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Houston Crushes Texas A&M, Oh How Sweet (16) It Is!
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Welcome to Episode #78 of the No Conference for Old Men Podcast.
Our Houston Cougars are now 30-6 after a pair of 31-point demolitions over Idaho & Texas A&M in the 1st 2 rounds of the NCAA Tournament. And it's back to the Sweet 16 again, with Cougar Fans completely spoiled at this point with our 7th straight advancement into the 2nd week. And the beauty this year? The Cougars get to play the Sweet 16, & potentially the Elite 8 round should they advance, in the city of Houston! The 3 Old Men & special guest Jayme Hollingsworth provide a quick recap of the 1st 2 rounds of March Madness, then go deep in breaking down Sweet 16 opponent Illinois, and then close out with some thoughts on a potential Elite 8 game vs Iowa/Nebraska in this episode.
Please have a listen as the 3 Old Men weigh in & discuss the Coogs' March Madness journey so far, as well as break down their next game(s) vs Illinois & potentially the Iowa/Nebraska winner.
- No Conference for Old Men is available for free via Spotify / Apple Podcast / SoundCloud & the GoCoogs.com YouTube Page; we're also available via Dave Campbell's College Podcast Network as their only basketball-centric offering
- Intro / Exit music: Ground Zero provided by FreeBeats.io
- Please follow us on gocoogs.com/old-men/
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Transcript
Introduction and Overview of Houston Cougars in March Madness
00:00:07
@NoConfForOldMen
Welcome folks to episode number 78 of the No Conference for Old Men podcast, podcast where three old guys are talking Houston and Cougars basketball with a little bit of Big 12 coverage added in as well. And proud members of the gocougs.com network, the undisputed one Houston Cougars content provider. And we are here today again with all three old men, Tom Lediac, former coach, Bill Walker, former player, and myself, Steve Chang, analytics guy for this episode. And we have a special guest with Jamie Hollingsworth from our gocougs.com family joining us as well for a sweet 16 edition.
Recap of Wins Against Idaho and Texas A&M
00:00:39
@NoConfForOldMen
Well, our Cougars had a stiller start to March Madness with a pair of 31-point destructions over Idaho and then Texas A&M, whose delusional fans actually thought they had a great matchup versus the Cougs ahead of time.
00:00:52
@NoConfForOldMen
but But we know what actually happened. Things could not have gone any better. Easy wins where the bench got lots of minutes, no injuries, and our defense is peaking to historical standards in the tourney. Now comes our toughest matchups yet versus who I believe is the toughest number three seed by far in
Preview of Sweet 16 Matchup Against Illinois
00:01:10
@NoConfForOldMen
Illinois. So for this Sweet 16 episode of the pod, we're going to quickly summarize the first two round games and then quickly pivot to talk about the Sweet 16 matchup versus Illinois in detail. And then not to get ahead of ourselves here, but also project out potential matchups in the Elite Eight game as well. So why don't we get into it in dissecting our two wins over Idaho and then Texas A&M. Let's each provide some key takeaways from our play, maybe focusing a bit more time in the A&M game. And let's start with our guest, Jamie.
00:01:42
@NoConfForOldMen
What'd you take away from the first two round wins?
00:01:46
Jayme Hollingsworth
Well, thanks again for having me on. You know, the Idaho game, when I was breaking them down, you know, they were one of the top 30 teams in the country in three-point shooting. So just knew that was something to keep an eye on. But, I mean, I looked up halfway through the first half. They had not hit a three.
00:02:07
Jayme Hollingsworth
i think they hit three maybe in the entire first half. Yeah. You know, they had a really good freshman. i didn't pick him to be my head of the snake, even though he was the the big sky freshman of the year.
00:02:18
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:02:21
Jayme Hollingsworth
He just, you know, putting a not all American freshmen against the Cougs just wasn't going to work out well for them.
00:02:31
Jayme Hollingsworth
So went with one of their other guys, but yeah, nothing that they, they were, Houston was just too big, too
Analysis of Houston's Victories and Strategies
00:02:38
Jayme Hollingsworth
fast, too strong.
00:02:38
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:02:40
Jayme Hollingsworth
They had nothing for them the entire game. So easy, easy first round win. Got a lot of playing time for everybody on the team. Then you go to A&M who I thought, you know,
00:02:51
Jayme Hollingsworth
Was it intriguing matchup just because you never know. You just never know with a team that plays that style, how it's going to go.
00:03:04
Jayme Hollingsworth
I had seen you know just a couple of times when teams tried to press throughout the year. Kingston struggled a little bit with it.
00:03:13
Jayme Hollingsworth
He turned it over a few times, but I just wanted to see how that how that would go with A&M, and we saw how it went. there there
00:03:21
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:03:23
Jayme Hollingsworth
You look up, and they've got more turnovers than we do. Yeah. Yeah, it was it was just a smackdown. had AG as their head of the snake looked up. He was doing nothing. He had four points when I looked up. It was almost the end of the first half. Yeah.
00:03:42
Jayme Hollingsworth
you know I was a little concerned. I was able to go to the press conferences the day before, and I asked Kingston, you know how do you keep because they had smaller guards. They had them listed at 6'1", but they were probably closer to five ten five nine So I just asked Kingston, how do you keep them out of the paint? Because they do a really good job getting in there, getting under you, and then drawing fouls.
00:04:02
Jayme Hollingsworth
And he said that Their game plan was to trust, you know, trying to keep them in front of you. But if they were to get past you rather than fouling like most teams do, just trust that you have an anchor back there named Jojo Tuggler, who we saw volleyball spike.
00:04:18
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:04:20
Jayme Hollingsworth
what's his name, Pop Isaacs the first time, and then the next trip down, he pinned Vincent's shot against the backboard and in two trips in a row.
00:04:22
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:04:26
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:04:27
Jayme Hollingsworth
So game plan worked out there that they were just going to trust JoJo not foul and to play with his hands up, and he did great. You know, in both of those games, we saw what a difference it makes being able to keep him on the court, really at both ends.
00:04:43
Jayme Hollingsworth
You know, he's figuring out this offensive thing a little bit.
00:04:44
@NoConfForOldMen
Yes.
00:04:46
Jayme Hollingsworth
But, yeah, he's just been – you know the defensive player of the year that we know he can be when he's able to stay on the court. Thought it was kind of cool. We got to go in the locker room after the game, and Ryan said, take a picture of that.
00:05:01
Jayme Hollingsworth
And it was his backpack. And it's a one-of-one backpack that none of us are ever going to have the opportunity to get because it's the Naismith Defensive Player the Year's backpack.
00:05:12
Jayme Hollingsworth
So that just shows, you know, what he's capable of and what the Cougs are capable of when he's on the court. But both teams ran drop coverage. Kingston was able to eat that alive.
00:05:24
Jayme Hollingsworth
And we'll get into that a little bit more later.
00:05:26
@NoConfForOldMen
Exactly.
00:05:26
Jayme Hollingsworth
But but yeah, just two dominating performances. Couldn't have gone any better. You know, I know Tom knows that I'm a Bucky fan,
00:05:35
Tom Lidiak
Yeah.
