Full Show: Oklahoma City Thunder Win NBA Title | Jay Hill Talking BYU Football | Steve Cleveland …
good morning DJ and PK it’s 975 the zone welcome in on a Monday morning byu golf tournament today little media scramble maybe a few interviews talk to a few people although not A-Rod we will not hear from A-Rod today for multiple reasons one of them hey you know there’s a lot of lot of questions about the quarterback position not sure you’re aware of that uh I think that’ll all be declared off limits much as it was when we talked to Colon at a golf tournament last week uh but A-Rod is uh one of his kids is um in a youth sports tournament out of town so no A-Rod today but we will have some BYU football stuff for you later in the day obviously the story of the morning is the NBA Finals game seven sometimes games meet the hype and this one absolutely did not i think it had a chance to i think it could have would have should have but it didn’t because Hallebertton got hurt in the middle of the first quarter i mean that’s it right there in a nutshell the Thunder were the favorite in the series the Thunder were the favorite in the game but man the Pacers been shocking people all the way through the postseason so why not one more time and to their credit they had the game tied early in the third quarter at 56 all i mean they battled they hung in there but when Halleurn went down I mean it’s just classic most Achilles injuries non-cont usually a player is trying to make some type of dynamic move you know in basketball they’re trying to push off and drive right and for the third time in this postseason first Damen Lillard you know so that’s one and then obviously you know the Celtics uh lose their star Tatum goes down and now Hallebertton goes down so that’s that’s three stars with Achilles injuries and you just have to wonder what is going on you know is it is it too many too many explosive movements um I I know everybody’s got a theory and it starts with they’re playing too many games at too young in age uh that there’s more cutting in the game now and more explosive you know it used to be when there’s a post up you know you largely had people standing around it’s like I mean sometimes there’d be a screen on the weak side a little bit of cutting but not the same there’s way more now and especially defensively so much is asked so whatever it is um you know there’s another injury and I don’t think it was going to change but this just reinforces there will be load management next year now I think there would have been anyway and I think you think there would have been anyway it’s not exactly breaking news but every time one of these injuries happens all the people in NBA front offices on the medical staff maybe even you know some of the coaches too are like see so we’re going to see more guys playing 60 games and that’s the way that’s going to be and it’s not going to change and the regular season more and more becomes uh qualified for the playoffs and then it’s glorified exhibition after that uh the the numbers on the homec court advantage the seating doesn’t matter as much because the number on homec court advantage have really changed and you read quotes from NBA people I read one from uh Steve Kerr actually over the weekend say it’s just a three-point shot you know this now you do tend to shoot the three-pointers especially role players tend to shoot it better at home than on the road uh but there are more outliers and those outliers you know sometimes you miss them at home and occasionally you do make them on the road so that becomes the definitive thing not uh you know not having the home court and you know the game it was so the low post it made it so much more physical and you’re more likely to get calls at home and have a free throw advantage and blah blah blah yada yada yada I did see griping on social media about me officiating last night it’s just like first off everyone just gripes all the time on social media people ever get tired of complaining and and the truth is I thought as you might expect with game seven the finals online I thought it was a real physical game and the refs at that point have to decide yeah we’re going to let stuff go because nobody wants to see a whistle every 15 or 20 seconds literally no one wants that right they’re just going to foul everybody out and nobody’s left in the third quarter dylan Jones becomes the guy wever State star um wins the title with Oklahoma City now he played 10 minutes in three games so it’s not like he plays a lot but he gets a ring he’s part of a champion it’s got to be fun worked all year it’s got to be exciting sitting there even though you sit on the bench most of the time um but you really want guys 12 13 14 out there playing because that’s what it would come down to if they called every foul and with Hallebertton already gone McConnell was out there tj was just out there fouling everybody that guy he was just handching whoever i mean he with the pick and roll you know he’s matched up with different guys he just hand check whoever you know when they took the hand check out of the game nobody took the hand check out of the game tj McConnell is literally handching everyone he’s really DNSG up yeah if you just keep shoving him every time he starts to drive it turns out he can’t drive but you know it’s a smart play by him i can sit here and complain about it all morning and don’t kid yourself i might uh but it doesn’t matter he knows it’s not going to be called it gives him advantage of course he’s going to do it it’s one game for the NBA championship man no holds barred no pun intended okay maybe pun intended but once Hallebertton went down there was no way the Pacers were going to do it now they ended up with too many turnovers uh you know but they just they didn’t have the horses they were under man from the start they would have had to had to really play a great game I think to win and once they lose Halleurn it wasn’t going to happen now the other NBA news it’s not official but it leaked and Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets and I would say that uh Houston did about as well as they could you know they gave up Jaylen Green who I’m not convinced they believe in they gave up Dylan Brooks honestly I think it’s addition by subtraction that guy is such a distraction man he does so many bizarre self-promoting things i mean he can make a more physical team and he is athletic and he is willing to fend i mean he’s got some positives there’s no doubt and there’s so many distractions i just don’t have the stomach for it they gave up the number 10 pick and they gave up five second round picks second round picks are getting swapped all the time give them up get them back nobody seems to care just We got to have something all right here have five second round picks fine so Kevin Durant to Houston now that can’t be official until the new NBA year starts in July i think it’s July 6th so officially the teams can’t comment and all that and everybody has sources it’s like an open secret uh but we’ll hear about it in July so Durant to Houston now Houston did have a problem their half court numbers uh were awful and Durant should help uh you know even as he moves into his late 30s here he’s still taller than everybody and he can still shoot over everybody so he will turn contested shots into good shots you know if you’re 67 it’s contested if you’re 6’11 you’re rising up over everybody yeah there’s somebody in front of you so what so Durant will give them something now having said that he went to Phoenix and they never got better and they did get worse you know they they they were in the finals and then they were a second round team and they got him and he only played a little bit i mean I think he played like eight games because he was hurt with the trade and so so he had very little impact fact they went out in the second round now the next year he’s healthy and they go out in the first round the next year he’s healthy and they don’t even go to the playoffs it’s going backwards there clearly it’s no wonder they made the move it’s why we all thought they were going to and we were all right here here’s the move to Houston uh so we’ll see we’ll see what kind of impact he can have on Houston you know does that make him a contender well they were second in the West it kind of makes you a contender right there um so I would say yes they are a contender i mean Oklahoma City is clearly the favorite and I think Denver and we’ll have to see what kind of moves are made here over the summer but preliminarily Denver is the second favorite team out of the West to go to the finals now there’s a group behind that let’s see what the Lakers do uh you know the Rockets uh you could put them in that group and then we’ll see other moves that are made this summer who else goes in that group uh but I think safely you can say that those two teams do i’m not convinced that the Clippers do i’m not convinced the Warriors do they will have Butler for a full season we’ll see if that makes a difference uh and we’ll see what moves people make over the summer all right DJ and PK let’s take a break right now when we come back let’s talk some college football scotty G joining me on Friday we’re going to uh give you part of that conversation and then also PK and I looking ahead to BYU media day dj and PK stay with us this is 975 the zone good morning dj and PK proudly presented by our title sponsor Black Desert Resort Utah’s premier golf resort scotty G joining me Friday morning talk a little college football i mean the calendar is changing i don’t blame coaches for shutting down spring games and shutting down access to spring football because if you’re not the biggest of the big dogs they’re coming for your players so why open up anything and let anybody know about anybody who’s getting better there’s no point there is literally no point you’re just going to lose the players who are improving and getting better because someone’s gonna come knocking and you know it’s Wisconsin suing Miami now for uh tampering and this tampering is rampant in college sports and the I think the reason a lot of people don’t complain about it is because even if someone’s doing it to you you’re doing it to somebody else you know and really everybody’s dirty right it doesn’t you know if you’re if you’re in the Big 10 or the SEC you’re going to the Big 12 and ACC and they’re going to the Group of Five and the Group of Five is going to FCS and FCCS schools are going to D2 everybody’s doing it whatever all right here’s Scotty G and I talking football on the zone scotty good morning good morning DJ how are you good where’s the energy where’s the adrenaline Scotty oh my bad i’m sorry yeah I got the uh I got the energy drink locked and loaded let’s go okay i’m curious right now if you know anything more about Utah State football than you did the last time I talked to you a little bit a little bit okay um I I did spend a little bit of time with Bronco we’re doing our top 60 and 60 watch list and so I uh I spent some time with them to get the audio and uh and uh yeah I I would say there’s a little bit more knowledge not a lot but uh a little bit more uh hopefully I can get a little bit more so that we can sound somewhat knowledgeable when the season kicks off uh to start the season but uh yeah there’s still some work to do for sure does spring football go away does it just follow spring games is it just turn into mini camps here and do coaches say nothing as long as there’s a a spring transfer portal uh I think so i think that’s the wave of what’s going on i I remember uh because you know there had been the rumblings the uh Nebraska coach Matt is it Matt Rule yeah uh he he’s the first one to say you know I don’t think I’m going to have a spring game and then it kind of went throughout the country a bit and Mark Harland was on our show and I asked Mark about it and I said “Are you guys having a spring or are you guys going to have a spring game?” He’s like “Yeah why why of course we will because you know they’ve got ticket sales and they they generate some revenue off of that and then all of a sudden after that spring game Kyle Whittingham talks about a wide receiver and then the next day or two days later the guy’s in the portal and he’s gone and you know you know Kyle Kyle’s not going to like that kyle’s Kyle’s is uh I don’t want to say paranoid but you you know how Kyle is and uh it wouldn’t surprise me if next year Kyle goes to uh Mark Carlin goes “Yeah we’re not doing a spring game.” Uh-uh no sir so as long as that spring portal window is going on I I fully believe that you’re going to see this being a trend that there’s going to be a lot of people that shut down their springs and say “No we’re not doing this.” Yeah i don’t know if I can call it paranoid anymore there’s been just being realistic honestly yeah i just think there were so many stories about so many players i mean every player situation is different so we’ll just throw that out there right some of the stuff is personal and you know it can be playing time uh you know certainly can be NIL money and everybody’s financial situation is different and and we know players you know have had six family members and transferred home we’ve heard all those story but it’s like when there’s this many players at this many schools this is like this is just how the industry works this is just how it is yeah and uh unfortunately that’s that’s kind of where we’re at right now i mean if there’s one thing you could fix about college athletics you got you got DJ who’s the commissioner of all things college athletics and I said DJ you can fix you only get to fix one thing what is it well I wouldn’t I don’t know how I do it but I think the transfer portal i I don’t know who the players are i don’t know that i mean they’re just coming it’s so anonymous i don’t like it you know and and PK is basically like well so what deal with it which he’s right he’s right because I don’t think anything is slowing down the I I think the only thing they do is a player sign two-year contracts yeah and there’d be some yelling about that i do think I might I think I think two-year contracts with a buyout at the end of one year so you know rooting for somebody who is firmly in the middle i mean San Diego State will definitely rip off schools for transfers and they definitely get ripped off they’re right in the middle of the food chain there’s clearly teams above them and there’s clearly teams below them but I think that I could live with that i think the buyouts would slow it down i think it’s in the kids’ best interest to at least put the two years in and see you know if it doesn’t go well when you first show up and you even if there’s a coaching change after a year who’s to say it won’t be better with the new coach is it automatically going to be worse with a new coach how will you know now having said that the youths have a new offensive coordinator and they’ve had a lot of players take off and having talked to a family member of one of those players that person is like “Oh yeah all the tight ends are gone.” And acknowledged as you pointed out right they lost a wide receiver too i mean it’s the nature of the sport they’re people going and the coaches are not upset that everybody left in some cases they want the scholarships back yeah and the kids the kids want playing time the coach wants the scholarship back and everybody’s happy so let’s not get in the way of that so you’d have to be careful when you redid that um but I did like going to games and or turning games on TV and youths the Cougars and the Aggies and knowing who the players were and knowing some of the stories and now you just turn it on like who’s that guy never heard of that guy and and for the rest of the teams in the conference it’s impossible you know we’ve gone from eight and 10 team leagues to 16 team leagues can’t even watch the rest of the conference anymore there’s not enough hours in the day to see all the games oh yeah so Bronco uh told me that his number is now at 87 87 new players at Utah State wow see I don’t know who they are i don’t know their story 87 you’re You’re the play-by-play guy and you don’t know not a darn clue i have no clue that’s the thing i mean I I mean it’s like that first part of Major League when everybody’s standing around like “Who are these guys?” Like yeah like that’s that’s that’s your new now 87’s a bit extreme but it’s not far off but here’s the other thing too that it works both ways because you talk about two-year contracts so here’s the thing utah State’s got 87 new players it wasn’t 87 players that decided they wanted to go in the transfer portal let’s not make any mistakes here let’s not There were a lot of players that were told to go into the transfer portal yep and so I I think it it’s got to work both ways that if you know if I could change things about college athletics I would make uh schools essentially be responsible if they miss in recruiting so if there’s a guy that they don’t like well guess what you’re stuck with him for two years you’re stuck with him for two years or three years whatever you want to say so So players can’t move but coaches can’t just go in with a blowtorrch and say “Nope you’re out you’re out you’re out you’re out.” And uh we’re going to start all over again well bad news we’re not in charge so none of this matters anyway i know i can dream it’s true story true story uh Texas State they’re going to join they’re going to join seems like a foregone conclusion uh they It looks like it’s just a matter of time i believe I’ve heard that a media deal is coming uh it seems like they’ve been talking about two weeks for the last you know two months but I believe that’s going to be locked down here uh probably I would say sometime next week and then uh and then Texas State won’t be too far behind in terms of the new member i know they’re still working on uh Memphis a little bit as maybe a football only memphis wants to get into the Big East with all of its other sports uh and and still has hopes of a Big 12 invite coming down the pipeline too so there there’s a lot of other little uh cosmetic things that could come down but I don’t know what San Marcos is like but apparently I need to get that on my travel itinerary here pretty soon i just know it’s halfway between Austin and San Antonio which are both nice cities to go to but now you’re going to be halfway in between so I don’t know i don’t know if you’re in the BBS i don’t know it just sounds like a big old meopolis and everything’s going to grow together um let’s go to the NBA draft uh VJ Edgecomb he’s going to be off the board for all the Big 12 fans at Utah and BYU who think VJ Edgecom is the guy guess what so does the NBA good scouting um Cougar fans you’re spot on you picked a winner and unfortunately everybody else noticed that as well uh the Ace Bailey thing I think is really fascinating i don’t know what to think and and you know we talked to a beat reporter from uh from Ruters and I asked him I’m like “So uh why why was Ruters bad at basketball when you have two potential you know at one point top three picks now maybe top five top six picks?” And he’s like “Well you know they didn’t have a lot of talent around those guys.” I don’t you look college athletics if you’ve got two top five I mean you were the guy that said all along and I remember you saying this forever you know guys that make a run teams that make a run in the NCAA tournament have two NBA guys um and all right well not only did Ruters have two NBA guys they had two top five top six NBA guys and they couldn’t break 500 and they didn’t sniff anything in the postseason so you know shouldn’t two highlevel NBA talent be able to re to lift their team up to at least sub five or above 500 you’d think right and so I don’t think that’s too much to ask for and and maybe NBA you know outside of Dylan Harper maybe NBA scouts are starting to figure out that you know maybe Ace Bailey is not as good as we thought and maybe he’s got a little bit of a maturity issue maybe he’s getting some bad representation who knows but cancelling another thing and and I think that’s a really if he’s on the board at five and you’re the Jazz do you take another guy that’s 18 and a high you know that that’s got a high ceiling but again probably two or three years from even being close to being ready NBA ready i I don’t know how Jazz fans are ready for that pk came in about a month ago and said “I don’t think the Jazz are going to draft Ace Bailey.” I said “Well he’s going third.” And PK’s like “He might not go third number one forget the stuff about them trading up for him and number two forget about him if he does fall forget that the Jazz aren’t going to do it it’ll be somebody else you know it’s really narrowed down there’s a group of six guys and Bailey’s in it so that leaves a group of five and if Edcom’s off the board that leaves a group of four do you have a favorite among the other four are are you conipple guy i I am i knew you would be i knew it i don’t know if you’re right or wrong i just knew you would be uh I just Okay so so here’s here’s my um here’s here’s my case for Conanipple uh first first of all um I think that he’s got a skill set that translates to the NBA which you have to be great at in the NBA you have to have shooters right and uh Khan Canipple I think has the capability of being thought of as one of if not the best shooter in the NBA four or five years from now uh Ben Anderson to give him credit ben was the first one to mention that and then I talked to a couple other scouts they’re like “Yes Colon Canipple has a chance to be a um you know nobody ever thought Ray Allen was the best player in the NBA but there was a stretch where everybody knew Ray Allen was the best