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Bet Big Talk Loud Live from Vegas Edition with Chris Hodge, JR & Fred Davis

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Bet Big Talk Loud Live from Vegas Edition with Chris Hodge, JR & Fred Davis!

March Madness Breakdowns and matchups , hit the download and like buttons and win all year long with Bet Big Talk Loud!

SPEAKER_02

Welcome to the Bet Big Talk Loud Podcast for Friday, March 20th. I'm Chris Hodge. You see JR in the screen sitting in his hotel room in wonderful Las Vegas, Nevada.

SPEAKER_01

Um, everything going well. JR, have a good flight out there. Was it good? Was it nice? Was it bumpy? What was it?

SPEAKER_00

I slept the entire flight. You know, I'm not coming to Vegas. Five, six-hour flight without going first class. Got the lay down bed on Jet Blue. Uh, got a got a nice meal on the way up and slept the entire flight, which is probably the only sleep I've gotten since I've gotten here.

SPEAKER_01

So there you go. So listen, this question was going around the office before we get into the podcast. Uh, I know your wife is in the room with you, boy. She's gonna get mad at me for asking you this, but I'm gonna ask it anyway. Here it is, right? Because this question was going around because I don't understand it. So, would you rather a guy come up to you and tell you you have an ugly wife, or a guy come up to you and be like, boy, your wife is so hot, I sure would like to bang her. Well, what would you rather the guy say to you?

SPEAKER_00

Well, I'd rather he say your wife is so hot, I'd like to bang her, and then I'd bang him right in his head. So, I mean, I'd put a fucking knuckle sandwich right on his jaw, but I would feel really good that he told me how hot my wife is. Correct. I never understood. Right. You know, I would have said everything went well until you said I'd like to bang her and then I'd bang him. But outside of that, I think that would be very complimentary.

SPEAKER_01

Right. Like a guy comes up to you be like, man, your wife's a dog, bro. I don't want to hit that, hit that. And then all of a sudden you're like, wait, wait, that's that's worse than telling me you want to bang her.

SPEAKER_00

I can't even hit him at that point.

SPEAKER_01

Uh let's get to it. Yesterday was a crazy day. Um my God. Couple crazy games. Obviously, right now we're doing this podcast. It's about 1.30 Eastern time. Uh, as of this moment, Kentucky is struggling with Santa Clara. Um, Texas Tech is at halftime with Akron up a few points there. Um, but yesterday, man, there were some games that you see in these teams that just cannot hold leads. Louisville. Louisville doesn't hold the lead. I know that line came down to three and a half, but it was mostly four and a half throughout the whole day.

SPEAKER_00

I gave it out four and a half. We had 90% winners on that.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and then North Carolina last night, man, what the hell? That's the second time North Carolina took a huge lead and flushed it away.

SPEAKER_00

Can't imagine how Hubert Davis is going to have a job next year as head coach at UNC. Hey, that's number one. And uh, I mean, because they've really fallen off since Roy Jones left and uh, you know, uh uh uh uh Roy Williams left and you know he's taken over. I just feel like it's been a slow tick down every year, just a little and little, further and further away. We could talk about injuries, we could talk about the NIL and all that nonsense, but UNC is supposed to be the powerhouse, man. They're supposed to be at the very top. And for them to not be able to hold on to a giant lead like that and to blow it and what I think they were held to two points or five points in overtime, it was awful. And we're not talking about that they were going against another great team. It's fucking Virginia Commonwealth that we're talking about here.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, uh, you know, we were on them when they were minus 10 and a half or minus 11 when they were up by I think 32 against Syracuse, and they screwed us there. That's right. Um last night, I mean, you're up 19 against Syracuse.

SPEAKER_00

That was 11 and a half on that one.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and they and that's when the guy on Syracuse, once they got onto the numbers, like, nah, don't foul. Don't foul. That was great. Um, last night, VCU uh does a great job. They get a great comeback. The kid Williams played awesome off the bench. Good for him. Um, you know, Gonzaga Gonzaga, you know, okay, they beat Kennesaw, but you know, they didn't look good doing it. I think the team I think the team that looked the best yesterday, and there's some people out there that might disagree with this, but I think the team that looked best yesterday was Arkansas. I mean, Arkansas just jumped right out against Hawaii, never looked back.

SPEAKER_00

Not only they look great, they look great in the conference tournament, right? I mean, they took out all the competition. They had the last game of the year where we thought they were gonna lay down. They only ran a six-man rotation. ACUF didn't play. That was regular season. Uh, and he had said, getting ready for the SEC tournament, they still cover the last game of the year. Go into the tournament, wipe out the competition, and look phenomenal in the first round. And I gotta say, man, the first round never, ever lets us down with excitement, but yesterday was definitely, you know, one for the ages.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I mean, uh Arkansas looked great. I mean, Duke and Siena. I mean, Duke, life or death, man, with the 16 seed. I mean, if they would have lost that game yesterday, I I just don't know what you do.

SPEAKER_00

I really don't because biggest upset ever. I mean, that would have been.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I know that you know it was a 16 beat a one seed a couple times, but like, man, if Duke went down yesterday and they looked at the.

SPEAKER_00

But not Duke, right. I was gonna say, not Duke. Right. I mean, and not for nothing. That Kennesaw team, they're a good team. They've been good all year.

SPEAKER_01

They played well we used them a couple times. We used them a couple times.

SPEAKER_00

That's only reason I even know anything about them is because we did use them. And uh they look strong, they got a good inside game. And uh, I mean, I don't think that they're gonna go deep into the tournament, but I mean, I I I can't say that I was surprised it was more of a game than the public expected.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and and it seems every single year 12 beats a five. It happened again yesterday. High point knocks off Wisconsin every year, 12 beats a five. Um the mid-majors, you know, hats off to them yesterday. We'll see how they do today. But St. Louis absolutely annihilates Georgia. VCU beat North Carolina, high point goes and beats Wisconsin. Sienna played a great game against Duke, even though they're not really considered a mid-major. But um, you know, the mid-majors really, really played well yesterday.

SPEAKER_00

I agree. I mean, this is the tournament where, you know, the the the the coaches have something that they can really get into the players about. This is an exciting time of year where, I mean, let's face it, you get into the tournament of 64, anyone can win. I mean, high point, you don't think that they're back at the hotel talking about how all they gotta do is win a couple of more games and they're in the uh final three plus one.

SPEAKER_02

I mean, it's it's a podcast. We're allowed to say it. Uh that's only for radio where you can't see Sweet 16 March Madness.

SPEAKER_01

Not at the rate. FCC has this bullshit on lockdown.

SPEAKER_00

And I gotta say, my my brother called High Point yesterday. I was like, High point? What do you know about high point? He's like, I'm telling you, they can win this game outright, and man, did they ever?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that was a good game. So now I obviously I know it's March Madness, and I I know everyone cares about basketball, as do we. But I I gotta I gotta switch gears a little because I saw this story and I just cannot believe it. And it's like, you know what I always tell you, like the NBA does things to ruin their product and they can't get out of their own way. And I almost feel like the NFL wants to like copy that and just try to destroy their product because I read a story the other day that the NFL doesn't have a deal with their officials right now, so they might go back to replacement officials for next year. They're trying to like locate who a replacement officials could be. And I'm sitting there like, I don't remember the year, but like they did this once, and they have an iconic play called The Fail Mary. That's how bad the replacement officials were. Like, that should never be something you even consider doing. But here we are at the NFL, you know, a multi, multi-billion dollar corporation, and they can't figure out a deal with the referees.

SPEAKER_00

Which makes no sense. They're not even full-timers. These are not guys that that ref as a living, they've got jobs. These are lawyers, these are, you know, very professional people that do this almost like a side gig. Um, they don't make big money. They should make more money. You and I have talked about that. Like, how are referees not going to continued education? How are they not, you know, becoming better refs? I don't care how long you've been doing it. I don't care how big your biceps are. I care about how much you know about the game of football. And this year and last year, uh I I don't know about you, but I feel like there's been more missed calls since, you know, called the beginning of sports betting gone legal. I don't know if there's a correlation there, but there's been more bad calls, and it's not because our eyes aren't, we've been watching it for for me 31 years. I've never seen so many bad, awful calls. And we've talked about this. The technology is only getting better. So uh they should be getting better, the calls should be getting better, the officiating should be better, and it's just been tanking, literally like the the the the the the the roller coaster over to New York, New York that just goes straight down.

