Kevin Keatts live from the ACC Tournament

This is The Drive with Josh Graham Podcast.

Tune in to The Drive weekday afternoons 3 to 7 on Sports Hub Triad. We are broadcasting live from Jim Boeheim's favorite place on planet Earth, Greensboro Coliseum, and I had a chance to catch up with Jim Boeheim a short while ago. Of course, if you're not clued in, five years ago he had the comment sir make it four years ago in Brooklyn. I don't even think he was asked about Greensboro, he was just asked about the central location of Barclay Center for his team and then he decided to just do a drive-by on Greensboro for some reason. But before we get to what he said years ago, let's hear what Boeheim had to say a few hours ago.

I simply asked the question, well you'll hear the question. This is Coach Boeheim. You spoke here about a year ago in Greensboro. Of course, now that you're back, how often do people bring up your comments from years ago? It's first time in a year.

That's the first time. My only comment was related to I think this better for fans to be in a big city, but for coaches, for me, I'd rather come here because it's less traffic, less hassle. People are really nice. Been to Greensboro a couple times and it's a great place, a nice city.

I always never thought anything differently. It was strictly a matter of, I think a big city is a better venue for fans to have an experience, but for me, I just soon come here. I'd rather come here than go to a big city. It's easier.

Easier to get around, easier to do what you have to do. Who? Who? Me? I don't dislike Greensboro. Oh, I love Greensboro.

It's the fans that don't. No, no, no, babe. I didn't say anything bad about you. It was, it was John over there. He's the one that did that. See, he doesn't like you.

I'm cool with you now. Jim Boeheim doing the runaround there. He's clearly backpedaling. I remember last year he spoke at Greensboro. Didn't really do any media aside from speaking at the event he did last May. He had his press conference in Winston-Salem ahead of the Charlotte ACC tournament. I asked him about Charlotte and its value. He gave an answer saying how much he loved the restaurants and the Triad, Winston-Salem, Greensboro. He likes Charlotte, too. He thinks Charlotte qualifies as a big city, but you be the judge if Boeheim is correct, if we're just misinterpreting what he's saying. After all, he said that it's just the fans.

It's not him. He loves Greensboro. It's the people are nice here. It's quaint. It's more convenient. There's less traffic.

Let's hear what four years ago Jim Boeheim had to say, and again a reminder. He was not asked about Greensboro. I think the big cities are where it should be played. I think it should be played here, Washington, Atlanta. That's where the tournament should be played. I'm not gonna be around that much longer to care about it, but I think that's where the value is. I think there's a huge value in playing the tournament in those places, and there's no value in playing Greensboro.

None. It's there because the league's been there, and the office is there, and they have 150 people at the ACC meetings. That's why it's there.

It should not be there. You get in the media centers and recruiting centers. How many players they have in Greensboro?

I mean, New York, Washington, Atlanta. That's where the media centers are. Robert, where's all the parts where he said how much he loves Greensboro?

They might be in the second clip, but there's two clips to this. Oh, there's more. I'm sorry. I don't want to take Boeheim out of context.

Let me hear more. Madison Square Garden made the Big East Conference. There's a couple other factors, but made the Big East Conference, and I'm saying all this thing because I don't give a... I'm just saying what's right. That's what's right.

Why do you think the Big Ten's coming into New York? It's business. Good business sense. They all say it's a business. Well, then let's start acting like it's a business. I'm not a business, man. I'm a business, man. That's what Jim Boeheim's saying there.

See, that's what the ACC needs to be about. Greensboro, you can't do business there. What kind of businesses are in Greensboro, America? No, we need to be in Charlotte. We need to be in in Brooklyn.

We need to be in New York City. But wait, where was the Boeheim I talked to two hours ago saying how much he loved Greensboro? Did he forget to say that stuff four years ago? Alan, maybe he's upset about that you can't just take a really good deep sniff breath of air up in Brooklyn or in Greensboro. It's not the same as it is up in Brooklyn.

Oh, can you play that second clip just the end of it one more time, speaking of sniffs? Because, yeah, but the full context of it, if you miss the end of Jim Boeheim and just how dismissive he was of Greensboro four years ago, let me hear the end of that. They all say it's a business.

Well, then let's start acting like it's a business. Man, Jim Boeheim getting after it. He's not in Greensboro long, so the party begins soon after. Man, what's that smell like to you? That smells like a team that hasn't won before in Greensboro. Mm-hmm.

That's what it smells like to me. Remember, 2014, they were favored to beat NC State. They had a million shots in the final ten seconds of a game on a Wednesday, I believe, and yeah, they couldn't sniff a bucket.

That's the best way to put it, and then the next year, they didn't show up here because they were banned from postseason play. Robert, it sounds like you were making an accusation with that sound in 15. That's not very nice what you did there. Yeah, yeah, clearly he is taking shots at Greensboro. He's backpedaling a bit, but you know what, that's fine.

It's it's inconvenient. I think he knew the question was coming, and that's the way he chose to answer it, saying the fans don't like Greensboro. I love Greensboro. I went to speak there last year. I love it, but it's the fans who might not love it as much.

