Speaker 1: It's time for coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven nine day. Now here's Nick coffee.
Speaker 2: All right, let's get it start at five o'clock on
Speaker 2: a Friday. After a late night last night, gonna be
Speaker 2: another late night tonight. Louisville survives. What a moment for
Speaker 2: Chucky Hepburn. What a wild ride it was throughout the
Speaker 2: entirety of that game. But Louisville and in action tonight,
Speaker 2: tipping off late against Clemson. Chance for them to get
Speaker 2: the get a second resume went against Clemson Kentucky, same
Speaker 2: thing for them. They were really in control for the
Speaker 2: majority of the game last night. And then, I'll be
Speaker 2: honest with you, I went to bed because I didn't
Speaker 2: want to. I didn't want to see them, you know.
Speaker 2: I needed to go to bed anyway. And it looked
Speaker 2: like as if they already had it under control. They
Speaker 2: were up like eight with just a few minutes left
Speaker 2: or something like that. So I got my lazy ass
Speaker 2: off the recliner and went in bed. And I woke
Speaker 2: up to get some milk for Moose and looked at
Speaker 2: the TV and I thought, Okay, maybe it's four thirty
Speaker 2: in the morning, So maybe they're replaying the game, because
Speaker 2: they do that.
Speaker 3: Sometimes they weren't.
Speaker 2: It was on I don't remember what it was on,
Speaker 2: but I know as soon as I looked at the
Speaker 2: TV on the bottom scroll, it showed that Otiga Oway
Speaker 2: was able to score a bucket really as time expired
Speaker 2: to lift them up. And I'm thinking, one, how did
Speaker 2: it even get how did it even get that close?
Speaker 2: And sure enough, it was quite the collapse for Kentucky,
Speaker 2: only for them to, you know, do the same thing
Speaker 2: Louisville did. Right, looked like you were letting it slip away,
Speaker 2: only to find a way to win and hold on
Speaker 2: in a weird way. There have been some real similarities
Speaker 2: with these two teams in their seasons. And that don't
Speaker 2: mean because you know, style of play necessarily, although both
Speaker 2: coaches like to play the same way or even record
Speaker 2: and that kind of thing. But it's a group of
Speaker 2: brand new guys that are all for the most part
Speaker 2: working together for the first year, and they've got a
Speaker 2: real strong belief in their coach and they never get
Speaker 2: too high or too low. And sure enough that played
Speaker 2: out for both last night, all right, real quick, Pat Kelsey,
Speaker 2: For those who were not aware, and I'm sure you're
Speaker 2: not surprised. He's been named one of the top ten
Speaker 2: finalists for the n A Smith National Coach of the
Speaker 2: Year Award, and he is among good company others that
Speaker 2: are in the top ten finalists here, Tom Izzo, Dennis Gates,
Speaker 2: Pat Kelsey, Grant mccaslan, Ben McCollum, Bruce Pearl, Rick Pattino,
Speaker 2: Kelvin Sampson, John Shire and Todd Golden. I still think
Speaker 2: when it comes to National Coach of the Year, the
Speaker 2: real biggest threats for Pat Kelce as far as this
Speaker 2: has got to be Rick Pattino and Kelvin Samson. I
Speaker 2: mean maybe is oh, but I don't know. I mean again,
Speaker 2: when it comes to these awards Coach of the Year,
Speaker 2: it's never the same exact criteria, right, But I think
Speaker 2: if you can get a little bit of both, that's
Speaker 2: who usually goes to and I have no issue with that.
Speaker 2: You've got somebody who does have a good team and
Speaker 2: they clearly did a lot more than people expected. That's
Speaker 2: really where I think you find most Coach of the
Speaker 2: Year awards ending up a guy who did that, where
Speaker 2: you feel like the results the success, not a lot
Speaker 2: of other coaches we would have been able to do
Speaker 2: that maybe or maybe the coaching specifically was what you
Speaker 2: think is the factor and why they were able to
Speaker 2: have that level of success. I mean, you could be
Speaker 2: an overachiever and be a five hundred coach. Now you
Speaker 2: also could be a great coach that won a ton
Speaker 2: of games. But if you in fact were you know,
Speaker 2: supposed to do that, because you feel like there's other
Speaker 2: coaches that if they had the same personnel that you have,
Speaker 2: they would do the same thing.
Speaker 3: Coaches that you don't think.
Speaker 2: Are as good as others would have the same level
Speaker 2: of success because most coaches would be better, you know,
Speaker 2: with a great roster. So you can really slice it
Speaker 2: anyway you want, because then again you get into the conversation,
Speaker 2: will are you going to hold it against this coach
Speaker 2: for having a good player? Having good players? Isn't that
Speaker 2: what we're supposed to do? Yeah, so again it really is.
