The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 03/25/2019

Episode Date: March 25, 2019

Colin thinks the NCAA tournament ratings are all up because of only one reason, Zion.  Rob Gronkowski is retiring and Colin thinks he has been unfairly labeled a "meathead" his entire career.  He talks about where he was right and wrong over the weekend.  Plus, College Basketball Insider and Fox Sports Radio Host Aaron Torres comes in studio to talk Duke and the lack of upsets in the tournament this year.  Presented by Perky Jerky. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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This is The Herd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening. We are live in Los Angeles on IHeartRadio, Fox Sports Radio, at FS1. One hour from now where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong, and there are plenty of both. Joy Taylor is joining me in a Monday. It was a magical, magical weekend, March Madness. We both love it. It was amazing. Amazing.

So much fun, so much urgency. So let me start with this. Ratings are up 29%. Excuse me. They're up 8% that the highest ratings in 29 years. And whenever ratings go, everybody tries to guess why the ratings going up, it's gambling. It's not gambling.

We've been gambling on the final four forever. It's not gambling. Well, let me tell you why the, the, ratings are up. Zion Williamson. CBS has a Zion cam. All right, college basketball, let's be honest, has become like a two, three-week sport. It's the honeymoon of marriage. It's great for about 10 days, but it's not reality. Zion Williamson is a superstar. This is what superstars look like at 17 years old. If he goes to the New York Knicks, he is going to blow past Janus, Kauai, Paul George, Westbrook, Hardin, Kauai Leonard, M. Bede, Ben Simmons.

In name value, in star value, he is going to blow by them because he's got three factors which are massively important to superstars. Number one, the name factor. Zion, Oprah, I'm a stern, Hannity, Rush, Pelae, Ronaldo, Kobe. I know it sounds kooky, but that one name factor is a marketer's dream. And the fact that he has the letter Z is even crazier, which is another perfect letter for a marketer. He's got the one name factor.

It's not called the Rush Limbaugh show. It's called Rush. And that's the way marketing works. Remember the movie? They were calling the Facebook. And somebody came in and said, just call it Facebook. Google, Yahoo, Amazon. There's a reason.

One word. Second factor. He's a physical freak. People are busy in life. They don't have time for subtlety and nuance. Zion jumps through a television set. It's not a clever crossover. Physically dunks, even when he shoots a jumper.

I can't take my eyes up, but he is not subtle, although he's got a beautiful touch. His smile, his size, his size, his dunks, his game. Not a lot of subtle. You don't have to be a huge basketball fan to turn on the TV and go, oh, yeah, kind of like when LeBron broke into the league. You can be like, who's that big kid on the floor?

The third factor, which is inarguable, he plays at Duke. It's the number one brand in college basketball. I didn't know who Janus was for three years. I never watched Kauai Leonard play. Chris Paul went to Wake Forest. I've been in a lot of forests. I've never been to that one. this kid's going to walk into the NBA,

potentially with the New York Knicks. He is going to be a superstar. Not going to be LeBron big. I'm not saying that. He's probably not going to be like Durant and Steph Curry big. But there's going to be about three or four guys in this league. He's going to blow past all of them. And if you want to know why the ratings are going up, it's Zion.

It's not gambling. We gamble on this thing our entire lives. There haven't been a lot of upsets. There haven't been a lot of crazy finishes. There's, you know, the other big star, plays at a college, he's already out, John Morant, that most of you don't watch. This is what a superstar looks like at 18 years old. This is what they look like.

By the way, Tiger was a superstar. At 16 years old, Sports Illustrated, when it was a huge publication that started narratives around sports, they were doing stories on him. He was the talk of golf clubs. Network showed every shot when he was 17, 18 years old on any turn. tournament he was part of. Name factor, physical specimen, superstar from a great college brand. That is why the ratings are up 29%. I will get to the Duke controversial win after the break, because I do want to touch on that. But I think the second biggest story of the day,

speaking of one name, Gronk. Not Rob Gronkowski, Gronk, another star in America. One of the 10 biggest sports. slash character stars ever. He retired. There's two things about Rob Grongowski. Rob Grunkowski. Number one is college football does a lot of spread offense. So like tight ends in college don't block anymore.