Anyway. And you know somebody really loves a place when their favorite part about it is, oh, you can get around so easy. Oh, I love, I love that place because you can just drive and drive and drive. Yeah, I love Henderson. Henderson, North Carolina. Why?

It's so easy to get around. I think we should have the ACC tournament in Henderson. Henderson? I think we should have it in Kang. You could have it in Kang and get around wherever you wanted to, and have the best hot dogs in the state.

Yes. Jim Boeheim would love the ACC tournament in Kang. He would love that. That's where we'll, I can't wait for that. 2023 ACC tournament in Kang, Kang, North Carolina.

Yeah. Boeheim would be thrilled about that one. There's Carolina Panthers news to get to.

Then we'll have Joe Giglio and Connor O'Neill drop by, Wake Forest and NC State basketball insiders here at the ACC tournament in Greensboro. Kyle Allen has been signed to a one-year deal. Remember, he was set to become an exclusive rights free agent.

So Carolina, it was essentially their decision. If they wanted to extend him beyond what we saw from him a year ago, this shouldn't really be surprising news at all. According to Ian Rappaport, here's how robust this type of deal is for Allen. He's gonna make $585,000.

That's right. A little bit more than half a million. That's what Kyle Allen's gonna make.

Started 12 games last year. Is there another quarterback, Robert, who started 12 games last year and made a half a million dollars? I think all the quarterbacks that started last year made half a million dollars, but just half a million dollars, I'm not sure.

Oh, just half a million dollars is probably what I was shooting at. Yeah, I think all the other quarterbacks, they cleared the half a million dollar threshold. So of course Carolina brings him back. It's $585,000 and I honestly don't think the Panthers know what they're gonna do with Cam Newton, but in sports talk radio, in television, heck when it comes to column writing, the worst thing you can say is, I don't know. That's a very sexy chyron to put on the on the ESPN show, NFL Live. Hey, what's your thought on Cam Newton? Yeah, A block. Let's do a segment about how I don't know and the Panthers don't know what's gonna happen until they see Cam, you know, perform in a physical.

You know, take a physical. It's not the most interesting television, so it makes sense the Panthers extend Kyle Allen, an exclusive rights free agent. If you don't know what you're gonna do with the position, it doesn't hurt to have them there and it's just little risk.

I'm not gonna say there's high reward there. I don't think it's a good situation anyway if Kyle Allen is starting games for you in 2020 unless your sole intent is to tank, which we've discussed on this show, but that is the latest on the Carolina Panthers quarterback situation. Kyle Allen has been extended one year as an exclusive rights free agent. What does NC State need to do to make the NCAA's field of 68? Is Danny Manning, is his fate already set at Wake Forest? The two best insiders on NC State and Wake Forest, Joe Giglio and Connor O'Neill, from the Winston-Salem Journal, will join to discuss next. He may not be beautiful and we do sit around all day and talk sports and yes Britt McHenry, we feel great about it.

Do you feel good about your job? This is The Drive with Josh Graham. We are now being joined by Joe Giglio of the Raleigh News and Observer for now and Connor O'Neill from the Winston-Salem Journal. One covers NC State, the other covers Wake Forest. It's the beauty of the ACC Tournament as we all come together in one place. The first time in five years that the ACC Tournament has been here in Greensboro and I want to get your thoughts on the breaking news that has just come down. The statement from the Atlantic Coast Conference, I'll read it in full right now. After consultation with local and state health authorities, including the governor and his medical staff, the Atlantic Coast Conference will hold its men's basketball tournament as scheduled this week at the Greensboro Coliseum.

As was outlined by the governor during his press conference today, high-risk individuals are discouraged from attending mass gatherings. We will continue to take precautionary measures and follow guidelines outlined by the Center of Disease Control and Prevention. In addition, the league and the Greensboro Coliseum are taking proactive measures to provide a safe and clean environment for its institutions and its fans. So this comes in the wake guys of Yale or excuse me the entire Ivy League deciding to cancel its conference tournament which means Yale will be going on to the NCAA's.

What do you make of how much this has been built up to the point where the ACC is having to put a statement out to tell people hey the tournament's still on? You obviously don't want to put people at risk in a public health situation. Absolutely. That makes the most sense right to be as cautious as possible. If this was Boston, I think Harvard was the site for the Ivy League where they've had more cases of the coronavirus and they've canceled classes there as well. They were like on super-duper lockdown.

So to me it makes sense to react in each region and act appropriately for where each event is. Connor do you think this is the biggest story of the week? There are a lot of stories heading into Greensboro.

Is this the biggest one? Yeah I think it kind of takes over. I don't know how much that has to do with the ACC being in a down year at least lacking a you know Zion Williamson type figure to kind of captivate everybody. You know last year in Charlotte we were all thinking Zion's gonna come back and he did come back and was electric. So I don't know how much of it has to do with that and how much of it is this is a national issue.

