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Speaker 2: use your phone number. That's what I do. But you know,
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Speaker 2: I've got that card on me. In fact, I may
Speaker 2: use that at times like you ever try to like
Speaker 2: get in somewhere and you need like a pass or
Speaker 2: ordure or you know, I might just show just show
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Speaker 3: It's just it's exclusive enough to where I think you
Speaker 3: could get into most places with that car.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they're likely going to be like are you good?
Speaker 2: Or they're gonna say why do you say so?
Speaker 1: Exactly?
Speaker 2: What do you why do you lead with that? So anyways,
Speaker 2: we've talked a lot about last night's victory for the
Speaker 2: vill and what I wanted to happen is exactly what
Speaker 2: ended up happening. You know, they played a team that
Speaker 2: I'll be honest with you, I can't I'm still surprised
Speaker 2: that that team was there, but hey, props to them.
Speaker 2: Uh they they pulled off a couple of upsets along
Speaker 2: the way and they made it. It was interesting. You know,
Speaker 2: I think this this Louisville team, the Ville, they they
Speaker 2: certainly struggle with with defense at times. And it's not
Speaker 2: because of I just don't think they have a lot
Speaker 2: of structure defensively to where you know, they'll get up
Speaker 2: in you, and they've got some you know, some physical
Speaker 2: presence around the rim Non who's always been a really
Speaker 2: smart defender, good shot blocker. You know, obviously Russ can
Speaker 2: can really get in you. Same thing with Chris Jones.
Speaker 2: But it seems like once that breaks down with if
Speaker 2: those guards are taking risks out there, which hey, I
Speaker 2: think the risk usually is worth a reward with those
Speaker 2: two guys as you're on ball defenders kind of setting
Speaker 2: the tone defensively for you. But you know, once they
Speaker 2: if they do get broke down and somebody gets past them,
Speaker 2: like that's when things kind of fall apart. But you know, offensively,
Speaker 2: like he let's not make it complicated. Here's here's the thing.
Speaker 2: From an offensive standpoint. If they run sets and get
Speaker 2: good looks, they could win this whole thing. I mean
Speaker 2: not to say that they if they play well, they're
Speaker 2: going to beat everybody, but like they have talent and ability.
Speaker 2: I mean, they've got a lot of tools within this roster.
Speaker 2: You know, I was worried about three point shooting after
Speaker 2: the first two games, but not because I felt like,
Speaker 2: you know, they got a bunch of dudes who just
Speaker 2: simply can't shoot. But you know, David Johnson's a good
Speaker 2: enough shooter. I mean, Peyton knocked down a couple of
Speaker 2: big ones last night. Chris Dow shout out Chris dal
Speaker 2: By the way love Chris Dow's story a Louisville kid.
Speaker 2: Who I mean, I say, Katy's a grown man now,
Speaker 2: but he went to Eastern High School, had a phenomenal
Speaker 2: high school career, went to play for Scotty Davenport at
Speaker 2: Bellerman relatively early in Scotty's time at Bellerman, and had
Speaker 2: a phenomenal career when they were Division two. Has had
Speaker 2: a great run as a pro, played most recently in Italy.
Speaker 2: Just a good guy who comes from a great family
Speaker 2: here in town. I know a lot of people that
Speaker 2: are related to Chris in some way. I don't mean
Speaker 2: I know them personally or know them well, but just
Speaker 2: you know, I know he's got some cousins and some
Speaker 2: uncles out there that are, you know, well known in
Speaker 2: the community. And he's just a good dude. And I'm
Speaker 2: so happy that he's able to be a part of
Speaker 2: this event for the second straight year, because again, he's
Speaker 2: done enough in his time as a player. I mean,
Speaker 2: he could stop playing the game now and know that
Speaker 2: he had a hell of a career and a hell
Speaker 2: of a run and a lot to be proud of.
Speaker 2: But you know, he never played for U of L.
Speaker 2: And you know, I'm sure growing up here in this city,
Speaker 2: especially the connections that he has to people that have
Speaker 2: been around you. I'm sure he wanted to do that,
Speaker 2: not to say he's not content, but like being able
Speaker 2: to play in front in Freedom Hall, the arena. He
Speaker 2: watched these you know, Louisville playing as he was growing
Speaker 2: up and to hear that crowd, and man, he's made
Speaker 2: an impact. He was so uh he was such I mean,
Speaker 2: such a spark plug off the bench last night when
Speaker 2: it comes to knocking down some threes, hitting a couple
Speaker 2: of tough buckets and really just being a being a
Speaker 2: bully defensively. So I didn't mean to get sidetracked in
Speaker 2: what I was talking about, but shout out to Chris Dawe. Man,
Speaker 2: he's a great guy. And I know this is probably
Speaker 2: because again I think for a lot of these guy,
Speaker 2: I mean Chris, you throw Chris dow in the conversation
Speaker 2: as well as far as these guys who are just
Speaker 2: experiencing something that they thought they'd never get back. And
Speaker 2: this is not the same thing as playing in front
Speaker 2: of twenty two thousand at the Young Center. I know
Speaker 2: that everybody knows that, but you're playing in front of
Speaker 2: a passionate group of fans and let's be honest with you.
Speaker 2: If you're somebody that's made it a point to go
Speaker 2: to all these games and you're one of the however
Speaker 2: many thousands that have been there, I don't even care
Speaker 2: or know what the attendants has been. You're probably somebody
Speaker 2: who consider Louisville basketball or Louisville athletics part of your religion,
Speaker 2: not to you know, mock religion, but like it's just
Speaker 2: part of life, man, It's our lifestyle. I mean, it's
Speaker 2: a better way to describe it. So you know, there's
Speaker 2: a there's And again, if it becomes a norm, then
Speaker 2: maybe that that that feel will wear off a little bit.
