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Houston Looks to Solidify NCAA 2 Seed Status at XII Tourney
122 Plays2 months ago
Welcome to Episode #76 of the No Conference for Old Men Podcast.
That’s now 3 consecutive wins to end the regular season to gain a bit of momentum. With a season sweep of Baylor 77-64 at home coupled with a workman-like 82-75 win at Oklahoma St this past week. But more importantly, the team's solidified the bench heading into the post-season w/ McCarty & Miller establishing themselves along w/ Sakho for our 8-man rotation. Now it’s post-season play in the XII tourney as a warm-up for March Madness. But the stakes are high, where locking in a #2 Seed in Houston is within sight. The team is now 26-5, 14-4 and #2 in the XII, & 5 in the AP poll.
Please have a listen as the 3 Old Men break down the 2 games vs Baylor & Oklahoma St, preview the Big 12 Tournament, and provide their thoughts on preparations for March Madness. The team is peaking at the right time before post-season play begins.
- No Conference for Old Men is available for free via Spotify / Apple Podcast / SoundCloud & the GoCoogs.com YouTube Page; we're also available via Dave Campbell's College Podcast Network as their only basketball-centric offering
- Intro / Exit music: Ground Zero provided by FreeBeats.io
- Please follow us on gocoogs.com/old-men/
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Overview
00:00:07
@NoConfForOldMen
Welcome, folks, to the episode number 76 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. 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.
Houston Cougars' Winning Streak
00:00:30
@NoConfForOldMen
And guys, that is now three consecutive wins to end the regular season to gain a little bit of momentum with the season sweep of Baylor 77 to 64 at home, coupled with an 82 75 win over Oklahoma state this past week, I'd say kind of two workmanlike,
00:00:46
@NoConfForOldMen
efforts to end the season as every team is kind of worn down and lots of upsets, quite honestly, occurring in the Big 12 in the last week. So just happy to survive and and get those
Postseason Preparations and Team Rankings
00:00:56
@NoConfForOldMen
wins.
00:00:57
@NoConfForOldMen
And more importantly, solidifying the bench heading into postseason with Marcardi and Miller firmly establishing themselves along with Sacco for her eight-man rotation. which I'm going bet we're rolling with moving forward. Now, it's postseason play in the Big 12 tourney as a warm up for March Madness, but the stakes are high because locking in a number two seed in Houston is within sight.
00:01:18
@NoConfForOldMen
The team is now 26 and 5, 14 and 4, and ending at number two in the Big 12 standings and number five in the AP poll. So if we're going to quickly summarize the Baylor in Oklahoma State games, then spend the bulk of the time previewing the Big 12 tournament, which obviously, you know, some projecting on our part. So let's get started.
Analysis of Baylor Game
00:01:36
@NoConfForOldMen
Tom, why you kick things off with your key points on the Baylor win, where I thought they actually played some pretty inspired ball leading three quarters of the game.
00:01:45
Tom Lidiak
Yeah, Baylor game was a senior night. So you had Sacco start. You had Ramon start. And then you had Milos and Eman.
00:01:56
Tom Lidiak
And who's the other other guy? kington Kingston started with the with the four seniors.
00:01:59
.0Bill Walker
Kingston.
00:02:01
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. hey
00:02:03
Tom Lidiak
Yeah, yeah.
00:02:03
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:02:04
Tom Lidiak
Thanks, thanks Bill.
00:02:04
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:02:06
Tom Lidiak
Got off to a slow start. And it kind of went, I mean, Baylor, I think actually had like a 10 point lead. So we go off to a slow start, kind of chipped away at the lead.
00:02:15
Tom Lidiak
I think we were down, we were down at at halftime or tied. I can't remember which, but anyway, they kind of went this, yeah, kind of went this way for about 12 minutes.
00:02:22
.0Bill Walker
Tied.
00:02:26
Tom Lidiak
And it just seemed like we we couldn't
JoJo's Performance Concerns
00:02:27
Tom Lidiak
get over the hump. And then finally, Emmanuel hits a three.
00:02:28
@NoConfForOldMen
Mm-hmm.
00:02:31
Tom Lidiak
That put us up by one. think Chase had like a little short jumper, then a free throw. And then we had a couple of step-back jumpers, three-pointers by Milo's and Kingston. And then I think the lead eventually got the double digits. And and that was that was all she wrote. A couple of couple of notes I have is high points.
00:02:50
Tom Lidiak
JoJo didn't start, but he came in and played 30 minutes. He had 14 points.
00:02:54
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, it's great.
00:02:54
Tom Lidiak
I think it wasn't like six rebounds. So JoJo's had a couple of good offensive games now. And if anybody listened to Kellen's interview on talking about them Cougars, he talked about JoJo's some people were saying he regressed.
00:03:11
Tom Lidiak
Some people on the boards are saying, you know, he's regressed and they're wondering why. And I said, well, you know, the only people that can answer that question are the ones who work with them on a daily basis, and it'd be the staff.
00:03:23
Tom Lidiak
And Kellen answered that question. He said,
00:03:24
@NoConfForOldMen
Mm-hmm.
00:03:25
Tom Lidiak
You know, the last 24 months, 18 of those months, JoJo's either been in a boot or a scooter. And he said he's just right now just rounding into where he was at the end of last year. So that that answers that question.
00:03:39
Tom Lidiak
And I think some of that was aimed at our our our coaching, like our our coaches doing our job with the big
Bench Contributions and Turnover Impact
00:03:46
Tom Lidiak
men. Well, you know what? Certainly they are. they don't They don't just take a a stupid pill overnight and all of sudden forget how to coach coach big. So, you know, there's there's your answer for JoJo's play the last couple of games.
00:04:03
Tom Lidiak
And that bodes well heading into the Big 12 tournament and and the and then the NCAA tournament. along
00:04:09
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, i mean, it's huge improvement from the beginning of the season when he came back.
00:04:10
Tom Lidiak
Yeah. Yeah.
00:04:13
@NoConfForOldMen
I mean, he had basically zero low post game, right? I mean, he was like all over the place and in rushed, right?
00:04:16
Tom Lidiak
Yeah, and Kip, Yeah.
00:04:19
@NoConfForOldMen
And now he's patient.
00:04:19
Tom Lidiak
and and so And Kellen mentioned that. He said, you know, JoJo didn't have a summer, you know, four months of nothing. And, I mean, when the season started, he wasn't even in basketball shape. So you're seeing you're seeing the version of JoJo, if he had an offseason and didn't get hurt, would have been the JoJo the first game of the year against Lehigh. But enough on that.
00:04:43
Tom Lidiak
We ended up rolling – you know roll onto a win. And yeah, it was, it was very good, very good ending and very good last seven minutes.
00:04:50
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:04:55
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Bill, how about your players take from the Baylor win?
00:04:59
.0Bill Walker
You think my recaps last week were quick. Get ready for this.
00:05:03
@NoConfForOldMen
a
00:05:04
.0Bill Walker
Okay, Tom, you mentioned senior night. Tied 35 all at half. Baylor got out to to big lead, which has been commonplace even in the 40-point win over Colorado. Part of this did have to do with with starting all four seniors.
00:05:22
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:05:24
.0Bill Walker
yeah Ramon and Khalifa starting. i don't quite honestly think either was ready to start as they were both outplayed, especially on the defensive end, kind of allowing Baylor to get out to that start. Fortunately, our bench stepped up.
