The Perimeter: Adam Morrison on Braden Huff's hot start and Gonzaga's win over Yale to start the 2023-24 season
Former Gonzaga All-American Adam Morrison reacts to the Bulldogs' win over Yale in the season opener while sharing his thoughts on Braden Huff and the starting backcourt.
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01:50 Welcome to The Perimeter, season three, week five, presented by McGillivray Environmental.
02:08 Finally got the season started with Brendan, the producer. That was a good atmosphere in there.
02:16 Obviously, you go to the games as well. Yeah, it was a big-time opponent considering for a
02:21 home opener. Normally, it's not a team that went to the NCAA tournament, a team that's won 20-plus
02:28 games. I think it was four of the last six years, a very good club from the Ivy League, but I thought
02:34 it was a lively environment and a quick backstory to why we played him this year. We were supposed
02:40 to play him last year, but we got that Kentucky game. The reason is we probably wanted to play
02:46 him last year with the club that we had. Nothing against this year's guys, but I bet you feel he
02:51 was... They were scared for this game because Yale was good. We saw that in the first probably
02:59 six, seven minutes. It was 16-6, but what was your thoughts on just the atmosphere and the
03:04 excitement? I thought the atmosphere was really, really, really good. The uniforms that they came
03:11 out with out in were just so cool. Those teal jerseys, I actually bought my first ever Gonzaga
03:18 jersey because they were so freaking cool. Sweet. Yeah, it was a cool environment. Yeah, I was a
03:23 little bit nervous at first when they came out to that 10-point lead, but then everything got
03:31 righted and it was a much better second half, second part of the game. Yeah, I thought coming
03:40 out slow was normal for a new club as far as personnel-wise. Yale was good and a lot of teams
03:49 come out super excited and have nothing to lose, that type of atmosphere, and then everything
03:54 regresses back to the mean. But I thought Yale did a good job of just being aggressive. We weren't
03:59 aggressive on the defensive side in that first six, seven, eight minutes, but after that second
04:06 media timeout, we really took control. Now, before we get into the full breakdown of the game,
04:13 we have to talk about Steele Venter's ACL injury that came up the night before or the day before
04:20 after a press release. I think some people were upset in the building because they don't know
04:26 how it came out. It was a little bit scratching our head on who released it, that type of deal.
04:37 That was the story I got. It happened at practice and it wasn't officially released
04:46 from Gonzaga, I don't think, until later. Somebody tweeted it or called somebody,
04:57 which is fine. It's not like it's damning information, but usually if it's something
05:03 like that, they'd like to control who hears it and when, especially a night before a game,
05:09 as messed up as it sounds. You want to not give away. I don't know. You're starting wing.
05:15 It sounded like they didn't know if it was a torn ACL or not. They said it just came out as a
05:20 knee injury and then later they updated it to a torn ACL. Maybe they're just trying to get the
05:26 prognosis. You're right. Maybe I'm over-dramatizing. I was just curious to hear that part.
05:43 Obviously, a big blow for Gonzaga. Big Sky Player of the Year. Had a good year last year for Eastern.
05:52 Can score the basketball, can stretch the floor, three-point threat. You feel bad
05:58 on that aspect. Then obviously the personal side is terrible just because going from Eastern to
06:06 Gonzaga is a big jump. He's from Ellensburg, so he's a Washington kid. He's a local kid.
06:11 Obviously, Gonzaga controls this state as far as hoops goes and they have for 15, 20 years.
06:21 To get that rug pulled out underneath you the day before the season open really sucks.
06:26 Hopefully, everybody will help the kid out and make him feel good about himself and make sure
06:33 that he's doing all right. I tore my ACL my second year in the preseason of my NBA career.
06:38 The hardest part is the first two weeks because
06:42 you're told to let the swelling go down, so you do that obviously. Then
06:49 you feel pretty good a week after. We saw him the other night. He just walked with a limp. He had no
06:55 crutches. You feel like you can move. You just obviously can't go laterally. You're frustrated
07:02 because you're like, "It's really not that big of a deal." Then also the emotional and the mental
07:10 part of it's really tough because you don't know where your career is going, how you're going to
07:14 recover. Obviously, the science is way better, but still your body reacts different to each.
