Welcome to the Big Blue and Cider. Dick Gabriel with your Thursday edition of our show, One day Closer to College Football. For the Wildcats, you know this, they take on the Old Miss Rebels down in Oxford. Noon kickoff, Yeah, eleven am local, but noon kickoff. That means we're on the air at ten am with Logan Stenberg, Jeremy Jarman, and Christy Thomas, and then Tom Leitch, Jeff mccor and
I will have the action for you. It's going to be a tough one and we're gonna hear from Brad White here in just a minute, because man, what a challenge for the Kentucky defense, but a challenge for Old Miss as well, because the Rebels have stocked their schedule early with the eminently winnable games and they have been
impressive in doing so. But based on the performances we've seen the last couple of weeks where the Kentucky defense was so good against Georgia and the offense of course comes alive against a weaker Ohio You team, this will be the best team that Mississippi will have faced. Can Kentucky hold them off? Well, we're gonna find out. But keep in mind. Two years ago, Wildcats came back and turned things around at halftime. You know what happened down
the stretch. They scored to go ahead touchdown but had it taken off the board, and then a fumble by Will Levis when the O line broke down. Of course, Levis was hurt at the time. But this is a better Ole Miss team. I do believe this Kentucky O line is better than clearly than that one two years ago. And some of the guys are the same people, same players,
They're just more experienced and better at their jobs. I can't say Brock vandergriff is better than Will Levis, but at least he's healthier than Levis was in that game. So it's gonna be fun. We'll have it for you right here on six thirty wlap coming up at the bottom of the hour. Cameron Mills will join us here in the garage. Cameron, of course, the two time national champion and a guy who insists on coming to the garage.
I'd have been on the phone with me once or twice, like at the last minute, but he didn't live too far away, and he is right, he goes it'll sound better if I'm there and he likes doing radio with me and I with him, so and of course Cameron is the co host of part of our pregame coverage for Kentucky basketball on the UK Network. But Cameron has been going to practice and watching the Wildcats and reporting
via the UK Sports Network social media platforms. So we're going to get direct first hand reports of what is going on with Mark Pope, Cameron's former teammate. I think I said once upon a time that they were roommates. At one point they were not, but they're good buddies. And Cameron, of course knows the game and knows how Mark Pope was taught and trained under Rick Patino, among other coaches, but he'll be able to tell us what kind of Patino type qualities that Mark Pope has as
a coach. I'm really curious about this, not that he he's going to scream and holler the way Patino did, but just the way he reaches players and what he teaches and how he teaches it. So that's coming up at the bottom of the hour. But I do want to get back to the UK football. Brad White, defensive coordinator, one of the best in the country, has had trouble at times with jail break offenses. It of course depends on his personnel, not just how they execute, but just
how good are they. And he's got some good ones. That is the strength of this Kentucky team is defense. And yesterday after practice he talked about the fact that it's an early game. You got to get up and at him, and there's a lot to deal with.
You know, the goal is just like we talked about going into that, you want to go into every game, but you know, we specifically talked about going to Georgia game and say just that focused execution all the way through practice in the meeting rooms, take it out, you know, on waivering effort.
And take it serious by series.
We did that in Georgia. I thought we did a nice job sort of carrying that over last week against Ohio. I need to continue to do that. It's going to be a tough environment. We were down there two years ago. We understand. You know, you get up. You know it's eleven o'clock Central time. You got to get geared up and ready to rock and roll.
And kids, when he says ready to rock and roll, just use your urban dictionary and find out exactly what he means. You probably have a pretty good idea. It is so tough to prepare for a team like ole Mester or a team like Tennessee that runs the jail break and runs it well, because how do you do that. You can study video all you want, but on the practice field, of course, that's what the scout team is for, to run the other team's stuff. And what they do
is they stand in a huddle. Usually what they do is because I don't get to go to practice unless I get special permission. But what they'll do, for the most part most teams is the stand in a huddle and a GA or somebody will hold up a playbook in the huddle say, okay, here's the play we're running. Here's what you need to do, what you need to do. But the key with old miss simple stuff. They're running,
but they're doing it so fast. They're running to the line of scrimmage, getting set up and then boom, there they go again. They test your mental capacity, they test your conditioning, and there's no scout team in the country that can replicate that on a given practice day. And that's that's part of the big challenge.
Yeah, it's impossible to simulate it. You know, you just try to do the best you can to to try to get as many quality reps in as you can. But you know, it's I mean, it's it's hard for anybody in the country to simulate, you know, what they do, and especially at the efficiency that they do it at. I mean they've got you know, eight seniors, two juniors, you know, guys that have been in the system for
a long time. They understand how to operate, they understand, you know, what they're trying to get done on each play call, and so then to add the pace on top of it is why they're so effective and efficient, and they're going to give you know, anybody they face all kinds problem.
And not only do they have talented players, they have talented experienced players. So it's going to be a heck of a challenge and you'll hear it right here on six thirty WLAP. Reds lose to the Indians last night. No shocker there, and of course they have fired their manager have the Reds. Last night's game, though not without controversy.
Guardians starter Tim Herron had a perfect game, going not just a no hitter, but a perfect game and Tim Friedel decided, in a two nothing ballgame, still a game, that he had to get on base, and so here's what he did. Here is Indians TV call of the play. Little pun attempt, Aaron grabs it, fires it not in time, and that'll be the first hit of the night.
And listen to the booze.
An all two typical call TV announcer telling you exactly what you're seeing. It drives me nuts. But that's a different topic. Now here's John Sadok in the reds Net. We're calling it the way a TV announcer should call it, just basically supplementing what happens, but also with the comment from his color commentator about the fact that it's a legit play.
Here's Tim Herron fun try Aaron flip is late and the perfecto spoiled on a bug base hit by TJ. Friedel, go ahead and boom, it's still a game. It's two nothing.
I love this play. Freedom is the one guy on this robster that'll use it from time to time. Yeah, they were booing, but as he said, look, it's a it's a ball game. If it's seven or eight nothing or whatever, and it's late eighth or ninth inning. I get it. You know, that's baseball protocol says you don't lay down a bun at that stage. And some of you think that the unwritten rules of baseball are stupid. But here's a guy in the seventh inning in a game,
still trying, you know. I mean, yeah, their season's been cooked for a long time, but you try. You got to get out there and give effort. And then Friedo is one of those players. So the fact that they were booing about that is ridiculous. What was funny not ridiculous, I guess it should is to be expected, but come on. What was also funny was White Sox fans last night booed because their team won. They beat the Angels three
to two and avoided a record setting loss. Fans wanted to be there, but it didn't happen, and when they won, fans booed up. Next controversy with UNLV football takes another step forward or backward here on six thirty WLAP Welcome back to the Big Blue Insider. Coming up at the bottom of the hour just a few minutes, Cameron Mills will join us here in the garage, and as it often happens, he will basically fill the rest of the show.
So that's why we talked a lot of football in segment one, because there's going to be a lot of basketball chatter from the bottom of the hour on not giving up on the football season. But Cameron has actually been to practice, so now I don't need to talk and speculate about what we might see and who might be doing what and what Mark Pope might be doing in practice. I've got an eyewitness and you do too, because you can see Cameron's practice reports on social media.
Just follow the UK Sports Network and his practice reports will pop up from time to time. There is a little more football to talk about, and yesterday I mentioned the UNLV story where their quarterback, the Rebels quarterback Matthew Sluka, announced he was not going to play in any more games this season, citing missed opportunities, and we'll come back to that. But now they've lost another player, running back Michael Allen, who transferred in from NC State and he
is leaving. He released on Twitter that he would not be playing any more games, and the reason is, of course, you can protect your red shirt year after three game, you can play up to four games. So he said I'm done, thank you and all that stuff. Looking for opportunities, but he said opportunities, unfortunately were not met. I'm excited to continue my footballer. But he also said this has nothing to do with money. This is nothing. He said, I did not receive a dime from any UNLV collective.
