Transcript 0:00 [upbeat music] Hello and welcome back to Chasing Perfection, a UConn women's basketball podcast. 0:19 Off-season is in full swing, and we got a somewhat surprising availability from Geno Auriemma 0:26 last Monday, so the 4th, where he talked about his tiff with Don Staley, the transfer portal, what went wrong this season, looked ahead to next season, NCAA tournament expansion, and a lot more. 0:39 It was a really nice way to recap the season, 'cause I think we said a couple times on our last episode, like, man, if we just had a chance to ask him about this thing or that thing, and we were able to ask a lot of those questions. 0:51 I will say, I d- I didn't do a great job of making it clear when I tweeted that we were talking to Geno today, that it was just gonna be some normal avail, which we knew going in it was gonna be. 1:03 'Cause I tweeted that, and then the avail happened, and I looked like two and a half hours later at my phone, and I just had a million notifications- [laughs]... about, "Is he retiring? What happened? 1:14 Why aren't we getting any updates? There's no updates coming from this." So yeah, he didn't retire. 1:19 It was just a, a, basically the type of avail that we'd have on a Tuesday in the middle of the season, but in the off-season. Not that we had already like come to the conclusion that he wasn't retiring. 1:29 I think, trying to think. Thought we knew that was off the table. [laughs] He, he said it, he told Dom, Dom Amore from The Current, in like February maybe. Yeah. And then 1:41 he like reconfirmed it to The Athletic, I think after the season ended. So for him to say no twice and then pull off a retirement there, that would be so confusing. Yeah. 1:53 [laughs] But no, luckily, one day there will be a podcast episode where we have to talk about that. It is not this off-season. It is not this year. Gets very stressful trying to plan stuff- [laughs]... 2:07 in the off-season when, when that's lingering. So I was glad to have it covered. But plenty to talk about from this availability. So I think the big stuff is he addressed the Don Staley 2:21 kerfuffle for the first time since the night of the game, and for the first time in a... Oh, what's the right word? Not a, like a, in a public way outside of a statement. 2:34 Like, who knows how many people had their hands in those statements, how many of those words were his words. 2:40 But I thought it was all kind of stuff that I think he should have said after the game, and I was hoping when it happened and before we got to him, that he was going to say. 2:49 But he essentially said that sometimes you do things in the spur of the moment, and they usually come from things that have been building up for some time. It's an interesting way to start an apology. 2:59 [laughs] And then his, i- he said his first thought when he walked in the locker room was just like, you couldn't keep it in for five more seconds and basically just lose your mind when you're away from the cameras, when you're off the court and, and not do it in public? 3:14 And he, he said, quote, "You just feel like a dumbass for the way it played out." End quote. And then he, he talked some about his, about the reaction, and he admitted that like I opened myself up to a lot of it. 3:30 He took some offense. He didn't say what, but he said that he, he felt like he brought the valid criticism, but some stuff maybe approached or crossed the line, 3:40 and isn't all that concerned with how he's viewed by anyone other than his family, his friends, and those he's close with. So I think he checked a lot of the right boxes, but just what were your 3:55 initial thoughts when you heard what he was saying? Yeah, I mean, I think it kinda lines up with like the second statement that went out and the, the tone of that statement. 4:04 Um, and like you said, the, I think what you would've wished you would've got from him, like after the whole event right away at the Final Four. 4:11 But, um, it seems like it's, we've not gotten to that point, and I don't know, in a way, like hopefully it all, we all just move on from this, 'cause I know we're all sick of talking about it to an extent too. 4:23 [laughs] Um, but like a, you can clearly tell that he knows they weren't like not the right actions, and hopefully we can just move on. I know. 4:33 I was writing this story, and I was like, "My God, this better be the last thing I ever have to write about this." Right. [laughs] "Because I'm beyond sick of it." 4:42 Emily, who used to cover South Carolina, Emily Adams from The Current, who used to cover South Carolina, made a comment, like one of the South Carolina writers texted her and was like, "Please tell me this is AI and it's not real, 'cause I don't wanna have to write about it again." 4:55 [laughs] I think everyone's over it. Nobody wants to talk about this. I'm sure Geno doesn't wanna talk about it anymore, but I thought he handled it the way he should. I do s- do find it interesting that he didn't, 5:11 he didn't say he was wrong in- [laughs]... how he was feeling. His actions were wrong, and, and where those feelings and those frustrations boiled over were wrong. 5:23 But he's not apologizing for being mad, which I don't know, maybe he shouldn't, but I just thought that was interesting is he, he very much didn't cross over that threshold. 5:35 And I don't know that he needs to apologize for being mad, right? Like, you lost the game, clearly didn't agree with something that was happening. 5:44 Like, I feel like you're probably in your own right to be mad and don't need to apologize for that, but certainly you need to apologize for the way that you acted because you were mad. 5:54 Yeah, it was just like so weird post-game where he was like saying things that weren't even true about like, no, they ripped Sarah's jersey, and then no, there's literal video of it. And he said- Yeah... 6:05 "I know what I saw." And it's like, uh, w- but you don't. [laughs] And I, I actually don't wanna rehash this all, but- Yeah. [laughs] I, I thought he checked all the boxes he needed to check. Yeah. 6:15 I thought-I actually didn't even really see any reaction to what he said online. But yeah, I- Which I feel like just signals that I think everyone's probably on the same page as us of like, "Let's just move on." 6:28 [laughs] Yeah, and- We've talked about this enough. [laughs] I think one of his quotes kinda just summed it all up. "We're all human, and we all do dumb shit." Like- Mm-hmm... 6:39 as we said last episode, it was uncharacteristic. It was out of character. 