Speaker 1: From the Tri Countyboard dot com studios. This is Sports
Speaker 1: Talk seven nine day. It's time for coffee and company,
Speaker 1: fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine day. Now
Speaker 1: here's Nick coffee.
Speaker 2: All right, let's get it start at five o'clock hour
Speaker 2: here on a Monday afternoon. Hopefully you had yourselves a
Speaker 2: very good Thanksgiving break. I assume everybody got a break,
Speaker 2: but I know that's not the reality of it. A
Speaker 2: lot of people probably had to work the day after
Speaker 2: Thanksgiving or maybe over the weekend. I guess technically I
Speaker 2: worked over the weekend, but it didn't feel like it
Speaker 2: felt great to be able to go on the air
Speaker 2: on Saturday after Louisville reclaimed the Governor's Cup. But then
Speaker 2: there's other people that probably work Thanksgiving because you know,
Speaker 2: there's certain jobs that you don't get days off. So
Speaker 2: I'm very thankful that I had a good Thanksgiving and
Speaker 2: thanking that I got to spend a lot of time
Speaker 2: with the family. You'll know this at some point in
Speaker 2: your life, Austin. But when you spend four straight days
Speaker 2: with your with your kids, yeah, and you're just as
Speaker 2: a family, you know, just NonStop around each other. It's
Speaker 2: it's it's wholesome and it's great. But then you kind
Speaker 2: of like, you know, you remind yourself. Man, the kids
Speaker 2: go back to school Monday, this goes back to daycare.
Speaker 2: I could kind of need a little breathing room. But
Speaker 2: then you get to Monday and you miss them. And
Speaker 2: that's that's kind of how it is today for me.
Speaker 3: So always, how I always hear how how they say,
Speaker 3: you know, kids are the greatest blessing I guess you
Speaker 3: can have in your life. And I mean I grew
Speaker 3: up with a brother and sister and you know, they
Speaker 3: have so many days off fall break, this break or whatnot,
Speaker 3: so it it's fun to spend time with them while
Speaker 3: they're in the house. But then like after four or
Speaker 3: five days of it, and where I'm like, shouldn't you
Speaker 3: be in school?
Speaker 2: Yeah, And then you do it and then you'll end
Speaker 2: up missing them. Yeah. It's just usually how it works.
Speaker 2: That's that's how it works. So gross, I'm glad. I'm
Speaker 2: I'm glad to be back to because I love the holidays.
Speaker 2: Who doesn't, right, you get some time off, you can
Speaker 2: just spend time with family. Thanksgivings great. Tab absolutely can't
Speaker 2: wait for Christmas. But I am someone that is so
Speaker 2: dependent upon routine and structure to where like if I'm not,
Speaker 2: like if I've got a short week or you know,
Speaker 2: just different things going on, I just feel like I'm
Speaker 2: out of rhythm. But I love being back here to
Speaker 2: start a week, and you know, we'll be here all week,
Speaker 2: so hopefully you guys will be with us. But we've
Speaker 2: all you know, it's just nice to get It's nice
Speaker 2: to start this week knowing that I've you know, we
Speaker 2: got the monkey off our back. We were able to
Speaker 2: finally break the streak. And I say we like I
Speaker 2: was out there making plays. I mean, I would have
Speaker 2: been out there if Jeff needed me anything he wants.
Speaker 2: I mean, I think one of the times I've asked,
Speaker 2: remember who might have been Michael Bush? Asked Michael Bush
Speaker 2: we were at a golf course doing a show on
Speaker 2: tom and asked him, you know, if you were coaching, like,
Speaker 2: how would you utilize me if I was on the roster?
Speaker 2: And he told me I could be the guy that
Speaker 2: runs and picks up the tee after they kick it off.
Speaker 2: And I felt very humbled to know, like, yeah, that
Speaker 2: probably would be the best fit for me. Cup My
Speaker 2: got cup did gass me up when Tom and said
Speaker 2: he could hide me on special teams, and I really
Speaker 2: appreciated that. Be a gunner something like that, just running around,
Speaker 2: like just run down and not have any contact with
Speaker 2: the once like the play's over, like the kickoff's over,
Speaker 2: then you bounce around like you did something like That's
Speaker 2: what all special teams guys seem to go.
Speaker 3: Dap up the person that's like the zone.
Speaker 2: Did you know the cameras on them because they got
Speaker 2: to stop, So you just go to run there and
Speaker 2: you know, slap their helmet like yeah, just so you
Speaker 2: can tell people like I don't get in the game,
Speaker 2: but you saw me out there. I was bringing the energy.
Speaker 2: I could go on the highlight reel exactly. It'd be great,
Speaker 2: like if you were in the portal and like that's
Speaker 2: all that was in your in your highlights that you
Speaker 2: were sending out, like your tape, like you just sent
Speaker 2: tape of you finding the guy who made the play
Speaker 2: on Special teams just to gas him up. Like that
Speaker 2: would be if I was a coach and somebody sent
Speaker 2: me that I might let that guy come and walk
Speaker 2: on or just take a scholarship that we weren't going
Speaker 2: to use because like I could appreciate the effort there or.
Speaker 3: Being the guy that's like so close to him, but
Speaker 3: the kick goes to them anyways, and you're the one
Speaker 3: kind of telling them to take the knee.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, that's huge.
Speaker 3: That's that's a big role there, Actually teammate right there.
Speaker 3: Think about that's what teammates are for, no doubt about it.
Speaker 2: And and it's.
Speaker 3: Not like you weren't out there, but you were selected
Speaker 3: upon a few of a journalist here in Louisville to
Speaker 3: give you your Courrier journal prediction. Now, then what was
Speaker 3: that prediction? Again? Was that did the game turnout as closed?
