North Florida Sports Network Podcast
North Florida Sports Network Podcast
Super Regionals & NBA Finals Preview
all right, what's up? Welcome back. It's the north florida sports network. We got a big show for you today. The super, super Regionals are set. Fsu's going out to Oregon State we're going to talk about that. We're going to talk about all the matchups. Miami has made it to the Super Regionals. They're going to Louisville. We had some upsets. Duke's hosting a Super Regional We'll talk about all the matchups, maybe predictions. The nba finals are set just like you picked it indiana versus oklahoma city. If you're not really a big fan, it's not gonna be. Uh, you're like, oh well, who cares? But if you like basketball, it's kind of refreshing. You get some new blood. It's gonna be a fun series up and down the court. We got a big show. If you haven't done so, download, subscribe to the podcast wherever you get your podcasts. The podcast is available everywhere. Let's get started, all right. All right. I got the usual suspects. I got my basketball extraordinaire and now college baseball fan, Justin, with me.
Speaker 1:I did watch the game. Yeah, Jimmy Reno, this other guy that talks here he's been watching the Noles all year. He follows college baseball more than anybody. I know what a loser. The Supers are set and we're going to go over the matchups. The NBA Finals are set and it starts Thursday and we're going to talk about that too. I'm excited for that. I really am. You got the Pacers, who play up-and-down style, with the Thunder, who play a similar style. I think you have two teams that are going to make a high-scoring, dramatic games and if you don't have a dog in the fight, that's what you want to see. I'm interested to see who's going to take home Larry O'Brien, because it's going to be a team that has never done it. It's going to be the Thunder. So yeah, but I don't know. I think the Pacers everyone's saying the Thunder they're the betting favorite, but the Pacers match up well. I think they play better when they're counted out and I think it's going at least six.
Speaker 3:The matchup you got to watch in that series because we saw it just happen to the Knicks is if Naismith can handle SGA Because he dominated Jalen Brunson in the Eastern Conference Finals. Brunson was not the same player he was and that's why the Knicks got their ass kicked. Because, Brunson wasn't dropping 40 every game.
Speaker 2:And.
Speaker 3:Naismith was a big part of that man. I mean Naismith fights through the screens really well. He can D you up. He's a thicker guard. You know what I mean. He's like a guard in football. I mean he's thick, he's fast, he's a good defender, he's somebody that could potentially at least slow down SGA.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're going to start and we're going to talk about that. We're going to get predictions and see who's going to win how you should bet each game. But first let's talk some college baseball. Super regionals are set. All the regionals are done. Some surprises the top two seeds are out, yeah, but there there is a lot of chalk besides that. Um the one seed bandy out. Who won that regional, jimmy?
Speaker 2:louisville actually won that first time since they've gone to the seat super regional format that the number one overall seed has not advanced. Wow To super regional, yeah.
Speaker 3:I didn't know that. That's insane. I figured at least Miami or FSU. I figured Miami or FSU had shit the bed on that one at least once in the past 20 years. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Not in the regional.
Speaker 3:Right right.
Speaker 1:Actually, that's a very good stat.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you don't usually and I'm going to be honest with you, man. It was surprising to see a team like Louisville in that regional. It was Wright State that ended up knocking Vandy out, but still Louisville's a really good baseball team and they're going to be hosting Miami Miami, who won the Hattiesburg Right.
Speaker 2:That was probably the most competitive regional out of all of them right because you had alabama, alabama, southern miss and miami, and you know, the bats man, they, they, just they, they brought it. So it that's going to be a really good super regional the acc matchup.
Speaker 1:How about that? Acc leads all conferences with five teams remaining the sec has four. I mean they had 13 make the tournament. Yeah, it's pretty sad. So the percentage there four out of 13 is not that high. The acc had nine, so five out of nine. You still had upsets. Clemson lost their regional yeah, clemson losing.
Speaker 2:The big. The big one was vandy um texas, you know, the number two overall seed got bounced.
Speaker 1:Texas, san antonio, beat them twice. Yeah, it was surprising.
Speaker 2:It's surprising when a top eight national seed doesn't win their regional uh oregon state, which is where florida state's going to be going out to corvallis they lost the first game in their regional but kind of I mean that had that you've seen it happen here. Yeah, yeah, where I remember buster posey's team right, they lost, shut out by belmont, and then they got first game.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that looks like exactly what happened to the beavers right 43 runs in their next three games yeah, they had one guy that hit five bombs and that's you know.
