- 14 hours ago
JP and BMitch recap the March Madness Regional Championships with Patrick Stevens.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Joining us now to talk college hoops, our friend Patrick Stevens. You can give him a follow at Discourse. Patrick,
00:05how are you, buddy?
00:06I'm well. How are you, fellas?
00:08We're good.
00:09So were you in the building yesterday for that Duke-UConn game?
00:13I was.
00:14What was that like, man?
00:17So I want you to imagine the seat that I had was just beyond the baseline on the sideline opposite
00:26the Duke bench.
00:27So for that shot, it was essentially a perfect line to see out of Braylon Mullins' hands.
00:36And it looked good right from the start.
00:40And so I think I even muttered, like, that's good.
00:43And it was, obviously.
00:45Just a wild finish to a game.
00:49It felt like watching Duke in those last ten minutes or so,
00:52it was like watching a race car that had ten laps to go and nine laps worth of gas left.
00:59And they just couldn't quite get to the end.
01:02Yeah.
01:03They were up by 19 at one point.
01:06What happened?
01:08What changed in that second half?
01:10Well, one of the things that happened is UConn finally made a couple three-pointers.
01:15They were one of 18 at one point from three.
01:18And so they finished, like, four of five, including the one right there at the end.
01:23You know, I think some of it was Connecticut couldn't have played a whole lot worse just in general.
01:28I mean, they were missing open shots.
01:30You know, I think, too, when you look at it, Duke has had a pole guard issue.
01:38And it's not like they have had that dynamic, you know, floor leader all the way through.
01:44And you saw it in the regional semifinal against St. John's,
01:47where they had a stretch where they couldn't get the ball in downs and all that.
01:51And Connecticut really didn't press that issue right up until they absolutely had to at the end.
01:56And so, you know, I think that was some of it.
01:58And I think some of it, too, was, you know, Cam Boozer probably got a little worn down.
02:03He's done a lot for that team.
02:04I mean, has carried a lot for that group.
02:08And you look at it, like, Isaiah Evans was great on Friday.
02:11He was just kind of there yesterday.
02:14I mean, you can just add up a lot of stuff.
02:16In the first half, that was the Boozer brothers carrying the load for them.
02:20I think they had, I think it was, like, 29-29 at one point early in the second half between
02:25the two,
02:26you know, between those two brothers against UConn.
02:28And there just wasn't quite enough.
02:31I mean, Caleb Foster was just amazing on Friday playing on that broken foot
02:37and just wasn't quite as sharp against Connecticut.
02:41I mean, tough to blame him for anything.
02:43He was amazing in that regional.
02:46And so, you know, one thing after another after another,
02:49and Connecticut was just a little bit better and kind of figured things out and hung around.
02:54And suddenly you look up and it's down to 10.
02:56And suddenly you look up and it's down to 7, and we're just around long enough to be able to
03:01make a play at the end to win.
03:03Does it say more about Danny Hurley getting this team to a Final Four?
03:09And I don't think this is his best team.
03:10I mean, the second of the back-to-back title teams, that team was an absolute freight train.
03:15This team's good and certainly tough.
03:18But does it say more about Danny Hurley to come all the way back and get his guys in position
03:23to make a Logo 3 to get there?
03:26Or does it say more about John Shire?
03:28I mean, this is the second year in a row where his teams have coughed up big leads late in
03:34the tournament
03:34to have these gutting losses.
03:38So, this is going to be long-winded.
03:40So, let's kind of go through this a little bit.
03:42So, Duke's last four losses against Houston last year in the tournament, this year against Texas Tech at the Garden,
03:50this year against Carolina at the Dean Dome, and then this game had double-digit leads in all of them.
03:57On the flip side, Duke has lost six games over the last two years and went 35-3.
04:02And, you know, sitting here saying, gosh, John Shire must be doing something pretty wrong.
04:07It was 35-3.
04:08I had somebody say to me, God, you know, like, you know, if all these other coaches in the research
04:15triangle
04:15get fired for having disappointing seasons or underachieving seasons, I'm like, they went 35-3.
04:21Yeah.
04:22So, I'm going to tell you, I think this says more about UConn being able to hang in there
04:27and Dan Hurley being able to coax a little bit more out of some guys.
04:31But, you know, at halftime, you take out Terrace Reed and you go through their other top-five scorers
04:38on the season, Caravan, Ball, Demery, Mullins.
