Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / David Eickholt joins Trent with the Weekend Recap including Game 7 * the Tyrese injury, Alec Busse talks Cyclones & Bo Bassett decommits from Iowa Wrestling

Transcript

David Eickholt joins Trent with the Weekend Recap including Game 7 * the Tyrese injury, Alec Busse talks Cyclones & Bo Bassett decommits from Iowa Wrestling · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

0:04
Good afternoon and welcome in Miller and Condon on the air
0:07
with you as we kick off the week.
0:09
It's a Monday. Glad to have you aboard with us.
0:12
Ken finishing up his vacation antiquing in Galena.
0:17
He'll be back with us in his chair tomorrow.
0:20
But instead, back with me for another day.
0:23
It's David Eichol, 24/7 Sports, hawkeyeinsider.com as he joins
0:27
us. And always good to see you, Mr.
0:28
Eicholt. How was the weekend?
0:30
It was fun man, a lot of traveling but.
0:32
You you had fun well. I was out of state and something
0:34
good happened to Iowa. You know, Iowa flags.
0:36
The trend continues off. Yeah, it was a good time.
0:39
I had a wedding to go do with a family friend in Omaha.
0:42
And then good friend's birthday on Friday and then yesterday was
0:45
kind of a kind of a reset day until, you know, the fever
0:49
played at 2:00. And we, we did not need, we do
0:51
not need to expand on what happened in that it was not
0:54
great. No.
0:55
Well, first half was pretty great.
0:57
Second-half you know we can and. That fourth quarter was.
0:59
Grateful. Yeah, we'll get it.
1:01
Big, big growing up moment. But yeah, it was fun.
1:03
How was your How was your weekend?
1:04
Trent it was hot 1 outside a lot we my daughter.
1:08
He does not look like you got too burnt or anything.
1:10
No, I got looking alright. You know I I tanned up well as
1:13
yeah, so my daughters 10 year softball team played in a
1:16
tournament this week and up in Urbandale and for the first time
1:19
ever we brought home a championship.
1:20
So be a little selfish to kick things off.
1:23
Thank you. Thank you.
1:24
Yeah. Shout out to the girls getting
1:25
done as we bring home the championship medals this week.
1:29
It felt good and girls have come a really long way.
1:31
So a lot of outdoor time. Tough weekend with the heat
1:35
index under over 100. Degrees.
1:36
How's the wind here? Super windy.
1:38
Yeah. Was it OK?
1:39
It was in Omaha. I assumed it was still here. 40°
1:42
forty mile an hour wind gusts on Saturday, about 30 yesterday,
1:46
but four O and one won the bracket championship.
1:50
And if you would have told me when this group came together
1:53
last August, that's how things would be culminating, I would
1:56
have thought you were. Well, it's great coaching.
1:58
No, it's not great coaching, not at all.
2:00
It is the girls putting in work and doing that and they were
2:03
awesome. Had a lot of tears, you know, a
2:05
lot of emotions on a hot day. But we were able to go through
2:08
and my biggest thing, yeah, it was great winning and seeing the
2:11
the happiness on the girls faces for that.
2:13
But more than anything, the one thing that I preach.
2:15
So I'm a pretty easy going guy in general.
2:17
As you know, I'm a pretty easy guy going coach as well.
2:20
But one thing that I preach is being a good teammate and when
2:25
we had some tears and some girls being in the heat for that long
2:28
couple days in a row, they were starting to get to them.
2:31
Is the girls picking each other up, being good teammates and
2:34
somebody was struggling having them there.
2:36
So that was my happiest part of the weekend, seeing that and all
2:40
culminating with a win against one of my former players, which
2:42
was really fun. Whatever gets her squad.
2:45
So great weekend. Absolutely enjoyed it and was
2:48
able to get home, get showered up and locked and loaded then
2:51
for game seven of the NBA Finals.
2:53
Man, where do you want to start with it?
2:55
So I think we have to start with Tyrese and I think so too.
2:58
The Halliburton injury, in a way, I understand, you know, the
3:02
OKC side. And we got a guy that calls in
3:05
Thunder Joe, our Oklahoma City fan, our resident 1 here.
3:08
And for them, this very well could be the beginning.
3:12
And if that's the case, it'll be something, you know, that will
3:14
kind of build upon you. See the odds for next year plus
3:17
225. Runaway favorite and I don't
3:20
know if there's any time you're like, well, you know, do they go
3:23
on a couple game losing streak? You can get them.
3:24
I don't know if there's going to be a better price available.
3:26
I don't think so either. We'll talk about that a little
3:28
bit more and what the East looks like and how wide open that's
3:31
going to be next season with all the Tamal happening there, but
3:34
let's go first to obviously the local angle and the injury to
3:37
Tyrese Halliburton. That sucks, man.
3:39
It's just horrible, especially, I mean, for a lot of reasons.
3:43
But you know, I say this as an Oklahoma City fan, like
3:47
obviously I'm thrilled that they they won the championship.
3:50
I still can't stand watching SGA.
3:53
It feels awful saying that. He's a great player, but just
3:56
some of the stuff he gets away with.
3:57
But with Tyrese Halliburton, it's always going to be one of
4:02
those man, those what if games. The Thunder defense would have
4:06
adjusted because that was probably one of the best
4:08
defensive teams since what, the 90s Bowl bowls?
4:12
Seriously. 2530 years. When you're looking at like
4:15
tempo based ones and you look at defensive metrics that are that
4:18
take away pace and play and put it in there, like the Kenpom
4:20
numbers that we have, they have the same ones in the NBA.
4:23
And yes, it would tell you that this is a team I like when
4:26
anything we've seen in certainly 2 decades, I mean, you have to
4:29
go back maybe to the early 2000s.
