02.03: Manic Monday - Hour 1

game that you really had no business losing. We'll talk a lot about it today, but I mean that was that was another part of the process for me as a Louisville fan as far as remembering sort of what that was like, because you know, even some great teams have had losses like that along the way. I mean, even great teams currently in college basketball have a rare loss, maybe not all of them, but you know, Pat Kelsey before Saturday, any game that he had lost, I don't

really think he was supposed to win. I mean, we now know that Louisville being favored in that second game of the season against Tennessee was kind of silly. But I mean, look at Tennessee and you know, look at Louisville. Louisville still having a good season, especially where expectations were. But you know, losing a game that you know you

shouldn't lose, it happens, but man, it stings. I think there's so much love for this team that at least I haven't seen a whole lot of folks out there, you know, acting as if the last month wasn't great, and this team can still potentially get to the tournament and obviously maybe win a couple of games, but it's just, you know, those are the losses that really sting. And what is going to be a real, maybe first time situation type of thing, is that that was a costly loss.

You didn't I mean, George Tech had nine wins going into that game, or maybe they had eight and got ninth. I don't know how it ended up playing out. But obviously that's a bad loss, and you are in a position now, and look, you've put yourself in this position. However, the league doesn't really help you. But you really can't afford anything like that again, and I guess, just to be reminded, you know this team can lose, and I think we all knew this team was vulnerable and could

lose to anybody if they don't play well. Right before the ACC streak started. You gotta keep in mind they nearly lost at home to EKU, so I've kind of always known this team could lose to anybody if they don't play well. It's not as if they just can play a D plus type of game and win based off pure talent. But I guess the visual right seeing them get beat by a bad team, who, by the way, I mean not making an excuses, you still should have won.

You still should have made free throws, You should have been able to execute a little better, should have been able to make stops. But man, Georgia Tech hit some insanely tough shots like those guys were, I mean they were ready. But again, a bad loss, no doubt, and now you've certainly fallen when it comes to the seed line, and you're safely in right now, but in a very little room for error because there's not in fact, there is not a I was gonna say, there's not many.

There's not any games left in the regular season that are going to do a whole lot to really improve your resume, and any slip up from here on out in the regular season would be a real stain. I mean, some even worse than the loss you just took to Georgia Tech. And also you got to keep in mind, I mean, if you can lose to Georgia Tech like that, there's plenty of teams in the ACC that I wouldn't say are very good at all, but if they play

like that, they get hot, it could happen again. I mean NC State comes to mind for me, another team with a bad record, but I know they've got some personnel that could give a little problems. So you know, I'm not worried. I feel the same way about this team as I did last week. But you know, clearly they've they've put themselves in a spot here to where the tournament's not something you're worried about making, at least

as of right now. But that loss was not a good one when it comes to just what it does to your resume. And then if you're a Kentucky fan, I mean that sucked, right. I mean, I'm not here to you know, pile on. I mean, would be a liar, and I don't want to be dishonest with you if I said that I didn't enjoy the outcome. I learned pretty quickly there was not going to be any first time moment where Kentucky basketball is in action and I'm

not rooting for the other team. It was a little bit weird, you know, like I you know, because I don't I don't like to see cal do well necessarily and certainly. I mean, I don't even think Kenny Payne was brought up on the broadcast, not that he was needed. I mean I don't think he's I mean, in fact, what would you say he's bringing to the table for John Kella Perry. I would say probably not much of

anything during the game. But nonetheless, like you know, I was, I was wanting Arkansas to win, but I didn't I didn't see it playing out the way that it did. I mean, I really really thought Kentucky fans were aware that they could lose, but I just think what it came down to, it really wasn't complicated, right, This is an emotional type of situation here, cal coming back. He certainly got booed, and that was, you know, probably not

a surprise to him. What I said last week ended up actually playing out exactly the way I thought it would, which I didn't hear anybody else mentioning this, but his booze, Yeah, they sounded loud because you had to keep in mind of all the people there, the vast majority aren't probably going to boo or cheer. Maybe I'm wrong here, but it's not like you're going to see which drowns out, which the boos are the cheers. No, I mean keep in mind there's many people that probably wouldn't boo because

