1. WHICH TOP 25 TEAM IS PRIMED TO BE BEATEN?

Butler.

The Bulldogs host Charlotte, and will be playing without starting center Andrew Smith, who will miss both of his team’s games this week due to an abdominal injury.

If you haven’t seen the 49ers, you’ve missed out on one of the more physical teams in college basketball.

Charlotte isn’t great offensively, but Alan Major has built his program into a watered down version of Leonard Hamilton’s vintage Florida State teams.

The 49ers are big, strong and physically imposing.

Butler will be in a war on Wednesday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

2. CAN NORTH CAROLINA BE COMPETITIVE AT DUKE?

Maybe for a half, but there’s just something missing with this group of Tar Heels.

College basketball’s elite rivalry will bring out the best in North Carolina for the first 20 minutes, but we can’t see Roy Williams’ team staying close with the Blue Devils for an entire game.

Duke was fortunate to escape with a win against Boston College on Sunday and should be ready to roll on their home floor.

Look for big games from Mason Plumlee and Seth Curry as the Blue Devils try to hold down the fort until Ryan Kelly returns.

3. WILL MIAMI CONTINUE TO ROLL AT FLORIDA STATE?

We think so.

The Hurricanes are perfect in ACC play while the Seminoles have been one of the season’s biggest disappointments.

Florida State has more perimeter talent than they did a season ago when they won the conference, but that doesn’t mean they know how to play together cohesively.

Miami should continue to roll against their in-state rivals, and Jim Larranaga should start to emerge in the next week or so as the favorite for National Coach of the Year.

4. IS UCONN CAPABLE OF HOLDING THEIR OWN ON THE BOARDS AGAINST SYRACUSE?

It all depends on DeAndre Daniels.

The Huskies’ talented sophomore has been the X-Factor all season long for Kevin Ollie’s team, and he’ll need to rebound at a high level if UConn is to have a chance to stay close against the Orange.

It will also be interesting to see how the Huskies’ smaller backcourt of Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright does physically against the bigger, stronger perimeter tandem of Brandon Triche and Michael Carter-Williams.

5. HOW WILL SAN DIEGO STATE HANDLE COLORADO STATE’S SIZE?

It’s a fascinating contrast in styles, isn’t it?

The Rams are big, tough and grizzled, while the Aztecs have speed, agility and unbelievable athleticism.

San Diego State will need a big effort on the boards from both DeShawn Stephens and Skylar Spencer to hang with Colorado State in Fort Collins.

This will also mark the second game back for Aztecs point guard Xavier Thames, who continues to deal with a nagging back injury.

If you’ve enjoyed the Mountain West Conference, you’ll love this game. Tip off is at 10 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network.

Can North Carolina take down the Blue Devils tonight? Sound off with your thoughts and comments on Wednesday night’s games below…

“There’s no greater rivalry in college sports than Duke and North Carolina.” Dick Vitale said that many years ago and I totally agree with him. I can honestly think of dozens of times that they’ve played and I felt that way. One of them is always in the national championship hunt, and more than half of the time both are. And nine times out of ten you truly don’t know who will win. But not tomorrow night.

Before I get to why I give North Carolina no chance, I want to reinforce a few more things about this rivalry. If you’re standing inside the Smith Center, here’s how you get to Cameron Indoor Stadium: walk outside and turn right on Manning Drive. Take a left on Hwy 15-501 North. Take a right on Cornwalis Rd. Take a left on Science Drive. Take a right on Whitford Drive. Pull up to Cameron Indoor Stadium and get out. Those directions alone already give the rivalry an incredible advantage over all others. No other rivals can compete with that kind of proximity.

Battleground Map: Who Wins The UNC-Duke Rivalry Game?

I’ve been to more than 20 Duke-North Carolina games, but my very first is still the best. One of my best friends, David Perry, was a student at Duke in 1998. Somehow he managed to get me a student ticket for Duke’s against the Tar Heels on Senior Day. I sat and watched Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison blow a 19 point lead with 9 minutes to go against Wojo and Co during their final game in Cameron. Duke won 77-75 and the emotion in that building was like nothing I have ever seen.

My second favorite happened seven years later, and is the best example of why the Dean Dome is not a “wine and cheese crowd.” Duke had a 9 point lead with just over 2 minutes remaining in the game, but Sean May had the game of his life to lead the comeback. May ended the game with 26 points and 24 rebounds, but it was Marvin Williams’ putback that everyone will remember. In fact, the late great Chapel Hill writer, Eddy Landreth, said this as we were walking into the media room: “I’ve been to every important game in this building and that was by far the loudest.”

Best Moments From The UNC & Duke Basketball Rivalry

Again, stories like that are why this game can’t be touched in college sports. Unfortunately, I do not anticipate tomorrow night being another example. This Tar Heel team doesn’t know how to handle adversity on the road, they struggle to guard the perimeter, and look totally lost in their halfcourt offense. Most importantly, they don’t seem to be an extension of their head coach. Unless Duke misses a lot of open looks, and the Heels have their best outside shooting performance of the season, I expect it to be one of the few mismatches we’ve seen in recent memory.

But this rivalry can witshtand a few of those, as there’s sure to be more games like “Wojo Senior Day,” “Bloody Montross,” “The Punch,” “Doherty vs Buckner,” “Doherty vs Dawkins,” “Marvin’s Putback,” and “Rivers at the buzzer.” I could go on and on and on. Dick Vitale is right.

TZ
twitter.com/taylorZradio
taylorz@wfnz.com

Given the fact that Roy has done so much for Carolina Basketball, many fans (myself included) have a lot of faith in his abilities as a coach.  It is a known fact that his teams go in cycles and with four players from last year’s team leaving for the NBA, the Heels’ preseason ranking of 11 was very generous.  However, by no means does this year’s team lack talent and many fans are frustrated with where UNC (16-7, 6-4 ACC) is currently sitting.  Weeks ago I said that some changes need to be made to the starting five and now many Carolina fans are beginning to share that sentiment.  With the current starting lineup, UNC is getting behind early and they never really recover.  It’s difficult to play from behind and I feel like these changes would help the Heels get out to a much better start.

Keep JMM

I know this seems obvious, but I just want to address something that I mentioned in my previous UNC article.  When I wrote the other article a few weeks ago, I made the crazy suggestion to take James Michael McAdoo out of the starting five for at least one game.  Although he still isn’t quite playing up to his potential, he is steadily improving with every game and it wouldn’t make sense to not start him.

