The Kevin Sheehan Show - Colts' Take On Wentz Trade

Episode Date: March 28, 2022

Kevin with what Frank Reich said today about trading Carson Wentz to Washington. Kevin also had John Fanta/College Basketball Analyst on the show to talk Final 4. Kevin also weighed in on the slap heard 'round the world and Taylor Hawkins' death.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheehan Show. Here's Kevin. From Gibbs 10 via Apple Podcasts. From Animal Crackers to Kirk Cousins, Kevin talks about anything to distract from the misery of the D.C. sports fan.

Thank you, Gibbs 10 via Apple Podcast. Keep rating and reviewing the podcast. It's so important for us. haven't done it. Take 30 seconds right now. Pause the podcast. If you've been listening to us on your iPhone, it'll take you literally 30 seconds to give us five stars and write a quick one to two sentence review about how much you like the podcast. This from Bart 167, I enjoy listening to the show, find Kevin knowledgeable about D.C. Sports. Tom and Kevin always make an enjoyable pair. I like the tips they give

unsugested TV shows. And movies from wrong turn 45. I love listening to the show on my home, on my way home from work, excuse me. This show reminds me of the good old 980 days. Please bring the old gang back. Kevin, Doc, Steve Zaven, and

of course, Andy. And from DCHJ22, those who ain't and those who are knee high to a grasshopper. Yeah, We referenced that famous Michael Scott line from the first Joe Bennett episode, Kathy Bates episode. Thank you, all of you, from 2508 Iceman via Apple.

I listen every day, really enjoy when Kevin's passion is on display, enjoy when Tommy is on and when he adds to the show as well. And yeah, there are some reviews, just one out of every 15, I would say, that include maybe like a four-star rating and a couple of very constructive criticisms. I'm okay with that, but I really do appreciate all of you. It's so helpful for us from a revenue perspective. Okay, on the show today, John Fanta, who's John Fanta, you might ask? John is a play-by-play guy for college hoops on Fox.

He's got a show called The Big East. shoot around. We're going to talk Final Four with him. We're going to talk Kevin Willard with him because he covers the Big East, even some Georgetown and their situation as well. John's coming up next. I'll mention real quickly the Final Four being

set, Villanova, North Carolina, Duke, and Kansas, a one seed, two-two's and an eight-seed. You know, it really does feel like a final four that you would expect at the beginning of a tournament. Of course,

Nobody had Carolina in the final four. They're an eight seed. I think I've mentioned this before. Bill Guthridge in 2000 took Carolina to the final four. Bill Guthridge in his three seasons as the head coach following Dean Smith went to two final fours in three years. There's probably not a better final four hit rate than that one. That particular year, though, in 2000, that was his final season at Carolina. And they were an eight-seed.

I think Brendan Haywood was on that team. Ed Coda, Julius Peppers was on that team. And they had a huge second-round upset of a number one-seeded Stanford team. And then they eventually lost in the final four. I think it was to Florida with Wisconsin and Michigan State on the other side of the draw. That was the Michigan State Mo Pete, you know, Tom Mizzow championship team. I think that was the year. Yeah, 2000, right?

Because 2001 was Duke and then 2002 was Maryland. So there you go. The Final Four was, is going to be one of the more anticipated final fours we've had in a long, long time. Simply put, Duke versus North Carolina, Coach Kay's final run through the tournament, first time they've ever matched up in the tournament, and you've got the revenge factor from the final night at Cameron Indoor for Coach K. final game in which North Carolina stormed back and ran Duke out of the gym. Carolina kind of needed that to get into the tournament.

Now, they ended up being an eight seed, so I'm not going to say that they would have been on the outs had they not won that game. But there was some discussion going into that game and then into the ACC tournament that they still needed some wins. And they got one in the first round or the second round of the tournament beating Virginia. Virginia, and then they got blown out by Virginia Tech in the ACC tournament. But they're playing very well. They got the win over St. Peters.

I gave Purdue out minus 13. The neighbor Nick theory did not come through. A lot of the unders did. But the neighbor Nick Purdue minus 13 theory didn't come through. That's for sure. And then I gave out Miami, Kansas City over yesterday after all of these unders were coming in. But for those of you that honestly, I don't mind. mind you taking shots at me for the neighbor Nick, you know, getting Purdue minus 13 wrong.

Just understand, I understand what gambling is that I'm going to be wrong a lot and I'm going to be right on a lot of occasions. But for those of you that just kind of took the shots on the Purdue minus 13 and not acknowledge that literally on back-to-back days, I said, I like all the unders on the first night of the Sweet 16 Thursday night. And then I like all the unders on Friday. as well, and the unders on those two nights went seven and one. Seven and one. Not one of you acknowledged that when you took a shot at me for the neighboring theory. Anyway, whatever.

We'll talk more Final Four. I'm excited about Duke Carolina. That's the nightcap game. Of course it should be. I'm telling you, this will be one of the most hyped and anticipated college basketball games in years. years. So I'm looking forward to that one. Villanova, Kansas, unfortunately, Justin Moore tours Achilles at the end of that Elite 8 game against Houston, the Dematha product. That's a shame that Villanova won't have one of their best players, Justin Moore, who's averaging 14 to 15 points a game.

They are only a four, four and a half point dog somewhere in that neighborhood. Duke also, like a four-point favorite over Carolina. I don't know, Villanova being only a four-point dog might be a lot of Kansas action with Justin More out. We'll see. I'm sure I'll get that one wrong as well. You know, the games from over the weekend, I actually really enjoyed the Elite 8 game between Villanova and Houston. The defense in that game was unbelievable. I actually thought Houston had a chance.

