Welcome to the Big Blue Insider.
Dick Gabriel with you on a Thursday edition of our program, and we will start by telling you that if you didn't see it earlier. Kentucky volleyball moving on in the NCAA Tournament, knocking off Missouri for the third time this year by a final of three to one. Kentucky jumped out, took the first two sets, and then Missouri absolutely throttled the Wildcats in set number three before Kentucky jumped out to the early lead and set four kind of set.
The tone and moves on.
And because we pre record can't tell you who they're playing, I'm guessing it's going to be Pittsburgh, the number one team in the country. Obviously the number one seed. They're playing in Pittsburgh. But the Wildcats move on to the Elite eight once again. Brooklyn delay phenomenal twenty two kills, four nineteen hitting percentage, And again, if you don't know the sport, that's like batting average. Anything over three hundred, you're doing great. Megan Wilson was huge today for the Wildcats.
She had thirty teen kills. Brook Baltima also big ten kills, hit four thirty eight and by the way, Wilson at three seventy five. But I'll tell you in that fourth set, a critical juncture was still up for grabs, really and Missouri which had two really big swingers Jordan Isliff who had twenty kills and Michael Vernon who had eleven kills but hit negative hit minus twenty nine too many errors. They had a couple of huge swings and it looked
like they were putting down points. They would have pulled them right back into it, but it was Eleanor Bevin who had ten digs, massive digs on a couple of big swings that led directly to Kentucky points. And so Bevin who was the Libro of the Year two years ago and now Mully Tuzzo's a liberal, but that gives Kentucky an elite defender, what they call a defensive specialist, and Eleanor Bevin and Tuzzo was phenomenal. She had eleven digs as well. Em mcgrom had ten digs. So Kentucky's
defense was tremendous. But those two digs in particular in the fourth set were so big for Kentucky. Growing by the way, fifty assists, she is now the all time leader and assists for the Wildcats in the history of the program. Kentucky hit three forty seven for the match, Missoo hit two forty one. Before I move on, I gotta tell you, and I don't do that.
I'm not going to.
Name names, but we talk every once in a while because people complain on social media, generally about basketball. I wrote something recently about Jay Billis and the fact that I don't believe he hates Kentucky, even though a lot of you do. It's more about basketball than football, I think, just because you know of the pace of the game and the way Kentucky fans of course feel about their program. But I always say, look, announcers generally just want a
good game to cover or good match to cover. We love calling upsets things like that, you know, And look, I'm when it comes to volleyball, I'm the Kentucky announcer.
I get that.
When it comes to baseball, I'm the Kentucky announcer. And it's different from when Darren Hedrick calls baseball in the radio because his audience there is almost strictly Kentucky fans. Well, when Doug Flinn and I do baseball or when you know Leah Edmond and I do volleyball, there are likely as many viewers rooting for the other team as there are Kentucky, so we have to keep that in mind. But I always say we kind of call it through
the Kentucky prism. I'm gonna tell you something today, the announcers. I was so uncomfortable watching this match and I got a little angry. This almost entire match was all about Missouri, and I don't get it.
I don't know.
Maybe these announcers I try to find out, were, you know, regularly calling missoo games. I don't know, but I know the playoff play announced her played at Hofstra and she's an award winning playbook play person. And the color commentator played at Minnesota. But I don't know what their connection was, but they clearly had one, and so did the sideline reporter with Missouri. I was just so put off by that.
There was one play in particular, Ava Sarafa for Kentucky with an ace that's a big deal, all right, at a crucial point in match, and they just kind of murmured about what Missouri did wrong. Everything was about what does Missouri have to do? To get back into this. At one point a Missouri kid had to kill and one of the announcers pointed out.
Just a courageous swing. Courageous.
What's courageous about that? She's done that a thousand times? So yeah, I was put off, and if you were too this time.
I don't blame you. A couple nud notes.
Before we hit the brake, and by the way, coming up next, we'll hear from the basketball Wildcats after their win over at Colgate, which was not the prettiest. A little bit later on Sean Woods at the bottom of the hour joins us, the unforgettable guard who predicted that Kentucky win over Gonzaga. We'll get him a chance to crow about that and explain why. Jack Gibbons joins us in our number two to talk, of course about the
basketball cats. Aaron Gershan will join us as well in our number two, and we'll talk some football with Aaron about the portal and about player movement and.
All that sort of stuff.
So yeah, we've got a busy show tonight, but a couple other things. Where Dan Mullen evidently is signed on as the head coach at UNLV, so he's the guy who coached Mississippi State to the top of college football.
There were ranked number one in the country.
In that game where Dak Prescott faced off with Patrick Toles here in Lexington was one of the best games I've ever seen in then Commonwealth Stadium, or maybe it was Carogerfield by then. Anyway, Then he goes to Florida, flames out, does not work. He's been on TV for a couple of years, but he's the new head coach at UNLV. Rich Rodriguez is returning to West Virginia as the head coach.
He left there for.
Michigan next and did not work out there. Rich Rodriguez was interviewed for the Kentucky job back in the day, turned it down. That's when Rich Brooks ended up as the UK coach. Bill Belichick today said somebody asked him about leaving for the NFL North Carolina.
I didn't come here to leave.
Tomorrow, we're going to talk about why we think is it was a mistake for North Carolina to sign Belichick. And I'm not the only one who said that. Up next, we'll talk with the basketball cats on six thirty WLAP.
Welcome back to the.
Big Blue and sider Dick Gabriel with you coming up, We're gonna hear from Seawan Woods, the unforgettable guard.
We talked to him every week. Chris, we usually talked to him on Wednesday.
There was basketball last night, but Sean, you might predicted the win over Duke and then of course we were able to talk with him about that the next day as to why and what he saw. Well, last week he predicted a win at Gonzaga, and this is our first chance to talk with Sean since that game, so we'll hear from him about what he saw, also about what he saw last night. And Sean played in games like last night's game where you're.
Supposed to win.
I don't recall any of his teams blowing a lead the way Kentucky did last night, but we'll get his thoughts on that as well. Aaron Gershan at the Cats Boss coming up a little bit later on.
But last night, after the game.
The players talked about a lot of different things, including that blown lead.
Kobe Brea, who moved into.
The starting lineup with the loss of Lamont Butler, said that at halftime somebody asked him, you know, what did you guys talk about? What were the adjustments, and he said, really, before the coaches got in there, before Mark Pope started talking to the team, the players talked among themselves and they pretty much knew what they had to address and what they had to do in the second half.
We all knew that the energy just wasn't right for us a little bit.
You know.
We all knew that it was just going to be on us today to you know, kind of lead the way and you know, do what we have to do to stay true to ourselves. You know, we have to live up to our standard. And that's something that was talked a lot about in half time, and I think that in the second half we did do a better job.
But that's something that you know, I feel like a lot of teams in games like this, they kind of folded a little bit, just you know, we had a really big game that we won and coming into you know, playing a school that's maybe not so big, you know, the team started to take a little lightly, you know, But that's the good thing about having veterans.
In this group.
We understand that every game is important, and you know, I think we bounced back really well in the second half.
And of course he had a couple of shots go down, which certainly helped the Wildcats in the second half. That's
what turned things around, that hot shooting. But never should have come to that, as you well know, and missing not just Lamont Butler, but kerk cries a point guards who can get you into what you need to be doing just so vital, and he got to have Butler back, I would think, I don't I'm not saying he can't beat Louisville without him, but it's just tough to go into a game like that with all that emotion.