It's a global issue. I mean you know even in our little corner of ACC basketball heaven here it it touches it. Before we get to each of you your beats wake for us at NC State. This tournament again returning for the first time in five years and the other discussion aside for the coronavirus that's a popular one today is Greensboro as a site. I don't really think there's a major conference equivalent to what Greensboro means to the ACC tournament and the site being as popular as it's been even though it's not returned in the last handful of years. I don't think it's a certainty that the ACC tournament returns to Greensboro when you consider other conferences have kind of veered away from rotations. The Big 12 they're going to be in Kansas City pretty much the next decade. The SEC they've seen committed to Nashville. Charlotte's already a part of this rotation for the ACC. Joe as someone who's covered the league as long as you have what do you make about the security of this tournament and the future of it coming to Greensboro? They'll probably try to do special anniversary years here you know 75th 100 whatever you want to get to. Because it's a perfect venue.

It is. The biggest of the bunch people forget that it's bigger than Barclay Center it's bigger than Spectrum Center. And more fans have access to it too. I think one thing I talked to Boo Corrigan this week about and this is his first technical ACC tournament as an AD obviously his dad was the commissioner and understands it fairly well. He was saying you know this is like the first time for a lot of ADs in the league to have this experience. So I think they voted previously about sites not really understanding what Greensboro was to the ACC. This is the chance this week for for some of the Pittsburgh and some of these other ADs that are new to the league to kind of go through this and understand okay that's what the fuss is all about. Yeah that brings me to this stat here. This is something I was talking to Ed Harden from the News and Record about. He said there are nine news ADs that have been hired in this conference alone since the last time the ACC tournament was here. And for every John Curry who knows what this place is all about and every Boo Corrigan heck even Jarman at Boston College who's from Raleigh you will find others who maybe have never even stepped foot in this building.

So with that in mind how important do you think this week is Connor for the ACC but more importantly for Greensboro to prove that it is a viable spot? Yeah it's it's an audition and and there's there's nothing you can do right now to enhance Greensboro's nightlife to rival that of New York City at this point. Like you're not gonna you're not gonna all of a sudden have a Times Square pop-up down there on Elm. We can hit Natty Green's.

Yeah. Maybe hang out at Joy Mongers. That's those the spots maybe we could do that. Yeah but but it is it is a chance to show the atmosphere to show the everything around here the tailgating that goes around you don't see tailgating in Brooklyn the people just ride the subway go to the game and and go home or go out and in New York. It's a unique venue and that needs to be conveyed this week or or might not be back.

Kevin Keats he's a guest on today's show. Joe you cover NC State you've had you have for a very long time Joe Giglio from the Raleigh News and Observer Connor O'Neill Wake Forest beat writer from the Winston-Salem Journal. So what's your sense about what needs to happen for the pack? It's the ultimate question I've heard from people who probably aren't NC State fans saying hey they have to beat Duke and they have to beat Florida State for them to feel safe. I've heard on the other end of it yeah if if NC State beats Wake Forest they're good they're gonna be through you they're not gonna deny a team with 20 wins.

How do you feel on it? If you could tell me what Tennessee and Texas and UCLA and Stanford and Xavier if you could tell me what they're gonna do I'll tell you what's gonna happen. The mistake people make is they look at a team individually instead of look comparing them to the rest of the bubble. I have here's what I know they're going to put 36 at-large teams into the field and NC State's resume compares very favorably to those other ten or so on the bottom of that bubble. They're not being compared to Kansas or Baylor they're being compared to Xavier and Tennessee and Texas who and by the way NC State has a better resume than all of it. How is their case different or how much more or less comfortable do you feel about their case this year than you did last year where it was you need to win one game in the ACC tournament at least to have a shot? They don't have an outlier this year last year they did the 353 with the non-conference strength of schedule which Kevin Keats finally gave me an amen on after the Wake game he said it was bad yes thank you it was the worst in the country thank you for finally saying it. So to me there's no outlier this year they do have better Q they have more Q on wins and better Q on wins this year. Last year their wins were over Penn State and Clemson and Auburn obviously we beat Auburn but those teams didn't make the field they have three there are three good wins this year or the three teams who are definitely in the field. And teams that are trending upward we've seen Wisconsin get big wins Virginia obviously is a really good win especially since it was in Charlottesville transitioning things to Wake Forest. Man all that bubble talk made me so jealous I don't know what that's like.

I got years and years of bubble experience for you. Trust me it's not all it's cracked up to be. So the ACC sports journal last week David Glenn puts out the report saying that Danny Manning was in conversations already beginning negotiations his agent at least with Wake Forest for buyout talk I could be wrong I don't remember those rumors coming out a year ago before Ron Wellman decided to keep Danny for a sixth season what is the latest that you know about Danny Manning's status? On the buyout stuff I asked Danny point-blank after the game in Raleigh on Friday night if any of the rumors or reports were true and he said no and I said so your agent is not negotiating with Wake Forest right now and he said I said no Connor.

