The Kevin Sheehan Show - Redskins to #3 and Turgeon's Big Day

Episode Date: March 21, 2019

Kevin opens the show talking about the Caps-Tampa game last night. He then gets to the Jason LaConfora report yesterday that the Redskins are one of the teams "sniffing" around for the Jets 3rd pick overall in a possible attempt to move up and draft Ohio State QB Dwayne Haskins. He talks the about the importance of today's Maryland first round game for Mark Turgeon. He then brings on former Maryland Assistant Coach Dustin Clark to talk Terps and preview the game against Belmont. Kevin finished up the show with 5 NCAA Tournament Smell Test picks. <p> </p><p>Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a></p> Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You want it. You need it. It's what everyone's talking about. The Kevin Sheehan Show. Now here's Kevin. All right, I'm here. Aaron is here. Tommy's going to call in tomorrow. I gave him the day off. It's raining, the traffic. We started a little bit earlier today. He's the best. I just said, you know what, call in tomorrow. This is going to be a lot of college basketball. Some Redskins, though, here at the top coming up here shortly. But he's going to call in tomorrow. I think Cooley's going to call in tomorrow as well. because he and I got our wires crossed. I thought he was coming on today, but I think he's going to come on tomorrow. So tune in for that. I will tell you that coming up very shortly is Dustin Clark. Dustin Clark, you ask, Dustin was Mark Turgeon's assistant coach for the last seven years at Maryland, four years at Texas A&M. He left coaching after last season. Many of the players on the floor today, he recruited. He's going to give us the scout on Belmont. He's going to give us his thoughts overall on Maryland's season. Dustin's a good friend of mine, and he took over a business in Texas that was a family business.

It was a good move for him to leave coaching when he did. But Dustin will be coming up on the show, Dustin Clark here momentarily. I was wrong about St. John's last night. They sucked. Chris Mullins team missed 10 free throws. They panicked throughout the game. Arizona State was awful, too. They turned it over a bunch.

I think there were 38 turnovers in what became an unwatchable game. I know everybody's killing Mullen today, and I personally don't think he is a great coach. Watching them, it's hard. I don't watch them a lot, but enough. But I didn't think last night personally was on him. His team panicked, they missed free throws. If they had made their free throws and several of them were front ends of one-and-ones, the game would have been winnable for them.

But it was an ugly game. They shouldn't have been in that spot, though, and that's the reason people are so down on Mullen. That should have been a six or seven seed this year with that talent. Shemori Ponds, maybe a first-round pick when all is said and done, and he missed a bunch of shots last night. Interestingly, as much of a basketball fan that I am and college basketball fan, and I've told you, this first four, this Tuesday, Wednesday night, I don't know. I think for people that don't watch the sport during the course of the year, they get excited for it. It's like, hey, it's the tournament. Well, it's not really the tournament yet.

The tournament starts today. I watched the Caps last night. From about early second period on, I was watching what I found to be the best sporting event on television last night, which was Caps Lightning. Yeah, I did. I know a lot of you probably that have listened to me for a long period of time. You know that I'm not a hockey guy, especially regular season hockey.

I love playoff hockey. Well, last night felt like playoff hockey. It was so intense. could feel it coming through the screen last night. This is the second game against the lightning in the last five days. They lost in Tampa Saturday night in a game that they had a chance to tie up late. They ended up losing six three, I think, on two empty netters at the end. It's the second of three games here, the only three that they played against each other all season long,

after meeting last year in a seven-game Eastern Conference finals. A lot of people think that that will be the matchup we will see again in May, caps Tampa in the Eastern Conference finals. Man, was that an intense game? And what was so interesting, and I find it always so interesting about hockey, in that you can have one team totally dominate another team and lose the game. It's very rare in the NFL, and here would be the analogy. The Caps outshot Tampa last night, 58 to 28. They dominated the lightning, especially in the third period. They lost the game in overtime, five to four. They got a point, right, but they didn't get two points. And if you're watching that game, you're like, how are they tied? How are they down for three?

Why are they scrambling with an empty net trying to tie this game up late, which they did on a Kuznetsov goal with under a minute to go against Vasilevsky, who was phenomenal. Well, that's the reason. He stopped 54 of 58 shots. The interesting thing is the one he gave up in the final minute, seemed like a real difficult shot compared to some of the others that he had stopped all night. But the football analogy is that you outgained your opponent 450 yards to 150. You dominated time of possession 40 minutes to 20 minutes, and somehow you lost the game because you missed three field goals. You were stopped on fourth and goal from the one yard line twice, and you turned it over three times, and two of the three turnovers resulted in

defensive touchdowns. So the Washington Tampa game in football? Yes. Yes. The Washington, the Redskins game in Tampa this year, where they gave up 500 and something yards, and the Bucks missed three field goals and got stopped on fourth and goals. Yeah, that was it. And the Redskins somehow won that game 16 to 3. You know, and I remember saying in the moment, this is, You know, all's going right with this season. Like, they're finally getting the breaks of a season. Everything's going their way because they did not deserve to win that game on paper. You know, by the way, if you recall from that game, teams had been putting up 30 and 40 on Tampa,

and the Redskins barely got 16. Yes. But anyway, that's the analogy. Last night, I mean, I'm watching this game from, you know, I didn't watch the first period. I really picked it up at 3 to 1. All right. So second period, whenever it was three to one is where I picked it up. And when they were down 3-1, and they just dominated the game. Dominated the game. You know, Headman scores in overtime. How about the patience on that goal,

you know, three on two? He, you know, it looks like he's got to make a pass. He doesn't. And he scores on Holtby for the game winner. Kempney got hurt in the game. I know that's a big deal. But it was, it was a compelling watch. You know, the caps are really, they've got these big games coming up here over the next couple of months, and it just looks and feels like they're ready for another big run. And I know hockey's hockey and it's random, and Pittsburgh would be an incredibly tough series, and Carolina might be a tough series,

and the Islanders might be a tough series, whatever. They're a good team. I can see that. From these two games that I've watched against Tampa here over the last five days, they've got one more game against the Lightning. It's amazing that they've only been able to come up with one point against Tampa in these two games. They still have a three-point lead in the division. I think everybody else in the division plays tonight with the caps off, but that was a hell of a

hockey game last night. All right, I want to get to this Jason Lock and Forer report before I get to some Maryland and then bring on Dustin Clark. So Jason Lockenforra yesterday tweeted out, quote, or maybe he wrote it in the story. I'm just reading the quotes here. League sources say Washington is already among the teams sniffing around and with pretty much every GM in the league wholeheartedly convinced the quarterback Kyler Murray is going first overall, and San Francisco at number two is going to take a defensive player. They've been sniffing around with the Jets and the Jets number three pick overall. He writes, The Jets, very well could be sitting pretty with that third pick as an avenue for

a quarterback needy team to jump ahead of the Giants at number six overall to land Ohio State quarterback to Wayne Haskins. There is a readily accepted drop-off in the quarterback class beyond that. While the need is not as robust as in some past years, it only takes one team to make the move. He writes, if Snyder falls in love with Haskins

through this process, and I'd point out that Haskins played prep football in Snyder's backyard, and I'll add parenthetically, he played at Bullis in Potomac and was a friend of Snyder's son at the Bullis School in Potomac. Back to Lockenforah.

He writes, I'd point out that Haskins played prep football in Snyder's backyard, and that is mentor Sean Springs is a former Redskins cornerback, whom Snyder thinks very highly of. If Snyder falls in love with Haskins through this process, he will do whatever he thinks he has to do to get him. History has shown us as much, and I hear Washington is very much intrigued by the strapping pocket passer, and you just know that Snyder would take some joy in leapfrogging the NFC East rival giants in the process. that's from Jason Lockenforra yesterday. Okay.