6:43 And I still don't wanna sound like I'm defending him, but we, if, if we were all judged for what we do in our worst moment, then everyone's gonna look really bad. So it was bad. 6:54 He's apologized for it now a couple of times. I think just the fact that he's answering questions and it's not just some statement that's being put out, words in an email, it- it's all good. 7:05 It, it, it's, it, like, it's all good to wrap it up and hopefully just, like, we can put this away until November when they play each other. Yeah. I was gonna say, the reality is, though, this will come back in November. 7:17 [laughs] When they have- it'll be the main line of questioning, I'm sure, when we get to that game. But at least for now [laughs] we can not talk about it anymore. At least it's like, 7:27 that'll, it'll be like something new. Yeah. We're gonna see if they shake hands. I'm sure they're gonna give each other a big hug. Dawn is going to be- Yeah. It could be me, Ben, whoever... 7:35 Dawn, either they're gonna be promptly- [laughs]... at half, at their, at, at half court, or she is going to take her sweet time getting to half court. [laughs] And Geno's gonna be, gonna have to laugh about it. Yeah. 7:47 And then there's gonna be questions post-game, and, like, who wins that game is gonna be interesting because if it's South Carolina- It-... 7:57 then Geno is just gonna be over the moon talking about how good they are and how much respect he has for what they do. Yeah. And if U- UConn wins, then I'm sure, like, Dawn is probably just gonna follow the same suit. 8:13 Yeah. [laughs] It'll be fascinating. It will be. It'll be a fun experiment to see how [laughs] they all react. Yeah. 8:22 So let's talk about some actual basketball and some tangible things beyond rehashing what we've already spent plenty of time on. 8:30 I think the, the biggest piece of news coming out is he confirmed that they're not making any additions in the portal. Essentially, he said that with the roster they have, they had no obvious holes 8:42 where you could plug someone in the way that they could with Sarah, to a degree the way that they could with Caitlin a couple of years ago. So there's not as much of a draw for them to bing, bring people in. 8:53 And he also said they just didn't feel like there were any game changers in there. So it was kinda seen as a weaker portal class. 9:00 I don't know if I said it last episode, but I, I just don't feel like the roster had such a glaring need anywhere that they had to go out and make an addition, kind of the way that I thought they did with Kaylee Heckle last year and getting a backup point guard- [laughs]... 9:14 to KK Arnold. So it would've been nice to find a, a good fit who could help you out at, like, really any spot. I don't think there was anywhere that they, they couldn't afford a little depth or a little influx of talent. 9:29 But I, I don't feel like because they didn't get anyone through the transfer portal, they're suddenly hopeless and they have no chance at winning next year. Yeah, agreed. 9:40 I, like you said, I think the roster next year is pretty well aligned without a, an addition. 9:46 So unless you could get someone that you felt just, like, fit the system, fit the program, and made a lot of sense, it probably didn't make sense. And also, as you said, like, a bit of a weaker class. 9:55 Like, I don't think there was just, like, there wasn't, like, an overwhelming number of names that you're like, "Wow, that will make a big difference and will also fit at UConn." 10:03 'Cause I think there were some big names, but, like, for example, like, I would never have thought, like, Anali Cook was gonna come to UConn. No. Like, I just don't think that, that's not a fit, right? So- Yeah... um, 10:13 yeah. But I think it kinda makes sense when you look at this year's class and who went in and where people landed, and there's no, I think there was no one that I was like, "UConn needs to get them." 10:26 Or even just, like, any obvious connections where- Mm-mm... like, maybe Dork is probably the last one where it was, like, r- a really out of nowhere addition. But, like, Lou, 10:38 I feel like that one got reported that UConn was interested. But it was also a- Yeah... a prominent player from a kid in state. And then was this, was it Caitlin the next one? Think so. 10:52 The Carla Berube connection was obvious. That one, also because she was an Ivy League transfer, she put her name in in, like, January. Mm-hmm. 10:58 So teams had a lot of time to contact her, and it also got reported that they were interested in her or they had had conversations about her. 11:07 Even Sarah Williams, the fact that she had played under Marissa Moseley, I think just immediately people threw her name on there when she hit the portal because it was an obvious connection. 11:16 And then Kaylee Heckle being from Port Chester, like, there were just so many things that, that lined up with all those players. There was no really obvious one. 11:25 I thought maybe, like, KK Bransford from Notre Dame, 'cause I know she visited UConn, but is a kid who went to Notre Dame first really someone who then fits in with what UConn wants to do? 11:38 They just don't feel very congruent. And it's like- Yeah, I mean-... obviously UConn and LSU have never actually competed for a recruit. [laughs] Yeah, exactly. 11:45 They're just very different programs, even with M- Muffet not being there anymore. But, um, and where she, she landed at, what, UCLA, I think. UCLA picked up- That sounds right... half the good transfers, so. 11:56 [laughs] Um, but yeah, I don't, I just think there was no one that jumped off the page. 12:01 And, like, to your point, like, you know, Kaylee Heckle being maybe the least obvious connected one, like, they had a clear need at the point guard position last year. There was no clear need this year. Yeah. 12:13 And I th- I almost discounted Heckle when she went in because she's a freshman. She got, she has three years left. Like, are they really gonna be, does that fit their profile? 12:23 Like, do they feel like she has a good reason to go in the portal? 'Cause that's something Geno says all the time, and clearly she did. 12:28 And I will say, having-Gotten to talk with her plenty, but just like got, get to know her a little bit during the tournament. Like, she's such a perfect fit for UConn that it's almost 12:39 funny that, like, she wasn't here previously. Yeah. [laughs] She does seem to fit in, like, kind of perfectly. Yeah. She's certainly a UConn, a UConn kid. 12:55 As for some other news, Sarah Strong was not at 100% during the NCAA tournament, and I think we probably could have guessed that without knowing exactly what was happening. 