rims, the lighting and all that stuff, and it does make a difference.
And you talk about human nature. I was telling Dave here invariably, Arizona comes up with a huge win against some team like they did the next game was a disaster.
Well, you know what, Like.
I'm not I can't say I'm not. I think we're gonna win on Saturday, But I'm guarded and expressing that opinion, you know, because I mean, and she was not bad. You know, they really aren't. And we've had some struggles up in there, yet we pulled them out, you know, at the end or whatever. But I wish I could say We're gonna go down there and thump them. But I'm just not confident. I think we'll get a win. I hope we get a win. I just can't wait for Saturday to find out.
Yeah, it just seems like it's always a big game no matter what whenever, whenever Arizona plays on the road, especially the way it was in the Pac twelve. You know, they'd have to win against UCLA and then they go to USC and they're real letdown. They have a win against Stanford and go to cow and struggle. So it's it was funny just how that played out exactly.
So let me ask you, I'll phrase it in a comfortable way. So what do you like about the team right now, and what what concerned you about about the team?
Well, I think what I like more than eating right now is just that the effort across the board is better, because as long as you play hard, you give yourself a chance. Perimeter shooting is still gonna be my biggest concern with the team, perimeter shooting and the decision making. I'm not saying they got the defense totally figured it out, but they're they're really making strides on the defensive end.
Of the court.
Uh.
As great as Tobya Walker was on the board, you know, I wish some of these other dudes to step up and you know, giving some help as well, because we're not really you know, a big team other When Big Hanker is in there, you know Henry V. So I call him Big hank set Big Hankers in there, and I want to see him get back to what he was a couple of games ago, you know, because he's kind of come down a little bit or whatever. But
I still got high host for this kid. Lazy passes and some some things have a hard time figuring out. What Well, we still want the game see. If you know as well as anybody as much as some of these people criticize the cats on social media and that
or whatever, some things are legitimate. Yeah, you can win and still not be happy about it, because you know, Tommy got in their buds a couple of games ago, because even though they wanted, he wasn't happy neither his I lazy cross court passes not just one, not just two, but sometimes three. Okay, when are you gonna figure this this stuff out? You can't be You can't keep doing
this as we move along. These things should be long gone. Okay, So there wasn't any of that in the Ioway Stay game, but a couple of games ago, I know Caleb did it and kJ did it. Just lazy cross cord passes I think a little too much over dribbling by a guard, and they gotta get you can't just be gibbling into two or three people just and all of a sudden you're tied up, or you're trying to do a bounce
pass between two or three people. Little things like that have to be cleaned up if we're going to improve and succeed going further. I like what I'm saying, but we still got a ways to go.
This might be a dumb question because you talk about inconsistency from the perimeter shooting, how how comfortable or whatever word you want to use, wasn't having occur out there as a shooter.
Oh, it wasn't just Curry, it was it was Steve, It was brockt with Craig, you know, come to with any of those guys, because I loved it. They throw the ball down to me and they collapsed and I can find those guys and more times than not they gonna knock it down. So, I mean, we had some really good shooters, but uh, and when they shot the ball was almost to the point where you were surprised them missed.
Yeah right, Steve was Steve was the.
Top of the list. But hey, brock Groun course and Craig's middle with great shooters as well. So it does, you know, lift your team around when you know you guys got on a on a perimeter cannot shot down instead of you just hoping they knock them down.
Yeah, it's funny because the other night del Orso did not score after scoring twenty the night before the game before. Is that you think just because the type of defense was they were playing up against.
Yeah, yeah, I kind of saw that, saw that coming. I would say it was on. Yeah, and even when we tried to put the ball on the floor at times, it was just that was that was a totally different That was the top nice defense right there. So you know, we can't pull up up the dude can shoot. You got to find ways that they're getting good open looks
or whatever. But you know, if teams are going to be harassing him, get like a Houston Iowa say, it's going to be a struggle unless they can find some creases for him to get your shots up and putting a ball on the floor that's not really an option for him against teams like that.
