The Herd with Colin Cowherd - All Ball - Preseason #1 Gonzaga HC Mark Few Discusses Title Pressure, Philosophy, Recruiting, 2020 Disappointment, 2021 Uncertainty

Episode Date: November 13, 2020

In this episode, Doug is joined by Gonzaga Head Coach Mark Few to discuss his team's #1 preseason ranking, how he continues to recruit the right players to fit the program, the disappointment of the a COVID shortened 2020 season, how he's approaching the uncertainty of the 2021 season, and what he's learned coaching international hoop. Make sure you download, rate and subscribe here to get the latest All Ball Podcasts! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show

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Hey, what up? Welcome in. I'm Doug Galdi, and this, well, this is all ball. All basketball all the time. We talk other sports, too. We do a lot. We've got football some time. We'll do some baseball. We'll have some other guys on. But for this particular episode. and if you haven't listened to Matt Mooney episode, you should download that one. We have, I mean, we're really starting to get a great library of guests. Maybe none more so than Mark Vue is a good friend. And he has promised to join us.

We're going to do even longer form one. Well, we want to talk about his life and his times a little bit. But I got a chance to catch up with Gonzaga's head coach. And what I've always been struck by with Mark is, and maybe this is his religious background. or maybe it's the fact that he wasn't a, you know, a great player to carry the ego that that some great or even good players have. Like, you know, some of us who played, we think we know everything because we play the game

at a high level and somehow there's, there's a, like a secret handshake that we know. Whatever it is. And he does have an ego. Like, don't kid yourself. He knows their teams are good. He knows his players are good. He knows his coaches are good. There is an ego and a confidence there, but there's not an arrogance there.

There's also a balance. I remember when he lost a game to Bob Knight and Texas Tech in the early 2000s with a really, really good team. Like I was crestfallen for him because at the time, you know, it was Gonzaga could never win in the tournament. And they hear they lost in the second round to Texas Tech. And the late Andre Emmett, of course, was a star player for Texas Tech. And I remember calling him the next day. And I couldn't hardly hear him. and I heard running water in the background.

I was like, is he talking to me from the shower? He was fly fishing the next day. He was lost yesterday. Fly fishing today. It's amazing. I've always been struck by the type of man that he is. Obviously, his dad being of the cloth, if you will, of being the pastor, is a big, strong part of it. He has a wonderful wife and Marcy and great kids.

But what they built at Gonzaga, the culture, that they have built. Makes a lot of us in college basketball jealous. We had a great culture at Oklahoma State when I played, and I've made my best friends in life that I still text on a daily basis at Oklahoma State. But because of Coach Sutton's retirement and because the basketball family's changed,

it's just not the same. It's one of the great things about when a coach stays and they have success. It's both parts, and coaches usually don't stay unless they have success, is the fact that the basketball family is a tight one. Spokane's special. One's kind of cool place. Kind of different, you know.

But two, because they've had such success and it's such a good place to live and it's reasonable and Zags are just legends, most of those guys move back there. They do. And they start families and they're part of the, they work out there. They come to all the games. They support each other. They support the current players. It's great. It's great.

So we got a chance to catch up with the preseason number one ranked team in the country. The head coach is Mark Few of Gonzaga. Be sure to catch the live edition of the Doug Gottlieb show weekdays at 3 p.m. Eastern, noon Pacific, on Fox Sports Radio and the IHeart Radio app. It's always interesting when, like, throughout my entire professional life as a broadcaster, like, Gonzaga has been a constant in the top 10, top 20, and recently the top 5 in college basketball. But kind of you think about it, grand scheme of things, like, well, it was really from the time in which I was a place. player until now. So you're talking 25 years or so that the Gonzaga has been a thing. They've had, obviously, John Stockton and other great teams in the past, but in terms of just consistent level of dominance in their conference and then now broadening out being a national school, having won

in Duns, a lot of pro players, getting to a Final Four national championship game. They've accomplished everything with one exception, winning one more game, one more possession. And last year could have been a year. This year could be the year. And when I say they've accomplished everything, they're the preseason number one team in the country, which all the rankings don't really matter, but preseason number one does because you walk around with your chest stuck out, and he should. He's Mark Fuey's the head coach of Gonzaggy. He joins us here on Fox Sports Radio. Fuey, I understand they don't hand out awards for it. They don't retire numbers for it. But there is, am I wrong, there is something to the level of respect.

