The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Gottlieb – All Ball - Jeanie Buss/LeBron power struggle; Selection Sunday; Tourney predictions; Bubble teams; Guests: Bobby Reagan, Brian Snow

Episode Date: March 15, 2019

This week, Gottlieb discusses the rumors that Jeanie Buss considered trading LeBron James, previews NCAA Tournament Selection Sunday, .recalls some of his own tourney memories, and talks bubble teams with Barstool Sports hoops writer Bobby Reagan and 247 recruiting analyst Brian Snow. 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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I will only start with this in terms of LeBron James. You're like, wait, it's March Madness. I want your picks. I want to know who do you like to win it, who should get in the tournament, coaches and who should replace different coaches. I'll get to that in a second. I just want to give you one little tidbit here on this Rick Buecker story that Jeannie Buss at least contemplated. It called in Rich Paul and said, hey, we might, if this doesn't, we might trade LeBron James.

Now, look, it's a veiled threat. It's also, it's a flimsy threat, to be honest with you. She's not trading LeBron James. it's really hard to trade a guy who you just moved out to California. Where you trade them to the Clippers or the Knicks, that's probably the only two possible destinations. But I guess maybe, just maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe the Celtics. But, you know, you're talking very, very limited.

And what do you say to your season ticket holders? What do you say to your TV network if you part ways with the guy that you sold all your advertisement around? That would be just super uncomfortable. It's only your first year. But it points to this. All of those leaked stories, remember, first it was leaked out. LeBron could be playing, you know, despite injury, if it was a playoff run.

Then there was a league story from Jackie McMullen that he won a different coach. Then there was all the leagues with the Anthony Davis deal. And what I thought it was then, and I believe this proves it was a coup d'etat. It was Rich Paul and LeBron James trying to own the Lakers. They've always said they wanted to own an NBA team. That's great. That NBA team is not actually for sale, not even close to being for sale. And that's what Jeannie Bus did.

She just said, hey, we're going to shoot down this coup. Now, the question becomes, does she honestly know how to do it? Does she know how to do it? Because if she trades for, she allows them to trade for Anthony Davis, and then they hire Ty Lou or they hire somebody reped by Rich Paul, what has she done? She's had a threat, but hasn't stood by that threat. said they've still kind of taken over her franchise and run it their way. It's a disaster. LeBron is part of the reason, a good portion of the reason that it's a disaster.

And Jeannie is struggling to maintain some level of control over her dad's late father's proud franchise. I think ultimately it's a super smart move, but it's only made to actually work if they don't trade for Anthony Davis and they don't hire a Rich Paul client or a LeBron James buddy to be the next head. coach of the Lakers or maybe not make a head coaching change at all. But I think there's probably one in the office. Let's get to college hoops. So Selection Sunday is upon us. I've decided to give you just a couple of stories that I think are pretty awesome. First, selection Sunday.

No one ever gets to actually see how it works. And having been on that set for, was it four years? I can tell you that's pretty awesome. to be the first one to lay your eyes on the bracket and know you nanny nanny pooh-boo I got something you don't have like that was pretty incredible pretty incredible especially for a guy who grew up watching the brackets be unveiled um i would say that i don't love the way CBS has chosen to go back in time back to the way that we did it for the most part when i was there one year obviously we tried what was a pretty ill-fated idea of how to unveil the brackets right where he had had a two-hour show, and we would do the old show, and then, like, a segment with Charles and Kenny and Seth Davis, and it was kind of a mish-mosh, and there wasn't a lot of hoop being told there, and people wanted their brackets. Look, this is not hard. The old format works, but you just don't have to do it so tight. It's just kind of a classic overreaction to the TV guys like a Richard Dyke.

I want the brackets and I want them now. Why? So you'll change the channel? No, no, no, no. We have you as a captivated audience. And by the way, we have really, really good experts. And if your experts are really good, then, you know, all we would get when I was there, and that's all they'll get this year is 15 seconds to give a thought.

One analyst gives one thought on each game. That's it. And then we come back around and say some fairly generic stuff and they interview some coaches and they show some shots. But why would you give every game all? only 15 seconds. Look, I'll be doing a show on stadium sports where we'll break down every game. And, of course, all the other networks, all break down games.

But why are we doing a show where you only have 15 seconds to talk about each basketball game? That doesn't make any sense. All of these games are worthy of discussion. Tell about the players and styles and who do you think is going to win and why. It's going to be uptempo games. It's a team zone. who's a player on one of the underdog teams that need to get to know. You don't have any of that when all you have is 15 seconds.

So congratulations, TV guy. You've made it kind of lame. So congratulations, TV guy, right? Like all these idiots on Twitter and TV people, like, I promise you. But I was in charge. Even if you had an hour and a half show, whatever, you just need to carve out time to talk about each game, to talk about each team. Like Clark and Seth and all those guys,

they're perfectly capable of breaking down each game. And I just always felt like there's games that just get glossed over. And then you give up that opportunity to every other network. When you're at CBS, like, look, hold on to each bracket. It's fine. Show a bracket. Go through each game. Talk about each game.

And then go to the next bracket. But you don't have to have to have. 15 seconds for each game. Just two, two tights. Especially when you can make a lot more money off it if you're CBS coming out of that Big Ten championship game. But I don't work there anymore. So they want to do it that way.

It's fine. That way still works and people will still watch. I just think it's a better way. And you can give a more informed viewer. And you can also say things that are sometimes more right and sometimes more wrong. Bigger predictions, more players to talk about, more coaches to talk about, more outstanding stories. Instead, it kind of gets lost because you just don't have the time. Why don't you have the time?

You are the one who sets the time when you're CBS. You have the bracket. Hold on to it. And by the way, I would reveal all the other brackets and then put the bubble teams last. The first four put them absolutely last. Why not? All right. Let's get to Selection Sunday in terms of the teams that are getting in.

