Adam Morrison evaluates Anton Watson's future as an NBA player
Former Gonzaga All-American Adam Morrison believes Anton Watson has a chance to be a good NBA player.
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01:20 [Music]
01:31 It was a fun atmosphere. Like, I do agree.
01:33 Like, it also was weird that there was no student section.
01:35 Like, I don't... and it wasn't at the kennel.
01:39 So, like, it's... the atmosphere is just different.
01:42 But, you know, they had beer at least.
01:43 [Laughter]
01:45 Lubrication a little bit.
01:46 I thought the crowd was good.
01:47 Yeah.
01:48 It was obviously electric the year before, which is Kentucky.
01:52 But doing a game in the arena makes sense.
01:56 I think, you know, they'll probably have to try to schedule a different opponent.
02:02 You know, but I think it just makes sense for the community.
02:05 And then also, like, you got to be honest.
02:07 Like, a lot of times these neutral site games are there for a reason.
02:11 Because you don't have to do... you can split the revenue on certain things.
02:16 If you do a home and home, usually you can't do that for some reason.
02:20 That's the understanding I've always got from it.
02:23 So, like, a lot of times these teams will be like, "Yeah, we'll do neutrals."
02:26 And then either you get the splits or we all take all of them in each one.
02:32 But, you know, obviously having more fans and then you can sell at...
02:36 You know what I'm saying?
02:37 I think the revenue splits get higher.
02:39 So that's why you see a lot of neutral site games.
02:41 Yeah.
02:42 And you can argue is it good or bad.
02:43 I think it's somewhat good, but then sometimes you're just like,
02:47 "Let's play at home, man.
02:49 I'm tired of going to these big arenas that get like three quarters filled."
02:53 And, like, we draw good.
02:56 But, like, if you watch College of Basketball on TV sometimes you're like,
02:59 "Oh, God.
03:00 Like, they're playing in Madison Square and there's 5,000 people there.
03:03 That's not a good look."
03:05 Like I mentioned, like, the week or two before, Boise WSU was there.
03:10 They didn't have bleachers behind the backboards, which was really weird.
03:13 It was just like a void.
03:15 Oh, they didn't have seats behind the back?
03:17 No, it was bizarre.
03:18 Weird.
03:19 And then they closed off, like, part of the top, like most of the top,
03:23 but, like, parts of it were open.
03:24 And, like, they couldn't fill that for WSU and Boise State.
03:28 And there's so much alumni here for that.
03:30 I think the only college team that could probably fill up Spokane is, I mean,
03:34 definitely is Gonzaga.
03:36 Yeah.
03:36 No, and I understand that, but, like, you know, if you're a fan that's going
03:41 to the game, like, you want to see somebody else besides Pepperdine,
03:44 not that it gets them, but you just, you know.
03:46 After the game, an article came out saying that everyone really liked the reaction
03:52 to it and how it went, and they are talking about making this an annual thing,
03:57 but I would imagine if they made it an annual thing it would have to be
04:01 a non-conference game.
04:02 A non-conference, yeah.
04:03 Like, it should, like, maybe you could go, I like playing at HEC Ed,
04:08 but you could say, "All right, UW, let's do Climate Pledge and then Spokane Arena."
04:11 Yeah.
04:12 You know what I mean?
04:13 You just go, "Okay, we'll probably fill up both."
04:15 Yeah.
04:16 And it'll benefit you guys as well, but let's play at Climate Pledge
04:20 and then play here.
04:21 I think that would make sense, too, and both schools would, you know,
04:25 gather a lot of money real quick.
04:26 For sure.
04:28 The problem is when you play over there, and I've seen this, like,
04:33 when we play Portland and sometimes definitely Pepperdine,
04:38 like, they get a little bit testy because all the tickets being bought
04:42 are Gonzaga fans.
04:44 Right.
04:45 But then also you're like, the counter to that is like,
04:47 "Well, you don't sell out anyway, so who cares who buys the tickets?"
04:50 It's like when people boycott, like, Nike.
04:52 "I'm burning your stuff."
04:53 They're like, "You already bought it."
04:54 Right.
04:55 Nobody gets a shit.
04:56 No kidding.
04:57 Yeah.
04:57 You know what I mean?
04:58 Yeah.
04:58 You know, boycotts are what they are.
05:01 You know, they work both ways, but it's still funny when you already
05:03 bought the product.
05:04 They don't give a shit.
05:05 They throw it in their trash.
05:06 They don't care.
05:07 For sure, yeah.
05:08 They're just like, "Okay."
05:10 So, but yeah, overall, good start.
05:14 Going into the San Diego game felt really good.
05:18 They were actually better than I thought coming into it.
05:21 They were 10-6 coming into the game.
05:23 Nine of those wins were at home, so God bless them.
05:26 And Steve Lavin is one of my all-time favorite, like, just college
05:32 basketball dudes because he's always just cool and Southern California guy.
05:36 Yeah.
05:37 You know, he's got the slick back hair and just a cool older guy.
05:42 You know what I mean?
05:43 Like, obviously, he had some good stops.
05:45 He was good at UCLA, St. John's, I think, for a bit.
05:49 They were solid.
05:50 And then he's been in the booth forever.
05:52 Did I tell that?
05:55 I told that Steve Lavin story.
05:57 No, I don't.
05:58 The first time.
05:59 Maybe.
05:59 Yeah, I think I did.
06:00 Anyway, so the last time when I was a freshman, we're playing St. Joe's.
06:05 Okay.
06:06 In Madison Square, first time, first game, career, nervous, whatever.