Speaker 2:Getting to that regional, we'll just go ahead and get into it. Since it's Florida State, oregon State, this is a team that matches up really well with Florida State. A lot of their power is coming from the right-handed side. Florida State's got three lefty starters. They got an ace lefty on the mound. That is, I mean, dude, this guy's going to be top five pick.
Speaker 1:So you got two of the top five picks going at it in Corvallis yeah, I mean projected.
Speaker 2:This is going to be a good matchup. He's a year younger than Jamie Arnold, so next year's draft next year's college season. He's going to be where Arnold is this year.
Speaker 1:So you got two major league talent lefties going at it Right Lineup, you would give them the advantage, just because what I'd say it's about.
Speaker 2:I'd say it's probably even in terms of power numbers. But experience, yeah, overall. I mean you're looking at a guy, gavin Turley, who is All-American. You're looking at the transfers from Washington, the Arquette kid who's leading the team in batting average and slugging and everything. The power numbers are about the same between both teams. It's just you've got a little bit more seniority and upperclassmen with Oregon State. So that's another thing you're going to have to overcome. They've hosted Super Regionals two of the last three years and they've lost both of those, so this team is extremely hungry to get that taste out of their mouth. This is about as tough a draw as you probably could have got for Florida State in terms of matching up familiarity, travel distance.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean you're going a complete like tic-tac-toe.
Speaker 2:Right and since it's way up there, a lot of people may not realize that oregon state is pretty much the prominent baseball program three-time national champion yeah in the last 20 years right west of the mississippi there's nobody that's doing it better than oregon state. Uh, so you know they, they could, they could take it all this year.
Speaker 1:They got they've been investing in that program for a couple decades and they threw money into baseball more than anything because they kind of knew that we're not going to be able to touch anybody in football.
Speaker 2:They knew they had Pat. Casey was a Hall of Famer. They knew that they had their guy and it's paid off for them. He retired after the last one, right 2018, they won their last title.
Speaker 1:They one Right 2018,. They won their last title. They haven't been back to Omaha since he retired Since that, but they made it to a couple of Supers. It's a hungry team. Florida State Got some young guys.
Speaker 2:Yeah, young guys.
Speaker 1:But still some veterans. A good mixture. Right and it's baseball it's talent on talent. You would think that would take over the season, would take a drop off with Tibbs and Smith.
Speaker 2:No, man, I mean. I think you see now that Miles Bailey is going to be a special, a Trojan horse, yeah, really special baseball player. I think he'll probably be here next year and then off to the bigs, just like Cam Smith.
Speaker 1:He came up big again in the regional. He did Regional player.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he was hitting bombs.
Speaker 1:Your boy Raleigh. Yeah, oh, yeah he came up with a big home run down two in the seventh.
Speaker 2:It tied it up. You're talking about big Calvert, fisher, cal Raleigh's big dumper hitting out there in Seattle.
Speaker 1:He's tearing it up. I'm sorry he's killing it. Got the cows mixed up.
Speaker 2:Hey, the cows mixed up but yeah, you know, they, they, uh, you know, florida state's got a shot man, they got shot it's going to be a hell of a regional um.
Speaker 1:Get into some of the you got. You didn't get a matchup like I mean duke's gonna host it this is what happens when you have the brackets.
Speaker 2:Some of the other chaos going on in the regional. This one was a chalk bracket. You know us in oregon state. We're supposed to meet in the super regionals we talked talked about Miami and Louisville.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's.
Speaker 2:That's going to be, you know like that's going to be, just like the old regular season ACC clash.
Speaker 3:It's going to be anybody's regional. Yep.
Speaker 2:It doesn't matter where they're playing it. Yep that was crazy.
Speaker 1:You got what is it Duke hosting Wright State? Duke is hosting Murray. State, murray State.
Speaker 2:Duke came out of the Athens region, knocked off Georgia Murray State, knocked off Ole Miss, actually out-hit Ole Miss and Georgia Tech, which I mean they can rake dude.
Speaker 1:Murray State can hit.
Speaker 2:So you like Murray State in that matchup I'd probably give them a bit of an edge, man, just because of that chip on their shoulder. The pressure's on.
Speaker 1:Duke, you have UCLA. They shoulder um the pressure's on duke, you have ucla.