that's just not their personality. And when you're silent, you know, you can be in a room of ten people and if two people are booing and the other two are silent, you know what it's going to sound like overwhelming boo. So I think he got booed, maybe more so than a lot of us expected. But there was never going to be a scenario where you got to tip off and you're trying to talk to your buddy who you came to the game with. Hmm, do you think it was more cheer and more booz was always going to

sound like more booze. But anyways, I mean Kentucky fans, I feel like, as I just mentioned a moment ago, they were aware they could lose, but I think they just felt like it would be really tough to envision it happening because Arkansas was bad. Like, make no mistake about it, Arkansas just hasn't been a good team this year. And I think they kind of found themselves, and Austin

you can relate to this. They found themselves somewhat in a similar situation that Louisville fans had been in with Calip Perry before, where you knew this year we were better. It wasn't often. I'm not gonna act like Louisville had a bunch of teams that should have beat Kentucky, but he was here long enough to where there were a few.

And even if Louisville wasn't great, you certainly you know you had some teams for cal but you know, if they can get beat by Rando's in the you know, random teams in the SEC, or get beat by un C Wilmington in the regular season or Evansville then, like, you know, you have the ability to go do it. But Cal, in those moments, you know, you just I think louisvill fans always kind of knew as if we

were accepting defeat. But the scenario where his team didn't come ready to play in that kind of a moment, which just hard to imagine. And sure enough, that's exactly what happened on Saturday. Cal brought it And I don't think he's a great coach for exit and O's but you know, I really can't put it into words. But you know, is unfortunate for me given to this as a talk show, but Austin, you know, Cal's got something about him to wear in those moments. He does put

fear in you. Mm hmmm. I don't know what it is.

he's he's the star in town. I mean, and to be fair, it's worked for him for the most part, and he's coached some pretty heavier rivalry games. And I'm sure that Pope has at BYU. He's been in the building when Rick Bettino has came back, and uh, you know, especially after all this stuff with Rick Bettino and the FBI stuff and even the Karen Ciphers stuff back then, Reparina was a lot more amplified for sure. When Louisville

made their way out onto the courts. Rick added an element that no coach around here ever will just because of his connection to UK and the personal robbery that cal and and and Rick had with one another. But yeah, I mean, I look, Arkansas played their ass off, and I have no clue if they're going to end up having a strong finish and maybe find themselves on the bubble.

But I mean, I think I don't want to act like Kentucky fans thought there was no chance, because again I think they realized in these times, in these type of games, in this moment, this is really kind of what John Caliperry does. Doesn't mean he's gonna win, but he I mean that Arkansas team, I mean, because I'm

trying to think, Okay, was it fluky right? Was was that really just you know, the basketball gods delivering for cali Perry and wanting and wanting bb In to be miserable because you know, DJ Wagner doing what he did in the second half. He'll never do that again. Like I mean, I felt terrible because I do have some friends that are I have a lot of friends that are UK fans, but I'm in a group chat with my buddies and it's it's both mostly UK fans and now that I think about it, but I wasn't even

really like trolling. It was early on in the game and Wagner was terrible in the first half, and I texted, I don't think I've ever seen DJ Wagner make a shot, and then sure enough he played out of his ass in the second half, and he was always going to be good defensively, and he did it. I think you missed Butler because DJ Wagner was able to just kind of keep It wasn't like he was turning you over every now and then. It wasn't like he was just

causing havoc. But he was a He did a good job of exposing Kentucky for not having a point guard and really not letting them ever get it into just a game with countless possessions like they want to play now. So so again Wagner again, we'll see if he's he's able to ever do that again. One thing that really stood out to me, and I don't want to actually it wasn't talked about because it was but Arkansas came out, I mean shooting lights out and it was and that's

not that's not first of all, that's not all Rangers too. Yeah, I mean they were just making tough shots, but like the deep threes that were and tested like they were mad in fact they I don't know what it ended up playing out to when it comes to the numbers, but I mean early on you would have thought Kentucky was the team that wanted to shoot a ton of threes, and that was a part of their strength, but in fact, they were terrible from three point range coming into the game.

