Speaker 1: Oh, oh, guess what day it is.
Speaker 2: Guess what day it is?
Speaker 1: Huh anybody, it's hump dya, Yes, it is hump Day.
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Big Blue and sider Dick Gabriel with
Speaker 1: you on a Wednesday. It's a big week because we
Speaker 1: have college basketball behind us, but the Masters ahead of us.
Speaker 1: We also have football ahead of us. On Saturday, Kay,
Speaker 1: we'll fling open the gates and allow fans to come
Speaker 1: in and take a good look at this year's Wildcat team.
Speaker 1: Must say a good look. It's not a blue white game,
Speaker 1: but we'll talk about that more in our next segment.
Speaker 1: We'll also hear from Mark Stroops and one of the Wildcats.
Speaker 1: One more look at college basketball, and we'll keep you
Speaker 1: posted as best we can on the portal because again
Speaker 1: we pre record, so things happen late in the afternoon
Speaker 1: and we can't bring it to you in a timely manner, sadly,
Speaker 1: but we'll keep an eye on what's going on with
Speaker 1: players coming and going. And ESPN has a mock draft
Speaker 1: that includes Kobe Brea. He has worked his way into
Speaker 1: the second round. They're predicting he'll be the fifty fourth
Speaker 1: player taken by the Indiana Pacers. So if that's the case,
Speaker 1: good for him. But he did that, of course with
Speaker 1: his incredible shooting, but also his ability to guard. Now
Speaker 1: he's shown people that he's a good enough athlete to
Speaker 1: get out there and guard. Of course they're saying Cooper
Speaker 1: Flagg goes number one. Interestingly, Rutgers, and we talked with
Speaker 1: Aaron Gershan about this earlier in the season. Rutgers, it
Speaker 1: says here will have players go second and third. Remember
Speaker 1: when Kentucky had players go one and two back after
Speaker 1: the twenty twelve national title team. Well, it says here,
Speaker 1: Rutgers will have players going one and two. But Rutger
Speaker 1: has nothing after that. Rutgers finished fifteen and seventeen this
Speaker 1: season with two lottery picks projected, lost three of its
Speaker 1: last four in the Big Ten, now to Michigan, to Purdue,
Speaker 1: beat Minnesota in overtime to close out the regular season,
Speaker 1: and then lost to Southern cal in a great Big
Speaker 1: Ten matchup in the tournament in the Big Ten Tournament
Speaker 1: in two overtimes, and that ended the season for Rutgers.
Speaker 1: In fact, Rutgers lost six of its last nine. And
Speaker 1: this is with these two kids who supposedly will go
Speaker 1: second and third, but you know you got to have
Speaker 1: people around him. Trey Johnson of Texas had a big
Speaker 1: game against Kentucky. Projected to go fifth. Jeremiah Fears from Oklahoma,
Speaker 1: another SEC player going sixth. We mentioned Cooper Flag Well,
Speaker 1: two other dookies going it says here in the top ten,
Speaker 1: including Kanka Nipple. You've got Maloche at number seven, Canimple
Speaker 1: number eight, and another SEC going tenth, Colin Murray Boyles.
Speaker 1: So a lot of familiar names in that top ten.
Speaker 1: No Wildcats this year, Maybe next year we'll see. You
Speaker 1: may know by now Kenny Brooks has a big time transfer.
Speaker 1: It could be a big time transfer. Josie Gilvin six
Speaker 1: foot guard. That's big for a guard. Now, six foot
Speaker 1: guard out of Sacred Heart over in Louisville, where they
Speaker 1: know how to play, had a great year at Western Kentucky.
Speaker 1: Thirteen points in game, six and a half rebounds, two
Speaker 1: and a half assists, and two and a half steals
Speaker 1: per game. One of the best defensive players in Conference USA,
Speaker 1: helped Western Kentucky to a twenty three to nine record,
Speaker 1: thirteen and five in the conference, got to the conference
Speaker 1: tournament semifinals. She was All Conferenced Second Team and All
Speaker 1: Defensive Team. So she gives Kenny Brooks some toughness on
Speaker 1: the perimeter and that's going to be important obviously coming
Speaker 1: up this season with Georgia Amore gone and they got
Speaker 1: some holes to fill. Tough night for the baseball Wildcats.
Speaker 1: If you heard Darren Hendrick Hall, you might have seen
Speaker 1: it on the ACC Network. But for the second straight
Speaker 1: outing and third time in their last four games, Kentucky
Speaker 1: played overtime but lost it when it had it. Kentucky
Speaker 1: took the lead in the tenth inning, but then Louisville
Speaker 1: comes back and scores two runs in the bottom of
Speaker 1: the tenth and beats Kentucky four to three at Jim
Speaker 1: Patterson Stadium. The Cats now eighteen and twelve on the year,
Speaker 1: and who's coming to town this weekend only the second
Speaker 1: rank Texas Longhorns. For the longest time, last night it
Speaker 1: looked like what it had. In fact, it did what
Speaker 1: had happened over the weekend with ole miss carried over
Speaker 1: for the Baseball Wildcats. Pitching in defense, they made big play,
Speaker 1: they made big pitches. They were down two to one,
Speaker 1: got a timely hit to tie things up, but Unlike
Speaker 1: last year when the two teams scored thirty runs, this
Speaker 1: one was two to two through nine and in the
Speaker 1: bottom of the ninth. I was amazed that this happened,
Speaker 1: not that he made the play. Rafael Peltier started the game.
Speaker 1: He has been the backup to Devin Burks. They were
Speaker 1: sharing the position until Peltier began to struggle a bit
Speaker 1: at the plate. But he got to start last night
Speaker 1: and had paid off for Nick Minjion. Louisville had the
Speaker 1: winning run in the ninth inning on second base. A
Speaker 1: kid doubled to open up the inning and he picked
Speaker 1: him off. Peltier picked him off. I think there was
Speaker 1: a misbunt and the kid wandered off the bag and
Speaker 1: Peltier picking Tyler Bell, made a great scoop of the
Speaker 1: throw and tagged the kid out. Now, ultimately there was
Speaker 1: another kid who doubled with two outs and he tried
Speaker 1: to steal third, going against baseball convention. You had two
Speaker 1: things working against you there. Number one, you don't want
Speaker 1: to be the last out of the inning at third base.
Speaker 1: That's not a cliche, that's just smart baseball. But this
Speaker 1: kid was a great base dealer, and Peltier threw him out.
Speaker 1: But here's the thing. He had just watched Peltier pick
Speaker 1: his teammate off second base, and there a base HiT's
Speaker 1: going to score him with a winning run. But for
Speaker 1: some reason he tried to steal third and they gunned
Speaker 1: him down. So in the tenth Inny Griffin Cameron with
Speaker 1: a great bunt and Louisville threw it away, so he
Speaker 1: winds up on second. A bunt later, cole Hage on
Speaker 1: a two strike pitch dumps went over the third basement's
Speaker 1: head in the left and the Wildcats take a three
Speaker 1: to two lead, but the bullpen just couldn't hold it.
Speaker 1: That's been a problem this year. So now you got
Speaker 1: Texas coming in. You've already lost two home series in
Speaker 1: the SEC. You got to get this one. You got
Speaker 1: to win two out of three. But it's a really
Speaker 1: good ball club coming in. We'll have it for You're
Speaker 1: right here on six thirty WLAP and Aaron Hedrick's got
Speaker 1: the call. SEC Networks got the first two games SEC plus,
Speaker 1: but Doug Flynn and yours truly as the third game.
Speaker 1: I found this online. You might have seen this. This
Speaker 1: is really fascinating. If you win the Masters, what do
Speaker 1: you get. Well, you get a green jacket, which is
Speaker 1: a tradition that started in nineteen forty nine, and there's
Speaker 1: an engraved gold nameplate inside. You can take that nameplate home,
Speaker 1: but the jacket stays at Augusta. You get your name
Speaker 1: on the Master's Trophy, but that stays at Augusta, and
Speaker 1: you get a smaller version forty percent the original size
Speaker 1: of the original. You also get a Master's Gold medal
Speaker 1: that dates back to nineteen thirty four. You get an
Speaker 1: engraved gold locket, which I guess goes see to your
Speaker 1: wife or your girlfriend or your mom whatever. Invitation to
Speaker 1: the Champion's Dinner, which started in nineteen fifty two after
Speaker 1: Ben Hogan's first Master's victory, that's on Tuesday. Honorary membership
Speaker 1: to Augusta National. You can't beat that. You get a
Speaker 1: locker in the Champion's locker room. You get access to
Speaker 1: the Champion's only range, lifetime invitation to the Masters three
Speaker 1: and a half million dollars that'll work, and a five
Speaker 1: year major exemption that's huge, a five year PGA Tour exemption.
Speaker 1: Those exemptions are just gold on the golf tours. You
Speaker 1: get a special tea time each year, every past Master's
Speaker 1: champ is allowed to bring a guest to play on
Speaker 1: a Sunday before the Masters. The Scheffler brought his mom.
Speaker 1: So my advice to you is take up golf and
Speaker 1: go out and win the Masters. Get a lot of
Speaker 1: cool stuff. Coming up at the bottom of the hour,
Speaker 1: David Sisk will join us from Cats Illustrated. We'll talk
Speaker 1: college basketball naturally. We'll talk about the final four of
Speaker 1: the championship game and just how Florida was able to
Speaker 1: come back and pull it off against Houston. A little
Speaker 1: bit later on Sean Woods, the Unforgettable Guard and Gary Moore,
Speaker 1: West n Bureau Chief. Up next, Mark Stoops talks about
Speaker 1: tight ends. We'll also hear from one of his best
Speaker 1: tight ends, and that's heart hitting Willie Rodriguez. That's coming
Speaker 1: up next on a Big Blue and Sider here on
Speaker 1: six thirty WLAP. Welcome back to the Big bluon Sider.
Speaker 1: Coming up in just a few minutes to David Sisk
Speaker 1: of Cats Illustrated, part of the Rivals Network. A little
Speaker 1: bit later on our number two, Sean Woods, the Unforgettable Guard.
Speaker 1: We talk with him each and every week, as well
Speaker 1: as our West End Bureau Chief Gary Moore, who is
Speaker 1: back from MCALI, so we will resume our chats with him.
Speaker 1: If you're a Kentucky football fan, you've already got your
Speaker 1: calendar marked for this Saturday, ten am Kroger Field. It's
Speaker 1: the spring they're calling it the Football Spring Showcase, practice segments,
Speaker 1: interactive features for fans. You're not going to see a
Speaker 1: lot of full gameplay, but you will get a better
Speaker 1: look at what you've what you've got coming up for
Speaker 1: the coming football season. You can learn about the Wildcats.
Speaker 1: So yeah, ten am at Kroger Field this Saturday. Not
Speaker 1: a blue white game. And you know what, You're not
Speaker 1: going to see many blue white games anymore, I'm guessing
Speaker 1: because coaches are going to want to protect their rosters.
