Speaker 1: Welcome to the Big Blue Insider.
Speaker 2: Dick Gabriel with you on a Thursday edition of our program,
Speaker 2: and we will start by telling you that if you
Speaker 2: didn't see it earlier. Kentucky volleyball moving on in the
Speaker 2: NCAA Tournament, knocking off Missouri for the third time this
Speaker 2: year by a final of three to one. Kentucky jumped out,
Speaker 2: took the first two sets, and then Missouri absolutely throttled
Speaker 2: the Wildcats in set number three before Kentucky jumped out
Speaker 2: to the early lead and set four kind of set.
Speaker 1: The tone and moves on.
Speaker 2: And because we pre record can't tell you who they're playing,
Speaker 2: I'm guessing it's going to be Pittsburgh, the number one
Speaker 2: team in the country. Obviously the number one seed. They're
Speaker 2: playing in Pittsburgh. But the Wildcats move on to the
Speaker 2: Elite eight once again. Brooklyn delay phenomenal twenty two kills,
Speaker 2: four nineteen hitting percentage, And again, if you don't know
Speaker 2: the sport, that's like batting average. Anything over three hundred,
Speaker 2: you're doing great. Megan Wilson was huge today for the Wildcats.
Speaker 2: She had thirty teen kills. Brook Baltima also big ten kills,
Speaker 2: hit four thirty eight and by the way, Wilson at
Speaker 2: three seventy five. But I'll tell you in that fourth set,
Speaker 2: a critical juncture was still up for grabs, really and
Speaker 2: Missouri which had two really big swingers Jordan Isliff who
Speaker 2: had twenty kills and Michael Vernon who had eleven kills
Speaker 2: but hit negative hit minus twenty nine too many errors.
Speaker 2: They had a couple of huge swings and it looked
Speaker 2: like they were putting down points. They would have pulled
Speaker 2: them right back into it, but it was Eleanor Bevin
Speaker 2: who had ten digs, massive digs on a couple of
Speaker 2: big swings that led directly to Kentucky points. And so
Speaker 2: Bevin who was the Libro of the Year two years
Speaker 2: ago and now Mully Tuzzo's a liberal, but that gives
Speaker 2: Kentucky an elite defender, what they call a defensive specialist,
Speaker 2: and Eleanor Bevin and Tuzzo was phenomenal. She had eleven
Speaker 2: digs as well. Em mcgrom had ten digs. So Kentucky's
Speaker 2: defense was tremendous. But those two digs in particular in
Speaker 2: the fourth set were so big for Kentucky. Growing by
Speaker 2: the way, fifty assists, she is now the all time
Speaker 2: leader and assists for the Wildcats in the history of
Speaker 2: the program. Kentucky hit three forty seven for the match,
Speaker 2: Missoo hit two forty one. Before I move on, I
Speaker 2: gotta tell you, and I don't do that.
Speaker 1: I'm not going to.
Speaker 2: Name names, but we talk every once in a while
Speaker 2: because people complain on social media, generally about basketball. I
Speaker 2: wrote something recently about Jay Billis and the fact that
Speaker 2: I don't believe he hates Kentucky, even though a lot
Speaker 2: of you do. It's more about basketball than football, I think,
Speaker 2: just because you know of the pace of the game
Speaker 2: and the way Kentucky fans of course feel about their program.
Speaker 2: But I always say, look, announcers generally just want a
Speaker 2: good game to cover or good match to cover. We
Speaker 2: love calling upsets things like that, you know, And look,
Speaker 2: I'm when it comes to volleyball, I'm the Kentucky announcer.
Speaker 1: I get that.
Speaker 2: When it comes to baseball, I'm the Kentucky announcer. And
Speaker 2: it's different from when Darren Hedrick calls baseball in the
Speaker 2: radio because his audience there is almost strictly Kentucky fans. Well,
Speaker 2: when Doug Flinn and I do baseball or when you
Speaker 2: know Leah Edmond and I do volleyball, there are likely
Speaker 2: as many viewers rooting for the other team as there
Speaker 2: are Kentucky, so we have to keep that in mind.
Speaker 2: But I always say we kind of call it through
Speaker 2: the Kentucky prism. I'm gonna tell you something today, the announcers.
Speaker 2: I was so uncomfortable watching this match and I got
Speaker 2: a little angry. This almost entire match was all about Missouri,
Speaker 2: and I don't get it.
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 2: Maybe these announcers I try to find out, were, you know,
Speaker 2: regularly calling missoo games. I don't know, but I know
Speaker 2: the playoff play announced her played at Hofstra and she's
Speaker 2: an award winning playbook play person. And the color commentator
Speaker 2: played at Minnesota. But I don't know what their connection was,
Speaker 2: but they clearly had one, and so did the sideline
Speaker 2: reporter with Missouri. I was just so put off by that.
Speaker 2: There was one play in particular, Ava Sarafa for Kentucky
Speaker 2: with an ace that's a big deal, all right, at
Speaker 2: a crucial point in match, and they just kind of
Speaker 2: murmured about what Missouri did wrong. Everything was about what
Speaker 2: does Missouri have to do? To get back into this.
Speaker 2: At one point a Missouri kid had to kill and
Speaker 2: one of the announcers pointed out.
Speaker 1: Just a courageous swing. Courageous.
Speaker 2: What's courageous about that? She's done that a thousand times?
Speaker 2: So yeah, I was put off, and if you were
Speaker 2: too this time.
Speaker 1: I don't blame you. A couple nud notes.
Speaker 2: Before we hit the brake, and by the way, coming
Speaker 2: up next, we'll hear from the basketball Wildcats after their
Speaker 2: win over at Colgate, which was not the prettiest. A
Speaker 2: little bit later on Sean Woods at the bottom of
Speaker 2: the hour joins us, the unforgettable guard who predicted that
Speaker 2: Kentucky win over Gonzaga. We'll get him a chance to
Speaker 2: crow about that and explain why. Jack Gibbons joins us
Speaker 2: in our number two to talk, of course about the
Speaker 2: basketball cats. Aaron Gershan will join us as well in
Speaker 2: our number two, and we'll talk some football with Aaron
Speaker 2: about the portal and about player movement and.
Speaker 1: All that sort of stuff.
Speaker 2: So yeah, we've got a busy show tonight, but a
Speaker 2: couple other things. Where Dan Mullen evidently is signed on
Speaker 2: as the head coach at UNLV, so he's the guy
Speaker 2: who coached Mississippi State to the top of college football.
Speaker 1: There were ranked number one in the country.
Speaker 2: In that game where Dak Prescott faced off with Patrick
Speaker 2: Toles here in Lexington was one of the best games
Speaker 2: I've ever seen in then Commonwealth Stadium, or maybe it
Speaker 2: was Carogerfield by then. Anyway, Then he goes to Florida,
Speaker 2: flames out, does not work. He's been on TV for
Speaker 2: a couple of years, but he's the new head coach
Speaker 2: at UNLV. Rich Rodriguez is returning to West Virginia as
Speaker 2: the head coach.
Speaker 1: He left there for.
Speaker 2: Michigan next and did not work out there. Rich Rodriguez
Speaker 2: was interviewed for the Kentucky job back in the day,
Speaker 2: turned it down. That's when Rich Brooks ended up as
Speaker 2: the UK coach. Bill Belichick today said somebody asked him
Speaker 2: about leaving for the NFL North Carolina.
Speaker 1: I didn't come here to leave.
Speaker 2: Tomorrow, we're going to talk about why we think is
Speaker 2: it was a mistake for North Carolina to sign Belichick.
Speaker 2: And I'm not the only one who said that. Up next,
Speaker 2: we'll talk with the basketball cats on six thirty WLAP.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the.
Speaker 2: Big Blue and sider Dick Gabriel with you coming up,
Speaker 2: We're gonna hear from Seawan Woods, the unforgettable guard.
Speaker 1: We talked to him every week. Chris, we usually talked
Speaker 1: to him on Wednesday.
Speaker 2: There was basketball last night, but Sean, you might predicted
Speaker 2: the win over Duke and then of course we were
Speaker 2: able to talk with him about that the next day
Speaker 2: as to why and what he saw. Well, last week
Speaker 2: he predicted a win at Gonzaga, and this is our
Speaker 2: first chance to talk with Sean since that game, so
Speaker 2: we'll hear from him about what he saw, also about
Speaker 2: what he saw last night. And Sean played in games
Speaker 2: like last night's game where you're.
Speaker 1: Supposed to win.
Speaker 2: I don't recall any of his teams blowing a lead
Speaker 2: the way Kentucky did last night, but we'll get his
Speaker 2: thoughts on that as well. Aaron Gershan at the Cats
Speaker 2: Boss coming up a little bit later on.
Speaker 1: But last night, after the game.
Speaker 2: The players talked about a lot of different things, including
Speaker 2: that blown lead.
Speaker 1: Kobe Brea, who moved into.
Speaker 2: The starting lineup with the loss of Lamont Butler, said
Speaker 2: that at halftime somebody asked him, you know, what did
Speaker 2: you guys talk about? What were the adjustments, and he said, really,
Speaker 2: before the coaches got in there, before Mark Pope started
Speaker 2: talking to the team, the players talked among themselves and
Speaker 2: they pretty much knew what they had to address and
Speaker 2: what they had to do in the second half.
Speaker 3: We all knew that the energy just wasn't right for
Speaker 3: us a little bit.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 3: We all knew that it was just going to be
Speaker 3: on us today to you know, kind of lead the
Speaker 3: way and you know, do what we have to do
Speaker 3: to stay true to ourselves. You know, we have to
Speaker 3: live up to our standard. And that's something that was
Speaker 3: talked a lot about in half time, and I think
Speaker 3: that in the second half we did do a better job.
Speaker 3: But that's something that you know, I feel like a
Speaker 3: lot of teams in games like this, they kind of
Speaker 3: folded a little bit, just you know, we had a
Speaker 3: really big game that we won and coming into you know,
Speaker 3: playing a school that's maybe not so big, you know,
Speaker 3: the team started to take a little lightly, you know,
Speaker 3: But that's the good thing about having veterans.
Speaker 5: In this group.
Speaker 3: We understand that every game is important, and you know,
Speaker 3: I think we bounced back really well in the second half.
Speaker 2: And of course he had a couple of shots go down,
Speaker 2: which certainly helped the Wildcats in the second half. That's
Speaker 2: what turned things around, that hot shooting. But never should
Speaker 2: have come to that, as you well know, and missing
Speaker 2: not just Lamont Butler, but kerk cries a point guards
Speaker 2: who can get you into what you need to be
Speaker 2: doing just so vital, and he got to have Butler back,
Speaker 2: I would think, I don't I'm not saying he can't
Speaker 2: beat Louisville without him, but it's just tough to go
Speaker 2: into a game like that with all that emotion.
Speaker 1: And Jackson Robinson has done a nice job.
