9AM: Easier To Tame A Lion Than Teach A Sheep To Roar

Three-time Wisconsin sports writer of the year, Jason Wilde.

Aren't any Jason's, 1200? That's a dead name.

Packers, Hall of Famer, Mark Towsher.

How many kids do you hear?

Hey, Marky, it might be as almost to the point of Ruth.

Broadcasting live from the Everlight Solar Studio.

You love that name so much, you don't even go by it.

On 100.5 ESPN.

You call me Mark, I'm five, I like my name.

I like my name a lot.

The ESPN Wisconsin app will be in Tosh.

And ESPN medicine on YouTube.

It's Wilde and Touch, isn't it?

This is Wilde and Tosh,

presented by Pello Windows and Doors of Wisconsin.

It is the Thursday edition.

The apparently some technical difficulties

as I was doing the show by myself for a minute there, edition.

Sweet jacket, man.

I mean, you were doing the show by yourself.

I didn't even start it yet.

I was talking to myself.

Jesse couldn't hear me.

It's your most captive audience you got.

Aw, sick, bro.

A great edition.

The Badgers in the NCA,

Tournament against High Point University.

Oh, this is fun.

Jason, this is fun.

Jesse's got like that fuddled look and he's got like that.

I bet he does.

Aristotle, thinker, face on.

He didn't have a clue what the heck is going on back there.

That's fun.

And the schedule to appear are good, buddy.

Mike Kelly at 915 edition.

I would make an argument.

Mike Kelly might be one of our best guests that we've had

that we have on this show.

So he appears with us once, basically once a year,

hopefully at Tournament time.

But we need to in order for him to be considered on a higher

plane, we need to have more often.

So I think that'll be our goal to talk to him more frequently

because we are always better off when we talk to him.

Edition of Wilde and Towsh.

A 94, 5 ESPN, Milwaukee, 100.5 ESPN, Madison.

1430 ESPN, Piverdam.

ESPN, Wisconsin.com, the ESPN, App Your Alexis Smart Speaker.

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And on the ESPN, Wisconsin app, which you can find both in the Apple

and Android app stores.

I'm Jason Wilde and Green Bay.

Jesse Nelson is losing his proverbial, you know what?

Trying to figure out what's wrong in the control room.

Yeah.

And when you've got Ashton Rotman into the mix,

you know it's just trying to walk.

And it's back there.

I mean, I know it's a big day, badger-wise.

We've got three amigos back there.

I ain't getting anything done.

And I got to say, this is as good as you've looked.

And you look good a lot.

But I'm digging that outfit, you're fit today.

He is the Packer's Hall of Famer.

He is Mark Toucher.

Touch Good Morning, Aaron.

Yeah, just because I put a coat on.

I just like that.

That's a, that's a hip looking outfit and the tickler hat.

Yeah, the old bag I think I'm cooking today.

Very hip.

Well, I appreciate you.

That's nice of you.

Are you going somewhere after this?

No.

Well, I'm going to go watch games at some point.

But I got some other stuff.

I'm going to try it.

Yeah, I'm not.

I don't have anything like planned.

And it's not like I have a big ordeal or something.

No, no, no.

Lovazine picking, you have to go get steaks with Matt LaPay.

So are you excited for basketball today?

Did you watch any last night?

I watched a smidge.

I have to admit, the first four don't get it for me.

I'm not in the tournament.

My amulet Ohio was fun.

The tournament starts for me today.

I am not one.

I haven't bought in.

And I know I heard Greg Gard say he's four expanding the tournament.

And I'm thinking to myself, what?

Gardo, come on, man, we don't need more teams in this tournament.

This tournament's plenty where it is.

But it's very Elvis.

I'm guessing at some point that will happen.

But until then, this is a great four day stretch of sports

from a viewing standpoint.

Again, I don't want to get anything twisted.

I love it.

I think it's great.

But I just don't want the romanticization

that this is better than divisional round or wild card beacon.

Because it's not for me.

I think some fans romanticize this.

And part of it is a gambling thing.

Another part of it is it's just a non-stop action.

If you have buzzer beater after buzzer beater,

yeah, it's fantastic stuff.

But there's a lot of these 116 games and 413s

that are 10, 12 points, nothing.

It's a nothing burger, but you're going to get a couple of moments.

NFL playoffs, you're going to see tight games

into the fourth quarter and we know a lot more.

We care a lot more year round.

This is the Valentine's Day of Sports.

That's what this is.

We love it.

And then we throw some chocolate at and we move it along.

Like it should be, you know what I'm saying?

And maybe there's a better analogy.

If you've got a better analogy, come up with it.

No, I've been treated by this.

How long have you had this holster?

I haven't holstered it.

I just come up right now.

I told you on the Valentine's Day of Sports.

But I did tell you on Monday that this is more,

this is the candy rush.

Like you get that rush and then you crash and you're done.

NFL is a year long commitment.

You love it.

You're more invested.

This is throw some candy.

Have a day.

Go enjoy the night.

And then by the time, you wake up, the tournament's over.

That's how I look at this.

Again, I'm very curious to see if we have some of those games

today and tomorrow.

I feel like those have not been as frequent of late.

I don't have any empirical data to point that out.

But the Valparaiso Bryce Drew,

whichever Drew brother in a holstered dreams,

he was the coach.

Yeah.

I just, those iconic moments.

If Homer Drew ever left Valpo,

would he have still been a holmer for Valpo?

Or is he just a homer for whoever team he's coaching?

Well, I don't know, Homer left the previous station

to join our station once upon a time.

But he still is a homer,

but he still is a homer for Marquette and everything else, right?

And that how that works?

I guess so sure.

I mean, what's his phrase?

