The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Gottlieb- All Ball- Debunking Strength of Schedule; Assigning Lakers' blame, Hayward the key for Boston; Wisconsin PG Brad Davison

Episode Date: March 8, 2019

This week, Gottlieb explains why Strength of Schedule is misleading in evaluating NCAA Tournament teams, who's to blame for the Lakers disappointing season, and why Gordon Hayward's play is so important for the Celtics to make a playoff run. Doug also talks with Wisconsin PG Brad Davison on where the Badgers are heading into the Big Ten Conference Tournament. Subscribe here to get the latest All Ball Podcasts https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/all-ball-with-doug-gottlieb/id1358843497?mt=2.   Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to her. He's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball.

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Before we'll get to our guest of the week, he is Brad Davison. He is the point guard. He is the leader. He is the coach on the floor. Wait, do you hear how much of a coach on the floor he is for the first? for the Wisconsin Beagers of the Big Ten. We're getting close to Selection Sunday, and let me debunk a couple of things for you, okay?

There's this word that we use. It's called strength, or three years we use, it's called Strength of Schedule. The acronym is S-O-S, Strength of Schedule. And I love when some of my friends send to me things about programs that I really enjoy that I like and their strength of schedule. Now, I've been doing this long enough so that you can check my work on this if you'd like.

You go back to 2009 and St. Mary's played what was an incredibly lowly rate, like 300s in the strength of schedule. Now, some of it was, and I remember the year specifically because they played a Southern Illinois. It was Southern Illinois's first year in like a decade where they weren't any good. And so, you know, part of it was just the reality of, hey, I get that. the schedule looks bad, but if you look at it, they tried to schedule good teams. Just some of the teams that they normally scheduled weren't that good. So I do give, did you play away from home? Did you play in a tournament if you could?

Did you challenge yourself? If we look at it as reasonable sports fans, we don't need a number of strength of schedule. But here's the other thing. So this year, St. Mary's strength of schedule is like 38th, I believe, or 33rd. Like, it's really, really high. and while in 2009 they defended their low-ranked strength of schedule because I thought the reality was it was a lot stronger and they didn't lose any of those games. This year, this is, let me read for this is St. Mary's Non-Conference, McNeese State, Utah Valley, New Mexico State, which is actually a pretty good win. Utah State, Mississippi State, Harvard, UC Irvine, Cal, Bethune Cookman, New Mexico, Cal State Fullerton, L.A.

Bucknell, West of Kentucky. San Jose State. San Jose State's terrible. They're just terrible this year. They've been mostly terrible since joining the Mountain West. Cal, up until the last two games, they've got two-game winning streak. They've been terrible as well,

but that's a big game for St. Mary's to get Cal to come into their building, you know, which is 10 minutes down the road. The schedule is good. It's outstanding. You know, the problem is, Utah States and NCAA tournament team. they lost by 17 points.

Mississippi State they played. They lost by four points, probably a tournament team. Harvard. Harvard, they lost to by six at home. UC Irvine, they lost to a tournament team by five points. And LSU beat them by four points. Now, if you want to see those are close losses, I'm okay with that.

You know, I'm okay the fact that they didn't get blown out, although I can hold it against. I mean, I remember Michigan made the tournament a couple years ago, and they had 11 losses. of 10 or more points. Like, that's not a good team. But you can tell me all this you want about strength of schedule for St. Mary's. Here's the problem.

They didn't beat any of the good teams. They lost to West Kentucky as well. They lose to West Kentucky. Lose to Irvine. L. to lose to Harvard. Lose to Mississippi State. Lose to Utah.

and they're not alone in that. You know, Indiana is a bubble team, right? because they beat Michigan State twice, but they've lost 12 or the last 15 games. And you can tell me how good they're, look at the tier, look at the tier one wins. Like all we're doing is recreating the RPI

and making 75 instead of 50. And the Big Ten is smart, playing 20 games is smart. You get a chance to double up on the tier one wins. But they lost Northwestern who's not good this year at home. They lost to Rutgers. They lost to, who else? They lost.

I mean, you go through the list. you're like, well, they lost to the bottom of the league. All right. So congratulations on beating Michigan State, but, you know, we know kind of who you are. We get it. And I also know that we had to find enough teams to play. Play the NCAA tournament.

But when you lose to Ohio State at home, when you lose by 21 to Minnesota on the road, when you lose to Rutgers and a Northwestern, Northwestern is not good this year, You lose to Nebraska. And granted, that was back when Nebraska was healthy by 15 points. You lose all those games. Like, what are we sitting here?

We're saying that because back in November 14th, you beat Marquette at home by 23 points. Like, that's who you are. Like, all right, you also lost Arkansas. You got smacked by Duke. You beat Louisville by one point. Like, we're supposed to be crazy impressed by a team that's lost 12 out of 15 games. My answer is no.

Now, maybe this all becomes moot because Illinois beats them at home, and Illinois suddenly hops in on some wild bubble discussion. But I struggle to put a team. I could not put a team that loses 12 of 15 games in the NCAA tournament, even if two of those three wins were against Michigan State. And they're both close games, which screened to me that matchups help them. And empirically good teams should get in the NCAA term. more so than matchup-based good teams.

So look, when you make your arguments about who belongs in, who doesn't belong in the NCAA term, I just don't understand why we can't have people who call up the resume and look at it on TV and look at the teams and look at, did you try and schedule out of conference on the road? Obviously, based upon what team you are, you know, like everybody in the Big Ten can't get into a big-time tournament. but did you try and get into some sort of tournament?

Did you challenge yourself? And then how'd you do? And do the losses correlate with an injured player? And what are you playing like now? Have you gotten better as the season has gone on? I think all of that matters. I really do. I do.