13:06 But he said that she practiced maybe three full times in the month of March due to, he called it inflammation. It had previously been called tightness. Some issue going on in her calves. That's what kept her out for the 13:21 load management type game in February. I think that was against Butler at People's Bank Arena. 13:30 It was, it was very weird to try and explain that it didn't look like she was right, because her numbers really didn't change at all. 13:36 Like, they, they fluctuated a little bit, but, like, some numbers went up, others went down. There was no, like, obvious trend. But there's just something about the eye test that was, that was giving it away. 13:47 And even before the 4 of 16 game in the s- in South, against South Carolina, I would have said that. So yeah, it's- Yeah, I think even when you look at, like, 13:57 in, like, before regional weekend, I think she's probably just so talented that, like, it doesn't really matter. The talent gap was so large. 14:04 But, like, when you think about the regional weekend, like, I feel like even then, things, like... It just looked off, right? Like, it wasn't Sarah carrying the team in a lot of those moments, and that's odd. Mm-hmm. 14:17 Yeah, and hopefully it's something that can get just fixed with rest and recovery. Geno said she's taking the summer off, and he specifically talked about USA Basketball. She's declined all USA Basketball opportunities. 14:30 He didn't go into whether that also means summer workouts. I- we'll find out in pretty much a month at this point. So I think that's the move. She doesn't need to play for USA Basketball. 14:43 They are going to be begging to have her on every single national team- [laughs]... for the rest of her playing days. She doesn't... Like, what does she need to... 14:51 Everything that Geno always talks about her improving has nothing to do with skills. It's all about the mentality taking over and not, not being so deferential or not being worried about stepping on toes. 15:06 So maybe- Yeah... sitting and watching will actually do her some good when she's like, "Man, I, I know what I gotta do now that I'm watching all of it." Yeah, exactly. No, probably be good to get her some rest, and 15:20 hopefully she'll be healthy come fall. Yeah, 'cause they didn't need her to be on every single n- Like, they did to a degree, but last year she could share the load with Azzi, and maybe Blanca steps up into that. 15:35 And they're much more of a one-two punch in the way that Sarah and Azzi were. But this feels like it's going to be Sarah number one, and then a surrounding cast that's gonna fill in the pieces. 15:46 So it's, a lot more is gonna be on her shoulders. Even if Blanca is really, really good, I think a lot more is gonna be on her shoulders. Yeah, agreed. 15:54 It just feels like the supporting cast around her is a really, really strong supporting cast, but it's gonna have to be Sarah's team, and Sarah goes out and, and dominates every night. 16:03 And yeah, I, I think that's gonna be important next year for this team. Yeah. All right, let's look back quickly. 16:11 I just wanna run through some of the things that Geno said went wrong with this team, what ended up ending their season before, uh, ending their perfect season, I guess. 16:25 He mentioned that really the, the whole tournament was a real struggle. They couldn't get baskets, and the South Carolina game was just all his worst fears about this team coming true. 16:34 And to his credit, he kinda said all year that he didn't believe that this was the same caliber as some other undefeated teams. He thought that they were flawed. He could see ways that teams could beat them. 16:45 He, he suggested maybe they were tired, maybe they felt the pressure, and he thought they really slowed down, especially once they got to Fort Worth, where they weren't attacking. They weren't pushing the pace as much. 16:59 I asked him why he, why they pulled the press back, 'cause he said he was never worried about the defense at any point. And his answer was, "You gotta get buckets. You gotta get fouls. 17:08 You, you need the other team to inbounds the ball to set up the press." I just, I think there was something else though, because, like, something else beyond what his answer was. Meaning, 17:22 uh, they, they very clearly weren't using it as much, even when they were getting buckets. They, they had stretches in those games where they were getting points and the press wasn't coming on. 17:33 I, I do wonder if it maybe has a little bit more to do with fatigue. They pressed almost all game, every game, and for as many players as they had. Did it maybe just 17:44 take a toll and it had kinda worn them down and they weren't fresh? I don't know what it was. Because, like, as we talked about, for whatever reason, they weren't at their best. 17:53 So was it a physical thing where they just weren't feeling as good as they did in January because of how much they were pressing? 18:00 Or maybe they weren't getting enough minutes during games and it came back to bite them at the end. Yeah, I don't know. I feel like we'll never really know. But I, I kinda do- Yeah... 18:12 agree with you that it has to be more than just, like, they weren't making buckets. 18:14 'Cause, like, yes, the offense was ugly, but there were, as you said, stretches when they, you know, made baskets and, and figured things out. 18:21 Um, so, and it just felt like we really, like, when they got to Fort Worth, we just, like, never saw it. I mean, there was just, like, a total pivot. It's just, it's odd. Yeah. 18:33 Even just the wholeK- kind of really ever since Sarah sat that game for, for rest, it felt like they never got their mojo back. 18:44 There were those two games back-to-back in February against Villanova and Marquette where they looked really bad. 18:50 Outside of Syracuse, or they had a really good game in the quarterfinals against, no sorry, the semifinals of the Big East tournament against Creighton. They really killed Creighton that game. 19:00 Obviously, that first half against Syracuse, but other than that, it was a lot of really unimpressive performances that we just said, "Well, they're gonna turn it around 'cause they always do." And well, oops. 19:14 Yeah, exactly. 19:15 I mean, it's just like this expectation which UConn has earned because they've done it every year, well, except for this year, where like they're just always going to play their best basketball in March, and like this team's always gonna be ready come tournament. 