00:05:40
.0Bill Walker
And by that, I mean Tuggler, who... who
00:05:45
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, 30 minutes and only one foul for the entire game. Two steals, six boards. yeah Fleming shot pretty well. Sharp shot pretty well. Yuzan...
00:05:58
.0Bill Walker
Not the greatest shooting game, but but he but he continues to play more confidently, which clearly Calvin got on him about.
00:06:03
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:06:05
.0Bill Walker
He's going to the basket. He's he's taking shots, and and I love seeing that, even if he doesn't have a good shooting game. The key to this game, though, is that we turned them over 18-8. We created easier shots for us in the second half, which allowed us to to open up the lead.
00:06:22
.0Bill Walker
it yeah they They did out-rebound us and and limit our offensive board dominance from game one where we just annihilated them. And I guess I'd probably expect nothing less from Scott Drew. i mean, he's not only a great coach, but but I will say he's a class act as well. He was really complimentary about everything that Kelvin does and and the team. Yeah.
00:06:56
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:07:04
.0Bill Walker
yeah But in this case, everything worked out for us on senior day, the end.
00:07:08
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, nice.
00:07:10
.0Bill Walker
Yeah.
00:07:10
@NoConfForOldMen
I mean, it was interesting. The winning margin at the end was only one point away from my prediction of 14, but I got to admit, it really surprised me how we actually got there right to that point because we were behind three quarters of the game and just killed him in the last 10 minutes, right?
00:07:24
Tom Lidiak
Well, yeah, there's been yeah there's been so there's been some games we were up 25 to 35 points.
00:07:26
@NoConfForOldMen
It's crazy.
00:07:31
Tom Lidiak
We ended up winning by 14.
00:07:32
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, exactly.
00:07:33
Tom Lidiak
And this game, it was you know neck and neck the whole game.
00:07:34
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:07:36
Tom Lidiak
We ended up winning by, what, 13 or something like that.
00:07:39
.0Bill Walker
Well, recently we've been down, we get down early in every single game.
00:07:39
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:07:44
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, this last stretch, exactly.
00:07:46
.0Bill Walker
and And yeah, that can't happen against the the the the good teams, you know, to some extent in the Big 12 tournament.
00:07:49
@NoConfForOldMen
The better too, so.
00:07:56
.0Bill Walker
But definitely once we get, you know, beyond, probably beyond round one of the NCAAs.
00:08:02
@NoConfForOldMen
I mean, if you if you look at the analytics, Baylor shot lights out for the bulk of the game, and they were phenomenal on the boards, like you had highlighted, Bill. Offensive rebound rates at 41% of their misses, which is nuts, right? That's like us in our prime. A key for us was that we shot the ball reasonably well from the field and forced turnovers, like you also highlighted, on 27% of the possessions.
00:08:25
@NoConfForOldMen
As you also both highlighted, Flemings and Sharp were phenomenal, scoring 21 and 19 points respectively. But for me, I'm also going to highlight my favorite Coug, JoJo, who ended with a player box score plus minus plus 13.3 for the game. Played 30 minutes, only one foul, and as Sharp actually said after the game,
00:08:44
@NoConfForOldMen
We get JoJo for 30 minutes a game. No one can beat us. So, you know, let's hope he can stay out of foul trouble from this point moving forward.
Comeback Against Oklahoma State
00:08:54
@NoConfForOldMen
Now let's get to our other grinding win this week over Oklahoma State. Another tough game where we were behind at the half and never really pulled away. Bill, what's your player's view on the Oklahoma State win?
00:09:06
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, first half down again, forty one thirty seven at half.
00:09:09
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:09:12
.0Bill Walker
And that is largely due to State hitting seven first half threes, due in large part to Clary and Roy, who pretty much hit them all. But... But we also only turned them over three times in the first half while we committed five. The first half shooting, Tuggler was our only starter shooting at or above 50%, going three for three. Senac, snack one of four. Usant, two of six. Fleming's four of 10. And Sharp, who who I believe really needs to to a stay on the floor.
00:10:00
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:10:09
.0Bill Walker
he He just can't, he can't go one of three in the first half of games. think And at the one, almost irrelevant. He can't shoot the ball only three times. No, quite honestly, had Chase not begun to have his career game, we're probably getting blown out at half Instead, we're only down four.
00:10:30
.0Bill Walker
Second half, we force eight Oklahoma State turnovers to our four.
00:10:31
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:10:36
.0Bill Walker
We end up out-rebounding them by three, but but they actually, for the game, out-rebounded us on the offensive boards 13-9. I never would have expected that.
00:10:46
.0Bill Walker
I will say the shooting absolutely picked up in the second half.
00:10:48
@NoConfForOldMen
Well, well i was going to say, our our defensive rebounding has been a problem all season. We've highlighted it, right? I mean, It's not like years past, so
00:10:58
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, but but Oklahoma State's not a not a great interior team.
00:11:02
@NoConfForOldMen
I know.
00:11:04
.0Bill Walker
it it They're a guard-heavy team. it It shocked me that that they they had more. And this isn't, well, this is them having more offensive rebounds than we had, 13 to 9.
00:11:19
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:11:21
.0Bill Walker
We did shoot from the floor in this game. and and 43% from three. so So it's a better shooting game. It actually wasn't a great shooting first half, but but significantly better in the second half.
00:11:36
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:11:38
.0Bill Walker
yeah Our three...
00:11:41
.0Bill Walker
50% plus shooters for the game were Tugler, who shot five of seven, 12 points, two steals, three blocks, and only three fouls, which again was great. Mercy off the bench, shot three of four.
00:11:56
.0Bill Walker
And then, of course, the aforementioned player the game, McCarty, who shot seven of 10 and six of nine from from three and scored 24 boards.
00:12:06
.0Bill Walker
I am not, I think obviously as you mentioned, Steve, the bench rotation looks to be set.
00:12:12
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Right.
00:12:13
.0Bill Walker
I'm not gonna say our bench is absolutely ready to step up. There's still a lot of inconsistency and and especially with McCarty and and Mercy, you know, defensive issues.
00:12:28
.0Bill Walker
But it was great to see Chase and Mercy hitting shots. especially in the first half when others weren't. And, you know, this lastly, and I'll kind of beat this dead horse, another game where the opponent got off to a good-sized lead against us and against the better teams, as I mentioned, we we've got to come out of the gate stronger on both ends of the floor.
00:12:55
.0Bill Walker
But bottom line, twenty six and five Another win, we another road win, and we're off to the postseason.
00:13:05
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. I mean, yeah. I mean, let's just celebrate the win, right? So Tom, how about your coach's view on the Oklahoma State win?
00:13:14
Tom Lidiak
Uh, we finished 14, four, uh, sole, uh, sole second place. You know, we didn't have to share it with anybody. you know, road winds are tough to come by.
00:13:25
Tom Lidiak
Down by 13 first half. You know, i didn't see I didn't see that one coming. I knew it would kind of be of a grind, but I didn't see us down by by so much. But they were they were hitting some ridiculous shots.
00:13:37
Tom Lidiak
And like the Baylor game, we didn't take the lead until there was about seven minutes left. I wrote down a couple of key plays. One was – Oklahoma State's up by two at 7-12, and i can't remember, some guy came barreling down the lane, and Chase took a charge that wiped out a basket. Otherwise, Oklahoma State would have been up by four, shooting a free throw to go up by five.
