George Strait and narrow minded? (3/6/20)

This is The Drive with Josh Graham Podcast. Tune into The Drive weekday afternoons 3-7 on Sports Hub Triad. Oh, we've got two compelling Big Four matchups to close the ACC regular season. NC State hosting Wake Forest tonight at PNC Arena. Duke facing North Carolina at Cameron Indoor Stadium tomorrow night.

Let's start with the Battle of the Blues. There are hosts who don't like making predictions on the radio that often because they don't want to be wrong. My view on the subject is this. You listen to be entertained. You listen to think. You listen to be informed.

Not because I'm right or wrong. So here's where I'm at on the second meeting between the Heels and the Blue Devils. I'm going to take the hotter, looser, more confident team. I like the Tar Heels to upset the Blue Devils inside Cameron Indoor tomorrow night. You might think that's a hot take.

I will back that up with a couple of things. Number one, this game means more to North Carolina than it does Duke. The Heels, they don't have an NCAA tournament appearance to look forward to.

They have the game that's directly in front of them. Tomorrow it's the Blue Devils. If they want to salvage this season, if it's not the NCAA, then beating a team that's ranked in the top 15, winning in Cameron as a Tar Heel, wearing that uniform, a game you likely grew up watching your entire life, that's a way to do it. Meanwhile, Duke, Coach K, he's said it many times, he's grooming his team to be successful in the month of March. And they are in a position where they're going to be in the NCAA tournament. They're going to be in a good position to win in Greensboro next week. Even though both teams are going to be inspired to win, North Carolina, it's just going to mean more considering they didn't get the last one.

They lost in heartbreaking fashion. Trey Jones made the miraculous play at the end of regulation, and Wendell Moore had the tempo to beat the Tar Heels at the buzzer at the Smith Center. So I expect North Carolina to jump out on the Blue Devils the same way NC State did last Monday, and I think they're going to hold on to a lead. Usually, senior night is a motivator, it's something that used to be a big deal, but it's hard for me to think senior night is all of that when, this time around, it's Jack White and Javon Delaurier being the seniors.

Two guys that are having their minutes eaten into by Justin Robinson in the last few weeks. Now, I've loved getting to know Jack White and Javon Delaurier is a very calming presence in that Duke locker room, but I don't really hear in that locker room guys saying hey we need to make sure we beat North Carolina for Jack and Javon here. North Carolina, they're not going to be intimidated by Cameron Nindoor, they're not going to be intimidated by Duke, they feel like they should have beaten Duke last time. It is something I worry about for some teams, like Florida State, incredibly talented.

They are the deepest team in the Atlantic Coast Conference. When they went into Cameron though, there was only one guy who has played there before. And that was Trent Forrest. Trent Forrest was the best player on the floor but unfortunately he was the only Seminole that played well in that game. Florida State was missing free throws left and right. Cameron, it could be a little hotter in there, maybe not as hot as it used to be, but it could be steaming in Cameron, the fans, they're right on top of you.

It's a different venue, unlike anything else. Florida State, it got to them. I'm not worried about this UNC team. I'm not worried about Cole Anthony.

Earlier this week, North Carolina beat Wake Forest and Cole, he said something that stirred a lot of ABC fans out there, the Anything But Carolina crowd, when he told this to Carolina Blitz. Just being honest, I was a different team. I wouldn't want to see us.

It's the scariest bottom seed you've ever seen. We hungry. I think the way we're playing, the level we're playing at right now, we're a top 10 team in the country, easily. I mean, college basketball is having a little bit of a weird year with just not that many great teams. I think at this point we're turning into a great team.

You think that guy's going to be intimidated by Cameron Indoor, Robert Walsh? 336-777-1600. Robert, how you doing on this Friday? I'm great, man. It's almost the weekend. We got a fun slate of games in front of us. Let's clear the throat. Let's get that set. Would you like me to do that on mic? No, not on mic.

Whatever you prefer. There you go. Thank you for that.

Hey, no problem. Colin Cuff going to be with us from the ACC Network in 25 minutes. We got Hall of Fame sports writer Mike DeCorcy on the show. Duke associate head coach.

Nate James on the show. I don't think this North Carolina team is going to back down. Garrison Brooks was six of seven from the field last year, 14 points and a win at Cameron. So those are the two most important guys, I think, in this game.