So the NFL is struggling to find college tight ends who they think they can turn into blockers. There's a kid at Iowa, T.J. Hawkinson, who's probably the most underrated player in the entire draft. he's the next version of Gronk, though I don't think he's nearly as talented, but he blocks and college guys don't block. So Gronk, there's not a lot of Gronks out there. We'll see talented tight ends, but he became an unbelievable force on the offensive line.

Tony Gonzalez last year talked about what makes Gronk special. With Gronk, what he's better than me at is the blocking. He can block. He's a big old guy. Blocking is about desire, first of all. do you want to do it? It's not about can you do it. It's will you do it? You know, and a lot of those big tight ends, 250 pound Jimmy Graham, 250 pound Travis Kelsey, not a knock against them, but they don't want to block because it's hard. It hurts. It's not fun. It really is not fun. It's not fun. I love that bite. But I got to tell you something about Gronk. When Gronk came into this league,

you saw him and I saw him as just a big dumb football player. He's goofy. But over the course of time, Gronk became one of the smartest NFL players. He did the opposite of sometimes what misguided athletes do. Gronk was incredibly coachable. As he physically wore down, wasn't as fast, he accelerated his blocking skills. Gronk could have left multiple times more money. A lot of stars do that. But he knew that Tom Brady was the person.

perfect fit and Belichick was the perfect coach. A lot of athletes spend their money unwisely. Gronk has never spent a dime of his. He's legendary. Gronk came into this league is a big, dopey goofball. Talented. I'm not denying that. He was talented. But he actually became really wise and really smart in that he could have chased a lot

of things and he didn't. And he became incredibly coachable. and he accelerated his blocking skills, and he became an incredible ally to Tom Brady. And he took care of his body. So by the end of the year last year, the two biggest games, he was arguably the best guy on the field. Gronk admitted that he came into this league and he wanted to have a lot of fun. And I'm not anti-fun. But Gronk, instead of pushing back at his coach and pushing back at the system

and pushing back at a very complex New England system, Gronk said, you know what, it's better for me, it's better for the team if I'm more focused. Remember this moment by Gronk at the podium? We got yelled at. We're not a lot of talk about celebrations. That's what we got told, but I kind of want to talk about it. But I kind of don't because I'll get in trouble.

So I don't know what to do. So it just happened on the spot. It wasn't planned. We'll just keep it there. Gronk's a big personality. But Gronk understood, this place is good for me. This quarterback's good for me. This coach is good for me.

Learning to block is good for me. Working really hard is good for me. It's okay to be a big personality and also fit within a system. All sorts of people in my business have big personalities. But they can appreciate having good bosses at Fox. Like, I have a personality. It rubs some people the wrong way, but I try to never take advantage or never underestimate the value of a really good boss and really good management and a really good system. I know, I know, I know.

It's such a sellout. Yes, our shows sell out. And some bands sell out, but they still don't have to compromise all their artistic value. Gronk entered the league as a big, dumb dope guy, right? I think he leaves the NFL and players who are stars with big personalities should take a look at Gronk. You never make more money in endorsements than when you're playing in aFC championships and Super Bowls.

Sometimes you've got to reduce a little of your personality, just a little, not all of it, to fit into a structure and a system. Sports loves personalities. Zion Williamson, by the way, I think has a great personality. but systems and cultures win. Personalities don't. Gronk reduced his just a little to fit and leaves a first ballot all-time, arguably greatest tight-end talent ever.