Start someone else at center

Desmond Hubert needs to be benched.  He is a good defensive player (1 bpg), but he doesn’t do much on the offensive side of the ball (1.4 ppg).  Instead of Hubert, start Brice Johnson in his place.  Johnson is averaging just .9 minutes more than Hubert, yet he pulls down 2.1 more rebounds a games and scores 5.9 more points a game than Hubert.  Not to mention the fact that Johnson is one of the most efficient shooters on the team, shooting almost 55% from the field.  The one knock on Johnson is that he lacks the bulk of a typical post player, but he is a great contributor nonetheless.

Side note: It might be very beneficial to give Joel James a lot of minutes against Duke on Wednesday.  Although he’s still very raw, his size can’t be ignored.  Having him and McAdoo down low could be the best way to slow down Mason Plumlee.

For the love of God, please start PJ Hairston.  We’re begging you

And I’m not the only one that thinks so:

Quick twitter poll: RT if you think PJ should start, Favorite if you think we keep the starting five.—
UNC Memes (@UNCMemes) February 09, 2013

There is NO REASON IN HELL that PJ Hairston should not start.—
Benjamin Williams (@NCBenWilliams) February 09, 2013

Roy Williams is the only person in America who doesn't think PJ Hairston should start—
Matt Chapman (@based_MC) February 09, 2013

Would it kill you to start him Roy?  Probably not, but maybe you see something that the rest of us don’t.

RoyW on his starting 5: "Well, they’re the five best… Period. The end. There’s no question they’ve won the job in practice." #UNC—
  (@InsideCarolina) February 11, 2013

Either way, it just doesn’t make sense to have PJ come off the bench.  We’re talking about a guy that made his first FOUR three pointers against Virginia Tech and has scored 18+ points in five games this season.  Can you imagine if he came out against Duke and made just a couple three pointers in the first few minutes?  That wouldn’t silence the crowd, but it sure as hell would give Carolina some momentum.  Momentum is the key word there because the only way UNC will have a chance to leave Durham with a win on Wednesday will be if they get out to a strong start.  Dexter Strickland is a good player, but his strength is slashing inside and he’s shooting an abysmal 20% from behind the arc.  Hairston can score inside and he’s one of the Heels’ best perimeter shooters.  I understand that PJ provides a spark off the bench, but he is too good of a player to not have in the starting five.

Play better perimeter defense

This is an obvious point, but it needs to be said.  Miami embarrassed Carolina from behind the arc, going 15-26, and it seemed like they couldn’t miss at times.  Duke shoots the three very well and UNC had to clamp down on the perimeter in order to win.  It helps that Ryan Kelly is still out, but the Heels’ porous perimeter defense has been killing them all season.

I am just another fan and I don’t pretend to have as high a basketball IQ as Roy Williams.  However some of these lineup changes, particularly starting PJ, seem a bit obvious at this point.  Roy is stubbornly standing by the current starters, but after a 26 point loss to Miami it is painfully obvious that the talent on UNC’s roster is being underutilized.

Yahoo –

O the life of a mid major basketball player.  You think its all good: free education, celebrity statues on a small campus, and setting yourself up for a life of traveling and banging broads across Europe.  Then something like this happens and you remember that you don’t really matter in life.  No chance in hell this happens to a real basketball school.  Here’s a rundown of what would happen at a traditional power:

North Carolina – Upon hearing their team was in a hotel with no power or water, a herd of tobacco farmers would hop in trucks with tubs of pasta (you got to carbo load before a big game), probably a shit ton of All Sport, and warm water for showers.  Only the best for Roy Williams and crew.

Kansas – If one light bulb goes out, Bill Self probably sends out the Bat Signal to Jayhawk alums.  Seeing as they love their basketball squad, Jayhawk fans are happy to hop on their tractors and brave the Rocky Mountains to bring their favorite team provisions.

Duke – Mikey the Rat stayed at Duke for this scenario and this scenario alone.  Broken generators ain’t shit for this group of nerds.  First mention of generator problems and the nerds go into their nerdery to build a machine capable of transporting everything necessary to the team’s survival.  Here’s the kicker though once this machine has landed they turn it into a generator that powers the entire city.  Say what you want about these cockbags who hate dead grandmas as much as they love basketball, their smart as shit and and can build such a device, they have the technology.

Miami (FL) – Sure they are not a traditional basketball power, but you know if Nevin Shapiro heard about a power outage where the team was staying he would be there with bells on.  You know who else would be wearing bells, the strippers he brought with to keep HIS players warm.  They’d show up and do the hottest Jingle Bell Rock since Mean Girls.

Early in the rivalry the two schools were fairly evenly matched, until 1930 Kansas was 31-27, but during the 30′s and 40′s they opened up a substantial gap.  The Kansas schools had incredible talent (KU had Wilt, and KSU had Bob Boozer – okay maybe not comparable talent but both had big bodies)  in the 1950′s and were the premier basketball programs in the country. in the 1960′s and 70′s Kansas as a program stumbled and the majority of the Wildcats wins came during this timespan. Yet saw a resurgance with the likes of Larry Brown, Roy Williams in the the 80′s and 90′s. The 2000′s have marked the return of the rivalry in the sense that both teams are now again at a high level.

So we tip this rivalry week off with a beauty. A battle between two top 15 ranked teams, fighting for the regular season Big 12 title.

When the two teams met earlier this year in Little Manhattan, the Jayhawks emerged victories 59-55 but a lot has changed in the last 3 weeks:

What adds even more interest to this game is that Kansas has lost 3 straight, and seem to have hit a wall. Bill Self has called his team an embarrassment and the worst team to have ever worn the Kansas uniform. Will they be able to bounce back and end the losing streak.

On the flip side, K-State under first year head coach Bruce Webber has done a terrific job, because as it stands right now the Wildcats have a one game lead in the Big 12 title race, the have zero bad loses and have beaten everyone they are supposed to have. They need a win over a big name team before I am willing to say that they Wildcats are ready for the top 10, but Monday night could be there night.

So Big Blue or the Purple Machine in the Sunflower Showdown

With the Heat stars watching from the front row, the eighth-ranked Hurricanes put on another show at home, making a school record-tying 15 3-pointers and extending their winning streak to 11 games by beating North Carolina 87-61.

