Speaker 1: It's time for coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven nine day. Now, here's Nick coffee.
Speaker 2: All right, five o'clock hour here on a Friday afternoon.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for hanging out with us here
Speaker 2: as we get you set for the weekend. Big weekend
Speaker 2: for both teams here, I mean Louisville, They've got three
Speaker 2: home games left. For what it's worth, this is the
Speaker 2: best team you're going to be bringing into the You'm center.
Speaker 2: The others are Stanford and Cal But Pittsburgh, I don't believe,
Speaker 2: you know. I can't tell you that that they're good.
Speaker 2: They're not. The record is very obvious of who they are.
Speaker 2: I just I think timing is actually on our side here.
Speaker 2: If you're somebody, when I say our side, I mean
Speaker 2: those of us myself included of course, that wants to
Speaker 2: see Louisville, you know, play a team that the resume
Speaker 2: won't really get a big boost if you win. But
Speaker 2: I know that Pittsburgh's got some some capable players. Put
Speaker 2: it this way, Pittsburgh has personnel that I think is
Speaker 2: similar to a lot of teams you'll see in the tournament.
Speaker 2: They don't have any all Americans or anything like that.
Speaker 2: But that's the best way to describe it, because I
Speaker 2: can't tell you they're good. They're not. Look at the record,
Speaker 2: I can't tell you that, you know, they're you know,
Speaker 2: they've got any I mean, there's really nothing about them
Speaker 2: as far as results, numbers, wins, that kind of stuff
Speaker 2: that would validate my belief in sort of what they
Speaker 2: can be. But they're players. I think, you know you
Speaker 2: you you you put this team in really more than anything.
Speaker 2: I guess this was an indirect way of me taking
Speaker 2: a shot at capable because I feel like in a
Speaker 2: different with a different coach, they would they would probably
Speaker 2: have a better record. And you know, they did lose
Speaker 2: a lot of close games, and certainly that's uh, you know,
Speaker 2: that's that's tough. But at the end of the day,
Speaker 2: like it's how it works, man, winning winning and losing
Speaker 2: is certainly, uh is certainly what it's all about. So
Speaker 2: I'm happy that that's who's coming to town tomorrow because
Speaker 2: if Louisville plays well, you know, I'll feel like, Okay,
Speaker 2: they are getting getting better. And I don't mean like
Speaker 2: a being getting better as a team as far as
Speaker 2: you know, improving. Maybe that is the case to an extent.
Speaker 2: But I just mean like they're well, they're no longer
Speaker 2: as winded, because that stood out to me more than
Speaker 2: anything on Tuesday night is that they just looked gassed.
Speaker 2: And I don't believe it's because they're not conditioned. I
Speaker 2: don't believe it's because, you know, they were all hungover
Speaker 2: or something. I think it's just because they all have
Speaker 2: kind of been dealing with an illness in some form
Speaker 2: or fashion. And whenever you do, you know, get over
Speaker 2: your bug whatever it may be, a lot of us
Speaker 2: don't quickly, you know, get over an illness and then
Speaker 2: get right back to you know, we never played I mean,
Speaker 2: very few people can say they play high level college basketball.
Speaker 2: So I'm hoping that that is why they were as
Speaker 2: winded as they appeared, and hopefully they're in better shape
Speaker 2: for tomorrow night six o'clock. And again it is a
Speaker 2: what are they calling it? A Let make sure I
Speaker 2: get it correct here, because I've been trying to encourage
Speaker 2: folks to, you know, to make sure they're aware of
Speaker 2: which section they're in because they're having a stripeout. So tomorrow,
Speaker 2: if you're going at six o'clock to the ump center
Speaker 2: and you have a seat and a section that ends
Speaker 2: in an even number, you worll you will wear red
Speaker 2: if you have a ticket and a section that that
Speaker 2: is you know, yeah, you'll wear a black if you
Speaker 2: if you have an odd number. So U anyways, this
Speaker 2: is terrible for a live radio but my wife has
Speaker 2: texted me and I need to text her real quick. Sorry. Anyways,
Speaker 2: she was asking me if if if if I need
Speaker 2: her to pick up something, and like she's driving, and
Speaker 2: I'm like, if I don't tell her, then she won't
Speaker 2: do it. So again, I apologize, very unprofessional of me,
Speaker 2: which is out of character. I mean, I'm the most
Speaker 2: professional guy you you know, right, don't answer that, all right?
Speaker 2: So I was gonna say, yes, well, thank you for
Speaker 2: Kentucky a big game for them in a complete opposite situation, right,
Speaker 2: Louisville has very little to gain tomorrow as far as
Speaker 2: like the resume, and you know, I'm not a lot
Speaker 2: to lose, but certainly that would be a big eye
Speaker 2: sor to have that second loss to you know, allows
Speaker 2: the team on your resume. So Kentucky, on the other hand,
Speaker 2: they got nothing to lose tomorrow, especially if they're in
Speaker 2: if they're injured. I mean, because if you know, you
Speaker 2: never want to lose. But let's be real, if Jackson
Speaker 2: Robinson doesn't play, and let's say Lamont Butler's somehow doesn't
Speaker 2: go either, and they lose, it'll still suck. But you
Speaker 2: will say, Okay, well, hey, you know, we kind of
Speaker 2: shouldn't expect to beat Auburn whenever we have those two
Speaker 2: guys not playing. So a lot to gain though, because again,
Speaker 2: that would be another signature win, which they already have
Speaker 2: a few of them. I mean again, the sweep of
Speaker 2: Tennessee is the best thing on the resume, even though
Speaker 2: it doesn't have an insane amount of value. I mean,
Speaker 2: it has value, trust me, it matters. But like I think,
Speaker 2: maybe not the eye test, but just you know, the brain.
Speaker 2: Kentucky deserves legitimate credit and value on Selection Sunday for
Speaker 2: beating Duke, but we also know that that's not the
Speaker 2: same Duke team. Now that they beat it doesn't mean
Speaker 2: they don't get credit for it. But you know, my
Speaker 2: point is this, they already have a lot of good wins.
Speaker 2: Auburn would be the best, right even though it's at home.