I may be a homer, but I'm not an idiot.

So he's just going to be a homer for whoever's.

Okay.

Yeah, I'll check.

Sure, okay.

That's an important piece of that.

So how confident are you?

Because as excited as we are for this team,

and the best back court in the country

as you have proclaimed it, and for guard.

Kill our knees.

Is that what we're going with?

Is the killer bees?

That's the moniker that the boys are getting.

That's what's going to catch on.

By the way, hi, I'm here.

Hey, good to see you, buddy.

Glad you're back.

Stress Jesse's my favorite Jesse.

You get more done when you're stressed.

So did you figure it out?

Or did you just have to, what?

What happened back there?

Tows, you happen to have a, no, that's not yours.

Somebody in the Everlight Solar Studio,

let me see if I have a good camera.

What are you trying to put on me now?

All right, so if you can see, never mind.

Something's sitting on one of the microphones in there

where the buttons are, and it holds down the button

where you talk back to me off air.

But it's on one of the other mics,

and that was preventing me from being able to hear

anything in my headphones.

Fascinating.

Yeah.

So that's why you should always clean up after yourselves

when you're done doing shows.

Some might say.

It was actually binders from other shows.

So, because I always put my binder here,

and then if I keep it, I put it down on the floor.

Yeah, picking up stuff, but yeah, that's,

you see, so instead of blaming me,

you can probably blame whomever is what's going on.

Plenty of this, yeah, I don't know what binder it is.

I've always been a stickler.

I'm a fan of a fan of the pickler.

There you go, thank you.

Jason, sorry.

That's for just pick up, man.

Yeah, I need to, why you're in there, do what you do,

and when you leave, leave it better, Nick, you came in.

Well, I'm just glad that we solved this mystery

and that when I started talking,

it was actually going out over there.

All right, I want to get, I want to get in and get out here.

Be careful.

What do you mean?

You say a lot of stuff.

Well, yes, there are times when I don't want one,

I'm saying to go over to the air.

You get a little vitriolic sometimes.

To answer your question that you asked,

I am.

First, let's start it too.

Uber confident today.

Oh, today.

Yeah, I'm not saying I'm, Jason will be going over

the San Diego bridge and oh my God, I don't,

I would never be that arrogant.

I would never be that arrogant as an analyst.

An experienced by our friends.

Or I would never, because I know how hard it is to win.

Sure.

But we're a really good team.

The thing I'm a little nervous about

is obviously Nolan's been out for a minute

and he's getting him back in that size,

but I think we just need one of the,

as Charles Barkley calls them, the others,

or Shaq, it's one of those two.

You just need a rap sheet.

You need somebody else to pop a little bit, hit some threes.

If you have that other guy, we're in a good place.

And, you know, I would be, I would be really disappointed

if we don't advance today.

Really?

Yes, I think everyone would, it has been a while

since they have been to the sweet 16.

So you can't get to the sweet 16 until you've won your first game.

The terrific 32.

Earn the right to go play.

The terrific 32.

Why is the 32 not getting any love?

Like that's an advancement.

That don't get any love.

Anything else, Elite eight, final four, championship,

we need to start calling it the terrific 32.

If the badgers win today,

it's the terrific 32 that they're in.

But it doesn't need to be a TH sound in front of them.

The risk instead of 32.

You're saying 32?

You got a 32.

You got to let it breathe a little bit.

Terrific 32.

Wouldn't the 32 be the ones who lose in the first round?

That's the dirty 32.

The ones playing at a CBI, which was canceled or whatever.

All right, well, I'm excited for today.

I love our vibe today.

Just like I love my pillow windows and doors of Wisconsin.

Well, you better be in it.

It is ball me out again.

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Doctorific Mike Kekekele,

scheduled to appear next.

It's Wildeed Soush.

This is Wildeed Soush,

presented by Pella windows and doors of Wisconsin,

called Gina Della from Pella today,

55 PellaWi, and online at PellaWi.com slash radio.

I know, somewhere in my photo library,

I have a screen recording of this guy

jumping into the arms of his teammates,

celebrating a final for-birth.

But I can't find it.

I'm very frustrated right now.

The good news is, we got the real thing.

One of the smartest basketball people I have ever

been lucky enough to know,

we are always better for him joining us

and if we could twist his arm

into joining us more frequently, we would.

From the 2000 final 14 coached by Dick Bennett,

who still refuses to do that book

that we all want him to do.

It is our friend, Mike Kelly,

on the yingling guest hotline,

yingling six generations, family-owned and operated,

now finally in Wisconsin, DG yingling and sons,

Potsville P.A., enjoy responsibly.

Michael, good morning.

How are you?

Sounds like he's doing great.

This is, this is par for this morning's course.

Mike, I could hear the, oh, I'm sorry, that, there it is.

Jesse!

Oh boy, I got to call him back.

We lost him, hang on, I got to call him back.

But Jesse is off to a heck of a start today.

He's got this thing on him.

I'm just here to say, I hope the killer bees

and Greg Gard and the rest of the crew

get off to a much better start at 12.50.

Yeah, and that's a lot earlier out there too.

So yeah, I might need to re-look at how confident I am

about this killer bee back court and take it to.

Don't let Jesse's ineptitude change

your feelings about the badgers.

I'm just hopeful that they don't have the same,

Jesse's in the right spot.

You're running the mic in a pickup game

over at the shell back in the day.

So I'm a little bit older than Mike.

So I was long gone from the shell.

You still go get a game, right?

So he was on the 2000 final four team

and I was long gone by then.

Look, he's a guy that thrived on defense.

I'm a guy who can't guard a folding chair.

So it would have been a tough, although I guess,

you know, he wasn't much of an offensive threat.