07:19 Then you got to start talking about, "Well, do I do a patilla or do I do a cadaver or do I do
07:25 hamstring for the replacement?" You start asking questions that as a young man, you're like, "What?"
07:31 You know what I mean? Health questions that you never really even thought about.
07:34 Then you start hearing the stories because people are going to talk to you about it because a lot
07:41 of people have done it. It really hurts right after you have the surgery. Then you do the CPM
07:48 machine, the constant progressive machine where you put your knee and you lay in bed and it moves
07:53 it the whole night, but you can't turn your body. It's to break up the scar tissue. It's terrible,
08:01 man. It sucks. When I did mine, it was, "Give me every morphine you got." You know what I mean?
08:09 It hurts, man. It just plain up. Then you go on and break up the scar tissue and they just take
08:15 your thumb. Yeah. This massage the hell out of it, deep tissue massage.
08:18 But just right on the scar and they have to. Yeah. It's not fun. Obviously, I'm not saying
08:26 anything that's profound, but when people have never done it, it hurts worse than you think.
08:31 Then like I said, for a young man, just with excitement about moving to Gonzaga and all that
08:37 stuff, it's just a bummer. Hopefully, they can pick him up and he'll make a full recovery. He
08:42 should get an extra year or so then he'll still have two after this because he's going to help us
08:48 when he comes back next year of spacing the floor. He's longer than he looks, can make shots.
08:54 That was a big time blow, but the silver lining of it is it gives Dusty Stromer full carte blanche
09:02 to start, which I think is not a bad thing as well. High-level recruit, we've already talked
09:07 about him. I thought he looked impressive in the Yale game. I think he was two for four at eight
09:13 points, but he's going to be the type of kid that just makes a lot of plays with his athleticism and
09:23 they won't always show up on the stat sheet. Then he'll get an opportunity to not have to look over
09:32 his shoulder. That's easier to do as a young player. That's the silver lining of it. Again,
09:40 hopefully, if anybody knows Steele or whatever, reach out to him, make sure he's doing all right.
09:44 It's not a fun time. I've done it. Like I said, it's the two weeks after sucks because you're
09:48 just waiting for surgery and it's not a good time. The Perimeter will be right back after
09:55 a word from our sponsor. Our family is all over the place sometimes, but ICCU helps us keep up
10:03 with them. We use card control to turn on Olive's debit card when she needs to pay for activities.
10:08 And turn it off when she's shopping online. We make sure Forrest is depositing his lawn mowing
10:12 checks into his college fund. And we definitely make sure to ask Grandma Ivy where all those
10:17 Zell transfers come from. Phew, that was a lot of keeping up. You ready for a break?
10:22 But getting back to the game, like I said, Yale started out 16 to 6, looked good and made some
10:32 shots. We got a little bit stagnant offensively. Then we go into that second media timeout and
10:39 then finally start making a run, start making a push. I thought Graham did okay early. I thought
10:47 Yale's plan against him was fantastic every time he, because he's a back down, dribble, dribble,
10:52 back down. They just sat on him as far as the help side defender or on the top side. So he
10:58 really got bottled up. He didn't have space and made him uncomfortable. So they did a really good
11:03 job, especially in the first half of making him not productive as he could be. He ended up the
11:11 game 4-6, 3-4 from the free throw line, 3 rebounds, 11 points. Blowing play 19 minutes,
11:19 got in foul trouble as well. So I'll be curious as the year progresses of how teams defend him,
11:25 because they show that that is a pretty good strategy to kind of slow him down because
11:31 he is a body bump, body bump, body bump, spin off, contact, and then go to work. Well,
11:38 you can sit on that. Now to counter that, he needs to get lower touches and more angles and just go
11:45 up early with a move. But I thought Yale did a good job of taking him kind of away. He had a
11:53 great L.C. State game, so they kind of obviously watched the tape. I guarantee they watched Wyoming
11:57 tape from years before, a couple years before, and seen how to defend him. Anton played fantastic,
12:06 3-4, 5-8 from the free throw line, 12 rebounds, 11 points, plus 13,
12:12 two assists, two steals, typical. That's what he is. And Huddie and I brought it up, and
12:22 I'll bring it onto this show, like talking about lineups with Dusty. So you go, "Okay, who's going
12:28 to be Dusty's backup now since he was quote-unquote probably going to be steals backup,
12:33 but they probably would have played about the same minutes?" Now Dusty's going to get a majority
12:38 of that, but somebody's got to substitute for him at that three spot. So Huddie floated having
12:44 Anton play the three a little bit and playing big with either Graham, Braden, or Ben Greig inside.