Speaker 2: Travis Perry got some minutes last night, but it's gonna
Speaker 2: be a lot tougher. On Saturday, and Andrew Carr talked
Speaker 2: about how much they really need to get Lamont Butler
Speaker 2: back and on the floor.
Speaker 6: It's really hard for a team to replicate Lamont's ability
Speaker 6: to just disrupt kind of what's going on. And so
Speaker 6: of course we want him back as soon as possible now.
Speaker 6: Of course, no at no risk of anything for the
Speaker 6: rest of the season. So you know, we're we're confident
Speaker 6: in him getting back onto the court and really you know,
Speaker 6: making an impact for us like he always has.
Speaker 2: Before he left the floor or Mark Pope put on
Speaker 2: a headset and talked to ESPN, to the Sports Center
Speaker 2: anchors about a lot of different things. They look back
Speaker 2: at the Gonzaga game, and a former WKYT employee, Michael Leaves,
Speaker 2: who has talked a couple of times from the anchor,
Speaker 2: said about Kentucky and Mark Pope, they dropped in a
Speaker 2: little bit of that as well, but Pope also just
Speaker 2: talked about turning things around against Colgate.
Speaker 1: What it took.
Speaker 7: Well, we have great guys, man, We have a ton
Speaker 7: of leadership on this team, and this was clearly not
Speaker 7: our best night. And a lot of credit Colgate. You know,
Speaker 7: they've had some misfortune, but they're a championship team. They've
Speaker 7: won a ton and those guys have a lot of
Speaker 7: pride and played well. But our guys are they're greater
Speaker 7: at responding. They're just greater responding. It's the best part
Speaker 7: of our team and so I'm really.
Speaker 8: Proud of them speaking of that best part of your
Speaker 8: team and responding, as you say, let's go back to Saturday.
Speaker 8: You guys were down eighteen in the second half against Gonzaga.
Speaker 9: On the road.
Speaker 8: How did you pull off that comeback win in OT.
Speaker 7: Way again, it just comes back to listen. You know,
Speaker 7: we talk about.
Speaker 1: This all the time.
Speaker 7: The beautiful thing about basketball is it is a team
Speaker 7: sport and it's always gonna test the connect the tissue
Speaker 7: of your team. And our guys have worked really hard,
Speaker 7: they've been really intentional about trying to stay together. That
Speaker 7: doesn't guarantee wins, it doesn't guarantee success, but it gives
Speaker 7: you the best chance to stay alive when things aren't
Speaker 7: working right and to kind of keep a fresh heart
Speaker 7: and an open mind on every possession and kind of
Speaker 7: take in frustration and spit it out. And our guys
Speaker 7: are pretty good at that.
Speaker 8: Yeah, and it was quite a thrilling win and OT
Speaker 8: in that game and postgame you had this sweet moment
Speaker 8: with your wife and took the time to think the
Speaker 8: fans who traveled. How did these moments motivate you, coach?
Speaker 7: Well, hey, I'll tell you what. First of all, I'm
Speaker 7: blessed with the You know, I'm slightly biased, but I'm
Speaker 7: I'm blessed to be married to the most amazing woman
Speaker 7: on the planet earth.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 7: She is a gamer, She's an important part of this
Speaker 7: team as well as our daughters and and BBN is
Speaker 7: is it's just as like they were incredible tonight, like
Speaker 7: we were really at an energy deficit and and BBN
Speaker 7: just stood up, all twenty thousand of them, and it
Speaker 7: started giving us love that we probably didn't quite deserve
Speaker 7: tonight and carried us through. And so, uh, it's it's
Speaker 7: it's unbelievable.
Speaker 1: There's there's just Kentucky.
Speaker 7: There's nowhere like it, and uh we're blessed to be
Speaker 7: able to be a part of it.
Speaker 10: Mark Seth Greenberg here, I absolutely love watching your team play.
Speaker 10: The passion, the energy, their unselfishness. But what did you
Speaker 10: learn about your team today? Obvious a game before the game,
Speaker 10: but what do you learn about your team today in
Speaker 10: terms of without Kerr and without Lamont in terms of
Speaker 10: moving forward?
Speaker 1: If you have to play without those guys.
Speaker 7: Well, we're gonna we're gonna continue to adjust. You know,
Speaker 7: Jackson Robinson carrying an enormous load right now. Uh TP
Speaker 7: is gonna step up and help us. Colin Chandler is
Speaker 7: gonna help us. Those guys are gonna get better and better.
Speaker 7: We got a a terrific contribution from chat Noah tonight.
Speaker 7: He was terrific with his energy, and so we'll regroup
Speaker 7: right now.
Speaker 1: And you know, obviously we.
Speaker 7: Got uh, you know, one of the state of Kentucky's
Speaker 7: favorite game games every year coming up Saturday, and we
Speaker 7: can't wait to get to it.
Speaker 1: But just like everything we.
Speaker 7: Do, it's gonna be a community effort. It's gonna be
Speaker 7: all hands on deck, and we'll see if we can fight
Speaker 7: for each other.
Speaker 8: Yeah, speaking on that effort on and off the court, coach,
Speaker 8: before we let you go, we wanted you to listen
Speaker 8: to our Michael Eaves at Kentucky alum who asked two
Speaker 8: NBA stars, also Kentucky alumni, talking about your program in
Speaker 8: the building.
Speaker 11: Let's listen real quickly.
Speaker 12: I'm Michig Kentucky, our alma mater.
Speaker 13: What the Cat's gonna do this year?
Speaker 5: They got a new head coach too.
Speaker 13: Now, Hey, looking good, right now, That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 13: Looking really good. So they looking really good. Obviously it's tough,
Speaker 13: you know for me to see the cow lea, but uh,
Speaker 13: you know, it was his time. You know, he felt
Speaker 13: like it was his time to move on. And you know,
Speaker 13: I'm loving the coach, I'm loving the team, so you know,
Speaker 13: hopefully we can you know, we can get Benning number
Speaker 13: nine this year.
Speaker 14: Oh by the way, Kentucky won, so we're now seven
Speaker 14: to oh go cat, it's.
Speaker 9: There, there we go.
Speaker 13: Hope is Hope.
Speaker 11: That's the model for the Yeah, Hope is Hope.
Speaker 8: Gotta love to hear that, coach. What do you think
Speaker 8: of what you just heard from Anthony Davis and Shay
Speaker 8: Gilges Alexander, Yeah.
Speaker 7: Listen, it is It is incredibly important to us that
Speaker 7: we continue to make all the players and coaches that
Speaker 7: worked miracles here over the decades, that we make those
Speaker 7: guys proud because we get to enjoy this because of
Speaker 7: what they did. This was built by them and this
Speaker 7: Kentucky family man. There's an enormous pride in what this
Speaker 7: is that spans through generation after generation. And it's our
Speaker 7: turn now to carry this torch and it is a
Speaker 7: it is a ton of brilliantly beautiful pressure to live
Speaker 7: up to the expectations here and that's what we're trying
Speaker 7: to do. I'm glad those guys are enjoying it. It's
Speaker 7: really important to us to make them proud.
Speaker 2: And again that's courtesy of ESPN. Then Pope went back
Speaker 2: to the interview room. In between ESPN and talking to
Speaker 2: Tom Leech, you talked to the assembled Masses and John
Speaker 2: Wong asked him a little bit about the rankings.
Speaker 1: John kind is kind of a man of the people.
Speaker 2: When he's writing his blog, he refers oftentimes to what
Speaker 2: people are talking about. And you know, as well as
Speaker 2: I and maybe you're one of them, that a lot
Speaker 2: of people have complained bitterly about the fact that Duke's
Speaker 2: ranked the head of Kentucky. Keep in mind one thing
Speaker 2: when you're talking about the rankings thinking about him.
Speaker 1: The Associated Press.
Speaker 2: Poll was created literally to sell newspapers. That's kind of
Speaker 2: a cliche. Oh, they're just doing that to sell papers. Yeah,
Speaker 2: a lot of times back in the day, until they
Speaker 2: began to die. Everything newspapers did was designed to sell papers.
Speaker 2: And when it came to college basketball, that's why they
Speaker 2: created the AP Top twenty five to stimulate more interest
Speaker 2: and maybe people will pick up the newspaper that day
Speaker 2: to see THEAP Top twenty five because that was the
Speaker 2: only place you could see it. They didn't talk about
Speaker 2: it on TV when they first started it. There was
Speaker 2: no Internet. So what they're trying to do is get
Speaker 2: your interest in Hey, what do you know they've done that.
Speaker 2: They do it every year, they do it every week,
Speaker 2: so don't worry about it. And Pope just talked about
Speaker 2: the fact that, you know, UK is back in the picture.
Speaker 7: Listen, I'm glad we're in the conversation. I'm glad we're
Speaker 7: in the national conversation. It's where we're supposed to be.
Speaker 7: It's Kentucky, right and you know, and so I'm I'm
Speaker 7: really happy with all that. But more importantly, I'm just
Speaker 7: I just want us to be a great team, right
Speaker 7: and we want to keep getting better. And and we
Speaker 7: had runs tonight where we got better. You know, we
Speaker 7: started the game better and then we just you know,
Speaker 7: we just energy just turned a little bit, honest. But
Speaker 7: we'll learn from this and we'll get better. So right
Speaker 7: now it's a race to get better. But you know,
Speaker 7: this is Kentucky. We have to win every game along
Speaker 7: the way. That's a beautiful thing. I'm not complaining. I
Speaker 7: think it's that's why Kentucky special.
Speaker 2: And by the way, his former teammate Cameron Mills part
Speaker 2: of our pregame coverage. You've heard him before every time
Speaker 2: he's in the garage. Whether I bring it up or not,
Speaker 2: and we're talking about college basketball. He somehow works in
Speaker 2: the ap pole or any pole at all. They're all stupid,
Speaker 2: blah blah blah. My response to him every time is
Speaker 2: it's fun, and that seems to.
Speaker 1: Be lost on my man.
Speaker 2: Speaking of fun, though, it had to be cool for
Speaker 2: the Colgate kids to come in and play in rap arena.
Speaker 1: Colgate is in Hamilton, New York.
Speaker 2: That's a small town. There's like thirty two hundred kids
Speaker 2: in the school. If you know anything about New York,
Speaker 2: there's like a triangle Syracuse, Binghamton, and Albany. Hamilton's right
Speaker 2: in the middle. I've never been there. It's nowhere near
Speaker 2: the interstate. I've been to Syracuse, I've been to Albany.
Speaker 2: I don't think i've been to Binghamton. But anyhow, imagine
Speaker 2: the media coverage or lack of same if you play
Speaker 2: any sport at Colgate. So Parker Jones got a chance
Speaker 2: to come in and talk to the assembled media, and.
Speaker 1: I'm guessing that there were more reporters.
Speaker 2: In that room than he's ever seen in his entire
Speaker 2: career at Colgate. He played about twenty eight and a
Speaker 2: half minutes, had a good game, seventeen points, six rebounds,
Speaker 2: a couple of assists, and before he answered whatever question
Speaker 2: it was put to him, he talked about the fact
Speaker 2: that this was pretty cool.
