Pick'em Pros

Duke vs UConn Preview: Championship or Bust? + March Madness & NBA Debate | Ep. 148

• Pick'em Pros • Season 4 • Episode 148

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In Episode 148 of Who Ya Got, Derrick Thompson and Diego Thompson break down the biggest storylines as March Madness reaches the Elite Eight.

With the Duke Blue Devils men's basketball now back to full strength, the conversation shifts to a bigger question…

Is it championship or bust for Duke?

With a massive matchup against the UConn Huskies men's basketball, we dive into what this game means, what’s at stake, and whether Duke has what it takes to make a true title run.

🏀 In This Episode:

🔵 Duke’s Championship Expectations
Now healthy at the right time, is anything less than a title a disappointment?

🔥 Elite Eight Breakdown
We analyze the remaining teams and predict who’s heading to the Final Four.

👀 Michigan – The Overlooked #1 Seed
Are the Michigan Wolverines men's basketball still being slept on?

🏀 Women’s Tournament Update
A look at the top contenders and who’s separating from the pack.

🚗 Detroit Pistons Playoff Outlook
Featuring Michael Sims as we break down the Detroit Pistons, the impact of Cade Cunningham, and their chances of making a run.

🏆 NBA MVP Debate (With a Twist)
We debate the MVP race — but with a controversial spin:
Who is REALLY #2 behind the frontrunner?

🎯 Coaching Pressure in North Carolina
We discuss the growing pressure around North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball and NC State Wolfpack men's basketball, and how their situations compare to the stability and success at Duke.

📡 Now Airing Weekly on Radio
Who Ya Got is now featured on WCCG 104.5 FM out of Fayetteville.

As the tournament tightens and the pressure builds…

WHO YA GOT? 👀🔥

Please subscribe to the podcast today and share this content with your friends!

Cold Open And Show Roll Call

SPEAKER_02

Seriously, Caleb Foster coming back did help us a lot. We could have lost without him actually. Save. I'm not gonna say save, but he's very impactful. He is our starting point guard, after all. Like he's forgot about that. But I mean, okay. Okay. So I think our starting point guard is pretty important to the team.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, but you didn't think he was coming back. So you were talking all that talk without him. So you should have spanked him without him. You were scared. They were very good. He was scared. He was he was acting like he was asleep. So he wouldn't have to deal with all the different conclusions of them making the threes and whatnot.

SPEAKER_05

That's how it works. Exactly. Are we winning?

SPEAKER_02

Hey, we got the job done. We're on time.

SPEAKER_06

And this is Derek Thompson from Pick Em Pros. You can catch us on all podcast platforms, including YouTube and now 104.5 WCCG in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Let's go.

SPEAKER_08

I pick them like a bro, go to drop ball, talk a pick and roll. We're gonna up to go, touchdown, this is not real gold. We the winning team champions when you walk.

SPEAKER_06

All right, ladies and gentlemen, welcome back. You know who it is. I am Derek Thompson. I'm Diego Thompson. And I'm Mike Sims. Yes, and who are we? Pick'em Pros. We are the Pick'em Pros coming back at you in the house from Carey, North Carolina, Father-Son Dynamic Duo. And we got Detroit's finest, Mr. Michael Sims in the building, man, joining us. We got a fire show for you today. Let me give you the rundown first so you know what we're talking about. So you stay tuned in. First, we're gonna talk about the Duke St. John's game, the recap. So somebody on this set was very confident. We tried to warn him about St. John's, but he stood 10 toes down.

SPEAKER_02

Yes, yeah. I was fully you're rock, I was fully riding with Duke. So you were you picked Duke, but like you weren't really with Duke. Okay. You were you were warning me.

SPEAKER_06

I don't agree with that, but we're gonna talk about that in a second. But okay. I'm gonna go through the whole. So you got your bullets ready. Let me get through the whole rundown. But I like that. I like that. You ready? You ready? You ready? So that's first topic. Second topic, we're gonna talk about Duke in general being back at full strength. Um, is it championship or bust now that they got everybody back? We're gonna talk about that. Then we're gonna talk about the big showdown tomorrow between uh Duke and Yukon, Elite Eight, who you got. Then we're talking about the uh South region game. Believe that should be ending now or ending pretty soon. I think that's going on right now. Uh Iowa versus Illinois. Uh, we're gonna talk about that. That'll be a real-time thing. And then in the West, uh later on tonight, since we're live, we got Arizona and Purdue, who you got. We're gonna talk about that. That's the one versus two matchup. Then we're talking about, oh boy, the Midwest region. You got Michigan in the building. Okay. They're playing Tennessee. All right, Michigan's the number one seed, so it ain't no way they could lose. All right, but we're gonna talk about that. Trying to set us up, trying to set us up. We're gonna talk about that. Then we're gonna talk about just Michigan in general. Uh, are we sleeping? So we were joking last week about how you know people don't know anybody on the team. We got some pushback from that, clearly, from some people didn't like that too much. So we're gonna talk about that. Um, then we're gonna dive into the women's march madness. Um, is can anybody beat UConn? They mention just dominating the steam rolling. We're gonna talk about that. We got a lot of stuff we're gonna talk about. I don't know how we're gonna do all this in an hour, but we're gonna try. Then we're talking about coach firings, okay? We've got um Carolina fired Hubert Davis, okay? And then you've got NC State last year, okay. They fired Kevin Keats. Why are we bringing that up? Because we saw what happened with Wade, went back to LSU. Is NC State and um UNC? Are they panicking because Duke is their daddy? Okay. We're gonna talk about that. Are they making raspishes and decisions firing coaches too early because of Duke? We're gonna talk about that. Are they in their head? Then we're gonna switch to the Motor City, Motown. We're gonna talk, it might be a wardrobe change. We're gonna talk about the Detroit Pistons, okay? Are they NBA finals bound? Now, Mike was on here about a month ago talking big. Ooh, they were looking good. Cabe was MVP candidate looking good. Then we were trying to get them on the show. Yeah, we hadn't seen them for about a month. They were slipping, we couldn't find them. Now the Pistons are winning, and he's here on the show. He's ready, he's ready to go. So we're gonna talk about the Pistons, are they finals bound? And then the last topic, if we have time, we're gonna talk about who is number two for the NBA MVP because we don't think it's uh uh close, at least Diego and I don't. We'll see what Mr. Sims thinks about the MVP. So we're gonna talk about who is number two in MVP because we think number one's a clear shot. So we're gonna talk about that. So we see Mike looking here. So that might be a fire, but we're gonna end with that. And then we got our boy, we got Brandon Bean joining us from Texas. He's gonna come on at the end, give his take on some things. So we got a firefire show. So

Duke Vs St John’s Recap

SPEAKER_06

let's get into it. Whole whole lot. So, all right. So, Diego, I'm gonna come back to you, man. Duke St. John's. Um, you know, again, you would 10 toes down. You go ahead and take your victory lap because y'all y'all play tomorrow. So um, we're gonna let you go ahead and get it in now.

SPEAKER_02

I mean, that's I'm I'm gonna have this victory lap for a really long time because we're going all the way. So, I mean, I'm I'm not worried about you know using all using all my shots right now, you know. I mean, but I mean, I mean, Duke, we did beat St. John's, and a lot of people are like, oh, you should worry about St. John's. I mean, I got I'm like, we do we even know anyone on the team? Like, honestly, uh just like Michigan, it might be even worse with St. John's. Like, I'm sorry. But yeah, it's and Caleb Foster coming back. But seriously, Caleb Foster coming back did help us a lot. Yeah, we could have lost without him actually. Save I'm not gonna say save, but he was very impactful. He's he is our starting point guard after all. Like he's forgot about that. But I mean, okay, so I think our starting point guard is pretty important to the team.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, but you didn't think he was coming back, so you you were talking all that talk without him. So you should have spanked them without him. I mean, I tried to happen. We tried to warn you about Rick Patino. That's it. We we warned you about him. Warned him for what? They lost. Uh you did lost. You were scared. They were very scene. I looked at the biggest. He was scared. I nearly fell asleep. I've never seen him that scared before in my life. He nearly fell asleep. He was he was he was acting like he was asleep. So he wouldn't have to deal with all the different emotions of them making the threes. That's how it works, man.

