Two Marquette basketball legends, Steve Novak and Travis Diener, share their journey to Marquette, their unforgettable Final Four run with Dwayne Wade, playing under Tom Crean, their NBA careers, their impactful work with Be The Difference NIL Collective, and much more! Get ready for an engaging and informative episode packed with fan questions. Whether you’re a die-hard basketball fan or just looking for an engaging and informative podcast, this is an episode you can’t miss.
Learn more about Be The Difference NIL: https://www.bethedifferencenil.org/
Sponsored by Central Standard Distillery: https://thecentralstandard.com/
Produced by Story Mark Studios: https://storymarkstudios.com/
Media partner – OnMilwaukee: https://onmilwaukee.com/
Richie Burke:
Hey everyone. Welcome to a very special episode of Milwaukee Uncut. I’m your host, Richie Burke, and today I have two Marquette basketball legends from the 2003 N C Final Four team joining me, Travis Deiner and Steve Novak. As many of you know, they both went on to have successful professional careers, Steve on quite quite a few teams in the nba and Travis in the nba, as well as over in Italy. We cover a lot of ground on this episode and they have some hilarious praise that I was not aware of. It’s a great episode.
We talk about how they ended up at Marquette, what playing for Tom Green was like, a lot of good stuff in there. The 2003 NCAA Final four run their NBA careers, which there was also some great untold stories in that segment. We talk about the N I L cuz it’s a hot topic right now, and Travis and Steve are both involved in the Be the Difference n i l collective that supports student athletes at Marquette.
And they’re going about it. The collective is going about it much differently than a lot of schools out there. So we dive into that a bit. It’s a really cool program. We also touch on some good fans submitted questions during the central standard, standard five at the end and a whole lot more before diving in. I want to let you know that this podcast is produced by Story Mark Studios in partnership with On Milwaukee and give a big, big thank you to Central Standard Distillery, our title sponsor from Milwaukee Uncut in good News for you to celebrate the launch of Milwaukee Uncut.
We’re giving away $500 in gift cards to the central standard Craft House, as well as tickets to a Milwaukee event of your choice. This could include Marquette basketball Bucks game, a concert. It’s, it’s the winner’s choice and we’re also giving away some Story Mark Studios merch, a lot of great prizes in our launch giveaway. It’s very easy to enter and it helps out the podcast. So please check that out in the show notes. You can just click the link and enter to win. It’s very simple. Again, you can just check that out in the show notes. Alright, right, let’s dive into this episode with Travis Deiner and Steve Novak. Thanks for coming down today.
Travis Diener:
Great to be here. Thanks for having us.
Richie Burke:
so before we get into all the amazing fan submitted questions let’s start more from the beginning. How did each of you end up at Marquette?
Travis Diener:
Well, well for me it was, I’m a year older than Steve. he’s about, he’s actually three or four years older, but one year older academically. Yeah, that’s fine. Go ahead. You’re good. I’m sure
Richie Burke:
You’re a very intelligent guy.
Travis Diener:
Yeah. From brown deer. Yeah. Yep. but Lac Yeah, yeah, go ahead. No, no, I didn’t mean to know. You know, I as a, as a young, younger athlete, you know, once you start having success, you get recruited by schools and Marquette ended up being the, the school that I thought fit who I was as a player, the best Coach Crane did an incredible job recruiting me, selling me on a, on a vision that he had for, for our team and, and for myself. And something that maybe I didn’t see in myself when he was recruiting me. But everything that he kind of you know, laid out to me came to fruition.
And it was probably the, the best decision that I, I could have, have ever made at that point in my life. And I went back and forth between schools and, and which one I would, you know, see myself most at. And, you know, fortunately, I, I think I made the right one. And you know, I think, you know, going back on it the, the memories that I have of, of going to school close to where I’m from and, and now, you know, 20 years later still, you know, living in this area just is a testament to, to my experience at, at Marquette. It
Richie Burke:
Wa it was a good story. You were gonna go to slu, right?
Travis Diener:
Boy, you’ve done your research. Yeah, no, I was, I, I had went on an official visit to St. Louis. My cousin was playing there, which helped coach Romar, who was a former player actually. you know, I hit it off really well with him. He understood, you know, the, the dynamic of being a player. I went on an official visit, had a great time and went home that night and told my, my mom that I was gonna commit on Monday, cuz it was Sunday night on Monday to St. Louis. My dad was asleep. I went up and told my dad he was half asleep.
I was like whatever. and then I came back down and, you know, my, my two si two younger sisters and my mom were like in tears. And I’m like, it’s what just happened in the last five minutes is somebody like, is somebody sick? Somebody dying or what? And they just, they didn’t want me to go that far away from school. And it’s, I mean, it’s only six hours from finally. I’m like, okay. so that kind of, that kind of ruled out St. Louis. So at, at, at the end, it ended up being between Marquette, Wisconsin, and that’s a no-brainer. Right? Good
Richie Burke:
Choice.
Steve Novak:
Great choice. That was close. Yeah.
Richie Burke:
And you got to play with this guy right here.
Travis Diener:
Well, yeah, he came along the next year and you know, that team that we had when we went to the Final Four was just a collection of I think high character, high chemistry, high together guys. And that, you know, obviously really talented team, but you know, you need a lot more than just talent to, to reach those heights. And adding Steve from one, from my freshman year to my sophomore year was just such a huge addition along with, you know, the other freshmen, but Steve in particular,
Richie Burke:
Steve, how’d you end up at Marquette?
Steve Novak:
You know, and it really was kind of a, a similar process with, you know, different places and names involved. But to be honest, Travis was a big part of why I went to Marquette. Obviously Coach Crane was there. And I think, you know, as a recruiter and as somebody who, you know, you’re looking for that figure, that coach to be able to truly make you better, to truly develop you. Not only to give you an opportunity to win a championship, but to play at the next level beyond. I think, you know, you’re, you’re 16, 17, 18, maybe 20 if you’re Travis years old at that point, as a senior, junior, senior in high school,
Travis Diener:
18,
Richie Burke:
Man, it’s okay. I took, I took a victory lap myself, so I respect that. You carry on. We
Steve Novak:
Can’t let him live that down. That’s fine, . But you know, he obviously I think was always that front runner figure for me that I always thought, you know, could develop me and could make me better. And you don’t at that age, like I was joking about you really, you don’t know really what you’re looking for. It’s like choosing a spouse and trying to do the best, make the best decision. But I mean, there’s 90% of the stuff that you just don’t know. But, you know, Travis being at Marquette, it’s like, I saw him, I thought, you know, take that leap of faith and commit to Marquette. And Scott Merritt had done that. And so those guys were kind of in the area, guys that I had watched and known. And so I think it made my decision, I think it just paved the way I think for me to say like, look, this is where the guys from the area are going.
The guys that I would like to play with are going and, you know, I almost committed, similar to, to Travis to, to Illinois. I told my parents I was, I was gonna commit to Illinois. Bill Self was there, they had a, a heck of a team, Darren Williams a bunch of guys, final Four team. And it was kinda the same conversation. My mom was like, the next day, you know, kind let me make the decision and the next day kind of let me know that it wasn’t really my decision. And she’s like, well, you know, we think Tom is, coach Crane is probably the best, you know, for you, you and put the right guys around you and he can develop you.
And oh, and by the way, you’re 20 minutes down the street from Brown Deer. So that’s also helpful. So I think similar to Travis’s experience, I think we were just both so blessed to be a part of the process to be offered all over the country at different schools. But then I think realized we had Tom Crane, marque University, and you know, just a really special place in our backyard. So it’s where, where we ended up in, you know, like Travis said in my first year, in his second in the Final Four. So felt very validated, I’d say very quickly.
Richie Burke:
So playing for Tom Crane Travis, you’ve said on other interviews you’ve hated him a lot during the season, yet he was able to bring the best outta you guys. You wanted to quit at times. What, what was, what was that like playing with him practices every day?
Travis Diener:
It was it was hell it was challenging mentally physically emotionally but, you know, I think it built incredible toughness collectively individually, collectively if you could, if you could get through it you and you had a vision that at the end of this is it’s all gonna work out. and you know, he never, he never wavered on his, on how he coached us. It didn’t matter if you were the best player, the sixth man, the 10th man, he was hard on everybody. But I think he was fair and you know, you had to bring it. And, and the greatest thing that he ever did was he had an incredible energy about him that he brought every single day. And that’s a skill. And I, I’ve always, I was always, I always marveled at, at his energy level.
