But on this radio show, the rem brands are saved for one person, and one person only.
Of course, I'll be there for you.
The theme song of the Horrible, Horrible television show back in the nineties called Friends, it means it's time for Roxy Bernstein. You guys know that by now Roxy. On a Tuesday, sir, how are you?
I will be there for you, sence. I can't say that i'd be there for Courtney Cox, that I would be there for you now.
We don't need to.
We don't need to make it weird on a Tuesday. I know when you hear the name Courtney Cox, it just your your ears get red, you start feeling Yeah, I know. Well, let's be honest. I mean, enough time has passed. That was a That was a dumb That was a dumb show. It was a bad TV show that co opted the thoughts of people that just are simpletons that didn't like a intellectual television show like Seinfelder.
For honest, the show was pretty good. I could get past the personal issues.
Fine, well, I was trying to have your back, never mind, awesome show, how you man?
Thank you for the time as always good.
I'm good. You know I was in Town. Over the weekend, I had that overtime thriller at the Huntsman Center, and I'm on my Utah week with that game. Saturday, I have BYU Tonight, I'm in Boulder for the game against the Buffaloes. Thursday, i have the Hockey Club for ESPN against Minnesota, and then I'm back in your great state on Saturday. I'm double dipping. I have the Utah Women against BYU women down in Provo, and then the nightcap. I'm double dipping on Saturday with Cincinnati against BYU.
Wow.
Well, never a dull moment, and Roxie Bernstein, the unofficial voice of Utah sports, I love it.
Well.
I was actually I was at the Huntsman Center on Saturday night and I looked down. I looked down. I had some pretty good seats. I was about five rows behind you. But I did not have my credential. And I'm not going to be the dude that says, don't you know who I am? So I could not come down and say hello. But when I saw that you were on the call, say again, sorry.
You could have been Yeah, but I don't I know yeah, I know him.
Yeah, but Roxy, I'm already unlikable enough on paper. Like you know, I'm well aware of how unlikeable I'm on paper, So I don't want to, you know, I don't want to further the narrative. So I simply texted Porter. I said, let's get our guy. And I wanted to start with Saturday Night. And as you know, I was a student at Utah in the late nineties when their head coach was named Rick Majaris, and our weeks were playing around Utah basketball.
Games when I was a student there.
And I'll say, and look, Larry Chriscoviaka had a couple of good teams, you know, Jim Boyling had an NCAA team. I'm not saying the building hasn't had one night like that in twenty seven years or whatever, but it really did feel like an atmosphere that reminded me of when I was watching Andre Miller and Keith van Horn and Mike Tholeiak and Britton Johnson.
So let's start with the environment.
You travel all over the place for a college basketball game to kind of feel and sound like that of the Hunts kind of warm in my heart.
What did you make of that crowd?
Well, as you know, over the years, I have done a ton of games at the Huntson Center, and I think I've had a more energetic, boisterous crowd that was into it from even before the game started, like we had Saturday night. That was an electric atmosphere. And I've done BYU Utah games there in Salt Lake City before and that was just a tremendous atmosphere for college basketball and it was great to see. And the Utah fans got rewarded with that overtime win, a huge w for
Craig Smith in his program. But it was great to see that again. I've seen good crowds and full houses at the Huntsman Center before, but if all the games I've been to they're up at the Huntson Center, that was probably the best in terms of atmosphere and fan engagement that I've seen, probably in all the years I've been going to games at the University of Utah.
I agree, And it was a lot of fun and there were a good number of BYU fans, but not as many as I thought. Because the rumors prior to the game was BYU fans, we're gonna grab all the secondary market tickets in the upper Bowl, and because Utah fans at times don't fill that lower Bowl.
There was gonna be a lot of blue.
