POSTGAME: Arizona OUTCLASSES LIU Sharks To ADVANCE To Round Of 32 In NCAA Tournament

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Welcome on into the easy Wildcats post game podcast.

Alive from studio game.

How you doing, Corey Williams, the Arizona Wildcats get a W in

the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Had to get in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Welcome on into the easy Wildcats post game podcast.

Alive from studio game.

The NCAA tournament had to give an extra bit of passion

on the live, it's March of madness.

And I feel all this energy coursing through my veins.

I have since I woke up this morning, Arizona handles business

like we knew that they would against the Long Island Sharks.

92 to 58, the freshman unbelievable today.

But we got a very special edition of the pod.

Corey Williams joining us, our guy Damon,

dealing with some family things today.

He'll be back on the next post game.

But Corey, former final four competitor in his own right

for Arizona, how are we doing?

What are the vibes on your end like today?

Man, I'm doing great vibes are good.

Always the best weekend of the year.

Those first that first round of college basketball,

you got 32 games over two days.

It's a Hooper's dream to sit back and chill.

I'm actually not traveling, able to watch games.

And speaking of vibes, I got to give a quick shout out

to my hardcore Wildcats fans, Josiah, Elijah, and Larissa

Rivera, all watching the game.

I want to send a shout out to you guys.

Junior Wildcat Hooper's in the making.

They love the Wildcat.

So I just wanted to send them a quick shout.

But great vibes today.

Wildcats get to win.

It was really great vibes today.

As we saw yesterday, if we saw talking to some of the players,

we learned that this team was incredibly locked in.

And now that was not a question mark coming into the game.

We know this team is built differently

between the ears and the brain region of the body.

But we saw with Duke yesterday against Sienna

that if you don't come in locked in,

you have a 16 seed waiting to knock you off.

They're not just showing up for a participation trophy.

They want to win a game.

And we saw that yesterday against Duke and Sienna.

You even saw it to a different extent

with North Carolina, up 16, up big in that game against VCU.

And then they end up getting knocked off.

So there were multiple lessons yesterday

for Arizona to learn if they weren't locked in to get locked in.

But we saw a very focused Arizona from tip off today, Cory.

I wanted to ask you this off the top.

These freshmen.

These unbelievable freshmen.

Co-op Pete, Braden Burries, Yvonne Cartchenkov, Dwayne Eristode,

the list goes on and on.

They're almost as good as our presenting sponsor of branded bills.

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But I was actually going to ask you about the freshmen, Cory.

But preseason, you were saying we needed X amount of 0.3

balance in assists from these players.

We're far past that.

But today in an NCAA tournament setting,

they absolutely went off.

What did you see from Arizona's freshmen tonight?

Or today, I should say?

Well, I saw more of the same.

I think baskets were obviously a lot easier to come by

than they've been in the last five weeks.

Arizona probably played the most difficult schedule

of any team in the country during the month of February

with the teams that they played back to back to back in the big 12.

Then you add in the big 12 tournament

where they faced a lot of tournament teams there.

So to play this level of talent in the opening round

is probably a little refreshing.

Like I said, we were getting things

that we never got before against teams, against them,

just because we had a size advantage.

And I think there was definitely a talent advantage in our favor.

But as far as what I saw from the freshmen,

they were doing the things that they've done all season.

They were playing focus, they were playing aggressive.

It was nice to see people stick to the script

because sometimes what happens when you play against

lesser competition and points are easier to get,

players can go rogue, players can go renegade

and just do their thing.

And it doesn't really hurt the overall team

because you still get the win.

But that wasn't the case.

I didn't see anybody playing uncharacteristic

today solid team win.

Now that was something that Dwayne Aristotle

as well as Jaden Bradley had spoken about leading up

to this tournament setting where when you get into the tournament,

Tommy Lloyd is telling them, don't do anything you've not already done.

You just played damn near 40 games of you to get real game experience.

Now don't get in this tournament and start acting brand new.

And I think we did see with this Arizona Wildcats team,

they come out crashing the boards early,

Mo Krivoss looking like a monster down low.

What did you see from a physicality standpoint?

This is a long island team that cannot run with the Arizona Wildcats

from a physicality standpoint,

but they were able to out physical a lot of the teams in the neck.

As Shane likes to say, the Northeastern conference,

what did you see from Arizona bringing it from a physicality standpoint today

that you think might or might not translate to the rest of the tournament?

Well, to repeat the theme that they stuck to the script,

this Arizona team is willing and capable of doing whichever

whatever they need to do to win again.

If we can beat you up inside, then that's what we'll do.

We won't worry about threes, we won't worry about my transition.

We won't worry about any of that.

We'll just beat you up inside.

So Arizona took advantage of the paint

and they felt that's the way we're going to get this game in the bag.

In future games, it may be transition.

It may be buries, shootin' threes.

It may be Jaden Bradley, one for flat.

It may be co-opied, ISO on the block.

This team will do whatever they have to do to win.

So what I saw from them was kind of refreshing.

They just kept it simple.

Hey, you can't stop us in the paint.

That's where we're going to feast.

And then once the game's out of hand,

they still didn't get sloppy or relaxed

to days ago with the offense.

They stayed sharp, they stayed crisp.

Locked in is a good way to describe them.

I think one of the reasons this team doesn't go off the reservation

and doesn't have a series of bad possessions

is for one reason only.

And it's Jaden Bradley.

When your senior is the leader

and he's the point guard,

everything that happens on the offensive end

is at his discretion.

And when he's out, buries is taking over

who's sat at the feet of one of the best point guards

in the country all season.

So he knows exactly what to do.

So anytime you have a team that's this talented

and they stay balanced,

it's because of a mental discipline

that starts with a player like Bradley.

And then buries also does the same

when he's moved to the point.

He runs the show the exact same way.

Corey, you played at a high level

at multiple levels of basketball,

but specifically I want to talk about the NCAA level.

Braden Burries, the broadcast was talking about how he showcased

everything that you would want to see from a combo guard today.

He had 18 points, five rebounds, two assists.

And he was our king of the court today.

Braden Burries was and that performance that he put out there,

he really was showcasing a little bit of everything,

the offense, the defense,

how special he can be in transition.

What he can do as an athlete as well,

slamming down a dunk here or two.

Braden Burries, what did you see

from Arizona's star combo guard today, Corey?

Well, I want to premise this and I hate to say

that all roads lead to Jayden Bradley,

but Burries has had one of the best advantages

of all the superstar freshmen in this year's class

across college basketball.

He's emerged as the leading scorer,

but he doesn't have to be the leader.

He is getting his numbers,

but he doesn't have to be a heavy minute guy.

He can sit back and play the two

and get transitioned off a crevice block.

Get a wide open three off a Tobio Waka offensive board.

Get a great look off of Jayden Bradley assist.

He's been able to show his entire game

because of the players he's been surrounded with.

They've won games in which he hasn't played well

and they've won games because of him.

So the other freshmen across the country, too many to name.

If they don't play well, their team is in trouble

and they will lose.

The bands have just put up 35 and got bounced.

Jayden Burries is able to show future NBA scouts

his complete package,

play within a great system with Tommy Lloyd.

He doesn't have to force bad shots.

He doesn't have to play when he's tired.

He doesn't have to stay out there when he's in foul trouble

and let people score on him.

He doesn't even have the opportunity

to develop bad habits.

So he's in the optimum position to showcase his skills

and I thought the announcers were really heavy on his game today

because for to be honest with you,

as the first time a lot of them seen them up close,

they haven't followed him as intently as we have.

So I think he deserve a lot of props

because it's one thing to be put in a position.

It's another thing to be in that position

and thrive and he is thriving,

but he's the happiest, most team oriented guy

you ever want to meet, whether he plays good or not,

he's got the smile on his face

and he's locked into what's going on with the team.

So shout out, I wasn't surprised

with what I saw about him today.

It's interesting hearing people

who are a little bit late to the party

kind of jump on the Braden Burries train.

And I mean, they're welcome.

We got enough room for him,

but we've been talking well about him for two or three months now.

I do want to bring up John's comment here that says,

Burries, baby.

I think he's kind of saying like this is maybe like a,

you know, a trio here.

Burries, baby, Bradley, some iconic B last name guards.

