H1 Big 12 Tourney, Greg Gurley

0:00Celebrate the holidays at Advent Health Sports Park December 20th. Start your day with brunch and bowling with Santa at 10 a.m. Then hit the ice for skating with the Grinch at 2 p.m. Festive fun, photos and family memories all in one magical day. Don't miss it at Advent Health Sports Park. You are listening live to the program. Your teams, your town, your program. Vinnie Pasquatino, that balls hit pretty well. Right field and deep. To ram back to the wall is the leaves and it's gone. It's alright. And that's Steve. And that's gone. Pasquatch strikes his second. That one. I'm not sure if he got it all. Let's see. It's Steve. It is gone. He's hit three.

1:00And he's going to have so much to wrestle with him. He may not go to sleep tonight. This will be his third shot of a wrestle. Very painfully big fella. He saved America's what he did. He was a bravertised baseball player. And this house Vinnie Pasquatino is the hero. End of stone. And now ready to make an offer. No one can refuse. Seren Petro. Right you are K. Right you are. Petro in the program on sports radio 810WHB. Thanks for joining us here on a Thursday as we are broadcasting live. Where are we at Curtis? We are at the KC Miller light fan fest presented by sports radio 810WHB. Join sports radio 810WHB in Miller line for this event. Hang on. A little cotton out there. Live inside the power and light district for the men's big 12 basketball tournament. Pep rallies, watch parties, contests, live music, great food and of course cold Miller light.

2:01Make your planes now to join us every day at KC Live in the power and light district for the KC Miller light fan fest. Yes it is your tournament Kansas City. Come on down and enjoy it. It's a festive atmosphere here and we look forward to our broadcasting all day. We've been down here all day. The zone is down here. We're down here. This is our event. It really is. And that's been for 20 years. And we love it. We love it. We love being a part of it. Hopefully you're getting a chance to come down here. Whether it's this session or one of the others, come on down and be a part of the tournament and the action. Fast and furious. They've gone to the wood looking court. It's a gray wood. I'm good with that. I like that one the best. For sure. To be honest with you. For me. That is the Louis Vuitton one looks better on TV than it does in some of the pictures because of the angle but the wood grain one looks pretty cool.

3:01Yeah. I'm good with that. I'll take it. I will take it. But I already had so we said that it's causing migraines. Are we really? Do we really think that's the case or are we just decide something's new? I'm going to lay on a bunch of gripes. It might have caused that for one player. I can't remember who it was. It was because they were talking about the guy was talking about it. It was somebody else said one person. I haven't heard that from anybody else. The only thing I've heard from multiple players is the traction. You heard that Jefferson for Iowa State changed shoes in the middle of the game and went to shoes that he thought gave him a better traction. Apparently that worked as Iowa State really took care of Texas Tech today in a big way. Iowa State's in a mood. We'll just say that. They followed up there all time great beat down yesterday by beating Texas Tech 75 53. Now we know Texas Tech as a higher seed isn't what they were they were underdogs because they're down the best player.

4:05But 75 53 holy cow cyclones save some points for tomorrow when you face Arizona. Yeah. So we know Iowa State is moving on and the muscle in this tournament continues to be flexed. And we you know we could have what is just going to be. If you have Kansas, Arizona, Houston and Iowa State. There are Kansas like when was we we have four teams four you know nationally ranked teams top 15 teams. Kansas the lowest of the bunch. Yeah. That's crazy. And as Jason was mentioning or mentioned earlier today there are eight teams playing today. All eight of them are solidly in the big 12 tournament. And five of the eight are ranked in the top 16 in the country. We knew kind of the you know the depth of this conference has been kind of you know it's fat. It's it's fatter now. But this I think just this this day alone is illustrative of that.

5:08That there's not one team you're going to see at this place today all day long. It's not going to be playing in March. It's amazing. And none of them are really even like on the fence the lowest one I saw in the bracket matrix. I think was UCF is a 10. So now it's for the other conference tournament going on of local note to Missouri. I guess we'll find out they kind of hung around with Kentucky but never really could offset a pretty bad into the first half. And they fall 78 72 so their work is already done in Nashville. So they'll sit around and wait and see. I mean what what happens not not the best way. Again I didn't play particularly good defense or shooting kind of came alive in the second half almost 50% from the field for Kentucky. So Missouri is going to sit around and hope that they don't fall bracket matrix had them before today's game is the last 10. And they were in 114 of 114 brackets.