06:11 And he comes to our shoot-around, which all analysts do.
06:14 Like, he was calling the game that night, I think.
06:16 And they come to your games, and so they kind of get a feel of,
06:19 "What are you running tonight?"
06:20 Which is just what you do if you're calling a game.
06:23 And we do half-quarters during shoot-around.
06:27 You shoot one on each side.
06:29 And if you make two, you call daily double,
06:31 and then you keep track throughout the year.
06:33 But it's a fun thing to do, but also it sounds funny,
06:36 but you never know when you're going to take a half-quarter to win a game.
06:39 You need to have a feel.
06:40 And so it's kind of a practice, like, at least get it on the backboard.
06:43 Right.
06:44 You know what I'm saying?
06:45 You've got to shoot it.
06:46 I prefer banking mine.
06:47 You know what I'm saying?
06:48 You've seen people win games like that.
06:50 Totally.
06:51 I've seen a girl last year at the state championship for 4A,
06:55 caught one from half-court and launched it and won the first-round game.
06:58 You know what I'm saying?
06:59 Like, it happens.
07:00 I used to do it with my AU team, like just half-quarters.
07:03 You know what I mean?
07:04 Anyway, so we're shooting one, and I make one,
07:07 and I'm the young freshman.
07:09 We're like, "Yeah, just celebrating, just joking around."
07:11 It's kind of a joke-around time.
07:12 And he comes over, and he goes, "So what do you get for that?"
07:15 I'm like, "What?"
07:17 And he's like, "You don't get anything?"
07:18 I'm like, "No."
07:20 And he goes, "Well, when I was coaching at UCLA, they gave you 500 bucks."
07:23 And that was before NIL, and he got in trouble for allegations.
07:27 That's funny.
07:28 It's awesome.
07:29 Like, one of the best lines.
07:30 And he winked at me and was kind of serious but laughing.
07:34 It was awesome.
07:35 That's awesome.
07:36 So I was just like, "Yeah, Steve Laven."
07:38 I don't think he's ever told that story, no.
07:39 Yeah, it was pretty funny.
07:40 And so he's always been in my good--he didn't give me $500.
07:45 And there's statute of limitations with him.
07:48 I'm not trying to throw him under the bus, but it was a classic line at the time
07:51 because he was out of coaching.
07:53 That's when you probably had to throw kids money a little bit at UCLA.
07:59 Totally.
08:00 Everybody was doing it, but it was just the perfect line.
08:04 So he gets the San Diego job, and he's trying to turn the program around.
08:09 So like I said, he schedules nine home games.
08:11 Good on you, man.
08:12 They're 10 and 6.
08:14 They have some good players.
08:15 The Deuce Turner kid was good.
08:17 He's averaging like 17, 18 or something like that coming into the game.
08:25 A team that can really--they scored it at a high clip,
08:30 but with only like two or three guys.
08:32 So it wasn't like they're going to space you out and kind of scare you.
08:37 But he was playing like 10--he's been playing like 10 or 12.
08:40 So going in felt good, obviously, heavily favored.
08:45 But again, with this crew this year, if the ball is not going in from the outside,
08:49 we don't look very good sometimes.
08:52 So you're always kind of like, "Well, it might be an interesting one tonight."
08:55 It's more fun to comment.
08:57 I've said that a million times on all my episodes.
08:59 I like the years when we're not winning by 35.
09:02 It is fun, but also I fall asleep on the mic.
09:06 Totally.
09:07 And people--I get it.
09:08 I get it when people at home turn the channel.
09:10 I would too.
09:11 I used to all the time.
09:12 I'm like, "All right, this is dumb."
09:14 Law and order, what's going on?
09:16 Just whatever.
09:17 It really is like a hard time to watch when you are up by that much.
09:23 I will say, though, you and Huddy make it fun to listen to on the radio.
09:27 We try.
09:28 Because sometimes there's nothing to talk about.
09:31 And you guys--I love getting a little insight of your guys'--your conversations.
09:37 I feel like you get a little bit more fly on the wall when the game is just a blowout.
09:41 Yeah.
09:42 We just try to talk like we're just having a beer at a bar.
09:47 I mean, honestly, because it is bad.
09:50 And then--I don't know.
09:51 We try to continue things throughout the season.
09:54 Totally.
09:55 You know what I'm saying?
09:56 So there's a few layers of that.
10:00 But, yeah, it's fun that way.
10:02 But sometimes it's like, "Man, I wish there was a running clock in this crap, man.
10:06 It's just bad.
10:07 It's just bad."
10:09 But, you know, it's a good thing to have this problem, I guess.
10:13 Totally.
10:14 But, yeah, going back to the game, starting out, again, no students.
10:18 And it's like, "Man, how long do these breaks are now, man?"
10:22 Seriously, it's a long time.
10:24 I think they missed four or five games, which is a real thing.
10:28 Obviously, it's cool that other people get to go to the game, and they do feel it.
10:32 And the crowd's not terrible, but it's not as hyped as students.
10:37 You're never going to get that.
10:38 So it's not like a legit criticism.
10:42 It's just the reality.
10:44 But also, you know, always when I do my keys to the game, always create energy.
10:49 You have to create your own energy because it's not coming from the students.
10:53 But I loved our start.
10:56 Graham, again, was fantastic.
10:58 19 points, 8 of 12, 6 rebounds, or 8 rebounds total.
11:04 Really got deep post touches.
11:07 He's doing a good job of countering as well instead of just going to a left-hand turnaround
11:14 where he's really good at it, but he's getting paint touches where he's getting, like,
11:18 four-foot bankers.
