00:00All right, welcome back to Newswire here on SportsGrid.
00:03Great to catch up with Scott Spinelli, who joins us now to break down some college basketball.
00:07He's been involved in the game for decades and certainly has a great, interesting perspective on the Final Four coming
00:13up this weekend
00:14and certainly has been watching the tournament very closely.
00:17Scott, thank you so much for making the time for us here on Newswire. How are you?
00:20Oh, doing great. Thanks for having me. A pleasure to be here.
00:24All right, so Scott, your thoughts, first of all, on the NCAA tournament.
00:28I know we've had some fantastic finishes, without a doubt.
00:32We had very few Cinderellas for the second straight year now.
00:36Has that kind of changed your opinion at all as to how we should view the NCAA tournament?
00:40Or is this just a couple of years in a row of a lot of chalky teams getting toward the
00:45end?
00:47Well, I think, first of all, now with the NCAA tournament and these high major programs being as well-funded
00:52as they are,
00:53it's going to be very difficult for these mid-major programs to compete and get to that second weekend.
00:59Unless there's an upset in that bracket with a higher seed, I don't think you're going to see many Cinderellas
01:07moving forward.
01:08I mean, these rosters that are being constructed at this high level between revenue share and collectives,
01:13I mean, these teams are built to be very successful.
01:18They're experienced guys.
01:19They're guys who have played, some of them professionally in Europe, even professionally here in the States.
01:23And so there is a little bit of a difference in terms of the level that these high major teams,
01:28in terms of their roster construction, have as it relates to the mid-major.
01:32So don't think you're going to see many mid-majors moving forward to the second weekend, especially into the third
01:37weekend.
01:38Yeah, it doesn't look like it, at least for the time being.
01:40We'll see if things change.
01:41Okay, so, Scott, the game of the tournament, without a doubt, was UConn and Duke.
01:48I mean, the game itself was really good.
01:49The finish was absolutely stunning.
01:52And to see all the different camera angles of Shire and everyone on Duke and even the other side, too,
01:57and you see the very emphatic Dan Hurley there picking up the win, what did you make of that finish?
02:04Well, you've got to give UConn all the credit.
02:06I mean, they were one of 18 in the first half from the three,
02:10and it just shows their championship pedigree and what Coach Hurley and his staff have built there.
02:15You know, there's a team there that, you know, again, when you have that championship lineage,
02:20that pedigree of winning, especially into the Final Four and winning national titles,
02:25there's a big advantage.
02:26There's a belief.
02:27There's, you know, the guys truly understand what it takes to win during that time,
02:33and you've got to give them a lot of credit.
02:34You feel for Duke because, again, you know, going into this bracket, we all thought, you know,
02:40with Caleb Foster being out in the matchups there with teams that were going to pressure them,
02:44specifically at St. John's, that that would come back to get them.
02:48But, again, you know, you really feel, I mean, the year that they've had in the last two seasons,
02:5346-2 in the ACC, and to lose like that, you feel for those guys.
02:59Yeah, and I think so.
03:00But Duke will be back, you know, and UConn certainly, we've got to give them credit.
03:03I think that that's fair.
03:04But, you know, the end sequence was, you know, kind of crazy to see.
03:07And I think the momentum is something that a lot of folks thought would carry the Huskies into the Final
03:13Four.
03:13But the odds makers are just point blank telling us, Scott, that Illinois is the better team.
03:18It's a neutral site, certainly, for the Final Four.
03:20And they're two-and-a-half-point favorites, so it's slight, total of 139-and-a-half in this game.
03:27Did you think that Illinois would go this far, Scott?
03:30And do you think that they have another win in them?
03:33Well, Illinois, you know, got better as the year went on.
03:36And they kind of, they really got lucky with Boswell going down and really Wagler getting an opportunity to showcase
03:42his talents.
03:43I mean, he's a lottery pick as a freshman.
03:45And then you combine that with all of the European talent.
03:48Those kids that came over from the Balkans, they're very experienced.
03:52They make a lot of money over there.
03:55And the way they play, you know, it's a little bit of a different unconventional style.
03:59And that's going to be kind of the storyline in this game.
04:02What Illinois does is they run up with those big, especially, you know, the twins that can come up and
04:08set those ball screens.
04:10And what they do is they twist them.
04:11It's kind of a European ball screen type thing.
04:15And I think for UConn, they're going to have to make sure that their point of ball screen coverage is
04:20excellent in this game.
04:21Reed's going to have to be up there.
04:23And what will happen is if they don't punch over those screens and they get into two-on-ones, they're
04:28just going to throw back to Illinois' big and they're going to make three.
04:31So that's going to be an interesting storyline.
