Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / Nick Marovets of Locked on Cyclones joins Trent, Kansas comes back to beat Arizona, Rob Dauster on College Hoops & Adam Emmenecker talks MVC Basketball

Transcript

Nick Marovets of Locked on Cyclones joins Trent, Kansas comes back to beat Arizona, Rob Dauster on College Hoops & Adam Emmenecker talks MVC Basketball · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

0:12
Good afternoon. Welcome in Miller and Condon on
0:15
the air with you here on a Tuesday as we talk the world of
0:20
sports. Take it up until 2:00 today
0:24
before the boys off the bench got you covered from 2:00 until
0:28
5:00 this afternoon. Overtime, Iowa gets you home
0:31
until 6:00. Coming up on the show today, lot
0:34
of basketball talk is, yes, football season is in the
0:37
rearview mirror, though we're not going to completely shut
0:40
down what is happening in the world of football.
0:43
NFL draft around the corner. We got spring football coming
0:46
up, but it is certainly going to be basketball time is going to
0:49
be a big, big conversation piece.
0:51
We'll kick things off here though on the couch basketball
0:54
front is we will be speaking on the National Front with Rob
0:57
Doster. He's going to join us from field
0:58
of 68. We'll get his thoughts on
1:00
everything happening in the world of college basketball
1:03
that'll be coming your way here just a little bit later on.
1:06
And we will get the thoughts and perspectives of him coming up
1:10
here at about 12:25. Then 12:40 will be joined by
1:13
Adam Eminecker on the NVC and you and I last night in a late
1:18
night game. 9:00 tip off as they faced off on the road against
1:21
second place Murray State. Big victory for the Panthers in
1:23
that one. We'll talk about you and I.
1:25
We'll talk about Drake as another head scratching loss
1:29
against Valparaiso in this program.
1:31
Seemingly one step forward and and two steps back throughout
1:34
the course of this season. Been very inconsistent
1:37
throughout the year. Belmont falls last night in the
1:39
NBC. So a lot to get into there.
1:41
And then the 1:00 hour it'll be me and my Co host for today.
1:45
Now we're doing something a little a bit different, so you
1:47
might have to bear with us just a little bit.
1:49
But Nick Merovitz joins me from Locked on Cyclones.
1:52
I host Locked on Hawkeyes, our daily podcasts that are out
1:56
there on the Lockdown network. And he's hanging out with me
1:59
today, though not in studio. He's in his home studio.
2:01
Nick, let's see if this thing is going to work.
2:04
You got me loud and clear. I got you loud and clear
2:06
pleasure to be here. It'd be cool to get into the
2:08
studio, but for today I think this is going to.
2:10
If we can get it working, this is going to be a real fun time.
2:12
I had no doubt about it. Looking forward to it.
2:14
Second hour we're going to talk a lot of Iowa, Iowa State
2:17
conversation. We're going to dive deep into of
2:19
course, what's happening right now.
2:20
The basketball teams that a big night tonight for both the Iowa
2:24
State men and women at the same time. 8:00 tip offs.
2:27
They got to have that two TV set up ready to go for this evening.
2:30
Watching both of them on the road this evening, the Iowa men,
2:33
Iowa State men against TCU and Utah for the women.
2:36
We'll talk about that. We'll talk about some big
2:37
picture basketball stuff and then I want to pick your brain
2:40
on some Iowa State football as well.
2:42
Jimmy Rogers, the completely new roster that's basically is in
2:46
front of them. What that is look like your
2:48
perspective on that. The future of the Seihawk series
2:51
as we know that the contract is coming to an end here pretty
2:54
soon. What does that mean?
2:56
What do we read into that? So we'll speculate.
2:58
We'll have a little fun. We'll talk some Seihawk.
3:00
We'll also get to know Nick a little bit better but mentioned
3:02
he hosts the daily podcast locked on Cyclones.
3:05
He can find it on YouTube. You can find it in all your
3:07
streaming platforms that are out there.
3:09
Wherever you get podcasts, make sure you check out Locked on
3:11
Cyclones for all the cyclone fans.
3:13
Other than that, Nick, what's happening?
3:15
How you been doing? I've been chilling.
3:17
I've been obviously Super Bowl wrapped up this weekend, so now
3:21
all eyes are on college basketball and it is nice to
3:23
have a team atop the rankings. I don't know necessarily if I
3:27
was in the same category, but things have been certainly on
3:30
the up and up on this side. Then a really, really good
3:34
season and the two game losing streak obviously to KU and
3:37
Cincinnati those two Rd. games. Other than that though, and I
3:41
find it interesting and I brought this up I think last
3:43
week as they're just absolutely throttling teams.
3:46
The Baylor game turned out to be closer still there up a dozen
3:49
with a minute left. I mean, OK that they had a
3:52
little comeback there still it was never I didn't think that
3:55
threat that oh, they're going to blow this.
3:56
He never had that at least I certainly didn't have that
3:59
thought process. But Nick, when when you look at
4:02
this Iowa State team, everybody remembers a great start a year
4:04
ago and they've had a number of great starts in the Otselberger
4:07
era. But then there's been the
4:10
disappointment at the end. And outside of one team, there's
4:12
always disappointment. It doesn't matter if you get to
4:14
a Sweet 16 or lead 8 or a Final Four national championship game,
4:18
you're going to lose that final game.
4:19
You're going to be disappointed the way that it plays out.
4:21
But are you sensing that Cyclone fans, and specifically because
4:25
of last year when there was so much talk nationally about them
4:28
being a Final Four contender, this team can win a national
4:31
champion, those kind of things that maybe they want to tap the
4:34
brakes just a little bit more and and not get ahead of their
4:37
skis Because you're a fan, right?
4:39
You got that scar tissue. You know how it's ended for
4:41
them. And maybe because of that, the
4:43
fan base is a little bit tepid, more tepid than they should be
4:46
at this point. Yeah, there's definitely, I
4:48
think a little bit of that. Looking at what January's looked
4:51
like for Otsoburger over the last few years, I think they
4:53
avoided a a disastrous January A2 game skid isn't really all
4:57
that bad in the scheme of things.