Coachable, listened, evolve, grew. To me, that's what smart guys do in sports. You're not a victim if your coach and your culture ask you to pull back the Facebook live in the locker room for the betterment of the team. Tip of the Cap de Gronk. Alarm! The Willys! Hebi-Geebies! Panic! There are dozens of words for fear, but just won for an exceptional home security company to stop fear at your front door. Simply say, it's the home security that makes me fear less. Award-winning 24-7 protection.

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Thanks to Simply Safe, Fear Now has no place in a place like home. Try it. Free shipping and free returns, too. Plus, a 60-day risk-free trial, too. order now. Simplysafe.com slash her. Be sure to go there. They know who sent you. We did. Simplysafe.com slash H-E-R-D. Controversial call in the Duke UCF game. I said UFC earlier. That's obviously not UCF, Central Florida. And there was a no call on a push. And fans make this mistake a lot. And the media makes this mistake. Sports are not officiated the exact same way late in games.

Just like they're not coach the same way. Just like rules. Choles change late in games. They did not call a push because refs swallow their whistle in close big games late, always. Ever noticed in the NFL on a Hail Mary, they never call pass interference, even though everybody's grabbing and pushing? You ever noticed in soccer, you very rarely with a minute and a half, two minutes left, see a penalty kick because refs don't want to call it unless it's egregious. In hockey, you go to overtime. refs want it fully manned. They don't want to, unless it's egregious, a hockey ref is not going to take a guy off the ice.

But Colin games should be officiated the same way. Why? They're not played the same early as late. They're not coach the same early as late. There are rules that change. You have a two-minute warning late, not early. In overtime, college or pro football, the rules all changed. By the way, in the NBA, if you call a timeout late in games, they take the ball and they move it to the

other end of the floor. They don't do that in the first quarter, the second quarter, in the third quarter. Why do they do it at the end of a game to make the game more competitive? You also can't do hack a shack in the NBA late in games anymore. There's all sorts of rules in place telling you that games are different late. Football, basketball, baseball, you can't do a challenge in baseball after the seventh inning. You can't do a challenge in football under the two-minute warning. So the rules change late in games. Officials also officiate differently. They get out of the way.

Remember Christmas Day last year, LeBron and Kevin Durant? And LeBron claimed he was fouled twice? When you have LeBron and Kevin Durant, the two biggest stars in the NBA, going to the basket late, LeBron claimed he was fouled twice. They swallowed the whistle. By the way, several years ago in the finals, LeBron failed Kevin Durant going on the baseline, they swallowed their whistle there. Go ask New Orleans Saints fans.

referees will allow aggressive play late. They always have and they always will. They don't want to get in the way of an outcome. But Colin, they should. No, they shouldn't. Rules change late. Overtime rules are not the same as regular rules. NBA, they advance the ball.

NFL you can't challenge. Baseball, you can't challenge. Hockey, they won't call anything in overtime. That's the way it should work in sports. You don't drive to work going the same speed limit. There's the freeway. There's off roads. There's side roads.

There's school zones. This idea there's, you just officiate, same rules, not the great ones. They get it. Officials do not want to be in the newspaper the following morning having called a foul that wasn't a foul. They're much better off, not calling anything, disappearing and letting them play. I know it makes you mad and you don't want to hear it, but every time people are furious at officiating, almost always, it's because something that wasn't called,

not something that was. And did I think it was a push? A lot of pushing in basketball. But I didn't think they were going to call that. I don't think you'd decide a game that way. By the way, UCF had a chance for an alleyup dunk, blew it. Duke came down, hit a shot. It was a five-point.

swing, four or five point swing. That's your game. That's not your game. That missed jam at the other end was the game. Rules change. Coach is coached differently. They substitute differently. You can't hack a shack late. They move the ball and basketball down the floor late. They don't do it early. That's sports. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports

Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Well, we always do this every Monday. We used to just do it in the football season. And I said we saw the numbers. People really liked it. I don't think enough people in our business admit when they're wrong and call themselves out. And I think it's something that I like to do because I have strong opinion. So it's only fair when I whiff.

