Speaker 1: Comes into Oway, Oway sprints up in the front court,
Speaker 1: drives it down to the baseline, flips it up. Hold
Speaker 1: Kentucky five to play shot from back parts.
Speaker 2: No god, oh my, oh way, face to dad. Yeah
Speaker 2: they did it twice. Remember that play? Yes, I know
Speaker 2: you do.
Speaker 3: That was from the SEC Tournament, the Kentucky Wildcats knocking
Speaker 3: off Oklahoma thanks to otega Oway, who had transferred in
Speaker 3: from Ou and for the second time disappointed Sooner fans
Speaker 3: with his heroics.
Speaker 2: And now he has delighted.
Speaker 3: Kentucky fans with an announcement that he will return and
Speaker 3: be a Wildcat again.
Speaker 4: You know, this year exceeded all my expectations, through all
Speaker 4: the highs and the rose. You know, I found a
Speaker 4: family in Kentucky forever. So let's running back and stay home.
Speaker 3: That was the announcement yesterday. Welcome to the Big Blue Insider,
Speaker 3: Dick Gabriel with you. Well, of course we did and
Speaker 3: have it on last night's show because I was involved
Speaker 3: with Jerry duty.
Speaker 2: So here we are a day later.
Speaker 3: But the Big Blue Nation, of course talking about this
Speaker 3: because really, when you look at the Kentucky roster, it
Speaker 3: is complete now and this is the first day essentially
Speaker 3: of the era of the twenty five twenty six team.
Speaker 3: If you want to mark your calendar from when the
Speaker 3: season really began for this upcoming Kentucky team, this is
Speaker 3: the day because on this day, when you got up
Speaker 3: this morning, everything was settled. Really when you went to
Speaker 3: bed last night, everything was settled because Oteoga Ohway came back,
Speaker 3: which was expected. But I see so many people on
Speaker 3: social media I kind of got a kick out of
Speaker 3: it who instantly recognized when they saw always announcement on
Speaker 3: Instagram that he had recorded this some time ago while
Speaker 3: he was still a UK did it over at the
Speaker 3: Craft Center, were in UK gear, And so some people
Speaker 3: have I think drawn a mistaken conclusion that he was
Speaker 3: always coming back to Kentucky. That's not the case. Common
Speaker 3: sense tells you that had he decided not to go
Speaker 3: to the NBA, sure he comes back to Kentucky, He's
Speaker 3: not going to enter the portal and transfer again. I mean,
Speaker 3: he could have, but no, there was never any indication
Speaker 3: that that was the case. No, he was going to
Speaker 3: test the waters for the NBA, get everything out of
Speaker 3: it that he could, which he did, waiting until the
Speaker 3: last minute, but getting as much information as he can
Speaker 3: to help him moving forward.
Speaker 2: But it only makes sense.
Speaker 3: And I'm sure somebody UK suggested that to him, Hey,
Speaker 3: you know, if you decide to come back, we sure
Speaker 3: hope you do. Let's go ahead and record that now,
Speaker 3: because if he had made his decision within the last
Speaker 3: forty eight hours leading up to the deadline, he would
Speaker 3: have had to record that in a hotel room and
Speaker 3: a gym somewhere else. He could have had as UK
Speaker 3: gear on, but it wouldn't have the same backdrop. And
Speaker 3: you know, he had people from UK working with him
Speaker 3: on this announcement, So this whole NBA draft thing was
Speaker 3: not you know, a ruse or just you know, an exercise.
Speaker 3: He was serious about this, of course, because had he
Speaker 3: excelled even more, I'm sure he did well, But had
Speaker 3: he excelled to the point where a team said, you
Speaker 3: know what, we're going to take you in the first round.
Speaker 3: In fact, we're going to take you in the first
Speaker 3: you know, fifteen slots or something like that, he would have.
Speaker 2: Left and you couldn't have blamed him.
Speaker 3: But because of the financial considerations with the NIL, he
Speaker 3: didn't have to settle air quotes for being either a
Speaker 3: second round pick or a free agent with a two
Speaker 3: way contract with a G league. He did what was
Speaker 3: financially prudent, but also what was best for his career.
Speaker 3: You think about a kid in his shoes, best possible situation.
Speaker 3: Because of the nil dollars and because of his skills,
Speaker 3: he'll be there next year, he'll be in the first round.
Speaker 3: I believe he's sitting on a huge year. And I
Speaker 3: only say this and you're probably thinking the same thing
Speaker 3: because of what happened with Antonio. Reeves came back at
Speaker 3: his best year as a collegian, helped himself enormously, and
Speaker 3: of course he was on the nil doll as well.
Speaker 3: And by the way, you may have seen this, but
Speaker 3: Kirby Smart was talking to yaou Sports and he talked
Speaker 3: about the fact that some NIL collectives are spending five
Speaker 3: figures a month to retain commitments of prospective recruits. He
Speaker 3: wasn't talking about just Georgia collectives. These are collectives everywhere,
Speaker 3: he said. In some cases, kids are getting twenty thousand
Speaker 3: dollars a month from collectives. Now, if that kid, let's
Speaker 3: say he's getting it from a Georgia collective, if he
Speaker 3: doesn't go to Georgia and signs elsewhere the collectives quote
Speaker 3: will request that money back. Requesting is one thing. Getting
Speaker 3: it is another. And it all depends on what's written down.
Speaker 3: Is there paper, Is there any kind of legal agreement
Speaker 3: on paper? Otherwise it doesn't exist. But it's Smart pointed out,
Speaker 3: these are high school kids getting money from an entity
Speaker 3: not affiliated with the university, but is a collective of
Speaker 3: the university, and there is a fine line. Yeah, who
Speaker 3: asked Smart to name the schools to which the collectives
Speaker 3: he referenced are affiliated. He would not, but said the
Speaker 3: programs aren't SEC members. How about that again, no guardrails.
Speaker 3: They're trying like heck to rain this in. And as
Speaker 3: I mentioned a few days ago, and you may have
Speaker 3: seen this on social media, Tennessee University of State of
Speaker 3: working against the guard rail, else passing legislation that basically
Speaker 3: says we can do whatever we want in Division one.
Speaker 3: When it comes to nil's paying our players not healthy,
Speaker 3: that'll end up in court. But there's a lot of
Speaker 3: ground to cover between now and then. Anyway, back to
Speaker 3: the Wildcats, otega Oway is a Kentucky Wildcat once again,
Speaker 3: and the play he made in the tournament was sensational,
Speaker 3: But of course It goes back really to what he
Speaker 3: did during the regular season when Way, against his old school,
Speaker 3: brought the Wildcats all the way back, scored Kentucky's last
Speaker 3: eighteen points and made a huge play at the very
Speaker 3: end to win the game. Kentucky had been leading eighty
Speaker 3: to seventy. Oklahoma goes on a fourteen to three run
Speaker 3: up eighty four eighty three was six seconds left, and
Speaker 3: then here came the former Sooner to win the game.
Speaker 5: Calls for Away to come out, takes the handoff, always
Speaker 5: got it, goes to.
Speaker 6: His left down the lane, angles right, flips it up Godad.
Speaker 2: With six seconds to play, here comes Oklahoma.
Speaker 1: Fierce drives into the lane, goes for the rams clock
Speaker 1: by Garrison, picked up by prayer.
Speaker 2: Oh my MirOS on the clock, and the Cats get
Speaker 2: out of Oklahoma on the wind.
Speaker 5: What up when Ohtag Always saves the day against his
Speaker 5: former school, and that.
Speaker 3: Of course the voice of the wildcast Tom Leech and
Speaker 3: and elated Jack Gibbons. So now you keep you here
Speaker 3: to the tracks about who's doing well in pickup games.
Speaker 3: They gotta stay healthy all that, But it's a big
Speaker 3: day for the Big Blue Nation, and in fact, an
Speaker 3: ex Wildcat Shay Gilgris Alexander adding another trophy to his
Speaker 3: personal trophy case. You may have seen some of this
Speaker 3: game last night. I can't blame if you didn't watch
Speaker 3: the whole thing unless you're a big Oklahoma City thunderfan.
Speaker 3: Absolutely destroyed the Minnesota Timberwolves, including Julius Randall, and including
Speaker 3: Anthony Edwards, who apparently had some problems with Shay Gildess
Speaker 3: Alexander being named the MVP for the entire season. I mean,
Speaker 3: he was clearly the MVP of the series, but SGA
Speaker 3: being named MVP and Anthony Edwards either flat out stated
Speaker 3: or kind of applied to I'm the best player in
Speaker 3: the league or I'm better than he is or whatever.
Speaker 3: And of course his nickname is Aunt, just like Anthony Davis.
Speaker 3: A lot of people call him Aunt. But Converse, which
Speaker 3: is SGA's shoe sponsor, dropped an ad last night right
Speaker 3: after OKC punched its ticket to the NBA Finals. It
Speaker 3: released a video featuring a real ant, of course, indicating
Speaker 3: Anthony Edwards of the Wolves.
Speaker 2: Well, and that's all. It was video of an ant and.
Speaker 3: The text reading nothing left to say, question mark unbelievable.
Speaker 3: How about that? The shoe sponsor taken up for its
Speaker 3: favorite player at the moment, so Converse going after Anthony
Speaker 3: Edwards with a video on all he can do is
Speaker 3: swallow it. But he did. I mean, he did not
Speaker 3: have a great game, missed ten of his first eleven shots.
Speaker 3: It was not a game from Minnesota scored the first bucket.
Speaker 3: It was a three by Edwards. That was it for
Speaker 3: more than seven minutes, really more than eight minutes, as
Speaker 3: Minnesota's got buried by Okasee, and he owned it. He said, basically,
Speaker 3: we lost the series. They took it to us, we
Speaker 3: didn't respond and I wasn't good enough. So now we'll
Speaker 3: see how that affects him in the near future. Former
Speaker 3: Wildcat Shay Gildess Alexander hosting the championship trophy from the
Speaker 3: Western Conference named for Magic Johnson, and the MVP Trophy
Speaker 3: as well. Before we hit the brake, Mark Pope and
Speaker 3: Kenny Brooks, two pretty good hires right from Mitch Barnhart.
Speaker 3: He did an interview down at SEC meetings. It's going
Speaker 3: on right now, the Spring Meetings in Destin, the annual event,
Speaker 3: and big things often happened down there. Paul Feinbaum hosts
Speaker 3: his show from down there and we played earlier. I
Speaker 3: guess back last week maybe a comment from Nick man
Speaker 3: jonas he was talking to fine bamb at the SEC
Speaker 3: Baseball tournament. Finebaum moved his show as People to Deston
Speaker 3: and he is talking to everybody, including Mitch Barnhardt, and
Speaker 3: he talked to Barnhart about the fact that the UK
Speaker 3: Athletics director made two pretty good hires when it came
Speaker 3: to basketball coaches, Mark Pope Kenny Brooks.
Speaker 7: Just just two really special coaches, you know, and have
Speaker 7: the opportunity over a three week period of time to
Speaker 7: switch both your basketball coaches, uh and bring in two
Speaker 7: guys that are so bright and so thoughtful. They came
Speaker 7: in and they had essentially no roster and no coaches,
Speaker 7: and what they did from scratch and in the new
Speaker 7: world that you can do that a little quicker, There's
Speaker 7: no question about that. But and then obviously coach Brooks
Speaker 7: brought in and a dynamic player in Georgia Amore, who
Speaker 7: was so much fun to watch with the team that
Speaker 7: she made everybody better around her. And then coach Pope
Speaker 7: obviously put together a roster that that fit his personality
Speaker 7: and his team, and the two of them together. They
Speaker 7: played off each other very very well, and it was
Speaker 7: It was a lot of fun. And there's there's probably
Speaker 7: a chapter two in the book somewhere along the way
Speaker 7: for the way it all came together. But boy, you
Speaker 7: couldn't have done it without really really special people.
