The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Hour 1: I Want To Complement Myself

Episode Date: March 18, 2024

Seth Davis joins the show to break down the NCAA Tournament and defend Zach Edey from Dan lashing out at him. Plus, why teams that missed the tournament do not have the right to complain. The show laughs at Amin for his horrible shot that went viral at a celebrity basketball game and Sammy Sosa for stumbling over a steroid-related question. Finally, Rachel Nichols joins the show to further criticize Amin's form, talk about working with Boogie Cousins and other hot basketball topics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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and grab a DiGiorno Classic crust pizza from the grocery store today. It's not delivery, it's DiGiorno. This is the Don LeBattor Show with the StuGuts Podcast. There is professional Seth Davis. You just saw it. He is pulling a curtain in some hotel somewhere where he's been going over the numbers. I'm sure it smells like the committee over

there because Seth Davis over the last 20 years has climbed into the granules of college basketball stegots. And he's one of the voices on Sunday who's going to tell us about the 40 teams we don't know we're all going gonna be gambling on over the course of the next few weeks. And so all he's here for, all Chris Cody wants from him is, hey, Seth, abandon all your journalistic principles and just tell me who to bet on. Tell me who's gonna surprise people because he likes the matchup.

But Seth has to be a journalist, he has to be integrity, he's been doing this for 20 years. Stugatsa, how many names do you associate with this guy's gonna tell me who's got a right who's got it wrong for sixty eight teams how many how many names can you mention that you associate like this one with this person's information is going to be good set davis and jay billis is it to it's not just two of you is it who else is on that list at who else is

on it that's all there's a lot of guys andy katz might be core c uh... of course the people that i work with clark ellard jay right uh... candice parker in atlanta and you know that you're going to have been studying college basketball very close to know that that that's bullshit that that's bullshit that i thought i was going to have to wait for the tournament every year it is the most amazing slalom job I've ever seen.

He knows nothing about what he's watching and he's doing it for eight hours a day and it's just the fraudster. Like he doesn't, he's just doing research before the game. But he knows basketball. Yes. He knows what he sees and Kenny, they know what they see. So yeah, it's good.

It's the greatest gig. It's the greatest gig. But what's this thing about gambling? Who's gambling? Are people gambling? Chris Cody here. Let's let's lift the veil away from from this nonsense. The value set. Yes. Look, Seth, give us fast and easy value cheap and easy. We haven't talked to you in a while.

Get to the good stuff. Well, you know, my only rule of this is no blaming like my buddies. They call me from Vegas. They want to know my face. I'm rule of this is no blaming. Like my buddies, they call me from Vegas. They want to know my face. I'm like, no, no blaming. That's all the person who knows the least always wins the office for I went. I'm kind of kicking myself. Look, I get like literally six minutes to fill out my bracket because they hand us

the sheet of paper from the committee. We're 10 minutes to the start of the selection show. I got to make my picks and go through all my comments. And I think that's the best way to do it, frankly. But I've got a lot of chalk late in the tournament. Okay. Houston and you kind of are the two best teams in this tournament. Purdue is tricky. I'm not going to lie. Purdue is tricky and they drew two tricky teams in their region. If they play them and Creighton and Tennessee. That slab of meat Edie is just going to get in everyone's way. Tennessee. That slab of meat, E.D., is just gonna get in everyone's way.

No, that slab of meat, that fouling slab of meat that can't be defended, can't be guarded, plants itself in the key, and is Yao Ming's body, that cannot be allowed to ruin this tournament, Seth. Cannot be allowed. I'm sensing some Zack E.D. backlash. Are you in that camp and not appreciating the big maple? He would have been drafted.

He would have been drafted ahead of Michael Jordan in 1984. I am not underestimating him. Yeah. Well, you know, I think about Zach Eady is he lives at the foul line. And I know this is a big conversation. I've talked to people, including inside the Big Ten, and they don't call enough fouls against Zach Giede. What are you gonna do? The guy's 7'5, 270, and he knows how to play at this point

because he's been there forever. And so you gotta either stop him from catching the ball in close, or foul him, and he's become a 72% foul shooter. But let me give you a nugget about Creighton. First of all, they have the best defensive center in the Big East, and one of the best in the country, and Ryan Kalkrenner. And they are number one on Ken Palm in defensive free throw rate. They are the best team in the entire country at not fouling. And they have some

dynamic guards of the kind that Purdue has had trouble with. So look, we all know the blueprint with Purdue. ZD is going to roll out of bed and get you 24 and 10. I mean, that's just the reality. The question is, it's not about him scoring from the foul line. It's fouling everybody out. In other words, if you're Creighton and Ryan Kulkbrenner gets a second foul with nine minutes to go on the first half, it's going to be a long day. But there will come a time and probably multiple times when the EDX, as I call them, Braden Smith, Fletcher Lawyer, Lance Jones, who was not on the team last year, transferred from Southern Illinois, they are going to have to win a game for Purdue with their three point shooting under the

most immense pressure that an athlete can face. And then Tennessee, of course, has a dynamic score in Dalton Connect, as well as some big, strong guys inside Jonas to do is a good defensive center. If you're going to drop teams that Purdue doesn't want to see, Creighton and Tennessee would be on the short list. Having said that, I picked Purdue to go to the final four. So what the hell do I know? Idiot also sounds like what you could call the Zach E.D. haters, I think, right? The idiots. My question- The idiots. Idiots or E.D.N. That's an excellent distinction. Thank you. You have to be an idiot. You have to be an idiot that hates that. Oh, Seth. Dave, I, I, it's not

that I hate him. I don't hate him. He's just a, but he's a pro. He's a problem. He's a plague. I, if there's a tree trunk, it's an ocean liner moving through the lane and college kids are, are draped from his thighs. And it's like ocean liner, moving through the lane and college kids are draped from his thighs. And what are you gonna do? He's stronger than everybody. And this is the problem? All right, well that's five.