that your team, your program has gained by getting the preseason number one ranking, isn't there? Yeah, and I'm 100% in agreement with you, and with the exceptional one thing. I'm not walking around with my chest out, that's for sure. I got my head down trying to, and I'm talking to my guys about, you know, we should play with the confidence of a number one team, and what I talk to the guys about is like owning it. And like, so that means we should be practicing. Our practices should be better than anybody else in the country. Our attention to detail should be better than anybody else's in the country.

Our camaraderie and our team this and our chemistry should be better. So, I mean, I try to get us to aspire to that level, fully knowing that, as you just said, the rankings don't mean anything once the ball gets tossed up. but I do 100% agree if you, it's a big deal. You know what it is? It's a, it's acknowledging all the work that all the great players prior to this year's team have put in and done and accomplished

and kind of saying that, hey, we put you on that same pedestal as, you know, with the Dukes and Carolinas and Stuckies and Kansases that, you know, usually get preseason number ones. So I guess my first question is, and this is one I've always been fascinated by. You know, when Villanova first made their Final Four, if Jay Wright has talked about it, he had the number one recruiting class in the country, and that actually led to some of his most disappointing seasons. When you guys got your first Final Four and got to the national championship game, you haven't had a drop off.

You haven't taken guys that didn't fit what they call OKGs. right, our kind of guys. Like you've been able, even though you're recruiting, the rankings may have been higher, they're still zags. How do you manage that? How do you manage that now you can get into any home in the country?

You can sign anybody you want, but you have to balance that with, does he fit in with who we are and what we are? Yeah, Doug, that's a great call, and it's something. There's a,

there's a temptation, I guess it would be the word, to, to sometimes go out and chase that or to even get tricked because, you know, we do kind of fall into everybody's top five or top ten or top 12 and being able to kind of ascertain, okay, who is our kind of guy, who do we realistically have a chance to get it? And listen, a lot of times, and I say this to the staff all the time, at the end of the day, it's crazy, Doug, how everybody just ends up with kind of who they should end up with.

You know, you get these big recruiting battles, and some guys go there, and they probably should go there, and some guys, the right guys end up coming to Gonzagg. And I think through the recruiting process, they see how we operate and how we, you know, we don't oversell, and they get to meet our players, and our players are our best sell of the whole part up here. And once they see that, if they're the right kind of guys,

They want to buy into the, all the time we put into player development and buy into the, you know, our culture and how much we stress team and togetherness and things like that, then they end up coming here. If it's more hype and bright lights and, you know, putting myself out there to, you know, to generate likes and things like that. and this probably isn't the best spot for you. But, you know, that's not to say that a lot of times we end up in those recruiting battles. And the other thing I was cite to my staff, I mean, I'm getting too old for them to be able to reference this stuff is the old Garth Brooks, thank God for unanswered prayers. Sure. You know, there's a lot of recruits that, man, we wanted, I wanted it really bad. We didn't end up getting and we got somebody else.

else, it ended up being awesome for us. So it's funny, kind of how it all turns out like that. You only lost one game when the clock turned to 2020. And your last game, you dominated St. Mary's in Vegas to win another WCC tournament championship, 8466. And the team, you know, after the BYU lost at the end of the season, was getting, was healthy and was sharp and was ready. What is it like as a coach?

to not have a conclusion, right? Because that last game so oftentimes, and the tournament run, but that last game so oftentimes just leaves you with so many questions, sometimes answers. It's like it's what you build up, especially with how you guys are. It's all what you built for.