I've got to come out and say it. And you've responded by making often one of our highest-readed segments every week. So we do it on Mondays at this time. It's Colin right. Colin wrong. Where Colin was right? Well, we set only six teams. could win this tournament, and all six are left. We said Duke, Carolina, Tennessee, Gonzaga,

Michigan, and Virginia, those are your six teams with the highest percentage, not just because of their seed. Here's the reality. There's not a lot of NBA guys in college basketball. Find the teams that either have an NBA guy or two, or in Duke's case four, and then find coaches who have a history of winning games. Coaching matters a lot here, NBA talent matters a lot, and even when you do find the occasional upset, the team that wins by upset, the following game usually loses. Go chalk. I've always been top 10% in every bracket I've ever had, and it's not because I watch more college basketball or some expert. I just go with the teams that have an NBA player or two, go with teams that have tournament experience, go with teams that plan a lot of

big games and full arenas that can handle the pressure. Six for six, they're all remaining. Where Colin was wrong. Gronk retired, and I said twice last week, I thought he was going to come back for one more year. Listen, it was either one more year retired. His body's falling apart. I didn't have any great sources on this, but I said, my hunch is he's become a really, really important blocker. College football doesn't produce those. And the truth is, he's a really coachable player. And I think New England and him had kind of a wink, wink, wink, nudge, nudge relationship where they didn't ask a ton of him until late in the year. And he was unbelievable in the Super Bowl and unbelievable in the AFC championship.

but in the end Gronk knows his body it's probably as much about not wanting to practice not wanting to go through the grind he's probably going to go somewhere warm and end up on a boat somewhere but I thought he had one more year left in him and now he's gone

where Colin was right listen the NFL is pretty simple get a quarterback and even if he's a pain in the butt if he can play just keep resigning him what did the Steelers do this weekend worked on a new Big Ben contract I think he's passive-aggressive. I don't think he's the greatest leader.

But in the end, you're going to let a star receiver go. You're going to let a star back go. You've got to go with a guy that takes 60 snaps. And they supported him in the press. And this weekend, they were working on a new contract. He had the worst PR week of his life. And in the end, did it matter not one iota. Again, he and Aaron Rogers, Carson Went,

have got to get better at uniting everybody in locker rooms. But Russell Wilson had a little pushback from star players and you know what Seattle did? Got them all out of town and Seattle rebooted and made the playoffs. This is the NFL. If there's quarterback gets into a fight with the star, they're shipping the star out of town.

They're keeping the quarterback. Another illustration of this with Big Ben and the Steelers. Where Colin was wrong. Listen, I picked the Lakers to win 48 games. There was in a million years, if you'd have told me, they won't win any more than the year before LeBron got there. I just said the hard pass on that take. Injuries were a big component.

And the other thing is, they just don't have enough shooters. It's not that they're average at shooting. They're terrible at it. They don't have a single elite shooter in the building. They had Brooke Lopez, one of the best shooting bigs, let him go. They had Lou Williams, let him go to get Kyle Kuzma, which I guess you can argue. But they got eliminated before Sacramento and Minnesota, two really bad teams or disappointing. teams. I whiffed on the Lakers this year.

Where Colin was right? But I've been saying for years, don't tell me Kevin Durant's better than LeBron. Kevin Durant's not the most valuable player on his own team. And this Saturday night, Steph did not play for the Warriors. And they got blown out by 35 at home of the 14-seated Mavericks. Golden State this year without Steph Curry is 5 and 7. When Kevin Durant doesn't play, they're often better. Listen, Kevin Durant's great.

