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 started.
Speaker 3: Hour number two Here on a Tuesday afternoon coffee and
Speaker 3: company fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven ninety. Appreciate
Speaker 3: you hanging out with us. Don't forget you can take
Speaker 3: us with you wherever you go. Listen live on the
Speaker 3: iHeartRadio app. Listen live at seven ninety Louisville dot com
Speaker 3: and we'll get to the text line coming up here
Speaker 3: before too long. Some good stuff coming in. But I
Speaker 3: didn't get distracted. But I've spent more time than I
Speaker 3: intended to reading this blog. I suppose blog post at
Speaker 3: barstool sports dot com. I don't know why I care,
Speaker 3: but the SEC teams that did not get in South Carolina, Alabama,
Speaker 3: Ole Miss. I don't think there's anybody else that like
Speaker 3: claimed they belonged that didn't get in. But if I'm
Speaker 3: missing anybody, you can correct me. But they keep talking about, well,
Speaker 3: the SEC team should never schedule a tough non conference
Speaker 3: schedule again because the committee shows it doesn't matter. And
Speaker 3: Nick Saban really started running with that on Saturday. I'm
Speaker 3: sorry Sunday, the selection Sunday, And if you listen to
Speaker 3: the first hour, we had Zach Barnett on a FootballScoop
Speaker 3: dot com and he mentioned that he kind of had
Speaker 3: to walk away from the I guess just the nonsense
Speaker 3: that was being said by some of the people discussing
Speaker 3: the college football playoff selections. And I think for the
Speaker 3: most part it was pretty healthy debate. But like some
Speaker 3: claiming that the SEC schedule the SEC teams in their
Speaker 3: non conference schedule was so tough and it wasn't factored in,
Speaker 3: so why should why should the SEC teams continue to
Speaker 3: schedule anybody that's worth the damn in the non conference
Speaker 3: And I just think it's it's so stupid to say that,
Speaker 3: like that is not why Alabama didn't get in. Alabama
Speaker 3: lost to Oklahoma. That has nothing to do with your
Speaker 3: non conference schedule, Like you didn't schedule Oklahoma and go
Speaker 3: out there to try. I mean, first of all, Oaklham
Speaker 3: isn't good. But I just don't understand the SC like
Speaker 3: the SEC, not everybody, of course, and you can't put
Speaker 3: everybody under the same umbrella. But I feel like some
Speaker 3: SEC fans live in their own world, in their own bubble.
Speaker 3: It's like this elitist mindset. And Lane Kiffin was the
Speaker 3: worst as far as just saying things that really hadn't
Speaker 3: like that had nothing to do with why he wasn't
Speaker 3: going to get into the playoff. He lost to Kentucky
Speaker 3: at home. That alone is why you did not get
Speaker 3: in for the most part. Now, it's probably some other
Speaker 3: things too, like maybe if you maybe you still don't
Speaker 3: safely get in if in fact you don't slip up
Speaker 3: and lose. But that is that is say data point
Speaker 3: when you only have twelve to work with, That quite
Speaker 3: literally is going to eliminate you from consideration when there's
Speaker 3: only twelve spots in the field and other teams you know,
Speaker 3: don't have that data point.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 3: Yes, you did beat Georgia and that was cool, but
Speaker 3: that alone doesn't remove the fact that you have a
Speaker 3: really bad loss on your resume.
Speaker 2: I just don't.
Speaker 3: And the SEC only like if you think your league
Speaker 3: is so tough and so and you should just be
Speaker 3: given like your record should be totally different, it should
Speaker 3: be viewed totally differently than others that play a night
Speaker 3: conference game. And at that point, nobody would claim that
Speaker 3: you're losing to bad teams, right because you know the
Speaker 3: SEC is just so great. I just don't look, I
Speaker 3: don't know what I mean. I think the more time
Speaker 3: that passes, as I discussed in the first hour, the
Speaker 3: more it seems quite clear there's nobody that didn't get
Speaker 3: in that can't look in the mirror and just blame themselves.
Speaker 3: They doesn't look like they're sound like they're doing that,
Speaker 3: but I mean, and I think where they really tell
Speaker 3: on themselves without knowing it is when they talk about
Speaker 3: talent and they talk about what NFL scouts who go
Speaker 3: to the practices say about the loaded SEC compared to
Speaker 3: every other conference. Well, okay, I mean cool, but that
Speaker 3: doesn't have anything to do with the criteria to be
Speaker 3: one of the twelve teams that makes the college football playoff.
Speaker 3: I mean, how many times can you think of in
Speaker 3: college basketball where a team didn't make the tournament but
Speaker 3: you know they not only like should have been better,
Speaker 3: but like they've got talent to where there's just no
Speaker 3: excuse for them to have had the type of season
Speaker 3: that they had, but yet you know they didn't get
Speaker 3: it done, Like they didn't even make the bubble because
Speaker 3: they just were very underwhelming, Like the games and the
Speaker 3: results has to matter more than anything. And why that
Speaker 3: hasn't registered with some people, I just I really don't know.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 3: All right, again, it's Coffee and Company and we are
Speaker 3: feel about Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven to ninety.
Speaker 3: So this Louisville UTEP game tomorrow, it's I mean, I
Speaker 3: wouldn't call it a trap game. Louisville is in need
Speaker 3: of a win in a major way. They've lost three
Speaker 3: in a row. Now they've been to good teams, but still,
Speaker 3: you know this is this is actually low key one
Speaker 3: of those games, like you better not mess around and
Speaker 3: lose because you know UTEP is I would say, I
Speaker 3: guess there's somewhat on the Winthrop radar, but you know,
Speaker 3: they're not Morehead, they're not Bellerman, and really, right now,
Speaker 3: Louisville is a five and four basketball team that outside
Speaker 3: of three games, I mean, they've played legitimate competition teams
Speaker 3: that are from the power level. I mean, you had Morehead,
Speaker 3: Bellerman and Winthrop. Outside of that, it's been Tennessee, Indiana,
Speaker 3: West Virginia, Oklahoma, Ole Miss and Duke.
Speaker 2: So UTEP.
