NC State Fulfills The Prophecy

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People got the platform. Let's give them a show. The drive starts now on WSJS. You are on a Tuesday drive right here on WSJS News Talk Sports. For the triad where The weather has decided to be bipolar again.

Yes, it has. It feels like spring one minute. And then the next I look at my f Darn phone. This morning, and I see in the 30s. Oh, you're lucky.

It was 20 when I woke up. It's just ridiculous, man. But despite that, We got some hoop to talk about.

So. We're in a good mood over here. Hope you are too. Good to have you in on a Tuesday.

So tonight In C-State. They're going to fulfill the prophecy. That's what they're gonna do. Will Wade is a prophet. What is this prophecy you speak of, W.D.?

That's me, by the way, Will Dalton, the host of this show. if I didn't mention it ahead of time.

So at his p as at his intro presser. When he first got to NC State. Will Wade, what did he tell us?

Well, he told us a lot of things. But one of the main things he told us was, we're going to make the tournament. In year one, here. He wasn't talking about the ACC tournament, the thing that they missed. the year prior in Kevin Keats last year, that probably was the last straw.

He was talking about the big dance.

Well, they achieved that. Despite ups and downs and streakiness this year, we'll wait in the pack they achieve that.

So. There's one thing, a prophecy that came through. We did have that on camera, Will Wade, as he told us to do. But then There was this clip. After NC State lost to Miami earlier in the year, It was Right after That 8-0 run that Miami went on to come back and beat the PAC.

This was a game right after the Louisville blowout at the Yum Center. Where Will Wade said He was asked. stood in terms of being a tournament team, here's what he said. We're a lot away from the NCAA tournament. This team, shit.

Yeah. Master Georgia Tech. Mm-hmm. I mean damn. You skipping way ahead?

What about the NCAA tournament? Uh Hope we get to date. The prophet He's a prophet. Guess where they're at? I hope we can get to Dayton.

Well, that's where you're going, Will Wade. You're going to Dayton. That's right. Dude's a prophet, man.

So they're set up tonight. In Dayton. for a rematch with Texas. And this is This is a rematch, and shout out to Jay Davis in our YouTube comments here: Will Fade. That's what he calls him.

Will fade. And you can get in our YouTube comments as well the drive at Will Dalton. on YouTube or on uh are Xtreme WSJS radio. But Tonight, it's a rematch. From Maui in the fifth round game.

where the Pack lost 102 to 97. 102 points. 100 and anything above, I mean, even the 90s is a lot, but like if you're scoring 100 plus in a college game, That's That's alarming for the opposing defense.

Now, to state's credit, they scored 97 because they can shoot with the best of them. I think they're a top 10 team in the country in terms of three-point shooting. But. Uh That is where we first Started to see.

Some of NC State's defensive issues, specifically from the perimeter. I mean, they allowed Texas to shoot 56% from the field, 50% from three. That's a lot. That's a lot. Here's another clip from Will Wade.

You know, we played them on a quick turnaround in Maui, too. We had a one-day I mean, it was the third day of a three-day tournament, so we played them on a quick turnaround there as well.

So certainly helps a little bit. We have some familiarity with Texas. They have some familiarity with us. I'm sure it helps them. I'm sure it helps them some as well.

So that was him talking about the rematch. that NC State has ahead of em here. And You know? The the good news for NC State Is Sean Miller? O for three and Run at pack games this year, 0 for 3.

So that bodes well for the pack. But ultimately, I mean, it's been. It's been an interesting journey to get here for NC State and for Will Wade. Between the The introductory presser. all the hype, the red reckoning, the whole nine yards.

to the streakiness to the lack of size And then some of these very puzzling losses, that was one of them. Louisville, where you lose by, what was it, 41 or something like that at the Yum Center? I mean, I get it, it's Louisville in the Yum Center. Difficult place to play in college basketball, but that's a lot of points. And then you turn around or get to date.

Yeah. Just hope you can get to Dayton. Hit it one more time. Hope we get to date. The profit will wade.

But then you had the Miami game. Where Again, that 8-0 run after NC State had just gone on an 11-0 run previous to that, and then it's almost like very. Reminiscent, it kind of is very reminiscent of NC State season. The streakiness, 11-0 run, then you give up an 8-0 run to lose the game by a point. And then, of course, there was the Carolina game where Carolina without Wilson and Vesar, you beat them by 24.

You give them the belt. In fact, the state had their own bedazzled belt. Post-game.

So it's just been. It's been a bit of a roller coaster ride, is what I'm getting at for NC State this year. And if you're an NC State fan or an ACC fan, you are well aware of that.

So here's what I got. NC State tonight. It's a 9-15 tip on True TV. It's going to be a late one. as the tournament officially gets underway tonight with the first four.

I think NC State's going to live or die by the three-ball. There is not going to be an in between. And I think they live. I do. I think this is going to be a shootout.

And I think NC State's going to end up on the right side of it. By the way, Charles Barkley, Dick Vital is going to be on the call for this game, which is just. Wah. Chef's kiss, Charles Barkley on the call. For a Will Wade NC State game, tell me I'm dreaming.

I am not. State, they get through tonight in a nail biter, a barn burner, however you want to describe it, a shootout. Again. State They're going up against Sean Miller, who's 0 for 3 in run-it-back games. We'll see if that matters tonight.

State, they're favored by one and a half. This is a game that I don't know if I want any part of at the window, but I do. want to take a look at that over under when we get to Dalton's dollars later in the hour. State does have some guys though. This is another this is another piece of my thinking here.

In Picking State tonight? They have some guys that have tournament experience. Here was Will Wade. Uh in his press conference yesterday. At the first four press conference there in Dayton, talking about his guys that have tournament experience.

Well, we'll find out tomorrow. We're hopeful. You know, we have a lot of NCA tournament experience. Vin Allen Lubin was here last year with North Carolina. Darien was in the Elite Eight with Texas Tech.

Paul McNeil was at NC State last year, but this is his first NCA tournament. Trey Holloman went to the Elite Eight with Michigan State, and Quadier was with me at McNeese, where we won a game.

So that's our starting lineup. We got a freshman who comes off the bench, Matt Abel. This will be his first tournament. We got Terrence Arsenau who comes off the bench, who was at University of Houston. I told him he's seen the full spectrum now, final four and first four.

So he's seen the whole deal. Yeah, the question there was do you think Do you think having some of these guys with tournament experience is going to help you? And that's where we'll wait tonight. I guess we'll find out tomorrow. He's very matter-of-fact on these things, but.

NC State. They did in fact end up in Dayton. Hopefully we get to date. You got there, Will Wade. All right.

336-777-1600 is the number to call. If you have thoughts, on NC State, Texas tonight. If you have a prediction for the game, if you have concerns for the game. I would like to hear from you. Morgan Corson is the executive producer of the show.

How are we doing over there? Doing good today. Running the ones and twos, doing it very well. Our producer in training over there. Do you have a prediction for the game tonight?

I think that. NC State's going to have to slow down Texas on that fast breaks. They got, I think, last game, 24 points off the fast break.