6:09The most recent thing that Lunardi put out which was 2 a.m. overnight. Have them as an 11 in a play in game whether tonight today's loss. That's that you're talking about the bottom two 11s there. And if you're the bottom four 11s bottom bottom two of the power conference teams. Just today today not come out. I don't know. I mean I think I think you went from I think with a win over Kentucky you know you're in and you're looking for where you are. I think you feel like you're in just because I think the bottom of the bracket is is going to be some filler like teams. I mean when we're talking about Auburn being in. I mean I'm not impressed with what we're looking at. I think Missouri is going to be in just because you got to fill 68 teams. Yeah. To which I've heard. Let me just get on my soapbox. Where everyone's like we don't need to expand. I mean we already we don't have enough to fill 68. Right. Yeah I get it. But they're not going backwards.

7:09No. Right they want the commercial inventory. And so let me give you my reason for why that's exactly why you should expand. Because. Having a bunch of Auburn like teams playing. Each other. Like if Missouri had to play Auburn. Right or Missouri to play TCU that's a compelling game. Yeah. Like to play in games are good. Right and if you slide down. And you and you take the bottom teams the 16s. And you like for me I would take the tournament to eight. Right. Just just hear me out. I would take the tournament to 80 as it is right now we have four teams. That play in for the 16s and four teams that play in for the 11s. Right. Which gets us four teams. Right. You know eight total teams playing. Yeah. Just basically take that to where you would have. Double that right. Was that what I'd be or no you'd be more than that.

8:09Yeah. You take. 30. You take 32 of them. Yeah. Sixteen would play in the first round. Yeah. Forty forty eight would have a buy. Right. And then your bottom end of the. At large is like we have now in your bottom end of the 16s. 16s and 15s. Yeah. What would the 16 worst of the 30. Whatever the. Power conference or the automatic bins that aren't in power conferences. It would be two sets two nights to Tuesday and Wednesday of four games and four games. Right. Two a double session of four and four. Just like the sweet 16. It'd be awesome. It'd be like the sweet 16. It'd be it'd be really kind of like just the night session of the opening round. Yeah. Right. You wouldn't need the day games. You just do it all at night. And by having you've already got the four channels dedicated to it. True TV TNT TBS and CBS. You you would be able to enact all four of those channels. And what you get you is. No blowouts. Yes. Like you have to have four blowouts for it to be an uncompulling night to watch television.

9:11Yeah. I think it'd be better than that first night. The first night of the. The tournament. The second session because they're all going to be evenly matched. Yes. I'd love that. Yes. That's what makes the play in the first four now so good. Because they're generally competitive games. Yes. And so this way the way I'm proposing it. You'd basically have 16 teams. Playing for eight spots at the bottom of the of the play of the at larges. And you'd have 16. Which would mean what the 16s the 15s the 14s and the 13s would all be playing. To get down it would really be it really be the 15s and 16s playing. Yeah. Lower teams if you want. But but in reality you'd be bumping down the 13 through 16s. Yeah. Right. You're putting in theoretically the at larges that you'd be putting in would be ranked higher. Then the bottom feeding conferences. Yeah. And so you get more compelling games and you basically now turn it into a six night. Smorgas board a basketball beginning on Tuesday night.

10:13Yeah. Starting at Tuesday at six. And basically every prime time. Hour between six o'clock on Tuesday to 11 o'clock on Sunday night is college basketball. Yeah. And to me. And so when everyone's like well you know Auburn's really nothing. I agree. I concur. The point being though this now gives you a chance to have those teams play. Yeah. Basically play their way into the traditional field while rewarding. The top 48 teams. So if you're you know. One of those clubs. Congratulations. Yeah. And if you're not you're you're playing your way to it. To me it's we're just getting more tournament. I never understood why. Well people like I don't you know. Expanding the season. It's like ridiculous thing like so you're against more football. Okay. Let me let me get you a t-shirt made so we can know you're the leper of society that doesn't want more football. Yeah. I don't know how you could not want more competitive college basketball this time of year.

11:14Don't tell me you're a college basketball fan. If you don't want more. And I agree that that I think the the point that they try to make for their not being. Uh needing more is as you said it really is the point to be made that they're. You do need more well you're already at a point where there aren't. Enough team. How many teams go into this thing with a chance to get the we get upsets in the first round. Maybe even the first two rounds but by the time we get to the second weekend it's pretty much chalk. The second round is where Cinderella's go to die generally. Yeah. If not there the elite eight are they so this week 16. Why not have more those type types of games you have in the first round but have them a little earlier. There may not be as good a teams as you'll see but the action is compelling and there's something on the line. Every game you're going to see someone's either going to go home or they're going to advance. You would have the games would be NC State against Cal Central Florida against Virginia Tech.