00:05:35
Jayme Hollingsworth
Just for mar from our days, I mean, I've been watching him since he played in high school. We're we're the same age. You know, I've seen his his path. There was tons of guys on that A&M staff that I've known him for 20 years. One of them, TJ Cleveland, I worked directly for at UAB. So that was a tough one for me, but it was awfully satisfying after the game just to know how how well the Cougs played. So really good.
00:06:01
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Hey, Tom, what was your coach's perspective on the the first two round wins?
00:06:07
Tom Lidiak
Not much to say about Idaho. They were actually, I think they finished seventh in their conference and it what it wasn't exactly, you know, one of the best conferences in the in the country. they They went on a heater at the end of the year to get in the tournament.
00:06:19
Tom Lidiak
But just basically, I had my notes first half. It was... It was Kingston's mid-range, his mid-east. It was Sinax rebounding. I think he had 12 at halftime, and it was Sharps' three. And that pretty much was the game.
00:06:34
Tom Lidiak
A little tidbit here, know, if you're an Idaho player and, you know, 30 years from now, you can say, hey, we led Houston 12 to 9, I think, at one of the first breaks.
00:06:42
@NoConfForOldMen
no kidding.
00:06:44
Tom Lidiak
So, you know, they have that feather in their cap. They can always that. A&M game,
00:06:51
Tom Lidiak
a and m game you know I was for sure we'd win, but I didn't think we'd win by 31. I'm glad we won by 31, but it just seemed like you know once we once we got ahead, then it just kind of snowballed for A&M.
00:06:58
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah kidding
00:07:07
Tom Lidiak
I got confident, though, when I was thinking about their lineup and Papa Isaacs. I remember when we played him when he was at Tech and then he went to Creighton, he had that injury, but I'm just wondering what's up with with him because he doesn't seem to be the same player he was when when he played at Tech. I don't know you know if if if injury or just his role and role on the teams have changed, but I was pretty confident knowing that he was one of their starters. And then you had Zach Clements, who could never see the court you know at at Kansas, and he was he was one there one of their top players. So i was pretty confident.
00:07:42
Tom Lidiak
You know, you can never say never. You know, every dog has this day. But I was pretty confident when I thought about, you know, the, you know, who they had, who they had on the court. That was pretty much it. Just a dominating effort.
00:07:55
Tom Lidiak
Like I said, once we once we got up, you know, it just started to snowball for A&M.
00:08:01
@NoConfForOldMen
Nice. And how about you, Bill, from a player's perspective on the two games?
00:08:06
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, well, when when we did our brief preview of Idaho last week before we made our bracket predictions, and I prefer not to even come close to getting into that. yeah And I'd mentioned that Idaho was, as you mentioned, Jamie, a three-point shooting team, but small.
00:08:28
.0Bill Walker
And so this was an opportunity for us to kind of kind of reestablish, I guess, our our rebounding a dominance that that hasn't necessarily been the case this year. But yeah this was just a defensive route. We held them to 29% from the field, from three,
In-Depth Look at Illinois Team and Strategies
00:08:52
.0Bill Walker
rebounding edge. And you'd kind of expect that off of shooting and shots.
00:08:58
.0Bill Walker
I think the best thing you can say about this game in terms of Idaho is that by scoring 47 against us, they actually matched what Kansas scored against us in the big 12 tournament.
00:09:11
Tom Lidiak
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:09:13
.0Bill Walker
So from that perspective, you could you could say that if Idaho and Kansas played each other, it'd probably be a toss up. there you There you go, Kansas fans.
00:09:24
.0Bill Walker
You know, yeah, the the only from a player stand, I mean, I could mention a lot of things, but the only thing I'll mention is that it was pretty impressive that Senac grabbed 18 boards in 25 minutes.
00:09:35
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:09:37
.0Bill Walker
A&M, consecutive 31-point blowouts. consecutive thirty one point blowouts And hopefully this trend will continue for the remainder the of the tournament.
00:09:48
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, no kidding.
00:09:50
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, we we didn't shoot all that well, 26% from three attempts. but but with another dominant rebounding performance.
00:10:15
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:10:18
.0Bill Walker
and And at the same time, our D held them to 35% and from three. And and we forced turnovers. yeah in this game, and we'll get back to the rebounding, everyone rebounded well. Every starter had at least four boards. Sacco had five offensive rebounds. And you know i I just hope that that continues throughout the remainder of the tournament. yeah with with
00:10:46
.0Bill Walker
I think with Tugler, not getting into foul trouble and and being on the floor. I think that just helps everyone in in terms of rebounding and, uh, and it certainly has played out over these first two games. Uh, you know, shooting percentage aside, I thought that everyone played really well against A and M. Uh, like I said, i was impressed with Saco, uh, getting after the boards, uh,
00:11:13
.0Bill Walker
The only thing that, and Jamie, maybe you'll know something about this, that that continues to kind of confuse me as is the fact that Harwell has basically been relegated to to Ryan Alvin's status. And the and that, you know... at one point I thought maybe it was because he was, it was the knee. Cause I've seen him, you know, with the ice on his knee at games, but then he'll, he'll get put in with, with two or four minutes left. And, and so, yeah, I mean, clear, clearly we're an eight man rotation, going forward with, with mercy, chase and, and, and Sacco. Uh, it just, yeah, I've just confused at, uh,
00:12:01
.0Bill Walker
at the decline that that Harwell's had in both his playing and his, obviously, his minutes.
00:12:09
Jayme Hollingsworth
Yeah, I think they've just kind of moved on for for this year on him.
00:12:14
@NoConfForOldMen
I agree.
00:12:15
Jayme Hollingsworth
It's not, you know, i just don't think they want to put him in any tough situations and and just see his confidence go down anymore.
00:12:16
.0Bill Walker
Yeah.
00:12:24
Jayme Hollingsworth
I think they're trying to build up Mercy and Chase to get them ready for the deep run. So I think it's just about, you know, too many bodies at this point.
00:12:34
Jayme Hollingsworth
I think – You know, he'll be a key player for next year for sure. But, yeah, I think it's just more of getting Mercy of those minutes that that he kind of missed out on, you know, early in the year and get him built built up for the run because he's going to be a key player for sure.
00:12:51
.0Bill Walker
Yeah.
00:12:51
@NoConfForOldMen
And he's he's delivered in the minutes that he's had, man.
00:12:53
Jayme Hollingsworth
Yeah, absolutely.
00:12:53
Tom Lidiak
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. who
00:12:55
@NoConfForOldMen
So you can't take that away from him.
00:12:57
Jayme Hollingsworth
Yep.
00:12:58
@NoConfForOldMen
Anything else, Bill?
00:12:59
.0Bill Walker
No, that'll that'll do it.
00:13:01
@NoConfForOldMen
Okay. I mean, from an advanced analytics perspective, looking at the two games, the formula was what we've come to expect from a Sampson-led team. Defense turned up to 11. Come tourney time. Don't turn the ball over and score offensively in whichever way is working that day.
00:13:17
@NoConfForOldMen
and the result you get is basically two drama free 31 point wins to open march madness i'm not going to spend much time on idaho but we've limited them to 34 effective field goal percentage while we shot a stellar 56 effective field goal percentage 53 from three point range i mean they're a well-coached team in idaho but they were just completely overmatched versus our cougar team is Jamie had highlighted.
