← Don, Hahn & Rosenberg
Don, Hahn & Rosenberg
Hour 2: March Madness with Seth Greenberg
00:39:31
Don, Hahn & Rosenberg on ESPN NY
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- [00:00]
Ryan Reynolds
Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same Premium Wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities. So do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to do@mintmobile.com.
- [00:18]
Don LaGreca
Switch upfront payment of $45 for 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month Required intro rate first 3 months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See full terms@mintmobile.com this Don Han at Rosenberg podcast.
- [00:35]
Peter Rosenberg
That sounds like heaven to me.
- [00:36]
Alan Hahn
Listen live weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8 80, ESPN, the ESPN New York app and your smart speakers.
- [00:44]
Don LaGreca
All right into the 4 o'clock hour we go with Don Lagre and Peter Rosenberg. I'm Alan Hahn. 800 now 93776 is the number. We got tons of calls. We will get back to them ENN later on in this hour as well. But let's get into a tournament update brought to you by Schweppes West Region will be the one to watch locally. St. John's the two seed in the region. They'll take on Omaha in the first round. Yukon back to back champs. By the way, they're the eighth seed. They take on Oklahoma. That was the tournament update presented by Schweppes. Schweppes offers above the rim refreshment and is a proud sponsor of the Big East Conference. Enjoy the madness and take a break from the hoops action with a Schweppes Seltzer or Schweppes Ginger Ale. Now we bring in Seth Greenberg. He is a fantastic E ESPN college basketball analyst. Formerly of course a great coach as well. And he's been busy all morning breaking down the brackets and everything else. And first of all, coach, thanks for giving us a few minutes here. I know it's been a busy day.
- [01:42]
Seth Greenberg
Oh, thank you for having me. I literally just landed from Nashville and I'm on my way into Bristol in about three hours and a little bit of time of the year. Talking ball and talking to brackets and I tell you, it's going to be a great NCAA tournament. So many good matchups even in the first round.
- [01:58]
Don LaGreca
Yeah, it usually is too. And I guess look, it's everywhere you go, it's still huge no matter what. But because of the emergence of the St. John's program, it feels like in New York there's a different kind of buzz, especially Saturday night when they won the Big east championship, before we even get into the tournament. Just from yourself, a New York guy, just seeing that program and seeing what Rick Pitino did to get it where it is to a point now, where they got to a two seed, which I. A lot of people would tell me they didn't think they'd get that high of a seat. Three, maybe, at best. What does it tell you about what he's done with this program?
- [02:32]
Seth Greenberg
The Godfather? He's as good as he gets. I mean, look, I grew up with Rick Pino. He's a couple of years older than me, but we played in the same parks, and, you know, he played with my brother a lot in citywide and different tournaments. You know, Rick is a savant. He takes his team then beats you. He takes your team and beat you. He's. He's a special, special coach. Not always been the greatest evaluator of talent, but he really hit the home run with the guys who took it apart this year. But he's a masterful coach. And, you know, he got guys that fit his identity, fit his culture, fit his mindset. I mean, Barry Richmond, you know, just an absolute dog. I mean, that's right. The development of R.G. lewis, you know, what he's done with is absolutely phenomenal. I mean, you think about where that guy was. I had a chance to see him in high school in Kansas, where he is now. It's incredible. But Rick has got a gift. I mean, he's got a gift and he creates a vision and then he works towards that vision. He's got a relentless passion for teaching and coaching and developing players. And he's also got an incredible ability to galvanize people, and there's no better place to galvanize in the back of his hometown. With nine as a square garden and the energy that is created for the program.
- [03:51]
Peter Rosenberg
Seth, how can they navigate deep into this tournament? When they struggle with the threes, they struggle at the foul line. Can the defense be enough to carry them, or are they going to have to develop some perimeter shooting?
- [04:03]
Seth Greenberg
You know, they're shooting a little bit better right now. They are. They're shooting the better they get. Here's how they balance that is they get you in fast level. They get extra possessions off their defense, they get us off the glass. You know, they. They find ways to create easy scoring opportunities. Those two areas, and then late game, they're so, so good. You know, when you have tyranny, Richmond is going to put him in a ball straight in the Middle of the floor and you know, with RJ Lewis, you know, off the ring, you know, all, all of a sudden, I mean you talking about they're just dynamic at the end of games. I mean just dynamic at the end of games. It's phenomenal what they do. You know, the pieces fit. I mean I think that, you know, they got to get Smith kid 100% healthy, but I think they're fine. They shoot it well enough and they're shooting it a lot better in the last few weeks.