Yeah, how would you rate? Okay, so through the first nine games or four and five, people were like, you know, jumping off the roofs now. Now they are what they are, they're eating one in the league, doing really really well. Did you think it would take time? I remember in your first first years and when Luke got here, it took you a while to start kind of feeling comfortable.
Oh yeah, but again that's a totally totally different scenarios.
Of course, the bottom of the barrel, and.
I think like when Sewd Miller came in the program was down, but no, we were bottom of the barrel when coach Olsen came in, So that comparison don't work. But what I do understand is if the work in progress, we're like that little engine that could as time went on, you could see the progress and see the progress. We had to change the culture and learn. They don't have to change the culture because they know how to win.
We learned how to win. But once they clicked, that's when you started rolling, which is what I felt with this team all along, because I was going to say, you know, we you know we're gonna have our struggles. We're gonna make the tourney. I said this way back when, even when we were struggling. Yeah, we were struggling against some really good.
Teams or whatever.
And at the same time we were self destructing. You know, once we corrected those things. When this team plays hard and they shoot it, I don't I don't have to say a great percentage. When they played hard and shoot a pretty good percentage, they can compete with anybody, and I mean anybody. I s ctually mean that. And the confidence is growing. And for all the stuff that Taylor has gone through with the shooting and this and that. Like I said last year, he's gonna make some big
shots for us. I wish he would have been in Clemton. It just didn't happen. But I still believe in this due to he just the shot selection. And this past game is iowas say to me, as far as perimeter shot, I didn't see him take any bad shots. He just missed the shot. Now, a couple of drives to the basket. Some of those, well, dude, what were you thinking? But if perimeter shooting, even though the percentage wasn't great, no
problem with bad shots. He made good decisions shooting the ball from Premberg, he just didn't make most of them.
You know. Obviously they kept the game close to the point where he you know, he had to make a miracle shot.
But as a player on the court, you.
Know, what are you thinking in a game like that that's gonna you know, it's really gonna come down to maybe a couple possessions. Is that just kind of like you got to you gotta get through this somehow? Is that what you're feeling?
Yeah?
And the thing is also to me, this is not a young team. These dudes have been around the block. They have been around the block, so there's there's no panic or anything like that. But the decision making, which you know, for the most part, was good and side with say, game obviously looked better because we won or whatever, but I'm looking at previous games where, like I think there was one game where we had like maybe a six to seven point lead and he jacked up the
shot that, Yo, we don't have it like that. You know, we maybe have a seven to eight, but that shot can start a run, and sure enough things started to turn. So little things like that from experienced players, you gotta expect better from them as far as the decision making. You know, if you have an open look and you shoot and miss it, hey you get back and play
defense and move on to the next one. But it's a decision making when you take these bad shots, and nobody on this team needs to be taking heat checks unless we're at twenty some point.
Look, this is probably be my last question before we go, uh pete, uh Arizona will do well in March if give me two things.
Two things. If we have consistent pimeter shooting and we rebound the basketball.
So basic basketball basketball, one on one, yeah, yeah, yep, And it doesn't matter from whom I guess right.
Well, Caleb is a lightning rod because he's the guy that can break people's back, you know. And that's what I'm still waiting on. And you know, call me to turn off the miss. I still believe in this dude, and you know, I think I think he's gonna come through for us.
And I guess the other guy might be because you don't get this much from or it's consistent from from Henry as you do from Milwauka. So maybe if Henry shows up like he did a couple of week to go okay, Yeah.
And I mentioned something I made a little post about, you know, big Hanks, there's there's no turning back now because to me, once you show you can do something, and he's showing flashes that he can, uh, there's no turning back. It's all about moving forward now. And and he had a little nasty street that I want to see him get you get back to having, you know.
Right know you did.
And the guy I'm waiting for and I'm really enjoying so far as Carter Bryant's I think you.
Know, he's oh yeah, yeah, he's kind.
Of waiting I think for his chance. He's you know, he's already had a.
Couple of big games and he's and he's being real patient with it. You know, he had comes from an awesome family. His dad is awesome. I think they have the right outlook as far as guiding his kid and just listening the way this dude speaks to the medium. I'm just blowing away how policies dude is.