But is there a player in Arizona history

that you think kind of played like a Braden Burries?

At the two, I mean, let's be honest,

what Miles Simon did in 97 at the two,

well, you know, penetrating jump stop amongst the trees,

being the leader of that team,

I see a lot of similarities.

Miles Simon was the difference maker

in so many games for Arizona.

Burries has been the difference maker

in several games for Arizona.

He doesn't, he's not the primary ball handler like Bibi was.

I think Bibi is a once in a lifetime type situation

where the best point guard in the country

comes to a great team, handles the rock all season

and is the primary ball handler

and contributor on a national championship team.

So I wouldn't put Burries in the Bibi class.

Miles was most valuable player of the national championship game.

I don't know that he's really touching Wildcat royalty just yet,

but if Arizona is playing in Indianapolis,

then you got to come back to me

because we got to rewrite the story.

And that's what I love about sports.

The athletes get to write their own story.

I'm glad you put it that way, Corey,

because I do think that a big part of this story

and you know, it is what they end up doing with this talent.

Like Braden Burries, like you were saying,

and I think that I was hearing people say about Braden Burries.

Well, he's not putting up these huge numbers,

like some of these A-Cuffs or some of these Michael Browns or what not.

But what you said there is what I want to really dig in on.

He is playing within a winning team system

and he's still getting his, right?

I think that that is something that if you're an NBA GM,

if you're an NBA scout, right?

You're looking at that like, okay,

well, he can literally fit into any system.

They're motivated to win games down there,

not feed Braden Burries the ball.

They're feeding in the ball

because he's getting his own within the flow of the offense.

And I think that if you're going to win a national title,

you have to have a bunch of cats that are built like that.

And Arizona does, right?

Co-apete, we talk about it on McCale Madness.

He, you, he could get four points,

he could get 40 points, and you could win the game

because he is going to do what it takes to win.

Whether it's, okay, they're going to send a double.

Now I got to make a decision out of the double.

This team has a ton of team oriented dudes with elite talent

and it really makes them dangerous.

I think you wanted to say something there.

Go ahead.

No, I think you're 100% right.

No NBA lottery team is drafting a franchise player.

Nobody is.

Nobody drafted in this year is a cornerstone,

build the organization around this kid type of player.

So when you look at how they're evaluating games,

it's, yeah, does he, can he play?

Does he know how to play?

If he can play, but he doesn't know how, then we can teach him.

But if he doesn't, if he can't play at that level,

then that's a whole different discussion.

But I think for the most part,

Burries has already demonstrated the athleticism.

He's got a great stroke.

He can shoot.

And you know he's coming from Tommy Lloyd system.

You know he understands concepts.

Think back.

And I'll go back to this.

The moment the night I think he really grew up,

it was in Provo, Utah.

It was the final possession of the game at BYU.

Braden Burries was on the offside

and he left his man.

He came in the lane and he made the game saving block

for his homeboy, Jayden Bradley,

who had 4,000 wasn't going to commit his fifth.

He saved that game.

And I think that win at Provo kind of catapulted this team.

And when he made that play,

that's a freshman understanding defensive concepts

and responsibilities in a crunch time situation.

That's upper class men level thought process.

And he displayed that just a handful of games into the season.

So he clearly knows how to play the game.

I think an NBA team would be lucky to get him.

He's lightning quick.

He's only going to get bigger, better, and stronger.

So I wouldn't be surprised it was somebody taking him

in the first round.

And it's hard to find someone and you

would know better than me.

But it's hard to find a point guard

with that level of feel in transition as a freshman.

I feel like getting an elite transition playmaker

or elite transition score usually

comes with either being an elite athlete at a young age

or having thousands of thousands of reps knowing what to do

and where guys are going to be.

Braden Burries is a natural in transition.

And I think it really injects speed and pace

into this Arizona team that we know Tommy Lloyd.

He wants to get up.

But he likes getting out in transition and running.

Braden Burries injects all that into your roster.

And we saw when he, you know, whether it was,

when he went down with the rolled ankle earlier in the year,

like missed a couple of possessions and came back

or whether he was, you know, playing through bronchitis.

When he's not at 100%, the pace of this team drops.

You know what I mean, you don't have that natural injection

of take the ball off the rim and run with it, right?

You have to, Jayden Bradley likes to slow it down a little bit

more.

He can play in transition.

But, you know, his game is in the half court.

I feel like Braden Burries.

He is not the X factor for this team in any way

because you know what you're getting with Braden Burries.

But if he can drive to the rim, like he was doing today

against L.I.U. and hit logo threes, you're cooking with guys.

Corey, I mean, that logo three was crazy.

It mean, the three is icing on the cake,

but I mean, I can't count how many times he received

the pass ahead from JB and because it was two on two

or he was one on two, but he put his head down

and would get to the rim and end up getting free throws.

And I have a thing when I do games,

I always pay attention to the fast break points.

And like, you know, you're at the rim three seconds

after a rebound or a made bucket.

How many times did Burries use his young legs

to get to the free throw line in a matter of seconds

and put pressure on the team's perimeter guards?

Like if you're getting back on D

and you got to stop him from coming to the hole

and you pick up your second foul, you know,

12, 13 minutes left in the first half,

it's more difficult for your team

because now your guards are in trouble.

He puts pressure on opposing guards in transition.

He doesn't just back it out and set the defense up.

He knows he thrives in those situations.

He's explosive enough to dunk the ball.

So really him being aggressive, coming off of sound,

of sound Arizona stops, whether they're blocks,

defensive boards, whatever steals.

When they come and they kick it ahead to him

and he's coming downhill, I haven't seen anybody yet.

Step in front and stop him, take a charge, block the shot.

The worst they do is either you let him score or you foul him

and Arizona's thrived on that all season.

Now you mentioned blocks and taking charges

and defensive things, effort plays.

And that makes me think of one Ivan Karchenkov

who in my eyes has been the,

I think he actually is the X factor for this team, right?

I've said that since the off season,

I've been a huge proponent of absolute Karchenkov

and he comes out with a double, double the day Corey,

14 points, 10 rebounds, two assists,

seven defensive rebounds, three offensive rebounds.

Ivan Karchenkov, always great efficiency,

five of seven from the field.

What did you see from Ivan today?

I know I want to ask Saul a little bit more about that later,

but what did you see from Ivan Karchenkov today?

Getting it done.

I mean, I think this is his first double,

since the Florida game in his debut.

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You know, and this isn't a knock on his athleticism at all

because he is an athletic player.

He's not the most athletic player,

but he's an athletic player.

But more than that, he's a smart player.

He knows the angles.

He knows how to put his body and situations to get a rebound,

to get a steal, to get a block,

to get to the free throw line.

He plays basketball from a thinking man's mind frame up.

I'm gonna drive you to the elbow.

You're gonna cut me off.

I'm gonna bump you

and I'm gonna raise up and shoot the fade away.

I'm gonna cut in baseline.

I'm gonna reach snatch it back

and I'm gonna shoot a 15 footer.

I'm in transition.

I'm gonna go right past the guard.

Toby's gonna seal.

I'm gonna lay it up on an angle with my left hand.

He thinks the game so clean

that when you just read his stat line,

if you just read his stat line and didn't tell me his name,

I'd be in your mind like, damn, dude,

it was putting you in work.

Those are hellified numbers.

And then if you go watch the game,

he doesn't play above the rim.

Very low energy buckets, very smart plays, very efficient.

And that's not to say,

that's not to take anything away from his game

because when you look at the stat sheet,

yeah, he killed you.

But to the average fan,

are they owing an on over the way he plays?

Probably not,

but every coach in the country wants a guy

who knows how to play.

Because when a guy knows how to play,

it rubs off on everybody else

and a coach's nightmare

is undisciplined offense and defense,

guys making mistakes.

And if 30% or 40% of your lineup,

you got a senior and Bradley,

you got a player like Karchenko,

that's 40% of your lineup that already knows what they're doing.

And then you add in freshmen who are figuring it out,

but they're following these guys lead, you know,

that's a good thing to have.

It is.

And you mentioned Yvonne Karchenko playing the game

like a thinking man.

And I don't want to get like a cliche here,

but that's that European style of basketball.

It really is, right?

Winning on the margins,

finding ways to contribute

where your teammates might not be able to contribute.