Speaker 2: But I don't know, maybe it won't because for the
Speaker 2: most part, like I'm sure Shane Behannon specifically never thought
Speaker 2: he would have a moment. I'm quite sure Shane thought this,
Speaker 2: he'd never have a moment. Or he is representing Louisville basketball,
Speaker 2: representing the city of Louisville, and he's playing in front
Speaker 2: of thousands of fans who really really love what he
Speaker 2: gave through the program and want to see this team
Speaker 2: keep winning. Like when you have something that you know
Speaker 2: was great, you thought you'd never get it back and
Speaker 2: you realize, man, hey, I gotta I gotta just live
Speaker 2: with the facts that you know, I'm never gonna have
Speaker 2: that again. I could play the game for ten years
Speaker 2: and never have that meaning, that kind of energy, that
Speaker 2: kind of love from fans, and to hear those cheers
Speaker 2: and that that, you know, it just is something that
Speaker 2: you cherish and you know is in the rear view. Well,
Speaker 2: now you have something that's not exactly that, but it's
Speaker 2: close enough to where like it's got to be you
Speaker 2: for it for some of these guys. So I've mentioned
Speaker 2: that mostly just referencing former Louisville players. Chris Dowe is
Speaker 2: a guy who didn't play at u of L, but
Speaker 2: you know, he still had a great career as a
Speaker 2: great player. And now he's you know, he's one of us,
Speaker 2: Like we've adopted Chris Dow and Nick Mayo, like they're
Speaker 2: a part of our Louisville basketball family now, like it
Speaker 2: or not. So again, he's somebody who also knocked down
Speaker 2: some threes last night. So again, they've got guys that
Speaker 2: can knock down shots if they get good looks. And
Speaker 2: at times you still see guys not taking good looks, right,
Speaker 2: But man, there was clearly an attention to detail on
Speaker 2: the offensive end last night, and they were running sets.
Speaker 2: I mean, David Johnson, he's got a lot of tools
Speaker 2: in his bag and you know, let him create make plays.
Speaker 2: But you know, also Peyton Siva, I don't even know
Speaker 2: what the box score show. Peyton's a guy that Peyton
Speaker 2: and Nanu and I think if I go, if I
Speaker 2: pull up the numbers here, I wouldn't be shocked if
Speaker 2: I see that they both had good nights from a
Speaker 2: statistic standpoint. But even if they didn't, they make an
Speaker 2: impact in a way that you know, the box score
Speaker 2: doesn't show. And that's such a corny cliche that oftentimes
Speaker 2: is used. But you know a lot of cliches are
Speaker 2: cliches for a reason because they are chrue. Like Peyton
Speaker 2: last night, you know, just six points to assist, but man,
Speaker 2: he's a quarterback out there, he's sett in the tone,
Speaker 2: he's actually getting them in to some organized situations offensively,
Speaker 2: and that that that helped, but it really balanced the attack
Speaker 2: last night. You had Russ and DJ with fifteen, apiece,
Speaker 2: Tres with eleven, and then how about how about a
Speaker 2: man Chris Jones seventeen minutes at eleven points, knockdown three
Speaker 2: of his four to three point attempts, including the one
Speaker 2: that ended the game. So you know, I still worry
Speaker 2: a little bit about matching up with this Law Familia
Speaker 2: team because man, they're loaded and they're good. But you know,
Speaker 2: you're gonna have home court advantage. I believe, and this
Speaker 2: is I mean every player from the Louisville side of
Speaker 2: it and every player from the UK side of it,
Speaker 2: Like I don't know how many wins each of them, obviously,
Speaker 2: I believe. You know, DJ was a part of a
Speaker 2: Louisville win for Louisville in the rivalry game. Chris Jones
Speaker 2: was not, Tres was, Peyton was, Russ was, so like,
Speaker 2: they've beat Kentucky, but they also lost to him. In fact,
Speaker 2: I would be willing to bet that there's not a
Speaker 2: guy on the Louisville on the Louisville roster that has
Speaker 2: a winning record against against Kentucky just because like they've
Speaker 2: won a lot more than they've lost against us. That's just,
Speaker 2: you know, that's the reality of it. I hope it changes.
Speaker 2: But you know, there were times where Louisville had really
Speaker 2: good teams and you felt like, hey, you know, we
Speaker 2: should win this year. They're not as good. But then
Speaker 2: there was times where Louiville had really of teams and
Speaker 2: you knew that if both teams play to their full potential,
Speaker 2: you're probably still gonna lose. Because that's the kind of
Speaker 2: teams Cali Parry assembled in that timeline, in that era,
Speaker 2: And some of those guys I'm referencing that played for
Speaker 2: Calipari during that time are now playing for you know,
Speaker 2: for this team, so you know, I I'm not sure. Actually,
Speaker 2: I bet there's already a spread. I'm sure you haven't
Speaker 2: watched much of either team, John, but uh, I'm gonna
Speaker 2: guess that the I'm gonna guess that Kentucky will be
Speaker 2: the Law Familia team will be a slight favorite.
Speaker 3: I'm thinking Kentucky minus two and a half men. That
Speaker 3: may even be it may even be closer than that.
Speaker 2: Let's see what we got here, all right? Uh, three
Speaker 2: and a half Kentucky three and a half favorites here,
Speaker 2: which isn't isn't a huge surprise. But all of these games,
Speaker 2: I mean, it is it is tricky to to handicap
Speaker 2: this meaning, like I really don't even know how you
Speaker 2: would mean if you mean if you watched it closely,
Speaker 2: which clearly every sports book has somebody that is tracking
Speaker 2: that kind of stuff. They're not just you know, throwing
Speaker 2: a number out there to see just to just to
Speaker 2: see what kind of action they get as far as
Speaker 2: who does what with their wagers. But the biggest difference
Speaker 2: in spread is the Carmen's crew. That's the Ohio State team.