SPEAKER_01

I I tell you, man, so if I'm in the NFL League office, first of all, we we've railed about this since the beginning of this podcast back in September. First of all, the NFL overall has an officiating problem. We've said that numerous times. If you go to replacement officials, I I really don't know, like if I would be sitting there saying, okay, until the regular officials get back who suck too, but they're not as bad as the replacements, like you really got to be careful about gambling on that sport. Because you know, right, you you know you're not gonna get a fairly called game. They're that bad.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and I I I almost I don't want to say it. Obviously, we're doing a podcast, so I guess we could say what we want, but if you tell me that there's replacement officials going in and that there's a deal that's about to get done with the regular officials, I know something's going to happen. I don't know who's gonna do it, but you can't tell me that one of these guys are not gonna do something to make themselves a few more dollars than they're gonna be making after the job as officiating is gonna be gone. They got one chance.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, this is this is crazy. I can't believe the league has come to this. And like you said a couple minutes ago, you should be you should be training these guys more during the week. These guys should not be part-time, they should be full-time employees throughout the week. Uh, you know, when when they get their assignment for a game, let's say on a Monday or a Tuesday, they should be flown in to practice with those teams, right? Like uh, you know, half the officials on one team, half the officials with the other. And now you know what they like to do, you know what their formations are, you know what you're looking for. Um, and and the team gets a feel for how you call it as well. Because if you're a multi-billion dollar industry that partnered with the sports books, you should get all of these calls to the best of your ability correct.

SPEAKER_00

And you should try to make it as clear and transparent as possible so that there is no questioning. So we're not doing these podcasts talking about whether or not a game is being called the right way or not. So uh I think it's awful. And if it comes down to money, I mean, these NFL teams, I mean, look at my Miami Dolphins and the amount of uh of dead space that they're gonna have to commit. Uh I mean, why are we talking about this? These guys make peanuts, these officials literally make peanuts. Pay them, give them what they need, get them uh better education, like you said, better travel uh effectiveness, get them to the games earlier, let them sit down with the teams the week before, find out concerns and and and literally talk about what they're looking for, what they're gonna stop. I mean, you know, to to hear about even throughout the year, we heard about the Tush push and all the teams saying how you know they're doing an illegal move, right? Yes, it was pulled wrong. Every time they can call it as uh, you know, a false start.

SPEAKER_01

But so I'm back and forth. I don't believe the Tush push should be banned, but I've been back and forth on that. Me neither. Um, just because Philadelphia runs it better than everyone else and they have an advantage with it, that doesn't mean you should ban it. But what you have to do is you have to enforce it correctly, right? Like you can't let a guy jump off sides and not call it. You know, you have to if you're gonna have the play in the rule book, which is fine. If Philadelphia found a way to do it better than everyone else, by the way, this is a New Yorker saying that, right? We never stick up for Philadelphia, okay? There's a New Yorker saying it. Um, I believe they do it better than everyone else, but it needs to be, you know, called correctly. I I believe last year there was a fumble on the play with Jalen Hurts with um the Giants that they they screwed that call up, and then uh a bunch of guys jumping off sides in almost every single game. They screw that up.

SPEAKER_00

And now you're gonna have to never even thought about it until they talked about it, and then they started showing it in slow motion, and there was movement not by one, but almost the entirety of the offensive line before the ball was hiked. Yeah, that is a false start, plain and simple. And it's not hard for them to pick up on it. It's really not. Yeah, it's because they're looking for something behind the line rather than in front of the line.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and um I I just I just think the NFL needs to get this figured out. I mean, they they need to make the quality of their officials better, not go get replacement, guys. Right. I mean, you got so much gambling going on, but you know what's crazy about gambling is there is going to be more money. Now, I I do know a little bit. This isn't apples to apples, this is apples to oranges, because the Super Bowl is just one game. But there's going to be more money bet on March Madness during this tournament when you combine it than money that was bet on the Super Bowl. And obviously, we know the Super Bowl is the highest bet game of the year, but this tournament is that big, especially from a gambling perspective.

SPEAKER_00

You know what? I may even go so far as to say that day one, okay, if you put all the money together on all the games on the college basketball tournament, has got to be more money than's bet individually on the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl's one game, but I mean, the tournament, there's so much going on. I'm sitting here in Vegas, it's packed to the rim. Sure. These sports books are literally bleeding people. I mean, they're they're just falling out the seams everywhere you go. It doesn't matter whether you got the beautiful Aria where I'm at, or, you know, the shithole that is Treasure Island, there's just people falling out of the sports book everywhere you go. And I mean, they're they're betting big money. I mean, even and you know they're betting big money because the tables that are normally, you know, when you walk around the casino and you only see some $25 and $50 tables, everything's $100, $200, $300. People are betting huge. This is the weekend that they come in. Um, and and this is the week that, you know, the biggest bets are made. And without question, most people, the biggest fortunes are lost, which is good for Las Vegas. But, you know, guys like us, we clean up and our clients actually make money.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I'll tell you a quick funny story. You'll like this. So, my football team is out there. We play out there, I think, um, Saturday, May 2nd, I want to say. Um, first Saturday in May, whatever date that is, right? So I, you know, I call up new, you know, people I know out there, and you know, a couple people from the MGM are like, hey, I need like 20 rooms for my guys. So my girl calls me back and she's like, uh, Chris, how long have you been in the gambling industry? I go, I don't know, 25 years. What the hell are you talking about? She goes, uh, what's May 2nd? And I go, I don't know, Saturday. And she goes, No, you dumb fuck. It's Kentucky Derby weekend. How do you not know that?

SPEAKER_02

She's like, you better go call somewhere else.

SPEAKER_00

Oh boy.

SPEAKER_02

She goes, there's a big fight. I think Bienvenidez is fighting out there. I'm like, you got the Kentucky Derby going on. I'm like, oh man, I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_00

So just uh you need 20 rooms. Good luck.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah. That's she she uh yeah he looks like he might need to call Treasure Island. Oh yeah, here comes the lawsuit, right? As soon as this podcast goes live. The lawyer from Treasure Island. Hey, can you stop saying that?

SPEAKER_01

Um, yeah, listen, there there are obviously look, it's Las Vegas, right? There's some hotels that are out there that are much nicer than others. We understand that. No doubt. And they are they are that nice because of idiots like me that go down to the craps table and just decide to give thousands away for no reason at all.

SPEAKER_00

I can't imagine what you did the last time you were here. You said some guy held the dice for more than a half hour.

SPEAKER_01

That was in AC, and I fucked that up. That was in Atlantic City when I was there.

SPEAKER_00

I know. How do you not make the score of a lifetime?

SPEAKER_01

An idiot, man. I I'm telling you, and I hate admitting this. I was at uh at that table, and that was a pretty good table. Um, I was the person who made the least amount of money at that run. Everyone else was cleaning up, and I'm sitting there like I'm an idiot.

SPEAKER_00

Which is what I am. And you know better. You know press, but you weren't doing any pressing, you were just leaving it out there. Yeah, you were that guy spent $25 on every hand trying to get the free buffet.

SPEAKER_01

Well, it was a little bit more than $25. But so so quick story about that run. When when that run began, I was already down like eight grand. Right. So that run began, and there was a college basketball game that happened to be played that night that I really, really liked that I wanted to load up on, right? So I'm like, all right, let me not lose $20,000 at frigging craps before I go bet this game tonight, right? Like, and uh, so I just every time we won, and this guy was hitting pass lines and then numbers. So rather than just leaving the bets on the board, I was just taking the profit back. Everyone was pushing, and I'm the idiot. Like, I should write a book like Cramps from Warren.

SPEAKER_00

Zero press, right? You just kept the same unit out there the whole time. So what we talk about all the time on radio, you didn't click that maybe it applies to craps too.

SPEAKER_01

Nah, man. And uh, but I was happy, man. And it was so funny when that guy craps out finally, and I'm telling you, there's no exaggeration. This one this run was upwards of 28, 29 minutes or about a half hour. When this guy finally craps out, he apologized. He apologized. He was like, Oh man, I'm so sorry. And the freaking Pip was like, get the hell out of here! Like, go away.

SPEAKER_00

Call him up, dude.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, you're an idiot. You're you're uh you're an idiot, really. This guy was on something like a 26-2 and one run. And he won and two, and this guy loses when was it on Wednesday night you lost? Yeah, and he calls me up, he's like, Yeah, boss, I'm so sorry. And I'm like, are you out of your mind? What the hell is wrong with you?