Speaker 8: I certainly don't want to tell you what to do.
Speaker 8: I think you ought to consider writing it. It would
Speaker 8: be an extraordinary conversation about the inside of one of
Speaker 8: the most dramatic moments in the history of the greatest
Speaker 8: basketball program on the face of the earth. I would
Speaker 8: love to read it, so put me down for a
Speaker 8: pre sale copy.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 7: I appreciate that.
Speaker 3: Curtis City, the SEC Network, that is Mits Barnhart talking
Speaker 3: to Paul Finebaum. When we come back. We'll hear from
Speaker 3: Nick bnjee on in the Wildcats. The baseball Cats open
Speaker 3: up NCAA tournament played tomorrow at noon down at Clemson taking.
Speaker 2: On West Virginia, a game you'll hear.
Speaker 3: Right here coming up a little bit later on Aaron
Speaker 3: Gershaan of the Cat's Balls, Sean Woods, our unforgettable guard,
Speaker 3: and West Ham Bureau chief Gary Moore. We usually talk
Speaker 3: to these guys on Wednesday, but as I said, Jerry Duty,
Speaker 3: we had the best of last night, so slighting everything
Speaker 3: one day. It's the Thursday edition of The Big Boon Sider.
Speaker 3: Here on six thirty WLAP Welcome back to.
Speaker 2: The Big Boon Sider.
Speaker 3: Coming up at the bottom of the hour. Aaron Gershan,
Speaker 3: the Cats Paws, our number two, Sean Woods, the Unforgettable
Speaker 3: Guard and West End Bureau Chief Gary Moore. And of
Speaker 3: course tomorrow at noon it's Kentucky baseball, the Wildcats in
Speaker 3: West Virginia opening NCAA tournament play down in the Clemson Regional.
Speaker 3: And earlier this week we had a chance to chat
Speaker 3: with Nick Minjeon and a couple of his players and
Speaker 3: one of the things Minjeon talked about and I actually
Speaker 3: brought it up and I played the comment the other
Speaker 3: night on the show about how he spoke to Paul
Speaker 3: Finbaum on the SEC Network about margin of error being
Speaker 3: so fine, and how he had the Kentucky season whittled
Speaker 3: down to a handful of plays that separate this year's
Speaker 3: team from contending for an SEC championship, which had won
Speaker 3: last year. It is so minute, the margin for error.
Speaker 3: But what that also meant was this team struggled a
Speaker 3: bit this season, but because he somehow got these guys
Speaker 3: to realize how close they were to being what they
Speaker 3: they want to be and need to be. That's why
Speaker 3: they've been able to come back so many times this
Speaker 3: season from some rough patches and put themselves in a
Speaker 3: position to play in the NCAA tournament.
Speaker 1: Yeah, thank you for bringing that up, because yesterday I
Speaker 1: just told him how proud I was of them, because
Speaker 1: when we went through that stretch where we were losing
Speaker 1: those one and two run ball games, there's so many
Speaker 1: other teams that would just folded and been like, man,
Speaker 1: this is too much, this is too much, and this
Speaker 1: team did not do that. Like I have so much
Speaker 1: respect for them. But a lot of it has to
Speaker 1: do with some of our leadership, the guys that have
Speaker 1: been in our program, you know, like Devin, he's been
Speaker 1: here five years, and Evan and James and Novi and
Speaker 1: Patty and these guys that have been in our program.
Speaker 2: They just they've helped us.
Speaker 3: He broke down all the stats again for the media
Speaker 3: as symbol how many pitches are involved in a game
Speaker 3: and a season, and how so many wins and losses
Speaker 3: can turn on one play, which means one pitch, which
Speaker 3: means one moment and when you look at it that way.
Speaker 3: And again, every team can say this, but Kentucky can
Speaker 3: say it just as well as anybody. They're that close
Speaker 3: to being at the top of the conference.
Speaker 1: I can tell you that we are nine plays away
Speaker 1: from being back to back SEC champions. I've got it
Speaker 1: down to nine plays. I can tell you every single
Speaker 1: one of them. And I say that because that's how
Speaker 1: small the margin of victory is. And to get this
Speaker 1: team and to get this group of new players to
Speaker 1: understand that, it's a real challenge. But they understand it now,
Speaker 1: and I told them yesterday, I'm like, I hope you
Speaker 1: guys understand now.
Speaker 3: I always think about that when I'm covering games and
Speaker 3: you look at a rally by another team that starts
Speaker 3: with two outs and two strikes, or a walk that
Speaker 3: you know leads off the inning and opens things up.
Speaker 3: I mean, one pitch here and there makes the difference,
Speaker 3: It really does. You know how many times have you
Speaker 3: seen a guy laced one down the line or knock
Speaker 3: one out of the park on a one to two
Speaker 3: or zero to two pitch. Clearly a mistake by the pitcher,
Speaker 3: but it can turn that inning around, which can turn
Speaker 3: the game around, which can turn the series around. It
Speaker 3: just goes on and on like that. But that's baseball.
Speaker 3: A lot of sports. Every sport turns on moments. But
Speaker 3: because baseball breaks down the way it does, it's easier
Speaker 3: to chart it. I think pitch by pitch, and I've
Speaker 3: thought about that for several years. Of course, Nick, being
Speaker 3: a numbers guy, has it all broken down and he's
Speaker 3: got these guys understanding it. And now they're playing in
Speaker 3: the NCAA tournament and Patrick Herrera, who transferred in a
Speaker 3: couple of years ago from Northwestern, is having a chance
Speaker 3: to play in a third consecutive NCAA tournament. He was
Speaker 3: a big part of that World Series team last year,
Speaker 3: even a bigger part this year when he hasn't been injured.
Speaker 2: And this is the.
Speaker 3: First time that the Wildcats will play in the NCAA
Speaker 3: Tournament on the road, and Herrera said he can handle
Speaker 3: it no problem.
Speaker 9: The thing I've just done my whole career. You know,
Speaker 9: high school baseball is obviously different than college, but like
Speaker 9: when I've played in you know, high pressure, cool environments,
Speaker 9: I just you know, people who are nervous or when
Speaker 9: I get nervous, I just take some time to enjoy
Speaker 9: the moment. Like if the crowd chirps you, it says
Speaker 9: something funny like laugh, it's pretty cool. You know, loud
Speaker 9: crowds just take a moment. So, you know, being an
Speaker 9: offer sect like this is a really cool moment. I've
Speaker 9: worked super hard to get here. I've done this for
Speaker 9: twenty two years of my life. I'm just going to
Speaker 9: stick to the training and you know, things will fall
Speaker 9: into place. So yeah, I just kind of enjoyed the
Speaker 9: moment and when it gets roudy just like that.
Speaker 3: Area has led the Wildcats and on base percentage much
Speaker 3: of the year, but again has had a rash of injuries.
Speaker 3: He's dealt with, you know, a groin injury, an arm injury.
Speaker 3: But he makes a difference when he's in that lineup,
Speaker 3: he makes a difference. You're not a power hitter, but
Speaker 3: he can hit for extra bass. Tremendous defensive player, but
Speaker 3: vital to this Kentucky team was Evan Byers. He is
Speaker 3: a veteran of this team. He has been his fifth year.
Speaker 3: He's a fireman, short relief guy. He bring him in
Speaker 3: in the middle of the games, usually every now and
Speaker 3: then he'll close one out, but think about him. He's
Speaker 3: from Nicholasville, played his high school ball in Electionon and
Speaker 3: he was watching Nick benjalones first ball club, which won
Speaker 3: a regional title back in twenty seventeen, and dreaming of
Speaker 3: being a Wildcat and the following season.
Speaker 10: He was, Yeah, I take great pride in it, you know,
Speaker 10: as a university and as a fan of Kentucky. I
Speaker 10: mean I remember going to the twenty seventeen regional here
Speaker 10: and then kind of signed the next year after. So
Speaker 10: it's kind of a full circle moment to be able to,
Speaker 10: you know, be a fan growing up wanting to play
Speaker 10: for the University of Kentucky, then getting the opportunity, and
Speaker 10: then go into three straight regionals. So it's a great
Speaker 10: opportunity and I'm blessed to have it, And it wouldn't
Speaker 10: have been done with all the guys in the locker room,
Speaker 10: you know, the guys in the locker room, the coaches
Speaker 10: in the offices, they're doing everything what it takes for
Speaker 10: us to be success one, giving us every chance and
Speaker 10: resource that we need. So it's been really cool to
Speaker 10: see how this program has grown in this university, and
Speaker 10: it's just I love to see the joy that that
Speaker 10: brings to fans, because that's what keeps us going.
Speaker 3: Well, you know, if fans will follow this team down
Speaker 3: to Clemson. Don't know how many, but a lot of
Speaker 3: people made it to Omaha last year, and I'm sure
Speaker 3: if this team somehow gets to Omaha, you'll see Sea
Speaker 3: of Blue there as well. But Clemson's a tough place
Speaker 3: to play, they all are. However, this has been deemed
Speaker 3: one of the more winnable regionals. Clemson's good, that's why
Speaker 3: Clemson's hosting. But it's not an SEC team at all.
Speaker 3: Due respect, we know how tough that can be, so
Speaker 3: the Wildcats. Of course, you don't go to a regional
Speaker 3: hosted by an SEC team, But this is not a
Speaker 3: place that's as tough to win, say as Arkansas or
Speaker 3: LSU or Texas. Clemson's tough, tough to win on the
Speaker 3: road all the time, but again, games turn on individual moments.
Speaker 3: Make enough of those moments, you got a chance to
Speaker 3: go to a super regional. The bad news is if
Speaker 3: you win, you probably go to LSU. But I can
Speaker 3: tell you the Wildcats would accept that gratefully. Now if
Speaker 3: you told them they'd be regional champs again and we
Speaker 3: will have it for you right here. It's a noon
Speaker 3: start eleven forty five. Pregame up next to Aaron Gershan
Speaker 3: of the Cat's Paws here on six thirty WLAP Welcome back.
Speaker 3: We are chatting with Aaron Gershan of the Cats Paus
Speaker 3: who joined us usually on Wednesdays, but of course sliding
Speaker 3: everything a day for my jury duty. And it's fortuitous, Aaron,
Speaker 3: because now we can talk about Otago always decision we
Speaker 3: had talked yesterday, we would have missed it. But he
Speaker 3: is coming back. I guess, not a real shock. But
Speaker 3: are you surprised he waited till the last day?
Speaker 5: No, I don't.
Speaker 11: I don't think so at all. I think one it
Speaker 11: was just because of the schedule. You go look and
Speaker 11: he had no He had to work out with Brooklyn
Speaker 11: Mets on Tuesday.
Speaker 5: I believe.
Speaker 11: I don't know what team it was, by I know
Speaker 11: he had to work out yesterday as well. So he
Speaker 11: went through the entire process as he should. Get all feedback.
