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Are you confident in the Wolverines and Spartans winning this weekend?
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00:00All right, let's get the week started, and I want to just tell you something we are going to save
00:06until tomorrow, because Kenny hoed us out and took the day, so I'll save this.
00:13Tomorrow is setting up to be a Game 7 type atmosphere, a Game 7 type intensity, nerves, and the potential,
00:24you heard what McClellan said, potential return.
00:28As Larkin could be a game time decision tomorrow in, I know it's the regular season, I know mathematically it's
00:36not a must win, it's must win.
00:40It is a must win.
00:41Wings Ottawa. Wings woke up this morning with a bad hangover, and they're out of the playoffs.
00:44Who stole our car flag? You're out of the playoffs.
00:46Ilya Sorokin did. The point is, tomorrow will be a heavy Wings day.
00:52We have tournament, and we have Lions as kind of our primo stuff today.
00:56So let's start with the tourney, and I know, very emotional weekend for Rico, as he was honored in the
01:04post-game celebration.
01:06You may have seen it on your television yesterday, Rico, putting the sticker up on the bracket, the moment that
01:13Izzo wanted family in the room.
01:16You noticed Rico pushed an old white man out of the way. That was Greg Williams.
01:20Rico got his way to the front.
01:24Lies. All lies.
01:26You know how they create these AI things?
01:29That's my dream.
01:31It's like somehow you palmed Greg Williams' head and just moved him out of the way, and you're like, this
01:35is my locker room.
01:37That's my dream.
01:39If you were actually the guy putting the sticker on the bracket, it would have been amazing.
01:44They wouldn't have needed security.
01:46He's worth $400 million.
01:47He just gave it to university.
01:48Get him out.
01:49Get out.
01:50So, look, both teams are through.
01:53How do you want to handle it?
01:54Because I will tell you, for Michigan, my confidence, I've got them and Zona to win it all.
01:59I thought, we talked earlier in the week.
02:02I said, look, they got to bring their A game if you're going to be comfortable.
02:06If you don't play really well, it'll be an uncomfortable game.
02:11What did Michigan do?
02:12They played great.
02:13They did.
02:14I think they learned their lesson from the first half of the Howard game.
02:17Great point.
02:19When I look at this Michigan team, Mike, and watching them up close, I'm thinking to myself, he may have
02:28a shot at winning this bet because they don't have a ton of flaws.
02:34And I told Rieger this, for Michigan, especially with the player going down for Iowa State, and I don't know
02:42if he'll be ready in time, this Alabama game, win this game.
02:48Because this Bama team is going to shoot a ton of threes.
02:50Win that game.
02:52And you can go ahead and buy your hotels and get your reservations for Indy because you're going to the
02:57Final Four.
02:58I agree with you.
02:58And you'll probably be in a national title game.
03:01Yeah, if Alabama has designs on winning the game, they're going to have to get somewhere between 15 to 23
03:05pointers.
03:06I mean, they're going to shoot 50 of them.
03:08Right.
03:08They had 30 at the half.
03:10I think they made 11 of them.
03:11They shot 42 yesterday, and they quit playing with five minutes to go.
03:15They were up 90.
03:16But, no, look, the Michigan thing, if you're a Michigan fan, I think it's A-plus across the board.
03:22I don't care if you're a one seed.
03:23I don't care who you are.
03:25Demolishing teams is not easy to do in the NCAA tournament.
03:27All right, you say the Howard game?
03:29Sure.
03:30But for Michigan, they've had a propensity to play down.
03:33And there was an opportunity there to look down on the Billikens.
03:36And they didn't.
03:37They took them serious.
03:38They were assignment sound.
03:40We talked about Yaxl not having to guard a point guard.
03:43He was probably going to take Avila top of the key.
03:46And what did we say?
03:47The size was going to bother Avila.
03:50Avila couldn't execute the offense and do some of his Larry Legend stuff in the lane.
03:55He was reduced to being a three-point spot-up shooter.
03:58And that's just not his game.
04:00Right, because if you got past Yaxl, oh, there's a Di Mara right there.
04:04So, good luck with that.
04:05I thought they played great.
04:06But my opinion doesn't change.