And Jackson Robinson has done a nice job.
Travis Perry got some minutes last night, but it's gonna be a lot tougher. On Saturday, and Andrew Carr talked about how much they really need to get Lamont Butler back and on the floor.
It's really hard for a team to replicate Lamont's ability to just disrupt kind of what's going on. And so of course we want him back as soon as possible now. Of course, no at no risk of anything for the rest of the season. So you know, we're we're confident in him getting back onto the court and really you know, making an impact for us like he always has.
Before he left the floor or Mark Pope put on a headset and talked to ESPN, to the Sports Center anchors about a lot of different things. They look back at the Gonzaga game, and a former WKYT employee, Michael Leaves, who has talked a couple of times from the anchor, said about Kentucky and Mark Pope, they dropped in a little bit of that as well, but Pope also just talked about turning things around against Colgate.
What it took.
Well, we have great guys, man, We have a ton of leadership on this team, and this was clearly not our best night. And a lot of credit Colgate. You know, they've had some misfortune, but they're a championship team. They've won a ton and those guys have a lot of pride and played well. But our guys are they're greater at responding. They're just greater responding. It's the best part of our team and so I'm really.
Proud of them speaking of that best part of your team and responding, as you say, let's go back to Saturday. You guys were down eighteen in the second half against Gonzaga.
On the road.
How did you pull off that comeback win in OT.
Way again, it just comes back to listen. You know, we talk about.
This all the time.
The beautiful thing about basketball is it is a team sport and it's always gonna test the connect the tissue of your team. And our guys have worked really hard, they've been really intentional about trying to stay together. That doesn't guarantee wins, it doesn't guarantee success, but it gives you the best chance to stay alive when things aren't working right and to kind of keep a fresh heart and an open mind on every possession and kind of
take in frustration and spit it out. And our guys are pretty good at that.
Yeah, and it was quite a thrilling win and OT in that game and postgame you had this sweet moment with your wife and took the time to think the fans who traveled. How did these moments motivate you, coach?
Well, hey, I'll tell you what. First of all, I'm blessed with the You know, I'm slightly biased, but I'm I'm blessed to be married to the most amazing woman on the planet earth.
Man.
She is a gamer, She's an important part of this team as well as our daughters and and BBN is is it's just as like they were incredible tonight, like we were really at an energy deficit and and BBN just stood up, all twenty thousand of them, and it started giving us love that we probably didn't quite deserve tonight and carried us through. And so, uh, it's it's it's unbelievable.
There's there's just Kentucky.
There's nowhere like it, and uh we're blessed to be able to be a part of it.
Mark Seth Greenberg here, I absolutely love watching your team play. The passion, the energy, their unselfishness. But what did you learn about your team today? Obvious a game before the game, but what do you learn about your team today in terms of without Kerr and without Lamont in terms of moving forward?
If you have to play without those guys.
Well, we're gonna we're gonna continue to adjust. You know, Jackson Robinson carrying an enormous load right now. Uh TP is gonna step up and help us. Colin Chandler is gonna help us. Those guys are gonna get better and better. We got a a terrific contribution from chat Noah tonight. He was terrific with his energy, and so we'll regroup right now.
And you know, obviously we.
Got uh, you know, one of the state of Kentucky's favorite game games every year coming up Saturday, and we can't wait to get to it.
But just like everything we.
Do, it's gonna be a community effort. It's gonna be all hands on deck, and we'll see if we can fight for each other.
Yeah, speaking on that effort on and off the court, coach, before we let you go, we wanted you to listen to our Michael Eaves at Kentucky alum who asked two NBA stars, also Kentucky alumni, talking about your program in the building.
Let's listen real quickly.
I'm Michig Kentucky, our alma mater.
What the Cat's gonna do this year?
They got a new head coach too.
Now, Hey, looking good, right now, That's what I'm saying. Looking really good. So they looking really good. Obviously it's tough, you know for me to see the cow lea, but uh, you know, it was his time. You know, he felt like it was his time to move on. And you know, I'm loving the coach, I'm loving the team, so you know, hopefully we can you know, we can get Benning number nine this year.
Oh by the way, Kentucky won, so we're now seven to oh go cat, it's.
There, there we go.
Hope is Hope.
That's the model for the Yeah, Hope is Hope.
Gotta love to hear that, coach. What do you think of what you just heard from Anthony Davis and Shay Gilges Alexander, Yeah.
Listen, it is It is incredibly important to us that we continue to make all the players and coaches that worked miracles here over the decades, that we make those guys proud because we get to enjoy this because of what they did. This was built by them and this Kentucky family man. There's an enormous pride in what this
is that spans through generation after generation. And it's our turn now to carry this torch and it is a it is a ton of brilliantly beautiful pressure to live up to the expectations here and that's what we're trying to do. I'm glad those guys are enjoying it. It's really important to us to make them proud.
And again that's courtesy of ESPN. Then Pope went back to the interview room. In between ESPN and talking to Tom Leech, you talked to the assembled Masses and John Wong asked him a little bit about the rankings.
John kind is kind of a man of the people.
When he's writing his blog, he refers oftentimes to what people are talking about. And you know, as well as I and maybe you're one of them, that a lot of people have complained bitterly about the fact that Duke's ranked the head of Kentucky. Keep in mind one thing when you're talking about the rankings thinking about him.
The Associated Press.
Poll was created literally to sell newspapers. That's kind of a cliche. Oh, they're just doing that to sell papers. Yeah, a lot of times back in the day, until they began to die. Everything newspapers did was designed to sell papers. And when it came to college basketball, that's why they created the AP Top twenty five to stimulate more interest and maybe people will pick up the newspaper that day to see THEAP Top twenty five because that was the
only place you could see it. They didn't talk about it on TV when they first started it. There was no Internet. So what they're trying to do is get your interest in Hey, what do you know they've done that. They do it every year, they do it every week, so don't worry about it. And Pope just talked about the fact that, you know, UK is back in the picture.
Listen, I'm glad we're in the conversation. I'm glad we're in the national conversation. It's where we're supposed to be. It's Kentucky, right and you know, and so I'm I'm really happy with all that. But more importantly, I'm just I just want us to be a great team, right and we want to keep getting better. And and we had runs tonight where we got better. You know, we started the game better and then we just you know, we just energy just turned a little bit, honest. But
we'll learn from this and we'll get better. So right now it's a race to get better. But you know, this is Kentucky. We have to win every game along the way. That's a beautiful thing. I'm not complaining. I think it's that's why Kentucky special.
And by the way, his former teammate Cameron Mills part of our pregame coverage. You've heard him before every time he's in the garage. Whether I bring it up or not, and we're talking about college basketball. He somehow works in the ap pole or any pole at all. They're all stupid, blah blah blah. My response to him every time is it's fun, and that seems to.
Be lost on my man.
Speaking of fun, though, it had to be cool for the Colgate kids to come in and play in rap arena.
Colgate is in Hamilton, New York.
That's a small town. There's like thirty two hundred kids in the school. If you know anything about New York, there's like a triangle Syracuse, Binghamton, and Albany. Hamilton's right in the middle. I've never been there. It's nowhere near the interstate. I've been to Syracuse, I've been to Albany. I don't think i've been to Binghamton. But anyhow, imagine the media coverage or lack of same if you play
any sport at Colgate. So Parker Jones got a chance to come in and talk to the assembled media, and.
