Transcript
@NoConfForOldMen: Welcome folks to episode number 72 of the No Conference for Old Men podcast. The podcast where three old guys are talking in Houston Cougars basketball with a little bit of Big 12 coverage added in as well. And proud members of the GoCougars.com network, the undisputed number one Houston Cougars content provider.
@NoConfForOldMen: And we're back with all three old men, Bill Walker, former a player, Tom Lidiak, former coach, and myself, Steve Chang, analytics guy for this episode. And guys, wow. What an epic pair of wins for the Cougs. Smashing UCF at home, 79-55, then picking apart BYU, in Provo.
@NoConfForOldMen: The team is now twenty one and 9-1 in one and Big 12 play. And I got to believe we're a top five in the AP poll in the country after the Zags, Duke, and UConn all lost games this week.
.0Bill Walker: And Illinois.
@NoConfForOldMen: Oh, yeah, I forgot. ill and Illinois was above us as well.
.0Bill Walker: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Oh my gosh, they shouldn't be above us. and It was incredibly satisfying, right? Winning both games of what actually should be our second toughest stretch in conference play. And this week we get two Big 12 bottom theaters in Utah and KSU to kind of warm us up and refine some things before entering our very toughest stretch of games the following week with ISU, Arizona, and KU looming large.
@NoConfForOldMen: So we're going to provide some thoughts around the critical wins over UCF and BYU, then provide a quick preview of the two upcoming games versus Utah and Kansas State. And then we'll close with a preview of the Big Monday Big 12 battle with KU hosting Arizona. So let's get started.
@NoConfForOldMen: Tom, why don't kick things off with your key points on the 79-55 beatdown UCF.
Tom Lidiak: Well, UCF came into the game, I think, didn't they have a big win over Tech, I believe it was. They were kind of riding high, seventeen and four
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: Yep.
Tom Lidiak: I think they were like 6-3 in conference, something like that. So they were they were riding high. we were you know They had lots of scores on the floor. I think they had four guys averaging almost like 13 points or or higher game.
Tom Lidiak: Game started off kind of slow. Both teams were were kind of filling each other out, not a whole lot of scoring. And then right before the half, we we kind of pulled away. And then second half, you know, eventually it turned into turn into a rout.
Tom Lidiak: Looks like JoJo had some foul trouble again. we were like 0 for like February on three pointers. i don't think we hit our first three until like 10 minutes left of the game.
Tom Lidiak: And we were still up by, I think, I think 20. UCF tried some zone and all that showed me was that Riley Kugel could look as disinterested playing man to man as he could zone.
.0Bill Walker: Thank you.
Tom Lidiak: He was, he was totally taken, you know, out of the game scoring wise.
@NoConfForOldMen: This is cool, man.
Tom Lidiak: And then just like he had no interest in, and playing on the other half of half of the court. So overall, shellacking, really, really good, impressive win by Cougs.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Bill, how about your players take from the UCF win?
.0Bill Walker: Well, thanks again, Tom. i love these his Sunday tapings.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: you're You're making me work harder than I ever wanted to.
Tom Lidiak: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
.0Bill Walker: And and unfortunately, with all all we had to do, I'll probably be keeping the comedy to a minimum this episode.
.0Bill Walker: you know not Not to belabor the obvious, but one of the three of us picked us to win by 25 and thereby cover, which turned out to be a 14-point spread thanks to several subscribers who told me I was nuts to think that we'd win by 25.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: twenty five yeah The fact is, just just like with Cincinnati, this game – didn't take that long to turn into a route. It yeah it it took about maybe, I think it was around eight and a half minutes in.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: UCF did stay close for, like I said, the first eight and a half minutes, but then it was over. And because we were we were turning them over from the start, we were getting off more shots,
.0Bill Walker: yeah It remained close only only because our shots were not falling and they were good shots. In fact, early in the second half, we were up 21 and you kind of alluded this, Tom. We're up 21 while shooting 0 of 12 from three. And you know this, as typically is the case,
.0Bill Walker: was an absolute defensive masterpiece, holding the number 32 offensive team in Ken Palm, but 31% from the floor, 29% from three, and 55 points.
.0Bill Walker: Additionally, this is this is a pretty good rebounding team. We dominated the boards 40 to 29. yeah Quite honestly, the only thing that BYU did positively in this game was that they shot well hitting shot well from the line, hitting 17 of 20.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: I mean, that really was it. You know, we... we We committed 19 fouls, but the good thing, I guess, was that 10 came from our bench and several of those after the game had been far decided.
.0Bill Walker: the So, you know, we ended up shooting and and this is crazy. We shot 55% for the game. However, 16% from three. what that means,
.0Bill Walker: sixteen percent from three
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: so what that means is that we were 32 of 44 on our two-point shots, 71% from the field, which is just astounding.
.0Bill Walker: And a great job of taking full advantage of, yeah like I did in the preview, I'll say a slightly above average team that really only plays well at home.
.0Bill Walker: And as I'd previously mentioned, the Well, that's what I previously mentioned. you we We had four bench players in double-digit minutes, and and I'll just say, i well, the two I'll mention are Khalifa and Mercy.
.0Bill Walker: I think they were the two top bench players, and and they both played very well. Bottom line, this is... pretty much exactly what I expected from us and from UCF, except that if some of the threes went down, and again, they were good shots, they were wide open threes for the most part, we could have won this game by 40.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. But come on, build there more than slightly above average. Do you, you don't think they're going to make the NCAA tourney?
