Watts Up Wednesdays: Episode 77 – Game-Changers: Seahawks 49ers, Dawgz &Cats, NBA & NCAA Season, Watts Basketball Tips, and Watts Foundation Update

JB (00:01):

Welcome to Watts Up Wednesdays presented by the Watts Foundation, a powerful force for youth. Pull up and plug in with Watts and together, impact over 1,500 Pacific Northwest youth in need. Watts Up Wednesdays are a courtesy of WattsBasketball.com, TheWattsFoundation.org and brought to you every Wednesday at 2 p.m. here on 1620 am KYIZ, 1480 am and 97.5 FM KBMS. And now with University of Washington Husky basketball legend Donald Watts, here’s your host JB.

JB: (00:37):

Again, if you have a son or daughter who is enjoying basketball but wants to take their game to the next level or you want to sponsor an aspiring Hooper, then Donald Watts and their staff and his staff is exactly what you’re looking for. Of course, they will receive the highest level of coaching available in youth basketball today and be taught the habits and routines of the all-time great. So to get involved with the game-changing Watts basketball programs, visit WattsBasketball.com today. And here to talk about that and much, much more here on a Watts Up Wednesday is University of Washington Husky basketball legend, Donald Watts Up.

Donald (01:14):

What’s up, what’s up, what’s up man, what’s going on?

JB (01:17):

Man, you got it. I know that you’re looking to feel that gym over in Pullman tomorrow as they take on Eastern Washington. We’ll get there in just a moment. But in the meantime, I don’t know if you’re on this side or not, do you survive the bomb cyclone? Oh, man, I didn’t even make it home for the bomb cyclone.

Donald (01:37):

You just heard about it. I’m in Pullman. I got snowed in over here and it’s not snowing over here, but I went to get on the right about to get on the road. You know how moms are. Moms hit me up and she said, you know that they they talk about closing the I said, I can get it. And I said, no, I ain’t there you go. He thought better. See, I thought better. There you go. Mama knows best. Look, I stayed on this side. It’s been really good, though. It’s been really bad, but really good. You know, like we’re in. I’m in a critical moment in life in my business where I got to create some positive momentum. There are some things on the back end that weren’t very, you know, weren’t tight in our business. We had our Thanksgiving Day camps wrong. And then I asked my web guy to fix that. And then the whole website went down for a day. It’s like, man, we got I got I got to kind of slow down. And make sure things are buttoned up and tightened up and, you know, so that we can continue to do what we do so we can continue to serve the community so we can continue to serve kids. And it’s like I mean, it’s really like urgent crunch time for us. But, you know, people can’t sign up and they can’t can’t get to where we need them to get to, you know, to help them unless those things are right. So it’s a kind of a blessing in disguise. I’m not able to be in the gym this week because of it, but I am, you know, 100 percent locked in on getting the I’s dotted and the T’s crossed instead of the T’s dotted and the I’s crossed. I know that’s right. Well done. Well done right there. It’s been a lot of it’s been a lot of I crossing and T dotting with all the stress and pressure and responsibility that I’ve been been under and recovering from my own stroke. So, you know, it’s eye opening. Some of you know, I mean, the camp has been on there since this summer. Right. Like, and it’s been up there and you ask your staff to, you know, get them all set up. I don’t know if they set them up with the same dates as last year or whatever. They didn’t check the calendar and they didn’t become, you know, aware to me until, you know, Monday. I’m like, man, why aren’t anybody signing up for my camp? Well, you got to set up on Thanksgiving, dummy. You know, so it’s like, man, I got it. We got to take a step back and get things right. And so this is giving me the opportunity to really do that and put my head down with my team and make sure those things are straight.

JB (04:16):

Well, a very happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, Donald. I know you got a lot to be thankful for, of course, since last Christmas, as you talked about when you suffered your own stroke. For those before we move further, because this is our last conversation that we’ll have for the month of November. And we’ll, of course, start strong there in December. And so I want you to enjoy the holiday. But before you do, and not only here, they’re hearing us live here on this November 20th. This is also re-airing over the Thanksgiving weekend. Send a shout out to those listening right now for a call of what they can do for a call to action to help you and the Watts Foundation and Watts basketball.

Donald (04:60):

Well, get your kids signed up. You got kids that love the game and you’re trying to get them involved in the game. There’s no better place to build skill, set and confidence and a future foundation for a future in basketball than at WattsBasketball.com. And then if you’d like to help us impact over 1,500 youth this year, go to WattsFoundation.org and sponsor a kid either for a clinic, you know, for 40, 50 bucks or for a week camp at 400 bucks or for a year, 5,000, whatever your capacity is. We really appreciate it. And it’s going to go to, like I said, building a bright future for young folks that, you know, that are in need. You know, the parents don’t have the resources and, you know, getting them on college campus visits so they can touch and feel their dreams, provide mentorship throughout the year, connecting them with college student athletes, guys that are guys and girls that are, you know, just a couple of years older than them that were sitting in that same classroom, helping them understand what it takes and teaching them to believe in themselves is what our mission is at the WattsBoundation.org. So here we go. Make sure you get over there and provide a sponsorship. And then, you know, you can also sponsor the show. We show sponsors, segment sponsors. There’s a lot of ways to get involved and help help do a great thing for youth in the Pacific Northwest.