And I think they might be the two hottest players of the two teams going head to head. North Carolina, they are looser. All the pressure is on Duke to win this game. Duke, you're the one at home. Duke, you're the team that's lost three of the last five. Duke, you're playing the team that right now is tied for last place in the ACC. What pressure is on North Carolina here?

I don't sense any of that at all. Yet the Tar Heels are playing better ball. They've won their last three. And Wake Forest was a hot team winning two in a row before they faced the Tar Heels. Syracuse, that game was meaningful last Saturday.

Last game before they do serious reconstruction and renovation to the carrier dome. North Carolina, they played NC State. I still think the Wolfpack have a very good shot at making it to the NCAA tournament.

That game was meaningful to the pack. North Carolina took it away from them. So this is not a team that's just sneaking past scrubs. Yeah, they beat Pitt and snuck past Miami and they are getting through Boston College.

No, that's not what we're seeing right now. North Carolina has discovered itself and it's playing confident ball. I would take Cole Anthony over any player that's playing in this game tomorrow night. Give me Cole over anybody else.

After that, it's a discussion. Vernon Carey, Trey Jones, Garrison Brooks. I think Cole has a chance to put his name on this rivalry's history the same way Trey Jones did in Chapel Hill a month ago. On Twitter at sportsubtriad, if you would like to chime in that way, 336-777-1600 is the phone number. However, and wherever you are listening, we appreciate that. First caller of the day. Let's make it a good call.

Kevin in Burlington. What do you got here for me? All right, so what is the thing y'all do? Is it called wild takes? Oh, every Monday, 4.30, we have Let's Get Crazy, just red hot takes.

Would you like to deliver one on a Friday? Well, what I'm saying is two weeks ago, State Carolina's going to the NCAA tournament. Not so much one of those, right, you know, not so crazy of a take.

But now, okay, let's just peer into the future. State, we all know what it's going to take for Carolina to get to the tournament. I'm a Carolina fan, let me just say that. So that Monday morning, they are in the NCAA tournament. Josh Graham says what on his show? Whoa, so not this next Monday, but the following Monday. What am I saying on the show?

I mean, I know it's hypothetical, you know. Okay, I'll give you a sense. Let's go into the future. Thank you for the phone call, Kevin. Robert, let's fast forward the calendar to March the 15th or make it March the 16th. We're on the air. We're opening up the show. Do you have that bump that we can go back to and we can act like this is Monday the 16th? All right, let's do that.

All right, I think that's a good enough peering into the future. I'm out of breath now. I'm out of breath now. There's another game to talk about. It is NC State and Wake Forest. While it would be the most NC State thing ever for them to lose this game, they're not going to. I don't trust NC State to win multiple games in a row.

I don't. We suck. But I do trust them to win the night.

Here are a couple numbers for you. NC State coming off a loss this year, 8-3. It is a resilient team. Players playing hurt. Braxton Beverly isn't sitting on the bench in Cameron while subbed out because he doesn't want to hurt his back. His back's hurting so much. He can't sit down during games. You got guys coming back from all sorts of aches and pains.

I love Kevin Keats as a coach. I think this team has a high ceiling, but unfortunately a very high floor or a low floor, I should say. Resilient group 8-3 coming off a loss. NC State is a solid home team, while Wake Forest might be the ACC's worst road team. NC State 13-4 at home this year with two losses against Florida State and Louisville. Wake Forest, meanwhile, is 2-10 on the road. And one of those two, I'm not going to say it's a neutral site, but they were playing at Davidson or they played Davidson in the Spectrum Center.

So that's not necessarily Bob McKillop's house, the Spectrum Center. Wake fans, they could travel to that and they had easy access to ticket and they weren't going to pack that place. The first meeting between these two teams, it wasn't very close. NC State, they led every minute of the game.

The key is here. This is how I know NC State will win the night. If Beverly or Jericho Holmes, or Jericho Hellams, excuse me, hit some outside shots, you need those two to combine for at least, we'll call it three or four threes, to really open things up on defense or open up the Wake Forest defense and allow for drivers to get to the basket. Because I'm confident Markel, Bryce, Devin Daniels, they can get to the rim. So you need Beverly, you need Hellams to just hit a few shots to open things up.