11:20 He countered to one to his right hand, you know, so he showed that instead of always going middle
11:24 or right shoulder, left hand jump hook.
11:27 You know, and he's shown that he could be a, you know, WCC MVP type player,
11:35 and we needed low post scoring.
11:37 Not that he wasn't doing it early, but I'm just saying his attitude
11:41 and his emotional fortitude or whatever, like his oomph, it looks better.
11:48 And that usually, you know, when you're projecting that and you really truly are confident,
11:54 basketball gods, things will come your way.
11:56 You know, the ball will bounce your way.
11:58 You'll get bigger game.
11:59 It's just a karma, basketball karma rule.
12:02 Like if you are confident and you assert your will, normally things go your way,
12:07 and I think he's starting to do that.
12:10 You know, it's going to really help us if he can continue to score like that,
12:15 but it just gives us foul pressure.
12:18 And then the way we've shot the last two games, the double-team stuff--oops, dropped my pen--
12:25 will be not as effective if we can score, if that makes sense.
12:30 Well, I was going to say, like, so last year, like, Drew Timmy was always down low on the post,
12:36 and like that opened up scoring on the outside, correct?
12:39 And I think what I'm trying to understand is like when he gets it up higher,
12:44 like gets it like that, there's percentages that go down,
12:46 and he just can't make mid-range shots as well as he can underneath the hoop, right?
12:50 Yeah.
12:51 And like what pushes him out more?
12:53 I know it's the defense, but like you've just got to assert your dominance.
12:56 Is that what you're saying?
12:57 Yeah.
12:58 No, I mean if you're a good coach and a good staff and you scout, you probably go, "Okay."
13:06 You know, and there's--I think Divix used to do it, but I'm sure there's another company,
13:11 and they probably make millions of dollars.
13:14 Same for football where they--probably you give them your film,
13:17 and then they chart everything for you, like AI or whatever,
13:21 and show, okay, your percentages from 8 to 12 and then 12 to 18, things of that nature.
13:28 So then as an opposing coach, I'm telling all my bigs,
13:32 you've got to try to stand them up early is the term,
13:35 and so he can't get deep post touches.
13:38 Now what happens is if you're smart, every time a guy's chugging you early,
13:43 you'll show your hands and show it to the ref
13:46 and then kind of bump in and smart, that creates foul pressure.
13:48 So it's not as easy as it seems because freedom of movement,
13:53 and it's the right thing in basketball, is an emphasis.
13:56 It should be in the high school level as well, that if you're cutting somewhere,
14:02 you're allowed to move with some resistance,
14:05 but I can't just push you off your line every single time because that was 20 years ago.
14:10 And it's still in college basketball, but they changed it in the NBA,
14:14 and it's been filtering down.
14:16 It's so much better game because it's supposed to be free-flowing movement,
14:19 not just I can push you and then make you stand out on the three-point line.
14:23 That's not the game.
14:25 So my point is if you're defending him, you have to try to get him to get his catches at 12, 15 feet.
14:33 Even if he does his--because then if he does his bounce-down stuff,
14:37 which he's good at, that gives you time to do your double-team stuff
14:41 or funnel him to his right hand.
14:43 If he's at 8 feet, he doesn't have to take a bounce-down,
14:47 and he can turn and go without a dribble, or it's one dribble, he's already to a shot,
14:52 so then your double's got to come early.
14:54 That's when you cut on the weak side and you fill.
14:57 So low paint touches for him are super important.
15:04 And it's not like he can't make those, but again,
15:06 his percentages are way better when it's 8 feet and in.
15:10 That's everybody.
15:11 That's not like a big take, but some guys just aren't as good out on the perimeter.
15:18 Not that he can't do it, but he's way better inside.
15:21 He's got a nice touch.
15:24 And when a big's further out, that pushes the rest of the team out, correct?
15:29 Yeah, exactly, and that's spacing too.
15:31 Yeah, you're exactly right.
15:32 I mean just having that body out at that spot is different.
15:37 We used to do a lot of let a guy front you high, and then we flash and do high low.
15:43 We do a little bit now, but it wasn't as prevalent when we had like Shimmy and Wilch
15:47 and Sabonis and then even like remember Rui in BC would do that.
15:52 We just don't have that type of lineup as much anymore.
15:55 We don't emphasize it.
15:56 I'm sure if we had those type of bigs, we would.
16:00 So sometimes you invite it like, "Yeah, go ahead, deny me out here,"
16:03 and head turn, it's called a leg whip, flash, boom, layup, and then you get out of it.
16:09 It's called a front, right, if that makes sense.
16:12 It does, yeah.
16:13 So I was really impressed again with his game.
16:17 Nembhard was fantastic 6 of 10, 4 of 5 from 3, so he was 6 of 8 on the weekend,
16:25 which is a great, obviously, percentage, but for him, for confidence-wise,
16:30 behind the arc is absolutely fantastic.
16:34 He slowed down and he shot it with confidence.
16:38 I think the biggest thing for me when I see him shooting 3s is just being on balance.
16:45 Like sometimes he's taking some earlier this year where he's kind of leaning
16:48 or it's rushed.
16:49 He took ones where his feet set, shoulder width apart,
16:53 like all the fundamental stuff held his follow through,
16:55 but sometimes you have to go back to the basics
16:59 and really like will them in.
17:01 That's another basketball term.
17:03 And he did that.
17:04 It was 4 of 5, like I mentioned, so it was a great shooting weekend for him.