Speaker 3: When't it like thirty seven seventeen or something?
Speaker 2: So my prediction I put twenty seven sixteen for Louisville.
Speaker 2: And here's what I gave John Hale to use in
Speaker 2: my inclusion in the media predictions for the Governor's Cup game,
Speaker 2: Louisville twenty seven Kentucky sixteen. And this is what I wrote.
Speaker 2: Louisville has proven they can score points. Jeff Browns offenses
Speaker 2: averaging thirty six points per game overall thirty two points
Speaker 2: per game against four Top twelve teams. The Cards defense
Speaker 2: has been shaky at times. Both they'll do enough to
Speaker 2: contain Kentucky's offense, which ranks dead last in the SEC.
Speaker 2: So I was wrong. Louisville scored forty one and could
Speaker 2: have scored sixty, and Kentucky scored fourteen, and they did
Speaker 2: earn those fourteen points. I mean, I'll give them that.
Speaker 2: It was a really good play. In fact, two really
Speaker 2: good balls that were thrown by Gavin Wimsat, who was
Speaker 2: thrown into the game because Cutter Bowlie hurt. So you know,
Speaker 2: Kentucky and I said this at the beginning of the show,
Speaker 2: the best feeling is relief from Saturday, knowing that you
Speaker 2: now have reclaimed bragging rights and you don't have to
Speaker 2: hear them live in their own world of delusion as
Speaker 2: if their football program was anything special. And I'm not
Speaker 2: here to tell Louisville's a special program, but I mean
Speaker 2: them winning five in a row and being able to
Speaker 2: say scoreboard, it gave them a false sense of accomplishment.
Speaker 2: And it really was the best example I can think
Speaker 2: of in the rivalry where we were your super Bowl
Speaker 2: and they can act like no, no, but like there's
Speaker 2: evidence that says otherwise. You can't point to anything you've
Speaker 2: done in most of the stoop seasons that were successful,
Speaker 2: that was any big deal, Like you just didn't suck
Speaker 2: like you once did. You took advantage of teams that
Speaker 2: were firing coaches that season and you beat them, like
Speaker 2: you know, and now those programs, a lot of them
Speaker 2: have caught back up and passed you by by mile.
Speaker 2: So without a win against them, it just kind of
Speaker 2: felt like they were gonna continue to live in their
Speaker 2: own alternate universe and we would just have to hear it.
Speaker 2: I mean, you could, you know. I know Louisville fans
Speaker 2: do go back and forth with them all the time,
Speaker 2: and I don't blame you, but like when they can
Speaker 2: go scoreboard, it just makes it like, can we can
Speaker 2: we eliminate that factor? And look, they're still gonna We're
Speaker 2: still gonna rival, They're still gonna act like there's you know,
Speaker 2: this is one out of the last six games. Congratulations,
Speaker 2: you feel good you beat a one, because again I
Speaker 2: already know, like, yes, we do feel good. I don't
Speaker 2: have to check the text line. I know there's people claiming, like,
Speaker 2: how is that where your super Bowl? You beat a
Speaker 2: one in subbing Kentucky team and Yeah, we didn't do
Speaker 2: anything special. We just we just finally got the cup
Speaker 2: back and we'll probably keep it for a long time
Speaker 2: and then you'll go back to realizing who has been
Speaker 2: the better football program in our lifetime? I mean any
Speaker 2: by the way, Like again, I'm not gonna these results happen,
Speaker 2: So therefore I can't sit here and tell you know
Speaker 2: that it's fake news and this these are just games
Speaker 2: that didn't actually happen. Although like, who out there can
Speaker 2: prove to me that Kentucky beat Louisville in nineteen thirty team,
Speaker 2: nobody around to tell me. There's no evidence of it.
Speaker 2: We just claimed that it happened. I mean, I'm baking
Speaker 2: a bad joe. Clearly it did happen. But like when
Speaker 2: the rivalry restarted in nineteen ninety four. Before that, you know,
Speaker 2: the last time they played one hundred years ago today, wow,
Speaker 2: nineteen twenty four they played in Kentucky won, because Kentucky
Speaker 2: won the first I guess seven when they played from
Speaker 2: nineteen twelve to nineteen twenty four. From then on, Louisville
Speaker 2: still went into the game this past Saturday with the
Speaker 2: lead in the modern series. Despite losing five in a row.
Speaker 2: I mean, but they felt superior. Why because they started
Speaker 2: beating Louisville. And to be fair, they did beat Louisville
Speaker 2: at times when Louislle was pretty good, but like you know,
Speaker 2: they also beat Louisville when Sadderfield was here. They also
Speaker 2: beat Louislle when Bobby Patrino got fired and they had
Speaker 2: a guy named Whammy or Wham wham as the end.
Speaker 2: I'm not kidding you go back and look it up.
Speaker 2: The guy who Lorenzo something took over as interim coach
Speaker 2: because Bobby got canned and got that. Louisville had a
Speaker 2: tight end fighting one of the coaches on the sideline.
Speaker 2: It was a mess. And again like Kentucky was a mess. Saturday,
Speaker 2: they had guy's going to the concession stand. How about
Speaker 2: I talked about that yet today That's all the funniest
Speaker 2: things I've ever seen.
Speaker 3: I saw that earlier.
Speaker 2: I had a gummy on Saturday evening and I finally
Speaker 2: saw that picture that had been circulating for a while.
Speaker 2: Somebody said, have you seen the guy at the concession stand?
