Speaker 1: Oh, oh, guess what day it is.
Speaker 2: Guess what day it is?
Speaker 3: Huh?
Speaker 4: Anybody?
Speaker 5: It's hump Day?
Speaker 2: Up day?
Speaker 3: Yeah, It's hump Day, and it is one day closer
Speaker 3: to Kentucky basketball. The Wildcats Friday take the next step
Speaker 3: in the NCAA tournament, you know, taking on those Tennessee Valls.
Speaker 3: Tip off at seven point thirty nine. It's very specific,
Speaker 3: and yet somehow they always manage to make it work.
Speaker 3: Welcome to the Big Moon, Sider to Gabriel with you
Speaker 3: on a Wednesday edition of our program. Also, this is
Speaker 3: the day the boys Sweet sixteen begins and we pre record,
Speaker 3: so I can't really tell you what's going on down
Speaker 3: there in terms of the first couple of games. But
Speaker 3: Louisville Saint Xavier sat next scheduled to play this afternoon
Speaker 3: against Jeffersontown. To two Louisville teams taking on each other
Speaker 3: Region six versus Region seven. That has happened before, and
Speaker 3: the cases they would never see this, But when you
Speaker 3: kind of look at it cynically, you say, well, the
Speaker 3: Louisville school's taking care of each other and therefore it
Speaker 3: should help the crowd. So we'll find out, won't we.
Speaker 3: But Sandex apparently is incredible, and we're going to talk
Speaker 3: to the unforgettable guard Sean Woods about the Sweet sixteen
Speaker 3: and about the Wildcats coming up a little bit later.
Speaker 3: Caroline mccowskis will join us as well to talk about
Speaker 3: the end of the UK women's basketball season, and Aaron
Speaker 3: Gershan is going to check in also. He wasn't able
Speaker 3: to join us on Monday night, Aaron of course for
Speaker 3: the Cat's Balls covering the game in Milwaukee. So we'll
Speaker 3: talk a lot of Kentucky basketball tonight on the Big
Speaker 3: Blue Insider. The other day game today Bowling Green and
Speaker 3: a Derek County, So KHSA dot org has all the scores.
Speaker 3: Later tonight the Ashland Blazer Tomcats taking on Callaway County.
Speaker 3: That's actually the eight thirty game just underway. South Oldham
Speaker 3: and little bitty Danville Christian I think seventy eight students,
Speaker 3: but they've got some foreign imports who have made both
Speaker 3: the girls and the boys teams formidable. They are playing
Speaker 3: south Oldham even as we speak, so we will try
Speaker 3: to keep you up to speed on that as best
Speaker 3: we can. Now. As for the basketball Wildcats, they're getting
Speaker 3: a lot of clock of course because they've made the
Speaker 3: Sweet sixteen, and because of Mark Pope, he has become
Speaker 3: quite the I don't want to say figurehead, but he's
Speaker 3: getting a lot of run right now, and why not
Speaker 3: for the job he's done and the things he does
Speaker 3: and says. You know, obviously we're a little biased over here,
Speaker 3: but he says interesting things. And he appeared on the
Speaker 3: Jim Rome Show I guess it was last night and
Speaker 3: talked about basically team chemistry.
Speaker 6: But how did you get all these new faces to
Speaker 6: buy in and jell as quickly and seemingly as seamously
Speaker 6: as they have.
Speaker 7: I think for us, we were really fortunate and really
Speaker 7: intentional about about about recruiting great human beings, Like Jim,
Speaker 7: I'm telling you, if you got to sit down with
Speaker 7: each of these guys, these are special kids. They're not kids,
Speaker 7: They're special young people. Every single one of them can
Speaker 7: see something more important than themselves in the world.
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 7: Every single one of them has been really intentional about
Speaker 7: getting to know their teammates and loving them and fighting
Speaker 7: for them and plan for them. And so it hasn't
Speaker 7: meant as much what I've done or what our staff
Speaker 7: has done, is what our guys have done working to
Speaker 7: build bonds with each other. That's given us a chance
Speaker 7: to withstand all the adversity that you face during the
Speaker 7: course of a season.
Speaker 6: Right, So, Mark, I buy that. I buy that, especially
Speaker 6: coming from you. But how do you find It's onething
Speaker 6: to find great people. It's one thing to find humble people.
Speaker 6: How do you find great players or very good players
Speaker 6: who are great people and that many of them?
Speaker 7: Well, I'll tell you what the portal is.
Speaker 8: It gives you a.
Speaker 7: Huge advantage over recruiting high school because you have data
Speaker 7: from college. You have film running like elite level sets
Speaker 7: against elite level defense, doing it over and over and
Speaker 7: over again. You're recruiting guys that aren't just trying to
Speaker 7: learn the college game. They're trying to fine tune the
Speaker 7: college game. So, so finding the right talent, especially for us,
Speaker 7: because we play a unique style. We're very very slanted
Speaker 7: towards a pro style with a ton of movement away
Speaker 7: from the ball, and so because our style of play,
Speaker 7: it's almost easier to go pick out those guys that
Speaker 7: actually have the skill set that translate to what we do.
Speaker 7: And so there's some advantages, some real substantial advantages to
Speaker 7: recruiting guys out of the pool.
Speaker 3: Mark Stub's made similar comments when it came to recruiting
Speaker 3: out of the portal. He just said, you have more information,
Speaker 3: you have better information, and therefore it puts you a
Speaker 3: step ahead. Now, you know, he's got to recruit more guys.
Speaker 3: I don't know if he can take the deep dive
Speaker 3: that Pope does. You know, Popo compared to soups a
Speaker 3: handful of guys. So when it comes to team chemistry,
Speaker 3: you know Stoops may had more challenges than Pope did.
Speaker 3: But Pope put his team together, as you know, in
Speaker 3: such a short amount of time. Interesting that he talked
Speaker 3: about the offense to a Jim Rome there and again
Speaker 3: that was courtesy the Jim Rome Show. That may explain
Speaker 3: why Kentucky was slower coming around on defense because the Wildcats,
Speaker 3: it was clear, were working quite a bit on offense.
Speaker 3: It was working well, wasn't it. They outscored the Florida Gators,
Speaker 3: but they really didn't guard very well, did they. Well,
Speaker 3: there's a stat out there stating that in the first
Speaker 3: in the thirteen games before that Ole Miss game, that
Speaker 3: huge turnaround against ole Miss, when it just looked like
Speaker 3: they weren't even interested in guarding the thirteen games prior
Speaker 3: to that, they were ranked one hundred and fifty ninth
Speaker 3: on defense. In the thirteen games after that rank number ten.
Speaker 3: And that's why they have such a big shot against Tennessee.
Speaker 3: Not only the fact that they know how to beat
Speaker 3: Tennessee clearly, but the fact that they're a better defensive
Speaker 3: team now than they were when they were beating up
Speaker 3: on the volunteers, which I find fascinating. So it's gonna
Speaker 3: be fun kent Kentucky beat Tennessee for a third time.
Speaker 3: Some people say I'd rather be the team that has
Speaker 3: won the two games than lost the two games. I
Speaker 3: just keep thinking, I cannot get it out of my head,
Speaker 3: Kentucky losing to LSU. And this goes back now in
Speaker 3: nineteen eighty six. It was the fourth time the Wildcats
Speaker 3: had played the bay U Bengals and missed the chance
Speaker 3: at the Final four because of that loss. But on
Speaker 3: the other hand, you know, Kentucky knows how to get
Speaker 3: it done. And I do believe Kentucky's offense versus Tennessee's
Speaker 3: defense is better than Tennessee's offense versus Kentucky's defense, if
Speaker 3: that makes sense. We'll have it for you right here.
Speaker 3: It's a seven thirty nine tip off, and they will
Speaker 3: make it work somehow. On CBS speaking up, Actually TBS,
Speaker 3: speaking of TV. UK Illinois was the highest rated game
Speaker 3: Sunday and this has become one of, if not the
Speaker 3: most watched nca tournament thirty two years. UK Troy highest
Speaker 3: rated game on Friday. So again, if you're a conspiracy theorist,
Speaker 3: and that's fine in some cases, so am I. But
Speaker 3: the NCAA does not want to see Kentucky lose. Officials
Speaker 3: do not get together decide Kentucky should lose. Kentucky brings
Speaker 3: the viewers, brings the eyeballs, therefore brings the money up.
Speaker 3: Next Aaron Gershat of the cash Balls here on six
Speaker 3: thirty WLAP Welcome back to the Big Blue and sider
Speaker 3: joining us now is the All American and one of
Speaker 3: the radio voices of the UK Sports Network, Jack Gibbons,
Speaker 3: Tom Leach's broadcast partner on what has turned into Jack,
Speaker 3: just a really terrific basketball season, and I have heap
Speaker 3: praise on you. I think you're doing a wonderful job
Speaker 3: of Tom. And what gets me, Jack is the unmitigated
Speaker 3: joy in your voice when these things are going well
Speaker 3: for the wildcast. You love this for the players, don't you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it is so nice. I mean, I've gotten to
Speaker 2: know these guys, and you know, I'm blessed to be
Speaker 2: able to do what I do, and part of what
Speaker 2: I do is to get to talk to these guys
Speaker 2: and get to know them a little bit off the floor.
Speaker 2: And you know, we've we've been blessed with some really
Speaker 2: good guys. I mean, we've been fortunate to get them,
Speaker 2: not just this year, but over the last a number
Speaker 2: of years. I mean, good guys. But these guys are special.
Speaker 2: And what makes them special to me is that they
Speaker 2: every one of them, not the young guys, but every
Speaker 2: one of the veterans know this is their last time
Speaker 2: let's go around that tests, man, and they want to
Speaker 2: make the most of it. And they are I mean,
Speaker 2: that's been fun to get to know him, fun to
Speaker 2: spend time with them, and it's easy when you have
Speaker 2: a bunch of really good dudes.
Speaker 3: Man, this team has made so much progress through the season,
Speaker 3: which I think was just inevitable giving the fact that
Speaker 3: these are good basketball players, but the fact that they've
Speaker 3: made such a jump, especially on defense. How much is
Speaker 3: the fact that they are by all accounts, good guys,
Speaker 3: good people. I mean, that was important to Mark Pope.
Speaker 3: He really vetted these guys coming through the portal and
Speaker 3: Ben Roberts wrote a tremendous piece about it. Mary Williams
Speaker 3: his recruitment. But how vital is that's kind of an
Speaker 3: obvious question to the process, the improvement process, the you know,
Speaker 3: the binding as a team, the fact that they're just
Speaker 3: good dudes.
