All Fired Up For Texas Baseball, The Latest On Texas Basketball

Craig Way shares the latest on both Texas Baseball and Texas Basketball on this edition of The Craig Way Show!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Back in the saddle and ready to go again. Good afternoon, everybody.
Glad to have you with us this afternoon here on
AM thirteen hundred the Zone.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
My name is Craig Way.

Speaker 1 (00:08):
If you are hearing in the background some well it
sounds like lawnmowers or leaf blowers or however you want
to think about those those kinds of tools. Yeah, that's
what's going on right now, because we're bringing you the
program from UFCU just fog Field, where the plan is

(00:29):
still to have baseball tonight, the home opener for the
Texas log Worns, as there'll be an action against the
Houston Cougars. Now, first things first, just to let you know,
in case you hadn't heard, the start time for the
game has been moved up by one hour. It is
now a five thirty first pitch instead of a six
to thirty first pitch. The reasoning for that is we're all,

(00:52):
I think, pretty well aware of what's headed our way
in terms of inclement weather, mainly in terms of what
is really really going to be cold weather over the
next several days, especially the next two to three, and
it could get very very cold and inclement tonight. So
trying to think of the fans who would be coming
out for this home opener. The officials for the university

(01:17):
have decided to go ahead and move the start time
for today's game up by one hour from six thirty
to five thirty, and as we speak at this moment,
that's still the plan. And that's why, which brings me
back to the leaf blowers and trash bollers that you hear.

(01:38):
What they're doing is trying to dry out the ballpark.
They've got a crew walking around here on the main
concourse at UFCU dish Falkfield and into the seating bowl areas,
both in the upper areas and down below in the
seating areas as well, and they're just trying to clear
out as much of the water because we did have

(01:59):
rain here earlier this morning into early this afternoon. Now
it is not raining right now. It is murky and
misty and gloomy and overcast and all that kind of stuff,
but no real precipitation coming down at the moment.

Speaker 2 (02:15):
I just was out there a few minutes ago.

Speaker 1 (02:18):
I went down and visited with head coach Jim Shlasnagel,
and you know, walked around into the ballpark and it's
not raining, and it's not even drizzling or even heavy
mist at the moment, so that's a good thing. It's
just gray and overcast right now, but with an eye
toward what could possibly happen with heavy duty cold weather

(02:45):
moving in. That's why university officials decided going in right
now in sixty three degrees and cloudy, and from now
until six o'clock there is a slight chance of precipitation.
But once they get beyond six, and again they're planning

(03:05):
on starting the game at five point thirty, then there's
almost no rain left in the forecast. However, starting in
the evening, around the time you get around eight o'clock,
the temperature is going to drop, and it's going to
really start dropping in the late afternoon into the fifties.
And by the time we get on to around eight

(03:26):
o'clock when we get to the back half of the
ball game, it's going to be in the forties and
then overnight, of course, it's going to get into the
high twenties into the morning.

Speaker 2 (03:36):
So with that in mind, they want to.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
Try to go ahead and you know, get a jump
start on the game and play it one hour. But still,
you know, at least relatively close to start time for
those folks who have their plans to come to the
ball game that had to get in the day of
work before coming in.

Speaker 2 (03:55):
Glad to have you with us.

Speaker 1 (03:56):
Ronald Savage, our producer, back in the studio this afternoon,
Keith Morland will joined me for the call of the
baseball game. As we we mentioned over the past couple
of weeks, with the newer configuration, if you will, of
how home baseball games will be televised at UFCU Dish

(04:18):
falk Field through SEC Network Plus and ESPN Plus. Those
games that are not selected for say regular SEC Network
telecast or an ESPN U telecast or something like that.
Any game that isn't selected for one of those would
be SEC Network Plus, which would then of course lump

(04:40):
into whatever subscription that you would have subscription based service,
whether you got Disney Plus or whatever it is that
includes ESPN Plus and would have SEC Network Plus that
would include that in in the in the subscription, so
you'd be able to watch it that way. But there

(05:00):
will be different broadcast crews that are working at We
visit with a good friend Ty Herrington, the former Texas
state head coach, who of course assists us on occasion,
did on quite a few occasions last season on Long
Worn Baseball and worked it around his ESPN Plus schedule
for Texas State telecast, and he's doing that again. But
he's going to largely be the lead analyst on a

(05:23):
lot of these games that will be locally televised or
at least televised through SEC Network Plus. What that means
is we have the benefit of having Keith Moreland back
in the fold for US for the Lion's share of
the telecasts to radio broadcast this season. So Keith will
join me as we did for nine seasons together of

(05:45):
Long Worn Baseball before he left to go to the
Chicago Cubs and then came back and was working for
Long Or Network. But now Keith back in the fold
with us, and glad to have him there all right.
Several things to get to on the program this afternoon.
You know, since we were off yesterday for the holiday,
we have not had the opportunity to talk much about

(06:13):
both Texas men's and women's basketball coming off. They're very
successful and busy weekends that they had the Long Worn
men on Saturday night, a huge win coming from behind
to the beat to defeat the Kentucky Wildcats. That was very,
very important and for their NC Tournament hopes, and we'll

(06:35):
talk about that and look at some of the things.

Speaker 2 (06:36):
Also the Texas women, who have.

Speaker 1 (06:40):
Been named the National Collegiate Basketball Writers Association Team of
the Week for what they've done last week, adding two
more wins o our top ten teams to the one
they had a week ago Sunday against South Carolina, And

(07:02):
as a result of that, that's three consecutive wins over
top ten teams. That has not happened in twenty years.
The last team to do that was Rutgers back in
two thousand and five when ce Vivian Stringer really had
the Scarlet Knights going very well and they won three
straight games over top ten ranked opponents. Well, that's the

(07:22):
story for the Texas women. Three straight wins over top
ten ranked opponents and up to in the AP rankings
number two in the country. There's only one team ranked
to head them in the country, and that's Notre Dame,
which has been on a roll and continued its role
last night by beating Duke in a key ACC game

(07:43):
in South Bend. Of course, Texas has only two losses
total for the season. One was the South Carolina. They
haven't lost since. Since that game, the Long Worne have
won ten in a row. And the other loss was
back in December in the acc SEC Chalnel and at
Notre Dame in overtime. Long Worns lost that game in

(08:04):
South Bend in overtime. So Notre Dame is the only
team ranked to head of taxes right now, they're number
one in the country and the Long Orange are number
two in the country. More important than that, however, more
important than that two things one is the fact that
the Long Worns have an opportunity. It was something that
we visited with Vic Schaeffer about the other day, that

(08:28):
they have the opportunity in their first season in the
Southeastern Conference to claim at least a share of the
conference championship and can call themselves conference champions. If Texas
wins out and their next game is not until Monday,
they have a midwek by this week, as do the Men.
But if the Long Oorns went out, which would mean

(08:52):
a win on the road in Athens at Georgia next Monday,
followed by another road game in Starkville at Mississippi a
week from this Thursday, which would be kind of a
return to Starkville for Vick Schaefer, his first time back
in Starkville, Mississippi, where, of course he did such a
great job in Mississippi State before leaving to come to Texas.

(09:13):
So they had those two games back to back on
the road, a Monday game in Athens, come back home,
one full day at home, then travel on Wednesday to Startvilla,
and they would play on Thursday at Mississippi State.

Speaker 2 (09:26):
So there's that, and then.

Speaker 1 (09:29):
They come back home for their regular season finale, which
is a week from Sunday against Florida. There's only three
games remaining on the schedule. All three of those games
are very winnable games for the Texas women, So they
come past the most difficult part of their schedule, playing
South Carolina twice, playing a ranked Missouri team, a ranked

(09:50):
Vanderbilt team. Of course, they had already beaten a ranked
Oklahoma team, so they'd beaten several ranked teams and then
had the three consecutive win over ranked opponents, with the
home win over South Carolina nine days ago, followed by
the road win at Kentucky last Thursday.

Speaker 2 (10:08):
Kentucky was number eight in the country.

Speaker 1 (10:10):
Then coming back and two days ago getting that win
over fifth ranked LSU, and it was just a slam
bang matchup between two really good basketball teams. LSU was
up twelve in the third quarter with about four and
a half minutes to go in the third quarter, ls
who led that game forty three to thirty one. Because
the long Horns had such a dreadful shooting performance in

(10:32):
the first half, there was one point in the second
quarter where the log Worns were four for twenty six
from the field, that equates to fourteen percent.

Speaker 2 (10:45):
They really struggled.

Speaker 1 (10:46):
They warmed up a little by halftime and got it
up to nineteen percent, and then warmed up a little
more in the third quarter and got it into the
twenty percent tile. And then they hit eight of twelve
shots in the final quarter and that ultimately settled the
men at thirty three percent. In fact, they wound up
not only with the exact same shooting percentage as LSU,

(11:06):
but the exact same amount of shots taken in shots made,
they were each team was twenty one out of sixty
three from the flour. LSU made one more three pointer
than Texas Long Outs were a perfect perfect twenty one
for twenty one from the foul line, so all of
that led to Texas getting the winner for LSU sixty
five to fifty eight. The long Warts are now twenty
six and two three games to go, and if they

(11:29):
win their last three games, they'll have at least a
share of the SEC title. They would be sharing it
with South Carolina if South Carolina doesn't lose another game.
Wheuse South Carolina got stunned on Sunday at home by
a really good Yukon team. Having lost to Texas, so
they've dropped two out of three, I'm not really expecting
South Carolina to lose any more games in the regular season,

(11:51):
so it's probably would wind up being a tie between
Texas and South Carolina, and since both teams would only
have one loss in conference play against one another, all
the other tie breakers are even, which we mean it
would come down to a coin flip to see who
would get the number one seed for the SEC tournament.

(12:11):
But here's the other big factor. The thing is is
for the Texas women. As we pointed out, the long
Ones in recent recent bracketological prognostications had been listed as
a one seed. Obviously, they did absolutely no damage to
those efforts by what they did last week. In fact,

(12:32):
they strengthened them. So the issue for what Texas would like,
what South Carolina would like, you know, certainly, would be
to be a number one seed slated to go to Birmingham,
meaning you play your in the women's tournament, you play
your first and second round games. If you are a
top four seed in any of the regions, you play

(12:53):
your first and second round games on your own home floor.
Win those two home games, and then go. And then
there's two sites for the women's Sweet sixteen and the
Lite eight, not four like it is for the men.
They play two regionals at each site, and those two
sites are Birmingham and Spokane. The long Horns have been
sent to the Pacific Northwest three of the last four years.