4:31
Some of those Pistons teams are really good on the defensive
4:33
end, but it's been a long time. Tyrese was as aggressive as I've
4:37
ever seen him. Now maybe he knew he had to pull
4:40
the trigger from three-point range a lot quicker because
4:43
obviously he was going to be very limited due to a strained
4:45
calf, but he was feeling it. And it's going to be one of
4:49
those biggest what if games for me, and not just in the history
4:53
of the NBA, because I think the Pacers had one of the best runs.
4:56
I I know look, I get it. The east sucks, OK, We're we're
4:59
not going to put lipstick on a pig here.
5:01
It sucks, but that does not diminish what they accomplished.
5:04
They were underdogs, Trent, in the playoffs.
5:07
Do you know how many times in how many games, 18 games they
5:10
were underdogs? That's incredible.
5:12
And they forced the game seven in the NBA Finals and that crowd
5:18
was nervous when Tyrese hit that third three and he was smack
5:22
talking. I'm like, OK, we got a game, we
5:25
got a game and I was out at Walmans W with with a friend of
5:28
mine And right when Tyrese went down, first of all, my heart
5:32
just sang for him. Because whether whether you're a
5:36
fan of, you know, Iowa State, you know you hate Iowa State or
5:39
a fan of Tyrese or not, like the fact that the guy was playing
5:42
through a multi week injury. He was not supposed to play.
5:45
If there was any other series, he would not have played.
5:48
If this happens in January, we might not see him till March.
5:51
I I'm right there with you. And to see him go down in that
5:54
fashion. And the worst part is, he knew
5:58
it right away, too. Yeah.
6:00
It's I watched his face immediately right when he went
6:04
down and I'm like, oh, this is not his calf.
6:06
With his first hitting the floor and that was he didn't turn it
6:10
ankle, he did. You knew and what we've seen in
6:13
this playoff from Dane in the first round against the Pacers,
6:16
what we saw in Celtics. Scary #0 man.
6:21
And then he goes. A little eerie to me.
6:23
Absolutely. And he goes, yes, all three of
6:24
those guys wear #0 And then you go back to six years ago when it
6:27
happened to Durant and what was the injury that Kevin Durant was
6:30
dealing with when he finally came back and pushed himself too
6:33
hard? It was a calf injury.
6:35
It was and what is this? What was Tyrese dealing with?
6:37
Well, he also had a wrist injury, but he was dealing with
6:40
in his legs, a calf injury. You wonder about overuse.
6:44
You wonder about just how much time on the hardwood these guys
6:47
are going through. What's different now?
6:50
The Achilles injury used to be something the 37 year old would
6:53
get, usually a big guy, right? That would be the time that you
6:55
get those Achilles injuries. Now, Kobe, that's not what it
6:59
is. But the one thing when you talk
7:01
about all of these guys, these guys have all played a ton of
7:04
minutes and not just minutes, high impact minutes, ball in
7:07
their hand a ton. All five of the guys that we
7:09
just mentioned, every single one of them are guys that have the
7:13
ball in their hand and they are aggressive.
7:15
And you just wonder about, yes, roster management, load
7:19
management. It's a dirty word.
7:20
And I get it. You buy tickets for a game and
7:22
the star players not there. It sucks, but there's a reason
7:25
for it, and this is an easy thing to point to.
7:28
It's could be very interesting to me to watch Tyrese and when
7:32
he gets back on the floor because you know, I obviously we
7:35
will all want him back 100%. I give Kevin Durant a lot of
7:39
credit and I do not say this lightly because you know how my
7:42
personal feelings are of Kevin Durant, but the fact that his
7:45
game didn't fall off almost at all post Achilles injury is
7:49
incredible. Now Tyrese is not 7 feet tall
7:52
list at 6 foot 10, but Tyrese is a very tall point guard.
7:56
He's a very skilled player. He takes care of the basketball.
7:59
He has long arms and he has a high release point.
8:02
He has to become use this time to become a better jump shooter
8:06
and to get get off his own shot. He is not going to be able to do
8:10
that sort of aggression, aggressive moves as often to get
8:12
in the paint and teams are going to know that and they're going
8:15
to play him defensively different whenever he comes
8:17
back, which hopefully, I hate to say it, best case scenario after
8:21
next season, yeah, Yeah, at least.
8:24
It's the 26th, 27th season. I mean, that's what you're
8:26
looking at. He's going to have to be a good,
8:27
good jump shooter. What we also learned with the
8:30
Jason Tatum injury is something that came out, you want to have
8:34
the surgery quick because scar tissue doesn't form, which when
8:38
I first heard that there, I heard it from Bill Simmons right
8:39
after. Of course, he's a Celtics guy
8:41
right afterwards and he mentioned that I'm like, there
8:44
cannot be anything. Well, in fact, I saw it just
8:46
last night, a doctor that is on Twitter that talks about sport
8:51
injuries all the time. He mentioned the exact same
8:53
thing. You want this as quickly as
8:55
possible done because not just recovery time, but most
8:59
importantly, scar tissue doesn't start to form around there.
9:02
Because when that happens, if you wait, which a lot of
9:04
surgeries a week, two weeks, I mean, you know, this David Guy,
9:07
Taylor's an ACL, they're not under the knife the next day.
9:09
No, not at. All you're letting the swelling
9:10
go down. The Achilles injury though is a
9:13
different one. Want to get in there quick and I
9:15
would anticipate maybe as soon as today.
9:17
Tyrese Halliburton is probably having the surgery.
9:20
Probably tweet during the show to be honest.
9:22
Just keep it real, right? Yep, that.
9:24
That's the way that it's going to go.
9:25
So we go from the devastating part and it was, it was just
9:27
that sickening feeling. We're locked in for a great
9:30
game. And then so the Pacers take the
9:32
lead in half to Matheran hits that step back three to give
9:35
them the lead going. And wait for Matheran to do
9:37
something. The last three games I feel like
9:39
I've been talked. I've talked about him on this
9:40
show. I've talked about it with with
9:43
Lucas, I, I've talked about with Sean Roberts.