What's it been like for you to not have any closure on last season? It was really, really hard. And probably one of the, toughest moments I've had as a coach was going into the locker room and telling Killian Tilly and telling Admon Gilder and telling Ryan Woolridge. You know, the last two guys basically transferred to Gonzaga so they could play in the tournament and advance in the tournament and have a chance to win a national championship. So they had done all their work that was required to get up to the point basically the whole

reason they wanted to come to our place. And to go in there and tell those guys, you know, it was just a soul-crushing moment, man. And, you know, it's been hard, but I mean, you know, now, as with everything, time kind of starts

healing and you start trying to move on and get ready. But there's a, I tell you, that that team last year, of all the teams I've had up here, and I've been blessed with some awesome, awesome teams and incredible players. But that team far in a way exceeded my expectations greater than any I've ever had.

And you're right. We were really clicking at the highest level that we'd been all year. You know, it went over St. Mary's going to end up being a single-digit seed. BYU is going to be like a three-seat maybe, four in there. I mean, it was the greatest year ever for the WCC entering into the tournament. And then I know, you know, this was the first time ever, Doug, and the 21 years we've been going to the tournament, we're going to have the first two rounds up in Spokane,

which would have just been awesome. So it was like a double whammy, you know, with all that. But it's just kind of the way it is, and now we're moving forward from there. Okay, so you open the season, and we think you open the season in Fort Myers against Kansas. You know, on Fox. What is the status? Like, is there, do you get daily updates on how things are proceeding? Is it a weekly thing?

Like, what, from your desk, what is it like in terms of preparing for this season? Well, I mean, it's on, and we're 100% planning it's on, and haven't heard anything differently, and we're going to do everything we can to make sure that it stays on and incredibly fired up about it. I mean, when the tournament ended, which you and I were just speaking of, Kansas was probably going to be the number one overall seed, and we were probably going to be the number two overall seed. So it's pretty cool.

You know, when the Orlando tournament blew up, Bill, self and I got on the phone, literally the next day and just said, hey, do you want to play somewhere? And I'm like, yeah, let's do it. And lo and behold, we ended up finding this opportunity with intersport in Fort Myers, and Fox was involved. And it would be playing prior to the Dallas Cowboys Thanksgiving Day game is... Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced game.

Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me. Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show.

This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life. mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told,

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Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it.

Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because. of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence.

Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Keer Games.

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Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person.

Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app. Search learn the hard way and listen now. That's a great opportunity for college basketball, not just our two programs. But, and I think it's just it'll be a great event because, again, like when the season ended,

they were one and we were two. So we're looking forward to it. And, you know, I think it's the one thing I've tried to do, Doug, with the loss of the tournament, and everything last year and just kind of the, you know, the uncertainty of having fans and just things like that is try to go out and make this as much fun and as great an opportunity from a player's perspective. Like if you were playing here, like what you would, you would want to play games like this. Yeah, you do. You have Kansas. And our players want that.

Yeah, Kansas, Auburn, Baylor, Iowa, right? So you have the, you have. Tennessee. Tennessee, who's picked to win the SEC, I think, is in there too. If you love to be remembered as the person who gives the best birthday gifts, I'm here to tell you that 1-800flowers.com is your ultimate birthday gifting destination. 1-800 Flowers has thoughtful and artfully created options that are guaranteed to deliver the best birthday surprise. Shop thousands of unique gifts at 1-800flowers.com for exclusive offers and great values.

To order today, visit 1800flowers.com slash tune in. That's 1,800flowers.com slash tune in. Adoption of teens from foster care is a topic not enough people know about, and we're here to change that. I'm April Dinwiddy host of the new podcast, Navigating Adoption, presented by Adopt U.S. Kids. Each episode brings you compelling real-life adoption stories told by the families that live them with commentary from experts. Visit Adoptuskids.org slash podcast or subscribe to Navigating Adoption. presented by Adopt U.S. Kids. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families and the Ad Council.

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Find a forest near you and start exploring at discover the forest.org brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the ad council. So now look, one of the great things about this particular team is you have, you have great depth, right? Like very few teams in college basketball. Now I have depth, but you have depth and experience. You know, obviously not always experiencing, Andrew Nemtard comes in. He's not an experience playing for you, but he has experience playing at a very high level, both internationally and with Florida. but but I mean it's it's like a murderer's row I want to ask you about Jalen Suggs

who everybody regards as an incredible recruit and a talent from St. Paul, Minnesota who's a freshman star going to come play for you. How do you assimilate a kid? How do you get a kid ready for that level of college basketball? When I play college basketball, I thought I was really well coached.

