Speaker 1: It's time for Coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 2: Holy crap, I don't know who the hell we think
Speaker 2: when we.
Speaker 1: Are getting off our show. Idiot, the kids are crying
Speaker 1: or turn off.
Speaker 2: Their countries are.
Speaker 1: Screwing it up. Goldplea inter murals, Brother, Goldpleay intermurals. They're
Speaker 1: supposed to be mature adults, but they're really not. Who's
Speaker 1: the kid here? Who's the kid here? Are you kidding me?
Speaker 3: Now?
Speaker 1: Here's Nick Coffee?
Speaker 2: All right, let's get it started.
Speaker 4: Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome in Coffee and Company,
Speaker 4: fueled by Thornton's.
Speaker 2: That's us.
Speaker 4: Well, that's the name of the show. My name is
Speaker 4: Nick Coffee, Alsto Montgomery's alongside. You get the name, I assume,
Speaker 4: and you guys are our company. So sit back, relax,
Speaker 4: make yourself at home, let's have some fun.
Speaker 2: I tell you what. This is January thirteenth.
Speaker 4: So it feels really weird to say this, but I
Speaker 4: kind of feel like the new year's actually starting now.
Speaker 4: I mean, we've had the holidays, which were great, nice
Speaker 4: to get time off, but that leads to you know,
Speaker 4: short weeks, not all you know, I'm out a routine.
Speaker 4: And then once we came back from you know, from
Speaker 4: the holidays, we ended up having a week last week
Speaker 4: that it was a full work week for us, but
Speaker 4: it was just different with the snow and having to
Speaker 4: do the show remotely a couple of days, and kids
Speaker 4: being out of school. So thirteen days into twenty twenty five,
Speaker 4: I'm hopeful that this is in fact a normal And
Speaker 4: usually I wouldn't want to.
Speaker 2: Have a normal.
Speaker 4: I mean, it's nice to be able to, you know,
Speaker 4: to do something I love, but let's be real, like,
Speaker 4: if you can get a short week, you can extend
Speaker 4: the weekend. I mean, that's always what you prefer. But
Speaker 4: I am very much, very much in need of routine
Speaker 4: and structure, and I'm hopeful that we get that as
Speaker 4: we get this thing started. And it feels like since
Speaker 4: the last time I was here, which of course was
Speaker 4: just Friday at six o'clock is when I walked out
Speaker 4: of here, that seems like it was five weeks ago
Speaker 4: for some reason. Yeah, well for me, and usually you
Speaker 4: would want the weekend to be, you know, great, but
Speaker 4: we left on Friday, so as soon as the show ended,
Speaker 4: I finished what I finished up what I had to
Speaker 4: do here, and I was going to be headed to Pittsburgh,
Speaker 4: Well Columbus for the night, and then Pittsburgh on Saturday
Speaker 4: for the game. Well, I knew on the way in
Speaker 4: to do the show Friday afternoon that that it was
Speaker 4: it was snowing quite a bit and it didn't seem
Speaker 4: like it was going to be stopping. So I didn't
Speaker 4: really do any looking into the weather while we were
Speaker 4: on the air because I feel like had I seen
Speaker 4: that the roads were or had I heard the reports
Speaker 4: that the roads were terrible, then I would have been
Speaker 4: stressing and that would have impacted the show. So I
Speaker 4: was like, look, you know, there's nothing I can do
Speaker 4: about it. It's going to do what it's going to do.
Speaker 4: So let's just, you know, wait till the show ends
Speaker 4: and evaluate the situation. So I hopped in my car
Speaker 4: left and the roads downtown were awful. I was worried
Speaker 4: if I was going to be able to even get
Speaker 4: up the exit to get to get to sixty five.
Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, that's a tricky exit, right.
Speaker 4: My car's not My car's not super great and snow
Speaker 4: and what usually gets me is that it's not like
Speaker 4: it's steep. But if you don't have any momentum and
Speaker 4: you're like in traffic going slow. In fact, we're good
Speaker 4: now because the roads are fine. But that's the biggest
Speaker 4: that's those to me, that's the most obvious reason why
Speaker 4: people end up getting stuck in weird situations is because
Speaker 4: they just go slow. If you keep, if you maintain
Speaker 4: a certain level of speed, then you're gonna be you know,
Speaker 4: you gotta be mindful of how fast you're going. But
Speaker 4: when you barely are crawling and then you get to
Speaker 4: a spot where you actually need to give it some gas,
Speaker 4: but you know there's no traction because there's ice and snow,
Speaker 4: that's when you're gonna get stuck. And anyways, I knew
Speaker 4: we were not gonna be able to make the trip,
Speaker 4: but I I just you know, I didn't want to.
Speaker 2: I didn't want to accept defeat.
Speaker 4: So I end up getting to southern Indiana where my
Speaker 4: dad was because my dad had both my son and
Speaker 4: my nephew who that was us. The four of us
Speaker 4: were going and the plane was again I go pick
Speaker 4: them up after the show. We had Columbus get there
Speaker 4: about I don't know now, I'm thirty ten o'clock, get
Speaker 4: some sleep, get up the next morning, and we'd be
Speaker 4: in Pittsburgh and plenty of time for the game at noon. Well,
Speaker 4: we we all got in the car and we made
Speaker 4: it maybe a mile away from his home, and he said,
Speaker 4: you know, I didn't want to be the one to
Speaker 4: do it. Thankfully he was willing to do it and say, son,
Speaker 4: I don't think we're gonna be able to make this
Speaker 4: work because we would have been going up seventy one
Speaker 4: and probably one of the most I shouldn't say the
Speaker 4: most because I don't know the entire state, but I'll
Speaker 4: seventy one didn't get a whole lot of love when
Speaker 4: it comes to being treated. I mean, it's that stretch
Speaker 4: between really Oldham County to Cincinnati. It's a really desolate
Speaker 4: area and it's just kind of a kind of a
Speaker 4: ghost town. So we expected the roads to be even
Speaker 4: worse as we kept going, and we were driving like
Speaker 4: we were driving with the snow store, meaning the more
Speaker 4: north we were going, we were going with the snow.
Speaker 4: So we decided to call off Friday and just say, look,
Speaker 4: let's see if we can get up in the morning
Speaker 4: at like three thirty and check and see what the
Speaker 4: roads are like, see if there's you know, just do
Speaker 4: the wayte thing and see if there's any traffic at
Speaker 4: that point, any accidents, and try to just do a
Speaker 4: straight shot from Louisville to Pittsburgh for a noon tip.
Speaker 2: And sure enough, that's what we did.
Speaker 4: We got up the house at like four o'clock when
Speaker 4: picked up my dad and we made the straight shot
Speaker 4: up there, got there just in time. So Saturday was
Speaker 4: fun being at the game, which we'll talk a lot
Speaker 4: all about that. But the reason I mentioned it feels
Speaker 4: like it's been so long since I've been here is
Speaker 4: just because it's been like I feel like I everything
Speaker 4: that took place since I left Friday, I feel like
Speaker 4: for all of that, it would have needed to take
Speaker 4: place in a five day window and not you know,
Speaker 4: two and a half days essentially.
Speaker 2: But it was a lot of fun. I mean, it's
Speaker 2: one hell of a trek too. Yeah, it was. I
Speaker 2: mean it was.
Speaker 4: And I love Pittsburgh, by the way, and I knew
Speaker 4: we'd have fun and enjoyed the trip spending time with family.
Speaker 2: We do it every year.
Speaker 4: But like I knew Louisville could lose it. I was
Speaker 4: gonna tell myself, Hey, no matter what, let's just have fun, enjoyed.
