Speaker 1: Let's all start to it.
Speaker 2: You want to present some off the bench with Jacob
Hester and T Bob Abert.
Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, off.
Speaker 2: The bench with Jacob Hester and T Bob aberf the pitch.
Now here's Jacob Hester and T Bob A beer.
Speaker 4: I was headed, y'all. Welcome back, Oh T be out
number two. T Bob Jake loveda Taylor. Guys. You ever
Christmas decies up yet?
Speaker 5: Uh? Yeah?
Speaker 4: Yeah? Completely done? Inside? You done?
Speaker 6: Halfway done with the outside lights last night. I'm finishing
it this evening.
Speaker 3: Okay, where are you at in this process? I know
you've got uh.
Speaker 4: We've We've been slowly but surely doing more and more.
But tonight we finally got you know, we got got
a tree, got a hose down, could go straightened up tonight.
Uh we I can't wait. You know we're gonna have
a We're gonna have a great night of Christmas music,
lights inside on the tree, hanging ornaments and maybe a
little eggnog maybe. Uh No, I don't know. Man, My
like favorite memories growing up, and I tried to tap
into this for my kids to give him this because
my favorite memories growing up were decorated the tree with
the entire family, Like, was that a big thing in
y'all's house. There's always a massive figure.
Speaker 1: We would go chop down a tree.
Speaker 7: We would go to a farm, like all the cousins,
my grandparents would take us and we would go to
a Christmas tree farm out in Elgin, Texas.
Speaker 4: Were you here when Matt was here talking about doing that?
They up with spiders all in the house.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh. No, but now you just unlocked a
new fear.
Speaker 4: He did it in Oregon or in Washington? Right, Jake,
where was it Washington? Were you here? Yeah? Yeah, and
he said he so he chops it down. He didn't
hose it down or anything that he chops it down.
He put in the house. And the next morning they
woke up and they had spiders everywhere.
Speaker 3: Oh my god. That's not a good Christmas surprise there
chopping down the tree.
Speaker 7: I would that was like my favorite thing ever, Like
we would all get together.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, you can do it.
Speaker 4: I don't really want to do it. I love then,
I said, I no, I love, I love you know.
No free shoutouts, but here's a little one. I love.
Louisiana Nursery ever served to start to get my tree
from there, and they gave me hot tips.
Speaker 3: They've got a lot of my doll hairs over the
years for different things.
Speaker 4: Well, oh yeah, if you're a big I mean, if
you're yeah, I'm not generally a big gardener. Nursing, No, yeah, absolutely. Uh.
Me and my wife have black thumbs. No, I mean,
like whatever the opposite of a green thumb is. I
don't know, but.
Speaker 3: It's a lie. Uh no, no, it never is got
weeds all in. It never is.
Speaker 1: An indoor plant.
Speaker 4: Uh yeah, I know you do, don't you wife? But yeah,
I can't wait, man, I'm I'm gonna be fully giving myself.
I cannot wait to decorate that tree tonight with the kids.
Get the lights. When y'all put lights on your Christmas tree,
how do you do it? What's your technique? Start at
the bottom, wrap it around and you're until you rap
around the outside.
Speaker 1: What do you do?
Speaker 5: He only asked this because he's got.
Speaker 4: Yeah, exactly, My wife told me this is not my technique.
But you want to go you want to give depth,
So you want to go in and out as you're
circling around, right, So you go deep into the tree.
And then you come back out, and then you're circling
as you're doing it, and it creates a much more
three dimensional look than just kind of a like a
bare shell. I will, yeah, well, I think it comes
out great. Every year.
Speaker 3: He's already got our tree, but we have I want
to see the lights, you know, minimum amount of ornaments
because Harlow, Harlow, trust me eighteen. It makes me so like,
the lower part of the tree probably not gonna be
as decorated as the middle portion.
Speaker 5: In the top portion.
Speaker 4: It makes me so mad. I have an entire platform
that I built for the tree to stand on that
is painted white with a felt white top with holes
drilled in it to hide all the wiring. But I
have a whole trained snow village everything set up underneath
the tree, and I just I can't probably do it
for like two or three more years because Bobby would
just he would just take it and break every single thing.
He'd get his fat little hands on. Chubby. Uh, I
don't know, he's not.
Speaker 3: He's on my crap list because he's just obsessed with
his mom right now and he like doesn't give a
damn about me.
Speaker 4: So you know what, I don't care about you, kid.
We're not in a good spot right and I'm not
happy with him.
Speaker 5: I could tell, but dude, and he.
Speaker 4: Stopped me from the snow village's my favorite part of
every Christmas.
Speaker 5: We have one of those.
Speaker 3: Yeahse we got graceland.
