Hell, everybody to the facilities of the iHeartMedia Megaplexis is Dick Gabriel. This is the state wide edition of The Big Blue Inside. He heard Mark Pope today with Tom Leach here, Nick mangeone with Darren Hendrick and some of the UK women. After that heartbreaking lost to Kansas date, but what a game and what a game is the Wildcats beat Illinois tonight. We'll talk with a couple of
guys who were up there. Jeff Picoro, who covers football for the UK network but covers the cash for WTVQ, and Lee K. Howard from wk WAIT to Billy relaigives here be a part of the state wide BBI, The Big Blue Insider Pikeville to Paducah. You know the drill, and it seems like it's becoming a drill with Jeff Pecorro that we don't reach him right away. Remember the one night he called us at like seven minutes to the top of the hour.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I forgot.
We tease him now because half the time when we can't reach him. When he used to carry a briefcase, he would leave his phone in his briefcase. Didn't do a whole lot of good there. Now that he's you know, in TV news again, he needs to keep it in a hip pocket.
Well, my phone's never on Ringer, it's always on Vibe, So if I'm not in this, it's not on my person.
Yeah, I don't hear it.
Yeah, you know, I silenced mom when I'm working in the garage on the radio show, and I always forget to put it back or I'm you know, doing a baseball game or whatever. So anyway, we'll we'll soldier on. Maybe we'll hear from him, maybe we won't, but we will contact leak as usually pretty good too. Anyway, let's talk first about Kentucky Illinois. Did you pick the Wildcats? I think no. I did pick them in my bracket, but I just wasn't sure because Illinois is better than
I thought it was. When I first looked at the brackets, I thought, well, But then I started doing research on him, and I thought, oh man, they're good on the boards, They've got some talent, got some draft picks, got some draft picks.
They got a visas brother out there too.
That's right. But Kentucky Billy, I thought, may have played its best game of the year all things considered.
Best defensive game. I think there's no doubt question.
I mean, yeah, you're right, because offense, they put up one hundred million points against Alabama and Tennessee.
I mean, it's amazing, and they've beaten Florida this year, who looks like the team to beat in the NCAA tournament. So it was it was a great game. Defensively, you saw the impact of Lamont Butler. I mean for him to score zero points against Troy and then ten in the first half in that game versus Illinois. But that's not why he was at his best. It was defensively and it was he was phenomenal. There was no doubt
about it. There's a reason why the Illinois coach said afterwards that Kentucky will go as far as Lamont Butler takes them.
And I think we all know that.
I did pick Kentucky to win.
I've actually got them winning against Tennessee in my bracket and then losing to Houston in the Elite eight. But my expectations have him met, Dick. I mean, I think I said a minus earlier. He did a couple of weeks ago when I gave Pope grade.
It's now gone up to an a.
I mean, for Pope to put this roster together in a matter of weeks to make the Sweet sixteen, and to do it with the pressure of BYU and Arkansas both making the Sweet sixteen. People say that's not on Pope, and there's no pressure there. I'm telling you there was. And for Pope to get it done, it saved us a long summer of sports talk radio, of calls and well at times. Yeah, but this is just a very very gratifying way.
It really is very satisfying. But you get the idea that the players aren't happy to stop here.
But well, they were.
Loose too, you know, they were much looser I felt like in the game versus Illinois than they were.
Oh have you ever had that stuff?
I have not, I have you have?
It's awful. Oh it's awful. Now, I gotta say, I think I just put cold milk. I don't know if it fruit on whatever. But I mean, I like shredded wheat, and I'd read about this stuff, yeah, and I'd read what what what they found out? It's it's better for you than just regular old shredded we were, It's it's got a lot of nutrients. In it. You know, it's a lot of good stuff in it, right, So I thought, well, that's that's good. And I like cereal and all.
Uh.
Oh. I tried it once. You know, they come to these big biscuits and I told them, I said, I can't eat this.
It's tasty.