And it could be, sometimes it could be really tough on us. Other times he would surprise us and, and it’d be really relaxed practice or maybe not as long. But I’ve always respected that about him as he always came with the same energy. And, you know, practices should be hard. It should be hard to achieve great things. And I I, I appreciate him a lot more right now than I did, you know, when I was in school, for sure. Is is there any story, specific story that stuck out to either you with him?
Steve Novak:
Well,
Travis Diener:
Yeah, I mean, there’s
Steve Novak:
A lot, well, narrowing it down to one is definitely difficult, but there’s definitely one that I think Travis and I kind of share often. Usually when we’re back together with like a Final four reunion or just anybody that was on the team at the time, but we had just played UAB and we’re on the bus and we’re headed back to the airport to fly back home to Milwaukee.
And Travis and I had kind of gotten into it in the timeout, and I don’t even remember the, the specifics as to what you said or why I was mad at you, but, you know, Travis plays with fire and he always was a passionate, is a passionate player. And so he said something in the huddled and he just wants to win. He is just trying to get me going. And I don’t remember how I responded, but I said something back to him.
And I think at the end of the day, coach Creen always wanted me to be more of a fighter and to stand up for myself more and to be more of a leader. And you know, Travis, I think very much more naturally kind of had that fire led by example, but in that moment it felt to me like, all right, well you know what, like he’s saying something to me that I don’t like, and I’m gonna go back at him.
And we’re in this game where UABs got the, you know, fastest 40 minutes in basketball. They’re pressing us all over. We end up losing that game. We’re on the bus, we’re on the way back, he stops the bus. As soon as we get to the, the hangar we’re about to get off and get on the plane. And he basically calls up Travis, come on up here, Steve, come up here too.
And we come up and we’re like, I like maybe we gotta get the bags off first, or I don’t know what we gotta do. And we step off the bus and he basically gets us outside and is like references the time out. The, the conflict that we had that was seemed minor at the time and said like, you guys don’t seem like you like each other. We were like, yeah, like sometimes we don’t. And he is like, you guys were talking to each other kind of crazy in that time out and it seems like it’s been building and you guys been acting like this. We’re not gonna bring this home. Like, you guys want to handle this right here, . And I was like, look, I’m from Brown Deer. I’m definitely tougher than a Fonda guy, but I was like, I’m not much of a fighter.
Travis Diener:
I would whooped his ass.
Steve Novak:
. See, that’s, there you go. Yeah, it’s Fonda coming
Travis Diener:
Out. It was almost like got a little longer reach than you.
Steve Novak:
I was gonna, and you
Travis Diener:
Starting to think would’ve been, no, I would’ve been, I would’ve taken it to like, the bars fine. I would’ve had to tackle him, get inside of him.
Steve Novak:
Hey, crane would’ve loved it too, but it’s like he’d jumped down like, what doing
Travis Diener:
Guys, this is point for us. That point it was like, all right, coach, I almost like, I think I almost like chuckled, like, we’re not gonna, I’m not gonna
Steve Novak:
Kinda like looking at each other like, are you about to swing? Cause should I swing or are we do it? Like, I don’t know.
Travis Diener:
But yeah, that was, that was kind of wild. He wanted, he actually really, he wanted to, he wanted to see us fight. And I think ultimately, like, I don’t, I think I said something crazy in the timeout, kind of ignited the whole thing. And I think I ended up, I, I could be wrong, but I probably apologized for what I had said and, and we just got back on the bus. But, you know, there was, there was a number of instances where, you know, Rene would, would try to motivate or, you know, trying to get the best out of all of us.
And at that point, I think Steve’s right, he, he was trying to get Steve to, you know, Steve was at that point was develop, still developing into being one of our, our best players. And he wanted him to be, I think, more vocal and take more ownership of the team. And me naturally being a point guard, I think it came a lot easier for me. Steve was great at, you know, leading by example. Like a guy was always in the gym would, you know, would almost have to kick him out of the gym. But I think Coach wanted to see him more vocal show, maybe a little more not passion, but maybe fire towards his teammates or or whatnot.
Richie Burke:
It seemed like an interesting team dynamic in a way, cuz Travis, you were very fiery obviously, and it seemed like you played with D Wade who seemed more kind of laid back, obviously very competitive, but si similar in that way, where he was more lead by example, would you say?
Travis Diener:
Yeah, I mean I, Dwayne was you know, the, the Dwayne I think you see now publicly was a lot different back in college. And I mean obviously that happens with a lot of, you know, you develop, you mature, you get comfortable. I think it was Dwayne was always quiet in practice, ultra competitive, but quiet. And I think that was always a, a challenge for coach too is to get him to, to be more vocal. I know the year he sat out when he first got to Marquette, you know, Corinne during games had him sit right next to the coaching staff. He was like taking stats only to get him ready to be a, to be a leader. Cuz everyone knew, I mean, probably the first day on campus, like just so special this player. I mean, I did, first time I ever saw him play, I was like, holy, holy shit, who is this guy?
Like, and they were selling me when they were recruiting me, like, we got this guy sitting out, he’s going to, he can change the program. Like yeah, he’s sitting out, of course say about everybody, but then you see him once or twice and you’re like, yeah, this, this guy has it. But Coach was always maybe not to the same degree as Steve, but always trying to get him to, to vocalize a little more to lead more by I think talking. And, but Dwayne was, was I would say a pretty, pretty quiet individual. I mean he was he around us, he was more outspoken, but you know, he even around campus or you know, he is just quiet.
Steve Novak:
Yeah, I don’t think that’s an, I just think with young guys, we both coach, you know, youngsters now he coach boys and girls from, you know, all the high school ages and youth ages. And I mean, and I do as well, but I think about even like, I played with Giannis for a couple years and I think I watched like, like Travis is saying with D Wade at that time, it’s like Dee hadn’t really found his voice. He hadn’t really arrived, he hadn’t had the triple double against Kentucky. He hadn’t been drafted, you know, in the top five and gone on to have be in the playoffs the first year with the Miami Heat.
And so it’s like, it happened so fast that you do, you almost see this guy in front of you now who is such a leader, who’s so well spoken, who is also selling like Gucci sunglasses or whatever it is and everything else internationally.
But he was so different at that time. And so I think, you know, to Travis’s point, just to, you know, to compare to Wayne, it’s like he, he hadn’t been that vocal, that communicator, that leader that he so quickly was able to become because it happened fast. And I think you find your voice when you, you know, you have the success, I think about Gianni, he goes from, you know, not being that good to being most improved and all of a sudden it’s like, all right, there’s some legitimacy there to then a couple years later being an MVP and all of a sudden it’s like your voice does resonate.
You do have the right to speak, you’ve earned the right to kind of speak up. And so it’s almost, it’s crazy to think about like the D Wades and the Giannis in those years early on before they hadn’t proven I think to themselves and had the success that they had and then all of a sudden, you know, we’re watching these guys and you know, they’re winning N B A championships and they’ve done so much and you’re like, yeah, they lead by examples still, but they’re incredibly vocal, they’re incredibly well spoken.
But it’s it is a cool process I think especially like just to, you know, for Travis and I, we had great careers, but to have played with a guy like Dwayne who became that and to see that process, I think it’s just such an education for us too, to see just the evolution of what that looks like.
Cause there’s kids we coach now that are very talented young kids, there have no leadership skills, but you realize, look, if they can continue to get better, if they can have success, if they work at it, believe in themselves in a few years, it’s pretty cool to think like, you know, I don’t know if they’ll be another Giannis or D Wade that we’re working with over at the facility, but I think it just makes where we’ve come from, some of the coaches we’ve played for the guys that we’ve played with, you know, it’s, it’s pretty cool to I think have that perspective. We’re blessed to have been recruited to, you know, I’ve played with guys like that so cool to be sitting here doing this too.
Richie Burke:
Steve, Steve playing with Giannis, you weren’t there his rookie year, right? You were there.
Steve Novak:
Yep, I was there couple
Richie Burke:
Years in,
Steve Novak:
That’s right. I was with him 15, 16 and 1617
Richie Burke:
Before he was MVP
Steve Novak:
Be before I was mvp. Yep.