00:14:00
Tom Lidiak
The Ahmed kid for Oklahoma State scores a basket or whatever, and he turns around he starts wolfing at somebody, and he gets a tee.
00:14:07
@NoConfForOldMen
Tech, yeah.
00:14:08
Tom Lidiak
Yeah, so Sharp you know shark gets a couple of free throws. And then Chase its chase hits a three, puts us up by four. JoJo in that time period had two key steals for us there. And and then we had enough free throws going down the stretch.
00:14:26
Tom Lidiak
I don't think it really – we would have won the game anyway, but E-Man missed the free throw and they had a stupid lane violation. And then he and he came up and he he made his he made both ends of the one-on-one.
00:14:33
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yep.
00:14:37
Tom Lidiak
So, 82-75, and, you know, that's all she wrote for the for the regular season. Glad we got the win because we don't have to share second with anybody and that if – who was it?
00:14:50
Tom Lidiak
If Tech would have done their job against BYU, we could have avoided Kansas, you know, on that side of bracket.
00:14:56
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Bring on Kansas.
00:14:58
Tom Lidiak
Yeah, well, I –
00:14:58
@NoConfForOldMen
I want to rematch. I want to rematch.
00:15:00
Tom Lidiak
i don't I don't mind Kansas. We'll talk about it a little more.
00:15:04
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:15:04
Tom Lidiak
I do mind having to play a de facto road game again.
00:15:08
@NoConfForOldMen
Wow. Yeah. Wait till we get to it. I've got a surprise for you guys.
00:15:10
.0Bill Walker
Yeah. it and And by the way, at no point did i really feel like we were going to lose that game at Oklahoma State.
00:15:14
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:15:21
.0Bill Walker
The entire time, i i just, you know, there have been other others where I, not so much, but this one, I just never felt as though we were going to lose.
00:15:22
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:15:28
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:15:31
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, no,
00:15:32
Tom Lidiak
Hey, before before we move on, just just a one one story about Chase. He's built different. his personal His personality, he's just built different.
00:15:41
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah,
00:15:42
Tom Lidiak
He's a great shooter. I can't remember what contest it was, but he was in high school. He won some type of three-point shooting contest. And if you're ever out there early watching us warm up, he he very rarely misses a shot.
00:15:51
@NoConfForOldMen
he doesn't miss. Yeah.
00:15:53
.0Bill Walker
It's a quick shot.
00:15:54
Tom Lidiak
But, yeah, yeah.
00:15:54
@NoConfForOldMen
It is. It's even gotten quicker.
00:15:56
Tom Lidiak
yeah
00:15:57
@NoConfForOldMen
you know, after he injured, it looks like he's just, he's not even even bringing it down. He's just catching it. It just popping it right away.
00:16:04
@NoConfForOldMen
It's crazy.
00:16:04
Tom Lidiak
but the But the quick story that shows you the makeup of Chase, I think we were playing Kansas and... yeah Kelvin just ripped him. I mean, ripped him to shreds while the action's going on.
00:16:19
Tom Lidiak
And like five seconds later, right in front of our bench and Kelvin chase nails like a 25 footer, a three, you know, a lot of guys that would have just, you know, they would just would have crumbled and probably missed a shot, you know, whatever, but chase goes in and he's just getting an ass chewing.
00:16:27
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:16:36
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:16:37
Tom Lidiak
And, and,
00:16:38
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:16:39
@NoConfForOldMen
No conscience.
00:16:40
.0Bill Walker
Well, calvin Calvin gives, and he's said it over and over over the past few years, his shooters have the green light.
00:16:41
@NoConfForOldMen
I mean.
00:16:48
.0Bill Walker
If they've if they've got the shot, take it. I mean, he's i he he's clearly a little more unhappy, displeased if if they pass it up.
00:16:51
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:16:58
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:16:59
.0Bill Walker
he He wants his shooters shooting.
00:17:02
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. I mean, Bill, like you, I was never worried about this game. I mean, but it was a typical grinding big 12 road game, right? It's just never easy. And you know We've talked about this offline as well. We've really become the Super Bowl on everyone's schedule in two short years in this league, and OSU was highly motivated.
00:17:25
@NoConfForOldMen
It just shot lights out from the three-point art early on. If you look the advanced analytics in the end, we kept OSU slightly below their offensive numbers, but that was after their blistering start. But thankfully, offensively, as you guys had highlighted, we had one of our best shooting nights of the year, shooting a blistering 60% from effective field goal percentage, 43% from three-point range. And as you guys all know, McCarty leading the way, 6 of 9 from the arc.
00:17:54
@NoConfForOldMen
On D Oklahoma state truly, you know, actually gave us a bit of fits, but come winning time, Tugler really came through with, you know, steals and blocks down the stretch. I mean, yeah, it was just, it was just crazy within a very short, you know, when he's in, he can just make such a difference in just changing the momentum of the game. i mean, from a player perspective,
00:18:19
@NoConfForOldMen
You know, the the two I'm going to highlight, Tuggler ending with a player box score plus minus plus 7.2 and McCarty carrying the load with a gaudy plus 25.7 for the game. I mean, he was the guy. yeah And I'll also highlight that beyond...
00:18:33
@NoConfForOldMen
You know, the the defensive contributions for Tugler. Again, he scored double figures for the third straight game now. So it's not just this game, third straight game and finished with 33 minutes. So though both games this past week were closer than we would have liked, i still appreciate how number of our key players are peaking at the right time to support our three starting guards.
Big 12 Tournament Preparations
00:18:55
@NoConfForOldMen
So now really the main topic, it's Big 12 attorney time, baby. where it looks like we'll play either BYU or West Virginia in the quarterfinals.
00:19:06
@NoConfForOldMen
And then i guess we'll project out, but likely Kansas, unless you know TCU catches fire. Then finally, maybe someone like an Arizona rematch. but But why don't we do this first? Tom, why don't you start with...
00:19:20
@NoConfForOldMen
kind of our quarter final game versus either BYU or West Virginia on Thursday and kind of give us your thoughts on what we need to do to win against either of these teams.
00:19:34
Tom Lidiak
If we play BYU, we already beat them at BYU, and they had Richie Saunders.
00:19:39
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:19:40
Tom Lidiak
I like that matchup. there They're kind of two-dimensional right now with Rob Wright and Devontae, even though Kostic is –
00:19:51
Tom Lidiak
He's shooting the ball better than he did because he's getting more he's getting consistent meet minutes. But I really like that matchup if we have to play be BYU. it's not a you know It's not a guarantee that we'll play BYU. They've got to beat West Virginia. West Virginia is probably going to have fresher legs because BYU just got through playing today.
00:20:11
Tom Lidiak
But, yeah, I like i like either either matchup is is fine with me. it doesn't It doesn't matter to me. As long as we do what we're supposed to do, we're going to advance the semifinals.
00:20:22
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah. How about you, Bill? what What do you think our team needs to do against BYU and then if we play a West Virginia in order to advance?
00:20:34
.0Bill Walker
Well, okay. We played West Virginia on January 13th. Since then, they are seven and seven. Their best wins have been over BYU and they swept UCF.