Sophomore Shane Larkin had 18 points and a career-high nine assists for the Atlantic Coast Conference leaders, who built margins of 9-0 and 44-27 en route to another rout. They improved to 11-0 at home, where each of the past four wins have been by at least 22 points.

“It’s crazy — I see how great of a team we can be,” Miami guard Durand Scott said. “We’re just rolling.”

Such success is unprecedented for the Hurricanes (19-3, 10-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who set a school record for ACC victories in a season with eight games still to go. They are the last unbeaten team in league play among the major conferences.

North Carolina (16-7, 6-4), which began the season 18-2 against the Hurricanes, lost to them for the second time in four weeks.

“Everybody from North Carolina always thinks it’s just about North Carolina,” Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said. “It’s not. Miami is pretty dadgum good.”

Word is spreading, and the attendance-challenged Hurricanes drew a sellout crowd for the third in the past four home games. James and Wade, accompanied by teammate James Jones, were on their feet several times to join the cheers.

“It was definitely a fun thing to have them come to a game,” Larkin said. “It’s a great feeling knowing people at that level are realizing what you’re doing.”

Coach Jim Larranaga said he received a phone call early in the week requesting tickets for the Heat players.

“I told them, ‘Sorry, it’s sold out.’ But then we said, ‘We think we can fit you in.’ For our recruiting purposes, it gives us a lot of credibility when we tell them we’re a hot ticket in town and our program is headed in the right direction,” he said.

Another climb in the polls for the Hurricanes is likely next week, which would mean their best ranking ever. They have never been higher than No. 8, and achieved that spot this week for the first time in 53 years.

Players have begun fielding questions about prospect of being ranked No. 1.

“That would be lovely,” Scott said, “but that’s not going to change our focus or determination.”

Their aim was true Saturday. The Hurricanes made 13 of their first 19 3-point tries and finished 15 for 26 from beyond the arc.

“All of a sudden they started making every shot,” Williams said. “A lot of teams couldn’t stand out there with no defense on the court and make 15 out of 26.”

Larkin tied a career high with five 3-pointers in eight attempts, including one when tightly guarded by Marcus Paige.

“I yelled, ‘Good defense, Marcus,’ and it went right in,” Williams said.

Larkin earned an assist on the game’s most spectacular play, lofting a pass off the glass on a fast break to set up a throwdown dunk by Kenny Kadji for a 70-46 lead.

“Kenny said, ‘Backboard, backboard,’” Larkin said. “I didn’t see anybody behind him, so I tossed it off the backboard really soft, and he killed it.”

Miami’s smothering defense did the rest, flustering a team averaging an ACC-best 79.1 points per game. Julian Gamble led the way with four blocks, and the Tar Heels were so discombobulated that on one inbounds pass, two of their players collided away from the ball and went sprawling.

Kadji and Scott each had 17 points and six rebounds for the Hurricanes, who shot 54 percent, the best against North Carolina this season.

“The guys just never let up,” Larranaga said, “and that is the mark of a good team.”

Brice Johnson and PJ Hairston

I also want to point out that the Heels are 101st in the NCAA in FG shooting percentage (.448). That’s a red flag and means that the Heels may have some guys shooting that should not be.

SLOW STARTS:
-Va Tech jumped out to a 12-0 lead on the Heels. (Heels won in O.T.)
-NC State jumped out in front 8-2 and went on to defeat the Heels.
-Texas jumped out to an 11-2 lead and went on to defeat the Heels.
-Even Boston College jumped out to an 8-2 lead. Heels went on to defeat BC who is 1-6 in the ACC.

Roy’s Starting FIVE:
Roy usually starts McAdoo, Bullock, Strickland, Hubert, and Paige. I have no issue with McAdoo and Bullock starting as they are the leaders and best players on the team. And I’m fine with Paige who is the appointed freshman point guard. Paige can score and is playing better. It’s Hubert and Stickland that provide very little point production and are contributing to the slow starts.

Roy, it’s in the numbers:
In the movie “Money Ball”, the Oakland A’s GM Billy Beane turns the A’s from losers to winners through computer analysis of baseball players’ stats to increase the odds of men on base, runs and ultimately wins. Billy Beane clashed with his team’s manager, Art Howe, on which players should play.

I can see Billy Beane looking at the Heels starting line up and saying, “Roy what are you thinking with those two unproductive guys in the line up when you have two guys that are more productive?” He would advise Roy to just trust the numbers.

Brice Johnson in for Desmond Hubert:
Freshman Brice Johnson should start in place of Desmond Hubert.
Hubert: 1.4 points a game and scores a point every 10 minutes of play.
Johnson: 7.3 points a game and scores a point every 2 minutes of play.
Johnson shoots a better FG percentage and his FT percentage (.563) is much better than Hubert offers (.214)

So far this season, they both average about 12 mins. of play per game. However based on these facts, it would make sense to start Johnson and increase Johnson’s minutes at Hubert’s expense. Now I realize some Hubert supporters may ask, how about blocked shots and rebounds? It may surprise you to know that Hubert only has 6 more blocks than Johnson (22 to 16) and when it comes to rebounds, Johnson has about twice as many (93 to 47) while playing similar minutes.

P.J. Hairston in for Dexter Strickland:
Hairston should start in place of Strickland.
Strickland: 7.7 points a game and scores a point every 5 minutes of play.
Hairston: 12.4 points a game and scores a point every 2 minutes of play.
Their FG percentages are about even however Hairston is a much better 3 point shooter as he has made 45 of 115 compared to 4 of 20 from Strickland.

So far this season, Strickland has averaged 26 minutes a game while Hairston is getting 19 minutes per game. Based on their productivity, Hairston should start and gain minutes at Stickland’s expense. Strickland still plays a role as a defender and can score in transition but if you want a faster start in games, go with Hairston who can bomb some three pointers.

My TAKE: I don’t look for Roy to change a thing in the line up as he will keep trying the same thing while expecting different results. Insanity has just been defined. But I’m with Billy Beane in thinking that the numbers don’t lie and are to be trusted.

I understand the concept of “role players” on a team but when you are finding yourself in a hole early in the games and ranked 101st in FG shooting, it’s time to put some high octane offense in the starting line up.