I do, and I'm going to stick with this feeling that I've had for a while now, that Snyder wants a splashy off season. Hasn't been able to really get a big-time splashy off season. I mean, they made an out-of-character for the last few years signing in paying landing Collins what they paid him. They made a trade for a quarterback in Case Keenham, but that was an insurance policy. And then, you know, you got a bunch of,

At this point, misses, you know, Antonio Brown was a miss, C.J. Mosley was a miss, Golden Tate was a miss. You've got, you know, basically in the fold, DRC and Eric Flowers and resigning Adrian Peterson, you know, to go with Landon Collins and the trade for Keenham. Snyder wants to make a splash. I do believe that. And if they're going to make a splash, it comes in the form of quarterback at this point. There are no more free agents, really, you know, unless you're going to trade for A.J. Green, and, you know, maybe the Bengals are trying to trade green because he's going to be a free agent next year, but they can always franchise him next year if they wanted to keep him, you know, beyond this season. But I believe that Snyder is very interested in making a splash at quarterback. So let's talk about the quarterback.

I'm not a fan of Haskins. I wasn't during the season watching him. I made that very clear. What the hell do I know, though? These quarterbacks, nobody seems to know really with quarterbacks. It's one out of every three and a half to four quarterbacks in the first round end up being hits. The rest of them typically misses. It is an inexact science on drafting quarterbacks in the first round.

No one's ever, you know, said that they've figured out the formula on this particular thing. There have been a couple of camp misses like Andrew Luck, you know, you can't miss with Andrew Luck. but nobody resembles Andrew Luck in this draft. Nobody does. Not even Kyler Murray. He's intriguing. He's unique, but nobody's convinced yet. Some people are, and Arizona's going to roll the dice at number one. I bet they do. And then you've got all these teams that potentially want quarterbacks in this draft, you know, and if the Redskins really like a quarterback, and let's say it's Haskins, they will more likely than not have to trade up to get them. Now, you know, in recent days, there was, you know, there were reports that maybe Haskins was starting to slip a little bit, but it's really hard to believe anything else out there. It's hard to believe anything, that is,

because teams are putting out, you know, fake messaging and sometimes the reporting has hit on something that's accurate. You just don't know. I don't know if the Giants won Haskins at six or if they like lock at six. And by the way, there's a lot of time between now and the first round of this draft. but apparently Haskins impressed in his pro day and the Redskins are going to meet with him and they were there yesterday and Jay Gruden was there yesterday with the whole team and maybe they were impressed with Haskins yesterday. To get Haskins, you might have to trade up.

If you're going to trade up to number three, it's going to cost you, I think, a first, next year's first, and potentially at least a second, maybe a third, maybe a first and third, but I think it'll end up costing a first, next year's first, 2020. This year's first, obviously, the number 15, you'll swap with the Jets. Three. The Jets will get 15. The Redskins will get three. And I think the Redskins will have to give up their first rounder next year and maybe more to move up. You know, think about the

Griffin trade. That was six to two for Robert Griffin III in 2012. They swapped spots and then they gave up two first rounders and a second rounder. They gave up their next two years, worth of first rounders to move up four spots, six to two. 15 to 3 now, if you take recent deals like the Eagles moving up from 8 to 2 with Cleveland to draft Carson Wentz, they gave up a third, a fourth, a second, and a first to move up six spots. All right? Buffalo last year.

To move up from 12 to 7 to draft Josh Allen, they traded with Tampa, they gave up two second rounders and they got a seventh back. That wasn't super costly. The Jets last year to move from 6 to 3, 2 second rounders, and last year, and one second rounder from this year. So basically three second rounders to move up three spots. The draft value chart essentially equals a first round pick to move from 15 to 3. But if the Jets have some leverage, if there's competition,

it might take more than a first to move from 15 to 3. Would I do it? Not for Haskins, but I mean, they have to evaluate the quarterbacks. They're the ones evaluating the quarterbacks. If they love the quarterback, is Haskins worth a first and potentially a second? I don't think so. I would not be against a lesser trade up of, you know, up four or five spots to get Drew Locke. I like Locke more than Haskins, but I don't love Locke either. I don't love quarterback in this draft personally. But what do I know? Cooley doesn't like Haskins, right? Cooley's film breakdown of Haskins basically indicated, from his standpoint, very high bust potential. Watching him all season long, and I watch a lot of college football, and when you

watch a lot of college football, Aaron, you see a lot of Ohio State football, because every single game that Ohio State plays is on television. And to me, I just never was blown away with Haskins. They had phenomenal speed. They had phenomenal athletes. There was a lot of sideways throws. He made some big throws. And there were also some games like the Michigan State game

when you watched him against a really good defense where he got pressured and the ball sailed. And he panicked in the pocket at times. I just wasn't blown away with Askins. I know a lot of people were. It's my view. I'm probably dead wrong. Cooley may be dead wrong too.

He did the film breakdown. He doesn't like Askins. We'll see what the NFL teams think. Apparently they're still very impressed with Askins. And if the Redskins are really impressed with Askins, I do think they'll try to make a move. I don't think it's something that Bruce Allen wants to do to trade away their future number one and a number two potentially to move up 12 spots. That's my guess as to what it will cost. I could be wrong about that. It might cost more. Depends on what kind of leverage the Jets have. What kind of market there is for that number three pick overall.

How desperate the Redskins are. The Jets don't have to trade it. I mean, Jets could pick up a lot for it, but they probably love Quinn and Williams or Nick Bosa, whoever the 49ers don't draft. Either one of those players, Josh Allen, all three of those defensive players, Aaron Wright, appear to be dominant kinds of defensive players. Yes. So I wouldn't do it for Haskins. I wouldn't do it for any quarterback in this draft. Kyler Murray is very intriguing to me, but very high risk. If they did it for Murray, I think I would understand.

If they did it for Haskins or they did it for Locke, I won't understand. I won't be in favor of it. If they trade it up for five spots, let's say to try to get in front of the... Let's say they can make a trade with... Let's say the Giants aren't interested in Haskins, and they end up taking Locke or they trade for Rosen. before the draft. Let's say that happens. And now the Redskins just have to get up to say eight, you know, in front, or nine in front of Denver and Miami. And they want Locke there,

or Haskins is there. That's different. That's a different conversation. It's a lot less expensive to move. I'm not in favor of them drafting Haskins, period. If they draft lock, I'd feel better about it. I wouldn't trade up to number three to do it. But I do think that the report of the Redskins being one of maybe multiple teams interested in moving up for Dwayne Haskins is more likely than not true. But it could easily be that the Redskins are sniffing out every possibility. And they should. They should see what the cost is, what the Jets would want. They should be checking with every team if they have a player that they really like, especially if it's a quarterback that they really like. That's it on that, really.

I think that ultimately, I bet the Redskins don't make that move. Ultimately, I think that the cost will be too high. But if it is a move they make, boy, no doubt was it driven by the owner who not only wants a quarterback, but wants some juice to this offseason. All right, lastly, before we get to Dustin Clark, I wanted to talk a little bit about the Maryland game today. They play Belmont at 310, first round of the NCAA tournament. This is the fourth tournament in the last five years for Maryland.

They missed last year after they went three straight years with Mellow Trimble and company. They got to one Sweet 16 in those first three years by beating in that particular year, South Dakota State, and then Hawaii, who was an upset winner in the first round to get to the Sweet 16 when they lost to Kansas. They lost a first round game to Xavier the last time they were in the tournament two years ago. And the first year they went, they lost a second round game to West Virginia. Anthony Cowan made a comment yesterday that got a lot of run on social media for Maryland fans. I don't know if it was yesterday or the day before, but he said, I had yet to win a postseason game. Yeah, that was actually Sunday that he said it.