Speaker 2: I feel like Auburn has been the best team in
Speaker 2: college basketball for a good chunk of the season, So
Speaker 2: if they can pull it off tomorrow, it'd be huge.
Speaker 2: And I can't really tell you why, but I just
Speaker 2: feel like this is a game Kentucky wins. It just
Speaker 2: seems like Rupperena is gonna be rocking. Auburn has been
Speaker 2: on fire. I mean, I just feel like this there
Speaker 2: could be some energy and rup tomorrow that just helps
Speaker 2: put Kentucky over the top. But again, for those that
Speaker 2: have not been paying attention, apparently Jackson Robinson, you know,
Speaker 2: he only played a little bit on Wednesday at Oklahoma,
Speaker 2: made a couple of shots early, but then you know,
Speaker 2: didn't go and it's still dealing with that wrist. But
Speaker 2: he did not go through whatever it is they went
Speaker 2: through today practice, walk through shoot around. I don't know.
Speaker 2: So maybe he's not going to play and they're going
Speaker 2: to try to get him rested. But you know, to me,
Speaker 2: it seems like it's a situation now where like, okay,
Speaker 2: if you rest him and then he ends up, you know,
Speaker 2: he ends up playing in the first round and has
Speaker 2: a big game to put you over the top. Scho
Speaker 2: Kentucky Banys just expect him to not be able to
Speaker 2: go the next game, like, I mean, that's just kind
Speaker 2: of you know, if your mark Pope, Like, not knowing
Speaker 2: has got to be the biggest challenge for you, is
Speaker 2: just not knowing which personnel you're going to have to
Speaker 2: work with. I mean, you'll take everybody you can get,
Speaker 2: especially two guys like that, but then not knowing has
Speaker 2: got to be difficult for a coach. So one thing
Speaker 2: though I mentioned in this in the four o'clock hour
Speaker 2: is you know, got a lot of hot takes about
Speaker 2: Kentucky basketball. I didn't really intend to talk about this today,
Speaker 2: but it just kind of came up. You know, the
Speaker 2: absence of those two guys, Butler and Robinson is a
Speaker 2: big deal because clearly those guys make them better. Robinson
Speaker 2: can just randomly get hot and give you twenty in
Speaker 2: a hurry. Butler is a defensive presence they don't have
Speaker 2: anywhere else on the perimeter. So those guys are good.
Speaker 2: They clearly are missed when they can't play, and their
Speaker 2: uncertainty is why they've been talked about so much this year.
Speaker 2: So a lot of factors and why these guys get
Speaker 2: talked about a lot. But what I don't think gets
Speaker 2: talked about enough, and I don't really know why is
Speaker 2: they're not close to the best players on this team,
Speaker 2: a guy who probably I feel like gets talked about
Speaker 2: like fourth most on this Kentucky team, third most. I
Speaker 2: don't know. Maybe I'm not good at knowing who gets
Speaker 2: talked about as much and all that, because you know,
Speaker 2: I'm not a Kentucky fan. I don't talk to a
Speaker 2: ton of Kentucky fans on a daily basis. But Otago
Speaker 2: always their best player, and I don't really know how
Speaker 2: you could dispute that. I mean, he's mister consistency. He's
Speaker 2: only had one game where he didn't score double figures.
Speaker 2: I mean, he's good. Like I watch him play and
Speaker 2: I think, like, damn, they're lucky to have him, Like
Speaker 2: why don't they talk about him more? And maybe they
Speaker 2: do and I'm just not paying attention. I don't know,
Speaker 2: but I think Amari, Amari Williams and take Away are
Speaker 2: honestly like if I were a Kentucky fan and I'm
Speaker 2: at you know, and it's not a situation you ever
Speaker 2: want to be in. But if I knew, okay, of
Speaker 2: your core guys, right, the six guys who play the
Speaker 2: most for you who could you least afford to lose
Speaker 2: for you know, two guys for for you know, stretch
Speaker 2: of time. I mean, I would think that the two
Speaker 2: guys that I would say you could least afford to
Speaker 2: lose are a Maury Williams and oh take away, like
Speaker 2: always been just mister consistent and you know, he's not
Speaker 2: necessarily great at one thing, but he's good at everything
Speaker 2: and he can make threes every now and then despite
Speaker 2: not being an elite shooter. He's just a guy that
Speaker 2: can get to the rim. He's physical, he's athletic. So
Speaker 2: I kind of feel like whenever everybody was saying that,
Speaker 2: you know, Butler's the he's the hard and soul of
Speaker 2: the team, we can't lose him, and you're not wrong.
Speaker 2: He's a valuable factor. But like I really think that
Speaker 2: a takeaway is like I think Kentucky has proven they
Speaker 2: can still be really good without those two guys. Still,
Speaker 2: they're not as the ceiling's not as high. They're a
Speaker 2: little more vulnerable because they have to play some guys
Speaker 2: that aren't quite as ready to play, you know, thirty
Speaker 2: minutes a game. But overall, like I think there's they've
Speaker 2: proven clearly to still be a good team when not
Speaker 2: fully healthy, and I would say the biggest reason for
Speaker 2: that is one man. And that's a takeaway. I mean,
Speaker 2: he was phenomenal against Oklahoma and really again, he has
Speaker 2: been all year for them. All Right. We did talk
Speaker 2: about this a little bit earlier if you guys missed it,
Speaker 2: but the Hard Knocks show that's been going on forever
Speaker 2: on HBO will not feature an NFL team this year
Speaker 2: because no NFL team wanted to do it. So instead,
Speaker 2: they're actually going to have a college team coached by
Speaker 2: a former NFL coach, Bill Belichick, in the North Carolina
Speaker 2: tar Heels, will be the feature of this year's Hard Knocks.
Speaker 2: NFL films could not find an NFL team that wanted
Speaker 2: to participate. And I feel like two things. One, Bill
Speaker 2: Belichick going to Carolina. That's a story for sure, that
Speaker 2: still doesn't seem real. Right, Maybe you just remembered it
Speaker 2: because I brought it up, because it just doesn't seem
Speaker 2: like reality. But Bill Belichick on a behind the scenes
Speaker 2: television show, What what are we think in as far
Speaker 2: as him being entertaining and him being like compelling and
Speaker 2: an interesting character, Like I mean, again, the story is big,
Speaker 2: but like a television show that needs to be entertaining,
Speaker 2: what's Bill Belichick doing? I mean I get a kick
Speaker 2: out of seeing him, like, you know, flirt with his
Speaker 2: girlfriend because it just seems like impossible if theyre an item.