Look, you can say you hate him if he's playing against your team. You love him if he's playing for your team. I went to Duke with Christian Leighton. I know about player hate. My question, you said you have Purdue in your final four. Does that mean you have a Purdue UConn championship? And would you take UConn or the field?

I all that's a great question. I always take the field over one team. That that's just the reality of the NCAA tournament. There was actually an interesting dialogue because we've had a big three in college basketball with UConn, Houston and Purdue, which has, you know, mostly separated come back a little bit to the field in the last couple of weeks, but those have been the big three all season. And it was do you take the big three or the field and I would

definitely take the big three. Let me just say something about UConn. So there have been two teams that repeated his national champs since John Wood did in the 70s. Duke in 92 and Florida in 2007. And in both instances, those teams brought back the previous team basically intact. UConn lost three starters and they lost five of their top eight scores. And they are the heavy favorite going into this thing. You can't say enough about the job that Dan Hurley is doing. I like Houston. Now they you know, they got blown out By Iowa State. I'm not surprised. They lost necessarily. I think Iowa State's really good absolutely got screwed on the seating by the way

Not necessarily being a two versus a one but being the lowest number two which has ramifications because now they have to go to Boston But definitely to play you con Can I stop? Yeah, go ahead. Can I stop? Yeah, just a second? People just want to hear his most screwed on the seedings, right? Everybody wants that.

Like, can you just- Whatever you want. But it's- I want double digit seeds that can make it to the final four. Like Utah State, I agree with you on Purdue. And Utah State could face Purdue in the second round. I'm telling you, Seth, I love the Aggies out of the Mountain West, 27 and 6 overall.

One of the great coaches in America, Danny Sprinkle, they have experienced guard play. They could stretch the floor. Great Osabar is a fantastic player. Landon Breachley, also a very, very good player. They have guard play, they play tenacious D, and they could score with anyone in the country. What says you? I'm with you. If you're looking for double-digit seeds, I mean, there's not going to be many of you would think about making a fall for uh... you know if to rate

were not in you cons region i might add them to the level of a hold on top self-sacrificing i thought that you know may i start sure i believe that your analysis will not be as good as to god says analysis on drake so let's uh... they let i believe that he think, he thinks Drake is better than even you think Drake is. The Bulldogs out of the Missouri Valley Conference, 28 and six overall, 16 and four inside the conference. Great coach, Darren DeVries and a little nepotism. I love this time of year, a team with a little nepotism because his son, Trevor DeVries is one of the great guards

Dan in America. Plus they they have Aitin Wright. I'm telling you, this team is deep. They have guys off the bench. They play defense. They can stretch the floor, and they can rebound and score with any team in the country. How about that? Well, aside from pronouncing the name wrong and getting

St. Trevor instead of Tucker, I'm with you. That's Mark. I'm with you and your deep knowledge of Drake. I am with you. Thank you. You know, Tucker DeBreeze reminds me of Doug McDermott, who also played for his dad, which is interesting to quote, Joe Buck, of course, the son of a great sportscaster himself. I'm in favor of nepotism as long as we keep it inside the family.

So yeah, I like Drake, but look, you're talking about having to go through Iowa Stadium, in Yukon to get to a Final Four. But that's why they're double didn't see. Let me give you a couple. I mentioned Grand Canyon. For all you bracket filler outers out there, look for the automatic qualifier teams, the higher seated teams that won their regular season in the conference as well as the conference tournament. In other words, you have Duquesne, which is a great story out of the Atlantic 10, they were sixth in the conference

and then got hot in the conference tournament. Did they get hot? Did they get lucky? Whatever it was, you know, Zai Gezun, they're in the dance, but a team like Grand Canyon, which not only dominated the WAC and then won the WAC tournament, really good coach in Bryce Drew, they've been in the tournament three of the last four years. Colgate has been in the tournament five years in a row and there's another team

that escapes me that had been there three years in a row. So Drake has recent NCAA tournament experience as well. I like a couple of teams coming out of the South. OK, James Madison, James Madison opened the season. They won at Michigan State. Everybody said, what the hell is wrong with Michigan State? James Madison is what was wrong. There you go. I get my own. He's giving you a pick. He's giving you a pick.

Classic 12-5. Give us another pick. Give us another pick. Well, by you a pick. Classic 12-5. Give us another pick. Give us another pick. Classic 12-5 by the way. Fill out brackets. Seth, Seth stop dancing around it. All right. Nobody, nobody wants... McNeese. Yes. Thank you. Another 12-5. No one wants the reasons. No one wants the reasons. I totally agree. McNeese, another team that won a ton of games. Run through its conference. Run through its conference tournament, we'll wait. And then my upset special, which if you think about it, it wouldn't even be that upsetting is Sanford over Kansas. Say it with me, everybody.