00:13:44
@NoConfForOldMen
Now for A&M, they started fast, taking an early lead, then kept it actually within striking distance for roughly 12 minutes.
00:13:46
Tom Lidiak
Bye.
00:13:51
@NoConfForOldMen
And then, as you guys had mentioned, the wheels fell off as as we just started dominating the rest of the way. as somewhat of a hated rival in basketball that had played as tough under Buzz Williams these past few years.
00:14:05
@NoConfForOldMen
Good number of the fans online were feeling pretty good about this matchup coming in, thinking they were due with Bucky Ball, perhaps pushing them over the top this time. But, you know, honestly, guys, their style of play couldn't be a worse matchup versus our team this year.
00:14:22
@NoConfForOldMen
We've got two elite point guards in our starting lineup in Flemings and Uzan, plus a fifth-year guard in Sharp playing our three position. really no chance a pressing team come turning time is going to bother this year's team. In fact,
00:14:35
@NoConfForOldMen
you know, it results in us just slicing them up for easy buckets inside. i mean, all the key metrics for A&M were red, shooting a terrible 40% effective field goal percentage, 25% from three-point range. Then to make things worse, they turned the ball over on 17% of their possessions and let us offensive rebound 41% of our misses. Just a total demolition of the Aggies, and I loved every minute of it. As you'd highlighted, Bill, Sennac was the key starter of the game with a player box score plus minus plus 12.4 for the game.
00:15:08
@NoConfForOldMen
But man, the bench was stellar with Miller, McCarty, and Sacco all over plus 15 in their extended minutes in the A&M game. And that is what we're going to need moving forward. But now things get a lot tougher, guys. Let's get to the huge matchup versus a tough Illinois team that appears to be the exact polar opposite of us with their offensive efficiency with the team of of European players. What do you guys think of the matchup as well as our chances? And Bill, I'm going to let you go first on this one.
00:15:40
.0Bill Walker
Okay, I've got a lot written down for Illinois, I'll try to whip through this as fast as possible. 26 and 8, there's 6 in Ken Palm, we're 4.
00:15:51
.0Bill Walker
There 2 in Ken Palm offense, we're 10. There are 24th in defense, we're 4. And then Bart Torvik, there's 6 and we're 4. There are
00:16:04
.0Bill Walker
They've got eight losses, two were double digit losses, 14 at home against Michigan and 13 early in the season at UConn. Every single loss that they've had is to a, to a ranked team that's in the field. And, and, you know, it's pretty much the same for virtually every team at this point. Uh,
00:16:26
.0Bill Walker
In the home Michigan loss, all stats for them were very close except shooting percentage. They were 41%, 31% from three, and Michigan shot significantly better. So I think that bodes well for us going forward because we're going to, you know, that that that plays into our defensive strength. Let's see.
00:16:53
.0Bill Walker
Every one of their eight regular players can and will shoot and hit threes. They have eight guys playing a full 20 minutes per game, and I'll just whip through their players' Their leading scorer is Keaton Wagler, the 6'6 freshman shooting guard, 18 points, five boards, four and a half assists, 45% from the field, and 41% from three. That'll be a great matchup versus Sharp.
00:17:24
.0Bill Walker
Kylan Boswell is their point guard, 6'2", he's from Champaign, 13 points. Four assists, 31.5% from three, and and Kingston will likely be on him. Jake Davis starts for them. he He doesn't really do much of anything. 6'6", 205 junior, does shoot 41% from three, though I imagine Milos will be guarding him. And then and then we've got David Minkovich, excuse me, is
00:18:25
@NoConfForOldMen
Thank you.
00:18:26
.0Bill Walker
Again, 31.5% from three, 48.5% from the field. And he'll be yeah obviously guarded by JoJo.
00:18:35
.0Bill Walker
And the only other guy I'll mention is Peja Stojakovic's son, who actually, he's their, believe he's their third leading scorer. Yeah, 13.5 points a game,
00:18:52
.0Bill Walker
Four and a half boards, only one assist. He's a black hole when he catches the ball.
00:18:56
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:18:57
.0Bill Walker
But he's only shooting, he shoots well from the field, 49%, but only 24% from three. Illinois attempted 1,006 threes this year compared to U of H's 856.
00:19:10
.0Bill Walker
compared to you of h is eight hundred and fifty six yeah they're They're a good rebounding team. They're tall. They're long. They rebound well.
00:19:24
@NoConfForOldMen
Exactly.
00:19:27
.0Bill Walker
They score 84.5 points a game. They give up 69.5. They rebound the extent that... they they rebound to the extent that They do so 10 plus more than their opponents, and they block a lot of shots. So that's everything on them. that To me, the key to this game lies in our strengths, defense and rebounding.
00:19:54
.0Bill Walker
Tugler, Sinek, Sacco, stay out of foul trouble, stay on the floor, and get after Illinois' misses on and our misses, so rebounding on both ends. Both ends of the court is going to be key. Also, the rotations out out of the double teams so that we don't give them open looks from beyond the arc is going to be key.
00:20:19
.0Bill Walker
yeah We're going to get open shots. They do not f defend well. They do not defend the shooters all that well. And I think we simply need to remain patient offensively, hit our open shots.
00:20:33
.0Bill Walker
We're the more athletic team by far. And And I'm going to say the same thing about either Iowa or Nebraska. None of these teams have encountered our defense, and I think that's going to affect them.
00:20:46
.0Bill Walker
We will win against Illinois 82-74. Yeah, they're not
00:20:50
@NoConfForOldMen
you're You're discounting their D in a big way. I mean, they are 24th in adjusted defensive efficiency, dude. so
00:20:57
.0Bill Walker
wholly athletic team, and
00:21:03
@NoConfForOldMen
no No, not athletic, but they're sound.
00:21:06
.0Bill Walker
and yeah we We remain, like I said, we may remain patient. We move the ball, which we do.
00:21:12
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, I agree with that.
00:21:13
.0Bill Walker
<unk> We're going to get open looks against them.
00:21:15
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Tom, how about you from a coach's perspective in the Illinois game?
00:21:19
Tom Lidiak
Yeah, this is a real interesting matchup. It's getting a lot of national attention. Most people are saying it's the most intriguing matchup of the Sweet 16 games. Uh, you know, if you look at all the statistics and analytics and all that, you know, what, uh, what we're good at, you know, Illinois is good at, uh, but you know what, you can rip all that up when the, when the ball's tipped up.
00:21:31
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:21:42
Tom Lidiak
I thought I would never say this, but one of the keys is going to be for us, for us to push the ball in transition. You know, I thought I would never say that, but, uh, You know, that's going to be one of the keys. They're a good rebounding team, very good offensive rebounding team. Bill mentioned a lot of this stuff. You know, they they have four four or five european Eastern European guys on the team. They're tall. They're skilled.
00:22:08
Tom Lidiak
I wonder about the monster, whether we'll just elect to go one-on-one to post because – you know They're really good at passing. and when you And when you double them, they're tall enough to where they can just you know zip it out the out of the monster, out the double team and cross court and get an open three.
00:22:14
@NoConfForOldMen
passing. yeah
00:22:24
Tom Lidiak
So it it'll be interesting see what type of pick and roll covers they use. They can do both, but they you know they they like drop coverage.
00:22:34
@NoConfForOldMen
They do.
