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00:00We got Mike DiCorsi of the Sporting News, of course, Fox Sports and the Big Ten Network.
00:04He's on the take for the Indiana Hoosiers.
00:06Mike, good to see you.
00:08And I want to get your reaction to it first of this guy getting fired.
00:15And, you know, your thoughts on, you know, we've talked about Michael Malone.
00:19We've talked about Jay Wright.
00:20We've talked about Dan Hurley.
00:22And it didn't take long today to get those names going.
00:25Well, I don't think that Jay Wright is coming back to coaching.
00:29I remember I wrote something after the World Cup when the U.S. lost to Germany in the semifinals that the U.S. needs a full-time basketball coach, men's basketball senior team coach, the way Germany had.
00:45And I suggested Jay Wright because it was an opportunity for one of the best coaches ever to work but not have to work like twice every four years, really.
00:56And it got back to me.
00:59He wasn't even interested in that.
01:01He doesn't want to do it day to day.
01:02He likes his life, got a lot of money.
01:06He's happy doing the broadcasting.
01:08So I don't think that's going to happen.
01:10And I really do believe that Dan Hurley, if it was going to happen, it was going to be with the Lakers a year ago.
01:18The opportunity to coach LeBron in L.A., a lot of money.
01:22I wouldn't rule it completely out, but it seems unlikely.
01:25It seems much more likely they'll go with an NBA-level coach, somebody that's been there and done it.
01:31And I frankly, in regards to Thibodeau, look, he's very stubborn, very stubborn.
01:38And I think that you can watch what Landry Schammett did in these conference finals and say, where's that guy been?
01:48Like, why wasn't he playing him?
01:50Made shots at every opportunity, did a decent job on defense, didn't turn the ball over, and yet they wouldn't put him in the rotation prior to what was more or less desperation time.
02:03So the stubbornness of Thibodeau definitely cost him.
02:07I think you've got to be more flexible than that.
02:10But when you see that you're being overrun by depth, which is what the Pacer strength was coming in, it's not like it, oh, here comes this curveball.
02:17Like, everybody knew the Pacers' primary strength.
02:21Beyond they have some really good players, but the primary strength, the thing that they have that others don't, great depth.
02:26And Thibodeau did not adjust to that at all until it was too late.
02:31You live there, right?
02:32Did you used to go to Pacer games and feel that they were building a playoff-caliber, championship-run-caliber team?
02:40I always felt like that's what they were built for, the playoffs.
02:43I thought they had two five-man units that could play, and the second one was almost as good as the first.
02:50Well, I think that they've done a great job.
02:53Kevin Pritchard's done an amazing job in building this team.
02:56Because don't forget, I mean, they picked in the high lottery one time, and that was Benedict Matherin.
03:02They have not really been the kind of team that's often gotten into the top ten.
03:07I think that was their first top ten pick of the century, if I remember correctly.
03:11I'm sorry, the first single-digit pick.
03:13Like, Paul George was ten when he was selected back in 2009 or ten.
03:18So this is their first single-digit pick, and they get Ben Matherin, who's a really terrific offensive player,
03:23but still not a good enough defender to get high-rotation minutes.
03:27And yet, here they are.
03:28I think he's done an amazing job.
03:30I would not say that I saw it coming last year, that, like, they were going to be great last year.
03:36But I was surprised, honestly, Scott, that more people didn't believe in what they did last year,
03:41that they made that conference final.
03:43I think it was dismissed as a fluke, and I don't think that it was that.
03:47I think now that they're in the finals, they're showing they were really legit a year ago,
03:53and more people should have invested in that.
03:55I agree, and I, you know, had them both years beating the Knicks.
04:00I had them last year and this year.
04:01I thought this year would be easy work, and I, frankly, I thought it was.
04:06You know, the Knicks won their desperation game five at home.
04:11Of course, they had to finally play 48 minutes for the first time in a month to get it done,
04:16because I always thought that they were kind of a 42-minute team.
04:20I never thought they played hard for 48 minutes like the Pacers do, up and down.
04:25Let me ask you about Charlie Baker now and his plans to change the NCAA field.
04:31What is it, 72 or 77?
04:3470, what is it?
04:35I can't keep track of all the matters.
04:3677 would be interesting.
04:37Yeah, it's either 72 or 76, and neither is necessary, neither is warranted, and neither is wanted by the public.
04:46What it is, it's wanted by insecure power conference commissioners that don't believe that with an abundance of teams,
04:5418, 16, whatever the number is, that they can get enough teams in, so they want to expand it.
04:59Now, the problem with that, Scott, is that the SEC just walked in the door, and hey, it was Greg Sankey who started this a couple of years back,
05:06two, three years back, who started this whole process, and then SEC walks in in year one of a 16-team conference and puts 14 teams in the field.
05:15So it's not about whether there's enough bids.
05:17It's about whether you're good enough.
05:19The ACC hasn't been good enough for a very long time, and that's why they went way down in bids.
05:24And the SEC had their best season ever in terms of depth of the league, and they get rewarded with 14 bids.
05:32It doesn't help the tournament to expand it.
05:36The public doesn't want it.
05:38The television networks don't want to pay for it.
05:42The only people that really want it are coaches who think it'll help prolong their jobs, which they're not correct.
05:48As we just saw, Tom Thibodeau in the NBA got fired for making the conference finals.
05:53You're not going to keep your job if you're the 68th or 72nd team.
05:58It's not going to help.
05:59So that's just a fantasy.
06:01And then the people like Brett Yormark who think that this is the ticket to the Big 12 getting an abundance of bids.
06:09Yeah, it's crazy.
06:11Respectfully, I have one minute.
06:13The Pulisic story you did, you know, I watched these.
06:18You picked it right.
06:18PSG, you said, would win even though we were rooting for Inter.
06:21They got their ass beat.
06:22And when I watch teams like that, like seriously, and players like PSG has and players like Barcelona has and players, I'm sorry.
06:33Pulisic for me doesn't cut it against these guys around the world.
06:37He's not winning a World Cup.
06:39And I don't care how long you risk him.
06:41Well, I mean, they're not going to win it.
06:43But the idea is to try to do as well as possible.
06:46We are literally 100 years behind the rest of the world, Scott.
06:49We have made remarkable progress in the United States over the last 35 years.
06:55But you are not going to cover all that ground in three decades.
06:59It's still a process.
07:01But having Pulisic at his best next year is essential.
07:06And I don't think playing in the Gold Cup would have helped.