Hell, Everyboddy to the facilities of the iHeartMedia Megaplex. It's Dick Gabriel. This is the state wide edition of The Big Bloon Side. I've heard comments from Vince Merriw and Craig Skinner and Cameron Mills, and now's your chance to hear Billy Rutledge. Yours truly and Jeff piicorl will be with us for the entire show. We've given Aaron Gersha on the night off. He is already in Atlanta preparing for Kentucky and Duke stick around for the state wide
BBI Border to Border. It is the Big bloon Sider. Dick Gabriel, Billy rutleds here in the studio and on the Celebrity Hotline, mister Jeff Pecorrol, former Wildcat who is of course color analyst on the UK Radio network, Jeff Row coming off of bye week, going into a game you should win by well a lot. What is it like for the players right now? Do you think is it? I mean, you know, you worry about people being over confident, but you being the former player, they're humans, they're young.
I got to think that they're looking at this game like just a chance to get well and nothing more. Right.
Yeah, well I liked it because I knew I was probably gonna play in a game like this, so I was excited about it. So yeah, I mean, you know, I'm like the Bob Yuker. You can't played. I was a thirty to thirty guy.
You know, gotta be up by thirty or down by thirty.
You got it.
Yeah, and then you got to play for thirty seconds.
There.
Yeah, no, I understand. Uh, look, let's face it, Murray State's having its trouble this year, as Stoops put it earlier today, not the kind of year their first year coach anticipated. And did I have this right? They've lost to both of the all four of the Dakota's North and South Dakota and Dakota and State. But you know what, those are really good, really good FCS teams. They really
are some of the best, if not the best. But we saw you Tea Chattanooga come in here a few years ago in Scare Kentucky, didn't we Sure?
Yeah, the Monks dead and there's there's been several teams. Look, you can't overlook anybody. And then Mark said it today in his press conference. You know you can't just walk out there expecting to win. You've got to try. I mean, you've got to play hard. He wouldn't talk about injuries, and that was interesting, but I've got to believe that a game like this, we're gonna see cutter bowlie because we saw in the Florida game and now they have
tape and they can show him. You can't make that pass from the HASH all over the opposite hash all the way to the sideline on a twelve yard out that you can't do that. That's why. So this is a team that's more and look, they're not sec speed, Okay, so it's it's it'll be a little easier for him to read the defense get the ball out of his hand. So I would expect to see him, especially with Brock banged up and he's hurting. Now the coach wouldn't tell us how much, but I expect to see him early
and often in that game. Saturday.
By the way, we're gonna talk to Jeff about basketball. I know we're on the eve of a huge game. But you know he saw those stoops press conference today as well. Yeah, you know, it's interesting. I remember Mike Archer after a game like this that the Kentucky should have won by a bunch and got up big and then had to fight off the team and was playing
I don't remember which. Mike Archer told me the following week, he said, middle of the second quarter, I had second and third teamers coming up to me saying I'm ready to go in coach, which I guess is normal. But you got to take care of business, don't you.
Yeah, And that's just it. Look, you've got to either take the ball and score or if they get it, it's a three and out. And then because what happens to them, especially when you're in the type of season that they're in, and really Kentucky for that matter, when you've only won one or two or three games and you're at this point, the snowball really rolls a lot faster, and so once one bad thing happens, it just kind of multiplies on top of itself.
Bye week came out a good time.
There's a lot of injuries on this team, but you know, as of late, stoops in Kentucky haven't been great out of bye weeks. I know it's Murray State, but would you do anything differently to try to get the guys locked in in the first half for this one, or do you just hope that they're ready.
I think really, in this type of game, you shouldn't have to do that. I mean, look, I hope to see a lot of the younger guys play. They're gonna have a lot of fire, but the veterans have to get out there and put a couple series in and get a league. This is kind of like that that third preseason NFL game when the Ones play maybe a full quarter because they want to get you know, they want to get their timing down for next week, and that's what they have to do. This is the team,
as you said, is really banged up. So all those guys that are hurting, hopefully you don't have to play them. The one guy would like to see who might be able to play, as Maxwell Harriston. He's been practicing, he's been getting reps. He's you know, I'd like to see him because you can't just throw him into the fire. I don't care how good you aren't here for your
Dion Sanders at quarterback. You cannot miss six, seven, eight weeks, whatever it's been and then expect to just walk right out there and be your all American self, So I'd love to see him get a couple series in to get used to the tempo of the game.
