Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / Tommy Birch on the Cubs & Cyclones women's hoops, Scott Agness previews Caitlyn & the Fever & Trent's Picks

Transcript

Tommy Birch on the Cubs & Cyclones women's hoops, Scott Agness previews Caitlyn & the Fever & Trent's Picks · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

0:04
I'm Melody Connor, Welcome back, Iowa Sports Radio Network.
0:07
Trent and I with you until the top of the hour, just a little
0:11
bit beforehand off the bench at that time, Lucas Strange, Sean
0:14
Roberts, take you until 5:00. Coming up momentarily, Tommy
0:18
Birch, our friend from the Des Moines Register.
0:20
We'll talk to Tommy and then we'll talk to Scott.
0:22
Agnes, look inside the WNBA with their new collective bargaining
0:26
agreement, the Fever, etcetera as we put Lucas Strain in his
0:30
place and recame the title here. Much coveted title.
0:33
Oh yeah, I didn't know this Mr. WNBA.
0:36
Are you gonna go downstairs and play a little weak golf tried to
0:39
make the cut. Did you see that e-mail from
0:40
Lucas? He brought in his old Wii.
0:42
No, I don't get, I don't get the emails.
0:44
You do. I don't.
0:45
You don't open them. You don't check your e-mail.
0:47
That's it. That's what it is.
0:50
So what? What's downstairs?
0:52
Video game system where you know, we golf where it's you
0:54
actually have to kind of swing the club to it and see how you
0:57
can do. I'd like to see it told.
0:58
You. I played Pac-Man once.
1:00
Once. It's the only game I ever
1:02
played. That was no.
1:03
That's not true. I shot the Ducks.
1:04
OK, Duck hunt. Duck hunt.
1:06
Yes, Maybe twice. That's a classic.
1:08
That is a classic. Let's get Tommy Birch in.
1:10
Here he played some duck. I bet he did.
1:12
Back in the day. Hello Birchy, how are you?
1:15
I'm good. You know what's funny is I've
1:17
got an old school arcade Pac-Man machine in my office.
1:22
Wow. Nice.
1:23
It was a birthday gift from my wife a couple years ago.
1:26
She not only bought it. Yeah, she put it together.
1:29
Wow, impressive. She's handy.
1:32
That's a keeper there. Right?
1:34
Exactly. Right.
1:35
Got every guy's. Got to have one of those.
1:37
I've got one. You've got 1.
1:38
You married 1. Trent married 10.
1:41
Absolutely. No, I have no problem saying
1:43
that either, at least in my. House no my limitations.
1:45
Absolutely good stuff, Tommy. Lots of ground to cover.
1:48
You know, I want to start Iowa State women with you.
1:51
We know that. Addie Brown, I think I saw the
1:53
list. Vanderbilt, correct me if I'm
1:55
wrong, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame in Oklahoma are the three visits
1:58
she has scheduled, but nothing so far on Audie Crooks, unless
2:03
you've seen something that I've missed as far as you know, where
2:06
potentially she's going to visit.
2:08
What are you hearing on that front when it comes to Audie
2:10
Crooks and where she'll at least take a visit?
2:13
Yeah, I mean, it wouldn't surprise me if someplace like
2:16
Oklahoma or Texas Tech, obviously Texas Tech has a ton
2:21
of money to spend. And you know, I think when it
2:23
comes to Audie Crooks situation is, you know, you got to
2:27
maximize how much money you're going to make during this short
2:30
term because there are so many question marks about whether or
2:33
not she can play at the WNBA level.
2:35
You know, I think she could possibly go overseas and make
2:39
some money, Who knows? You know her there are certainly
2:42
questions and and concerns when it comes to her game, but and
2:47
how it may translate to the next level.
2:49
So I think one of the biggest reasons why I came to Audi
2:53
crooks entering the transfer portal was look, I've got one
2:56
more year. I want to capitalize on as much
2:59
capital as I can during this time.
3:01
And look, if you know she would enter, I think I told you guys
3:06
this before she would have entered the the portal last
3:09
year, I'd heard at least a half a million was in place easily.
3:13
So I, I don't think that's changed.
3:17
Maybe it's gotten better. I don't know if it's gotten
3:19
worse, but I think there are tons to to sell when it comes to
3:24
Audi Kirks. Not just from the basketball
3:26
player perspective, but then the marketing of of the person as
3:30
well. On the Iowa State women's
3:33
perspective, they got a lot of holes now to fill and reading
3:37
between the lines and just listening to Jamie Pollard,
3:40
probably not a whole lot of money to do it with.
3:42
What does Bill Fentley have in front of him and what kind of
3:44
spending, what kind of ability are they going to have to go out
3:47
there and get some impact players to help for next season?
3:50
Yeah, I mean, I don't think they're going to have that much
3:52
money to spend when it comes to at least some of the competition
3:56
that they face in the Big 12. I mean, right away I'd mentioned
3:59
tech stack and then, you know, Oklahoma's going to, you know,
4:03
Oklahoma's not in the Big 12 anymore.
4:05
But you know, just teams that they're competing with for
4:08
players are going to have tons of money to offer now.
4:11
You know, I still think there's plenty for for Iowa State to
4:14
offer. You know, 1 is going to be
4:17
playing time what they've got basically.
4:20
And then roster to sell out right now 2, They do have some
4:24
money because suddenly you don't have to pay Audie, correct?