Speaker 3: No disrespect to them, they're they're not in the same
Speaker 3: class as the four teams that you've lost to, and
Speaker 3: of course the Indiana and the West Virginia wins that
Speaker 3: you have. But you know, I would say they're substantially
Speaker 3: better than Morehead and Bellerman and maybe they are on
Speaker 3: the Winthrop is technically a little bit behind them. But
Speaker 3: UTEP right now is one fifty one in the Kimpong
Speaker 3: and they have really no wins to speak of. I mean,
Speaker 3: I could kind of nerd out for you if you'd like,
Speaker 3: when it comes to like Division one, mid major, low
Speaker 3: major basketball. But you know, they actually did beat a
Speaker 3: UC Santa Barber team that's pretty decent like for that level.
Speaker 3: Same thing with UNCG, so you know they've beaten good
Speaker 3: teams at that level. But they have some bad losses.
Speaker 3: They lost to San Jose State, who's in the two
Speaker 3: hundreds of the kim Palm. They've lost to Utah Valley,
Speaker 3: who is right around two hundred.
Speaker 2: So ken Pom.
Speaker 3: Projects this Louisville UTEP game will be a seventy eight
Speaker 3: to sixty five victory for Louisville, So you should win.
Speaker 3: And I'm trying to see if we've got a spread
Speaker 3: for this one yet we may. In fact, usually by
Speaker 3: now we do. I'll look it up real quick here.
Speaker 3: But either the bulletin board material that I referenced earlier
Speaker 3: at the end of the three o'clock hour, a little
Speaker 3: bit of an I don't I doubt that. I mean,
Speaker 3: this is not necessary. I wouldn't call this, you know,
Speaker 3: trash talking. But if you were looking for some kind
Speaker 3: of an edge. And I don't really get the sense
Speaker 3: of Pat Kelsey's like that. I don't think he's out
Speaker 3: there looking to see what players or coaches say.
Speaker 2: About his team.
Speaker 3: I mean maybe he does, and look, whatever works right,
Speaker 3: you got to find an edge. You gotta stay motivated.
Speaker 3: But one of the players, one of the big one
Speaker 3: with the front court players for UTEP, Derek Hamilton, he says,
Speaker 3: they feel really good, very confident. I feel like we're
Speaker 3: gonna pull it off. We're going to continue to work
Speaker 3: hard and not forget who we are. I don't really
Speaker 3: know what that means as far as you know, not
Speaker 3: good who we are. But this is their first really
Speaker 3: big test of the season, meaning UTEP like they've not
Speaker 3: played and heck, they have a couple of losses to
Speaker 3: teams that I mentioned that aren't very good, but like
Speaker 3: they've not played a team in the top one forty
Speaker 3: or one thirty of the kin Palm and they're about
Speaker 3: to play Louisville, who you know, Let's be real, Louisville
Speaker 3: is vulnerable right now, and teams in recent years have
Speaker 3: shown that you can come to the Young Center and
Speaker 3: beat a proud program like Louisville when they're down. But
Speaker 3: I think the level of down is I mean right now,
Speaker 3: I think they're down just because they because they're they've
Speaker 3: got so many injuries. And that's that's where I just
Speaker 3: keep going back to this roller coaster thing for Louisville
Speaker 3: because they did just you know, compete and really outplay
Speaker 3: Duke for thirty minutes. It doesn't mean anything on your resume.
Speaker 3: You still lost the game by eleven points. But I'm
Speaker 3: telling you, man, I took some positives from that and
Speaker 3: it makes it to where, you know, I know, you
Speaker 3: got to come ready to play. Your margin for air
Speaker 3: is very very thin, because you know, you.
Speaker 2: Just you're not.
Speaker 3: I mean, you have very little room for air when
Speaker 3: you are as thin as this team is. And I
Speaker 3: think if you have games where you turn the ball
Speaker 3: over more than your opponent, you don't, you know, you
Speaker 3: shoot it really poorly from three like you did against
Speaker 3: Ole Miss, then you know you could probably lose to anybody.
Speaker 3: Maybe not anybody, but like you know, I disclaimer, I'm
Speaker 3: aware that like Louisville needs to come and play well
Speaker 3: and they can't take anybody lightly, and I don't think
Speaker 3: that they will. But it'd be nice to continue to
Speaker 3: work on sort of life without prior life without Coran
Speaker 3: Johnson in this game tomorrow where you know you're gonna
Speaker 3: get a little bit of a break. And I hate
Speaker 3: to say that, because trust me, I know Louisville could
Speaker 3: mess around and lose. I don't think they will, but
Speaker 3: you've got you know, you've had three straight losses. The
Speaker 3: last time you played a team of this of this
Speaker 3: caliber was before you took off to go to the Bahamas.
Speaker 3: So I don't want to look at it as like
Speaker 3: a break where you get you get a chance to
Speaker 3: play somebody that you know isn't as serious of a threat,
Speaker 3: but that's kind of what it is. But more than anything,
Speaker 3: it's another chance to go out there. And I don't
Speaker 3: want to say create your new identity because I think
Speaker 3: you're still going to see this team, for the most
Speaker 3: part look and play similar or to the way Pat
Speaker 3: Kelsey's always wanted this team to play. But there's there's
Speaker 3: some variation going on and some adjustments that have had
Speaker 3: to be made just because they're not this I mean,
Speaker 3: he he doesn't even have the bodies to play the
Speaker 3: way that he wanted to play this year because because
Speaker 3: of these injuries. So we'll talk a little more hoops
Speaker 3: with C. L. Brown coming up here before too long,
Speaker 3: but I will say one thing I am hoping that
Speaker 3: we see tomorrow is just more minutes for Kahani Ruce.
Speaker 3: I mean, I I don't know if if you know,
Speaker 3: it's just truly because he's a freshman and everybody else
Speaker 3: is is I mean, everybody else that's playing minutes. They're veterans,
Speaker 3: they played a lot of college basketball. But I feel
Speaker 3: like anytime Kahanni Rous does get some extended run and
Speaker 3: he is a little more aggressive, Like I'm thinking, Okay,
Speaker 3: surely by now the staff has seen that this guy
Speaker 3: needs all the minutes he can get because one, he's
Speaker 3: I mean, he's got some ability that guys on this
Speaker 3: team have. I think he's also got some energy about
Speaker 3: him that you know, maybe could minimize the absence of
Speaker 3: prior a little bit. And you know, his stat line
Speaker 3: against Duke was really really solid, So you know, the
Speaker 3: stat line doesn't show every everything. Maybe he was you know,
Speaker 3: out of position defensively at times, or I mean, I
Speaker 3: don't know.