Speaker 2: I'm like no, And I couldn't stop laughing, Like I
Speaker 2: thought was hilarious, And I don't know why it was
Speaker 2: as funny as it was. Probably the gummy was a
Speaker 2: big factor. But I'm just saying, like, you know, like
Speaker 2: I know that they've been embarras, they were embarrassing, and
Speaker 2: they hated their team this year and we beat a
Speaker 2: bad team, Like I know all that, But the relief
Speaker 2: is just knowing that, like we now should keep this
Speaker 2: thing on our side for a while and then they
Speaker 2: can still claim that they were on top from two
Speaker 2: thousand and what two thousand and six, Yeah, from let's
Speaker 2: see here they Yeah, Well, the reason it looks funky
Speaker 2: is because in fact, the only one four in a
Speaker 2: row because one was vacated. The one they went in
Speaker 2: twenty twenty one didn't happen according to Wikipedia. So when
Speaker 2: I say that they they, I mean Stoops got the
Speaker 2: bag where he ain't leaving a nine million dollar a
Speaker 2: year job because nobody would pay him close to that.
Speaker 2: His buyout is insane. Which here's a detail that I've
Speaker 2: heard enough UK media reference it to where I believe it,
Speaker 2: but I haven't seen proof, and I don't need to
Speaker 2: see proof. But he fleeced Mitch Barnhart, not only with
Speaker 2: the contract that really wasn't deserving of the amount of money,
Speaker 2: not to say he should be fired, but like to
Speaker 2: give him that much. Nobody was gonna pay Mark Stoops
Speaker 2: that much money. The only school that was remotely ever
Speaker 2: interested in Stoops that would have taken him realized what
Speaker 2: they were getting into and backed out, and God bless
Speaker 2: their happy they did. That's Texas A and M last year.
Speaker 2: So like, you got to make it right to where
Speaker 2: he doesn't look to leave because you want to keep him,
Speaker 2: but you also have to understand where is he going
Speaker 2: to go? Like if Stoops's agent put fear into Barnhart
Speaker 2: to give him that contract and to give him that situation,
Speaker 2: and I buy this detail. A lot of guys like Bobby.
Speaker 2: We could pay Bobby, and we could pay Chris Mack
Speaker 2: over time when they got bought out. Right, if you
Speaker 2: fire Mark Stoops, he's owned forty four million dollars in
Speaker 2: full in thirty days. Like nobody's gonna fire a coach
Speaker 2: that can do that. Nobody. So like you're stuck with him.
Speaker 2: So like the contract just wasn't necessary. But there was
Speaker 2: a new life within Kentucky football. One they weren't terrible
Speaker 2: and they were actually at times not only just really
Speaker 2: good for Kentucky's standard historically, but also pretty good, like
Speaker 2: they were not a bad team at all, but it
Speaker 2: didn't warrant the rays that he got. But I think
Speaker 2: because they also started to kind of own the state
Speaker 2: in football, that made it to where, okay, we can't
Speaker 2: lose this. Like I think a caller earlier said this,
Speaker 2: and we'll never know. Only one person can answer it,
Speaker 2: and that's Minch Bartnhart will never hear from him because
Speaker 2: like he just doesn't exist. He's a guy in charge,
Speaker 2: but like you never hear him receiving I mean, like
Speaker 2: he doesn't do any kind of media availability. You know,
Speaker 2: he's just kind of sitting back doing his own thing.
Speaker 2: And he got lucky as hell that Cal bailed him
Speaker 2: out and just left and found a new job that's
Speaker 2: gonna pay him a lot of money. That didn't happening
Speaker 2: with Stoops. So to give him what they gave him,
Speaker 2: like it clearly wasn't a good thing to do. It's
Speaker 2: one thing to like say, well consider what you would
Speaker 2: because I hear this a lot. Well, hey, if you
Speaker 2: think Cal's about to go to UCLA, what are you
Speaker 2: gonna do if Stoops? You know, because the time he
Speaker 2: got his extension. I don't really know what jobs were
Speaker 2: coming after him, because again this is puts it in perspective.
Speaker 2: Nobody's ever come after your coach. I think your his
Speaker 2: agent made Barnhart scared that that was happening, but it
Speaker 2: never happened, Like is he I mean Florida State had
Speaker 2: a courtesy because he was the DC. They had a
Speaker 2: conversation with him, but they didn't interview when they didn't from
Speaker 2: the job, Like he doesn't mean he's a bad coach,
Speaker 2: but for him to be one of the top ten
Speaker 2: highest paid coaches in the country and have a forty
Speaker 2: four million dollar buyout at Kentucky with those results is
Speaker 2: flat out in confidence from an ad And when people say, well,
Speaker 2: what was he supposed to do? Let him walk? Where's
Speaker 2: he going? And with Cal, maybe Cal would have left
Speaker 2: call the bluff. You can give him a new deal,
Speaker 2: but don't give him a lifetime contract where he's entitled
Speaker 2: to that ambassador role. Like that's just crazy. And again,
Speaker 2: Barnhart was lucky that Cal found a landing spot. He's
Speaker 2: not gonna be lucky with Stoops. He's gonna have to
Speaker 2: have Stoops succeed or you know, he's gonna be there
Speaker 2: for a long time and fans are gonna be not
Speaker 2: interested in football and probably blaming, Like the blame will
Speaker 2: if Stoops is back next year and they're remotely as
Speaker 2: bad as they were this year, He's still gonna get criticized,
Speaker 2: But that heat's gonna shift to Barnhart and it already
Speaker 2: kind of has in a way, but like it's gonna
Speaker 2: be like because football needs to be successful. Football is
Speaker 2: important in Kentucky. Again, this is Stoop to Stoops his credit.