They don't ask me how to pick the 68 teams, but I'll share with you what I would do, which is I would get a room full of guys who have played coach, you know, even analyze college basketball and let's just go through the teams and put them up on a board. I think the more you have rankings and stats, whatever, the more you get confused by them, because some of them make no sense and there can be some statistical outliers to help them. All right, let me quickly get you to the NBA.

Let's start with the Lakers. You know, there's a lot of blame to be handed out. And I would easily hand out the blame on LeBron James's plate. The reason is not because of how he played before he got hurt. and many times the way in which he plays offensively since. We're picking apart his defense, and his defense would be made better if Lonzo Ball hadn't gotten hurt because, you know, Lonzo is that good.

I do think a portion of it is on LeBron in terms of buy into coach, buy into teammates. On the other hand, why is this roster so flawed? They didn't get enough shooters. They had a stretch five in Brooke Lopez. They chose to let him go look at how good a season he's had, how important he is to open up space for Janice. Even the mid-season trade of

Zubach. Like Zubach is a starting center. He's 21 years old. You give him up for Mike Muscala. Or Svi, you give him up for a guy who, Reggie Bullock, who's slow. He's not a dynamic shooter. You know, it's not like he's played playoff basketball. You know how he's going to press playing with LeBron? I just don't think this has been a very well-run deal. And I like Luke Walton, but you put Luke in a really tough situation and anytime somebody came out and said something negative about Luke,

why didn't you have his back? Luke Walton is our coach. If these guys have any problem, they'll bring it up with Luke Walton, but you didn't. And now you've got to mess. You know, now in order to get Anthony Davis, so you've got to overpay. And once you do, yes, you get rid of some youth, but Brandon Ingers has been playing good basketball. Kyle Kuzba can really score.

Lonzo Ball's a terrific player. I don't know. And oh yeah, by the way, LeBron is not going to get younger, is not going to get bouncier, is not going to play the pick and roll better. He may shoot it better because you don't have to move as much. But look at his contemporaries there. Dwayne Wade who's going to retire. Carmelo Anthony, who might join a team and might not.

He's like the last of the Mohicans from his draft class. Of course he's going to look slower. Of course he's going to struggle to defend, struggle to move. And I think he probably needs to lose a little weight. He's got a little Hollywood with his workouts. He's not wrong that his surrounding cast isn't great. that's on him. Some of it's on he and Rich Paul where

people around the league, they don't want to do business with the Lakers. Even though normally your guy wants to play for Lakers because they think clutch sports is running things. They'll determine starting lineup coach and guys just don't want to deal with it. Last thing is this. Here's where LeBron does need to be accountable.

He got hurt. You've heard the stories. Was hanging around the team. Shown up late to games. Had a goblet of wine in his hand. I was told from people sitting close that he was he was seen texting. You know, just a lack of buy-in. If you get hurt and you're the leader and you're really committed to making it work,

then you should be at practice and you should help coach. That's what Rondo did. That's not what LeBron did. I know, yeah, by the way, Rondo and LeBron had the lowest, had the lowest PPP as a tandem of any tandem with LeBron on the Lakers. Rondo's inability to guard, inability to make shots, inability to do much anything offensively limits them. Their offensive rating is 100, like just over 100 when those two are on the floor together,

as opposed to 108.1. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines.

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playoffs without lucca and austin reed and finding ways to win no matter what he's the smartest player to ever play the game his iq is at a level that we've never seen before and he knows without lucca and austin reese i got to manipulate the game we get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us

on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers while he got the ball, like, after you go through a training camp with that, I said,

you figure it out. real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramos sending on to earn a score at the chip.

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If you're going to look at stats and numbers, he has no shot at making this World Cup team. And the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals. The World Cup is almost here. Experience it all with us. Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos

on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, wherever you get your podcast. when it's LeBron on the floor without Rajan Rondo. And then there's this, the Celtics are coming into L.A. We just saw them beat the Golden State Warriors. We make a huge deal about, and rightfully so, about Kyrie Irving, his level of happiness. Dude, you make $30 million a year. You starred in a movie that you got to direct, produce, et cetera, get happy.

But lost in it is, maybe Gordon Hayward's the key to the whole thing. He had 30 against the Warriors. He had a lot of bounds in his step. and when he shoots over 50%, they've only lost two games all year. When he shoots under 50%, they're 17 and 22. I think Gordon Hayward's improvement, Gordon Hayward's ability to play through this kind of learning year,

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He's the point guard for the University of Wisconsin. All right, so let's welcome him in. He's Brad Davidson. Not sure if you knew he was a quarterback in high school. Brad Davidson joins us here in the All-Ball podcast. Okay, so, Look, among the legendary things about you and your upbringing, everyone seems to know because, like, look, we all do this broadcasting thing. We all have to retell the same stories over and over again.

You were, in fact, a really good high school quarterback. How good were you? Yes, sir. Back in the day, I've played football. You know, it was pretty good. I didn't really start taking football seriously until my sophomore year when I got the starting job at my high school at the quarterback spot. My best year was definitely my senior year. My team had a really successful three years, much of the state tournament every year.

year always came up short. That's one of my biggest regrets from high school is not getting that state championship. But, you know, football will always have a place in my heart for sure. All right, you played for Maple Grove in Minnesota. Like, where actually in Minnesota is Maple Grove? So it's a northwest suburb, just about 20 minutes outside the city. Okay, so you like hardcore Vikings, twins, T-wolves, like those are your squads? Or did you diversify because, you know, there are times which your local teams weren't that good? And so you root for whoever was the best? I've always been a big Vikings fans.