So maybe it would have been a good matchup.

Wow!

Damn!

Good morning, Mike. How are you, buddy?

Gentlemen, you know, it was such a kind intro before.

And then I got dumped and I came back to being heckled.

I don't know what happened.

Sorry, Mike!

Yeah, that's on Jesse.

That's on your point guard or our point guard.

Not knowing how to distribute.

I've been dumped before.

Mike, we are so happy to have you,

just like we were moments ago when we thought we had you and we didn't.

How are you?

Let's start here.

Because the last time we talked,

we were talking about the best point guard on campus,

and she wasn't even playing for the badgers,

because her dad is such a goat that he is.

I am curious, how much basketball is in your life these days,

before we get to the badgers?

Well, yeah, quite a bit, actually.

I continued coaching at Brookfield East High School,

the girls' team.

This was my last year.

I just told the coaching staff I'm going to step aside,

but I saw through any player that played with my daughter.

I saw them through their eligibility being out here and graduation.

So that was fun and enjoyable,

but I'm going to step aside completely now,

and I suppose now I'll get to see Towsha more badger games,

because everyone I go to, he's always there.

Yeah, well, and somehow I have great seats,

but I can't keep up with where Mike Kelly sits now.

He's basically roughing the game.

He's right there.

The sweat is hitting him.

It's costing me quite a bit.

Mike.

It's worth it.

This has been a fun year,

and you're 100%.

It has been worth it,

and this is going to be hopefully a long, fun ride.

But before we get that, Mike,

how emotional was it when you kind of told everybody

that this was a wrap that you're done coaching?

It was tough because the coaching staff that brought me in,

was there when I got there, when my daughter got there,

and they asked me,

they were really kind in having me be part of it.

I never took that for granted,

because I think there's always a hesitancy with a dad,

and what's his agenda going to be team first,

or their kid first?

And so they opened me with,

or welcomed me with open arms,

and we had a really good run,

went to state a couple times,

one for straight GMC championships,

really tough division,

guard conference.

So we had a great run,

and those guys have become really good friends.

Even outside of basketball, we hang out,

and I'm going to miss them.

I'm going to be missing,

missing around them.

So it was a tough,

we always have a postseason,

coaches meeting,

and I planned on telling them

at the end of the meeting,

and instead,

we kind of cracked our first beer,

and they said,

let's start with who's coming back,

and all the eyes looked at me.

I'm like,

so I think they had a suspicion this was coming,

and so we both talked about what the offseason needed to be,

and we reminisced about the past six years,

and how much fun we had.

So it was really a good time.

Mike, how tough was it?

Were you tougher on your kids,

or did you,

because that is a fine balance,

and you just mentioned it.

Was it,

were you tougher on your girls,

or was, you know,

because I'm assuming they're really good players?

How did you approach that?

So it was tough.

I don't think I was tougher on her.

I think what I,

the needle I tried to thread there was,

letting the other coaches coach her.

I mean, she got me enough.

I did coach her an AU as a head coach,

and there I had to obviously be a little more assertive,

but her and I always had a really good relationship.

She was the youngest.

She had three older brothers.

She's really tough,

and it was no surprise why she became successful with her mom,

being so good,

and her older brothers kind of pushing her.

And so when it came to high school, though,

I had the, you know,

the luxury of letting the head coach

and the other assistance coach her more,

and she was just,

I'm telling you, she, you know,

she wasn't a perfect player,

but she was the toughest kid I've ever been around,

and it was never,

like her team's just always one,

and there were a lot of reasons why,

but she was a big part of what that was.

She was a tough kid.

She never backed down.

You know, you can see how she's seen it,

and Jason, you've seen an athlete.

It's like the fighter flight mechanism

is there in kids at a young age,

and it kind of can break one way or another,

and sometimes you rise up to a level

that you can't fight anymore,

and she is just all fight,

and always was all fight,

and we always said,

we'd rather it's easier to tame a lion

than to make a sheep roar,

and my job was kind of trying to do it.

Oh, my God.

Is he good?

Is he not the best?

Put that down on the list.

That is a fantastic,

we just got our,

we just got our show title for the first hour.

So Mike, so your,

your daughter got her offensive skills

from her mom.

Who's what you're saying?

Yes, thank goodness.

Thank goodness.

Yeah.

Oh, no, it's okay.

What's out, she says it.

Yeah, it's because it's fun.

It's true.

Yeah, it's in a fun way.

It is true.

My, uh,

I mean, you guys,

I think you know,

my wife was a state player of the year,

and I really,

she won the state player of the year,

and after tearing her ACL in July,

at an AU tournament,

before her senior season,

had like experimental ACL repair.

So she came back in like three months?

Yes.

She came back in three months,

and, uh,

one state player of the year,

and then had a full ride to Marquette.

So she was just really talented,

kind of,

she was the,

she won state in the 400,

um,

she was just great athlete,

and my daughter got all of that.

Very nice.

So Micah Parsons and Tucker Craft,

talk to,

Mike Kelly's wife.

Uh, get this thing,

Kelly Kelly.

All right.

Last one for me before we get into

the killer bees and everything else.

De,

when you were coaching,

did you find yourself doing any

Dick Bennett isms?

All the time that it's,

it's,

it's the,

it's the running joke amongst us,

buddy.

So Andy Kowski was a head coach at

number one ice now,

or this year had to help out,

because their coach,

uh,

was let go of mid season.

Dave Birkampers,

been coaching at Piwaki for a long

time now.

John Bryant was just in town.

He coaches the Dina high school,

the boys side.

And so when we get together,

we're all coaching high school,

and we laugh that all these things

are kind of bothered us,

or, you know,

you know,

you rolled your eyes at,

uh, we were all doing them.