17:08 18 points, and then Nolan was fantastic 6 of 13, 3 of 8 from downtown,
17:13 which is a fine percentage, 17 points.
17:17 So our backcourt really did a good job of scoring the basketball
17:21 and doing the things that they needed to do for us to be successful.
17:27 Huge number for us, and it's kind of been a weird one this year,
17:32 27 assists, only 9 turnovers.
17:37 Now the turnovers haven't--they've been an issue in the second half,
17:41 and I covered that probably like three episodes ago.
17:44 Michaelson brought it up in one of our post-game interviews,
17:46 and I was like, "Oh, yeah, I didn't even see that."
17:49 Obviously he knows, but you know what I mean?
17:51 I'm like, "Oh, yeah, the second-half turnovers are the ones that are killing you."
17:55 But our assist numbers have been kind of down compared to last year.
17:58 We haven't had like a big 20-assist-plus game, you know what I mean?
18:03 And that was nice to see, not that the ball has been sticky,
18:06 but it means that obviously guys were making shots,
18:08 and then it was just pinging all around the place.
18:13 So I was really excited to see that.
18:16 Obviously Ben Gregg with his career high off the bench, 22 points, 8 of 15,
18:20 2 of 6 from downtown, 6 rebounds--or excuse me, 7 rebounds, fantastic, 4 steals.
18:28 We had 14 that game.
18:29 That's a crazy number to even think about, 14 steals, you know what I mean?
18:35 But his energy has been fantastic the last month or so.
18:40 He's always been a good energy guy, but now he's starting to score the basketball,
18:45 put together high-level games.
18:48 I think he's in the more trusted area of the third big before Braden.
18:54 Braden's been good.
18:57 What did he do that game?
18:58 4, 5, 9 points.
18:59 All right, he played all right.
19:01 5 rebounds.
19:02 But I think just Ben's energy and all those things,
19:06 the three-point shooting ability is going to give him more opportunity
19:09 to play more minutes.
19:11 And it was one of those games where he played 25 minutes.
19:14 Obviously it was a blowout, but if it was closer,
19:16 he would have played more, you know what I'm saying?
19:18 Those minutes would have remained the same.
19:19 If he gives you that opportunity when you come off the bench
19:22 and you get rolling, he'll play you more.
19:25 You know what I mean?
19:26 You've got to be productive.
19:28 It's a hard role to play if you don't have that mindset
19:32 that you have to be completely downhill at all times
19:34 because your minutes are short.
19:36 But if you can get rolling, you'll stay in the game,
19:38 and you're kind of an X factor.
19:42 However good you play is just gravy on top or whatever.
19:47 So I was really impressed with him, obviously.
19:49 Really impressed with how we shot the basketball 56%,
19:52 39-69, and then 10-23, 43.5%.
19:57 So 18, what's 23 plus 19, 42, 52?
20:07 Sorry, I'm doing the math on top of my head.
20:10 I can't--or we were 8 and 19 plus 23.
20:14 Yeah, it's like--
20:15 42, right?
20:16 42, yeah.
20:17 So 18 and 42 is like 47%.
20:19 So a good shooting weekend, and I've talked about that before,
20:25 that we don't have to be elite,
20:27 but we just got to get the good at three-point shooting.
20:30 We weren't good before.
20:32 Now two games doesn't solve anything,
20:35 but to get something going, you have to start somewhere.
20:39 Start somewhere, yeah, exactly.
20:40 Exactly.
20:41 So I think we're on the right track.
20:45 Really excited how this team looks.
20:51 Right now we're 23 in the AP, 21 in the coaches,
20:54 and then 45 in the nets.
20:55 We jumped up a little bit in the net.
20:58 We're going to talk about the net ranking here shortly
21:00 with the rest of the WCC, how that looks going.
21:04 The rest of the year, obviously, there's that Kentucky game,
21:07 but what we can expect as a fan base,
21:11 kind of behind the curtain on the numbers
21:14 and what the NCAA Tournament Committee looks for in teams.
21:19 So we've moved up, and again, Coach Few does an excellent job
21:24 of reminding people all the time,
21:26 and I think some people have rolled their eyes at it,
21:28 but he's exactly right.
21:30 We like winning West Coast Conference championships.
21:32 Winning your league is a big deal.
21:34 Don't take it for granted.
21:37 Some people are like, "The West Coast Conference sucks."
21:40 Well, it's been a two- or three-bid league for about five years,
21:43 so it's not that bad.
21:45 Now I get it.
21:46 It's not the Power Five, and people--
21:48 but if you looked in the backside of the Pac-12
21:51 for the last five years, it's been really bad.
21:53 The back end of it is awful.
21:56 So when people are like, "Well, you've got to play Pacifics."
22:00 Well, Cal sucks for years.
22:03 You know what I mean?
22:04 Been in the 300s for Nets, so what does that mean?
22:07 It's the same thing.
22:08 We're playing one of the bad teams or whatever,
22:10 Net ranking-wise, so it's not our fault.
22:14 But it is fair to say, with BYU leaving,
22:18 the league is not as strong.
22:20 Obviously, St. Mary's is a good club.
22:22 San Francisco is having a good season this year.
22:27 But it's one of those where if we handle business
22:34 and play like we just showed, we could go 14-2, 15-1,
22:39 and 16-0 or whatever.
22:40 You know what I'm saying?
22:41 That's a legit possibility.
22:44 Now Santa Clara on the road coming up on Thursday
22:47 is going to be an interesting one.
22:50 They're 103 in the Net, so okay, I guess.