I don't think NC State's going to lose tonight against Wake Forest and I'd like North Carolina to win tomorrow night in an upset at Duke. I was making phone calls last night, Robert, to learn more about Danny Manning's situation and I'll tell you what I learned next on The Drive. Here's your mic check. Check. Mic check. Check. Check.

Check. You're on The Drive with Josh Graham. That's coming up Monday, Joel Berry in studio and then all week we're going to be in the Greensboro Coliseum Tuesday through Friday. I know someone who could probably relate to this. It's Dallin Cuff, everybody from the ACC Network spending some time here. Dallin, what is the worst mispronunciation of your first name? That's a phenomenal first question. I've definitely got to dial on, somebody called me Dollar one time.

I'm not sure how we got that. There's no R. I've been called a she. Is she? Is Darlene here? I'm like who? Who? So it's been pretty impressive. Dallin!

He's one of the hottest MCs out there from the Chappelle show all those years ago. Spitting hot fire. Let's spit hot fire right now. Looking at the ACC tournament next week going into Greensboro. There are a lot of big stories. We're seeing North Carolina win three in a row. They're going to have to win in Greensboro in order to make the NCAA tournament if that is their destiny. And on top of that, you've got what seems to be a wide open field. What do you view as the biggest story heading into the tournament right here in our backyard?

That's a good question. I think the biggest story is Duke building momentum in all honesty. Can Duke be the team we saw in early February into that stretch in late January? Or are they a team that's played the last three of the last four games and has struggled to guard and has struggled to keep teams in front of them and keep teams out of lane and had to be forced to go into a 2-3 zone, albeit that changed the game for them against NC State.

When teams then can prepare for that zone and know it's coming, I don't think they're going to be as effective. And B, if you want to win a championship, you've got to rely on what that team was built at when they're at their best when they're defending, disrupting, creating offense off their defense and making it really difficult for teams. So I think Duke's team had championship aspirations, and right now I question them heavily.

So I'm interested to see their performance, especially the young players, in their first time on a one-and-done situation with a tournament atmosphere. Duke's lost three of five. North Carolina's won three in a row. So what are you thinking about tomorrow's matchup? How concerned are you for the Blue Devils playing at home?

I think it'll be a tight game, actually. I think UNC is playing their most confident basketball right now. I think Cole Anthony really understands how he should play and what's being asked of him, which is, you don't got to do it all.

You don't have to be Superman. Play through Garrison Brooks, and Brooks has been outstanding. Christian Keelan and Brandon Robinson have really elevated their game. Play within a team concept. When it gets late shot clock or times, go make a play for us and be that guy.

And I think he's really understood that. I think he has to be better defensively and particularly tomorrow night. And for Duke's team, though, I think them playing at home will have a factor, just like it did at Chapel Hill with those young guys playing in that environment for the first time. This will be the first time that a lot of these UNC players have been asked to play big roles in Cameron Indoor.

It will be a very different setting for them. But they are playing with a tremendous amount of confidence, which should not be underrated. So I think in the end, Duke wins in a six, seven-point game. This game is cliché. I think it's our advertising right now at ESPN. But the game always delivers, and that game earlier this year was bananas.

I mean, it was absolutely bananas. I think that will be the indelible image, I think, from this season. I don't care what happens in Atlanta in the tournament. I think a lot of people will remember that Duke-Carolina game because of how it went down, because of the brand name, because of the rivalry.

And it always delivers, so I'm excited for tomorrow night. Dallin Cuff's on Twitter, at Dallin Cuff. Watch him on the ACC Network as well. If I could only give you one player to go into tomorrow's game with, what's the one guy you feel most confident in from either Duke or North Carolina?

I would say Garrison Brooks. I think you know what you're going to get out of him. I think Vernon Carey has been a dominant force in the post. But his foul trouble is an issue. He's got to be on the court to impact the game.

So he's had foul trouble in a number of different games this year. I think Brooks, being a veteran, he's playing well. Get him the ball, get him touches. He can manufacture some offense, rebounding. He's going to have to have an impact defending Vernon Carey at times.

You want to be able to play those guys straight up, not have to double at all. And I don't think they will. So if I'm putting one guy that has to have, and I think will have a big game, I think it's Brooks. It is Dallin Cuff, before we let you go. ACC Coach of the Year. It seems right now, Tony Bennett, he's making a strong case. They're winning all these one-possession games.