Speaker 1: If you put a blue white game out there, it'll
Speaker 1: be on TV somewhere, there will be video everywhere. And kid,
Speaker 1: you know, kids that you're trying to kind of hide
Speaker 1: on your depth chart, they may get coach, they may
Speaker 1: end up leaving, just like Kentucky had a d back
Speaker 1: last year, but a great spring game and next thing
Speaker 1: you know, he's on another team. So anyhow, check it
Speaker 1: out this Saturday. One of the things I'm going to
Speaker 1: look for and we always look for it, don't we.
Speaker 1: Every year is tight end. Look, Kentucky said, so many
Speaker 1: talented tight ends come through and just not catch as
Speaker 1: many balls of late that we thought they would. I
Speaker 1: guess you got to go back to CJ. Conrad. So
Speaker 1: the last tight end, it was really a weapon, and
Speaker 1: he didn't catch as many as we thought he might.
Speaker 1: But really, to me, the biggest is not the only reason,
Speaker 1: but the biggest reason is because the old line has
Speaker 1: struggled for the past three years, and that means you've
Speaker 1: got to keep a tight end in to block and
Speaker 1: they're not going out on design routes. Maybe they released
Speaker 1: after they've chipped or even taken somebody on straight up.
Speaker 1: But you've got the new offense with Bush Hampden. You've
Speaker 1: got some talent in the room once again. And we
Speaker 1: talked to Mark Stoops about is the last time after
Speaker 1: the practice when he allowed the media to watch. And
Speaker 1: if you look at the Kentucky depth chart, you'll see
Speaker 1: probably eight new names in what would be the starting lineup,
Speaker 1: most of them on the old line. Jimory Macklin is there,
Speaker 1: Jalen Farmer they think might start at left guard. You
Speaker 1: know they work Jagger Burton at center, but he's been
Speaker 1: working primarily at right guard, where he's listed behind Joshua
Speaker 1: Broun new QB new starting running back very likely, although
Speaker 1: you may see Jamaran Willcox move into the starting lineup
Speaker 1: before the season opener. But one of the starters they've
Speaker 1: got coming back you've got to be certain is Josh
Speaker 1: Katis at tight end. He's a senior. I can't but
Speaker 1: it seems like he just got here. But he's a senior.
Speaker 1: You've also got a new face in a tight end,
Speaker 1: or more than one. But the biggest target is Henry Boyer,
Speaker 1: who's a transfer six foot seven. You'll see him out there,
Speaker 1: easy to spot. Transferred in from Illinois. He's listed right
Speaker 1: now ahead of Willi Rodriguez, but I wouldn't be surprised
Speaker 1: if you saw a lot of Willi Rodriguez. You're going
Speaker 1: to see him all over the field, special teams, offense.
Speaker 1: Mark Stoops really likes him primarily because of his toughness.
Speaker 3: Will's just tough, you know, just a tough guy.
Speaker 4: You know good?
Speaker 3: You know again, I love everything about Willie, you know,
Speaker 3: he just it's one of those guys you want on
Speaker 3: your team. You know, plays hard, tough guy, you know,
Speaker 3: has some really good ability. So yes, we'd like to
Speaker 3: get him the ball. And I know everybody would like
Speaker 3: to see him get the ball. My mother, God rest
Speaker 3: her soul, Silvi. We you know, you know that, you
Speaker 3: know the joke you guys that cover me all the time,
Speaker 3: my mom used to get.
Speaker 1: That's a comment that referred to a question that Stoops
Speaker 1: answered a year or two ago about using the tight
Speaker 1: ends more. And Mark pointed out, and he's right, everybody
Speaker 1: wants to see the tight ends use more as receivers.
Speaker 1: And my theory on this is, and I've asked coaches
Speaker 1: about it, they'm kind of shrugging, like maybe it seems
Speaker 1: like whenever tight ends catch the ball, it's because they
Speaker 1: might not ordinarily be the number one target, so it
Speaker 1: takes a little longer for the play to set up.
Speaker 1: Or you've got to give them a chance to beat
Speaker 1: their defender, which is generally a linebacker who's not as
Speaker 1: fast as they are. So when they do catch a ball,
Speaker 1: everybody's on edge, get rid of the ball, get rid
Speaker 1: of And then they do and there's a tight end.
Speaker 1: Everybody's like, oh my gosh, they got it off to
Speaker 1: the tight end and he might already have a step
Speaker 1: on a defender. So now it's exciting. Think think back
Speaker 1: to Jacob Tammy catching football after football when when Rich
Speaker 1: Brooks was here. So yeah, everybody loves to see the
Speaker 1: tight end catch the ball, including Mark Stoop's late mama
Speaker 1: used to ask her son, why do you got to
Speaker 1: throw the ball on the tight end more Well, he
Speaker 1: really likes Willie Rodriguez, as you just heard, so we
Speaker 1: asked Rodriguez a few minutes later to comment on Stoops's
Speaker 1: remark about wanting a guy like Willy on his team.
Speaker 5: Yeah, so that's awesome here. I mean, that's that's what
Speaker 5: I want people to say about. I mean that's what
Speaker 5: I you know, I want to be known as a
Speaker 5: team player. And this guy that's here from the team,
Speaker 5: and what's somebody that you want on your team? It
Speaker 5: makes I think it's everything. I think it's got to
Speaker 5: be on and off the field for someone you want
Speaker 5: your team. I think it's in the locker room, trying
Speaker 5: to be a leader everywhere everywhere you go in the community,
Speaker 5: and also when you get out on the field, being
Speaker 5: the leader and being the league the whole team that, yes, sir, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 5: obviously being physical and you know when you put the
Speaker 5: helmet off, it's obviously an old different person than off
Speaker 5: the field, but I think that should be known. But
Speaker 5: I think, you know, you put the helmet on, you
Speaker 5: I complete a different person on the field.
Speaker 1: Which he is. Hey, remember Rodriguez delivered the hit that
Speaker 1: forced to fumble on the first play of the game
Speaker 1: on the kickoff down there at Old Miss this past
Speaker 1: year now in review, it was reversed in a ball
Speaker 1: went back to Old Miss, but it kind of set
Speaker 1: a tone and it was Willie Rodriguez who made it happen.
Speaker 1: And he's made a lot of things happen on special teams.
Speaker 1: So maybe we'll see him more on offense. And he
Speaker 1: believes that because they're in the second year with ham Dan,
Speaker 1: things will go could see will be a lot better.
Speaker 5: I think it's having year two in the offense. This
Speaker 5: big thing, you know. I was talking to Josh Gattis,
Speaker 5: He's obviously had three different offensive coordinators. He said, coming
Speaker 5: back year two on this offense is very big, and
Speaker 5: especially for me just come back. I feel really comfortable.
Speaker 5: I feel like I know the concepts a lot, and
Speaker 5: I feel like, yeah, coming back in your two offense
Speaker 5: is big for sure.
Speaker 1: So keep an eye on Willie Rodriguez when you're at
Speaker 1: the football open practice on Saturday starts at ten am,
Speaker 1: and then you can move on over to Kentucky Baseball,
Speaker 1: the Wildcats taking on the Texas Lawnhorns. As I mentioned earlier,
Speaker 1: I do want to throw in a couple of person notes.
Speaker 1: First of all, a big thank you to anybody who
Speaker 1: reached out. It's a very nice ceremony last night in
Speaker 1: reception for the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame, I was
Speaker 1: so fortunate enough to be included in this year's class,
Speaker 1: so grateful, so humbled and surprised, and as I mentioned
Speaker 1: in my speech, thanks to UK Assistant ad Tony Neely,
Speaker 1: who oversaw football sports information for so long. Now in
Speaker 1: the capable hands of Susan Lax. But Tony's been promoted.
Speaker 1: But Tony was the one who first approached me about
Speaker 1: nominating me, which again was a surprise, but very grateful.
Speaker 1: But to anybody and everybody who's reached out, I say
Speaker 1: thank you very very much, and it's a huge thrill
Speaker 1: and a great honor. Number two, just on a personal note.
Speaker 1: I had a little skin cancer taken off today and
Speaker 1: I've just you know, a public service announcement, and I
Speaker 1: get checked every year. It runs in a family. My
Speaker 1: mother had issues with skin cancer, and it just seems
Speaker 1: like it's harder and harder these days to protect yourself
Speaker 1: out in the sun. It was on the side of
Speaker 1: my face, on my temple, and I use sunblock, but
Speaker 1: I guess I must have missed it made too many
Speaker 1: times on that part of my face. I won't any more.
Speaker 1: But please get yourself checked because, as you may well know,
Speaker 1: skin cancer that might just be. This thing was tiny.
Speaker 1: I couldn't see it. The doctor saw it, the dermatologists
Speaker 1: saw it. You know, I never saw in the mirror.
Speaker 1: I still didn't, never saw it until they really pointed
Speaker 1: it circled and pointed it out. But as you know,
Speaker 1: and the form I had, basil cell, was the least
Speaker 1: serious of the skin cancers, but any form can go
Speaker 1: bad on you. So please get yourself checked out. Thank
Speaker 1: you so much, we need you out there. Up next,
Speaker 1: David sisk if Cats Illustrated six. Welcome back to the
Speaker 1: Big Blue and Cider. Joining us now as a guy
Speaker 1: we love talking basketball David Sisk of Cats Illustrated, part
Speaker 1: of the Rivals Network, And before we talk about Monday
Speaker 1: night's game, let's talk about Jaden Quainton's who committed yesterday.
Speaker 1: A top five pick, originally signed in twenty twenty three,
Speaker 1: but spent twenty this past season at Arizona State. What
Speaker 1: do you know about him? Coach?
Speaker 2: Well, he's a man child. And you know, after watching
Speaker 2: you know, some of these teams in the final four,
Speaker 2: all four of them really, and seeing just the physicality
Speaker 2: and what they had inside, I mean, you've got to
Speaker 2: have guys like this, and I think, interestingly enough of
Speaker 2: Arizona State, he's only the philth freshman in history to
Speaker 2: make the All Freshmen team and All Defensive team in
Speaker 2: the Big twelve and the other four our NBA draft
Speaker 2: picks in the first round, you know, who have already
Speaker 2: gone out, and he's definitely got that pedigree. He didn't
Speaker 2: play a ton of minutes, and I mean, you know,
Speaker 2: he played I don't know, I think eighteen to twenty
Speaker 2: minutes something like that. So when you look at his stats,
Speaker 2: they're not going to be gaudy, but you know, the
Speaker 2: things that he bring. Number one, he's just he's one
Speaker 2: of those. It's just a beast, you know. He has
Speaker 2: that look, just just explosive, strong, and you look at
Speaker 2: him and you said, there's no way he's a nineteen
Speaker 2: year old kid. He looks like he's up there like
Speaker 2: twenty nine one of those. But if you look at
Speaker 2: his analytics, if you look at his and I'm big
Speaker 2: going into percentiles, the things that post player needs to have,
Speaker 2: So I'm not gonna look and say, Okay, so this
Speaker 2: guy's sixth grade slow or this guy's three point shooting
Speaker 2: percentage whatever, and he did I think, step out make simon,
Speaker 2: and I think he shot up in high thirties. He
Speaker 2: didn't you in percent he didn't shoot a ton of them.
