12Sports Tonight on 12+ | May 1, 2025
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[{'start': '23.610', 'end': '24.489', 'text': "What's up Arizona. Welcome into something new. You're watching 12 sports tonight on 12 Plus. I'm Lena Washington. We'll catch up with the rest of the 12 sports crew in just a moment. Every Thursday night, come hang with us. We're talking all things Arizona sports, telling you the important stories that matter to you and introducing you to the people who inspire others in our community. This is 12 Sports Tonight, Arizona's original and longest running sports shows. Streaming on 12 plus. Let's go. Matt I remember a few weeks ago, and he was pretty adamant like change is coming. We got, well, they're gonna take their time on hiring a head coach. That's likely gonna take the rest of May, I would bet. They're gonna have a bunch of candidates do that. But you know, they change needed to happen within the front office and he was, he was like, hey, change, we're gonna do a new culture, right? We're gonna do this, we're gonna do that. I don't know if this hit the mark, but they do have a new general manager, James Jones. out. Brian Gregory is in. Son's name in Brian Gregory, their new GM, joined the Sun's front office a couple of years ago. Nearly two decades of college head coaching experience. He was assistant head coach at Michigan State when Ishbea was on the roster there as a walk-on. Uh, Jones, of course, had been the GM since 2019. He will stay on as a senior adviser, so James Jones gets demoted. Uh, this change of course comes after the Suns missed the playoffs for the. First time since 2020 and of course as we all know, had the highest payroll in the NBA, the most expensive payroll in NBA history. Arizona Sports John Gammadoro is reporting that Gregory is gonna report directly to Istria, so they used to have a bunch of voices in basketball operation. It will now start with Gregory. He's gonna be the one voice and report directly to the owner. Guys, I, I have a lot of mixed feelings about this. I'll say this, this is not the change Suns fans wanted, like they wanted somebody from The outside who could really kind of retool some things, um, and I think this hire is gonna be a little dis disappointing because he was part of the previous mess that's kind of all happened and did he have a voice that's what that that that that's what we gotta find out too as well. I still think the owner calls a lot of the shots, but here's the flip side of this. If this is a guy the owner trusts to make those decisions, maybe it will work out and maybe the relationship is a little different. Remember when Mat took. Over the team, he didn't fire James Jones. He didn't change a lot basketball wise. Now this is his own hire. There's only one person left to blame. This doesn't work. Uh, so this will be the new GM of the Suns, and he will lead the coaching search now moving forward, which we expect probably is gonna end sometime at the end of May. They're gonna have a long list of guys. It's Matt's money at the end of the day, and it's his call right to win. He definitely wants to win, and he's done a lot of different things to show that he they can win. It just hasn't worked out on the basketball side yet, but they got a lot to fix. Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal likely gone, and this, this roster is in for somewhat of a rebuild the next couple of years. Joining us now to break down all things Cardinals draft, look at this for some right here, guys. How cool is this? We need to get a wider shot here on the desk. We got Mark May, Doug Franz here to join with us. Uh, Mark, we'll start with you. What do you make of the Cardinals draft and the grade for us? I thought it was a uh a decent draft. I gave him a C+ on it and the reasons why is because It's a fluid situation. You don't know about the players that they have that they have injuries. They had injuries in college where they're going to play, if they're gonna be able to pick it up and turn on the NFL, and there's a big transition period from college football to the National Football League. Will they pick that up? If you look at this Cardinals team, there are too many new faces on this team. How do you build continuity? How do you build that team in a short period of time before the season starts? So there's a lot of questions to be answered coming up. Man, I think Cardinal fans thought it was a little higher. C+. That's passing. I said it was fluid fluid. It's fluid. I'm, I'm a little higher than Mark but not much. I would go with a minus. My reason why is I like a lot of the picks other than the first round pick. A lot of these guys, I think are great, and I, I don't mind what Mark was talking about. I think we can challenge those injuries and be able to push