Speaker 11: You possibly can meet with every team that is going
Speaker 11: to let you in there building, see what they have
Speaker 11: to say. You know, it just takes one team right
Speaker 11: to get that promise you're looking for. And if he
Speaker 11: got it, you know, he would have been well in
Speaker 11: his right to go ahead and take it. But clearly
Speaker 11: he didn't get what he was looking for as far
Speaker 11: as that goes. And now he comes back armed with
Speaker 11: the feedback of the NBA knowing exactly what they expect
Speaker 11: from him to be a first round.
Speaker 5: Take next year.
Speaker 11: That gives him motivation for himself. And you know, I
Speaker 11: just know the competitor he is. He's already motivated for
Speaker 11: you know how well last year went, but you know
Speaker 11: a sour taste in your mouth about how it finished.
Speaker 11: So it's a I think it's a great situation for take.
Speaker 11: You know, any guy who's on the cusp like that
Speaker 11: should absolutely take it down.
Speaker 2: To the wire.
Speaker 11: And you know, you saw a couple other players pull
Speaker 11: out yesterday from the SEC. I mean you're talking some
Speaker 11: really good players, which between Otegaway, it's hot Pettiford from
Speaker 11: Auburn and then LeBaron Pylon from Alabama who said he
Speaker 11: was fully in and now he's out. So massive there
Speaker 11: for Alabama. But you know, these guys are doing what
Speaker 11: they think is best for them. And I couldn't agree
Speaker 11: more with Holloway played out the process. I thought he
Speaker 11: played his cards perfectly and it worked out for Kentucky
Speaker 11: and him at the end of the day, for sure.
Speaker 3: Do you think with Otega it's premier one, not primarily,
Speaker 3: But is it shooting as much as anything? I mean,
Speaker 3: his defense is good. I guess you can always you
Speaker 3: can always improve your handle, I know, But do you
Speaker 3: think that's what starts with him?
Speaker 5: Probably?
Speaker 11: You know, I know he doesn't have the most I
Speaker 11: don't know the word I'm looking for. It's not the
Speaker 11: most unpleasing shot. I guess the little hick she has
Speaker 11: in this three point shot. But you know, he's not
Speaker 11: a bad shooter. Thirty five percent last year, thirty seven
Speaker 11: point seven percent the year before at Oklahoma. So you know,
Speaker 11: I think it's probably that, probably some of the handle,
Speaker 11: even some decision making. You know, there are a couple
Speaker 11: of games where some of the turnovers piled up and
Speaker 11: maybe even just some you know, I wouldn't say lack
Speaker 11: of daysical plays, but you could tell frustration would get
Speaker 11: to him at some points, and he tried to do
Speaker 11: too much. And you know, luckily when he tried to
Speaker 11: do too much at Oklahoma at worked. But you know,
Speaker 11: sometimes it didn't work out. So yeah, I mean, I
Speaker 11: think it's all that combined. And look, he's a guy
Speaker 11: who has what it takes I think to be a
Speaker 11: first round pick next year. And he's a guy can
Speaker 11: play multiple positions. He's a guy that, like you said,
Speaker 11: is a great defender. He's really strong for his size.
Speaker 11: The shot is there, it's just got to be more consistent.
Speaker 11: So you know, I think all those things probably added
Speaker 11: up to him coming back at what he has gotten
Speaker 11: gone in the second round. It seems like with how
Speaker 11: he did at the combine and how he tested throughout
Speaker 11: the process. Probably but you know, why not come back
Speaker 11: when he's a chance to be a first rounder next
Speaker 11: year and come join this one, get paid more than
Speaker 11: he in the G League are on a two way
Speaker 11: and to you know, come and be a part of
Speaker 11: this roster that you know, they built it around him.
Speaker 11: At the end of the day, this is a guy
Speaker 11: that they wanted to build around for the twenty five
Speaker 11: to twenty six season, and you know, the plan kind
Speaker 11: of got finished off with an exclamation point.
Speaker 2: Yesterday, talking to.
Speaker 3: Aaron Gershain of the Cats Ball as he covers a
Speaker 3: course baseball, football and basketball and that means that you've
Speaker 3: been there more than once. When Mark Pope has talked
Speaker 3: about his offense, which is a bit different from a
Speaker 3: lot of others, not just the straight motion that everybody
Speaker 3: likes to run, and it relies heavily on decision making.
Speaker 3: And I got to think when you're in your second
Speaker 3: yar and he talked about that at his last news conference.
Speaker 3: I know you were in Florida, but you watched it online.
Speaker 3: Huh about guys in his system making that quantum leap
Speaker 3: from year one to year two, not unlike college freshman
Speaker 3: in any sport, but with the understanding and the grasp
Speaker 3: of the Mark Pope system, with their quotes, I gotta
Speaker 3: think O'll take a Oh really, anybody coming back, He's
Speaker 3: going to have a big time with with that, with
Speaker 3: that system, now that they can they can play without
Speaker 3: thinking about it. You know.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I couldn't agree more.
Speaker 11: And a couple of weeks ago, when he first made
Speaker 11: that point, I you know, put together a list of
Speaker 11: some of the guys who made second year jumps, you know,
Speaker 11: when he was at his previous offs of Utah and
Speaker 11: Utah Valley, and you know, without going through all the names,
Speaker 11: I'll just give you one. Jackson Robinson yst year at
Speaker 11: b YU, you know, wasn't bad, but he was, you know,
Speaker 11: averaging about eight points per game. He started every single game,
Speaker 11: but you know, he wasn't that knockdown shooter. He his
Speaker 11: offensive game wasn't there necessarily. And then the next year
Speaker 11: he comes back. You know, he plays most of the
Speaker 11: season off the bench, but he average, he leads the
Speaker 11: team scoring. He has his best three point shooting season
Speaker 11: in his college career. He wins Big Twelve in their
Speaker 11: first year in the Big Twelve, sixth man of the Year,
Speaker 11: and he leads BYU again in their first year in
Speaker 11: the Big Twelve, a huge jump from where they previously
Speaker 11: were at two. They finished fifth in that conference, and
Speaker 11: they end up a sixth seed in the NCAA Tournament
Speaker 11: with the Jackson Robinson as they're leading score. So you know,
Speaker 11: he obviously stands out. You know, there are other guys
Speaker 11: who have made pretty big jumps. I think off the
Speaker 11: top of my head, he had the biggest. But yeah,
Speaker 11: I think, look, I would take it away. You know,
Speaker 11: it's going to be hard for an average much more
Speaker 11: than sixteen points per game, just because of how Kentucky
Speaker 11: shifts guys in and out. But yeah, you can say
Speaker 11: I think the turnover numbers are going to go down
Speaker 11: when the surprises of the shooting percenta shows up a
Speaker 11: little bit. I think the one guy I look to
Speaker 11: the most with the second year jump because of the
Speaker 11: position he plays, Brandon Garrison, or the decision making. I mean,
Speaker 11: it has to get better, obviously, we all know that,
Speaker 11: but I think it just naturally will having a second
Speaker 11: year in the system, knowing where guys are going to be,
Speaker 11: you know, knowing your shapeabilities. You know, we'll see if
Speaker 11: he continues to develop as a three point shooter where
Speaker 11: he feels more even more comfortable, or he realizes he's
Speaker 11: a little less comfortable. You know, I'm taking some of
Speaker 11: the threes he had last year, but you know, that
Speaker 11: decision making from him at the five spot where it's
Speaker 11: the focal point in the offense, I think that's going
Speaker 11: to be the guy to keep your eye on the
Speaker 11: most for a second year jump.
Speaker 3: I am curious about Garrison and his passing. Not bad,
Speaker 3: not a Maari Williams, which it's you know, it's not
Speaker 3: fair to expect him to be Mary Williams this past year,
Speaker 3: but how much better can he be, because that's a
Speaker 3: vital part as you know, of this Mark Pope system.
Speaker 11: Yeah, it's going to be key, especially because again Jaden
Speaker 11: Quainton's is a guy we just we don't know, like
Speaker 11: he towards Stacey. Allen had surgery at the end of March,
Speaker 11: so you know, eight months. Could he be back in
Speaker 11: the court in seven and a half months. I think
Speaker 11: that would be maybe, And you know, for his case,
Speaker 11: that would be incredible and hopefully it happens, but you know,
Speaker 11: you take that, I'll be very surprised if he's right
Speaker 11: ready to go for the regular She's an opener just
Speaker 11: based on what we've seen the previous guys. But uh yeah,
Speaker 11: so it's gonna be even more because he's probably your
Speaker 11: starting five. He's going to be playing a Mari like
Speaker 11: minutes early in the season. And you know, again, like
Speaker 11: you said, I don't think he was a bad passer
Speaker 11: last year. I just think there were too many mistakes
Speaker 11: that if he's going to see expanded minutes, he's got
Speaker 11: to he's got to get rid of some of those.
Speaker 3: You know, I watched Ryan Waldschmidt come back from a
Speaker 3: torn aca, and every injury is different.
Speaker 2: I get it.
Speaker 11: This is what it was.
Speaker 3: It's just fascinating from athlete to athlete.
Speaker 2: Uh, you know. And wald Schmidt again blew his knee
Speaker 2: at the end of his.
Speaker 3: Previous year, actually was in the summertime, yeah, summer, Yeah,
Speaker 3: and pledged that he would be ready by opening day
Speaker 3: and he almost made it. You know, but every injury different,
Speaker 3: every person is different. But in every doctor I'm sure
Speaker 3: goes conservative when they talk about when's he going to be.
Speaker 11: Back exactly exactly, and you know, there's he seems to
Speaker 11: be taking this rehab process extremely, extremely seriously, which at
Speaker 11: seventeen years old. Is really impressed this because you know,
Speaker 11: who knows what the mental state could be when you
Speaker 11: have an injury at that age. But like that at
Speaker 11: that age. But you know, he's out there working every day.
Speaker 11: I saw he. You know, he's in Lexington early, you know,
Speaker 11: working with the UK staff. He I saw, you know,
Speaker 11: I don't think he was doing anything on the court,
Speaker 11: but he was standing and walking around the court right
Speaker 11: you know here in late May. So you know, all
Speaker 11: good things. I just like for the face, I just
Speaker 11: pump the brakes a little bit, like you're gonna even
Speaker 11: if he is ready, you know, I don't. I would
Speaker 11: think he's gonna be on a little bit of a
Speaker 11: pitch count too, So you know, Brendan Garrison's going to
Speaker 11: be crucial, especially all year long, but really especially in
Speaker 11: November because they don't they'll have a couple cupcake games,
Speaker 11: but they have Louisville probably second or third game of
Speaker 11: the year. They have Michigan State fourth or fifth game
Speaker 11: of the year. You know, it's a gauntlet quick.
Speaker 3: But March is where it's at and they know.
Speaker 5: That, of course.
Speaker 11: I mean, you know, of course, but those games are
Speaker 11: key for see for setting you up for March and seedings.
Speaker 3: They are We're talking Aaron gershan and the cast Balls.
Speaker 3: We'll come back and talk more basketball and some football
Speaker 3: and Aaron on the other side of the break here
Speaker 3: on six thirty WLAP Welcome back. We're talking with Aaron
Speaker 3: Gershaan of the Cats Paus. We've been talking Kentucky hoops.
Speaker 3: The Thunder will play for a title. But against whom
Speaker 3: your beloved New York Knicks man.
Speaker 2: They have run into them.
Speaker 3: The Pacers have been beating them up. Karl Anthony Tams
Speaker 3: doing what he can. It's got to be tough for
Speaker 3: you Knicks fans.
Speaker 5: Yeah, so close.