Well, Vince Merrill mentioned him specifically tonight sitting in for Stoops, and he said, Harriston looked really good in practice, but again that's practice, you know, controlled environment.
Well, but he should yeah, exactly kept fresh legs.
Yeah that's true. You know, I was going to say we buried the lead, but really this has been out there for eight hours and Tom talked to Vince about it as well. Somebody put the question to Stoops about the rumors that he was gonna just hang it up because he's just you know, doesn't like or college football, I mean, the first coach to do that, and he emphatically put it down. Jeff, but one word, zero zero chance. What was your reaction to that.
I kind of thought that's where that he has to say that. I mean, even if even if he's already written a resignation letter and handed it off, he's got to talk that way because you can't lose your team completely, you know, I mean that's you know, you've already heard the cracks or the scenes and people are starting to talk about it and so he had to say that, so I thought he shot it down nicely, said no zero next question, Yeah, you know well in the university looked ahead.
No, he's say he was talking to recruits too. Yeah.
Yes, well see that's the biggest thing. You can't you can't announce something or quit now because this is the biggest period as teams are in playoffs and lose and things like that. Now more kids are wanting to come out. Uh, this is a very important next three games for recruiting. It could be a make or break type time because these guys are making their last official visits to schools. So it's huge for him to be in at one
hundred percent. And then what I was going to say is simply as the buyout for him is whatever it is forty four and change. But he also you have to include the assistants that have guaranteed the contracts and that puts over fifty million. This school can't afford a fifty plus million dollars bios, it's not going to happen.
You're there's a buy not a buy out in place. If he retires. It's only if they fired.
Correct. But again, but again, why would you leave? And I don't care how much you make. He's not selling pathy Van weekl all right, I don't care how much bourbon these You're not leaving any man in his right Mind's like going to leave forty five million dollars on a take.
That's right, that's right, Yeah, it's it's not a bad salary if your Mark stoops. But can you relate to him a little bit With how the sports changed, YEF, with these guys wanting money all the time or playing times, it's hard not to look at the job, put the money aside for a second and think that it's gotten a lot harder.
Billy. I think what you're going to see in college football, it's already happening at some schools, especially the bigger ones, is you're going to have, for lack of a better word, a general manager. And that person is good. The coach is because he wants to coach. Nick Saban wanted to coach. Nick Saban doesn't want to deal with the money issues and treasurer Let the GM do that. Mark wants to coach. He's a coach. It's all he's done ever since he
quit playing. His father was his coaches. Brothers are all coaches all he wants to do is get out there on the field with the guys. What's bothering him the most is And he told us this, Dick, remember two years ago, he said, I got eighty five free agents every year, you know, And it's just I'm not coaching anymore. It's not fun anymore. Now. Your paycheck is fun, you know, and winning at places like Ole Miss is fun. But the rest of the off the field stuff isn't fun.
And that's why you've seen some great coaches national champions in basketball and in football say enough, I've had it, I'm out.
I gotta think that. And again people want to gripe about the NCAA, which is the collection of schools. It's the schools that make up the rules and the road maps if they can somehow get there. And I cannot imagine, Jeff, why schools would not want to do this unless there were legal roadblocks put in place, a salary cap of some sort. They want guard rails, and it's guardrails they talk about, like how you can do things so you're not breaking rules. I'm talking about a salary cap, a
salary structure. Yeah, you could have some schools they can afford more than others. But cap it. You know you see that in the pros. Now, you know you got the Yankees, you got the Oakland A's right. I think that's the only way to really pull all this stuff back in in college athletics and keep guys like say and Jay Wright and all these other you know whoever these coaches are Tony Bennett, Yeah, who decided, no, this is not what I signed up for.
Well, Dick, that is that is the wish of every coach and probably every chancellor, dean, whatever you want to call them, at every university. But here's the sticking point. There's no Marvin Mitchell out there for these guys. They're not unionized, and as long as they are quote unquote free agents, you can't cap that every league that you're talking about, because it's illegal. It's called free trade. Once these guys become an employee of the university, which they
look but they're not happen. But if I'm there, but if I'm their attorney, I'm saying we do not want to do this. Because there are some teams that the teams have become employees of the school, then they can cap you. But the NCAA has to figure out some way that maybe you make it. If you're a student, you are a I don't know what word you want to use to say it, you're an employee of the school.