.0Bill Walker: No, no. And I said it during when we previewed them that based on their record, yes, yes, they will. You have to make it at 17 and four and six and three in the conference going into this, obviously six and four now, 17 and five.
@NoConfForOldMen: You would think so. Right. Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: But but i
.0Bill Walker: they've not had
.0Bill Walker: They've not had a lot of, they've had some good wins, but, but all at home, they're not a good team on the road.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: I mean, they're really not a good team on the road, uh, which made me, you know, think that, that this game was not going to be close.
@NoConfForOldMen: That's true.
.0Bill Walker: And, uh, yeah, i mean, they'll, they'll win.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. No, I mean, I agree with that.
.0Bill Walker: They'll probably win a few more games at home and and they'll get into the tournament, uh,
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: You they're playing in the best conference in the nation.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: So, yes, I think they'll get in. But, i yeah, I just don't think they're that good.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, I i mean,
.0Bill Walker: that they're they're They're okay. I mean, they're okay. They're just not that good.
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah, well, I'll give them a bit more credit.
.0Bill Walker: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: I agree with your take that they're they're not a good road team, but I do believe they'll make the NCAA tourney. I think they'll i'll have a surprise win and you make the tourney, you're more than slightly above average.
.0Bill Walker: Yeah, I do too.
@NoConfForOldMen: I think they're they're a good team.
Tom Lidiak: You know, here's here's here's my take on that is that there are, you know, every conference this year has a couple of good teams and everybody else is just kind of meh, you know.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: and But, you know, UCF has those wins, at home wins, granted, you know, over Tech and Kansas and then they get A&M early in the season.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yep.
Tom Lidiak: So that could, depending how they do the rest of year that could carry some weight.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yep.
Tom Lidiak: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, I would think so.
Tom Lidiak: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: I mean, you guys are right. I mean, this was a total destruction from beginning to end. Kind of like back in our AAC days with UCF. And, the you know, when you take a look at the advanced analytics, everything was red for UCF. And the game was basically over before the half where UCF only scored 19 points, which was nuts for a Big 12 game.
@NoConfForOldMen: Offensively, our Cougs were very balanced and everyone really got into the the action on the scoring front. Ended up with an exceptional 57% effective field goal percentage. And as you had highlighted, Bill, that was even after we shot 16% from three-point range. So clearly we were having our way inside.
@NoConfForOldMen: And to make things worse for UCF, our offensive rebounding was outstanding for the game at almost 40% of our misses. Now on D, we basically shut them down.
@NoConfForOldMen: UCF shot a miserable 37% effective field goal percentage, and they were miserable the ball over on 18% of their possessions.
@NoConfForOldMen: This is one of those games where you could just see the Cougars D completely suffocate UCF.
.0Bill Walker: Oh.
@NoConfForOldMen: And to be honest, guys, in the second half, I actually started to feel bad for Dawkins because I like what he's done with this team. And I think they're a good team. Now, you know the freshman Fleming's player box score plus minus plus 22.8.
@NoConfForOldMen: Senac player box score plus minus plus 15. And obviously there were the stars of the game, as you guys had both highlighted. And it was just a great warm up for the BYU game because we were able to keep minutes down for all of our starters. And they needed the rest with a high altitude game in Provo next. So why don't we jump to that BYU win? 77-66 in Provo, where we ended things with a flurry.
@NoConfForOldMen: Bill, why don't you kick things off with your players' view on the satisfying BYU win?
.0Bill Walker: I'll give us all a pat on the back for this one. Yeah, I mentioned you guys offline that that that we've been called homers, and to a very large extent we are.
@NoConfForOldMen: We are.
.0Bill Walker: But in this game, yeah where it was a virtual coin flip, a toss-up, we all landed on the right side picking the Cougs.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: Not sure if we'll all be on the right side. well maybe the right side, but we'll all be homers anyway, when we preview the at ISU versus Arizona and at Kansas gauntlet.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: did Tom, i I think I mentioned to you that I – well, I texted it to you guys last night that i I give BYU a lot of credit, and I absolutely do.
.0Bill Walker: After giving up 58 second-half points in their previous game and lost to I'd say average at best Oklahoma state.
.0Bill Walker: I thought BYU played hard on both ends of the floor. Steve, we talked about this for the entire 40 minutes.
@NoConfForOldMen: I
.0Bill Walker: You know, ultimately, We were the better team in two of three categories that that we heavily focus on. And turnovers didn't matter as we only committed four, but they only committed six.
.0Bill Walker: But two of three of Kelvin's staples, defense, defense, uh, for sure. And rebounding. And yeah, we only out rebounded them by two and they actually had one more offensive rebound than we had. But what when that game was tight down the stretch, uh,
.0Bill Walker: the We had six offensive rebounds over a three and a half minute stretch late in the game.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: And that was just enormous and and enabled us to to win that game. So the rebounding when we needed it was was just exceptional. yeah BYU's trifecta of near 20-point-per-game scores, and yes, includes number one, I think, number one and NBA pick A.J. DeBance, who, if you watch, for everyone who watched the game last night, seems to draw some of the...
.0Bill Walker: Michael Jordan, LeBron James Fowles were being within three feet of him merits a whistle.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: yeah He scored a 28. Robert Wright, robert wright had to work hard for them, but he scored 17, but there are other 20 points score and potential first round draft pick Richie Saunders.
