Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / NCAA Tournament Expansion? Sloan Piva on the NBA Playoffs & Trent's Picks presented by Circa Sports

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NCAA Tournament Expansion? Sloan Piva on the NBA Playoffs & Trent's Picks presented by Circa Sports · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

0:03
Hour number two, welcome back. It's Miller and Condon on the
0:05
Iowa Sports Radio Network. Trent Condon joined today by
0:08
Nick Marvitz from Locked On Cyclones.
0:11
Hanging out with me today and tomorrow as Ken is off for a
0:14
couple of days. Nick, good to get an hour in the
0:17
books. We still got one more to go.
0:20
We talked about at the top of your full time media gig, as
0:23
with Locked on Cyclones, your daily Cyclone podcast.
0:27
We're talking about content, getting through things and there
0:29
are some interesting Big 12 storylines that are happening
0:32
right now. Potentially your Marks brother
0:35
getting involved in college athletics, think that's
0:37
interesting. Private equity, we're going to
0:39
talk about all that, but want to start with the conversation a
0:42
little bit more, I guess, wide-ranging, taking a look at
0:47
the expansion of the NCAA tournament and what is the right
0:50
path to going forward for the College Football Playoff of the
0:54
way that it's set up as we know the power of the Big 10 in the
0:58
SEC for football and how that's going to dictate exactly how
1:01
that looks. But let's start 1st 76 team
1:04
field in the NCAA Tournament. I know there's a lot of
1:07
frustration, some consternation, not a whole lot of people that
1:11
are overly excited about it. I'm going to leave it open-ended
1:15
for you because I've given my perspective and we'll see if I
1:18
got a fire back at you, Dick. Yeah, My, my thing with it is
1:21
what kind of teams are we getting in, right?
1:23
So if we were to expand to say 100 teams and we only added
1:28
teams like Drake and Loyola Chicago and it turned into this
1:33
mid major fest, that would be so exciting.
1:36
That's one of my favorite parts of March Madness is getting to
1:39
know all of these teams that I never heard of before.
1:41
Like, admittedly, I did not know who McNeese was until they had
1:45
one of the coolest managers of all time.
1:47
All right? I just didn't, and maybe that's
1:48
on me. So is that a hot take?
1:51
Maybe. But it doesn't matter because
1:53
what we're adding is a bunch of Power Four teams that just
1:57
missed out because they were below 500 in their conference.
2:01
That doesn't feel like maybe the right play to me.
2:03
Yeah, yeah, I, I definitely didn't understand that and, and
2:06
the thought process behind it. You look through the teams that
2:09
would have made the field this year.
2:10
Auburn, all right, they made a great run, won the NIT this
2:13
year. They still had 16 losses.
2:15
That would have been a tournament team with 16 losses
2:17
going into the NCAA Tournament. Indiana, who got absolutely boat
2:22
raced by Northwestern in the Big 10 tournament with their backs
2:25
against the wall. They still easily would have
2:27
been a tournament team, an Oklahoma team that lost nine
2:30
straight games during the course of the season would have been a
2:33
tournament team. And those are the teams that
2:36
don't exactly get you excited. But my perspective is it's
2:40
basketball on a Tuesday and Wednesday.
2:41
I'm going to be watching regardless and and to kind of
2:45
let's imagine your mind now going from the two games
2:48
back-to-back days. The first one that's 16 seed.
2:51
It's O hum, maybe get to know the story.
2:53
Maybe you're like me and your degenerate.
2:55
You're going to put a bet on it. That happens every single time.
2:59
But now we're going to get at least some teams.
3:01
You know, some some Oklahoma State very well could have been
3:04
a tournament team this past season.
3:05
At least you saw them a couple of times throughout the course
3:07
of the year. It's more basketball and the
3:10
biggest thing when we get to Thursday morning at 11:10 with
3:14
that opening tip off on CBD, yes, we know there's going to be
3:18
a 64 team field. The field is going to be as we
3:21
know it, as we know it dating back to 1985 when the expansion
3:24
happened at the time, 64 teams. We're going to have your tried
3:27
and true real bracket there and that's why I can't get all
3:30
worked up about it. No, that's that's a good point.
3:33
As soon as the actual bracket starts, nothing actually changed
3:36
and you bring up I was going to go different Ave. but you
3:38
brought up something that I want to hit on.
3:40
How does this change filling out the brackets?
3:43
Because are you going to fill out every single game game or
3:46
are you going to wait even longer?
3:48
I don't know. It's just an interesting wrinkle
3:49
to the whole thing. The thing that I did find a
3:53
little not, I don't want to say concerning, but just like I
3:55
don't love it was you got your conference championships and
3:58
then like what, three days later, two days later you're
4:01
playing in the tournament. If you, I mean, I don't know, it
4:04
is what it is, but I personally don't love it.
4:07
There are pros and cons to everything.
4:09
It was inevitable. Money drives everything.
4:13
It is what it is, you know. And there isn't a ton of money
4:16
there either. They're still working with the
4:17
TV partners. And, you know, this news came
4:19
out before they officially got word from CBS and Turner that
4:23
there was going to be bigger fees.
4:25
Very well might not be even more fees.
4:27
It's not reading on the financial side of things.
4:30
It's not the boondoggle that people think it's going to be
4:32
that suddenly is it going to be more and more money that is
4:35
going to come in? Yeah, it might be, But we're
4:37
talking nickel and dying stuff in the big picture of what the
4:40
NCAA Tournament, what it's going to be.
4:41
It's not this financial windfall that's going to be coming for
4:44
the NCAA adding these extra games.
4:48
And you also look overall, you know, when this thing started
4:51
and I think in in the 80s when it expanded to 64, there's like
4:55
250 D one teams. Well, now we're over 360 D one
4:59
teams. How many of those teams that the
5:01
100 plus that have come in during that time are actually
5:04
going to be tournament teams? Not many.