I mean, Coach was a hall of famer for a reason,

and, uh,

we'd be selling that to use them.

But yeah, I talk about his pillars,

I talk about his toughness.

Uh,

I've yet to tell a kid they need more lead

in their pencil,

which is something good.

Coach,

Coach famously told John Bryant one

time,

uh, I'm still not sure what that means,

but we know what that means.

I was just going to say what does,

what does that mean?

I don't know,

but, uh,

but yeah, we definitely talk like Coach Bennett.

All right, Mike,

we do need to talk actual basketball,

even though you and Towshen,

I could talk and reminisce all we want.

I want to start here,

because you know how,

how much I,

uh, love that team of yours.

And it was one of those rare times

in a career as a sports writer,

where I didn't,

I would jump on the Badger Coverage Bandwagon

at the State Journal,

and I didn't do it that year.

And so I got to be a fan,

and there are very few times

in my life that I do that outside of the girls

when they're competing.

And I just,

you know how much I love that team.

And I look at college basketball now,

and I compare it to you guys,

and you guys have the character building

and gut wrenching first round,

32 points against Southwest Missouri State.

I always get the directions wrong.

The year before.

Right?

Is that, am I remembering that correctly?

Yep.

Absolutely, yep.

Absolutely.

And so, you know,

I don't know how you view that,

but we now live in this,

this microwave,

and I,

and look,

Nick Boyd's a flippin' awesome player.

And so was,

they have been great in the portal.

They have done a great job in the portal.

John,

John Tanjay Ridiculous.

But I am old school,

and I loved watching that team grow

into what you guys became

in the 2000 Final Four,

and I'm wondering,

when you watch the game now,

do you think back to the good old days,

or am I just livin' in the past

about a team from the 60s here?

Yeah.

You know, maybe a little bit of both.

I certainly love this team.

I don't love what the NIL era has entirely been about.

I think there's some good parts to it.

It's not all bad.

But what's been nice about Wisconsin,

and better than maybe some places,

is the continuity.

Even in a changing world,

and roster's turning over year to year,

guard has been,

I mean, his staff has nothing but badgers.

It's guys that know the program.

And that means a lot,

especially as an alum,

being able to come back to practices

and talk to the guys.

It's a luxury that I don't,

you know, take for granted.

And me, my teammates don't take for granted.

And as a fan,

year to year,

there's certainly gonna always be turnover

because the turnover used to be a senior has gone

and freshmen come in.

Now you're bringing in the star player.

But, you know,

they did bring back Winter,

and Janicki, and Blackwell.

I think they will continue to try to keep core pieces.

And I think we saw,

I mean, there was quite a bit of change over this year.

They lost a lot of really good guys,

guys, you know, Gilmore.

And guys that we,

Klesmit, that we knew that we're local.

And that was hard.

And I think we saw them struggle early in the year

because they didn't have that continuity.

So if you can retain some of your roster,

the guys that you want,

I think it's important.

And I think a place like Wisconsin will value

that maybe more than others.

Which helps,

which makes it easier as a fan.

So I've enjoyed it.

It's certainly,

it's a different system.

It's a different style.

I defended the slow pace,

you know, for 25 years.

And I would still defend it as long as we were winning.

And that was always my number one defense

of the way we played.

And now we have a different style.

And we also win.

And I will be the first to admit,

this is more fun to watch.

I mean, they are getting up and down.

Now if we were losing 92 97,

I don't know if I would love it as much.

But we're winning.

And we're scoring.

And we're getting up and down.

The guys seem to be having fun.

I love Boyd getting the crowd pumped up.

Everybody.

I try not everybody.

A lot of people say,

doesn't that bother you?

And I'm like, finally we have a,

you know, we've been built on humble players

that don't do anything.

And the cold center crowd can sometimes be a little quiet.

So I love Boyd.

I love his energy.

It's not fake.

It's who he is.

And that's why I think it works.

And this team has been really fun.

So it's amazing to hear you say that.

Because you have been a long time defender of the success,

even if it wasn't aesthetically pleasing all the time.

Taush made a great point early in the week, though,

that he feels like, well, how do you keep track?

All those great points.

Yeah.

Well, they weren't as many as they usually are earlier in the week.

But that's another story for another day.

About whether or not the selection committee

or just college football writ large looks at Wisconsin

and still thinks of what it was and not what it is.

Do you think that there's a stigma attached to it

because of the success you guys had,

but the way you had it?

100%.

Yeah, the brand has been established for so long now

that even the people that know and shouldn't have to preface it.

You know, if you're watching some, you know, in-depth college show

that only a die harder watch, they're still saying,

you know, this isn't your father's badgers,

which means me.

I mean, I'm like, okay, but I've been like,

you know, the last two years that they've really ramped it up.

But even so, they haven't been the dick bandit,

the real slow-it-down style for quite some time.

And so I guess it's just going to take a while

and certainly the success helps.

I mean, if we were playing faster and not making the tournament,

that brand would probably stick around longer.

But a few more years of this,

I mean, I think it's going to be easier to score

to guard change.

I mean, he's enjoying it.

I was with them last week, and I know he's having fun.

And even said it's easier to schedule games now,

because before guys didn't want to come up,

they would literally tell him,

I don't want to play you,

because I want to score more than 50 points.

So I think schedule-making will be easier,

and then the brand is going to slowly turn.

All right, Mike.

Can you kind of just take us inside this back court

last weekend?

They put on a show.

Just dine a bite.

And then you're very able to have wrap go off

in the Michigan game to keep that one tight.

But you were there from the jump.

I saw you at the opening night.

And where has this team made its biggest improvements

over the course of this year?

I think two places.