12:14Santa Clara against Oklahoma Texas against Cincinnati. Indiana against Auburn New Mexico against VCU Stanford against SMU and San Diego State. Missouri. Yeah. I mean those are all games that would be competitive games. And they would mean something because you'd be moving on. Yeah. Into the into the bracket four teams on Tuesday and four teams on Wednesday are playing for their seasons. And you get a celebration. Now you get two a night. You get you get more and for two nights. It's I love it. It also it keeps alive the Cinderella thing down at the bottom but it makes the Cinderella's play each other. And so we get fewer of the I know the 16s taking out the ones but what they want. And this to me solid a solidifies the big school the big league schools who want more money. Well more of them get into the tournament. Yeah. They get a lot more competitive games. And you know you eliminate they get in the tournament but you eliminate some of the 16s and 15s before they advance to the next round.

13:19So yes they're in the tournament. They got to dance. They get all the fun. They go out after one game like they usually do. But it's a more competitive game in a game against somebody that looks a lot more like them. And everybody wins everybody happy. So like when you like there was a don't expand it. It's not. Expand it. But don't expand it to where you have one playing an even worse team. Yeah. You have one playing the same caliber of team or slightly better making that round even more. But the extra games we get are competitive games. Those high those high seeded teams went when they get net first round game. They're playing a team that's coming off the win. That it might be better than the team they would normally would play who's been sitting around for a week and a half. Because their conference tournament ended, you know, eight days before. Yeah. So it's, you know, to me, it's an operator. It's an operator because it would be competitive. Yeah. Basketball and not just blowouts. It's all in the details of how you set the thing up.

14:19Yep. I'm on. And I think and eventually, you know, you can expand beyond that. But I think you could have 80 right now. And again, the point isn't that these are teams. Oh my god. What do you mean Virginia Tech should be in this tournament? They have. No, they don't have to be. But I like the NCAA tournament. I like the competitive games that have something riding on it that it's, you know, winner go home. That's compelling theater on television. I don't know why you wouldn't want more of that. I don't either. Makes no sense to me. Anyway. What's at stake for the Kansas J Hawks in this tournament? We're going to talk with Greg Gurley coming up in a little bit, coloring us for the Kansas J Hawks. What's at stake for them in this the way it's now breaking the way it's now falling. For what they're going to be looking at in this in this in this. What's now an 18 or now what is I guess we're down to seven. Yeah, 17 tournament since the first game is over. I would say there are two things. One, obviously there's there's a seed situation that I think they can.

15:21There's still room for them to go up or down. And a good week something to get you to a three. And allows you to bypass one of the power ones in this week's 16 is nice. It gives you a better second round game as well. You don't have to play a five of someone who's a dangerous five. Sometimes those five's are monsters. And you could. If you have a bad week, it's possible. TCU beats them tonight. Other things happen in that neighborhood. I'm big about what happens in your neighborhood there as far as the season concerned. It's a slight back to a five. And then you've got to play, you know, a four. And you it's not the best situation. So I think there's the obvious seed thing. And beyond that. It's a chance to play. Impactful games with. I can't. There hasn't been a time in Bill self's tenure here. I think there's been a time in anybody's tenure in my career where Kansas is hit.

16:21So the conference tournament thinking we need to find us some cohesiveness. We need to get some guys some minutes together on the court. So we're make sure we're good. When they say a tournament begins, they've never been in that spot before. The kind of in that spot right now. So every game you can get. Where you can work on that. Is even better. So I mean. They have two things to gain. I think thing for this. And a quick. They're going to get that if they win tonight. They'll at least get a couple games. So you'll have at least two games where you think you're going to. You'll have to get some cohesiveness. But the seed thing might take more than a. That that I think maybe has a little bit more play in it. Yeah, I they they have to at some point start playing. I mean, I like like we talked about this. We haven't really had a chance to get into it. But did they live up to expectations? Did they exceed expectations? Did they fall short of expectations from the preseason? Yeah, I think they. It's I think it's the strangest thing. Few teams. Ever. Would you be able to look at and have to take as many things into account.

17:24As Kansas, because a team that began the season ranked 19th and is currently sitting at 14th. You'd have to say they at least met expectations. But that flies in the face of the player that they expected to be. All American nacement player of the year. Candidate is not even on the list because he's. The biggest story he's been has been this year is not playing or occasionally not playing well when he is. But the other players, the Melbourne councils and guys like that tray whites. The rest of the players around him have improved to the degree that they could have the setback with Peterson and still actually be. A higher ranked teams and they were when the season began. So it there's three levels to me to are having an expectation. I would say as a team. I think they have met. I think they have met the expectations based upon being preseason 19. But we also thought 19 was low and that they would they we thought they were better. Yeah.

