Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / Tommy Birch talks MLB & ISU Womens' Hoops, Scott Dochterman on the Hawkeyes & College Football & Trent's Picks presented by Circa Sports

Transcript

Tommy Birch talks MLB & ISU Womens' Hoops, Scott Dochterman on the Hawkeyes & College Football & Trent's Picks presented by Circa Sports · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

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Our number 2, Miller and Connor continues on the Iowa Sports
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Radio Network flagship one O 6.3 KX&O along with stations in
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Sioux City, IA City, Cedar Rapids and the Quad Cities.
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Glad to have you aboard with us here today as the Iowa women
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looking to finish off a win against Nebraska in the
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President's Day special. Iowa currently leads 8061 with
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about a minute and a half left in that one.
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And I missed what happened, but there was just a double flagrant
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on both sides. Both teams were shooting free
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throws at the final moments of this one, but I was going to get
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the win and move their record to 20 and five on the season.
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Tommy Birch, he covers women's basketball and a whole lot more
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over at the Des Moines Register, though, he's got the Iowa State
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side of things. Hilton yesterday, a win against
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Kansas State. And Birchy joins us.
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Tommy, good to talk with you once again.
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What's new in your world? Absolutely nothing.
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I'm hanging out right now with the the seven-year old no school
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today. So we're we're kicking it right
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now. I'm I'm guessing he's sure I got
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to get some some airtime in a few minutes there.
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He's got things to say, absolutely and we'll we'll see
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what he's got to say for us as well.
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I want to start on the women's basketball front.
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What you saw yesterday, a very hard earned win against Kansas
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State didn't come easy. This is not certainly an elite
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level Kansas State team that we've seen in the past, but I
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don't know if there's going to be many that are easy unless
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you're talking about the bottom, you know, kind of quarter of the
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conference if you will, in the Big 12.
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A very Workman like performance. They made the free throws.
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They were very good at the charity stripe and got the
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victory there. Another 20 win season for the
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Iowa State women as we still await what's going to happen
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with Addie Brown. They've righted the ship.
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What has been the biggest key for them riding that ship?
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Yeah, I mean, kid and Ariana Jackson back was a big, big
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thing for Iowa State just because she can do so many
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things for Iowa State. She she gives Iowa State another
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ball handler. She can play great defense.
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I think more importantly, she can knock down some big shots
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from three and that's kind of the big thing for for Iowa State
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when you've got such a great post player, naughty correction,
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one of the ways you can kind of deal with the double.
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We're like we've seen at times triple teams on her.
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If you get players that are knocking down shots from beyond
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the arc and Ariana Jackson is one of those players that's been
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doing a really good job with that.
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So I think that I think you've seen just Jada Warrior makes
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them some monumental strides just with her game.
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She's going to be a lot better three-point shooter.
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She's kind of found her niche with that mid range jumper and
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she's just trying to take an ownership of the idea that, hey,
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I got to be able to score a lot more.
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And I think you saw that during the second-half of yesterday's
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game where at one point, I would say again, 24, you know, 24
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straight points for Iowa State came between Adi Chris and Jada
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Williams. So the fact that you're getting
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much more production from her, I think has been a big game
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changer for the Cycles. We ask it every time we talk
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with you. Birchy.
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Latest on ADI Brown getting her back, what the potential.
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There are times it felt like and she's probably lost for the
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season. There's others.
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You get that glimmer of hope. Where do we sit here on February
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16th? Yeah, I mean, I think at one
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point I was pretty much kind of assuming that like, Daddy Brown
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was going to be done for the year.
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And I think even I would say Coach Bill suddenly was thinking
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that might be the case. But over the last couple of
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times I've talked with him, he has got more and more optimistic
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where even the last time we talked to him, he he had said,
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look, I'd be more surprised if she didn't win if she did or
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than if she did. So he fully expects Maddie Brown
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to possibly be back at some point this season.
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And now we just don't know when. But no matter what, man, it
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would be such a a giant addition for I would say just because she
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does so much too, where, you know, she can facilitate, she
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can shoot and she she can play basically the one through the
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five and guard the one through the five as well.
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You know, I think if you would have asked me going into the
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season, is there one player in Iowa State's roster you can't
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afford to lose? You know, Audie Kirk's is kind
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of the obvious answer. But to me, the fact that Addie
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Brown just does so much and come off and, you know, rolls through
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her in so many different ways. I would try to say Addie Brown,
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you know, in the grand scheme of things, when when you've got
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Audie Crooks, somebody's still got to get her the basketball.
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And so many times that was Addie Brown doing it.
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Addie can create her own shots. She can give shots for other
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people, so it's been a monumental loss for them.
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So if they can somehow get her back that you're not only adding
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a great player that is going to lengthen that bench and give me
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more depth. But I'd be really interesting to
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see what that does for Iowa State seating where, you know,
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just her arrival could bump them up a seed.
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You know when you look at it and what's still remaining here as
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you go through the schedule and what's in front of them.
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We know that the Big 12 tournaments going to be there.
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I'd anticipate you want to get her a little bit of run before
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the NCAA tournament. But then you think of the
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back-to-back, maybe back-to-back to back nature of the Big 12
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tournament and you want to do that with a player coming back.
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I mean, is is maybe the most best case likely scenario.
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Maybe get her out there for say the final two games if she's
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close to getting back and at least get her some run there and
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not hope. Well, we don't even know what's
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going to happen to the Big 12 tournament.