Speaker 2: Well, if you think back over the course of this season,
Speaker 2: and we can go all the way back early, the
Speaker 2: first thing was said was these guys are not tough
Speaker 2: enough and people are going to be physical with them. Well,
Speaker 2: they addressed it, and they became tougher. They couldn't rebound
Speaker 2: the basketball, Well they addressed it, and now they're good
Speaker 2: rebounding team. Not the best, but they're good rebounding team.
Speaker 2: And especially when it comes to defensive rebounding against some
Speaker 2: of these teams that go and chew up offensive rebounds
Speaker 2: for points. So they got better at that. Then it
Speaker 2: was like, yeah, but they can't defend, man, you know,
Speaker 2: you've got to stop somebody. And then all of a
Speaker 2: sudden Mark addresses with the players and now They are
Speaker 2: a really sound, fundamentally sound help and recover defensive teams.
Speaker 2: So every time they faced certain things during the course
Speaker 2: of the year, because they are men, because they are vets,
Speaker 2: because they listen, they've been able to address those issues
Speaker 2: and deal with them.
Speaker 9: So.
Speaker 2: Uh So, this is a this is a trade that
Speaker 2: a lot of teams didn't have that we've had a
Speaker 2: lot of teams don't have. But it's certainly been good
Speaker 2: for these guys.
Speaker 3: How big a step given how they beat Illinois? They
Speaker 3: did battle him on the boards, they did guard really
Speaker 3: really well. That went over Illinois when Kentucky was really
Speaker 3: an underdog. How big a step was that, Jack.
Speaker 2: No, it was. It was huge. I mean it was
Speaker 2: huge for It was huge for the whole entire uh BBN,
Speaker 2: not just the team, but the fans have gotten so
Speaker 2: vested in this ball club. I mean they have and
Speaker 2: then Mark Pope can't can't leave him off the table
Speaker 2: when I talk about this now. I mean they've been
Speaker 2: in it since day one when at the press conference
Speaker 2: and I just thought, Man, I wonder what it's going
Speaker 2: to taste for the fans to really be happy with
Speaker 2: what this team accomplishes. And I thought you know, they
Speaker 2: should have been happy a long time ago because of
Speaker 2: what Mark had, the face coming in the late start,
Speaker 2: all of the stuff, and then to have a team
Speaker 2: that has accomplished what this team has accomplished, some of
Speaker 2: the wins they've had. You know, I thought the fans
Speaker 2: should have been just a static long before now. But
Speaker 2: when you get in the tournament, when you get in
Speaker 2: the tournament, play you ask yourself, Man, I wonder we'll
Speaker 2: win in the first game. Be enough? And it was.
Speaker 2: I mean I think people were really really pleased and
Speaker 2: happy and maybe would have been satisfied. But man, getting
Speaker 2: to where we are now, I mean, you you better
Speaker 2: be happy with everything, man, because not many people gave
Speaker 2: us a chance. I mean, you know, it was pretty
Speaker 2: trendy pick to pick Kentucky to get upset in the
Speaker 2: first game. Yeah, a lot of people picked that around
Speaker 2: the country, A lot of people who don't know Kentucky
Speaker 2: basketball and the players, but a lot of people picked
Speaker 2: that as a as a bracketbuster, you know. But they responded,
Speaker 2: then they go in the game with Illinois, they were
Speaker 2: not favored. They responded, they won't be favored against Tennessee either,
Speaker 2: even though they've beaten them twice. I mean, they won't
Speaker 2: be favored there, So I say, let's toss it up, man,
Speaker 2: and let's see what happened.
Speaker 3: By the way, I keep mentioning this every time I
Speaker 3: get a chance, nobody wants to see Kentucky beat Tennessee more.
Speaker 3: And my guys Jeff Piicoro and Jack Gibbons. You guy,
Speaker 3: I don't know if you ever talked to Jeff about that, Jack,
Speaker 3: but you guys are in lockstep on that. You were
Speaker 3: all so old school when it comes to Kentucky Tennessee,
Speaker 3: and I kind of like it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, some things don't change. I mean, we didn't play
Speaker 2: Louisville back in the day. Tennessee was our rival, and
Speaker 2: what they would beat us, and and and uh they
Speaker 2: had great athletes back in my day, with Ernie and
Speaker 2: Bernie and a number of other really really good players.
Speaker 2: So yeah, yeah, Tennessee is still the team I like
Speaker 2: to beat as much as anybody.
Speaker 8: Uh.
Speaker 2: I don't know that the players who have played at
Speaker 2: Tennessee like I do the guys from Louisville, So I'm
Speaker 2: not necessarily until Louisville's playing US, I really don't uh
Speaker 2: cheer against them because I've got a lot of guys
Speaker 2: who I'm really good friends with their uh so Tennessee.
Speaker 2: Uh you know, I'm I'm I love playing them and
Speaker 2: I really really enjoyed beating them.
Speaker 3: I know you do. I'm gonna double back to Tennessee.
Speaker 3: But just uh uh just a completed thought on this
Speaker 3: Kentucky team by the way. Uh yeah, fans should have
Speaker 3: been happy. Well they were. They were happy and relieved
Speaker 3: from Mark Pope after that first win. They were so
Speaker 3: happy for him. But you know it is, man, now
Speaker 3: they're in the sweet sixteen. They can see the finish
Speaker 3: line from here to see it on selection Sunday, isn't it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, you're right, You're right. So there's a whole
Speaker 2: new level of expectation now, uh with the fans and
Speaker 2: uh and I love it. I love it because that's
Speaker 2: what makes Kentucky basketball Kentucky basketball. I mean, we understand,
Speaker 2: we see it, but man, can we get can you
Speaker 2: just give me a little bit more?
Speaker 4: Please? A little more? Uh?
Speaker 2: You know, I mean that's the way we are, that's
Speaker 2: the way our fans are. And I get it, so
Speaker 2: uh and I'm and I'm wanting more now, man, this
Speaker 2: is this is a fun ride, and goodness, gracious, I
Speaker 2: get a great seat every night, and I get to
Speaker 2: get to talk about something I love, So I'm wanting
Speaker 2: to keep this thing going.
Speaker 3: Also absolutely talking to Jack Gibbons of the UK radio network,
Speaker 3: the UK All American, we'll call the action along with
Speaker 3: Tom Leach when the Wildcats teed up on Friday night,
Speaker 3: toss it up. I should say, let's talk about how
Speaker 3: they got here, Jack, And obviously it's improved defense. And
Speaker 3: this is a team that a lot of people dismissed
Speaker 3: and really probably going into the tournament as much as
Speaker 3: the Lamont Butler injury as well as the rep they
Speaker 3: had for not being able to guard. But this is
Speaker 3: one of the most dramatic turnarounds I can remember, maybe
Speaker 3: ever in Kentucky basketball when it comes to defense, and
Speaker 3: you played for a guy who hammered home defense on
Speaker 3: day one, Mark Pope went about things a little bit differently.
Speaker 3: How surprised are you, Jack, not that they've made the improvement,
Speaker 3: that they've made this much improvement.
Speaker 2: Well, listen, so much of what we do on defense
Speaker 2: is started by Lamont Butler, and the healthier he is,
Speaker 2: the better we are. But back in the season, we
Speaker 2: had Lamont early in the season. We had Lamont, but
Speaker 2: we still weren't stopping teams from scoring. I mean, I
Speaker 2: think back to that where the Florida game was fun.
Speaker 2: We won that, But I think back to that Alabama
Speaker 2: game in Lexington. I mean, man, if we just play
Speaker 2: a little bit of defense in that game, we win
Speaker 2: that one. And you know, but I think, and I
Speaker 2: can go to one guy, Okay, when I talk about
Speaker 2: the improvement on defense, I can go to one guy.
Speaker 2: I'm going to go to Kobe Braya. Okay, because back
Speaker 2: earlier on, even though you wanted his production offensive production
Speaker 2: on the floor, there were times you couldn't have him
Speaker 2: out there because he just was He just couldn't keep
Speaker 2: people in front of him. And look at now, Kobe
Speaker 2: is the one guy you can count on for thirty
Speaker 2: five minutes in any game. I mean he could and
Speaker 2: right now, he's had some games game where he couldn't
Speaker 2: make shots. I mean where shots just weren't falling, but
Speaker 2: you couldn't take him off the floor because of his
Speaker 2: defense and what his defense brought to the team. He's
Speaker 2: helping and recovering. Man, He's cutting people off the baseline.
Speaker 2: He's keeping guys who are very mobile guys, those six
Speaker 2: six to six eight guys that are mobile that we
Speaker 2: face every night in the SEC. He's keeping those kind
Speaker 2: of guys in front of him. So early in the
Speaker 2: season you couldn't have him out there because he was
Speaker 2: a liability on defense, and then now here right now,
Speaker 2: you can't take him off the floor sometimes because the
Speaker 2: team drops off so much defense in a piece not
Speaker 2: out there, So that's that's kind of a I look
Speaker 2: at what the whole team has done defensively, but I
Speaker 2: can point to him individually and talk to you about
Speaker 2: the change that this team has made on that defensive
Speaker 2: end of the floor.
Speaker 3: Jack Gibbons is my guest. He is Tom leach broadcast partner,
Speaker 3: of course on the UK radio network Marvel the Goose
Speaker 3: on the way You're on six thirty Wlap'm talking to
Speaker 3: Jack Gibbons. He is, of course Tom Leach's broadcast partner
Speaker 3: on UK basketball, and we urge you to tune them in.
Speaker 3: When the Wildcats tossed it up on Friday night in
Speaker 3: the NCAA tournament, Jack, you know what it's like to
Speaker 3: play in the NCAA. Is you played in three the
Speaker 3: only year you didn't play in the NCAA tournament. You
Speaker 3: won the NIT which was your second year of Kentucky.
Speaker 3: So that said, the senior year pressure is different than
Speaker 3: any other. And as you pointed out earlier, these guys
Speaker 3: know this is it. They have been brought together and
Speaker 3: they've worked to come together to do something special that,
Speaker 3: you know, with all due respect, other than LaMarsh Butler,
Speaker 3: they really hadn't done their respective careers. What kind of
Speaker 3: pressure is there on this kid, on these kids, because
Speaker 3: there are different kinds of pressure.