5:06
The reality is this is the SEC, the Big 10, the Big 12 and the
5:09
ACC looking for more bids as their conferences have expanded
5:13
and ballooned. Well, they want more and they
5:15
want more opportunities for those teams.
5:17
Plus the coaches want it because it's a lot more difficult to
5:20
sell a, we made the tournament four straight years, something
5:24
like that, even if it is a double digit seed every single
5:26
year, more difficult to fire that coach in a lot of programs.
5:30
Now there's some programs like say in Indiana, they're not
5:32
going to take that. Yeah, you make the tournament
5:34
four straight years, but you're double digit seed, you're just
5:37
sneaking at it every time. And you never even get to a
5:39
round of 32. That's not going to be enough to
5:41
save Darren Devries his job or anything like that.
5:44
However, for some programs, they'll take that, they'll sign
5:47
up for that and and just that expansion is going to be there.
5:50
Well, because those wins will count as as credit.
5:52
Right, they will. So.
5:53
That's going to bring money back.
5:55
And that's a good thing also for the low major programs that play
5:59
in the past, the 216 seed games to get into the main bracket,
6:03
now that's going to expand. That means more money coming
6:05
into the coffers for those smaller conferences, and they
6:07
definitely need it. Yes, yeah.
6:10
Absolutely to make that happen. So we go for the expansion there
6:14
to the inevitable, you agree? Inevitable expansion from the
6:19
12. Now I like the 12.
6:20
I was I always wanted to see the jump from the 14 playoff to 12.
6:25
I thought it made a whole lot more sense.
6:26
I was never I never liked the look of eight understanding.
6:30
All right, you're going to have back then the power conference
6:32
structure of five getting in all right.
6:34
Then we got a couple of larges. Well, if you expand to 8, you're
6:37
probably going to have to put a group of five program in there
6:39
also. So really it's only two more
6:41
spots. 12 just sounded like a more realistic number and I've
6:45
liked it. Now they've had to change some
6:46
things, tweak. The first year Arizona State was
6:50
what, the 13th ranked team, but they were able to get up there
6:53
too. The seating was all messed up.
6:55
Yeah, because of a conference championship?
6:56
When? We had Boise.
6:57
Their seating was messed up, so they changed that.
6:59
They got that fixed for this past season, but we're going to
7:02
move past this 12 to 16 to 24. And I'm kind of the realm like I
7:09
was with the four to 12. Don't do the in between with the
7:12
8. Just make the jump of where
7:13
you're gonna be. I thought we're gonna be a 12
7:15
longer than we're gonna. Be.
7:18
But I'm I'm that way too with this, where don't even mess with
7:21
the 16. Yeah, it's a easy, true bracket.
7:24
Everybody's got to play four games, win four games to win a
7:27
national championship. That makes it easy.
7:29
But I think we know the end game is going to be 24, so just go to
7:33
24. How do you see it?
7:34
Well, I don't think that's a bad idea.
7:36
But if we jump the gun to 24, then are we going to be at 36 in
7:41
five years, right? Like, and I know that that's
7:44
like kind of a dumb point, but it's exactly what you were like,
7:47
Oh, we're going to be at 12 for like what, at least 5-6 years,
7:50
right? And we're looking at already an
7:52
expansion after 2. I don't know if I love the
7:55
expansion. I, I graduated in 2020.
7:59
And so when we finished up, I think it was maybe the last year
8:02
or one of the last years before the call or the high school
8:05
playoff expansion, that that was a bit of a change of pace for
8:09
me. And and wrestling did the same
8:11
thing too, where it seems like almost everybody can go and it's
8:15
just I don't know. It's I don't know if I love it.
8:18
It is more games, more meaningful games.
8:22
It's it's the exact same argument as what you brought up
8:24
for for basketball, right. So if Iowa State makes the
8:29
College Football Playoff under 24, Whoa, first College Football
8:32
Playoff appearance for Iowa State of all time.
8:34
Is Jimmy Rogers given a lifetime contract?
8:36
Well, I don't know. It's top 24, I guess.
8:39
They were basically in the final poll of the season.
8:41
It's kind of how I look at it. Yeah.
8:42
And that from our perspective here in the state of Iowa, I
8:45
think that's going to be interesting too, of how this
8:47
thing is framed because Iowa and Iowa State, the conferences are
8:50
much different. Yeah, We can be honest.
8:52
The Big 12 basketball, we could have a conversation.
8:57
We cannot have a conversation for football.
9:00
That's the reality. Look, the blue bloods are gone
9:01
from that conference and it's great in terms of viewing, in
9:04
terms of knowing and not knowing what's going to happen week in
9:07
and week out because the conference as a whole, outside
9:10
of Cody Campbells Muddy, is so evenly matched.
9:13
You don't have a blue blood. You don't have programs that
9:15
historically have the same cachet that you had with
9:18
Oklahoma and Texas and Nebraska going back 15 years.
9:21
You don't have that component to it.
9:23
But all these programs are so evenly bunched that you see the
9:26
wild variants from two years ago.
9:27
Arizona State picked last and when's the conference that year
9:30
and when's it going away and the way that they played that
9:33
season, you're going to get that from that conference.
9:35
But it does also mean that the likelihood, what's the best case
9:39
scenario in a 2014 bracket, even three, I mean, is that the high
9:43
watermark because straight to schedule is going to be a
9:46
component, how important that's going to be?
9:49
It's interesting from the Big 12 perspective to me to see how
9:52
that plays out. And what does it mean?
9:54
You have a really good year. You go nine and three solid
9:57
season, but in Iowa State at 9:00 and 3:00 and Arizona 9:00
10:01
and 3:00, ATC you at 9:00 and 3:00.
10:05
What does that mean in this structure, even a 2014 playoff
10:08
as opposed to an 8 and 4 Tennessee team and eight and
10:12
four South Carolina, That's going to be very difficult
10:14
because in the past we just, well, your record is and that's
10:17
going to be it. I think we're going to have to
10:19
dig deeper in in order to find say those teams.
10:23
Would it be 13 through 24? Yeah, well, I mean, look at BYU
10:26
last season. That's the first thing I want to
10:27
look at 12 and 2, not making the top 12.