I feel like Yvonne Karchenko comes in

and just tries to plug gaps, right?

You know what it is to do what is needed.

It's when you get to be my age,

it's that LA fitness game.

That's what you have.

When you got to get buckets,

you're not quick.

You don't got the first step

and you're old like me and you can't jump no more.

And they say, man,

oh gee, killin'.

Yeah, pump fake, fade away,

threes.

But no, on a serious note,

it's way better than an old man's game,

but he doesn't put himself in situations

where he's not going to be successful.

So, and I'll tell you,

I think he and Aristotle are the keys.

If I'm seeing 10 points from either one of those guys

or both of them at the same time,

you really don't have a chance of beating Arizona.

Yeah, I agree.

I mean, we talk about what they can bring

from a stats production standpoint,

but their defense on the perimeter is unbelievable

and it's complete lockups.

Just absolute throw them in the big house.

You know what I mean?

If you got Ivan Karchenkov in Dwayne Aristotle

out there at the same time,

to me, that is one of the more lethal perimeter defensive combos

you can put together left in the tournament

of Ivan Karchenkov in Dwayne Aristotle.

Dwayne Aristotle might not put up a ton of crazy numbers,

although Aristotians stand up today might have been his day.

He did have a great game today.

Four points, two of four, four rebounds,

a block as well as an end one.

But just what they bring defensively,

I feel like especially as freshman is incredibly rare

and also incredibly impressive

because if you're gonna go far in the tournament,

we know defense matters.

We know defense is gonna travel with you first

way before your jumper,

way before anything else

that you're gonna run on an offensive standpoint.

If Arizona's gonna reach their goals,

you do need Ivan and Aristot

playing defense at a really high level, right Corey?

You do, and you know, put yourself

in the opposing team situation.

You've got a team with size and wingspan

at the point, at the two, at the three,

co-appeated to four.

They're switching everything and they're saying,

hey, shoot it over us.

And that's already shooting 30% from the field,

shooting over somebody, contesting.

So shooting over to these guys is 30% if you're lucky.

Should you happen to get by one of them?

Yeah, go shoot it over, creep is now.

That's your reality, dribble handoff switch,

dribble handoff switch, dribble handoff switch,

eight seconds to go.

Now you're trying something crazy

against guys who really haven't been tested

and they know rather than pick up a cheat blocking foul,

I'm gonna let you go.

You got deal with the seven foot two guy

who's got great timing.

And when he blocks it, it's to burries and it's a layup.

So defensively, for an offensive player,

like it's hard to find clean looks

against this Arizona team

because they'll just give you up and switch

rather than let you get to the hole.

And if you do get to the hole,

you better have some hops

and you better have some strength

because if you go weak,

creep is gonna block it.

So just a tough team to score against and get buckets.

100%.

I'm glad you bring up Crevoss's involvement

and all this is a great segue into that conversation

because when we spoke to you von Karchenkov

a couple months ago now, friend of the program,

he was saying, when I asked him like,

what makes your defense so special?

Like if you had to describe what gives you

the X factor on that end, what is it?

And he was saying, man,

it's that seven foot two lit the waning in dude

standing behind me that gives me all the room for error

that I need to be aggressive, go for the ball,

do what I got to do, funnel a guy.

Like, you know what I mean?

Like Crevoss, his impact offensively is unbelievable.

I know you played a 16 C today

in Long Island University

who's not ever really gonna be able to match up

to Crevoss's size and physicality and his rim protection.

But going forward, Corey, I don't know

many teams outside of like a Michigan with Mara

or, you know what I mean?

Like if Engong was able to come back for Duke

or something like that,

that can really contend with Crevoss's size

and physicality if he's locked in

on the defensive end of the court.

I think Crevoss is going to be of his own design.

If he can refrain from picking up the no-no files

going over the back for a board

that he really couldn't get to

or stepping out on the hedge

and not being quick enough or fouling a jump shooter,

you know, you hate to see somebody

seven two picking up those type of files.

If you're picking up rim protection files, that's different.

One on one in the paint, that's different.

But when he goes out, if he's, you know,

not in foul trouble, he's gonna be effective.

And the longer he's on the floor,

the fresher everybody's legs are

because guys aren't really testing you

to go to the rim and deal with that.

Guys are trying to get you the hezzy inside out,

pull up jumper and then you just got to be there on that.

But as the game wears on, the concept of going to the rim,

it slowly gets out of your system

because the first time it gets blocked

and there's a transition bucket,

your teammates are looking at you like,

bro, what are you doing?

Like why are you taking it in there,

getting it blocked and it's a live ball turnover

and then we give up to, like, stop going to the rim.

So you look at challenging him

as a possible turnover.

You don't even look at it as an opportunity.

That's the psychological effect

of having seven foot two on the floor.

Teams just stop going.

Hell, big men get the ball, take a couple dribbles

and they pick it up and they're looking to pass it back out

because they know exactly who's standing behind them.

And then opposite him,

you got one of the best bigs in the country

in Tobay, Milwaukee standing there, you know,

six, nine, 240 pounds, strongest player I've ever seen.

I mean, yeah, points in the pain against Arizona

just, it's very rare.

It really is, it really is.

And I want to keep talking about this front court quarry

with you after our first break here

on the AZ Wildcats podcast.

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And we are back with the one, the only C-Dub Corey Williams

in the house, breaking down Arizona's 92 to 58 win

over the shocks of Long Island.

We do have Saul Bookman calling in in a little bit.

He is live in San Diego.

I believe he is in the locker room talking, you know,

you know, just signing foreheads, kissing babies,

doing what Saul does best getting some film

or some film and audio from players

like Jaden Bradley and company as well that we'll have

during Saul's segment.

But Corey, let's keep talking about this front court

because I tweeted it during the game and yeah, I get it.

We're playing a 16 seed.

Some people are going to be like,

well, of course your front court's going to look great

against the Long Island Sharks.

But we've seen it against top 10 teams,

against bottom 10 teams.

It does not matter.

This Arizona front court is a force.

And in your eyes, if Arizona, if we can rub the crystal ball

and in middle of April, we're celebrating

the second national title, if that is the case,

do you think that the front court will be the reason

as to why Corey?

Absolutely.

There's no question about it.

Our front court was better than everyone else's

in the big 12.

It was the toughest conference in the country.

And we won it with a game to spare

because our bigs outplayed everyone else's bigs.

Every coach I talk to when I'm doing games,

walk up and they start talking about man,

Arizona's so big and they're so physical.

And these are the coaches that played against Arizona.

Think about it.

The two games that Arizona lost

were the two games where they didn't control the paint.

Vidunga was dunking all over Arizona at Kansas,

he had 20 points like 20 and 12, something like that.

And then JT Topin, conference player of the year

went to overtime, had a monster game.

Cole Pete didn't play in the second half of that game.

That's the only two times Arizona's lost.

They have controlled the paint in all 32 other games.

So yes, the bigs are the key.

I don't care how good your guards are.

The bands is at home.

There's a couple of guards that probably

won't get out of the first weekend.

That might be lottery picks.

So, you know, guard play is important

because it helps you get good possessions.

But at the end of the day, the taller you are

and the closer you are to the rim, the math is the math.

And if you can't rebound and you can't get points in the paint,

you're probably not going to win.

I agree.

And I think that watching this game,

that's why I tweeted what I tweeted about.

Arizona's size, speed and strength

will be the differentiator, this tournament.

Because I don't know what team is going to be able to match

the trio of Pete, Awaka and Krivas.

You got teams that might be able to match two of them,

but not the third, right?

You have teams that might be able to match Krivas,

but not Awaka, right, not Pete, right?

Iowa State, you saw they throw Jefferson condolences.

They throw Jefferson at, you know, Pete,

but you got nothing for Krivas and Awaka.

So I do think that that is what makes Arizona so dangerous.

And then you add to that that you have the back court of buries

and Bradley.

You have the wings that you do on both ends of the court.

There are two way wings.

This is a real force to be reckoned with.

And so is our guy, Saul Bookman, who is live in San Diego,

breaking this one down.

Oh, that is a gorgeous, gorgeous setup.

Unbelievable.

I saw how we doing.

Good.

I lost my AirPods and, you know, instead of going to the airport

and paying 60 bucks for another set, like some people I know.