9:45
I mean, I'm just sitting here going guys like Benedict
9:48
Matheran, when he gets after it, he can get after it.
9:51
And that, that's the other thing too.
9:52
And I think Obi Toppin said this post game and I don't want to
9:55
build in the excuse for the Pacers, but he just said it took
9:59
us all out of it. And I 100% believe that at some
10:03
point the Thunder were going to get clicking.
10:07
The other part is in a way, certainly during the middle of
10:11
that second quarter, it felt like OK, C was a little shell
10:14
shocked too. It wasn't just because you see
10:17
that happen. You lose your star player, the
10:19
team just goes into the tank. That wasn't the case.
10:21
Everybody picked each other up. But I think more importantly, it
10:24
wasn't just that the Pacers were so in play, playing so
10:26
incredible and they were Thunder weren't hitting shots, they were
10:29
tight. You could definitely see that.
10:31
But I think they were almost a little man, that guy went down.
10:35
I mean, that's not what's supposed to happen in a game
10:37
seven. We were up here geared up to
10:39
stop him and he's off to a hot start and and they looked like
10:43
the team that was almost impacted more certainly during
10:45
the second quarter of the game than even the Pacers.
10:47
I mean, the crowd was on edge the entire first half.
10:50
I mean, until I'd say what, the middle of the third quarter when
10:53
they went on that little kind of nine O 10 O run to give them the
10:56
lead. Forget, I mean I give the Pacers
10:58
credit for fighting back and lose my 12.
11:00
And there was a moment, I think there was maybe 5 minutes left.
11:04
Did they get it to single digits?
11:06
It might have been Ted, but it was it was.
11:07
Yeah, let me I'll, I'll check through.
11:09
That there was a little mini run though that got and because it's
11:12
the Pacers and because of what we've seen through this, I I had
11:15
that fleeting moment that that thought that.
11:18
What if? If there was ever a team in a
11:22
situation that is untenable for almost anybody else in the NBA,
11:25
yes, it's this group. It's this Pacers team that much,
11:30
much Pacers basketball. During the regular season, I
11:32
didn't see the Pacers a lot. I grew to love this collection
11:36
of guys and that fleeting moment where just maybe now, OK, C
11:40
covered it up very quickly, hit a couple of shots.
11:42
I think Williams maybe had a three that stretched the thing
11:45
back out. But you had that because that's
11:47
what this Pacers team has done. And you know, David, when I look
11:52
back upon this now, if this turns out to be 1, I think we
11:55
talked about this maybe Friday. If this is it for the Thunder,
11:58
you know, if they are not able to capitalize and they don't put
12:01
together and win, you know, three of the next 5, three out
12:04
of four, something like that. It's just a championship and we
12:06
get a new champion like we have seven straight years next season
12:10
and there's a lot of what if game, but maybe they have an
12:12
injury down the in a couple years.
12:13
Whatever it is, I don't know how much we're going to remember
12:17
this Thunder team. I think we're going to remember
12:19
the Indiana Pacers, this team that had ridiculous comebacks
12:24
knocking off the one seat in the East.
12:25
What they did against the Knicks.
12:27
That's going to be the team forcing a Game 7 where most
12:29
everybody thought this thing's going to be 4 O 4-1.
12:32
Maybe we might get a gentleman sweep and that was going to be
12:35
it. And instead forcing a Game 7.
12:38
The Pacers are going to be remembered for a long time, and
12:41
that's not the case often when you're talking about NBA
12:44
finalists that lose. But they're going to be
12:46
remembered, I believe, for a long time.
12:48
And all that year you see about the Thunder it.
12:51
Goes back to the what if factor right with Tyrese Halliburton by
12:53
the way, they did get it down to four with 354.
12:56
McConnell had ten straight I think, for them at the time.
12:59
He was awesome. He was.
12:59
And he was dreadful. I'll.
13:01
Tell you what I said on Friday, man, he could have been.
13:05
He was my Finals MVP. If he goes out there and drops
13:07
40, does all this, he has shot at at being able to do it.
13:11
But I'm right there with you. I think people are going to
13:13
remember this Pacers team. I think they were incredibly
13:16
well coached. Obviously Tyrese Halber and all
13:18
the clutch shots that he had. TJ McConnell, man, I'm telling
13:22
you, if they come back and he gets a game winner.
13:24
There was a shot I would have. I would have held that over.
13:27
I would have held over your head for for a while if McConnell
13:31
would be able to pop that so. I would have loved to see it
13:33
happen. It it like I said, it was a
13:35
great finals. It sucks the way it ended
13:37
though, and now it raises so many questions for next season.
13:41
And it diminishes in a way the Thunder and in the grand scheme
13:44
of things that it will come back.
13:47
The Thunder will eventually get their flowers, I think from a
13:49
lot of people. But just the way that this.
13:51
The most dominant regular season of all time.
13:54
And it sounds crazy because yeah, they have Shay, Gilgus,
13:57
Alexander, but they don't have a lot of built in superstars,
13:59
right. They used to have a collection
14:01
of really good players. And I mean, obviously we'll
14:04
probably get into this later. Look at head to next year.
14:06
But like now people are talking about the Rockets and there is
14:10
one commentator. And if this happens, Trent, you
14:12
need to get me on your show because I will have a crash out.
14:15
I'm on crash out. If Russell Westbrook goes to the
14:18
Houston Rockets and rejoins Kevin Durant, I will be
14:22
inconsolable. I will be ruthless.
14:25
The dump button on your side will be ready.
14:28
I got it ready right now. And I will just absolutely go on
14:31
a classic unhinged David rant. I don't want.
14:35
It to happen, I don't want it to.