It's just the way I ate it, right, the way I ate it. It was like wallpaper paste. I mean it was like, oh my god, you know. Uh, And so I chucked it out in the you know, we have a wooded backyard and put it out, put it out there for the wild animals. You don't hope they didn't hurt any of them. But uh but now I hear that you need And I'm not going to do this because I'm not a warm milk kind of guy, but I understand. I like hot cereal and this could be like hot cereal and you know, a bunch of
sugar or honey or whatever. So yeah, I'll give it that. It kind of reminded me in a weird way. It's not the same stuff. But when we many years ago, when a group of us went to China, we were in a hotel in Hong Kong that had a great breakfast buffet. I mean, great, they're big on breakfast over there, but they believe it or not, they serve salad for breakfast. That's a big thing over there. I didn't touch it, but I like hot cereal and they had it. So
I get some. I like grits, I like oatmeal. So I get this stuff and it was awful, and I come to find out later it was basically what we would call gruel, right or porridge. Well, I'm like nope. After two bites, I'm like nope. So later on I see my teachers over there, my karate teacher, and this guy is half a head shorter than you. It can eat like a trucker, takes his time but really savors his meals. Right. So anyway, he's over there and he's got a bold of this stuff and he's loading it up,
but he's loading it up with cold vegetables. And I thought, oh, okay, this stuff's a carrying agent. And I guess we've min exist the same thing. And he said, of course, he grew up in a man, I grew up on this stuff. I'm like, good, hey, all you want take it, take it. But anyhow, if that's if that was the secret, weapon for the bigs, and now Mark Pope says he's going to have it good on you.
It does look like a show down, a brick of nothingness, like if you.
Can get it, trust me on Amazon, Well you can get anything on him.
It's one of the top five cereals on Amazon today apparently, now Tucky effect. Think about the Google searches right that this cereal has gotten in this state and how many people have ordered it. I mean, people are little boys and girls are going to be eating this cereal this week as we anticipate fire.
Still in local television, I would have, knowing what I know, it wouldn't be me, but I'd have somebody on camera doing something well, of course, And how about the assistant going out, Maggie Davis, if you're listening, that's right, Ma, I want to see you with a bowl of We've been X in your lap.
But to go to an international store in Milwaukee to bring a little home to Amari Williams, a guy that's fighting back and found it.
Yeah, it's impressive, isn't it.
It really is.
I'm not I've never had warm milk before, not even as a kid, not every even as a kid.
I like milk. I eat milk with dinner, but I really ever had warm.
Milk, glass of Big Boy juice with dinner.
Whole milk.
Okay, wow, my son's the same way.
We got to grow big and strong.
Yeah that's true.
Now you've had hot chocolate, but that's had hot chocolate.
But that ain't the same. Coffee, that ain't the same. Never really never, just hot.
Milk and cereal.
Yeah. Well and again in China, and when we were in a small village and eating breakfast at a modest hotel, you know, it was okay, a little usterear and this waitress came out with a big tray of hot milk, glasses full of hot milk because they thought that's what Americans liked hot. Yeah, and they heard that that's what we ate for breakfast. And so I said, no, thank you, bud. And so she turns to leave and I grab on him, hang on a second, you know, because I was drinking coffee.
I said, I'll put something out my coffee, thank you. But yeah, I'm not a hot milk guy either.
Well, the poorly traveled man that I am, I thought it was just strictly beans on toast. In England, Dick, but it seems like they've.
Got you can get that.
Laporless cereal.
Yeah, yeah, but no when I had fish and chips in a restaurant run by a couple of guys in the Middle East, so you know, you can get what you want. You can get what you can sure. Anyhow, So back to what we were discussing before, Yes, Defense and Kobe Brea and I love this story. Once they got through the weabineing stories that Pope told about. And you remember that Old Miss game. I was stunned. I think the Big Blue Nation was shocked at how poorly
they played, lack of effort. They almost seemed disinterested that night, you know, on the road, almost came out, punched him into John and he said, okay, thank you, May I have another? And he said, you know you heard him tonight, said Brea threw himself into drills the next day. That told me everything I needed to hear.
A good Old Miss team that just throttled Iowa State to get to the sweet sixteen. So it's it's amazing SEC's got seven teams in the tournament. I'm sure we'll talk about that a little bit more later, but listen, I think the numbers were Kentucky went from that Old Miss game, they were at one twelve in the Ken Palm and they made it all the way down to forty five. Yes, since then, and that is something Mark Pope said in the postgame that he has never seen
no to be able to have that growth mindset. That's something he touched on tonight as well, is that these guys are willing to learn, They're willing to do the little thing to get better every day. And guys like Colin Chandler and Brandon Garrison are going back to back putting their own runs together. Bench boys were huge in these two NCAA Tournament games twenty five and respectively.
When Chandler rose from two steps beyond the arc, are what I'm like, what is the own nice shot?
You know?
One of those deals you know. But I think part of this too, and I heard somebody make a reference to this is if this were And again I'm not comparing the two, but let's say this where a Caliperi team chock full of first year guys, freshman true freshmen. That's why he always tried to point toward February March, because it takes a while. I think the fact that Mark Pope has a roster for the most part full of veterans. They know how to learn, you know, they
know how to take that information and assimilate it. And I was fortunate enough to go to a couple of practices, not you know, I can't go every day, I'm not allowed, but going into the pro day event, they allowed me to come just to learn the players and you know, see what they're doing so I could talk to them on camera about it. And it's complicated, you know. Their offense which just looks beautiful and its simplicity is not
you know, and Mark Pope is anything but uncomplicated. But these are older guys who've played a lot of basketball, you know.