But by that he met this isn't money related. This is about playing time. And this probably has happened before, but you know, I haven't been really paying that much attention to it at other schools. This has not yet happened at Kentucky, where somebody comes in, doesn't get to play the way he wants and leaves before he burns the red shirt or the red shirt potential. This guy,
he's a junior. In the first game of the year, ten carries for sixty five yards, but in each of the next two games one carry for three yards in a win over Kansas last week. So apparently he was in their plans and then no longer in their plans. But it had nothing to do with money the way
Sluka's deal allegedly did. This is a guy what a big year's big career really At holy Cross, he was an FCS third team All American in twenty twenty three, transferred to UNLV and then announces quite publicly that he essentially reading between the lines, is not getting the money he was promised, and as we reported yesterday, his family has hired an agent. This guy named Marcus Cruelmarty told ESPN Unov did not come through a verbal offer of
one hundred thousand dollars from an assistant coach. Now, the kid's father says that head coach Barry otom later told him in a phone conversation the offer wasn't valid because it didn't come from him, but rather from offensive coordinator Brennan Marion, who wouldn't talk to ESPN. And UNLV said that sluca's representative made financial demands upon the university and it's nil collective in order to continue playing. Here's the thing. Schools
can't make big money offers. I know it's a technicality, but it's got to come from a collective that is not owned and operated by the school. Why that's the rule they set up. You might think that that's petty or whatever, but of the few guardrails that are out there, that's the big one. And UNLV said in a statement that the school interpreted demands from the agent as a violation of the NCAA pay for play rules. Of course, this is what it is, but also a violation, it
said of Nevada state law. Said UNLV does not engage in such activity, nor does its respond to implied threats. UNLV has honored all previously agreed upon scholarships for Matthew Sluga goes on to talk about due diligence, working within the framework at the NCAA and all that. But what's troubling if you're UNLV is that Barry Odom allegedly said, oh, the offer didn't come from me, came from an assistant, as though to say, if it came from me, the
offer would be valid. And Shawn Woods and I were talking about this yesterday on the show and Sean as Sean pointed out, if it's verbal doesn't mean anything. I mean it should in terms of are you going to honor what you said to the guy? But legally no, no, if it's not in writing, it's not happening. So what a mess at UNLV, which, by the way, decided to remain in the Mountain West Conference after it negotiated a re signing bonus with the league they were getting interested in.
The PAC twelve. Air Force made the same decision, signing bonus staying in the Mountain West. Air Force had been speaking with the AAC, but they're going to remain in the Mountain West. So the PAC twelve trying to stay alive. Biggest game of the country this weekend is of course in the SEC. We'll say that a lot this season and for years to come. But it's Alabama Georgia, and it's not Kirby Smart against Nick Saban, but it's against the legacy of Nick Saban. But Kirby Smart is now
the man in the SEC. I know Mark Stoops is the Dean, but in terms of accomplishments, Kirby Smart is the man. And I always think back to a conversation I have with Chris Hatcher, the former Kentucky assistant coach
now the head coach at Samford down in Birmingham. But Chris went from here to Valdosta State, became the head coach at Valdosta State, and at one point Kirby Smart was first his defensive backs coach, then his defensive cord and he also Chris also had an assistant by the name of Will Muschamp, who went on to head up a couple of SEC football programs. He's an assistant coach now, but remember he was the head coach at Florida and
in South Carolina. But Kirby went from Valdosta's well, started at Georgia, where he played a defensive back of course, picked off Tim Couch once by a time, but was a administrative assistant at Georgia, then Valdosta, GA at Florida State, then LSU defensive backs at Georgia and five E coach running backs. Left with Saban, went to or went with
Saban to Miami and coached the secondary there. Then left with Saban, came to Alabama as the assistant head coach DB's and added the decoordinator title in twenty eight and after the twenty fifteen season headed for Georgia, where he has won ninety seven games, ninety seven and sixteen, looking to make it ninety eight Saturday Night against Alabama. Of course, those two national championships, along with two SEC titles and six East Division titles, and at least for the time being,
that's gonna do it for the East again. I was opposed to that, not that anybody Cares in the SEC office what I think. But I did like the fact that Kentucky had a better shot of getting to Atlanta for the SEC title game when there were divisions in play. I understand the scheduling challenges, but just selfishly wanting to cover. And I've been again. I've been to fifteen SEC Football Championship games when I was with the SEC radio network.
I so want that for Kentucky fans, coaches, players, the program. It's so much fun and it's gonna be so much harder to do now. Not impossible, but really tough to do now. So yeah, Kirby Smart with a big opportunity this weekend against Alabama, and conversely Alabama, same thing, Kalen de Boor. This would be huge if his team can pull things off. So it's gonna be fun, all right.
When we come back, Cameron Mills will join us here in the garage and we're gonna talk a lot of Kentucky basketball, but you and I are going to learn a lot about what's going on in practice, how Mark Pope is coaching, and what kind of basketball that we will all see coming up very shortly. That's next year on the Big Moon Sider six thirty WLAP welcome back, joining us in the garage as he does every once
in a while. He's a very busy man. Cameron Mills with us, of course, a two time national champion and former host of his own radio show. Do you miss that? I know you don't miss the stress? No, and you made it too more difficult than it needed to be. I didn't know what I was doing you in seven years.
In years, well, I eventually learned what I was doing, but I never got over the stress of And here's the thing, this is this show. Now, that's what I think about you and you and I know that Tony corneyser joke of anybody can do a show on Monday, what's your Thursday show? What's your Thursday show? Thursday? What's your Thursday show? You bring on has been's? Oh no, no, I don't miss.
Your terribly relevant now we'll get to that in a moment.
I do miss I do. Yeah, I get to go to practice a lot. I do miss the guys I did the show with. I miss hanging out with them because the show. As you and I've talked about so many times, we both like sports, and I would say we both love sports but we don't, and I don't think we If we had our drouthers, we would do much more than just sports, because there's so much stuff like Shorsy that you and I want to talk about, like letter like letter Kitty, that you and I want
to talk about. So that's what I tried, because that's what I turned my show into. Look if I had my brothers when I did my show, i'd barely talk to UK sports. But as I was reminded by my staff of interns, Cameron, nobody cares what you think about Seinfeld. Nobody wants to hear anything other than UK stuff. And I'm like, all right. So we did an hour UK stuff and then second hour was what I thoroughly enjoyed. But the planning man the planning and I did it
one day a week and it was on Sunday. And Susan, my wife, she was like, sweetie, you're just gone on Sunday. And I said, what do you mean, I'm right here in the house. She goes, mentally, you're not here because you're either stressing or planning, and you're just not here. And so it was at that point where because you know, this the reason I did the show was to get my ten thousand hours right. We've had this conversation. Don't
give me a blank look. Basically, get the practice of hosting, getting in and out of breaks so that I would have the background of hopefully getting the job that I now have and being comfortable with the job.
That I neronically enough, you don't have to get in and out of.
Break No, I don't know. I've got to. I've got to. I've got a co host who does that for me. So, but I still will feel much more comfortable on that show than I would have if I had not had seven years of hosting a show.
Yeah, no, I get that. Uh No, I can obviously empathize because I'm always wondering. You know who can I get?
Uh? Surprises me. I've not been called in a while.
You know, well, I know you're a busy man. I'm always good.
For I'm always good for an hour of just talking. Just I mean, look, I'm at home talking. As my wife said to me recently, you've got the knack of turning a ten second conversation into a ten minute one. Well, and the way I took it as I took it as a compliment. I'm like that sounds like my stories are interesting, and she was like, no, this is not this is not a compliment.
Sweet. I've been told my better half that I talk too much. So uh yeah, my job and they get it for free, that's the thing.