They offensive rebounded the shit out of the ball in the second half and just couldn't get anything to go in the bucket. They ended up with a bunch of open threes in the second half. Villanova's defense was good, really good in the first half, but Houston got. got after it in the second half, and they just could not get a shot to fall and lost 50 to 44. That game of the Elite 8 games was the most, even though it was the most competitive for the most part, but I really thought the intensity of that game was unbelievable. I thought Duke was really good in their win over Arkansas after, you know,

I thought one of the real intense games of the Sweet 16, which was the Duke Texas Tech game, North Carolina finished off St. Peters, and Kansas man outscored Miami 47 to 15 in the second half of their elite eight game. That was a Kansas team who had knocked off the team that I was rooting for, Providence, by five in the Sweet 16 game on Friday night. Anyway, a hell of a final four to look forward to. We'll have more on that coming up with John Fanta next. So here we are with the league meetings, the NFL league meetings underway. They're going to vote on this overtime thing. As I'm recording the podcast, there's nothing new on the overtime rule. Again, my prediction is they will adopt the mandatory possession for each team, the Philadelphia,

Indianapolis suggestion for the playoffs to start. That's my guess. I've heard, I had Michael Phillips on the show this morning. He got a sense that this was going to be a difficult thing to get passed, but we'll find out here probably today or tomorrow, I guess. By the way, the hard knocks team has been selected, and it is not Washington. It's the Detroit Lions. You know, Washington's now one of the final teams.

I think there are four or five teams that still haven't done hard knocks. so Detroit's going to do it. I think the NFL wants to avoid the Snyder situation right now as a daily drama on HBO. I mean, it could be really interesting, but I think that they are a little bit gun-shy that it might be too interesting. So they will feature the Detroit Lions on Hard Knocks this summer.

Some stadium news that's come out in the last, few hours and the last couple of days. Michael Phillips had this story on Friday that Virginia has lowered their commitment to the Washington commanders for a new stadium in Virginia from a billion dollars to 350 million. Michael told me this morning on the radio show that essentially they realized they were bidding against themselves because Maryland and D.C. don't have that much interest. All the while today, the news broke that Buffalo is going to get their new $1.4 billion stadium in Erie County, and the owners, the Pagulas, are going to only have to come up with about $350 million on their own. The other billion dollars essentially is going to be

covered by the state and the county and other entities. Dan Snyder might end up, and Tommy's predicted this all along. He may end up in Landover on the same site for his new stadium because they own the land there. And Virginia's still offering up to $350 million, but it's a $3 billion project that they were talking about, whether that was out by Delis Airport or in Dumfries for crying out loud or Woodbridge. So I think that's an interesting development over the last couple of days, especially with what Buffalo's getting. And then there was this from Palm Beach, Florida, where the league meetings are taking place right now.

All of the AFC coaches were available to the media today. Ron Rivera and the NFC coaches will be available tomorrow. Well, a lot of the questions for Frank Reich were from Washington media members and others asking why they traded Carson Wentz. And Reich said a lot of nice things. He said, I really believe he can be a top 10 quarterback. That's not just a given that has to be earned and proven. so we're all hoping that happens for him. He said, quote, I love the guy, I really do, and I think he's a really good quarterback.

He's going to play really well for the commanders, and I'm excited to see that. We as an organization thought highly of Carson in a lot of ways. Obviously, we traded for him, but then secondly, sometimes you can't explain everything. You want to, but you just have to make a move that you think is right, closed quote. And then he said this. He said, quote, ultimately. there was a consensus. You don't want to have sellers' remorse.

We had already determined that wasn't going to happen. This was well thought out. It was not a quick decision, closed quote, on the decision to move on from him. He can say all of the nice things that he wants to say, and Frank Reich and most coaches, certainly after trading a guy that they had just traded for a year earlier, are going to try their best to take the high,

Road. Reich is that kind of guy. I think Chris Ballard maybe as well. There's an explanation here that's a lot more honest than they're giving. And when he said, you don't want to have seller's remorse, he's kind of telling you there was a consensus. You don't want to have seller's remorse. We had already determined that was going to happen. They were going to move on from him, period. And when he said some things you can't explain, you can. There's an excellent. for it. They're just not going to give it publicly. But again, Washington got an upgrade a quarterback. And if it turns out that he is a top 10 quarterback in this league, they will

have the last laugh because they will have made him work while two previous franchises tried and failed. One other quick thing from the NFL, and that is, John Lynch was asked today about why Jimmy Garapolo hasn't been traded because there was some reporting over the weekend that he might be released. And Lynch said he's absolutely not going to be released. He said, quote, he's too good a player. I think Jimmy will be playing for us or will be playing for someone else, obviously. He's too good of a player not to be. Essentially saying, if they don't get what they want for him, they're going to keep them.

This has always been in the back of my mind as it relates to Garabolo. because I know that Kyle really likes him. And I don't know that they're 100% convinced yet that Trey Lance is going to be the guy. I don't know that they're 100% convinced on that. So we shall see. By the way, ESPN came out with their updated NFL power rankings post-free agency, even though free agency is still going on. Buffalo, the number one team in the league, followed by the Rams,

followed by the Chiefs. Obviously, they have moved on from Tariq Hill. Tampa is four, Cincinnati's five, Green Bay Six, the Chargers 7, the 49ers 8, the Cowboys 9, and the Broncos 10. And again, in all way too early power rankings. Where are the other NFC East teams? And where is Washington?

Well, Philadelphia comes in at 19, and Washington comes in at 23. and that is actually two spots up from where they were at the very end of the season post Super Bowl. The two spots they moved up from 25 to 23. Still four spots behind Philadelphia, if you care, and 14 spots behind the Cowboys. And the Giants are just two spots behind Washington at 25th. For Washington right now, you know, it's about adding some defensive help at lineback. more than anything else.