.0Bill Walker: We obliterated him, seven points, one of eight shooting. Uh, and I, I give sharp a lot of credit for that. Uh,
.0Bill Walker: You player wise, Sanak was our star in the first half, scoring both inside and out. Second half, Kingston was more effective getting to the rack.
.0Bill Walker: Uzahn and Sharp hit shots. Khalifa, as I mentioned to you, Steve, may have played his best game of the year, which which bodes really well for us moving forward.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: and All that said, Ben The guy who I think really needs a shout out is Tuggler. yeah Typically we we have been referring to him only when it comes to limited minutes and fouls.
.0Bill Walker: And yes, he did foul out of this game, but he shot four or four from the field. He grabbed six boards in only 24 minutes. And in my opinion, he completely outplayed their big man, Keita.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: we We ended up holding them to 40% shooting while we shot 48. yeah Better defense wins games. Good road win.
@NoConfForOldMen: Hey, you forgot. He also free throw shooting is great at the line.
.0Bill Walker: Two of two.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: Two of two.
@NoConfForOldMen: It's fantastic.
.0Bill Walker: Yep. Two of two.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: and and and And yes, they were late. So yeah, they they were very important.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. How about you Tom from a coaches view on the BYU game?
Tom Lidiak: y'all stole some of my thunder there. was going talk about the clutch free throw shooting by Khalifa and Jojo.
@NoConfForOldMen: Oh yeah, Khalifa too
Tom Lidiak: And, you know, those those free throws were important because, you know, we had like a seven-point lead or whatever, and then it extends the lead, you know to like 8, 9, 10.
Tom Lidiak: If you miss those, you know, all of a sudden the news starts getting a little bit tighter, you know. So those are both those guys, huge free throws. And then compare that to, is it Keita? Is it Keita? How you pronounce his name?
@NoConfForOldMen: Kato. Yeah, I think.
.0Bill Walker: I hate it, Keita.
Tom Lidiak: Keita.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: Yeah, he was a a bricklayer on their end. I mean, you know, when when we when he went to the foul line, it was just as good as a turnover.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: And their team, you know, they revolve around those three. They have Kinnard Davis. who sometimes I think shoots him out of, you know, kind kind of shoots him out of a game the game. The worst thing that can happen for BYU is for Kennard Davis to hit his first three. Because then you know he's on launch.
Tom Lidiak: You know he's going to launch about five more.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, you're right.
Tom Lidiak: You know, he thinks he's Richie Saunders after that. But, you know, really beyond those three, they didn't get a whole lot of production from the G League wonder Ahmed.
Tom Lidiak: think I think Kevin Young, the wonder kind, calls him like Bido, B-I-D-O. He called him Bido in the press conference.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: i't know if you guess I don't know if you guys saw that, but Kevin Young called out his two bigs and basically said,
@NoConfForOldMen: Oh. No.
.0Bill Walker: you should have.
Tom Lidiak: Yeah, yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: he he And Kevin Young, you know NBA guy, you're not supposed to criticize players publicly.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: You can't yell at them. He has that you know NBA andba background.
@NoConfForOldMen: Players coach.
Tom Lidiak: As far as that, yeah, so you don't really hear him you know really get ticked off publicly with with players, but he did call out his two big guys.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: And speaking of Ahmed, One of the best plays, I think it was during winning time, crunch time, JoJo was out 30 or 35 feet from the basket defending the pick and roll.
@NoConfForOldMen: I know.
Tom Lidiak: And then the ball was passed to Ahmed down low, and JoJo was able to recover like 25 feet and block his shot.
@NoConfForOldMen: A block of air.
Tom Lidiak: And then the ensuing scramble for the ball that went off on Ahmed. that was huge play there.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: huge huge play there
@NoConfForOldMen: Agreed.
Tom Lidiak: I was, before the game, I was, you know I was interested in what our strategy would be, you know, uh, garden to Bonsa and heard Kelvin on his radio show, you know, he said, but you know, we do what we do. And, you know, you're not, unless you just throw, unless your whole game plan is to stop to Bonsa, he's going to get his points.
Tom Lidiak: And like Kelvin said, you know, well, what happens if you throw all your eggs in your baskets, stop in Devon. So they have, you know, Robert Wright and they have Richie Saunders and then those guys, you know, cut loose.
Tom Lidiak: So X, yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Tom, you know who I thought on our team did the best job of defending Devansa?
Tom Lidiak: Sinek.
@NoConfForOldMen: No, i I actually thought Sharp did.
.0Bill Walker: Sinek. oh
@NoConfForOldMen: When Sharp was on him, it was unbelievable how well he did.
Tom Lidiak: Oh yeah. Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: i
Tom Lidiak: Cause he, he,
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: He didn't get bullied.
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah
Tom Lidiak: He didn't get bullied, you know.
.0Bill Walker: i just Steve, i
@NoConfForOldMen: That's crazy.
Tom Lidiak: go ahead. Go ahead, Bill.
.0Bill Walker: I wholeheartedly agree with you on that.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: I i just said Sinek because I know you like him so much. and So i just I just automatically assumed you were going to say him.
@NoConfForOldMen: I do.
.0Bill Walker: But yes, you're absolutely right about Sharp.
@NoConfForOldMen: I mean, how much of a difference in height, that's gotta be a good, like five, six inches difference in height.
.0Bill Walker: Oh yeah, the balance is about 6'9".