They lost so much from last year. I know he was a guy who's already won it before. But Leonard Hamilton, he's in a position to maybe have Florida State winning their first ACC regular season title ever tomorrow, if things fall their way. Where do you lean when it comes to the ACC Coach of the Year discussion?

Yeah, I haven't clicked submit on my ballot for this stuff yet, but mine's Leonard Hamilton, without a doubt. Tony Bennett's done a great job. They've turned it around. He's figured some things out offensively. Kia Clark's more confident. Thomas Walden-Tensa hit some shots, helped space their offense better.

Tiaquite, Tiaquite. He's done a good job. But Hamilton, what they lost last year, but it's more about their system. The way they play, it wasn't going to be that much different.

The question was, were the players going to be able to step in their new roles and affect the game the right way? Devin Massell has elevated his game. MJ Walker, Trent Forrest becoming kind of an alpha dog down the stretch in games in recent weeks has been huge. Patrick Williams is a great freshman. They got a ton of dudes. The way they play, the depth, the selflessness he instills in those guys, the commitment to defending, the commitment to playing with nonstop energy is something that is to be beholden in today's college basketball and basketball in general. So I think that he is the coach of the year this year and has them on the precipice of doing something really special and winning a title in this conference. Dallin, appreciate the time, man. Good to hear from you.

Anytime, guys. That's Dallin Cuff from the ACC Network. Coming up, a story that is currently bubbling on the surface that could become the biggest story in sports come Monday. This is The Drive. Josh Graham loves to talk sports.

He also loves to talk about women's footwear, but he just ends up sounding creepy. You're on The Drive with Josh Graham. Every week, we do our top ten list. Robert, this is something funky.

It is time for my top ten heels or devils, obviously, with Duke Ellington. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

Or devils, obviously, with Duke and Carolina in mind. We're going to be talking to Mike Decorci, Hall of Fame sports writer, in about 15 minutes. It could be nonsensical at times, this top ten list, but it's Friday. There are people already getting out of work, trying to get their drink on.

It's 4.15 in the afternoon. We can't get our drink on, but we can yell loudly. And we can talk about heels. And we can talk about devils. Robert, do you have guesses for this list? I think you already know a couple of them.

I do. I'm wondering how deviled eggs is going to get worked in here. I'm worried how devil in the details is going to get worked in here. But rather than me just guessing phrases, I'd rather you do it. All right.

It's time for my top ten heels or devils. I took a really deep breath, and I forgot it was two words. I didn't know if I was going to get to that second word.

Oh, yeah! It feels out of order. We feel a little disjointed right now.

You want to start over? Woo! There you go. Top ten heels or devils? Ten heels or devils?

I sounded crazy there. Well, I get the number ten. My number ten heel or devil?

Kill Devil Hills? I will look for you. I will find you.

And I will kill you. That's the greatest action movie of the last 15 years. Like, just a dumb action movie. There's so many parts of it that make no sense.

Like, Liam Neeson, how did he find that person just based on him saying, good luck? That doesn't really make sense at all. Like, the idea that this person is going to have the time to save his daughter the way he did. I'm just going to stop. I love that movie. It doesn't matter if it makes a lot of sense. Does Happy Gilmore make a lot of sense? I don't think so.

I love Taken, and I love talking in Liam Neeson's voice. Number nine on the top ten list today. Top ten heels or devils? Little Nicky Bella.

What we've got here is failure to communicate. I thought you were going to say Widow Nicky, Bella. Oh, bleep off. Little Nicky, Bella. Have I told you the story how I ran into Nicky Bella? No, you haven't.

Okay. WWE Monday Night Raw always goes on. The show always goes on, except when it doesn't. There is this massive snowstorm that hits Hartford, Connecticut. And they were set to do a show that Monday, but the weather was so bad they couldn't hold it at the XL Center. Well, that's also where the UConn women's basketball team plays. I was getting set to do a broadcast there the very next night, so I was in the hotel with all these wrestlers that were trapped in this hotel as well because the snowstorm had hit.

It's like 18 or 19 inches in Connecticut. So I go to work out in the gym, and there's this shredded woman next to me who's just lifting some weights. I don't know anything about wrestling. So it was one of those situations. She's so attractive that I'm trying to hold my own as a result.