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That's the other part is maybe it'd just be for a game and if
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you get knocked off, then you're dealing with that component too.
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Is there any hope of having her back at any point in the regular
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season? I take the race just because
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when when we asked about family, like, OK, what's update on her,
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he was like, well, she's definitely not good to go
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Sunday. So that made the way you worded
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that kind of made me feel like, OK, there is some you know,
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there is a point in the horizon coming up here.
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Now, I think kind of the tough thing when you look at for Iowa
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State, like they're ideally there is no soft planning for
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her to possibly return. Iowa State's got four games left
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in the regular season and they've got the Big 12
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tournament and then then the AA tournament.
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I think like you had said, you know, at some point you want to
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get her back onto the court, you want to get her some run and get
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some experience or she kind of gets her legs back under.
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But all those four games are less than the regular season,
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are not going to be easy ones for Iowa State.
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And even though I think I would say is back into the NCAA
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tournament, this point where I don't know that if they can
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really do anything that's going to take them out.
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You know, they're still fighting for seeding and that's going to
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be, you know, very, very important.
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I don't think I was thinking get back to a point where we're
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talking about the Cyclone potentially hosting.
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But every number matters this time on the stretch.
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It would help. I mean, they'd have to be
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incredibly hot. They're only an underdog in one
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of their final four games. That's the road trip to TCU next
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weekend on Sunday. But say you win three out of
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four, make a run potentially because you can point to even if
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Brown's not back and even if she is back, you can point to those
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injuries and say, hey, our resume when we have our full
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complements, a lot better. But it's going to take, you're
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really threading the needle in order for that certainly to
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happen. One more question on that front
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before we get to baseball, Tommy.
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And that is the Big 12 as a whole, TCU really good.
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But metrically, you know, when you look at the advanced
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analytics, the Big 12's pretty down from what we're used to in
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women's basketball. Any reason you can point to for
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that? Yeah.
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I mean, I don't think it's as top heavy as it's been in the
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past. I think the middle of the order
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and kind of, you know, some of those good but not great teams.
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It's pretty solid in that aspect.
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Where that's part of the problem is now you have so many teams
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that are beating up by each other.
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And then plus you don't have kind of the traditional
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powerhouses that were used to being in the past where, you
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know, Oklahoma was a big force in the Big 12.
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Baylor, you know, after Kim Moki left, isn't they were still
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really good. They just haven't been the
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dominant team that they were during her ten years.
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So I think it's a combination of you just don't have that lead
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program that's kind of, you know, at the top of the list
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that everybody is keeping a close tab on.
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And then you have the idea that there's still some really good
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teams that are just beating the crap out of each other.
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So we jump over to baseball and one thing I found interesting
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over the weekend, Nick Castianos gets cut by the Phillies.
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That was weird. And then he kind of hear there's
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a lot more to the story about him.
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He signs a one year deal with the Padres.
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And then as we find out a little bit more maybe about his
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character or just the way that he is wired, imagining him in
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the Padres clubhouse, that always seems to be on tilt,
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right? That there's always something
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kind of lingering under the surface.
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Could be pretty volatile over there in San Diego this year.
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Yeah, I mean, that's the thing too, is the Padres, like they
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are not afraid to sign anybody, trade for anybody and kind of
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get people into that clubhouse, though.
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You know, one of the things I've always respected about AJ Tiller
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is like that guy is always all in one way or another, like he
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he is always going out to make the deal, to make that team win
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at that moment in time. So, you know, I think if there's
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any clubhouse that can handle it, it might be that.
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But like at some point or another, the Padres have to get
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over that hump. It's still going to be really
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tough because you look at that division, you look at the
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National League, like all roads are still going to lead to the
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Dodgers. And there's still a lot of other
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teams that are going to be really good.
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They're going to be really difficult for the Padres to
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compete with. One of them is going to be the
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Cubs. The Phillies are still going to
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be good with Zach Wheeler eventually coming back as well.
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So, you know, that's that's the thing.
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They're always pulling out the stops.
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I respect that. That's the team that's always
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pushing its chips into the middle of the tables.
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Over to the Cubs, you watch the Iowa Cubs all throughout the
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summertime and get a good glimpse at all these guys making
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their way up. We talked a week ago when we
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talked Birchie about the bullpen, maybe the the biggest
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concern about this squad. And you know how some of the
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young names, the new names coming in, the veterans with
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Harvey and Mayten coming in and and then some of the other
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pieces that they have in the bullpen.
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This line up though, boy, they could look like they can
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absolutely rake the season and and put together there might be
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a few of those, you know, 86 type of victories that they need
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to pull off throughout the course of the year.
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Is there a thing, anything offensively you look at this
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squad that does leave you concerned on the offensive side?
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Yeah, I mean, I think there are definitely reasons to worry.
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If you want, you know, go down that alley and kind of look for
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reasons 1, you know, bring medicine.
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Coming off the best season of his career, you kind of wonder
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where he's at. Dancy Swanson's getting older.
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Picro Armstrong was great during the first half of the season,
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but was horrendous during the second-half of the season.
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I think the biggest question from PCA is going to be like,
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OK, which player is he? Is he the first half players?
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See the second-half players, he's somewhere in between.
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Is he worse than the better? You know, I think the the
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probably the logical answer when it comes to a guy like PCA is
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it's probably going to be in between.
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And I don't know if you're ever going to get that type of first
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half production that you have out of him ever again.
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If he do like wow, that's a pretty incredible player.