So you're going to have to slow that down if you want to. Winners, I agree. It's going to be a shootout, but I have NC State over a very close game. One bucket game. I have NC State over Texas.

Points, man. Points, points, points. That's what this is going to be tonight. Again, 336-777-1600 is the number to call. And Morgan will pick you up and get you in on the show here.

The other Order of business here right at the top that I wanted to get to was talk a little Carolina basketball. Call us if you have some concerns on them as well, even though they don't play until Thursday night. You might already be worried about this game. And that is the question of the day. How much trouble is Carolina in against VCU?

They're certainly in a a little bit of trouble. is what I would say. And you just have to go off what you've. That's not me trying to be hot take artist because that's not really my style. I don't like to do that.

I just tell you what I think. Um That's not me trying to stir the pot or anything. I'm just... After what you've seen from Carolina lately, Carolina fans, you can't feel comfortable right now. You can't.

You must have some sort of a knot in your stomach about this game. Um It is the smallest spread line of all the 6-11 games, 6 versus 11. Carolina is favored by 2.5. Stay tuned to Dalton's dollars later in the week to hear what I might do with that. But it is a small spread for a 6 versus 11 game.

Carolina. Listen. I'm not These guys are still human. They're still college players. Where they were making progress towards a Caleb Wilson return.

And making that progress very well. And then you get the devastating news that he's out for the year, and it all just flushed everything down the toilet. And you can say all you want. I'm not giving them that excuse. And I'm not giving them an excuse, but I am looking at it as if they are college athletes, they were preparing for something, and then it just got completely flushed away.

That does something to you mentally. It does. There's no denying that.

Now, Once you get over the initial stun of that, you got to pick up the pieces and move on. That part is undeniable, but it does do something to you. It's been almost a week. By the time or by the time Carolina plays VCU, On Thursday night. in Greenville, South Carolina.

It will have been about a week. Since they played against Clemson, got down by 18, and it came down to a Jaron Stevenson heave from beyond half court that was nowhere close. That's plenty of time. For Hubert Davis to get these guys ready to go mentally without Caleb Wilson, whatever little bit they needed to kind of regroup from that, from Clemson, from the Duke mashing at Cameron, all of it. But Be that as it may.

The question I ask Is there concern here? Oh yeah. There is, because V C U They might have the better collection of guards. Of these two teams, you know, Kyon Evans has not been what you paid for. Derek Dixon, while he's been competent at times and more competent than Kyan Evans.

Still not, he's still a true freshman, and he's still not an elite guard, like UNC elite guard, like what you're hoping you get from Dylan Mingo next year. That that's a that's a factor here. Not only that, VCUs got some size on their hands. Carolina, of course, they have Henry Vessar. They have.

Jaron Stevenson filling in for Caleb Wilson, but size could play a factor as well. VCU, they've got a... They've got some high major transfer guys that could be. That could cause some problems. These are the type of guys that came down.

From high major teams And they did that and they kind of moved down lower a bit because their respective teams went after better guys in the portal, so they came down to VCU. Those are guys that you might want to be concerned about. It's a very scary spot for Carolina. Not trying to. Stir the pot here and be a hot take artist.

I don't even think this is a hot take. I think it just, unfortunately, is just the reality of the situation. And Carolina, Thursday night in Greenville, They cannot, I repeat, they cannot. Get into that early hole. They cannot dig that hole that we have seen them do time and time again, that has bit them in the rear end.

And that's all I have to say about that. to go all forest gump. All right, coming up next. The World Baseball Classic is set. Ah, I got some St.

Patrick's Day music. Happy St. Patrick's Day, too, by the way. I totally forgot. I totally forgot about that.

And I'm wearing black. I'm not wearing green. Don't pinch me, anybody in the office. All right, the classic, the final, it's set. What is USA facing tonight in Venezuela, or in Venezuela?

We get to that next on the drive on WSJS. That drive home vibe. Sports talk that doesn't care about your feelings. This is The Drive, the Triad's longest-running live sports talk show. Yeah, this is gonna take a little getting used to the iris jig that we have going on here.

But it is epic. What is what I'm l what I'm hearing is epic right now. That's uh That is one way to describe it. Shout out to our guy, DJ Turner, behind the scenes here. getting all this together for us today.

All right, the World Baseball Classic. It's ready to come to a close. It's ready to come to its climax. Tonight Eight o'clock on Fox. The final is set.

USA, Venezuela. Venezuela beating Italy last night. Kind of um Ruining our chances at a terrific storyline. where USA could have faced Italy. In the final there.

And it would have been pretty terrific because after what Adam uh or Mark DeRosa said Going into that first matchup with Italy, acting like they had this thing all locked up in pool play, meanwhile, uh, They still needed to get that done. Italy beats them. Fortunately, Italy beat Mexico the following night. Allowing for the USA to move into the quarterfinals. But boy, it would have been a terrific story if we could have seen USA versus Italy in the final there.

And uh I would have been a little nervous about that. Just a little bit, 'cause you know karma. It's a real thing. It's a real thing out here. But Venezuela.

They do get the win. They came alive with a three-run seventh inning, a two-out rally. They were kind of asleep there for a little while, but they had a big, that big three-run seventh inning. And here's how the game closed. How it sounded last night.

to the championship game. to the First time. It is pretty cool seeing Miguel Cabrera down there in the dugout getting in on that. Miguel Cabrera, that god, that dude was such a stud in his day. He really was.

So that that sets the final for tonight. And The one concern I would have for USA Okay. Is that While they have had Their best pitching staff that they've had. Paul Skeens He's done after two starts. Tariq Skubel.

He was done after one start and decided to head back and join the Detroit Tigers, because that is the thing that can be a little tricky about the World Baseball Classic, you have. Players that do have teams and spring training at the same time.

Now, it does not coincide, of course, with the regular season, but. You know. They might want it If it's a player that's in a new... System on a new team. They might want to go ahead and get over there.

It depends on where your priorities are at.

So Tariq Skubble left after one. After one start, a couple of Cy Young winners, Skeens and Scubal, all done.

So the nine on the menu got Nolan McLean. He has Only made Two or excuse me, he's he's made One start.

So far He was the pitcher against Italy the first time that got shelled. Early on. He made it through three innings. And That Can be a little concerning going up against Venezuela. a lineup that has Ronald Acunha on it.

Yeah, it's a little concerning. They average around seven runs a game. It went down to around six last night after only scoring four. But they put out some bombs.

So they put up numbers. I think I heard that Nolan McLean has only made eight major league starts. I think that's right.

So That piece is a little concerning for Team USA.

So the The moral of the story is: the bats better be popping. Bryce Harper looking at you. Aaron Judge looking at you. Bobby Witt Jr., you better have it together at shortstop. He has been terrific in this World Baseball Classic back there defensively.

And I heard Jeff Passen talking about this earlier today. I think he might have been on Pat McAfee. talking about how The defense, both of these defenses are elite.

Some of the most, I mean, Bobby Witt Jr., again, as mentioned at shortstop and some of the plays that he's had. Venezuela, they have yet to make a fielding error in this World Baseball Classic.