That's nerve you right.

That's nerve you right.

I decided just, you know, take my chances without one

and then go purchase one after this.

So I guarantee you I'm not paying $60 for it, though.

I know that either in mind, that was only expense report, bro.

Now, Saul, you were out there in San Diego for this one in V.A.

House arena.

What were some of your instant takeaways from this game?

Obviously a blowout, 92 to 58, but just initial reactions.

There's on a moves on to the round of 32.

Uh, so first, you know, I always talk about Tommy's first season

when they went to San Antonio and I saw Houston come rolling out.

And I felt like, oh, man, we're about to get curb stopped.

Like that's that's what I felt like.

I felt like Houston was just on a different level at that time

with Kelvin Samson.

And I was right.

Like they were, they were just a different team.

When Arizona came rolling out today, I was like, oh, boy, he's dude's got no shot.

They got zero chance.

And I talked about yesterday, these, this team looked focused.

And I think they used that first 10 minutes to kind of make a point.

Like, hey, this is the tone we're going to set for the rest of the tournament.

And yeah, they led up a little bit in the second half for a period of time.

And, you know, the lead got to cut down to 22.

But you had no point during this game.

Did you ever feel like Arizona wasn't going to be able to win this game

or that they were even going to be in trouble.

Like unlike some of the other one seats yesterday, even Michigan struggled a little bit.

Duke all the way down to the wire with Sienna.

And I think Arizona playing on Friday, you know, they were the beneficiary

of being able to watch those two teams struggle against 16 seats.

And understand that if you don't come ready to play,

doesn't matter who you're playing in this tournament, everybody's good.

But there's different levels of good.

And Arizona is on a completely different stratosphere than L.I.U. in that regard.

As you said yesterday, and as we talked about on yesterday's pod

with the clips that we played at Dwayne Aristotle saying that he's

out to literally kill his opponents.

Like this team certainly seemed locked in and dialed in.

But you never know until you see him take the court, right?

But today, so as soon as they took the court, me and Corey were talking about it.

This team feels focused.

They feel like they're playing for their ultimate goal,

but also taking it day by day.

I know you mentioned the Houston kind of vibes that you got from this team,

but anything else you can tell us about the overall mentality of the unit today.

I know we have some clips that we're working on.

Not quite ready yet, but we're going to get those.

But anything from just watching the team.

Yeah, first of all, yesterday when Jamal Fuller from L.I.U.

started off the press conference and Arizona is not a good shooting team.

I was just like, oh, brother, why'd you say that?

Why'd you do that?

Like you don't listen, like for for for a 16 seed to pull the upset,

you can have all the bravado in the world.

But you also, it's kind of like what they used to say about Mike back in the day.

Don't stoke the fire.

Don't don't stoke the flames.

It is Mike ain't talking about.

Yeah, if Mike, if Mike ain't talking to you, don't don't talk to him.

Just let it go.

And that's kind of what happened today.

They came out, they started off the game six and 10 from three.

Like it was nothing.

And I'm just like, yeah, like these dudes can't shoot.

And if you get on them YMCA jumpers wide open like this,

yeah, they're going to catch them in.

And they did exactly that.

That was just a foolish mistake by a young team.

You know, listen, they were feeling themselves.

They felt like they had a shot.

But on paper, you're looking at points per game,

not anywhere near Arizona's level,

pace, not anywhere near Arizona's level.

And there are two point shooting team like they weren't heavily rely on the three.

And that you're you're trying to fight fire with fire and it wasn't going to work.

So now I want everyone to like this video as well.

If you've not done so already, also subscribe to pH next sports.

We are rapidly approaching 51 K and I want that 51 K badly.

Corey, well, do you have any questions before we dive into some of the other break

down this game?

So I just want to know what was that?

What was the vibe like?

What was the atmosphere?

How much of Tucson showed up in the gym this afternoon?

I mean, not only Tucson, but I mean,

California is a very heavy Arizona pro Arizona, you know,

a demographic as well.

And so I mean, it was it was loud for Arizona.

It was loud.

In the empty seats that were there were probably only because of the Villanova

and Utah State fans that took tickets and maybe showed up late.

But yeah, no, it was it was heavy, heavy.

Arizona probably like 90 to 10.

And that 10 wasn't necessarily all L.I.U.

It was just people rooting for the upset.

So yeah, it was it was it was pretty obvious.

It was pretty obvious.

Yeah, because from watching on the screen,

I can tell you from literally, you know,

a long time ago, the first person is hearing that you of a chant

come through the speakers on TV.

I already knew the vibe that the kids were feeling

because I know what that chant did to us as players so many years ago.

You're not alone.

And even if it's not Mikail, it at least sounds like Mikail.

And sometimes, especially in these high leverage moments,

that kind of stuff makes a difference.

Yeah, absolutely.

And I mean, I don't know if it, you know,

because it's a 16-seated and make all the difference

in the world, obviously, but it does feel good.

It makes you feel good knowing that you basically have a home game

in the first round.

And I think it'll be more evident in round two

against whoever wins this Villanova Utah State game.

I think that's that's really and even

I think that there's some Arizona fans that maybe took this one

for granted as well and decided to catch their checks for Sunday

instead.

And I can't blame them.

I mean, on paper, L.I.U. had no chance.

And if I had to choose between one or the two,

I probably would opt for Sunday as well.

So I expect I even bigger turnout on Sunday.

So I asked Corey the same question that I will now pose to you.

What did you see from our superstar combo guard,

Braden Burries today?

I just wanted your thoughts on him.

He was our king of the court for what's worth,

obviously, he had a great game.

Just smooth, just smooth, not rattled, but really poised.

Didn't look like the moment was too much.

Didn't even look anxious or nervous or anything like he never really

seems like he's ever like his facial expressions are very,

he's almost like Jaden Bradley where he doesn't really give you much

in terms of, you know, frustration or happiness on the court.

Like he just does what he does.

Today was no different went out there.

He dominated.

He was the best player on the court tonight.

I thought I wasn't even close and they handled business.

They moved on.

So I think I think when you when you see Braden Burries and the way he was

maneuvering out there, you just feel like a kid that might have been going

through it, health wise, that's finally on the back side of it.

And he feels good.

He looked, he looked fresh today.

He looked better than I think he has in a couple of weeks.

And I'm excited to see what he's going to do on Sunday.

I mean, we talk about confidence.

That logo three was like in stride.

Just felt it, took it, ripped it nylon.

It was perfect.

I also want to dimension saw a comment from 3D MK who I prompted the chat.

Feel free to drop questions for Solomon Corey.

If you have any about this game, 3D MK wants to know saw what were your thoughts

on Aristotle's game today?

Also some of the just lesser minute getters from this from the today's game.

Yeah, he was a little rough.

He was a little rough today.

I don't think he played the cleanest game.

I do think Aristotle is one of those guys who because of the size of L.I.U.

And sometimes you, you know, in Corey could probably have tested this.

Sometimes you play these teams that are so small that there are nuisance.

And you're not used to it because you're playing against bigger guys.

And sometimes that can throw you off.

Even though they might not be more athletic than you, it's just like these

little like, they're like little water bugs that you're just trying to shoot away.

And and every time you put the ball on the floor and two or three of them

around you, they're going to take it.

And I think Aristotle was trying to figure out how to get through the game

instead of just letting the game come to him.

So not the cleanest game, but again, not, not a concern.

I think, you know, he'll show up when they need him to as they move along.

And you know, it's certainly in the next round.

I'm not too concerned about him.

The other guy's CDG, you know, like he just, he gave you some minutes off the bench

just to keep your guys from having to play the full 40, which they need to.

And they moved along.

Like I will say this, the, the bench players today were fantastic.

And I think I obviously, I, what is my luck?

I always find a way to be surrounded by, look at this.

Right now, look at this.

I have a college tour going on right around me right now.

Hey, like there was nobody here when I first showed up.

Because he's crazy.

Where did you sit?

Like what landmark are you at?

I'm in the, like by the student union and whatnot.

So, yeah, this is what this is when you, when you picked a hot location to impress.

Kale, now you got a foot traffic.

If you wasn't expecting, because the location was a flex.

When you really rub in our face in it with the beautiful.

Corey, who's guy?