4:58
And with Arizona dropping the game last night, they're very
5:01
much in the run for the Big 12 tournament and or for the Big 12
5:04
regular season. And what I'm looking at here is
5:07
after that Cincinnati game, these last five wins, they
5:10
haven't really played anybody. And that's a totally valid take
5:13
from somebody. But this has been their
5:15
opportunity to gain some momentum and get some footing
5:17
and really find their identity before this gauntlet that that
5:21
is the last few games of the of the season with Kansas, Houston,
5:24
BYU, Texas Tech, Arizona. I mean, they are going to be
5:27
tested. And so expect a few losses
5:30
through there. But up until this point post
5:32
those two losses, this has really been an opportunity for
5:34
them to gain some confidence back.
5:36
Because I think the Cincinnati loss was an indicator to me that
5:39
they were shook a little bit after such a crazy start to the
5:41
season. They've really and the way the
5:43
schedule worked out, it's just been perfect for this team.
5:46
We talk about that. We'll get deeper into Iowa State
5:48
a little bit later on, but want to go with what we saw last
5:51
night and just an incredible environment once again at Fog
5:54
Allen Fieldhouse, one of the best venues in all of college
5:56
basketball. I was there years ago and it was
5:59
back in, I want to say 2008, something like that.
6:02
It was for an Arizona, Kansas game.
6:05
It was in November. I was on my way back from my
6:07
dad's place who lived down in Oklahoma and on my way back
6:10
home. It was on Sunday.
6:12
I didn't have anything to do Monday morning.
6:14
I figured I can make it work, so I did and I was able to find a
6:16
ticket for like 40 bucks. I was up in the nosebleeds, but
6:19
still an incredible environment. It was the year Kansas actually
6:22
won the national championship that season didn't have the same
6:25
buzz. Certainly last night and big
6:27
Monday and then defeated team, but just so many crazy numbers.
6:30
And I mentioned yesterday the 39 straight victories, 39 and O at
6:34
home for Bill Self on big Monday, which is just
6:36
unthinkable. I mean, you think of the great
6:38
Big 12 teams that have come in there, they're not taking on
6:41
Patsies, right? And that one that's not going to
6:43
be a layup game that you're playing on big Monday.
6:45
To have that undefeated streak and then on top of it for them
6:48
to never defeat a number one team at Allen Fieldhouse.
6:51
That was just another one of those incredible stats that came
6:54
out of that one. And then as we find out before
6:56
the game, Darren Peters said he's not going to go again.
6:59
So we have that Ave. to it. I didn't think there was going
7:03
to be enough firepower. I really didn't.
7:05
And I'd already locked in my bed.
7:06
I was already on Kansas on the money line and like, well,
7:08
here's a loss. We'll just take the L on this
7:09
one. It's one of the few things I
7:11
actually got right last night in college basketball was that one
7:14
and one that I didn't like after we found out Peterson wasn't
7:17
able to go. But you know, you've seen
7:19
obviously that environment before.
7:20
You know what it can be. There's so many times that I
7:23
talk about Nick. I'm a believer in buildings and
7:26
that is one of those buildings that they absolutely believe in
7:29
that there is something extra. It's not the 8:00 and 5:00 about
7:32
the refs, though sometimes maybe it is about the 8:00 and 5:00
7:35
and about the refs. But more than anything, just how
7:37
special it is that environment and weird things tend to happen.
7:42
Kansas just seemingly always seems to find a way when they're
7:45
in games like that at home. Yeah, that environment is
7:48
bonkers. There was a few videos that
7:50
surfaced and they got lights going in the place.
7:52
I mean, they're about to blow the roof off of that building,
7:54
which is what you look for. And I think that's what Iowa
7:57
State has been and I would love to see it kind of get back to
7:59
that. We're getting chased a little
8:00
bit by, you know, the BYU's and in the fog Allen's of the world.
8:04
But they'll Kansas and Arizona will face off again later this
8:08
season. They'll be in Arizona though, so
8:10
I'll be very interested to see how the game plays out if it's
8:13
not in fog out right like Allen Fieldhouse.
8:16
This was in my opinion, like whatever you give Kansas for
8:20
being at home, double it. That's how much of an impact
8:23
playing at home has for this team.
8:25
And no Darren Peterson, you're I was exactly in the same boat you
8:28
were like they are cooked. There is no chance that they're
8:31
winning this game found a way to get it done. 4 point victory,
8:35
very solid second-half, seven point victory in the second-half
8:38
there for Kansas to get that win.
8:40
And and they're a very good team.
8:41
Like, I think the the fact that they defeated #1 at home and no
8:45
court rush shows just what kind of a blue blood the program they
8:48
are. So like, there isn't a lot of
8:49
doubt in my opinion. And they're one of the hottest
8:50
teams not only in the Big 12 but in the country.
8:52
But I'm curious to see how that plays out when they play at
8:55
Arizona, right? How does that environment impact
8:58
the game? I.
8:58
Think it was Wayne Simi and I think I saw a tweet from him
9:00
after the game saying we don't rush to the court of Kansas and
9:03
and when you have a former player, a former star saying
9:05
that, I think that is certainly impactful.
9:07
Let's take a listen here to the highlight again.
9:09
So we're trying to work through things.
9:10
We'll see if this works out OK From the call last night and a
9:13
big Monday on ESPN, Kansas takes a.
9:17
The walk of the rebound, the putback wouldn't go.
9:22
Great challenge at the rim. Council. 6764 after that bucket
9:32
going the length of the floor as Arizona gets it done late night,
9:36
big Monday basketball, absolutely amazing. 8278, the
9:40
final in that one. But I was also impressed by
9:43
Arizona down the stretch there. I mean, Nick, we think about
9:46
that environment as we just talked about it.
9:48
It's absolutely incredible to see that team in that
9:51
environment still punch back after Kansas took the lead.