00:20:46
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:20:49
.0Bill Walker
Quite honestly, for West Virginia, this the schedule got really soft for them over the second half the season. And Honestly, I just can't see them beating BYU as inconsistent as they've been down the stretch. BYU, excuse me, like you mentioned, Tom, we beat them 11 in Provo. It was February 7th. Since then, BYU has beaten Iowa State, and they beat top-endless Tech in a game –
00:21:24
.0Bill Walker
that quite honestly we were all watching it tech could have and likely should have won uh since we played them byu's foreign four but uh again as you mentioned they lost their 20 point score long range shooter saw richie saunders yeah i think I'm going to say we play BYU.
00:21:48
.0Bill Walker
And if we avoid foul trouble, we stay in front of Wright as much as possible.
00:21:54
@NoConfForOldMen
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:21:56
.0Bill Walker
We make DeBanca, he's going to score his points. But if we make him work for everything and we turn them over more than the only six times they turn the ball over against us in game one,
00:22:12
.0Bill Walker
We win and we win comfortably. And quite honestly, i don't see this game as an issue. We've we've we've got recent history over BYU. you know Even though they had complete almost complete roster turnover this year, they did have Saunders and Kata back.
00:22:28
.0Bill Walker
But
00:22:29
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:22:30
.0Bill Walker
yeah, we they just don't seem to to perform all that well against us. We we play well against them. So I'm going to say that we beat BYU 80 to 64.
00:22:42
Tom Lidiak
And if we do play BYU, that's going to be their third game in three nights. And that's going to be our first game.
00:22:46
@NoConfForOldMen
Oh, yeah. Brutal, right?
00:22:47
Tom Lidiak
you know
00:22:48
@NoConfForOldMen
So brutal.
00:22:49
Tom Lidiak
Uh-huh.
00:22:49
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, no, you're right. I mean, these are two totally different teams, you know, West Virginia and BYU. West Virginia comes in, they're 57th, I think, in Ken Palm. and But strangely enough, they're the higher seed, given the conference record, while BYU comes in number 25 Ken Palm.
00:23:08
@NoConfForOldMen
But I guess they ended up 10th in the Big 12 standings, which just is shocking to me. We've obviously played both teams already, so I'm not going to go into any depth on the analytics. But bottom line, it's West Virginia, great on defense since they're ninth in adjusted defensive efficiency, while BYU is great on offense, 11th in adjusted offensive efficiency. We played beat West Virginia and we crushed them at home, seventy seven forty eight where we to from two point range and 15 turnovers. But
00:23:42
@NoConfForOldMen
you know They're a great defensive team, especially at defending the two. So I expect lots of ball movement to damage them from the three-point line where they're a terrible 345th in three-point percentage D. And then that'll loosen things up for Tuggler inside to to score down though in the second half. Now, if you play BYU, which is what I expect as well, game plan is completely different and defensive-oriented.
00:24:06
@NoConfForOldMen
He is making life miserable for DeBonson Wright, which... You know, should be much easier with Saunders out for the season. But offensively, like when we beat them on the road, we should have our way with a balanced attack because their D is, quite honestly, pretty mediocre all around. So I also expect double digit win in either case with Tuggan and McCarty actually shining pretty bright.
00:24:30
@NoConfForOldMen
And so next, I'd like you guys to maybe pick the other quarterfinal winners in the tourney. Now, obviously, we've all all three of us have picked Houston over likely BYU. But how about the other quarterfinalists? And Bill, you can go first and and kind of pick out the Tech versus isu Arizona versus either UCF or Cincy, and then KU probably versus TCU. Who have you got advancing to the semis?
00:25:00
.0Bill Walker
Well, I have the five seed beating the four, and I would imagine you guys probably do as well.
00:25:06
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:25:07
@NoConfForOldMen
Agreed.
00:25:07
.0Bill Walker
iowa Iowa State, I have beating Tech.
00:25:10
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:25:11
.0Bill Walker
Arizona, I have Cincy beating UCF.
00:25:16
.0Bill Walker
I don't know. Honestly, I don't know what's what's gone on today.
00:25:16
@NoConfForOldMen
Okay.
00:25:19
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:25:20
.0Bill Walker
i have no idea, but I'm going to say that Cincy beats UCF and then Arizona beats Cincy. Again, I have us beating BYU.
00:25:28
@NoConfForOldMen
Where's the new? Yep.
00:25:31
.0Bill Walker
And then think this is going to be a tough game, but I have the, the
00:25:41
.0Bill Walker
I guess, the higher seed, lower seed, I don't know, the the worst seed, Oklahoma State beating Colorado, and then I and then i have TCU beating them.
00:25:54
.0Bill Walker
Initially, I had TCU beating Kansas. just I think Kansas is wildly inconsistent, and I had TCU beating Kansas. But what looking at it a little deeper, yeah know we we we beat TCU 79-70 on January 28th. Since that game, TCU is 8-2.
00:26:17
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:26:18
.0Bill Walker
but But the only good wins out of those eight were and a very impressive win over Iowa State.
00:26:26
@NoConfForOldMen
Exactly.
00:26:27
.0Bill Walker
And then they they beat it again, a top and loose less attack. So that it's 8-2, but it's a little misleading.
00:26:33
@NoConfForOldMen
and
00:26:35
.0Bill Walker
i don't think I don't think TCU beats Kansas, but I think it's going to be a really good game. i do have Kansas, though, winning.
00:26:43
@NoConfForOldMen
Okay. Then about for semis?
00:26:46
.0Bill Walker
semis i've arizona over iowa state and uh you know i may have slightly misled you guys uh before we we started taping but uh but i think we beat kansas absolutely and then and i oh the championship game okay
00:26:49
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:27:00
@NoConfForOldMen
Kansas. Okay. Okay. Whoa, whoa. No, no, no. We'll cover the rest later because it'll be us. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And so, Tom, how about how about you? Who have you got in your quarterfinals? Who have you got winning and advancing to the finals? Yeah.
00:27:14
Tom Lidiak
I think I have the same as Bill. I have Iowa State beating Arizona State, sending Bobby Hurley off into the desert, you know, and finding a new job.
00:27:23
.0Bill Walker
Bobby Hurley doesn't think that's going to happen.
00:27:26
Tom Lidiak
Did he say something or what?
00:27:28
.0Bill Walker
Oh, yeah. He said he's got he's got the team to win the Big 12.
00:27:33
Tom Lidiak
Oh.
00:27:34
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, he's convinced that they're going to they're going to make a deep run in the in this tournament and and it very likely win it all.
00:27:42
@NoConfForOldMen
That's funny.
00:27:43
Tom Lidiak
Oh, wow. Okay.
00:27:43
@NoConfForOldMen
It's easy to say that when you're you already know you're fired.
00:27:43
Tom Lidiak
Yeah.
00:27:47
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:27:48
Tom Lidiak
So, yeah, I have i have Iowa State beating Arizona State to set up the the game with Tech. And then since he plays UCF, same as Bill, I think since he wins that one.
00:27:54
@NoConfForOldMen
yep
00:28:00
Tom Lidiak
And then Iowa State and Texas Tech, I think Iowa State wins because they're playing at hi Hilton South, you know, what more can you do?
00:28:05
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep. Yeah.
00:28:08
Tom Lidiak
And plus that Iowa State owes them one because they lost at home to Tech.