My coach is a great coach. And we played high level AAU basketball. I remember. getting in a Notre Dame like this is so much guys are so much better and stronger than I ever thought possible I just had no right like you you think you've gone through it and you're getting your butt kicked and practice and then you get to games like

holy cow this is even harder and and you don't have the buy games you know you don't have you don't have an eastern Washington who you know who you can you know that they can kind of slow roll into you're going big boy

big boy big boy big boy big boy grown men how do you get guys ready for that jump from high school practice to Big Boy College basketball in such a short period of time. Just to make you feel better, Jalen is going through all those things that you just described what's happening in turn your career 100%. It was, wow. I mean, you guys run a lot of stuff, and man, there's a lot of different coverages on defense.

And, man, this Kisbert guy is really good. was a yai. And when I go down the lane, there sure are some big bodies down here that I'm running into. But as is the case with all, you know, really great players and talented ones, they, you know, take their lumps early and then they make adjustments. And the last two weeks, he's very much been in the adjustment phase and moving forward and really taking some some big steps. I think our whole staff would agree with that, and even the veteran players would. And the interesting thing about Jalen that I think is really, really special, is he was a high, high level football player. And could have played probably anywhere in the country football-wise.

And that lends itself to, as you know, one of those, probably the hardest thing for a high school kid adjusting to this level is how hard you have to go and how physical it is. And there hasn't been any adjustment along those lines. I mean, he's a really physical type player who loves to hit and mix it up and not afraid of diving on the floor or, you know, collisions or playing hard. He's a ferocious competitor. So it's just more, you know, fine-tuning his skills and then, you know, getting him to make all the nuances and reads that we have with all our ball. screens and then also just kind of dialing into all our defensive coverages and he's a quick

learner so it's a lot to throw at him and then the other thing I would add to what you said was you know the scrimmages we don't get scrimmages this year you know every year we have a great scrimmage with michigan state which is a great learning opportunity for our guys to really get their feet wet and feel it and then we get to break it down on film and go over it and usually to get an exhibition, so then you get kind of the nervous kind of stuff out of the way, and then a couple buy games, and then by the time you roll into a Maui or Bahamas or something, you're kind of ready to roll. But that's not the case.

So I think these first couple games will be a little probably choppy, and, you know, there'll be a lot of nerves and stuff, and then the guys will settle in. How, you know, other than learning that Jamal Murray is incredible, I remember, you know, You coached a lot of USA basketball, and he beat you that, almost single-handedly beat you that one time in Canada. But it does, like, when you go and when you see international basketball, it is a different way of doing things. And there is some, and there's been a lot of blending and morphing of styles. How are you personally different as a coach now with those vast array of experiences than previously in your career? I, hey, I try to, you know, every year, you know, especially in the off-season, try to go out, kick up and learn some, as much as I possibly can by just, you know, talking to, you know, all the other great coaches out there in the profession.

There's just so many. And what the USA basketball experience has really lended itself to and been a huge part of my great. Roche and development is just, even getting together as, you know, your own staff. I was able to have Mike Brown on my staff and Pat Boyle. And it was just great to be able to, you know, to just hash out X and O's and hash out thoughts and things that we want to try defensively. I actually, I'd never coach down in her ice and ballstream. So I decided going into that Pan Am deal, but like, you know what, I want to try, let's, I want to ice all these ball screens.

It's to make me a better coach. And so, you know, we did that up there. And obviously, Mike was huge with that because nor Pad nor myself had ever done that. So it was great to see all the positives of that and, quite frankly, to see all the negatives of it. And it has limitations just like showing and switching and everything else. So, but going back to my first experience, is USA basketball. It's on an awesome staff, two guys who became just dear, dear friends of mine.

And Billy Donovan was a head coach and Shaka Smart and I were the assistants. And just seeing Billy and Chaka's approach with pressing. I remember, I don't want to bore everything. No, you're not. Go. Go. First game we're in. First game we're in.