Speaker 2 (13:15):
Including in Spokane, and.

Speaker 1 (13:17):
They would much prefer I can tell you Vic Shaffer
and Steph would much prefer being slotted into Birmingham will.
They certainly helped themselves a great deal by doing that.
And we'll talk some more about women's basketball and where
they are. But up next, we're going to hear from
Jason Kent, Long Orange four, who's been in the starting
lineup of late and came up with some big plays

(13:38):
the other night in the Texas victory over Kentucky. So
we'll hear from Jason Kent coming up. We do have
inconceivable this hour, we'll do that as well. All that
and more coming up on a let's just say murky
Tuesday afternoon here at the ballpark where at ufcuish Fogg Field,
five thirty, first pitch five to fifteen pre game start
time for Texas and Houston on thirteen under the zup.

Speaker 2 (14:01):
Let's Tuesday afternoon at ufcuws Frogfield.

Speaker 1 (14:03):
There is baseball plan for this evening again a five
to thirty first pitch. They moved up start time one
hour for the Texas Longhorns to take on the Houston Cougars,
and we'll be on there five point fifteen with the
pregame start time of the first pitch is scheduled for
five thirty. We'll talk a little more long Horn baseball

(14:24):
a little later on in the program. Want to jump
to Texas basketball because the Longhorns have certainly helped themselves
in the past few days. When they went into the
three game losing streak. There are a lot of folks
that thought they there NCAA tournament at large hopes, barring
of course, a run all the way through the SEC tournament,

(14:46):
but the at large hopes were completely shot. Well, that
wasn't the case even as they were having to navigate
and deal with a three game losing streak, because even
then the lead brackets hologists and I usually consult three
or four different sets. But the two that are most

(15:06):
recognized and really the two that have been most effective
over the years, have been Joe Lenardi at the ESPN.
He's kind of the originator of bracketology, and the other
was Jerry Palm of CBS Sports, and both continued to
have Texas in the field even through the three game
losing streak. Now, I would tell you that in Jerry

(15:29):
Palm's estimation, they were in a lot more of a
dire predicament than for Joe Lenardi's ESPN bracketized to the
extent that.

Speaker 2 (15:43):
Jerry Palm at Texas.

Speaker 1 (15:44):
I think as the last team in and had him
playing in Dayton and as of today, as of this morning,
Jerry Palm still has Texas in the first four.

Speaker 2 (15:55):
And this was updated.

Speaker 1 (15:56):
This was updated yesterday, and so it was after the
games obviously of Saturday, or it was updated yesterday it
was after the games of Saturday and Sunday, and he
still has Texas in the first four as an eleven
seed playing in Dayton, Ohio against BYU. He also has Arkansas,
West Virginia Inn As eleven seeds there and then the
two matchup of sixteen seeds would be Quinnipiac against Southeast

(16:19):
Missouri State in America against Southern the four number ones,
he has Auburn in the south, Alabama in the midwest,
Florida in the West, and Duke in the East. And
that's how Jerry Palm has it Now. Joe Narni has
valued Texas a little more highly of late in large

(16:40):
measure due to their net ranking, which has been right
around thirty give or take one or two spots either side.
And he still has Texas not having to play in Dayton,
and in fact has upgraded him for being the last
of the four what they call the last four by

(17:00):
meaning the four schools that are the last ones that
would not have to play in Dayton, Ohio. At the
first floor, well, he had him as the number four.
Now he has him at the top of that list
with the winnover Kentucky with West Virginia the second team
out of that BYU is the third and Vanderbilt is
the fourth. The teams that he has playing in Daytony
as Omaha and Southeast Missouri in a sixteen seed matchup,

(17:23):
Southern and American in a sixteen seed matchup, and the
two eleven seed match.

Speaker 2 (17:27):
Or eleven and a twelve.

Speaker 1 (17:29):
He has the eleven seed matchup San Diego State and
Oklahoma still in the field, although falling precipitously the lost
to LSU did a lot of damage to the Sooners
NCAA tournament homes, and then Arkansas and Wake Forest as
a twelve there, and he has Texas as a ten
seed that's up a spot from eleven seed prior to

(17:51):
the Kentucky game and playing Saint Mary's in the first
round in Milwaukee.

Speaker 2 (17:54):
So anyway, that's an.

Speaker 1 (17:55):
Update in terms of the of where the bright catologists
see Texas. They and the other projections I've seen all
have Texas in the field. And Lnardi, who is usually
in the ninety six to ninety eight percentile of correct
when the field is announced, has Texas not having to

(18:19):
play in the first four and date. But the logworts
have important games remaining. They have a midweek. By this
week they go to South Carolina where South Carolina is
still trying to win its first conference game. Then after
that they have a road game at Arkansas, which won't
be easy.

Speaker 2 (18:38):
Of course, they already lost Arkansas home.

Speaker 1 (18:40):
They have a home game against Georgia, a road game
at Mississippi State, and then they finished the regular season
at home against Oklahoma. So there's still some Quad one
opportunities to win games out there, most notably against Arkansas
and Oklahoma, so they do need wins. One of the
guys who has been important for Texas of late in

(19:02):
climbing back into NCAA tournament regular conversation as Jason Kent,
the Indiana State transfer forward. Jason had to be inserted
into the lineup mainly as a reserve at first in
the lost Alabama last Tuesday when Tremont Mark had to
leave the game and or excuse me not Tremont Mark

(19:26):
when Arthur Kluma had the check out of the game
with his knee injury, and Kent ended up having a
Texas career high seventeen points in that game. He came
back and played well on Saturday in a starting role
with again Arthur Kluma out of the lineup, and Texas
was able to win that game against fifteenth Frank Kentucky
despite not having Kluma on the floor. Kent certainly helped

(19:48):
on all of that. Remember, Jason Kent was one of
the other walking wounded for Texas. He had a wrist
injury and was unable really even to play in the
first few games. So earlier today, in a Zoom media availability,
Jason camp was asked some questions and the first one
that went into him was how long did it take
him to heal from that risk injury.

Speaker 3 (20:09):
I would say it took me, you know, prodeically about
six weeks to get one hundred you know, even now,
you know, I still maintain it, you know, I still
do my recovery and stuff, but I feel like I'm
back to one hundred percent probably mid late January for sure.

Speaker 1 (20:25):
Well, that certainly helps, and so that leads into this
next question for Jason Kent about the adjustment phase that
he's had to go through since transferring from Indiana State
to Texas. There's a lot of things to adjust to,
especially as he was coming off the injury. But Kent
was asked what's been the biggest adjustment for him transferring
in from Indiana State, getting acclimated to Texas and being

(20:47):
able to contribute for the longrnes.

Speaker 4 (20:49):
Just understanding what the team needs.

Speaker 3 (20:51):
You know, we have a lot of high steel guys
on the team, and you know, we all want to
be successful. But for me personally, you know, adjusting to
this different role of you know, ways to impact winning,
to help the team benefit. You know, whatever my minutes are,
I'm going to do what I can in those minutes
to you know, leave an impact on him. Well, that's
certainly important.

Speaker 1 (21:11):
And then Jason was then further asked about the adjustment
and had it been as difficult or as challenging for
him to adjust to the offense that Texas has put
in order as opposed to what he had to do
when he was at Indiana State and the Sycamores offense.

Speaker 2 (21:33):
It was.

Speaker 3 (21:33):
It was definitely an adjustment, you know, coming from the
office that I went to was a lot more movement.
You know, we had a you know, we had a
passing big man back on my old school. So just
adjusting to the new players and the new team to
figure out where I can cut and where I can
get my opportunities to is definitely an adjustment.

Speaker 1 (21:51):
So in addition to that, a couple other questions for
Jason Kent.

Speaker 2 (21:55):
He was He was also asked, was.

Speaker 1 (22:01):
Jason in adjusting to this team and getting ready for
his opportunity to play for Texas. He was asked about
the Kentucky matchup and how important that Kentucky game was
for him, and really in a fact, because he came

(22:22):
up with some key rebounds, a key putback buck that
made a great pass to Trey Johnson as well for
lay In. So Camp was asked, was the Kentucky game
his best game? As a long worn this season?

Speaker 3 (22:36):
These past few games, it has been, you know, just
getting back in the flow, especially being out for an
entire month, figuring out where I fit in. Now, you know,
guys been playing since November and I was out for
you know, pretty much the whole k Noon Conference. So
just figuring out where I can fit in with the
flow that's already been created.

Speaker 1 (22:54):
Yeah, all right, So there was that, And then again,
as I mentioned about the Kentucky game, was the Kentucky
game his best game of the season. Next thing, also
from Jason Kent was asked about adjusting to Austin and

(23:16):
this was a question that I asked him when he
was with us out at Pluckers, when I asked him
about the you know, the big differences between terre Hood,
Indiana and Austin, Texas, and there are definite differences.

Speaker 2 (23:30):
He talked about that at the time.

Speaker 1 (23:32):
Also, Julian Larry, who transferred with him from Indiana State,
said it's a world of difference from Terrehod, Indiana to Austin.
Jared Spencer, the left hander who started for Texas on
Friday Night in the season opener, transferred in from Indiana State.
He visited with both Jason Kent and Julian Larry and
asked them about the differences, and he said, yeah, there was.

(23:54):
So Kent was asked what is the best part of
being in Austin.

Speaker 3 (24:00):
Off the court, It's a lot of things to do,
you know, in tara Hoe, you know, tara Ho is
the Indiana State is there's not a lot of stuff
to do out there. If you really want to do stuff,
you had to go to Indy. But you know, Austin
has a lot of things. You know, there's a lot
of good food places out here. I'm a big sushi guy.
I found some good sushi sushi bars down here. So
just being able to get out to the city and

(24:21):
experience a little bit of the city life is what
I say is the best part of Boston.

Speaker 1 (24:25):
All right, there, it is some sound from Jason Camp.
We'll have some more from Jason coming up, and we're
gonna hear for Rodney Terry coming up next hour as
well on the program on AM thirteen under the Zone
second hour of the program as when we come your
way from UFCU Dish falk Field. There is a baseball
game scheduled for this evening and the schedule still has

(24:46):
it as going forward. Now having said that, they're moving
the schedule up by one hour, so Texas will have
its home opener coming up at five third instead of
six point thirty as the Log Warns will be taking
on the Houston Cougars. Houston took two out of three

(25:07):
against Minnesota over the weekend. Of course, the Log Warns
took two out of three up in Arlington at the
Shriners Children's College Showdown, and because of that they actually
were crowned the champions of that event based on run differential,

(25:30):
going two and one over the weekend.