There was some, not a ton, But let's get into the game and I'll tell you what roxy you like to start the season. When we're doing kind of a little preseason stuff to preview the Big twelve schedule, I looked at January eighteenth BYU here in Salt Lake and I'm like, well, that's probably going to be an ass kicking. And I don't know if anybody would argue that Craig
has near the talent that Kevin does. I mean, reports are Jegor demon is a seven figure nil kid, and last Jonathan Cavoni Matt Mack I looked at he was number seven off the board. Canon Catching's is all supposed to supposed to be a first round prospect, although I don't really see it with him just yet. But I don't feel like Craig has near the talent Kevin did. And certainly home court advantage helps. And you know, had a couple of performances from some players that were quite frankly,
things we hadn't seen before. But what stood out most to you about the way the game played out that allowed Utah to get that win on overtime.
Well, first off, I explained a little bit more for free flowing offense, and it didn't really come to fruition
Saturday night. With the way Utah have been playing this year, second in the country and assists spence, the ball has been whipping and moving around for the youths this year, and it didn't really happen, probably because BYU, I think had it well scouted and they do for things, so I think they took that aspect away and tried to limit the movement and they were with the physical battle between the two, which I did anticipate just because of the rivalry, and that was the one thing I thought
we'd get a score in the eighties. We did, it was overtime in the low seventies. But it was a fierce competitive battle from the outset, and I was really impressed with the toughness that really team showed and Utah trying to defend. The home floor crowd certainly was into it with Kavakada playing on the other side at starting for Utah, and it was really just an intense game
from the outset. That's the one thing that really stood out to me is just how locked in both teams were and how physically intense this game was.
I imagine you had a chance to catch up with Craig before the game.
Yeah, yes, oh yeah, I saw. I was there shoot around. In fact, I was talking to him for about five minutes, about twenty minutes of four tip over the hallway. So yeah, I have had a great relationship with Craig going back to his days in Utah State.
So he's like the best dude, as you know, and I'm pulling hard for him. His son Bountiful lum Roxy don't I know you don't have time, but when you have time later, you can look up the nineteen ninety seven Bountiful Braize basketball team, the one state. People around here believe it's the best high school team in the history. I don't say that, even though I mean I may have been on the team, but I don't say that.
It's not me.
And so his son played for the same high school coach I did, so I used to run into him at some of those games, and I pull for him, and I felt so happy for him with this win. And he's had good wins in the past out of win over Oregon, and so we're hoping ultimately this is not only a moment in time, but can you shed a little light on some of the portions of your conversations with him and his thoughts on this group and what they could potentially do this year.
First off, as you know when you talk to his fence, he's always upbeat, he's always positive, and the way he looks at things got so much energy and it's infectious, and I think his team feels that every time that they're on the practice floor, they're on this floor for shoot round, get ready for games in locker room, he gets them going and they feed off it. And you're right, they don't have the talent at BYU does, but Craig finds a way to get the most out of his
talent utilize the pieces. The other thing about Craig is he recruits that style that he wants to play with the ball movement. Yes, Gabe Madsen is a great shooter from the outside is going through a little bit of a funk right now, but he's also a willing passer, laws and lovering at center is a center that's averaging
two and a half assists a game. It's a style that he recruits to and he wants to play, and to me, it's an aesthetically pleasing style a watch because of the ball movement and how free flowing they go, and they shoot threes and he's excited. Look, they know this transition is not going to be easy the last ten years. I don't think anybody will give you the argument that the Big Twelve has been the best league
in the country this year. It's not. The SEC has shown that they are the best basketball league so far here, but I think the Big Twelve is right behind it. To be honest with you, I with the way this league is balanced. You look at teams like Iowa State, Kansas, Baylor, after a rough opening to the season has come on. There's a lot of really good basketball. Arizona's figured things out and it makes it challenging when you're in this league.
And Houston's looked to me legitimate Final fourteen and that's now the competition level with Utah needs to embrace and I think they have and they stack up physically when you look at him, they look the part. And on Saturday night, it was a challenge to go up against BYU.
They're on the whole floor and it seen. The emphasis in the second half was be physical, go inside, and that's where they took this game from BYU with the physicality that Ezrasore played with and lost and lover and the way they were able to attack BYU on the interior.