04:41Those guys had 10 points on a combined 3-17 shooting.
04:45Like, you need your best players to play well.
04:49And Reed played really well in that first half and nobody else did.
04:52So, simply getting slightly above-average performances from those guys the rest of the way
04:59was going to put them in a position where they were at least going to be in the game.
05:03So, I think some of it was sort of progression to the mean.
05:07And some of it was, you know, making sure that you had guys that didn't just simply go,
05:12well, not our day and it's on your way to a 20-point loss.
05:16So, I give more credit to Dan Hurley in this situation than blame to John Shire.
05:21But, obviously, those last 10 seconds could have been handled a lot better.
05:26Yeah, eventually, though, I think what happens, though, you get coaches that are real good,
05:30like a Shire.
05:31He doesn't get fired for what he didn't do.
05:34He gets fired for not reaching expectations.
05:36And if you keep getting to the Final Four and you don't get over it,
05:39eventually, the Dookie, those fans are going to get tired of that.
05:42And that will come in.
05:43And it's crazy because, like you said, he lost, what, three games over the last two or three years.
05:47But, if you don't get where you're supposed to go, people will let you go.
05:53Now, the other element of this is you're not playing best of seven.
05:58And, you know, in college basketball, which is a better judge of what you've accomplished?
06:06Is it 30 games in the regular season or is it a one-and-done tournament?
06:11Right.
06:12I mean, all I'm saying is that stuff happens.
06:15Sometimes you run into somebody who's just shooting the lights out
06:18and there's nothing you can do about it.
06:21Sometimes, you know, you melt down in the final few minutes
06:24like you did in the Final Four, if you're Duke.
06:27And sometimes, yeah, I think there's real criticism that is warranted,
06:33especially for those last 10 seconds of that game.
06:37I don't know how much criticism is ultimately warranted for,
06:42well, Connecticut just played better and got back into it.
06:47I do think that there was only so much that Duke in a diminished state,
06:51that was not a full-strength Caleb Foster.
06:54It was not a full-strength Pat Gongba.
06:57You know, there's a certain element of, you know, injuries kind of got you there.
07:01And I don't know if this Duke team was going to go to Indy and win two games.
07:09I think it probably would have beaten Illinois.
07:11I don't know if it beats Michigan or Arizona in a title.
07:14Well, looking at that game, Michigan-Arizona,
07:16it looked like you're playing with some trees here.
07:19Everybody is huge.
07:21You know, how do you see that game going?
07:24Well, I mean, if you can see the forest for the trees there, right?
07:27Like, I mean, it's going to be a very physical game, right?
07:33Like, I had the chance to see Michigan when they came to town to play Maryland
07:37earlier this year, and Yaxel Lindeberg had a monster game in College Park,
07:42even beyond the standards of the sorts of games that, you know,
07:47really good players had against Maryland in general this season.
07:49Just exceptional and total control.
07:52And you look at the rest of that front line with Mera and Johnson,
07:56and they just present so many problems to you.
08:00And meanwhile, Arizona is playing like a buzzsaw, too.
08:03I mean, you kind of look at this.
08:05Arizona has not been significantly challenged in this tournament.
08:10I mean, Purdue gave them a decent run there for probably, what,
08:13about 28 minutes or so?
08:15And then Arizona just finds another gear and wins by 15.
08:18You know, I think Michigan, you know, conversely, is in a similar spot, right?
08:23Like, I mean, you could make the case at this point that the best run anybody made
08:29at them was Howard in that first round just by keeping the lights out.
08:34I mean, St. Louis didn't.
08:35Alabama hung around and made some shots early and then quit making threes.
08:39I mean, it feels like the best way to attack them is to make threes
08:43and hope for the best.
08:44But they're playing games, you know, they've hit 90 points in each of their four tournament games.
08:49You know, who basically has more stops in them is the question, I think, for this game.
08:56And it's an amazing question to be asking because you look at Kempom
09:00and they're the two best defensive teams in the country.
09:02So you have, you know, Michigan first in defense, Arizona second in defense,
09:07Arizona fourth in offense, Michigan fifth in offense.
09:10I mean, the question to me is who can actually stop somebody for three or four possessions
09:16at a time when it matters.
09:17And I think that's where this thing ultimately gets decided.