Speaker 2: They are a four and a half point favorite over
Speaker 2: takeover BC. So anyways, everybody involved Kentucky, the Law, familiar guys,
Speaker 2: and the Ville like, there's feelings and still emotion and
Speaker 2: energy that'll never go away because you were literally a
Speaker 2: part of the rivalry. And even if you are Kentucky
Speaker 2: and you I mean, let's let's put it this way.
Speaker 2: Willie Caley Stein, I would imagine he does not have
Speaker 2: an l two. In fact, let me look at their team,
Speaker 2: because I gotta be honest with you, I'm not sure
Speaker 2: how many guys that I'm not sure how many guys
Speaker 2: they have that have that have that have lost to
Speaker 2: Louisville ever, Like I know the Harrison Twins didn't. They
Speaker 2: were only there what two years, and I know they didn't.
Speaker 2: They didn't lose to them Bledsoe only there one year,
Speaker 2: didn't lose Cistina. Cistina might have been on the team
Speaker 2: that lost to Louisville in the COVID year. I could
Speaker 2: be wrong on that, but when Mac won, that could
Speaker 2: have been. That could have been the year that Cistina
Speaker 2: was there. Calie Stein I don't think he was a
Speaker 2: part of any team that lost. Kellen Grady I'm not
Speaker 2: sure he ever played Louisville because that was the year
Speaker 2: they didn't play. James Young was only there one year,
Speaker 2: Daniel Orton was only there one year. So yeah, I mean,
Speaker 2: these guys still know it's the rival, even if they
Speaker 2: were there one year, Like they know that's that's the
Speaker 2: team you hate, and they should, you know. I'm sure
Speaker 2: they they're they're probably not, like put it, let's put
Speaker 2: it this way. I would imagine that there's even though
Speaker 2: it's not the same thing, like there's some vengeance on
Speaker 2: the minds of guys like Russ and Peyton. I mean,
Speaker 2: Peyton beat him the last time he played him and
Speaker 2: won a national championship that year US his career ended
Speaker 2: to them in a game that like he played well
Speaker 2: and dunked on Julius Randall but he also missed a
Speaker 2: bunch of free throws and it was impactful towards the
Speaker 2: end of that game. And that's still to this day,
Speaker 2: that is the most painful loss I've ever experienced as
Speaker 2: a Louisville fan. I mean it, it was hard. So
Speaker 2: I'm sure there's some vengeance on the mind. I mean
Speaker 2: Tres Tres was on that team too, that lost in
Speaker 2: the Sweet sixteen. Tres was also on the team the
Speaker 2: following year that was really good. In fact, that year
Speaker 2: when they played Louisville and Kentucky played in the twenty
Speaker 2: fourteen to fifteen season. I could be wrong. I'm gonna
Speaker 2: look it up here. I think that was the highest
Speaker 2: ranked that we've ever seen both teams when they've played
Speaker 2: each other, because that game took place in twenty fourteen
Speaker 2: to fifteen. It was at the Young Center and uh yeah,
Speaker 2: you'd have to I think I'd have to pull up
Speaker 2: the uh yeah. So they played each other in December
Speaker 2: twenty fourteen and Kentucky was number one, Louisville was number four,
Speaker 2: and Kentucky that year, if you remember, went all the way.
Speaker 2: That was the twenty fourteen to fifteen team that went
Speaker 2: to the National or to the final four and lost
Speaker 2: to Wisconsin, Right, wasn't that? Yeah? That was fifteen. Louisville
Speaker 2: lost in the Elite eight to Michigan State with some
Speaker 2: mango Matthew miss free throws. So you know, there's hatred there.
Speaker 2: And I'm sure now that they're growing up, they've probably
Speaker 2: played against each other in the pros rather it be
Speaker 2: the NBA or elsewhere. But man, when they line up
Speaker 2: on Monday, I mean, there's gonna be like there. There's
Speaker 2: still a rivalry element in a major way. And you know,
Speaker 2: I kind of like knowing that these guys feel like
Speaker 2: they need to get one over this Kentucky crew because
Speaker 2: they felt as if that's the worst part about the
Speaker 2: Caliperry era now that I'm thinking about it. Here we
Speaker 2: are reliving, sort of referencing the best era of Louisville
Speaker 2: basketball in my lifetime. I mean from two thousand and
Speaker 2: I mean two thousand and eight, two thousand and nine
Speaker 2: was great. To Elite eights. In twenty ten down year
Speaker 2: for sure. Twenty eleven goodyear, but you got upset by
Speaker 2: Morehead twelve Final four, thirteen National Title, fourteen, Sweet sixteen,
Speaker 2: fifteen Elite eight, like that's a hell of a run,
Speaker 2: best run in my lifetime. And yet you still only
Speaker 2: beat Kentucky one time in that stretch and they ended
Speaker 2: your season twice. So, you know, Louisville should feel real.
Speaker 2: But usually when you feel like you were at your top,
Speaker 2: you were doing really well. Again, Louisville won the most
Speaker 2: recent national championship. You want to be able to say
Speaker 2: that you were really sticking it to your rival, But
Speaker 2: Louisville wasn't, you know, And that just that's unfortunately, doesn't
Speaker 2: change how I view those guys in that great run
Speaker 2: that I just referenced. But I'm hopeful that they've got
Speaker 2: some real, uh you know, built up energy to go
Speaker 2: out and give the fans and themselves a victory over Kentucky.
Speaker 2: That isn't the same thing as, you know, beating them
Speaker 2: in the tournament like they did you or knocking them
Speaker 2: off in December with a packed house at RUP or
Speaker 2: at the Young but it's something. It's something, and I'm
Speaker 2: hopeful that that's what ends up happening all right, real
Speaker 2: quick before we get to our first time out here
Speaker 2: in the four o'clock hour, I think Alex Saar is
Speaker 2: a very lucky young man. And when I say Alex Saar,
Speaker 2: I know some people know. I mean a lot of
Speaker 2: people probably know who I'm talking about, but like maybe not.