So I saw Craig on the sidelines of the Utah BYU football game, and he was there to kind of do the basketball coach thing. It's like, hey, well you're all here, come see us play. And he told me about ezra at the game and he said, you know, they were really excited about him East Carolina transfer, and he's had some personal stuff. Craig alluded to it after the game. He went home after the death of his grandmother. And I got to say, Roxy, you're old enough to
remember because I made this reference. And I think most young listeners are probably looking at me with eight heads. There's like a little Adrian Danley to this kid's game because he's not six ' eight, Roxy, He's not okay, he's listed at six ' eight, he's like six ' five sixty six, but his the myriad of pump fix, the ability to finish with both hands.
He's a better athlete than ad was.
Because the knock on your head, but finishes with the right hand, finishes with the left hand. And Kevin threw everybody at him. He threw for foose tray or at him. He threw ke bacade at him. And it didn't matter who was guarding Ezra Sar. He just got whatever he wanted. And I didn't know he had that in him, and I know he had a nice game against TCU, but that was next level.
What are your thoughts on what you saw from Ezra?
It seemed like he was a different player in the second half Saturday night, maybe because the emphasis to get him the basketball, but he was unstoppable and he went to town b what you knew what he was going to do, and they couldn't stop him. And every shot was either right at the rim or within five ft. And it's not like he's yep it do on the perimeter and nailing threes or even hitting the mid rage jumper.
It was all attack, attack, attack, And he's got that to his game, that toughness, strength and a nice compliment to loss and lovering. Who isn't really your low post big man. He's more of a face up and looking to pass and facilitate where Ezra just completely just game over in the second half, a few points at halftime, with a non factor for the most part in the first half, but certainly in the second half. In in overtime
it was a point of emphasis. Then they had to sweat it out with all the free throws they missed down the stretch. And that's one thing that concerns me going forward then, is their struggles at the sul line and guys like Leering Ezra, who have the ball a lot and are attacking, gets to the line a lot, but they miss a lot of free throws and it became shaking down the stretch for Utah.
So before we get over to BYU, because I do have some questions about Kevin's team, I was really happy for Hunter Erickson, who is a BYU transfer, and it's fun. You know, you mentioned Gabe and his shooting struggles. I will say this, I thought BYU did a remarkable job on Gabe. You know, they started with Mowatt mag on him. Richie Saunders chased him around for a while, Dawson Baker chased him around for a while, but every single screen he came off.
Of BYU was ready. They blitzed him this and two, so he.
Just didn't have a lot of space, and he's the type of shooter like Steve Kerr and I Before people get crazy, I'm not saying Gabe matts and Steph Curry everybody calmed down. But Steve Kerr always talks about I want Steph to take five or six horrible shots a game because when he gets going, you know it's unstoppable. And when Gabe gets going, he's one of the elite shooters in this conference. So I'm fine at times with
a fadeaway three to get the feel. But I thought Gabe was really mature with his ability to handle the space and the gravity effect allowed some open shots, but nobody could really capitalize until Hunter came in and knocked down a couple of massive threes. He did airball free throw, but he stepped up and hit three free throws and his nine points during the final portion of the game,
both in regulation on and overtime. Utah doesn't win that game without Hunter Erickson, so I was really happy for him.
Yeah, no question, and the clutch plays you alluded to, and with mattson, he needs to be a volume shooter on this team and he is their best shooter. Okay, maybe not percentage wise, but he's got to be the guy that they look to to take the big shot.
And that's what Craig's getting at with him being a volume shooter and those tough, challenging shots, those fadeaway threes end of a shot clock, when he's got a fire and he's off balance and falling out of bounce, those are the type of things that Gabe needs to do for that team. And when you look around this group, he's the one that's capable of doing that. Shark Jompson
is more of a creator. He can score, you know, other guys on this team, there's things they can do, but at the end of the day, Gabe has looked to as that guy who needs to be the volume shooter. And look, he's second in Utah history and three winners made and that's why they're going to keep going to him because he's not afraid of the big moment either.
Indeed, indeed, before I get to bring him young, what are you willing to say about Utah's Big twelve chances this year? They're not winning the conference, but they've won three straight games. Could Craig somehow some way get this team in the NCAA tournament.