14:36
Happen. I don't don't do it.
14:38
I don't want him to do it. Do not go that.
14:41
Way Barry gave up too much for Kevin Durant.
14:43
I'm with you there. I was surprised.
14:44
We, I think we all knew that green would it was going to be a
14:47
part of it. I mean that had to be kind of
14:48
baseline that you had to make that happen.
14:51
But. And now Bradley Beal's going to
14:52
get bought out of Phoenix. To or trade?
14:54
He definitely needs that to happen.
14:56
Let's get out to the full lines. You can join us here
14:57
284-596-6284 KX and O put that 515 in front of it.
15:02
If you're outside the area listening on the I with Sports
15:05
Radio Network, shout out to Sioux City, the Quad Cities,
15:07
Cedar Rapids in Iowa City and of course our flagship 106.3 KX&O.
15:12
Let's get out to Jeff wants to chime in with some hoops talk.
15:15
What's up, Jeff? Yep.
15:45
Yeah. Yes, Yep.
16:55
I'm not I'm not. Again, I'm not comparing players
16:57
apples to oranges here. But then we get into the draft
17:01
picks. They have like a top 4 projected
17:03
for the Sixers in two years. Hello.
17:07
They could get a top four pick off the Sixers and they have all
17:09
their picks. So if they would lose a dork or
17:12
if they would lose a Wiggins, you know, they're going to just
17:16
going to fill that with the rosters because they're not
17:18
going to be able to keep everybody but their core if they
17:21
keep their core. And I don't know if they would
17:23
win one more. Now, it's not a dynasty.
17:26
You know, Detroit in the 80s won two titles or the Pistons only
17:29
won one title, you know, in the 2000s.
17:31
We can debate what a dynasty is, but this team's going nowhere
17:35
for five to seven years. You guys have a good day.
17:38
Thanks, Jeff. Yeah, thanks for the call.
17:39
Yeah, I mean, I'm with him. I mean, I think everybody's kind
17:41
of says Sam Presti's a genius and finally he's finally getting
17:44
his flowers with that long coveted title.
17:47
He's made so many good moves behind the scenes.
17:48
I mean, obviously what they got for the Durant thing, when they
17:51
got what they got for Westbrook, when they trade Westbrook and
17:54
there's they still have so many draft picks too.
17:57
They have so much capital to play with SGA, Chet, Holmgren to
18:01
seem like they're really, really good friends.
18:03
I don't envision those two, you know, breaking apart.
18:05
Even for bad they sing together. Commercials, right?
18:08
Yep. Oh gosh, let's let's not talk
18:09
break those bad so bad. Those are so bad.
18:12
But what would you say dynasty is that?
18:14
That's a very interesting question.
18:15
I see it's 3 championships. Yeah, I think that's a minimum.
18:18
I think you have to have 3 to be considered a dynasty.
18:21
Like 3 in five years. Yes, because you get into the
18:23
Spurs and what was that? But.
18:26
They were always there. That's the other part of it too.
18:29
And that's when you kind of get into those tough arguments of,
18:31
yeah, what constitutes a dynasty?
18:33
How close together does it have to be?
18:35
I think the baseline though the starting point has to be 3.
18:38
I'd also throw in the coaching aspect of it too, because like
18:41
what also made the Spurs larger in life during the entire span
18:44
was Gregg Popovich and his coaching ability and and you
18:48
know, his kind of overall demeanor.
18:51
I feel like you kind of have that superstar aura from a coach
18:53
just even though he was a genius, like not everybody has
18:56
that. You know why the OKC coach
18:57
certainly doesn't have that, but he's a hell of a coach.
19:00
They get it done, they got it done.
19:02
But the Rockets one will be interesting to me.
19:05
I just don't see how it raises their.
19:07
As crazy as it sounds, it doesn't address what they need.
19:12
My problem with Kevin Durant? Well, there's.
19:14
I have a lot. Yeah, is personality wise,
19:19
basketball wise, it's not the way that he.
19:21
Plays. I say the same thing to Bossy.
19:24
And when you're bringing in a veteran, you're bringing in that
19:28
aging superstar, you're bringing in that guy to push you over
19:32
personality wise. He's too much of a baby.
19:35
Yeah, he's never an alpha. The the burner accounts, the
19:38
whining of people on Twitter, That's the part of it.
19:41
For a young team, a young team that needs somebody to lead,
19:44
that wants somebody to lead, He's not going to provide that.
19:48
That's not his personality type. And good batter and different.
19:51
That's the reality with Kevin Durant.
19:53
That's why personally, I don't love it.
19:55
It's not the basketball part of it.
19:56
Yeah, the basketball part definitely makes sense.
19:58
You're upgrading there. You're getting a guy that can
20:00
get you 35 in a playoff game. You're facing elimination in a
20:03
game six. He's the guy that can go out and
20:05
win you a game, put the team on his back.
20:07
He can do that. Then what's going to happen in
20:10
Game 7? What happens when things aren't
20:12
going well? He's not the guy that I want in
20:14
that situation. He's not rallying the troops.
20:16
Speaking of that. I do love Alfred Sangoon
20:19
combined with Durant though. That is a really scary
20:22
combination. So last night you said you were
20:25
out, so I'm not sure was the volume on?
20:29
No, so we didn't get to hear a lot of the explanations.
20:31
Well, at halftime they go to the studio and he got Stephen A Not
20:37
my cup of tea. Never has been, never will be.
20:39
Understand. You got Kendrick Perkins.
20:43
OK, he's goofy and whatever. And.
20:46
You have Bob Myers who six years ago dealt with the exact same
20:51
situation that just happened. Star player goes down, Achilles
20:56
injury and they don't bring it up.
20:59
Isn't that hosting one O 1? They didn't talk about it.
21:03
They have a guy that did this is the general manager of the
21:08
Warriors that went through this. That's really bad.