No, no, Corey, it's a thousand degrees out here right now.

I was trying to find some damn shade.

I didn't care about the damn views.

I was trying to stay out of the sun and melt.

But I got 5,000 damn campus tours going around around me.

And I don't know how to act.

Well, that's what's happening.

Kale, you need to tell Saul about branded bills, Kale.

Yeah, no, seriously, we do, we do need you to get you into branded bills.

He had one out there earlier.

I thought, yeah, but I don't wear it on game days, guys.

I got, I got, you know, I got professional appearance that I tried to maintain

on press rope, not trying to wear my beard lined up.

You looking, you looking real G right now.

I'm trying to, I'm trying to do my best out here, you know?

Well, while Saul is finding an alternate location, I'm going to take our second

and final ad break here on the AZ Wildcats podcast.

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And I think Saul is all settled in in some shade and we can continue

talking Arizona's 92 to 58 dub.

What you got, Corey?

Shout out window depot.

Ron Hess, him and his wife are dear friends, huge wild cat fans.

They've supported the Tucson summer pro league for over 20 years.

The sponsors.

So if you're going to get windows doors, go see the real wild cats.

You won't be disappointed.

I'm actually having getting some stuff with them this summer.

But I just wanted to add that shout out to Ron and his wife.

I mean, Corey, you could have did the read for me, brother.

Say me some breath.

That would be totally yeah, shout out to window depot.

They do great stuff.

And they are a friend of Corey, which means they're a friend of all of us.

Now Saul, digging back into this game, what did you see from the freshmen?

I asked co-op or not co-op Pete.

I asked Corey Williams this earlier on the post game.

We talked preseason about how well if you're going to make it to the final four,

you got to get X amount of points, X amount of rebounds.

And we're so far past that.

Obviously, but what did you see from the freshman group tonight?

They absolutely starred in their debut in the tournament.

I mean, they were solid.

They were solid.

They they the moment with some bigger than than they made it.

And they played at a high level.

That's exactly what you needed from them.

Ivan Karchenkoff looked like he has every single game to season.

I mean, all three of them, all three of them with the exception of Aristotle.

I think the three starters played exactly how they played all season long.

They played they played consistent.

They played strong.

I think there was a couple of things at the basket that I, you know,

at the rim for Koa that I would like to see him clean up.

But other than that, I thought they were methodical in their approach.

They knew they were the bigger and better team and they played like it.

And when you're a freshman and you know you're better than the other team,

you don't play like a freshman.

You just go out there, you do your job and you move along because you know,

you should be beast in these dudes.

And the only thing that was going to rattle this team is if, if the,

if the script was reversed is if, you know, L.I.

you came out on a 12 to run to start the game instead of Arizona.

Then you start to, you know, the whispers and the,

and the ghosts of March Madden and start to mess with your head.

You start to press a little bit and stuff like that.

The way Arizona started off, there was no chance that was

happening there.

They're a focused team and they're ready to go.

So those, in those freshmen are obviously a part of that, that cog.

They, a, Braden was just so smooth.

I've already talked about him.

Koa, you know, I thought, you know, we got about, if I had to rate, you know,

on a star basis out of five stars.

I think, I think Braden was more of like a four and a half.

I think, I think Koa was more of a like a three and a half to four.

And I thought Ivanka Corschenko was about a four.

And so I think they, they were all solid.

Now one player that we did not discuss too much in terms of that freshman group.

Me and Corey was co-opied.

Can you kind of get his round out the co-opied talk with, you know,

what you saw from him specifically today on the rebounding side of things?

Cause we know L.I.U.

Too small to hang with Arizona on the boards.

But we've also been calling for Koa to crash a little bit harder.

He gets seven today.

What'd you see from him that hopefully you might think carries into the rest of the tournament?

I mean, definitely that you could point to that.

You feel like I didn't feel like he got out rebounded.

I didn't feel like he was out of position.

My frustration with him was at the rim like I still feel like he needs to get

a little bit more vertical on his finishes and stronger at the point of attack.

He has a tendency sometimes to leave, leave a, you know,

these little, these little bunnies short or a little bit off.

And that, that's just, that's just, that's just his approach.

That's, that's being definitive with what you're trying to do at the rim.

And I feel like he was a little, he was a little off in that regard.

But again, like you're expecting one thing and then you go up and you're like,

oh, yeah, we're not playing Iowa State and Houston right now.

We're playing L.I.U.

And they don't have the size to be able to do what I'm usually accustomed to.

So it's, it's a, it's a weird adjustment and they won't have to do it again

because, you know, Bill and Nova won't lack that size, neither will Utah State.

But for this, for this banner, I'm not going to do it too much on it.

I thought they all played solid and Koa was solid too.

Before we get to your notebooks, all Corey, do you have any questions you wanted

to hit our boy with before we get to his notes?

No, no questions at all.

I thought that he covered everything.

Saul, what do you got in your notebook tonight?

I only have really one thing.

You know, I was kind of watching however zone I was going through the game.

And it was cool.

It was fun.

It never felt like it was, you know, anything was danger.

Side note, those buns in Kentucky got lucky.

And it was a tragedy that is a tragedy that they didn't see Herb send

at calling that time out because I know he would have fouled up three.

And he, he called, he, he was signaling it for it all the way up to sideline.

And those refs had zero, those refs were so into the game that they completely

ignored what was their duties were.

And that's atrocious because I called that upset, I called that upset.

And it should have, anyway, I digress.

No, I'm with you.

I'm feeling the same pain, Saul.

I'm with you.

Herb send that got Tony Padeed and we can admit that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

One of the things that sometimes I feel like we do overlook it, it gets talked

about, but it's marches more than just trying to win a championship.

It's these schools that never get an opportunity to play in a tournament like

this that get in there.

And sometimes the beneficiary of a blowout and it sounds weird to say that

L.I.U. was a beneficiary is when you have a guy by the name of any

maniac, get a chance to come into the game and hasn't played all season.

Gets into the only game he's gotten into all year long.

Banks of three and absolutely loses his mind.

And I was sitting next to Steve Rivera and I was just like, how great is that?

And he was like, dude, that's, that's what this tournament's all about, dude.

This is so awesome.

Like I was so happy for that kid.

And I asked, you know, I asked some, some of the players in the post game,

what they thought about that is, and Jaden Bradley actually gave really a good,

good comment.

He just, you know, basically said like that, that's awesome.

Like that's, you know, we had the game in control.

So, you know, like we weren't worried about anything.

But you could see how much it meant to him.

Like he gets to pull in Tommy in the post game.

I asked him that question, too.

Tommy was just like, you know, years from now, he's going to pull up the tape

and be like, I had a bank three against three potential lottery picks or two

lottery picks.

And the twenty twenty six, you know, ambience.

You know, I mean, like, yeah, like how, how, how amazing is that?

Like, and to, not to, to completely borrow a phrase from Yogi Ross,

a Ross or sorry, Yogi Roth, but how great is ball?

Like how great is ball?

Right.

That's what this is all about, man.

It was, it was, it was beautiful, man.

So that's really my only know on today's game.

Cause, you know, I kind of felt like this was, this game was handled,

not much to worry about.

And I knew, I knew L.I.

U was about to have a FAFO moment.

And they sure did in that first half, they, you know, and now they,

the Wildcats move on to the second round and we'll see who they play.

I'm going to go back and watch this building over Utah State game.

But a good start, focused, intentional.

I think that's the key word I would take away is they were intentional about

their process.

And yeah, shout out to the kids who never get, get any run and even Addison Arnold,

Jackson Reed, Francois had a chance at a, at a bucket and unfortunately,

he air balled, but then city gay guy didn't just yak on somebody.

So that was cool.

You know, they all got a little bit of love and that's, that's the cool part.

And I know Corey has been part of teams.

Hell, Corey's run to the final four and I think a lot of people overlooked this.

Corey's run to the final four.

The first four games were all blowouts.

They blew out everybody.

They, they, there was a Melvin Booker's dad had nothing on that team.

Like, he, you know, he couldn't, he couldn't hold a, what my JV coach used to say,

they, they couldn't cut the mustard little one like the jar and, uh, and they ran

through that first four games and, uh, and so like some of those bench players were

able to get into those games, which is really cool to see.

And so I know he has experience with that.