Speaker 5: We've got good luck.
Speaker 4: Good luck. It's on the ground. There's no chance, absolutely
zero change.
Speaker 3: But one thing I do know, shout out to got
lit for both of us. We've got Christmas lights. We've
had them for a couple of weeks. I think you
have as well. Yeah, brightens the spirits. When you drive
up to a home it's got Christmas lights on. Just
something I agree, little juice? Is you a little juice?
And it's even better when you don't have to do it.
It's an elite feeling.
Speaker 4: Lights coming in from the outside making you feel good,
like kind of that that that soft glow you wake
up in them early morning you go in to work. Yeah,
just it just it's it's the absolute pest. So I
can't wait. What movie? So I want to do music?
My wife kind of likes to have a movie on
in the background. What what movie would y'all put on?
If you were having to decorate the tree. So this
is weird. Victoria did this the other day. She was
like putting on Harry Potter. I was like, why, Yeah,
she goes every year.
Speaker 6: Me and my sister used to put on Harry Potter
while we Yeah, we decorate the tree.
Speaker 4: So that's what she does. I mean, don't act crazy,
you know what, Harry Potter. I don't take fall time
holiday time movie. Harry Potter is a great movie. I
don't consider it a Christmas movie. I just I just
don't think that.
Speaker 5: Probably don't think Diehard I.
Speaker 4: Would say this. I would. I'm fine with giving it
the rank of Christmas movie. It's got some elite Christmas
scenes and vibes. No Diehard, Absolutely, it's like that is
literally based around Christmas, Christmas, but Harry Potter's less so.
But if you want to call it fine, I think
of it more of just a fall movie. No too,
because like, don't think Thanksgiving and Christmas in the movie.
Magical little halloweeny, but yeah, plays with christ music movie,
especially the first one obviously Sorcerer's stuff, right, Yeah.
Speaker 7: So I'm always I'm either going Frosty the Snowman, the
animated one, love it, and then there's like a a
Disney one with like Donald Duck.
Speaker 1: And like all the little Duck and they they're with
their uncle.
Speaker 4: Yeah yeah, the one they wish for every day to
be Christmas, and then every day is Christmas. And then
they learned that, oh wait, if every day is Christmas
and no days Christmas? Yables or too much of a
good thing home alone?
Speaker 1: Those are my freaks.
Speaker 4: Okay, So Frosty snow Man, what the uh animated one? Yeah? Okay?
And then oh that's it? What an interesting tree.
Speaker 1: I love that movie.
Speaker 4: I want to try to make my kids watch It's
a Wonderful Life, but I don't think they'll be into
it yet. I I can't wait to watch it myself though.
Spend a whole night drinking whiskey watching It's a Wonderful Life, crying,
being amazed by how well the film holds up traveling
back in time to the thirties, forties and fifties.
Speaker 7: Another Christmas movie like Diehard that's like can or can't
be one?
Speaker 1: Edward Scissor Hands.
Speaker 4: A great movie. I've not seen Edward scissels a little
kid and freaked me out, so I don't know. I
can't comment either way.
Speaker 5: A deep cut Christmas movie.
Speaker 6: Jingle All the Way, that is my my favorite Christmas
movie ever.
Speaker 5: Yeah, my kids love it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I love the growing up. I mean I still
like it now.
Speaker 5: Four Christmases is another deep cut.
Speaker 3: That's very funny, great great movie. Again, the best Vacation
is like also, like that's okay, the really good good.
Speaker 4: Yeah, not for the kids, but for the adult not
only lunch break Bad Stand is amazing, I think again.
I know I've said a million times, but the best
part of Jingle the Way remains. Uh. Phil Hartman is Ted.
Great Christmas Villains. Put him up there with the Hans Krumer,
put him up there with Who would then, who would
be the villain of uh Christmas Vacation? There's not there's
not really, I mean the balls of the neighbors, the
boss of the neighbors. Probably the boss more.
Speaker 6: Probably the balls because like that's what the movie centers
around him, putting in the pool for the Christmas bonus
and all that.
Speaker 4: So yeah, probably him.
Speaker 5: Todd's pretty diabolical.
Speaker 4: The neighbor Todd marg Ted is Ted is my favorite
character in that movie. Like yeah, he's well, I mean,
you know, let's let's bad nowaday. But I love you man,
I love Sinbad growing up, first kid, funny as hell.
I miss you man on calls home, He's like, I
just don't want my wife to worry. He's like, well,
I mean, you know, I'm here, she's in the shower
to go get it for you.
Speaker 1: No, no love for love.
Speaker 4: Actually that's uh. I don't think I've ever seen that's
Rick with the speaker.