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So the idea that you're hoping for that and you're hoping for
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some of these older guys to really put up monster number
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still, I think it's going to be a little bit of A cause for
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concern. But in the in the grand scheme
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of things, you look at the lineup like they just have so
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much steps, so much talent where in the end it doesn't fall just
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on PC, it doesn't fall just on DNC or Bregman.
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You know, you've still got Michael Bush who's like one of
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the best first baseman and all baseball and kind of fuzz under
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the radar. You've got one of the best
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hitters in Nico Horner, you've got a great asset and save
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Suzuki and a steady contributory knee and half as well.
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So there's definitely things to really like.
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But you know, yeah, if you want to talk yourself into it, there
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are definitely ways to worry about this team.
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The Brewers are going to be there because the Brewers are
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always there. The Reds backdoor their way into
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the playoffs, a sign of things to come out of Cincinnati.
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Do you feel like maybe not a contender to win the division,
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but they're going to be right in the mix again for a playoff bid
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in Cincinnati? Yeah, I think so.
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I mean, in that division, you've always had a shot and, you know,
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it's a team that's kind of been knocking on the door of making
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that run but hasn't been able to kind of get over that hump, so
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to speak. But the town is definitely there
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and so you've got the manager there as well.
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So I think it's a it's a team that can definitely do it.
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And you know, if they need to go out and make some trades during
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the deadline, they have the capital to do it as well.
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Over to the other Central Division in the American League.
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My Minnesota Twins are going to be awful this year.
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And Byron Buxton, he went in his first opportunity to talk to the
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media. He doesn't like those trade
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rumors out there. Sounds like Birchy.
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Yeah, I mean, Byron Buxton is pretty adamant that he wants to
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be a Minnesota swim. We saw that I think during the
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All Star game last year where he was pretty adamant that he
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wasn't going to waive that. And I don't know why he wants to
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stay in Minnesota. I mean, maybe it's that he
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really loves the the city. He loves to fish.
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Yeah. I mean, maybe it was the ice
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skate during the offseason. But I mean, it's a team that, to
13:47
me is on the verge of another complete teardown as well,
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where, you know, if you get anything out of Pablo Lopez and
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I think you get Joe Ryan doing what he can do, both those guys
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are going to end up being traded.
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And it's going to be to a point where Byron Buxton is kind of a
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last man standing. So as long as the Twins are kind
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of in this weird situation of, you know, teetering on the edge
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of being in a complete rebuild, he's going to keep getting those
14:13
questions. And I think it's totally fair
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because, you know, when he is healthy is one of the best
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players in baseball. And what team would not want him
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roaming their outfield and manning their lineup?
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Another conversation Birchi in that division with Framber
14:29
Valdez making the way to Detroit.
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You have that White Sox are going through the wind, a
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rebuild. The Twins are looking like
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they're starting things up. Where do you put Kansas City in
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the mix? What do you think about the
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Royals this season? Yeah, I mean, when you have one
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of the best baseball players in Bobby Wood Junior, I think
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you've always got a chance. They've got some decent pitching
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too. And, you know, they've always
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done a great job of drafting, developing and bringing up
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talent too. And the AL Central is just a
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horrific division. You know, it's not going to take
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really much to to win that division and and go to the post
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season, even though obviously the Tigers have some potential.
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But outside of their school, I just don't know if you really
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know know what you have outside that part of the rotation.
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Obviously getting just Berliners an interest in finding that's
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the guy that's on the back nine of his career too.
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So some wide open division and team like the Royals definitely
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could get there. Have a chance and they go
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through and they'll do it with a neighbor.
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There's a chance. Michael Walker Michael Walker,
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His grandparents up in Elma. You know that neck of the woods
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up in God's country, N Iowa? Yeah, I did.
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You know, it's funny, When Michael Walker was coming up to
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the minor leagues with the Cardinals, I did, I did a story
15:44
on him pitching for the Memphis Redbirds at Principal Park.
15:48
He had a ton of family and friends coming to watch him that
15:52
series. And it's kind of funny.
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He was like, yeah, you know, I think he'd actually told me he
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had some Hawkeye stuff that he'd been gifted when he was a little
16:00
kid. So you know, he might be a hawk
16:03
at heart. I know some of the family up
16:05
there would not come as a a surprise.
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I think he was born in Iowa City of memory serves.
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So he's got those Hawkeye State connections.
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That's a good thing. A final thing for you, Birchie
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and a very sad note the the bus crash a week ago for the Iowa
16:17
Lakes Community College baseball team.
16:19
Just such an incredibly sad story.
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Yeah, I mean, it's just absolutely heartbreaking.
16:25
And not only the death, but so many different players who have
16:28
been impacted by it. And, and, you know, you just
16:33
kind of wonder moving forward, like how, how do you go about
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playing baseball after that? And just what you hear and what
16:39
you read and, you know, the players that were lending a
16:42
helping hand on the side of the road.
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It's it's absolutely heartbreaking.
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And you hope that, you know, the, the the the players can can
16:53
somehow overcome this tough time and eventually get back on the
16:56
field. I don't know if it's going to be
16:58
this season, but at some point it's it's, it's really a tragic
17:04
and tough story. And I think it's been really
17:07
neat to see how many people around the baseball community
17:09
and the sports community, like Iowa State softball players
17:14
rallying around the school and the team.
17:17
Finally, we come full circle back to the Cyclones, though not
17:20
on the hardwood with the women's basketball team, the gymnastics
17:23
team canceling the remainder of the season.