Uh, And think about them amassing twenty minute wins this year in one of the toughest conferences of all time, and to do it without Jackson Robinson for half of the year. Mott Butler missed multiple weeks, kerkkrisa your backup point guards out for the entire year.
Carr had a back injury hobbled.
It's just incredible that they've been able to play their best basketball when it matters most.
And that's now, Yeah, that's now.
And there's a lot of things you can't control, especially the guy who is the main translator of the Mark Pope offense going down with injury and these guys finally seem to pick it up. Colin Chandler steps up. But it allows o Way to stay at his natural position. It allows Kobe Brea to come in without or with less urgency at times. So it's just it's just a trickle down effect in a lot of ways. And if we could did Amari to dunk the basketball, this would be a complete team.
It was great. A caller brought that up and Mark didn't really answer it, but I did love that call because how many times Bud he just dunk it, you know. But speaking of Chandler, though I rewatched the first half today, uh, and there was one plane in particular where there were two plays I want to talk about. Number one, Brea hits a three, okay, or it might have been a jump shot inside the circle at two, but it came in a huge time. Chandler set the pick the screen that
freed him. He came off a pick himself and then he screened Bray as guy and Bray just circles around and bang you know. And when you listen to Cameron Mills told this story many times. He thought he understood. I had to set a pick at a user pick. He said, when he got to college, he realized he knew nothing about it. And I got to think Chandler, who's coming off two years of not playing as all,
had to learn that skill and he did. You know, that's it's the little things that that kid does, you know. I mean, the three pointers are great, but it's little things like deflections. The other one was And everyone's talking about this, but as I'm watching the game, I thought, mental note, I got to talk about this with Billy Kentucky's up ten, what momentums shifted second half and Illinois's
doing some things. I'm about to go down and make it an eight point or seven point game, and Lamarch sneaks in from behind and makes a steal all the sneaky steel in the scars. One to me, that was I don't know it was the turning point, but it was one of the biggest turning points of the game, maybe the biggest one of the second half. There were a lot in the first half.
Well, you're right about momentum. I think at that time it was just chipping away, chipping away. It was after Kobe went on his own ten oh run I think in that game where he went three jumper, three jumper, amazing, So that that came at a huge time, and you know, Lamont to have that tourney experience that maybe has been missing in years past, and also on this team if you exclude Lamarch, so he's just been able to bring a dimension to this team and they play with joy.
I mean, I think that you absolutely can see that. You know, you mentioned Colin Chandler and Kobe Brea. Kobe's looking to shoot when he's coming off those screens too, And it's not that he wasn't before, but I feel like it comes with much more confidence. And it's interesting that Kentucky was able to hold on because I had it locked and loaded in the chamber, Dick. If Kentucky lost a game, it was going to be all about
the basketballs. You know, about this non uniformity and these PSI levels, and which is Kobe saying that he's having to adjust the way that he shoots to adjust.
With these bad fuketball.
It's just there's so much money going on, and we saw the first round this year was historically low scoring averages.
I'm not going to get into it. Is this the death of the Cinderella with nil? Please?
Jay Williams, steven A. Smith, you got a gas back about something every single day. I think that's a bit of a hot take. But I think there is something to the the other point.
I fully agree, And I was stunned when I saw that, because, you know, having worked for Jim Host and worked closely for a couple of years with regard to NCAA properties, NCAA sponsorships and stuff, I'm amazed that there isn't an NCAA sanctioned via advertising, sponsorship, whatever you call it basketball. Why aren't they a lot? Why isn't the same ball being used at every location for men and women at a hefty price? You know right that that you know
they can recoup the exactly. I was amazed that that wasn't the case. But uh, I mean you're a baseball fan, as am I how many times you've heard guys complaining about the baseballs? Yeah, ranking two tightly or not tightly enough.
Well, then they can throw it away. They just throw it to the side and they get a new ball, right.
Yeah, But supposedly this year's ballder making them a different way in a different place, and you know they're storing him in a cold place. You know.
Well, it's like Saint John's missed so many layups in that game versus Arkansas. Yeah, that's not characteristic of them that I think there is something to the over inflation of these balls.
Oh could be. Yeah, call Tom get Tom Brady online. Listen.
Everybody disposes of their cell phone by slamming it on the ground, Dick, It's just natural practice, don't.