Speaker 1: I'm actually surprised you haven't seen.
Speaker 4: You know, that's that's him with like the Q cards
out right. Yeah, I saw it. I thought it was okay.
I never really it never really stuck with me that much. Wow.
Speaker 5: The holiday usually comes up in this these conversations.
Speaker 4: Holidays great, Yeah, holidays great Jack, Kate Winslet, just the
whole cam dass, it's the whole crew great, great, warm
vibes to that entire movie. God Jack Black my favorite king.
Speaker 5: Do we need a nuts movie tier list?
Speaker 4: Maybe? Maybe not?
Speaker 5: They the Family Stone? Don't bring that up, not with
tea Bob here.
Speaker 4: No Family Stone another one must watch, not necessarily with
the kids.
Speaker 7: Uh.
Speaker 4: Family Stone is a ridiculous movie, but also a deeply emotional,
very good one in a lot of ways. What about
uh my favorite. One of my favorite parts in Family
Stone is that they honor the tradition of the cousin
walk when the dad and the sun go out, just
to you know, just go go go do the cousin
walk real quick. Cousin walked down, got me for family
pictures during Thanksgiving. Everybody's looking so bright and chipper and
my eyes were barely open. I didn't even realize until
I looked back at the pictures. What are you gonna do? Mmmmm? Uh,
all right, when we get back O TB mail back then,
Coach Kim Moulkey, keep it locked right here on off.
Speaker 2: The bench, Off the bench, Welcome in to the best
morning sports. This show around off the Bench with Hester
and T Bob.
Speaker 4: Still a very conspicuous lack of Christmas reto. All right,
let's do some OTB mailback.
Speaker 6: I helpe with a special delivery for off the Bench
and look it is marked most urgent writing to you
the Internet.
Speaker 4: What the is the Internet? Ryan Smith? As I go
to your mailbag, you're becoming concerned with the evolution that
is t bops photoshop skills. They've been good, uh so
oh T bought Yes, Yeah, they're getting much like ai.
Speaker 6: Uh.
Speaker 4: He continues to get better and better and better. Some
of the recent some of my favorites uh me as
Jim and the Cannon as Eugene Levy sitting at the
table right after you know when when Jim's dad is
confronting Jim about porking that pie. Hashtag oh to be mailbag?
Uh is Betterers more like new orlengele Fia. I hate
to be this guy, but I don't think it's very
similar to either. Yeah, yeah, I think they're Yeah, I
think I think they're all different, critical differences between each.
To be fair, maybe in somebody's Betterige is kind of
like a blending of the two.
Speaker 3: But yeah, and people hate when I say this has
a little shreef board in it too. Yeah, it's got
definitely I've lived in both.
Speaker 5: For a long time.
Speaker 4: Hash the go to be mailbag? Why does a landra
hate Christmas?
Speaker 1: I already said I don't hate Christmas.
Speaker 4: Down the tree growing up, and it's crazy hash that
go to be mailbag?
Speaker 8: Uh?
Speaker 4: What are your top three holidays ranked in order?
Speaker 6: Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Chris, thanks even Halleen, Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Christmas, Thanksgiving?
Speaker 7: Hello.
Speaker 1: Actually, honestly, I love New Year's so maybe Christmas, Thanksgiving, New.
Speaker 4: Year's Fourth of July, Mary Girl, Wow, no thing? A hashtag?
Oh TB mailbag? Do you think big boys? Lady spinds
a sad Christmas alone, just her and the six cats
and a carton of pall Mall Relax.
Speaker 1: The pall Mall narrative is my favorite. Paull Malls as
you go do mailback.
Speaker 4: Have you ever been hit with a mistletoe situation?
Speaker 8: No?
Speaker 4: I never have?
Speaker 1: Dude, Wait what sorry?
Speaker 4: Mistletoe situation?
Speaker 1: Like somebody's like yeah, no, never, Like you're.
Speaker 4: Like walking, You're like, oh, look, mistletoe.
Speaker 7: No. I actually don't think I've ever walked in somewhere
and there'd be a missletoe there.
Speaker 3: Maybe, like gosh, like in middle school one of my
good friends, he used to try to pull that all
the time, but like not since nineteen ninety eight.
Speaker 4: Taylor, would you let me kiss you if we were
standing on the mistletoe together? Probably not? No Christmas.
Speaker 1: That's bad luck. What if he doesn't let you kiss him?
Speaker 4: Yeah, So what I'm saying, that's crazy, it's fun. It's bad.
It's fun.
Speaker 6: It's bad luck for you too, Like it's a bad
luck for both of us. But as long as you
have bad luck, I'm good.
Speaker 1: I think I'm soaking up all the bad luck in
this room for y'all, So you're welcome.