Speaker 4: It should still be a great experience. And then you know,
Speaker 4: they won, And I wish I could give you some
Speaker 4: fresh new perspective and thoughts on this team. But kind
Speaker 4: of like when the previous regime, it was it was
Speaker 4: a rerun. You thought we were doing the same show. Ever,
Speaker 4: or maybe we were replaying the same thing every day
Speaker 4: because it was the same reaction, and of course there
Speaker 4: was really nothing else that could be said whenever it
Speaker 4: was going terribly wrong. This time around, I mean, I
Speaker 4: could keep gushing over this team, how much I love them,
Speaker 4: how much I have enjoyed this ride so far, how
Speaker 4: much I'm starting to think they're actually not just doing
Speaker 4: pretty good for what they have to work with and
Speaker 4: really bouncing back in a big way from a few
Speaker 4: disastrous seasons. Like all those things are true, but I
Speaker 4: now actually think this team might be pretty good. I mean,
Speaker 4: I don't know that for certain, and I really don't care.
Speaker 4: I just thought I'm gonna enjoy watching them the rest
Speaker 4: of the way, and they have really mean, it felt
Speaker 4: like over the weekend. And Austin, I think you can
Speaker 4: attest to this because you you spend a lot of
Speaker 4: time on social media as well. This win against Pittsburgh
Speaker 4: that felt like not a huge statement for Louisville that
Speaker 4: here we go, we're about to, you know, be a
Speaker 4: top twenty team and nothing like that. It was more
Speaker 4: I don't know why, because Pittsburgh is a good team.
Speaker 4: It's a good you know, it was a game they
Speaker 4: could have been lost. Pittsburgh on paper was by far
Speaker 4: and away the best opportunity left on the schedule to
Speaker 4: get a win that had values. So maybe it does
Speaker 4: make sense, but usually, you know, Pittsburgh, it's just not
Speaker 4: the kind of game that would get the attention that
Speaker 4: Louisville got. And it's a good thing because I feel
Speaker 4: like after Saturday, just an anybody who follows college basketball
Speaker 4: that has a voice that or covers college basketball, I
Speaker 4: should say that has a voice that's big on social media.
Speaker 4: Maybe they work for ESPN, maybe they work for FS one,
Speaker 4: whatever it may be. I feel like nearly all of
Speaker 4: them made some kind of a comment about how Pat
Speaker 4: Kelsey like is doing such a phenomenal job at Louisville,
Speaker 4: and I think we've all known that, we felt it.
Speaker 4: It's been great the last few weeks and clearly I
Speaker 4: think he's got respect up to that point, meaning I
Speaker 4: think people are aware, you know, Louisville's.
Speaker 2: Man, who knows how good they're going to be.
Speaker 4: But man, they're no longer being led by Kenny Payne
Speaker 4: and they're going to be much better off without him
Speaker 4: and Kelsey like whatn't as if they were getting disrespected,
Speaker 4: but man, it really felt like Saturday was the moment
Speaker 4: where everybody was like, Okay, this is kind of crazy
Speaker 4: this Louisville team. Not only are they doing better than
Speaker 4: they did before and Pat Kelsey's making it work despite
Speaker 4: the injuries, but I feel like there was a level
Speaker 4: of respect for this team and what Pat Kelsey's doing
Speaker 4: that was earned on Saturday that wasn't quite to that
Speaker 4: level until they got that win against Pitt.
Speaker 3: No, you're right, I know, Seth Greenberg was showing a
Speaker 3: lot of love. I know, who's our guy, John Rostein.
Speaker 3: This is March guy. I don't know if you want
Speaker 3: to take his opinion for granted or whatnot, but they're
Speaker 3: getting a lot of love. Because I like to after
Speaker 3: like a Louisville win like that, I like to type
Speaker 3: that in on the search bar on X and see
Speaker 3: what everybody's saying, and it seemed to be like a
Speaker 3: lot of praise for Pat Kelsey. And I've honestly even
Speaker 3: forgotten about some of the injuries and some of the
Speaker 3: stuff they've been able to do with it just because
Speaker 3: they have guys, because they've made you forget it.
Speaker 4: They've made Yeah, they've made you realize with these wins,
Speaker 4: with how hard they're playing, who they're beating, they've made
Speaker 4: you forget that this wasn't supposed to happen. Not only
Speaker 4: the results themselves, but they're looking like a really, really
Speaker 4: good team as far as just being really physical. They're
Speaker 4: gonna work their ass off on defense, They're gonna make
Speaker 4: timely plays. They've got guys that can make some big shots.
Speaker 4: You're right, I at times forget and it's there's no
Speaker 4: need to to, you know, and it's it's if it
Speaker 4: makes you feel even better about this team in this
Speaker 4: situation than not yourself out. But I'm no longer thinking like, well, man,
Speaker 4: just imagine if we had we had caseon pryor just
Speaker 4: imagine if we had Cora Johnson. I just imagine if
Speaker 4: we played some of those teams earlier this year that
Speaker 4: you know, that we weren't in this position. Maybe if
Speaker 4: we played them now it'd be different. Like I'm not
Speaker 4: really thinking about that because I yeah, all that's true,
Speaker 4: but I think as is today, they're they're pretty damn
Speaker 4: good and they're only getting better.
Speaker 3: Man m absolutely, and just some of the stuff that's
Speaker 3: when you mentioned at the top of the show, like
Speaker 3: how it's just gonna sound like a broken record. But
Speaker 3: just even in the last two or three games, let's
Speaker 3: just go to say, the last two games Clemson and
Speaker 3: Pitt you have guys like James Scott stepping up and
Speaker 3: kind of knowing his role a little bit. You got
Speaker 3: Troy are finally making a big deal, and Ansel and
Speaker 3: Mebey had a they're making most out of their minutes.
Speaker 3: And that just wasn't a thing that we were seeing
Speaker 3: once we saw that everybody was out, when we were
Speaker 3: talking about Johnson, when we were talking about out. Prior
Speaker 3: being out, it would just seem like we're left with
Speaker 3: six seven guys. But now there's a little bit of
Speaker 3: depth on the bench, and it's making them play a
Speaker 3: little bit harder, and it's making them reach a little
Speaker 3: bit better of a potential that we thought Louisville would
Speaker 3: be of course the ceiling strength, but.
Speaker 2: I don't think that.
Speaker 4: Look, and this is what makes it even more fun
Speaker 4: for me just to kind of sit back and really,
Speaker 4: I mean if they somehow like fall apart and like
Speaker 4: don't end up making the tournament, which I guess is
Speaker 4: still possible, like that would be devastating.
Speaker 2: That would really suck.
Speaker 4: I'm not thinking about that, and I would encourage anybody
Speaker 4: to do that because I don't expect it to happen.
Speaker 4: But my point is this is not a year where
Speaker 4: there's any real pressure or stress, So like that adds
Speaker 4: to me a layer of like enjoyment of like, yeah,
Speaker 4: I mean, this wasn't supposed to happen. The unexpected success
Speaker 4: is the best way I think to experience success. And
Speaker 4: I think that's the case from a personal standpoint. I
Speaker 4: think that's the case when you're talking about being a fan.
Speaker 4: So I think the ceiling for this group is still
Speaker 4: unknown because.
Speaker 2: They're on a tear right now.
Speaker 4: And yeah, they did get really hot from from three
Speaker 4: to late in that game in rain Smith, I mean,
Speaker 4: and you kidding me, this guy insane twenty five point
Speaker 4: seven and eleven from three Chucky hit a big one late.
Speaker 4: I mean, this team ended up making thirteen three pointers,
Speaker 4: shot thirty seven percent. That's if that's who They're going
Speaker 4: to be, a thirty seven percent three point shooting team
Speaker 4: and they can make ten or more. I mean that
Speaker 4: that's so I don't Maybe maybe I should retract what
Speaker 4: I was gonna say, which was the ceiling is still
Speaker 4: unknown because they're now beating good teams. They've beat everybody
Speaker 4: in the ACC that is believed to be at least
Speaker 4: decent outside of Duke, who's kind of on their own.