Okay, Sunday. I read it yesterday. And I saw a lot of the reaction and read a lot of the reaction. Anthony Cowan hasn't won a Big Ten tournament game. He's a junior. is 0 for 1 in the NCAA tournament. He was on the team two years ago as a freshman when they lost his Xavier and Trayvon blew it in the first round who went off on them in the second half of that game and Maryland got bounced early. All of that aside, I think Mark Turgeon's a good coach. You don't

win like he wins without being a good basketball coach. I've said that. I'm not going to back off that. I know that he does some things that are very good. First of all, he's recruited well. He's recruited very well since he's gotten here, right, Aaron? How many top 20 classes has he had since he got here in 2011? You know, it's hard to determine classes because they fluctuate like, you know, when he had Diamond Stone in the class. I was only the 55th because it was just a two-person class, but he has had four top 20 classes. Four top 20 classes in his eight seasons here, right? This is his eighth season here. He's recruited well. You know, he's recruited very well. I think he absolutely knows what he's doing defensively. I watch the way they defend. I know how well they practice defensively. They are a

high-efficiency defensive team. They've been pretty much near the top 20 in efficient, you know, adjusted defensive efficiency ratings, rankings all year long. It's a good defensive team. They hold teams to low field goal percentages. They don't turn a lot of people over. Talk to Dustin Clark about that when I have them on. But Mark's done a good job this year. They were 22 and they've got a very young team. Now that team's not young anymore. They played a lot of games. They played 32 games. The criticism I've had all season long, I think they should play faster, personally, a higher possession game. They're 313th nationally out of 353 teams and possessions per game. And what happens when you play low possession games and you are a high turnover team,

which they are, is you better shoot well or you're going to lose. You know, there's just no margin for error in low possession games if you're a high turnover you know with the high turnovers you put yourself into a very difficult spot against good basketball teams which they have especially recently um i also don't like that bruno fernando doesn't shoot enough that aaron wiggins doesn't shoot enough um i don't i don't love sometimes when we take out players to match the other teams you know lineups um i think we've got a difficult lineup to guard when sticks and bruno are in there at the same time and i think today that might be the case as well But overall, Mark Turgeon's a good basketball coach.

Okay, is he a great basketball coach? No, the results wouldn't indicate that he's a great basketball coach. He's been to two Sweet 16s as a coach, once at Wichita State and once at Maryland. He's taken all of his teams to the tournament that he's coached over the years. By the way, that Wichita State team that he took to the Sweet 16, he was coaching at Capital One Arena, or then MCI Center, I believe it was at that point, when George Mason beat Wichita State and Sweet 16 game before Mason beat Yukon to go on to the Final Four in 2006.

Now, with all that said, I like him as a coach. I don't love them as a coach. I've been critical and constructively critical of some of the things he's done over the years in particular to this team. I just think it should play faster, period. I think there are a lot of reasons why they don't. They play very good defensive teams in a conference that is very well coached, I actually think they're going to score today, more points than they have recently.

You know, they have not scored more, they've scored more than 70 points once in the last two months, one time more than 70 points in the last two months. I think they're going to score more than 70 today, I do. With all of that said and understood, I also understand this. They got to win today. He has to win this game today. He's got to have a good weekend. The opportunity to have a good weekend is there, all right?

This draw in some ways couldn't work out better. Belmont's not easy. They're only a three-point favorite today. You know, LSU if they get them, LSU is a man-sized team without a coach right now. But they got pros and they looked apart. You know, it's not going to be easy to get to the sweet 16. But they got a decent draw. It's almost as if, you know, they got a draw to get back home. And man, he can turn the narrative on, you know, on its backside. And the narrative being from the very critical and at times delusional fan base, which I am a part of. And sometimes I've been delusional as to what Maryland is. Some people tell me that.

I still think Maryland's a top 20 job. I still think it should be a top 20 program year and year out, and I don't think that they should ever miss the tournament. You know what? Making the tournament's great, but with 68 teams, it's really not that hard to make the tournament when you're Maryland. You should make the tournament every year. You should.

This is a big weekend for him. I don't think, Aaron, you can weigh in here too. I don't think my sense is, is that the fan base is sitting back saying, you better beat Belmont. And because if we go one and done in the Big Ten tournament and then in the NCAA tournament, I think much of the fan base,

and when I say much, I would say at least a slight majority would want him replaced. No question. No question. And you never want to be in that environment as a coach. It's a big, look, Maryland's a big time basketball program. It's a basketball first school.

And there's a lot of pressure. They've had a lot of success over the years. They won a national championship. We know what's capable of. We know what it's capable of. They've been to two final fours. They've won a national championship. Gary got it done.

Lefty, if you had an open tournament with more than one team per conference, lefty probably would have been in a couple of final fours also. And so we know it's possible. And you can't go 12 and 35 against ranked teams, which is Turgeon's record since he got here, against ranked teams, 12 wins, 35 losses against ranked teams, and get bounced in the first round of your conference tournament in the NCAA tournament. You can't have that happen a lot at a place like Maryland. What would they do about it? I have no idea. I'm hopeful it doesn't get to that point. I

think they will win today. I actually like them today. You're going to hear that in the smell test. I like them today and I like their chances to get to next week. You know, I don't think. I think it's a slam dunk. I think the other day I said it's about a one and three chance to get to next week to get to the elite eight, all right? Or one in five to get to the elite eight, one and three to get to the sweet 16. I'll stick with that, but that's not a bad shot. They got a chance to win two games. It's not going to be a shocker if they win two games. The problem is it's not going to be a shocker for a lot of you, me included, if they lose today. And that's where the problem lies. you just you can't have that sick feeling that they're going to lose in a first round game

and a lot of you have that feeling and I am optimistic and I think they will win today but I know it's possible that they could lose this game today look they're only a three-point favorite like it wouldn't be a massive upset in 11 over a six is a three-point dog if belmont won the game but he needs this he needs today he needs to have a game on Saturday. because there's the also there's the lost opportunity part of this. It's what I talked to with Scott about. By the way, he's not coming on today either. He'll come on tomorrow, hopefully.

Tomorrow could be just everybody, Cooley, Tommy, Scott, others. You have a chance to create some momentum going into next year. You know, you had that huge game against Michigan. You lost that, and you needed more games. You needed a run in the Big Ten. tournament, you didn't get it, you can erase that sour taste with a run in the NCAA tournament. But if you don't get that, there's going to be an offseason of wondering, man, where is this program?

Great. Four tournaments in five years, one sweet 16. Maryland basketball is better than that. It may not be final fours every year. It may not be sweet 16s every year. But I think most people feel that over a five-year period that, you know, two first-round exits, no success in the Big Ten tournament, and just, you know, just a few first-round exit, and just, one sweet 16 isn't good enough. And 12 and 35 against ranked teams isn't good enough. When's the last

big win? Maryland's really had. Purdue at home this year? It's sort of a big win. The big win would have been over Michigan this year. You know, they had that win over Wisconsin when Wisconsin was number five in the country in 2015. They beat a third ranked Iowa team in 2016 at home. They just beat their first ranked team on the road this year in Iowa during the turdine. era. They had two wins over Duke, remember? They beat Duke in the ACC tournament in 2013 after they beat him in their last home game against Duke in 2013. That was a big year. I got to call that 2013 game against Duke, the final home game against Duke. It's not like they've been completely void of big wins, but there haven't been a lot of them. I agree with you on that. He needs to win today.