Speaker 12: First of all, this is pretty sick. I've never been
Speaker 12: in a press conference, so this is like just kind
Speaker 12: of high level for me, So I'm sorry if my
Speaker 12: answer isn't top level. But coming back in from halftime,
Speaker 12: I think we were all super extatic. Like I mean,
Speaker 12: when you play it seemed like Kentucky you kind of
Speaker 12: at least personally, I dreamed of it in like my backyard,
Speaker 12: like thinking about like Parker Jones subs in and he
Speaker 12: hits a three and he comes down to like all
Speaker 12: this stuff that I think about in my head, and
Speaker 12: I don't know, like being in this environment was really
Speaker 12: cool and just kind of surreal. And we got back
Speaker 12: to the locker room and obviously emotions are really high,
Speaker 12: and we kind of just were all telling ourselves like
Speaker 12: because I remember last year we played Arizona and we
Speaker 12: were down three going into half and then they came
Speaker 12: out and just blitzed us almost, so kind of just
Speaker 12: trying to stay more composed and collected because we kind
Speaker 12: of have a tendency to not get off to the
Speaker 12: best to start. So we're trying to calm it down,
Speaker 12: even though there was a lot of just really high
Speaker 12: emotion at the time.
Speaker 2: Not only did they pick up where they left off
Speaker 2: in the second half, but Colgate took a three point
Speaker 2: lead as you know, early in the nearly minutes of
Speaker 2: the second half, and then Kentucky got hot and put
Speaker 2: them away. But you know, previous administration, the head coach
Speaker 2: what is said, we need a game like this.
Speaker 1: Well, maybe I'll tell you.
Speaker 2: What Kentucky needed was the opportunity to figure out how
Speaker 2: to win without two point guards, and the Wildcats did that.
Speaker 2: But they've got to get those guys back if they
Speaker 2: want to make any kind of run this year. It's
Speaker 2: way early, but we're learning right now if we didn't
Speaker 2: already how valuable those guys are. Sean Woods is next
Speaker 2: year on six thirty Welcome back to the Big Blue Insider,
Speaker 2: and as promised, joining us now is the Unforgettable Guard.
Speaker 2: Sean Woods joins us every week to talk about those Wildcats.
Speaker 2: And before we talk about last night, it's kind of
Speaker 2: weird game with Kolgate. As I mentioned before the break,
Speaker 2: Sean mentioned and I mean on the record on the air,
Speaker 2: told me a week ago Kentucky would beake Gonzaga in Seattle,
Speaker 2: and sure enough, now, coach, I don't know if it
Speaker 2: played out the way you thought it might. But take
Speaker 2: me back and tell me why you made that prediction.
Speaker 9: Well, as you know, I watched college basketball, and I
Speaker 9: watched like I'm scouting and I'm scouting everyone. And what
Speaker 9: I am very, very impressed with Kentucky about is their sustainability.
Speaker 9: You know, they embrace in relish in the peaks and
Speaker 9: valleys of a basketball game for forty minutes and they
Speaker 9: never stopped. They do the exact same thing. They may
Speaker 9: make some mistakes, but they don't get flustered, where a
Speaker 9: lot of other teams, especially around the country right now,
Speaker 9: they don't have great sustainability. I think Kentucky is the
Speaker 9: best sustainability team in America. And it showed even with Gonzaga,
Speaker 9: who's a veteran team who's got probably the best point
Speaker 9: guard in America. You know it, that was the deal,
Speaker 9: you know what I mean? Like, for instance, even when
Speaker 9: Kentucky lost some players due to injury, they still stayed
Speaker 9: the course. You know, he made some adjustments went zone,
Speaker 9: which really surprised me that Gonzagti became so stagnant, But
Speaker 9: it worked into our favors simply because it took away
Speaker 9: the threes. It made them think and and and and
Speaker 9: they became less aggressive playing against it. And then the
Speaker 9: worst free throw shoot on the team was the person
Speaker 9: who was getting the most shots, and he was missing
Speaker 9: free throws. Yeah, I was highly shocked. Zaga missed so
Speaker 9: many street throws down the stretch, which gave Kentucky an
Speaker 9: opportunity to get back in the game and eventually win
Speaker 9: the game.
Speaker 1: Oh, I agree. Well, all right, let me unpack some
Speaker 1: of this now.
Speaker 2: You talk about sustainability, and you mentioned that as one
Speaker 2: reason why you pick Kentucky over Duke, because Duke was
Speaker 2: so young. But you also mentioned the fact that can
Speaker 2: Zaga had a veteran team with a veteran point guard.
Speaker 2: But that just speaks so well, obviously to this veteran
Speaker 2: roster for Mark Pope, doesn't.
Speaker 9: It, no doubt about it. And he's what he's preaching,
Speaker 9: he's really doing. And the way he says his team
Speaker 9: is you can honestly tell they just play for each other.
Speaker 9: They just play. Yeah, you know, they don't get caught
Speaker 9: up in who's who, Who's this player, who's that player,
Speaker 9: Who's this team, who's that team. They just go out
Speaker 9: and play the game the way it's supposed.
Speaker 5: To be played.
Speaker 9: Are they going to make some mistakes here and their year?
Speaker 9: Are they going to go on you know, routes where
Speaker 9: they can't make a shot, especially from three? Yeah, But
Speaker 9: because they are so mature and Mar's got them from
Speaker 9: to the point where the they're really not messing themselves
Speaker 9: up mentally. This is what you're getting. You know, they
Speaker 9: don't get lost in the moment. I mean they get
Speaker 9: lost in the moment. They don't They relish in the moment.
Speaker 9: They enjoy playing the game. And if you're not sustained,
Speaker 9: can If you can't sustain at a high level, that
Speaker 9: means you got to make every free throw down the
Speaker 9: stretch to beat them. That means the last three minutes,
Speaker 9: you can't turn the ball over, you can't have any
Speaker 9: mishaps because their or their machine is going to continue
Speaker 9: to run the same way it did at the beginning
Speaker 9: of the game.
Speaker 2: And yet against Godaga, they they lost a point guard,
Speaker 2: their point guard, and we're still able to make that happen.
Speaker 9: And I was surprised that Gonzaga didn't put on the
Speaker 9: pressure because me as a coach, losing your the main
Speaker 9: point guard that you have and no one else's everyone
Speaker 9: else is pretty much questionable to pressure, especially in those moments.
Speaker 9: I'm shocked that that coach you didn't didn't really turn
Speaker 9: up the heat a little bit and allowed him to
Speaker 9: stay comfortable. You know, Jacka was comfortable even though he
Speaker 9: played the point. He doesn't like to play the point.
Speaker 9: He doesn't like pressure, but he wasn't pressured in that game.
Speaker 9: You know, they allowed Kurve before he got hurt, to
Speaker 9: become a main, you know, main integral part in that
Speaker 9: game before he got hurt because there was no pressure.
Speaker 9: And you know he's out. That Butler should be back
Speaker 9: for Louisville. But you know, if you're gonna get this
Speaker 9: team before SEC, that was the game to get them,
Speaker 9: and they didn't get got and they're only getting stronger
Speaker 9: because now there's gonna be some players that hasn't been
Speaker 9: able to play as much, just like the other night.
Speaker 9: That's going to allow them to get some more confidence
Speaker 9: and can hopefully make their bench even more deeper.
Speaker 2: Let's talk about that zone. I didn't know, I knew
Speaker 2: we would see a zone. I should have known the
Speaker 2: one three one Sean, have you ever played ever?
Speaker 1: Have you ever used it? Have you ever been a
Speaker 1: part of it?
Speaker 9: Yeah, you know, sometimes you trickle with it. You know
Speaker 9: a lot of teams that you play, specially at the
Speaker 9: major level, do a lot of those things because of
Speaker 9: personnel and so on and so forth. But I mean
Speaker 9: I thought it was great. You know, I don't think
Speaker 9: Mark really planned on doing it. I think he had
Speaker 9: to do it simply because Butler's out. You can't stay
Speaker 9: in front of Zacher's point guard, and that was the
Speaker 9: only way to hang on. And not only did they
Speaker 9: hang on, it actually neutralized Gonzaga for the most part,
Speaker 9: and it allowed them to continue to do what they're doing,
Speaker 9: gave him more chances on the offensive ent.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: The one bucket I remember that Gonzaga got fairly easily
Speaker 2: was when somebody got loose on the baseline. But that
Speaker 2: was basically a mistake. I know there are hey, look,
Speaker 2: Joby Hall. We all learned about the one three one
Speaker 2: when he was coaching, and you learn where there are
Speaker 2: the soft spots in that zone. But the one kid
Speaker 2: that ran the baseline and got a bucket. That was
Speaker 2: a communications mistake. Otherwise, Yeah, Zaga just kind of slogged
Speaker 2: their way through that, didn't they See.
Speaker 9: Here's the deal. A lot of teams and a lot
Speaker 9: of coaches, especially at the beginning, don't even practice against.
Speaker 5: Zone, so they're not used to it.
Speaker 9: Yeah, you understand what I'm saying. And you know, you
Speaker 9: really don't start doing zone until you get into your league.
Speaker 9: Until you get into the conference. Nine times out of teen,
Speaker 9: most teams aren't playing on the first month or two
Speaker 9: of the season. So it kind of really got them
Speaker 9: off guard because I'm sure from what I can tell
Speaker 9: and everyone can tell, that Mark hasn't worked on it
Speaker 9: a lot. Yeah, and when you don't work on it
Speaker 9: a lot, I'm thinking that. Shoot, I got these veteran guys.
Speaker 9: I'm just gonna tell them, look, attack the teams, you know,
Speaker 9: get the ball into the middle of the paint, and
Speaker 9: then get things to happen. They just continued to play
Speaker 9: perimeter basketball. They got stagnant. Nope, you know, they lost
Speaker 9: their aggressiveness attacking the rim and then allowed of Kentucky
Speaker 9: to do what they do and gave them a chance.
Speaker 9: And this is a team you can't give a chance
Speaker 9: to because sooner or later they're going to make a
Speaker 9: shot or two and now you're scrambling. Now the pressure's
Speaker 9: on you. And as you could tell in that game,
Speaker 9: free throws was the biggest key coming down the stretch.
Speaker 9: They missed too many.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I got tired, I thought, I thought, and Jagga
Speaker 1: got tired. Did you see that.
Speaker 9: I don't know about tired. I just think that who know,
Speaker 9: the change of pace really made them a comfortable Yeah,
Speaker 9: and it just slowed them down and it made them
Speaker 9: think more instead of being more reactors.
Speaker 2: Yeah, when you can make them think, and then all
Speaker 2: you have to do is react, you're at least one
Speaker 2: step ahead, aren't you exactly?
Speaker 9: And you know you got him. You just want a chance.