Speaker 4: So imagine if they really did become a little more
Speaker 4: imagine if they shot better at the free throw line.
Speaker 4: I mean that's I mean, this team has a free
Speaker 4: throw issue, and I don't like it. It's scary, you
Speaker 4: know that it can beat you. And it's a little
Speaker 4: bit of a balancing act here because it's almost like
Speaker 4: you should feel relief, like, wow, we we we shouldn't
Speaker 4: keep being in that danger zone where we've got fifty
Speaker 4: percent at the line or worse. But when I say
Speaker 4: the ceiling is still unknown, I don't mean I think
Speaker 4: these guys are going to get you know, substantially better.
Speaker 2: Certain players, may I mean, can I Ruse. I mean,
Speaker 2: he makes a.
Speaker 4: Couple of plays a game that if you watch those
Speaker 4: two plays, you can tell this guy has a lot
Speaker 4: of ability, a lot of talent, and then you look
Speaker 4: at the box score and it just doesn't stand out
Speaker 4: because he's making the most with whatever minutes that he
Speaker 4: does get. So again, back to the whole ceiling thing,
Speaker 4: I don't know how good they could end up being,
Speaker 4: because again, a lot of these guys are four to
Speaker 4: fifty year seniors, so as far as individuals, they're kind of,
Speaker 4: you know, not to say they can't get better to
Speaker 4: an extent, but my point is this, when I say ceiling,
Speaker 4: I'm more so saying, Okay, what if they actually did
Speaker 4: shoot it really well from three against one of these teams,
Speaker 4: What if they did have a really good night at
Speaker 4: the free throw line. I mean, those are things that
Speaker 4: I think can make this team even better than what
Speaker 4: we're seeing right now. And I have no problem in saying,
Speaker 4: and what I'm seeing right now has me super super
Speaker 4: excited for the rest of this year.
Speaker 2: So it's it's just nice to be alive, you know.
Speaker 4: The road trip that I went on was something that
Speaker 4: I've always that I've done for for a long time
Speaker 4: with my dad, try to try to make it a
Speaker 4: one road game a year for louis of basketball, and
Speaker 4: we stopped doing it because obviously, you know, things were bad.
Speaker 4: So we went to Duke when Kenny Payne was in
Speaker 4: his first year.
Speaker 2: Last year.
Speaker 4: Instead of doing the Louisville game, we ended up going
Speaker 4: to a Creighton Butler game up in Indy, just because
Speaker 4: I have a buddy on staff at Butler and I
Speaker 4: wanted to see Hinkle and it was a good Big
Speaker 4: East matchup. And then that night there was the NBA
Speaker 4: All Star the All Star festivities, So instead of a
Speaker 4: Louisville game, we replaced it with that, just because obviously
Speaker 4: Louisville basketball last year wasn't worth going to see on
Speaker 4: the road. It would have been the sad, sad trip.
Speaker 4: So anyways, to have you know, Saturday, the whole, the
Speaker 4: whole experience being there with my fan, with my dad
Speaker 4: and then my son. It's the time I was talking
Speaker 4: with Paul Rodgers earlier today and I told him the
Speaker 4: because I was trying to chat with him after the game,
Speaker 4: and you know, of course it's a mad scramble at
Speaker 4: the end of a game when they're trying to make
Speaker 4: sure they've got everything they need for the post game stuff.
Speaker 4: So I didn't get a chance to really chit chat
Speaker 4: with him much, but he ended up texting me and
Speaker 4: we were going back and forth, and I told him,
Speaker 4: is this has been per timing for me because my
Speaker 4: son is just now old enough to where he understands
Speaker 4: like who the team is. He can name every player
Speaker 4: like he's you know, he's old enough now to where
Speaker 4: he kind of gets it and he's really into it.
Speaker 4: And to be able to experience that with him for
Speaker 4: the first time is awesome alone. But for to be
Speaker 4: this team, I mean not to be corny, but like
Speaker 4: it's it's freaking awesome. Like I can't think of a
Speaker 4: better team for him to kind of, you know, cut
Speaker 4: his teeth if you will. When it comes to really
Speaker 4: just being emotionally invested in this where he's super excited
Speaker 4: if they win, and man, he's sad if they lose.
Speaker 4: So it's just like louisvel of basketball. We all, like
Speaker 4: nobody's necessarily surprised that this success that they've been having,
Speaker 4: these results that has got us back to feeling the
Speaker 4: way we used to feel.
Speaker 2: But I'm really I it's it's natural.
Speaker 4: I mean, it makes sense, but it wasn't something I
Speaker 4: necessarily predicted in regards to what you went through the
Speaker 4: last three years whenever we were lifeless, and it was
Speaker 4: it was bad like that makes this stuff so much
Speaker 4: more enjoyable.
Speaker 2: I still prefer we didn't go through that. I still
Speaker 2: prefer we.
Speaker 4: Didn't have that non existent stretch seemingly, but if it
Speaker 4: ended up in things aligning the way they are now.
Speaker 4: And you've got Pat Kelsey for a long long time
Speaker 4: and he keeps really utilizing everything this this job has,
Speaker 4: and and and he keeps working his tail off showing
Speaker 4: that he's worthy of this gig. And he's certainly done
Speaker 4: that to this point. So it's it's just again, I
Speaker 4: know it's sounding like a broken record, and uh, it's
Speaker 4: certainly not something that's gonna add any entertainment to the show.
Speaker 4: But this has been absolutely awesome watching this team, and
Speaker 4: I think they're getting better and better each time that
Speaker 4: I mean, I felt like Saturday was going to be
Speaker 4: the game where they played well and they just you know,
Speaker 4: they couldn't hold on because Pitt's that good. But no,
Speaker 4: they they they want to They want a really tough game,
Speaker 4: and I I still think pet has a chance to
Speaker 4: be really good.
Speaker 2: This is where I'm this is this is.
Speaker 4: Like a first for me because I think louis has
Speaker 4: beat some teams this year that I felt like, hey,
Speaker 4: that's a good team you beat you play him, I
Speaker 4: don't know times you'd be lucky to go five hundred
Speaker 4: because they're that good. Pitt's the team that I feel like,
Speaker 4: you know, like I think it's the best team Louisvill's
Speaker 4: beat this point to this point, I know, the win
Speaker 4: against win against West Virginia, you win against Carolina, you
Speaker 4: win against Florida State's actually a quad one right now
Speaker 4: because Florida State is in the top seventy five. So
Speaker 4: I mean, I I have that much respect for Pitt,
Speaker 4: and I did on Saturday as well whenever they were
Speaker 4: I mean Louisville, Louisville was just out working them on
Speaker 4: the glass.
Speaker 2: They were more physical.
Speaker 4: Louisville played really good defense, but Pitt made some really
Speaker 4: tough shots as well. And they've got a couple of
Speaker 4: really good players. I mean.
Speaker 2: Jalen Lowe, I mean he's a special, special guy.
Speaker 4: Ishmael Leggett, the fifth year senior who's been a high
Speaker 4: scorer for him. I think you got a good shot
Speaker 4: from Pitt. They brought Damien dunnback from injury. What does
Speaker 4: he do for fifteen points? Makes three or four from three?
Speaker 4: So you took a good shot from a good team
Speaker 4: at their place, and you found a way to win
Speaker 4: with big shots made. It's just the reason I'm spinning
Speaker 4: my wheels here is because like I don't, I don't
Speaker 4: think it's crazy to look at Louisville as a team
Speaker 4: that maybe only has three losses in conference play. I mean,
Speaker 4: they got to take it game by game. Is as
Speaker 4: much as we don't like to hear that as fans,
Speaker 4: it's it's what they have to do. And you know,
Speaker 4: it's one of those things where I'm not I'm not
Speaker 4: looking ahead to a certain game on the schedule where
Speaker 4: you circle it and say, Okay, here's where you get
Speaker 4: to really see where you stand. Here's where you really
Speaker 4: get to to see to see if you're gonna be
Speaker 4: able to collect a big time win. And I guess
Speaker 4: technically you did that on Saturday at pit because again,
Speaker 4: that's a quad one and it's it's the best when
Speaker 4: you have on your resume, right now.