Speaker 2: He actually gave them a sign of what life can
Speaker 2: be like if your football program isn't in the gutter,
Speaker 2: and it clearly is beneficial for every program within your
Speaker 2: university as far as every sport. But their momentum has
Speaker 2: never seemed worse than it is right now, and their
Speaker 2: competition's only getting better, right like Shane Beemer owns him now,
Speaker 2: make no mistake about it, he does. Florida, I mean
Speaker 2: Florida all year one of their coach fired. They finished strong,
Speaker 2: obviously compared to what they were supposed to do, but
Speaker 2: like Florida in a year where like if you were
Speaker 2: going to beat Florida, this was the year they beat
Speaker 2: you bad, beat you by twenty eight, Auburn didn't win
Speaker 2: a game in the SEC till they played Kentucky like
Speaker 2: and these are programs that, again, historically speaking, more often
Speaker 2: than not, if you're gonna beat some of these teams,
Speaker 2: I'm mentioning, you're gonna have to beat them while they're
Speaker 2: down right like, you're gonna have to beat them when
Speaker 2: they're struggling. They're not really like Vandy. Vandy is superior
Speaker 2: than you right now, and again, it can all change
Speaker 2: in a year. There's there's examples of teams out there
Speaker 2: that absolutely have been able to use the portal and
Speaker 2: really just kind of, you know, flip it quickly, and
Speaker 2: maybe that happens with stoops, but it really didn't look
Speaker 2: like it's gonna happen. All right, quick break, We'll come
Speaker 2: back on the other side, talk a little basketball. I
Speaker 2: still view the Battle for Atlantis despite that loss to
Speaker 2: Oklahoma and it was right there. I still view the
Speaker 2: Battlefort Lanta has a real big positive for this team.
Speaker 2: But man, losing case in Pryor is tough, and there's
Speaker 2: many many tough games left, not only on the schedule
Speaker 2: for the year, but I mean like in the next
Speaker 2: few weeks they got a big game tomorrow night, taking
Speaker 2: on Chris Beard and Ole Miss, so we'll get into
Speaker 2: that in a lot more. Keep it lock right here.
Speaker 2: It's coffee and Company. Felbout Thornton's on Sports Talk seven.
Speaker 1: Ninety Now back to Coffee and Company. Fueled by Thornton's
Speaker 1: on Sports Talk seven nine day Man.
Speaker 2: Every time I refresh Twitter during the breaks, the majority
Speaker 2: of what I see posted is a report or a
Speaker 2: player himself declaring they're entering the transfer portal. That's what
Speaker 2: this day is going to look like. I think every
Speaker 2: year the first Monday, or maybe some I mean sometimes
Speaker 2: you can see it happen right after a game, but
Speaker 2: I think Monday, the Monday following the regular season finale
Speaker 2: for college football teams, will be the day where a
Speaker 2: lot of players make it public that they're intending to
Speaker 2: enter the portal. I don't think it actually opens up
Speaker 2: until later in the week, But for Louisville, I could
Speaker 2: have missed one. But the only one I know of
Speaker 2: right now now is Donald Cheney, Miami running back, who
Speaker 2: you know, wish him the best. But when you are
Speaker 2: or a fourth year senior and you're falling, you're falling
Speaker 2: back on the depth chart because it's clearly become two freshmen.
Speaker 2: I mean, I don't know why any running back. And
Speaker 2: I hate saying this because you know you want to
Speaker 2: have depth. But if you're in the portal, and or
Speaker 2: even if you're a high school recruit and you know
Speaker 2: what Louisville has with Isaac Brown and Duke Watson, I
Speaker 2: mean I could get why you wouldn't consider Louisville. And
Speaker 2: if you're on the roster and you're behind those guys,
Speaker 2: and there again, eighteen year old true freshman, I can
Speaker 2: totally see why he would look to leave. So that
Speaker 2: does open up some Nile money and it opens up
Speaker 2: a scholarship, which obviously Jeff Brom's going to use both
Speaker 2: those things to try to go build this roster for
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Speaker 2: all right, So back to basketball. I know we've talked
Speaker 2: a lot about it throughout the show, but we've got
Speaker 2: our five o'clockers out there that are probably just now
Speaker 2: with us. Maybe they're just getting off work or whatever
Speaker 2: it is they're doing that. Maybe didn't hear that, and
Speaker 2: maybe don't even know the big news. The big news
Speaker 2: is not good news, it's bad news. And that's the
Speaker 2: case in pryor out for the year with the torn
Speaker 2: acl I feared that was exactly what happened, really as
Speaker 2: soon as he went down, and he'll have surgery and
Speaker 2: be out this season. People have asked me about is
Speaker 2: he going to take a medical red shirt? I don't know.
Speaker 2: He will be able to qualify for a red shirt
Speaker 2: if he wants to, because he and maybe they changed
Speaker 2: the rules. But in football it's you know, you play
Speaker 2: four games and that's it. You play more than that,
Speaker 2: then it counts as a year. In basketball, I think
Speaker 2: it's the percentage of games your team plays, So him
Speaker 2: playing in what six games, seven games, maybe it'll still
Speaker 2: fall below the percentage that it's always been in place
Speaker 2: with basketball when it comes to being granted a medical
Speaker 2: red shirt because you played in such few games. So yeah,
Speaker 2: he played in seven games this year, and Louisville will
Speaker 2: play more than thirty, so he'll be able to do
Speaker 2: it if he wants to. What I don't know is
Speaker 2: will he want to and if he does, will he
Speaker 2: come back to Louisville. I think he's somebody that you'd
Speaker 2: want to keep around for sure, if you can. But
Speaker 2: he's also one of those guys that the recent trend
Speaker 2: tells me he'd stick around in college because he'll play
Speaker 2: and he'll make money, and his professional career he's going
Speaker 2: to have one probably isn't in the NBA therefore, or
Speaker 2: he might be more comfortable, and he might. I mean, look,
Speaker 2: he's gonna play on national TV in college and make
Speaker 2: a lot of money. I mean I would do that
Speaker 2: before getting into the pro game elsewhere, because you know,
Speaker 2: I mean, people can do what they want. But you see,
Speaker 2: guys now stay in college longer and stay as long
Speaker 2: as they possibly can because of this new world that
Speaker 2: we're in. So Cayson's been in college a long time.