I do think that Duke has a chance to win the whole. thing, especially because they have Zion back. It's top heavy team. He's a unique player. They don't shoot it great. They don't have much depth and they're very, very young at most of their key spots.

But they're super talented. And this is not a crazy talented college basketball season where there's other teams. On the other hand, I'd love to see a matchup with Kentucky and see the improvement in this Kentucky squad that's kind of figured themselves out. I put Kentucky and Duke

right there with Tennessee and Gonzaga and Virginia as the teams, you know, all those those are the teams. And I actually think Michigan, more than Michigan State, has a chance to get to the Final Four. We're going to do this next week as well. I'm thinking about this doing my radio show, which you can catch

every day, 3 to 6 Eastern, 12-3 Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, the IHeart Radio app, or, you know, follow me on Twitter, we'll tweet out where and how you can get the radio show. I was thinking about my three different NCAA, actually four different NCAA tournament appearances. First year, Notre Dame, we were 9 and 18. We were done on, it was the first year

of the expanded Big East, our first year in the Big East. We played Syracuse the last day of the season, senior day we played Syracuse in Syracuse, New York. We led by 15th a half. We led by six with a minute to go and had the ball and lost. And then I feel like, and I don't remember the game as vividly, because it really happened quickly. We led in the first half against Syracuse in the Big East tournament. We played them in the first game. and this was a Syracuse team that played for a national championship. We had him dead to rights beat. Beat on Senior Day.

They went and played for national championship like a month later in East Rutherford against Kentucky. Crazy. Lazarus Sims. Otis Hill. Jeff Chippola. And of course, J. Dub, John Wallace. Right? Remember that games in Denver? The game against Georgia was not.

nutty. But it's, it's like three different lives, four different lives playing four different years of college basketball. Playing college basketball, but having your season be over on Thursday, the first time that the Big East tournament started on a Thursday, I believe, maybe it was Wednesday, but I think it was Thursday. I remember walking around New York City after the games. We played the very first game, and we were done at like two o'clock and like, you know, 3.30, we're in Times Square. We're walking around with our Notre Dame sweats on. Like, oh, hey, Notre Dame, you're in the Big East now. Hey, what time you guys play tomorrow? Like, now we're actually done. We're going home. We did have spring break and that spring break coincided with the Final Four and got

tickets and I think we sold them. I think we got, that was the last year in the arena. Last time they've had a Final Four in Arena. I think my dad had two tickets and he paid for all of our trips. My brother, my sister, me and my dad paid for all of our different trips because he had two tickets and he sold them. And we watched it from Jim Ornstein's a famous agent now. His dad was a fraternity brother's of my dad. My dad went to Syracuse for a year. And anyway, like all this stuff, my dad is not alive anymore so I can tell his secret story.

Like he went to Syracuse for a year and rushed a fraternity. And then I'm not sure he ever told anybody to Ohio State. I don't know if he rushed a different fraternity. Like one was Sammy and one was, I don't remember the two of them. Anyway. So Jim and Gus Ornstein's dad. was his fraternity brother. They were still friends.

And so we watched the games at a bar. But it's weird to like say, like you're playing college basketball, you're not a part of the sport. It's like you're not a part of the sport. And then, you know, fast forward two years later, I remember we were a surprise team to win the Big 12 South, but we played a very soft schedule. And then we lost our first Big 12 tournament game against Texas.

It was Tom Penders' last win as a Texas head coach, came back and we got a terrible. so he'd got an eight seed. And I just remember, like, we got an eight seed, and we played George Washington, and then the bracket comes up and we're playing Duke, and all of a sudden the air was like let out of the balloon. Turns out, I mean, Duke was, they were okay that year. That was the year before, a couple years before they won the national championship.

A year before they went to the Final Four. They had Batier, they had Brand, they had Chris Burgess. Rosham McLeod kicked our ass. That was it in Kentucky. And the game was tied with two. and I have to go and I'm dribbling up the court. And Eddie Sutton stands up and he's doing this thing with his hands, like almost like spreading his wings.

And I was like, I don't know what play you're calling. So I just did the old 20 second call the timeout. Well, it turns out he was just telling us to spread out, but I couldn't hear him because it was so loud in the arena. And it was also our last timeout. I did not get a technical foul. I didn't Chris Weber. Anyway, we ran a play called Cowboy Fade.

It's one that you can see Michigan State run. You put your two posts out. wide, put two guards out top, put me in the middle, hit me at the top of the key, and you set two flare screens. And we ran for Adrian Peterson. He caught it. And instead of shooting the jump shot, because the man trailed him, he smartly drove into the basket.

And I thought he was foul, but I don't know. He missed a drive. They come down, get a bucket. We come down, miss a shot. They come down, get a bucket. Another Rashon McLeod. And we ended up losing by six points. But it was tied with two minutes to go, and we almost beat Duke.

And almost beating Duke at that time was so big. then we got back to Stillwater, we were like local legends, local heroes. St. Patrick's Day was the next Tuesday, and all of us split on classes and drank green beer and ate great eggs at ham. It was amazing. So that's my first NCAA tournament experience. That was in Lexington, Kentucky. Of course, Eddie Sutton had been the head coach there. It didn't end well.

So we had like police escorts everywhere we went. We stayed at like a double tree, but it had big tubs. the memories I have are really interesting. Yeah, so I mean, like, look, anybody who's playing the tournament, I would guess you remember so many moments vividly, right? And I remember that the first tournament we played in. We won one of the first games of the tournament against George Washington. I actually think that's the best. The best is the win on the early games on Thursday.

Because then everybody else is playing. You get to watch all these other games. You keep watching your highlights. And Oklahoma State beats George Washington. You remember those moments. So what we'll do next week on the pod, I'll have a bunch of different guests on and we'll tell like our favorite NCAA tournament stories.

