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00:00All right, welcome back to Newswire here on SportsGrid.
00:02I'm Craig Mish, joined by Paul Stone of Paul Stone Sports.
00:05And naturally, Paul is looking at all of these different options in college basketball today.
00:11Great to bring back Paul here on the show.
00:13Paul, I do want to ask you about the Final Four.
00:17But before I do that, I wonder just a bigger landscape type question for you here,
00:23where, you know, certainly we do have a three seed.
00:26You know, we have Illinois in the Final Four.
00:28You know, a few years ago, we were getting some very strange teams in.
00:31You know, Florida Gulf Coast made a run.
00:33FAU in my neck of the woods made a run, too.
00:36Eight, nine seeds.
00:38And, you know, credit to Iowa because they did make a nice run.
00:40But, Paul, that was about it for this year's NCAA tournament.
00:43A high point win and a UConn, I'm sorry, a Iowa win as well kind of put them in Cinderella's
00:50slipper.
00:51But that was about it.
00:52Do you think that's kind of where we're headed in the future with this?
00:55Yeah, I just I go back to last year.
00:57Robert Morris made the tournament school there out of Pittsburgh, and they had the opportunity to return all five players.
01:06They all five had eligibility remaining, but none of the five returned to Robert Morris.
01:12So they got zero of those players back that helped them make the tournament last year, carrying over to this
01:18year.
01:19So it's just a case of the rich getting richer, the poor getting poor.
01:23Clearly, something needs to be done to rein in the current NIL landscape and how it's just kind of the
01:29wild, wild west.
01:30And you pay what you want to, and there's no quote-unquote salary cap.
01:36Sure.
01:36You know, I think there's going to be something done.
01:38I think it's going to take time.
01:39It's so complicated.
01:41But we grew up, you know, Florida Atlantic making a run, going further back, George Mason, VCU, and Shaka Smart,
01:49I think, back in 2011.
01:50That's what we love about the tournament.
01:52So hopefully, I don't know if we can put the genie all the way back in the bottle, but hopefully
01:56we can rein it in a little bit and create an environment where the little guy at least has some
02:02opportunity to compete and perhaps advance in this historic tournament.
02:06Yeah, no, it's a great point, and, you know, I mean, I don't know if it's fortunate or unfortunate, but
02:12the tournament's doing crazy numbers, streaming and watching, and so probably no need if you're in the NCAA, they look
02:18at it and say, okay, well, this is what we wanted anyway, and we got it.
02:21Okay, so we got a really fun matchup here, the first of two games, because you have the emotion of
02:30Connecticut getting to the Final Four with that wild win last weekend against Duke.
02:35But the oddsmakers are certainly telling us that they are not the better team in this matchup overall, because Illinois
02:42is two-and-a-half point favorites, and also keep in mind, folks, for novices, neutral site game, regardless of
02:48the fans that show up here, neutral site, Illinois, minus two-and-a-half, total 139-and-a-half.
02:55Oddsmakers are telling us, Paul, we're in for two really close games on Saturday.
02:59Let's start with the first one.
03:02Yeah, we're showing two-and-a-half here, and I'm not sure where that's coming from, but a lot of
03:06even one-and-a-half on the screen right now as we speak on Friday.
03:11So, you know, it is pretty much an even game, and, you know, the talk of the tournament from last
03:17weekend, UConn rallying from that 19-point first-half deficit
03:22to just stun Duke 73-72 on Braylon Mullen's desperation attempt from 35 feet in the waning seconds.
03:32In that game, it's been well-chronicled, but UConn only makes one of their first 18 three-pointers, closes by
03:38making four of their last five, including Mullen's game winner.
03:42And this one, to me, is going to come down to Terrace Reed Jr. for UConn versus Illinois' front line.
03:51And Mullen's three-pointer at the buzzer, that's going to go down as it should.
03:56It's going to be forever etched in UConn men's basketball lore.
04:01But make no mistake about it, if it wasn't for the inside work of Terrace Reed Jr.,
04:05UConn would not have been in the position to make any type of comeback against Duke.
04:10He finishes that game with big numbers against the Blue Devils.