Speaker 4: Is it mistletoe that Loki used to kill Balder with
back in the day? Ye?
Speaker 3: Boy?
Speaker 4: Now it has to be.
Speaker 3: A hashtag OTB mail bag. When is a Bene gonna
be back with the radio New Orleans?
Speaker 4: I don't know, you know, that's all above our pay
great guess hashtag OTB mail bag. How revealing was it
for Brian Kelly to phrase the nil situation is like
having a cap So he wasn't saying that about Nil.
He was saying that about what's coming. July first of
next year, the Anti Trust Settlement kicks in, in which
every school will give up to you know, roughly twenty
percent of their athletic revenue, so it'll be around twenty
one something like that, twenty one million for every school.
But basically, like every school that wants to be competitive
is going to have to give them full them out,
So it works like a pseudo cap though advertising would
still be allowed, certainly, even though in theory collectives are
supposed to go away. So he wasn't saying it was
like a cap for LSU. There is kind of a
pseudo cap coming in. Has Se goes to the mailbag.
How do we feel about missing out on the spring
portal defensive tackles with the benefit of hindsight, It's a
very interesting question, to be honest. I think you were
kind of justified in not paying those guys.
Speaker 3: It's a position group that actually played above what any
of us thought and played well down the stretch. Yeah,
played hard too. Yeah, and that's you you, I mean
Jacob and Gillory. You lose that player and still crazy, right,
I mean Gefhia shout out to him.
Speaker 4: Jv R. Suggs was great.
Speaker 5: He was good now Yeah.
Speaker 4: And then like for the guys you did pick up, Yeah,
Suggs was a nice uh, you know, a guy that
was kind of unheralded, not getting a lot of love,
and he was, like we said, pound for he was
so productive this year whenever he got opportunity.
Speaker 6: Well, one of the guys you didn't pay was Dominic Williams,
who you just played against at Oklahoma thirty three tackles,
one sack, five tackles for a low.
Speaker 4: Oh it was fine, but they paid him like a
million dollars. So what I'm saying like, was he significantly
better than Sugs and Pias Well, and look also, now
further understanding LSU's own payments, they were given players. No,
you cannot have a mercenary d tackle come in out
of nowhere and make more than your best players, especially
when they're not going to be your best player. So
I agreed with it at the time from that standpoint,
but actually, yeah, Bo Davison Company did a good job
of maximizing that group. Whe Yeah, I think you were
justified in that has said would be mail back favorite
Christa movie. It's Wonderful Life with a bullet not even close.
Speaker 3: The one I'm gonna watch on loop over and over again.
It's Christmas Vacation.
Speaker 4: Either either Christmas Vacation or Jingle all the Way. For me,
I mean, I love jing all the Way. That's interesting
to give it top.
Speaker 1: There's so many good ones.
Speaker 3: I know.
Speaker 1: I don't know Home alone. I just love every time
I watch it.
Speaker 4: Uh, Color Express, can I find my Polar Express rant?
Joey mull and Narrows text me and I was like, yeah,
I think so.
Speaker 1: And I actually agree with your take.
Speaker 3: On it.
Speaker 4: Express is not a good movie. I could not hate
the aesthetics of the North Pole, like you paid me to.
Speaker 1: It's kind of scary and a little depressing in some ways.
Speaker 4: Then like, uh no, Jack, well it's like means depressing. Yes,
they were like, oh man, remember like child labor and
the industrial Revolution. I like giant brick warehouses and hazy
skies filled with acrid, poisonous smoke. What if that's what
we made the North Pole? Every other North Pole rendition
is whimsical and beautiful and bells and golds and peppermints.
And they were like, no, dark, Nah, we talk it.
We go in eighteen ninety England when you had thirteen
year olds in the textile shop dying getting fingers chopped
off on the wave? Has that go to be mailbag?
What do you think the old line will look like
next year? So smoking the streets, Emmy Jones got to
return potentially, So I think is he gonna play guard?
Speaker 8: Though?
Speaker 3: One of the things that you know is out there
is that he potentially could kick down the guard his
I mean more natural position. He came to LSU to
play guard, Yeah, and he's just played tack, you know,
it's all gonna pen tea on how they feel about
their tackles.
Speaker 5: What can you get in the portal? Can you go
get a couple of tackles?
Speaker 3: Do you feel good about somebody on the roster right
now that we're not talking about If you can go,
you know, grab two offensive linemen regardless of position, two
starting quality power for offensive lineman, and you pair them
with some of the players that you're going to have returning,
it could be a good offensive line.