Speaker 9: You're on the road. You just lost a big one
Speaker 9: on the road to Clemson. And on paper Gonzaga was
Speaker 9: better than Clemson. Well, what Clemson did was Clemson stayed
Speaker 9: the course. They made, They made the plays down the
Speaker 9: stretch that Gonzaga didn't make. And I thought we were
Speaker 9: underman we were undermand which made it even more impressive.
Speaker 2: And I thought Kentucky came out with a little more
Speaker 2: physicality against Gonzaga maybe not quite as much as Clemson showed.
Speaker 2: And we talked about that last week. But I didn't
Speaker 2: feel I didn't feel like Kentucky was intimidated or anything.
Speaker 2: I was a little surprised they got down so much.
Speaker 2: But at halftime, did you still believe it win?
Speaker 9: I knew they had a chance. I just you know,
Speaker 9: it was kind of looking a little bleak when they
Speaker 9: were down eight and then Butler got hurt. I was like,
Speaker 9: oh man, yeah, here we go. And actually they got better.
Speaker 9: You know, he changed his defense. Kurd to his credit,
Speaker 9: you know, didn't fluster, you know, relished in the moment.
Speaker 9: Unfortunately he got hurt at the end, but then it
Speaker 9: allowed you know, things work.
Speaker 5: For a reason.
Speaker 9: Yeah, you know, Jackson has been struggling. Okay, we all
Speaker 9: know that we feel that he doesn't play great in
Speaker 9: the in the big games. Well, I think he's an
Speaker 9: easy target to defend when he's on the wing because
Speaker 9: he only has from the wing the corner to operate.
Speaker 9: But when you put him at the point guard position,
Speaker 9: which he hates, I think it shows more of his satility,
Speaker 9: you know, and it gives him an opportunity to have
Speaker 9: more freedom in their offense, especially with the point guard
Speaker 9: concern for him to really take all smaller guys get
Speaker 9: to a spot to shoot over them. Because he's a
Speaker 9: he could take you one, two dribbles off the baus
Speaker 9: and get to a mid range and shoot just as
Speaker 9: good as he can shook the three. And it allowed
Speaker 9: him to do that and show that, and I don't
Speaker 9: think Gonzaga was ready for that.
Speaker 2: We'll take a break, We'll come back and talk about
Speaker 2: Kentucky's winterver Cole game with Seawan Woods, the unforgettable guard
Speaker 2: here on the Big one Sider six thirty WLAP.
Speaker 1: Welcome back.
Speaker 2: We're talking with Sean Woods. His jersey hangs in the
Speaker 2: rafters of rup. We talked to him each and every
Speaker 2: week about Kentucky basketball. I said earlier in the show, Sean,
Speaker 2: that you know you played in games where you were
Speaker 2: expected as a team to go out and just destroy
Speaker 2: the other guys. You know, teams that were on your
Speaker 2: schedule because they needed to make budget things like that.
Speaker 2: Don't know if you were ever involved in a game
Speaker 2: where you blew a seventeen point lead. But what did
Speaker 2: you see last night? And the two Kentucky teams we
Speaker 2: saw the one want to jumped out than the one
Speaker 2: that had to fight to win, to come from behind.
Speaker 9: Well, Kentucky's for the first time was put in an
Speaker 9: uncomfortable position. Rotations. You know, guys coming off the bench.
Speaker 9: I thought in the first half, you know, the guys
Speaker 9: that they had in there, they were veterans, so they
Speaker 9: they you know, they they knew they were better than
Speaker 9: that team. But then when he made substitutions, that's when
Speaker 9: Kolgate kind of got back in the games, and you know,
Speaker 9: he's he's gonna have to address that situation and get
Speaker 9: more contributions from his bench, some of the guys that
Speaker 9: hasn't been playing as much, because you never know if
Speaker 9: Butler is going to go down again. You never know
Speaker 9: if Kurt you know when Kurt's coming back. So he's
Speaker 9: got to get some real contributions from this bench, some
Speaker 9: guys that hadn't been playing as much in order, you know,
Speaker 9: going down the stretch. You know, Kogate is still a
Speaker 9: mid major team. It took us a while to really,
Speaker 9: you know, get back into the groove. But he got
Speaker 9: back in the groove when.
Speaker 5: He put his major guys back there.
Speaker 9: Yeah, because he didn't get what he hopefully was wanting
Speaker 9: from the guys that hadn't been playing much. They got
Speaker 9: their opportunity.
Speaker 2: Travis Perry got some earlier minutes, and I think, yeah,
Speaker 2: he looked like he struggled with the moment a bit.
Speaker 9: I mean, sometimes you know, the moment is too big,
Speaker 9: run now he has to just settle down. He got
Speaker 9: four or five wide open looks and wasn't even and
Speaker 9: it wasn't even close, and he's a much better shooter
Speaker 9: than that. I think the nerves was really you know,
Speaker 9: you could just tell that he was nervous. He wasn't
Speaker 9: very comfortable. It was the first opportunity to really show
Speaker 9: the Kentucky big Blue nation that he's worthy. And you know,
Speaker 9: he got some significant minutes. Didn't take advantage of him
Speaker 9: like I wanted him to. But hopefully he'll get that
Speaker 9: opportunity again, Yeah, and be more settled when the next
Speaker 9: opportunity comes.
Speaker 1: He was trying to do the right thing, you know.
Speaker 2: And he played technically, he played point guard in high school,
Speaker 2: but it was more of a guy who was looking
Speaker 2: to score as much as facilitate.
Speaker 1: And this is kind of a new role for him.
Speaker 1: It's definitely a new role, isn't it.
Speaker 9: He wasn't a true point guard in high school. He
Speaker 9: was you know, I watched him player about eight nine times.
Speaker 9: He was a guy who was actually running the lane.
Speaker 9: When the ball went out, he was catching it and
Speaker 9: laying it in more so than being the primary ball handling.
Speaker 9: They had another decent guard in their high school team
Speaker 9: who's pretty good that actually made them better than what
Speaker 9: they were. I thought he played a great role in
Speaker 9: their state run. But you know this is new to him,
Speaker 9: you know, and you know, I think that, you know,
Speaker 9: sometimes you don't have to be a primary point guard.
Speaker 9: You know, as long as you can shoot the ball
Speaker 9: and make good decisions in the half court. You know,
Speaker 9: do what coach Patino used to do with Travis Ford
Speaker 9: when he played against a bigger point guard and he
Speaker 9: couldn't get away from him. Let somebody else bring it up.
Speaker 9: But then run the offense once you start, and then
Speaker 9: he's still that that that that that that that that threat.
Speaker 9: Because he can shoot the ball and make plays in
Speaker 9: the half court. I think that what's Travis really finds
Speaker 9: his niche, Uh, he's gonna be fine. He's still a freshman,
Speaker 9: you know what I mean. And he's a legit freshman. Yeah,
Speaker 9: and he's playing with some older guys and he hasn't
Speaker 9: been counted on. And for the first time, he felt
Speaker 9: like he was going to be counted on simply because
Speaker 9: of the injuries, you know. And uh, you know, he
Speaker 9: didn't play bad. He didn't turn the ball over significantly,
Speaker 9: I mean, nothing like that. He just didn't make a shot.
Speaker 9: And you could tell that he wasn't very comfortable within
Speaker 9: his own skin. But I think time, you know, as
Speaker 9: time moves on and he gets more and more opportunities,
Speaker 9: he's just one or two shots away from establishing his confidence.
Speaker 9: He's not a bad player, he's just he's solid as
Speaker 9: a rock. Just can't throw it in the ocean right now.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, and you can tell he's got that
Speaker 2: basketball like you. And speaking of freshman, Uh what Trent
Speaker 2: No I hit a big shot. He looked really relaxed.
Speaker 2: Didn't he look comfortable.
Speaker 9: Well, he's been playing a little bit more, He's been
Speaker 9: thrown in a little bit more, you know what I mean.
Speaker 9: So his opportunities have been a little more than than
Speaker 9: Travis's right now, especially, and two, he didn't have to
Speaker 9: worry about bringing the ball up the court. You know,
Speaker 9: he just got to worry about making a shot when
Speaker 9: he's open, so you know, his situation is a little different.
Speaker 9: But both of them are gonna be solid players for us.
Speaker 9: You know, we just got to keep our fingers crossed
Speaker 9: that Butler comes back and also Curry comes back healthier
Speaker 9: with it, you know, in time, because we sure need
Speaker 9: them to be successful. They're the key to our success.
Speaker 9: And Butler's you know what I mean, He's a He's
Speaker 9: a spoon that stirs the coffee, no doubt about that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's every bit as good as advertised. Well, let's
Speaker 2: talk about the Louisville game. Going in, you were a
Speaker 2: guy who had an advantage over uh, some of the
Speaker 2: new guys you've ever played with, because while you might
Speaker 2: have grown up in Indianapolis, you had deep roots in
Speaker 2: election and so you knew.
Speaker 1: About U k U of LU. Was it interesting for you?
Speaker 2: I got to think it was watching that your teammates,
Speaker 2: you might not have grown up in Kentucky, learn about
Speaker 2: that rivalry.
Speaker 9: You can if you Kentucky basketball players, you can't hide
Speaker 9: from that. You can't even be delusion about the rivalry
Speaker 9: once you get here. And as much talk going on
Speaker 9: around town and on the news and in the newspaper,
Speaker 9: not only that with within your own team and and
Speaker 9: and and.
Speaker 5: And locker room.
Speaker 9: You know the intensity and the significance of this situation.
Speaker 9: And it's one of the reasons why you come to
Speaker 9: the University Tuchy because you know, you know, if there's
Speaker 9: a rivalry game, it's it's it's that, and uh, it's
Speaker 9: it's never changed. And those some I got in trouble
Speaker 9: hanging out with those because most a lot of those
Speaker 9: group of players doing my era were my friends, you know,
Speaker 9: every Evan when they was older, Boo Brewer, you know,
Speaker 9: I grew up with Jerome Harmon, you know, the Bradford
Speaker 9: Smith and I were rivals and and things like that,
Speaker 9: but I I embraced the the competitiveness because they were good.
Speaker 9: They were supposed to be better than us, and they
Speaker 9: never were. You know, I got they beat me one
Speaker 9: time in Ruck, but they had a I mean that's
Speaker 9: they had Felton Spencer, Tony kimbro I mean, they had
Speaker 9: they had a whip. Jerome Harmon was playing then the
Speaker 9: Brafford Smith, Keith Williams. I mean they were you know,
Speaker 9: I mean, uh, who's Cow's assistant now? Oh, Kenny Payne,
Speaker 9: you know what I mean, who was a six eight
Speaker 9: point six eighth guards. So you know they're they're good,
Speaker 9: but uh, you know, we found a way to win,
Speaker 9: you know what I mean?
Speaker 5: And uh, you know.
Speaker 9: I think this situation is not gonna be any different. It's,
Speaker 9: you know, two new coaches.
Speaker 11: One played at.