Speaker 2: It's it's all objective. But I still think pack Kelsey's
Speaker 2: got a legitimate chance to win a national Coach of
Speaker 2: the Year award, which would be would be awesome. Want
Speaker 2: it for them, you know, I want all these guys
Speaker 2: to have all the accolades and honors, because you know,
Speaker 2: it's been that fun of a season. And last night
Speaker 2: somebody asked me this on the text line, I'm glad
Speaker 2: that you brought it up, because I hadn't thought about
Speaker 2: it since last night. But you know, I kept saying,
Speaker 2: I'm not sure there's anything this group could do for
Speaker 2: me to be mad at him, and and you know,
Speaker 2: I don't know if there's any result that would make
Speaker 2: me feel any different, which that that didn't change. But
Speaker 2: when they were down fifteen and it was just looking
Speaker 2: as if they were kind of shell shocked and not quitting,
Speaker 2: but just kind of in shock and very complacent, I
Speaker 2: felt to myself, Okay, well now I'm disappointed. Yeah, because
Speaker 2: I don't know if I could be mad at them,
Speaker 2: but I'm you know, just being disappointed was a feeling
Speaker 2: that I hadn't felt with this group in a while.
Speaker 2: Like even when they nearly lost to Virginia Tech. They
Speaker 2: did lose to Georgia Tech, I just I couldn't find
Speaker 2: myself generating the same level and the same type of
Speaker 2: emotion that I used to give with my team would
Speaker 2: lose the game they shouldn't lose, you know, And it's
Speaker 2: just because I feel like we've gotten every bit out
Speaker 2: of this group as far as what they can do
Speaker 2: on the floor. That didn't mean it's over. But last
Speaker 2: night just kind of to see them not really in
Speaker 2: the moment was kind of a surprise and a real bummer.
Speaker 2: But then you know, you're reminded why you love him
Speaker 2: and why this is such a special group because they
Speaker 2: internally realized, hey, let's lock in. We're not losing this game.
Speaker 2: That's what Chucky Hebburn told him, And man, it just
Speaker 2: kind of feels like with Chucky Hepburn, you could lose.
Speaker 3: Right, He's not perfect.
Speaker 2: He made a really bad turnover right before he saved
Speaker 2: the day, but like he's just Chucky plays at times
Speaker 2: with the confidence that is so infectious to everybody.
Speaker 3: And I don't just mean his teammates, his coaches, I mean.
Speaker 2: Fans, and at times it's not like he plays without confidence.
Speaker 2: But early Chucky last night he was taking shots. It
Speaker 2: wasn't like he wasn't aggressive. But when he's got a
Speaker 2: little bit of a bounce to his step, and honestly,
Speaker 2: it starts on defense, when he's just able to impact
Speaker 2: the game and disrupt everything else starts rolling for him.
Speaker 2: So again last night, what a moment. I went from
Speaker 2: one extreme to the other on the way back to
Speaker 2: the other side of the extreme, which was the sad.
Speaker 3: One, only to then be.
Speaker 2: A mad man running around my home nearly tackled my wife.
Speaker 2: So the kids weren't home. And thank god, I mean,
Speaker 2: I mean that sincerely. No matter what would have happened
Speaker 2: last night, win or lost, the blessing in disguise was
Speaker 2: that my young, sweet, innocent children were not there to
Speaker 2: see their father behave like a lunatic.
Speaker 3: It would have been a bad, bad thing for them
Speaker 3: to do.
Speaker 4: Do you think Maya's reaction would have been.
Speaker 2: Well, it kind of got tested because they got home
Speaker 2: when Aubles started making their run, so you know, energy
Speaker 2: level was up. And and as I don't mean to
Speaker 2: be so serious here, but I've never really been in
Speaker 2: a moment like that. It's a little like you know
Speaker 2: Maya is. For those who don't know my daughter, she
Speaker 2: is intellectually disabled. She's autistic. So consider consider the sweetest
Speaker 2: little girl who you.
Speaker 3: Know, is a little bit get.
Speaker 2: I get to have her innocence a lot longer in
Speaker 2: life than most other parents, which is a beautiful thing
Speaker 2: for me. So she's you know, consider her from an
Speaker 2: intellectual level being maybe like a three year old despite
Speaker 2: being nine, so you know, she's just again imagine her
Speaker 2: on the intellectual level being that young. So she's just like, hey, daddy,
Speaker 2: watching the game, watching the game, and like, you know,
Speaker 2: it's high stress. But she was kind of like my
Speaker 2: stress relief. Like with her, it wasn't as big of
Speaker 2: a deal because you know, it just wasn't and I
Speaker 2: don't know, you know, there's weird thing. Again, not to
Speaker 2: be serious, we're having fun, it's Friday, but I just mean,
Speaker 2: like that was something that I didn't ever think about happening,
Speaker 2: but it realizing, you know what, with her, I don't
Speaker 2: really care if we win or lose. I do, but
Speaker 2: you know what I mean, it was just different, Like
Speaker 2: it was just it was kind of a kind of
Speaker 2: a weird moment that I didn't didn't plan on happening.
Speaker 2: But you know, once we started rolling, you know, I'm cheering,
Speaker 2: I'm jumping around, Moose is clapping, so they missed me
Speaker 2: being a madman, and then they saw me kind of,
Speaker 2: you know, slowly thinking there's no way this is happening.
Speaker 3: We're not losing.
Speaker 2: We didn't just lose an eight point lead in the
Speaker 2: snow app of a matter of seconds?