Speaker 2: Well, I kind of like the fact, Gabe, that they
Speaker 2: are going into games as underdogs. Okay, even with the
Speaker 2: three seed, they were an underdog against Illinois, okay, And
Speaker 2: I think that actually relieves a lot of the pressure
Speaker 2: that they might have been facing if they came in
Speaker 2: to these games as a favorite. Now because they you know,
Speaker 2: they've been in a lot of games. The games that
Speaker 2: they've played in, I don't know that even that San
Speaker 2: Diego State game, San Diego State team that Lamont Butler
Speaker 2: played on, I don't know that of the first round
Speaker 2: they were even a favorite. You know, So they've been
Speaker 2: they've been used to coming in this thing as the underdog,
Speaker 2: you know, and I think that release. I mean, just
Speaker 2: think about it. If these guys were a two seed
Speaker 2: and they were six, seven, eight, nine point favored going
Speaker 2: against everybody they play against, I think that would bring
Speaker 2: a whole different pressure than what this team is facing
Speaker 2: that this time. So, I mean it's nice. I mean,
Speaker 2: it's it's pressure, but the pressure that they have on
Speaker 2: them is a little bit different than the pressures that
Speaker 2: we had as the number one team in the country
Speaker 2: and that you were expected to win. I mean, that's
Speaker 2: just a little bit different kind of pressure, there's.
Speaker 3: No question, and they can lean on each other. I mean,
Speaker 3: you guys could as well, but yeah, it was it
Speaker 3: was almost crushing. Uh, you know the way you guys
Speaker 3: handled that. You know, we talked about Lamont Butler, we
Speaker 3: talked about Kobe brand defense, and I've been saying that
Speaker 3: that Lamont, and it's pretty evident, makes everybody better on offense,
Speaker 3: but also makes everybody better on defense. But you were
Speaker 3: pointing out the other night, uh, And I think I
Speaker 3: heard you talk to Otaga about this on the postgame
Speaker 3: show that with Lamont back, everybody reverts to their natural
Speaker 3: position and Otega doesn't have to be the point guard
Speaker 3: and I think sometimes people forget what kind of pressure
Speaker 3: that brings and what kind of I don't want to
Speaker 3: use the word burden, but it's much harder on him
Speaker 3: to be Otega, isn't it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a whole different mindset that point guard spot.
Speaker 2: I mean, you you can't just put anybody in there
Speaker 2: at the point guard spot and say okay, go out there,
Speaker 2: man and do what Lamont Butler does for exactly. I mean,
Speaker 2: it's very difficult. And you know, Otega is much better
Speaker 2: coming off the wings, uh as opposed to straight up
Speaker 2: top on that get the offense start kind of situation.
Speaker 2: And that is the biggest thing. Everybody goes back to
Speaker 2: doing their own thing when Lamont Butler is around. Now,
Speaker 2: that doesn't mean that you won't put Otega, you won't
Speaker 2: put Amari Williams in that point guard spot and say, okay,
Speaker 2: get our offense started. That doesn't mean that won't happen
Speaker 2: at times in the game.
Speaker 4: Because it will. It will.
Speaker 2: But everybody is just more relaxed, Even the guys coming
Speaker 2: off the bench, who deserve a lot of credit for
Speaker 2: this little late season run, even those guys are are
Speaker 2: more comfortable and more relaxed and can do what they
Speaker 2: do when with Lamont being healthy and guys in their
Speaker 2: normal position.
Speaker 3: Well, I know that you're going to give us a
Speaker 3: complete sky report on Friday, But let me get let
Speaker 3: me turn you loose with this. Should I not be
Speaker 3: super concerned, which I am, about trying to beat Tennessee,
Speaker 3: a really good team for a third time, because so
Speaker 3: many people keep saying, you know, well, they're already proven
Speaker 3: they can beat them. It's almost like they're trying to
Speaker 3: dismiss any concerns about that. But Tennessee kids have pride
Speaker 3: and they know what they're doing. They're smart, they'll figure
Speaker 3: things out. But just you know, so well Kentucky, right,
Speaker 3: what should I think going into this? Help me? Jack Well?
Speaker 2: Number One, face the fact, Okay, Tennessee is a really,
Speaker 2: really good team. I mean that's the first thing we
Speaker 2: have to understand. And we know that. I mean, the
Speaker 2: Kentucky basketball team knows that Tennessee is capable of beating anybody.
Speaker 2: I mean, whoever they face. I mean, that's just the fact.
Speaker 2: I mean, they are that good. For some reason, Kentucky's
Speaker 2: been able to match up well against them. And I
Speaker 2: think the reason is I mean, if I look back
Speaker 2: over the course of the season. The teams Kentucky's had
Speaker 2: the most trouble with are teams that have really great athletes, Okay,
Speaker 2: really quick, long guys who who can beat you off
Speaker 2: the dribble, right, And Tennessee has a couple of those guys,
Speaker 2: but they don't have a team full of those guys,
Speaker 2: And we match up better with that kind of team.
Speaker 2: So I think you look at the matchup first and
Speaker 2: you understand that, well, yeah, you know, they're the same,
Speaker 2: We're the same. So you know, you go into this
Speaker 2: being thinking we've got a chance. Yes we do. And
Speaker 2: I hear a lot of people talking about yeah, but
Speaker 2: you know, it's hard to beat a team three times
Speaker 2: in one season. Well, it's hard for you to believe
Speaker 2: it for player. For a player, we think we're gonna
Speaker 2: win every night out. I don't care if we play
Speaker 2: you ten times, we're gonna win. Ask Alabama about playing Kentucky.
Speaker 2: I mean, they beat us three times, and the last
Speaker 2: time they beat us was the worst they beat us
Speaker 2: all season long. So the three time situation, that's so
Speaker 2: many people the first thing that they want.
Speaker 4: To talk about.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but it's difficult to beat the team isn't It's
Speaker 2: difficult to beat the team this time of the year.
Speaker 2: One time, true, I mean one time because everybody's good.
Speaker 2: So I mean, you understand it's Tennessee and that's a
Speaker 2: plus because you know them. But the fact of the.
Speaker 4: Matter is.
Speaker 2: It's just another step, man, and keeping this step for
Speaker 2: us to keep dancing. I don't care what names on
Speaker 2: their jersey. We have to go that way to beat them,
Speaker 2: and I think Kentucky has a good chance of doing that.
Speaker 3: I do too, well. All right, I feel better. You've
Speaker 3: done your job. Thank you, Thank you so much. I
Speaker 3: have to thoroughly enjoy listening to you guys this year,
Speaker 3: and we'll be listening on Friday. Thank you, brother, have
Speaker 3: a great trip, Thank you, and uh bring it home.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Gabe. It's gonna be fun. I'm glad we're
Speaker 2: still dancing, and I'm glad this group of guys and
Speaker 2: this coaching staff is still dancing because we we hit
Speaker 2: the jackpot with this group. Fan they're good, good dudes.
Speaker 3: Man, that's right, So are you? Thanks buddy?
Speaker 4: All right? Thanks Up.
Speaker 3: Next, we'll talk women's basketball with Caroline Makowskis of The
Speaker 3: Harold Leader on six thirty WLAP Welcome back to the
Speaker 3: Big Blue Sider. Joining us now in our celebrity Hotline.
Speaker 3: Caroline mccowskis from the Herold Leader who covered a Kentucky
Speaker 3: women's basketball game the other day. She's covered the season,
Speaker 3: but Caroline, you covered one of the great games I've
Speaker 3: ever seen. I'm certain you have as well. Crowd was great,
Speaker 3: level of play was great, and what an ending. I
Speaker 3: couldn't ask for much more or less. If you're a
Speaker 3: Kentucky fan. That last shot to go.
Speaker 10: Down, Oh absolutely, that floater there at the end, But
Speaker 10: of course, who else do you want taking that shot
Speaker 10: other than Georgia Aymore. I mean, it was it. Sometimes
Speaker 10: they just don't fall. The look was great, she was open,
Speaker 10: she had an opportunity, but it was so exciting. It
Speaker 10: was one of those that you're so happy to be
Speaker 10: in the environment, all the fans. As you mentioned, it
Speaker 10: was just a really crazy, crazy experience. It was so
Speaker 10: cool to be there.
Speaker 3: And like so many great games like that, there were
Speaker 3: so many layers. There were so many momentum changes, and
Speaker 3: at one point it looked like Kansas State had and
Speaker 3: suddenly Kentucky's got a five point lead. You know, I
Speaker 3: mean late, but now you know they for whatever reason,
Speaker 3: they kept losing point extra to three point shooter. They
Speaker 3: knocked down two triples. Now they're behind. I mean, it
Speaker 3: was just incredible the way it went back and forth.
Speaker 10: It was it was you could tell everyone who was
Speaker 10: there really really wanted it, and we all knew it
Speaker 10: was going to be a difficult matchup for these two teams.
Speaker 10: You got that super experienced post in Aoka Lee over
Speaker 10: at Kansas State, who thankfully was able to come back
Speaker 10: for the tournament her final tournament. The guard matchups exciting
Speaker 10: all over the floor, deadly shooters all over the floor.
Speaker 10: So it was kind of a pick your poison situation
Speaker 10: I think for both teams, and it's one of those, Ugh,
Speaker 10: somebody's got to lose.
Speaker 3: Unfortunately, Clara Strack at a phenomenal game. I think lost
Speaker 3: in Kansas State success was Serena Sundell, who had nineteen
Speaker 3: points and fourteen assists. I mean she was all over
Speaker 3: the place. So yeah, it was that kind of game.
Speaker 3: And you mentioned Aoka lead. People don't right to google her. She,
Speaker 3: as you know, is the record holder for the single
Speaker 3: most points scored in one game. And say women's game
Speaker 3: sixty one against Oklahoma. But you know, I don't know
Speaker 3: if you're a plus mind this person, Caroline, but she
Speaker 3: was minus fifteen aka Leewill. I thought Kentucky did a
Speaker 3: fairly good job defending against her.
Speaker 10: Yeah, yeah, I did too. And I talked to Clara
Speaker 10: Strack after the game and I asked her, I was like,
Speaker 10: you did a pretty good job, you know, in this
Speaker 10: matchup that everyone was talking about because of Lee's resume.
Speaker 10: You know what was that like for you? She's just
Speaker 10: she was excited for the opportunity to match up against
Speaker 10: someone like that. She said, we knew that the whole
Speaker 10: team was going to be a battle, but I knew
Speaker 10: that this specifically was going to be a battle against Lee.
Speaker 10: And she just had a ton of fun doing it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and she had a better game. Strak had twenty
Speaker 3: two points to six years off. Really, oh man, and
Speaker 3: she's coming back. That's the good news. Absolutely, go ahead.
Speaker 10: I just think it's crazy because you look at someone
Speaker 10: like Clara Strek, of course twenty twenty five, a SDC
Speaker 10: Defensive Player of Year, and you say, oh my gosh,
Speaker 10: her patience, her poise, the touch around the rim, she's
Speaker 10: got it. And then you remind yourself, Oh she's a sophomore.