He really does. I don't know if anything happens. doesn't and my guess is it will not but for the health and the the enthusiasm about the program for it to really still be there and potentially create an opportunity for to really steamroll into next week and into the offseason it's got a win today against belmont quick word about window nation uh window nation right now has a great deal going buy two windows get two windows free there is no limit you can get 15 windows If you need them and you get another 15, if you needed 30, you get 15 and 15 free. You pay 15, you get 15 free.

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down in Texas, which is going quite well, and I'm happy for him. But I was thinking about you yesterday, and I'm like, I thought to myself, when I was talking to Van Pelt, actually, I'm like, why didn't I ask Dustin to be on the show this week? It would have been a perfect discussion and perfectly timed. And then I texted you earlier this morning, and not only are you available to come on, but you're in Jacksonville for the game today, which is good. How you doing? Kevin, man.

First of all, thanks for having me on. And I'm happy for your success with the podcast. I know it's been a good deal for you. So thanks for letting me be a part of it. But I'm doing great. And down here in Jacksonville, got here yesterday. And actually, it brought my dad with me. And, you know, we're going to have a great weekend.

You know, you alluded to me, you know, getting out of the coaching business. And it was, in some ways, it was a difficult decision to make. because, you know, I did, you know, I was in the business for 12 years, and I was so, so, so fortunate to work at a place. Like Texas A&M, alma mater, and had to coach a place like Maryland. Like, are you serious? And so it was, you know, it was, you know, unbelievable, and I loved it. However, there were things that I didn't get to do, like go to the NCAA tournament with my dad.

Excuse me. And so, you know, I said, dad, gum, I said whenever, you know, that I'm out of coaching and I have, you know, some more time on my hands and more freedom of time. I said, I'm going to do things like that. So anyway, my dad and I are down here in Jacksonville and looking forward to a Terps win. And Dustin's a huge sports fan, too. So now you get to watch all the games that you weren't able to watch while you were recruiting and working because I know you're a huge sports fan, big NBA fan, football fan, the whole thing. All right, look, today, and I open with this in the show. You know how much I like Mark and Anne and the family and the job that

he's done here at Maryland. There's some heat on Mark right now. You guys felt it. You know how at times this fan base is a little bit, you know, delusional in terms of what it thinks it should be. And this is the fourth tournament year in five years, which is, you know, a good run here. But I think a lot of Maryland fans need a win today. How do you respond as one of his good friends, somebody who was side by side with him for so many years, what were some of the conversations like when some in the fan base got a little bit heated about not going to sweet 16s and elite 8s, you know, in final fours every year? Kevin, first I'll say this, is that, you know, what makes Maryland a great place to coach is how, is the tradition of winning and the expectations of winning and the passion that people have about that.

And so, you know, like, we, I mean, we knew, we know, you know, I struggle sometimes talking about past tense coaching and, you know, sometimes still. feeling like I am a part of it because I am so close to this, happen so close to these kids. But, so, you know, forgive that. But, you know, like, we know that. We know the expectations. You know, I will say this about coach. You know, he'll say it privately and I think you said it publicly,

he doesn't, he does a great job of tuning that stuff out. Like he doesn't, like coach truly doesn't, you know, read the newspaper. He doesn't, you know, he's a little bit insulated. And, you know, I think you have to do that because, you know, in coaching, you know, we tell the kids all the time that, you know, people saying great things about you is poison and people saying terrible things about you is poison. And so, you know, that can't affect how you play and how you coach. And so, you know, so to say that, you know, we didn't really have a lot of conversations about, you know, whether, it was criticism or whether it was praise. But, you know, but, but, but, but, but you ask me how, um, you know, I think you

ask me, you know, about what I feel about, you know, this year, you know, and, you know, and where they are. And it's, I mean, are you kidding me? The, the, the season that, that these guys have had. And, you know, here we are. You know, we have a chance to, to, to, to, to win two games and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and go to a Sweet 16, you know, with a good team that's had, you know, some great moments and some great wins.

And, hey, listen, I get it. I get it. We were all disappointed about the game in Chicago last week. Nobody more than coach. Nobody more than the kids in the locker room. But, you know, the beautiful, beautiful thing about playing the interior tournament and that being a part of the postseason is, you know, they have a chance today to take that memory totally out of their mind.

most importantly, and everybody else has been beat a really good Belmont team. So, you know, I mean, come on. It's been a really good season. And it's got a chance to be a great season starting at 310 today. You know, that's the thing, too, is that this whole, look, whether it's fair or not fair, it is. And when I say it is, it is, you know, some of the heat that's out there from the fan base. I don't, it's impossible to deny it. And I'm glad he doesn't listen to it.

I'm glad as a staff you guys didn't listen to it. It would be impossible, I would imagine, to run a program like Maryland with a demanding fan base listening to, you know, every criticism or every, you know, piece of praise or reading, you know, chat boards or message boards or social media. All coaches should steer, you know, far away from that stuff. But it's, there's this opportunity here to win a couple of games to come back. to Capital One Arena in Chinatown for the Eastern Regional. You know, and people, you know, he could turn the narrative right now. And by the way, real quickly, young team, they won 22 games.

They're back in the tournament. They finished fifth, had a chance to finish in the top four and a double by nearly did in the Big Ten when they were picked to finish seventh, eighth, ninth, wherever it was preseason. By any measure, that is a successful season. At the same time, it doesn't matter about definitions of good seasons. What definitely exists right now is a fan base that's on edge and feels like, you know, we got to do something here in the postseason.

And today they're a favorite against a good team. We'll get to the game in a second. But do you have a sense also, you know, and you're close to it still? These are your players. You recruited a lot of them. Do you have that sense that a lot of the fans have that there is, some pressure on this weekend. Kevin, there's always pressure.

There's always pressure. We coach it in Maryland. Do you feel like it's different right now, though? Like this weekend is different than anything in previous years? I don't. Okay. I don't. And because here's the deal.

I mean, it's, I mean, there's always a lot of pressure. I mean, how can there be, I mean, when, when I'm walking out of my hotel room, You know, two years ago, or then a Philly tournament, or three years ago, you know, when we were playing South Dakota State in Hawaii or, you know, Valpo or West Virginia, or say, when you're walking in a hotel room down to that bus, you feel, I mean, it's, it can never be, it can never be, it can never be more important. You know what I'm saying? And so, and so, like, there's, and, and look at this. I mean, they are, they are a young team, as you alluded to, all right? Everybody knows that. which means that this core is going to be together for a long time. Look at the recruiting class those guys signed. Really good players, right? Look at the success that our kids are having, you know, beyond college in an NBA. So, no, you know, I don't think that there's, I think that,

I think that this program is in a great place and poised to make yet another jump. You know what I'm saying? I mean, over these last seven years, eight years now, you know, We've made some jumps, and I think it's ready to take the next jump. So, you know, irrespective of what happens today, irrespective of what happens this weekend. So, no, I don't think there's more pressure on today's game than there have been the ones in the past.