Tom Lidiak: And here's the thing. Do you remember do you remember the people...
@NoConfForOldMen: Right?
.0Bill Walker: I mean, it's easily six inches.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: Do you remember the fans that wanted to have Shark pulled in that Cincinnati game because he wasn't shooting well?
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: But he held – who was it? Day-Day Thomas, you know, held him in check.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: You know, it's like I think Kelvin Sampson knows a thing or two or a thousand about about his team.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: But, yeah, the I was interested before the game started, you know, how we're going to guard, you know, the Bonsa. And then after we're listening to Kelvin's radio show, it's like, okay, you know, we're just going to do what we do. And Bill, you mentioned how Saunders, what do he shoot like one for what, I don't know what it was.
Tom Lidiak: Just did a great job on him.
.0Bill Walker: One of eight.
Tom Lidiak: his his shots were contested.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: You know, we fouled that one time, I think on a, on a three pointer, but We did a great job of contesting his threes without fouling. And here's another thing that we did we did well.
Tom Lidiak: In the games I've seen BYU play, Saunders has been an offensive rebound demon.
@NoConfForOldMen: Oh, wow.
Tom Lidiak: and And, you know, I don't remember him getting a whole lot of offensive rebounds.
@NoConfForOldMen: I had tinder.
Tom Lidiak: Maybe he did, but but i don't I don't remember them.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: He did an okay job of of hitting the boards, and and he dished out some assists as well. but But when you get a 20-point-per-game scorer and you limit him to only eight attempted shots, I mean, we just smothered him.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: And, yeah, just great job.
Tom Lidiak: Yeah. And give, like Bill mentioned this too, give credit to BYU because I watched that whole Oklahoma state game and their defense was atrocious.
Tom Lidiak: I mean, it was Oklahoma state got them in transition. And they, I mean, they got, it was, it it was terrible. mean, if you're Oklahoma state fan, that was great, but,
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: He had 58 second half points. 58.
@NoConfForOldMen: That's nuts.
Tom Lidiak: But they had, you know, you know give give Kevin Young credit because, you know, NBA guy, mostly focused on offense.
.0Bill Walker: fifty eight
Tom Lidiak: They did have a good game plan. I think you'll notice that they kind of faked and stunted at Kingston, you know, to limit his penetration.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: so yeah, give him credit for that. But in the end, it still wasn't enough. Yeah. a Great, great road win. Great crowd. Boy, I tell you what, the man, they, you know, the BYU fans, that they they they get into it.
@NoConfForOldMen: It was. was going to say that too.
Tom Lidiak: And from from what I gather, the people are at the game said they're really nice people. They're classy. Unlike,
.0Bill Walker: tech.
@NoConfForOldMen: Tech. Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: yeah, you got it.
@NoConfForOldMen: and yeah Yeah, I mean, you guys are right. This was a close and fun game, and what a rowdy environment. Strange, though, guys, and I was mentioning this to to Bill before we got started, you know because even though BYU even took a lead in the second half, I felt like we controlled how this game was played from beginning to end. So I wasn't...
@NoConfForOldMen: you know, my usual nervous self. I just had, yeah.
Tom Lidiak: I forgot to mention that. Yeah, when we when we got down by three, it was 51-48.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: that The fact that we were down by three on the road in front of 20,000 people and came back and won by, what, 11?
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: That bodes well for when we go to ISU and KU.
@NoConfForOldMen: it It does. And, you know, for whatever reason, there's this quiet confidence with this team. And, you know, when you've got, you know, for the first time, we've got, you know, multiple kids that can kind of break down their man in score when needed. So it was just a super happy with the 11 point I thought it was going to be a lot closer. i mean, we all predicted wins, but I think I predicted like a, uh, three point win.
@NoConfForOldMen: Uh, and yeah, exactly.
Tom Lidiak: I think I predicted us to win by half a point.
@NoConfForOldMen: so
.0Bill Walker: And I had us by five.
@NoConfForOldMen: High five. yeah Yeah. So you were closer, but I mean, when you look at the advanced analytics, it was another defensive gem, like you guys had highlighted, you know, for us limiting a potent BYU offense to only 47% effective field goal percentage. And they only hit that number due to an exceptional shooting night by DeBansa.
@NoConfForOldMen: It's always a Sign that our interior D is humming when you see multiple instances of bigs like Keita, Ahmed, and even the guard Saunders missing point blank shots because they were looking you know behind their shoulder to see where JoJo and Sanak were. i mean, our rotations were fast and crisp, and I will give credit to BYU in only turning the ball over six times given that type of pressure that we were applying.
@NoConfForOldMen: Offensively, though, I thought BYU played hard. Our Cougs were able to get to our spots when when needed. Just a super methodical effort offensively by our team. Ended up with effective field goal percentage at over 53%, only turned the ball over on a low 7% of our possessions. So outstanding yet again. And then offensive rebounded at a super high rate at over 37% of our misses.
@NoConfForOldMen: Now, when you look from a player's perspective, it it was a team effort with four players with over player boss scores of plus 11, including Socko. And it was really Senac with a player boss score plus minus plus 12.8. That really caught my eye. As you had highlighted, Bill,
@NoConfForOldMen: I love me some Senac consistently being in the right spots on D great movement on offense that resulted in some open threes and some really pretty catch and turnaround twos, just a super efficient display by the freshmen that has really been coming on strong and big 12 play.