Speaker 3: Did we? And sure enough we did?
Speaker 2: Only for I remember, and I think I think I'll
Speaker 2: remember this for a while because that was you know,
Speaker 2: that shot was big. I mean, even if it's just
Speaker 2: for one appearance in the semi finals of the ACC tournament,
Speaker 2: I would hope that Pat Kelsey is going to have
Speaker 2: many many long tournament runs over his time here.
Speaker 3: We'll we'll have to wait and see.
Speaker 2: But like, just took the first buzzer beater in a
Speaker 2: long time to keep you advancing in your conference tournament.
Speaker 2: It's a moment that I think I'm gonna remember because
Speaker 2: we hadn't had it in a while. But also I
Speaker 2: was watching in the whole family and Moose he was
Speaker 2: worried that they were holding the ball, like, oh yeah,
Speaker 2: he sees the clock running down. I'm like, buddy, Pat's
Speaker 2: not scared to get overtime with him, Yeah, he's learning.
Speaker 2: And then he said, well, I'm not scared either, So
Speaker 2: then you know, we were ready.
Speaker 3: To ride and overtithe if it goes there.
Speaker 2: And then sure enough that throws up the kind of
Speaker 2: awkward shot doesn't doesn't doesn't get a great look, and
Speaker 2: then you know, we know what happens. The ball bounces
Speaker 2: the way that it does, and sure enough Chucky right
Speaker 2: there with confidence, smooth, cool as the other side of
Speaker 2: the pillow.
Speaker 5: Man.
Speaker 2: I mean that again, I said it earlier. Most people
Speaker 2: in that instance, even elite players, better than Chucky. I
Speaker 2: feel like, more often than not, most human beings in
Speaker 2: that moment would have caught it like a hot potato.
Speaker 2: They'd have been moving like they had ants in their pants.
Speaker 2: They would have been so tense, they wouldn't just have
Speaker 2: the natural motion of shooting. Really a jump shot, but
Speaker 2: you're just a few feet away from the rim, and Chucky,
Speaker 2: I mean, couldn't have executed it more perfectly. Again, it's
Speaker 2: an easy shot in the grand scheme of things, but
Speaker 2: when you consider when it was, the moment and all that,
Speaker 2: I mean, he was, he had ice in his veins,
Speaker 2: which is what she needed. But as soon as it happened,
Speaker 2: I just we all screamed. I did run past moose
Speaker 2: and just went right for my wife and grabbed her,
Speaker 2: and she was excited. And then she you know, I
Speaker 2: don't think she looked she I think she saw that
Speaker 2: look in my eye of like, oh my god, this
Speaker 2: guy's alludatant.
Speaker 3: I've forgotten about this guy. This is the guy.
Speaker 2: Who's not well mentally because he's obsessed with Louisville basketball.
Speaker 2: He's got issues.
Speaker 3: She remembered.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, this is the man that I had children with.
Speaker 2: And you know, and this is what's crazy. The majority
Speaker 2: of my children's life haven't had any of this. We
Speaker 2: haven't been good, I know. And when we were good,
Speaker 2: like in twenty seventeen, Moose wasn't born. Maya was a
Speaker 2: baby baby, like, she wasn't even a year lad. So
Speaker 2: you know, it's all kind of playing out for the
Speaker 2: first time. And once I once I once I realized
Speaker 2: I was going to tackle my wife, I went right
Speaker 2: to Moose, picked him up and you know, he was screaming,
Speaker 2: yelling and dancing and it was it was a hell
Speaker 2: of a night, hell of a night.
Speaker 4: You know what, I actually love selfishly more about it.
Speaker 4: It's just because I like the attention that it got.
Speaker 4: Like when you, I mean, when you just think of March,
Speaker 4: you think of that kind of stuff happening that's going
Speaker 4: to be on like montages and b roll footages. I
Speaker 4: feel like, for maybe not forever, but like especially not
Speaker 4: when they're talking about the tournament and when they bring
Speaker 4: up Louisville seed line on selection Sunday, that's going to
Speaker 4: be in there. When they're talking about the craziness of
Speaker 4: March you gets you ready for it, that show is
Speaker 4: going to be there and there. And I like doing that.
Speaker 4: I like being able to look up and say, that's
Speaker 4: my squad.
Speaker 2: I mean as a I mean having moments like that,
Speaker 2: like as like seeing everybody sharing videos of them reacting
Speaker 2: to it. I mean that is like we're all like
Speaker 2: we've been a very toxic fan base with things that
Speaker 2: have gone on with our basketball program over the years,
Speaker 2: to where you know, you try to block it out,
Speaker 2: but I mean, just what we have gone through as
Speaker 2: a basketball program. I think regardless of what program it is,
Speaker 2: it's going to lead to toxicity and infighting within your
Speaker 2: fan base.
Speaker 3: And we had that a lot.
Speaker 2: And clearly things have been on the right path because man,
Speaker 2: everybody's all in with Pat Kelsey and it's been amazing.
Speaker 2: It's been a beautiful thing. But to see that in
Speaker 2: a major way last night, I don't know, like I
Speaker 2: was nerding out on watching you know, somebody in their
Speaker 2: living room with their family and all of a sudden,
Speaker 2: you know, one of the family members or all of them,
Speaker 2: they lose their mind. They run around like crazy people.