shooter in the NBA.” And I I’ve heard that name come up with Conanipple like that’s a guy that you can look at and say “Okay he’s the best shooter in the league.” Um and uh and if you have a guy that you can get that you know look at at five you’re probably not going to find a franchise altering player I mean that as soon as Dallas got Cooper flag that went out the window so why not find somebody who’s the best at uh a certain skill set that you can build not a team around but hopefully someday find that guy and then he can be a piece that builds around that guy i hear you yeah there’s a certain amount of logic there and if that’s the guy they end up with u see there’s no locks right no that seems as good an idea as about anything now Malowich that’s an that’s intriguing um that would be really bold because that that’s not a fan of that that screams you’re gonna move Kesler but does somebody want to overpay for Kesler yeah especially somebody in the East just ship them over there yeah just don’t send the Lakers don’t Don’t pull a uh I mean let’s not be mini Dallas and send Kesler to the Lakers enough people in the league have helped the Lakers over the years so what did you think when you heard $10 billion for the Lakers uh sounds about right and if anything I think this is a bad day for the NBA because um and you know the landscape of Southern California better than than I do but my understanding was that the Lakers and the Bus family were always cash poor like obviously they were sitting on a franchise that was worth you know billions and billions but but in terms of their daily operating liquid cash exactly they they weren’t much i mean a lot of these NBA owners have tons of money in other ventures that they can tap into uh the Lakers the Bus family had the Lakers and that was it and uh and so there wasn’t a lot of availability to get crazy with resources and now you bring in this guy who is obviously incredibly wealthy and yeah I I think the Lakers are going to be heavy spenders in terms of not just salary but support and what else they can do with their team and I think uh I think it it’s a good day if you’re a Lakers fan it’s a bad day for everybody else the good news in all these comparisons about the Lakers and Dodgers winning the good news is the Dodgers are winning in a play where they got no salary cap right and they’ve done all this deferred money and they’ve just spent money like crazy but to your point the Lakers salary negotiations with the scouts and the assistant coaches and maybe in a couple situations the head coaches and the front office take it or leave it or the Lakers you know you know Bob you don’t want it all right John you going to you you know and that’s well known around the NBA that’s I wouldn’t even call it an open secret is just well known that probably changes so now do they start getting better people and do they start building out you know you have to talk to people who know about these scouting staffs but I think the picture I got pretty quickly is they don’t have enough people in enough places watching enough players in enough leagues yeah well if they don’t that changes yep right and if they’re on the low end of development coaches or on the low end of training that all that changes all that changes ASAP i already heard makeover for the arena i didn’t know the arena needed a makeover i thought it was state-of-the-art but it is older so maybe it does i mean they’ve been playing in it 20 years now 20 plus probably that’s crazy to think of though i know i know i know well and it was so busy they never had time to do a makeover but now the Clippers are out of it maybe they have a few dates but between the concerts and the Grammys and two NBA teams and NHL team yeah that arena was packed and now it’s one NBA team so different deal well I mean I just coming from a Broncos fan uh a lot of what the Broncos are able to do now and why they’re decent is because they finally sold the team and the Walmart family you’re right there look there’s a hard salary cap in the NFL but uh some of the things that they’re able to do and eat salary on bad coaches and and you know Russell Wilson’s dead money and some of the things that they’re able to be a little bit more flexible with uh has made that team extremely better in fact they’re talking about building a new stadium and it’s like wait a minute they built you know the new one just not that long ago well guess what that was 20 years ago too and uh yeah they’re going to build a brand new stadium here pretty soon there’s Scott Gerard when we come back byu media day pk and I looking ahead cougar football next stay with us good morning DJ and BK it’s 975 the zone welcome in on a Monday morning byu golf today pk you ready yeah oh yeah for sure it’s one of my favorite days i I love the way they do this it’s a great idea they used to do when they’re independent they’d have their own media day and that was cool the way they would do it uh because you want to get it done in June because the the the program essentially shuts down coaches get to go away that’s their last big time away before the grind starts and uh so I don’t think that I think the Big 12 didn’t want them to have the media day because they had they had it on campus with the BYU TV and all that stuff and I don’t think they’re essentially allowed to do it so they circumvent it by having this golf tournament thing where they invite everybody and then they have prizes and stuff and then they do a little lunch in and I think last year Yak and I took uh second or third or something like that second place got a Mink Couture blanket uh both of us it was it was great i’m not a bomber i’m older now and I never was a bomber even when I was younger yak Yak meanwhile can launch it he can he can he can get it up there 300 but and so we had the perfect combo we were this uh that version stocked in him alone so he’d hammer at 300 yards he’d put it in the middle of the green and then you guys either make the putt or not yeah yeah yeah so we relied on that we had two other people but I don’t think they contributed i don’t even remember who they were uh but Yak with the bomb and go ahead just hack away he can even hack away and guys who can hit it long if they know there’s no pressure they can even hit it longer uh and so he would hit these prodigious drives and whatnot get us close you ever hit one 350 Yak oh yeah yeah like he’s just nodding no I’ve seen him i’ve se I know he can do it i’m I’m well aware of that 400 and 400’s getting a little up there yeah downhill maybe some gale force winds yeah right uh so yeah we do that and then what they do is they always have what’s it Cedar Hills is that what it’s called uh and they have a nice patio that looks out and you can see the lake and all like I remember Keenan Slo was two Phoenix guys and when he was here and he’s going “Man look at this we couldn’t do this in Phoenix you know that it’s too hot in the summer.” Yeah yeah look at the lake it’s beautiful it’s awesome because we don’t have many lakes over there in Phoenix uh a couple on the outskirts of each side of the town for boating purposes uh reservoirs and um they allow you to interview anybody who want who is there not everybody on the team is there but they send a fair amount of players the coaches are there and they’re all available uh for interviews and it’s a great idea so how many questions are there for today and how many of them will get ignored because there’s one question well I think if you speak to Jake Gretz left they have to continue to tow the line we uh we can’t basically can’t speak to it and that’s fine but I think the bigger question now is Jake Rretz’s situation will be resolved with the legal process and if the honor code gets involved and all that is I think you have to answer you have to as me as a media guy and I’ve already done this off to the side i have to ask questions presuming the young man’s not going to be available so you’ve got three or four quarterbacks that are in the mix what do you think of Hillstead what do you think of Boray what’s their strengths what how is the uh uh training camp practices going to be altered in the manner that you need to get these other guys ready because even if Rhettzlaf was there he takes one hit turns an ankle he could be out for six weeks or what have you you still have to have other guys ready so these are all legitimate questions that need to be answered and it’s not exclusive that quarterback I rzav is a decent quarterback assume he’s going to get better sure but you’re going to need a football team to win football games and so all those other questions are still valid so I think they can have the day but we know how it works with football quarterback quarterback quarterback and quarterback even though no quarterback’s any good without an O line but okay so the O line receivers you know you’ve you’re missing uh Lacer uh what have you and you had uh you had Mary in transfer uh so you know what do you got there you picked up some other guys who’s ready what’s his face roberts is back and he was a great uh fourth and eight to get you fourth and nine can he be a more of a big play guy who’s gonna be robbing to his Batman though i mean I really thought he and Lasser alternated games weeks depending on I think opposing defensive coordinators had to pick their poison and they couldn’t stop everything and you could decide I’m going to stop this guy I’m going to stop that guy and I think based on that we saw each one of those guys make big plays at different times in different games because the defense is focused on the other guy now they’re one-on-one they got one guy to beat and they did sure and I can recall a couple years back Aaron Rodick says “We got some guys in the program that are really going to be good.” Well now it’s their time to really be good and how are they going to do the Cody Hagen kid uh was a sprinter and obviously in football he’s really good so you got that going on is he ready to make a move jojo Phillips uh you got Carson Ryan’s been around the block now for two different programs at tight end can you utilize them uh the tight end group a little bit more have a feature tight end uh all those types of things so there’s plenty of questions that can be answered you know and when they they created this a few years back and I think when they set the date for this because they know they don’t want to coincide with the draft because they got to get off of that so that’s why they have it on that Monday um today and then the WrestleF news breaks so now they’re going to have to adjust because I believe they had the date set and then the news on this not good news so now they got to regroup and they’ll have a game plan on how to attack this because they know it’s going to be available and you’re catching no one off guard here well and there’s a whole sequence of these right i mean you got the Big 12 media day coming up after that you’re not going to catch anybody off guard there right that’s in two weeks we’ll all be down there broadcasting all day both days yeah they’re going to and then then you’ll have a new crop of people right and you won’t just have the local folk you’ll have everybody down there and you know what the question’s going to be yeah maybe they’ll have more information at that time and they got a high-profile transfer bachmeire is I don’t follow recruiting that much but they tell me that coaches have told me he could have gone anywhere he wanted to go well that’s powerful that doesn’t mean he’ll be good but it’s powerful and he’s got the luscious hair how’s that gonna play out you know what I mean are we just abandoning all grooming stat standards now i mean is Colani growing a ponytail [Laughter] i really don’t see that well when does it end now A-Rod with a ponytail maybe i don’t think he’s got to do A-Rod would grow the full beard okay that would be more his thing that’ be more his thing that’s what he had at Utah mountain man yeah so that have we just abandoned my gosh this stuff I had never thought I had seen in Provo Utah no stop with what are we seeing i want Colani with a ponytail and an earring earrings abound i mean everybody in basketball has earrings now what is this i am Am I going to see Richie Saunders supporting a an earring hey Lel Edwards and Roger Reed aren’t walking through that door it’s a different time well say goodbye to the 20th century rules i’m not sure I really like it to tell you the truth i think you love it i don’t care about it it makes no difference to me you didn’t care until you realized it was a good topic for the radio then you cared a lot well I think it’s a topic in that standards have been changed relaxed ignored what words do you want to choose but that’s what you got there but this isn’t about that that stuff this is about the football program and going forward here as the coaches get a little break and then before we know it the first day of camp will be here obviously I think what you said the most interesting thing a little boring not as not as sexy not as headlineish but really important is you talking about that line about they got guys in the program how long does it take to get those guys ready and do they just become ready as the other starter ages out or do you get them to you know borrow from another program are you stacking guys on the depth chart because that’s really what it takes to succeed in college football you know this isn’t about getting the sophomore ready to play next year because the senior in front of him is going to be gone it’s getting the sophomore ready so when the senior gets hurt the injuries are going to pile up it is a sport of attrition number one to have a big season you probably need to get a little lucky and have fewer injuries but then number two you got to be prepared for the injuries you have and the next guy’s got to be able to step in and and play and make plays at a high level that’s the essence of a program not a team there’s 16 teams now you don’t get to back into a league title where well that program had a down year and that program had an injury and there were really only three of us who could win the league so we were in a pretty good spot at that point you know we just had to and now somebody’s gonna get it together yeah oh for sure sam Lev missed one game and the Devils lost right and it’s what you said about they missed two games they’re probably not in a title game it’s what you said about a week ago when you were talking about um ASU was excited to go to the Big 12 because they didn’t see the big dog you know USC had been standing in the way with all that tradition and all that money man if they want to go hire Oklahoma’s coach and buy him a $17 million home on the PV peninsula they just do it they don’t bat an eye they did that they don’t they don’t have to drop another sport or pair back expenses or they just throw some more money on top of the pile of money and they just keep going and so when you’re ASU and you’re looking at that and Oregon spends money the same way I get why they go into the Big 12 and be relieved and yet at the same time that doesn’t mean last year was hyper competitive but it doesn’t mean every year will be and it doesn’t mean someone can’t establish himself but you have to have that kind of depth to establish yourself no question but I think that’s what you you strive for that’s the point of recruiting uh that’s the point of development that’s where your coaches come in and get players ready to go to be prepared and you know at certain positions uh they can do that for BYU but I think BYU’s recruiting base has expanded to where now it seems like they can do that at uh just about every position and before it wasn’t before you know defensive backs a lot of them were junior college guys and that was the road you had to go down to get those guys of players and bring them in for a couple years they’re a little more mature they can handle it if they’re not of the faith and they know the benefits outweigh the stuff that you they don’t want you to do and so they could survive that way well I think in recent years we’ve seen that they’ve been able to establish that with the high school freshman uh to be able to come in and then they augmented it with Jay Hills Weber transfers and they’ve been able to plug and play type of thing but yeah you you know you’re going to have injuries there was one year that I think they got decimated at linebacker and they were scrambling for linebacker help because it seemed like guys were going down like crazy and they couldn’t stay healthy there that stuff happens and that’s up to the program to be able to have that to withstain all that or yeah is that sustain it maybe is the with or sustain you just came up with I knew that wasn’t a word but it sounded good and I thought do I should I go back and correct it or I just just roll with it can they withstain yeah because that Yeah that sounds maybe like legal for I thought I had a chance to roll it and just roll with it but no I’m such a stickler for words i’m going to go back and make the correction and so you’ve had that and uh I think that I think we’ve seen that on the offensive line here of late because they’ve had a couple of guys that got hurt and uh who’s the one I his his name isn’t uh Matthews bruce what’s his last name the offensive lineman for the Cougars uh Bruce Mitchell i always say Matthews because of that Matthews family yeah I know why did you do that as soon as you said that I couldn’t remember i I went to Clay immediately after that and it’s generational too i know it is yeah the brothers go back and so I always want to call him Bruce Matthews but his name is Bruce Mitchell and he got in there last year because uh what’s his face who’s the other guy whose brother that have little slew of linemen there uh yeah uh what’s his name yak tell me again yeah pay absolutely so he got hurt right he got hurt and missed a few more games than we thought uh and with that in mind uh they were able to have guys step up there and I think we’ve seen that and obviously those trenches are super important and on the defensive side you got to have the rotation and Utah has been so good about that is having a number of guys that they can put in so they’re not the same guys doing the banging all the time and they’ve got that all figured out as how many guys and obviously Tunavasa is going to be one of those guys in the middle and he’s going to he’s going to have an important impact upon the season so you’ve got to have all those guys available and this is a great sport that really doesn’t allow for excuses how long until Jay Hill gets asked about the pass rush the pass but I think they got so much better jock just starts laughing they got so much better that may be the answer but how long will it take for the question to come i bet they got they made massive improvement from last year to this year and will they make more massive improvement well I would settle for what they did last year but I think when you get a kid like Tonavas and they’re talking about he’s one of the top two or three people in the entire game and his position well duh okay now put someone out at end when he’s in and Batty’s gone yeah uh I understand that uh but you know they’ve got that going on there and you’ve you’ve got play i I I I think that that they should be okay and and uh a little birdie told me to watch out for Jackson Kirkland yes I think Jay Hill is really good and he’s been really good at multiple places there’s two ways to prove how good you are uh the length of time you’ve been doing it or you’ve done it at different places and Jay I have the utmost confidence in him it’s why people offered him head coaching jobs last year at least one that I know of for sure and he said no and I I think I have been saying this we had when you were gone we had Mitch Harper our BYU insider on kslports.com and I said you know Mitch if I can choose a job one job that I would take in the world right now it would be Isaiah Glazer’s agent i I think this kid is a big time stud they’ve had multiple good linebackers come through and doesn’t he look like them doesn’t he make plays like them i might argue he’s better but I’m not going to go there because I got Warner doing his thing i got longevity which is the word I was looking for before with Vanoi and those are two guys but there’s been a You can go back further but I don’t want to go back i want to stay right now in the moment i want you to go back no I go back all right well you can go with those two those are the two more re most recent guys and then and if he’s better is better in the pros than them better in college than them vanoi has a chance vanoi had one of the most if not the most amazing amazing game ever but that I but he was awesome forever and then that was like an exclamation point of the end of his awesome career no doubt about it and so yes I think Glasker has that impact but to tell you how good he is it’s like we’re regulating my guy Jack Kelly jack Kelly on his own you mean you mean relegating what did I say regulating i let with go no I am regulating him into a normality you mean relegating no okay i’m regulating him into a standard player he’s not he’s really good too and yeah and they’re all better playing next to each other can’t double team everybody start to help on this guy because Kelly’s coming free it’s just going to make life easier for Glasgar and I think we saw significant improvement from year one of Jay Hill to year two i’d agree with that and so now I would buy that we’ll see will we see the same level improvement if we see the same it gets hard improvement it’s more about being really good in big moments if they have the same incremental improvement they’ll be a top two or three defense in