Speaker 10: Oh she only turns nineteen in November. Yeah, it's really crazy,
Speaker 10: but it's encouraging. I would imagine Kentucky fans that's one
Speaker 10: of those you know, you're pumped your fist, you're fired
Speaker 10: up because Claria Strack is only a sophomore.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, and there are others coming back, of course,
Speaker 3: but they had to say goodbye to Georgia anymore after
Speaker 3: just the one season. She played all but four seconds
Speaker 3: in that game, although there were two Kansas State players
Speaker 3: who played all forty five minutes. But Georgia. What did
Speaker 3: you think of her response? Somebody asked her about you know,
Speaker 3: that last shot not going down, and she said she
Speaker 3: didn't want us to define her or basically didn't want
Speaker 3: to you know, wagh that against five years. I thought
Speaker 3: that was pretty interesting.
Speaker 1: It was.
Speaker 10: Yeah, it's a mature answer. It's the way she delivered.
Speaker 10: It was kind of a funny answer.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 10: But also, you know, getting to cover Georgia for this season,
Speaker 10: just one season.
Speaker 8: She's so good.
Speaker 10: Was just being able to look at a moment and
Speaker 10: boil it down to what it is. Yeah, she doesn't
Speaker 10: make it too big you know, she's talked a lot
Speaker 10: about I don't let the highs get too high. I
Speaker 10: don't get let the lows get too low. And in
Speaker 10: five years of the career and obviously everything that came
Speaker 10: before it, she is able to step back look at
Speaker 10: that shot for what it was a good look that
Speaker 10: just didn't happen to Land and know that, hey, I
Speaker 10: can be proud of what I did this season. I
Speaker 10: can be proud of what I did this game because
Speaker 10: she did have a strong game and just let it
Speaker 10: be what it is and that's okay. I think that's special.
Speaker 3: And then don't get there without her clearly, and then
Speaker 3: you fold in what she did at Virginia Tech for
Speaker 3: crying out loud, you know, just a phenomenal, nominal career. Now,
Speaker 3: what does Kenny Brooks do? I mean, you don't just
Speaker 3: go out and replace Georgia anymore. And I thought, I
Speaker 3: think you were there when he was talking early in
Speaker 3: the season about scheduling challenges and there was, you know,
Speaker 3: the schedule early in years, you know, kind of lurched
Speaker 3: along on some odd days, odd times because they had
Speaker 3: trouble scheduling. But he admitted that when people found out
Speaker 3: Georgia Aymore transferred to Kentucky. They weren't so eager to
Speaker 3: play the Wildcats, you know. But but now you got
Speaker 3: to wonder, how do you how do you turn the
Speaker 3: reins over to somebody else? You don't have any choice,
Speaker 3: but right.
Speaker 10: Yeah, absolutely, And it's funny you mentioned that I had
Speaker 10: forgotten about that. I have. I had heard from a
Speaker 10: few people outside the program that opponents weren't as interested
Speaker 10: in playing Kenny Brooks and Georgia Aymore and you know,
Speaker 10: everybody else that came to be on this team. But yeah,
Speaker 10: what's also interesting about it is Kenny Brooks is not
Speaker 10: a plug in and play a guy. You know, He's
Speaker 10: said that a million times. But when constructing a roster,
Speaker 10: it can't just be oh, this person scores the most
Speaker 10: points and they're in the portal. It can't just be oh, yeah,
Speaker 10: that person, well, they were an outstanding point guard, you
Speaker 10: know at whatever school, in maybe even a power conference.
Speaker 10: It's got to fit his system, whatever point guard style
Speaker 10: of play. And he also is a developer, so you know,
Speaker 10: if you look down the line, you say, well, in
Speaker 10: twenty twenty six, they've got Madden Greenway out of Minnesota. Now,
Speaker 10: four times state champion with the Providence Academy basketball team.
Speaker 10: She's coming in, but that's not until twenty twenty six,
Speaker 10: twenty twenty seven. And he is someone who likes to
Speaker 10: take the time with his players, develop them, give them
Speaker 10: a little bit more experience. We saw that with freshman
Speaker 10: Lexie Blue this year, who was number forty in the class.
Speaker 10: We thought with Clara Silva, who though she did play
Speaker 10: in every single game, she's the only person not a
Speaker 10: starter to play in every single game in this season.
Speaker 10: She didn't have the minutes that maybe some fans were
Speaker 10: expecting for a six to seventh center. But it will
Speaker 10: have to likely be someone from the transfer portal who
Speaker 10: fits in the system. Portal opens this week earlier this week,
Speaker 10: and we'll see who enters. We'll see who they can find.
Speaker 10: But after what he was able to do, he and
Speaker 10: his staff were able to do this season out of
Speaker 10: the portal, I would hope fans are not discouraged by
Speaker 10: the fact that they're turning page to a new points right,
Speaker 10: instead looking at it as what an exciting opportunity. Who's
Speaker 10: going to be developed next?
Speaker 3: And you've also got to think there are point guards
Speaker 3: out there who of course, noticed that Kenny Brooks won
Speaker 3: one of the Coach of the Year awards and saw
Speaker 3: how far Kentucky went and clearly charted the progress of
Speaker 3: Georgia Amore. And there have to be kids out there thinking, well,
Speaker 3: you know, maybe this is a guy who could take
Speaker 3: me to the next level. And I don't know if
Speaker 3: it's going to be a buyer's marketer or seller's market
Speaker 3: in that portal, but you got to like his chances.
Speaker 10: Definitely. You know, she has helped put him on the
Speaker 10: map when it comes to guard development. I think Liz
Speaker 10: Kittley and not Clara Strack in terms of post development,
Speaker 10: really put him on the map. He had great players
Speaker 10: at James Madison, some great players at Virginia Tech. With
Speaker 10: those two especially, I mean superstars. And he said it
Speaker 10: all season, Georgia Amore has made Kentucky basketball cool. People
Speaker 10: are calling, recruits are calling, and he certainly put together
Speaker 10: a good resume in year one. And you know, Memorial
Speaker 10: post renovation, you've been in there, you knew what the
Speaker 10: old one was like. That's an exciting environment now that
Speaker 10: is in my mind, that's got to be a strong
Speaker 10: recruiting tool as well.
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, yes, absolutely, It's almost palatial, which is
Speaker 3: why when Kim Malkey tried to stir things up, aren't
Speaker 3: they playing? And rub Areena just, you know, stay in
Speaker 3: your lane. I know what she was saying, but stay
Speaker 3: in your lane. She she doesn't really understand.
Speaker 8: I guess I know.
Speaker 10: I know what she was saying too. You know, Baylor,
Speaker 10: They're they're playing in the same place as the Men
Speaker 10: and at LSU. Everybody's playing at the PMAC. So I
Speaker 10: do get it. And it is a good question. It's
Speaker 10: a question that I have when I took this job
Speaker 10: and I learned a little bit more about Kentucky, but
Speaker 10: post renovation especially, and the excitement that was in that
Speaker 10: building against Liberty on Friday and against Kansas State on Sunday,
Speaker 10: I've never seen it that lively. And I'm hoping that
Speaker 10: that is a sign for the future that this community
Speaker 10: is going to them out and pack it because that
Speaker 10: was a difference maker.
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh. And you know, I go back to
Speaker 3: the Valerie Still era and I have our time remembering
Speaker 3: back that far. But because it was bigger back then,
Speaker 3: it was harder to you know, take advantage of the noise.
Speaker 3: But man, the way it is now such an intimate setting,
Speaker 3: it's hard. It's going to be hard to really really
Speaker 3: top that or match that. And by the way, two
Speaker 3: different coaches women's coaches have told me through the years,
Speaker 3: we don't want to play in RUP. We like our home.
Speaker 3: So anyway, she is Caroline mccaskis. She covers UK women's
Speaker 3: basketball and more for the hero leader in Kentucky Sports.
Speaker 3: You can follow her on X or Twitter, whatever you
Speaker 3: like to call it at c mcowskas and mak a
Speaker 3: u s Kas got it and you'll be glad. Caroline,
Speaker 3: thank you so much, and we'll see it at the
Speaker 3: ball game.
Speaker 10: Thank you very much. Have a good one.
Speaker 3: And of course, now we find out Clara Strack has
Speaker 3: put her name in the transfer portals one big we'll
Speaker 3: be leaving. Apparently Kenny Brooks's team I number two is
Speaker 3: up next with Aaron Gershawn and Sean Woods. We'll be
Speaker 3: talking a lot of basketball here on six point thirty
Speaker 3: seventy or e. Welcome back to the Big Blond Sider
Speaker 3: joining us now as a gentleman. We usually talk to
Speaker 3: Aaron Garshan on Monday nights. He was traveling back from Milwaukee,
Speaker 3: so we're catching up with him. Now, Aaron, tell me
Speaker 3: a little bit about covering an NCAA tournament with Kentucky involved.
Speaker 3: You've done it several times, and Kentucky, in terms of
Speaker 3: the crowd, not just the points spread, was the underdog.
Speaker 3: There were more Illinois fans there, more orange. What was
Speaker 3: that like?
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, that was a first. That was definitely a first.
Speaker 1: Now that you're say it, I'm trying to flash back,
Speaker 1: but I guess the only other time there were more
Speaker 1: Kentucky fans, of course, but when we were in Indy
Speaker 1: for the Saint Peter's game three years ago, the whole
Speaker 1: you know, everyone that wasn't wearing blue is rooting for sink.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, so you know you had all the other
Speaker 1: fan bases that were there, so that was the only one.
Speaker 2: But you're right.
Speaker 11: It was an Illinois Illinois home game, you know, walking
Speaker 11: only three hours from that campus, and I was I
Speaker 11: don't know if I was telling you this or if
Speaker 11: I was telling other people this, but I went through
Speaker 11: the Jimmy Plastic up in up in Manhattan, not this
Speaker 11: year but last year, because it was right before Kentucky
Speaker 11: played in Philadelphia and my brother school SIU was playing
Speaker 11: Illinois and Illinois had the garden like seventy percent full
Speaker 11: of orange with Yukon and UNC coming in up next.
Speaker 11: So this is a fan base that's very passionate and
Speaker 11: already close by to Milwaukee. And you know, they made
Speaker 11: they made it loud and made it a road game.
Speaker 11: But you know Kentucky WHI did it well.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And people don't think about Illinois when they think
Speaker 3: about basketball. Generally, it's football. It's Big ten. They haven't
Speaker 3: played a lot, but boy, Kentucky and Illinois have played
Speaker 3: significant games against one another, haven't they.