Yeah, so that.
Therefore, but then that's going to have to go to the courts. And because yeah, right now they've opened Pandora's box. Sure, Look, I got no problem. Everybody at the ballpark is wearing a number two jersey with passing the back right. You never got a penny for that, That's right, And that's that's what it all boils down to, or we should
have got something. Had Ed O'Banion got something, he wouldn't assuit EA Sports and the NCAA for using his name on whatever the basketball game was called ten years or whatever it was.
Ago, and we wouldn't be having this conversation. That's what's crazy about it exactly.
To expand on that point, I can also see why players want to get as much as they can when they can because of the reason of healthcare. Jeff, if I were to get hurt playing Division I college sports, a serious injury, am I covered it all after my time at the university, Because I feel like there's there's quite the opportunity to ruin your life in that regard.
I mean, yeah, that's something you have to look at. It wasn't too long ago they said you could insure yourself. People who were thinking of being a first round draft pick ensured themsel they got insured in case they got some type of catastrophic engineer. George Adams is a great example of that. Remember George was a first round draft pick of the Giants. He got hurt playing for the Giants in his rookie year and that was it. He
was done. And he had a hit. Pointer had the same thing Bo Jackson had, and you know his career was cut short after one year. So I see where you're going with that billion. And yeah, here's the other side to that too. How many of these kids who are getting one hundred thousand dollars, fifty thousand dollars, two hundred, three hundred thousand dollars know anything about this three letter company called the I R. And what happens on April What happens on April Fifteen's right? You know, I thought
I made one hundred thousand dollars. I already bought two cars in a house. Well, no, you actually make what sixty one thousand dollars. Yeah, right, that's called tax son.
Yeah. Well, but if they're making that kind of money, you'd think there's somebody in place that can help them with that, someone beyond mom and dad. We're talking to Jefpicor of course, well UK never yeah, you hope.
So that's not taking money from me in the entire right too.
Right, And we're going to talk, as I said, about basketball a little bit later. But we're here. We picked up on the conversation with Mark Shops. Let's let us pull it back to the quarterbacks, which you brought up. Jeff, what do you think about the notion of with all due respect to Murray State, why not start Gavin Whimsy and then bring in cut her bully and just let Idergraff have another week off.
Yeah. If I was him, I would say, look, just let me sit in the tub. I'll even watch the game from the tub. I want you, I want to be healthy to play Texas because look, we have to get down to the brass tax here with him. Is he going to be a Wildcat next year or is he going to go somewhere else? And if he's going somewhere else, the book on him right now is if you're another really good school. He hasn't really proven much
to me. He's he's shown some flashes of having an arm and and and having but again, how much of it's the offensive line? How much of it is is him playing at a small high school and not really getting the reps uh that that that big time quarterbacks get it at at you know, when you're playing at may or d and places like that where you know these factories for for football players, AMG academies and stuff like that. Well he didn't do that. You know, he
played at a single a school in Georgia. So it's gonna be really interesting to see how he progresses in those finals. Look, whoever the quarterback is after Saturday has got two monumental games in front of them. Texas is going to be the SEC game of the week at Texas three point thirty in Texas Stadium, and then the next week you're going to have a Louisville team that'll be on the cusp of making if they beat they have Pitt and Syracuse. Yea, they should probably win both
of those. If they do, they're on the precipice of playing in the Bowl championship.
That's right, so true.
I mean, you know, it's some big, big games in the very near.
Future, and likely you need both if you're Kentucky to get to a ball game. So college football has taken some interesting turns over the last couple of weeks. We'll talk more about that with Jeppecorral at the bottom of the hour, we'll shift to basketball. Dick Gabriel, Billy Rutledge more to come on the state wide BBI from Pikeville
to Paduca. It is a statewide edition of the Big Woe Sider Dick Gabriel, Billy rutleds here in the studio, Jeppecorrel on the celebrity hotline eron Girl Sewn already in Atlanta to cover Duke Kentucky coming up tomorrow night. You'll hear it on most of these same stations, and we will shift to basketball chatter at to bobom of the hour. We're talking football, of course, with Jeff and Billy and
the way the SEC is settling in now. Jeff, I just read somebody today said they think somebody on one of the talking heads they could see Ole miss plan for a national title. I mean, you and I worked that game down there. Billy watched it and listen to it, and of course Kentucky played its best game.
