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Mark Titus | The Mark Titus Show
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00:00 On today's episode of the Mark Titus show, the Big East is out of control.
00:03 The Big East, Big East basketball.
00:05 This is why coming into the season, I was saying, like, I think the Big 12
00:08 will end up being the best conference and it is.
00:10 And I think all the metrics are reflecting that.
00:12 And, you know, if you want to be taken seriously as a college basketball nerd,
00:16 you have to say the Big 12 is the best conference.
00:19 But I said before the season and boy, so far, it's
00:24 proving to be true that I think the Big East is going to be more interesting.
00:28 And coming into the Big East season this year, we have three teams
00:32 with national title aspirations.
00:34 John Fanta, I think when he came on the show, he tried to sneak Villanova in there.
00:37 Maybe Villanova will eventually play their way back into
00:40 into being in that mix, but beating Creighton and Omaha isn't quite enough yet.
00:45 But like Villanova, I can't make any sense of we'll get to that soon enough.
00:48 But you got you got UConn, you got Marquette, you got Creighton.
00:52 Those are the three.
00:53 And most people seem to believe that there's a little bit of a drop off
00:57 where how good Villanova is, which Villanova team shows up.
01:00 If Villanova is playing a team from Philadelphia, forget about it.
01:03 But if they're not, maybe they're knocking on that door
01:05 to be up in the upper echelon. Providence has a good team.
01:08 You know, there are other good teams in the Big East, but it felt like
01:11 that was that was the top group.
01:14 And then there was everybody else.
01:15 Those top three, 0-1 in Big East play.
01:18 All of them lose their Big East opener.
01:21 And here we are now.
01:22 Now, all of a sudden, the Big East, I don't want to say it's
01:24 it's completely wide open, a ton of basketball left to be played.
01:26 But boy, Wednesday was a lot of fun, a lot of fun in college basketball.
01:31 You got Villanova choking away the I'm sorry, Creighton choking away
01:34 a 14 point lead against Villanova on Doug McDermott night.
01:37 Seton Hall with a big upset over UConn, which didn't really feel like an upset.
01:41 It does in the larger picture.
01:43 But if you were just watching that game
01:46 and you had no context whatsoever about which of these two teams
01:50 won a national title last year and all that,
01:52 you would not have felt like that was an upset at all.
01:54 I mean, Seton Hall just completely punked them from start to finish.
01:56 Frank, the tank is joining us, by the way.
01:58 Frank, the tank Fleming, who everybody already knows he's an absolute legend.
02:02 Seton Hall, Seton Hall, super fan.
02:05 I got him on the show, too.
02:06 He was at the game last night.
02:08 They would they the cameraman had to have known, TJ.
02:10 They had to know what they were doing, right?
02:12 They kept cutting to Frank like crazy
02:14 going in and out of commercial, dapping up Seton Hall players.
02:18 So I had Frank on the show to talk about the big win for the pirates
02:22 last night against UConn.
02:23 But yeah, the biggies biggies play Marquette losing to Providence.
02:26 Creighton losing to Villanova, UConn losing to Seton Hall.
02:29 Other games going on Duke Baylor in Madison Square Garden.
02:32 Duke looked really good.
02:33 I am boy, I do not like this Baylor team at all.
02:36 I like watching that. We'll talk about it.
02:38 I do not trust them to win basketball games, but they can be fun to watch.
02:42 Carolina is a team I really like North Carolina.
02:45 I'm slowly talking myself into being something special.
02:48 They got work to do, but beat Oklahoma.
02:50 Oklahoma is no longer undefeated.
02:52 Arizona versus Alabama was a disgusting game, but we'll talk about that.
02:56 Really fun night in college basketball on Wednesday.
02:58 We're going to break it all down, but we're going to start with the biggies
03:01 because it is it is shaping up to be a very, very fun season in the big east.
03:06 But yeah, we'll talk about all the action. Let's get into it.
03:09 All right. Let's let's start with UConn Seton Hall.
03:12 I think that was the big head scratcher for me, at least.
03:14 Yeah, from from Wednesday night.
03:18 So Seton Hall win 75-60.
03:19 Donovan Klingin hurts his ankle, rolls his ankle early in the second half
03:23 is does not come back.
03:25 And as much as I want to use as a use that as an excuse for UConn
03:30 in the same way that I kind of would use that as an excuse
03:33 when UConn lost at Kansas and I didn't want to really overreact
03:36 because Kansas is a preseason number one team in the country and it's Allen
03:39 Fieldhouse and Stephon Castles out and
03:42 Cam Spencer rolled his ankle early in that game.
03:46 And, you know, I kind of tried to provide context to that.
03:50 And still, UConn played pretty well and it was close in the end.
03:53 And, you know, sometimes you just lose basketball games.
03:55 This was not that for me.
03:56 Donovan Klingin going out was not the reason that UConn lost this game.
03:59 UConn from start to finish looked like they had better things to do
04:03 than play basketball.
04:04 It was it was pretty shocking, to be honest.
04:07 And it shouldn't be, I guess, because UConn I didn't realize this till last night.
04:10 UConn just loses every single big east opener.
04:13 I really, really need someone to explain to me what the hell is going on with that.
04:16 Like why UConn?
04:18 The same thing happened last year.
04:19 It was like maybe I don't think they lost the opener.
04:22 I think they beat Butler, if I remember right. But
04:24 it was like a couple weeks later than we're at in the schedule right now.
04:28 But it was like almost the end of the the calendar year,
04:31 right as January was approaching and then all through January, UConn stunk.
04:36 And Tristan Newton didn't play well, which he didn't play well against Seton Hall.
04:40 And that was when I last year was was really starting to doubt
04:45 because UConn looked so good non-conference play last year.
04:48 And then conference play rolls around and the wheels just completely fall off
04:51 and they look like a completely different team.
04:53 And it's not just that they're losing games.
04:55 And it's not like it's not like a deal where you're just saying,
04:58 listen, the big east is really deep and you're going to have ups
05:02 and downs throughout a season.
05:03 And, you know, this is this is just one of the down periods for them
05:08 and they're going to get it back.
05:09 Like it was how they were losing those games last year.
05:11 And the same thing was happening against Seton Hall.
05:14 It was like, I don't mind like Seton Hall is not a bad team.
05:17 This was a huge win for Seton Hall beat UConn last year, if memory serves.
05:21 But yeah, Seton Hall has got a good thing going.
05:24 And Holloway is a great coach.
05:26 And I'll talk to I'll save like my Seton Hall thoughts for Frank
05:29 when Frank comes on.
05:29 But it's not in a vacuum.
05:32 This was not an embarrassing loss.
05:33 It was more like how it played out.
05:34 It was that UConn was running offense.
05:38 I don't know, three, four, five feet further out than what they wanted to.
05:42 Like Seton Hall was dictating the terms of everything about this game
05:46 that UConn couldn't even complete like simple guard to guard passes
05:49 without bobbling the ball, without like, you know, they bobble the pass.
05:53 It bounces a couple of times towards the backcourt.
05:56 The guy scoops it up and then they look up and Seton Hall is like
05:58 crawled up into their ass.
05:59 And now all of a sudden they're running offense from like 35 feet away.
06:01 That like kept happening over and over and over again.
06:04 They're breaking wide open shots.
06:08 There was just like zero juice whatsoever to the point that like
06:11 if I'm Danny Hurley after this game, I don't even I don't know
06:15 if I get mad at the team like this.
06:16 This this reached a level for me where it's like I'm not even angry.
06:19 I'm just disappointed.
06:20 That's my messaging to the team
06:22 because I was I was frustrated watching it as a fan.
06:25 Like I the the the broadcast was doing all they could to be like UConn
06:29 down by 12 with four minutes left or whatever the scenario was.
06:33 We'll come back to see if they got one last push and they're like
06:36 doing their best to be like, obviously, this UConn team just won a national
06:39 championship. Obviously, they're super talented, one of the best teams in the country.
06:42 Folks do not change the channel there.
06:46 They just might flip that switch late and come back and win this thing.
06:49 And I'm watching it thinking there's no way they're going to do that.
06:52 They have shown zero signs of life in this game.
06:54 And that's what I mean.
06:57 That's what ended up had there four for twenty one from three.
06:59 Caravan was breaking wide open.
07:01 I mean, it was it was just like
07:04 all the way down the roster.
07:05 I know Newton had like a decent stat line.
07:07 He had six turnovers, though.