Oh, wow. Sanford over Kansas. America is going to fall in love with Bucky Ball. Stugats, give Seth. Jay Hawks. Stugats, are you with me? Give Seth your UAB pick. I love UAB. The Blazers coach Andy Kennedy. They haven't been this good since Gene Bartow was their head coach.

24-11 out of the American Athletic Conference. I love their guard Eric Ganey. I love Efron Johnson as well. Some of the best guard play in the country. I'm telling you this team can make a deep run in the NCAA tournament. Don't be surprised, Seth, if the Blazers find themselves in the Sweet 16. I'll be surprised, but nothing can shock me. Again, only because you're going against my rule about winning the regular season. I think they were fourth, the fourth seed in that conference tournament. So, look, anything is possible. Yeah, they had to win to get in. Look, I think San Diego State's really good.

I think they've underperformed at times. But you know, I will say this, Auburn, even though I've got them in the Sweet 16, Auburn's vulnerable in the sense that they're one of those teams that they don't have to win one way, but they kind of have to win one way. They want to beat you 95 to 90.

If they have to beat you 65 to 60, it could be a problem. So San Diego State will force them to beat them 65, 60. But going up against UConn, obviously my pick to win it all. But Auburn's got to play a good Yale team. Yale has been solid in the Ivy all season long. Don't count out the Bulldogs. Okay, don't count out the Bulldogs.

All right, so Yale is also Stugatz. I've got to get him out here in 50 seconds here. I've got to squeeze all of the juice that there is to be squozed in here. Squeeze me, baby. Squeeze me, baby. You said screwed on seeding, and I want to know what the audience wants more. Is it Stu Gotts' double digit dogs likely to make it to the Sweet 16 or outraged Seth

on screwed on seating? What's the better 30 seconds? Outraged Seth I think. I do. Yes. I just think, look, first of all, if you're a bubble team, I don't want to hear from you. I just don't. I don't want you complaining about the net, I don't want to hear from you. I just don't. I don't want you complaining about the net.

I don't want you to tell me analytics or BDS. Don't put yourself on the bubble. Don't put that game in the hands of the refs. There's only so many slots and there's always going to be a few teams left out and they're always going to feel screwed. And I wish coaches would be just like, Hey, our fault. If we had won more, we wouldn't be in this situation. What the committee did with Iowa State was wrong.

And the reason is, if you look at Iowa State's body of work, they were very comparable. Their record in the top two quads in the net was identical to North Carolina. They had better wins than North Carolina. The one thing they had was a weak, non-conference strength of schedule ranking, but their overall strength of schedule ranking

was comparable to all of the other candidates. So many people don't know the committee actually sees the entire field one through 68 and places teams in the geographic region as they go down the list. So there's a pretty big difference between having to play UConn in Boston and having to play North Carolina in Los Angeles or even Purdue in Detroit. So I think the committee was like trying to send a message about the importance of non-conference scheduling. I don't think you should make these. I don't think you'd be sending any messages. I think you should be voting on on the teams. But otherwise, hey, man, everybody loves to

complain about this stuff. And by the time the games tip off, nobody cares. Let's get this thing rolling. We are out of time, Seth. but Jessica has something for you to close it out, and I will tell the audience. He's been a mainstay at CBS Sports for the NCAA tournament. Like I said, 20 years. He's also the co-author of the bestseller, Rex Chapman is actually doing good work out there, showing people the innards of his vulnerability.

It's hard for me to live with me. Check out his new substack. It's called Seth Davis writes again. But Jessica, what do you have for Seth as we close this out? Indiana State was screwed. True or correct? False.

Don't put yourself on the bubble. No. Hey, hey, hey, Indiana State was the third team out. Okay. We had five teams, an incredible number. Five teams won their conference tournament who would not have been at large candidates. Last year, I think there was one,

the year before there was two. So Indiana being the third team out, if either one or two teams had done that, they would have actually been in the field. So the real estate got kind of squeezed there in the end. Everybody who's like the first second third fourth team out They they all have a case to say they were screwed when in your in baby. You put the sick in sycamore's Terrible you gotta let cream Abdul Jabbar in the tournament, but Drake's

Brutal, brutal. You can't keep, it was anti-Mexican. Avila needs to be in the tournament just because. Well then win his tournament. No! Right, if they're so good, how come they didn't beat him? Get outta here! According to Stu Gottz, Drake is the 86 Celtics,

so what do I know? He bluffed his way through the whole thing. I beat 28 and six in the Missouri Valley Conference. Yeah, just so you know, it's the breeze no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, read a book, show up for a friend. If time was unlimited, how would you use it? The best way to squeeze that special thing into your schedule is to know what's important to you and make it a priority. With more time available, individuals may find it easier to schedule therapy sessions without feeling rushed or overwhelmed. This can lead to more consistent attendance and greater engagement in the therapeutic process. Therapy can help you find what matters to you, so you can do more of it. If you're thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try. It's entirely online, designed to be convenient, flexible, and suited to your schedule. Just fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed

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Don LeBattard. Amino acid. Stugats. The amino acid. This is the Don LeBattard Show with the Stugats. We have failed today as a show so far. We have failed today as a show so far. No one more than Chris Cody, executive producer, because this show has gone this long. Lucy, you're looking at me, but what I'm about to say, everyone in the audience will agree with, everyone in this room, every employee

at Metal Lark will agree with what I'm about to say which is us going this far into the show without playing the video of a mean al hassen are basketball expert taking a jump shot at a celebrity all-star game in which not only was a terrible air ball but what he did with his follow through was an international shame that got him dragged by the entirety of the internet the fact that our show is not done more with this that we have not reached out to Amin and woken him up, that we have not made fun of the hand gesture at the end, which is a bit abracadabra, but is no one's idea of basketball expertise

and follow through. It's a finger roll from the easiest three point shot in the NBA, and the internet is totally mocking him, and we've waited two hours to do so. Billy, I mean Chris Cody should be punished for this, don't you think in terms of lack of judgment? No, we had to get to the Aaron Donald stuff, so it's good that we did this.

The thing about this clip, because I'm not gonna say that I didn't have multiple group texts that were going on yesterday, commenting on this video that were sent to me. The hand thing is an obvious one, right? I think, and you can't see it on this shot because of our lower bar there, but he has a situation where his feet

are in opposite directions at one point in time, not like they're opening out or they're facing in. One has his heel down on the ground and. One has his heel down on the ground and the other has his toe down on the ground, which I don't understand how he shot the ball that way at all. He also has the long sleeve under armor under his jersey and then the Dwayne Wade compression pants under his shorts.

There's just a lot. He's trying and Hoop Herald. Trying too hard. Well, Hoop Herald reports while playing this video and he is getting excoriated. It's got millions of views, millions of views. I'm in the follow through. This is a legit human being who has a platform

that is criticizing NBA players. Make it make sense. I think the best part about the video was you click the video to start and I think everybody pretty much knew exactly how it was gonna end, right? Like when you see the video, you know exactly how it's gonna go,

but it's kinda like, how are we gonna get there? You know? If I were a mean, I would would have just said that's not me his face is in the video and he could have gotten away with the had he played a i it looked like him though but the hand gesture it is being mocked internationally and uh... you know people are writing all again getting dragged amina has and used to be on the sbn worked for the sons a long time ago number one nba analyst on the dan

lebatard show this shit right here may have ended his career. I'm a fan of his, but I can't see anybody taking his basketball analysis seriously after this. And then, because the thread continues, tells you all you need to know Dan LeBittard is a goofball, of course he's gonna have goofballs on his show.

I can't protest. That guy gets the show. He claimed the ball was slippery. Oh, stop it. Because Jess's tweet hit the nail right on the head. It looks like a circle change-up that he's throwing. We're trying to reach him. It did look like a circle change.

He's hiding. It was a flutter ball. It was a bit of a knuckle ball. He's not hiding. He sent me an audio message. I want you to play it. We're now having difficulty scheduling him all of a sudden. All of a sudden it's difficult to schedule.

Amin's got, I gotta go do bully ball with Rachel Nichols. I'm very busy, I don't have time to cover up my tracks. That's what you hit him back with, Dan. If you're him, you're like, hey, big show, not bully ball. Okay, here's the bully ball. Get on my show or get the hell out of here. Can you come listen to these audio messages so find out whether he's excuse making or not?

Because he said it. It's Amin, he's excusing me. Okay, but I need to, we have an hour to reach Amin and it appears he's in hiding, and I don't blame him, because the internet is embarrassing him. Now we have his on-court explanation, are you, he sent a new audio note, like from this morning? Yes. Yes. Okay, because we have his explanation on the court

if we wanted to play that too. Yeah. Hit it. So this is the holy month of Ramadan, y'all picking on me, I'm trying to be holy. I'm not eating or drinking way. It is number two I haven't played basketball since the 2017 NBA fun. That's true. So like that's a long ass layup I'm gonna come out of retirement run up and down here number three Small balls are really light. So it's like it flies You know, it's funny when they had the whole Sabrina versus Steph conversation, Eddie Johnson told me it's harder to shoot

with a women's ball than it is with a men's ball. That Sabrina would have shot better if she shot with a men's ball than if she would have with a women's ball. You know what? I can agree now. I have a shot with a women's ball. Everything is white.

So my hand was all going flippy-floppy. Number four, look at these injuries. This is my pinky finger. It does this. I have a broken wrist. I got a bad back. Number five, fuck y'all anyway. What's wrong with his pinky finger? It's jacked up.

He really cranked up the excuse machine. Flippy floppy was one of the excuses. I don't know. Ramadan. Well, Ramadan, yes. I didn't have the strength that my Flutterball would normally have. It's a great place to go. I will again say, Tony will vouch on this,

I will again say to if you've never been on an NBA court, you don't have any idea how far that rim actually is. Because they make it look easy, these giant people who can do it well from out there. But it is further than you think it is. Many of us would look terrible taking NBA 3s. Look at that finger. But not as terrible as Amin, our basketball expert. Stugat, I need some help with a couple

of things because we're going to try and track down Amin. We have tracked down the Long Beach State coach Dan Monson. He was fired on Monday and now they're in the tournament. I love it. We're going to talk to him because it's just a funny story. He's fired on Monday and then they win and they let him keep coaching. Right, through the tournament not expecting he would win the conference tournament. Now he's in the NCAA tournament. That's correct. It's weird. So you're fired but okay, we'll ride it out. He's got to come back now, right?