In the year.
Hearing myself, but you got to give Old Miss credit. I mean, it's one games when it's had to it, it looked good over the weekend. I think that might be to me, the biggest surprise in the league right now. What do you think.
The Old Miss slacking of Georgia. Did you see that coming? Yeah? I never didn't. That is uh. To me, that was the most surprising outcome I think of the weekend Miami losing. I mean, they're a one man show. I think cam wore you really, really good, and obviously he's probably the he's the number one guy for the Heisman right now. But man, I mean Georgia they had this is this is the thing that's shocking. Are you ready for this stat?
Georgia has not been out of the top ten since December of twenty twenty.
How about that?
That that is crazy? Uh?
You mentioned cam Ward as a Heisman contender. I want to talk about another one, Travis Hunter. How rare and unique is it for a guy to play both ways like that?
Jeff, Well, you know it's Uh, he's just a book a phenomenal athlete, I guess the last one to do. I mean at that level, I can't even remember. I know Dion played a couple of times, you know, he was punt returns and sometimes they put him in a receiver, I think, just for the heck of it. But to actually play a game on both sides, do you know, Dick, I can't even think of that. There was a kid.
There was a kid who played for one of the mid majors, and I can't recall and even got to look him from the NFL, but not at a high profile, you know, top twenty five program like that. And I'm trying to remember, Jeff, is this a.
Guy that ranged?
Is this a guy who came with Dion? Was he at Jackson State or did he inherit him or okay, see that, To me, he was he was used out of necessity at Jackson State, although I think Dion probably saw his ability and saw himself in that kid's ability and thought he can handle it. But to me, Jeff, and you can speak to this having done this, having at least, you know, been on the sidelines and seeing guys out there taking the punishment the number of plays
this kid racks up every game. That's what gets me. He's not a sometime player. He's out there every play.
Yeah, it's it's amazing. And when remember he was the first five star recruit top I think he was top ten actually recruit in the country and he and he went to Jackson's and people were like what yeah, And I mean that was the biggest splash ever for a school of that size, and it, you know, put him on TV. Uh. You know, it helps to have Dian as a coach, but to get somebody like that, you know, to come to your school was just amazing. So he has pedigree behind him. He's a sensational player. And the
thing that does is crazy. It's just what you said, The pounding that that guy takes every single play and is just simply remarkable that he's able to hang in there and play on both sides of the ball as good as he does. I mean, he could be who's almost like all American on both sides. You know.
Well, speaking of a freak of nature like that, who would you say when you played at Kentucky was a freak of nature?
Give me a name.
Well, the guy that was a freak because he he didn't he played around in the weight room instead of lifting, and he just went and then he never he never. We used to have to run when you came back. You had to run sixteen forties within three tenths of a second of your So if you were a four or five forty, which I was, you had to run sixteen forties under four eight or under man okay, and
you were un him. In sets of four. You ran four, then you got like a thirty second break you ran for then you got a minute break, then you got four, and then you had to run a four to forty, you know, one time around the track and for each position it was a different time. You had to run that under and the guy and then you you know, to twenty five. How many times could you bench press it? And he did right, you know, count twelve times. Paul Calhoun, No,
he was ridiculous. He ever looked out. He was unbelievable. And punt well, he was, first off, he was an ll SEC defensive back, all SC punter right YEPU had a couple of touchdowns as a punter running. But the guy that was just the freak that you're like, come on, was was DERMANI, Oh yeah, I mean he was. He could bench press four hundred without a problem, squat six hundred clean three. But you're like, he's just unhuman. Him and a guy named William Burris, they were both I remember, ridiculous.
Yeah, and DERMANI. The greatest story is as we go to the break and you know this, Jeff DERMANI didn't want to play football. He's walking the halls at Bryan Station High School, this big, good looking kid and was a track and field guy. And in fact he did. Yeah, but then I did say he did participate in field events at UK. But yeah, Steve Parker walk in the halls, said sun report to practice this afternoon. Didn't give him
have a choice, and he did. And and Billy, when DERMANI went into the Hall of Fame, who unveiled his bust? That can Steve Parker? Yeah, that was so good.