22:55 If you're close to 100 and down, it's considered decent.
23:02 I think their students will be back.
23:03 I hope they are because they have one of the best
23:05 student sections.
23:06 They call them the Rough Riders or something.
23:09 I think it's a pretty small gym too.
23:10 It's a tiny gym. It's awesome.
23:12 It's a cool, small one that was built the right way.
23:17 It feels like you're sunken down a little bit,
23:20 and it's just really small.
23:22 And then the student section probably only comes
23:24 to that game in the St. Mary's one.
23:26 But they do a funny thing.
23:27 I don't know if they do it anymore,
23:29 which is a dumb culture thing now that you can't do anything
23:34 that's funny, but they used to have a curtain,
23:36 and then every time you shot free throws,
23:38 they would open the curtain and be a guy in a Speedo
23:40 dancing funny.
23:41 You know what I'm saying?
23:42 Probably somebody's like, "That's inappropriate."
23:44 I'm like, "Come on, man.
23:45 We're just kids having fun."
23:47 That is fun.
23:48 You know what I'm saying?
23:49 It's just kids having fun.
23:51 And then they usually do a good job with the chance,
23:53 and then they're pretty dialed in on what's going on.
23:58 They always do a weird chant like Gonzaga's a safe school
24:03 because apparently Santa Clara is one of the hardest ones
24:05 to get into, so they always make fun of the Gonzaga kids.
24:11 It's the easier one to get into, and I'm always like,
24:14 "Wow, we're getting into the real nitty-gritty here."
24:18 If you got into any of these Jesuit schools,
24:20 you're probably a smart human being just on grades
24:25 or whatever, SATs and stuff.
24:27 But that should be a good game.
24:29 It'll be interesting to see how we play on the road.
24:32 We didn't win at Washington.
24:34 That was our true road game.
24:37 So it'll be a big test for us.
24:38 And like I said, they get a pretty good fan base,
24:41 and they usually play us pretty tough at home.
24:47 And then Herbst-Sindick does a good job of finding
24:50 transfer portal guys.
24:52 They're the school.
24:54 Those type of schools, I think St. Mary's could get
24:58 into this classification.
25:00 Santa Clara, I think San Diego can do it.
25:05 You could probably do pretty well and improve your club
25:08 every year through the portal.
25:10 And what I mean is, all right, you can find a kid
25:13 that's maybe at the bottom end of a Power 5 team
25:16 that's not playing a lot but was talented in high school
25:19 and just hasn't got an opportunity.
25:22 Come to campus, and then you just go,
25:25 "Look how sunny and nice it is."
25:27 You know what I'm saying?
25:28 Those type of schools can easily, I think,
25:31 recruit those type of kids.
25:32 Be like, "Hey, man, the last two years you want to play
25:35 "in sunshine, and when you're walking around campus,
25:38 "there's beautiful people walking around."
25:40 You know what I'm saying?
25:41 That's a real thing.
25:42 And so I think those schools have that opportunity
25:45 and Santa Clara's done that.
25:46 He did it with that Pazinski kid or whatever his name is.
25:49 He's literally playing 25 minutes a night
25:51 for the Warriors now, and he was good last year.
25:55 I really liked his game.
25:56 I was like, "Oh, who the heck is this?"
25:58 He played five minutes a game at Illinois the year before.
26:01 It's crazy how fit matters.
26:03 Just people that are listening, it happens in football
26:06 and it happens in basketball all the time.
26:08 Fit, style is a real thing.
26:10 He literally couldn't get on the court for Illinois,
26:13 who was good but not world beaters,
26:15 and it's not like they had McDonald's All-Americans
26:17 in front of them.
26:18 He goes to Santa Clara, becomes All-WCC,
26:20 and literally the next year or so, in two years,
26:23 he goes from like, "That kid sucks.
26:25 "He's on the end of the bench," to he's playing heavy minutes
26:28 for the Golden State Warriors.
26:29 - That's crazy. - It's crazy.
26:31 But it's his fit.
26:32 - That's a great recruiting tool, too,
26:33 if you can have a player do that.
26:37 - No, absolutely.
26:38 And then, like I said, you come into a recruiting visit
26:42 and you were somewhere else,
26:44 and it's like Santa Clara's campus is unbelievable.
26:47 - I gotta imagine it's probably a little bit better
26:49 than Champaign, Illinois.
26:51 - Yeah, yeah, exactly, yeah.
26:53 But it's just a beautiful campus, and like I said,
26:56 beautiful people, you get what I'm saying?
26:59 - Yeah, totally. - It's just a real thing,
27:01 and you're just like, "Oh, my God."
27:04 So yeah, Santa Clara's had a good year.
27:06 They're 10 and six hundred--or, excuse me, yeah,
27:08 10 and six, 103 in the net.
27:11 - The perimeter will be right back
27:13 after a word from our sponsor.
27:15 - Hey, it's Olive.
27:17 I just got my first ICCU debit card.
27:20 Now I just need some money in my account.
27:22 If only there was someone who could transfer in some allowance.
27:26 Wow.
27:28 - 603 in the net.
27:32 I mentioned earlier, we're talking about the net rankings
27:34 for WCC, so Gonzaga's number one, 45,
27:37 San Francisco right behind us at 46,
27:39 St. Mary's at 50, so then this is where it gets gross.
27:43 LMU, 211, San Diego, 224,
27:46 Pepperdine, 242, Portland, 280,
27:49 Pacific, 353.