@NoConfForOldMen: So let's move to a preview of our next two games. Tom, why don't you start with Utah? What's your coach's take on the other team from Utah and That's been kind of dragging down the big 12. yeah. Majerus.
Tom Lidiak: Well, first of all, I look at them as the JV Mormons.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: and
Tom Lidiak: You know, Utah, back in the day, i think we talked about this before, you know, they had they had one of the greatest programs, you know, in the Western United States.
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah
Tom Lidiak: Jerry Pim, I can't remember who some of their other coaches were, you know, Majerus, of course.
@NoConfForOldMen: jarrisa
Tom Lidiak: But, boy, they've they've hit some... They've hit some hard times. They tried to go the NBA route with Alex Jensen, former player.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: You know, might take him a couple years. might never happen. we'll just we'll just
.0Bill Walker: I like him.
Tom Lidiak: yeah we'll We'll just have we'll just have to see.
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah
Tom Lidiak: i'm sure i'm sure we'll get Utah's best shot you know home game. you know They're going to play hard. But we just have too much talent, discipline,
Tom Lidiak: You know, and the only let's look it this way. The only way Utah could beat us is if we look past them and didn't play hard and didn't play together.
Tom Lidiak: And that's not going to happen under Kelvin Sampson, you know, so give them a snowball's chance in hell to win the game.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: How about you, Bill?
Tom Lidiak: and nothing And nothing comes easy, you know, nothing comes easy, but just the way Kelvin has built this culture,
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, I mean, I know.
.0Bill Walker: Thank you.
Tom Lidiak: you know, that's how teams lose games. You know, more talented teams lose games as they come in and they don't give the opponent credit, you know, and Kelvin will never do that.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah,
Tom Lidiak: Coach Sampson will never that. even allow his team, you know, to feel that he thinks, he thinks we're going in there and blow them out, you know? So, you know, he always has our guys on edge as far as competitive, competitive aspect.
@NoConfForOldMen: I completely agree. i mean, Bill, what's your players beyond this Utah team?
.0Bill Walker: And I'll get to that. Yeah, Tuesday night, 8 o'clock, and I'm thrilled that it's on ESPN2. Utah, 9-14, 1-9.
.0Bill Walker: They are in a tie in the Big 12. Unfortunately, it's for dead last with with our other upcoming opponent, Kansas State.
@NoConfForOldMen: I know.
.0Bill Walker: yeah Of their nine wins, I would say only two have come versus even marginal teams, Ole Miss and TCU. Yeah, I was preseason, I was kind of wrong in thinking that Utah might be a little better than they've been.
.0Bill Walker: but they have been relatively competitive in, in several games. They lost to BYU by only five at home by 13 on the road, lost at Kansas by 12. You know, unfortunately for them, this loss was sandwiched in between a I think it was a 30, I believe a 30 some odd point, uh, uh,
.0Bill Walker: loss to isu or may who knows maybe it was kansas state but bottom line is this loss is going to be significantly larger uh they're 120 and ken palm they're 86 in offense and 210 and d uh if i'm not mistaken you know this this game is going to be ugly for for alex jensen and his
@NoConfForOldMen: Yep.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yep. You're spot on.
.0Bill Walker: four new starters and that I know that's, I think that's just kind of the, the theme, you know, Baylor had all new players, uh, who played a lot, uh, UCF, uh, just kind of the trend. Uh, I'll just mention a few guys, uh, Terrence Brown, six, three junior guard transferred from fairly Dickinson. He's averaging 21 points a game, uh, four assists, uh,
.0Bill Walker: 46% from the field, 35% from three. So he can't shoot. Don McHenry's 6'2", senior point guard transferred in from Western Kentucky, 18 points, 40% from three.
.0Bill Walker: And he hails from the great city of Milwaukee. Then we have Keanu Dawes. And he went to high school here at Stratford, transferred in from Rice, 6'9", 225-pound power forward, points, but nine boards, the field.
@NoConfForOldMen: That's right.
.0Bill Walker: That's about it. Utah's got a right?
.0Bill Walker: that that's about it utah's got a couple other contributors Cioto Traore forward and James Oconquo.
.0Bill Walker: but But Utah really only has the three threats. yeah Look, i could I could get into a lot of stats, point differential, points allowed, rebounding, turnovers, et cetera. But the bottom line is that you Utah's just – You know, I think a team that I, as I mentioned, I think will ultimately be good, but they're not at this point.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: it It is a road game for us following a tough road game at BYU, but they're just not in our class. And to what you were saying, Tom, tell if if anyone ever asks Kelvin about an upcoming stretch, and in fact, during the press conference, he asked,
.0Bill Walker: One of the one of the press people asked Calvin and Milos and and Emmanuel about the upcoming, like I said, gauntlet of ISU Arizona and Kansas.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: And Sharp came back and said, we're we're playing Utah. That's our focus. And then that's the way and that's the way Calvin is
@NoConfForOldMen: Nice. Love it.
.0Bill Walker: you know Utah can score points, but not versus us. 82-64. Spelled the same.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Okay.
Tom Lidiak: And that Dals, you know that Dals kid, Kino, I want to call him Kino Reeves for some reason, but heber mans he reminds me a lot of Fabian White.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Ha ha ha.
.0Bill Walker: spell the same
@NoConfForOldMen: You know, we we recruited him too.
Tom Lidiak: I know that. Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, yeah.
Tom Lidiak: Yeah. But.