Speaker 2: Because I can relate to that, and you know, I
Speaker 2: think we all know that there are like those of
Speaker 2: us that are crazy about this stuff the way that
Speaker 2: we are.
Speaker 3: We know we're not alone.
Speaker 2: We know that's what makes this program special and very
Speaker 2: different when it comes to most college basketball programs and
Speaker 2: fan bases out there.
Speaker 3: But I don't know, I.
Speaker 2: Just felt a level of relatability in you know, almost
Speaker 2: like a family kind of thing, if that makes sense.
Speaker 2: I'm getting real corny and sentimental here. I don't mean to,
Speaker 2: but it's just it's it's what's happening. So yeah, I mean,
Speaker 2: and I'll say this, I'm sure right now, it's not
Speaker 2: the focus. It's not it's not even on their mind
Speaker 2: because they're getting ready to play tonight and hopefully win
Speaker 2: another postseason game and get to that championship game. But
Speaker 2: I you know what kind of makes this whole thing
Speaker 2: just such a beautiful you know, beautiful timing more than anything.
Speaker 2: I mean, really, I think this group, this group these
Speaker 2: I'm not getting choked up, trust me, it's not that.
Speaker 3: Something in my throat.
Speaker 2: But I think these players, like they would really enjoy
Speaker 2: to see videos of people in the crowd reacting or
Speaker 2: in their home, just because you know, that's a behind
Speaker 2: the scenes thing that they don't. You know, I'm sure
Speaker 2: they know they've got support, but to see really in
Speaker 2: someone's own domain, in their own environment, what a win
Speaker 2: like that can do to grown up people, you know
Speaker 2: that you know, become a version of themselves that is
Speaker 2: just different.
Speaker 3: Because they're so excited, they're crazy about this stuff. Would
Speaker 3: I mean, I just I.
Speaker 2: Don't know these guys on a personal level by any means,
Speaker 2: but I can tell you they have a real appreciation
Speaker 2: for this whole process of getting Louisville basketball back to life.
Speaker 2: And again I said this earlier in the show, and
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm joking. I would never prefer what we
Speaker 2: went through previously. But there was a moment I was
Speaker 2: texting Austin. He told me he left to go on
Speaker 2: a walk to walk his dog, to try to get
Speaker 2: some mojo going, just to try to shake some things up.
Speaker 3: Called my dad.
Speaker 2: He told me that, you know, he turned it off briefly,
Speaker 2: just because you know he's he's one of those guys
Speaker 2: that he'd rather just walk away from it for a
Speaker 2: little while than come back and hope that it's in
Speaker 2: a better spot so than he can rejoin, because you know,
Speaker 2: he's a seasoned veteran, my dad is, So he doesn't Yeah,
Speaker 2: he doesn't want to. He doesn't want to have to
Speaker 2: live through the whole agony of it just because you
Speaker 2: know it'll it'll drive you mad.
Speaker 3: And you know, I don't know why I've done it
Speaker 3: before too.
Speaker 2: You do feel like if you hit pause or you
Speaker 2: walk away, or you like, I mean I've done this before,
Speaker 2: I'll hit pause and give myself like three minutes to
Speaker 2: pace and be like, all right, this is a really
Speaker 2: big possession coming up here, like this is how that's
Speaker 2: how crazy. Mean, it's been a long time since I've
Speaker 2: done that, because you know, it's been a while since
Speaker 2: we've been good.
Speaker 3: But it's it's just different. So whenever the bad.
Speaker 2: Part of last night was in full flow, I mean,
Speaker 2: I thought to myself, you know what, everything about the
Speaker 2: previous regime sucked and I never want to be there again.
Speaker 2: But if there was a benefit is we didn't have
Speaker 2: to experience the hurt that will be there if Louisville
Speaker 2: ends up getting their ass kicked. Which point which they
Speaker 2: were getting their ass kicked? I mean, it was bad,
Speaker 2: and I just remember thinking like, Okay, maybe life was better.
Speaker 3: When we were dead. Maybe the dead the dead.
Speaker 2: Fan in us kept us from feeling not only the
Speaker 2: emotion that makes you happy, but man, the emotion, because
Speaker 2: I'll say.
Speaker 3: It, this is what's just so twisted about me.
Speaker 2: I guess as a college basketball lunatic, there's like there's
Speaker 2: no joy in any postseason win other than maybe the
Speaker 2: whole thing that is a stronger feeling than the hurt
Speaker 2: you get when it's over.
Speaker 3: Does that make sense? Sure, Like it's a stronger feeling.
Speaker 2: Now again, I think you kind of reflect a little bit,
Speaker 2: hopefully not taken too long to where you can still say, man,
Speaker 2: that sucked.
Speaker 3: That was painful.
Speaker 2: But a couple of days have passed, and you know what,
Speaker 2: I still think we had a great year, you know
Speaker 2: what I mean, Like you can you can still big
Speaker 2: picture not think you had a bad year, that anybody
Speaker 2: needs to be fired, or that your team let you down.