27:52 So to give a little bit of context,
27:54 if people listen and don't understand,
27:56 the net ranking is like your schedule,
27:58 the strength of schedule, who you beat,
28:04 who other teams beat, the common opponents,
28:07 and then winning margin,
28:09 and then there's even weird defensive ratings
28:13 and offensive ratings that are considered
28:15 in some of the Ken Palm stuff as well.
28:17 So I remember there was a deal five or six years ago,
28:20 Phoebe was telling me, just randomly,
28:23 I didn't even ask him about it,
28:25 but he was talking about in all these blowouts,
28:29 when he put in the walk-ons,
28:32 their rebounding margin would be like 18
28:36 and then it would shrink to like 12.
28:38 And he was getting upset about it
28:40 because there's a weird defensive rating
28:42 that goes into--
28:44 it's not going to make your thing drop a ton,
28:46 but it's also like, hey,
28:48 teams that get number one seeds
28:50 or number two seeds are usually in this graph
28:53 and there's data.
28:54 And so it's one of those where like,
28:56 do you want to leave the walk-ons out there,
28:59 but you're up 35,
29:01 and then maybe get a guy hurt for not?
29:03 But then also you're still coaching
29:05 when those kids are in,
29:06 you're like, come on, box out.
29:08 Because usually other teams leave their guys in
29:12 until the last two minutes
29:14 if they're getting blowed out.
29:15 So your starters, if they had a bad game,
29:18 can maybe feel a little bit better about it.
29:20 You know what I'm saying?
29:21 It's a building.
29:23 So getting back to the net,
29:24 like LMU, San Diego, Pepperdine, Portland, Pacific,
29:28 unless something drastically changed,
29:31 those wins, if we get them, quote unquote,
29:35 are not going to help us in the net ranking in theory.
29:39 So it's kind of like a throwback year for the WCC.
29:42 Now I just referenced like 10 years ago,
29:45 it's a three bid, two big league,
29:47 but with BYU leaving,
29:48 it's kind of gone back to where,
29:54 in my era, we used to play a crazy non-conference
29:57 because we kind of had to.
29:59 And then our RPI would be good.
30:01 It was RPI back then,
30:02 and then it would just slowly,
30:03 even if you were winning,
30:04 just slowly hit the tank.
30:06 I know that's happened on the girls' side a ton.
30:08 Like the girls' side has had to play crazy non-conferences,
30:13 and then they get in the league,
30:14 and they'll be in the 30s or whatever,
30:16 and then they'll still win,
30:18 and just go, and then they're in the 50s,
30:21 and then they get screwed, get an eight seed.
30:22 You know what I mean?
30:23 It's like, man, they want to get off that eight, nine line
30:25 so you don't have to play a one.
30:27 You know what I mean?
30:28 You get to that seven and below
30:29 so you can have a chance to get out of that first weekend.
30:31 Not to say they couldn't beat a one,
30:32 you know what I'm saying?
30:33 But you have a better chance to get off that eight, nine line,
30:35 but it's the formula of the league.
30:37 It's not their fault.
30:39 So it's interesting how different the league
30:46 is going to look this year with those bottom,
30:49 what is that, five, six teams that are not very good?
30:52 - Yeah, I mean, obviously, they're going to be,
30:57 I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch,
30:59 but I feel like they're wins.
31:00 But at the end of the season,
31:03 outside of us, Gonzaga, losing in the tournament,
31:07 do you think St. Mary's or San Francisco
31:10 could be an out-large bid?
31:12 - That's a really good question.
31:14 - I guess it depends on their,
31:16 they would probably have to beat us.
31:18 - Yeah, exactly.
31:19 If you're them, 'cause San Francisco's 11-4 right now,
31:23 46, like I mentioned, in the net,
31:25 50 for St. Mary's in the net, 10 and six.
31:28 They'd have to have some signature wins,
31:30 and those would only be Gonzaga,
31:32 and then they got to hope that we continue to play well.
31:35 So I guess what I'm getting to is,
31:39 obviously, we got to take care of business,
31:42 and we want to win league,
31:43 and if you win the league tournament,
31:46 obviously, you're an automatic,
31:47 but that's a long way to go, a lot of episodes to get through.
31:50 - Yeah, there's a lot.
31:51 - But it's not where, like, years past,
31:54 where San Francisco and St. Mary's were in the mid-30s,
31:59 and then you had BYU that was probably in the mid-30s.
32:02 So if you got those three wins,
32:04 you could put them on a resume and be like,
32:07 "Hey, that's a quad one win."
32:09 So that counts.
32:12 So when we get to that game with Kentucky in February,
32:16 it's going to be an important one.
32:17 - Totally.
32:18 - It's going to be a tall task, obviously, going to rep,
32:20 and we'll dive into that one big time.
32:22 But a little bit of a down year, if you're being honest,
32:25 with the data from the West Coast Conference,
32:29 but we'll see how it goes.
32:31 - There's a lot to tell.
32:32 I was just looking at the schedules,
32:34 and I was like, "Well, maybe San Francisco
32:38 "is a lot better this year,"
32:40 and then I just looked at their last game.
32:42 They went into overtime against Pacific.
32:44 - Yeah.
32:45 - And Pacific is--
32:46 - Is 353.
32:47 - And that's literally, like,
32:48 the last team on the net rankings.
32:50 - Well, the league is always like that, though.
32:52 - Yeah, it is.
32:53 - It's so weird.
32:54 Like, BYU could never beat Pepperdine.
32:56 - Oh, yeah.
32:57 - Remember that?
32:58 - Yeah, that's true, yeah.