And as we get closer to the draft, and we're about a month away, we will start talking about the linebackers in the draft, the corners in the draft, the safeties in the draft, the offensive linemen in the draft, and I guess, because many of you seem convinced

this is still a major need, the wide receivers in the draft. And by the way, let's not forget the quarterbacks in the draft. Okay, when we come back, John Fanta will be the guest. We will talk some college hoops with him. And then I will finish up with some Oscars talk from last night.

That's all coming up on the show right after these words from a few of our sponsors. All right. For those of you who are giving me a hard time about giving out Purdue minus 13 in UCLA on Friday night. My apologies, I also gave out Miami, Kansas over the total yesterday. Don't forget, I did give out all four. unders on night one of the sweet 16 and all four unders on night, two of the sweet 16. Unders in the 12 games played since Thursday were an incredible 11 and 1. So there you go.

Four and a half point favorite is Duke. Four point favorite is Kansas and the two semifinal games on Saturday in New Orleans. Our guest right now is John Fanta. John is a part of college basketball on Fox. He's the host of the Big East shootaround. You've seen him on FS1, NBA TV, lots of different things. John joins us right now to talk college hoops. And I also with John, because he's such a big East guy, want to get his thoughts on the Maryland Kevin Willard hired.

John, I'm a big turp, so this was not a tournament for us this year. But we'll circle back to that in a moment. What do you make of this Final Four? I've got a lot of Villanova friends here, and we've been debating for years as to whether or not Villanova is a true blue blood. I think Kansas, Kentucky, Carolina, Duke are kind of the Mount Rushmore currently of college basketball. But Villanova and Jay Wright are closing in on that, aren't they? They've closed in on it, in my opinion, Kevin. When you think about the fact that they have an opportunity this week to win a third national championship in the last six years,

and one of those years there was no NCAA tournament because of COVID-19. Jay Wright has built the winningest program in college basketball over the last 10 years. It's wild. They've won more games than anybody. They have owned the decade. And this is a team that is not even as talented as the others that you just spoke of. So that is perhaps why nationally people do not identify Villanova as the Blue Blood. But they've won at the rate of a blue blood.

They really have, and they have controlled an era of time. They have point guard play that has spent the last 10 years that has been exceptional. You go from Ryan Archdeiakino to Jalen Brumston, guys that have made in the NBA, to now Colin Gillespie is a super senior who has charged Villanova. Of course, losing Justin Moore to a torn Achilles is a brutal injury for this team at this juncture. But the fact that they're in the final four with a team that I don't. think is as talented as the three others speaks to Jay Wright, why he's in the Basketball Hall of Fame now, and why Villanova has become the winning his program in

college basketball over the last 10 years. It's nothing short of remarkable because a small school is outside of Philadelphia, you would never pair them with the phrase blue blood. But that's why we're having this debate because they just win. Yeah, and obviously with Raleigh way back in the day, they had the success in the championship in 85. But you know what's interesting, as you're talking, you know, there was this stretch of like six or seven years where he couldn't get out of the first weekend of the tournament. And I remember a lot of the Villanova people. He'd been to that one final four where they got blown out by Carolina. And, you know, and we're talking like 2013, 2014, that time frame. There were Villanova fans that were ready to bail on Jay Wright.

I remember when Gary Williams retired in 2011 here in the Maryland, Maryland job became open. Villanova had a couple of tough years in a row of missing the second weekend of the tournament, and I think they actually missed the tournament altogether, and people were talking about maybe Jay Wright as being potential to Maryland. But do you remember that stretch? A lot of Villanova people were unhappy with him during that stretch. Yeah, they wanted him gone. There was a time when Villanova people thought Jay Wright should be gone from the job in Philadelphia-like fashion. Look, he wasn't getting deep in the tournament.

He was not accomplishing what they strive to accomplish. He had a coming-to-reality moment, a come-to-Jesus moment, if you will, where he self-reflected. And he looked at how he was doing things. And he talked about this earlier today. They ended up benefiting more than anybody else off of the Big East breakup back in 2012, 2013,

when all those schools separated off Syracuse, Louisville, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Notre Dame, you name it, and everybody leaves, and now you've got this Catholic 7th. Jay Wright said what changed the approach at Villanova was, he sat down with his staff and said, look, we are in an authentically in that, yeah, it's not with the Louisville, it's not with the Syracuse of the world. And that crushed him when the old biggies broke up, but he said, look, we're in a league with like-minded schools. Let's try to be the best basketball schools in this basketball league because there's no football in the biggie nowadays.

And he said, that helped us. He said that helps us. It helps us just be authentic, not try to out Kentucky, Kentucky, or out-do. Duke. There's certain guys that those programs get every single year. Villanova doesn't get one and done. At least they haven't, they haven't been in on them either. They would take them. Jay Wright said this morning, Jay Wright said this morning, I would take a one and done, but they would have to get used to the way we do things. It's a classic example of a program that identified the lane they can be best in. And that idea of three and four-year players who just get better, Kevin, is the type of thing where it's worked out because that's what wins this time of year.