Speaker 9: Kentucky, who knows the rivalry better than the other coach. Uh,
Speaker 9: he's played in this game, so I think Mark has
Speaker 9: a pure advantage and to the games in the RUP,
Speaker 9: which is another advantage. And you know, I think, you know,
Speaker 9: both of them are trying to find themselves, new team,
Speaker 9: new identity, new players. But man Mark Pope is ahead
Speaker 9: of the curve right now. He's doing just as good
Speaker 9: of a job as any coach in America.
Speaker 2: Sean Woods is the unforgettable guard. We talk with him
Speaker 2: each and every week. I assume you're predicting a win
Speaker 2: over Louisville.
Speaker 9: I sure am. I'm like Charles Barkley, I get run
Speaker 9: tee us winning Maruisle.
Speaker 1: Well you're two for two now, brothers. So we'll talk
Speaker 1: about it next week. Thanks coach.
Speaker 9: Looking forward to.
Speaker 2: It up next Hour number two with Jack Gibbons and
Speaker 2: Aaron Gershan here on the Big Bin Sider six thirty
Speaker 2: wlaper SA, Welcome back to the Big Blue and Sider.
Speaker 2: Joining us now in our celebrity highline is a longtime friend, classmates,
Speaker 2: teammate on the UK Network. That would be mister Jack Gibbons,
Speaker 2: color Analysts, sits next to Tom Leach and provides color
Speaker 2: commentary for the basketball Cats. And you had a lot
Speaker 2: of insight the last two games, Jack. I was really
Speaker 2: interested to hear what you had to say about first
Speaker 2: the comeback win against Gonzaga and then last night's game.
Speaker 1: But I got to go back.
Speaker 2: To Gonzaga because the point you kept hammering home post
Speaker 2: game more than any is you just.
Speaker 1: Got to believe.
Speaker 2: And why did you feel like that was such an
Speaker 2: important point to make?
Speaker 14: Well? It was interesting because about the time Kentucky went
Speaker 14: down to their largest deficit and out there in Seattle,
Speaker 14: Gonzaga had gone up seventeen eighteen eighteen it was or whatever,
Speaker 14: And just at that moment I heard Mark call out
Speaker 14: to Jack Jackson Robinson and he said, at that point,
Speaker 14: he said, we're gonna be all right. We're gonna be
Speaker 14: all right, you know, calming him down a little bit.
Speaker 14: He was frustrated a little. And I think from that
Speaker 14: point on is when I saw a bit the biggest
Speaker 14: change in Kentucky and how they I mean, the whole
Speaker 14: second half was they started to play better. But that
Speaker 14: was about the time when it all happened, and it
Speaker 14: was a great example of just believe, man, you have
Speaker 14: to stay positive, if you have to know that we're
Speaker 14: gonna get back in this thing. It hit me right there,
Speaker 14: and when I saw the change in the team, I
Speaker 14: thought it was worth mentioning. So that's why I was
Speaker 14: so emphatic on that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you absolutely were.
Speaker 2: And then I really loved your reaction to the one
Speaker 2: three one, and I, yeah, my mind immediately went to
Speaker 2: you in the fact that you know, Joe b when
Speaker 2: he played zone wasn't crazy about it.
Speaker 1: But that was the zone of choice for you guys,
Speaker 1: wasn't it.
Speaker 7: Oh?
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 14: I could see Coach Hall at at just that moment,
Speaker 14: rolling up that program, man and start slapping his hands.
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 14: He was I know he was happy to see that
Speaker 14: as he was looking down at that game, man. But yeah,
Speaker 14: that was it was such for us. It was such
Speaker 14: a good defense and a lot of people work against
Speaker 14: a one to three two three in practice or variation
Speaker 14: of two three, whether it's a matchup or whatever. But
Speaker 14: not many times do you see a one three one,
Speaker 14: And if you run it correctly, it is a real,
Speaker 14: real effective defense ad taken away shots from the outside,
Speaker 14: A lot of a lot of good things can happen
Speaker 14: with the one three one, but you have to play
Speaker 14: it right. And I was really surprised because I've been
Speaker 14: in some of the practices they really haven't worked on it,
Speaker 14: at least when I'm in there all that much. They've
Speaker 14: worked on it enough to know what it is and
Speaker 14: to know what their responsibilities are. But you know, it's
Speaker 14: one of those defenses you really have to have to
Speaker 14: work at to get good at it. But they were
Speaker 14: really played it really well, and not just that they
Speaker 14: stayed with it. They would come out of it. When
Speaker 14: the ball would drop below the free throw line on
Speaker 14: the wing, they would match up because it gives them
Speaker 14: time on the week side of the court to find
Speaker 14: people to match up with. But they played it very well.
Speaker 2: I remember, and I think I tweeted at Jay Scheidler
Speaker 2: because he tweeted about it during the game. Oftentimes, when
Speaker 2: you guys played it, Jay ran them baseline. Jay was
Speaker 2: the guy under the basket because he was such a
Speaker 2: great athlete. And that guy on the baseline, he's got
Speaker 2: to go sideline to sideline, doesn't he. So you don't
Speaker 2: just stick a big guy back there and hope he
Speaker 2: can cover.
Speaker 14: Now, it's you have to cover a lot of a
Speaker 14: lot of space. Some of it is anticipating to you
Speaker 14: know as well. You know, you try to see where
Speaker 14: the ball is going, and your job is to get
Speaker 14: there when the pass gets there, because you don't want
Speaker 14: them to shoot it and they might rotate it all
Speaker 14: the way back around and you have to then get
Speaker 14: to the other corner to cover it. So uh so, yeah,
Speaker 14: you have to have a guy back you like a
Speaker 14: guy with a little size, and j six three or so,
Speaker 14: so he's sixty two. He was able to make that work.
Speaker 14: And but but you have to be a good athlete.
Speaker 14: You have to be able to run and anticipate, and
Speaker 14: he was very good at that.
Speaker 2: I got to admit that when they started coming back
Speaker 2: in the second half that well, you knew they were
Speaker 2: going to play better because everything came so easily for
Speaker 2: Gonzaga offensively in the first half and Kentucky had it
Speaker 2: worked like hell for every bucket they made the first period.
Speaker 2: But when Lamtt Butler went down Jack, I have to
Speaker 2: admit I said to myself, well, I think this is
Speaker 2: a little too much to overcome. How in the world
Speaker 2: did they come back? I mean, Jackson Robinson, for a
Speaker 2: kid who doesn't like playing the point, he was heroic.
Speaker 1: Wasn't he.
Speaker 14: Yeah, he ran it perfectly, man, And I think it
Speaker 14: helped there on both ends of the floor because Jackson
Speaker 14: Robinson was taller, so so he was the point guard.
Speaker 14: Nim Hart, who was kind of running everything in the
Speaker 14: first half, had a difficult time seeing over Jacks out
Speaker 14: there that as he matched up with him, and they
Speaker 14: did a great job of pushing him to the left,
Speaker 14: which is not the way he normally wants to do things,
Speaker 14: and wouldn't let him get to his spots. And that
Speaker 14: was that was really good. But Gab, I think the
Speaker 14: scene that made the biggest difference. Yeah, I mean jack
Speaker 14: played great and ran the stuff well, didn't turn the
Speaker 14: ball over all of that kind of stuff. But the
Speaker 14: real difference I think was how Kentucky rebounded the basketball
Speaker 14: in the second half, because if you think back to
Speaker 14: the first half, Kentucky was getting out rebounded pretty soundly,
Speaker 14: and that that gave Gonzaga an opportunity to control the tempo,
Speaker 14: get the ball up the floor, and get into their
Speaker 14: offense quickly before Kentucky had a chance to get set up.
Speaker 14: In the second half, when Kentucky really really went to
Speaker 14: work on the glass on both ends of the floor,
Speaker 14: now they couldn't run. Now, they didn't get any second
Speaker 14: chance opportunities, They weren't dominated in the paint, and the
Speaker 14: pace slowed to where Kentucky really needed it to be
Speaker 14: able to give Jack's a chance to run the point
Speaker 14: guard spot because he didn't want to be up and
Speaker 14: down with nim Hart. I mean he did not. So
Speaker 14: the rebounding, the change in rebounding for Kentucky in the
Speaker 14: second half was as big as anything data and the
Speaker 14: one three one defense.
Speaker 2: UK All American Jack Gibbons my guest color analyst and
Speaker 2: the UK Basketball Radio Network.
Speaker 1: You know, I always think about.
Speaker 2: Veteran teams and how they they come together through the years,
Speaker 2: like your team did. I mean, you know, by the
Speaker 2: time you graduated, you guys had played a lot of
Speaker 2: basketball together, the seniors and the juniors, and of course
Speaker 2: we know how this team was kind of cobbled together,
Speaker 2: so it's it's almost a crash.
Speaker 1: Course in team building.
Speaker 2: But the comeback win on the road, I know, neutral,
Speaker 2: but still away from home against Duke and now then Zaga.
Speaker 2: That's gonna pay dividends all year, isn't it.
Speaker 14: Well, it gets them in the mindset right now that
Speaker 14: we can win these kind of games, even if they're
Speaker 14: close games. We can win these kind of games. So
Speaker 14: that is the real key. I mean, to have one
Speaker 14: of those wins would have been huge for Kentucky, I mean,
Speaker 14: but to have both of those, I mean, you know,
Speaker 14: they have to have a lot of confidence, Gabe, and
Speaker 14: I'm anxious to see the improvement here over the next
Speaker 14: month or so. Kentucky will have a lot of practice
Speaker 14: time next three weeks to have a lot of practice times,
Speaker 14: a lot of time to work on some things, and
Speaker 14: I'm anxious to see the improvement over that time span.
Speaker 2: Well, there's a big one coming up Saturday. We'll talk
Speaker 2: about that on the other side of the break with
Speaker 2: Jack Gibbons here on the Big One Sider six thirty
Speaker 2: WLAP Welcome Back.
Speaker 1: We're talking with the All American Jack Gibbons.
Speaker 2: Tom Leech's sidekick as partner the color analysts on the
Speaker 2: UK Radio network for Kentucky basketball. And I always tease you,
Speaker 2: Jack because I hear you talking about shots as they're
Speaker 2: going up. You love the way this team plays the offense.
Speaker 2: Shooters love shooters and shots. I had to think you
Speaker 2: were squirming a little bit last night, maybe early on,
Speaker 2: when I thought Kogi did a really nice job of
Speaker 2: pressure in Kentucky and not letting the Wildcats get comfortable
Speaker 2: on the three point line.
Speaker 1: Did you see it that way?
Speaker 9: Yeah?