I'm guessing that there were more reporters.
In that room than he's ever seen in his entire career at Colgate. He played about twenty eight and a half minutes, had a good game, seventeen points, six rebounds, a couple of assists, and before he answered whatever question it was put to him, he talked about the fact that this was pretty cool.
First of all, this is pretty sick. I've never been in a press conference, so this is like just kind of high level for me, So I'm sorry if my answer isn't top level. But coming back in from halftime,
I think we were all super extatic. Like I mean, when you play it seemed like Kentucky you kind of at least personally, I dreamed of it in like my backyard, like thinking about like Parker Jones subs in and he hits a three and he comes down to like all this stuff that I think about in my head, and I don't know, like being in this environment was really
cool and just kind of surreal. And we got back to the locker room and obviously emotions are really high, and we kind of just were all telling ourselves like because I remember last year we played Arizona and we were down three going into half and then they came out and just blitzed us almost, so kind of just trying to stay more composed and collected because we kind of have a tendency to not get off to the
best to start. So we're trying to calm it down, even though there was a lot of just really high emotion at the time.
Not only did they pick up where they left off in the second half, but Colgate took a three point lead as you know, early in the nearly minutes of the second half, and then Kentucky got hot and put them away. But you know, previous administration, the head coach what is said, we need a game like this.
Well, maybe I'll tell you.
What Kentucky needed was the opportunity to figure out how to win without two point guards, and the Wildcats did that. But they've got to get those guys back if they want to make any kind of run this year. It's way early, but we're learning right now if we didn't already how valuable those guys are. Sean Woods is next year on six thirty Welcome back to the Big Blue Insider, and as promised, joining us now is the Unforgettable Guard. Sean Woods joins us every week to talk about those Wildcats.
And before we talk about last night, it's kind of weird game with Kolgate. As I mentioned before the break, Sean mentioned and I mean on the record on the air, told me a week ago Kentucky would beake Gonzaga in Seattle, and sure enough, now, coach, I don't know if it played out the way you thought it might. But take me back and tell me why you made that prediction.
Well, as you know, I watched college basketball, and I watched like I'm scouting and I'm scouting everyone. And what I am very, very impressed with Kentucky about is their sustainability. You know, they embrace in relish in the peaks and valleys of a basketball game for forty minutes and they never stopped. They do the exact same thing. They may make some mistakes, but they don't get flustered, where a lot of other teams, especially around the country right now,
they don't have great sustainability. I think Kentucky is the best sustainability team in America. And it showed even with Gonzaga, who's a veteran team who's got probably the best point guard in America. You know it, that was the deal, you know what I mean? Like, for instance, even when Kentucky lost some players due to injury, they still stayed
the course. You know, he made some adjustments went zone, which really surprised me that Gonzagti became so stagnant, But it worked into our favors simply because it took away the threes. It made them think and and and and they became less aggressive playing against it. And then the worst free throw shoot on the team was the person who was getting the most shots, and he was missing
free throws. Yeah, I was highly shocked. Zaga missed so many street throws down the stretch, which gave Kentucky an opportunity to get back in the game and eventually win the game.
Oh, I agree. Well, all right, let me unpack some of this now.
You talk about sustainability, and you mentioned that as one reason why you pick Kentucky over Duke, because Duke was so young. But you also mentioned the fact that can Zaga had a veteran team with a veteran point guard. But that just speaks so well, obviously to this veteran roster for Mark Pope, doesn't.
It, no doubt about it. And he's what he's preaching, he's really doing. And the way he says his team is you can honestly tell they just play for each other. They just play. Yeah, you know, they don't get caught up in who's who, Who's this player, who's that player, Who's this team, who's that team. They just go out and play the game the way it's supposed.
To be played.
Are they going to make some mistakes here and their year? Are they going to go on you know, routes where they can't make a shot, especially from three? Yeah, But because they are so mature and Mar's got them from to the point where the they're really not messing themselves up mentally. This is what you're getting. You know, they don't get lost in the moment. I mean they get lost in the moment. They don't They relish in the moment.
They enjoy playing the game. And if you're not sustained, can If you can't sustain at a high level, that means you got to make every free throw down the stretch to beat them. That means the last three minutes, you can't turn the ball over, you can't have any mishaps because their or their machine is going to continue to run the same way it did at the beginning of the game.
And yet against Godaga, they they lost a point guard, their point guard, and we're still able to make that happen.
And I was surprised that Gonzaga didn't put on the pressure because me as a coach, losing your the main point guard that you have and no one else's everyone else is pretty much questionable to pressure, especially in those moments. I'm shocked that that coach you didn't didn't really turn up the heat a little bit and allowed him to stay comfortable. You know, Jacka was comfortable even though he played the point. He doesn't like to play the point.
He doesn't like pressure, but he wasn't pressured in that game. You know, they allowed Kurve before he got hurt, to become a main, you know, main integral part in that game before he got hurt because there was no pressure. And you know he's out. That Butler should be back
for Louisville. But you know, if you're gonna get this team before SEC, that was the game to get them, and they didn't get got and they're only getting stronger because now there's gonna be some players that hasn't been able to play as much, just like the other night. That's going to allow them to get some more confidence and can hopefully make their bench even more deeper.
Let's talk about that zone. I didn't know, I knew we would see a zone. I should have known the one three one Sean, have you ever played ever?
Have you ever used it? Have you ever been a part of it?
Yeah, you know, sometimes you trickle with it. You know a lot of teams that you play, specially at the major level, do a lot of those things because of personnel and so on and so forth. But I mean I thought it was great. You know, I don't think Mark really planned on doing it. I think he had to do it simply because Butler's out. You can't stay in front of Zacher's point guard, and that was the
only way to hang on. And not only did they hang on, it actually neutralized Gonzaga for the most part, and it allowed them to continue to do what they're doing, gave him more chances on the offensive ent.
Yeah.
The one bucket I remember that Gonzaga got fairly easily was when somebody got loose on the baseline. But that was basically a mistake. I know there are hey, look, Joby Hall. We all learned about the one three one when he was coaching, and you learn where there are the soft spots in that zone. But the one kid that ran the baseline and got a bucket. That was a communications mistake. Otherwise, Yeah, Zaga just kind of slogged their way through that, didn't they See.
Here's the deal. A lot of teams and a lot of coaches, especially at the beginning, don't even practice against.
Zone, so they're not used to it.
Yeah, you understand what I'm saying. And you know, you really don't start doing zone until you get into your league. Until you get into the conference. Nine times out of teen, most teams aren't playing on the first month or two of the season. So it kind of really got them off guard because I'm sure from what I can tell and everyone can tell, that Mark hasn't worked on it a lot. Yeah, and when you don't work on it a lot, I'm thinking that. Shoot, I got these veteran guys.
I'm just gonna tell them, look, attack the teams, you know, get the ball into the middle of the paint, and then get things to happen. They just continued to play perimeter basketball. They got stagnant. Nope, you know, they lost their aggressiveness attacking the rim and then allowed of Kentucky to do what they do and gave them a chance. And this is a team you can't give a chance to because sooner or later they're going to make a shot or two and now you're scrambling. Now the pressure's
on you. And as you could tell in that game, free throws was the biggest key coming down the stretch. They missed too many.
Yeah, I got tired, I thought, I thought, and Jagga got tired. Did you see that.
I don't know about tired. I just think that who know, the change of pace really made them a comfortable Yeah, and it just slowed them down and it made them think more instead of being more reactors.