Speaker 2: But like, I mean, I just if I was in
Speaker 2: the I said this in the beginning of the show.
Speaker 2: If I was in the room when they're like throwing
Speaker 2: out ideas, what'll we do? There's no NFL team that
Speaker 2: wants to be a part of this, and like Belichick,
Speaker 2: I mean, he's not in the NFL anymore, but he's
Speaker 2: an NFL coach and you know, now he's going to college,
Speaker 2: and you know, like it could be I just think
Speaker 2: like collectively they would be like, yeah, that may work,
Speaker 2: and then I would have to raise my hand and
Speaker 2: be like, what are you doing? Idiots? What would make
Speaker 2: you think Bill Belichick is going to be entertaining in
Speaker 2: any way? And I don't mean like he's got to
Speaker 2: be like a clown. But those shows that really really
Speaker 2: are successful, and look, there's guys who are known for
Speaker 2: what you saw of them on Hard Knocks.
Speaker 3: Man.
Speaker 2: They weren't great coaches or maybe even great players, but
Speaker 2: you saw some behind the scenes stuff to where you
Speaker 2: get to you got to know him a little bit.
Speaker 2: Like Belichick is boring as can be, like you know,
Speaker 2: other like Dan Campbell, like him, love him or hate him.
Speaker 2: He's a guy that I can see being good for TV, right,
Speaker 2: like even Mike Tomlin. He's not really interesting, but man,
Speaker 2: he's got you know, he's dynamic. He's got such a
Speaker 2: good leadership about him to like people would be captivated
Speaker 2: by the way he leads an NFL locker room.
Speaker 4: You know what, I think I possibly know what Dan
Speaker 4: I l days and stuff like that. We may get
Speaker 4: like a deep look at how like a locker room
Speaker 4: handles all that, and you'll probably get your guys because
Speaker 4: you know, like on the Hard Knocks they do the players.
Speaker 4: It's like trying to take the team or make the team,
Speaker 4: you know, like how they did a couple of years
Speaker 4: ago with the Cowboys, like an Amadola, you remember, and
Speaker 4: they end up shutting him and that was just like
Speaker 4: a huge uhh, what were you doing? But you know,
Speaker 4: maybe you'll you'll see guys, and you'll see the locker
Speaker 4: room and how it pertains of how he's handling a
Speaker 4: locker room when each and every guy has like a
Speaker 4: different deal. Some players are making more money than them.
Speaker 4: Maybe there's some drama about playing time and transfer portal.
Speaker 4: I could see how maybe that could be the allure
Speaker 4: and just kind of add the star factor that is
Speaker 4: Bill Belichick to it. That's the only thing that I
Speaker 4: can think of.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and and and and honestly, that's a good that's
Speaker 2: a good thing to throw out there that could make
Speaker 2: it to where that dynamic, the newness of it, and
Speaker 2: just really I don't think we've seen a behind the
Speaker 2: scenes look, And maybe we haven't. I just haven't paid attention.
Speaker 2: But I don't I you know, behind the scenes look
Speaker 2: of a of a program kind of following their season
Speaker 2: and even their off season. Is nil that that would
Speaker 2: that would be interesting. So you're right, Austin, But I
Speaker 2: just feel like with Belichick, he isn't gonna be the
Speaker 2: guy that talks to him about that at all. Like
Speaker 2: he's not gonna he's not gonna take a call from
Speaker 2: his backup linebacker who wants more money. Yeah he's not
Speaker 2: getting that shall yeah, Yeah, he's someone else take care
Speaker 2: of that. That is what made this higher to me
Speaker 2: so stupid, because I don't see how it works. Like
Speaker 2: maybe he's gonna he's gonna, really, you know, have so much.
Speaker 2: He's gonna he's gonna have such a good support staff
Speaker 2: around him to where it does work, and he's just
Speaker 2: kind of like the CEO. That's where it could work. Really.
Speaker 2: But I mean, nowadays, I feel like unless you are
Speaker 2: an og like a Rick Patino, but even he's adapted.
Speaker 2: Like in college sports right now, you need to be relatable.
Speaker 2: Players need to want to play for you because they
Speaker 2: can go play for anybody. So like Bill Belichick, to me,
Speaker 2: is one of the most unrelatable human beings that I've
Speaker 2: ever witnessed in sports. He's he's not a real human
Speaker 2: like him and Bobby Petrino robots that you know clearly
Speaker 2: like the ladies too. I mean, like you know, like
Speaker 2: that's the one thing that is okay they are human
Speaker 2: because you know they'll embarrass themselves, like Belichick is with
Speaker 2: this woman young enough to be his granddaughter. And then
Speaker 2: of course you know Bobby, you know, guy loved the
Speaker 2: volleyball player. I mean, he was sorry, couldn't help himself.
Speaker 4: I guess the interest is gonna see a Bill out
Speaker 4: there and like his his practice shorts and his whistle
Speaker 4: and the Carolina heat just yelling at players.
Speaker 2: But you're right, how's it going to relate to him?
Speaker 4: I mean, how deep is it going to go to
Speaker 4: these players that I coached Tom Brady? Yeah, and I
Speaker 4: know that sounds absolutely crazy, but does any kid up
Speaker 4: and coming, like would they care?