32:59 - Just literally couldn't beat them,
33:00 but then they were always a tough out,
33:01 and then they would blow out St. Mary's.
33:03 You know what I'm saying?
33:04 It's just always the league.
33:05 We would jump out to leads,
33:07 and then they would just, at the bottom,
33:09 they would just beat the crap out of each other.
33:11 It was just always like--
33:12 - Totally.
33:13 - A lot of it is obviously matchups and styles,
33:16 but yeah, it's just a random--
33:18 Like, the league is just so wacky sometimes.
33:20 It just doesn't make sense.
33:21 Like, LMU almost got St. Mary's, I think,
33:23 the other night, or San Francisco.
33:25 It was like a one-point game with three minutes to go.
33:27 You know, you're just like,
33:28 "What the hell's going on here?"
33:30 But it's just-- it's a wacky league sometimes,
33:33 and-- but yeah, good start for us, 2-0.
33:38 You know--
33:39 - Is this our one bye week this--
33:41 - No, there's two.
33:42 - There's two, okay.
33:43 - There's two, so we have this one on Saturday.
33:45 So no game, obviously, Saturday.
33:46 So we play the one game against Santa Clara,
33:48 then come back, and then there's another one.
33:50 You get two weeks off-- or two slots off.
33:53 - Okay.
33:55 - And the other one's the Kentucky.
33:57 - Oh, okay, yeah.
33:58 - Yeah, that's-- that's--
33:59 - Oh, that's what it is.
34:00 - And they did that to allow people to schedule another one,
34:02 so Phewy took that one and is doing the Kentucky one.
34:04 - Ah, so we took-- so we lost BYU,
34:06 and so everyone got in.
34:07 - Everybody got in, yeah,
34:08 and went back to even-- even number, whatever.
34:11 I just don't get the travel still.
34:13 I just don't-- it doesn't make sense to me.
34:14 We used to do travel partners.
34:15 I know this is not riveting stuff,
34:17 but, like, you'd play LMU Pepperdine,
34:20 and then you'd play-- it was Santa Clara, St. Mary's,
34:24 because they were in the same area.
34:25 - Yeah.
34:26 - And then you'd play San Diego.
34:27 Usually it was your off one,
34:29 or you did that with St. Mary's.
34:33 You know what I mean?
34:34 Like, you did one--
34:35 so, like, you would go to one spot for four days.
34:37 It was awesome.
34:38 - Yeah.
34:39 - But it just, like-- I don't understand, like,
34:41 why they'd want teams to go one place day to night
34:43 pay for a flight, commercial or not,
34:46 and then have to come back,
34:47 and it's like adding an extra two flights per trip,
34:51 and that costs money, right?
34:52 - It does, yeah.
34:53 - Obviously, so, like, I just don't understand.
34:55 - Yeah, it makes sense to go to Santa Clara,
34:58 then go to San Francisco.
34:59 - Yeah, exactly.
35:00 We would go to Santa Clara, San Francisco,
35:02 then St. Mary's, San Diego, or whatever,
35:07 or, you know, but you'd just stay in the Bay Area
35:09 the whole time.
35:10 - Yeah.
35:11 - And then you'd go LMU Pepperdine,
35:12 you'd stay at the one hotel, you'd play LMU,
35:14 and then you'd take PCH for the next game,
35:16 you'd take a bus and then drive back
35:18 and then fly out the next day.
35:19 It's just so much better playing-wise,
35:21 and then obviously, commentating,
35:22 you just got to be in one place for four days was nice.
35:25 - That is nice, yeah.
35:26 - But, you know, overall, good start to the weekend--
35:30 or to the conference.
35:33 You know, really excited about the three-point shooting.
35:35 I know that's been a big topic, and I'm not gonna, like--
35:38 if we have a bad one again,
35:39 it's not gonna be the end of the world,
35:41 but we're trending in the right direction,
35:44 and guys are playing with confidence.
35:46 The energy was fantastic.
35:47 Against Pepperdine, set the tone,
35:50 and then, like I said, it's a lot easier
35:52 when the ball's going through the rim,
35:53 everybody starts feeling better about themselves.
35:55 So overall, I think we're headed in the right direction.
35:59 Sky's not falling anymore.
36:01 - Totally, yeah.
36:02 - 9-4, people are losing their minds,
36:04 and I understand it to a certain degree,
36:07 but also it's like, hey, this is a new crew.
36:09 Sometimes it takes a little bit longer
36:12 for people to find their roles and all those things,
36:15 and then, you know, guys get more comfortable.
36:19 Nembhard, great weekend, hopefully continues,
36:23 creep up that three-point percentage,
36:25 but also, like, just his pace was better.
36:29 That makes sense.
36:30 Like, he's gotta push the ball,
36:31 what he's been doing with some times,
36:32 it's like, you know, the four out of five times take it,
36:38 but the fifth swing it or something.
36:40 You know what I'm saying?
36:41 And it's not a knock.
36:42 He plays fast, and he plays super downhill,
36:44 and has been passing the ball fantastically.
36:46 Sometimes it's like, eh, he probably should have not.
36:49 It's a reverse dribble crossover
36:50 and throw it to the next guy, you know what I mean?
36:52 You can't always break down the defense and have success.
36:57 But again, it was nice to see him make shots,
36:59 Nolan Hickman getting back into that groove as well,
37:02 making threes, and it's gonna be a huge deal for us.
37:07 Just overall, schematically.
37:09 - And winning in consistency is really gonna help this team come March.
37:13 So, that is always--and that's always kind of been Gonzaga.
37:17 - Yeah.