Speaker 4: I mean, for me, uh, let's say dj Chester's tofitely
back at center. I believe now with how Paul Mabinga finished,
I'm actually pretty excited about him again. He his body
needs some maturation, but it'll get that naturally, I think. Uh,
I think Mabinga's one of your starting guards. We say
Emery Jones could be the other. Weston Davis and Tyree
Adams would be the next name that you would kind
of names that you would kind of thinking about. But
like Jake said, and then you change all of that
with getting some really good ol linment out of the portal,
maybe two, like you said to like, those are the
kind of maybe five names that seem first in line
and then who knows you bring in But also like
there could be guys that rise the fault. Like to
be fair, there are an open position, so.
Speaker 6: Do tell you they liked Cohen Ekels in the fall.
Its like that backup center. So like if he progresses,
you could kick Chester to guard if he needed to,
Like they could shake things up as well.
Speaker 4: True, I has to go to you. That hunt says
he won't try to sell us in a garbage bowl game?
Do you have the same strong ethical position? Uh, I.
Speaker 5: Sell you as far as what?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I don't know.
Speaker 4: I think, I think.
Speaker 3: I mean, you know, if if you don't like watching
LSU play football, then you I mean, yeah, you don't
have to watch the ball game.
Speaker 4: I love it though, and I'm gonna be hype and
you better win because nine and four is way better
than eight and five. You know, you need to You
need to keep them in, them going and try to
erase as much of the bad taste of the bad
mud as you can. Has to go to mailbag. Is
Marty Girl massively overrated as a holiday? Not at all? Yes?
Terrible answer, Yes, Yes, I don't get it. What do
you mean? Oh, I don't I don't get Marty girl.
Speaker 5: I don't get you.
Speaker 4: I don't think you like to drink enough. Then maybe
what do you mean you.
Speaker 5: Don't get it?
Speaker 6: Also like it's it's it's more of a Catholic holiday, right,
I'm not catholic, so I don't I don't.
Speaker 4: Really get it.
Speaker 6: Like let me let me, let me preface about saying
I'm not I'm not a parade. Yeah, never really been
a parade. Yes, I don't get it. I mean so
standing in one spot catching beads, she's just not my thing.
Speaker 1: I don't think it's overrated, but it's not for me.
I don't like crowds.
Speaker 4: Oh, if you don't like crowds.
Speaker 7: Yeah, the parking situation is always a thing. There's too
many things that give me anxiety about it. But I
think it's a great holiday for the people that enjoy it.
Speaker 4: I I love.
Speaker 1: I love it.
Speaker 4: Pre kids z go, I love it and meander and
all high crazy all day. And then that's saying then
I love the post kids because they love parades, they
love catch yourself. I feel you like I don't really
give to I don't give it in about like catching
stuff as like before kids, But there there's an undeniable,
great fun energy to just roaming throughout the city with
everybody acting a fool all day long and wearing crazy
outfits and everything like that.
Speaker 7: I will say, if somebody wanted to get me like
on an actual float, like.
Speaker 4: Do that.
Speaker 3: So, yeah, riding on floats different, that's amazing. You need
to ride on a float with a quarterback and tea.
Bob's gonna know what I'm talking about here. So Flynn
and I we were Grand marshals about Ryan a couple
of years ago, and quarterbacks can't help themselves when they're
on a float. They try to throw the beads as
hard as they possibly can because they don't want anybody
to think they can't, you know, fit it.
Speaker 4: In that way, like, oh, I thought they could throw
it bet Yeah.
Speaker 5: And he's got a little sauce in him.
Speaker 3: The Cajun cannon I've heard also, you know, been a
part of this as well. If you can ever do
it with a quarterback, it is a lot of fun.
Because I mean Flynn was trying to thread the needle
over there as we're turning by pastime, you know, smoking
people in the head.
Speaker 5: Unfortunately, because he thought he could fit it in the window.
Speaker 4: It's a uh, it's it's very fun time. I should
also say a great Marty girl UH is always tied
into a great spot. If you have easy access to
a bathroom, maybe you found your way to a balcony
where you're not as over crowded out street level. Yeah.
That that that that is critical as well as trying
had an area on your connections that.
Speaker 1: You can I would be okay with Mark h All right.
Speaker 4: There it is, oh TB back when we get back,
let's talk to Els you head women's bastal coach, Kim
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Speaker 4: The misim is it tells me it's time.
Speaker 2: Welcome back to more sports talk. What's some other stuff
mixed in off the Bench with Hester and t Bob.
Speaker 4: Welcome back to off Mentions Tuesday Night thirty, which means
one thing. We are so lucky to be joined by
the legend herself, Coach Kim Mulky, head coach of your
LSU women's basketball team, a team that continues to dominate
this ports of the season, and a coach who just
got hurt.