And let me tell you, Billy, three guys, three guys. It was Mark Logan, Cornell, Burbiche and Germany on the same same.
Same high school. About that brother basketball chatters. Next here on the state Wide BBI, it is the state wide edition of The Big Blue Insider. Dick Gabriel, Billy Retolans here in the studio, Jeff Pikoro the UK Network is on our Celebrity Hotline. Part of Jeff's resume now includes, of course sports director WEDTVQ here in Lexington, so he covers all sports now just you, not just UK football. And Jeff, you grew up for the most party all over the country. You kind of hopscotched around. I still
think that your dad was a spy. You tell me he was in academics, but you moved around so much. Anyway. You've covered this Kentucky basketball team so far. I don't know about you, but I really, I mean, you care because you want the home team to win. Is better for business, better for ratings. Everybody's happy, But I just want to see what they do. You know what I mean against the Duke team that it's got great talent but really young. And this is a Kentucky team for
the gray beards. If I may use an a dated expression, but I'm just I have not been so curious about a game, Jeff in years.
I kind of agree with you. You know, out of the deal they have the Superstar and Cooper flag right, and how does how is that is? That Cooper flag. Is that his name?
Yeah? Yeah, that's it.
Yeah. How does how does Kentucky control him? How does he respond playing in a game like this, the first you know, huge game since uh, you know the youngster got to Duke and there's gonna be real interesting to see. Yeah. I'm just looking forward to playing finally against some elite athletes. How does that offense that Pope runs transfer to that to the to those you know, guys that can run and jump just like your guys can.
Uh, Jeff, do you think part of the fun about this team is that they don't have the crushing expectations that I feel like every Caliperi team had after twenty fifteen.
That and the fact that it doesn't look like they have the enormous egos of the players or the co coach for that matter, and that, you know, the difference building. And I talk about this all the time with Dick and with in other sports that I do. They play with a smile on their face. They're enjoying the process,
they enjoyed the game, they enjoyed their teammates. Too many times when you go out there, you gotta remember this is college football, college basketball, college baseball and Dick, you know, doing the baseball games. How many games do you go to? And it's the false the falseness of the guys on the bench trying to pick each other up. It wasn't this year in baseball, wasn't like these guys played with a smile on our face, took them to the World Series. Right,
you've got to enjoy it. You're still a kid. That's it's quasi amateur sport and you should be having fun out there, and this basketball team does.
Jeff was one of several media members from here in town who made it out to om Ah uncovered the World Series. You were like me, you weren't going to miss that? I know? And no, and you and I hung out and how many times did we look at each other? How cool is this? So for us a couple of old guys, Imagine what that was like for the players. And I remember the day after they won
the SEC championship. Of course they lost the next game to Bandy, but the morning of the game, we're in the dugout and we were talking about going to Omaha and Grant Smith hurt us and he said, I need that more than I can breathe so you know, watching that team and again sans Egos got you know, great chemistry, and again credit Nick Benjeone for putting that team together using recruiting and the portal and now getting back to basketball.
It's early, but the job that Mark Pope has done, Jeff and cobbling this team together like a puzzle, you know, finding the right pieces. They're still figuring things out. But it's fun to watch, isn't it.
Yeah? And I think he just made a great point here cobbling the team together. He didn't go out and get just ten, eleven, twelve, five star guys. He got guys that fit what he was trying to do, right. He's first first couple of guys he got were defense, and we're all going, what is this? Remember the first three guys, he finds a really good defensive players, one of them a three time defensive player of the year in a conference, and we're like wow. And then it
was a piece here, a piece there. A six to seven shooting guard, right, you know, Kobe Brea and he's becoming a dagger man. I knew this kid was just a awesome player at Dayton, but he put together a team that he saw this guy can play with this guy, these three guys, this two guys here, and now you look at him and he's he's enjoying the fruits of his labor. And this team, you know, we're gonna see, like I said, tomorrow night is going to be a huge step for these guys. And but the thing is
they're all veterans. They've all been most of them have been to the NCAA tournament. They've all played in post games, and they play in huge games. So it's not gonna be that that overwhelming to them.