through, especially the corner from Michigan, Will Johnson. I, I, I like that pick. I would have even doubled down when you talk about injuries. I would have chosen Josh Simmons, the uh tackle out of Ohio State, and let him get better later. I would have been fine with that. That's why I go minus because I don't like the pick of Walter Nolan. I don't hate him. I don't think he's gonna be terrible. It's just to me there were about 3 or 4 other guys I think that I have a lot higher that would have been a better fit. Nationally, really, there's a narrative about Walter Nolan's drive, his character. Uh, Jonathan Gannon was adamant that he's a good. Guy and Walter Nolan said in his introductory press conference, you know, if you're, if you're my dog, I'll give you this shirt off my back. But if you both could expand on maybe reservations or expectations you have for Nolan, maybe starting with you, Doug, you said you didn't like the pick. Tell us why. Well, when you said, you know, he's a great guy, so am I when I'm laying in my recliner chair. I'm a good guy too, and I, I get you out of that chair. It's hard to do. And then when Jonathan Gannon said that weird thing, well, just watch the tape. Well, I guess they don't have Texas A&M tape. I kind of agree with him. At Ole Miss, I thought he was OK at Ole Miss, but his Texas A&M tape, he played as hard as I do as a 50 year old man. It just didn't make sense to to ignore that portion. So I don't think there's enough there intensity wise for me, but I do agree he got better at Ole Miss. Well Mark, what do you think about his motor? I mean, we know motor and violence is what Monty and Jonathan Gannon focus on when they're looking for a player. Well, first and foremost, I'm shocked that Doug's only 50. But besides that, Louis Riddick at ESPN, I, I have a lot of admiration for Louis Riddick because he's done a terrific job not only as a player but as an assistant coach in the front office as a general manager. Here's a guy that knows players and breaks them down. The first thing he said. Was this player's a loafer, which means he takes plays off. Now when somebody in the front office position says that about a player, he's not going in the first round in my opinion, because how do you get that out of him if he loafed in high school, if he loafed in college, if he loafed in another school in college, what's he gonna do when he gets to the NFL? It's like, hey, we drafted this guy, we're gonna be able to 7 years, we're gonna be able to fix this guy where no one else, no one else could. So you've gotta prove it to me now. He's got a big load to carry the first day he comes out in training. Because he's got to show them it's not just one play here or there, it's the consistency that's what makes you a good player and a great player in the NFL. Can you bring it 100% each and every day? And on top of your point, Nick Saban added the the other quote when he said when this guy wants to play, he could be the best inside interior rusher and run defender in the game. That's strong, but whenever you tag it at that beginning, when he wants to play, all that does is feed right into March. But then the flip side of this guys is does he have to be. That right away. Like, look at the room that he's joining and the leaders he's gonna get to learn from. Like he can grow at his own pace, kind of like what JG was talking about when you're behind the guys they sign in the offseason, Claus Campbell, Dalvin Tomlinson, guys who've already been there too as well. Darius Robinson still has to learn. He doesn't have to be a superhero day one. He could just come in and be effective, kind of like Jaylen Carter was for the Eagles. He's got, he's got to be accountable on that from day one. I don't care if you're a rotation player to give guys a break. You've got to be accountable each and every down because they're depending on. You this is a national football. If you can't play up to the expectations, guess what? You're gonna be on another team and that coaching staff's gonna be fired. You gotta prove it. Yeah, you're a first rounder. You're expected to contribute. You're expected to show up and like you said, those players are expected to hold him accountable as the new kid in that room. A lot of expectations in that room, let alone the team and the organization. Well, and the other thing, Kim, like you're right, he doesn't have to carry the room, but the catch is imagine that any employment situation in the world, and the first. Thing they say is, well, if this guy works hard, well if she is committed, if that's the first thing out of somebody's mouth, that's already the reputation that's been built. There's already question marks there. That's the worst question mark you can possibly have. All right, let's ask the biggest question of them all. You