17:25
I know you, along with the many others over at the Des Moines
17:27
Register, started to try to dig into this a little bit.
17:31
What can you tell us about Iowa State canceling the rest of
17:33
their gymnastics season? Yeah, we're still kind of trying
17:37
to figure out some of the details and get people to chat
17:39
more about it. But, you know, it was definitely
17:42
a fun departure for the end of the season with a lot left to
17:46
go. And I think the overwhelming top
17:49
from Alabama alumni I've talked to is they just want, you know,
17:53
some of their their questions being answered.
17:55
You know, they're they're legitimate worries about the
17:58
direction of the program, what what happened, what went wrong,
18:02
what could be avoided and what it means for gymnastics moving
18:06
forward. I would say I think are kind of
18:08
the biggest questions a lot of people have moving forward.
18:11
And if that program would, you know, they would pull the plug
18:14
on that program. Isn't Iowa State at the minimum
18:17
number to be at the power conference structure in terms of
18:21
AD one level, in terms of actual teams that they offer?
18:24
Will that mean that they'd have to go a different direction and
18:26
and field another team in a different sport?
18:30
I'm not entirely sure if that's where they're at right now.
18:33
So I, I can't say one way or another, but it would, it would
18:37
be definitely a big blow because there, there are a lot of very
18:41
passionate alumni in Iowa State gymnastics community.
18:45
And I'm sure you're talking to many of them.
18:47
Tommy Birch from the Des Moines Register joining us here on
18:50
Miller. And Connor Birchy is always good
18:51
catching up. We'll talk to you again soon.
18:54
Thank you. That's Tommy Birch joining us
18:55
here on the program. We continue Miller and Condon.
18:59
We're going to talk some college football, some big picture
19:02
items, including the big tense proposal for a 2014 College
19:07
Football Playoff. Scott Dockerman is going to join
19:09
us on the other side. We'll talk some Hawkeyes as
19:11
well. Speaking of the Hawkeyes, it is
19:14
final Iowa on the women's team. They get the win against
19:17
Nebraska, 8067. The final in this one.
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Let it by. Big, big figures at one point
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let it by 27 in the game and they coast to the victory.
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Here the story. Ava Haydn, 27 points, 11
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rebounds in the game, a career high for Ava Haydn.
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Jordy Houston was great off the bench.
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She finished with 10. Shremlow finally missed a shot
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after starting 6 for six Mr. last one, but 17 points out of
19:41
her. A good performance on the road
19:43
against Nebraska as the Iowa women now won a couple in a road
19:47
in good shape going into the NCAA tournament.
19:50
Quick timeout. We're talking with Scott
19:51
Dodnerman next year. It's Miller and Condon on the
19:53
Iowa with Sports Radio Network. Trent kind of back with you on a
19:58
Monday as we recap the weekend that was in college basketball,
20:03
look at college football and a whole lot more Joining us right
20:06
now. He is Scott Dockerman from The
20:08
Athletic, joining us as he normally does does on Mondays.
20:11
And as always, appreciate his time.
20:13
Mr. Dockerman, good to talk with you once again.
20:16
How are things on the east side of the state?
20:17
It's beautiful here in central Iowa.
20:20
Yeah, it's beautiful here too, especially on a nice holiday.
20:24
So hopefully people got a chance to or is getting a is at our
20:28
home on today. Got a They're enjoying it and
20:31
maybe watch the women's basketball team while they're at
20:34
it. Yes, that was a dominating
20:36
performance. Came out on fire, knocking down
20:38
3 pointers all over the place in a very impressive performance on
20:42
the road against Nebraska. The Iowa women, I did see some,
20:46
some people maybe a little bit surprised yesterday we saw that
20:49
the NCAA committee came together, had their one release
20:52
for the year. They don't do it like football.
20:54
They had the release and Iowa was at #11 on the heels of that
20:58
losing streak bounce back against Washington.
21:00
I think people were surprised though, to see them still
21:02
checking at #11 But it just shows you how good that resume
21:05
is overall, and it's not just what you've done the last couple
21:08
of weeks. Yeah, there's 2.
21:10
When it comes to sports, fans especially are too in tune to
21:15
vibes, which means what have what have you done the last
21:18
week, week and a half? And and when you go on a little
21:21
losing streak, it's like, oh, the world is falling apart.
21:25
They don't deserve to be in the tournament.
21:27
But when you look at their body of work in the teams that
21:29
they've beaten, I mean, they blew out Ohio State, they won
21:34
against Maryland and for 38 minutes was were dominant and
21:38
then of course in the overtime and, and they so they have a
21:41
pretty good resume and they are a really good team.
21:43
And, and I think that everybody just kind of forgot that because
21:46
they struggled on the West Coast after losing an important player
21:50
and then losing to Minnesota, who I think is a very good team.
21:54
They just were, they've been overlooked.
21:55
So no, I I think 11 might have been a little bit higher than I
21:59
would have thought even too, but I think that they're certainly
22:02
worthy of top 60. That kind of goes hand in hand
22:06
and then you go to the other side and the freak out meter
22:09
certainly going through the roof right now on the men's
22:11
basketball side after losing a game against Maryland, that's
22:15
just not very good. It was frustrating, but then to
22:18
finally get that sell out crowd, finally get Carver packed up for
22:20
Ben McCullum and have that kind of performance, a lot of angst
22:24
right now in the Hawkeye fan base.
22:26
As always. And I think, you know, you deal
22:29
with it every day and, and, and it's understandable.