Speaker 11: And you know, the Indiana rivalry being reborn is is
Speaker 11: a good little part of it at least, you know,
Speaker 11: you don't like losing them two straight years, how it's
Speaker 11: going to look. But yeah, they've They've run into a
Speaker 11: team that's red red hot and plays a really exciting
Speaker 11: Brandon basketball And you know, people forget how good of
Speaker 11: a coach at Cardisle is. I mean, this is the
Speaker 11: guy that was doing it down in Dallas at Dirk
Speaker 11: and won that championship towards the tail end of Dirk's career.
Speaker 11: So beat the beat the dream team right with Wade,
Speaker 11: Bosh and h and Lebron. I mean, so you know,
Speaker 11: it's a they're running into a really hot team. I
Speaker 11: think at the end of the day, I'd be pretty
Speaker 11: surprised Afokse's not the team that wins at all regardless,
Speaker 11: but uh, you know, you definitely tip your cats to
Speaker 11: what Indiana's doing well.
Speaker 3: The New York media beat up Karl Anthony Towns in
Speaker 3: the offseason.
Speaker 11: He's been everything and more for them. I mean, uh,
Speaker 11: they he was a piece they really needed, clearly, and
Speaker 11: you know, the guy they should be given a hard
Speaker 11: time as as Mikel Bridges, who they traded a lot
Speaker 11: for to get to bring across town from Brooklyn, and
Speaker 11: he's been the guys that are really rough here honestly.
Speaker 3: Well, yeah, I guess anything you can expect anything from
Speaker 3: the New York media.
Speaker 2: I suppose they're the best.
Speaker 5: They're the best for a reason.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 3: Talking to Aaron Gershein of the cast Paul's covers football, baseball, basketball,
Speaker 3: You've been able to get out to some of the
Speaker 3: baseball games for the Wildcats. What kind of a shot
Speaker 3: do you give them starting tomorrow in the NCATE Tournament.
Speaker 11: Yeah, it's interesting because I was going through all these
Speaker 11: stats on the teams in the regional and you know,
Speaker 11: to me, what it comes down to is Kentucky's their
Speaker 11: starting picking does what it's capable of. They're gonna have
Speaker 11: a shot in a lot of these games because Clemson
Speaker 11: they're pretty good offensively. They have their center fielder is
Speaker 11: going to be a draft pick probably pretty early. But
Speaker 11: aside from that, they're kind of middle of the pack
Speaker 11: and the acc offensively. West Virginians lost nine of their
Speaker 11: last fourteen games.
Speaker 5: They have some.
Speaker 11: Pretty good hitters in that lineup, but you know their
Speaker 11: strength is in the pitching staff, and then usc Upstates
Speaker 11: actually the second best offense in the country. We all
Speaker 11: know their conferences. The picking is probably not at all
Speaker 11: what they're going to see in this regional but you know,
Speaker 11: they're a team that can really hit. So I think
Speaker 11: Kentucky starting pitching is going to give them a chance
Speaker 11: at all these games, and it's going to become down
Speaker 11: to their bullten, which has been where they've blown games
Speaker 11: consistently unfortunately this year. So you know, I think they're
Speaker 11: going to need that tend to kind of pitch the best.
Speaker 11: That's obviously they need to in this time of year,
Speaker 11: but specifically with these matchups. You go look at Clemson
Speaker 11: and they have an outstanding bullten. You look at West
Speaker 11: Virginia they have an outstanding bullten, and both Clemson in
Speaker 11: West Virginia also have two really good starting pitchers. Even
Speaker 11: usc Upstate has two first team All Conference starting pitchers.
Speaker 11: So I think a lot of these games, honestly, just
Speaker 11: based on on numbers throughout the year, could be pretty
Speaker 11: low scoring, which is kind of right where Kentucky has
Speaker 11: played all year. Right, not necessarily low scoring, but one
Speaker 11: run games, two run games, close games. I think you're
Speaker 11: going to see a lot of that in this regional
Speaker 11: just based on how good the pitching isn't it. And
Speaker 11: it's gonna be up to you UK's bullten. If you kids,
Speaker 11: the bullten could pitch the best it has all year.
Speaker 11: And I'm not saying that in a joking manner, but
Speaker 11: like if they show up, because they have at times
Speaker 11: like they picked really well Innoxville, which is not an
Speaker 11: easy place to pitch. If they can do that, I
Speaker 11: think they have a chance because I don't like again
Speaker 11: USC Upstate on paper statistically as they've seven hitters in
Speaker 11: the line of hitting about three hundred, like two in
Speaker 11: the high three nineties, one at four hundreds. So like statistically,
Speaker 11: these offenses that they're playing against their beatable. It's going
Speaker 11: to be a matter of Kim the Bullfen holds it
Speaker 11: down for me and Kim starting pitching do what it's
Speaker 11: done all year, which has been pretty pretty dark good.
Speaker 3: Kentucky has played at USC Upstate, believe it or not,
Speaker 3: at least a couple.
Speaker 11: Of I worked the game they opened last season there, yeah, you.
Speaker 3: Know, and and they've played their other times, so I
Speaker 3: can tell you that ballpark is conducive to offense. But
Speaker 3: to that point, they've got pretty good pitching as well.
Speaker 3: And this West Virginia team Kentucky's facing is kind of
Speaker 3: a mirror image of UK.
Speaker 2: Isn't it.
Speaker 11: Yeah, well, West Virginia had a better regular season. Obviously,
Speaker 11: they won the Big Twelve regular season title, but they're
Speaker 11: coming in limping a little bit. They've struggled down the scratch,
Speaker 11: they've lost them series, they didn't go far in the
Speaker 11: in the Big Fall Tournament, and that's really why they're
Speaker 11: not hosting. They were if you go look at all
Speaker 11: the projections because Kentucky has been on the ball for
Speaker 11: two months and a lot of those projections had them
Speaker 11: in the Morgantown Regional. They're not hosting a regional because
Speaker 11: they've had a rough last three weeks this season. So
Speaker 11: but still they're the Big Twelve regular season champions. That's,
Speaker 11: you know, probably the second best baseball conference by the SEC. Well,
Speaker 11: I say third, ACC is probably second, but you know,
Speaker 11: the Big Twelve is not a bad baseball conference by
Speaker 11: any means. They have several teams in this tournament. Arizona
Speaker 11: I believe might be hosting. I'm not sure if it's
Speaker 11: top my head. But you know, a good, good baseball
Speaker 11: conference that they went out and won. But you know
Speaker 11: they're kind of they're not playing the best ball at
Speaker 11: the right time. So we'll see. It's gonna be Tomorrow
Speaker 11: is gonna be. I think it's one of the best
Speaker 11: first round matchups on paper in the entire tournament with
Speaker 11: these two teams. So it's gonna be a lot of fun,
Speaker 11: meaning some on Friday. And you know, you just got
Speaker 11: to win the first one. Oh yeah, really when you
Speaker 11: if you lose the first one, I'd love to know
Speaker 11: what the stats are. Man, it can't be good.
Speaker 5: But well, you know, even.
Speaker 11: If you win the if you win the first and
Speaker 11: lose the second, you're still you know it's hard, but
Speaker 11: give a chance. But losing the first one really put
Speaker 11: to you in an almost impossible position.
Speaker 3: Oh it scram as you're pitching now. Kentucky and or
Speaker 3: MinJe On has twice come out of what they don't
Speaker 3: like to call it that the loser's bracket to win
Speaker 3: the regional but I think those teams were deeper and
Speaker 3: weren't dealing that clearly with the injuries that this team
Speaker 3: is a couple of minutes left with Aaron Gershin last
Speaker 3: week spoke to you. You were getting ready to do
Speaker 3: your interviews for the upcoming football yearbook with the coordinators.
Speaker 3: I know you're still working on that stuff. And without
Speaker 3: giving away the store, what can you tell us? Can
Speaker 3: you tease us a little bit with what you got?
Speaker 11: No question, I'd say we'll start defense. Brad White is
Speaker 11: very you know, he's very very confident in this group.
Speaker 11: Actually probably opened up you see White and soups phyfically
Speaker 11: and handed in to an extent. But I think he'll
Speaker 11: give you a little more. They really have shied away
Speaker 11: from player praise because they don't want those clippings right
Speaker 11: where guys maybe read into them and and hype themselves up.
Speaker 11: You know when you go read it, Brad raddled off
Speaker 11: like more guys than I could have thought off. So
Speaker 11: he's very high. Yeah, I was pretty surprised by it, honestly,
Speaker 11: And you know, he he was very forthcoming with how
Speaker 11: much he's expecting from a lot of a lot of
Speaker 11: specific guys. So he's very very high on this unit
Speaker 11: and the depth they have, So that that was encouraging
Speaker 11: to me. And then offensively, you know with Bush, he
Speaker 11: was it was it was definitely fun because there's so
Speaker 11: much new. I mean, there's a lot new in the defense,
Speaker 11: but the offense is just I mean, what do they
Speaker 11: have back to starters Jalen Farmer and Josh Tattis and
Speaker 11: then Jagger Burton you can throw him in there as well.
Speaker 11: Like it is, just there's just so much new, So,
Speaker 11: you know, getting his perspective really for the first time,
Speaker 11: and a couple of guys that maybe we didn't get
Speaker 11: to touch on in the spring during those interviews. You know,
Speaker 11: a little bit more on bat Calzada while they believe
Speaker 11: in him, a little bit more on you know, the
Speaker 11: cutter Bowley and his process and you know why, you
Speaker 11: know what made him you know, stick around and be
Speaker 11: patient through it all because you know, in this area
Speaker 11: it's just so different. So, you know, a lot of
Speaker 11: good stuff there. Definitely interesting. There's a tidbit of the
Speaker 11: running backs that I thought was really interesting that you
Speaker 11: have to read it. It definitely seems like they're going
Speaker 11: to rely on the two seniors first and foremost, so
Speaker 11: they're not two seniors, two veterans. Yeah, McGowan and done
Speaker 11: so uh yeah, good stuff there.
Speaker 3: Okay, well we'll check it out. And we will talk
Speaker 3: further with Aaron Gershawan as the summer unfolds. Thank you, sir.
Speaker 3: Follow him on a gershan ninety nine on Twitter and
Speaker 3: in the pages or the website cats Pause part of
Speaker 3: the two four seven network. Talk to you next week
Speaker 3: You Got It Power number two with Sean Woods and
Speaker 3: Gary Moore Next on six thirty w l apt.
Speaker 12: Tact Can.
Speaker 3: Anything Then, Welcome back to the Big bluee Sider. Usually
Speaker 3: we talked to shutting Woods on Wednesdays Jerry duty bumps
Speaker 3: us to Thursday my jury duty, So coach, welcome back
Speaker 3: to day late. I know you probably weren't surprised that
Speaker 3: o'takeo away made the decision he did, but the fact
Speaker 3: that it went to the last day did that surprise you?
Speaker 3: I mean, I know he was just trying to get
Speaker 3: every bit of information he could.
Speaker 5: No, it didn't surprised me, because that's his ultimate dream
Speaker 5: and he want He had to go to the last
Speaker 5: workout for the last team UH to to get all
Speaker 5: the information that he needed to see if he can
Speaker 5: move the needle a little bit as far as his
Speaker 5: draft status was concerned. And then when he got everything
Speaker 5: that he needed, you know, he just compared the news,
Speaker 5: and and and and and decided that, you know, coming
Speaker 5: back to the UK would be the best situation for him.