Experience wins more in March than it loses. And Jay Wright has had that reflection of here's how we can be at our best at Villanova. That's different from Duke. It's different from Carolina. It's different from Kentucky. but that really worked at this school outside of Philadelphia. He's identified a niche and he's been able to flourish in it. You said, and I didn't mean for this conversation to focus solely on Villanova,

but I think this is an interesting conversation. You said that he said today that he does miss the old Big East. And I'm wondering, you know, one of the things around these parts, especially for those of us that follow it very closely, it's like how does Jay Wright just keep coming into this market, into this DMV, and loading up on players from the DC metro area? And he's done it and it's been a big part of his success. But I wonder, like if Pitt and Syracuse and Notre Dame and West Virginia, who am I forgetting, Louisville, if those teams were still in the league and the Big East were still kind of the old Big East, do you think he would have still gotten to the point where, he's, you know, won multiple national championships heading for potentially a third,

or would the competitive landscape of the Big East, would it have thwarted that in some way? He said no. He said this morning to the press that that wouldn't have happened, not to this degree. It allowed them to become a lot more comfortable. When you talk to people that were part of that Big East breakup, Kevin, the football ADs would meet in their own and meaning of five directors, Football flight directors would meet in their own room, the basketball flight directors would meet in their own room,

and then they'd come together for cocktails. There was no synergy. There was no connectivity between the football and basketball schools. The breakup, it was only a matter of time that it would happen. And as much as the old Big East is the old Big East, and there's been documentaries made about it and speaks for itself, this new league has been able to frame out an ideology that is based on basketball in a World War football is king, and Jay Wright has been able to benefit off of that.

And he said, look, we come together, and they will again next month in Florida, to discuss the year that was in basketball, how they become a better basketball conference. When basketball is your priority, you better be good at it. You can't afford to flop this time of year. and the Big East has been able to flourish here off of this makeup. And I don't think Jay Wright's winning to could be three national titles, if not this year than in a year or two or three or whatever. He's going to have a great shot to do it because he's got such a consistent recipe.

I don't think that happened in a landscape where you're in a league that has agendas and that has a lack of authenticity. And instead, you're in a league where you have made in the last. two weeks close to $27 million in NCAA tournament units for your conference to be broken up. So look, he's got in this league from being just good to being a league that has a seat at the big boy table. You can't just say power five in college basketball. You know why?

Villanova represents the Big East and has done so in three of the last six final fours. And as a result, has a place to the big boy table. So I don't think this is happening in the old league. I don't. It's such an interesting topic because, you know, I'm a Maryland guy and for the first few years, you know, very nostalgic about the ACC, hated the move as a basketball first school. You know, it was much more important for us to be in the ACC than move to the Big Ten. And, you know, all of the conference reshuffling. I mean, obviously the ACC isn't the same anymore in terms of the teams in there. I mean, hell, they made Maryland's crossover rival pit, you know,

in the final two years of being in the league. So things were changing. But I wonder if you believe what Coach Thompson told me, because we had the opportunity to work at the same radio station for years. And I remember coach telling me once, if football had just gone to a playoff many years earlier and not kept with the bowl system in just the BCS game, but it'd gone to a football playoff, let's just say in the early 2000s,

that conference reshuffling probably would have never happened. Do you agree with that or not? Well, I don't know if I agree with it because money is such a it's just such a driving force to all of it. And the money is different today than it was 15,

20, 25 years ago. television rights are so, so desired. Maybe, maybe the playoff doesn't force as much reconfiguration, but take a look at Texas and Oklahoma going to the southeastern topic. Yeah. Yeah, true. Like they're still weak. It's still going on, and it's going to continue to happen.

Like, this is not just beginning. It's one of those things that has happened now for many years, and I think you're going to see more movement. Kansas football is stuck. They're in a pit of misery. You know, I could see them doing what Connecticut did and eventually saying, look, our football is so bad, how do we elevate ourselves in the sport that people love here

and that basketball? And so they become an independent in football and they figure out a way into a basketball league or maybe a league does take their football. But the point is this is not something to me that would just be prevented nowadays because we're seeing teams. we're seeing schools, rather, leave their leagues from greener pastures.

And the greener pastors are nothing other than dollars. Yeah. Dollars. Any administration is going to look at the money. They're not going to look at competition or preserving a rivalry. They want the money, and the money comes via football. Yeah, no doubt about it. I think, you know, if you go back to that time, like in 2005, like the ACC was taking

on Boston College in Miami, and what it really is. really was, was the ability to get to the point where you had enough teams in the league so you could have a conference football championship game because it was so much money. And maybe if they had just allowed those conferences to have conference championship games, regardless of how many schools, and then there was a playoff after that. But you're right. I mean, the moves to the SEC by Texas and Oklahoma just proves, well, I mean, right now, the SEC is. the holy grail in college sports, you know, SEC football.

Let's get back to this Final Four, because I said this in the open to the show today. I don't know if I can remember, in my opinion, a game that will be as hyped and as anticipated as Duke Carolina in the nightcap of the Final Four on Saturday night. What do you think? Yeah, I can't think of a game that's more anticipated than this one. Obviously, Larry Bird, Madge Johnson, the 1980s is one that people bring up. But think about this. It's the best rivalry in college basketball, okay?

And it's one of the best in sports. It's got to be top five, if not top six or seven in sports anywhere. Yep. Now people have their first meeting ever in the NCAA tournament. All right, that alone would be spectacular. But now you have this spectacle of Mike Cheshowski coming onto the floor in New Orleans in his final season. And look, the last game he coaches as a college coach is either going to be Saturday or Monday.

And if it's Saturday, it means that in Manly Fieldhouse's close type fashion by Georgetown, that North Carolina could say coach Mike Cheshevsky's career is closed. And it was closed by us. Think about the electricity that can be produced from that moment or the revenge that coach Kay could get when Carolina came into Cameron Indoor, and Duke wants revenge. And I think they're going to get it on Saturday because I think this team is playing the best basketball at any of these 14s, and they're going to be emotionally fueled to get back to Carolina. There are so many storylines to this game. And I think, Kevin, this comes at a perfect

time in college basketball. Why? Last year, the tournament was in Indianapolis. There just wasn't as much interest in it. COVID derailed that. And the season before COVID kept the tournament from even happening. So college basketball has been lost from the national landscape for close to three years at the level that it's going to be at on Saturday, which is a level unlike anything we've seen. College Hoops has had a terrific season, but in a way it needs to bounce back this year for its profile. What better way for the sports who gained the attention of the football fan, the baseball fan, the soccer fan, the random fan, the person that's inside their home on Saturday night with not much going on.