Speaker 1: Yeah, now, Kentucky's won them all five and oh against
Speaker 1: Illinois and the NJA tournament. But yeah, they had the
Speaker 1: Elite eight game in eighty four near the end of
Speaker 1: the Jobey Hall era, and they've had this is the
Speaker 1: fifth tournament game. I think there was a Final four
Speaker 1: in their way back when during the Rough era. So yes,
Speaker 1: they've played some significant games and they played you know,
Speaker 1: a game that changed the.
Speaker 4: Rules in eighty four.
Speaker 1: That game was that rough right, right, So.
Speaker 3: You're playing its home floor in the NCA tournament. They
Speaker 3: also played Louisville Kentucky did so Yeah, So what was
Speaker 3: significant in your eyes to the way Kentucky beat Illinois.
Speaker 1: Heck, they just beat them wire to wire. I mean, yeah,
Speaker 1: I guess there was a couple of scares here and there.
Speaker 1: Illinois got it to three near the end of the
Speaker 1: first half, and they got it to six there with
Speaker 1: like a minute and a half left. But really this
Speaker 1: was game. Kentucky was complete and complete controlling. And you know,
Speaker 1: you have to start on the defensive end because it's
Speaker 1: just not been Kentucky strong suit almost all year. You know,
Speaker 1: you go back to the beginning of February after they
Speaker 1: Old miss puts a ninety eight on them, and they're
Speaker 1: ranked one hundred and twelveth in defensive efficiency, and you're thinking, oh, no,
Speaker 1: like this is going to be as bad as worse
Speaker 1: defensively than last year, and they're gonna waste this great offense.
Speaker 1: And they have made significant strides, and of course Willmont
Speaker 1: Butler helps with that, but some of those strides were
Speaker 1: made with him sidelined, and that's I think the really
Speaker 1: impressive part. And guys like Kobe branotega Oway have dug
Speaker 1: in and played so much better on that end of
Speaker 1: the court. And they this is an Illinois offense. And
Speaker 1: we talked about it on the statewide Monday. Why I
Speaker 1: really did not like this matchup for Kentucky. That was
Speaker 1: top fifteen inefficiency. They have three forwards including and Tom Laviysovic,
Speaker 1: who did have his.
Speaker 4: Way in this game.
Speaker 1: Offensively, that can really shoot the three, and they run
Speaker 1: at a really fast paced that they were the second
Speaker 1: highest tempo team in the entire NCAA tournament outside of
Speaker 1: Alabama and then Kentucky was third. So it was just
Speaker 1: a matchup that Kentucky has struggled with all year long,
Speaker 1: and the fact they were able to hold them to
Speaker 1: seventy five points. You know, the turnovers played a huge
Speaker 1: key in it, and some of them were fun forced
Speaker 1: and some of them Kentucky made some stellar defensive plays
Speaker 1: on I finished with fourteen steals. It's unbelievable. But you know,
Speaker 1: all that combined held them to I think thirty twenty
Speaker 1: eighth twenty nine percent from three. Just a hell of
Speaker 1: a defensive effort. Then you know, they did what they
Speaker 1: had to do offensively. It wasn't you know, they scored
Speaker 1: eighty five, so it was actually or a little bit
Speaker 1: below I think their season average of eighty six. But
Speaker 1: you know, they made the big shots and they needed to.
Speaker 1: Kobe Bray had caught heat there for three four minutes
Speaker 1: where he was unconscious, I'll take it away, fresh off
Speaker 1: the bank in the second half, was unconscious. And you know,
Speaker 1: they did what they do offensively with a bunch of
Speaker 1: kill like long runs. Both of these games, that's the
Speaker 1: big thing. Both the Troy game and the Illinois game,
Speaker 1: they had at least five combined ten all runs. And
Speaker 1: that's the moralizing to your opponent.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, absolutely, all right. You mentioned the Ole Miss game,
Speaker 3: and I thought it was so significant where Pope talked
Speaker 3: about coming back and you know what, we talked about
Speaker 3: that game on a state wide show. They were just
Speaker 3: weren't even competitive.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it was so bad.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it really they.
Speaker 1: They didn't look I think I put it as they
Speaker 1: looked like they wanted to be anywhere else but Oxford.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you're right. And yet he said he made it
Speaker 3: sound like it was the next day when they got back,
Speaker 3: and he mentioned Braya specifically just threw literally throwing himself
Speaker 3: into the defensive drills. And I do believe that as
Speaker 3: great as they are comparatively, speaking with Butler in the lineup,
Speaker 3: that has been so significant way Brea has has turned
Speaker 3: himself into a defender.
Speaker 1: What do you think, no question. I mean, look, he's
Speaker 1: not some elite defender, but what he was for a
Speaker 1: lot of the year before the old Mysam was almost
Speaker 1: unplayable on that end. And it was because of you know,
Speaker 1: Pope was taken him out of games because he had
Speaker 1: to find some sort of defensive answer. And you know,
Speaker 1: that takes off your best three point scoring threat and
Speaker 1: the guys now who can get in the lane and
Speaker 1: score too. You're taking away a huge offensive piece because
Speaker 1: he couldn't guard. And now that he's become you know,
Speaker 1: solid and playable on that end of the floor, it
Speaker 1: just changes everything for this team. And you know, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: definitely you start you started seeing it pay off against
Speaker 1: South Carolina. Now we knew South Carolina was not a
Speaker 1: very good team, but then I forgot who they played, right,
Speaker 1: I think they played Tennessee. Yeah, they played Tennessee the
Speaker 1: next game and Pray have played really well defensively and
Speaker 1: they held Tennessee three to three from eighteen from three.
Speaker 1: So yeah, he's steadily improved on that into the floor
Speaker 1: while still maintaining a ridiculous offensive clip. And you know,
Speaker 1: it's hard not to say Lamont Butler wasn't the MVP
Speaker 1: of that game against Illinois. But you know, Kobe Bray
Speaker 1: has scoring twenty three and playing pretty pretty darn well,
Speaker 1: and the defensive end is right there with it.
Speaker 3: Well, I talked to Billy about this, I've talked to
Speaker 3: Jack Givens about it. I thought that play everybody thinks this,
Speaker 3: you know, where Lamont basically snuck up, and it's wasn't
Speaker 3: the fact that it happened, it's the fact of when
Speaker 3: it happened.
Speaker 1: I thought, oh, yeah, yeah, the momentum was starting to
Speaker 1: ship a little bit and Kentucky needed to stop. And
Speaker 1: not only did they get to stop, they got it
Speaker 1: underneath their own basket.
Speaker 2: And you know, also got to give credit.
Speaker 1: You know, obviously the mott gets most of the credit for
Speaker 1: the steal, but Freddy Harrison that was not an easy
Speaker 1: finish in traffic there over Bigsy's brother who's got three
Speaker 1: inches on him, and he was able to go up
Speaker 1: strong and finish, which is not something he's been able
Speaker 1: to do at a high rate this season. So yeah,
Speaker 1: that was probably to play the game. I think that
Speaker 1: was probably. I know, I think Illinois still ended up
Speaker 1: coming back to cut it within six. But that felt
Speaker 1: like it really started to suck the air out of
Speaker 1: any at least in the building. I think Illinois fins
Speaker 1: were about done and given off after that one happened.
Speaker 3: Some people are wondering, are concerned or whatever that Travis
Speaker 3: Perry didn't get in at all. He played seven minutes
Speaker 3: against Troy. But I never felt like the situation called
Speaker 3: from I believe Colin Chandler has probably moved past him
Speaker 3: a little bit with what they need on the floor
Speaker 3: from that position, and the fact that Chandler just hit
Speaker 3: some no you know, no conscience three makes plays away
Speaker 3: from the ball. I mean, this kid's coming around at
Speaker 3: the right time.
Speaker 4: Deal.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, he's playing. He's playing fantastic. I mean, look,
Speaker 1: they're they're You got to go back to the Troy game.
Speaker 1: I think we could agree that was not Kentucky did
Speaker 1: not play a great game against Troy. They did on
Speaker 1: the defensive end, but offensively they were not very good
Speaker 1: in that game. I think Troy had cut it to
Speaker 1: sixth and Kentucky went on that sixteen to oh run,
Speaker 1: and nine of those points were Colin Chandler, and five
Speaker 1: were running Garretton. So, I mean what Chandler was able
Speaker 1: to do to mix it up in that game and
Speaker 1: get them get things kind of stabilized was huge. And
Speaker 1: and then in this game he comes off the bank
Speaker 1: and hits their first three, you know, after or right
Speaker 1: before the first TV timeout, and then he pulls up
Speaker 1: from the logo no problems, just all playing with such confidence.
Speaker 1: And then on the defensive end, which is kind of
Speaker 1: where it started for him, right where they go down
Speaker 1: to Tennessee at the end of January and they throw
Speaker 1: him on chasl Near and we're all thinking, what is
Speaker 1: Mark Pope doing? Is he lost his mind? And he
Speaker 1: plays really, really well, and you know, defensively he had
Speaker 1: been making stride for a while as Mark Cope was
Speaker 1: just looking for answers on that end of the floor.
Speaker 4: And now the.
Speaker 1: Offensive game is starting to it's come around as well,
Speaker 1: and that's just to add to what they already have.
Speaker 4: Is massive.
Speaker 1: And yeah, he's definitely more valuable to what they do
Speaker 1: right now, unfortunately than Travis Perry. And that's not a
Speaker 1: knock on him, but they're playing really well defensively. Perry's
Speaker 1: still behind in that aspect. I mean, that's Okay, he's
Speaker 1: a freshman, he's got weight to add it over the offseason.
Speaker 1: All that's all good and well, but you got to
Speaker 1: play who's winning you games? And right now, Colin Chandler's
Speaker 1: winning your games. And I'll tell you what Trent Noa
Speaker 1: was making winning play man.
Speaker 3: Well, yeah, absolutely, talking to Aaron Gershan of the Cats Pause,
Speaker 3: and we'll come back and talk about Kentucky Tennessee in
Speaker 3: just a minute here on six thirty WLAP. Welcome back.
Speaker 3: We're talking with Aaron Gershan of the Cat's Pause. He
Speaker 3: covered the Wildcats and Illinois will cover. He's covered the
Speaker 3: Wildcats from day one this season and has been covering
Speaker 3: Kentucky for quite a while, minus the time he spent
Speaker 3: exiled up in Evansville, Indiana. But that's okay. Now, I
Speaker 3: mentioned two weeks ago when you and I were on
Speaker 3: the State Wide Show together that a Kentucky Tennessee matchup
Speaker 3: means Kentucky. Of course, call in that third game. You
Speaker 3: immediately pointed out to me that, yeah, they already beat
Speaker 3: him twice, and Ziggler has never played well, or at
Speaker 3: least not recently against Kentucky. Now, my concern is that
Speaker 3: somebody finally breaks through. You know what I'm saying, Are
Speaker 3: you still comfortable with the notion that they've just got
Speaker 3: Tennessee's No, it may just well be a bad matchup
Speaker 3: for Tennessee.