Yeah, they get the round the dinner table TV. We just I do. I've caught myself so many times, especially since I've been married last four years, of just like I'll talk and talk and I'll get up on a tangent and then I'll say, what were we What was I telling you about? And she'd look at me, she goes, I have no idea. I stopped listening ten minutes ago. It's like the opposite of what I hear most marriages, alike.
Usually it's the man tunes out the woman. Now this is the woman that tunes out the man in my.
Life, and the standard responses.
I don't know, I didn't know you were talking.
To be honest, Well, whenever you and I are together, we get off on tangents like let me hold you on the first topic. You have a project going now with the UK Sports Network where you were basically reporting on practice the and it hits social media Wednesday Thursday.
Well, so what it is is it's UK Healthcare sponsors it. I didn't set it up. It was set up by JMI, who of course is the UK Sports Network. And I was asked because and we started doing this a little bit last year. But of course when and look, this isn't a shot at cal caw wasn't my coach and cal bing cal as every coach should be. And I get this. They're leary about who comes to their practice. They're leary about what is said about what goes on
in practice. And that goes for the current coach as well. The difference is that I'm no longer calling Deb to ask if I can come to practice more de Moore Deb Moore, he's the sports information director for specifically for Mark, for coach Poe.
I don't.
I'm not calling her to say can I come to practice? I'll show up a practice when I want to show up to practice, and if he wants to ask me to leave, he can ask me to leave. Look, I mean, I know that sounds arrogant, but that's that's I mean he Look, he's already said he wants every former player to feel comfortable and always feel welcome to come to practice.
But I just kind of look, I'm too close to Mark, and again based off our you know, twenty years, thirty years ago, our relationship, like he and I haven't talked talked a lot in thirty years. But nothing changes. You go through the trenches with these guys and you're like
you're your your teammates for life. So it's just been fun going to practice and then with Pope being there, getting to go to a lot of practices, and when Cal was here, there were things I could report and I think we maybe did one or two practice reports last year when Cow was here. Towards the end of the season. When Pope got here, I felt like so did so did Jami. That there Man, there's a lot more to talk about. I mean, what's going to be different.
Is this offense going to be as high powered or as you know, is groundbreaking as they as we think. I mean, there's just so much to talk about. And then we're going back to before we had coaches, before we had a team this summer and it's just been fun for me to go to practice. And I'll give you a perfect example this Monday. So Monday was the start of Banner Camp. I've been calling it hell week, because that's what we called it, and what I mean
by that is what it was. Yeah, well it still is, but they're calling it banner Camp to soften the blow to the players, I think, but I think it's a brilliant name for what it is because, again, as Mark says, he knows the assignment, but these guys, this is the hardest week of practice all year, with the exception of about a two week period of time during Christmas because classes out and that twenty hour four hour rule goes away.
Well as of Monday, the twenty hour four hour rule pops in, So that's you're not allowed to practice one four hours a day and you're not allowed to practice more than twenty hours a week, and you have to have one day off a week. So all summer they've they've had more stringent rules, right, it was like four hours a week instead of four hours a day. That was the summer, And so now they can go full board twice, they can have two a days, and that's
what they're doing. They're going early in the morning, they're going in the afternoon. So I decided that I thought it would be interesting based on the fact that I had seen the summer practices and a couple of the early individual instructions. I thought it'd be interest because, I mean, those are all great, and it was fascinating watching the way Mark coaches and watching how these guys respond and seeing what kind of talent we had. But I wanted
to see this week. This week has kind of been like I've had it marked on my calendar, like I want to see, Okay, what of what from our hell week? Is Mark Pope going to bring to the tape? What what from Patino? Where we would wake up at where I'd wake up at five in the morning to be ready for practice at six. I mean, it's one hundred yard walk to the Price. It's not like I'm gonna get logjamm in draffic. Did you have to set an
alarm or did your inner nervous inner nervousness? Oh no, I set alarms several in fact, but it's still inner nervousness. I mean, that week is so intense, is so exhausting, and that's what I wanted to see, and the sadistic side of me I wanted to see. I wanted to
see these guys suffer. And I mean that in the most complimentary way, because the most fun part about being an ex player, especially if you're around a guy who coached you or in this case was in this case was a teammate of you and went through what you went through, is you get to watch them make other people suffer and enjoy it. And I mean, and as bad as that sounds, it's just because part of it is you know what the suffering leads do and it's
good things, and you want to tell him that. Meaning I want to tell the players as they were suffering through sprints on Monday morning, guys, this is this is what we're building. This is when we're hanging banners. We're hanging banners right now. Fortunately I had I had a teammate who's actually job it is now to tell him that, tell him that. But it's just fun. They well, they do, but it's still it's Mark is still not leaving. He's
not leaving anything too. He's not And this is this is one thing I included in the practice report that came out yesterday or this morning, that he's not leaving anything the chance. I mean, you talk about the little things.
He is. He is not leaving anything to chance. And again it gives me chills because It reminds me of a guy named Rick Patino, because nothing when you've got a head coach that gives you a thirty five page guiding report on every single team, and you were expected to know what is on page seventeen, and you are quizzed after after the game. Nothing's being left after the game.
There was one one game in particular, he was convinced none of us read the scouting report, and so about three of us, four of us just so happened to be those of us who never played. So it was like me, Oliver Simmons and maybe nausey or something. We were Uh. He was yelling at us, and we won.
We won the game, by the way, but he still didn't think we studied the scouting report, and so he was asking us questions like, you know, on page seventeen, how many times did you know how many times does Smith go in and out back to his left to the right compared to how many times does he go in and out go left? That was in the scouting report and we were expected to know that. So again, did you no? No? Because I didn't play. What differs
to make if I know it? What matters is does Tony del know it, which was my answer.
Ask him, he's the one that was in the game after Patino.
No, I wanted to half of what I say I said to Patino, I never said the Patino. I wouldn't say it.
Now Ryurn Mills is in the garage. We'll come back with a lot of questions for Cameron in just a minute. Here in the Big Blue Sider six thirty w l A P. Welcome back here in the garage with Cameron Mills. He is dropped by a very busy man, but he made time for us. He has been busy doing a lot of things, including going to practice and recording practice reports for JMI social media digital accounts. So many questions you you mentioned, uh Rick Patino, Mark Pope, his style
in terms of his intensity and decibel level. It can't be as bad, you know.
It is the exact opposite. Okay, how so this is the way he talks in practice. Really, this is him in practice. Now he will he will, he will reach a normal talking tone at some point. But it was so distracting to me that there was no yelling. There was coaching. I mean there was there was moments when when some of the assistant coaches would you know. But I've yet to hear a cuss word in practice other than other than by the players, right, which is normal.
I mean, that's his look. I didn't cuss, but I cussed in practice because you don't know what else to say sometimes. But Pope, that's just And this is what I mean by the little things, because I even asked him after maybe the second practice, I'm like to ask you a question. I said, look, you and I you and I'm both doing what it was like under coach p I said, you seem to be the complete opposite. I said, you never cussed in practice. You never, I mean,
you were nothing but encouraging in practice. I can't remember you ever being mad in practice. And I said, so, I didn't expect that. But what I definitely didn't expect is you almost whispering when you when you coached your team. And he has this habit of walking over to the guy. Like again, Coach Patino would yell at you loud enough
for everyone to hear, and that was intentional. Mark is intentional seemingly to me, in that he will walk up if he wants, if he wants to teach you something or coach you, he will walk up and basically whisper in your ear. And I asked him one time because I was noticing this when they had team huddles, because I mean he was it was. It was quiet, it was soft, so huddle was uh huh huddle huddle was meaning he was talking, but he was like lower than a whisper. It was. It wasn't but it was close.
I mean he was talking low, so low that it stood out to me. So I went up and I asked him. I said, why do you talk so quiet in practice? And again only Mark Pope? And this is when I say, when people you get when you when I say Rhodescholar candidate, Columbia Medical School read Dante's Inferno every night, right, I mean when I when I tell people these things, I don't. I still't think people understand. He is the most thoughtful, intuitive, intellectual coach in Division one.