Speaker 2: He's actually a guy that started his career at Boise State.
Speaker 2: I think people don't realize that, but yeah, he started
Speaker 2: his career at Boise and it's a true freshman there
Speaker 2: and didn't get a whole lot of didn't get a
Speaker 2: whole lot of run, didn't play a whole lot and
Speaker 2: then he went JUCO and I think he played two
Speaker 2: years at Juco because of the COVID year, and then
Speaker 2: he really kind of blossomed. Blake became a really good
Speaker 2: player a little later in life than a lot of
Speaker 2: guys do. And he ended up going to South Florida
Speaker 2: and was a part of their really successful season a
Speaker 2: year ago, was a big factor for their team. So yeah,
Speaker 2: he's been in colle In fact, I'm sorry. He was
Speaker 2: at Boise for two years and never played more than
Speaker 2: four minutes per game, only played in thirteen games and
Speaker 2: in two years there, then went Juco and then at
Speaker 2: South Borider really kind of broke out last year and
Speaker 2: ended up at Louisville in the portal. So he may
Speaker 2: be one of those guys that's just been in college
Speaker 2: so long he might just want to start his pro career.
Speaker 2: He's probably a lot older than most college players. But again,
Speaker 2: it wouldn't shock me in any way if he decides
Speaker 2: to stick in college for another year, because again, there's
Speaker 2: money to be made, and he'll he'll probably play a
Speaker 2: lot for wherever he chooses to play, and I would
Speaker 2: hope that it is here here at Louisville. So losing
Speaker 2: him stinks, there's no way around it. But I am
Speaker 2: not as gloom and doom about it as as some
Speaker 2: you know, I don't. I mean, I'm only referencing the
Speaker 2: people that I've heard on on you know, the call
Speaker 2: in of the show, or that have you know, been
Speaker 2: on Twitter and whatnot, and you know that's I need
Speaker 2: to remind myself, as I remind other people of this
Speaker 2: a lot as well. That's that can it can be tricky,
Speaker 2: that can that can appear to be something that you
Speaker 2: know you just can't help but think represents a huge
Speaker 2: amount of people because you know, it's a constant thing.
Speaker 2: You're refreshing Twitter all the time. But a lot of
Speaker 2: people who have wrong opinions that are fans, they don't
Speaker 2: they're not active on Twitter because a lot of people aren't.
Speaker 2: So I don't want to make it sound as if
Speaker 2: the entire fan base is gloom and doom thinking this
Speaker 2: team's going to be underwhelming now that they lost Prior.
Speaker 2: But I did see at least a few people who
Speaker 2: act like this can't be salvage, and I just totally disagree.
Speaker 2: I don't know how good they're gonna be. I don't
Speaker 2: know goo they were gonna be with Prior, because you
Speaker 2: just still you know, I think the Bahamas was a
Speaker 2: really really good sign that they were able to get it.
Speaker 2: They were able to beat Indiana the way they did,
Speaker 2: and then they were able to win a game against
Speaker 2: a good West Virginia team that was able to dictate pace.
Speaker 2: You beat. You beat West Virginia at their game, and
Speaker 2: I think that that is a really good sign for
Speaker 2: this team. Now, I think you had a chance to
Speaker 2: beat Oklahoma at their game, but obviously you fell short
Speaker 2: and that was unfortunate. But no doubt in my mind,
Speaker 2: that was a positive experience for this team. And it's
Speaker 2: got me more optimistic about the rest of this year
Speaker 2: because before they got to the Bahamas and played Indiana,
Speaker 2: you only had one game to really know anything of
Speaker 2: and you got blown out by Tennessee. And now here
Speaker 2: you are, a week removed from your trip to the Bahamas,
Speaker 2: and you went two out of three. You now find
Speaker 2: yourself in the top thirty of the initial net rankings.
Speaker 2: And oh, by the way, the team that beat you bad,
Speaker 2: they're the number one team in the country. That's where
Speaker 2: Tennessee ranks right now in the net rankings. So losing
Speaker 2: prior is a negative. It is a loss. But I
Speaker 2: still think there's enough on this roster even without I
Speaker 2: mean it's not ideal by any means, but even without
Speaker 2: Korin Johnson for who knows how long, and probably without
Speaker 2: Trey Ora for another month or so. I mean, I
Speaker 2: think Kahani Russ is a talented guy that probably won't
Speaker 2: give you what Case and Pryor gave you, but he
Speaker 2: may be able to do some things at times that
Speaker 2: you didn't get from Case and Pryor. And shooting has
Speaker 2: been not a weakness of this team, but they're built
Speaker 2: to be able to just potentially light it up and
Speaker 2: bury a team if they get a bunch of good looks,
Speaker 2: and that just hasn't really happened yet. I mean, I
Speaker 2: think right now, when you look at this team, statistically,
Speaker 2: they're shooting as a team twenty eight percent from three. Now,
Speaker 2: that's been asked twice to Pat Kelsey at least that
Speaker 2: I know of, in his press conferences, and he's made
Speaker 2: it quite clear he's not at all worried at all
Speaker 2: about shooting, like he doesn't go to bed. I think
Speaker 2: he actually used this, and I'm paraphrasing here, but he
Speaker 2: made some kind of a comment saying that like the
Speaker 2: last thing he worries about when he goes to sleep
Speaker 2: and it comes to this team is their ability to
Speaker 2: shoot it. And I think he does believe that. I
Speaker 2: think he's always gonna want these guys to shoot it
Speaker 2: with confidence. But at some point you may have to realize.