Speaker 1: I still rather be the team that's won twice. I know,
Speaker 1: there's the old adage is it's hard to be the
Speaker 1: team three times. I'd still rather be Kentucky going into
Speaker 1: this matchup. I mean, yeah, look Tennessee to go look
Speaker 1: at them on the offense, and then they've definitely been
Speaker 1: better since the last, you know, the last matchup with Kentucky.
Speaker 1: Jordan Ganey off the Manchi has had some really big games.
Speaker 1: He went for twenty four against Florida in the SEC
Speaker 1: title game, but eight of those points did come with
Speaker 1: the poul line, so it is important there to look
Speaker 1: at that too. But yeah, Chaslnier has basically drilled shots
Speaker 1: on everyone not named Kentucky, and in Kentucky went oh
Speaker 1: for seven in Lexington and I think three for eight
Speaker 1: from three something like.
Speaker 2: That in Noxenal.
Speaker 1: And really the only guy that's had their way with
Speaker 1: Kentucky this year has been Igor Milicic, and he's been
Speaker 1: the one that's really struggled in this NCAA tournament so
Speaker 1: far for them, So it is a matchup I still
Speaker 1: like I think Kentucky. If you go watch Tennessee, they're
Speaker 1: like the only team that's able maybe Florida two, but
Speaker 1: no other team has been able to find these clean,
Speaker 1: open looks from three like Kentucky has. And I still
Speaker 1: think there's something to be said for when you play
Speaker 1: at Tennessee's tempo, which is the slowest of any team
Speaker 1: less than the tournament, one of the slowest in the
Speaker 1: country or second lowest, Houston slower, and then you play
Speaker 1: a team that's running gone. I just don't think that's
Speaker 1: easy to adapt to. And look, I think very very
Speaker 1: highly of Tennessee, especially on the defensive end, and they
Speaker 1: still you know, Kentucky hasn't cracked eighty against them. It's
Speaker 1: not like they've had their two best offensive games of
Speaker 1: the year, but they shot fifty percent from three on
Speaker 1: twenty four attempts exactly in both of those games, and
Speaker 1: they got guys like Trent Noah and Travis Perry having
Speaker 1: big games against them. So and you know, we talked
Speaker 1: about the crowd factor that Orange will get in, but
Speaker 1: this game's right off the road in Indy, and I
Speaker 1: have a feeling you didn't see as many Kentucky fans
Speaker 1: in Milwaukee because they won were paranoid after how the
Speaker 1: last three years have gone first weekend and two this
Speaker 1: trip is two hours forty five minutes up the road.
Speaker 1: So I mean, I just I don't know. I still
Speaker 1: like this matchup. I don't think it's gonna be easy.
Speaker 1: I think it'll be an absolute ward. It's going to
Speaker 1: come down to the end. But I like this matchup,
Speaker 1: I really do.
Speaker 3: You know what gives me hope and I'm the ultimate
Speaker 3: pessimist anyway, Yeah, probably I am too. Is the fact
Speaker 3: that Kentucky beat Tennessee before it went through this defensive transformation,
Speaker 3: you know what I mean?
Speaker 8: That's right, That is right.
Speaker 1: And look, Lamon Butler was on the floor for half
Speaker 1: of one game and not the other one. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: they already beat him once without Jackson Robinson.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So it's just it just feels like Kentucky hasn't even
Speaker 1: played their best against them and beat them, and they
Speaker 1: still held them the seventy three and sixty five points respectively.
Speaker 1: So again, you throw those games out a little bit,
Speaker 1: but you look at the matchups and again there's no
Speaker 1: you know, if you can contain one the year to
Speaker 1: under fifteen points. Yeah, I feel really really good. And
Speaker 1: you know you expected Igler to do a little bit more,
Speaker 1: but you know, he had a pretty good game in Lexington.
Speaker 1: I think he ended up finishing seven for eleven from
Speaker 1: the field and Alamant Butler is going to be in
Speaker 1: his grill all day, and I just I don't know
Speaker 1: it's going to be It is not going to be
Speaker 1: easy by any means. I think this will be the
Speaker 1: tightest of the three games they've played. But I still
Speaker 1: like the matchup, I really do.
Speaker 3: Speaking of matchups, did you get a chance to see
Speaker 3: much at all of the Arkansas Saint John's game.
Speaker 1: It was during our media of course, they did it
Speaker 1: during our media day availability stuff on Saturday, so I
Speaker 1: got to see it's in these pieces of it. And yeah,
Speaker 1: Arkansas's length really looks like it bothers Saint John's. And
Speaker 1: I mean, the Big East was not very good this
Speaker 1: year and it showed and there's no Big East teams
Speaker 1: left in this tournament.
Speaker 4: And you know what's crazy about it.
Speaker 1: And I'll give Cal and ark To all the credit
Speaker 1: the world for still winning. They give the twenty eight
Speaker 1: offensive rebounds and shot two for nineteen from three. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean that's insane. Yeah, and they still want so
Speaker 1: a ton of credits.
Speaker 3: I mean, and looks couldn't make a shot.
Speaker 1: Uh huh, John couldn't make a shot. And how about
Speaker 1: that the three way three, the coaching carousel that put
Speaker 1: Callen and Sayville brought Pope to Lex and Kevin Young
Speaker 1: out to BYU and they're all the Sweet sixteen. Everyone's
Speaker 1: everyone's going at each other on Twitter. It's a civil
Speaker 1: war or not a civil war. It's a full out
Speaker 1: war on Twitter. And after all, everyone's pretty damn happy
Speaker 1: leading up to this weekend.
Speaker 4: So look who works out.
Speaker 3: Look who Caliperry had to beat to get here, Bill said, yeah,
Speaker 3: very impressive. And Rick Patino, But I told Billy on
Speaker 3: Monday night, I watched the Saint John's game. I watched
Speaker 3: the second half again like how did this happen? But again,
Speaker 3: I'd watch the entire series on Red Storm. Patino kept saying,
Speaker 3: we don't shoot well, and there was a there was
Speaker 3: a POSI sixty six sixty four, and Saint John's had
Speaker 3: the basketball and couldn't score, and down the stretch has
Speaker 3: shot after shot and couldn't put it in a basket.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and their Big East Player of the Year was unplayable. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean that that when your best player is off,
Speaker 1: especially in the tournament, Yeah, you was very little, very
Speaker 1: little chance to win. It's really really hard. I mean
Speaker 1: the only I mean, Anthony Davis was off in the
Speaker 1: championship game in twenty twelve, but on defense and rebounding
Speaker 1: it he just couldn't put the ball, just couldn't put
Speaker 1: the ball in the hoop. So if you're r J.
Speaker 1: Lewis just wasn't affecting the game much. And that's what
Speaker 1: that's what happens. That'd be like if that'd be I
Speaker 1: mean Lamont Butler, Look if they were if he had
Speaker 1: the game and he played okay defense against Troy. But
Speaker 1: if he had the game he had against Troy in Illinois,
Speaker 1: Kentucky's on the couch right now. So it's just you
Speaker 1: need your best players to show up in those moments.
Speaker 1: And you know that didn't happen for Saint John's.
Speaker 3: Well, how grateful is the Big Blue Nation that not
Speaker 3: only is Butler back, was his brand of defense, but
Speaker 3: that enables Alway to remain at the two or the three.
Speaker 3: Everybody can settle out of their roles.
Speaker 8: It is such a man.
Speaker 3: Because it wasn't that long ago. Pope was talking about
Speaker 3: the adjustments everybody had to make.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was a mess. It was a mess, guys
Speaker 1: playing out a position. I mean, here without your three
Speaker 1: lead guards. It's a miracle they were even able to
Speaker 1: win some of the games they did in that predicament.
Speaker 4: To begin with.
Speaker 1: So and that's what makes them beating Tennessee down the
Speaker 1: stretch when they were down three and Butler's done and
Speaker 1: Robinson's out and creases out, that all that more impressive.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I mean, everyone looks so much more comfortable
Speaker 1: and he's on the floor. And again even in the
Speaker 1: toy game, where I don't think Butler played well at all, honestly,
Speaker 1: it made some nice plays on defense, but nothing special.
Speaker 1: He was a plus twenty.
Speaker 2: Two and was the plus minus champ go.
Speaker 1: So he just he's a winner, man, And he as
Speaker 1: soon as that first three in for him, I'm like, OK,
Speaker 1: I was like, here he goes, He's going to have
Speaker 1: a big one. I didn't think he finished in double
Speaker 1: figures in the first half, but as soon as that
Speaker 1: three went in and I was like, oh boy, here,
Speaker 1: look out if you're Illinois or you're scared right now,
Speaker 1: and then.
Speaker 3: The back door steal, I mean, yeah, yeah, he was elite.
Speaker 1: He was elite, and I think he wore different I
Speaker 1: couldn't tell, and maybe he got asked, and so that's
Speaker 1: why I didn't want to bother asking about it after
Speaker 1: the game. But I think you might have worn a
Speaker 1: little bit of a different break. Think you did that
Speaker 1: helped out.
Speaker 3: I think you wore a smaller, lighter one. But what
Speaker 3: do we know? Yeah, we just know that did him
Speaker 3: versus Ziggler is going to be fascinating. On Friday, Aaron
Speaker 3: Gershan will be there and we'll talk with him again
Speaker 3: on Monday on the state Wide Show. Aaron, thanks so
Speaker 3: much once again, safe travels, appreciate you, and you can
Speaker 3: follow Aaron on Twitter and the X at a Gershawan
Speaker 3: ninety nine. Up next Shawn Woods, the unforgettable Guard. By
Speaker 3: the way, our Western beer chief Gary Moore taken the
Speaker 3: next couple of weeks off. Mister Woods will talk Kentucky basketball,
Speaker 3: of course, and the boys Sweet sixteen. Here on six
Speaker 3: point thirty Welcome back to the Big Blue in Cider.