But you know what, they made thirteen of them, and I wouldn't be shocked if they don't make ten in a game the rest of the season. So that's too And here's where I feel like the game really kind of changed because early on Kentucky got up. Gosh, what was the biggest lead for Kentucky. I think it was

eighteen to twelve something like that. That's Robins three. Yeah, that sounds right, and I think cal called a time out, and right out of the time out they were able to kind of climb right back in it, get it to where it was back and forth really the rest

of the way until Arkansas pulled away late. But I feel like had that had that time, had Kentucky been able to get a couple more momentum type plays, maybe another three or a bucket, I think Arkansas a team coming in with that kind of record, part of me says they might have just folded, because that's just that's that's the human element of sports, right You're you're in that environment, which, by the way, that's one of the best environments I've ever seen in sports. Certainly one of

the best environments I've ever seen in college basketball. You could feel the tension, you could. I mean that was that was theater, that was cinematic, and I as a college basketball fan, man, we need more stuff like that. I mean, that was it was, It was amazing. I mean again, I don't I don't know what the numbers are gonna look like, but there's no scenario that game didn't dominate every other college basketball game that day. Duke

Carolina wasn't a game. And again, you could not even be a bit you can just be a casual college hoops fan. The storyline there just everything about that was interesting and entertaining. But anyways, if you're Arkansas and you're in that environment, you you mentally can tell yourself, hey, we're still in it. We're a good team, but you know you're not. You know, this is what happens. You get beat by good teams like Kentucky, but cal call

the time out. They they you know, they didn't make some big, big time run, at least I don't remember that they did. But then Arkansas kept kept showing, Hey we're making place too, We're getting dunks, we're making tough shots. We're blocking shots, and they just played with the confidence that Cal has usually carried himself with, and sometimes it's been not valid and confidence that you know, I'm wondering

where he's getting it from. But there was something about Cal at Kentucky that I mean, I'm probably not sharing something that everybody else didn't observe, but it hit me when watching that game. You know, one of the reasons why Cal was so successful in those kind of moments, rivalry moments, big games. Not to say he won them all, but I think he carried himself with such arrogance and confidence that his players believed that they were better than everybody,

and they didn't overthink it. They were just He has the ability to get guys loose and confident in those

big moments, and that's a gift as a coach. Now, again, he has a lot of weaknesses as a coach, but maybe Arkansas wouldn't have folded like I mentioned, had Kentucky maybe gone on a little bit of a bigger run because of that element right where they you know, they when he's and I don't know, I don't know how he does it because there's no scenario that Kentucky that Arkansas team you saw Saturday should have the record that they have. I mean, no, no, not at all, but

it meant a lot to him he has. I mean, he's the best recruiter we've ever seen in college basketball. And now the recruiting has kind of changed to where now when you're building your team every year, you're going to rely on the portal to where the freshman component is still important, but just not what it once was. So like, I don't see anybody in the modern era, the way things are going now ever being able to bring in high school recruits annually better than he did

during his time in Kentucky. And really what he's doing at Arkansas, so that you know that, does a lot of people say, well, hey, you know that's he's just a recruiter, not a coach. Well, that's it's part of it, right. You could have weaknesses and strengths, and obviously there's a big difference in recruiting somebody and strategic stuff when it

comes to x's and o's. But Saturday is a reminder that despite his stubbornness, despite him probably being able to find himself in three final fours with three different programs, it's or so just because of the talent he brought in. But really you could say that about everybody. Where Cal's shortfalls really are exposed is that when people realize, Hey, for all this talent that this guy has, for all these NBA players that he has, shouldn't he have a

little more like top level success. And that's a valid conversation. And again that speaks to him probably not having the chops when it comes to x's and o's to really maximize what you can get out of the elite players that he's brought in. But he's got a gift to bring those players in, relate to them, have them play really really hard, and they love him. I mean, and

you saw that play out on Saturday. There were some guys that had some real emotion happy for Cal, and some of them seem to, you know, really want to rub it in BBN's face. Others I don't think they wanted to do that. But man, that read Shepherd thing, I'm gonna save that for later because that I would have never in my I would have if all the people that you could have told me was gonna in Arkansas T shirt with Kentucky shorts, he would have been the absolute dead last, and I mean, I can't relate.