- [05:00]
Unknown
Now Seth, I know you feel strongly about Florida. Who's in in this bracket? My guys, the Terps are in this bracket who've had a really nice season as well. Kansas in terms of possible places St. John's landed. How difficult do you consider the west to be?
- [05:18]
Seth Greenberg
You know, I think it's difficult. I think that's a statute difficult. But look, I mean the thing is Florida, Florida's at another level. Florida to me is Yukon esque. And what UConn did the last two years, that's what Florida resides me of right now. The way they're playing, I call Noah's Ark. They got to everything. Their backboard is ridiculous. Whether it's Walter Clayton who plays for Rick Patino and Iota Will Richard who started at Belmont or Elijah Martin who started FAQ or Aberdeen who actually was a freshman that came to school there. Their backcourt is deep, fiscal tough, two way top 10 offensive defensive efficiency. And then up front they got the two European kids, international kids I should say. And then they got the continual who does an incredible job of protecting the rim. And then they just got the kid hand blocking who was beat up and hurt. They got it back. So think about that. They got like eight, 10 man rotation and every guy that comes in, all right. Impacts winning and I think that's, that's what coach Gold has been able to do. Todd's been able to do is that he gets guys to buy into the good of the group, which is really hard today. But taking those transfers and getting them to buy and getting them to trust each other, getting him to compete, getting him to play and get to the next play and give up a little bit of themselves in the good of the group. It's been, it's been fun to watch. I went down and watched it practice in the fall and then I went down and we did game day with them and to see their development, but to watch their camaraderie, like those dudes are all about one thing. As good as they are, they're about Just winning. I mean, like, that's hard to do in today's college basketball because the static around players is so incredible that everyone, you know, their circle of influence is everyone's selfish. It's all about me, me, me, me. This team's all about each other. And you see it when they play and. And it's really fun. And the Force, you would think they're playing like an NBA team. The Force and the pace that they play with is absolutely ridiculous. And the freedom that they play with. I mean, they're coming at you and they're coming at you downhill, aggressive. There's no reset. It's flow, boom, attack. Basically it's a dribble, handoff, ball screen, continuity type thing. But it's. It's all different kinds of counters. I mean, they are really, really good. I mean, like, next level good.
- [08:00]
Don LaGreca
I love that you use that. You call them Noah's Ark. They have two of everything. I mean, that's clearly depth, what you're talking about. But what a great way. What a great way to describe it. We're talking to Seth Greenberg, our ESPN college basketball analyst. March madness has certainly begun when you see Cooper Flag go down the way he goes down. And you know, like, again, the coach in you is probably saying, I, you can't play him in the ACC tournament. No doubt about it. But if he's compromised, like, how do you handle it? How does John Shire handle it with Duke, who's the favorite to win the whole damn thing? He's going to be the number one pick regardless of what happens. I don't think it changes anything with what happens in the tournament. So how do you handle it, Coach, with. With Cooper Flag, a guy that's the biggest name in the country?
- [08:47]
Seth Greenberg
You know, Alan, it's different now than it was five years ago, because here, you know how you handle it now? And it sounds kind of silly. All right, first and foremost, it start. It starts with your medical staff. All right, what feedback you getting from your medical staff? So that's number one. Second thing is his parents. Third thing is his agent. And fourth thing is. The fourth thing is. Hold on a second. A guy just ran that to me in the parking lot. He's oblivious.
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Unknown
Oh, no.
