Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / David Eickholt joins Trent recapping Game 6 of the NBA Finals, a rough Caitlin game & Hawkeye talk, then Travis Hines talks Cyclones & the Chicken Coop Contest

Transcript

David Eickholt joins Trent recapping Game 6 of the NBA Finals, a rough Caitlin game & Hawkeye talk, then Travis Hines talks Cyclones & the Chicken Coop Contest · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

0:06
Good afternoon and welcome in Miller and Condon on the air
0:09
with you on a Friday as we talk the world of sports.
0:13
Welcome in. I am well, it's just the Condon
0:16
portion today, but we have a Co host.
0:19
We're wondering, well, that's not classic rock.
0:21
That's not 90s alt. Got a music's playing here?
0:25
It's like my walk up music at this point, Trent.
0:27
It's David Eichel joining us from Hawkeye Insider 24/7
0:31
Sports. Mr. Eichel, your lady, do I?
0:36
So good dude, so good. I got my countdown ready to go
0:39
for the concert. Concerts, I should add multiple
0:42
I got I got 2 back-to-back nights.
0:44
Look at you. Well, I could I like I said,
0:46
I've said it before, I couldn't go to the Chicago show cause at
0:48
Cy Hawk week I would have had to pull an all nighter, right?
0:50
And Can you imagine trying to get out of America, you know?
0:52
I can't imagine you trying to pull an all.
0:54
Nighter. No, that's dangerous.
0:55
No, Yeah. I mean, especially since I'd
0:57
have to drive back that night. We we know I'm going to get
1:00
active. At the show, absolutely.
1:02
Yeah, I got, I got front row tickets to 1 show and then I
1:05
have a pit tickets and I got backstage passes.
1:08
It's good to be David Eichel. I'm going to try to get her
1:10
whole up There it is shirt. Yeah.
1:12
Might, you know, just, you know, get that framed might be iconic.
1:16
Looking forward to it. Well, looking forward to hanging
1:18
out with you for the next couple of hours.
1:19
Coming up today on the program. We'll open up the guest list at
1:23
12:30. Bottom of the hour, Travis Hines
1:25
is going to stop by and our conversation on the Cyclones on
1:28
a Friday. The big news, new helmets and
1:31
they look sharp. Actually got one right for once.
1:33
We'll talk about that. But some more pertinent topics
1:36
coming up with Travis Hines. 12:30 here.
1:38
It's your opportunity to win Chicken coop coming up at 12:50,
1:42
our chicken coop contest weekly edition.
1:44
Now Ken, he's normally the one that puts together the different
1:47
games, the different props that we're betting for the week.
1:49
This time, well, I'm coming up with him.
1:51
We'll see if we can do things a little bit differently than the
1:54
way that Ken usually puts those together.
1:55
That's coming your way at 12:50 and your chance to win.
1:58
Winner takes home a $50.00 gift certificate to the chicken coop.
2:01
2nd place, 20 wings coming up at 1:00.
2:04
Mike Palm from Circus Sports, the vice president of
2:06
operations. He will stop by talk about Game
2:09
7 as we'll get that in the NBA and a whole lot more in the
2:13
world of sports wagering. Wrap things up with my picks of
2:15
the day presented by Circa Sports.
2:17
At the end of our number two, we get a Game 7 and Ken was after
2:25
me yesterday. He believed that this was going
2:28
to be a domination by the Thunder, a coronation.
2:32
And at 10 two, I thought, oh boy, Ken's got this one nailed.
2:36
But from there it was really all Pacers.
2:39
And as I was head home, I was called a high school baseball
2:42
game last night, flipped on the radio call on ESPN Radio.
2:45
And I just got to say Mark Kescher does a great job.
2:49
You know, during the summertime, hear him.
2:51
Don't listen to NBA basketball on the radio very often, but
2:54
this is the time of year that I normally do.
2:56
Just an excellent call him and PJ Carlissimo really good as I
2:59
was making way back from Northwest.
3:01
That's a haul out there to Waukee Northwest and got back
3:04
and was able to catch the middle of the third quarter on from
3:06
that one and then flipping back and forth with the WNBA.
3:09
But let's start first with what we saw last night, David.
3:11
And as we go through and look at the way that Indiana guarded and
3:17
we're going to start looking forward to Game 7 and what
3:19
that's going to be and also here, But it's something that I
3:23
missed coming into the series. You know, we talked a ton about
3:25
they play with pace, the way that they are deeper than a lot
3:28
of teams. And is that something, I thought
3:29
this was going to be a short series, four or five games, this
3:32
thing was going to be. Over.
3:33
Really. Was that your pick?
3:34
I I had it in five and I looked at it in a way where I just
3:38
believe that the defense of the Thunder was going to be too
3:42
much. But the thing that I completely
3:43
missed the Pacers are playing some D2 and the way they did it
3:46
again last night, holding Louis point total of the year for the
3:49
Thunder, Louis first half total, Lotus total because.
3:52
People don't realize the Thunder were arguably the most dominant
3:54
team in NBA history. They had the most double digit
3:57
wins in NBA history. I think it was 65 in the
4:00
regular, 60 at the regular season.
4:02
They've been unbelievable. But I will say this, like Shay,
4:05
Gilgus, Alexander, MVP, like, you know me, I'm a big
4:07
Thundering fan. I always have been since I got
4:09
Russell Westbrook the first year there initiate.
4:12
But you know, I'm not going to be mad at the Pacers win because
4:15
they are one of the most well connected basketball teams on
4:19
both ends of the floor I've ever seen.
4:21
Like the regular season. I'm not saying it was a fluke,
4:23
but they've peaked at the right time.
4:24
They have an elite coaching mind and you have to shout Tyrese
4:28
Halliburton because the the injury that came, news that came
4:31
out and it was supposed to be a multi week strain and he's
4:33
playing through it. That's a guy that wants to win
4:36
and it's the NBA Finals. He knows this next game is going
4:39
to be the most important game he'll ever play in his life.
4:41
And I'll tell you man, I do not know who I'm going to pick.