I want to talk to him about this. We'll see. I don't think he can come back. I think he's been fired. I mean, come on. They haven't hired a new coach yet, right? He's in the tournament. Like how deep does he have to go in the tournament to get his job back or get a job somewhere else? How about that? He's been fired.

He's in the tourney. Can he rehire someone? Yes. Yeah. Can you not? We'll ask him. He'll be on later in the show, but I wanted to, I didn't know if you knew this.

Did, Billy, did Jessica take my phone outside? Yeah, so here's what's going on. Amin sent two different voice notes and said, this is the only way that I can be reached, which is weird, because he could just call in if he's doing this on his phone, but he's not doing that. He sent two voice notes, but your phone hasn't been updated, so you can't download them, and then you don't have something

that can be screen recorded either, because you gotta do the update there. So we're having the technology department figure out how to get that audio off of your phone. In the meantime, there's a risotto drought. What? What? Risotto is in danger. Why?

Because the fields where they're made, and there's such a drought on the fields that it's getting so pricey. You've got, we've all noticed, correct? I mean, everyone's noticed. The price of everything has gone up and food is now unreasonable, restaurants everywhere else. Now, I don't know if risotto is endangered,

but it's something- You mean like Arborio rice, right? It's like the risotto is the cooked. That's the thing that gets everyone chopped. They try to make it in 30 minutes. Okay, so it turns out in 2022, the worst drought in 200 years struck the Po, the river that feeds the system of canals

that irrigates the paddy fields. As a result, Italy lost 26,000 hectares of rice fields and production of the grain dropped by more than 30% and things haven't improved since. What? Stanley Tucci, go fix that. I didn't know that risotto was like, I don't know if you guys noticed over the past couple years, like Christmas tree prices have been crazy, right?

And the reason that Christmas tree prices, really? Never. Well, so Christmas tree prices were crazy for a while because there was a shortage of Christmas trees. The reason there was a shortage of Christmas trees was because of the economy like eight years ago or something because that's the amount of time it takes for a Christmas tree to grow.

So situations back then made it so that now there was a shortage of Christmas trees and then prices went up. So it seems like risotto might be in the same boto. Put it on the poll please, Juju. Is risotto in the same boto as the Christmas tree? I'm voting yes. This is great news for Chaskintest.

Let's tally up your votos. This guy gets it. Yeah. Someone like us. You guys ever seen My Cousin Vinny? Chris, you're not supposed to say what the f*** was that when you're the executive producer. What was that? Let me play some video here. I think there's a ghost in here. Let me play some video here for the audience, Stugatz.

I don't know if you saw this this weekend, but I couldn't believe, I was legitimately surprised that Sammy Sosa, after all of these years of rehearsing for this question Hadn't thought of what might be his counter when someone asked him a follow-up when you mentioned these mistakes Will you be specific about what the mistake is? Is it time for you and Tom Ricketts to sit down to get back into their good graces? Well, like I say, you know my mature man. I think that it's a possibility that we can do that. I'm open, I don't have a problem with that. You know, like I said, I had a lot of misunderstanding

in the past, but now I'm a real man, I feel great. So I recognize my mistake, so hey, why not? Are you telling me that you recognize the fact that maybe you did do steroids? This is um, like I say, um this is Not a question that I expected from you is it time for you You let him write to the question.

Maybe you did do steroids is the hardest question he's gotten in 20 years on the subject and he was not at all prepared for it. Um, not a question that I expected for you. Is it time for. Howdy folks. It's Mike Ryan. It's spring time. Howdy folks, it's Mike Ryan, it's springtime, and while every time is a good time for Miller Light, springtime is among the best. I was sitting out in my backyard watching some flowers bloom and some beautiful birds

swimming from royal fishtail palm to royal fishtail palm, and I had a Miller Light in my hand and I said, yeah, this is the good life. Over the years a lot has changed. One thing that hasn't, the great taste of Miller Lite. It was the original light beer and to this day is still the very best one. Miller Lite has more of the taste that you want and less of the stuff that you don't. Oh, Miller Lite, you were always there for me. I thank the heavens for you every time I'm sitting on my back patio and I take a sip. Ah, tastes like Miller time. To get Miller Lite delivered right to your door, visit MillerLite.com

slash Dan, or you can find it pretty much anywhere that sells beer. Celebrate responsibly Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 96 calories per 12 ounces. Dan LeBattard. Chris Cody does an impression, just be careful. Dangerous game. I don't want to play this game. I could do such a great Kendrick Berkley. I don't want to play this game.

This is who we're going to trust. Let's let Amin do it I think. Stugatz. I think you could do it Chris because you did a great Charles Barkley. You're one for one there. Did no one just hear the segment we just did with the mean? We cannot be taking counsel from the local drunk on whether or not you should do the impersonation

of a black man stumbling over his words. Like, you don't see the bad judgment in that. There it was. Moe's a moody? Moody Moses? Moses? Moody? You need that.

It sounds worse. Be careful, man. We cannot do this! It's too close to the line! This is where the line is! Something legitimately funny can't be funny because we're scared our ginger's gonna do something racist by accident. Carry the hell on, Dan!