the league and then I don’t want to say I don’t care who’s quarterbacking cuz you do because we’ve all seen the le defenses without an offense can leave you frustrated in a big game well it could be like uh uh the uh SMU game you got to go get a field goal your defense was awesome but your offense wasn’t all that good but you got to go get a field goal right now to win the game and they did well you’re talking about three coaches at BYU who all used to be on Kyle Whittingham staff at Utah and I know you can think of a bunch of Utah games where the defense was great and the offense just couldn’t quite get it done right so and that’s when you need it yeah for sure and I and I think that’s why I think BYU I’ll never understand this they got no run for an atlarge bid last year made no sense to me and everybody was running their mouth about ASMU well they beat SMU in their home field smu and Indiana were getting a lot of love and then BYU sitting over here with the road win at SMU and a much more impressive resume than Indiana who beat a bunch of nobodyies and then lost to two really good teams i would say SMU also didn’t really even play that many members of the you know BB plus crowd you know they didn’t play a lot of games against teams ranked 20 to 40 and BYU had two one score losses you’re out why because they had two and they’re in the Big 12 but they they weren’t I’m just talking about being in the discussion i get it but Indiana benefited from the league the whole Big 10 SEC and I think the SEC could have benefited it if they weren’t throwing three lost teams what about SMU they didn’t benefit from being in the Big 12 or Big 10 or SEC no they did not i said Mon if that happens again I’m done with it you leave the market no oh I’m done with the sport i’ll never follow it again you’re lying because it won’t happen djpk775 the zone when we come back what is trending all the headlines are next it’s time to get your morning started with the news you need to know news of This is what’s trending with DJ and PK #nba [Music] falls down he looks hurt there comes SGA the other way inside and Williams throws it down hallebertton’s hurt right away when he fell of course that strained calf he’s in pain so emotional it’s the right calf right away he knew he was in trouble oh you get in a situation like this you’re just sick to your stomach for the young man thunder fans feel this moment the uncommon young team proves to be unstoppable it’s over at Pon Center final in game seven the Thunder 103 the Pacers 91 a dream realized the storybook season is complete the final chapter reads the Oklahoma City Thunder of the 2025 NBA champions i’m not talking about his injury i’m not giving you I have no idea i haven’t heard anything about a diagnosis or anything just I mean just you know at at halftime did he say anything to the team and and the way you guys kept he was in he was in the locker room and um he was very much a part of a group that believed that they could do this it doesn’t feel real um so many hours so many moments so many emotions so many nights of disbelief so many nights of belief hell yeah it’s crazy to know that we’re all here but uh this group worked for it this group put in the hours and we deserve this jake Gilis Alexander who is the NBA Finals MVP and is now an NBA champion 1039 when Tyrese Hallebertton hit the floor did you know it was over PK watching him limp off how are the Pacers possibly going to do this now and the answer is they’re not well I I picked the Thunder to win every game so I keep going back to that uh so yeah I mean he got injured it sucks for him but uh I was hoping for a little drama but it felt like it was going to be dramaree when he left okay again it sucks for him but at the same time it sucks for Cleveland and they beat Cleveland and Cleveland had a bunch of injuries what are you going to do i mean the games go on life goes on and then the score is still kept and sucks for him can’t keep I can say that as many times as you want but I believe that Oklahoma City was the better team and they were going to win and they did and they’ve got their first title now and they got a young group can they get a second or a third title money will start pulling it apart eventually but they got a lot of draft picks to replenish whoever they lose to money so we’ll see how long the Thunder can maintain this the other big news of the day the Phoenix Suns reach a deal to send Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Jaylen Green Dylan Brooks the 10th pick in this week’s NBA draft and five future second round draft picks houston was one of the two or three teams mentioned all along now they got their guy you view them as number two in the West still view Denver well they were number two in the West last year so do I view them differently or do I view them as number two in the West well I guess it depends in the regular season yes they were number two but they didn’t make it to the conference final so were they the second best team i guess we can go round to that but as you rank them for next season do you see them as the second best team yeah see I mean other teams get a chance to make moves so it’s fine but I don’t think they’re better than Oklahoma City all right you could be number two but how close does that get you to number one yeah i think they had to make the move we’ll see next spring how much better it makes them at that time are they a better team in the half court on paper uh but I still think it’s Oklahoma City’s uh conference to win but make that move and Phoenix obviously was going to make it there was no sense in having Durant on that team being of that age he didn’t do anything for him it was a complete and total bust the trade they gave away all those assets it grades out as an F there’s no other way at least they got something back for an aging star who’s still very good but you know he’s he’s in in a way he’s like LeBron he’s LeBron’s a little higher as far as his career accomplishments uh and it’s still very good but not good enough his team isn’t good enough and that’s the way I would view Houston 36 going on 37 so the future is now for the Houston Rockets i I was a little surprised they didn’t get more draft picks if for no other reason than everybody who gets dealt seems to bring multiple draft picks but Houston knew the market and Durant made clear he didn’t want to go to Minnesota and Miami and San Antonio didn’t seem to pony up so Houston read it right yeah I don’t know that everybody gets the Mavericks didn’t I wouldn’t take Donsich over Durant so I mean they didn’t so I don’t know that everybody gets it yeah they took a lot of heat for not getting it but you’re right they didn’t dj and PK #NFL probably a Green Bay i mean they suck but it was uh after the game after we won at Lambo uh one and0 at Lambo right now we So so obviously you try and do the Lambo leap and we actually try to jump in the in the crowd where our fans were um and they just I mean they start throwing everything at you they push you off and and the Lambo leap it’s a it’s a it’s a real leap it’s not a it’s not a little baby jump you actually have to high jump basically um and then you know they’re they’re pushing you mushing your face i mean they’re Yeah that was probably that and then I had one today i was actually uh in a car and I got uh I got ran down for six blocks in the car yeah that was fun that’s Bears quarterback Caleb Williams took some heat earlier cuz they’re looking you know is there any way not to be drafted by the Bears and that whole story about would he go to the UFFL but hey play it up to the fans make fun of Packer fans bear fans can rally around that good for him i thought that other thing was a non-story i’m sure there’s plenty of players that want to get drafted by a particular team that don’t want to get drafted by their team and somehow that became a story didn’t really make any sense to me play ball jacksonville Jaguars give Travis Hunter his rookie deal four years 46.65 million and he gets 30.5 million in a signing bonus paid upfront yeah good for him man wow that’s a lot of cash set for life right out of the gate $30 million check lose half to taxes and there you go can $15 million set you for life I wouldn’t have any idea uh at 4% a year you ought to be investing that making 600 grand a year for the rest of your life pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro declined to get into specifics on the potential for the state to provide funding for any new sports arenas or stadiums particularly when it comes to the Eagles and the Steelers the stadiums in Philly and Pittsburgh are now uh over 20 years old going on 25 the Eagles are uh angling either for an upgrade or a new stadium or something and their lease is up like in 2032 so let the games begin got me know how that works man i don’t get into that nfl legend Tom Brady won the inaugural Fanatics Games in the associated $1 million prize brady finished to top the 100 person leaderboard with 399 points they competed in football basketball golf hockey soccer etc said he’d give every uh one of the 50 fans who competed five grand and he’s donating the rest to charity i have no idea what this is about i had I had not heard about that till this was all done and he was giving away the money sounds like the old superstars thing some kind of sports decathlon oh I hadn’t heard about anything until you just said it yeah try your hand at all these uh different sports and I’m not going to worry about it dj and PK # college football [Music] according to a report leaders in college football are considering moving the opening week of college football up a week to what is currently called week zero in an effort to balance the wear and tear on athletes balance the wear and tear on athletes that sounds like uh something that sounds better than make more money off television when people want to watch football and there’s no no NFL regular season games on networks have plenty of time give us some more games so I guess we’ll build in another byee into the schedule so there is that well fine do it i mean the kids are getting paid now so go to work the networks will give them more money they’re looking for more revenue and Yeah the idea that it’s about student athletes and the academics and all that’s long gone it’s about cash the ship has sailed it’s already It’s always been about cash now it’s just out in front it’s over the horizon it’s out of view ship is long since sailed play play three weeks ahead of time for I don’t care the University of Wisconsin filed a lawsuit Friday claiming the Miami Hurricanes football program broke the law by tampering with a Badger football player labeled student athlete a believed to be freshman defensive back Xavier Lucas who left Wisconsin and rolled at Miami in January after saying the Badger staff refused to enter his name in the transfer portal in December so what what do they hope to accomplish here i don’t know maybe they get money i don’t know sling some mud in public i don’t know they’re not going to get the kid back right well what what prevents them from this an NCA law is not a federal law there can be laws that are broken that are both but is this a federal law is this a state law the collateral uh I would assume state law but I don’t know i think the collateral to all of this is are they going to accidentally prove here that these guys are employees because they’re trying to twist themselves into a pretzel saying they’re not employees we’re merely paying student athletes a lot which makes it sound like they’re employees but I thought they’re employees for a long time now so what happens when coaches leave they are the other team other stake in a stool they’re they are employees they have contracts with buyouts in them so that’s been negotiated these guys aren’t employees and don’t have contracts with buyouts in them but they do have a contract and they’re getting money which sure makes them sound like they’re employees employees that’s a big deal to you DJ and PK [Music] # Major League Baseball line drive right field deep off the bat of Parker Meadows watch that one fly gone oh man and the Tigers have blown it open here in the ninth with five in an 8-1 lead two and two the count the stretch by Ferrari kicks fires and Max swings drills one deep left center field this ball heading back to the wall this ball is gone it’s a grand slam maxwell swinging the silver hammer flips the score and the Dodgers now lead it four to three that’s the first grand slam hit by a Dodger this season pitch on the way to Cal swinging a drive deep into right center field and Crow Armstrong going back looking up and goodbye baseball he keeps doing it cal Raleigh with another home run number 31 on the season every day a home run and more records are falling like flies cal Raleigh leading the major leagues with 31 homers he hit four in the threeame series with the Cubs the Mariners take two out of three they beat the Cubs 14 to6 Sunday 31 he’s put a little distance between himself and Aaron Judge now and show Otani judge is on 27 otani is on 26 okay the Mariners getting it done homers too i don’t know i mean leading baseball in homers seems cool he’s the best cow since Ripken show Otani’s rehab continues one more inning of work struck out two batters threw 18 pitches and then later on uh tripled homer drove up five runs dodgers beat the Nationals 13 to7 kyle Schwarber going deep for the Phillies he’s got 24 home runs on the year now edmundo Sosa also homering for the Phillies as they beat the Mets 7 to one now on your ranking of favorite National League teams we’ve been through this so many times my gosh the Mets are four right wherever you want to put them that’s where they are i wonder if the Phillies were three and you’re happy the way that worked out i’m happy to be alive man it’s in baseball my It’s a fun sport i mean I don’t have any passion toward before the Mets phillies move a game in front in the division race for now their game up on the Mets salt Lake Bees and the Sacramento Rivercats wrap up their series the Bees win 11 to one hit five home runs in that game now that’s halfway through the season and they’re headed on to Rena now dj and PK hashtaggolf [Music] keegan Bradley down three shots with four holes to play birdy’s 18 and wins poor Tommy Fleetwood no wins on the PGA Tour bogei 16 Bogeied 18 the lead fell apart and Bradley walks away the winner heartbreak down the stretch fleetwood now with 41 top 10 finishes but no wins he’s never won one day not on the PJ tour he’s won internationally he’s won on the European tour but he has not won on on the PGA Tour so he was sitting there just rubbing his forehead in frustration as it slipped away probably missed four putts in the last uh nine or 10 holes by a total of two and a half inches left one short rolled him by on the left rolled him by on the right and his wife is 23 years older than him yes how about that and he is how old is he 34 I think 34 so what would she be well that would make her 57 [Music] miy Lee wins the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship for her third career major title she was leaking a little oil oil missing putts early but had a couple birdies coming home on 13 and 14 and that pretty much wrapped it up she wins by three shots what is trending is brought to you by Shamrock Plumbing there’s no job too big or too small get the personal touch with Shamrock Plumbing coming up Steve Cleveland’s going to join us at 8 o’clock we’ll talk NBA Finals and NBA draft Wednesday night with him the question of the day is next stay with us ladies and gentlemen may I present This is JJ and Alex watching an unlikely champion like the Florida Panthers they sucked forever one of the most irrelevant pro sports franchises of the last two decades until 2022 they’re the eight seed and they end up running making a run to the Stanley Cup final ever since then they’ve dominated this league it takes time the Panthers had to be patient they got the right guy to lead it it all came together for them so now we’re dreaming of a Stanley Cup here because we have an NHL team you watch the Florida Panthers do it the Stanley Cup going places that no one ever thought it would be why not here why not in Utah you’re thinking about okay what could the Utah Mammoth do to make this happen and now it’s a reality like this is something the Mammoth can go do and I think that Ryan Smith is going to be highly motivated to provide the resources to do it and I think you got a general manager who could build a Stanley Cup championship team the parts are in place here to be able to do something like this catch JJ and Alex afternoons from 3 to 6 presented by G2G bars on 975 the KSL Sports Zone don’t miss your chance to win big every week on the zone this week on Win Ticket Wednesday you can win tickets to the summer unity tour featuring Collective Soul and live with special guest Our Lady Peace july 13th at the Utah First Credit Union Amphitheater get tickets now liveation.com and listen to the zone all day Wednesday for your chance to win oklahoma City wins the NBA championship is a dynasty on the horizon i think it could be yeah it’s set up for him i think they would be the heavy favorite next year even more of a favorite next year than they were this year because of Jason Tatum situation over there with the Celtics seems to take them out of the mix doesn’t it yeah pacers out of the mix with Hallebertton bucks out of the mix depending whatever moves they make with uh Dame Lillard dallas out of the mix with Kyrie Irving out we got four stars i don’t know to what degree any of those teams would be in the mix but it seems without those guys they’re not it’s not like they’d be favorites in front of the Thunder to be sure so that puts them as a more of a favorite whatever the favorites were the odds were going into this season who knows i’m not going to look them up that’s your job i’m doing it i’m on it pk he’s looking up golf scores yock in the break are we surprised can’t help himself oh man you know I barely work but I throw crap out there i work even less because then he goes to the computer i’m here for you we have our own Elias Sports Bureau the Knicks and Cavs right now are the second best favorites with uh Houston fourth you feel like any of those teams are on the verge of taking the Thunderd no no no i already said I think that whoever they were favored last year would be a bigger favorite next year because I can argue the team will be better simply by maturity organic growth as the Jazz tried to say for years and years which didn’t happen but uh so now we’ve got these guys organically it’s going to happen organically this reminded me of uh some places I would spend in New Jersey they they had a lot of stuff that was growing organically every time I hear that word I I think of a time when I was a youngster exposed to some of the things that I was exposed to but they will grow organically and be even better i mean Homegrren is not even close what is he like maybe 50% of what he’ll be they’d like to hope yeah i’d like to hope there’s a ton of upside with him i think there is i think 15 years from now we’ll look back and say “Oh he’s the second best player.” He’s not right now but I think he will be end up having the second best career yeah yeah i mean he’s got a lot of skill can do a lot of different things and obviously management knows what the heck it’s doing so maybe they have some other moves that they can make that’ll make the team even better i mean this Caruso kid wow you take a kid who’s got decent ability got decent size and plug him into a team setting where okay Alex we need you to do this this and this and he’s of the level of maturity uh in his pro career that he can understand exactly what DNA is telling him and then he goes out there and he does exactly what they want uh you know he’s not a leader by any stretch in terms of talent but what he gives you and Dort is the same thing okay Lou here’s what we need we we need you to be Dylan Brooks Dennis Rodman without all the nonsense right and go ahead and he does and then you look at Dort’s shooting percentage from three go ahead look it up it just has gotten substantially better from the time he comes in as a free agent and obviously here’s what we need you to do defensively you’ve got the you know I first heard about him by the guy who’s standing right in front of us Scott Gerard utah State is playing in Vegas against uh ASU in some tournament i’m not really a big ASU basketball guy he he’s texting me either before or during the game or something maybe halftime or whatever and he’s telling me this Lou Dort kid is one heck of a player i mean I literally had not even heard of him until Scotty’s down in Vegas covering some tournament i assume it was i had no idea he would know and he’s telling me this guy you got to watch out for this guy this dude is a problem literally that’s the first time I heard about it because they’re playing in November probably maybe early December i don’t know watching a football game yeah we haven’t we haven’t transitioned certainly to outofstate college basketball barely instate now this year i’m already stacking days that’s all I’m saying uh we’ll get to that point of basketball when it hits this will be the greatest thing ever kind of feels like we’re there a little bit yeah well yeah what’s he he’s playing he’s not I think he’s going to win the gold this year and I don’t even know what the hell he’s playing and that’s speaking of Debonsa so they get him and they tell him you can do this he’s got a nice you he was rugged kid even back then oh yeah and then he works on his shot this is this is an amazing development here my goodness if this was the Lakers or New York or Chicago we’re going