04:17I had, if I can find it here in my notes, 26 points and nine rebounds against the Blue Devils.
04:246'11", 265-pound senior from St. Louis, just a bruiser down low.
04:30He's hit 33 of 55 field goal attempts, so 60% in the tournament.
04:36He's gone to the line 29 times, so he gets to the foul line, 27 rebounds, or 54 rebounds, rather.
04:4327 of those boards coming in that first-round game against Furman.
04:47So he's just been a beast down low.
04:49But Illinois is well-equipped to defend him and perhaps neutralize him much better than most teams are.
04:56They've got the Ivacic twins, 7'2", and 7'1", from Croatia, who are obviously over seven foot tall, very
05:04big guys.
05:05They've got 6'9", David Merkovic.
05:07So I think it comes down to how does Illinois, with their big front line, how do they deal with
05:12Reed?
05:13If Reed scores under 20, I think Illinois has got a really good chance to win.
05:17If Reed goes over 20, I think UConn might advance to that championship game.
05:22So that's the matchup I'm kind of going to be looking at, is Harris Reed Jr. versus Illinois' front line.
05:30Excellent stuff there.
05:31Okay, so the main course, Saturday night, Paul, Michigan-Arizona.
05:36Best game of the year on paper here, right?
05:39Like, oddsmakers are telling us about a pick-em game and a high-scoring game at 157-and-a-half.
05:46I think the world will be watching this one, Paul.
05:49I think this is going to maybe even get higher ratings in the championship on Monday night.
05:53You talk about a Saturday night game with these two huge schools playing.
05:56Are you looking forward to this one like I am?
05:59Absolutely.
06:00I mean, it's a huge game.
06:01And although it's kind of been labeled as the, quote-unquote, the championship game, Illinois or UConn might have something
06:08to say about that.
06:09But these are two teams that have phenomenal front lines.
06:12You look at Arizona, they're not only tall, but they're big.
06:16And Co-op Pete is a true freshman from the state of Arizona.
06:19He's built nothing like a guy just one year out of his high school graduation.
06:24He is a grown man already.
06:27You've got Crevas, another big guy on the Arizona front line.
06:31Also, Toby Iwaka.
06:33So, Arizona depends on that front line.
06:36They are fifth nationally in paint points, over 41 paint points a game.
06:41But then you've got Michigan's front line.
06:44They've got Yaxel, Linda Borg, Morez Johnson, Jr., and then Ade Mara, the 7-4 transfer from UCLA.
06:51So, I think it comes down to these two front lines.
06:54How do they match up against one another?
06:56You know, which one wins that battle?
06:58And if it's a push, then it comes down to guard play.
07:02Will Arizona's Braden Burries or perhaps Jaden Bradley come up big from the guard position?
07:08Then Michigan, Troy McKinney and Elliott Cadeau, two of their top guard scores.
07:13So, it's going to be interesting to see if those front lines are going to be a wash
07:18or if somebody wins that battle down low between Arizona and Michigan.
07:22Paul, as always, great to catch up with you.
07:24And before you know it, we'll be doing some college football.
07:26Thanks again.
07:28We'll have Sam McQuillian from Legal Sports Report coming up in just a few minutes.
07:31Before we do that, let's hear from some sound going on in baseball and basketball.
07:36Give you some previews of the Final Four as well.
07:39Let's start off with some baseball here.
07:40In case you missed it yesterday, and I know a lot of you did, the Twins played the Royals.
07:45But one of the other stories that percolated from the game yesterday was the fact that their
07:48starting catcher, Carter Jensen, on Kansas City, was not at the game in time for the game.
07:55There were some reports that he overslept.
07:57They had planned to start him and had to pivot to another player.
08:02Naturally, this does not happen very often in Major League Baseball.
08:05So one of the team leaders on the Royals, Vinny Pascantino, was asked about his missing
08:11catcher prior to the game.
08:13He's got to move forward the best that he can.
08:16I know he feels really bad.
08:18I know that it was not his favorite drive to the field this morning, but it wasn't our
08:22favorite morning either, trying to figure out what was going on.
08:25So he'll learn from it and grow up a little bit.
08:27And we're here for him, though.
08:29It's not like anybody's mad at him.