00:28:13
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:28:14
Tom Lidiak
It wasn't really any close. And then Cincy, Arizona. i have Arizona in that one.
00:28:20
@NoConfForOldMen
Okay.
00:28:22
Tom Lidiak
BYU, West Virginia. Whoever comes out of that, we beat them.
00:28:27
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:28:27
Tom Lidiak
TCU at Kansas. You know, in Kansas City, i don't think there's a snowball's chance in hell that that TCU beats KU.
00:28:36
Tom Lidiak
eastka
00:28:37
.0Bill Walker
I don't know.
00:28:37
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, I don't know. so And how about your semifinal? Semifinals?
00:28:43
Tom Lidiak
Semifinal, I would have Iowa State beating Tech and then playing Arizona.
00:28:49
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:28:49
Tom Lidiak
And then I have a
00:28:51
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, who who who do you think?
00:28:52
.0Bill Walker
But who wins that game?
00:28:53
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, Iowa State, Arizona, who have you got winning?
00:28:56
Tom Lidiak
Arizona.
00:28:57
@NoConfForOldMen
Okay. And then how about about KU versus Houston?
00:29:00
.0Bill Walker
Us versus, yeah.
00:29:02
Tom Lidiak
Yeah, a tough one here because it's going to be a de facto home game for Kansas.
00:29:07
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:29:07
Tom Lidiak
But and you know here's what we have in our favor is they beat us and they it was not even really close in the second half.
00:29:15
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:29:16
Tom Lidiak
So think that gives us motivation. And also, it's even as far as terms of They played a game, you know, the night before we played a game.
00:29:25
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:29:27
Tom Lidiak
It's not like when we played Arizona on a Saturday and then, you know, less than two days later we're playing Kansas and and and Fog Outland.
00:29:35
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:29:35
Tom Lidiak
So I think we see a totally different U of H team playing playing Kansas that night.
00:29:39
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:29:41
Tom Lidiak
And you want to know the winner?
00:29:43
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah. The winner.
00:29:44
Tom Lidiak
Cougs. Go Cougs.
00:29:45
@NoConfForOldMen
Okay. Okay. So guys, for me in the quarters, I think it's close to the same. I mean, yeah Tech versus Iowa State. I've also got Iowa State winning. Arizona playing, I think, Cincy as well. I think Arizona advances.
00:30:04
@NoConfForOldMen
KUTCU, I do have TCU advancing.
00:30:09
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, i I think it's going to be a good game
00:30:09
Tom Lidiak
We're going to.
00:30:09
@NoConfForOldMen
ra i mean, mean...
00:30:12
Tom Lidiak
I think you guys need be drug tested.
00:30:14
@NoConfForOldMen
No, I mean, they've won eight...
00:30:16
@NoConfForOldMen
Hear me out, right? They've won... I've got jot it jo down here, right? They've won eight of nine, right, at this point to end the season, including wins over ISU, Tech, and Cincinnati.
00:30:24
Tom Lidiak
But here's the deal.
00:30:28
@NoConfForOldMen
And they played KU to overtime in Lawrence. This isn't Lawrence. I know it's in Kansas City, but it's not Lawrence.
00:30:35
Tom Lidiak
And I'm joking.
00:30:36
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. i
00:30:38
Tom Lidiak
I'm joking about you guys being crazy.
00:30:39
@NoConfForOldMen
but
00:30:40
Tom Lidiak
I hope it happens.
00:30:41
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:30:41
.0Bill Walker
Hey, Tom, tom what if what if we had told you that Cincinnati was going to go into fog and and beat Kansas by 16?
00:30:51
@NoConfForOldMen
and Yeah. Yeah.
00:30:53
Tom Lidiak
Well, they they they were playing their Super Bowl on Monday night. Of course they weren't going to be focused in that game.
00:30:59
@NoConfForOldMen
and No, but I have faith in Dixon. I'm telling you. And he's got them rolling right now. I don't know how he's doing it, but they're, I don't care like who they are. I mean, two, the teams are good. I mean, Tech beat ISU, right?
00:31:13
@NoConfForOldMen
During, without Toppin, didn't they? Or am I not remembering correctly?
00:31:18
.0Bill Walker
Yes.
00:31:19
@NoConfForOldMen
They did, right? Yeah. So, yeah, i like I like how they're playing and momentum, I think it counts. So we'll see. We'll see.
00:31:28
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, i don't disagree I don't disagree with that, Steve.
00:31:31
Tom Lidiak
I'll be rooting for him I'll be rooting for TCU.
00:31:31
@NoConfForOldMen
So, yeah. So, so Bill, why don' why don't you kick things off and give us your thoughts on let's say if we, if we play KU or TCU for that matter, right? What do we need to do to, to be able to beat, you know, those two teams?
Strategies for Kansas Game
00:31:48
.0Bill Walker
Well,
00:31:50
.0Bill Walker
we're we're going to beat TCU. We'll beat TCU. And I did, in the end, predict Kansas to win, so I wrote a little bit more about that.
00:31:57
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah Yeah, that's fine.
00:31:58
@NoConfForOldMen
or just you can just cover Kansas too. That's fine.
00:32:01
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, i and Tom touched on it a bit.
00:32:01
@NoConfForOldMen
What do we need to do?
00:32:04
.0Bill Walker
that you know they They blew us out to conclude that three-game gauntlet, which and and I said it at the time during the yeah Kansas recap, and and I'll say it again.
00:32:16
.0Bill Walker
Having played those three games at Iowa State, Arizona at home, and Kansas two games later, it doesn't matter if it was Michigan, it was Duke, if it was Arizona, nobody was going to go into Kansas, who was on Big Monday and win that game.
00:32:36
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:32:36
.0Bill Walker
And we weren't down to... we weren't down badly at halftime we just and kelvin said it we didn't have our legs he pulled it he pulled sharpened and uh use an in the second half and you know they got up 20 and they ended up winning by 13 and yeah it it was a and i mentioned that it was an aberration a bit of an aberration anyway but uh will definitely be better rested just as rested as they will be
00:33:06
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:33:10
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, we were only down four at at fog at halftime. And in that game, for the entire game, we shot 32% from the field, 21% from three. I mean, those numbers are atrocious. that Even if we have a poor shooting game, we're not going to shoot that poorly again against them. yeah What we need to do, we need to avoid fouls, sharp fouls,
00:33:38
.0Bill Walker
You know, guarding guarding Peterson, know, that's a tough task. Avoiding fouls, that is. You know, Tuggler, obviously.
00:33:47
.0Bill Walker
i mean, that's the recurring topic.
00:33:48
@NoConfForOldMen
Thank you.
00:33:51
.0Bill Walker
Stay out of foul trouble. We win the turnover battle. And we just, like I said, we shoot better. We are on a neutral court.
00:34:02
.0Bill Walker
evenly rested. We're the better team. We are just simply the better team. We'll beat Kansas by nine, No, no,
00:34:10
@NoConfForOldMen
But are we, i thought we'd be better, Russ, right? Doesn't Kansas have to play one more game than us to get there?
00:34:16
Tom Lidiak
no no yeah there's three kansas three this is three
00:34:17
@NoConfForOldMen
They're not a top four. No?
00:34:18
.0Bill Walker
no no no. But, but yes, no, I'm saying no.