10:30
And I mean, it's just the Big 12 is always going to be treated
10:34
differently, kind of like the ACC.
10:36
It's not the same. It's definitely an SEC and Big
10:39
10 kind of run sport. And then the ACC and the Big 12
10:42
get to tag along is how people like to look at it.
10:45
I disagree, but I do kind of need to take my fan hat off a
10:48
little bit and realize that there is no Texas or Oklahoma in
10:51
the conference anymore. And look what happened to Texas
10:54
Tech this year. They looked like they literally
10:57
could not be beat in the Big 12 and then it didn't look so great
11:01
in the in the playoffs. So, you know, it'll be
11:04
interesting. I think what we really need from
11:06
the Big 12's perspective is somebody to get in and make
11:08
noise and create precedent that it can happen.
11:12
And then we can start to really have conversations about what
11:15
that would look like. But by the time that happens,
11:17
we're going to be at 118 playoff.
11:19
We're not going to get there. We're not going to get there.
11:23
I believe, at least for the foreseeable future, that 24 is
11:27
going to be the end game. Now, another reason, selfishly,
11:30
that I've also liked the idea when Tony Petiti, the Big 10
11:34
commissioner, first came up and and this idea was floated out
11:37
there and the Ross Dellingers of the world from Yahoo and and the
11:40
Pete Thambles of ESPN started talking about the conversations
11:43
that were happening, happening behind closed doors was the idea
11:47
of something that I was a longtime champion of dating back
11:50
to 2020. When the Big 10 came up with the
11:53
idea, they called what champions week the final week of the year.
11:57
You don't know who you're going to play until it happens.
11:59
And taking that a step further in creating these play in type
12:03
of games, because for the Iowa in this new Big 10, what's a
12:08
realistic goal to get to a championship game in an 18 team
12:11
conference? The way it's constructed once
12:14
every 12 years is, is that even realistic?
12:17
Maybe it's once in 20 to finish in the top 2 of this league.
12:22
Now that's what it is. The Big 10 W was an attainable
12:25
goal. Every single year you felt like
12:27
at minimum we got a shot and they did.
12:30
Almost every single year they had a shot going into November.
12:32
We do this, we're going to be in the conference title game.
12:34
Well, that's off the board now. The Big 10 W is dead.
12:37
So what is something realistic, finishing in the top 2 or
12:42
finishing in the top 8 of in the top half and having an
12:45
opportunity to play yourself into a College Football Playoff?
12:48
You might have to go on the road and beat in Indiana.
12:51
You might have to go and have a return trip against Wisconsin.
12:53
Whatever it is, I love that idea.
12:55
Not just conference championship Saturday, but he is standing it,
12:58
extending it a step further. And if you have the automatic
13:01
bids that are attached to the Big 10 is long wanted, then it's
13:04
something for programs like Iowa, and not just Iowa, but
13:07
Minnesota and Illinois, programs of that ilk.
13:11
We're not winning the Big 10. I know Indiana has screwed up my
13:14
whole argument, but what they did last season and the last two
13:17
years really, but overall for the middle and bottom tier of
13:21
the Big 10, an attainable realistic goal.
13:24
I think that opens up a little bit more.
13:25
But it feels like that has been, I don't want to say shot down.
13:29
We know the SEC is definitely pushing hard.
13:32
They don't like that part of the idea, Yeah.
13:34
Well, in in the Indiana thing is really interesting because I
13:37
don't know how much longer that conversation can even happen
13:39
with the five and five if we're getting one transfer per
13:41
athlete. But back to your point, you
13:43
know, with conferences being the size that they are and they're
13:46
probably only going to get larger is my guess.
13:49
You could end up literally playing only the top half of the
13:52
conference by the time everything shakes out the end of
13:54
the season. So I am all for a conference
13:58
championship tournament and I would actually rather a a
14:02
tournament in each conference and then a smaller national, you
14:07
know, maybe not 24, maybe it's 12 and it's all the Champions of
14:10
the conferences and the runner UPS.
14:11
And so that's eight. And then, you know, you can do
14:13
the math from there. Maybe it's 16 teams or whatever.
14:15
But that at least prevents us from getting to, you know, if we
14:20
all the way got to 64 teams, like hypothetically speaking,
14:23
that's where basketball's at. And so of course that's way more
14:25
games than football's. Not the same as basketball, but
14:27
it prevents that and it keeps it interesting, I think.
14:30
I'm looking back at last year in the Big 10.
14:32
So of course, Indiana, Ohio State, they both finished
14:35
undefeated during the regular season.
14:36
Oregon 8 and one, Michigan seven and two, USC seven and two.
14:41
And the way that this was first proposed is you'd still have
14:44
your conference championship game.
14:46
Indiana, Ohio State, still play, got huge TV numbers.
14:48
Obviously Fox is excited about that.
14:50
But then it is structured in a way where you're number three
14:54
seed, you play the number six, that's Iowa.
14:57
You'd have a rematch this time in Oregon, though, because
15:00
they're the number three seed taking on Iowa.
15:02
And if Iowa gets in there, that is an automatic bid to the
15:05
College Football Playoff. That's, it could be difficult as
15:08
we know, but it's something that you can get to and then you have
15:11
Michigan, USC, neither team a playoff team, but have that
15:14
automatic bid attached. The weird part is though, we
15:18
heard about Big 10 getting 4 automatic bids and this is the
15:20
way that they'd use their automatic bid structure to make
15:23
that happen. Same for the SEC, but only two
15:27
attached to the ACC in the Big 12.
15:29
If you're the Big 12, then if it would play out in this fashion,
15:34
how do you structure that? Do you just say the two teams
15:36
that qualify for the conference championship game you're just
15:39
automatically in? Or you can you do something
15:41
different from a Big 12 perspective in order for that to
15:44
happen where maybe it's just the number one seed against the
15:47
four, the two versus the three. That's where your two automatic
15:50
bids that come from those games and you still have spots for at
15:53
larges. I think of this structure,
15:55
there's still 6 at larges that would be available.