Each week Mike Aurigemma will choose one NCAA men’s basketball game that he believes will be must watch television and break down how he feels the game will play out…

North Carolina Tar Heels vs. 8. Miami Hurricanes

This will already be the second time these two teams meet and the Hurricanes walked away victorious in their first meeting.  That last meeting was on the road for Miami, but this time around they will have the help of their crowd, which has been a huge factor for this team.  The Hurricanes are a perfect 10-0 at home this season with one of those coming against the Duke Blue Devils.  Not only are they a great home team, but they are arguably the hottest team in the nation as they come in to this one winners of their past ten games.

The Tar Heels on the other hand have been sputtering throughout this season and not looking as dominant as they have in years past.  Now they find themselves outside of the top 25 and a victory on the road against a top ten team is just what this team needs to get their season going in the right direction.

The last time these two teams met we saw the Hurricanes walk away with a 68-59 victory, but both those teams were missing key players.  Miami will have big man Reggie Johnson this time around, while North Carolina will have the help of Leslie McDonald.  That was a game that saw the Tar Heels top two players in James McAdoo and Reggie Bullock shoot a combined 9-30 from the field.  I have a feeling we will not see that kind of performance a second time around.  Roy Williams will definitely have his team ready for this game and I think his experience in big games like this will have a huge impact on how North Carolina performs.

On the other side of things, I just cannot become a believer in the Hurricanes.  Maybe it is the fact that they are outside the top 100 in assists, rebounds and points per game in the nation.  Maybe I just do not think of Miami as a great basketball program and that is blocking any chance of me seeing how great they have been.  One thing is for sure is that they do have some pretty good talent with Kenny Kadji and Durand Scott both averaging in double figures.  They also have the length to matchup with McAdoo down low as they could throw either Kadji, Johnson or Julian Gamble at him.

This will be a big game for both teams as it is yet again another measuring stick for the Hurricanes and a chance for the Tar Heels to get a big win and build some momentum.  In the end, I think the battle down low will be key and I expect a big time performance from McAdoo even as he goes up against the tough front line of the Hurricanes.  I also expect Roy Williams to have a clear advantage in the coaching battle.

The Winner: North Carolina Tar Heels

If Kendall Marshall doesn’t get injured in the round of 32 the Heels would’ve made it to New Orleans, and probably would have had a shot against Kentucky in the title game. They year before that UNC gave the Wildcats a great 40 minute game before falling shot in the Elite 8. Two years before that North Carolina won the national championship. Before that they went to the Final Four, the Elite 8, the round of 32, and won a national title. Does this sound like a coach that has “lost it?”

Sure, this North Carolina squad isn’t as talented as most of Roy’s teams, and yes, Roy missed on some recruits, and has had some player defections. But that means he’s “lost it?” I disagree. If anything, it’ll make Roy work even harder in recruiting so that he doesn’t go through a situation like this again. There are plenty of people in society that rest on their laurels once they achieve great success, but not Roy Williams. He has always coached like a man that is afraid he’ll wind up back in Asheville, living in a motel with his aunt, sister, and mother. Thus, you can expect the Tar Heels to retunr to the top of college basketball in the near future. But it won’t be this year.

10 games to watch this week:
10. K State at Okla on Sat
9. Mich St vs illinois on Thurs
8. Ohio St vs Wisconsin tonight
7. Ole Miss vs Kentucky tonight
6. NC State at UVA tonight
5. Louisville vs Marquette on Sunday
4. Syracus at Pitt on Sat
3. NC State vs Miami on Sat
2. Ole Miss at Florida on Sat
1. Michigan at Indiana on Sat

Top 25
Mich, Kan, IU, Fla, Cuse, Zags, Ore, Duke, Zona, Wich St, Ole Miss, Butler, Miami, L’ville, Ohio St, Mich St, Mizzu, SD State, NC State, K State, UNM, Marq, Pitt, Memphis, and Creighton.

TZ
twitter.com/taylorZradio
taylorz@wfnz.com

Many strong animators were assigned to this cartoon.  Young men like Les Clark, Hardie Gramatky, Tom Palmer, Johnny Cannon, Frenchy de Tremaudan, Gerry Geronomi and Norm Ferguson didn’t need any supervising.  With a seasoned staff like these guys (who had been at the studio up to three years already), it was a safe bet to assign some of the weaker scenes to the newer trainees under Ben Sharpsteen.

Babbitt must have been fast-tracked into this group after having proved himself with the previous tests, because most of the other trainee artists had been there for some time already.  Here are the trainees on “Klondike Kid,” in order of who had been there the longest (with film release dates of their earliest known work).

.

• Charles Couch, (had worked on “Arctic Antics” released 6/5/30)
• Fred Moore, (hired in August, 1930)
• Charlie Byrne, (had worked on “Chain Gang” released 9/5/30)
• Roy Williams, (hired in 1930)
• Harry Reeves, (had worked on “Busy Beavers”  released 6/30/31)
• Marvin Woodward, (had worked on “Busy Beavers”  released 6/30/31)
• Frank Tipper, (had worked on “Blue Rhythm”  released 8/18/31)
• Fred Spencer, (hired in 1931)
• Ed Love, (had worked on “Flowers and Trees”  released 7/30/32)
• George Drake, “Klondike Kid” first known assignment
• Archie Robin, “Klondike Kid” first known assignment
• Louie Schmidtt, “Klondike Kid” first known assignment
• Art Babbitt, “Klondike Kid” first known assignment

“And this was about vacation time for the studio staff, but I hadn’t earned my vacation. And the end result of it all was that I ended up doing most of the picture because everybody else was on vacation. And that’s how I got started.”

Babbitt ended up animating a hefty ten scenes of the total sixty-six scenes in the film, or 72 feet and 8 frames (48.3 seconds) of the total 580-foot (6 minutes, 26 second-long) cartoon.  He out-produced every other animator on the film.  Still, he had not yet developed as an artist.  “Most of the guys surrounding me at Disney’s were not any worse or any better than I was at that time.”

The Klondike Kid was released 11/12/32.

[sources are Babbitt's interview with Bill Hurtz and Disney workdrafts.  Special thanks to Hans Perk's terrific blog.]

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He’s Dr. T.J. Pugh now, I think. But at the time he was just “Puuuuuuuuuuugh.” He was one of those guys who made it sound like he was getting booed by his own fans, but not in the way that happened to J.R. Giddens.

T.J. Pugh was not a particularly good player. But he wasn’t bad, either. He was about as nondescript as a basketball player can be. He was 6-foot-8, 240 pounds, which is the most average possible size for a collegiate power forward. He was from Omaha, Nebraska, which is the most average city in the Midwest. His senior year, he averaged 4.9 points and 4.7 rebounds. He shot just under 50 percent from the field and just under 60 percent from the free-throw line. He blocked half a shot per game.