He's an unbelievable all-time talent, but he's not that valuable. Golden State was fine before him. They'd be fine without him. When he misses games, they still win at the same clip. But when Steph Curry doesn't play, this team's a mess. By the way, nobody's disputing talent. But when they hand out these MVP awards, the word is most valuable. Steph Curry is far more valuable to the Warriors than Kevin

Durant is. Where Colin was wrong. Mike Trout signed a 12-year contract. In the last three weeks, Manny Machado signed a 10-year deal. Bryce Harper signed a 13-year deal. I just don't get it. I thought they were done. I thought baseball execs went, you know, these are awful, all of them. None has ever worked. By the year two or three, you're basically begging to get out of the contract, and we've got three guys signing massive contracts. And what's interesting is Mike Trout's a speed guy. He's, you know, his big thing is he can steal bases. First to third, he covers a ton of ground in the outfield. I'm not sure he's going to age particularly well. He's already in his peak. My guess is he's got four to five peak

years left, and that will be less than half the way through the contract. I don't get it. I understand he's a star. I would never in a million, well, Colin, what would you do? I would have gone out and gotten three first round picks, a closer, an ace, and a starting second baseman. I'm not signing any employee to a 13-year contract. But once again, I'm wrong. Baseball's now addicted to it, despite the fact none of them, none of them have worked out for the team.

Where Colin was right? Been saying for a year, I've been preaching it. The Cowboys are smart. They used to be quirky when Jerry was young in Handballer Energy, but this pass-free agency, Randall Cobb, one-year deal, very affordable. George Ilocke, a safety, one-year

contract, very smart. The Cowboys have become one of the smartest teams in football. They're not paying Randall Cop anything. And he's going to come in and be a number three receiver. He's probably going to play about 13 games, have 65 catches, four touchdowns. They paid nothing for him. Between their drafts where they have been a, they have just nailed on the defensive side of the ball. They built their offensive line on that draft, got criticized for it.

They were right. They made the Amari Cooper trade. They got ripped for it. They were right. They did this year in free agency. Last year they drafted a linebacker from Idaho. You couldn't find the town on a map. He ended up being the steel.

in the draft. This is a smart and subtly smart franchise. They go way against Jerry's brand, which is splashy and big and loud. The Cowboys have once again proven, along with Philadelphia, the Colts, New England, maybe both L.A.

teams, Kansas City, they are a really well-run franchise. Where Colin was wrong. I've been clobbering the Green Bay Packers for years because they just won't go out and spend money in free agency. But you know what? They did a great job. They spent 28 million on Billy Turner, a very good offensive lineman who will help Aaron

Rogers. They spent 52 million on Preston Smith, 66 million on Zadaria Smith, linebackers who will both, especially Preston Smith, make an impact. Adrian Amos, they spent four years, 36 million. I loved every one of those signings. Their offensive line got better, protect Aaron Rogers, and their defense got better. Get the ball back to Aaron Rogers. I've been banging on the Packers for years for being cheap. I thought they had. as good a free agency as any team in the NFL. Not splashy names, but guys who will start, guys who will either protect Aaron Rogers

or get the ball back to Aaron Rogers. I loved what Green Bay did. I'm actually fascinated to see what they do in the draft because the new guy running this team between last year's draft, this year's free agency, has been really exceptional. Where Colin was right? March Madness,

highest ratings in 25 plus years. Why? Because of two things I always preach about. Stars matter. It's why I talk about Tom Brady and why I talk about Big Ben and why I talk about LeBron every day. College basketball has its first star in 15 years.

Zion Williamson is why these ratings are through the roof. And the other thing, favorites are winning. Everybody always tells you they love the underdog. No, they don't. If you love the underdog, then And why do the ratings go down in this tournament every year when Duke and Kentucky and Kansas get eliminated?

This tournament has always had its highest ratings when two things happen, two things I've preached for years. Favorites win and you've got stars. This year, you've got both. Where Colin was wrong. Last year when Trevor Arisa left and Luke Mbawtay left the Rockets, I said, they peaked, it's over. You know what? I like them more now. They've done a great job.