22:32
I mean, that was an opportunity that they let slip away.
22:36
I would not say that that means that everybody should be not
22:40
buying this team or this program 'cause I think Ben McCollum has
22:43
done a really good job and you could see what he is building
22:46
there and that this is a a program to me that is that is on
22:52
the rise. And yet they are woefully
22:55
deficient when it comes to talent.
22:57
Bennett Sturtz is one of the best players in the country.
22:59
And if you just took what he has done by himself with this team,
23:06
I mean, he would be Big 10 MVP because he's in the top 10 and
23:11
just about every category and nobody else is.
23:14
I mean, it's a bunch of guys with a great point guard.
23:18
And I think that's speaks to him and how good he is, but also
23:21
speaks to how good that it, it also speaks to how good Ben
23:27
McCollum is as a as a coach. I do think though, that you
23:32
know, that the team wants he he's able to go in the portal
23:35
and get a few more guys along with the Drake guys who have
23:39
really kind of stabilized the team that I think this program
23:43
in the next two to three years is going to be one of the best
23:45
in a Big 10. Going to come down to recruiting
23:47
and certainly the finances that go along with it order to go out
23:50
there because if he gets another top level point guard, you feel
23:53
like they're going to be in good shape.
23:54
He's done just such a good job throughout his career and and
23:57
learning what he did obviously at Northwest Missouri State,
23:59
what he's done recently with Bennett Sturtz, that that's the
24:02
key and it's the key for most everybody in college basketball,
24:05
right strong point guard plays going to go a long way.
24:08
It'll come down to that. With what you've seen and what
24:10
you've heard out of the fan base on the the east side of the
24:12
state, do you think when we get to the portal season that Iowa
24:15
men's basketball is going to be at least OK?
24:19
Sure, you know, and I mean, you know, I, I, I tend to, I hate to
24:23
say this, but only take a little bit of fan discussion with a
24:27
grain of salt because the, you know, a lot of them that are
24:30
complaining aren't donating, you know, they're not really
24:32
invested. They're watching the games on TV
24:34
and then they freak out. And so, you know, just, yeah, I,
24:37
I take really more value into what people are saying that that
24:42
are intimately involved. And, and I think in this
24:45
situation, yeah, they're, they've got they, they spent a
24:48
lot of money last year. I don't know if they'll be able
24:50
to spend that much money because they took some from the football
24:53
program to do that. And some of the guys that they
24:56
paid are not coming through. And that's to me the bigger
24:59
problem. And I don't think it's out of
25:01
opportunity. I don't think it's out of
25:02
coaching. I think it's out of them not
25:04
being good enough or not being consistent enough.
25:07
And that that's been the problem for Iowa basketball.
25:10
But that all being said, this is a program that year 1A
25:14
completely new system. I mean, just I mean this this
25:17
team's number one in scoring defense and under Fran, they
25:20
were generally last in the Big 10 in scoring defense to to do
25:24
all that they've done thus far and probably exceed 20 wins.
25:28
Probably a tournament team. It it speaks to just how good of
25:32
a coach he is and, and how this program is is working its way
25:35
back. I mean, it's got a really big
25:37
important game tomorrow against Nebraska and if it can pull out
25:41
for win there or you know, I, I think if they win two more in
25:45
the regular season and maybe one more in the Big 10 tournament,
25:47
they're a lot probably not even a Dayton type trip.
25:50
So I think overall they're in pretty good shape.
25:54
Let's jump over to football and last week we saw the internal
25:58
e-mail that got out about what the Big 10 is thinking with a 24
26:02
team College Football Playoff in the way that that would look for
26:05
a while we were talking about playing games and a potentially,
26:09
you know, 3 versus the six team in the Big 10, four versus 5.
26:12
Maybe that direction that they're going that appears to be
26:15
off the board. But Doc, this is something
26:17
you've been talking about for a long time.
26:18
In fact, couple of decades ago in the newspaper.
26:20
Yeah, the actual print newspaper.
26:22
You had a 24 team bracket yourself.
26:26
I know it is, it is kind of funny, but I, I think that's,
26:30
that's something that Division Two and FCS have been dealing
26:33
with for a lot of years is this type of bracket.
26:35
And I think that's probably where we're heading at some
26:38
point. It's just a matter of getting
26:39
everybody in that direction because going from 4 to 12 was a
26:43
major leap and then everybody kind of expected a natural build
26:46
up to 16. But to jump it up to 24 and
26:49
beyond, it does take a a little bit of mental gymnastics to get
26:53
there. But I mean, seeing it out on
26:55
paper, I think you know that that there's a lot of people who
26:58
would support that. Certainly I kind of going
27:01
through and talking to different people that the Ads themselves
27:05
are not anti expansion of the playoff to 24 teams and in fact
27:10
it's something that they would welcome from the standpoint of
27:13
you might have a little bit more program stability in the middle
27:17
of the of the season. You know teams lose like this
27:20
year with Penn State and LSU losing 3 games and they fire
27:24
their coaches. Well three games isn't going to
27:26
cost you a playoff spot. So you might see a little bit
27:29
more stability there. Now, that being said, it's
27:35
there's going to be a clear divide between Bulls and the
27:37
playoffs. But as we've seen that the
27:40
playoffs has actually had, the Bulls have actually had really
27:45
good ratings. So I would anticipate it going
27:49
to this at some point, whether it's going to be quickly and
27:52
whether or not Tony Petiti can sell his plan.