09:20You know what's interesting is I remember years back when Kentucky was undefeated
09:25and Kentucky played Wisconsin in the final four and Wisconsin was able to knock them off.
09:31But that game was such a big deal.
09:33That game was such a powerhouse of a game that Wisconsin then,
09:37there was like a natural letdown in the title game and Duke was able to steal one.
09:42I mean, it was a masterful job by Coach K to steal that title game from a really good Badgers
09:46team.
09:47The other side of this where you've got UConn against Illinois.
09:51Listen, UConn got through with the crazy result against Duke.
09:55UConn had the tough elite eight game.
09:57I mean, even UCLA gave them a game.
09:59UConn hasn't been blowing teams away.
10:01But Illinois, coming out of that south bracket, I mean, the win over Houston in Houston
10:08is one of the most impressive in this tournament.
10:11What do you think of the Illini here?
10:13Because they've got big guys and they've got a pro in Wagler.
10:16That Illinois team is pretty good.
10:19Here's a funny thing.
10:20Like last year, Duke had the best all-time Ken Palm offensive efficiency team.
10:28And I thought at that point, like, well, nobody's going to come along and play like that again anytime soon.
10:34And so what has Illinois done?
10:35They've come along and played even better at the offensive end.
10:39And you're talking about size.
10:41I mean, that's a team you look at and, you know, you talk about Wagler, 6'6".
10:48You know, as a guy that has the ball in his hands a bunch.
10:52You've got, you know, 6'9", 7'1", 6'7", a ridiculous amount of size.
11:02And now they've kind of punched through after having a number of good teams under Brad Underwood.
11:07And you're right.
11:08Like, the fact that they basically gave Houston a dose of Houston's medicine in their backyard
11:14was really, really impressive.
11:15And so, you know, you look at them and, you know, their defense might not be quite as good
11:22as Arizona and Michigan, but it's still pretty good.
11:26And it's still kept the last three teams that it's played under 60 in games that have been
11:31played at a really methodical pace.
11:34And so, you know, the Illini certainly are going to be a tough out.
11:39And we talked about Connecticut, obviously, a tough out.
11:41You bring up an interesting point.
11:43Like, do Michigan and Arizona just beat each other up so much that with the quick turnaround,
11:50there's an opportunity there?
11:51Yeah, there probably is an opportunity there.
11:54But as the saying goes, your stars have to be stars.
11:57And Wagler's going to have to play really well.
12:00You know, and we can sit here and talk about Caravan and Reed for Connecticut, you know,
12:04at the same time in solo ball.
12:06Those guys are going to have to play well for those teams to be able to go win twice in
12:10three days.
12:12I cannot wait for the Michigan-Arizona game.
12:15But all these games have been really enjoyable, I think.
12:18Talking with our friend Patrick Stevens here on the Rude Guest Hotline,
12:22talking some college hoops after a wild Elite Eight.
12:26Because I'm guessing you were there Friday night as well at Cap 1.
12:29It's crazy to me that the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight were in D.C.
12:33and I didn't get to go to a single game.
12:34But regardless, what atmosphere was more charged up, Duke-St. John's or Duke-UConn?
12:41You know, the fact that the Duke-St. John's game was good pretty much from start to finish
12:48gave that kind of a crackle.
12:52And you also had Connecticut fans kind of filtering into the arena too and all that.
12:58Like that felt from beginning to end like a bigger deal.
13:03I would tell you that the fact that the way that the Duke-UConn game kind of turned...
13:10I mean, I had a bunch of Duke fans behind me and they were, you know, going bananas.
13:15And then by the time things started to turn in the second half, you know,
13:19you started hearing the Duke fans complaining about the officiating,
13:22which I found to be rich in its own way.
13:26And then, you know, the UConn fans kind of started to take over.
13:30And there was a point where Hurley was looking around and trying to generate some energy from all of them.
13:36You know, the end of that was wild.
13:38But I would say from start to finish that Duke-St. John's game,
13:43in part because those teams played as well as they did at the same time.
13:47Whereas, you know, I think yesterday you had Duke play well and Connecticut play well,
13:52but they didn't really both play well at the same time.
13:55Like that was a great finish, but not necessarily a great game, if that makes any sense.
14:00It totally does. It totally does.