9:54
It took a while for them to finally overcome and finally get
9:56
that lead. And when they did, they didn't
9:59
wilt, they didn't quit. Yes, it's a loss.
10:01
It's the first loss of the season for Arizona.
10:03
But in a way, we've talked about this a couple of times with a
10:06
couple of different teams. I go back to the first time that
10:08
Nebraska lost this season, and I think we learned maybe more in
10:11
that game that we had all season long.
10:13
I'm not going to quite go to that avenue.
10:15
I mean, this team still beat UConn and we know about of this
10:18
Arizona team, but I think that was impactful for me.
10:20
That was more of a lasting image, even in a loss.
10:23
That was a team that didn't wilt down the stretch.
10:26
Yeah, that's the characteristic of a championship caliber team,
10:29
right? When you get into March, these
10:30
games are going to be close no matter what.
10:32
Everyone's out there playing potentially their last game.
10:36
So you're gonna get the best effort from everybody.
10:37
And unless you're like UConn, when you're winning every game
10:40
by 35 points of the tournament, you're going to have a few
10:43
challenges. And it's I don't know if
10:45
comforting is the right word as an Iowa State fan, but it is
10:47
certainly telling that Arizona is going to compete to the final
10:51
whistle in what is, you know, in the grand scheme of things for
10:54
Arizona, a little bit of a meaningless February game.
10:57
Obviously, every game matters, but you understand the the
10:59
magnitude of a February game versus a March Madness game.
11:02
And that's how seriously they take all of these games.
11:05
Of course like you want to win every game so watching them just
11:08
keep keep fighting, keep competing till the final whistle
11:10
I think is really telling of not only this Arizona team but how
11:13
good this whole Big 12 conference is.
11:15
This was an absolute barn burner on a Monday.
11:18
Glad I was able to catch it. Good one on that front.
11:20
Let's jump into the Big 12 now and talk about this conference
11:23
as a whole, as he mentioned. Now Arizona with the loss, these
11:26
top teams feel like they have a chance of that regular season
11:28
crown and everything that goes along with it.
11:31
The potential of earning a number one seed in the NCAA
11:34
tournament. Arizona's 10 and one Houston
11:36
half game back, they sit at 9:00 and 1:00.
11:38
Now on the season, there's Kansas at 9:00 and 1:00.
11:41
I, I did not see this happening for this Kansas outfit that we
11:45
saw back in early January and what they've turned into now
11:48
after those losses to UCF in West Virginia.
11:50
And here they are after 8 consecutive victories sitting in
11:54
that spot after KU, it's Iowa State who's half game behind
11:57
them. 1 1/2 back overall from Arizona at 8:00 and 2:00 in the
12:00
conference can change that tonight.
12:02
And then Texas Tech at 7:00 and 3:00.
12:03
And I think we can draw the line there.
12:05
BYU certainly has been struggling.
12:08
I think Central Florida is the best of that next tier team
12:11
after the top six that we've talked about a ton this year,
12:14
including BYU in that top 6. But what do you look at the
12:17
regular season crown? This thing is so back loaded,
12:19
Nick, that this race for it, it's going to be scheduled
12:22
dependent. But all these teams have
12:24
difficult schedules down the street, right?
12:27
Oh absolutely. It's actually kind of crazy that
12:29
you threw UCF ahead of BYU because of how good BYU is,
12:32
right? With AJ Debansa and Wright and
12:34
everything that they have going on.
12:36
I would draw the line at Texas Tech.
12:38
I don't know if Arizona loses 2 more games this season, which
12:41
would put them at the three loss markets, which is where Texas
12:44
Tech is right now. And of course, like Arizona
12:46
plays Houston and there's all sorts of tough matchups down the
12:49
stretch, so we'll see how it all plays out.
12:51
It's tough to really say like, oh, if this team won out, this
12:54
is where they would be because the top, the Big 12 is just so
12:57
good. And honestly, even the bottom
12:59
half of the Big 12, you never know when an upset is coming.
13:01
So obviously I'm looking at that Iowa State TCU game.
13:03
You got to wrap up the rest of this portion of the schedule
13:06
before you get to the tough games if you're Iowa State, but
13:08
this is going to be one of the best finishes.
13:10
You got four teams with two losses or less that are all very
13:14
much in contention and play each other before the season is out.
13:17
My question is who is going to get hot at the right time,
13:20
right? You have to finish the season
13:22
strong, but at the end of the season I would rather come in
13:25
second place in the total standings and be red hot going
13:29
into the tournament. Then I would win it all but like
13:32
scrape by and not really have a whole lot going for you as we go
13:34
to post season. You know, I really like Houston
13:37
and looking at the betting odds, these ones are from DraftKings.
13:39
Currently Arizona's still the betting favorite.
13:41
They're even money plus 100 to win the regular season
13:44
championship. Houston plus 155, the number you
13:47
can for the Cougars. Kansas sits at 8:00 to 1:00, as
13:50
does Iowa State and then Texas Tech, the only other team
13:53
listed, they're at 100 to 1 still Houston.
13:56
They have Rd. trips still coming up to Ames, Big Monday next week
14:00
as they'll make their way to Hilton Coliseum.
14:02
Then the following Monday they have to go to KUI.
14:05
Mean, you talk about an absolute gauntlet of Rd. games for Kelvin
14:08
Sampson squad. That's incredible what they
14:11
still have in front of them. We know Kansas has to come to
14:13
Iowa State are coming up this week.
14:15
And the Cyclones, when you kind of look at the path, certainly
14:18
if they can get by this one tonight, I know they still got
14:20
to go to BYU. They're not playing great
14:22
basketball. They still have to go to Arizona
14:24
still. Would you look at kind of the
14:26
depth of the schedule in comparison to everybody else?
14:29
Iowa State has a path here, I think certainly to make this one
14:32
interesting. And then you finish up with
14:34
Arizona, as mentioned, the betting favorite.
14:36
They're back home this weekend for Texas Tech.