15:58
Say your number one seed gets knocked off your number one
16:01
team. Texas Tech gets beat by the four
16:03
this past season in that championship weekend.
16:06
They can still get in. They can still be in that large
16:08
team to get in there. Does that make more sense?
16:10
Or just your top two. You're automatically in, but
16:12
then you're saying you're devaluing your conference
16:14
championship. Yeah, I hesitate to go that
16:17
route because then, yeah, once you're in, it's it's over.
16:20
You've already made and and of course you just it's kind of
16:23
like a gentleman's game. Like do you still value the
16:25
conference championship game at that point?
16:27
But you want to try to avoid that situation.
16:28
So then you go into the all right, 1423 and I don't like
16:33
that because then you're gaming seats.
16:34
In theory, it's possible, right? So then do you go to a 12 loser
16:39
plays three? Well, this isn't high school
16:40
wrestling where you can wait 30 minutes and then go.
16:42
Again, right. So there's no wrestle back.
16:44
Yeah, it's. Like this is, this is a really
16:46
tough situation for the Big 12 to be in.
16:48
I don't have an answer unfortunately for that right
16:50
now. I think the best answer probably
16:51
is if you make the conference championship game, you've made
16:54
the tournament, right. And so you just have to go from
16:57
there and say that it matters to that school.
17:00
And if you get a school in there that doesn't care, I guess it's
17:04
just it's a product of the system and and giving the Big 12
17:07
less automatic bids, but wrestle back sure would be interesting.
17:11
It would. Yes, yeah, still got a shot.
17:14
We got a double dip one of the top two teams in order for them
17:16
to not get knocked out if you're the. 3rd place team.
17:18
Yeah, well, that'd be so fun. Or you have to.
17:20
Go through both of them. You got to go through the two
17:22
seed, then the one seed in order to get there.
17:25
All right, now. Now we're talking.
17:26
Yeah, all kinds of things. Oh, boy.
17:28
Well, one final thing on the Big 12, I really want to get your
17:31
perspective on because last week we find out Red Bird Capital.
17:36
The private. Equity, getting involved with
17:38
the Big 12, there were a few components that had me have to
17:42
dig a little bit further. This is not something that is
17:44
exactly at the top of my understanding.
17:47
We're definitely getting into the business side of things.
17:49
Just overall your perspective getting involved with private
17:52
equity because in many different realms, not athletics, but just
17:56
business in general, you hear private equity, what are they
17:59
going to do? They're going to try to make it
18:00
financially viable. They're going to cut everything
18:02
down. That gets scary for college
18:04
athletics. But that aside, just your
18:06
overall thoughts. No I 100.
18:07
Percent agree. And and you said you've done
18:08
some reading. So if I say anything that's
18:10
incorrect, go ahead and step in and and correct me.
18:11
But from my understanding, the Big 12 brought in Red Bird
18:15
Capital and then Weatherford Capital was maybe the other one,
18:18
I can't remember, and they have no ownership.
18:21
So that's different from what happened with Utah.
18:23
They brought in Otro Capital and they do have some sort of
18:26
control. The Big 12 maintaining ownership
18:30
and control I think was the biggest piece of this because
18:32
they can stay competitive with the SEC in the Big 10, not
18:36
necessarily from a private equity standpoint.
18:37
We just know that those two conferences have more money so
18:40
they can stay competitive and they don't necessarily lose
18:42
control, so they can stay true to what college athletics is.
18:45
The 12 and a half million is what it is.
18:47
I honestly look at it more like you're pairing up with Red Bird,
18:50
who has ownership over Paramount.
18:53
Whatever. It's like the parent company
18:54
that has like Paramount Plus Paramount.
18:56
Everybody has Skydance, I think is the other name of it.
18:58
Yeah, OK. Yeah.
18:59
So, so they they could potentially in 2031 when the
19:03
contract runs up with what is mostly ESPN and Fox, they could
19:06
pivot towards a Paramount and like a TNT or ACBS or whatever
19:11
it gives them that option. I am honestly have been so far
19:15
focused more on Iowa State and the opportunity for them to take
19:17
$30 million in capital. What is your perspective on that
19:21
'cause I have mine but I'm clouded by being a fan.
19:26
And so how are you recouping that money, you know, outside of
19:29
the the future finances of the TV deal and hoping that that
19:33
revenues increase? Because when you look at the
19:36
athletic department in comparison to a lot of them out
19:38
there, that becomes scary. That influx in cash is great in
19:42
the here and now. But when you look at a big
19:44
picture, how's that money coming back and not knowing what's
19:49
going to happen with Jimmy Rogers as he takes over the
19:51
program and you're coming off these heights of what Matt
19:54
Campbell is able to do. What if a tenant starts to
19:56
dwindle and suddenly that changes And, and we know the
19:59
importance of football revenue and how that goes hand in hand
20:02
with everything. So that would be my biggest
20:04
concern is just it's great that that influx in cash absolutely
20:08
is needed. I think we all know that at Iowa
20:10
State. When's that payback happened?
20:13
And if things do start to go a little bit S if there is
20:16
something, the basketball program even takes a small step
20:20
back. What does that mean in the
20:24
future? And does that mean then this
20:27
venture of private equity that they get to get their hands that
20:31
in the athletic department, if you can't pay, that gets scary
20:34
in a hurry. It it.
20:34
Really does. And I would say it's in such an
20:37
interesting position because Jamie Pollard has been on record
20:40
talking about Iowa State's financial, financial situation.
20:44
I believe was on the spotlight with Elijah Moore that he broke
20:46
down like they just don't have the funds and over the next
20:50
couple of years they could turn into a UNI I and this and the
20:53
other thing. And the one thing that I do want
20:55
to throw out here, which this is a long shot, I understand that.
20:58
But what if hypothetically Jamie Pollard's comments towards the
21:02
Board of Regents are somewhat vindicated?