00:22:35
Tom Lidiak
but But you know what? When when when Milo's When teams blitzed Milo's, they got the ball out of his hands. When they blitzed Kingston, same thing. And then, it you know, we were reliant on one of our bigs, you know, to make a play out the short roll.
00:22:49
Tom Lidiak
And that's one thing that JoJo got really good at this last month. And Kelvin mentioned it on his show is that they just they just worked on him. They worked on JoJo rather than just throw the ball to JoJo in the post with his back to the basket and try to make a post move on somebody that's, you know, stronger.
00:23:05
Tom Lidiak
you know they can get JoJo at the top of the key and then he can dribble and and then and then make his move. So it'll be interesting. Milo's loves drop cover coverage. He gets in there. He's got his little floater. He's got the mid-range game.
00:23:19
Tom Lidiak
Kingston, same thing.
00:23:19
@NoConfForOldMen
Kingston loves it too, yeah.
00:23:20
Tom Lidiak
you know And even Emmanuel. So in Illinois might be banking on us making those contested mid-range shots. we'll We'll just have to see.
00:23:31
Tom Lidiak
Interesting thing I came across on on Twitter, I think it was during a Christmas break time, and nobody really made a big deal about it. But Brad Underwood really, he doesn't do a whole lot of coaching on the bench. He has an offensive coordinator, defense coordinator. you know He makes substitutions or whatever, but he gives his assistants a lot leeway.
00:23:51
@NoConfForOldMen
How interesting.
00:23:51
Tom Lidiak
wait But he met with his he met with his defensive coaches over the break, and they they changed their philosophy. They were one of the best teams in the country, uh, defending the three point arc and allowing, you know, the least amount of three pointers.
00:24:05
Tom Lidiak
And they changed it. Now they, they, they wanted to take away the twos, uh, the inside twos, and they're allowing more, more three pointers now. Uh, so, you know, it's like the immovable object up against the irresist irresistible force, in this game.
00:24:21
Tom Lidiak
Uh, you know, the game's played in Houston.
00:24:22
@NoConfForOldMen
Mm-hmm.
00:24:25
Tom Lidiak
We had a home game there when we played Florida state. Uh, we know the building, It's like Mike Tyson said, everybody's got a game plan until you get punched in the mouth. So, you know, it I think you'll be it'll be a tough game.
00:24:40
Tom Lidiak
But those and those intangibles that we have, I believe, carry us to win. So, yeah, it's a kind of it's a it's going to be a good one.
00:24:50
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:24:52
Tom Lidiak
You know, can't can't wait.
00:24:54
Tom Lidiak
Can't wait for this one.
00:24:56
@NoConfForOldMen
All right. Hey, Jamie. So what's your scouting report? Tell us about the Illinois matchup.
00:25:01
Jayme Hollingsworth
Yeah, really talented team. Complete opposites of what we saw the other night against A&M.
00:25:07
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:25:10
Jayme Hollingsworth
I know Kelvin's a little bit concerned with the rebounding just because they have such you know elite size across the board. Boswell's 6'3", everybody else that they throw out there is over 6'6".
00:25:24
Jayme Hollingsworth
So that'll be something to keep an eye on. Speaking of Boswell, he was on the Arizona team that the Cougs knocked out a few years ago right after they knocked Illinois out.
00:25:33
Jayme Hollingsworth
So he's got connections on both sides.
00:25:34
Tom Lidiak
Thank you.
00:25:34
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:25:38
Jayme Hollingsworth
You know, it was a toss up for me between Wagler and Mirkovic Head of the Snake. Usually whenever it's a toss up for me, I go with whoever's going to have the ball in their hands the most.
00:25:48
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:25:49
Jayme Hollingsworth
So i went Wagler, you know, super, super talented kid.
00:25:50
@NoConfForOldMen
Great. great
00:25:53
Jayme Hollingsworth
He's going to be a lottery pick. I'm a little bit concerned. I know they're going to stick E-Man on him to start the game, but he gets to the free throw line.
00:26:04
Jayme Hollingsworth
He's shot almost 80 more free throws than their next closest person. So I'd like to be you know have Emmanuel out there as much as possible. So i don't know you know yeah i don't know who else you put on him, but if Emmanuel was to get a quick first one, I'd look –
00:26:12
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, agreed.
00:26:13
.0Bill Walker
Agreed.
00:26:20
Jayme Hollingsworth
to maybe figure and just maybe even let him get his, make him take contested shots, but try to keep him off the free throw line and and let's keep Emmanuel on the court for as long as we can.
00:26:31
@NoConfForOldMen
agreed
00:26:32
Jayme Hollingsworth
Merkovich, you know, this is going to sound dumb when it comes out of my mouth, but I've said some pretty dumb things on this show in the past, like San Diego state going to the final four and we're in mercy being the fifth starter.
00:26:44
Jayme Hollingsworth
But Hey,
00:26:45
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:26:47
Jayme Hollingsworth
you know It is what it is. Mirkovic reminds me of a college version of Luka Doncic just because of his ability to play you know the point, but he's a bigger point guard. He shoots kind of the same little set shot, gets his teammates involved. He attacks both ends of the floor on the on the glass, the offensive glass especially. So he's somebody that I would have earned underlined 100 times because he's just kind of a mismatched guy.
00:27:14
Jayme Hollingsworth
And then the the brothers.
00:27:15
.0Bill Walker
Who do you think – I'm sorry. Who do you think guards him? I put – I had Yuzan because I think it's got to be sharp on Wagler and and at Kingston on on their point guard, Boswell.
00:27:27
Jayme Hollingsworth
Boswell.
00:27:29
.0Bill Walker
Yeah.
00:27:29
Jayme Hollingsworth
Yeah. Yeah. i mean It would be such a miss he's such a mismatched problem to put C-NAC on him because Coach has talked all year about C-NAC's really a five, having to learn how to play the four.
00:27:42
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:27:44
Tom Lidiak
He can't go on the four the perimeter, no.
00:27:46
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, that's tough.
00:27:46
Tom Lidiak
Yeah.
00:27:46
Jayme Hollingsworth
yeah
00:27:47
@NoConfForOldMen
Mm-hmm.
00:27:48
Jayme Hollingsworth
so I don't know. maybe Maybe that's who you put Emmanuel on to start and let one of the guards guard Weigler. you know You could see more zoned. I don't think so,
Predictions for Elite Eight and Beyond
00:28:00
Jayme Hollingsworth
but it's worth a try if things go kind of crazy to start with.
00:28:05
Jayme Hollingsworth
They're another team. They run, they only run their zone 9% of the time on the season, but they ran it a ton against VCU.
00:28:12
@NoConfForOldMen
Mm-hmm.
00:28:12
Jayme Hollingsworth
So that could be something that's just, just a pure two, three zone, especially on their baseline out of bounds plays, but they ran it, you know, straight up throughout that game, a pretty good bit. So that would be something to watch Jake Davis. He's more of just a three and D guys, you know, just stick him in the corner.
00:28:31
Jayme Hollingsworth
like Bill said, he, she's 42% from three. So, but they're looking to get still Yakovic and as soon as they can for him. you know, when I started doing the scout, you know, I haven't watched much Illinois this year.