14:38
I think that'll be a great game. They have BYU next week, but
14:41
that one is also at home. They have to go Houston.
14:44
They have to go to Baylor, back home for Kansas and Iowa State.
14:47
The Arizona scheduled, though a couple of those more difficult
14:49
games are at home outside of the Houston road trip.
14:53
It's not in the barn yet. Who do you like?
14:55
If you had to dabble a little bit, if you had to make a wager
14:58
here, you're gonna grab the favorite Arizona.
15:00
Just get that even money. Or you can jump on the Cyclones
15:03
or KU at 8:00 to 1:00. I it's hard to bet against
15:06
Arizona right now just knowing what they've done up until this
15:09
Kansas loss. I mean, it's an unbelievable
15:11
environment and only four points.
15:13
You know, there's just a lot that goes into that.
15:15
I don't personally put too much into that loss.
15:18
Like I, I still think Arizona is, if not the top team,
15:21
probably in that top 2. Like I don't, I don't drop them
15:23
a whole lot there. And you're right that you get
15:26
BYU at home, Kansas at home, Iowa State at home, Houston,
15:30
probably the toughest game out of the whole stretch there.
15:33
And if you only drop one more, I think you can pretty easily
15:35
count on the rest of the two lost teams in the conference
15:38
picking up at least one more. So I would lean Arizona, but you
15:42
never know. Sometimes one loss can spur the
15:44
wheels to fall off and they just lose track of what's going on.
15:47
If that's the case, Iowa State, to me does have momentum, but I
15:51
would have a hard time putting them ahead of maybe a Kansas
15:53
who's at eight straight right now.
15:55
They have to win at Hilton, of course, make that a reality.
15:57
But even Houston, right? Like if they're able to snag
16:00
Arizona and make this a real tight game because they'll get
16:03
that game at home. They are.
16:05
I'm going to Arizona one, but then I'm OK with Houston.
16:07
Probably 2 is is my pick there. So we jump over from there to
16:12
the Missouri Valley last night in this condensed schedules.
16:15
They have to get in the extra games because they play their
16:17
conference tournament a week earlier than the big boys out
16:20
there. That means that they have to do
16:21
something a little bit different with the schedule and what
16:24
they're doing is they played the games last Friday, played the
16:26
games then again last night, a bunch of games on Monday.
16:29
They'll play again on Thursday and then on Sunday.
16:32
So basically they take what would normally be a three-week
16:35
part of the conference schedule, condense it down into two weeks.
16:39
And it was a wild night last night in the NBC from Drake
16:41
falling at home to Valpo right when you thought a Drake.
16:44
Maybe they're figuring it out. Quinn's been an outstanding
16:46
score. They've lost now 4 consecutive
16:49
and the first three of them losing to Bradley Belmont and
16:51
Illinois State, three of the top probably four teams in this
16:54
conference. OK, that's going to happen and
16:56
only one of them are at home, but to lose this one against a
16:59
pretty middling Balfour team just leaves you scratching your
17:02
head. And regardless of what Jalen
17:04
Quinn is doing, there just hasn't been a ton of help that
17:06
for him out there. At this point, Quinn goes for
17:09
33. Only two other guys though in
17:11
double figures for the Dogs last night and then you and I, who
17:14
has been one of the more confounding teams in the mid
17:18
major level all season long. We go back to the middle of
17:21
December. You know, a lot of people had
17:22
them considered one of if not the best outside of the Gonzagas
17:25
of the world mid major programs that are out there.
17:28
They fell on hard times. They had a 5 game losing streak.
17:30
Now they go and they beat Murray State for a second time this
17:33
season. This one on the road with a 9:00
17:36
central time start time there against Murray State.
17:39
They won four out of five. They're getting healthier.
17:41
Tristan Smith is back in the lineup.
17:43
Another big body that can certainly help them out inside.
17:46
In a night where we saw upsets, we saw a couple of big ones,
17:50
including Bradley knocking off Belmont.
17:52
We saw Illinois State lose to Evansville.
17:55
Suddenly look at this you and I Panther outfit.
17:57
As good as they were playing earlier this season, maybe
17:59
there's a conversation to be had that Ben Jacobson could get a
18:02
team back to the NCAA Tournament.
18:04
Yeah, definitely. And I think that the turnaround
18:06
comes at just the right time obviously is they'll have
18:08
Belmont this week. I don't hate EU and I kind of
18:13
like obviously preseason where they're at and then the five
18:15
game losing streak kind of had you turn your head a little bit.
18:18
But I don't think that they lost who they were.
18:20
I think that there is absolutely an identity core to that where
18:24
they can stay true and and fight out the rest of these few games.
18:27
And it all comes down to the tournament for me in the NBC.
18:29
So it really, as long as you're hot at the end, I think Panthers
18:32
have a real shot. Trey Campbell really good last
18:35
night. Leon Bond, he had a big steal as
18:37
Murray State looked like maybe they were inching back into the
18:39
game a little bit. He's kind of hiding at midcourt.
18:41
Stole it and ran out for a dunk. Couple of big dunks there.
18:44
They were really good last night.
18:45
Impressive performance. Maybe their best offensive
18:48
performance of the seasons. You and I cruise to a 29 point
18:51
Rd. victory at state is number 2 in the NVC.
18:55
We're going to talk more of Missouri Valley coming up here
18:57
with Adam Eminecker later bit later on in the hour.
19:00
But first let's take a look at the national hoop scene.
19:03
Rob Doster is going to join us coming up here on the program as
19:06
we'll talk with Rob about everything happening in college
19:09
basketball. Nick Berevitz hanging out with
19:11
me today through the whole program.
19:13
He's with locked on Cyclone so you can hear me daily on locked
19:16
on Hawkeyes QuickTime out talk with Doster.
19:19
Next, it's Miller and Condon on the Iowa Sports Radio Network.
19:30
Back with you on a Tuesday, Miller and Connie continues on
19:33
the Iowa Sports Radio Network. It is that time of year as we
19:38
move on from football season and we jump into college basketball.