I mean, the tournament is so many different things to so many different teams.

For Santa Clara, it's painful.

It's the what if, man, we should have knocked off.

Kentucky for Duke.

It's a, oh my God.

We better play better on Sunday.

You know what I mean?

Like, or actually, yeah, they played tomorrow or they played a day.

Tomorrow, tomorrow.

So yeah, it's like the tournament is so many different things.

And for the lower seated teams that are happy to get the bid, they won their

conference.

They had the hats, the t-shirts, they celebrated, you know, whether it's Hawaii

in the big West or L.I.U.

You get your automatic bid and you show up.

Not a lot is expected of you, but you're right.

It's about making moments and making memories.

And you always love the individual stories that are woven in.

A lot of the coaches have been to the big dance before.

So it's not so much for them, but it's what the kids get out of it.

Great moments.

Unfortunately, somebody's got to win and somebody's got to lose.

But, you know, big picture for Arizona.

If you're Tommy Lloyd, you know, you got two games in three days.

Nobody played 30 minutes today.

Most guys played low 20s.

You got a 30-some-odd point victory.

Jayden Bradley had seven points on five shots.

He didn't even shoot a free throw.

Not to say he wasn't playing, but he was playing the way they needed to play

to get what needed to get done, done.

Everybody's rested.

Nobody got hurt.

We made a bunch of threes.

So we feel like we're in rhythm for the game tomorrow on Sunday.

So that's the key thing.

It's, hey, what do we want out of the first round game?

We want to win.

We want to develop good habits, see the ball going to hoop.

No fouls, no bad habits.

And it's easy to get into bad habits and a blowout.

And Arizona did not fall into bad habits.

So for me, I give it an A plus.

It was damn near as a perfect game.

Did you play for the first round of an NCAA tournament?

Now, I do believe we have Saul's interview with Ivan

Carchandkov that he conducted in the locker room as well.

But before we get to that, I want to prompt everybody to like this stream.

We got some great post game coverage.

Arizona versus Long Island.

And we also are going to have pre post watch along coverage for the rest of

these NCAA tournament games.

But without further ado, let's hear from the man.

The myth, absolute Carchandkov himself.

Pretty good, pretty good, especially for the first game.

We didn't let it slide, you know, even the replay of 16 seats.

But there were a couple of net downs, especially when we were big.

I think a couple of runs, a couple of threes, a couple of easy work looks.

Yeah, that's just, you know, to tweak and play for the next.

I can't see what you're pretty focused on.

You know, let down time to talk about how you guys prepared for it.

I want you to see what you're used to.

Is that how you guys felt doing these games?

If you like, do you guys think you've got to take a few notes on your eyes?

Yes.

I want a little team going to this game to prepare the same, like, you know,

for any other game.

But obviously we're, you know, aware that you managed a good happen.

But, you know, we managed to do our best, not let to do our best.

Was it easier to play Friday as opposed to Thursday?

I see a little bit of happening around the country and seeing the team on a tube struggling with CNI

and they're all up to see as well.

I can understand why this is a little different.

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Hilton, for this day.

Yes, definitely.

It gives you a great look, even a few to first seed,

playing against a 16 seed seed.

There's a reason why there are tournaments.

It gives you a little bit of a wake up call

and that helped us even, you know, to take this game even more serious.

Obviously, as you guys go along, you'll get more intense.

But how do you compare it as opposed to your fan turn

with some guys that you used to play?

Oh, I mean, yeah.

It's the only door die thing we play in Europe

is the European Championship or the World Cup.

And so we play a groupface with a regular season

and then we go into the top 16.

I mean, it's pretty much the same.

Just the competitions offer a little bit better.

Here are six or four teams, obviously.

But still, you know, there's a bigger pool of teams.

So I'm pretty proud of our team that we didn't.

Great questions by our guy.

Saul Bookman in the locker room after Arizona takes down L.I.

You any final thoughts on Yvonne Karchenkov that you took away

from that, that time with them there in the locker room.

Saul Corey as well.

Now, I just think this whole team is just business as usual.

It's just one step in front of the other.

And they're on a mission, man.

I feel it.

I feel like they're on a mission.

They might falter.

They might falter at some point.

But, man, it's really hard to believe that their mentality

going into these games is going to be the reason why they falter.

Like, I just don't see that.

You know, when you were talking about Duke yesterday,

I forgot what his name is, but talking about like.

Brown thought it was going to be a kick walk.

He said.

Yeah, talking about how they thought it was going to be a cake walk.

That's the wrong mentality to have in this tournament.

Because you will find yourself on the way home.

Like, you can't take, you can't take anybody lightly.

Because you just never know.

You just never know.

So you got to play at a high level and go from there.

I just don't see this team ever having that kind of left out at all.

No, I agree with you a thousand percent.

When you talk about, you know, she or telling his guys in the locker room.

Hey, you guys thought this is going to be a cake walk.

That's the division I see all the time when I do college basketball games.

I see coaches who are trying to get their teams to perform.

It's like an agent managing an actor or an actor is trying to get them to perform.

Or you have who's managing a fighter.

Tommy Lloyd's managed.

Her guys fight.

We have to worry about that.

They don't have to perform me.

They're fighters.

They love fighting.

So for them.

They're in a weird situation because no matter how many outs they win.

The fans like, yeah, but.

Yeah, but.

Well, guess what?

We're here now.

This is the butt that the Arizona fan base has been waiting on all season.

So these.

Feel like they.

Even though.

Got a stellar record.

One to lead.

One to tournament.

Got a one seed.

The fan base.

And when you listen to the interview, you do it.

I've been there like, yeah, but we know.

Like this is the fight.

We've been waiting three and a half or four months for this fight right here.

So this is the one.

That I think.

Arizona.

I don't know.

I agree with 100%.

You're never going to have to worry about the mentality.

Because they're afraid.

So we've been watching them fight.

That's what they do.

They're not actors.

They're not.

They're not performers.

They're not singers.

You got coaches begging their eyes.

And.

Are you guys going to play good?

I mean, how do you feel?

You feel good?

You feel like going out there and performing.

Because that's what they're doing.

And I said this all the time.

The NCAA tournament is where narratives go to die.

It doesn't matter what you've been saying about your team all year.

Doesn't matter what your fan base has been thinking.

Doesn't matter what people say in the comments section or how you feel.

Or like Saul says, what the vibe is.

We're going to find out who's real and who's not.

80% almost 80% of the tournament will be home by Sunday.

So this is the real deal.

And I love the fact that Arizona is just matter of fact.

They've never gotten too high.

They never get too low.

And like you said, despite all their success,

they feel like they've got a lot to prove.

And here we are in the final stages of the season.

They've had unbelievable success.

190% of their games.

And they still feel like they have something to prove.

I think that's great for Wildcat fans.

But I got to imagine for Tommy.

It's a joy to coach kids with that mentality.

Now, Ernesto and the chat says the players have bought into Tommy ball.

And that is huge.

And we've talked about it in multiple points in this season.

But it feels like this is if you gave Tommy Lloyd five years ago.

Like a dream scenario as to what a roster for him would look like.

It would probably look a whole hell of a lot like this year's roster.

Like it feels like this is a Tommy Lloyd roster from head to toe.

And they have his exact mentality, right?

Like possession by possession, zero sum game mentality,

where we're just going to try to win each possession and win each game

and see where the chips fall after that.

Now, I did want to ask you saw a question from Deborah

that was posed earlier in this chat was,

where do you think this team has to improve yet still?

Great performance today.

Great performance in the regular season.

But if you're going to beat Utah State or Villanova,

you probably have to continue to improve.

You cannot afford to regress.

What are some areas you want to see Arizona continue to grow in going forward?

And I'll pose the same question to Corey after.

I don't know if I necessarily think that they have to improve too much.

I think they just have to clean some things up.

The free throw shooting is probably one.

You know, they've been up and down from the free throw line.

They've had games where they've shot phenomenal from the free throw line.

They've had games where they've shot really pissed for.

So I think that's one.

And then the other thing is, you know,

just take care of the ball.

The problem with Arizona has been this year,

and it's such a minute problem,

because they've always survived,

is that when they do get big leads,

they have had a tendency to kind of let up

and let teams back into the game,

but then they extend lead again.