So you got two elite defenses. And it is the beautiful thing about the World Baseball Classic. It's the best players in the world. all on the same field. It makes for some of the best baseball that you could possibly watch.

So USA I'm going to go with America tonight. I'm going to do that. But I think this has the makings of. Just like against Dominican Republic, this could be a 2-1, a 3-2, maybe. A 4-3 type game.

I don't see it exceeding that. It's going to be going tonight. It's definitely going to be a pitchers' game. Pitchers' game. That's right.

It's going to be interesting to see how Venezuela does in the bulletpin. They went to the bulletpin almost immediately the last two games. Yeah. So their bulletpin might be a little tired, which gives America the edge there. But.

Man, it's going to be a good defensive game. I have America winning by one. Yeah. It's going to be close. And can America.

play in an environment like they did against Mexico. That was rowdy and obnoxious, and DR two nights ago. Can they put that behind them and learn from that? Get some runs and put the energy behind them. Eduardo Rodriguez is going to be on the mound for Venezuela tonight.

You mentioned a short leash. I bet you Nolan McClain's going to have a very short leash tonight after he gave up. Again, he got hit pretty good against Italy in giving up those three runs. Uh that he did in the third inning of that one.

So I I don't know how short the leash is going to be tonight. But out of the gate, like if you get a couple of runners on in scoring position, give up a run, I bet they pull them. I bet they go straight to the pin. I would not be surprised at that.

So World Baseball Classic, USA, Venezuela, tonight. at eight o'clock. Also. We're talking NC State, Texas. We're talking um UNC VCU that'll be on Thursday night.

Brackets. That's that's the that is the jam right now.

So at wsjs.com. If you want in on this. We have our bracket challenge. But this isn't just like a oh yeah, I could go fill out a bracket. No, no, no, there's some real stakes to this.

Come on. I mean, what do you take us for? We gotta gotta make the stakes good around here. The WSJS bracket challenge is where you can enter Your bracket for a chance to win a hundred dollar gift card. to East Coast wings and grow.

That's where bragging rights come into play here. And I mean, you know, you can get some weddings. $100 on us. That's not bad. East Coast Wings, man, East Coast Wings and Girls.

They do it upright. Whether you want wings or whether you want burgers, whether you want chips. They have it all. They have it all over there. If your bracket beats the rest, the wings, the wangs, they're on us.

Uh predict the madness. When the flavor. Win that flavor from East Coast Wings and Grill. Enter the WSJS bracket challenge now at WSJS.com. Your fast break straight to The Wing Counter Looking at our YouTube comments here, Jay Davis unique.

Says I'm a little concerned for UNC, but I think Vesar is going to eat and have a huge game against VCU. He also adds: if the guards are average against VCU, we shouldn't have any problems. Maybe. I mean, again, it's I haven't made a prediction for this game yet. I'm not like putting my stake in the ground on anything just yet.

But in terms of is it concerning this spot for Carolina? Oh yeah. It is a very concerning spot. Uh for sure. Looking at the Charlotte Hornets very quickly.

So they're back in action tonight. after they lost to the Spurs over the weekend. 115 and 102. I'm a sicko like that. I was at the ACC tournament.

I was on the Josh Graham show producing that. Four to seven. Weekends, you can listen to that here on WSJS. And we were there at Spectrum Center. broadcasting and I'm following Hornet Spurs like a Like a sicko, but I don't care like I Josh was asking me, he was like.

Because he was making the point that the NBA kind of disappears during the month of March because of all the madness here. And I'm like. I get it. Especially when we're here at the tournament, but I'm still keeping an eye on my Hornets. and hopefully your hornets too.

It gets a little murky in the month of March, but I'm still watching the Hornets. You better believe that. I'm still seeing the Lakers handle business win a 9 of 10 now. last night against KD and the Houston Rockets. But getting to a couple of clips here from Eric Collins and Del Curry.

So they're in action tonight. Got a big one against the Miami Heat, a game they lost against the Heat. A few weeks ago, a little less than two weeks ago, 128 to 120, you know, this is a battle amongst teams that are in. In the top 10 in the Eastern Conference. That's at 7 o'clock tonight in Charlotte at the Spectrum Center.

Their first game back since the ACC tournament was in town. Eric Collins. He uh when he talks we listen when he calls games we listen And he had this to say About the rookie of the year conversation between Cooper Flag and Con Kniple.

Well, Cooper Flag is phenomenal. Saw him a couple of times, and the guy, I don't watch a lot of college basketball, and I just knew all the hype of Cooper Flag, and I was like, okay, whatever. The guy was underhyped. From what I saw, the guy was underhyped from what he was able to do against the Hornets. He put 49 on us.

You know, top of the key, either hand, two strong dribbles, and finishing with power at the rim whenever he wanted. Like, I didn't expect that out of a 19-year-old kid. But in terms of rookie of the year, I'm a big believer that this is the entertainment business. It is. You know, everyone wants to win the championships, but 29 teams do not.

So, what can you control is the entertainment value. And Khan Kniple has provided that entertainment value with production. He's missed one game. That means something to me. That means that people have come to the arena 65 times this year and seen him playing 64 of them.

You know, he's firing them up there with regularity. He's changed the attitude about this team because he understands how to play the game. He has brought. Breadth and room for everyone on this team to be a better player because of the. uh the defensive commitment that he commands.

That was Eric Collins. Here was Del Curry. His partner there on FanDuel Sports talking specifically about Lamello Bowl and And his You know, coming along this year in a big way, and the emergence of Khan Knipple and what he's seeing. I would say how Humble but confident they are on and off the floor. Lamello is a joy to be around.

Seems like he never has a bad day. They are next play mentality guys. If they have a bad game, it does not bother them. When the game is over, they just go back to the lab and get to work. They don't get too high, get too low.

They don't want to be recognized for the things that they're doing on the floor.

Some of the things, like you just mentioned, the three-point shooting, they just go about. their day trying to help the guy on the left and the right side of them.

So chemistry is huge in the game of sports. It's huge in a locker room in the bat in the basketball space. And these guys are leading it the right way in the locker room. They're tremendous human beings, other than being just good basketball guys, but they're simple. Very simple.

Very simple stuff. But yes, when you're having fun, when you're playing selfless, agenda-free basketball, as Kendrick Perkins put it on, Scott Van Pelt. After the Boston win a couple of weeks back, that You get what you've gotten down the stretch here lately from the Charlotte Hornets. They're in action tonight against the Miami Heat. All right, coming up next.

We debut a new segment. Telling you some stuff. That maybe you didn't know But you need it. You need to know about this stuff. We get to that next on the drive.

You're listening to WSJS. Gimme, gimme, that. That drive-home vibe. Sports talk that doesn't care about your feelings. This is The Drive, the Triad's longest-running live sports talk show.

Yeah, this is gonna take a little getting used to the iris jig that we have going on here. But it is epic. What is what I'm l what I'm hearing is epic right now. That's uh That is one way to describe it. Shout out to our guy, DJ Turner, behind the scenes here.

uh getting all this together for us today. All right, the World Baseball Classic. It's ready to come to a close. It's ready to come to its climax. Tonight.