07:08 But if you're watching the game, I mean, you know, maybe that's a sign of
07:12 of how good Tristan Newton has been, that you can score 16 points
07:16 and be five for twelve from the field, have six rebounds.
07:18 And I walk away thinking he had an absolute stinker of a game.
07:22 But I mean, that's what that's what my eyes told me is like UConn
07:25 did not want to be there.
07:26 UConn had zero respect for their opponent or for playing the game.
07:30 And that happens.
07:30 I mean, this this is the time of year where where wild shit does happen
07:33 in college basketball holiday distractions and finals and
07:36 all of that stuff that feels stupid on the outside
07:40 is very real on the inside,
07:43 like inside locker rooms, I mean.
07:45 But yeah, if you're like if you're watching all of these games,
07:48 just throwing it on your television and in a vacuum,
07:51 you do not necessarily think about like the weeks that all the week
07:55 that was leading up to this game and the finals and the the you know,
07:59 the girlfriend is being very conspicuous about what's on her Christmas list.
08:03 And now we're stressing about that.
08:04 Like we got to get her a Christmas present.
08:06 And mom's calling asking, do you know what time you're practicing on Christmas Eve?
08:10 Because I was hoping maybe you'd be able to come home for Christmas
08:12 and and maybe we could have a family dinner before you have to go back
08:15 for practice and he's not going to give you any time.
08:18 Oh, it depends on how you play this game.
08:19 All this shit going on. A lot of distractions.
08:22 You know, people do forget these are student athletes.
08:24 They are student athletes. Student first.
08:27 Yeah. And all that sounds insane.
08:28 And the more you talk about it, the more you start to like
08:30 want to roll your eyes at that sort of thing.
08:32 But from experience, I can tell you that Christmas weeks do get very, very wonky.
08:37 And I think a lot of the results around college basketball are proving that.
08:41 And teams just like not looking like themselves.
08:44 And that's that's what I hope is going on with UConn.
08:47 But the problem with that is like last year, they did have that that dip.
08:52 And I think UConn fans.
08:54 I know Danny Hurley doesn't think this way.
08:56 At least I hope he doesn't.
08:58 But UConn fans may be or, you know, even just neutral observers
09:03 might be saying they'll be fine. They did this last year.
09:05 They started shooting the bet around January.
09:08 They turned it on and then they waxed everybody in the NCAA tournament.
09:11 And that is true. That's exactly what happened.
09:13 And so far, this season looks very similar to last year's UConn season.
09:17 But that is a dangerous trap to me.
09:19 I think if you are planning to flip the switch,
09:22 that's that's that's not a smart way to go about it.
09:26 I think there are teams that can flip the switch, but I don't think that is plan A.
09:29 I think that is like an emergency.
09:31 Fuck, we got to figure some stuff out.
09:34 Our backs are against the wall.
09:36 We have to start playing better.
09:37 We have to call players only meeting, which have 100 percent hit rate,
09:41 as everybody knows.
09:43 I think if that is how you get to a point where you're flipping
09:46 the proverbial switch, that's a completely different thing than like,
09:50 yeah, fuck it, we'll be fine.
09:51 Why don't we just coast for a little while?
09:53 Because, you know, we did this last year and we can just kind of,
09:55 you know, we can show up on the road at Seton Hall and and give give a 70 percent
09:59 effort, and I'm sure we're better than them, you know, it's like,
10:02 I mean, we won the national championship last year.
10:03 We'll be fine.
10:04 And even if we lose, who cares?
10:05 We can lose five or six out of eight.
10:07 And when when mid-February rolls around, we'll turn it back on
10:11 and we'll go win a national championship.
10:13 I I do think UConn is capable of that.
10:15 I mean, they proved it last year.
10:17 I do think this team is still one of the best teams in the country.
10:20 But I did not like that whatsoever.
10:23 What I saw last night.
10:24 Stinky, stinky, stinky doo doo.
10:26 Stinky doo doo from UConn.
10:28 Yeah, it was just disappointing because I want to see them
10:31 actually bring some some juice.
10:33 And to me, that would be my messaging is I would.
10:35 If I was Danny Hurley, I would have walked in the locker room
10:37 and just had like a disgusted look on my face.
10:39 They would have anticipated me
10:41 screaming my head off at them for for giving no effort whatsoever
10:45 and just getting completely punked from start to finish.
10:47 But I wouldn't have done that.
10:50 I would just been like, you guys disgust me.
10:52 I would just like softly just been like.
10:54 You disgust me.
10:55 Get you.
10:56 We're not.
10:57 You know what I would have done?
10:58 Has anyone ever tried this?
10:59 I don't know if I.
11:00 Can you legally take away showers, do you think, TJ?
11:04 Like, I feel like you know better than me, I think you've been like if you
11:09 but I've never I've never heard of this use as a tactic.
11:12 But like now I'm thinking about it, like what if you're a coach and you're like,
11:14 I want I want this stench to linger.
11:18 So we're not showering.
11:20 We're just getting right on the butt.
11:21 Yeah, that's happened before, right?
11:23 And is this an offensive tactic like a chemical warfare device?
11:27 No, it's more like our opponents out or no, it's more of like
11:31 you guys stunk tonight and I'm I want you to sit in your own stench
11:35 as we get on the team bus and then fly back to Yukon
11:38 or drive. Yeah.
11:41 Drive back, I guess.
11:42 I don't know.
11:43 They're probably drove.
11:44 I want you guys to sit in your own stench.
11:47 I'm trying to think how I know, because like this was
11:49 this was such a piss poor effort that I think yelling and screaming
11:52 doesn't even get it done.
11:53 I think you do like the.
11:55 I can't do I feel bad for I feel bad for those
11:58 those Yukon players that are going to have to.
12:01 Just think they they have another game, though, right?
12:03 They play St. John's like that.
12:05 So I think they are good to sell.
12:06 But dude, losing losing like that before Christmas fucking sucks
12:10 because then you're you're you're practicing at noon on Christmas Day.
12:14 We in 07, we lost to
12:18 we lost to Florida the year we lost him in the national championship.
12:22 We lost to them December like 23rd, 22nd, something like that
12:26 in Gainesville by a thousand by a thousand.
12:29 And I'm not saying hyperbole.
12:31 That's it was it was a thousand points.
12:33 They beat us by.
12:34 And oh, my God, that was the most miserable Christmas of my life.
12:38 That was I don't think I don't think we had one second off.
12:42 I think we we just went like straight to running sprints right after that.
12:46 It sucks. But you can't does have another game.
12:49 They do play St. John's at home.
12:50 So hopefully for the players sake, they can pull their heads out of their asses.
12:54 But yeah, shout out to Seton Hall.
12:56 Like I said, we'll talk to Frank about the Seton Hall part of it all.
12:58 But UConn was was very disappointed with their effort in that game.
13:02 Villanova Creighton.
13:05 I think I'm done with Creighton.
13:06 I think I'm done. I think Creighton, you could stamp at their frauds.
13:08 I don't think Creighton's getting it back.
13:10 I don't think I yeah, I don't I don't.
13:14 Creighton doesn't have a path.
13:16 You know, I know that's that's my thing on mostly sports.
13:18 I love pointing out who has a path and who doesn't.
13:20 I don't. Creighton just as a as as a team like Kalkbrenner.
13:25 I don't know, dude, I got to I don't want to be too mean, but like.
13:30 I just go fucking crazy sometimes watching Creighton basketball
13:34 because like they just they they don't have the the the killer instinct.
13:40 They don't have the heart.
13:41 They don't have the they can be very, very good.
13:44 And at times when the Creighton offense is rolling through the years,
13:47 they they look so good.
13:49 But this how many times you have to see this where they're up by like 14
13:53 against a short handed Villanova team, by the way,
13:55 they have their best player, Justin Moore was even playing in this game.
13:58 And Eric Dixon just completely dominates.
14:01 32 points, four for ten from three.
14:04 He does this. He does this to Creighton every single time.
14:07 Kalkbrenner, he pulls him out from underneath the basket.
14:10 Creighton looks completely lost.
14:12 If Kalkbrenner is such a good rim protector,
14:16 I don't know what else he does that I get excited about.
14:19 And granted, being a big guy and being a good rim protector,
14:21 that's kind of 85 percent of your job.
14:23 So like I again, that's why I don't want to be too mean, because,
14:26 you know, that's that's part of that's basically the bulk.