Speaker 2 (25:32):
So anyway, a good start for Texas going two and one. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (25:40):
Would they have liked to have been three and over
the weekend, and they certainly could have been. They were
up to nothing going to the bottom of the ninth inning,
unable to hold the lead. However, Louisville came back and
won the contest in ten innings, and they were able
to do that four to three, had taken a three
to two lead, or the long Wards took a three
to lead in the top of the tenth.

Speaker 2 (26:01):
Louisville score two in the bottom of the tenth and
won that.

Speaker 1 (26:02):
But Texas bounded back in a big way, a ten
to seven inning run rule win over Ole Miss on
Saturday night.

Speaker 2 (26:10):
And again, for all of those of you.

Speaker 1 (26:12):
Who have asked, and many have have asked me, why
did Texas play Ole miss A conference opponents in a
season opening tournament, non conference event, It's because that was
set a year ago with the knowledge that Texas and
Ole Miss would not meet in the regular season. You
don't play everyone in your conference on the SEC schedule.

(26:35):
You don't play every team in the conference. You wouldn't
be able to get in you know, you'd barely be
able to get in a couple of non conference series
if you played everyone in the league, so they don't
and ole Miss is not on the Texas Conference schedule
the season, so they played them in a non conference
game on Saturday night at Globally Field in Arlington and

(26:56):
Logrns won that one.

Speaker 2 (26:58):
Ten to nothing in seven innings.

Speaker 1 (27:01):
Luke Harrison went six and a third and was named
the sec Pitcher of a Week for his performance in
that one on Saturday. And then on Sunday, the log
Worns kind of outslugged Oklahoma State. They won fourteen to eight,
got up really big and in Oklahoma State scored some
runs lake but the long Warns ended up winning at

(27:23):
Max Blue had a big weekend overall. Will Gasparino had
a big weekend overall, each of those guys with a
couple of home runs, and the same thing for the
freshman third basement Adrian Rodriguez, who hit a couple of
home runs and was named the sec CO Freshman of
the Week for his performance over the weekend. So prominencing
start in this first season under Jim Schlisnagel as head coach,

(27:47):
and the log Oorns take on the Houston Cougars this
evening and again it was originally scheduled for six thirty.
It's a five thirty first pitch that mainly not so
much to dodge precipitation because it it's not raining here
at the ballpark right now, but it's it's kind of
murky and we've had some uh there was rain this

(28:08):
morning and then a little bit of misted. Uh that's
been kind of off and on, but nothing heavy duty
about that. Logorne were taking some early defensive endfield and
uh they're they're hitting inside today. Both ball clubs will
hit in the indoor cages today. As Jim Slosnagle told

(28:28):
me a little while ago when I was visiting with him.
He said, that's that's the We don't want to ruin
some baseballs out in this weather. So they're uh, they're
hitting inside in the cage. The mounds covered right now.
Of course, this field, uh it drains incredibly well when
when they do have to deal with precipitation. So they're

(28:49):
playing to play baseball this afternoon and again the first
pitch coming up about two and a half hours from now.
Texas did move up in the national polls. And something
that I have pointed out on many occasions in past years,
college baseball is different from all the other collegiate sports.

(29:12):
In terms of the numbers of polls, UH.

Speaker 2 (29:17):
There are five.

Speaker 1 (29:20):
Uh and depending on if there's there's actually a sixth
pole that's out there, there's six. There's really and truly
six different polls that rank college baseball teams weekly or
bi weekly and UH. And then there's there's there's some
that are probably more recognized than the other Baseball America,
D one Baseball, National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

Speaker 5 (29:43):
UH.

Speaker 1 (29:43):
Then there's USA Today, Perfect Game and Collegiate Baseball rankings
as well, So there's really six polls involved that. But
the long Runes didn't move up in just about all
of them. They stayed number seven a Perfect Game, but
moved up one three spots in D one Baseball from
nineteen to sixteen, moved up to number twelve in Baseball

(30:06):
America and the NCBWA they moved up to number seven
from sixteen from seventeen. So anyway, they moved up in
those rankings. And of course the rankings don't mean an
awful lot right now. They're more conversational talking points right now.
So that's what they've got going on right now. So
they'll play Houston tonight, opening a homestand Dartmouth comes to

(30:30):
town this weekend for a non conference series, so they
have the series with Dartmouth and then they end upcoming
home games in non conference play. And as they continue
this homestand after they play Dartmouth, they have Incarnate Word.

(30:52):
A week from tonight, on the twenty fifth, they have
Incarnate Word at home. Then they go to Las Vegas
and play three games for three days. It's another one
of those deals like in Arlington, kind of a classic
where you play three different opponents. They'll have a Friday
nine game against Washington, then play an old conference rival,
former conference rival, Texas Tech on a Saturday evening contest,

(31:14):
and then finish it out with a Sunday afternoon.

Speaker 2 (31:17):
Game against Illinois.

Speaker 1 (31:18):
So they have that tucked in between one, two, three, four, five, six, seven,
eight nine home games otherwise before they begin SEC play.

Speaker 2 (31:29):
So it's Houston a three.

Speaker 1 (31:31):
Game weekend series against Dartmouth Incarnate Word. Then after going
to Vegas for the weekend thing, they come back home
with a Tuesday game or March fourth, against Texas A
and and Corpus Christy, then a three game weekend series
against Santa Clara before and then followed by a Tuesday
game against UT Arlington and then they open SEC play
And what a way to open it up on the fourteenth,

(31:53):
Friday the fourteenth in Startingville, Mississippi at Duty Noble Field
as they'll play Mississippi State there in what could be
eighteen nineteen thousand fans there.

Speaker 2 (32:04):
The way that they have.

Speaker 1 (32:07):
The residents is if you will be on the outfield
walls and the party area, so it'll be an awful.

Speaker 2 (32:14):
Lot of fun on them.

Speaker 1 (32:16):
Also, the other thing I wanted to update on I
mentioned last hour about I was talking about college baseball,
but also a Major League Baseball update for you. Now,
I know this is probably just going to absolutely thrill
some people.

Speaker 2 (32:32):
I say that tongue firmly planted in cheek, but.

Speaker 1 (32:37):
Just to let you know when Major League Baseball has
Opening Day coming up on March twenty seven. Now, this
is not the opening day for the season in its entirety,
because the Cubs and the Dodgers will actually open their
season against each other in Japan a few day prior

(33:00):
to that, but when the rest of Major League Baseball
jumps into Opening Day on March twenty seventh, one of
those games that will be on Opening day will be
the Yankees and the Brewers at Yankee Stadium, New York.
ESPN is going to air the game, it'll be two
in the afternoon, and calling the play by play for

(33:23):
ESPN that day on Opening Day.

Speaker 2 (33:27):
Joe Buck.

Speaker 1 (33:29):
Joe Buck returning to the baseball booth. Now, of course,
he's been doing Monday Night Football with Troy Aikman, and
so that's what he's gonna do. But he's gonna call
a Major League Baseball national telecast for the first time
in four years. His last national broadcast was with Fox

(33:54):
Sports twenty twenty one, when he covered his twenty fourth
World Series and that's when the Braves won the World Series.
He did last year join Chip Carrey, who does the
play by play for the Cardinals home games well for
the Cardinals telecast, and he joined them last year on

(34:16):
one local broadcast of a Cardinals game. He's been doing
Monday Night Football since twenty twenty two. Now, for those
who are saying, what in the world is he doing
back in this thing?

Speaker 2 (34:27):
Is you getting back? I can't believe it.

Speaker 1 (34:29):
He's calling it a one off opportunity, says he's not
returning to the booth permanently.

Speaker 2 (34:37):
That's where I said, I know that you.

Speaker 1 (34:38):
Know some of you are just gonna be absolutely thrilled
by this, right because there's a lot of for whatever reason,
there's a lot of fans who are not big Joe
Buck fans.

Speaker 2 (34:50):
For whatever reason.

Speaker 1 (34:51):
I will tell you this, Joe Buck pokes a lot
more fun at himself than you would imagine.

Speaker 2 (35:01):
He's pretty self deprecating on a lot of things.

Speaker 1 (35:04):
And say what you will about him if you don't
like his personality or something technically mechanically, there's absolutely nothing
wrong with the way he calls the game football or baseball,
and he's got the Emmy Awards to prove it as well.

Speaker 2 (35:19):
But he's going to be joined.

Speaker 1 (35:21):
By former Yankees manager Joe Girardi and Bill Schroeder, who's
the lead color analyst for the Brewers, and he issued
a statement where he said Opening Day has always been
a signature day on the sports calendar, and personally it
remains special. ESPN approached me with this one off opportunity
to help launch the season, and it was a quick yes.

(35:43):
Joe and Bill are both great friends and better baseball minds,
and I know they will carry in the telecast while
I just plan to be along for the ride, so
that's gonna be there. It's an opening day doubleheader on ESPN.
The second game will be a night game with the
Dodgers hosting the Tigers. And again that the season will

(36:04):
actually be in several days prior to them when it comes.
The Dodgers open the season in Japan, but Joe Buck
back in the booth at least if only for one
game for Major League Baseball. All right, Up next, we're
gonna hear from log Worn men's head basketball coach Rodney
Terry talking about getting his team ready. They've got this
midweek by this week, and then they'll travel to Columbia,

(36:26):
South Carolina to play the South Carolina game Cocks on
Saturday night as they try to bill momentum coming off
that big win over fifteenth rank Kentucky on Saturday night.

Speaker 2 (36:35):
So we'll hear from our tea.

Speaker 1 (36:36):
Coming up next, we're at UFCU dish Fogg Field, Texas
Baseball is the log Worns will host Houston a five
thirty first pitch five to fifteen pre game start time
right here on AM thirteen under the zone contend you
on this Tuesday afternoon here in UFCU, just fog field again.
They moved the start time up till five thirty today,
but making all preparations and plans to go at five

(36:58):
thirty and you can hear the game keep or to
join me five fifteen airtime here on the zone. Let's
shift back to basketball a little bit, Long Worn basketball
coming off that big win over Kentucky and getting ready
for the road trip to Colombia Columbia South Carolina's important
to delineate the two because remember there's two Columbias in
the SEC, the other ones in Central Missouri and Long

(37:20):
Worn baseball has to go there this year, but basketball
is in Columbia South Carolina.