I think defense in particular,

they're not a elite defensive team by any stretch,

but they were poor.

I thought early in the season.

And that just exposed there.

If you want to play fast and you're bad defensively,

then you really better be sharp on offense,

and they weren't there.

So the defense has gotten better.

I think Rody does a good job.

Kind of an unsung hero of the team chasing guys around.

Because they've got to cover up for some spots.

I mean, Boyd is not a long, fast defender.

He's there to score, run the offense.

And Black will sometimes get in the final trouble.

So I think defense is the biggest.

And then, you know, you mentioned rap.

To me, when they're big guys are hitting from the outside.

That's when, as an opposing coach,

you're going, how do I stop this?

It's just too hard.

And early in the year, rap struggled.

He wasn't hitting shots.

Billy Auskis had the nice Michigan game.

But that was kind of his breakout from the outside.

And he hadn't done much of that until the Big Ten tournament.

Other than Purdue, and that was a big road win.

So to me, it's defense.

And then it's their big hitting some outside shots.

Because we don't.

We used to have crowd or three for that.

It was east and half.

We had guys we could, you know, get a post touch

and get an easy bucket.

And we don't really have that.

It's why.

You know, if you worry about anything,

it's when we need a bucket.

And we're still shooting threes and not hitting.

The hoop can start to look small.

So that would be my concern.

But when it's when the big guys are hitting, everybody's hitting.

And that's black while taking it to the hoop, right?

That is basically our post game, right?

Him and Boyd.

That's it.

Yeah, yeah, that's it.

And he sometimes, you know, he gets called for that push off.

He's so physically so strong.

That even kind of, you know, if they've got, I don't know if they've got sets

or just asking him to do it.

It's not always, you know, he doesn't go in and finish with a slam.

It's sometimes it's a push off and it's a fade away.

Not even, even those aren't the easiest of shots.

Talking with Mike Kelly on the yingling guest hotline.

All right, Mike, what you said at the end of your initial answer there to Taush,

I want to go further on because I was watching Miami of Ohio last night.

And I think they typify what the game is now.

And I'm not going to make any more jokes that are offensive about your offense, okay?

But there are so many teams and the badgers are part of this.

You were just explaining what the big guy's having to hit outside shots.

Like the one thing that makes me nervous when I fill out a bracket

and I want to put the badgers all the way into the final four is if they are heavily reliant on the three,

that one game that comes along where you go three for 20 and you get cooked, right?

So when you look at this team and what it is able to do from beyond the arc,

what if they are not hitting?

Can they still win games and how do they do it?

Because watching Miami of Ohio last night, they had these long stretches where they couldn't buy a three,

but they shoot at such a high volume that they eventually started making them again,

but they shot like 53 pointers in the game.

Yep, yep.

The thing that makes me feel better and I agree Jason, it's definitely a concern.

But I mean not hitting shots is kind of a concern for everybody at a certain point.

But nonetheless, I think the tournament, the last couple years,

like the James Madison game definitely comes to mind,

but even watching non-Wisconsin games, to me the tournament is officiated differently.

In fact, it's so stark to me that it feels like the refs have been told,

let it go, we don't want kids in foul trouble,

and it is incredibly physical.

Guys are getting pushed all over the court.

The game itself has gotten more physical,

but I feel like the tournament ramps up,

and that has been kind of the blueprint that people have taken to try to beat Wisconsin

is just blowing up those ball screens, pushing the big men,

pushing the guards out.

And some teams have had success.

Now, I think clearly the Wisconsin staff knows about it.

They're cognizant of how it's done.

I think other teams have tried that during the year.

This team seems ready for that.

I think Boyd's quickness is tough.

You can try to get physical and into him,

but you're just inviting him to go by.

And I think they've been defended like that.

So I feel better, certainly the staff.

I mean, they've got wrinkles in the offense for switching teams,

for physical teams, for drop coverage.

For all the different things people might throw at them.

And I think the more you run this system,

and you practice on play against teams,

and how they might defend you,

the more ready you're going to be for that.

So I do feel better about it.

I don't think they're going to get kind of smacked in the mouth by physicality

and have that.

Because sometimes what happens is the first five minutes are bad,

but then it becomes a mental thing.

You know, you've got to play your way through it.

So if you can avoid that cold stretch in the beginning,

kind of, you know, missing your first five or six threes,

getting some slips or getting some action at the rim,

then everything eases and mentally you're in a better spot.

Mike is a great defender.

I'm still amazed.

Is Boyd just that good?

Because I would think every scout in a poor says,

hey, make him go right.

And nobody can make him go right.

So you're, you're obviously a great defender.

Why is that?

Is it just his skill?

What, you know, I want, I don't, it's a good question about the lefty thing.

Because I had to go, Michael Redd was probably,

actually, Tony Bennett was the toughest left hander I had to guard in practice.

But Michael Redd was the toughest in games.

But it wasn't because of quickness.

Michael Redd was long and could shoot the three.

So I don't know, but I will say,

guarding lefties is unique.

You just don't do it as much.

So I wonder if, if the fact, it's not so much that he's fast,

but if being a lefty is also part of the, you know,

the special sauce that makes him great.

Because man, I mean, everybody clearly knows.

And you can almost see him hesitate and kind of,

and use that little hesitation hop before he takes off.

And everybody knows he's going to just take off.

And he still does.

And he still gets by people.

It's, it's impressive.

It's really fun.

And they've been better for it.

I think he's got more comfortable in the system too.

I thought early, he didn't trust it.

I didn't think he was letting the ball get out of his hands

and then getting it back, which kind of puts your teammates

on the defensive too.

If you don't trust the offense,

and they don't trust you're going to pass,

it's sort of a cascading effect.

But he's gotten better.