Yeah, when you can make them think, and then all you have to do is react, you're at least one step ahead, aren't you exactly?
And you know you got him. You just want a chance. You're on the road. You just lost a big one on the road to Clemson. And on paper Gonzaga was better than Clemson. Well, what Clemson did was Clemson stayed the course. They made, They made the plays down the stretch that Gonzaga didn't make. And I thought we were underman we were undermand which made it even more impressive.
And I thought Kentucky came out with a little more physicality against Gonzaga maybe not quite as much as Clemson showed. And we talked about that last week. But I didn't feel I didn't feel like Kentucky was intimidated or anything. I was a little surprised they got down so much. But at halftime, did you still believe it win?
I knew they had a chance. I just you know, it was kind of looking a little bleak when they were down eight and then Butler got hurt. I was like, oh man, yeah, here we go. And actually they got better. You know, he changed his defense. Kurd to his credit, you know, didn't fluster, you know, relished in the moment. Unfortunately he got hurt at the end, but then it allowed you know, things work.
For a reason.
Yeah, you know, Jackson has been struggling. Okay, we all know that we feel that he doesn't play great in the in the big games. Well, I think he's an easy target to defend when he's on the wing because he only has from the wing the corner to operate.
But when you put him at the point guard position, which he hates, I think it shows more of his satility, you know, and it gives him an opportunity to have more freedom in their offense, especially with the point guard concern for him to really take all smaller guys get to a spot to shoot over them. Because he's a he could take you one, two dribbles off the baus and get to a mid range and shoot just as
good as he can shook the three. And it allowed him to do that and show that, and I don't think Gonzaga was ready for that.
We'll take a break, We'll come back and talk about Kentucky's winterver Cole game with Seawan Woods, the unforgettable guard here on the Big one Sider six thirty WLAP.
Welcome back.
We're talking with Sean Woods. His jersey hangs in the rafters of rup. We talked to him each and every week about Kentucky basketball. I said earlier in the show, Sean, that you know you played in games where you were expected as a team to go out and just destroy the other guys. You know, teams that were on your schedule because they needed to make budget things like that. Don't know if you were ever involved in a game where you blew a seventeen point lead. But what did
you see last night? And the two Kentucky teams we saw the one want to jumped out than the one that had to fight to win, to come from behind.
Well, Kentucky's for the first time was put in an uncomfortable position. Rotations. You know, guys coming off the bench. I thought in the first half, you know, the guys that they had in there, they were veterans, so they they you know, they they knew they were better than
that team. But then when he made substitutions, that's when Kolgate kind of got back in the games, and you know, he's he's gonna have to address that situation and get more contributions from his bench, some of the guys that hasn't been playing as much, because you never know if Butler is going to go down again. You never know if Kurt you know when Kurt's coming back. So he's got to get some real contributions from this bench, some guys that hadn't been playing as much in order, you know,
going down the stretch. You know, Kogate is still a mid major team. It took us a while to really, you know, get back into the groove. But he got back in the groove when.
He put his major guys back there.
Yeah, because he didn't get what he hopefully was wanting from the guys that hadn't been playing much. They got their opportunity.
Travis Perry got some earlier minutes, and I think, yeah, he looked like he struggled with the moment a bit.
I mean, sometimes you know, the moment is too big, run now he has to just settle down. He got four or five wide open looks and wasn't even and it wasn't even close, and he's a much better shooter than that. I think the nerves was really you know, you could just tell that he was nervous. He wasn't very comfortable. It was the first opportunity to really show the Kentucky big Blue nation that he's worthy. And you know, he got some significant minutes. Didn't take advantage of him
like I wanted him to. But hopefully he'll get that opportunity again, Yeah, and be more settled when the next opportunity comes.
He was trying to do the right thing, you know.
And he played technically, he played point guard in high school, but it was more of a guy who was looking to score as much as facilitate.
And this is kind of a new role for him. It's definitely a new role, isn't it.
He wasn't a true point guard in high school. He was you know, I watched him player about eight nine times. He was a guy who was actually running the lane. When the ball went out, he was catching it and laying it in more so than being the primary ball handling. They had another decent guard in their high school team who's pretty good that actually made them better than what they were. I thought he played a great role in
their state run. But you know this is new to him, you know, and you know, I think that, you know, sometimes you don't have to be a primary point guard. You know, as long as you can shoot the ball and make good decisions in the half court. You know, do what coach Patino used to do with Travis Ford when he played against a bigger point guard and he couldn't get away from him. Let somebody else bring it up.
But then run the offense once you start, and then he's still that that that that that that that that threat. Because he can shoot the ball and make plays in the half court. I think that what's Travis really finds his niche, Uh, he's gonna be fine. He's still a freshman, you know what I mean. And he's a legit freshman. Yeah, and he's playing with some older guys and he hasn't been counted on. And for the first time, he felt like he was going to be counted on simply because
of the injuries, you know. And uh, you know, he didn't play bad. He didn't turn the ball over significantly, I mean, nothing like that. He just didn't make a shot. And you could tell that he wasn't very comfortable within his own skin. But I think time, you know, as time moves on and he gets more and more opportunities, he's just one or two shots away from establishing his confidence. He's not a bad player, he's just he's solid as a rock. Just can't throw it in the ocean right now.
Yeah, you know, and you can tell he's got that basketball like you. And speaking of freshman, Uh what Trent No I hit a big shot. He looked really relaxed. Didn't he look comfortable.
Well, he's been playing a little bit more, He's been thrown in a little bit more, you know what I mean. So his opportunities have been a little more than than Travis's right now, especially, and two, he didn't have to worry about bringing the ball up the court. You know, he just got to worry about making a shot when he's open, so you know, his situation is a little different. But both of them are gonna be solid players for us.
You know, we just got to keep our fingers crossed that Butler comes back and also Curry comes back healthier with it, you know, in time, because we sure need them to be successful. They're the key to our success. And Butler's you know what I mean, He's a He's a spoon that stirs the coffee, no doubt about that.
Yeah, he's every bit as good as advertised. Well, let's talk about the Louisville game. Going in, you were a guy who had an advantage over uh, some of the new guys you've ever played with, because while you might have grown up in Indianapolis, you had deep roots in election and so you knew.
About U k U of LU. Was it interesting for you?
I got to think it was watching that your teammates, you might not have grown up in Kentucky, learn about that rivalry.
You can if you Kentucky basketball players, you can't hide from that. You can't even be delusion about the rivalry once you get here. And as much talk going on around town and on the news and in the newspaper, not only that with within your own team and and and and.
And locker room.
You know the intensity and the significance of this situation. And it's one of the reasons why you come to the University Tuchy because you know, you know, if there's a rivalry game, it's it's it's that, and uh, it's
it's never changed. And those some I got in trouble hanging out with those because most a lot of those group of players doing my era were my friends, you know, every Evan when they was older, Boo Brewer, you know, I grew up with Jerome Harmon, you know, the Bradford Smith and I were rivals and and things like that, but I I embraced the the competitiveness because they were good. They were supposed to be better than us, and they
never were. You know, I got they beat me one time in Ruck, but they had a I mean that's they had Felton Spencer, Tony kimbro I mean, they had they had a whip. Jerome Harmon was playing then the Brafford Smith, Keith Williams. I mean they were you know, I mean, uh, who's Cow's assistant now? Oh, Kenny Payne, you know what I mean, who was a six eight point six eighth guards. So you know they're they're good, but uh, you know, we found a way to win, you know what I mean?