Eight o'clock on Fox. The final is set. USA, Venezuela. Venezuela beating Italy last night. Kind of, um Ruining our chances at a terrific storyline.

Where USA could have faced Italy. In the final there. And it would have been pretty terrific because after what Adam uh or Mark DeRosa said Going into that first matchup with Italy, acting like they had this thing all locked up in pool play, meanwhile, uh, They still needed to get that done. Italy beats them. Fortunately, Italy beat Mexico the following night.

Allowing for the USA to move into the quarterfinals. But boy, it would have been a terrific story if we could have seen USA versus Italy in the final there. And uh I would have been a little nervous about that. Just a little bit, 'cause you know karma. It's a real thing.

It's a real thing out here. But Venezuela. They do get the win. They came alive with a three-run seventh inning, a two-out rally. They were kind of asleep there for a little while, but they had a big, that big three-run seventh inning.

And here's how the game closed. how it sounded last night. Didn't Zlimo to the championship game. for the first time. It is pretty cool seeing Miguel Cabrera down there in the dugout getting in on that.

Miguel Cabrera, that God, that dude was such a stud in his day. He really was.

So that that sets the final for tonight. And The one concern I would have for USA is that While they have had their best pitching staff that they've had. Paul Skeens He's done after two starts. Tariq Skubel. He was done after one start and decided to head back and join the Detroit Tigers, because that is the thing that can be a little tricky about the World Baseball Classic, you have.

Players that do have teams in spring training at the same time.

Now, it does not coincide, of course, with the regular season, but. You know. They might want it If it's a player that's in a new... System on a new team. They might want to go ahead and get over there.

It depends on where your priorities are at.

So Tariq Skubel left after one. After one start, a couple of Cy Young winners, Skeens, and Scubal, all done.

So the 9-0-9, you got Nolan McLean. He has Only made Two or excuse me, he's made one start.

So far. He was the pitcher against Italy the first time that got shelled. early on in that he made it through three innings. And That Can be a little concerning going up against Venezuela. a lineup that has Ronald Acuna on it.

Yeah, it's a little concerning. They average around seven runs a game. It went down to around six last night after only scoring four. But they put out some bombs.

So they put up numbers. I think I heard that Nolan McLean has only made eight major league starts. I think that's right.

So That piece is a little concerning for Team USA.

So the The moral of the story is: the bats better be popping. Bryce Harper looking at you. Aaron Judge looking at you. Bobby Witt Jr., you better have it together at Shortstop. He has been terrific.

In this world baseball classic back there defensively. And I heard Jeff Passon talking about this earlier today. I think he might have been on Pat McAfee. talking about how The defense, both of these defenses are elite.

Some of the most, I mean, Bobby Witt Jr., again, as mentioned at shortstop in some of the plays that he's had. Venezuela, they have yet to make a fielding error in this world's baseball classic.

So you got two elite defenses. And it is the beautiful thing about the World Baseball Classic. It's the best players in the world. all on the same field. It makes for some of the best baseball that you could possibly watch.

So USA I'm going to go with America tonight. I'm going to do that. But I think this has the makings of. Just like against Dominican Republic. This could be a 2-1, a 3-2, maybe a 4-3 type game.

I don't see it exceeding that. It's going to be good one tonight. It's definitely going to be a pitchers' game. Pitchers' game. That's right.

It's going to be interesting to see how Venezuela does in the bulletpin. They went to the bulletpin almost immediately the last two games. Yeah. So their bulletpin might be a little tired, which gives America the edge there. But.

Man, it's going to be a good defensive game. I have America winning by one. Yeah. It's going to be close. And can America.

Play in an environment. like they did against Mexico, That was rowdy and obnoxious, and DR two nights ago. Can they put that behind them and learn from that? Get some runs and put the energy behind them. Eduardo Rodriguez is going to be on the mound for Venezuela tonight.

You mentioned a short leash. I bet you Nolan McClain's going to have a very short leash tonight after he gave up. Again, he got hit pretty good against Italy in giving up those three runs. Uh that he did in the third inning of that one.

So I I don't know how short the leash is going to be tonight. But out of the gate, like if you get a couple of runners on in scoring position, give up a run, I bet they pull them. I bet they go straight to the pin. I would not be surprised at that.

So, World Baseball Classic, USA, Venezuela, tonight. at eight o'clock. Also. We're talking NC State, Texas. We're talking um UNC VCU, that'll be on Thursday night.

Brackets. That is the jam right now.

So at wsjs.com. If you want in on this. We have our bracket challenge. But this isn't just like a, oh, yeah, I could go fill out a bracket. No, no, no.

There's some real stakes to this. Come on. I mean, what do you take us for? We got to make the stakes good around here. The WSJS bracket challenge is where you can enter Your bracket for a chance to win a hundred dollar gift card.

to East Coast wings and grow. It's where bragging rights come into play here. And I mean, you know, you can get some winnings. $100 on us. That's not bad.

East Coast Wings, man, East Coast Wings and Girl. They do it upright. Whether you want wings or whether you want burgers, whether you want chips. They have it all. They have it all over there.

If your bracket beats the rest, the wings, the wangs, they're on us. Uh predict the madness. Win the flavor. Win that flavor from East Coast Wings and Grill. Enter the WSJS bracket challenge now.

At wsjs.com, your fast break straight to The wing counter Looking at our YouTube comments here, Jay Davis unique. Says I'm a little concerned for UNC, but I think Vesar is going to eat and have a huge game against VCU. He also adds: if the guards are average against VCU, we shouldn't have any problems. Maybe. I mean, again, I haven't made a prediction for this game yet.

I'm not like putting my stake in the ground on anything just yet, but in terms of is it concerning this spot for Carolina? Oh, yeah. It is a very concerning spot. Uh for sure. Looking at the Charlotte Hornets very quickly.

So they're back in action tonight. after they lost to the Spurs over the weekend. 115 and 102. I'm a sicko like that. I was at the ACC tournament.

I was on the Josh Graham show producing that. Four to seven. Weekends, you can listen to that here on WSJS. And we were there at Spectrum Center. broadcasting and I'm following Hornet Spurs like a Like a sicko, but I don't care like I Josh was asking me, he was like, Because he was making the point that the NBA kind of disappears during the month of March because of all the madness here.

And I'm like. I get it. Especially when we're here at the tournament, but I'm still keeping an eye on my Hornets. and hopefully your hornets too. It gets a little murky in the month of March, but I'm still watching the Hornets.

You better believe that. I'm still seeing the Lakers handle business, win a 9 of 10 now. Last night against KD and the Houston Rockets. But getting to a couple of clips here from Eric Collins and Del Curry.

So they're in action tonight. Got a big one against the Miami Heat, a game they lost against the Heat. A few weeks ago, a little less than two weeks ago, 128 to 120, you know, this is a battle amongst teams that are in. In the top 10 in the Eastern Conference. That's at 7 o'clock tonight in Charlotte at the Spectrum Center.

Their first game back since the ACC tournament was in town. Eric Collins. He uh when he talks we listen when he calls games we listen And he had this to say. About the rookie of the year conversation between Cooper Flag and Con Kniple.