There's there's nobody nobody thinks about the little things more than this. So I asked him that, and so did it to me? He leans in And as soon as he leans in, what do you think I did lean back?
Did you?
He said? That's why, Cameron, he said, when I talk low, they have to lean in to hear me, and now I know they're listening, Like, who thinks like this?
You do? You know? I learned that at a very young Asian radio an announcer who was cutting a commercial or P S A or something, and he was in a half whisper, and he said that makes people sit up and think, oh, this is this is something I need to hear.
It's exactly you know what. That's probably even stated better. And I think that's why Mark, at least that's how he described it to me, that that's a better way of saying what I just describe. That's why he does it. If you're yelling, I can hang back here and pretend like I'm listening. If you're whispering, Shoot, my head coach is talking, I better pick this up. So you just for me, So you lean in and as low as
he talks, everybody hears. It's just maybe it's not genius, but I don't know anyone else who does.
I gotta assume everybody leans in.
No, no, I mean other coaches, No, no, no.
What I'm saying is excuse me if he's leaning in to talk to player A, Oh yeah, players B C. Dany aren't they leaning in as well.
Well, I don't I don't know if he's if he's coaching up one player, because he'll whisper to them a lot of time. Look, I'm not saying does this every time. Sometimes he's talking to a group of them. But when he's got group huddle right right now, I don't know what it'll be like in a game, But when he's got group huddle, he's talking low. They're running win sprints yesterday or Monday, She's me, they're running win sprints Monday and.
Monday. Monday.
To me was like I felt like I'd just been I don't know how. It was just glorious, it was. It was just so much of it was Patino, but in a completely different style. Yeah, and a complete from coming from a different mind. And that was what was fun to me is because Mark obviously has taken everything he learned or to coach p which he will tell
you a whole lot because we all did. And then he's learned over the last eleven years as a head coach, what that looks like coming out of the mouth of Mark Pope, what that looks like in a Mark Pope practice. He's not copying Coach p verbatim, no, but but but but I believe some some have some have tried, right, I think some have seen coach Patino's what he has accomplished and said, well, that's the that's how you need to be a coach, and and that's not how it works, right.
You can't cookie cut his brilliance, and it is brilliant.
Well, that said, I'm very curious to see within a game. And you may have already answered this, but when something goes wrong and Patino would blow a stack Caliper, what does Mark Pope do?
I don't. I don't know that's that's.
Out there because he's that veteran head coach.
Yes, but I think do not know this. This is not something I've experienced. I've not talked to him about this. I don't know. And here's the other thing. I don't know how he was and what I mean by that as I can go watch b Yu film and I can he.
Saw his team play firsthand in Louisville.
Well, but that was different because that was we had gotten tickets me, Derek Anderson, Jared Prickett, Tony Delk, coach Bennett Shep. We had all gotten tickets from Mark intentionally behind his bench, and we had one goal. We want him to get a technical foul. So we were we were. We were yelling at him the whole time. We I mean, we were brutal to him and at one point we knew we got him because he turned around and laughed at us. We're like, job done. So we weren't taking
that game serious. I mean, he was and and and And that's what I love about him is he knew why we were there. He knew, he knew we were gonna give him a hard time. But I'm not seeing I don't know what he's gonna be looking games. It's it's gonna be different than what we've had. But I do feel like he is feeling the pressure of being here. And what I mean by that is in a good way. Because again I've told you this before, coach with you know you stay all the time. Pressure is a good thing.
Pressure forces you to pre.
Pressure is a privilege.
Oh I like that.
I like that good. You've heard that.
Coach P's thing was pressure is pressure forces you to prepare.
That's good.
And so I feel like that's what Mark is putting a lot of pressure on himself. But I think what he's doing. And I'm glad he's doing this, and I know UK fans be glad he's doing this. But he's spent a lot of pressure on himself to succeed. Now now he is not. His attitude is not We've got we're gonna you know, we're gonna build this program over the next three years. We are He's not we are right, Well, he is rebuilding. No, but that in thirteen new guys.
But the connotation there is you're gonna have to wait, which is precisely what Tubby Smith's attitude was. I'm not read building.
That's why he was hired. C. M. Newton hired Toby specifically because at Tulsa and Georgia he stepped in and with existing players succeeded instantly.
And Mark has a brand new players. And that adds a layer to this that is different where I'll give you one how much time we got to give you one quick story a minute. So at the end of practice yesterday, God, there's so many, so many things I can tell you, but it's going to come out in
practice report. But I but, but, but I don't I love sharing it with you at the at the end of practice that they they're doing these uh this drill called kills, and a kill is you got Blue team, White team, and both teams have one or two subs, and the goal is you got it's a defensive drill. The goal is you got to get three stops in a row. That's a kill. So Blue team got their kills quickly because because of a god name of Mary Williams Amari, I mean, just protected that rim like nobody's business.
As a matter of fact, Pope even said he stopped after Mark's third block in a row, meaning third stop and row, meaning Blue team's kill was done. Mark markin Blue, the whistler said, guys, I'm not happy again, not yelling, just saying, guys, I'm not happy. Why am I not happy? Nobody had any idea, he said, because not a single one of you Blue guys have gone up and given that man a hug. He got you all your kills in three possessions. You better be pounding him right now.
And all all six of them went up and gave him Mary Yeah, man, yeah, I'm like, Mark's like no, no, I shouldn't have to tell you to do that. So then White team has to get their kills. Right, we switch sides. Man, when you've got a team like this that can You've got Kobe Brea out there launching threes with like an inch of of you know, someone in his face and like only an inch away, and he's just just drilling them. Man, it sucks your soul out
of you. I mean it's just so yeah, but you do everything right and you just say, all right, I got your band, and here's the thing. You can have two. You can have two defensive stops. If you don't get that next defensive stop, you go back to zero. So it is so disheartening. Every three in row, Blue got two in a row, Bam, back to zero because Kobe hit a three two in a row, Bam, Lamont drives for an easy layup. I mean, it just it is.
I'm sitting there, I'm aching for this Blue team. And by the way, they're not divided up into starters and non starters, all right, so they're just kind of divided up.
I don't even know yet, but I'm not right.
So but usually I'm sitting over on the side and I am staying out of it, right, But I mean I got so hyped when Blue team, because I mean everyone started cheering for blue. Everyone started going, come on, man, you got this blue, you got this blue, Let's go. I'm standing in the corner like I'm a coach and I didn't care. I didn't care. I was I was waiting for one. I was coach Fox or coach figured
to come over say man, go sit down. I was like, I'm rooting man because all of it, all of it did reminded me of our practices and it was so much fun to be part of.
Amra Mills in the garage. We'll come back with our number two in just a minute here on the Big Blueing Sider six THIRTYHLAB. Welcome back to the Big Blue and Sider. I remember two of our program camera Mills in the garage. So this is gonna go. It'll feel to us as though it's gonna go quickly, but you're gonna it always does. But we're gonna talk a lot of Kentucky basketball. We're not ignoring Kentucky football. We talked about that, what if half hour.
I'm not going to come in here and talk Kentucky football for you, like fall I love it, but I'm not going to give anybody any insight.
That's true. And we're getting inside because camera has been at practice and shared some light on that in the last couple of segments. But I have so many questions for you. I got somebody answers, well, that's great. Yeah, what has impressed you the most?
Oh, shoot, so so much, especially this week because again, look, the intensity has been ramping up all summer. Look, they had like a I think there was like they've had one hundred and two practices, like if you count individual instruction, which is the team dividing up in threes or groups or three different groups, and so they're I think they're counting that something like that. But they have practice in the summer, they got two weeks off, they came back
started individuals. Now the intensity is ramping up because now in the middle of practice, we're running, meaning mistake is made, we're on the line, middle of practice, after we've done some hard drills. We're just randomly on the line because it's the middle of practice, because its the middle of the game. Now, you can't get you can't get weaker, you can't get tired. Now now is when you've got to push forward. That was the other team gets tired.