4:27
You don't have to pay Jada Williams, You don't have to pay
4:29
Addie Brown. So they've got some money to
4:31
spend. And I think kind of the lure of
4:35
playing at home Colosseum still means a lot in the women's
4:38
basketball world. Obviously it's not the top
4:41
marquee market or the top, you know, building brand of women's
4:45
basketball anymore and you know, like it, it wasn't ever at the
4:49
very top, but it's so he's been amongst the, you know, most
4:53
popular, I think is safe to say at least in the top 10.
4:57
So it's still a selling point. And you know, let's be honest,
5:02
playing time is is going to be offered to anybody.
5:05
So, you know, I think for I would say they're going to cast
5:09
a very wide net when it comes to what they're looking for and who
5:13
they're looking forward to basically.
5:16
So, you know, number one is you just got to fill a roster.
5:19
You got to have a team. Now you have, man, I'm trying to
5:24
think who three players that are coming back from last year's
5:27
team. Then you have Macy Camito, the
5:29
Carlisle star who's on her way from the high school rig.
5:32
So right now you can't even feel a full team.
5:36
So they got to get that figured out.
5:37
But there are plenty of selling points for for Iowa State moving
5:41
forward. Yeah, including a passionate fan
5:44
base. Clearly or certainly has been up
5:46
to this date. You know, Tommy, last time we
5:48
had you on, I asked you a question and bugged me
5:50
afterwards that I didn't follow up about Bill's lifetime
5:53
contract and the fact that everybody just assumes that it's
5:58
that next year's his final year. How did that how does that match
6:02
up? I mean, does he get to call the
6:03
shot or has he made an announcement that he's going to
6:06
be back for one year's? This purely an assumption, not
6:08
just on I mean, maybe it's not on your part.
6:11
It's certainly on my part that next year was going to be it at
6:14
the time thinking, well, you know, the big three are all
6:17
going to graduate. What a great time for him to
6:19
walk away. Got these through these three
6:22
ladies through to the end of their career.
6:25
Cornerstones of their franchise, of the organization rather.
6:29
But where are we? Maybe in a little ahead of
6:32
ourselves, thinking that next year might be the finale of Bill
6:36
Fennelly's career. Totally.
6:39
I mean we have no idea right now.
6:40
I reached out to Iowa State to try to talk to Jamie Poward and
6:45
ask him that specific question. You know, are we left to assume
6:49
that this is going to be his last year or you know, you had
6:52
said he has earned the right to go on his own terms.
6:54
Does that mean if Bill finally wants a two year contract,
6:58
three-year contract, 10 year contract, whatever it may be
7:02
moving forward, does he get that?
7:03
Does Bill want to coach after this, you know, upcoming season
7:08
and moving forward and stuff like that?
7:10
And, you know, right now, nobody from Iowa State is really saying
7:14
anything. But I think even before this
7:16
situation, it popped up kind of the at least the the common
7:22
thought around the program was that this very well could be
7:26
then the Bill Friendly's time kind of for those reasons that
7:31
you had mentioned. But I think I'd told you this
7:32
before too, where, you know, I just don't know when it comes to
7:36
Bell Friendly because, you know, at one point he had told me,
7:41
look, I promised Bridget Carlton I would be her third thing
7:44
promised Ashley Jones. And I think he he kind of had
7:48
that thought when it came to Audie Crooks.
7:50
You know, I can't say that he isn't going to have that thought
7:53
when it comes to somebody like Macy Camito.
7:55
You know, he made it very clear at the end of the the end C AA
7:59
tournament that you know, he loves coaching, he loves his
8:03
family can be involved. It is a a difficult business
8:08
that has evolved massively from when he first got into it.
8:14
So, you know, I think that leads to the question like, how much
8:17
longer do you want to put yourself through it too?
8:20
No, I think then there's obviously the elephant in the
8:23
room that, you know, I think so many people kind of wonder too,
8:26
you know, when do you want to walk away?
8:28
When your son is on the staff, you know, you want to make sure
8:32
that hillbilly is able to to have a job moving forward,
8:36
whether that be on the next staff as the head coach or, you
8:40
know, an assistant coach, whatever.
8:42
I mean, this not just about family decision, this I got to
8:47
imagine that plays a factor in as well.
8:50
A lot of moving pieces, how quickly visits those kind of
8:53
things, how quickly do you think things are going to be happening
8:56
here and getting this shaped up or Iowa State, what we kind of
8:59
talked about with the financial part of it, are they in a bit
9:02
more of a holding pattern than some other programs that are out
9:04
there? Yeah, I mean, I don't know,
9:07
that's a really good question. It's like I said, you know,
9:10
everybody's kind of being quiet on this entire front.
9:13
But you know, the one thing I do know is it sounds like Ariana
9:16
Jackson is playing a big role in kind of leading the, the, the
9:21
charge and recruiting and pitching some of the, the
9:25
players that they're at least targeting right now.
9:27
So at least they have their, their eyes on some players right
9:31
now. And you know who those players
9:33
are, what level they're at or where they've been before.
9:36
We, we have no idea. But the, the simple thing is
9:40
like, man, they, they just gotta get players and they gotta get
9:42
them fast. Because, you know, I think the
9:45
important thing too is, you know, recruiting is, you know,
9:49
it's, it's so much momentum base where you get one person, then
9:53
you you kind of get some others to follow too.
9:56
You know, when it comes to like, you know, I've always said, you
9:59
know, I remember 1 football, one parent of a football player
10:03
telling me once, like, yeah, my son had no scholarship offers
10:06
for a long time. And we're kind of wondering
10:09
like, why was nobody offering? And part of the reason why is
10:13
other coaches were saying nobody else is offering this kid, why,
10:16
why should we? And then once the first offer
10:19
came in, then suddenly tons more came in.