Speaker 2 (37:26):
So that was a big win. It helped in a.

Speaker 1 (37:30):
Variety of things like net rankings and things like that
as well, so all of that stuff helps out. So
Rodney Terry, the Longhorns head coach, had a media zoom
today and I was talking about a variety of things,
and we'll hear some from RT starting us out. In fact,

(37:53):
we'll start with the question that he was asked about
transfer players, because we heard from Jason Kent's last hour
the Indiana State transfer and Julian Larry's transferred from Indiana
Tremont Mark has come in from Arkansas. I mean even
zerk on Yama last year came in from UTEP. So
you have you have transfer players in and it's more

(38:13):
of a hypothetical question than anything.

Speaker 2 (38:15):
But Rodney was asked, is it.

Speaker 1 (38:17):
Easier to coach the transfer players now than it is
in the offseason when you first get him in the program?

Speaker 6 (38:24):
Well, I think they definitely have a more comfort level
with what we're trying to do. I mean, you know,
it's always hard for a first year guys to come
in and get really comfortable with what you're doing.

Speaker 4 (38:35):
It takes some time. You know, there are a.

Speaker 6 (38:38):
Lot of times that they're still trying to figure things
out as we go a little bit.

Speaker 4 (38:44):
But once they figured out and they have a comfort level.

Speaker 6 (38:46):
Now they're able to go out and play in and
I'm thinking as much in terms of what we're trying
to do offensively and defensively. But they've they've come a
long ways, and uh, I think just in coninuity in itself.
You know, when you were able to have guys in
practice every day, able to have games every day, and

(39:06):
you have better chemistry. Obviously we haven't had a whole
lot of that issue with guys in and out of
the lineup, in and out of practice, so we've had
to try to play our way through it, and I
do think those four guys have been pretty durable and they've.

Speaker 1 (39:22):
Had a chance to have more comfortable what we're doing well.
One of those guys, as we pointed out, was Tremon Mark. Now,
he to me is one of the how shall I
put this feature curiosities of this basketball team. He came
in as a scorer, came in from Arkansas. He's from

(39:42):
Dickinson down in the Houston area and actually began his
collegiate career at Houston, played at Houston, transferred to Arkansas,
played one season at Arkansas, and now was.

Speaker 2 (39:50):
In a log horn uniform.

Speaker 1 (39:52):
Tremont came in as basically a recognized score. Got alto
a slow start because he had the ankle injury in
the second scrimmage I believe it was against Colorado, and
so he couldn't even play in the first couple of
weeks of the season. Finally came in kind of got
off to a slow start. Then he had a couple
of big games. Then he got a shoulder injury against
ironically the team that he had played for prior Arkansas,

(40:15):
and it really slowed him down over the course of
the three game losing streak. In fact, wasn't even available
in the midst of that and the loss of Vanderbilt,
and so was able to come back and play against
Alabama and then played really really well against Kentucky. And
one thing tremon has done has really been to improve

(40:37):
his defense as well as what he's able to do scoring. Now,
having said that, he scored twenty six points on Saturday night,
that was a Texas career high for him, and so
Rodney terror has asked, what did Tremont do differently against Kentucky.

Speaker 6 (40:51):
I think the thing we've really trying to challenge tremon
Wood is being a gad that's one of our better
own ball defenders, got better team, he was offensive player.
So he's had that challenge in a lot of ball games,
you know, challenges and get lost playing really hard on
offense on defense. So when it's time for him to
make a meeting for Shot, make a meeting for Reid,

(41:13):
you know, where he engages to and hits an open man,
it's time for him to go crash and try to
get an office and rebound. He's ready to do that.
He's lathered up, he's ready to do that at an
elite level. I thought he really set the tone defensively forced,
and I think it led to an office of night
where things came easy for him. You know, early in

(41:35):
the game he went for a fifty to fifty ball,
dove on the floor, was first to the floor, and
really set the tone I thought for our team. So
anytime you plan that way, I think offense is gonna
come a lot easier to you.

Speaker 1 (41:48):
Yeah, and he's a guy that has been able to
contribute to both ends, and they're gonna need him, and
they're gonna need him as as an additional score in
addition to Trey Johnson, who just continues to be amazing
in what he's done as a freshman and named again
SEC Freshman of the Week, fourth time this season that
he has done that. But going back to the transfer thing,

(42:09):
and as I mentioned, we heard from Jason Kent last hour.
Jason is an interesting story as well because his dad,
twenty years ago, it's been a while, was the head
basketball coach in this town at Houston Tillotson, and his
mom was an athlete as well, and so Rodney Terry
was asked if he how did he cross pass with

(42:32):
Jason Kent's dad and his past experiences with coaches players
on his teams.

Speaker 6 (42:38):
You know, yeah, I think you know Jason's dad and
cross pass quite a bit.

Speaker 4 (42:43):
You know.

Speaker 6 (42:44):
When he was here as a head coach at Houston, Jillison,
I was an assistant here for Rick during that tenure.

Speaker 4 (42:50):
His mom worked on campus. She worked over with.

Speaker 6 (42:54):
The Loss Does and his staff, Jim Bacon, those guys
she worked you know, on camp for for a number
of years. You know, I think a coach's son, I'm
a product of being a coach's son.

Speaker 4 (43:09):
I think they always they always think like a coach.

Speaker 6 (43:11):
They always have a cerebral understanding of the game because
they've been around the game their whole lives, you know,
and uh, I think they're still always learning.

Speaker 4 (43:20):
But but you.

Speaker 6 (43:22):
Know, just instinct that if you're sitting there watching the
game with your dad, you're looking at the game through
a different lens that maybe you know a kid that
doesn't have a dad that's a coach. So I think
they're definitely all characteristics of being a coach's son.

Speaker 4 (43:37):
Just having a great feel for the game.

Speaker 6 (43:39):
Jason has a cerebral feel for the game and understanding
of how to play defensively, cut offensively, spacing on the floor.

Speaker 4 (43:50):
Have I coached other coaches sons?

Speaker 6 (43:53):
Yes.

Speaker 4 (43:53):
Do you like coaching coaches sons.

Speaker 6 (43:56):
Yes, because you like to think that they're gonna be
cerebral guy.

Speaker 1 (44:01):
Yeah, And Jason kenn is one of those guys. Here's
a question that Rodnie's been asked, oh conservative guess eight
ten times at various points during the season. The thing
about trying to get a team to gel together, to congeal,

(44:22):
that sort of thing. And you know, Archie likes to
discuss the fact when you ask him about what the
identity of the team is supposed to be, he says,
in November and December, you're really trying to establish that identity,
and then once you get in the conference play, you're
trying to solidify the identity that you establish.

Speaker 2 (44:41):
And carry you forward to winning.

Speaker 1 (44:43):
All of that involves the chemistry, the makeup, what's that
c word we hear so often, culture, all of those
kinds of things. So our team was asked if he
had seen a moment where he felt like the team
was gelling.

Speaker 4 (44:57):
Well, again, I.

Speaker 6 (44:57):
Think we're getting better with that again, I think, uh,
you know, for us, and probably not just us, a
lot of teams in this league play there are a
lot of different guys that are going in and out
of the lineup right now, just based on availability.

Speaker 4 (45:11):
You know.

Speaker 6 (45:11):
I think it's really hard to get into a great
flow and have a lot of continuity when you don't
have your guys consistently every day in practice and consistently
in games.

Speaker 4 (45:23):
So you got to play through some of that.

Speaker 6 (45:25):
You got to play through some of that, and end games,
you got to play through some of it, uh, you know,
in the course of the season. And I think we're
getting better with that as we continue to have more
guys in the floor what we're doing every day. You know,
Tray's gonna feel really comfortable, you know with Kate, and
he's played with Katen all season. You know, he's getting
more and more comfortable playing with Jason, you know, in

(45:47):
certain situations and opportunities, whether it be offensively or defensively.
So I think we're still a work in progress with that.
I do think we're getting better, though.

Speaker 1 (45:57):
I know that that's a phrase that can be maddening
to fans as the team is in the final. What
one fifth of its regular season, and you hear the
head coach say, we're still a work in progress. Listen
Sark said the same thing late in the year, with
the run that Texas had and winning thirteen ball games

(46:20):
during the course of the year. He said, we're still
trying to improve. We're still trying to get better every week.
I think we'll hear Jim Schlasnegalis say that during the
course of the season that they're still trying to improve.
They're still trying to get better. Each game represents that opportunity.
Vick Schafer says it about his women's team all the time.
That he said, we're going to find out more about

(46:41):
ourselves this week coming off that win, and we'll have
more on the women coming up. One other from Rodney
Terry before we take a break this stretch that I
talked about. These five games that remain following the midweek
open day at South Carolina on Saturday at Arkansas, the
next wins at home against Georgia, at Mississippi State, and

(47:04):
then at home against Oklahoma. If you're following those bracketological prognostications,
some things like that, if you're following those things, they
would say the long Orange would do well to at
least win three of those games, and all five really
and truly are winnable games. Some are going to be
more difficult assignments than others, especially the two road games,

(47:27):
the ones or two of the three road games, the
one in LA and the one in Starkville, are going
to be very difficult assignments. But if long Orangs could
take one of those two, win the South Carolina game,
and then protect the home court against Georgia and Oklahoma,
there'll be a lot to be in the NCAA Tournament.

Speaker 2 (47:43):
So the question for Rodney.

Speaker 1 (47:44):
Terry, how can he get his team prepared now for
this remaining five game stretch of the regular season.

Speaker 6 (47:52):
Well, for US, I mean this buye we couldn't come
in a better time for US.

Speaker 4 (47:56):
We still, you know, in the process.

Speaker 6 (47:59):
Of mending guys, you know, whether it's Author Columba, whether
it's Kendal Weaver, uh Devon prior to these guys really
needed some extended time.

Speaker 4 (48:06):
Even Treymont needed.

Speaker 6 (48:08):
Some you know, extended time because these guys have all
missed a significant amount of time, you know, this season,
even Jason Kent, you know, missing over ten games. You know,
just the recovery piece continue to get you know, better,
with the with the with being on the floor with guys.