Speaker 2: They would care, but not enough because again, now they're
Speaker 2: about themselves, because this is now, they're like, right, you
Speaker 2: can't just be like, oh man, they better stay in
Speaker 2: line because they just know that they should be happy
Speaker 2: to be here. No, they can be anywhere they want
Speaker 2: right and leave. So like, put it this way, this
Speaker 2: is the best way to describe it. I think right
Speaker 2: now in college coaching, it is never been more important
Speaker 2: to have a head coach to where players, maybe not
Speaker 2: all of them, but most of them feel like if
Speaker 2: I've got something going on, whether it's related to the
Speaker 2: sport we play, or related to my life or related
Speaker 2: to something, I need to be able to know that
Speaker 2: I can pick up the phone and call him and
Speaker 2: we have that relationship you had best friends. But you
Speaker 2: know what I mean, you've got to be really you've
Speaker 2: got to be connected in that way now. And I
Speaker 2: feel like the coaches that are gonna thrive in this
Speaker 2: new world are gonna have that. I think the coach
Speaker 2: at Louisville and the coach at Kentucky right now, I
Speaker 2: guarantee you that is one of the things. Every one
Speaker 2: of those players say that they feel close, connected, appreciated,
Speaker 2: like it's a family. And that didn't mean you're gonna win. Clearly,
Speaker 2: you need players, you need to be able to coach
Speaker 2: like you need talent, like all that still matters for sure,
Speaker 2: but in order to like run your program and not
Speaker 2: have the free the wild wild West be a factor
Speaker 2: where you're losing. Guy's NonStop, you got jealousy within the
Speaker 2: locker room about who's getting paid more. You need to
Speaker 2: have that component to where everybody's all in because they do,
Speaker 2: in fact trust and believe in in the guy leading it.
Speaker 2: And I just think Belichick he'll probably have people that'll
Speaker 2: be that guy. But you know, kids want the head,
Speaker 2: Like the head coach matters, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: It's like he's gonna have to have some level of
Speaker 2: like to where he's like just imagining Belichick feeling like
Speaker 2: he's one of the boys on the bus with his
Speaker 2: team like that, just to me is not reality, and
Speaker 2: it just makes me think it may not work. All right,
Speaker 2: we gonna get too quick, bick. We come back on
Speaker 2: the other side. What we're gonna do here. ESPN put
Speaker 2: out their rankings for the best national championship winners in
Speaker 2: college basketball. We'll tell you where Louis Will ended up,
Speaker 2: and we'll talk just about some of the best teams
Speaker 2: we've ever witnessed. Because I don't really think this list
Speaker 2: is very great, but hey, just opinion. And then also
Speaker 2: we'll let you hear Pat Kelsey in what he said
Speaker 2: earlier today as we close out the show, as we
Speaker 2: get set for this Pittsburgh matchup tomorrow. So stick with us.
Speaker 2: It's Coffee and Company. Feel about Portin's right here on
Speaker 2: Sportsbok seven ninety.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Coffee and Company with Nick Coffee on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 2: Just a good song. I love this song in this
Speaker 2: Friday vibes or what absolutely good stuff. All right. So
Speaker 2: ESPN's Mavren Metcalf he put together his list of the
Speaker 2: best college basketball national championship teams since the year two
Speaker 2: thousand and there's a lot of different rankings as far
Speaker 2: as title teams that you can find out there. And
Speaker 2: I think Myron was not as kind of the Cardinals
Speaker 2: as he should have been. And most lists have them
Speaker 2: higher than where he has them, but he has them
Speaker 2: at number fifteen, and you know, I think at the top.
Speaker 2: It's again, we're only talking about since two thousand and
Speaker 2: there's a lot of people listening that maybe don't even
Speaker 2: remember some of these title teams. I can tell you
Speaker 2: that I remember every title team, maybe not in great detail,
Speaker 2: but like I can tell you enough about all of
Speaker 2: them post like two thousand and three maybe, But then again,
Speaker 2: even in I mean even in two thousand and in
Speaker 2: two I remember that Duke team, I'm sorry, two thousand
Speaker 2: and one, that Duke team that had Shane Battier, J
Speaker 2: Williams and Carlos Boozer. They were phenomenal. But most people
Speaker 2: have if you've been a rank the title teams, most
Speaker 2: people have Kentucky or Duke. The twenty twenty twelve Kentucky
Speaker 2: team of the two thousand and one Duke team is
Speaker 2: the number one, and I really, I mean, what's crazy
Speaker 2: is that I think that Kentucky team being number one
Speaker 2: is understandable. They were really, really good, but it wasn't
Speaker 2: even Kentucky's best team. Kentucky's best team was twenty fifteen,
Speaker 2: and I really don't think it's close. I mean both
Speaker 2: were great, man, that's gotta really suck, no, and they
Speaker 2: didn't win a title in twenty fifteen. I mean, you
Speaker 2: hate to see it, kind of not really anyways, gotta
Speaker 2: be nice for them to know that, like their best
Speaker 2: team or sorry, the best title winning team is not
Speaker 2: even as good as one of their own teams, because
Speaker 2: you know, that means you're doing good, you're doing good stuff.
Speaker 2: The early era of Cal, as much as I hated it,
Speaker 2: it was insanely impressive and something that probably won't be
Speaker 2: seen again in quite some time. Like right now, Danny
Speaker 2: Hurley's got back to back titles, and that clearly you
Speaker 2: know is valuable. And maybe he does get to a
Speaker 2: final four here and then get a title again next year.
Speaker 2: I mean, easier said than done. But that early era
Speaker 2: for Cal and Lexington was was was unreal. And then
Speaker 2: after that, after those two because I feel like most
Speaker 2: most rankings you'll find will have those as the two
Speaker 2: best teams. And they've got Florida two thousand and seven,
Speaker 2: Florida at number three here, which that of course had
Speaker 2: choke him. Noah al Horford, those guys. And then this team,
Speaker 2: this team is the one that ended up winning the
Speaker 2: title when Louisville lost in the Elite eight. Is the
Speaker 2: number one overall seed. And also they the same team
Speaker 2: essentially the year before ended Louisville season in the Elite
Speaker 2: eight in two thousand and eight. That's North Carolina. So
Speaker 2: Hansbrough came back, Tyle Lawson, Wayne Allington, those guys. I
Speaker 2: feel like that two thousand and nine Carolina team was
Speaker 2: the best Carolina team I watched play in my lifetime.