10:22
So I think it kind of works both ways on that aspect too, where
10:26
if, you know, some players are thinking like, do I want to go
10:29
to Iowa State? Do I now I want to go to Iowa
10:31
State, Why isn't anybody committed yet?
10:33
Why is everybody leaving? And then once they get that
10:36
first commitment, that'll be a huge gift for them.
10:40
Anymore college hoops, right? Let's let's switch over to to
10:43
baseball CS Suzuki apparently going to be activated tomorrow.
10:47
So that would be an roster move would come along with that.
10:50
Tommy, any idea what that would be?
10:52
Suzuki back on the roster. Who do you think is sent down or
10:57
sent out with that corresponding move?
10:59
Any idea? Yeah.
11:02
I mean if they go position player wise it might be
11:05
Conforto. He was good yesterday.
11:09
Yeah, the I will say the tough thing with that is I've heard
11:12
that he has an opt out. So if they end up you know
11:16
trying to to send them back to the minor leagues, he may not
11:19
want to go in the minor leagues and they may know that and say
11:22
like, OK, look, we got to send somebody else down.
11:25
Maybe they send a picture down, you know, but to me that seem
11:29
like the most likely candidate just given the position and in
11:33
playing time and and stuff like that.
11:35
But they could go a different route too.
11:38
Dylan Carlson, maybe? Could be too, but my
11:42
understanding is he probably has an opt out too and that's kind
11:45
of a tough thing when you know it comes to some of these
11:48
veteran bats and guys who end up sticking around is 1.
11:52
They may not have options 2, they may have opt outs and then
11:56
you know, you, you want that veteran depth.
11:58
So I think one of those two guys are certainly options.
12:01
And just because they have opt outs, doesn't one mean that
12:04
they're going to take them or two, you actually care if
12:09
they're going to end up taking the opt out.
12:10
You know, at this point, like you mentioned there, Dylan
12:14
Carlson, I'll be completely honest, I totally forgot that
12:17
he's there because he hasn't played much at all.
12:19
You know what, when he was, when he broke in with Saint Louis, I
12:23
thought, good God, they've got something, didn't you?
12:25
Try Oh yeah, it was sweet looking yes absolutely.
12:28
And he got off to a hot start at memory serves like.
12:30
Twenty home runs or something. And just has not translated at
12:33
this point. Well, a lot of conversation
12:36
about Jackson Wiggins fill us in on the details and potentially
12:39
some movement out of Des Moines and making his way to Chicago.
12:43
Yeah, so actually Jackson Wiggins was scheduled to start
12:48
for the Iowa Cubs tomorrow night.
12:50
He is no longer penciled in to start.
12:53
I have no reason to believe this a call up or anything like that.
12:57
I'm guessing it's at least something, you know, health
13:01
related in some way. This the guy who ended up
13:03
missing a month of part of the season last year and, you know,
13:07
the Cubs never ended up saying what was wrong with him.
13:10
And we only learned what was wrong until Jackson Wiggins came
13:14
to Des Moines. I asked him and he had said, you
13:17
know why I missed that time because I wasn't recovering well
13:20
after one of my starts, we decided to take some time off.
13:24
I wouldn't be surprised if it's along that type of, you know,
13:28
line that we're talking about when what's going on with
13:31
Jackson Wiggins. But I don't believe he's going
13:34
up, but for several reasons. One, I haven't heard anything
13:39
about him potentially going up. And two, he's he's only made a
13:42
handful of starts in AAA. Some of them came last year when
13:46
he was under an extremely tight pitch count and and he's only
13:51
made two starts this year. So I don't like he is anywhere
13:54
close to being ready, but he's definitely going to be a guy to
13:58
keep an eye on. You know, he's drawn so many
14:00
comparisons to to Kate Horton. I think so many people have kind
14:03
of put him on the same timeline kind of, you know, look like
14:06
Kate Horton did last year. I don't think those two guys are
14:11
are that comparable. You know, they do have some of
14:14
the same stuff. You know, Wiggins as probably a
14:17
better fastball is a really good breaking ball.
14:19
I thought Kathy's analysis on him yesterday was spot on.
14:23
But the problem is like he doesn't have the innings that
14:26
that Horton has. He doesn't have the experience
14:29
that Horton has. And I don't know if he has the
14:31
upside that Kate Horton has, you know, 1 scout.
14:34
I talked to that, saw him after one of his starts this season,
14:40
you know, said to me like, yeah, I thought it was fine.
14:43
I think he could be a back end of the rotation guy.
14:45
So he's definitely not a guy that I think you go into his
14:49
thing OK. Jackson Wiggins is going to be
14:53
the guy that saves the day for the Chicago Cubs.
14:56
So I think in the end, what the Cubs are going to have to do is
14:59
they're going to have to go out and make a trade for like a Joe
15:04
Ryan type guy, you know, lost in the shuffle ball list is, you
15:08
know, I've I've said for a long time, I felt like the Cubs never
15:11
addressed what they truly needed in the offseason was a bona fide
15:16
ace on that starting staff. To me, you look at that staff
15:20
and it's a bunch of two threes and fours and they were banking
15:24
the entire season on the idea that everybody was going to Max
15:28
out their potential. And most of these guys haven't
15:31
maxed out their potential. Kate Gordon had, but he had been
15:34
hurt a lot. Show that Imanaga had at times
15:38
but didn't do it for an entire season Boyd has shown it at
15:43
times but didn't do it for an entire season is too.