I'm a Viking fans through and through, even though everyone here in Wisconsin is trying to make me jump-size of the Packers, but I'm staying true to the Vikings. I've never been a big twins or two-holes fans. Never really was a big MLB or NBA guy. But actually, also in the NFL, my sister's husband is a linebacker for the Steelers. So the Steelers have kind of been my go-to team

in the last couple years, too. All right, let's talk some Vikings really quickly. What's it like when you're a kid outside of Minneapolis in the suburbs and Brett Farv, who's the rival who you hate is your quarterback? Like that's got to be part of like you remember of your childhood. Do you remember what that was like? I remember. So being a quarterback, I always loved watching all the great quarterbacks.

Brett Farbs, I've seen one of the greatest. So my hate for him was only because he was for the Packers. So that was definitely more of a respectful hatred. But when he came to the Vikings, you know, I centered him with welcoming arms and open arms because that was kind of always the piece we were missing at the quarterback position. So I went from not kind of a secret Brett Farr fan to a very open Brett Farr fan during those couple of years. All right? So you grew up in Minneapolis. I've seen pictures. You had a little sport court at the house, right?

Yes, sir. Okay, so when, like, did your dad put that in at some point? Was it always, did you always have a court there? When do you remember that court going in at the house? So that went in when my sisters were in like seventh and fifth grade, so just getting out of elementary school, and then I was just starting elementary school. So he put that in, my parents put that in. We were out there every day in the summer.

I'd go out there before school after school. Usually playing one-on-one or horse against my sisters. They used to always beat me up growing up on the basketball court. When did you start beating him? About seventh grade is where I could start beating them. them in one-on-one. So they actually both played basketball at Northern Iowa. Yep. I know. And they were six years and four years older than me, respectively. So about seventh grades, but I could start beating him in one-on-one. But they could still beat me

in horse up until about high school year. And then I kind of took over that title. So I have a nine-year-old son, and he's like, he's kind of baby step now. He's like all into hoops. He plays football. He plays baseball as well. When you, like, when did you know, you're growing up you're playing all these different sports do you remember what it was like in fourth fifth sixth grade like what you thought you wanted to be who you thought you were going to be who you idolized and and what you thought ultimately would play out

so I have always wanted to be a college basketball coach so I was always coached by my parents growing up my parents coached my sisters growing up so I was always around the game kind of on the bench from a coach's perspective and that's kind of what I've always wanted to do so since I knew I wanted to be a college basketball coach. Basketball was kind of always in the back of my mind growing up of what I wanted do in college. But I remember in fourth, fifth, sixth grade, it was, for me it was just all

about competing. I loved competition, whether it was sports, card games, you know, who could get to the dinner table first. I was just trying to win everything. But growing up, basketball was kind of always in the back of my mind, but again, it was just about competition at that point. You mentioned your mom, because I know your mom coached you as well kind of growing up. What's different about your mom and your dad as a coach? I would say my mom is probably a little bit more intense. I'd say my dad's kind of the more patient laid-back coach, my mom's the more. Neither were yellers.

They're more, I was only coached by my mom in third, fourth, and fifth grade. So I was very young, but she couldn't necessarily yell at that age. But she coached both my sisters growing up, and then my dad had me from fifth through ninth grade. So I don't know who would say it would be better, but they definitely have contrasting styles. say the least. Do you remember when you took your first charge? Oh, third and fourth grade. Third and fourth grade.

I was watching my sisters. One sister never took a charge. My other sister always took charges. So growing up, I was always watching them and seeing what they're doing. And actually, the cool thing about my parents is every time they love charges. So whenever someone on their team would take a charge, they'd reward them with the Dairy Queen Blizzard. So back of that days, you know, I loved ice cream. So whatever you could do to get a blizzard.

Chocolate or vanilla blood? What was your blizzard order? cookie dough Oreo blizzard still to this day I mean listen I can't you can't I can't fault you for any of that right that's like do you like cookat or do you like Oreo and the answer is yes the answer is yes give you both the answer is yes okay so you're growing up in the Twin Cities you dream of coaching college basketball who's your favorite team growing up growing up growing up I was always

I just seen tickets to the gophers and I was always at all those games I just love the Big Ten So I watched all the Big Ten games, and then my grandpa and my dad were big Duke fans growing up. So I was also a big Duke fan. So I'd say the Big Ten and Duke were my two favorite basketball teams and basketball leagues growing up. Yeah, I was a Duke guy growing up as well. I grew up in Southern California. We had UCLA season tickets, and my brother and sister went there, but that was when I was like in high school. So I liked them, but Duke had Bobby Hurley, who was like my idol, and they were awesome.

I actually saw them win a national championship in Minneapolis. That was their, that was the back-to-back time. Yeah, my father was there as well. Yeah, it was pretty awesome. And then Tyos Jones goes to Duke, and then his brother's there as well. Like, did you ever, and you had good grades, I know Stanford recruits you? Did they ever talk to you at all? Yes, sir.

So my summer in the EYBL after my junior year, I thought to coach Tyre quite a bit. And they were definitely on my short list when I came to make. my decision. And I was, Trey Jones is one of my best friends growing up. I played with him since about sixth grade, and I was always really close to the Jones family. I'm going to play with Gary Trent Jr. growing up. So I was always cheering Tice on from afar, too. So I always grew up at Duke's band. But when it came down to, I didn't want to go that far away from home, and I always

kind of envisioned myself playing somewhere in the Big Ten. Yeah, it's interesting, though, there's all these Minneapolis guys, and, you know, between you, Reed Travis, Tias, Trey, like I know recently, that they've got some guys, but everyone's gone elsewhere. I know, look, and like, we like, national-wise, you know, we like to talk about, like, trends, whatever. I do think everybody's decision is different unto themselves, but why is it that so many Minneapolis kids go elsewhere to play college basketball?

You know, I don't know. I think it's definitely different. Everyone kind of has their different journey. They go to the recruiting process. I think it's all about fit. It's about fit, whether it's playing. style culture or whatever you're kind of looking for. Minnesota obviously has a great program.