14:30 That's the meat and potatoes of why he's out there is to be a rim protector.
14:33 But having said all that, if you're going in, if you have a matchup
14:36 or Eric Dickinson, Eric Dickinson, Eric Dixon, I'm sorry,
14:39 is pulling you away from the basket.
14:42 And you're not really rim protecting anymore.
14:45 What what what are we doing?
14:47 What what is what is what what is Creighton as a defense doing?
14:51 What is Creighton as a Creighton as an offense?
14:53 Just like continue like down the stretch.
14:56 So impatient, like so obviously frustrated by Villanova
14:59 played incredible defense, but like Villanova slowing the game down on purpose,
15:04 like as they do.
15:05 I mean, they this is a
15:08 tried and true method for Villanova, but they slow the game down.
15:11 Creighton has to know that they're going to slow the game down
15:14 and they just fall right into the trap of just getting frustrated
15:17 or shit on offense defense.
15:20 They're completely lost. I don't know. I just.
15:22 The Ashworth kid was supposed to fill in for Nem Heart and,
15:26 you know, provide the backfill for losing their starting point guard
15:31 from how good the team was last year.
15:33 The team last year was good enough to win a national championship.
15:36 I will I will forever believe that.
15:38 I don't see it with this team so far. I don't.
15:41 I don't know how they're going to convince me otherwise.
15:44 I love Baylor Shireman. I love Trey Alexander.
15:46 I don't really love the rest of the team, if I'm being completely honest.
15:49 Kalkbrenner is a good rim protector.
15:51 Kalkbrenner can can block a lot of shots.
15:52 Kalkbrenner can also get pushed around a little bit when he's trying to post up.
15:56 Kalkbrenner can also be a turnover machine.
15:59 Kalkbrenner.
16:00 Yeah, I don't I don't want to say he's soft, but he's just like not.
16:04 He can get pushed around way too easily for a guy that's supposed to be
16:08 a big dominant force down low for Creighton.
16:12 So, yeah, the Creighton part of it, like I still think they're a good team.
16:14 I still think that they can they can beat anybody on any given night.
16:17 I don't mean to say that they're, you know,
16:19 not capable of going to the Sweet 16 or something.
16:22 But this idea that Creighton that there's three serious
16:26 national title contenders in the Big East with UConn and Marquette and Creighton.
16:29 I don't I don't believe that.
16:31 I think it's UConn and honestly Marquette with the way they played against Providence,
16:34 which again, it's a it's a road game in conference starting out conference play.
16:39 It's it's a wonky.
16:40 Like all of those things are are we're taking it into account.
16:43 It's just you want to see growth with teams.
16:45 You want to see teams like Marquette.
16:47 I would have hoped that they they are mature enough to understand
16:51 what this week can be in the college basketball schedule.
16:54 You would hope that like going on the road at Wisconsin and playing like shit
16:58 and losing that game would kind of wake them up a little bit.
17:01 And and and I say this like with the standard of a national champion
17:06 and with a team that's an elite, elite, elite team,
17:09 you know, which which might be unfair for a lot of teams.
17:12 But Marquette, to me, they have those aspirations and that's
17:15 that's what they want to be.
17:16 They want to be a team that when people say there are no great teams
17:19 in college basketball this year, Marquette's in the back of the room
17:22 raising their hand saying, what about us?
17:24 We are we are that great team.
17:26 And yeah, losing losing like they did to Providence where they got absolutely.
17:31 So it was kind of like what the what the UConn situation was,
17:33 where there's just no juice whatsoever.
17:37 Start to finish, Providence is dominating the game.
17:39 Marquette's getting punked a little bit.
17:41 And yeah, that's that's it's very, very disappointing.
17:44 And that's.
17:45 So I don't I don't know, I don't know who really is.
17:48 UConn is going to be a national title contender, I think, until they have to lose
17:53 a lot of games for me to change that just because they won it last year
17:57 and their core.
17:58 It's not the they have enough of a quarterback.
18:02 And I think this team that I've seen so far in the season does look similar enough.
18:06 I think the roles that were played last year by, you know, Sunogo
18:10 Klingon does feel the Sunogo role enough.
18:14 And Samson Johnson does feel the Klingon role enough.
18:16 And Cam Spencer is not Jordan Hawkins, but like he is close enough.
18:21 And all of those things like feel close enough to where
18:24 having seen UConn win a national championship last year.
18:27 I have no choice but to believe that they no matter what happens
18:30 and if they do give half assed effort, they still will be a national title
18:34 contender all season.
18:36 Marquette and Crayton are going to have to have to prove it to me
18:39 throughout the year and and and their opening games and biggies play.
18:43 They certainly did not do that.
18:44 But shout out to Villanova for
18:47 they just they just looked like
18:49 a they looked like a vintage Villanova type win where not necessarily being down
18:53 14, but just down the stretch, they were in total control of that game.
18:57 They were dictating the terms of the game.
18:59 Eric, Eric, Eric, why do people want to call him Eric Dickinson?
19:02 I mean, it's pretty obvious it's because Hunter Dickinson's on the mind.
19:04 I can't. I can't get a hundred.
19:07 A hundred is you love him.
19:09 I fucking love him, dude. I think I might love him.
19:11 Eric Dixon was awesome.
19:14 And yeah, Villanova continues to be very, very confusing
19:18 because they have now lost to Penn.
19:20 They have lost to St. Joseph's. They have lost to Drexel.
19:22 They have lost to Kansas State, but they have also beaten UCLA,
19:26 who do kind of stinks, by the way, UCLA losing the Northridge.
19:28 But UCLA has a ton of talent and they
19:30 they beat them easily.
19:33 They went at Creighton. They beat North Carolina.
19:35 They beat the shit out of Maryland, who's not awesome,
19:37 but, you know, as a power conference team with some some decent players,
19:40 they beat the shit out of Texas Tech.
19:42 They beat Memphis Villanova's got the weirdest, weirdest run here.
19:45 I would love to see Villanova find some level ground
19:49 so we can sort of figure out who they are as a team.
19:53 But yeah, huge win for them to come back
19:56 on Doug McDermott night.
19:58 Doug McDermott, I can't believe Doug McDermott didn't have his jersey
20:00 already retired.
20:01 If he feels like a guy who how does that work, though?
20:03 Like how what's the grace period on that?
20:05 Or is it just a matter of we have to wait until the NBA schedule
20:09 allows for a night that he can come back?
20:11 Maybe it's just that maybe I'm reading too much into it.
20:13 But in my mind, it's like,
20:15 what are they waiting to see if he can commits a heinous crime before they retire?
20:19 Is there like how is his jersey not retired like the day he graduates?
20:21 I don't get it.
20:22 The banners are so wild, wild west, especially in college.
20:25 I feel like there are no rules.
20:26 What is Ohio State's banner situation look like?
20:28 Our our retired jerseys are, I think, for just national.
20:32 You have to win a National Player of the Year award.
20:34 So we have a lot of great players that have not had their jersey retired.
20:39 And then we also have Evan Turner's jersey retired, you know,
20:42 so it's a little bit of a confusing situation because, you know,
20:45 Indiana doesn't retire any jerseys.
20:51 And that's become like a point of pride of theirs.
20:53 There's like zero jerseys hanging in Assembly Hall.
20:58 North Carolina doesn't.
21:00 They have retired jerseys,
21:03 but then they also will hang a jersey for like every All-American.
21:06 So you go to the Dean Dome, there are a thousand jerseys hanging.
21:09 And it's really I don't know. It is kind of cool.
21:13 It's just like kind of a if you're someone that's not used to seeing a bunch of
21:16 jerseys, it is a little bit of a shock.
21:18 And there is that that part of your brain that's like,
21:20 what are we giving out participation trophies to everybody?
21:23 But then the Carolina fans will tell you, no, that's actually a flex
21:27 because we're flexing how many All-Americans we have.
21:29 And when you look up there and you see a thousand jerseys,
21:32 it reminds you that we're dominant.
21:33 And, you know, that that makes a lot of sense to me as well.
21:35 Speaking of North Carolina,
21:38 Carolina hands Oklahoma their first loss in Charlotte
21:41 and the the Jumpman classic Jordan brand,
21:46 whatever the hell they're called, Jumpman Invitational.
21:49 I like this Carolina team.
21:52 I think I think Carolina defensively has to get better.
21:56 I think, you know, the the show we did earlier,
22:00 I know they lost to Kentucky, but the the show I did on
22:03 Tuesday talking about R.J.