Well, Cooper Flag is phenomenal. Saw him a couple of times, and the guy, I don't watch a lot of college basketball, and I just knew all the hype of Cooper Flag, and I was like, okay, whatever. The guy was underhyped. From what I saw, the guy was underhyped from what he was able to do against the Hornets. He put 49 on us.

You know, top of the key, either hand, two strong dribbles, and finishing with power at the rim whenever he wanted. Like, I didn't expect that out of a 19-year-old kid. But in terms of rookie of the year, I'm a big believer that this is the entertainment business. It is. You know, everyone wants to win the championships, but 29 teams do not.

So what can you control is the entertainment value. And Khan Kinipol has provided that entertainment value with production. He's missed one game. That means something to me. That means that people have come to the arena 65 times this year and seen him play in 64 of them.

You know, he's firing them up there with regularity. He's changed the attitude about this team because he understands how to play the game. He has brought. Breadth and room for everyone on this team to be a better player because of the. the defensive commitment that he commands.

That was Eric Collins. Here was Del Curry. His partner there on FanDuel Sports talking specifically about Lamello Ball and his You know, coming along this year in a big way, and the emergence of Khan Knipple, and what he's seeing. I would say how Humble but confident they are on and off the floor. Lamello is a joy to be around.

Seems like he never has a bad day. They are next play mentality guys. If they have a bad game, it does not bother them. When the game is over, they just go back to the lab and get to work. They don't get too high, get too low.

They don't want to be recognized for the things that they're doing on the floor.

Some of the things, like you just mentioned, the three-point shooting, they just go about. their day trying to help the guy on the left and the right side of them.

So chemistry is huge in the game of sports. It's huge in a locker room in the bat in the basketball space. And these guys are leading the right way in the locker room. They're tremendous human beings, other than being just good basketball guys, but they're simple. Very simple.

Very simple stuff. But yes, when you're having fun, when you're playing selfless, agenda-free basketball, as Kendrick Perkins put it on, Scott Van Pelt. After the Boston win a couple of weeks back, that You get what you've gotten down the stretch here lately. From the Charlotte Hornets. They're in action tonight against the Miami Heat.

All right, coming up next. We debut a new segment! Telling you some stuff. That maybe you didn't know But you need it. You need to know about this stuff.

We get to that next on the drive. You're listening to WSJS. Um Let's make it.

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You're on the drive. That's right, back at it on a Tuesday drive right here on WSJS. Where We like to keep you educated. Best we can. You know, we come here to talk sports, but we also come here to learn about sports and things you might not know.

And that is why We Decided we wanted to debut a new segment. Morgan, shout out to him pulling all of these things along here. Oh yes, making the magic happen, getting himself edumicated. Uh this segment is called stuff you didn't know. You needed to know.

Things you want to know, you should know, but you don't know. What? What? Oh my. The game within the game.

What do you mean by that? Let me give you an example. Time for stuff you didn't know, you needed to know. Really? That's right, if you don't know, now you know, or you're about to.

Because Morgan Corson, the producer of this show, he's about to fill us in. He's got five interesting nuggets that I didn't know. And maybe you didn't either. What do we have, Morgan? The first one, it is March, so we've got a March madness.

Statistic on the brackets. You know, if you want to fill your zone out, WSJS.com, go for that East Coast Friends gift card. The odds of having a perfect bracket Are one and nine point two quintillion. That is over a billion. billions.

Quintillion. Quintillion. But if you follow the sport very closely and you you understand dynamics of the teams. The chances have blue only slightly to 1 in 120 billion.

So, in other words, what you're saying is This whole wing giveaway that we have, or this gift card that we have, the East Coast Wangs and Grill, is a toss-up. That's what I'm hearing. 100%. It's anyone's game, which gives you more incentive to go to WSJS.com. See, You really need to do this.

This is why. This is the beauty of March Madness, okay? Even if you don't follow the sport. You may not know anything about any of the teams. You fill out that bracket, you still have a great chance.

That is the beauty of March. I it's an incredible quintillion that You don't hear that one thrown around very much. Another March Madness dat in 1989 tournament. Glenn Rice of the Michigan Wolverines scored 184 points in a single tournament, a record that stands to this day. Wow, a walking bucket.

It doesn't get much better than that, man. It doesn't get much better. That's crazy. What is there like Four, five or six games you play throughout the tournament? Yeah, let's see.

A round of. Yeah, six games. This is what WD does math live on air. First round, second round, Sweet 16, Elite 8, Final 4. Championship six.

Six. Perfect.

So six games. Very elaborate math there as I count on my fingers while on live radio. It's good. It's good. About 20 a game, maybe a little more.

Yeah. If the math isn't. Correct, which most likely isn't, but we'll figure it out here. Give yourself a little more credit, right? Gotta give it credit.

It's gonna be in the 20s.

Next, sticking with basketball, we're in the NBA.

Okay. 1961-62 NBA season. The one the only Wilt Chamberlain averaged 48.5 minutes a game that season. That is the same season he scored 100 points. But the regular Game, like a regulation game, only goes 48 to 48.

So he played in every overtime as well. Man, the dude was such a workhorse. He really was.

It's why you look at now where we have all the load management stuff and. Kobe Bryant was the same way. He was a workhorse too. RIP to Kobe. But You know, you have some of these stars in the NBA now and You want to go see them when they're in your city.

Wherever that may be, and you buy, you might buy tickets ahead of time. You really, it's like. Because I remember as a kid, I wanted to go to a Hornets game to see, you know, Shaq when they'd come to town or D-Wade. And I mean, I've been to, you know, I like LeBron James. And so when he came to town, I wanted to go watch the Hornets, even when the Hornets were bad.

So If you do that... And let's just say, God forbid, you buy like really good seats too, because it's like, man, this is my favorite player. I want it up close. I want to see it. I want to get as close to the action as I can, and they sit.

Yeah, not with Will. No, he actually never sat. Nope. Except for one time. He got ejected in the last eight minutes of the game.

That was the only time he sat, but that's because they kind of forced him to. Yeah. That's fair. That's fair. That's a good one, though.

I like that one. We got another basketball one. Rashid Wallace once fouled out without committing a single physical foul. He would just argue with the refs, and they just kept giving him technical fouls. Seven technical fouls, zero personal fouls.

So he just argued with the refs the whole time. That's what he did. That's all he did, just argued with the refs. Rashid, man. Rashid was a dog.

He was fiery. This isn't. It's surprising, but it's not because it's Rashid Wa. This sounds like something beef stew would do. From Detroit.

That's what it sounds like. Shout out to the beef stew. And World Baseball Classic Championship final is tonight. Shout out.

So we've got a baseball one back in 1952, really digging for these here, 1952. Ron Nishai. Had one of, if not the most dominant stat line for a pitcher in baseball history. Uh-huh. Nine innings.

27 strikeouts. Zero hits. Zero walks. Every single one of those outs. Came with the strikeout.

It wasn't an MLB game, though. It was minor leagues, part of the Pirates. Uh, farm system, but Bristol Twins of the Appalachian League. Oh, shout out. Yeah.