Richie Burke:
Did you see that coming when you were practicing with him or playing with him on a daily basis? Was there a certain moment where you were like, holy shit, this is, yeah, this is Guy could be an all time great.
Steve Novak:
I mean, to be honest it’s kind of crazy cuz I, I have to think about like, as I sit here now, I always think about like with Giannis did you know? And you go like, yeah, I knew. And then I try to think back to when I was his teammate and you knew he was special and you knew he was good, but you don’t just all the time experience the greatest ever at a current moment.
And I think about that with Travis and playing with D Wade and the first time I remember playing with D Wade at the old gym in Marquette and people are like, did you know how good he was? And like, yes, Travis Sawman said like, this dude’s special. I remember playing with him the first time and I was like, his wingspan, his athleticism, his instincts, he’s special. But like I’m from Brown Deere Travis from Final Lake.
We haven’t played with a guy who’s about to go on and win N NBA championships and be an international star and finals mvp. And so I think, you know, they’re special but you don’t really know that you’re playing with a guy who is gonna be the greatest player in Marquette’s program and go on to have the career they had. And for Giannis it’s like I played with him, he was dominant, you knew you couldn’t stop him, but you just hadn’t really experienced playing against the greatest player in this era.
I think Giannis, you know, and pick which year you wanna pick is was that for some of those stretches. And so looking back, I feel like I kind of knew, but at the time when I think back to my thoughts, I think you just know you’re playing with someone special and they go on to have to achieve those accolades and you go like, wow, well that’s why I thought they were good cuz they’re the best in the NBA right now. You know?
Richie Burke:
What was Gianni’s work ethic like? Was that when they were still at the Cousin Center practicing or was that Yeah, I heard he was like living
Steve Novak:
There. I I think that’s what makes him special is you, you know, you often hear life advice like you need balance in your life and you know, you need to have other things than just basketball. I think that that’s probably generally true and good advice for most people, but I also think to have outliers and to have people like Kobe’s and d Wade’s and Gianni’s, you’ve gotta be wired different. And I think that’s what makes Giannis who he is.
It’s like he, he has kids now and and family and so I think he does have more balance. But aside from that, I think like he’s not really interested in balance. He wants to be the greatest player of all time and I think he wants to just spend his time playing basketball and finding ways to get better if that means, you know, having the greatest therapists and strength workouts and building his own gym like he did so he can be in there more.
I think that’s what he is about. And I think guys like him, they push the limits of, there’s a lot of people that give you advice and say, I’m the psychology doctor, I’m the sports psychologist, I’m the medical staff, I’m the strength guy, I’m the basketball guy and they’re gonna try to teach Giannis. But I think Giannis is so special in that him a Kobe, a Jordan esque type of guy, they have to always be willing to think about the possibility that in order to be the greatest, they actually have to do things differently than anyone who’s giving them advice can give them. And so I think to me that’s, that’s what’s cool is he lives in the gym and continues to think that actually to be the greatest he might have do something different than Kobe’s ever done. Right. More than him. It seems
Richie Burke:
Like both of you did that a lot. Before we get into the Final four run, I want to talk about the n I l Obviously the college athletics landscape has been flipped on its head over the last couple years. It seems like the Wild West with a lot of gray area and you’ve both chosen to get involved and what I feel do things the right way through the Be the Difference n i l collective working with some great organizations and Marquette student athletes to make a positive impact on the community for those listening, what is the be the Difference n i l collective?
Travis Diener:
essentially it’s, it’s you know, it’s donors of of Marquette basketball that are, are, are putting their money into this collective that in Return will send our men’s and women’s basketball players out in the community with nonprofit organizations big Brothers Big Sisters Mac Fun Boys and Girls Club, a variety of different organizations. They do, you know, they do these events, they use their platform. It’s a win-win situation for everybody involved. It’s the, the players obviously now the student athletes obviously now have a, have their name, image and likeness, they can get compensated for work. these organizations love it because, you know, hive profile, you know, athletes are coming and spending time with their kids or their organizations and it doesn’t, obviously it doesn’t cost them anything. The Collect the Collective is funding these events. Collective is funding the players. So it’s a win-win.
We’re trying to do it the best way possible. Obviously n i l is relatively new and it’s with, with other programs and other schools, we’ve seen it run a little differently, which is not the way that Marquette is gonna do it. And I think that’s what, you know, kind of intrigued Steve and I to get involved is, well if we’re gonna do it, we gotta do it the right way. And I think it’s, this is the best way possible where at least there’s some goodwill going into the community, into the Marquette community, the Milwaukee community. And there’s especially with how well both programs are playing, the, the visibility with the players is as is as high as it’s been in a long, long time.
Steve Novak:
Yeah, and I think, you know, like Travis said, I think to us the biggest difference is look with the rule changes and the landscape being that now college athletes can be paid for their marketability, which is really what n i l and Image likeness is. it’s, it’s changing fast and I think that there’s a lot of, you know, new, there’s a lot of new money and faces being introduced to it, you know, constantly it’s ever changing. And I think the reason Travis and I are involved is cuz we do want to do it differently here at Market.
I think recog we, we both recognized that it’s happening and it’s happening with the schools that Marquette’s competing against and it’s gonna happen at Marquette University whether we’re involved or not. And so I think, you know, looking back at when Travis and I played, obviously we would’ve loved if there was n i l opportunities, there weren’t.
But for Travis and I, I think to just have been through that experience to have been a college athlete, to have been, in this case a basketball player, to be able to I think be a, a resource to these guys and do it the right way to not be a part of the university or affiliated with the university, but aligned I think with a lot of Shakas values and the university’s values and do it the right way and not be a car dealership or a restaurant.
And a lot of those guys are absolutely fine, they’re going about the right way. But I think it’s important. I think we think back to if we were in that situation, who would we hope was out there to work with us? And I think we don’t have anything to gain by it. We’re really attempting to, to do this with Marquette University in a way that, you know, like Travis said, we can be a, a resource.
We’re not asking for them to sign long-term contracts with us where we have their name image likeness rights for years and years as they go on to the nba. And so we wanna be, I think, educational as much as we are a resource, you know, to, to the university or to the, or obviously separate from the university, but it’s changing fast. And I think Travis and I are certainly, you know, invested in doing it the right way at Marquette and saying that a lot of the schools that Marquette’s competing with are also doing it. I think we think it’s important to maintain a competitive advantage and make sure we keep doing it the right way.
Richie Burke:
Very well said. It’s really cool what you both and everyone involved, I know there’s a lot of people involved behind the scenes in the collective, what, what you all are doing for student athletes and for the community. All right, I want to dive into the magical final four run of 2003. What was that like?
Travis Diener:
I tell people all the time it’s hard to when, when you’re in that moment, it’s hard to, it’s hard to reflect, it’s hard to think back to it because you’re, you’re so concerned about the next game. So you beat we had a very tough game in the first one Holy Cross. And then you’re thinking, well, 48 hours we’re playing Missouri, you beat Missouri. And then, you know, early the next week you’re playing two more games.
So it’s hard to, it’s hard to really enjoy it. you know, I think it was obviously the people that followed Marquette and they, you know, tell, I think it’s, it’s easier now when people come and talk to us about it and we can kind of reflect on it. When you’re in the moment, it’s hard to appreciate kind of what you’re going through. So for me it was, and I’m sure Steve’s the same way, and our whole team, it was like, coach was never gonna allow us to be satisfied.
So it was like, okay, what’s the next thing on the schedule? Okay, well we got, we have to play Pittsburgh, don’t we be Pittsburgh now we got Kentucky. Okay, be Kentucky now it’s Kansas. So it’s, it was never a time where it was like, you know, you’re just going out and partying cuz you made it to the Final Four. There’s no time for it, you know, I think maybe after the season a little bit you got to enjoy the fruits of going to the, to the final four.
But, you know, that team totally changed. Dwayne left Robert Jackson graduated, so then it was like, okay, now I still had two more years left. He had three more years left. He was still, you know, essentially a baby. I mean, he was a freshman, so the jump from freshman to sophomore year is huge for him. So I don’t think I ever got to really enjoy it. like you’d probably imagine. and I, I won’t speak for Steve, but I, I think it was everybody on that team.
Steve Novak:
Yeah, I think, you know, in, in sports I think about as Travis’s talking, I’m thinking about like 10 different examples of exactly what he’s explaining where people say to you like, what was that like to play, like you had said earlier about with Giannis when he was, you know, on the cusp of greatness and you’re like, looking back now, I see like, wow, that was awesome.