JB (06:25):

Absolutely. And we thank you. And of course, your father, Slick, only for the Watts Foundation, you’ve been able to help generations of kids, you know, basketballers and non-basketballers alike. Man, I think you just called me old again, man. Man, season. Come on now, I got season at Turkey now. Generations. There we go. Generations, brother. And five decades in it, man. There you go. You know, you’re an institution, you and pops. And of course, hopefully he’s doing well as well. Let me before as we get into this. And of course, it was a crazy sports weekend. Everything was basically going on in the sports universe. I’ll start with last Friday night. Did you did you see the fight slash event? Mike Tyson, the hype was ridiculous. I just want your thoughts not only on that, but just the reaction to those pre pre fight during fight and post fight to what we saw last Friday night.

Donald (07:28):

Well, I saw that you said it right the second time I saw the event. It wasn’t much of a fight. No, I think it really, it really speaks to one. I mean, it’s like a I don’t know. I mean, it was disappointing from the standpoint of a fight, of a boxing match. But I really think it speaks to two things, the era that we live in now and the hype that can be generated with, you know, social media and just like independence, your own brand and what’s available to build that brand and what people are into from the standpoint of Jake Paul. And then on the other side of that, the the the intrigue and the draw that that Mike Tyson is, you know, like, I mean, they got together and said, hey, if we did, I think we could make some money, man, you know? And they did, you know, and I think, you know, when it goes into it, when you look at what it was. You know, for me, you know, I’m looking at it and I’m like, Mike, you know, like Mike looks good in training, but at the same time, like, man, you could take a train of, you know, you’re taking your best clips for months. You know what I’m saying? You’re not in that. Sounds familiar. Sounds familiar. You know, yeah. For two, you know, like what I talk about all the time, right? Like you can piece together your highlights and look like something. Yep. So that’s one side of it. And then and then, you know, I’ve suffered a brain injury and looking at Mike, I’m like, OK, man, he looks a little slow, like a little empty in his eyes from just coming in there, right? From the standpoint of like, man, he’s got some age. And he was he was bouncing and moving and ducking punches. But it’s like, can he duck and get them off? Right. Like right now where I’m at with my hoop game, I go in the gym and I’m by myself. I can I can do some stuff and, you know, make things look a certain way. But then, you know, me and my son were playing one on one yesterday to three. And I got up to zero and he he tightened up the screws on me a little bit. And every move I made, I got stuck. You know, I had an idea about what I was about to do, but it wasn’t quite working. So you’re looking at it from that standpoint. And then there’s the other standpoint like, oh, man, they had a gentleman’s agreement, you know, like Mike ain’t throwing his hands because the agreement is that he ain’t supposed to hurt him. And it’s not beyond boxing to do that. And I’m going to just say, you know, Mike and Mike and Jake wouldn’t be the inventors of that strategy. No, you know, a money mayweather, you know, I’ve seen him in the ring with some guys that I know he can beat. But, you know, a guy hit him once or twice and he looks at him like, man, what you doing? I gave you this play day, man. Don’t make me mess you up. So, you know, it wouldn’t, you know, there’s there’s conspiracy theories around it. What I will say is if if if if that’s not the case, they definitely respected each other’s power and neither one of them was willing to put their nose in there and get knocked out.

JB (10:33):

Yeah, the show showed grace by Greece and pocket. Yeah. So profit and pocket thing, Mike.

Donald (10:41):

You know, you can see is that he’s still got the I’m not going to say he still has the power, but he got the power to drop.

JB (10:46):

Oh, yeah. I mean, he’s got and he’s got some speed.

Donald (10:49):

Yeah. Right. But he also is always fought inside. You know, I mean, was he willing to go get inside and risk getting that head thumps, you know, once or twice like he was able to, you know, before at the age of 58. But I don’t know, the biting on the glove thing. He’s like, that’s just the thing I do. That’s the thing you do to stop him hurting this dude.

JB (11:12):

I know that’s right. Well, he ain’t he ain’t modified this since he was Jake Paul’s age either. And so that’s the other thing about it. Right. But look, he’s able to take care of his family with that payday, do what he had to do. And so we’ll see. Like, you know, boxing like we can.

Donald (11:29):

I was tuned in. We contributed. You know what I’m saying? Yeah. You know, I contributed. I was I was definitely tuned in.

JB(11:35):

Yeah. And so it was interesting. You probably didn’t have high expectations. I mine was way, way tempered. I was I was trying to warn people. It was like, right. Hey, shout out to the ladies, though. Yeah. Yeah, that was a catwalk. Going on and whatnot. I hope y’all streaming was working when that was happening, because it was working. But nonetheless, so we’re talking, of course, University of Washington, Husky basketball legend Donald Watts, join us for another edition of Watts Wednesday. You, of course, can get this and other podcasts wherever you get your podcasts and at WattsBasketball.com. They let’s talk about the Seahawks big win in San Francisco. It stopped the losing streak. You first off, your thoughts on getting that win and stopping that six game losing streak against the 49ers. And what were your thoughts of the team, not only in when they were in battle, but when they came out with the victory and now moving forward?