@NoConfForOldMen: He's a good player. and So Utah is as bad as we predicted this season. And probably even worse, because as I'm looking at our preseason rankings, I think Tom, you know, I had them 15th and Bill had them 13th. But yeah, they're just horrid this year. And As Bill had mentioned, 120 in Ken Palm, 86th in adjusted offense, and 210th or in adjusted defense. While we have risen to or number five in Ken Palm overall and up to an all-time high, folks, of number four in adjusted offensive efficiency, while we're maintaining at number nine in adjusted defensive efficiency. Now, let let me ask you guys this. When in the world would you have expected our adjusted offensive efficiency to be rated higher than our defensive side? That is just first time ever, right? Under the Kelvin Sampson era. I mean, Utah is a mediocre shooting team, basically identical to us.
@NoConfForOldMen: at roughly a hundred and twentieth in effective field goal percentage. But unfortunately for them, they are dreadful at offensive rebounding. Yeah, 235th in offensive for rebound rate in Ken Palm. They're pretty good from three-point range at 60th in Ken Palm, but terrible from two-point range where they're 179th. So expect a long night for the youths versus our Stingy D.
@NoConfForOldMen: Now on defense, Utah, they're just awful at challenging any shot. And every key metric is in red across the board on D, with the vast majority of metrics ranked outside of the top 200. So expect our kids to be able to get their shots at will. Based on the metrics, this is projected to be a 15-point win for the Cougs on the road by Ken Palm.
@NoConfForOldMen: And I don't even know why it's only 15 points this, cause this is going to be a massacre. And I agree with you, Bill. The only reason it wouldn't be is because the team might be tired, uh, without much rest after the BYU game for another high altitude game and the likelihood that we're going to play a lot of our backups.
@NoConfForOldMen: But even with that in mind, I'm still thinking it's going to be 80 to 60, 20 point
.0Bill Walker: Yeah, well, like I said, they've they've been competitive at home against Kansas and against BYU.
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah
.0Bill Walker: So, you know, the loss the losses are still double digits, but 12 13.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: So, yeah yeah
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, we'll see. i mean, i just don't see an avenue for them, right?
.0Bill Walker: had a eighteen
@NoConfForOldMen: I mean, it's just no no avenue for them to to do damage. But why don't we go to the KSU game, Bill, and you can kick things off. And what's your view of Tang's undisciplined team from a player's perspective?
.0Bill Walker: Well, we get Kansas State at home on Valentine's Day, and this is going to be a very, very ugly Valentine's Day for Jerome Tang and his players.
@NoConfForOldMen: Nice.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. and
.0Bill Walker: Kansas State's little better overall, 10 and 13, not much. But again, 1-9 in conference, tied with Utah for dead last.
.0Bill Walker: Their best win came early, surprisingly, at Creighton, and they have had a good one-point home loss to Nebraska.
.0Bill Walker: Their one conference win is over co-bottom feeder Utah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. yeah
.0Bill Walker: Uh, by three at home. Uh, yeah, recently they've, they've had some close, uh, road games. Uh, let's see, uh, at West Virginia where they lost by five and TCU where they lost by two. And this was the one I mentioned, uh, uh, Iowa state. I was wrong. It's this, it's this one, it's Kansas state, uh, in between those two close losses, they lost at home, uh,
.0Bill Walker: to Iowa State by 34.
.0Bill Walker: K-State is, they're 31 spots ahead of Utah and Ken Palm. They're 89, 80 in offense, and I think 123 in D. So they're not just absolutely abysmal numbers, but but again, not great. uh, just to mention a few players, PJ Haggerty, there's six, four junior guard is from Crosby, Texas.
.0Bill Walker: Uh, this is his fourth school, TCU, Tulsa, Memphis, and now K state.
@NoConfForOldMen: He's good.
.0Bill Walker: Uh, he's putting up 23, over 23 points a game, five over five rebounds, over four assists. Uh, and a whopping 3.6 turnovers,
.0Bill Walker: uh, uh, 49% from the field, 36%, uh, 36 and a half percent from three, you control him and it's, and it's going to be really ugly. Uh, David Castillo, six, one sophomore point guard, 12 points, two assists, 40% from three.
.0Bill Walker: And then a guy i actually like, Nate Johnson, six three senior, transferred in from Akron where last year he was the Mac Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. 11 points, almost five boards.
.0Bill Walker: He's a guard, senior. the guard senior Four and a half assists, 44% shooter, only 38% from three, and and two turnovers.
.0Bill Walker: If you notice, those three that I highlighted are all guards, so not not much inside. They do have others. Guard, guard.
.0Bill Walker: Abdi Bashir, and then forwards Taj Manning, Kamari McGriff, and and center Dorn Buka. They've actually got 10 players in double-digit minutes, and that's certainly going to continue against us as this game is going to be over in in hit short order. Like I said, K-State's Ken Palm numbers aren't awful, but again, they're guard heavy.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Mm-hmm.
.0Bill Walker: and And so they're going to have to match up with our guards, which which for them is not to be good. They're a 46% shooting team that does turn the ball over a lot and is coming in to the Fertitta Center. this is yeah this This isn't a home game for them.
.0Bill Walker: their only hope for a close loss nothing about a win their only hope for a close loss is for us to be looking ahead to iowa state arizona kansas uh those upcoming games and like i mentioned uh kelvin will not allow that to happen the most important game to him is going to be kansas state and
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: Yeah, there are going be absolutely no Valentine's Day gifts for Kansas State. u of H, 89, 58, 31.1. Correct.