Speaker 2: But if you look at the defensive impact, rebounds, block shots,
Speaker 2: I mean he's up like ninety fifth ninety six percent
Speaker 2: tile on up although up to ninety nine percent TILE.
Speaker 2: So he may I'm tell you what, he checks a
Speaker 2: lot of boxes, you know. And I was thinking, you know,
Speaker 2: as Tuesday morning when he committed, you know, and then
Speaker 2: you think about Malachi Marino. They've really gotten in the
Speaker 2: last two classes. One took a little bit longer. He
Speaker 2: had to go through Arizona State and come back. But
Speaker 2: they've gotten really two of the top centers in each
Speaker 2: or the top center in each class. Almost Malachi Marino
Speaker 2: is is I think just barely behind. In most rankings,
Speaker 2: He's the second high ranked center and close to being first.
Speaker 2: And I would have to go back and look to
Speaker 2: see who was ahead of Clayton's plaints was in everybody's
Speaker 2: top ten. I think Rivals had him eight. So you're
Speaker 2: talking about two of the top you know, centers and
Speaker 2: back to back classes in the country that are going
Speaker 2: to be wearing Kentucky BLUENX.
Speaker 1: Well. To your point, yeah, he only averaged about nine
Speaker 1: points a game, but it rebounds, two and a half blocks,
Speaker 1: all defensive team in the Big twelve, and of course
Speaker 1: an all freshman player and bringing in these bigs David.
Speaker 1: It kind of reminds you of old school basketball. But
Speaker 1: Pope's offense is anything but. Right.
Speaker 2: Well, that's true, but I think people kind of get
Speaker 2: lost in the shuffle of how much he's playing two bigs.
Speaker 2: It's not like he's playing five out small ball lineup.
Speaker 2: But you think about how much they went to high
Speaker 2: Low last year in between car and.
Speaker 1: True.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it seemed like every game in the second half,
Speaker 2: his adjustment would be get the Boss into the post.
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, they would play for kind of
Speaker 2: free flow in the first and they started posting feeding
Speaker 2: all of locker room. It seems like they did it
Speaker 2: a lot. You know, when I was a year ago,
Speaker 2: when I was watching this stuff from BYU, I thought
Speaker 2: it was going to really be a just like I say,
Speaker 2: Small Boss Spread, Golden State Warrior, Boston selling at forty
Speaker 2: three is a game. I was amazed how many high
Speaker 2: low to post action that they ran. So I think,
Speaker 2: you know, and then you throw in ham a debaute,
Speaker 2: you know, that came in and I think he may
Speaker 2: play some three, but he's about six seven, but his wingspan,
Speaker 2: he's so fiscal. He plays like he's six ten, and
Speaker 2: you know, you could I think, really he's more of
Speaker 2: a four offensively, but maybe a three defensively. So you know,
Speaker 2: they're putting a lot of pieces together and they're going
Speaker 2: to be deep, and that's the one thing. They got
Speaker 2: a lot of players on that roster right now, so
Speaker 2: they're going to be able to just shuffle in different
Speaker 2: hooks in different lineup.
Speaker 1: You cover recruiting for UK and North Carolina. Uh so
Speaker 1: obviously that's your your area of expertise. And it was
Speaker 1: interesting when Pope got here. There were some obviously a
Speaker 1: lot of people who knocked the choice. But uh, they wondered,
Speaker 1: you know, could he build a program at Kentucky because
Speaker 1: they were judging him based on what he had done
Speaker 1: at Utah Valle State, of course, and it bring him young,
Speaker 1: but uh, it was pretty obvious with the Kentucky brand
Speaker 1: behind him, Yeah, he was going to get it done.
Speaker 1: I mean, how do you feel like things have gone
Speaker 1: so far? I mean, I mean, could UK fans hope
Speaker 1: are much better right now?
Speaker 2: Well? I think if you're Kentucky you can almost you
Speaker 2: can always help her better, that's true, and expect better.
Speaker 2: So you know, but but I gave him. I gave
Speaker 2: him an eight minus last year we had to do
Speaker 2: grades and the only reason I don't think he could
Speaker 2: have done any better than he did. But unless you're
Speaker 2: at Kentucky, Kansas Duke of North Carolina, that's an a
Speaker 2: A plus job that he did. So I just look
Speaker 2: at it and say, Okay, at Kentucky, your expectations can't
Speaker 2: be they're not sweet sixteen, you know, nobody's gonna throw
Speaker 2: a parade over that. But you've got to understand the situation.
Speaker 2: He was in a short period of time, and I
Speaker 2: thought he did a tremendous job coaching the team.
Speaker 6: Then you get the set.
Speaker 2: With all the injuries. Yeah, and I don't think you
Speaker 2: could do any better what he's done. And now he
Speaker 2: goes into the portal and he's really doing well there.
Speaker 2: So I know fans are already excited about next season.
Speaker 2: So you know, and that's a big thing too, if
Speaker 2: you want to kind of have a bitch mark where
Speaker 2: your programs at. What kind of optimism does the fan
Speaker 2: base have? And I think that's pretty strong.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And there's already chatter on the internet and debates
Speaker 1: and arguments. What happens now in Garrison? Do you think
Speaker 1: he leaves? Do you think they tell him, hey, there
Speaker 1: may not be many minutes for you. What do you
Speaker 1: see in his future?
Speaker 2: I don't think Brandon Garrison is a guy, and I
Speaker 2: think he might be best for him to realize this. If
Speaker 2: they would have said, Okay, we're just going to sit
Speaker 2: back and rest, Brandon Garrison's gonna bear a guy next year,
Speaker 2: I would have I would have severe reservations. Yeah, I
Speaker 2: just don't see it. He shows flashes, but I don't
Speaker 2: see it. I wouldn't depend on him for that. He
Speaker 2: needs to understand that. You know, he may not get
Speaker 2: thirty five minutes a year next year. But I don't
Speaker 2: think you even if he was the man, you could
Speaker 2: expect that to Kentucky. I mean, Pope's going to go
Speaker 2: into the bench a lot. So that's one thing. But
Speaker 2: every thing is this. I know through my times in coaching,
Speaker 2: the guy came up under when I start out there,
Speaker 2: you he always insisted on having four post players. Really,
Speaker 2: and that was from the Dean Smith. He wanted to
Speaker 2: go too deep at the center. He wanted to go
Speaker 2: too deep and the power forward you could. You had
Speaker 2: depth in the depth in the post was huge. You
Speaker 2: had fowls to give, you could wear the under teeth down,
Speaker 2: you had the size. And I watched Florida and one
Speaker 2: thing I've said, it's appeared to me that Todd Golden
Speaker 2: went back to the deep Smith Botto and said, look,
Speaker 2: I'm want to have four solid post players. And he did.
Speaker 2: And and if I'm curious and I want to sell
Speaker 2: at the garrison, if I'm garous, I'm thinking, hey, I
Speaker 2: can hang around here. You know, it's there's a job
Speaker 2: out there. I don't think they've promised a starting job
Speaker 2: to Quainton, so it's mine to lose a mind to
Speaker 2: get that fight for this thing. But I just think
Speaker 2: that when you've got more inside depth and you've got
Speaker 2: some bigs in there, and you've got athletes, you've got
Speaker 2: some of those things, I just think it makes your
Speaker 2: team better, better and better. And you know, I'm a
Speaker 2: post player. I want to be a part of that.
Speaker 1: David Sisk is my guest from Catch Illustrated, part of
Speaker 1: the Rivals Network. Covers Kentucky and North Carolina recruiting. We'll
Speaker 1: come back and talk about those Florida Gators, a new
Speaker 1: reigning national champs. On the other side of the break
Speaker 1: here on the Big Moon Sider six thirty WLAP Welcome back.
Speaker 1: David Sisk is my guest. We check in with David
Speaker 1: every once in a while. He is part of the
Speaker 1: Rivals Network, works for Cat Illustrated and other publications. As such,
Speaker 1: Man the Final four, all three games, David couldn't have
Speaker 1: been much better. You must have been as a basketball
Speaker 1: coach and Officionado digging what you saw for the weekend.
Speaker 2: I did, but if you I don't know if some
Speaker 2: solid A couple of days back on Saturday, I tweeted,
Speaker 2: does anybody else feel like the Final four is just
Speaker 2: like a partial break for the Transfer Portal for a version,
Speaker 2: And that's that's how exactly how I felt. In fact,
Speaker 2: while they were I was top and out two stories
Speaker 2: what game was going on about potential Transport Portal players.
Speaker 2: So that's dominated my life the last few weeks. I'm
Speaker 2: afraid it's going to for the rest of a month
Speaker 2: at least, but yeah, it was tremendous, and I think
Speaker 2: that's what happens when the best four teams are in it.
Speaker 2: I think the Portal has kind of done that, especially
Speaker 2: in Al, has done that where you know the strong
Speaker 2: are going to get stronger. And I know people want
Speaker 2: cinderellas that first weekend, but sometimes you pay for it
Speaker 2: on down the road. And we had a true final four.
Speaker 2: I think I don't look at it and say like
Speaker 2: there was in the last couple of years, like it
Speaker 2: was Yukon and everybody else. I picked Florida to win, actually,
Speaker 2: and I had three of the final four, so I'm
Speaker 2: proud of that.
Speaker 6: I first worked got right years.
Speaker 2: So but I didn't look at Florida and say, Okay,
Speaker 2: it was them and then everybody else.
Speaker 6: I mean, you had.
Speaker 2: Four really good teams, and if you played it four times,
Speaker 2: you might have four different winns. So it was, yeah,
Speaker 2: it was. It was a tremendous ny I think you
Speaker 2: just had four teams stood out. I think you really
Speaker 2: had six teams among the best, and then but the
Speaker 2: Flows were clearly the best four. And you know, we
Speaker 2: were rewarded with a great weekend of basketball.
Speaker 1: We really were. And just the comebacks by Florida, I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, and in that game, the championship game Monday,
Speaker 1: it was played absolutely the way Houston wanted it played,
Speaker 1: needed it played. And Florida beat them at their own game,
Speaker 1: didn't they.
Speaker 2: They did, And I'll be honest, it was it was
Speaker 2: just early on, even when it was closed, I said,
Speaker 2: I do not think that Florida's big and stand up
Speaker 2: to this really because yeah, I mean, if you watched
Speaker 2: the inside, was sex were really exception exception of Thomas House.