4:44
I really thought that the Thunder were going to win last
4:46
night. I don't want to say I thought
4:48
they were going to dominate. I I ended up taking the over
4:51
instead of the spread 'cause I just didn't trust the Thunder to
4:54
be able to close it out like that.
4:56
But I do think they've gotten a lot better officiating.
4:58
Shay Gilgus Alexander though, too, he was held under 10 free
5:01
throws and when he has under 10 free throws in this finals,
5:03
they're owing 3 and I think that's that's worth noting as
5:06
well. But the way Pascal Siakam has
5:09
played what TJ McConnell has done off the bench has been
5:13
unbelievable. There's two things that told me
5:15
that they were going to win last night, though, Trent.
5:17
It's going way of two under the radar.
5:19
One, it just looked like Pascal Siakam was doing a ritual in the
5:23
pregame huddle. I don't know if you saw that his
5:25
eyes were going on the back of his head.
5:27
I think what happened, it was like Space Jam 3.
5:30
Pascal Siakam took the shooting of Caitlin Clark and just
5:34
replaced it with nothing. And that's why, you know, the
5:36
the WNBA, the fever had a bad game last night and that helped
5:39
the that helped the Pacers. But the second thing, do you
5:42
hear what Carlisle's walk up music was?
5:44
And they announced him. No PA many men by 50 Cent.
5:48
OK, I was like, oh, if I'm the Thunder, I'm, I'm shaking to my
5:50
boots a little bit. So 21 turnovers last night, the
5:53
three different runs that the Pacers had mentioned, the slow
5:56
start, 10/2, they're down. They go on a 24/7 run in the
5:59
first quarter. In the second quarter, they have
6:02
a run that leads bleeds into the third quarter of 31 to 9 and
6:06
then another one at the beginning end of the third into
6:09
the fourth quarter, 18 five. I mean those kind of three runs,
6:12
you're not winning many games with that 21 turnovers by the
6:16
Thunder. They looked out of sorts.
6:17
I thought SGA at times was pressing during those runs and
6:20
he saw that defense from Nemhard, what they're able to do
6:24
doing some different things. He saw Siakam, you mentioned
6:26
Pascal Siakam, they moved him over and they had him on J dub a
6:29
couple of different times that I thought was interesting, moving
6:32
him around a little bit defensively and trying to give
6:35
Jay Wilson different looks. So we get a game seven there.
6:38
It'll be the 20th ever in NBA history.
6:41
Iconic one a few years back with Kyrie, of course, hitting the
6:43
shot to beat the Warriors and the 72 win regular season
6:46
Warriors in that one. But overall, this is not a place
6:49
that very often Rd. Teams win just four of the 19
6:52
times as the road team won eight.
6:54
Game 7, you give the Pacers a shot.
6:57
Thunder Arena is incredibly loud, too, by the way.
6:59
There are different teams. I was there a couple times, one
7:02
of the which was Kevin Durant's return game.
7:04
And that was the most hostile sports environment I've ever
7:06
seen in my entire life. The cupcake outfits.
7:09
I lost my voice probably halfway through the first quarter.
7:11
Nice, Trent. Yeah, it was, it was awesome.
7:13
But no, I mean, I, I really don't know who I'm going to go
7:15
with at this point. But I will say there's one
7:17
player that needs to step up on the Thunder.
7:19
Chet Holmgren has to have a pulse on the basketball court.
7:22
Yeah. He's he's, he's been, he's awful
7:25
last night and he's the guy who's been really good for them
7:27
this year. We know what Jalen Williams can
7:29
do. We know what SGA can do, but
7:32
it's going to be about the role player stepping up because
7:34
again, like look at last night, for example, Obie Toppen has 20
7:38
points and six rebounds. Nebhardt has 17 points, 4
7:41
assists. Halliburton had 14-1 and five in
7:44
23 minutes, but that's all you can expect out of him when he's
7:47
playing incredibly injured. Naismith had 10 points, Shepard
7:51
at 7 points. Miles Turner needs to step up as
7:53
well because he was not good last night either.
7:55
But again, you just look at the balance that they had compared
7:58
to the Thunder, especially when the Thunder shooting 26% from
8:01
three. After that, like you said, after
8:03
that slow start for the Pacers, once they captured that lead and
8:05
the crowd got in it, man, I mean, it was over with halfway
8:08
through the second quarter, yeah, you knew they weren't
8:10
going to give it up the lead. It was very entertaining and it
8:13
LED into just blow up basketball.
8:14
We saw a lot of Isaiah Joe, no good Art Williams, guys like
8:17
that that were in the game. So as I look at game seven, it's
8:20
the same thing that you talk about these role players, how
8:23
good they normally are at home compared to what they are on the
8:26
road. So if you're the Pacers, you got
8:29
of course, got to be able to get something out of Tyrese.
8:31
He's got to be able to control the game and he's not going to
8:33
score 30, but can he get you another 15?
8:35
OK, you get that. Siakam is going to probably have
8:37
to have an A 30 point type of effort.
8:39
I think you're going to need that.
8:40
And then out of that next tier guy, the guy's off the bench.
8:43
McConnell top in maybe both guys.
8:45
Matheran, I think at least minimum one of those three guys
8:48
have to have a really good game and not just in scoring, but
8:52
impacting the game different ways.
8:54
I've been waiting for Matheran again.
8:56
We've seen the Thunder a couple of times, though, in these tense
8:59
moments. Now they got the game seven win
9:00
against the Nuggets. But tense moments, they look
9:03
like a young team. If you're Indiana, that's going
9:06
to be keep the crowd out of it. Keep him at arm's reach.
9:08
Don't have those huge runs of the Thunders have been so good
9:11
at down in OK C If they can do that, I think we're going to get
9:14
a game Sunday. It'll be interesting because I
9:17
think it's a very critical moment in the Thunders history.
9:20
We know what they've done in the Finals.
9:22
You know what, when they had Harden, Westbrook, Durant, we
9:24
everybody said they are one year away.
9:26
And of course they are $4 million total away from having a
9:28
dynasty. Didn't want to pay James Harden.
9:31
I'm still upset about that. Sergey Bach, instead, is the guy
9:34
that we're going to invest. Yeah.
9:35
And I and I understood that at the time.