00:34:19
@NoConfForOldMen
No?
00:34:23
.0Bill Walker
They're, they, yeah, that's right. They,
00:34:29
@NoConfForOldMen
Oh, really?
00:34:29
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, yeah. Iowa State, Arizona, us, and Kansas get the double buys.
00:34:34
@NoConfForOldMen
Oh, okay. Got it.
00:34:35
.0Bill Walker
Yeah.
00:34:36
@NoConfForOldMen
Got it.
00:34:36
Tom Lidiak
also in the guys in the
00:34:36
@NoConfForOldMen
Got it.
00:34:37
.0Bill Walker
But the point is, we're going to be just as rested as they are.
00:34:38
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:34:39
.0Bill Walker
it's it's
00:34:40
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:34:40
.0Bill Walker
we were We were coming in with a deck kind of stacked against us, really stacked against us, based not only based on the two games, but
00:34:45
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:34:50
.0Bill Walker
that that we had played, but the fact that we were playing Kansas two days after Arizona, it's it's just going to be an entirely different dynamic.
00:34:57
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:35:01
.0Bill Walker
And like I said, we're the better team. We're just the better team. we're We'll beat them by nine, 71-62.
00:35:06
@NoConfForOldMen
Okay.
00:35:06
Tom Lidiak
My, and my little said to bum ankles and E-man had taken a couple of hard falls in his hip.
00:35:07
@NoConfForOldMen
Nice.
00:35:13
Tom Lidiak
So, uh, you know, hopefully nothing happens between now and when we play Kansas, but you know you'll, you'll have, uh, Milo's with two good ankles and E-man with not a bum hip.
00:35:21
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:35:23
Tom Lidiak
And, yeah, I like, her like our chances. Uh, even though it's a, like I said, a de facto home game for, uh, for Kansas.
00:35:31
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. So you're still predicting us to win though, even though it's in Kansas city.
00:35:35
Tom Lidiak
Oh, yeah, and and it's kind of like, you know, the old NBA playoffs between Lakers and Celtics is, you know, one team wins, and then the other team makes adjustments, and they win.
00:35:48
Tom Lidiak
And then you go to game three, and it it becomes like a a chess or checkers match, you know.
00:35:48
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yep.
00:35:53
Tom Lidiak
And I just think I can't get into specifics, but you just know that Kelvin is going to have something, you know, he saw on film in the first KU game.
00:36:04
Tom Lidiak
that we can exploit of this time.
00:36:06
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:36:08
Tom Lidiak
i know they I know they did a lot of switching and and on on on screens, on ball screens, that kind of stuff.
00:36:08
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:36:14
Tom Lidiak
And I just expect us to you know to be really well prepared for this.
00:36:19
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. I mean, yeah.
00:36:19
.0Bill Walker
Well, and I'll tell you, sorry, I'll tell you one other thing. Just to to counter the the the home game notion, and admittedly take it with a bit of a grain of salt because the last couple of years, Kansas has not been all that competitive.
00:36:37
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, not been right. Mm-hmm.
00:36:40
.0Bill Walker
However, they've gotten knocked out early, in those previous, in the previous two years to teams that they were favored to beat.
00:36:51
.0Bill Walker
And, and, and yeah, they, they were the higher seeds both times. And, you know, as you alluded to Tom, they, they had the, and I'll use the air quotes, the home court advantage and they lost both times.
00:37:05
.0Bill Walker
So yeah, I don't, I don't,
00:37:06
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:37:09
.0Bill Walker
I don't buy into the the home court advantage quite as much. With that said, Kansas did not have the the quality teams the previous two years.
00:37:19
.0Bill Walker
So, yeah, take it for what it's worth.
00:37:23
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, so we'll see. I mean, both KU and TCU are great defensive teams. I mean, they're number 10 and 20 in adjusted defensive efficiency and Kempom, respectively. And, you know, both are just good offensive teams with KU slightly better offensively at number 53.
00:37:41
@NoConfForOldMen
Now, on offense, KU is not a great shooting team, but they're excellent at just... being good all around where TCU is all about offensive rebounding and getting to the line to generate points on defense though. Both are great. They achieve their success in different ways. KU is all about challenging every shot with great discipline where TCU is just focused on trying to turn teams over. So for us to beat either their team, the key is going to be discipline on offense with ball movement inside out to get good looks. And defensively, it's about turning both teams over. And I know, Bill, you've highlighted this. We've got to be able to turn the good teams over.
00:38:18
@NoConfForOldMen
And especially these two teams, both of them can be prone to spells of being careless with the ball. So, yeah, we've got to nail it here.
00:38:25
.0Bill Walker
Agreed.
00:38:27
@NoConfForOldMen
I actually don't care that it's in Kansas City. We're going to beat either team.
00:38:30
.0Bill Walker
I don't either.
00:38:31
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:38:31
.0Bill Walker
I don't either.
00:38:32
@NoConfForOldMen
And I i would actually prefer to play KU because I think it's more of a marquee. win for us, but I actually think TCU is going to beat us to the punch and beat them before we get a shot at them. you know, we'll see how it goes. Now, finally, guys, if we make the finals, and I think all three of us predicted that, how do we beat Arizona, who I believe is the best team in the nation this year? had you know What have we got to do to
Facing Arizona: Defensive Adjustments
00:38:58
@NoConfForOldMen
beat them? And Tom, why don't you you kick things off on your coaches' thoughts on how we beat Arizona?
00:39:04
Tom Lidiak
Okay, a tidbit here before talk about Arizona. Go back to TCU.
00:39:08
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:39:10
Tom Lidiak
The portal opens on March 23rd. I want everybody to watch David Punch.
00:39:14
@NoConfForOldMen
okay. oh
00:39:16
Tom Lidiak
six them for TCU. He's got two years left. you know i'm just throwing i'm just speculating out there
00:39:23
@NoConfForOldMen
How'd he do against us in our first game? I didn't i didn't pay attention. I didn't look.
00:39:28
Tom Lidiak
He was, you know, yeah, peace he's good.
00:39:29
@NoConfForOldMen
I should look.
00:39:32
Tom Lidiak
Kelvin really likes him. Kelvin speaks highly of of David Punch, yes.
00:39:35
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:39:37
@NoConfForOldMen
Okay, me see here.
00:39:38
Tom Lidiak
Yeah, anyway. Yeah, let's get your...
00:39:42
@NoConfForOldMen
David Punch.
00:39:43
Tom Lidiak
Punch, like Punch.
00:39:44
@NoConfForOldMen
Oh, yeah he had 16 points.
00:39:45
Tom Lidiak
I
00:39:46
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, he had 6 of 10. had 5 assists, too.
00:39:48
Tom Lidiak
mean, he's big and you can't...
00:39:48
@NoConfForOldMen
Wow. Wow. says five assist two
00:39:53
Tom Lidiak
Yeah, yeah, he's he's a hell of a player. Okay, on the air...
00:39:56
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, he's well-rounded player.
00:39:58
Tom Lidiak
Yeah. Uh, how do we beat Arizona? Uh, good question. And once it once again, i will, uh, I will defer to the goat, which is not you, Bill, but Kelvin Sampson.
00:40:13
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:40:13
Tom Lidiak
anyway. of
00:40:14
.0Bill Walker
No. i was I was sure you were going to shut up and allow me to talk.