Speaker 2: But man, when it's over, it's brutal, and I you know,
Speaker 2: I remember it, but it's been a while since we've
Speaker 2: been there. Last night wouldn't have ended the season, but man,
Speaker 2: it really would have put you in a spot where
Speaker 2: you're no better than an eight, I think. And also
Speaker 2: you're carrying such little momentum into you know, it's a
Speaker 2: winn or go home situation. So tonight, you know, we'll
Speaker 2: see what happens. But I'm confident, you know, I even
Speaker 2: if you know. I mean, last night was ugly, clearly,
Speaker 2: but this group all year, they've had moments where they've
Speaker 2: you know, it hadn't gone their way or I mean,
Speaker 2: I guess this was a little bit earlier in the season,
Speaker 2: but I mean, keep in mind when they came out
Speaker 2: and looked like a different team and went on a
Speaker 2: run like we've never seen around here, at least for
Speaker 2: a long time. I mean, that was right after they
Speaker 2: needed the Noah Waterman bucket to survive against EKU. After
Speaker 2: that game, it was North Carolina Florida State. I'm sorry, no,
Speaker 2: I think it was. It was North Carolina, I believe,
Speaker 2: And then from then on they went on a run
Speaker 2: that really laid the groundwork for them to be safely
Speaker 2: in the tournament regardless of what happened this week.
Speaker 3: All right, quick break. We'll come back on the other side.
Speaker 3: Keep it rolling along.
Speaker 2: It's coffee and company fuel by Thornton's right here on
Speaker 2: Sports Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 1: Now back to coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven nine day.
Speaker 2: That's right, coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's here on
Speaker 2: a Sports Talk seven ninety getting you set for the weekend,
Speaker 2: big weekend of basketball and joining us to talk some
Speaker 2: injuries in basketball. Is the one of the only doctor
Speaker 2: Eric McElroy from pro Rea Physical Therapy.
Speaker 3: Eric, are you ready to talk some ankles?
Speaker 6: I'm absolutely ready to talk some ankles.
Speaker 5: So a beautiful day. It's basketball season, tournament season. It's
Speaker 5: hard not to talk about ankles right now.
Speaker 2: Yeah, ankles are very important and you may not appreciate
Speaker 2: a good ankle until you you know it's it's no
Speaker 2: longer good.
Speaker 3: And Rain Smith one.
Speaker 2: Of Louisville's best players, clearly one of the best shooters
Speaker 2: in the country. He's been sidelined for a week now
Speaker 2: with with an ankle injury. It sounds like it's some
Speaker 2: level of a sprain.
Speaker 5: Uh.
Speaker 2: And he he did not play yesterday, is not expected
Speaker 2: to play today. And I guess maybe you know, there's
Speaker 2: always a chance things could change, but as of yesterday,
Speaker 2: he was not able to really go through anything as
Speaker 2: far as like any kind of like full workout or practice. Therefore,
Speaker 2: you know, they know if he can't do that, then
Speaker 2: it'd be tough to expect him to play in a game.
Speaker 2: I mean, is this one of those things where it
Speaker 2: really just comes down to monitoring.
Speaker 3: It and and and seeing.
Speaker 2: What kind of you know, pain tolerance level a guy
Speaker 2: can have, because you know there's no magic fix here.
Speaker 6: Yeah, Well, the first thing is stability.
Speaker 5: So it's no matter what he's it's got to be
Speaker 5: stable because if he can't obviously cut or land on
Speaker 5: it or elevate, then it doesn't matter. You know, pain,
Speaker 5: You can work around pain depending on the function. And
Speaker 5: so you know, early aggressive treatment is what's best for
Speaker 5: ankle springs. The day and age of putting them in
Speaker 5: a boot, resting it for two weeks, three weeks and
Speaker 5: then doing something is long gone.
Speaker 6: And so you know what I'm assuming that's.
Speaker 5: Happening is it's early aggressive, you know, trying to get
Speaker 5: the inflammation.
Speaker 6: Down, trying to basically stick late or kind of re
Speaker 6: educate is what we call it if you will.
Speaker 5: The muscles that help dynamically spring or stabilize the ankle,
Speaker 5: and you got to get those quote unquote woken up
Speaker 5: as fast as possible because the reality of what happens
Speaker 5: with ankle springs is those muscles are basically told to
Speaker 5: shut off so you don't rupture attending. But you didn't
Speaker 5: tear the ligament, but you would rather do that than
Speaker 5: rupture attending. So but when that happens, they're very sensitive.
Speaker 6: So if they.
Speaker 5: Feel like the ankle is gonna roll again, they're gonna
Speaker 5: shut the muscle off quick. Well, you got to override that.
Speaker 6: You got to get those muscles.
Speaker 5: Working again so he can get the stability back he
Speaker 5: would need to perform.
Speaker 6: So yeah, early aggressive treatment.
Speaker 5: Obviously they're gonna look and see how he's doing every day,
Speaker 5: you know, on the court, uh, in practice, and you know,
Speaker 5: it just becomes weak by week, to be honest, and
Speaker 5: hopefully it's not super severe and he's not.