9:36
I do at the time I understand it.
9:39
No. And James Harden.
9:41
Would not be James Harden if he didn't leave and do his own
9:43
thing. So again, respect Amy did what
9:45
was best for him. But is this team one year away
9:48
again? Because we said the same thing
9:50
last year, right? We saw the pieces start to kind
9:52
of reveal itself. And the other question I have is
9:56
if they get it done, are we talking about a dynasty in OK C?
9:59
Because do you realize Trent, how much draft capital they
10:03
have, how young their team is? I mean I'm I would not be
10:07
surprised if they win on Sunday if they win three of the next 5
10:12
titles. Like they are just so set up so
10:14
well. But the other side of it too is
10:18
what's the hell is going to do? Still a horrible trade to trade
10:22
Luka Doncic still should have been fired for it but the NBA
10:27
had the script. They're going to give him Cooper
10:28
flag. Ping pong balls.
10:30
Went there with shocking again. You mean the low percentage team
10:34
won the lottery again? Can't believe it?
10:36
Looking forward to that. We'll talk a little bit more.
10:38
Your opportunity to pick that game coming up with the chicken
10:41
coop contest at the end of the hour.
10:43
So from there, flipped over to Amazon Prime, which is annoying
10:48
because I want to flip back and forth and very compared and I
10:50
got to hit the input button and jump back, whatever.
10:52
OK, these are first word problems that we're dealing with
10:54
here. Get over to watch some of the
10:57
most dreadful basketball that I've ever seen.
11:00
It was bad because I got in there third quarter when Golden
11:04
State was making their run against the Fever, and that was
11:08
hideous basketball. Passes that were just missing.
11:11
They're missing by three feet, shots that were missing by two
11:14
feet, and just on and on and on. Just dreadful basketball.
11:18
Everybody knows that, you know, I, I, I love the fever, big
11:23
Caitlin Clark Spore West Wind and people often say I'm, I'm
11:26
not critical enough at times. Trent, that was, I think that
11:28
was her worst game. She's played as a, as a
11:30
professional player. I I know she's had worse
11:33
statistical games. The shot selection was bad.
11:37
There was 1 specifically I think in the middle of the second
11:40
quarter where she is again. I've seen her make so many
11:42
ridiculous shots though, where like it's tough for me to say,
11:45
oh that's a bad shot. Because there's not many with.
11:47
She did force it early in the shot clock goes to fade away,
11:50
two hands on her face. I thought it was worst game of
11:51
her career. The team did not look good.
11:53
Now again, Seth White was not with the team.
11:55
I do think that's notable. Every time they try to slow it
11:58
down in the second-half, man, they don't win.
12:01
They have to play up pace. They have to play up tempo.
12:03
I don't know if Caitlin was sick last night.
12:05
She didn't make any excuses. She shot the ball terribly when
12:08
OS7 from three Aaliyah Boston stopped getting the ball in the
12:11
second-half and she had a dominant first half.
12:14
They were really physical with Caitlin on the perimeter and the
12:16
Valkyrie head coach after the game that you know, Caitlin
12:19
doesn't like, you know, getting pressed.
12:20
And the other side of it though, too, is, again, I'm not saying
12:23
this is the officials fault for last night's result.
12:26
I'm not saying that. But they let people be physical
12:28
with her on the perimeter. She gets cut every single game.
12:31
And the fact that her free throw tolls are as low as they are
12:33
quite frankly, ridiculous. But at the same time, man, I
12:37
still think she's going to be all the pop back.
12:38
I think the next, I think they play on, I think they play
12:41
Saturday again. She's going to come back Sunday,
12:45
Sunday, Sunday, OK, Sunday. Yep, yeah, she's going to come
12:48
back and she's going to drop like 30 points, 12 assists, 8
12:51
rebounds. Like she just does not string
12:53
together bad back-to-back games. It was just one of those
12:57
frustrated games for her and she looked as frustrated as I've
13:00
seen her without obviously getting chippy or getting in a
13:03
fight or yelling the official, but just from an on court
13:05
standpoint based on the way the game was going, that was
13:08
arguably the game I think she has been most frustrated with.
13:11
-10 in the plus minus, don't see that very often when she's on
13:14
the floor cutting ham. Also -14 a Coulson within -14 a
13:18
limited minutes. The second most popular player
13:20
in the WNBA right now, by the way, Sophie Guy, she she almost
13:24
tripled her TikTok following in the past 30 hours.
13:27
There's over a million now. She's got 150,000 Instagram
13:30
follows and this is hilarious. I don't care.
13:32
Before last night's game, she put out a TikTok and it was
13:36
like, some people are afraid to show their hands.
13:38
But why would I do that? It's fun for me or something
13:41
like that. And I'm like, oh, she's tripling
13:43
down on what she did to JC Shelton.
13:45
The Sun are horrible. I cannot wait for that rematch.
13:48
It'll be a good one I. Can't wait to see how many
13:50
ejections there's going to be. All right.
13:52
One quick thing for you, David, as I've got to know you
13:55
throughout the years, I don't know your baseball fandom.
13:59
Cubs. You're a Cubs guy.
14:00
I'm a Cubs guy. So were you watching yesterday
14:02
afternoon? A little bit.
14:04
I was off and on. I was I was tracking long
14:06
because you know, our our friend Duke's his birthday today, by
14:09
the way, shout Duke. He had a he's been hitting these
14:11
Suzuki and PCA home run parlays, like putting them together.
14:15
And I think he's hit like three of his last six that he's put
14:17
together because they've both been on an absolute tear lately.
14:20
And he got it with and Suzuki had a couple of opportunities
14:23
late in the game yesterday. I thought he was going to nuke
14:25
that last one. So it's it's one loss, right as
14:28
a 162. It's just a frustrating game.
14:30
For the first time. He had some bullpen issues as
14:33
Cabrera came in and he struggled in there, kept him in the game,
14:36
had an opportunity. But where are you with this Cubs
14:38
team as they sit as a fan? First place obviously in the
14:41
division, 5 1/2 up on the Brewers, still right there with
14:44
the Dodgers, best record in the National League.
14:46
I don't think anybody had that on June 20th.