- [09:19]
Seth Greenberg
And the fourth thing is, is Coach Shire, so. I mean, it's a different world, but the kid loves ball. All right, so, like, we had this conversation when it first happened. When do you bring him back? All right, first of all, I talked to John just the other day. This is their plan. All right? Today he's on the court, doing skill work now. And you know what that is? That's gonna. That's gonna be footwork, stuff, shooting, some ball handling, some change of direction, change of pace, start and stopping, and they'll give it some work. All right. Tomorrow they'll. He'll do some 5 on O and 5 on O will be basically running dummy offense. 5 and oh will be maybe dummy offense to transition to defensive transition. Just note, again, not against any type of physicality. Not. Not good on good. And then if there's no swelling, if there's no swelling, they'll work it up where they'll do. He'll go five on five, good on good for a short period of time. And by Friday, they're going to know whether he can go or not. And I think it would be kind of like load management. I think. I think what it would be was already can go first round game, you want to get him. You want to raise his temperature. So, like, say the first round game again, you know, obviously should be a game. They should just go like, we're going to get in six minutes a half, but you want to get his feet wet. This is the argument that I've had with some people. I go, why would you play him? Stephen A. Was killing me. It was killing me. Why would you play him? Why would you? And because he's never played the NCAA tournament, right. He's got to get. He's got to kind of get lathered up. He's got to raise his temperature, but he's got to get a feel for that. And then once he gets a feel for it now, he's got the next day where now, boom, you got to go after it. So I would do a little load management thing. Here's the bigger question. If you got a Cooper flat, all right, and you, like, have the season that Duke has had, all right, how important is the conference tournament compared to making sure your team's healthy for the NCAA tournament?
- [11:24]
Don LaGreca
It's not.
- [11:24]
Seth Greenberg
That's the biggest question.
- [11:26]
Peter Rosenberg
It doesn't seem to affect the guys that lose. Didn't affect Auburn, that they lost. Right?
- [11:31]
Seth Greenberg
Yeah, yeah. I mean, like. I mean, like, here's the deal. I mean, like, you know, Auburn's a case in itself because Auburn was the most dominant team in college basketball for what, four months? And Chad Bacon, Zara had that incident. He's a shell of himself right now. A shell of himself playing with the same force and passion and energy, and they lost a little bit of their rhythm. But this tournament is going to be really? Really. It's. It's gonna be. It's gonna be so much fun. But I would say, yes, he's the four SEC schools. Please insert the payments card. Hold on. Give me one second.
- [12:11]
Unknown
All right. Handle your business, Seth. You know, lots going on over there.
- [12:13]
Peter Rosenberg
A lot going on.
- [12:14]
Unknown
It's a busy time of year.
- [12:16]
Don LaGreca
Yeah, yeah. He. He just. This is why I appreciate him because, you know, he did a ton of TV this morning.
- [12:21]
Unknown
Now he's fresh out of the airport.
- [12:23]
Don LaGreca
To Bristol to do more tv.
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Unknown
Come on.
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Don LaGreca
So. And he's kind enough to get.
- [12:26]
Unknown
This is his time of year.
- [12:27]
Peter Rosenberg
This is.
- [12:28]
Unknown
This is season.
- [12:29]
Don LaGreca
Yeah. This is go time for coach. So this is my.
- [12:31]
Unknown
By the way, my. My number one Seth in college basketball.
- [12:35]
Don LaGreca
Yes, Alan.
- [12:36]
Seth Greenberg
You know, they're not usually this time of year. You might not be working next year.
- [12:42]
Don LaGreca
That's a good point. As a coach, you want to be busy this time of year. This is very important.
- [12:50]
Seth Greenberg
Yeah. So, I mean, like. But they're sick. To me, there are six or seven teams that can win it. You know, if you're talking. I think Houston's got a shot. I think the four SEC teams, like, I'll take in the SEC against the field.
- [13:04]
Don LaGreca
Wow.
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Unknown
And percentage wise, that's a good call.
- [13:09]
Seth Greenberg
It is a good call. This is four of them, and there's about three others that have a chance to win it all. So I think. I think it's a. You know, if you're rolling the dice, you know, whether it's Auburn should get it going again. And, you know, I mean, this Florida team is fun. I mean, Tennessee, the way they defend Alabama, depending on Grant Nelson's health.
- [13:28]
Don LaGreca
Yeah.
- [13:29]
Seth Greenberg
I mean, those four teams are really, really good. Then you got 14 that for the New Yorker. And you guys, how many teams go to the Final Four? Because the last time three went to the Final Four, it was the big east, right?
- [13:42]
Don LaGreca
85. 85. It's incredible to think that that's. That's the only time. Now, coach, you know, my wife's a North Carolina girl. She's a Tar Heel. She's not happy with me. Well, even she said it. How the hell did they get in? How did they get in?