Speaker 3: It is Wednesday. That means we talked to the unforgettable guard,
Speaker 3: Sean Woods, who is one of two people on this
Speaker 3: radio show who knows what it's like to play in
Speaker 3: the NCAA tournament. I've covered a few, but Shawn's actually
Speaker 3: played in one. But we were talking before went on
Speaker 3: the air, Sean about Kentucky. First of all, you were
Speaker 3: publicly saying what a lot of us were thinking privately
Speaker 3: a couple of months ago. This team just doesn't guard
Speaker 3: very well, and they turned that around so dramatically. I'm wondering,
Speaker 3: you know. And obviously having a bunch of veterans helps
Speaker 3: Mark Pope because they know how to be coached and
Speaker 3: how to process what he's teaching them. But the dramatic
Speaker 3: turnaround just what your eyeballs show you as well as
Speaker 3: the analytics. You're a defensive specialist. That's got to impress you.
Speaker 12: No doubt about it. I mean, they're becoming lock y'all
Speaker 12: pit bullish on the defense then, And the most amazing
Speaker 12: thing is they went from a finesse team on that
Speaker 12: side of the ball to becoming bullyish and very physical,
Speaker 12: and that's because they're working on it. That's the only
Speaker 12: thing I can take is they're actually you can just
Speaker 12: tell in a team what they work on and what
Speaker 12: they don't, and you can tell what was.
Speaker 4: A priority.
Speaker 8: And their priority at the beginning of the year was
Speaker 8: their offense, getting up those shots. That was their main deal,
Speaker 8: thinking that they can outscore people. And then you know,
Speaker 8: Mark Pope, being a smart guy that he is, and
Speaker 8: his staff, they realized that, hey, we're not going to
Speaker 8: be able to get the thirty thirty.
Speaker 4: Three is a game.
Speaker 8: I mean, this league's too tough defensively, So we got
Speaker 8: to join the party if we want to, you know,
Speaker 8: stay in the party. And joining the party was becoming
Speaker 8: a significant defensive team and having a significant defensive presence.
Speaker 8: And you can just tell that that been our priority
Speaker 8: about their team, you know that side of the ball,
Speaker 8: and it's showing.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: The thing that jumped out in me when Pope was
Speaker 3: talking about their defense after the win over Illinois was communication.
Speaker 3: And every coach who's ever laced them up, I mean,
Speaker 3: you've done it, everybody's been there. They always talk about
Speaker 3: how vital it is to communicate, and that was pretty evident,
Speaker 3: wasn't it against Illinois?
Speaker 8: Well, no doubt about it. But see now you got
Speaker 8: certain players that didn't play defense, didn't give it up,
Speaker 8: give it up. Now are giving it up on defense.
Speaker 8: You know, bra I didn't play a lot of minutes
Speaker 8: at the beginning of the year, even though he's a
Speaker 8: prolific scorer, because he wasn't doing what he needs to
Speaker 8: do on the defensive end. That's the reason why Mark
Speaker 8: Pope couldn't play him. And guess what, he's our best
Speaker 8: offensive player. Yeah yeah, But when your best offensive player
Speaker 8: can only play fifteen to twenty minutes because the defense,
Speaker 8: that is why we struggled. Because he was too good
Speaker 8: offensively not to be on the court. Every time he
Speaker 8: came on the court. You think every time he shot
Speaker 8: the ball, it was going in, and for.
Speaker 4: The most part, it does. But you can't get all.
Speaker 8: Of that because he wasn't giving it up on the
Speaker 8: defensive end. Now he's giving it up on the defensive end.
Speaker 8: Then a couple others you know that weren't buying into
Speaker 8: it for whatever reason, they're all buying into it now.
Speaker 8: I mean they are connected. You know, they are taking
Speaker 8: pride on that side of the ball, and that's the
Speaker 8: reason why they they've turned the turned this thing around
Speaker 8: and to be honest with you, Dick, I think Kentucky,
Speaker 8: we're talking about all these other teams in this bracket,
Speaker 8: the where they're the where they're succeeded, they're the most
Speaker 8: dangerous team in this in their bracket, and they're in
Speaker 8: their in their.
Speaker 3: Reasons more than Tennessee, more.
Speaker 8: Than Tennessee because I think we have Tennessee's number and
Speaker 8: the reason why we have Tennessee's number is because Tennessee
Speaker 8: can't out outscore us no matter what. They're a great
Speaker 8: defensive team, but they haven't been able to outscore us. Mean, Kentucky,
Speaker 8: we pose a different type of style of play for them.
Speaker 8: We pose, you know, they guard, but they don't guard
Speaker 8: the three well against Kentucky.
Speaker 4: And then because Kentucky.
Speaker 8: Can hit a barajea threes and makes Tennessee get out
Speaker 8: of character and start shooting more threes than they normally
Speaker 8: do because they're trying to keep up from a point
Speaker 8: standpoint and they can't because they don't shoot it that well,
Speaker 8: and they get away from what they really do, you know,
Speaker 8: instead of just dragging it, getting to the line, getting files,
Speaker 8: spreading you out, getting the ball down low. When they
Speaker 8: play against Kentucky, they just lose their minds and just
Speaker 8: start doing things that they can't do, and that goes
Speaker 8: to Kentucky. You know, that helps Kentucky out. And I
Speaker 8: still think this next game is going to be the
Speaker 8: same thing.
Speaker 3: Wow. I mean, I know they'll try to adjust, which
Speaker 3: they did from game one to game two. But as
Speaker 3: you recall, they lost their minds from the arc and
Speaker 3: shot forty five threes that first game and did not
Speaker 3: do that the second game. But Kentucky still found a
Speaker 3: way to beat him. I do subscribe to the theory that.
Speaker 3: And by the way, the second game he only shot
Speaker 3: eighteenth threes and still lost. It's so hard to beat
Speaker 3: a team, you know, not just three times, but two times,
Speaker 3: much less three. But like you said, it's a bad
Speaker 3: matchup for Tennessee.
Speaker 8: It's a bad And then Tennessee's point guard, which got
Speaker 8: defensive player of the year in the SEC, it's not
Speaker 8: the defensive player of the year. The defensive player of
Speaker 8: the year just to get played had to miss a
Speaker 8: few games because of the shoulder. Yes, that's Lamont Butler, right,
Speaker 8: and their point guard can't bully Leamont Butler.
Speaker 3: That's right.
Speaker 4: And mount Butler is going to.
Speaker 8: Win that that that deal every single game, and that's
Speaker 8: the reason why they can't get it because Lamont Butler
Speaker 8: does not let him dominate the game like he normally
Speaker 8: does against everyone else.
Speaker 3: And him in the game means otega Oway can stay
Speaker 3: at the two or the three and people don't have
Speaker 3: to start shifting positions. Again, that's huge, isn't it exactly?
Speaker 8: I Mean, we all know la Mott Butler's not healthy,
Speaker 8: but we know the Mont Butler being in the game
Speaker 8: gives us a magnificent chance of winning. So just stay
Speaker 8: out of the way, Lamont. You don't have to reach,
Speaker 8: move your feet, dominate the other team's guard, just physically
Speaker 8: with your body and not your arm and your shoulder.
Speaker 4: And let's get this.
Speaker 8: Tennessee win again for the third time, and let's go
Speaker 8: to the final eight.
Speaker 3: Butler zero for five, scoreless against Troy. Excuse me, did
Speaker 3: have three assists, but they were able to take care
Speaker 3: of Troy no problem. And then I think he makes
Speaker 3: the play of the game against Illinois. I said this
Speaker 3: a couple of times when Illinois had momentum. Kentucky misses
Speaker 3: a shot up ten Illinois is about to take it
Speaker 3: down and go go down on and he sneaks f
Speaker 3: in from behind and steals it. That to me was
Speaker 3: a palpable shift. Did you see it that way?
Speaker 8: Those are the plays that nobody else, no guard on
Speaker 8: this Kentucky team, can make. And that's the reason why
Speaker 8: he's so significant, because he does things that coaches can't teach.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, you know.
Speaker 8: He he dominates the game with things that just don't
Speaker 8: stop and show up in the stat sheet. And that's
Speaker 8: the reason why he's one of the top point I.
Speaker 4: Still think he's still one of the.
Speaker 8: Most dangerous point guards in America question and without even
Speaker 8: having to score, because he can just do so many
Speaker 8: things to help his team win, and that's what the
Speaker 8: point id's supposed to do.
Speaker 3: I think another big plus for Kentucky, and he gets
Speaker 3: some run on TV a little bit, is Andrew Carr
Speaker 3: because I think when he's playing alongside Williams or Garrison,
Speaker 3: you know, he just provides that added measure of d
Speaker 3: I think his defense has improved. You can tell me
Speaker 3: if I'm wrong, but I think his defense has improved.
Speaker 3: And he's a veteran player, and he's got long arms
Speaker 3: just like a Maris, just like Garrison. So and he
Speaker 3: only had what a couple of rebounds, but he affected
Speaker 3: a lot of plays in the paint. I just think
Speaker 3: the one two punch of Kentucky's post player and Andrew
Speaker 3: Carr is a real matchup issue for a lot of people.
Speaker 8: I think I agree with you, Dick, but I think
Speaker 8: he's he's more of a matchup problem on the offensive
Speaker 8: end more so than.
Speaker 4: A defensive end.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 8: Yeah, because when he's playing the four, most fours aren't
Speaker 8: as big, and they post him up on that little
Speaker 8: curl cut and it's unstoppable.
Speaker 4: And then his length, you.
Speaker 8: Know what I'm saying, when he's garden another four. You know,
Speaker 8: he's sixty nine to sixteen and he's garden fowards that
Speaker 8: are six six sixty seven. And so his his lot,
Speaker 8: his his his length bothers people.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 8: And then he he's a he's a tough matchup too.
Speaker 4: On the offensive end.
Speaker 8: I mean he's becoming more aggressive. I think he's healthier now,
Speaker 8: he's getting a little guy a little more popping his step.
Speaker 4: He's becoming more athletic because of his back. His back's
Speaker 4: thet better.
Speaker 8: So I just think this team right now, you know,
Speaker 8: they got seven or eight guys that can really really play.
Speaker 8: And then shoot, how about how about the one kid
Speaker 8: from b YU who who's starting to, you know, contribute
Speaker 8: a little bit.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, and then.
Speaker 8: You got you got the hollering, you know, the hollering
Speaker 8: of Fashin that's just coming in and and and and
Speaker 8: and giving you whatever he needs. You know, he's getting
Speaker 8: on a back cut, he's making a three. He's trying
Speaker 8: to compete as much as he can, even though he's
Speaker 8: not laterally quick. But he's compete, yes, Dick, And that's
Speaker 8: the difference. When you compete no matter how loudly quick
Speaker 8: you are, that's all that's needed. And he's doing the
Speaker 8: better job of that. He's playing angry, you know, he's
Speaker 8: not getting up and just getting straight bline to the
Speaker 8: basketa like he was. So I'm telling you right now,
Speaker 8: man Mark Pope and his staff has done a great
Speaker 8: job of making adjustments and making defense a priority, knowing
Speaker 8: that you gotta have stability on that side of the
Speaker 8: floor to have.