14:48
When you're looking at this team, you're looking at them
14:51
kind of big picture. Where do you see this team come
14:54
October? Man, I I same way as I've seen
14:57
in the last couple of years from this standpoint.
14:59
I love the offense by the way. They do go through really
15:02
frustrating spurts, but I hate to say it, that's just the way
15:04
baseball is sometimes. I need to see the bullpen, man.
15:08
Come late the season, I they're great.
15:10
Now, I don't want to invest myself too much emotionally
15:14
because I just want to see it happen in the playoffs or late
15:17
in the season even. But is this a team that I do
15:20
think could make a a nice playoff run at this point?
15:23
No freaking question. I I love what they've done with
15:26
the team. I gave them a lot of crap for
15:28
not having a huge offseason signing.
15:30
I didn't think there was any excuse quite frankly.
15:33
But the way they have molded this roster and really have
15:37
uplifted PCA and what he's been able to do from everything,
15:41
defense, offense, stealing the base, I mean, he I would argue
15:44
right now he is one of the most overall talented players in
15:47
baseball. And I just don't think you can
15:49
argue against it at this point. When you go through and you're
15:51
looking at them, obviously you can find another arm in that
15:54
rotation. I think that's what you have to
15:56
do. The thing that makes that
15:57
intriguing too is because you look at the two young guys in
16:00
that rotation with both, Brown was still just a two pitch guy
16:03
and feels like at least at this point in his career and he'd be
16:07
a tremendous arm of the bullpen. You also wonder about Kate
16:09
Horton because he's going to be coming up to his innings limit,
16:11
I think faster than you want. I mean, we're going to be
16:14
talking about this in late July into August and is a decision
16:17
you make with both or one of those guys, at minimum, we're
16:20
going to move them to the bullpen, augment that, have one
16:24
of those two guys, maybe be your 7th inning piece and then piece
16:26
everything else together with that bullpen.
16:28
That's been so good and and what they got out of Drew Pomerance
16:31
has been ridiculous and at the back end just on and on.
16:33
This bullpen has turned into a strength, but we also haven't
16:36
seen that. Yes.
16:38
I'm just I'm not comfortable buying complete stock in it just
16:40
because we're at this point of the year and we've mentioned
16:42
it's such a long season. Are they peaking now is kind of
16:46
my big thing, right? Like how are they going to come
16:47
back post All Star break? Are they going to be in stride
16:51
come playoff time? Because I think this is a very
16:52
playoff worthy team. I think they can make a run, but
16:56
I'm not going to be overly emotional at this point.
17:00
The year outside of when they you know, I won't say they well,
17:04
they play the Brewers. That's probably the only time.
17:06
Oh, and the Cardinals. I'm, I'm, I'm terrible.
17:08
I'm, I don't know if I've ever said this.
17:09
I don't hate the White Sox at all.
17:11
I know it's a big city rivalry. It's not a popular thing.
17:13
But my dad and I used to go down to spring training all time.
17:17
And it was when Ozzy Gein was the manager.
17:19
And, you know, have you ever been to spring baseball, Trent?
17:21
I have not you can get. A cheap tickets, I'm talking
17:24
$2530 your front row right? Like right above the dugout, my
17:28
dad and I were talking to Ozzie Guillen.
17:29
Like during the game, as it was going on, he started joking with
17:32
me. I have two autographed baseballs
17:35
from the entire Chicago White Sox team that won the World
17:38
Series. I can't hate them.
17:41
I can't. It just goes against my nature.
17:43
But that was probably one of the cooler things.
17:45
And Ozzie Guillen was just an all time entertainer.
17:47
Too well, and I think it's different for people that
17:49
aren't. In the city.
17:50
Yeah, if if you're not doing it, you're not dealing with White
17:53
Sox fans or the opposite, dealing with Cubs fans.
17:55
Same. As so, So is the first player I
17:57
ever loved, like really loved when I started like actually
18:00
watching baseball. And they play a couple times a
18:03
year. Him and Manny are mayors.
18:04
And David? Orton it's not the same as the
18:06
hate that you have the Cardinals and you see those standings.
18:07
I hate the Yankees more. I will say like that's why Lucas
18:10
and I beef and he doesn't know the Red Sox are my second team
18:14
because when they had Dustin Pedroia, when they had Yohan
18:16
Santana, when they had David Ortiz, Manny are mayors again, I
18:19
I just like big personality people that just who's almost
18:23
sole purpose is to piss everyone off.
18:26
And that's exactly what Manny are mayors.
18:28
That's why I love watching Sophie Cunningham too.
18:30
By the way, I did not know this. I don't know if you read this,
18:33
did you see that she was a black belt in Taekwondo?
18:36
At six years old, she was the youngest black belt in Missouri
18:40
history. I I saw that and then.
18:42
She was a kicker in high school for a football team, just a
18:45
stud. I don't think people are like,
18:46
oh, you know, JC Shelton and Mabry, like would have
18:48
completely, you know, they would have beat her up.
18:50
And I'm thinking, no, the reason why she grabbed her neck in that
18:54
scuffle trim, she could have need her.
18:57
She could have punched her. She just wanted to say, look, I
19:00
could do something to you right now.
19:01
And I'm just proving that you can't do anything to me and I
19:03
can force her. Getting that out a little bit
19:05
more now and people are doing that.
19:07
I think a few more people might be backing down for Sophie
19:09
Cutting. Yeah, well, well, Mabry is tough
19:11
though. She's she's always been feisty.
19:12
But yeah, so no, the ice can't be invested in the whole White
19:16
Sox Cubs, right. I will just slowly tick off Sean
19:19
Bach, my colleague as well, because he's a die hard one.
19:21
And Sean Roberts, of course I'm I'm always going to poke fine at
19:23
Sean Roberts. Yes, that's easy to do.
19:25
Yeah, of course. You speak of your cohort over
19:27
there. A Hawkeye insider, Sean Bach,
19:29
got a couple of Hawkeye things that want to run past you.
19:33
Do it start right here, the decommitment for Cash Herrera,
19:36
kind of the big news of the week when you look at that, I know
19:39
there've been rumblings for a while.