00:40:21
Tom Lidiak
anyway
00:40:21
.0Bill Walker
i think I think Steve and all our listeners were as well.
00:40:21
@NoConfForOldMen
well
00:40:26
Tom Lidiak
kelvin Kelvin mentioned when we play Arizona because every you know people on the board were like, oh, we we didn't turn over this team. We didn't turn over that team. And and he explained why we didn't turn over Arizona.
00:40:38
Tom Lidiak
It's because they they hunted matchups. And it was just it was more like ISO ball. So I'm i'm putting trust in and Coach Sampson. that will have some type of defensive game plan, you know, against Arizona.
00:40:54
Tom Lidiak
Korchenkov killed us that game.
00:40:57
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:40:58
@NoConfForOldMen
Oh my God.
00:40:59
Tom Lidiak
Del Orso, the guy that came from, i believe it's Campbell College.
00:41:00
@NoConfForOldMen
Del or so. Yeah.
00:41:05
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:41:06
Tom Lidiak
out in the, was it West Virginia? No, Virginia or Carolina. That's where Campbell College is. I've seen their gym and no lie, it seats about 900 people. I think our high school gym seats more.
00:41:18
Tom Lidiak
i Last year, I never thought Del Arso was any good. Every time he got in the game, he he he looked like he was scared of his own shadow.
00:41:23
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah yep
00:41:26
Tom Lidiak
And and yeah, he just played timid though last year, you know?
00:41:27
.0Bill Walker
It's always been a shooter.
00:41:29
@NoConfForOldMen
yep yeah yeah he was he was an annoyance versus us though he actually I would say he played great defense but that he was he was annoying our guys right yeah
00:41:31
.0Bill Walker
Not much else.
00:41:32
Tom Lidiak
Yeah. But
00:41:36
Tom Lidiak
get twenty won twenty two Yeah, He's, he's become legit this year. Uh, uh, and. They didn't have Co-Apeat, so we'll see how that goes. They didn't have Aristote either, who's you know who's a key piece for them.
00:41:55
Tom Lidiak
But I just think it's one of those things like Kansas. you know We lost to Kansas' first game. I just think you know when two really good teams play each other, it's hard to beat them again. And I just think the same thing that's going to happen when we play Arizona is I think i think it's going to be tough for Arizona you know to beat us to be used twice back-to-back.
00:42:15
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, they've only beat us. Well, he's only beaten us once. This his first time to have beaten us, right? At Arizona.
00:42:21
Tom Lidiak
Tommy Lloyd.
00:42:22
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Right. This last time, wasn't it the first time? I don't think he's beaten us before.
00:42:26
Tom Lidiak
We beat him on the road.
00:42:26
.0Bill Walker
No.
00:42:27
Tom Lidiak
We beat him on the road last year. Yep.
00:42:29
@NoConfForOldMen
And then the tournament we beat them.
00:42:30
.0Bill Walker
And we beat him in the tournament as well.
00:42:31
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:42:31
Tom Lidiak
Yep.
00:42:32
.0Bill Walker
We're yeah, we're we're two and one.
00:42:32
Tom Lidiak
Yep.
00:42:34
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Okay. How about you, Bill? What's, what's your player's perspective on what we got to do to beat Arizona?
00:42:42
.0Bill Walker
Well, I think three words can can sum up this game if we're playing them in the championship.
00:42:51
@NoConfForOldMen
Hmm.
00:42:52
.0Bill Walker
I don't care.
00:42:55
@NoConfForOldMen
You don't care. you don''t care
00:42:57
.0Bill Walker
No. if we If we get if we get to that game, we we win the games that we should win, we get to that game.
00:43:09
.0Bill Walker
i At this point, I do not think there's much of a chance, almost no chance, that we're going to be a one seed. And if we get to that game, we are locked in as the top number two seed.
00:43:26
@NoConfForOldMen
Do you, I mean, let's play it out if, because I'm not as certain because because I know the main motivation is locking up as high a two seed as possible to get placed in the Houston South region.
00:43:39
@NoConfForOldMen
Right.
00:43:40
.0Bill Walker
Correct.
00:43:40
@NoConfForOldMen
But if, if we play out and UConn wins the big East tournament over St. John's, there's no guarantee we're the top. Right. We're the top two seed. Now, granted, even in that case, they may not want to be in the South. They may prefer to be in the East.
00:43:56
@NoConfForOldMen
Right. At that point. But I don't know. It's less certain, I guess, is is what I'm saying.
00:44:01
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, I just think that when it comes down to –
00:44:06
.0Bill Walker
you know who who each team has played. I mean, Connecticut has been in an absolutely abysmal conference this year. The Big East is really down. they
00:44:17
@NoConfForOldMen
But they beat Florida, right, earlier in the year, didn't they?
00:44:20
Tom Lidiak
November, Florida was,
00:44:20
.0Bill Walker
early Early when Florida wasn't – before Florida went on their their absolute tear.
00:44:21
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:44:24
@NoConfForOldMen
Still...
00:44:25
.0Bill Walker
But, yeah, yeah.
00:44:26
@NoConfForOldMen
It still counts. Yeah.
00:44:28
Tom Lidiak
I know, but, but realistically there were, there were cheeks in November, you know?
00:44:29
.0Bill Walker
No, it's – and
00:44:31
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. I mean, there's just no given that that we're going to be the top number two, is all i'm saying.
00:44:36
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, well, i think that I think that if we get to the to the championship game of the Big 12, I think we're we're two in the South.
00:44:37
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:44:43
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:44:46
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, i I agree with you on that.
00:44:46
.0Bill Walker
Absolutely.
00:44:48
@NoConfForOldMen
I believe that's the case, but i'll be I'm not going to be 100% comfortable. Yeah. comfortable
00:44:53
.0Bill Walker
And I'll say this.
00:44:54
@NoConfForOldMen
hi
00:44:55
.0Bill Walker
I'm not sure that I'm entirely thrilled that we'd be two in the South because – I know that you said that, that, uh, you know, you feel that Arizona is, is undisputably the number one team in the nation right now.
00:45:11
.0Bill Walker
I think they're absolutely neck and neck with Florida. I think Florida, since the beginning of the season is, is playing so much better. They're, they're, they're dominating teams inside.
00:45:23
.0Bill Walker
They're, they're killing teams off the boards, offensive, uh, offensive rebounding wise,
00:45:25
@NoConfForOldMen
They are.
00:45:31
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, I really wish that it was Connecticut that was the one seed in the South and that we were the two, although you know that that very well may have ended up being Connecticut and Florida.
00:45:34
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:45:40
@NoConfForOldMen
Could have been in Florida.
00:45:42
.0Bill Walker
so
00:45:42
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:45:43
.0Bill Walker
but But it wouldn't have killed me if we were two in the Midwest and playing Michigan because I don't think Michigan right now is as good as Florida. But but we we'll see ya we'll see how that plays out.
00:45:52
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. We still might be there, though. we still might be in the Midwest. I mean, there's still some brackets that have us there.
00:45:57
.0Bill Walker
Yeah.
00:45:59
@NoConfForOldMen
So
00:46:00
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, well, personally, and from a travel perspective, obviously, I hope we're too in the South.
00:46:04
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah.
00:46:05
.0Bill Walker
i want I want to be at the Toyota Center for the Sweet 16 and hopefully the Elite Eight.