Yeah, very much so, So okay, I gotta go. Hey, by the way, I can't always be the cop on Facebook posts, so I need you. I need your help.
Some of that stuff. I got to stay out. See I might get on there and get the customs. I don't want to do that.
So that's why I do no one kids. Yeah, nothing to you. Yeah, yeah, okay, thanks Pete as always.
All right, Hey you guys, thank you you too, Thank you.
Thank you. Let's take a break, come back, and then we'll talk more about all this. You're an Arizona men's basketball fan. You know it's been successful for nearly forty years now. Take a look back at the Ludelsen era in my new book, Lessons from Loot. It was a labor of love through the eyes of twenty five former players, coaches, and friends to give insight to the coach and the man who led them, competed against them, and inspired them.
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Steve Rivera, He's got his eye on the ball on Tucson Sports station, Fox Sports fourteen fifth Day.
Were welcome back to Why in the Ball?
You're on Fox Sports Sports.
I'm Steve Rivera.
You Dave Silverton. Thanks for Pete Williams for showing up talking to hus. Always good to have him on. I'd have Craig, but he's coaching. He's a busy coaching right now.
Yeah. Pete always has a good perspective on things. He's always paid attention to the program for all these years, and he's been a great ambassador from in southern California. Like he was talking about Carter Brian, I'm sure he probably watched Carter Barranton High school. They're kind of from the same general area.
Yeah, And since Tommy's arrived, he's become close with Tabby. They text a lot. I know that that's good from the Ludelson camp, and and he got him to come over and you know, it's just what it is. So that's good. And he's and he's I call him the cornerstone. He was the first guy to kind of come with Lute and him and Eddie and turned it into what it was, and then Steve Yep and then him right there.
Yeah, I mean that first year was I mean I think McMillan came the second year yeah, huh, but yes, I mean Steve, Pete, Eddie and then left. If you guys left over from the four and twenty.
Fourteen, yeah, well did you remember the guard Michael Tate?
Michael Tate, Yeah, and he talked about him when we were on last time.
Yeah, very good. Eventually didn't like it here for whatever reason, maybe lut and left to Clemson.
I think he saw the right on the wall maybe with Kerr.
Yeah, but he but but Pete says that he wishes he would have stuck it out. Yeah, he would have been because you know, everyone doesn't want to be competitive with these guys. And then you leave and he says, well, I could have I stayed and done really well, ye junior senior year whatever.
And that was such a different obviously a different time and different different places for the program, and you know they were building and adding players and going to the j C. I mean, both Pete and Eddie came from junior colleges, which rarely have done.
Sure.
You know when Ben Davis Ben Davison, he might have been one of the last ones.
Uh yeah, yeah, I think Sean got it maybe a time or two. Maybe maybe I can't, I'd have to.
But yeah, I mean Luke was trying to put it all together quickly.
You know.
He got here in March and they had to play a game and what five or six months from there.
So March of eighty three, and he found he got lucky. He got lucky with Kerr, got lucky lucky because he went to go see somebody else I want to say, Uh, I want to say Kelly Tripica was from the same school.
There was some kind of so I've written so many times about this, but but there was this you know, e skin of little white kid, you know, playing and then they decided to play and you remember the story, right, Yeah, him and Bobby went to go watch and there was since Bobby tells him, you really, he's not Erison good, is not good? This was about the other player, about Nobody, Steve Steve. Yeah, yeah, and you know it turns out to be.
It is what it is, right, Yeah, I mean that again, that was it was really fun to just kind of watch this and I had never covered Division one basketball, and for me, this is like, this is this is what happens.
How does this out do this work?
And the next thing you know, they're in the tournament, like you know, two years in, right, So it happened quickly, and thanks to guys like Pete and Eddie especially and Steve in that first first wave of talent that came through. And then as they were winning, Sewan comes in from here in town and you know he he attracted players just because he was Sean Elliott and they built on that as well.
Yeah. The next five years, well, yeah, it's not that he got lucky. He worked his butt off to get well, he got Steve lucky and then Sean. Yeah, and then everything just kind of fell into place.