12:52 And I kind of see it, but I don't see how it's productive for Anton's game. And this is not a
12:59 knock on his ability to shoot the ball and stuff like that, but I just don't think he's good at the
13:04 perimeter. He's more better around the basket. So I don't like that idea. You could do it in
13:09 stretches, but I don't think it's a long-term plan or something where you steal five minutes a game
13:13 for doing it. I like keeping him around the basket because he's just more productive that way.
13:21 He figures out ways to score and be, you know. I like having either June or Luca be Dusty's
13:31 substitute. June got a quick run, took an early shot. I thought her first one was a good one.
13:38 The second one was not a good one. Got chewed up by Coach Fu. And rightfully so. Yeah. Like the
13:43 first one was an okay one because it was a driving kick. And okay, even though you just checked in
13:49 the game, it's kind of one of those deals that just happens. Like the ball came to you, it's like,
13:52 "Oh God, I got to shoot because it's the right basketball play." But the second one was a force.
13:56 That ain't going to fly with Coach Fu. You better make that one. And you better make the next one
14:02 after that, especially as a young newcomer that hasn't proved yourself at all. That didn't fly.
14:09 So when he shot that, we were obviously right next to Coach Fu and the radio broadcasts were
14:16 10 feet away. So I can usually kind of hear and read his lips pretty good. And
14:20 he was not very happy. It was the things he was saying. And then he like, he cussed under his
14:26 breath and he was, you know, cussing June out before he talked to him. And then when he got
14:32 to him, he toned it down. But he was like, "That isn't," he literally was like, "That's not your
14:36 shot." And he didn't play again. Now then, Kronovich, right? Is that how you say it?
14:42 Yeah, I think that's how you say it.
14:43 Okay, I'm going to keep messing that up. But Luca, I'm just going to call him Luca. I don't care.
14:46 Only got a small stretch as well. So I'll be curious to see who plays that backup role at
14:54 the perimeter position. But I wouldn't be surprised if Fuey just figures out how to go
15:02 the two guards, Dusty, and then whoever for like a small stretch and just play those guys.
15:12 Look at the minutes for the backcourt. 38 and 40, right?
15:17 Yeah. I mean, Ryan Nimdihar did not—
15:21 Three seconds.
15:21 He came off the court for three seconds.
15:23 Three seconds at the end of the first half. And then Nolan played 38 and a half. So I mean,
15:29 I think Fuey's, we talked about, it's funny, we talked about all, you know, in the preview show
15:36 and then on the broadcast, "It's going to be one of the deepest teams and he's going to play a ton
15:40 of guys and probably only going to play seven or eight." Right? And he's going to figure that out
15:46 and those two guards are going to play a ton. Dusty's going to, I mean, Dusty played 28 minutes
15:50 in his opener. He's going to figure out how to keep him on the floor. He's going to score more
15:55 as well. So yeah, that's one of the remaining question marks, you know, as the season progresses
16:04 is who plays that backup role. And to me, it's Luka or June. And I think Luka would be my choice
16:10 just because I think he's 6'4", he's big enough, he's another ball handler.
16:14 He's played professionally overseas. I think he's just more ready for the moment.