SPEAKER_00

Still, man, I hate losing. I really do. I hate losing. It's still worse. I mean, I can't imagine anyone likes it, but people accept it. It's unacceptable to us, which is what makes us so good at what we do.

SPEAKER_01

Agreed, man. It's uh losing is just something that it's just a different feeling, man. It's just I I'm telling you, I was uh I was playing NHL with my son, my my youngest son, who's who's 18. We're playing NHL on I don't even know if it was PlayStation or Xbox, I don't even know what what system it was. But we bet on the game. We literally bet, not a big game. We bet $20 on the game. And I won't 20 bucks on the game. We bet it me and my 18 year old. And yo, let me tell you, let me you want to hear a bad lesson in life, man? So I beat him. This motherfucker, not only does he not pay me, he talked his mother into telling me I don't deserve to get paid. And I'm like, what madness is this?

SPEAKER_00

Right. Wait a minute. I have not heard this story. This is this just happened a few days ago. Listen, bad dad, if you don't take his 20 bucks. Terrible. Right, give me my money. You have to take his money. Okay, that's a lesson well worth it. And your wife should be a hundred percent on board because you don't want a Welcher going around the rest of his life.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, and I'll tell you, and I know my my youngest son watches this podcast, the absolute, the biggest Welcher in the history of the Welch. Okay? Come on! The biggest, this guy never, when he loses, he never pays up. I've never seen anything like it. And then he gets away with it. So you know what I sent him? And everyone out there should be familiar with this because it's one of the funniest scenes of all time. Remember on Family Guy when Stewie became the bookie and and Brian bet the fight, and then he didn't pay, they didn't pay Stewie, and then Stewie kicked the shit out of him all over the house, set him on fire. I was sending that, I was sending that clip to my son. And he's like, Dad, you're really not gonna set me on fire. I'm like, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00

Right? Come on, you got money for fake mustaches, but you don't got my money.

SPEAKER_01

But I was like, so I didn't get my 20, but I got the win. Right? And I'm like, all right.

SPEAKER_00

Oh no, you have to go get that 20. You can't let that slide.

SPEAKER_01

I agree. I agree.

SPEAKER_00

But you know, if my wife isn't even up for debate. Hey, period.

SPEAKER_01

My wife don't play fair, bro. My wife don't play fair. She's like, go get that money. She's like, Don't even look at me tonight. And I'm like, wait, what? Like, are you kidding? Yeah, I'm gonna take money from your son and I'm out of action? Are you kidding me?

SPEAKER_02

What the hell is this?

SPEAKER_00

What's going on here? Why am I I won? Why am I illusion? Right, right, right. Oh, that's my baby.

SPEAKER_01

You shouldn't have taken his money. You shouldn't have beat him. I'm like, no. I I listen. From a gambling family. Right. It's just, you know, it's it's man, these kids, bro, they're spoiled. These kids today. They don't know what's going on.

SPEAKER_00

Your youngest does definitely own your wife. I I I can tell. Every time you tell stories, he he he owns her.

SPEAKER_01

Bro, I grew up in a world, I was broke. My grandfather, my grandfather taught me how to play chess. And um, my grandfather was actually a great, great chess player. To this day, probably the best I've ever played. And I only beat him one time out of all of the games we played. But we used to play for money. This motherfucker took my money. He beat me, took my money. And I'm talking at the time, I'm talking two dollars. I'm a kid, I'm 10, 12 years old. So what? But I go home cry and beat me again. It's my money now, I'm taking it. And I never learned my lesson to this day. I keep betting.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, you learned your lesson. You absolutely learned a lesson from that. You don't even realize it. That instilled the values in you that helped you grow up the way that you did. It really did. And I mean, I've never played you in chess. I won't. I've only because I've heard how good you are, so I'm not gonna give you a chance to be. You know how I am. If I think You can beat me, we ain't playing.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Which is why we make our bet in the NFL every year. Uh, if you'd like, by the way, do you want to start betting hockey together?

SPEAKER_01

Well, listen, uh, I am not going into a hockey competition with you. And you and you see, you're you're you're you're no better than my baby son. You're no better. You're ballish too, man. Yo, you won't bet me in college basketball, but NFL and NHL, you kick my ass. You want to bet on that?

SPEAKER_00

No, that's smart. It's not like I made a bet and didn't play it, okay? That's a different story. I make bets that I know I can win. That's why I say I'm not a gambler.

SPEAKER_01

Gotcha. You know, we have Fred Davis coming on again from Dallas Sports Talk Radio. I had to have Fred on today because it's just the NCAA tournament number one, and um he's he's a massive Kansas fan. And I know Kansas playing Cal Baptist tonight, so I want to talk to him about that. But, you know, we're in New York, and you know, we do root for St. John's, and obviously he's a big Kansas fan, um, even though he does radio down in Dallas. If they both win their respective games in the first round, they play each other in the second round. So I want to make sure I had Fred on from the Fan After Dark on Dallas Sports Radio, who's the number one rated program down there at nighttime, so he'll come on in just a few minutes. I know you met a few customers out there. How's it going when you meet those guys? They they are they pretty cool this year.

SPEAKER_00

Man, it's awesome. I I actually, there was one gentleman I met yesterday that uh had an awesome meeting with them. He's an ex-colonel. I won't get into his name or anything like that, but uh 26-year Marine veteran colonel that uh does this for fun, has the money to play around, he's having a great time. He's out here without his wife. Um, and and he's like, JR, I gotta tell you, man, I I've just this has been a blast. Like he's just really enjoying it. Um, you know, we always talk about it. Like, don't play with money that you can't afford to play with. That makes it miserable. If you lose a bet or two and you needed that money for something else, or your wife is gonna rip into you for losing, then you shouldn't be betting games. But if you got a couple of bucks that you could play with and would have no effect on your life, and then all of a sudden it turns into something a little bit more significant, a little bit more significant. All of a sudden, you know, you take 10 grand and you turn it into 50 or even 100,000 by the time we get to this time of year. Now you have a blast. Now you bet five, ten, and fifteen thousand dollars on a college basketball game during the tournament in the casino in Las Vegas. I mean, it doesn't really get better than that, right? I mean, we had a client last year that came out here with just a couple, I say just a couple hundred thousand because of the amount of money we made him. I can say that, but he went home with a six hundred and forty thousand dollars. Week one of the NCAA tournament. So, I mean, this is what we do, and you can see we drive these lines down. As soon as I started giving out that South Florida game yesterday at four and a half within an hour. Thank God we got most of our guys to get it in at four and a half. It got driven down to three and a half, and that takes a lot of money to do that during a tournament.

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely. So uh, JR, I know you're busy out there. Uh, we got Fred Davis coming on in a few moments. I know you do a great job. You're better than me, man, because you're like, yo, I'm gonna go out to Vegas. You want to come? I'm like, I'm not coming out there for the first week of March, man. It's because you'll never see me. Uh I that that's 2448, 96 hours for me. I wouldn't even sleep.

SPEAKER_00

When I'm not right for college, I have very little sleep since I got home.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, when I'm not watching college basketball, I'll be at the craps table. I'll come home.

SPEAKER_00

I'll I'm taking money at the blackjack table, exactly.

SPEAKER_01

Good for you, brother. Good for you. JR, man, thanks. Have a great time out there with your wife, and I can't wait to get you back in studio next week. We'll have some good, we'll have a good time with you when you get back.

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely appreciate it. As always, guys, be safe, have fun, and hey, let's go out there and make some money.

SPEAKER_01

All right, keep it right here. Fan after dark host, Fred Davis joining us in just a moment. All right, back here on the Betbig Talk Loud Podcast, friend of the show. I think this is the third time you're now on Mr. Fred Davis, fan after dark, number one rated late night show or nighttime show down in Dallas. That's it. I never want to get in trouble. But bro, how you doing, man? Thanks for coming back on.

SPEAKER_03

It's the madness, man. Uh, I'm geeked. I got to sit in on the uh afternoon show yesterday, the G Bag Nation over there on Fan or on 105 Who the Fan. And uh you know, Dallas is a weird Texas is look, you guys in in NYC, East Coast, you guys love college basketball. It's it's uh it's a it's a rite of passage over there. Texas has kind of, you know, I mean, look, we we get down for our college football here, college basketball, it's it's it's you know, six to one, half a dozen to another. But for those of us hoop heads that uh you know actually went to legit basketball schools, this is uh this is our Christmas. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01

Now, I gotta ask you a non-sports related question because this was going around my office the other day. Someone got offended. I couldn't believe why they got offended, right? So, and I asked this to JR earlier on the podcast. So now, you know, would you rather someone tell you that your wife or significant other is ugly? Right? Would you rather say, well, you have an ugly wife, I would never want to touch her. Man, bro, your wife is hot. I sure would like to bang her. Which one is worse?