19:42
Now, we talk about college basketball all the time here on
19:45
our program, even starting in November, even as sometimes Ken
19:48
kind of complaints about that. He just wants to talk football
19:50
all the time. But one guy that's got you
19:52
covered 365 days, he has Rob Doster from field of 68 and he
19:57
joins us here today. Mr. Doster, thanks for joining
20:00
us once again. How are things in your world?
20:03
Oh, they're going well, man. They're going well.
20:05
You know, we, we made it through the Super Bowl.
20:07
I lost literally every single bet that I had on the Super
20:10
Bowl. So we're going to have to try to
20:13
find a way to, to hustle a little bit more money.
20:15
This segment is presented by Iowa Brand Foods.
20:18
So here we go. Let's go.
20:20
Love it. All right, well, that worked out
20:21
well, yes, look at you making out there, making deals.
20:24
That's what you do at the field of 68.
20:26
You're making things happen over.
20:27
There you got a hustle. You know how it is.
20:29
I know how it is, no doubt about it.
20:31
With that, Rob, we go to last night where we began the
20:34
conversation with us here today was Arizona, Kansas.
20:39
And I said I didn't learn more about Arizona, but I think we
20:43
learned a lot. When the run happened, Kansas
20:46
got back, finally took that lead.
20:48
A lot of teams would have wilted.
20:49
They didn't hit that three pointer to cut it back to A1
20:52
score game. They didn't quit in that one.
20:55
Arizona wasn't going to run the table.
20:56
I don't believe that was going to happen.
20:57
We know how much more difficult the back half for everybody.
21:00
The Big 12 slate is at the top here in these coming couple of
21:04
weeks. What did you learn about the
21:06
Wildcats before we get into KU? You know, I, I just, I don't
21:14
think we necessarily learned. I think they, they all, what
21:17
they are. You know the weird thing about
21:19
the last like 4 days in college, who is that 4 top five teams
21:23
have lost and all of them have lost 2 ranked teams on the road.
21:27
And I know like our our natural inclination, especially me, it's
21:31
overreacted this stuff. UConn lost the St.
21:35
John's in the Garden. This is proof UConn can't win a
21:37
national championship or Duke lost on the road and the buzzer
21:41
beater in North Carolina. See, This is why John Shire is
21:44
never going to be a national champion, right?
21:46
Like that's that's kind of what like the the culture is for for
21:49
what we do when it comes to sports talk these days.
21:52
But at the same time, like teams lose on the road and it's it's
21:56
college basketball. None of these teams are
21:58
infallible. Hold courts are are some of the
22:02
most difficult places and difficult environments to play
22:05
in. Like anybody that saw the fog
22:07
last night knows that you needed like earplugs to be able to just
22:14
function in there, right? I'm sure that those guys still
22:16
have their ears ringing. We we were going to get Seth
22:20
Trimmel on a podcast on Monday after the Duke games, but his
22:24
voice was still gone because he was yelling so much because it
22:26
was so loud. And the Dean like these, these
22:30
top five teams losing on the road, the top 25 teams.
22:32
It's just kind of something that happens in college basketball.
22:35
So I don't I don't know if we necessarily learned all that
22:38
much about Arizona. I'll tell you this.
22:40
I still think that they're probably the best team in
22:42
college basketball. If I had to hitch my wagon to
22:45
one team to win the national championship, I think it's
22:48
probably Arizona. Because you know, the thing
22:51
about Michigan, as high as they're ceiling is we've seen
22:54
them look absolutely fantastic. Well, we've also seen what their
22:58
floor can be, right? They really struggle with TCU.
23:00
They really struggle with teams like Oregon and Washington.
23:04
They got beat at home by Wisconsin.
23:06
So it's it's I still think that Arizona is the best team in the
23:09
country. And frankly, with Kansas, I
23:12
think there's just proof that that is a team that can win a
23:14
national championship this year. I've never wavered Trent.
23:17
I've been on that bandwagon the entire year.
23:19
Does Tommy Lloyd concern you at all?
23:22
Some flame outs in the NCAA Tournament?
23:24
Arizona, well before Tommy Lloyd historically has that.
23:27
Does that ever linger in your mind or is that just something
23:29
that me and I, I love? NCAA Tournament history just
23:32
sticks with me. Yeah, look, I think every coach,
23:38
you know, once you reach a certain level, you're going to
23:41
be like the best to never do it or the guy that hasn't been able
23:44
to get it done. And the beauty of the big dance
23:46
is that, you know, it's the best way to determine a champion, and
23:51
it's probably the worst way to determine the best team.
23:53
And there's always going to be moments and there's always going
23:55
to be guys that that get upstairs or get knocked out
23:58
early, right? Like Tony Bennett, That's what
24:00
everyone said about him. And then he turned around and
24:02
won the championship the year after he had his worst early
24:05
tournament flame out. You know, there was a there was
24:08
a knock for a while. There was a knock on Bill Self
24:10
when he got to Kansas. I'm not being able to win the
24:13
big one. Remember that Like he got there.
24:16
They lost in the championship game to North Carolina.
24:19
He gets the Kansas job. He goes there.
24:21
And I think the first two years that he was there, they were
24:25
four seed in the three seed. They lost the first round.
24:27
One was to, I want to say Bucknell and the other was to
24:30
Navy Bradley. I think it was.
24:32
But there was like a narrative that Bill Self, the big one, but
24:36
it was a big deal when he got to the the final four in 2008.
24:40
It was a big deal when they were when he won his first
24:43
championship because people thought that he was a he was a
24:46
fraud and he couldn't get it done.
24:47
You know, they're saying the same thing about John Shire now.
24:49
So I think it's it's easy to connect those dots.
24:54
But the problem is the the flukish nature of the NCAA
24:59
tournament makes it really hard for me to be able to say this is
25:02
anything more than just like, you know, it's a one game
25:04
knockout event. If you got somebody on the right
25:06
night or you have the wrong kind of performance, it's you're just
25:10
going to have weird outcomes sometimes.