Speaker 2: But two things.
Speaker 4: One, they could play the worst teams in the ACC
Speaker 4: four straight games, and if they still play well and
Speaker 4: win the way they're winning, I'm going to be enjoying
Speaker 4: it regardless because it's just it's just fun to be back.
Speaker 4: Also another thing I'll say before we get to our
Speaker 4: first break here, I never realized just how loaded Louisville
Speaker 4: schedule was on the front half, and when we talked
Speaker 4: about how the non conference portion of the schedule was
Speaker 4: really tough, one of the toughest non conference schedules out there.
Speaker 4: And then you get into ACC play and I don't
Speaker 4: think anybody would have predicted it, but Louisville.
Speaker 2: Playing Duke.
Speaker 4: North, Carolina, Clemson, and pitt those being four of their
Speaker 4: first six ACC games, those are the best teams in
Speaker 4: this league and it's not even close along with Louisville,
Speaker 4: which I don't think many would have said.
Speaker 2: So it's uh.
Speaker 4: I mean, they'll they'll probably slip up to somebody, and
Speaker 4: we'll be sad because you know, they'll they'll lose to
Speaker 4: somebody they shouldn't lose to. But if they don't, I
Speaker 4: can't say that I'm gonna be totally surprised because if
Speaker 4: you look at the rest of the league, I mean
Speaker 4: Syracuse tomorrow night, Like, given what this team has shown us,
Speaker 4: they you know, they could lose to anybody. They could
Speaker 4: slip up and stumble. Nearly lost to EKU, nearly lost
Speaker 4: to UTEP. Right, But I kind of know what I'm
Speaker 4: gonna get with this team when it comes to their
Speaker 4: level of intensity, how well they play defense. And it's
Speaker 4: gonna be fun Tomorrow night at QS and then Virginia
Speaker 4: they come back to town on Saturday. I guess your
Speaker 4: next big chance for a win will be next Tuesday
Speaker 4: when you take on SMU at their place at nine o'clock.
Speaker 4: That's not a huge opportunity, but it's a road game
Speaker 4: and it'll be a quad one opportunity. And after that,
Speaker 4: I don't think you have one left, which is kind
Speaker 4: of crazy. All right, you'll be crazy if don't stick around.
Speaker 2: What would you not?
Speaker 4: We get a lot to get into, a lot to
Speaker 4: react to. We've got the national championship matchup set in
Speaker 4: the College Football Playoff NFL Playoffs. We can react to
Speaker 4: that and a lot more. Don't go anywhere. It's coffee
Speaker 4: and company, fueled by Thornton's right here on Sports Talk
Speaker 4: seven ninety.
Speaker 1: Now back to Coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven nine day.
Speaker 4: That's right, it is coffee and company and we are
Speaker 4: fueled by Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven ninety. Appreciate
Speaker 4: you hanging out with us, Nick Coffee, Austin Montgomery alongside.
Speaker 4: And some big news in the NF I didn't necessarily
Speaker 4: plan to get to this right away, but I mean
Speaker 4: it is. It is a big piece of news, and
Speaker 4: that is that there's another opening in the NFL, and
Speaker 4: I think some would make the claim that it might
Speaker 4: be the best job in the NFL, where I think
Speaker 4: some things that come with it might make it maybe
Speaker 4: the least appealing job. Maybe not the least appealing job
Speaker 4: in the NFL. But the Dallas Cowboys that job is
Speaker 4: now open because they, I mean, is this getting fired.
Speaker 3: It was rare.
Speaker 4: It was rare to see a coach enter his last
Speaker 4: enter his last contract year, meaning he walked in knowing, hey,
Speaker 4: the only thing he is contractually obligated to do for
Speaker 4: this franchise is coach one more season. So they didn't
Speaker 4: fire him initially, so therefore I guess they didn't he
Speaker 4: didn't get fired. He was in the process of negotiating
Speaker 4: a new deal. But McCarthy is out because they couldn't
Speaker 4: come to an agreement. So I mean if in fact,
Speaker 4: the Cowboys then just decided, hey, yeah, we can't come
Speaker 4: to a deal, so we're gonna move on. I mean,
Speaker 4: I guess technically you didn't get terminated. You just you know,
Speaker 4: they said they were done with you, which is kind
Speaker 4: of being fired. But that job is such an I
Speaker 4: mean it's the Dallas Cowboys. I mean, it's maybe the
Speaker 4: biggest brand in all the professional sports in America. But
Speaker 4: working for Jerry Jones, who owns the team and kind
Speaker 4: of acts like the coach and certainly does a lot
Speaker 4: of GMS stuff. I mean, he's the GM is, isn't he.
Speaker 4: I mean, so Jerry Jones, Yeah, I mean like a
Speaker 4: GM Like it's a great job, but it's not right,
Speaker 4: Like it's a great job, but it's not. That's the
Speaker 4: way I would.
Speaker 3: Great for status symbol, but yeah, everything that comes along
Speaker 3: with it and who you have to report to, and
Speaker 3: really you're not being an actual head coach.
Speaker 2: You're just someone that reports to Jerry Jones.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, who does like our buddy, Zach McCarthy,
Speaker 4: Zach Barnett, who not Zach McCarthy, Zach Barnett, who is
Speaker 4: a college football writer but also based out of Texas.
Speaker 4: He has something up at FootballScoop dot com talking about
Speaker 4: this job and sort of where Dallas goes from here.
Speaker 4: But the question, this is the obvious question that I'm
Speaker 4: not sure many casual fans would know. Now, if you
Speaker 4: are really locked in and focused on the Cowboys, or
Speaker 4: you are you know, in the know when it comes
Speaker 4: to the NFL, then you may have an idea, but
Speaker 4: who wants this job? And who does Jerry want? Like
Speaker 4: I have no I mean, I wouldn't even be able
Speaker 4: to guess, because I feel like a really good Like
Speaker 4: if you're a coach looking for a big time opportunity
Speaker 4: and you've got momentum and the time is right for
Speaker 4: you to either leave a coordinator spot or I don't know,
Speaker 4: I mean maybe come up from the college ranks. Like
Speaker 4: if you know you've got options and the timing is
Speaker 4: there for you to take a head coaching job and
Speaker 4: you know, figure out if you're going to be great
Speaker 4: at it or not, Dallas would be the one that
Speaker 4: I wouldn't want to go to because you could have
Speaker 4: things not go your way, and maybe you know directly
Speaker 4: that hey, we're failing because I want to do some
Speaker 4: things that I that I feel like as a coach
Speaker 4: can help us, but I'm not allowed because I'm being
Speaker 4: handcuffed by Jerry.
Speaker 2: Or maybe you'll you know, or maybe you know.
Speaker 4: I just feel like, if you can't do it your way,
Speaker 4: like most coaches do, you know, with NFL franchises that
Speaker 4: don't have a Jerry Jones in place, if if you
Speaker 4: can't really do it your own way, I mean, maybe
Speaker 4: it'll still work out, but then if it doesn't, you'll
Speaker 4: be left wondering like was I good enough or not?
Speaker 4: Because I never really got the full opportunity to run
Speaker 4: an NFL team the way that I wanted to.
Speaker 2: So I mean, they'll they'll be they'll.