19:42
Did it begin with Iowa going after?
19:45
Was it Peyton Falcone, the the quarterback from Pennsylvania?
19:48
Is that maybe where the relationship started to sour a
19:51
little bit? I'll say this, I, I, I think he
19:54
was even when Cash committed, Iowa made it abundantly clear
19:58
that they were going to take two quarterbacks in the class.
19:59
So they were like, hey, like, this is still the plan.
20:01
We want you. But just so you know, we want
20:04
to. And honestly, I didn't agree
20:06
with the decision because look at the portal right now.
20:09
And it's honestly all about this season.
20:12
If Mark Gronowski has a massive year and raises his stock and
20:16
helps change that Iowa passing offense, Like, do you know how
20:19
big of a flex it is going to be for him to walk into an NFL
20:22
meeting and be like, look, look what the Iowa offense did with
20:25
me at the helm? And here's what they've done
20:27
before. Yeah.
20:27
You know, Tim Wester is obviously helping.
20:29
And but, you know, you can go out and get a high transfer
20:33
quarterback. Oh, you mean Gronowski helped
20:36
get receivers over six, 700 yards and in five or, you know,
20:39
6 or 7 touchdowns. OK, well, now you can go sell
20:42
something to a receiver in the portal.
20:43
Maybe a little bit more talent there, right.
20:45
So I think that's kind of main focus.
20:47
But the relationship was always good.
20:50
But obviously cash for air stock rose.
20:52
I mean, he's been committed since I think last October, got
20:55
Michigan State offered, Indiana offered.
20:58
And honestly, I think that's where he's going to go.
21:00
I think he's going to flip to Indiana.
21:02
He's set to take an official visit there this weekend.
21:04
I think he's going to commit. But from everything I've been
21:07
told through a variety of sources, I think this this was
21:11
more Iowa's decision to cut because we know how they are
21:14
with visiting schools. And it's so funny to me, too,
21:18
how Iowa got so much Flack for that at the time, and now
21:21
everybody else. It's the industry standard,
21:23
right? You have to with all the money
21:25
that's being thrown around. Heck yeah.
21:27
I totally agree with the decision to be like no, you
21:29
can't go visit anywhere. Else because they're going to
21:31
tell you, hey, you know, this is what we got for you and.
21:33
I was not getting into a bidding war with people, man.
21:36
Like in that that goes for basketball as well.
21:38
They're not going to do that. Did the Wake Forest transfer
21:41
that they got this April, did that also change the equation a
21:43
little bit? Or maybe put it this way, as
21:46
they're looking at another now quarterback for the class of two
21:49
2026, if they don't find the right guy, does that kind of
21:53
change things? 'Cause he's got this.
21:56
This is going to be the most next year, right?
21:58
As of right now, with the way the roster is set up, it is
22:02
going to be the most open quarterback battle probably
22:05
since I started covering the beat in 2018.
22:07
Would you would you agree that I do think the Wake Forest guy is
22:11
going to be a very under the radar dark horse pick to be next
22:14
year's starting quarterback? I mean, just high school
22:15
accolades were incredible. Georgia kid Jeremy Hecklinski's
22:19
his name a little. Bit she's shorter, that's the
22:22
thing. But I don't think it matters.
22:23
I think with the way Iowa ran its previous offense, I think
22:26
you need a taller quarterback at the time.
22:28
But Hecklinski can use his legs. Shorter guy gets rid of the ball
22:32
quickly. He can make throws at all three
22:33
levels. If you watch his highlight reel
22:35
from high school, I mean, he was he was a stud in a very tough
22:38
compensate. He was I I think he was a high
22:40
three star by us now 4 star. Probably the height hurt him in
22:42
that department a little bit, but he's a he was a very sneaky
22:45
under the radar, I think good transfer portal addition.
22:48
I think again, you got to go back and give Tim Lester a lot
22:51
of credit, man, because he's completely re revitalized that
22:55
quarterback room. There's no quarterback from last
22:57
year's roster that went through spring football.
22:59
Well, Brendan Sullivan. But we, we knew that Sullivan
23:02
was gonna probably leave. And again, nobody blamed.
23:04
Him when he did it all, not at all be great to have him in in a
23:07
backup role behind Gronowski, but he certainly saw the writing
23:10
on the wall. And for his final year of
23:11
eligibility, definitely understand him looking for a
23:14
home as he did down in New Orleans.
23:15
That's a pretty good way to spend your final year of college
23:18
too, down in New Orleans at Tulane.
23:20
Final thing for you on the Hawkeye front, David, yesterday,
23:24
open practice. So yeah, we go back to a couple
23:26
of days ago, you see coach McCullum hooping.
23:29
And he's got some handles, man. He burnt Cooper to Jean.
23:33
You know we're the. Same age.
23:34
Do you think I could look like that off in the floor?
23:35
I mean, I got, I guess you're a jumper.
23:37
Wow, my jumper smooth. Is it?
23:38
It's the handles aren't there. Oh yeah?
23:41
Well, I mean, that's why you got spot up, shooter.
23:42
I don't think I'm going to be garden Cooper to Jean, We'll
23:44
just put it that way. I don't think the lateral
23:45
quickness is there anymore. Well, it's never there to be.
23:47
Well, it's like I said, I was a little bit.
23:48
I mean, I figured Ben could still hoop, but like again, he
23:51
burnt Cooper. The only reason why he got
23:53
blocked this is it's Cooper. Freaking Dujean.
23:55
But you got to see the team in action yesterday at an open
23:58
practice 1/2 hour. Actually, they gave us more than
24:01
that. We're about 50 minutes.
24:02
Nice. So give us a couple of maybe top
24:04
of the fold takeaways that you had.
24:06
Number one, Brendan Hausen was not practicing.
24:08
He had to sleeve on his leg. He will be back soon for the
24:11
most part, all viral Fulgaris. The Robert Morris transfer is
24:14
going to be a very prominent piece of this puzzle.
24:17
He is not with the team currently.
24:18
He is over in Spain preparing for the under 20 worlds.
24:21
It's high level competition. I think Ben and company are very
24:24
supportive of that because he's still playing against top tier
24:26
competition. The one player that really
24:29
surprised me, I should say incoming freshman Tate Sage.