I have other stories from even the first year. I'll leave with this. I don't feel like it's a huge controversial year, but I do think it's a year in which the committee, you have to look at every different number and make the case for every different team. Look, if you want to make a case, for the high majors in the Indiana's to get in, fine.

But you lose 16 games. You lose 12 out of 15 at one point. Are you really an NCAA tournament team? And why not on some level reward, even if it's an inferior roster, one that you're not sure in a neutral side if they'd actually win the game? Why not reward Belmont, Berman, UNC Greensboro, multiple teams. That's what the first four is designed for. Our first guest is Bobby Regan.

Covers College Hoops, NBA draft, the NBA, and as he writes it, other shenanigans at Barstool Sports, he's a lefty. So kind of like him. It means he probably has a better looking jump shot than I do. He joins us from his couch or his sofa or his big man chair in his man cave. All right. So Bobby, I guess here's my first question to you. What do you think is the most interesting part of college basketball heading into selection Sunday? that.

I think it's, there's two. It's the race for the one seeds because, let's be honest, blue bloods, as much as we love upsets, blue bloods, latent in the state tournament is what matters. So whether it's, you know, you're talking about the ultimate blue bloods in Duke, Kentucky, and UNC battling for two one seats probably. And then on the flip side, the debate of mid-majors getting in versus, you know, 500 or sub-500 conference record teams from. major conferences. I think those are the two most interesting ones. I'll probably go with the top

half just because, I mean, let's be honest, they're the championship type caliber teams. And that's always a little bit more interesting. Let's start at the back end of it because, like, look, this is going to drop tomorrow morning, which is Friday morning. And all of those blue bloods will likely still be playing. And so we don't have kind of clarity on where they stand. But of the of the low and mid-majors who have lost and are needing a flyer to get in. And I call it, this the what the fuck is Tulsa doing in my bracket from a couple years ago. Oh yeah. I never forget.

I was in the set of CBS and the way it worked was we would go over to the CBS, CBS Sports Network studio, and they had a show going like the whole time while the Big Ten game was being played, and so we'd pop in, and then meanwhile, you had two packs, you had two microphones, you had two ear packs, whatever, and they would switch you over and right before the show, literally right before the show, they'd hand you a bracket. And you kind of have like five minutes to figure it out before you know, and then you'd look and you'd say, all right, you know, the South is coming up first or whatever. And you're just kind of scanning what, scanning for who's missing and who's in the bracket.

And I'll never forget, I think it was, you know, three or four years ago, right, where they, Tulsa popped up and they weren't even really on most people's radar as a bubble team. And I was like, what the fuck is Tulsa doing in this bracket? I remember saying it out loud. They're like, dude, you got a microphone on. It's not hot, but you got to be careful. Anyway. So who is the team that if you were going to stick,

Bobby Regan's going to stick his flag in and go like, hey, here's the team I believe in and they should be in. Who is it? Delmont. That's the team that I'll stick my stake in from the mid-majors. They got to sweep over Lipscom, which I think is a key component when you're arguing these teams. And then, you know, the win at UCLA doesn't look as great now,

but it's still a win at UCLA. I'll go Belmont for the team. I'll stick my stake in of if they end up, whether it's in Dayton the first four or not, I would be completely cool with it. From the majors, I don't know. I guess Indiana. Why Indiana? There are wins.

I think everyone points of the losses, but wins matter too. They have some of the best wins in the country, especially when talking about sweeping Michigan State, who, you know, two days from now we could be talking as a one seat. I think that matters. My issue with Indiana is they were consistently bad, right? Like, anybody can have a bad day or... About two weeks or something like that. Yeah, I mean, and, and, and maybe this is classically unfair,

but they very easily could have lost both of those Michigan State games, very easily could have lost the Wisconsin game at home. And so I sit there and go, like, I get that they have good wins in the... November, but man, I'm just struggling with the, why were they so bad for so long if they're really a good team, right? Like, if you're a really good team and you have an injury, they have an injury, but if you have a bad night or a bad two games or a bad road swing, like they had bad home losses. And the problem with the, like, look, the big, big 10 is super smart. Those guys are

brilliant. They basically did, they've done to this system what the Valley did 10 years ago, which is, you know, expand the number of conference games. And when your conference, teams pick up good wins and they're like you know the the the quad one becomes top 75 which is a very flimsy argument for who's really any good but regardless um because they've had a good year like it doesn't look as bad when you lose the northwestern northwestern sucks this year i'm sorry they're just not a good um when they played oh house state ohio state wasn't good and they lost at home and then they got pummeled by minnesota on the road so i struggle with indiana unless they make a big tournament run.

Which doesn't look likely. Right. Let me get back to the Belmont thing. I think it's fascinating. Obviously, lost their conference tournament championship. I have no problem with Belmont, if Lipscomb, if any of these teams get in. But I think one of the things we undersell, or when I've been on TV on that big show, we don't get time to sell, is how difficult winning at UCLA in a guarantee game is.

Right? People don't understand, like winning a buy game in college basketball is really, really, really hard. You go out there, they pick the refs, they pick the game time, they give you a check, and sometimes they give you hotel rooms, and no one has any expectations of them winning that, of you winning that game, and they did so. I almost give that like a win and a half when that happens. To me, it makes up for the Green Bay loss. The Green Bay loss, even though on the road is bad, the win at UCLA should make up for that to me. And then you have the sweep of Lipscomb, which I think one of more impressive things when we talk about bubble teams is you just sweep another bubble team, home and the way. that that should, you know, that counts for something to make.