Speaker 2: And then this is one that I don't know if
Speaker 2: it's just at RECENTCY biased in like a in a
Speaker 2: negative way. Usually RECNCY biased is like wow, you just
Speaker 2: you're you're intoxicated about how new it is. This is
Speaker 2: a relatively new title winner. And yet I don't believe
Speaker 2: at all that they were close to being one of
Speaker 2: the best team title title winners. But twenty eighteen Nova like, yeah,
Speaker 2: Jalen Brunson, Michal Bridges done like they were good and
Speaker 2: when the title, one of these teams is good. But
Speaker 2: like I would put, I mean I would put I'd
Speaker 2: put Louisville ahead of them, I really would. The one
Speaker 2: I'm looking at now has Lovell at number nine, which
Speaker 2: I think that's probably a little bit. You know, again,
Speaker 2: I'm biased that I love that team hard for me
Speaker 2: to not. I mean, that's the best team I ever
Speaker 2: watched Louisville have and they won a national championship. So
Speaker 2: you know, if there's ever a time to be Homer,
Speaker 2: to be a Homer like this, is it right? Because
Speaker 2: you're thinking to yourself, like, do I think any team
Speaker 2: is better than the best Louisville team that I've ever
Speaker 2: watched that I love? And clearly there are probably teams
Speaker 2: better than than that Louisville twenty thirteen team, But I would.
Speaker 2: I just think they were so good defensively, they had
Speaker 2: elite guard play, they had you know, the clutch gene.
Speaker 2: They won a lot of close games, and you know,
Speaker 2: Gorgee was a special player that was really just another
Speaker 2: piece for you. I mean, he was great. Love Gorgey,
Speaker 2: But I mean, you know, like that team, they had
Speaker 2: a core rotation and it I mean they played you know,
Speaker 2: I'd say about nine guys played minutes on the twenty
Speaker 2: thirteen title team. As far as like every game they
Speaker 2: would get, they would get minutes, but really you had
Speaker 2: your starting lineup with Russ, Peyton, Wayne Shane and Gorge,
Speaker 2: and then it was Luke off the bench. And then really,
Speaker 2: I mean, Tres was a big time factor for you.
Speaker 2: He played a lot of minutes and was I mean,
Speaker 2: he was easily the set. He was the second guy
Speaker 2: off the bench, I feel like, every game. And then
Speaker 2: later Kevin Ware started to get a little bit more
Speaker 2: comfortable for his injury, and then Van Trees played, but
Speaker 2: not you know, not a ton like Van Tries was
Speaker 2: the guy who probably got an every game, but he
Speaker 2: was only giving you bigger chunks of minutes if somebody
Speaker 2: was in foul trouble. And then you know, Henderson wasn't
Speaker 2: in the rotation, but man, he came in and obviously,
Speaker 2: you know, win a championship without him coming against Wichita
Speaker 2: State and hitting two clutch threes. I could talk about
Speaker 2: this team all day. So now let's look at the
Speaker 2: bottom of this list. As far as you know, teams
Speaker 2: that won a title, and clearly they'll they'll always have that.
Speaker 2: Nobody can say they're not good. But since two thousand,
Speaker 2: the most insane run and really a team that is
Speaker 2: listed at number twenty four. If everybody's ranking the twenty
Speaker 2: four winners since two thousand, it's that twenty fourteen U
Speaker 2: Con team that still pisses me off, just because Louisville
Speaker 2: was not just better, but they blew them off the
Speaker 2: floor the three times they played them, and then somehow.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's kind of tricky because I'm so happy
Speaker 2: they did win and beat Kentucky, but also like to
Speaker 2: know that you could have you could have had a repeat.
Speaker 2: And man, that team they weren't the twenty thirteen team,
Speaker 2: but they were still really good. I mean, Rosier was
Speaker 2: was was really good. Russ as a senior, obviously, Terry
Speaker 2: played some big minutes for you. Trees was sophomore. Trees
Speaker 2: was special. I mean that team was good, and you know,
Speaker 2: that Kentucky game in the sweet sixteen just still gives
Speaker 2: me very much sadness thinking about it. I'm looking here
Speaker 2: at the rest of the list that like some forgettable
Speaker 2: title winners. I mean, I guess you're really, you know,
Speaker 2: somebody who loves college basketball. It's hard for me to
Speaker 2: look at any of these teams and be like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 2: I forgot it them, because you know, I loved the
Speaker 2: Baylor team that won it in two thousand and one.
Speaker 2: They were twenty eight and two, and a lot of
Speaker 2: people actually have them as like the top seven eight,
Speaker 2: But I think they're forgettable because of that year, like
Speaker 2: we barely had a season like it. It felt like,
Speaker 2: maybe this is just me saying it, because Louisville was
Speaker 2: the first team left out of the tournament because of
Speaker 2: the bubb the bid Steelers. By the way, two of
Speaker 2: those bid Steelers ended up giving their coaches new contracts
Speaker 2: and they both thunk Wayne Tingle or whatever his name
Speaker 2: was it Oregon State and then obviously Patrick Ewing and
Speaker 2: you know he ended up flaming out after stealing a bid.
Speaker 2: But anyways, the yeah, I mean like that that season,
Speaker 2: like it felt like the NBA Disney bubble, didn't it,
Speaker 2: Like it just never like, yeah, I mean we had
Speaker 2: a season and you know, there were good teams, and
Speaker 2: it's such a forgettable year. And honestly, those two seasons,
Speaker 2: specifically twenty twenty when the tournament didn't happen and the
Speaker 2: twenty twenty one where we had a season, but it
Speaker 2: was weird, Like that's such a blur to a lot
Speaker 2: of people. And you know, it's not something I lose
Speaker 2: sleep over at night by any means. However, I will
Speaker 2: say this, I hate it for the players that played
Speaker 2: in that era, Like that is such a like that
Speaker 2: that your experience was robbed, and that is why they
Speaker 2: gave everybody a extra year starting If you entered college
Speaker 2: in twenty twenty one, you had an extra year, and
Speaker 2: those guys currently are fifth year seniors, right, But I
Speaker 2: still feel like they should have done it for the
Speaker 2: guys in twenty twenty two. I think you could. You
Speaker 2: could make the case that, and again it doesn't it's
Speaker 2: just the college basketball crazies like me that get this
Speaker 2: because it actually doesn't sound right. But I feel like
Speaker 2: if you didn't get twenty twenty in the postseason, like
Speaker 2: you were more robbed, because that's what makes it special.