27:55
That's a completely different discussion.
27:56
You know what we talked about this it, it feels like that
27:59
divide between the SEC and the Big 10 after they got what we
28:03
would say, what full control now of the way the playoff is
28:06
structured. Are you surprised this deep into
28:08
it that there still seems to be a pretty big gap about what the
28:12
SEC wants and what the Big 10 wants?
28:14
Because for a while it felt like maybe they were pretty close
28:17
together, that they were aligning themselves obviously as
28:19
the power to kind of on their own level with it.
28:22
Has the divide maybe even grown since then with the Big 12 in
28:26
the SEC? But I, I can't speak to the Big
28:29
12, but I could say that the SEC and the big that they're
28:34
actually closer than probably the perception of it.
28:38
You know, they're kind of, you know, there's there's a lot of
28:40
people kind of laughing about the big 10, you know, proposals
28:43
in this kind of goes to Petiti, who has a lot of great ideas but
28:47
struggles to sell them to the people who he needs to work
28:50
with. And so it's like, oh, here we go
28:52
another Tony Petiti idea and kind of laugh it off.
28:55
But but again, some of the 80s in those parts of the world are
29:00
very excited about the opportunity to potentially go to
29:03
24 because it could mean, I mean, you know, first of all,
29:07
take LSU last year, then maybe keep Brian Kelly around, maybe
29:11
go 8:00 and 4:00 and then you get into the tournament and then
29:13
it's not so bad. And if you're as good as the
29:16
league claims it is, maybe you win a couple of games.
29:19
Or if you're a Kentucky, you know, right now, I mean, even at
29:23
a 12 team field, that's almost impossible for them to get in
29:26
except once every maybe 10 years.
29:28
But if you're 8 and four, maybe you get a chance to get in and
29:31
you know, and then it likewise the Big 10 when you're an 18
29:34
team league and you're in Iowa, you know, which would have made
29:38
that tournament, according to Petiti and was good enough to
29:41
make that tournament that you don't, you know that this this
29:44
would be a way to get in. Likewise, if you're in the Big
29:47
12 and ACC where you know it's going to be a struggle just to
29:51
generate enough votes from the from the panel to get in and now
29:55
you now they have no problem doing it.
29:58
So also preference, no regular season rematches, that's
30:01
something in there that certainly makes a whole lot of
30:03
sense in something the NCAA basketball tournament works to
30:06
strive to stay around. And though they've changed that
30:08
a little bit, at least for the round of 32, if you played a
30:10
team that has changed just a little bit in the way that
30:13
they've done that, no rematches, that mean you have to structure
30:16
things a little bit differently. The SEC hurdle, though, the
30:18
conference championship games, because it's not just about the
30:21
game, talking to people down in that territory.
30:24
It's something very cultural. When you talk about the SEC
30:27
championship game and that going away, it's more, it feels like,
30:30
than just the money part of it. Yeah, and and it's important to
30:34
them. I mean, remember, the Big 10
30:36
didn't have a championship game till 2011.
30:38
They had one in 1992 and that really represented a change in
30:42
culture to college football because they went to 12
30:46
specifically to have a championship game that nobody
30:49
else was even thinking about. And then it became and think of
30:53
all the years the SEC was, you know, the winner of the SEC
30:56
Championship was going to win the national title or play for
30:59
it. And and that's just seems to be,
31:02
you know, something that is, again, more cultural in that
31:05
part of the world. And, and so it's going to take
31:09
some maneuvering And I, I think a lot of that, and I know I
31:13
threw the idea out there is, and the PAC 12 is going to this flex
31:18
weekend, the final weekend of the regular season.
31:21
I threw that out there about the Big 10.
31:22
And I think the SEC should accommodate that, which is have
31:26
that last weekend if they're, you know, that could be your
31:28
championship game and have it. And same thing with the Big 10.
31:32
You can structure it that way as part of the regular season.
31:36
But I think the, the one issue you're going to run into is how
31:40
many games or too many games. And when you're asking players,
31:43
even though they're paid now, but that football has a, a
31:47
physical, you know, issue with the game and you're, you're
31:52
asking for players to play 151617 games.
31:55
That's a lot. Netflex game and one of the
31:57
things that I love kind of at the bottom of that a release
32:00
that was up on their website basically saying that and we can
32:03
structure this however we want. I mean putting that control in
32:06
there and what do you take it away from whatever the new PAC
32:08
12 is going to look like and you think of the big 10 and say you
32:12
have a team that's 8:00 and 4:00 but doesn't have that quality
32:14
win doesn't have that one that's going to push him into a 24 team
32:18
bracket. Well, now you can structure that
32:19
and say here's your opportunity. Here is a chance against a big
32:23
boy to get the quality win or the other way a team that's
32:25
safely and you know what, we can maybe structure this away where
32:28
loss is not going to impact them very much if they would lose
32:31
that. I love it.
32:32
I love the manipulation that can happen there because we know
32:36
this doc, if this works for the PAC 12, if it works where they
32:39
can structure it in a way in that final weekend and it gives
32:42
them the push to get there and say, get over to American
32:45
American conference team, whatever it is and get to the
32:47
College Football Playoff. We know that every mid major out
32:49
there, they're going to copy and do the exact same thing right?
32:52
And it'll it'll trickle down finally, probably to the power
32:54
conference level. Yeah, and it should because I
32:58
think it's a great idea. I think it was great when the
33:00
Big 10 tried to do it six years ago with Champions Week.