Donald (12:37):

Yeah, I mean, I can’t, you know, I can’t not say it was a huge win. You know, you have a five and five and a four and five team or whatever it is. You know, how is that such a big win? But, you know, for the last couple of weeks, all I preached was like, hey, man, this is a this is a directional game. And the organization is going one direction or another based on what happens here. And what you did is you put yourself in the in the playoff hunt. I think you say, you know, if you’re Geno Smith, you you definitely, you know, made a big step in securing your contract in the upcoming years in your position, you know, as a starting quarterback, not guaranteed, but definitely made a big stride in that, you know, way. And I think the biggest thing about the win, it was just solid. Yeah, it wasn’t some heroic in effort. You know, the running game looked better. The passing game looked solid. The defense looked like a completely different defense than they had looked like going into the bye week. So, you know, like it was huge. It was huge, not just that they won it, but how they won it. You know, I said they needed a strong performance. And to me, it was a solid performance that they can grow from and get better at. It wasn’t some heroic, you know, out of this world performance. And so I’m I’m I’m really, you know, thrilled by by the outcome of it and how it looked, you know, the poise of it, you know, throwing the interception, the defense standing up. Yeah, I just thought it was it was it was it was an all around solid win that kept playoff hopes alive, but also like kept futures in Seattle alive for some players. You know, and then, you know, I think, you know, one of the things I’ve been talking about since last year, you know, I don’t you know, I don’t know football that well, but I know athletes and athletics. And and and JSN, you know, you know, when he comes out of that game and they’re like, oh, the only since Steve Largent, right, I’ve been saying like he’s the best pure wide receiver we have, you know, like at this stage of his career and that the load of those keep the chains moving. And those kind of targets should be towards him. Right. And big plays to D.K. And D.K. made a big play. He made a little clumsy catch.

JB (15:08):

Yeah, that he was kind of that kind of rusty, right? Yeah, a little clumsy. And that was that was a big play.

Donald (15:17):

Yeah. And, you know, I actually started here, you know, some of the announcers say what I’ve been saying, you know, regarding D.K. and some other wide receivers, too, just wishing they would catch it with their hands more than their body,

Donald (15:29):

especially when you got a guy who’s so long and so tall

Donald (15:33):

and so physical, you can stretch that arm out, put it, you know, kind of post them up, put put a guy on one shoulder pad and throw it to the opposite arm if you can bring that in. I mean, it just makes you so much better and more effective. But that’s not really how he catches the ball. But but J.S.N. plucks it out there. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like anything can do all the routes in the route tree. So as long as they can get to keep that running game going and then really, you know, kind of lock into that balance with the receiving corps and that defense looks like, you know, continue to be solid. You know, I think this is a team that has a chance to make a playoff run. You know, I was a little disappointed. I looked on ESPN the other day. They were talking about the Jets and they had the Jets favored when they play the Hawks. That was a little concerning to me. But we’ll see. Yeah.

JB (16:22):

Because we don’t know who’s going to have a job or not once they face the Jets. And of course, our conversation ahead of that game, the next three cardinals here at New York and then the Cardinals again down in Arizona. That being said, this is huge in regards to not only the divisional race, but if this is going to be a playoff team and if and if health is going to be their wealth moving forward, they have a chance to really make some noise in regards to a playoff spot. First off, starting with what you just talked about, marrying D.K. Metcalf’s impact with Jackson Smith and Jigba’s because he keeps having games like he had the last two. We’re going to be talking about him as one of the elites there at the wide receiver position in the National Football League. All that being said, what are your thoughts on if they can or will stop their four game losing streak at home in this first place showdown with the Cardinals? I guess part one with the Cardinals, your thoughts?

Donald (17:25):

Yeah, I mean, the Cardinals are rolling a little bit, you know, you look up and all of a sudden, you know, they’re they’re they’re on the move, you know, going the right direction and, you know, mobile quarterback and it’s going to be tough. It’s going to be a challenge. You know, they they’re in the in the momentum of stopping streaks. So what better than to stop this one at home and to get the 12s involved and to get loud and if they can be solid, if they can buy bottle up that Cardinal offense, I think is key. If the defense continues to stroke, show the strides that they show coming out of coming out of that bye week, which, you know, honestly, is my expectation. You know, they had some some big, you know, big holes and gaps that we saw throughout the season and the 49ers, although they’re struggling a little bit offensively, and I know, you know, McCaffrey was out there like they had their pieces and to be able to to hold them down and control them. You guys think that that’s a big momentum piece for that defense coming into this Cardinals game.

