Takes

The Wisconsin Badgers are a legitimate Final Four contender

Wisconsin is back. I actually said I think I said this two weeks ago. I was sniffing around it. I am fully believing in this team. I am all the way in I could see final four. I'm all the way in. I mean I took a future hundred to one no big deal basically going to retire if they win the national championship.

Coach K is entering the Twilight phase of his career where he has no filter and is mad at everyone

I think we're going to get into very soon, if we're not there already like the ornery like super angry at the media, just mad all the time coach Casey Nile... I think I'm going to enjoy the Twilight phase of Coach K having no filter and finally saying shit that he really has wanted to say for a very long time.

Kevin Ollie is the worst coach to ever win a National Championship

I assume Kevin Ollie's still looking for a job somewhere worst coach ever to win a National Title.

Gonzaga is finally making the Final Four this year

I want to put a take out there into The Ether real quick. I think this is your Gonzaga makes a Final Four.

Duke has already lost the last game of the year

Duke has already lost the last game of the year, guys. I said it. Sorry. It already happened.

It is Duke's year and they will win the national championship

It's Duke's year. I'm officially ready to say it. Like, it is Duke's year. I know that I joked about it last year, Hank, but I'm telling you, man-to-man right now, I trust only Duke to win the national championship this year... Duke is definitely going to win. They're definitely going to win it all.

This is officially Duke's year after their miracle win against UNC

It is officially Duke's year. It is officially Duke's year. It is. Yeah, and maybe Gonzaga because Gonzaga keeps—Gonzaga had their classic game where they play every year, they play St. Mary's and everyone's like this is the one spot they could lose and they just fucking kick the shit out of them.

Coach K yelling at Duke fans is a great example of leadership and loyalty

I think it was a recruiting thing, and I think if you're a prospective player and you see that, you see a coach that fights for his guys, even if they're on the other team, that is a great leader. It was because of loyalty. It's a brotherhood for life, and that's a great example of showing that.

Brad Davison has taken the mantle of most hated player in college basketball from Duke

Wisconsin basketball is officially more hated than Duke this year. Brad Davison up to his old tricks with a nut shot last night. I think Brad Davidson has taken the mantle of most hated college basketball player this year, which usually is reserved for the whitest guy on Duke.

Coach K is a bad X's and O's guy for not letting Zion shoot threes at Duke

Huge indictment on Coach K as an X's and O's guy. [Zion] hit four [threes] in a row... That's another feather in the cap of old Roy Williams. He would never screw up his prospects like that.

A VCU home game is more life-altering than a 10-day trip to Europe

Yeah, but you haven't been to a home game at the Siegel Center [VCU]. And I was like, this was peak Shaka [Smart]. This was Travion Graham, Briante Weber. Like, you want to do push-ups on picket fences when they put the press on. So this was kind of my subtle way after we broke up to kind of, like, send, you know, a shot across the bow.

Coach K is not as good a head coach as Roy Williams

I think that Coach K is not as good a head coach as coach Williams has interesting. I think if you look at what Coach K's tenure at Duke... While Roy Williams has been at UNC by any measurement. You can say that Roy Williams has been more successful.

Tom Izzo is overrated because he hasn't won a title since 2000

Tom Izzo is overrated. That's because he's other... He just hasn't won the big one. This is coasting. He's coasting.

I would root for Vermont over Syracuse if they played in the tournament

I didn't grow up a Syracuse fan. So but now that you know that now I know people ask me all the time if they play each other in this year's tournament. I would root for Vermont because wow.

Mark Titus had a better college basketball career than LeBron James

Last I checked our friend Mark Titus is a better college basketball player than LeBron James. He's played more minutes. He's got more rebounds. He went to a final four. Mark Titus is a better college basketball player than LeBron James.

Tony Bennett is the best coach in college basketball

He's the best coach in the ACC? Oh, yes. He's the best coach in college basketball. Better than Coach K? Yeah.

Roy Williams has been a better coach than Coach K since arriving at North Carolina

Roy Williams has won more since he's been at UNC over Coach K. So I don't know what they [Duke] do.

I cucked Coach Cal, Coach K, and Bill Self by signing RJ Hampton to the New Zealand Breakers

I think it's safe to say that we cucked the shit out of Coach Cal, Coach K, and Bill Self all in one fell swoop. We made a damn strong offer, Big Cat. A damn strong offer.