Speaker 2: I just I feel like even if you.
Speaker 3: Wanted to kind of ease Kahanie Russen to his you know,
Speaker 3: to his college career as a freshman, because you had
Speaker 3: a lot of veterans, well now you don't. And now
Speaker 3: I don't think, you know, take take away the fact
Speaker 3: that he's a freshman. You only have seven guys that
Speaker 3: you really can trust. And I feel like despite him
Speaker 3: being young, he's certainly got a lot of talent. And
Speaker 3: the more he plays, I feel like the more he
Speaker 3: will no longer look like a freshman. I mean, I'll
Speaker 3: be honest with you. Against against Duke, I didn't feel
Speaker 3: like he was a freshman out there. He's playing with confidence.
Speaker 3: He had some you know, some some attitude to him,
Speaker 3: and I mean that in a good way. So you know,
Speaker 3: I don't want to act like, hey, they give this
Speaker 3: guy thirty plus minutes a game, then everything's gonna be okay.
Speaker 3: And Louel won't miss case and prior at all. But
Speaker 3: to me, you know, I thought that if the Duke
Speaker 3: game was in any way like a test for him,
Speaker 3: which I doubt it was, that's just not really how
Speaker 3: Pat seems to go about things. But I feel like
Speaker 3: if they review the film there, they would realize, Okay,
Speaker 3: not to say that the guy's completely ready. He's still
Speaker 3: going to make some freshman mistakes, but there's something there
Speaker 3: and I hope that we see you know, and look,
Speaker 3: I'm not saying you got to start him, but like
Speaker 3: if it's him and Terrence Edwards coming off the bench,
Speaker 3: I'd say those are two guys that you know. As
Speaker 3: long as they're still getting a lot of minutes despite
Speaker 3: coming off the bench, I'd say that's that's your best
Speaker 3: case scenario.
Speaker 4: All right.
Speaker 3: This question came in on the Ellen and Federal Credit
Speaker 3: Union tax line five h two six five three zero
Speaker 3: seven nineties the number if you would like to text
Speaker 3: in This text says Nick, I see programs around the
Speaker 3: country in both basketball and football that are hiring gms
Speaker 3: to manage the roster and manage nil Do you know
Speaker 3: if Louisville has any plans to add those positions to
Speaker 3: the staff. It's a good question and I don't have
Speaker 3: the answer for you, but that is becoming one of
Speaker 3: the more important positions out there now. I will say
Speaker 3: it really comes down to what like does your head
Speaker 3: coach does he want to be more hands on or
Speaker 3: does he is he somebody that truly wants to completely
Speaker 3: be removed from all that stuff altogether? And there really
Speaker 3: is no right or wrong. I guess it just depends
Speaker 3: on you know, your your your style as a coach,
Speaker 3: what you like, what you think you're good at. Like,
Speaker 3: for example, there are certain coaches that are phenomenal when
Speaker 3: it comes to you know, being a football coach recruiting players, uh,
Speaker 3: and you know x's and o's that kind of stuff,
Speaker 3: and that stuff still matters, trust me, that stuff has value,
Speaker 3: but it's now just one of the components.
Speaker 2: To to to to to the job.
Speaker 3: And there may be like for example, like I don't know,
Speaker 3: like Jeff Brohm, I think he's pretty hands on to
Speaker 3: where he probably isn't gonna want to have a GM
Speaker 3: now he's going to have resources to help him with
Speaker 3: like nil stuff and just I guess, you know, managing everything.
Speaker 3: But as far as like an actual GM that is
Speaker 3: out there looking because again, a GM in the professional
Speaker 3: level of sports, those are guys building the team. You're
Speaker 3: never gonna see that in college at least, I don't
Speaker 3: think so. The GM role in the college game would be.
Speaker 2: More so.
Speaker 3: I guess just navigating how you get I mean basically
Speaker 3: getting to the table to have a conversation with somebody
Speaker 3: when it comes to nil, right, like, hey, uh, let's
Speaker 3: let's bring the GM in.
Speaker 2: Let me introduce you to the GM.
Speaker 3: Here so they can talk to you about that component
Speaker 3: of what we're offering. Right, We're gonna offer you a scholarship,
Speaker 3: and we're gonna offer you an opportunity to wear this uniform,
Speaker 3: and that that you know, we all know that that
Speaker 3: now isn't isn't good enough. You're gonna need to have
Speaker 3: the nil component as well. So I have no clue
Speaker 3: if if if Louisville's looking to make a make a
Speaker 3: higher there, but U you know you're seeing it across
Speaker 3: the country as you mentioned, and I really don't even
Speaker 3: know what kind of like what kind of background most
Speaker 3: those people have they'd end up in that role, But
Speaker 3: it's certainly important. I would say it's way more important
Speaker 3: in football than it is in basketball, But you're seeing
Speaker 3: it in both sports across the country where folks realize, hey,
Speaker 3: we need somebody who it's a full time job for them,
Speaker 3: and they're putting every ounce of energy they have into,
Speaker 3: you know, managing the NIL situation and.
Speaker 2: Help them.
Speaker 3: I mean, I don't know, do you help raise money?
Speaker 3: If you're if you work for the school, can you
Speaker 3: help raise money? It's I'm sure it's not as much
Speaker 3: of a gray area as it appears to be to
Speaker 3: me because I'm not as plugged in on it as
Speaker 3: maybe some others are. But like, I'm not even really
Speaker 3: sure what you can and can't do when it comes
Speaker 3: to nil. Like didn't didn't Florida State just a year
Speaker 3: ago get in trouble for telling a recruit or a
Speaker 3: transfer they should go talk to the collective about nil.
Speaker 3: And somehow that was like against the rules. I mean,
Speaker 3: that made no sense. I thought, that's whatever nobody thought
Speaker 3: they were supposed to do in order to, you know,
Speaker 3: not get in trouble. But yeah, you're you're seeing it
Speaker 3: across the country and and and honestly, it became a
Speaker 3: bigger talking point nationally because Andrew Luck of course, just
Speaker 3: took the job with Stanford where he played, and obviously
Speaker 3: he's a very qualified individual.