Speaker 14: Yeah, I really did. It was interesting because their mission
Speaker 14: seemed like their goal plan was to force Kentucky off
Speaker 14: the three point line, and they did a great job
Speaker 14: of that early. But the problem was Kentucky was dominating
Speaker 14: in the paint and that was the way they built
Speaker 14: that seventeen to zero run because shots weren't falling at
Speaker 14: that point from the outside. But but then because they
Speaker 14: were having Kentucky was having so much success at the paint,
Speaker 14: they had to rethink things. And they knew Kentucky had
Speaker 14: been struggling shooting the ball from behind the three point
Speaker 14: line the less two three games. It seemed to me
Speaker 14: like they said, well, let's see if this is another
Speaker 14: one of those nights where they're going to be missing
Speaker 14: from out there, you know, so they had to change
Speaker 14: it to take away the paint, and Kentucky struggled for
Speaker 14: a while. But this team, one of the things is
Speaker 14: they can get hot, and they can get hot very quickly.
Speaker 14: And we saw that when Jackson Robinson knocked down a couple.
Speaker 14: I think Kentucky made like four straight three and now
Speaker 14: instead of being down three, you're up Januer eleven and
Speaker 14: the game's done at that time. But yeah, I felt
Speaker 14: did a great job at forcing them off the line,
Speaker 14: so it was good to know they can score inside
Speaker 14: as well.
Speaker 2: I felt like Kentucky might have gotten a little bored,
Speaker 2: you know, I took the foot off the gas. Plus
Speaker 2: Pope mentioned both to ESPN and in the post game,
Speaker 2: you know, having him to mix lineups new guys coming in,
Speaker 2: clearly you miss a couple of point guards.
Speaker 1: And that has an effect.
Speaker 14: Yeah, I mean, listen, the toughest position on the floor
Speaker 14: to replace and to fill in for is that point
Speaker 14: guard spot. And then when you lose your starting, your
Speaker 14: starter and your backup point guard, the offense is not
Speaker 14: gonna look very good. It's just not And listen, this team, Gabe,
Speaker 14: has been so good over the last over the course
Speaker 14: of this season, I mean, night in and night out,
Speaker 14: they have performed. Even in the game they lost at Clemson,
Speaker 14: they played well, they played hard, and in the second
Speaker 14: half they were the better team.
Speaker 5: Again.
Speaker 14: So to have a game like last night, I'm not
Speaker 14: concerned at all. I mean, to play the way they
Speaker 14: played at the at the the rate they played when
Speaker 14: it comes to very well, I mean, they earned themselves
Speaker 14: the right to have a game like last night. Now,
Speaker 14: the bad thing would have been had you lost that game.
Speaker 14: But the real promising thing even on a game like
Speaker 14: last night is that they won, is that they won
Speaker 14: the game, and they played nowhere close to being as
Speaker 14: good as they were most other nights when they played.
Speaker 14: And plus they still scored in the seventies seventies, you know, yeah,
Speaker 14: I mean, so still a lot of positives after after
Speaker 14: that Colgate game.
Speaker 2: Well, and you got to win an ugly game like this,
Speaker 2: and you know you talked about it, you related to it.
Speaker 2: I heard you late in the game just talking about
Speaker 2: how sometimes players look ahead. I mean, you know, it
Speaker 2: would be I think impossible even for the kids. You
Speaker 2: aren't from here. Han't been in Kentucky. One of the
Speaker 2: guys said after the game. They've been hearing about the
Speaker 2: Louisville games since summertime, you know, So to come off Gonzaga,
Speaker 2: all the jet lag, looking ahead to Louisville, you know,
Speaker 2: the national promos for it, It's only natural I would
Speaker 2: think their minds to wander a little.
Speaker 1: Bit, you know what I mean.
Speaker 14: Yeah, And then the other thing gave is, you know
Speaker 14: this team needs a couple of days off. Okay, that's true.
Speaker 14: I mean you think about playing that game at Clemson
Speaker 14: started what nine thirty or ten o'clock? Really, yeah, I
Speaker 14: mean that was a late late game. Then you fly
Speaker 14: back right after the game, and you get here and
Speaker 14: lecturing commit three o'clock in the morning, and you have
Speaker 14: one day Wednesday to try to recover from that. You
Speaker 14: leave Thursday, fly across country to the West coast, three
Speaker 14: hour time different, so you don't sleep very well on
Speaker 14: those West Coast trips, and then you come right back
Speaker 14: and have to play another game. So they need they
Speaker 14: need a good, solid win against Louisville on Saturday, and
Speaker 14: then get some days off, man, so their bodies can recover.
Speaker 14: I mean, it just is like that this time of
Speaker 14: the year.
Speaker 2: I've tried to watch some UFL games when I can.
Speaker 2: They've got some talent, you know, and if they're hitting shots,
Speaker 2: they're dangerous like anybody. I don't know yet if they've
Speaker 2: made it an authod maybe game time decision on Lamont Butler,
Speaker 2: but man, as soon.
Speaker 14: As they get him back, yeah, yeah, you know Lamont.
Speaker 14: I mean, if it's NCAA tournament Lamont would have played,
Speaker 14: you would have had to tie him down to keep
Speaker 14: him out of that kind of game. But because it
Speaker 14: is early in the season, you would rather err on
Speaker 14: this side of caution and give him as much time
Speaker 14: as you possibly can. I look for him to be
Speaker 14: back Saturday, and you know, I don't know that the
Speaker 14: decision has been made. I know it hasn't been made,
Speaker 14: but we'll kind of see what happens. But Lobelle is
Speaker 14: a team that kind of has had to live by
Speaker 14: the three point shots and the key to being lobil
Speaker 14: And if you look at the game they played against
Speaker 14: Duke earlier in the week, no last week, I guess
Speaker 14: it was. They played Duke and had Duke beat until
Speaker 14: midway in the second half when Duke kind of took
Speaker 14: away their three point shots. They started chasing them off
Speaker 14: the three point line and then Louisville struggled some from there.
Speaker 14: So Kentucky will have the work cut out for them.
Speaker 14: I mean, up until the Colgate game, Kentucky had been
Speaker 14: pretty good at defending the three point line. I mean
Speaker 14: they have really done that. Gave up some against Colgate
Speaker 14: and Louiso probably. I mean, I know they will see
Speaker 14: that video and believe me, that's gonna be what they
Speaker 14: want to do. It set up opportunities at the line,
Speaker 14: So so we'll see what happens from there.
Speaker 2: Just a couple of minutes left with Jack Gibbons, the
Speaker 2: All American and the color analyst on the UK Radio Network.
Speaker 2: People have tweeted a little bit about a Mariy Williams
Speaker 2: can't seem to buy one in the paint now when
Speaker 2: you're dunking like he.
Speaker 1: Was last night, that's not a problem.
Speaker 2: But I can't imagine you're two concerned with his shot
Speaker 2: making ability because in the Mark style of play, you
Speaker 2: don't worry about those misshots.
Speaker 14: Do you.
Speaker 9: No?
Speaker 14: No, I don't I don't worry about don't where about
Speaker 14: that at all? I mean, listen, am I if if
Speaker 14: you do the stuff that they want him to do.
Speaker 14: Number One, he's a great passer as long as he
Speaker 14: doesn't try to create opportunities to pass. He just catches
Speaker 14: the ball and passes it. He's really really good. He's
Speaker 14: he's got to work at getting the ball closer to
Speaker 14: the basket. And of course, always with big guys. I mean,
Speaker 14: I'm an old school guy, So I'd like to see
Speaker 14: him go up and dunk the ball more as opposed
Speaker 14: to trying to touch it up and shooting the fallaways
Speaker 14: and all of that kind of stuff. I'd like to
Speaker 14: see him explode up and try to tear the rim
Speaker 14: down a couple of times. Now you get fouled, you
Speaker 14: go to the free throw line and you get get
Speaker 14: points that way. But but no, I'm not concerned about that.
Speaker 14: There are plenty opportunities to get shot to the basket.
Speaker 1: And he's a good free throw shooter.
Speaker 14: He has he has become a pretty good free throw shooter.
Speaker 14: I mean, uh, you look at his shot and you
Speaker 14: wonder how because it's it's kind of a different trajectory
Speaker 14: on that shot. But but yeah, he's he's worked out
Speaker 14: how to make free throws. But you know, for bigs,
Speaker 14: you got to deliver messages, man, every time you get
Speaker 14: the ball because there's so much banging and pushing going
Speaker 14: on under the basket. But I always like to see
Speaker 14: those bigs go up and try to try to tear
Speaker 14: the basket down on the dunks. That probably comes from
Speaker 14: me following and broadcasting for the Orlando Magic and should
Speaker 14: kill o'mill, should kill o'nil down there. But that's the
Speaker 14: way you want to uh to attack every time when
Speaker 14: you're big in the paint.
Speaker 1: He is Jack Givens.
Speaker 2: He is the All American who works alongside Tom Leasha
Speaker 2: on the UK Radio Network and he'll be behind the
Speaker 2: mic on Saturday and Reperina when the Cats take on
Speaker 2: to Louisville Cardinals. Jack, thank you so much, looking forward
Speaker 2: to seeing you.
Speaker 5: Always enjoyed.
Speaker 14: Gabe, thank you.
Speaker 2: Aaron Gershon of the Cats. Pause is next year on
Speaker 2: six thirty. Welcome back to the Big Blue Sider joining
Speaker 2: us down our celebrity hotlines. A guy we usually talked
Speaker 2: to in studio, but we were bumped Monday night from
Speaker 2: the State Wide. So so Aaron Gershan, the catch pos
Speaker 2: catching up with us just as well, Aaron, because we
Speaker 2: have another basketball game we can talk about as well
Speaker 2: as the football schedule. No surprises there, because you know,
Speaker 2: we all knew that the teams Kentucky played this year
Speaker 2: we would play next year. I'm a little puzzled at
Speaker 2: the open dates, you know, an open date in two games,
Speaker 2: another open date. I think that's really I may be
Speaker 2: able to work out who knows who?
Speaker 11: H Yeah, I mean Old Mitt had it had the
Speaker 11: same schedule as Kentucky last year, but in reverse where
Speaker 11: they had their buys like really close together, but late
Speaker 11: in the season, and I think that kind of played
Speaker 11: into their favor, right, I mean, I know they lost
Speaker 11: the game be Floorida at the end, but they had
Speaker 11: the two losses, you know, fairly early before their buy
Speaker 11: to LSU in Kentucky, where Kentucky they have, they have
Speaker 11: those two early buys, which maybe that'll be good given
Speaker 11: this year. They lost a lot of guys in that
Speaker 11: chunk of the season. But then they have to play
Speaker 11: seven in a row, non stop down the stretch, and
Speaker 11: there's some really really hard games back to back in
Speaker 11: that period. So look, we knew, like you said, we
Speaker 11: knew the opponents. We knew it was just going to
Speaker 11: be the reverse. The home field in the SEC. Obviously
Speaker 11: reverse the home field and the Governor's stuff. We knew
Speaker 11: that was going to be at the end of the year.
Speaker 11: But it's a grueling schedule. I mean, you talk about
Speaker 11: a stretch where you go, I think it's South Carolina
Speaker 11: and Georgia on the road back.
Speaker 5: To back weekends. You get a buy in between, and then.
Speaker 11: In some ordered Texas and Tennessee like that's that's ruthless.
Speaker 5: I mean, especially with the year.
