Transcript
@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.
@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,
@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 wins.
@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.
@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. 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.
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.
Tom Lidiak: And who's the other other guy? kington Kingston started with the with the four seniors.
.0Bill Walker: Kingston.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. hey
Tom Lidiak: Yeah, yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yep.
Tom Lidiak: Thanks, thanks Bill.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
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.
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.
.0Bill Walker: Tied.
Tom Lidiak: And it just seemed like we we couldn't get over the hump. And then finally, Emmanuel hits a three.
@NoConfForOldMen: Mm-hmm.
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.
Tom Lidiak: JoJo didn't start, but he came in and played 30 minutes. He had 14 points.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, it's great.
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.
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.
Tom Lidiak: And Kellen answered that question. He said,
@NoConfForOldMen: Mm-hmm.
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.
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 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.
Tom Lidiak: And that bodes well heading into the Big 12 tournament and and the and then the NCAA tournament. along
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, i mean, it's huge improvement from the beginning of the season when he came back.
Tom Lidiak: Yeah. Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: I mean, he had basically zero low post game, right? I mean, he was like all over the place and in rushed, right?
Tom Lidiak: Yeah, and Kip, Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: And now he's patient.
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.
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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Bill, how about your players take from the Baylor win?
.0Bill Walker: You think my recaps last week were quick. Get ready for this.
@NoConfForOldMen: a
.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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.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.
.0Bill Walker: And by that, I mean Tuggler, who... who
.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...
.0Bill Walker: Not the greatest shooting game, but but he but he continues to play more confidently, which clearly Calvin got on him about.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.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.
.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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: yeah But in this case, everything worked out for us on senior day, the end.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, nice.
.0Bill Walker: Yeah.
@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?
Tom Lidiak: Well, yeah, there's been yeah there's been so there's been some games we were up 25 to 35 points.
@NoConfForOldMen: It's crazy.
Tom Lidiak: We ended up winning by 14.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, exactly.
Tom Lidiak: And this game, it was you know neck and neck the whole game.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: We ended up winning by, what, 13 or something like that.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: Well, recently we've been down, we get down early in every single game.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, this last stretch, exactly.
.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.
@NoConfForOldMen: The better too, so.
.0Bill Walker: But definitely once we get, you know, beyond, probably beyond round one of the NCAAs.
@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.
@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,
@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. 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?
.0Bill Walker: Yeah, first half down again, forty one thirty seven at half.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Yeah.
.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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.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.
.0Bill Walker: Second half, we force eight Oklahoma State turnovers to our four.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.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.
.0Bill Walker: I will say the shooting absolutely picked up in the second half.
@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
.0Bill Walker: Yeah, but but Oklahoma State's not a not a great interior team.
@NoConfForOldMen: I know.
.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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.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.
.0Bill Walker: yeah Our three...
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Yeah.
.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.
.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.
.0Bill Walker: I am not, I think obviously as you mentioned, Steve, the bench rotation looks to be set.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Right.
.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.
.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.
.0Bill Walker: But bottom line, twenty six and five Another win, we another road win, and we're off to the postseason.
@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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Tech, yeah.
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.
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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Yep.
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?
Tom Lidiak: If Tech would have done their job against BYU, we could have avoided Kansas, you know, on that side of bracket.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Bring on Kansas.
Tom Lidiak: Yeah, well, I –
@NoConfForOldMen: I want to rematch. I want to rematch.
Tom Lidiak: i don't I don't mind Kansas. We'll talk about it a little more.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: I do mind having to play a de facto road game again.
@NoConfForOldMen: Wow. Yeah. Wait till we get to it. I've got a surprise for you guys.
.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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, no,
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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah,
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.
@NoConfForOldMen: he doesn't miss. Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: It's a quick shot.
Tom Lidiak: But, yeah, yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: It is. It's even gotten quicker.
Tom Lidiak: yeah
@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.
@NoConfForOldMen: It's crazy.
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.
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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: And, and,
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: No conscience.
.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.
@NoConfForOldMen: I mean.
.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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: he He wants his shooters shooting.
@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.
@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.
@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,
@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...
@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.
@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.
@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...
@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.
Tom Lidiak: If we play BYU, we already beat them at BYU, and they had Richie Saunders.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: I like that matchup. there They're kind of two-dimensional right now with Rob Wright and Devontae, even though Kostic is –
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.
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.
@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?
.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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.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 –
.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.