Speaker 2: This is a guy who went number two in the
Speaker 2: NBA draft, and you know with that, there's a lot
Speaker 2: of high expectations nineteen year old kids seven foot tall.
Speaker 2: I mean, he's a guy that if you're taking in
Speaker 2: the second pick, with the second pick in the draft,
Speaker 2: I mean, you are somebody that a franchise views is
Speaker 2: a potential franchise player that they give a max contract to,
Speaker 2: then they give the super max contract, true to like that,
Speaker 2: that's that's the expectation when you have a top two pick.
Speaker 2: And I think because of a lot of things going
Speaker 2: on in the world, including it in basketball, it just
Speaker 2: completely got like ignored that he was awful, awful in
Speaker 2: the summer league. He played I don't know how many games,
Speaker 2: but here's his total stats, John nine of forty seven
Speaker 2: from the field. And then there's the metric that is
Speaker 2: the per mark, like three point eight per and I'll
Speaker 2: and maybe we can nerd out and and and you know,
Speaker 2: look at exactly what that all can. But it's it's
Speaker 2: an analytic or it's a It's a stat based off
Speaker 2: analytics that really kind of tells you how efficient you
Speaker 2: are when you're on the floor, right are you? You know,
Speaker 2: it's not plus minus, but it's probably somewhere in that
Speaker 2: same in that same space. But that his PERR was
Speaker 2: the worst of any first rounder in Summer league history
Speaker 2: that played the amount of minutes that he played. Like,
Speaker 2: when I say he's lucky, I mean like there's not
Speaker 2: as much coverage as there would typically be for that.
Speaker 2: Therefore he's probably not you know, I mean if I
Speaker 2: was a nineteen year old kid and that was me,
Speaker 2: I would still feel bad about, like, Man, I didn't
Speaker 2: do well. I would be second guessing myself. I would
Speaker 2: be questioning my ability. But if you had to turn
Speaker 2: on ESPN and hears Steven A. Smith yapping about you
Speaker 2: being a bomb, that would make it even worse, right,
Speaker 2: especially if you're a young kid. So you know, I
Speaker 2: kind of feel like this just got swept under the
Speaker 2: rug to where you know, he's probably not going to
Speaker 2: be hearing about it as much as you typically would.
Speaker 2: You know, Yeah, he shot nineteen percent from the floor
Speaker 2: in the in the event.
Speaker 3: I'm curious if he were to have played a year
Speaker 3: in if that would have helped him, or if that
Speaker 3: would have exposed him more, and maybe he wouldn't have
Speaker 3: gotten drafted at all, because why are NBA teams taking
Speaker 3: chances on these guys if they really don't know what
Speaker 3: they're getting. It seems like, yeah, I.
Speaker 2: Would say this. I think it's still a small enough
Speaker 2: sample size to where we don't know for sure, but
Speaker 2: I you know, if I'm being real, I would say
Speaker 2: that this would if he played in college. You know,
Speaker 2: in two years, he would be somebody that they're still
Speaker 2: talking about upside and potential, but nobody would be willing
Speaker 2: to risk a big investment, like a first round pick
Speaker 2: on him. Maybe we're way wrong, Like maybe he ends
Speaker 2: up being an All first team rookie because the summer
Speaker 2: league is so misleading for guys who play really well
Speaker 2: and guys who are bums. There's there's a ton of
Speaker 2: evidence that shows that. But you know, like, to me,
Speaker 2: he's a seven footer that has some skill for a
Speaker 2: seven footer that can occasionally knock down the shot. But
Speaker 2: I mean, what is like, what is there's so many
Speaker 2: dudes that get drafted off potential and potential, you know,
Speaker 2: can be untapped for years and then it really really
Speaker 2: explodes and you become the guy everybody thought you could be.
Speaker 2: But he My guess is that Alex Sar ends up
Speaker 2: being one of many that had appealing size, athleticism, upside
Speaker 2: things that you know, you all that you chalk up
Speaker 2: when it comes to determining potential, But like, what's his weapon?
Speaker 2: What is he doing that makes him a guy like
Speaker 2: you to be in the NBA for a long time.
Speaker 2: I feel like you got to have one thing that
Speaker 2: you do really well, shooting defense, you know, good locker
Speaker 2: room guy, good good physical presence, good size, right like
Speaker 2: things like that, like you know, and maybe he finds
Speaker 2: that and he becomes a role player and plays, you know,
Speaker 2: that role, a minor role for a team forever. But like, man,
Speaker 2: it looked bad and I think and by the way,
Speaker 2: two things Bronnie being the guy who got all the
Speaker 2: attention helped Sar. But let's be honest, Bronnie was better.
Speaker 2: Bronnie was a better summer league player than this guy.
Speaker 2: And it really wasn't close because Bronnie, you know, he
Speaker 2: actually started playing pretty well late for you know, for
Speaker 2: a guy that was drafted towards the end of the
Speaker 2: second round. All right, we're out of time here. I've
Speaker 2: gone way too long. Apologies. We'll take a quick break.
Speaker 2: We'll talk to some football coming up. On the other side.
Speaker 2: We'll also get at the text line, so stick with us.
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Speaker 2: so this text says, Nick, I'm totally with you. I
Speaker 2: think this team for Jeff Brown will be even better
Speaker 2: than last year's team. But as you've said and others
Speaker 2: have said, it doesn't mean the record will be quite
Speaker 2: as good. Nobody seems to be talking about how the
Speaker 2: portal makes it impossible to really know what anybody has. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I mean I I I think you're right. You know,
Speaker 2: I remember last year that was a big talking point
Speaker 2: really with both basketball and football. As far as when
Speaker 2: you have a portal led roster, as far as you know,
Speaker 2: really loading, you could feel good, you could be I mean,
Speaker 2: you could you could feel like, wow, we went out
Speaker 2: and got this player who has this resume, that player
Speaker 2: who has that resume, and feel as if you've got pieces.