And as a result, everybody's gotten better.

Yeah, that's a great point.

That is such a good point about early in the season.

How would you defend them, then?

I don't think high points.

Or Arkansas is listening to our show.

So how would you defend them, given your resume?

Well, yeah.

The first thing I do is,

would be probably give them, give them a step

and see if he, if he's hitting an outside shot.

I mean, he certainly shoots it at a good clip,

but it's not, he's not an elite three point shooter.

I think you always want to take away what someone does best

and make them beat you with their secondary stuff.

So I'd probably back off.

And I would need extra steps,

because he's so much faster than me.

But that would be, that would be my take.

And sometimes you got to just hope a guy's missing.

All right, Mike, we know you have other work

and other things that you need to do.

So last thing, high school shot clock, both girls and boys,

a lot of debate about it.

Where do you come down?

I'm a, I'm a bit in the middle on it.

Hi, you're William.

Oh, you don't have no opinion.

You're my friends, man.

Yeah, it's going to say you two should do a show.

I, yeah, this might not be a hot take.

I, I don't, I, I, I despise coaches who stall on both sides.

The offense and the defense.

I don't think it's the spirit of the game or competition.

In those settings, I almost wish the ref had the ability to just, you know,

make a blow as whistle, make a turnover or something.

Like we got to play the game.

On the other hand, high school kids,

I, I would, I'd be for like a 40 second shot clock.

Something that prevented stalling, but also allowed you to run an offense.

I don't like the sort of white washing of all offenses to five out dribble drive,

find double gaps.

That's a way to play.

I don't think it should be the only way.

And I think when you put a shot clock on, it's going to, it's going to have some unintended consequences.

As a, honestly, as a defensive coach, our team, our high school team has been incredible defensively.

And teams take forever.

We run a pretty unique zone.

And teams just have a hard time cracking it.

So a shot clock would have benefited us.

It would have, it would have helped our ability to compete at the highest level.

But, but nonetheless, I don't know, I don't know that.

I certainly don't want a 30 second shot clock.

Let's put it that way.

That's a strong answer.

He's strong.

And you can join.

Kelly and Wilde, once a week during the basketball season next year.

So it all serious this mic before we let you go.

Like, obviously you have a real job.

We know that and we appreciate you taking time away from it to join us today.

But like, and, and, and let me be very clear at a much, much, much, much, much lower level.

Sydney didn't play basketball this season.

She wanted to focus on volleyball.

And I had a, I had basketball withdrawal.

I, I missed watching her play.

I just missed going to games and sitting on the end of the bench and cheering because

I didn't have any real insight from a nexus and O standpoint.

What are you going to do without basketball?

You're just going to sit and heckle refs with Towsh at the cold center.

Like, what's your plan?

No, he actually, I've actually agreed.

We just agreed to terms.

He's going to help our LNR's seventh grade girls basketball.

It's pretty long commute for him.

It's virtual.

No, we've given the opportunity to go virtual.

We're going to get that mercy play.

We're going to get the mercy play.

We're going to, it's a dribble handoff.

Mike, you like this story?

I know.

You got time.

We're, we're in the championship game.

I am helping out.

And our play is called mercy.

It's basically like a dribble handoff and then you try to take it to the hoop.

And they continue to defend it and we turn it over.

So our head coach would get up and just yell, no mercy.

No mercy and we were ahead by 14 points.

We have to rename that.

Do you have any ideas on what we should call that play instead of mercy?

Because that didn't look good in a Catholic basketball association game.

That, that is roughly, though, I've made the mistake of letting the girls name plays.

Oh, it's so we've, we've, we've got plays called six seven and fortnight.

Yeah, all sorts of, yeah, I don't, at least he wasn't yelling no mercy in the dojo,

which I would have appreciated.

That's exactly what I thought, though.

And he was yelling it.

That's good.

Yeah, Jason, I, uh, I will make this a work call and say if anybody listening

What's an air compressor, please buy a roll air compressor.

Uh, and, uh, you sell ice cream, right?

Yeah.

Yeah.

I'll see Towsha Games and, uh, I'm reading a lot of books and trying to re-learn Spanish.

So that's my current hobbies at the moment.

All right.

Well, um, I am dead serious when I say this, you are so good.

I always have a ton of respect for people that take complicated things and explain them in a way

that even an idiot like me can understand.

And one of the best things that you do is talk basketball in a way that I don't have to have played

at your level to understand what you're explaining.

And so I am going to twist your arm to join us more frequently now.

You got no excuses.

Uh, you have to turn off.

It's easier to have a lion to roar than to shear a sheep.

Is that what he said?

That is not what he said.

Close.

Oh, there's the button.

Mike, you're kind.

We appreciate you, buddy.

You're the absolute best.

Uh, we'll talk to you down the road.

Thanks so much.

I appreciate you guys.

Go Badgers.

Is that anybody else kind of intrigued by a compressor?

No, too.

I'm kind of intrigued.

I got a compressor guy.

I know we're giving away at Iron Jack hoodie here.

Let's see if Mike wants to give a color 76.

It's a new air compressor from Mike Kelly.

Uh, we'll work on that partnership.

Um, he.

We are so lucky to have him as a friend who shares his basketball knowledge with us

because he is so good at that.

And if you remember, after he got done playing, he did do color on.

Was it the big 10 network?

Yeah.

It's fantastic.

I mean, he's just so smart and so good at explaining things.

Uh, so we are lucky to have him.

So tells me he's going to coach again.

Something tells me.

Yeah.

I think you're probably right.

Um, but he's until he does.

And even after he does, we will be happy to take him whenever he has time for us.

Time now for the aforementioned Iron Jack contest.

Tosh.

Indeed it is.