.0Bill Walker: And if we avoid foul trouble, we stay in front of Wright as much as possible.
@NoConfForOldMen: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
.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,
.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.
.0Bill Walker: But
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.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.
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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Oh, yeah. Brutal, right?
Tom Lidiak: you know
@NoConfForOldMen: So brutal.
Tom Lidiak: Uh-huh.
@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.
@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
@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.
@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.
@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?
.0Bill Walker: Well, I have the five seed beating the four, and I would imagine you guys probably do as well.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Agreed.
.0Bill Walker: iowa Iowa State, I have beating Tech.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yep.
.0Bill Walker: Arizona, I have Cincy beating UCF.
@NoConfForOldMen: Okay.
.0Bill Walker: I don't know. Honestly, I don't know what's what's gone on today.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Where's the new? Yep.
.0Bill Walker: And then think this is going to be a tough game, but I have the, the
.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.
.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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yep.
.0Bill Walker: but But the only good wins out of those eight were and a very impressive win over Iowa State.
@NoConfForOldMen: Exactly.
.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.
@NoConfForOldMen: and
.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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Okay. Then about for semis?
.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
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@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.
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.
.0Bill Walker: Bobby Hurley doesn't think that's going to happen.
Tom Lidiak: Did he say something or what?
.0Bill Walker: Oh, yeah. He said he's got he's got the team to win the Big 12.
Tom Lidiak: Oh.
.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.
@NoConfForOldMen: That's funny.
Tom Lidiak: Oh, wow. Okay.
@NoConfForOldMen: It's easy to say that when you're you already know you're fired.
Tom Lidiak: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yep.
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.
@NoConfForOldMen: yep
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?
@NoConfForOldMen: Yep. Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: And plus that Iowa State owes them one because they lost at home to Tech.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yep.
Tom Lidiak: It wasn't really any close. And then Cincy, Arizona. i have Arizona in that one.
@NoConfForOldMen: Okay.
Tom Lidiak: BYU, West Virginia. Whoever comes out of that, we beat them.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yep.
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.
Tom Lidiak: eastka
.0Bill Walker: I don't know.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, I don't know. so And how about your semifinal? Semifinals?
Tom Lidiak: Semifinal, I would have Iowa State beating Tech and then playing Arizona.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: And then I have a
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, who who who do you think?
.0Bill Walker: But who wins that game?
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, Iowa State, Arizona, who have you got winning?
Tom Lidiak: Arizona.
@NoConfForOldMen: Okay. And then how about about KU versus Houston?
.0Bill Walker: Us versus, yeah.
Tom Lidiak: Yeah, a tough one here because it's going to be a de facto home game for Kansas.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yep.
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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yep.
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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: So I think we see a totally different U of H team playing playing Kansas that night.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: And you want to know the winner?
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Yeah. The winner.
Tom Lidiak: Cougs. Go Cougs.
@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.
@NoConfForOldMen: KUTCU, I do have TCU advancing.
.0Bill Walker: Yeah, i I think it's going to be a good game
Tom Lidiak: We're going to.
@NoConfForOldMen: ra i mean, mean...
Tom Lidiak: I think you guys need be drug tested.
@NoConfForOldMen: No, I mean, they've won eight...
@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.
Tom Lidiak: But here's the deal.
@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.
Tom Lidiak: And I'm joking.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. i
Tom Lidiak: I'm joking about you guys being crazy.
@NoConfForOldMen: but
Tom Lidiak: I hope it happens.
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah
.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?
@NoConfForOldMen: and Yeah. Yeah.
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.
@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?
@NoConfForOldMen: During, without Toppin, didn't they? Or am I not remembering correctly?
.0Bill Walker: Yes.
@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.
.0Bill Walker: Yeah, i don't disagree I don't disagree with that, Steve.
Tom Lidiak: I'll be rooting for him I'll be rooting for TCU.
@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?
.0Bill Walker: Well,
.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.
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah Yeah, that's fine.
@NoConfForOldMen: or just you can just cover Kansas too. That's fine.
.0Bill Walker: Yeah, i and Tom touched on it a bit.
@NoConfForOldMen: What do we need to do?
.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.
.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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.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
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Yeah.
.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,
.0Bill Walker: You know, guarding guarding Peterson, know, that's a tough task. Avoiding fouls, that is. You know, Tuggler, obviously.
.0Bill Walker: i mean, that's the recurring topic.
@NoConfForOldMen: Thank you.
.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.