SPEAKER_02

I think you'd be sleeping when you're gonna be able to do it.

SPEAKER_05

He was sleep, he was sleeping a little bit, then peek with one eye open just to see if it was still good. Exactly. Are we winning?

SPEAKER_02

Hey, we got the job done. We're on to the next, and UConn, that should that should be another cake walk.

SPEAKER_05

So but I I I do gotta say you're right.

SPEAKER_06

Rick Patino, uh, he got to get some got to get him some props because he got them up for that that game.

SPEAKER_05

He got he got them up for that game.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah. They were ready. Forced us a lot of turnovers in the first half. But uh, we did adjust to it, obviously, because and we we we woke up and didn't show it out in the second half.

SPEAKER_06

Yep. Kudos, kudos. Now, Shire, and Shire made some good adjustments too. Yeah, so he made some adjustments. You know, he you know, there's no substitute for experience. So they clearly learned a lot last year. Yeah, you know, that collapse against Houston. Um, you know, they definitely made a lot of adjustments at halftime. So that was great to see. And then, man, yeah, the point guard, man. He he came in, but he he saved him. He did it.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, that was gutsy. He's on a boot three weeks ago, man. Yeah, that's crazy. Yeah, it was crazy for him to even come back. Yeah, yeah, that's crazy.

SPEAKER_06

So,

Duke Back At Full Strength

SPEAKER_06

well, let's let's go ahead since we um have an hour, we're gonna um just go ahead and switch to our next topic, which will be uh Duke here with their full team. So, you know, hey, now now that they have a full team, you've got your starting point guard. You had your center that you were complaining about not having because the other guys were swatting boozer shots in in the stands. So now you don't have to go against centers anymore.

SPEAKER_02

Yo, he's not a center. So I mean Okay.

SPEAKER_06

True. Fair, fair, fair, fair point. So now you got your full team.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06

Okay. Yeah. So now is it championship or bus? Because I don't know how long you're gonna keep getting these number one recruiting classes every year, and you're not getting the job done. So you're gonna have to cash it in one of these days.

SPEAKER_02

Kentucky and Kansas do it all the time and get good recruiting classes. So it's I think we could get keep getting away with it. But that's that that excuse is gonna come to an end because we will get it done this year. And you know, we are peaking at the right time. Obviously, the Elite Eight. We got our whole roster together. We can have long rotations so that our starters can be healthy. Uh, you know, our guys, our guys that were injured can come in and just kind of ease back in. Like Foster played like he ended up playing like 11, like 19 minutes, but he was impactful, obviously. And then uh Pat and Gog. But like there, they're like our two starters who are injured aren't even starting right now, and we're still getting the job done. So it's like I I think we're peeking at the right time for sure. Getting everybody, everybody back.

SPEAKER_06

Okay, okay. Well, Sam's what do you think, man? Is it championship or bust? Is it is it a disappointment at this point? Or uh, you know, one of the things that you gotta look at and then basketball, you know, just like football, it's all about adjustments at the end of the day. And people have tape. I think St. John's uh with Rick Patino, he exposed the weakness. And if they were able to maintain in the first half what they they could have did, what they did, you know, continued, if they would have continued to do that, what they did in this in the second half, uh, we'd be having a totally different conversation. You're right. You know, we gotta give him his, you know, shot his his uh uh props on his adjustments and things like that. But you know, still I think at the end of the day, it's all about exposing weaknesses.

SPEAKER_05

And and they got when you put that, put that because they St. John's, it was arms everywhere. I mean, they was flying everywhere, and that bothered them. They wasn't used to no, you know, being all up in their grill, being, you know, you gotta have the amount of players because a lot of those guys was gas too from St. John's. So you gotta have the amount of players to feed out there to continue to do that during the whole game. But you know, now you're getting into the Elite Eight, you're getting into the Final Four, where the teams you're gonna play, they're gonna have those now.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06

So if I'm on the other end, you know, let's just say, and I don't, I'm just grabbing the team, Michigan, uh-huh, you know, that would probably, you know, knock a duke out if they come up against them, you know. But we don't want to top up, you know, hit on that topic now. We didn't knock us out last time. I mean, ooh, pass. Ooh, somebody lives in the past. I live in the future. I live in the now. Yeah, yeah, now is this is this is where we wanna sit. This is where we want to be, man. St.

SPEAKER_02

John's they roused early, but at the end of the day, we were the better basketball team. We have the better players, okay, and they adjusted, and okay. That's only gonna hold us for so long. We got we got the better team.

SPEAKER_06

Well, let's then hey, no, let's go directly into the matchup that you gotta deal with tomorrow. Okay.

Picking Duke Vs UConn

SPEAKER_06

I believe it's five, I think they made it the the later one, five o'clock uh uh game. I think it's five o'clock tomorrow p.m.

SPEAKER_02

anytime he plays like it's I mean it's not like it's gonna matter at least like oh okay.

SPEAKER_06

Well, you tell man, I hear him talking. I just heard something. You may have to you might have to do a wellness check. Oh uh we might have to send in a wellness check. We'll have to see. I just I just I just heard a dog barking and stuff. I think that might have been a husky. Is that a wait a minute? What's what's UConn saying?

SPEAKER_03

Is that a husky?

SPEAKER_02

All right, so UConn. Everyone's talking all about UConn. You should be worried about UConn. I'd like to challenge you to name a player on UConn right here, right now.

SPEAKER_06

I'm sorry. Hey, like since you know what? It's it's just like St. John's. Right. All I have to name is that coach. That's all I got to worry about. Because Hurley is a uh back-to-back champion. That's it. So he he he's gonna walk in, he's gonna have his uh sport coat around his shoulder coming in, and for the gang, he's gonna be suited and booted. Shire Shire is gonna have a uh quarter zip on the side. We're chilling.

SPEAKER_02

We're chilling. We're chilling. Like he's got his suit, he's worried about he's worried, you know, because that that's uncomfortable. You know, he's not gonna be loose. Shire, you sit back, sit back and relax, and you know, he's he's not even worried.

SPEAKER_06

Okay, yeah, all right, okay. Well, we're talking this game, so we're making our official picks. Who who you got?

SPEAKER_02

Duke all day, all day long.

SPEAKER_06

Duke all day. Okay, all right. Yukon, you can picking UConn. UConn, they're going down. They're going down. Exposure. It's like Kodak film, they got exposed. Heard it. It's the old instant kind, too. It's the old instant kind. Look at it, it's developing. Look at it. Diego, have you seen that, Diego? You haven't seen the. Oh, don't worry. You're gonna see it. He's gonna see it tomorrow.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, to flop it in there. Yeah, man.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, we're gonna win by double digits.

SPEAKER_06

No, no, no, no, no, you're crazy. Yeah, you're they yeah, no, you we need to have you tested right now. They're not they didn't buy no double digits. You can forget that.

SPEAKER_02

But you could say, oh, they had the experience last year, but then they lost to I forget, I forget they lost last year. Let me shake this up here because he might be sipping a little bit of something in your green. Yeah, something he pre-agreing. I think that he's sipping a little bit. Green does help you run faster.

SPEAKER_06

He's something in the man. You ain't even hit no shot yet. Okay. Wow. Um, man, it's it's crazy because I at the beginning of the tournament, I said Duke was gonna come out of the East. Um, and then I thought they would lose in the Final Four. And then that round here. Wait, to who?

