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After Tech & Baylor Smothered, Is Jojo Tugler Back?
116 Plays4 months ago
Welcome to Episode #68 of the No Conference for Old Men Podcast.
After shutting down in-state rivals Texas Tech & Baylor this past week, the Coogs are now 15-1, 3-0 in the Big 12, and ranked #10 in KenPom. After some stellar team defense in the 2 wins, "Is Jojo Tugler now back to last season's DPOY-levels?" 2 more conference games await the team this week in West Virginia & Arizona State to further test this Cougars team.
Please have a listen as the 3 Old Men break down the 2 wins over Texas Tech & Baylor, and discuss whether Jojo Tugler has regained his elite form from last season? We then preview next week's 2 games as well, so fans can be well informed headed into the games.
- No Conference for Old Men is available for free via Spotify / Apple Podcast / SoundCloud & the GoCoogs.com website; we're also available via the Republic of Football Podcast feed from the folks at Dave Campbell's Texas Football as their only basketball-centric offering
- Intro / Exit music: Ground Zero provided by FreeBeats.io
- Please follow us on gocoogs.com/old-men/
Recommended
Transcript
00:00:06
@NoConfForOldMen
Welcome folks to episode number 68 of the No Conference for Old Men podcast. A podcast where three old guys are talking Houston Cougars basketball with a bit of Big 12 coverage added in as well. And proud members of the gocougs.com network, the undisputed number one Houston Cougars content provider.
00:00:22
@NoConfForOldMen
And we're back with all three old men, Bill Walker, former player, Tom Lidiak, former coach, and myself, Steve Chang, analytics guy for this episode. And it was another huge week after two big wins over state rivals Tech and Baylor with the game's polar opposites of each other.
00:00:38
@NoConfForOldMen
Game one at home versus Tech was a tense back and forth affair with the Cougs delivering down the stretch to win 69 to 65. While game two versus Baylor was an utter destruction of our hated rivals in Waco, 77 to 55.
00:00:53
@NoConfForOldMen
This Cougar team is now 3-0 in Big play, with two tricky games up this next week, hosting both West Virginia and ASU. Lots to cover this week, so we're going provide our usual summaries of the two wins, plus previews the two upcoming games, but we're also...
00:01:11
@NoConfForOldMen
teeing up a special topic this week is the old men discuss whether tugler is back to his peak defensive player of the year form from last season so let's get started tom why don't you kind of kick things off with your key points on the 69 to 65 tech win
00:01:28
Tom Lidiak
First of all, uh, you could just feel the intensity. I was watching the game and and I was watching the game on my phone in the locker room of our high school.
00:01:32
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:01:36
Tom Lidiak
Cause, uh, uh, we had a game that night. You could just, you could just feel the intensity, even watching, even watch on my, on my little phone. Uh, uh,
00:01:46
Tom Lidiak
Both coaches were were into it. I mean, you're talking about red-hot intensity.
00:01:52
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:01:52
Tom Lidiak
You know, kelvin Kelvin always gets after his players, but he was he was after the refs, which, you know, norm Kelvin does a little bit, but usually not that animated.
00:02:02
Tom Lidiak
McCaslin, you know, typically was all over the refs, but he was also in the faces of his three stars.
00:02:06
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:02:08
Tom Lidiak
He was, you know, at times he was in Anderson's face, Watts, Toppin's face. So you knew this game meant – you know, a lot a lot to him.
00:02:18
@NoConfForOldMen
It did.
00:02:19
Tom Lidiak
But just just a great college basketball game. Both teams were super prepared. a lot of people will say it might have been like an ugly game or whatever. But, you know, if you want to watch pretty basketball, go watch like a, you know, SEC basketball, go watch an Auburn team or you know I don't know, Vanderbilt, where where they don't play any defense.
00:02:43
Tom Lidiak
They're also not going to you know go very far in the tournament in either.
00:02:47
.0Bill Walker
Vandy plays D.
00:02:49
Tom Lidiak
They do?
00:02:50
.0Bill Walker
Yep.
00:02:51
Tom Lidiak
Well, heck, the game was in the 90s the other day. you know matt They might have scored 100 on Alabama.
00:02:55
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:02:57
.0Bill Walker
Well, we've we've had games in the 90s as well.
00:03:07
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:03:09
Tom Lidiak
Both teams pretty much relied on their starters. Didn't get a whole lot from the bench. Our bench, two injuries. You know, you had the concussion from Isaiah and then two years in a row, JD Toppin decides the scissors kick or donkey kick somebody in the balls.
00:03:25
Tom Lidiak
You know, how does that work? You know, you think, okay, one time, one time, yes, an accident, two times.
00:03:32
Tom Lidiak
don't, I don't know. did they They did call a foul or or not on that? Was it a flagrant or they just said up a bath they said it's a a basketball play, a normal basketball play.
00:03:39
.0Bill Walker
Nothing, nothing.
00:03:40
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, nothing. It was its incidental. Yeah. Yep.
00:03:44
Tom Lidiak
Okay, gotcha.
00:03:46
@NoConfForOldMen
it
00:03:47
Tom Lidiak
So anyway, getting back to the bench minutes, you know not a whole lot of production from from either bench. And then the story that most everybody wants to talk about, I'm sure Bill will elaborate on this, is you know that going down there, Kingston hitting the two big threes.
00:04:02
Tom Lidiak
He also had another another bucket.
00:04:02
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Okay.
00:04:04
Tom Lidiak
So he had like eight points in that stretch. Always talk about winning time. you know Got that for Magic Johnson. And once again, when it came down to winning time, we made the winning plays.
00:04:16
Tom Lidiak
We made more than more than Tech did. That Kingston, that first shot where he just like walked into it, I heard McCaslin at the press conference say they were unsure on how to guard what's called our L set.
00:04:30
Tom Lidiak
And that's where just Kingston's at the top and you put a guard at the nail and he either comes up and and sets a ball screen or he ghosted or he just pops out. And I believe it was Atwell. I can't remember who the other guard was on tech that was the defending that.
00:04:46
Tom Lidiak
And they miscommunicated and just let Kingston wide open at the top of the key. So, uh, thank God for, thank God for Kingston. Uh, let's see what else I have on here. Uh, our pick and roll defense was just outstanding. Um, outstanding.
00:05:07
Tom Lidiak
You got give credit to Emmanuel. got to credit to Milo's and our and r two bigs. They held, I think, Anderson to seven points, but just so active with their with their hands. And I'm not talking about the reach-in type of you know stuff with the hands. I mean, they they had high hands when Anderson picked his dribble up.
00:05:25
Tom Lidiak
Emmanuel and Sinek and Tugler were just jumping up in the air to make sure that if they throw a pass, it's going to be a slow pass. Just incredible. You know, and it does take five it took does take five guys to defend the pick and roll, but at the point of attack, it was just it was just super.
00:05:36
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:05:43
Tom Lidiak
Very physical game, McCaslin said. One time out when he came to when these guys came to the bench, four of them had bloody lips. So this kind of gives you an idea of how tough this was. But, yeah, it was – make a long story short, super basketball game. I'm glad we won.