22:06 Davis and Armando Baycott, I think they're they're kind of.
22:09 Figuring this out like that, that I I Baycott played the best game.
22:14 This was this was the this was the game that I want to see out of Armando Baycott.
22:18 He had 14 points.
22:19 He had three like he had he did have three turnovers, but whatever.
22:21 Three block shots, eight rebounds.
22:24 He's four for nine from the field.
22:25 Like this is I think Armando Baycott is a very, very, very good player.
22:30 I think Armando Baycott is your best player.
22:32 You have a very obvious ceiling and you need great guard play.
22:36 And that's that's been evident to me for a while.
22:39 And R.J. Davis is playing out of his mind right now.
22:42 He's playing first team, all American level of basketball
22:45 and the pieces around him, Cormac Ryan, when he's when he's hot from three.
22:49 He's been a little streaky, but when he gets going and I think Kado is awesome.
22:54 I think Kado had a really, really bad moment against Kentucky
22:57 when he had to turn over at the end of the game.
23:00 But everything else I've seen out of the kid, he's he's got that
23:04 like natural point guard instinct where he's trying to set up the offense.
23:07 And and that's a very, very hard role, man.
23:09 Playing point guard in North Carolina might be the most difficult position
23:13 in college basketball, really.
23:15 I mean, the the the Carolina system of of the the the secondary
23:20 running the brakes and, you know, trying to get all the all the guys involved
23:24 and dictating tempo, you want to push the tempo.
23:27 Obviously, that's Carolina basketball, but we don't want to be out of control.
23:30 And to have a true freshman step in, I think he's been awesome.
23:34 And I say that, you know, like in this game, he had seven points and one assist.
23:38 And, you know, if you're you're a box score bozo, you look at it and you're like,
23:41 I mean, you know what, really?
23:43 And three fouls and two turnovers and stuff like that's the stat line.
23:46 And yeah, it is.
23:48 I think I think him replacing Caleb Love is the difference for North Carolina.
23:53 It's not the only thing that's different about this team.
23:55 They brought in some other guys.
23:56 They've they've you know, I'm sure the guys that were there last year
24:00 and were there for the for the end of Coach K
24:04 when that team goes on that run to the national championship game.
24:08 I'm sure even those guys like did some soul searching in the offseason
24:11 and whatever else.
24:13 So I don't mean to say it's just like a one to one thing of like Cadeau came in.
24:16 Caleb Love went out and now it's everything else is the exact same.
24:19 But that jumps out to me when I watch Carolina's, the roles are way more defined.
24:23 I do think that defensively, they've they've got to get better.
24:27 But I like what I see out of Carolina, especially on the offensive end.
24:32 I think R.J.
24:32 Davis, there might be a belief that at some point he's going to slow down
24:37 because he is on an absolute scoring tear right now.
24:39 And if he doesn't slow down, does it?
24:44 If he keeps scoring a lot, is does the efficiency slow down?
24:47 Does he start scoring 27 points?
24:50 But now all of a sudden he's taking 22 shots to get those 27 points.
24:53 I don't know. Maybe that is a concern.
24:55 But I this run that they've been on, Carolina has had a really, really tough
24:58 schedule, and he's he's been awesome and they've they play great basketball.
25:03 They haven't won all the games.
25:04 But I really like what I'm seeing out of Carolina.
25:06 I think this is this.
25:08 They have the pieces and have the look of a team.
25:11 This could be their best team since like the 2019 Kobe White team,
25:15 because the 2020 the team that goes to the national championship was not.
25:19 They were an A.C.
25:20 They were not that great throughout the year.
25:22 I think this team could be better.
25:24 Will they go to the national championship?
25:25 I'm not dumb enough to say that.
25:27 I'm not I'm not I wouldn't say that about any team in college basketball
25:29 before Christmas. But yeah, they they I really like what I'm seeing out of
25:34 Carolina, Oklahoma.
25:36 Tenno is cool.
25:41 They're not a bad team.
25:42 They are very, I think, being ranked seventh in the country,
25:45 I think Porter Moser would have told you that seems a little crazy.
25:48 But by virtue of just kind of being undefeated and they have beat some good
25:51 teams, you know, I don't think it was an undeserved ranking.
25:56 I just think it was like a.
25:58 Yeah, when I turned on the game and I saw seven next to Oklahoma
26:01 and then you're watching the broadcast and they just keep talking about
26:04 how like Oklahoma is winning with team defense
26:06 and they don't really have a ton of great offensive talent individually.
26:09 And I'm just kind of scratching my head like, oh, oh, this is number
26:14 seven in the country feels like a lofty ranking.
26:17 But yeah, I I like Oklahoma's defense.
26:21 They do play great team defense.
26:24 I like Porter Moser.
26:25 I think he's a great coach.
26:27 Being completely honest, and I think that's what my job
26:31 is supposed to be when we do these shows.
26:33 I am a little worried about where the season might go for Oklahoma.
26:36 I am a little worried about, you know, we start to get into big 12 play
26:39 and Oklahoma starts to really get challenged.
26:42 Oklahoma, their wins are a close win over USC, who's not that great.
26:48 They did beat the piss out of Providence.
26:50 I'll give them that.
26:51 They beat Iowa.
26:52 I was not that great.
26:53 So you're looking at like this.
26:55 They beat Arkansas by all of these teams are.
26:57 They kind of had like the same thing of what I said about Houston,
27:00 I think on Tuesday, where it's like, I don't want to say
27:04 you're playing a cupcake schedule. That's not fair.
27:05 I'm not saying that that you're just beating the snot out of these
27:09 Miak teams and puffing your chest and saying we're 10 to no.
27:12 But at the same time, like, are you going up against the elite
27:17 of the elite teams in college?
27:18 The teams that we believe to be the best teams in college basketball.
27:22 And they really hadn't until they played in North Carolina
27:24 and North Carolina looked like the obvious better team.
27:27 But that at the same time, you know, you don't want to overreact to one game.
27:32 So we will see.
27:32 But if I am being completely honest, Oklahoma to me does not have a ton of.
27:38 Talent, I guess.
27:41 I mean, like they don't they did.
27:42 There aren't there aren't there aren't guys that jump out at you is like
27:45 that guy is is going to carry them.
27:47 And when they're scoring droughts, that guy is going to play in the league.
27:50 Things can change.
27:52 I'm not a draft expert.
27:53 I don't fucking know what the hell I'm talking about with these guys
27:56 half the time.
27:57 But I'm just telling you from what I've watched of Oklahoma,
27:59 they're winning with team defense, which is great.
28:02 I mean, there are a ton of success stories in college basketball teams
28:05 that maybe aren't great offensively, but win with team defense.
28:08 What I'm worried about is the big 12 is deep as shit.
28:11 And we're coming up quickly on a big 12 season where, you know,
28:16 you they have central Arkansas, they have Monmouth.
28:19 Then you have Iowa State at TCU at Kansas and.
28:23 I'd
28:26 open it up with that is brutal.
28:30 West Virginia at home at Cincinnati, Texas.
28:32 I mean, it just on and on as the big 12 gets
28:35 as a big 12 is every year, it just gets really, really dicey.
28:40 And I don't know. I don't know. We'll see.
28:42 I am I'm holding off judgment in Oklahoma, but if I'm being completely honest
28:46 and it's unfair to Oklahoma fans and I really genuinely do hate doing this
28:50 because I know what it's like to be in the shoes of an Oklahoma fan
28:54 and be excited about your team.
28:56 And it's a pleasant surprise to be 10 and 0 and be like, damn,
28:59 we're seventh in the country. This is fucking awesome.
29:01 And then you have some dipshit in a Santa hat and a Chili's jersey on a podcast.
29:05 That's like, I don't know, man. I don't think Oklahoma is that good.
29:07 I get it. It sucks.
29:09 You don't want to hear that.
29:10 You want to be excited about your team and you don't want people to just shit
29:12 all over. But if I'm being honest, like I don't I don't
29:15 I don't think Oklahoma is the seventh best team in the country.
29:17 I don't think they're close to it.
29:18 That's how I feel.
29:21 Other games going on Duke Baylor.
29:24 I kind of hate this Baylor team as a basketball team.
29:26 I like them as an entertainment product, but they
29:31 using using the terminology I use for the Seton Hall,
29:35 UConn game and Villanova Creighton down the stretch.