to be going nuts ratings would be through the roof blah blah blah but from what Oklahoma City has been able to do I couldn’t be more excited for them and to know it it’s I always say “Hey if you put your nose to the grindstone cliche you can do it i did it man i came from a janitor stock i paid for every cent i know it’s harder for some people but if you keep working at it I believe you can have success.” And the Oklahoma City Thunder are an example of that and I think that’s to be celebrated resoundingly so the only problem because you were right Scotty that Lud Dort is Lord loot Dort was He saw that you remember that oh yeah i remember it very well and I was surprised that you were like I I really don’t know anything about this guy cuz I thought you were all things Arizona State and so I was like pro guy but he’s from Canada and he was a freshman oh yeah true freshman and he single-handedly took over that game football season it was football season thank you uh yeah that’s always a problem when I start reading about college basketball like I don’t have time for this like college basketball doesn’t start till February what’s going on pretty much yeah yeah yeah yeah so I literally did not know and he’s telling me about him at that point and then I I still remember this is what six seven years ago now whatever it is and to think you spotted it cuz you were there courtside and you saw it and then nobody in the NBA nobody nobody Yeah for two rounds nobody else saw it and Scott Gerard saw it see and he’s a football guy see I I feel I feel like this is more backhanded compliments here but And Scott saw it oh yeah a little bit no it’s not but you would think that one out of 30 would take pick to PK’s point like pick 52 exactly pick 59 let’s give this guy a shot right but right and and all your points are well taken about his work his attitude you know how he fits into a team doesn’t have the big ego doesn’t demand all the shots right wants to win i mean he’s just checking one box after another however it seems like the only thing that can pull the Thunder apart is the contracts he signed 18 million next year no not next year everybody’s back next year and they got a team option for the year after that now yeah but I mean this guy he he went to the Harvard of the desert so he’s got intelligence he was only there for you know a few months but don’t mess with a good thing yeah i mean if as long as you’re on that campus that that intelligence is going to rub off on you a little bit through osmosis again I’m the classic example you think I did well no but I did well enough that’s the story of my life he did well enough he did well enough that’s That’s put on the tombstone good enough yeah i remember to get into broadcasting classes you had to type 40 words per minute 40 words per minute man right on the 41 i got 42 not 39 they said 40 if they had said 43 I would have given them 40 you set the standard i gave it to you what more do you want that’s jersey right there i got in the freaking class and I was able to take the curriculum and get the degree if they would have upped it I would have upped it but I had other things to do well it’s Arizona State exactly exactly premet on Friday night oh yeah sure games to be played bases were loaded not the only thing loaded let the metaphors flow so the point I’m making is Dort don’t go around chasing money a few extra million you already got plenty and this is a great setup for you you know gosh we saw that for years with Jerry Sloan and the guys that he put in great setups and then they go around chasing and then they end up being nobody and when they were here they were somebody could have been somebody the grass isn’t always greener man you may get more money uh but and we saw with all those Bulls guys right after they broke up the bull they they scattered hardly any of them did anything relative to what they were able to do in Chicago now they had to go because the thing broke up so that’s another story right and Ron Harper won but to your point Scotty Pippen was on a bunch of good teams and kept coming up short what did KCO ever do tony Tony you know what here’s the you know the fun part is Steve all right not being a a program director anymore like you say that and I’m like I immediately wse i’m like I could be a meeting i’m like no no I’m not going to be in a meeting no it’s Lloyd lloyd gets to deal with that why is there any wincation [Laughter] well the wincability is fairly high yes so you got a good thing man don’t mess it up don’t no absolutely not no and I think they should be the prohibitive favorite going into next season if you want to make money on the Thunder you better bet a lot of money because the return one of those deals where you got to bet 100 bucks to win 20 yeah exactly so that if you have the big money then you can make it but the the Joe better you ain’t going to make any money on these guys even Even SGA can get better is he 26 years old scotty what does plus 220 mean next to the Thunder do you have to bet 220 to win a 100 is that what that means yep okay i mean or so I’ve heard i just winced or do you bet 100 and you win 220 i know no no no no no no no if that’s it send me a link right now yeah really well because the Knicks are plus 650 and the Thunder are plus 220 so you win more yes you as it decreases yeah that’s that’s what it would be yeah the plus minus thing always confuses me just give me a point spread already will you yeah yeah yeah i’m with you on that um by the way Hallebertton year and a half two years how long do you think he takes well he essentially gets a year and a half to the start of next season or the season after so I mean I think he’s lost i think with an Achilles you’re lost a year and and they’re getting faster bringing these guys back seems like even Achilles seems to be the one you don’t come back from though i mean the same they come back the same you do you used to not come back now you come back you don’t tend to be as explosive well he hasn’t been diagnosed yet but Durant had the torn Achilles yeah durant’s the one guy you can look at and say like “Okay maybe you can come back.” Depends on age it’s like it’s football if you’re 35 I was talking to a guy went to BYU and he just said “I did not want to go through that rehab i’d or he” He said this is a absolute fact he said “I already qualified for the pension and I’ve done it before i didn’t want to do it again.” But if he was at the beginning he hasn’t qualified for the pension yeah and maybe hasn’t done it before right yeah and so he said “Nah that I’m good.” And he walked away from the game so he got to rehab to be able he can live his life do his stuff uh but he didn’t want to go through the rigorous rehab and really just the what is what is required to be a professional at that level in any sport whether you’re rehabbing or not yeah the off season’s got its own intensity yeah yeah you’ve got you’ve got to keep up and he he said he qualified for the pension so he moved along he goal was achieved and Hallebertton is still he’s what 24 years old it’s amazing when you think about how young he is he’s just barely getting started so he’ll be back he’ll be fine they had a great run and who knows if they would have won that game pro i would bet not and it’s unfortunate he got hurt but I mean they took advantage of Cleveland’s injuries to get out of that realm that they played them so Cleveland’s the favorite in the East don Mitchell to the NBA finals with Boston having Tatum’s injury and Hallebertton’s injury in Indiana orlando maybe they’re coming and the Knicks need a head coach yeah that’s Cleveland’s Cleveland’s conference right now oh even more pressure you guys look at what you guys see what you guys doing your Mitchell hatred is showing through if he doesn’t if he doesn’t if he doesn’t win the East it’s a massive disappointment what a up i’m so glad we got rid of him not me led to a lot of losing they haven’t even played a game yet just relax a little bit here man let’s see what the off season brings and if there’s who makes moves shakeups yeah but the point being that outside of OKC which may be like saying outside of the Chicago Bulls in the 90s it’s wide open and and maybe that ends up well it doesn’t matter uh or outside of the Lakers and Celtics in the 80s you you may have a chance and you got to take advantage of it like the window opened for Houston and they took advantage of it let’s do it Detroit it could be you maybe it could the window could open yeah team well it might make Hey it might make draft night a little more interesting when people are realizing okay we got some might be some opportunities here to make a move and I and I think draft night is always highly interesting and for the Jazz this year it’s never been more interesting never been more interesting draft night this is the most important draft that franchise history since they drafted the statues and nobody really knew to that level and they were but but they were pretty good at that time right they were on the come this team isn’t pretty good right now it sucks right and and what are they going to do to be able to make it better and it starts Wednesday night i mean I I am I am fired up for this draft way more than I’ve been it’s gonna be some fireworks yeah austin Aging can come here to just uh to relax this is his big shot man he’s got He has no resume his father his resume is already laminated austin is making it there’s something to be said for double A now has this chance there’s a lot to be said for that speaking of guy who has an unbelievable resume yeah sit the freak down all right Scotty G’s handing over the headset we were going to go to break but commercials are for later jay Hill defensive coordinator for BYU joins us you go with the white instead of the blue i like it but that’s risky if you have to eat right there Jay you’re right i do like the white but uh hopefully I don’t get anything on it there you go you you have the offseason smile right now you’re not uh you’re not feeling any of the tension any of the pressure we’ll see on your face when we interview you in a couple of months yeah we uh we are heading into a good stage of our careers right now when when summer hits when July hits uh things mellow out a little bit so we can put our smile on you know there’s so many high expectations now which is a good thing you know you this is your third year two years ago I remember talking to you we’re down here at Cedar Hills the BYU golf day uh was why we’re here talking to you on the patio and you’re talking about so much newness you know and then you get the thing going well now in just a short span of time of a couple years there isn’t newness for you you know everybody on the team defensively I’m speaking obviously and so how much better is the program from your perspective from where it was the first year in the Big 12 last year and then this year because expectations for you guys are sky-high well I think we’re we’re way better um just the expectations we have for the players and what they have for us i think they’re working better which is a good thing um I think we’ve built our depth to be much more Big 12 ready um so there’s a lot of aspects of the program that I think are getting better expectations are a good thing um I’ve been you guys know when I first got to Wever State there was no expectations and that was miserable right and then we had super high expectations and uh I promise you no one puts higher expectations on us than we do ourselves so uh that’s a good thing there are Cougar fans who always have something to worry about uh one way or another but when we were talking to Colia last week I was really struck by he acknowledged that there’s multiple issues out there some of them you can talk about some of them you can’t but he seemed uh kind of just like he was hovering above it all and I started thinking in his decade and you’ve known him a long time obviously going back to your time together at the U but now in this decade he had to change the offensive coaching staff after a losing season he had to change the defensive coaching staff he had to come back from another losing season he had to deal with COVID and a schedule that was just made up on the fly he had to deal with a transition to the Big 12 he had to trans deal with a transition to NIL so it’s like that’s five major things in 10 years off the top of my head at some point you just like “Oh throw whatever at me i mean what does it matter this is like when’s the next game?” Well I think he’s a very veteran head coach now and he’s seen a lot of crazy issues he’s seen a lot of things that occur in college football and the reality is in college football there’s always going to be something and I promise you it’s not over there’s things in the future that are going to occur uh people talk about realignment they talk about so many other things there’s going to be more stuff that occurs and we just got to be ready for it and we will handle it and I think BYU is in a phenomenal place to handle the different things that that come at you defensively when I look at your group uh you’re too deep so many of the guys have experience and they’re not going to be new so you’re not really relying on a whole lot of new players and even new players like Tonavasa he’s not new to the game he’s new to you but that doesn’t really matter he’s a plug-andplay guy and you got another couple of guys but just speak you spoke to it a little bit of the the depth basically and you you every team loses guys like you lost uh what’s his face tagard but you got a Sarah coming in there who’s in the program who has the potential to be really good so it seems like it’s not a lot of holes and the holes that you do have you’re filling them with experience yeah I I love the transfers we took and I love the guys coming back um there’s always a position group or two that we feel like need to step up and show us what they’re all about come fall camp um the corners right now are I would say the most inexperienced group on the defensive side but they’re one of the most talented groups on the defensive side so um there’s always going to be things that you’re working on and trying to build depth and all that but I do like the roster a lot i think we’re way bigger inside than we were last year uh the linebacking core is as good as there is in the country with with Salia Sera um Jack Kelly Isaiah Glasker i mean I don’t know that anybody has a better linebacking core and coach Anna has done such a good job with those guys so anyway I’m excited to see how this defense comes together and how they gel that’s such a critical part of good defense and that’s what we had last year is we had the sum of the 11 was pretty special i had a uh a friend of mine yesterday and I had I I’ve only recently become aware that this person who I knew as a football fan and a ticket holder that they are actually very connected to multiple people and they were trying to kind of play grandparent to everyone they knew right and so they tried to connect a high school recruit to a college coach and as I’m being told the story I’m starting to wse like these guys kind of have it wired i don’t know if you And so they do and the reaction from the college coach was “Oh I know who you’re talking about you tell him he’s a good player and we know he’s a good player but he’s not 6’3 and we’re not taking him.” And it was like and and she thought it was kind of coldblooded and to the point and I mean this woman’s a huge fan but she said “Are they really that into the into the and and then her husband says measurables?” And I’m like “How definitive are you when you’re recruiting a kid to say that kid can really play?” But you just talked about the size you’ve got if if they don’t hit the measurables it’s like let me hook you up with the people I know at Weber State or wherever yeah measurables are a critical part of recruiting it’s not everything um but you can’t coach size you can’t coach speed very well um most of the time you’re trying to recruit that stuff the the rule of thumb that we usually have is the smaller they are for their position group the more dynamic and faster and more explosive they have to be so football players come in all shapes and sizes we totally understand that but if they’re small they better be really fast and super explosive you speak of the secondary and you believe that the talent’s there they need to get a little more experience uh we know you lost a kid like Baddy up front so where I’m going with this is what you think is your biggest concern well I don’t have like major concerns right now i like I say the experience that’s going to occur in the secondary is going to be huge there’s some very very talented guys there like Evan Johnson played a bunch for us last year but he wasn’t considered a full-time starter he will be now mory Bomba’s played a lot for us but they they’ve had you know Jacob Robinson with They had Eddie Heckards those guys that were with them before Mark Collins and and now it’s their show and and I’m excited to watch those guys take it over jonathan Cabay is going to be a great player uh Trey Alexander is going to be a great play player those guys are super talented um but right now in the college world they’re a little inexperienced and that’s okay uh I prefer still to recruit high school freshmen develop them to where we want them in our program and do a good job of trying to keep them here um those guys are going to be special in this program and I really feel that um the safety group is very similar fatal Satawala is going to be a great player tommy Prass is going to be a great player raider Demoney going to be a great player but those guys have not necessarily been full-time starters yet and I’m excited to watch how that those that group in the secondary develops have you started prepping for the Big 12 and have you got an idea who has the most dynamic offenses and and of course who has the most dynamic players to make those offenses so good well you always start with quarterbacks and I know Arizona State is very talented uh Baylor is going to have a good offense this year uh a lot of people are talking about Texas Tech now we did not play them last year so I don’t know exactly where they’re at i mean you watch them on film um and they look very good so we dabble in this time with the the entire Big 12 but we really hone in on our first three opponents less than a year ago you sort of had your life flashed before your eyes uh and you know I had understood that some options were available but one of the reasons that you wanted to stay close is uh health-wise and so forth so basically how do you feel in terms of your health going into this season well I appreciate you asking i feel great um the weird thing about the heart attack last year was I felt great right up until I didn’t um and I think that that’s kind of the frustrating thing is it was something kind of under the covers unforeseen that that hit me and um I I still I don’t know if embarrassed is the word but still it’s it’s one of those things that I’m just not quite sure what happened yeah and uh I thought I was in good shape and I thought I was doing things mostly right you know eating and the way I the way I’ve carried my life um but obviously there was something there so we’re trying to be as smart as we can be but I feel really good right now i can’t wait for the season and uh I feel as prepared physically and mentally as I’ve ever been for a season so your your wife and my wife had the exact same type of cancer and fortunately here they are they’re both still living did she just say “Oh come on that was nothing.” Yeah pretty much she said “I I’ve been through way harder but you can be tougher like you can handle this better suck it up.” But at the same time she put the brakes on when you started doing stuff hey tough guy you just had a heart attack could you be smarter you You know what was special and I know a lot of people saw it but her being up in the box with me for those five or six games after that was actually a special time in my career because she could just kind of reach over grab me by the leg and say “Hey chill out a little bit we’re good we’re in a good spot.” And there was a calming effect up in the box that she had and um you know we owe our wives so much but her especially I owe her so much and uh last year she was a really critical part of that deal what was your record when she was in the box she was undefeated so that would lead a lot of people who are superstitious to say “Hey Jay.” I know i got to the point where I’m like “Babe in the in those two games we lost I’m like “Uh you’re coming back in the box with me.” Uh but it was about that time I was feeling good she’s like “All right I’m going back down in the I’m going back down in the stands it’s way more fun down there the box is really kind of boring cuz it’s quiet and you don’t you don’t get the atmosphere like you do down in the stands.” Yeah we see that in the press box all right Jay you got to go golf we’re getting the the wrap it up we could keep you here for another hour or so but uh good to see you you guys are always so great appreciate it all right Jay Hill BYU defensive coordinator joining us right here on the zone we are at BYU’s uh what is this media golf tournament yeah yeah yeah and about that what’s this third fourth year maybe third year because it coincided with them going in the conference yes because they couldn’t do the independent media day but they wanted to do something yeah so they came up with this right all right DJ and PK we’re late to break now so let’s take a break it’s 975 the zone yo let’s get this party started this is Hance Olsson and Scotty Jean this story is crazy it’s about becoming an