Speaker 2: I'd say to uh to have that position.
Speaker 3: And we all know Wojes left the NBA reporting world
Speaker 3: to go do it for Saint Bonaventure, his alma mater.
Speaker 3: So if Louisville was going to go in that direction,
Speaker 3: I'm not really sure who would make the most sense.
Speaker 3: But it didn't have to be somebody that played here
Speaker 3: has a connection. I mean, that'd be it'd be preferable
Speaker 3: if if that is an option, but you know I wouldn't.
Speaker 3: I wouldn't be shocked if in five six years every
Speaker 3: program has one and Uh, it becomes somebody that you're
Speaker 3: as familiar with as you are the head coach. I
Speaker 3: mean that sounds crazy, but I wouldn't be shocked if
Speaker 3: we end up there. All right, quick break, come back
Speaker 3: on the other side, we will bring in the one
Speaker 3: and only cl Brown of the Courier Journal talk a
Speaker 3: little bit of college hoops. You know, it doesn't feel
Speaker 3: like it, I know I talked about at the beginning
Speaker 3: of the show.
Speaker 2: Does not feel like it.
Speaker 3: But we are just five days away from this matchup
Speaker 3: between Louisville and Kentucky, and man, I wish circumstances were
Speaker 3: different because Louisville is really really hurting with injuries, still
Speaker 3: playing hard, but man, there thin in Kentucky. They've got
Speaker 3: a ton of momentum after that win agains Gonzagas. So
Speaker 3: we'll talk about that and a lot more with Cel
Speaker 3: Brown coming up next. Right here, it is Coffee and
Speaker 3: Company Fieldbuth Thornton's on Sports Talk seven ninety. Welcome back
Speaker 3: Coffee and Company Field by Thornton's here on Sports Talk
Speaker 3: seven ninety. Appreciate you hanging out with us here on
Speaker 3: a Tuesday afternoon, and we certainly appreciate mister C. L.
Speaker 3: Brown of the Courier Journal, who joins us to talk
Speaker 3: about a lot of things. We'll start with Louisville basketball.
Speaker 3: What did you make of Louisville's performance against Duke? Competitive
Speaker 3: In fact, led for a good chunk of the game,
Speaker 3: roughly thirty minutes, and then Duke kind of did what
Speaker 3: a lot of people probably thought Duke would do from
Speaker 3: start to finish. But you know, I know, eleven point
Speaker 3: losses for Louisville basketball is never something fans around here
Speaker 3: to be happy with and want to celebrate. But just me,
Speaker 3: and I know not everybody agrees. I actually thought there was
Speaker 3: some positives from that performance, just knowing that they're trying
Speaker 3: to kind of maybe not reinvent themselves, but obviously what
Speaker 3: they wanted to be as far as a team, how
Speaker 3: they wanted to play. They're gonna have to change that
Speaker 3: a little bit with all these injuries. Just what were
Speaker 3: your thoughts on what you saw from Pat Kelsey's team
Speaker 3: against one of the best teams in the country.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I thought the adjustments that Pat Kelsey made first
Speaker 4: and foremost were interesting. I think they were needed. They
Speaker 4: could have hit a few more threes in the second half,
Speaker 4: maybe it would have been that much more interesting down
Speaker 4: the stretch, but I think it just it was encouraging,
Speaker 4: as encouraging as an eleven point loss could be. That
Speaker 4: when we saw the other two Power four conference teams
Speaker 4: come to them Center Tennessee first and an Ole miss,
Speaker 4: they led all of thirty seconds. I think in those
Speaker 4: two games combined. When they played Duke, there was a
Speaker 4: a I don't even know how to describe it, but
Speaker 4: there was They were different, you know, they made shots
Speaker 4: for the first time. I feel like this season at
Speaker 4: home with the eight of eleven from three point range
Speaker 4: in the first half, and you know, he switched up
Speaker 4: the lineup a little bit, which I think brought Terrence
Speaker 4: Edwards off the bench instead of in the starting lineup,
Speaker 4: and I think it kind of jumped started parents because
Speaker 4: I felt like he's kind of the guy I've been
Speaker 4: looking at and he hadn't played at least consistently the
Speaker 4: way I thought he would when he got here, and
Speaker 4: I think that that light was definitely something encouraging coming
Speaker 4: out of that game, and I want to see moving
Speaker 4: forward if he can kind of stay at that level,
Speaker 4: because he definitely was well. In my opinion, he definitely
Speaker 4: played an inspired game against Duke. And so the last
Speaker 4: thing I took from it was rebounding might not be
Speaker 4: as bad as I thought it was going to be.
Speaker 4: I thought it was really going to be when when
Speaker 4: Case and Pryor went out. I thought rebounding was going
Speaker 4: to be a big problem for them, and maybe it's
Speaker 4: still can end up being, but right now they're holding
Speaker 4: their own and I think that that's all you can ask.
Speaker 4: They ended up losing the mcdownd battle, I think by
Speaker 4: one the Duke, and they were up in the first half,
Speaker 4: so and Duke's got as big a team as any
Speaker 4: that they're going to face the rest of the year.
Speaker 4: So there were I felt like a lot of positives
Speaker 4: that came out of that loss.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think the emphasis on the glass. You can tell,
Speaker 3: even in the ole Mis game, where it wasn't very competitive,
Speaker 3: you could just tell that there's guys that kind of know, hey,
Speaker 3: as far as what I'm asked to do out here,
Speaker 3: I need to step up and we all kind of
Speaker 3: collectively have to help on the backboard. And Yeah, I've
Speaker 3: been pleasantly surprised that since losing prior that hasn't been
Speaker 3: one of their biggest issues. Now, making eight of eleven
Speaker 3: threes to start the game is all always a great recipe,
Speaker 3: and being able to do that consistently is a tough
Speaker 3: ask for really any team, even one that is shooting
Speaker 3: much better than Louisville has this year. But I kind
Speaker 3: of feel like the looks that they got the confidence
Speaker 3: that they had to shoot them. Again saying that, you know,
Speaker 3: eight of eleven type three points three point shooting to
Speaker 3: start a game, I mean, that's not sustainable for anybody,
Speaker 3: But I kind of feel like the way they played
Speaker 3: to get off to a good start. It's not as
Speaker 3: if you had to really ride some kind of a
Speaker 3: magical run. That really isn't, you know, something you can recreate.