SPEAKER_03

Uh definitely, I mean, look, here's the thing, right? You as a person know both people feel either way, right? Like if you got an attractive wife or husband, whatever, you know that other people lust after them. Uh what's that song? There's that old school song, uh, you know, find an ugly woman to become your wife. Um look, you you you you I got you with this question, huh? I mean, it's tough, man. It's tough. No, bro.

SPEAKER_02

This is easy. I don't want anyone telling me my wife's ugly.

SPEAKER_03

I don't want that. No, I mean, I yeah, because you gotta have some balls. Uh you gotta really have some balls to tell somebody that their wife is ugly. You know, like you really, really do. Um like, bro, who wants to touch the girl? She's a pig. But I would be more offended by the fact that someone would have the gall to tell you, I want to sleep with your wife. Like that would that I I take more umbrage with because now I can't trust you. At least if you tell me your my wife is ugly, at least I know where you stand on that. Okay. If you tell me you want to bang my wife, now I really have to trust your, I don't trust your judgment. I don't know that I can trust your your your your motivations and and what have you. So yeah, I I would take the the the wanting to sleep with my wife, I I I have more of a problem with. I love you, Fred. Now your integrity's at stake, as far as I am concerned.

SPEAKER_01

I love it. I love it. Let's get to it. Uh, when JR and I were doing the podcast a little earlier before you popped on, uh, Kentucky was down to Santa Clara. They come back. Uh, the last three seconds of that game was phenomenal. Santa Clara makes a three. Uh away comes back, makes a half court three, and then Kentucky actually covers the game in overtime. This is the madness, man. And there are some really big games tonight. So let's get started with your boys. All right. They're a 14 and a half point favorite over Cal Baptist. You and I shared text messages last week. Uh, you know, here we are, it's the NCAA tournament, and we still don't know what Kansas is, which is unbelievable to me. They're supposed to win this game tonight. They're supposed to win it easily. Uh, are you confident?

SPEAKER_03

No, they should. I mean, Cal Baptist is one of the worst offensive rated teams in all of the uh NCAA tournament. So I'm not too concerned about this. Um, look, if if three things are going to change, uh dictate how far this KU team goes. And I mean, look, the obvious answer is Darren Peterson. I get that, but I think what's been lost in the Darren Peterson conversation is, you know, he's played in the last nine games since the whole Oklahoma State debacle, right? So uh, you know, and if you look at what went down in the Big 12 tournament and the games they lost, it really wasn't because, you know, Darren Peterson uh uh you know wasn't moving around the court. The problem was, A, he can't shoot to save his life. The entire team can't shoot to save their life. I mean, they scored 46 points against uh Houston. Houston's good defensively, but Houston's not that good defensively. Um, they shot like 24%, something like that. They just have not shot the ball well. Uh their bigs have been non-existent, and they've just you know they've just been dribbling the air out of the ball at the top of the key. Uh can the bigs actually, you know, rebound? Can they can they get big defended uh defensively? Can they move the ball? That's the biggest thing for me. And the old adage, and I'm not saying anything really that profound here, uh, just make shots. I mean, it's that simple. You know what I'm saying? Like they just haven't made shots. And I know it's basketball, and let's not overthink things, but uh, you know, if those three things happen, you know, play defense, bigs play big, and move the ball and make shots, this team's going to go places uh in this tournament.

SPEAKER_01

So before we get to their potential second round matchup, because St. John's is supposed to beat Northern Iowa. Uh they're both basically.

SPEAKER_03

Northern Iowa's gonna give them a game, though, man. I'm telling you right now, that's a 12-5. It's a 12-5 moment.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it's a 12-5. Um, let me just backtrack a little. Does North Carolina have a Hubert Davis problem?

SPEAKER_03

Oh, I'd get rid of him yesterday. Agreed. I agree. I'd get rid of him yesterday.

SPEAKER_01

That was so bad what they did in the last 15 minutes of that whole game, if you include overtime. They made four shots. North Carolina against VCU made four shots against VCU. That is the same.

SPEAKER_04

Well, that is you went away from what you.

SPEAKER_03

I mean, you were killing them down low. Right. You know, your bigs were doing everything they wanted to do against them, and then you decided to become a jump shot team there towards the end. And, you know, look, sometimes basketball is not that complicated. Sometimes when you have the size advantage, which they did. Now, look, if you lost in the second round, and yes, we can all complain about how they didn't have Caleb Wilson, but you should have won that game without Caleb Wilson. You were up 19 points. And and look, I think uh if you I don't know if you caught any of the postgame with Hubert Davis, that alone should have been a fireball offense. All right, they asked him why he did what he did, or or why did you change up your offensive game plan? And he goes, because that's what I decided to do. You know? Oh, well, okay, Hubert. I guess that's I guess that explains it.

SPEAKER_01

You know, so there's something that drives me crazy about basketball coaches. You know, you you you're inbounding the ball with uh they were up to with uh I guess 20 seconds left, whatever however much time was left. You had a timeout, right? Why are you not taking a timeout when that five-second count is coming up to it? But you know, here we are, it's the middle of March, right? I can I could give you if you can't inbound the ball in November in a big spot, I'd give you that. But five months into this thing, when you absolutely need to get the ball in, you don't have something you can do to get the ball in, to me, that's on coaching. That's that play right there signifies coaching.

SPEAKER_03

No, when you're when you're ill-prepared coming out of a out of a timeout, but again, and and you know, look, it it is the it is it is the tournament. You are playing teams that you're not used to seeing, right? So, you know, if this happens in the ACC, look, you're probably gonna have a good idea of what these teams are gonna do coming out of a timeout. I understand you don't watch a lot of VCU basketball if you're Hubert Davis and his staff, and no matter how much prep you do leading up to it, they're gonna have something up their sleeve. But like you said, if you've got a timeout in your hip pocket, that's the one thing you tell your guy inbounding the ball, look, if it's getting, you know, the nut cut in time and we don't have anybody, boom, call a timeout. We regroup and we get it and and we get the ball back in. So it just it it's this time of year. And look, you and I are old enough to remember back in the day when Chris Weber called the timeout that they didn't have. I mean, you just and and Chris Weber's an an all-time great. I mean, hell, I thought he's done great doing uh color commentary, but you just these are big moments, and look, no matter how much money we're paying these kids, they're still kids uh uh to a large extent, and this is some of the most pressure-packed moments they're ever gonna be in. I agree with everything you just said.

SPEAKER_01

You should be able to get the ball in.

SPEAKER_03

Should be able to get the ball in.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, missing free throws. Okay, you know, guys go to the free throw line, they get a little shaky, they get a little jittery, okay. Right? You should be able to find the thing. Yeah, that was holy smokes. So um, we're doing this podcast again on Friday. So by the time it gets out there, it's gonna be Friday night. We got Northern uh Hour and St. John's, and if St. John's wins and Kansas wins, you know, we got Alma Mata versus Alma Mata. So we have some fun with that. Um let's get to tomorrow, because there's some fascinating games tomorrow, man. There's some fascinating games. And um I I think you know, with Duke really struggling yesterday, right? Because they they for a long portion of that game, they looked like they were about to lose, right? Now we've seen it work both ways, right? Now, is Duke gonna struggle with the injuries, or are they just gonna come out and say enough of this and they're gonna pace TCU?