And I think about even Lins sanity when I play with Jeremy Lynn and he goes on this run and people are like, what was it like to be in Lin Sanity? And you, we thought it was over pretty much every game, but it kept happening. And the same with the Final four. It’s like, holy Cross, we’re thinking, thank God we survived. And then you’re, you, you don’t enjoy any of it because you, it’s always about that next moment, that next step, the surviving of it.
And so you know, people say to me, I’m sure Trav gets this all the time, like, when did you realize, you know, you had made it or when did you realize you were gonna make it, you know, to the nba? And I think I think back, and I, Travis was the same point, like I remember Bo Ellis coming up to me after the Yukon game when I had my best college game. And after the game he said to me, young man, you just made yourself a lot of money.
And I think back and I remember, I, I didn’t even understand what he was saying to me then. But now looking back, I go, someone who has been through it who’s older is looking back going like, I see where you’re headed. But even then I’m thinking, I’m not sure I’m good enough. I’m not sure I’ve made it.
And so we’ll go, what was it like getting to that point? Whatever athletically, insanity win streak or whatever. And I think in order to achieve those things, you often have really no idea it’s going on until it’s, it’s just about over. And so the final four for me, like Travis saying I was a freshman, my head was spinning. I mean, this was my first college experience where it’s like, oh, this is college. Like you go on an NCAA run and you end up in the Final Four. And it was like by when the season ended, even then I was like, had no, I I almost had to experience not going to the final four to realize what going to the final four was.
Richie Burke:
Yeah. The, when you win against Kentucky to actually make it, which I think that’s the first time Marquette got there in 20 something years.
Travis Diener:
20, yeah. 27. Yeah. Yeah.
Richie Burke:
What was, was that locker room very celebratory after that? Was Rene going crazy or was he just like, we got more work to do? Or was there a celebration than the next morning it was like back to work?
Travis Diener:
I
Richie Burke:
Mean, there was such a big deal. Yeah, there
Travis Diener:
Was definitely a celebration. Yeah. Like we were, we were ecstatic, we were excited. the thing is, is we, we, we bust down to, or we bust up to Minneapolis, so we had that long bus ride back, which was great cuz that was, I mean, essentially us just, you know, replaying, rehashing everything that had happened over the kind of last two weeks. And then I, I would imagine, you know, that that next morning it’s like, okay, we got Kansas. But I know we celebrated that.
I think maybe, maybe subconsciously, collectively like maybe there was a letdown a little bit, but I, I thought going into the Final Four game and we got our ass kicked, but I thought we were prepared. it just, you know, sports like sometimes it just doesn’t, you know, you can go from one week playing the best game collectively that we could have to the next week playing the worst and in the biggest moments. So it can come, it can come down crashing pretty hard. and it did for us in the Final Four. But I know, I remember, I think I, I I remember vividly like that bus ride from Minneapolis back to Milwaukee, us being incredibly excited about what we had accomplished up to that point.
Steve Novak:
Yeah. And then I think in college you do have a little more time to enjoy. Cause I just think about, you know, NBA careers basically, like as soon as you’re out of that locker room, you gotta flush it cuz you’re playing the next day or you know, two days later. But in college there was always this, I feel like ability to celebrate. But we had also been trained, I think very well by Coach Crane. It would be like when we would’ve a, a win against the team that we were to beat and we’d beat ’em soundly and we played, well, we would show up the next day to practice and it would be just, it would be hell. And you’d be like, what, what could we have? What more could we have done? We won by 25 against South Florida. We held him to this, into this and he’s killing us.
And it’s turning into one of those practices where you’re running. And so I think you certainly can sense the coach’s body language like, all right, you know, he’s celebrating, we’re able to mess Tom’s hair up a little bit after the game and he enjoys it, but then the next day it’s like, you gotta be careful because you gotta get back to work. So yeah, I mean those, those that run, there’s no question. I think we, we felt like we had all of those wins, been able to celebrate, but also regather. And so I don’t, I don’t think any of us felt like it was unhealthy to enjoy it. But like Travis said, maybe we subconsciously enjoyed it a little too much cuz Final Four didn’t quite go the way we wanted.
Richie Burke:
At least you made it there. Yeah. speaking of the nba, you were both drafted in the, the second round. What was that transition like? You get a check for the first time, which is probably a pretty sizable amount to two kids from Fond Delac and Brown Deer was, what was that? What was that like?
Travis Diener:
Yeah, I mean, getting drafted will be one of the one of the greatest moments athletically of my life. I mean, and I was there for, I was in the room when Steve got drafted celebrating with him. you know, because I never, I never thought about it. And, and even leading up to that you know, my agent’s like, you know, I see you going anywhere from, from late first round to like 45.
And I’m like thinking to myself, okay, like if my agent, he’s saying like, it’s like 95% chance get drafted. And I’m like, okay, well I’m gonna have a party at my parents’ bar. I don’t wanna be that guy that has the party and and doesn’t get drafted . So I’m like, no, I’m a nervous wreck the whole day. And you know, KARE got the coach, Cree got the call like 15 seconds before it ended up being, I think Adam Silver was the deputy commissioner.
So he announced the picks in the second round and he gets up there and green’s like, gave me kind of a head nod. And it was it was a very satisfying moment just knowing that all the hard work from, you know, when I was a little kid to, to 20, at that point I was 23 had paid off. And I think maybe subconsciously again, there was like, you know, I just took a breath and was, was very very proud of, of where I’d put myself and, and obviously I’ve been surrounded in the environment by my family and teammates and it was just a, a moment I’ll never forget for sure.
Steve Novak:
Yeah, it’s a special moment. Like Travis said, I, I think, you know, you dream of being drafted and for it to actually happen and is for sure one of the, the coolest things I think that’ll ever happen. It’s like there, it’s up there with game winners and births of children.
All right, maybe I’m leaping now and as far as how important it was, but I think, like Travis said, just to just think back about like what it, like the experience of what it was, you know, you’re sitting there with your family and re is on the phone and he’s, you know, working the calls and trying to just get information from teams and from agents and front office folks. And I just remember Coach Crane was on the phone the whole time and then he finally put his phone down for the first time and I saw him and I was like, it was the next pick was the Houston Rockets.
And he put his phone down and I’m like, how can he not be on the phone? He’s been on the phone for like two straight hours and then of course it was the next pick was was me. And so I just remember some of those moments where it’s cool, just, I think that those are those moments that make you think back to kind of just like some of the, the hell days, some of the training at Marquette and you know, just to being worth it and the fact how blessed you were to just get to that point. There’s a lot of guys that worked just as hard and you know, didn’t, weren’t able to be healthy or some other situation happened. And so I think you’re just thankful for the opportunity to, to actually get drafted.
Richie Burke:
Was Rene like serving as your agent? What was he doing on the phone for two hours?
Steve Novak:
I think when you’re inve when you’re invested, honestly,
Richie Burke:
Is he talking to other GMs or what’s he,
Steve Novak:
I think he’s, he was constantly trying to get information and feedback and I, I don’t think it was just that night. I mean, I think it was, yeah, plenty leading up to that. But you know, I think just him trying to continue to do his part when you’re invested, like Travis said, the amount of energy and time, the loss of sleep that he had for each guy individually. I think it, it was more than like, I hope I get a Marquette guy drafted. It’s like he recruited Travis in his family room and went to his house and finally like, and was with him for summers and summers before he ever came to Marquette.
And so then it’s like you get a guy to that point. And I think he’s, I mean for me, and I think I probably speak for Travis as well as close to anybody outside the family that’s, you know, a father figure as far as like how much they were invested and loved you and, and showed it through sometimes, you know, pushing you and making you do things that you weren’t really wanting to do, but he understood in order to help you be successful.
And maybe I gotta work the phones all the way to the, to the last second to do, to do my part.
Richie Burke:
Yeah. That’s cool. Steve, so you had quite an eclectic experience in the nba. You were on nine rosters over 14 years according to Wikipedia. you were also nicknamed Novocaine by Walt Frazier competed in a three point contest. Did you know lowest turnover percentage in N NBA in 20 12, 20 13? 2.63%. Yeah, I never drove.