SPEAKER_02

Who are they supposed to lose who in the final four?

SPEAKER_06

Uh, they would lose to whoever came out of the uh coming out of the South? Who's the South winner? Uh I had Houston. Really? You had Houston. Yeah, Houston. I had Houston, yeah. Yeah, Houston. Where are they now? I had Houston. They're at home. The place called Cancun. On vacation. Yeah, well, no, they they don't have enough NIO money to go to Cancun. They don't have that Duke NIO. No, they don't have that Duke NIA. These guys just went to Duke, they could have gone to Cancun. No, but I did pick uh Arizona to beat Arkansas, though. So, you know, yeah. I did get that one. Congratulations. Uh, but yeah, man. Ah, ooh, you know, I'm uh I'm I'm I'm not gonna switch now. Um I'm gonna stick with Duke. I'm gonna stick with my Duke pick, but I'm I'm heavily concerned. I'm heavily concerned with this because I think you kind of like you said, they've got the film on them. Um and Hurley's an outstanding coach, and they they're gonna they're gonna be ready. They're gonna be ready. It's it's gonna be a great game. It's gonna be a great game.

SPEAKER_02

It should be a good luck, Charlie. I mean, are you saying we I should be heavily concerned? That just helps me. I mean, I didn't say that before. So I did say that before. I'm just accept that. You're gonna accept that.

SPEAKER_06

All right, all right, hey. Sounds good. Sounds good. All right, all right. Well, let's move on, man. So the

South Region Check And Big Ten Talk

SPEAKER_06

south. We got Iowa, Illinois. Uh believe that, man. Let's do let's do a quick, quick check here. Because this should be this should be going on right now. Uh let's see.

SPEAKER_02

Illinois is up six with about three minutes left.

SPEAKER_06

Okay, okay, Illinois up six. All right, yep, yep. So that oh man, yeah, yeah, Illinois. So I definitely, I mean, hey, if you can beat Houston, then you know I mean, you got a lot of respect for me.

SPEAKER_02

So yeah, I was a good team. They've had some good wins, so yeah, obviously. Yeah, but they yeah, they had some great wins.

SPEAKER_06

I mean, good gracious, yeah. Not Florida, number one stand out to get one the the the one before. So um house, I mean, clearly this game is going on now, so it's no not really a who you got, but they if they come out of this, that puts them in the final four. So they'd be the first team in the final four. Yeah, so they would then so they're matched up, yeah. So this they they would play the Duke Yukon, UConn winner. So that's what would happen there. Yes. So Illinois Championship, easy road, you saying that, but I mean, dude, Illinois can play. Illinois' one of the top scoring teams. So I did not know that. So are we?

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06

Are you? Yeah. Yeah. I don't know about that. Ridiculous. I think you wanted a word balance. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

We're balanced, but like we're balanced, but good at everything.

SPEAKER_06

So it's like we don't really have weaknesses like Illinois being being the Big Ten in general. We got to give props to the Big Ten in general. I mean, you've got, you know, there's a Big Ten matchup right now in that bracket. You could have it could be four Big Ten teams in the final four. It would basically big ten tournament there. That would be crazy. That would be crazy. And that and that's the case. Oh, well, no, no, no, no. That's right, because Michigan State, it could have been before. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's right. Michigan State. It could be three. My bad. That was right. If Michigan State beat you caught, but that's right. That's funny because I haven't got Michigan State and Michigan. Oh my goodness. Oh, that would have been crazy. Oh, it would have been on five. That would have been crazy. That would have been crazy.

SPEAKER_05

That was a possibility of it.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, yeah. Okay. All right. Well,

Arizona Vs Purdue Predictions

SPEAKER_06

let's move on to uh the next one. We got Arizona Purdue. All right. Arizona Purdue here. One versus two matchup. That one's coming on next. Uh Diego, man, tell us about this one, man.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, um, I'm I'm picking Arizona, obviously, and I'm hoping and praying that they win because I don't want to see Purdue play basketball anymore. So yeah, hopefully Arizona wins and uh Purdue can go home.

SPEAKER_05

So tell me how you really feel. Yeah, yeah. Stop holding back.

SPEAKER_06

You had to get some of these big 10 teams out of here. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

I guess we gotta have one with um Illinois or Iowa, but yeah, no more. No more.

SPEAKER_06

All right, okay. I got Purdue. I actually got Purdue. And I uh if I remember correctly, I had them in my final four because I had Houston, yeah, it would have been Houston against Purdue, and then no, it would have been Houston against Michigan State, and then Purdue against Michigan. Wow. So I got yo, yes, yeah. So my Michigan State got blown up. Houston got blown up, so I need these last two, Michigan and Purdue. Oh my goodness. Wow, wow. Okay, yeah, no, I'm Arizona. I had Arizona going all the way to the championship game. So I had them losing in the championship. Um, but yeah, I see they're strong. I don't know if anybody can beat Arizona. I mean, they they're they're looking the best to me right now. So they're gonna be they're gonna be tough. So I think they they uh take care of business later today. And then we have Arizona, Illinois will be uh the first two teams in the final four, and then we'll see what happens tomorrow.

SPEAKER_02

All right. I think they'll get to the championship. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06

I think they'll get to the championship. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Then, you know, see maybe not winning. See who they play. Okay. All right. Well, let's go to the the next one. We have

Michigan’s Path And Respect Debate

SPEAKER_06

uh oh man, okay, we're getting to the Midwest. We get into the Midwest now. So we have Michigan, their number one seed. Uh so they've been, you know, you could say technically they've been taking care of business so far. Uh plainly. Technically, yeah. Yeah, you know, number one seed there. Um little questionable there. Um, because I think they they lost the Big Ten championship to Oh, no, not Wisconsin. Um did Purdue get it? It was Purdue. Purdue. Purdue got y'all. Purdue. Purdue got it. Purdue got it. But they're playing Tennessee right now. Tennessee's number six seed. Yeah. Y'all win that game, I think. Yeah. Okay. You think Michigan. I think Michigan wins that gets into the Final Four. Yes. Man, that'll be that'll be crazy to have Michigan back in the Final Four. It's inevitable. I mean, that's just how we're supposed to go. That's just how we were built. A lot of people are uh shock, but I try to tell them about Burnett. I try to tell them about Gail, you know, Cadell. They didn't, nobody wanted to listen to me and stuff. It was like I was one of the only one of the few ones who knew people on the team.

SPEAKER_05

You know, but but seriously, that last game against Iowa State, if you watch the game, because if you've been watching them during the season, they pounded inside. You know, they've been pounding it, you know, down low.

SPEAKER_06

But that game, it got to a point where they were launching threes, you know, and so they were able to shift their game, which you know, that the more flexible team, the team that can adjust, you know, when you're playing, you know, this different type of style, yeah. They were able to show that along with some really, really good defense in the second half. Really good. They turned up the defense.

SPEAKER_05

So um, we just ready, whoever we gotta take to get on down to that last one, but we're gonna be raising a trophy at the end.

SPEAKER_06

Okay. Guaranteed. Yeah, yeah. Well, I definitely think, you know, facing Tennessee as you do tomorrow. Um, I think Michigan will definitely get that and get into the Final Four. Um I think you'd play Arizona next. So that would be that that would be tough. But uh yeah, yeah, definitely. I think we all have we all have Michigan advancing into the Final Four and winning that tomorrow. So the question begs, we'll go to the next one here. Um, are we sleeping, are we sleeping on Michigan? So you see, you know, the graphic here, we got a couple of the guys that we know, but uh, you know, I had to throw back and bring some. Yeah, man, you know, Chris Webb. We got some shades.