- [13:57]
Seth Greenberg
I wish I had more. I wish I had more North Carolina fans think that way instead of the ones that are killing me on social media. I don't know. I mean, I. I gotta be honest with. Look, I was on the bubble for 48 months of Virginia Tech. I mean, I understand what it is to be on the bubble. And. And I. I'M serious. Like, here's the thing. And everyone thought, well, look at this schedule. They non conference schedule. They play. You gotta beat someone. I mean, like the whole idea, there's two teams, there's a winner and a loser, and then you can't lose to all four of these. You can lose to one of them, you can lose two. You can't lose to Pitt, Wake, Clemson and Louisville. You can't lose to all four. You just can't. So, I mean, I was shocked. I love when they say Bubba didn't answer. And he's a really nice man, but he didn't answer the question about. Because, you know, he's out of the room when they talk about North Carolina. But breakfast, lunch and dinner is fine. But when they're talking about North Carolina, you know, he's not allowed to interject. I mean, the chair. The chair of the committee. The chair of the committee, like, who's setting the vision for the committee. Oh, I'm going to vote against him. And they put. I also think they put Xavier in a bracket because they had a similar resume. They had a very similar resume. They didn't have a lot of Quad one wins. So that kind of balanced it off where they said, well, hey, we put Xavier in.
- [15:25]
Don LaGreca
Yeah, I had a feeling you'd have an opinion on this one. But hey, you know, I'm a ratio.
- [15:31]
Peter Rosenberg
That's what we love about you, Coach.
- [15:33]
Seth Greenberg
We appreciate it's a hell of a first four. You know what I mean?
- [15:36]
Don LaGreca
I mean, think about Daytona always. It seems like they're always in it. Coach, I know this is a busy time. Again, thanks so much for giving us the time here in between gigs, you know, go from one spot to another. We'll probably see your face on TV again tonight, but we'll catch up with you down the road. Enjoy it. It sounds like you're excited for this.
- [15:54]
Seth Greenberg
Yeah. Can you guys get the Knicks Garden some, please?
- [15:59]
Don LaGreca
Can we, can we get them to not shake hands with Draymond Green after a game? Can we do that? Like, let's start there. That's. That's a. That's not what most Nick fans are used to. But that happened on Saturday night. All the best, coach. We'll talk to you soon.
- [16:13]
Seth Greenberg
Thanks, brother. Appreciate you.
- [16:14]
Don LaGreca
All right.
- [16:16]
Unknown
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- [16:38]
Don LaGreca
You heard him say unacceptable, by the way. You said he added that.
- [16:41]
Peter Rosenberg
Oh, yeah, because he's old school. It's not even old school. I mean, you're a coach. It just. The more I think about it, I guess the guy that I have the biggest problem with is Tibbs. He's old school. He's the coach. You know, he's the leader. With Brunson out, like, that's the guy that should take exception to it.
- [16:58]
Unknown
Well, it's the combination. Like, if the rest of the team had held their ground. Alan, hear me out on this. If the rest of the team and kind of held their ground and completely either blown off Draymond or even looked, like, angry at him, and then coach was sort of the. The face of reason being like, all right, all right, let's all settle down. You know, I have a relationship with him. Okay. Then I could sort of be okay with him being cool with Draymond. It was the combo of all of it that made it so bad. Like, I. I don't think that Thibodeau had to be. The idea that Thibodeau would have been the most angry, to me might have been weird because he has the relationship. He's not a player. He's a coach. But when he also was just one of many, dapping him up, it just all looked nasty.
- [17:51]
Don LaGreca
It was definitely strange, that's for sure. Like I said, I have a feeling pregame tonight, 5, 45, when he meets with the media, I have a feeling people will be asking him about it. I don't know why Saturday night, and I didn't see anything in regards to whether or not he was asked then. But a lot of times, guys, just to pull the curtain back, when you're covering a game, especially on the west coast, when the game ends, you're not really paying attention to that as much as you're trying to scramble to get the story in. And then you have to run to the back to the press conference stuff. So there's not a lot of eyeballs on it. So I don't know if they were aware of just how. How much interaction there was going on there. But I do think pre game, that is something that somebody's gonna have to ask Tom Thibodeau about, see what he has to say. So I'll keep an eye on that while I'm here at the Garden. But listen, you know, we just had Seth Greenberg on talking a little March Madness. And, you know, we didn't really get too much into it, but the Cooper flag thing's interesting. Guys like, this guy's number one pick regardless. It doesn't matter what happens. He could, like, you know, in college football, guys will bail out of bowl games because they don't want to mess with their draft status and all those things. They don't want to risk injury. I don't think an ankle, a sprained ankle is going to impact Cooper flag status. He's going number one no matter what, right? So we're not going to like, if he doesn't play, which would be surprising, but let's just say he doesn't play. It's. What is it? American University versus Mount St. Mary. Like, that's who they're playing in the first game. Like, why even bother if you can't beat them without him?