SPEAKER_03

No, I look, I think TCU's gonna give them fits tomorrow. Do I think Duke wins the game? Absolutely, I do. You know, I've watched TCU a handful of times this year. Uh look, you know Jamie Dixon, all right? I mean, Jamie did this is what he does, right? I mean, and and the thing about, and and look, whether it's, I don't care, anytime you're in the postseason, yes, players make plays. We all understand that. But again, good coaching, you cannot. I mean, Jerry McNamara outcoached John Shire. Hell, he talked about in his post-game press conference yesterday. And by the way, uh, you know, since you've got a New York audience, if I'm Syracuse, I'm I'm guessing you're getting just paperwork figured out because why you don't have Jerry McNamara as your next head coach is beyond me. Should already be done. What's that? Should already be done. And look, if you're respecting the whole, hey, let him do his thing from the NCAA tournament. We don't want to cause a distraction. I respect that aspect of it. It's not like people are beating down Syracuse's door uh to go coach for them right now. But I mean, that's to me, that's a layup as far as going to get Jerry McNamara out. He's a he's a uh alum. He probably isn't going anywhere unless he leaves for the NBA, which that's a that's the first world problem that you have to go, you know, if that if that goes down to it. Plus, he's got a good relationship, obviously, with uh uh Mello, who they've kind of shafted here lately. They did uh in the grand scheme of things, but yeah, that's another sort of time. So again, I've got a handful of excused friends out there. Go get Jerry McNamara because I'll tell you what, if you don't, if Bill Self gets knocked out, hey, I'm knocking down Jerry McNamara's door yesterday uh as a Jayhawk. But anyway, look, um Duke's gonna win tomorrow. If Sienna doesn't run out of gas, they probably do win that game yesterday. You could tell them like they're heavy at the end of the game. They've played five guys for since 1979. You can't do that, especially against a team like uh against Duke. And sometimes, look, we've seen it over and over and over again, where we the the the Duke's crypt tonight might be they don't have enough uh elder statesmen. That could be what ends up getting them. Now, you wonder if getting yesterday out of the way, getting the jitters out, still finding a way to win the game. They didn't knock down a lot of outside shots. You know, Boozer did what he could. I'll be honest, I thought his brother was the best player yesterday. He was, absolutely. This is a great point. I thought Caden, who looks just like his dad, uh, I thought he was the difference in why they won that basketball game yesterday. That and the fact they were just able to wear down Sienna, but I think they find a way. Look, the only way TCU, and I'm not, again, I'm not saying anything uh uh profound here, if TCU can knock down threes, because they're not very prolific three-point shooting team, but if they can find a way to knock down threes like they did in the first half against Ohio State yesterday, I think they'll stick around. I don't think they win the game, though. I think Duke does enough to hold them off.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and if you look at both of those teams, you know, Duke comes from behind yesterday, but uh TCU was up big at the half. Uh Ohio State goes on a great run, and then TCU withstands that, so they get a good win. Uh, I think that's going to be a good game. I think one of the more fascinating games tomorrow is actually.

SPEAKER_03

TCU can't beat them, though. I just want to say this for the record. TCU can beat them. Look, they gave KU fits, they beat Texas Tech, uh, they gave Arizona fits at times. So I'm telling you right now, TCU, I would not be surprised. Say all that to say this though. I would not be surprised if they found a way to beat Duke tomorrow because they will not be overwhelmed by the moment.

SPEAKER_01

I I will be surprised if they win the game. I will not be surprised if they cover the game. They're getting double digits.

SPEAKER_03

Um, take that. Oh, take that all day. I love that. Take that all day. I love it. I let you do that all day, every day, but if they if they're getting double digits, oh, slam that.

SPEAKER_01

Give me TCU the points all day. That is, by the way, for all the customers out there, that is Fred Davis' free pick. That is not Chris Hodges' free pick.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, that's my free pick. That's my free pick. Oh, I'm taking TCU and then some.

SPEAKER_01

I love it. I think a fascinating matchup tomorrow is Texas and Gonzaga. Um, Texas, man, you know, they make the shot uh on Tuesday. Um you know, they they would stand uh uh uh unbelievable effort, individual effort, uh, you know, with a kid that's going to the NBA, and he's probably gonna be a top three pick uh from BYU last night. Um and Gonzaga, you know what? They win the game. I talked about this earlier with JR. They won the game, but you know, Gonzaga just didn't look good last night. Uh just uh they didn't look good. And you know, now for it wouldn't shock me if Texas knocked them off. It really wouldn't.

SPEAKER_03

Look, you got another great hit coaching matchup tomorrow. Yeah. Uh I'm a big fan of Sean Miller. I like, you know, I I I think he and and for the way for as bad as they looked against NC State down the stretch and still found a way to hold them off. Uh, you know, I like the big uh, I don't know, was he Lithuanian, the big white dude that couldn't make a free throw to save his life. Uh but I'll tell you what. Well, and Miller said, he goes, usually he's a 70% free throw shooter. He just struggled with the shots last night. Maybe he calms down tomorrow. Um, you know, this is where when you see these guys that, you know, when you battled in the SEC all year, all long, all year long, you know, plus uh uh Texas has athletes. Sean Miller's been there before. I I I wouldn't mind seeing, I wouldn't be surprised at all if if uh Texas wins that game tomorrow. I had BYU uh winning in the first round. I thought AJ DeBonsa, who did a great job yesterday, but the problem was, and and there was no one else. Look, losing Richie Saunders killed me. Yeah, that did. I just felt like I felt like after what I saw out of Texas in the first four, I thought, okay, AJ should be enough. I figured, all right, he could have a Carmelo-like run through the first two rounds and then get knocked out in Sweet 16. But uh, I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Longhorns find a way to win. I'll tell you, my upset pick right now. You just gave me one. What's that?

SPEAKER_02

You just said TCU. You got another one? No, I got them covered. I got them covered. All right, I got it.

SPEAKER_03

This is my no, no, this is Fred's moneyline pick. Oh, I love it. Let me go. What you got? Billikens over the Wolverines tomorrow.

SPEAKER_01

Yo, that's a ballsy pick, man. That's a ballsy pick. Really?

SPEAKER_03

Take it to the bank.

SPEAKER_01

Really? Take it to the bank. You're saying outright, huh? Outright. Yeah, yeah, I got it. I gotta just throw you, you know Georgia sucks, right? Like, Georgia was not a good basketball team. So I know St. Louis took them apart, but I uh man, Fred, that's Fred Davis again? The disclaimer here. Fred Davis.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, because I tell you what, they move the ball up and they they they move the ball. They're not a bad basketball team. Look, they're not a bad basketball team, and there's just something about teams that get up and down the court, and I don't know, Michigan's just a fun, I don't know. I mean, look, they play great. Uh Mike DeCorsey from the Sporting News, legendary college basketball writer, he said something that I thought was interesting, and that's kind of what uh because I like St. Louis anyway, but after he said, I mean, and he pointed this out, you know, since Michigan lost their backup point guard, um, they've had troubles. Okay. And and I just look, when you've got a team like St. Louis, again, this is and this is where, and and look, you we're we don't we're not gonna see in in the NIL and transfer portal era, I don't think we're gonna see, you know, the the oh hell, I'm trying to think of the teams from back in the day. I mean, hell, VCU from back in the day. Uh, the Norfolk States from back in the day, where you would see a mid-major make a run. Because of Nil and Transfer Portal, I don't think you're gonna see that as much. But St. Louis has a very old roster, and I mean that in a in in a in a most complimentary way possible. I expect I can see them getting up and down the court, wearing Michigan down. And like I said, now are they gonna shoot the way they did last night against Georgia? Like you said, probably not. But live by the three, die by the three, and I don't think they're gonna be overwhelmed by the moment. I like St. Louis.

SPEAKER_01

So getting 12 and a half, too, by the way.

SPEAKER_03

Again, take 10 points, baby.

SPEAKER_01

Getting 12 and a half. Um, a game that uh went my way yesterday, okay? And uh, we were lucky to win this game. All right, and then the line did move a little, so if you bet it late, you actually lost it, but for the most part, people won this game. Uh South Florida looked like they were getting run off the court yesterday. Yeah, they were.

SPEAKER_03

They made it, they made it interesting, didn't they?

SPEAKER_01

Lost four and a half, uh, up until like a half hour before game time when the line didn't move to three and a half. So we were on South Florida yesterday. So they come back and they cover the game. Um I just think Louisville is gonna have a lot of problems with Michigan State tomorrow. Um, yeah, I like Michigan State. Yeah, I think I mean, because you know, what what is March, man? I I know the guy only has one national title, but Michigan State gets better and better as the season goes along, and they're always always a tough out in March. And it's hard to win. It's hard to win a national championship. Only one team does. I think Louisville, because when they started to struggle with South Florida yesterday, now this is South Florida, this is not Michigan State, right? When South Florida went to the press and it looked like Louisville without Mikhail Brown just did not know how to handle it, like didn't know what to do. And you know, Izzo's watching that game tape, and he's like, okay, now I got something for y'all. Um, I think Michigan State's gonna be a problem for Louisville tomorrow.