16:20 So I would like to see that, but obviously Coach Fuey knows what he's doing. I just don't think
16:27 June's ready for it. I just don't. It doesn't mean he can't get there. I just don't think he's—
16:32 like Rui when he first came over, he's like super talented. Got the body, got the size,
16:37 all that stuff. Just not ready. Yeah, this kind of looks lost out there. Just lost. Yeah, exactly.
16:42 And that's not a knock, but it's just like, "Oh, you need a year," which is fine. There's nothing
16:47 wrong with that. So, you know, talking about our backcourt, you know, Nemhard goes 7 of 17 for 16,
16:55 7 assists, 1 turnover. Nolan Hickman, 7 of 18, 1 for 8 for 3, obviously not great. 3 assists,
17:03 1 turnover. Here's the greatest stat is 10 assists, 2 turnovers, 5 to 1. Obviously,
17:08 that's fantastic for your backcourt. Especially Ryan. Ryan started, I think, 1 for 6. Didn't
17:13 he have an air ball too? Yeah, he was 1 for 6, had an air ball. It's like, "Ooh." But
17:19 obviously turned it around, finished 7 of 17. What I like about his game so much,
17:24 it's not just the scoring. Obviously, he can score, but he's always disorganizing the defense.
17:29 He's always pushing the pace. He's always flattening the defense. And that's just so
17:33 valuable. It's just like constant push, push, push, push. That's going to help us, especially
17:38 with a team that's not as dynamic offensively than we were last year or the year before. And
17:43 that's not a knock, but that's just the truth. Him being able to do that's going to make it
17:48 easier for guys to score. So I was really impressed by his line from a floor game standpoint.
17:54 7 assists is fantastic. I can live with him going 7 of 17. Obviously, he'll clean that up,
17:59 but that I'll never... If you're doing those other things as a point guard,
18:03 me personally, I can overlook them because it has so much value than just putting a ball in
18:12 the basket. You're getting other guys involved. You're creating foul pressure. Like I said,
18:16 you're flattening the defense. You're forcing tags and rolls and then late closeouts. All that
18:21 stuff matters. So I was really impressed. It was a good opener for him. He's just like his brother,
18:28 I think, a little bit faster actually than Andrew. He's not as tall. It's weird watching
18:33 him on the court because he looks just like... I know, they have the same mannerisms too. When
18:37 they come off the screens, they do the same. It's the same. It's like, "Jeez." It's kind of funny.
18:44 And then I thought Nolan played fantastic. The 3 assists, 1 turner was good. 7 of 18 is not the
18:51 greatest, but it's not the end of the world. 1 for 8, obviously you want to bury that,
18:56 but I think he's going to replace Steele as kind of our 3-point shooting threat
19:00 from the perimeter standpoint. Now everybody just listening is like, "He went 1 for 8. I think he
19:05 has a good enough stroke and he's shown it in the past that he can make shots." I think he just
19:10 didn't make them the other night. You know what I mean? That happens. But we need somebody to be
19:15 able to space the floor, especially like I said, if teams are defending Graham in the way that they
19:20 did where they're sinking down with help defenders, kickouts and drive-bys are going to be
19:25 more prevalent. And you need somebody to have a 3-point threat so you can take that away
19:32 or punish defenses that do that. So I was pleased with his game. That's the biggest thing. One of
19:39 the biggest things I was looking for early and it's going to continue is how those two play
19:43 together. And I thought they did a good job of playing well together. Like I said, 10 assists,
19:46 only two turnovers, 5-1 is fantastic. Only 13 assists as a team though. We like to see that in
19:53 the 15-pluses, you know, 18s. But I think the player of the game and he keeps getting better
20:01 and better is Braden Huff, man. Just fantastic. And just 7-10, 19 points. How many rebounds does
20:09 he have? 9. And he only played 20 minutes. 3 of 3 from the free throw line. Plus 16. I mean,
20:17 I think he has the most skill of all the bigs. I know it's super early, but I think he's more
20:25 skilled than Graham. It's not a bad thing, but Graham's stronger and more of a post-up player,
20:29 which you need. But I think Braden has better touch. I think Braden has better feet.