Speaker 5: Not only does he get to prove, you know, and
Speaker 5: become better at with the things that he needs to
Speaker 5: work on. And also you know, he would have taken
Speaker 5: a major pay cut, you know, being a late first
Speaker 5: round or a second round pick, compared to the money
Speaker 5: he's going to get coming back to the UK. So
Speaker 5: I think it's a win win for him. He gets
Speaker 5: another crack at trying to get Kentucky to where they
Speaker 5: need to be. I'm sure Mark Pope and his staff
Speaker 5: is ecstatic about it, because my opinion was if he
Speaker 5: didn't come back, it was going to be a major
Speaker 5: blow to Kentucky just because of what he presents and
Speaker 5: brings to this team, because the last month or so
Speaker 5: he carried Kentucky on his back, and to have that
Speaker 5: type of caliber player coming back in this day and age,
Speaker 5: with all these transfers and things like that, it's big
Speaker 5: time for us. And with the additions now he gets
Speaker 5: to show those new kids got to remember they're still
Speaker 5: new and even though they come from major programs or
Speaker 5: whatever whatever, you know, you still got to have some
Speaker 5: guys coming back from experience of knowing how you do things,
Speaker 5: and he can be a leader on this team. And
Speaker 5: now Mark Pope's opinion about him is much different than
Speaker 5: it was him coming in. Mark didn't think that he
Speaker 5: would be this good. I'm just telling you, I don't
Speaker 5: think he did did exactly. So now Mark knows what
Speaker 5: he's getting. He's getting a guy that he can depend on,
Speaker 5: a guy that he can ride with another and a
Speaker 5: guy that can really be a major presence from a
Speaker 5: toughness standpoint that Kentucky lacked last year. So you know,
Speaker 5: he sets the standard and it's good. You know, you
Speaker 5: got to have guys in your program that's at the
Speaker 5: standard that helps you build your program and continue. And
Speaker 5: what better way to bring Otiga back. I'm ecstatic. I'm
Speaker 5: happy for UK basketball. It's a great day to be
Speaker 5: a Wildcat because he's coming back. And I'm sure Mark
Speaker 5: is too.
Speaker 3: Yeah, all right, that's a lot to unpack, so let's
Speaker 3: do it. He had to go and get as much
Speaker 3: information as he could. If you were talking to Oway
Speaker 3: and you walk the same path you had an NBA tryout,
Speaker 3: you're a professional coach, So if you were one of
Speaker 3: those people sharing information with him, sharing observations. Not that
Speaker 3: you're trying to tell Mark Pope out of coaching team,
Speaker 3: but what would you say to take away, Well, this.
Speaker 5: Is the thing you got to worry about. Does he
Speaker 5: become selfish? Does he come back and worrying about getting
Speaker 5: doing the things from a personal standpoint that he needs
Speaker 5: to to try to make the NBA? You know, is
Speaker 5: he is he going to buy into the team concept?
Speaker 5: What is his role going to be this year? You
Speaker 5: know what I'm saying. I'm sure he's gonna want more touches.
Speaker 5: He's gonna want more opportunities to score instead of being
Speaker 5: an opportunist. You know, he's gonna want to be the guy.
Speaker 5: So now the whole mindset changes how you coach him.
Speaker 5: What's his mindset going to be coming back? What is
Speaker 5: going to be What are going to be his expectations
Speaker 5: from Mark Pope as far as how he's going to
Speaker 5: use them. You know what I'm saying, the better his
Speaker 5: chances of getting to the NBA, because I'm telling you
Speaker 5: right now, that's what he's more concerned about, more so
Speaker 5: than winning the national championship. I bet you that that's
Speaker 5: just being human. Nothing wrong with it. So they got
Speaker 5: to come to an agreement and meet you know, me me,
Speaker 5: you know the meaning of the minds on how we're
Speaker 5: going to do this. You know what's going to look like.
Speaker 5: Because I'm sure he's as to Mark Pope, you know,
Speaker 5: what's my role going to be on this team this year?
Speaker 5: Am I gonna be the go to guy? You know?
Speaker 5: So on and so forth. So there's some conversation going
Speaker 5: on right now. And I'm sure because here's the deal,
Speaker 5: he still has an opportunity to leave and go transfer,
Speaker 5: just like all these other guys. You know, look at
Speaker 5: look at Boogie Flann. You know, he didn't he didn't
Speaker 5: get the information that he wanted, you know, going to
Speaker 5: the NBA, and he doesn't go back to Arkansas. You know,
Speaker 5: I mean, you never know how this thing works out.
Speaker 5: So I'm hoping that his he and Mark Pope can
Speaker 5: come to an agreement and to where he's still bought
Speaker 5: in as far as what the mission is from a
Speaker 5: team standpoint.
Speaker 3: And I know that social media being what it is,
Speaker 3: you're just kind of take it at face value. But
Speaker 3: and I don't know if you saw his announcement on Instagram,
Speaker 3: but i'd have a hard time seeing him. And I'm
Speaker 3: not talking with my heart either. I'm just saying, you know,
Speaker 3: to make his announcement the way he did based on
Speaker 3: what he said, and that's that's today, that's May. That's
Speaker 3: not the basketball season.
Speaker 5: I didn't I didn't. I didn't hear it. So tell
Speaker 5: me what he said.
Speaker 3: Well, he just basically was in UK gear at the
Speaker 3: Craft Center, saying that he found a new home in Kentucky,
Speaker 3: you know, and he wants to come back and do
Speaker 3: it all over again at Kentucky. And of course he
Speaker 3: recorded it back before he began his NBA trip. But
Speaker 3: that's that's only makes common sense, you know, if you
Speaker 3: want to do it in the UK gear in election
Speaker 3: and you're going to do this before you take off
Speaker 3: for all these different workouts all over the country. But
Speaker 3: it was clearly a big blue announcement. Now and you're right,
Speaker 3: I mean, something can change between now and then. I'd
Speaker 3: be shocked if he left, especially based on I would.
Speaker 5: Be shocked if he left too. But I'm just saying
Speaker 5: it could have a day's world, that's right. You never
Speaker 5: know what how these kids think, you know what I mean?
Speaker 5: You know that that's all I'm saying, you know, guys,
Speaker 5: you know that's the reason why we got the guys
Speaker 5: that we got. Yeah, you know, we got a top
Speaker 5: player from Florida who's a six man on their on
Speaker 5: the national championship team, and he wanted to go somewhere
Speaker 5: because he didn't know or he didn't you know, he
Speaker 5: didn't like the role that it was going to be
Speaker 5: presented to him, you know, going back, So he went
Speaker 5: somewhere else to start a new you know, And that's
Speaker 5: just how these guys think.
Speaker 3: So does Mark Pope do you think tweak? I'm not
Speaker 3: going to say change the way he perceives a way
Speaker 3: within his offense, because you know, I don't think anything
Speaker 3: major is going to happen, But does he tweak the
Speaker 3: way he uses a way and what he expects from
Speaker 3: him and things like that.
Speaker 5: Always going to expect that, you know, he's going to
Speaker 5: expect to be a go to guy, you know, and
Speaker 5: rightfully so he earned it, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 5: I mean, he put Kentucky on his back the last
Speaker 5: month of the season. You know, when everybody was gone,
Speaker 5: he was the only guy that can't go get a
Speaker 5: bucket on his own. So now you got some players
Speaker 5: that can go get a bucket. You know, the dynamics
Speaker 5: and the landscape has changed. He wants to know, because
Speaker 5: of his future, how he's going to be used, and
Speaker 5: you know, he's human. Is he going to be a
Speaker 5: little bit more selfish? Is he going to force a
Speaker 5: little some more shots more so than he did this year?
Speaker 5: I would be shocked that he didn't, because he's a
Speaker 5: competitor and he wants to be a pros.
Speaker 3: How much of that, though, Sean, depends on what the
Speaker 3: pros told him. I mean, I'm sure they said a lot.
Speaker 5: They want to see some things that he didn't show,
Speaker 5: and he's going to try to show them. And does
Speaker 5: that fit into what Mark Pope does?
Speaker 3: What do you think?
Speaker 5: What do you think?
Speaker 3: What do you think that he needs to show them
Speaker 3: just as a guy who's observed his game, that.
Speaker 5: He can be a more of a consistent shooter. One.
Speaker 5: Two Can he really take you off the bounce and
Speaker 5: be a two guard in the NBA, because right now
Speaker 5: he's not a break you down guy. He's only six four, okay,
Speaker 5: and six four to two guards sit in the corner
Speaker 5: and let the point guard make all the decisions and
Speaker 5: you got to be the one who's knocking down open
Speaker 5: jump shots consistently. And then on the other hand, I
Speaker 5: think really is really good at I think he's really
Speaker 5: good at being a major, high level defender. So I
Speaker 5: think they liked that part about him. They just want
Speaker 5: to seek how good he is on the offensive end,
Speaker 5: especially when it comes down to knocking down shots on
Speaker 5: a consistent basis. So I'm sure that's the major deal
Speaker 5: right there. And his ballhander for sure too.
Speaker 3: I'll tell you what to hear you talk about his
Speaker 3: defense that way. That's high praise because you appreciate a
Speaker 3: good defensive guard.
Speaker 5: I'm telling you right now, him and my butler were
Speaker 5: textbook on how hard and how tenacious you should be
Speaker 5: on the defensive end. And those two, right there were
Speaker 5: the two guys that Kentucky cannot live without. As you saw,
Speaker 5: either one or both had to be on the floor
Speaker 5: at the same time all the time in order for
Speaker 5: us to have a chance from a competitive stand and
Speaker 5: toughness standpoint.
Speaker 3: Yeah, interesting, we're talking to Sean Woods, the unforgettable guard.
Speaker 3: His jersey hangs in the rafters of rup. We'll come
Speaker 3: back and talk more basketball with a for a while,
Speaker 3: talking back chatting with the unforgettable guard, Sean Woods, the
Speaker 3: head coach of.
Speaker 2: Scott Gunny High School.
Speaker 3: We were talking before the break about Otega Ohway, a
Speaker 3: couple more questions about the return of the UK guard.
Speaker 3: Jack Gibbons was on with Tom Leach. I played the
Speaker 3: comment on my show. I think it was last week
Speaker 3: when he talked about Sean how valuable the information is
Speaker 3: of course that these kids get. We always look at
Speaker 3: Antonio Reeves as a guy who elevated his game thanks
Speaker 3: to what the the NBA scouts told him and the
Speaker 3: gms and coaches, and Jack said, man, if I had
Speaker 3: had that information when I was playing, because Jack was
Speaker 3: a three at Kentucky, tried to play two in the
Speaker 3: NBA and was undersize, really needed, he said, to be
Speaker 3: a point guard, but by the time he got to
Speaker 3: the league, his handle wasn't good enough because he didn't
Speaker 3: really know or think that he had to work on
Speaker 3: that in the college game. He said, if scouts had
Speaker 3: told me that while I was playing, course back then
Speaker 3: and back when you were playing, you weren't allowed to
Speaker 3: get that kind of interaction with the NBA scouts, And
Speaker 3: you know, I know people get nervous when kids go
Speaker 3: off and test the NBA waters. But it turns out
Speaker 3: to be really really valuable.
Speaker 2: Info, doesn't it.