Okay what do you make of it being a denial versus saying I'm not gonna talk about that? I think that's just what he has to say I don't I don't really compare one and one my thing with the buyout negotiations is it's it's been reported that it's a fully guaranteed deal if it's a fully guaranteed deal what is there to negotiate it's either all or nothing it's either pay me everything up front if you're gonna fire me or I'm gonna be back next year. Well here's the part that's interesting to me Jeff Goodman in the winner of 2018 he reports an 18 million dollar figure that doesn't match up with a fully guaranteed contract if you're talking about a fully guaranteed deal with five years remaining on it well shouldn't that be around 10 million like what what have you heard since I know Wake Forest doesn't have to report such things but I've heard from people in the building that said well it's probably closer to 10 to 12 million than it is 18 what do you make of that not getting out whatsoever and also the idea of it being 18 million dollars still today fans believe in that. See I don't I think 18 is last year's number I think it's 15 now I think it's I think it's a 3 million a year deal I think that you'll never get anybody at Wake to confirm that because Ron's one of his lasting legacies is we don't discuss contracts they act like contracts don't exist it's frustrating but at this point it is what it is I'm not gonna fight it and I'm not gonna change John Curry's mind and he's gonna all of a sudden start telling me Dave Klassen's buyout and Danny's buyout and every contract in the building but you know I can only go on what Jeff Goodman put out there and and what he's never followed up on and and what Wake refuses to even acknowledge. John Curry was not quoted in your story about the lessening attendance at Joel Coliseum he declined an interview what would you be most interested to learn from him about those declining numbers?