08:31Things happen.
08:32But you've got to learn from mistakes like that and maybe get another alarm clock or something
08:36at home.
08:38Yeah, rough, rough scene there for Jensen.
08:40Not the first time that this has happened, but something that unfortunately goes on the
08:44resume for the rest of his career.
08:46All right.
08:46Would Dan Hurley like a championship resume?
08:48Of course he would.
08:49He'll go into Saturday night hoping that they could beat Illinois and get back to the championship
08:52game.
08:53Of course, that's the goal for Hurley.
08:55A lot of folks think that the winner of that game between the Huskies and Illini lose in the
09:00championship regardless.
09:02But that is not the plan, according to Hurley.
09:04Like the reality is that moment's over.
09:07It's an incredible moment.
09:08You'll have that the rest of your life.
09:11You know, but we came here for rings, not watches.
09:14You know, everyone that comes to the Final Four gets a beautiful watch.
09:18You know, but only one group's going to get a ring.
09:21You know, so get off social media, stop injecting the dopamine into your arm and get serious
09:27about the preparation and the practice because we don't hang banners for Final Fours at UConn.
09:32We hang national championship banners, and if you want to hang a banner, you've got to
09:37get your eyes off social media, get your face out of the phone, and get locked in on Illinois
09:41because, you know, Illinois is one of the best teams in the country, and they're as big a
09:45threat to winning this tournament as any of the four teams.
09:48I just realized you get a watch for going to the Final Four.
09:52I had no idea.
09:53Okay, cool.
09:55Meanwhile, how about the journey for Illinois?
09:57They are one of the lower seeds getting this far this year in the NCAA tournament, and
10:01they're the three seed in the NCAA.
10:03I think it was fun after winning the region to sit back and just think a little bit.
10:11You know, I hope to get to do that, you know, in the future after all of this is over,
10:18but
10:20you know, I think one of the really neat things for me has been that all the stops along the
10:25way, some of the people that have reached out and the old friends and the old acquaintances
10:31and the people that are coming from all those stops has just been, you know, it means a lot
10:39to me.
10:40And, you know, I say it all the time.
10:42I hope I'm not known for wins and losses.
10:43I hope I'm known for impacting some lives of people and creating memories.
10:49And that's what, you know, that's come to fruition a little bit with some of the text
10:55and phone calls I've gotten here in the last few days.
10:59All right.
11:00Meanwhile, the night game, Arizona takes on Michigan.
11:02Will this be the final game coached by Tommy Lloyd with Arizona?
11:06There's some rumors.
11:06He could end up at North Carolina.
11:08Obviously yesterday, not willing to dive into that for that job.
11:12How do you respond to people who are wondering if you're going to be the coach at Arizona
11:15next year?
11:17Listen, I got my full focus on this team.
11:19Nothing is distracting me.
11:21And that's just how I've decided to approach it.
11:25I'm excited.
11:26I thought we had a really good practice today.
11:28I'm excited to plan for a practice tomorrow.
11:30And Myron, you've got to know me over the years.
11:33I'm a simple guy.
11:34I'm kind of just one thing at a time.
11:36I'm not a multitasker.
11:37You can ask my wife.
11:38So I'm 100% locked in on Arizona basketball right now.
11:42And I'm excited to see what this team can do.
11:45I have a real strong belief in this team.
11:48And this team deserves my full attention.
11:50So that's what I'm giving them.
11:53Meanwhile, Dusty may wade in on Michigan's ability to beat Arizona Saturday.
11:58Well, we feel like we're built in a similar fashion as Arizona.
12:02And I'll begin with the veterans on both teams and how they've taken this off-the-bench role.
12:09And they've impacted winning almost every game.
12:12I just see so many similarities with the intangibles and the team character of both of us.
12:19And then, obviously, when you factor in the size, and both teams get a lot of credit for how good
12:24our front lines are.
12:25But there's some great guards and very intelligent basketball being played by both teams.
12:31And so when we watch them, we see ourselves, other than a few stylistic differences,
12:37we see a lot of ourselves in them.
12:40And it's going to be a battle.
12:43We believe it's going to be won in the 39th or 40th minute of this game.
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