Darryl Morey deserves a ton of credit. They've rebooted this team. They've beaten the Warriors 3 out of 4. They've won 14 of 16. Kenneth Verreed's a physical presence. Iman Shumpert and Austin Rivers are guards that can match up well with the Warriors. They play defense. They have quietly done a terrific job to reboot this team, and I've got to be honest with you.

I think I like the way they match up against Golden State. than last year. I was surprised how well they matched up and I kind of buried them when Trevor or Riza left. I'm like, you got to re-sign that guy. And the other thing they did, they went and got mellow, which I hated. And this is what smart people do. They're like, you know what? Doesn't work. Mistake out. They didn't try to convince everybody they were smart. They didn't try to grab onto their mistake. They're like, listen, it didn't work. We tried to bring in Carmelo. It didn't work. All right. You know, even Derek Cheater struck out a lot. They're not paralyzed by making a mistake.

They take risks, and I think they've worked really well. And I think they're going to be a good matchup for Golden State. I don't think they'll beat them, but I think they've re-engineered this team, and I love it. Colin right, calling wrong. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Something happened this weekend. A story broke, and for many people, they will say, yeah, I told you. The guy was a loud mouth, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Big Baller brand. It's been discovered. Got ripped off by a business associate and LeVar Ball. Can't find $1.5 million. He got scammed. He is not a man that has $1.5 million to just give away in a business. It's a fledgling business. It's been a bad last six months for LeVar Ball and the Big Baller brand.

LeVar Ball was loud. And the loudest guy at the bar is generally not the smartest guy in the bar. but Levar had some good qualities. I think he's a good dad. I think he loves his family. The problem with Levar is he didn't have a ton of substance beyond the loud. I'm okay with loud. Charles Barkley was loud and Dion Sanders was loud.

There's a lot of loud guys. Manny Ramirez made a lot of noise. I'm okay with loud. The Kardashians make a lot of noise, but they're brilliant behind the scenes. They have connected with the best retailers, TV producers in Hollywood. Gronk, by the way, is loud. But he saved every penny. He became incredibly coachable and evolved as a football player.

For a lot of people today, it's an I told you so with LeVar Ball. I feel bad. I think it's sad. He got taken. He's a victim here. He is. He's a victim of somebody who allegedly scammed him out of $1.5 million, which if you're starting a business, that doesn't mean anything for Adidas.

That doesn't mean anything for Under Armour. But for a man starting a business, that's the beginning and that's the end of the business. Some of it has been the loudness. Lonzo Bulls on the trade block. He's hurt again. Lamello had the China theft disaster. But for those who were never fans, it's an I told you so moment. To me, it's an American scam, and I feel bad for anybody whoever gets caught up in that

and gets hoodwinked and snookered by that. And so I feel bad for LaVar Ball today. I do. Yeah, I mean, it's a situation where somebody took advantage of someone else, and it happens all the time. It's not exclusive to athletes or famous people. People get scammed all the time. and it's unfortunate. It's just that people were rooting against Levar Ball and kind of rooting for him to fail.

And I don't think this means it's a failure. I mean, this was a family operation to begin with. It's just, you're right. Like, Lonzo's a victim in this case. The family's got taken advantage of by someone who... It stinks. Lied and scammed. Yeah.

By the way, they created a show called American Greed. Did you ever watch that show? And a lot of smart people got taken to the bank? Smart people could take advantage of all the time. And however much money it is really, really doesn't matter. It's the principle of it. But yeah, I mean, you really should be rooting for him to succeed. He's going against the grain and creating their own brand.

