Takes

The West is the toughest region in the 2022 NCAA Tournament

I think that the west is the toughest region right now. There's landmines in the west.

Tennessee got screwed as a 3 seed and should have been a 2 seed

I think that Tennessee got fucked too. They did. Tennessee got dry fucked. Her three seed. They should have been at two seed should have been one of the top two seeds, in my opinion, duke fucked duke. Yes. Duke, fuck Tennessee. Tennessee should have that two seat.

Texas A&M should have been in the NCAA Tournament field

I thought that Texas A&M, you know, should have been in the field. I thought the committee did a really, really good job. But I think when you look at what they've done did the last couple of days... having neutral site wins against teams, the caliber over in Arkansas and an Auburn compared to everything else. I thought it was pretty impressive.

The NCAA should allow all automatic qualifiers to advance into the round of 64 and have the final eight at-large teams play in Dayton

I firmly believe that the NCAA should allow all the automatic qualifiers to advance into the round of 64. And then the final eight at large teams should be playing in Dayton. And then it gives us an opportunity to really jumpstart the tournament with four heavyweight showdowns.

Jabari Smith is the best jump shooter I have ever coached

Go ahead and doubt [Jabari Smith]. Good luck. I'm just telling you do not doubt that kid. He is one of the greatest competitors that I've ever coached. He's the best jump shooter I've ever coached, and that's actually at any position.

The era of larger-than-life legendary college basketball coaches is dying

We're going to lose... an era because when Jim Boeheim goes out to pasture, Rick Pitino, who knows where he's going to go next, Cal... the era of these college coaches that are bigger than life, it feels like they're dying. The guys we have right now are not old school legends... they're not like these Titans that feel like hovering over it.

Handshake lines in college athletics are outdated and should be removed

and shake lines in general for college athletics is, I mean, it's just like, it's outdated. ... what do you expect after a heated, competitive game sportsmanship, but we got rid of them with COVID and I think that should have just been like the [end].

Tom Izzo is overrated

I picked a really bad time to unearth the Tom Izzo is overrated thing.

Drew Timmy is soft because his shoulders are too small

I think [Drew Timmy's] shoulders are too small. They sink down a little bit. They're too small. He doesn't have—you can't play in the low post without man shoulders. He's got like Reggie Miller shoulders. They're two slender.

Tom Izzo is an overrated coach

I'm finally being vindicated on my take I've been squatting on for six years... about Tom Izzo. If you're saying he's an all-time great, he's definitely overrated. If you want to be considered one of the best coaches, you have to win a second championship.

The Juwan Howard incident was great for college basketball

I'm smashing the good for college basketball button. Of course it is awesome for college basketball... Rivalries in college sports where it's always on the cusp of turning violent. That's just good for the sport and nothing bad happened.

Winning a Big East regular season and tournament championship meant more than a National Championship

I think that actually might mean more than the national championship. Deep down it is... Boy did we all miss, you know, Jimmy and all of us... it's much better fighting your own neighborhood. The guys you know, the guys you have to recruit against.

The 2004 UConn team had the best talent of any I ever coached

I th I think the magical team might've been all for... Because number two in draft Emeka Okafor, Ben Gordon, Josh Boone, Hilton Armstrong, Marcus Williams, six first round draft choices not all at once, but that was the best team I should say. Best talent.

My Murray State team would have beaten the college teams of my current NBA teammates

We all know Murray State would have beat all of them. [referring to Gonzaga, Duke, Michigan State teammates]

Coach K is retiring because he doesn't want to deal with the NIL era

Maybe it was because recruiting, recruiting. Maybe it was because they got a new athletic director... maybe because the likeness, you know, the players actually get paid. So paying them under the table isn't going to have the same effect.

The Oregon basketball court is the worst court design of all time

The Oregon court is the worst court of all time. I hate that court. It looks like it's warped. Every time I see that court, I get fucking so mad.

Maryland basketball's success is cheap because it's built on transfer portal 'mercenaries'

Do you think that your success next year, which I'm sure you guys will have tons of success at Maryland, is cheapened by the fact that it's all transfers? ... Classy and honorable to talk to a kid when he's 12 years old and keep talking to him until he goes to your college, and then you win with him as opposed to getting just a mercenary from another school.