20:39 I think Graham's a better defender, a better leaper. And I don't even know why I went to a
20:45 comparison. They're both on the same team. But I think Braden gives us a three-point threat on
20:50 the pick and pop that is so valuable in today's game, especially with our wave action and the
20:56 spacing that we do and the dribble handoffs and the ball screen stuff. You got to have that. So
21:01 you take away tags and overhelping. It punishes that. Or you can bring their bigs away from
21:08 the basket. I think he looks great. Every time I see him, he looks fantastic. I mean,
21:13 he was great in craziness. And you always kind of roll your eyes at him. Cool, man.
21:17 In the first game, you're like, all right. I know it's NAIA, but you're still got to go out there
21:23 and do it. And then obviously, the season opener. So I will be curious as the year progresses,
21:29 if he's still productive, how many minutes he's going to get. Because I think he needs to play
21:35 more than 20. But obviously, Coach Fuchs knows what he's doing. But I think he needs to be in
21:40 the 25s. 25 to 28. So really impressed. Gonzaga did a good job, like I said, of that 16-6,
21:50 getting to a five-point lead at half, which I thought was completely normal
21:54 for that type of game. And I think, honestly, it's going to be a little bit like last year.
22:03 Obviously, we go to the lead eight, but we had some ups and downs. But I thought last year was
22:07 one of the more fun years for me to call because I didn't fall asleep at half the games. I mean,
22:12 as a fan, it's more fun. I don't care what anybody says. I love when we were dominant. But also,
22:19 half the games were like, I want to stab my eyes out because it's a 40-point game.
22:24 Right? Let's just be honest. And some people might think that's, why wouldn't you want your
22:29 team to be dominant? That's not what I'm saying. But from a pure just basketball stance, like,
22:33 oh my God, it's like watching a girls' AAU game where girls' AAU, there's a big discrepancy
22:39 between the good and the not good. And sometimes there's some 40s and 50s. And I've been on both
22:44 sides of them many times, both ways. And that's what it feels like. You're like, oh my God.
22:49 So I was pleased with the first half. I thought we did a good job of settling down,
22:56 but I wasn't surprised being only up five. And I make that sound like it was a failure.
23:01 But I just really liked how we came out in the second half with more increased energy.
23:07 Defensively, we incorporated the 30 press a little bit, which is our 1-2-2. And I think,
23:17 like I said earlier, it kind of, everything regressed to the mean and our talent and
23:24 superior skill and home court advantage took over and we ended up winning by 15. But
23:27 that Yale team's good. And honestly, didn't they look the part?
23:31 Yeah, they did.
23:32 You know what I'm saying? Solid players all around, 6'4" on the wing, 2-6-4 kids. The Mahoney
23:39 lefty kid was good. The Paulakidis or whatever his name was good. The Wolf guy, the big seven-footer
23:44 moved better than I thought. He got in foul trouble, but he looked all right. The big kid
23:49 off the bench, Towson, that looked like a football player, was more skilled. It's like,
23:53 "Dude, they're going to win 20 games and they might win the Ivy League again." That was a good
23:58 home opener win. I know people might be rolling their eyes, but from a true basketball standpoint,
24:04 not even trying to hype up Gonzaga basketball, that's a good solid win to start the year
24:08 because we've played some really bad teams in the past.
24:12 There was some weird stat, and maybe you guys talked about this on the radio. I didn't hear it.
24:18 This was our first opener against a top 150 Ken Palm team since 2003. I know Ken Palm didn't exist
24:27 back then. RPI. RPI. Yeah, but it was our first opener against someone ranked in the top 150.
24:33 That makes sense. When we did that, it was St. Joe's in New York.
24:39 In 2003. Yeah.
24:40 It makes sense. They're a good basketball team. Then, like I said, they looked the part. They
24:46 looked like if you saw them in... We always call it the airport team. If you saw them in the airport,
24:52 you'd be like, "Oh, that's a basketball team." You know what I'm saying? They looked the part.