I'm not a Kentucky fan, but if I was, I would imagine that one would hurt just because you know, it's Ree Shepherd. His dad won a title in Kentucky. His dad was the roommate with the guy coaching Kentucky right now, So again back to Cal, guys love him, and you know they have great loyalty to him, They want to they wanted that for him. And again, I don't know what Cal's gonna do the rest of the way, meaning this season and really the rest of his career.

Like I don't think he's in a good spot. Saturday really didn't change that. Kentucky's still a better team, still gonna get a good seed, I would imagine, and Arkansas probably won't make the tournament. But in that moment was a reminder of why he's great in those situations and honestly why he was great for Kentucky. Right Like they are, they're arrogant, and look some of that is I mean justified.

There great program. Let's be honest, Kentucky basketball is one of the best programs in the history of the sport, right so they have a good reason to feel good about themselves, but he brought out the reel like arrogance, and man, those two were they were compatible, right. It was like, I don't know, I was gonna make a weird analogy and it might have gotten perverted, so I won't do it. But they were perfect for each other for those moments, right, because he knew that Kentucky has

a confident, arrogant fan based to an extent. I don't mean every Kentucky fan out there is an arrogant a hole, but you know what I mean, like they're Kentucky and they want you to know that. Well, cal fed into that and when they were rolling, I mean, they were the villain of college basketball, and he embraced that. He was comfortable doing it. He knew teams were scared to play there, yes, and he absolutely operated in fear. And it was I mean, I didn't like it. I'm a

LOWLL fan. Clearly it didn't work out well for us. So I still think there's the job has changed, man, college basketball coaches, college college football coaches too. I mean when you throw in free agency essentially with the portal and with nil, I mean it's you're still coaching basketball, but there's so much more to it. And there's things that I think now they matter as far as like relatability, adjusting on the fly, like willing to adapt. You got to be able to do that now. Back in the day,

you didn't have to. So you know, Cali Perry to me, is somebody that in the right moment at the right time. Yeah, he could beat anybody, and nobody's going to be surprised, especially if he keeps bringing in talent. But you know, if you're a Kentucky fan, I'm sure you're thinking, well, you know, we probably should have seen that coming because that's what this guy does. And look, you can be critical of your team, but I mean they just they I mean, if you look at the numbers Kentucky missing

free throws, that was a big deal. But I mean for Kentucky to turn it over as many more times than as than our I mean fourteen turnovers for Kentucky, eight for Arkansas. I mean there's things that really you probably felt pretty good out that when it comes to how you would compete in the stat sheet for certain things. But Arkansas wasn't the same Arkansas team Saturdays. They've been all year, and it's for obvious reasons. Because of what

that game was. And yeah, I mean they got Old Miss tomorrow in Oxford, so that'll be a tough one for them. Louisville will be back in action on a Wednesday at Boston College and obviously you know you can't you can't lose that one, and I don't think they will. But man, what a wild finish? Did you see Boston College beat Florida State on Saturday?

their pants. So quick break, we'll come back, keep it rolling along. If you guys want to give us a call, you can five O two seventy nine hundreds Coffee and Company Fieldbouth Thorntons right here, on Sports Talk seven ninety.

look at it. Eleven ranked teams lost last week or over the weekend, I should say, or yeah, Saturday was the day, specifically Saturday time the most losses by ranked teams in a single day in ap pole history. So the bad side of that is both Louisville and Kentucky are actually the bigger, the two biggest falls in the net rankings after their loss. The Kentucky fell five spots two number looks like number nineteen, and Louisville fell five spots from twenty five to thirty. So yeah, not good.

I guess Marquette, I don't know who they lost to, but looks like they also, so I guess it's the three of us Marquette, Kentucky, and Louisville that all fell. I mean, that's a pretty far fall for just one game, but it makes sense. You know, Louisville lost to a bad or to Tech team and Kentucky lost to a bad Arkansas team at home. Now I'm not even sure if the resume thing has come up much for Kentucky fans.