SPEAKER_03

No, I do too. And plus, they're just long and athletic. Um and and again, with with I just I'll give the coaching edge to Tom Izzo. That I mean, look, that that East bracket's loaded. Uh, you know, with whether, and then of course Yukon, I expect them to win tomorrow. Uh, I do th I do have Michigan State getting past uh UConn in my bracket. Like I said, I just like I just like the gauntlet that has been the Big Ten. I I think when it's all said and done, you know, look, and taking nothing away from the ACC, uh, but I just think with the with the as brutal as the SEC, the Big Ten, and the Big 12 were, those teams are battle tested. And and you know, the thing is that that that, and again, Mike Dakour brought this up on the show the other night. If you don't have at least one to Two NBA caliber players, specifically first rounders, on your roster, all right, you got problems. All right. And so I just I just think with the size that Michigan State has. Now, look, I think the Michigan State Yukon game is going to be incredible. And of course, obviously they both have to win to get to that point. But I just think that with what those teams are, tried and true, battle-tested tournament teams, uh, I like both of those teams to advance tomorrow.

SPEAKER_01

Let me ask you a question. Uh, and this is something that hasn't been talked about because uh Duke was the number one overall seed in the tournament. You just brought it up a couple seconds ago. When I looked at the brackets, to me, it looked like Duke had the hardest bracket. Oh, hands down. I'm right. Not even close, right? Because Kansas and St. John's could be a pain in the ass. On the lower side of that bracket, like you just said, Michigan State, New Congo. I mean, if you get a let's say you just get Kansas beat St. John's, right? And and Duke beats Kansas, and now you're either getting Izzo or Danny Hurley. You know, like uh I mean, holy shit, like that is a very tough bracket. I really think they did Duke wrong being the number one overall seed with that bracket.

SPEAKER_03

Well, I I think you could also make the argument I don't uh Florida probably got a uh uh uh equally hosed, right? Now I expect them to get through to the the the Elite Eight, but here's the problem that regional is in Houston. Yeah, okay, the number seed is U of H. I don't understand how that's I mean how you can argue if for as screwed over as Duke got. I mean, at least they're on the East Coast, and yeah, it's it's I mean, you I mean, you know, we could all debate as to whether or not, you know, who's the worst, uh, who's the best of the worst number two seeds in all this, but I mean, the fact that if I'm Florida and I've got to go to Houston to play, I mean, that I look, I lived there for 12 years. The one thing about U of H fans, they and Houston, they will represent for the Cougars uh when that thing if they make it to the Elite Eight, which I fully expect them to. I've got U of H making it uh to the Final Four in my bracket. So uh, and I'll tell you what, Emmanuel Sharp, that team's tough. That team's tough. You know they're gonna play good defense. That's the one thing you can always comp uh you always know about a uh Kelvin Sampson team. And the one thing you've I've noticed about Kelvin Sampson the last couple years is he always had good defense, but they just didn't have the offensive score. This year, you got three perimeter guys in Uzan, in Sharp, and in Kingston Flemings who can give you 20 points on any given night. Yeah. Like the Tugler kid. Uh, you got Mercy Miller coming off the bench. Uh, if if they and and look, if if if if Sharp would have been able to, and again, he's the key because they probably beat Arizona in the Big 12 championship game if he wasn't uh if he wasn't clanging and banging that night. So I like U of H, and it's again, it's unfair if I'm a Florida fan, the defending national champion, and I gotta go to Houston to play them in the uh regional final.

SPEAKER_01

So we could just gloss over the Texas AM Houston game because we understand if you just go with Houston, we figure Houston's gonna beat them. Absolutely. But Houston, I believe, is not gonna have point favorite in that game. I'll tell you what, when they're sitting in the room making this shit up with the brackets, you know, you get Florida Houston. It's kind of compelling because it's a rematch of last year's national title game, which was absolutely a great game. So you say, all right, let's let's put the number one seed basically on the road. Right, which I don't believe is fair, and you just said that as well. But uh a regional final, a regional championship, man, Florida Houston, that's a damn good game. If you get, let's say you got Duke Michigan State, or even Duke Yukon, and then you got Florida Houston.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I've got I've got Kansas Michigan State in my mind.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, here we go, man. The producer in the background, you can't do it. Oh, you know what? There we go. The Homer.

SPEAKER_03

A couple of legends, just a couple of legends in the eastern in the eastern region. No big deal. Look, I'm telling you right now, Darren Peterson is I'm telling you right now, Darren Peterson is gonna have a Carmelo Anthony like run through the tournament. Um, do I get taken to the text?

SPEAKER_02

Can I get the text on the thing of about three weeks ago when he's killing Darren Peterson?

SPEAKER_03

I was, I was, I was, I was. I love it. Look, it's an emotional game, man. It's an emotional game. All right, and but at the end of the day, look, I'm I'm loyal to my guys. As I've said on the air numerous times, look, I'm much I get hammered. This is how uncollege basketball-ish we are in the DFW sometimes. Where anytime I bring up KU, and I try not to do it very often, but you know, look, they're on TV all the damn time. They got the number one possible pick in the draft. So, you know, the Mavericks are awful. So, I mean, what you know, he he could potentially be a Maverick next year. So it makes sense in my world. Um, and look, are there nights where he hasn't looked great? Yes. They he he trains with Damian Lillard's uh personal trainer. He said he's as good a kid as he's ever seen. So he said, look, it's not about whether this kid wants to play basketball, it's just this kid had full body cramps. How does that happen? I don't know. All right, he didn't know, but they said he's as healthy as he's been since he got to Kansas. All right. So I'm just telling you right now, let's not forget this kid wasn't. I mean, he's given DeBonster the business time and time again. It's been there.

SPEAKER_01

Oh boy. All right. I'm gonna give you that Homer pick. That's fine. I love you, Fred. You know I do. You know, you and I for the last six weeks or so, and the first time you came on this podcast, we were discussing it. We said Arkansas was gonna be a problem. We both said. They're gonna be a hard out. Like, um, and Caleb Harry's a great coach. I think they did them bad, sending them up to Portland, by the way. Um, but you know, they they get it, they get a tough game tomorrow, man. I I I think they win the game. I don't think high point's pulling this shit off again. And I didn't think Wisconsin Wisconsin was very good in in but right now you got Acuff and this kid, man. Is he the number one if they is he the number one NBA draft pick right now in your mind?

SPEAKER_03

Like if you were if you were great offensively, sure. I I give him that all day every day. I just defensively he he raises some questions. He's not he doesn't even try on defense. I mean, look, I'll take the Bonster over him. All right, so I want you to free, dude.

SPEAKER_01

I'm gonna I didn't mean to cut you off, but I want you to tell me if I'm crazy. And you know we I have no problem if you tell me that. All right. He reminds me. I don't know if I'm crazy. I don't know if I'm gonna catch it right now. He reminds me of Derek Rose. Am I crazy?

SPEAKER_03

Oh man. Um a little bit. I mean, I I could see that, but I'll tell you what, man. I mean, Derek Rose was he just reminds me of him. He just reminds me of him. Okay, I would say he's a poor man's Derek Rose.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, fair enough.

SPEAKER_03

Because look, Derek Rose, like we forget, dude, before those knee injuries, unbelievable.

SPEAKER_01

Would have been one of the best one of the best of all time.

SPEAKER_03

You couldn't stop Derrick Rose. I don't think there I don't I'm I'm not ready to put him in that conversation. I mean, Derek Rose could get a bucket anytime he wanted. You know, and not to say Darius A. Cuff can't. I mean, he's look, he's been incredible, and maybe we've just kind of watered it down a little bit because there is so much hype at the top around DeBonsta and Boozer and and Peterson. Um, but no, no, I I don't I don't hate that assessment. Okay. I just I and dare I say, for as athletic as he is, he's not as athletic as Derek Rose.

SPEAKER_01

I I I it just when I watch him play, and obviously they both play for the same college head coach, right? Because Derek Rose played for Kyle Perry. I just think, man, when I watch him, he just reminds me of him. He just reminds me of him. I I don't know, again, I don't know if that sounds crazy. I don't know if the people listen to this podcast, you know, oh Chris doesn't know anything about college hoops. He just reminds me of him. Um, and it's nice the way to see the way he's playing. It really is.