00:06:04
Tom Lidiak
And you're, we're starting to see that Houston identity again.
00:06:09
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, I mean, Tom, I don't know if they showed it on TV or not, but certainly at the game during one of the timeouts, I mean, almost for the full timeout, he was laying into Watts.
00:06:21
@NoConfForOldMen
I mean, for the whole, oh my gosh.
00:06:22
Tom Lidiak
Yeah. Somebody, somebody on somebody, somebody on Goku's mentioned that it was, yeah, it was like the whole timeout. He didn't, um, didn't,
00:06:30
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, it was right in front of Bill and I, when we were watching, was like, holy crap yeah.
00:06:31
Tom Lidiak
You know, he he didn't. Was it? Okay. Yeah. And you don't know if, you know, if he doesn't have a.
00:06:39
@NoConfForOldMen
Well, he was getting abused. i mean, he's getting abused by our fours, right?
00:06:42
Tom Lidiak
Yeah. and Yeah. And the thing about it is, you know, if McCaslin doesn't have much of a relationship with Watts, you know, it could end up backfiring on him.
00:06:51
@NoConfForOldMen
True.
00:06:52
Tom Lidiak
And I know that you look at our game against Baylor, how he. We came off that tough game against Tech, and we didn't slow down. And then Tech came off our game and just barely escaped Colorado on the road.
00:07:05
Tom Lidiak
I think they won by i think they won by two points.
00:07:05
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:07:07
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep. Just squeaked by. Okay, Bill, how about your player's take from the tech game?
00:07:13
.0Bill Walker
All right. Well, for those of you expecting me to, to nail the margin of victory, as I said, I began doing during conference play. I did predict us to win by seven and had, and I think it was Patty.
00:07:28
.0Bill Walker
I believe.
00:07:28
Tom Lidiak
or I thought it was Anderson. Was it Anderson or Petty?
00:07:30
.0Bill Walker
Was it Anderson? It was either Anderson or Patty.
00:07:31
@NoConfForOldMen
Anderson.
00:07:31
Tom Lidiak
I think it was Anderson.
00:07:32
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah, it was Anderson.
00:07:32
.0Bill Walker
It was Anderson hit, hit the half court three at the buzzard, at the final buzzer to make it a four point game. But, but, it It really was a seven-point win.
00:07:44
.0Bill Walker
Yeah,
00:07:44
@NoConfForOldMen
it
00:07:44
Tom Lidiak
why you don't That's why you don't bet on sports, people.
00:07:46
@NoConfForOldMen
That's right.
00:07:47
.0Bill Walker
yeah exactly.
00:07:51
@NoConfForOldMen
But bill Bill won't learn, though. Yep. Yep.
00:07:51
.0Bill Walker
But, but
00:07:54
.0Bill Walker
hey, i i just I just give my my predictions, nothing more.
00:07:55
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah yeah
00:08:01
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, this, as you alluded to, this was a really tight game throughout and about as electric an atmosphere as, and Steve, sitting there with me, I'm sure you'd agree, is I've almost witnessed since Fertitta Open.
00:08:10
@NoConfForOldMen
yep
00:08:17
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, I would agree.
00:08:18
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, this was a game where
00:08:20
Tom Lidiak
you think Bill, do you think the edit you guys think the 8 o'clock start helped a little bit? Because people are filling in you know not late. Maybe they're getting lubed up a little bit before the game.
00:08:30
@NoConfForOldMen
Oh, versus seven o'clock.
00:08:32
Tom Lidiak
Yeah.
00:08:33
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, I think that definitely helps. But still, that it's an electric, I mean, I'll cover it too, but it's an electric for weeknight.
00:08:37
.0Bill Walker
It was going to be it was going to be like that regardless.
00:08:42
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:08:43
.0Bill Walker
The thing I liked best was that it was a weeknight game, so there were far, far, far fewer Tech fans there as opposed to last year when when it was the Saturday game and and they were they were causing problems throughout the the stands the entire game.
00:08:54
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, yeah, it's true.
00:09:04
.0Bill Walker
Not too many Tech fans at the game.
00:09:07
Tom Lidiak
Shocker.
00:09:07
.0Bill Walker
on Tuesday.
00:09:08
.0Bill Walker
So that was that that was a pleasant surprise.
00:09:09
@NoConfForOldMen
That was nice. Yeah.
00:09:13
.0Bill Walker
yeah This was a game where everyone walked out pretty much ready to anoint Kingston, mayor of Houston, greatest guard ever at U of H, et cetera. And quite honestly, as you mentioned, Tom, what he did over the final three minutes may not have been able to have been done by maybe anyone else in the country.
00:09:36
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:09:37
.0Bill Walker
But, you know, Kelvin mentioned in his post-game press conference that Kingston actually didn't play a really good game. And, yeah Steve, you and I spoke about it in the first half and and how
00:09:49
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. First half.
00:09:52
.0Bill Walker
how oh petty their point guard was killing us largely because Kingston kept losing him.
00:09:58
@NoConfForOldMen
Yes.
00:10:01
.0Bill Walker
He he just, you know, and it's whether, you know, Kingston's –
00:10:02
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:10:06
.0Bill Walker
trying to play maybe team defense, looking to to to step in front of a passing lane and and create a steal and and fast break.
00:10:08
@NoConfForOldMen
Exactly.
00:10:13
.0Bill Walker
But he just he lost Patty.
00:10:14
Tom Lidiak
Yeah, Bill, I'll get it right here, Bill. I took a screenshot of one, like Kingston would overhelp, like the ball would be in the post, and he would just turn his back on Petty and and and go down and act like maybe he was going dig it out.
00:10:17
.0Bill Walker
Yeah.
00:10:24
.0Bill Walker
Yeah.
00:10:26
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:10:28
Tom Lidiak
But, you know, he didn't need to help because the the post guy was under control.
00:10:32
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:10:32
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, exactly. So. You know, so yeah and Calvin addressed it it overall. Kingston did not play a great entire game.
00:10:43
.0Bill Walker
That said the final three minutes, you we're down 59 57. We're absolute just magic. I mean, Kingston hit, hit two threes.
00:10:53
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:10:55
.0Bill Walker
One, the second one was really deep. Uh, he had hit that fadeaway jumper in the lane and and he hit a couple of free throws. I mean, 10 points in the final three minutes, uh,
00:11:07
.0Bill Walker
You know, after the game, it's Steve, you had you'd pointed out, I didn't see it. I wasn't paying attention until you pointed it out, but but the players were all surrounding Kingston at at and he had just lost it.
00:11:18
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:11:20
.0Bill Walker
He was crying.
00:11:21
@NoConfForOldMen
He was crying.
00:11:21
.0Bill Walker
I mean, he was he was so overwhelmed emotionally by by just the phenomenal finish to that game.
00:11:22
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:11:29
.0Bill Walker
And, you know, So, yeah, it was great to see that because you could see how much he cares and how much this meant to him. of You know, just just unreal.
00:11:41
.0Bill Walker
And i you know,
00:11:42
Tom Lidiak
He almost went to tech. He almost went to tech. It came down to two schools.