ready, Lena? Let's do it. When they make the playoffs next year? Mark, we'll start with you. I think they're gonna go 9 and 8 just because they have a really weak schedule that they can work around. They have a lot of games they're gonna be favored in. And I think if this team stays healthy they've got an opportunity to do that, but will it come together? One thing about this football team is I wanna know what their identity is since they've been here as a coaching staff in front office. What are the errors of the Cardinals? What's their identity? What's the culture of this football team? If I can name a team like Philadelphia, Jalen Hurts, and their defense, San Francisco 49ers, Shanahan, you know, if you any team that you wanna throw out there, you know, if you wanna talk. About just about any team that's in the National Football League, they, you can go to the Buffalo Bills. Josh Allen, they've been close, they don't have that. They've been close to establishing that identity like being physical, but what you're saying is they're not, nothing is, nothing is set in stone. We're like this is the way they play, this is the way they do it all the time. The running game has been there with James Connor, but it's still nothing they haven't won a bunch. It's, it's, it's not where you're gonna face his team and say that really scares me. Well, they, the identity they want to establish is being a playoff team, being a playoff contender. Doug, do you see them extending their season this year? No, I think Mark's got a great point about the schedule. That really is important. They play both South divisions AFC South, NFC South. Those divisions are trash, so that's a very good chance of having a 6 and 2 record right there. And if you do that, that might be enough to put you into the playoffs plus. I think that the 49ers are rebuilding. I'm not ready to say the Seahawks are great, so you're gonna be in the mix all the year, but the NFC North is real. The NFC East is better, uh, to be able to say you are one of the top 3 teams that don't win their division and win a wildcard, I don't think so, and that means you've got to win the division. I don't think so. We'll see what happens, guys. Thank you so much for the time. Appreciate it. Oh, I still wish he was staying here. Cam Scaterbo going to the Big Apple, and one of the first names off the board to start day 3 was just the 3rd pick in the 4th round, uh, right there by the Giants. It's the latest chapter in Scat's rise, well deserved, had no SBF FBS offers out of high school, small school outside of there at Sacramento, started at Sac State, then exploded at ASU, and I love this at the end, out the door. He was always quick to credit Kenny Dillingham for helping him achieve all this success. having him in the building and him as a coach and, you know, most importantly as a person, you know, I connected with him as a person, you know, he's my friend now, um, and I'll I'll always forever be in his corner and I know he'll be in mine. So, um, you know, that's someone that You know, I love dearly and I, I, I care for him a lot, so I'm excited for his future and you know, hopefully he's excited for mine. Speaking of local kids, uh, you know we're all about the local kids right here. Friday Night Fever, Arizona's longest running high school football show during the draft, number of former Fever stars heard their names called. Jay Garcia here with more. Jake. Yeah, Cam, I don't have to tell you this, but Arizona has exploded into a high school football haven in recent decades. Seen in the number of 34, and 5 star recruits who go on to play college football, and it's also seen each year in the NFL draft. In 2025, add 4 more to the Phoenix to Professional pipeline. The local floodgates let loose in the 2nd round of the NFL draft. Local products were now pros. Hamilton's Tyler Shuck heard his name called first, but at 25 years old and the oldest quarterback in the class, it felt like he'd been waiting forever. You didn't think, you know, maybe it was possible when you're getting, you're getting carted off the field, and, um, but you kind of have that self-belief and support around you. Chuck dealt with a litany of injuries throughout college, but says he's stronger for it. Right down the road, Benjamin Morrison is singing a similar tune. The former Brophy DB had a first round great at the start of the season but fell to day two after health problems with his hip. It was a difficult year, and for me it just feels like I can finally win again, you know what I'm saying? I finally got that small one. Morrison, now a Florida man, a workout at his old high school home earlier in the week, proved critical. I wasn't scared of showing what I could do, and I knew like. Even me at 80 85% is better than most guys in the country, and I wasn't