JB (18:36):

I’d also like to thank on behalf of the 12s, George Kittle’s absence and Nick Bosa’s hip that contributed very much to that victory. Then we had to guess for sure, because Boston was causing problems when he was out. Yeah, he was. Absolutely. And so, you know, because you keep talking about the defense and and and those those DBS there, if you will. I just want them to go ahead and assume this nickname I want to give them. I know that we know the Legion of Boom is is a legendary not only nickname, but, you know, led that one of the legendary defenses in NFL history. I just want to call Mike McDonald and the Doobie brothers, man. I mean, come on now, you know, to do something with that. But we’re going to see what happens with it. It’s the key three game stretch here is that they go down the stretch of the 2024 season. We’re talking with University of Washington, Husky basketball legend Donald Watts here on another edition of Watts Up Wednesday. Now it’s time to talk some dogs and cats there. Cats and dogs and whatnot. But I’m going to go with the dogs first, because that’s your alma mater. Football wise, they get Bo eligible with that win over UCLA, where KB said, yeah, there were a few different because because, you know, the streaming wasn’t all the way right for that fight on Friday night. You know, just know that they were watching it up in the press box. But they’re all at different times there, if you will. But in the middle of watching that, there was a game unfolding below there at the 3910 Montlake Boulevard Northeast, where they’ve only one. That’s the only wins that they’ve gotten this year. Thirty one, 19 victory over UCLA. And we talked about it. They get both eligible. We talked about how pivotal it was in regards in regards to the momentum. And then, you know, being sustainable, getting the extra 15 practices ahead of the bowl game, this ahead of the Oregon game, which is your new rival on Thanksgiving weekend, all of that in play. But I also want you to throw in there because we talked about this in last week’s episode, the quarterback position and what they’re doing, of course, with Will Rogers and Demond Williams, of what you saw there at UCLA. Your thoughts on them getting bowl eligible and where we’re moving forward.

Donald (20:51):

I mean, I guess it’s very important for the program to take the next step. For next year, you know, very important to get those practices in. You know, like we talked about it before, but you had a team that had a sliver of what a spring ball should be, you know, coming into the season and at the same time, going into a big challenge and jumping, going into the big 10. Well, now you got some guys who’ve been through that. You have a historic, prideful football program. You have a coach who’s turned things around before. And he has an idea of who he has, like what he has, what guys strengths and weaknesses are, what you need to develop and what you need to feel. And so this extra 15 practices, this ball game is about, you know, winning four more games next year. Right. It’s about catapulting yourself to another level. It’s about being able to go on the road and win three games on the road that you weren’t able to do this year. And so all of those, you know, so, you know, people think all the ball game or whatever, but it’s really about forecasting and it’s really about building your program and filling those gaps and getting the program aligned around what you learned about yourself this year and where you want to take it. So really important. You know, and I really think that starts, you know, this weekend in Oregon. It starts with the Oregon game and then flows right into the ball game. I really think that starts, you know, this weekend at practice. You know what your your, you know, your destiny for this season has is is laid. Right. And so now you’re you you’re talking about what the direction of your program going forward and you’re trying to create momentum for that right now.

JB(23:03):

You know, we’re less than a month away from the expanded college football playoff taking place, and I’m excited to see how it’s all going to pan out. No, the University of Washington is not going to be in it this season. And depending. We’re not. No, not this year. But just moving forward, though, because we know that there’s a lot of pink slips that are going to be given out once the regular season is over and they get into, you know, bowl eligible or bowl competition and those that did not make the bowls and you’ll have coaches jumping ship or maybe taking other jobs and things that nature transfer portals open up in this new landscape of college athletics, especially college football, with NIL being in the midst as well with this new formula that’s playing out in front of our eyes. All that being said, and even with what you just said, the momentum and the steps moving forward and, you know, practicing for a bowl. What is your confidence level? One to 10 that Jeff Fish is going to come back for his second season. You can’t. Come on.

Donald (24:14):

Got to do it. Got to do it. You just asked me to just you might as well just through some numbers as we pick a straw. Yeah, man, I don’t have no clue, man. I have no idea. I have no idea who the suitors will be. You know, like it’s it’s, you know, man, you know, I don’t know what to say. I’m going to say I’m going to be a dog and say a hopeful seven. You know, like that’s a hopeful seven. But the landscape, the way this thing turns, man, turns so fast. And, you know, I don’t know who’s I don’t know who’s who’s agent. I don’t know who what spots are open and who the suitors are. And I know there will be, you know, like, um, you know, I mean, Coach Prime was on TV yesterday. They asked him about some jobs and he said, man, you’re going to ask me about that with my A.D. right here. And then he pulled out the kickstand comment. You know, even that answer, I’m like, OK, Brian, OK. I love it here this week. What is he supposed to say, right? Yeah, man, I’m out of here. You know, hey, my kids are out of here. This season is over, man. I’m out of here. I got the next guy, Warren Sappletake over.

JB (25:36):

There you go.

Donald (25:36):

Like you go say that at the press conference.

JB(25:38):

Yeah. You know, so you never know, man.