Speaker 2: I mean, if we get to February and this is
Speaker 2: a team shooting twenty six to twenty seven percent from three,
Speaker 2: and they're still shooting as many as they're shooting, that's
Speaker 2: an issue not only because like you probably won't be
Speaker 2: very good, but also like you need to know that
Speaker 2: that didn't work out the way you wanted it to.
Speaker 2: And let's not keep trying to force you know, a
Speaker 2: square peg in a round hole. And I don't mean like,
Speaker 2: don't shoot threes, but this team shoots a lot of threes,
Speaker 2: and there's certain guys that like are always gonna have
Speaker 2: the green light. In fact, I think everybody has the
Speaker 2: green light, and I get it, but I just think
Speaker 2: you should develop a little bit more situational awareness when
Speaker 2: it comes to it, because I think you could play
Speaker 2: fast and get the game going at your pace without
Speaker 2: just firing the first three that somebody has daylight. Now,
Speaker 2: with Rain Smith, I'm letting him shoot it every time.
Speaker 2: In fact, Rain Smith is a better shooter when he's
Speaker 2: not wide open, I think, and right now, when it look,
Speaker 2: when it comes to just percentages from three, Rain is
Speaker 2: your best shooter, shooting forty percent. And by the way,
Speaker 2: he's averaging thirteen points, three and a half boards and
Speaker 2: shooting eighty three percent from the line forty percent from
Speaker 2: from three. Rain's one of those guys that I think
Speaker 2: people just kind of throw him in the Ryan McMahon
Speaker 2: category because he's a white guy that shoots, and really
Speaker 2: that's the weapon he's bringing to the fight. He's got
Speaker 2: a he's got a he's got a weapon, and that
Speaker 2: is his ability to shoot. But he's also a good player,
Speaker 2: like he understands you can you can tell you understands spacing,
Speaker 2: like things are better when he's on the floor, meaning
Speaker 2: Rain Smith, So I mean I And he did it,
Speaker 2: by the way, against good teams like that was what
Speaker 2: really made me feel better about this team is that
Speaker 2: they played three games against teams when it comes to talent,
Speaker 2: like I think most of those teams you played in
Speaker 2: the Bahamas. In fact, I think all three that you
Speaker 2: played in the Mhamas are going to better than the
Speaker 2: majority of the teams you play in the ACC this year. Now,
Speaker 2: not a good look for the league, But you know,
Speaker 2: I don't have I don't worry about going and playing Clemson,
Speaker 2: are going and playing Miami, who stinks this year. I
Speaker 2: don't worry about those games. Florida State they suck too,
Speaker 2: I mean Virginia Tech. They lost by double digits to Jacksonville.
Speaker 2: Like the ACC has got some teams that are going
Speaker 2: to be really bad this year, but even in the middle
Speaker 2: of the pack, Like, I don't worry about all right,
Speaker 2: can we line up with him? And I probably shouldn't
Speaker 2: have worried about that, But the only thing on my
Speaker 2: mind was the Tennessee game, because that's the only game
Speaker 2: where you really were tested. But then you go to
Speaker 2: the Bahamas, you're tested, and man, I liked what I
Speaker 2: saw CHUCKI Hepburn. He's got a chance to be one
Speaker 2: of the best point guards in the country. He's a
Speaker 2: special player. And nobody wants I mean, who would want
Speaker 2: case in prior to not be able to play. Like
Speaker 2: it's terrible, Like it's not a it's a negative. I'm
Speaker 2: not trying to shine it up like it's a good
Speaker 2: thing that happened. But if you are looking for some
Speaker 2: potential positives that could come from this negative situation, not
Speaker 2: to say that would make you a better team overall,
Speaker 2: because prior without prior, I mean with or without prior,
Speaker 2: you're clearly going to be better with him now without him,
Speaker 2: regardless what other people do, because he's a talented player
Speaker 2: that can do a lot for you. However, again, if
Speaker 2: this means Chuck, he's going to be more aggressive offensively
Speaker 2: because Prior's not out there.
Speaker 1: Hell yeah.
Speaker 2: If this means Kahani Russ is going to be able
Speaker 2: to cut his teeth and get a lot of reps,
Speaker 2: play through some mistakes because of the lack of depth
Speaker 2: they're going to have at that position, Hell yeah, because
Speaker 2: he'll be better by the end of the year. He's
Speaker 2: a talented guy. I mean, I kind of wish he
Speaker 2: played more than he already has been playing because I
Speaker 2: mean trying to find the right way to say, because
Speaker 2: I don't want to act like I'm belittling some of
Speaker 2: the guys on this team that I think are good,
Speaker 2: but like there are plays out there here and there
Speaker 2: where you can see, Okay, yeah, that guy. I can
Speaker 2: see why he played four years out of mid major
Speaker 2: and was a good player. And I can see why
Speaker 2: this guy is a true freshman that had offers from
Speaker 2: just about everybody in the country and was a top
Speaker 2: forty player, one of the top ten highest rated kids
Speaker 2: to ever commit to Louisville, Like, no matter what you
Speaker 2: do in the portal, we're still going to be able
Speaker 2: to see at times when it comes like this still
Speaker 2: gonna be value with having young talent that can get
Speaker 2: better playing alongside veterans and when you get to because
Speaker 2: again I've always felt like with Russ, if it meant
Speaker 2: putting somebody on the bench ahead of time, like just
Speaker 2: to know, hey, we're gonna let this young guy, even
Speaker 2: though he's probably not maybe deserved it or earned it,
Speaker 2: will be better down the line if he gets a
Speaker 2: lot of reps. Now, that's not how Pat Kelsey coaches.