Speaker 4: Be legitimate candidates with you know, with resumes that that
Speaker 4: are impressive and names we've all heard of. But it's
Speaker 4: also the kind of put it this way, it's the
Speaker 4: kind of job that anybody saying they want it, you
Speaker 4: can't really be surprised because it's the Dallas Cowboys. But
Speaker 4: also anybody who says, yeah, I'm out, you could also
Speaker 4: understand why because of everything that that. You know, it's
Speaker 4: pretty obvious here it's it's not I don't know if
Speaker 4: he's the terrible guy to work for as far as
Speaker 4: just a human being, but you know, he's a little
Speaker 4: too much involved and it really played out poorly for
Speaker 4: him in the last couple of years with some of
Speaker 4: the decisions they've made and some of the guys they've let,
Speaker 4: they've let go for nothing that have ended up having
Speaker 4: good careers post Dallas. And then to know that Derek
Speaker 4: Henry wanted badly to play in Dallas and they didn't
Speaker 4: want him, and he ended up going to Baltimore and
Speaker 4: now he's I mean, he's still King Henry and the
Speaker 4: Ravens are are rolling, so I I mean, I just
Speaker 4: think there's a lot of evidence, uh that that that'll
Speaker 4: tell you if you're a head coach, you're you're not
Speaker 4: gonna have And again, the GM typically has the most
Speaker 4: to say so when it comes to roster personnel that
Speaker 4: kind of stuff. That's that's that's how it works in
Speaker 4: the pro the pro level. But Jerry's the owner and
Speaker 4: the GM and he's you know, he's got a lot
Speaker 4: of other stuff going on too.
Speaker 2: I mean, he's not the worst.
Speaker 4: I'm sure you could find other gms out there that
Speaker 4: are that are you know, that are that are worse
Speaker 4: than he is. But I don't think it's ever been
Speaker 4: a good thing when an owner is too involved. I mean,
Speaker 4: I can't think of any any examples of of in
Speaker 4: the NFL where the owner was really really like you know,
Speaker 4: is involved as Jerry is, and it was a really
Speaker 4: successful thing long term. And I'm sure, I'm sure I'm
Speaker 4: blanking on one, but I mean it worked out really
Speaker 4: well in New England, and that was because Bob Kraft
Speaker 4: just basically let let Bill Belichick do everything and it
Speaker 4: worked for a long time also, to be honest, I mean,
Speaker 4: I guess maybe Kraft is the example for when it
Speaker 4: was rolling because he wasn't a GM, like, he didn't
Speaker 4: have any status on the within the team other than owner.
Speaker 4: But he was a little more involved, I feel like
Speaker 4: than a lot of a lot of owners out there. So, yeah,
Speaker 4: the Cowboys job is open, and I wonder if Mike
Speaker 4: Vrabel is regretting it. I mean, I think he's in
Speaker 4: a pretty good spot. He got hired over the weekend
Speaker 4: to be the next coach for the Patriots. But I
Speaker 4: could see him, I could see I could see him
Speaker 4: being a guy that might work well, work better with
Speaker 4: Jerry than than most.
Speaker 3: But that one would be a little bit tough too,
Speaker 3: I just because just so he's he's Mike Rabel is
Speaker 3: a big football football guy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but I feel like Jerry would respect that.
Speaker 4: Like the last two guys he's had are kind of
Speaker 4: guys that I feel like push over.
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly, like Garrett and Garrett and McCarthy.
Speaker 4: I mean McCarthy kind of became the pushover guy because
Speaker 4: you know, like he was a pretty underwhelming hire when
Speaker 4: it happened, and then like right from the jump he
Speaker 4: seemed inept, and then you know, he just was. He
Speaker 4: was kept on because Jerry could tell him whatever he wanted.
Speaker 4: You know, he somebody Jerry could control, maybe more than
Speaker 4: he could other coaches. So I don't I don't think
Speaker 4: very to your point though, about being a big football guy.
Speaker 4: It would either work really well and maybe he would
Speaker 4: push back and Jerry would respect it more so than
Speaker 4: he would if it was coming from McCarthy or Garrett,
Speaker 4: or maybe he would be like, who the hell do
Speaker 4: you think you are?
Speaker 2: I own this team? Get the hell out of here,
Speaker 2: like it could cause a real riff, right. I think
Speaker 2: it goes maybe two ways.
Speaker 3: Also, if you want to look at who they possibly
Speaker 3: can get, because we have to agree, probably the hottest
Speaker 3: coaching candidate people are going to talk about now for
Speaker 3: that job is who Deon Sanders. Maybe I forget I
Speaker 3: hadn't even You're right, I hadn't even thought about that.
Speaker 3: There's something good about that, But that also seems like
Speaker 3: an oil and water thing. I mean, yeah, he played
Speaker 3: for him, he was on his team, but you know,
Speaker 3: Dion's a no nonsense kind of guy to where they
Speaker 3: could also go on the other end of the spectrum,
Speaker 3: go get a guy who's hasn't been a head coach yet,
Speaker 3: and that's Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. And that's someone
Speaker 3: that Jerry knows he could probably boss around just because
Speaker 3: it's going to be his first real, big time gig.
Speaker 3: But he's a good he's a damn good play caller.
Speaker 3: I could see him kind of going with someone that
Speaker 3: he can control. I don't think that he could control Dion.
Speaker 3: I don't know if he could control Mike Vrabel. Those
Speaker 3: just seem but I don't know. The more I think
Speaker 3: about it. That's I just think that the Patriots job
Speaker 3: was probably a better fit for Brabel.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and I could see that working out. But with
Speaker 4: Jerry Jones and the Cowboys, there's some names that you like,
Speaker 4: maybe he does hire John Gruden. I mean, maybe he
Speaker 4: never even considers it and would laugh if somebody suggested it.
Speaker 4: But I just kind of feel like there's a level
Speaker 4: of it being Jerry Jones in Dallas that really all
Speaker 4: bets are off, like it could be. It could be,
Speaker 4: it could be somebody we've never heard of. It could
Speaker 4: be a name that you mean. Hell, when he hired McCarthy,
Speaker 4: that was I mean, he did hire a guy who'd
Speaker 4: won a super Bowl before, so it wasn't like he
Speaker 4: hired some guy off the street.
Speaker 2: But like that was just everything.
Speaker 4: The collective reaction was like, what, that's that's where, that's
Speaker 4: who you're going with. But if he if he continues
Speaker 4: to go with his type, it'll be somebody that he
Speaker 4: feels like he could probably he could probably push over
Speaker 4: a little bit. And and I mean maybe that's Kellen Moore,
Speaker 4: because that's a name that everybody's gonna mention. Obviously he's
Speaker 4: he's close with the Jones family and has worked with
Speaker 4: Dallas before as as as the OC and all that.
Speaker 4: But yeah, big news, Dallas, the Dallas, the Dallas Cowboys.
Speaker 4: Job is open and if you are just not joining us,
Speaker 4: this is what I said when we came back from break.
Speaker 4: You could make the case that this is like one
Speaker 4: of the maybe the best job in American pro sports.
Speaker 4: But you could also understand why anybody would be like, yeah,
Speaker 4: I'm gonna pass on this one. I'm gonna wait for
Speaker 4: a different opportunity. Or maybe they just think I'm content
Speaker 4: where I'm at because I don't. I don't I don't
Speaker 4: like the idea like the latest I've heard him. Maybe
Speaker 4: it's just what his agent wants people to put out
Speaker 4: there because they want to play hard to get to
Speaker 4: maybe get a better deal. But Cliff Kingsbury's obviously getting
Speaker 4: some run because of how well he's done with Washington
Speaker 4: as the play caller. But in everybody who who's covering
Speaker 4: him or covering these openings and discussing his name throws
Speaker 4: in the fact that he's made it pretty clear in
Speaker 4: the last year or so that he is his happiest
Speaker 4: when he can just call plays and not have to
Speaker 4: deal with really anything other than that.
Speaker 2: And you know that that's part of me says.