- [19:25]
Seth Greenberg
But that's.
- [19:25]
Don LaGreca
Then you shouldn't be a number one.
- [19:26]
Peter Rosenberg
But like Seth said, it's not about beating that playing team. It's about a kid that's never played in the tournament before, see where he's at, because obviously the next level is going to be harder and harder after that. Like, you don't want his debut in the tournament to be in a much tougher game at a higher speed. You can play around.
- [19:47]
Don LaGreca
It's Baylor versus Mississippi State. So you got the eight, nine, right, which, you know, Baylor's traditionally just physical, tough. You know that. You know what they're about. So, yeah, maybe.
- [19:57]
Peter Rosenberg
So play him for six, seven minutes. Let him get. Let him get acclimated.
- [20:00]
Unknown
See where you are.
- [20:01]
Peter Rosenberg
Can he play or not?
- [20:02]
Unknown
To me, it's. Can he play or not? If he's okay to play like, he's like. In other words, if the final was on Thursday, are they Thursday or Friday, whatever the first day is for them. If that was their Friday, they're Friday. Okay. If Friday was the day of the final, would he play? To me, if he would play in that game, then he suited up for this game. How much you're going to play him? Well, you wait and see how he feels. You see how much you need him. But I. But if he's capable of playing in any way, I think you want to get him taped up out there on the floor, see what he can do. They're up 29 in the first with seven minutes to go in the first half. Well, he sits down, doesn't do too much. But like, yeah, you want to at least get. You got to feel what that tournament feels like. The air is different. Everything's different in the tournament.
- [20:51]
Peter Rosenberg
You got to feel that. And you also just got to know what you have to work with. All right, he can run on it, he can jog on it, he can practice on it, but you're never going to know what it feels like until you get into a game. So give him a few minutes. Where are you at? Oh, I feel good. I feel like I can really push it here. All right, well, listen, we're up 25. I don't have to bother, but now we know for the next round of 32 that maybe we elevate the minutes now we can push it a little bit more. So you just got to know where you're at. So I think people get caught up in his draft status and all that. Right now he's a member of Duke. They're trying to win a national championship. It's not the end of the world injury. Test it out. But this idea, oh, you can't play him. It's ridiculous. No, there's still value both for him mentally and also to see where he's at. Not because you don't need him, of course you don't need him. You're not winning a national championship if you're living and dying in the play in to a play in team. But it's just making sure of what you have to work with moving forward. I'm really just getting irritated, honestly, that it's almost like. Like it doesn't matter. The only reason he went to college is because he wants to become an NBA player. Like none of this matters. It does matter. It matters to the school. It matters to the fans of the team. It matters to the guys that are on that team that aren't going to be draft eligible, that don't have an NBA future. I mean, I just get irritated about, oh, I'm not going to play in a bowl, in the Independence bowl because I'm going to be drafted in the first round and screw you guys. I'm worried about my. That. It does bother me, guys. It does. I get the nil. I get that you've got bigger fish to fry, but you are a member of a team and that team's trying to win a national championship. Be careful. Of course. But let's not just throw away Duke because he's going to be the first pick in the draft. Like you said, he's going to be the first pick of the draft no matter what.
- [22:34]
Unknown
Totally agree with you.
- [22:35]
Don LaGreca
Yeah, I do think that's. That's a real thing. Now, I don't think what you said, Don, I've heard that from many guys. Like, the college team actually is very personal to a lot of these guys. Even though they're only there now. There's a few that, you know, you're on campus for about four months. Like, you know, like once the season's over, you don't finish, you know, you're out, you're gone. A lot of these guys, I always call it a semester and a half of college because you don't finish the spring semester once March Madness is over with. Some of these guys are like that. They don't care. But a majority of them, it does matter. It's very personal. And for him especially, think about it, the status of winning a national championship, you know, number one pick. Yeah, we already know that's a given. It's done right for him, though. The legacy of a national championship or taking your team deep, you know, in a tournament run, like, that's what you play for. So I'm just curious how they're going to handle it and how it's all, all going to work out. Because while Duke's, you know, number one seed, 31 win team and a favorite according to ESPN, bet to win the whole thing. You know, like, like Seth said, those SEC teams, like, those are some tough teams like this. I would not go chalk when I, when I do my bracket, there's no way in hell that I'm going chalk. There's a lot on this bracket that are dangerous matchups for a lot of these top teams.