19:27 And that looked to be true maybe for like the first two games, and then it just fell out of control in a way. I mean, they still made the Final Four, right? 19:35 So it's a little bit dramatic to say fell out of control, but [laughs] um, like it just, it wasn't this team's best basketball this season, for sure. 19:44 No, they were so good in November, December, January that I, as we've talked about, the teams that they played in the regional rounds not only, like specifically Notre Dame they had smoked earlier in the season, but teams of UNC's caliber, they were just ragdolling earlier on and, and we didn't see it later. 20:04 So there were just so many, there were really a lot of factors that, that went into it in that it was like a slow decline. It was never like things, like the wheels fell off on them. Maybe that third- Yeah... 20:16 quarter against South Carolina, but still. 20:21 Yeah, I mean, even like the third quarter against South Carolina, there was like, I think it was the end of that quarter, there was like stretch where like AZ made like couple threes back to back. Oh, right. 20:30 And like, oh, like it was like, it was just all a slow decline. [laughs] Yeah. So anyways, that's what Geno thought. I, I was kind of thinking we didn't have a whole lot to say there 'cause- [laughs] Oh, actually- 20:45 But- [laughs] One thing, one thing I did find that he said was funny was he, he, he said, "Some y- some years you go into the Final Four and you think that like so many different things have to go wrong for you to lose, and, and they're in really good position." 20:57 And then he's like, "Like the two years we lost on a buzzer beater. We did everything right in those games and ju- just lost at the end." And it's like, okay, we have very different memories of those games. 21:06 [laughs] Every, every possible thing went wrong, maybe he meant, and they still only lost on a buzzer beater. You're right. 21:14 But to say they did everything right in those games is a gross misrepresentation of those two losses. Yeah. It's never really about the one shot, right? Like [laughs] well, very rarely about the one shot. 21:26 It's usually about 15 things that led up to being in the position where the one shot decided the game. Yeah. Both games, they had it. It was right there, and they blew it. Like for as bad as they played, they had... 21:41 Oh, man. Just the Sania Chong- [laughs] Oh, God... the Sania Chong shot. If it goes to a second overtime, I think Tierra McCowan had just fouled out. 21:50 They were gonna beat them easily in that second overtime, and yet- [laughs] Nope. And then I, every now and then again, when I have to go write about that game, I go look at back at the end of regulation. 22:01 And obviously, like Kia Nurse's steal and score on the inbounds, like it, it would've kind of been a miracle victory, but then they had a really good look at the buzzer and they missed it. So 22:11 we don't need to rehash those. I just was like, "Did you do everything right in those games?" [laughs] I have a different recollection of that. All right. Well, let's also look ahead. 22:23 We're gonna record another episode same time tonight, but May and I are both on vacation next week, so we'll put it out in a week or two just to give you some extra content, space it out. So we won't dive too deep into 22:40 our, our thoughts on these specific points, but these are just some of the things that Geno had mentioned. 22:45 Someone asked how they're gonna replace AZ, and pretty much the first thing out of his mouth is, "Well, Blanka is gonna get a lot more minutes and is going to have a much bigger role next year," which I think is fairly obvious. 22:56 He also said that Sarah Strong is gonna get a lot more touches, so some of what AZ was getting is just gonna go to Sarah instead. 23:04 He likes the group of guards they have, and he mentioned that Jovana Popovic, the kid coming from Serbia, brings an element that they don't really have. I am excited to see her game. And he feels like 23:19 they are going to be in position to be a top five team in the preseason, and then have a chance to compete for a national championship. So I don't know how much, how many thoughts you have there, but 23:33 I, I think it was all kind of stuff that we could've 23:36 guessed, but it's just nice to hear him say it and have that sort of confidence in Blanka and Sarah, in, in the guards, which I think a lot of people are down on coming into this off-season. Yeah, I agree. 23:48 I mean, I don't think anything he said there is earth-shattering. 23:51 Like, I think we all think this is probably a top five team and a team that's gonna compete for a national championship next year if only on the fact that they have Sarah Strong, and also Sarah Strong is a- Yeah... 24:02 very good starting place. [laughs] Um, and I mean, the talent that they return, too, though, right? Like, yes, you lose AZ and that is a big loss and a hole that they have to fill, 24:11 and Blanka's growth is going to be a big part of filling that. But you have like a, a really reliable c- core coming back in like KK and Ashlynn that have played so many games for this program and, 24:23 and continue to do what they need to do to make this team, or for this team to win games. And like Heck coming back. 24:30 There's just so many folks that you can talk about as well as the newcomers, so nothing that he said there surprised me. I think if-Well, I mean, Geno tends to be over re- dramatic sometimes. 24:41 So, like, if he said they weren't gonna win a national championship next year, I'd be like, "Okay, sure." Yeah. 24:45 Um, [laughs] but, like, I, I think that aligns with, I would say, most rational people's preseason expectations of this team. Yeah. 24:54 I, I mean, last year we were talking, wow, this is probably the favorite to win the national championship. Look at all they have. 25:00 And they don't have that high-end talent that they did last year with Azzi playing alongside Sarah. But maybe Blanca... Like, Blanca's gonna do it in a very different way than Azzi did it, obviously. 25:12 But m- if that gap narrows by a good bit and then Sarah just kind of expands into that, those two could maybe do, what, 75, 85% of what Azzi did in terms of production. Yeah. And you just look at the roster. There's no, 25:32 there's no players. Like last year, yeah, we, we could talk our way into, maybe not Gandy as a freshman, but- [laughs]... 