Speaker 3: One hundredth win already in an LSU uniform, coach, what's
going on? Thank you so much, congratulations on number one hundred.
Speaker 8: Well, thank you guys. How are y'all doing this morning?
If I have to cough every man, and then don't
let me interrupt you, you know, and you still getting
old and you have all these colds you have to
deal with.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I take that kind of year. Cot. You know
that timing year, I should say I've been kind of
dealing with the same thing. So no judgment here, obviously.
So I want to talk about something that in the
post game of the night that Miracle talked about, And
of course this is fresh off nearly a one hundred
point win for the one hundredth win, which is kind
of insane, But she was talking about how after the game,
you know, come watch practice, see how hard it is,
and when I view this team at this portion of
the season, and how y'all beat these teams that are lesser,
but there's still this like uber intense drive.
Speaker 3: It's almost like you're competing with yourself, and is practice
the key to creating a culture like that?
Speaker 8: P Bob listened to her, and you know, She and
Jada Reesard were the two at press conference with me,
and it was good because you know, I know what
Lage is gonna say, I know what tomorrow. But when
you take new players, I'm always interested in listening to them,
and I thought both of them were just outstanding with
their comments and so honest. And when she said that
about practice, she's right. We're competing in practice every day
for playing time and this team is one. As I've
told them several times, y'all making my job hard. And
that's a good thing. And what I mean by that
is that you usually have your two or three you
know that are going to be in the lineup because
they've earned it, they've proven themselves. But I like eight
or nine to be in the rotation, and I don't
know who they are really here we are in December,
and I don't know because they bring different qualities. In practice,
it's competitive, and I mean that kid spoke from her heart.
And then you've got Jada Restard speaking and she's a
young lady. That's the only freshman we have, but man,
is she competing in practice?
Speaker 4: Coach.
Speaker 3: I want to go back a couple of games ago,
and we talked with you, you know, in the Bahamas
and after the Washington game in which you come back
and you win that one by a point, and then
the next game and you know this coaching for as
long as you have like, there's two ways this can
kind of go. Like you can kind of you know,
know that you use so much energy in that Washington
game and then maybe your team comes out flat or
they put their head down, they go right back to work.
Speaker 5: And that's exactly what y'all did against NC State.
Speaker 3: That's a team that played in the Final Four a
year ago, a top twenty five team, and you beat
them eighty two to sixty five. For you as a coach,
to see your team do that, to put their head down,
to go right back to work and not kind of
use the game that they had to use all the
energy against Washington as an excuse, I know you appreciated that.
Speaker 8: You're absolutely right, how you respond after a tough loss
or even a tough win. How much do you have
left in your tank? Really? And the thing I will
say about the Washington game, we didn't win that game
with our primary players that you think are going to
win it for you on the floor, you won that
game if you look at it and you got back
in that game with new players. There were summ returning
players obviously on the floor, but Gilbert is trying to
re establish herself here at LSU, and she had the
sense about her that my gosh, there's only six seconds left.
I gotta grab this butt loose ball and I gotta go.
And you came back to practice the next day. I
don't go out there and just have a hard nose
practice because you don't have the energy to do that
and then turn around and play the next day. We
are very focused right now, and we were focused in
the Bahamas after that game. I don't think we were
not focused in the Washington game.
Speaker 4: I think.
Speaker 8: They were just that much better than us. They were
smoother than us running their offense, a lot of cutters,
a lot of things like that that we've got to
get better at defending. But in the NC State game,
it wasn't a raw rock game where you meet with
them in the locker room and you say, hey, they
were in the spot we should have been last year.
We were the ones that had to play the hottest
team in the country with Kaitlyn Clark. NC State got
the better part of the bracket. Hey, we didn't get it.
They did. Different teams go play, and I thought that
the players really defended m C State guards who are outstanding.
Speaker 4: And coach. You you end up in winning that NC
State game, you win the tournament. Uh, is there? I mean,
I know, it's it's it's it's it's it's very it's
a shortened affair, right, it's very quick. But is there
any Are there any lessons you think players learn and
being in an early tournament setting like that they can
maybe care forward with them later into the year.
Speaker 8: Well, I think people, let's talk about scheduling. People love
to get on us about our non conference schedule, and
everybody has a right to opinion. But I've been doing
this forty years. The net rankings came out this week.
We're eight in the country. And that's the quote unquote
sing the committee he looks at is the net.
Speaker 7: Listen.
Speaker 8: I still believe in eyeballs. What do I mean by that?
Get off your rump watch women's basketball games on TV,
go watch them in person, and give the best teams
that you see the higher seeds when this season is over.
I don't believe in rankings. Here, you win this and
beat this, you get beat. That's too complicated for me.