25:11
So I do think I do think that this team is actually built
25:16
better than some of his past teams, like the one with Zulus
25:19
to Bellis. They just weren't ever going to
25:21
be able to guard good enough because they didn't have enough
25:23
foot speed to be able to move people away from the basket.
25:26
This team, I think, is built to be able to compete in a little
25:30
bit more of a modern basketball setting.
25:33
On the other side, Kansas gets it done.
25:35
They do it without Darren Peterson.
25:37
I don't know how sometimes they were able to do it, but they
25:40
certainly did. But Dunga inside, he was an
25:43
absolute monster in there and he was tremendous.
25:45
But this team, I mean, you talk about the widest variants come
25:49
NCAA Tournament, it's got to be Kansas, right?
25:51
You can see this team, they're a three or four seed and they get
25:54
knocked off in the first round. You can see him played in the
25:56
final weekend, a first weekend in April in the Final Four.
26:00
But I I see where I am with them, Trent is I don't see them
26:04
being a team that can get knocked out early in the
26:06
tournament. I don't see them getting upset.
26:08
I just think that they've they've gotten to this point
26:11
where they are so good defensively.
26:13
I think Flory Badunga has to be in the conversation for national
26:16
defensive Player of the year. I think that he is the anchor to
26:19
everything they do on that and the floor.
26:21
They have size everywhere. They have switchability
26:23
everywhere. Bryson Tiller's coming around
26:25
Melvin Council like he's he's probably not the most efficient
26:29
guy in the world, but that's a dude that you want with the ball
26:32
in his hands in a big moment. Like you got a knack for being
26:34
able to make a big shot. And I just think that when you
26:39
combine that defense with Bill Self and the fact that I do
26:44
expect in the biggest moments you're going to have Darren
26:46
Peterson available. I don't think it's going to be
26:48
something where once you get to the tournament, Darren Peterson
26:52
is going to be having flu like symptoms or cramps or anything
26:55
like that. I think that they magically
26:58
he'll find a way to be able to be healthy once you get to the
27:00
big dance and once you get to the biggest stage.
27:03
But I'm I think that they are upset proof.
27:09
I worry a little bit about what they're ceiling is just because
27:12
I think that there's a little bit of a talent deficit there
27:15
when it comes to comparing them to like the top other like 8-9
27:20
ten teams in college basketball. But I just I don't see a
27:24
situation where Kansas is not getting to the Sweet 16.
27:27
I just think that they're they're they're too good
27:29
defensively and they're upset proof.
27:31
That's kind of where I've I've landed when it comes to that
27:34
program. I'll make sure to text you after
27:36
they're knocked off in the first round by UNC Wilmington or
27:38
something about right. Let's jump over to the
27:40
conference that matters most along with the Big 12 here in
27:43
our market that is the Big 10. Iowa has won a bunch in a row.
27:46
They continue to stack them up. Not the most difficult
27:49
competition, but nice Rd. win against Indiana at the beginning
27:52
of it. A win and comeback fashion
27:53
against Washington. Washington late last Wednesday
27:55
night. I'll quickly just a thought on
27:58
Iowa. Going to get much more difficult
28:00
after the road trip to Maryland tomorrow night.
28:02
What do you think about this Hawkeye team?
28:03
What kind of ceiling do you put on Iowa?
28:09
Probably second weekend. You know, I love, I love, then
28:12
it starts. But you know, I, I think that
28:17
it's probably going to be a year or two before Ben's got that
28:20
thing going to the point where we're talking about like winning
28:22
234 games, you know? But I think if you're an Iowa
28:26
fan and I'm telling you like if I would have told you at the
28:29
start of the season you guys are going to be able to get to the
28:31
second week of the tournament, I think you take that in a
28:33
heartbeat. Doster, you, you know, you know
28:36
that's the biggest thing with Hawkeye fans.
28:38
Do you remember the last Sweet 16 for the Hawkeyes?
28:41
I do not. 1999 I was a freshman at the university of.
28:45
Iowa, I mean, you almost, it's almost at the point where like
28:48
we're talking like you get to the tournament, right?
28:50
Did. They get to the tournament.
28:51
Yeah, I love, I love Fran, but it was, it wasn't like he did.
28:54
That was the by the end, you know, you're you're getting to
28:58
the dance every single year. So no, I, I think my, my take
29:02
has always been that there's no better fit between point guard
29:07
and coach than Bennett Sturtz and Ben McCollum.
29:10
And that was going to take you a long way.
29:12
If you have a, a really, really good all American NBA caliber
29:16
point guard and a coach that understands how to let that
29:19
point guard control a game and a point guard that understands
29:24
what his coach wants, which is what Iowa has, then you have a
29:27
chance to do whatever you want. Like you can, you can the the
29:31
sum is always going to be the total is going to be more than
29:34
the sum of the parts, right. And I think that's what you have
29:36
in Iowa right now. But it's also you look around
29:39
even just in the big 10, look at how many of those other teams
29:42
just have pros at every spot on the floor, right, or like 24
29:46
year old that's at every spot on the floor.
29:49
And I I just, I don't think that that's what Iowa has.
29:52
They're a good team and they have the two most important
29:56
things that you need when you get to March is a great coach
29:59
and a great point guard. But but there's also like the
30:02
whole Jimmy's and Joe's things. I think at some point you're
30:05
going to run into like a Michigan or an Arizona or a Duke
30:10
or even like a Kansas or North Carolina where there's just it's
30:14
just becomes a different level. And I think that's that's kind
30:17
of the issue. But hey, even get to the dance,
30:20
win the game. That'd be a great first season
30:22
for any coach in the country. That might be a parade in the
30:24
streets in Iowa City if he's able to pull that off in year #1
30:27
you mentioned Jimmy's and Joe's Dusty Bay.
30:29
He's certainly got a bunch of those over there.
30:32
Feels like they righted the ship.
30:33
They had that stretch where that the loss to Wisconsin, I think
30:36
they didn't cover like 7 straight games, something like
30:38
that from couple Fridays ago in East Lansing.