SPEAKER_05

The only thing I hate about that picture, of course, is the timeout. Every time I look at Weber, I just instantly, it's it's just the flashback of the timeout. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Going back to the 5-5 days. Yeah, yeah. Long shorts. I don't know if I know about it. You don't know about that, dude. The long shorts.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, long shorts, man. I used to do it. Rocky Baggy. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yes, yes, yes. So, yeah, so with Michigan, man, you know, we definitely, I, I didn't, I didn't see them going to the to the final four. I admit, I did not see them going to the final four. Um, you know, now with with the matchup that they have against Tennessee, I think they can definitely get past them. Um, and then I see them, you know, going home there. But but uh no, grew up big Michigan, Michigan fan, love Michigan. Everybody did, man. Michigan was just just awesome. So it will be cool to see them uh, you know, go as far as they can. But uh do you feel like the nation, the nation's sleeping on Michigan?

SPEAKER_05

And oh, absolutely. I know they I know they are. You know, when you start talking about Arizona, Duke, those are just the easy, simple picks. Those are the people that ain't really watch Michigan yet. You know, those are the ones that say, you know, well, it's time to fill out the bracket. Oh yeah, Duke, Arizona. No, if you're a college basketball fan and you know how to break it down, you're gonna pick Michigan. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But you want to say you want to change a pick? You say Michigan? No, no, I'm I'm definitely following the way I'm standing for now.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, you feeling it now? Yeah, no, it's just uh Michigan, they're a good team. They got a lot of size with the good things. A lot of size foot center. They got um Lindenberg in the middle.

SPEAKER_06

Even the kid that comes off, you if he can just get sometimes he's right at the basket, comes off the bench. Uh is it Johnson? I think it's Johnson. It's Junior. Yeah, Johnson J. Big kid. He's like 6'6, 6'11. Yeah, but a lot of weight. And they again they they can pound it inside.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, just my thing is they've lost a lot of big games. Like they lost the Duke game earlier this year, and they lost to Wisconsin. Wait, no, I didn't lose this week. Then they lost in the Big Ten championship. They did. As we go further, like I think they'll beat Tennessee, but like I don't know if they can beat an Arizona caliber team. But they're a good team. They're a good team, though. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06

That's gonna be that's gonna be tough. And oh my goodness, yeah, this is the other thing. What's that? The Final Four is in Phoenix. Wow. So wow. So that crowd, that's the city. Yeah, so that's gonna be huge for Arizona. Yeah, there for sure. So yeah, it should definitely have a pro. And I believe they typically have it. I would assume it's at State Farm Arena. I would assume it's at the big football arena because they normally have Final Four there. So then, you know, it's even bigger and more and more people. So that should be uh that should be pretty, pretty wild.

SPEAKER_02

So the Final Four was just in Phoenix, too.

SPEAKER_06

That I think that was the women's uh final four, I feel was there. You remember NC State?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, it is. But NC State made it.

SPEAKER_06

Or was that a region or something like that?

SPEAKER_02

No, I think that was Final Four.

SPEAKER_06

Oh no, no, no. You know what? No, no, I'm wrong. Um the women's the women's is in Phoenix this year. Uh my bad, my bad. It's in Indianapolis. The men are in it. I'm looking at the wrong ones. My bad. So it's close to Michigan. It is actually close to Michigan. That's right. That's right. That's right. No, no, no. So you're right. It was in Phoenix then. Yeah, that's what we saw. So yeah, now I had it wrong. The women are in Phoenix this year. Uh, shout out to Brianna. I know Brianna will be covering that. So that is in uh Phoenix. The men are in uh Indianapolis. That's right. Yep, yep. So yeah, so it is close to there. So I'm just saying, uh the stars are lining up. Who knows? Fab five might show up at the final four. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, yeah. Little inspiration. I'm sure they will. I'm sure they will. You know, speaking up, because Jalen Rose, you know, he has the season tickets. Uh, and uh, you know, he said he goes to the games, but they still they're still not recognizing the uh Fab Five, so still don't have the banners up in or up in the Raptors or anything. I think that's gonna come to an end here a little bit. Yeah, yeah, because it's been some uh, you know, the whole story, but there've been a little bit of healing going on. Right, right, yeah, for sure. And then they had Jawan Howard as a coach. Yeah, yeah. Oh, no, they get me started on that.

SPEAKER_05

Loved him as a player, didn't did, didn't like to hire. Yeah, it ended up everything I said ended up being true.

SPEAKER_06

Uh-huh. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06

You had to get a chance to uh uh opportunity to see him live and right there on the on the sideline, right? Sitting right behind him. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That was great. It was great. It was, yeah. All right. Well,

Women’s March Madness And UConn Dominance

SPEAKER_06

let's uh let's move on to the women's march madness bracket. Again, they will be playing in Phoenix next week, but they're um, you know, finishing up the Sweet 16 Elite Eight, some great matchups. So they have some going on right now. I know uh Duke, they had the uh buzzer beater beat LSU. So Duke is a you know advancing. So Duke overall is doing big things. I saw South Carolina was up big, so it looks like they'll advance to the Elite Eight. I believe they'll play Monday. Uh Notre Dame, man, Notre Dame is doing some big things. So they will play, they are playing uh Elite Eight. So I believe they play tomorrow. I believe they actually will play UConn. Yeah, they're gonna play UConn. So, you know, again, big question is can anybody beat UConn?

SPEAKER_05

But uh man, that that's uh trophy to UCO.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, they look so they look so good. I mean, you know, I love South Carolina. I love to see them go far. I really like Notre Dame, like the uh point guard, the coach, all of what they do. They're just so poised. Um, I saw a lot of the game Notre Dame played against Ohio State. Um, they were it was in Ohio State. It was a man, was it four or five matchup? But it was in Ohio State. And Ohio State came out and just blitzed them. They pressed them full code. They were just all over them. Shout out to like a double-digit lead. And they just were so poised, hung in there. Um, you know, they had some turnovers. They looked, you know, um, they got the ball from them, but by the end of the first quarter, they were only down by like two. And it's like all the all the energy just got snapped out of Ohio State because it was like, man, it came out when full court press had this lead, and now it's basically a tie game. And Notre Dame just kind of rolled from there. But yeah, so that was a great, great game to uh to to watch. So enjoyed that. But um, yeah, I mean, the talk of the time, I mean, LSU is now out of it from the women.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, um, I had them going to the championship.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, yeah, you yeah, you did. You had them going to the championship. Now, South Carolina will play TCU most likely um next. So I think TCU's gonna get them in battle because that other guard that was at Notre Dame is she transferred to TCU. So TCU's good. TCU's a three seed, so they're gonna have their hands full with TCU. Um UConn, you know, they they'll have um Notre Dame, like we said, that'll be fun. And then, man, so now I believe UCLA, most likely UCLA Duke, is uh who will have in the other, the Sacramento two. You'll have that. So UCLA, I think they only have one loss. They have, you know, big center and whatnot. Um, they're the only team that I felt would have any chance to beat UConn was UCLA. That's the only team that I thought could possibly match up with them. And I still still feel that way. I don't see anybody else that can match up with them. Texas Texas is good, and Texas put a put a beat down on South Carolina. But I don't I don't think they match up well with UConn. Yeah, they'll be in the Final Four for sure. Um, they'll definitely be there, but UCLA is the only team that I think can possibly possibly hang with them. And if South Carolina faces UConn, it would be in the Final Four. It would not be in the championship. Okay. Yeah. Well, did anybody see the uh Syracuse coach? No. That Syracuse lost early to um Yukon. And uh she went viral uh because she kind of well, she didn't complain, she just came out and said, you know, that for so many years they always match up with Yukon. Oh, I did hear that. Yes, yes, yes, I did actually hear that. Oh man. Because it went viral and beating. That's a good point. Yeah, I man, I don't know. I I think that's just that that's kind of weak. I agree that's what that's what most that's why we're viral.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah you know, most people said that, hey, look, you know, you pretty much saying, telling your team we we can't beat them, uh-huh. So we shouldn't need to play them first. When you should have the attitude that, hey, yeah, we could beat anybody that you put out there on the court. Exactly. And you're not saying that it's that you she literally said that, hey, we should have gone further in the tournament. Exactly. Until we get to UConn. Right.