Speaker 5: Oh, no doubt about it. And you know now you
Speaker 5: know the way things are and how easy it is
Speaker 5: to transfer. You know when you get that information. Now
Speaker 5: kids are in their parents and their their their their
Speaker 5: their their gurus or whatever their agents. They're looking, Okay,
Speaker 5: this is what this is the information we got from
Speaker 5: the NBA. This is what they need to see from you.
Speaker 5: Now you go back to your coach wherever you come from,
Speaker 5: you'll be like, Okay, this is what the NBA said.
Speaker 5: This is what he's going to need to show. Are
Speaker 5: you going to allow him to do that? Putting him
Speaker 5: in those situations to show that he can do these things?
Speaker 5: Those conversations happen, you know more so than you think.
Speaker 5: I mean, that's one of the major conversations. You know,
Speaker 5: how do I fit in this system? You know, if
Speaker 5: you're not going to use me this way that the
Speaker 5: coach that the pros need to see, then I need
Speaker 5: to go somewhere else where I can show this a
Speaker 5: part of my game. And that's the reason why you
Speaker 5: see guys who coming back testa wasn't come back and
Speaker 5: go to another school like Boogie. Flynn knows that he's
Speaker 5: not gonna be able to dribble the air out of
Speaker 5: the ball at Arkansas anymore because when he left from
Speaker 5: with that injury, Arkansas got better. So Kv's not gonna
Speaker 5: bring that back. And he's got to be honest with him.
Speaker 5: You're not gonna dominate the ball as much as you
Speaker 5: did because that's not what this team needs. So not
Speaker 5: what did Billie Flynn do? He goes to Florida take
Speaker 5: steps into the role that the best guard in the
Speaker 5: NCAA tournament had and he wants to be able to
Speaker 5: put to do those and have that same type of
Speaker 5: freedom to do that. So you know, I'm sure Otega
Speaker 5: is going to be coming back and have those conversations
Speaker 5: if he hadn't already. But Mark about, Okay, what is
Speaker 5: my role going to be? You know, this is my
Speaker 5: you know, I need to do this, this and that
Speaker 5: in order to enhance my chances of becoming a you know,
Speaker 5: getting drafted in the first round next year.
Speaker 3: Wants to be the next Walter Clayton.
Speaker 5: That's right, you know what I'm saying. So, you know,
Speaker 5: a taker's got to come back. And I'm sure they're
Speaker 5: having those conversations with Pope on what's my role going
Speaker 5: to be? You know what I'm saying, Are you gonna
Speaker 5: run more pin downs for me and things like that
Speaker 5: for me to show these scouts that I can shoot
Speaker 5: the basketball? Now? Guess what? Now we now Mark has
Speaker 5: to make a decision. Okay, you are a sub thirty shooter, okay,
Speaker 5: and you want me to run plays for you and
Speaker 5: this is not who you really really are, but you're
Speaker 5: trying to prove to the scouts that this is who
Speaker 5: you are. So now you know what I'm saying that
Speaker 5: there's a tug on do you do show what's right
Speaker 5: for the kid to help him, or do you do
Speaker 5: what's right and make his role what it needs to
Speaker 5: be to benefit the team. So those are the things
Speaker 5: that shoot that that those are the conversations that are
Speaker 5: that they are having this moment.
Speaker 3: Well, if he does the right work, and again look
Speaker 3: at Antonio Reeves. You know, it all fill into place
Speaker 3: for a different kind of player, I know, but it
Speaker 3: all kind of fell into place for him. Or talking
Speaker 3: to Sean Woods, the Unforgettable guard, head coach at Scott
Speaker 3: County high school. And of course we're talking about oh
Speaker 3: take Always decision. You talked about how Always carried this team,
Speaker 3: which he really did down the stretch. And he is
Speaker 3: a veteran now coming back, not just a veteran of
Speaker 3: UK basketball but college basketball. But you know, he's spent
Speaker 3: a year in Lexton and he's worked in the Mark
Speaker 3: Pope system. He knows what it's like to be coached
Speaker 3: by Mark Pope. You've got brand new players coming in
Speaker 3: once again, and it's kind of an obvious question, Sean,
Speaker 3: but how vital is that for Olway to be a
Speaker 3: leader and to take these guys aside and say, you know,
Speaker 3: I know this is kind of a new offensive system
Speaker 3: to you, but here's how we do things here that
Speaker 3: that's invaluable, isn't it all?
Speaker 5: Without a doubt, You can't. You can't teach experience. You can't.
Speaker 5: And the more guys you got them and back, the
Speaker 5: better you are. And that's the reason why you know,
Speaker 5: the Connecticuts had their run because they had they didn't
Speaker 5: have that many transfers. That's the reason why Houston is
Speaker 5: Houston because they don't have that many transfers. So you know,
Speaker 5: you give me a stable program. Those are the programs
Speaker 5: are going to be the elite and more consistent because
Speaker 5: anytime you get seven, eight nine new guys coming from
Speaker 5: different places, it takes a while for them to jail,
Speaker 5: you know, on both ends of the court. And you know,
Speaker 5: now you got to worry about buying in because these
Speaker 5: these guys are freshmen. They're grown already, so they already
Speaker 5: got that mindset, you know, how they do things or
Speaker 5: how they respond, so on and so forth. So it's major.
Speaker 5: I mean, these coaches have a lot to deal with
Speaker 5: with this transfer situation because you know, putting a team
Speaker 5: together every single year, guys coming from this place in
Speaker 5: that place, it's tough, you know, and and continuity and
Speaker 5: rhythm and things like that goes a long way, as
Speaker 5: you know. So that's the thing that the beauty of
Speaker 5: him coming back is he can set the standard, especially
Speaker 5: how tough you got to be defensively, Yeah, you know,
Speaker 5: how you respond and you know, a player led team
Speaker 5: is a really good team. A coach led team is
Speaker 5: you know, has a chance, no doubt about it. But
Speaker 5: a player led team, can you know, is something special.
Speaker 3: This is going to be an interesting mix though. You've
Speaker 3: got you know, some guys coming back, not many. You've
Speaker 3: got the brand new faces through the portal. Plus you've
Speaker 3: got a pretty good freshman class coming in, you know,
Speaker 3: if you if you believe in the systems, you know,
Speaker 3: the four star, five star systems, and all Pope's got
Speaker 3: a pretty good freshman class. It's an interesting blend which
Speaker 3: could lead to some continuity in a program. And in
Speaker 3: a time of college basketball, college sports in general, or
Speaker 3: continuity is almost unheard of. That really makes me curious,
Speaker 3: you know what I mean.
Speaker 5: No doubt about it, you know. And you know, you
Speaker 5: got freshmen coming in who's new to the system. You
Speaker 5: got older guys who who they hadn't played this way
Speaker 5: come into the system, you know. And and the beauty
Speaker 5: of it is the majority of the country has to
Speaker 5: deal with the same thing, you know what I mean.
Speaker 5: So you don't have a monopoly on this situation. And
Speaker 5: you're not the only one who's going through these trials.
Speaker 5: So you know, who's ever the better coach who can
Speaker 5: get their team to to jail, you know, at the
Speaker 5: right times. You know, that's why early I don't get
Speaker 5: in a pickle when we beat or lose against you know,
Speaker 5: the Gonzagas or things like that, and no Valie December,
Speaker 5: because every team is trying to figure themselves out getting
Speaker 5: ready for the conference run. You know. Now now you're
Speaker 5: trying to see how consistent you are once you get
Speaker 5: into the conference that leads to the tournament. So that's
Speaker 5: the most important deal right now. You know, the pre
Speaker 5: conference games or must see TV that that that's made
Speaker 5: for TV and things like that. But the conference is
Speaker 5: when you get into the meat potatoes and hopefully your
Speaker 5: team is jelling at the right time, you know, especially
Speaker 5: that time when that comes about.
Speaker 3: Hey, just a couple of minutes left. But you're Indiana Pacers. Man,
Speaker 3: they're looking pretty good now. You know, everybody was excited
Speaker 3: about the Knicks and Karl Anthony Towns, and why not.
Speaker 3: They're beating up the Knicks. They're about to win the
Speaker 3: Eastern Conference.
Speaker 5: A well coached team, a well defensive team, a team
Speaker 5: that shares the basketball, a team that's full of equal
Speaker 5: opportunity on offense. They don't depend on just one or
Speaker 5: two guys. That's the reason why the Indiana Pacers are
Speaker 5: so dangerous. And then okay, see the same way. I
Speaker 5: know our guy got MVP, but man, he's got a
Speaker 5: great supporting cast. These two teams remind me of the
Speaker 5: Golden State Warriors years ago when Stephanan really had it going.
Speaker 5: You you had Steph Curry at Klay Thompson, but their
Speaker 5: role players is what made that team as great as
Speaker 5: they was. And I think the same thing goes to
Speaker 5: Indiana Pacers and OKC. Now you got Holliburton, who's the
Speaker 5: main guy for Indiana, But then you got our guy
Speaker 5: who's the main guy for for OKC. But man, their
Speaker 5: teammates are just as good and just as dangerous as
Speaker 5: any any teams. That both teams are as deep as
Speaker 5: any team in an NBA. And that's the reason why
Speaker 5: they're playing as good as they are.
Speaker 3: And they might be the best defensive teams in the NBA.
Speaker 3: And I know people believe like to believe they don't
Speaker 3: play defense in the NBA. Of course they do. Good
Speaker 3: teams do. And these are the best teams.
Speaker 5: Oh there. I mean, the OKC made Minnesota look like
Speaker 5: a high school, you know, the way they just smothered
Speaker 5: them defensively, kept them uncomfortable. And then you got the
Speaker 5: Indiana Paciers, who's making it tough for Brunson. You know
Speaker 5: the way he just can't dominate the game, you know,
Speaker 5: so those that's the reason why. And I'll tell you
Speaker 5: what that's why. And I think that Mark Pope is
Speaker 5: going to be different this year. You know, he came
Speaker 5: in wanting to just show how good offensively he was.
Speaker 5: But now he's got to really put that same type
Speaker 5: of energy and effort on the other end for him
Speaker 5: to have an opportunity to move forward with this program.
Speaker 3: He is Sean Woods, the unforgettable Guard. We talked to
Speaker 3: him each and every week, the head coach of Scott
Speaker 3: County High Coach. Thanks so much. We'll chat again next week.
Speaker 5: Looking forward to a day up next.
Speaker 3: West End Bureau Chief Gary Moore here on six thirty
Speaker 3: WLAP Welcome back to the Big Moon Sider. As I've
Speaker 3: mentioned a couple of times, we had the best of
Speaker 3: the Big Moon Sider last night. Because of jury duty
Speaker 3: for yours, truly happy to serve if chosen. Course, that
Speaker 3: means we have to slide our Wednesday guess to Thursday.
Speaker 3: Including west End Bureau Chief Gary Moore, he is on
Speaker 3: with us.
Speaker 2: He is guy. He's a guy with a lot on
Speaker 2: his mind.
Speaker 13: Two guys in a six pack and I did dury
Speaker 13: duty a couple of years ago here in Louisville, send.
Speaker 2: Some guys to the chair.
Speaker 13: Didn't want to do it. I felt I owed it
Speaker 13: to him. I'm just kidding anything for a caddy shack,
Speaker 13: you know.
Speaker 2: All right?
Speaker 13: All right, here we go, first swig in the six pack.
Speaker 13: We got six of them here, Dick, It's official.
Speaker 2: We got proof.
Speaker 3: Kentucky is a baseball state.
Speaker 2: YEP.