- [23:51]
Alan Hahn
Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.
- [23:55]
Unknown
I didn't listen to anything you just said.
- [23:56]
Alan Hahn
Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.
- [24:04]
Don LaGreca
Let's do a game time brought to you by Telemardu Irish Whiskey. Because when it's game time, it's tubby town. Knicks host the Heat tonight right here at Madison Square Garden. Coverage immediately following us on 880, that is at 7pm After Knicks coverage, we'll have the conclusion of the Nuggets warriors game, by the way, on 880. And on the ice, you've got the Devils visiting the Blue Jackets. That game is a puck drop at 7 Tullamore du the original triple distilled, triple blended, triple cast mature at Irish Whiskey. But be sure to grab a Tullamore Dew or try the new Tullamore Dew, honey, during tonight's action. Glasses up to enjoying Tullamore Dew responsibly. Let's get back to the calls. Chris is in Piscataway. What's up, Chris?
- [24:49]
Seth Greenberg
Hey, guys.
- [24:49]
Unknown
How you doing today? So I know dominates the news and that March Madness, a big thing. But to me, I think, to me, it's the time of year that we all stop pretending we care. These kids actually go to class and that they're doing the most important thing, which is actually making the college's money, because, I mean, they're flying all over the country. I mean, let's be real. Classes are still going on and they're.
- [25:09]
Peter Rosenberg
Not in them, right? Well, they're getting paid now. They're professionals.
- [25:12]
Don LaGreca
Hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on, Chris. You know, they will. They will go to the site probably on a Wednesday. If they play on Friday, right? Like, they'll go to the site, they'll get a practice in on the court and all that stuff. You do know that tutors go with the team, and there is time scheduled during the day for them to make up whatever classes they're missing. The professors will provide. My son plays college hockey. They travel a lot. They. This is what you have. You're given work that you have to do and then turn into the professor. There are tutors that are available to them because of this. It's not. They don't go to class. They have to do what they do. And it's football. It's every sport. Like, the basketball is not the only sport that's traveling right now. You know, the other sports also that have their tournaments. I mean, baseball, they said a lot of the Northeast teams spend a lot of time in Florida in the warm weather to start their season. They're not. Not going to class. They have tutors. So, you know, like, is it the same? No, but you've seen these stories, by the way. You win a. You win a regional, and the next day you're in class and the whole class stands up and gives you an ovation. Like that. That happens a lot. It's not your. Not. It's not the next three weeks, they're not even in school. You go back to campus after you're done at that weekend's regional. That's why they do it Thursday, Friday, or Saturday, Sunday. By Monday, you're back on campus. Like, I don't want anybody to get this illusion that, like, it's. It's an entire month where you don't go to class. That is. That is not accurate at all. So sorry I went soapbox on. On them boys, but I just. I don't like that idea that student athletes don't actually do student things. Are there some people that in the second semester they're not trying? Maybe because they don't care, because they know they're leaving and the grades don't matter. But these credits do matter. And at some point a lot of them are going to want to graduate. Only a handful of them are leaving after one year. Barely now, these days, barely. You know, a small percentage are going to be jumping into the NBA after one season.
- [27:12]
Peter Rosenberg
But the one and done that's, you know, making a million dollars in nil.
- [27:17]
Don LaGreca
Yeah.
- [27:18]
Peter Rosenberg
You know, and they know they're going to the NBA. Yeah. Maybe they'll collect those credits and at some point go back. But for the most part, the classes are. It's a joke. They're not really a student athlete. They're making a million dollars. They're preparing to go to the NBA. You know, there's a lot of other guys that are playing there that know they're going to go to school for four years. They don't have a future in the NBA or if they do, they know it's going to be for, you know, a 10 day contract.
- [27:40]
Don LaGreca
Done. Don, out of 300 players, is it. What do you think? Is it 10 of them at most that know that I don't have to finish this semester? So it's, it's. The majority of them are still have to take classes and, and meet with the tutor and go over, you know, make sure they get assignments done and all that stuff. Will a professor pardon them and say, well, we know you had a big weekend. I'll give you a couple more days to get that assignment. And I'm sure they do, but I mean.