Donald (25:41):

You never know what these guys, you know, got going on. The coaching carousel, the transfer portal. You know, I mean, they won’t even put that. They won’t even put those out to Vegas, man. Nah, nah, nobody trying to figure that out.

JB (25:56):

No, but nobody trying to lose money either. And that’s the problem with that. You know, you started off this segment, this episode, talking about Mama Knows Best and how you thought differently not to test Mother Nature, if you will, with the storm and the snow and the pass and all that. I’ll just put this out there. Not only trying to navigate college athletics in 2024, going into 2025, it’s the same way you drive through the fog. No high beams. OK, which means no high hopes. Yep, yep, yep, yep. Low beams only. So that’s going to be it. Low beams, get the fog lights on. There you go. There you go. So that’s how we run with it. I like how you roll. Day by day. Day by day. UW Hoops latest, man. So we’re going to stay there at Montlake. They got that victory over. I didn’t even know UMass Lowell was a college. But, you know, we learn something new every day. But just the latest on that and, of course, Osibor, great Osibor, having a huge game. But your thoughts are they’re navigating through this non-conference schedule thus far?

Donald (27:05):

I mean, it’s rough, man. You know, it’s a new team. You know, they got, you know, room to grow. You know, they played some teams and played them tight where at the minimum you would think that the talent would just overwhelm. You know, the SPU challenged you. Now, you know, my coach, Coach Keffrey, he knows how to. He’s my coach, my assistant at West Seattle High School. And, you know, handed the job over to him. He’s at Seattle Pacific now. I’ll tell you, he knows how to ugly up a game. He knows how to muck it up. Yeah. But at the same time, you know, you look at the opponents that they faced and you look at the outcome of the game. And the only thing that you can really draw from it is that they they’ve got, you know, room to grow. They got to, you know, get some time to get they got to get together. Not some time to get together. They got to get things together going fast before they they get into conference play. And so and then on the other side of it, you have a guy who, you know, can be as productive and has been in certain games as productive stat stuffing. And I don’t mean that in a negative way as any player in the country when it comes to rebounds and points and steals and, you know, great. Oaks for is is is one that you got to believe that you can anchor around and get some wins, you know, if the other guys can if they can figure out how to be complementary of him and him of them. Because when you got a guy that, you know, that’s a load and can get things done the way that he can, it gives you a puncher’s chance because teams are going to have to, you know, they commit extra resources to them, you know, they got to commit extra resources to them. That’s if they believe that what he does can can hurt them bad enough to win. I think that’s one of the things in basketball where, you know, even when I’m playing with guys or whatever, and they’re like, oh, you got to get out on him just because a guy made a shot. It’s like, well, he can’t beat me with that shot. I’ll let him have him. Like, I’m not going to overcommit to stopping anything that I don’t believe can beat me. So that’s the important part is to get those complementary, you know, get complementary production to his so that it makes he makes other people’s lives easier and they make his life easier. And then they can get some work done. But I definitely think, you know, from from the results that there’s a lot of growth that has to be had between now and the start of the Big Ten season.

JB (29:53):

You know, they got two of the most unique names in all of college sports on their team. Great Osibor and and Zoom Diallo. Do you think that we’ll be hearing more from him in the in the upcoming games? Do you do you expect, shall we say, his his talent to start to surface moving forward?

Donald (30:14):

Yeah, definitely. I mean, I think that, you know, when you’re a freshman, it’s you know, it’s always an adjustment. I think the more interesting thing to me, and I haven’t really looked into the guys that recently signed with the school. But it sounds like some high level. Perimeter guys, point guards. Signed, which is curious, because if you got a zoom, you know, a local guy and that’s what you like. You know, like in other guys are coming in in a similar to same position at the young. Like, what is that? What is that? You know, I don’t know. But what does that say about how you’re filling out your roster? But like I said, I haven’t seen the guys. I just, you know, I’ve been. Yeah, I’ve been getting the information from the worst place to get information.

Donald (31:03):

OK, Twitterverse.

Donald (31:05):

OK, you know what I mean? Like Twitterverse, people can say anything about anybody and there’s no accountability. So, you know, everybody is going to be great or everybody going to be the next and there’s so much more behind that with how you handle adjustments between high school and college and, you know, how many stars are behind your name and all of that stuff. So I say what I said at the same time with pumping my brakes with caution, because I haven’t put my eyes on those guys to see what their production and what what positions they actually translate to in college.

Donald (31:39):

Right. Yeah.

Donald (31:41):

And I know that’ll be a change in here soon. That’s curious that you talked about the recruiting aspect of all, because it reminds me of when you were recruited to the University of Washington and talking about the logjam there and why certain guys committed elsewhere. And of course, at the position. So we won’t judge that up. But I also will talk about the next generation of Watson, what he’s going through in his saga over there at Wazoo. And they had to respond to their first loss of the season to Iowa through that. He was dealing with a a little bit of a shooting slump. And when he was asked about it in the postgame presser, he talked about it. He talked about his work with you and you being his mentor and some things that were on there. If you want to see a little bit about what Isaiah Watts said in regards to that, go to at Donald Watts 24 and you’ll be able to pull that up. But just talk a little bit about the last week, you know, the struggles he’s going through. He was pretty emotional in talking about his emotions and what his work with you has meant trying to get through these non-conference games with a whole new team in this 24, 25 season.