Speaker 2: I felt like the rest of those guys are really
Speaker 2: just it looked at me like when they were inside,
Speaker 2: they were just fighting off a swarm of bees or something,
Speaker 2: just fleling around, and I'm just like, these guys are
Speaker 2: not strong enough. And you know, you saw some rebounds
Speaker 2: early on where Florida's got the rebound and their position
Speaker 2: and they don't go get the ball, and some of
Speaker 2: Houston guy just like he shot out the cannon somewhere,
Speaker 2: goes and gets it. And I'm like the difference in
Speaker 2: chensity and what they can do physically is different. But
Speaker 2: you know, Florida kind of hung around. Houston had their chance.
Speaker 2: You know, they got the lead, like you said, but
Speaker 2: then Florida made a run there and they got Clayton
Speaker 2: got going and you know, come back and they tied
Speaker 2: the game up I think at like forty two forty two,
Speaker 2: and they never could take the lead. But I felt
Speaker 2: like the bigs inside started matching up because Houston, you know,
Speaker 2: would never get it. We ever come a ball went
Speaker 2: inside on either and it was and they had combat. Yeah,
Speaker 2: but I thought felt like Florida had really a good
Speaker 2: job of doubling down on post and the guards were
Speaker 2: able to get down there and smack some balls loose
Speaker 2: and create some turnovers and really help. So I thought
Speaker 2: they adjusted well right there, and I think Florida's big suggested,
Speaker 2: so you know, I really didn't know if Florida was
Speaker 2: going to win to the final horn found and I
Speaker 2: felt like it was Houston. But I think Florida didn't
Speaker 2: sell in.
Speaker 1: Well, yeah, I agree, And I was shocked that Houston
Speaker 1: didn't even get off a shot at the end. You know,
Speaker 1: I wasn't surprised they played for three, but I was
Speaker 1: a little surprised they didn't give themselves any opportunity to
Speaker 1: even get off a shot.
Speaker 6: How did you get?
Speaker 2: You know, it was really weird. On that last play
Speaker 2: number one, there was if you watch it when it
Speaker 2: first starts, there was a beautiful hedge of recovery over
Speaker 2: on the wing. I mean, because it looked like a
Speaker 2: head so hard it almost look like they switched, but
Speaker 2: they didn't. Then they recovered back and you've got to
Speaker 2: have help and you've got to sprint so long to
Speaker 2: get that the recovery. I thought Houston might get them early,
Speaker 2: and they didn't. And then when they threw the ball
Speaker 2: out top it was guarded well and then a good
Speaker 2: closed out. It was really interesting, the very same kind
Speaker 2: of play that cost Auburn against Florida when Chad Baker Mazaarre,
Speaker 2: if you'll remember, they got to steal on the press
Speaker 2: and Chad Baker Mazaar dribbled out to the three point line.
Speaker 2: I think it would have cut it till one. There
Speaker 2: were five hundred and twenty five seconds left, and you
Speaker 2: remember they closed out and he jumped on the shot
Speaker 2: and then he came down with the ball. This time
Speaker 2: he used to let it go. So Florida really had
Speaker 2: two huge, deep maybe their two biggest defensive stands of
Speaker 2: the year when the three point shooter left the ground
Speaker 2: and then came back down with the ball.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, speaking of deepense, let's back up to Saturday.
Speaker 1: How surprised were you the duke kind of folded?
Speaker 2: Well, I think Barry obviously, But you know, it's really
Speaker 2: weird you're talking about these games. Florida could have lost
Speaker 2: to Auburns easily in the same way. I mean, they
Speaker 2: were not steady against that press at all. They got
Speaker 2: up eight and then you know, they can't get the
Speaker 2: ball to Clayton and the other guards. You could tell
Speaker 2: they didn't want it. They had turnovers, they had loose
Speaker 2: balls against the pressure. They missed like two front ends
Speaker 2: of one and one, and it was the same way
Speaker 2: we'll do, you know. But I think the pressure, you're
Speaker 2: just not used to seeing it. And I just wonder too,
Speaker 2: Duke playing any acc the league was so bad they
Speaker 2: never had any pressure on them all year, and that
Speaker 2: makes a difference. But I think Kevin Sampson pointed that out,
Speaker 2: you know, indirectly would have been twelve wars.
Speaker 6: But uh, just plays.
Speaker 2: I think about the play where Duke had to run
Speaker 2: out against the press, never getting ready to go up eight.
Speaker 2: They got to lay up in the full court and
Speaker 2: the Houston guy comes out of nowhere, SWAT's it. They
Speaker 2: come out down hit to Floy's. Instead of being an
Speaker 2: a an a point game, it's a three point game.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's just a matter of second. So things
Speaker 2: like that, plays that you had to have happened. You
Speaker 2: have a really good bowl shooter on the line. This
Speaker 2: is uh, it's just while we love basketball, yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know. And the defensive play on the inbounds,
Speaker 1: to me, I thought was just I mean I sat
Speaker 1: up straight and just kind of I didn't know what
Speaker 1: to make of that except that it was an incredible
Speaker 1: defensive play. And that's the way Houston played all year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you know it was weird. I was looking
Speaker 2: at this morning. I knew it would go on today,
Speaker 2: and I went back and looked, and you know, it's
Speaker 2: easy to getting enamored when up and down basketball and
Speaker 2: free flowing offense. And I think we were all excited
Speaker 2: about Markope. I'm an a Oats guy and I make
Speaker 2: no apologies for that. I love to watch teams play
Speaker 2: like that. Becky McMillan coming in the Texas A and
Speaker 2: M I just enjoy that. But if you look at
Speaker 2: the final eight teams, six of them in pace, I
Speaker 2: think there's three hundred and sixty three teams and maybe
Speaker 2: in Division one sixty eight or one hundred and thirty
Speaker 2: eighth or below in pace five or one hundred. I
Speaker 2: think Auburn was one eighty three. Five of the eight
Speaker 2: or one eighty three or lower four were two hundred
Speaker 2: or so one eighty three you're looking if you got
Speaker 2: three sixty three, you're looking right at the middle of
Speaker 2: the fiftify percentile. So five of the eight that we're
Speaker 2: in we're in the lower half. So Houston and Duke,
Speaker 2: they were way down in pace and they played half court.
Speaker 2: They played fiscal, so he came down to it. This year,
Speaker 2: we're talking about playing the skyle of games. It seems
Speaker 2: like teams were older through the portal, they were fiscal.
Speaker 2: Defense won out over offense this year. Really and well,
Speaker 2: you know, we all thought the game was going to
Speaker 2: hold different directions.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely, But you know it's a cliche because it's true.
Speaker 1: Defense wins championships. And at the end of the championship
Speaker 1: game Monday night, it was a defensive player there were.
Speaker 2: But you've got to have you've got to have some offense.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, absolutely, So yeah, you know, I felt like
Speaker 2: I think going into the game, I had tweeted this Monday,
Speaker 2: Houston was two and three when the team scored over
Speaker 2: seven seventy or more. They were thirty three and one
Speaker 2: when opponents scored sixty nine or less. So you think
Speaker 2: about that thirty and counting Monday night, thirty five and
Speaker 2: the forty teams in Houston had never got to seventy
Speaker 2: points on them there you go only five times, and
Speaker 2: but you know, because you've got I felt like, why
Speaker 2: look at that, I said, Houston's got to get I mean,
Speaker 2: Floder's got to get to seventy if they get and
Speaker 2: I kept watching through games they hit and get the
Speaker 2: seventies that played Houston face it's down to low sixties,
Speaker 2: like you said. But Houston when it came, they had
Speaker 2: to have it in the second half. They just couldn't get.
Speaker 2: They just couldn't score. You've got to be able to score.
Speaker 2: Rick Barnes will faced there for years, yep. And you've
Speaker 2: got to be able to score something.
Speaker 1: That's right, that's right. And the last four possessions for
Speaker 1: Houston they came up empty. And meanwhile Walter Clayton came
Speaker 1: to life and that was it for the Gators. So
Speaker 1: you know it's it's.
Speaker 2: Houston never got a Houston had two turnovers all possession.
Speaker 2: I never hit a ram with it, So that's big.
Speaker 1: Another empty trip for the Cougars and another title for
Speaker 1: the Southeastern Conference. Coach David Sisk, we love to see
Speaker 1: his work and cats illustrated and chat with him here. Thanks, coach,
Speaker 1: we'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 6: Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2: I've enjoyed it.
Speaker 1: Up. Next hour number two with Sean Woods, the Unforgettable
Speaker 1: Guard and wistam your chief Gary Morris back, You're in
Speaker 1: a big Moonsider six thirty.
Speaker 4: W latnaut.
Speaker 7: Tactus can anything.
Speaker 1: Only welcome back to the Big Blue Sider, joining us
Speaker 1: now as he does each and every Wednesday as our
Speaker 1: unforgettable guard. Sean Woods, his jersey hangs in the raptors
Speaker 1: of Rup And we have been talking coach about the
Speaker 1: final four, about the NC tournament, about the brackets for
Speaker 1: weeks and one of the teams you loved, and you
Speaker 1: said this going into conference tournament play was Houston, and
Speaker 1: not just because they were the hottest team in the
Speaker 1: country for a while there, but just because of the
Speaker 1: way they played. And sure enough they get all the
Speaker 1: way to the championship game. Before we talk about that,
Speaker 1: talk to me about the Duke comeback. That was unbelievable.
Speaker 6: That's just who they are. And then it was almost
Speaker 6: identical to the Duke Kentucky game earlier in the year.
Speaker 6: You know, you know the kid just you know Cooper Flagg.
Speaker 6: You know, even though he's eighteen now, he was seventeen
Speaker 6: when he played Kentucky, but he acted like a kid
Speaker 6: who just you know, I mean, he's a dominant kid.
Speaker 6: He's a a generational talent, but he kind of you know,
Speaker 6: they ran out of gas. But man, Houston is just
Speaker 6: so relentless. Then they played to the last drop, They
Speaker 6: played to the last second, and that's exactly what happened.
Speaker 6: And you know, the two teams that ended up in
Speaker 6: the National Championship were the two toughest teams on both
Speaker 6: ends of the ball. And that's Florida, who doesn't give
Speaker 6: up to the last second? And do I mean and
Speaker 6: Houston you know the same thing. You know, I thought
Speaker 6: Saint John was in that boat, but Saint John just
Speaker 6: couldn't shoot like those two teams. And that's the reason
Speaker 6: why those two teams were in the championship game. And
Speaker 6: it was a historical game just the way it ended.
Speaker 6: I mean, you know, wow, yeah, well we'll get to
Speaker 6: that in a minute.
Speaker 1: But when Houston came back on Duke, the fact that
Speaker 1: somebody described this more than once on TV. The first
Speaker 1: thirty minutes they played it was essentially the way Duke
Speaker 1: wanted to play, but the last ten minutes was played
Speaker 1: the way Houston wanted to play. I guess you're not
Speaker 1: surprised they were kind of able to turn it on
Speaker 1: when they needed couch, Like you said, that's who they were.