00:28:43
Jayme Hollingsworth
I just hate the big 10 so much, but, uh,
00:28:47
Jayme Hollingsworth
when I started watching them on film and then going through their stats, I was a little surprised. I mean, he only shoots 24% from three, but, you know, he's the type of guard that he looks to get that mismatch and he'll just straight start backing you down from the three point line and try to get into the paint.
00:28:54
.0Bill Walker
Yeah.
00:29:01
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:29:03
Jayme Hollingsworth
So, uh, that's something to watch.
00:29:03
@NoConfForOldMen
Exactly.
00:29:06
Jayme Hollingsworth
you know When we played Arizona at at Houston, they picked on Kingston a lot, getting him in the pick and then switching.
00:29:13
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:29:14
Jayme Hollingsworth
So they may try to you know look to get Kingston on him and then back him down. So that would be something to watch for sure. as far as their pick and roll coverages go, when it's guard on guard, they they either try to go over or they switch.
00:29:28
Jayme Hollingsworth
But then when it's a guard and a big pick and roll, then they do go drop coverage.
00:29:32
@NoConfForOldMen
Drop coverage. Yeah.
00:29:33
Jayme Hollingsworth
So I would look for Kingston and in Milos to try to. to work through that for sure. and then the main matchup that I've seen so far is, uh, their fans versus ours on Twitter.
00:29:45
Jayme Hollingsworth
Uh, they are a, they are a toxic group.
00:29:48
Jayme Hollingsworth
Uh, you they, they definitely think they're coming down to get revenge from a few years ago. So, uh, something to keep an eye on for sure. And, um, And,
00:29:59
Tom Lidiak
I took part in that today.
00:30:01
Jayme Hollingsworth
You did.
00:30:02
@NoConfForOldMen
Did you?
00:30:02
Jayme Hollingsworth
i saw i saw i saw that you did.
00:30:02
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:30:04
Jayme Hollingsworth
i almost stuff posted that my fingers were tired from bookmarking all these tweets, but I decided to stay out of it.
00:30:11
Jayme Hollingsworth
now Yeah, we'll see how it goes.
00:30:15
.0Bill Walker
That's exactly why I don't get on.
00:30:16
Jayme Hollingsworth
But yeah.
00:30:18
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:30:19
.0Bill Walker
i'd be banned in two seconds.
00:30:21
Jayme Hollingsworth
Yeah. Yeah, those Big Ten teams are pretty toxic.
00:30:25
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:30:26
Jayme Hollingsworth
Yeah.
00:30:27
@NoConfForOldMen
Jamie, you never have to apologize for anything you say on this this podcast. may We all say a bunch of stupid...
00:30:31
Jayme Hollingsworth
Boy, did i was I wrong.
00:30:33
@NoConfForOldMen
Hey, so I also picked San Diego State as my dark horse, if you remember correctly.
00:30:37
Jayme Hollingsworth
Yeah.
00:30:38
@NoConfForOldMen
So I thought they were going to surprise. And yeah, they surprised in the the wrong way. And, it you know, your your take on Miller, it just took a little while longer. He played a ton of minutes against A&M.
00:30:48
Jayme Hollingsworth
Yeah, for sure.
00:30:49
@NoConfForOldMen
So he's playing really, really well.
00:30:50
Jayme Hollingsworth
Yeah.
00:30:52
@NoConfForOldMen
Looking forward to how he continues to progress through... the tourney as well as into next year so anyways from an overall analytics perspective i'm not going to go through the ken palm uh rankings for the two teams since bill i think you've already covered it i think the bottom line is both illinois and ourselves uh are really excellent on offense and defense both teams hit our threshold of top 40 uh of being excellent in in the country We played Illinois back in 22 in the second round when we were a five seed and Illinois was a four, where we pulled out that 15-point win.
00:30:58
Jayme Hollingsworth
sure
00:31:30
@NoConfForOldMen
But things are a bit reversed this time around where we come in as a higher seed. But the matchup is no less intriguing with our emphasis on offense and our usual emphasis on D. And really, this game should be a toss-up given the profiles of the two teams.
00:31:46
@NoConfForOldMen
But as you had highlighted, Tom, thankfully, this game is kind of at home playing at the Toyota Center. Illinois scores a bunch from three-point range, but as you guys had highlighted, interestingly enough, they don't shoot it that great. They're basically at the same rate as we are from three-point range at 35%.
00:32:04
@NoConfForOldMen
But boy, they are deadly from two-point range, ranking 20th in accuracy at 58.1%. Now, we'll be challenged defending the arc since that's been a struggle for a defense for most of the season. But fortunately with Tuggler and Sacco in the paint, our 2.D is stellar at number nine in Ken Fongman. We're 35th in block percentage as well.
00:32:25
@NoConfForOldMen
Now on D, Illinois is excellent at defending both the threes and twos. They're 33rd in effective field goal percentage D. But as you had highlighted, Bill, they are dead fucking last in turnover percentage D.
00:32:38
@NoConfForOldMen
So they don't, I mean, yeah, they're last.
00:32:40
.0Bill Walker
Wow.
00:32:43
@NoConfForOldMen
They folks,
00:32:43
.0Bill Walker
I know. Oh, I know.
00:32:44
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, little to no effort on steals or pressuring the ball handler. So though we won't have issues setting up our offense, we are gonna be, we're gonna have to be patient to get good looks and you highlighted that as well. By all accounts, it appears that, you know, Illinois and Houston are extremely evenly matched, but when you dig into the into it a little bit deeper and how the teams have been trending as of late, I start to feel a little bit better guys.
00:33:12
@NoConfForOldMen
And I'm going to look at the last month since and since February 28th. Right after our last loss, our D has ramped up to number two based on Bart Torvik at 89.1 points per 100 possessions. And just to give folks a reference on how good that is, it's back to our historic levels of greatness under Coach Sampson.
00:33:33
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah I'd say all of us here would probably agree that our best D under the Samson era was in Shed's senior year. And if you look at how that defense closed the season from the end of February on, they were at 88.6 points per 100 players.
00:33:48
@NoConfForOldMen
points for a hundred
00:33:48
Tom Lidiak
Thank you.
00:33:50
@NoConfForOldMen
Possessions. Folks, that is only, what, half a point difference in performance at this point. Well, Illinois' defense, even though i I just stated that, you know, they're great at 35th based on Bart Torbic. But since that point in time in February to end the season, they're down to two-point percentage D.
00:34:13
@NoConfForOldMen
So, and then when you look on the flip side, during the same period, Illinois has also slipped to number 12 in adjusted a offensive efficiency where they're number two for the season. And their three point percentage has dropped to 32%, which is 208th in the country during this time.
00:34:30
@NoConfForOldMen
While ours has actually jumped back up to 41%. So folks, we know they can be had, and I'm sure our coaches have seen this as well. Based on the, yeah.
00:34:40
Tom Lidiak
So Steve, I'm better here.
00:34:42
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:34:42
Tom Lidiak
So does the improvement in defense, does it also coincide with JoJo saying foul trouble and being on the court more?
00:34:51
@NoConfForOldMen
Absolutely. 100%. 100%.
00:34:52
.0Bill Walker
Of course, of course it does.
00:34:53
@NoConfForOldMen
Right. So, it's been huge.
00:34:54
Tom Lidiak
No.