04:32Illinois' defense has gotten better.
04:35But let me tell you, UConn's half-court offensive execution with their misdirections, their screening actions, their go screens, I
04:43think this is going to be a very difficult game for Illinois.
04:46And I just think, you know, again, UConn's pedigree.
04:49If it was a four to seven series, I'd take Illinois.
04:52But I really like UConn's championship pedigree in this game.
04:56Okay, fair enough, Scott.
04:57Now, this is the tougher game to call of the two.
05:00I mean, I've heard so many varying opinions on this game since the beginning of the week.
05:04Michigan taking on Arizona.
05:06It feels like everybody's just rooting for the best game of the tournament.
05:10That's the way that I think most people view it.
05:12And a lot of folks also are saying, at least in the handicapping view, that this game probably ends up
05:17pick them by the time Saturday night comes.
05:19But as of right now, Michigan's a point-and-a-half favorite.
05:21The total is 157-and-a-half, so we could get a lot of scoring as well on Saturday night.
05:27So you tell me, Scott.
05:29I got a coin flip game here.
05:31Well, both teams are very complete, right?
05:33You've got tremendous front court size.
05:36I mean, that's going to kind of offset.
05:37And I think what it's going to come down to when you really look at this game, I think it's
05:41going to come down to the great equalizer, which is the three-point line.
05:44And I think if you look at it, Arizona State's about six-and-a-half threes made a game, and
05:50Michigan's about nine, a little bit over nine.
05:52And I really believe the three-point line will decide this game.
05:56And for me, just because Michigan shoots it better, a little bit better percentage, but they make more, when you
06:03take everything for granted,
06:04if Arizona makes five twos and Michigan makes four threes, Michigan wins the game.
06:10I'm going with Michigan because of that three-point line.
06:13Yeah, it should be a great game Saturday night, and then we get a championship on Monday, and I can't
06:17wait for that as well.
06:19National title, by the way, it does appear that the oddsmakers have made either Michigan or Arizona one.
06:24The winner of this, they think, is going to win the national championship.
06:27At least they have the shortest odds going into the championship.
06:29As you can see, Michigan plus 150, Arizona plus 180, and then Illinois and UConn.
06:34Who knows what could happen in the championship game?
06:36You know, Scott, while we have it here, I figured let's touch on the latest coaching news in college basketball.
06:41Bill Self is going to come back.
06:43Seems like he just needed a break or a breather or whatever it is.
06:46But, you know, Scott, you know, Bill Self, like a lot of other coaches, entering this era of the NIL
06:51and everything else,
06:52it's not as easy for Kansas as it was three or four years ago.
06:56But certainly, you know, they have enough players, I think, and I'm guessing they'll hit the portal, find some others.
07:01It's still a very storied program, but it's not just like Fog Allen is worth just playing for.
07:07At this point, you've got to have money.
07:08Does Kansas have the resources to help Bill Self moving forward?
07:11Oh, absolutely.
07:12I think Coach Self's an excellent coach.
07:14And, you know, to your point, I think there's a huge advantage right now for the older, more experienced coaches.
07:20And here's why.
07:21The days of chasing these younger kids around and trying to go on the road and outwork somebody, you know,
07:28they're gone.
07:28I mean, now it comes down to your evaluation, your network, and your ability to kind of, you know, plug
07:33a team together and find out that intel.
07:36So I think Coach Self staying is great for the game.
07:38He's an excellent coach, competed against him for a long time.
07:41And I think that him being back, I think he'll do, again, big things.
07:45Kansas has got the resources, no question about it.
07:49All right.
07:49Well, last job that probably will be open in terms of a huge gig, it's North Carolina.
07:56The Tar Heels have an opening, Scott.
07:59And this is rare, of course, in college basketball.
08:01Which direction do you think they end up going?
08:04I think most thought at the time Hubert Davis was going to be there a long time.
08:08You feel for Hubert Davis.
08:10I mean, think about it.
08:10They lost Caleb Wilson, you know, arguably a top five pick.
08:14And, again, they still made it to the tournament and had a 19-point lead.
08:18So, you know, class guy, Hubert Davis, his entire staff are Carolina guys.
08:23I know him very well.
08:25You really feel for those guys.
08:26And in terms of what they're going to do with this search, it could be anybody.
08:29NBA, you know, sitting head coach in college.
08:32It would be interesting to see what happens.
08:34Scott, always great to catch up.
08:36Enjoy the Final Four and enjoy the championship on Monday night.
08:40And we'll always appreciate your insights here on SportsCrit.
08:43Thanks again.
08:44Thanks for having me, guys.
08:45Take care.
08:46Take care.
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