(48:29):
Uh has been great for us, you know. I think again,
you're playing your best basketball when you have everybody every
day in practice and you're able to have competitive practices
that assimilate game situations. We've had a few opportunities this
year where we've had very competitive practices.

Speaker 4 (48:46):
I thought they carried over into our games.

Speaker 6 (48:48):
I thought last year's team got better as we continued
to heal and men guys and they could practice the
way we want to play. I think this team here
over the next couple of weeks, he's gonna get a
chance to have competitive practices as we continue to get
bodies back into practices, so that way we'll be able
to really similate the way we have to play in

(49:11):
games with a lot of our main guys going against
the main guys, you know. So I think that always
helps and raise the level of play this time of year,
when you were able to do that now for a
long period of time, but for an hour at a time,
we should be able to get in and have try
to have really good execution, you know, with our ones
and twos.

Speaker 1 (49:31):
Yeah, availability always helps when you get everybody.

Speaker 2 (49:34):
They've had all.

Speaker 1 (49:36):
Of the players on the roster available for all of
one game this year.

Speaker 2 (49:42):
That's it one.

Speaker 1 (49:43):
There's only been one game where they had everybody available,
and then and then injuries have set in. Somebody else
would go down, somebody would come back, somebody else would
go down.

Speaker 2 (49:51):
So getting everybody back makes a big difference.

Speaker 1 (49:53):
All right, we'll turn our attention back to long worn
baseball coming up and this and this big match, the
home opening debut for Jim Slasnaga when we continue here
on Am thirteen under the zone here on a Tuesday
afternoon at UFCU dish fogg Field, Texas.

Speaker 2 (50:13):
Let me just say they're due to play at five
point thirty.

Speaker 1 (50:16):
Let me let me, let me let me just say
that I love your optimism. Right now, I said scheduled,
they're due to play. As I say that, there's rain
now coming down there. And that's when I got here
to the ballpark about noon today, there was no rain.
There was a little bit of miss and then the
miss stopped. It's raining again right now.

Speaker 2 (50:35):
Now. Having said that, I just looked at the forecast.

Speaker 1 (50:39):
The rain is supposed to be intermittent until late this afternoon,
and then it's supposed to hold off, and then it's
going to get cold tonight. As such, my broadcast partner,
Keith Mortland, joins me up up here. And it was
fifty years ago, yesterday, February seventeenth, nineteen seventy five. Fifty

(51:00):
years ago. Yes, you did against that powerhouse known as
Saint Mary's.

Speaker 7 (51:06):
We played them quite a bit throughout my collegiate career
at the Clark and here at the Dish.

Speaker 2 (51:11):
That was not the only trip they came up that
year to play.

Speaker 1 (51:14):
Really, Okay, Keith was on the field that day, starting
we at third base that day, yes, as the Longhorns
won a doubleheader from Saint Mary's to Christen then dishfalk
Field now UFCU dish falk Field. All right, it would
probably take all day to list all of the differences
between how the ballpark played back then and how it

(51:36):
did now. But what were the most you know, other
than the old rug as opposed to field turf surface
as it is here, the synthetic surface here, But what
were the major differences in how the ballpark played on
that day fifty years ago plus one day as opposed
to how it will probably play this as.

Speaker 7 (51:57):
Far as the ballpark. This turf much slower than the
turf that we had. Let's just start with that very
fast turf at the time that was it was coming
super turf with or something to that nature.

Speaker 2 (52:10):
That it came out of Saint Louis.

Speaker 7 (52:11):
If I remember Coach Gusson talking to us one times
about where it came from and what they were doing.
And I mean five days before the season opened, they
hadn't finished the pits shit. Really, yeah, so it was
a it was a mad rush to get it totally
set and ready to go.

Speaker 1 (52:27):
Uh.

Speaker 7 (52:28):
The outside walls, so let's say just start with that.
The outside walls were back off from home plate.

Speaker 2 (52:34):
More than they are now.

Speaker 7 (52:35):
It was a long way to home plate and the
old dish really all the way around. You did not
have the angles that folks have got a picture in
your mind when you get through the dugouts here at
the dish. Now it angles back to the file lines.
Those were straight lines going down. So a ton of
foul territory here in this ballpark.

Speaker 2 (52:53):
You mean like like like like sunken diamonds.

Speaker 7 (52:56):
Yeah, file territory. We worked on it all the time.
I'm on making sure we got out. So Coach Gus
would talk about a ball goes in the year, comes
down to ballpark, we get out. So third and first baseman,
second basement, and corner outfielders worked on a lot of
drills back in those days. We had the old Jugs
machine that had just come out. There were balls that
go up and we would have to be in a
position and.

Speaker 2 (53:16):
Turn and go. Worked on it a lot.

Speaker 7 (53:18):
We got good at it because we worked on it
every day. But so the ballpark was a much bigger ballpark.
It was three fifty down the left field line, three
point eighty to the power out in left field, four
hundred to dead center, three seventy five to right center,
and three thirty to the right field line. Coach Guss
had played at old clark Field and the wind blew

(53:40):
in it seemed like every day from right field. So
he said, hey, we're going to turn the ballpark a
different shape.

Speaker 2 (53:46):
When they built it.

Speaker 7 (53:47):
So we're going to move the fences back because I
think the ball's going to get out of here. The
wind blew in every single day of my junior campaign.

Speaker 2 (53:54):
It was a cold spring and the wind blew in.

Speaker 7 (53:57):
Of course, we had great pictures like Richard Wortham and
Jim Gideon uh Martin forst So they they loved it
because all they had to do was just throw it
to hit it into the wind, because it was difficult
to hit a ball out of this ballpark when it
first opened, So it played a lot lot bigger. It
stayed that way for about fifteen years and then started
some of the renovations. Coach Guss brought it in a
little bit in.

Speaker 2 (54:17):
The left field.

Speaker 7 (54:18):
He was one of the first guys then, and obviously
when coach Grido got here, he wanted to do some
more things. They didn't quite get that done, even though
he won two championships.

Speaker 2 (54:28):
He wanted to move him in and make it a
little more of an offensive type ballpark.

Speaker 7 (54:32):
You know, coach adapted to this ballpark as because his
style in California. If you go back to his great
teams at cal State Fruls and they weren't bunt and run,
I mean.

Speaker 2 (54:42):
They could away. They slung the back.

Speaker 7 (54:46):
Yeah, so he you know, his style, he had to adapt.
He became more Augie ball when he got here because
you looked at the ballpark, it was just one of
the most gigantic places to cover and you always had
to have great outfielders here.

Speaker 2 (54:59):
Now in the last few.

Speaker 7 (55:00):
Years, the ballpark has has definitely come back in the
foul territory much smaller. It's closer to home plate from
the back wall behind the plate where the fans that
the stands have moved down a little bit when they
put in the chairbacks stands.

Speaker 2 (55:14):
So when they had the big renovation in eighth nine.

Speaker 7 (55:17):
Yeah, it's really has done an outstanding job of making
the ballpark more of an offensive type ballpark. It would
be wonderful to me if they could take and do
the same thing they did with the yetty yard and
do the same thing in right field, even though that
is a storage area right now, there is that same space,
but that space is where they store a ton of

(55:37):
the equipment that comes out to work on the field
and batting practice and screens and all that stuff. So
you know, space is tight on the forty acre everybody
says is forty acres, Well, it's a lot bigger than
forty acres now, Yeah, but if they had some more space,
I really think they would take that in and that
would be another fantastic addition because it is so much
fun to see those people having fun there. They're right

(55:59):
on top of the fans. It gives you more of
a home field advantage. The one thing I've heard from opponents.
I know a lot of the ex coaches and Mark
Mark was was a good friend. Skip Johnson's a good
friend at Oklahoma. The intimidation is that there's so many
people here, but you don't get that field of being
right on top of you like you do at Bluebell.

Speaker 2 (56:20):
Yeah, like they we're going to see at Starkville. Yeah.

Speaker 7 (56:24):
So, but having the yetty yard and you've had another
and right field, and all of a sudden you close
that in a little bit because those outfielders can hear
that they're a long way from home play, and so
all of a sudden it becomes really creates a home
field advantage. Of course, the long ORNs have played so
well over the course of the fifty years of this ballpark.
I mean it's got to be close close to eighty

(56:44):
percent of the games they've won in this ballpark.

Speaker 1 (56:46):
Hang with me, I got a couple more questions for you.
Where we before we get up to the top of
the are keep Moreland with us here on the program.
Of course, Keith will join me for the game broadcast
and for the majority of the game broadcast this season,
as you listen to Long Horned Baseball right here on
AM thirteen under the Zone. Thirdly final hour of the
program here on AM thirteen under the Zone, and then
it's a quick turnaround because we have long warn Baseball

(57:08):
for you. They moved the game time up one hour
from six thirty to five thirty. That was in large
measure to dodge really really cold weather that's going to
be expected starting any moment. Yeah, well, according to the forecast,
it would be in the neighborhood of the eight to

(57:30):
nine o'clock hour, something like that. One thing that Jim
schlosnegle ha has seized upon and he's one of those coaches.
Of course, when did you or I Keith Morland ever
know know a college baseball coach who didn't want to
be plugged in the local mediorologist.

Speaker 2 (57:46):
Oh yeah, no question to find out, and.

Speaker 1 (57:50):
Of course Roger Wallace or colleague happens to work manon
what's going on. But yeah, between Nick and and and
everybody else that's part of that crew to find out
what's going on. So Jim schlist Angels been plugged into
that ut as a meteorologists they consult as well. So

(58:12):
with all of that in there, they were kind of
been told that it really won't start getting real cold
until probably eight nine.

Speaker 2 (58:22):
O'clock tonight somewhere in there, and as.

Speaker 1 (58:25):
A result of that, it's gonna get, it'll get, it'll
get pretty uncomfortable.

Speaker 2 (58:29):
So they decided to move the game time up an
hour now.

Speaker 1 (58:31):
Having said that, it still drizzly here at the ballpark,
but of course the mountains covered. The teams are hitting
inside today, So if the rain is able to let
off like they think it might, and the forecast says
it should certainly about the six o'clock hour, then they
can start the ballgame if nothing else started at its

(58:53):
originally scheduled time, but they are scheduled right now to
go at five point thirty. So Keith Morland with me
during this portion in the program, and we were talking
about the veterans that the Longgorns had and young players
coming back, Tommy Farmer making strides, Will Gasparino coming off
the big weekend, Max Blue, as well Adrian Ryriguez being
named co Freshman of the Week in the SEC Jayalen Forest.