- [28:08]
Peter Rosenberg
Oh, the overwhelming majority of student athletes are definitely student athletes, but there is a small percentage. That's a joke.
- [28:17]
Don LaGreca
Very small. Yes. And it is a joke. I agree. But this whole notion of how we pretend that they aren't, you know, that they're there to go to school is. Let's not do that. Like, I hate that notion. So I had to say something. Drake and Poughkeepsie. Drake.
- [28:34]
Unknown
Hey, guys. I wanted to share my experience of the post game hug fest that is the NBA and how it kind of ruined my experience of fanhood of my old New Jersey Nets. Well, they were the Brooklyn Nets by the time it got ruined. I'm sure Peter remembers when the Celtics swept the Nets. It was only maybe three years ago or four years maybe now, but you know, Kyrie was the Judas to the Celtics and to see him hugging his teammates, that probably hated his guts. It made me just completely turned off to the NBA. And I've tried to get back into it, but I just can't. It doesn't seem like a serious league to me anymore.
- [29:19]
I hear you, bro. I understand your feeling, dude. It's time and time again you sort of have these moments where you. You're reminded, like, this isn't real competition.
- [29:32]
Peter Rosenberg
And I just wonder. And it's not accusing the Knicks of anything. I think it's just. It's the reality. We talk about how they're not ready to win. Do they kind of deep down know that. That they know they're as good as they can be, but they're not at that level yet. They're not at the level where they can.
- [29:50]
Unknown
That's an interesting.
- [29:51]
Peter Rosenberg
Back it up. But to me, this is where you develop that. That's where you grow into it. Maybe this will be a learning thing for them where next year when they do get closer to being ready, they won't allow something like this to happen. That's why I'm aggravated that Tibbs kind of led the charge here because he's supposed to be the grown up in the room. He's supposed to be the leader. With Brunson out that, hey, guys, I've been around this league a long time. I haven't won a championship, but I've been around championship players. If we're going to get there, we can't do this. It does have kind of a checked out feeling to it. Like the level of competition should be so strong. Just supporting your teammate. If I'm Cat, I'm disgusted. But Cat's such a nice guy that he probably doesn't feel that way, but he should. Do your teammates really have your back? All this camaraderie, all these pep talks. What does it mean when it actually comes down to having somebody's back and you didn't have it, you had to go kiss the ring instead of supporting your player? He walked off. Mitchell Robinson walked off. They all should have just walked off the court disgusted that they lost, disgusted that it was Draymond that put him to sleep. Not go over there and basically hugging and kissing over there like they're family members. Give me a break. Stop it. All athletes are close. All athletes have the same agents, played with each other at some point. You don't think they're hockey players, Allen, that they played in juniors together, they played somewhere in college together. They cross paths, have the same agent, their brother knows this guy. They're all. There's only a handful of guys to play at that level. So they all kind of know each other and have relationships. But once they hit the ice, the court, the field, it's all off. The only allegiance I have is to the guy that's wearing my jersey. I might not like the guy that's wearing my jersey personally, but today when we're wearing the same jersey, we have each other's back and the Knicks didn't. The only one that had his back on Saturday was Mitchell Robinson.
- [31:39]
Don LaGreca
And that leads to a lot of concerns about this team, things that some fans have been echoing for most of the season. Did they lose a lot of that toughness and grit when they made that trade? 800 now at 93776. We'll get more into this in the five o'clock hour. An update on Jalen Brunson and his situation. And also the Giants continue to entertain quarterbacks, the latest to come to town to meet with them. I'm sure Don's going to love it. We'll discuss that and more. St. John's and March Madness and the Yankees and injuries that continue to pile up. Stay with us for the big 5:00 hour. Don Hahn and Rosenberg, 880 ESPN and.
- [32:14]
Unknown
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- [32:18]
Don LaGreca
All right?
- [32:18]
Unknown
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- [33:23]
Alan Hahn
Don Hahn and Rosenberg Podcast.
- [33:26]
Don LaGreca
I don't want to know how the sausage is made, man. I just want to know. It's good.
- [33:28]
Alan Hahn
Hear more of Don Allen and Peter weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8 80, ESPN, the ESPN New York app and your smart speakers.
- [33:39]
Unknown
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