I mean, again, it's not a good loss, but I think the real reaction and everything that's what made Saturday awesome, especially just if you're just if you're a casual I shouldn't say casual. I would imagine if you're if you're a diehard college basketball fan and you're not a fan of either team, I mean, Louisville fans probably were pulling for Arkansas, but I'm just saying without really having any

true giveadamn who wins. I mean that storyline that made it to where I mean, just the cal element returning to Lexington, that that that's that was the takeaway and he shined in his return. And you know, I had somebody text in during the break and I I don't have it pulled up in front of me. But they made a good point, essentially saying that what bothered them the most was how classy col was after the fact.

And I guess what you mean by that is you like wanted him to be an a hole so you could feel more like justified to think he, you know, is is the wrong. You know, he's a bad guy, but he he was really classy and honestly, I think, you know, he's arrogant, as I mentioned, but he's also I think you know, I mean, I don't want to act like he's the most pompous arrogant guy out there, but he will put it this way, he had a

run of arrogance. I mean it was and it was when he was on top, but I got the sense that he really which is wild, because you would have felt like he had no allies left in Lexington, left in the fan base, and clearly that wasn't the case. I think the majority of folks to this day would still say even after Saturday, that this needed to happen and he needed a fresh start somewhere else. Arkansas was willing to pay the money to get him. He knew his time had pretty much run up here as far

as you know fans and what they wanted. And obviously you know that safe Kentucky a lot of money, Mark Polpe comes back, and you know he's still off to a great start, so it just, you know, just needed

to happen. But clearly you could tell with Cal even like he knew that there are people that he genuinely has relationships with that he cares about, that he's close friends with, that he knew they were sad Saturday night because even though they love him like they're Kentucky fans and that's how they probably got close to him because they love Kentucky and or I guess people that you know are in a position to where they could become

friendly with the guy who's coaching that basketball program. So if you mean what I think you mean, I get it now. We'll say this one of the one of the things that that that I saw from Kentucky fans and I think I heard this a little bit on the postgame show, and I know what you mean, but you're wrong. Let me explain those saying, well, look, if he would have coached like that, he'd still be here.

If he was if he played like that, if you had his guys ready to play every night like that, then you know we wouldn't have had But here's where you're wrong. If cal still wanted to be your coach, he would be He didn't want to be your coach. And look, that's probably something you're still happy with. But like I think, and this is this won't really matter. In fact, it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, but it is a big component to the divorce. Cal was.

I mean, he didn't very awkward look like a hostage video with Mitch Barnhart while he was actively trying to get the hell out of Lexington. So like Kentucky couldn't fire him, Like at the end of the day, you should, if you, I mean, you should still be thanking him because I just felt like for the longest time, especially the way it it it it played out in the

last couple of years. As far as just I mean, it was clear that he wanted fans to know that he didn't care what they think, and he would talk down to their fan base, and I mean it was it was pretty evident. So I just thought, well, this guy, he'll stay there for thirty years out of spite, you know what I mean. I just felt like he would. He would just you know, know that they want him gone and really really just you know, embrace it and say, Hahi, you can't get rid of me. But he's human like

anybody else. And I don't know how anybody could could have played it that way, meaning you'd have to be a miserable human being to just want to ride it out because of spite, you know, in stubbornness. So anyways, I mean again, if he wanted to still be your coach, he would be because he wouldn't have entertained Arkansas and he would still But so again it's a it's a win win. But I think some fans are of the belief that like he came back to show you guys.

That he probably did to an extent, but at the end of the day, like he did you a favor more than any anything. All right, again, it's coffee and company. Feel by Thorton's here on Sports Talk. Seven ninety five or two if I've seven one seventy nine hundred is the number. If you guys would like to jump in and give us a call. Obviously we have mentioned the Louisville loss on Saturday at Georgia Tech and sucked. I mean, I don't I don't feel any different about this team

than I did a week ago. I mean I was riding high and I kept saying, look, until I see this team come out and show that they are vulnerable, I'm going to assume that they're still going to be able to go take care of business against bad teams like Georgia Tech. And you know I was wrong because I don't think they showed a sign. I mean, defensively, clearly they were finding something that worked, meaning Georgia Tech and Louisville really never found a way to consistently stop it.

And I have seen some people mention Rain Smith kind of getting exposed on defense, and I know what you mean as far as like how they were targeting him. But I also I mean, I put it this way, I have a hard time watching rain Smith over the last few months and saying that I think he's a bad defender. He clearly has some vulnerabilities with certain matchups, but anybody does, including guys who you would chalk chalk up as good defenders. So that's one thing that you know.