00:34:55
@NoConfForOldMen
one hundred percent
00:34:56
Tom Lidiak
no
00:34:57
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, of course it does.
00:34:58
@NoConfForOldMen
one hundred percent right so but it but it's been huge
00:35:01
.0Bill Walker
And they, and and they, and I mentioned it, they just like the, the other two teams, Iowa and Nebraska, that they haven't faced our defense. They haven't faced our intensity.
00:35:13
.0Bill Walker
And I think that's going to, I think that's going to play in our favor.
00:35:13
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, it'll be very different.
00:35:17
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, I agree. I mean, based on the metrics, this is projected to be a one point win for the Cougs on a neutral court based on Ken Palm, as well as Bart Torvik. They're they're both forecasting one point wins, but this is in Houston.
00:35:28
@NoConfForOldMen
So I think it'll still be really close, but and I figured we'll have like a three point margin
Final Four Predictions and Championship Path
00:35:34
@NoConfForOldMen
7370 to advance to the lead eight.
00:35:35
.0Bill Walker
eight eight eight eight
00:35:36
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Now. now On the other side of the South, we have surprise winner Iowa taking on Nebraska for an all Big Ten matchup. Who do you guys think will win this one? And what would the Cougs need to do in order to advance to another Final Four? And Tom, I'm going to let you go first on this one.
00:35:56
Tom Lidiak
Oh, geez. Iowa, Nebraska. Corn versus corn.
00:36:00
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:36:01
Tom Lidiak
Ben McCollum, Iowa's coach, hell of a coach. He won four D2 national championships at Northwest Missouri State in a one-game deal. i'm I'm going with McCollum and the Hawkeyes for this one.
00:36:18
Tom Lidiak
Just a tremendous coaching job to get past Florida the other day.
00:36:22
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, no kidding.
00:36:23
Tom Lidiak
Yeah, it's I haven't watched much of Nebraska this year. i'm really haven't watched a whole lot of Iowa. they're you know they Their pace of play is like, I don't know how, it's 360 or something like that.
00:36:36
Tom Lidiak
Heavily reliant on their point guard. bent Bennett Sturge is not going to come off the the court. He plays 40 minutes. you know Everything offensively goes through goes through their point guard.
00:36:47
Tom Lidiak
so I don't know. It's good. It's going to be a good one, I think. Uh, but like I said, I, I think I'm going to go with, uh, uh, McCollum and, and I on this one.
00:36:59
@NoConfForOldMen
Nice. And then after that in the Elite Eight, what have we got to do to beat in Iowa?
00:37:06
Tom Lidiak
Just play Cougar basketball, you know, and don't play – just don't be you know be smart. And I think we take care of Iowa, you know, it be a it'll be probably a low-scoring game.
00:37:17
Tom Lidiak
But I think just we we just have too much too much talent. You know, and we're disciplined too. So I think we advance. We beat Illinois. We beat Iowa.
00:37:27
Tom Lidiak
We go to the Final Four.
00:37:29
@NoConfForOldMen
All right, nice. How about you, Bill, from a player's perspective?
00:37:33
.0Bill Walker
Okay. I've got to a lot written down for these two teams as well. So I'll, I'll, uh, I'll summarize as best as I can.
00:37:41
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:37:43
.0Bill Walker
I disagree with Tom. I think Nebraska comes out of this, uh,
00:37:48
@NoConfForOldMen
Hmm.
00:37:50
.0Bill Walker
They're 13 Ken Palm, 15 Bart Torvik, and offensively 52 in Ken Palm, and 8th in D.
00:38:02
@NoConfForOldMen
Hey, for a guy that doesn't like analytics, you're citing a lot of like analytics rankings here.
00:38:02
.0Bill Walker
it
00:38:07
.0Bill Walker
Well, I'm not – first of all, I told you that that that i'm i'm I am pro-analytics.
00:38:11
@NoConfForOldMen
Ha ha ha
00:38:17
.0Bill Walker
I'm just not –
00:38:17
@NoConfForOldMen
ha ha.
00:38:19
.0Bill Walker
all analytics and at 0% eye test as opposed to our moderator. But yeah, and I pay no attention to player box score because there's so many intangibles that that aren't are taken into account that I think that it's a largely overrated stat.
00:38:43
.0Bill Walker
But right.
00:38:44
@NoConfForOldMen
Wrong.
00:38:47
.0Bill Walker
You know, Nebraska started out 21-0. I think, yeah, all all of their losses are two Big Ten teams.
00:38:57
.0Bill Walker
They split with Iowa. Both teams won at home, so fairly even there. They've taken... 1,014 threes this year, similar to Illinois, but Nebraska's a much, much smaller team. Actually, both teams are much, much smaller. And so it's going to give us an opportunity to, to again, hopefully, like like in the A&M game, have a distinct advantage on the boards and and hopefully score inside.
00:39:31
.0Bill Walker
Let's see. Yeah, they Nebraska basically plays six or seven. They can play nine if needed, but it's but it's really six or seven.
00:39:42
.0Bill Walker
And and they have they have five guys that average double figures.
00:39:44
@NoConfForOldMen
Thank you.
00:39:47
.0Bill Walker
So You know, the the several threats, Sanford, Bryce Sanford, 6'7", junior forward. he's He's their best player, 18 points, five boards, two assists, 41% from three, and and he's attempted 300 threes this year. So he's he's definitely an offensive threat. I won't get into any more of their players. What I'll say is that the the key for this game is is, as I mentioned, they're not big. So be dominant inside on both ends.
00:40:22
.0Bill Walker
Avoid fouls. Protect the ball because Iowa does create turnovers. Defend the perimeter. And
00:40:32
.0Bill Walker
yeah they're they're they've got a solid point guard. He's he's their coach, Fred Hoiberg's son, Sam. But I think Kingston could just tear him to shreds offensively.
00:40:44
.0Bill Walker
So I'd like to, you know, we'll see, hopefully, Kingston dominate him. And yeah, if we play Nebraska, we win 79-68. I basically have the same score if it ends up being Iowa.
00:40:55
@NoConfForOldMen
Okay. Hmm. okay
00:40:58
.0Bill Walker
And and i if you want, I mean, I could get into the you know the Ken Palm and the Bart Torvik and everything. but But since I have Nebraska winning against Iowa, if we play Nebraska, and and I think Sharp will, I assume Sharp would be playing against Sturtz, guarding him, and and I think that he'll make it awfully difficult for him.
00:41:23
.0Bill Walker
I mean, Sturtz had a difficult time against Boogie Flann from Florida until the final couple of minutes were, were
00:41:26
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, he did
00:41:30
.0Bill Walker
flanges disappeared defensively and, and, uh, you know, Sturtz was able to, to not only, score, but, to but on that final possession where, where Flan just, just overran the inbound pass and, and basically allowed a, uh, yeah, allowed the the two on one and, and, you know, they had to step up to guard Sturtz and then he, then he kicked it for the, for the game winning three.
00:41:46
Tom Lidiak
there They were supposed to foul.
00:41:49
@NoConfForOldMen
did. Yeah.
00:41:58
.0Bill Walker
But, uh, But yeah, I won't get into the rest of that. I've got a ton of stuff written on Iowa. but But if we play Iowa, we win seventy four sixty four So it's basically 10-point victories over either one, yeah.