I just I would really want to know the financials and how much money is being hemorrhaged right now with declining attendance and how much of your revenue that you were getting from parking from concessions from advertising from ticket sales that you're not getting now. So you work right now as Joe does in the news gathering business you guys are both some of the best journalists we have here in the state of North Carolina. Joe's soon gonna be a talk radio host co-host like like me here gonna be doing some talk radio in the next few weeks in the city of Raleigh so I'm gonna ask you I'm gonna get you started right now this is people people aren't interested in just the reporting and facts they want opinions here so you hear what Connor is saying about Danny Manning and Wake Forest how surprised would you be if Danny is back for year seven in Winston-Salem? I watched them on Friday and I even said to Connor I know what a team looks like that doesn't try and has an effort problem and they have an effort problem. And that's that's uncommon too right like Wake Forest one thing you can knock Danny for a lot of things effort generally is not one of those things could is it possible those two things are married together you see the reports about your coach negotiating a buyout and then all of a sudden you don't show up against NC State? Well particularly how they played against Duke and then what was more impressive to me was they showed up against Notre Dame yeah the next very next game first consecutive ACC wins since the end of the 2017 season. But in Raleigh on Friday boy he does some strange things he's got a lot of Sidney Lowe in him Danny Manning he spent a lot of time in the NBA he thinks the seasons longer than it is he doesn't have the urgency that you need to have from a game to game he makes these strange substitutions he took Olivier Saar out four minutes into the game after the kid had what 11 points 12 points and it's like he has no fouls he's not tired it's the first freaking half like I say this about Dave Doran if you had a three million dollar a year job you would do everything in your power to protect it you would it fire the offensive coordinator you'd fire that you'd fire the milkman you'd fire anybody Danny Manning's over here like oh we take my best player out for no reason like brah protect your own investment remember Jaylen Hoard sat the first nine minutes of the North Carolina game when it was 18 to nothing that was he that well it was late or something he he was not late that was a I was about to say something I probably shouldn't have a word not not like anything break all right Robert has the dump button right Robert you have your hands floating over it please don't let me use that so that was just a punishment and the the late to shoot around was actually a he did not come to shoot around I'll not make it they might have been leaving shoot around as he pulled into the parking lot but he did not make it to shoot around that more they have got man issues to where players leave with nowhere to go the guys who go pro with nowhere to go Brian Crawford just don't want to be here Brian Crawford left Wake Forest before his senior year and he was playing in Israel Darryl Moore where is he he's in G League purgatory okay for I think he's still in the Memphis organization these are all things that are not adding up for Danny's future yeah no and you know Jaylen Hoard they knew Jaylen Hoard wanted to be a one-and-done player if they thought that he was coming back that's on them Jaylen Hoard said from the onset I want to be a one-and-done I came here from France I spent two years at High Point Wesley and getting coached by Keith Gatlin who's got players in the pros Harry Giles played at Wesleyan BAM out of bio he wanted to be a pro that's why he came here if this segment had a headline it would be there's a lot of Sidney Lowe and Danny Manning Joe Connor thanks for being here guys it's appreciated you're welcome that's Connor O'Neill that's Joe Jillio I'll predict gosh this is such a talk radio thing to do I'll predict every game of this tournament next on the drive you wanted to hear some great sports talk well here it is ironic outcome the drive with Josh Graham it's not ironic it's just coincidental on sports hub triad I want to predict every single game of the ACC tournament I've gone through the bracket I have a champion here in Greensboro that will be crowned Saturday night but before I do that Robert it is the month of March which means we need to bring back a tradition on this show which is the return of what I believe to be the best sports theme music in America maybe in the world which is the March Madness theme I prefer the March Madness theme over the Masters music I prefer it over the old NBA on NBC theme which somehow Fox poached away not exactly the greatest look there I mean we think the NBA on NBC when we hear that great John Tesh theme anyway Robert do we have the March Madness music because what we need to do every time there's an update we're on the air as games are going on you need to interrupt me if something's happening no matter where we're at in a segment you just hit this theme yeah do you think you're capable of doing that Robert I don't know I might get entranced by this music over the next few days like we're gonna be on the air as NC State is playing yesterday or playing tomorrow excuse me don't know why I just did that two days from now Duke there's a chance they could be playing NC State like as that games going on we're gonna need some updates here right so no matter what we're doing Robert there need to be times you just interject that in there to tell me what's happening we could do that during the NCAA tournament when first and second round games are being played here in the Coliseum as well sound good you make it work all right we're gonna get to a hockey brawl in Winston-Salem at the fairgrounds annex in just a few minutes but as I mentioned I've picked every single game of this tournament I have my bracket this is the definitive prediction that we will have here on the show what I think is going to transpire over the next five days who I have winning the ACC Championship here in Greensboro and since we were playing some of the March Madness music Robert bring it back for me all right let's get things started with the 430 game Wake Forest Pittsburgh 430 the Demon Deacons there are rumors that Danny Manning has already started buyout negotiations with Wake Forest him and his agent that was according to the ACC Sports Journal last week I think it's gonna be Pitt winning this game because last Friday was the first time I can remember Wake Forest having a purely effort issue I think that is related to this headline if you learn that your coach was negotiating a buyout why would you play hard against NC State when they're trying to make it into the NCAA tournament so I think Pittsburgh wins this game I like Jeff Capel and what he's done and what he's building with the Pitt Panthers more than the current state of Wake Forest basketball also I like that group of sophomores with Xavier Johnson Jaylen McGowan's I really like the group moving forward I think Pitt could be a team that makes the NCAA tournament next year as an at-large team so Pitt is through to the second round knocking out Wake Forest and what I believe to be Danny Manning's last game as the Deacon's head coach Virginia Tech North Carolina seven o'clock tonight I like the Tar Heels here North Carolina they outclass the Hokies the last time they met it was at the end of January it was in Blacksburg it was the low point of the Tar Heels season