Speaker 11: That South Carolina is coming off of and they'll have
Speaker 11: their quarterback Lenora's cellars, so you know, it's the it's
Speaker 11: life in the SEC. But uh, you know they got
Speaker 11: they got a tough draw when this you know, rotating
Speaker 11: opponent thing came out before last season.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you know anymore, it used to be, uh,
Speaker 2: well you look at the conference and you think, well,
Speaker 2: there might be you know, three wins there and then
Speaker 2: who knows what the swing games. Now you know, Mandy
Speaker 2: rises up, All Miss rises up South Carolina.
Speaker 1: I mean, there just aren't any stops in the league,
Speaker 1: are there.
Speaker 5: No, there's no stops in the league.
Speaker 11: There's no you can't count Louisville anymore, just because you're
Speaker 11: coming off the lots there and fans aren't gonna want
Speaker 11: to hear it. But Toledo went in and kicked the
Speaker 11: crap out of Mississippi State last year. If you lay
Speaker 11: an egg in that one, you.
Speaker 5: Know, look out.
Speaker 11: So it's a it's an unforgiving plate. But that's why
Speaker 11: you're seeing Kentucky all over this transfer portal trying to
Speaker 11: get things right. I think they've done a good job
Speaker 11: at least with some of the names that I've seen
Speaker 11: them in contact with it both across the offensive line
Speaker 11: and at the egge rusher positions. I think they have
Speaker 11: the right line of thinking. It's about going out and executing,
Speaker 11: signing some legitimate impact makers. And you know, again, it's
Speaker 11: tough to be optimistic right now. I totally understand any
Speaker 11: fan who's very pessimistic. But in this transfer portal era,
Speaker 11: if there's any time you can go from four to
Speaker 11: eight to a nine to three, eight and four, it's now.
Speaker 11: So let's see how they execute in the portal. At
Speaker 11: this point, Mark Stups and co. Are staying and you
Speaker 11: got to just ride the wave if you want to
Speaker 11: at least look at all forward to the next football season.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, it has.
Speaker 2: To be done that way, and I keep thinking back
Speaker 2: to Mark Strups's best team, in my opinion, was the
Speaker 2: twenty eighteen team. Yeah, I agree, there was there was depth.
Speaker 2: There was talent on both sides of the ball, but
Speaker 2: a majority of the depth and there were some transfer
Speaker 2: it worked out, but the majority of death was kids.
Speaker 1: And we've talked about it.
Speaker 2: Before that they scouted, evaluated, recruited, and then developed.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Man, it's just anymore. It seems like with the portal,
Speaker 2: you gotta gamble and you gotta guess. Right, there is
Speaker 2: some guessing involved and we as we have found out,
Speaker 2: sometimes you just don't hit on that, do.
Speaker 11: You No, you don't hit on it. And the recruit
Speaker 11: and developed is often like you said, it's so hard
Speaker 11: now because you have a kid that you're developing and
Speaker 11: he just hits the portal if he doesn't play enough.
Speaker 11: I mean, I love the example of Jeremiah England, that
Speaker 11: young cornerback who had I think a pick in like
Speaker 11: seven or eight pass breakups in their little condensed spring
Speaker 11: game this year, and he hit the portal two days later. Yeah,
Speaker 11: because there was tapes. It's just it's a really tough world.
Speaker 11: But yeah, like you said, the portal evaluations Now, when
Speaker 11: you're bringing in so many each year, you know you
Speaker 11: have to hit fifty percent or more. Last year they
Speaker 11: probably hit like twenty to fifteen percent. I mean, jam
Speaker 11: and Johnson had a really good year. I'm blanking on
Speaker 11: anyone else that Jalen Farmer I thought didn't carry it
Speaker 11: right guard. Other than that, I mean, it was kind
Speaker 11: of a bust of a transfer class. In the class
Speaker 11: before that, you know, you had Ray Davis play really well,
Speaker 11: Devin Leary did some good things, but overall too there
Speaker 11: weren't that many impact makers in that one either, so
Speaker 11: they got to hit at a higher percentage this year.
Speaker 11: That's how look you look at South Carolina. That's the
Speaker 11: program that Mark Stups mentioned that that didn't name them,
Speaker 11: but he mentioned them in his last press conference after
Speaker 11: the Louisville game as to why he's optimistic and they
Speaker 11: went out. They got Rocket Sanders that was a hit.
Speaker 11: Kyle Canard won the Bronco figure was the name of
Speaker 11: that award that got down? Yep, yep, yep, he won
Speaker 11: that award. Out of the portal, they got two offensive
Speaker 11: linemen that ended up starters out of the portal. So
Speaker 11: you got to be able to evaluate and hit the.
Speaker 1: D back who left it. We've talked about him before.
Speaker 1: I don't remember where he lay and to do you.
Speaker 5: The d beat that left Kentucky?
Speaker 1: Yeah, the kid pitch.
Speaker 11: Yeah, he left the pit that he didn't play a
Speaker 11: single game and now he's back in the court.
Speaker 1: Amazing. Yeah, he was seen a lot of action this year.
Speaker 11: Yeah, with all the injuries, no doubt you would think.
Speaker 11: And I think he was coming off in AHL. I
Speaker 11: think you've read shirted his whole freshman year with a NCL.
Speaker 11: But so even if he didn't play this year, I mean,
Speaker 11: now you're you're we don't know for sure, but we're
Speaker 11: you know, they're probably gonna lose Maxwell Harrison. They haven't
Speaker 11: really had much attrition in the drive room off the
Speaker 11: top of my head as far as the portal goes.
Speaker 11: But you know, still, you probably want to add a
Speaker 11: body or two to help out in that room. And
Speaker 11: that could have been a guy who, if he had
Speaker 11: waited to turn was set up for a prominent role
Speaker 11: as soon as this season.
Speaker 1: Here in twenty five, I got to think.
Speaker 2: You weren't all that shocked when Stoops said he will
Speaker 2: probably go after a QB in the.
Speaker 11: Portal no, no, they have to look, that's not a
Speaker 11: the nothing against Cutter Bully.
Speaker 5: Maybe next year's is year, maybe it's twenty.
Speaker 11: Six, but you know, you're probably like, we don't know
Speaker 11: for sure on Brock, Mandergriff. I can't imagine a world
Speaker 11: he's back, and if he is, it's not going to
Speaker 11: be as a starter. Gavin Winstet's now in the portal.
Speaker 11: So your three scholarship quarterbacks taking out Brock or Cutter Bully,
Speaker 11: and then two true freshmen in Stone, Saunders and Brett
Speaker 11: and Ward. So you absolutely need to get a body
Speaker 11: in there. I think I think the way to do it.
Speaker 11: You know, if I were in that building is to
Speaker 11: get a guy who's got one year left. That way,
Speaker 11: you kind of are still sending a message to Cutter
Speaker 11: that one you could still compete for this job. And two,
Speaker 11: this is a one year deal. You know, no matter
Speaker 11: what happens here, you know you're still our guy. We
Speaker 11: believe in the future, and you're gonna have three years
Speaker 11: left of eligibility remaining to be that guy. So that
Speaker 11: that's the way I would kind of approach it. I
Speaker 11: would I wouldn't take a guy with a multi year
Speaker 11: eligibility unless it's just the absolute perfect fit. And we'll see.
Speaker 11: They haven't been linked to that many guys out of
Speaker 11: the portal. I think the only quarterback I've seen is
Speaker 11: that one from Yale, and he is a guy that
Speaker 11: has one year. So you know, we'll see, we'll see
Speaker 11: which direction they go recruiting that position.
Speaker 2: You know, Tim Katch went into the Hall of Fame
Speaker 2: as you know this week, and way back when he
Speaker 2: was a freshman or whatever, or there were Kentucky fans
Speaker 2: who were lobbying to just throw him in and take
Speaker 2: whatever results, you know, and my response was, he'll get clobberd.
Speaker 2: They'll get clobber they might lose every game.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but he's a future. We don't care.
Speaker 2: You know what, when it slaps you in the face,
Speaker 2: you do care. So I know people want to see
Speaker 2: cutter bowllie, but first and foremost they want to win.
Speaker 11: Don't they Absolutely they want to win. And I think
Speaker 11: you probably got to that point with the Louisville game
Speaker 11: where it's like, all right, where bull eligibility's out, let's
Speaker 11: just see the play and you know they're coaching for
Speaker 11: that brand with it didn't go well, but yeah, it's
Speaker 11: a very tough it's a tough predicament, but you got
Speaker 11: to when you're bringing back an entire staff that's in
Speaker 11: you know, with Stup the mayor at the top and
Speaker 11: the year thirteen, there's no quote unquote rebuilding at this point,
Speaker 11: like you have to go try to win. You're not
Speaker 11: by bringing them back, not that Kentucky was gonna let
Speaker 11: him go, but by coming back and bringing them back
Speaker 11: all together, you're sending a message like, hey, we're still
Speaker 11: trying to win here and you can't go you can't
Speaker 11: go half you know, acid for last of better terms
Speaker 11: of quarterback.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's too important. It's avage just way, way
Speaker 2: too important. Obviously, we'll talk basketball on the other side
Speaker 2: of the break with Aaron gershan here on the Big
Speaker 2: Moon side or six thirty well from back, we're talking
Speaker 2: with Aaron gershano the Cats pause. We talked football in
Speaker 2: the previous segments, so we got to talk some basketball
Speaker 2: real quickly. Gonzaga and one, I know you didn't make
Speaker 2: the trip, but you had to write it up at halftime,
Speaker 2: did you think there was any way to come back?
Speaker 1: And when Lamar.
Speaker 2: Butler went down, did you think there was any way
Speaker 2: they could come back.
Speaker 11: No one, no, no one, no.
Speaker 9: Yeah.
Speaker 5: That was one of the more.
Speaker 11: Results I can remember covering the team. I mean probably
Speaker 11: up there honestly on the other end of the spectrum
Speaker 11: as an Evansville like I genuinely well in the way Gonzaga.
Speaker 5: Was just playing.
Speaker 11: I mean, nem Hart was tearing them apart.
Speaker 6: E K.
Speaker 5: Grahamy K the big center transfer.
Speaker 11: From Wyoming who came in here in rep Arena and
Speaker 11: costsavoc in February, was doing it all over again. It
Speaker 11: just they gave up fifty points by half. They couldn't
Speaker 11: shoot the three again. Like you said, no Lama, I
Speaker 11: was like, no way. And the mark Pope's credit and
Speaker 11: the players, I mean they jumpted that one three one
Speaker 11: that you know, after one or two passes they went
Speaker 11: into a man. Sometimes they played it straight up. It
Speaker 11: confused them, as Kenny Pin would say, it tricked them.