SPEAKER_02

It might be something you gotta handle like more internally with like the people at the head of the NCAA and side of the city. I agree with that. Isn't it like doing public then? Then you got like the team image, right? Because it looks weak. Like, yeah, why can't we compete with them?

SPEAKER_06

Yes, yeah. Yeah, I agree with that. That's a good point. Yeah, I agree with that. Yeah, that's a great point. That's a great point. All right, well, let's move on to our next topic rapid fire here. We've got

Coach Firings And NIL Recruiting Reality

SPEAKER_06

the coach, the coach firing's here. So, you know, Duke has been getting top recruiting classes for the last several years. They had a seamless transition between Coach K and Shire. Um, just keeping it rolling where, you know, state's been reeling for years. I mean, the the rivalry used to be NC State Carolina. Nobody remembers that. Now it's Duke Carolina, which now aggravates.

SPEAKER_02

You have and NC State are right, right.

SPEAKER_06

And so now, you know, they're firing, you know, their coach Hubert Davis had two five stars coming in and wouldn't let him come in and coach the team. You know, and then NC State, you had Keats got them to a final four, first final four in years, and then had a very bad season the next year, and they let him go right after that. So um, man, what do you guys think? Are is uh Duke and NC State are they panicking? Um, with all that that um Duke is doing, is NC State and UNC are they panicking right now?

SPEAKER_02

Um, yeah, I mean, and I think I feel like NC State didn't really have a choice because like uh Will Way just kind of left. But um UNC, I don't feel like they panicked because I don't think Hubert was that great of a coach, honestly. And a lot I know a lot of UNC fans that I know are very unhappy with with him right now. Okay. So um I think they made the right move and they gotta keep up with Duke, obviously, because we we we want to still be a rival. We want to still be interesting, but right now it's just not even a competition. So um, but the NC State definitely gotta get it together also.

unknown

Okay.

SPEAKER_06

State's in a hard, both of them have put themselves in hard positions.

SPEAKER_05

First of all, the athletic director, that whole scenario would state you gotta kind of understand the character of the individual that you're bringing in there.

SPEAKER_06

And if you look at some of his past exploits, you know, when you start coming in, talking about coming to ACC, you want people that's going to be uh just uh, you know, I mean, it's it they they loyal to a fall. Uh I always question, I'll go back to the Herb Sin Day.

SPEAKER_05

Hey, I always felt they that they shouldn't have got rid of Herb back in the day, you know. Yeah, he did exactly, you know, it was born basketball, but it was effective basketball. Yep.

SPEAKER_06

It was born basketball, but it was effective basketball. He was always in the mix. Now with State, I'm gonna ask this the same question. Where do you go from here? Oh man, yeah, nobody goes from there. So shout out to my wife. She said nobody cares about USC. So I did see the corner of my eye there. So big, big state fan there. So love the rivalry there. Yeah. Maybe state brings beats back.

SPEAKER_02

Maybe they wanted to get rid of him.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, they're gonna tell you a secret. They wanted to get rid of him, but he went on that run. Yeah, that saved him. That stage.

SPEAKER_03

That's true.

SPEAKER_02

Maybe he's the answer.

SPEAKER_06

Maybe. I I think I mean what, and then then the fact that okay, you got to the final four, because I actually agreed with the move when they made it, because even though you can say, man, well, he got him to the final four, you let him go. But it's like, okay, if you get to the final four, all the publicity, all the momentum that they had. Yeah, if you can't even make it to the ACC tournament, yeah, we finished dead last in the ACC after going to the final four. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Like, that's kind of great.

SPEAKER_06

If you can't win after going to the final four, then it ain't it ain't no. You're spot on. Right. So that was that's how um Hubert Davis being looked at too for when it was handed, it just seemed like everything is going down. But the same question goes on with with them. Yeah. Who who do you bring in now? Yeah, and there's a lot. I actually heard on the radio this morning, NBA radio. Um, dang, I can't think of my man's name as the coach. Um, shoot, the coach used to coach the Timberwolves. I love him. Can't think of Oh, I know you're talking about. Yeah, yeah. He's one of my favorite guys. I can't think of his name. This case me. But anyhow, he said uh Jerry Stackhouse. And I I was like, man, because thing with Stackhouse, and it wasn't even a keep it in the family, because I'm not a big believer in keeping it in the family, because I think a lot of times you make the wrong hire when you try to keep it in the family.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06

But I feel this is me personally, that he actually is one that's good because he's paid his dues, he's coached as coaching coach for a long time. He's coached in the NBA as an assistant coach. He was a head coach and college he coached at Vanderbilt. Didn't know that. And it was actually in um, you know, he had a couple years, he he did a good job recruiting as well. But it was like they were in the midst of trying to, it was in the early stages of turning the program around. Okay, and just the SEC in general. So, but I feel that with his experience, and I know he'll be able to recruit, and then you have that bonus, because I think it should just be a bonus as far as keeping it in the family, like that shouldn't be the main thing. Right. But I think that's just the icing on the cake. But when I heard it, I was like, ooh, I didn't think about that. I hadn't heard that in that yeah, yeah. I hadn't heard that name. Yeah, and you're right. I forgot about even his experience and stuff, yeah. Uh, because the we, you know, is the recruiting aspect, because you know, with the NIL in there, is the recruiting aspect of it with coach, is it really that much of it? Because money now is what drives everybody. Yeah. So is it really that much?

SPEAKER_05

You know, you used to be able to say, and and um Rasheed Wallace gave us he gave an outstanding story about how Dean Smith and them were in his, you know, that story.

SPEAKER_06

You know, he they were right there, you know, at his house the next day after they won a championship, right? So that's when recruiting and you being out there matters. Now everybody looking for when they when they looking, they ain't looking for Dean Smith, they're looking for a bag sitting in there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. For real. Yeah. Is that bag in there? Yeah, exactly. And then then we can talk. Right. Yeah. Yeah. No, you're you're you're exactly, exactly right. Um, some of the other names, um, you know, I know Stephen A. Smith has been campaigning for Kenny Smith. Yeah. To uh, you know, to be there and whatnot. And so now, what I will say about Kenny Smith is again, he is very plugged in to the um up and coming players. So I think he would be a great recruiter, and with college basketball as the coach, that's 90, at least 80% of it.

SPEAKER_02

Right. Will you regard? Just as long as they're able to get recruiting classes that are um that measure up to Duke, like or just something clear. Like, I mean, that'll that'll be good for him.

SPEAKER_06

But you know, he hasn't, although we know he, I mean, he was a point guard in the NBA for many years. We know he knows his ex and O's. Yeah. But just never doing it before clearly is a, you know, that's uh that's a concern, especially after, you know, firing a, you know, another coach that, you know, hadn't done it. So um I'm hearing the Arizona coach. I heard myself being here. I heard that. Hearing that one. Um, you know, heard a lot of names, heard the Chicago Bulls coach, um, who coached Billy Donovan, who had back-to-back titles in Florida.

SPEAKER_05

You're right.