Speaker 1: What what did Duke do to take them out of
Speaker 1: their game at first, well, Duke.
Speaker 6: Was just so flamboyant. And you know the way you
Speaker 6: beat a great defensive team is you got to make
Speaker 6: shots and you cannot turn the ball over. And I thought,
Speaker 6: you know, for the first little bit, that's what Duke did.
Speaker 6: They were making shots, they didn't turn the ball over,
Speaker 6: they didn't subside to Houston's pressure and physicality on defense,
Speaker 6: and it was it was everything they made. Everything was
Speaker 6: going right for him. But man, you get to that
Speaker 6: thirty minute mark, that that ten minute mark, in that
Speaker 6: second half, of the eight minute mark, in that second half,
Speaker 6: if you if you not their shape like they are,
Speaker 6: you're they're coming back. They're coming to get you. And
Speaker 6: that's exactly what happened.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, And it just turned into just a real
Speaker 1: dog fight, didn't it. I mean, I'm I mean, it
Speaker 1: was on I don't want to say it was like
Speaker 1: a playground game, but like you said, it just came
Speaker 1: down to the toughness.
Speaker 6: They went to the gutter, they left the street, and
Speaker 6: they went down in one of those little fox holes.
Speaker 6: And Houston lives in the fox holes.
Speaker 1: Yeah that's true.
Speaker 6: So Houston got a chance to bring them down to
Speaker 6: where they're comfortable at and Duke wasn't comfortable with that.
Speaker 6: You gotta remember, now, Duke didn't have a close hadn't
Speaker 6: had a close game in two months, That's true. So
Speaker 6: when it got down to you know, cutting time, Duke
Speaker 6: never been there before. You know, they've never been you know, okay,
Speaker 6: they they've always been punching down. But when somebody finally
Speaker 6: started punching up, they didn't know how to respond. And
Speaker 6: Houston didn't stop, you know they you know, you're thinking, okay,
Speaker 6: with ten seconds left or whatever, that we're up six,
Speaker 6: we got this game. No you don't.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So you think the ACC, the lack of quality
Speaker 1: teams in the ACC, a lack of toughness in that league,
Speaker 1: came back and haunted him.
Speaker 6: Yeah, because you you know, you only is good as
Speaker 6: especially down the stretch when you get to the final
Speaker 6: Florida of you only as good as what you've been,
Speaker 6: what you've gone through. And it's car experience, you know
Speaker 6: what I mean. They've never been in that type of
Speaker 6: situation before, and for the first time, they really didn't
Speaker 6: know how to act. I mean, they were out of
Speaker 6: their element for the last minute. To be honest with you,
Speaker 6: they were just holding on, and you know, and and
Speaker 6: when you're trying to hold on and the other teams
Speaker 6: steady making shots and the shots not going there for you,
Speaker 6: You're like, whoa, you know what I'm saying. You miss
Speaker 6: a free throw here and there, you miss a block
Speaker 6: out here there, hey, and now you ended up you
Speaker 6: know what I'm saying, looking on the other side, and
Speaker 6: that's that's that's where that thing went down.
Speaker 1: Well, and you mentioned Florida being a team that's not
Speaker 1: going to come back or they's not going to be denied.
Speaker 8: With all the.
Speaker 1: Comebacks Florida had. Amazing that Florida had to come from
Speaker 1: behind in four of its tournament games, including the championship game,
Speaker 1: which meant I gotta think that boy, the SEC couldn't
Speaker 1: have prepped Florida any better, right.
Speaker 6: No, And when you got the Mariarra Rivera of college basketball,
Speaker 6: you know, he's the best closer I've seen in all time.
Speaker 6: And you know, and I'm talking about the shots that
Speaker 6: he's made in the NTA Tournament were not easy shots,
Speaker 6: and they were super clutch shots. And you know, Florida
Speaker 6: has gone through the gauntlet of the SEC. You know
Speaker 6: what I'm saying, They were physical enough, they were offensively
Speaker 6: gifted enough, and they had the best point guard in
Speaker 6: the tournament. And you know when you have those deals, hey.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, and really interesting. I thought, Sean, that Golden
Speaker 1: benched him for a few minutes. As a guy who's
Speaker 1: made a lot of decisions under the heat of battle
Speaker 1: on the sidelines, have you ever had to do that,
Speaker 1: like you're a warrior, your leader. It just wasn't happening
Speaker 1: for him. For whatever reason. You got a credit, Houston.
Speaker 1: Maybe he was pressing a bit. I mean, this Golden
Speaker 1: knows this guy inside and out, by the way, guy
Speaker 1: who started his career with Rick Patino, as you know
Speaker 1: in Iona. But what did you what did you make
Speaker 1: of that when he benched him?
Speaker 6: Well, you got to bench your guy, you know what
Speaker 6: I'm saying. Justin getting going, okay, sit down a little bit,
Speaker 6: you know, gay yourself, see what you see out there.
Speaker 6: You know, sometimes the game has to slow down for you.
Speaker 6: But you got to credit Houston. I mean, host did
Speaker 6: a great job from a defensive stand taking him out
Speaker 6: of the game. But just like Houston did duke this
Speaker 6: guy here, man just turned it on when he needed
Speaker 6: to turn it on. And Houston made two critical mistakes,
Speaker 6: and the two mistakes that made it wasn't It's just
Speaker 6: it wasn't what Florida did. It was just they slipped
Speaker 6: and failed.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, they failed.
Speaker 6: You know what I'm saying. So, and he took advantage
Speaker 6: of it. He's the guy that you can't give him
Speaker 6: a splip and you give him an inch and he's
Speaker 6: gonna he's gonna make you pay. He couldn't get a
Speaker 6: shot off up until the late in the second half,
Speaker 6: and that you got to credit Houston for that. And
Speaker 6: then when Houston kind of let off the gas a
Speaker 6: little bit, boom, Yeah, there he.
Speaker 1: Goes well and he goes in and gets the old
Speaker 1: fashioned three point play with a shot from the left side.
Speaker 1: I mean, kle Lee, you know, you knew he was
Speaker 1: gonna get something somewhere. But that couldn't have been scripted
Speaker 1: any better, you know.
Speaker 6: No, they did a good job of really you know,
Speaker 6: creating that mismatch. And he got on with a big
Speaker 6: and he took that big to the cleaners. Yeah, and
Speaker 6: had to finish with a tough fish, you know. And
Speaker 6: that was a tough finish with the left hand. And
Speaker 6: that was really his first bucket of the game.
Speaker 1: Amazing, just amazing. There's there's one other thing that you
Speaker 1: got to talk about when you talk about that game,
Speaker 1: and that's the foul on the free throw. They got
Speaker 1: flagged for going over the back. And you know, people,
Speaker 1: you know, why do you make that call and that
Speaker 1: kind of thing. But I believe that, and you could
Speaker 1: see it on the replay. If he didn't foul, then
Speaker 1: the play would have unfolded differently. The Houston player would
Speaker 1: have gotten the rebound, but instead, because he went over
Speaker 1: his back and became a loose ball, they had to
Speaker 1: call that.
Speaker 6: Well, here's the deal. The ref if I'm thinking the
Speaker 6: thing is straight, the ref almost try to help him
Speaker 6: because luckily, he said to the line, he just happened
Speaker 6: to make both of them. He in a great free
Speaker 6: throw shooter, that's true, kind of gave they tripped. It
Speaker 6: backfired on him because he made the free throw.
Speaker 1: I hadn't even thought about that. You're exactly right, that guy.
Speaker 1: You thought, oh, maybe he'll make one. Holy cow, I
Speaker 1: hadn't even thought about that.
Speaker 6: So you make Calvin Sampson happy by giving him a chance,
Speaker 6: but you put his worst re throw shooter that was
Speaker 6: in the game at that particular time on the line
Speaker 6: and he happens to be happens to go make both
Speaker 6: of them. And hey, it didn't work out the way
Speaker 6: you wanted to, but the ref gave you a chance, Duke,
Speaker 6: because he saved you in the offensive rebound. Maybe I'll
Speaker 6: put back and maybe could have got an end one
Speaker 6: in that situation. Wow, But he stopped to play put
Speaker 6: the worst free throw shoot on the team, and he
Speaker 6: just happened to make both of them.
Speaker 1: Sure did. Sean Woods is our guest. We'll talk more
Speaker 1: basketball with a coach on the other side here on
Speaker 1: six thirty WLAP Welcome back. We're talking with Sean Woods,
Speaker 1: the unforgettable guard. He joined us every Wednesday. Who and
Speaker 1: Sean also has coached in the NC Tournament. Was that
Speaker 1: your greatest thrill so far?
Speaker 6: Yeah? As a coach? Yes, yes, God just planning this well.
Speaker 6: He got to remember now when I played, when we
Speaker 6: played in the ncaatament, we played in the in the
Speaker 6: playing game, Barack Obama came to our game.
Speaker 1: That's right. I remember watching that game. That was cool.
Speaker 1: Did you to meet him?
Speaker 6: And we lost the game? We lost the game, just
Speaker 6: like Duke get Did you know what I'm saying we
Speaker 6: were up on Western the whole game, up fifteen with
Speaker 6: like three minutes ago, and I only had seven players
Speaker 6: and three of them three of them five out, especially
Speaker 6: my point guard. And you know Western walked us down
Speaker 6: and beat us in overtime.
Speaker 1: I remember that. Yeah, did you get to meet Obamas?
Speaker 6: And we're supposed to play Kentucky next because Kentucky and us,
Speaker 6: they had the longest winning streak in the country. We
Speaker 6: had the second longest winning streak in the country, and
Speaker 6: that's the year they won the national championship.
Speaker 1: Man, it's all coming back to me now. But did
Speaker 1: you get to meet the president?
Speaker 6: I did, and I'll tell you what. It took us
Speaker 6: an hour by the time we got off the bus
Speaker 6: to get to the gym because of all the security.
Speaker 6: That was the only that was the only thing I
Speaker 6: didn't like about it was, you know, it took us
Speaker 6: forever because of the security deal and that's the security
Speaker 6: things like that. But got to shake his hands, say hello.
Speaker 6: You know, we were the only all you know, HBCU
Speaker 6: school in the in the tournament. And you know he
Speaker 6: was a you know, African American president of candidate time.
Speaker 6: He wasn't the president that's right, So it all kind
Speaker 6: of made sense and I was happy to meet him
Speaker 6: and very cool. Unfortunately, we you know, he left before
Speaker 6: the game was over with. It's probably why we lost.
Speaker 1: Well there we were talking before the break about benching
Speaker 1: Walter Clayton Junior, the move that paid off for Florida.