And then you look at what they did in the conference. I mean, they did what, two conference losses in the regular season, they got swept by Jacksonville State, make it to the finals and lose, you know, what was a close game to Murray State? Like, to me, that's enough. And I know eye testers and the thing, they looked, they looked apart. They looked apart of one of the 36 best teams for now. Well, and here's the other thing that goes for them as opposed to an Indiana is, like, look,

I understand we can use the metrics of how many current top 50 wins you would have. And Indiana has some incredible, like Lipscomb, by the way, has one win. But Belmont has, is three and two, as opposed to Indiana, it's six and eight versus the current top 50. But even if you factor in that metric, you factor in your quad one record as well. You put all this stuff together. The computer, the net rating, has said that Belmont, they believe, is better than Indiana, right? So, well, this is, it frustrates me that we did. this with RPI, where we would

take little pieces of the RPI and say we don't like the overall RPI, but we'd like this number from the RPI. And we're kind of doing the same thing with the net. We're like, look, if we think the net rating actually spits out the teams and how they should be ranked, then why are we dismissing Furman's 41? Right? And

I would say one of the things working against Furman is the Nova team they beat is not the Nova team that's winning in the Big East tournament, right? It's a little bit... And the Loyola. Everyone talks about that win at Loyola. Well, Loyola was a very average team. Right.

Right. Okay, let's get to the top of the bracket. Give me your pool of teams you think can win a national championship. Virginia, UNC, Duke, as long as Zion's healthy, Gonzaga, Kentucky, Texas Tech, that's it. Tennessee can't win it? I don't think so. Michigan State. Go ahead.

I think they are very good. Don't get me wrong. I'm not. I don't want to knock Tennessee too much. I think their Final Four caliber. I think we've seen the peak of Tennessee. I think we know who they are, whereas the other schools, I think, have still a little bit more of a peak. They have that kind of top-end talent that you look for, Grant Williams, Admiral Schofield, both really, really good.

But you look at national champions, you have to have kind of top-end pro talent on the roster. They're the one school that doesn't really have that. You're talking about back-end first-round picks. Yeah, I would also say, though, that wasn't that really what? Villanova had. Like, like the Villanova guys were all overdrafted because of how good a team they were.

But they told like they'd seven of them at least. They had seven? Then they had... They had... They had... Bridges. Bridges was the top guy. Divencenzo. Spelman snuck in. Oh, you're talking last year. Sorry. I thought you're

talking the first year. Yeah. Yeah. But even those guys like like, yeah, even that team. Like Josh Hart was overdrafted because of the culture of the place. He's a nice player. Like, he should have been a mid-second round draft pick. And that's one of the reasons I think Zion Williamson should, should and is in fact playing,

why all these guys should play is because what we see last and what we see you do in the NCAA tournament, Forever Shapes, who, Tori and Green remember was drafted the NBA. He wasn't an NBA player, but he was part of back-to-back national championship team. So my point is, I think that they're, whereas I look at Tennessee, and I think they're, my thing is more like, look, Rick has not been a good tournament coach. Right. Well, they're the worst defensive team out of that bunch. Yeah, which is really stunning because you have older players and you have Rick Barnes, you think they would be rugged and tough defensively, and they're actually not.

Yeah, I mean, I know they looked really good defensively against Kentucky and Mississippi State back to back, but the rest of the season says you can go score on them if you want. Okay, so give me one outlier that could be a Final Four team. I have my one. I love your Texas Tech Pick, by the way. I do, in fact, believe. I'm not sure their guards are good enough to make plays, but defensively and Culliver and coaching, I would say they're... It's not going to suit so well now, too. Yes.

So I'm with you. If you were going to have an outlier Final Four team, who would it be? I have like two or three to pick from, but go ahead. Yeah, yeah. I'm, you know, I think Florida states a possibility there. Leonard. I know they were close last year. They're quietly put together a really good season.

No, no, no. They're one of these teams that you watch him walk through the airport and go through the lab lines, and at times in the game. Oh, they looked apart. No question. But I think people kind of dismiss them when they lost those three games in a row because you lose back to back to Pitt in Boston College. Let's be honest, you're Florida State. You're one of the least strong ACC teams, right? But that defense is good enough. The question is, can they hit enough shot? Yes. But I think they're one of the 16 best teams in the country. So if we're going to go, you know, kind of somewhere like that, I'll take Florida State as my quote outwire.

All right. I got two for you, and feel free to dismantle them. They're more ones, one's a mid-major, ones kind of, yeah, both kind of mid-majors. I still believe in Nevada and Buffalo. Those are the two. Yeah. I completely agree with both. Yeah.

Like, I'm watching Buffalo play today against Akron. And I've seen Akron play. And I called their games and they came in, so I saw them play three times. And I was like, they're not bad. And now look, they haven't had a great year. and they've kind of moved lineups. But they got older kids and Buffalo just kicked the hell out of them. And I'm like, dude, like, what are we doing?

Because this is what we do, like a Buffalo team drops a stinker and you're like, oh, they're not any good. Indiana, Michigan, you know, Michigan drops a stinker. You're like, well, Michigan had a bad shooting night. Like, you know, or they're a big 10 team. Like, you lose to a crummy team. Buffalo is really good, really good defensively, older. Massonburg's a stud.

They've shown the ability to win the NCAA tournament. They're not going to be scared. I think they'll get a pretty good seed and a pretty good draw. And then the other one's Nevada, who they have some stinkers as well, and they don't shoot it great. I think they're just bored during the regular season. Correct. I kind of think there's a little Golden State Warriors to them. Yeah, well, you talk about their, what, seven, eight guys that are 22, 23 years old,

senior, they know how good they are. Yes. I mean, how hyped can you get for a game at Air Force? Or, you know, games like that where we know we're the best team in the conference. We know we're one of the 15 best teams in the country. Let's just wait for the Mountain West tournament. and then NCAA tournament. You know, just do enough to be comfortable,

get the top five-seat, and then go from there. Who do you think it's UCLA, job? I have no idea. I've said it a couple times. It's the most fascinating coaching search I can remember because you're talking about a big-time program like UCLA. Every other time a big-time program has opened up, we knew who was going to get hired.