Speaker 2: But then again, like if you played for a team
Speaker 2: that would have never made the tournament and your season,
Speaker 2: like you were already back at home for spring break
Speaker 2: when the pandemic fully shut everything down because your team's stunk,
Speaker 2: it does kind of sound weird to think that you
Speaker 2: would have had another year of eligibility, But I mean,
Speaker 2: two guys that you know for Louisville specifically that I
Speaker 2: just hate that their career ended like that. Was Ryan
Speaker 2: McMahon and Dwayne Sutton just because we'll remember them, but
Speaker 2: like Dwayne was a special player who was a hometown
Speaker 2: kid who did everything like just a hard worker, a
Speaker 2: guy who was you know, great teammate, intense and just
Speaker 2: a great story. And again, nobody's gonna not remember him,
Speaker 2: but like you don't remember him the way he should
Speaker 2: be remembered because of the era that he played in.
Speaker 2: And you know that I just hate that for him,
Speaker 2: I really do. All right, let's get to a break.
Speaker 2: We'll come back on the other side. Let you guys
Speaker 2: here Pat Kelsey as he gets set for this matchup
Speaker 2: tomorrow against Pittsburgh, which you know, in a weird way,
Speaker 2: I didn't think I'd be looking forward to these games
Speaker 2: like I am now again, I'm always gonna look forward
Speaker 2: to watching this team play. But you know, I think
Speaker 2: Pittsburgh will give this team a good challenge tomorrow that
Speaker 2: if they do end up winning and maybe even winning big,
Speaker 2: it probably won't do a ton for the resume, but
Speaker 2: it'll tell me a lot because again, I think Pittsburgh
Speaker 2: has some personnel that is gonna be similar to what
Speaker 2: you're gonna see when you get to the n Simble Tournament.
Speaker 2: All right, quick break, keep it locked right here. Coffee
Speaker 2: and Company feilbout Thorn's on Sports Talk seven to ninety.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Coffee and Company with Nick Coffee on
Speaker 1: Sports Talks.
Speaker 5: And are pleased with the way they played with the
Speaker 5: lead after they got the lead.
Speaker 3: Yeah, getting off to a good start is is important.
Speaker 3: We don't do anything different, you know, we break the
Speaker 3: game down into ten four minute segments and we say
Speaker 3: each each segment at zero zero, and but it's always
Speaker 3: good to get off to a good start, you know.
Speaker 3: The other night, after watching the tape, you know, Virginia
Speaker 3: Tech made some really tough shots, uh several times when
Speaker 3: we had a double digit lead, and you know, just
Speaker 3: just continued to to gut it out and to fight
Speaker 3: and made some big shots to you know, to to
Speaker 3: allow the lead to go to five instead of you know,
Speaker 3: we had a couple open looks that could have taken
Speaker 3: it to thirteen fourteen. But listen, every road game, every
Speaker 3: conference game is really hard, believe it or not, that
Speaker 3: other coach wants to win, you know, and they got
Speaker 3: good players too, and they're not just gonna lay down,
Speaker 3: you know, especially now that we're a ranked opponent going
Speaker 3: into you know, their venue. It's we have a target
Speaker 3: on our back, so we're gonna get everybody's best shot.
Speaker 3: And it's the way it should be.
Speaker 6: Bet, you could go down your roster and talk about
Speaker 6: what guys have brought to this team this year, what
Speaker 6: they've done. How much, though, do you need a guy
Speaker 6: like Javon who does a lot of little little It
Speaker 6: seems a lot of the little things are grimy, kind
Speaker 6: of gritty things that you do.
Speaker 2: Every team needs someone like that, don't they.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I like to think we have a team full
Speaker 3: of those type of guys. You know, Javon is very versatile.
Speaker 3: You know, he can play a lot of different positions.
Speaker 3: And by play a lot of different positions, I mean,
Speaker 3: you can guard a lot of positions. People say you
Speaker 3: are what you can guard, and you know he can
Speaker 3: guard one through five at times for us. He's extremely
Speaker 3: versatile from an offensive standpoint because he's a matchup problem
Speaker 3: with smaller defenders in the post.
Speaker 7: He gives bigger.
Speaker 3: Opponent or i'm sorry, bigger defenders problems by being able
Speaker 3: to spread them out on the floor, make shots, take
Speaker 3: them off the dribble. He's really expanded his game in
Speaker 3: a lot of ways this year. We've pushed him to
Speaker 3: be a ball screen creator at times as well, which
Speaker 3: are kind of inverted ball screens which can be difficult
Speaker 3: to defend.
Speaker 7: And yeah, he's just Swiss army knife.
Speaker 3: Sometimes I think people take that as al he's a
Speaker 3: utility player. He's the farthest thing from that. He's an
Speaker 3: All Conference performer in my mind.
Speaker 8: Pat, you know, obviously a year ago, this fan base
Speaker 8: was just hoping and dreaming of having an opportunity to
Speaker 8: watch their team blaying markers. Now, all of a sudden,
Speaker 8: as we enter the month of March, they're fired up.
Speaker 8: You've created an opportunity for this team to possibly make
Speaker 8: a deep run. I guess, looking back at over the
Speaker 8: last twelve months, how special is this spend to you
Speaker 8: kind of reinvigorate this fan base and give them something
Speaker 8: to look forward to as we enter this glorious moment.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't let me answer that. A couple of ways,
Speaker 3: you talk about a run, you talk about March, you
Speaker 3: talk about all this. We're not there yet, Okay, Like
Speaker 3: we're not there yet so in terms of how you're
Speaker 3: asking me and how our team is approaching our day
Speaker 3: to day business, it's the task at hand, which is
Speaker 3: a really really tough game tomorrow against pitt with one
Speaker 3: of the best backwards in our entire conference.
Speaker 7: Okay, that's our sole focus.
Speaker 3: But you ask about the excitement in town, and that's
Speaker 3: a great thing. You know, that's an awesome thing. The vibe,
Speaker 3: the energy, the excitement. Obviously you guys all know this
Speaker 3: and everybody knows this, but it's as proud and his
Speaker 3: passion of a fan base as there is in the country.