Speaker 4: A chain, especially in that sec.
Speaker 8: Jergernot not only that, but also in this NTAA tournament,
Speaker 8: he is Sean.
Speaker 3: Woods, the unforgettable guard. We will talk more with Sean
Speaker 3: on the other side of the break because the Sweet
Speaker 3: sixteen is here. Back in a minute on the Big
Speaker 3: Bloon Sider six thirty Wlap Welcome back. We're talking with
Speaker 3: the unforgettable guard Sean Woods. His jersey hangs in the
Speaker 3: raptors of Ruppwood just so happens to be where the
Speaker 3: boy Sweet sixteen is happening this week. And Sean, you've
Speaker 3: been covering high school basketball on TV side all year long.
Speaker 3: You told me so gosh two months ago. How good
Speaker 3: Saint X is. I hate to say it being a
Speaker 3: Trinity shamrock, but give them their due. Have not lost
Speaker 3: to a team from the state of Kentucky. But my
Speaker 3: question is, can anybody knock them off?
Speaker 8: From what I've seen, Dick, from what I've seen now,
Speaker 8: I don't think so.
Speaker 4: I just think they're just they're two.
Speaker 8: They are high octane offensive basketball juggernaut for a high
Speaker 8: school basketball team in the state of Kentucky. I think
Speaker 8: they from from from I mean, I think they're deep.
Speaker 8: I think every position they can be a threat to score.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 8: I like great crossing, you know, but I just don't
Speaker 8: think great crossing is explosive enough to stay with a
Speaker 8: Saint X I mean these I mean they they beat
Speaker 8: Doug Douglas, and I thought Douglas was one of the
Speaker 8: strong routinees, especially from the defense in events.
Speaker 4: They just went through Douglas earlier in the year.
Speaker 8: Yeah, you know, I just you know, Malachi is going
Speaker 8: to have to in his stay. I mean his his
Speaker 8: guys are really going to have to step up because
Speaker 8: this team is is really, really, really good.
Speaker 4: I'm talking about this.
Speaker 8: Not only days the number one team in the state,
Speaker 8: they're top twenty five in the country.
Speaker 3: Yes, well they haven't. They have lost anybody in the state.
Speaker 8: No, and and and and to my knowledge, not too
Speaker 8: many games have been close unless they fall in their faith,
Speaker 8: you know, and and and get that that that that
Speaker 8: that sweet sixteen curse. You know, and you're the number
Speaker 8: one seed. I just don't see it. I don't.
Speaker 4: I just don't see it.
Speaker 8: I mean, yeah, the eleventh region was the most competitive
Speaker 8: region in the in the country, I mean in the state.
Speaker 4: But still the number one team in the state.
Speaker 8: Was was was A was the Saint next?
Speaker 3: Yeah, interesting that Danville Christian comes out of the boys
Speaker 3: regional tournament. They won the girls regional title. That's the
Speaker 3: tiny school that just started playing sports not too long ago.
Speaker 3: They've got some foreign imports who were making it tough
Speaker 3: in that region. I'm curious to see where that program
Speaker 3: ends up.
Speaker 8: Well, you know that coach has done both coaches, men
Speaker 8: and women, have done a good job of getting some
Speaker 8: young talent in there and to where they can be
Speaker 8: a significant you know, make a significant impact early. And
Speaker 8: they did that. You know, they did a good job
Speaker 8: of getting some kids to transfer over. They got the girls,
Speaker 8: got to do some great young girls.
Speaker 4: That's you know, eighth grade is coming up. That's really
Speaker 4: really good.
Speaker 8: And this men's team is I'll tell you what they're.
Speaker 4: They're they're they're forced to be reckoned with.
Speaker 8: I don't think they're quite as good can get through
Speaker 8: sat X or you know somebody like that. But they
Speaker 8: they have done a great job. I'll tell you what
Speaker 8: I saw probably the best high school game I had
Speaker 8: every I thought the Brian Station Douglas and the Brand
Speaker 8: I mean the Brian Station against Malachi and then Douglas
Speaker 8: against Malakay. I thought those are the two best games
Speaker 8: I'd seen all year. I got to take it back,
Speaker 8: Clark County and Montgomery County was the best basketball game.
Speaker 4: You know, all year.
Speaker 3: In the regional finals, that was crazy.
Speaker 8: Best basketball game I have seen. Yeah, that was, oh
Speaker 8: my gosh.
Speaker 3: Last second shot to get to the.
Speaker 9: Yeah, it's like I said, you what, Montgomery County has
Speaker 9: a freshman Dick who I see if he can continue
Speaker 9: to get better to be wearing the big blue one day.
Speaker 8: They got they kind of they got some players, you know,
Speaker 8: and that rivalry, you know, has been a long rivalry
Speaker 8: and it was true to to the corps. Yeh last
Speaker 8: week in that regional finals.
Speaker 3: Yeah. You know, you've got an interesting situation coming out
Speaker 3: of the fifteenth region. You've got a super super region
Speaker 3: format or something like that what they're calling it. You
Speaker 3: don't have enough schools over there. You know, you've only
Speaker 3: got you've only got fourteen high schools in Region fifteen.
Speaker 3: You know, you had thirty two in nineteen sixty and
Speaker 3: it just keeps dwindling population consolidation. So now they've got
Speaker 3: a super regional format. Lawrence County lost their district tournament
Speaker 3: opener to Prestonsburg, but still they're in the regional tournament.
Speaker 3: He bounce back and win it. You got to worry
Speaker 3: for a situation like that, don't you.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you do you do.
Speaker 8: And for whatever reason, people are moving away in that
Speaker 8: area or whatever.
Speaker 3: But they got Connor. Yeah, sure, yeah.
Speaker 8: Yeah, it's just like where I'm from, Eachicago, Indiana. You
Speaker 8: know where Junior Bridgeman was from. Also, god rest is
Speaker 8: so went to his funeral the other day. But it's
Speaker 8: the same thing. You know, the steel mills were booming
Speaker 8: back in the day, you know, and that region was
Speaker 8: had a significant impact on Indiana.
Speaker 4: High school basketball.
Speaker 8: Now you know, there's the Gary Roosevelts are not not
Speaker 8: there anymore, the the lou Wallace's, you know, it's only
Speaker 8: Gary West Side the only public school now, the Horseman
Speaker 8: the Works, they're not there. The East Icugo, Roosevelt, East Cargo, Washington's,
Speaker 8: they're not there anymore. They're having highs to come having Central.
Speaker 8: Everybody's consolidated because the lack of of of kids, and
Speaker 8: and and and the popular popularity I mean, i mean
Speaker 8: the population is joing them because you know, the steel mills.
Speaker 3: Are doing the w Yeah, and you know, we've talked
Speaker 3: about this for years, just you know, basketball fans and
Speaker 3: wondering what's happening to high school basketball in the state
Speaker 3: of Kentucky and consolidation has got a lot to do
Speaker 3: with that obviously, yes, because if you had four schools
Speaker 3: the consolidated the one, you go from sixty potentially you know,
Speaker 3: kids playing ball, let's say four fifteen man rosters down
Speaker 3: to one, you know, so you just don't have the population.
Speaker 8: No, And then there was said it takes away rivalry,
Speaker 8: which made people want to go to games, and now
Speaker 8: there's no rivalry. So guess what, nobody goes to games. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 8: you know, and that's tough, you know. And then it's
Speaker 8: dueling around to where.
Speaker 4: That affects the state.
Speaker 8: Oh yeah, yeah, you know, to where high school basketball
Speaker 8: and you can tell that high school basketball in the
Speaker 8: state Kentucky is doing them just because all you got
Speaker 8: to do is go to the Indiana Kentucky All Star Game.
Speaker 4: Man, you know, and that's a travesty.
Speaker 9: You know.
Speaker 8: I was so heartbroken because I participated in that and
Speaker 8: we all Kentucky Indiana.
Speaker 4: That was a priderful thing.
Speaker 8: That was like a Badger barn Banks in Indiana Kentucky
Speaker 8: All Star Game. You got guys, now the top players
Speaker 8: in the state that are bypassing that game.
Speaker 3: Hey man, I covered Dirk Minifield versus Isaiah and that
Speaker 3: was such a hot rivalry that there were two Kentucky
Speaker 3: Indiana two all Stars. Should say Kentucky All Star Game
Speaker 3: and you know two Derby Classics. I should say, uh
Speaker 3: And that just tells you where we were with high
Speaker 3: school basketball back then. But uh, yeah, we could talk
Speaker 3: about this all night. And I worry for the crowds
Speaker 3: at the Sweet sixteen because the Louisville schools aren't going
Speaker 3: to bring a whole lot because they're small. Danville Christian's
Speaker 3: not going to bring a big crowd. But you better
Speaker 3: know that when Great Crossing plays in Rupperina Thursday night,
Speaker 3: there's gonna be a crowd, isn't there.
Speaker 8: Well, Scott Kenny's gonna be in there, gonna be in there, hippo.
Speaker 8: You know, even the people that don't go to Great
Speaker 8: Crossing because Scott Canty still has great pride even though
Speaker 8: Great Crossing is the new school. Scott Canny wants to
Speaker 8: be a player, that's right, and Scott County and the
Speaker 8: near future.
Speaker 4: Will be a great player.
Speaker 3: But uh, and you're gonna have Kentucky fans when it
Speaker 3: comes to Malachi exactly.
Speaker 8: Oh, you know you're gonna see that and that's gonna
Speaker 8: be big time. You know what I'm saying, because now
Speaker 8: he's the only thing, only catch, you know, because he's
Speaker 8: he's going to Kentucky, and I hope I hope they
Speaker 8: don't get upset or whatever and make it all the
Speaker 8: way to the finals from a crowd standpoint, because you
Speaker 8: know every time he plays, it's gonna be mussy TV.
Speaker 3: He's got Davis County and then the winner of Henderson
Speaker 3: County and Cooper to get the Saturday, so Ruther Friday.
Speaker 3: So we'll keep you posting, coach. Thanks so much to
Speaker 3: you at the ball games.
Speaker 4: We'll do I appreciate it, Dick.
Speaker 2: I'll see him the next day.
Speaker 3: So and that'll do it for now. Thanks so much
Speaker 3: to my guess. That's a good night from the garage
Speaker 3: in Lexington.
Speaker 8: Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around
Speaker 8: once in a while.
Speaker 5: You could miss it. Oh at.
Speaker 13: Such tact stating doing anything anything anna.
Speaker 9: Change?
Speaker 13: Then left don't have to back them from type, don't