SPEAKER_03

No, he's look, he's he's he's um if look, map Mavs fans here in Dallas are salivating over the possibility of bringing him in if he falls. Look, I've said this on on the show, uh, the NBA will not let the Mavs fall below that four spot in the don't get him alive. But the ring is in the game. 100% of it. No, no, no, because you you you can't um there's no way in hell they're gonna let uh the great white hike Cooper Flag uh go without having a running mate for the next decade. They're just not gonna do that.

SPEAKER_01

Well, okay, so a little off topic, what's going on with Kyrie? Like he's supposed to be back next year, right?

SPEAKER_03

Like he'll be back next year, but I mean he's gonna be 34. Yeah, that's not really terrible.

SPEAKER_01

He's got three three good years, right?

SPEAKER_03

I don't know how the injuries catch up with him, but yeah, but I mean, you know, look, you you you you you're not I mean, that's not your building block. All right. I mean, and here's the thing you might trade him after a year, you might move off of Kyrie. I mean, if look, if you got a Darius Acuff, yeah, and let him, you know, have him split uh ball handling duties with Kyrie for a year, or maybe you keep him for another year. I think they signed him to a three-year, $120 million deal or 40, whatever it was, uh, when they signed him last year. But no, no, I mean, look, you're keeping Kyrie. Kyrie's not going anywhere, but you're you're not, you, you, look, you're they're gonna get the Spurs treatment, okay? They're gonna get the San Antonio Spurs treatment, all right? Especially with the way uh the way Luke is playing right now. It you know, when he was had when he was struggling a little bit, and I say struggling in parentheses because let's call it what it is. I mean, this guy's just been a monster the last eight or nine games. Ever since his ever since the baby mama drama came out, uh that his wife took the or that his uh girlfriend, fiance, whatever the hell she was, cut off the engagement, took the kids back to Slovenia. I mean, look, it's one thing to have your baby mama run off your kids to another house or state. Distractions are gone tree. Okay. So, you know, I mean, this is the this is the Luka Donczyk baby daddy revenge tour, and I'm here for it. Um, but I don't take the Lakers seriously.

SPEAKER_01

I really don't because really, so here's why I don't take them seriously. Because I think San Antonio in the second round walks them. Like, walks them, like five games.

SPEAKER_03

Like generally, no, it won't it won't be that because look, Luca's actually in shape right now.

SPEAKER_01

Do we have a steak dinner bet on this? They play in the second round. I'm gonna tell you the Spurs steak bet. Spurs take them out in five, done.

SPEAKER_03

Less than five. I'll take I'll take uh done. 20 ounce rib by medium rare, please, mac and keys on the side, um, iced tea to drink. Uh no, I'll tell you right now, Luke. Give me the whole order. I'll give you the whole order. I'll give you the whole, and I'll eat all the bread too. Um no, Lucas playing out of his mind right now, and LeBron. See, LeBron's the k LeBron's the key in all this, okay? Like, yeah, I get it. He's 42 years old, he's on God knows what. But if you get the kind of LeBron performance that you got last night, and let's be real, I mean, the Heat aren't anywhere in the same zip code as as the San Antonio Spurs, and and you know, who's gonna guard Wemby? I mean, it's not like it's gonna be DeAndre Ayton for God's sakes, but you know, you outside of that, the Lakers match up. And and oh, by the way, who's stopping Luca in uh on San Antonio?

SPEAKER_02

No, no, no, so that's the thing, right?

SPEAKER_01

Luca's gonna get his points. Like I've said that forever. You you've said that Luca's gonna get his points, right? Um I just team-wise, I just don't think they're a better basketball team. I just don't.

SPEAKER_03

I think collectively, I don't disagree with you. I think collectively the Spurs are a better team, but you don't have to, but you know, in a seven-game series, better team doesn't always win.

SPEAKER_01

And by the way, I I'm not a LeBron guy. You aren't either. You are a Michael Jordan guy. I mean I I'm a LeBron, I respect LeBron. I do too. I would never but he's he's like the the king of the flop, like we've always said that. But I don't put this on LeBron. LeBron's 42. This is on Luca and Austin Reeves, and LeBron is the third guy. And if he's a great guy, by the way, that might be the best third guy ever.

unknown

Right?

SPEAKER_03

But and and and see that's what I'm and that's my point is oh, by the way, look, LeBron can still give you 30. Yep. Now you can't rely on it, nor should you, but he's still capable of it. And and oh, by the way, if there's a seven-game series between the Spurs and the K and the uh and the Lakers, uh uh, is there a more uh is it who's better experience-wise and who's better battle tested for that moment than LeBron James? Agree. Nobody. I agree.

SPEAKER_01

I just but those three are on the court together in terms of needing defensive stops, and you need defensive stops in the playoffs.

SPEAKER_03

You you will have some issues there, but I I think that if you if if the way this team's playing right now, and again, I go back to the way LeBron's played over the last look, LeBron has quietly accepted one more title with these guys. Yeah. If I if I play third fiddle, and to your point, might be the best third fiddle in NBA history, and just fill in the gaps and fill in the spots, preserve my energy, and all of a sudden, you know, LeBron's over there, you know, dunking on dudes like we saw from 10 years ago. And oh, by the way, I don't have to do the heavy lifting, and I got a LeBron that's actually got legs still in the fourth quarter, dude. Yeah, and oh by the way, Lucas actually in shape and not huffing and puffing and finally put bitch into the refs every play.

SPEAKER_01

Well, yeah, we talked about that the last time. I just and and let's say you get by San Antonio, which I don't think you're going to, but let's say you do. OKC's waiting for you. And you know, I I just I think OKC's the better basketball team. I think the two best basketball are gonna be aware.

SPEAKER_03

No, Luca's got Lucas got OKC's number. Luca is an OKC killer, 100%. We got it. 100%. 100%. I'm telling you right now, if the Lakers get past the Spurs in the second round of the playoffs, they will win the whole thing.

SPEAKER_01

Really? 100%.

SPEAKER_03

I'm telling you, Lucas on a mission.

SPEAKER_01

Now, this is a good thing. Lucas are a mission. This is the third time. This is this Fred Davis, the fan after dog, sports radio.

SPEAKER_03

Go check him out, Dallas Sports Radio. Right. Look, I throw out I throw out predictions like they're going out of style, man. I but I but I put a little bit of of of of some semblance, not a lot, of of of uh you know, logic behind them. Maybe not the best logic in the world, but it worked out. Sounds good to me. Your logic always sounds good to me, brother. If you say, if you say it confidently enough, someone will believe it.

SPEAKER_01

So, all right, now take Kansas out of the equation, which I know is very hard for you to do, okay? Because you are Kansas guy. But keep in dogs.

SPEAKER_03

I need two brackets, by the way. I need two brackets.

SPEAKER_01

Give me a dog horse. Don't give, you know, we all said Duke in Arizona and Michigan, one seeds, okay.

SPEAKER_03

Um no, Arizona, look, Arizona is gonna win the whole thing.

SPEAKER_01

You think so?

SPEAKER_03

Look, I mean, unless in in in unless something just look, even in the games they've lost, okay, they lost to who they lose to? I want to say they lost to Texas Tech, they lost to KU. Overall games they led in up until the very end of the game.

SPEAKER_01

And KU they run into. Well, they had that situation where that team never loses a Monday night game at home.

SPEAKER_03

Well, I mean, that's my point, okay, is that you had these extreme circumstances surrounding, and oh, by the way, they were in or led in both of those games, okay? So it's not like they just got white. Even on nights when Arizona didn't play its best basketball, they still won or should have won. All right. So when you look at what's what's the what's kind of the the recipe for how you got to win in in in in March, right? A you need NBA first rounders, okay. Boom. Uh Arizona's got three of those. Okay, Co-opete's gonna be a lottery pick, right? The Barries kid could be a lottery pick. Uh, you know, the Bradford kid, who won the Big 12 player of the year and isn't even the best player on his own team. And and nobody even talks about it. Nobody even talks about it. Okay. Then you always need some random white dude who can shoot threes, okay? Boom. They got that guy, okay? Uh okay. They got some Lithuanian kid or or some European kid that nobody can pronounce his name. All right, he should be a hockey player somewhere. He's seven foot two. He's over here shooting uh uh uh layups or not layups, but shooting jump shots and hook shots and what have you. Uh they go seven deep, and they've got a tournament tested coach in Tommy Lloyd. So, you know, who's who's been there and done that 20 years as a as a uh he's kind of a you know what he is to me a little bit. He's kind of a poor man's Roy Williams in the sense that he spent 20 years as Mark Fuse's uh uh assist head assistant before he went and got his own did his own thing over to Arizona. Yeah, right? We forget that Roy was 20 years with uh Dean Smith and then you know took off and ran with KU before he went to North Carolina. Tommy Lloyd kind of fits that same, and they're both just A-plus recruiters. So, you know, you got seven deep, you ran through the gauntlet of the Big 12, you never missed a beat doing it. You go seven deep. You got there, there's not a team in basketball, and Duke's included, that can match up with I mean, Duke maybe a little bit, but they gotta be healthy. Good luck slowing that down.