I watched him get scored on and look, I'm not saying he was great, but you know, Georgia Tech came out and they were I mean, they were lights out, and usually I feel like for Louisville to kind of climb back out and I don't even know what the

biggest deficit was. Let's see here. That's one thing I don't like about STAB broadcast because it gives you like insanely random stats that I don't think anybody some stats I don't even I don't even know what I don't even know what they are, like, I wouldn't even know how to share with you what it is here in this STAB broadcast platform. But one of them I can never find is biggest lead. Tom Oh. Yeah, So look

Georgia Tech. Sorry, I'm sorry, Louisville. They led this game for twenty three minutes in thirty six seconds and their biggest lead. They took the lead three different times. And again it's not really important, but if you remember, george Tech came out hot, was hitting shots out of the rear end, and I also felt like there were times where maybe they weren't contested the way that you like.

In fact, that was kind of my worry, is that they're hitting some really tough shots that I think were defended about as good as you could possibly defend, but then they'd be open for shots and then they'd miss it. I think, look, this is a bad scenario here. So Louisville Claude back Terrence Edwards kind of went to work and you know, end up leading you and scoring with

twenty two. Chucky was making some plays in the first half, and I kind of I felt like, okay, Louisville was able to withstand the run from Georgia Tech, and everything's going to be okay. And then Georgia Tech, if you remember, early in the second half, it was tight, and I

still felt like Louisville was in good position. And then I don't remember where we exactly were on as far as how much time was left, but once you started missing free throws at the rate they were missing free throws, and Georgia Tech continued to make tough shots that I feel like were pretty well defended. Then I felt like, Okay, this may not work out. And look or Louisville. Let's see eleven of nineteen at the free throw line from

fifty eight percent. That's clearly not good. And one thing that has been kind of obvious with this team at the free throw line is that even when they found ways to win games that at the time we felt like, Wow, that was impressive. I didn't see that coming. Maybe this team could be pretty good. They were still winning those games with pretty bad free throw nights here and there. Now they've also games where they'll shoot like eighteen of

twenty four or something, and that's really good. And I guess, more so than anything, it depends on who's shooting the free throws. But I think this team, as much as I mean, they are what they are when it comes to free throws. I think you've got guys that you feel really confident about when they go to the line. You've got guys you really don't feel confident about when they go to the line. James Scott Trey Oure. But then you have guys who you know are shooting a

good percentage on the year. You know more often than not they'll make them. But then again they'll randomly miss two in a row or they'll miss the front end of the one and one. So that's really been a vulnerability for this team all year and it was clearly one of the factors and why you weren't able to win against a Georgia Tech team. That again, let me, I don't want to act like they're great. I'm not trying to tell you, hey, well, no, it's a fine loss.

People don't realize how good Georgia Tech is. No, they're not good. And that's why Louisville was a big faller in the net rankings, and really it has changed their profile right now. They went from being a board and

that's just you know how it works. Your resume was that was at a spot where you had no bad losses at all, and you really didn't have any signature wins, but you had some wins with good value and you know, you beat down some of these teams in the ACC that probably doesn't mean anything, but when you beat down Virginia about twenty points on the road, and you handle Pittsburgh at their place, and there was a couple of other games where they Syracuse where you won by so

much against albeit bad teams, but it was bumping you up here and there with the with the net rankings. So you went from being like a five seed ceiling, six seed floor really for about a two week stretch to now you're probably an eight and you don't have really many opportunities at all in the regular season to do something that's going to improve your resume enough to kind of see you jumping ahead in the sea line because which you have now that you didn't have before.