Steve Novak:
I was gonna say, I’m sure Travis has a stake
Richie Burke:
On that still, still a record. You’re doing the Aaron Rogers belt all over national tv. He is the tallest guy ever to play right, ever to play in the NBA A without a dunk.
Steve Novak:
I mean, what other stats do you guys wanna bring up here? We got the tallest tallest without a dunk. Yeah. Lowest turnover percentage in NBA history. What, what else, what else you guys got?
Richie Burke:
What else is even I even, I could dunk Wikipedia. I’ll show you a video. I’m happy to show it. I got it on camera. got to be part of insanity. that was all I got. I had like six bullet points. what was I think it seemed like New York might have been the highlight. Was there a certain moment or story that stood out to you from that point in time?
Steve Novak:
Yeah, for me it for sure was my NBA fit highlight and the best that I played. And so much of it had to do with, you know, finding the right system, finding the right team, and then, you know, a little bit of lightning in a bottle because it was Mike Danton was the coach. For me, it’s like to play a little bit of running gun system, a perimeter based system, a forgiving system defensively where I have Tyson Chandler behind me where we’re funneling everything to him, it’s like, it, it fit me very much.
And I think the story I would just say that epitomizes what it was was like Mike Anoni would basically like in time outs, he would just say to me, Steve, listen, if you score more points than the guy that you’re guarding, you’re gonna stay in the game. Because I think a lot of people get caught up with, oh, we got blown by, or oh, we got scored on.
And it’s like just the most delusional thought. I mean, I watched Travis in the T B t, he’s getting scored on every time, but as long as he’s making million dollar shots, all is good. And Mike Danton kind of had that philosophy the whole time. He’s like, listen, your guy can score. It’s fine if he scores two and you score three we’re up one. Right?
He’s like, he kept it so simple and so he would honestly like end some time out. So look down at the other bench and try to see who they were putting in the game. And they would take a long time to get up and he would finally say, forget it. Let’s go, just go out here. Just score more points than your guy. And I think that philosophy versus like the fear of a guy getting scored on or a guy being in the wrong spot every once in a while.
Cuz for me, look, I wasn’t the greatest defensive player, but I was in the NBA for 11 years and Mike Danton was a, a coach for me that just said, look, I’m gonna coach you for the things that you do well instead of act like, you know, I gotta have guys out here that do everything right. And we won, you know, 50 games two years in a row. So he had it figured out. But for me it was, it was awesome. I think just to, to find the right fit, to find the right system. And I think we always just strive to, to show what we’ve worked so hard to do. And I feel like he was a guy that kind of gave me that opportunity.
Richie Burke:
going back to your time with the Knicks and during Lins sanity, I was doing my homework and texting some people in a story stuck out to me. I heard you were invited to the NBA dunk contest one. Is that, is that true?
Steve Novak:
This is true, yeah. So
Richie Burke:
To actually dunk
Steve Novak:
Do so, yeah, I had, I’ve never dunked an NBA game, which is true. it, so the year that I led the NBA in three point percentage, we were pushing, my agent was pushing to gimme the three point contest and they basically said, Steve, the spot is yours, but we have an open invite to Kevin Durant and if he takes it, obviously the stars always are the guys who want in that stuff. And if you know they’re busy or they want to go to The Bahamas or they choose not to, then a guy like me who happens to lead the league in three point percentage could be in the three point contest.
Well, KD opted in late and said I want to be in. So I basically got bumped out. But they said, but we have good news, said to my agent, basically we want to have Jeremy Lynn involved in the dunk contest because that was the year that he basically had slept on Landry Field’s couch when he first got to the team.
And the story went big about Jeremy sleeping on Landry’s couch and his apartment being his buddy, and they wanted to have Landry jump over a couch with Jeremy Lynn laying on it and have Landry dunk. But Landry had nerve injury in his elbow so he had to back out. So they asked JR Smith if he would do it, if he’d jump over the couch and it would still kind of work. And he said, sure, I’ll do it. And then he tweaked his ankle a few days before that and they said, so Steve is our guy, are you willing to jump over a couch with Jeremy Lynn Lang on it and be in the dunk contest and you can do whatever else you want with the other two dunks?
And my agent basically said, now Steve, here’s the thing. Look, you get paid like, I don’t know, 75,000 if you win the dunk contest, that might be a stretch, Steve, you get 25 for, for participating. It’s not a, you know, he’s like, I don’t, I’m not sure that’s worth it for you. He’s like, I think what you need to just decide is we live in a, in a, at a time where things can go very viral. And so if this goes well, it’s beautiful, you’ll probably get a ton of endorsements, it’ll be great for your brand. If it doesn’t, he’s like, I just, I’m not sure to the extent that this how bad this would be for you ,
Travis Diener:
Do you think you could have done it?
Steve Novak:
I would’ve had to get a couple extra stretches maybe, you know, get a few. I
Travis Diener:
Mean, jumping over a couch is not easy when you’ve never done
Steve Novak:
No, no, no, no. Look, I’m a little older now, but have you for, have you forgotten how athletic, so I quickly opted not to do it and I was in the three point contest next year. You don’t think I could jump over a couch?
Travis Diener:
No,
Steve Novak:
No. Blake Griffin jumped over ak No, no, I’m not saying ONM Blake. I’m saying it’s a and a
Travis Diener:
Couch. Just see what he did there. He’s got zero career dunks and he thinks he’s jumping over a couch
Richie Burke:
In front of a packed house. Where was All Star weekend that year with Jeremy Lynn on it? During, during Prime Insanity?
Steve Novak:
I’m not sure actually. And the hu the funniest part about it is all-Star break is, is really always about, I don’t know because I was on a beach somewhere.
Richie Burke:
Did you pra did you practice it at all to see if you could do it before you made that decision?
Steve Novak:
I didn’t. I think my agent, he, he, he cared enough about me to, to really lay it out and just good decision. He made it my decision. But I think at the end of the day he wasn’t gonna work. Great
Travis Diener:
Decision. Yeah. And Mark Bar, Bartelstein,
Richie Burke:
Probably.
Steve Novak:
Thank, thank you. Shout out to Mark Bartelstein
Richie Burke:
Who would’ve went viral either way. Yeah, exactly. Oh, that’s
Steve Novak:
That’ss what I was worried about.
Travis Diener:
No. Why? Probably got more endorsements by failing.
Richie Burke:
Yeah. You get a seven foot white guy potentially landing on Jeremy Lin. Well, sitting on the couch though. Well you would, that would’ve
Travis Diener:
Gone viral. Would you’ve landed on for sure.
Steve Novak:
. My greatest regret is not being in the dunk contest. I guess we can
Travis Diener:
That’s I never heard that one. That’s, I never heard that one.
Richie Burke:
Yeah, I’m a professional over here. Yeah, you are. Homework. it is, that’s a good one. Travis, you, you had an interesting pro career as well too. Six NBA seasons, three in Italy, got your jersey retired and the, and then, and then another three after that. I got
Travis Diener:
You. It was only five years in then.
Richie Burke:
Okay.
Steve Novak:
He said I played 14. I only played 11. Let it
Richie Burke:
Go. That, that was Wikipedia. I apologize. Wikipedia got
Steve Novak:
You are when it’s high.
Richie Burke:
Gave you an extra year as well. Gave an extra year. what, what stuck out to you and what was the difference between Euro ball and nba?
Travis Diener:
Well, the best a I think the best athletes in the world play in the nba. you know, it’s a high pace physical. I think overseas it’s very skill based. Everyone can shoot past more, you know, team oriented as far as how maybe the scoring’s distributed the best teams in, in Europe you’ll have like five guys averaging anywhere from 10 to 14 points. so it’s a brand of basketball that fits the way I like to play. and I was blessed to play for the same coach for all seven years in two different teams. And he gave us, he’s a lot like coach Ton, who ironically enough is you know, he’s Italian at a lot of,
Richie Burke:
You didn’t have to play defense either in that I did probably fit you
Travis Diener:
Well, no funny story. My, my coach used to always come and meet with me, like, show me clips. Like, okay, you gotta play defenses. Like at once. I got to know him better and better cuz he’s like, coach, you guys aren’t paying me to play defense. Like, I’m here to pass, shoot. And that’s it and lead. And but overseas was great. It was I love living, we love living over there. the kids loved it. It’s a relaxed it’s, the culture there is incredible. The fans were incredible. It reminded me a lot of, of being back in school and Marquette with the excitement about each game. and I’ve just very memorable experience all seven years really.