Everybody knew Chris Mack was going to Louisville. Everyone assumed like John Caliperi was linked to Kentucky. it's it's wide open. And the fact that we're going about six months until it's probably going to be a higher or so, you know, I guess four months, five months. I don't know. Like, is Matt Painter an option?

Because I wouldn't be surprised with that. I just, I find it, it would be just weird to bring out another Midwestern guy and put him in that chair, right? And I think paint, I think paint's great. And I think he could build the type of culture where they would win and win for a long time. Like, I'm not dismissing paint.

obviously, you know, John Wooden's a former Purdue player, former Purdue coach. You know, I mean, he's the exact same, he's the exact same. He's got the same, but you had Steve Alford, who granted came from New Mexico, but I just, I don't know if that same thing works again. I think it would be a great hire and it would be interesting, but I don't know if that's what UCLA's into.

Like there's, right now they, because they finally spent some money on football, people are convinced they're going to spend money on basketball, which means it puts them in the, hey, we'll throw a bunch of money and do whatever Tony Bennett wants, but I just don't, I don't think Tony Bennett takes it. I don't think. I don't think that it leaves either. I think they need Bill Self.

I think that's the guy. But I don't know. That'd be an interesting one. That'd be an interesting one. I mean, if we're talking, you know, like Vegas favorites, is it, is Walton the Vegas favorite or an Edmy or someone like that that has ties to UCLA? Well, Earl Watson will be the ties. I don't know. Edney getting passed over to be the interim, I thought was kind of a dirty.

deal. I mean, I don't understand why you don't give that guy the job, but they never even even talked to him about it. Earl is kind of like the recent players people's champ, right? They love the guy. I don't see the Walton thing outside of Bill and the old guard, you know, wanting that name and attachment, just because I don't think he's into college basketball at all. I don't think that's his jam. People forget during the lockout, he spent time with Memphis. I don't think he loved it. And I think he's... he really likes the NBA and I think he thinks getting another NBA gig. And like guys that have legit coached in the NBA and have a future in the NBA,

they don't dig the college thing. They just don't. They don't want to recruit. You know, when they're off, they're off. And, you know, they just want to coach ball. They don't want to do all the other stuff. And oh, yeah, by the way, if he's going to take college job, I'm sure he prefer Arizona, as opposed to UCLA, which also might become open.

Yeah, yeah. I just, I can't remember a job opening like UCLA where it's this. there's so many different names linked to it with no one really having a true idea of who's who feels like the real favorite I guess yeah no it's every other big jobs had that it's it's a it's a great point you make where I live here okay I know people and and no one everybody said well Tony Bennett because that's kind of what's been leaked and what do you think about wojo and all of these all of these other guys um all right a couple of things I want to get to and I'll let you get back to watching the games because I know you spend 13 hours in the same

chair, which I'm totally jealous of. Give me the big name team that will not be in the field of 68 that people will be surprised by. Probably Clemson, but I don't know if that would surprise anybody. You know, I think Oklahoma's fine. I'm trying to think of people that have already walked. I don't understand. The Oklahoma thing, I mean, I know that'd be Kansas, but God, they've been awful. Yeah, I know.

I know. second straight year of being bad down the stretch. It's weird. It's weird that they can't just get over like that February home. I don't know if there's any true surprise. Maybe Florida. Florida really hasn't done anything, but I know the models kind of like them. Okay. Give me the player who we're going to, give me the Ali Farooq Mnish of the first week.

Oh, that's a great one. I'm trying to think like who's all a little off the radar. Obviously everyone will say Fletcher Mee and we got to take him out. I think we have to take him out. Do we? I mean, look, I think you and I do. Yes, us college basketball guys do, but this is what I explain to people. You know, look, I worked for 10 years at ESPN,

and I thought everybody knew that I covered college basketball. And then I'd work on one selection Sunday and one NCAA show, and they're like, hey, you know, you're pretty good to doing games in this basketball thing, you know? I'm like, yeah, I've been doing it a while. There's just a complete, there's a whole population of people that don't watch anything until the tournament. I think it's going to be, then it has to be Fletcher-Mage. He's the only guy that can go get 40 in a game. And I think it's a real possibility he might, depending with their matchup does.

Okay, that's a good one. Is there, what happens with Will Wade at LSU? Any chance he coaches again there? I'll tell you what, it doesn't sound like that. With everything that's come out today, with the statements from both him and, you know, the lawyers and everything, he wants to coach, but LSU seems, Joe Leva seems very dead set on just not letting him until something happens. Right now, as of the state, they're on the complete opposite end of the spectrum. So I tend to think he's not going to end up coaching this year.

All right. Give me... Who's your national player of the year? Zion. Zion's a national player. Even missing that many games? I think it's anything that further strength in this case. Look at what Duke looked like.

about them. What happened to Marquette? I don't know. Is their defense really as average as we thought it was all year? Or I guess above average? Because that was the question coming into the year. Yeah. I mean, look, you have three dudes who athletically struggle, right?

Like, the Hauser's have great basketball IQs, have big bodies, but in terms of lateral foot movement, not great. And then Marcus Howard's a non-defender as well. And they don't have a backup point guard. And they don't have a backup point guard. Like I've long said that, you know, if they had the kid sitting out, what's his name from Utah State, what's this, gosh, golly. Shoot, the transfer from Utah State, who's, why am I? Kobe McEwen.