21:04
There is potentially some movement for Iowa State and and
21:08
the Board of Regents allowing the university to pay the
21:11
athletics department. If Iowa State takes the 30
21:14
million now and they basically are able to fend off the
21:17
payments until the Board of Regents allows the university to
21:20
pay the athletic department, could they take it essentially
21:23
as upfront money they're going to pay back and stay competitive
21:27
over, you know, 20262728 when I would argue is the most crucial
21:32
time for Iowa State athletics. If they flame out in football
21:35
over the next three years, if they fall off in basketball or
21:39
whatever the case is for wrestling, where does that leave
21:42
the athletics department because of where Jamie Pollard hints at
21:45
where they're at. So I don't know if that's
21:48
possible. It was just the thought that I
21:49
had, you know, as I'm taking my morning shower, it's just kind
21:52
of one of those like, oh, could you potentially do that?
21:54
I, I don't know if it's maybe the smartest play.
21:56
I'm not the AD, but it was something that popped in my
21:58
head. Stay competitive now and just
22:00
hope, gamble if you will, that they can pay it off later.
22:04
We got some. Gambling coming up a little bit
22:05
later on, my picks of the day off a three and two.
22:09
We'll try to build on that a little bit later on, but coming
22:11
up next, we're going to be joined by Sloan Piva.
22:13
Look inside the NBA playoffs. LeBron back on the hardwood
22:16
tonight. Any shot at all against the
22:19
Thunder? That's next.
22:19
It's Miller and Condon, Nick Marvitz hanging out with me
22:22
today on the Iowa Sports Radio Network.
22:37
1:30 It's Miller and Condon on the Iowa Sports Radio Network,
22:40
Trent Condon, Nick Marvitz hanging out with me today.
22:43
Ken is off for the next couple of days.
22:45
He'll be back on Thursday. Time to turn our attention back
22:50
to the NBA and the NBA playoffs. Sloane Paiva joining us, a long
22:55
time contributor over at the Sporting News Now, Athlon Sports
22:58
NBA Magazine as he joins us here on a Tuesday.
23:02
Sloane, good to catch up with you again.
23:03
How are things? Hey, gentlemen, Things are
23:06
great. Excited for basketball.
23:08
It's really ramping up. We had a crazy first round, but
23:11
yeah, better to talk with you guys again, no doubt.
23:13
About it and we're going to get into the Timberwolves last
23:16
night. That is our regional team that
23:18
is still alive in these playoffs.
23:19
No Bulls, no Bucks. The T Wolves are the one that
23:22
are holding the candle for us here in the upper Midwest.
23:25
But before that, I want to start with LeBron.
23:28
And now just looking back, I know the Rockets had their own
23:32
set of injuries with Durant, what he was dealing with going
23:35
in there still LeBron with no Luca, don't get Reeves back
23:39
until late in the series at 41 years old.
23:43
It has a feeling to me that this is something that is going to be
23:46
remembered in hindsight. So I don't think it's going to
23:48
go very well against the Thunder.
23:49
But if guy at 41 with the injuries around him, when you're
23:53
adding just another point, another bullet point on that
23:55
resume of greatness, that what I think is going to go I think a
23:59
long way and I'm going to remember it for a while.
24:00
How about you? Oh yeah, I mean, that first
24:03
round was absolutely extraordinary from him and
24:06
inspirational basketball. 41 years old and just just getting
24:10
out there like a dog every single night.
24:12
He didn't even spend that much time on his back riding in pain.
24:14
He didn't even even have to put up any flopping act or anything
24:18
because he's out there just playing aggressively and and
24:21
taking it to the Rockets. Obviously he had a little bit of
24:24
help with the with the surprise KD injury.
24:27
Kevin Durant is obviously a game changer.
24:29
So that would have been a different series, I think, if he
24:31
was healthy. But yeah, full props to LeBron.
24:35
We don't love him up here in New England, but I got to give him
24:37
credit because he is just absolutely a baller.
24:39
And even if they get run over in the second round, nobody can
24:43
ever take that first round upset from him.
24:45
It's just another another in the many, many lists of milestones
24:50
and and crazy moments that he's been able to pull off.
24:53
And he's just remarkable player. So let's go to that series
24:58
Lakers tonight against the Thunder.
25:00
I mentioned, I think this is going to be an incredibly
25:02
difficult path to Sloane for them to pull this thing off.
25:06
Where are you in terms of I know you'd like to take a look at the
25:08
gambling perspective. Do you see any value series
25:11
prices, anything like that? And and the Lakers, even if Luca
25:14
returns, maybe even earlier than anticipated, do you give them
25:17
any shot at all? It's tough.
25:21
I'm kind of with the sports books and, and that I, I don't
25:24
see, you know, the Lakers having much of a shot at pulling up the
25:28
upset. Even even a couple of games is
25:30
going to be tough for the Lakers to pull off in this one.
25:33
Whereas I had them as an easy money plus 2 1/2 in the the last
25:38
series against the Rockets that I I have trouble putting any
25:43
money Ellie's way. They just don't have enough
25:45
depth. They're not athletic enough.
25:47
They they're not healthy enough. There's there's too many chips
25:51
stacked against them against the Thunder team that has the most
25:54
rest in this playoffs. You know, they, they're the only
25:57
team that was was done in, you know, the first first week and a
26:01
half of of the, the playoffs. So they've had plenty of time to
26:05
to gear up to rest to prepare for the this matchup.
26:09
And they already are a terrible matchup for the Lakers.
26:12
I mean, the Lakers just cannot size up against OK C.
26:17
They, they're consistently taken apart by OK CS defense.
26:21
OKC gets to the line a lot. That's going to happen again
26:24
this series. So yeah, it's, it's really
26:27
difficult for me to see OK C even squandering like even
26:32
losing 2 games in the series would be insane to me.
26:35
I, I, I think it's going to be a gentleman sweep, but the books
26:39
seem to, to like sweep. So it's it's pretty wild to see.