Not to impress her, just not to embarrass myself. So John Jansen, who now does work at Sirius XM, he was broadcasting with me over there. And I go up to the room knowing that he's a big wrestling guy, and I think one of those women wrestlers was working out in the lobby. And he freaks out, not in the lobby, but in the workout room. He freaks out, which one was it? And he just starts naming people. Like you're supposed to know. He just starts naming people. I don't know these people.

And then he just starts showing me pictures. And the picture that pops up, Nikki Bella. Who, still with John Cena? No, they are separated now.

Oh, that's sad. Number eight! Number eight Top Ten Heels or Devils, Will Healy. You want answers!

I want the truth! You can't handle the Top Ten list. Will Healy might be one of our best guests we have on this show from Charlotte. Number seven! My number seven, Heel or Devil. Lukafer Donkic. How about no, you crazy Dutch bastard? I don't think he's Dutch, but... That was almost right on point.

Very close to being right on point. Number six! My number six, Heel or Devil. Foote Heels. Hey, Ma!

The Meat Loaf! We want it now! I went to Foote Heels earlier this week. Not a bad place to get a drink. Maybe they'd like to sponsor us. Yeah. Hey, Foote Heels.

I loved it. We'll pronounce it differently. If you do business with us, sponsor the Top Ten list. Number five! Our number five, Heel or Devil, Herm Edwards.

Go ahead. Make a better Top Ten list. I wasn't ready for that. I love Herm. Number four! My number four, Heel or Devil.

The Devil went down to Paul Georgia. I'll have what she's having. That's the best rom-com of all time.

Best rom-com of my life, at least, when Harry met Sally. Number three! Nothing to add to that, I see. Nothing for that, unless you wanted me to just scream like she did.

I would actually like that. Oh! Oh! Oh!

Top Ten list! Yeah! Number three!

My number three, Heel or Devil. Rowdy Rowdy Piper. Harump! Harump! Harump! I didn't get a harump out of that guy.

Harump! He is the ultimate Heel. The best of all time. I'm glad you included the classic phrasing of Heel in here. Rowdy Rowdy Piper, he literally wrestled Mr. T. Fought Mr. T. It wasn't even a match. They had to call it off.

And they were worried that he was going to get stabbed on the way back to the locker room. Number two! My number two, Heel or Devil.

DeMarcus Weyer Devil. You broke my heart. You broke my heart. Fredo. Fredo broke my heart. Fredo was such an idiot. He deserved to go. Yeah, DeMarcus Weyer Devil.

One of the reasons why the Panthers didn't win that Super Bowl. Five years ago. Four years ago. Number one! My number one Heel or Devil, Heelys.

Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn. Did you ever have Heelys? I never did. I always wanted them. Yeah, my school did not allow people to have them. Much like the roller book bag craze. You remember when kids had book bags like suitcases? My school was like, if it's fun and it's not educational, don't bring it. Because we were riding up and down the hallways with Heelys, getting smacked with locker doors.

I mean, you can't blame them, can you? No, I'm not mad about it. I mean, I was then, but now I totally get it. How mad were you? Oh, I was so mad.

We would go there on weekends and ride our Heelys around the school just so nobody could say anything about it. So that's the top ten list. Want to know what didn't make the cut? Absolutely.

Miroslav Sattan. Okay, I get that. I don't know who that is, but I get it.

Chase Headley over Heelys. Okay, that was one of the phrases I was waiting on. The Devil Went Down.

Oh wait, I read this wrong. We already did Devil Went Down to Paul, Georgia. Yeah. The Devil Wears Martin Prado.

Nice. An Achilles Heel. Davy Jones Angel. Davy Jones Angel. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays. There you go. I wish they were still called the Devil Rays. Martin Brodure.

He's a devil. So there you go. The top ten list. Not bad.

I actually enjoyed it this week. I need to give some love to one of our friends R.L. Bynum.

R.L. Bynum is a media writer, and for some reason he chose to write a story about me for Sports Channel 8. Getting a lot of feedback on this story. I haven't read it yet because, quite frankly, it published just two hours ago right when we were getting on the air.