Richie Burke:
Hey everyone, it’s your host, Richie Burke, and I just wanted to take a minute to thank our sponsor Central Standard and remind you that we are giving away hundreds of dollars in central standard gift cards, event tickets and more. You can simply enter by clicking the link in the show notes. And if you’re looking for that perfect summer cocktail, central Standard has great options through their new ready poor mixers oxide whiskey and my personal favorite, the Dora County Cherry vodka and a lot more.
Also their rooftop is open at the craft house downtown. I’m not sure if there’s a better place in the city to enjoy a drink on a nice summer afternoon. Thanks again for tuning in thanks to Central Standard and let’s get back to the show. I wanna talk about the T B T shot. Now you ca you came back out of retirement weren’t gonna play in the T B T that year, but you got a, a phone call on the golf or you got signed up against your will and then ended up making a million dollar shot. Can you touch on that experience?
Travis Diener:
Yeah, it was the TBTs fun because it, you know, you’d get a chance to to put on a jersey again and compete with guys that, for me it was guys that were a lot younger than me, but it was guys that, you know, represented Marquette keeps you young and, and you know that the shot was just, it was, it was I think the one moment in my life where I felt incredibly calm about the situation. Even the night before the game, I was telling the guys, there’s no doubt in my mind we’re winning this game.
It was, it was really kind of weird cause I’d never felt that in any game I’ve ever played. Like I, that I, I always thought we were gonna win, but I never like, would it say like, we are for sure winning this game. And you know, it, it ended up being a, a kind of a broken play and, you know, it was wide open and fortunately, you know, made the shot and it’s just a moment that will, you know, your, your career as a basketball player, as an athlete.
I think anybody is, is filled with all these moments. And it was just another moment for me that was, was incredible because, you know, my, my kids got to see that my kids are, are still young enough where they didn’t get to see me play in the nba. they got to see me a little bit overseas, but they weren’t old enough to really understand. My oldest kids. Got to see that. And you know, to share that with, you know, my family I think was something that I’ll ever forget. And, you know, it’s, yeah, it’s, it’s a lot of money. But more importantly, I think it was just another moment for me to, to kinda just another basketball moment.
Richie Burke:
Yeah. And you got see that clip of your dad at the bar watching Yeah.
Travis Diener:
Mean that’s what it’s kind, that’s best. That was cool. Yeah. My dad is if you, if you couldn’t tell where I get the, the fire and the passion from and he had a couple of viral moments throughout the T B T goes crazy. It’s it’s, it was funny to watch and that was, that was actually during like, you know, we won was during Covid so I think he was getting some, some crap for not having a mask on or something like that. But he was, I don’t think he cared.
Richie Burke:
Really? Not in fond luck. No, they not in fond luck. and you guys, you guys lost in the finals the year before that, right? Those, and you get nothing for losing the finals zero. All or nothing. Yeah, I know Jake Thomas was really happy about that. Got,
Travis Diener:
Yeah, Jake was not happy cuz then the next year we didn’t bring him back and we won.
Richie Burke:
. Shout out to Jake Thomas, friend of the show. So.
Travis Diener:
Yeah. Yeah. No, Jake’s we, we like, yeah, Jake,
Steve Novak:
We’ll buy some beers for Jake. He’s a good guy. And yeah, he missed out on a million bucks, but we got beers for him.
Richie Burke:
80, 80 ish. Grand, right. 90 when you
Travis Diener:
Divvied up. 90, 93. Yeah. Sorry
Richie Burke:
Jake. It’s decent amount of beers for, for Jake Thomas Coming your way.
Travis Diener:
Very Jake.
Richie Burke:
Very well said. well let’s move on to the standard five, five quick questions sponsored by Central Standard. I, I threw some bonus questions in there today, so we’re gonna have a couple more than five. But starting off, if you guys could spend a day with one person, dead or alive, who would it be?
Travis Diener:
. Geez, this is,
Steve Novak:
This is like the, you just got to Marquette. They’re doing the program. They need to do your bio there. Yeah.
Travis Diener:
dead
Richie Burke:
Alive. They get easier after this one. Don’t worry.
Travis Diener:
All
Steve Novak:
Right. Trav gotta go
Richie Burke:
First. Actually, the second question is a very difficult one. Then they get easier.
Travis Diener:
Yeah, you can go first. . I’m trying to think the right answer here. There isn’t, if there is,
Richie Burke:
There’s no right answers. Yeah,
Travis Diener:
There isn’t. I
Steve Novak:
Don’t know. I tell you, if I was gonna name the person I’d want to hang out with for, for just one day, I think at this point it’d have to be Elon Musk. And although there’s a lot of ways to go with it, I just feel like if here’s if, if we, there’s gonna be an end to go live on Mars. I feel like he’s our guy and he’s, he’s the guy that wants, that’s where you’re taking it. I’m taking it, I’m going to Mars. Where you going?
Travis Diener:
I would, I would pick a day with Steve. You know,
Steve Novak:
Just, that’s, that’s an even better answer.
Richie Burke:
Question, answer.
Steve Novak:
Sounds like we’re going to Mars. We
Travis Diener:
Can try to go to Mars and
Richie Burke:
Fail. Do you guys want us all leave the room right now? Yeah,
Steve Novak:
Don’t mind for a sec. If you leave the leave.
Travis Diener:
Exactly.
Richie Burke:
question number two. Who is trivia question? Who is Marquette University’s all time leading three point percentage leader?
Steve Novak:
I feel like it’s a trick question.
Richie Burke:
Minimum five attempts.
Steve Novak:
Five attempts,
Travis Diener:
Five attempts. Oh geez.
Steve Novak:
Minimum, minimum. Five attempts. It’s probably like it’s probably
Travis Diener:
Like
Steve Novak:
Jerome Whitehead,
Richie Burke:
Not Jerome Whitehead.
Travis Diener:
It’s, it’s probably like is it Kinsella?
Richie Burke:
Mike Kinsella?
Steve Novak:
Mike Kinsella.
Travis Diener:
Who I knew, I knew that would be, I mean, minimum five attempts we shot five in Don’t like a
Richie Burke:
Half. You don’t, you don’t seem very impressed. I’m, he’s very proud
Travis Diener:
Of that. No, I’m not. Yeah, he’s, it’s not an official stat. That’s
Steve Novak:
Why we’re, we’re we’re proud of Mike too. That’s the truth.
Richie Burke:
Are you? So I I enjoy calling him Casa Mickos for the sheer volume of casamigos he took down at the Lombardi scramble last year. So shout out to Casa Mickos and his record. It goes,
Travis Diener:
It’s not a record, it’s not official, it does not count.
Steve Novak:
Minimum five attempts.
Richie Burke:
He’s, he is not gonna like that answer. But okay. You guys are coming out of a timeout. There’s 10 seconds left on the clock. You’re down to who’s taking the shot.
Travis Diener:
well I would’ve, the ball in my hands
Steve Novak:
Trav would’ve the ball in his
Travis Diener:
Hands and we’d probably run, well Steve and I would probably run some sort of pick and roll and I would have the ability to make the right decision, which probably would be to pass to Steve if he’s open and he would make it
Steve Novak:
So Trav No, he’s asking the question. That’s a
Richie Burke:
Very humble answer that I didn’t expect from him.
Steve Novak:
No, that’s the right answer. I don’t, don’t I guess a point guard. That’s right. You put the ball in the guy’s hands is gonna make, it’s like you put the ball in Luca’s hands and he shoots it if he is there and if he makes the right play,
Travis Diener:
Yeah, I’ll make the right play.
Steve Novak:
But he’s asking Trav, I think what he’s asking is if we put the ball in your hands and if we run the right play and the defense goes to the other three guys and the two of us are open right next to each other, he’s asking are you shooting it or are you giving it to me? That’s what he’s asking.
Travis Diener:
Oh, I’m gonna shoot it.
Steve Novak:
Well there you
Travis Diener:
Go. I’m gonna make it.
Richie Burke:
What if the ball was in your hands? Are you shooting it or are you passing it?
Steve Novak:
Come on. I mean, if you’re
Richie Burke:
Both, you’re both
Travis Diener:
Shooting it. Does he have to dribble ?