Speaker 3: So again, I'm making that many threes to start a
Speaker 3: game is just going to be tough to see moving forward,
Speaker 3: just for anybody as I mentioned, But like I'm trying
Speaker 3: to try to look at what they did to get
Speaker 3: that lead and kind of think, Okay, well, if they
Speaker 3: can build that lead against Duke and play that well,
Speaker 3: you got to think that they could be able to
Speaker 3: do those kind of things against other teams. I mean,
Speaker 3: losing by eleven points doesn't really prove much of anything.
Speaker 3: You still fell I think in some of the numbers
Speaker 3: out there, as far as the net and the kin palm.
Speaker 3: But I think, you know, it's a tough thing to
Speaker 3: balance because you never want guys to feel like you
Speaker 3: did something special when you ended up losing a game
Speaker 3: by double digits. But man, these guys, especially when you
Speaker 3: consider how mature this roster is, like they probably in
Speaker 3: a way feel like, Okay, if we can do that
Speaker 3: against this Duke team, we can still go out there
Speaker 3: and you know, put together a pretty good season. I mean,
Speaker 3: they know they're gonna be missing prior and obviously Corn
Speaker 3: Johnson hadn't played since the second game of the season.
Speaker 3: But I don't know, I feel like I'm kind of
Speaker 3: in the minority here because I feel like Sunday, in
Speaker 3: a weird way, was kind of a good sign that
Speaker 3: this season could end up being better than most expected
Speaker 3: after these tough injuries.
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, for sure. I think it was a good time.
Speaker 4: And I'm gonna push back a little on a three
Speaker 4: point shooting because yes, they started off this year well
Speaker 4: was it twenty seven percent? I think going into that
Speaker 4: game against Duke from the three point line were shooting. Well,
Speaker 4: they've got good shooters though, you know that that have
Speaker 4: the career averages that are better than they've shown so
Speaker 4: far this year. So I kind of feel like we're
Speaker 4: seeing the low end, but it's going to start moving up.
Speaker 4: Like I feel like this isn't you know, They're gonna
Speaker 4: come back to the median more. And the guys who
Speaker 4: were taking a shot, it wasn't like they were relying
Speaker 4: on one one to three point shooter. I think five
Speaker 4: different people made threes during the course of the game.
Speaker 4: I mean, I don't expect Sterrence there was to go
Speaker 4: three for four every night from three because he you know,
Speaker 4: he hadn't been that kind of a three point shooter,
Speaker 4: but you know, two for four he could do that.
Speaker 4: And Ryan Smith was three for nine, and you know,
Speaker 4: he's he's probably the best shooter on the team. I
Speaker 4: don't think that's the stretch to say so.
Speaker 3: Any game he could hit five and it wouldn't be
Speaker 3: a shocker exactly exactly.
Speaker 4: So they they kind of faced it out, and I
Speaker 4: think I think that's what they're going to have to
Speaker 4: do to win. Like, I still expect them. They finished
Speaker 4: with eleven three, only hit three in the second half
Speaker 4: against Dude. But I still fully expect this team to
Speaker 4: just have a game where they make like fifteen of them,
Speaker 4: like they're going to explode at some point. So I
Speaker 4: still think that that is coming. I don't expect it
Speaker 4: to be Saturday against Kentucky, but I do think they'll
Speaker 4: they'll get there to where they're shooting better consistently from three.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, going back to the old miss game,
Speaker 3: you probably you know, maybe maybe I'm wrong here, but
Speaker 3: it's hard to imagine they'll have a game where they
Speaker 3: shot at that poorly and at that point, you know,
Speaker 3: you could kind of tell they were maybe not pressing,
Speaker 3: but you know what they wanted to do was to
Speaker 3: run some offense, you know, do something to get good looks.
Speaker 3: They were getting them, and they just couldn't buy one,
Speaker 3: and you could just you know, here they are doing
Speaker 3: really what they want to do and they can't make
Speaker 3: a shot. So maybe that was a factor in it.
Speaker 3: But no, you're right when you saw them, like I
Speaker 3: didn't even think to myself during the beginning of the game,
Speaker 3: oh wow, man, they're on fire, because you're right, they
Speaker 3: were getting decent looks that you know, everybody out there
Speaker 3: that's taking those shots, that's kind of what they're out
Speaker 3: there to do, or at least you know that that's
Speaker 3: one big that's one big part of their role with
Speaker 3: the team. So yeah, I think maybe more than anything,
Speaker 3: it was just how bad the shooting performance was against
Speaker 3: Ole Miss And you know, you're Pat Kelsey, I think
Speaker 3: you hope that ends up being an outlier and this team,
Speaker 3: you know that the numbers end up kind of kind
Speaker 3: of balancing out. So Utah on the schedule tomorrow, a
Speaker 3: decent team from Conference USA, and then of course you
Speaker 3: have Kentucky on Saturday. I guess I'll just skip to
Speaker 3: Kentucky because we won't chat with you again before that game.
Speaker 3: They're off to a really good start, really impressive win
Speaker 3: against Gonzaga to come from behind on the road, some
Speaker 3: nice adjustments made by coach Pope there in the second half.
Speaker 3: I've been really impressed with this Kentucky team really from
Speaker 3: start to finish this year. What do you think would mean?
Speaker 2: Obviously louil was.
Speaker 3: Gonna have to make shots to beat any good team
Speaker 3: that's on their schedule. But you know, any any early
Speaker 3: thoughts on this matchup between these two teams is these
Speaker 3: coaches get their first taste of this rivalry when it
Speaker 3: comes to being head coaches here.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I do think it's gonna be tough for Louisville
Speaker 4: to win that game well, to really make it competitive
Speaker 4: down the stretch of the game. I think Kentucky he
Speaker 4: might win that win pretty comfortably. I just think they
Speaker 4: grew up a lot last week having the loss at
Speaker 4: Clemson where they were just bullied to an extent. Playing
Speaker 4: their first true road games. Clemson plays kind of a
Speaker 4: physical brand, and I think even for the veterans on
Speaker 4: that Kentucky team that they weren't used to going up
Speaker 4: against a style like that, and then to come back
Speaker 4: against Gonzaga. I mean, I'm showing my age. I was
Speaker 4: staying up to watch that game and I dozed off
Speaker 4: when they were losing by like fifteen yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Then ill when I woke up though, it was in overtime,
Speaker 4: and I was just like they came back like tastic.