18:24Because of having there in Peterson and I think when you see the pieces play. No, they absolutely have not met the expectations of what their pieces add up to. If they could get them all on the floor together and go. And Peterson played the way we thought he was going to play and they were 14. So we say. You know that 19 as you said the 19 was a placeholder for them to eventually launch into the top 10 when they became a cohesive unit. Nobody thought they'd be 19 at this part of the season. How they do in this tournament and how they do in the NCAA tournament is going to go a long way to answering this question. But before they step foot on the floor tonight. Let's answer the question of what we think. Should this alter how you put a team together? What you've been through with Darren Peterson. Because what we've seen are generally speaking the national championship. Has not featured the number one or number two player in the country, right? Zion Williamson didn't get to the the files. Cooper flag did got there. Cooper flag got. But he got there. Yeah, he got there. So, but does this is this a statement of.

19:25It really is more about more veteran players since you're paying them anyway. Don't even mess around with those guys. Let somebody else get him or no. Is that is it just two way too small a sample size to rule that out? Is it all about know the kid? Yeah. Right? Like, oh, Cooper flag would would, you know, crawl out on the floor on one leg to play no matter what. Okay, we want that kid. Yeah. You know, what is the lesson to take away from the Kansas team? If you can do, because what thing about Duke? It was, it wouldn't just Cooper flag. It was Mollawatch and who was the other. Can everyone. Who's the favorite to be working with you this year? So over Cooper flag. And if you think you can put players of that stature around that number one guy, I think it's fine to sit to continue to go. It's it'd be weird to say, if the guy's the best player in the country, we don't really want him. I mean, I think you always would want a guy, but you have to figure out in doing that, are you going to have to? Is it going to be stars and what do you call it?

20:25Stars and Jags. Stars and Jags. Can you put the players around him to make that to make that work? I don't know that you should, that this is going to change the idea of going after the best player in the country, but you do have to make sure that that's not the only thing you get. So it's probably, it's, you can't expect any team to put together the trio of freshmen Duke had last year. It's just not something you would normally put that on anybody, even yourself. But you do have to kind of gauge what else do we have coming in? I mean, it right now, to me, and again, this is before he steps foot on the floor and potentially wins the big 12 tournament, potentially goes to a final floor, a lead A national championship, whatever. Right now, it does feel like the one thing you're coming away with is like, man, Ben Simmons, Markel Foltz, they're a handful of the best players, even Anthony Edwards, didn't do squat at Georgia. No. The number one player coming here, you know, is not the recipe for, yeah, definitely having success in a season.

21:32It is rare. But I will say all the all three of the other ones that we're talking about all took a non traditional route themselves. Ben Simmons went to LSU, Markel Foltz went to Washington and Anthony Edwards is from Atlanta, so that's a little bit different in him going to Georgia, like he stayed home, but usually the one one who goes to Duke, or North Carolina, or Kansas, or so this is the first one that followed the traditional path of, I've got any school to choose from. I'm going to choose one of the richest blue bloods out there, and I'm going to go for that and then it has not worked. Not has not worked to its full potential. Interesting. Yeah. He fits in that category of those kind of players. If they, if they would lose tonight, and if they would lose in the second round, he fits the, it would look like, okay, these, these one ones are over here in this group of like, well, we had to take them anyway. You know, I don't know. I don't know.

22:32Like, you're not going to turn downtown though. No. The number one player is like, guys, guys, kind of, I don't know how much he loves basketball, and he's really good at it. Do you want him? Oh. Nah. I don't think any coach is going to say no. They're going to say, well, let's get him on campus and see if we can figure him out, and get him focused and channeled, and this team has won two national championships in this program, since Bill Self's been here. But if you were going to, at the end of Bill Self's career, if you're going to look back at one season and say, I'd like to do a documentary on that. It would be this one, not the other two winners. Oh, Cheyenne Christian Brown, where they came from to win a title. That might be, but I think they're still writing the ending to what would be locally, like almost a 30-30 worthy story. They got the number one player in the country, and everything that's happened to this point has almost been more compelling than what's happened on the court. Yeah. The story around it is, because every day you don't know what's going to happen, what's he going to do?