And uh, you know.
I think this situation is not gonna be any different. It's, you know, two new coaches.
One played at.
Kentucky, who knows the rivalry better than the other coach. Uh, he's played in this game, so I think Mark has a pure advantage and to the games in the RUP, which is another advantage. And you know, I think, you know, both of them are trying to find themselves, new team, new identity, new players. But man Mark Pope is ahead of the curve right now. He's doing just as good of a job as any coach in America.
Sean Woods is the unforgettable guard. We talk with him each and every week. I assume you're predicting a win over Louisville.
I sure am. I'm like Charles Barkley, I get run tee us winning Maruisle.
Well you're two for two now, brothers. So we'll talk about it next week. Thanks coach.
Looking forward to.
It up next Hour number two with Jack Gibbons and Aaron Gershan here on the Big Bin Sider six thirty wlaper SA, Welcome back to the Big Blue and Sider. Joining us now in our celebrity highline is a longtime friend, classmates, teammate on the UK Network. That would be mister Jack Gibbons, color Analysts, sits next to Tom Leach and provides color commentary for the basketball Cats. And you had a lot
of insight the last two games, Jack. I was really interested to hear what you had to say about first the comeback win against Gonzaga and then last night's game.
But I got to go back.
To Gonzaga because the point you kept hammering home post game more than any is you just.
Got to believe.
And why did you feel like that was such an important point to make?
Well? It was interesting because about the time Kentucky went down to their largest deficit and out there in Seattle, Gonzaga had gone up seventeen eighteen eighteen it was or whatever, And just at that moment I heard Mark call out to Jack Jackson Robinson and he said, at that point, he said, we're gonna be all right. We're gonna be all right, you know, calming him down a little bit.
He was frustrated a little. And I think from that point on is when I saw a bit the biggest change in Kentucky and how they I mean, the whole second half was they started to play better. But that was about the time when it all happened, and it was a great example of just believe, man, you have to stay positive, if you have to know that we're gonna get back in this thing. It hit me right there, and when I saw the change in the team, I
thought it was worth mentioning. So that's why I was so emphatic on that.
Yeah, you absolutely were.
And then I really loved your reaction to the one three one, and I, yeah, my mind immediately went to you in the fact that you know, Joe b when he played zone wasn't crazy about it.
But that was the zone of choice for you guys, wasn't it.
Oh?
Man.
I could see Coach Hall at at just that moment, rolling up that program, man and start slapping his hands.
Man.
He was I know he was happy to see that as he was looking down at that game, man. But yeah, that was it was such for us. It was such a good defense and a lot of people work against a one to three two three in practice or variation
of two three, whether it's a matchup or whatever. But not many times do you see a one three one, And if you run it correctly, it is a real, real effective defense ad taken away shots from the outside, A lot of a lot of good things can happen with the one three one, but you have to play it right. And I was really surprised because I've been in some of the practices they really haven't worked on it, at least when I'm in there all that much. They've worked on it enough to know what it is and
to know what their responsibilities are. But you know, it's one of those defenses you really have to have to work at to get good at it. But they were really played it really well, and not just that they stayed with it. They would come out of it. When the ball would drop below the free throw line on the wing, they would match up because it gives them time on the week side of the court to find people to match up with. But they played it very well.
I remember, and I think I tweeted at Jay Scheidler because he tweeted about it during the game. Oftentimes, when you guys played it, Jay ran them baseline. Jay was the guy under the basket because he was such a great athlete. And that guy on the baseline, he's got to go sideline to sideline, doesn't he. So you don't just stick a big guy back there and hope he can cover.
Now, it's you have to cover a lot of a lot of space. Some of it is anticipating to you know as well. You know, you try to see where the ball is going, and your job is to get there when the pass gets there, because you don't want them to shoot it and they might rotate it all the way back around and you have to then get to the other corner to cover it. So uh so, yeah, you have to have a guy back you like a guy with a little size, and j six three or so,
so he's sixty two. He was able to make that work. And but but you have to be a good athlete. You have to be able to run and anticipate, and he was very good at that.
I got to admit that when they started coming back in the second half that well, you knew they were going to play better because everything came so easily for Gonzaga offensively in the first half and Kentucky had it worked like hell for every bucket they made the first period. But when Lamtt Butler went down Jack, I have to admit I said to myself, well, I think this is a little too much to overcome. How in the world
did they come back? I mean, Jackson Robinson, for a kid who doesn't like playing the point, he was heroic.
Wasn't he.
Yeah, he ran it perfectly, man, And I think it helped there on both ends of the floor because Jackson Robinson was taller, so so he was the point guard. Nim Hart, who was kind of running everything in the first half, had a difficult time seeing over Jacks out there that as he matched up with him, and they did a great job of pushing him to the left, which is not the way he normally wants to do things, and wouldn't let him get to his spots. And that was that was really good. But Gab, I think the
scene that made the biggest difference. Yeah, I mean jack played great and ran the stuff well, didn't turn the
ball over all of that kind of stuff. But the real difference I think was how Kentucky rebounded the basketball in the second half, because if you think back to the first half, Kentucky was getting out rebounded pretty soundly, and that that gave Gonzaga an opportunity to control the tempo, get the ball up the floor, and get into their offense quickly before Kentucky had a chance to get set up. In the second half, when Kentucky really really went to work on the glass on both ends of the floor,
now they couldn't run. Now, they didn't get any second chance opportunities, They weren't dominated in the paint, and the pace slowed to where Kentucky really needed it to be able to give Jack's a chance to run the point guard spot because he didn't want to be up and down with nim Hart. I mean he did not. So the rebounding, the change in rebounding for Kentucky in the second half was as big as anything data and the one three one defense.
UK All American Jack Gibbons my guest color analyst and the UK Basketball Radio Network.
You know, I always think about.
Veteran teams and how they they come together through the years, like your team did. I mean, you know, by the time you graduated, you guys had played a lot of basketball together, the seniors and the juniors, and of course we know how this team was kind of cobbled together, so it's it's almost a crash.
Course in team building.
But the comeback win on the road, I know, neutral, but still away from home against Duke and now then Zaga. That's gonna pay dividends all year, isn't it.
Well, it gets them in the mindset right now that we can win these kind of games, even if they're close games. We can win these kind of games. So that is the real key. I mean, to have one of those wins would have been huge for Kentucky, I mean, but to have both of those, I mean, you know, they have to have a lot of confidence, Gabe, and I'm anxious to see the improvement here over the next
month or so. Kentucky will have a lot of practice time next three weeks to have a lot of practice times, a lot of time to work on some things, and I'm anxious to see the improvement over that time span.
Well, there's a big one coming up Saturday. We'll talk about that on the other side of the break with Jack Gibbons here on the Big One Sider six thirty WLAP Welcome Back.
We're talking with the All American Jack Gibbons.
Tom Leech's sidekick as partner the color analysts on the UK Radio network for Kentucky basketball. And I always tease you, Jack because I hear you talking about shots as they're going up. You love the way this team plays the offense. Shooters love shooters and shots. I had to think you were squirming a little bit last night, maybe early on, when I thought Kogi did a really nice job of pressure in Kentucky and not letting the Wildcats get comfortable on the three point line.
Did you see it that way?
Yeah?