@NoConfForOldMen: wow. Wow. Huge differential there. Tom, how about your coaches view on KSU and coach Tang?
Tom Lidiak: So, Bill, you're saying the Valentine's Day Massacre.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: correct
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah
Tom Lidiak: Oh, Jerome Tang. I mean, there's some talent there, and he you know he admitted it. you know He bragged about it in Big 12 media days. He said, i have the best point guard in the country.
Tom Lidiak: I have the best three-point shooter in the country. i have the best athlete in the country. So what explains your one in nine record? must You must be a crappy coach then.
@NoConfForOldMen: No kidding.
Tom Lidiak: Anyway, I think his days are numbered. He's been acting bizarre lately. You know, they did have that one win and then he went up into the student section and did some weird stuff.
Tom Lidiak: And just the stuff he's been saying at press conferences just sounds like he he knows maybe it's already over. Maybe he's already had discussions with the AD with the buyout.
Tom Lidiak: I don't know, but
@NoConfForOldMen: I don't know. The buyout's pretty huge, so I don't think they can afford it
Tom Lidiak: 18, 18 million. I hear, uh, probably not, but, uh, you know, more Tang.
@NoConfForOldMen: I know.
Tom Lidiak: Oh, uh, he, they're just not getting it done. They did have a 20-point lead on TCU on the road yesterday. I watched some of that game, and TCU wasn't playing much defense, and K-State was getting whatever they wanted.
Tom Lidiak: Eventually, they lost. So I don't know what more to say about Kansas State. It's one those teams where you get all these different parts from all these different schools and you try to throw them together and see what sticks to the wall. And right now, nothing's, nothing's sticking to the wall, just a, like a, you know, ragtag bunch of misfits and they're, you know, they're, they're the polar opposite of what our program is.
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah completely agree
.0Bill Walker: I told you, I like Tang. It's just that it's that orange powdered drink from the 70s, not K-State's coach.
Tom Lidiak: Well, okay. I didn't, I didn't know PJ Haggerty was from Crosby and, you know, you know Tang with the North shore high school.
.0Bill Walker: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: Crosby is not that, not that far from North shore. It's about, it's about a 20 minute drive from, from North shore. You get on the old highway night and 90.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: And I knew some people that live in Crosby, but yeah, I didn't realize he was from, he was from Crosby.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: Well, that's why it's good that you listen to the podcast.
@NoConfForOldMen: Ouch!
Tom Lidiak: But you know what, being, you know, it kind of explains a lot about PJ Havard.
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah ha outuch I mean, we are just a terrible matchup for coach Tang and his KSU team. They come in like you said, Bill, they're mediocre at 89, not terrible, but mediocre and Ken Palm. Everything about this KSU team just feels poorly run and constructed.
@NoConfForOldMen: i mean, on offense, They're okay, 80th in adjusted offensive efficiency. Well, and indeed, they're also mediocre, 123rd in adjusted defensive efficiency.
@NoConfForOldMen: Now, KSU loves to run. They're number 21 tempo. And yet they are terrible at protecting the ball, 180th turnover percentage. And that's just one example of the lack of discipline in this program. The only thing KSU does well is shoot the three, they're 36th in Ken Palm, but that isn't gonna be enough to even stay close to this Houston D. On defense, KSU, like Utah, is read across the board in key metrics.
@NoConfForOldMen: They do a mediocre job at defending the three and forcing turnovers. But with everything else in red and ranked outside the 200, honestly, I'm shocked that their defense overall isn't ranked lower This is another game where I think the Cougs will be able to get the shots they want and lots of kids are going to get to play.
@NoConfForOldMen: Based on the metrics, this is projected to be a 20-point win for Houston at home by Ken Palm.
Tom Lidiak: Okay.
@NoConfForOldMen: Another game that I think will end up being worse for the opponent. So I believe it ends up being a 25-point win. Not as big a margin as Bill, but basically the same message. It's going to be ugly for KSU.
.0Bill Walker: Yep.
@NoConfForOldMen: Now, we've got another huge Big 12 game on Big Monday with first place Arizona visiting KU. Both these teams are on the upcoming schedule, so it's definitely one that we want to highlight and have fans pay close attention to. Now, what are your guys' is quick thoughts on the game?
@NoConfForOldMen: Tom, you can go first.
Tom Lidiak: Well, first of all, the game's at Fog Allen. It's an 8 o'clock game. So you know you know it's going to be rocking. The key is Darren Peterson. Like always, how much will he play?
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: And I think even if Peterson does play and he plays the whole game, I still see Arizona winning this game. you know It's hard to find like any weaknesses with Arizona.
Tom Lidiak: They have the you know, they have the quickness, the athleticism, uh, you know, so Peterson would, doesn't kill them on the offensive end.
Tom Lidiak: Uh, they're just, you know Arizona has, uh, you know, they're just a well, they're just a well-rounded team. Uh, so I would like to see Arizona lose.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: win?
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: It's one of those, uh, it's one of those, uh, mixed feeling like that old Montana tech football coach, you know, it's, you have mixed feelings.
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah
Tom Lidiak: It's like watching your mother-in-law drive off the cliff and your brand new Cadillac, you know, uh,
Tom Lidiak: uh, one of my teaching colleagues, a young guy, about 30, he was, he was born in in Tucson. He's a big, uh, he's a big Arizona fan. So I think we had him, we had him on the show last year, I think a year before anyway.