They got a lot of good, you know, with Jarvis and Dan and Gabe coming in in 2018 class. You know, I think everyone kind of has their own journey. For me personally, I kind of always saw myself at Wisconsin growing up with a team that I kind of had my eye on. But you know what it comes down to it, everyone has their own journey. So that's just my story, I guess. So what was your recruiting process like? Okay, so here's, I'll give you mine, then you give me yours, okay? I'm in Southern California.

I was a holdback kid. So my junior year, going to my junior year, I still had not yet developed into where I was a definite high major. I remember Florida and Virginia were the two high majors on me. This is mid-90s. They were both really good programs. Florida actually went to the Final Four in 94. And I was like, you know, because they're the first ones in.

Everybody else was like Northern Iowa, West Kentucky, those type of programs, mid-majors. And the first high majors in, I was like, ooh, I'm really into them. and then summer before my senior year, I kind of blew up and circled back to UCLA, but I was still a little bitter they hadn't offered me earlier. I ended up going to Notre Dame because I wanted to start as a freshman, wanted to play in the Big East, I like the idea of an academic school, I had a great time of my visit, felt like dudes I could hang out with. What was your process like?

Yeah, it was pretty similar. Going into my last summer, I was kind of on that bubble between high major and mid-major. I had five offers going into my last summer, northern Iowa, South Dakota State, those schools. And I had a really good last summer on the YBL circuit. I played with Howard Polly, with Trey Jones, Theo John, Gary Tred, Jr. I made a really successful season as a team and individually. I ended up, that's why I kind of blew up and got my high major offers.

I ended up getting over 30 offers, which was a blessing in a lot of ways. So that was kind of when I got all my high major looks. And then I kind of came down to I had a top seven with Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Northwestern, Duke, Stanford, and Harvard. We're kind of what I narrowed it down to And I took kind of I went to an unofficial visit tour Where I drove to all the Midwest schools With my parents

I got to see all of them And I took an official visit to Stanford Oh, whoa and slow down So slow down Okay, so the unofficial visits you went to Okay, sounds good Which ones did you go to? I went to Michigan

Okay, so what would give me Hold on it as we go through Michigan Okay One thing about Michigan that you remember most go Michigan obviously just the tradition of the program. I'd say one of the funniest memories is I was on the golf cart with Coach B-line

and my parents, and he ran into a stop sign. That's definitely one thing that I remember for sure. Like physically ran with the golf cart, ran into the stop sign? He ran the golf cart into a stop sign. Was because he was talking to you guys, or he just... Yeah, we were in the middle of a conversation, and it just hit, boom. And then that was definitely one thing I'll always remember. And then just, again, I'm a big football guy,

but, you know, the walk around the big house and just go on the field with my dad. That was something I always remember as well. Did you meet Harbaugh? I did not. He was not in town, but we got to see all the different football locker room and all the different tradition they have there as well. So beautiful facilities there.

So when I visited Notre Dame, I never forget this. So Lou Holtz was the coach, right? And so what they do is they'd bring you in. You'd meet the president of the school who's a big, he actually was a basketball player. And so he knew everything about you. Then you go down, and then you get ready for the football pep rally, which they have,

in the arena. And they were playing Michigan actually in football the next day. And Lou Holtz comes in, and he knew, and I know they prepped him, whatever, but he literally knew everything about you. And he'd come in and go, that guy, it's great to meet you, a point guard, they were Orange Town in in Southern California. You'd pay for Andy Graham, right? He's a good, toesy, good, you get a good football program right there. Listen, we need a, we need a quarterback on a basketball program. We want you to be that guy, right? Like, it was, it was, like, amazing. Lou Holtz is a record. crew to me. It was amazing. Okay, so you go from

Michigan Northwestern. Now, this is, when you visit Northwestern, he didn't have the arena redone, but, you know, Chris has kind of got this thing rolling a little bit. What do you remember about your visit to Northwestern? Yeah, I just remember just kind of the family atmosphere on the program. You know, they had a lot of their family

there, and we just put a lot of time together. You know, I'm a big family guy, so both my parents are there, and just the community. Just being around the coaches and their families and getting to meet a lot of the players. I got to coach fits at Northwestern in the wait room so I did get to meet him there but again another beautiful campus right there on the lake that was kind of right when they were getting things rolling did you have the arena yet but I got to see all the blueprint for it did you

did you meet that crazy strength coach guy that the assistant strength coach guy have you seen that guy on Twitter like where he gets I don't I don't remember seeing him I'm sure he was probably in the wait room because I was in there quite a bit at that time he had it he hadn't blown up on the on Twitter for his sideline impression That stuff is amazing, right? That is a classic assistant strength coach guy, right? Classic assistant strength coach guy, right? Right, exactly.

To the T. But, but, like, the problem with the Northwestern thing is, like, you want to buy in, right? I'm sure Chris loved you and you connected there. You're like, man, it's hard to, like, when you're looking at Michigan and they have B-Line and they've been to a national championship and you're looking at Wisconsin and Coach Guard, part of the, they've been of two Final Fours, and you're like, Northwestern and it's a hard

It's a hard Okay so where else do you drive? Then we went to Dayton When Coach Miller was there before I went to Indiana And then we went to Butler Where Coach Holman was before I went to Ohio State Yeah love both I like both those guys

Holt I really really really like Although and that How cool is now are you Do you like Hoosiers? I showed it to my son And there are things that he doesn't He's like this is This does not look like basketball today

Like is Hoosiers is Hoosiers your jam or is a little dated for you? I grew up watching all those movies. I love the Hoosiers. I love Coach Carter. All those movies I love watching. Obviously, the Bobby Knight stories at the Indiana Hoosiers is big time. But I had never really seen Indiana before until we actually just played there.