Oh, yeah. If he was eligible this year, like, that's a team that could win the whole thing. I think they're a guard short. Think they're a guard. And not only that, but Howard's a little turnover prone, and he has to be your lead ball hammer. Yeah, I mean, look, you can't have one guy. And I'm with you. But it is funny how, like, they were, they kind of took the big East by storm,

and then all of a sudden petered out, and everybody's forgotten about them nationally. Even us now, not talking about it. I do think they're a team that can make a run in the tournament just because you have three dudes that can absolutely light it up, spread you way out. Like, I remember getting ready for NCAA tournaments, and you're watching highlight clips of teams. I just, I'm thinking of watching highlight clips, and you know Marcus Howard you're watching and studying, and then you're watching these two big boys, you know, hit NBA threes and hit, you know, post-up shots. And then they have- Well, they never feel out of a game just because of how quick they can score. Yeah, yeah.

And look, defense, if you look at the top defensive teams, they usually survive the first game and sometimes the first weekend. But teams that make a run to the NCAA, that second weekend, it's ones that can make shots. You've got to have multiple shot makers, and they absolutely. You kind of won a title doing that. They were very average defensively, the Napier year. Yeah, and obviously Napier took over, and there's some similarities to Napier to a guy. Do you think Marcus Howard comes back for a senior year?

I go back and forth. I don't... I think he might, because I don't know where he's going to be graded at this year, and I think he can... Similar to Shemori Pons, where it was, well, what can he do to get better? Okay, we can be more efficient, and Pons became more efficient this year. I think Howard can come back and be... you know, hey, I can take care of the ball a bit more and be a true combo guard at the next level.

Like you said, with McEwen coming over, you can run more sets with him off the ball, with Howard off the ball. You know, lower that turnover percentage, you know, limit, not I shouldn't say limit touches, but limit, you know, ball handling touches within his domain ball handler and show, I guess, kind of his strengths more than his weaknesses. Yeah, I guess my thing is, and I think this is what they'll tell him. Look, your second round pick if you come out this year, your second round pick if you come out next year, the only difference is, you know, again, this is if they don't, if they don't make a run. Like, if they make a run, I think you go because you'll probably be a first round draft pick,

but, you know, make a run to the final four. But if you don't, like, come back and worst case scenario, you're a second round pick, and you set every career scoring mark in Marquette history. And, you know, you left high school a year early. Why not kind of come out at a normal age? He turns 20 after the season, I think after the school year as well. I think if they lose first weekend, he's back. of they make second week

and he's gone. When's your next pod dropping? 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. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves.

Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls,

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Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Right now it's on hold, so I'm just writing right now. We're doing little things a little different over parcel, so you can just keep following me or keep reading the site and I'm on there. Awesome. Well, I look forward to having you on my radio show as well this upcoming week, getting ready for the NCAA tournament. Love your work, and I love the fact that you are not moving, so hopefully you did not move during this interview. appreciate your time. I did not.

I adjusted my leg. Where are you watching next week? I'll be at my house. I love it. I'm in my basement with my beer fridge and my multiple TVs. There's no reason to move. What beer? Whatever my friends bring over, that's the rule.

You guys can all come over here. I have everything set up. I'll order the food. You guys just bring the beers. I don't have to leave. Awesome. Thanks so much, dude. All right.

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All right, let's welcome in, my man B. Snow, as he joins us, of course, he's a recruiting analyst for 24-7 sports. He lives in Indy, which is the heart of all things hoop. Let's start with this. Does Indiana basketball deserve a spot in the field of 68? As it stands this moment in time, I don't think you can say yes, but, you know, keep winning, find a way to win, you know, maybe, but I would say no right now. They played a hard schedule, but the way they played down the stretch, it's tough to justify it. That said, the rule, the golden rule of the NCAA tournament is you have to take 6018. So that's become a problem this year.

Let me just ask you this. Okay, so again, at the time of this recording, they're losing by 13 with 940 to go in the second half. Okay, so let's assume, we'll edit that part out. Okay, so let's assume right now for the next two minutes that they've lost this game. So you lose to Ohio State in a must-win game. You lose to Ohio State. And so you end up, like we can point out their wins and they're really good wins, but you end up essentially 8 and 13 in Big 10 play.

8 and 13 and as much as you could sit there and go like, well, they had won four in a row, like, okay, but they had lost five in row before, you know, or lost, what was it, like 11 out of 12 before they won four in a row. And so then you lose to Ohio State, who's a borderline team at best in their own right.

I just, I struggle with the, they had two miraculous wins at home over Wisconsin and Michigan State late and the road win over Michigan State was a big one. Was a big one. I'm not trying to diminish it. But if you look at the whole of their season, who they are in the tournament, like that doesn't feel like a tournament team to me.

Yeah, I would say 17 and 15 isn't good enough to get into the tournament. I think you need a little bit more substance than that. Now, they probably have the best wins of anybody on the bubble. But at some point in time, you've got to be a little bit more consistent. You can't lose to Northwestern. You can't lose some of the games they've lost. Yeah, or you lose a couple to Ohio State. So if you were going to take them out, because this is the thing,

there's 68 teams. so you point out it's hard to get them all in. And you're going to put one of these non-name brand teams in. We're talking UNC Greensboro and Belmont and Furman and I'm sure I'm missing somebody right now. Maybe UC Irvine doesn't win the Big West tournament. I think they get in if they don't. Who do you put in ahead of Indiana of those non-name brand mid-major, low major? For me, it might be Greensboro.

just because all their losses have been good. And I'm someone who tends to value good wins over bad losses. So that's why I struggle with that versus fake Furman, which did go to Villanova and win. But I think Greensboro kind of earned it. I'm not trying to hear any arguments on Belmont. I'll be completely honest with you. I'm just not listening to them. Here's an issue one on Furman, right?

So we would both agree that when they played Villanova, Villanova was probably not as good a team as they are now, right? Is that fair? Yeah. Okay. It could stand a reason that Furman might actually be better as well. Like, it's funny, we only look at one team and say they're the only team that's gotten better. But it also, I'm always fascinated.