24:34
There were times he was the best player on the floor.
24:37
Yeah, he hit jumpers, had a couple of freshman mistakes, a
24:41
lot of effort on defense for the most part, good passer, gave a
24:45
lot of, has a couple big steals, hit some big shots at flight
24:48
finishes. Cam was incredibly athletic.
24:52
I saw him throw down a couple of alley oops.
24:53
By the way, Hawkeye insiders 20 minutes of highlights from that
24:56
practice, so you can go check that out as well.
24:59
Bennett starts as Bennett starts, man, he nothing speeds
25:02
him up is incredible. He just plays in such a role
25:06
within himself. It's really fun to watch.
25:08
I think Isaiah Howard, he's still piercing it together.
25:11
I think he could be a he's. Got a ton of upside.
25:13
The upside's crazy high if he can piece it together.
25:16
Kale Combs is going to be the other primary ball handler,
25:19
assuming the roster stays at this point.
25:21
We did talk to Luke Barnwell and Connor Wheeler after the
25:24
practice and they said, you know what, they're still open to the
25:26
idea of taking another guy because with the way the
25:28
international market works. But again, with the way
25:31
everything is right now with even getting visas, and that's
25:34
not just college basketball, like, we don't need to go off
25:36
topic, but that's just what it is, right?
25:38
Now you can do that down the hall of Definitely.
25:39
Yeah, exactly. But again, it's still worth
25:41
noting that that's why part of the reason it's going to be
25:43
difficult to get, you know, international guys and obviously
25:46
the academic portion is difficult as well.
25:48
But the one thing that popped out to me and I don't want to
25:50
harp on on frame McCaffrey in the previous regime, I I solely
25:53
want to focus on Ben McCollum, the physicality on defense man.
25:57
Different. They is so different no space
26:00
for ball handlers they that they call out action screen and Ben
26:04
McCollum is an intense coach. His voice reigns over everyone.
26:09
Everybody responds to the yes coach yes Sir like he has
26:12
everything in line right now. We watched him spend 6 minutes
26:15
talking about angles to take on, on ball and off ball screen
26:19
action and he went in depth, got down like show This is why, This
26:23
is why. And I'm like it's great that
26:25
he's showing it. I was a little bit surprised he
26:27
was showing that in front of us because you know how some
26:29
coaches get really weird about certain things.
26:31
Like I thought we were going to get lost stretching, a lot of
26:33
free throw shooting. We got like 30 minutes of live
26:36
action and I'm stopping at situational play, defense,
26:40
defense. I do think that they still need
26:42
that big sort of presence, I think, to put it on Trevin.
26:46
Is it, is it Jarek Urich? Is he OK?
26:49
Oh, yeah, Urich, Urich. He did have some really good
26:52
flashes yesterday. The game's still a little bit
26:54
fast for him right now. And I guess the last quick
26:57
point, Tavion Banks hit a few threes.
27:00
Oh, really? Yeah.
27:01
He's shooting. He looked comfortable and Connor
27:03
Wheeler told us after that he'd been shooting the ball really
27:05
well. And if Banks can transition to
27:07
that three roll while still being physical in the post and
27:11
play that 4/5, his versatility and his stock is going to really
27:14
rise with me when we talk about final rotational players or guys
27:17
you want down the stretch. But he's playing a lot of three
27:20
right now. And I think that's going to be
27:21
really, really interesting to watch, especially since, you
27:24
know, still got Cooper Koch back, the only scholarship guy
27:27
from last year's team. But it was, it was really,
27:29
really interesting to watch. That's awesome.
27:31
A little Hawkeye talk there with David Eichel.
27:33
He's going to be hanging out with me here until 2:00.
27:35
Coming up next, we shift the conversation over to the
27:38
Cyclone. Travis Hines is going to join us
27:40
from the Des Moines Register. That's next.
27:42
It's Miller. And on the Iowa Sports Radio
27:44
Network 1235 on a Friday, it's Miller and Condon on the Iowa
27:50
Sports Radio Network, Trent Condon here, David Eichold
27:53
hanging out with me today. Let a Hawkeye talk there in the
27:56
first segment. Let's change it over to the
27:58
Cyclones. Travis Hines joining us from the
28:02
Des Moines Register, columnist for the Des Moines Register on
28:05
the Iowa State beat. Travis, make your way through
28:08
summertime. How's the offseason for you?
28:11
It's good. I can't believe I'm looking at
28:13
my calendar and we're like 5 weeks away from Iowa State
28:16
football media day, so I'm trying to soak up every last bit
28:20
of this incredible heat wave I guess that we're about to endure
28:23
and pretend like I like it. I was going to say, Travis, does
28:25
it really feel like there's an offseason still anymore?
28:28
Because I think you might be in the same boat as me where
28:30
everything's just moving at such a crazy pace right now.
28:33
And obviously with with the settlement and everything that's
28:36
going to be hit in July 1st, it still feels like there's so many
28:38
more kind of questions that need to be answered too.
28:42
Yeah, without a doubt. I mean, to me, the biggest
28:44
change in shrinking the offseason is the transfer portal
28:47
in April. Like we're like, that's really a
28:49
full month of the season still for men's basketball and women's
28:53
basketball. And I think it'll be interesting
28:54
to see where they land for transfer windows going forward.
28:58
But it is really, and I think this is probably inevitable,
29:01
especially as we move to a more professional model in college
29:04
sports where you really are looking for eyeballs and
29:07
interest 12 months out of the year.
29:09
And I think college football and college basketball, you know, is
29:12
certainly moving in that direction.
29:13
And I don't think it'll ever be the NFL in that department.
29:17
But the more I can keep interest year round, probably the better
29:20
when you're talking about the the kinds of dollars it's going
29:23
to cost to run high level football and basketball programs
29:27
going forward. The story of the day at Travis
29:29
is about helmets and a new helmet that is debuted now.
29:33
I was once the South Brooklyn blamed uniform czar of the state
29:36
of Iowa. I think I've aged out of that
29:38
one. I I don't think they care what a
29:39
mid 40s guy has to say about college athletics and the
29:42
uniforms. But this one is an A number one
29:45
thumbs up from me. The script cyclones using it in
29:48
the right way with the school colors.