And I know what I'm doing with my non conference schedule.
It's worked for forty years. I don't care how many
analytics come up with new ideas. To me, that's a
shortcut in a lazy way. It's kind of like scouting.
Get off your wront and go scout. Kids don't sit
there and listen to somebody else. So you're gonna go
play in tournaments in November and December. You're gonna see
upsets in November and December. You're gonna play in these
fancy tournaments, and you're not gonna have competitions sometimes, but
sometimes you are. I honestly go to allow these young
people to go to places that they will never go
or have never been in their life. I don't really
sit and look and see who's in the tournament.
Speaker 5: Coach.
Speaker 3: I know you've got the sec ACC Challenge coming up
with a game against Stanford inside the p MAG. But
also I want to ask you about the grambling game
that you're playing up in Bosier City, up in North Louisiana.
When you do a game like that, when you decide
to go to Bosier City or somewhere else in the
state to play.
Speaker 5: Kind of what you're reasoning behind that it's for.
Speaker 8: The people that are on your team. We went to
Coffin State last year for Angel Reese to go back.
Trying real hard to get back to close to Savannah,
Georgia the Flag next year. This year, Mikayla, we can
still play in that centery tail I think that's what
it's still called and play Grambling was also going to
Chicago before the Christmas Holidays formorrow. Now, yeah, we can't
do it all the time that you got to get
people to agree to play you, but I do try
to take players back to the area where they grew
up because it's fun for them. Uh.
Speaker 4: Speaking of that Stanford game, that's the a SEC SEC
Challenge going on this Thursday, eight pm. Go pack it
out to Traditional Powers. I'm gonna be boxing squaring up.
So Coach, I know after the game the other night,
you said you hadn't had a chance to dive into
the film yet, but a coach Starkey would and and
you'd have a really eloquent answered assistants that are wont
to explore as well. But have you have you had
some time to uh, have you had some time to
explore what Stanford looked. Say, I'm filmed this year.
Speaker 8: Oh absolutely. They just happened to ask me after the
game the night, and I didn't want to talk much
until I sat down and went over to scouting report.
But yesterday was our first time in the film room
to talk about Stanford and it was in detail. Went
on the court for about an hour, and uh, we're
gonna We're gonna see an outstanding Stanford team that they're
number one in the country in the official point line.
You got to stop dribble penetration or they're going to
kick out. Certainly, they've lost tar Van Derveer, their legendary coach.
They lost Brinks of the draft last year. They lost
Arifins who's now at usc UH. But they're still Stamford
and they still have great players and they're going to run.
I used to call it the old triangle offense that
the Bulls ran with Jordan, where you're gonna have three
on one side, you're gonna have cutters, you're gonna have
to defend for thirty seconds on that shot clock. You're
going to get back door. They're just well coached, the
typical Stamford team with a few missing parts.
Speaker 4: Coach speaking of Coach Starkey, you had and I hate
to ask you the same question, but I thought the
answer was so good that I want our audience to
hear some version of it. You were kind of asked
about the value of assistance and your kind of how
you operate, what you look for, how you treat them,
And I just was wondering if you could expounded on
the bit when it comes to making a staff and
the role of your assistants play. What are kind of
your theories as a leader on on on how to
put together a staff.
Speaker 8: Well, first of all, they are the most important part
of a head coach's journey, and I've been blessed to
not have much turnover on staff. Well, how does that happen?
Several ways it happens. Number One, you financially take care
of them. When you go in and talk about your contract,
they should be the first people you talk talk about.
Give them the raise, give them the things that they
need to make them want to stay there. The second
way you keep a staff is you can't have five, six,
seven assistant coaches that every day are looking to become
a head coach and are on the phone for the
next head coach. In opening, you have to have some
of those that say, I'm only an assistant, I don't
want the responsibility to be a head coach, so you
know that they're going to be with you a long time.
Then you have the other part of that staff that
does want to be a head coach, and you teach
them and you give them responsibilities. When I first started
in this business, it was very, very difficult for me
to delegate. I wanted to do it all because I
know my way is going to be better than any
way that they do it. But I think part of
that is you're also teaching them how to do it.
And then after about five, six, seven years as a
head coach, they stay with you. Then you start delegating
and you feel comfortable that they're doing things the way
you want done. As you age in this business, you
can't do what you used to could do. What am
I talking about? I can't go out there and take charges.