Speaker 3: So to feel that around town is awesome. It's great
Speaker 3: for our city. It's great for our basketball program, it's
Speaker 3: great for fundraising, it's great for admissions, just great for
Speaker 3: the heartbeat of in the vibe of our city overall.
Speaker 3: So that's an awesome thing, the byproduct of how we've
Speaker 3: competed and how we've played this year. But we don't
Speaker 3: give any of that stuff the first thought, and we
Speaker 3: never will.
Speaker 7: It's it's pit and all pit.
Speaker 5: With it being March, you guys have been a team
Speaker 5: that's enjoyed some large margin victories throughout the last few weeks,
Speaker 5: but getting pushed at Virginia Tech as you are entering
Speaker 5: or getting close to the postseason. How valuable Can a
Speaker 5: game like that where you do get pushed to you
Speaker 5: to the end be as your team progressive?
Speaker 3: Yeah? I think every situation that you face throughout a
Speaker 3: game is a learning experience, and to have those opportunities
Speaker 3: down the stretch against Virginia Tech, to have our guys
Speaker 3: in those situations is definitely a positive.
Speaker 9: Maybe I'm just wondering. I know coaches always want the
Speaker 9: polls right down games too much at the end.
Speaker 3: Cool are you talking about like reviews and stuff like that.
Speaker 3: I'll be honest with you, I haven't given it a
Speaker 3: lot of thought that just asking that question put me
Speaker 3: on the spot with it.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 3: I mean, I'm a big believer, yet get right, you know,
Speaker 3: get it right, And I think everybody wants that.
Speaker 7: They want to get the call right.
Speaker 2: The officials want that, the fans want that, the players
Speaker 2: want that.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Coffee and Company with.
Speaker 9: A perfect world.
Speaker 2: Uh, it's the processes fast.
Speaker 3: It doesn't delay the game, it doesn't take the air
Speaker 3: out of the arena, it doesn't get to sweat off
Speaker 3: the player's bodies.
Speaker 7: And I think every major score in the world right now.
Speaker 3: America for sure is way dealing with that more because
Speaker 3: ball does it getting off to a ball start. For
Speaker 3: a long long time basketball we don't do anything different.
Speaker 3: Is gotten the play review. We break the game down
Speaker 3: into the last five six sevens each and I think
Speaker 3: it's that good that zero zero so that they can
Speaker 3: get the call right. It's always they don't do it
Speaker 3: to a good start. I don't feel like the other
Speaker 3: night Virginia Tech makes a really tough shots because we
Speaker 3: have several times review situation double digit lead and I
Speaker 3: can't really comment on them to gut it out and
Speaker 3: the fight and made some big.
Speaker 10: Shots throughout the course of the season too.
Speaker 11: I think this is allowable to go five and instead
Speaker 11: it feels like we had a couple of parks.
Speaker 2: Every take.
Speaker 7: They take their course.
Speaker 11: They want to be the most course in every road game,
Speaker 11: every conference game. Is really hard to first to hit
Speaker 11: somebody after. But have you seen that all they got
Speaker 11: good players to going to you guys may have especially
Speaker 11: at the beginning, now that we're really starting to take
Speaker 11: their venue.
Speaker 3: We have a target on our You're going to get
Speaker 3: everybody's best shot every single day way shole.
Speaker 7: Second, that we always want to be.
Speaker 3: Talking about what the team that brought to the team
Speaker 3: this year makes the top plays that hits first?
Speaker 2: How much still dis guy like ja who does a
Speaker 2: lot of little.
Speaker 6: Little things or grinding for kind of gritty things plays.
Speaker 3: I think every team hopefully define someone like that. Don't
Speaker 3: like any of those type of guys. It has always
Speaker 3: been an emphasis and we have tough guys. Javans is
Speaker 3: very verse. Sometimes you know he cannot sometimes I think
Speaker 3: a lot of different really identify play a lot of
Speaker 3: different toughness.
Speaker 7: I mean, you can guard a lot of recruit you
Speaker 7: also what you can transfer portal and recruiting. You know
Speaker 7: he can.
Speaker 3: Guard one through five type of guys or won those
Speaker 3: and from an offensive standpoint because he's a matchup problem
Speaker 3: with smaller defenders.
Speaker 7: In the posts.
Speaker 12: I said, you all get the bigger win that pitt
Speaker 12: the fender problem by being able to talk about you
Speaker 12: spread them out on the floor.
Speaker 7: Shot.
Speaker 12: I'm wondrying as you're going scouting in this game over
Speaker 12: a lot of way weeks, drop games and.
Speaker 3: Times weller teams see a team that's scarce difficulty.
Speaker 7: The team that we get one.
Speaker 3: Defense Swiss Army knife sometimes that we got to execute
Speaker 3: always the athletic U till A well coached is the
Speaker 3: farthest thing from that. Winning by his record is I
Speaker 3: like watch him game in and game out, and I think.
Speaker 8: About, like what this year ago Basins game, just hoping
Speaker 8: and dreaming of.
Speaker 9: You know.
Speaker 8: Hold, as we entered the month of March, they're fired up.
Speaker 8: You got you created an opportunity for this team to
Speaker 8: possibly make it deep on. I guess just looking back
Speaker 8: at over the last twelve months, how special is the
Speaker 8: spends you kind of reinvigorate the span base and give
Speaker 8: them something to look forward to as we enter this
Speaker 8: glorious month.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't we we have weaknesses. They have weaknesses
Speaker 3: a couple of ways you do.
Speaker 7: Guys want to.
Speaker 3: Run You talk about the week, All this is, we're
Speaker 3: all those teams I just mentioned has strengths. Is we're
Speaker 3: not there yet winning Division one and just a really
Speaker 3: approaching the business. It's it's the task at hand. It's
Speaker 3: a really really tough game tomorrow against pitt with one
Speaker 3: of the best backwards in our entire conference.
Speaker 7: Okay, that's our sole focus.
Speaker 3: But you ask about the excitement in town, and that's
Speaker 3: a great thing. You know, that's an awesome thing. The vibe,
Speaker 3: the energy, the excitement. Obviously you guys all know this
Speaker 3: and everybody knows this, but it's as proud and his
Speaker 3: passion of a fan basis there is in the country.