I just think, you know, the pressure is for the guys to play well, you know, be relaxed, execute the game plan. The coach and the assistance that put together is going to be a great game plan, right? And that's where the pressure is. the pressure is because, you know, I have a great opportunity, like you said. I had Gary Williams on the show yesterday, and I asked him about sort of the same thing, and he, you know, felt the same way. It's like, you know, there was always pressure there. And, you know, before he got to the final four and won a national championship in 2001, 2002,

the fan base wasn't thrilled with Sweet 16 loss after loss after loss. You know, he had had, I think it was five Sweet 16 losses, had not taken the team to the elite eight in, you know, over, you know, about an, what was it, about a seven, six, seven year period. And people weren't happy. He got booed off the floor after a home loss to Florida State in 2001 the year they went to the final four. It is a, it's a demanding fan base. And part of that is just the East Coast personality. You know, there's a lot of Philly. There's a lot of New York. in the Maryland alum base and, and D.C. is not easy on them either. So DC and Baltimore, too. I want to mention this because, you know, I want to get into sort of the way the team has played this year and some of the things that I've seen. Dustin's been a big help to me over the years. I mean, I think I called you a few years ago and said, hey, I'm playing a team. They're running a triangle in two. What the hell do I do? And so over the years, Dustin's been great in helping me do things at the youth level. And Mark's been great, too, actually. Here's my one, my one,

I've got two constructive criticisms about the team this year. And I think, you know, you and I have texted back and forth during the year. I personally feel, and I know there are reasons for this, I personally feel that with the talent, we, we should be playing higher possession games, more up-tempo basketball. And number two is, I wouldn't let double teams stop me from getting Bruno, you know, shot attempts. I mean, whether it's from the elbow, I don't think he shoots enough from that spot when you run the offense through him at the elbow. It seems like he's got a great stroke and he could be knocking down, you know, 14 to 17 foot jump shots to make the defense come out a little bit. Those are the two things that I've

harped on all year long. I've been very positive about other aspects of the team, including, I think, their half-court defense, which at times has been good. And really, their half-court offense, in terms of efficiency has been, you know, pretty good at times. And other games, you know, a little bit inconsistent. What about the criticism of playing up-tempo and getting Bruno more shots? Yeah, you know, talking about playing up-tempo reminds me of his coach named Doc Sadler. Doc is now down at Southern Miss. But he, what job did he get?

He got the Nebraska job. I think he went from U-TEP to Nebraska. It's right when I got in the business. And I'm sitting there listening to Doc's press conference. And Doc is notorious for playing a very, very, very, you know, slow-tempo game. And but, you know, everybody wants to run. You know, when you're recruiting, you know, talking to recruits, oh, coach, I want to play fast. And you're talking to your players, oh, yeah, coach, we want to play fast.

When you're talking to fans, oh, yeah, we want to watch a fast team. So, anyway, Doc South, you know, he's a really good coach. But, you know, for a slow tempo, one of the media members at Nebraska said, Coach, you know, can you talk about your tempo and your playing style? And he looked at right now. He said, he said, you ever seen a tennis match? And, you know, those watching the press guys just started laughing because we knew that Doc wasn't going to play a, you know, a back and forth

up and down deal. Right. And so anyways, that made me think of that antidote. Yeah, I mean, there's things, you know, when you, there's things that you give up when you play fast, and there's things you give up when you play slow. You know, I don't think this team plays slow. I mean, I mean, I think that, I mean, how many times have you seen Anthony hit ahead to stick? How many times you see Anthony hit ahead to Bruno?

How many times have you seen, you know, Daryl get the outlet and bringing himself? So I don't think this team plays slow. Could it play faster? Certainly. Every team could play faster, with the exception of probably four teams in America, four high-major teams in America. So, you know, there's just, you know,

there's just a lot that goes into it. You know, come on, listen, here's the deal. You know, I worked for coach for 11 years, right? And, you know, and then he, you know, come on, he was successful, you know, for another, I don't know, 11 years maybe before. He's won everywhere he's gone. You guys have won everywhere you won. And there's lots of way to win basketball games.

Right. There's lots of way to win basketball games. And so, you know, I'm not going to sit here and question how coach is coaching this team when he's coached the absolute heck out of him. I mean, give, you know, people, just listen, I'm not going to, I'm not going to question this team's pace. All right. He's gotten him in a position that, frankly, with the league. schedule that they played. I don't know how.

Yeah, certainly we can go back and we can talk about this game or that game. A missed opportunity here. A missed opportunity. That's the basketball season. All right. Every, you know, every coach in America is going to talk about one or two or three games of missed opportunities. All right.

Listen, he's coached the heck out of this team. All right. I don't know, you know, I don't know how much a better position. This team, you know, could be in. And so listen, I'm not going to question. What about, I mean, but the. But here's the deal. But yeah, the double team, the double team?

I mean, like, they've been so good against the double team. Would you agree? I think. I'm not talking about Nebraska. I think for the, I think when we first started to see it, Bruno had made such an incredible improvement from a year ago in handling it. I thought it was very, very well done. And then I think in recent weeks, he's turned it.

over. He's not, you know, it's been more inconsistent over the last few games. The Nebraska game, it wasn't good at all. Right. No, I agree with that. But they, I mean, they've been, I mean, he's been doubled all year. And a lot of their offense, a lot of their offense, you know, I mean, I think you saw what game, what game was it, was it Indiana? I can't remember. You know, they've been so good because the double team, you know, teams stopped doubling them. Yeah, that's right. When he started to kill it early, then we had a couple of games where teams decided, you know what, we can't do that.

But then they've gone back to it. It's not every possession that runs through him in the post. Sometimes those possessions, and you know the sets that you guys are running, a lot of times, you know, Anthony or Iala will, you know, throw him a bounce pass right there at the elbow and you got action going off of that. And that was the one thing that I wanted to specifically ask is he seems reluctant to turn around face and take that shot when he's not being guarded. Do you agree or not? Yeah. Yeah, I think he's, you know, I think he's, I think he has been hesitant to shoot that elbow jumper some. And I think that's,

you know, I think that that is, he can make that shot. He can absolutely make that, and he has made that shot this year. I think that sometimes he's trying to be such a good teammate and trying to do the right thing to the point to where, you know, he thinks that, you know, a good shot for Bruno, all right, might, you know, might not mean the best shot for a team. Does that make sense? And so I think that Bruno might be trying to, you know, early in possessions, you know, might be trying to, you know, work for some little bit better.

I think that's exactly what it. That's what, you know what? The way you just described it is exactly the way I perceive it when I watch. It's that he is very patient, as he is, by the way from the low block. He's very patient. And he's trying to get something better. Even, you know, it's interesting to watch him work even when the double doesn't come. He's very patient, much more so.

I think you guys did an incredible job of coaching him. Look at the development from Bruno Fernando from early in his freshman year to where he's been at times this year. It's remarkable. But I just sometimes think that that elbow jumper from 15 feet and he's got a great stroke, he's got a really good free throw stroke, especially with that defender laying off three, four feet. Sometimes that's the best look you'll get in the possession against good defensive teams. Yep, yep, yep, you're right. By the way, that's the other thing.

Maryland's played some incredible defensive teams in this league, some incredible defensive teams. And that's why when I lob in some of this criticism on this podcast, I always do it with this caveat. I'm not at practice. I have no idea what they're telling them to do or what they're trying to do. And I can tell you this, that the answer from Mark or anybody on his staff would be, have you seen some of the teams we've played and how good they are defensively

and how they get back? it's impossible to get anything in transition against Michigan or Michigan State or, you know, some of these teams that Maryland plays in the Big Ten. Talk about the game today. How do they beat Belmont? I hadn't watched Belmont play until the other night against Temple. And, you know, people were talking about how good Belmont was. And I wouldn't believe it until I watched that game.

Holy smokes are they good. But, you know, this is, here's the deal. Here's the deal. You know, we can talk, you know, we can go in-depth, and we can talk about how they got to guard ball screens, and, you know, we got to talk, you know, we can talk about all that. But let's just make it real simple, okay.