Speaker 2: Everybody earns their minutes, and that matter if you're young
Speaker 2: or if you're ancient, Your playing time is earned. And
Speaker 2: I have no problem with that. But I also know
Speaker 2: that they understand that with Ru's out there now probably
Speaker 2: gonna be getting a lot more minutes than he was previously,
Speaker 2: that's gonna benefit him and this team down the line.
Speaker 2: So again, they got a tough task tomorrow taking on
Speaker 2: Ole Miss Chris Beard's team. I don't know where they
Speaker 2: came in because they play I don't know if it's
Speaker 2: his doing or the guy he inherited, but man, they
Speaker 2: played an awful schedule to start an awful non conference
Speaker 2: schedule last year in his first year, which is why
Speaker 2: they were off to such a good start as far
Speaker 2: as the numbers, but like it never really panned out
Speaker 2: for him. So the early edition of the NET rankings is,
Speaker 2: by the way, came out today and I'll run through
Speaker 2: some of those numbers in just a second here, but
Speaker 2: really right now and then this has been the case
Speaker 2: since these NET rankings existed for the last I don't know,
Speaker 2: five six years. The first edition of them is always
Speaker 2: a little wonky, like there's always teams that end up
Speaker 2: ranked where like just to be give you an example,
Speaker 2: this is an example of two things. One that they
Speaker 2: don't factor in winning and losing as much as they
Speaker 2: probably should with this formula. But also you can play
Speaker 2: a loaded schedule, lose every game, and it initially is
Speaker 2: going to make it look like you're probably really better
Speaker 2: than you are. Like, for example, you see Irvine is
Speaker 2: the number twenty four team in the NET rankings. That's
Speaker 2: because it's it's there's not enough data, there's not enough
Speaker 2: results to really make it make sense. Yukon they fall
Speaker 2: in the number thirty nine because you know, they lost
Speaker 2: three in a row. And by the way, I said
Speaker 2: this last week, and it's true, Dan Hurley's the new
Speaker 2: villain of college basketball. He was hard not to respect
Speaker 2: and still as. He's a hell of a coach who's
Speaker 2: won back to back national championships. And I wouldn't be
Speaker 2: shocked if they get it corrected and they go to
Speaker 2: another Final four. But like the way he acted like he,
Speaker 2: I mean that, what a baby, what a lunatic? Actually,
Speaker 2: I mean I swear out again. It was the gummy
Speaker 2: the other night, Austin. I was just having one of
Speaker 2: those nights. Yeah, things that usually aren't as funny, but
Speaker 2: they were because of the of the influence of a
Speaker 2: nice gummy. One was the Kentucky football player at the
Speaker 2: concession stand during the game. I thought that was really funny,
Speaker 2: And then I read a tweet from a guy covering
Speaker 2: Yukon who they were playing like Connecticut butt crack State,
Speaker 2: like a team that might not even might not even
Speaker 2: have been Division one, And they were up ninety five
Speaker 2: to like forty two with like ten minutes left, and
Speaker 2: they gave up an offensive rebound to this crap team,
Speaker 2: and the guy who's a beat writer for Yukon, tweeted out,
Speaker 2: Yukon up this much, just gave up an offensive rebound.
Speaker 2: Dan Hurley punched himself in the face and called a
Speaker 2: time out like he's a maniac and I'm loving it.
Speaker 2: I mean, like he's a lunatic. So and he goes
Speaker 2: and says, we'll never do that again, talking about the
Speaker 2: MTE will never will never do that again whenever, We'll
Speaker 2: never go play one of those events again because you
Speaker 2: lost and got embarrassed, dude, Like what what's the issue
Speaker 2: with those events? Dude? You just got your ass kicked,
Speaker 2: like that's what happened, like and you acted like a
Speaker 2: fool Like that's I mean to me, that's like the
Speaker 2: victim of like we were wronged. We won't do it again,
Speaker 2: like your team lost and you acted like a fool.
Speaker 2: So I kind of like this guy being the new villain,
Speaker 2: because you know, he's pretty easy to dislike when he
Speaker 2: acts like that, and he's gonna be really good. Let's
Speaker 2: not act like that's not a factor in villains. Man,
Speaker 2: people we love to see lose is because we don't
Speaker 2: get to see it often enough. Tom Brady, I mean
Speaker 2: that guy, he's pretty charming. Now, right, but when he
Speaker 2: was with Belichick in New England, like the hell with him?
Speaker 2: All right? Some other teams here, by the way, the
Speaker 2: lowest Power Conference teams in the first net rankings, Virginia
Speaker 2: Tech is two thirty three. That's last place. Miami is
Speaker 2: one ninety one, Syracuse is one seventy seven, Georgia Tech
Speaker 2: is one seventy five. So again, of the six lowest
Speaker 2: ranked teams from the Power conferences, that's the Power for
Speaker 2: in football, and then you throw on the Big East
Speaker 2: in basketball. Half of them are from the I'm sorry,
Speaker 2: no more than half of them. Four of the six
Speaker 2: are from the ACC, which again I'm not bragging about that.
Speaker 2: That's not ideal. But again, if you could take advantage
Speaker 2: of it in your first year with Pat Kelsey, then
Speaker 2: hell yeah. Like, if you're playing these teams close that
Speaker 2: are really good and you lose, it's gonna suck because
Speaker 2: you don't want to lose. But if you're taking care
Speaker 2: of business against these bumps, you could end up having
Speaker 2: a good enough record to where the numbers are going
Speaker 2: to be. Like you, Louisville could have a win, could
Speaker 2: have a season this year where they look like a
Speaker 2: bubble team and they don't have really any monster wins,
Speaker 2: but they also don't have any losses to terrible teams.