So the people that rooted against it or rooted for it to fail never made sense to me anyway. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Aaron Torres, my friend. We bring him on a few times a year. College Basketball Insider, Fox Sports Radio host. You've got multiple books you've written for,

college basketball won, one and fun, the 2010 Kentucky Wildcats. So here we go, Aaron. This is 10 minutes if you love college hoops, and there's been a lot to like about it. First of all, we've got no upsets this year, virtually no upset, and the ratings are through the roof. Let's start with this. Is there a reason or is it coincidental why? I don't remember a year with fewer upsets. Well, this is only the second year ever that all won, two, and three seeds advanced the second weekend. Wow. Yeah. And so I don't think there's any reason other than that, it's this weird kind of confluence of events where

all of the good teams are really good, right? North Carolina is really good. Duke is really good. Virginia, for all their struggles, is playing better. They're kind of they have an NBA guy. Yep, they have an NBA guy. Kentucky, the same. Even the teams that don't have the NBA guys like Tennessee, old.

Old experience, they've played together three, four years. And so, I just think it was a year that all season long, it felt like those top six, seven teams. You know, you include Gonzaga, maybe, maybe, Michigan State. It always felt like they were better than everybody else and significantly better all season. We're seeing it in this tournament. Okay, let's go to the call. The no call against RJ Barrett, right? Like he pushed, right? It should be a call, right? And my takeaway is

late in games, pro or college, they don't call pass interference on Hail Marys. Sure. Refs swallow the whistle. That's what it felt like to me. Were you bothered by it? No, I really wasn't. And I've never been blamed the ref guy at the end of games. It just felt like, Listen, it was a hotly contested game all year. Obviously, UCF, they're the only team of the tournament with a guy that's 7 foot 6, right? Like every play at the rim could be a foul one way or the other. And there was two or three calls that could have gone against UCF at various points throughout the game. They didn't. That one happened to go against Central Florida, obviously the fifth foul. By the way, I would mention Zion Williamson the end won. They missed a shot on that possession and got an offensive rebound. Thank you. So I'm just saying is the refs didn't cost anybody.

By the way, UCF had two good looks at the buzzer. They had an alley-up dunk that would have sealed the game. And then Duke came back and either hit a two or a three, but it was a five-point swing, wasn't it, or a four? Yeah, no, yeah, it was, yeah, I think they came back and hit the three. But, oh, by the way, here's the other one, too. How about the shot clock violation? We couldn't tell if it hit the rim.

I thought they were going to take the points off the board. They gave them to UCF. Exactly. And so to me, I just sit there and I look at it and say there were a couple calls in those final 15 or so seconds that went Duke's favor. But if you go forget the totality of the game, just the last two or three minutes, a lot went UCF's favor to. They didn't close. Okay, Zion, listen, we've had players who have been great college players, Pearl Washington, Harold Minor. They go to the NBA and you're like, oh, this doesn't work at all.

Adam Morrison, Gonzaga, 28 a game, just couldn't play at the NBA level. So I'm not saying there's no chance Zion, Jimmer Ferdet, Buddy Heel took a while to figure out the NBA. I just see this guy and I see a little Larry Johnson. I see a little Berkeley. I see a lot of Blake Griffin. To me, he's an NBA star. What are your people saying? Sean Kemp, by the way, little Sean Kemp?

With the hops, the power. Did he go high school? He did, but I'm just saying in general the kind of... There's some Sean Kemp with him, yes. The power to his game. I see this guy as a star. Listen, I see him as a star. star two absolutely. I don't think, and I've said this on all the platforms, you know, I went on with Chris

Broussard and Rob Parker on their radio show the other day. I said nobody, there is no chance. And by the way, this was why I was in favor of him coming back and playing, because God forbid, if some kind of major injury happened, he's still going to go number one. Nobody is passing up on the chance to have this guy. I think he's going to be a star. I can't ever remember a guy looking this awesome, this dominant in college. I mean, look at yesterday. Yesterday, And this is something that's kind of crazy about this whole Duke run. They have not been the same team since he went down and since he came back. You look at yesterday, he had 32 points.