Assembly Hall is amazing. I was just telling somebody how steep the arena is. Yeah, it's crazy. Like who sits in that upper deck? I don't know anybody who would sit in that upper deck, right? Why would you pay money to sit? That upper deck is so far from the corner. court. It's crazy, but they do, and they go nuts.

Right. I would settle for sitting on a couch and watch it on TV. Okay, and so Butler or Dayton's pretty cool. I mean, that arena is obviously historic and they got good facilities as well. One memory about Dayton. Go. Dayton, I would say just being around all the guys. You know, they were kind of with me for the whole visit and then getting to watch a workout that Coach Miller put one of the kids through, just kind of the intensity and the passion that they had around their program.

You could see kind of how we built that program just on passion and drive and fire, and that was really, really awesome to see. And then Butler? Well, their Hinkle Fieldhouse was incredible, too. It kind of has that historic field just like assembly. And then Coach Draghi was one of their assistants, who's now at Wow State, and he was actually recruiting me at Stanford earlier. So I had a good relationship with him, so just getting to meet him and be around him

and kind of hear about the historic aspect of Hinkle Fieldhouse was super impressive as well. So why'd you go to Wisconsin? Wisconsin was kind of always, so being a fan of the Big Ten growing up, kind of in that era, Wisconsin always kind of seemed to be at the top. And so I always wanted to compete for Big Ten championships and you had a chance to go to Final Fours. And when I was in eighth grade, I had the opportunity to come to the Wisconsin team camp with Howard Pully.

And that was the first time that I had really met Coach Guard. And so he was kind of the first high major coach I ever talked to. And actually the first coach to offer me, with that South Coast State was Coach Krabanov. And so then when Coach Krabnoff became an assistant here in my junior, it kind of took my two first coaches that I'd ever talked to in the recruiting process and brought them together. And that kind of sealed the deal for me because Coach Krabnav's kind of always done my guy.

Yeah, Krabby was at, I think South Dakota State. Yeah, I did their games, and we reminisced about Wisconsin. I knew ultimately he would end up back there. Okay, so what was your signing day like? Were you in the gym or did you just do it quietly? Like what was your Maple Grove, you're a football star, you're a basketball star. It's a big thing to sign in the Big Ten and to sign at Wisconsin. They've had a lot of the Minnesota kids, Minneapolis kids go there.

What was your signing day like? Yeah, so I didn't do any of the videos or the big announcement. I just tweeted mine, just tweeted my commitment. And I called all the coaches that I was getting recruited by before I did that, just to thank them for their time and thank them for going to the recruiting process with me. but my signing day is I actually signed with a couple, a few others from my high school. It was just on signing day in our gym. One of my best friends, his name is Charlie Horton.

He was actually signed to be a pitcher at the gophers. And there was a girl named Taylor Wentty who signed to be a hockey player at the gophers. So I signed with a couple gophers. And then I went to Wisconsin. But it was cool. We had all the local media and all our friends and families game. Who is the hardest phone call to make? Like who is the guy you really connected with?

You really liked. You're just like, yeah, I just, I didn't, I didn't, I thought I fit in better at Wisconsin. My first phone call was definitely the hardest to coach Jacobson at the University of Northern Iowa. Yeah. So with both my sisters there, I'd known them, you know, ever since sixth grade. And even in sixth grade, goes, I think you're going to play her someday. And so I always had to have that relationship with them. And I got really close with all the coaches throughout through recruiting process just because I'm a very,

I'm very much a people person. So I love, I love communication and just being vulnerable and getting to know one another. That was definitely the hardest one. It was a lot of tears. It took me about five and a half hours to get through all the coaching staff. It's definitely one of the hardest days of my life. But, you know, having the conversation with Coach Card and Coach Grabb and not telling him I'm coming here, made that day a lot better, a lot sweeter too.

Yeah, Jake's a good friend of mine. He's a great dude. Like, well, the best thing about Jake is I call, like, their first, his first, like, nationally televised game when he took over for McDermott. Okay. They just opened them a cloud center. And I'll never forget, like, he comes by the table. Like, we'd hung out a couple of days, the day before.

He and I lifted weights together, hung out with him and his family. And he comes by the table right before the game. It's a big game. I can't remember they're playing it's a non-conference game. But it was something that I was back working at ESPN and they'd set up. Anyway, he comes by the table and he goes, hey, Applebee's. And I was like, okay, like, what? He's like, no, Applebee's.

We go to Applebee's after the game. I was like, really? And he's like, yeah, he's like, no, listen, we're going to Applebee's after the game and has some beers. I was like, well, what if you lose? He's like, whatever, we go to Applebee's after the game. It was literally, I don't know if you remember when you were a kid, if you played like soccer or maybe play football. Like, I remember, you know, like we out here in California, we do like shake east pizza after the game and watch the game. It was almost like that.

It was like, and to this. Now he doesn't go to Applebee's. I forget the place that they go do now, but it's kind of the same thing. Like, he's literally the same guy now. And now, obviously, they've had a couple down years. They've got a great freshman point guard. but but but even now even through the success that they've had he's still after the game like hey we're going to have a beer afterwards if you want to come and kind of anybody can come it's

not that that's the best thing about some guys change and some guys some guys become kind of douchey and other guys kind of and he's still kind of a dude from north dakota who loves to coach ball and likes people right that's the best part about it right he was he was the same person from when i was a sixth grader running around after women's basketball games to when i was You know, so to this day, whenever I get to see him, we're talked to them. That's something that I've always affected about them, something that I definitely appreciate it, don't take for granted. All right, so you show up at University of Wisconsin,

and they made every tournament ever, you know, and Greg Gard is your coach. Did you come in the summer, or did you wait until the fall? I came in the summer. So June 16th, we all reported here for summer workouts and summer classes. And summer in Madison is amazing. It's amazing. Like literally, you've got two lakes, you've got girls everywhere, you know, you've got all the facilities. The weather is perfect.