Is Jeff acorro for or against neutral site games like the Champions Classic, you know what.
Really, it's it's interesting you ask that because I feel for the the season ticket holder who says, well, why can't we get Duke here? You know? And the simple question is Duke doesn't want to play here and Kentucky doesn't want to play at Cameron, you know, so it's probably not going to happen. Now, they made it happen with Gonzaga, and that's been a really cool thing. It's been pretty one sided, but it's been a lot of fun, you know, to see to see that. But you just
see more and more again it's money. How much do they get paid to go to Atlanta? That's you know. I don't I don't know what that answer is, but I've got to believe it's a ton of money for those four teams.
Well, Jeff, let me, let me toss this out at you. And people don't realize, but when Jeff was working up in Northern Kentucky working with the Reds and and things like that, he was involved with University of Cincinnati, did Bob Huggins coaches show, and did ball games up there and all. So he had a great relationship with Huggins. I don't know about all the other college coaches you knew, but I truly believe that home and homes do not happen because coaches hate the prospect of losing a game.
You put a home and home with a Duke or in North Carolina or a Kansas on your schedule, and you look at that game and you say, man, I don't know we're going to get that one. Coaches hate the loves and fans pretend like they love them, but then they expect you to win every game. You know, and coaches feel that. I mean part of that I think is is because coaches won't do it. Part of that is because they know how the fans are going to react. And that's unfortunate because when you grew up,
the Kentucky Indiana game was big. Yeah, and you know, obviously Louisville game is I hope sticks around. You know, I don't know about football, but does that make sense? You know about about home and homes because uh, every every network in America would line up for Duke and Rupp Arena or Kentucky and Cameron.
Well. For the longest time, Ohio State would not play Cincinnati football because they said, we have everything to lose and nothing to gain. And it's kind of like Kentucky Louisville. If you're if you're the coaches, you're like, we got to have this game. And then as soon as the camera's off, they go, I can't stand this game. We cannot you know what I mean. Because then the other thing was they never played the teams in the state because they didn't if somehow, yeah, if somehow Eastern or
Morehead beat Kentucky Western, did you imagine Western Kentucky did? So? You know, those they're tough games, man.
Yeah, Jeff. Over the weekend we heard about the Auburn basketball team and a little horse play in the airplane causing the plane to turn around. They left the guys at in Auburn and then went and still beat Houston the next day. My question is, did you ever have any scuffles with teammates in the travel to and from games?
Never traveling? No, that's that's crazy. No. I mean guys fought all the time in the dorm and stuff. I mean you get all those athletes and back when when I would say, we had to live in Kerwin one, So we lived in you know, everybody, all the players, didn't matter if you were Bill Ranstell or Joker Phillips or me or or.
If your freshman June. Yeah, I mean freshman through SI you all had to live in the dorm.
Right, wow, Billy, you ready for this?
Yeah?
We there were no female visitation in our They couldn't go upstairs to that they could come in and go down series which was the wreck. You know, they had TVs and stuff like that. Our girlfriend, my mother couldn't go to my room even in the off season.
Huh.
How about that. That's how strict Clavern was. We couldn't have a girl. You know, a girlfriend, wife, whatever, No, not happening.
What was the Cursey rule? Where? What were the Cursey rules?
Beyond time? Yeah, there was three beyond time, don't get your butt in trouble and uh like past your classes? That is it?
Yeah? But could freshmen live off campus?
Freshmen had to live at Hagen Hall, That's what I thought, which was the freshman dorm, and then you moved into Most of us lived in Kerwin one. Now you know, we got to remember we didn't have any money. Nobody had any money. So you're staying in the dorm because they paid for that.
One of the great stories that Jeff told me, and I don't think we can repeated on the air, was the day in Hagen Hall cafeteria player X attack player why with a Christmas tree? But we'll tell you that story off the Christmas tree. We'll tell you that story off the air belly because it's a family radio station. Back to Basketball.
Tree.