00:11:47
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, I don't know how close he ended up going, but yeah, you're right.
00:11:48
.0Bill Walker
well.
00:11:51
@NoConfForOldMen
It was the final two schools.
00:11:54
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, I mean, others others that played well, Sharp 17. Tugler and Sinek both had double-doubles.
00:12:05
.0Bill Walker
It looked like Yuzan may have... shot himself out of his slump and until until we get to Tech. And then, of course, you know Baylor will be upcoming. so So, you know, maybe not.
00:12:23
.0Bill Walker
You know, missing the front end of the the one and one and and just just brought you know instant flashback to last year when when the exact same thing happened down the stretch against Tech.
00:12:32
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:12:35
.0Bill Walker
Fortunately, in this case, Sinak, was aggressive and, and, uh, came to the rescue and, and grabbed the offensive board. Uh, as you mentioned, Tom, we got absolutely nothing off the bench, but, you know, partly due to Harwell having to leave after taking the shot to the head and then Ramon taking a kick from, from top and, uh, to the, uh, the lower head and, uh,
00:13:00
Tom Lidiak
Hehehehe.
00:13:01
.0Bill Walker
and the but But, you know, most importantly in this game, we didn't need the the bench as much because nobody got into foul trouble, which was huge. Only 15 fouls for the entire game.
00:13:41
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:13:42
.0Bill Walker
a I'm sorry, 18 points, 11 boards, and five blocks. But I thought that Tugler and Senac made him work his butt off the entire game.
00:13:54
@NoConfForOldMen
Absolutely.
00:13:55
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:13:59
.0Bill Walker
What I loved, and and I mentioned in in our preview, is how highly I thought of Anderson. And and I thought that maybe he was their overall best player.
00:14:09
.0Bill Walker
As you mentioned, Tom, seven points. sharp Sharp was all over him. Held him to only three of 11 shooting and and three turnovers.
00:14:22
.0Bill Walker
Bottom line, really, really good early conference win. Tech fans are And of course, I've got to address you. yeah i apologize for not recapping this game and in monosyllabic words so that you could understand what I'm talking about. But but but I'll finish this in a couple words that that you'll definitely, i think, understand. And that is that we won, you lost, go home.
00:14:52
Tom Lidiak
Hey, Bill, you're speaking you're speaking too fast for him.
00:14:52
@NoConfForOldMen
Beautiful. Yeah.
00:14:54
Tom Lidiak
You got slow down a little bit.
00:14:55
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:14:56
Tom Lidiak
Oh,
00:14:57
.0Bill Walker
Well, i don't expect I don't expect them to comprehend anyway, so we're we're good.
00:14:59
Tom Lidiak
oh You know what? You know what their, their, their excuse now was they were, they were missing like three bench players.
00:15:01
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:15:06
Tom Lidiak
That was their excuse this time. Well, you know what three I'm no, matt I'm no Pythagoras, but I know that five starters plus three injured guys equals eight. And they played three off the bench. That's 11. And you still got two more players to play. You know, why'd you recruit them?
00:15:22
Tom Lidiak
Why'd you recruit them? If you're not going to play them, you know?
00:15:24
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, exactly. i mean, Tom, I can confirm the tech win this week was the funnest and most satisfying win I've experienced in the Fertitta Center since it's opened. Ashley flew in from Cali for the game and got there a little early. and I think as I told you both offline, there was just a buzz inside the Fertitta Center that I haven't experienced immediately upon entry, quite honestly. Just a lot of nervous energy, maybe a bit of uncertainty around this matchup, given the tough loss to Tech at home last year. And the game itself actually met up to the hype and expectation with a back and forth affair till the bitter end.
00:16:03
@NoConfForOldMen
I mean, from an advanced analytics perspective, though Tech came in with a good defense at number 52, adjusted defensive efficiency in Ken Palm, you knew that they were always going to bring their A game against us. And true to form, this was a physical in-your-face defensive struggle for both teams. I'm not going to to go through the exact numbers here, but needless to say, both teams shot below their season averages across all key offensive metrics.
00:16:31
@NoConfForOldMen
Key different differentiating metric that tipped the scales for this game, it was how well we protected the ball on offense, where we beat our season averages by only turning the ball over on 9% of our possessions. Tech, on the other hand, turned the ball over on 21% of their possessions.
00:16:47
@NoConfForOldMen
Huge, huge difference. We had an uneven defensive effort in the first half as we talked about. Kingston-Flemings was, again, the star of the game in the second half, especially at the end, as you guys had highlighted.
00:17:00
@NoConfForOldMen
you know, two threes plus one two pointer in between to end the game. And and his plus a player box score plus minus for the game yet again was a staggering 17.3 in a tight contest. But I also wanted to give our two bigs their props as well with their double doubles. Tuggler ended the game with the player box score plus minus plus 10.3 and Snack ended with a plus 11.7. So just a phenomenal effort by the team. And it was a
00:17:30
@NoConfForOldMen
a very focused effort from beginning to end. Now let's move to a summary of the massacre in Waco, 77-55 over the hated Baylor Bears. Bill, why don't you get started with this one?
00:17:41
@NoConfForOldMen
What's the takeaway in a massive blowout like this?
00:17:45
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, before I get started with the game, I just want to say that I hate Peacock. and and
00:17:53
@NoConfForOldMen
oh
00:17:54
.0Bill Walker
and And hate that that you know you now have to pay subscription fees to watch virtually everything, despite already paying hefty monthly fees for for cable.
00:18:06
.0Bill Walker
And you know I pay for yeah ESPN+, plus but but do not pay for Peacock. And yeah I guess I get it
00:18:14
@NoConfForOldMen
hey Hey, Bill, bill i mean just just to make sure people understand, though, right a few of the carriers, if you have mbs NBC Sports Network, they'll simulcast it there, too.
00:18:16
.0Bill Walker
Yeah.
00:18:26
@NoConfForOldMen
So I think YouTube TV, if you have YouTube TV, you get it without having to go to Peacock. And I believe Comcast is the other carrier as well that gets it. So you just have to to make sure.
00:18:38
.0Bill Walker
I've got Comcast.
00:18:40
@NoConfForOldMen
Okay, so...
00:18:40
.0Bill Walker
I did not get it.
00:18:41
@NoConfForOldMen
So you don't have NBC Sports Network? Because I've got it. So I didn't have to go to Peacock to to record games.
00:18:47
.0Bill Walker
Oh.
00:18:49
@NoConfForOldMen
So just just to make sure listeners understand that, whoever whatever carry you've got, if you've got NBC Sports Network, which has been kind of revived, they're solid casting all basketball games that they carry on Peacock on there.
00:18:50
.0Bill Walker
Oh, nice. Well.
00:19:05
.0Bill Walker
Well, I'm still blasting all all the pay nonsense. You know, and I understand maybe if, if, you know, we're playing, you know, Utah ASU, you know, random games against mediocre teams that, that aren't going you know, there's no chance they're going to be on regular TV, but Baylor, I mean, come on, you know, get this on either regular or normal cable and,
00:19:19
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:19:39
.0Bill Walker
you know Yeah, the the West Virginia win over Kansas was was great, although it's becoming a little more commonplace with with Kansas losing to average teams on the road.