23:34And the game starts, what are we going to get to be sitting here on March 12th, and still not really know what this team is, is unprecedented. Yeah, program. It is. It's in Bill Self said, he definitely is unprecedented for him. I don't know that there's any program you like, you know, a blue blood that's ever been in a situation like this. So it'll be fun. It'll be compelling no matter what happens. They have, I think, would you say, the easiest game of the four big boys? Yeah. Iowa State had tech, and they were the lower seed. Arizona has Central Florida. Houston has DeBanson, BYU. I know that they've been cold, but the town level, I mean, this is the easiest game. It will be a tremendous discipline. BYU is the sleeper out of that bottom. I will not be stunned at all off there at the championship game, because they've got the best. They got now have, you know, at least tied for the best player. He's been playing well, and they've been playing well. They don't seem like they've really missed Saunders. Now they've played K-State in West Virginia. But Houston, I'm not sold on because I did just can't seemingly consistently score off enough points.

24:38I won't be stunned at all if BYU wins that game tonight. And they get three wins. Now you get to the point where you're a fourth game in four days. Did the legs leave? But I think the BYU is certainly a sleeper. UCF versus TCU is about a push. I mean, Arizona is almost a 17 point favorite, but that's because that's Arizona versus Kansas. Not so much UCF versus TCU. I think KU. What's the KU line? I think it was five and a half when I looked last night. But it's not to be trifled with. No. TCU was farting around with OSU for most of last night, so. Down ten. Yeah, with like eight, nine and a ghost. Lesson, worse than farting around, so. Yeah. But they find it. Would that be sharding around? That would be. Okay. Let's make sure. Yeah, Mizzou going coming from 15 down to take a one point lead. And then not scoring in the last two and a half minutes today. That would be sharding around probably. I'll be Mizzou Mizzouing. That's that's. That was. That's what Mizzou does. Yes. All right.

25:38Let's take a break. We're going to talk to Greg Gurley, the coloring of us for the Kansas J.O.X. Join us next here in the program. All right. Welcome back here in the program here on Sports Radio 810WHB. Championship week here on Sports Radio 810WHB. Our championship week is brought to you by the Bob site auto group. Hollywood Casino. You know, we talk some Kansas basketball. Can't get enough Greg Gurley on the radio here on Sports Radio 810WHB. Most morning, afternoon, tonight. You know, most overexposed guy in Kansas City. Oh, I wouldn't go that far. I wouldn't go that far. So, okay, who would it be then? I don't know, but almost that far. I just don't like giving you that title. Okay. It's good. A little bit of it's good. Certainly overexposed. But the post, I'm not giving you that. Yes. Who would it be? A little bit of overexposed myself. I asked this question, and I'll be interested to get your thoughts on it. As we sit here going into the big 12 tournament, has Kansas met expectations falling short of expectations?

26:40Or exceeded expectations, because we went through it, and there are a lot of different ways you can attack that. You really can. I thought non-conference. I think we exceeded. Short answer to your question. I think we have, I guess, under-achieved, but still a lot out in front of us. There's times that we looked like the best team in the country, the type of team that could go on and win six games. At times, we looked like we could lose in the first round. So it's a difficult question. Now that we're whole, I think, you know, I just got done with another show talking about this. Last week at Arizona, we looked like we hadn't played together. We looked like we weren't motivated. Everything bad that could have happened happened. And then we come back home and we play great against Kansas State. Is that fool's gold? We know K State was a sinking ship and was easy pickings. It was senior night. All of the perfect storm stuff added up. We scored 104 points. We pulled our starters at the five-minute mark.

27:40So what can we gauge from that win? Confidence, playing well at the right time. But I don't know, we'll find out tonight. I, you know, you're nationally preseason 19, finished higher than that, so you could make a case. Well, we exceeded expectations. We're ranked higher now than we were earlier in the year. When you look at the pieces, and when you look at what the best moments have been from each individual and each kind of grouping, the two teams with and without, Darren Peterson, you would say no. If we could get the strengths of both of those together, you know, and a team should be when a team really comes together, it's better than its parts. The parts look really good. Like we've seen even the support pieces have big games, right? And so from that standpoint, it is the most perplexing team I've ever seen. Yeah, I think when we beat Tennessee and Vegas in that third-place game or to go and feed it whatever you want to call it, I thought, okay,

28:42there was no Darren, and we beat a really good Tennessee team at the time. They've struggled throughout the year, but at that time, that was a massive win. We're like, all right, we just beat them without the best player in the country or one of the best. And when we get him back, we play Yukon here coming up. He didn't play against Yukon, but like, all right. This was, there was excitement, obviously, and there still is, but it never really came together for a variety of factors and, but I don't want to get too negative. We're the third seed in the Big 12 tournament with a team that won 22 games or whatever we want in the toughest league in the country. So it's, again, a loaded, difficult thing to answer just like yes or no. If you ever, when it comes together, can it come together in a game? Like it's like, okay, there it is. That moment, it all clicked and now we're this team that's reaching its potential. Or is it a build? Are we going to have to see them build in this tournament hopefully play well against TCU then play even better