Speaker 2:They're going to be hosting the underdogs right. Utsa that took out texas. Ucla is another like they're west coast, but they are really good baseball team you also have some chalk in there, with arkansas hosting tennessee right the the old sec matchup yeah coastal carolina and auburn they're going at it. That'll be fun, yeah, arizona actually coming out and winning their regional going to North Carolina and having to play at noon on Friday, not, yeah, that's going to be tough.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Florida State's playing when Friday at 6 Eastern.
Speaker 2:Friday at 6.
Speaker 1:It should be hard enough, so day game.
Speaker 2:Yeah, day game.
Speaker 3:Yeah, day game. When's Miami playing? So I can check in on that.
Speaker 1:Miami is playing Louisville at Louisville.
Speaker 2:Game one is Friday at 3 on the deuce. Yep, so that'll be. I mean, hey, man, get off work early Friday, just go ahead and start watching. And that's dude. The fireworks have been early for Miami in their games. Dude, cuvée has been hitting bombs early in the game. I give them as much of a chance. That's a toss-up super regional for me. Either one winning that one would not surprise me.
Speaker 1:Who are you liking that? I think Louisville is going to win that one.
Speaker 2:I mean, they're dangerous, they're going to be at home and they play really well they, they play really well, they do, but they also, I mean their pitching isn't dominant, but, like you said, it's open.
Speaker 1:I'm just picking Louisville.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, well, you know, coin flip for me, man, I'm picking Miami.
Speaker 1:Shucky. Well, you're getting an ACC school out of that. North Carolina's going up against Arizona. I think they're going to be too much.
Speaker 3:North Carolina looks like a. They might be the favorite to win with that pitching. They have their one two combo is probably as good as anybody in the in the the field right lsu, you can, and if you're coming from, if you're coming all the way from tucson to play in chapel hill at noon, on a friday that's just a rough travel another. Exactly that, that's noon on friday humidity and the june of the carolinas man. That's something those Arizona players ain't used to and uh, I will say LSU.
Speaker 1:So since the region will watch out for the Mountaineers coming down, West Virginia, their scrappy team.
Speaker 3:They've gotten better and better and closer and closer each season um.
Speaker 2:They got a LSU's got two really dominant starters yeah the strikeout kings, one and two. Uh, so it it, but you know they almost you got the only Big.
Speaker 1:Ten school, UCLA. Like we said, they're hosting UTSA. Did we get all of them in there?
Speaker 2:Let's see what else we got. You got LSU dude? Yeah, I think so. The Tennessee-Arkansas one. I mean I would expect Arkansas to probably handle business in two games, but Arkansas is a really good team. They're my pick to win the national title. Right now is Arkansas just based on everything they have the arms and the offensive lineup.
Speaker 1:So that means there will be. If LSU can get out, they'll have a chance to have two. And then who's the other? Sec team?
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, so you've got LSU Auburn Coastal.
Speaker 1:Carolina, two hosts there.
Speaker 2:I kind of raised an eyebrow at Auburn being such a high national seed, but they kicked the shit out of everybody in that regional, so maybe they're a lot better than I realized in that regional.
Speaker 1:So maybe they're a lot better than I realized. Arkansas, auburn, north Carolina, oregon State, florida State your top five remaining seeds Yep. It's going to be a battle. It'll be a battle of ACC, sec, but they won't be the entire College World Series like it was last year. You'll have some other teams in there.
Speaker 2:You know you'll have one from Miami or Louisville. I would be shocked not to see North Carolina get in. The Oregon State's going to be tough, so we'll see.
Speaker 1:I'd give them the edge being at home, but there's a chance it could be an ACC-SEC. Yeah, there's definitely a chance Again, alright home, but there's a chance it could be an acc sec. Yeah, yeah, there's definitely a chance again all right, man, I'm looking forward to it. Yes, all right. Well, it's uh.
Speaker 1:The finals are finally finally here and it's still not for a couple of more nights. But it's both teams arrested. Both teams play high tempo. I'm I'm really looking forward to this finals. I mean, if, if it's, I don't really, I kind of want Indiana to win, just the upset minded team.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And you know JJ Barrera's championship coach, that's right. Do it for Rick Smith I think that a lot of people say I think they both play similar styles. Now a lot you'll everyone's saying in oklahoma city, which is they deserve this because the season they they do what indiana does, that they just do it better.