24:55 I thought it was a great win for us. I'm glad we got one of those where we had a shaky start and we
25:03 had to have guys step up. Then the crowd was fantastic. That's more fun. It was a good solid
25:08 win. Eastern Oregon is tonight, right? Yeah. I'm not even going to talk about that. I'm wasting our
25:16 time. Is it a non-encompassing... It counts. It's not an exhibition? Okay. No, it counts.
25:21 Because I couldn't find it on... ESPN doesn't even list it on their app. I don't think you could
25:26 have even bet on it or anything if you wanted to. I'm not even going to talk about it. Hopefully,
25:31 our guys stay healthy and we get off the court. It's just kind of a tune-up for
25:35 Maui. All in all, really impressive Brayden Huff. Backcourt played fantastic. I thought Graham
25:43 looked okay, but I think he's going to have to change his game just a hair or get deeper touches
25:50 because teams are going to understand that he's a really good two-dribble body bump in the post.
25:55 We're coming with help. Then obviously, the steel injury is going to make it interesting for some
26:04 of the perimeter spots, but I think Dusty will handle that well. All in all, I was pleased with
26:10 the atmosphere. I know I've talked about it in years past, episodes past. Sometimes, it's not
26:14 great in there, just being honest. It gets dead and that's not a knock on the fans. Sometimes,
26:19 the opponents are just not great and it's a blowout and you can hear a pin drop. It's just
26:24 like, "Oh my God." I thought a lot of boxes were checked and I'm looking forward to Maui coming up
26:32 and we'll preview that in the next episode. The perimeter will be right back after a word
26:36 from our sponsor. Hey, Hunter Green. Did you know that card control from ICCU lets you turn off your
26:42 cards with just the tap of a button? Off, on. Trying to pay our bills. On.
26:48 You got a listener question? Yeah, I got a couple of listener questions.
26:57 First one comes from Zag Cruz. "Can Nimhard and Hickman continue to play 39 plus minutes a game?"
27:05 It's not ideal, but I have in the past. I played 40 almost. I probably played 38 a night. It's
27:14 doable. Let's try to think in years previous, who's probably played a ton. Nigel probably
27:21 played that many. Josh Perkins probably did in that run. I bet you Rui and BC were around that,
27:30 35s. From the big spot, that's a lot for Gonzaga. Usually it's 28 to 32. It's not ideal and I get
27:40 where they're coming from, but also I think that's what you got and you just got to hope
27:47 they don't get injured. I was looking at the roster. When people ask me that, I need their
27:56 context to the question. Do they mean they're going to get tired during the games or they're
28:02 going to get wore down throughout the season? Is that what you're... You know what I'm saying?
28:08 I think it's a little bit of both. No, I don't think they'll ever get tired during a game.
28:12 There's literally a bazillion TV timeouts. They're every four minutes, four and a half or whatever,
28:18 five. They're two minutes long, so you never get tired. Does that minute wear on you as the season
28:26 progresses? In theory, yes, but Coach Pugh, and I've seen it with my own eyes, he's not old school
28:31 like some of these other guys. He stopped with us. He was, "Come on, you got to practice." He lets
28:36 guys rest. They really do a good job of understanding science and data on sleep and all
28:43 that stuff. Sometimes our morning breakfast on the road will be at 11.30 in the morning.
28:49 Really?
28:50 Because they let guys...
28:50 Sleep in, yeah.
28:52 Yeah, they let guys sleep in, and then they have shoot around. But you know what I'm saying?
28:55 It's not like they're letting guys be lazy, but they understand the science. Guys need
29:00 10 hours or eight to 10 is a significant increase in whatever.
29:05 So I don't think it's an issue, but it's not a bad concern, if that makes sense. It's a logical
29:15 concern because that is a lot of minutes, and obviously it's early, but I think both those
29:20 guys are obviously in great condition, and FUE will stay off their legs during the season during
29:26 practice week.
29:27 I don't even see anyone on the roster that really would come in for them.
29:33 I think Luka could be the guy.
29:35 Luka, okay.