ultimate Aggie which apparently is getting up on that bull naked what bull is it is it the one that’s by the Esta Center isn’t that bull like bucking i’m just wondering how five nude men could fit on that it’s a big bowl five nude men could fit on that five smaller men yeah probably could make that work there you go that’s the size of the thing right there okay it’s not bucking you could probably fit upwards of 10 naked men on that so in order for you to be the ultimate Aggie you have to be naked yes i did not know that this was a thing see I would think if you were going to be an ultimate Aggie that it needs to be solo cuz these five were not solo and that’s where a lot of guys up at Utah State like “Hey maybe dial that down a little bit easy one Ultimate Egg at a time catch Hansen Scotty weekdays from noon to 3 on 975 the KSL Sports Zone so so DJ and PK the band of the day today Jason Morazz as he celebrates his birthday hey brought to you by Live Nation for all the live concerts and events in 2025 check out livenation.com how old is Jason oh I need to double check this hang on come on yock you put him in there well I was told we were off last week on one of ours i’m just double checking to make sure I get this right 48 yeah there you go 48 yep he’s 48 today he’s from Virginia i didn’t know that well there you go all right tj and PK got a question up on our Facebook page the story broke yesterday the Utah Grizzlies going to social media to explain that they are for sale and they may relocate how much do you care that the Grizzlies are for sale and may be moving out of town doug definitely not a surprise how many cities that have the NHL also have minor leagues uh I get your point Doug but I do think that times are changing and I think we’re seeing that in Major League Baseball which has you know the most similar setup right with the the way the minor leagues work uh basketball’s starting to get it but doesn’t have the whole system and the multiple tiers although they have the G- League the NFL doesn’t have it they have college football so being in the same city can be an issue but it can be a bonus also we’ve seen you know players rehabbing players getting scouted it’s more convenient for the front office if it’s uh you know 30 to 60 minutes away instead of a two-hour playing flight away and I think the other thing is the pricing is different you know it is so expensive to go to an NHL game or a major league baseball game and the minor league tickets tend to be priced differently now you know that’s changing too and man you get get Salt Lake Bees fans started you know on the on the price bump going into the new stadium so but but it’s still different it’s a fraction todd says “As a season ticket holder late 90s and early 2000s the hockey was much better in the IHL AHL days.” Oh we get AHL hockey back at the Maverick Center cheaper than mammoth hockey and still good quality yeah the Grizzlies are playing in the ECHL which is essentially double A the AHL is essentially AAA so I get why Todd would complain about the level of hockey you know you got younger guys less experienced guys and it can be as good david hockey in bounce ball out oh David making a transition from hoops to hockey all right well still got the NHL and with David Elmore passing away in 2023 his wife’s in failing health and the next generation doesn’t want to run the minor league sports empire apparently or they aren’t as all into it so it looks like the Grizzlies will be sold and that could well lead to relocation we’ll have more on this coming up more on the NBA Finals coming up oklahoma City the champs lining up for a repeat the path seems open we’ll get to that coming up steve Cleveland’s going to join us in the 8:00 hour stay with us djpk it’s 975 the zone dj and PK it’s 975 the zone we’re brought to you in part by Teton Wealth ethan Miller with Teton Wealth will be live in studio with hands and Scotty G wednesday with the retirement plan tune in or visit retireton.com we’re live at Cedar Hills Golf Club byu’s football media golf extravaganza for lack of a better term has just gotten underway kehani with a brief message on the microphone i heard Keani thanking people and it was so short I thought Kehani wants to go golf he’s not interested in talking he’s like “Nobody here wants to listen to me we all want to golf all right I’ll say something and then let’s go tee it up.” So they’ve taken off now and uh there’s uh radio and TV people i’m sure uh the newspapers and multiple websites are represented here so PK’s out with the radio team jake Scott’s out with the radio team jake will be coming in to do the show at 10 i will be going out to replace him scotty G’s coming in at noon and there’s some discussion on whether Lloyd is actually going to go back and produce the show or stay in golf all day he told me last week he was going to be uh leaving at 11 and I mean we all like Lloyd and trust him but nobody really believes him so we’ll see how that plays out but in the meantime Steve Cleveland once again has been good enough to sit in here for a little while and talk some hoops when you’d probably rather be golfing too i’m gonna be golfing not a kid 10 o’clock nice i didn’t know Lloyd played no wonder I never find him yeah yeah yeah lloyd does play and And Lloyd is like a lot of guys he he play he played uh baseball in in high school right and and you pick up golf because you can’t play these other sports you can’t get people together right and you got to protect your Achilles and so he picks up golf so now he’s got kids and he’s got work and he’s got a family i’m like “You getting your kids into golf?” And he’s like “Of course.” Partly to be a good dad and partly because there’s no other way to get on the golf course unless you tell your wife you’re taking your kids it’s a lot easier to get out of the house if you’re taking the kids with you absolutely she gets the break and she knows you’re bonding with the kids and uh then she looks at you with a golf like I know what you’re doing but I’m going to let it slide that’s that’s how that works i’m I’m so glad at my age that I don’t have to kind of sneak out and play golf anymore nice so I did enough of that where uh we had a lot of things going on but I remember a couple things that my uh grandmother said to me and it’s funny because I grew up they were in town and all my grandparents lived a long time so I got to spend a lot of time with them i was I was really fortunate my kids weren’t nearly as fortunate my mom uh you know my kids have no memory of my mom because she passed away so young um but I got to hang out with all my grandparents a lot but I remember a couple things that my dad’s mom said to me and one of them after my dad had rafted the Grand Canyon with both his dad and his father-in-law and the three of them didn’t hang out together a lot this was very even though they were in town they didn’t hang out together a lot and they came back three different personalities and they all had a great time and I’ve subsequently done it and if you think you might want to do it you should absolutely do it i went for the rapids i went for the E ticket ride but the side hikes down there the history of the canyon our guides knew it was fascinating it was an awesome week but anyways they come back and my grand apparently her friends apparently generationally this is a little weird her friends are like “How could you let him go?” And how could you and I’m like “I’m 12 what do I What do I A what do I know and B what do I care?” Right and she’s scooping ice cream she looks at me she goes “I love your grandfather dearly but I do not need him underfoot every time I turn around.” And I’m like “Wow that meant something.” No years later I know what it meant but at the time I didn’t get it they were in a two-bedroom condo so it’s like go for a week get out of here some of my greatest memories were living in central California and going up to the American River and uh you know nearly killing myself several times because you get up there when they have four or five type uh situations where the the waves are really difficult there in the river and you got all the rocks and I remember a few times getting kind of putting my making the mistake of putting my knee in the boat and uh hitting rocks painful painful but uh yeah I love the river rafting and it was really good in the upper American River up there in towards Sacramento mhm a lot of people here may have done the Snake River apparently it’s awesome i haven’t done it but I I haven’t either but it I probably went up there seven or eight times with friends and that we always got a really we had done it and we thought we knew everything and and there you know there are some really difficult rapids there that are at the five and six level that you shouldn’t even be on the river for and uh so I can remember being told you know stay do not put your knees in in the boat don’t kneel down you know keep your feet sit up and and I we were going through rapids and I was going up and down and all of a sudden I just got put my knee down and we must have hit some huge boulder my knee was like 12 in wide it’s swollen now the good news was I was in really cold water and and so like icing it it was like icing it but uh I had great memories going down the river and and with my with my dad my friends and uh I’m too old for that now but but my but it’s interesting my kids and my grandkids in California the they continue to do that and keep that tradition and uh but those were good memories for me as well good times good memories in Oklahoma City they have their NBA championship and I don’t want to rain in their parade and I’m sure it was fun for them but I’m selfish and I’m about me so let’s just get right to that when Hallebertton went down and I mean I picked Oklahoma City to win and I thought they were going to win and I thought they were going to win game seven even though the recent history of home teams in game seven is not great the last four or five years a lot of road teams have won i always thought the Thunder were going to do it when Haliban went down I was disappointed i mean obviously you feel bad because an injury is terrible and all that but it’s also like I couldn’t buy any of the drama after that oklahoma City sits hits a shot and leads by one at halftime it’s tied to 56 and a third i’m like but it’s just a matter of time and sure enough and that’s what it ended up being just a matter of time yeah I was that was hard to see and hard to watch because you want you want to watch a championship where everybody’s got everybody healthy and all things are there they’re right in front of you and to have that happen and and I think like you said I mean the game was competitive and close and I I think the it was a situation where Indie the guys really bonded and got together and competed and kept that thing good for about three quarters and then it was just too much and uh and too late but it it you just hate to see those types of things happen i mean as a coach I had to deal with some injuries at times with some key players and uh it just takes air out of the balloon i mean it’s really devastating and even though you’re given a great effort you know in the back of your mind you don’t have as much talent this is impossible that we’re not going to be able to pull this off so I I fell for those guys and and uh but Indiana you got to give them credit too for just competing and being there in the moment and doing everything they could but OKC had you know they not only did they have an advantage where they didn’t have a lot of injuries but they’re a really talented team and uh I I sat there and you know you start looking at Homegrren Williams you know it’s it’s it’s one of those uh SGA that you know all of them in mid20s the Indie was never going to win this game and just never and one of one of the things too is Turner going for six points and Nezmouth three Hallebertton’s injured uh what it was fun to watch was to watch McConnell and oh my god he kept him in it for a while he did i don’t know if it was eight or 10 straight points that he scored but you know you you really get excited about it watching a guy that’s given and is that passionate and then he’s making baskets too you know and eventually it caught up with him but at the end of the day uh OKC’s the champion they’ve been had the best record in the league and uh you know they’ll have an opportunity to defend it but an opportunity has there been a better opportunity there are so many injuries in the league right now you know you think the Celtics could push him except Tatum’s not going to play next year and we’ll have to see this summer if they have to shed some salary because of the second apron and luxury tax and that so Boston’s got to deal with that uh Milwaukee where’s they don’t have a Lillard maybe they’ll move Yiannis this summer uh you look at Dallas I mean I don’t think so but definitely with Kyrie Irving down and trying to break in a rookie with Flag so no um I’m leaving oh well Indiana doesn’t have Hallebertton now the Knicks don’t have a head coach who knows what they’re doing right i mean chemistry is important and the coach is part of that that they took him out seems crazy to me but the Knicks have been crazy for 25 years anyway so you know never change New York never change you know what you’re absolutely right so who’s the next best team denver i mean they need a bench clue maybe Denver’s the best threat maybe Denver maybe Golden State with Butler there for a full year and maybe they add somebody maybe a young guy comes out of nowhere i I like I we’ve kind of ignored Denver this year they just kind of went away and and but you know previous to this time I mean Denver’s been dominant but their stats with the Joker on the floor and the Joker off the floor are so you can’t buy it serious so I’ve I’ve talked all the way around it so now I’m going to ask you what do you think of Houston now that they have Durant are they the second best team in the league and the biggest threat to Oklahoma City i think maybe so i think maybe I think Durant is going to be so excited to be where he’s at to get a new start and I think we’re going to see a great year by him if he can stay healthy okay but I don’t know if I don’t know if anybody’s going to beat OKC you you made you made a point of that just a few moments ago when if everybody’s healthy this is OKC is the team that comes back and defends his title and probably wins another title this is seven teams in seven years to win the title which is the longest streak in NBA history the previous was six in six years you go to the late 70s and from the Celtics they won in 74 they went in 76 and starting with 76 we had a lot of different champs portland and Seattle and Washington and the Lakers and then it came back around with Bird and the Celtics again it feels like it’s about time for somebody to go back to back and it seems like it sets up perfectly i’m curious what you think of the Durant trade because I think the best case scenario that you can paint for Houston okay is that they get a fully motivated Durant although I don’t know that I’ve seen that in a long time right i just and I’m I mean I was a KD guy from the start i found him amazing when he was in Oklahoma City he was mustsee TV and PK will tell you they’re gonna win a championship said some fool on the radio and they didn’t because they broke it up for money and I didn’t see that coming and I should have but I didn’t but I mean it just I I just keep waiting and it keeps not working and he seems aloof and above it all and it’s kind of weird with him on social media and the rabbit ears it just doesn’t seem like a championship mentality i I don’t know but let’s say they get the best KD and maybe Jaylen Green was overdrafted and overhyped and is a high volume low efficiency scorer and maybe he needs to be jettisoned the way Mont Ellis needed to be jettisoned at Golden State for the Warriors to become who they became right and Dylan Brooks well this is a tough cell here with Utah BYU fans he’s a nut job he’s a distraction he’s crazy sure he plays hard on defense but come on this guy’s a walking distraction they had to give up a 10th pick because you got to give up something but they didn’t give up unprotected Suns pick in 27 or some of the other unprotected picks they have out there that look really good a five second round picks sure have them whatever if that makes you feel bad you never see those so there there is an argument i get why a Rockets fan is waking up this morning thinking this is going to be awesome we couldn’t have gotten a better player for less now I could probably talk you into the other side of that argument that Durant isn’t going to be great and they are going to miss Dylan on defense and they’re giving up on Green too quick he’s a secondyear player let him grow up already he might be a much more efficient scorer in his fourth and fifth year in the NBA give it a little bit of time so there’s another argument to be made and who’s to say the next great player isn’t going to go 10 in this draft yeah we just saw finals where guys were drafted 11 and 12 and 11 were the three dominant players well you know it’s funny i I kind of watched Jaylen Green grow up because he was from the valley in central California and uh you know as a player at Sanwaukein Memorial High School many many a few years back but uh so you think he’s do do you think he’s plateaued into who he is is there a whole another level he’s going to get to my hope is yes my hope is yes i know it’s your hope but like put your because you’re a positive upbeat guy Steve but it’s kind of like let your inner New Jersey out now yeah he is i I I’ll be honest with you i I think we need to believe in this kid and believe that he can actually get to a point where he can make a contribution and we everybody’s kind of familiar with what his path has been uh but I you know how old is he now 26 25 26 How old is Jaylen 24 25 nearly that old he may may only be in his early 20s let’s find out how old he is all right jaylen Green is 23 he will turn 24 in the middle of next season in February yeah so so I think at 23 I think your peak is 27 to 32 has been the NBA peak historically guys are better younger and maybe that’s why they’re breaking down later maybe they’re playing so much basketball they got miles maybe that’s why we’re seeing so many Achilles but that’s a discussion for another segment i I like the idea of Jaylen over the next couple of years really stepping up and having an impact in this league and uh you know I I like I said I I’ve been around him and I’ve watched him and know some of his family members and those kinds of things so I’m pulling for him from my heart i get that but I think that’s the info you have to have yeah because with the NBA draft come up Wednesday and I want to get to that with you we’ll get that in the next segment but when people ask me I’m like I don’t know and the reason I don’t know is I’ve never had more information and yet I still don’t have the info I need right i can watch games i can watch whole games on YouTube i don’t need to go to any there’s a bunch of sites and you get you know somebody in the NBA and they give you a password and you can watch whatever they watch but honestly YouTube with the clips and the games you can see a lot even if you don’t know anybody and you got all the measurables and so I’ve never had this kind of info before it’s awesome when I was possibly second-guessing the Jazz at one point Kevin O’Connor gave me a stack of seven tapes and said “You can say whatever you want but I want you to watch these tapes and tell me what you think of these players.” Wow you have to give me that much i’m enjoying you guys thinking you know it’s And I told him I said “You’re going to draft Sasha Pavlovich.” And he’s like “Why?” And I’m like “He’s just so smooth with the ball it’s so second in nature i mean the other guys are a little I mean it’s just And they did and he didn’t work out right and he didn’t work out because of off the court stuff he’d been through a civil war it really I I don’t know him well enough to know how that messes with your personality and all but it’s got to have a major impact and we don’t know these guys and they’re given so much money and so much fame so young it’s like how can I assess the draft and who’s going to develop Steve when I never talk to these guys i don’t interview them i don’t know who has a high maturity level who has a low maturity level i don’t know who’s grounded with mentors that help keep them on track and talk them through the tough times that everybody’s going to go through and if you don’t have that mentor whether it’s a father an uncle a coach um a cousin an older brother somebody you know some of these guys I mean they just they don’t have anybody you know and they’re they’re given all this money and fame and then they’re given problems because we all get problems yes so I don’t know well but I I don’t think these guys fall apart on hoops i think it’s what you said if like when you know the family and know all that stuff you have a better chance if they’re going to fight through the stuff they have to fight through to get where they want to get you know having having coached Paul Jordan in college and watching his path you mentioned a couple of things that I vividly remember why Paul made that transition with a lot of without a lot of major problems he had an amazing mom and dad he had an amazing sister who was a baller herself at Pepperdine and and uh and you know who you’re surrounded with uh you know whether it’s family or close friends or former coaches but having those connections and contacts helps keep a Jaylen Green grounded i I love Jaylen Green because he’s