29:38 You want to see teams dictate the terms of games
29:42 like the best teams in college basketball are dictating the terms
29:44 that is that is across the board, whether you are a team that is like,
29:48 we want to turn everything into a rock fight and we want to win a game
29:51 in the 40s and just beat the shit out of the other team.
29:54 Or your team like Alabama that wants to jack up a ton of threes or your team
29:57 like, you know, a Carolina that wants to push pace or Virginia slow it down.
30:01 Whatever, whatever your system is, whatever your culture is within your program.
30:05 Every single team that believes to be believes themselves to be a good
30:09 basketball team
30:10 is going into every single game saying we are dictating the terms.
30:14 This is how it's going to be.
30:16 We play this style of basketball.
30:19 And our goal tonight is to get the other team to play this style of basketball
30:22 because we play the style better than they play the style.
30:24 And we are going to dictate the terms from start to finish.
30:26 I get zero of that from Baylor.
30:29 Every time I watch Baylor, they are just like going with the flow of whatever.
30:32 They let the other team dictate the terms of the game.
30:35 And then they respond to that.
30:37 And they respond successfully oftentimes because they have
30:40 they are a very talented team and they are a guard oriented team,
30:44 which works in college basketball in this era of three point shooting
30:48 and driving and kicking and all that.
30:50 So, yeah, they still find success.
30:52 But that's what jumps out to me when I watch Baylor is like
30:54 they are very much on the back foot, just reacting and very content
30:59 with just jacking up.
31:01 You know, they only shot 18 threes.
31:02 I mean, if you're pointing to a team that jacks up threes,
31:04 you talk about Alabama, which we will in a second.
31:07 I don't mean to say that they just come down and throw up,
31:10 but they are just like so comfortable with with.
31:13 Losing, like being down in games and like letting teams go on runs and like
31:20 not they just don't dictate their terms.
31:23 And I don't think they play awesome defense.
31:25 I know they had seven blocks.
31:26 The big guy was was blocking every single shot that was that,
31:29 especially in the first half that Duke was taken to the rim.
31:33 But yeah, that's what jumps out to me with Baylor is like
31:36 they there's a ton of talent there.
31:38 They I like Ray J.
31:40 Dennett, Jacoby Walters is probably the most fun freshman to watch in the country.
31:44 If I really thought about it, other than Reed Shepherd
31:47 and the Kentucky guys, Jacoby Walter, he's an awesome talent.
31:52 I really, really like watching him.
31:54 But Baylor is a team and this is true two years in a row.
31:56 I mean, last year, County George and L.J.
31:58 Cryer, like that team was so good and they could pour in points in a hurry.
32:02 And they are so fun to watch.
32:03 But like as you're watching, you're just like
32:05 that it feels like there's kind of playing pickup basketball, which I get.
32:09 You know, it's fun. It's fun.
32:10 I like that.
32:11 But if you have serious aspirations of like,
32:15 you know, pulling off some some some championships here,
32:19 like we got to we got to get our shit together, man.
32:21 And that's that's where I'm at with Baylor.
32:23 So I don't know.
32:24 They're going to they're going to be fine in Big 12 play.
32:26 They're going to probably beat Kansas and Houston and, you know, have have wins
32:31 where they're just red hot.
32:33 But there's a cultural problem to me.
32:35 And I don't mean like I don't mean like fire scout or I don't mean like that.
32:38 I just mean like with it, like within what this team is,
32:41 they just kind of have no identity other than like we love to shoot jump shots
32:44 and we love to
32:46 we love to give our guards freedom, which is cool.
32:48 But like you need more than that.
32:49 And also, if you're going to be that, then I need you dictating those terms
32:53 every single time you step on the court, because you got to
32:55 you got to be damn sure every time you're going out onto the court
32:57 that that's what that game is going to be.
33:00 And Duke was Duke was just in control of this game for me,
33:03 even though it was a close game.
33:04 I felt like Duke was playing on their terms
33:07 and Filipowski was awesome and Jared McCain was awesome.
33:10 And I do like this Duke team, even though I have said through the
33:13 so far this season, I think they're soft as well.
33:16 I still think they're they're supremely talented and they kind of feel like
33:19 they kind of feel like Alabama football this year, where you give up on them
33:24 early because they lose the Georgia Tech.
33:27 I'm talking about Duke now, not Alabama, but like the way Alabama
33:29 football lost earlier this year and like, oh, we can we can just cast them aside.
33:33 We don't have to worry about them.
33:35 And then now Alabama's playing for national championship.
33:37 Duke feels like a team that's going to be around.
33:41 Like, I mean, they're going to lose a couple of games in the ACC.
33:43 Sure. And everyone will fall into the trap of saying they're done
33:47 and they're disappointing.
33:49 But yeah, when when March rolls around, Duke's very much going to be a factor.
33:53 Anything else?
33:55 I Arizona, Arizona, Alabama game was was one of the grossest games
33:59 of basketball ever.
34:00 And I'm so mad because I stayed up late one to watch it.
34:03 And to this should have been the most fun game of the season in college
34:06 basketball, really Arizona and Alabama get up and down
34:09 great offenses for both teams, a ton of playmaking on the offensive end
34:13 for both teams.
34:14 I don't know.
34:16 I think I might just have my fill of Alabama basketball.
34:18 I have nothing against NATO. It's really I don't want to start a fight with Rico.
34:22 I know NATO is Rico's guy, but
34:25 I just can't the way Alabama lost in the NCAA tournament
34:28 last year to San Diego State, where they just refused to take anything
34:32 other than a three or a layup because like NATO, it's just like
34:34 I'm smarter than everybody and I figured out the analytics.
34:37 So we're just going to continue to jack up threes, miss them.
34:40 And then when we miss them, we're going to drive to the rim
34:42 and get our shot block.
34:43 Oh, shit, that that we just got our shot blocked.
34:46 All right. Now let's go throw up another three.
34:47 They kept doing that over and over and then looking at the bench like, coach,
34:50 why is this not working?
34:51 And it's because you were getting wide open, like seven foot pull ups
34:54 that you just simply would not take.
34:57 I'm just over the Alabama basketball experience in general.
35:00 Like it's it's I get what they're doing.
35:02 I'm not too stupid to understand what's going on that the analytics,
35:06 they shoot threes or layups, get to the rim or put up jump shots
35:11 or three points, no long twos, no mid range, all that sort of shit.
35:15 It is just absolutely brutal to watch when it's a game like this
35:18 and they can't hit anything.
35:19 And the refs are calling every single foul both way.
35:22 It was it was just it was just a mess.
35:24 Arizona didn't even play particularly well.
35:26 There were.
35:27 For those who didn't watch the game, there were 57 three point attempts.
35:31 Twelve of them were made.
35:34 Twelve for 57.
35:35 These two teams combined from three in a regulation game.
35:37 This did not go into like four overtimes.
35:39 There were 32, 32 turnovers between the two teams.
35:45 There were 45 fouls.
35:47 And there were, by my math, 63 free throws shot in this game.
35:51 It was it was disgusting, disgusting basketball.
35:54 And if you didn't watch a second of it and you just saw the score,
35:57 you woke up, you saw that Arizona won eighty seven, seventy four against Alabama.
36:00 You might think, wow, what a fun game.
36:03 That probably was a track meet.
36:04 They got up and down and.
36:07 It was not that it was it was very, very gross.
36:09 Arizona Demon, Arizona's defense didn't really play that well.
36:12 But, you know, I thought that was going to be one of the big differences
36:16 with this Arizona team. I talked to wild bags about it.
36:17 I like Arizona's defense long term.
36:20 They haven't looked great defensively against against Alabama and Purdue,
36:23 but Alabama, Purdue have maybe the top two offenses in college basketball.
36:26 So I don't want to react to that.
36:27 But Arizona is not even looking all that great.
36:30 And they beat a good Alabama team.
36:32 I know Alabama six and five, but they are
36:34 I do still trust in them
36:37 winning games and being competitive and getting to the tournament.
36:41 They'll be ranked again at some point this season.
36:43 But I just as a viewing experience, I'm just kind of out on it.
36:47 I just don't really want to watch.
36:49 I can't I can't watch last night.
36:50 I'm not staying up late to watch what Alabama put out onto the court last night.
36:54 That was that was disgusting.
36:56 All right. Enough of that.
36:57 Let's talk to Frank to take.
36:59 All right, Frank, the tank is here.