We don't use that same argument for Indiana goes and beats Marquette on the road. I don't know if it was on the road. They beat Marquette really this season. It was at assembly. Okay. So it was at home. They beat the hell out of Marquette. But why is it that only Furman?

Herman playing Nova, only that Villanova team is better and improved because they lost four guys in the NBA draft. But they're the only team that's gotten better of all three of those teams. Yeah, that's where it gets interesting. And I think you can parse any part of a schedule. And that's why I kind of want to take the whole and what overall. That's why I point to Greensboro. Because I look at Belmont, they lost to Jacksonville State twice. Yep.

And why did they lose to Jacksonville State? because they couldn't match athleticism. Well, who are they going to be playing in the NCAA tournament? Athletic teams. So I look at that, I say, it's just a fundamental problem with them. So I'm not really trying to hear Belmont. They have nothing to back it up. So I would probably lean Greensboro if I had to take one of those teams,

who we've kind of lumped everybody into mid-major. I would say some of those teams are actually low-major. But if I'm taking one of those lower-level teams, I think I'm leaving Greensboro. Who gets the UCLA job? That's a heck of a question. Okay, let me ask you this. Maybe this. Since nobody seems to know, right?

I put Brian Snow, you've been doing this a long time. You know, everybody in the sport. The realities of how much people make, who would actually, if you are going to give me your wish list of three guys that you think you could offer to and would probably take it, if you were, if you were Guerrero, if you were in charge of the deal, who would be the calls? My first call would probably be Chris Beard.

I know some might look at it not a great personality fit in L.A., but I think he's good enough, and I think he would let his guys be dudes just enough to keep people happy. That'd probably be my first call. If I could find a way to get Matt Painter, I would. I don't think Matt would leave, but if Matt would go, I like him in that role, then, you know, Fred Hoyberg makes some sense. You know, it's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination,

but he would have to get the right assistance, that's for sure, because Fred's not a big fan of recruiting. But if he could get some assistance, that'll do what he does. And Fred can, the best thing he does is manage egos. And as you know, Doug out in L.A., that can be a big thing. Well, that's the big. I kind of like Fred Hoyberg on that.

That's the big thing with coaching at UCLA is it's not just managing egos. You've got to pick the right kids in L.A. Like, it's a different deal out here where, You know, I know coaches in the Pact 12. They're like, why'd that team fall apart? Too many L.A. kids. You know, just too many L.A. You got to get kids from, you know, even if you get inland empire kids or you get kids from NorCal from Sacramento, from Sacramento, they're just wired different than L.A. kids that, you know, everybody's got clothing line and Instagram account.

They got, and there's the conflicting alliances of the different A.U programs as well. L.A. is a different deal. And I wonder if Fred, who kind of always carries himself as a. above it would be a good fit or it could be a complete disaster because he doesn't really engage with the players. I think Beard would be great. I just, I don't know. I would guess that I'm being interested to see what Texas does.

You know, he's a Texas alum, and I know they're in the same league, but there's no way that they sit there and go like, hey, we're cool with the Texas alum winning our league at Texas tech and then going to UCLA. I feel like Texas at some point, the ego of those donors is like, yeah, we're going to, we're going to make him an offer and then, you know, try and find him. find a soft landing for Shaka. That's what's interesting. You know, you're going to have, if Buzz leaves Virginia Tech, you know, that's a natural

spot for Shaka to get a soft landing. If Wake moves on from Danny Manning, maybe they can find a soft landing. And I think it probably, I don't know that Shaka would be totally against that either for being totally honest. Yes. So that's what's going to be interesting to watch is how these dominoes go down when they start going down. Doug, the other thing I would say about the UCLA job, as you know, and I think where Fred might be good is so much of it is keeping agents at an arm's length.

And Fred, with his NBA experience and his ties to agents, might be able to do that because every agent lives in that area of L.A. It's wild to think about. But that's a big part of it as well. Yeah, it could also be interesting, though, he's a Washerman guy, and Washerman's kind of complete control over the thing if he hires the coach and he's a Washerman client. that part is super interesting All right Who are your pool of teams

that you could see win the whole thing? I think you've got to assuming Zion's a healthy human being I think you got to start with Duke I'm still Even though I can guarantee you I won't pick them Virginia has to be there

Gonzaga definitely Even though Josh Perkins brought every fear I have of Josh Perkins out against St. Mary Meaning what? Meaning what for people who haven't seen Josh Perkins play When it goes bad it goes horribly, horribly bad, and it can do so in a hurry.

And he can struggle with pressure sometime, not like, not pressure, like, oh, my God, this is a big game, but actual. No, no, no, on ball pressure. Yes, and look, and St. Mary's, I thought had a great game plan. Randy did an amazing job, but those aren't elite, crazy level athletes like he's going to see at the top of college basketball, right? Like, you know, I mean, I just love their front court, so I'm not going to count them out. I'm not either, but it is interesting that they've, always had a good front court, but Gonzaga has made, it made its mark by one having good athletes in the front court, but, you know, all of their early teams, it was all backcourt

dominant, you know, back court, like, you know, from Santangelo to Dickow to Step, and Pargo somewhere in there as well, Riveo and, you know, Pengos as well, although a lot of those guys, they were limited athletically. They were great shooters, big shot makers, and exceptional passers as well and really, really tough. Perkins feels like the least true point guard worthy of those guys, of the runs. It does feel like a fundamental flaw. But look, I think Tennessee might have that fundamental flaw as well. Okay, so you put Duke, you put Gonzaga, who are the other teams?

You know, Virginia, the way they play, even though I don't love their talent, North Carolina, because of the way they're playing. And it seems like they can always have an answer. And when you can score, you have a chance to win it. And then I would say Tennessee and Kentucky. I would say it's going to be from that group. I don't necessarily love any team. Like, I don't look at any team and see a Villanova from last year.