29:46in the next round and then play even better in the championship game and then play even better in the first round and so on. Or do you just, does it click and you become what you can actually be all of us? Well, I think with this team, you got to treat the next week like its own tournament, two games. Play well for two games, regroup and do it again. And that's kind of the mentality that everybody has to take, but in 22, that was it. We go to Fort Worth, win a couple games. We go to Chicago, win a couple games like all right. Now we got it. So I think it's a building, you have to build, you have to get better because you're going to play better teams. So yeah, it's right there for the take. And I use your alma mater in 03 as the example of what this team could be. One of the best players in the country if not the best in Carmelo Anthony and Darren Peterson. Really good pieces around them. And if guys can make shots when they take Carmelo Anthony away, like they did in the national championship game,

30:47it was Jerry McNamaran, it was all the guys that don't get talked about very much. That was Carmelo Anthony's team, but you know that team as well as anyone. It was the other guys that truly won that game, right? Well, in the second half, I mean, I think Carmelo Anthony got hurt in the first half. He was 10, 7 and 7 in the first half and 7, 3 and 0 in the second half. I also think Nick Collison did an unbelievable job regarding him much food. But to your point, yes, it was Hakim Warwick and Kweff Twaini and people won't remember a guy named Billy Edelon who was actually a really good guard on that team and had a lot of life problems that. And you had a big guy pace or something like that that Josh Pace is 6-6. Yeah, had a couple of dishes. But that's what it takes. I mean, and this Kansas team, when you look at Darren and then you look at Melvin and Trey and Flory, and what they can do, Bryson Tillers, the X-Factor, I think. And he's struggled this last month. And for us to really get to where we need to be, Bryson has to play well. He has to rebound consistently.

31:50So many second chance opportunities that our opponents get because we cannot corral a rebound. We've done pretty well rebounding wise throughout the year, but there's been some of those times that I was like, get your two hands on a ball, get it. 50-50 balls, you got to get 90% of them, or that's your goal. And there's times. So I'm being a kind of negative guy, and I shouldn't be. I just know the potential that this team has. But it's scary because it could all be over in 10 days. I think there should be, if maybe negative is not the right word, but afraid. Like the team, Kansas Tesla, they should play with fear. Because they know, and I think that could serve them well from the standpoint. They know they can't just roll the ball out there. Because there's nothing in their resume that says, we don't really have to be at our best. So from that standpoint, I do feel like they're not coming in overconfident. And that was the problem in Tempe against Arizona State.

32:51We had just lost Arizona. All right, we had three days out here with some balls out, practices, yelling, and screaming film sessions. And all right, and then we didn't come out with that desperation or that anger. We did in the second half, we showed, if you could bottle what we did in the first 14 minutes of the second half out there, we played with energy and passion and desperation. And in order to be the type of team, you need to be to win six in a row, that's where you got to start the game. Yeah, 22 was kind of a bumpy ride as well. And Remi Martin, I remember going, I don't know why they continue to mess around, like just move on. And then he was one of those important pieces through that tournament. I mean, that's the reason, like we've had people say, I don't know why they mess around with Darren Peterson. All you got to do is look back to 22. And this kid's immensely more talented. Well, so many people will come to me and say, hey, we're better without him. And at times, there's some truth to that where you play

33:55differently. But if we really want to make a run, which when you're at Kansas basketball, that's your goal as a national championship. Anything else is a disappointment. I know, put air quotes on disappointment. But he's the best player, the best offensive player I've seen this year. And if you want to win the shot clock or the game clock, gets down below 10. You've got a guy that can get to a spot, figure it out, and score. And that's the best teams that win national titles have one of those guys, maybe two. Because games get slower at some point in the NCAA tournament. And you take eight or nine seconds, get it over half court. So you got roughly 10 seconds in your offense to get something going. And then when you don't, you better have a guy. Because if you don't, it's some guy shooting a leap and leaner off one foot, hero ball. But when you have a guy, just like a lot of the best teams have that guy, Duke Scott Booser, Carolina head Caleb Wilson. I don't know if, I think Arizona's got buries.