Get We talked about that on my local show. Right when it happened. You were in the studio, but that was before Brady was before he moved it, Damp, exactly right. You were on my side back then. God, before we get to the break through, and I said this to you before we went on the air. You gotta chip your cap to Cali Perry for pulling his team together,
which he did at Kentucky's several times more often than not. Okay, but I firmly believe after rewatching the second half I did that this afternoon he had better athletes than Saint John's. That to me, what was the difference. I mean when it came down to players making plays. And I watched that whole series on you know, Redstorm Rising, and I watched several Saint John's games, and it was you know,
Big East basketball. It was tough, it was grinding out, but they just had better athletes and they played well together. Calipari's team and.
They're playing a lot better as of late.
I mean, Jonas Ago is a guy that averaged five points a game this year.
He's averaging eighteen I think right now.
But you know, when they lost you and I talked about this before, when they lost Boogie Flann, they got better. Thank you. They that forced them to just kind of figure out a different way to do business. But to his credit and theirs, now that he's back, I thought, are they going to hit that wall? And all of a suddenly we got to give the ball to Boogie every time.
No, No, he's he's playing well.
He's a player, that's right.
And with thero out that kind of you know, defines the roles even more. Yes, Arkansas starts zero to five in conference play.
About that.
Cali Perry comes in, raises his eyebrow as he walks onto the upp Arena court and pulls off the upset and there just been a different team since then. I think you got a lot of buy in. And you know, as much as I hate to admit it, I think you look at the situation from a broad perspective and you have to think that both sides won the breakup.
Look, I agree, but when you look at his body of work just here, much less at his other stops. I mean, he deserves its deserving in all of me, everybody was mad at him, and I've told you this before. You know, so much of this can be summed up, and I'm mad and someone needs to be punished. And the Big Blue Nation wanted John Caliperi to be punished because they were upset over what's happened over the last couple of years. He had some really tough breaks with injuries.
I still say, if May doesn't hit that shot for North Carolina, he's still at Kentucky. And a lot of people believe if he runs the table in twenty fifteen, no matter what happened after that, he's still at Kentucky. I mean, that's sports. It's fickle. We know this, we don't care, we still love it. That's the way it works.
But I don't think Cal has the success if he's at Kentucky this year. I think that a change of scenery has a lot to do with revitalizing motivation and argue with that. You know, Cal is at his bass doubted, and he's been doubted by this entire state. He's got Rick Patino in his pocket nine of the last eleven matches. But not only that, Dick, he beat Bill self and
Rick Patino to get to the sweet sixteen. So I mean, I've got to give the man his couldn't agree, but I don't think if he would have stayed at Kentucky it had been the same thing that we're seeing.
I agree with you. I agree with you, because well, it just would have been a different collection of players. Some of the guys would have been the same. But you know, when he digs in and he's stubborn, that kind of stuff. So anyway, all right, we're gonna step out. We'll try to get JEFPI KORL. But I have a feeling the phone was locked up in his.
Breath in the briefcase.
Yeah, but Lee K Howards gonna join us. We're going to talk about the UK women, maybe talk a little UK baseball as well, and the portals open open for business. How about that Michigan player already left. How about that they got a game to play. Man, it's Pippin's son. I think they've got to change the calendar. They've got to they got to work it out. I know some schools are on quarters. Yeah, well, I would think if the coaches have anything to say about it. But you
know they've got it. You know, they got to protect the bowl games, they gotta protect the NC tournament. Well, anyway, when they put us in charge, we'll figure it out.
All right.
We're back in just a minute on the state wide Big Blue Insider. Well, JEFPA, carls Steell m I A. So we'll we'll talk with Lee K. Howard in a few minutes. You ever mentioned that George Foreman died? Did you ever see the fights? I mean you you've got it's all out there.
Yeah, I mean I'm a student of history. I think he was featured a little bit in the PBS Muhammad Ali documentary, which I love fabulous. Yeah, but mainly, I mean I'm young enough to know him more as the grill guy, of course than the fighting.
But fine espan every down runs those ones those great fights, Ali Frasier informing and all that. But I heard him explain why the grill took off, why it became so popular.
I'd love to know, because I have one, and I treat it like a child. In college, it was, I mean, with I.
Know, short on time he was doing. It was an infomercial, right, these people you know, sold them on. You know, he makes some money. We got these grills, and here's how it works. And he said it was stretching into its third hour and they just hardly anyone was calling and weren't moving any product. And he said, and I got hungry, he said, And I look down and there's this prop. It's a big plate of cheeseburgers. You know how they have it right in front of the grill, and you know, yeah,
I fat for you. Yeah, And he said, somebody else is talking. He just reached down and grabbed a cheeseburger and started eating it. He said, I wasn't trying to demonstrate anything. I was just hungry. And the phones lit up. He starts eating a cheeseburger or two, and the next thing you know, they can't handle all the phone traffic, and the George Foreman grill was off and running to people like me and you. Oh yeah, I had one for the longest time. But it worked simply because it
might have eventually worked. But when Big George grabbed that burger and shoved it in his choppers, a legend was born, so reborn.