Speaker 1: But you talked about it, and we talked about your
Speaker 1: former coach, Rick Patino. We didn't have a chance to
Speaker 1: talk about this last time, you know, I chatted, but
Speaker 1: he had to bench R. J. Lewis. It is always
Speaker 1: going to be controversy and Lewis is now talking about
Speaker 1: it the best player on his team, but he was
Speaker 1: three for seventeen and he was I don't know if
Speaker 1: you saw any of the game. I watched the week
Speaker 1: and he was clearly pressing or rat or whatever you
Speaker 1: want to call it. As a coach, what did you
Speaker 1: make of that move by your former coach who benched
Speaker 1: It wouldn't have been the same as benching at Jamal Mashburn,
Speaker 1: but still, and this this kid's had his problems up
Speaker 1: and downs Lewis, but he's a big East Player of
Speaker 1: the year and he benched him at crunch time.
Speaker 6: What did you make of that two things one coach
Speaker 6: knows best, two they got. I thought that RJ must
Speaker 6: he must have said something, you know, to make coach
Speaker 6: because you know, but if you watch that game, he
Speaker 6: was all out of whack. I mean, coach was right,
Speaker 6: and he wasn't great on defense, you know, giving up
Speaker 6: offensive rebounds. He was just out of it. It was
Speaker 6: like he took some drug or something. And it was like, man,
Speaker 6: this dude is not in the same person. And so
Speaker 6: Coach just like, yo, you're embarrassing yourself, You're embarrassing us.
Speaker 6: I know, I got to keep you, you know, I
Speaker 6: want to keep you in the game, but we have
Speaker 6: no chance on winning because you're going to dominate the
Speaker 6: ball and the where you're going. What happened in that
Speaker 6: game was the other kid didn't play great. Didn't play
Speaker 6: great either. The other guard, yeah, the big guard. So
Speaker 6: but the thing about it is that every game, especially
Speaker 6: coming the last six or seven games that could that
Speaker 6: that Saint John's played, Lewis didn't really get going until
Speaker 6: the last two minutes of the game, and this time
Speaker 6: coach didn't give him a chance, just didn't think that
Speaker 6: he had it at all. I was shocked that he
Speaker 6: didn't give him a chance the last two minutes, like
Speaker 6: he you know, he's won some games coming down the
Speaker 6: stretch and you're thinking they were just out of the water.
Speaker 6: He came and hit some threes, hit some shots, but
Speaker 6: for some of our reason, coach saw something in them.
Speaker 6: And then I looked in his eyes watching him on
Speaker 6: the bench. He didn't have it. He wasn't there. If
Speaker 6: you're a big time player and you feel like you
Speaker 6: can help the team, you be nipping at the bench,
Speaker 6: nipping at the bitch. You know what I'm saying. Coach
Speaker 6: put me back in Okay. Talking to the assistant Carlin
Speaker 6: Stevie mad he sat there in a daze like he
Speaker 6: knew he didn't have nothing. He had nothing less, like
Speaker 6: he wasn't even there.
Speaker 1: Yea, that was Coach.
Speaker 6: Patino is a Hall of famer. He's dealt with I mean,
Speaker 6: he's dealt with the best. And if Jamal Massburn was
Speaker 6: playing that bad and it was out of it like
Speaker 6: that and hurting the team, he would have sat Jamal
Speaker 6: mashmur He was set anyone, So that that doesn't matter.
Speaker 6: That's just who coach is, no matter what. Yeah, and
Speaker 6: everybody saying with this guy, you know, you're supposed to
Speaker 6: ride with him to the end, so on and so forth. Well,
Speaker 6: coach has made some crazy decisions that has won him
Speaker 6: some games when you think that it shouldn't have and
Speaker 6: even this year. But for him to do that right there,
Speaker 6: he knew that that kid had nothing left in the tank.
Speaker 6: He knew and granted the kid probably didn't have anything
Speaker 6: in the tank because he's worn out. He's put these
Speaker 6: team on the back of the last three minutes of
Speaker 6: the game every game. I mean, that's what got him there,
Speaker 6: and just didn't have it that night, and coach felt it.
Speaker 6: And you know, we could say, well, that's the reason
Speaker 6: why he's transferring. No, the reason why he's transferring is
Speaker 6: because he can get more money too. He's stressed in
Speaker 6: the waters in the NBA. Saint John can't. I don't
Speaker 6: think st I don't think he was making a whole bunch.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but Micropoli there, benefactor, that guy's a billionaire. But
Speaker 1: I guarantee you, you know, he and Patino talked like,
Speaker 1: here's our number. That's how far we're going. I guarantee, yeah,
Speaker 1: you know.
Speaker 6: Afford it when you can go get some more money
Speaker 6: and don't have to really deal with Coach Patino's raft.
Speaker 6: Because Coach Patino coached these guys. I mean, and I say,
Speaker 6: he gave him his pinky toe, his his his his
Speaker 6: big foot toe he puts. He got every ounce of
Speaker 6: perspiration out of these guys.
Speaker 1: He did.
Speaker 6: And I just think that they had nothing else left.
Speaker 6: That's what I believe. When you can't shoot the basketball
Speaker 6: and everything is predicated on you making spectacular plays on
Speaker 6: the defensive end, just over exaggerating and overachieving, sooner or
Speaker 6: later you go run out of gas. And I just
Speaker 6: think Saint John just ran out of gas.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree with you. I got about two two
Speaker 1: and a half minutes left. But the number one seeds
Speaker 1: all make the final four. Some people believe that's the
Speaker 1: end for Cinderella's because of the nil But two years
Speaker 1: ago Cinderella's were everywhere and they had nil money. Uh,
Speaker 1: I you know, I don't see it that way to.
Speaker 6: You tell you what, if you ain't got no money,
Speaker 6: you're not You're not.
Speaker 1: The No, You're not going to be able to compete.
Speaker 1: But I think I.
Speaker 6: Think you know Cinderella's and it's going to be I'll
Speaker 6: tell you this. I'll say this Dick, it's going to
Speaker 6: be much harder because Cinderella's were what these teams have become.
Speaker 6: Cinderella's were the mid majors that had older players.
Speaker 2: Right now, all.
Speaker 6: These all these teams that were Cinderella's, these mid majors,
Speaker 6: these players aren't staying till their seniors. You're not, because
Speaker 6: they're they're going to the hot majors. They're going to
Speaker 6: the highest bidder. So that's the reason why it's it's
Speaker 6: it's going to be hard for the Cinderellas and the
Speaker 6: mid majors anymore.
Speaker 1: That's true.
Speaker 6: Uh.
Speaker 1: And you know, now, maybe somebody will show himself as
Speaker 1: a younger players to make an impact on a game,
Speaker 1: but he'll be gone a year later, won't he.
Speaker 6: There's no way the way this thing is going right
Speaker 6: now that kids are going to good players are gonna
Speaker 6: stay at their mid major places. It's too much money.
Speaker 1: You do have to wonder, though, whenever they make that
Speaker 1: ruling on the lawsuit out in Oakland, where schools will
Speaker 1: start divving up money, if that might slow some of
Speaker 1: the movement. I don't know that it will. I think
Speaker 1: it'll just mean that kids are asking for even more,
Speaker 1: you know, what I mean.
Speaker 6: If you think the thing about it is this that
Speaker 6: there's no loyalty in basketball anymore, it's just you can
Speaker 6: throw that out the window. We you know, it's not
Speaker 6: about the education anymore. It's not about the retention anymore.
Speaker 6: It's not about any of that. It's about money. And
Speaker 6: you know that everybody's not gonna be a pro, but
Speaker 6: you can create generational wealth and not being there be
Speaker 6: a player now in college basketball, and that's what it's about. Now,
Speaker 6: you know what I'm saying. It's not about the relationship
Speaker 6: because even as a coach, if I can't give this kid,
Speaker 6: I only can give this kid ten, twenty thousand whatever,
Speaker 6: and he has a great year for me, helps me
Speaker 6: win my conference and helps me get to the NCAA tournament,
Speaker 6: or even if he's just all conference, I know I'm
Speaker 6: losing him. That's just the way. I mean. No, and
Speaker 6: you can't stop a kid or his parents or his
Speaker 6: family from taking more money. You got to understand it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I get it.
Speaker 6: You just have to. You know what I'm saying. And
Speaker 6: that's what it is. That's that's what this is all about.
Speaker 6: Now that all those teams that won, Okay, Florida's guard
Speaker 6: is a two million dollar man. They paid two million
Speaker 6: dollars for him. Saint John's was not going to give
Speaker 6: him two million dollars leaving Iola, so he went to
Speaker 6: the highest bidder and it worked out. Okay, that's what
Speaker 6: this is all about. Now, you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 6: Mark Pope, Right now, I don't care how good of
Speaker 6: a coach is. I just heard the other day it's
Speaker 6: fifteen million. Now that's their deal. They got fifteen million
Speaker 6: dollars to DV eight in the transport part. We are Kentucky.
Speaker 6: I know, with the pride that I have and these
Speaker 6: people have in the state of Kentucky, they're not gonna
Speaker 6: let nobody outbid us because we will still want to
Speaker 6: be the cream of the crop. And it's going to
Speaker 6: take that to stay at the cream of the crop,
Speaker 6: you know. And every coach can go back to their
Speaker 6: ad and say, hey, you want me to be at
Speaker 6: this level. You just saw all these number one teams,
Speaker 6: right they had the highest budgets. Auburn, all grown men money, Houston.
Speaker 6: The only team that's not like that is Houston. Now
Speaker 6: they getting paid a lot, a lot, But Calvin Simpson
Speaker 6: keeps his guys. They got a couple of transfers. Most
Speaker 6: of those guys, especially the guy who hit the free throws.
Speaker 6: He's been there since he's a freshman.
Speaker 1: Sean. We're out of time, but we can all like
Speaker 1: this forever. We can talk about it. We can talk
Speaker 1: more next week about it. There's gonna be news between
Speaker 1: now and then. Thank you, thank you so much.
Speaker 6: No problem, Jack, looking forward to it.
Speaker 1: Man Western Buera chief Gary Moore is up next on
Speaker 1: six thirty WLAP. Welcome back to the Big Blue Insider,
Speaker 1: and we say welcome back to our West n Bureau chief,
Speaker 1: Gary Moore, who was out on the Left coast where
Speaker 1: he was our West Coast Bureau chief for many many years.
Speaker 1: Now back in LA's a Louisville area, and he's got
Speaker 1: all kinds of wonderful things to share with us.
Speaker 8: Well, two guys in six pack.
Speaker 9: By the way, this first time you and I have
Speaker 9: talked since not only the final four, but since you
Speaker 9: are a Hall of Famer.
Speaker 8: Well yeah, Kentucky Journalism Hall of Famer.
Speaker 1: Congrats, bro, thank you, thank you. Couldn't have done it
Speaker 1: without you.
Speaker 8: I know it took him so long, but I'm glad you're.
Speaker 1: In thank you. Very nice ceremony last night. Oh that
Speaker 1: was great.