The weather is absolutely pristine and perfect. What do you remember, like, was there a welcome to high major basketball moment early on? Hmm. Yeah, Madison Summers, you can't beat them. I always say there's definitely worse places to be stuck in the summer. I would say, so we actually had the opportunity to go to Australia and New Zealand. my first summer here for a foreign tour. So I'd say, first of all, just we got 20 extra hours of practice early in the summer,

and those were intense. And I'd never been in such an intense practice before. And so we actually had the opportunity to go over the foreign tours. And just kind of the games, the atmosphere, it obviously wasn't a college atmosphere, but just the intensity from our coaching staff and the players, everyone being locked in. I'd say my first kind of eye-opening experience was definitely on those trips on that foreign tour. Yeah, I remember, like, I, played for a really good high school coach, and I know you played for a great program,

A, you, your parents, and high school. But it's really hard to describe to people who haven't experienced the difference in the physicality and level of intensity in a college practice. Is there, is it like, it's hard to tell people like, it's so much better and tougher and harder, correct? Oh, exactly. You know, I think everyone talks about the speed and the physicality and the athleticism. But I think my biggest hurdle is just the mental aspect of it. You know, I think a lot of the games played between, you know, your two years, like they say. But just realizing that it's still basketball and still remaining confident. I think that was the biggest hurdle for me, but it's amazing.

Just the difference, the difference in speed and strength at the end of the day, it's still basketball, it's still played in between the same lines. It's just everything's notched up quite a bit. When did you first hurt your shoulder? So the fourth game of the year, we had our Thanksgiving tournament in Kansas City. It was in the second half against Baylor. the first time that it dislocated, fully dislocated. And then, and when you were,

did you ever watch a lethal weapon movies growing up? I didn't, but I've heard the story afterwards. Yeah, so you were basically, I think it was Riggs, right? Mel Gibson's character, he could kind of always pop his shoulder back into place, right? He was like, I don't know if he's double-jointed or whatever. Like, that's what you did last year, right? Yeah, so after that first time, so it was totally dislocated into my chest, so it dislocated forward.

I went back to the locker room and trainer Henry and our doctor Orwin they popped it back in and so then it's just kind of weak after you pop it back in so I had to pass a few strength tests before I could go back out there and play and then I finished the game and then throughout the season it's fully dislocated nine different times where I had to go back from the locker room and pop it back in and then it would sublux you know one or two times a game where I could just put it back in myself where it would just kind of perch out so it's definitely a long a long struggle in a lot of different ways a lot of ice, a lot of treatment, a lot of rehab. So you know what?

It doesn't clearly makes it stronger. So it makes me definitely appreciated not take for granted, but we have going this year. No question. But as you said, like, look, you dreamed of playing college basketball. And throughout your lifetime, since you can remember, Wisconsin had always been in the NCAA term. Like, always, right? I mean, like, crazy, always since. That streak started before I was alive.

I know. So for you, on your watch, and I know you had injuries, on your watch to be the point guard of the team that doesn't make the tournament, what was that like for you? It was tough. You know, we always say last year it was a struggle. It was a struggle I was because of, you know, our record and the injuries we had. And people tried to make excuses for us, but when it came down to it, we lost a lot of close games at the end, regardless of all the injuries we had and who we had in our team. But it was tough. You know, I think especially everyone always says, you know, you have four years, you have four years to do this and do that, but you only have one year with the guys in that locker room.

And we didn't want to send the seniors out with that kind of legacy. And especially with the question marks about whether or not Ethan was going to come back. We didn't want to send him out with that legacy. It definitely hurt. It was something that we try not to talk about during the year. But, you know, with social media now, with everyone around the program, you know, it's hard not to hear about it sometimes. So it's definitely hurt and it was definitely a struggle that could have, you know, for this year. divided us apart and made us out ourselves or it could have brought us closer together.

I think it definitely brought us closer together this year and kind of just having that sour taste in our mouth. Plus having everyone back, you want to make sure we send Ethan out and Kaleel out and Charlie out. You know, it's a different legacy that means more than, you know, the team and the class that lost the streak. You mentioned Ethan. There was a lot of talking college basketball. Not that he would go pro, but he would graduate and go elsewhere. You guys aren't blind, deaf or dumb. I mean, how do you re-recruit Ethan?

to go like, look, dude, we're going to fix this. You've got to come back. Yeah, you know, I think that was kind of more of a thing that kind of became evident on social media. And I've never really heard it from him that he was thinking about doing that. I never heard it from our coaching staff. We just always stayed in contact. I know I did a few of the guys, and obviously our coaches did. Just checking in.

You know, we wanted him to do what was best for him, whether that was, you know, to go to the combine, to come back or whatever else is hard desired. You know, when it comes down to it, we're teammates. so, you know, we're also friends. So we want to do whatever he thinks is best. We're right there with him. We have his back to his thick and thin. He's got the weirdest game ever, right?

Because it's impressive. It's unbelievable. Like, he's unbelievably productive. He's a tremendous passer. He can score in the low post. He can handle the ball. Like, you guys almost kind of play through him offensively and let him make plays.

What's he like to play with for you? We do. We definitely. run a lot of things through him, and it's kind of, it makes it difficult for change the guards because not a lot of teams have a point forward that can do it at this level. You know, he makes the game easier for a lot of us around him. Just because of the attention that he gets at the block, and the tension is ability to push and transition with the ball, he gives us obviously a lot of open looks because the

defensive teams, he can't really play them one-on-one. You know, he's going to get a shot off. He's going to get a good look. So teams double him or they hard dig. It allows us to get open shots and open driving angles. So he's been a joy to play with the last couple years. We got to make sure that we can keep this thing going and take advantage of every opportunity we get to play with him

just because he makes everyone around him better and obviously with the attention he gets and that's on both ends before so he's been a joy to play with. Okay, I think the free throw thing is in his mind and in his legs because he's always, if you watch him, when I've watched you guys shoot, he's always focused on his hands, right?