And in the fact that Sean was here and again I I do have memories of that and many people if you remember as well, if you're here in the early eighties, he was incredible. In high school. He was the guy se Yeah, I mean a choie. There was nobody in town that could stay with him. Even when he was a junior. He'd get a rebound and down the court slam dunk.
Let me do a selfless progruss. Did you read my book? Yeah, my my trap here on lout stuff. So Sean and I didn't know this until and I guess other people did. I didn't know this that no one really recruited him outside of he went to the Camp USA or whatever. It was out of candas time and he was going to head to U Tip. U Tip was the only school that had give him really notice wo until Luke came in and he was he was ready to come go to U Tip. Yeah, said I didn't know that
by for Don Haskins. For Don Haskins, Yeah, you're talking nineteen eighty four ish, right when he was when he was being recruited.
So it was the year that that Luke nearly.
Went to Kentucky. I think was there a time earlier?
No, that was the first time I was I know was when when the Arizona Daily Star wrote the articles of five the shoes and the equipment, and Luke got really upset in eighty five and was flirting with other places. And then from a media standpoint, you get you know, he weren't here yet. But the Sean and Steve Kirk came to our TV station at Kagun in those years and came on the set and we did a story with them, kind of talking about how we're going to try to make sure coach doesn't leave.
Oh I didn't, I didn't know what.
It was really dramatic, like really, you know, can you can't? I mean, it would never happen in a million years today, but like forty years ago, we were able to convince because Sean, we knew Sean just because he was a local guy and Steve was the smart guy, smart guy. The two guys come on the air and basically we're pleading with you know.
Time of year had to be. It was eighty five.
After the season, probably the spring or summer after the season was over, and Lout was contemplating going elsewhere in the town. The city I think were there was some kind of basketball fundraising group.
Boosters should say it was the yeah besket Yeah, I know exactly.
Anyway, they kind of came together, I think as well, with with some kind of you know offer whatever.
He came from here, Yeah he's just been here two years. Yeah, yeah, But I.
Do remember that they literally came in and we interviewed.
Them on what was and how much time do you guys give them?
I don't know in those days, you know, we could have given them five ten minutes.
Yeah, but it was a big story, right, it was. It was like a randal. Yeah. I didn't know that because it was I mean, the two dudes got fired at the papers, right. I had come to be an intern that summer of eighty five, so I was well aware of the story and the guys involved, but I didn't know that the guys had gone to the TV station.
I mean, that was it was pretty cool. I mean because it's was eighty five, the first year they made the tournament and they had just gotten in, so I mean there was you know, there was a lot of talk about the team, and obviously the program was building up and things were kind of overlapping, you know, the Shawn elliott Ero was beginning and Steve was still here and guys were coming in and Kenny lofton.
So that story fell into you guys, were you the Boston Yeah, it was just a young Boston.
I was a young boy. That was the summer I took over as the main guy. Okay, channel who was the guy before Ed Sorenson.
Oh, okay, you had.
Left in June, I think, and then eighty five, little little old David eighty five next yep, Oh so eighty five I was That's when I was an intern. So it happened the guys came in that summer, not after this. He must have been in town. It might have been. Maybe I wasn't even the main guy that I don't even remember how.
Because he had a chance, you know, in eighty nine to leave again, right, uh and then maybe another time? What is Yeah?
By then things had really been established, sure, I mean Sean Elliott was finishing up in eighty nine.
Yeah, and that's when Kentucky blew it bys messing around, not messing around, but not including Bobby in the interviews when when they were interviewing lou So. Yeah, it was.
A fun time. I mean, Pete he brings back memories. I'm sure any Wildcat fan listening who was around in those years, yeah, remembers like because I missed the Ben Lindsay year.
I was coming to town that year, I'm I don'tant.
To see it. But all the stories I would hear about how quiet it was and people would go there instead of going to the library because it was quieter and stuff like that.
Sure, that's why they had to do that. Get your tickets now, because you're not gonna want to miss it.
I didn't. I had no idea. I didn't know much about the players, and really the junior college guys were coming in. I guess maybe during that summer we were learning about who's you know, who's Pete Williams, who's getting in the smith?