And I'm going to talk about we, because that gummit, even whenever it's, you know, when it's not one player that I recruited and, you know, when I'm not close to the staff one day, it's always going to be weed for me in Maryland, because I love that place. It is for me, too. and I never coached there, just went there.

And I didn't go there, but heck, I feel like I did. But anyway, what we got to do today, right, is we got to play to our strengths. And you're like, okay, yeah, doesn't, of course, every team does. No, no, no, that's what I'm talking about. We got to play bigger. We got to play stronger. We got to play longer, okay, because they're going to spread us out. They're going to, you know, sticks, right, is going to, you know,

have to guard, you know, somebody that's 6-4, right? You know, a 6-4 shooter out on the perimeter, right? And that's, come on, like, we face that, you know, a lot this year because college basketball is going small. But so they're going to spread us out, right? They're going to get, you know, they're going to get some open threes. All right, they're going to get a spread out, and the big kid's going to roll, and, you know, nobody's going to be in help and everybody's going to grow.

And like, oh, we're going to have dogs on layups. It's because how they play. It's because, you know, we're getting a little bit spread out. All right. It's just going to happen. All right. So, but if that's going to happen, this also has to happen. We've got to smash them on the boards.

We got to throw it on the sticks when the ball goes on the rim, right? You can't double team Bruno on a boxout. It's impossible. You can double team in the boxout. So Bruno's got to have six offensive rebound. Right. You know what I'm saying? Yeah.

You know, they got to bite the rim, you know, when the ball's on the rim. And so, you know, and so that's what I'm saying. Like, we've got to, you know, we've got to impose our, you know, if we get into their game, you know, in terms of, you know, just, you know, like I said, if we try to play like them, it's not going to be good, right? But if, you know, if we, like I said, if we, you know, we're the bigger, stronger, longer team, and if we play like that, and if we out rebound them, okay. And, you know, and Anthony, you know, I just feel great about Anthony playing well today.

And I'm not saying, you know, playing well doesn't mean, you know, Anthony's got to have 20. I hope he does, because it doesn't know what it can only happen when he does, Russ. But even, you know, I don't know how they're going to guard him. That might not be the deal. But so that's not the deal, you know, and Anthony ends up, you know, with six or seven assists and, you know, it's going to be a good day. But I'm telling you, man, that they got two guards.

They got two guards on that team that are really good. I mean, really good. And that was just, that was just from the temple game. And I didn't, supposedly their best player who would have been the OVC player of the year if it wasn't for John Morant. he didn't, you know, he didn't do much against. Yeah, he was still. I don't know how good he is, but he's not supposed to be pretty good. And the big kid can really score down there.

So, I'm telling you, man, it's funny. I was talking to somebody about this last night. When you see a six versus 11, you know, you just see six 11, you're like, oh, there's five spots between that seed line. You know, your mind plays tricks on you. Like, oh, the six is supposed to be so much better than the 11, right? We are better than them, right? and, you know, I hope that the score, you know, indicates it. But it's not, but in the end of the tournament, it's not that big a difference.

You know what I'm saying? No, no, no, no. We're a three-point favorite. That's it. Yeah, that's crazy. Yeah, so you mentioned something. And over the years, you know, I think this is more of a last 10-year thing than previous to 10 years ago. But, you know, going big against big, going.

small against small. In 2005, I don't remember people talking about going big and going small to match lineups, but you just mentioned it, and I can picture it right now. You know, Sticks trying to guard a guy that's 6-3 or 6-4 today. Does that mean, will that mean that sticks comes to the bench and that we get more Wiggins or more Lindo potentially? Will that limit his minutes if he can't guard? I think it's, you know, I think it's, it's, it's a feel of the game, you know what I'm saying? If, you know, if we feel like, you know, if it's just feel the game, you know, where, where's the matchup helping us more? You know, is sticks, you know, we're throwing the ball inside the sticks and is he able to be effective? Again, you know, are we able to make them pay for, you know, for, for gardening him with a smaller guy?

or on the other end, you know, are we just, are we given, you know, it might not be, and, you know, heck, it might not be sticks. You know, Bruno might have foul trouble. Sticks might be playing the five, you know, whatever. But what I'm saying is, is that, is that, I forgot. No, no, no, I mean, I know what you're saying. But, yeah, it's the field of game. You know, it's a field thing. And that is, so here's the deal.

this is what I was saying. Here's the deal. It is a coach. This is one of the hardest things that you struggle with over there. And you struggle before games and after games and during games. Do I play my best players? You know, do I put my five best players on the floor? Or do, you know, or do I go with matchups?

And, you know, it's just a field thing. And you just watch this weekend. Watch this weekend all the coaches try to figure that thing out. That'll be a big part of today if we can, you know, how is it, you know, who's contrasting style is going to prevail. I think one of the things that's been the case this year is the best games that Maryland's played this year, if you think about them, have been the games in which sticks has been a big part of it. And he's played very well, and he's really been on the floor and scored.

And, you know, I know he's had a difficult time in the Big Ten guard. some of the post players and getting pushed around as a freshman. I think that'll change next year, hopefully, with a year in the wait room. But he is a highly skilled offensive player. And by the way, every single time they leave him open on a pick and pop, I have no problem with him shooting that three. You know, I know his percentage in every game isn't great, but he's got a good stroke from out there.

And if they're going to, I mean, that's quite a weapon to have a guy that size that you've got to go out and guard from behind the arc? No, you're exactly right. I believe in and making it. Obviously, coach believes in and making it because he lets him shoot them. Yep. And, you know, sticks obviously feels, you know, freedom within the offense to do that. And you're right.

This team is, you know, we, there's, you know, sometimes when we struggle to score, you know, we'll get into trouble in games. because it can pretty consistently this team's defended you know they you know they've really guarded sometimes you know their offensive will affect their defense a little bit and that's you know that's just something everybody deals with but but but you know as a whole this team is always defended and and you know when we're having those scoring droughts it really really really helps when sticks is making jumpers because he gets them and you know you go back I don't know stats are, but you know, you go back and, you know, look at the games that he's made,

you know, two, threes. I'm pretty sure that, you know, it's been, it's been a good night for Maryland. Yeah, it has been. Lastly, I just want to ask you, I want to ask you about both of those players, Bruno and Sticks. You guys had to deal with this, you know, every year. I mean, at this level, you got to deal with this every year, you know, will he or won't he go? In your opinion, is Bruno ready to go? He's mocked out, you know, anywhere from top 10 to late first somewhere. So he looks like right now a lock to be taken in the first round. Do you think he's gone? I don't know because I don't know and it probably doesn't matter because if you'd ask me this time a year ago if Kevin Herder was going to be gone, I would have said

no. It's a great answer. It's a great answer. You know what? So does it really matter? Does it really matter what I think? Yeah. So what about, Bruno, Bruno looks the part, though, doesn't he? I mean, he is the part. Yeah, he does. He does. He does look the part. Bruno, I'll say this about Bruno.

Bruno is a special human being. I'm not talking about a basketball player. I'm talking about a basketball player. I'm talking about a human being. And he is emotional intelligence, his spirit, the wisdom that he possesses to be such a young guy. He's just made a little bit different. And so I don't know. You know, I don't, I always despised when people would talk to our players about this topic during the season.

Because I didn't think that it was fair to them as a player to cloud their mind. And I didn't think that it was fair to their teammates. And I didn't think it was fair to their school to be, you know, to be not focused on what's the most important thing, and that's, you know, winning in a NCAA tournament game today. So it would have been hypocritical for me to, for this time of the year, this season to call Bruno and say, hey, Brunes, you know, what are you thinking? You know, what you know, so I haven't talked to him about it, Kevin.