30:41
What they did there throttling a Penn State team that they had
30:44
struggled with earlier this year and then Ohio State on Sunday.
30:47
This a team that is rounding into form.
30:49
What's the knock against them? Is it just simply 3 point
30:51
variance? Yeah.
30:55
I mean, I think with Michigan, they are, they're a team that
31:00
when they get rolling, it becomes like a boulder going
31:03
downhill, right? But sometimes to get that
31:06
boulder going downhill, you got to push it over the edge, right?
31:08
You got to get it to the hill. And what I mean by that is I
31:12
think that they can be a little bit limited when it comes to
31:14
half court execution. And if you can find a way to be
31:19
able to make them have to take the ball out of the basket and
31:22
inbound it, then you're going to have a chance to be able to to
31:26
beat them. Because that means one, you're
31:28
scoring and two, you're preventing the thing that they
31:30
do best, which is getting out in transition.
31:32
So whether that's off of turnovers, whether that's off of
31:35
defensive rebounders, you get an outlet.
31:37
You know, they have one of the best transition point guard that
31:40
you're going to find in the LDA condo.
31:42
You can hit ahead, you can get them running.
31:44
They have athletes everywhere that can go up and finish.
31:47
They're much better when it comes to being able to like hit,
31:50
catch and shoot open threes in transition than they are when
31:53
they kind of have to create something out of 1/2 court
31:55
offense. So if you can keep them from
32:00
running and running and running like that, then you have a
32:02
chance to be able to to hang with them.
32:04
I think that's what we saw Wisconsin do.
32:07
That's what we've seen from these other teams that have been
32:09
able to cover against them do now if you have some issues with
32:13
turnovers or you missed some shots when they get out in
32:15
transition and then there's moments where they can start
32:18
pressuring you a little bit and then it just starts to snowball.
32:20
That's when you see it go from being a game where you're
32:23
hanging with them to like all of a sudden you're down by 25 and
32:26
it's in the blink of an eye. You know, that's that's what
32:28
they do great. Like once the avalanche starts,
32:31
you're not stopping it. But it's a matter of can they
32:34
get to the Avalon? Can they can they set it off?
32:36
Can they get that avalanche started?
32:37
And I think if you can limit that and it sounds like it
32:40
sounds so easy and simplistic when I say like, you just got to
32:43
score to beat Michigan. Like, yeah, obviously, dummy,
32:46
that's what you have to do. But I think what it does is it
32:49
kind of if you are able to slow them down and make them take the
32:53
ball out of bounds and inbound it, then you're you're looking
32:57
at a situation where like you can kind of limit what they do
33:00
best and let's get out and transition and run.
33:02
Rob Doster, Field of 60 8 Rob out of time for today.
33:05
Appreciate yours. We'll talk to you again soon
33:07
down the road. Enjoy it and enjoy watching both
33:09
Iowa and Iowa State, OK? Appreciate the trend.
33:12
Thanks man. That's Rob Doster joining us
33:14
here today. Quick timeout on the other side,
33:17
we continue the college basketball talk, this time the
33:19
MVC. Former MVP Larry Bird Award
33:22
winner Adam Emineker joins us next.
33:25
Miller and Condon on the Iowa Sports Radio Network.
33:29
Wrapping up our number one, it's Miller and Condon on the Iowa
33:32
Sports Radio Network. I'm Trent Condon, glad to have
33:35
you aboard with us. Nick Maravitz going to join us
33:37
for our number 2 from locked locked on Cyclones.
33:40
We'll get his perspective, talk some Cyhawk, get a whole lot
33:43
more, but right now it is time to talk Missouri Conference
33:46
basketball as we do each and every week with the MVC.
33:49
He is Adam Emmenecker, former MVP Larry Bird trophy winner.
33:53
He joins us here today. Adam, thank you for joining us
33:56
as always. Appreciate the time.
33:58
And late night hoops last night. How about that 9:00 tip off with
34:01
the Panthers down there at Murray State?
34:04
Yeah, gosh, you know, Trent, I didn't, I didn't have an
34:07
opportunity to watch that one. I'm going to have to, I'm going
34:09
to have to dial up the replay. But I was shocked and not
34:14
shocked that you and I goes on the road and wins at Murray
34:17
State. I don't think anybody's
34:18
surprised by that. But you look at the Panthers,
34:21
we've talked so much over the last few weeks about the
34:23
struggles they have score in the basketball, Had a couple games
34:26
under 50 points, a number of halves under 20 and they go on
34:30
the road and score 89. At Murray.
34:34
He stayed just a heck of a win for coach Ben Jacobson and
34:37
getting Tristan Smith back in the lineup.
34:38
The Panthers might be clicking at the right time.
34:40
Absolutely 14 out of their last five, some good wins on there.
34:44
On top of it, you must, you know, Tristan Smith's not a guy
34:46
that he doesn't wow you by any means, but he's another thicker
34:49
body. He's not tall by any means, but
34:51
a bigger body that they can throw out there and they just
34:54
look like they were just clicking in a completely
34:56
different level. Now when he put up that many
34:58
points, 89 in those limited possessions that you and I does,
35:01
everybody's going to look good. But Leon Bond, he was explosive.
35:05
He's knocking down some triples overall.
35:07
Trey Campbell, where do you put Trey Campbell?
35:08
Is he a first team NBC guy for you this year?
35:12
I mean, I think he is. And part of that, though, it's
35:15
going to depend on where the Panthers finish, right?
35:17
I mean, you look at a guy that has improved the way he's
35:20
improved over the course of time and you look at his numbers, 13
35:24
1/2 points per game on the year, 3.8 assists, 3.4 rebounds.
35:28
You look at those by themselves. And that doesn't necessarily
35:31
scream first team all the guy. But part of what you have to to
35:34
understand is put them in context to the Pate the Panthers
35:37
play, right? So if he's the guy that's
35:39
averaging, you know, probably roughly 1/5 of the Panthers
35:43
overall points, add in his assist, he's responsible in a
35:48
creation standpoint for probably 35 to 40% of the scoring.