Yeah, I really did. It was interesting because their mission seemed like their goal plan was to force Kentucky off the three point line, and they did a great job of that early. But the problem was Kentucky was dominating in the paint and that was the way they built that seventeen to zero run because shots weren't falling at that point from the outside. But but then because they were having Kentucky was having so much success at the paint,
they had to rethink things. And they knew Kentucky had been struggling shooting the ball from behind the three point line the less two three games. It seemed to me like they said, well, let's see if this is another one of those nights where they're going to be missing from out there, you know, so they had to change it to take away the paint, and Kentucky struggled for a while. But this team, one of the things is they can get hot, and they can get hot very quickly.
And we saw that when Jackson Robinson knocked down a couple. I think Kentucky made like four straight three and now instead of being down three, you're up Januer eleven and the game's done at that time. But yeah, I felt did a great job at forcing them off the line, so it was good to know they can score inside as well.
I felt like Kentucky might have gotten a little bored, you know, I took the foot off the gas. Plus Pope mentioned both to ESPN and in the post game, you know, having him to mix lineups new guys coming in, clearly you miss a couple of point guards.
And that has an effect.
Yeah, I mean, listen, the toughest position on the floor to replace and to fill in for is that point guard spot. And then when you lose your starting, your starter and your backup point guard, the offense is not gonna look very good. It's just not And listen, this team, Gabe, has been so good over the last over the course of this season, I mean, night in and night out,
they have performed. Even in the game they lost at Clemson, they played well, they played hard, and in the second half they were the better team.
Again.
So to have a game like last night, I'm not concerned at all. I mean, to play the way they played at the at the the rate they played when it comes to very well, I mean, they earned themselves the right to have a game like last night. Now, the bad thing would have been had you lost that game. But the real promising thing even on a game like last night is that they won, is that they won the game, and they played nowhere close to being as good as they were most other nights when they played.
And plus they still scored in the seventies seventies, you know, yeah, I mean, so still a lot of positives after after that Colgate game.
Well, and you got to win an ugly game like this, and you know you talked about it, you related to it. I heard you late in the game just talking about how sometimes players look ahead. I mean, you know, it would be I think impossible even for the kids. You aren't from here. Han't been in Kentucky. One of the
guys said after the game. They've been hearing about the Louisville games since summertime, you know, So to come off Gonzaga, all the jet lag, looking ahead to Louisville, you know, the national promos for it, It's only natural I would think their minds to wander a little.
Bit, you know what I mean.
Yeah, And then the other thing gave is, you know this team needs a couple of days off. Okay, that's true. I mean you think about playing that game at Clemson started what nine thirty or ten o'clock? Really, yeah, I mean that was a late late game. Then you fly back right after the game, and you get here and lecturing commit three o'clock in the morning, and you have
one day Wednesday to try to recover from that. You leave Thursday, fly across country to the West coast, three hour time different, so you don't sleep very well on those West Coast trips, and then you come right back and have to play another game. So they need they need a good, solid win against Louisville on Saturday, and then get some days off, man, so their bodies can recover. I mean, it just is like that this time of the year.
I've tried to watch some UFL games when I can. They've got some talent, you know, and if they're hitting shots, they're dangerous like anybody. I don't know yet if they've made it an authod maybe game time decision on Lamont Butler, but man, as soon.
As they get him back, yeah, yeah, you know Lamont. I mean, if it's NCAA tournament Lamont would have played, you would have had to tie him down to keep him out of that kind of game. But because it is early in the season, you would rather err on this side of caution and give him as much time as you possibly can. I look for him to be back Saturday, and you know, I don't know that the decision has been made. I know it hasn't been made,
but we'll kind of see what happens. But Lobelle is a team that kind of has had to live by the three point shots and the key to being lobil And if you look at the game they played against Duke earlier in the week, no last week, I guess it was. They played Duke and had Duke beat until midway in the second half when Duke kind of took away their three point shots. They started chasing them off the three point line and then Louisville struggled some from there.
So Kentucky will have the work cut out for them. I mean, up until the Colgate game, Kentucky had been pretty good at defending the three point line. I mean they have really done that. Gave up some against Colgate and Louiso probably. I mean, I know they will see that video and believe me, that's gonna be what they want to do. It set up opportunities at the line, So so we'll see what happens from there.
Just a couple of minutes left with Jack Gibbons, the All American and the color analyst on the UK Radio Network. People have tweeted a little bit about a Mariy Williams can't seem to buy one in the paint now when you're dunking like he.
Was last night, that's not a problem.
But I can't imagine you're two concerned with his shot making ability because in the Mark style of play, you don't worry about those misshots.
Do you.
No?
No, I don't I don't worry about don't where about that at all? I mean, listen, am I if if you do the stuff that they want him to do. Number One, he's a great passer as long as he doesn't try to create opportunities to pass. He just catches the ball and passes it. He's really really good. He's he's got to work at getting the ball closer to
the basket. And of course, always with big guys. I mean, I'm an old school guy, So I'd like to see him go up and dunk the ball more as opposed to trying to touch it up and shooting the fallaways and all of that kind of stuff. I'd like to see him explode up and try to tear the rim down a couple of times. Now you get fouled, you go to the free throw line and you get get points that way. But but no, I'm not concerned about that. There are plenty opportunities to get shot to the basket.
And he's a good free throw shooter.
He has he has become a pretty good free throw shooter. I mean, uh, you look at his shot and you wonder how because it's it's kind of a different trajectory on that shot. But but yeah, he's he's worked out how to make free throws. But you know, for bigs, you got to deliver messages, man, every time you get the ball because there's so much banging and pushing going on under the basket. But I always like to see those bigs go up and try to try to tear
the basket down on the dunks. That probably comes from me following and broadcasting for the Orlando Magic and should kill o'mill, should kill o'nil down there. But that's the way you want to uh to attack every time when you're big in the paint.
He is Jack Givens.
He is the All American who works alongside Tom Leasha on the UK Radio Network and he'll be behind the mic on Saturday and Reperina when the Cats take on to Louisville Cardinals. Jack, thank you so much, looking forward to seeing you.
Always enjoyed.
Gabe, thank you.
Aaron Gershon of the Cats. Pause is next year on six thirty. Welcome back to the Big Blue Sider joining us down our celebrity hotlines. A guy we usually talked to in studio, but we were bumped Monday night from the State Wide. So so Aaron Gershan, the catch pos catching up with us just as well, Aaron, because we have another basketball game we can talk about as well as the football schedule. No surprises there, because you know, we all knew that the teams Kentucky played this year
we would play next year. I'm a little puzzled at the open dates, you know, an open date in two games, another open date. I think that's really I may be able to work out who knows who?
H Yeah, I mean Old Mitt had it had the same schedule as Kentucky last year, but in reverse where they had their buys like really close together, but late in the season, and I think that kind of played into their favor, right, I mean, I know they lost the game be Floorida at the end, but they had the two losses, you know, fairly early before their buy to LSU in Kentucky, where Kentucky they have, they have those two early buys, which maybe that'll be good given
this year. They lost a lot of guys in that chunk of the season. But then they have to play seven in a row, non stop down the stretch, and there's some really really hard games back to back in that period. So look, we knew, like you said, we knew the opponents. We knew it was just going to be the reverse. The home field in the SEC. Obviously reverse the home field and the Governor's stuff. We knew that was going to be at the end of the year.
But it's a grueling schedule. I mean, you talk about a stretch where you go, I think it's South Carolina and Georgia on the road back.