Coach K's role with USA Basketball is a major gray area for recruiting

Coach K just, you know, getting to be friends with all of the NBA All-Stars and then, like, when he goes on recruiting visits being like, oh, you want me to FaceTime LeBron? Again, not cheating, but I would say that's a gray area, a major gray area.

Gonzaga should absolutely play in a real conference

Well, you should play in a real conference. You should absolutely play in a real conference. Yes, I'm going to say that with my chest. And yeah, a lot of it has to do with the fact that there aren't a ton of Gonzaga fans out there. It's not like we're talking shit about the Steelers... With Gonzaga, it's like free play. Consequence free zone.

The Jalen Suggs buzzer-beater is the third-best in NCAA Tournament history

I think this makes it three... Chris Jenkins is number one because you won the title... I think that's two [Laettner], but I think this makes it three.

North Carolina should not hire Brad Stevens

America wants it to be Carolina and I want to come on your show nationally and say: We don't want Brad Stevens. Why do I want a floundering NBA coach to be my coach? I'm trying to win championships. Send him to Duke. He's a private school coach. Send him to Duke.

Kansas and North Carolina are the top two jobs in college basketball

I think that the top two jobs in college basketball are Kansas and North Carolina, and they're interchangeable to me. Kentucky is probably number three on that list for me. I think UCLA is the fourth best job in the country.

Indiana basketball is the fifth best job in the country

I think my fifth school would probably be Indiana. I think that in general, you just have kids that want to play there because of the prestige, tradition, whatever it is. And you have Indianapolis, which has a ton of basketball talent and the surrounding area in general.

Houston winning the Final Four would be the worst case scenario for entertainment

I think Houston winning is worst case, though, because if Houston's in the title game, then Gonzaga or UCLA will beat them, in my opinion. I'm terrified of that.

Indiana basketball fans are exactly like Nebraska football fans

Indiana fans, they're much like Nebraska football fans where they think the glory days are right around the corner from coming back, and that is torture. That is true torture.

10:00 PM tip-offs separate the real college basketball fans from the casuals

The late start times, I initially was like, you know what? This separates the casuals from the real fans like me, if you're willing to stay up until 10 for a tip-off. Two school nights in a row of 10 o'clock tip-offs. I think I've seen enough.

Alabama's refusal to shoot mid-range jumpers hurt their free throw shooting

I would ask maybe the lack of mid-range jump shots in practice and making it one point and saying everyone has to only shoot fours or twos had something to do with them going 11 for 25 from the free throw line in a very important situation.

Soft basketball teams cannot win in the NCAA Tournament in March

You've got to get to the free throw line. Soft teams can't win in March. There you go. That was a Buffalo quote. I had a few quotes at Buffalo... quit avoiding contact. Get your butt to the free throw line.

Bill Walton incepted the Pac-12 teams into becoming the 'Conference of Champions'

He's [Bill Walton] incepted us into thinking that the Pac-12 is actually the Conference of Champions, and now he's incepted the teams themselves into believing in themselves so much that they are now advancing to potentially become the Conference of Champions.

Coaches who have won a national championship should be required to wear a suit on the sidelines

If you've won a national championship, you should be required to wear a suit on the sidelines. Bill Self, no. Everyone else, yes. I like Bill Self in a suit. He's a good polo guy, but I agree. Coach K's a suit guy. Jay Wright's a suit guy.

The Syracuse zone defense is the most perfect invention in the history of college basketball

It's honestly like the most perfect invention in the history of college basketball. I can't think of a gimmicky type offense or defense besides maybe the triple option at certain schools that has existed for this long and will always fuck you up even when you know that it's coming for you.

Fill out a bracket when it comes out, then bet against it once the games start

As soon as the bracket comes out, you have to fill out a bracket and stash it away until right before the games are out... You just fill out a bracket without everybody saying right at that point. And then you put it away till Thursday and then you bet against it. It really works out a lot of the time.

Coach K is the Frank Underwood of college basketball

Coach K, he'll do anything. He's Frank Underwood of the college basketball world. He will do anything to make sure that the message is not, 'Hey, Duke wasn't going to make the tournament.' Let's all forget that they weren't going to make the tournament.

College basketball teams should be forced to wear practice pennies or go 'skins' if they have a bad record

I think teams should start wearing uniforms based on their records. So if you're a really, really bad team, you should actually be wearing your practice pennies. You shouldn't even get to wear real uniforms... Northwestern should just wear — they should have to be in skins against Minnesota last night.