If I had chosen to go to college, I would have picked Kansas

No, if I'm being serious, I would have went to the University of Kansas.

In college basketball, you must 'plant a flag' and never lose games at home to build a real program

You just have to set that tone like you can't lose at home. If you're going to build a real program, you've got to plant a flag in your home arena.

Moving the college three-point line back will open the floor but might make the game uglier due to poor shooting

So we're going to the FIBA line... a foot and a half [back]. So the theory is that it'll open the floor up more. I'd agree with that. But again, are you going to stretch your defense if guys can't make the shot? So you have coaches that think it's going to be great. You have coaches that think, well, it's just going to be less guys can make it. So it's going to be uglier.

Duke players only chose the school for the degree, not because of illegal payments

So essentially Marvin Bagley and Zion Williamson were on the open market to be bought, but all of a sudden no one was able to buy them except for—oh, Duke. I figured it out, though... they decided to go for the diploma, a long-term investment, as opposed to a quick infusion of cash.

Duke will have the #1 recruiting class and Matthew Hurt will be their next star white player people hate

Number one recruiting class. They got Vernon Carey Jr. And everyone likes to root against the white guy that's a high recruit at Duke. Matthew Hurt is the guy. Have you seen pictures of this kid? ... Duke's back.

Wisconsin should hire Rick Pitino as their next head coach

We need to do a better job of getting Rick Pitino a job... Where else is there a head coaching vacancy? [Hank: Wisconsin]. I'd fucking take him in a second. I think that would make my life so much better if Rick Pitino was the coach. I mean, we would win the national title.

Virginia's national title run is one of the coolest stories in sports history

UVA now becomes one of the coolest stories in all of sports going from the loss to UMBC last year as a one seed to a 16 seed never happened before to then get all the way back and go to the national title and win the national championship. It's all like one story. And it all kind of erases. I feel like if they don't have that low, they don't get to this high.

Tony Bennett has revolutionized Virginia's style of play using Wisconsin's influence

I mean, Dick Bennett, you know. Indirectly a little bit. I mean, you guys, you know, kind of revolutionized our style of play, right?

Auburn's loss to Virginia is the worst possible way to lose a Final Four game

Auburn, I would say that might be the worst possible way to lose a Final Four game of all time... hitting three free throws in that situation, that's the shit you do in your backyard, and you miss two out of three, and you're like, all right, redo. He was money on all three. And Auburn, I would say that might be the worst possible way to lose a Final Four game of all time.

Kyle Guy is making a strong case for the Jim Nance Tie Player of the Year

He is making a hard case for the Jim Nance tie player of the year. I think if it's not Kyle Guy, I think even if UVA loses the national championship, Jim Nance is going to find a way to get him that tie.

Texas Tech will win the National Championship

I think Texas Tech is going to win... I think Texas Tech is going to win, and that's because I drank my strawberry banana [Body Armor] right when I woke up, so my brain is firing on all cylinders.

Virginia will beat Auburn by a lot

I like Bruce [Pearl]. I think that they're going to get beat by UVA. By a lot, I think. I think that UVA is a very, very, very, very, very good team with a fan base that I really don't want to see win the national championship. But I think they're a much better team, so I think it's going to be UVA.

Texas Tech will beat Michigan State because Tom Izzo is overrated

I am going to go with Texas Tech... Based on Tom Izzo being overrated. So I'm taking Texas Tech. Also, their defense is really, really good. Admittedly, I've watched one of their conference tournament games, and then I've watched them every game in the NCAA tournament, and their defense is fucking awesome.

John Calipari's lifetime contract actually proves he was on the hot seat

This also, I think, proves that we were right all along by saying Cal's on the hot seat because you don't give a lifetime deal if a guy's not on a hot seat. You know what I mean? You just let it ride out because you're like, it's fine... To do this drastic deal for life, that feels like they're trying to get in front of the hot seat that probably was very, very hot.

John Calipari will be the UCLA or an NBA coach in three years

They signed him to a lifetime contract. That's just from Kentucky's standpoint. Right. Like Cal's going to be the UCLA coach in like three years. He's going to the NBA. He's still going to chase that dragon.