So I hope we're portrayed well in it. We're getting a lot of cool feedback on it. So if you want to read a story about how I arrived at where I'm at right now and what we try to do on the radio, some of our approaches here, find that at SportsChannel8.com. The best part about it, our good friend Hayes Permar, he writes the headlines, clearly, for Sports Channel 8.

The headline of the story. Wait, what? We let someone do a feature on Josh Graham?

He's the best. Doesn't that make you, if you have no idea anything about this show, does that make you want to read the story more? Wait, what? We let someone do a feature on Josh Graham? That's as far as I've gotten. Wait, what? We let someone do a feature on Josh Graham. I haven't gotten any farther than that.

But RL's been doing this for a very long time and it was good to catch up with him earlier in the week. And I'm interested to see what he wrote. Robert, have you already seen anything in this story?

Yeah, I liked a couple different pieces of it. I've actually picked out some excerpts if you were going to ask me. No, you didn't. I did. I did pick out some excerpts.

All right. Excerpts you think are lies or excerpts you think are pretty good? Excerpts I enjoyed.

Yeah, I really thought it was, it peeled back the curtain a little bit. I've been texted an excerpt. Somebody said, quote, As far as I can tell, there were only two single women in that town, end quote. Me talking about Ray, Colorado. That is true.

That is true. Did you hit on either one of those women? Sarah, we're not putting this to best of it. No comment on that one. One was a year out of high school. The other was a widow of the age of 35. Oh, I'd have gone for the widow.

Those were my option. And Ray, Colorado. Do you want to share an excerpt? Yeah. Graham chats with on air with producer Robert Walsh and frequently brings on David Glenn show producer Darren Vaught for lighthearted segments.

Graham says that Walsh is a huge part of the show. And I was like, God, that is so cool. That's true. It is. I really enjoyed that part.

That's your favorite part. OK. If not what what Danny Manning has achieved, if it's not something he was able to do, what should the standard be for Wake Forest basketball? What should they be shooting for? We'll discuss with Hall of Fame sports writer Mike DeCorcy next. Josh Graham has his finger on the Triad sports pulse.

So wash your wrist when he's finished. You're on the drive with Josh Graham. He obviously gave us a huge lift and changes the whole game when he's out there. Fans could see it. They could feel it.

We're a different team. Obviously, when he when he's on the court. I was Steve Kerr last night talking about Steph Curry's return to the lineup. And I started thinking about earlier today the things in sports that bother me most. And I think very close to the top of the list. Right there with cheating.

Right there with fans always alleging that sports broadcasters hate their teams. Right there at the top of the list. Healthy athletes sitting out because it's amazing, Robert, how much of the response to Curry playing last night, the headline that he was going to play against Toronto.

How much of it was met with. Why are you playing Steph? You guys are last in the NBA standings. Do you really want to ruin your chances of getting the number one pick?

What are you doing here? Tanking, I think, is misunderstood. We've talked a lot about tanking on the show because Carolina Panthers might be doing it. In fact, I still think they are, even though they traded for a 31 year old left tackle earlier in the week in exchange for their Pro Bowl guard, Trey Turner. Tanking is about stripping down in terms of expensive contracts and in terms of lengthy contracts.

And it's about development. Look at the ones that have worked. It's been proven to work with the Philadelphia 76ers having almost more talent than anybody in the Eastern Conference. The Houston Astros, even though we can have a real discussion how much they could be considered a tank job when you consider Jose Altuve was already in the system before the previous management came through and were credited with this great tank job.

They already had, I think, I don't think they had Bregman on the books, but they had George Springer already drafted out of Yukon before those guys came in. But they're still considered to be a tank job. They're seen to be an optimistic example, even with the cheating now being known as a way to get good through being bad. And it's not about sitting talented people. It's not about sitting healthy players. It's veering towards youth, which might hurt you in the wins and losses because of lack of experience. It's about getting rid of expensive contracts, which means might be trading away players who are worth that money and trading away long-term deals. So Golden State, they've been sitting players not because they're trying to tank, it's because they're hurt. Like, Kerr made the decision very early on. Clay Thompson, he's going to be out for the rest of the year.

Now, I've talked to doctors and there have been stories put out. If the Warriors were in contention, maybe you can bring Clay back. You could have him playing ball by the end of March or have him on the floor doing basketball-related activities by then. And then maybe in the next three or four weeks, you could get him out there. After the first round of the playoffs, he would be ready to go. Kerr made the smart decision to say, no, we're not going to do that.