Richie Burke:
No, he could just stand there and maybe
Travis Diener:
Turn it in. Oh, then yeah, he’ll shoot it too. Okay.
Richie Burke:
next question. Sponsored by Annex Wealth Management, Dave Spano. who’s Dave
Steve Novak:
Spano?
Richie Burke:
Dave Spano. Who’s, who’s, what a legend. Who’s the best shit talker in Marquette basketball history?
Travis Diener:
.
Richie Burke:
Would it have been Dave Spano if he played basketball? The fiery Italian out there? I think he still plays a little hiccup.
Travis Diener:
You have to, in order to be a great shit talker, you gotta be able to back it up. So Dave
Richie Burke:
Is in. Yeah,
Steve Novak:
That disqualifies Dave
Travis Diener:
Doesn’t it? And Dave’s gone. It’s a
Steve Novak:
Great shit
Travis Diener:
Talker. But I’ve seen him, I’ve seen him try to play basketball at Blue
Steve Novak:
Mound. Yeah, me too. Behind the
Travis Diener:
And it has not ended well.
Richie Burke:
Yeah, even on, even on the third one, third court behind the Caddy Shack.
Travis Diener:
Yeah, that’s exactly where it is. And I,
Steve Novak:
There’s you’d
Richie Burke:
Think if there was an environment he could thrive on the basketball court too. That would be it.
Travis Diener:
Yeah. And he didn’t,
Steve Novak:
But I believe that the reason that that’s his choice, his court of choice is, I think that’s the one area probably at Bluemont that has no surveillance. So you go back there, you shoot your shots, you play whatever, you come out and he says like, ah, I won again. I
Travis Diener:
Made a shot, shot shot. And there’s no
Steve Novak:
Ones
Travis Diener:
Documentation of it. Yeah.
Steve Novak:
So I mean
Richie Burke:
That about right. is there an answer to that question?
Steve Novak:
Biggest trash talker
Travis Diener:
In
Steve Novak:
Mark had history. I’ll, I’ll say Trav. Trav was, Trav would be up there and I think it was, he’s the kind of trash talker that certainly he does a lot of it to get himself going. I feel like it puts him in the right mindset. He was really just looking for someone to headbutt. It seemed like
Travis Diener:
A lot times Robert Jackson would talk a lot of trash. He was good
Steve Novak:
Unfounded. It was often for Rob Unfounded.
Travis Diener:
Yeah, for me Robert was great.
Richie Burke:
Is ick pretty good?
Travis Diener:
Ick Talks, talks shit. Yep, he’s
Richie Burke:
Good. He’s a mass asshole, right? He’s from Boston. Yep. Yeah. Okay.
Travis Diener:
That area
Richie Burke:
He’s got, he’s got, he’s got, he’s got the ok. He’s got that East coast, east coast in him. Yeah,
Travis Diener:
He talks, he talks some shit.
Richie Burke:
next question. This could be let’s go, let’s go N NBA here. Favorite teammate you’ve ever played with?
Travis Diener:
For me it was Grant Hill.
Richie Burke:
You played with Grant? Yeah. Was rookie that the magic rookie? Yep.
Travis Diener:
Okay. I was a rookie. He was a, a veteran.
Richie Burke:
Any good Grant Hill stories?
Travis Diener:
No, just ultimate class professional. this was, you know, obviously after a lot of injuries and bad ankles and you know, always looked out for, for everybody. And I just, the ultimate teammate.
Richie Burke:
Steve, you got a lot to choose from.
Steve Novak:
I do. I I’m very hesitant to give this answer because it’s giving Duke too much love, but I think my, my favorite teammate of all time, at least when I was a rookie, especially cuz was my veteran, Shane Batier. He was the guy that, that literally gave me the investing for Dummy’s book on the bus and is like, you have to read this Investing for Dummies book and also taught me how to to day drink when season was over. And but was a guy who he
Travis Diener:
Didn’t even know how to day drink. I didn’t know how 25
Steve Novak:
Years ago from Brown deer, we were busy doing stuff fond. They, they, they drink, but we
Richie Burke:
You guys, you guys, what are you
Travis Diener:
Doing in brown deer? Light off fireworks something.
Steve Novak:
Yeah, we got fireworks. We gotta, I mean, someone has to
Richie Burke:
None, none of that at Marquette. That’s probably why you guys should be day. NBA should be
Travis Diener:
Day drinking right now.
Steve Novak:
There were some we
Richie Burke:
We weren we
Travis Diener:
Weren’t offered.
Steve Novak:
We
Richie Burke:
Weren’t. Oh, don’t say that on the podcast. We have a full fridge and it’s sponsored by Central Standard. There
Travis Diener:
You go. Got the 77 beers in there. We weren’t even offered.
Richie Burke:
Okay. Keep
Steve Novak:
It going. See, speaking of great teammates, right,
Richie Burke:
Thank you. We treat our guests well here, Steve, I’ll give you a nice parting gift. We have gift bags over
Steve Novak:
There. Oh, I appreciate that. Yeah, thank
Richie Burke:
You. Absolutely.
Travis Diener:
I just wanted a beer. I don’t know. ,
Richie Burke:
Does someone want run to the fridge?
Steve Novak:
I do
Richie Burke:
Have a great last three questions.
Steve Novak:
Best teammate
Richie Burke:
Story. Let’s get the 77 beer.
Steve Novak:
Travis does need a
Travis Diener:
Beer. No, I’m just kidding.
Richie Burke:
Get the 77 beer. No, I’m
Travis Diener:
Just kidding. I’m just kidding.
Richie Burke:
This is a n i l related question. I want you to both answer this question for each other. Okay. It’s 2004. Each of you personally get a hundred grand in n i l deals. Where’s the money going? Where do you think Steve is spending that money?
Steve Novak:
Oh, I like that. Where do you think I’m spending it? First of all, if, if it was a hundred thousand for me, it’s under
Travis Diener:
Market. Steve. Steve’s gonna, Steve’s gonna spend it on,
Steve Novak:
Oh,
Travis Diener:
Here we go on cats.
Steve Novak:
Oh, I didn’t see it going there. Why do, why do you say that?
Travis Diener:
Because you had a cat.
Steve Novak:
That was weird. I
Richie Burke:
Didn’t You wanna bring some glasses over too?
Travis Diener:
Might I might indulge. He’d have bought a couple kittens kittens. Yeah. He’d bought a, bought a couple kittens. maybe a special breed where they’re a little more expensive. Oh. you know, maybe, maybe a little house, little kitten house. Like what? In his dorm room? What? I mean, this is . You had a cat. I did. It’s so what? Very strange.
Steve Novak:
What? All right. Here’s what happened. And I, I honestly don’t know how it happened but I’ll tell you how to, okay. I started dating a girl who is now my wife Christina. Fantastic young lady at the time,
Travis Diener:
At the, at the time
Steve Novak:
I was, I’m saying I was newly in love with her. Right. And she somehow got a cat and then, and then found out she couldn’t have cats in her dorm. You know that this is true. So the cat ended up Monty rest in peace
Travis Diener:
Monty. So I don’t know why I’m
Steve Novak:
Ended up at Humphrey Hall living in my dorm room. And it was in the cl we had walk-in closets in college, pretty awesome walk-in closets. So the cat lived in the closet and then one time Coach Creen unannounced went into my room on a visit because me and Karin had the cleanest room.
Travis Diener:
You did. Did have
Steve Novak:
That. And, and to show the recruit Humphrey Hall. And there was a catwalk around and coach called me into his office. I was like, Steve, I was in your room and you have a cat in your room. And I was like, how do you know that? And he’s like, well, I went in your room and there was a cat walking around. So we kind of just had it under the radar and didn’t tell anyone.
Travis Diener:
That’s not a bad answer. I mean, it’s back in college, you’re trying to, maybe you’re trying to impress this young lady who became your wife and you buy a couple kittens.
Steve Novak:
Yeah, it’s reasonable. I guess it’s reasonable.
Richie Burke:
She must have really
Travis Diener:
Liked you. Maybe a special breed. Yeah. Like maybe some African cat or something, you know? Yeah,
Steve Novak:
You’re right. You’re right. Cuz if I, if it was Monty back then and now I have a hundred thousand dollars in college, which from Brown deer, that’s basically like 16 million. I’m
Travis Diener:
Million. I’m interested. See where you go with, with me here.