Speaker 13: For any doubters or haters. All these games are tomorrow
Speaker 13: high noon, Clemson Regional UK against your dad's alma mater,
Speaker 13: West Virginia's Right two pm, Nashville Louisville and East Tennessee
Speaker 13: State four pm. And Oxford my WKU Toppers and Georgia Tech.
Speaker 13: And then at eight in the evening down in Oxford,
Speaker 13: my hometown Murray State Racers. An old mess and what
Speaker 13: we had hoped for. We've been talking about this during
Speaker 13: the spring. Here on two guys in six pack happened.
Speaker 13: The four best D one teams in the state now
Speaker 13: all have a shot the College World Series.
Speaker 2: Hallelujah.
Speaker 13: First of all, UK, and don't call me a homer here,
Speaker 13: although I love the Simpsons, but I like UK's chances
Speaker 13: in this regional Dick. I have to be honest, I'm
Speaker 13: not impressed with West Virginia's wins.
Speaker 2: Cats played a much tougher schedule.
Speaker 13: In fact, you know, West Virginia didn't play a ranked
Speaker 13: team until the very last weekend of the season and
Speaker 13: they lost all three twenty three to Kansas.
Speaker 2: That's right, you know about UK stuff schedule.
Speaker 13: But I got to ask you, are the Cats healthy?
Speaker 13: We know they rested. If they play like they played
Speaker 13: in Knoxville, I like their chances. If they played like
Speaker 13: they played at Vandy, not so much.
Speaker 3: Yeah, although I broke it down and like for twenty
Speaker 3: to twenty seven or twenty eight innings, they were ahead.
Speaker 2: Of Vandy right all those games.
Speaker 3: So if they play like they played in the early
Speaker 3: portions of those games, yeah, But you're right, Tennessee. They
Speaker 3: played with a swagger with confidence from the very first
Speaker 3: pitch of the very first game. And the answer to
Speaker 3: your first question, no, they're not healthy, but it's been
Speaker 3: something they've been dealing with, so they've had a chance
Speaker 3: to adjust and they move guys around. Players have taken
Speaker 3: the opportunity to accel well when they get in there.
Speaker 3: So no, you'd love to have the pitchers, the position
Speaker 3: players they're missing, but the guys who have had the
Speaker 3: opportunity to play now have experience, have innings behind them.
Speaker 2: So that's going to be big as any team one
Speaker 2: hundred percent healthy. Yeah, that's true. That's true.
Speaker 3: By the way, Western Kentucky that's a tough draw. Georgia
Speaker 3: Tech playing on emotion, their coaches going out, Hall of
Speaker 3: Fame guy, great coach, and Murray State's playing an Ole
Speaker 3: Miss team that's really playing well now, swept Kentucky earlier
Speaker 3: in the year. Great coach, great great program. But we
Speaker 3: root for all Kentucky teams, and.
Speaker 13: Like Nick said, UK's by what nine plays away from
Speaker 13: winning the whole conference again?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 13: Crazy, our second swig here, good news, bad news deal
Speaker 13: for Louisville, the good news being, of course, just a
Speaker 13: three hour drive from here to Nashville for Cards fans.
Speaker 13: Bad obviously, they're in the same regional with not only
Speaker 13: the champs of the best baseball conference, but the overall
Speaker 13: number one.
Speaker 2: Seed and the Vandy Boys.
Speaker 13: Mistake here for U of L would be the look
Speaker 13: past these Buccaneers. East Tennessee State has a team batting
Speaker 13: average of three thirteen. That's eighteenth in the nation. Louisville's
Speaker 13: thirty third in the nation. We've talked about them batting
Speaker 13: all season, but there they are below ETSU three h
Speaker 13: six East Tennessee's twenty ninth in the country team ERA
Speaker 13: of four point four to four Louisville who boy one
Speaker 13: hundred and twenty second in the nation with a five
Speaker 13: point seven to two ERA, and East Tennessee is also
Speaker 13: a better fielding team as well. Maybe losing the Bellerman
Speaker 13: in the regular season, then the pit and the acc
Speaker 13: were wake up calls for Dan McDonald's boys. They know
Speaker 13: they can beat Vandy, but you think this could be
Speaker 13: a trap game before any rematches with the Doors that
Speaker 13: they're looking ahead to.
Speaker 3: Yeah, any first round game in the NCAA is because
Speaker 3: East Tennessee, you know, is not going to be cuted
Speaker 3: when it's pitching. They're going to come at Louisville with
Speaker 3: everything they can and try to just win and survive,
Speaker 3: win and move on. You're right about the pitching ul
Speaker 3: and I kind of throw out the first Kentucky game
Speaker 3: because for both teams it was played in just frigid conditions.
Speaker 3: But when Kentucky blew out the Cardinals in Lexington, I
Speaker 3: was stunned at how weak Louisville's pitching was. I know,
Speaker 3: you don't get the weekend guys. Obviously in the midweek games,
Speaker 3: but generally the bullpen has been a real strength for
Speaker 3: Dann McDonald's teams through the years, and it has not
Speaker 3: been this year. So that would concern me more than anything.
Speaker 3: As for Vandy, think about this, Kentucky could have won
Speaker 3: won two or all three games.
Speaker 2: Yep, yep. What if that had happened?
Speaker 3: Any combination let's say, two or three wins by the
Speaker 3: Wildcats this weekend would have completely changed the picture at
Speaker 3: the top of the nca tournament. Vandy probably would not
Speaker 3: have been the overall number one seed, still would have hosted,
Speaker 3: but we look a little differently at Mandy. So that's
Speaker 3: just college baseball.
Speaker 2: I got another good would have could have?
Speaker 13: Should it here in a second, But first their third
Speaker 13: swig talking about Mi alma Mater WKU winning their first
Speaker 13: ever Conference USA title. To review, they had not one,
Speaker 13: not two, but three walk off wins in the tournament.
Speaker 13: So the heart attack Hilltoppers, like you said, tough opener
Speaker 13: and Oxford with really they were the number one seed
Speaker 13: Georgia Tech in the ACC tournament. The Hilltoppers have been
Speaker 13: at the top of the pitching stats all season. We've
Speaker 13: talked about that, albeit against not the toughest schedule compared
Speaker 13: to the teams from the other Big Four conferences, but
Speaker 13: still the Toppers are now third in the nation three
Speaker 13: point three five ERA, Georgia Tech thirteenth in the nation.
Speaker 13: They're batting at a three to fifteen batting average. Oh
Speaker 13: but so is Western three to fifteen average and seventeen
Speaker 13: more hits in Georgia Tech. If the Tops can get
Speaker 13: past the Ramblin wreck, I think they're more than capable
Speaker 13: of doing more damage that having to have beaten Dallas
Speaker 13: Baptists two out of three in Dallas, and they beat
Speaker 13: UK there down in Bowling Green. Actually, whatever happens, it's
Speaker 13: been a hell of a season. But I hope it
Speaker 13: continues for the Toppers.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and let's not overlook that Dallas Baptist series. And
Speaker 3: you know, I remember when I lived down there, I
Speaker 3: would drive past their campus and I'm like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 3: Dallas Baptist. Well, now nobody's saying that about their baseball program,
Speaker 3: not at all. They've got a really, really good one.
Speaker 3: And that Western Kentucky went over Uk again, another game
Speaker 3: where Kentucky.
Speaker 2: Led and let it get away.
Speaker 3: Western Kentucky played with so much confidence and so much
Speaker 3: swagger in that game, I thought, and you know, having
Speaker 3: a game in Bowling Green. It was in a drizzle,
Speaker 3: so it's not like the crowd was lifting it right,
Speaker 3: but they just I just was really impressed with Al.
Speaker 3: The topper just kept coming at him and shut him down.
Speaker 2: Fourth swig here in the six pack he talked about this.
Speaker 13: You know, we've got Western's former OVC partner and arch
Speaker 13: rivals still kind of sort of Murray State Missoo Valley
Speaker 13: Conference champions. Murray not only beat Western there in Murray,
Speaker 13: but they also beat like you said, uk at Uk
Speaker 13: and they had a would have, could have, should have
Speaker 13: win against these same Old Miss Rebels back in March
Speaker 13: when they had the lead, they lost a ninth inning
Speaker 13: lead they were leading seven to five, ended up losing
Speaker 13: eight to seven and extras to the then number seventeen
Speaker 13: team the Rebels were at that time. So tomorrow night
Speaker 13: the Racers demand revenge, I'll get their chances. Murray's forty
Speaker 13: fifth in batting Old Miss is one.
Speaker 2: Hundred and thirty fourth.
Speaker 13: Old Miss is thirty first in ERA with four point
Speaker 13: four to seven. Murray's thirty ninth right behind him at
Speaker 13: four point sixty three. Murray's better defensively forty three errors
Speaker 13: to the Rebels sixty and the Racers fielding percentage is
Speaker 13: a lot better as well. And of course both Murray
Speaker 13: and Western have had better on base percentages than either
Speaker 13: Georgia Tech or Old Miss. Is it possible, I ask you,
Speaker 13: did Gabriel Murray and Western playing for a super regional?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: I mean it all comes down to pitching, you know,
Speaker 3: as it did when Kentucky played Old Miss and lost
Speaker 3: two out of three here in Lexingon. Won the first
Speaker 3: game in ten, lost the next game three to one,
Speaker 3: lost the next game five, four and twelve. But as
Speaker 3: you know, in these tournaments, it comes down to the
Speaker 3: arms and if they can cobble together enough pitching. And yeah,
Speaker 3: I think both teams have enough offense. I've seen both
Speaker 3: teams play. It could happen. But and again, going back
Speaker 3: to Vandy, a team that gave up what eighteen to
Speaker 3: twenty runs to Kentucky in the entire SEC tournament, Geary
Speaker 3: gave up three runs total of three. So postseason comes
Speaker 3: down to pitching. You can get that from the top,
Speaker 3: from the Toppers and the Thoroughbreds. I'm sorry that used
Speaker 3: to be their baseball name, the Racers. I always thought
Speaker 3: that was really interesting. It was there were the Racers
Speaker 3: and everything but baseball.
Speaker 13: Johnny Reagan, Yeah, a long time baseball. I said, Now
Speaker 13: we're going to be the Breads.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, No, entirely possible, and I hope it happens
Speaker 3: fitth swig.
Speaker 13: Let's go to college football. Yesterday, in The Athletic College Football,
Speaker 13: reporter Jason Kirk wrote, quote, leave the postseason alone for once,
Speaker 13: Pick something, anything and stick with it. Unquote come you
Speaker 13: get an amen on that? Kirk reminds us about all
Speaker 13: the crazy configurations we've had. Remember the Bowl Coalition, the
Speaker 13: Bowl Alliance, BA Final Four Football Playoff, and finally last
Speaker 13: year's twelve team CFP, which this year is going to
Speaker 13: go to straight seeding, top four teams getting the top
Speaker 13: four seeds even if they're all from the same conference,
Speaker 13: which should have happened last year. And of course you
Speaker 13: got SEC Guru Sanke's down there angling for fourteen, maybe
Speaker 13: sixteen teams.
Speaker 2: Why a couple of reasons. I see one.
Speaker 13: It means ESPN or whoever would pay more money theoretically
Speaker 13: for potentially more SEC teams. Another reason, bunch of fat
Speaker 13: rich alumni high rollers from the schools that didn't make
Speaker 13: the top twelve were so incensed that SMU and Indiana did.