Speaker 4: Game was a rap at that point. So to me
Speaker 4: that that just showed a lot with Mark Pope first
Speaker 4: and foremost going zone, like you mentioned, the one three
Speaker 4: one kind of kind of took well, definitely took Gonzaga
Speaker 4: out of their rhythm and and got Kentucky back in game.
Speaker 4: And so that's one of the things that you know,
Speaker 4: for all to talk about his offensive ingenuity and everything
Speaker 4: like that, you know, Martin Pope's has some defensive chops
Speaker 4: to the team has some defensive chops. So, uh, it
Speaker 4: was it was interesting to see. I'm kind of following
Speaker 4: that in the back of my mind with with Pope
Speaker 4: going forward, as as he gets in the conference play
Speaker 4: and gets into games where it's you know, he's going
Speaker 4: to have to show his coaching acumen to win games.
Speaker 4: I think he took a big step too.
Speaker 3: When it comes to college basketball, Like the overall landscape
Speaker 3: right now, Tennessee's number one. They've yet to take a loss.
Speaker 3: They certainly will at some point, especially when you can
Speaker 3: when you consider how tough the SEC is going to
Speaker 3: be this year. Who do you feel like, are are
Speaker 3: the best teams in the country as far as what
Speaker 3: you've seen right now?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I definitely still like Gonzaga, even though they're coming
Speaker 4: off that Kentucky lost. They're one of my favorites. I
Speaker 4: still feel like Tennessee is a team that is like
Speaker 4: it is, like playing better than everybody now. But I
Speaker 4: don't feel like they're stealing, Like I feel like they're
Speaker 4: already maxing out where you know their potential, Like, I
Speaker 4: don't think they're that much farther away from reaching their potential.
Speaker 4: So I think, and maybe I'll just be flat out wrong,
Speaker 4: but I think by the end of the season they'll
Speaker 4: kind of come back down to earth a bit. I mean,
Speaker 4: still definitely a top ten, top fifteen team, but I
Speaker 4: just I'm not sure they're quite number one in the
Speaker 4: nation that you know they're good. I think Auburn is
Speaker 4: probably the team I look at as being that good
Speaker 4: as being a fan of four contender.
Speaker 3: I kind of feel like, if I had to pick
Speaker 3: a team right now, I'd go with Auburn. I've just
Speaker 3: been that impressed with you. Even when they lost that Duke,
Speaker 3: I kind of feel like, yeah, probably still have them
Speaker 3: Brank number.
Speaker 4: One, Yeah, yeah, exactly, and Duke it still has a
Speaker 4: lot of growing to do, but you and see all
Speaker 4: the pieces. The one thing, the one drawback with me
Speaker 4: that would probably keep me from san Duke is a
Speaker 4: national title contender, is I just feel like down the
Speaker 4: stretch is those games in March. Not having a real
Speaker 4: point guard and a facilitator is going to come back
Speaker 4: to bite them in the same way as it did
Speaker 4: early on with those losses to Kentucky and Kansas. I mean,
Speaker 4: you just to me, that's what college is about college basketball.
Speaker 4: You got to have a good point guard and experienced
Speaker 4: point guard. And they when Jeremy Roach went to Baylor,
Speaker 4: that left. So do can't check that Bux anymore. But
Speaker 4: I do like Marquette. It's kind of a dark horse
Speaker 4: because I love Cam Jones. To my point about you know,
Speaker 4: having a great point guard, I think Shaka It does
Speaker 4: his best work when people aren't necessarily pointing at them
Speaker 4: and saying this is a great team. And they weren't
Speaker 4: at the beginning of the year. Now they're they're playing
Speaker 4: their way into that. But that's also a team I'm
Speaker 4: looking at and kind of thinking they could do some
Speaker 4: big things later.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I feel like this Marquette team is the exact
Speaker 3: kind of team that Shaka can thrive with. I mean,
Speaker 3: I watched him play I think it was Purdue earlier
Speaker 3: this year, and I feel like it was the best
Speaker 3: I've seen a Marquette team look under Shaka Smart and
Speaker 3: he's had some good ones. They have made deep runs
Speaker 3: in the tournament. But I'm with you, I think they're
Speaker 3: h I think they're pretty special. Let's get back to Kentucky.
Speaker 3: Because I keep saying to myself, and maybe it's just
Speaker 3: you know, me being a Louisville fan, but I keep saying,
Speaker 3: you know, they're really good. They could beat anybody, but
Speaker 3: their ceiling is not that high. Maybe I'm just saying
Speaker 3: that because I'm just so used to knowing that They've
Speaker 3: got guys that I'll watch at Kentucky for a year,
Speaker 3: maybe two, and then fast forward five years, they're going
Speaker 3: to be NBA All Stars. I don't know how many
Speaker 3: NBA guys are on this team for Mark Pope, obviously
Speaker 3: he's going to build a roster much differently the John Caliperry.
Speaker 3: But from what you've seen right now, I mean, is
Speaker 3: Kentucky a team that you think can can end up?
Speaker 3: You know? You know, obviously teams can get hot and
Speaker 3: make run and get all the way to the Final four.
Speaker 3: But what is the ceiling for this Kentucky team? Because
Speaker 3: I think after the win against Gonzaga, it's hard for
Speaker 3: me not to say that, Yeah. I mean, if they
Speaker 3: can do that, and they can they can stay healthy,
Speaker 3: I don't see why they can't end up potentially being
Speaker 3: one of the teams, you know, maybe a Final four team,
Speaker 3: maybe a team that cuts down the net. I don't
Speaker 3: want that to happen, cel, but they look pretty good.
Speaker 4: So it's funny and this is the same as Plugs.
Speaker 4: On my podcast this week, I interviewed Michael Decorti of
Speaker 4: The Sporting News and we talked about Kentucky ceiling and
Speaker 4: he feels like it's a potential Final four type team.