Then to watch this game, the theater of this game, it's more than just 40 minutes. It's the lead-up. It's the buzz in the crowd. And it's the fact that you have Kansas and Villanova fans there who are both fans of programs that, if they haven't become because you're on the other side of it, but I would say have become Blue Blood and Big Brands as well. The Superdome fits 80,000 people. I would bet you right now, there'll be 90,000 people in that building on Saturday to witness

history. It is going to be spectacular and the secondary ticket market prices have reached four figures. It's unbelievable. Yeah. I mean, the tickets for the Duke Carolina game at Cameron Indoor for Coach Kay's final game were as high as we've seen, I mean, higher than Super Bowls, recent Super Bowls, and that's a much smaller venue, obviously. It is amazing, isn't it? you know, as a college basketball guy you are, and I've been a lifelong, massive college basketball fan, that this is the first meeting in the tournament between Duke and Carolina. You know, the ACC, for all of the success they've had in the tournament,

I think Maryland and Duke played in a final four, Duke and Georgia Tech played in a final, and Virginia and Carolina played in a semifinal, the year that Indiana with Isaiah Thomas blew out Carolina on the day that Reagan got shot back in 81, that that is, those are the only matchups in the final four. The revenge factor alone, you know, with these two teams playing from what happened on Kay's final night that Cameron Indoor makes this incredible. I'm with you two. I think Duke's the better team. I mean, my God, they have, I don't know, six or seven pros on that team. Before I get

your prediction on a real prediction, including kind of, you know, with the point spread. Do you think Villanova's really hurt by more the Dematha product being out? Do they have a shot against Kansas or not? I think it's going to be tough. However, I'll never doubt Jay Wright and his ability to get a team ready. And he said one of the unique things about the final four is, as opposed to the first couple weeks of the tournament, you get the layoff until Saturday. He gets a full week to get his team ready. But Villanova, does not have much of a bench. They're going to rely on Brian Antoine and Chris Archer Diakino

to try to supply something off the bench. The fact is, without Justin Moore, it reveals some flaws in Villanova's rebounding ability and their defensive ability. Moore can guard positions 1 to 5 so you lose a defender. Jay Wright said it's the most valuable player on the team. So logic would suggest

Kansas is going to win this game, and the odds makers have put the spread at four. You know why the odds makers have him put the spread at seven or eight because Jay writes the Hall of Fame goes. You're right. And you will give them a chance to win. Yeah. He's going to play, he's going to play Raleigh Massamino ball and limit possession

and hope that they make enough shots to have a chance. Well, they've been a low possession team all year long. I think it was 330th in the NCAA coming in. And I'll tell you what, the elite eight game against Houston, that was a fascinating game. I mean, first of all, both teams defensively were awesome. Houston really, like Gillespie. could not get any open space. And I thought Villanova survived, you know, a lot of offensive rebounds in that second

half and a lot of missed shots kind of point blank, including a lot of missed kickout open threes that Houston, you know, has knocked down at various points during the year. That was an odd game, but a really intense and physical defensive game. But, you know, the 15 offensive rebounds, I think 12 of them came in in the second and a half, one for 20 from the three point line, and whatever they were from the field overall. And some of those were point-blank misses. I thought Villanova was kind of lucky to get out of there, would you think? Yeah, I think so, too.

But they've defended really well. They're a physical team. And they have been a really good defensive team as the seasons come along. Last year, they were just inside the top 70 in the Kempom defensive efficiency metric. They were like 66-67 floating around there. in the metrics, if you're into that stuff, and even if you're not, you've got to respect to the fact they've taken a 40-spot leap to being a top 25 defensive team. That is a difference.

And Eric Dixon's a big part of that. He's a physical five-man who makes it hard for teams to score on them inside, and Jermaine Samuel is as athletic a player as you're going to see. The kid is a gazelle. So I think one of the things that's underrated with Nova is, Kevin, on the interior, they make it hard for you to score easy bucket. They're undersized, but you wouldn't know it with how physical they play. Yeah, I mean, I think Ken Palm, I think I read this morning, adjusted defensive efficiency.

It was like Villanova in Kansas or like 19 and 18 for the year. All right, real quickly before I ask you about Kevin Willard and one question about Georgetown. Kansas minus four. Who do you like? Yeah, I'll tell you, like, I think if the week goes along, I'm going to be more and more convinced that Villanova keeps it close. But I'm going to give you the answer of Kansas should win this game. They really should.

They've got the scoring punch of Remy Martin and the All-American Talent of Ochoibazi. McCormick can take Dixon in the post. And if Christian Braun or Jalen Wilson gives Kansas anything, then Kansas is going to have more complimentary scoring than Villanne. So, man, I got to tell you, I'm scared of the fact that I'm going against Villanova because they've so many times they've proven me wrong, but I think that Kansas is going to find a way to win. You know what else? Kansas is defending far better than they were earlier this year, and they showed that against Miami in the second half.

So I'm going to go with the Jayhawks in this game. All right. I kind of would lean Villanova just seems like the line's short and they're begging you to take Kansas with Justin Moore out. So I'll go contrarian on that one and take Jay Wright Nova. in the nightcap, Duke's a four-point favorite over Carolina. Do they cover that easily? I think that they do.

I just like the way this team's playing. I think that Jeremy Roach is such a game changer with the level he's playing at right now. And you know what else really stands out to me, Kevin? Mark Williams is playing at such a high level. I mean, he is really, really playing at a different level on the interior level. Mark Williams has changed the way that Duke can play. I thought he owned the paint in the matchup against Arkansas. So Duke defensively is a vintage Coach K team.