Donald (32:56):

Yeah, I mean, I guess the best way you can explain it is, is, you know, I mean, you stick it out at the school. You’re familiar with the coaching staff because they recruited you. So you’re comfortable with the coaching staff. And, you know, you make some assumptions. But then when when the reality hits and the game start or whatever, it’s almost like you’re the transfer. Right. Because coach got enough of his guys to come over here where he has a culture that is a way that he is successful, that he’s been successful. And he has guys who, you know, who represent that culture. So even though you didn’t transfer, you’re the one who’s learning. You’re the one who has a bigger learning curve. Right. Like of like of what things are. And then I think there’s also like a little bit of a like if you come in and you transfer in, that’s the expectation. Like that’s what you’re anticipating. You left the school, you’re going to a new school, like you’re anticipating that, you know, that learning curve or whatever. And so I think a little bit of that is what he was struggling with. And at the end of the day, like I didn’t really realize that he missed 13 straight threes or whatever it was. Apparently he did or had because I’m looking at like what all I know he can shoot. So it doesn’t like it doesn’t matter to me. What I’m seeing is that like he’s not seeing where his opportunities are supposed to come from. He’s not understanding within what they’re doing, what is supposed to be, you know, where his things are. And so he’s he’s fighting it. He’s forcing things, passing up on other things. And that’s the focus. Right. Like it’s not how many you missed or how many may I know you can shoot. I know you’re one of the best shooters in the country. And I also know that shooters go through this stuff. You know what I’m saying? So the like all of those things. Ultimately, what we worked on is getting rid of all of it. Like forget about all that. There are shots that you know you can take that are unique to the way you shoot the basketball. It’s for very few people in the country can shoot it that way. And you’re not looking for those, you know, and like while you’re trying to understand and get the rhythm of the offense, you also got to bring yourself to it. Right. And you’re going to make a couple, you know, ill advised passes or plays or shots, right? Like as you’re learning and just like be forgiving of yourself. In that regard, and for the most part, the coaches have been pretty good about that with you. So, you know, let go of that stress pressure. You know what I mean? And let’s just get back to enjoying the game and being who we are. And yeah, man, like we were shooting, you know, get to get to the gym early. Like we always do this, isn’t it? You know, like we’re not all like it’s not a oh, we’re slumping. So we’re this like it’s a gem early, you know, get shots up and lights on. And we got done shooting and we actually finished the shooting. He shot it really well. But then towards the end, he started struggling a little bit. And I ended it, you know, with the struggle. I’m like, no, like, and I actually I’ll put the video up later. But I said it in a video. I said, well, frustrated struggling right now. But that’s good. Like sometimes you want to leave the gym like that, because then when you come back, your focus is going to be even more on getting over that and the rhythm that you felt. And that’s how we rolled. And he was able to have a decent game. He didn’t put together everything that we like to see and what we know he can bring to this team. But he’s able to get off the snide as far as knocking down jumpers. And he spoke about, you know, that emotion of overcoming it. And honestly, he’s you know, he’s I’m over here now. We’ve been in the gym. We shot last night, shot against them. I beat him the first round of shooting. Imagine that last year, I couldn’t shoot a left hand layup, could barely walk less than a year ago. We shot our 15 footers and he was like, I can’t say what he said on the radio. Bad, bad. Well, he was like, man, you know, but so we shoot 150 spot up shots and track our makes is one of the things we do at watch basketball. We’re getting back to that. I’ll tell you this, by shot number 80, my arms fell off. Yeah, reps will do it. They’re making a third round. Right. That first round, that first round, I got him now, but it’s a man. It’s really special. You know, even even what he said in that press conference about, you know, leaning on his support there, you know,

Donald (37:34):

and it’s part of the Watch Foundation, you know, right?

Speaker5 (37:36):

We know everybody doesn’t have that, right? We know everybody doesn’t everybody who aspires to be in a situation is doesn’t have somebody in their corner deck. And we want to be that for other other families, for other kids who are looking forward to doing these things. But, you know, he mentioned his academic advisor, his mom. And, you know, just like, yeah, like these are the people this is how I get through stuff. We go through stuff. I’m going through stuff right now.

Donald (37:60):

You know what I mean? And we got to have people that we can lean on and count on

Donald (38:03):

to get through those things. And this basketball stuff is anything, anything sports stuff. Life is anything short of perfect. You know, I mean, it’s hard, it’s difficult. And it’s like we’re we’re, you know, we’re trained. It’s like it’s the people that can handle those difficulties. It’s the people that can handle those slumps. It’s the people that can keep their mind on, you know, not the slump, but what it is that you want to bring to your team that you’re frustrated that you’re not bringing it, because that’s about something bigger than you. And it’s a faster way through whatever challenges that you’re having.