Speaker 4: I think I would probably stop short at Elite eight,
Speaker 4: and that's just say max everything out. I mean, they
Speaker 4: obviously have a little bit of everything that you need
Speaker 4: to make a deep run, but I'm still not sure.
Speaker 4: I think. I also think in those tight games in March,
Speaker 4: you've got to have one guy who's who's the shot maker.
Speaker 4: Obviously Lamont Butler did that in the final four for
Speaker 4: San Diego State when he played and you know, made
Speaker 4: the shot against Fau to send them to the championship,
Speaker 4: But he's not a consistent like I don't I don't
Speaker 4: look at him as that guy, you know what I mean. Yeah,
Speaker 4: So I don't know when it comes down to it,
Speaker 4: who's who's their guy who's going to be the guy
Speaker 4: that takes a big shot and makes a big shot
Speaker 4: when they need it. And they're such a team and
Speaker 4: they're so unselfish and everybody kind of spreads it around
Speaker 4: and looks. But so if it gets in a sight situation,
Speaker 4: are they looking at each other like I don't want
Speaker 4: to take it, you take it, you know? Or if
Speaker 4: someone gonna come forward like give me the ball, get
Speaker 4: out my way, I'm getting this basket. And that that's
Speaker 4: something that I would like to see happen for Kentucky.
Speaker 4: I would like to see who's going to be that person.
Speaker 4: But I don't think they have that person. So I
Speaker 4: would say they will have a good run, could have
Speaker 4: a good run in the tournament, but I don't see
Speaker 4: this as a final four team at this point.
Speaker 3: All right, one more for you. Cl will shift back
Speaker 3: to Louisville here, and I'm just going to ask you,
Speaker 3: I guess, to predict the future knowing what we know
Speaker 3: about the ACC in basketball. This year obviously not a
Speaker 3: strong year for the league, and that's kind of been
Speaker 3: where it's been. It's been headed for for a little
Speaker 3: while now. But when it comes to that, what's that,
Speaker 3: I said, it's so sad. Yeah, it is, no, I
Speaker 3: I trust me. I saw it coming. We talked about
Speaker 3: it in Charlotte. I just kind of felt like, man,
Speaker 3: there's teams that could be pretty good this year, like Miami,
Speaker 3: and then you realize, man, they're terrible, Like they're really
Speaker 3: really bad. Like it's it's sad what has happened with
Speaker 3: the league now. On the other hand, Louisville could potentially
Speaker 3: benefit from that.
Speaker 2: This year.
Speaker 3: Pat Kelsey may be able to get some more wins
Speaker 3: than most would expect, just because the league is down
Speaker 3: and look, Louisville's so thin right now, they can play
Speaker 3: poorly and loose to anybody left on their schedule. I
Speaker 3: think most people know that. But if Louisville and up
Speaker 3: at the end of the season, you know, with twenty
Speaker 3: one wins and ten losses, I mean, do you think
Speaker 3: And again I'm asking you to predict the future. Nobody knows,
Speaker 3: But could that be a bubble type team? I guess not.
Speaker 3: All twenty one win seasons look the same. It depends
Speaker 3: on who it comes against. But obviously there's gonna be
Speaker 3: some potential value with their wins against West Virginia and Indiana,
Speaker 3: maybe a chance to get a decent win here, and
Speaker 3: they're an ACC play. I'm just trying to to to
Speaker 3: project here, like what kind of record could could they be?
Speaker 3: Could should they be aiming for to at least be
Speaker 3: like a bubble team?
Speaker 4: Yeah? I think that they're going to have to get
Speaker 4: a win against a North Carolina, Clinton, Pittsburgh one of
Speaker 4: those three because I think those will be the quality wins.
Speaker 4: And obviously they're only playing Duke just one time, so
Speaker 4: that's why I'm not including Duke. But those will be
Speaker 4: the quality win in the ACC the chances to get
Speaker 4: those wins after that, I think it's it's slim pickings.
Speaker 4: And I think you could beat up on a lot
Speaker 4: of the rest of the ACC teams and it's really
Speaker 4: not going to do much for you because because that's
Speaker 4: how bad the league is, that's how how mediocre they've become.
Speaker 4: So and also root like heck that Indiana and West
Speaker 4: Virginia are in the season as quality teams and those
Speaker 4: are quad one wins on a neutral court for them,
Speaker 4: that that will be huge if you know, if they
Speaker 4: hold up there into the bargain in this so you know,
Speaker 4: so if they could still just win at Kentucky, that
Speaker 4: would be great to kind of get that marquee. Uh well,
Speaker 4: right now it's iu as the marquie went on the resume,
Speaker 4: but you know, certainly Kentucky but jumps that. But yeah,
Speaker 4: I mean I do see this as a bubble team
Speaker 4: right now. I think they will be playing in some
Speaker 4: of those games in February and everything, and we'll be
Speaker 4: living and dying on how they do game the game
Speaker 4: in terms of trying to position themselves against some other
Speaker 4: teams that are that are have similar resumes and are
Speaker 4: still trying to look for the chance to get in
Speaker 4: the NCAA. But the difference between Louisville and the team
Speaker 4: the middle of the pack team in the eight SEC
Speaker 4: or Big twelve is they're going to have more chances
Speaker 4: for quality wins at Louisville.
Speaker 3: And what really is, what's crazy to see about the
Speaker 3: ACC right now is that it used to be a
Speaker 3: pretty It used to be a pretty regular thing that
Speaker 3: you would have a chance at least once a week
Speaker 3: to do something to improve your resume at least a
Speaker 3: little bit. Now there's not as many opportunities as you
Speaker 3: just mentioned. But you could lose to a couple of
Speaker 3: teams in league play that'll crush you. They'll make it
Speaker 3: to where like, you know, that's a really bad loss,
Speaker 3: that'll that'll remove you from the bubble. It's just, you know,
Speaker 3: I didn't see it falling as fast as it did.
Speaker 3: And you're right the SEC. I mean, are people overreacting
Speaker 3: or are you? Are you of the belief that this
Speaker 3: this league is now the best league in college basketball?
Speaker 3: It's still early, but man, teams, who are you know,
Speaker 3: bottom of the barrel? In the SEC that I've watched,
Speaker 3: I still feel like, damn, they look pretty good.