And Jesse is so stressed today.

We're going to just go.

How many teams are in this tournament?

It's not 64.

Is it 68?

But there was more than 68 wasn't there.

Is that what it was?

Is it 68?

No, what is it?

68.

Get in.

Yeah.

That seems too low.

But we're doing callers 68 today.

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Callers 68.

To win a very beautiful Iron Jack hoodie at 844-770-3776.

Just trying something new out there.

So what that was?

I thought that was good.

That was like my...

Compressor voice.

Compressor voice.

Callers 68 right now wins the hoodie.

844-770-3776.

More will the attached straight heads to grab.

We're on the Badgers.

All of the great moments beating Illinois, beating Michigan, beating Michigan State.

Because we're on Wisconsin Sports.

It doesn't mean anything at all.

If they don't get to a second weekend of the NCAA tournament.

You're listening to 100.5 ESPN.

Thanks again to Mike Kelly.

If you missed the...

Member of the 2000 Badgers Final Four team.

And now former coach at Brookfield East.

You can find that in the ESPN Wisconsin app a little bit later.

Or you can just rewind on YouTube to find it there.

But he was phenomenal.

I don't think we have down the lion sheep quote accurately.

Yes.

It's easier to teach a...

It's easier you don't have it.

So just don't start.

It's easier to tame a lion than to teach a sheep to roar.

It should have something there about shearing.

There was nothing about shearing.

I know what she should have been.

We'll make it better.

You were in awe of the goal.

It was really good.

And now you want to improve it?

Yes, I love it when people bring great stuff.

I like that.

Well, that was one of the many things that went...

That were fascinating in our conversation with him.

So be sure to check that out.

Do you feel better or worse or the same about the Badger's chances of not just winning

today or moving forward when he listen to him talk about what he likes about this basketball team?

I feel the same.

Like Mike said, I've been fortunate to be able to catch up with him a bunch throughout the season.

And I think we all have seen this team go from a little Helter skelterie

and really a bunch of individuals really playing and not playing off of each other.

And now I do think you see the killer bees with their...

You could just see their chemistry and understanding where they need to space.

And the pigs have figured out how they need to space to give...

It's almost as if John Blackwell came back and they gave him a nice NIL deal to come back.

And it was almost like he needs to be the guy.

And I think whenever you can kind of look at the big picture and say,

we're going to be a lot better if we let everybody eat.

And it can't just be about me grabbing a plate.

That is how the vibe feels.

So I'm always, you know, when you shoot as many threes as we do,

you're always a little bit nervous because if you're not hitting,

and especially when you're on the road and the pressure is up ticked,

that hoop does get smaller and it gets tougher.

And I don't know we have the ability to drive it to the hoop and get some hoops.

But we don't have that lean on the interior like we have in the past.

So we don't hit threes.

We're going to be in dog fights.

I don't care who we're playing.

Yeah, I thought what he talked about there was interesting.

I also thought the one thing that has changed for me was watching them earlier in the season,

including in some of those games on peacock,

that I kind of felt Nick Boyd was like a one on five guy, right?

Like he got the ball and he never saw it again.

And I think the way that their offense has developed now where he still gets more,

gets his, but gets it in what would appear to be a healthier way if that makes sense.

I love disagreeing with you, but it makes a complete sense.

I just, that's been really fun to watch.

And look, that's probably the reality of today's college basketball, right?

Kind of like we talk about with the NFL and teams playing their guys less and less and less and less in the preseason.

Like those first few regular season games look different than maybe they looked

when you were playing into the third quarter of a preseason game to get ready for the season.

Now with putting together new pieces every year with the transfer portal,

that's probably part of it too, but it's been fun to watch that growth and development.

And I don't want to get my hopes up, but I am very eager to see what they do this group in the tournament.

All right, we've got more to get ready for that game.

We also, I want to get into some packers related stuff, including,

we need to talk about Rashid Walker,

because there was a piece of information that came out today

that I found to be getting a cop pick for him.

Not great Bob, as some might say.

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So Jesse, am I am?

Am I supposed to trust you after the way the show has gone so far?

With this idea you have for brackets?

Do you think you're going to be able to execute any of these things,

or if we turn the show over to you, are we playing with fire?

I've been working real hard. I think it's going to be good.

By the way, Aaron in Mad City,

with one of the greatest lines in the ESPN Madison YouTube comments ever,

Jesse is supposed to have the day off tomorrow,

but it looks like he took today off to.

That was a pretty good shot.

Or maybe we wish he had.

Is your heart and rockford Illinois?

At the Cole Center with my buddies,

Tier 1 Tyler and Pepsi Mike and everybody.

But Tier 1 Tyler, come back.

You buried him and now he's got a scratch in his way back up.

It's a fun weekend coming up and it starts in about an hour.

And it's all about brackets.

Twitter, you leaving in 11?

And noon.

But the game started 11-15 and mentally haven't checked out about 11.

Fair enough.

We're well aware.

Why don't we just bring in Hunter?

I mean, he feels like Hunter has lunch over at the Cole Center.

He's all over this stuff.

So there's no one to step in for you.

You're going to have to go through the motion for an hour.

Maybe put the Chechi PTA.

Let's see how that works.

Just let that run the show.

Couldn't be worse.

Couldn't be worse the way it started.

Exactly.

So, you know, this is the time of year.

Everybody likes to do brackets and they do,

oh, let's do a bracket or this.

Let's do a bracket or that.

And sometimes I enjoy it.

And sometimes I don't.

What I thought of last night, as I was getting ready for today's show,

it's all about we're counting down to Wisconsin in high point at 1250 today.

And we've got all this fun that it's the last hour leading up before the NCAA tournament.