He was adequate.

This being the late 90s, he wore a baggy t-shirt under his uniform. He was not muscular, but you wouldn’t describe him as “lithe” either. I don’t think athletic training was the same then as it is now. T.J. Pugh looked kind of like he’d been spotted shuffling his feet along some broken Omaha sidewalk on the way to a Little Ceasar’s when Roy Williams drove by and asked him if he’d ever played basketball.

I don’t know how stridently Pugh had been recruited. Recruiting information is pretty scarce if you’re going back before about 2003. I’m sure Creighton offered. Probably Nebraska too. There certainly was never a sense of, “Oh man, did you hear about this kid from Omaha KU got?”

And in this way, T.J. Pugh represented everything Kansas basketball has been since at the latest 1989. You hear TV analysts say all the time that KU is just loaded up with McDonald’s All-Americans, but that has almost never been true over the last 20 years. Kansas usually has one or two, and that’s it. Sometimes more, but that’s rare. Whether the coach was Williams or Bill Self, this has been the case.

So there is always room for a T.J. Pugh not just on the roster, but in the rotation. It’s become a real legacy by now. Pugh passed the torch to Bret Ballard, who passed it to Christian Moody, who passed it to Brady Morningstar.

These are players to whom nothing was given, and from whom nothing was expected.

But here is what happens: A couple of years go by, and NBA player or two comes through the program, and suddenly you find yourself in a position where you have enough great players — shot-makers, drivers, etc. — but what you could really use out there is a guy who knows where to go and how to set a good screen and how to reverse the ball to the third side and will slide his feet on defense and doesn’t think he was born to be the hero.

And that’s when you take out C.J. Giles and put in Christian Moody, or you start Brady Morningstar instead of Josh Selby.

That was T.J. Pugh. As a senior, he was better than Lester Earl and (probably) drove a much crappier car. Was he great?

Well, not by your standard definition.

THE GOOD

In my opinion, the good in college hoops comes from the young coaches who are stealing some spotlight from the major college programs. Brad Stevens, from Butler, and Shaka Smart, from VCU, represent all that is great in college basketball. Both have taken their mid-major schools to Finals Fours (Stevens 2, Smart 1) and have been the symbols of what magic can occur during March Madness. What makes these two young coaches even more special, besides the success of their programs, is the loyalty they have to their schools. Both could have taken the reins at a major programs and be making the big bucks, but they believe in the Universities they work for and that loyalty makes them the ultimate good guys in college basketball.

THE BAD

When it comes to the bad coaches in college basketball, this is strictly opinion based. I am sure a majority of college basketball experts would consider Tom Izzo and John Calipari as two the best coaches in the game. So forgive me if me referring to them as bad comes off as a little bias. First Tom Izzo is someone I have despised for years watching him coach against my Minnesota Gophers. There is no coach alive who I have seen whine and complain to officials more that Tom Izzo. Watching him coach, for me, is embarrassing to witness because he is constantly holding up the game to work the refs. But it may be strategy because it seems to be a great way to slow down momentum for the opposing teams. Calipari on the other hand has to be the ultimate bad guy in college basketball. I mean when you leave 2 schools right before recruiting violations are brought fourth, how can you be idolized for cheating those programs. When you add to the fact that he takes the top players in the country each year only to send them to the NBA after 1 season, the guy is just not good for the sport. The sooner Calipari is back in the NBA the better in my opinion.

THE UGLY

Finally the ugly in college basketball. Now I am not singling out any coaches in particular, even though Bob Huggins and Roy Williams are pictured above. I am simply calling the ridiculous trend that seems to be spreading in the suits coaches wear to match the colors of their schools. This has to be some sort of superstition or good luck charm for these coaches because they can’t honestly think they look good in these gaudy colors. The worst for me was Bruce Pearl when he was at Tennessee, but the fact that coaches continue to follow this trend just blows my mind. I would rather see coaches go back to the plaid or checkered patterns. Apparently though Craig Sager must be spreading fashion advise amongst the coaches in college basketball.

Following UNC’s win over Florida State on Saturday, things are looking up for the Tar Heels.  They looked much better as a team and played their first truly complete game of the season.  However there are some roster moves that need to be made in order for Carolina to climb back into the ranks of the ACC’s best.

Bench James Michael McAdoo

For some unknown reason, Roy continues to put blind faith in one of the most overrated players in the conference, if not the country.  McAdoo had pretty lofty expectations coming into the season, but he has only shown flashes of brilliance and lacks consistency.  If JMM played up to his potential he would be a 20 ppg/10 rpg guy, but I just don’t see that happening anytime soon.  He isn’t very aggressive and lacks the kind of passion that you would like to see from a guy that was supposed to be a leader on this year’s team.  McAdoo does lead the team in scoring, but so would most players if they took as many shots as he did.  He takes too many ill-advised jumpshots instead of either passing the ball or driving to the basket (aka being aggressive).  JMM needs to lose his starting spot to Brice Johnson because I think that’s that only way to light a fire under his ass.  Johnson has a much better shot selection, gets more blocks, and would get as many, if not more, rebounds than McAdoo if his stats increase at the same rate as his playing time.  McAdoo does outwiegh Johnson by 50 lbs, but the team is simply better off when Johnson is on the court.

Start PJ Hairston

After dropping 23 points on Florida State in a commanding fashion, PJ Hairston deserves to start.  Dexter Strickland currently starts over him, but Hairston is superior to Dex in almost every statistical category.  Hairston does take a few more shots than he should, but his scoring ability can’t be ignored.  He has the ability to knock down shots from behind the arc and he can drive inside when he needs to.  Strickland is the lone senior on the team and his experience can’t be ignored, but I think Hairston has shown that he deserves a starting spot

I don’t think it’s very likely that Roy will make either of these changes, but he needs to have players on the court that make the team better than they currently are.  He has done a lot of tinkering with his lineups, but it’s time to make some bigger changes before the Heels find themselves in a hole they can’t climb out of.