37:00 He was at the Seton Hall Yukon game last night.
37:03 Seton Hall dominates Yukon.
37:05 This is the third year in a row.
37:07 I think Seton Hall is beating Yukon at home.
37:09 Yeah, you're going to you're getting a lot of TV time, Frank.
37:13 Sitting courtside.
37:14 Where where would you give give us a one to ten your Seton Hall basketball
37:18 fandom, because every time they showed you on camera,
37:20 you looked like you were like ten out of ten into the moment of
37:24 Seton Hall pulling off the upset.
37:27 I'm definitely like an eight, at least.
37:29 I've been following Seton Hall since the 1989 Final Four.
37:34 I mean, I just kind of like the first year I really got into the tournament,
37:37 really got pumped watching the tournament, watching that run.
37:40 I was 13 at the time, so I got to watch that.
37:44 And I'm still bitter over that.
37:46 That fandom foul call at the end of the game, at the end of the championship game.
37:50 Yeah, I am aware of that.
37:52 And I wasn't even that old when it happened.
37:54 But I knew the Seton Hall got job.
37:56 We lost to Michigan, right?
37:57 It was like the Glen Rice Michigan team.
37:59 PJ Carlissimo.
38:01 Steve Fisher and coach. Yeah.
38:03 So what was last night like?
38:06 Like the crowd was was into it.
38:08 This is we're feeling the Seton Hall team.
38:10 We feel like this wasn't a blip that you can expect more good moments
38:13 out of these guys.
38:15 Well, I went to the Rutgers game and it was a totally different experience.
38:17 They they kind of stunk up the joint that night.
38:20 Yeah. Do they? And go ahead.
38:23 I think yesterday I think yesterday they came out, they played hard.
38:27 They played really good defense and
38:30 they kind of got a UConn team that was kind of flat.
38:34 They got a UConn team that, you know, it's it's it's winter break.
38:38 And maybe a few players are thinking more about jingle bell rock
38:41 and handling the rock and
38:43 then Donovan Clingan got
38:45 twisted his ankle and he missed the game.
38:49 I mean, in fact, Donovan Clingan was dominating the game
38:52 whenever he was on the court.
38:53 He did that.
38:54 Seton Hall just had no answers.
38:56 The first projection.
38:58 UConn had three rebounds before finally hitting a three pointer.
39:03 And Donovan Clingan was like a monster.
39:05 They they gave him like a little five minute breeder.
39:08 And when he took that five minute breeder, UConn had like an eight point lead.
39:11 And this is the first time Seton Hall caught up.
39:13 Then he got into foul trouble in the first half.
39:17 They took him out for the last five minutes.
39:19 And that's how Seton Hall ended up taking the lead.
39:21 The he comes back out.
39:24 He's dominating again.
39:25 And he twists his ankle while getting his third foul.
39:27 And after that, you know, just took over and just pulled away.
39:32 Yeah, they had UConn had like no heart whatsoever.
39:35 They just looked like they were given up.
39:37 I thought the same thing.
39:39 Where does UConn rank on the rivalry list for Seton Hall?
39:42 Like, how do you see Seton Hall's basketball rivals?
39:45 What's the.
39:46 Oh, it's up there. It's up there.
39:48 I mean, they left the big East for a while, so
39:52 they weren't too much of a problem.
39:53 But the funny thing is, is Danny Hurley.
39:57 That's right.
39:59 I still remember Danny Hurley playing for Seton Hall early 90s.
40:05 And I was sitting in the studio section and they kept
40:09 kept heckling him over like a toilet he broke while living off campus.
40:16 And I can't have an apartment.
40:20 And now, of course, we also saw Bobby Hurley senior there at the game yesterday.
40:23 Oh, really? Yeah, that's awesome.
40:26 And he's a he's a new New Jersey high school coach legend.
40:29 I mean, I don't think any coach more one more games in him in New Jersey than him.
40:35 Do do you get the same treatment from the Seton Hall fans as you do?
40:39 Like the Mets game? Are you are you a properly?
40:41 You get the red carpet rolled out for you properly and treated like the legend
40:45 that you are or the Mets don't roll out of red carpet for me.
40:49 Yeah, Seton Hall does though.
40:50 Seton Hall does like like officially they do.
40:53 But like the fans, the fans show you love and all that sort of thing.
40:57 You're oh yeah.
40:57 John, I saw Jinx is sitting by you, Jinx.
40:59 Is he give me give me the difference between like how Frank is treated
41:03 by at Mets games versus Seton Hall basketball games?
41:05 Is there a difference or is it just like the exact same experience?
41:08 Completely night and day.
41:10 It's actually a really good question.
41:11 So in a Mets game, it's spend for yourself.
41:14 Good luck in the wild.
41:15 Fans come up. They're ruthless, whatever.
41:18 I'm literally full time security.
41:20 The concourse is insane.
41:22 You know, you're just on your own.
41:23 So, Frank, I have to defend ourselves at Seton Hall.
41:26 They come out to the road with our passes.
41:30 Meet us on the street.
41:31 Walk us all the way down to the court.
41:34 And they take two chairs and put them directly behind the photographers
41:38 so that Frank and I have ample room.
41:40 So we're not even sitting front row.
41:41 We sit in front of front row on the court.
41:43 Oh, my God.
41:44 Which let's play yesterday from Dre Davis with a with an one
41:47 and you started dappling us up.
41:49 Yeah, that was awesome.
41:50 That was awesome.
41:51 I was watching it live and I saw it before the clip even made it on the Internet.
41:54 I was I was I did like the Leonardo DiCaprio thing.
41:57 I was like, that's that's freaking chicks.
41:59 I got so excited.
42:00 It's part two. Titus is afterward.
42:02 They send us the nicest thank you note.
42:05 Like we get on the biggest fever in the world when literally they gave us
42:07 the red card was is this sheen Holloway's doing?
42:11 Is this always been the case to Seton Hall?
42:13 Like it's it's it's it's
42:16 something I just reach out to him last year.
42:17 I started reaching out to them.
42:18 OK, I thought the first pitch in a baseball game.
42:21 Believe it or not, I mean, 50 years ago,
42:26 my grandfather's cousin.
42:29 Was president of the wall.
42:32 Monsignor Edward Fleming.
42:33 Wow. Wow.
42:36 I can actually be actually when he was the president of the wall.
42:39 Did a lot of work in helping to resurrect
42:44 the sports programs and probably he's the reason
42:48 that Seton Hall is a division one school as opposed to being like division
42:52 two or three and just fading into the back.
42:55 Is this really like you're like literally.
43:00 Yeah, you're like literally royalty at Seton Hall, not just the figurative royalty.
43:03 I mean, you you have ties that deep.
43:05 That's incredible.
43:06 What about TJ was telling me the the court
43:10 storming situation is not great there, though, that like that
43:13 that the security is a little tight.
43:16 Oh, I'm talking about they got the biggest.
43:20 Security guards, they like to be like about two minutes left.
43:25 They came down on the court and one of them just like grab one of us.
43:30 Like, I mean, there was a couple that slipped by and it wasn't a big suit.
43:34 It's actually it's a great time.
43:35 But this one guy like like Brad wanted us to like grab it like like like
43:39 like he was like a linebacker.
43:41 He was like tackle.
43:43 I mean, there is there is no way the court is going to be rough.
43:49 They they they're ready to stop and there's this.
43:52 No, there is no court storming there whatsoever.
43:56 I mean, I mean, if the security wasn't looking the other way
44:01 and they kind of wanted to to let it happen, it would have happened.
44:05 But there is there no way they're going to let that happen.
44:09 They had the look of like the 2001 Ravens defensive line
44:12 and they came out and people were trying to like talk to them a little bit.
44:16 They wouldn't respond to anyone.
44:18 And I mean, is this one guy just got what guy was look like?
44:21 It looked like he looked like a linebacker.
44:24 Look like primary Lewis.
44:26 That's where you watch the video.
44:27 I took you'll see one guy makes an incredible juke and gets through.
44:30 Everyone else gets stopped at the line.
44:32 And then I put Frank down in the chair and was like, just stay put.
44:35 Stay put. Stay put.
44:37 You know, I'm getting.
44:38 Yeah, I wanted to sit down because I didn't want anyone like running over me.
44:42 Yeah. And then this one guy, this one guy like I had grabbed
44:45 that one guy, like picked him up and put him back down.
44:49 I mean, he picked him up off his feet.