04:08Now the question with Michigan State, here's my issue.
04:12I thought they played really well.
04:14Okay, both things can be true.
04:15I'm cynical is that I couldn't get it out of my head.
04:18Louisville was without their best player, Michael Brown Jr.
04:21That's 19 points a game on the bench.
04:23That's a good perimeter defender.
04:26And nothing felt easy.
04:28That as much as State, by the box score, should have been kicking Louisville's ass.
04:32More threes, more rebounds.
04:34You know what I mean?
04:35It never bore itself out in the score.
04:39Only about around the, right before the eight-minute mark.
04:42We talked about this earlier today.
04:44That was the only time that I thought, oh, boy, you could lose this game.
04:47Other than that.
04:48Oh, when Tom had his Denim Wojcik poster out?
04:51State was always in control.
04:53The only reason why it was so close, they were just making ridiculous mistakes and turning the ball over on
05:00a fast break.
05:01And you overthrow a guy who's wide open for a dunk.
05:04It was, it was, they kept shooting themselves in the foot.
05:08But I'm looking at Louisville and I'm thinking to myself, instead of just playing your game, they tried to out
05:13-tough the Spartans.
05:14It's like, that's not your game and you're never going to win this thing.
05:18Now, I said, for MSU to go far, you're going to need somebody to kind of rise up and have
05:23that Derrell Summers moment.
05:25And I'm wondering, is that going to be Cohen Carr?
05:27He was great.
05:28Mike.
05:29That was unbelievable.
05:30Yeah, once again, you're going to hit the siren as I'm watching him in warm-ups.
05:34You know, David worked at the airport.
05:36I do.
05:37I mean, he's.
05:38More on that later, guys.
05:39Continue.
05:40He hit like seven three-pointers in a row.
05:42I'm like, this guy's dialed in.
05:45And then on the flip side, I'm watching Jordan Scott.
05:47He's clanking.
05:48I'm like, okay, don't let him shoot today.
05:50And they didn't.
05:52But Carr was just, he was dialed in.
05:55And he's almost playing like a guy who it's his senior year and he knows that the next time we
06:00lose is my final time.
06:02He's got to show it Friday.
06:03I mean, bottom line is, if that three-point shot has been clearly lacking, the guy can't shoot, he'd be
06:11the ultimate 3 and D weapon at the next level if he could shoot.
06:14Now, if that's what he's going to do.
06:15They're going to leave him open.
06:16Because I would.
06:17If I was.
06:18If I'm you, kind.
06:19Show me you can do it again.
06:20The other one.
06:21And listen, I know I'm jaded, but it's okay to feel good for people once in a while.
06:25Trey Ford has caught hell all year, rightfully so.
06:28They paid him a lot of money and he was ass.
06:30Trey Ford's been good the last two games.
06:31And I'm happy for him.
06:32Because, dude, they brought you here to play.
06:34They brought you here to shoot the three.
06:36I just, here's my concern.
06:38I think I feel the same way about UConn.
06:40I feel about Michigan State.
06:43UConn got the benefit of playing a team, missing arguably their best player.
06:47Right?
06:48Yeah.
06:48Yeah.
06:49If he plays for UCLA, how different is that game?
06:53Because where did that game fall apart?
06:55UCLA ran out of offensive gas.
06:57And you can only do so much and fake it for so long without the best player on your team.
07:03And the game fell apart in about the last eight to ten minutes.
07:06For Michigan State, you got the benefit of not playing Michael Brown Jr.
07:09It's kind of this battle Friday night.
07:11And look, I understand.
07:12It's like a one and a half, two-point spread.
07:13I think the thing that will concern me from a state perspective, with Michigan, it's more clear they have answers
07:21to the test.
07:21And Bama has one way out.
07:23With state, look, UConn won last night without getting largely anything from Reed and Bull and some of these other
07:31dudes.
07:31And you're like, okay, their B squad just gutted you.
07:34And Caravan went nuts.
07:36A lot of threes.
07:37So, look, MSU is going to have to play comprehensively the best game of their season if they plan on
07:43winning Friday night.
07:44I don't see any other way around it.
07:46See, I look at it as, it's the Spider-Man meme when it comes to UConn and MSU.