JB (38:39):

I love how you said that in between. He done weaved it, y’all. There’s your watch weekly words of wisdom right there. And I’m glad to hear the perseverance. And then he has any look we’re talking about, Isaiah. He’s a true and it’s not just DNA. It’s hard work. He’s a true product of the Watts Foundation and the Watts basketball program. So it’s always good to see a watch, baby. There you go. And I keep that success moving up as we leave the the college realm hoop wise and take a look more, not from a micro level. We’re talking about the local squads, but just the college basketball as a whole, getting into these, you know, that interesting time of the year, because some of these matchups will look back upon in March and be like, oh, OK, when we’re looking at our brackets and whatnot, these two teams might have faced off with all these these holiday tournaments coming up. Do you have a grasp or a thought on on on a team or two? Maybe the number two ranked UConn in regards to their strive for a three peter’s and Gonzaga, obviously, is a shown that they are coming back on the map. Is it something that we that that Donald’s keeping his eye on from a national point of view in college men’s hoops?

Donald (39:56):

I mean, you named it. You can’t got a chance to see them last night, not against the, you know, East Texas, what you call it. They were saying it on the thing. They changed the name because nobody knew their name. Still don’t nobody know their name. East Texas, Arlington or something. Texas, A&M, East Texas, A&M or something. East Texas Tech or something. I don’t know, man. It wasn’t a formidable opponent, but they look good. They look sharp. You know, Hurley is a is a is a coach that, you know, he has a squad and he has the ability to to demand, you know, championship level play. And you just imagine, you know, being in practice every day and being. And it’s just the, you know, it’s like every day is a championship is what it feels like that organization, how it runs. He don’t take, you know, it’s not the score. It’s not the any of that. He he he he is a no nonsense. No, he’s about it. Yeah, he’s about it, about it. And then obviously Gonzaga is very interesting. You know, being down the road, they’ve you know, they started off playing. You know, it’s almost like they’ve you know, they’ve been playing teams like like they need like they’re a mid major needing to play, you know, good quality games to start. And you got to respect them for that, right? Like they’re not a mid major basketball program. They’re a blue blood now, you know, but they’re they’re they’re, you know, now I’m going to say going back to it because it’s not like they’ve really gotten away from it. But, you know, their early season schedule has been, you know, heavy with high majors and, you know, not not a bunch of cupcakes or whatever. And they got Long Beach State tonight. But and they look really good, you know, and and, you know, we’ll we’ll see. I think, you know, adding Washington State and adding the Oregon State to the West Coast Conference this year is going to be helpful for for Gonzaga a couple more games against, you know, high majors, major caliber teams, programs will be, you know, will serve them well going into what inevitably is the NCAA tournament. You can’t imagine a NCAA tournament without Gonzaga. And there’s only a few schools that you can say that about.

Donald (42:27):

You know, true.

Donald (42:31):

So, you know, Gonzaga’s one, you know, looking at and watching and you know, I’ll have to, you know, over the next couple of weeks, I will, you know, broaden my my my radar a little bit. I’ve been pretty locked in over here with with Isaiah and Pullman. And and, you know, over the over Thanksgiving break, I’ll have a chance to sit down and watch more and more more college basketball.

JB (42:58):

There you go. Fair enough. Looking at that, by the way, it’s the Lions, not the Whatchamacallits, the Lions, the dogs. What’s the school name? East Texas A&M. That’s crazy, right? Yeah. But you’re absolutely right. Look, you didn’t know that was a school. I didn’t know, you know, UMass Lowell was a school. And so learning things. Whatchamacallit. Yeah. I like the Whatchamacallit better, though. That’s a good candy bar, by the way, underrated. The thing, though, and I want to kind of close with this you know, the NBA season’s underway. We got the highs and the lows finally got brought back to Earth. What a start for the Cleveland Cavaliers on the fourth team to start 15 and 0. But it was the defending champions and the Boston Celtics that took them down. And the Vegas Cup, do you know how we feel about the Vegas Cup? You know, the NCAA tournament and crazy looking courts and whatnot. But then there’s also the lows. And I kind of want you to close with this as reports have come out. The struggles there that we’ve seen, not just from Milwaukee, but more or less. And from an injury standpoint, it’s the Philadelphia 76ers. But I think it’s more of a culture shift and a culture change because you have some of the same players, but a different coaching staff. You know, you have, of course, Maxey, who’s trying to get back from his hamstring issues and beads has come in, you know, whether it be suspension, pushing reporters. And he’s had everything on the anatomy hurt. And he’s not playing, but he signed a big deal. And as did Paul George before Tyrese Maxey did his entire his Maxey’s been looked at as the young leader on that squad and and called out the big fella. He said, you know, you need to stop being late to everything. And that’s pretty much where it’s at when you’re two and 11. And maybe lean in on a quick short story. You know, we’re how team meetings can be negative or positive as far as the outcomes from them. What happens when you talk about struggles in those team meetings? And and there’s some truth telling that goes on, you know, just from your personal accounts of what might be happening in that locker room?