To back weekends. You get a buy in between, and then.
In some ordered Texas and Tennessee like that's that's ruthless.
I mean, especially with the year.
That South Carolina is coming off of and they'll have their quarterback Lenora's cellars, so you know, it's the it's life in the SEC. But uh, you know they got they got a tough draw when this you know, rotating opponent thing came out before last season.
Yeah, and you know anymore, it used to be, uh, well you look at the conference and you think, well, there might be you know, three wins there and then who knows what the swing games. Now you know, Mandy rises up, All Miss rises up South Carolina.
I mean, there just aren't any stops in the league, are there.
No, there's no stops in the league.
There's no you can't count Louisville anymore, just because you're coming off the lots there and fans aren't gonna want to hear it. But Toledo went in and kicked the crap out of Mississippi State last year. If you lay an egg in that one, you.
Know, look out.
So it's a it's an unforgiving plate. But that's why you're seeing Kentucky all over this transfer portal trying to get things right. I think they've done a good job at least with some of the names that I've seen them in contact with it both across the offensive line and at the egge rusher positions. I think they have the right line of thinking. It's about going out and executing, signing some legitimate impact makers. And you know, again, it's
tough to be optimistic right now. I totally understand any fan who's very pessimistic. But in this transfer portal era, if there's any time you can go from four to eight to a nine to three, eight and four, it's now. So let's see how they execute in the portal. At this point, Mark Stups and co. Are staying and you got to just ride the wave if you want to at least look at all forward to the next football season.
Oh yeah, it has.
To be done that way, and I keep thinking back to Mark Strups's best team, in my opinion, was the twenty eighteen team. Yeah, I agree, there was there was depth. There was talent on both sides of the ball, but a majority of the depth and there were some transfer it worked out, but the majority of death was kids.
And we've talked about it.
Before that they scouted, evaluated, recruited, and then developed.
Yeah.
Man, it's just anymore. It seems like with the portal, you gotta gamble and you gotta guess. Right, there is some guessing involved and we as we have found out, sometimes you just don't hit on that, do.
You No, you don't hit on it. And the recruit and developed is often like you said, it's so hard now because you have a kid that you're developing and he just hits the portal if he doesn't play enough. I mean, I love the example of Jeremiah England, that young cornerback who had I think a pick in like seven or eight pass breakups in their little condensed spring game this year, and he hit the portal two days later. Yeah, because there was tapes. It's just it's a really tough world.
But yeah, like you said, the portal evaluations Now, when you're bringing in so many each year, you know you have to hit fifty percent or more. Last year they probably hit like twenty to fifteen percent. I mean, jam and Johnson had a really good year. I'm blanking on anyone else that Jalen Farmer I thought didn't carry it right guard. Other than that, I mean, it was kind
of a bust of a transfer class. In the class before that, you know, you had Ray Davis play really well, Devin Leary did some good things, but overall too there weren't that many impact makers in that one either, so they got to hit at a higher percentage this year. That's how look you look at South Carolina. That's the program that Mark Stups mentioned that that didn't name them, but he mentioned them in his last press conference after the Louisville game as to why he's optimistic and they
went out. They got Rocket Sanders that was a hit. Kyle Canard won the Bronco figure was the name of that award that got down? Yep, yep, yep, he won that award. Out of the portal, they got two offensive linemen that ended up starters out of the portal. So you got to be able to evaluate and hit the.
D back who left it. We've talked about him before. I don't remember where he lay and to do you.
The d beat that left Kentucky?
Yeah, the kid pitch.
Yeah, he left the pit that he didn't play a single game and now he's back in the court.
Amazing. Yeah, he was seen a lot of action this year.
Yeah, with all the injuries, no doubt you would think. And I think he was coming off in AHL. I think you've read shirted his whole freshman year with a NCL. But so even if he didn't play this year, I mean, now you're you're we don't know for sure, but we're you know, they're probably gonna lose Maxwell Harrison. They haven't really had much attrition in the drive room off the top of my head as far as the portal goes. But you know, still, you probably want to add a
body or two to help out in that room. And that could have been a guy who, if he had waited to turn was set up for a prominent role as soon as this season.
Here in twenty five, I got to think.
You weren't all that shocked when Stoops said he will probably go after a QB in the.
Portal no, no, they have to look, that's not a the nothing against Cutter Bully.
Maybe next year's is year, maybe it's twenty.
Six, but you know, you're probably like, we don't know for sure on Brock, Mandergriff. I can't imagine a world he's back, and if he is, it's not going to be as a starter. Gavin Winstet's now in the portal. So your three scholarship quarterbacks taking out Brock or Cutter Bully, and then two true freshmen in Stone, Saunders and Brett and Ward. So you absolutely need to get a body in there. I think I think the way to do it. You know, if I were in that building is to
get a guy who's got one year left. That way, you kind of are still sending a message to Cutter that one you could still compete for this job. And two, this is a one year deal. You know, no matter what happens here, you know you're still our guy. We believe in the future, and you're gonna have three years left of eligibility remaining to be that guy. So that that's the way I would kind of approach it. I would I wouldn't take a guy with a multi year
eligibility unless it's just the absolute perfect fit. And we'll see. They haven't been linked to that many guys out of the portal. I think the only quarterback I've seen is that one from Yale, and he is a guy that has one year. So you know, we'll see, we'll see which direction they go recruiting that position.
You know, Tim Katch went into the Hall of Fame as you know this week, and way back when he was a freshman or whatever, or there were Kentucky fans who were lobbying to just throw him in and take whatever results, you know, and my response was, he'll get clobberd. They'll get clobber they might lose every game.
Yeah, but he's a future. We don't care.
You know what, when it slaps you in the face, you do care. So I know people want to see cutter bowllie, but first and foremost they want to win.
Don't they Absolutely they want to win. And I think you probably got to that point with the Louisville game where it's like, all right, where bull eligibility's out, let's just see the play and you know they're coaching for that brand with it didn't go well, but yeah, it's a very tough it's a tough predicament, but you got to when you're bringing back an entire staff that's in you know, with Stup the mayor at the top and the year thirteen, there's no quote unquote rebuilding at this point,
like you have to go try to win. You're not by bringing them back, not that Kentucky was gonna let him go, but by coming back and bringing them back all together, you're sending a message like, hey, we're still trying to win here and you can't go you can't go half you know, acid for last of better terms of quarterback.
Yeah, it's it's too important. It's avage just way, way too important. Obviously, we'll talk basketball on the other side of the break with Aaron gershan here on the Big Moon side or six thirty well from back, we're talking with Aaron gershano the Cats pause. We talked football in the previous segments, so we got to talk some basketball real quickly. Gonzaga and one, I know you didn't make the trip, but you had to write it up at halftime, did you think there was any way to come back?
And when Lamar.
Butler went down, did you think there was any way they could come back.
No one, no, no one, no.
Yeah.
That was one of the more.
Results I can remember covering the team. I mean probably up there honestly on the other end of the spectrum as an Evansville like I genuinely well in the way Gonzaga.
Was just playing.
I mean, nem Hart was tearing them apart.
E K.
Grahamy K the big center transfer.
From Wyoming who came in here in rep Arena and costsavoc in February, was doing it all over again. It just they gave up fifty points by half. They couldn't shoot the three again. Like you said, no Lama, I was like, no way. And the mark Pope's credit and the players, I mean they jumpted that one three one that you know, after one or two passes they went into a man. Sometimes they played it straight up. It confused them, as Kenny Pin would say, it tricked them.