@NoConfForOldMen: That's right. Yeah. Year before. Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: yeah, he's, uh, he's pretty pleased with their squad this year. a lot of it, I think it has to do with, you know, you lose Caleb love and, and, uh,
Tom Lidiak: It just seems there's a there's more chemistry on that team. Arizona plays better defense this year. So I see Arizona winning.
@NoConfForOldMen: Okay. Okay. How about you, Bill, from a player's perspective on the big Monday game?
.0Bill Walker: right, well, I'll give you the numbers real quickly. a Kansas, eighteen and five They're 8-2 in conference, third place. They're up to
.0Bill Walker: at least going into the weekend, and they and they won. They're they're eleven I believe in the AP there 12 and Ken Palm. I know for sure.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yep.
.0Bill Walker: Uh, 43 offensively, but seven defensively, uh, their best wins.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yep. yep
.0Bill Walker: They beat in Tennessee, ISU, BYU and tech. Uh, at the same time they lost to West Virginia and UCF.
.0Bill Walker: Uh, but their other three losses were, were all close games, UConn, Duke, and and Carolina. Uh, Arizona, on the other hand, 23 and 0, 10 and uh, and obviously first place, uh, you know, they're one in the AP, they're one in Ken Palm, they're five in offense, they're one in defense, uh, their, their best wins.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: And and they've got several, uh, Florida, UCLA, Yukon, Auburn, Alabama, and BYU, uh, They do have a brutal upcoming schedule of at Kansas this game, then versus Tech, then versus BYU, and concluding with us at Fertitta.
@NoConfForOldMen: Big game, yeah.
.0Bill Walker: They will not make it through this run undefeated.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: yeah Kansas has played really well this year, really well, despite The fact that potential potential, I don't think so, but i think it'll be number two, but number one draft pick, Darren Peterson, has kind of been an occasional player, like you mentioned, Tom. And their defense has been exceptional. They've got four players in double-digit scoring, but they've got a deep and productive bench.
.0Bill Walker: They shoot 48% from the field, and they are very strong on the boards. Arizona is obviously the number one team undisputed and deservedly so.
.0Bill Walker: They basically have six and double digits scoring. They shoot 51 and a half percent from the field. They grab 44 boards per game and they move the ball well, dishing out an impressive 18 assists per game.
.0Bill Walker: They they're tall. They're a tall team that long, they defend exceptionally well. Tommy Lloyd has this team playing hard, unselfishly, very super productively on both ends of the court.
.0Bill Walker: And this is all taking place with three freshmen starters. Yeah, Arizona.
Tom Lidiak: even Even though the Russian-German guy, he's been playing the club ball since he was 12. You know, the Korchen, what's his name?
.0Bill Walker: Well, true.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: Korchenkov or something like that.
.0Bill Walker: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: Anyway, that's, yeah, he's a freshman.
.0Bill Walker: Yeah, i mean I mean, Arizona's been superb, but they're playing a really good team that's playing at home where they get a ton of calls and and they're far better than they are on the road.
.0Bill Walker: So this is where the streak comes to an end. Kansas, 74-70.
.0Bill Walker: And to conclude this, i will also say Seattle beats New England 24-23 in the Super Bowl.
@NoConfForOldMen: 7470. Okay.
.0Bill Walker: It comes down to one point.
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah all right
.0Bill Walker: So there we go.
@NoConfForOldMen: i there we go Maybe Bill went through the the Ken Palm numbers. I'm not going to do that. But basically, this is going to be a heavyweight battle, especially on defense. Both teams are good shooting teams where Arizona likes to run. KU is more of a prodding team like ourselves. So, you know, control of tempo is going to be key in this game. Both teams are exceptional at defending every shot on D.
@NoConfForOldMen: Arizona is more apt to take some risks trying to force some turnovers, while KU really just focuses more on being in the right spots and challenging every shot. I expect this to be a physical bruising affair.
@NoConfForOldMen: And looking at the metrics, I would expect Arizona to prevail. But of course, as you guys had highlighted, this one is in Lawrence, Kansas, where the calls are always one-sided.
.0Bill Walker: Exactly.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. So I like you. I mean, based on the metrics, this is projected to be a three-point win for Arizona on the road by Ken Palm. I'm in agreement with Bill on this one, and I think it's right for an upset with KU packing it in on defense and making things really tough for Arizona. So I also believe this ends up being a 76 to 74 2.KU upset.
@NoConfForOldMen: So we'll see how it goes, but I hope they just beat each other up and get exhausted and and just yeah soften them up for for us as we we have them teed up.
.0Bill Walker: I like the way you think.
Tom Lidiak: Thank you.
@NoConfForOldMen: So that's it for our 72nd episode of the No Conference for Women podcast. Hope you all enjoyed it. And again, we'd really appreciate it if folks would follow, subscribe, or collect our podcast on whatever your platform of choice is. We're also available via Dave Campbell's College Podcast Network as their only basketball-centric podcast. We're at the goku.com YouTube page for those that want to see our old ugly mugs. We appreciate the continued support from all. And also please give us a follow on our Twitter account, NoCommerceForOldMen. Thank you all again for listening. And please be on the lookout next week to download and listen as our next episode drops.
@NoConfForOldMen: Take care, everyone. Go Cougs, baby.
Tom Lidiak: yo ks