15:46
You're also counting on Justin Steele when you don't know what
15:49
you're going to get from him coming back from Tommy John's
15:52
surgery. So I think they need to go out
15:54
and get another starting pitcher.
15:56
And the good thing for the Cubs is they still have the assets to
16:00
go out and get whatever they need, whether we're talking
16:04
about prospects in Des Moines or guys in Chicago.
16:07
What are those guys? Alcantara's clobbering the
16:10
baseball. Isn't he about to when you think
16:13
he's going to get his shot? He's got five home runs already
16:15
this year, Tommy. Yeah, he's been on a chair, but
16:18
I think part of it is the Cubs want to see him do it for a
16:22
little bit longer because, you know, we've seen this at times
16:25
over the last couple years where he goes on some heaters and, you
16:29
know, has a good week or two. I think they just want a little
16:32
bit more consistency from him. I think of the grand scheme of
16:36
things where our Contra, you know, may end up being a trade
16:40
piece, but I think part of the problem is, you know, my thing
16:44
is they've they've offered him up before and he he has not
16:48
gotten, you know, traded in the past.
16:50
So I I'm interested to see was value could be moving forward to
16:56
me the the likeliest of guys that you're talking about
17:00
possibly getting traded at some point down the line, maybe
17:03
Alcantra, but maybe Matt Shaw, maybe James Triantos here in
17:08
Iowa, maybe even voices by Steros.
17:12
You know, I think I think all those guys are the most common,
17:16
you know, have have the most potential possible to get
17:19
traded. I do think if the, you know,
17:22
come lame this season, the Cubs are still in the hunt there.
17:25
There's no question they're going to need another starting
17:27
pitcher. And I don't think they have what
17:30
they need to get through, you know, a full season and get to
17:34
the playoffs and make a hunt for the World Series with with what
17:38
they have internally now. One other guy would say keep an
17:41
eye on that is kind of a dark horses Jordan Wicks.
17:44
He was former first round draft pick.
17:46
He started the year on the eye out.
17:48
I was told either a live session in Arizona last night.
17:51
He's got one more live session coming up.
17:53
Then he's going to come to Iowa. Assuming it all goes well,
17:56
they're going to have him stretched out to be a starter.
18:01
So at some point he could be a factor too.
18:04
Question on Jonathan Long. I know Birchie talked about him
18:06
a year ago and I'm sure it was probably the two or three times
18:09
I've made my way down to Principal Park and he looked
18:11
good and the numbers are solid. He's blocked at first base.
18:14
Does he have any position flexibility though?
18:16
And obviously Bush goes down. Yeah, that would make a whole
18:19
lot of sense. But anything else out of
18:21
Jonathan Love Long? I just, I like his stroke.
18:23
A guy that can really swing it. Yeah, I mean, you know, I think
18:27
he's a he's a very solid hitter, but by today's standards and
18:31
what teams are looking for, he really doesn't fit the mold of
18:35
what teams are looking for where, you know, he's not going
18:38
to be a guy that hits 2530 home runs in the big leagues.
18:41
He maybe he hits 20, maybe he gets the 25, but you know, out
18:45
of a first baseman or DH, you want 25 or 30 at the big league
18:50
level is the guy that's barely, you know, got into 20 in the
18:54
minor leagues. So I think right now he's pretty
18:56
much pegged for first base. He played some third base and
18:59
then OK, there you look to load last.
19:01
Well, I've seen him in the outfield.
19:03
So I don't think that's going to be a destination for him.
19:07
He had told me that he thinks most of his his playing time is
19:10
is going to, you know, come at first base this season.
19:13
But you know, in in, you know, the game 5-10 years ago, he
19:18
probably would have been a guy that had gotten called up by now
19:21
and gotten a shot. And I think he still will get a
19:24
shot at some point. But you know, one he's got, you
19:27
know, being a right-handed hitter, he's got to show they
19:30
can hit left-handed, handed pitching a little bit better.
19:33
And he's probably got to produce a little bit more power, which,
19:37
you know, he he made it clear to me when I talked to him before
19:40
this season. That was an area of emphasis
19:43
moving forward is that, you know, he's trying to get his
19:45
launch angle up a little bit more where he wants to turn some
19:48
of those, you know, 108 mile an hour ground balls, you know,
19:52
into, you know, double S triples or home run.
19:54
So he's going to have to do that to to at least be a steady big
19:59
league player. But I think, you know, he he can
20:02
hit, he could go up to the big leagues and and hold his own at
20:05
this point. But the problem is, like you had
20:08
said, they got Michael Bush, they've already got DH and by
20:11
sparrows. So, you know, when it comes to
20:14
where I think long to play, you know, he doesn't offer the.
20:19
The position versatility that would really help him out where
20:24
his bad is, despite how good the bad is.
20:27
Tommy Birch, Des Moines Register Birchy, thanks for popping on.
20:30
Rained out today. Double dip down at the principal
20:33
park tomorrow as Omaha is in town for the weekend.
20:36
Tommy, thanks for all the info. Appreciate it as always.
20:38
Tommy Birch, we'll talk to you down the road.
20:40
Thanks guys. Yep, see you buddy.
20:42
Good to talk to you Tommy Birch as we check in on Iowa State
20:45
women and the Cubs AAA affiliate in in Des Moines with Tommy
20:52
Birch. Good stuff out of Tommy.