You know why Coach K spent the entire summer with them? He didn't go out recruiting because it's his last year. He got to spend the entire summer with his team and working on their defensive technique. Well, Mark Williams protects the rim. Paulo Bancaro is a guy that could be the most talented player on the floor in this game. In fact, he is. and if Duke keeps Caleb Love or R.J. Davis a little bit offbeat, Duke's going to win this game. I do like the Blue Devil.

Tell me what Marilyn got and Kevin Willard. Marilyn got a guy who will work hard. It sounds cliche, but he will roll up his sleeves and get to work. He's already making hires like Tony Skin and David Cox. You're only as good as your staff. He's bringing in a solid staff. And I'm going to tell you, right now, this is not a hire where you're bringing in a Bruce Pearl or John Caliperi type of personality. Kevin is not this huge salesman who's going to be all over the place selling coffee or handing out treats or handing out tickets or whatnot. I'm going to tell you what he wants to do, Kevin. He wants to be a basketball coach and he wants to win. And he won a lot of games at a place that's very difficult to win games in Seaton Hall. He is a technician of a game

planner. This is a guy who comes from the Petino School of Thought. I could tell you I was an undergrad at Seton Hall University. And when I was there, I would do a lot of my reports late at night because I was a class all day. So when I was a student journalist, I would do a lot of work late at night. I'm talking 11 o'clock midnight. When you're a student and you're trying to hustle, that's what you've got to do. I can't tell you how many times I would be in Seaton Hall's gym and the window to Kevin Willard's office would be above the gym and he was the one guy that was in that office. I could tell you that that happened numerous, numerous times. And I found it interesting that a head coach was consistently in his office at midnight, looking at film, looking at ways

that he could get his team better. I know this, that Kevin is correct in what he said in his press conference. No one's going to outwork him. And here's the other thing that you can guarantee Kevin. He will develop players. You might see a guy coming as a freshman and not think a whole lot of him on the therapist. I guarantee you'll think differently of him by the time he gets to a sophomore junior senior year. So look, Willard's going to have to hit the transfer portal.

knows what the task is at hand. He handled the pressures of the metropolitan area and the media and all that. And I'm not trying to put his personality down at all. I'm just saying this. He's focused on being a basketball coach. Is the personality that much different from what Maryland fans have seen in terms of personality? No, but it's a lot different when you're winning game. Winning cures all. And Kevin Willard does know what it takes to win, and he knows the Big Ten. He was never afraid to schedule the Big Ten, and he beat the Big Ten more times than he lost to the big ten. So I think it's a guy who's proven, a guy who works his ass off, and a guy who's connected in the industry, giving him some assistant coaches that are high-profile names. Tony Skin will get DMB kids.

David Cox is a really good assistant, both in X's and O's and recruiting capabilities. This is a staff that's coming together, and the future's bright for Maryland because they got a guy who's going to do things his way. He's not borrowing from others. Kevin does things his way. His teams defend, and they will rebound the basketball. Don't get a question. Maryland basketball will be ready for the fight that the Big Ten Conference brings because Kevin Willard coaches that way.

You know, everything you said makes a lot of sense, and we've heard a lot of it and sharing that personal story about the light being on at midnight or later. But in terms of the X's and O's, said, you know, Tony Skin's going to handle, you know, the recruiting, and then, you know, Cox will handle some of the X's and O's. I know he's a very good defensive coach. What were the criticisms from Seton Hall fans of Kevin Willard if there were any? Yeah, that half-court offensive execution could be off at times, and if he didn't have a great

guard, his team struggled. But look, every really good college basketball team needs needs guard play. And that won't be a problem at Maryland. I think that just at times he ran a weave offense in the half court. So at times that that could be an area where the offense could get stagnant. And the other thing was January. For whatever reason, his team struggled once the calendar turned to January and he would get them going again in February. So a matter of consistency throughout the arc of the season was always interesting because I'll tell you, Kevin, he had one of the hottest teams in the country earlier this year. The calendar turned to January, and they just, they were not very good.

I think they only got two or three wins in the entire month. So those are the two things. But overall, there was much more praise than criticism of this guy. He's not the coach of Maryland, if that's not the case. All right. Last one, and I'll let you run, and I appreciate the time so much. So Georgetown obviously had a disastrous season. Patrick's coming back.

They've hired Kevin Nickleberry, who, you know, took over for Will Wade when he was finally fired at LSU. What do you make about the, you know, from a guy that really follows the Big East? Tell me a little bit about the Georgetown situation right now. Well, the fact is Georgetown basketball this past season was as big of a disappointment as they've had in the history of their program. And they would tell you that. Georgetown basketball doesn't want to lose games.

And that's never been. then. It's never been in their DNA. Now, you're never going to fire Patrick Ewing. And I can tell you right now that for the people that are comparing Patrick Ewing to other former players who have coached, i.e. Chris Mullen, and Penny Hardaway's been looped in a little bit, although that's a bit different now. And the NCAA violations would certainly suggest that are coming against Memphis in the last week. Patrick Ewing wants to get this done.

Patrick Ewing wants to win. he is willing to put the work in. There are other guys, former players, I've already named one, who have stepped into a job and have worked two to three days a week, and that's what they believe is college basketball coaching, and the pageantry of the university speaks for itself. You can't get things done that way, and Ewing knows that. But I used the reference earlier with Maryland.

You're only as good as your staff. And the fact is Ewing staff has not been good enough here in the recent years. And that's why you had to add a Kevin Nickleberry who's going to be able to identify talent both in and beyond the area, did it at LSU, he's going to bring some players with him, and Georgetown will benefit from it. They had to make staff changes, and that's what they're in the process of doing.