26:44
It's obviously difficult to bet against LeBron James, you know,
26:47
getting to six games, but OK, he's just too strong so.
26:51
Assuming that the Thunder advance, they'll they'll play
26:54
the Timberwolves or the Spurs. I think if the Timberwolves play
26:57
the way they did last night, they can they can upset the
27:00
Spurs. They need a little bit of a
27:01
generational run here, but we could have 1-6 matchup in the
27:05
finals. Either way, it's the Spurs or
27:07
the Timberwolves and the Thunder are are going to be there.
27:09
By this kind of assumption, is it just a cakewalk for them into
27:12
the championship or is there a matchup that they think that you
27:16
think they could potentially struggle with?
27:19
Ohio, I think they would struggle with the Timberwolves
27:21
the way the Timberwolves are playing, you know, and I told
27:24
Trent last week at the the Timberwolves, have I absolutely
27:29
got the Timberwolves wrong, right?
27:30
Like I didn't give them much of a chance to beat Jokic and the
27:34
the Nuggets. And I got that series wrong
27:36
completely. I mean, I just didn't expect
27:38
Jaden McDaniel to emerge as this superstar trash talker and
27:43
locked, you know, locked down defenses star.
27:46
He he made Jamal Murray look absolutely terrible in that
27:50
series. And it kind of reminds me of my
27:53
my former colleague Steph Know from the Sporting News.
27:56
I worked with him for many years.
27:57
Great friend, great writer. He interviewed Jaden McDaniels
28:00
at one point and he got an instant classic of a quote from
28:04
McDaniels. McDaniels said when he's
28:06
guarding somebody, he tries to ruin their days and ruin their
28:09
nights. Well, McDaniels definitely
28:12
ruined a lot of Jamal Murray's nights in that first first round
28:15
series. And now he seems to be ruining
28:18
the nights of Stefan Castle. And if you've got Rudy Gobert
28:21
and Nas Reed trying to, you know, neutralizing Wembe
28:26
offensively, holding him to five of 17 shooting at 11 points.
28:30
I mean, that's not a Wembe like line.
28:33
Minnesota is playing with so much confidence.
28:35
They've got Anthony Edwards back out there.
28:37
I couldn't even believe he was out there last night.
28:39
It's it's it's Minnesota is the dark horse in this in this
28:44
playoffs. Sloane when?
28:45
You look at that and what this Timberwolves team, the toughness
28:48
that they play at, they've got to the Western Conference finals
28:51
the last two years, win a playoff round that surprised a
28:54
lot of people. You're not alone on that against
28:56
the Nuggets. What is the next step in the
28:59
evolution of that team? Gobert commands a big salary and
29:03
kind of the way that they're constructed, they've had to move
29:05
some parts around. Divincenzo next year.
29:08
I mean, what March a best case scenario for him coming back off
29:12
the Achilles? If you're talking about then
29:14
unlocking it and being able to unseat a team like the Thunder,
29:17
taking that final step, what is the final piece that the T
29:20
Wolves need in your mind? I think it's just a couple of
29:24
other players sort of emerging, you know, and, and seeing their
29:28
full potential. And I think Chris Finch is
29:29
getting that from a couple of these guys already.
29:32
I think Terence Shannon, you know, quick off the dribble and
29:35
blasting past defenders who maybe didn't even, you know, hit
29:39
the scouting reports that much for Terence Shannon.
29:42
I mean, he's he's showing up and putting put his best effort out
29:46
there. We've seen, I would assume most
29:48
step up for them. We've seen Bones Highlands step
29:51
up for them. So I think it's just that next
29:53
man up mentality that they have to have and they've had it this
29:56
this whole playoff. That's why when when everybody's
29:59
bought in and nobody's complaining about what kind of
30:02
role they have and they're stepping up for Finch and
30:05
playing great defense and getting behind one another.
30:08
I mean, this this is an easy team to root for right now is in
30:12
Rudy Gobert. Don't get me wrong, he's not a
30:16
great that's not a great contract there.
30:18
That's an obstacle for for a while for this team.
30:21
But you know, he's still a formidable presence in the paint
30:26
and he's still able to slow down one of the MVP candidates in
30:29
this league in Wembe. So it's kind of like Draymond
30:32
Green. Do we love him, him as a
30:34
franchise player? No, we don't.
30:36
But he still serves the purpose and he's still getting things
30:39
done for that team. So it's they've got all the
30:42
pieces. They just need to keep, you
30:44
know, striking gold with these bench players in the in these
30:47
these role players that have already stepped up big time for
30:50
them. So we have the Knicks dominate,
30:55
we see the other series in the East and Pistons, Cavs.
30:59
I'll be honest, I have no idea. Watch a little bit of these
31:02
teams during the playoffs, but I was not exactly tuning in during
31:05
the regular season to watch either of these teams.
31:07
Not a big NBA guy until we get into April.
31:10
Now in debate, fill me in what you expect to see in the other
31:13
semi final. Pistons coming back from down
31:16
31. The Cavs never felt I guess
31:19
overly scared about them in game seven against the Raptors.
31:22
Your thoughts on this series? Well, I think both of these
31:26
teams coming off rock fights makes it an intriguing series.
31:29
I think the series could go 6th or maybe even 7.
31:34
The Cavaliers do not travel well and they're the ones who had to
31:38
fly into the series. And let's just let's face it,
31:42
the Cavaliers barely got past the Raptors.
31:45
The Raptors were playing the Cavs very, very physically.
31:50
And I was surprised to see Toronto even get that that
31:54
series to the to the finishing line.
31:57
You know, it took a third quarter collapsed for the
31:59
Raptors to to actually lose that it looked like they're going to
32:02
win the series, which was pretty wild.
32:05
And then, of course, on the other side, the Pistons played
32:09
against a Magic team that kind of blew all of us away.
32:12
None of us saw Orlando having the kind of fights that they
32:15
showed, but I think Orlando is a much better team than Toronto
32:19
and I think Detroit was more, you know, is is more prepared
32:24
for this series after that first round than I think Cleveland is.