00:19:50
.0Bill Walker
but But why is that on Fox in Houston rather than U of H Baylor? To me, it's just sheer idiocy. So there's my rant.
00:20:01
.0Bill Walker
On to the game.
00:20:01
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:20:03
.0Bill Walker
this was This was absolutely u of H of prior years. Yeah. Awful, awful shooting, but the defense was extraordinary.
00:20:14
.0Bill Walker
The rebounding, especially on the offensive end, was phenomenal. We took 74 shots for the game, which which is quite atypical for any team, versus Baylor's 41, 33 more shots.
00:20:23
@NoConfForOldMen
Crazy. Yeah.
00:20:30
.0Bill Walker
we we Our shot differential was almost more than Baylor's number of shots for the game. and yeah that's really
00:20:38
@NoConfForOldMen
It's nuts.
00:20:41
.0Bill Walker
it's 100% attributable to the offensive rebounding and the D, which forced 16 Baylor turnovers. the The turnovers forced 31 points.
00:20:56
.0Bill Walker
And we the the offensive rebounding, 19 second chance points. That's 50 of our 77 points via defense and rebounding. I mean, just unbelievable. We probably win by a lot more if if if we don't shoot of from the field,
00:21:14
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:21:20
.0Bill Walker
eleven of an incredible 39 threes, 28%. twenty eight percent And yeah, we could probably win a lot more, but we also wouldn't dominate the offensive boards like we did. you know Steve, you you would you've previously mentioned an eight-man rotation, but but it's looking more like nine that'll play regular minutes as McCarty.
00:21:45
.0Bill Walker
yeah know who who was a bit up and down in this game, couldn't shoot to save his life, but grabbed six boards, five offensive, played hard defensively, although he did
00:21:56
@NoConfForOldMen
You got a huge chewing out.
00:21:57
.0Bill Walker
he well he did he did let Yesifu get right by him for for one, one for sure, offensive rebound off off the free throws, but it may have been two, yeah.
00:22:01
@NoConfForOldMen
I
00:22:07
@NoConfForOldMen
think it's two. Yeah, two two in a row and and he got a royal chew out, deservedly so.
00:22:10
Tom Lidiak
It was two too off free throws.
00:22:14
.0Bill Walker
Yeah. Yeah. Others who who played well, Tuggler, of course, who had 12 and 11, double-double, eight of those boards were on the offensive end, which is which is amazing. yeah Harwell...
00:22:31
.0Bill Walker
Harwell had kind of a poor shooting game, but the thing I liked is that he looked really comfortable on both ends of the court, and and it looks like he's he he's really he's really a becoming much more acclimated.
00:22:39
@NoConfForOldMen
And aggressive too. Yeah.
00:22:45
.0Bill Walker
He did hit four threes, and he blocked two shots.
00:22:47
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:22:48
.0Bill Walker
we committed a lot of fouls 24, which, uh, limited some of the playing time for, for some of the players certainly kept Kingston, uh, on the bench for the first half and and completely shut out.
00:23:04
.0Bill Walker
Uh, but, uh, But but yeah yeah he came back and and he e played a solid second half. In the preview, I mentioned Baylor's two best players, Carr and Yesifu.
00:23:17
.0Bill Walker
Carr could have had a huge game. He had a decent game, 18 points.
00:23:21
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah public Yeah, yeah.
00:23:23
.0Bill Walker
but he only But he was only three. of we held him to three of nine from the floor. he unfortunately he got to the line 16 times and Had he hit more than nine of them, he he may have scored closer to 25.
00:23:38
.0Bill Walker
Yes, the five-star freshman barely made it to double digits. We held him to a meager six shots, which was one less than the number of turnovers he committed, which is unreal.
00:23:52
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. It is.
00:23:55
.0Bill Walker
Uh, yeah it Again, I'll just reiterate this. 45-34 on the boards. 23 of the 45 were offensive, which which is just incredible. And this is against one of the better rebounding teams, rebound differential teams in the conference. and and And they're strong in the country. So...
00:24:18
.0Bill Walker
It's just an exceptional game. is Like I said, to me, it was kind of a throwback because we really haven't been dominant on the boards so far this season.
00:24:22
@NoConfForOldMen
It was definitely.
00:24:28
.0Bill Walker
But yeah, just great win. great win
00:24:32
@NoConfForOldMen
Nice. Tom, how about from your quick coach's perspective on the Baylor game?
00:24:38
Tom Lidiak
Well, the game got off to an inauspicious start. We were down, I think it was 14 to six.
00:24:41
@NoConfForOldMen
I don't.
00:24:43
Tom Lidiak
And I might go back and look at on social media and look at some of the posts to the the sea people see people overreacting.
00:24:53
Tom Lidiak
Kingston picked, like Bill said, picked Kingston picked up two early fouls. You guys think Kingston makes a difference on offense? Yeah.
00:25:03
Tom Lidiak
Yeah.
00:25:04
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:25:04
Tom Lidiak
Uh, cause we, uh, you know, I say we struggled to score, right? We still scored 33 points and they still only scored 26. Uh, we could have helped our cause by not going over for five from the free throw line.
00:25:13
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:25:16
Tom Lidiak
i think Isaiah missed three straight. I think Jojo missed a two straight.
00:25:20
.0Bill Walker
Yep. Yep.
00:25:21
Tom Lidiak
So we left, we left some meat on the bone there. Baylor, man, i don't know about them. There's no culture. There's no identity. There's no connectivity.
00:25:29
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, it's crazy.
00:25:30
Tom Lidiak
You know, they got a five-star freshman again. you had Jacoby Walter two years ago. Ed's come last year. Now you got Yesifu. He'll probably move on. And I got a s sneaking suspicion Scott Drew's going be looking at trying to assemble three years in a row another team.
00:25:45
Tom Lidiak
I wonder if these guys even – I wonder if these guys even know each other's name. it you know, they probably just call each other bro.
00:25:50
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:25:50
Tom Lidiak
You know, hey, huh. Scott Drew probably doesn't know their name either. Hey, you dude.
00:25:56
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah Yeah, number 12, right?
00:25:58
Tom Lidiak
Yeah. past Pass, pass ball whatever. But yeah, just you, you could tell that there's just no, no culture in that, you know, on that, on that team.
00:26:11
Tom Lidiak
And, you know, they, they hung in there for just a little bit, I'd say for, for a half, it was seven point game at halftime. And then, You know, the second half, it probably became too much work for them, you know, to put up to put up a fight. they You know, when you think about it you have all these new players.
00:26:29
Tom Lidiak
You know, how can they trust each other? You know, it's like the old west town. All these guys come in, they're looking for gold, and everybody's suspicious of each other, you know, their motives and intentions. And, you know, there's not a whole lot of trust, it seems, whether on defense or offense.
00:26:45
Tom Lidiak
Like on an offense, if I get the ball, if I pass it, you know, will I ever get it back again? you know, that's that those are those trust issues. If I get beat on defense, is somebody going to have my back or they going make me look, you know, make me look bad?