So during today's show, each hour,

I have accumulated a bracket with eight competitors on it for you guys to quickly review

and share winners of.

And it's going to be a fun YouTube exercise.

And it's going to be great.

Are you ready?

No.

Yes.

Let's do it.

Okay.

Here we have the best Badgers moments since the very Alvarez era began.

That's who I have seated here in this bracket.

Here is what the bracket looks like if you're following along on YouTube.

Just a pretty impressive graphics.

Oh yeah.

You really went all out.

So here we go.

First up, we have the region of the 90s football region.

First off.

Wait, I don't put the OFA.

You're going to put the two biggest things against the first shot.

I can't even see the first shot.

You got a punt block region.

You got a punt block.

It's by region.

This committee sucks.

Whoever organized these brackets blows.

This is the Nelson Commission of Athletics, it's a selection committee.

Fire everybody.

Fire everybody that put this together.

The 15 and 14 final four teams shouldn't be battling each other early.

It is still an audio exercise.

So let's go through it in the first round.

We have the region of these.

This was a visual exercise that failed and audio wise.

We have the 90s football region.

We have the 94 Rose Bowl win against UCLA versus Ron Dane's record setting run

corresponding with his Heisman victory.

Who wins in that matchup?

Fellows.

No, I'm not.

I mean, it's ridiculous.

You're not even going to play.

No, I'll play.

But will the name that too?

This whole thing is absolutely ridiculous that you're doing this.

I was a part of the Dane record and the Heismatrophy season.

But I have to go 94 Rose Bowl UCLA.

It's the biggest event you can make an argument in the history of the University of Wisconsin Athletics.

Yes.

That wins this whole thing easy.

And it should.

That should have been up against the 05 Wisconsin Minnesota punt block.

Look at all that.

What are we doing?

Look at the punt block.

The fancy graphics that I have.

All right.

By the way, just put 94 Rose Bowl versus UCLA.

They win.

It's the champion.

Boom.

Yeah.

This one about as poorly as I anticipated.

It's not even close.

Like some of the other stuff on here.

Like you're going to try and put a win against the undefeated Kentucky team against a second round.

Now, granted that game at, I don't know if that was Bradley Center or FI.

Bradley Center was awesome.

That should have been up against the 05 punt return punt block.

I feel like you don't know what I think happened.

I don't know what I think happened.

So I got in here early today and Jesse was in here already.

I think he grabbed a marker and thought I'm going to do this right before the show.

I'm not going to put any time thought or research into it.

I'm just going to throw ideas that I thought were cool.

Because otherwise, I don't know how this punt block makes it in here.

What is this sheet of bit?

Like what's it?

I don't know.

It's a paper.

It's his, it's his grocery list.

You guys have totally lost the sense of what this exercise was all about.

No, you can see through the paper.

It looks, I hope this is in some sort of like important.

It's not a document.

It's not what was more impressive.

The 2006 men's hockey.

The men's hockey national championship at the Bradley Center.

Or the volleyball 2021 national championship winning five sets over Nebraska.

The volleyball national championship.

Doesn't matter.

They're not.

No, 94 Rosebrows win the whole thing.

Yeah, it's over for him.

21 volleyball.

It's a route.

There you go.

First national championship.

The Kentucky Final Four win or Wisconsin.

Oh, you know what?

Bradley Center.

I think I'm going to pick the World Baseball Classic.

I'm going to pick the World Baseball Classic.

Venezuela win.

Put that down.

That's like the World Series, I hear.

That's next up them.

The World Series in March.

That's next bracket.

All right.

I got two more of these for later in the show.

What a lot.

The 2000s.

I can only imagine we get better.

The 2010 championship versus in the back.

Yeah, that's a hell of a game.

That beats.

The only one that's beating is the putt block.

Ironically.

Nice.

So great matchup.

Great job by the lobby of the 12th Big Tim.

This is a great job organizing that.

Oops.

I got to figure out who's going to want lying here.

Thank you.

All right.

I give up.

I think I'll work here.

Why don't you head out.

Take it.

Take a beat.

We had it.

You've had an average week.

It's time to go.

We've had two more of these still to go.

I don't know.

I can show you.

I can show you.

I can show you.

There's ones coming up.

I got to Wisconsin Sports Achievement 1.

There's going to be good regions coming up here.

I saw some big news from the Brewers yesterday about the new UW.

They got a bunch of fun stuff brewing in the plaza right by that bridge.

That walking bridge.

The one where we were for like the opener was six degrees outside.

Very, very, very windy and that was for every stage of life six years ago.

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The 10 o'clock hour will begin shortly and we are going to start with the Rashid Walker news.

That's going to be in the bracket for disappointment compensatory pick.

I can we apologize if you want me to.

Put that in the bracket.

Not with the same level of graphics.

I'm sure that will kick off.

Did you really think that was a good idea?

Did you really?

I got two more.

You legitimately came up and thought, boy, this is genius.

I give you this football card idea.

I wanted to do for two years on Digi only and it's a great idea.

You refuse to do it.

This you decide to check and scratch on the back of your tax returns.

And you put the 05 putt block in a grade eight of Wisconsin moments.

It was in the unexpected outcome region.

The unexpecting.

I didn't know what the expected outcome region was.

That bracket suck.

You started complaining about the expected results and you crushed that.

The whole point of the brackets is there by region.

We got the Midwest, the West, the East.

I got the themed regions to each of these brackets.

I could tell you what you can do with your themes.

The 10 o'clock hour starts in two minutes.

It's will the in-touch.

Don't go anywhere.

Another hour of will the in-touch presented by Pella windows and doors of Wisconsin is coming up next.

On ESPN Wisconsin and the ESPN Wisconsin app.