In the tournament, you might have a faffle moment yourself

by letting the wrong team come back into the game,

and then you not being able to extend that lead back up to where it was.

And you don't want to play that game of cat and mouse.

And while tonight, you know,

they were up 30 and then dropped it down to 20.

Like 22, it was like not a big deal.

But, you know, going from 12 to 2,

which we have seen, we saw it against Houston just a week ago,

when they were up 15 and all of a sudden it was down to 1.

But then they kicked it back up to 9.

And so like, you don't want to keep playing with fire like that.

And I just, I do feel like I've said this.

I'll continue to say this.

I still think that this Arizona team,

this is a scary part.

Their best basketball is still ahead of them.

Yeah.

Like, I truly believe that.

Like, I just feel like Coa Pete can still play like Florida Coa Pete.

And Jane Bradley can cook and Braden Burries can cook.

And if our can shake off can do all the things that he does well,

a deli can be hidden from the three.

And all those parts just working smoothly together.

And they could blow a team out by honestly.

I could easily see them playing a four or five seed in the round of 16

and blowing them out by 30.

If they were all clicking because they're that good of a team.

But we haven't seen that.

It's usually two or three guys are on.

The other ones are a little bit off.

And so that balance, but that's how good they bit.

That's how good this team is.

And for me, I'm like I told you before on our pod.

So I'm just watching the foul count.

Because I already know if Tommy has everybody at his disposal over 40

minutes and they let us play.

That's not going to be a problem.

I've been watching the whistle on all games.

And I can tell you right now.

I don't know if the refs got together and had a meeting or what.

But they are letting everybody play.

There are no weak and ones.

There are no ticky tack fouls.

You can't cry or complain to them.

They're just sprinting away.

They blow the whistle and they take off.

So they're letting everybody play big boy basketball.

And that's a great sign for Arizona.

I see a lot of reps.

I don't talk Arizona basketball.

I talk in generalities.

And the truth is reps are sensitive to a lot of the criticism they get.

So you know what?

It's the tournament.

You guys play.

And unless you're bleeding, we're going to talk to this.

Go ahead and do your thing.

That plays well for Arizona.

Shadrak.

I saw him during a time out talking to the ref.

I don't know what the ref said.

But I'm going to paraphrase from body language and say that he was just like, bro.

This is big boy basketball.

Like you got it.

You got it.

You got a man up straight up.

Like we're not calling this.

You know, like when Creebus puts his arm down.

And you know, and you flail.

Like bro, we're not calling that.

Like all because he sub foot doesn't mean that you get to just, you know, use that as a defense against you.

Like that's just not what it is.

Like you got a man up.

You got to play defense.

You got you were short sized because God made you that way.

Deal with it.

Well, it's it's really it's a good point.

You make it all because it's like, yo, you're having a little shocking experience right now because this is your time.

This is your time.

This is your first time playing gets a team like this.

I can't help you with what's going on out here.

Yes, you've never boxed out a guy as strong as Toby Awaka.

Well, welcome to the big leagues.

But that's the attitude across the entire tournament.

They're not calling no weak files for anybody.

Now they did mess up on herbs time out.

I thought that was very egregious.

But overall, these crews, these refs that haven't worked these teams and are working for the first time.

They're like, bro, we're calling a basketball game.

Don't care what conference you're from, what conference you're from.

And the coaches know, this isn't league play where you know the refs and you can get on them and maybe juicing for a call or two.

These refs have no loyal to these coaches.

They're calling whatever they want.

And if the coach don't like it, it is what it is.

We are at the tournament.

It's the best of the best.

So I think that that's good.

And lastly for Arizona, they did something that I was very proud of in an opening game.

I watched this game with my analyst hat on with my alumni hat on with my former washed up athlete hat on all my hats are on.

But something happened during this game that I thought was outstanding.

They made CBS go to the junk bin and B roll and talk about the 1951 L.I.U. matchup.

When you whooping somebody ass so bad that the director has time to pull up because when we do games, we have this stuff in the trunk.

We just hope we never have to go to it.

But when you whooping somebody ass by 30 and they start showing black and white pictures of the game from 1951.

I said, that's my boys.

That's how y'all supposed to handle business make them go to the B roll saw.

I loved it.

We were laughing in the office for every game.

We were saying that those don't even look like pictures.

They so old. They look like paintings.

They got pictures that you don't see in pictures.

They got cracks that don't usually happen.

They had to break out the pre civil rights B roll footage.

But the game.

Take them back.

You got nothing else to talk about this game.

It's eight minutes to go and this game been over.

They're like, damn.

What do we got?

Oh, yeah, then I love it.

That's the game.

I want Arizona to do that to the announcers every night out.

Beat them so bad.

They got to go dig up facts and, you know, trivia.

I love that.

I do.

I do want to I do want to touch on that for a second.

So Kevin Hart.

No, no.

So the broadcast.

So I was sitting right behind Kevin Harlan.

Oh, we have this.

We do have it.

If it hadn't gunned me and Robbie Hummel.

But it was really cool to see Kevin Harlan.

Be able to like direct basically while he's doing his play by play.

Like and it was really cool to see him like you guys like when the talk.

Like on important moments that he thought were important.

And he was, you know, it was just look.

It was like he was choreographing everything.

It was kind of cool to watch because I've never really seen a play by play broadcaster do it to the level that he did it tonight.

I've seen him.

You know, the good ones do this to a degree.

But man, he was just, you know, like holding my guys back on a big moment or, you know, whatever.

And I would love to see what it looks like when it's like an actual close game.

Yeah.

Because I think you'd be a little bit more involved.

Yeah.

It was, it was really something to see.

It was pretty cool.

That's a great point.

And Saul, we talk about Chris Cross, Apple saw Saul at the BYU Games in court side.

How about business casual saw court side at the West Regional?

I mean, just, I mean, look, it's his, it's his, it's his camera moment.

It was amazing on the watch long.

Leah goes, oh my God, that's Saul.

And then right when she said that, you waved at the camera.

That's true.

It's all normal.

Like, you know, they're selling used cars.

You know, you just got the smile going and everything.

Got the jetfish fit on.

But, uh, no, like, Saul, I mean, it was really cool.

See the broadcast.

I got the jetfish.

Why are you going to respect me by saying I got the jetfish fit on?

Because he said use car salesman.

And that's the first use car salesman that I thought of.

And also you, I owe you one.

Because you've been calling me Eddie Lambkin for three months.

Bro, you look like Eddie Lambkin.

What are you talking about?

Tim Jensel, he like kind of ended up with Syracuse from Colorado to Syracuse.

The big man.

I think that's nasty.

That's nasty.

That's foul.

The garbage bins.

A Syracuse.

Yeah, TCU to Colorado.

SLAN.

Bro, look.

Look, look up Eddie Lambkin.

Cory, tell me.

Cam doesn't look like his little brother.

Okay.

I'm going to stay.

It is.

It is.

It is grown man infant face.

Yeah.

It's not a, it's not a good person to be compared to.

Like if he was, if he was a baby without the beard, I would believe it.

You know what I mean?

Yeah.

He is not grown out of his infant face.

Okay.

All right.

All right.

This is not chill.

Chat.

I would say I was.

If it makes, if it makes you feel any better.

I can face.

If anybody, if it makes you feel any better, somebody said that my golf, my golf swing looks like

Charles Barkley at the end, which I was like, dude, that's like, that's like the ultimate

disrespect.

I was like, why would you say that?

Hey man, no Charles Barkley slander on this pod because he has been pronouncing this.

The Arizona ass kicking invitations and we are one sixth of the way their Arizona defeats

L.I.

U.

92 to 58.

Shane, do we have the, the Jaden Bradley situation?

I can pull up.

Yeah.

We're about to pull up the Jaden Bradley interview that's all did after Arizona's beat down

of the sharks.

People have been talking about fins up.

The fins are now in my soup.

And that is how we're cooking this.

Yeah.

We do have a couple of seconds here before we get the JB interview, but saw any thoughts

on Jaden Bradley as we, as we head into the meat of the NCAA tournament, we're getting

that interview loaded up.

No, nothing.

He's just, hey, he did his job today.

He's, he's a professional hooper and he's been a professional for three years.

Yeah.

I mean, he played 23 minutes.

He had 5 or 7.