SPEAKER_06

And so, you know, people are saying, okay, yeah, but why would you leave you know an NBA job that you have? It's like, okay, well, you're coaching the Bulls, they've been terrible for years. You probably get fired. You're not gonna have that job very long. Yeah. So this would be good, you know, place to go. Yeah, so Billy Donovan would be would be huge. I would I think that would be a slam dunk if they got that one. But uh, yeah, it'd be interesting to see what they do. But state, man, I I don't know. I don't know what they're gonna do. I don't know. Because every coach, you know, it's like we get hype, we hear all these great things, ah, it's gonna be great. And then they're either terrible, or it's like, well, you know, Wade who just dipped on them after one year, or yeah, something. It's always something. It is. That's what you hate. And I, you know, I want I want to love state. I actually, because I'm here, I want to love state. Yeah, but just like you said, and couldn't have said it better. It's always something, it's not one thing I can point to, it's just always something. Absolutely. Always, always. Oh man. Well, we'll see. We'll see what happens there. Well, then we got uh time here. Okay, we got another 15 minutes. We've got two more topics, and then we have my man Brandon on.

Sponsor Break Then Detroit Pistons Talk

SPEAKER_06

Uh, so we're gonna go into uh the Detroit Pistons. We're gonna talk about that, but before that, man, I have had a crazy day, man. I filmed two uh shows for CEO Lounge, been running around, been running around. So I need to take a quick break. Sorry, here I need to get a little bit of my pure green. Get some of that pure green. Let me get some of this in me. If you didn't know, pure green Clayton is one of our sponsors, but um, you know, I'm gonna give me a little swig of this just to give me the boost that I need to continue to be able to get to moderate the show. Get the that's what I need to be able to do. This so let me get that and then we'll talk about the Detroit business. Move your fingers. Oh, move my finger. There we go. Yes, this is what I'm drinking. If you want to be able to do three shows in a day, including one live, you will get a pure green as well. All right, get the boost, boost it up, boost it up, and while you're doing that, I'm gonna get myself ready. There you go. Oh, I'm ready now. There we go. Get myself ready. Yes, I don't even know who I don't even know who we're gonna talk about. I don't know who we're gonna talk about next, guys. I don't know. Something we can talk about. I don't even know. NBA. We're we're talking. We're going NBA right now. Let's go NBA, NBA action. Oh, it's a little chilly in here. It's fantastic. You remember that? It's it's a little chilly in here to me. Let's talk. NBA. Yeah, make sure we get the most. See that. So all right, Detroit basketball. You gotta know. If you know, you know. In the D.

SPEAKER_02

Bulls fan, man.

SPEAKER_06

In the D. Well, you know, so I grew up in Chicago. Okay, you know, father's from Chicago, South Side, South Shore High School. However, yes, my mother, yes, okay. My mother is from Detroit, okay? Bless your mom. Southwest, you know what I'm saying? Southwest and high school. All right. Okay, you know, same high school Jalen Rose went to. That's it. You know what I'm saying? Family shout out to Detroit fam. So I grew up Michigan fam, I grew up hating the Pistons. Okay, for sure, in full disclosure. But you know, with that, as you get older, you know what I mean? You get the thing. You then have respect. Okay, so the Chicago Bulls owe six championships. All the success that we had, we owe to Detroit, the Detroit Pistons. They taught us. That's right. They taught us how to be the greatest team ever. You know what I mean? So we have to give that. We got to give them that that's the thing. Once you saw the greatest team, then you can become the greatest team.

SPEAKER_02

Well, you know, dynasties like the Warriors didn't need no, didn't need no ramp ups. I mean, we just kind of we just kind of delegate Ryan. Don't make me go. I'm just saying.

SPEAKER_06

Don't make me get my belt. Don't make me get my belt. Don't make me get my belt. I just have to have I don't want to go low on you. I really, really don't. You know what I'm saying? But we know it's Chicago Bulls. So Dwayne, this for you. We know when when we won our 70, 72 games. I mean, okay.

SPEAKER_02

We didn't have to.

SPEAKER_06

We finished the job. We close the deal. Close the deal. Close the deal.

SPEAKER_02

Close the deal. All right. So that extra game can be tiring.

SPEAKER_06

That's 727. That's the 73. That's a little bit of your energy. If you won 72, you would have won the championship. Okay, all right.

SPEAKER_02

Extra game energy.

SPEAKER_06

All right. So, Detroit, man. What's up with the hey Sims? We got we're gonna start with you, baby. So uh I'm still putting them.

SPEAKER_05

If you remember, we can roll the tape later to look at it. I said they're gonna make it to the finals. And I still I'm still believing in that, but we got a couple little issues. Of course, everybody knows about what happened with Kay Cunningham. I still don't know what a Minor collapse lung is. I'm glad to hear it. I just thought with that lung collapse. It's collapse. It's gone. Now it's mild. So I am glad to hear it's a mild collapse lung. So he's supposed to be back. I don't know what all that means for him from an energy standpoint, but good news. Good news.

SPEAKER_06

They last 10 games, they've been seven and three, you know. And so that that's good. So they've been upholding.

SPEAKER_05

You know, you look at uh Duran, uh Thompson, those guys have actually stepped up big time in their roles and and and Robinson been been hitting it from the outside.

SPEAKER_06

Now I will say this, uh they have they have gotten, you know, the same way I talk about the college teams, it happens in the pros, they have gotten exposed in the fact that, you know, if you get a team that's a scoring team and they're hitting those threes, that's what happened when they hit play San Antonio, for instance. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

That that that's their only thing. But in the East, I still don't see that team.

SPEAKER_06

They're over there in that in that west that they gotta worry about, but not not as much in that in that east. I'm not worried about Boston is the same thing, seven and three. Jason Tatum, Jalen Brown's on line one. Yeah. Let me say this. Let me say this. Let me say this.

SPEAKER_05

They they seven and three since he came back. Last 10 games, they seven and three. Don't drink the Kool-Aid. Don't drink the Kool-Aid.

SPEAKER_06

All right, we drink a pure green here. We don't drink Kool-Aid.

SPEAKER_05

All right.

SPEAKER_06

That Kool-Aid to fool you. Yes, okay. Too much sugar.

SPEAKER_05

That's right. That's right. I know you want some of this, Diego. You chomp it at the bits. But I'm gonna let you chomp on a little beef stew. All right. If you don't know what that means out there, Isaiah Stewart, all right. He's one of the uh he give you a throwback to the bad boys days. Uh in Detroit, he's known as Beef Stew. So uh I think I'm gonna come in here with a little Denny Moore. Anybody know what Denny Moore beef stew is? I'm gonna feed it to Diego after we get on and wear Boston out and stuff. What you got for me?

SPEAKER_02

Uh yeah, I mean, Pit the Pistons, they're a solid, they're they're they're a nice team. They're a nice team, but I just I just don't think they're ready to really compete yet. You know, they're I feel like they're a year away, maybe another piece away. But um, like a team like the Celtics, for example, I think they're I think they're I mean, obviously they have the experience of winning championships in the past, and with you add Tatum to what they've been doing, Pritcher hitting the threes, uh Jalen Brown in the MVP conversation. I think I think they're the squad right now that's the favorite. I think they've gone to the finals. But they're a nice team. They're they're calm, calm team.

SPEAKER_06

They can't take the physicality.

SPEAKER_02

They don't they don't need the phone.

SPEAKER_06

They can't take that. You know, Jalen Brown just showed that the uh, I want to say they played each other, was it about five, six games ago? And uh uh he got put out the game, if I remember correctly.

SPEAKER_05

Now, I do think that the other technical foul he got was weak, but he couldn't, you know, he couldn't handle it. And I just think that that style of play, right? Uh that's that's just what they, you know, I think that's gonna bring him up. And then, you know, when you say that, everybody forgets they made it right on there to the there was one game out last year. So they were at that threshold, right? You know, so they do have that experience now going into, you know, and we'll see when Kay comes back. But I just think mentally he's another different in the different player. If it wasn't for these games that he's gonna be out, he was in that MVP running, you know, that that you know, in that discussion at least. I don't think he's the MVP, right? You know, we we we all you know know and agree that you know, oh boy from San Antonio is the number one for MVP right now.