21:11
And that's not one of your talking points.
21:13
That's not a direction that you go.
21:15
That should be. You open it up right there.
21:17
That's where the conversation begins.
21:19
Not Stephen A screaming about God knows what.
21:22
Nobody cares. I mean, he's screaming into a
21:25
cave with nobody listening because no.
21:28
Well, is there a signal for solitaire?
21:31
You I tune him out and I know I'm not alone because it's just
21:35
the same thing. I like I like Stephen A Smith,
21:38
but yes, you're the one. No, let's listen.
21:40
No, well, I like Stephen A Smith, but I think they push him
21:43
way too much on so many different things.
21:46
Like if he just did first take, there's absolutely an angle for
21:49
that. He's entertaining.
21:51
But now in every single show, and I like, again, I like
21:54
Stephen A Smith because he's kind of helped drive the sports
21:57
commentary world in healthy ways.
22:00
But now it's the point where it's unhealthy in my opinion.
22:02
But that's a side talking point. That's crazy though that they
22:05
did not bring that up. The other component is there was
22:09
something that last night I saw from inside the NBA, and I think
22:13
they were, that's what it was. They were welcoming them.
22:15
Next year, Inside the NBA will be here, and if they insert
22:18
Stephen A Smith into that show, I'm going to lose my mind.
22:22
Charles Barkley won't have that. You better not.
22:24
Like, I think you know, Charles, like they're cordial.
22:28
It's not an everyday thing. And honestly, if you buy them
22:31
out and you want them to be there, you need to do something
22:34
like you do for Pat McAfee in the sense that you got to let
22:37
them be them. Take your hands off the damn
22:39
product, take your hands off the damn production.
22:42
Let them be them. I And that's the one thing.
22:44
It's not even an NBA show. No, it's entertaining.
22:47
Right. And they're so quickly going to
22:49
Sports Center and going to Van Pelt, who is excellent.
22:51
Yes. What are they going to do?
22:53
They're not going to let those guys cook for an hour after a
22:55
big game, are they? They're just going to let them
22:57
sit there or do they get 20 minutes and then we'll go to
23:01
Vamp I. It's going to be an incredibly
23:03
difficult spot, I think, for ESPN.
23:05
They have to figure that out because if they screw that up,
23:08
people are going to be pitchforks and they're going to
23:11
be coming after them in a big time way.
23:13
Don't screw up with the studio show that doesn't need to be
23:16
tinkered. Well, here, here's the other
23:17
angle of it. The two Trent, how much are the
23:21
inside the NBA guys going to allow?
23:23
Are they going to give them an inch?
23:25
Are they not going to give them an inch?
23:26
Because again, this is not like it's a start up show.
23:29
No, this is a well established show with a perfect cast for one
23:34
another. You can't recast them.
23:36
And then in my opinion, you have the best host across sports and
23:41
Ernie Johnson keep not screwed up.
23:44
Just give them the tools and the air time and say go.
23:49
And if they don't, it's going to be a big problem and those
23:51
Mickey Mouse ears come rolling down the hall.
23:54
I'll be selling the pitchforks right in the torches.
23:56
It's going to be bad. Well, we got a lot to get into
23:58
today, so David and I are going to talk about the College
24:00
Football Playoff a little bit later on.
24:02
There is some more back and forth that continues with the
24:04
Big 10 and the SEC, their alliance.
24:07
We know the original alliance with the ACC Big 10 and the PAC
24:11
12 didn't go very well. This alliance may be running
24:14
into some murky waters. What is the best path for the
24:17
College Football Playoff? We're going to talk about that.
24:19
We'll give the Hawkeyes weekend that was with David.
24:21
Talk about the recruiting weekend in football and a
24:23
decommit in wrestling that is feeling some big time impacts.
24:27
We'll get into that a little bit later on, but we're going to be
24:30
opening up the line with Alec Bussey, your buddy, our buddy
24:34
talking some Cyclones, their weekend.
24:35
They had a recruiting weekend as well.
24:37
Kind of put a cap on things on that front and some big news
24:40
with Mason Williams, the incoming guard from Eastern
24:43
Washington, his injury and very well could be out for the
24:47
season. We'll get into that with Alec
24:48
Bussey talking some Cyclones. We got Hawkeyes coming up a
24:50
little bit later. College Football Playoff plus my
24:52
picks of the day all coming up here on Miller and Conan.
24:56
Right now it's your chance to win $1000.
24:59
What you want to do right now, our keyword is back for quarter
25:02
three. It is the noon hour on Monday.
25:05
Go to kx&o.com. Doesn't matter what market
25:07
you're listening in, KX and o.com is a place to go.
25:10
Insert the keyword pay. Pay at KX and o.com, your chance
25:14
to win $1000. Pay KX and o.com, your chance at
25:19
a grand. We come back out.
25:20
Bussey joins us next, It's Miller and Condon on the Iowa
25:23
Sports Radio Network. Trey Ghana, back with you here.
25:30
I'm Miller and Cotton on the Iowa Sports Radio Network,
25:32
joined today by David Eichel from 24/7 Sports, our next
25:36
guest. There's also from 24/7 Sports.
25:39
I believe you guys know each other, right?
25:40
It is Alec Bussey. You know this guy Eicholt?
25:43
I knew him before he started working at 24/7.
25:46
How? Really.
25:46
Back when he was covering up Illinois, we, you know, I got a
25:49
chance. I think Sean Bach introduced us,
25:51
my colleague there, and I think it was a big 10 media days if I
25:54
remember right. I met Alec in person for the
25:57
first time a year ago in Vegas at Big 12 Football Media Days.
26:01
I'll drink a. Water a good time in Vegas,
26:02
right? More than a good time.
26:05
More than a good time, Alec welcome in and taller Alec
26:10
Bussey. So Echo talks about his height
26:11
all the time. You keep it on the down low.