Speaker 2: But again, it is it is a big question mark
Speaker 2: as far as how it all comes together, how it works,
Speaker 2: because you know, there are some teams out there in
Speaker 2: both sports actually that the portal looked like it was
Speaker 2: going to be great to them, and it really wasn't.
Speaker 2: You know, Louisville last year, you know, let's be honest,
Speaker 2: they probably were a ten win team for a variety
Speaker 2: of reasons, one being the schedule was you know, fairly manageable.
Speaker 2: They didn't they avoided you know, some some of the
Speaker 2: elite teams that well, and there really weren't elite teams
Speaker 2: in the ACC last year, to be honest with you,
Speaker 2: I think Louisville, you know, there's nobody in the ACC
Speaker 2: that they avoided that you feel like if they had
Speaker 2: a played, they'd have gotten mopped or something like that.
Speaker 2: I mean, obviously they could have lost it to anybody,
Speaker 2: because they did lose to Pittsburgh, which means you can't
Speaker 2: lose to anybody. So my point is this, like you know,
Speaker 2: like last year, Louisville being able to go out and
Speaker 2: reload in the portal like they did. I mean, it
Speaker 2: made it to where in Jeff's first year they could
Speaker 2: have a roster turnover of thirty players gone and go
Speaker 2: out and be just fine. So and I do love
Speaker 2: for those that weren't listening towards the end of the
Speaker 2: show yesterday. I mean, Jeff really talked about wanting to
Speaker 2: win now, and you know, in a previous world you can.
Speaker 2: I mean, everybody wants to win at all times. You
Speaker 2: never don't want to win, but they're used to. In
Speaker 2: the previous world of college athletics, you would you were,
Speaker 2: you were going to do whatever you were. You were
Speaker 2: going to be a young team if that's the way
Speaker 2: it played out, and you had no control because you
Speaker 2: couldn't just go get veterans right like so, if you
Speaker 2: had a big if you lost a bunch of guys
Speaker 2: to graduation and some to the NFL that left early,
Speaker 2: you know, you had your freshman class coming in. But
Speaker 2: other than that, you needed the guys that were still
Speaker 2: around that played. And then you know a lot that
Speaker 2: didn't play the year before because they were behind on
Speaker 2: the depth chart, like they weren't. If they weren't going
Speaker 2: to be ready to go and produce, then you were
Speaker 2: going to be able to say, well, this is a
Speaker 2: rebuilding year, right, you know we're gonna be We're gonna
Speaker 2: be competitive, but man, you know we're building something special,
Speaker 2: like the the the era of patience is gone in
Speaker 2: sports for fans, in college sports for fans, because the
Speaker 2: portal gives you the ability to not be young. And
Speaker 2: I mean Jeff said it yesterday in a different way
Speaker 2: that actually, you know, he didn't reference young. He just
Speaker 2: referenced like, we want to win now and and our
Speaker 2: players understand. And you know he didn't he didn't go
Speaker 2: deep into it as far as how he answered the
Speaker 2: question at the podium. But what I gathered from it
Speaker 2: was that we talk to our players at all times
Speaker 2: about always wanting to win. Therefore, I think that's helped
Speaker 2: when you go out and you add players at certain positions,
Speaker 2: you know it's because we want to win. This guy's
Speaker 2: gonna make us better. Doesn't mean you can't compete, doesn't
Speaker 2: mean you won't be a part of this, doesn't mean
Speaker 2: you're not going to get reps. But you know we're
Speaker 2: gonna go just I think I think there's clearly a
Speaker 2: mindset here that no matter what you do and what
Speaker 2: you've produced and where you are on the depth chart,
Speaker 2: if we got a chance to go get more players
Speaker 2: that could make us some more talented team, we're gonna
Speaker 2: go do that, regardless of feelings. And I think some
Speaker 2: guys have understood that and they've they've you know, they've
Speaker 2: adapted and you know, maybe put feelings aside and realized that, hey,
Speaker 2: the better we are, the better it is for me,
Speaker 2: even if my role is a little bit more minimal
Speaker 2: than what I want. And then there's some guys who,
Speaker 2: you know, see the writing on the wall and they leave.
Speaker 2: I mean, that's that's what happens. And look more power
Speaker 2: to them like that. I don't I don't knock them
Speaker 2: for that. I think that's understandable. You only get a
Speaker 2: certain amount of time to play college football, and if
Speaker 2: you know that you're in a great spot, but you
Speaker 2: got two guys ahead of you that might get more
Speaker 2: reps than you, like, I would leave too, Like, I
Speaker 2: mean I would. You got to look out for yourself.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I mean maybe, like you know, I think
Speaker 2: to the point of this Texter, like yeah, like there's
Speaker 2: probably some teams on the schedule that we're assuming are
Speaker 2: going to be pretty good and challenging, and we could
Speaker 2: be way off because maybe they didn't they didn't add
Speaker 2: a huge impressive portal class, but man, they got guys
Speaker 2: that have been sitting there ready to play, and they're
Speaker 2: going to be really good. You just never know, I mean,
Speaker 2: you never know regardless, even pre portal, you didn't know
Speaker 2: how any teams can actually perform whenever it comes down
Speaker 2: to it. But yes, the portals made it even harder
Speaker 2: to predict. But like last year, the number one portal
Speaker 2: class in the country was Colorado and they were terrible.
Speaker 2: You know, USC they were number three, and yes, USC,
Speaker 2: you know they obviously you know, beat Louisville in that
Speaker 2: Bowl game, but by all accounts, USC had a very
Speaker 2: very disappointing year ole miss I would think it's safe
Speaker 2: to say that they used the portal and got better
Speaker 2: and it helped them. LSU was the fourth rank class.