Steve Novak:
I’m too, I’ll tell you what Travis does with a hundred thousand. All right. Have you seen that? What’s the, what’s the song? What’s the, I’m not sure which music video it is, but there’s, but it’s Kanye and Jay-Z and they cut the top off of a Maybach. You know, they cut, I think they, they they, they cut the top off of a Maybach and they drive around.
Richie Burke:
Right. Travis, we got your 77 beer for
Travis Diener:
You. Oh,
Steve Novak:
I’m pretty sure Travis has. Wow. Thank you. That’s really kind. Cheers, Travis. Thank you.
Travis Diener:
Cheers,
Richie Burke:
Richie. Cheers guys. Cheers.
Steve Novak:
Cheers.
Travis Diener:
So you
Steve Novak:
No, I’m saying, is it true that in Fond Lac with your homeboys from Fonda, many of which I know well, , you, you had at some point cut the roof off of a car and drove it around. Fond, is that, am I making this up? You put
Travis Diener:
On the table if you want. Yeah. a 1985 grand Marquee.
Steve Novak:
Okay. So there you go. That 1985 Grand Marquee with a hundred thousand now becomes probably a used V8 and Maybach that he cuts the top off and they’d drive it around Marquette’s campus. Just like I had a cat that became some kind of like African special breed that’s the same as so Travis. So
Richie Burke:
Cars and Cats.
Travis Diener:
Boy, that’s a, that’s a
Steve Novak:
Good name for a podcast
Travis Diener:
I take. Yeah, I take his kittens for a ride in my car.
Richie Burke:
Okay. Bo bonus question on this.
Steve Novak:
I’m a little worried about this one.
Richie Burke:
Huh? Mike? Mike Silla gets a $10,000 n i l deal when he gets to school. Where does that money go?
Travis Diener:
Hold on,
Steve Novak:
Hold on, hold on,
Travis Diener:
Hold on. Golfing lessons
Steve Novak:
Golfing
Travis Diener:
Because he stinks.
Richie Burke:
I was gonna maybe say a certain establishment over in the Water Street area, but
Travis Diener:
Which is,
Steve Novak:
I feel like he doesn’t discriminate. But is there a specific place? I, I’ll tell you this, if you gave Mike money in college, I’ll just tell you now, I’m not sure he would’ve, he would’ve been able to stay in college because this is true. When he first committed to Marquette, they asked Steve, he’s having surgery immediately when he gets to campus. Somehow he was hurt when he got to campus. I picked him up from the surgeon from the hospital, and I don’t know if he was still on drugs or not, but he was like, Steve, like on campus, are we like, pretty much Gods
Travis Diener:
?
Steve Novak:
Like, I mean no. Like, no seriously, like are we, like we pretty much like in charge. And I was like, Mike, you’re, you’re, you’re, you’re not even healthy yet Guy.
Richie Burke:
You’re a freshman and you’re not even who just got surgery. Yeah.
Steve Novak:
So I just think about that Kinsella with tens of thousand, just maybe just 10,000. I don’t think he makes it, I just don’t think he
Travis Diener:
Good answer. Yeah,
Richie Burke:
That was, that was a good answer. That was
Travis Diener:
Well thought out.
Richie Burke:
Wa Water. Water. I should be Water Street would’ve been happy. They would’ve been. Yeah. Happy. that’s all I got. Prediction for the 23, 24 season.
Travis Diener:
I have already put a substantial wager down, no pressure on on the boys that we at least substantial make it to lead eight. So what were
Richie Burke:
The odds you got on that?
Travis Diener:
. It was a dumb bit by me. I went even the odds, I like the confidence.
Richie Burke:
You didn’t, you didn’t go to Vegas, did you? No.
Travis Diener:
I’m gonna go to Vegas and I’m gonna put a a bet down though that we win it all.
Steve Novak:
I like it.
Travis Diener:
I think that before Steve ends, I think the team is good enough. I mean, I don’t think that’s saying a lot. Yeah. But they’re talented enough, they’re togetherness. it’s a fun, it’s a fun team this year. I just think, you know, in the tournament, little inexperience in that moment I think next year they’ll be better off for it and I think it’s a bright, bright outlook for this year. And I think any, I think that should be the expectation that, you know, I think, and I know it is for those guys is look, we’re trying to get to the Final Four and anything less I don’t think we’ll be, we’ll be good enough for them.
Steve Novak:
Yeah, I think, I think expectations are what make sports, you know, so intriguing. And so I do, I think with looking at the team coming back, I do, I think your expectation is to be a Final Four team. I think Travis has hedged a bit and gone Elite eight. I think we’re probably all being a little aggressive when you think about, you know, what this team did last year and already jumping up and being one of the top five teams in the league. But I think I just hesitate on the expectation side to, to put that much pressure on ’em. But I do, I think that this is the team that’s absolutely good enough to be a, to be a Final four team.
Richie Burke:
You guys, you guys or Travis, you train now. Steve, you obvious at a high level. Any advice to like athletes coming up who want to do what you did or maybe play at the collegiate level?
Travis Diener:
yeah, it’s, I think it’s really simple. I think, you know, you just have to you have to, you have to develop a, a passion for getting better a a passion for work. and, you know, basketball is, it, it can’t, it can’t be about you. You know, it’s about the people that are around you. It’s, it’s making your teammates better. It’s being a good, it’s, it’s being selfless sacrificing. And I think if you do all those things and your, obviously you have to have talent it all works out for you.
But I think I see so many times where these kids are so talented these days so skilled, I mean much more skilled or talented and, and the game has evolved than I was at that age. But they just get in their own way because they think so far ahead of where they want to get to. Or it’s maybe it’s easier than what it really is. It’s, it’s hard. It’s hard work. It’s hard to get to to play in college. It’s hard to get to the nba. but I think if you take it in steps and really put your nose down and just, you know, get better each day and and learn the game I think you can have incredible experiences.
Steve Novak:
Yeah, I mean I would, I would piggyback that a little bit, but I just think, I feel so strongly about like what Travis said. I just think that there’s so many parents, so many kids that are at the youth level that are trying to be in the league or have college scholarships now. And I mean it’s a lot and I don’t even blame everybody for feeling that cuz I understand the desire.
But I do think that finding a good group of people to compete and to play with, whether it’s your, your grade school, basketball team, the right high school, I think that’s so important. Having that right group. And also I think what Travis said to me is the most important thing is having your eye on the dream. Fine. But it really to me becomes about the like the 0.1% improvement like every single day.
Cuz if you can improve every day, the difference between improving 0.1, which I know people say like 1%, I think that’s beyond unreasonable. Like if you can get 0.1% better every day, to me all that is doing is you’re never getting worse. And if you never get worse, like the exponential power of getting just that a little bit better to me is actually just not getting worse.
You’re not taking steps backwards means to me that yes, the dream really is real for anyone, you know, and I think that, look, that’s a large statement but I think that, you know, Travis and I deal with so many kids that aspire to, to do special things and to be great at things and I, I never want to tell a kid like, ah, it’s probably not gonna happen because the odds say this because we were told that our whole life, yeah, you’re probably not gonna make you better have a plan B.
Well we’re able to make it to the highest level. And so I am about like dreaming big and understanding you can achieve it, but it is not about dreaming about the N B A the whole time. It’s about like every single day one per like 0.1%. So to me that’s where the focus needs to be. And then you see where it takes you. Cuz look, all the stuff that Travis and I did, right, I think there was probably 90% of what we became were things that were out of our control. We had unbelievable teammates.
We had incredibly, I would call it lucky success. We have great teammates, we have great coaches. We didn’t get hurt at the wrong times. So I think you just have to, I think respect the, how much of it you don’t actually control that’s outta your hands. We’re blessed to have had the success we had. Just like everybody who is. So I think just like that to me, that 0.1 to me is the advice I like to give kids is just keep heading in the right direction. You’ll give yourself a chance.
Richie Burke:
Love it. We’ll end it there. Thank you guys so much for coming on. Appreciate
Steve Novak:
It. Appreciate you having us.
Richie Burke:
Thank you so much for tuning into this episode of Milwaukee Uncut. If you enjoyed this episode, please do us a huge favor in subscribe to the show and write a review that helps us get more ears on these episodes and these great Milwaukee stories. Also, just a reminder that this podcast is sponsored by Central Standard Distillery in its in partnership with On Milwaukee and produced by Story Mark Studios.