29:49
They look sharp. Heinz, are you uniform guy?
29:53
You know, we just said about how it's a year long sport now.
29:56
Now we're talking about uniforms and helmets.
29:59
So I guess I do have to retract a little to that.
30:01
But having said that, I would not consider myself a uniform
30:05
guy. I think I dabbled in it.
30:07
I'm not unlike you, Trent, younger years when I had
30:10
opinions on things like this. But the thing I will say that I
30:14
have been saying for years is that it's a little dumbfounding
30:17
to me that when you have Iowa State, you know, historically
30:22
probably trying to really establish itself as a brand, you
30:26
know, within a state where it is, you know, the head forever
30:28
was the number two, the second banana to Iowa and nationally
30:31
where it didn't really have a reputation that you have a
30:33
nickname like Cyclones that's unique, that no one else has,
30:37
that you don't lean into it with your branding, with your logos,
30:40
with your uniforms. So I think anything that
30:42
incorporates Cyclones, especially that something looks
30:45
as sharp as that Cyclone, as you mentioned in the school's colors
30:48
on the helmet is a win. And to me, like the more you can
30:51
incorporate cyclones, tornadoes, twisters, the whole deal into
30:55
that, the better for Iowa State because it is, it's a calling
30:58
card like nobody else is the cyclone.
31:00
So I think anything that they can do to lean into that is a
31:03
big win. Some news from the women's
31:05
basketball front. Audie Crooks makes the 2025 USA
31:09
Women's America team, and she's going to be joined there with a
31:13
Hawkeye with Hannah Stolky also on that squad.
31:16
A pretty good honor there for Audie Crooks.
31:18
And when we look at her next season, becoming an
31:21
upperclassman now, pressure continues to mount.
31:24
You know, when you look at Crooks and her final two years
31:26
and what she's going to be in aims and what she's going to be
31:29
going for, what's, what's the next step for Crooks?
31:33
Yeah, it's really interesting. I I think the next step for her
31:36
and the next step for the program are so intertwined
31:39
because, you know, I talked to Bill Fennelly last year before
31:43
the season and I talked to Audie and her teammates before the
31:45
season about the the level of, I don't know, that expectation.
31:49
I think it's more of a responsibility that they feel
31:52
and know exists when you have a player of his caliber to make
31:56
the most of it. And I think last year, you know,
31:58
they fell short of that going one and seven against past 25
32:01
teams, you know, ending up in the first four and not being
32:05
able to again get back to the Sweet 16 that, you know, these
32:08
next this next year and the two years she has less are are
32:12
hugely important for her legacy at Iowa State for Bill suddenly,
32:16
frankly, at Iowa State, even though it's a a smaller piece,
32:18
considering it encompasses almost 3 decades now that
32:22
they're huge. And I think, you know, I think
32:24
Audie probably feels like she has something to prove.
32:26
I think her teammate that didn't make that team, Addie Brown,
32:29
probably feels like they have something to prove.
32:30
And like Addie Brown, I've said this before, like if Audie
32:33
Crooks was not on this team, I think we'd be talking about
32:36
Addie Brown being a superstar at Iowa State because she's able to
32:40
do so much, so well and kind of flies a little bit under the
32:43
radar because of how good and how popular Audie is.
32:47
But just by getting that invitation to the the Team USA
32:50
camp there I think is a reflection of how good she is.
32:53
So this is a huge year for them because again, like with the
32:57
transfer portal and NIL, you just don't know what your roster
33:01
is going to look like from year to year.
33:02
And I think with, you know, bringing in the the players that
33:05
Iowa State has, like they have an opportunity to be really good
33:08
this year and they have to make the most of it because every
33:11
year you don't do that when you have a what looks to be a
33:14
generational player at Iowa State, I I think that stings a
33:17
little bit. So huge year ahead for the Iowa
33:19
State women's basketball program.
33:21
Yeah, I want us to stick with the Iowa State women's program
33:23
and I I think Fennelly did a really nice job in the portal.
33:25
I know that they want to increase the three-point
33:27
shooting percentage. They probably want, I would say
33:29
take pressure off of audio and not go out there and have to
33:32
get, you know, 25, five and 12. But I guess kind of looking
33:35
ahead through next season with the way the current roster lines
33:38
up, what are maybe two or three very key things that you could
33:42
pinpoint to say, you know, what if they can just clean this up?
33:45
If they can get a little bit better in this area, they can
33:47
kind of get back to that threshold and that expectation
33:50
that I I know Bill Family has for his squad, but also the fans
33:53
kind of have for them as well. Yeah, I think it's spacing,
33:58
slash, 3 point shooting, which are probably the same thing in
34:00
defense. Because when you have a player
34:02
like Audie Crooks who is so good but has defined limitations and
34:07
a defined way to play. I do think roster construction
34:11
and style of play are even more important than they are
34:15
normally. And they're normally critically
34:16
important because I think when you have an Audie Crooks, you're
34:19
you really have to design the team both from a roster
34:23
construction and style of play around the things that she does
34:27
really well. And then some of her
34:28
limitations, And I think that'll be key for Iowa State this year,
34:31
is how do you maximize her strength while minimizing that
34:37
she has and that the team has when they're playing that very
34:41
specific style. And I think they, at times last
34:44
year probably fell short of that, specifically defensively.
34:47
And if they can figure out a way to make that work, I think
34:50
that's key to unlocking that next level, you know, within the
34:53
Big 12 and nationally. Travis Hines from the Des Moines
34:56
Register. Travis, a little tight on time
34:58
today. Appreciated.
34:59
As always, enjoy the summer. Are you official?
35:02
You're from Minnesota, you got to be a fishing guy, right?
35:05
Yeah, and becoming a fishing guy, because my kids are
35:08
becoming fishing guys. I kind of gave up on it.
35:10
And now that I'm coming back to it, I see the appeal now that I
35:13
have reintroduced a beer into the equation.
35:15
So I can't get the appeal of sitting there quietly for hours.