Right. I do know that if you have a chance, if you're going to be a lot first, rounder. That's a chance to change someone's life. Of course. And that's, you know, that's, you know, when we recruit these kids, we talk about, you know, wanting what's best for them and their families forever and something else. You know, sometimes that's, you know, talking about the NBA, but sometimes, you know, it's just talking about, you know, how Maryland can change your life.

But anyway, so I know that, you know, I know that he would have everybody's support. If that's the decision he made, if he's going to be, you know, like first rounder, But like I said, I don't know what Bruno will do. And, you know, you asked about sticks. I don't, you know, I haven't, I haven't looked at a mock draft, believe it or not. I don't know. I don't know where you told me that Bruno was in him. I don't know where Sticks is.

I don't know. Yeah, no. Sticks is really mocked. Yeah, he's been mocked out more as a second rounder. But like you said, who the hell knows when these guys go to these camps and, like you said, about herder? I mean, sticks to me looks like a guy that should come back, you know, that I would imagine the feedback is, you know, you do what Bruno just did and you're a first rounder next year. I would hope that's the case. But, you know, to your point, too, I've now heard this about

Bruno Fernando a half dozen times from people that know the kid that this is just a special person as, you know, beyond his basketball ability, that he's smart, that he's warm, that he's, he gets it and that, you know, everybody's rooting for him and everybody that comes across him likes him a lot. I appreciate this. I really do. I'm glad you're down there. I'll be watching and hoping that we get a game this weekend. It's not an easy opponent. You're 100% right. I mean, the first thing you said when you were describing Belmont, they're going to spread us out. And it's like, yeah, you can just see it right now. And they're tough to guard. At the same time, I think, you know, and you probably have felt this in previous years.

You get out of your league play where you're scouted so well, where you're playing great teams, and in the Big Ten's case, some really good defensive teams, and sometimes it makes it a little bit easier to play somebody that hasn't seen you offensively anyway, right? I was going to mention that when we're talking about it. Everybody is so excited to be done with league play.

Because in league play, you have so much historical knowledge, you have so much film that you've watched over the season and over the years. For the NCAA tournament, right, you know, these guys have had two days. And so, yes, of course, the assistant coaches were calling, you know, other coaches in the OVC. Now, there's, you know, kind of a deal where, you know, the gentleman's rules, you don't, you know, you don't give up teams in your own league, you know, so I don't know how much information they've been able to get, you know, from those teams. But my point is, you know, they've done, they've made calls.

they've talked about game plans or other people. They've watched film, right? But it's just a time factor. You can't watch as much film on Belmont as you've been able to watch on teams in your league. You know what I'm saying? Yeah.

And you don't have the historical knowledge of trying, you know, trying things, you know, like we tried some things against, you know, whatever, Virginia, we were in the ACC, and then once we found something that worked, you know, then we kept going. So anyways, yes, nobody's more excited than these coaches all around the NFL determines to be done with league play.

So, yes, there are going to be some things that are going to be more open for us. You know, I suspect, you know, some offensive things that haven't been there or aren't going to be there. So, yeah, no, that's absolutely the deal. And here's the deal, Kevin. Right. And, you know, you led this podcast, you know, I was talking, you know,

you let it talking about, you know, criticism. Listen, here's the deal. Whatever criticism is out there, whatever negativity is out there, all right. Let's set it to the side for today. Because if we can't be excited about Maryland basketball, and this game, you know, tipping at 3-10. And if we can't, you know, be excited and hopeful for, you know, being Belmont and having a chance to play either LSU or Yale to go to the Sweet 16, you know, right down there in D.C., you know,

come on. Like, let's not watch. Let's not be basketball. Trust me. Trust me. We're watching, but let me give it to you from somebody who was born and raised and weaned on Maryland basketball who grew up in Coldfield House. today my my my my you know what will be in my throat at 310 um for the for this game and and the

truth of the matter is I and I said this right before the big 10 tournament it be look constructive criticism aside the one thing I mean every it's a subjective thing we live in a subjective world and the sports fans almost everything is subjective you know when it comes to you know what what I do anyway it's all opinion but I have been impressed with the year the team has had. I thought that this was a tournament team when I saw it early. I would have been disappointed had it not been a tournament team, but I thought there were just, there were several things during the course of the year that were incredibly positive. Bruno's development in particular. I thought it was a really smart and strong defensive team, even though

we don't turn people over a lot. My one thing watching, and I think, and listen, listen, listen, listen, I'm glad you brought that All right, because people, you know, people, you know, we don't turn people. You know what else we don't do? We don't foul. We don't foul. Yeah. Teams rarely go to the bonus. So, teams, all right, are creating extra possessions, but, you know what else they do?

They foul. And so they give points away at the free throw line. Yes, you're right. We're not turning them over a lot, all right. But we're playing a defensive style that's predicated on not fouling and not giving up those points at the line. So whenever people talk about not turning them over, let's also talk about how many times we're in games that we make more free throws than our opponents shoot. That's an important step. Look, Maryland has been pretty much a top 20 for most of the season.

You know, very good, you know, efficient defensive basketball team. Anybody can see it that's watched them. They hold teams to low field goal percentage. You guys scout your opponents well. You defend well. And from an offensive standpoint, they've been. pretty much a top 20, top 25, you know, adjusted offensive efficiency team as well. I think, you know, in watching the team, we're 313th out of 353 teams in possessions per game.

I just, again, I know there are answers for this, and I always preface the constructive criticism with, I'm sure the answer is we're playing great defensive teams. We're playing teams that really know us well. But I just look at the talent. that we have with this speed in the back court, with bigs that can run. And I often think that a higher possession game would benefit us. And we turn it over too much for a low possession team. And I think that's hurt us in some spots as well. The turnovers have hurt.

Yeah. No, no, no, no. The turnovers are because like you said, you know, when you're efficient on offense like that, you know, you're missing opportunities that you're dead. I'm going to score or, you know, or get found. But I am excited about today. Here's the deal. This is what I do know, right?

This is what I do. I do know. I do know, it's an unbelievable job putting this roster together, him and the staff, all right? We can play big, we can play small. All right, we've got shot makers. We got guys that can get to the rim. All right. He coached his absolute tail off with this team.

I'm telling me, I'm telling you, this team, in the regular season, in the regular season, and, you know, people don't want to hear how young they are, all right, and, you know, some of the limitations, this team is good of a regular season, all right, is any, as they could have possible to have. Yeah. All right. Nobody could have coach this team to have a regular season better than what they have, right? Anthony Cowan has done a great job organizing these young guards.

It's hard. It's hard to get those young guards organizing. organized and Anthony's done a great job. Bruno has been so consistent in such an emotional, you know, they are going to, and, you know, like you said, we can go down the line, all right? These kids are going to be ready to play. They were absolutely sick about how the game in Chicago played out,

and they're going to be ready to play today, and, you know, it's a make or miss game. So hopefully we're making a few more shots than Belmont does, but they're going to be ready to play. And, Jack, Gellman, can it be three, Ken already seven. We're getting closer. And remember, a lot of people are listening to this right before it starts.