Speaker 3:But yeah, yeah, yeah, I think that's pretty fair assessment but, I sga is better than Halliburton. They play a very similar game. They're both fun as hell to watch, but SGA is the MVP and Halliburton people just now know who he is.
Speaker 1:Well, I will say this Experience-wise, you've got to go with Indiana. They've got Pascal Siakam, who is an NBA champion, and he is the Eastern Conference player. He was the player of the Eastern Conference Finals, which was kind of funny to watch. You saw Halliburton step up Duncan and he was going to get it. And you also have a championship-winning coach, rick Carlisle. So you have guys that have been there before.
Speaker 2:Coach JJ.
Speaker 1:Pruitt, yeah, and nobody at OKC has been to this moment. So we'll see, that's true, we'll see, that's true, we'll see. I think the experience and the I think Rick Carlisle might have something for him.
Speaker 2:But is it the beginning of a super team, of a dynasty in OKC?
Speaker 1:I mean, they have the makings of it, right. They took those picks and they've been using them and they've got that trade. You know SGA was on the Clippers, yeah, you know that trade. You know you'll just say sga was on the clippers, yeah, you know, and they got that and then they built around them and because that's what you got to do, you're not really going to attract big name free agents either at at oklahoma city or indiana. So it's kind of cool to see these, these teams.
Speaker 1:smaller markets right, they're doing it they're doing it with a full roster. They do have alphas on each team, but they're not like household names yet. Now you're getting to know them and that's Halliburton. He was on the Olympic team. And then you have SGA. He's Canadian, he was in the Olympics, but the MVP this year. It's going to be a fun matchup. What are you looking forward to most in this series, Justin?
Speaker 3:Like I said earlier, the thing I'm most curious to see is how they're going to defend SGA and I think Naismith I'm not even sure how to pronounce the name, but I think he's going to be the key for Indiana, because somebody's got to slow down SGA, get him off his game a little bit, get him off his spots like his little spots where he likes to take his pull-up jumpers in the mid-range push him back to three, even though he can hit the three. That's not what he wants to do. He wants to get to the rack, he wants to draw the foul, he wants to hit his mid-range. So if you can shut down the mid-range, it'll be interesting to see how he responds to that and then how the offense all around him for okc responds, because he is the uh, he's the spark plug for that offense I mean mean Indiana also is.
Speaker 1:I mean they're hitting like 40% as a team in the playoffs from three. I mean that's the magic number. If they continue that, they're going to win, they're going to do the upset. If you can make threes when you're playing at that pace, at that rate, it's too much Now.
Speaker 2:What are the chances they're going to do that against the OKC?
Speaker 1:They've done it. Now this is going to be their biggest test when it comes to a team that's going to DM up full court.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 1:So we're going to find out. This is really a good matchup. It's going to be a lot of substitutions, who's got the hot hand? Both stars are not really selfish players, so it's going to be ball's going to move around and I think it's going to be a really entertaining basketball series.
Speaker 3:Yeah, people that automatically are tuning out of this because, like you said, there's no household names, it's Oklahoma City, Indiana. I mean the ratings are going to be hot garbage.
Speaker 1:Well, that's what the NBA has seen they need to take it to that next level.
Speaker 1:That's why the NFL is king. I mean, they'll probably never get there, but if they can get these other markets which is majority of your league an actual chance like hey, we can win this right, and it's happened. I mean, what are the? Was there been a different champion in the last seven years? Which so it's. It's a new team every year. You got milwaukee, toronto. They've done it. Will this? Will one of these teams be able to pull it off? The question becomes then will Oklahoma City be able to win more and you'll get a dynasty in a smaller market which you haven't really seen.
Speaker 3:I mean they got a long runway man. I mean you've got a second contract for SGA and a second contract for Chet Holmgren and a second contract for Jalen Williams all coming up in the next couple of years. I mean they've got the runway to to really make a run over the next six or seven years with that young core. They've got um, it's just a matter of health, and just you know the randomness that seems to happen.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, the windows of opportunity. In pro sports, you know there's always something that that may jump up and obscure the path, but yeah, that that's uh dude, I, young players just now peaking at the right time. You could, you could very well see, okay, see, run off a few yeah, because it was just a couple of years ago.