(59:16):
We know he's approven commodity eat the Mindoz of the
transfer from Arizona State. Be interesting to watch him at
second and Kimmel Schusler, veteran at first in Ryland, Galbin
behind the plate. Those are regulars. And then you go
to the mound and I correct me if I'm wrong.
I think the biggest eyebrow raiser to folks who followed

(59:37):
this program or follow college baseball overall, was how well
the starting pitching performed, at least in the first two
games in Arling.

Speaker 7 (59:43):
I don't think there's a question about that. I mean,
I wasn't sure what to expect. Now there's things that
that I saw in the in the eleven guys that
got on the mound over the course of the weekend.

Speaker 2 (59:57):
Pitchability, everybody's got to have something.

Speaker 7 (01:00:00):
Yes, you love to look at the board and it
says ninety five ninety six, but if it's right over
the top, right at you, I'm telling you, Craig, I
can start swinging when you start winding up. I used
to say that you can throw two hundred miles an
hour straight hours.

Speaker 2 (01:00:14):
You throw it.

Speaker 7 (01:00:15):
If you throw it, you know, down in the middle,
and I know it's common. I'm gonna get ready and
get the barrel to it. So you have to have
pitchability with that, and we saw that on Friday night.
I saw a young man that's got a good arm,
but I also like the way he used his break
the ball and it's different ups and down, so really interesting,
fun watch to.

Speaker 2 (01:00:33):
Watch him go out and pitch. Jared Spencer Jared Spencer.

Speaker 7 (01:00:35):
And then on Saturday you had Luke Harrison, who has
never really been healthy except those first few days in
his first year since he's been here. So you saw
a healthy guy that has pitchability, pitches, changes speeds, those
strikes in and out, has enough that he can, you know,
climb the.

Speaker 2 (01:00:54):
Ladder with you.

Speaker 7 (01:00:55):
It's enough fastball to do that, but it's just the
arm angle and the way he hides it.

Speaker 2 (01:00:59):
Now you still have to have two more starters.

Speaker 7 (01:01:02):
I don't think that they know who exactly they are yet.

Speaker 2 (01:01:05):
But that's why you play. Even though you got to
go in a hurry.

Speaker 7 (01:01:08):
We're inside a month to a trip to Starkville, Mississippi,
and we play conference, playing the best conference in America,
so that's the first thing.

Speaker 2 (01:01:16):
So you got to find him. And so.

Speaker 7 (01:01:19):
I really liked the fact is that you've got some
different guys.

Speaker 4 (01:01:22):
You can look at it.

Speaker 7 (01:01:23):
We're gonna get to see a freshman tonight and f
Is you know, I haven't seen him, so that's out there.
But coming out of the pin, you saw a veteran
guy that's been around a long time, been away from
the game for a little bit. And Will Mercer, you know,
he made a mistake, left the ball in the middle
of the plate.

Speaker 2 (01:01:40):
He makes one good pitch. Texas wins the Friday night game.

Speaker 7 (01:01:43):
Really did a nice job in a crucial situation coming
into the game. I don't hold that against him at all,
but I like his stuff. He's a guy that attacks
and comes at you with good stuff. The other parts
of that, you've got some guys that all make the ball.

Speaker 2 (01:01:58):
They summer three quarters, summer over the top.

Speaker 7 (01:02:01):
But overall, when you just look for everybody that you saw,
you could see pitchability.

Speaker 2 (01:02:06):
It wasn't like they were coming out well, we hope
that he can do this.

Speaker 7 (01:02:09):
It's then if you've got pitchability, then it's confidence and
having some success and building that confidence and finding your role.

Speaker 2 (01:02:19):
And it will not take long for this.

Speaker 7 (01:02:21):
Staff to figure out where guys are gonna plug in
and plug out the guy that came in on Friday,
Ruger Riojas.

Speaker 1 (01:02:31):
That's correct, Bruger Riojas, the iss A transfer from Wimberley.

Speaker 7 (01:02:35):
From Wimberley is going to end up being that guy
to get those last outs. He's got that type of
stuff and it really did an outstanding job.

Speaker 2 (01:02:44):
Might have hit the end of that window in.

Speaker 7 (01:02:46):
His first outing just a little bit, might have had
to go to him just a little early. But if
you give him a four out, three out, say going
to be very difficult because he has got really good stuff.
And boy, that is such an important part of being
a competitive program is to know, I've got to lead
going to the ninth I've got a guy that slams

(01:03:06):
the door.

Speaker 1 (01:03:07):
You know, one thing that's going to be unusual that
we're going to see a right handed starter for a change.
It'll be Jason Flores is the freshman from Naming Forrest
in Garland, a four time All state hontere will who
will get the call to go to the map And
I would if he has success, I think you would
leave him out there, let him go for a little bit.

(01:03:27):
These guys have been stretched out of muff that any
of them really truly. When they do their outings and
preparing to get to this point, they all throw fifty
to seventy pitches in their outing, even if they're a
guy out of the bullpen, because you want to stretch
that arm strength the way you gold arm strengths, throw
more pitches. So I would expect him, if he has
some success and not to go fifty to seventy pitches.
Flores is a guy h fastball, sinker, cutter, and and

(01:03:53):
and a guy who can also mix in a curveball
and occasional splitter.

Speaker 2 (01:03:58):
So he's got an assortment. He's got an a sortment
of pitches.

Speaker 7 (01:04:00):
But more times than not, when you say cutter, slider, sinker,
he's got movement to his fastball. Because sometimes young pitchers,
I'm not saying that he's the situation. Sometimes his young
pitchers have to figure out how to hold it. And
they're getting great education. Now a professional pitching coach, so
to speak. So well, we'll see what he's got. But
that tells me he's got movement to his fastball.

Speaker 1 (01:04:21):
Okay, all right, let me ask you a couple of
generalized college baseball questions. We talked about this on the
broadcast Friday night in the season over, and I know
you and Roger talked about this as well. Changes to
the game like we've seen in the major leagues, the
umpires checking the gloves in the hands of the pitchers
coming in. That's something that's pretty readily adaptable. The other thing,

(01:04:42):
I was watching the Arkansas game yesterday and then we
talked about the absence of PitchCom and the devices that
that have been you might say.

Speaker 7 (01:04:53):
Redefined, redefined. And I've set in on the nationals Umpires meeting.
It was about two and a half hours stuff. Most
of the stuff that they would go over was stuff
that we all knew. I did make a mistake on
our broadcast. There will be microphones in the SEC, but
it will not be explanation of every play. It will

(01:05:14):
be explanation of a reviewed play.

Speaker 1 (01:05:17):
Sue and I saw that when we were in college
station a couple of years ago, because we were given
a patch to put into our feed that said this
is the umpire mike. And I said, are we going
to hear them say no, let's ball outside. I said no, no, no, no, no,
if you get a review, and sure enough and it worked,
and the guy came over and the home plate umpire said,
they call on the field stands runners out at first.

Speaker 7 (01:05:37):
Well, but we're not going to get I had great
umpires friend to call me and he says he Keith.
I was listening and he said, the one thing you're
not going to get even in the sec you're not
going to get an explanation of a pitch count violation.

Speaker 2 (01:05:50):
It'll just go up one and know that they won't
do that.

Speaker 7 (01:05:54):
So I misinterpreted that on the air and I take
that back. Now any review, we're going to get a
complete explanation, but you will not on some of the
things that happen in a game where a guy may
stand because if a pitcher's looking in and the hitter
bounces out, you see all things time out and everything,
and if you're not watching the pitch clock, and if

(01:06:14):
it's at seven seconds, there's nothing can happen. But if
it's at five seconds or under, the hitter gets cart
charged with a strike. So sometimes it's decisive of where
it's a striker or a ball or a ball or strike.
And then if both guys look in and one steps
off inside of five seconds.

Speaker 2 (01:06:31):
That the pitcher steps off, that's the ball. So all
those rules are the same.

Speaker 7 (01:06:35):
We're just not going to get the explanation of those
rules very very well. And over the weekend watching all
the games, nine games that we saw some really nine
or six really good teams. They need to do better
at explaining that to tell what's going on. I've been
around the game my whole life, and there's still times
where I look at it and go, I'm not sure

(01:06:55):
how to interpret what just took place.

Speaker 1 (01:06:57):
Yeah, yeah, exactly what you described earlier about the batter
by stepping out being called for a strike. There's no
better example than that. And and I know you'll recall
this game Roger and I were doing it. But there
was a game I think three years ago in Fort Worth,
Trey Faltini got called out a third strike. Oh yeah,
for that, and the place was about to go on
an uproar there in TCU, and then Mike and Tico

(01:07:18):
made it all relevan irrelevant e in a home run
and the very next pattern Texas up winning ended up
winning the game. But it was a learning moment at
that point, and it's a learning moment for young guys
about stepping out, stepping out.

Speaker 7 (01:07:30):
The interpretation of the rules. And then the last one.
All week are the practices I've been to. The extra
base down the first baseline has been burn Arch. I
thought it was gonna stay burn Arch, would come to
find out they're all green.

Speaker 2 (01:07:42):
They're all green. So that man hated green. So uh.

Speaker 7 (01:07:46):
But during all the workouts, in the in the in
the innsquad games and everything, all the time, it is, uh,
it's been it's been burn Arch here.

Speaker 2 (01:07:53):
So I kind of thought maybe you could do it
by the home colors.

Speaker 7 (01:07:56):
Well that's proved that wrong today because it's green, just
like it wasn't in ar.

Speaker 1 (01:08:00):
So when we're in norm in the final week in
the regular season, we won't see a red.

Speaker 6 (01:08:04):
You're not.

Speaker 2 (01:08:06):
It's going to be green, and we won't see them
start and it is.

Speaker 7 (01:08:09):
It is odd, though, to look down and see those
two bases together.

Speaker 2 (01:08:13):
It's just well, it's an odd look. I think Softball.

Speaker 1 (01:08:18):
League, Softball Craig Field, you unpleasant valley.

Speaker 2 (01:08:21):
That's what I think.

Speaker 7 (01:08:22):
I'm so much of a traditionalist, I probably will adapt
to this pretty well. I don't want collisions, you don't
want players hurt. Uh, I understand, and that the safety rule.
I do understand. The breaking up the double play at
second base, because there have been college players that have
careers have been ended.