Dan, the line is where we feel alive, though! This is the Dan LeVatar show with the stookats We wanted to bring in a legitimate expert here on this basketball shot because she's been covering quarter century She's been covering the heights of basketball greatness. She's interviewed everybody who's ever mattered in the sport She's got a number of different professional relationships with all of the people in basketball who matter. And Rachel Nichols can break down for us whether or not Amin is being a coward here,

hiding from us, because the audio messages I'm getting from Amin are not helpful in terms of saying whether he's gonna be on the show to answer questions, Rachel. He's got bully ball. He keeps saying, I have bully ball today. I don't have time to answer your questions about the jump shot at the celebrity all-star game.

Can you guys please put that in the corner of the screen? Just have it running for Rachel so she can tell me what she saw and how much our colleague deserves to be roasted because Rachel, they're questioning his expertise. Nobody can cover basketball well if that's how they shoot. I mean, I wonder if he can walk well if that's how he shoots. I mean, that was offensive to the human senses on so many levels deeper than basketball. Well, what was he doing? What was happening?

What was the elbow? What was the finger flick? I mean, I really want to know what the basketball name for that is supposed to be according to him. And frankly, we have gotten no answers Right there been little bits and bits on Twitter or whatever bleeps and blops But we need a mean Alhassan to take some responsibility for what the hell happened over there Chris Cody Can you help me please because she's got a new show

we have bully ball with boogie cousins and maybe boogie can beat it out of a mean because We are he's now avoiding us. us where his main paycheck not bully ball we are his main paycheck and he's avoiding us is will but will you and boogie asked the hard questions on bully ball oh i mean you've got boogie cousins he's not afraid of a confrontation so i i just think that the referees were just a prelude to what's going to happen today with the main i just i i i can, I need to know what he was thinking. I mean, I'm really getting my interview hat on here,

Dan, for this later today, because I just feel like I need to go into his childhood, maybe, to find out what trauma he underwent that caused that shot. Are we not gonna get Amin? Is Amin now not gonna be dodging us, Dan? We're efforting. All right, regardless, whether or not Amin is there, bully ball is going to be. We're efforting, we're efforting. All right, regardless, whether or not, I mean, is there,

bully ball is going to be, yes. Is that a requirement of an NBA analyst to have a good shot? Like I'm guessing Brian Windhorse is gonna shoot some air balls from the three point line as well. I'm just guessing. But it's the form, it's the form that's problematic.

It's not that he missed it. Anybody could shoot an air ball. It's the embarrassment of how is this person critiquing the athleticism of anybody when he looks like a crooked, rusty fence breaking apart and splintering at the fingertips. Okay. It's a judgment thing also, right?

We're supposed to trust his judgment on the NBA if he also believed that he could go out and shoot that basketball. I have so many questions. Do you believe any of his excuses? No, and by the way, there were so many of them. Weren't there? Religious, religious, fasting.

I have this excuse, that excuse, this excuse, five excuses. But fasting, his God is to blame, his sacrifice on behalf of his God. Give him credit there, that's a heady play. I mean, it's unbelievable. Him unbeliever, he checkmated us. Really, your religion is why you look like that shooting an arrow? That's a heady play. I mean, it's unbelievable. Him, unbelievable. He checkmated us. Really? Your religion is why you look like that shooting an arrow?

But, but, but, but, but, but on the same weekend, Kyrie Irving hit one of the great shots of this decade in the NBA, and he is also fasting for Ramadan. So I want nothing. I want nothing of that from Amin. Okay, Stugats, we don't know. Do it in the post.

You were traveling, so how much information did you get from the weekend? Like how informed are you on things like Kyrie Irving? Because the shot he made over Jokic, to have Luka Doncic be in a position where he seems awed by what he's just seen, it is fun, Rachel, to see stakes in the West

this late in the season, and the top of the sport caring because, oh, those are your champions there and beating them still means something and Kyrie wants to get back from the beyond of what the last three years have been. So you tell us when you're watching yesterday, Stugatz, when you're seeing any of this, are you being caught up in the storylines or you're missing it because you're traveling? No, I did go away this weekend. I was in Chicago again. The only thing I write up on is Grand Canyon I love them the Antelopes out of the Western Athletic 29 and for 17 and 3 in the conference I am telling you Tyson Grant Foster TGF Dan one of the great guards in America. They have senior guard play They are deep they could stretch the. They could score with anyone and

people don't know this. Dan, they don't know this. Bryce Drew, head coach, championship pedigree. They play defense as well as anyone in the country. How about that? Don't be surprised if the Antelopes wind up in the Elite Eight. Rachel, are you sophisticated enough to see that Stugatz is all bullshit there that he's just making things up? He's got like three or four facts and all he's doing is just, I mean, it's not inaccurate what he's saying, but it's bare minimum information that he actually has. He's cheating with cue cards. Experience garplane.

I just think like that he thinks if he throws in like a nickname, initials, he's like, oh, yeah, no one's gonna doubt me because I've got the nickname. Correct. Well, Rachel, can you explain this part? Because one of the things I love about the evolution of sports content coverage is that what you're doing every Monday with Boogie Cousins, you could have worked with anybody.