14:03And Patrick, the other thing I wanted to ask you, dude,
14:05I don't know if you've seen this clip, I'm guessing you have,
14:08of Danny Hurley after the game kind of head-butting the ref.
14:13I did not see that, no.
14:14He didn't hear, buddy. He just got close. He was looking at him.
14:17He was staring him down because that ref was calling a lot of dumbass calls.
14:22I'll say it.
14:24I mean, Duke does get the whistle.
14:26No matter where they are, it just seems like Duke gets the whistle everywhere.
14:29But covering two games of Hurley, you said you're sitting right across the bench from him.
14:35How much of a maniac is that dude on the court?
14:38Well, I would tell you that as somebody, you know me,
14:42like I'm not just going to like Big East and ACC and Big Ten games.
14:47You go back to when he was at Rhode Island coming through town in the A-10,
14:52I would say that he's not as ridiculous as he once was.
14:57That's crazy.
14:59I like that.
15:00I mean, you go back to those early Rhode Island days where they're not good.
15:05And two, let's be honest, he can be out of control,
15:10but he's less crazy when he has a good team.
15:14And so if there's a lot for him to be unhappy about in general,
15:17like some of those early Rhode Island teams, some of the early UConn teams,
15:22this is a milder version of what things were like, you know, a decade, 12, 14 years ago.
15:31So that's funny.
15:33For you that covered Gary Williams for so long, how does Hurley compare to Gary?
15:41Well, the thing to remember about Gary is that Gary would turn around
15:46and yell at his assistants or yell at somebody on the bench
15:50and, you know, would basically get it out of him
15:53and then, you know, would turn around and maybe be a little bit more composed.
16:00Whereas Hurley, like one of the most enjoyable parts of this regional
16:04was there would be a foul.
16:07Hurley wouldn't like it.
16:09He'd have a smirk on his face.
16:11You could tell he wanted to unload on somebody.
16:13He'd look up at – you could see him waiting for the replay on the video board
16:19and waiting for it and waiting for it.
16:21And then, you know, the replay finally comes and then he unloads
16:24because now he's gotten a second look at it.
16:27You know, I think one thing the two share was a self-awareness of their craziness,
16:35if that's probably a little harsh.
16:38But neither one of those guys is lacking self-awareness on the front.
16:44Like, yeah, kind of a little out of control at times.
16:49And both kind of have a dry sense of humor about things, too.
16:53So, you know, there's the famous story of, you know, John Feinstein loved to tell it,
16:58of Gary being in an 8-9 game in an ACC tournament
17:02and telling Duke Edsel, the official, it's like,
17:04we're in this game because we stink and you're in this game because you stink.
17:08And, you know, and I credit John Feinstein for that story.
17:13God rest his soul.
17:15But, you know, like that's the kind of humor that Gary would bring to the table.
17:20And Curleys isn't that far off, at least after the fact.
17:23I don't know if he's quite that funny – capable of being that funny in-game.
17:28But I wouldn't be surprised if he was.
17:32Patrick, quite a weekend.
17:35Are you – where – is it Indy?
17:36Is Indy the Final Four for the men?
17:38Indy is the Final Four.
17:40Are you headed out there?
17:41I am not headed to Indianapolis.
17:45I get it, man.
17:46I appreciate you making time for us.
17:48Who do you have cutting down the nets?
17:51I think Michigan is the best of the remaining teams.
17:55And they've been a juggernaut pretty much all season.
17:58And Arizona is playing really well.
18:02But I do think Michigan, even from the start of the year, has just been about as consistent as anybody.
18:08So that would be my pick.
18:10The Big Ten could use a banner.
18:12The fact that Maryland's the last Big Ten team to win a title is pretty remarkable.
18:16Wow.
18:17Yeah, you know, there was a moment during the regional semifinals where I was thinking the absolute most appropriate way
18:25for this season to end
18:26would be for three Big Ten teams to make the Final Four and the fourth team to actually win it.
18:33So, you know, just to keep the tradition alive and all that.
18:39But I do think Michigan's probably the best team at this point.
18:44But if you told me Arizona was going to snip it down, that wouldn't shock me either.
18:48I mean, both those teams have been exceptional from start to finish.
18:52Yeah, just loaded, man.
18:53I can't wait to watch.
18:54Thank you for the time, dude.
18:55I really appreciate it, man.
Comments