So we're running wind sprints, and again this is a deistic part of me is like, yeah, now here we go, here we go, and.
Couples karma coming back.
I mean when if it's karma, how would you.
Describe that that feeling? Because I guarantee you every former player probably has the same.
Oh. I know we do, because I've had conversations with former teammates, like when Coach p was at Louisville and we go to a Louisville practice and be like, remember when we did and then we get mad when the coach in Coach pe'ce case, was like, what do you why'd you be so hard on them? You were harder
on us, Like we'd have that conversation. So, but they're running, they're wanting running win sprints, and just like always, And I want to be very clear about this because I want people to understand two things happen when you're running win sprints in the middle practice. Okay, Number one, there was always because you got a goal, right, You're not just running to run. You've got a time goal that
you're trying to hit. There are always guys, always, and sometimes not even the guys you would think because you're in the middle of practice some guys who worked harder. Sometimes some guys came off lifting before practice. That there are always every everybody has been the guy to not make the time. And so there were a couple of guys that were not making the time. And what I saw, which considering these guys just met four months ago, right, I mean maybe some of them played and knew each other.
I don't know, but they just met four months ago. And Mark has done a fantastic job of making it a point of I got a year, actually less than
a year. I got five months to build these guys into a unit, a unbreakable unit, which is why they went to Hazard, which is why they had, you know, their retreat with doing yoga out on the lake in the middle of the morning, which is why they're going bowling together watching movies that you just spent sounding familiar to you, by the way, because I know you and I have talked about this is exactly what we did. Yeah, the only thing they have done that we had never
play golf. We never played golf, and we played golf together, but never as a team.
Wouldn't be great if they could take a foreign trip. Isn't it a great bund You need a.
Foreign trip out of North America. Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's.
What foreign is.
Yeah, well all guys went to Italy exactly, and what did we do that next year?
Won a title?
Mm hmm. Look, there's all a bunch of reasons for that.
By the way, I was supposed to be on that trip in the story. Was it somebody else screwed?
Culpepper was on that trip with us? And I want to say it was Mark Kombs, komsoms Kums and Culpepper, I think that trip with us.
So.
But anyway, so they're running, but in the two things that happened when you run, and it happened with us. So I want anyone thinking that they're worried about this team because this is happening. No, no, no, this just happens. Is at number one, you've always got guys that don't make it, and when you don't make it, you run again, not just that guy, the team, because what that does is it forces the team to either lift that guy up or that or those two or those guys up,
because sometimes it's it's it's more than one. Lift that guy up, or you can turn against him because your mind is angry that he's not making time. Therefore, I'm being punished. So your your initial reaction is to yell, is to berate at him, right, the right reaction is to encourage build up, pick up. Right. That is precisely what happened on sprint one real Monday morning. Wow, here's what happened. So then they didn't make the first sprint. A couple of guys missed it. They also cheated again
very common. And when I say they cheated, what I mean is they're not touching the line. They're stopping a foot before the line to get an edge on so they can make time. Well, Mark, me and Marcus got every coach watching every line, and I would watch the coaches when they would fall shore that line. The coach watching line would just look at Mark and say shake yeah, shake his head no. And so anyway, so you got a couple of players not making time. Very first time
it happened, no coaches involved. The team picked up the guys that were on the floor sucking air right, picked them up, and they got in a team huddle. I don't know what was said. I was on the other out of the court. I don't know what was said, but I'm like, that's not how we did it. We yelled at each other.
Yeah.
Now at the beginning of the season. Then the season we had learned. But these dudes are day one of what we called hell week with their comed banner camp. They got they they've already got this. Well.
They got together and whispered each other.
Yeah, without the coaches. And that's one thing that Marcus specifically done and that has stood out to me probably more than anything, is he lets them coach themselves. He wants them to teach each other, and he wants he wants to hear you explain to your teammates. Sure, what I did wrong or what you did wrong?
You mention early you stay here, that that will will be an early sign of success. Was it was a small less not a capitalist. When the players are teaching each other.
And they're already doing he's forcing them to do that, so they're already doing that. But I think what he's saying, and I think you're right, is when they're doing it without thinking yeah yeah, because that's how it should be. I mean, because what they does this it forces you to be thinking about what just happened, right. It basically you become a coach on the court and when you become a coach on the court, when you got five of them, man, you don't miss a lot of assignments.
So anyway, i'll wrap the story up. So they're running these sprints. They have this huddle, run the next sprint. Guys are cheating, some guys are missing the line, and some guys are missing the time. Now you start to see the tempers come out a little bit, just a little bit though, right, you start to see, you know, but everything that was said, even with the you could you could hear the frustration of the voice. But there's
come on, they're saying. And I'm not gonna say you who it was it was missing the time because I'm not going to embarrass anybody. Just just remember that it was usually me personally that was missing time that got yelled at. But I mean it was all I mean, I wouldn't say it was all positive, but it wasn't negative. It was it was come on, come on, man, you got this, come on lifting And then the best thing, so they run it again. The guys are missing lines,
guys not making time. Now at this point, I'm feeling uncomfortable. I'm starting to get nervous. I'm like I don't know what's getting ready to happen, but things are getting ready to blow. The whole time, though, Mark got his hands behind his got his hands behind his, behind his back. He's just walking. He's not yelling, he's not saying a word. The only thing he's saying is on the line. They'd get up to get online, they'd run, they wouldn't make it.
He'd he'd let them recover for you know, a little bit, just a very little bit on the line, wouldn't make it again, guys will be here all day. I mean everything is what Patino said, except just in a different tone of voice. So the last time, and I was waiting for this because I remember this happening with us is and I I was sitting next to the team psychologists. Do you know we have that now? No. Mark reached out to the Department of Psychology and said, I need
Dall's help. Interesting, there has been a team psychologist. There has been a psychologist from the UK Department of Psychology at every practice for the last month, watching for the guys whose confidence might be slipping or something else is going on. They're watching and if they see something, they noticed something, they go straight to Pope and tell them it is again, this isn't groundbreaking, but man, it's just every small thing. There's no such thing as something too
small to not deal with. And so the last time, and this is when my blood started boiling in a good way and I just started making I just like I was ready to run through walls. Is two guys. It just happened to be two of the guys that had been making every sprint and been hitting every line. They got up. Nothing had to be said. They got behind the two guys that had been missing the time the most, and they ran with them, meaning they kept them in front of them. They kept pushing them, they
kept literally physically shoving them on forward. They kept encouraging them, and they chanced them not making the time and them not making the hitting the line just so they could cross the line with their teammate. And that third time, they all made it. And I mean you thought we had hung a banner in that moment. I mean it was just amazing because the team figured out how to hit the goal themselves.
Cameron Mills in the garage will come back and learn more about Mark Pope's Kentucky team, the very first one. All kinds of new faces, lots of things to learn. That's ahead here on the Big Blue and Sider six thirty W L A B. Welcome Back Out number two Cameron Mills in the studio with us in the studio in the garage. If you want to say it that way, same thing. Yeah, what can you tell people about the offense other than we know they're going to shoot a
lot of threes? But how different will it be compared to what we've seen in the past? And then do you like it?
I love it because they're gonna shoo lot threes? Why would I hate that? They're not only gonna shoo lot threes? And I and I say, I say, yeah, I'm gonna say this carefully because you know, look, I want.
Man, I think that's real word that would count anywhere. But we'll look count of sound like would.