He'll he'll pull it all together for you. Trust me. We've talked on this show and others about the Popovich drill that the Wildcats running practice, and fans have heard a lot about it already. Where it's three on two in both directions. Sometimes a third player come in, but the ball is in your hands for less than half a second and by the time when you get it, you've got to already know where you're going with it. And it's really fun now, Jeff, to see this team
when it is able to fast break. And that's why the ball movement. I heard Cameron talking to Darren Hendrick about it. The ball movement on this team. That's one of the reasons it's so good because if you recall under previous management with young players freshmen, he would say, what would he say, Billy, the ball would get stuck.
Yeah, don't don't stop the ball.
No, but he would That was a term he used, right, the ball get it would get stuck and you'd see somebody because he didn't know either he didn't know where to go with the ball or the targets he was looking for were in the wrong place. And in all fairness, that ain't gonna happen with a team full of seniors, right.
Right. You know, it's interesting because both coaches men's and women's run those drills and it pays off of the games you've set it. You know, at the score is table with me in the women's game so far. Their ball movement is fantastic. And they run those drills too, the three on twos and two and then two on threes and yeah, and they do it where you're not allowed to dribble, where you've got to move down the court and you have to pass without dribbling and make a basket. So how hard is that?
Yeah? That is great?
Uh, Jeff Kobe Brya was rated the best shooter in college basketball coming out of the portal this last year and he is not starting for Kentucky. Do we have another read and Rob situation with Kerr and Kobe or do you think this will work in the self out much more than it did last year?
Yeah, I don't think. I think that you have to have guys that understand their role and understand and are not bigger than the team. And I don't think this is anything against him. I think that they are going to be games they'll probably start, But it doesn't bother him. He was he came off the beds, I want to say, his first two years at Dayton he was like six Man of the Year, that's right, So he's used to doing that. So I don't think it bothers him as
much as it will. And again he's I don't say this to knock him because he's a you know, so fantastic, but he's not. And I'm not knocking to get I am knocking the guys before. He's not a five star guy who expects to be. I need to start. I need to put this many minutes. Then I need to get this many touches. That's one thing that Mark steered away from. And all these guys are high character and
guys that that did along. And again, know you're you know, if you want to just say it, know your role within that offense.
A couple of minutes left, But Jeff Picoro, we're talking Kentucky basketball, of course, and Jeff just referred to the UK women Jeff calls Kentucky women's basketball and sec. Plus you and Christy, you've already had a couple of games and you mentioned ball Megan.
Yeah.
Uh, well, let's face it, the first couple of opponents weren't exactly uh, you know, the kind of team that expected top Teck Kentucky. But what I thought was interesting, Jeff was that after both games, both players and Kenny Brooks talk about it. Well, they still have so much work to do with on court communication and you've gone to more shoot arounds and practices than I have. But that kind of surprised me because it sure looks like they know what they're doing in terms of communicating with
one another. Does that surprise you to hear that?
No? I think it's because this you got to remember. And he even said this he forgot the day before. He's like, okay, well we so the game day, we're gonna do this, this and this, and the girls there were two girls that knew what he was talking about. He went, okay, back up, here's what we do. You know, because they just didn't know that they have done it before.
And and he said, Georgia was good enough to say, coach, we got to do this, and then we do this and they're like, oh yeah, because you know the same with the guys. These are these are players who haven't played together ever before. Now he brought two girls with him, but look at the team that Mark Pope has. None of those guys played together before this year. So it's a learning process for them. It's going to take time. Uh, they're still getting to know each other on both teams
on tendencies, things like that, where's your hot spot? Uh, you know, where do you like to be? Where? How do you like to receive the ball? Those are all very important. You know, do you like a bounce pass? Do you like a truspass? Right? You know? And how do you where do you want? You want to be stepping forward when you get that pass? Do you want to come off the screen? They're all learning there, they're still learning all. That's pretty cool actually to see the growth.
Uh, Kentucky's expectations really want to notch up. When Georgia Amore announced she was joining Kentucky, do you have do you have a player comp for her?
Jeff? Wow? Wow, you don't know who this is. But PJ. Hedges will remember her. She was on some of the great teams that knocked off. They beat an undefeated Old Dominion team. They She played with Valerie Still and Lisa Collins. Yeah, they were fantastic, but Patty Joe just directed everything. She She was the one of the greatest point guard.
I've ever And how about Stacey.