And I think his hands are fine. Like the one thing, and I was a terrible, I was a great free throw shooter in high school growing up and then in college I lost it and mine was neck was all neck up was just completely neck up. Okay. So I think some of his neck up, but I think a lot of it is like he's not, even on his perimeter shot, he's not, his legs aren't necessarily in rhythm. Like if he pulled you aside, like, Brad, fix this, help me. What would you say? You know, I think what I would say just to trust his shot. You know, I think he has so many people coming out of different angles trying to tell him this and try to tell him that. But I'm his preto-to-partner during practice and he makes eight out of ten, nine out of ten.

then when he just shoots it. I would just tell him to be confident and trust your shot. You know, it's the same thing that my dad always tells me, whether it's three-pointers or free throws. You know, he puts more time in on his free throws and more times than on the game than anyone I've ever met. So I would just tell him to trust the shot, be confident with it. One thing we always say before is we always look at each other

and just say nice and smooth, nice and smooth. So I would just tell him to trust it because we all believe in them. I just got to make sure you believe in himself. You mentioned your dad. What was a workout like your dad? So if you were to say, how do I create a Brad Davidson, what did he do that allowed you to be who you are? He just taught me to love the game. You know, I think there's a lot of people that I know growing up that their parents were kind of forced them to be in the gym or force them to do this and do that.

And he let me make every decision I wanted to do. You know, I learned to love the game because I just learned to love being around it. I love to watch people play. I love to watch people work out. I love to watch it on TV. and that kind of formed into, I loved having a ball in my hands. I loved going to the gym. I loved working out.

And then I think one of the things that has kind of got me to this point is he never told me what to do during workout. He kind of let me do my own workout, and he was just always there. He was always rebounding. He was always passing, kind of just being kind of that constant. I'm still a trainer, but just being that friend and that encourager and supporter and just kind of always allowing me to do what I wanted to do, whether that was football, basketball, baseball,

you know, I played it all growing up. And he just, he supported me and loved me through it all. That's something that I can never take for granted. So I would say just allow, he would say just allow your kid to love doing what he does and allow him to do it. You have this way about you, which, like, I'm almost jealous of. Like, I like to pick guys up when I played, and I could pick him up because I could create shots for him, or I may say something to make him laugh. But I'm not sure I had the energy, I didn't have the energy that you have to constantly be chattering,

and constantly be supporting teammates. Where did you get that from? Who was the one who told you to do that? I think, again, just being around my parents and being around my sisters growing up and just always being around the game. And there's certain things you gravitate towards. I think someone who's always talking

and is always communicating the floor as a confident player. And I think whether there's a lot of things that basketball you can't control, whether your shots are going in, what the reps are doing, what coach is saying. You can always control your, we call it able, your attitude, body language, effort. And so the one thing you can control is your attitude and being positive and encouraging.

That's something that rubs off to your teammates. And I think when you have a whole team that's communicating, that's a confident team, that's a connected team, that's a team that's tough to mess with on both the offensive and defensive end that's connected as a unit like that. Are you superstitious at all? I would say I'm superstitious, yes, sir. Okay, because I'm asking because, look, you had one of those games where you couldn't make anything against IU. You mentioned how cool it is to play at Indiana. and you guys losing double over time.

I don't know why you guys let Romeo go right. He's only going right. He's going right! He's going right! He's going right! Anyway, you have... Sounds very similar to our film session the next day. Okay, fair enough.

So, do you, like, what I would lose a game, I would never wear those shoes in a game ever again. Like, there's something like, do you... Is there something you do differently? after a game when you can't make a shot? No, no. Yeah, I think that's one thing that's kind of been my theme for the year

is not to get too high and not to get too low. My kind of word for the year that I did is content. I think there's obviously a lot of highs and low strata season and there's high and most throughout a game. And it's kind of just that ability to remain kind of steady and constant. So I don't do anything like that. Again, I just kind of called my dad and he just said, trust your shot.

Because, you know, you put all the time in, all that practice and repetition, and that should breed confidence. So if you have a game where you don't make a lot of shots, you know, the average is always average out. So Demetri and I have both been struggling a little bit shooting. We just told each other that, you know, I'd rather struggle now instead of getting deeper into March.

So it just means our percentage are about to go way up here. Who is the guy that you've struggled most to guard in the Big Ten? Who? Struggle most to guard. I'd say obviously Carson Edwards is a tough guard just because you can play a great defense and he can still elevate over you and hit it from anywhere. And he's got the super green light, too, and he has incredible confidence. Oh, he's got the super green light. You know, I think those guys that have the super green light,

Carson Edwards, Marcus Howard at Marquette has it. You know, it's kind of if they're on, they're on, because you can contest a shot, but they're so talented and capable of hitting tough shots that kind of the best you can do is the best you can do sometimes. But also, I think, Anthony Cowan is a very tough guy to guard just because of how quick he is and the weapons he has around him. Yeah.

And when he gets into the room, he can finish, but also he's dumping off to, you know, Bruno and Smith, who are very talented around the rim. So I'd say those three guys from the guard position, definitely. Okay, so this is a good one. You've guarded both. Marcus or Carson, who's better to you? Oh, boy.

I'd say Marcus has the ball on his hands a lot more, so he has a lot more opportunities going downhill. I don't know who's better. You know, they both have that killer instinct. They both have that green light. I'd say the thing that I admired by both of them is just their confidence and kind of their approach to the game

where I think they really do a good job of not getting too high or too low. I've seen games where Carson's gone four for 25 and Marcus has gone four for 25 and the next game they could be 17 for 25. I think that's something that I always admire about them. That's kind of what, that's kind of a consistent thing that stands out with both of those guys. That's hard for me though because I felt like

that's the kind of narrative I tried to take where I was trying to be emotionless, but like I'm actually, sometimes you're better when you are emotional. Like how do you, how do you still you? You're like, look, I want to be level, but sometimes I'm better when I'm hyped. I'm even getting angry, sometimes you play better when you play angry. How do you manage that? Exactly.