You've made a specific choice here about who you wanna analyze basketball best with so that you provide entertainment, but also information for the people who want maximum sort of geeking out on basketball from somebody who I think people don't know the way you do. So you're introducing Boogie Cousins to people that I don't think many people have seen before. Yeah, no, I mean Boogie is an incredibly smart person in general, so he's great talking about basketball because he can

explain through the expertise he has on a very personal level. He's also played with everyone. That's a thing. I mean, he had the superstar start to his career for all-star appearances, all of that. But when he went into the journeyman phase of his career after he got hurt, he played on that Warriors team that made the finals with Kevin Durant and Steph Curry and Draymond Green and Klay Thompson and the whole crew. He played on the Nuggets with Jokic. He played on the Bucks with Janis.

So he has moved around and been up close to personal with so many current players in situations in the NBA. That's one of the best parts of this show is that he sits there and he goes behind the scenes and tells you, well this is what happens with Klay and this is what happens when he gets down on himself And that's why he's having a hard time transist The suspense is killing me Need to hear the end of that sentence Let's just wait for a second see if she comes I always feel that from a like TV perspective

He's a lot more like Draymond Green or Charles Barkley in that mold of just, well, say whatever he thinks, doesn't sugarcoat anything, but has a lot of smurfs behind it. Can you explain to us, I think we did that all seamlessly, the co-host of Bully Ball with Boogie Cousins is Rachel Nichols. Amin will be there later today.

You can catch new episodes every Monday, and I would tell you to subscribe to all the smoke productions on YouTube. is Rachel Nichols. Amin will be there later today. You can catch new episodes every Monday. And I would tell you to subscribe to all the Smoke Productions on YouTube. They are close to a million subscribers and they're building out their own empire with Rachel over there. But from what you saw this weekend, Rachel, and the specifics of the league media narrative still spend too much time with Steph Curry curry and lebron when it seems clear that the young people in that sport the future of that sport at a complicated time in america it is their time now

and i'm wondering as you have a veteran media analyst see that adam silver suddenly gets dragged over the weekend because curry lebron is fouled up by technical issues and I'm seeing Adam Silver criticized and I'm like, really? He's responsible for that, but it feels like the league has a bit of a crossroads in terms of what it's going to do with its next generation of stars. Well, you and I lived through the whole next Jordan thing, right? The Herald minor years, as I like to call them, where everybody was going crazy thinking

the sport was going to die and and wasn't gonna be Grant Hill, but then Grant Hill got so hurt, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. We're a little bit with that now. We have what the next generation after the Currys and LeBron is, right? We have that already. That's Luka, that's Jokic, that's Janas.

But because it is a group of players that sort of came in and played in the shadow of probably one of the greatest generations in all of basketball, those guys have never sort of as popular as they are and as crazy accomplished as they are. They haven't captured people in the same way that LeBron and Steph did. In fact, you have to go a little bit younger for that. And that's where you get the John Morant. That's where you get Donovan Mitchell. That's where you get some of these guys who really are just sort of popping off of your screen. And the fact that John Moran in particular isn't here right now

because of his injury and earlier because of the suspension, I think that is delayed a little bit. Some of that actual transferring and also that middle group as well sort of makes it a little bit awkward. So it's just sort of a different time where some of the absolute best players in the world have not become beloved in the same way some of their elders have been. But I do think that we have so much exciting basketball that people get into it once the playoffs are there and that meritocracy matters and that's what some of the backlash you saw over the weekend was to me.

I'm really loving this couch situation you got going on here. Where did you get it? Thank you. By the way, I want to compliment myself because for the last two weeks. Thank you. For the last two weeks, I have managed to wear shirts that are the exact color of this couch. So I've been sort of a floating head style. And today I'm going to dress myself properly. It's very cool though. The couch, your studio setting looks velvety It is it's it's velvet to the touch, Dan So, you know you can come down here and and do your show anytime I'm upset though because this show more so than any any other show deserves the floating head

I mean, I want the floating head. We're not getting a floating I mean, you know, maybe have me back in a couple weeks We'll see but I again I got myself dressed this morning and I really think I deserve many pats on the head for that. It's much earlier here than it is out there. Rachel, do you know about color specialists? Because I was learning about this in the break. It turns out that you have experts you can go to that can give you the colors that work best for you.

I want to know, Billy, what color you think you are, what season you are. Is that how they say it? Like are you in autumn or something? And also where would you go for this color analysis? Well, so Jess and Lucy were catching me up on this and we're kind of workshopping the idea of having a color specialist come in and maybe we can do a whole segment or episode around it.

You're welcome to join us if you would like, but I didn't even know this was a thing. I would like to be a part of that. Okay, perfect. Please, please. Dan, you can't come with, but Rachel, I think you would be a perfect like green emerald. Also, Dan, you're paying for this.

That please was a confirmation that the expense will be a plus. I want, we're going into, we're in business with Rachel now. If Rachel wants to do things, we need to be doing them with her. So if colorist special content is what you guys want to make I'm all for it let's do it what are we waiting for Dan I feel you're a deep winter I want a set like yours I'm jealous that our stuff doesn't look like that our

stuff like look at where just turn off the lights it's just no but look it's so much mood she's giving off there There is so much attitude behind her. And all of it is welcoming, it's inviting, it's warm, it's charming, it's stylish. It's none of the things we are. Anyway, as I was saying. What were you saying? I was complimenting the warmth of her set.