Speaker 6: You know, I didn't see. I didn't. I don't think
Speaker 6: it's a high angle sprain, but I may have. No.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they it didn't.
Speaker 2: Apparently there was no real visual of like oh wow,
Speaker 2: because you know the Cooper Flag one. That's a different situation,
Speaker 2: but with brain I don't remember knowing exactly when it
Speaker 2: did occur, but that he he had and apparently he's
Speaker 2: had issues with ankles prior to his time at Louisville.
Speaker 2: He Pat Kelsey shared a story of him having a
Speaker 2: similar situation. It might have been a couple of years
Speaker 2: ago where he he was able to, you know, sit
Speaker 2: back and you know, I guess heal his best as
Speaker 2: he could, but then play through the pain level that
Speaker 2: he had at that time. So this is something he's
Speaker 2: done before, which I guess is a bonus knowing he's
Speaker 2: at least gone through the process of of kind of
Speaker 2: fighting through it and still being able to play. But
Speaker 2: like if in fact that, if in fact, you know,
Speaker 2: you don't see him any in Charlotte today or tomorrow,
Speaker 2: which doesn't sound likely even if Louisvill wins tonight, he
Speaker 2: would be off of the ankle two weeks. In those
Speaker 2: two weeks, I mean, is it. I mean it's not
Speaker 2: a scenario where he's just sitting around and they just say, okay,
Speaker 2: go give it a go, Like, what what's it?
Speaker 3: What's it? What's the process like to kind of determine.
Speaker 2: Okay, you know, yes, he's going to be in pain,
Speaker 2: and initially when you're when you're getting you know, when
Speaker 2: you're getting going, there's gonna be some clear discomfort. But like,
Speaker 2: how do you how do you navigate knowing? Okay, yeah,
Speaker 2: it's not you're not one hundred percent, but you're probably
Speaker 2: good to go.
Speaker 6: Well, you're you're in.
Speaker 5: You know, you're keeping in at the max threshold he
Speaker 5: can possibly operate at.
Speaker 3: You're challenging the pain, right.
Speaker 6: You're challenging him. Yeah, you're challenging him.
Speaker 5: You're not just worried about pains, obviously very important, but
Speaker 5: you're really more worried about the function of the ankle,
Speaker 5: how stable it is, how well he can push on.
Speaker 3: How vulnerable it is to potentially roll again? Right?
Speaker 6: Correct?
Speaker 3: Gotcha? Yes?
Speaker 5: Because it's the risk reward, Like if you if if
Speaker 5: he's not gonna be able to play at the level
Speaker 5: he needs to any it's no, then the risk of
Speaker 5: him injuring it worse is not worth it, especially right now. Uh,
Speaker 5: And so you know you're gonna, you're gonna Basically he's
Speaker 5: a give and take.
Speaker 6: You got to say, all right, it's not even worth
Speaker 6: him going out there one.
Speaker 5: He can't even operate in basic movement patterns without favoring it.
Speaker 3: So yeah, would hurt you more than it would help you.
Speaker 5: Yeah, right, And so then it's like, well, and then
Speaker 5: we got we're still in the tournament.
Speaker 6: We still have things to play for.
Speaker 5: Uh, we're gonna do what we can to keep him,
Speaker 5: you know, allow him to heal as best we can,
Speaker 5: knowing that he may not get to one hundred percent
Speaker 5: even going into the NCAA tournament.
Speaker 2: You mentioned risk reward, there's no real reward I think
Speaker 2: for Duke to play Cooper Flag. I mean, they're they're
Speaker 2: clearly wanting to win the ACC tournament, as any team
Speaker 2: is that's left. But they really wouldn't change their situation
Speaker 2: at all. They're one seed regardless of what happens, and
Speaker 2: so he's not going to play tonight. I would imagine
Speaker 2: they'll sit him out tomorrow. But just for those who don't,
Speaker 2: you know, this was of course a big topic yesterday
Speaker 2: because Cooper Flag is gonna be the number one pick
Speaker 2: in the draft, a sensational player, and the visual off
Speaker 2: his ankle looked really bad. I mean I thought it
Speaker 2: could have been super severe, and who knows, when he's back. However,
Speaker 2: when they say they got imaging and it's negative, what
Speaker 2: are they looking for when when they do that right
Speaker 2: right away?
Speaker 5: Likely a fracture, you know, the because my assumption is
Speaker 5: they probably did an X ray. You know, I'd have
Speaker 5: to see if they didn't MRI. But they're they're looking
Speaker 5: for tendon rupture. Well not in an X ray X ray,
Speaker 5: they're looking for a fracture. But then they're also looking
Speaker 5: if they're into him a RI. You know, did he
Speaker 5: rupture any tendons? Did they do it?
Speaker 6: Is there a fracture there in certain areas.
Speaker 5: That you may may not be able to see on
Speaker 5: an X ray? What's the significance of the ligament damage?
Speaker 1: Uh?
Speaker 6: They can taken kind of gauge, you know, how bad.
Speaker 5: Of an ankle spring, So ligament tears are graded out one,
Speaker 5: two and three, three would be like a rupture.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 5: And so that they were looking to see that guy
Speaker 5: gives him more of a structure issue.