See, I even knew something you didn't know. Yeah, I didn't get that. Ah, beach at your own game. Oh, yes, but yeah, no, that's. That's unheard of 27 strikeouts in one game.

See, that's what Team USA needs tonight for McLean. Fanning them. fanning it down the plate. That's good stuff right there. That has been.

Stuff you didn't know. You needed to know. Great job pulling that together. Oh, thank you. Thank you.

So again, WSAS.com, that's the place to go for the bracket challenge. That's also where you go. to get in on our prizes here. Springtime winning. at WSJS.com.

So Hank Williams. Hank Williams Jr. Going to be in Charlotte at the end of May. With Joe Nichols You got an opportunity to win those tickets. You also have the.

NASCAR at Bristol Motor Speedway weekend for the Food City 500. I mean, this is racing country, it is.

So, you might want to get in on this at Bristol. Heck, I might want to get in on Bristol. Dude, I haven't been to a race in. Have you ever been to a race? I went to Bristol last year.

I went to this race last year. How was it? It was phenomenal. There's not a bad seat in that house. You can see everything up close from the top, and the environment's just amazing.

They have a new short track package this year.

So, the racing will be elevated, and it's going to be a phenomenal race. You don't So I've only been to one race ever.

Okay. Um. And it's a funny story. Uh I so I went my first two years of college I went to Surrey Community Sh uh Surrey Community College. Shout out to Mount Airy.

um played some Juco ball. And my sophomore year, we had around Christmas time. we had like this um We had this thing where we were going to be ushers essentially at Charlotte Motor Speedway for an Xfinity race. It was Xfinity at the time. And um So we went.

We saw practice, we saw qualifying, we saw the race that night. And you really just don't get an appreciation for how. darn fast that they go. on TV. You don't get it.

You don't.

So They always say like, oh, the camera makes it seem so fast, you don't get to see how fast it is. And Charlotte's one of their slower tracks for the mile and a half.

So at Daytona, Talladega, and Atlanta and Michigan, they're going two hundred miles an hour. At l at Charlotte, they go one seventy five. Love some NASCAR. Love some NASCAR. I'm a big Jeff Gordon guy, by the way.

Love Jeff Gordon. Do you like Jeff Gordon? Is that your favorite? That was my guy.

Okay. See, we've not had, this is happening like in real time. We haven't had a conversation about NASCAR before, Morgan, and I. But yeah, Jeff Gordon. Jeff Gordon.

The Rainbow Warrior. And then also Carl Edwards. He'd do backflips off his car. Yes, he did. That was awesome.

Shout out to him. But yes. I said, what a great promo. It doesn't get, if we didn't just sell you to get in on these tickets. For Bristol, the Food City 500.

The heck with it. You don't want him anyway. But Kid Rot, maybe that's something you do want. May thirtieth, Charlotte. You also could get tickets to go see Charlotte FC when New York City comes to Bank of America Stadium March 21st coming up on Saturday.

We got a lot of prizes for you there. You got to wait 30 days. If you do win, you got to wait 30 days to lock back in there. But tell your friends, tell your family, wsjs.com. That's the place to be.

Jay Davis here. In the comments here, one of our favorites. Wow, WD. Everybody He says everybody on the show is more cultured than you, LMAO. He does that in a Josh Graham's voice.

I mean, hey. It's also said, did we just become best friends, Morgan? Yeah, maybe you did. I think we did. Maybe you did.

Shout out to our YouTube comments. All right. Coming up next, let's play some bets. Because I got some bets to make for tonight. NC State, Texas.

It's a tight line, man. It's a tight line. Do we want to get in on that or do we want to look at something else? Find out next on the drive right here on WSJS. Clock out.

Turn it up. Let's ruin some narratives. I know who you are. Welcome to The Drive, the Triad's longest-running live sports talk show. Uh Back headed on the drive here on WSJS, David Glenn of the NC Sports Network joined us at 5:30.

Always a good time hanging out with him, and this is as good of a time as any to get him on the program. Had a lot of fun hanging out with him down in Charlotte on Saturday as we were both down there for. The tournament. All right. Let's play some bets.

Stack it up, stack it, stack, gotta stack it up. Get the money. Get the money on the fly. It's time to cash in. Welcome to Dalton's Dollars.

Yeah. Show me the money. Breaking down the board and building the bankroll. That's right, we do build that bankroll.

So let's start with NC State, Texas. Where The line is in C State. One and a half point favorites. I I do like NC State to win tonight. I do.

But that one and a half, I don't I don't know if I want to mess with that as much as I do the over in this game. Because I think points are going to be scored. 102 to 97 was the final in Maui in that fifth round. uh or fifth place game. Point, it's gonna be a shootout.

The over in this. The over-under is 157.5. I'm going to take the over. I get that at minus 115 odds. NC State, Texas, over 157.5.

Strow Vegas! Yeah. I like that one. Skip the hornet's heat. Yeah.

So bam out of bio. He's questionable in this one. Saw this, um Yesterday, when the heat put their injury report out, he's got right calf tightness.

So there's a chance he doesn't go tonight. And because of that... That would explain why the Hornets are five-point favorites tonight at home against Miami. I think Hornets win it outright. I'm going to take at minus 112 odds.

Give me the Hornets five-point favorites. Drop me the money! Yeah. I like that. I'll tell you what else I like.

Venezuela, USA tonight in the World Baseball Classic Final. Just taking a look at this, the US, they're favored by a point and a half. I'm not very comfortable taking that because I think this game is going to be. Decided by a run. Looking at the over-under, eight and a half.

Mm. Yeah. You know what? It's not great odds. I get this at I get this at minus 102.

But because I think Even though the USA wins, I think they only win by a run.

So Let me just take US on the money line, minus 265. Let me do that. Drop me the- Yeah. I like that. Let me sprinkle something in there though.

Let me sprinkle in Venezuela. to cover One and a half point dogs. Show me the Yeah. I get that at minus 102 odds.

So, two. I'm not parlaying them together. But I think I'm going to place two bets on that one. Venezuela covers one and a half point. Underdogs, USA, the money line minus 265.

And I'm also going to take NC State. Going to take them to get the over, NC State Texas to get the over, 157 and a half, and then Hornets five-point favorites against the heat tonight. A four-pack. Tell him one more time, Jerry McGuire. Stronger!

Fire that one up. That has been. Dalton's dollars.

So we did get an update. Uh the other day from John Shire. on Pat Gamba's status. He went in, or he went on with the guys at the Field of 68. This was right after.

You know, the tournament was announced, the brackets, Selection Sunday, that all took place on CBS. And According to John Shire, And this was, again, on Sunday. They're going to make a decision a couple of days from now, so it could be any time now. He said, quote, you're in one and done territory, but you don't want to risk setbacks. But it's very positive.

I feel very good about how he's feeling, and that's the latest on Pat Gamba.

So My guess is he's going to start. Right out of the gate against Sienna. 1 versus 16, Caleb Foster again. You're not likely to see him until around the final four, assuming Duke gets that far. But with how Caden Boozers played, I mean he 16 against Virginia.