Speaker 2 (01:08:39):
Uh in the old.

Speaker 7 (01:08:40):
Rules, because you know, I played with a lot of
guys that you didn't want to turn that double play
at second base with this guy coming at you because
they were coming to get you.

Speaker 2 (01:08:49):
I'm just telling you.

Speaker 7 (01:08:50):
So, I do like to slide in straight in rules,
and I do like not being able to don't have
to block the plate and uh that kind of thing.
So uh, Tire Harrington, one of the head coach is
one of my good friends.

Speaker 2 (01:09:01):
It's I'm about to steal a few minutes from him here,
so is He'll come in and he'll tell you the
same thing. He's a traditionalist too.

Speaker 7 (01:09:07):
I mean we both have raised in the same time,
been around the games a whole long, but we also
understand safety. There is some safety things that that they're changing.
I was just saying, Tis, I'll hand you the headset.
I think the one biggest safety change is breaking into
double play as.

Speaker 2 (01:09:21):
A middle endfielder.

Speaker 7 (01:09:22):
He'll tell you because when we played, I'm the same way.
I was pretty quick then I wouldn't let him throw
the first base. I mean you were going to take
him out, so that that part is that part's disappeared.
All right, we need a break. Ty Harrington is going
to join us up next.

Speaker 1 (01:09:38):
We're getting ready for opening night at UFCU Dish fart
Field again. Texas and Houston still scheduled for five thirty
on the first pitching. Moved it up by one hour.
Will keep you posted if there's any change on that.
This is AM thirteen under the zone.

Speaker 2 (01:09:51):
The afternoon. It looks like it looks like the rain
has stopped.

Speaker 1 (01:09:58):
And that's a good thing. And it must have been
because Ty Harrington entered the building. So that's that's that's
why looking at that. So I'll we visit with the
coach each week. And uh, I was kidding you about this,
but I'm excited for you about this. You know, you're
becoming a TV head and and and doing this, uh
doing this thing.

Speaker 2 (01:10:15):
But you've been doing you've been at this for a while.

Speaker 1 (01:10:17):
You've been doing it with Texas State and you're still
going to do your your Texas State scheduled this year.

Speaker 5 (01:10:22):
Right, Yep, I'm still doing Texas State games. I want, uh,
I'll do that. They were supposed to have one this Friday,
and that's debatable. Yeah, at this point, where the weather right,
whether they're gonna move it, change it, and I'm not
sure what they're going to do yet, but I'll do
some of their games. And it worked out this year
really that when Texas is at home, they're on the road,

(01:10:42):
and so not every one of them, but a lot
of them worked out that way. And so yeah, I'll
go back to sam Markets and do a bunch of
games there, and uh, we're at all got where it
all got so where this all got started from me?
And then I got one more weekend at with Flow
uh College, and uh that I'll go back now next weekend,
I think it's Auburn, Baylor, Ohio State, and Oregon State.

Speaker 2 (01:11:07):
And and that will be a globe life, all globe life.

Speaker 1 (01:11:09):
Okay, the last weekend that they have, Just like last year,
you're going to see a good cross section of the nation.
And and what what baseball looks like this year? Did
you did anything really capture your attention on aside from
Texas just the overall what you saw the product on
the field, Uh this past week in the games at Irelandton.

Speaker 5 (01:11:32):
Yeah, and the gap you know, just took the headphones off,
was gonna like it because he'd have been right in
the middle of it too. Was the offense, Yeah, I
mean it used to be that opening weekend. As a coach,
you spent more time interested I don't use the word
concern interested in your offense. And the hitters historically were

(01:11:54):
behind the opening weekend.

Speaker 2 (01:11:57):
Then you know, the pictures always a little bit ahead.

Speaker 1 (01:11:59):
Funny that because Keith said that the other night, and
Schlass said that to me about fifteen twenty minutes ago,
and he said it was a it was kind of
a flip up there.

Speaker 5 (01:12:07):
I mean, starting Saturday at eleven am in the game on.

Speaker 2 (01:12:11):
Saturday, you could just It's like the barrels were wide open.

Speaker 5 (01:12:16):
And even a lot of the outs to me were
loud outs, hard.

Speaker 2 (01:12:19):
Outs, drives down the line, yeah, I mean.

Speaker 5 (01:12:23):
Just balls it And to me, and Keith knows that
what you do too, you see more baseball as much
as anybody. The amount of authoritated hip balls, not just
balls danked in and not just flipped over.

Speaker 2 (01:12:37):
I mean, I just good me personally. Yeah, they were
on time.

Speaker 5 (01:12:42):
I mean to me, if I sat there and somebody said, hey,
what what did you think about this line for the line,
and I said, man, nobody looked overmatched. Nobody looked like
they were, you know, behind and hadn't seen anything, you know,
a lot traditionally a lot of schools when he come
down from up top, up north and come down here
to play that first two days, they really have a
hard time catching up with a velo, particularly on a

(01:13:03):
Friday night where they haven't he been outside under the lights.

Speaker 2 (01:13:06):
Now this was indoors.

Speaker 5 (01:13:07):
But I just was probably more impressed with the offense
than I was just about anything.

Speaker 2 (01:13:10):
Why do you think that is? Why do you think
it's clipped? I don't know, I don't I don't know.

Speaker 5 (01:13:14):
You just heard it from three different people, right that
have seen a lot of baseball, and Slash included him.
Now Texas, on the other hand, that the two riding
you know, shutouts for a little bit in game one,
you know, and then game two between the starters now
looks even more impressive to me.

Speaker 2 (01:13:34):
But I don't know the reason for it.

Speaker 5 (01:13:36):
Maybe maybe the training indoor training facilities with the machines
being able.

Speaker 2 (01:13:41):
To Slast made mention of that.

Speaker 1 (01:13:42):
He said, how you can simulate, He said, we can,
We could simulate Patrick Forbes there on Friday. He said
that we can computerizing and put in exactly what the
metrics is or what he.

Speaker 5 (01:13:52):
Throws, so which allows you to get set up on time,
allows you to you know, physically and be able to
get your mind set up on what the veto looks like,
the breakers look like. So you're getting a look at
what you're going to go face. And so maybe that's
what it was. It's got to be something, because I

(01:14:13):
thought it was unusual. Now what I didn't do and
I didn't have a chance to nerd out because about
this because we were all traveling home at three o'clock
in the morning was I didn't get up on Monday
and read all the total scores around the country, right,
But I do know that there was a game between
two teams and ended up thirty something to twenty three.

Speaker 1 (01:14:33):
Thirty six, twenty three, and it went seven innings because
it was a thirteen run margin thirty six in it
was the second highest combined scoring margin in college baseball history.
And there was another game I think Rhode Island was
involved in this where twenty runs were scored in the
second inning, which tied for the most runs scored in
one inning in Division one baseball.

Speaker 2 (01:14:55):
So I'm going to go I mean, look, it's an
easy ask.

Speaker 5 (01:14:58):
I guess at the end to have some kind of
data to Kendall Rodgers or maybe somebody could go x
amount of number runs were scored in twenty four, twenty three,
twenty four, and this is what was scored opening weekend
in twenty five. And if it's a huge difference between
those three years, and I don't you know.

Speaker 2 (01:15:15):
Somebody baseballs all over again. We started looking at that,
you know, something like that, and I.

Speaker 5 (01:15:20):
Don't know, but I was in and again I would
say it is for there to be four maybe what
was it for almost five consecutive run rule games.

Speaker 2 (01:15:29):
Yeah, with those names of the teams.

Speaker 5 (01:15:31):
That were in that you know showdown last weekend, I
would have never guessed. Somebody said, you know, you got
what are you taking the up? And uh, you know
over under on how many runs lets go? I would
have taken it under one hundred percent. Okay, your review
of Texas, well, I was impressing. I was impressed in
the Alumni game. Yeah, I remember you said that, I
look I look at things different and then maybe sometimes

(01:15:54):
I look at it to too much of a positive lens,
but I.

Speaker 2 (01:15:58):
Don't think so.

Speaker 5 (01:15:59):
This time was really impressed offensively they return and that's
and he's not an easy equation, but that's an apparent
equation that you can look at and depth and go,
we've got these guys with this many at bats. And
then to me, the difference started to become when you
watch Farmer and then you watch gas Marino, that is
a different hitter. Keith can tell you that nobody's no

(01:16:21):
swings any better than Keith Morrelon. But that swing is tighter, shorter,
direct and I think this past weekend I saw him
chase maybe just a couple of balls out of the
strike zone, which last year sometimes if you elevated and
hollered he would swing and been.

Speaker 2 (01:16:38):
Working with too low.

Speaker 5 (01:16:39):
Yeah, and I just I was impressed with that, but
I thought the path of his and the directness of
his swing was better. You can look at the physicality
when he runs around now his chest is out a
little bit more, with a little more you know, definitive
definition to it. And then I think the last piece
for me, offensively is the most obvious one of ball
and Robertguez, i'man to look, he's a beast so far.

Speaker 2 (01:17:03):
Now how this year plays out for.

Speaker 5 (01:17:06):
Him, none of us know if we had a crystal ball,
we'd all be millions and billionaires. But the reality is
when you watch him for the first few times, he
has an incredible ability, in my opinion, to get his
hands in a position to get the barrel flushed to
the baseball on a repeated event.

Speaker 2 (01:17:24):
Now, early in the year, early in the game.

Speaker 5 (01:17:27):
Breakers got sped up a little bit in the beginning
of the of the tournament on opening night with the
three punch outs. You couldn't have asked for. You couldn't
have asked for a tougher start. And this is the
second equation for me that it tells about that young man.

Speaker 2 (01:17:40):
Three punch outs and an air at third base.

Speaker 5 (01:17:42):
I don't know if they scored in there or not,
but he misplayed it or it didn't make you up.
And then he dribbles the ball to second base, and
so you're thinking, well, at least he make contact right,
and then he absolutely just landed all over the ball
to give his team a chance. Now, if people have
never been where you play your first college for a
program like this in front of your home crowd, wearing

(01:18:05):
orange and white, and you have the first four at
bats that you have in your first defensive play that
he had, and then you land on a ball and
hit a homer starts to tell me a lot about
that young man emotionally and what he did and then physically.

Speaker 2 (01:18:17):
Then the rest of the weekend was I'm here. You
guys better get ready for it. That's cool, Hey, I
appreciate you doing this.