26:14
You are very, very tall. And are you taller than Echo?
26:19
I mean, I'm 6/4, I don't plot my height weirdo in public, so
26:24
yeah, I'm like I'm like a legit 64 but I have a negative
26:27
wingspan so I wouldn't be high on very many recruiting boards.
26:30
NBA Draft Combine coming up. You'd be in trouble in that one.
26:33
Yeah, I'm going to say it. I'm.
26:34
I'm going to call it right here. Taller than David Icke.
26:37
It's it's close. You guys are both taller than
26:39
me. Well, you can deck 2:00 on.
26:41
Top More athletic. It's more handsome.
26:44
Put them all out there. I like it.
26:46
Really. You got to work on the
26:47
humbleness, bud. Everyone who wants it publicly.
26:52
No, to be fair, Trent can attest this Kayvon Merriweather is the
26:56
reason why it started going. Public, that is true.
26:58
That is very. And then, and then Patrick
26:59
McCaffrey, I think, chimed in, too.
27:01
And I'm just like, well, this is now.
27:02
It's off and rutted off and rutted.
27:03
That's the way it goes sometimes.
27:05
Hey, the news that we've been I, I guess maybe tiptoeing around
27:09
here for the last couple of weeks is probably the biggest
27:12
news of the day. And that's Mason Williams
27:15
undergoing hip surgery and could miss the season.
27:18
So the incoming transfer from Eastern Washington really liked
27:21
his tape, his scoring ability, what they needed in that back
27:24
court. First, tell us what you know
27:26
about the surgery, the hip surgery that he had and kind of
27:29
where things stand now. And are we saying a likelihood
27:32
that he's going to be out all next season?
27:36
Yeah. So I would say brings him in for
27:38
spring practices or summer practices, whatever you want to
27:41
call him, and they do some medical testing on him, knowing
27:44
that there might be some pretty existing conditions that he
27:46
played through during last season at Eastern Washington.
27:49
After the testing comes back, they see that the situation that
27:54
he's dealing with does provide a need for surgery.
27:56
So they go ahead and get the procedure done on his right hip.
28:00
I believe it's his right hip. From what I understand, it
28:03
sounds like it's a labrum injury.
28:06
Obviously that kind of contributed, I think to some of
28:08
the lower back discomfort that he played with a year ago at
28:12
Eastern Washington. So I think that you consider
28:14
everything that's kind of going on there.
28:16
The press release did say there's a possibility that he
28:19
can miss the entire season. I don't know what the recovery
28:21
timeline is for torn labrum. I do know that obviously anytime
28:25
you go under the knife that that leads to an extensive
28:27
rehabilitation process, especially when you consider,
28:30
you know, redoing the ligaments and tendons and soft tissue the
28:35
way it needs to be done on the inside of the body.
28:38
If he's back sometime in like January or February, I think
28:42
it's fair to wonder, is it possible for him to work himself
28:46
into the rotation? Is it worth it for him to work
28:48
himself into the rotation at that point and play a dozen
28:53
games or whatever it might end up being instead of being able
28:57
to preserve an entire season's worth of eligibility?
28:59
So I don't want to project too far into the future on what his
29:03
availability could be without knowing what the timeline on his
29:07
recovery is. Like I said, the press release
29:09
said he couldn't miss the entire season.
29:11
We'll speak with TJ Alsenberger tomorrow morning at the at the
29:15
Secret practice facility in Ames and hopefully he'll be able to
29:19
provide more insight directly on what exactly the extent of the
29:22
injury is and perhaps what a timeline is.
29:24
So Alec, with Mason going to be out for at least the foreseeable
29:28
future, I think that's probably safe to say.
29:30
I guess who are, I guess, what are they going to be missing
29:33
with Williams out? And I guess maybe give me a
29:35
couple players to really keep an eye on or that you'll be keeping
29:37
an eye on for saying, hey, you know what, these guys need to
29:40
step up in order to make up for that absence or whatever role he
29:43
may have fit. I know it's extremely early to
29:45
see what kind of he was going to be able to do, but I just kind
29:48
of want to know what your early thoughts are.
29:51
Yeah. So I would think knew that this
29:52
was a possibility. And part of that is what led
29:54
them to pursuing Dominic Nelson, the Utah Valley transfer and
29:59
whack player over the year, out of the transfer portal.
30:01
So I think that it does create a greater opportunity for Nelson
30:04
to come in and make an impact. Now, I think that they're
30:06
different players. To put it in Iowa State terms, I
30:09
would describe Williams more like Curtis Jones as someone who
30:13
can kind of space the floor BS floor spacer as a respected 3
30:17
point shooter. Maybe not necessarily the
30:19
playmaker or ball handlers that Keyshawn Gilbert was, which is
30:22
where I would kind of think that you would see more skill sets
30:26
similar and Dominic Nelson could see someone who had a top 25
30:29
free throw rate and fells drawn rate in the country a year ago.
30:32
So I think it creates more opportunity for someone like
30:35
Dominic Nelson to play a bigger role for Iowa State.
30:37
I also think Nate Heisey, who returns after last season, could
30:40
step into a bigger role, potentially a starting role for
30:42
Iowa State. And then I also think it creates
30:44
an opportunity for the two incoming freshmen, Jamarian
30:47
Bateman, who was a top 50 prospect by 24/7 Sports,
30:51
regarded as one of the better shooters in the class.
30:53
He's got good length as defender, tenacious active
30:56
defender, which I know I would say is really excited about.