Speaker 13: They can't handle being so butt hurt. Again, egos can't
Speaker 13: handle it. So I ask you, we're gonna get to
Speaker 13: the fourteen pretty soon or sixteen, why not top twenty five?
Speaker 13: You know what, why not let's do sixty four like
Speaker 13: March Madness. Just open the whole thing up if somebody's
Speaker 13: gonna pay for it.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: The other day I talked about the fact that Greg
Speaker 3: sankei doing his job as the SEC Commissioner, which means
Speaker 3: he's front and center and it comes to a shilling
Speaker 3: for his ball clubs, which he should. Sure was out
Speaker 3: there banging the drum about the fact that two teams
Speaker 3: that beat Georgia didn't get in over two teams that
Speaker 3: were more concernive not losing. Well, duh, Yeah, SMU Indiana
Speaker 3: had better records, but you know what, maybe those teams
Speaker 3: did beat Georgia but then lost. Ole Miss was one
Speaker 3: of those teams that beat Georgia lost to Kentucky, Kentucky's
Speaker 3: only SEC win. Alabama turns around loses to Vandy. Hey
Speaker 3: good for Vandy, great season, but you can't crow about
Speaker 3: beating Georgia when you're not taking care of the other wins.
Speaker 3: That said, yeah, they were screaming last year about the seting,
Speaker 3: but it was seating procedures. Everybody agreed to going into
Speaker 3: the tournament and nobody saw this coming come on. So yeah,
Speaker 3: they're making the right move, and yes, they will go
Speaker 3: to as many teams as they can get in. And
Speaker 3: as all always, the answer to your question is money
Speaker 3: ESPN the splits for the teams, all the teams, but
Speaker 3: especially the SEC because that equals eyeballs.
Speaker 13: May have remind Commissioner Sanke that Indiana did beat Michigan,
Speaker 13: and Michigan seems to have beaten a team in Columbus
Speaker 13: that went on to win the national championship. As I
Speaker 13: recall YEP sixth and final, swig Dick, who knew that
Speaker 13: this week you could be the proud owner of artist
Speaker 13: Gillimore shorts from the Colonel's days. The Hall of Fame
Speaker 13: Center obviously a big reason that the seventy four to
Speaker 13: seventy five World champion Kentucky Colonels the ABA not only
Speaker 13: one at all, and later beat the NBA champions Warriors
Speaker 13: that year. Also why they're one of the greatest pro
Speaker 13: basketball teams ever in the history of ever.
Speaker 2: My all time favorite pro hoops team.
Speaker 13: Well, Gray Flannel Auctions taking bids right now as we
Speaker 13: have speaks until Sunday and all things A trained from
Speaker 13: his ultra rare nineteen seventy five championship ring to autograph
Speaker 13: basketball's jerseys and even size eighteen shoes and yes, his
Speaker 13: Kentucky Colonel's red, white and blue basketball uniform shorts with
Speaker 13: the current bid of five hundred and fifty dollars ate
Speaker 13: that America Gray Flannel Auctions dot com is where you
Speaker 13: want to go to look at this stuff.
Speaker 3: I certainly hope that this auction isn't happening because Gilmore
Speaker 3: has fallen on hard times. I would doubt that. But
Speaker 3: it's been fifty years and a lot of guys, you know,
Speaker 3: in his position to say I don't need this anymore, right,
Speaker 3: But what a gentleman, what a I've had a chance
Speaker 3: to meet him, And when you talk to Dan Essel,
Speaker 3: who I do know fairly well, he cannot say enough
Speaker 3: nice things about artist Gilmore. Hard to believe it was
Speaker 3: fifty years ago that they won that championship. And by
Speaker 3: the way, when it comes to the stuff, my little
Speaker 3: brother many years ago said, you know, I wonder what
Speaker 3: happened to all the stuff, all the gear for the colonels.
Speaker 3: I found out some years later what happened to it.
Speaker 3: The trainer, Lloyd Gardner. Yeah, Gardener scooped it all up up.
Speaker 3: It was in his garage forever until he started selling
Speaker 3: it off. Louis Dampier once said he was at an
Speaker 3: autograph convention in Indianapolis ended up autographing his own pants.
Speaker 2: It's at the Fraser Museum over here in Louisville.
Speaker 13: They've got a big Colonel's fiftieth anniversary exhibit going on
Speaker 13: with a lot of stuff that Pink still has and
Speaker 13: donated it. If you want to see the size disparagy,
Speaker 13: go to nine to five to five Gary on X.
Speaker 13: I've got a picture of me with artists from a
Speaker 13: couple of years ago when he was here for the
Speaker 13: Bellerman game. And you'll see why I could have never
Speaker 13: posted him up.
Speaker 3: If you get confused, artist is a guy with all
Speaker 3: the hair he is Gary Moris, our Western Bureau chief,
Speaker 3: will come back with hot reads in just a minute
Speaker 3: around six thirty WLAP Welcome back to the Big Blue Insider.
Speaker 3: We were chatting with our Western Bureau chief, Gary Moore.
Speaker 3: Terry Bradshaw has decided to become vocal when it comes
Speaker 3: to his Steelers and he can lay claim to them
Speaker 3: and the quarterback mess they've got going on with regard
Speaker 3: to Aaron Rodgers, the fact that the Steelers are going
Speaker 3: after him forty one years old. He told a radio
Speaker 3: station in Arkansas, Bradshaw said, I'm quoting.
Speaker 2: That's a joke. To me, It's just a joke. What
Speaker 2: are you gonna do?
Speaker 3: Bring him in for a year? Are you kidding me?
Speaker 3: That guy needs to stay in California, go somewhere and
Speaker 3: chew on bark and whisper to the gods out there.
Speaker 2: Garry. That's a Hall of Fame quote, isn't it.
Speaker 13: I love Terry Bradshaw and I'm not even a Steelers fan,
Speaker 13: never will be. Terry Bradshaw can say whatever he wants,
Speaker 13: not only about any quarterback, but especially any Steelers quarterback.
Speaker 13: This is a guy who won four Super Bowls in
Speaker 13: six years with the Steelers, called his own plays.
Speaker 2: Yep, in all of those they didn't.
Speaker 13: You know who the offensive coordinator was for the Steelers,
Speaker 13: Terry Bradshaw, he called, well, you know he's and he
Speaker 13: always says, look, I called some of the plays. A
Speaker 13: lot of the guys would come in and say, Franco
Speaker 13: would say, hey, let me run this off tackle play
Speaker 13: at stalwarts would come in and say, can beat this
Speaker 13: guy or whatever it was. It was a very democratic
Speaker 13: kind of a thing. But Terry called his I think
Speaker 13: he was the last quarterback to do that. As soon
Speaker 13: as he retired, a guy by the name of Tom
Speaker 13: Moore became the offensive coordinator for the Steelers, and ever
Speaker 13: since then they've had an OC, but they had no
Speaker 13: offensive court. They had the offensive line coach and running
Speaker 13: backs coach and receivers coach.
Speaker 2: No oc.
Speaker 3: Well, he also had Chuck Noll as the head coach.
Speaker 2: He trusted him. Uh heah.
Speaker 3: Brashaw also banged on the Steelers for giving up too
Speaker 3: quickly on Kenny Pickett. You know, when he pointed out Riley,
Speaker 3: they put him behind a terrible offensive line, right. He
Speaker 3: pointed many teams who have done the same thing, including
Speaker 3: the Tennessee Titans.
Speaker 2: Titans. I was just going to say, yeah, and Will.
Speaker 3: Levis our second hot read. Caitlin Clark is injured Indiana Fever.
Speaker 3: Ticket prices are plumbing on the secondary market, and some
Speaker 3: of the people who cover women's basketball are amazed, AGAs,
Speaker 3: they're alarmed. But what that's business? I mean, Nick's Pacers tick.
Speaker 3: It's on May twenty second, for Game five of the playoffs.
Speaker 3: We're going for eight hundred and sixty bucks on the
Speaker 3: secondary market including fees. Now, because the Pacers have beaten
Speaker 3: the crap out of the neck so far, those same
Speaker 3: tickets are almost half priced, four hundred and forty seven
Speaker 3: dollars including fees. That's the business of pro basketball. And
Speaker 3: it's fine that the WNBA is learning that now it's
Speaker 3: it's married to one player. But it's only it's going
Speaker 3: to get better for the WNBA because as we all
Speaker 3: talk about, you know that rising tide, raise and everybody,
Speaker 3: But you can't be that upset or surprise, can you.
Speaker 2: No, not at all.
Speaker 13: She's the Taylor Swift of the whole league.
Speaker 2: This is a good indication.
Speaker 13: I think what was it seventy one percent, There's been
Speaker 13: a seventy one percent decline in the ticket sales or
Speaker 13: prices of the tickets since she's been injured, and not
Speaker 13: just in Indiana but at the other locations, or she's
Speaker 13: gonna be playing in some of the other arenas.
Speaker 2: Why would you go?
Speaker 13: I mean, it's it's back to where it was before
Speaker 13: she got into all of this, pretty.
Speaker 2: Much, isn't it. I mean, this is kind of how
Speaker 2: it was pre Caitlin Clark.
Speaker 13: It shouldn't be that big of a surprise, but this
Speaker 13: is a wake up call to show you what you've
Speaker 13: got in Caitlyn Clark.
Speaker 3: And I know that these women are scholars of the
Speaker 3: game just like the men are, and some of them
Speaker 3: need to be reminded of what the NBA looked like.
Speaker 2: And maybe they don't even realize.
Speaker 3: Before Magic and Larry Bird basically saved the league and
Speaker 3: they don't like to talk about it that way, but
Speaker 3: they did. Charles Barkley talks about that on his podcast
Speaker 3: all the time. They need to look at Angel Reese
Speaker 3: and Caitlyn Clark, you know, remove the evil, the villainy
Speaker 3: of any of it, and look at how the league
Speaker 3: is prospering because of this goes back in front of them,
Speaker 3: isn't it.
Speaker 13: Yeah, We'll go back and look at what Chicago dealt
Speaker 13: with when Michael Jordan left. How are those season tickets
Speaker 13: and how were those tickets sales?
Speaker 2: Like yeah, dropped well.
Speaker 3: And again it's you know, it's the Guido Sarducci five
Speaker 3: minute university Supply and demand. That's all you need to know.
Speaker 2: Nobody exactly right.
Speaker 3: I took econ one oh one. I went every day
Speaker 3: to class. I only needed to go once. Supply and demand.
Speaker 3: And that's what we're learning now. He is Gary Moore,
Speaker 3: he is our west End bureau.
Speaker 2: She find him on Twitter or x where.
Speaker 13: At nine to five five Gary, the same fabulous joint
Speaker 13: you're at.
Speaker 3: That's right, I'm at Big Moonsider one. Thank you sir,
Speaker 3: and enjoy the baseball this weekend. Go Commonwealth teams. And
Speaker 3: that'll do it for now, thanks to my guests scaring
Speaker 3: more Aaron Gershan and Shawn Woods. Remember UK baseball tomorrow
Speaker 3: at noon. That said good night from the garage in Lexington.
Speaker 6: That's a joke, son, a flying waiver. You're built too low.
Speaker 6: A fast ones go over your head. You got a
Speaker 6: hole in your glove. I keep picking him and you
Speaker 6: keep missing them. You gotta keep your eye on the ball.
Speaker 12: The tact taking the ship, anything, canning the batte to
Speaker 12: take that, I think dot.
Speaker 2: To tip
Speaker 12: And it don't, then don't do