I was like, that is the best team in the country. Yes. Yes. Last year was very, it was very, very easy. Okay, so here, so outside of that group, give me a team that Brian Snow says, I wouldn't be stunned to see them in the Final Four. Certainly Texas Tech.

you know, they've got experience winning in March. And you've got a dude in Jared Colbert. You've got a lottery pick. So I would point to Texas Tech as one of those teams. And then this is going to sound insane because they're playing terrible right now. But Marquette, because you have a guy who can go for 50. And they have two other guys that can rise up and shoot. They've got a rim protector.

I've said if Kobe McEwen was eligible, I think they can win the whole thing. Yeah. So I look at Marquette. I say, hey, you know, if they catch fire, you know, that's a team that they've kind of got some of the markers of a team that's that's gone far in the past. I have two teams that I'm infatuated with, Nevada and Buffalo. I feel like Nevada gets bored. They got 23-year-old guys. They got Jordan Carolina, who's an absolute monster.

They don't shoot it great. And we do look at Sweet 16 last year and assume that they were great. They had to have two miraculous comebacks just to make the Sweet 16. but I like Nevada and I really like Buffalo, really, really, really like Buffalo. Tell me I'm crazy. They're old and talented. Old, talented, and they got some shopmakers.

So, yeah, Buffalo. I just wonder if they can stand up physically up front, but again, old, they got shot makers, and they play hard. And that's a heck of a combination. It is not a bad combination. All right, give me, I got a couple teams that I think were bound. They just don't seem like they're as good as reputation. I would say Kansas and Louisville are the two teams.

Louisville is ranked 21, but it's like we're kind of not paying. They have one true ball handler, and he's really a low mid-major. I mean, you know, Christian's been outstanding for them, but he's not a great. And like you talk about a guy who's not great under pressure. Look what happened against that Duke Press. Christian Cunningham just kind of wilted. I feel like we're, I mean, they had the big win against, they have a couple big wins, but in totality, they're a surprising team because Chris Mack is an awesome coach.

And I think Kansas, Kansas and Louisville are teams that wouldn't stun me if they lost the first game. The two, you took one of mine in Kansas because they're terrible away from fog right now. Yeah. Like, just awful. And then Virginia Tech, because they're not the same without Justin Robinson. Yep. And even if Justin Robinson comes back, he's not going to be Justin Robinson. I mean, he's been out, what, a month now?

You don't just step in and start playing basketball and be the same guy. So I wonder if Virginia Tech really has it in them to make a run And I also think if Justin does come back You kind of got the Kyrie Irving thing when you came back for Duke These guys are now used to playing without them And now the guy who's going to handle the ball all the time Is coming into the mix And you have the hard adjustment

And you have the Buzz thing Which we all think Buzz is getting the A&M job, right? Yes Yeah, it's like worst kept secret ever Yeah, it's been a worst kept secret for like 18 months Yeah, that Billy's not, he's not going to get fired, he's going to somehow do something else within the university system. Of course, he's been fighting Parkinson's really since he got the job, and everybody likes BK, but the thing is, the thing is not going right, not going the right direction. And, you know, Buzz has always wanted to get back to Texas and they have gobs and gobs of money, and it takes gobs and gobs of money to get him out of Virginia Tech, right?

Yeah, and I don't, the other thing is I don't see Kelvin-Samsom leaving for A&M. I don't know if they'd hire him, but I don't think he would go to A&M. M. So who's that, if Kelvin's not going to be the guy, that kind of leaves Buzz. And every, Buzz is a very, he's a different dude, but he's a very smart dude. One, he knows he can wear on people. And he doesn't like to stay somewhere too long because of that. And then two, he also knows if you stay somewhere too long, you want to be one step ahead of the posse because once you lose people, you never get him back.

And he did it at Marquette, and I could see him wanting to do it at Virginia Tech as well. All right. What about Arkansas? Does that come open? I've heard yes, I've heard no. You put a gun to my head, I would probably guess yes. But, you know, that's a tough one because there's so much, you know, Mike Anderson, such like the Arkansas guy. And while he hasn't had great success, he hasn't had great failures either. So that one's going to be interesting. I tend to agree with your national player of the years, who?

I still lean towards Zion Williamson, but I'm stuck. I might go Cassius Winston because he's taking a team that honestly is not talented at all without Nick Ward and Josh Langford. Yeah. And they've won the Big Ten. Now they shared it, but they still won it. And Cassius Winston has controlled everything on the court for them. Yeah. And then the two wins, and even they lost Indiana twice, the two wins over Michigan, you're going against arguably the best defensive point guard in the country. and so, I mean, and look, I know everything he does off a ball screen, but it's one thing to, you know, to win big games in the conference against inferior competition, you're playing against an absolute dynamic defensive player, and he's won both those matchups personally and with his team.

I don't hate that pick. I don't hate that pick at all. Who's the big-name team that will not hear their name called on Selection Sunday? Name team that, I think there's a bunch of them. I mean, obviously, I would say Indiana is probably the most. obvious answer. And then I still think NC State, I don't think the win over Clemson's enough. So I think that's another one that's not going to hear their name called.

I tend to agree with you. I've gone off on this podcast over strength of schedule and why that ranking doesn't make any sense. But I do think when you have the worst non-conference strength of schedule. When it's the worst, committee members get locked on to things and they can't get off of them. I think that's one that they get locked on to. All right, we'll let you get back to watching your ball. Again, make sure you can follow B-Snow. for all your recruiting information and hoop commentary.

He knows these guys back, forth, in between. Tell all your friends about him at B. Snow 247. Brian, thanks much for joining us. Enjoy the hoops. Appreciate it, Doug. All right. Hope you enjoyed All Ball. My thanks to our guests, make sure you subscribe,

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