You know, we're working on this press. We jump in this press against Mexico. or somebody. And, you know, they kind of boom, boom, boom, boom, you know, lay it up. And I'm like, about ready to just tell Billy like, yeah, let's just get the hell out of this press. Let's just guard them in the half court, you know. Just to get our guys settled in.

And before you know it, there must have been 10 possessions racing up and down. And Marcus Smart was our point guard. And I'm probably five of them, he stole the ball just straight up. Man on man, as you know, he can do. better than anybody. And I think we were up 15 to 2, and I kind of crossed my leg and said, I'm pressing things.

Not so bad. I kind of like it. You have no control of the hell's going on. But, man, when you have better players than the other team, and it was something. And we were down to Brazil, and we just rolled everybody with that press and hardly had to run any half-court offense.

You know, one of the things that always impresses, impress me about you as a human and Marcy, your wife, is that through the big wins and the bad losses, you've, like, never changed. But look, you've had opportunities to leave to take more money, more maybe glamour. And there were people in my profession, and I maybe thought it and didn't say it, which is like Gonzaga's great, but, you know, you're not going to be able to beat the big boys year in, year out there. There's a limitation. There's a ceiling there because you're doing it the right way.

and that's just a hard way at that level. And obviously you've proven so many of us wrong. But I do wonder, you're within one possession of winning the national title. Last year you had a team that very, not easily, but very well could have won the title. This year is a team that everybody believes, if healthy, a little bit of luck, you can compete for a title. What would it mean to win that last game? To be a national champion considering all you've built, all you've done, all you've turned down, and your belief in what you've done with all the people you surround yourself with.

From my point of view, it's just this is what all, this is all I've ever wanted to do. So, and you've been up here a bunch, and I think you've got an incredible perspective on it, because you see on everything that we do have up here, which is the community and the lifestyle and the area and the fans. And also, you get to see the greatest part of this job is just, you know, probably 80% of my former players moved back into the area. And so I get to hang out with all those guys and develop great relationships with them, which is, to me, is the greatest part of this job. But the biggest thing for me, Doug, look, as you know, as well as anybody,

just games stuff happens, just like what you keep with the Carolina game in the year before when Villanova and their guy hit the three at the buzzer. and think about how Tony was able to break through and get his national championship, that Purdue game, and then the missed double dribble against Auburn and all that. There's so much it goes into, you know, to actually winning, you know,

six of those games that the greatest thing for me is that we're in the conversation every year. And that, to me, is a testament to the culture of this program and all the people around it. including the administration support in it and our fans, but most importantly, all our players that came up here and the buy-in that they've, an effort they've put in. So for us to be nationally relevant year-in and year-out is the most important thing.

And if we keep putting ourselves in position, it'll just happen. And it won't be about me or my family or whatever. It'll be just about the program, just, totally, you know, sticking with the plan and putting ourselves in position to make it happen. It would be great, but I won't think one instance about me. It'll just be about, heck, I'll probably start balling, just think about all the former players, to be honest with him. It's off. No, I think you're getting perspective.

I think it's a great perspective to understand what it took and all the people that were a part of it. And, I mean, heck, the team that lost at Texas Tech, like, that was a, that was a, that was a, That was a great team. Amos to Amos team that lost to UCLA. That was a great team. And what happens when you do, when you get to a Final Four, they all get recognized when you win it. They all get recognized. They should know that they are up very much a part of it.

All right. That brings me to this last thing. And I know you got to go. You got Midnight Madness tonight. I was on Dickhouse podcast and I asked him to rank the point guards. I won't ask that of you on this. I will ask you this. If you were to.

Yeah, it'd be interesting to hear this. No, you want to go? You want to do point guards or do you want to do the... Well, I want to hear the rankings. And then I want to hear your ranking. I... Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days I'd put on 10 pounds, I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast.

It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people.

I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jay and I'm Alex English Each episode we pick it here unpack what went down and try to make sense of how we survived it Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill Waxing all about crack in the 80s

To be clear 84 is big to me not just because of crack I'm down to talk about crack on day But just so y'all know I mean at this point Mark this is the second episode where we've discussed crack so I'm starting to see that there's a through line We also have AIDS on the table right now so Thank you for finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.

Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversational. with so many incredible guests. I'm talking.

Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses.

Steve Burns, Dustin Ross. Because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person.

Join me, Keer Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way. Open your free, Our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Personally, he had Santangelo, like, way down the list, like seventh or eighth,

and I know Santangelo wasn't the shooter. I told him to take himself out of it. Right. Like, can't put yourself in it. And he also didn't have pargo on it. And his thing was like, you know, and like there's just, there's so many, right? There's so many guys that have, that have not just like, it's one thing to bring the ball up to court. That doesn't make you a point guard, but to be a point guard for Gonzaggy,

but just such a litany of them. I think he had step number one. And I was like, that's because he's your guy because he played with him. Like, that's not fair, but whatever. Okay, so who would, like, who would be your? who would be your ultimate Zag point guard list? Well, no, I ask you, yours.

I'm not going to. We'll do that. We'll do that. We'll do that. We'll do that. I'm not going to rank. It comes on the hour with my kids. Fair enough. Fair enough.

How about this one? If you were to tell somebody, if I was to tell somebody, all right, there's just something different about a Zag. It's just something different. I can't. It's really hard for me to describe it. One player, it doesn't have to be the best player.

The guy who to you, this is the guy I want to represent to to a recruit, to a parent, to a broadcaster, to a fan of, when we say Zag, this is what we mean. Oh, a guy that plays with a chip on his shoulder because he knows he's as good as anybody out there that wants to, you know, also kind of show everybody. So there's just a incredible, quiet confidence with a real conviction to it. Yeah. but also a guy that so values winning over everything else that he's going to do whatever he has to do to help his team win,

and he cares deeply about his teammates and knows if all that, you know, plays out in that order, then he's going to be able to realize a fantastic professional career, and it's going to serve him well as he, you know, moves on through life. That would be my take on what being his ags. all about. It's amazing stuff. It's great stuff which you've built. We wish you nothing but health and success. I know you have work to do. Thank you so much for your time. We'll talk soon. You got it, Doug. I love your perspective. You being in this thing, playing, coaching, watching with a really, really keen eye. It's great to discuss it all with you.

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Be sure to catch the live edition of the Doug Gottlieb show weekdays at 3 p.m. Easter, noon Pacific. A reminder, by the way, if you like interviews like that, we do all sports on the Doug Gottlieb show, which you can listen to at foxportsradio.com, your Fox Sports Radio affiliate, your IHartRadio app, 12 to 3, West Coast time, 3 to 6, Eastern Time,

whatever you listen to Fox Sports Radio, you can listen. Also, Sirius XM, 217 and 203. And that's like a dream, by the way, his early season. Like, you open up with Kansas, and, you know, you're just, and then you're going to play Baylor.

Like, let's just pick the 10 best teams in the country and try and play like five or six of them. They play Iowa. They can play Tennessee. Let's just play the best teams. It's amazing. Who doesn't love that? Who doesn't want that?

I do. All right, a couple quick thoughts on some of the rumors in terms of the draft. We'll do a draft podcast next week. And also in terms of free agency, which is going to be a short free agency. Let's start with Russell Westbrook. I think a team like Charlott's where he's going to have to go. Like, he just, the Knicks aren't really going to want him, even if he wants the market of the Knicks because they're trying to make themselves a welcoming

place. They're trying to get Donovan Mitchell. They're trying to get Carl Anthony Towns. They're trying to get a burgeoning superstar on the way up to help kind of turn them around to go with their young players. Russell Westbrook's on the way down. He's just, he, his knees, he's still a great athlete, empirically. He used to be the best athlete in the NBA. He's not that guy anymore. Though he will play hard, doesn't play hard all the time anymore. And his shooting's a problem. got to have the ball in his hands. He's got to go to a place that they can live with the bad because of the good, even if there's a ceiling of making the playoffs and getting bounced early on. That's where he's got to go. And Charlotte's just that type of place at this point,

at this point in their growth as a franchise, what they're trying to kind of get to. You know, does it set him back? I guess. I mean, look, he's a Jordan brand guy. That thing all Those are the types of franchises that I think it works for. For James Harden, I kind of think they ride or die with him. I don't think they move him. But I also think that there's a ceiling there for James Harden because, as the best player on the team, because he doesn't play any defense, there's just always going to be a limitation. The best players in the NBA, the absolute best, play both ends.