B-Rob wasn't playing in that game Cole Anthony had it returned North Carolina was essentially playing with six guys I know Krista Keeling played nine minutes but it was a bare-bones lineup it might have been the worst starting five I've ever seen from a North Carolina basketball team under Roy Williams still given all of that North Carolina went on the road while Virginia Tech was playing good ball at that time and they took it to double overtime they probably should have won the game in Blacksburg North Carolina is on a bit of an upswing I know they didn't beat Duke but they won three of their last four to close the regular season while Virginia Tech has lost three of their last four going into this tournament North Carolina is gonna have the home crowd behind them as well so the Tar Heels are through to Wednesday nine o'clock tomorrow night to face Syracuse going on today to Clemson Miami will get things started at noon give me the Clemson Tigers I'm still unsure if Chris likes is gonna play in that game Clemson just has far more talent and they've shown it in stretches this year beating Louisville beating Florida State beating Duke Clemson gonna beat Miami Pitt has NC State the wolf pack face to scare at the PNC arena a few weeks ago where Pitt was leading in the second half NC State hadn't led at any point of the game until they had damn well 60 points on the board I think NC State's gonna find a way kind of like they did last year against Clemson but it's gonna be tense there are gonna be frightful moments NC State finds a way to beat Pittsburgh on day two Notre Dame Boston College this is the 7-10 matchup BC they really overachieved when you look at the expectations going into the year for the Eagles and Jim Christian it's an important year for coach Christian who's been in place since 2014 Notre Dame though they might be one of the teams that have underachieved the most they have more talent that's why you see John Mooney a first team all ACC caliber player I think Juwan Durham has gotten better as the seasons gone on in the post I don't see how BC stops those two bigs so I like the Fighting Irish to go on to the quarterfinals on Thursday North Carolina Syracuse is the nightcap tomorrow I expect a big crowd at the Coliseum yet again I think it's gonna impact this game North Carolina won in the dome a few weeks ago it was convincing I think the Syracuse zone versus what North Carolina likes to do it's just a mismatch it's not a good draw for the orange Jim Behan remains winless at the Coliseum it's gonna be North Carolina beating Cuse Thursday night to advance to the quarters we're on to Thursday now Florida State first in action I don't know how but they're gonna beat Clemson you're not gonna lose to Clemson twice at a two-week stretch if you're Florida State winning your first outright ACC title too much depth too much experience FSU on to the semis Duke and NC State I know NC State played well in the first half in Durham I know they beat the Blue Devils in Raleigh by 22 Duke's gonna find a way it'll be a close game NC State's gonna be uncomfortable on selection Sunday having just won one game in this field Duke gets to the semis for an ACC championship rematch from last year against Florida State bottom half of the bracket this is my big upset of the tournament Notre Dame wins an ugly game against Virginia when you play that style you are susceptible to upsets and Virginia has been playing razor-tight tight games all down the stretch of this season Notre Dame I think they have slightly better bigs than Virginia does and I love Mamadi Diakite however give me Mooney and Durham over Diakite and Jay Huff Notre Dame pulls off the upset against Virginia to go to the semifinal round North Carolina Louisville in the nightcap that's where the run and the season ends for the Tar Heels I think they lose the Louisville we saw how it was no contest in the um Center a few weeks ago just a bad matchup Louisville is gonna be more rested they're gonna win this game Thursday night at the Coliseum the final four is Florida State and Duke Notre Dame and Louisville the Seminoles lost in the championship game last year I trust them to win with this group in the tournament more than I trust Duke to show up back-to-back games FSU lost the regular season meeting with Duke though that game was in Cameron remember Cameron it can impact games Cameron it can intimidate players who have never played in that environment and Florida State only had one guy who had played at Cameron before this year and that's Trent Forrest he was the one good player on Florida State they win that game if they hit foul shots since this is a neutral site and FSU more experienced deeper more reliable the outright ACC champ they beat Duke in the semis to go to the championship game bottom half of the bracket Notre Dame Louisville yeah nice run for the Irish they win two in a row but Louisville's gonna go to the championship game and since Louisville has a lot of those gears turning in the right direction I think they're the most talented team in the league if David Johnson finds a way to take over the reins at point guard the way that he did in Durham the way that he did down the stretch even though it was a loss against Georgia Tech you just see the talent you see the size I don't think anybody beats Louisville so I like the Cardinals and Chris Mack to be holding up the trophy at the end of this ACC tournament in Greensboro I like Louisville beating Florida State and the championship game Robert and there you have it my picks for the ACC tournament now that things are getting started here on a Tuesday day one of the field and hey we're gonna be here all week long Tuesday through Friday however and wherever you were listening we certainly appreciate that you can tweet the show at sports I've tried it if you miss any of the show the best of podcast is on SoundCloud iTunes Apple podcast Google Play what's the one I always forget Spotify every single time Robert it's always Spotify anywho you are listening to WSJS Winston-Salem WCOG Greensboro WPCM Burlington WMFR High Point broadcasting live from the Greensboro Coliseum side of the ACC tournament you are listening to sports up try it we are broadcasting live inside Greensboro Coliseum now being joined by the head coach of the NC State Wolfpack which will be in action tomorrow at 2 30 in the afternoon coach Keats you're on in the triad Greensboro Winston-Salem this is our home court it's good to have you with you house how are you man I'm doing well and you're right this is your home court and I'm excited to be on your home court let me ask you this about Markel Johnson last time you guys were in here he hits a half-court shot to beat UNCG and that's not the only time he said a half-court shot this year is that something he's mastered over the span of his career at NC State you know I don't know that anybody has mastered hitting half-court shots but if he'd never hit another half-court shot I think he's hit enough in his career man unbelievable I think back to that game here what a great game they had tied it up they made a great play and you know he got the ball and I decided not to call timeout and he just made a play what a great call for me not calling timeout blowing that big-time shot he made I've often said that a team's identity is the way that they want to play when they're playing well when you feel like your team's playing well well that's what our identity is that's what we want it to be what do you think this team's identity is well I think this team identity is when our guards and I'll echo to what you're saying when our guards