I wouldn't rule it out because of what you alluded to. They won three straight games and if you can come up with some clutch wins along the way, they're eleven and six overall to five hundred league. They got a tough game with Houston coming up, which on the road, and I think I think Houston's really good Spence I had them early, and I'm so impressed with the way that they play. They're so tough mentally and physically. They just pound you and they beat you up. And to me,
they're the team to beat in the Big twelve. I think as good as Iowa State is and Kantas certainly over the years. I don't think this is a great can. It's his team for Bill Selp, I think they're really good. But to me, I think Houston is the best team in his league.
I agree with that, and you know, well, we'll see how Utah stacks up. But I'm not going to take a ton away from that game because Houston might win by thirty and you know, ultimately, I don't think it would change a whole lot because there's a gap between those two teams.
All right over to BYU.
And here's the thing, Like, you know, Kevin Young gets that job to a lot of celebration, a lot of a lot of BYU fans, you know, really really excited about the potential.
And Kevin comes from the NBA.
His bench is littered with assistant coaches that have NBA experience. They bring in an NBA strength and conditioning staff and nutritionness from the Phoenix Suns, and suddenly the collective starts paying a lot of money to get talent. I reference Diego Demon, who reportedly is a seven figure kid ken and catching is a lot of people think he's a first round prospect, is making good money aged the bands, is on his way to play for Kevin next year.
But you know the deal, Roxy, when you clearly have the talent on paper, you got to show you can coach. And he hasn't done this before. This is his first go around, and they're obviously close. But the fact of the matter is they're ower to five and quad one opportunities. They're own four in games decided by five points or less, and they have not won a road game. They have to win tonight. What stands out most to you is you watch this early project that Kevin is tasked with leading.
Well. It is a work in progress and it's different the way Mark Polpe went about it, and certainly that offense was fun to watch with all the threes they shot last year. This is the team of still making threes, but they go about it a different way. And you know, Demon, he hasn't been the same since he hurt his knee in early December in that game against Province, and I think they're hoping at some point it clicks back in for him. But you could see the talent in terms
of his ability to create for others. He is not a scorer as of yet. He clearly needs to get stronger, but it's a talented team and right now Catchings, for example, think is going through a confidence issue and that's a problem for them. He was really well early but the last five games he has really struggled and trying to
find his way again. And I think it's more mental than it is physical right now for him, Spence and the talent's there, we see it, but he's got to get back on track and it's important for BYU that he does. And the interesting thing about them, Spence is I've talked to a few coaches and some NBA people. They think Richie Saunders might be an NBA player. That the things that he does, how quickly he gets his shot off, the toughness that he plays with, that the
energy he provides. Look, I'm not saying he's going to be maybe a regular rotation top guy in the NBA, but there is a lot of people that feel, including some coaches around the Big Twelve, that Richie Saunders is an NTY player.
Well, Mark badly wanted him at Kentucky.
You know, he had a good offer to take off to play for his former head coach.
And he's a good player.
I mean, he means a lot to them, and I think they'll figure it out because that talent is undeniable, and I just don't know if Kevin can coach. I'm not trying to be critical here, but this is his first time. When you have the talent, we're going to talk about the coaching. Let's take advantage of the final few minutes to get a little hockey in roxy as.
We are now.
We are now hockey Town, USA, of course, with the Utah Hockey Club here and then to Detroit.
Well they might have a claim to it.
We don't because we're still very early in our experiences.
But you know, I've been to four or five games. It's so fun.
I love watching that sport live and the NHL Live is something else to watch. These guys do what they do on skates forwards and backwards, like go out and try and skate in the straight line. Yeaw, that goes for you. But they've been up, they have been down. They have been up, they have been down. They've won a couple of straight games, and you're gonna call a game of theirs this week. What stands out as you do your prep, as you learn about the Utah Hockey Club?
What stands out most of you?
Well, right now, it's the play of the top line and basically the connection that Coolly Keller has. Keller last night coming back after getting popped in the eye and eat it, Stitches had the game and the struggles that Utah has had at home. For some reason, they played well on the road. Marino coming back I think is a boost for them on the back end. They need Sergachev back going again and Connor Ingram being back certainly helps. But the line right now, the way that they are
rolling even with gun Through being out. But the play of Keller and Cooley right now, it's just fun to watch those two. They have a chemistry, a connection right now that's really fun to see.