So the real celebrity endorsement, it was just started with George Foreman.
One of them.
And then he gets to name the grill after itself, and then you leave a legacy.
Whoever decided it wasn't quite as great as Nike given all their money to Michael Jordan in stead of spreading it out right, you know, but it's up there, brother, all right, when we come back, we'll talk more.
Well.
Lee K. Howard was in Milwaukee. It's the state wide edition of the Big Blue.
You have a briefcase that's right.
From Pikeville to Paduca. It is the state wide edition of the Big Blue Insider. Let us join one of the road warriors who drove to Milwaukee and back. Several media people did that. I always respect that, having made trips like that myself back in the day. Mister Lee K. Howard from WKYT, how are you, sir?
I'm doing well. I'm well rested and ready to go to Indy at this point, I think.
Yeah, And it's less than half the drive, isn't it? From here to my Indian cead of Milwaukee. I was in Milwaukee on my twenty fifth birthday and I think I interviewed Junior Bridgeman. I'm pretty sure I did, but that's a story for another night. Yeah, But anyhow, Billy and I were just talking lee k about all the different ways Kentucky excelled in that game, especially defense. I mean, you were right there. I saw one of the pictures you tweeted. You had a pretty good look at it.
But what was going through your mind as you watched that game unfold, knowing how dangerous Illinois was?
You know the thing that impressed me right from the jump. You could tell that Kentucky was the more relaxed team, and because of that, they were the more they were, the more aggressive team. They were, the aggressor of the entire time. And the thing about you know, you look at the fourteen turnovers that they forced. All fourteen were steals and you don't normally see that usually when when a team has, you know, fourteen turnovers, you can count on a couple of them being a you know, an
unforced turnover. They dribble the ball off their foot, they make a bad pass and it deflects out of bounds. But Kentucky literally sotle the ball from them fourteen times. And so to me, that's what kind of stood out to me. Because we knew going into it that Illinois had the size advantage. What I think we didn't give enough credit to was Kentucky had the speed advantage. You know that sec speed was something that gave Illinois some trouble.
And to me, defense, you know, there's there's plenty of sayings, but the one you know, defense leads to offense. I mean it truly did, and that that to me. The steals, fourteen steals is what stood out to me. On defense.
I've got to be honest with you, I knew there were a bunch. I didn't know all the turnovers were steals. I don't think I've ever heard of that that many double digit turnovers and they were all steals. That's remarkable, every one of them. Wow Wow. And then we were talking about it, you know how Brea cranked up his defensive game. His offense has always been there Chandler, you know, doing little things coming off the bench. The Kentucky bench was magnificent, wasn't it.
It really was, you know, And I'll be the first to admit the last part of the SEC schedule, I was just like most people, a little bit frustrated with some of the playing times, some of the minutes that some of those bench guys were getting. And they were having to do that in a way because of some of the injuries that whether the player was playing or just dealing with an injury, you know, didn't have the minutes that they could. So we were getting all these
bench minutes. Well, it's certainly paying off now. And I mean Colin Chandler is the perfect example of a kid who's own exponentially as far as his confidence. I mean, a kid to step up to take a logo shot early in the shot clock shows sure where he is at this point. But even you know, I know, Travis Perry didn't play in that game yesterday, but Trent Noah came off the bench. He played about the amount of minutes you should expect a freshman to play at this
point in the season. Ansley Almonor comes off plays a couple good minutes hits a three. I mean, if they can get a good you know, run from their bench every game, that's kind of the key. And I think that's kind of what Pope was building toward, whether he meant to or not, because of the injuries, it kind of forced his hand that direction. And so yeah, any night you can have Kobe Bray a step up and
have a big game. But when you've got one of those bench guys stepping up, and whether or not it's in the scoring column or defense or what you know, really contributing, it makes it makes a huge difference.
Uh, Lee, do you think that the Weeda bicks and hot milk are the key for Kentucky to make the Final four this year?
I think it's got to be Billy. I think that has to be the key. I think we all learned about weed to bix last night. I actually asked Pope the question, I said, now, did you eat? Did we de bix also? And he said he did? You know, he he didn't look like he enjoyed it, just kind of by facial expressions. But you know, sometimes you just have to do things that you don't want to do in order to get a win, you know, Sometimes it's running extra spreads.
Sacrifice.
Yeah, these are the sacrifices that we make. Sometimes it's eating a kind of a weedy cereal with warm milk, because I think that's the key. That's what they said, it's warm milk. So I did see weed to bix was trending and people were going to their local uh, their local stores finding some. So hey, I'm willing to try it Amazon Amazon. Okay, if you guys try it, you guys try it.