Reid, Yeah, another one that comes to mind. But the thing that kills me about is Amore is she's like literally because some people they give him an answer to or you know, she's literally five four or five five. She's she is, she's vertically challenged. But it doesn't but not on the court. It's amazing.
I talked to PJ the othernight. She really likes George. I saw her at one of the games and you know, but Stacey was not a towering figure either. But you can play big. If you play smart, you're playing big, So that works. Yepkora. Listen for him as a Ucats take on Murray State. He'll be alongside Tom Leech up in the press box. I'll be down on the field as the Wildcats take on the Racers and Watford Jeff on WTVQ each night.
Thank you sir, Thanks guys talking next.
Thanks Jeff, and by the way, don't miss the Wildcat Whip every Thursday on social media on UK Sports Network's Twitter feed, in my Facebook page. We're back in just a minute to wrap this up here on the State ye BBI. Thanks again to Jefpichoor for joining us and filling in for a couple of extra segments with Aaron Gershan on the road. He'll be covering those Duke Blue levels. You'll hear it, right here on most of these stations. Will you be disappointed? Will you be angry? Will you
be calling for Mark Pope's head? If Duke beats Kentucky, will you be calling for the coach to be punished? No, not yet.
We're We're still on our honeymoon, all right. But the answer, is there a reason why Kentucky is always the second game in the Champions Class? Things I'd love to be done by, you know, nine o'clock.
Sadly they've not started scheduling around your personal life.
So Kentucky's the show, that's what you're telling, Yes, sir, Yeah makes sense.
Well you think about it because on the West coast and working your way east, you've got better ratings opportunities. Yeah, I mean they're the bigger names, you know it is. I can't even I can't even remember what the first game is. I've heard it on the radio.
Michigan State and somebody who you don't even know were I'll just wait for that game to end to see I'm excited to see Cooper flag Dick. I. You know, he's kind of been a very hyped prospect already, maybe.
A couple of years ago.
In the social media age. He is just he blows people away. So I'm looking forward to seeing how Kentucky guards him. Maybe if that's a Mari Williams early on, maybe if that's somebody else, but uh.
Zion Williamson used to play in the NBA. He used to can't stay healthy. But that big body man throwing it around like that. Yeah, man. Anyway, I just think that Kentucky's going to have an obvious advantage in that none of these guys on the Kentucky team has ever been through an event like this. I mean, they've played in NCAA tournaments, but this is the marquee matchup this, I mean, it's you know what they're in for to be on exactly literally and figuratively. But I do believe
they have the advantage of all those years. You know, once they maybe the first TV timeout is how long it takes them to settle in. Maybe not. That's that's what we don't know about this team, But I do think that's a big advantage Billy, in that they know each other and coach. Both teams know each other, but they know their own games so much better I think than Duke does.
Instead of trying to figure it out for the first few months of the season to get your best play in February or March. Maybe you're seeing them peak a little early, or they are playing getting to that point quicker. You know, I think there's a lot of truth in what you're saying. I do also think of a guy like Tyrese Maxey, who just stole the show at the Champions Classic a couple of years ago. Who's going to
be the player for that this year? Is kerk krisa who's already talking trash to Cooper flag uh and you know, wearing seventy seven with his first name on the back of his jersey. I mean, he's over under zero point five technicals in this game dig because I think if that was a bet on DraftKings, I would take the over.
Is he a guy known for drawing technical Oh? Come on, that's that's gotta be. That's gotta be. I'm I know he mixed it up with Luca Donson. Yeah, but I don't. I mean, I'm serious.
Well, Mark Pope is has you know, added to that hype. You know, he has introduced Kerr as the guy that other teams will hate.
Oh yeah, he trash talk. Yeah yeah, no, but that doesn't necessarily mean technical. Oh well, I asked my question. I want to hear the hear about the trash talking, but he didn't have to get a technical foul.
Yeah, I think it's only a matter of time. Maybe he tries to set the tone early doing well.
Mark Pope ever get a technical foul? No, No, I don't think so. I wonder if he had one at BYU. That's a good thing to look. We should check. We should check on that, do some research. All right, that's gonna do it for now. As I said, Kentucky duke tomorrow night. You've also got women's basketball tomorrow night, so check your local listing because it's a great night for Kentucky basketball. That's it. Good night from Lexington.