scared of doing that. Brophy also helped build up the Cardinals' 5th round pick. They supported local and drafted Denzel Burke. GM Monte Austinport said the high school tie is nice, but the college reps against Marvin Harrison Jr. were the ultimate selling point. -- We -- said it when we were in there like. You know, nobody's had to have a tougher assignment in practice in the last 4 years than Denzel Burke, the guys he's had to cover in practice. I mean, holy smokes. Iron sharpened iron as well for newest Eagle Ty Robinson. Since I was 10, they kind of introduced the idea that, you know, this football life could be a real thing and I could go really far with it. Robinson praised the support system at Higley for getting him to the pros. His prep tape might have involved a different position. You go. I used to play tight end in the transformation into the town. Robinson, a district champion back in 2017, he joins the defending Super Bowl champs for his first season in the NFL. Guys here with the man of the hour, Larry Fitzgerald Fitz. You've been doing this for 15 years. Well, what's changed in 15 years here? You know, like just one of those things that It's worked. It's been very productive, um, and people have enjoyed themselves from what they tell us. Like, I don't really do a lot of changing honestly I just try to make sure we're delivering the same quality of service every single year. I think the toughest thing is being able to consistently get good quality auction items, so people will actually bid on it, you know, experiences that are, you know, differentiated from anything that they can just go get themselves and so I think that's some of the things that, you know, you're always like racking your mind. Like what was somebody like, you know, would they like to go to the US Open or just the Masters or is the, the Super Bowl or NC NCAA or uh Kentucky Derby, like, you know, like you just wanna make sure people are having things that they would enjoy doing. Yeah, but I mean to keep doing this all these years, Larry, to give back to a community I know you call your own, just how special is that? And every year it gets, it gets bigger and bigger and your commitment to this valley remains the same. Well, the commitment the valley is given to me has remained the same, you know, so. Like that's what we call loyalty, um, you know, I, I, I give what I receive and, and vice versa and so like I'm, I'm very happy to be a part of this community, you know, I knew from day one moving in Auki, you know, I didn't know anybody there my neighbors dropping off, you know, baskets of fruit and dropping off like linens from my, my, you know, like like everybody was always so nice to me from the day I got here and so like no but obviously I can't like serve every single person. But you have to do what you can and, um, you know, I'm just I'm very grateful to be able to do something like this. You set such a good example and the reason I said it because I was talking with Kyler Murray the other day, and he's gonna do a softball game coming up kind of like you used to do. And, you know, he was like, Larry's the guy. Larry's the guy who kind of set the example for all of us, and now you're gonna be there at his event all these years later. Yeah, I'm, I'm really happy, um, to be supportive of the guys and the things that they're doing. I mean, if I think about the quality of the men that you have. you know, in this league now versus when I came in in 2004, I mean just such high character guys. You look at Kyler, you look at James Connor who, you know, battled his way back to cancer to, you know, be just a phenomenal phenomenal football player and then like I got a son who wants to play one day at the highest level and then you got guys like Michael Wilson and and and Marvin Harrison who for as good a football players as they are, they're they're still better men and so like we're very fortunate. Um, to be able to watch these guys do something they really love and, and, and there's, there's guys that you went when when my son puts on their jerseys like you're happy that they're that they're that they're wearing a jersey, somebody like that because they're such high quality guys. So I'm happy to see Kyler just embracing, you know, who he is in this community. There's so many young people look up to him and. To see him doing that really makes me happy. Real quick, I didn't see Karibe's name on the guest list, but she has put in some orders. She would like steak and and some dessert too as well to take back. Are you cool? Did she bring her, did she, did she give you the credit card? No, she didn't. She left. She always trying to get a freebie, man. She always trying to get a freebie, man. It's as bad as cool, man. That as bad as cool. Yeah, congrats on 15 years, my friend. Thank