.0Bill Walker: evenly rested. We're the better team. We are just simply the better team. We'll beat Kansas by nine, No, no,
@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?
Tom Lidiak: no no yeah there's three kansas three this is three
@NoConfForOldMen: They're not a top four. No?
.0Bill Walker: no no no. But, but yes, no, I'm saying no.
@NoConfForOldMen: No?
.0Bill Walker: They're, they, yeah, that's right. They,
@NoConfForOldMen: Oh, really?
.0Bill Walker: Yeah, yeah. Iowa State, Arizona, us, and Kansas get the double buys.
@NoConfForOldMen: Oh, okay. Got it.
.0Bill Walker: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Got it.
Tom Lidiak: also in the guys in the
@NoConfForOldMen: Got it.
.0Bill Walker: But the point is, we're going to be just as rested as they are.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: it's it's
@NoConfForOldMen: Yep.
.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
@NoConfForOldMen: Yep.
.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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Okay.
Tom Lidiak: My, and my little said to bum ankles and E-man had taken a couple of hard falls in his hip.
@NoConfForOldMen: Nice.
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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. So you're still predicting us to win though, even though it's in Kansas city.
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.
Tom Lidiak: And then you go to game three, and it it becomes like a a chess or checkers match, you know.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Yep.
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.
Tom Lidiak: that we can exploit of this time.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: And I just expect us to you know to be really well prepared for this.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. I mean, yeah.
.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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, not been right. Mm-hmm.
.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.
.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.
.0Bill Walker: So yeah, I don't, I don't,
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Yeah.
.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.
.0Bill Walker: So, yeah, take it for what it's worth.
@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.
@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.
@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.
.0Bill Walker: Agreed.
@NoConfForOldMen: I actually don't care that it's in Kansas City. We're going to beat either team.
.0Bill Walker: I don't either.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: I don't either.
@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 beat them? And Tom, why don't you you kick things off on your coaches' thoughts on how we beat Arizona?
Tom Lidiak: Okay, a tidbit here before talk about Arizona. Go back to TCU.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: The portal opens on March 23rd. I want everybody to watch David Punch.
@NoConfForOldMen: okay. oh
Tom Lidiak: six them for TCU. He's got two years left. you know i'm just throwing i'm just speculating out there
@NoConfForOldMen: How'd he do against us in our first game? I didn't i didn't pay attention. I didn't look.
Tom Lidiak: He was, you know, yeah, peace he's good.
@NoConfForOldMen: I should look.
Tom Lidiak: Kelvin really likes him. Kelvin speaks highly of of David Punch, yes.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Okay, me see here.
Tom Lidiak: Yeah, anyway. Yeah, let's get your...
@NoConfForOldMen: David Punch.
Tom Lidiak: Punch, like Punch.
@NoConfForOldMen: Oh, yeah he had 16 points.
Tom Lidiak: I
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, he had 6 of 10. had 5 assists, too.
Tom Lidiak: mean, he's big and you can't...
@NoConfForOldMen: Wow. Wow. says five assist two
Tom Lidiak: Yeah, yeah, he's he's a hell of a player. Okay, on the air...
.0Bill Walker: Yeah, he's well-rounded player.
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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: anyway. of
.0Bill Walker: No. i was I was sure you were going to shut up and allow me to talk.
Tom Lidiak: anyway
@NoConfForOldMen: well
.0Bill Walker: i think I think Steve and all our listeners were as well.
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.
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.
Tom Lidiak: Korchenkov killed us that game.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Oh my God.
Tom Lidiak: Del Orso, the guy that came from, i believe it's Campbell College.
@NoConfForOldMen: Del or so. Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
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.
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.
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah yep
Tom Lidiak: And and yeah, he just played timid though last year, you know?
.0Bill Walker: It's always been a shooter.
@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
.0Bill Walker: Not much else.
Tom Lidiak: Yeah. But
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.
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.
@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.
Tom Lidiak: Tommy Lloyd.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Right. This last time, wasn't it the first time? I don't think he's beaten us before.
Tom Lidiak: We beat him on the road.
.0Bill Walker: No.
Tom Lidiak: We beat him on the road last year. Yep.
@NoConfForOldMen: And then the tournament we beat them.
.0Bill Walker: And we beat him in the tournament as well.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: Yep.
.0Bill Walker: We're yeah, we're we're two and one.
Tom Lidiak: Yep.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Okay. How about you, Bill? What's, what's your player's perspective on what we got to do to beat Arizona?