Speaker 2: I don't think Brian Kelly had that. I mean, I
Speaker 2: could be wrong and they weren't terrible, because it's rare
Speaker 2: that LSU's ever bad. But you know, lshu's a program
Speaker 2: that has high standards. In fact, they were pre season
Speaker 2: top five, and I would imagine that pre season top five.
Speaker 2: You know, some of it had to do with their
Speaker 2: portal class, and you know they went six and two
Speaker 2: in the SEC, so they were good. I mean, I
Speaker 2: feel like six and two, ten and three overall is
Speaker 2: probably even at LSU a season to where you probably
Speaker 2: feel a little underwhelmed, but you won't be able to
Speaker 2: look in the mirror and say that your team was bad. Right,
Speaker 2: So again to your point, you don't know what anybody has.
Speaker 2: Louiell actually was a good example of that because they
Speaker 2: were picked to finish. We look it up. I'm pretty
Speaker 2: sure Louisville was picked to finish last year in the
Speaker 2: ACC Mean look twenty twenty three ACC preseason media poll.
Speaker 2: I feel like Louisville might have been picked to finish
Speaker 2: like seventh. Yeah, here he is the ACC predicted order
Speaker 2: of finish. Louisville came in at number eight. Yeah. So
Speaker 2: they came in at number eight and they ended up
Speaker 2: coming in. They ended up finishing second in the league.
Speaker 2: Pitt was picked to finish, tied for six with Duke.
Speaker 2: I mean Florida State. Clemson was picked to win the
Speaker 2: league by a hair Florida State second, North Carolina third,
Speaker 2: and c Date fourth, Miami fifth, Duke and Pitt Todd
Speaker 2: for six in Louisville was number eight. So yeah, again,
Speaker 2: preseason rankings, man, like they're worthless. We all know that,
Speaker 2: but at least it gives you like a reference point.
Speaker 2: But I'm sure and last year, like I'm looking at
Speaker 2: Louiville scheduled from a year ago because I'm trying to
Speaker 2: think of an example where you know, you faced a
Speaker 2: team that you felt like, man, they were going to
Speaker 2: be really terrible or they were gonna be really great
Speaker 2: and you were way wrong. But I kind of feel
Speaker 2: like everybody lit of a play last year was kind
Speaker 2: of who you thought. I mean, Georgia Tech maybe ended
Speaker 2: up being a little better when it's all said and done.
Speaker 2: Notre Dame. They were, you know, they had a good year,
Speaker 2: not great. Who else Let's see, Duke kind of fell
Speaker 2: apart late, but they ended up being I think, you know,
Speaker 2: at the time Louisville played Duke, Duke was in a
Speaker 2: pretty good spot. Ended up being way worse, but you
Speaker 2: lost to them. N C State, I think they were
Speaker 2: kind of what you've expected. Boston College. You beat the
Speaker 2: brakes off them. They ended up actually having a better
Speaker 2: year than probably anybody expected because they ended up going
Speaker 2: to a bowl game, which is, you know, nothing crazy,
Speaker 2: but that's not usually what Boston College does. Indiana that
Speaker 2: was a close game and they ended up having a
Speaker 2: bad year. Virginia Tech. He beat him thirty four to three,
Speaker 2: and they, you know, they took steps forward. Virginia was terrible.
Speaker 2: Miami was probably a little worse than people expected. So yeah, look,
Speaker 2: you never know, you never know. A right back to
Speaker 2: the text line five O two six five three zero
Speaker 2: seven ninety again it's the L and N Federal Credit
Speaker 2: Union text line. This Tech says Nick, do you think
Speaker 2: Louisville has a realistic chance to land Jasper Johnson? He
Speaker 2: did include Louisville in his final five Ye'll let me
Speaker 2: pull it up here. I had that tweet up in
Speaker 2: front of me earlier because I did see that that
Speaker 2: in that By the way, for those who don't know,
Speaker 2: Jasper Johnson is election in Native I'm pretty sure his
Speaker 2: father played football at UK. He attended Woodford County High School,
Speaker 2: was a star there, and I believe, in fact, I
Speaker 2: know he left for a prep school but I think
Speaker 2: he might be back at Woodford for his senior season.
Speaker 2: But he's the number twelve overall player in the twenty
Speaker 2: twenty five class and his final five schools are Kentucky,
Speaker 2: North Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas, and Louisville. So he's going to
Speaker 2: make his decision in late August. So this is a
Speaker 2: guy that within the next month is going to make
Speaker 2: a decision and he's really good. Oh yeah, So I'm
Speaker 2: sorry he ended up transferring from the prep school and
Speaker 2: I guess I don't even know if you consider it
Speaker 2: a transfer, but he's going to play for Overtime Elite.
Speaker 2: But he's a five star kid. He's the number two
Speaker 2: shooting guard in the country and he's special. So as
Speaker 2: far as Louisville, you know, I don't. I mean, I
Speaker 2: know Pat Kelsey has recruited him and they're in the
Speaker 2: top five, so that's a good sign. But I mean
Speaker 2: I think for well, I don't know. I would have
Speaker 2: said there's no chance that he doesn't end up at
Speaker 2: Kentucky if Cal is there, But now you know, i'd
Speaker 2: still say to the favorite because he's lexing kid and
Speaker 2: he again his dad went to the UK. But I
Speaker 2: don't know, don't I don't want to get anybody's hopes up.