29:35 I think Luka really is going to be the one that, if he doesn't play this year,
29:40 is going to be the one that is kind of getting the shaft. I think he's going to find minutes.
29:46 I just think he's good enough. And so maybe in some of the games, especially during conference
29:58 when we're trying to limit minutes, maybe you have him as a sub for Nolan or Ryan or both,
30:04 and you just scale their minutes back to 35 and you give him those eight to 10 each or total,
30:12 and that's not a bad strategy either. I just think Luka's ready to play, and I think he's
30:17 going to come in and do something stupid. Now, is he going to light the world on fire? I'm not
30:21 saying that, but you can put him in a ball screen action and he's going to throw a pocket pass,
30:27 or he's going to swing it, or he's going to shoot it if he's open, but he's probably not
30:30 going to shoot it unless he's into the game. You know what I'm saying? So he's going to do what
30:34 you want, and that's what you need in a third point guard. So yeah, but from Zag Cruz, that's
30:41 a really good question because it is a legitimate thought and concern because those are heavy
30:51 minutes.
30:54 Second question from Zag1fan. Should we be worried about Ben Gregg hitting the portal
31:02 after not starting this year?
31:03 Really good question. No, maybe. I don't know, man. That's a stumper right there. I don't know.
31:12 See here, the reason I say that is because I don't know. Ben's a nice kid. I've been around him. I've
31:18 seen his dad. His dad's a really nice guy too as well. I've talked to his dad a couple times running
31:22 into him in the airport and had a beer with him one time in Vegas randomly.
31:26 Dad's also a coach. So he has a coach dad telling him this is what's happening.
31:33 Yeah. I think maybe. That's a really good question. I think Ben likes it here. I think he's
31:40 doing a podcast. I'll give him a little free plug. So I think there's NIL possibilities. That's why
31:47 I mentioned it. So I think he's well liked around the school. He played 16 minutes. It's not
31:55 terrible. He had six points. He gets involved when he's in there. He's not just like a ball swing.
32:01 They run pick and pop stuff for him. But that is a legitimate concern. So I'm going to plead the
32:09 fifth because I don't know for sure. But that's another, like the previous question, that's a
32:14 logical thought process and something to think about where I would like to come to that question
32:22 halfway through the season and where we can see his minutes. Yeah, for sure. Because if he's
32:27 playing like 10, yeah. But if he's playing 18 to 23, then probably not. And you're winning and
32:35 you know what I'm saying? And you're involved. Like that's still a pretty good deal and still
32:38 good to be on Gonzaga National Brand and you're winning and people care. Like you can go to some
32:43 of these other programs and they act like they care. They don't really, you know, the seats,
32:46 the arenas aren't filled and it's a football school and people really don't care. Like that's
32:51 a real thing too. Like we can't discount, it's not always just about, you know, minutes played.
32:57 It's like, well, do you like your teammates? Do you like the atmosphere? Is it where, you know,
33:03 the Northwest is where he's from. Do you want to move? You know what I'm saying? Your parents can
33:07 come to the games or they can fly up. It's a hundred dollar ticket from Portland or whatever.
33:13 You know what I'm saying? So I don't know. That's a really good question, but I think we need more
33:17 data and context to answer that in my opinion. I think there's, I mean, he's not going to break
33:23 into the starting lineup in my opinion, but he's definitely going to get his minutes. Well,
33:28 I think what they're alluding to is not, yeah, not starting, but not playing like heavy minutes.
33:33 Right. But yeah, it's a talented roster.
33:38 It is exactly. It is. And you know, we've had guys transfer. I mean, Dom Harris had 23 against,
33:46 I think 23 or 21 against Yale in a losing effort for LMU. Talking about transfers and I thought,
33:52 and I see Hunter Silas had a good game too, like 27 or something like that for Wake Forest. So
33:59 good for those kids. You know, it's a real thing. Thanks for joining me on the perimeter. Thank you
34:04 to our sponsors, McGilvary Environmental, Idaho Central Credit Union, and HDG Architecture.
34:11 Next episode, we'll be talking about Maui. Thanks for listening.
34:18 [Music]