SPEAKER_06

Um so yeah, yeah. So my so my vlog is posted here. So Professor Thompson, the Lou Thompson is my dad, uh Chata, Chatao's fighters, that he is pulling for the pistons. Professor Thompson's pulling for the pistons. Can't help that. He knows it, he knows it. That's a smart man. Yeah, that's a smart man. I just I just knew this in there. He knows he knows the deal. He knows the deal. See the emblem.

SPEAKER_02

He didn't say he's picking it, he said he's pulling. He said he wants the best for y'all.

SPEAKER_05

He's not he didn't say they're gonna go do a doing before you pick, you gotta pull. Here it is, right here.

SPEAKER_06

Feel the emblem, be the emblem. Oh man. I'm getting chilly. Yeah, so they would be so they are number, well, they're number one seed. That is correct. Number one seed. So Boston is two, I think Knicks are three. So they're two, three, if I'm not mistaken. I think Cleveland's in four. So if we look at how this matches up. So um they would play Charlotte Cleveland. Yes, but I'm I was gonna go there. I was gonna go there. I get y'all, man. I was gonna go there. If I'm if I'm Detroit, and this probably you, I'm more concerned. Uh, so okay, Professor Top said he wants the NBA to be, yeah, OKC Detroit. Yeah, that would be that would be big. Ooh, I like that. Yeah, that would be big. And they're gonna play each other. They're gonna play each other soon, I believe. I think they they they play each other soon. So there'll be a final game there. And OKC needs that game. So they'll have a lot to play for because the Spurs are coming. Spurs have a weaker schedule. OKC has a tough schedule than the season. So they're trying to hold them off that number one seed. OKC needs that number one seed. Um, but breaking down, if I'm OKC, um, I mean, I'm sorry, Detroit. I'm probably more concerned about Charlotte than Cleveland.

SPEAKER_05

I don't I don't disagree with that because Charlotte is just that crazy right. They ain't got nothing. They ain't got nothing. And if you watch them play, I gotta give them credit. You know, you know, I love my pistons. You know, I'm all you know, I'm all pissing out. But they I I've watched them and they that, you know, they're gonna go in there, yeah. We can beat them and believe that.

SPEAKER_02

Lamello ball's been waiting for this his entire life. Yeah, I'm saying he he was gonna be crazy.

SPEAKER_06

Lamello will play the game with an iPod in his ear. Right. Right. That's gonna be, yeah, right. They ain't gonna have nothing to lose. Nothing, nothing. So I'm dangerous.

SPEAKER_05

That's gonna be a dangerous one. We can't sleep. We're gonna have to impose our will, go in there, put our foot on the net, break them down, and then get out of there. Yeah. That that's it. We got to treat them like AC that they are, and then come on out of there.

SPEAKER_06

If we mess around, Charlotte could are gonna slip, and next thing we know, we in this doggone uh fifth game. Yeah, yeah. Don't want none of that. So yeah. But then, but the good thing is you got Boston Knicks beating each other up.

SPEAKER_05

Yes, I think. Because they're gonna beat each other up. Yeah, they're gonna beat each other up.

SPEAKER_06

Because that's not, I still, if I'm Boston, I'm concerned about the Knicks. I think Knicks have holes. Knicks don't follow um match up well with a lot of other teams. But again, Knicks knocked Boston out last year with Tatum. Yeah, Tatum got hurt. With the healthy key. No, he they he got hurt at the end of that game six, it was already over. You never know. You never know.

SPEAKER_05

His feelings got hurt.

SPEAKER_02

If he could have finished up, if he could have finished up, you never know. Then they were coming back.

SPEAKER_05

I think it was one of those that what'd you say the score is? Oh, my ankle hurt.

SPEAKER_06

We'll never know, man. So, all right. Well,

MVP Number Two Debate

SPEAKER_06

we got our last last topic here, and then we gotta bring Brandon on here, but uh MVP race. Uh Diego, who who's number two? We already know who's number one.

SPEAKER_02

I I I gotta go Luca right now for number two. Um, he's his numbers are averaging like about 35, 11, and like eight, I think. Like just crazy numbers. Um, just the only reason I feel like he's two is because you know he's been inconsistent uh throughout the year. He's he's been going crazy now, but at the beginning of the year there's some questions. And um and Los Angeles has just been coming up the rankings recently. But um, but yeah, I definitely feel like SGA is the clear one.

SPEAKER_09

For sure. Like no doubt about it.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, there's no doubt about that. No doubt about that. That's number two.

SPEAKER_06

Number two. Yeah. Luca number two. Yeah, I again Luca's playing great now. But I I just you you you can't be MVP candidate to me when if there's a point in time in the season and we're questioning what's wrong with you. Like, if if if if we if we say that about you at any point in the season, like I can't, we we don't say that about anybody else on the list here but Luca. So, you know, just because you're losing your mind now, he had that little time earlier in the season when you know we were questioned. So I mean his numbers are just by this world. So yeah, he he's doing his thing now. If he's played that way the whole way, shoot, maybe there's a debate on number one. But no, to me, number two is uh Jalen Brown. Oh Jalen Brown's number two. Oh so father forgive them for they know not what they do. Number two, Jalen Brown. We look at what what what he's been doing, man. Uh carrying carrying that team all the way through. Uh it's been magnificent. Again, Joker, his team's number six. Luca had that blip where he wasn't playing as well. Wimby, great on defensive. Yeah, his offensive numbers aren't good enough. So gosh.

SPEAKER_05

Wimby is the clear. Here's the thing: nobody wants to go on Wimby because he's the new guy. If we're talking about MVP and the value that they bring to the team on both ends of the court, okay, it's only he they're not gonna pick him because he he just ain't the, you know, it's kind of like we kind of a war. But you know, since we're on a real, real sports show, like picking pros, yeah. All right, I know we're gonna go hit on and not try to put it on the on SGA when we really know it should be Wimby.

SPEAKER_06

So Wimby should be number two? What's that? He should be number two for MVP. He's fighting this thing again. Because we we don't have him in our top in our two. So you're saying Wimby because this should be number two.

SPEAKER_05

Gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen, both ends of the court. Let's talk real basketball. Let's not deny this man just because he's young and he's gonna, you know, he's gonna be around. He'll win a bunch more later. No, let's make the real pick. Let's step up and say we know about basketball on both ends of the court. We ain't seen a shot blocker, a passer, uh uh, what's he, sevenfold?

SPEAKER_02

I mean, SGA does average six assists a game, and he's been a good one.

SPEAKER_05

Oh, he's not I'm not, I'm not denying, but but MVP, uh, do we really want to throw out all stats or do we want to really want to throw out the actual value?

SPEAKER_06

The actual, and and nobody is more valued. SGA was out. They were still, I mean, I'm not saying they didn't lose some, they were still winning games. You're gonna tell me that if Wimby is out, you can forget it for San Antonio. And the regular season, I believe he's gonna be. They've had a pretty good record this year without a good record this year. Yeah, yeah, well, okay. It's not the I don't think it's the same. I think it's a lot different for the first time. I mean, if you look at the way number five in defense. Who do you think would go further in a in the playoffs without their main player, without SGA, Oklahoma or San Antonio? It's all right. It's all right. I know you want to say it. Don't worry about it. Stuff. I think maybe. I know I know you want to say it. Oh, OKC didn't give a game.

SPEAKER_02

And he Oh, go ahead, go ahead. No, no. It had multiple steals a game for last few years, and he's a good shot blocker also for Gar, yeah.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah. Now, okay, quote question for you, Sam. Okay, throw it out. We gotta bring Brandon on. Okay, so you got Wimby. Wemby's doing it. Fantastic. Clear cut MVP. Thank you. To you. Yes. No, you know, everybody. But okay, but Cade doesn't get hurt, and he hits the 65 game threshold. Is it still Wemby? Or or is is it Cade? I I have that's a good question, but I'm gonna tell you, I'm actually gonna go Wimby.