That's one thing that I try to let my passion or my energy be dictated by how I play. So again, there's something that there's things that I can't control. So whether I'm having an off game, whether my shots not going in, whether I'm in foul trouble, whatever it may be. I can still control my passion. I can still control my energy. One thing that I try to manage, I just try not to have a dictated based off my own performance, but more off my team performance and trying to keep that self-fist mindset where it's about the team and not about myself.

So energy and passion, that's something that's contagious. That's something we can always control. You got Bowenhanin up coming next. Have you seen some of the shots that he's hit to win them games? He's hit some daggers. He's hit some daggers. He's the great players. He's one of my favorite players to watch from the Big Ten.

And, you know, I was obviously had it up and down near coming in here. It's definitely a game that they need, so it's going to be a lot of fun. Another big opportunity for us heading into March here. All right, it's Ethan's, it's all his guys senior night, but it's Ethan's senior night. Tell me one thing about Ethan Hap that because you're his, you know, you're his free throw partner, because you're his teammate, you're his guy that you know. Tell me, give me something on Ethan Hap that we don't know. Huh.

Something about Ethan Hap that people don't know. I would say the warrior People know that I don't give me the he's a warrior thing Give me something about Ethan happened Something he does in a locker room Something he eats Is he a booger eater

Is there a movie he always watches That you guys clown him about Is there something odd Something funny You know Oh my goodness I don't know I would say

I mean everyone sees his competitiveness And energy on the floor And I'd say that Goes to everything he does whether it's who's on the ox in the locker room, who's wearing a wrestling with the locker room, who's playing the ox cord, like who has the music? Oh, yeah, yeah.

He doesn't let anyone else touch the music if he's in there. What music does he play? I think that. So he's a big music guy. So he, I can't even tell you his genre. He jumps from one genre to the next. He's kind of all over the place, kind of depends on his mood. But there's one thing, if he's in the locker room,

he's the one playing music. He doesn't let anyone else jump on it. Okay. I guess you kind of get that seniority when you've been here for 14 years. Are you aware of where the Final Four is this year? I've had it circled ever since it came out in 2015, yes, sir. What would it mean? And look, it's going to be an uphill challenge,

but you guys have shown in the non-conference and in the conference. You can compete with anybody. You can beat anybody. You can lose to anybody. But it wouldn't be crazy with Ethan Hap and with you and Dmitric, you know, to hit some shots to make a run. What would it mean for a kid from the Twin Cities? to bring his badgers to the dome and play for a national championship.

It would mean the world to me. You know, it's something that you always dream about. You know, you watch the one shining moment. You watch it from your couch. You always make a bracket. You're always tuned in. I've always said March Madness is like a holiday. And, you know, I still don't, I always think it's the feeling last year

to being in the tournament. But this year, you know, I can't imagine selection Sunday. But being able to play in the Final Four, you know, in my hometown, in the home of the Vikings, U.S. Bank Stadium. And just knowing, you know, kind of what we went through last year and that struggle we faced last year, how hard it was on our team, on our coaches' staff, and kind of on our fan base, seeing U.S. Bank Stadium

and a lot of red would mean the world to not only myself, my teammates, but I know it would mean a lot to coach guard and just the whole entire fan base. So I don't even know how to put it in the world to me. No, I can hear it in your voice. Last thing, and this is probably, there are people that don't like you because of how you take charges and how boisterous you are. When people are yelling at you, booing you, nasty to you, like, do you hear it? Do you process it?

There's something you say to yourself. How do you manage that when you play these road games and even these neutral sight games when all eyes seem to be on you? Yeah. You know, early in the year, it's definitely something that let affect me. so I'd never kind of been in that spotlight. That was a lot of negative. So it's something that I had to get used to. I'd never kind of played that role or been in that role before.

But it's something that I've grown a lot in. I try to block it out. But at the end of the day, you hear it. I think there's a certain way you can look at it, and you can look at a negative way or clearly it in a positive way. But the one thing that I always say, I talk to my pastor about and I talk to my parents about is there's certain things in life that you can't control

and you can't necessarily control the opinions of others. And I don't play for the approval of others. I play for the approval of myself, my teammates, my coaches, my family, and my Lord of the Savior Jesus Christ, and that's kind of what I stick to. So I try to let any outside circumstances, I can't, even though I wish they liked me, those are feelings I can't control.

We always say you can't necessarily control feelings, but you can't let feelings control yourself either. So I try to block it out the best I can, but also I know I don't play for the approval of that, either. Can't wait to see in Chicago at the Big Ten tournament in the meantime. You made a fan out of me over the last year and a half, and I can't wait for people to hear this, and you'll make a fan out of so many other people. All right, now get back to getting in the gym, figure out how to get Ethan Wright, and get to the final four, and we'll talk to you soon, okay? Yes, sir. Thank you

very much. I appreciate you. My thanks to Brad Davidson, quarterback, coach, and point guard for Wisconsin basketball. Hope you enjoyed it. Hope you share it with a friend. Don't forget to download, subscribe, and rate. Listen to the Doug Gottlieb show, 3-6 Eastern, 12-3 Pacific every day on Fox Sports Radio. In the meantime, can't wait till Selection Sunday. We'll have a blowout podcast next week. Thanks for listening.

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This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source,

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Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite, unhumored 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. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee.

We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What?

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It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast, Point Game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was crying. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come until he's like, you know I love you, dog.

You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.