The way he played down the stretch of the ACC tournament, he seems to be getting more comfortable. He seems to be getting more confident. And I would be more concerned about Pat Gamba getting back and having that size right as opposed to Caleb Foster. No shade on Caleb Foster. He's a veteran leader and all that, and he plays a big role.

But I think Caden Boozer can fill that. While Foster is out, and I think Gamba is a little bit more of the crucial piece there. You're on the drive, the triad's longest-running live sports talk show.

Now we're joined by our friend David Glenn of the NC Sports Network. Got to hang out with him quite a bit in our time in Charlotte at the ACC tournament. DG, how are we doing? Doing well, Will. It was great to see you in the Queen's City and great to be back with you to talk some March Madness.

So, I didn't plan on starting with this because it just broke in the last half hour or so. And I'm not sure if you've seen it or not, but this is, I want to get your reaction to something.

So, Caleb Wilson. He's gonna be he's an AP All-American second team. And Carolina just put this out this moment where Hubert Davis broke that news to Caleb. And also added that this also means that your jersey's going up. In the rafters, which is incredible because I remember all the conversation I heard: you know, man, it would be, it's a shame that Caleb wouldn't get his jersey in the rafters, one and done, and all that.

What is your reaction to this?

Well, Carolina has had a list of criteria for a long time about what it takes to get your jersey in the rafters. And prior to Caleb Wilson's injury, let's remember that. He came this close, even in his final statistics. He beat out, how about Tyler Hansbro for the highest scoring average ever for a UNC freshman, all time? And he nearly beat out Antoine Jameson for the highest rebounding average ever for a freshman at UNC.

So it is not an exaggeration to say that Caleb Wilson was on his way to one of the greatest freshman seasons in UNC basketball history. And even though it was cut short, it's still going to rank somewhere on that list. amongst some really heavy hitters and really big names from the past. And he seems like a really impressive young person.

So I'm happy for him. And even though his stay in Chapel Hill will only be one year, that's a heck of an accomplishment. David Glenn with us here of the NC Sports Network.

So. We'll get to the NCAA tournament here in just a second, but we were together at the ACC tournament. Uh in Charlotte. And I wanted to get to this because A big piece of Duke winning. Against Virginia, who pushed him.

Like, we haven't seen Camboozer get taken out of a game like that. Yeah, he scored a season low 13. And what's funny is he still almost had a triple-double with 8-8, which is just, it's just stupid. Caden Boozer, though, in Caleb Foster's absence, has really stepped up in a big way, had 16 in that final against Virginia. How impressed have you been with the emergence of Caden Boozer?

It was enormous, and I was very impressed. And here's what I want people to think about, even if they're not basketball diehards. Caden Boozer, freshman point guard at Duke, obviously in the spotlight because of the injury to the veteran Caleb Foster, who Duke will not have until at least the Final Four, maybe at all, if the Blue Devils keep advancing. He is the lesser-known brother. He is the lower profile brother.

He is the less productive brother. And his freshman year was up and down, right? In the quarterfinals against Florida State, Caden Boozer played poorly. Not mediocre, bad. And Duke barely beat Flora's date.

Could you imagine if the number one team in the nation, Duke, had to go into the NCAA tournament with the last thing on Caden Boozer's mind? That he had been asked to play well as point guard against a pretty good Florida State team with good guards, and he faceplanted.

Well, that's not exactly a springboard for optimism or confidence if you're a young person like Caden Boozer. Instead, Duke survives Florida State, and Caden Boozer goes from one of his worst games of the year. to back-to-back career highs. With 16 points in both the semis and the championship game. And he did a lot of other good things besides scoring those buckets.

So, holy cow, that is a dramatic shift in the paradigm for Duke. We know the blue devils are gonna be hard to beat, no matter what. But with Pat Gondwa coming back from his injury starting center, And with Caden Boozer gaining some confidence in Charlotte. I mean, John Shire still wishes he had Caleb Foster, obviously, but. The Blue Devils look to me like one of the favorites to win the national championship.

I personally like Arizona. But they're not sliding as far down because of their injury issues as they might have if those supplementary players had played poorly in Charlotte. Yeah. Well Sticking with Duke. It was pretty incredible.

So they're the number one overall seed. They had the season that they did, ACC champs, the whole nine. And their reward was being put in the same part of the bracket with. Dan Hurley, Rick Fetino, Bill Self, Tom Mizzo. There you go.

There's your prize. What did you make of the difficulty? And I don't even think it's close. That's the most difficult part of the bracket by far. What did you make of the difficulty of that east part of the bracket where Duke resides?

Well, I have to double-check this number, but I believe you might know it. The number of active coaches that have already won the national championship, I believe, is seven.

Okay. Four of them are in Duke's bracket. Yeah. And you just listed them. Those guys have already been to the mountaintop.

Now, it is a difficult bracket. I think UConn in particular. Would be very difficult in the Elite Eight. And that's just assuming that both Duke and Yukon get to the Elite Eight. Not always safe to assume stuff during March Madness.

I don't think those others will be quite as difficult if Duke encounters them along the way. I actually have Michigan State losing on the first weekend in my bracket. But no, the committee, I guess you would say that the favors that the committee did for Duke, rather than that bracket you just described. They get to go to Greenville, South Carolina, and they get to go to Washington, D.C. And if you don't need to get on an airplane for a long flight, That is an advantage.

There are coaches that would say that that sort of rest. and familiarity advantage is even more important than the original bracket. Because you don't know which of those teams might get eliminated before you have to face them. Whereas you do know flying coast to coast is hard on guys. Getting rest is tricky at this time of year.

You need body recovery, et cetera.

So, in a sense, Duke got a favor. In a sense, Duke has a challenge. But if you want a national championship, you're supposed to get some big hurdles. David Glenn with us here on WSJS of the NC Sports. Network.

Now let's get to tonight. First four. gets underway. NC State is going to be getting a rematch with Texas, a game that was the fifth-place game in Maui, 102.97. Lots of points that Texas handled their business the first time around.

Do you think NC State is going to be able to get one over on the Longhorns this time around? I think they have a shot. I mean, I'm not paid by anybody to hype the first four, but I'll tell you this. The score that you just mentioned, that was entertaining basketball out in Hawaii during Thanksgiving. NC State is one of the best three-point shooting teams in the entire country, certainly in the bracket.

And they're one of the only teams that has six or so different guys that could put up 15 points on you. There are not a lot of offensively diverse teams to that degree. Uh, now state doesn't play very good defense, and that's why it's unpredictable, right? You could score 100, but you could give up a hundred. Um, and by the way, the way we're describing NC State, good enough offensively to beat most in the bracket, but shaky enough defensively to lose to almost anybody in the bracket, same picture describes SMU of the ACC the next night.

The Musterines were one of the best teams in the ACC. And again, you don't need me as the hype machine, but the Mustangs play Miami, Ohio. Yeah. As a basketball lover, I am fascinated. There's this debate about whether Miami, Ohio should have gotten in, they were undefeated, but they lost in their conference tournament, and it's only a one-bid league, but they got the at-large.

Oh, by the way, SMU has not won an NCAA tournament game since 1988.