But let's say this, would it? Yeah, there's just too many dudes on this team one through five that can hit can hit threes. I went to a practice a few weeks ago when they were doing kind of and I'm trying to think was it individual or was it maybe before they went home so maybe still still in the summer, they had broken everybody up. By two dudes every at every basket, and they had different They're each going to get one hundred threes off and they had
different again again just like us. Again, this is this is just exactly you know. You don't you don't go through shooting threes so many passages you just catch and shoot,
because that's not how it happens in a game. Right, you're moving, and you're moving at game speed, so you would have to make a game speed movement from the top of the key to the wing, from the wing to the corner, from the baseline or meaning from the from the block out to the corner right, and you're making these cuts game speed, and the coaches are hitting you with the passage, so you're catching shooting as you're going game speed. So this isn't just catch shoot, catch shoot,
catch shoot without winded. You're getting winded. So there were two baskets that I was closest to, and that's only reason I'm bringing out because as a team, they hit some ungodly number of threes out of what were their thirteen fourteen dudes, So you got a was at a fourteen hundred threes out of fourteen hundred three attempts I mean as a team, they hit like twelve hundred or something. It was. I'm telling you that's what they hit. I don't know for a fact that's what they hit, but
I don't like it. I sat there watching dudes just I mean, I don't remember a whole lot of missus, but the guys I were watching or I was watching, so they hit together. As a as a duo, they hit one hundred and seventy six out of two hundred. The basket next to them hit one hundred and seventy five out of two hundred, and those two, the four of them, they weren't even the best shooter of the day. That was Jackson. Jackson hit one hundred and seventy eight
or I'm sorry, Jackson hit seventy eight. Because you only hit, you only shoot a hundred. Jackson hit seventy eight out of one hundred. So again, you're not guarded, makes a difference, but you are going game speed. So yes, that part of the offense I love. Here's another thing that I learned this week that I think some of the players have talked about publicly, but Mark emphasized on Monday, there's
a thirty second shot clock. We are failing if we don't initiate the offense past half court with twenty seven seconds or more on that shot clock, which means we have three seconds from ball through the net, out of bounds in or rebound to get forty seven feet wow,
three seconds. If we're not across that half court within twenty seven seconds left on that shot clock, we have failed on that possession, which gives us whatever our offense is going to be, whether we're going against his own, whether we're going main demand, whatever we're gonna run, we got time, right. I mean, you think about how many times, not just Kentucky, but in the past. You just take college basketball in general, where you got guys yo yoing
the ball up the court. One of the great things about READ last year and DJ last year is they didn't do a whole lot of that. It was great to watch because they I mean, even on you know ball, take it out of bounce, they were busting it up because think about how much pressure that puts on the defense. Right, I mean, you got even it's not a fast break, but you got to get back like it's a fast break. And if I know anything about Pope as a teammate, I don't know this yet about him as a coach.
I'm finding out his practice goes along, and I'm not asking anim these questions. I mean I will. It's not that I don't feel comfortable. I will. I just I'm not. I'm trying to stay out of his way and just watch practice and just kind of see what I can see. And if I really have a question, I might ask one of the assistants. But it's just one of those things where I believe Mark's goal because of how he played and how he was taught while he was here,
which is the same as me. Is that whether we press forty minutes or not, the goal is we are going to wear our opponents out to the point where and I've told you this before, one of the greatest moments of my life, one most powerful, probably moments of my life, is we're playing some team and we are We're like the twelve minute mark of the first half, and we're up twenty. Of course we are. I'm in the game. We're up twenty, And to be clear, what
I mean by is we're up twenty. Therefore I got to play, not we were up twenty because of me. I think most people understand that, but I had been in the game. I've been I've been playing well, I've been in the game. It mattered. And and again I'm not a defender that this is not this is not my millu.
But nice word, thank you.
I'm guarding guarding this guy. And you remember this because you know when you get tired under Patino and I'm assuming Pope, it's the same way. Because I've not seen any of this in practice. When you are tired, you don't you don't go down on your on your knees, right, you don't. You don't tug on your shorts. That's exactly right. You stand up, you put chands above your head. That's how you do. Now that makes it harder to breathe, Yes,
that's the point, all right. It is expanding your cardiovascular system. It is making it harder to read. It is in a i'm all a little way, it's keeping you, it's getting you in better shape. But if you think about the offense has to start. Basically, we've just made or missed the basket. We got to get back because these duds are gonna I mean, they're gonna be there in three seconds. That's gonna wear a team out. So present or not pressing the goals to wear a team out.
So when I was playing, and again, it's just it's one of those moments, one of the moments you remember because you're like, that's why I play at Kentucky. That's why I wanted to come to Kentucky. That's why we're national champions. Because I think this was the ninety seven season. After we won in ninety six, obviously it was I was playing and we're playing and it wasn't it wasn't a big team. It was like a mid major team.
But because of our scouting report and because we were just in the best shape of anyone in the country, and we knew that, and we were told that's what was one of the motivating factors to get us through those hard treadmill workouts, those hard preseason workouts, the hard practices. Is no one is working as hard as you, or no one is working harder than you. That's what was said. It was also said someone might be working as hard
as you, but no one's working harder than you. So we're down under our basket, there's a dead ball, and the guy I'm guarding he's bending over and we're just twelve minutes into the game or eight minutes in the game, he's tucking on his shorts and just that he looks up at me and look, this is an arrogant moment on my have, but I couldn't help it. And for me, I mean, I'm the last person that should be saying what I said to this dude. He says, dude, man,
y'all know our plays better than we do. I'm like, I know.
You know our plays better than we I said, I know we do.
He said, what were you still pressing for? And I said, I'll never forget. I said this because I knew the moment, I said, I kind of chuckled inside. I said, you arrogant. Yeah, just you cocky dude, I said. I looked at him, and I said, actually, I don't even think I looked at him. I think that because I was. I was. It was one of those things where you just the pride was up in you and you just feel like belittling your competition. I mean, we're up twenty. There's still
thirty two minutes off to go on this game. The game is no longer in doubt. We're killing this team. Guys suck and win. How much long are y'all gonna press? I'm like, oh, if we started pressing, Oh oh, well we won't stop. If we started, we won't stop. Yeah yeah, next thirty two minutes, we just getting started, buddy. It was so belittling.
It was so just.
I mean, Pordue was down. Portue was just I mean, and they couldn't. I mean, look, they didn't have the talent we had. But it's just you're it's built into you, like you're not gonna out work us.
And you know what was funny about that was the longer Betina was here, the less his team's pressed because they were so you guys were so good at half court man deed man, but just the thought of it, everybody had to spend so much time preparing for it. Yeah, that you guys had won the game mentally by the time you stepped out on the court many times, not every night.
I'm glad you brought that up because I think that that's what That's one I think a lot of people didn't understand, and I didn't understand it when I first got there, is it's not none of this is about physical condition. It's about mental condition. Your body will keep
going until you tell it, you can stop. And the goal of the hard practices and of the unrelenting storm that is brought on by your head coach, whether it's quietly the way Mark does it, or way whether it's loud with a lot of cousins the way goes b does it, the goal is to mentally prepare you for never quitting. And that was the thing because we were taught and Mark is a perfect example. Mark talked as a player. He talked about I mean, I remember the
phrases Mark would use. We embrace adversity, right, this is this is our team captain. This is not our head coach, our team captain. We embrace adversity. Things would go wrong in practice, guys, let's go. Let's embrace this. This is what makes us better and part of us Like, man, shut up, we're tired. He's like, we embrace this. And then it would be like, hey, guys, this is we we win. We win championships by hitting those lines. You know.
My favorite one of my favorite stories from the ninety eight documentary that we did Yeah, was you guys. You and Shep and Allen when we talked to you together talked about in terms of being in shape. You're down ten in the championship game to Utah, but you ran off the floor, ran past them a full mile back to that locker and you could it really was in the thin air and you could tell that they were dragging on the walk floor.
Well, remember there was a third year in a row we had played Utah. We always knew, or at least we learned, this is a team that were in better shape.
But you know you had him at that point because she shep said.
Jep pointed it out to us. He pointed out once we got in the huddle after the half half halftime talk, he said, guys, did you notice the way they left out the court?
Yeah?
I don't know anybody did, but he did.