1. Will Tar Heel fans and haters please stop over-reacting? As everyone knows I am NOT a fan of UNC and their 0-2
start in the ACC along with their 10-5 overall start puts a smile on my face, but the fans calling for head coach
Roy Williams to step down is absurd. Not only is this the guy you were wetting your pants over to get for years, he
came to your school and won 2 national titles. You just lost the majority of your team to the NBA, it’s going to be
a down season. But you’ll come back from it. Remember you came back from the disastrous ’02 season and won a title
just a few seasons later. And for the media, you guys know better. Roy is Roy and this team still has some talent.
Sure they are 0-2 now but they could rattle off a few wins and be right back into the hunt for an NCAA tournament
birth. I can’t believe I just defended the Tar Heels.

2. How much does Texas A & M love their move to the SEC? I’m going to guess a lot. Not only did their football team
go 10-2 in their 1st season in the conference, they had the Heisman Trophy winner, and won the Cotton Bowl in a
landslide over one of their former rivals. Now their basketball team is playing well and combined with fellow newcomer
Missouri (ranked #10 nationally) they are 23-5 overall and 2-0 in conference play. For everyone who kept saying the
Aggies (and Tigers) would not fare well in their new home, I think the two teams are proving they like the change just
fine. Their next two games can show us what they are made up when they play at Kentucky and then host #11 Florida.

3. Is Duke really this good? Yes they are and they have a chance to not only separate themselves in the ACC but also
nationally when they play #20 NC State this weekend. Even though the undefeated Blue Devils will be without starter Ryan
Kelly due to injury, the #1 team in the sport will showcase big man Mason Plumlee and look for a lot of scoring from
Seth Curry and Quinn Cook. If the Devils can win in Raleigh without Kelly there could be nothing stopping them from an
undefeated season until a trip to Chapel Hill on March 9th where they take on their rival UNC.

4. Is anyone afraid of UCLA and Kentucky? If you aren’t, you should be. On December 2nd the pair of traditional
powerhouses were written off my everyone in the media and had a combined record of 9-6, which is horrible. However
a month later the Bruins and Wildcats have gone a combined 14-1 with the only loss being 80-77 by Kentucky at then #4
Louisville, no shame in that. UCLA is 3-0 in Pac 12 play and Kentucky edged Vanderbilt to start the SEC 1-0. The
Bruins only play Oregon once (and that’s a home game) while looking forward to their biggest foes this year #4 Arizona.
Meanwhile the defending National Champions get #11 Florida twice later in the season and host #10 Missouri. We should
see these two storied programs back in the tournament later this year with the ability to make some serious noise.

5. Can the Charlotte 49ers make a run for the Atlantic 10? Absolutely. The 49ers are led by Chris Braswell and Demario
Mayfield and are currently sitting 13-2, 1-0. Their schedule sets up quite nicely with a trip to Rhode Island and then
a home game vs Fordham. Charlotte can be 15-2, 3-0 before their first scare at Richmond. If the 49ers pass that test
they are looking pretty as they only play #14 Butler and Virginia Commonwealth once each. Their only losses are at Miami
and a close 79-76 game against Florida State. If Charlotte gets good play out of sophomore Pierria Henry, they could be
looking at a good seed in the NCAA tournament and be poised for a run at the sweet 16.

–Bruce Wilson blogs for 610 AM WFNZ The Fan and at BruceDogg.Wordpress.com. He is the owner of Superior Car Service and is currently working on his first novel. You can follow him on Twitter @BruceRWilson

Disclaimer: the views and opinions expressed in this blog do not necessarily reflect those of Sports Radio 610 AM WFNZ The Fan.

Actually, the image in my mind was of Teddy Lehman launching himself over the Texas offensive line.  Apparently, I had misremembered it all these years, thus the slightly misnomered title of this post.

Zoom forward to January 4, 2013.  John Q. Football is making a public mockery of the Oklahoma defense.  And maybe that isn’t the best example, as Johnny Scissorhands has carved up more than a couple of defenses during this, his inaugural and Heisman-winning season.

But it does serve the purpose of bringing to mind once again a question I have asked myself many times over the past few years:  What happened to Oklahoma?

And I’ll tell you up front that I don’t have the answer.  I don’t even really have a decent theory.  But to me, it has been one of the most puzzling things to observe over the past ten years or so.

Lehman, Williams, Rocky Calmus, Derrick Strait.  The list goes on and on.  Defensive stalwarts.  All-Americans that seemed to be magically replaced by other All-Americans.

Oklahoma 14, Texas 3.  Oklahoma 13, Florida State 2.  Oklahoma 12, Texas 0.  Those are the scores that stand out in my mind.

In their national championship season of 2000, Oklahoma ranked 8th in total defense.  They were even better the following season, ranking 4th in 2001.  They remained stout, ranking 10th in 2002, and 4th in 2003, when they lost in the national championship game to LSU.

For me, Oklahoma was the standard in college football during these years.  It’s what I wished my team could be.

Even the loss of defensive coordinator Mike Stoops after the 2003 season didn’t seem to affect them much.  At least not immediately.  The Sooners ranked among the top 20 in total defense from 2004 to 2006, before slipping to 26th in ’07.

They fell to 68th in 2008, rebounded to 8th in ’09, then the bottom fell out.  They dropped to 53rd in 2010, and 55th in 2011.  And even with Mike Stoops’ return to the staff this year, the Sooners ranked 64th in total defense.

A quick look at recruiting would indicate maybe the slightest of declines — according to Rivals, the Sooners have only had two top ten classes in the past six seasons, after having five in the previous six — but nothing that should precipitate such a drastic drop in performance.

But it’s not just the defense.

Over the past five years, there seems to have been a significant philosophical change on offense, as well.

Between 2004 and 2006, the Sooners had roughly a 60:40 run-pass ratio.  Now, granted this was done with Adrian Peterson in the the backfield much of the time, and for those last two years, some rather forgettable quarterbacks under center (Rhett Bomar, Paul Thompson, etc.)

But even with no Peterson, in 2007, with Sam Bradford at quarterback, Oklahoma threw the ball an average of just 28 times per game, maintaining a 59:41 run-pass ratio.

It appears that 2008 is when things started to change.  The Sooners’ pass attempts per game increased to 36 in ’08, then to 39.8 in ’09.  And it’s difficult to blame the shift on lack of a running game, as future-NFLer DeMarco Murray was in the backfield both of those years.

As I recall, that 2008 team was one of the highest-scoring offenses in college football history.  So I suppose it’s easy to see why one might fall in love with the pass a little bit and think that this was the way to go, even if they were held to 14 points in the national championship game loss to Florida.