Speaker 8: I saw the pictures on your Facebook.
Speaker 1: Peo were there family, There was great.
Speaker 8: Very well deserved.
Speaker 1: Thank you and you go back to my early roots man,
Speaker 1: you were. My first job was at a different radio
Speaker 1: station where you worked. So yeah, yeah, you go back.
Speaker 9: You had that badass beard too, Hi, I was afraid
Speaker 9: to shake your hand.
Speaker 8: I'm new here. Get out of here, kid, Hey, quick,
Speaker 8: before I get into the swigs.
Speaker 9: We have, you know, six swigs and some fun hot
Speaker 9: reads I think later on. But a quick shout out
Speaker 9: to a big blue nation. I just want to say
Speaker 9: that the joy for UK fans that saw a heralded
Speaker 9: duke player miss a last second shot last weekend, that
Speaker 9: joy shall be everlasting from now on as long as
Speaker 9: they keep showing the laate Ander lucky shot at the end.
Speaker 9: We got to endure that every March show, the show
Speaker 9: the flags. Yeah, god, it was beautiful. I just I'm
Speaker 9: still just basking in that. Okay, our first twigger, you know.
Speaker 9: And going back to we haven't talked really since our brackets.
Speaker 9: Mine was beyond the help of FEMA. After the first day.
Speaker 9: I think we may have talked about that but I
Speaker 9: did pick the final four number ones to meet, and
Speaker 9: I didn't have Florida winning it all in the first
Speaker 9: bracket that I filled out.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I was pulling for Houston at the end. I
Speaker 8: was hoping they would win him.
Speaker 9: Two final thoughts for you in March Madness, see which
Speaker 9: you think. Of course, you were also right about louisvill
Speaker 9: getting screwed in the seating.
Speaker 8: That was an another thing, but number one, the number
Speaker 8: one thing.
Speaker 9: It is time for me, I think to ditch the
Speaker 9: three announcer.
Speaker 8: Tag teams in coverage.
Speaker 9: Always seems like there's one pie hole too many of these,
Speaker 9: and it's obvious why networks continue to do it.
Speaker 8: I think it's well, the.
Speaker 9: More pronouncers, the more special the game wrong, and especially
Speaker 9: I know what they're trying to do. They're trying in
Speaker 9: vain to recapture the magic of Dick Enberg, al maguire
Speaker 9: and Billy Packer, which will never happen again. You want
Speaker 9: to make any game special, have Kevin Harlan call it.
Speaker 8: Okay, he's the best in the business.
Speaker 9: He elevates every game, unlike Eagle and Raftery and Hill,
Speaker 9: nice guys. Nothing special about those three. Number two the
Speaker 9: commercials saturating the March. Madness games get worse every year.
Speaker 9: This year they were so miserable and so devoid of
Speaker 9: new ideas. One insurance company, you may recall, brought back
Speaker 9: again and again and again after game after game that
Speaker 9: awful pig.
Speaker 8: We wie wing all the way home from years ago.
Speaker 8: It was awful then, even worse now.
Speaker 9: People at ad agencies, if you're listening, watch some episodes
Speaker 9: of mad Men and get some better ideas.
Speaker 8: Okay, I'll sit down now.
Speaker 1: Well, I was reaching for the mute with the pig
Speaker 1: the first couple of times I saw no. Okay, you know,
Speaker 1: especially the kicker at the end. You know, thanks miss see.
Speaker 1: But yeah, like you said, after the eighth or twelfth time, please,
Speaker 1: and you get so turned off by it you can't
Speaker 1: even remember what they're selling, which is the antithesis of
Speaker 1: what you're trying to right there. I'm a big Kevin
Speaker 1: Harlan fan. I'm like you. And by the way, he
Speaker 1: calls Green Bay Packers preseason games.
Speaker 8: Which is worth watching right there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I will push back a little. I'm an
Speaker 1: Iron Eagle fan, but I'm with you. The three person booth,
Speaker 1: you know, it just seems like they're trying so hard
Speaker 1: to make room for one another, and you absolutely nailed it.
Speaker 1: You know what made the Edinburgh McGuire Packer group so
Speaker 1: special was and this isn't a knock on any of
Speaker 1: the playmate play guys, but Mberg was the master of
Speaker 1: just getting out of the way and letting and the
Speaker 1: other two guys, their chemistry was genuine from the first day.
Speaker 1: And I happened to work that broadcast as a student statistician,
Speaker 1: or I might have been out of school by then.
Speaker 1: When Packer and McGuire worked together and they had McGuire
Speaker 1: in the back in a small room of the green screen,
Speaker 1: Billy Packard, to his credit, said, for the next game,
Speaker 1: we gotta have all out here with us. We have
Speaker 1: to have al out here with us. And that's how
Speaker 1: that started. To Billy Packer's credit, it's.
Speaker 9: A great lineup. I don't know if you'll ever have
Speaker 9: anything like that again.
Speaker 1: You can't create that.
Speaker 9: Second swig headlined in yesterday's Courier Journal from sportswriter cl Brown,
Speaker 9: I don't know if you saw this or not. It
Speaker 9: said quote Louisville and Kentucky basketball will be back in
Speaker 9: the NCAA final four very soon unquote okay, define very soon,
Speaker 9: Brown says, within the next two seasons. Book it now,
Speaker 9: book it now, he said, okay, Dooley nod, I have
Speaker 9: you already talked about it. I know UK's transfers, those
Speaker 9: coming back, whoever's coming back. As for Louisville, they're ranked
Speaker 9: number one at last look in the portal by twenty
Speaker 9: four to seven. Sports got one five star commit two
Speaker 9: four stars so far. Same with UK, even though there's
Speaker 9: somehow ranked number three behind Michigan in U OFL. With
Speaker 9: the same star rankings, Vegas odds makers have Louisville in
Speaker 9: the fourth betting place to win it all next year
Speaker 9: seventeen to one. Houston's leading the pack so far at
Speaker 9: nine to one, Duke ten to one, yukon fourteen to one.
Speaker 9: Cats are in the seventh spottle, though I would up
Speaker 9: that they're at twenty to one right now.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 9: Can argue that all you want. I know, the Vegas
Speaker 9: odds makers picked I think two out of the four
Speaker 9: this year to get to the final four. But my
Speaker 9: favorite unfact about all of this this year's final four
Speaker 9: fifty of the four teams Auburn and Florida lost in
Speaker 9: the first round last year. Yes, and just like that
Speaker 9: that became one seeds and one win a championship within
Speaker 9: a year.
Speaker 1: How about that Auburn losing to Yale.
Speaker 8: Yeah yeah, Colorado beating Florida, Well.
Speaker 1: You know, every season the new season, which is obviously
Speaker 1: which is why I find the Vegas eye even more fascinating,
Speaker 1: because how in the world do you handicap with all
Speaker 1: these players coming and going. The portal door is a
Speaker 1: spinning door. It's not just in action. I mean, it's unbelievable.
Speaker 1: So I'm sure there's some great eyes out there. I
Speaker 1: wouldn't even know where and how to begin to handicap.
Speaker 9: Third Swig and the six back onto baseball and specifically
Speaker 9: Cats and Cards baseball.
Speaker 8: Last night seeing this.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, Jim talked about a little earlier.
Speaker 9: Jim Patterson Stadium wins Chill in the third one hundred
Speaker 9: and twenty fifth meeting of the Battle for the Bluegrass
Speaker 9: Year between the Cats and the Cards took ten innings,
Speaker 9: Number eleven, Cards walked it off four to three amid
Speaker 9: some fabulous middle finger salutes from both sides. There was
Speaker 9: no player had shake, obviously, except I think the coaches
Speaker 9: had a handshake line.
Speaker 6: Yea.
Speaker 8: But all in all a pretty good game.
Speaker 9: Pitcher's duel, some dumb base running by Louisville, intense animosity
Speaker 9: between rivals.
Speaker 8: It's what you want. I loved it.
Speaker 9: Get your popcorn ready for the Lexington rematch in two
Speaker 9: weeks April twenty second. Cat's course getting number two Texas
Speaker 9: this weekend, and after Louisville missed the field of sixty
Speaker 9: four for the third time in four seasons last year,
Speaker 9: you and I speculated that Dan McDonald would get things
Speaker 9: corrected or else, and he has so far. Last year,
Speaker 9: the Cards pitching era six point fifty, the worst in
Speaker 9: McDonald's eighteen years, and now it's better four point nine
Speaker 9: to six the last check and the hitting Louisville number
Speaker 9: nine in the nation with a three twenty five average.
Speaker 9: At the beginning of the week, you were out there
Speaker 9: calling the games, what's wrong with the Cats so far?
Speaker 1: Well, last night it was what was good for the
Speaker 1: Cats last weekend? Relief pitching the Kentucky bullpen against Ole
Speaker 1: Miss was really really good. Was the best it's been
Speaker 1: all year, and it was good for a while last night.
Speaker 1: But Robert Hogan for summery, he's just off. He was
Speaker 1: the man down the stretch last year, one of them
Speaker 1: they had two or three and he just isn't right.
Speaker 1: I don't know what it is. But until he gets
Speaker 1: himself straightened out, they're gonna have that hole in their bullpen.
Speaker 1: But you're right, it was a fun game. As I
Speaker 1: mentioned earlier, Raphael PELTI, MAT's some huge throws. Oh man,
Speaker 1: the catchers are yeah. Uh, And I not surprised you.
Speaker 1: But here's the thing that surprises me the most. Maybe
Speaker 1: it shouldn't, Gary, because we've seen this rivalry in all
Speaker 1: sports for so long. You know, UK's got like twenty
Speaker 1: nine to thirty new players, and most of them are
Speaker 1: from out of state, and yet this rivalry is already
Speaker 1: ingrained in these guys. Yeah, that's how to hear about
Speaker 1: it from their teammates, from their classmates, from fans. So
Speaker 1: it makes it fun. And I'm sure it's the same
Speaker 1: at the other end of the interstate.
Speaker 9: Oh, we mentioned that Louisville is number nine in team batting.
Speaker 9: Our fourth swig here guess who's ahead of Louisville at
Speaker 9: number eight in batting average? To go down I sixty
Speaker 9: five by Alma Mater wku is a three to twenty
Speaker 9: six clip.
Speaker 8: How about that, Hilltoppers and it just gets better.
Speaker 9: Hilltoppers are number twenty five and the latest Baseball America
Speaker 9: rankings after taking two out of three down at Well
Speaker 9: then number seventeen Dallas Baptists last weekend, and before that
Speaker 9: they took number sixteen Vandy to extras before they lost
Speaker 9: five to four last week Toppers are twenty two and
Speaker 9: oh at home, best start in school history twenty eight
Speaker 9: and five overall. They play three at Fallwell Finishing School
Speaker 9: aka Liberty this weekend and it's a number twenty five
Speaker 9: ranking and the eighth best hitting team in America. The
Speaker 9: WKU pitching staff has the number one e er in
Speaker 9: D one Nikes two point five to nine with six shutouts.