And I was telling the audience that because Amin is also a frequent guest, I was told he was trying to break into what it is that we were doing there, that he was causing. I see. We're trying to locate Amin, so he'll be on one of the shows. You've promised to answer the questions if we can't get to them.

You've promised that bully ball will get to the bottom of whatever Amin was trying to achieve at that game. Yes, bully ball is on the case. We have a full investigation going. I have questions for Stu Gatso, by the way. Okay, you're gonna quiz him on the weekend? Well, I just, I heard him chat earlier that he was traveling, quote unquote.

Which, you know, we gotta dig into that a little deeper. What, it was too hot to play golf at home or what? No, I was traveling to see my daughter's lacrosse team. Boy, that's all. Oh, okay. All right, all right, well, that's that's fair. So I want to know how much you paid attention to sports over the weekend being as you are one of the premier co-hosts in America of one of the top sports shows there for the last decade. I'd like to hear a little bit about what you do. I'm not going to take a quiz. I'm not going to take it. He's going to take it.

You're too good. Fire away. Fire away not gonna take it. He's gonna take it Questions do you have here? How what is the nature of the questions? All right, so I have five questions. Wow. I feel that that someone of Stu gots is level Maybe can answer them Basically, but just just to be clear on what we're trying to do here, Rachel is an accomplished journalist, Dugats, that you share this space with. She has worked all of her life and is meticulously prepared and thorough

when she's being asked questions. You are now gonna ask him five basic sports questions for the weekend to see if our Monday morning host, Dugats, after 30 years of doing this, tried it all this weekend to inform himself? The antelopes. All right, number five. Yes.

I wanna know which one of the following coaches was recently fired, Stu Gotts, despite a winning percentage of more than 55%. Are you ready? Yep. All right. Coach at Stanford, Gerard Hayes. Coach at Long Beach State, Dan Munson. Coach at Michigan, of course, Jawan Howard. Coach at Vanderbilt, Mr. Jerry Stackhouse. Which

one was recently fired despite having a more than 55 percent winning percentage? Long Beach State. Really? Really? Two time Miami Heat champion, Joann Howard, nothing for you? He didn't even notice Joann Howard got fired. Wow. How? How? What happened?

You just had one story from the weekend, not the other? Long Beach State. Yeah, I'll stand on two. He lost 26 games, Joann Howard. He was as bad as Patrick Ewing. It fell apart very quickly. Number four, Rachel. Great. Well, that's sad, but number two,

I want to know, Stugatz, a fake Woj bomb tricked the broadcasters of a particular NBA team over the weekend. They started talking about how Woj tweeted that a legend of that franchise had retired, and unfortunately found out later it was all just fake internetting. So will you tell me which broadcaster Woj tweeted that in the legend of that franchise had retired and unfortunately found out later It was all just fake internetting. So will you tell me which broadcast it was the Warriors broadcast?

Was it the Wizards broadcast the Knicks broadcast or the Bulls broadcast? Give it to me. I'm gonna say the Bulls broadcast podcast. Ding ding ding ding ding ding ding. Congratulations to God. Thank you. Is this because you were in Chicago this weekend? No, it was just a guess. He was just guessing and he guessed correctly somehow. And so this is a big one here.

It's best of three, even though he guessed to this and I'm still. We only have time for three. We only have time for three. What's the third one, Rachel? Huh. Okay. All right. I wanna know which of the following parents this weekend of college tournament games,

which parent went viral for their son in a conference tournament? LeBron James, Eddie House, Dennis Rodman, or Julia Louis-Dreyfus? Oh, wow. Not LeBron. Oh, man. That keen insight into the sport, Dan. He was able to just knock that one out.

You don't know? You either know or you don't know. You either know what the story is. I want to hear the choices again. Are you guessing or do you know? Perhaps. I just want to hear them again. What are the choices? Okay. LeBron James. Yeah. Eddie House. Right. Dennis Rodman. Uh- Dennis Rodman or Julia Louis Dreyfus Wow, so I have to eliminate This is what I learned when I took tests growing up you eliminate two so I have so you don't know so you don't Eddie house

No, but you don't know The game doesn't fucking work when you're right, it's two gods DUDE O DEAR LEBENARD! The game doesn't f***ing work when you're right, Stugats. Howdy folks, it's Mike Ryan. It's springtime. And while every time is a good time for Miller Lite, springtime is among the best. I was sitting out in my backyard watching some flowers bloom and some beautiful birds swimming from Royal Fishtail Palm to Royal Fishtail Palm and I had a Miller Light in my hand and I said, yeah, this is the good life.

Over the years a lot has changed. One thing that hasn't, the great taste of Miller Light. It was the original Light beer and to this day is still the very best one. Miller Light has more of the taste that you want and less of the stuff that you don't. Oh, Miller Light, you are always there for me. I thank the heavens for you every time I'm sitting on my back patio and I take a sip. Ah, tastes like Miller time. To get Miller Lite delivered right to your door, visit MillerLite.com slash Dan, where

you can find it pretty much anywhere that sells beer. Celebrate responsibly Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 96 calories per 12 ounces.