I can't go out there. You know I can't do
that anymore. I think I can, but I'm also smart
enough to know that's not physically possible. So you bring
in the use, you bring in the energy, and you
have the legendary Bob Starkeys and the Johnny Derrecks who
just retired. But you go, get you some new people
and you say, this is what I need you to
do in one on ones with them as I'm sitting
there watching hit Her Bumper, Let's go. And So it's
a mixture of a lot of things. But one thing
that's always going to be a part of my staff
is loyalty. You don't read or hear about my staff
out on the street discussing private business. You don't see
them getting in trouble. I want good people, and I've
been very, very fortunate that I don't think I've had
to do with a couple of firings in my career.
No one wants to fire assistant coaches. Football is a
little bit different guys. You know sometimes they make head
coaches fire assistants to save their own job.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 8: I don't believe in that head. I'm the head, Han Sho.
Anything that happens in this program that's related to x's
and o's, it falls on my shoulders.
Speaker 4: There you go. I mean, look, coach, we could talk
to you all day long just about live sports everything,
how to build a team. You get so much valuebu
insight here coach Kim Bulky, thank you so much. Guys,
pack out the p MAC Thursday, Stanford eight pm, Big
time matchup. Thank you, coach.
Speaker 8: Hey, we do need it. Packs It's on ESPN two.
Don't get lazy and stay home and watch it on TV.
I don't know if Stanford has ever come to the
p MAC. They may have. I don't know, but it
it really is a big game. It's the sec ACC
Challenge and let's go Tigers.
Speaker 4: Let's go Tigers. Thank you so much, coach. You have
an excellent morning. All right, when we get back, let's
close that hour two OTV after bench go to All
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Speaker 2: Welcome in to the best morning sports. This show around
off the Bench with Hester and t Bob Landra.
Speaker 4: I mean, are we gonna fight? Are we gonna fight?
Are we gonna fight?
Speaker 3: Like?
Speaker 4: Are you gonna give me one?
Speaker 7: Like?
Speaker 4: Three rejoints? We got one hour, three rejoints.
Speaker 1: Told myself that your.
Speaker 5: Whatever good song?
Speaker 1: What the more you ask, the more I don't want
to do it.
Speaker 4: I don't know that is a thing for her, That
is a thing for her. I understand that I'm the
same way. Like it's like you know if if if
I'm trying annoy you know you're trying to annoy someone,
you can tell you you're going to do this, You're
going to double down on it.
Speaker 1: I'm not trying to annoy you, but you keep asking.
Speaker 4: I mean, that's just human psychology, right, playing hard to get.
It's the same thing conceptually. You what what you're doing
is having the opposite of the intended effect, because nobody
wants to feel like they're getting told what to do.
I had something for you, yeah, I know, something like,
so where is it?
Speaker 1: This is not right now?
Speaker 4: Is hey?
Speaker 1: So you heard uh to hit a woman though, because
you said we're gonna fight.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you're like way bigger than me. Yeah, I know,
he's twenty twenty four.
Speaker 1: Equal rights, y'all are gonna let that happen.
Speaker 4: You get the right to catch these hands.
Speaker 5: Tea Bob's AIM's not that go with those little tiny
hands about it?
Speaker 1: So you you just like you'll call me a grinch,
baham bug all you. I don't care.
Speaker 7: I've already said I like Christmas. I actually love Christmas.
But I'm not doing this, so quit asking.
Speaker 4: I So you just heard coach Kim Molky talk about
how you keep a staff together, how you treat those
who work for you. Well, this is a pretty awesome
Thanksgiving story that we learned about Kenny Dillingham. So because
Arizona State won nine games on Saturday. Last Saturday, Kenny
Dillingham got a two hundred thousand dollars bonus. On Monday,
Kenny Dillingham tells the twenty off the field ASU staffers
that they'll all get a five to ten thousand dollars bonus.
What Kenny didn Dillingham did not tell them and did
not tell this reporter. He figured this out through the
staff Danlleham did not promote this anywhere. That bonus so
they got, of course, was Kenny's bonus. It's literally exactly
what coach Moulky was just talking about. You take care
when you have a good team, you like you take
care of your people. And this is something that you
never really see coaches do. Like it's easy to sit
here and say, well, yeah, I mean he makes a
ton of money. These guys do not. Of course he
did that, but a ton of coaches take it, make
a ton of money, and a ton of coaches get
massive bonuses. But what do they do? They just hoard
it like smell the dragon. Kenny decided that he would
do the inverse of Christmas vacation and go ahead and
give those Christmas bonuses. I mean, I think that's awesome
and it makes me cheer for dealing him in Arizona
State even harder. Here.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I love Kenny Dillingham. He's from Tempe, he went
to Arizona State. Now he's coaching at the place that
he's always known and he's doing it incredibly well. Good
on him, Good on him. I mean his energy is infectious.
I mean, just the moment you talk to him, you're
gonna want to go run down on kick off for
that guy.
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