00:26:56
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:26:57
Tom Lidiak
that That type of stuff. You know, back in the day, Drew. his primary defense was that one, one, three, and he recruited for it. Huge wings with wingspan. I mean, he, he'd have guys like Jojo Tugler on the wing and then, know, like a six 11 guy in the middle.
00:27:14
Tom Lidiak
They tried to play zone yesterday and it was awful. It was awful.
00:27:17
@NoConfForOldMen
It was awful, yeah.
00:27:18
Tom Lidiak
All it took was our five men to set a ball screen on the guy in the slot and he'd kick it to a manual. And if somebody flew it, a manual, he had a guy open on on the corner, but he didn't have to do that.
00:27:28
Tom Lidiak
He was wide open and he shot it. Just incredible dismantling of this, this i would say I wouldn't say program, of this Baylor assemblage of of humanity.
00:27:42
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:27:42
Tom Lidiak
can't call them a team either. So, yeah, it's I hope there were some who's house chants after the game.
00:27:50
@NoConfForOldMen
There were, it was loud too.
00:27:51
Tom Lidiak
i don't there There were, okay, well, that's that's awesome.
00:27:52
@NoConfForOldMen
I can, yeah, I can hear it on TV.
00:27:54
Tom Lidiak
Yeah. Yeah. They're much Ballyhooed pro guy that came in. the What's his name? Inaji.
00:28:04
@NoConfForOldMen
Najee or something? Yeah.
00:28:06
Tom Lidiak
Oh, wow.
00:28:07
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:28:08
Tom Lidiak
You know, what you couldn't even tell whether he was on the floor or not. you know, there was a lot of there was a lot of talk about him, you know.
00:28:19
@NoConfForOldMen
I'm shocked he was drafted so high, quite honestly.
00:28:19
Tom Lidiak
Not. Yeah. Yeah. It's yeah.
00:28:22
.0Bill Walker
Well, keep in mind, it's it's he hasn't played for about seven months, and this is his third game. So he's, I mean, in terms of getting acclimated, he's he's he's far behind you know the freshmen and and so forth.
00:28:29
Tom Lidiak
Yeah. Okay. okay
00:28:33
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:28:38
.0Bill Walker
So he'll get better. But, yeah, he's he's nowhere close to where he needs to be right now.
00:28:48
Tom Lidiak
Yeah, that's what I have. just you know That was the difference between a program and you know trying to assemble a bunch of guys in a short amount of time and and you know see what see what sticks.
00:29:00
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, no kidding. I mean, though we've kind of had our way with Baylor since joining the Big 12, I will fully admit I was shocked by the blowout win in Waco.
00:29:11
@NoConfForOldMen
When looking yeah i mean when look at the advanced analytics, Baylor came in with the 12th ranked adjusted offensive efficiency team this year based on Ken Palm.
00:29:11
.0Bill Walker
I was too.
00:29:22
@NoConfForOldMen
And that's basically the highest rated offense that we've played so far this season and will probably be one of the best when all is said and done. And being on the road, it was projected only as a one point margin. And Baylor, as you guys did both highlighted, started the game hot offensively and made it look like this was going to be another close one.
00:29:42
@NoConfForOldMen
But as you guys highlighted with the runs that we had, Baylor was basically shut down after the first five minutes of the game. After that, it was basically a Houston avalanche. On offense, as you guys both highlighted, both teams shot under 50% effective field goal percentage for the game. But Baylor was...
00:30:02
@NoConfForOldMen
I guess they shot decently from three point range at 37 percent kind of to their norms. But other than that, everything else was in red in terms of key metrics on the offensive side.
00:30:13
@NoConfForOldMen
Now, for us, key metrics, you know, for the game, just like with the Cincy win last week, the key stats were around offensive rebounding and turnovers. we were able to offensive rebound a staggering 51% of our misses against Baylor, which is outrageous against any level team.
00:30:33
@NoConfForOldMen
And, you know, turnovers for the season. And just as a reminder, if we talked about this early in the season with so many freshmen playing, our turnover rate was the highest it had been in five seasons, right? With kids. And that was one of the things that we had highlighted earlier. that we needed to turn around to to get things on track.
00:30:54
@NoConfForOldMen
And we had a season low 8% of our possessions versus Baylor being turnovers versus 26% for Baylor. I mean, they were turning it over on over a quarter of their possessions. That folks results in a 22 point blowout.
00:31:10
@NoConfForOldMen
Now after three big 12 games, And now that we're into the important conference stretch of the schedule, we wanted to start taking a look at some key players and their play at this point in the season. And we've all been maybe a little bit critical of JoJo's foul trouble early in the season.
00:31:27
@NoConfForOldMen
Now, granted, we also know that, you know, he had some injuries and surgery, so it didn't really get an offseason. So the question today is after this recent stretch of games, is JoJo back to last season's Defensive Player of the Year form at this point?
00:31:42
@NoConfForOldMen
Tom, why don you go first as a coach. How are you viewing JoJo's play in recent games?
00:31:47
Tom Lidiak
I think there's there were two factors early in the season up until probably a couple of games ago. One is he had that long layover. you know He was out with injury. I think he was just very, very rusty, maybe conditioning. you know He wasn't where he needed to be conditioning-wise.
00:32:06
Tom Lidiak
The second thing is foul trouble. you know He never was on the floor long enough to – do much. I mean, sometimes he was playing 15 minutes a game, you know because of, because of foul trouble, but it looks like he's kind of cleared those up.
00:32:16
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:32:19
Tom Lidiak
And a lot of those fouls were just unnecessary fouls. You know, the, and the pick and roll defense, he would just, instead of having his hands up, he'd just reach in, you know, and try to slap the ball. So he's done a lot better job, uh, on those offensively.
00:32:33
Tom Lidiak
Jojo is never going to be a juggernaut. You know, we're going to be all a sudden seeing him doing, you know, dream shakes and, you know, uh, you know, uh,
00:32:40
@NoConfForOldMen
ha
00:32:43
Tom Lidiak
fadeaway jumpers and that kind of stuff. It does help his offensive game when he gets a cheap bucket or two, like a triple penetration, you knowll get a lob and get a dunk. Lexan Act the other night, can't remember it a Tech game or yesterday's game, but I think he got three dunks off of penetration from Kingston. So, you know, it really helps their stats when they get some when they get some cheap buckets like that. Because, you know, on the scouting report, number one thing is they're going to say keep a keep Houston off the offensive boards, you know.
00:33:14
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:33:15
Tom Lidiak
But as far as – Joe Joe's biggest factor, his impact on winning comes on the defense and especially the pick and roll defense. You know, that's where his bread is buttered and staying out of foul trouble. And I thought last couple of games he's he's he's done a great job of of that because he can't help our team when he's sitting over on the bench with with two fouls with like 17 minutes left in the first half.
00:33:42
@NoConfForOldMen
Nice, nice. Great analysis. Bill, how about your player's perspective on JoJo's play now? Is he back?