25:39 you could talk your way into 14 different players h- contributing, and obviously it didn't work out with Ice getting injured and then Morgan Cheli never played. So there's two right off the bat. 25:49 Caroline, it, it just wasn't there anymore after all the injuries. Same with Jana. But right now they only have 12 players. We'll see if maybe they make another European addition, but I don't know. 25:59 I don't really see that happening. I have no knowledge. I'm just speculating. And every single player on this team, in theory, can play. 26:06 I thought Khaleese looked, honestly, h- pretty good down the stretch in her minutes. Mm-hmm. They are very high on Gandy. We haven't seen her herself, but everyone is very excited for what she can be next season. 26:18 Two freshmen are very highly regarded. Morgan Cheli, I think is still just a question mark 'cause of injuries. But, like, just to run through by class, like KK, Ash, we know what they can do. 26:29 Jana, Kaylee, Sarah, Ali, Isabelle, all four people who played a lot last year. It's, outside of Blanca, it's those sophomores that are the question mark with Morgan, Khaleese, Gandy. But then Ivana and Olivia. 26:43 There's no, like, obvious end-of-the-bench candidate that, yep, we're never gonna see them. They're just filling a spot on the roster. So that depth is gonna be a factor next year. And it's what? 26:56 UConn, South Carolina, USC. South Carolina's probably number one. Uh, 27:02 UConn probably number two, and then USC number three, just 'cause you don't really know what Juju's gonna look like, and that USC team stunk this past year. So yeah- Yeah... 27:11 you add her, but you still got a lot of question marks with the rest of that roster. I, yeah. 27:17 That, like, I feel like I haven't seen any big pickups for them out of the transfers, unless I missed it, which I haven't been as online, so I may have missed it. But I don't know. I'm a little concerned that USC is... 27:28 I, I think, will they be a top three preseason team? Yes. I just, just, I have some concerns about whether they will actually be that good. Which I just think is unfortunate, 'cause I think, like, 27:39 Juju being back, like, for her senior year, should be capitalizing on that is all. But. Yeah. I mean, you have Juju. You have Jazzy Davidson. Saniyah Hall is coming in as the number one player in the class. 27:55 Big Kennedy Smith fan. Yeah. But you need some size. I- And they have not listed any size. [laughs] So y- you're not big into Panaya Davis? I don't even know who that is. 6'6" senior. 28:11 [laughs] I don't know where she's from. Oh, she's from Florida State. So UConn just saw her. She averaged... She was a junior college All-American. 28:22 Okay, she was seven and a ha- 7.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 17.5- Okay So for an ACC player, I mean, on a bad ACC team. But that's not, like- Mm-hmm... nothing. It's not tragic. Yeah. You know, it's- Yeah... 28:34 like, they don't need a big that's gonna come in and put up 20 and 15 a game, but they need some talent that can hold its own defensively, which concerns me coming from Florida State. [laughs] Yeah. 28:45 Oh, they did get Sarah Okike- Okay... who UConn had some interest in. They've got a freshman, Satiyah Fagan, 6'4. Saniyah Hall is 6'2. So. Okay. All right. It's still... You're, you're- Maybe. 29:00 [laughs] You're gonna have some load-bearing pieces that are giant question marks. Yeah. That's the tough thing. Yeah. But, but like- Curious to see how it goes for them. 29:12 Yeah I remember watching that USC team, that first Elite Eight that UConn played them, so Juju's freshman year. Mm-hmm. And my God, some of those starters they had stunk. [laughs] Some of those Ivy League kids, ooh. 29:27 Yeah. That's true. Like, having Juju just, like, raises the floor so much. Yeah. And, like, I am fully talking about this in a, like, can they win a national championship- Right... lens. So. 29:39 I really want them to get to the Final Four. Right. Because that would be... That's who you need at, that's who you want, that's who you need at the Final Four, is someone like Juju. Yeah. And then, 29:54 ah, do we believe in Duke? Maybe. I don't know. Maybe. I don't know. Are they not just gonna be the exact same thing that they've been for the last five years? Yeah. I'm, I still feel like I, 30:10 like I believe in them more than I did at this time last year, but I still feel like I just... I don't know. I need to see it actually happen for it to happen. I actually believe they can get to a Final Four. Yeah. 30:23 Then, like, Michigan, maybe they, uh, take another step forward like they did this year. Maybe Notre Dame, I mean, builds on what they did in March and moves on, moves another level. Vanderbilt, I feel like is- Yeah... 30:39 kinda in that mix for, like, a Final Four, sneaky Final Four contenderYou never know what TCU and LSU are gonna do in the portal. 30:48 I- LSU feels like they've sat between five and 10 in the AP poll every year since they won the national championship. No higher, no lower. Yeah. 30:57 I'm also, like, intrigued by what UCLA is gonna look like, 'cause I think they've picked up so many big names. Like, I think they have the pieces, but it's all so new that it's like, uh, what does it actually look like? 31:08 Yeah. Can never count out Cori Close. [laughs] Look at you. Converted. [laughs] Nothing I can say anymore. Nothing I can say. So I, I generally feel like, I, I think some people are overreacting and thinking... 31:25 I, I just don't buy that the South Carolina team is going to be a runaway juggernaut. They're gonna be good. They're... I, like I said- Yeah... they should probably be the number one- They're absolutely gonna be good. 31:33 Yeah... team in the country. I, if I'm picking who wins that November game right now, I'm probably gonna pick South Carolina. 31:41 I'm just not, like, sold on Joyce Edwards being this superstar that she's been billed to be for so many years. And it is her junior year, so maybe that's a step forward. 31:49 Like, who is that high-end talent that they have that puts them over the top, that, that leads them? 31:57 And I know they've won national championships without that, like, one superstar, but that's just a really hard way to live, especially in this modern game. 32:07 Yeah, and I think when you start looking at the other top teams and, like, you have a Sarah Strong and you have a Juju Watkins, like, you, you're up against teams that certainly have that one player that can make the, the big difference. 32:20 And, like, maybe Joyce Edwards does step into that role more now in her junior year, like you said, but, like, we haven't seen that from her yet. Right. 