So you got him fired up. You know how much I love catching up with you. And I'm so glad the business is going well. I'm glad you're down there with the team. Hopefully we're talking about, you know, a game against Yale or LSU on Saturday. And next week here in D.C., which, as you know, I mean, you were there for the Northwestern game in the Big Ten tournament. I know. I know it's painful, but that place was rocking. And can you imagine if we had gotten to the next day to face, Wisconsin,

in that building? But it would be great. And nobody wants it more than me in this fan base. And those that are frustrated or constructively critical, that whole feeling can be turned on its head in two games in one weekend. And those are the, you know, look, that's the opportunity. that you have by getting to the tournament. And they got to the tournament this year, four out of five years. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. I'll call you. I'll text you later on today. Yeah. I'm working forward to it. Enjoy the game. Thanks to Dustin. Love Dustin a lot. He's such a

good guy, he's a good friend. Mark has had a great staff of guys throughout his time here at Maryland. A real quick word about scent bird. It's time for somebody to come up to you and say, you smell amazing. What cologne are you wearing? Well, for you guys that don't know how to pick out a cologne or it's too expensive to take a risk on a new cologne, scent bird is a luxury fragrance subscription service. It's a way to discover new colognes or perfumes without having to buy an entire bottle. That's important because good colognes and perfumes can be very expensive and many of you aren't sure exactly what you want or you've just gotten tired of what you've been wearing. scentbird makes it easy.

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Again, that's scentbird. Let me spell it out. S-C-E-N-B-R-D.com slash K-S-E-E-S-E-E-S-E-E-S-E-E-E-S-E-E-E-S-E-E-E-S-E-E-E. SDC, try your first cologne or perfume for just $7.50. Sign on, smell amazing. Let's get to the smell test. Kevin looks where the John Q public is putting their cash and does the opposite. It's time for the smell test.

All right, I got five smell test picks coming up. If you haven't seen our brackets, they are available at Sheehan Podcast. Follow us. Follow the show on Twitter at Sheehan Podcast. Aaron put them up there. They're also on the website at the Kevin Sheehan. Not at the Kevin Sheehan Show, just the kevin Shan Show.com. You can follow me on Twitter, too, at Kevin Sheehan, D.C. I retweeted Tommy's, Aaron's, and my brackets out yesterday.

So they're out there. I had St. John's winning two games, so I'm already in trouble on the brackets. And we didn't place a bet. What's our bet? Tommy will go along with whatever we go along with. But are we going to do just a point per win? Just do it keep it simple, or do you want to increase levels? Yeah, we'll do it normal style.

Okay. Do it one, two, four, eight, you know. Fine. We'll do it that way. What are we playing for here? Come up with something today to present a time tomorrow. All right. We'll come, what, after the brackets are shattered?

Exactly. After we know exactly how good we're doing. All right, smell test for today. I have, I got on a pretty good role there in college hoops there for a few weeks, and then not so much for about a week. So I took a week or so off. I'll be back at it today. I like some games.

I always feel that the tournament's very difficult to bet. I think the second round Saturday, Sunday, is typically easier than this first round, where the upsets are really hard to predict teams that, ultimately would have won a best of seven series, four games to one, in a sterile, benign, you know, unusual environment of a midday game on a Thursday or Friday at a neutral site, they get beat. And, you know, by a team that's a lesser team that got hot, that's playing with no nerves against a team that's got, you know, everything to risk. And I just think they're hard to predict. So I don't, typically in the tournament in these first two, in the first round, I've not done well.

But when you get to Saturday, Sunday, I've typically done much better. I'm going to do a smell test for tomorrow's games tomorrow. And I'll also give out Saturday's games tomorrow and then I'll tweet them out on Sunday for Sunday's games. But I've got five games that are just pure anti-public plays. And believe it or not, Maryland is one of the biggest anti-public plays. on the board. The public is in love with Belmont today. I think they sense that Maryland's not playing well, that they may be a little bit overrated and vulnerable to scoring droughts. And almost every expert seems to have picked Belmont to win this game. Belmont's getting a short

number, three, which is interesting that the public would still be on Belmont. I'll take Maryland and lay the three. I don't, my personal feeling is, is that more likely than not they will win this game, but I'm not sold on it. But from a betting standpoint, I'm going to follow my smell test criteria, which is I'm going against the public. And in this particular game,

the public is lined up on Belmont. They really are. I got a text early this morning with all my plays. I asked about seven or eight games and got feedback on five of them from one of my offshore contacts. And he said Maryland's going to be the biggest need on the board today. When I say need, meaning bookmakers, the house is going to need Maryland to cover.

They don't want Belmont to cover. They want Maryland to win by more than three. Give me Maryland minus the three. The first game of the day today, I like Minnesota getting five and a half against Louisville. I think Minnesota is a good team. The public really likes Louisville. I think they're shorting some of these, you know, you know, seventh place, sixth, seventh, eighth place, big ten teams that got into the field.

Give me Minnesota plus the five and a half. I can just tell you this, that Amir coffee and Jordan Murphy can flat out play. Louisville turns it over a bunch. I think Minnesota will grind them to a, you know, a 65, 60 kind of a win. I like Minnesota plus the five and a half in that one. I'll give you a third M team. I've given you Maryland, Minnesota. I'm going to give you Marquette because you, you You know who else the public loves? John Morant and Murray State. They're shorting Marquette. Marquette can score, man.

They've got some weapons on that team. Though Marcus Howard may not be 100%. Yeah, he was banged up at the end of that game against Seton Hall in the Big East tournament. Look, if Marcus Howard doesn't play and the line doesn't move, then still play it. But if the line moves drastically back off it, it's a 430 start projected this afternoon. I like Marquette because it just seems like every. Every dope in the world is picking Murray State in their pool, and they love Murray State plus the three and a half. I'll take Marquette and lay the three and a half.

People love Kentucky today. I hate these games, but it is really lopsided, and there's actually some sharp money on Abilene Christian. That line opened at 22 and a half. It is down to 21 and a half. PJ Washington just announced out for the game. Is that just announced? Yeah. Is that an update this morning?

I believe so. Caliperia announced that today on Twitter, I believe. We knew there was a chance he was going to miss because he was going around in a walking boot and apparently out for this game, maybe back for the second round. So most of you would think automatically I would love my pick even more with their leading score out for the game. It depends on what happens with the line. So I'll just, this is a conditional smell test pick. If the line remains at 21 and a half, all right, it's Abilene Christian. If it goes, by the way, if it's at 21 and a half, 21, 22, somewhere in that range, it's Abilene Christian.

If the line changes significantly, just stay off the game. That's a night game tonight, so you've got time. But in the smell test, I'll take Abilene Christian plus the 21.5. And one last play, it's also a game I feel strongly about. I like Seton Hall plus the three. They're an anti-public play against Wofford. I'm taking, you know, some of these plays are against some of the mid-majors that the public's and in love with, but I guarantee you most of the public hasn't even seen them play, except for

Belmont who played the other night. You know, betting against Murray and against Wofford with big conference teams. I like Seton Hall plus the three. The public loves Wofford as a favorite in this game, but they're the higher-seated team. It's a 7-10 game. So those are the plays. I know someone will tweet me and say, why not Baylor? Aren't they a huge anti-public play? They are. But Frank cowards out in this game, and the line really hasn't changed that much. I'd stay off that game. I don't like that game at this point. I liked Baylor briefly, but man, Beheim even without a really good player, might figure it out here. So that's it. I've got five plays. Maryland minus three, Minnesota plus five and a half, Marquette minus three and a half, Abilene Christian plus 21 and

a half, and Seton Hall plus three. Remember to subscribe to the podcast, to rate and review us if you haven't done that. Follow us at the Kevin Sheehan Show.com. Tell anybody that hasn't listened to the show that wants to listen to the show, that it's easy by just going to Kevin Sheeonshow.com or thekevonshean Show.com. Either one works. We're here tomorrow. Cooley, I think, will be with us.

Tommy will call in. I think Scott will call in as well. I hope you enjoy Dustin. Enjoy the games today. Back tomorrow morning. Have a great day.