00:33:48
.0Bill Walker
Well, you know, you can say you could say he's back and probably basing it on on recency bias. You know, consecutive double-doubles versus Tech and Baylor, eight offensive rebounds, as I mentioned, versus Baylor, second on the team with two steals per game, second on the team in rebounds, first in blocks, first on the team in three-point field goal percentage at 100%.
00:34:16
@NoConfForOldMen
a
00:34:17
Tom Lidiak
That was the first game of the year against Lehigh.
00:34:19
.0Bill Walker
One of one.
00:34:20
@NoConfForOldMen
wasn't it yeah
00:34:22
.0Bill Walker
But everything with him boils down to one thing. When he's on the court, he's damn good. And I don't i don't think his game is is any different. I don't think his his approach is any different than it than it was early in the year. He's just, the last couple of games,
00:34:46
.0Bill Walker
He hasn't, there haven't been the, the you know, and and Calvin referred to him as Edward Scissorhands because he's reaching so much.
00:34:53
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:34:56
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:34:58
.0Bill Walker
He cuts down on the reaching. He cuts down on the fouls. he he's He's going to be on the court for 30 minutes plus a game. And, and and you know, we're going to be talking about all all the phenomenal things he does, the rebounding, the yeah the the block shots, the the great defense, the yeah help Helping out the pick and rolls, everything.
00:35:19
.0Bill Walker
so yeah it's it It simply, to me, boils down to being on the court, not being in foul trouble. and that's That's it, as far as I can see.
00:35:31
@NoConfForOldMen
I mean, did do you guys feel like, I certainly felt like the last couple games, offensively, right, even taking the defense out, that offensively, he's become more patient. Like, early in the year, it was, like, just crazy.
00:35:43
@NoConfForOldMen
He's just, it just looked rushed, like he was just trying to throw it up.
00:35:48
Tom Lidiak
And i'd I chalked that up to being rusty.
00:35:48
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:35:50
Tom Lidiak
you know If you haven't been five on five, you know you know the speed of the game, it's it's it's kind of like you've never, let's say you've never driven a car on Indy racetrack and all sudden they throw you out there and it's like the speed, you got to get used to it.
00:35:50
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:35:55
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. no
00:36:10
Tom Lidiak
Quarterbacks talk about that all the time, young quarterbacks, how how fast the game is like in the NFL, you know, and, and they get sped up and they start seeing ghosts and that kind of stuff. And, you know, once they get, once they become, you know, three or four years down the road, you know, the game slows down for them.
00:36:25
Tom Lidiak
I kind of think that might've been the case with, with Jojo.
00:36:26
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:36:28
Tom Lidiak
Just, yeah, you're you're right though. Just everything seemed, seemed rushed. Yeah.
00:36:33
.0Bill Walker
Well, it may also, and you don't know, that I'm speculating, but but we were so good inside and it was such a priority to go to Robertson's side. and And, you know, he was such a the good inside scorer and provided so much offensive balance. Yeah.
00:36:56
.0Bill Walker
Tuggler may have come into the season thinking, okay, Roberts is gone. I'm the one that needs to to step up and and become our inside score. and and so you know things Things may have been a little bit, I don't want to say forced, but maybe a little bit rushed. at the you know that That may have led to to some misses. i mean He's still...
00:37:19
.0Bill Walker
been taking good shots. They just, they just, you know, early on, they weren't falling at all. They're certainly falling more now. and And, you know, maybe he is more comfortable. But yeah, again, being on the court certainly helps.
00:37:36
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. So I'm going to.
00:37:37
Tom Lidiak
and we And we also, another thing, guys, is we got to remember that, you know, JVA didn't have, you know, a really a low post game that,
00:37:48
Tom Lidiak
Kelvin was confident and until his last year he played.
00:37:51
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:37:52
Tom Lidiak
Roberts was here six years, and it probably – Kelvin wasn't comfortable him until like his fifth year, you know, as a there' like a go-to option, especially – and then especially his last year. and And JoJo probably last year probably a lot of times had a free reign to the offensive boards because with, you know, Juwan posting, you know, maybe you know another big comes over and tries to tries to contest a shot or whatever, you know.
00:38:11
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yep.
00:38:15
.0Bill Walker
Well, that's my point.
00:38:15
Tom Lidiak
Yeah.
00:38:15
.0Bill Walker
It's it's a new role him.
00:38:16
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:38:16
Tom Lidiak
Yeah.
00:38:18
.0Bill Walker
a new role for him
00:38:19
Tom Lidiak
Yeah.
00:38:19
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. I mean, you guys know JoJo's my favorite player, and so maybe I've got a little bit of bias here, but I'm going to back it up with numbers here. So from an advanced analytics perspective, I'd say JoJo is actually more than back. In fact, he's much improved, especially on the offensive side, especially as of late. We all saw his struggles early on in the season, even against what we would call marginal opponents, where he was rushed and and things like that. Obviously, we chalked it up to him not having any real offseason given his foot surgery, again.
00:38:55
@NoConfForOldMen
But I would fully admit that I was a little bit worried when the struggles continued deep into the non-con. But now, JoJo, I'd say, has more than turned the corner, and the numbers back that up.
00:39:06
@NoConfForOldMen
I mean, he had a tough time of it in the first month of the season up through, i would say, the FSU game. But really, the light started to come on immediately after that. And he just started being more deliberate, starting the Jackson State game.
00:39:22
@NoConfForOldMen
and if... I only take numbers and I'll take out all the numbers from all the scrub teams and I'll just focus it on our P4 opponents. And the transition has actually been very, very dramatic. And so the numbers I'll share with you guys is early games versus P4 opponents. And that'll include the Auburn, Syracuse, Tennessee, Notre Dame and FSU games.
00:39:46
@NoConfForOldMen
His player box score plus minus was a plus 0. point five four And he fouled out three times, as you highlighted, Bill, right? Fouls were a huge trouble. Now, if you talk about the more recent P4 games, including the Big 12 games, so Arkansas, Cincinnati, Tech, and Baylor, he's a player box score plus minus plus 14.85 and has not fouled out at all. That is a huge difference.
00:40:14
@NoConfForOldMen
And if you look at his benchmark numbers from last season, where he was Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, his player box score plus minus was a plus 8.4. So needless to say, JoJo is definitely back.
00:40:26
@NoConfForOldMen
And actually, he's been playing well beyond his level last season at this point. And that means trouble for Big 12 opponents moving forward. So I'm excited, especially as we've got really tough teams like ISU and BYU and Arizona coming up.
00:40:43
@NoConfForOldMen
So now why don't we pivot and preview this next week's two games and let's really provide the highlights here.
00:40:43
Tom Lidiak
you
00:40:51
@NoConfForOldMen
Bill, what's your player's view on this next West Virginia game coming up?
00:40:57
.0Bill Walker
This is going to be one that unfortunately I'm going to miss. It's at home, but I'm leaving town for a few days today. But the game fortunately will not be on Peacock.
00:41:09
.0Bill Walker
It'll be on FS1.
00:41:09
@NoConfForOldMen
ha, ha, ha.
00:41:11
.0Bill Walker
uh, FS1 and it's a 730 tip, uh, West Virginia right now, 11 and five, two and one in conference. They, they lost, uh, at Iowa state.