That was Oklahoma’s 4th appearance in a national championship game in nine years — a phenomenal accomplishment.  Since, they have been to the Sun Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Insight Bowl, and Cotton Bowl.

The Sooners have continued to be pass-happy, at least compared to their former selves.  This year, Oklahoma averaged 44 pass attempts per game, good for a 57:43 pass-to-run ratio.

What does it all mean?  I don’t know.  It’s hard to argue with a coach who has won at least 10 games in 11 of the past 13 seasons.  And Oklahoma is back to beating Texas again, this season winning their 3rd straight in that rivalry.

But it’s not the same Oklahoma.  Not when they’re giving up 49 points to West Virginia, 48 to Oklahoma State, and 41 to Texas A&M.

When I watched that A&M game Friday night, seeing this shotgun offense, with Landry Jones launching 48 passes, and scarcely a tight end to be found, I guess my question wasn’t so much how they got here, but rather, why?

Eavesdrop on Jordan Woy’s flurry of phone conversations on any given day, or peek at his endless trail of texts, and you’d be hard-pressed to guess what he does for a living.

That’s him crunching numbers and talking contracts from his high-rise office overlooking Turtle Creek Boulevard in Dallas.

Must be a lawyer, or a financial planner, right? Maybe a CEO?

That’s him, too, zipping around Dallas in his black Maserati, Blue-toothing with a colleague about the long-term effects of concussions. Sure seems to know a lot about them.

Ah, a doctor? (Sweet ride, doc.)

But a text, asking him to arrange a meeting with a starlet, suggests he could be in showbiz. And a soothing exchange — "How’s Katie? How’s everything? Let me know if I can help." — spins you in a completely different direction. Marriage counselor? Therapist?

The answer, Woy might tell you, is all of the above.

He is the modern-day sports agent, not just the barracuda in form-fitting Armani that we all came to know and loathe in Jerry Maguire, but, rather, a methodical, law degree-wielding, sensitive and, yes, cocksure negotiator on behalf of his roster of NFL players.

The NFL Players Association said the 51-year-old Woy has 25 players contracted to 20 NFL teams — reportedly the most of any of the 78 certified sports agents in football-crazed Texas — and Woy reps an additional 15 players without negotiating their current contracts. Over the course of his career, he has taken on 450 players, lined up contracts with every team and racked up close to $2 billion in NFL deals.

His clients include five Dallas Cowboys — Anthony Spencer, Jason Hatcher, Victor Butler, Dan Bailey and Kenyon Coleman — and several high-profile former Cowboys, including Flozell Adams and Roy Williams.

And it was Woy who, against all odds earlier this year, managed to land another shot at glory for former Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens, who at age 38 had been cut by the Allen Wranglers of the Indoor Football League. (Owens signed a contract with the Seattle Seahawks, but was cut during training camp. Woy continues to represent him and has helped him land several TV gigs while still trolling for NFL opportunities.)

And yet, Jordan Woy has flown largely under the general public’s radar in a sport where it seems even defensive coordinators are becoming household names.

Woy is low profile because that’s his game. After a quarter-century of surviving in a billion-dollar blood sport, he barely has to raise his gravelly baritone to get the attention of NFL owners and GMs.

"The thing about Jordan is that he creates a lot of trust and faith simply because he’s a total straight shooter," Stephen Jones, Cowboys executive vice president, said. "He’s unusual in that he consistently wants to do what is right for the player, and not get every last buck. Actually, Jordan is one of the guys in his business that I actually look forward to working with."

Sure, things occasionally get heated at the NFL negotiating table, Woy said, especially when millions in signing bonuses and long-term deals are at stake.

"Clearly, there are times when you have to be tough because every team will try to push you around," he said. "But what constantly affects my negotiating style is the fact that I will have to deal with that general manager or player personnel manager many, many times throughout the course of my career. So it’s important that we develop a lot of mutual trust and respect.

"None of these owners or general managers mind if you drive a hard bargain. What they don’t like is dishonest behavior. It would be extremely difficult to go back to Stephen and Jerry Jones of the Cowboys in a year or two if I’ve been a complete creep to them along the way. They are not going anywhere, and I will have to deal with them again."

Moreover, Woy can employ a low-pulse-rate approach because, in his mind, he’s playing with house money.

"I’ve made enough in this business that, if I didn’t represent another player starting tomorrow, it wouldn’t change my life," he said. "But I still get a thrill out of sitting down with a new client and establishing a great working relationship where we are a team. I still love it because my clients know that I will work with them and that, for all of their celebrity status, we treat each other with tremendous mutual respect."

And they know that beyond his role as coach and confidante, accountant and spiritual adviser, even father figure, Woy is a dealmaker, first and foremost.

Second generation

If there is one person who understands the rewarding yet grueling life of a sports agent, it’s the man who inspired Woy’s career choice: his dad, Bucky.

A would-be professional golfer when Jordan was growing up in Akron, Ohio, Bucky soon discovered he was better suited to helping shape the careers of others, such as would-be legends Lee Trevino and Julius Boros.

Bucky Woy started a sports marketing firm that first collaborated with a then-upstart agency called International Management Group, which, from its base in Cleveland, would grow into one of the sports world’s premiere agencies, representing, among others, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer.

"Through my dad’s firm, we always had great athletes just around our house all the time," Woy recalled. "Everyone from golfers like Lee Trevino, Orville Moody, David Graham to Jack Lambert, the great linebacker of the ’70s-era Pittsburgh Steelers."

In 1975, Bucky Woy moved his family to Dallas so he could run the relatively fledgling World Championship Tennis tour (featuring such stars as Rod Laver, Jimmy Connors and Ilie Nastase) for its owner, Texas billionaire Lamar Hunt.

Jordan attended MacArthur High School in Irving and was on the golf team, carrying a 6-handicap. At that time, Bucky Woy began representing Bob Horner, a third baseman who was the first player taken in the Major League Baseball draft by the Atlanta Braves. "It was at that point, traveling with my dad on road games, watching him work with Horner," Jordan Woy said, "that I decided that sports management would be something I’d want to pursue."

After graduating from Texas Tech in 1984, he went to law school at St. Mary’s in San Antonio. That same year, he attended the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., where his father would recruit and eventually sign college’s hottest player, Oklahoma State slugger Pete Incaviglia.