And it really was in a way maybe like if you're talking about the two things that stand out as the most impressive on Louisville's resume prior to Saturday, it was won their record, but also they had no bad losses. Well now you do. Now you got a real bad loss. It's not the worst loss in the world, and you

can still clearly put yourself in the tournament. And I'm not trying to be gloom doom, but I mean that was the resume was tricky already just because of the acc being what it is and because of how bad the league is and that Look, this goes back to look Louisville got and I'm not I trust me. I'm not going to do the same rant that I've done

many times in the last couple of weeks. But Louisville fell in the net rankings by beating George, by beating wake Forest by double digits, like that should never have happened, But that's just how the system works in and wake Forest was such a bad team in the metrics that even beating them by double digits, despite them being fifteen and five and really a better win than you had, you fell. So then when you actually do lose to a team that is way worse than wake Forest, I mean,

it's a killer. And I'm not worried at all about this team coming out ready to play Wednesday. I think they'll bounce back. I mean, I think there was never any worry. I don't want to act like, well, this would be a good thing, this will humble them, because I'd be a liar if I told you that I felt like they lost Saturday because they were letting the hype get to their head. I think they came ready

to play. They just ran into a team that was really really hot, made some really big shots, and in crucial moments Louisville did not make plays, missed free throws, and Georgia Tech just they found a way to win. And one thing that I'll throw out there, that is something we kind of need to keep an eye on, I mean, what we can do about it. But I felt like that was the first time Louisville kind of

got held accountable for how physical they are defensively. There were fouls called that I feel like you don't often see called on Louisville, at least you haven't in a while, with their guards just kind of being physical and handsy early in the game. But if they do call it, I can't sit her and say that I'm totally surprised. So, you know, Louisville committing fouls, slowing the game down a little bit, them not getting in the rhythm they wanted.

It worked to Georgia Tech's advantage, but you gotta be mindful of that. When I'm not saying they got a bad whistle, but I would. I mean, I'll tell you that I thought Georgia Tech probably got a better whistle, and that's not because I think the reps were conspiring to cheat. That's just sports. I mean, the home team, the home environment. Referees are human beings. They're going to I mean, why do you think, what do you think?

There's just a mindset that nobody's cheating, they're not against you. But the likelihood of you playing at somebody else's place, you're gonna you're you're gonna probably feel like at the end of that game that they got maybe a few more calls that went their way that should have gone your way, or maybe if it's a fifty to fifty call, they're gonna give it to the home crowd. Again, it's

just conversation for a different day. But that's just the human element that I think people oftentimes just ignore when it comes to sports. But anyways, back to this loss again. I think they'll bounce back. I think they'll play well, but make no mistake about it, you really can't do this again and feel great about the tournament. I mean, is an eight seed of bubble team as and I feel like it isn't. But it's close. Yeah, it's right

on the verge. I think once you get to nine and we're and nine and lower your your bubble, you start.

I mean, like Kentucky, they'll lose. You know, they'll lose to Arkansas at home, but then they might if they turn around and beat All Miss last night. It quite literally you you're gonna benefit more than you're gonna hurt in that scenario. Liva just doesn't have any opportunities to do that because of how down the league is. So you know, you Louisa could play because I don't think they played terrible on Saturday. They didn't. They clearly did some things you can't do to expect to win on

the road. Actually, when a team is playing well. So like, I'm not acting like they came out and played a great game, but I just what has to me a little bit, I guess less confident. It's not because how differently I feel about this team as far as what they can do and their personnel. It's just the visual of actually being reminded that they can They can lose games to teams that are as bad as Georgia Tech.

But I just my worry, more than anything, is that I think Georgia Tech, although they have some good guards, like I don't think they're as good as NC State. I don't think they're as good as Notre Dame Florida State. Hard to know much about them, but you know they're they're at least decent for the league. Pittsburgh. I know

Pittsburgh's got a good team, good players. So like, if Georgia Tech can do it, I do, you know, I guess just more than anything, I'm more aware that they in fact could loose to anybody because we watched it happen on Saturday. All right, quick break, We'll come back on the other side of wrap at the three o'clock hour. Some good stuff come in on the text line five O two six five three zero seven ninety. It's the L and N Federal Credit Union text line and if

you want to give us a call, you can. Phone lines are now open five oh two, five to seven to one, seventy nine hundred.