Speaker 2: And they may be like the best example of a
Speaker 2: bubble team, but because you played a really challenging schedule
Speaker 2: and as of now, the games you've lost have been
Speaker 2: against good teams and they've been competitive. Tennessee wasn't, but
Speaker 2: they're Number one. Like you could end up getting the
Speaker 2: benefit of the doubt where the numbers like you so
Speaker 2: much because you were competitive against a loaded early slate
Speaker 2: where you've got Ole miss tomorrow, You've got Duke coming up,
Speaker 2: a top five Duke team on Sunday. Then you play Kentucky,
Speaker 2: then you play North Carolina on New Year's or New
Speaker 2: Year's Eve, one of those two. Like, you're gonna be
Speaker 2: challenging a major way, and I'm eager to see what happens.
Speaker 2: And I don't have any real big concerns about the
Speaker 2: lost to Oklahoma. I mean, you don't want to lose,
Speaker 2: especially when you're there and you know it was there
Speaker 2: to win. But I hope that's not one that haunts
Speaker 2: you because that would have been a valuable win and
Speaker 2: you had it and you just couldn't. You couldn't claw
Speaker 2: back enough to get it done, and obviously a questionable
Speaker 2: no call late where that guy was just hovered over
Speaker 2: the line something you clearly can't do. I don't expect
Speaker 2: to get that call in that moment. But to be fair,
Speaker 2: Kelsey was hot about it and that was a rule
Speaker 2: that was broken that they didn't pay attention to. So
Speaker 2: I get his frustration there, and I also love that
Speaker 2: he was salty after the game. I love that. I mean,
Speaker 2: some people probably want him to be a little bit
Speaker 2: more classic and professional, and I mean he didn't make
Speaker 2: a fool of himself. But like, he's not gonna smooch
Speaker 2: smooch with Porter Moser Nah in the handshake line after
Speaker 2: a tough loss. He's just gonna shake the hand and
Speaker 2: keep walking because he's a competitor. If he's gonna be
Speaker 2: smooth smooching, he's gonna do it with the real star
Speaker 2: from that Loyola Marymount run Porter. That's Sister Jean. That's right,
Speaker 2: get her old ass back with you. Maybe you can
Speaker 2: ride some magic. Do people get hot when I talk
Speaker 2: about Sister Jean? Why is that such? They don't like it,
Speaker 2: They don't like the truth. Austin yeah. I mean, they
Speaker 2: don't like to hear that an old woman robbed a
Speaker 2: mid major Cinderella story, not even a mid major and
Speaker 2: no major go to the final four. You can't name
Speaker 2: a player on that has someone named me a player.
Speaker 3: I'm surprised even some people even remember Porter Moser as
Speaker 3: a coach.
Speaker 2: They don't. That's what I'm saying, Like, I want to
Speaker 2: be able to say, well you, because I do think
Speaker 2: he's a good coach, especially in the half court, like
Speaker 2: with his offensive sets, he was impressive. But you know what,
Speaker 2: like we don't get the benefit of claiming, hey, we
Speaker 2: lost to a coach who's a good coach because nobody
Speaker 2: knows who he is. You know why, because Sister Jean
Speaker 2: got all the credit for that Final Four. You don't
Speaker 2: have to like it, but it's you can't dispute the facts.
Speaker 2: Stick with us right here. We got one more segment left.
Speaker 1: Now back to Coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven nine day.
Speaker 2: Oh man, I gotta tell you this is actually probably
Speaker 2: one of my favorite songs of all time. Just a vibe,
Speaker 2: just like a sound that I just want to like.
Speaker 2: I know, they make music videos and they're like not
Speaker 2: real moments there. You know, it's a video project, it's
Speaker 2: not real. But like, I just want to live in
Speaker 2: a moment where like you could be living and people
Speaker 2: would think, Yeah, I could see this being the music
Speaker 2: video for this song because the money is the man.
Speaker 2: That money is money. I mean, it's good stuff. All right.
Speaker 2: We're very low on time, so I'll use this time
Speaker 2: to give some good info to you guys. So Louisville
Speaker 2: did open up as four point favorites against Ole Miss tomorrow,
Speaker 2: which also kim Palm projects this as a seventy six
Speaker 2: to seventy two victory for Louisville. So you know, the
Speaker 2: numbers are a little bit the kimbo m this early
Speaker 2: are a little bit inflated. However, you know, it kind
Speaker 2: of feel like you're supposed to win when you see
Speaker 2: it that way. But drey Davis, remember him, He's coming
Speaker 2: back to Louisville. Oh yeah, he's gonna be He plays
Speaker 2: for all Miss still, so so we'll see him tomorrow.
Speaker 2: But nine o'clock tip, And for what it's worth, Ole
Speaker 2: Miss is currently ranked in the net and I knew
Speaker 2: that their numbers were probably not going to be great
Speaker 2: they're at number fifty five, and it's because their non
Speaker 2: conference schedule before they had their MTE was brutal. I mean,
Speaker 2: they didn't pay anybody, and then they did beat BYU
Speaker 2: in overtime and then lost by just two points to produce.
Speaker 2: So a battle tested Ole Miss team coming in here
Speaker 2: tomorrow night, big opportunity for Louisville and we'll see what happens.
Speaker 2: All right, I know we got to get out of here,
Speaker 2: so thank you all for hanging out with us, big
Speaker 2: big thanks to Austin once again holding it down. Thank you,
Speaker 2: and we'll have the podcast up here shortly and we're
Speaker 2: back at it tomorrow, so come on back. We'll be
Speaker 2: here to on Sports Talk seven ninety