Conference Championship Week is often better than the actual NCAA Tournament

I think Conference Championship Week oftentimes is better than the actual tournament. I like the tournament more because it's just everything about it, but there are more games on Thursday and Friday at Conference Tournament Week than there are in the tournament.

Joe Lunardi is secretly miserable because other people are catching up to his bracketology

I think Joe Lunardi is secretly miserable. Because in 2021, it's the Mel Kiper theory, right? ... Now there's a shitload of people who do draft stuff. I think Joe Lunardi is just constantly looking over his shoulder. Like, there's going to be a kid someday that comes and just nails it every single year. And if I slip up, if I put BYU on the 9 seed and they end up being a 10, it's curtains for me.

Jim Boeheim was wrong to attack reporter Matthew Gutierrez during his press conference.

Boeheim should not have gone after him... He was being a pro and being a good journalist. He probably was looking like a twerp, and Boeheim was just like, 'fuck you.'

Illinois is the number one team in college basketball

Illinois is officially the number one team in the country according to my power rankings. What a night in college basketball. They absolutely kicked the shit out of Michigan... I want everyone to understand that the rankings are not predictive. They're reactive. So I reacted to the last week.

Teams should drop in the rankings if they go to overtime

The Baylor game, we can get to that in a little bit. But if you go to overtime, I feel like you should drop in the rankings. That should be reflected on the back end.

Roy Williams is a better coach than Coach K

And all you haters out there that told me I was an idiot when I said Roy Williams is a better coach than Coach K, he doesn't get the shine, this is just another market in my favor on this.

Arizona is a college basketball blue blood

Arizona could be a blue blood. I think Arizona is a blue blood. I mean, they won a national championship in the early 2000s... Legendary coach [Lute Olson]?

Coach K is a quintessential jerk for belittling a student reporter

Coach K was asked the question... by a student reporter from the Duke Chronicle... asking Coach K where do you guys go from here which is a very routine question... and Coach K essentially embarrassed and belittled this kid... How can you defend this, Hank? He's such a jerk. He's a quintessential jerk.

I am okay with moving the Elite Eight and Sweet Sixteen to Saturday through Tuesday

I do actually like that. They're the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight. Sweet 16 is Saturday, Sunday, Elite Eight, Monday, Tuesday. I'm okay with that because Elite Eight is, it's weird when you have the Elite Eight on that Saturday and Sunday and you're like, wait, there's only two games... Whereas now you'll work all day Monday and then you get basketball at the end of the day.

Coach K is the biggest front-running fraud of all time

Coach K is the biggest front-running fraud of all time. Not to brag, but we called it. It was a one game. Hank, they lost to Michigan State. They got killed by Illinois. And then Coach K said, we got to reassess and start really thinking about this COVID thing.

Michigan basketball is energized by the failures of the football program

Michigan's football season [will be more disappointing]. Michigan football sucking powers the basketball program. I really think there's something to that. The worse the football program does, the more people shit on Harbaugh by saying Michigan is a basketball school now, which is good because you're saying that to shit on Harbaugh, but what's happening is a real-life narrative is building that Michigan really is a really good basketball school.

UConn is a blue-blood mid-major

UConn is the only blue-blood mid-major we have in college basketball. I think that's what's so unique about them. They are simultaneously a blue blood, but also a mid-major.

NBA players are not amateurs and the 1930s model of amateurism is dead

To argue for amateurism Based On A system that was set up in the 1930s and 1940s prior to billion dollar TV contracts and ticket sales and Merchandising is crazy. Amateurism does not exist in high-level college basketball and high-level college football.

Roy Williams is only the second-best coach in the ACC

Roy Williams. Ty Lawson called him out. I mean, everyone knows Roy is a little bit suspect. It's not surprising. Second best coach in the ACC.

The lawsuit against Zion Williamson for allegedly receiving money to attend Duke is cloud chasing

Zion Williamson's former marketing agent has served request for admission in their lawsuit, asking him to admit that he received money... She's cloud chasing, yeah.

Dayton would have beaten Kansas to win the National Championship this year

I think they can beat Kansas... having a rematch with the national player of the year the national Coach of the Year a mid-major. When's the last time I made major won a national championship? It's been a long time.