But look, this past season, a failure. I mean, by any standards, by all standards, Georgetown basketball cannot be that bad. They know it. Everybody knows it. I do think, though, that Patrick Ewing can get this going. I do. I know that some people would think, how could you say that right now? But you don't go to Madison Square Garden and win a Big East tournament by a fluke.

There's only, let's see, four coaches in the Big East who could have said they've won a Big East tournament since 2013. Maryland now has one of them. And Ed Coley's the other with Patrick Ewing and Jay Wright. So Patrick Ewing can coach. He's got years and years of NBA exes and O's out of timeouts that I've heard other coaches say, it's hard to defend his team. He's got to not only be able to get talent, you've got to retain talent. And that's where you need a staff to maintain good relationships

and keep kids happy throughout their time at Georgetown. And that's why Nicobary is the first positive of the Georgetown offseason because they need better staffing around doing. John, this was great. I mean, you were awesome. Thank you so much at John underscore Fanta on Twitter. We've got a great final four coming up on Saturday. I really appreciate the conversation.

Take care. Kevin, thank you. Really great conversation. And I hope for you and the fellow Terrapin fans that the future is bright because college basketball is better when Maryland is better. And I do think that the Kevin Willard hire certainly work out there. And someone that was close to him, I wish people in college parks the very best because they deserve good basketball chapters ahead. That's a great fan.

base. So thanks for having me. Yeah, it's a great fan base. And it's tough for me to say this, but I actually, it's not that I like Georgetown, but I think the game is better also when Georgetown's good and not 0-20 in the Big East. Thanks, John so much. Really appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. John was great. I enjoyed that. CJ, my good friend and longtime program director at 980 suggested that he would be a great guest, and he was at John underscore Fanta. to follow him on Twitter. We'll finish up with what happened last night at the Oscars and with just a quick thought on the passing of one of the great drummers, Taylor Hawkins from over the weekend. Both of those things, right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Jada, I love you.

G.I.J.N. 2. Can't wait to see it. This Jal was a nice one. Okay. I'm out here. Richer, oh wow, wow. Will Smith just smack the shit out of me. Wow, dude. It was a G.I. Jane jump. Keep out your fucking mouth.

I'm going to, okay? Oh, okay. That was the greatest night in the history of television. Okay. Okay. So we are here to give a documentary out. To give an Oscar out for Best Documentary. Now, the beauty of documentaries,

because they make you, when you watch one, you feel smart. Like you watch them, like, you know, like you read a book or something. But all you really did was get high and watch Netflix. So here we go. Here we go. Yeah, that happened last night at the Oscars. As I mentioned, I think in the open, I was not watching it live.

I had spent the first half hour with my wife watching the Oscars, and that was enough for me. And I decided that I was going to watch the next episode of Winning Time, the Lakers Dynasty winning time show on HBO that I've recommended here recently. and I fell asleep at the beginning of that. I will watch that probably tonight to get all caught up on winning time. But she woke me up to tell me about the Will Smith slap of Chris Rock, and then for like 45 minutes between midnight and 1245,

I was immersed in all of the follow-up from that. Let me just say, I've never seen G.I. Jane won the Demi Moore movie, I guess, where she shaved her head. In 1997 movie. So if I had been watching that live, the joke would have sailed right over my head. I was unfamiliar with the movie. And by the way,

I had no idea that Jada Pinkett Smith was someone suffering from Alpecia, you know, the baldness medical condition, which I guess also entails a lot of other things medically as well. Look, I'll net it out for you. I am not one that, and I don't know what's gone. By the time you listen to this, we may find out that this was an actual ruse. I'm not one that thought it was, and at this point, I don't think it was. I'm also not one of those that reacted with, oh my God, this is the worst thing I've ever seen,

and oh my God, you know, Will Smith needs to be arrested by the LAPD and removed from the premises. Everybody's entitled to their own perspective, and everybody's perspective, I'm sure, is based on their own personal life experiences. I certainly think that if Chris Rock knew that she was suffering from alopecia, that was a bit of a low blow over-the-top, mean-spirited, even if it was off the cuff, comment.

And I certainly don't think the place, for Will Smith's response to that in the protection of his wife, who he clearly saw was, you know, upset by it, even though he laughed initially, but clearly saw that she was angered and upset by what he had said. I don't think that the proper place for a response was a national television, worldwide national television at the Oscars last night. That was a, let me talk to you, Chris, backstage, maybe even outside a little bit later on in the evening. evening. But I would also be lying to you if I didn't tell you that I didn't have some empathy and understanding for him being emotionally wrapped up into sort of a protective mode of his wife. Not everybody feels the same way and people feel that things should be settled differently

and certainly I think more times than not they should be settled with words and conversation rather than slaps or punches. It was more of a Joanne Howard slap than it was a punch. But I certainly understand that response, and I'm not going to criticize the response to think in terms of my wife has been insulted on national television, and she's got a medical condition,

and she's not very happy about it, so I'm not very happy about it. again was that the setting was that the way for him to respond probably not backstage in the parking lot may have been a better spot for it you know and and i'm by the way all for comedic privilege or whatever you want to call that i mean i'm not for you know jesus god i mean don rickles and what if it had been rickie jervase i mean rickie jervase is one of my all-time favorites and you know he's certainly insulted many people And people that show up to that event, they know their fair game, especially if they were in, you know,

movies that are being talked about for much of the night. By the way, I didn't see any of those movies other than King Richard. I did see, I saw King Richard. And Will Smith was brilliant as Richard Williams, the father of Venus and Serena Williams. It was a really, really good movie. I don't know how accurate the movie was, the portrayal was, but there have been some accounts that say that some of it was certainly exaggerated, but Will Smith was brilliant in that movie. I mean, he's been brilliant in almost everything he's done. I mean, playing Ali was just incredible.