Speaker 4: If you're a competitor, and like, if you're in that business,
Speaker 4: if that's your world, then you want to be successful
Speaker 4: at the very top, which is being a head coach
Speaker 4: in the NFL. But if you've done that and you tried,
Speaker 4: or you you know, you had an opportunity and it
Speaker 4: didn't work out, like you may learn, Hey, no, I
Speaker 4: don't need that, like that could be you know that's
Speaker 4: not me. I'm content, I'm happy, I'm making a lot
Speaker 4: of money and I don't have to deal with all
Speaker 4: the all the other stuff that comes with being you know,
Speaker 4: the actual head coach of a team. All right, if
Speaker 4: you guys would join us on the show, you can
Speaker 4: five two five seven to one seventy nine hundred. That
Speaker 4: is the number again, five x two, five seven, one
Speaker 4: seventy nine hundred. As you could expect a lot of
Speaker 4: reaction to Louisville basketball during our first segment as they
Speaker 4: get a big win at pitt to move to four
Speaker 4: and one. I'm sorry, five and one in the ACC
Speaker 4: And you know, there's been some some things we've thrown
Speaker 4: out there in recent weeks that just kind of tell
Speaker 4: you that Louisville's doing some things they haven't done in
Speaker 4: a long time. We talked to I think it was
Speaker 4: they beat four consecutive conference opponents by double digits that
Speaker 4: had winning records, which is a pretty a pretty you know,
Speaker 4: selective stat However, the last time a Louisville team did
Speaker 4: that was in twenty thirteen, which, again, Louisville basketball was
Speaker 4: in a great spot then. So you're not just having
Speaker 4: success more so than you did in recent years, You're
Speaker 4: you're winning in a way that that you know, really
Speaker 4: hasn't been I mean, not only has it been been
Speaker 4: a while, it's been rare to ever see the type
Speaker 4: of of I guess the stretch that they're on right
Speaker 4: now because in the ACC, louis join the league in
Speaker 4: twenty and fourteen fifteen, so this is technically this is
Speaker 4: the tenth year. Yeah, this is the tenth season for
Speaker 4: Louisville basketball in the ACC. Rick's longest ACC winning streak
Speaker 4: was four games. That Kelse has now won five straight
Speaker 4: ACC games. And I know the ACC stinks, so trust me,
Speaker 4: I'm aware that when I mentioned how well they're doing
Speaker 4: in the ACC and who they beat, I'm well aware
Speaker 4: that that that doesn't mean as much now as it
Speaker 4: used to, just because of where the league currently is,
Speaker 4: But I don't care about that in my position as
Speaker 4: a Louisville fan. Now again, if you think that this
Speaker 4: is just Louisville fans getting their hopes up and getting
Speaker 4: you know, getting big headed because they're beating a bunch
Speaker 4: of bums and they don't realize that this means no.
Speaker 4: I mean again, I understand that the ACC is not great,
Speaker 4: but there's a reason I said in the summer, when
Speaker 4: we realize the ACC is going to once again be bad,
Speaker 4: hey take take advantage of that, right make the most
Speaker 4: of that in your first year with a new head coach.
Speaker 4: And right now, I mean you look at the current
Speaker 4: projected finish for this team. I mean, I think fifteen
Speaker 4: and five is still the projected record in kN POM,
Speaker 4: and I guess technically they could still end up there.
Speaker 2: I mean, look, they could lose to anybody.
Speaker 4: We know that, But I just think when you see
Speaker 4: the way they're winning and who they're doing it against,
Speaker 4: and then you look at the rest of the schedule, like,
Speaker 4: I don't feel like a really really I mean, twenty
Speaker 4: three to twenty four wins. Is is not off the table,
Speaker 4: and yeah, here it is. And kN Palm you're projected
Speaker 4: to go twenty two and nine overall, fifteen and five
Speaker 4: in the league. So that means you would technically lose
Speaker 4: four more ACC games the rest of the way. But
Speaker 4: right now, the only game as far as the projections
Speaker 4: go the formula here at Ken Palm that you are
Speaker 4: projected to lose and not win is at SMU next
Speaker 4: Saturday or next Tuesday when you play them at their place.
Speaker 4: So and that projected score seventy nine to seventy seven. So,
Speaker 4: for for those who who don't understand how this works,
Speaker 4: if you end up like for one of Louisville's games
Speaker 4: they play on the road at Notre Dame on February sixteenth,
Speaker 4: that is a projected win, but it's only a fifty
Speaker 4: eight percent chance. Same thing when you play pitt at
Speaker 4: home later this year. So what the formula does, which
Speaker 4: I happen to like that they do it this way
Speaker 4: just because you are on paper project well I guess
Speaker 4: it's not paper, but the formula projects that you win
Speaker 4: all but one game the rest of the season. Some
Speaker 4: of them are so close they also factor in that
Speaker 4: you're not you know, you'd be really lucky if it
Speaker 4: played out to where you won all those I mean,
Speaker 4: it's doable, but fifteen and five is still the projected record.
Speaker 4: But I think you're gonna get to next week maybe
Speaker 4: where you've got Virginia out of the way. Syracuse of
Speaker 4: courses tomorrow night. So I guess Qus tomorrow than Virginia
Speaker 4: this weekend. Like I think, you know, you go a
Speaker 4: couple more weeks and you're and you beat these teams
Speaker 4: that you know technically you're supposed to beat, like they'll
Speaker 4: be favored against SMU at SMU now probably won't be
Speaker 4: by much and maybe by tip off they won't be.
Speaker 4: But if you get passed Syracuse Virginia SMU, I would say,
Speaker 4: you know, and and again these are games you're just
Speaker 4: technically supposed to win. That would put you at thirteen
Speaker 4: or that would put you, I'm sorry, at fifteen and
Speaker 4: five and you'd be eight and one in the in
Speaker 4: the ACC. I feel like at that point you and
Speaker 4: you reset these numbers, that's when you really feel like, okay,
Speaker 4: we'd have to really fall apart to not like be
Speaker 4: safely in the ternament we'd have to really fall apart
Speaker 4: to not end up with a really good record.
Speaker 2: And it's been awesome. It has.
Speaker 4: It really has a great week into college basketball. In fact,
Speaker 4: I know I didn't I didn't get to watch as
Speaker 4: much as I typically do because I was in the
Speaker 4: car for the majority of the weekend going up to
Speaker 4: Pittsburgh and then coming back. But Kentucky there win against
Speaker 4: Mississippi State. I'm saying the same thing about them as
Speaker 4: I've said really all year. It just comes down to pace.
Speaker 4: It comes down to can they get into what they
Speaker 4: want to get into. And against Mississippi State, I didn't
Speaker 4: think that they. I thought Mississippi State would really thrive
Speaker 4: and going, hey, let's slow it down because we are
Speaker 4: not only are we maybe a little more comfortable in
Speaker 4: what we can do with a game played at that pace,
Speaker 4: but also it's been it's been proven to be a
Speaker 4: real vulnerable spot for Kentucky when they get into those spots.
Speaker 2: But Kentucky, what do they do.
Speaker 4: They went on the road, scored ninety points, and yeah
Speaker 4: they gave up ninety But if if that's what teams
Speaker 4: want to do, and they're willing to say okay, let's
Speaker 4: go let's line up and let's go play. You want
Speaker 4: to run, we'll run with you, and we'll beat you.
Speaker 2: Good luck.
Speaker 4: I mean it's not because Kentucky's got dudes that like
Speaker 4: you know, nobody else does, but they're built to do that.
Speaker 4: That's that's that's when they're at their best. And any
Speaker 4: game they've lost at this point has not been I mean,
Speaker 4: what is Kentucky right now?
Speaker 2: They got three losses? I believe it is.
Speaker 4: Yeah, They've got losses to Georgia, Ohio State, and Clemson.