Speaker 1 (01:18:24):
I know you got TV duties now to get to,
but we'll all have fun with this tonight.

Speaker 5 (01:18:28):
Right, Always enjoy coming on with you, guys, And Keith,
I'm going to be honest with you.

Speaker 2 (01:18:33):
I still watch stuff on reels every once in a while.

Speaker 5 (01:18:35):
It's it's a social media thing, and I'll watch it
a once in a while and I'll watch those guys
just run into people at second base.

Speaker 2 (01:18:40):
They don't even I mean run into them.

Speaker 5 (01:18:43):
And you had an advantage because most people, a lot
of people don't know, but you're an unbelievable football.

Speaker 2 (01:18:47):
Player, so you had an advantage. You already knew. You
already knew how to you already knew how to tackle
people safety right, you knew how to do it. So
all right, you guys have a great call, and I
appreciate you.

Speaker 1 (01:18:56):
Let me come on, all right, that is a ty Herrington,
who will be working on the telecast with David Salzman.
All right, we have more coming up when we continue
from UFCU Dish falk Field on thirteen under the Zone.
We continue from the UFCU Dish falk Field getting ready
for this matchup between Texas and Houston as the team's
gone through the batting practices and again five point fifteen

(01:19:17):
pregame start time and the first pitch is coming up
at five point thirty. All right, let's let's hear some
more from Longhorn's basketball coach Rode Terry.

Speaker 2 (01:19:25):
Like we said, they.

Speaker 1 (01:19:25):
Finally arrived at the midweek by did Texas finally able
to get there in which they haven't had during the year,
And obviously with the players banged up all season long,
you would expect it would that that would definitely come
in handy. So here's the comments from the head coach
about how his group, the coaches, the players, everybody who's

(01:19:48):
handling the midweek by.

Speaker 6 (01:19:50):
Yeah, Bron, I think the thing myself and our staff
tried to do this week was really continue to get
warn and Derby an opportunity to mend the guys that
we need the men to try to get them back.

Speaker 4 (01:20:01):
To the floor force a little bit.

Speaker 3 (01:20:03):
Uh.

Speaker 6 (01:20:03):
We've been thin here the last the last week and
a half of us or two weeks, just trying to
get guys healthy a little bit, trying to get demand
prior healthy.

Speaker 4 (01:20:12):
You know, he got out last year, last.

Speaker 6 (01:20:14):
Last ballgame, and it helped us a little bit, but
he didn't practice two days prior to that, you know,
and so he just literally went out and played for us,
which is hard to do.

Speaker 4 (01:20:24):
You know, you're still working on.

Speaker 6 (01:20:25):
Getting other guys mended him back to the floor.

Speaker 4 (01:20:28):
You know, we don't know we'll have kender Weaver.

Speaker 6 (01:20:31):
We're we're hoping we're getting closer to having him back
to the floor force. Got to get aught the back
in the great state uh of uh, you know, playing
the way he's capable of playing as well. I think
for us, I gave the guys two days off. We
went really hard, We had hard stretch, so we needed
to take two full days off to try to get mentally,

(01:20:52):
uh hit the reset button mentally and physically, uh, in
terms of just you know, getting getting our body some
rest a little bit. So we did that. Came back
today with the short crisp practice. Really wanted to work
on some things that we're gonna need down the stretch
with our team, whether that's a change up defense, whether
that's you know, working to gift zone, just things we

(01:21:14):
have to continue to get better with. And then as
we get into you know, middle to the latter part
of the week, we'll get back in regular game rotation
in terms of what we do. You know, Thursday of
Friday leading up to a Saturday ballgame.

Speaker 1 (01:21:28):
And of course Friday would be the departure day for
Texas headed over to Columbia, South Carolina to get ready
for this matchup with the game Cocks on Saturday. Now,
if you've noticed lately, the long Wards have gotten out
to some quick starts in games. Even the game the
lost Alabama Longhorns started off the game well quickly, did

(01:21:50):
so against Kentucky as well and in recent games, and
so he was asked, how is he happy with how
the team has started the games offensively before going dipping
down into the slumps during the first half when the
other team made its rot.

Speaker 6 (01:22:04):
Oh, we've gotten off to gray starts in some games
and then win some games. So it doesn't matter how
you start, it's how you finish the game and how
you play for forty minutes.

Speaker 4 (01:22:12):
You know, always tell our guys, you know, we.

Speaker 6 (01:22:14):
Loved, obviously love to get off to a great start,
but but whether we get off to a good start
or bass start, we got to work the game for
forty minutes.

Speaker 4 (01:22:21):
At a forty minute game. We've had some games we
played great basketball for thirty.

Speaker 6 (01:22:26):
Two minutes and then win the game. So it's not
how you start the game, it's how you finish the
game and how you work the game for forty minutes.
But I think I do think it's important how you
come out and set the tone.

Speaker 4 (01:22:37):
And for us, it's not on offense.

Speaker 6 (01:22:39):
I know you think, hey, I want to come out
and get off till Gray star on offense. No, we
got to get off till Gray star. Defensively, we got
to come out and guard, set the tone. Then we're
gonna play really hold on right end of the floor,
go figure out what we have to do to score.

Speaker 1 (01:22:52):
You heard Rodney Terry talking about trying to get guys healthy,
and you know, thinking about guys like Arthur Kaluma hadn't
been able.

Speaker 2 (01:23:00):
You know, had to go out during the Alabama game.

Speaker 1 (01:23:02):
Midway through the first half and didn't play the rest
of that game and didn't play at all against Kentucky
and that they would need Arthur uh and and some
of the other guys they've gotten banged up. Well, the
guy who's been out the longest has been Kenda Weaver
with that hip flexer situation. He's been able to start
working and been able to start practicing. And so Artie

(01:23:22):
was asked, is Kenda Weaver now able to be a
full participant on the practice floor.

Speaker 4 (01:23:28):
He is not.

Speaker 6 (01:23:29):
No, he hasn't not participated with with our team in
a full practice yet. He's done a lot of individual
things right now leading up to to UH to the
next couple of days and we'll kind of see see
where he's at at the at the at the end
of the week.

Speaker 1 (01:23:46):
Okay, so uh wea were unable to go uh, but
his progress has continued to get better.

Speaker 2 (01:23:54):
So as the follow up.

Speaker 1 (01:23:56):
Artie was asked, how about Kenda Weaver's ramp up process?

Speaker 2 (01:24:00):
What has that been like of late?

Speaker 6 (01:24:02):
Yeah, I mean, I think WARN's done an incredible job.
Dorby those guys done an incredible job of really trying
to put him in position.

Speaker 4 (01:24:10):
To be in position.

Speaker 6 (01:24:10):
Kenno plays, He's a unique player. He plays a different
way than than per se a lot of our different guys.
I mean, he's a fast he's a fast twitch guy.
He makes a lot of plays with his athletic ability
and his instincts. So he needs to have those flat,

(01:24:31):
those fast twitched motor muscles ready to perform at a
high level. So you know, he's gotten better. He's in
a better position right now. You know, we won't ever
put him out in a position where he can play
to his full capacity or that he he doesn't have
the comfort level to play the way he plays. You know,

(01:24:53):
he's one of those guys that he's an extra effort player,
uh and super at the.

Speaker 4 (01:25:01):
And is what makes him the player that he is.

Speaker 6 (01:25:04):
So we used to have Mighty Mouse back in the
day of Superman back in the day.

Speaker 4 (01:25:10):
That's the way he plays.

Speaker 6 (01:25:11):
He's one of those guys that plays with that kind
of motor and he makes those kind of extraordinary kind
of plays.

Speaker 1 (01:25:19):
All right, a couple more items from Rodney Terry before
we take another break here, And in terms of where
his team has grown and developed, one example this is
Jason Kent. Kent really has started to play more of
late in large measure because of the injuries to Arthur Kalumba,

(01:25:42):
but there was times when Jason Kent would see very
little action in games, and there is the frustration at
times of not being able to play. So Archie was
asked about how Jason Kent has dealt with the frustration
of missing time.

Speaker 6 (01:25:58):
I think Bob has been It's been very difficult for him.
Anytime you have a youngster that's really playing in this
last season in college basketball and to get off to
a pretty good start of the year and still trying
to you know, etche out of his identity on this team.

Speaker 4 (01:26:17):
I think it's really hard.

Speaker 6 (01:26:18):
I think he started out as a guy that we
talk could really stretch the four force. He had shown
some confidence doing that early in scrimmages where he made
you know it was three stretch the floor. It's always
been an elite cutter, you know. And then just getting
used to playing with the whole new team, new concepts,
new schemes of how he wanted to play with the

(01:26:39):
with the new team, and then now you gotta you
gotta sit for six weeks. That's tough, you know. It
was tough for him. It was tough for us because
he was an older player with the experience that that
that we missed having on the floor. So may he's
got to come back. We've already been playing. He's got
to try to edche out his identity again.

Speaker 4 (01:27:01):
Of who he really needs to be for us.

Speaker 6 (01:27:03):
It may not be the same that it was going
to particularly start the wait this season.

Speaker 4 (01:27:08):
Maybe we didn't need him.

Speaker 6 (01:27:09):
To stretch the full force now now we need him
to be more of a flow guy for us that
you know, continues to be a ball mover, whether it's
moving the basketball what we call get action, step up streams,
just keeping us a good flow cutting you know, you're open,
your feet are set, no problem with your threes at

(01:27:30):
that point.

Speaker 4 (01:27:31):
But it was it's been.

Speaker 6 (01:27:33):
Tough for him because he's had to get in now
and have a new identity and have a new role
for us and really trying to.

Speaker 4 (01:27:40):
Be a start in his role. I think he's getting
more comfortable with that.

Speaker 6 (01:27:43):
I think he showed a lot of confidence, you know,
a lot of a lot of improvement with that in
the Alabama game. Obviously people look at the scoring, but
I always look at other things that he does that
impacts winning, rebounding the basketball for us, giving a second
chance opportunity.

Speaker 4 (01:28:00):
Trying to give us.

Speaker 6 (01:28:01):
A guy that can defend these physical forwards in this
league has also been a challenge in something that we
need to do for us as well.

Speaker 1 (01:28:11):
All Right, there's some more comments there from Rodney Terry
there from the media availability. We wrap up today's edition
of the program here on AM thirteen under the Zone