32:31 And let's not also act like they haven't gotten their doors blown off in the national championship two years in a row. Like, yeah, you got there, but you got a long way to go to get- Right... 32:41 even to be at a competitive level in that game to win it. So yeah, I think, uh, it being early May, I think the hype there is a little strong. 32:52 I think people are a little more down on UConn than they should be considering they still have Sarah Strong and a really good core coming back. So yeah. Those three feel like- 33:02 Yeah, it's just like a l- yeah, I think it's that three, but I agree. I think South Carolina's going to be very good, but people are... 33:08 Like, I don't think it's South Carolina versus everyone else the way it was, I don't know how many years ago that was, where they were like r- really good and it really was that. Yeah. And then- '24. Yeah. 33:19 I think that people have taken one really bad game in the Final Four [laughs] and blown it a little bit out of proportion with UConn. Yeah. 33:28 I s- I think UConn's like a one or two loss team going into the tournament next year. Whether that's South Carolina, I can see them having... I could see, like, Michigan just get them- Yeah... 33:38 in that second game, assuming... I don't think we talked about that. They're playing at Michigan. It's early November. I would guess it's probably the second game of the year. Yeah. 33:48 It's on a Thursday, and I think the s- season begins on a Monday. So if you play Northeastern on a Monday. On a Monday. Yeah. Go there on a Thursday. I can see them getting them. Like, maybe Vandy gets them in Tennessee. 34:05 No. Sorry, LSU gets them in Tennessee in Nashville. Mm-hmm. Like, there's, there's losses out there. I, I think it's better for them if they lose. I don't think this- Yeah... 34:18 like, this, this year's team, first of all, just didn't have any games they might have lost. I also just don't feel like this year's team would've had anything. 34:28 I- if they played South Carolina, I think that would've helped them. I think just losing, if they lost that game to Michigan, I don't think that makes any difference for them in March. Yeah, I agree. I think... 34:39 I mean, I still don't really understand what happened, but I think just having had the experience of playing a team like South Carolina before that Final Four game probably would've been huge. 34:48 Like, that's not the first time you're seeing that. I think it's hard when you haven't played a team on that level all season long, and then you've gotta do it in the biggest game of the season. [laughs] Yeah. 34:59 And Geno made a little comment where they asked is that performance she had in the Final Four gonna help Sarah going forward, and he said yeah. 35:07 And also having the refs that they had in the national championship game are gonna help. So [laughs] I'm not, I'm not saying the refs were why UConn lost, but if UConn can 35:18 become a team for the first time in, like, a long time, gets to the free throw line, and suddenly refs are going in with their scouting report saying, "Oh, this team gets to the line a lot. That must mean they..." Like, 35:32 if UConn can get a reputation as a team that goes to the line a lot, then when South Carolina comes in with its physical style, which again I, I have no issues with- Mm-hmm... 35:41 but then if suddenly it's, if it's just a game that's officiated different, if these, if the refs on this day decide that they are gonna blow a very tight whistle, that's not good for South Carolina. 35:51 So I think there is a little bit of element to just what type of game the refs are gonna call too. Yeah. 35:58 And the fact that UConn for the last at least two, maybe even further back than that, seasons has been, like, one of the worst- Yeah... teams in the country at getting to the free throw line. Yeah. Largely UConn's fault. 36:08 Like, yeah. Near dead last. [laughs] Yeah. But was it... W- it was the time South Carolina lost to Iowa, I think the refs were really blowing the whistle a lot in that game, and that was- Mm-hmm... a big reason- Right... 36:21 that they went down. So there's, there's so many different things that can happen. It's May 11th. Yeah. [laughs] It, it's too, it's too soon to, to go in that, in the weeds. [laughs] Yeah. 36:33 So well, next year when we're talking about the NCAA tournament, we are gonna be talking about a 76 team field. Ugh. Geno called it a money grab for power conferences. He's absolutely correct. 36:47 I, I feel like there's two different-There's two different schools here. So Seton Hall's coach, Tony Bazella, has been very outspoken saying he wants the tournament to expand. 37:00 And, uh, he had a really interesting quote one time where he said, "If I was a fan, I wouldn't want it to expand because I think it's good how it is. 37:06 But as a coach, why would I not want every single opportunity to get into the tournament?" 37:12 So I understand that from his perspective, and I would just like to throw that qualifier in because that's not why they're expanding the tournament. Correct. 37:20 They're expanding it because they are greedy, money-hungry demons who- [laughs]... only care about the bottom line. 37:27 And I just think if you th- if you think that having more spots open is going to lead to more mid-major teams in, I think you're kidding yourself. 37:37 I think you're gonna see that the mid-major teams that were just outside the bubble last year that, in theory, would've made it under the current rules, are suddenly gonna find themselves in the exact same spot in the first four out and the next four out every single year until the tournament has all 365 Division I teams in it. 37:57 I just think they're gonna keep moving the goalposts on the mid-majors and keep putting these mediocre Power Five teams that have no business being in the tournament into the tournament. Yeah. 38:08 I, I tend to agree with you. I think when you look at, like, this year's field, like, does maybe, yeah, like North Dakota State that was in the first four out, I think, like, get in, yes. 38:17 But then, like [laughs] them and seven other Power Five t- teams that, god- Yeah... just we do not need to see in this co- [laughs] tournament are gonna get in. Like, it's, it's never gonna be proportional. 38:26 It's gonna be one of seven, two and six if we're lucky, right? Like, and it... 38:32 Like you said, it's just going to keep benefiting the power conference at the expense of the product because, look, and I'm like, and I'm not just saying that 'cause I don't wanna pick 76 teams- [laughs]... 