20:54
All right, so we talked about this briefly at the end of the
20:56
first hour as as just with with the way college basketball is
21:00
right now and the fact that some guys are dipping their toe in
21:03
the NBA. Some guys are hamming and Hon
21:06
about an offer, Fulgaris, Simon Chilovich.
21:08
And the longer that they wait, I mean, teams got to fill out
21:11
rosters. This is an important time.
21:13
And if there's a Gray area, if you're trying to is he or isn't
21:17
he, what do you do? This window also isn't extended
21:22
out for a long time. This is 2 weeks, right?
21:25
You're thinking about visits, you're thinking about potential
21:27
destinations where you want to go, what kind of league you're
21:29
going to. There's so many things here and
21:31
that's why the holding pattern for guys on both sides of the
21:35
state. You think you and I obviously
21:37
going through the coaching change and what's happening
21:39
there and people connecting dots with a guy like Leon Bond
21:42
doesn't make sense for him. It'll go to Utah State or
21:44
they're bigger offers. Is the guy that played at
21:46
Virginia as a freshman. Right.
21:47
So Tuttle, by the way, staying on you and I stuff.
21:49
Good to see. Which is a huge, huge coup for
21:53
that whole program of getting him to stay there.
21:55
And I think a really good marriage.
21:57
You're talking about a defensive guy, an offensive guy.
21:59
That's good news, certainly for the Panthers.
22:01
But they're not going to be able to hold on to Leon Bond, right?
22:04
Right. And even if Ben Jacobson stayed,
22:06
I had that lingering thought, too.
22:08
I mean, you got one more opportunity to make a good
22:10
paycheck and go out and do that. And Leon Bond certainly is going
22:13
to be that. But we talked about
22:14
Manchilovich. Do you believe the $5,000,000
22:17
offer from Florida? I think.
22:19
That seems so. In general, well.
22:21
Isn't that the high we we've seen kind of the thresholds well
22:25
and even that and he's not a center.
22:27
See, I don't believe much of this.
22:28
I think there is so much. So for his position, I saw two
22:31
to three as kind of the for the top.
22:34
Top 25 guys. Top 25 guys at that position,
22:36
two to three mil. I don't know what he made here.
22:39
I I honestly don't. And you don't think coaches are
22:41
lying and agents are lying and everybody else yes or we're
22:43
going to lift the price up here and we're going to get AII don't
22:47
believe it but five that seems completely out of line from what
22:49
we have heard from some of these guys if.
22:52
You can get it, all power to you regardless.
22:53
Of that, he's not getting that at Iowa State.
22:56
He's not getting close to that at Iowa State.
22:58
So you have that part of the decision.
23:00
And after we kind of found out this year, the evaluators wait,
23:03
he's a tremendous shooter. Maybe he can sneak in late first
23:06
round. We had those talks back earlier
23:08
this year. Well, we've learned that's not
23:10
going to be the case. And because of that, it's going
23:12
to be incredibly difficult to make.
23:13
The NBA probably have to start at a two way deal.
23:16
Maybe that's the best case scenario for you.
23:17
Well, if I can go out at 21 years old and make three,
23:22
$4,000,000 to set myself up for my future, that goes a long way.
23:28
And that decision making that goes into it.
23:31
That one is odd because we know he's got a home here.
23:35
So yesterday we got the report from on three that fool Garris
23:38
hadn't been to team workouts. And he cancelled an appearance
23:42
next week. Did you see that he did signing
23:44
at some? Bar at the Vine?
23:46
Yeah, at the Vine. Yeah, at the Vine that also
23:49
potentially had something to do with NIL and international
23:51
students. Oh, so this is, this isn't a red
23:54
flag that he's leaving. He won't be here.
23:56
Could be a red flag, but not necessarily.
23:58
Yes. The Vine also explained, though
24:00
it had something to do with that part of it.
24:02
That was a piece. Regardless, though, I think his
24:05
circumstance is different than Manchilovich because what kind
24:11
of programs Alvaro going to land at, what kind of money's going
24:14
to be there? And he's not a guy from here.
24:16
He's not a guy. He was at Robert Morris.
24:18
What, played prep school basketball before that,
24:20
something like that. I don't know.
24:22
It just strikes me as incredibly odd for him.
24:25
And the other part reports he's going to have to take a pay cut
24:30
at Iowa if he's going to stick around.
24:32
Coupled with are we sure Ben McCullum wants a back or back
24:37
the same guy that he was this year?
24:40
It's reading between the lines. It's speculation.
24:41
I get that. And maybe that's not fair to him
24:43
or to Coach McCullum, but we've definitely heard those murmurs,
24:47
right, of how that component goes.
24:49
And if it is that you had another meeting apparently
24:51
yesterday that was reported by on three.
24:54
If that's the case, it's Thursday.
24:57
And does fool Garris, does Manchilovich, do they need to
25:00
say something if they're staying?
25:02
Do do you need to put out a release, put out a put out a
25:05
graphic? I'm back, you know, do the
25:07
Michael Jordan thing, whatever it is just saying.
25:10
All right, now we move on from there.
25:12
I kind of feel like the clock's ticking.
25:14
Yes, our clock is ticking. We've got to take a break.
25:17
We'll come back. We'll head to Indianapolis.
25:19
Scott Agnes joins us. I look forward to catching up
25:22
with Scott. That's next on the WNBA in the
25:24
Indiana Fever. It's Miller and Condon on the
25:27
Iowa Sports Radio Network. Hi, Miller and Condon, welcome
25:43
back. Just past 130.