I will. I told Billy that, and I didn't set the time frame. Billy, this wasn't like over the last forty eight hours. It's like last year. I tried it. Yeah, and no thing but leak.
Yeah, it was funny because.
No, I didn't put warm milk on it. I have a cold milk on it just turned into a sludge that I didn't like. Now I gotta ask you this. Now, Leek went to college in Texas, but it's from New Mexico. Okay, Clovis, Is that right?
That's right?
Okay. Did you guys eat anything for breakfast out there that was sort of like indigenous to the local area, you know, something that people in that part of the world might eat. For breakfast that people over here don't eat for breakfast.
I don't. I don't like. I think like a lot of like fried eggs and Mexican food and that kind of stuff with acceptable breakfast, those franchios. But exactly. But he got to keep in mind, I grew up like in the late eighties early nineties when nobody when parents didn't worry about sugar content. So I just dated a bunch of like pop tarts and fucked the bikes. So nothing. Yeah, just good old fashioned bad sugar.
The all time sugar bomb, cap'n Crunch.
And I've started to think if I ate weed the Bix, I might have turned into Amari Williams. But we'll never know. We will never know.
Oh man, I went. I went to London two years ago when Kentucky played over there. I don't remember seeing anybody eat that or order that. So anyway, well, let's get back to basketball. What was it like. You've made many road trips, you've covered NCAA tournaments. Kentucky was an underdog in this game, even though it was the higher seeded team and you had more Illinois fans there, until you know, they became silent by the end.
Of the game. What was that like? You know, the atmosphere was great, and it's not often that Kentucky goes into the tournament in any sort of situation where they are that out numbered and night. You're right. I've been to quite a few I've been to I was in Kansas City in nineteen when they went to the Sweet sixteen.
I was in Clee. I've been to a lot of places and Kentucky fans show up, and to their credit, a lot of Kentucky fans did make that seven hour drive or flight, some of them, I'm sure to get up there. There was a good number of Kentucky fans. But Illinois Champagne, Illinois is just about three hours away, and I think a lot of you know, people came from Chicago as well that you know Illinois Grads, which is about an hour away. That place was so orange.
I mean, they had their backs against the wall. But we've seen this Kentucky team so many times on the road. They did it it Missouri, they did it at Tennessee. They I mean, they've played well in Oklahoma. You know, they've done it in these road environments, and I think they kind of relished that, you know, and one of the things that Lamont said after the game that I
really enjoyed. He said, you know, a lot of us we're just underdogs, and not necessarily just this season, but he's like, we've just kind of been underdogs our whole life. We've never been the kid that was highly recruited, highly sought after we all started at other schools. You know, they know what it means to make to put this Kentucky jersey on. But they also have that experience like Ansley Almanor, who was a part of that Fairley Dickinson team that had the big upset in the NCAA tournament.
They totally understand what it means to play the role of the underdog in this tournament, whereas a lot of the kids, and this is nothing against the Kentucky kids in the past, even the ones with experience in the tournament always came in with Kentucky across their chest and understood that angle. Well, you come in as the underdog, you can relish in that if you really accept that role. And I think that's what we're seeing from this team.
Speaking of Underdog's League, Ky Kentucky is a literal underdog against Tennessee four and a half point dog, And I need you to explain that to me, because Kentucky's already beaten this Tennessee team twice. One of those times was without Lamont Butler. Feels like Kentucky's peaking and playing their best right now. Even if you look at the ken Pom numbers, why would you think that Tennessee would be favored in this games?
You know, they keep when I say they, I mean national people that make these picks, and they keep trying to make Tennessee the better team. And you could look at the body of work of Tennessee and say, well, maybe they were better overall. But all that matters in these tournaments is the team that you play in front of you. I mean, that's how the tournament is. It's
all about matchups. And for whatever reason, Kentucky has had Tennessee's number this year that they can play right with them, and they can score and they can somehow get Tennessee out of their game. So I'm not sure why that's the case. But you brought up a good point. They didn't have Lamont Butler. I don't think Andrew Carr played in that first game either. They were more injured when they played them the previous two times, and they will
be on Friday. This will be the healthiest they've played against Tennessee. And then you take into account you didn't have Colin Chandler playing the way that he is now. I mean, so I kind of like Kentucky's chances, But I've honestly like going back to the underdog thing. I don't think the players really care that they're going into
this game as a perceived underdog. Again. I even saw on ESPN today as we were driving, they had the lower third chiron at the bottom of the screen that said something like Kentucky looks to avenge their two regular season losses to Tennessee. Oops, and like it's literally literally
you know, the wrong thing. So you know, I Kentucky has played well against Tennessee, and we've seen that they can play well against the team that tries to slow it down and that kind of thing they've struggled against in Alabama because they're just better at playing that style of basketball. So I like what Tennessee. I mean, excuse me, what Kentucky can do against Tennessee this this Friday.