Right? But things started to build. Yeah, yeah, I know, those are the good old days at the beginning. It's always, like they say to me, the best time to cover a team has went on the way up and on the way down, because you have a lot to write about, true, you know, and good parts in the middle too. Of course. Ninety seven. You know, this place has not really had any downtime. Downtime I mean lon times and when they lose the tournament. I mean they've always you know, basically
almost every year. It's it's the toughest part for me because I was so involved with it. It was when Loot's final year, when he you know, finally decided to say I'm retiring in two thousand and eight, I think it was, And then Kevin came in and that was a difficult year obviously, and then Russ and Mike Dunnap took over and then parts of the the Sean stuff at the end when you know the investigation and things like that. So it's been I've been very spoiled. Yeah, with not a lot of issues.
We've had a lot of great successful teams, great successful coaches, but you know, the exits have not been very clear in any case.
In addition to that, you're right, the first round lost is were not fun No. Yeah, My first one was the East Sennessee State and covered the team a year later Santa Clara. Two years later it was Miami of Ohio. It's funny because this is.
Kind of an inside baseball story, but I mean I would often let my weekend person go to the first round, thinking I'm going to get to.
The sweet sixteen.
I'll do that. So I did not go to East Tennessee State. I did not go to Sarta Clina, and I said, you know what, I'm going to the next one right when I was five, and then they and then they still lost.
Nonety four was the next after Santa Clara.
Okay, did I do that year?
Well?
I was obviously the final four. Anyway, I think I might have gone three straight years without seeing seeing them in person. But I did go to the Miami, Ohio game.
Yeah, yeah, that was guess who the assistant coach was, herb Sendek. No, he was the head coach, Sean Miller. Yeah, San was the coach.
A bizarre tournament events.
It was yea, it was, so it is what it is. But and yeah, you've been there for the first rounds a couple of them again, one of those situations where when Arizona doesn't feel threatened, they don't show up right when they feel when they play the North Carolinas, they played the UC you know, they always show up because you're not going to tell them they're not as good as that group, you know.
But the eighty eight team, and I did go the first round there because it was a pollie because I'd never been there. They'd beat Cornell by like, oh they fifty or something, and then they played Seaton Hall next.
Beat them just as bad.
They were rolling through that tournament like nobody else.
That was a different group because uh, and you always love your firstborn because they're so popular, right, I mean, they get to the final four, uh that that was a group of guys who just were having fun trying to beat crap out it.
Yeah, and characters, mean, there's so many. I mean you've written about him, but you know, the toll Birds in the world, and you know Sean and Steve, I mean, the dynamics on that team. Lout was you know, still you know, kind of trying to prove himself. He'd been with some final fours before a Final four I guess before that, but you know Rosboro with him and no, no, he wasn't there yet. It's right, Scott Thompson was maybe still.
There Scott and mcandrew's key.
Birds song, right, But again, it was just you know, fun to be there, like you said at the beginning of that.
Yeah, yeah, cool. We got to got a couple of minutes with no calls because we're going to move on to a commercial in the second hour. I'm not going to do any breaking news. You might look at some things and what's going on, because there's a lot of things going on, and then have Javio Morales at about four seventeen talking about some of the things he's been up to. Today's story was some of the all time
best of long distance shots from Ubay. I know that Anthony had some stuff with softball, you know the softball bombs that hit, those one offs in baseball, you know those those walkoffs. They had a bunch last year. They had eight last year, I think baseball baseball, so you know, just not exclusive to basketball.
Yeah, I mean, especially in that baseball is great for the end softball.
Yeah, football, football had you know a few of the hail Mary's, well and the Chuck cecils, you know, the Chuck cecils, the Hail Mary's and the and the other things that went on.
Was there for that yeah? Eight six yep, Yah, I'm looking at his story right now. You get people should get a chance look at all sports Twson dot com and look at it and maybe give us a call too while hobbyer is on, and see what your your memories are, because there were some obviously some great.
Ones, right right, and everybody has their own favorites, right, Okay, Let's go take a break and then come back and then do it all over again. Maybe take some calls in the first fifteen minutes just to get maybe a couple of in and your thoughts