Those are the guys that win championships. Dominique didn't. He didn't win a championship. You know, I kind of go through, you know, Alan Iverson never played much defense. Charles Barkley didn't play much defense. Like, these guys are great players. And James Hardin's one of the worst defensive players of the superstars in the NBA. He's a superstar.

But he didn't, I'm playing defense. It's not, you are who your best player is. Everybody basketball knows that, right? The Chris Paul thing is far more interesting. I guess I like it for Phoenix just because they're trying to, in an effort to try and, you keep your best players happy. You need a guy who's a great leader. And the problem with Chris Paul is he was really good this year with Oklahoma City.

Part of it was that expectations were low. And part of it was he was really good. But also part of it was that the season got shortened because of COVID. So if you put him in a 72 game season with kind of a quick turnaround, how much does he have left? I don't know. and I know the second year of that, I think there's two years left in that deal. I'm not sure that looks all that pretty.

I don't think the Lakers are a reasonable destination. I think the problem with the bucks is the amount of money that he makes. And I think the clippers would be interesting to come back there because they need a point guard, but what would they have to shed in order to get him? I think the sons, again, kind of makes sense because they're searching for relevancy in a guy who can establish the culture and be demanding.

He's like vegetables. Like, nobody loves, nobody orders him first in the menu, but you do need him in order to kind of line you out because they're, I thought Rubio worked for him. But Rubio's been banged up and Chris Paul is definitely better than Ricky Rubio, although Rubio analytics wise, very good defensively. And obviously, a tremendous passer. It just doesn't maybe have the cachet of a Chris Paul. But it'd be interesting to see what happens there. How many more wins can you get if you had Chris Paul as your point guard? Last thing is for the NBA draft

You know, there's a lot of talk with a mellow ball being number one overall. I just Do I like that he's 666, 6.67 has great vision? Of course. You know, as a guy who's 511.1.5. 5.11, 3 quarters barefoot. Just, you know, 6'1 or whatever with shoes on.

Like, I can't imagine how great his vision is on a basketball. Long arms. Can handle the ball. But he can't shoot. His body's not good. And no, Lanzo wasn't a good defensive player, but he had good defensive instincts. He just tried to steal the ball every time when he was in high school and in college.

Lamello plays no defense. So I don't see it. Could be wrong. It doesn't mean I think he's going to stink. But like, look, his brother's inability to develop a consistent jump shot is problematic. The other part is like, I always thought that Lanzo was a little sharper than Lamello and he has not done well. even though he's worldly, right? Lived in Lithuania, lived in Australia,

traveled all over. Like he just, I had a GM tell me that he's like a Kardashian and one of the kids, not the mom, right? That's not, that they were not exactly blown away by the interviews. So I don't see it. Don't see it.

But we'll see. And then if he goes to Minnesota, I mean, him in DeAngelo Russell, like, dude, that's the worst defensive back court, maybe in the history of the NBA, even if they're fun to watch, that's going to chase Carl Anthony Towns to the Knicks faster than you can say, Carl Anthony Towns to the Knicks. My thanks to Mark View, my thanks to you for downloading and listening.

Don't forget to download, subscribe, rate, tell a friend, tweet it out. Tell me what you think. I'm Doug Gottlieb. This is all ball. If you love to be remembered as the person who gives the best birthday gifts, I'm here to tell you that 1-800flowers.com is your own. ultimate birthday gifting destination. 1-800 Flowers has thoughtful and artfully created options that are guaranteed to deliver the best birthday surprise.

Shop thousands of unique gifts at 1-800flowers.com for exclusive offers and great values. To order today, visit 1-800flowers.com slash tune-in. That's 1-800flowers.com slash tune-in. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guide, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel

help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators,

and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network, On TikTok. On The Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me.

84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year.

It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to Look Back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your. podcasts. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.