Speaker 2: I also will tell you straight up, I have no
Speaker 2: clue what this kid's gonna do. But I guess it's
Speaker 2: somewhat encouraging to see that he's he's listing Louisville in
Speaker 2: his top five. But if he's making a decision in August, like,
Speaker 2: he won't have any like if if Louisville and Kentucky
Speaker 2: are the schools that he's maybe prep he likes, because
Speaker 2: I mean, he could end up at Carolina, Arkansas or
Speaker 2: who's the other one, Alabama, and those are great programs
Speaker 2: with great coaches. But if there is sort of a
Speaker 2: well I want to stay home at Lowell or Kentucky,
Speaker 2: he won't have anything to base if he's making his decision,
Speaker 2: which again a verbal commit means nothing. But it's not
Speaker 2: like he's gonna have any you know, any any games
Speaker 2: to reference or any success or failure from these two coaches,
Speaker 2: right because by the time he's committing, if it is
Speaker 2: in August, Pope and Kelsey won't have coached a game yet.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I hope they can land him, because again,
Speaker 2: he'd be one of the best players that ever committed
Speaker 2: to Louisville, considering the fact that he's the number twelve
Speaker 2: player in the country. But I'd just be b ess
Speaker 2: and if I told you I had any feel for
Speaker 2: which direction he's leaning, and again I would say Kentucky
Speaker 2: would be my guest, just because again his father played
Speaker 2: there and he's from Lexington, all right, speaking to Pat Kelsey.
Speaker 2: Props to Pat Kelsey for doing this. So Peyton Siva
Speaker 2: of course advanced last night in the TBT to this
Speaker 2: Elite eight round against La Familia. But you know, without
Speaker 2: the phone call that he received from Pat Kelsey last night,
Speaker 2: Peyton would have had to tell the guys, hey, sorry,
Speaker 2: can't make it. I gotta work, because you know, he's
Speaker 2: now on the staff. Therefore he's supposed to be in
Speaker 2: the Bahamas with his team when they take off this weekend.
Speaker 2: But Pat Kelsey called him and told him, Hey, don't
Speaker 2: worry about it, man, join us when you get done.
Speaker 2: So I never even thought about that, but I'm sure
Speaker 2: Peyton did. And nice to know that, Pat Kelly, because,
Speaker 2: by the way, like that would be a real I mean,
Speaker 2: I don't know if Pat Kelsey told Peyton Siva he
Speaker 2: couldn't play and he had to go with the team
Speaker 2: of the Bahamas. I'm very curious just to know what
Speaker 2: the reaction would have been from fans, because I think
Speaker 2: there's one side of like, come on, dude, like this
Speaker 2: is awesome, Like why are you gonna take this moment
Speaker 2: away from him? You know we need this as fans.
Speaker 2: But then there's others that would probably sayd yep, Pat's
Speaker 2: Kelsey's all business, TVT H whatever, Who cares. He's got
Speaker 2: a team to get ready for of his first season
Speaker 2: and he needs Peyton Siva to help coach. Like I
Speaker 2: am totally not surprised that he made that decision to
Speaker 2: let him play, and I assume most coaches would have
Speaker 2: done it. But like Pat Kelsey's in an era right
Speaker 2: now where he can do no wrong. Like anything he does,
Speaker 2: people are gonna be like, you know, loving it, which, hey,
Speaker 2: that's what this time is for. He hasn't had a
Speaker 2: chance to coach a game and show us anything yet,
Speaker 2: but he's doing all the right things when it comes
Speaker 2: to you know, the honeymoon. All right, quick break, we'll
Speaker 2: come back on the other side. Wrap up the four
Speaker 2: o'clock hour, keep this thing rolling along. Hopefully you guys
Speaker 2: will stick with us. Something else I might get to
Speaker 2: before we run out of time. Today, there's new scholarship
Speaker 2: numbers for the major D one programs out there, which
Speaker 2: you know, I don't want to nerd out on numbers,
Speaker 2: but sort of what this means for the expense that
Speaker 2: universities are going to have to pay now if they
Speaker 2: choose to pay the players, which they're going to have to,
Speaker 2: is monumental. Also, I imagine there's some fantasy football drafts
Speaker 2: that are going to be coming up here in the
Speaker 2: next few weeks, maybe the next month or so, for
Speaker 2: your fantasy football league. And I've found some really really
Speaker 2: cool ideas that I've seen other leagues do as far
Speaker 2: as the order of pick, who gets what pick. So
Speaker 2: we'll get into that in a lot more. Keep it
Speaker 2: locked right here on Sports Talk seven ninety all right,
Speaker 2: so let's go back to the text line. This good
Speaker 2: question that comes in. It says Nick, you've said it best.
Speaker 2: This event is going to be our thing moving forward.
Speaker 2: I think they're talking about the TVT says I'm already
Speaker 2: stressing about who's going to be on the roster next year.
Speaker 2: Have you heard of anybody that hasn't been a part
Speaker 2: of the team yet that wants to join next year.
Speaker 2: So I know there's some guys that didn't get asked
Speaker 2: to play, probably not because of any reason in regards
Speaker 2: to their game or their ability, but just because again,
Speaker 2: you've got to be able to make this work. So
Speaker 2: I know, you know, I know Ryan McMahon, and again
Speaker 2: I can't say he would have played, meaning like you know,
Speaker 2: he would have done it for nothing, because again, not
Speaker 2: everybody to my understanding, maybe it's changed, but not everybody
Speaker 2: gets the same cut it used to be. It actually
Speaker 2: used to be public. Like if you go to the
Speaker 2: TVT website year in years past, you could go to
Speaker 2: the roster and it'll show you the amount of money
Speaker 2: this person's gonna get if they collect the the you know,
Speaker 2: the prize, and now that doesn't show that, which makes
Speaker 2: total sense. I thought that was kind of odd that
Speaker 2: they put that out there. Anyways, However, you know, you
Speaker 2: gotta make it worth their while at some point, right,
Speaker 2: especially if these guys are still playing basketball as their
Speaker 2: job to where they need to not get injured, if
Speaker 2: they're gonna risk injury, you know, there's got to be
Speaker 2: something if it makes it worth it for them, So
Speaker 2: I know Ryan didn't get asked to play, and I
Speaker 2: think he would been a good asset because again, he
Speaker 2: can just fly out shoot the ball. So I know
Speaker 2: there are other guys that like would that probably would
Speaker 2: would would play if they were, you know, pursued, and
Speaker 2: it made sense, like I can't think of many that
Speaker 2: would you know, just say hell no, like I don't
Speaker 2: want to play, Like no, I'm good. I mean, Donovan
Speaker 2: can't play, right, Terry Rozier can't play because there in
Speaker 2: the NBA, Damien Lee can't play because they're in the NBA.