I don't even know how many assists he had.

I don't think he had.

I think we lost.

You got to, I mean, when you lean over, you're talking to my brother.

Your mind is turd.

Yeah.

And for a sense, it for a sense, but the no free throws tells me he wouldn't even try and

go to the right.

So he's just out there on groups control, you know, making sure things ran smooth.

And we all know, you know, with 35 seconds to go on the tight one, he'll, there's no

way he's not getting to the free throw line or looking for more shot attempts.

So shout out to Arizona for doing, doing it.

However, they had to do it, but getting it done for the first one.

Now I do want to bring this up because, go ahead, kind of say one thing.

Of course.

I do want it before, before we wrap it up, I do want to say, I was, I was, I'm a fan of

Greg Gordon.

I thought his game was nice today, where are you?

Like, he's got a little, he's got a little, he's got some skills, man.

It's too bad he's a senior and he's all done, but like, he was the one, he was the only

one in my opinion that was like, he was actually hooping, hooping out there for L.I.

You like, he wouldn't afraid to anything.

And, and he did it with such like joy, like, that's the thing.

Like, he was smiling the whole game long, like competitive as hell, but still like, enjoying

the moment, like, like, because he knows this is, this, this might be his last game.

And he, I could tell that he was absorbing it all, it was pretty cool.

It was pretty cool.

Shout out to Sean, who says they're finished, but um, now we do have that date in Bradley

interview that Saul did in the locker room after Arizona's 92 to 58 defeat of the Long Island

Sharks.

Let's send it over to the club.

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Hilton for this day.

What's there?

We know these games are tough, especially the first game.

So we didn't want to give them a chance to stick in there, have any confidence in their

great team.

They hit shots to get down in the paint, so just the pressure and the defense we set

to tone kind of in the beginning.

You know, obviously you guys knew you would have the size of balance for doing a little

bit.

Even you were a little bit taken back when you saw like how you guys really didn't match

up.

And I'm like, yeah, the size was pretty.

Yeah.

So I mean, we just didn't want to go on there trying to tip toe in anything.

We wanted to watch first.

You know, we're not protecting anything.

And like you said, we had a size of it is just somewhere our position is a big mole.

He's a great plus player.

So if they were doubling at first, you know, so we were feeding him.

He was getting good looks.

They started doubling.

Cold.

Cold guy come on braiding.

You know, he wants to be able to play off each other, depending on what the defense

is doing.

I'm not going to say chip on the shoulder to, you know, Jamal Fuller for our U-Lessons

to strike the crossband and serve their aerosols out of this shooting team.

Yeah.

Then you guys come out shooting six percent for three rounds of back.

Yeah.

Did you hear that?

No.

That's it.

Yeah.

I didn't know.

I'm not really on the media this time of the year.

So I'm not, you know, hearing all this stuff.

But I mean, they're going to have to save away something and they were so dominant in

the face.

No, they got to collapse in there.

We got great shooters.

Albrecht and Debbie.

Oh, you know, everybody on the team, great shooters.

So we're confident enough.

And if we miss, we got to obey.

We got big mold.

Everybody crashing the rebounds and you get a second test points.

How important is it that you guys were able to extend the game so much that you're in

to get some guys that usually get to run into the game because they couldn't log work

by hitting the season as well, and especially in turn, I mean, you know, you put your name

down.

I got at least a minute played and turned in.

It's big deal.

No, for sure.

You know, it's something we talk about on just, you know, giving back to the people behind

the scenes.

We handle business, you know, the starters and people that play the end of business.

And we gave our, you know, people that help us throughout the year, the scout team do

a great job of giving us looks from our opponent.

So happy to get those guys in and you know, get them some good looks and they, you know,

what I do.

Amazing today.

Last question.

On the flip side.

Yeah.

Are you a kid for two or three after?

Yeah.

What do you think?

Look at the excitement.

It's pretty nice.

He was excited.

You know, happy for him.

In that moment, like you said, it's not, not every year, every kid on, you know, a place

cause basketball gets some more, uh, get this moment, get this opportunity as, you know,

happy for him.

Now, that was obviously the answer that, that Saul was referencing earlier about the LIU

player that came in and his first bucket in the NCAA tournament and went wild.

That was a really great feel.

Good moment.

And it really is what March is all about.

Like, I've been talking to people, uh, uh, we'll get back to Jayden Bradley in half

a second, but I promise I'm bring it, bring this back around town here in a second.

I've been talking to people about this, my bracket that I've taken with me everywhere,

right?

And people have made a little bit of fun on me, but I think people get the point, right?

It's adding fun to March madness because what is March madness about outside of it?

If you're in the, in the actual competition, it's about having fun with the sport that

you love so much.

Me taking this damn bracket everywhere to the grocery store, tucking it in a night, updating

it after every game, like, that's what March is for.

It is added at least 25% extra fun.

And I'm glad to hear that Brayden, or not Brayden, but Jayden Bradley understands that

for teams that might not make it as far as Arizona is projected to make it this year,

this is the Super Bowl that you will relive until you are old and on your deathbed.

You know what I mean?

Like, that is something that that guy will talk about in a bar or at church or whatever

he's doing until he passes away.

Like, this is a huge moment.

And I'm glad to hear that, uh, out of, out of JB there.

Some, some nice maturity there.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And Hooper to another.

I think Hoopers all recognize one thing we all share in common.

You want to go as far as you can.

You want your career to go for as long as as far as you can.

And then playing the number one team in the country and the tournament is the, is the peak of your

career.

Then let me get a bucket against these fools.

You know, like, hey, it is what it is.

100% now.

Go ahead, it's all right.

Now we did, we did talk to Jayden Bradley, obviously, about the game and about the takeaways

from the game.

He's iced out as always, but we also also talked to Addison Arnold as well.

And here is what he had to say about the game.

It was fun, man.

I mean, I'm glad the guys got it done early took care of business so that I could get a few

minutes smoked a little late, but you know, I guess I'll be back at the gym working

on it.

Yeah, it was, it was good fun.

You know, what's it like?

You know, knowing that the team is handling business, they're up 20, 30 minutes.

I mean, it's happening a lot of games is here to be honest, even somewhere, you know,

we didn't expect it to happen.

So I'm going to be honest.

When it's like four minutes left, we're up 30.

Sometimes the butterflies start a little bit.

I'm like, oh, shoot.

I might get a couple of minutes now.

And I just like 30 or something.

So yeah, I definitely get a little nervous for a second, but right when I check in, like,

it's out the window.

It's cool to see the guys get it done always.

Talk about your teammates in a way.

Yeah, you know, you know, it's trying to get some running.

You guys work just as hard behind the scenes as anybody else too.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, it's cool.

I mean, first we got to shout out the top eight guys for always getting it done for us.

I mean, they take every game serious, you know, we're up a lot of half.

They could let their guard down, but they kept playing hard.

And it gives guys like, you know, me and other guys who come off the end of the bench, you know,

I'm more opportunity.

So we work hard.

Obviously, my fellow teammates at the end of the bench, too, work really hard every day.

So it's cool that they have to get some running.

And big environments like this, too.

You know, I don't see other teams.

He's 14 and probably able to understand what the bank three at the end.

I just see the emotion on his face.

Yeah, yeah.

What do you think about that?

Yeah, I mean, when it's a game like that, like I'm happy for him.

You know, it was a good, good bank shot.

So obviously in the moment, I'm not thinking it, but it's cool to see that kind of environment.

I mean, March is cool for that kind of stuff.

So good on him.

Be able to end the year with that cost.

Now, so obviously a great answer there from Addison Arnold as well,

who did get some minutes in this one smoke delay, but it's okay.

Now, I wanted to throw this before we get out of here.

So first of all, leave a like on this stream.

If you've not done so already, I want at least 70 likes before we get out of here today.

I wanted to poke your brain and Corey's brain about potential thoughts on Utah State and Villanova.

That game is entering half time.

Very close right now.

It's 3937 Nova.

But it looks like a toss up.

Do you have any preferences as to who you might want to face if you were there as on a Wildcat?

I forgot what movie was, but I think the cool was, I don't care.

F and all.

I don't care who they play.

I don't care who they play.

Like whoever it is.

Like that's the next one up.

And I don't think this care.

This team cares either.