from the valley and he’s a guy that I watched and and I know that he’s I think he’s got good people around him and so we’ll see what happens and you like you said he’s 23 years old maybe in 25 or 26 he’s an allNBA guy you know just because of that maturation process and the things you have to go through but in in the young men you know I remember Rouio who we had at at BYU and he goes to Toronto as a lottery pick he had no support around him he didn’t you know had family in Brazil he didn’t he didn’t have close friends he wasn’t surrounded by mentors and consequently he you know he last three or four or five years in the league and he’s back in Brazil playing so it’s a perfect example of what does it look like for guys that are really talented and they they have a support system and they’re in a position to to make mistakes it’s okay you’re here i’m here to help you when you have that kind of mentoring and and that kind of relationship you can mature and get through difficult times that a lot of young people in the league have not and they just imploded and you never hear about them again so it is important to know you know who your agent is and who who who who’s the family members that are involved with you those um I should have thrown agent in that list when I was talking about mentors and I didn’t exactly and I should have yeah and so I’m I’m hoping that someone like Jaylen Greener who I do believe is being surrounded by good people and I know the family and I think he’s going to be okay but all that being said there’s still 20 21 22 23 year olds who have ex have no experience in life they’ve never had to be have a checkbook or responsibility and and a lot of these guys don’t they have somebody taking care of their finances they have somebody taking care of all the things in their life so they don’t have to worry about that but I I think the people that have been most important in my life were my mom and dad and my brothers or sisters who when I went through tough times coaching that I’d get a phone call or a text and hang in there you know and when you have that kind of support you can get through anything and so for for these guys in the league and all this money and all this fame uh and you don’t have a support system man it can be really challenging really difficult and you end up maybe making decisions that aren’t the best and consequently uh there’s some suffering during that course of time look at this list right here this is a list of all the players on the roster for Oklahoma City this is this season salaries in this column the next column is next season salaries there’s the column for two years out now they’re are set right these options in red are team options here is three years out that to me is why Oklahoma City three years out everyone’s saying they could win for five six seven years they got almost nobody signed in three years they have some guys Wiggins and Caruso are signed uh you know but the money they’re going to have to pay SGA now who do you pay after that yeah you know if Homegrren’s coming do you pay Williams i think you pay Williams but if you pay Williams and Homegrren you’re going to start running out of money pretty quick and you only got three guys and we know the three player super team doesn’t seem to be the model you need depth through 8 10 11 guys because you’re going to have you got to get through the injuries and you got to get through a long season they played 105 games both these teams did that was game 105 for both clubs last night well you know the thing you you mentioned you know the where the money you know stops right and uh I I think that’s always going to be that doesn’t matter who you are what organization in the NBA those are things that you have to keep a close eye on and and because you know can you win can you win an NBA championship with three of those guys okay and then filling them in with I think the joker would tell you you need eight right now that’s what he’s saying in Denver we need depth exactly and and that’s the thing that would concern me about Oklahoma City how do they handle this thing in terms of salaries who are they going to give up and you probably can’t do it with three guys you do need eight next two years they look good after that we’ll see dj and PK when we come back Steve will look ahead to the NBA drafts stay with us this is Jake Scott and Ben Anderson athletics are funny that way i’ I’ve always said this not only does it attract people from all sorts of different backgrounds but all sorts of different intelligence levels different emotionally intelligence levels like all those things like I don’t know how coaches do it honestly this is going to sound mean because it’s certainly not the case there are legitimate savants can think everything with the game and then aren’t super intelligent off the floor and struggle off the floor and that’s quite common it’s so applicable though to life i mean Elden John just sat down and played the piano i think in person you can really tell the difference between not intelligent and maybe just public speaking isn’t my first way of communicating but then you can see people is just like “Okay this dude’s just a dim bulb.” And as a dim bold myself I feel like we can really sniff out each other you know what I mean spider sense tingles around each other this guy’s faking it just like me here Jake Scott and Ben Anderson every day from 10 to noon on 975 KSL Sports Zone listen to the zone Wednesday from 3 to 6 for a special draft round table at the cage book now and score 10% off with promo code the zone the zone get yourself 10% off dj PK the BYU media golf tournament is underway pk is out blasting 350 yard drives down the middle no that’s the one thing he’s not doing wait except isn’t there one hole here at Cedar that’s Cedar Hills it’s you tee off a cliff it’s number one number one i’ve never played here i I haven’t either but I driven by it enough to see the holes and I know up I mean you put a mountain peak and there’s a small strip awesome yeah they’re They are crazy they must do a lot of like weddings and anniversary parties here they do they do and I thing is I I played here once and I I’m not going to play it again i mean it’s just so tricked out and it is fun to play in a scramble where you know you can hit a ball out of bounds and that doesn’t impact your own personal game but yeah it’s not it’s not a golf course I’d play regularly and uh but it is fun to look at and watch and the one time I did play it was pretty penal i think I lost seven or eight golf balls and and I’m I’m like you know I’m nine or 10 handicap so I’m like I just started playing the game yeah and uh but it’s not a golf course I want to play every day got it so Steve Cleveland sitting in for PK here uh let’s talk NBA draft it’s Wednesday night round one the Jazz draft five and 21 and just cuz you know the Angia perspective right you’ve spent way more time around them than I have but from the outside I always understood and I think it’s becoming more clear to me now danny come retires in Boston and then comes here and I think we all kind of like uh six months later and you’re unretired and but I think there was more truth in that it’s like he really as I look back he didn’t want to do the six or seven days a week 14 16 18 hours a day the international flights to go to Europe to go to South America to go to Australia like that wears on you but he is tight with Ryan Smith it did bring him back to Utah like you extended family here okay i’ll do it 40 hours a week my question from the outside looking in is can you really win on your terms in the NBA like you know enough to win but do you have to be in it 12 14 16 hours a day in all the flights and then as we talk to people I hear well we see Danny Angel at BYU basketball games because he wants to be there right and then Travis Hansen comes on and says oh yeah he’s at my kids games in Vegas to be supportive and then we hear he’s at grandkids games to be supportive which are all fine and noble things but it’s like does that help you win in the NBA and then Austin comes in like this makes sense to me austin’s at the point in his life where he has to prove to himself and everyone else hey I can do this at the highest level i’ll work 14 16 hours a day i’ll fly to Australia i’ll fly to wherever in Central Europe to see the next Joker in the Adriatic League the Adriatic League you got to invest time in the Adriatic League yeah apparently you do apparently you do right and you got to find the next Joe Engles whose guy’s seven or eight so how often do you have to see Barcelona Real Madrid play because maybe their seventh or eighth guy can turn into a rotation guy here can be the runner up in the six man balloting and so it’s all consuming and so now I see more people never tell the media and the public 100% of the truth because we all want to keep a little bit of our lives public but in retrospect I think I see how this played out a really did want to retire he did want to come to Utah he wanted to do it but he was serious but he didn’t lie to Boston i don’t think he wanted to do it 75 hours a week right i think Austin does no he does i mean I’ve talked to him a few times and uh you know that’s the thing is that the first thing I heard from social media was nepotism okay this I mean they got the last name you can’t ignore it exactly right and and I had the opportunity with with friends and other people and being on shows and stuff that Austin was probably the smartest young man that I ever coached and and he wasn’t the greatest player he didn’t play a great deal at BYU but his basketball IQ just growing up in that environment was always incredible and and and it was it was interesting that he I don’t want to say he was a coach and during the time we were there but when I’d sit down and talk with him and kind of go through things and what’s happening he had so many astute thoughts and just spoton from watching that for so many years and I don’t know he had to be in Boston 16 17 years working for them so when he comes here you know what a great opportunity for him and his family but I think it’s a great move for the Jazz like you said well you have somebody now that’s willing to go to Australia or they’re willing to go to Mongolia or wherever wherever you got to go right but you still had access to Danny’s brain like for the 40 hours he’s willing to watch video or watch games live like I want his I get why Ryan Smith says I want Danny’s perception you know his take on what he’s seeing but in 40 hours you can’t see everything no you can’t and and I the thing about it is like you’re right Danny has all these years of experience as a player and and as you know in terms of overseeing you know the Jazz excuse me and doing those things but I the thing I love about Austin is that he’s hungry he’s got you know he’s around family that you have that comfort zone but he’s willing to go to those places and do those things and kind of recreate the organization of the Jazz i I haven’t talked to him recently but I can’t imagine that there are changes that are being made right within the organization just from his experiences not not from what Danny has done or what Ryan has done but the experiences he’s had and I think he’s a great addition to this community and I’m excited to see kind of what’s going to happen but I I I do really really like Austin just because of the IQ that he has and just being around him for enough to know that this a really smart young man he’s not a young man anymore you know he’s middleaged now he’s the guy and uh I I love that he’s here and I love that he’s had all these experiences away from his family and and raising his own family in Boston and coming back here it’s a good thing for the Jazz so the one thing I’ve heard about Austin and this makes sense because everything you said about him as a player pk told me because we’ve been doing the show that long pk told me that when he played he said “I talked to him like he secondguesses everybody he’s coaching both teams he’s subbing for both teams he’s analyzing the starters and the bench like “What’ they put that guy in for he can’t.” Apparently once in a game he snapped at a teammate what’d you foul him for he can’t score there’s no reason to foul him well he was hoping he’s going he was gonna brick it he’s no freaking good he’s just like And so PK I mean PK at one point thought he’d be the next BYU coach i mean he’s covering BYU games it’s right in front of him there’s many other high-profile jobs right and he did the coaching thing for about a year and that was that was enough of that right the front office thank you coaches good luck but the player he likes makes sense to me i’ve heard how much he likes the really hardnosed Marcus Smart type right right and he just But as a player who didn’t have the most talent who had to compete I get why he appreciates that and so when I look at this draft and I think well Flag and Harper are going one two and I know I mean I I don’t know about you but I can’t hear I I just can’t hear enough from you Cougar fans who want VJ Edgecomb and I just with every passing week it’s more and more clear to me they have to trade up if they’re going to get him cuz he’s gone he’s not last until five most of the mock drafts have now moved him to three it’s pretty much getting unanimous at this point the only question is will Philly be tempted to trade for veterans because they’ve got a veteran team or do they view this as a golden opportunity to start with the next generation and get a really good player yeah you know I the thing about it is I I didn’t think that the Jazz would have an opportunity if I to get PJ Edge unless it involved trades or those types of things that were happening uh and and right now you know there are Trey Johnson from Texas shooting guard interesting his his college coach was a guy that took my place at uh when I was at Fresno State and I I have watched Texas play a little bit because of people I know and have connections with and just being tough-nosed uh just a that coaching staff there at Texas got their guys to really compete at a high level and I I watched him because I knew the coach and I watched him in in cover and I have I’ve never watched him practice other than play me play in a few games but I I I think Austin’s made it very clear we’re we’re not in another rebuild here okay and uh the team’s done tanking remember when he first came Yeah they’re in a rebuild but they’re not tanking they’re not tanking yeah they may lose yes but they’re not going to arrest a 23y old so they can lose on purpose exactly that’s what they’re not going to do they’re not going to do that and so you know I I I you know right now the pick looks like it could be like a Johnson but with trades and all I got a draft night list here of of two guys and you never know where everything’s going to happen with trades and everything else where they might land well there’s two other guys I want to ask you about we’ll do that next dj and PK it’s 975 the zone and now your Rocky Mountain Chevy dealer strong play of the weekend shane now giving it eight to shoot steps back angle right three is on the way to ting the thunder money bunny ball is shade like a shark smelling blood in the water he may be baby 25 now 8468 butter by 16 [Music] Chevy Strong play of the game know it today after 3:00 Alex and JJ will call for it and you can win fabulous prizes the Chevy Strong play of the game all right we’re talking NBA draft with uh Steve Cleveland so we agree V VJ Edgecom’s going off the board at number three whether it’s the Sixers or whoever the Sixers make a trade with if they decide they’d rather have a veteran the Charlotte Hornets draft fourth and this pick was all over the board i’ve seen a lot of players mentioned there but it does seem like Khan Canipple’s name is settling there surprises me a little bit because for the longest time he was in the seven eight range and it seemed like people are like well if he were a little bigger well if he were a little more athletic well and now it seems like yeah sure he was playing oh Cooper flag makes the game easy for him so he’s not really that good but it seems like people are overcoming all of that or maybe they’re talking themselves out of the other guy more and more of the mock drafts it looks like people think Charlotte will take him at number four are you buying at I don’t know if the Hornets are going to get him but I love this player i I I I think Neville you know he’s a shooting guard he’s 6’5 you know he could be 6’8 we’d like that but the thing I love about him is his high basketball IQ uh he’s a playmaker he will defend uh he’s a good fit for whatever team he goes to uh you know playing with LaMelo and Brandon Miller I don’t know how that all plays out or if those guys are even there when this is all said and done but you have a chance to get him i just think the fact that you get a high IQ guy you got somebody that’s got a great work ethic and he’s really skilled and and the thing about it I I get all the athleticism and all the things that come with the potential but you give me a guy that can actually shoot has a high IQ I’m taking him every day i’m not going to bet on what this guy’s going to become and and I don’t know if he’ll be there you know more than likely the Sixers get him but I I don’t know what not excuse me the Hornets get him it may be a trade they may go some other direction i don’t know but that’s a guy I want on my team what do you think of him as a passer because to really be effective offensively in the NBA when you only have 24 seconds guys aren’t open by much and they aren’t open for long so you got to be a good shooter but if someone comes open you got to be able to get them the ball instantly on target and on time if they’re going to get the shot off and I don’t know you know the I answer that question by I haven’t seen him play enough to know what his skill set is but I know that he’s got the IQ and that he’s played for great coaches and with good teams he’ll figure that out i I just think you cannot have enough great shooters he’s got enough size and he’s really smart i want to be surrounded by players that are have high IQs that understand what a work ethic is and can and can knock shots down so that leaves a group of players uh on the board for the Jazz at number five if Conable’s gone ace Bailey Trey Johnson uh Jeremiah Fears and a guy who definitely seems to be picking up steam in this draft as other players drop uh Malawich the uh big sevenfooter from from Duke who’s extremely raw and apparently here’s the other thing that the media and the public doesn’t know when we try to dope this stuff out you watch him at Duke and you’re like “Well he dunks.” Now you see him in these workouts and you’re hearing fourth hand that’s all I’m hearing but fourthand hey he’s really lighting it up i’m reading it he’s lighting up in these workouts shooting the ball it’s one time I think a workout when you have all I always think watch the game tape but college coaches use kids different so there might not be enough game tape of him shooting 15 18 23-footers what’s his range how far out can he go and if he’s answering those questions and if he’s interviewing well you know if you take him to dinner and you know you find out okay we’ve got a a mature kid and then I get why people would fall in love with him because apparently his size his measurables and the way he moves what’s not to love and and I I agree that you know we’ll go back to guys that have a skill set or that have high IQ’s or in in in his situation you know he’s he he’s a young man that uh he can make baskets and and I I just think that you can get somebody with his size and where he’s going the workouts have been decent uh significant upside he has the energy he has uh the the motor that he he’ll need and continue to get better but I I I think that uh this is a guy I want want in on my team as well i I’m I’m kind of high on him and I I did watch some clips and watch a little bit of watching him play and uh I like him you know we’ll see what happens and I don’t have any idea if Trey Johnson from Texas is going to go to the Jazz because that’s what all the things everybody’s saying because it never works out i take this draft night list I have and and and come back the next day and I’ve xed out 10 of them yeah but if there’s a trade or two in front never know what’s going to happen right but uh we asked Danny A about that because we saw uh PK and I had occasion to see uh Danny’s handwritten list not from Danny yeah somebody else somebody else and they’re like “Man you ranked them and the draft went exactly in the order.” Because a lot of times you’ll hear “Hey we got him at we got him at number nine or 10 or whatever but we we had them ranked much higher because of the drafts and people see stuff differently.” But that year it played out and and and Danny was like “Yeah that was a weird year.” It doesn’t usually play out like that you don’t usually have to take the ninth best player with the ninth pick you get to take whoever you think is seventh sixth fifth best player because other people see it differently but everybody saw it the same that year i think as a coaching as in a as and as a coach and and things we talk about in a coaching staff when you can get skilled players that have motors that have a high IQ no matter whether their shots just perfect or not or whether their handles are just perfect or not you can look past that a little bit and know that hey this young man’s 19 years old we He’s got all the intangibles that we love about players and we love about this you know having guys like this in the league you can wait a year or two and develop him and all of a sudden he becomes a contributor