Speaker 3: So to feel that around town is awesome. It's great
Speaker 3: for our city. It's great for our basketball program, it's
Speaker 3: great for fundraising, it's great for admissions, just great for
Speaker 3: the heartbeat of in the vibe of our city overall.
Speaker 3: So that's an awesome thing, the byproduct of how we've
Speaker 3: competed and how we've played this year. But we don't
Speaker 3: give all any of that stuff the first thought and
Speaker 3: we never will.
Speaker 7: It's it's pit and all pit.
Speaker 5: With it being March, you guys have been a team
Speaker 5: that's enjoyed some large margin victories throughout the last few weeks.
Speaker 5: But getting pushed at Virginia Tech as you are entering
Speaker 5: or getting close to the postseason. How valuable can a
Speaker 5: game like that where you do get pushed to, you know,
Speaker 5: to the end be as your team progressive?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think every situation that you face throughout a
Speaker 3: game is is a is a learning experience. And to
Speaker 3: have those opportunities down the stretch against Virginia Tech, to
Speaker 3: have our guys in those situations is uh, is definitely
Speaker 3: a positive.
Speaker 9: Maybe I'm just wondering. I know coaches always want the
Speaker 9: calls if you right the game, low game dur ration perspective,
Speaker 9: we slowing down games too much at the end?
Speaker 3: Cool are you talking about like reviews and stuff like that.
Speaker 3: I'll be honest with you, I haven't given it a
Speaker 3: lot of thought. Just asking that question put me on
Speaker 3: the spot with it.
Speaker 7: I don't know.
Speaker 3: I mean, I'm a big believer in get it right,
Speaker 3: you know, get it right, and I think everybody wants that.
Speaker 7: They want to get the call right.
Speaker 3: The officials want that, the fans want that, the players
Speaker 3: want that, the coaches want that. In a perfect world,
Speaker 3: it's it's the process is fast, and it doesn't delay
Speaker 3: the game, it doesn't take the air out of the arena,
Speaker 3: it doesn't take the sweat off the players' bodies.
Speaker 7: And I think every major.
Speaker 3: Sport in the world right now, and America for sure,
Speaker 3: is dealing with that more because there you know, Baseball
Speaker 3: does it now. Obviously, football has done it for a
Speaker 3: long long time. Basketball has gotten into replay review a
Speaker 3: lot more here over the last five, six, seven years.
Speaker 3: But I think it's good that they can do it
Speaker 3: so that they can get the call right faster they
Speaker 3: can do it the better. I don't feel like it's
Speaker 3: any slower now. I don't think so. Maybe it's because
Speaker 3: we haven't had a lot of review situations and so
Speaker 3: I can't really comment on that because I haven't given
Speaker 3: it a lot of thought.
Speaker 10: Pat throughout the course of the season, I think this
Speaker 10: has evolved a little bit, But right now it feels
Speaker 10: like your kids are every time they take the court,
Speaker 10: they want to be the most aggressive team out there.
Speaker 10: You know, the first to hit to somebody, you know
Speaker 10: what I meant to get after it a little bit.
Speaker 10: Have you seen that evolved with this group throughout the
Speaker 10: course of the season. You guys may have always preached
Speaker 10: it at the beginning, but it seems like it's really
Speaker 10: starting to take take the heat that maybe the last
Speaker 10: couple of months.
Speaker 3: I mean, yeah, we preach it every single day, every
Speaker 3: single second. You always want to be the hardest playing team.
Speaker 3: You want to to be the team that makes the hustle,
Speaker 3: plays that hits first, that dives on the loose balls.
Speaker 7: It gets the fifty to fifty balls.
Speaker 3: Those effort, effort plays I think hopefully define our on
Speaker 3: court culture as much as anything. So it has always
Speaker 3: been an emphasis, and we have tough guys. You know,
Speaker 3: it's sometimes and not sometimes. I think, you know, you
Speaker 3: really have to identify great toughness in the recruiting process,
Speaker 3: whether it's in the transfer portal and recruiting, you know,
Speaker 3: because you want those type of guys or I want
Speaker 3: those type of guys in my locker room and in
Speaker 3: my lineup and on the floor for us all the time.
Speaker 12: Yeah, since since you all got that close win that
Speaker 12: pit back in January, they've lost They've lost them eight
Speaker 12: of their last twelve. You've always talked about, you know,
Speaker 12: you know, just how much just so much a talent
Speaker 12: they have. But I'm wondering, as you're going and scouting them,
Speaker 12: you know, over the last few weeks, what have you
Speaker 12: seen as they continue to kind of drop games and
Speaker 12: keep slipping down the conference standing.
Speaker 3: Eye, I see a very very very dangerous team. I
Speaker 3: see a team that scares the crap out of me.
Speaker 3: I see a team that we got to be on
Speaker 3: it in every facet of our defensive system.
Speaker 7: I see a team that we got to execute.
Speaker 3: Our stuff because they are athletic, they're well coached, and
Speaker 3: they're tough. Like I don't pay attention to anybody's record,
Speaker 3: is I like watch them game in and game out,
Speaker 3: and I think about, like, what are the things that
Speaker 3: we need to do to win this game?
Speaker 7: And uh, you know, I see one of the most
Speaker 7: talented teams in our conference. We got beyond it.
Speaker 12: Like as you're watching the game, you're going to see that,
Speaker 12: you know, as you give losses too highlight enough, like
Speaker 12: are there things that's you know that you see us
Speaker 12: sticking out to you.
Speaker 9: Or maybe you know the things that they.
Speaker 4: Were giving differently prior to the game.
Speaker 2: You'll had against them in January.
Speaker 9: Kind of like kind of like any sort of any
Speaker 9: sort of weaknesses or things.
Speaker 3: That are we we have weaknesses, They have weaknesses. You
Speaker 3: have weaknesses. Douke haz weaknesses, The Cavs have weaknesses, and
Speaker 3: all those teams I just mentioned has strengths as well.
Speaker 3: Winning Division One games is hard, right, Jeff's a really
Speaker 3: good coach, is talented as heck. I mean I could