are locked in and we only have four on a roster but when we've got Devin Daniels and CJ Bryce and Markel Johnson playing at a high level then Braxton Beverly making shots we become a very dangerous team when you look at the way we played our last game on senior night our guards played a tremendously well it was great to see Braxton Beverly and the ball go in and when you got Markel Johnson playing a high level and he's making plays for everybody else and getting himself involved then we become a very good team you know we're a team that can get out in transition we're a team that you know is decent half court but we're playing our best basketball when those guards are in tack mode we were chatting in December and you said that it was hard in the preseason to really get build chemistry and get a flow of things because Markel was banged up at the start of the year he didn't quite know what was going on with DJ Thunder Burke and he he had a rocky start to the season but then the injuries to CJ Bryce have kind of buddy things a bit as well so how have the injuries and the lack of depth affected the way you want this team to play well I mean look I know injuries are part of the game but we've had some very unfortunate situations this year for the first time in my career we've had serious concussions and you know at NC State we take concussions very serious and then we've had ankle sprains we've had different situations and it's altered who we are who we thought we would be you know I came in the into the season I thought we would have a team very similar to Florida State as far as depth you know meaning have ten guys that we can run in and out like you did at UNCW well like we had at UNCW but that kind of changed on and that's my style of plate so a lot of times this year we found ourself you know obviously having to compete with seven guys and we were lucky if we had an eighth guy that being said when guys would come back off injuries everybody thought it would magically happen well there were chemistry problems because those guys hadn't practiced a lot and so it took us a little time to kind of get into a groove what do you think about Greensboro as a tournament location well I like it I've always liked it I grew up in Virginia and I remember having the tournament in Winston-Salem in Greensboro and obviously the Charlotte area I love it obviously because our fan base has a chance to come watch us play and on top of that how about the women's basketball team on Sunday Alyssa Canane Wes Moore getting it done in this building maybe that's a little bit of foreshadowing for this well I'll tell you what Wes has built a tremendous program and I give him a lot of credit when I took the job I told him that I wanted to build a program with the culture that he has and he's got you know I know we saw how good those girls are on the court but they're great off the court they're great students they compete hard all the time what's it done a tremendous job on Canane I'm trying to figure out if we can play her she's good man she could play in any league any men's league any other league she's really talented and we'd love to have her in this tournament if we can borrow it's NC State basketball coach Kevin Keats with us here at the Greensboro Coliseum let me know this how many suits have you packed for this week of course man you know I packed four you know I'm not gonna sell myself short I think anybody that comes to the tournament and don't pack enough to go to the championship they're not prepared to win how how many of those suits are red I got the red jacket you got to wait on that you know and and if I read jacket safe for Saturday night and I can tell you this now if I don't have the red jacket I'm close enough to the house where I can go back and get it if we needed and then of course tomorrow night like what suit do you bring for the first round versus what you might have in Saturday you know I look I've got four and I'm gonna pick one and I'm you know I've got to go and see what the record is of those suits and throughout the season and try to get the one who's got the best record and try to wear that coach best of luck later this week tomorrow night specifically you got to win one to get the Saturday get the Friday and or get the Thursday get the Friday and beyond that appreciate the time in the tryout guys thanks for having me we're now the opposite of the front of sports talk because we're well we're we're back to it get it well that's not funny back to the drive that's moronic with Josh Graham we're broadcasting live from the ACC tournament Greensboro Coliseum the first time it's been here in five years and Wake Forest is getting set to open things up against Pittsburgh right now so what are we gonna do we're gonna talk about the bachelor it's the bachelor finale tonight even though they kind of build last night is the finale really I guess it's just part one so we're now being joined by somebody who is a huge bachelor fan like myself it is Amy now ski I pronounce it right up now ski off now ski yeah how are you Amy you I'm doing well things thanks for having me on oh yes I've been watching the bachelor since um season two so are you excited about Claire Crowley being the next bachelorette yes I am um she's older hopefully more mature 38 years old gonna be 39 I read I read a really interesting article by what's her name Amy Kaufman of the LA Times she's a really nice piece on her being the bachelor and what it means to like not dive back into the 20 20 to 25 year old pool which is which is fine whatever they all everyone deserves love right yeah so it and so does Claire and she mentioned how like she got like a terrible edit in the four times she has been on a bachelor program and I thought to myself well then why would you go back for more it's a fantastic question we actually have imaging for this segment that's just way too much imaging but Robert hit it so it's another ongoing never-ending series of The Bachelor will Pete push the limits of what's acceptable on national TV is Pete here with the intentions of hooking up with as many of the contestants as possible or is it simply the free booze Pete is on the clock welcome to the bachelor minute so you haven't watched last night's episode yet I have not all right the finale is tonight it probably would be best to consume this in one sitting anyway but here's what you need to know I think you could though like not watch the first 30 minutes and like still know what's going on oh it's good so so you're Dylan who you're sitting next to right now our assistant producer he had Madison in our fantasy draft our bachelor draft at the start of the year Roberts three women that he picked all were eliminated in the first episode but he clawed himself back to say he's got Hannah Brown if she wins he has a Leia if she wins and somehow he found a way to doctor tape to get Hannah and as a sixth pick so Robert you're feeling pretty good right now Hannah and she seems to be the favorite at this present moment Robert yeah that's what I like to hear Josh mostly I'd like to say that I've never watched the bachelor before this season and after a terrible draft I picked up a few free agents and that's all I needed to win this fantasy bachelor season and I'm not even worried about Sawyer who's he got Victoria Vic Snoria I'm not worried about her no Madison Madison okay well I had a cool nickname for Victoria but I guess it doesn't work now yeah that was a great nickname Hannah Ann she's just so good at this game Amy you she plays the family super well she's super emotional it's clear that Pete loves tears and he says he