25:46
We're going to take you to a world just before the top of the
25:48
hour at that time. Before that, Trent will make
25:52
some picks. Circus Sports sponsor those.
25:54
Well, let's catch up with our guy, Scott Agnes.
25:57
He covers the Fever and the Pacers.
25:58
Not much to cover about the Pacers, although I did see
26:00
Tyrese Halliburton finally play 5 on five for the first time in
26:04
almost a year yesterday. So he took that as a positive
26:07
step. Scott joins us.
26:08
Scott, Trenton, Ken, thanks once again for giving us a few
26:11
minutes. I wanted to catch up with you
26:13
and talk a little. WNBA collective bargaining
26:16
agreement apparently signed, sealed and delivered.
26:19
And the ladies, they got paid and and rightly so, they
26:23
deserved it. We saw some of the raises that
26:26
some of the players are going to get.
26:28
Alea Boston goes from 94,000 / 574,000, Caitlin from 85 to 528
26:36
and so on down the line. Long overdue, but it seems like
26:40
it got done and I got to believe owners and players satisfied
26:43
with that. Scott, good to talk to you.
26:45
How are you? Yeah, good afternoon.
26:47
It's been a while. Good to be on with you.
26:48
And I can't believe we're, you know, a few days from the draft
26:51
in the WNBA, we're just over a week, 10 days here from the
26:56
start of training camp. So and it was something not all
26:59
of us were certain would actually happen or it happened
27:01
on time. Given the tense and frustrating
27:06
and and long conversations that were had negotiating this.
27:09
And what it ultimately took was no surprise to me, Ken getting
27:13
face to face a deadline, having a deadline and just hashing it
27:17
out, not leaving the room until it gets done.
27:20
And that's ultimately what happened over about an 8 day
27:22
stretch in at the NBAWNBA offices there in Manhattan.
27:27
And now it's basically done 99%. It's been ratified by both
27:31
sides. It's still in the lawyer's
27:33
hands. So we have not read it.
27:35
We still haven't seen how many pages is it.
27:38
I know the NBA for example, is something 687 and thus far the
27:43
only thing that's been shared with us and media is about A2
27:46
pager highlighting the key thing.
27:48
So I think before anybody can say, you know, who won, who
27:52
lost, all those different things, you need to see the full
27:55
thing. But as a whole, Ken, this is
27:56
fantastic. It means games go on as expected
27:59
for the WNBA. That's important because they're
28:02
being over $200 million annually now with the new TV contracts,
28:06
in addition to having the most momentum that they have ever
28:09
had. And on the and on the player
28:11
side, you laid it out, the increased salaries, the
28:14
standards of professional amenities and environments and
28:19
those sort of things are key. And the one little thing I like
28:22
to be honest, two player development roles we saw last
28:26
year when the Fever just had injury after injury and they had
28:28
to go overseas even to sign some players.
28:30
Now it'll be a little bit easier for something like that
28:33
happened. You already have two players on
28:35
your roster, kind of like a development league, except there
28:38
is none. So you can go on and on about
28:41
it, but it is huge for the league for sure.
28:43
Let's get into 22. Caitlin Clark coming off the
28:46
injury ravaged season a year ago.
28:48
We saw our team with USA here a few weeks back and looks to be
28:52
back to being Caitlin Clark once again.
28:54
Physically, just where she was coming off that injury, which
28:57
was just so odd. It felt like she'll be back in a
28:59
week, maybe a couple and it just kept lingering and lingering.
29:03
Take us back in on the health side of Caitlin Clark as we get
29:05
ready for a new year. Yeah, it was odd because it was
29:09
one thing after the other as well, by the way.
29:11
And then it didn't help. But like ESPN had some kind of
29:14
automated injury tracker that would say like, she'll be
29:17
available in two days. It's like, no, no, nobody ever
29:20
said that. Nobody reported that.
29:22
So it, it ultimately, in my opinion, became also a lot of
29:25
miscommunication, uneasiness about what was real and what was
29:29
fake. But nonetheless, yeah, she said
29:32
she's 100% healthy, feeling as good as she had in more than a
29:35
year. Because if you remember, she was
29:37
first injured about this time last year, like 2 days into
29:41
training camp. She had a, she had like a wrap
29:44
around her leg and was dealing with a little something.
29:47
And then it was just one thing after the next.
29:48
So she, by all accounts, had a fantastic offseason, basically
29:54
centering around taking care of herself and getting healthy
29:57
again. She did play in that golf
30:00
program, then participated in two USA Basketball training
30:04
teams, and then of course, named MVP of the San Juan qualifying
30:08
tournament. It was odd too.
30:09
MVP, despite only starting one of those teams, they were trying
30:12
to figure out lineups and rotations.
30:14
I thought it was interesting where they used her.
30:17
They tried her in several different spots.
30:19
But as we all know, as we've watched her the most is she's
30:22
best with the ball in her hand setting out everybody else
30:25
playing game one. And she recorded like 11
30:27
assists. Forget the point.
30:29
She was setting everybody else up on what's an incredible All
30:32
Star team. So that was great.
30:34
And you just know she's eager to get going with this Fever team
30:37
that's a really not being a part of the group much last season,
30:41
spending more time in the training room than even on the
30:43
court for the first time ever. Yeah, unbelievable.
30:45
And then on the bench as a cheerleader.