We're going to play for the future. This guy just signed a massive contract. We want to make sure he's healthy for most of that contract. Draymond Green, he's been hurt. He's been hurt. That's why he's sitting out. Steph Curry, he's been hurt, out for a couple of months. If I'm Steph, I'm chomping at the bit to get back on the floor. I'm so glad he returned last night. Like, I watched the game. There's no other reason I would watch Golden State Toronto unless Steph was playing.

It was fun. Behind the back pass, long three-point shot that he makes look regular. He's a star. The NBA needs that. They need less guys who are committing to this load management plan. They need more players who just want to play the game.

Like, what is the argument for sitting him to give yourself the best odds at the first draft pick? How did that work out for the New York Knicks last year? How did that work out for the Cleveland Cavaliers? How did that work out for the Phoenix Suns?

Not well. The New Orleans Pelicans had a better record than all of those teams. Got the number one pick, so tanking, I'm not sure if in the NBA the best way to go about it is let's try to be as bad as possible. No, play Steph Curry because, quite frankly, he wants to play and he's a star.

You have a new building at Chase Center. You gotta fire those people up, right? Like, here's an idea.

I know this is gonna sound nuts. Maybe Steph Curry enjoys playing basketball. You know, just because you hate your job doesn't mean these players who are playing sports for a living hate it too, right? Maybe they enjoy playing basketball.

So if Steph wants to play, who's gonna stop him? I can tell you, if I was doing my radio show for years and then I had to miss my show for four months, I'd be dying to get back on the air. I'm missing the show after one week. I want to get back at it.

I love my job. The idea of just sitting out, it's just absurd. Like, let's look at the college examples. Cole Anthony, he made the right decision to return to Chapel Hill. Look at how the team is trending upward. Look how much better Cole's gotten as a player learning from a Hall of Fame basketball coach who's done wonders with point guards. Ty Lawson, draft pick. Kobe White, not seen to be a draft pick, then became the number seven pick after one year under Coach Williams.

Like, just look at the list of guys he's worked with. Cole Anthony absolutely made the right call. A scout, an NBA scout, told Brendan Marks from The Athletic that he loved the fact that Cole returned, and he did not like that James Wiseman decided to leave. He wants guys who want to play basketball, doesn't want to just sit out, doesn't want to just say, eh, it's probably best for my financial situation that I sit out.

No. Zion Williamson, he told us before he even got injured, he foreshadowed last year. I'm not going to leave Duke. I committed the play here for one year. I'm going to follow through on my commitment. It's not like the NFL players who decide not to play, or the future NFL players who decide not to play in bowl games, they've been there for two or three years in most instances. These basketball players, they're there for six to eight months. Come on. These one and dones.

Follow through on your commitment. Good for Cole coming back, and I think for a brand management purpose, playing Duke tomorrow night, that's going to help Cole if he plays well and they win in that game. If North Carolina wins tomorrow night, North Carolina might be the biggest story in sports next week. A team playing Tuesday in the ACC tournament with a legitimate shot to win it. We've never seen that before.

It would be their fourth straight win with a handful of them coming on the road. So I think Cole absolutely made the right decision. It benefited Zion too. Him playing in March elevated his brand, gave him more money in his shoe deal. There's no doubt about it. James Wiseman's not going to sign a bigger shoe deal than Cole Anthony. I don't think it's going to happen because Cole Anthony has name recognition. Part of that is because of North Carolina.

People know the Tar Heel brand, people know Roy Williams, people know Greg Anthony, people saw Cole committing to North Carolina on get up, and now they're seeing a team that might be one of the best stories considering where they were and what they are right now. So I hate it more than anything else. It's why I don't watch preseason games. Healthy players sitting out. That's why it's leading to rule changes in sports. Why they're trying to get rid of preseason games and add playoff teams so that players aren't sitting out healthy in week 17 and week 16. We hate that in sports. Players who are healthy sitting out.

It bothers me. Nate James is the associate head coach at Duke. Massive, massive game. Duke of North Carolina, especially after that epic they played a month ago in Chapel Hill. We're going to talk about how scouting, how teams scout for big games such as this and also just the rivalry altogether, Duke of Carolina, when Nate James joins us next.