35:52
Oh yeah, Andy's a really good perimeter defender and the
35:54
leader of this team. I think they got some work to do
35:58
down the stretch like we've talked about every week.
36:00
But I think Trey Campbell is in a pretty good position to earn
36:04
some Valley honors. The losing streak is at 4 now
36:07
for your alma mater as Drake falls again at home last night
36:10
to Valpo. You know, the first three games
36:12
of the losing streak, I don't think it was anything you're
36:14
overly concerned about. You lose to a great, good
36:17
Bradley team. You go on the road, lose to
36:19
Belmont and Illinois State. OK, this one, though, a little
36:21
bit Morehead scratching. And for all the great things
36:24
that we can say about Jalen Quinn just feels like he needs
36:27
more help and they got to get some more stops defensively.
36:30
Yeah, well, I think you talked to Coach Henderson and that's
36:33
exactly what he's going to talk about.
36:35
Four straight losses and in those games gave up 87 points,
36:39
103 points, 86 points, 81 points.
36:42
Now you've scored 73907676. The offense hasn't been the
36:48
issue. And I think you mentioned Jalen
36:49
Quinn. Jalen Quinn has been fantastic
36:52
in his ability to shot create, to finish around the rim and to
36:55
do it with high efficiency. It seems like this Drake team
36:59
has found a better split rotation wise on the offensive
37:03
end. They're flowing, but it just
37:05
hasn't translated to the defensive side and this team
37:08
trying to get stops, especially down the stretch when they
37:11
really need it in games. Playing against the top teams in
37:14
the league has been a struggle. I think the good news is when
37:17
you look at the rest of the schedule, so you're talking just
37:22
five games left, three of those five at home, right?
37:25
And you had you're playing against Balpo where you could
37:27
get revenge. You're playing against UIC on
37:29
this Thursday where you could get revenge from a previous
37:32
loss, two games against the against the Panthers and then a
37:35
game against an SIU team that Drake beat a little earlier in
37:39
the year. So the schedule is favorable
37:41
overall as groups got to figure some stuff out on the defensive
37:44
end. With that, let's take a look at
37:46
the top of the league. We see Belmont goes down in
37:49
overtime last night as they fall at Bradley.
37:51
They take their third loss. Now the conference late, we
37:54
mentioned Murray State falling to you and I Belmont is the best
37:58
team. They have a two game lead in the
38:00
regular season race for the regular season crown.
38:03
But is there a significant gap there?
38:05
How do you kind of rate things here at the top of the
38:07
conference currently? Yeah, I think maybe a couple of
38:10
different tiers. And I think Belmont is in a tier
38:13
by themselves and part of it is the adaptability of how they
38:16
could play multiple styles. They that is one of the the
38:19
versatile nature of this roster as part of what's different for
38:22
coach Casey Alexander than just the offensive punch they've had
38:25
in years past. So I think you look at Belmont
38:27
in the first tier, the second tier is Murray State, Bradley
38:31
and UIC. Each of those teams play
38:33
entirely different. They're a little bit unique in
38:36
their own style, but we've seen long streaks and maybe sometimes
38:42
where those teams aren't playing as well.
38:44
For Murray State, it's not playing as good on the defensive
38:46
end. For Bradley or UIC, it's not
38:49
finding their way on the offensive side.
38:51
Then you look at the next group you have Illinois State and
38:54
Northern Iowa that I'll put together and that I think
38:56
Illinois State pre season #1 in the league, lot of firepower on
39:00
the offensive end. Their defense was good early,
39:02
but they've struggled a little bit recently and Illinois State
39:05
a bit of a surprising loss last night against Evansville.
39:09
You have Northern Iowa who's kind of going in the opposite
39:11
direction as you mentioned, trying to win a four out of five
39:14
who may have an opportunity to get themselves up into that tier
39:17
above. Going to be a fun race, no doubt
39:19
about it. Before we know it, it's going to
39:20
be arch madness. It goes incredibly fast.
39:23
Final thing on that front, this condensed part of the schedule
39:26
here. They played on Friday night,
39:27
then they play Monday again on Thursday, then everybody goes on
39:30
Sunday. This has got to be an incredibly
39:32
difficult time playing this number of games coupled with the
39:35
travel. We're not talking about huge
39:37
charter planes for the most part in the MVC.
39:39
The way that these guys are traveling around, it's got to be
39:41
tough on most everybody. Yeah, for sure.
39:44
And you talked about that Belmont loss and part of what
39:46
Belmont has had. They played Murray at home,
39:48
Drake at home, at UIC, at Bradley, then they play you and
39:52
I and at Murray coming up in their next two.
39:54
So depending on how the scheduling goes, it's even more
39:58
laborious for these teams. But you know, this is this is
40:00
part of the time of the year that you get in the doldrums of
40:03
the conference, right? You're almost always played
40:05
everybody once, you're cycling through the second time and it's
40:08
a. A bit of a grind that favors the
40:11
especially mentally tough teams just to have to prepare for
40:15
every single game, make sure they're locked in and at their
40:17
best. What we've known about the
40:19
Missouri Valley, top to bottom, it's always going to be
40:22
competitive. Even if the team is leading or
40:24
even if the team like Evansville is toward the bottom of the
40:26
league. They're good enough to surprise
40:28
some people if you give them even AB or AB plus game.
40:31
Adam Emerick for joining us, our look at the Missouri Valley
40:34
Conference. Appreciate it as always, Adam.
40:36
We'll check in with you again next week.
40:39
Sounds good. Thanks Sir.
40:40
Thank you to Adam for joining us.
40:42
Our conversation each and every week brought to you by Doco
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Pizza Company. Great lunch special as well at
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both locations in the Drake neighborhood along with Ankeny.
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sticks or a salad and a fountain drink all for 950.
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41:01
We kick off our two with Nick Marvitz talking Psy Hawk.