35:18
That sounds wonderful. Yeah, it does.
35:21
Thank you, Travis. Thanks man.
35:23
Yeah, take care, guys. Travis signs from the Des Moines
35:25
Register your time right now to join the program.
35:28
It's the chicken coop contest dialed up right now.
35:31
515-284-5966 your chance to win. Gift certificate from the
35:37
chicken coop. The winner takes home $50.00
35:39
gift card. The 2nd place winner gets 20
35:42
wings from the chicken coop 515-284-5966 I'll give you 4
35:46
games and a tiebreaker. Your chance to win.
35:49
Next it's Miller and Condon on the Iowa Sports Radio Network.
35:55
Miller and Connor continues on the Iowa Sports Radio Network.
35:58
Trent Connor joined today by David Eichold as we talked the
36:02
world of sports with you. That music means it's time for
36:05
the Chicken Coop contest. Give you 4 games, 4 props and a
36:10
tiebreaker. Your chance to win a $50.00 gift
36:13
certificate to the Chicken Coop 3 locations across the Des
36:16
Moines metro in Urbandale, Meredith Drive in West Des
36:19
Moines, over on Ashworth and in Ankeny, Three locations.
36:24
Your chance to win right now. We got Marvin, Jonathan, Joe
36:28
Anthony ready to go and let's kick things off with Marvin.
36:31
Marvin, good afternoon. How are you cutting out a little
36:35
bit on us, Marvin? Hopefully we're going to be able
36:37
to secure the line here. Let's kick things off Sunday
36:40
night, Game 7, Oklahoma City. They're a 7 1/2 point favorite
36:44
against the Pacers. I'm afraid it's going to be
36:47
Oklahoma. Go in OK C Tyrese Halliburton
36:51
over under 15 1/2 points is the number out there.
36:57
I want to say under. Going under today, this
37:00
afternoon, coming up here in about 1/2 hour, the Cubs against
37:03
the Mariners, Seattle, Chicago. Who do you got?
37:07
Chicago. Going with the Cubbies and
37:10
tonight it is the Battle of the Border up North Milwaukee
37:14
against Minnesota Twins. Brewers, who do you got tonight?
37:17
Brewers. Going with the Brew Crew are
37:19
tiebreaker Sunday. Caitlin Clark back in action as
37:23
they take on Vegas in Las Vegas. Combined points, rebounds and
37:27
assists for Caitlin Clark. I'm going to say 28. 28 Thanks,
37:34
Marvin. Good luck.
37:36
Thank you. Jonathan is up next with the
37:39
Chicken Coop contest. Hello, Jonathan.
37:42
Hey, how's it going? Doing well.
37:44
OK C Favor by 7 in the hook against the Pacers.
37:48
Indiana. Going with Indiana, Tyrese
37:50
Halliburton over under 15 1/2 points. 20 over.
37:56
Going over Cubs and the Mariners this afternoon, who do you have?
38:00
Mariners. Going with Seattle and the
38:03
Brewers and the Twinkies tonight.
38:06
Brewers. Back to Milwaukee tiebreaker.
38:09
Caitlin points, rebounds and assists total for the Sunday
38:12
matchup. 35. 35 Thank you, Jonathan for the call.
38:18
Up next on the chicken coop contest, we got Joe on the line.
38:21
Hello Joe. Hey, how you doing today?
38:24
Doing well. Pacers getting 7 1/2 in OK C
38:27
game seven Sunday. Give me OK C.
38:33
Tyrese Halliburton over under 15 1/2 points.
38:38
Under. Cubs, Mariners, half hour away
38:41
from first pitch. Who do you have?
38:44
Give me, give me the give me the where's it at in Chicago?
38:49
Give me the Cubs. Going with the Cubs and the
38:51
Brewers and the Twins tonight. That one in Minneapolis,
38:56
Milwaukee going with the Brew Crew.
38:58
Thanks for the call, Joe. And we wrap things up our
39:03
cleanup hitter today. Oh, I cut off Joe before the
39:06
tiebreaker. I'll get him back, though.
39:08
Anthony. See, I'm doing everything over
39:10
here. I called normally.
39:11
Ken's running the ship. I'm writing down the contestants
39:14
here. The multi talented Trent Condo.
39:16
Well, I'm not very talented because I just screwed it up.
39:18
Well, you know what, life's all about getting better.
39:21
Just use this next opportunity to get right.
39:23
Well, we'll do it. I got Joe's number, I'll give
39:24
him a call back and we'll get that tiebreaker.
39:26
Anthony, you are up and I'm going to get through all five of
39:28
these. Anthony, how are you doing
39:30
today? Well, my my son got sick today
39:33
at daycare, but and I was supposed to be in Chicago for
39:36
the game and my my favorite player, well, one of my favorite
39:40
players of all time, Sammy sells to me is returned to today.
39:43
Yeah, I know. It's real bummer.
39:45
Yeah. That's a day, but I got to,
39:47
Yeah, but got to take. Care of the kid.
39:48
So maybe some chicken coop will turn it around for you.
39:51
OKC laying 7 1/2 Sunday. Let's go Indiana.
39:56
Tyrese Halliburton over under 15 and a.
40:00
Half over. Cubs, Mariners.
40:02
I think I know where you're going to go on this one,
40:04
Anthony. Yeah, we'll go with the Cubs.
40:06
Going with the Cubs and the Brewers and the Twins tonight in
40:08
Minneapolis. Twins.
40:10
Going with the Twins, all right, this is how you do it.
40:13
Now we get to it. Points, rebounds and assists
40:16
combined total for Caitlin on Sunday.
40:19
Let's go 42. And a boy.
40:23
Finally, somebody gives a number that I agree with on that.
40:25
Thank you, Anthony and Joe, I will give you a call back and
40:28
we'll get you hooked up with his tiebreaker as we are into.
40:31
Way to bounce back, Trent. I knew you could, dude.
40:33
Well, some days are better than others.
40:35
Hour 2 coming up next, we go to Vegas.
40:37
Next, Mike Palm from Circus Sports joins us to look at
40:40
sports wagering. Coming up this weekend, it's
40:42
Miller and Condon on the Iowa Sports Radio Network.