00:41:24
.0Bill Walker
No surprise. They beat Cincinnati by two at home. And yesterday they took care of Kansas by 11, uh,
00:41:34
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, it's good win.
00:41:35
.0Bill Walker
So, yeah, I think, however, I think that may be more of a reflection on Kansas, who also lost at UCF and and somehow, some miracle, came back Tuesday night when were a playing Tech and were kind of watching it on the scoreboard down to
00:41:42
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:41:59
.0Bill Walker
13, I think. Yeah, down 13 with under three minutes left at home to TCU and comes back and wins in in OT.
00:42:01
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:42:04
@NoConfForOldMen
JCU. Yeah.
00:42:06
.0Bill Walker
so So West Virginia, good win at kansas but against Kansas. But like I said, maybe more of a reflection on Kansas.
00:42:19
.0Bill Walker
West Virginia is good. Well, let's see, there's 61 in Ken Palm, 82 in offense, 56 in D, so a little better defensively. New coach, Ross Hodges.
00:42:35
@NoConfForOldMen
I know.
00:42:38
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:42:38
.0Bill Walker
You know, Hodges came in from North Texas, and just like – just like McCasland, a couple, couple North Texas coaches coming in. And, uh, I imagine it will not be five coaches in five years, but, uh, but, uh, you know, now we'll see. Uh, as I discussed when we did our big 12 preview, this, this roster is almost a hundred percent new, all new starters, a lot of transfers. Uh, they're,
00:43:12
.0Bill Walker
as it turns out right now, their best player, his name's honor Huff, five, 10 point guard, uh, senior transfer from UT Chattanooga is averaging 17 points, uh, only 40% from the field, but 41% from three. So he will hit threes. Uh, he, he really is not much of a point guard, even though he's five, 10, he's got a shooter's mentality. he he he He put up 23 and seven boards against Kansas. he He will shoot, and he'll shoot a lot. A few other players, Harlan Obiana, he's a seven-foot center transferred in from UNC Wilmington. he's He's averaging 11 points, about 10 boards. or I'm sorry, he he had 11 and 10 points.
00:44:07
.0Bill Walker
six offensive in only 20 minutes against Kansas. So kind of focusing on what these guys did against Kansas recently, but a seven footer. And, and so he'll be, he'll be a handful transfer from North Dakota, Trayson Eagle staff, six, six, small forward. He's only scoring nine points a game right now, but he is a big time score. He scored 40 last year against Alabama.
00:44:33
.0Bill Walker
And he, he, He could get going. He he can score inside, outside. He could put the ball on the floor. It's not bad. Then Jasper Fields really is their point guard. 6'3". He came with Hodges from North Texas.
00:44:51
.0Bill Walker
40% from three. not scoring a ton. Three and a half assists, two steals. Solid point guard. And the last guy I'll mention is Brendan Loriant, Forward. Can play both forwards, 4 and 5. He also came from North Texas.
00:45:09
.0Bill Walker
He's averaging 10 and 5 and a half boards. And he had 18 and 6 assists against Kansas. So coming and playing well. know, this team plays, plays eight.
00:45:20
.0Bill Walker
Uh, they shot a really impressive 11 of 26 from three versus Kansas, but in general, this is really not a very good shooting team.
00:45:31
.0Bill Walker
Uh, the key is to keep them off the offensive boards, which, which they're solid at and off the free throw line where they get a lot of their points. There were 21 of 29 at the line against Kansas. And, uh,
00:45:44
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, they they tend to live at the line because they're not great shooters. yeah If we limit our fouls, we we find our range to some extent from the perimeter, this is going to be an easy win.
00:45:57
.0Bill Walker
yeah much Much like what ISU did to the to West Virginia where they beat them by 29, I think we win this game easily. I'm going to say seventy seven to sixty
00:46:09
@NoConfForOldMen
Okay. Hey, Tom, what's your quick coach's view on the West Virginia game?
00:46:15
Tom Lidiak
Well, speaking of coaches, they're led by ross Hodge, not to be confused with Boss Hogg.
00:46:20
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:46:21
Tom Lidiak
Ha, ha, ha.
00:46:22
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:46:23
Tom Lidiak
Anyway, Bill mentioned he came from North Texas. His path kind of was similar to McCaslin's. He played, I think, some J.C.
00:46:30
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:46:31
Tom Lidiak
ball. He started at Paris J.C. and Midland J.C. And that he then he joined Larry Stacey at, I think it was Colorado State, and then followed him to Arkansas. No, Southern Miss first, and then and then Colorado State.
00:46:47
Tom Lidiak
If there's any type of character flaws with Coach Hodge, it probably comes back with spending time with Larry Eustachie because that guy was nuts.
00:46:57
Tom Lidiak
So I got a few stories I could tell you guys sometime about Eustachie off the air.
00:47:01
Tom Lidiak
but And then he joined McCaslin out of Arkansas State, I think for one year he was there, and then he followed McCaslin to North Texas, took over that program, and parlayed it into West Virginia's job.
00:47:05
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:47:13
Tom Lidiak
Not a whole lot I know about West Virginia other than they did beat Kansas, you know, at home. And that was so up with the Darren Peterson experience. I think Peterson played, I think, the whole game.
00:47:26
Tom Lidiak
So you can't use the excuse, Kansas, that we didn't have Peterson for this loss. Bill mentioned the point guard, Huff, 5'9", like 170. He's just a little water bug.
00:47:39
Tom Lidiak
got to you know keep him in front of you. And then there's another one Bill mentioned, Eagle Staff, kind of like a dead three, just make sure he doesn't get any rhythm threes. My prediction on this game is West Virginia will probably put up a fight for 25 or 30 And then our culture takes over, you know, the the last 10 minutes.
00:48:04
Tom Lidiak
It's probably too much. for West Virginia, you know, they haven't invested as much as a group that than our guys have. And, you know, as they say those those who worked the hardest are the last to surrender.
00:48:17
Tom Lidiak
You know, we've we've invested we've invested the most, you know, because we have player retention, for one thing.
00:48:18
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:48:25
Tom Lidiak
And that's that helps down the stretch, you know when when you know, when you've been in the foxhole with your with your comrades, you know,
00:48:27
@NoConfForOldMen
It does.
00:48:34
Tom Lidiak
Uh, you're going the last one to throw in the towel. A lot of times you see these teams, you know, they're, they're just assembled, you know, seven months prior, you know, as soon as they, as soon as they face a little adversity or whatever, you know, they kind of, they kind of chuck in the towel.
00:48:42
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:48:47
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. And the connectivity just breaks down at that point. Right.
00:48:50
Tom Lidiak
Mm.
00:48:51
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. It just quickly from me, or from an analytics perspective, they're number 16 Ken Palm right now. So respectable in your one for coach Hodge. And as you guys both mentioned, they just be KU.