00:46:06
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:46:11
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. But but kind of back to Arizona, I mean, what do you think we need to do to to beat them though?
00:46:13
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, yeah.
00:46:17
.0Bill Walker
Yeah.
00:46:19
.0Bill Walker
You know, we we were we were up. Well, we were hanging with them in the first half, and and we did turn them over a bit in the first half at at for Tita.
00:46:29
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, we did.
00:46:32
.0Bill Walker
and then And then the second half, that that just ground to a halt, and they they protected the ball. and So turning them over key. You know, it's... you know it's I think you mentioned it, Steve. It is not often. It is a rarity that that Calvin does not win revenge games.
00:46:53
@NoConfForOldMen
Hmm.
00:46:53
.0Bill Walker
So, you know, we've got that. You know, we' we've got to defend the interior. They'll have Pete playing, Krivas, you know, yes, Awaka,
00:47:05
Tom Lidiak
walkka
00:47:08
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:47:10
.0Bill Walker
Kurchenkov, Krivos. he was being guarded a lot by Flemings and he, he was just, he he was just, uh, muscling out, muscling Flemings, taking him down low and and hitting shots.
00:47:20
@NoConfForOldMen
He was.
00:47:23
.0Bill Walker
Uh, so we, we need to, if we're going to win, we need to defend their, their bigger guys better. We need to turn them over. Uh, when we get open shots, we need to hit them.
00:47:35
.0Bill Walker
We need to keep them off the offensive boards. Um, boards.
00:47:41
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, tough.
00:47:42
.0Bill Walker
and and And here comes a a a shocking statement. We need to avoid fouls.
00:47:53
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, exactly.
00:47:54
@NoConfForOldMen
Our strong suit, right?
00:47:55
.0Bill Walker
Exactly. You know, if we do all that, yeah, we can beat them.
00:47:59
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:48:00
.0Bill Walker
But I don't know. I just think that that think that they're pretty motivated to win this because they haven't –
00:48:09
@NoConfForOldMen
Sure.
00:48:11
.0Bill Walker
well, they lost to us in the finals last year. It's not like they, they had a poor big 12 tournament, but, uh, I think they may be a little more motivated to try to try to get the number one overall seed.
00:48:15
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, they are.
00:48:26
.0Bill Walker
Uh, uh, even though they're going to be one in the West, no matter what happens.
00:48:31
@NoConfForOldMen
Exactly.
00:48:32
Tom Lidiak
San Jose, right?
00:48:32
@NoConfForOldMen
thank
00:48:32
.0Bill Walker
Uh, but, uh,
00:48:32
Tom Lidiak
Steve San Jose is that where it's at?
00:48:35
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, yeah. the for the the Elite Eight. Yeah, the Sweet 16 Elite Eight.
00:48:41
Tom Lidiak
That's a year neck of the woods.
00:48:42
@NoConfForOldMen
It is.
00:48:42
Tom Lidiak
Yeah.
00:48:42
@NoConfForOldMen
It's just 15 minutes away. But I'm not going to go to watch Arizona.
00:48:48
.0Bill Walker
Nice.
00:48:50
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, all those things, and and and we we beat them. i just I just don't think that it's as big a deal.
00:48:58
.0Bill Walker
Like I said, I think we're going to have our our spot pretty well sewn up after we win the semifinal game. So I think if we play Arizona in the in the Big 12 championship, which I do think we will, I think they'll they'll probably beat us 76-70.
00:49:11
@NoConfForOldMen
Hmm.
00:49:15
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. I mean, they they are Arizona is a beast on both sides of the ball. a again I, again, mentioned earlier in the podcast, I do believe they are the best team in the country. I think they're better than Florida. I don't mind getting matchup with Florida because I, I still believe their guards are suspect.
00:49:35
@NoConfForOldMen
It's nothing like last year's team. They've got great, uh, great front court, but I think the guards can be had. Now Arizona comes in at number three and Ken Palm really have to know weakness. It was a defensive struggle last time we played them. And I expect more of the same because defense travels and both teams are going to play really physical defensively. So it's going to be a struggle for both teams to score key for us is going to be Tugler staying out of foul trouble and being a factor along with Uzan.
00:50:04
@NoConfForOldMen
Uzan needs to be a factor and he was not in the last game.
00:50:08
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, he was not against Kansas either.
00:50:10
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, so.
00:50:11
.0Bill Walker
But but i think I think that turns around, at least certainly against Kansas.
00:50:14
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, I agree.
00:50:17
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, yeah.
00:50:17
.0Bill Walker
And I think he'll be more aggressive against Arizona.
00:50:20
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, so those are the two two guys that really need to come to play. And I think the X factor is McCarty, right? His confidence is high right now. No one's really had to deal with him. He's popping threes like crazy. And so that's what it's going to take for us to win. And even if we get all of those things going for us, I think at most we win by three. That would be the most that we would be able to win by, but everything's got to go right.
00:50:44
@NoConfForOldMen
so So exciting times, looking forward to the Big 12 tourney. And
00:50:48
.0Bill Walker
So who wins? What's the prediction?
00:50:52
@NoConfForOldMen
oh, of course, I predict we win. We win by three.
00:50:54
.0Bill Walker
Yeah. Okay.
00:50:54
@NoConfForOldMen
a Everything goes right. And and we're prived to make a run and we're going to kick the shit out of Florida in the South region. That's my early prediction.
00:51:04
.0Bill Walker
God, I, I, Oh, you have no idea how much I hope you're right. Having, having gone to you know grad school at Miami a couple of times, uh,
00:51:14
@NoConfForOldMen
at
00:51:17
.0Bill Walker
the Florida fans are on par, maybe a little more intelligent, but but equally obnoxious as the Tech fans.
00:51:28
@NoConfForOldMen
Tech. Yeah, I would agree with that.
00:51:29
.0Bill Walker
So there's, yeah, other than, really other than Tech, there is absolutely nobody I'd like to see us annihilate more than than Florida.
00:51:30
@NoConfForOldMen
I would agree.
00:51:40
@NoConfForOldMen
You know, it and they've got the coach to match that fan base like because Golden is arrogant as F, right? He was out here at you USF and he was he was arrogant when he was at USF.
00:51:53
Tom Lidiak
He's a punk.
00:51:53
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah So.
00:51:55
.0Bill Walker
We also want to avenge a game that I won't bring up.
00:51:56
@NoConfForOldMen
and Yeah. what Yeah. Yeah. We'll be motivated. So, but that's for, uh, next week's episode, right?
00:52:06
.0Bill Walker
Right.
00:52:06
@NoConfForOldMen
When you talk about the real attorney, attorney. So, so that's it for our 76th episode of the No Conference for Women podcast. Hope you all enjoyed it. And again, would really appreciate it. Folks would follow, subscribe or collect our podcast on whatever platform of choice you have.
00:52:21
@NoConfForOldMen
We are also available via Dave Campbell's college podcast network as their only basketball center podcast. at the Goku's.com YouTube page for those that want to watch us struggle with our points. And we appreciate the continued support from all. Also, please give us follow on our Twitter account, No Conference for Open. Thank you all again for listening. And please be on the lookout next week to download and listen as our next episode drops.
00:52:46
@NoConfForOldMen
Take care, everyone. Go Cougs.