30:47
I want to ask you about Sophie Cunningham because I love her
30:49
role. She can play, but she's also, I
30:52
think got a very important spot and that's making sure that some
30:56
of these ladies doing it take liberties against 22 and and and
31:01
certainly she's more than capable of doing that.
31:04
Like I'm a hockey guy. I watch Gretzky and he had
31:06
Samaiko on his left wing and he's the great 1 and I think
31:09
she's every bit as good and at her sport.
31:12
And I know this rare fight here is him.
31:14
It was it is his. But what's Sophie Cunningham's
31:17
status? I guess I know that it hasn't
31:20
been ruled out. Do you think she's going to be a
31:22
part of the fever once they get to Camp Scott?
31:26
I do think it's a possibility. The weird thing is, look, we're
31:29
in, we're a day and 1/2 into free agency and across the
31:33
league, Ken, there's really not been action like there.
31:36
There hadn't been any major signings, there hadn't been much
31:38
movement whatsoever. And this is when most of the
31:43
league are free agents. So I'm uncertain what's kind of
31:47
held it up to this point. But with Sophie was it's always
31:50
going to come down, I think to the level of contract that they
31:53
can offer her. To me, there's no doubt she
31:55
wants to be here. There's no doubt that the Fever
31:58
want her back. But now that you got even better
32:01
players, you got to pay them. And the salary caps constraints
32:05
are very real. While Kelsey Mitchell not for
32:08
sure back a couple days ago that Fever used their core
32:11
designation which means they can offer her the supermax or up to
32:16
that which is 1.4 million which is by the way what would be
32:19
salary cap was basically purchase last year.
32:23
Now Kelsey can earn that this year up from 250,000 last year.
32:28
And so you assume that assume Lexi Hall will be back.
32:32
They extended a restricted A qualifying offer, which means
32:35
they can match any offer anyone makes.
32:37
And unless she's blown out of the water with an offer, you
32:39
know that the fever can't match, I would expect her back.
32:42
But in particular, she even made clear during her exit interview
32:48
about she hopes this is not the last time she talks.
32:51
She hopes this is not her last time, but the team that she
32:53
really enjoyed it. But she's also got to look out
32:55
for herself and, and, and get a competitive offer out there.
32:59
And so right now a lot of teams have free agency cap space, but
33:05
but right now no movement just just for really any of these
33:08
free agents. Scott, they have the 10th pick,
33:11
they have 4, I believe, draft picks coming up here with the
33:14
draft. The WNBA, though, of the
33:16
professional leagues, feels like the biggest crapshoot.
33:18
I mean, we've seen top 10 picks that never even play in the
33:21
league. So it's difficult obviously to
33:23
get a roster spot and we have expansion that will help that.
33:25
But with the 10th pick, is there a realistic possibility?
33:29
At minimum, they can find a rotation piece with this
33:31
talented team? Yeah, I think that's that be the
33:34
hope you're exactly right is can you get someone that can
33:37
contribute next season and maybe as your 9th, 10th, 11th man, the
33:41
roster sizes are 12, but you're mandatory to have 12 players in
33:46
addition to two more player development spots.
33:49
So I think at 10, I think you should be encouraged that the
33:54
that player would stick on your roster.
33:56
Last year they kept second round pick Michaela Tibson, for
34:00
example. And right now the Fever, like
34:02
much like the Pacers are in a similar situation in that they
34:06
are top heavy with several Max contracts.
34:08
And for the Fever, of course, Boston will get one next year
34:11
followed by Caitlin the following year.
34:13
Therefore, you need players on rookie scales, contracts that
34:17
are cost constraints are are known and and you are a four,
34:21
the affordability is high. So I think that's why you'd
34:25
really like that spot and to be able to maximize that.
34:29
I I saw some of the pictures you put up on the Yeah, the render
34:33
the performance Center for the favor.
34:35
Boy, oh boy, that looks first class.
34:37
What? What a long way.
34:38
They've come in a short period of time.
34:41
Really. Is Scott, my last thing for you,
34:43
How was what's the relationship with Caitlin and Stephanie
34:46
White? I've seen conflicting stuff.
34:48
Is there something there? No, and that's one of the
34:52
misinformations that is out there.
34:55
They are very similar. Some often around them talk
34:59
about Caitlin going to be in Steph Twin and and how they
35:02
they, they see the game so well. They love, they love hoops, they
35:06
love sports in general. They both are in commentating.
35:10
There is no disconnect that I see or have heard about, despite
35:14
people online saying, hey, I can read visual cues and something
35:18
is just not right. Well, I'm there every day and I
35:21
haven't seen one thing, so I got nothing for you.
35:24
Scott, that kind of goes hand in hand with my final thing for you
35:26
and it's just covering this league.
35:28
We see Angel Reese, she departs out of Chicago and there's been
35:31
certainly a lot of headaches that went along with it.
35:33
Covering sport, covering a women's sport, It just feels
35:36
like, and it's not always just because of the players, it's the
35:40
outside drama that is just, it takes it to a different level.
35:44
Take us in kind of covering the beat on a women's basketball
35:47
team in the WNBA and how different it is than the more
35:50
traditional sports that we maybe we've grown up with.
35:53
Yeah, I think for one, the number one thing that strikes me
35:56
is how many newcomers there are to the league.
35:59
And also to that point is how there's a lot of people new to
36:02
sports and and then obviously new to West.
36:05
And so they're learning about the game, they're learning about
36:08
challenges and, and how you can call a time out only to advance
36:11
the ball and, and all those little nuances and everything.