44:53 And it was like, no, you're not going anywhere.
44:56 And then there was another guy who was looking at a headlock.
44:58 Oh, my God. That's a crazy.
45:01 No, no, no, there were no there was going to be no court storming.
45:05 They weren't they weren't doing that.
45:07 No, no, no.
45:08 What's the security just did?
45:10 There was like, yeah, just try it.
45:13 What's what are your feelings for Kevin Willard, how he left and went to Maryland?
45:20 Is he have you have we moved on like we don't care anymore?
45:22 Or is he still a guy that we're rooting for his downfall?
45:26 I just hope. Yeah, he actually never got.
45:29 He never despite all his success and bluster,
45:33 he does he will never got to this. We succeed with him.
45:35 Yeah. So goodbye. See you later.
45:38 I hope I hope that that's a him.
45:40 Holloway, who is a single guy.
45:42 He's a Jersey guy.
45:43 I mean, this guy is at the right personality. Yeah.
45:47 He just he he I don't like the fact that he was talking about the NILS
45:51 as being a problem, but, you know, probably is a problem.
45:53 But I just don't want him saying it. Yeah.
45:55 But if they get they get some good players here, I think he can make it a fun program.
45:59 I think he's a good coach.
46:01 He the St. Peter's run tells you that.
46:03 I love seeing you happy, Frank.
46:04 It's nice to see you.
46:06 The Seton Hall basketball seems to make you so happy.
46:08 And I mean, it's not one of those things where I expected to ever win.
46:12 It's just I mean, what do you what the dolphins, the devils, the Mets?
46:16 I just want to win.
46:19 And I need that. I need to.
46:21 I need one of those three teams to win.
46:23 Oh, last thing before I let you go.
46:26 You have a keen eye for for sports, obviously.
46:30 And you can tell when you're seeing good, good athletes and bad athletes
46:33 and everything in between.
46:35 There's a lot of chatter around the company about a potential
46:38 New York office versus Chicago office basketball game.
46:41 Give me your thoughts, Frank, how this would shake out.
46:44 Who do you like? Who in the New York office is good?
46:47 Just give me your general thoughts on if the bar still New York office
46:50 played for Chicago.
46:51 That's going to be very tough for us to win.
46:53 But if you have to dial out, yes, you you're you'd obviously be a ringer.
46:58 Jinx can play, though.
47:00 Jinx can play. Yeah, this guy right here against the rest of the Chicago office.
47:04 He could kick her ass. Yeah.
47:07 Yeah. Jinx would jinx is the secret weapon that no one seems to be talking about.
47:10 He would be everyone's like trying to get Pat Bev on the New York team,
47:12 which doesn't make any sense to me.
47:14 But Jinx has a legitimate claim.
47:17 I mean, yeah, he doesn't have any.
47:18 I mean, I mean, we're going to actually be in the league. Right.
47:21 I mean, he's only good.
47:25 He's on 76, a team that could possibly win this year.
47:27 You know, maybe he joins us and it's just
47:31 impact of trusting everyone.
47:35 They win by 20 points.
47:37 Frank, appreciate you making time, man.
47:39 Good to hear your perspective and wish you luck with Seton Hall basketball.
47:44 It has been it's been fun to watch.
47:45 I like shooting in Holloway as well.
47:46 And, you know, I don't think this team is national title good, but they're they're fun.
47:50 He's a great personality. Yeah.
47:51 He's someone I really want to see successful. Yeah.
47:54 All right. Well, thanks so much. Have a happy holiday.
47:57 You got the you got the Santa hat on as well.
47:59 We're we're twinsies. Love that.
48:02 Appreciate it, Frank.
48:04 All right, thanks.
48:06 All right. Thank you to Frank, the tank.
48:08 I got to be honest, I never actually thought when I came to barstool
48:12 that Frank would appear on the show.
48:15 Not that I didn't want him to appear on the show.
48:17 I just never would have dreamed a scenario where I would think,
48:20 you know, I have to get on the show is Frank the tank. Yeah. And.
48:22 Yeah, man, he's he's a Seton Hall basketball super.
48:26 He is the Seton Hall guy. So. Sure.
48:28 Maybe it's number two.
48:31 Who would number two be?
48:33 Yeah, I don't know. I don't know.
48:35 Maybe it's just his professionalism.
48:36 When I texted him to see if he would come on the show,
48:38 it was like an immediately immediately response.
48:41 Yes. No questions asked.
48:42 So maybe he envisioned himself being on the show one day, even if I did.
48:46 When I announced I was coming to barstool, he was part of the the announcement video
48:50 where he's right. Rebounded for me.
48:51 And he was also he was heckling me as I was shooting.
48:56 Yeah. Love Frank.
48:57 Absolutely love Frank.
48:59 Great having him on the show.
49:00 All right. A few things before we go.
49:02 First of all, Eric Montrose passed away and I did talk about it last show
49:07 because I wanted to collect my thoughts and
49:09 it happened like right before we recorded last show.
49:12 The news broke and I wanted some time to collect my thoughts.
49:15 And basically the thoughts I collected are just that it sucks.
49:19 And I'm very sad about it. And
49:20 my my memories of Eric Montrose.
49:25 So Eric Montrose is from Indianapolis.
49:27 He's an indie guy. Went to North Carolina.
49:30 I don't. Brandon was asking me about it.
49:32 I don't really fully know the story as to why he went to North Carolina and not Indiana
49:35 because Brandon was like, if he's if he's from Indy, wasn't the the early 90s,
49:41 late 80s, that's that's like Bob Nights hated.
49:43 Like, why did you not go to you?
49:45 If I remember like you had Alan Henderson coming out of Indianapolis.
49:49 And I don't know if he was the same age as Montrose.
49:51 Damon Bailey, I think, was the same age as Eric.
49:53 I think Damon Bailey definitely won Mr.
49:56 Basketball, but I don't think Montrose did.
49:58 And I think it's because Damon Bailey and him were the same age
50:01 and he was going to Indiana.
50:03 So I don't know how much that played into it.
50:04 But my the theory that I would
50:07 believe most is that Eric Montrose is like the nicest guy in the world.
50:13 Bob Knight was an asshole.
50:14 Dean Smith is like the nicest guy in the world.
50:16 And he was like, I would rather play for Dean Smith.
50:19 And that's why he went to North Carolina.
50:20 But I bring up I bring up Montrose being from Indy because
50:23 he was the first guy I remember when I was growing up watching basketball.
50:29 And, you know, I would just watch any game that was on television.
50:33 I would stop and watch and just soak it all in.
50:36 And in 1993, he wins a national championship.
50:38 I'm six years old.
50:39 I do remember that that tournament run.
50:41 I remember the Weber timeout.
50:43 I was old enough to I'm old enough at that point to remember all that stuff.
50:46 And I remember Montrose as I'm watching him in North Carolina,
50:51 93, 92, like the whole the whole time he was there, really.
50:54 My dad pointed out that he was from Indy and he actually played for my dad.
50:58 My dad coached him when he was a freshman.
51:00 He went to Park Tudor High School.
51:01 My dad was the coach there.
51:04 Coach Titus coached him as a freshman, and then he transferred to Lawrence North,
51:07 which is the high school that Greg Oden and Mike Conley went to.
51:11 And they had they had some dudes through the years.
51:14 But my dad points out, like as we're watching,
51:16 we'll just be watching a random North Carolina game.
51:18 And he's like, you see that guy right there?
51:19 Like I coached him and Eric.
51:21 And I say all that to say that Eric Montrose was the first
51:23 the first guy I remember
51:27 cheering for solely because he was from Indiana.
51:30 It was the first time where I was like, I guess I'm a North Carolina fan now
51:32 because I the fact that my dad knows this guy and he's so good
51:36 and he's got nothing but great things to say about him.
51:39 I just remember watching Eric Montrose and being so excited
51:43 that a guy from Indiana was on that stage.
51:46 And that's kind of who he always was to me now.
51:48 As he got older and he started calling basketball games from North Carolina,
51:53 he he would like we when I was at Ohio State, we played North Carolina all the time.
51:57 I don't know how or why, but it felt like we played him like five times in four years.
52:00 That's not true, but it felt that way.
52:04 And Montrose was always just like so affable to everybody.
52:07 And like he would talk to everybody on the other teams.
52:10 He would talk to like Coach Mata and all of our players.
52:13 And like he was just a yeah, I didn't know him personally.
52:17 So like I can't really add that context to it all.