37:18 - Always have a couple tough games in the beginning of the season
37:20 and then get in the WCC and start winning.
37:23 - Well, and if we're being completely honest,
37:25 losing to Purdue and UConn is not a bad thing.
37:29 - Right.
37:30 - I think, especially the Purdue game,
37:32 we had a chance to win that--
37:33 or extend that lead in the first half,
37:35 and then we just literally had that 0-for-16 stretch from three.
37:39 I think UConn just outmatched us.
37:42 I don't think we had a chance in that game, and that's not a knock,
37:44 but just looking at their personnel when we got in that game,
37:47 it was like, "Uh-oh."
37:48 I think Purdue we could have got,
37:50 but UConn after the first 10 minutes, it was like,
37:53 "It's gonna be hard."
37:55 You know what I mean?
37:56 Just long, athletic, big.
37:57 It's just like, "This team's pretty good."
38:00 So, again, excited for the rest of the WCC play.
38:04 Santa Clara's gonna be a fun environment.
38:07 Hopefully, Grammy-K can continue to play well.
38:09 It's another road game test for us.
38:11 Obviously, we didn't pass the first one against UW.
38:14 Like I said, I hope their students are there.
38:16 It's more fun that way.
38:18 And hopefully, we continue to win and continue to improve
38:21 and watch this team grow a little bit
38:24 and get into their roles a little bit more.
38:27 And it was nice having some blowouts, too,
38:30 so we didn't have to look at Hickman and Nembhard
38:33 playing 40 straight minutes.
38:35 That's a nice thing as well.
38:39 Nembhard played 34, then Hickman 31 against San Diego,
38:43 and then 32 and 31, respectively, in the Pepperdine game.
38:49 So I think they're much more productive
38:52 when they're in the 33 to 35 range.
38:54 And I know that sounds kind of funny,
38:56 but I think an extra five minutes of rest is a real thing,
39:01 especially when you're playing defense.
39:03 You know what I'm saying?
39:05 I played 38 my junior year, 39, sometimes 40,
39:09 but I didn't play as solid a defense.
39:11 I know that sounds funny, but I took plays off,
39:13 not just letting guys score, but I saved steps.
39:16 All right, I'm not going to fight over the top of this screen.
39:19 I'm just going to go under.
39:21 You know what I mean?
39:22 If a guy hits a jumper, good job.
39:24 You know what I mean?
39:25 But you have to save steps if you're going on the other end of the floor.
39:28 They play so downhill, and they're just very--
39:31 I imagine having a little five-minute break a couple times,
39:37 or a couple times a game, it really helps out.
39:39 Yeah, like a two-minute each half.
39:42 That's all you need.
39:43 Obviously, that's four, but two and change.
39:46 And then it allows June and Dusty, I think, to play a little bit.
39:49 Or those minutes go to Ben Greig or Braden,
39:53 but Ben Greig probably right now is the front-runner
39:55 to gobble up some of those extra runs.
39:57 Go from 14 to 18 to 20 consistently just because he's playing so well
40:01 with so much energy.
40:04 But, yeah, it was cool for him to have that career high.
40:06 And, you know, he's always doing all this stuff and flexing and stuff.
40:13 He's a nice kid too.
40:14 I like Ben, but it's like, "Hey, good job, Ben."
40:18 But, yeah, what do we got next week?
40:21 So we're going to have that break,
40:23 and then we'll break down the next two games in WCC
40:26 and get everybody going for what's going to continue.
40:31 When you guys are talking on the radio against Pepperdine,
40:35 I'm excited to hear about your little train trip.
40:38 Oh, yeah.
40:41 That was actually a good recommendation
40:43 because it's better than fighting traffic.
40:45 That drive can suck.
40:47 If anybody's ever done L.A. to San Diego, it can be bad.
40:50 I think it's the 405.
40:53 You're just flipping a coin, or you have to leave at like 1130,
40:56 and then you've got to pray to God there's no construction or something.
40:59 But, yeah, the train, that would be fun.
41:01 I haven't taken an Amtrak in forever.
41:03 I've never done it.
41:04 You've never done it?
41:05 Uh-uh, I want to.
41:06 It's kind of like your civil duty as an American.
41:07 You're like, "Take public transportation every once in a while."
41:11 I wish it was better.
41:12 I wish we--not to get into political rant,
41:14 but like Japan and all these other countries
41:17 have like the light rails that are free energy.
41:20 I wonder why we don't have it here.
41:23 You know what I'm saying?
41:24 It's just like--you know how nice it would be to have that option,
41:28 like a bullet train that can go 150 miles an hour or whatever, like safe,
41:32 like they have in Germany and all across Europe?
41:34 Yeah.
41:35 Airline tickets would go down dramatically
41:38 because you would have that option to be like,
41:40 "Hey, I can get to Seattle in six hours or four in a train."
41:45 Instead of paying $250 for a flight, I pay for $100.
41:48 You know what I mean?
41:49 I'd do that sometimes.
41:50 Why not?
41:51 I would absolutely, yeah.
41:52 You're just like driving, but you don't have to drive at the same--
41:54 I'm talking about the same amount of time.
41:55 You can zone out, like, "Heck yeah."
41:58 But that's another deal.
42:00 Totally.
42:01 We're not Fox or MSNBC, so we're not even going to try.
42:06 Yeah, anyway.
42:07 Thank you to our sponsors, McGill for Environmental,
42:09 Idaho Central Credit Union, and HDG Architecture.
42:13 Thanks for listening.
42:14 Join us next time.
42:15 ♪♪♪