Speaker 9: Pitchered Jack Bennett fourth in the country one point five
Speaker 9: o e r A outfielder Ryan Widman seventh, best batting
Speaker 9: average in the country four fifty one. And yeah, let's
Speaker 9: be honest here, full disclosure being being an alumn here.
Speaker 9: The Toppers have loaded up on the Ekus and the
Speaker 9: UT Martins and the Central Michigan's and so forth.
Speaker 8: They're two and two.
Speaker 9: Against ranked opponents next Tuesday night here in Louisville against
Speaker 9: number eleven Louisville, and then on the twenty ninth they
Speaker 9: get UK down at WKU.
Speaker 8: Who saw this brewing at BG?
Speaker 1: Did you no? Not at all?
Speaker 6: You know.
Speaker 1: Meanwhile, their arch rival EKU is really struggling this year.
Speaker 1: But it's fun to see Western Kentucky excel and playing
Speaker 1: the higher ranked teams. You gotta have when it comes time,
Speaker 1: as you will. That's just like basketball strength Schedule RPI
Speaker 1: and all that. Good luck to them.
Speaker 9: Fifth swig speaking to baseball. As we mentioned last week,
Speaker 9: I was out at my former home away from home,
Speaker 9: Dodger Stadium. It was a great opening week for the
Speaker 9: world champs. Some of you've ever gone to an opening
Speaker 9: week of a world champion, but the buzz and the
Speaker 9: excitements off the charts, and it was nothing like the
Speaker 9: opening week back in eighty nine after their eighty eight championship.
Speaker 9: I covered that one as well. Dodgers, as you know,
Speaker 9: went eight and oh to open the season. They included
Speaker 9: three a sweep of the Braves that I saw last week,
Speaker 9: and in the final game that they won, a torpedo
Speaker 9: bat Dick had a role in the Dodgers six to
Speaker 9: five comeback win.
Speaker 8: Check this out. Dodgers Slugging third basement.
Speaker 9: Max Munsey tried out a torpedo bat, did it in
Speaker 9: batting practice, and then he went zero to three in
Speaker 9: the game. Then he switched back to his regular stick boom,
Speaker 9: two run, double tie the game. Max would later say
Speaker 9: in the Foul Territory podcast, quote, my whole I've swung
Speaker 9: the same model and the weight is all the way
Speaker 9: at the very end of the bat. You changed that
Speaker 9: to be more in the center. It just felt way
Speaker 9: off to me.
Speaker 8: Unquote.
Speaker 9: I don't know is it the wizard or the Wand
Speaker 9: still our friends over here at Louisville Slugger Factory cannot
Speaker 9: make these torpedo bats fast enough.
Speaker 8: It's great for the economy.
Speaker 9: And I'm just wondering if you've heard of these are
Speaker 9: going to be in college ball at any time sooner.
Speaker 8: Maybe they already are.
Speaker 1: Well obviously college they use metal bats, but they will
Speaker 1: figure out how to make that technological adjustment. I'm sure
Speaker 1: they've got to have specialists working on that. Right now,
Speaker 1: you would have to think anything that gives you an edge,
Speaker 1: it's going to happen.
Speaker 8: Sixth and final swig.
Speaker 9: By the way, if or when you make it out
Speaker 9: to a major League ballpark and you want to try
Speaker 9: something some kind of new quote unquote food during the
Speaker 9: game because you're bored with the same old heartburn from
Speaker 9: say I don't know, a dodgery dog, and a soft pretzel.
Speaker 8: Try these three if you dare. If you're going to.
Speaker 9: A Texas Rangers game, they now have a broomstick burrito
Speaker 9: made from a twenty six inch tortilla, rice, beans, cheese, meat,
Speaker 9: et cetera, twenty five hundred calories that cost you thirty
Speaker 9: five ninety nine. It takes two people to carry it
Speaker 9: back to your feed trough of a seat. Or if
Speaker 9: you go up to Toronto to see the new half
Speaker 9: billion dollar player Guerrero Junior, Blue Jay, fans can attempt
Speaker 9: to stomach cotton candy, French fries, regular fries topped with
Speaker 9: cotton candy, and some sort of blue sauce.
Speaker 8: Oh Canada.
Speaker 9: That's one, two, three strikes your oot up in Toronto,
Speaker 9: and maybe the weirdest at least by American belly bursting
Speaker 9: standards out at where else Dodger Stadium, the tokoyaki dashi,
Speaker 9: battered octopus fritters, mayo sauce, fish powder, scallions. Arigatto, but
Speaker 9: no arigato. My apologies to anybody who hasn't had dinner yet.
Speaker 1: I bet those fly off the shelves at Dodger Stadium,
Speaker 1: I really do. I bet they fly off the shelves.
Speaker 1: You know, I was in Toronto two seasons ago, but
Speaker 1: I don't think I would have ordered that at that park.
Speaker 1: By the way it is. I'll never forget when I
Speaker 1: was out there visiting you and we went to an
Speaker 1: Angels game and they just opened that ballpark out there
Speaker 1: many moons ago, and I'm looking at sushi stands and
Speaker 1: baked potatoes, and you know, I'm like, what is all this?
Speaker 1: And they left that in the dust.
Speaker 9: Taters are good, I know. It's like, so that's so
Speaker 9: nineteen fifties. Yeah, yeah, maybe that's a sushi. But yeah,
Speaker 9: I'm not sure that ballpark sushi is something I would
Speaker 9: go for though.
Speaker 6: No.
Speaker 1: He is Gary Mories, our Western Burreo chief, will come
Speaker 1: back with a couple of hot reds in just a minute.
Speaker 1: On the Big Blueing Sider six thirty w Welcome back
Speaker 1: to the Big Blueing Sider. We are chatting with our
Speaker 1: wester n Bureao chief, Gary Moores, we do each and
Speaker 1: every Wednesday when he's in town and he's back from LA.
Speaker 1: So a couple of hot raids coming your way. You
Speaker 1: and I also went to a hockey game I think
Speaker 1: once upon a time out in LA and I know
Speaker 1: you keep an eye on it. But man if I
Speaker 1: had a team in the NHL, it would probably because
Speaker 1: Dallas didn't have a team when I was living down there,
Speaker 1: it would be vancous because I have so many cousins
Speaker 1: up there Vancouver. Last night, in the last what couple
Speaker 1: of minutes they had pulled their goalie, they score three
Speaker 1: goals and stunned Dallas. This was on the road and
Speaker 1: beat the Dallas Star six to five in overtime. Three
Speaker 1: goals in the last minute or so. Where does that
Speaker 1: fit in the pantheon of greatest comebacks of all time?
Speaker 9: Well, it's got to be probably up there, definitely, regular
Speaker 9: season kind of comebacks. I haven't I can't recall ever
Speaker 9: seen something like that. I mean, that's what you go
Speaker 9: for when you're pulling the goalie and you've got you know,
Speaker 9: that's like the best case scenario obviously, but for a
Speaker 9: pro hockey that's like something maybe out of I don't know,
Speaker 9: junior hockey league or something. You wouldn't expect to see
Speaker 9: that in the pros at all. I saw on the
Speaker 9: replays of that man and then just like, what are
Speaker 9: you guys doing out there? And it's almost like it
Speaker 9: was it was sort of similar like what happened with
Speaker 9: Houston at the end of the Duke game. There was
Speaker 9: such a flurry to score and the other team's kind
Speaker 9: of like, well, we can't stop them right right, just
Speaker 9: the way it was, and it happens.
Speaker 8: It goes across all sports.
Speaker 1: Well, speaking of Houston, that's our second hot read. Houston
Speaker 1: just comes roaring back to beat Duke. But Florida came
Speaker 1: roaring back to beat Houston, which could not get off
Speaker 1: a shot in the last nineteen plus seconds. What was
Speaker 1: your reaction as you watch that.
Speaker 9: I don't know that they it was like they were
Speaker 9: going to try and force one particular play no matter
Speaker 9: what happened. It didn't seem to be very well organized.
Speaker 9: I mean, and plus you know Florida's defense, Oh, you know,
Speaker 9: they got You got to give them a lot of
Speaker 9: the credit. There's so much length and they is so
Speaker 9: on it. The way that Houston normally is and played
Speaker 9: defense pretty much up to that point as well, especially
Speaker 9: on Clayton.
Speaker 1: And what amazed me was Houston's inbound plays, especially against Duke,
Speaker 1: was so well conceived and executed, and yet they couldn't
Speaker 1: get off a shot when they needed it the most.
Speaker 9: Yeah, it's you sometimes wonder about there's got to be
Speaker 9: something in your back pocket as a great coach to
Speaker 9: have is like, Okay, we got to save this. This
Speaker 9: is our last you know, And I'm sure they practiced.
Speaker 9: You know that we had ten seconds to get it in,
Speaker 9: last second shot kind of stuff. You do practice that
Speaker 9: sort of stuff.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, but the guy Florida blew it up Florida.
Speaker 9: Yeah, yeah, they did, and there was no other choice.
Speaker 9: And I think sometimes Houston. I love watching Houston play,
Speaker 9: and I hope they get back to the Final four again.
Speaker 8: It's it's almost like kind of.
Speaker 9: A a glorified, really more kicked up version of street
Speaker 9: ball in a way, whether when they play sometimes you
Speaker 9: know what I mean, You know, you got to the
Speaker 9: you go out to the to the asphalt courts or whatever,
Speaker 9: and you see these guys just balling at it, and
Speaker 9: these guys Houston was just they would the way they
Speaker 9: would save some of the out of bounds, the balls
Speaker 9: going out of bounds and stuff and any Yeah, that
Speaker 9: Lucy and the.
Speaker 8: Reb just fantastic. I was.
Speaker 9: I was really kind of sad to see them lose,
Speaker 9: but Florida was just amazing.
Speaker 1: Yep. Well it's gonna happen again in a little less
Speaker 1: than a year and can't wait. We'll be all over it.
Speaker 1: He is Gary Mario is our West End bureau chief.
Speaker 1: You can follow him on Twitter or ex at.
Speaker 8: At nine five to five Gary, same joint you're at.
Speaker 1: At Big Blue Insider one. Thank you sir, good to
Speaker 1: have you back in this end of the country.
Speaker 8: Good to be back.
Speaker 1: Congrats again, hr weberd And that'll do it for now,
Speaker 1: thanks to my guests David Sis, Gary Moore and Sean Woods.
Speaker 1: That's a good night from the garage in Lexington.
Speaker 8: Mister Speakcole It that'sn't in the game. You're ripping the car, Yeah.
Speaker 2: Bud, what's your problem?
Speaker 7: Such stata showing anything? Then sat Sun change tack and
Speaker 7: back from taps in them.
Speaker 6: Don't the