I don't think anybody else had more than 15 or 16. RJ Barrett struggled. Zion had more than half of their follow shots. So his value to that team is through the roof in terms of NBA long term. I see a superstar. My only concern would be he had a couple smaller injuries in high school. Obviously the knee thing this year. Could injuries be a factor?

he's a little bit heavier. He's got to trim down some weight. But yeah, if you're betting on me on this guy to be like superstar two, three, four best players in the league for the next 15 years, I could totally buy that. Yeah, by the way, he's going to go to the NBA. He's going to have better weight training. He's going to eat better. The NBA now is a wide open spacing game, so he's going to get one-on-one matchups near the basket. You can't sag your defense. In college, I can just sag in on him. He should have more trouble in college. In fact, the congestion in college is intense. In the NBA, he's going to get a lot of threes and fours down low, and he's going to, to draw fouls. Now, would you take Duke or the field at this point? Oh, I take the field, no doubt. No doubt. Are you, that's a serious question? No, no, no. I think Duke in Michigan are the

two best teams I've seen. My thing about Duke is they have four NBA guys, but there is one problem with Duke. Yeah, they can't shoot threes. I mean, they have like the, you could argue of everyone left in the tournament. And if you want to say even just like one seeds, two seats, the real contenders, they have by far the most glaring weakness, which is they shoot 30% from the three point line. They just, they're not built for 2019 basketball. They're just not built for 2019 basketball. If you have one of those guys, that's fine, you have all three.

And I think you even saw it in their opening round game for people who didn't see that game. They played North Dakota. Yes, they struggled for a while. Struggle for a while. North Dakota State packed it in, Central Florida, packed it in, make them make jump shots. You see yesterday, I'm telling you, Zion had 32. Nobody else played well on that team.

And by the way, this regional, just this weekend. Forget the final four, forget North Carolina, Virginia, whoever they may play. This weekend, they have Virginia Tech, who already beat them once. They got Michigan State who is tough as you know what. I mean, you have to be when Tom Mizzos yelling at you like that. Right, of course. Yeah. LSU has a bunch of NBA guys as well. If you gave me Duke or the field this weekend in D.C., I would probably take Duke. But if you give me the field, the other 15 teams, I will absolutely take Duke. Okay. In the last several years, I can make an argument, the best college basketball programs, not Duke. It's Carolina. So Carolina, unlike Kentucky and Duke, isn't

winning the recruiting battle. How's Roy Williams doing it? Because I think the last four years, Carolina's been a two national title games, I think they're the best program right now. It's unbelievable. And, you know, it's ironic because that huge academic scandal that went on for years, it really cost them in recruiting. Like Brandon Ingram was going to go to North Carolina and everybody's telling them, I'm not saying Duke necessarily did this, but everyone's telling them, they might not be eligible for the NCAA tournament. Heard them. Yeah. Jason Tatum, all those guys. And so I think that the bottom line with North Carolina is,

I think Roy Williams maybe took some guys that he might not have taken, but it worked out for the best. And as you said, he's got the blend of the young guys, the old guys. And the old guys, by the way, are unselfish because the young guys are the NBA guys and his old guys are 22 years old, but they don't need to be stars. They know they're not NBA guys. And it's unbelievable because I think this is the toughest thing that nobody talks about, right? Everyone's like, well, how come Duke has no depth? Well, how come

Kentucky has no depth? It's because when you're recruiting the best players every year, you don't want to come for three years and wonder year to year, who are they bringing in next year? And so that's why Duke has no depth. That's why Kentucky in past years has struggled with depth. North Carolina, they found those guys that are willing to, one, maybe even sit on the bench for a year or two, not be a star year two, year three, maybe year four, their star, maybe year four, they're not. But the bottom line is, They buy into what they're doing. And as you said, Colin, they consistently win in an insane level.

Yeah, I think if Carolina faced Duke again, I think Duke could be in a little bit of trouble because Carolina can get hot from the outside. His name is Aaron Torres. He's a college basketball insider. He works for Fox Sports Radio. Good seeing you, Aaron. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind.

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