you. I appreciate it. Always good to see you. Guys, back to you. Joining us is a man I don't think needs an introduction right whatsoever. They've shortened now, right? We were talking about that he's had to believe in March and April he's now up to home runs and that. In franchise history behind only yourself. What have you made of his start to the season so far? Well, he's definitely off to a hot start. He's a great player, great person first of all, and the way he approaches everything, he's a hard worker. I love the guy. He's a, he's a great kid. I just spent about 30 minutes with him in there just sitting around the kitchen table just talking baseball and. He loves the game. He's, he's very passionate about it. He's very passionate about going out there and winning. And not only that, but he knows he's representing the state of Arizona and the Arizona Diamondbacks every time he either takes the field or he's in the community. So what's he picking your brain about? It's like, hey, how can I catch your home run record for the franchise? No, no, no, we don't. Like does he ask you for tips that way? No, we didn't talk about anything about that. I, you know, I I told him you're off to a great start it going. It's a long season, you know, try to hold up that longevity right now the way he's been swinging, he's been carrying our our ball club for a while here we've got a couple guys that we need to get going here, but uh. I mean his approach and the way he plays, he's the guy I'm sure the other team circles saying don't let this guy beat you because of the way he plays the game. Pavin Smith joining us now. Pavin, what's, uh, what's the team feel like these days? How's it going? Oh, it's been going well. Uh, I got some good team camaraderie, uh, lost a couple of tough ones in the last series, but we're ready to move on from that. Pavin, I look at the start you've had to this season. Would you say this is the most comfortable you've felt at the plate in your career? Yeah, I think it stems off of a good end of last last year and just building on that in the offseason and trying to continue it this year. Yeah, I definitely feel uh confident going into the box. Does it feel different or does the ball look like a beach ball when it's coming at you because you've been hitting some monster home runs out of the ballpark. Uh yeah, I think it's just the game slowing down a little bit, you know, uh, you can, you can try too hard sometimes and the and the ball speeds up a little bit. So just trying to, you know, relax up there and slow things. I don't know how much you pay attention to some of these numbers, but I'm just going to read a few off for you. Career high and walk rate, career high in hard hit rate, your top 5 in baseball and and hunting fastballs. How much of your early season success has just been about dialing in, trying to find your specific pitch that you know you can do damage with? Yeah, I think it's my approach always is just being aggressive, and I've always had a good sense of the strike zone, so I'm just trying to. Uh, find my pitch, look for one I can, uh, lay off, and then automatically just shut down if I don't feel like it's a good pitch yet. Haven, we were talking with Tory Lavelle the other day. He called you an organizational success story, obviously, a former first round pick still here. I was at 8 years ago, 27 it crazy, um. But the team kind of doubled down on you this year, you know, they, they want, they want you to be the DH. They believed in you. I guess what did all that mean and what does it kind of mean to have all this success finally pay off all these years later? I mean 8 years, uh, is a long time to still be at it. Yeah, it's definitely a vote of confidence from, from the team, uh, you know, giving me this role and this opportunity and just trying to make the most of it. Uh, it's a long season though. Uh, there's definitely gonna be some downtimes this year and just trying to just not make them as long. How'd you stay patient through all this time, through all these 8 years and just, just getting to this point now where they, you know, want you in the lineup almost every day. Yeah, I think, uh, this is the right time. I don't think I was ready. Uh, definitely had to work through some things. Uh, this game's definitely hard and. Uh, trying to make adjustments and you know, feel like it's the right time. We are joined by the skipper Tori Lavello. Uh, Tory, good to see you, man. And this is kind of cool having you stop by our desk here. Well, first of all, I appreciate you guys having me. It's really cool for me to be here with you guys too. Big fans of you guys. I love Channel 12, um, the fact that you you're carrying our games right now, it's a perfect storm for me. For those who don't know at home, Tory Lavella had a very