Do you think as we sit here today they have fallen a little bit but there's still somewhat in the mix for the wild card. They've got forty seven points, Calgary has fifty one, Colorado has fifty seven. They've fallen behind both Vancouver and Saint Louis. And look, you know, Bill Armstrong, I think I mentioned this to you. It was I got such a kick out of this. The introductory Utah Hockey Club kind of rally press conference included mostly players. At the beginning, Spicy Tuna stole the show.
Fans were going crazy, Coach Torney took the mic, fans were going now, and Bill Armstrong took the mike.
He's like, hey, everybody knows we're rebuilding, right.
He's like trying to temper expectations, and so, you know, knowing what they were last year in Arizona and understanding how young they are, I felt like if they could get a wild card, that would be a massive win.
Do you think they have that in them? This year.
I wouldn't rule it out. He's are gonna They're gonna happen on some home games because as you know, it's been tough slutting for them well for whatever reason at Delta Center this year. That has to get corrected if they're going to be a playoff team. But the interesting thing here down the stretch, and you alluded to the days in Arizona, is they haven't been through this as far as down the stretch being in a playoff race. If they are there, how are they going to handle this?
And even let's say they don't make it this year, hypothetically, the experience of going through this will pay dividends for them going forward. But you look at the young core of this group and it is a talented group that is just going to get better and better. There's a lot of talent coming, whether it's in the minors right now, are still playing in juniors, but they have drafted well at least by prospect wise, that the bright future if
they happen to not make it this year. But I wouldn't rule it out with considering this group right now, but this is a key stretch for them and they have to find bays to win home games. That was a good win against Saint Louis over the weekend in Winnipeg. They got to keep it going and finding ways to win on homelites.
All right, Roxy, before I say you loose, we now have a college football national champ in is Ohio State, and we now have the first iteration of the twelve team expanded CFP behind us, So we can diagnose ultimately how we digested it and the change is the need to be made. I just kind of wonder, as a guy that's covered this thing forever, what do you make of this new college football playoff and how we crown a national champ.
I like the fact that they value the conference championship to me, that was important Spence. That was one of the famous for me that I wanted to see if they were going forward with the twelve team playoffs. You win the Big twelve, you win the ACC in the SEC, you should be rewarded with the first round by And I also like the fact they rewarded the group of five with Boise State. Now do I think Boise State was one of the elite teams? Know? But I think they earned it and so you put them, you give
them the buy. But now Ohio State, give them credit. They had to win four games along the way. They smashed Tennessee, they went to the Rose Bowl and they beat Oregon, and they won these last two games until Knights, and give them credit. They earned this national championship and this is the way we should be doing it, deciding it on the field. Okay, we had a lot of blowouts in the opening round, which stinks because we want competitive football. I do believe that going forward will get
better opening round games. I do see the formatic Fanny again at some point, just because spences. We know there's way too much money in television and putting these games on. So I do since we'll get an expansion, I don't know if it'll go to sixteen or what the next step will be. But this isn't going backward. You don't see playoff fourmats move backward. At twelve is too many. We're to go down to eight. That's not going to happen, and so I'm just anxious to see what the next
step is. But I do like that we got home games. Maybe you make the quarterfinal round home games well, rewarding those top four seeds. But I think it's great for college football when you get these type of matchups. I just wish we had more competitive games, to be honest, we only had a handful of them in the playoffs.
Yeah, I'm with you there all right. My friends always appreciate the time. Great to catch up. Safe travels as you are now the voice of Utah sports and we'll get.
You on soon, okay, anytime. Man, the great.
Roxy Bernstein, our old buddy from the Pac twelve network. It's funny how many of these broadcasters we met as a twelve institution here at the University of Utah, but he now does a grip of stuff for ESPN, ESPN Radio. He is a Heisman voter and one of my favorite people that I've met in this business. He is on social media at roxy Bernstein is where you find him doing some YU basketball tonight against Colorado, doing some Utah Hockey Club against the Wild and on Saturday as the
Utah Women and the BYU Men. So a lot of Utah content for a guy Roxy Bernstein.
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