Speaker 4: All three of those teams. Those were teams that that
Speaker 4: knew where to make Kentucky vulnerable and they did a
Speaker 4: good job at it. And the other teams that tried
Speaker 4: to run with them, I mean, maybe they're maybe they're
Speaker 4: coin flip games right like they you know, Gonzaga ended
Speaker 4: up being a one point win for Kentucky, so that
Speaker 4: one could have gone either way. And I'm not taking
Speaker 4: anything away from them. I'm just saying, like, maybe these
Speaker 4: maybe Duken Gonzaga could say, yeah, if you want to
Speaker 4: play us again now, or you want to play us
Speaker 4: ten times, we're gonna get the best of you. Maybe
Speaker 4: you're right, but they're clearly capable of beating the really
Speaker 4: good teams when the game is played at their preferred pace,
Speaker 4: which is fast, a lot of possessions, a lot of
Speaker 4: a lot of threes. And I just to me, if
Speaker 4: you're a coach, I don't know why you wouldn't. Maybe
Speaker 4: maybe coaches feel like it's a sign of like fear
Speaker 4: or maybe like I guess the best example to use
Speaker 4: for for Kentucky's thus far is Florida.
Speaker 2: Florida's a really good team.
Speaker 4: I still think Florida would would maybe be a better
Speaker 4: I still think Florida right now is a team that
Speaker 4: I would trust to go further in the tournament than Kentucky.
Speaker 2: But I also know Kentucky can beat them because.
Speaker 1: They did it.
Speaker 4: So that game that was where Florida probably thought to themselves, Look,
Speaker 4: we're at where we are, We are at our best
Speaker 4: playing the way they want to play, right. We have
Speaker 4: very similar styles. We like to do a lot of
Speaker 4: the same stuff. So so this is like you're not
Speaker 4: going to change who you are where your ceiling is lower,
Speaker 4: because you know you're that worried about a team being
Speaker 4: able to do what you do but do it better.
Speaker 4: So I don't think coaches that play the way Natoates does,
Speaker 4: the way Todd Golden at Florida does. I don't think
Speaker 4: you're going to see, I mean, even Bruce Pearl, I
Speaker 4: don't think you're going to see those guys have an
Speaker 4: identity crisis and try to reinvent themselves slightly before they
Speaker 4: play Kentucky because they're scared. But I'm sure they know, hey,
Speaker 4: this is just going to be a you know, we'll
Speaker 4: see who makes more shots, who's more efficient, maybe who's
Speaker 4: on who's who's on their own home floor. Because when
Speaker 4: we get into what we want to do and they
Speaker 4: get in get into what they want to do, it's
Speaker 4: it's going to be a game where both teams are
Speaker 4: probably getting close to one hundred points. So with Kentucky,
Speaker 4: I mean, you know, you lose at Georgia, clearly a
Speaker 4: loss you you you wish you could have avoided, not
Speaker 4: a great loss. But then Georgia bounce back and be
Speaker 4: somebody pretty good after they beat Kentucky. I can't think
Speaker 4: of who it was. But then you go on the
Speaker 4: road and you beat Mississippi State, who is you know
Speaker 4: at the time was a top a top fifteen team
Speaker 4: in the kin Palm in the net, so good vibes
Speaker 4: for both basketball programs right now, and some weird vibes
Speaker 4: where kind of seems like nobody's really able to like
Speaker 4: control themselves anymore in acknowledging that they actually really like
Speaker 4: the other team's coach, like we're going to be rivals.
Speaker 4: But I think it's gotten kind of weird, Like it's
Speaker 4: gotten kind of awkward to where you don't want to
Speaker 4: like Mark Pope as much as you do if you're
Speaker 4: a Louisville fan, and you don't want to like Pat
Speaker 4: Kelsey as much as you do if you're a Kentucky fan,
Speaker 4: but you just can't have it anymore. I think that's
Speaker 4: where we are, and I'll talk about it on the
Speaker 4: other side right here on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 1: Now back to coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven nine day.
Speaker 4: All right, we were wrapping up the three o'clock hour
Speaker 4: here on a Monday afternoon. Thanks for hanging out with us.
Speaker 4: Hopefully you had yourselves a good weekend. A good weekend
Speaker 4: for both the basketball programs around here. Louisville gets a
Speaker 4: big win at Pittsburgh, best win of the season in
Speaker 4: my opinion, and I'm not just saying that because I
Speaker 4: was there and it was nice to see pitt excited
Speaker 4: about their basketball team, which has been rare in the
Speaker 4: last decade or so, and they were playing pretty well.
Speaker 4: I mean they I don't know, I don't have it
Speaker 4: pulled up here, but I'm gonna guess when it comes to.
Speaker 2: Gosh.
Speaker 4: Now, I'm genuinely curious what the time like with the time,
Speaker 4: how long each team had a lead, because I feel
Speaker 4: like pitt had a lead for more of the game
Speaker 4: than they didn't. But maybe I'm just saying that because
Speaker 4: I was, you know, there and worried that Louisville was
Speaker 4: missing out on some opportunities to maybe claw back and
Speaker 4: put them away. But yeah, let's see the time time leading.
Speaker 4: Let's see Pittsburgh led for yeah, Louisville. Louisville actually did
Speaker 4: lead more, led this for this game longer than they trailed.
Speaker 4: So again, that's what that that that's a good thing.
Speaker 4: That's a good sign. But back to my point about
Speaker 4: pitt their fans, they were I mean, that was that
Speaker 4: was tough loss for them because they they were at home,
Speaker 4: they are where Louisville's been bad the last few years,
Speaker 4: and they played well. I mean, you look at Pitt's numbers.
Speaker 4: Pitt shot ninety one percent from the free throw line,
Speaker 4: made twenty of twenty two. At the stripe, they shot
Speaker 4: forty eight percent from three, making ten of them, and
Speaker 4: yet they ended up losing Louisville, and it's because Louisville
Speaker 4: made more timely shots. I mean, Louisville probably wins this
Speaker 4: thing without a whole lot of stress if they just
Speaker 4: are better at the free throw line. They were seven
Speaker 4: of fifteen, which is scary, but yeah, Louisville dominant on
Speaker 4: the backboard forty four rebounds to Pittsburgh's thirty one. I mean,
Speaker 4: Louisville had thirty six points in the paint. They just
Speaker 4: had twenty six and seventeen offensive boards for Louisville compared
Speaker 4: to Pittsburgh's seven I'm sorry, Pittsburgh's five. So it was
Speaker 4: it was nice to go into somebody's house and be
Speaker 4: an underdog and be able to make big, tough shots
Speaker 4: at their place when the crowd was certainly into it.
Speaker 4: But also like hearing their fans mad at their team
Speaker 4: and their coach because Pat Kelsey's guys were out there
Speaker 4: just out working them on the Glass getting tough stops defensively,
Speaker 4: Like that's just that was that was awesome, and I
Speaker 4: kind of, you know, I don't really remember that feeling
Speaker 4: as good as it felt on Saturday, because you know,
Speaker 4: it's one thing if you go in and you and
Speaker 4: you win and it's all luck and or you win
Speaker 4: and it's just one of those things that you know,
Speaker 4: you just know you're that much better. But they played well.
Speaker 4: I mentioned those numbers from Pitt that's a box score,
Speaker 4: stat line whatever you want to that that it's a
Speaker 4: game statistically where you feel like, all right, I'm not
Speaker 4: looking at the actual score here, I'm just looking at
Speaker 4: these five six key stats. If we get this and
Speaker 4: you tell me we lose, I don't know how it happens. Well,
Speaker 4: it's because Louisville dominated them on the backboard and really
Speaker 4: the timely shots that they made, I mean, Ray Smith
Speaker 4: was sensational. So great weekend for a Louisville fans in
Speaker 4: Kentucky can say the same thing. I mean, they were
Speaker 4: able to get a big road win at Mississippi State
Speaker 4: Jackson Robinson, I mean, they've got they've got a few
Speaker 4: guys that at any moment they'll.
Speaker 1: Do that.