It was just very, very impressive that they were able to go get that done. And I thought, you know, they also shifted their offensive game plan. They just attacked the rim similarly to when they did against Duke. I mean, they relied on Andrew carr at Robinson had his best game of the season and that was that was a stunning,
awesome result. And to do that without La Pomp Butler when you're facing a guy like neim Hart, who is just I mean, that guy is just a true point guard, and that like, he's not an amazing scorer, but he averages over ten assist the game. He's an amazing defender. And the fact you were able to beat that team without Nemhard or without Butler guarding nim Hard is nothing
short of extraordinary. I mean, that was as impressive as a Kentucky win as I can remember in quite some time, just given the circumstances.
You know, there are some coaches out there who really prefer the drill sergeant approach on the court. Maybe not off the court, but you know, just and and Pope used to he admitted just you know recently, but he kind of did a one eighty and he's going more positive. And Jack Gibbons, we just had Jack on and he talked about this on the radio broadcast. When they were behind by eight teen points. He could hear because he was right next to the Kentucky bench. You probably saw
him on TV. He could hear Pope yelling to Jackson Robinson, We're okay, we're gonna be all right, you know, just trying to keep their heads up and in the game, and it paid off. And I think Aaron with a veteran ball club like this, I think it's really fascinating that they're getting this brand of coaching that they probably never had before.
You know, no question, it's completely different.
I mean he and you saw it in their little journey video that they do the amazing job with the K Sports video and their people there and like they go, he went into that locker room just totally calm, as if they were almost like as almosts if they had nothing to lose or they were winning the game.
It was just unbelievable.
Utcom and mild mannerdy Is and even you know, last night, I'm sure we'll talk about that game, which was not pretty at all and they're losing by three to a bad Colgate team with seven fifteen minutes ago, and he's the same guy, like completely steady Eddie, not worried at all.
So you know, I do.
Think and you know the fact too, I think I am curious. I don't think it's Demeanor's going to go to a one eighty and he's gonna become a drill sergeant. But I am curious to see next year when they have a younger team, when you're probably gonna have three or four freshmen and maybe two or three sophomores in the rotation, if that changes it all. I think the fact that he has so many veterans he can rely on,
they basically coach themselves at halftime. I think that maybe that too has kind of helped him say commerce than most coaches would. So I am curious to see if there's a shift at all next season when they're younger. But all that, to mine, it's a winning formula.
I think.
I really think this team, you know too, every team, I'm sure he also has to shift based on personnel right there. The players, All players have to be coached a little differently, and it's especially harder to figure that out now in this day and age. But I think this team, being veteran led, knowing kind of when they screw up and when they don't, he can kind of let them talk to themselves and then kind of be the one who just puts the game playing together and
and rally the troops when he needs to. So uh, you know, I think I think he's done a fantastic job.
Obviously a few minutes up with Aaron gershin as a cat's pause.
Uh. Some of the players you talked to you last night.
I know, mentioned that at halftime, even before Pope got in there, they talked among themselves about what they need to do to turn this thing around. And again, just the joy of having veteran players, right.
No question, and and your car. Every time I see him talking like, are we sure that's not more Sope, it's crazy. Their their mannerisms, the way they talk, the words they use, it's almost scary.
Yeah, the way they play, it's crazy.
So I see why Pope was very much drawn to him. So yeah, definitely every game. I mean, that was the common theme. They said it at the Duke game, they did it in Seattle, we saw it on video, and they probably they did it again last night. So uh, that is definitely a huge benefit of having you know, what, what is it seven seniors and the junior.
We talked about after the Clemson game, the template or at least challenging Kentucky, and that's get physical with them. And I also thought Colgate obviously not a team that can do that. But the tack that their coach chose was run Kentucky off the three point line, yep, and and see if we can hit shots at the other end.
And it worked for a while. I think we'll see more of that, don't you.
Yeah, yeah they did. And you know they played some zones too, kind of you not not the one. I think that's if they played a three two or two three, but uh, you know, they they tried to throw Kentucky Kentucky off that way and they did. And look, I mean, honestly, Kentucky has some good looks. It's been five straight games where Kentucky just hasn't shot the three at a good clip. I mean, the first five games this year they shot over forty two from three, uh, twenty eight percent. The
last five games. They got to figure that out. You definitely got to get credit Colgate. They've made some tough shots too, and some open ones. I think they've made eight of their last nine threes in the first half. So, I mean, you know, we go back to what John Calipari used to say, teams come in a rough and play their best because they have nothing to lose. And you know, that's one of the things I always agreed
with him. They do, and Colgate definitely plays with played like a team that that cow would describe like that, and and you definitely got to give him credit for adjusting on the three point line and making some tough shots. But I do think a lot of it was self inflicted. And you know they they also they just need it's things. Not having Kirk Carisa, I think they'll be fine without him as long as they get Lamar Butler back. I mean, they need their floor general back on both ends of
the floor. Kobe Brays just not he struggles on the defensive end. Great shooters struggles on the defensive end. Jackson Robinson, you want to be able to use his defense more against a more a bigger, physical guy rather than the point guard. So it's really important to get Lamont Butler back. I don't think you want to put Chucky Hempburn their point guard from Louisville. Yeah, probably playing better than anyone on their team, and especially defensively. That's not a matchup
I like for Jackson Robinson. It's a matchup. I'm just fine with the Ford Lamont Butler, So hopefully he's back out there. Hopefully he's back out there Saturday because that game could get could get dicey.
They really need him back.
Yeah, I got about ninety seconds left.
Have you seen Louisville play much?
I haven't.
I saw the most I saw him play was against Duke, so obviously wasn't they They came out hot and then they fell apart late. But you know, the big thing with Louisville that I think Kentucky has an advantage way is if they could play the Brendon basketball that is is Louisville. Unfortunately, injury bug has just killed them. Now they're down to like seven guys they trust in the rotation. I think eight that are even okay to go with scholarship lives. So they Kentucky used to just get out
and run this game. If they get out and run, they're gonna get tired, That's.
What you know.
Duke chipped and chip the w and then they started to run in the second half and Louisville just ran out of gas. And you know, Utep gave him a heck of a game last night. I mean they only won by three. Louisville did and there was a high game with a minute thirty left and Louisville is down at half, so I think if Kentucky can make Louisville run a little bit, get them tired, I think UF will eventually just run out of gas. And that's unfortunate.
With the erring jury situation, you never want to see it that way. But they do need the Mot Butler back because I can tell you that game will be a lot closer than people might think.
If he's not. Just with the way their point guard the transfer from Wisconsin, Hepburn is playing.
Well, whatever happens, Aaron Gershawn, we'll cover it for the Cat's pause and speaking of our best to Oscar Combs, who of course created the Cat's pause, and we're all rooted. Yeah Oscar, he's on the end. But follow Aaron on x or on Twitter. It's a gershawan ninety nine. Correct, yep, that is right, all right, and we're out of time, so we don't have time to talk about your beloved football giants.
We'll do that next okay, okay, all right, man, we'll see you see you this weekend, alright, and that'll do it for now.
Thanks to my guest Sean Woods, Jack Gibbons and Aaron Gershawn of course, coming up Saturday, it's the Cats and the Cards at a five point fifteen start at Rupparina.
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That's it. Good night from the garage and Lexington.
Sixty nine offense. He's giving them the business.
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