00:42:10
@NoConfForOldMen
Okay. 10 or 11, right? Okay. Nice. How about you, Jamie? You're scouting a report on the other side and what it's going to take for Houston to advance.
00:42:22
Jayme Hollingsworth
Well, put zero time into that one so far.
00:42:25
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, I agree.
00:42:26
Jayme Hollingsworth
Like I said, I don't watch big Big Ten basketball unless I absolutely have to, and I haven't had to yet.
00:42:30
Tom Lidiak
Thank you.
00:42:31
Jayme Hollingsworth
– I think we're playing the far superior team Thursday night of the three Big Ten teams.
00:42:36
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah i agree
00:42:39
Jayme Hollingsworth
I was at the Nebraska and Vanderbilt game.
00:42:40
.0Bill Walker
Yep.
00:42:43
Jayme Hollingsworth
Awesome game. Awesome atmosphere. Speaking of crazy fans, Nebraska probably has the craziest fans that I've ever experienced in college basketball.
00:42:49
@NoConfForOldMen
Yes. Big red.
00:42:54
Jayme Hollingsworth
I mean – it was 85 to 90% their fans there the other day. so if I just had to go with a toss up between the two, I would take Nebraska.
00:42:59
@NoConfForOldMen
Wow.
00:43:13
@NoConfForOldMen
Hmm.
00:43:16
Jayme Hollingsworth
He can shoot it good. He can get in the paint, but he is really small, but he plays – you can tell he has a big heart, and that makes up for a lot of things.
00:43:25
Jayme Hollingsworth
Sturt's probably the best individual player on either team, but like I said, i just I just think it's night and day.
00:43:35
Jayme Hollingsworth
between Illinois and both of them. Uh, I could see us blowing their doors off.
00:43:37
@NoConfForOldMen
Mm-hmm.
00:43:41
Tom Lidiak
Thank
00:43:41
Jayme Hollingsworth
the one thing that's kind of concerning with Iowa is they got, Florida's big man, Chenilu, they got him in foul trouble. You need JoJo on the court.
00:43:51
Jayme Hollingsworth
So if they go at him like they went at Chenilu, then that can be an issue. But overall, I just think i think it's Houston if they get past Illinois on Thursday
Conclusion and Listener Engagement
00:44:03
Jayme Hollingsworth
and and then you're looking at a Final Four for sure.
00:44:06
.0Bill Walker
Agreed.
00:44:06
@NoConfForOldMen
All right. Yeah, I'm hoping. I mean, again, big game on Thursday. That's the key one.
00:44:12
.0Bill Walker
Iowa, despite just absolutely shocking me by beating Florida, getting off to that huge start and and dominating dominating Florida inside, I'd have to say that Iowa's biggest win on the season other than that was that one pointer over Kansas State.
00:44:18
Jayme Hollingsworth
Yeah.
00:44:20
@NoConfForOldMen
That's an awesome game. Inside. Yeah.
00:44:24
Jayme Hollingsworth
Yeah.
00:44:34
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah Ha ha ha.
00:44:34
Jayme Hollingsworth
I mean, just looking, just going through their stats, you know, we already mentioned Illinois being dead last and in, in, in steals and forcing turnovers, but there were several things that both Iowa and Nebraska are ranked in the three hundreds in So
00:44:41
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:44:51
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yep.
00:44:52
Jayme Hollingsworth
And that's just teams playing well at the right time.
00:44:53
.0Bill Walker
yep yeah
00:44:55
Jayme Hollingsworth
and But if you've got to see either one of them in Houston, then you've got to feel pretty good about it.
00:45:01
@NoConfForOldMen
Completely agree. I mean, when you do look at the advanced analytics, especially for the those two teams that we're talking about here, i mean, it does look like Nebraska should win this one on a neutral court.
00:45:12
@NoConfForOldMen
They're sixth in adjusted defensive efficiency, so an exceptional defense while being kind of good on offense at 52nd.
00:45:14
Tom Lidiak
Thank you.
00:45:20
@NoConfForOldMen
While I was, they're balanced on both sides, 25th in adjusted offense and 31st in adjusted defense. So Again, they' they've reached our excellent threshold on both fronts.
00:45:31
@NoConfForOldMen
But the matchup doesn't look great when you look at strengths and weaknesses where Iowa depends on causing turnovers on defense. And that's how they get their, their ranking. Everything else is kind of poor, but they're just great at turning teams over. Well, Nebraska is great at protecting the ball. And then Nebraska is also great at shooting the ball.
00:45:51
@NoConfForOldMen
27th and effective vehicle percentage. What Iowa is actually terrible at challenging every shot. I mean, they're, in effective field goal percentage D. But this is March Madness. And I think Coach McCollum, like Coach Sampson, has got Iowa peaking at the right time. Iowa's offense has been humming during the postseason play, ranking seventh now in adjusted offensive efficiency during this the Big Ten tournament, as well as now in March Madness. While Nebraska's Elite D, while still great, has dropped from sixth to 19th during the same period.
00:46:27
@NoConfForOldMen
I also believe that while both coaches are great, Coach McCollum is a postseason savant like Coach Sampson. And I actually with Tom, I think Iowa actually pulls this out.
00:46:36
.0Bill Walker
Thank
00:46:39
@NoConfForOldMen
Now, for us against either team, I think the formula is consistent. Both Iowa and Nebraska shoot the ball well, especially from two-point range, both top 21 and two-point percentage.
00:46:50
@NoConfForOldMen
But don't the Neither one offensive rebounds and both like to walk the ball up on offense. And those are all tendencies that typically fall into our defense's hands where we suffocate teams coming into the paint. and our core defensive rebounding actually doesn't hurt us, uh, in, in this case now for our offense, I think we eat up Iowa because really they only focus on forcing turnovers. Uh, and we've got the the best ball handlers in the country and Fleming's and Nuzon, but for Nebraska, they excel at stopping the three,
00:47:23
@NoConfForOldMen
But they can be had inside the yard for, so against really for both teams, i expect a solid dose of Fleming, Zuzan, Senac, mid-range shots to break down Brass's D and pounding the boards for offensive rebounds.
00:47:35
@NoConfForOldMen
So in either case, I'm kind of like with Bill.
00:47:35
.0Bill Walker
Thank you.
00:47:37
@NoConfForOldMen
I also think the the tough game is in the Sweet 16. I think whoever we play will win by about eight points, you know, roughly seventy seven sixty nine Now, we've got a little bit of time left. And so looking at our own respective brackets, and now that we've only got 16 teams left, I'm giving you guys a chance to kind of revisit your final four picks it or or stick with the ones that you've got. So any changes you would make, Jamie, you can go first. I mean, who'd you come in in your brackets with your final four and and would you stick with it?
00:48:17
@NoConfForOldMen
Are you on mute, Jamie?
00:48:20
Tom Lidiak
Thank
00:48:21
Jayme Hollingsworth
Yes, I am.
00:48:22
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:48:23
Jayme Hollingsworth
So my final four is still intact. The rest of it is trash. But Houston, Arizona, Michigan, and Michigan State, all four are still available.
00:48:27
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:48:34
Jayme Hollingsworth
So, yeah, I'm sticking with that for now. I think I have to pull it up, but I do think that Michigan State can play with UConn.