SPEAKER_05

Okay, I'm actually gonna go Wendy only because of and and Kade's a good, hear me out, he's a good defensive player. I look at both ends of the core. You know, I know you guys, y'all do a lot of highlight stuff and everything like that. So y'all over there on the offensive end, then y'all sleep when they go on the defense. Do y'all look at the offense? I look at both ends ore. I look at both ends. Detroit tough. Bad boy. Bad boy.

SPEAKER_02

I feel like the balance is too balanced. You know what I mean? Like, I can't remember the last time I've seen an MVP average like 24 points a game. Like, that's probably before I was born.

SPEAKER_06

But you putting steps on, you just putting the you just putting the points per game up there. You I want the en high, you know. Do you do you want a little piece of the pie? Do you want the whole pie? I want the whole pie. I'm just saying. Well, we're gonna tell you, we're gonna have uh Brandon come in and sell settle this debate here on the uh MVP and maybe another topic or

Brandon Bean’s Picks And Takeaways

SPEAKER_06

two. So let's let's bring in our guy here, Brandon Bean. What's going on, my man? What's going on? All right, man. All right, man. So I out of the corner of my eye, I know you posted something on MVP. I didn't quite get to see it, but uh, who do you have as number two MVP? Because we all know it's SGA number one. So that's not even a debate.

SPEAKER_04

Uh it's actually Wimby. Like, I can't I can't front. Like, dude is like generational. Thank you.

SPEAKER_05

Thank you. But you really want to say number one. It's okay. I understand you want to do that. No, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_04

I'm not saying he doesn't have a case uh for being anyone. Any other year, I would have him number one, but I think what I think what's happening in, I think we can see it like we see it in the history of the game where it's like when by putting Wimby number one, it's almost like we're punishing SGA for being too great. And we did this years ago with you know the likes of LeBron, Jordan, um, where you win a couple MVPs here and there, and you start to like, well, let's give it somebody else new, you know, instead of saying, No, let's just give it to somebody that's just the best player right now. SGA, I feel like it's he hadn't really slowed down. Like having better numbers this year than he's the guy that's averaging 30 again on shooting like the 55% he's shooting, yeah. Like the 20th straight year as a guard, so it's like he's what's when he's shooting when somebody's breaking Will Chamberlain's record and being mentioned up there with Michael Jordan. That's true. Like, I'm like, I love Wimby. Don't get me wrong, he's he's an amazing player. Like, he's gonna be MVP, he's definitely gonna be defensive player of the year this year. There's no argument there. Yeah, we'll give him that. Um I think we're both of them.

SPEAKER_02

Defensive player of the year.

SPEAKER_04

I think I think I gotta go with Shay, somebody that's like, yes, he's yes, Shay has missed games, but the support cast has also missed games too. And I've seen Shay still put up numbers despite Chit missing games, despite J Dub missing games, miss games. So and they're still number one not only in the West, but also in the entire league. Oh league. So Crusoe, you just give the slight edge to Shay. Now, will he win it unanimously? No. But when he win the MVP, yeah, you gotta give him MVP.

SPEAKER_03

Okay.

SPEAKER_06

So, Brandon, we got we we we got one more question for you, and we gotta get out of here. Uh, who you got winning? Well, actually both of them. So men's uh championship uh for NCAA and women's championship. Who you got winning uh each one?

SPEAKER_04

On the men's side, I have Arizona. Um Jane Bradley, I feel like could just take over a tournament game at any moment. Um yes, I'm very aware that we could see an opportunity with Arizona and Michigan. That should be a uh dramatic game uh with a fantastic finish. But I think just Arizona just feels like been the best team all year. Um every tough team that they face, they've handled themselves well and won most of those games. So I would go with them. Okay. Uh the women's side, I mean, UConn is pretty much competing against themselves at this point. Uh before the season, I picked them not only to win the national title, but to go undefeated. Okay. Considering the roster that they had, considering it's Gino or Yama. Like Sarah Strong looks like another great Yukon player that they just somehow find every year. They do. They do. Um, AZ coming, AZ's been AZ foot. She probably is gonna be the number one pick in this upcoming WNBA draft. So but I mean, I I feel like I've been watching more women's side than the men's side, only because of the star power. I think when you have players like Kamar Johnson out of Virginia or Master Booker out of Texas or, you know, Jazzy Davison out of USC, like it's good to see like not only freshmen, but also seniors, you know, or juniors and seniors um stay three, four years, maybe five years to try to win a national title and you know, help out their programs. It helps the fans out, you know, get familiar with them, like as a whole. And I I hope that the men can somewhat get back to that, because that's what they've been missing for the past maybe 10, 20 years. So I feel like that's what that's when that's literally my message. Kind of like to y'all, like I know it's like it's an hour show, you got a lot of topics, you know, you gotta pack stuff in, but yeah, I'm like like I listen to y'all, I see these topics, I'm like, man, they're missing all of this other stuff. I know, I know, so it's like I'm just saying, I would I tell people something, hey, anything, I'm always good. So yeah, nah, if if it's you know, if you want me to like do my own show and use y'all platform, I'll do it. If y'all need me to hey, we we need a women's basketball with it.

SPEAKER_06

We need more coverage on the women for sure. And yeah, we just had a tight time, so we actually got to get off of here now. But uh, but yeah, no, man, love your takes, great, great points. And uh, yeah, no, we'll definitely uh talk about the more things that we're gonna do here, and uh, we gotta uh get rolling here, man. But nah Brandon, man, we love you, man. We appreciate you, and uh, we'll be talking to you soon, man. Enjoy the rest of these games, my man. All right, you too. Okay, thank you, Brandon. Appreciate it. All right, all right, that's our guy,

Wrap Up And Sign Off

SPEAKER_06

Brandon. But yeah, definitely right. As I was putting the agenda together, I was like, man, my goodness, there's so many because we go in depth with the men, and women we kind of cover with uh high brush. We we went more in depth last week. We did, we covered like each and every bracket, but this one we had so much that we had to go into that um, you know, we cut it a little short. But uh, all right. Well, let's get on out of here, man. We got Ballers Unite uh just rolled up, the basketball squad. So we got some more business to handle. We got to do a big photo shoot with them. Shout out to uh everybody that has made this special. Thank you so much, and uh, we will see y'all next time, all right? Enjoy family, enjoy sports. Until then, pick them pros. Pick them pros see y'all later. Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_00

All right, pick them pro give the show, you have four, and you fit all the four, thank you, fix it, yeah, same, famous, that stable, stable, gas, coming up, beat, bear, indie, go, just drop in the palette for fashionable palette on lacking the power of the floor, dynamic dual power of star, doing the fixed greatest play of the fifth of the data, the biggest game and the data playlist for the latest colour, we got the sports of power, for the latest game, the fact that break it down on the greatest place, don't love space four.

SPEAKER_09

And a phone call featuring a fandom. When it comes to the right pick, they're all psychic. He's keeping psychic. Boom, the activity is seismic. Hun a mount so high, can't climb it. Wanna be on a team that elevates at a better rate than a featherweight versus a heavyweight, there ain't no better way. Gotta let them never straight. Second and note with the numbers that generate. Real goals with the extra points like field goals, never taking defeats like steel toes. And they blowin' up on a real though. Without them, you would never know what team is on an island. Every social platform shouldn't be that hard to find them. From the north, from the south, east and west. Just remember that the father always knows best.

SPEAKER_01

The composer the show you've been waiting for. In the low kissing clothes, and your favorites for Cut it slow, NFL, NBA and more, making a day for sure. Lincoln and take the door.