Speaker 6: You know, he had an inversion spray. So it was
Speaker 6: a lateral ankle sprain, is what that is. So those
Speaker 6: are usually usually less.
Speaker 5: Problematic than the ones we all you know, we always
Speaker 5: hear about with the high ankle sprain where you're worried
Speaker 5: about the bones separating in our in our lower leg,
Speaker 5: which is creates a lot of instability. In fact, you
Speaker 5: can't even wait there if it's bad enough, So you
Speaker 5: know that's what they're doing. And then basically like if
Speaker 5: it's I mean, you know, it's not like your a
Speaker 5: cl if your ligaments are torn in your ankle. That
Speaker 5: happens to basketball players all the time. Now it's like, hey,
Speaker 5: that's the same thing with rain. Let's get him, Let's
Speaker 5: get the inflamation down, the pain, let's get the stability back,
Speaker 5: and let's start being aggressive and so we.
Speaker 6: Can get him back as soon as we possibly can.
Speaker 2: Yeah, when it comes to the you know, the a
Speaker 2: guy like Cooper Flag, who is he's just built different.
Speaker 2: Clearly he's a very gifted, gifted individual. But I'm and
Speaker 2: I'm mate to put you on the spot. Did you
Speaker 2: see the replay of his ankle?
Speaker 6: I did?
Speaker 2: Okay, I mean, I'm just I just want to pick
Speaker 2: your brain a little bit. I mean, there's no way
Speaker 2: to know. Not everybody's the same, right. A visual can
Speaker 2: look super scary, could look super dangerous, and it and
Speaker 2: it just doesn't end up being it just it's not
Speaker 2: everybody's the same. But when you saw that, I mean,
Speaker 2: were you of the opinion that that looked to be
Speaker 2: potentially real, I mean real bad.
Speaker 6: Well, it look like a really bad ladderal ankle spring.
Speaker 5: And you know, and I guess for us, it's I
Speaker 5: would much rather see that than other things. Uh Okay,
Speaker 5: you know I was a little concerned about like a fracture.
Speaker 6: But you know, generally speaking, you're gonna.
Speaker 5: I hate to say this, but when they go to
Speaker 5: unless it's real mild, when they go to slow that down,
Speaker 5: you can if it's a bad fracture, we've all seen it, right,
Speaker 5: you can start to see it.
Speaker 6: Uh.
Speaker 5: So, you know, I don't get a hung up on
Speaker 5: bad lateral ankle springs. It happens, they look gross, But generally,
Speaker 5: if everything's you know, he doesn't dislocate, like the ankle
Speaker 5: doesn't dislocate or something like that, it's just a matter
Speaker 5: of like, hey, we gotta.
Speaker 6: You know, we gotta get rolling now.
Speaker 5: You know, this isn't gonna be a long term issue
Speaker 5: most likely, and so once the imaging comes back there's
Speaker 5: no fractures or nothing like that, it's go time.
Speaker 3: Doctor Eric Macroepprop.
Speaker 2: We have physical therapies our guests joining us here on
Speaker 2: Sports Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 3: It is that time of the year.
Speaker 2: We had the last week it was the Whiskey Row
Speaker 2: five k, and now we've got the Derby City ten k,
Speaker 2: the Louisville ten milers coming up later this month, the
Speaker 2: Mini marathon before too long. Each time, each time we
Speaker 2: get to this point of the year, I always ask
Speaker 2: you to give give folks some training tips as far
Speaker 2: as getting set, because I know some of some folks
Speaker 2: have already started doing the other races, but obviously there's
Speaker 2: some that are maybe getting set to around the ten miler,
Speaker 2: maybe doing the mini marathon. What advice would you give
Speaker 2: those who, you know, maybe they haven't done one of
Speaker 2: these in a long time, maybe they've never done it before.
Speaker 5: The biggest advice we give right now, because they're kind
Speaker 5: of getting into their peak training is, you know, don't
Speaker 5: be afraid to to take a day off or to recover.
Speaker 5: Don't feel like a lot of people get caught, especially
Speaker 5: more of our novice runners, that they have to stay
Speaker 5: on the program and if they deviate from the program,
Speaker 5: it's going to impact their performance.
Speaker 6: And that's not always the case. Overtraining will definitely impact
Speaker 6: your performance. Injuries will one.
Speaker 5: Impact your performance. So we always say, like, if your
Speaker 5: body you feel like you're having a hard time recovering,
Speaker 5: which means you're sore, abnormally store it, lingers, you're having
Speaker 5: kind of abnormal aches and pains that don't recover very quick,
Speaker 5: which is like in the first twenty four to forty
Speaker 5: eight hours, and you try rests and you know, different ice,
Speaker 5: whatever it may be, and and you know, things like that,
Speaker 5: and you're still lingering.
Speaker 6: Take some time off.