Yep.
And again that's what the captain should do.
Well A Ray come back and talk more basketball with Cameron Mills here on the Big Blue Siders six thirty w LAP. Welcome back to the garage with Cameron Mills, who has been spending some time watching Mark Pope's teams practice and you can see Cameron's reports on the UK Sports Network of digital sites on x.
Or Are they gonna put him on FACEBA, Facebook? I think, I think, I think They even put it on ucastlegs dot com.
Different practice reports from Cameron. Obviously there are Beatino type carryovers when it comes to drills and plays, But in terms of the way he's doing business as a coach, what else is Mark Pope doing?
It's unique, yeah, unique because that that's that's the one thing I remember you. We have a we have a You have a colleague in town that has a radio show named Alan Cutler and Alan I was on his show this is way back in the summer and he was getting he had gotten an interview. He's gonna have interview with Pope play that week. And he asked me, who was on love? I love how you did this. I've been asking people, you know, to give me questions to ask Pope. I'm like, man, do your own job.
So but I love Alan, But I gave him one, I said, because I didn't talked to Pope about this yet. I want to know what kind of what you and I were talking about earlier. What did you take from Patino that you still implement and what did you leave behind? Right? And I'm starting I've started to see some of that, and I've also started to see some of the ways that Mark brilliantly implements a Patino tactic, but in his own Mark Pope way. Yes, and again that's just man.
I just get chills watch it happen because I'm like, oh, I know what he's doing. He's not doing it the way our coach did it, but he's doing it. But one of the things that coach p never did. I've never seen a coach do this. I'm not saying they haven't, and I'm not saying this is some genius, brilliant idea. I'm just saying it seems special in an athletic environment. Is at the end of practice on Monday, and I don't know if they have been doing this for a while.
I haven't seen it. This first time I saw it. Mark gives him his last minute talk, and part of that talk was what I think you and I talked about earlier, is the difference between what it takes to be in the Final four and what it takes to win the banner right to hang the banner. And we're not here to get in the final four. We're here to hang the banner. So he's talking to him about the little things, and he's doing his low voice. He's saying, guys, look,
I know you think we're being sticklers. I know you think we're being hard on you. You have to understand every team does what you're doing. We have to do the little the extra step we have to go. And it's like I said about the lines and the sprints. We can't cheat on the lines. Final four teams cheat on the lines, Banner hanging teams, hit the line or go beyond the line. That's what you have to do.
So at the end of practice, he gives that little speech and I'm I mean, I just just like I've told people that I'm ready to I'm not even a player, I'm not even in shape. I'm like, dudelet's what do you want me to do. I'll run through brick wall
for you. Right now, let's go. The team huddles up and it's not a huddle like everybody in like they do that too, But before they do that, it's a big circle arms around everybody, right, great, Bure, just a team, just a team, and Pope none of the other coaches. Players only And I felt bad because I wanted to
be in it. I'm like, I kept kind of sneaking close, like you want me in this players only just Mark and I don't know what they call it, but I call it the thank you circle because what they did is Mark started it off and he he he singled out a player. And again just because Marcus Mark is very very careful about he don't want any of his players called out good or bad right now. He doesn't. He doesn't want any like, you know, if somebody's doing
really really well, he doesn't. He you know, just look just it's team. It's all about team right now. I get him. So, so he called out a player.
He doesn't stop practiced or recognize.
Oh no, no, oh no, no, no, absolutely he does, absolute absolutely. What do you mean what I'm saying is by me? Like when I come to a practice support like you know, he wants to make sure like hey man, Cam, don't don't you know, don't, don't mention the player, don't Minchian based, don't Minchian Bay's name, like he don't want any of his players individualized right now, good or bad. I think certainly bad. And and not that I would do that anyway, because that's not why I'm there, right.
I should cross off the question about who has impressed you the most?
I can answer that, but I didn't even I mean, shoot, they all have I mean they I mean they all have those moments. Yeah, back to thank you circle. So Mark starts it off and he says, I want to. I want to, And it's all about gratitude. It's all about and again it's the end of a two hour long marathon, and marathon because they never stopped moving marathon practice. They're just sucking in. They're so happy that practice won. If banner banner banner Banner Camp has done, we got
like twelve more, I guess. But I want to. I want to thank so and so. And he mentioned a player and I will say he is one of our Kentucky boys. And I could not tell what Mark said about him. But he was thankful for the way he was. He was thankful for his attitude. He was thankful for all the learning he had done in the last few weeks. He was he was thankful for all of the strides he had made in the last few weeks. Now it's that person's job and someone else in that circle and
to thank them. And I thought we were going to go around and hit all fourteen guys. We didn't. I think at some point they probably will, but for time's sake, because again it's all freaking n C double A and their stupid rules they've got, you know.
Sure design to protect you from Rick Bettino.
Yeah, it was, and look again, I was thankful for him then. I don't think they should exist anymore. But it was just so special to watch the guys go around and have to have because this is a big thing for some of these guys.
You talk about being spot exactly, to talk.
Out loud in front of your teammates and be vulnerable and say, I'm thankful for so and so for what he's taught me this week. I'm thankful for so and so for what he taught me today about going further than I think my body was going to allow me to go. I mean, yeah, you just in your thinking, My god, these guys love each other and if they don't now, they better, they better soon because Mark's going
to force it into them. But I think the one thing Mark would tell you about the ninety six team, and I would even say the ninety five team, even though we got beat in the lead eight, is that. And you you know this from interviewing the ninety sixteen and doing the ninety six documentary, ninety eight documentary is Man It Is and this is why you and I I think love Shorsey And if you don't, If you don't know, folks, let me tell you some if you want to know what it's like playing sports at a
high level. Even though Shorty's not about playing well, it.
Is at an intense.
Level, at a brotherly level, at a.
By the way, it's about hockey.
Oh, it's about hockey and man it makes It is on It's on Hulu. It's on HULUO. I think actually it might be on Netflix now. But it started off with the show Letter Kenny. It there was a sound yep that doesn't exist. It's a hysterical dialogue, so well written. And then they did a spin off on one of the characters from Letter Kenny and called it Shorty. And it's all about a guy who is at the end of his hockey career and just won't quit because he
doesn't know what to do after hockey. And I mean the lessons that the lessons of teammates, the lessons of brotherly love, the lessons of go until you die, the lessons of if you can't win, don't play.
Oh. So they weave it in and out. So I gotta tell you before we hit the next break. Cameron and I were fortunate enough. I guess it was last year we did again the TV on the Blue White game up in northern Kentucky. So we're talking about anything and everything but the.
Game, but the game. On the way home, the Blue guy and he asked me, have.
You seen Letterkenny? And I said, I've seen it. Listen, Oh, you gotta watch this.
So he pulls it up on his phone, driving you.
Yeah, so and so you made me watch the first episode and then I watched it. I thought, well, this is worth the look. And I start to hand it back. He goas, no, no pull ups. Second, keep going, keep going, I will. I will watch the rest at home and what happened. And I got hooked on it. In fact, I binged it quicker than you.
I've yet to finish it. I don't want to finish it because I want to end. I want to Letterkennedy in. I've finally cut up and watched season two of Suresy, but season three just came out. But and it is and I love that. But it's got so much heart about what it takes you rate similar. That's why it means something to me is because I look at what they're saying to each other, and they're not saying nice things in a nice way. They're not This is parents.
It's not a clean show okay at all. But there are so many lessons in there that are so precisely what happens if you want to be great at a team sport. There's so much sacrifices talked about. There's some I mean, you know when they when they get the equipment, you know, between season one and two, sures what are you gonna do? And he he looks over at the weight room, it says, that's what I'm gonna do. He
doesn't say it, but it's just implied. It's like, it's just I'm gonna work harder, right, I mean, it's just I freaking love this show. My first practice report, I had a shirt on this said set the tone. He's gonna set the tone. And I got my handslapped by Jay am I saying can we wear some Kentucky gear?