34:57I mean, to me, buries is a top six or seven pick. I was very surprised, number one, not to get off topic that Bradley was the player of the year in the conference. Yes. Not, and that's no offense to him. But I mean, I was, I, I'm not a voter. But I thought when I saw demands, is in this league, is he now, you know, I mean, I thought that was odd. I don't know if I, and he looked like he was bothered by it. The other night when he went for voting. And I, I, I don't know, I guess it's kind of a knock to Bradley. I don't know if I'd have him on my first team, all big 12 team. Yeah, I, like, obviously, if there's 10, he's on it. I didn't, I didn't, when they started going to 10, I thought it was always five, but it's 10 now, I guess. All right, that's news to me. I, I haven't voted on it for a couple of years. So, but anyway, there's 10. So, you know, everybody gets surprised. But I, I thought that was odd and, and, and probably pissed off Devonze. Yeah. And, and, and Darren, hopefully it, you know, pissed him off, not being on the first team, that part of it's just, you know,

35:57availability and being in the game, you know, playing enough games. But I thought the other interesting one was that, that Trey White didn't receive a vote at all. Like, I don't know, I mentioned nothing. I thought that was surprising, because he's been a, a big part of our success. So, I don't know, all that, all that being said, you, there's, you know, it's best league in the country for a reason. I mean, probably four or five of the top ten picks will be from this league. And I just looked, looked at it and went back all the way. This is, if bracket, the bracketology seemed pretty convinced that all eight teams playing today are in. If that happens, it will be the first time in big 12 tournament history that all four quarter finals games were matchups of NCAA tournament teams. Oh, five times there have been three, including last year. This will be the first time where all four games on, on Thursday are NCAA tournament matchups. You know, center four is probably going to get beat today, but let's, let's give them their props and 32 to eight,

36:58so probably right. And comparing them, though, with like Auburn, which I know has been a hot button, they've 17 wins. And Joel and Arty says they're in. I can't figure that one out. And then we had the, they're up five on tennis. We had the, we had the interesting one yesterday with Miami Ohio losing and will they get in? I think they will, but they're strength schedules terrible. Well, because schools like you won't play them. Well, don't put this on. Oh, it's on you. I do. I have a lot of jobs scheduling is not one of them, but somebody got knocked off the bubble. Yes, it probably for sure. Bill self is, you know, this he's one of the best at making the schedules. He does an amazing job of looking at a league and going, well, that's the team that's going to be either the league champion or the tournament champion. And you look at the, the KU schedule so many years like my got there in the tournament there in the tournament there in the tournament there in the tournament, and he does a really good job. So he will, he schedules those schools, but as a whole, the power leagues like Missouri schedules, nobody that can be a

38:00threat to them. And they still have a crappy noncon run of it. I mean, I wish that they would that you would have to do at least a two for one on any game schedule, you mean two at home and one up there, you can have two at home and one at their place. That's not going to happen. I know what's going to happen. You know, if everybody was, especially in the fair in the economics of how things work, I know that the bullies further from it, the bullies on the block, ain't doing that. I know. Now, there's been so much noise about people not playing them that I think that'll change. I think somebody will be like, all right, yeah, we'll play you. I will, we'll play two games at our place. Well, what they have to do is it's a great story, but it's like when Central Florida had their great run and football, and they immediately wanted everything that comes with being Alabama. Yeah, like, well, we're as good as Alabama. We're undefeated this year. Yeah, now go do it again and then do it again and then do it again, and you know what you are? You're a Gonzaga. Like that was Gonzaga. Early on, they would be undefeated with no one and then they built it up and then they would go play wherever. Yeah. And now it's worthwhile to go to Gonzaga because they're a brand.

39:01They've done it through multiple head coaches. Like, that's what you have to do to grow from the mid majors and the hard part for my people is going to be somebody who'll schedule them, but they're going to have an entirely different team next year. Yeah. If you have a good team at the Miami of Ohio level, those guys aren't staying. Yeah, they're going to get plucked off by all the big boys and then they're going to schedule some of these games and get run out of the gym. So it's, it's just, it's just such a, like you said, what have you done for me lately? Like, yeah, you want all the flowers that come along with undefeated or near undefeated season, whether it's football, basketball, whatever. And so it's just nowadays things change so quickly that I don't, I don't know how any of this is going to get fixed. Yeah, no, I, well, I didn't make fix it last week with a one hour meeting with 50 people in it. Yeah, I think it got all there. Yeah, no brainer. That's all you do. Everyone has 60 seconds. Donuts and coffee. You heard 50 people in a one hour meeting. Like, who? That'll take care of it.