Speaker 4: And it's nice to have a collection of guys that
Speaker 4: you know, you know at any moment. They can also
Speaker 4: have a game where they are they here, they didn't
Speaker 4: give us anything, but they also can get I mean,
Speaker 4: both of these coaches, Pat Kelsey and Mark Pope, they
Speaker 4: clearly had a type when they went out and built
Speaker 4: their roster. They wanted guys that they felt like were
Speaker 4: a really good fit for what they want to do,
Speaker 4: the style they want to play. And I think that honestly,
Speaker 4: they're kind of similar as far as the kind of
Speaker 4: style they want to play. So they both teams kind
Speaker 4: of have a collection of players that I mean, Louisvill's
Speaker 4: had different leading scorers I think in five of the
Speaker 4: last six games, and I'm not sure if Kentucky can
Speaker 4: say the same thing, but it wouldn't shock me if
Speaker 4: they can, because again they're pretty balanced as well. So,
Speaker 4: but after the game on Saturday night, Mark Pope did
Speaker 4: something that has gone from what I can tell, insanely
Speaker 4: virable or viral.
Speaker 2: Virable is that a word? I don't think it is.
Speaker 4: It sounds bad too, Like if it's virable, I feel
Speaker 4: like that, Oh I'm your virable, Stay away from me.
Speaker 2: I don't want to get sick. That's what That's what
Speaker 2: it sounds shut the world down.
Speaker 4: So Mark Pope apparently is known for going to talk
Speaker 4: to fans after games, like once he gets done with
Speaker 4: the radio stuff or medio stuff.
Speaker 2: I think some of it.
Speaker 4: Actually, maybe before he goes to his press conference, if
Speaker 4: he's on the road. I guess he'll he'll like say
Speaker 4: hey to some fans, maybe take some pictures and whatnot.
Speaker 4: It sounds like this is not uncommon in him to
Speaker 4: do what he did at Mississippi State. However, one of
Speaker 4: the fans was a young man that was in a wheelchair,
Speaker 4: so he obviously was not able to get down to
Speaker 4: the court level, at least not conveniently. And Mark Pope
Speaker 4: went looking to see the Kentucky fans that made the
Speaker 4: trip that were there in Starkville. He noticed the young
Speaker 4: man up there and and I don't know if he
Speaker 4: was asking for him to come down, doesn't seem like
Speaker 4: he was. I think he just wanted to, you know,
Speaker 4: let him know he's there. And Mark Pope decided to
Speaker 4: come up and to the higher level and and not
Speaker 4: only you know, talk, you know, talk to the to
Speaker 4: the fan. And I guess say thanks for coming, go cats,
Speaker 4: that kind of stuff. But he sat down with him
Speaker 4: and talked with him, just talked basketball with him. And
Speaker 4: I get the sense that that's not him doing it
Speaker 4: for the camera. I mean, he clearly didn't know who
Speaker 4: was filming or anything like that. It was some stranger,
Speaker 4: some guy that was there that happened to video it
Speaker 4: and put it out there. And it was great that
Speaker 4: he did, because I'm I mean, it was awesome to
Speaker 4: see and my daughter her, she has a few friends
Speaker 4: that are that are in wheelchairs, and you know, I
Speaker 4: would have never thought of this because I just you know,
Speaker 4: I've not been around people in my life on a
Speaker 4: regular basis that are in wheelchairs. But for him to
Speaker 4: sit down with him instead of just kind of, you know,
Speaker 4: being seven footer nearly Mark Pope, I mean, he had
Speaker 4: the awareness to kind of just you know, connect and
Speaker 4: have a conversation. Really let this guy know, hey, I
Speaker 4: really appreciate you coming, really appreciate your support, and let's
Speaker 4: you know, and they briefly talk basketball, which those kind
Speaker 4: of things mean a lot.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 4: The reason I bring up the whole weird wheelchair thing
Speaker 4: is because there was a parent who who acknowledged that
Speaker 4: at one point when when you know it was it
Speaker 4: was it was a parent on my my daughter's baseball team,
Speaker 4: the Miracle League that she plays in, which is for
Speaker 4: special needs kids and adults. By the way, if you
Speaker 4: are interested and you or you have you know somebody
Speaker 4: that might be interested, it's it's a I don't.
Speaker 2: Need I don't have time to get into the whole
Speaker 2: thing of what it is. I've talked about it.
Speaker 4: Before, but there are a lot of kids that play
Speaker 4: that are in wheelchairs, and it's been a great experience
Speaker 4: for me and my wife to just be around other
Speaker 4: families with special needs children, and you learn, you pick
Speaker 4: up on things that you're really you wouldn't unless you
Speaker 4: make those connections and talk to people. And I would
Speaker 4: imagine that experience for this young man in the wheelchair
Speaker 4: probably something he'll remember for, you know, the rest of
Speaker 4: his life. So Mark Pope, I mean, I've said it
Speaker 4: here and there for the last I don't know really
Speaker 4: since he's gotten hired, but obviously since he's been coaching
Speaker 4: basketball this year. Not only do I think he's a
Speaker 4: pretty genuine guy and he's gonna be pretty hard to dislike,
Speaker 4: he's also a good coach. I mean he's showing that too.
Speaker 4: I mean he's not perfect, nobody is, but you know
Speaker 4: it's gonna be it's gonna be weird around here because
Speaker 4: I love when they lose. But I'm not, like, man,
Speaker 4: I can't wait to hear his press conference. I wonder
Speaker 4: if he's gonna cry, like you know, it's it's it's
Speaker 4: in no way at all like personal like I don't.
Speaker 2: I don't.
Speaker 4: I mean, I find it hard to dislike that guy,
Speaker 4: which is you know, weird because their arrival and I
Speaker 4: think Kentucky fans, I'm sure you'll find some of them
Speaker 4: out there that that'll that'll still go full a hole
Speaker 4: and just be you know, nasty about it, and and
Speaker 4: you know, no matter what, they'll never like anybody that's
Speaker 4: a Louisville fan or a Louisville coach or player or whatnot.
Speaker 4: But when Pat Kelsey shared the video and kind of
Speaker 4: acknowledged how awesome it was of Mark Pope, I feel
Speaker 4: like that was like the ultimate sign for Kentucky fans
Speaker 4: to just they couldn't control it anymore, they couldn't help it.
Speaker 4: They had to just put it out there. Look, I
Speaker 4: don't like this I really like their coach. I don't
Speaker 4: want it to be the case. You've got to stop
Speaker 4: making me like you it is, Pat Kelsey, I think
Speaker 4: you're a good dude. So it's you know, I guess
Speaker 4: it's wholesome. It's it's different, and I don't see really
Speaker 4: any signs of it changing anytime soon. But it's definitely
Speaker 4: a different thing for us around here, because even when
Speaker 4: coaches aren't villains like Mark, to me, Mark Stoops is
Speaker 4: not a real hateable guy, like you know, he's to me,
Speaker 4: he's kind of whatever.
Speaker 2: Like I don't think he's a bad guy.
Speaker 4: I don't want him to win because he coaches Kentucky,
Speaker 4: but he to me, he didn't do much for me
Speaker 4: one way or the other. Cal was a really good villain.
Speaker 4: Pope is somebody that I think is he's really hard
Speaker 4: not to like. It's it's not like, hey, you know,
Speaker 4: I think he's I think he's a good dude. And yeah,
Speaker 4: I think he's a good coach too, which is not
Speaker 4: a good recipe when you're talking about your rival a
Speaker 4: good guy and a good coach. Uh oh, all right,
Speaker 4: quick break, we got two more hours left. We'll talk
Speaker 4: a little football on the other side, it's Ohio State
Speaker 4: and Notre Dame next Monday. Next week actually for the
Speaker 4: National Championship. We've got an NFL playoff game tonight Austin's
Speaker 4: Vikings in action against the Rams so and then we'll
Speaker 4: have the updated schedule for UH for the next week
Speaker 4: of playoff games. So a lot of fun stick around
Speaker 4: right here on Sports Talk seven ninety