38:41 'cause I don't. But [laughs] I just... It's, it's ugly. I... The only positive that I can see to it is, like, 38:49 on the, like, 15, 16 lines, there's now, what, three or four play-in games in those, um, or eight play-in games or whatever the heck it is. I keep forget what the stupid bracket looks like. It's ridiculous. Um, 39:04 but like- All four 16s and then half the 15s. Yeah. Okay. So you have six play-in games, which means instead of... Like, you do get a unit for playing, 39:18 or for winning a, a play- or for playing in those play-in games and then for winning a play-in game. So, like, that means six low major conferences are going to get money, which is, 39:30 I think, amount of money that's, like, very valuable at that level. So I think that's a positive if you're trying to find a positive, but I hate the entire concept of it. 39:40 When I saw the new bracket and saw that all those lower seeds have play-in games, I was legitimately- I was- Like, I had, like, a visceral reaction because- I was just like, what is the point of this? Like, it's just... 39:52 Like, I don't know. It's so dumb. [laughs] The... I, I fully u- I know what people are talking about when they say, "Well, those teams can get the units. Those are way more valuable." 40:02 It's, like, 130,000-ish for women's basketball right now. Mm-hmm. It's only gonna go up. That's really valuable money to those conferences, and if you can get two of those, that's- Right. Huge... like, it's huge money. 40:14 I understand that. I just think from a, from a experience perspective, this is supposed to be about the student athletes, right? Oh, more student- Mm-hmm... athletes get to hear their names called. 40:29 More student athletes get a championship experience. Playing a 16 seed as a 16 seed in the NCAA tournament, you're not in the NCAA tournament. Correct. It might say it. It might count in your school's record book. 40:41 You might get the money for it. You do not feel like you played in the NCAA tournament if you're in one of those games. You f- you feel like you're playing to get into the NCAA tournament. Right. 40:50 In my mind, the NCAA tournament does not begin until we have all 64 teams in the bracket, and I just think it is s- I've always hated the play-in games for those bottom teams that are 16 seeds anyways. 41:04 I think the fact that every single 16 seed and now half the 15 seeds, all those teams now have play-in games, I just find so reprehensible. 41:14 I find it so antithetical to what the NCAA tournament's supposed to be, what the, what the, the damn NCAA, I was gonna use a much stronger word- [laughs]... and I held myself back, is supposed to be. 41:28 It's, if it's about the student athletes, then why are the kids that actually earned their place in the- Right... NCAA tournament by winning their conference championship not getting to play- The ones suffering, yeah. 41:39 The, the ones you're... 41:39 Like, your experience as a 16 seed is supposed to be you get to go to this big gym, you get to play a great team, and for the rest of your life, you get to tell the world that you got your ass beat by Paige Bueckers and UConn. 41:52 Right. [laughs] Actually, I don't know if Paige was ever a one seed, but the, the point stands. Like, that's supposed to be the experience, and occasionally they get the win and go on the Cinderella run. 42:01 But I hate it so much just so we can get some mediocre power conference team that shouldn't even be in over, like, I think of Quinnipiac didn't get in this year, or North Dakota State, or Mo- Miami of Ohio on the men's side with one loss going into the, 42:18 into selection Sunday 'cause they lost in their conference tournament. Right. Having to be in the last four in, I don't care what the metrics say. 42:26 Like, why don't we actually look at these teams as basketball teams instead of just saying, "Well, this team's in a power conference, therefore they are a better team," because they're not. 42:36 And it was the same thing with the UConn number one seed argument. UConn deserved to be the number one seed this year, even though UCLA won the national championship. Like- Right... 42:47 so I, I hate everything about it, but I especially hate the play-in games for those 16 seeds. I just find it so gross and disgusting and just whoring yourself out for money. Yeah.It's like no one wanted this. 43:01 I just, I don't understand. [laughs] Yeah Other than maybe Tony. Um [laughs] Tony and the conferences. Like, oh yeah, all conferences voted for this. Yeah, obviously- It's because they get more money... 43:12 because the conferences are the ones that make the money. Right. [laughs] Like it was all about the money. It's always all about the money. 43:20 And the fact that part of it is the NCAA is now allowing alcohol to, to be advertised, to be s- to have alcohol companies sponsor, when that wasn't a thing anymore. 43:35 So the expansion is largely just to give them more opportunities to have commercials and all of that. Mm-hmm. Like, yet their, the, their release has the gall to say this is for the student athlete experience. 43:47 Like, I just- Yeah... really wanna do so many illegal things. Yeah. Luckily, it doesn't affect UConn one bit, and I don't have to pretend those games exist. 43:57 Well, actually, we're not gonna know who they're gonna play in the first round- Yeah... for- Oh, there's gonna be playing games in every- Ugh, it's so gross... 44:06 Also, just like a logistics nightmare for all these schools that are now, like, have to host- Yeah... an extra game and, like, everywhere. It's not just, like, two schools that have to host an extra game. 44:15 It's, like, everyone. Six m- m- hosting institutions are gonna have to host extra. I don't know. It's just all such a mess. I hate it. [laughs] Yeah. At least, like, you can't build a first four for the women somewhere? 44:31 Yeah. You can't- Yeah... do the bare minimum of that? Yeah, exactly. 'Cause it, yeah, at least for the men, I hate it on both sides, but, like, you have the first four, so, like, you're gonna make a event 44:45 of it, right, in Dayton and then, like- Yeah... Okay, like, this is now... I don't know. I don't know how they're gonna fit that many games in a day, and it's, like, eight games. Like, whatever. 44:55 They're gonna do a second venue. Got it. Like, there's two locations now. They haven't announced with the second one. But, like, I don't know. Maybe it wouldn't work for the... 45:03 But, like, who's, who's going to watch- Yeah... a bunch of 16 seeds play? I say this as someone who- Yeah... loves the America East, but I don't care. Yeah. I'm not, I'm not going to Dayton. 