36:15
And so there's a lot of people unfamiliar with coverage and
36:18
what reporters are. And along the same lines, I
36:21
would argue too, for a lot of the first, let's call it 20
36:24
years, they're entering year 30 here of the league.
36:27
A lot of the league has been about just promotion and
36:30
marketing and pushing everything up.
36:31
There hasn't been people asking critical questions actually more
36:35
too than that. There haven't been many full
36:37
time reporters and there still aren't enough.
36:39
And what I mean by that is like you have a few of us that shoot
36:43
around, but come game time you'll have many more.
36:47
And you know, they were at their day job during the day and then
36:50
they do this as a hobby at night.
36:51
I'd like to that I'd like to see more media companies invest in
36:55
in game coverage. I run my own site.
36:57
It's all me, but I'd love to see that change in in in doing so,
37:02
by committing to the coverage, you would help inform a lot of
37:05
these fans that lead to need to know more.
37:07
But the simplistic answer in all this is I think you just have a
37:11
lot of newcomers to this young league and also they're
37:14
advocating for their one player or their one team.
37:17
And a lot of that's good, right? Like, I like that there's loyal
37:21
fans out there, but there's been a learning curve or there's just
37:24
a lot of discourse that is unnecessary and brings down the
37:27
game, brings down the elevator. Basketball conversation Scott
37:31
Agnes Fieldhouse files for Scott at Fieldhouse files as you we
37:34
want to cover the fever, the WNBA.
37:36
Scott's all over it. Scott.
37:37
Thank you man. Appreciate you giving us a few
37:40
minutes. We will talk to you in the
37:41
season. Thank you, Scott.
37:42
Appreciate it. You got it.
37:44
Thanks guys. Yeah, good to talk to Scott
37:45
Agnes as we check in on the WNBA.
37:48
Take that strain. Miller Condon Welcome back Iowa
37:51
Sports Radio Network, Des Moines Sports Station One O 6.3 KX No
37:57
raining in the capital city. Eastern Iowa, get ready.
38:01
Yeah, get ready. Absolutely.
38:03
And buckle up for the next four or five days because it looks
38:05
like this system not going anywhere for a while anyways.
38:09
Trent has some plays of the day or at least one Circa sports
38:13
sponsor those. When's your next Circa trip?
38:17
Great question. I hope to get out there with you
38:21
before retirement. I don't know if I'm gonna be
38:23
able to pull that off. Gonna be tough to make it
38:25
happen, huh? Yep, that was the hope.
38:28
Yep. No, there'll be an August trip.
38:30
Yep, working on details on getting all that figured and
38:34
hopefully bringing some people with.
38:36
Us. Wouldn't that be something?
38:37
Not just me, not just the new Co host.
38:39
Maybe the knuckleheads after us. Maybe the morning crew.
38:44
Oh wow. That's that's what we're working
38:46
through. So yes, and some potential news
38:48
that go along with that for our fine listeners out there, but
38:51
that is to still. Be determined.
38:53
Got some T's to cross and some IS to dot but we are nearing the
38:57
finish line and what should be some fun news I think for our
39:00
listeners. And I'm nearing my finish line.
39:02
You mentioned new Co host. Are you closer to?
39:04
No, No, no. It's June.
39:07
Yeah. Got till June.
39:08
Yeah. No rush.
39:10
Yeah. Let's get your plays of the day.
39:13
All right, let's do it. I'm.
39:14
Trying to plays or play, yeah. Well, we got 2.
39:17
All right. And they're both in the NHL.
39:18
Yes, I'm going to take Connor Ferguson's crappy Dallas hockey
39:22
team. They stole the name.
39:24
The North Stars should have stayed there.
39:26
Absolutely despise that organization as a whole for a
39:28
myriad of reasons. That at the top of the list.
39:30
The Minnesota should not be the stupid Wild.
39:32
It's not even a thing. Nope, made-up.
39:35
It should be the Minnesota North Stars.
39:36
Like we still have the Cleveland Browns.
39:38
Well, or the Winnipeg Jets. They left and came back.
39:40
I'm giving them my stink. Yeah, Dallas -1 20 tonight.
39:44
So the Wild will get will be a flat footed tie if they get the
39:48
win tonight. We would take that as a fan,
39:51
yes. My betting account, not so much.
39:54
And we got one more. We got to see McClain in the
39:58
World Baseball Classic. You look good.
40:00
We're going to go under 5 1/2 strikeouts tonight, though
40:03
against the Diamondbacks. Early in the season, don't need
40:07
to go real deep. Need 6 strikeouts to beat.
40:09
Don't think Mcclain's going to get there.
40:10
Under 5 1/2 KS for McClain. That is our second pick, so we
40:15
got two in the in the holster here tonight.
40:17
Is that a day game or is that a night?
40:19
Game that is a 610 first pitch, 10 night.
40:21
Gotcha. And you said there's three of
40:22
them, right? Yes. 3 White Sox are playing
40:24
this evening as well, I remember.
40:25
Maybe yeah, they're playing Kansas City.
40:27
Yep, down in KC and late night the Rockies and the Padres that
40:32
do it for you. I'm going to watch puck.
40:35
That's where I'll be tonight. Good stuff.
40:38
We appreciate you being with us for a portion of the noon to two
40:42
as that's when Trent and I take the Airways.
40:44
Coming up next off the bench, Sean and Lucas take you until
40:47
5:00. First quarter gets underway as
40:49
it always does every Monday through Friday at six.
40:51
We're here noon to 2. Miller and Condon talking sports
40:54
with you on the Iowa Sports Radio Network.