Speaker 4: Yeah, now they are. I can give it to them.
Speaker 4: Fourth season, I think, you know, the teams merit that
Speaker 4: kind of those kind of accolades, even even the bottom teams.
Speaker 4: I think, for once they actually start at SEC play
Speaker 4: a team like Missouri, I think it's going to be
Speaker 4: towards the bottom half. Uh and they just beat camps,
Speaker 4: you know what I mean.
Speaker 3: The Mississippi State did to Pittsburgh was not something I
Speaker 3: saw coming. I actually think Caple's got a pretty good
Speaker 3: team this year, but man, they got mop.
Speaker 4: Oh I do for sure. Yeah, I think pitt is
Speaker 4: going to be a tournament team for sure. And uh yeah,
Speaker 4: I mean that's the thing I think a lot of
Speaker 4: a lot of teams when you look at their first
Speaker 4: road games this year, it doesn't matter if you have
Speaker 4: experienced guys from that transferred in. Uh well, I guess
Speaker 4: technically Pitt's first row game was at Ohio State. So
Speaker 4: this this throws it off a little bit. But I
Speaker 4: think you see, they're they're kind of stumbling, Like I
Speaker 4: think a lot of teams in that first row game
Speaker 4: are still just kind of getting used to each other,
Speaker 4: getting used to playing. It's their first real time playing
Speaker 4: in a you know, hostile environment, so we're seeing kind
Speaker 4: of the missteps that come with that. So that's that's
Speaker 4: another reason why I favor in Kentucky on Saturday against
Speaker 4: Louisville because you know, the Bahamas, the neutral court doesn't
Speaker 4: doesn't quite duplicate what a road game, a true road
Speaker 4: game brings. So I think this is gonna be kind
Speaker 4: of one of those uh you got you gotta learn
Speaker 4: who's who and what roles in those first road games,
Speaker 4: and I think Louisville's gonna have that experience Saturday.
Speaker 3: All Right. I lied one more when it comes to
Speaker 3: North Carolina, I mean I still I mean, right now,
Speaker 3: they've got four losses, which is unusual for them to
Speaker 3: have at this point in the season. They're five and four,
Speaker 3: but every one of those losseses come against really really
Speaker 3: good teams and one was in overtime. Is Carolina a
Speaker 3: team that you feel like, despite these early losses, can
Speaker 3: end up kind of rounding into form and being a
Speaker 3: team that you know could be in that top tier,
Speaker 3: not of the ac ME of like of the country.
Speaker 4: Of course, Yeah, I expect them to be. I don't
Speaker 4: I don't know that they will be a Final four
Speaker 4: type contender unless they just got ridiculously hot from you know,
Speaker 4: became a great three point shooting team, uh, which I
Speaker 4: still kind of the same way I'm saying about Louisville
Speaker 4: starting off poorly, but just based on the numbers, they
Speaker 4: should come up our. J Davis hasn't been shooting well
Speaker 4: for Carolina right now, and I don't expect that to continue.
Speaker 4: Like I feel like at some point he's gonna get
Speaker 4: back to what you know, has been his career kind
Speaker 4: of average. So, and they got a couple of marquee
Speaker 4: games coming up. They'll have Florida at the Jordans I
Speaker 4: forgot what they call it, Jordan Invitational in Charlotte, and
Speaker 4: they'll have u C l A and the CBS Classic.
Speaker 4: So you know, all of the ACC needs to root
Speaker 4: for each other when they played these kind of non
Speaker 4: conference games because.
Speaker 3: Oh, those those would those would be huge wins for
Speaker 3: the ACC if Carolina can get those two. I mean,
Speaker 3: Florida's top ten in the Ken Palm. You see LA's
Speaker 3: top fifteen. So yeah, I mean, with Louisville being in
Speaker 3: so many different leagues as I've grown up here in
Speaker 3: my whole life, Seal, I've never really been. You know,
Speaker 3: It's just I've never felt like a true I had
Speaker 3: as a fan. I've never felt like we've had a
Speaker 3: true home as a conference. But they've been in the
Speaker 3: ACC for a long time and that's not changing. And man,
Speaker 3: I'm hoping this league and can can can have a
Speaker 3: strong finish because it's been a rough start.
Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah, well take it from someone who grew up
Speaker 4: on ACC. And this is not why I love college basketball.
Speaker 4: It's it's a sad, sad time seeing the league beat.
Speaker 4: It's bad in basketball. So you know, we gotta especially
Speaker 4: looking at the SEC taking over.
Speaker 3: Oh it used to be a basketball league that we
Speaker 3: would I mean, I mean maybe ten years ago you
Speaker 3: knew that you would have probably two maybe three teams
Speaker 3: that you felt like we're even going to make the
Speaker 3: tournament in the SEC. And then they started investing into basketball,
Speaker 3: started giving a damn and man, they're they're putting their
Speaker 3: money where their mouth is, hiring really good coaches. And yeah,
Speaker 3: I didn't see this coming. You'd asked me ten years
Speaker 3: ago if we'd be in this position, I would have
Speaker 3: said hell no.
Speaker 4: Yeah. And they, I mean, they surpassed the ACC in
Speaker 4: a lot of ways. I think they're better coaches right
Speaker 4: now in the SEC, and I think that's going to
Speaker 4: be something that ACC schools are going to have to
Speaker 4: look at, and you know, as they make changes moving forwards,
Speaker 4: those are going to be big, Like like it'll be
Speaker 4: important who Miami hires and who Florida State hires when
Speaker 4: when Larynega and Leonard Hamilton decided to retire, So.
Speaker 3: No doubt about it. Same thing with Virginia too. If
Speaker 3: whatever whatever they end up doing, it's going to be really,
Speaker 3: really important.
Speaker 2: So we'll see.
Speaker 3: All I appreciate you is always making time for us.
Speaker 3: Keep up the great work and we'll talk to you soon,
Speaker 3: my friend.
Speaker 4: All right, thanks Nick.
Speaker 3: All right, we're gonna take a quick time out. We
Speaker 3: will come back on the other side. Keep this thing
Speaker 3: rolling along. Don't go anywhere. It's coffee and company. Feel
Speaker 3: by Thornton's right here on Sports Talk seven ninety