00:49:03
@NoConfForOldMen
West Virginia is number 82 in adjusted offensive efficiency and number 55 in adjusted defensive efficiency. And you contrast with Houston, who's now number 25 in adjusted offensive efficiency and number six in adjusted defensive efficiency. i mean, based on the metrics, this is projected to be a 13 point win at home for the Cougs by Ken Palm. I agree with you guys. I don't think it's going that close since Hodge has never experienced Samson's D before. So I expect the Cougs to win by 18, 78 to 60.
00:49:33
@NoConfForOldMen
And now finally, we talk about ASU on Saturday with their freshman Masamba Diop. Tom, what's your perspective on the ASU game?
00:49:44
Tom Lidiak
I probably know less about Arizona State I do about West Virginia because they've got a revolving door, too.
00:49:46
@NoConfForOldMen
Ha ha ha ha.
00:49:50
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:49:51
Tom Lidiak
Could be Bobby Hurley's last year at Arizona State. You mentioned the big seven-footer. I just seen some just saw a few video highlights of him.
00:49:59
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:50:02
@NoConfForOldMen
He looks good.
00:50:03
Tom Lidiak
and I mean, the the guy is the guy athletic as heck.
00:50:07
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:50:08
Tom Lidiak
agile, you know, moves great.
00:50:11
@NoConfForOldMen
He's blocking like four shots a game right now.
00:50:11
Tom Lidiak
Yeah, just... Yeah.
00:50:13
@NoConfForOldMen
It's crazy.
00:50:13
Tom Lidiak
Yeah. And he just didn't block him. He just like slaps the air out of the ball when when he, when he, when so, you know, he's, he's intimidating.
00:50:18
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:50:21
Tom Lidiak
So, but other than that, you know, we play at home that right. It's for Tita center.
00:50:26
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yep.
00:50:27
Tom Lidiak
Okay.
00:50:27
@NoConfForOldMen
Home game.
00:50:27
Tom Lidiak
So just like West Virginia, you know, Arizona state might put up a fight for 25 minutes, but you know, once, once they see that their efforts are on the feudal and then, then it's over.
00:50:43
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, yeah, I agree. Bill, how about your take from a player's perspective? ASU.
00:50:51
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:50:52
.0Bill Walker
No TV yet, but I won't comp complain about that because i'll that game I will be i'll be attending.
00:51:01
@NoConfForOldMen
You'll be there. Yeah.
00:51:03
.0Bill Walker
So, yeah, ASU right now 1-2 in the Big 12. They beat Kansas State at home by 3, lost at home to Colorado, and lost at
00:51:14
Tom Lidiak
Let's to Seattle.
00:51:17
.0Bill Walker
BYU by 28. And then they've got Arizona on Wednesday. So we will expect ASU to come in at 10 and 7, 1 and 3 in conference.
00:51:29
.0Bill Walker
Recently, yeah they started out playing well, but recently they've plummeted to 90 in Ken Palm, 71 offense, 119 in D.
00:51:34
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:51:38
.0Bill Walker
yeah Early on, they they played Gonzaga really tough in a loss.
00:51:43
Tom Lidiak
so to seattle
00:51:45
.0Bill Walker
Pardon me?
00:51:45
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:51:46
Tom Lidiak
So did Seattle. Seattle almost beat Gonzaga. At Gonzaga. At Gonzaga.
00:51:49
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:51:50
.0Bill Walker
Yeah. Gonzaga beat Texas. They killed OU and they played UCLA tough in a loss. So, you know,
00:52:02
.0Bill Walker
got off to a good start that that said this is going to be most likely the end for bobby hurley barring a miraculous conference run the only thing this team really does well is they get to the free throw line not not too dissimilar from west virginia and you know, they, they do move the ball pretty well.
00:52:26
.0Bill Walker
Uh, I think, i think they average about 16 assists a game. So aside from that, they're, they're relatively mediocre.
00:52:31
Tom Lidiak
Thank
00:52:33
.0Bill Walker
They, they do play hard, uh, though. So yeah I'll give Hurley a lot of credit for that. yeah he He went, as we talked about in the Big 12 preview, he he he kind of forwent the four and five stars. He went with small school and international transfers and and they've played pretty well and and pretty unselfishly. Unfortunately, they're just not that good.
00:52:59
.0Bill Walker
they Their best player, yeah you mentioned Steve and Tom Diop, the seven one really athletic big man.
00:53:02
Tom Lidiak
Thank
00:53:06
.0Bill Walker
He's he's no car no no excuse me no no high school, no transferring.
00:53:07
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:53:11
.0Bill Walker
He he played in in Spain. He's he's from Senegal, but played for Las Palmas in Spain. and He's averaging 14 points, five boards, almost two blocks.
00:53:23
.0Bill Walker
and and And he's just a monster around the rim. But but their best player has has been Mo Odom, the 6'1 senior point guard. He transferred from Pepperdine. 16 points, almost 7 assists, 6.6 assists, 3 turnovers a game.
00:53:40
.0Bill Walker
Probably my favorite player on their team is a shooting guard who who transferred from NAIA, University of Cumberland, Anthony Johnson.
00:54:14
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yep.
00:54:17
.0Bill Walker
yeah A couple other guys that that'll get some playing time, Bryce Ford, he's a 6'3 junior guard. He transferred in from Toledo. And and Santiago Truett, junior power forward slash center. He's... he's argentina and He transferred from the University of San Diego. he's He's 7.5 boards. this This is just not a good perimeter shooting team.
00:54:43
.0Bill Walker
They're not exceptionally athletic, and they will turn the ball over. We will turn them over. we We limit fouls against them, and and it turns into a blowout, eighty nine sixty two
00:54:57
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. I mean, as with previous early SU teams, very meh on both sides of the ball. I'm quite honestly just looking forward to watching Diop play. SU is currently 71st in adjusted offensive efficiency and number 116 in adjusted defensive efficiency. Yeah.
00:55:14
@NoConfForOldMen
They don't do anything great on offense and are just dreadful from three-point range, ranking 222nd in three-point percentage, and they can't offensive rebound either. 178 in offensive rebounding. On D, they're decent at forcing turnovers at number 55 and blocking shots where they've got D-op and they're ranked 34th, but they're extremely weak at challenging any shot from the field in the 2020s in both two-point and three-point percentage D.
00:55:44
@NoConfForOldMen
I mean, based on the metrics, this is projected to be a 16 point win for the Cougs at home by Ken Palm. I think i I think it's close, but I think we win by a bit more. So I expect a clinical 82 to 62 20 point win.
00:55:59
.0Bill Walker
far more.
00:56:00
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, either think yeah, you may be right, but I think we'll we'll get our bench players in and that's when they get sloppy. So we'll see. So that's it for our 68th episode of the No Conference for Old Men podcast. Hope you all enjoyed it. And again, would really appreciate it if folks would follow, subscribe, collect our podcast on your preferred platform. We're also available via Dave Campbell's College Podcast Network as their only basketball-centric podcast or at the gogoos.com YouTube page for those that prefer to see our ugly faces. We appreciate the continued support from all. And please give us follow on our Twitter account, No Conference for Old Men.
00:56:34
@NoConfForOldMen
Thank you all again for listening. And please be on the lookout next week to download and listen as our next episode drops. Take care, everyone. Go Cougs.