30:59
And then Killian Torre, and I think this is a really
31:02
interesting spot for him. He's a French native, originally
31:06
played his senior year of high school basketball at Brewster
31:08
Academy out in the northeast. I would say gets him through
31:11
some various connections. He's more of a traditional
31:14
playmaker, point guard type, but I kind of think that's something
31:16
that this team is lacking a little bit just because Nelson
31:21
comes in with a negative assist to turnover ratio from a year
31:23
ago. Damon Lips, he's actually shown
31:25
in his career and ability to do this, but they shrunk his role
31:29
in those areas this season to create more opportunity for
31:34
Gilbert and and encouraged Jones in that setting.
31:37
So containment Lipsy get back to the assist rate that he had as a
31:42
freshman and sophomore compared to where it was as a junior
31:44
where for the first time in his career he had less than 4
31:46
assists a game. So long answer short, I think
31:49
the the most obvious candidates would be Dominic Nelson will
31:53
play a bigger role, I think Heidi will play a bigger role.
31:55
And then I think there's an opportunity for at least one of
31:58
the two freshmen to play a significant spot in the
31:59
rotation. Jamarian Bateman definitely is
32:02
intriguing shooting ability. You mentioned that and that's
32:04
something that he was known for Top 4 player in the country.
32:08
But to play for TJ Otzelberger, you got to be able to defend.
32:11
What do we know? I, I think I remember you
32:13
telling us before Tori known as a pretty good defender out
32:16
there. What do we know about Bateman on
32:18
the defensive end? Yeah, I mean, I think Torres
32:21
probably a little bit higher, more highly regarded as a
32:24
defender than Bateman is. But Bateman has more natural
32:26
size, right? Like he's just a little bit
32:28
taller. He's a little bit longer.
32:30
In the past, I have been worried about his frame being able to
32:34
maybe handle the physicality of high major basketball.
32:38
He's very wiry, right? Like he he has a good muscle
32:42
structure in the sense of like he's got good math to him, but
32:46
he's still very wiry, if that makes sense.
32:49
Like he doesn't have a frame that you're necessarily going to
32:51
see be bulked up and have like bulging muscles off of his arms
32:56
or his shoulders. Like you see tape and Lipsy,
32:58
right? You see him and you see that
33:00
that is a very well built Big 12 guard where someone like Curtis
33:04
Jones, I guess was a maybe a little bit more wiry or or
33:07
stringy, whatever adjective you want to use.
33:10
That's kind of more how Bateman's build is.
33:13
So he'll have those challenges I think, but he's a really willing
33:17
defender. He's someone who's prideful
33:20
about defending the basketball. He was often picking up at half
33:22
court or in the back court as a defender on the Adidas three SSB
33:28
circuit or even in his high school league playing for
33:31
Milwaukee Academy of Science during his high school career.
33:34
I think he can hold his own on that end and I think I I do have
33:39
some concerns, I guess what the shooting ability of this team
33:41
could be with Williams going down.
33:43
And I think Bateman does give them value there heading into
33:47
this upcoming season. Now he's a pression.
33:48
You have to be able to prove it and you have to be able to
33:50
sustain it over a 3540 game stretch.
33:54
But I do think that there's upside for him to make an impact
33:56
as a freshman. Jump over to a little football.
33:59
Alec Bussey joining us from cyclonealert.com, part of 24/7
34:02
sports. Alec, let's get into Evan
34:05
Jacobson. We've talked about him a ton.
34:07
Ken and I both know the family, so that's also a piece of it. 4
34:10
star brother played at Iowa State, went on to the NFL after
34:14
a basketball career, finished up competing with Notre Dame,
34:17
Stanford, Texas A&M. What is the latest after an
34:21
official visit midweek for Evan Jacobson last week?
34:24
Yeah, it sounds like things went really well during his official
34:27
visit to Iowa State. He's also considering those 3 or
34:29
4 schools that you mentioned. I think I would say it's right
34:31
there at the top with Notre Dame and Texas A&M.
34:33
If I had to look the top three. I just kind of struggled to see
34:36
him pull the trigger on a commitment to Stanford just
34:39
given the circumstances of where the program is at right now.
34:43
Kind of an unsteady situation with the coaching staff out
34:45
there. Troy Taylor being dismissed in
34:47
the spring and now Andrew Lock, the GM kind of leading the
34:50
program in the transition year with Frank Wright as an interim
34:52
coach. I think I would say Notre Dame,
34:55
they actually have really good cells for tight ends.
34:57
Each school it's offensive coordinators.
34:59
Also a tight ends coach, which I know appeals. 7 Jacobson, and I
35:02
know he loved his official visit to Texas A&M as well.
35:05
And my conversations with him. New kind of development, I guess
35:09
you could say in his recruitment is he wants to play basketball
35:11
in college. It sounds like Notre Dame and
35:13
Texas A&M already green lighted him from my conversations with
35:17
Evan about a potential basketball career.
35:19
He's talking with Stanford about that and it sounds like he wants
35:22
to be in those kind of dialogues with Iowa State as well.
35:26
He is a really good basketball player.
35:27
I think it's obviously football first for him.
35:29
I think he averaged like 18 points and 9 rebounds the game
35:32
last year for Waukee and he shot a really good percentage from
35:35
three-point distance, 42 or 44% I think it was.
35:38
He's a really talented player. His future is just a little bit
35:40
brighter I think on the on the football field than the
35:42
basketball court. I think ultimately it kind of
35:44
comes down to Notre Dame, Iowa State and Texas A&M and whatever
35:48
order you want. And I would expect a decision to
35:50
be made in mid to late July for Evan Jacobson.
35:52
We've avoided the biggest storyline of the day Oh, so far
35:57
the Pop Tarts mascot is going to be in the NCAA 26 bossy.
36:00
What's your early impression is are your is your first year in
36:02
the new dynasty going to be make the Pop Tart Bowl?
36:05
Because that's what mine will be.
36:08
You know, I'm going to be honest with you.
36:10
Oh boy. Down in Orlando for the Pop
36:12
Tarts Bowl. It was a lot of fun for the
36:14
first few days, but I kind of got really tired of all of the
36:18
the antics and all of the Pop Tartness throughout the week.