.0Bill Walker: Well, I think three words can can sum up this game if we're playing them in the championship.
@NoConfForOldMen: Hmm.
.0Bill Walker: I don't care.
@NoConfForOldMen: You don't care. you don''t care
.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.
.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.
@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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Right.
.0Bill Walker: Correct.
@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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Right. At that point. But I don't know. It's less certain, I guess, is is what I'm saying.
.0Bill Walker: Yeah, I just think that when it comes down to –
.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
@NoConfForOldMen: But they beat Florida, right, earlier in the year, didn't they?
Tom Lidiak: November, Florida was,
.0Bill Walker: early Early when Florida wasn't – before Florida went on their their absolute tear.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Still...
.0Bill Walker: But, yeah, yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: It still counts. Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: I know, but, but realistically there were, there were cheeks in November, you know?
.0Bill Walker: No, it's – and
@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.
.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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, i I agree with you on that.
.0Bill Walker: Absolutely.
@NoConfForOldMen: I believe that's the case, but i'll be I'm not going to be 100% comfortable. Yeah. comfortable
.0Bill Walker: And I'll say this.
@NoConfForOldMen: hi
.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.
.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.
.0Bill Walker: They're, they're killing teams off the boards, offensive, uh, offensive rebounding wise,
@NoConfForOldMen: They are.
.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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Could have been in Florida.
.0Bill Walker: so
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.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.
@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.
.0Bill Walker: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: So
.0Bill Walker: Yeah, well, personally, and from a travel perspective, obviously, I hope we're too in the South.
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah.
.0Bill Walker: i want I want to be at the Toyota Center for the Sweet 16 and hopefully the Elite Eight.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. But but kind of back to Arizona, I mean, what do you think we need to do to to beat them though?
.0Bill Walker: Yeah, yeah.
.0Bill Walker: Yeah.
.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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, we did.
.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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Hmm.
.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,
Tom Lidiak: walkka
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.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.
@NoConfForOldMen: He was.
.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.
.0Bill Walker: We need to keep them off the offensive boards. boards. Um,
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, tough.
.0Bill Walker: and and And here comes a a a shocking statement. We need to avoid fouls.
.0Bill Walker: Yeah, exactly.
@NoConfForOldMen: Our strong suit, right?
.0Bill Walker: Exactly. You know, if we do all that, yeah, we can beat them.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.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 –
@NoConfForOldMen: Sure.
.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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, they are.
.0Bill Walker: Uh, uh, even though they're going to be one in the West, no matter what happens.
@NoConfForOldMen: Exactly.
Tom Lidiak: San Jose, right?
@NoConfForOldMen: thank
.0Bill Walker: Uh, but, uh,
Tom Lidiak: Steve San Jose is that where it's at?
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, yeah. the for the the Elite Eight. Yeah, the Sweet 16 Elite Eight.
Tom Lidiak: That's a year neck of the woods.
@NoConfForOldMen: It is.
Tom Lidiak: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: It's just 15 minutes away. But I'm not going to go to watch Arizona.
.0Bill Walker: Nice.
.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.
.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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Hmm.
@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.
@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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Uzan needs to be a factor and he was not in the last game.
.0Bill Walker: Yeah, he was not against Kansas either.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, so.
.0Bill Walker: But but i think I think that turns around, at least certainly against Kansas.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, I agree.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, yeah.
.0Bill Walker: And I think he'll be more aggressive against Arizona.
@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.
@NoConfForOldMen: so So exciting times, looking forward to the Big 12 tourney. And
.0Bill Walker: So who wins? What's the prediction?
@NoConfForOldMen: oh, of course, I predict we win. We win by three.
.0Bill Walker: Yeah. Okay.
@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.
.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,
@NoConfForOldMen: at
.0Bill Walker: the Florida fans are on par, maybe a little more intelligent, but but equally obnoxious as the Tech fans.
@NoConfForOldMen: Tech. Yeah, I would agree with that.
.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.
@NoConfForOldMen: I would agree.
@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.
Tom Lidiak: He's a punk.
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah So.
.0Bill Walker: We also want to avenge a game that I won't bring up.
@NoConfForOldMen: and Yeah. what Yeah. Yeah. We'll be motivated. So, but that's for, uh, next week's episode, right?
.0Bill Walker: Right.
@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.
@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.
@NoConfForOldMen: Take care, everyone. Go Cougs.