Speaker 2: But man, there's I mean, there's all kinds of options.
Speaker 2: In fact, maybe we get into that in the five
Speaker 2: o'clock hour because I want to make sure I've got
Speaker 2: I don't want to just go off the cuff here,
Speaker 2: because I was thinking about it last night and even
Speaker 2: earlier today when talking to somebody that if you consider
Speaker 2: dudes who are from Louisville but didn't play at U
Speaker 2: of L, like Christal, I mean, you could really put
Speaker 2: together a damn good team. I mean, one guy that
Speaker 2: nobody's talked about that I've heard that, I mean, he
Speaker 2: is playing at a really high level still on the
Speaker 2: younger side. In fact, he's gotten I mean he's a
Speaker 2: guy it was a late bloomer as it is, and
Speaker 2: he's become a much better player now that he's a
Speaker 2: pro than whenever he was in college. That's Steven Enoch.
Speaker 2: I mean, Steven Enoch is a hell of a player
Speaker 2: and he's been super successful as a pro, and I
Speaker 2: mean he would be he'd be a great addition if
Speaker 2: he wanted to play. So you know, I don't want
Speaker 2: ta attention away from the guys that are currently playing,
Speaker 2: because man, they had a great game last night. But man,
Speaker 2: there's all kinds of option as far as what you
Speaker 2: could do, and eventually, you know, not that they're old,
Speaker 2: they're old dudes. I mean, in fact, you know, Russ
Speaker 2: Smith still looks like the same guy he was when
Speaker 2: he played here ten years ago. But you know, he's
Speaker 2: now an entrepreneur and you know, I know he's going
Speaker 2: to try to continue to play the game and make
Speaker 2: money doing it. But you know, at some point these
Speaker 2: guys probably just will decide, hey, I'll be a part
Speaker 2: of this, but I'm not going to play. I don't
Speaker 2: I don't see that happening anytime soon. With Russ just
Speaker 2: because again, you know, I'm sure he's not playing at
Speaker 2: the level that he would want to be playing at
Speaker 2: because since he's been in Louisville, he's put so much
Speaker 2: energy and effort into his brand and that is his
Speaker 2: bourbon company. But you know you saw last night. I mean,
Speaker 2: Russ in any moment can still get hot and take
Speaker 2: over a game. And that's something that you know, not
Speaker 2: many others on this roster, if any can do the
Speaker 2: way Russ does. All right, speaking of former Louisville Cardinals,
Speaker 2: so Carleague Jones, we talked about him earlier this week
Speaker 2: because he became, you know, really a national story in
Speaker 2: the world of basketball after putting up a triple double
Speaker 2: against Team USA for South Sudan. That has never happened.
Speaker 2: Nobody's ever put up a triple double against Team USA before.
Speaker 2: So you know, he's proven at every opportunity he's had
Speaker 2: that he is an NBA player. And when I say
Speaker 2: proven it, I mean he's done phenomenal in the G League.
Speaker 2: When he got called up, he played really really well.
Speaker 2: And you know he's he's he's viewed, I would imagine
Speaker 2: by the NBA executives as a Doma doesen't guy like
Speaker 2: an undersized guard. That is good. But man, you know
Speaker 2: he's not special. We don't we don't have to have him.
Speaker 2: And I feel like, now he's got that performance against
Speaker 2: Team USA under his belt again the world's best players,
Speaker 2: you know, he's probably gonna get some some legitimate attention.
Speaker 2: So Markt who covers the NBA, put this out there.
Speaker 2: This is interesting. So he's already signed for next season.
Speaker 2: And look, I get it. If you're Carl Leak, Like
Speaker 2: he didn't play in the Summer League. You know, he's
Speaker 2: going out there and he's gonna make He's gonna make
Speaker 2: as much money as he can. Like he's a guy
Speaker 2: that will go to the NBA if it's there, but
Speaker 2: he's also going to look out for himself and realize, hey,
Speaker 2: if I can make you know, maybe a million dollars,
Speaker 2: half a million, I have no clue what it is.
Speaker 2: Playing in Serbia, that's what I'm gonna go do. And
Speaker 2: I think that's where he played last year. So he's
Speaker 2: already under contract. However, a lot of these guys, if
Speaker 2: the NBA is still a realistic option, to some extent,
Speaker 2: they leave that option open. Therefore, mark Steiner is reporting
Speaker 2: that NBA teams have until today to pursue him, so
Speaker 2: his contract with his new team takes full effect. I
Speaker 2: guess tomorrow. So if Carl League Jones is going to
Speaker 2: get a shot at the NBA, I would imagine that,
Speaker 2: you know, we'll find out today. And here's something that
Speaker 2: Carl Leak is probably gonna do, and I would do
Speaker 2: the same thing. If they give you an invite to
Speaker 2: training camp, don't go take the money in the in
Speaker 2: Serbia because the training camp invited is not a guarantee.
Speaker 2: And if you get cut, then that ought that you know,
Speaker 2: you won't be able to play with that team that's
Speaker 2: probably willing to pay you a lot of money. Right now,
Speaker 2: all right, we got five o'clock hour coming your way,
Speaker 2: so stick around right here on Sportsbox seven ninety