Tom Izzo is overrated until he wins a second title

Tom Izzo himself is on board the Tom Izzo is overrated bandwagon. He said that he needs another title to validate his time there as a head coach. Okay, so I'm going to consider that a win for myself. And if he wins this year, then guess what? I'm taking him off my overrated list.

Upperclassmen leadership is the difference in the NCAA tournament

Sometimes you run across a Michigan State team that's as physical and have maybe a little more junior and senior leadership than we had. And that makes a huge difference in the tournament if you have some upperclassmen that give you some experience.

Zion Williamson was the college basketball season and his departure leaves a hole in the Final Four.

I'm going to miss Zion a lot because he was so much fun to watch this season. He was the college basketball season, and he leaves like a hole in all of our hearts for the Final Four. Zion was the only one who, like, wanted it, I felt like, a lot of times during this Duke run.

Tom Izzo is a very overrated coach because he does not win enough championships.

I still think that Izzo is very, very, very overrated. Final fours. Yeah, that's fine... When was the last time they won a championship? I'm about rings, dude. I don't know about you. I don't care about Final Fours, all that bullshit.

Coach K and John Calipari are more focused on building their brands than winning basketball games.

Cal and Coach K are not playing the same game as everyone else. They're not trying to win basketball games. They're trying to win their brand. They're trying to build their brands and keep the machine just churning. And they don't want anyone to notice.

Coach K has entered the 'Paterno phase' of his career where he is no longer actually coaching.

First of all, can we just acknowledge that [Coach K] has entered the Paterno phase of his career where he's just trying not to shit his pants as the game's going on. He's not actually coaching. That's the thing. This season was such a disaster from Duke... How do you have a team full of freshmen get worse as the season goes on?

Texas Tech might be the best team in the country right now.

Texas Tech might honestly be the best team in the country right now. They just beat Gonzaga, who I thought was kind of the best team in the country, and they beat them pretty, like, it didn't feel like a fluke. It felt like Gonzaga played really well in that game, and Texas Tech was just better.

Matt Painter is the new Bo Ryan

Matt Painter, the new Bo Ryan.

Tennessee should not be allowed to wear their Indiana-style warm-up colors

My big takeaway was the Tennessee uniforms. They should not be allowed to wear those pants and those warm-ups and those colors. Those are Indianas. Those are Indianas.

Duke is going to lose and Hank will have to get a cat

I really do think Duke is going to lose... As of midnight on Friday night. Henry Lockwood is going to be an owner of a cat. He will have to get the cat afterwards because he's on vacation, obviously. But Duke's going to lose.

A team's connectedness is more important than talent or coaching

You can't be in the Sweet 16, or it's rare if you're in the Sweet 16, if you think it's only based on talent or if it's only based on coaching. There have to be a lot of other intangibles... it's the connectedness of your staff and the example that your staff sets for your team.

UCF would have beaten Duke if Taco Fall hadn't gotten into foul trouble

If Taco Fall didn't get foul trouble, which I think is impossible for Taco Fall to not get foul trouble because he basically just stands under the hoop and guys just jump into him, UCF wins that game.

The five-foul limit in college basketball is terrible and needs to be changed

I hate the five fouls in college basketball. Suck. They need to fix it.

UNC's Luke Maye has the weirdest voice in the world

Luke Maye might have the weirdest voice in the world. Have you heard him talk? He's like if Jason Aldean was in Bone Thugs. It doesn't work. When I watch him talk and I listen to him, he gives me a stroke.

Rick Pitino will sign with Alabama to be their next head coach

I'm going to get the last laugh when [Rick] Pitino signs with the Crimson Tide. [If he doesn't] then I'm going to delete the tweet.

Tom Izzo's coaching intensity is acceptable and challenges players to battle through adversity

I think that there's a line and [Tom Izzo] didn't cross it... he challenged you. There were some days where I'd go home and I'd have higher anxiety... but it turned me into the person I am today. You have to go through things like that... if you want to be coddled it's going to be a very tough life ahead.

Bill Self and Kansas will collapse in the Sweet 16

Kansas dominated, which was like the classic everyone loves Northeastern. And then Kansas came out and was like, hey, we might suck. We might be a shitty version of Kansas this year, but we're still Kansas... we'll wait until we get to the Sweet 16 for Bill Self to collapse.