Speaker 5: It's not going to kill your your race, but you
Speaker 5: just can't. You don't want that stuff to compound. And
Speaker 5: then the other thing is just making sure that you're
Speaker 5: you know, you're fueling your body appropriately. You're training for
Speaker 5: a race, you're not training to lose weight, so you know,
Speaker 5: you don't you want to make sure you're matching your
Speaker 5: caloric intake with their level of training, uh, because again
Speaker 5: that can also lead to injuries and uh and and
Speaker 5: and also really crash your performance, uh if you're not
Speaker 5: you know, keeping up with your your fuel. So those
Speaker 5: are the main things right now that we probably spend
Speaker 5: the most time educating people because we started to see
Speaker 5: him coming in with these.
Speaker 6: Little eights and pains.
Speaker 5: Sure, and they just get s super nervous and have
Speaker 5: high anxiety around you know, you know, having to take
Speaker 5: time off, I think it's the end of the world.
Speaker 6: So and it's not. You know, usually don't lose it
Speaker 6: that fast.
Speaker 2: Eric is always You're the man. I appreciate you making
Speaker 2: time for us. Have a great weekend and we will
Speaker 2: talk soon. My friend awesome Nick, Go cards, Go cards.
Speaker 2: That's right, Doctor Eric mclroy PROI of physical therapy, always
Speaker 2: appreciate his time and he's right, Go cards. So we're
Speaker 2: gonna actually get this thing wrapped up earlier than usual today.
Speaker 2: We've got to get out of here for some programming
Speaker 2: that is coming up, so we only have a couple
Speaker 2: of minutes left. But you know, tonight's match up with
Speaker 2: this Clemson team that I you know, this is. This
Speaker 2: is just how twisted I am when it comes to
Speaker 2: just overthinking this stuff because I care so much, Like
Speaker 2: I don't feel like I have actual I've respected Clemson
Speaker 2: and Brad Brown well a whole lot in the last
Speaker 2: couple of years.
Speaker 3: I mean I haven't like disrespected them by any means
Speaker 3: or maybe I haven't.
Speaker 2: I don't remember it, but you know, for the ACC
Speaker 2: to be in the position that it's in, at least
Speaker 2: they've been one of the good teams the last couple
Speaker 2: of years. So I'm just worried, Austin that, like, is
Speaker 2: this gonna be karma because I've never really treated them
Speaker 2: like they're actually good? Are they gonna, you know, come
Speaker 2: out ready to play tonight? I hope not.
Speaker 4: It's like underlining thought in the back of my mind too.
Speaker 2: They're a good team that you really don't feel like
Speaker 2: you should be scared of though, right, Like that's just
Speaker 2: what they look like.
Speaker 4: And are they are they mad from football or are
Speaker 4: they wanting to get one back up on Louisville.
Speaker 2: I mean, we got them both football, and we got
Speaker 2: them when they came to the ump set. That's right,
Speaker 2: That's what Chuckie had the Cuffsaw, wasn't it?
Speaker 6: That was right?
Speaker 3: That was cuff season.
Speaker 2: So look, they they're good, clearly, and Brad Brownwell has
Speaker 2: done a good job with this group that he has.
Speaker 2: But I don't know, I just here's here's what has
Speaker 2: kind of stuck out to me when I when I
Speaker 2: think about this matchup. You know, this Clemson team. One
Speaker 2: thing that really won't stand out on paper. It's not
Speaker 2: any thing when it comes to analytics, and it may
Speaker 2: not even be something that you notice unless you're paying
Speaker 2: close attention. But what they don't do that makes them good.
Speaker 2: They don't hurt themselves. They don't have a lot of
Speaker 2: silly turnovers. They usually get high quality shots. You know,
Speaker 2: they're not loaded with talent, but they've got good enough players.
Speaker 2: I mean, clearly, they've got one of the best players
Speaker 2: in the ACC and Chase Hunter, who's averaging sixteen points
Speaker 2: a game. He was their leading scorer again last night.
Speaker 4: And who's not hurt.
Speaker 3: That's right, correct.
Speaker 2: The other Hunter is the one who's hurt, which you
Speaker 2: know they'll miss him to an extent, but he's you know,
Speaker 2: clearly he's a little more replaceable than his brother. And
Speaker 2: then Ian Schaefflin probably the best player in the country
Speaker 2: who doesn't look like one. And that's probably a really
Speaker 2: mean thing to say, but I mean, Ian Schifflan, go
Speaker 2: look at him. He doesn't look like a player, but
Speaker 2: the guy he's good. He's averaging about ten boards a game,
Speaker 2: thirteen points. I mean, he's been a big factor in
Speaker 2: their success and he was a big factor last year
Speaker 2: in their run to the Elite eight, So you know.
Speaker 3: They they are.
Speaker 2: They are a rare team to where there's really not
Speaker 2: one specific thing that you're really worry about, like, Wow,
Speaker 2: what are you gonna do about their length? What are
Speaker 2: you gonna do about their shooting? But they're solid in
Speaker 2: all phases and they don't hurt themselves, and they also
Speaker 2: will take advantage if you let them of your mistakes.
Speaker 2: And that's what's got me because again, Louisville lately, just
Speaker 2: some silly turnovers I feel like could cost you tonight.
Speaker 2: But we'll see what happens. Let's hope the magic continues heavy.
Speaker 2: Good night, everybody.
Speaker 3: Talk to you on Monday.