in your organization djp Kids 975 the zone when we come back Rob Cuff joins us from the Utah High School Activities Association he’s also on the board of the Utah Sports Hall of Fame and we will talk to him about a golf tournament they have coming up and we’ll talk about the Hall of Fame and also a couple of the major issues in front of high school sports these days with new rules surrounding transfers how they’re prioritizing schools in realignment we’ll talk with Rob Cub about that and this is the one that always gets parents going the new sports they might sanction and add a state championships because they’ve been in adding mode with uh boys volleyball and with girls wrestling and with boys and girls lacrosse and with girls golf there might be more on the way we’ll talk with Rob about that coming up stay with us dj and PK it’s 975 the zone dj PK it’s 975 the zone we are proudly presented by Black Desert Resort Utah’s premier golf resort joined now by Rob Cuff executive director of the Utah High School Activities Association rob good morning good morning DJ i hope you’ve had your downtime your rest and relaxation in June after May when there seems like there’s a state champion crowned every day six classes times I don’t know how many sports i’ve lost track he had 48 state championships in 17 days in May that’s what I’m talking about so I hope you had some welldeserved time off to lay by a pool lay on the sand or hit the links whatever it is you do go to the cabin in the mountains with no Wi-Fi whatever it is and you’re rested and rejuvenated because it’s go time Rob it is go time and July is kind of a nice month for that too but uh June we’re just kind of still putting together and putting away some of the some of the things from the last school year but we’re we’re anxiously engaged in the start of a whole new season whole new school year there are a uh a few stories out there some of them are stories that never really go away and I wanted to talk to you about them and I know one thing you’ve been working on is a new transfer policy i was uh I was talking to another member of the uh local sports media who follows uh high school football even more closely than I do and he was telling me last year and he started going into this game of transfers well this player left school B to go to school A this quarterback left school C to go to B and replace him this quarterback left Oh my gosh it it it felt like college football now I know you got a lot of gripes about that i know if your rules um sometimes draw the attention of parents who have lawyers so that’s a blast and I know you revisited these where do you stand on transfers now because there’s a lot of parents leaning into the radio to hear this yeah so a year ago our board really looked at and and dissected again our transfer rule and and we had a lot of uh exceptions i would guess you know that’s the best way to put it but then if you didn’t meet an exception then you had to set out a full year of varsity well last year our rule changed to where we have very few exceptions but the restriction is the most that you would miss on a first transfer after you’ve established eligibility is 50% of the season of any sport that you didn’t play the varsity the year the or play the year before so um basically now there are two exceptions the exceptions are a full family move that is documented and certified by the sending and the receiving school and then also a certified investigation that happens at the sending school that certifies the the uh student to be to be eligible to transfer those would give a 100% eligibility on the transfer rule any other reason would be 50% another issue that you face and I think people are always curious when you realign which you used to do every four years and now you do every two it looks like some of the schools that um have really been elite athletically have been grouped together um there’s four to six schools that have kind of ruled in some of these sports corner Canyon Lehi Skyidge Lone Peak uh AF maybe at times Pleasant Grove or Bingham but not so much there it looks like you’ve grouped some of those schools together and I’ve talked to a couple principles at schools where there’s real poverty and one one uh former principal he was active when he told me this he said they’re doing a better job of using the number of kids who are on free and reduced lunch the kids who live in poverty he says those kids don’t play club sports they’re not as advanced athletically they haven’t gotten as much coaching and another principal told me “When they just go on population half my kids work to support their family and pay the bills and they’re not going to play sports so our coaches are drawn from maybe more of a 3A or 4A talent pool in terms of numbers than a 5A and 6A school which is where that school had been.” And I think talking in the past that your attitude and the attitude of you know the board has kind of been evolving over time where do you stand on how you group teams in regions because travel also travel is another thing you hear a lot about yep travel’s another big factor geography um we do the re our board does the realignment of member schools every two years it used to be a four-year process and uh what they found in the four-year process was is that enrollments change a great deal over that that amount of time so now the realignment is done every two years which means that once one alignment goes into effect we’re already looking at the next alignment the primary factor over the years has been enrollment as you mentioned but there have been other factors that have entered in the last few years including demographics free and reduced lunch success factor this past alignment success factor was used more than ever before and so I think in in to your point and to your question uh regions are are developed by our board as well as the classifications and what they’ve done is they’ve grouped some schools of of similar demographics together uh to compete in regions obviously state championships are different than region championships but it gives students an opportunity to to go after those region championships in a way that they feel competitive and it’s enjoyable for them to compete and know that they can compete on a day-to-day basis state championships have changed in the 30 plus years I’ve been here when I got here I found out oh they take the top four teams there’s four regions in a class 16 team playoff and away we go and the Tuesday playing games were brand new to me and certainly when there was a three-way tie and two teams would play a half and the loser was out and after halftime a new team was in and they played two quarters of a football game to see who went in that was I’d never seen anything like that but again you’ve evolved over time and now you basically the state tournament’s open to everyone they’re just a small handful of teams and a couple of classes that that don’t go uh how has that been received now that schools have had a few years to sample that whether it’s football basketball is it received the same way in every sport yeah that’s a great question uh you’re talking about the RPI and what we do to seed um and give ratings and seedings to uh to team sports more than anything else and and basically as you said before a real strong region may may only send four of their teams and two teams would be left out when you take four per region now it gives everybody an opportunity to be in the RPI and I think the only the only schools that don’t get to enter the state tournament would be those classifications that have more than 24 because they they do a 24 bracket for those team sports in uh class 5A and uh the other one would be 4A and so basically it it’s it’s received differently obviously it’s how it affects a school is how they’re going to react to it but I think it’s much better than the old system i think everyone would agree to that that to give the opportunity to get a seed we we often kid with with our schools that you know we’re not going to give hardware for the number one seed you’ve got to still play the tournament you still got to go through it and an example of baseball this year we had a 20 seed win the 5A state baseball championship Spanish and that’s the lowest seed that we’ve ever had win a state championship i think before that it was like an 11 or a 12 in soccer and so we have had examples where lower seeds have won the state tournaments and it gives them an opportunity to reset when they go into the brackets and be able to uh then have a whole new season and everybody’s 000 but there’s still those that want the higher seed because they think the higher seed’s going to give them automatic wins and we’ve never given hardware for a number one seed they got to earn it there’s always an issue about how uh how many sports are sanctioned to have state championships and you have o opened up uh girls wrestling boys volleyball boys and girls lacrosse girls golf have all been relatively recent additions uh to UHSA state uh sanctioned tournaments for championships so since you just had what was the number you just gave me 48 in 17 days was it 48 yeah we have 48 championships just in spring alone we have 138 championships over the course of the season so are you ready to add something else hockey rodeo esports where’s this going what’s next well interesting enough we do have conversations with some of these club sports that are out there and some club sports like where they’re at they’re not wanting to be sanctioned others want to be sanctioned and are growing their sport in order to do so we have thresholds that need to be met in order for participation outside the season in order to look at at adding a new sanctioned sport it’s called our emerging sports policy and this year in fact we’re adding esports you just mentioned as an activity uh meaning that it’s an activity similar to theater speech and debate music and esports started on the college level even more more so than the high school level at first but uh there’s colleges giving scholarships now for esports we’ve had esports as clubs in our high schools ken Garf has done some uh competitions with esports over the years and it’s been very very exciting and very well participation in as far as being involved and we’re really excited about adding esports to our list of sanctioned activities for this coming year and beyond that any of these other sports you’re looking at is there anything else water polo well water polo is certainly one that’s out there you mentioned rodeo uh with mammoth you’ve got hockey that there’s more youth hockey interest now mountain biking is a huge sport in Utah and they’re happy right now and being at the club level and and they get a lot of mileage out of that uh pickle ball is another one that’s out there uh that people enjoy playing and we’ve even seen some of our junior highs who have converted their tennis courts into pickle ball courts so it still remains to be seen what the future holds out there but uh our emerging sports policy helps guide our board into to uh adding any any future sports now you wear another hat as a member of the Utah Sports Hall of Fame and you got a golf tournament coming up if you want to tell people about that for people who don’t know about the Utah Sports Hall of Fame uh it’s at City Creek kind of on the west side uh over there by Nordstrom uh explain to people what it is what you’ve got what sports fans can see and how they can support it all right let’s start with the tournament the golf tournament is a week from today on June 30th at Talons Cove we’re still looking for uh forsomes we’d love people to sign up and just get together a group and and and sign up on our website our website is utahportshallofame.org uh this is kind of a a second hat that I wear as a member of the board of directors on the Utah Sports Hall of Fame foundation it’s a great foundation been around for the last 60 years we use this golf tournament to help support scholarships for um collegebound Utah high school seniors and also to fund our Hall of Fame Museum that you mentioned if people have not been to the Hall of Fame Museum the Utah Sports Hall of Fame they need to go it’s it’s an exciting museum it’s fun-filled there’s interaction there and all the greats that have played in Utah and lived in Utah are there with information and everything for for the museum the museum is located right across on ground level from Nordstrom’s in the City Creek Mall level and the hours are Monday to Saturday from 11:00 a.m to 7:00 p.m the admission is free it’s a great family event just to go and and walk through the museum spend as much time as you want but uh again our golf tournament helps to support and fund that museum and also the scholarships for those high school seniors so again we’d love to have anybody that’s interested in uh playing at Talons Cove next Monday it’s an 8:30 start a 7:30 check-in again the website is utah sportshall of fame.org you’re horribly miscast at the UHSA you should be out here you should be doing infomercials you should be selling stuff you be making a lot more money Rob what are you What are you doing working with kids what are you thinking well I still love my job DJ okay all right talents Cove give them the website one more time in case uh because if people are thinking yeah I don’t want to work Monday i should go support the Utah Sports Hall of Fame let’s let’s take one for the team yeah so it’s utah sportshall of fame.org all right there it is rob we appreciate it as always thanks for joining us good luck with uh more state championships more sports and uh and please please more transfers nothing nothing says high level sports like a lot of kids transferring well we’re looking forward to another school year that’s for sure so thanks for your time today DJ hey thank you Rob good luck enjoy your summer okay thank you have a great day there’s Rob Cuff executive director of the Utah High School Activities Association putting on a lot of state championships but man that transfer part of the job that’s the thankless part of the job right there that family really moved that family moved so Junior could play SP oh boy yeah couldn’t pay me enough to deal with all of that all right DJ PK it’s 975 the zone when we come back everything you missed in this show will get you up to speed next stay with us now let’s get this party started this is Holson and Scotty Jean there are a couple reasons that I didn’t become a doctor same reasons you didn’t become a paleontologist why do you crack a smile and make a joke i’m just saying like yeah there’s a couple reasons I wasn’t a lawyer number one LSAT scared me number two I thought I’d fail miserably and number three I didn’t think I was smart enough so yeah there are just a couple reasons why I didn’t become a lawyer can I make a point without you attacking me i’m not attacking you like you’ve never talked about wanting to be a doctor before to me this seems like you were just right on the cusp of going to medical school and then just these one or two little things came up and made you think “No I’m not going to do that.” Doctor doctor doctor can you not attack me you know it bugs me when you do that doctor doctor doctor stop playing that and doctor well we miss anyone catch Hansen Scotty weekdays from noon to 3 on 975 the KSL sports zone so falls down he looks hurt here comes SGA the other way inside and Williams throws it down hallebertton’s hurt right away when he fell of course that strained calf he’s in pain so emotional it’s the right calf right away he knew he was in trouble oh you get in a situation like this you’re just sick to your stomach for the young man thunder fans feel this moment the uncommon young team proves to be unstoppable it’s over at PCON Center final in game seven the Thunder 103 the Pacers 91 a dream realized the storybook season is complete the final chapter reads the Oklahoma City Thunder are the 2025 NBA champions i’m not talking about his injury i’m not giving you I have no idea i haven’t heard anything about a diagnosis or anything just I mean just you know at at halftime did he say anything to the team and and the way you guys kept he was in he was in the locker room and um he was very much a part of a group that believed that they could do this it doesn’t feel real um so many hours so many moments so many emotions so many nights of disbelief so many nights of belief it’s crazy to know that we’re all here but uh this group worked for it this group put in the hours and we deserve this shake Gilis Alexander after the Thunder win the NBA title 10391 in seven games they beat the Pacers a seventh game they had a lot of the drama drain out of it when Tyrese Hallebertton went to the floor in the middle of the first quarter left the game had to be helped off the towel it looked really emotional and uh it wrecked the Pacers it really gave them no chance to win the game and it was tied at 56 they hung in there for a while and and uh TJ McConnell was good and he made shots and but there’s just they just didn’t have enough talent and so the Thunder who were supposed to win it did win it now can they repeat the question begins almost immediately and immediately it doesn’t even look like there’s good challengers the best one probably in Houston a team that went out pretty quickly in the playoffs this year they got to make a conference final you would think before they win it oh wait oklahoma City didn’t make a conference final before they won it all the Warriors didn’t make a conference final before they won it all so it could be done houston trades for Kevin Durant and I think they got him as inexpensively as they could if I were thinking what’s a high price they would pay for Durant I would have thought like three draft picks or something and they got well I mean they did get the five second round picks but three first round draft picks but it turns out they only had to give up one they gave up the number 10 pick in this year’s draft so I thought they got off easy there um instead of looking at the Rudy Gobear trade and the Donovan Mitchell trade and the Kevin Durant from Brooklyn trade you have four and five draft picks moving there’s a one pick in the first round five second rounds but one in the first round it’s more of a Luca Donsic type deal seemed like a a low bar but I think Houston measured the market well uh Miami San Antonio Minnesota i I never thought Durant to Miami made sense miami is not that close you need to be pretty close if you’re going to invest in Kevin Durant at 36 and he turns 37 in September uh Miami is just not close enough and he didn’t want to resign in Minnesota so that kind of kills that deal because Minnesota I mean they just can’t give up Rudy Gobear and get Durant for one year that’s not a good idea i don’t know if we’re giving up Rudy that that’s not a team full of defensive stoppers there well they got a bunch of guys playing defense there who need Rudy behind them is it a diminished Rudy does he move as well as he used to we can have that conversation he’s not getting paid like he used to so there’s that uh he just he just signed a new three-year he’s got a three-year deal kicking in he had an option here and they gave him I think three years and almost 100 million bucks about 100 million bucks and and he was going to have one at 40 or 45 so uh yeah Minnesota doesn’t work miami doesn’t work i think San Antonio has got young guys and why invest in Durant the future’s now Oklahoma City’s got it going hey let these young guys grow up see what you need and then commit in a couple years and the Thunder they are set up for the next two years i mean you look at their salaries they got a championship i’m sure they’re thinking three in Oklahoma City they got to repeat first and then three Pete second but we always talk about everything changes in sports in three years well the Thunder have almost nobody signed for the 2728 season so if they want a repeat in 26 and three in 27 well the way the money is set up and the age of these guys I mean Caruso is the only older guy they’re counting on he’s 31 and he’s going into a new four-year deal he’ll he’ll double his money and go from just under 10 million to a little over 18 million shake Gilis Alexander signed for two more years then a free agent isaiah Hartinstein signed for two more years then a free agent lou Dort signed for two more years then a free agent chad Homegrren signed for two more years then he’s a free agent jaylen Williams signed for two more years then he’s a free agent that’s their starting five literally everybody is signed for two years and then they’re a free agent now they’re going to extend some of these guys but can they get guys to take discounts to keep the band together so they keep everybody that seems unlikely if they get that done and I get there’s a certain logic to it yeah it’s the logic you apply when you’re not the one who’s taking less money that’s the logic but maybe they’ll do it brady took less in New England it helped them put a better team around him then he wins more championships and he becomes a legend and lands a massive job in uh TV i think there’s a lot to be said in the NBA and in the NFL maybe in hockey but it’s a slightly different beast and and I haven’t seen enough of it but I have to defer to Mike Falter or some of the guys maybe Cole uh when he comes on with us and talk to him about who takes less they signed such long-term contracts i just don’t think there’s that much of that going on um but in the NBA when you have somebody on a rookie contract like Chad Homegrren man it makes the math a lot easier right and he is still he’s still in that deal and uh and not making that much money in a weird way Lou Dort is lucky that he was undrafted