52:20 But I just I'm just I just want to echo the sentiment that everyone else
52:23 seems to have, which is that he was just
52:25 a great basketball player, but an all around awesome dude.
52:28 And I don't I don't think this was I don't think him passing, unfortunately,
52:32 was like a huge shock because I had heard throughout the summer
52:35 that he was not doing great.
52:37 And, you know, the season starts and you just kind of don't really hear any updates.
52:42 And, you know, maybe not everyone's mind does, but my mind always goes to the worst.
52:46 And I don't want to pretend like I was completely stunned when I saw the news.
52:49 But at the same time, the finality of it and all that is an absolute gut punch.
52:54 And the loss is immense.
52:56 And I yeah, I don't know.
52:57 That's that's basically all I have on Eric Montrose, though.
53:00 It's I was.
53:03 I was just as like.
53:05 I was. Yeah, it affected me more than I thought it would.
53:09 I put it that way to, you know, maybe it's just more of like
53:13 my own midlife crisis.
53:14 Maybe I'm going through just like, fuck, I'm getting old or whatever.
53:17 But he's the first guy I remember
53:20 wearing a jersey of a team that I didn't necessarily care about one way or another.
53:25 But suddenly I was like, I'm going to I'm going to cheer for that team
53:28 because I I like that that guy played for my dad and is from Indiana.
53:32 And, you know, won it, won a state championship of Lawrence North
53:35 and was an All-American and and all that Eric Montrose ruled. Great dude.
53:39 Sucks, sucks. It's only it's all I can say about that.
53:43 Two other things.
53:46 Washington State and Oregon State are joining the West Coast
53:49 Conference in basketball.
53:50 That was news that broke since we last did a show, not in football.
53:54 I think they're going to continue to just like do their own little
53:56 scheduling, I guess, or play.
53:59 They're going to play each other 15 times a year or something in football.
54:02 I don't know what they're going to do with that.
54:03 But the basketball belief, I think most people seem to think
54:08 that they were going to partner up with the Mountain West, which I and so them
54:13 them joining the West Coast Conference in basketball moving forward
54:16 for however many years.
54:18 I forget what the I don't have in front of me, whatever the agreement was
54:21 is a little bit of a disappointment
54:23 because the Mountain West is the better conference.
54:25 I, I agree.
54:27 I think those two schools joining the Mountain West made more sense in my head.
54:31 But I also don't hate this at all because the West Coast
54:35 Conference is a great basketball conference.
54:37 It's not looking like it's going to be as great this year.
54:40 But I want I want Gonzaga to have other big boys to go up against.
54:45 Now, Oregon State and Washington State, of course, are not
54:48 blue bloods of college basketball.
54:50 So, you know, you could maybe roll your eyes at something like that.
54:54 But they are they should be better than the rest of the West Coast Conference.
54:57 Like they should be able to theoretically
54:59 step into the West Coast Conference and not run the run the league,
55:02 but at least give Gonzaga.
55:05 Gonzaga shouldn't have physical advantages at every position anymore, at least.
55:09 And they have experience like going on the road and playing at UCLA
55:15 and at the McHale Center and Tucson.
55:17 And like these are programs that are that are familiar with that to where
55:22 you would like to believe that they will give Gonzaga the test
55:25 that Gonzaga needs now that BYU is out of the conference and St.
55:28 Mary's is kind of the only as a program,
55:31 the only program that feels like they can compete with Gonzaga.
55:35 So, yeah, it'll be interesting to see how how it all actually shakes out,
55:39 like whether whether Wazoo and Oregon State can be that.
55:42 But that's if they can, I will really, really like this,
55:46 even though them going to the Mountain West made more sense
55:49 in terms of like that being the way better conference.
55:51 And it felt like that felt like more of the permanent partnership.
55:55 If they had gone to the Mountain West, it felt like you kind of take
55:58 all of that rebranded or maybe you don't, maybe just call it the Mountain West
56:01 and the Pac-12 is officially dead
56:03 or you want to call it the Pac Mountain or the Mountain, the Mountain Pat,
56:07 whatever the fuck you want to call it. I don't care.
56:09 But it felt like if they did that route, that would have been
56:11 the more permanent solution.
56:13 But the temporary part of this, if Oregon State and Washington State can
56:19 can basically just be like serviceable.
56:21 What's the boxing term? Tomato cans.
56:24 Is that what they call? What's the?
56:27 Yeah, if they can just be serviceable
56:29 guys to no tomato cans, you get you get the shit kicked out of you.
56:34 They can be if they can if they can give a decent fight to Gonzaga.
56:38 I'm all for this because Gonzaga needs as many as many contenders
56:41 as they can get in the West Coast Conference.
56:43 Only other thing I got Kentucky Louisville tonight.
56:47 Everybody listening and watching already knows what happened.
56:49 And what happened is Louisville.
56:52 They won. They will. Holy shit. They won.
56:54 Louisville pulled off the. No, they didn't. They did it.
56:56 There's no way they won.
56:58 The lead up to this game has been a way.
56:59 There's there's no way. There's no way. Right.
57:02 They couldn't possibly.
57:03 I saw Kenny Payne's quote.
57:05 I don't know if you saw this, TJ, that he said.
57:07 John Calipari wants to kick my ass or like beat me by a thousand.
57:10 And I just want to beat him by one.
57:12 And Louisville fans are like, God,
57:17 what is wrong with this guy?
57:19 And then I saw that Louisville is piping in crowd noise
57:22 to prepare for the game that they are playing at home.
57:25 They are playing it at the KFC Yum Center.
57:28 They're playing Kentucky at home and to prepare for the game.
57:30 They are piping in crowd noise, either because they're not used
57:34 to having a big crowd at the games or because they anticipate
57:36 all the fans being Kentucky fans. Yeah.
57:38 Yeah, I don't know.
57:41 I, I, I remember once upon a time, people in the Commonwealth
57:45 trying to tell me that that was the best rivalry in college basketball.
57:47 I told them, you're crazy.
57:48 And I stand by that. And I don't know. I'll watch tonight.
57:51 I mean, it's it's it can be a good game from time to time.
57:54 And I think Louisville, there is a world where Louisville pulls off a miracle.
57:57 I just don't think it's this world.
58:00 But also maybe they did.
58:02 Maybe they maybe they pulled it off.
58:04 All right. That's it.
58:05 That's the last show of 2023.
58:07 Thank you to Frank for joining us.
58:09 But also, thank you to everybody watching and listening and following along.
58:12 And yeah, I have a lot of fun doing this show, but it's also sometimes,
58:17 you know, I apologize to anybody that wants more out of this show.
58:21 I don't know. I'm just getting I'm getting in my insecure feelings
58:24 a little bit as we're approaching the holidays here.
58:26 But it is with with mostly sports and I'm doing the yak
58:30 and TJ's got a million responsibilities and all that it is.
58:33 It has become a little difficult to figure out, like where this puzzle piece
58:37 of what this show is fits in the greater picture and all that.
58:40 And like when we can record stuff and who we can record it with
58:44 and and all those sorts of things.
58:45 So I say that just to apologize that
58:48 because I do sometimes get in my head about it, that, you know, like
58:52 like sometimes we don't have a ton of guests and sometimes,
58:56 you know, I have ideas for segments, but like I can't make those segments work
59:00 because something came up with some other show I'm doing
59:02 and I got to work on that instead and and all that sort of thing.
59:05 But I will at least promise you this as long as we're doing this show
59:08 and as long as college basketball season is going on,
59:10 I can at least sit down and tell you my thoughts on
59:13 on all these college basketball teams I'm watching.
59:15 So I enjoy doing it.
59:16 I appreciate everybody that's that's been along for the ride.
59:19 Even the Purdue fans that continue to harass my father
59:22 every time there's a new Purdue basketball tweet,
59:25 I just get tagged in it and they're like, show your dad this show your dad.
59:28 Can't stress enough. He doesn't give a fuck.
59:30 He's going to he will find a way to not care.
59:32 But no, it makes it fun.
59:35 He deserves it. I will say he talks a lot of shit.
59:38 You can talk shit back to him.
59:40 But I'm just I'm just telling you, he is a he is he is unflappable.
59:44 But yeah, I appreciate everybody supporting the show, watching the show,
59:46 listening to the show, all that sort of thing.
59:48 And I hope everyone has an enjoyable holiday and we will see you in the new year.
59:52 (whooshing)
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