SPEAKER_01

You don't think Arizona wins the whole thing. Uh and that's fine. Um you think Arkansas could could give them a little bit of a problem? They do they they would they be in the Sweet 16, those two teams? Yes, they would be. They would be in the Sweet 16, right? They would be.

SPEAKER_03

Uh, I don't have no, and I'm gonna tell you why. They don't have the they don't have the depth of the of the.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, they got the injuries, Knox, and all those guys, man.

SPEAKER_03

I'm gonna give you the and I'm telling you right now, Brazil's gonna get eaten alive.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, he had a bad, he he couldn't shoot the ball for hell last night, but I mean he really didn't need to. Um, you know, they had five.

SPEAKER_03

They just come at you in waves, man. That's the thing. And and and look, look, Brazil's probably what, 6'10, 6'9, 6'10, you know, 220. I mean, you got the Koa Pete, who's probably 18, 19 years old. This kid's like 6'9, 240. I mean, he's got a grown man's body right now. Okay, so that's what I'm saying. You got three or four dudes bigs that are grown ass men who have NBA bodies today that you got to contend with. And then, like I said, you got the three or four guards. It just, I'm I'm telling you, Arizona's just got too much, uh uh, they just got too much firepower. So And they play good defense. They do. I look they're there's four teams, right? So if you look, I did a thing yesterday, God bless AI. I did a thing yesterday. I said, look, give me the four team, give me the one characteristic uh of teams that have won the title in the last uh 10 years, all right. And the number one is that in in with the Ken palm, and you know, you can do what you want with the Ken Palm. At the very least, it's just good from a it's just a good statistic to have in hip hop, right? But in the last uh 10 years, if you're gonna win a title, you gotta be in the top 10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency with Ken Palm. Okay, the 14 there's only four teams uh in the tournament this year that that that that have that uh characteristic. Sure. Arizona, Duke, Florida, and and U of H.

SPEAKER_01

So you have three of the top uh you have three number one seeds there. You have U of H who's a number two. Who's a number two? So for a look, it's easy to come on, like my business. You know, it's easy to come on, say Duke or Arizona, and you know, people don't really pay for that because they could do that on their own. You're really looking for like a you know um some value. Yeah, and I think um I think Arkansas, even though they got to run into Arizona, I think they're a good value pick. I've said it for a little while now. I think Illinois could become a problem.

SPEAKER_03

I agree.

SPEAKER_01

You know, I agree they they shoot the three, they got length, they got they're not a bad defensive team. Um they went through the gauntlet of the Big Ten. I think they could create a problem.

SPEAKER_03

But they're gonna have to do that road game thing, though. They gotta do the road game thing when they go meet U of H.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah. I mean, they they really did U of H well, putting them in the middle of the state. They sure did.

SPEAKER_03

I mean, they did uh they want Kelvin Samson to win a title, they really, really do.

SPEAKER_01

Uh and you know something? He deserves a title. No, he absolutely does. I mean, if you could have made some shots last year, you would have won it. Yeah, he well, you know, in fairness to that too, you know, everyone forgets. I I believe they were down six to Duke with like a minute left. Everyone forgets that in the national semifinal. Yeah, they were down with like a minute left and had a fantastic comeback. Um I I I do think, you know what, I and I said this when I was on with John Schaefer, who's you know, uh radio host in San Diego. I said there's ten teams that if they won this thing, it wouldn't shock me. It wouldn't shock me at all. There's ten teams, it wouldn't shock me if they won. Like if Michigan State won, would it shock you? Would you be like, holy shit, Michigan State?

SPEAKER_03

A little bit. Really? What a little bit. Because I just don't know. I mean, look, we know they play great defense, but I I don't know. I mean, they've only got, I mean, they got three guys that average double digits, but I just don't know outside of uh what is it, fears. I don't know that you got a guy that could just go get his own bucket, right? Same thing, like Iowa State and Michigan State are kind of the same team to you, you know, you got the Jefferson kid. Now you do have the Jefferson kid for Iowa State that, like I said, that can make a uh they could make big buckets. You got the Keaton Wagler kid for for Illinois, uh, that can make big buckets. Like, but again, the one thing you know is that all right, who can be that second or third dude that comes out of nowhere? Because that's what wins you championships, right? Is that who when you're when when your big dog, like okay, AJ DeBonsta, great, goes goes off for 36 last night, got no help outside of him. Okay, you have to have that second or third dude that's gonna come out of nowhere, knock down threes. Hell, the guy, um, you know, this uh the game I was watching, was it right state and and uh Virginia? This dude's never hit threes before in his life. He has three in the first half, okay. I mean that, but that's the kind of shit that has to happen if you're gonna win and pull off an upset. So, you know, I can see Iowa State making a run. I can see them, like I said, I've got uh I've got them making the final four because like I said, I've got Michigan losing in the f in the second round of St. Louis on Saturday.

SPEAKER_01

So, you know, we'll see. But even still, like if Michigan goes and wins it, you're not surprised, right? Even though you have an upset, you got to pick some upsets in this thing. You know, in the other bracket, Florida or or U of H, if one of them win a national title, you're not surprised. No, I I'm not surprised at all if UConn wins, even though they just got pasted by St. John's. But if they go on a run and win six straight games, it wouldn't surprise me at all, right? So that and that's just we just went off. That's and then obviously you got Duke in that bracket as well. So that's four teams right there. You go over the other side, you got Arizona. Um, you know, obviously you think they're gonna win it. So I think Arkansas is gonna be a tough out. It wouldn't shock me if they they uh like that kid pulled off like a Kemble Walker type run.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, no, no, that that I that I could see. That I could see. Well, just their front their front court worries me a little bit. But again, hey man, all it takes is one one one hot night.

SPEAKER_01

That's it. All right, Fred Davis, I know you got to mention Kansas in there as well. We just gotta throw the Kansas thing in there. Oh man, I you know, if Kansas happens, if they both play, and again, we expect 'em to, I just don't I I might turn my phone off if I was gonna say.

SPEAKER_03

Go to your burner phone. Go to your burner phone because you don't want to hear from me. I love you. You don't want to hear from me.

SPEAKER_01

Go check out Fred Davis, the fan of After Dark, Dallas Sports Radio, man, the number one, number one rated nighttime show, right? I got to make sure I said that.

SPEAKER_00

There you go.

SPEAKER_01

Fred, thank you so much for coming on. And I'll tell you how good my relationship is with this man. You did me a favor today. Um, we had an MMA fighter lined up, ready to go. Again, we had a schedule in conflict, man. I called you up a couple hours ago. I said, yo, Fred, you want to jump on? No problem. And if you ever need me to do that, bro, I'm one phone call away. I'll pop right on for you.

SPEAKER_03

Enough said, big dog. Hey, we got to talk some baseball pretty soon, too. We got to talk some baseball. The Yankees, bro.

SPEAKER_01

Come on. You got the case.

SPEAKER_03

Hey, take that. Take that. I think the Rangers are at 83 and a half. Hammer the over. Hammer the over. Ah, another Homer pick. Here we go.

SPEAKER_01

Fred Davis, man. Thank you so much for popping on. Appreciate you, brother.

SPEAKER_03

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01

All right, that's going to wrap up this edition of the Bet Big Talk Loud Podcast. Hope you enjoyed it. We had JR live from Las Vegas. Fred Davis from Dallas Sports Radio jumps on as well. He gave you some nice underdog picks there. Uh JR wanted to give out a free pick, forgot to do it. It's the over in the Carolina game tonight in the NHL. The interview we just did with Fred Davis was sponsored by GirlsThatGamble.live and takingvegas.com. You can go check out girlsthatgamble.live. They got a great NCAA tournament deal going off, and takenvegas.com has 10 great handicappers there that are doing an awesome job as well. So go check out girlsthatgamble.