But here's the one part that, again, I respect everybody's opinion and everybody's perspective on this. So don't take this the wrong way. But if your initial reaction was, oh my God, he was assaulted. We need, you know, the police need to be called. He needs to be cuffed and taken to jail for this physical assault of Chris Rock. I can't really relate to that one. That was not my response, even though I know it was many people's responses that, you know, Chris Rock needs to press charges against Will Smith. Nah, no, he didn't. And he didn't, as it turned out. Or he hasn't, anyway.

that's not the way those kinds of things get settled more times than not if you've had and been involved and had experiences that are similar to those I mean think about for some of you guys out there you know the number of you know the number of incidents that you've been involved in whether in a bar and you know you regret it after the fact or not but these these are not the kinds of things typically certainly not a slap all right that is resolved with charges being pressed. I'm not saying that what he did was legal and that it wasn't technically an assault.

Okay, that's for others to decide. But that's not the kind of thing that gets resolved with a call to the LAPD. In fact, I was reminded of this, I was reminded of the night that there was a game between the Rockets and the Clippers, and there was a Chris Paul Blake Griffin, incident that, you know, spilled over into the locker rooms and into the halls of, I think,

Staples Center a few years back. And the TNT crew of Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley and Shaq, you know, we're discussing it as there was a reporter on site talking about how there was a police presence and the LAPD had been called. And this was the conversation, hysterical conversation between Barkley Shack, Kenny Smith, as the reporter finished up her report. They're laughing at the insult. They don't believe these two guys,

I played in the NBA for 16 years, and I've been on TV 18 years. It's the first time I've heard of police presence. They got, wait, wait. They got a police presence. Are you kidding me? Wait, come on, man. numerous social media reports that LAPD was called.

LAPD was called. See, these two, man. Come on, man. Because they would already, they would relish. They would relish for a guy to come in the hospital after them. Hey, Chuck. No.

Hey, Chuck. I don't know. Hello, police. Chris Paul trying to beat me up. This is, hey, this is Blake Griffin. Chris Paul trying to get in the locker room. Get down here and save me. Wait.

Hey, hey, just the answer, Jordan. Mike Dunn is trying to get in the locker room. I certainly doubt that it was flipper players who were requesting any time. I might have to call the police. Come on. Two guys who would relish guys coming in their locker room. Come on, man. Laughing at the fact that Chris Paul is coming and get.

That just one of those nights on that TNT inside the NBA show with those guys, which is the greatest, in my opinion, studio show in the history of sports television. That was a funny night. Again, everybody's entitled to their perspective. I think if Chris Rock knew that she was, you know, suffering from that medical condition that was a little bit over the top, you know, freedom of speech doesn't mean freedom of consequence, even though I would never ever want to thwart some of the comedy that's out there. It is comedy. But that was, you know, a bit of a personal attack. And at the same time, you know, I totally can understand Will Smith's reaction to that when he saw how, upset his wife was. And again, probably not the setting for him to take it out on him. I'll tell you what, Chris Rock really handled it really well, didn't really get pushed back

much by the slap. You know, Will Smith may have wanted if he was really pissed off. I mean, there could have been a closed fist and a real injury there. And can you imagine Denzel and Bradley Cooper and everybody running up to break it up? That would have been an all-timer on the Oscars. But, yeah, I didn't react, again, to each their own. But I certainly didn't expect, and I'm glad that Chris Rock did not press charges against Will Smith. The two of them can settle it in their own way.

Anyway, I wanted to end the show with this. Taylor Hawkins, the drummer of the Foo Fighters, on one of my all-time favorite Foo Fighters songs, My hero, if you're not a fan and you don't know who Taylor Hawkins is, I'll just tell you. He's one of the great drummers of the last 25 years, a longtime drummer of the foo fighters. He passed away on Friday. Lots of substances in his system found dead in a hotel room in Bogota, Columbia, 50 years old, too young. A phenomenal talent. You know, Dave Grohl, the original drummer.

drummer of the foo fighters was William Goldsmith. Grohl had an issue with him, didn't mind him being a touring drummer. Actually, on one of the early albums, the story is that Grohl went in after the fact and re-recorded all of the drums. Grohl was the drummer of Nirvana, and he just, Goldsmith wasn't getting it to Dave Grohl's standards. He's actually called that one of his biggest regrets the way he handled that, but he was looking for a drummer.

And interestingly, or ironically, Taylor Hawkins was the touring drummer for Alanis Morissette during her jagged little pill tour of 1995-1996, and the Foo Fighters were opening on part of that tour for Alana's Morissette. That's how Taylor Hawkins became introduced and became friendly with Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters, and the rest is history. He chose to go with the Foo Fighters. Obviously, Alanis Morset, he was just a touring drummer for a solo artist, whereas he became a full-fledged member and a legendary member of the Food Fighters over the last 25 years or whatever it's been.

But a recommendation, if you haven't seen the HBO documentary on Alana Smor set and that particular album, which was the second biggest selling album of the 1990s, you don't have to be a huge fan of hers to really like the documentary. well done and Taylor Hawkins was a big part of that documentary because he and Alana's Morissette became very close and she was devastated when he left her touring band. I think she understood but he was devastated. She was devastated, excuse me. And the tributes coming in about his death are coming in from all corners of the entertainment universe. Music, obviously, sports, acting, Hollywood, beyond. He was a favorite. He was a favorite. He was a talent. He was. He could sing too, actually.

If you saw any of the videos, and I watched a lot of them from over the weekend from their most recent tour, he did not look well recently at all. Just really sad. 50 is way too young. Anyway, that's it for the day. I'll be back with Tommy tomorrow.