entertaining exchange with an umpire early in the season. What kind of text you get that? That's good. I get very intense, right? I feel like I'm a pretty even keel guy, but I, I spike and when I get up into that red zone, it's not pretty. Um, I mean, I got texts from friends, family, and my mom every once in a while is like, I don't like. Couple of words you're using one that starts with the F. Can you knock that off from now on? So I try to but I can't. Tory, I, I know you've talked about it before, but I don't think you've talked about it with us and that's your dad, uh, Sam, who unfortunately has passed on, but, but for those of you who don't know at home, Sam Lovello, his dad produced Heehaw for years and and you. Up with some interesting neighbors I did, I did. First of all, thank you for giving me a chance to talk about my dad. He was my hero. um, I think about him every day, you know, for everybody that's lost their father and sitting in this part of your life, you understand what I'm saying. So he was a great man and he was a 20, uh, uh, the executive producer for 25 years, uh, for a show called Hee Haw. You say that in the wrong sound of the wrong person, they fall off their chair with laughter, but it was a great show and I saw him. Worked so hard, um, he developed relationships. He made good things happen for that show and I'm so proud of him and so proud of what he did for for country music and Mark, it makes sense why is the man that he is, right? And that that's what you're big on Tory relationships. What do you think he would think of kind of everything you've accomplished that, yeah, he'd be really proud of me. I, I know for sure. um, he didn't get a chance to see me manage one game here he passed right before I managed my first game. Um, but I, I know that he, he had always talked to me about different things and, and different gears in different ways and, and it's about life, it's about being a good young man and treating people well and when he was talking to me about that, I, he was a great example because I watched him do it every day and I saw him tie in some really talented musicians and artists and yes it was uh it wasn't uncommon for me to walk home and see Loretta Lynn sitting at the dinner table when I got home from baseball practice. He was as kind to them as he was to us, and it meant so much to him. We've seen this team win in several ways. I mean, your offense explodes, you've won in shut out fashion, winning in extras, but have you been able to kind of establish the identity of this team yet? The identity is just pretty resilient, really, you know, even going back to that game in Chicago, uh, that we unfortunately wound up losing, um, you know, still to put up 8 runs on a, on a back end. And like the Cubs have, uh, so it's impressive. So, um, yeah, I think that's just kind of part of the culture we've kind of cultivated here just a resiliency, um, and you know, until the 27 now it's made, you know, we're still in the game. Yeah, absolutely. In terms of your stuff and your start so far this season, is there something that you're most pleased with things that you worked on in the offseason or focuses that you really wanted to lock in this year that you're really impressed with so far? For me, the biggest thing is always delivery, um, so, uh, I don't feel like I'm quite there yet. Uh, I feel like we're heading in the right direction, um, obviously not up to the the start I envisioned, uh, but at the same time it's a long season. I've had seasons where I started really well and just kind of, you know, for whatever reason ran out of gas at the end or whatever, um, so yeah, I think we're heading in the right direction. I think the biggest thing for a pitching coaches in general, um, for, you know, even going to little league all the way up to the big leagues is. Just kinda keeping your pitchers inside the guard rails really um I think especially at this level um guys are pretty good at what they do they kinda have an idea of what they're trying to do and what makes them successful um so just being able to keep guys. In that lane on the highway so that way they're not, you know, veering in traffic I think it's the biggest thing so um for me that's kind of the biggest thing just keep me inside the guard rails and should be fine. That will do it for us this week. Thank you so much for watching 12 Sports Tonight on 12 Plus. Catch us next Thursday, same time, same place. Don't forget, get the best sports coverage in. Town right here on Arizona sports station morning, noon and night on 12 News and if you miss us just head over to 12News.com or 12 News YouTube page or right here on the 12+ app on your TVs and follow us on social media, of course. I'm Lina Washington. We'll see you back here Sunday night at 10:30 for 12 Sports tonight."}]