Ziggler concerns me. Even with Lamont Butler active. I think he's playing really well. Though the last week Aaron Gershan immediately pointed out that Ziggler doesn't play well against the Kentucky That doesn't mean he won't play well this time. But I like the fact that. I mean, I could
see Tennessee being favored. But I like the fact that Kentucky's playing better defense now than it was even back when it beat Tennessee those two times, because Kentucky played good enough defense then to hold down a Tennessee team that has trouble scoring. And the one thing we know about Kentucky, it generally doesn't have a whole lot of trouble scoring. Now it will against Tennessee because Parbacey's a
good team defensively. But I think Kentucky's offense against Tennessee's defense is going to be better than Tennessee's offense against Kentucky's defense, You know what I mean?
Yeah, And that's fair. I mean, you can outscore this Tennessee team, yes, and they purposely, they purposely try to keep the score low. So if you can get them out of their rhythm. We saw in that first game when they took an extraordinary amount of three pointers and missed almost all of them. You know, they can be taken out of their game as well. And so yeah, I mean someone said in the media room in Milwaukee, like, it's going to be tough to beat Tennessee for a
third time. Sure, the way I look at it, maybe I look at it with the optimist view here is, but going into a matchup with the team for a third time, wouldn't you rather be the team that won the first two games? Oh yeah, than the team that lost the first two games?
Oh?
You know, you know, you know what I'm saying. So I just think Kentucky and Tennessee. You know, Tennessee may just be one of those matchups where Kentucky can thrive. And you know, if you're going to go into a Sweet sixteen matchup against the two seed, because you're going to have to play a two seed, wouldn't you rather play the team that you've beaten twice. That's just kind of the view that I go into it with. And you know, roll the ball out there. And here's the
other part of that. When you get into this NCAA tournament situation where you're doing scout after scout after scout, you don't have to spend a lot of time scouting Tennessee. I mean it works both ways, but both teams are extremely familiar with each other. Yeah, so you know, there's there's not a lot of preparation as far as Nuance is about the volunteers that Kentucky's nothing to know about going into this game.
Lee, k Aren't you glad that Kentucky didn't hire Dan Hurley?
Oh my goodness. I mean that guy, I.
Mean, has he ruined his reputation? I mean, I know he just went back to back titles in the NCAA tournament. Streak was like second longest of all time that just got snapped in it.
I mean, the guy.
Has he always been like this or is he getting a little too big for his bridges.
I think he's getting big. I think he's always been like this. I think we're all paying attention a little bit more, Billy. I'll tell you a story. Selection Sunday, we were over at the at Reparena for the selection Sunday ceremony and Mitch Barnhardt walked over to where I was standing and I looked at him and I said, Mitch, I said thank you, And he said for what? And
I told him for sparing us from Dan Hurley. And he got this big smile on his face and he said, he said, and I don't think he would mind me sharing this. And he said, oh, I knew him back from his heart for days. We were never going to get Dan Hurley. And and and so even though those rumors were out there, who knows, I mean, he who knows if the contact was ever made. But I just can't imagine the fan base how in love they are with Mark Pope right now latching on to a Dan Hurley.
I mean, it is Uh. I don't cheer against a lot of teams as much when they're not playing against Kentucky. You know, I don't really have a dog in most teams in most fights.
You know.
I actively cheer against Dan in the U cottage just it's kind of a fun thing to do.
Yeah, I mean, the guy knows what he's doing, you know. I mean, I mean, the proofs in a pudding right here. But and then his welcome, Yeah, well that's true. But his team went down fighting this year as well. Real quickly, what was your take on the Arkansas upset of Saint John's.
I didn't see it coming. I mean, I tell you what I mean. We we said it from the moment that cali Perry was hired there that it was good for all parties, and that is completely held true. I mean, this obviously was a good upgrade for Kentucky John Caliperi going to Arkansas was a great upgrade for him. And you know, we talked about teams having people's numbers. Coaches have people's numbers two and for whatever reason, John Calipari has Rick Patino's number, so uh, best of luck to them.
I mean, they they played the better game, They were the better team that game, and they're moving on well.
And it's like I told Billy, I watched the second half again and I'm just convinced that I you know, I can't speak to the coaching moves, but Arkansas I had better athletes, you know I mean, And that again goes back to the SEC.
Lee K.