32:28
So I actually have Detroit tonight because they're they're
32:33
getting -2 1/2 half on some spreads on some books.
32:37
They're getting -3 1/2 most places.
32:39
But yeah, I've got Detroit winning this first game.
32:42
They're at home. They've got plenty of momentum
32:45
coming off that amazing first round series that they've played
32:48
against the Magic. I think a star Thompson is
32:51
probably going to draw Donovan Mitchell, which is trouble for
32:53
Mitchell because a star Thompson is a great defender.
32:56
I've got a star steals plus blocks over 3 1/2.
33:00
That's money. I hit that one big time.
33:03
I think Tobias Harris has been phenomenal.
33:07
I just love what I've seen from him.
33:09
He scored 20 plus in four straight games, so he's just
33:13
that veteran that has just guided this team to victories
33:16
when Keith Cunningham needed some help.
33:19
He's over over 1 1/2 threes plus one O 7, so that's another fun
33:24
plus plus money player props. So hopefully I'm not stealing
33:28
some of your picks. No, no, I need.
33:29
Them I need all the help I can get.
33:31
Speaking of the yeah, that no, yes, go ahead.
33:34
Go ahead. Speaking of.
33:35
Momentum because the. The the the good Cavs are are
33:38
four and eight against the spread with the rest
33:40
disadvantage. So I'm all over Detroit tonight.
33:44
That's enough for me to to to go for Detroit and for the Cavs
33:48
under on the team total, which is like 210 or something.
33:52
I mean 1110. Yeah, let's.
33:54
Take a look. Speaking of momentum, 76ers,
33:57
their big win over the Celtics, I would have thought they'd come
34:00
into game one with a little bit more spunk.
34:02
Are the Knicks just better with the 76ers exactly gassed?
34:05
Is this is this going to be a series or are we basically
34:08
looking at a Knicks moving right into the conference final
34:11
situation? Yeah, I mean, I don't blame you
34:14
for talking about that as one of your last talking points because
34:17
that doesn't look like much of A series.
34:19
You know, if indeed isn't at, you know, 8090%, which he
34:24
probably isn't even close to after, you know, gutting out
34:28
that first round series victory over the over the Celtics, which
34:32
I don't even want to talk about up here.
34:33
We're we're pretty we're pretty forlorn up here about that one.
34:37
But yeah, if indeed is not close to 100%.
34:40
I just don't give the Sixers much of a chance that the Knicks
34:44
are just rolling right now. They have so much momentum and
34:48
it's hard to see the Knicks slowing down against anybody in
34:52
the East right now. I actually have the Knicks and
34:57
the Thunder -1.5 on the series spreads.
35:01
I parlayed those two together to get plus money.
35:03
So I, I think those are two series spreads that if you throw
35:07
together, you've got some pretty, pretty good odds there.
35:10
So I don't give much hope to to to the Sixers at all.
35:15
And I think the Knicks and the Thunder, they're going to be the
35:18
two easy advances in this round, all right.
35:21
So Sloan, before we let you go, let's see anything else that you
35:25
got on the wager sheet here today.
35:27
You do a lot of this, get into the Prophet.
35:29
So help us out a little bit. You mentioned a few that you
35:32
have. What else are you going to be
35:33
fired at here this evening or maybe the next couple of nights?
35:36
Oh yeah, you know me, I'm always a sicko.
35:38
I'm always going deep into these games.
35:40
So yeah, I think the Thunder are going to roll the Lakers so bad
35:44
that they've got a, you know, some role players getting some
35:46
more shots up. So I've got Cason Wallace and
35:49
Isaiah Joe both to score 6 plus points.
35:52
That's a pretty easy money for partly and that's plus 1/14.
35:56
So two guys that I think can, you know, get a few few extra
35:59
shots up and and hit 6 on the score of chart.
36:02
We're going easy there. I also like Marcus Smart, Alex
36:06
Caruso and LeBron James all to have one steal that's plus 1/12.
36:11
So you know, these are best that none of your friends will ever
36:14
make. But you know, you see me make
36:16
it. You're like raise your eyebrow
36:18
and take a look at it. Go for it.
36:21
I also like the Lakers team total.
36:23
I like the under the Thunder just kind of absolutely unload
36:27
on them. The OKC is not a team that's
36:30
going to squander an opportunity against the banged up and older
36:33
team. So I think it's going to be a
36:35
pretty easy, easy VV for OKC little.
36:39
Domination there, Sloan Paiva joining us from Athlon.
36:42
So it is always good catching up, talking some MBA and talking
36:45
some props, always fun. We'll talk to you again soon.
36:47
Appreciate it. Always a pleasure guys, talk to
36:50
you soon so I. Find him on Twitter as well and
36:52
he posts many of those pics all over there.
36:54
Also, Speaking of the prop market, it's something that I've
36:57
been getting involved with more and more here recently.
37:01
I normally just play the game, do a few things from time to
37:05
time, but I just bet on games. But our friends over at Unjuice
37:10
dot Bet, a locally owned business from up in Ankeny in
37:15
the gambling space, put together a great website.
37:17
And a lot of that is finding the different values out there with
37:20
all the different sports books and finding how different a line
37:23
may be. You might be a lot of these prop
37:25
markets you're laying -140 well, maybe it's 120 here or it's a
37:30
110 here plus 1:10 on the other side.
37:32
A different sports backs books and finding that different value
37:35
that they can have. A lot of great things happen in
37:38
UN juiced dot bet is where you can go Ankeny based.
37:41
How about that in the sports gambling space?
37:42
Like that part of it also UN juiced dot bet QuickTime out.
37:46
Speaking of bets, going to give you my bets coming up on the
37:48
other side. It's presented by Circa Sports.
37:50
My picks of the day, Trent Cotton, Nick Marvitz with you
37:53
today. It's Miller and Condon on the
37:55
Iowa Sports Radio Network. We're wrapping things up on a
37:58
Tuesday. Miller and Condon on the Iowa
38:00
Sports Radio Network. Hello to everybody across the
38:03
state, Sioux City, IA city, Cedar Rapids, the Quad Cities
38:06
and our flagship here, Des Moines, One O 6.3 KX&O.