00:48:44
Jayme Hollingsworth
St. John's looks really good. i think they could take out Duke potentially with if Foster's still out.
00:48:46
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:48:50
Jayme Hollingsworth
i know they're flirting with him being able to play, but I just don't see that happening.
00:48:52
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:48:54
Jayme Hollingsworth
so Yeah, i like I like what I have left.
00:48:59
@NoConfForOldMen
All right. Nice. how about you, Bill, your picks you sticking with your picks or you, uh, changing it up?
00:49:07
.0Bill Walker
oh well let me Let me start out by saying that that the I apologize to anyone who is who was hoping for for some sort of insight in terms of making their own picks up from me anyway. And the reason I...
00:49:27
.0Bill Walker
I typically tell people going into the picks that, that yes, I have picked the final four twice in my life, but I also tend to finish at or near the bottom every single year.
00:49:42
.0Bill Walker
And I think what, what, what threw me off a little bit and and had me, it was pretty mediocre.
00:49:45
@NoConfForOldMen
Not last year. You didn't do that bad. Yeah.
00:49:49
.0Bill Walker
What, what, what threw me off and it didn't, didn't facilitate me giving that warning to everyone was just how utterly abysmal Tom's picks were last year. So I i got thrown off a little bit. of With that said,
00:50:10
.0Bill Walker
I'm sticking with, well, I'm sticking with three of my four picks since I only have three or four left.
00:50:14
@NoConfForOldMen
Exactly. Yeah.
00:50:16
.0Bill Walker
I still like St. John's coming out of the East.
00:50:18
@NoConfForOldMen
Hmm.
00:50:19
.0Bill Walker
I still have Arizona out of the West and I still have Michigan out of the Midwest. Now, let me just say that I did, i did absolutely stress that.
00:50:31
.0Bill Walker
last week that I picked Florida to beat us because I pick us to win the title every year and we haven't. So even though you guys do the same, I took it upon myself.
00:50:43
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:50:44
.0Bill Walker
I was the self-anointed of H jinx.
00:50:50
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:50:50
.0Bill Walker
So I picked Florida to beat us and Right now, I think it's boding pretty well for us going forward. But yes, i admittedly, I was shocked that that Florida lost to Iowa.
00:51:04
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:51:06
.0Bill Walker
and And now I absolutely have us, St. John's, Arizona, and Michigan in the Final Four.
00:51:13
@NoConfForOldMen
Okay.
00:51:14
.0Bill Walker
A little late to say that, but
00:51:14
@NoConfForOldMen
No, no, no. It's all good. It's all good. And how about you, Tom?
00:51:20
Tom Lidiak
Well, speaking of Florida, I could do a 15-minute segment on Todd Golden.
00:51:25
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, me too.
00:51:26
Tom Lidiak
Yeah. Anyway.
00:51:27
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, another analytics guy just like Steve.
00:51:31
Tom Lidiak
you
00:51:32
@NoConfForOldMen
redeeming quality is that.
00:51:34
Tom Lidiak
And and here guys, here's the, here's the interesting thing about Todd golden analytics. And Steve will probably know this. Cause he, he coached at university of San Francisco. He was going say five out, uh, uh, shoot open threes, open layups, not a mini guy at all.
00:51:52
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:51:52
Tom Lidiak
Uh, and now he's changed his philosophy. He's all about, uh, paint. I mean, he's got, he has hit four big guys, uh,
00:52:02
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. I mean, he has the players for it now. He didn't have the players for it at USF, right?
00:52:05
Tom Lidiak
yeah Yeah, well, well he's he's totally he's solely done like like a 180.
00:52:08
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:52:11
Tom Lidiak
Anyway, back to the brackets. I still got my final four picks. I had Duke and Michigan State making lead eight. I had us in Florida, elite a lead eight. I had Arizona playing Purdue, and I had Michigan playing ISU, and so those are all in play.
00:52:29
Tom Lidiak
I have Duke still making it. I have us making it. I have Arizona, and I have ISU going to the final four. I hope Joshua Jefferson's ankle is – fully healed for them. Uh, I still think they can beat Tennessee with him, not a hundred percent, but if they're going to beat Michigan, if Michigan beats Alabama, uh, they're going to have one hundred percent healthy, uh, uh, Jefferson.
00:52:52
Tom Lidiak
so yeah, my picks are, my picks are still, uh, in the running there. And I had us in Arizona playing in the championship and, uh, I had Arizona winning. So hopefully that's a reverse jinx too.
00:53:05
@NoConfForOldMen
There you go. Love it. So I had us, UConn, Michigan, and Arizona in the final four with us beating UConn to play Michigan for the national championship. And of course I can never pick against our Houston Cougars and I picked us to win.
00:53:19
@NoConfForOldMen
I'm sticking with those. I'd actually contemplated picking St. John's to replace UConn, but I'm sticking with it and so and and just riding with it.
00:53:30
Tom Lidiak
Say, guys, what was up with that guy who scored like two points to the whole game just blowing past Kansas guard? Was that was that was that Melvin Council?
00:53:40
@NoConfForOldMen
I don't think it was Melvin.
00:53:41
Tom Lidiak
Who was guarding him?
00:53:42
@NoConfForOldMen
Oh, yeah, I don't know.
00:53:44
Tom Lidiak
I don't know, but what was up with that? He just blew all the way past him to the rim, and don't know.
00:53:46
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:53:50
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, I loved it.
00:53:52
Jayme Hollingsworth
Can see this?
00:53:52
@NoConfForOldMen
That's great.
00:53:53
Tom Lidiak
Oh, i'm not I'm not complaining. And, you know, there's a lot of talk about Bill Self maybe maybe hanging that up.
00:53:58
@NoConfForOldMen
I know.
00:54:00
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, and then, yeah, the other big one, might be hubert davis getting fired right yeah so we'll see yeah
00:54:04
Tom Lidiak
Hubert Davis. And then Mark Pope. Mark Pope might get another year. So you got the blue bloods there. You got Duke. I mean, you got Kentucky, Carolina, and Kansas.
00:54:15
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah so we'll see
00:54:16
Tom Lidiak
But you know what? UCLA used to be a blue blood. Indiana used to be a blue blood. Look at them.
00:54:20
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, terrible. But okay, I think that's it, guys. So that's it for our 78th episode of No Conference for Old Men podcast. And thank you, Jamie, for joining us for this episode.
00:54:31
Tom Lidiak
Yep. Thanks, Jamie.
00:54:31
.0Bill Walker
yeah thank Yeah, thanks a lot, Jamie.
00:54:33
Jayme Hollingsworth
Yep. Thank you guys for having me as always.
00:54:34
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, and hope you all enjoyed it. And again, we'd really appreciate it. Folks would follow, subscribe, or collect our podcast on whatever platform of choice you have. We are also available via Dave Campbell's College Podcast Network as their only basketball-centric podcast or at the goku.com YouTube page for those that want to see all of our ugly faces, including Jamie. We appreciate the continued support from all. Also, please give a follow on our Twitter account, No Conference for Old Men. Thank you all again for listening and please be on the lookout next week to download and listen as our final four episode drops. Take care, everyone.
00:55:10
@NoConfForOldMen
Go Cougs, baby. Let's go.