Howard from w k YT watches work. Watch him on Twitter and watch his reports from Indianapolis. Thank you brother.
All right, thanks guys, have a good night.
A good one, and we'll come back and wrap up this edition of the State Wide BB. I talk a little more basketball, a little bit of baseball, and We'll be right back. Thanks again to Lee K. Howard, Jeff Picicoro. Yoh, it's dinner both billion me but we have there's plenty to talk about, of course. Uh you watched the women's game. I was there. That was a terrific basketball game, back and forth, up and down. Early it looked like Kentucky was gonna cruise. Then you realize the big kid that
is in the middle for Kansas State. You know, she owns the n C record for most points in one game in a women's game. She's she's the record holder. I did not know she scored sixty one points.
Was that the one hitting threes?
No, that's that, oh man. And some people say it's because they had to commit so much of covering the big kid, and maybe it was, but I don't think they were just late closing out, you know, and to lose her in traffic. It's just a puzzlement to me. But things happened still. George Aymore gets the shot you would want ninety nine out of one hundred, and it just didn't go. When I saw her, When I saw Strack make that pass, I thought game over. I braced
myself for the screaming that building was going to explode. Crowd. Billy was as good as I've ever seen at a UK women's game. Oh yeah, as good as I've ever seen. But it was such a great game.
When she made a great move on that final play too to kind of go towards the base, well, I mean it was.
A loose ball. But here's the other thing. There were three really good looks.
Before that the reoffensive rebounds. Yes, before she made that, they could for a better opportunity. And you know what that team deserves that support. It's Kenny Brooks has done a great jobs. The Sporting News Coach of the Year. That's one of I guess six or nine how many of those awards there are. But look, I mean this is year one. I think the future is bright with him at the helm. And now give him a chance to bring in some players and let's keep this thing rolling.
Right, It's got to go find another Georgia aymore. How do you do that?
You don't?
You don't.
I mean, she will be remembered forever in the blue and white.
She was phenomenal and for her to miss that, Bunny, it looked a little bit like Otega's game winner the first Oklahoma game.
That's a good point.
But he wasn't or she wasn't completely behind the backboard for.
The shot where and she didn't use the glass. She didn't use the glass either.
Yeah, they have been part of it.
And she is so good at that. It penetrating and somehow getting the ball off off the square and she'll do that and then as they call it, the w Yeah. Yeah.
And this was a team that broke records for most shot blocks in a single season. Tracks coming back, So I mean, there's there's a lot to be optimistic about Clara.
Clara Sarah Klatta, I think is how you should know it. She should live in the weight room. You know, needs to get stronger. I'm sure she knows that. Obviously easy for me to say. But too many times the ball gets knocked out of her hand or whatever. But she's got skills. She's going up against track every day. Come on, now, you know.
I'm sure it is the same. I'm not sure exactly, but the transfer portal opened today, at least for men's basketball, Dick, how can you ask a coach to work in the transferport while they're still playing?
Let me tell you something we were talking Doug Flynn and I were talking to Austin Kuzeno, who's Kentucky's baseball recruiting coordinator, about just that, about how it never ends really he said. While he said, while we were in Omaha, Nick Man, Jone and I were making phone calls, setting up zoom calls, stuff like that while they're in Omaha, not concentrating on the World Series obviously, but trying to get back to the World Series by reaching out, you know.
And on the one hand, you can say, hey, Billy Routledge, we would love to have you come be a Wildcat. We're in Omaha right now. That's how much we think of you, you know, that sort of thing. But I'm sure they kids hear that from everybody.
Well, no wonder everybody's leaving the coaching profession at college day. I mean, I can't like it's it's a joke that I mean, I don't know what, but you got to back that up. And the same thing for the college football calendar as well. I mean, we have a second transfer portal open for college football, which you need.
In the spring because there are kids who you know, come out of the spring say hey, I ain't gonna but.
That it's created that culture of I'm not gonna play.
Sure it is, but who didn't see that coming?
Oh that's that's true.
But you and I talked about this. I'm thinking, Billy, you and I talked about this three years ago. We did when these rules were first, And you and I aren't the brightest, but it didn't take a genius to see what this was going to do to college athletics. The first thing that came to my head was tampering. Well now it's now, it's almost legalized tampering because you don't need a coach to call a player. You can get one of your players to call him.
Well, I remember it was in real time. We were saying, like, this is the end of college sports as as we know it, and it was like COVID. And then right after that, all.
The next move is going to be when all these schools start paying more money, You're going to see sports start to disappear, Teams, programs, merily, men's broc start to disappear. Right when it happens, we'll complain about it right here on the Big Women's Sider. Thanks so much, Leek Howard for Billy Dick Abriel that said good night from Lexington