07:52Both teams statistically almost dead even in every category.
07:56Who turns the ball over less?
07:59That's going to be the big difference.
08:00For Michigan, very simple.
08:03I know you score a lot of points.
08:04I know you've scored over 100 points in a tournament.
08:07And that's your thing.
08:09Alabama's number one.
08:10That's really their thing.
08:12Don't get into a horse contest with them.
08:15Don't get into a run.
08:16Oh, we're going to, no, no, no.
08:17Slow it down.
08:18And punish.
08:18Use your big man and drag this game out and bring it down to the 70s.
08:24Because Alabama's going to want, they want to play you in the 90s.
08:28They want to get that thing to 100.
08:29That means they've shot the ball 50 times in the three-point line.
08:32And if they make 17 of them, that's where you can get yourself some trouble.
08:35No, I'm with you.
08:36I want to know where you guys are at.
08:38I mean, look, both teams are through.
08:41And I think there's obviously more questions with State.
08:44But what's your confidence level?
08:45If you're a Michigan fan, I really, I know there was some panic before the turn.
08:50Not panic.
08:50Let me walk that back.
08:52There was concern.
08:53And then there was the conversation about Yaxel and kind of, well, what's happened to him?
08:57I think he answered that pretty well.
08:59But it's kind of just status quo.
09:02I think they're a national championship-level team.
09:04And I'm with Rico.
09:05You get by Bama, I feel like you'll be in the Final Four.
09:08Like, the Bama thing, Bama's got one way out.
09:11They've got to play like the Charlotte Hornets.
09:13They've got to put up 52 three-pointers and hope 17 or 18 of them go in.
09:19Because they're not going to be able to possession for possession beat you.
09:22No.
09:22They're not.
09:23For Michigan State, which team is the real McCoy?
09:27Both Connecticut and you got a huge gift of playing a team in the second round without their best player.
09:35So, which one's more real?
09:37Rico's right.
09:37From a statistical standpoint, it's the Spider-Man meme.
09:41What do you buy?
09:42What do you sell?
09:42We'll get into the lines a little later.
09:44And I am.
09:45I'm saving the wings.
09:46Because tomorrow's going to be playoff caliber.
09:49Tomorrow feels like if they're going to get in, they're going to win tomorrow.
09:54And Kenny will return.
09:56We'll talk about it.
09:57Look, the Islanders, Ilya Sorokin stole a game last night for them.
10:00They won 1-0 over the red-hot blue jackets.
10:03And I know you're only supposed to do one game at a time.
10:06But looking at their next five, yeah, good luck with that.
10:10So, let's just worry about Ottawa for right now.
10:13Yeah, and again, I think if they win, you're going to feel one way.
10:17And if they lose, I think you'll be right back to panic in Hockey Town.
10:21And by the way, the Flyers thing, and I'm guilty of this.
10:24Hey, you get three against the Flyers.
10:26Flyers are 7-2-1 in their last ten.
10:29They're only four points behind you.
10:31Yeah, they want one of those finals wildcard spots.
10:33I'm not going to make them out to be good.
10:35But I don't think it's fair to refer to them like they are the Washington Wizards.
10:39So, we'll talk a lot about that tomorrow.
10:41We got major Lions stuff to get to as reporting today is suggestive.
10:46The Lions are simply done in free agency.
10:48I think Rico and I's comment would be, I didn't realize they ever started.
10:52But we're going to talk about it.
10:53But right here, right now, let's get a little tourney chatter.
10:55Where are you at with your given team?
10:58Michigan, Michigan State.
10:59And again, I don't think it's ridiculous if you think State wins Friday.
11:03I don't know what to do.
11:05Because UConn got a Christmas present just like we did.
11:08Yeah, I don't think Vegas knows what to do.
11:10They're saying, hey, coin flip.
11:12You pick who you want and we'll just take your money.
11:152-4-8-5-3-9-97-97.
11:20We'll get some of the ticket texts.
11:21Also, David with more anecdotes about his time at the airport.
11:25You know, I used to run the airport.
11:29I was once a pilot.
11:30We'll get a little bit.
11:30You know, it's meant we were home.
11:31It's a bus.
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