So, if you think Miami, Ohio is playing for a version of Pride, which they are. They're trying to stand up for all mid-majors and Cinderellas everywhere and show that they belong. SMU is a school that has not. I have been in my almost 40 years covering college sports. SMU has never won an NCAA tournament game.

I mean, that's a long time ago, man.

So both teams are sort of going to bat for history, so to speak. And that means for the next two nights, we have a different level of entertainment, at least in my eyes, than we usually see with the first four. It is interesting because earlier this year, after Will Wade and NC State lost to Miami, blowing that game the way they did, he joked. He's like, I don't even know if we're going to make it to Dayton. I just hope we make it to Dayton.

Well, congrats. Here you are. You're in Dayton. David Glenn with us of the NC Sports. Network.

So moving things along to Thursday night, we'll see Carolina against VCU. Carolina, it's been a bit of a. Rocky go of it between the loss to Clemson in the ACC tournament, where they got down by as much as 18, then brought it back. They got beat. Pretty badly in Cameron, and then, of course.

what it does to you psychologically to lose Caleb Wilson after you were kind of building up towards him coming back. How much trouble or concern do you think there should be for Carolina against VCU Thursday night? I think it's a challenge. Carolina has more overall talent, but one thing in VCU's skill set is that they shoot. I think it's about 37% from three-point land.

And what has been one of the Achilles heels, excuse the expression, of UNC this year, defending the three-point shot? VCU, for folks with long memories, went to NC State. And battled the Wolfpack this regular season all the way down to the wire.

Now, they did lose to the Wolfpack, and that was months ago. But we witnessed the Carolina team. The Tar Heels are the classic example of a team that the wise thing to do is just back away from the betting window. Why? Because Henry Vessar is the only thing they have that is predictable.

That guy was fantastic against Clemson. As the heels got eliminated by the Tigers in the quarterfinals, I think he's been one of the best half a dozen players in the entire ACC after rarely starting at Arizona for three years.

So that's a Hubert Davis success story, one of the best portal stories that I think in all of college basketball. And that's a credit to the Tar Heels. But would you want to predict how the guards are going to play for Carolina? Would you want to predict how the bench is going to play for Carolina? When Hubert Davis used four different guys against Clemson for a total of like 35 or so minutes collectively.

They scored five points. And it's not always a disaster if you don't score a lot off the bench, but you got to do something. Virginia had, you know, a guy who didn't score a lot, but blocked eight shots in that game. You know, Virginia had a guy who didn't score a lot, but had six assists in a game. This other guy didn't score a lot, but he's hitting the boards, right?

Carolina got almost nothing from its four-bench players against Clemson. That's why they were sent home. And that's why they were digging out of that huge hole before that furious comeback with Vessar leading the way.

So the heels are certainly good enough to beat VCU. Sure. But predicting that guard play is. As difficult as it gets. And even if the Heels beat VCU, I would be shocked if they, if they end up playing Illinois in the second round, I'd be shocked if they beat the Illini because that team is one of the most high-powered offenses in the entire country.

And Carolina has not been very good on defense this year. It is something I said on the show on Friday that You tend to not know what version of Carolina you're going to get. On a night in, night out basis. And that's not a good place to be in the month of March. That's not great.

And you know, I'll credit. In the end against Clemson. Seth Trimble eventually, Derek Dixon eventually, Jaron Stevenson eventually, and Vessar all along. Why was it a one-point game at the end? Because those four guys answered the bell.

Now, three of them were a little late to answer the bell, and you can't dig out of a hole that large most of the time. But you You know, when Luca Bogovats hit six three-pointers and scored a career-high 20 points, the Tar Heels beat a good Clemson team in Chapel Hill. When Luca Bogovats was cold from the field against Clemson at the ACC tournament and really didn't do a lot of other things, And then Kyon Evans off the bench, Jonathan Powell off the bench. Jaden Young was like minus 13 personally against Clemson.

So Hubert Davis needs more than that. And if you're, yeah, if you're unpredictable at this time of year. It's called March Madness for a lot of reasons, right? Nobody would have thought eight seed Carolina would end up playing in the national championship game in 2022. That's true.

Right? We live in a world where, you know. Coach K has national championships. Dean Smith won a national championship without an elite team. And then there were years where those same coaches, among the best ever, Had maybe one of their greatest teams and did not win the national title.

Like, that's just how it works, man. And that's why we love it so much. A few more things for you on the way out. You just mentioned something there, you know, in terms of the madness, and you just never know what could happen. I'm fascinated by Virginia.

So they got a three seed, and seeing them. You know, court side up close like we did at the tournament. You know, I was sitting for the championship right behind Virginia's bench. And it's like when you get that type of perspective, you practically feel like you're in the huddle. Like you get to watch Ryan Odom coach up close.

And I loved watching it and just watching him interact and coach the players. It made a lot of sense why they are where they are. But they're in the side of the bracket with Michigan, with Iowa State. How far could you see the Cavs going in the big dance? I don't think the final four is out of the question.

I don't either. I have them at least to the Sweet 16. I haven't finished my bracket yet because I've been pulled in a lot of different directions. I'm still ironing it out. But Look.

They're really good. They don't quite have the all-American type player that many of the top contenders for the Final Four do have. Ica Cameron Boozer of Duke, but you know, a lot of others in that one line and on that two line. But they're as deep as anybody in this tournament, I think. They used nine guys in Charlotte, and all nine helped.

Some in big ways, some in small ways. They all seem to love to share the ball. They're the second best defensive team in the ACC behind only Duke. They have two really good point guards. I mean, Dallin Hall, the starter, is more of a defender and a leader and a passer.

Chance Mallory is a little bit more creative off the bench. But we saw, I mean, if Virginia had somehow beaten Duke in that ACC title game, their backup center would have been the tournament MVP. I mean, you want to talk about depth. We're just talking about Hubert Davis looking at four guys and not knowing if he was going to get anything. Ryan Odom looks and sees Chance Mallory, a brilliant backup point guard as a freshman.

And then he sees Ugo Onyensu, the backup. Ridiculous. And he sets records for shot blocking, finds his offensive game, shuts down Cameron Boozer to a degree we hadn't seen all. I mean, are you kidding me? Those are backups at Virginia.

And they have really good starters.

So I have, I'm trying to remember who they would have to face in the. in the Sweet 16 UVA, but Oh, yeah, Iowa State's a tough, a tough assignment if it gets to that. But you know how it goes. Control what you can control. And then, in the back of your mind, you hope that certain teams lose before you have to face them.

That's how this tough goes, right? You and I know Iowa State's a brutally difficult two seed. Uh but The way this stuff works, maybe if Virginia wins its first two, somebody upsets Iowa State along the way, and you're dealing with somebody else. That's how it goes. David Glenn, get his work at the NC Sports Network.

Follow him on X and his coverage there of different things at David Glenn Show. We appreciate the time and the insight as always, and we'll do it again next time. Thank you, my friend. If anybody wants to try to win free bacon for a year, you can go to ncsportsnetwork.com and find our bracket contests. And people do win that thanks to our friends at the North Carolina Pork Council.