because he made it and then he got paid i mean he’s making uh 55 million over three years here and when he comes up he’ll get paid again only money it looks like can pull the Thunder apart and you look around the league there’s so many teams dealing with long-term injuries i mean if you had any question and you really shouldn’t at this point but if you have any question about whether we’re going to see more players load management rest taking games off in the regular season it can irritate you it irritates me it that irritates me way more than all the three-pointers is they turn on a game and then the guys I want to see aren’t playing well what’s the point of that well the point of that is that NBA front office types and the NBA you know the doctors the trainers the whole sports science sports medicine staff they’re looking at all these guys going down and you’re like well it’s a bunch of Achilles injuries i mean what are you supposed to do how do you prevent the Achilles injuries when these guys are playing this much hoop and they’re expect to make this many explosive cuts every time down the floor on defense and then again on offense and probably more on defense than on offense at least on offense you know where you’re going this is three Achilles injuries to star players in the postseason damen Lillard went down first jason Tatum went down second and now Tyrese Hallebertton goes down third and that doesn’t count Kyrie blowing out his ACL late in the regular season so there’s four teams that at some level were hoping to contend i mean are they all legit championship contenders probably not i mean nobody thought Indiana was a legit championship contender and they end up in game seven of the NBA finals so I guess they are a legit contender and if the Pacers are I guess if Dallas wants to think of themselves that way I don’t you probably don’t maybe you do you probably don’t but they do they think they’re contenders and Boston is definitely a contender and Milwaukee we’ll see what they do with Giannis does he want to wait out the end of uh Lillard’s deal and free up some money and see what they go do in two years l’s got two years left on his deal and it doesn’t look like he’s going to play in one of them and you know he’s in his mid-30s now and he’s a smaller guy that’s a difficult combination so there’s the NBA the postseason has begun the Kevin Durant trade can’t become official until July you’re not going to see any confirmation from the teams they have to get to their new year the NFL goes through the same song and dance it’s tied into all the rules of the collective bargaining agreement i don’t fully understand it i just know that it is so expect that and and similarly with with draft night we may hear about trades that the teams don’t don’t announce we did talk draft today it seems like there’s a consensus going you know Flag’s been number one for a while harper’s been number two for a long time also but now it looks like VJ Edgecom has really settled in as the third pick and I think it’ll be the third pick whether Philly keeps the pick or whether they trade it i think they’ll keep it i think I would keep it if I were them i get the temptation to trade it and add a veteran to that core and you know maybe Tyrese Max will be healthy and Paul George will be healthy and Joel and Be will be healthy and maybe wild monkeys will fly over South Mountain and swoop low into Yeah it just doesn’t seem likely does it i was going to go to a movie line there but it’s not completely appropriate but if you know the line you know where I’m going those those wild monkeys came from where yes exactly if the Sixers do trade for veteran help well the Jazz have some veterans I assume they’ve already had conversations i think the Sixers would say no i think I would say no if I were the Sixers i think if you really believe in a young player and maybe they don’t and if they don’t then trade it but if there’s a player they believe in and it seems like the consensus is VJ Edgecom’s the guy to believe in conan Hipple now seems to be settling into the fourth pick i don’t feel as sure about that i feel like that’s probable i feel like Edgecomb is 90% drafted third 9% drafted fourth and there’s like a 1% chance he could slip i guess you got to leave 1% open because crazy things happen but I just don’t see how i think he goes three and if Canip is four Baileyy’s falling and PK came in a month ago and said he talked to somebody who he trusts who knows what the Jazz are thinking and that Ace Bailey isn’t really in their plans now that was before Austin showed up maybe Austin feels differently my guess is he doesn’t so is that an opportunity to trade back and let somebody else take Bailey or do you take I think trading back’s a little risky but hey I’m not the one calling the shots trey Johnson Jeremiah Fears or the big sevenfooter out of Duke Malawich so those seem to be the guys in the mix seems like there’s two at the top and then there’s a group of six and Edgecom seems to be at the top so I guess you could say there’s three at the top and a group of five however you want to however you want to finesse that so that’s where uh that’s where we’re sitting on the draft right now and that’s where we’re sitting on the Durant trade man only having to give up one pick you got to like that and Jaylen Green and Dylan Brooks i think the risk is that Jaylen Green blows up or that they hit a total home run at number 10 i would say the best thing the Suns got in that deal was probably Green if they can if they can make him a more efficient shooter and maybe they can maybe they can’t but you have to give up something to get Durant the other news man college sports the University of Wild Wisconsin filed a lawsuit Friday claiming the Miami Hurricanes football program broke the law by tampering with a Badger football player labeled student athlete today believed to be freshman defensive back Xavier Lucas who left Wisconsin enrolled at Miami in January after saying the Badger staff refused to enter his name in the transfer portal in December tampering is a big thing i think it’s like negative recruiting everybody knows it’s happening everybody can tell you how it’s happening to them but nobody they know is doing it except the math on that is somebody must be doing it because it’s happening to you maybe it’s just a matter of how brazen you are right i mean we’ve had basketball coaches say “Okay it’s okay to tamper with players on my roster in February but not in January.” And then of course we have on UVU’s coach says “Well let me tell you a story about how his friend a friend calls him in November hey uh I hate to do this but I got to ask about your player everybody else is asking and I don’t want to do it to you but I can’t be left out great in November what do you think and he’s like I don’t know what I think yet it’s five games into the season ask me 15 or 25 games in the season I’ll tell you what I think it’s too early the tampering is rampant it seems kind of hilarious but I love these lawsuits i love when everyone’s getting down and dirty i always want them to get to depositions because all kinds of crazy things can be asked it’s like you just start pulling on the cord and then you find out more stuff you find out more stuff let the dirt flow oh let’s go entertain me and that almost never happens 999 times out of a thousand it doesn’t happen and one time out of a thousand it does an investigation into real estate deals with Whitewater leads to stories about an intern and the Oval Office that’s the one time out of a thousand but most of these things get settled so we’ll see if Wisconsin and Miami settle it i think what comes out of the lawsuit is these guys are employees and they need employee contracts that have buyouts in them just like coaches have coaches are taking off at the drop of a hat but they have buyouts and there’s compensation and so the players need compensation and if Utah Tech and Southern Utah and Wever State are going to take these players who are overlooked develop them and have someone come in and rip them off and I’ve had that conversation with somebody who works at Utah State who can sit there and just list here’s who went to CSU here’s who went to Wyoming here’s who went to San Jose State they can go right down the list our coaches are recruiting good players and developing them and you know who knows that every other coach of college football and honestly they’re probably looking at Utah Tech because Utah Tech’s head coach was at Stanford as a coordinator and did a great job so everybody knows what they’re doing it’s like “Oh yeah let’s watch this guy he’s got an eye for talent and he knows how to develop it so let him be compensated utah Tech could use a little more money little cash how about a little something for the effort let’s go.” You know what they need a dome on everything because it is hot on campus in the summer asu and Utah Tech and UNLV those three schools just need to be domed the whole thing the football stadium the baseball everything just a massive dome got a few people here listening you guys ever see a movie called Logan’s Run super average and probably 50 years old maybe 60 plot of the movie is that uh you live a fabulous life life is borderline perfect but the only way to do it with limited resources is everybody lives until they’re 30 and then they’re killed and basically recycled I think and so Logan’s run is uh dude taking off because he doesn’t want to you know at 29 he’s like “Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa.” And they were in I remember the art for the movie i I really don’t remember that much about the movie i remember the art for the movie it looked like they escaped from a gigantic dome big enough to cover the ASU campus all right other stuff we hit on man show Otani he’s coming back one more inning to work they’re being very careful with him he threw 18 pitches struck out two batters got a guy to pop out and they dropped the popup but he’s show it doesn’t matter he’s got the third out no problems here dodgers end up beating the Washington Nationals 13 to7 honestly this isn’t even the game I grew up with i don’t even recognize it you got all these bullpin days oh this is staff day it’s a pen day we don’t even have a starter i grew up in an era this will be weird but starting pitchers were rock stars they were celebrities when the pitcher whoever your pitcher was you know whoever your guy was when he ran out there you just felt like we got this this is the guy and people picked the game they went to not on their schedule but on the rotation oh I want to in LA they wanted to see Fernando in San Francisco they want to see Juan Marishell in San Diego we want to see Randy Jones and later days you know Greg Maddox in Atlanta and John Smoltz and man now it’s just like yeah yeah it’s a World Series but we’re gonna have a bullpen day no big deal we’ll win it anyway analytics they figured it out everybody throw hard and we’ll throw uh it’s like an all-star game we’ll throw seven guys over the course of nine innings some guys will go two most guys will go one and we’ll just keep switching it up and we’ll blow out everybody’s uh elbow ligaments and we’ll all have Tommy John together and uh we’ll have 15 18 guys on the pitching staff no big deal that’s baseball today they used to have nine players nine or 10 pitchers on staffs everything’s changed show Otani one inning they will uh gradually ramp him up meanwhile it all worked you know they Otani starts it’s a bullpin day and they win 13 to7 yock your Mariners beat the Cubs 14-6 are you actually believing is there some hope Yach belief with the Mariners DJ come on now i know ever since that it’s been 20 years plus since that 116 win season yielded that was 2001 so it’s 24 years now since 116 wins yield bubkus in the postseason they made the postseason a couple years ago which broke that drought but yes they need to prove something to me in the postseason before I really buy in you’re over 500 there’s eight teams over 500 and six of them go to the playoffs so you’re saying there’s a chance there is a chance we got big dumper on our side so I will take that you beat the Cubs two out of three and Cal Raleigh homered four times in three games leads the majors with 31 dingers he’s he’s absolutely crushing the baseball like we’re talking the only guy who’s done this in Mariners history is a guy that they know known as the kid aka Ken Griffy Jr wow look at you just blow right through A-Rod there well no I’m serious like you look at the numbers it’s and he’s passed A-Rod he’s passed A-Rod the Well I mean to be fair A-Rod wasn’t roided up in the Seattle era yeah and that’s the thing and they say like if you that came later if you look at uh Griffy’s 95 through 99 seasons heire hit 29 30 31 and 32 home runs I think before the all-star break and that’s what Cal Raleigh is doing right now crushing it 31 home runs judge has 27 otania has 26 look at Cal he’s Superman you worried about a positive test up there always come on now okay it’s the Mariners’s lot in life to just have something good go for a second and then we can’t have nice things and then it gets torn away from you yeah I know pk always gives us a hard time because we’re so negative about our teams but you know you know why we’re down it’s all the losing history suggests it’s going to I got to look it up i think the Padres’s have four 90 win seasons in 56 years of baseball that’s not good four not not 100 win seasons they’ve never had a 100 win season why do I expect bad things to happen you know if the playoffs started today the Padres’s would miss that would stink right well they’re not in the top six in the West right now the Giants have moved past them they still got We’re Phillies and Mets the Cubs and the Brewers yeah there’s your playoff team we officially hit the halfway mark this week if I If I recall correctly 81 games so Padre’s got to ramp it up not saying they can’t they just got to got to do it well we got to wait for all the deadline deals i mean we’re getting to the point now we’re kind of settled in here and we’ll see okay DJ and PK it’s 975 the zone you are up to speed coming up next your feedback stay with us and it’s all over almost here don’t go nowhere nominate the you sports volunteer you know for the Hercules Hero of the Week submit your nomination at kslports.com/contest listen every Thursday afternoon to JJ and Alex for the winner help us celebrate the efforts of those volunteers making an impact with the Hercules Hero of the Week which is sponsored by Hercules First Federal Credit Union and our friends at Beehive Meals djp Catch 975 The Zone it is time for your feedback everything you think about this show oklahoma City wins the NBA championship is a dynasty on the horizon captain Cody I think it’s time to move on from basketball and focus on football come on Dave 68 days away 68 days is a long time captain Cody captain Cody I’ve been doing radio for many years now and let me tell you time really passes slowly on the radio waiting for football summer flies by meanwhile i mean there’s not enough time to golf there’s not enough time to vacation to go to the beach to go to the lake go to the mountains whatever it is you do there’s not enough time summer flies by it’s my favorite season but then on the radio everything slows down he hit me with the uh Sandlot gift you’re killing me Smalls which is a great line and the actor who played Smalls they’ve come back to town um and they did a thing actually I think it’s a 30-year reunion now but when they I think it was either 20 or 25 and I went out to Smith Ballpark and interviewed him and I asked the actor about that line you’re killing me Smalls and he said uh that line has followed me i mean there’s supposed to be a line between the character and the actor but there isn’t and even though I was a kid and now I’ve grown up and I’m an adult that line still follows me he said that he was in a he was driving and he was in a slide fender bender he was at fault tap the tap the car in front of him pulled over he says it wasn’t uh you know it wasn’t a high-speed fenders flying cars coming apart spin around when that kind of thing you know so but there was contact and you got to pull over and he’s not hit and run guy right pulls over guy gets out of the car in front of him looks right at him he’s feeling bad because he knows it’s his fault you know and he’s glad it wasn’t any worse and he looks at him guy getting out of the car looks at him without missing a beat you’re killing me Smalls minor fender bender and a dude getting out of the car drops a line on him so I just sent him back the late great James Earl Jones with the shades on giggling and laughing love Sandlot drops can’t get enough of the Sandlot gifts well played Captain Cody well played you got to deal with a little more basketball because we’ve got the trades um that are inevitably are going to be around this draft on Wednesday and Thursday now I don’t think there’s much to free agency we get to the new capier stuff can be announced some stuff we’ll know about like the Kevin Durant deal there might be some stuff cooking that we don’t know specifically about but I think uh you know we get to like July 10 to 15 somewhere in there and then then basketball is over and it is on to football and the Big 12 media days are looming out there so it will be football soon enough soon enough other topic this morning how much do you care that the Utah Grizzlies are for sale and may relocate ryan they provided some high-end hockey during the IHL era things went downhill when Tim Mouser left it’d be good if the Mammoth could set their AL fran AHL franchise there you know that would be interesting in the long run uh minor league prices and and major league prices can be different and so there can be room for the two to exist next uh certainly that’s happening in the LA area with two major league baseball teams and the Class A California there and the east side you get out to like Lake Elsenor and places like that man it’s a long haul and big prices when you get there to go to a Dodger Angel game so I think we see that in Denver and Colorado Springs you know they’re not separated by much i don’t know if um the center in West Valley is the perfect place for mining league hockey it might be um will the Olympics in 2034 provide some new facility that would be attractive in Ogden or Provo um you know with all the tech money in Provo it’s a different crowd for minor leagues and major leagues so I I wouldn’t completely rule it out i do think in this case um with the longtime owner passing away and his wife’s health isn’t great so I do think they’re going to get well I’m sure they’re going to get sold and I’m pretty sure they’re going to move i don’t think they would have thrown that out there in a press release um which is essentially what it was it’s modern press release putting everything out on social media but it was a statement from the team yesterday last night and um yeah I suspect they’re gone and Carrie says “I care i care a lot you know there aren’t a lot of people who go to the games but for people who do I get it.” John who okay so John’s not one of those people who go billy I care a lot it’s a fantastic venue and a comparatively cheap family night out it’ll sting to lose them billy I get that i hear you Billy it will um business is business and they’re in a tough spot it will be interesting to see if another minor league team comes back in um we’ve talked so much about the team we haven’t had enough opportunities to talk with Bill about what he thinks about the way the minor league should be configured and obviously when they were in Phoenix it made sense to have the AHL team in Tucson do they keep it there uh does that team end up moving all TBD um Jaden it’s more okay now that the Mammoths are here i get it Jaden you went to that arena you saw that team you got good memories you’d like them to stick around but you’re all on board with the NHL there is no question that celebrity draws and whatever you think of baseball man when Major League Baseball gets here and whatever you thought of the Bees it’s going to be B’s times 100 or times 500 or times a thousand you just can’t add the brand names the celebrities can you imagine what it’s going to be like to get a ticket when Otani comes through town i the Mariners came here and played one game with the Rockies and the place was packed for an exhibition game packed major League brand names matter i mean the Mariners and Rockies aren’t exactly at the top of the brandame power list in Major League Baseball but we were so happy to get it you know the Dodgers are going to sell but I think the Giants are going to pack the place when they show up here rob this is pretty sad i love going to games at the Maverick Center this team is awesome no Ron well it was only time with the mammoths here this is bound to happen yep ron has resigned himself to the inevitable all right DJ PK we got to take a break jake and Ben coming up ben standing right here he’s ready to go jake’s somewhere on a golf course with a club in his hand so Ben’s gonna have to do another segment with me sorry Ben dj and Ben right after the break jake will be here uh when he wraps up 18 when he’s good and ready
The entirety of DJ & PK for June 23, 2025:
HOUR ONE
• Recapping the NBA Finals Game 7
• Scott Garrard, Hans & Scotty G
• BYU Football Media Golf Tournament
HOUR TWO
• What is Trending
• Scott Garrard and Jay Hill, BYU Football
• Utah Grizzlies could be on the move
HOUR THREE
• Steve Cleveland on the NBA Finals
• Ainge family influence on the Utah Jazz and NBA Draft
• Who could the Utah Jazz target in the draft?
HOUR FOUR
• Rob Cuff, UHSAA
• Slacker Radio Headlines
• Feedback of the Day