Speaker 11: It was just very, very impressive that they were able
Speaker 11: to go get that done. And I thought, you know,
Speaker 11: they also shifted their offensive game plan. They just attacked
Speaker 11: the rim similarly to when they did against Duke. I mean,
Speaker 11: they relied on Andrew carr at Robinson had his best
Speaker 11: game of the season and that was that was a stunning,
Speaker 11: awesome result. And to do that without La Pomp Butler
Speaker 11: when you're facing a guy like neim Hart, who is
Speaker 11: just I mean, that guy is just a true point guard,
Speaker 11: and that like, he's not an amazing scorer, but he
Speaker 11: averages over ten assist the game. He's an amazing defender.
Speaker 11: And the fact you were able to beat that team
Speaker 11: without Nemhard or without Butler guarding nim Hard is nothing
Speaker 11: short of extraordinary. I mean, that was as impressive as
Speaker 11: a Kentucky win as I can remember in quite some time,
Speaker 11: just given the circumstances.
Speaker 2: You know, there are some coaches out there who really
Speaker 2: prefer the drill sergeant approach on the court. Maybe not
Speaker 2: off the court, but you know, just and and Pope
Speaker 2: used to he admitted just you know recently, but he
Speaker 2: kind of did a one eighty and he's going more positive.
Speaker 2: And Jack Gibbons, we just had Jack on and he
Speaker 2: talked about this on the radio broadcast. When they were
Speaker 2: behind by eight teen points. He could hear because he
Speaker 2: was right next to the Kentucky bench. You probably saw
Speaker 2: him on TV. He could hear Pope yelling to Jackson Robinson,
Speaker 2: We're okay, we're gonna be all right, you know, just
Speaker 2: trying to keep their heads up and in the game,
Speaker 2: and it paid off. And I think Aaron with a
Speaker 2: veteran ball club like this, I think it's really fascinating
Speaker 2: that they're getting this brand of coaching that they probably
Speaker 2: never had before.
Speaker 5: You know, no question, it's completely different.
Speaker 11: I mean he and you saw it in their little
Speaker 11: journey video that they do the amazing job with the
Speaker 11: K Sports video and their people there and like they go,
Speaker 11: he went into that locker room just totally calm, as
Speaker 11: if they were almost like as almosts if they had
Speaker 11: nothing to lose or they were winning the game.
Speaker 5: It was just unbelievable.
Speaker 11: Utcom and mild mannerdy Is and even you know, last night,
Speaker 11: I'm sure we'll talk about that game, which was not
Speaker 11: pretty at all and they're losing by three to a
Speaker 11: bad Colgate team with seven fifteen minutes ago, and he's
Speaker 11: the same guy, like completely steady Eddie, not worried at all.
Speaker 5: So you know, I do.
Speaker 11: Think and you know the fact too, I think I
Speaker 11: am curious. I don't think it's Demeanor's going to go
Speaker 11: to a one eighty and he's gonna become a drill sergeant.
Speaker 11: But I am curious to see next year when they
Speaker 11: have a younger team, when you're probably gonna have three
Speaker 11: or four freshmen and maybe two or three sophomores in
Speaker 11: the rotation, if that changes it all. I think the
Speaker 11: fact that he has so many veterans he can rely on,
Speaker 11: they basically coach themselves at halftime. I think that maybe
Speaker 11: that too has kind of helped him say commerce than
Speaker 11: most coaches would. So I am curious to see if
Speaker 11: there's a shift at all next season when they're younger.
Speaker 11: But all that, to mine, it's a winning formula.
Speaker 5: I think.
Speaker 11: I really think this team, you know too, every team,
Speaker 11: I'm sure he also has to shift based on personnel
Speaker 11: right there. The players, All players have to be coached
Speaker 11: a little differently, and it's especially harder to figure that
Speaker 11: out now in this day and age. But I think
Speaker 11: this team, being veteran led, knowing kind of when they
Speaker 11: screw up and when they don't, he can kind of
Speaker 11: let them talk to themselves and then kind of be
Speaker 11: the one who just puts the game playing together and
Speaker 11: and rally the troops when he needs to. So uh,
Speaker 11: you know, I think I think he's done a fantastic job.
Speaker 2: Obviously a few minutes up with Aaron gershin as a
Speaker 2: cat's pause.
Speaker 1: Uh. Some of the players you talked to you last night.
Speaker 2: I know, mentioned that at halftime, even before Pope got
Speaker 2: in there, they talked among themselves about what they need
Speaker 2: to do to turn this thing around. And again, just
Speaker 2: the joy of having veteran players, right.
Speaker 11: No question, and and your car. Every time I see
Speaker 11: him talking like, are we sure that's not more Sope,
Speaker 11: it's crazy. Their their mannerisms, the way they talk, the
Speaker 11: words they use, it's almost scary.
Speaker 5: Yeah, the way they play, it's crazy.
Speaker 11: So I see why Pope was very much drawn to him.
Speaker 11: So yeah, definitely every game. I mean, that was the
Speaker 11: common theme. They said it at the Duke game, they
Speaker 11: did it in Seattle, we saw it on video, and
Speaker 11: they probably they did it again last night. So uh,
Speaker 11: that is definitely a huge benefit of having you know, what,
Speaker 11: what is it seven seniors and the junior.
Speaker 2: We talked about after the Clemson game, the template or
Speaker 2: at least challenging Kentucky, and that's get physical with them.
Speaker 2: And I also thought Colgate obviously not a team that
Speaker 2: can do that. But the tack that their coach chose
Speaker 2: was run Kentucky off the three point line, yep, and
Speaker 2: and see if we can hit shots at the other end.
Speaker 1: And it worked for a while. I think we'll see
Speaker 1: more of that, don't you.
Speaker 11: Yeah, yeah they did. And you know they played some
Speaker 11: zones too, kind of you not not the one. I
Speaker 11: think that's if they played a three two or two three,
Speaker 11: but uh, you know, they they tried to throw Kentucky
Speaker 11: Kentucky off that way and they did. And look, I mean, honestly,
Speaker 11: Kentucky has some good looks. It's been five straight games
Speaker 11: where Kentucky just hasn't shot the three at a good clip.
Speaker 11: I mean, the first five games this year they shot
Speaker 11: over forty two from three, uh, twenty eight percent. The
Speaker 11: last five games. They got to figure that out. You
Speaker 11: definitely got to get credit Colgate. They've made some tough
Speaker 11: shots too, and some open ones. I think they've made
Speaker 11: eight of their last nine threes in the first half. So,
Speaker 11: I mean, you know, we go back to what John
Speaker 11: Calipari used to say, teams come in a rough and
Speaker 11: play their best because they have nothing to lose. And
Speaker 11: you know, that's one of the things I always agreed
Speaker 11: with him. They do, and Colgate definitely plays with played
Speaker 11: like a team that that cow would describe like that,
Speaker 11: and and you definitely got to give him credit for
Speaker 11: adjusting on the three point line and making some tough shots.
Speaker 11: But I do think a lot of it was self inflicted.
Speaker 11: And you know they they also they just need it's things.
Speaker 11: Not having Kirk Carisa, I think they'll be fine without
Speaker 11: him as long as they get Lamar Butler back. I mean,
Speaker 11: they need their floor general back on both ends of
Speaker 11: the floor. Kobe Brays just not he struggles on the
Speaker 11: defensive end. Great shooters struggles on the defensive end. Jackson Robinson,
Speaker 11: you want to be able to use his defense more
Speaker 11: against a more a bigger, physical guy rather than the
Speaker 11: point guard. So it's really important to get Lamont Butler back.
Speaker 11: I don't think you want to put Chucky Hempburn their
Speaker 11: point guard from Louisville. Yeah, probably playing better than anyone
Speaker 11: on their team, and especially defensively. That's not a matchup
Speaker 11: I like for Jackson Robinson. It's a matchup. I'm just
Speaker 11: fine with the Ford Lamont Butler, So hopefully he's back
Speaker 11: out there. Hopefully he's back out there Saturday because that
Speaker 11: game could get could get dicey.
Speaker 5: They really need him back.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I got about ninety seconds left.
Speaker 1: Have you seen Louisville play much?
Speaker 5: I haven't.
Speaker 11: I saw the most I saw him play was against Duke,
Speaker 11: so obviously wasn't they They came out hot and then
Speaker 11: they fell apart late. But you know, the big thing
Speaker 11: with Louisville that I think Kentucky has an advantage way
Speaker 11: is if they could play the Brendon basketball that is
Speaker 11: is Louisville. Unfortunately, injury bug has just killed them. Now
Speaker 11: they're down to like seven guys they trust in the rotation.
Speaker 11: I think eight that are even okay to go with
Speaker 11: scholarship lives. So they Kentucky used to just get out
Speaker 11: and run this game. If they get out and run,
Speaker 11: they're gonna get tired, That's.
Speaker 5: What you know.
Speaker 11: Duke chipped and chip the w and then they started
Speaker 11: to run in the second half and Louisville just ran
Speaker 11: out of gas. And you know, Utep gave him a
Speaker 11: heck of a game last night. I mean they only
Speaker 11: won by three. Louisville did and there was a high
Speaker 11: game with a minute thirty left and Louisville is down
Speaker 11: at half, so I think if Kentucky can make Louisville
Speaker 11: run a little bit, get them tired, I think UF
Speaker 11: will eventually just run out of gas. And that's unfortunate.
Speaker 11: With the erring jury situation, you never want to see
Speaker 11: it that way. But they do need the Mot Butler
Speaker 11: back because I can tell you that game will be
Speaker 11: a lot closer than people might think.
Speaker 5: If he's not. Just with the way their point guard
Speaker 5: the transfer from Wisconsin, Hepburn is playing.
Speaker 2: Well, whatever happens, Aaron Gershawn, we'll cover it for the
Speaker 2: Cat's pause and speaking of our best to Oscar Combs,
Speaker 2: who of course created the Cat's pause, and we're all rooted.
Speaker 2: Yeah Oscar, he's on the end. But follow Aaron on
Speaker 2: x or on Twitter. It's a gershawan ninety nine. Correct, yep,
Speaker 2: that is right, all right, and we're out of time,
Speaker 2: so we don't have time to talk about your beloved
Speaker 2: football giants.
Speaker 1: We'll do that next okay, okay, all right, man, we'll
Speaker 1: see you see you this weekend, alright, and that'll do
Speaker 1: it for now.
Speaker 2: Thanks to my guest Sean Woods, Jack Gibbons and Aaron
Speaker 2: Gershawn of course, coming up Saturday, it's the Cats and
Speaker 2: the Cards at a five point fifteen start at Rupparina.
Speaker 1: You'll hear it right here.
Speaker 2: Of course, you'll have it on the tube, but I've
Speaker 2: been able to synk things up a little bit. I've
Speaker 2: got my TV comes through Roku and Hulu and all that,
Speaker 2: so give it a try. I recommend it, but if not,
Speaker 2: we'll have it for you right here on your number
Speaker 2: one spot for sports. Stay warm out there, keep an
Speaker 2: eye on your animals as well.
Speaker 1: That's it. Good night from the garage and Lexington.
Speaker 4: Sixty nine offense. He's giving them the business.
Speaker 3: The FAA
Speaker 9: Has the