Donald (45:16):

Well, I mean, there’s sometimes they’re effective. I’m going to say this, I’m going to say all the time. Sometimes they’re effective at galvanizing, sometimes they’re effective at accelerating what needs to be what needs to happen, which is separation. OK, you know, and like, you know, it’s not just effective. Oh, we go on a winning streak. It’s like it’s effective. It’s like, hey, man, get this dude out of here. I can’t get I can’t play with this dude. Get me out of here. You know what I mean? And and that Philadelphia organization. Oh, there are stars. In the game that in times in their career, hamstring, like they just they hijack. They they hijack franchises. They hijack franchises, and I really feel like it’s the combination of from an from an emotional standpoint. No, just from a standpoint of life where, you know, I’m fine.

Donald (46:21):

I’m not here every day. OK, you know, I mean, I’m not I’m not a contributor.

Donald (46:25):

The money is guaranteed. You know, like, how do you move to move past that? Yeah, like and whether it’s the physical injury or the emotional, you know, sometimes it’s not a guy that’s injured.

Donald (46:37):

It’s just a guy that’s not going to do the things that it takes to win.

Donald (46:40):

But you can’t sit him down, you know, and he’s going to get his numbers to make it look like it’s everybody else’s fault. Like there’s, you know, I mean, there was a time that, you know, God bless him. Rest in peace. You know, Kobe had the Lakers just firing people. And, you know, like he was the reason they didn’t make it to the playoff. Right. Like he had an agenda, you know, by Phil, you know, by Jack, you know what I’m saying? And then he was like, OK, I didn’t like that. Come on back, Phil. You know, let’s let’s let’s go. All right. You know what I mean? So there’s a, you know, it’s just a reality, you know, and a lot of time, like even, you know, GP had the sonics like that.

Donald (47:18):

You know, he was he was he was I need this money and I’ll play

Donald (47:22):

with this guy, but not these guys. And you can’t bring in nobody. There’s going to be more to be, you know, at a time, you know. So it’s like trade me and then you go get traded and you go take 25 percent of what you were going to, you know, what you were demanding here to go play a role somewhere else. Right. Like that’s that’s the hijacking of a franchise by a superstar.

Donald (47:41):

You know, and it happens in the NBA more often than not.

Donald (47:45):

And so not more often than not. But it feels like Philadelphia is in that place, right? Like Joel Embiid is the guy. He’s not going to, you know, he’s going to do things his way. He’s going to accept things. You know, there’s things he can accept things. He’s not going to accept his way. He’s going to show up. You know what I mean? And his things aren’t going to probably change until he’s out of there. Right. But then how do you get him out of there? Like who, you know, he’s signed for big money. Who’s who’s taking on that with the the the, you know, the lack of being on the court, you know, every day. And it might be a team that will take that on because they’re that piece of the way in the playoffs or whatever. But it really feels like Philadelphia is on the down slide. Yeah. In a way that it’s going to take, you know, dramatic recovery for it to happen. I mean, do you see this team going to the playoffs and beating the New York Knicks in the seven game series? You know, do you see this team beating the Boston Celtics in the seven game series? You know, I mean, I think it’s going to be Milwaukee. You know, if they made the playoffs, it would be Milwaukee versus them in the first round. You know, I mean, you know, in the play in the play in

Donald (48:60):

you know, that I’ll see them beat Milwaukee, you know.

Donald (49:03):

And Milwaukee is another deal, man. It’s a we’ll see what happens. They got the personnel. You know, it felt like a like a like a good situation there. And, you know, it almost feels like, you know, Doc Rivers is the toxic guy there. You know what I mean? Like they, you know, had a record. They had a winning record. You know, Doc on the bench behind the guy. They move him. Doc gets the job. And it’s been horrible.

JB(49:28):

Yeah. It kind of makes you wonder why they even got rid of Adrian Griffin to begin with. But again, like, wasn’t he mentoring Adrian Griffin? Just saying, just saying. So, yeah, but you also have to look at the the man that wants to put every, you know, his brothers and his brothers, brothers on the on the squad. And if not, he’s going to. Yeah. So I don’t know. He got it. He’s got a lot to prove as far as not being a coach killer himself. But it’s interesting how you talk about that. You know, once they get the bag, you know, do they tap out or tap in? I don’t think that he’s about that is going to be interesting. I like what your warriors are doing. I want to get more into some NBA, but I want to take this time as we’re closing out to wish you and your family not only the safest, but the healthiest of a Thanksgiving holiday. Dee, you’ve been a pleasure and looking forward to talking with you more in December.

Donald (50:21):

Absolutely. Happy Thanksgiving to the Bennett fam, too.

JB (50:25):

And we appreciate you. That’s the University of Washington Husky basketball legend Donald Watts with another edition of Watts up Wednesday. Again, if you have an aspiring Hooper, you want to sign up to go ahead and enhance their skills on the court, you want to sponsor an aspiring Hooper, then Donald Watts and his staff is exactly what you’re looking for. Go ahead and log in to the Watts basketball programs by visiting Wattsbasketball.com.