Best of The Herd

Thursday in Chicago and we’re loaded, UConn’s Dan Hurley, Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts, and Sweet Sixteen on deck; quick note on the Yankees, they beat Logan Webb on the road with nine singles while Aaron Judge struck out four times, which is exactly the kind of balanced, bottom-of-the-order win they’ve lacked and the kind that actually travels.

On Ty Simpson, the light attendance at his pro day felt like classic misdirection; you can get the tape without tipping interest, and I think he lands mid to late first with the Jets and Steelers live, while Kalen DeBoer’s NFL-style system makes his projection cleaner.

If you miss on a first-round quarterback you get fired, so I’d want to be around Simpson and still consider waiting since next year’s class looks stacked; build the roster now and chase the star later instead of forcing it.

I get the patience angle, but true tanking is hard in football because of injuries and culture, and while the league’s bottom has felt thin by Thanksgiving, it’s still messy to engineer losses in that sport.

Baseball nailed pace and transparency with quick, fan-visible ball and strike reviews, and every tweak has helped; the NBA could use a few smart trims to cut the endgame drag and three-point monotony.

We never used a challenge and I even missed a Netflix hit during a bathroom run while we were down five nothing, so the night got lively in all the wrong ways.

You started twenty-two and one and still got a two seed; with that resume, do you feel like a one, and what do you expect against a physical Michigan State.

It was close either way, our nonconference wins and nineteen and three in the Big East showed we can match anyone, and Michigan State will drag it into a physical fight we have to win.

Cohen Carr explodes off the screen; how do you account for him and the whistle in a game that rugged.

His speed and bounce punish you in transition, lobs, and put-backs, and if you lose focus he’ll headline the reel, especially now that a few threes are falling.

College hoops feels deeper again; do you sense that surge in talent.

More elite internationals are coming and NIL keeps borderline first-rounders in school where development and day-to-day living beat the G League, so the floor and the ceiling both rose.

You passed on the Lakers; any second guessing, and why stay in college.

Big choices always make you look back, but I value the control and accountability you still have in college to run the whole operation to your standard.

Do you coach or bark differently in March.

With all eyes on the tournament I’m calmer, officials are less likely to hand out flimsy techs, and the long grind jitters fade because it’s win or go home, even if that Marquette finish still burns.

You and Izzo are tight; any edge or nerves there.

Great coaches give you nothing easy, so you have to win the street fight and the skill game, and tomorrow it’s friends until the tip and killers once it starts.

Last year your bullpen was a patch job; what changes with Edwin Diaz at the back.

A true closer lets us work backward and lock roles, and he chose Los Angeles to do the job, which brings clarity to getting those twenty-seven outs.

How does Kyle Tucker’s quiet style fit a star-heavy room.

He’s a hard-hat guy we’ll hit second, just get on base, defend, run, and help us win, and that low-key vibe meshes with our group.

With that much power, can you still manufacture runs in October.

We can because our hitters control the zone, take two-strike knocks, and grind starters to a hundred pitches by the fifth, so we do not live and die on slug alone.

What is the plan with Shohei Ohtani.

He starts the fifth game and is up to eighty-five pitches, we’ll manage stress and DH usage by feel, and keep the communication constant.

What was your spring message to this roster.

Mind the little things and keep the blinders on like a greyhound chasing the lure, stay locked on the trophy, and yes, the next ring and that third trophy are already en route.

Great to see him locked in; with Diaz closing they’re heavy favorites to chase a three-peat, and as every fan knows a shaky pen makes the manager the first target, fair or not.