36:22
Like I eat a lot of them. I'm not a pop charts guy.
36:25
The imaging was just everywhere. I kind of got tired of it.
36:29
I get the the fascination with the bowl game and the fun and I
36:33
think it's very well marketed, but when you're there and you're
36:36
seeing it up close for for roughly a week, it gets to be a
36:39
little bit overwhelming. So I know a lot of people want
36:42
to play to to get into the Pop Tarts bowl.
36:45
So you can see the mascot, Maybe you'll see the sprinkled
36:48
sidelines, the thing they did, which I thought was a very nice
36:51
touch, but it's not something that I'm going to be striving
36:54
for after experiencing it. I wonder if they'll let let you
36:57
eat the mascot in the game too if you win.
36:59
Maybe you win at Pop Tarts Championship.
37:01
That'd be good. Well, what we learned, Alec
37:03
Bussey, a hater of Pop Tarts. It's not not a good thing, not a
37:06
good thing. Not going to indoctrinate
37:08
yourself. That's a beautiful thing about
37:09
this country and we have platforms, right?
37:11
You're allowed an opinion, even if it's wrong.
37:13
Smores is the best flavor though.
37:14
Right. It's up there.
37:15
Listen, listen, I like them. They're just not something that
37:19
I eat or eat a ton of as a kid. So I think that's probably part
37:22
of my lack of enthusiasm. I guess you could say, sure, Pop
37:27
Tarts as a whole, I do enjoy them.
37:28
They're just not my favorite. More of a guy.
37:33
You know, toaster students were probably a little bit better,
37:35
OK. This makes a lot of sense now,
37:37
yeah. It's all coming together, all
37:38
for. Breakfast pastries.
37:39
There's other delicacies that are better guys.
37:41
Well, I mean I. Look bossy, just get a pastry.
37:43
Connoisseur, just get a doughnut.
37:45
I mean, well, let's be honest, just get a doughnut.
37:46
It's better than all of that. Well, to be fair, hot fudge
37:48
sundae Pop Tart's pretty solid. Ben, it's not bad, not bad.
37:51
Bossy. Have a good one.
37:52
Appreciate your time as always. We'll talk to you next week.
37:55
Thanks guys. Have a great day.
37:56
Alec Bussey, 24/7 Sports, cyclonealert.com.
38:00
Not surprising at all, by the way, that he's just not.
38:03
I knew he was going to say something like that.
38:05
I really don't like pop tarts either, I know.
38:07
No, I'm fine with it. But the mascot itself, that's
38:10
what pushes it. That's what just drives me nuts.
38:13
No doubt about it. So bussy though.
38:15
We got more Hawkeye talk coming up for your Hawkeye fans up
38:18
there, including Bo Bassett. Is no more decommits from Iowa a
38:23
big blow to the Brands brothers. What's happened in Iowa City?
38:27
That's next. It's Miller and Condon on the
38:29
Iowa Sports Radio Network. Wrapping up our number 11.
38:32
More hour to go here on the Iowa Sports Radio Network.
38:34
Trent Condon, David Eichelt hanging out with me here today.
38:39
I called big news yesterday on the wrestling front.
38:42
Bo Bassett, top prospect in the class of 2026, has decommitted
38:47
from Iowa Wrestling. God told him Iowa wasn't the
38:51
place anymore. There's really no good comeback
38:55
for me. There's really no good response.
38:57
It certainly a strange kind of the way everything's sort of
39:03
unfolded here, but. Because this kid stretched out
39:05
his recruitment a long time. He did.
39:08
And I'll also say this, our message board has been pretty
39:11
pretty much crashing out about the news.
39:12
Yeah, because, you know, I, I put all my focus on football,
39:16
men's basketball, men's basketball.
39:19
Like, I know enough about Bo Bassett to the point of like,
39:21
oh, this is really, really big news.
39:23
Because he's not only a great wrestler, which he is, but also
39:27
it's the extra with him it's he has a social media following.
39:31
He has social media following and he gets along with a lot of
39:33
peers. He's just wired the way the
39:37
great ones need to be wired. The way his recruitment went,
39:41
the build up to it, I would getting his commitment and the
39:46
hope was that he was going to be kind of the Pied Piper.
39:49
He was going to be the Spencer Lee that was going to.
39:51
It's not just him. They were hoping that he was
39:54
going to be the start of closing the gap to Penn State.
39:58
And now it sounds like Penn State's going to get a home
40:00
visit, a home visit with him this week.
40:02
And I'll tell you if I, if I'm Iowa right now, I'm praying he
40:05
doesn't go Nebraska or Penn State.
40:07
And those are two of the final three.
40:10
You're really hoping he goes to Stillwater and that's still very
40:12
painful for probably Iowa fans to admit, but you'd rather him
40:15
go there than be stay in the Big 10.
40:17
So any insight at all about how what happened, what actually
40:22
went down? Because there's a lot of rumors.
40:24
There's a lot of rumors. Honestly man, I have not been
40:27
able to decipher enough through it to competently report on
40:30
anything. So when we talk about this over
40:32
the next couple minutes, this is strictly what I've read rumor
40:36
wise. I'm not reporting anything.
40:37
Make sure about that. I mean, there's some people in
40:40
the wrestling world that thinks that there were some
40:42
disagreements between the Iowa coaches and the family, and
40:47
that's probably been the most consistent rumor I have seen.
40:51
But again, I cannot independently tell you that
40:54
that's the reason. Interesting, We're going to talk
40:56
more Hawkeyes kick off hour at #1 + A look at the College
40:59
Football Playoff and as a battle brewing between the SEC in the
41:03
Big 10. A lot of college football talk
41:05
to kick off our number 2. Miller kind of continues on the
41:08
Iowa Sports Radio Network.