33:04
And you think about last season that if you would have had, say,
33:07
Iowa played Michigan, the winner might have had a chance to sneak
33:11
in there if it was like a 16 team field, you know, something
33:14
like that. Or if you're talking about a
33:16
2014 field, maybe you structure it with Iowa, Illinois, you
33:20
know, who are both 8 and four and trying to get in at that
33:23
point. You know, those are the things
33:25
that leagues can do in manipulation, but also in in a
33:29
good way. And then you can still have your
33:31
championship game and and feel good about it.
33:33
But then, you know, even deeper into the in the in the back end,
33:38
you could have, you know, two teams like like this year, this
33:41
naturally worked out, but Penn State and and, and rugby were
33:44
both 5:00 and 6:00. So hey, you know, play each
33:47
other and the winner gets to go to a bowl game.
33:49
You can, you know, negotiate and navigate through that.
33:52
Or if you say there's a a rivalry type game or a game
33:57
that, you know, just kind of makes sense.
33:58
Like, let's, let's say this year, even in the Big 10,
34:00
Wisconsin and Michigan State, both teams were, you know, not
34:04
gonna go to a bowl game. But hey, you play each other.
34:06
There's a kind of a natural, you know, rivalry type feel to it
34:11
that that makes you feel pretty good about it.
34:13
Or you send somebody out to UCLA.
34:14
It's like you're not going to bowl game, but you're gonna go
34:16
to play in those bowl and, you know, in November.
34:18
So, and I think in the Big 12, there's the same type of feel.
34:21
You know, you, you don't say that it's 2027 and K State and
34:26
Iowa State aren't playing for the first time since, you know,
34:29
1916, You know, before they even started playing each other,
34:32
which I think is a tragedy on the, on the sports sense of
34:35
things that they're not. But maybe you, you can
34:39
manipulate the schedule to do something like that.
34:40
I, I think it's all worth it to and then you get fans.
34:45
Us, we're speculating about it in early November.
34:48
Who's going to play who? How's this going to shape out?
34:51
I think it's all fun and and it's probably worth a while for
34:56
the for the leagues to do that. Team that's had some success
34:58
inside of our state borders here recently, North Dakota State no
35:02
longer going to be the power of the Missouri Valley.
35:04
They're making the move to the new look Mountain West.
35:07
Do you like the move for the Bison?
35:09
They certainly got money up there.
35:11
It is. They're different certainly than
35:12
many of their brethren in the Missouri Valley Football
35:15
Conference and certainly including you and I hear from
35:17
our state the move to the Mountain West.
35:19
Do you like it for North Dakota State?
35:22
I do, I, I think this they've, you know, this year, they, they
35:25
were upset by one point when when a team came back, when
35:28
Illinois State came back and you know, and just those things
35:32
happen. So it's not like you can judge
35:33
them. What you judge them on is their
35:35
body of work. And their body of work is
35:37
unprecedented at that level. And even some of the schools
35:40
that have taken that step to the FBS level, you know, a James
35:45
Madison, you know, being among them, didn't have as much
35:48
success at the FCS level that that North Dakota State did.
35:52
So going to the Mountain West, within two to three years,
35:57
they're going to be a power. They might be a playoff team,
36:00
you know, you you take what they've been able to do and if
36:03
you would have said, OK, compete head to head with the Mountain
36:06
West for PAC, well, not PAC 12, but you know, S Sunbelt or
36:09
somebody like that. They're they're a bona fide
36:11
playoff team. You know, would you take them
36:13
versus Tulane? I mean, I would take North
36:16
Dakota State. So I I think they'll be fine.
36:18
I am interested to see, you know, how and when, you know, a
36:21
South Dakota state, maybe the other Dakota schools,
36:24
potentially the Montana schools, what their decision making is
36:27
going to be in the future because I think that they are
36:30
capable of competing in in that type of league.
36:33
I mean, you know, Northern Illinois is going to be in the
36:35
Mountain West. You know, Northern Illinois, I
36:38
don't think is as good of a program as Montana State, for
36:42
instance, or, or certainly North Dakota State or South Dakota
36:44
State. So I think those schools will
36:46
look at it the same way. And it's just a matter, do you
36:48
want a national championship or do you want to go to a bowl game
36:52
and, and play at a, you know, play in a playoff?
36:55
And and so I think that's that those are questions those
36:57
schools will have to answer. Finally, Doc, you wrote last
37:00
week about something that came down from the Big 10 asking the
37:05
NCAA to eliminate college prop bets.
37:08
Now it's something in our state we don't deal with very often
37:11
because for the in state players it's not allowed.
37:13
You can't bet on, you know, Bennett Sturtz over under
37:16
points. You can't bet on Taming Lipsy
37:18
over under assists. It's not allowed inside our
37:20
state. And maybe that's why it just
37:21
feels a little bit out of mind for us here.
37:23
Take us in a little bit there and the likelihood that we see
37:26
the college sports prop bets for the individual players gets
37:29
taken off the board. I think it's, it's huge and I
37:33
think that that was something that when all the states were
37:38
started to become, you know, to, to eliminate and then and then
37:42
add gambling. I think that that was something
37:46
had nobody really thought about the time and, and now you're
37:49
seeing and it's, it's such a different world as we know for
37:52
young people, you know, 18 to 22.
37:54
And, and we tried to in some ways eliminate the, the thought
37:58
of, well, they're just, they're, you know, now they're getting
38:00
paid, they're professionals, but they're still going to Class A
38:03
lot of cases or they're online classes, but they live among 20
38:08
year old people and they are, you know, going to bars and
38:13
restaurants with 20 year old people.