I'm like, I don't know.
I was recording the practice report that day, but I had that shirt on it. I love that shirt, but it's just it's just watching watching Mark know what it takes because you look, you've got the coach out there that have won national championships as coaches. There aren't too many that have won as players. There are some, there aren't too many, And there definitely aren't too many that have won as players that are Rhodes Scholar candidates that are absolutely geniuses and are so intellectual.
It's also played in the NBA under a guy named Larry Bird and played for four different really good creations.
Yeah but Larry Bird, Oh yeah.
Cars, I know, I know, you're right. We'll played in Europe, so it was part of that kind of community. So yeah, so many lessons to learn.
And everything they says is authentic.
Yep.
And that's what I hope people learn that they haven't learned already. This is not fake enthusiasm, folks, This is Mark pop enthusiasm.
One more break and we'll talk more basketball with Camera Mills on the other side here on six thirty WLP. Welcome back to the Garage final segment with Camera Mills. We always love having camera here because it goes by so quickly, but.
Because you have an easy show, because you don't have to talk or think I just ramble for an hour it that's.
True, but it's not as easy as you think, because I have to keep you on time topic and I have to make sure you get here. So anyhow, I have to wrangle Cameron Mills. I do want to in your You're a lot like Cali Perry. One question segment done, which is a good thing. And I've got a list of questions I'm not.
Going to get to, but surely I've answered them.
In some way. Yeah, you kind of surround. Yeah, but I do want to specifically with I know, you know, poping w to sing a laugh, but I'm not asking you to praise them. Yeah, but the freshman uh trend Noah and Travis Perry. Of course they're playing with a lot of older guys. And well, okay, that's my question. What have you seen in those guys?
So what I've seen with those guys is because you've got again three of them, Yeah, yeah, right right. It's not just Trent and Travis, the Kentucky guys, but you've got Colin who you know, Mark Colin Chandler who Mark recruiter from BYU. He went on to your Mormon mission and now he's back but these are the smallest, not just high wise, right. I mean Trent's actually probably the biggest of the three. Yea, I mean he's Trent's a strong dude. Yeah, and the and the and the toss
of the of the three. But they're young again. We're back with those three. We're back to the Caliperry eighteen year old recruits, right, That's who these guys are. They're freshmen, and they look like every other freshman looks. They look like Tony Delk looked when he got here. They look like all of us look well, some of us looked a lot bigger when they got here, but they look
like os. But they're forced because again they're they're practicing, right, I mean they are, they're forced to learn these lessons. I mean, they are getting the notot beaten out of them by some grown men in their fifth year of college basketball, and it is nothing but good for them. And the cool thing is is that they're getting shots off, they're handling themselves defensively, they're having breakdowns, but they're all
having breakdowns. I mean, they're just they're playing well. Now, will that turn into these guys getting a lot of clock, I don't know. It might, but boy, they get there's a lot of talent on that team with a lot of experience that they're gonna have to overcome. But what's cool to me is that they're getting their run and they're learning what it takes physically mentally to be in
the game if they get their chance. And because this is a team that I think is gonna go up and down, and obviously it's why everyone time it seems gonna jack up forty threes a game.
We'll shoot.
You can't got two guys, probably three, I'm I'll throw calling in there, but I know Trent and Travis. Those dads are gonna shoot forty five percent. I mean, they just they just they don't miss shots. It's just a matter of conditioning with them. And to be real, I think it's a matter of conditioning for all these guys because I don't think they've ever been asked to work as hard as Hoope is going to ask them to work.
All Right, I'm almost at a midway point of this final segment, so I.
Want to jump in thank you for giving me that time frame, so I have will to shut up, But I do want to ask you.
About expectations you've you've grown up here, your dad played here, you've played, you got two rings, all that stuff. Everybody knows. You also know the big Blue Nation inside and out. And right now, I don't want to push your button and talk about preseason polls.
But uh, now you sure because it sounds like you're getting ready.
To No, I'm not right, but there are no there there don't. It doesn't seem to be a lot. There aren't don't seem to be a lot of expectations good uh from national media. It don't matter I know, or fans about this team. What what do you think they can reasonably expect from this team?
I think the reason there's no expectation from the fans because there's no expectation from the national media. The national media had been had been saying all along, Hey, this is a team to beat. I think the fans would think that because I think the fans go by what the national media thinks, because look, they don't know, they're not in practice.
They And the thing about this team fans media, he knew one of them, Yeah, you.
Know, I mean Jimmy Didyx was in practice the other day. I mean, you know, And the biggest thing he did. And the biggest thing he that you know, that made the biggest news was all the NBA posters are gone, which it was weeks ago, it was months ago. That was the summer when that happened.
Jimmy wasn't there.
I was, and I said it. I just didn't get credit for it. But I'm not bitter, but you tweeted, I'm not bitter about that. I believe I put in a practice report. I'm not sure. I can't. I can't. I can't guarantee that I by the way, by the way, I'm joking. I love Jimmy, but I keep seeing these things. And you can say you don't want to push my buttons, you can pushed my buttons because you brought it up. I keep seeing these things. I keep seeing these things
that people like UK is still not respected good. I don't want us to be respected right now. Who gives a rats behind what we're ranked in August September? It does not matter at all? Do you think Mark Pope one time, I've been at six practices, I haven't heard this, and I guarantee he's never said, guys, listen, I'm really concerned about what our preseason ranking is do you think that has ever come up? And it will never come up. It won't because it never came up when he was
a player. Coach Patino never brought up our rankings because it didn't matter.
You are always a hunted team.
Doesn't matter. He never brought that up. All that we talk about is that under everything that yes, everything we talk about on this side, which is we get everybody's suit where everybody's super Bowl. Coach p never said that.
We knew that.
It doesn't matter what the national media thinks, because the keyword is there thinks. There's a reason we play these game games, and the games work out who is the best team. So all that matters is March and technically the end of the beginning of April. That's all that matters. And as Mark mentioned it, all we know the assignment to be pre season number one. Has anybody heard that?
No?
What has he said? We know the assignment and he points to the banners. You don't hang banners for preseason garbage.
You know what you need to do is adopt his technique of leaning in and whispering when it comes.
I'm more happy with shouting its stupidity easily see it's just so frustrating. I mean, I realize, I realize our ego wants to be mentioned among the number one teams. I don't care right now, my ego gets hurt if we're not number one in April, right, because that's all that matters.
You got about a minute and a half. What kind of defense have you seen them work on?
There will be I think there will be his own I've said that before. Well, I'm almost positive there will be. I don't think Marcus is constrained by you know, maybe Cow's attitude towards it. Not premarily Zone or No, No, I don't think so. I think it'll be primarily Man, But I think I think more in the realm of Patino. It depends on who we're playing, right, It depends on who Because I think the scouting reports are going to be similar to what we had, because Mark knows that works.
Yeah sometimes even when we didn't read him. Mark knows preparation matters. And again he doesn't miss the small thing. So I think you'll see a lot of whatever he thinks, or the coach that has that scout, or the coaching staff together, whatever they think gives us the greatest advantage over who we're playing. That's kind of defense. Will play. If that means we're going full court forty minutes press, we will. If that means we're going two three trapping corners,
we will, one three one trapping corners, we will. If that means we're playing man to man picking up kind of a you know, cowards press or whatever it's called, which I hate, we will. Whatever we need to do, we will.
Thanks for coming by. Always fun.
You don't want more, I got more?
Well, you can keep talking, but I got to sign off.
I'll go home, Susan. Susan will love to hear it.
Now.
Now you've got me fired up, trust me.
He was fired up when I opened the garage door. But we do appreciate Cameron coming by, and he's right, it's kind of an easy show because I just sit back and listen. Thanks again to Cameron. That's a good night from the garage in Lexington. Now the three two swing on a pop fowl back here? How how it really hit me? I didn't know it was coming back that far