40:02Even for the government. And none of them. That's right. Yes. And none of them players. Right. Yeah, what? No. 38 people from colleges, none of them. This entire thing started 50 years ago when the NCAA was so stubborn about amateurism. I mean, you know, the Olympics were that way for a long time. Yeah, I remember until they was at 94 with Dream Team, 94, 90 to 92. 92. And so remember how stubborn they were. And you're like, why won't we have our NBA people? And it was even evolving a little before that. Because like Carl Lewis was like one of the first guys to really be driving the car. Like the money was making its way to him. Yeah. Like they had this hook. I'm like, well, it was a spot. I, what did they call it? I can't, they had a name for it. Well, no, we're not paying him. Yeah. It's a sponsorship. Yeah, it's like, whatever it is, it's like, you know. But that's the thing about college sports is that just, you know, the leaders of that organization was your soul.

41:03They were just both beat in. Just, this is how we're doing. I don't care what you say. And I don't care if we lose lawsuits. And they finally lost the big one. And now we're all trying to figure it out. Yeah. You know, it's, it's, yeah, it's, it's a lot. It's a lot to try to figure out. There's no doubt. You got time. Can we take a break and come back? Yeah, let's do it a little more. I'll take a break one more with Greg Gurley, the color analyst of the Kansas J.O.X. is with us. We're live here for championship week. We're at the PNL, our championship week coverage brought to you by the Bob site auto group at Hollywood, Casino. You're in the program here on Sports Radio 810WHB as we are broadcasting live down at the PNL. Greg Gurley, color analyst for your Kansas J.O.X. is with us. Have you been out on that court? Yes. What do you want to say? Well, why the game is going on? Yes, I went down and stood on it. I think it's, I think it's awesome. I obviously haven't played on it nor will I ever. But I think the big 12 is doing the NBA a favor. And I'm glad they're doing it. I think it's a cool concept.

42:05I hope it works. I know every NBA team hope it's open works, because that would mean millions in revenue with advertising. I think it's a, if it's safe, yes, move. I don't, it doesn't, when they just go with the gray, it look, you can see where the pieces fit together. I don't like that when they, they, it needs a pattern. I will tell you this. I'm not, I'm not in love with the big 12 Louis Vuitton thing. But when they made it look like hardwood, like gray hardwoods, I thought it would, when you have, when you have the ability to do whatever, how you just pick gray, I'm like, no, you could do color palette you want. And, and whatever they, it's just maybe they're trying to emulate concrete, which would be my guess is what they're looking for. Right. But I think it's just so drab. I, I, the one thing we've talked about is it really makes the players and the player uniforms pop. True. It's almost like a monochrome background. You know, like when they'll do that to highlight only one

43:07person's in color, everybody else is black and white. It really does make the players pop and they can't obviously do blue or orange or whatever, because it would be an advantage maybe to the KU's or the Oklahoma States. So I get it, but there's got to be a color that's better than just like light gray. I, I wouldn't mind just, just make it look like hardwood. Yeah, I mean, that's the tradition in history. I mean, you know, we, we, other than what is it, Boise and Eastern Washington, yeah, they, they, they got, they like their blue turf, I think it sucks, right? But they, everything else is made to emulate grass, right? Astroturf is not real grass, but we make it look like grass because that's it's roots and where the playing surface came from. See the hardwoods of basketball, just do that. And then when you go to a timeout, run your commercials and your ads. And I love this, the idea of stats down at the other end. I think the, I think the starting lineups is cool when you're watching on TV, they sprays it, I think, I think it's just, it's awesome. I, you hear sneakers squeaking or whatever, like you're on wood

44:10when you're in there. You hear the noises that you would hear in a normal game, which is kind of interesting because it's obviously not wood. And yeah, it's, uh, but like, have you, have you felt it? No, it's like these little dots. I mean, it's essentially a television screen, like a jumbo tron or whatever, but it was a, it had an interesting texture. It's a jumbo tron with like something over it, right? Correct. That's part of the reason why the wood looks like it's like 12 in a way, you know, so I hope it works. And you know, it'll get better over time. They're going to slip on wood. They're going to slip on this. So I guess you'd have to compare the two. Like, was there more slippage on the glass? Maybe, but we shall see. All right. So how far do you go in the NCAA tournament? No, in this tournament. I think we went tonight and I, and I think we can beat. Houston, and then, and then, you know, once you get there, all bets are off. Have fun. And then, uh, NCAA tournament. I'm just talking in two game segments. Yeah, yeah.

45:10Well, I like that. I think it's the way it needs to be. Greg, always great catching up with you. We appreciate you have a great call tonight. Thanks for having me. Enjoy your closet here. Yeah. Thank you. Appreciate that. That's nice. We'll get more Greg Gurley tonight. It's Greg Gurley Radio today on sports radio 810, WHB. All right. How many Kansas players have scored 30 points in a big 12 tournament game brought to you by La Feta, Delacatessen?