succumbs to anybody who's crying in front of him and on top of that she's somebody that it just seems at every single point manipulates things perfect perfectly to her advantage she got the first impression rose and then at other points yeah she was great at the modeling she worked the family to perfection and it was clear that the family loved her a lot more than Madison interesting yes it was like to the point like she would say I just tears love your son and that's all it took I mean it was they were in her arms yeah Peter is also way too comfortable talking about his lovemaking in front of his parents I yeah mm-hmm like let's not forget when Hannah Brown said that he you know had relations in a windmill had relations four different times and that said windmill his parents were sitting behind him and gave him a standing ovation were cheering they were so they sit down with Peter and they just have no no problem bringing it up Peter's just like yeah she gave me this ultimatum and I got intimate with the other girls I'm like who's bringing this up to their parents so willingly Peter is and then his brother's like I think the line was obviously bro you're clearly you're clearly you clearly like to get physical with women in relationships I'm like man my relationship with my brother we talk sports we talk about a lot of things I'm not bringing up to my brother hey I know how much you like to get physical with the ladies come on like is this strange or am I wrong no it's yeah yeah so that happened in the mom it seems like she's trying to angle for her own TV show we got Barb here doing the entire bring her home bring her home to us all throughout the year that we've seen teased and man but that hasn't happened in real time yet now it has because it had turns out she's talking about Hannah and Madison did not leave a good impression at all she showed up wearing black and she was in a down mood she did say that she loves Peter which I found to be interesting but then as they were sitting there the parents were just so out on her and the parents after she left pulled Peter yo she's not here for the right reasons for you she's not bring Hannah and home to us and she they start crying it was pretty stunning television there did they really say the right reasons because I think I don't know I mean I agree Madison are you she's not there for the right reasons that's fair but she didn't have the right intentions to come on maybe didn't quite know what the show entailed or maybe there's a possibility she was smart she was really super pretty and she advanced a lot further than she thought she would she maybe wanted the parachute earlier but Peter was already smitten from the jump which means she was locked in oh I agree with all that but you also have to have a little bit of a reality check and understand hey I've signed up for this this is what is gonna happen he makes his choices I get to make mine do so it's completely understandable when she says yeah I don't want to accept the proposal from you a week after I figured out you're in the fantasy suite with other women I get that's the show but I also understand where she's coming from with this so yeah Barb was pretty controversial here Madison and Peter then go on a date a lot of helicopters in this episode man retroactively not a great look ABC deciding let's spend all this time in Australia and also do all these dates involving helicopters considering the news the last few months regarding Australia also helicopters I mean what's the finale gonna be what's hanging out in Italy for the finale let's do that I don't know they're gonna stay in Australia but in that fairness though it was no verdict November to January it's bad luck is what I'm saying I'm not saying the bachelor oh yeah it's bad luck but they went on a date and then she just said she's gonna surrender herself saying we see things so differently and she essentially took herself out of the contest Madison or at least from what we think then he goes on a date with Hannah Ann does not tell Hannah Ann what just happened with Madison but he knows Madison is out it seems like yeah he knows she's gone that's right does not tell Hannah Ann and they go on a date involving baby kangaroos like they are bottle-feeding baby kangaroos it is clearly the better date and I feel like if Madison got the baby kangaroo date maybe things go better than what they did where they just went on top of a mountain or on top of like this crater that was in Australia it was pretty but the baby kangaroos it seemed a lot better Hannah Ann she got the baby kangaroo date and then she said Peter dropped the line that his heart's being pulled in different direction a really strange thing to say a day after Madison just said peace he said that to Hannah Ann said that the Hannah Ann and Hannah Ann started crying drama that's what we got on The Bachelor I don't know so now Chris Harrison's talking about Madison might be returning tonight in the finale so we're trying to figure out what tonight is gonna be who's gonna win this show do you change what is there gonna be a winner like that's my question what what he keeps saying Chris Harrison said that the people the Peter doesn't even know what's gonna happen well that's what he's like it's all gonna happen on the live show I'm not buying into that oh you're very smart very very smart Amy you you know how television works too well in your PR with the ACC Network and ESPN Peter can't not know really what's happening with himself right it's it's tough to say like this final episode it seems like Madison's gonna come back and clearly Peter likes Madison more than everybody else Peter likes Madison because he can't have Madison bingo that's very well said like he wants what he can't have and that's normal for any person you go after it a little bit harder when you know it's not a sure thing right oh my gosh this this is great analysis but it's down to Sawyer's first round pick or second round pick Madison and also Hannah am for Robert later on tonight exhilarating stuff in The Bachelor are you gonna find time to watch it this we admit everything happening I'm gonna try don't tell my boss that but I I won't I'm gonna try it's I was having a moment last night when I couldn't watch it in real time or even on delay and it it wasn't an ideal certain situation for me now I woke up and I'm like I don't even know what's going on I mean I kind of do but I kind of don't right I don't think we all know what's up because I also follow spoilers right but spoilers this year have been all over the place in some ways they've done a good job keeping everything intact keeping their their cards close to their vest Kevin Keats he's gonna join us in about 40 minutes it is Amy you our good friend from the ACC Network at ESPN joining us ufkowski up now ski up now ski yep I'll get it a Polish name I'll get it eventually I'm not sure I know some of the people in the ACC office they listen quite a bit unfortunately for you if you don't want we're getting out about your interest in The Bachelor tonight we got the local radio station here you know pretty well documented per myself that people know I watch The Bachelor yeah and The Bachelorette and you need a follower on Twitter at Amy UF good stuff hashtag what's off hashtag what's off hashtag ACC tourney is that what we're using like ACC tourney turn it on ACC Network cover tonight hashtag we do this hashtag we do this all right that is having me Josh yes we will look ahead to Kevin Keats also we'll look ahead to the future of the ACC tournament what we may know about some of the sites moving forward this is the drive