38:15
And, and they could be influenced in a way that say
38:17
pros that aren't necessarily influenced.
38:19
So I think this is, this is something that absolutely needs
38:22
to happen. I'm glad the Big 10's doing
38:24
this. Of course, the NCAA is is really
38:26
pushed forward as well. In a in a normal ish era, maybe
38:32
something like this would happen at the congressional level a lot
38:35
quicker. But, but I do think that whether
38:38
it's leave it to the states, I think the states, all of them
38:43
needed to really examine this because you really can put
38:45
pressure on it on a kid in A at a really tough time.
38:49
And and if you remove that from the mix, then I think you could
38:55
remove the opportunity for impropriety.
38:57
Scott Dockerman from The Athletic joining us here on a
39:00
Monday. Doc.
39:01
A lot of time today, a lot of different topics.
39:03
Thank you so much for helping us out here today as you do each
39:06
and every week. What do you have coming up this
39:08
week at The Athletic? Yeah, I'm writing.
39:12
I didn't have enough hate mail from my football rivalry, so now
39:16
I'm doing basketball. Right.
39:19
You know, that'll be top 50, not top 100, but it's still pretty
39:23
involved in deep and there's, you know, several involving, you
39:27
know, teams in this state, of course, and working on that, you
39:31
know, checking in on the Bulls and and, you know, next week
39:35
I'll be at the time line for Monday morning all the way
39:38
through the following Saturday. So there's a lot going on there
39:40
too. Scott Dockerman joining us.
39:42
Thank you so much for your time, Doc.
39:43
We'll talk again soon. OK.
39:45
Have a good one. Thanks.
39:46
Scott Dockerman from The Athletic Find him on Twitter at
39:49
Scott Dockerman as he covers a little bit of everything over
39:52
there and getting into the NFL draft in the combine next week.
39:57
Quick time out on the other side.
39:58
We will break down my card betting wise presented by Circa
40:02
Sports. An up and down weekend had some
40:04
successes. Saturday was good.
40:06
We're off to a bad start because I had the Huskers plus 4 1/2
40:08
today against the Hawkins. Guys had no chance on that one
40:12
as the Iowa women flex their muscle.
40:14
We got to play for you. Iowa State, Houston, keys to a
40:16
victory for the Cyclones. Next, it's Miller and Condon on
40:19
the Iowa Sports Radio Network. Trent kind of back with you one
40:22
final time as we put a cap on things here.
40:24
Miller and Condon on the Iowa Sports Radio Network across the
40:29
network, Sioux City, IA City, Cedar Rapids, the Quad Cities
40:32
and our flagship 106.3 KX and wherever you are in the state of
40:36
Iowa, glad to have you with us here today.
40:39
So as we take a look at the match up tonight, it is the big
40:43
one, big Monday it starts game one, Syracuse, Duke.
40:47
I'm going to grab the points against the Dukies.
40:49
Usually there's been a sign of losses for me, but we're used to
40:52
that. Still getting 19 1/2 with
40:54
Syracuse, a Syracuse teams, what a couple of games in a row,
40:58
albeit not against great competition.
41:00
They beat SMU and Cal, both of them at home.
41:03
They've also covered though five in a row.
41:05
So we're going to see never bet against the streak, give me
41:08
Syracuse in pick #1. But of course the nightcap, that
41:11
is where all the eyes here in the state of Iowa are going to
41:14
be for this one. And and what an incredible
41:17
atmosphere it is expected to be at Hilton tonight.
41:21
There is a part of this game that does leave me a little bit
41:24
tepid, a little bit concerned because of what we saw, that
41:29
great performance against Kansas and replicating that, playing at
41:32
that kind of level back-to-back games against top level
41:35
competition. That is the one part of it that
41:37
I guess does leave me a little bit worried.
41:40
From an Iowa State perspective, we've talked a ton about Houston
41:43
throughout the course of the year.
41:44
I think everybody knows my affinity for this Houston team.
41:47
What I believe and believe that SES can be a team and not just
41:50
can get to another Final Four, but can win it all.
41:53
I think that they have that kind of ability.
41:56
It's difficult. It's difficult against Houston
41:58
to turn them over, to make it tough to make it that grinder
42:02
that you're expect to see time in and time out against Houston
42:05
because they're just, they're so well coached, they are so good
42:08
on that side. Is it going to be easy for
42:12
Manchilovich to be able to get off 7893 pointers and not just
42:16
talk about making them, but just get those kind of shots off for
42:19
guys shooting 51% Houston, rugged, ugly, they're holding,
42:25
they're doing all those things. That's where the concern lies.
42:27
Still, I'm a building believer and I believe in the building
42:31
and I think the environment tonight at Hilton is going to be
42:34
enough. I'm taking the Cyclones, going
42:36
to lay the 2 1/2 tonight with my pick presented by Circus Sports.
42:39
Gimme Iowa State minus the 2 1/2 along with Syracuse tonight in
42:43
Big Monday. That'll do it for today.
42:46
Back with you tomorrow at noon. Thanks for joining us as always
42:49
here. Miller and Condon from 12:00
42:51
until 2. Ken back with us next week.
42:53
One more week of vacationing, though look at the weather he's
42:56
missing here this week. Hope you have a great night.
42:59
Enjoy the hoops. We'll be back with you tomorrow.
43:01
Off THE BENCH is up next.