45:14 If I had all the money in the world, I'm not going to Dayton. Yeah. No, it's true. Like, even, like, 45:21 like, let's be real, like, in the week leading up to the tournament, like, I'm putting those games on TV in the background while I'm working on stuff for, like, when the real tournament's, it's on Friday. 45:30 Like, that's the reality of it. Like [laughs] Yeah. It's like the, the NBA playing games or whatever. The playoffs- Mm-hmm... don't start until those are stupid, those stupid things are done and taken care of. Yeah. 45:42 Like, these are just, like, formalities that now, great, now I have to wait to fill out my bracket even longer because there's even more teams. Like, usually I'll just guess which one of the 11 seeds will- Right... 45:51 pick off that. Now you can't even do that. Right. And yeah, you've got eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 12 games. 12 extra, like, 12 host venues that now need to host a whole extra day of, like, activity. It's just, yeah. 46:09 I mean, that is, that's, like, two extra days of activity, right? 'Cause you have to have all the pressers the day before, and then you have to have- Mm-hmm... the game. 46:15 Like, it's just, I don't know, a logistics nightmare, too. Where 15 people are gonna show up. Right. Right. S- so this past year would've been... Let me look at the, see if I can find a bracket quickly. 46:28 Women's basketball NCAA tour bracket. It would've been, like, UConn would've been hosting... Let me just pick two random 16 seeds. So it would've been- Yeah... 46:37 UTSA and, eh, maybe not Cal Baptist, and Southern playing each other in Yample. With all due respect to those teams, nobody is showing up to that. No one's driving to stores to watch that. Yeah. No one. Exactly. 46:53 Like, I'm thinking about, what was it, a couple years ago where they had one of the, like, 11 playing games. Yeah, it was- I forget who played in it... Arizona and Oklahoma State? Or- Yeah, I think it was-... Arizona... 47:06 It was definitely Arizona, and I forget who they played. Um, was it South Dakota State maybe? Maybe it was Arizona and South... I don't know, 'cause South Dakota State probably won their conference. I don't know. 47:15 I don't remember who it was. Maybe Arizona and Syracuse? I c- I can't remember. I don't know. No, this was not... This was 2025, and I think it was... Was it 2025, or was it two years? I think it was two years ago. 47:33 No, it was the year that they played Syracuse. Yeah. So it was Arizona... Man, who was it? Huh. This is gonna bother me. My point aside was I went- Yeah... to that game, and there was no one there. [laughs] Yeah. 47:47 And that was with teams that had, like, recognition at least, right? 47:51 You're talking about Arizona and some other probably power conference school that, like, people at least recognize the names and might show up to watch. And now you're gonna do that for a bunch of 16 seeds. I don't know. 48:02 It's just... Yeah. It was Auburn, by the way. Ah. No recollection. I, I wouldn't have been able to pull that one out. Oh, and I wouldn't have remembered that either, and I was there, so. [laughs] Yeah. Well, 48:20 so much for this being a quick podcast. Yeah. [laughs] We're failing at that. We can talk, when it gets announced, we can talk about the five and five rule. 48:28 I, I have my issues with that one, too, even though I think that one comes from a better place than this one. Yeah. So anyway, I think... 48:41 Or just, we, we haven't talked since the WNBA draft, but AZ Fudd went number one overall. 48:48 It seemed like she was definitely gonna be the number one pick in, like, January, and then I think people just overthought it, and she obviously were a little bit of victims of, uh, the moment. 48:58 I don't think that's the phrase, but you know what I'm saying. Mm-hmm. With the, with the NCAA tournament she had, but-Dallas said it was her all the way. 49:05 Sarah Williams goes in the third round, initially picked by the Connecticut Sun, gets traded to the Fire in a draft night trade. 49:10 She made the Fire, so she's the first UConn player ever to play for the expansion franchise. Caroline Ducharme got a training camp contract. I think that's awesome. 49:19 She deserves every good thing that comes her way- Yes... after the career that she had, and forever she'll at least get the, get to say that she played in the WNBA. 49:29 It might have only been the pre-season, but she put the jersey on. She was in games. She got points. Aubrey Griffin is back. 49:36 Didn't make the Lynx roster, but landed on a hardship contract with the New York Liberty, scored her first career points in her WNBA debut. 49:44 I don't think anyone is gonna benefit more from development spots, from more, from more roster spots, and from hardship contracts than Aubrey. I can see her, like- Yeah... 49:53 taking three or four years to get established, but five years from now she's gonna be a regular on a team. Yeah, agreed. 50:01 I think she's just getting back to healthy, getting back into the rhythm, but I think she has the skill set absolutely to become a really important piece of somewhere, and is definitely going to, to benefit from kind of, 50:13 I mean, a lot of players benefit from the hardships, but the new dev- dev- developmental contracts too I think are gonna be huge for a player like her, to be able to just land somewhere and actually get the reps and, and get in the system. 50:26 I think the fact that she landed a dev or a hardship contract immediately- Yeah... pretty much, like- That's something [laughs]... for the start of the season, that's how quick someone was interested. Yeah. So it, 50:39 it's a big hill to climb obviously, but it's easier to make it in the WNBA than ever before, and a week on a development contract, or sorry, God, I keep confusing them. 50:51 [laughs] A week on a hardship contract is probably, like, 50% of the old salary. Yeah, that's so true actually. [laughs] So they're doing pretty good. Yeah, it's not bad money. [laughs] Yeah. 51:03 Well, on that note, I think we will wrap here, so we'll be back, we'll see how it goes, in a week or two. 51:11 For you, we're gonna record this right now, so if anything happens between now and when this goes out, we'll, we won't have it covered. 51:17 So if they make a surprise addition in there, we aren't, we'll, we'll hit that when we both get back from our respective trips. Yeah. Anyways, thanks for listening, and we'll talk to you then. Bye.