Speaker 3:All the uh talking heads, all the prominent talking heads on estn and whatnot. We're like, oh well, it looks like den is going to make a quick little run here, maybe, go back to back, maybe you know a little five-year dynasty, right, right, and, and it fell apart real fast. I mean that's a weird thing in the NBA, man, like, unless you've got like the big established stars locked up, it's it seems like every time we think there's going to be another one coming. It's like, oh, something happened. Chad Holmgren blew out his knee, yep.
Speaker 1:I didn't mean to jump in there, I just want to let you know the Knicks have fired Tom Thibodeau. Well, there you go. After making it to the East Conference Finals. It wasn't enough.
Speaker 3:That's the most Knicks thing ever dude, right, right, fire their coach.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we got to get coached. Now Finally, let's fire him.
Speaker 3:Fire them further. Dude Thibodeau as much as I dog out Thibodeau and I honestly do think that he's not a great coach. I think he's overrated. But the Knicks, they haven't made it to the conference finals in 25 years. They make it to the conference finals in 25 years.
Speaker 1:They make it to the conference finals losing six and they say ah, get in here, coach. I know it is so New York, and there's a reason that they haven't done that.
Speaker 2:All right, we'll hire Sam Cassell for the Knicks.
Speaker 1:Well, I think your candidates will be Mike Malone, who just got fired from the Nuggets Right.
Speaker 3:They'll try to get jay right, probably, but he ain't doing that.
Speaker 1:No, jay right ain't going to the knicks no, I don't think he wants to coach in the nba man, no, and I mean that's just a pressure cooker.
Speaker 3:I mean yeah, it's different man, it's different when you're coaching, you're more.
Speaker 1:You're just managing these ultra ego guys and and you're not really I mean there's not a lot of coaching really. It's more of just like managing egos and like adult babysitting. Right, that's kind of what drove my college I think that's what Chuck Daly said back in the day right, yeah. That's what it is. He was the dream team coach.
Speaker 2:Just got to babysit these guys.
Speaker 3:He was the dream team coach and couldn't even get his point guard, Isaiah Thomas, on the dream team.
Speaker 1:That's what I'm saying. Yeah, that's a great point. He knew whose team it was.
Speaker 2:I'm just here to babysit guys. Yep, it was Christian Laettner's team. We all know that, yeah.
Speaker 3:Laettner.
Speaker 1:Well, we got to get on here. Great show guys. That was fun. I'm looking forward to the Supers. I'm looking forward to the NBA Finals, and then it'll be a dead period, unless you're a UFC fan.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we got UFC 316 this weekend.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, and then we'll have, I think, the big ones in July.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's the one I'm looking forward to.
Speaker 1:Yep, I just I don't know that, but I just know that that's when they're going to do it, because the other sports are dead and you only have summer baseball. Yeah, you got major leagues, which nobody watches. Well, it's the Deadpool era 162 games, yeah.
Speaker 2:I would suggest to all the North Florida Teams, fans of teams in North Florida, just get ready for the next few months. Prepare yourselves for you know how Pretty miserable up and down season Football.
Speaker 1:Oh man, we just had 2-10. We'll have plenty of time to look at that, plenty of time to predict that. But hey, speaking of college baseball, the College World Series, florida, they didn't make it to the Super Regionals, although Florida State and Miami did their coach in some controversy after kind of going off on disrespecting their coach in some controversy after kind of going off on Okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he disrespected the hell out of it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, dog cussed the field and the assistant AD over at. Was it Coastal Carolina?
Speaker 3:Yeah, Just completely showed an ass the site rep for the ballpark.
Speaker 2:One of them was caught on camera. There were multiple incidents.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I saw it, and it's not what you say, it's how you say it. And then he doubled down.
Speaker 2:Yeah and the guy's just complete. When asked about it, he said that he handled it appropriately.
Speaker 1:The guy seems like I mean he's won there, but man, it might be where it's at.
Speaker 3:Yeah well, he's supposed to be like the next big up-and-coming baseball coach.
Speaker 2:Oh he is. He was a while ago.
Speaker 1:I think he just seems like a complete a-hole man.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there are a lot of off-the-field instances and issues with him in the last five to ten years, so I would be interested to see what the new president does at Florida.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well we got the NBA Finals. It's going to be new president does at florida. Yeah, well, we got the nba finals. It's gonna be a long, drawn-out finals as again we've met three days between each game. We got super regionals. We're gonna watch them all and we'll react to them and we'll talk to you next time right here on the north florida sports network. Yes,