"I remember my dad was a ruthless negotiator," Woy said. "He engaged in some knock-down screaming matches because he would often represent a player as if he was his son."

Fresh out of law school in 1987, Jordan Woy met a Dallas-based attorney and football agent named Steve Weinberg, who took a shine to him. Together, along with Woy’s father, they formed the fledgling firm of Woy, Weinberg & Woy.

"I was 26 years old, running around with one of the first of those clunky cellphones," Jordan Woy said. "It was a time when I didn’t know enough to know that I really wasn’t that qualified to do what I was doing. But I kept one thing in mind: The Wright brothers didn’t have a pilot’s license, either."

In late 1987 and early 1988, amid all the hundreds of cold calls for clients, Woy would sign four players. One of them would end up making history.

In 1992, Woy positioned Brian Habib, an offensive lineman out of Washington, as the first player to sign a free-agency deal in football, sending Habib from the Minnesota Vikings to the Denver Broncos and simultaneously making him the NFL’s highest-paid offensive linemen. Woy’s fee was 5 percent of the final contract. (With today’s much bigger monetary deals, Woy’s fee is 3 percent.)

"It kicked off the brand new world of free agency," Woy said, "a new era of big money."

Straight approach

Tuesday during the NFL’s regular season is typically a day of rest for players, but for Woy, it’s go time. He’ll try to contact all of his players by phone or by text.

"You got a win this week, which was good," said Woy to one of his clients, an NFL lineman, a few days after an October game. "I had you down for 25 snaps this last game. Your snap count has been consistent every game…If you finish out the year like the way you started, there will definitely be a market for you. Just as long as you stay healthy."

And then, on a dime, Woy pivots: "How are the kids? Everybody’s good?"

Clients ask his advice on buying a house, or help with a last-minute plane or hotel reservation. Or finding a top-drawer attorney to help with a tricky divorce or a paternity suit. Woy even gets requests to play matchmaker occasionally.

But mostly, Woy gives pro athletes his gut-honest feedback on their play and how it will translate into dollars come contract time.

Daryl Washington, a budding star for the Arizona Cardinals and a TCU grad, said he appreciates Woy’s candor.

"I don’t want somebody to tell me I played well when I didn’t," the linebacker said. "But he’ll also check up on just how I’m doing in general, how I’m feeling mentally."

Josh LeRibeus, a 23-year-old rookie backup offensive lineman drafted by the Washington Redskins out of SMU, said it took him awhile to get used to Woy’s direct approach.

"I will never forget that during our first meeting, Jordan said that he wouldn’t lie to me," LeRibeus recalled. "He said I’d be drafted in the seventh round or, if not, as a free agent. I remember saying to myself: ‘Geez, couldn’t he have sugarcoated that a bit more?’ But in all of our talks, he never lets me get a big head, and that just makes me work that much harder."

In a few keystrokes on his iPad, Woy can tell you how many snaps his clients were involved in during the past season. If it’s a wide receiver, he’ll chart every pass and how many yards after the catch that player racks up. Then, he’ll compare those numbers with other top receivers in the league.

"You have to have done that kind of specific research, especially when it comes to comparables — very much like when you’re buying a house," Woy said.

That strategy helped Washington sign a four-year extension at a whopping $8 million a year, making him the seventh-highest-paid inside linebacker in the NFL. Woy also made sure his client received bigger bucks up front ($5 million), and that half of the entire $32 million deal is guaranteed.

The whole journey

When Woy is not consumed by his clients’ contracts and promotional opportunities, he can be found obsessing about their life after football.

The average NFL career is around four years, with the lucky ones stretching it to 10. That means many are forced to hang up their cleats in their early 30s.

"After they retire, these guys get bored," Woy said. "They’ve always had their competitive juices flowing and now, after football, they want to stay relevant. Many look at Troy Aikman as someone who not only had a great career, made some quite good money, and now, as one of the top analysts with Fox, can probably do that for the next 10 to 15 years if he wants to."

As such, Woy has developed the Life Beyond Football program, three to four off-season trips to such places as Las Vegas, Miami, Cancun and the Bahamas. Players, along with their wives, meet professionals ranging from financial planners and lawyers specializing in estate planning to executives from the oil and gas industry, such as Chad Willis, Woy’s primary partner in Willis & Woy. He is a successful oil and gas entrepreneur who helps drive home some of the post-football possibilities.

He often points to the shining example of Ray Crockett, who played cornerback in the NFL for 14 years and was on two Super Bowl-winning teams in Denver. Crockett, who attended Baylor, was a "born salesman," Woy recalled. "Always had this big smile on his face, talking a million miles an hour."

So he steered Crockett toward real estate.

"Like a sponge, Ray just picked up everything," Woy said. "He started out with small investments, developing and selling off small parcels, and eventually, since he retired in 2003, Ray is seen as one of the most successful local real estate investors around. He now drives a Bentley convertible and lives in a 14,000-square-foot house in Southlake."

Learning the ABCs

If all that fatherly advice and planning for the future makes Woy seem like a kinder, gentler version of the prototypical sports agent, he’s fine with that.

After 25 years, he knows who he is, and knows how to survive in the shark-infested waters of the NFL.

"I must get hundreds of emails a week asking me how to become an agent," Woy said. "I tell them any number of things, including how much of a cut-throat business it has become and how much hustling and jumping through hoops are involved. That you can make quite decent money at it, but it will require many late nights, early mornings and weekends. And that every year, you as an agent are starting over, from ground zero, no matter how good you were the year before."

Certainly, there are clashes of egos and confrontations. Agents never know when a client will decide to fire them, or sign with someone else.

In fact, just this season Woy signed Cowboys outside linebacker Anthony Spencer, who was a first-round draft pick in 2007, because Spencer wasn’t satisfied with his contract, which includes an $8.856 million franchise tag for the 2012 season.

Woy is seeking a five-year deal from the Cowboys, whom he has worked with successfully on 50 players since Jerry Jones bought the team in 1989.

Providing a window into the negotiating room with the owners of the NFL’s most valuable franchise, Woy said: "In my dealings with Jerry and Stephen, they’ve always been open and honest. They are also pretty clear-cut. If they want your guy, they are pretty aggressive about working a deal out. If they aren’t sure they want your player back, then I go out in free agency and revisit with them to see if they can afford to match the offer I’ve found on the outside. The bottom line with Jerry and Stephen is there is not any subterfuge."

Courtesy: Andrew Marton | Special Contributor