38:11
Nick Marvitz with me today. Before we get to our plays of
38:14
the day back in the capital city, how does feel back be back
38:18
in Des Moines? I know you spent some time here.
38:20
It does. Kind of feel like home a little
38:22
bit. Yeah.
38:22
I didn't even spend too much time in Des Moines.
38:25
It's just a totally different layout than what it is out east.
38:28
So it's it's a good feeling. You finished.
38:30
Up at Iowa State a couple of years ago, I spent very little
38:33
time in Ames outside of a couple of games, couple of weekends.
38:38
What was the old thing that they shut down because of too much
38:41
partying? Visha.
38:43
Yeah, yeah. It's been a weekend there for
38:45
that one. Don't remember much.
38:48
Did you guys ever come to Des Moines, like, for a night out?
38:52
Was that ever? Was that a thing either with
38:54
your grouper? You knew people at Iowa State
38:55
that would do that. Oh.
38:57
It's crazy because we would come down here for Wild games and
39:00
Cubs games all the time. Yep, definitely a little bit
39:04
less on the night out side of things, but definitely events,
39:07
you know, and Des Moines offers just a ton to do.
39:10
So Ames has a lot. But every now and then we'd be
39:12
like, hey, let's throw our nice jeans on.
39:14
Go down to Des Moines. There you go.
39:16
Move it on up for the world, go to the big city.
39:18
Yeah, we you know what I would didn't really have anything like
39:21
that. I did go to a concert in Quad
39:24
City is my freshman year guys. Actually it was Eve six and
39:30
Third Eye Blind I think. Interesting, they said.
39:33
They'd give me the ticket if I drove.
39:34
So there you go. Yeah, didn't ask.
39:36
Twice. No.
39:37
Absolutely. A couple of guys on my dorm
39:38
floor is like first, second week of school, something like that.
39:40
I'm like, sure, they didn't have a car.
39:42
I did. So we made our way over to the
39:44
Quad Cities. I think maybe it was my first
39:45
time ever in the Quad Cities and we just went to the Castor Cave
39:48
right back. But yeah, it's not like we went
39:50
to Cedar Rapids and you'd be in an eastern Iowa guy.
39:53
You understand that? Much.
39:55
Different than having to bond it and you're right, all the events
39:58
here, all the different things. Well, it's good to have you back
40:00
here and good to talk a lot of different things.
40:04
We talked a lot of Big 12 stuff, a lot of college football things
40:07
as well. How about the gambling space for
40:09
you? Are you big into it with what we
40:11
do over at Locked On? FanDuel is our big sponsor over
40:14
there. Are you a gambler at all?
40:17
When football season comes around, how do you dabble?
40:20
I when I turned 21, I definitely did it a lot more than I do now.
40:25
And now with some more disposable income being, you
40:28
know, college graduated, it's a little different than it was in
40:30
college. So I waned off for a while and
40:33
now I'm kind of back to the point where if I don't have a
40:36
team in the fight, I will throw, you know, AU and then or half a
40:40
unit on it or whatever. But if I have a team, I have a
40:43
hard time betting on it because am I going to bet with my heart
40:47
or am I going to bet with my head?
40:48
Are they the same? Are they different?
40:49
There's a lot going on there. So if you know early March
40:52
Madness games, oh, absolutely. I'm throwing, you know, $5 on
40:55
landing wood or whatever. Just like you.
40:57
Know so have fun with it. That's the way that I look at
41:01
it. I call it my entertainment tax.
41:02
Yeah, I'm not good at it. I lose money.
41:04
I get it. Yeah.
41:05
But look, I'm old. I got kids.
41:07
I got a wife. I don't go out, I don't party
41:10
like I once did, though I try every once in a while to, to put
41:13
the fun meter in the red. This is something instead of,
41:16
you know, going to the corner bar and having 50 bucks on some
41:19
beers and some drinks up after. Didn't know I I put it in sports
41:22
account and my wife's OK with it.
41:24
We're gonna mortgage our future mortgage, our actual mortgage.
41:28
That's not how I bet. I just have fun and see if I can
41:30
beat the book and I can't. And I get my terrible picks
41:33
every day, including right now. Let's do it, presented by Circa
41:35
Sports. Two games tonight and three
41:37
props. Let's start in baseball where I
41:40
got the Blue Jays plus 111. They're in Tampa tonight.
41:43
Gausman has been a little bit up and down here recently, got off
41:47
to a really good start against Rasmussen.
41:48
Like the plus money, though, I have this basically a coin flip
41:51
in my system. So plus 111 will take the good
41:54
value there with the Blue Jays and I'm jumping aboard with
41:57
Sloan. I love the Pistons tonight.
41:59
I think they come out that momentum that they created after
42:02
the three straight victories. I'm going to jump in, lay the 3
42:04
1/2 tonight with the Pistons. Two props in the Lakers.
42:07
OK, C game tonight. We're going over 20 1/2 points
42:11
for Reeves and we're going to go under 10 1/2 for Ayton tonight.
42:16
Both Lakers plays there. And then one more found this one
42:18
and my friends had unduced. They helped me out.
42:21
There is a lot of value apparently on this one.
42:24
Nico Horner over, 1/2 steal. He's just got to steal a base
42:28
tonight. Plus 6:50.
42:31
We'll throw a half unit on that one as well.
42:34
Nico Horner over 1/2 stolen base.
42:37
That'll do it. Nick, thanks for being with us
42:39
today. It's been a pleasure, I love it.
42:41
Talk to you again. Tomorrow, Nick Borovitz locked
42:43
on Cyclones. Coming back, it'll be Sean and
42:46
Lucas. They will get you home off the
42:48
bench from 2:00 until 5:00. We're Miller and Cotton on the
42:52
Iowa Sports Radio Network. We'll talk to you again
42:54
tomorrow.