saw that and thought, there's no way that's real. And by the way, I think everybody also had the same initial reaction, Oh my god, Sham's got hacked. But it wasn't it was real. And I woke up the next day and because of sort of my just hovering over clouds the night before, I thought, well, did I dream that, Like, was that real? And sure enough it is real. So Luka doncik for Anthony Davis among other things. But that's

really what the trade comes down to. And I just don't know what would have led Dallas to make this move unless they know a lot more than there than we know about Luca. I mean that, I really, even if he's in bad shape and you're tired of him having to get in good shape, it's a twenty five year old who just took you to the NBA Finals and is one of the best players on the planet twenty five again, I mean young Anthony Davis is thirty two and has been injury prone his whole life, And like,

I just don't I don't get it. I mean, even if you were thinking, Okay, we got to strike now because of timing, right, Klay Thompson who's now with Dallas, he's thirty five years old, thirty four years old something like that, close to that, his window's not going to be open and very much longer. Right Kyrie Irving, I think you kind of say the same thing about Kyrie.

And also you have Kyrie from when I understand on a deal that like if he does play real, like Kyrie is the kind of guy that if he balls out and kind of puts himself back in there in that elite top tier of the NBA, he'll get a bigger deal and leave you. Like you know, so there are scenarios where you could say the timings, the timings is tight here. Therefore, even though AD's older and injury prone,

we think right now he could be the piece. All that would make sense if you weren't getting rid of Luka Doncik, who is again like one of the best

players on the planet. He's proven that he's young. I think when you get to the finals, that's a breakthrough, right, That's that's that's a moment where okay, not only I mean this, like for example, there's a lot of young stars in the NBA that clearly are are elite and Anthony Edwards, I mean, Donovan Mitchell, but you know they haven't done they made the finals yet, and that kind of stuff matters. You got to win one when you

get there. But like he is, well within a twenty years old, Luga Doncik is absolutely on course to be one of the best players that ever played this game. Now, again, a lot of that's determined on the rings you get and we don't you know, tough to know, but again, he's twenty five and he just came off the finals where he led you there, So I just I think I think there's something about Luca that they don't like

or that like maybe is is a red flag. But then again, I kind of feel like this day and age, we'd know that, Like we wouldn't know that if in fact there was something about Luca that like made him and he looked by the way, but even if he was an a hole, you think of all the all the stars of professional sports over the years that have probably been jerks, like that's it shouldn't be that way,

but like that's kind of part of it. And again, for to lead to where you want to get rid of him because you can't stand him, he'd have to be an insanely not an insane level of jerk to where we would just know and yet they wanted to part ways with him. Really really does seem it does seem strange, and you know, maybe because you know his body type, because like Lucas one of those guys that doesn't look like he should be able to do what

he's doing right Larry Bird. Never got to watch Bird play live too young, But I'll I can never stop watching Larry Bird highlights because it looks like somebody that's like in a movie, right that that you know, this

is this is all part of a plot. This is acting, because how's this guy out there, the best player on the court, can't miss his shot, looks like he drank and shugged a beer at the time out break, but he's throwing dimes behind the back like visually, yeah, they don't look like they'd be super talented, but like they get it done. And Luca was that way. And by the way, who's the best player in the in the NBA for the last few years? I mean a joke.

Look at him, he looks like he just I mean, he looks like he just did a shift on the assembly line and he, you know, got a few beers at the bar after work with the buddies, and now he's gonna go play some you know, full court. Like appearance shouldn't matter, man, production matters, and basketball.

hate him because he's not he's not. I mean, he's fun to watch, but in a different way fund if you know what I mean, like a fundamental Yeah, exactly. He's like Tim Duncan but better. So they look at that as well. He should understand that, you know, he's he's the NBA's best player, like he should. There's a lot that comes with that, and to just ignore it. I mean, I've had some arguments with friends who just think it's a bad look for him to act that way, and I hear you what you mean, But I just

think that's who he is. And I could never acknowledge somebody for just being transparent. But then there's others who claim it's more of like a and this is where I totally disagree. I mean, I could be wrong. I don't know him, but those that claim that's a forced thing that he just does to try to look like he's too cool, I don't think there's no way, because he doesn't care what you like. He's he'd be fine if he never was in front of a camera again. Yeah,

and he just just wants to race his horses. Bro exactly exactly, And I love seeing the videos of him when his brothers, Oh, I mean yeah, his brothers are like reinforce mafia members. I know.

call witness Protection or something like there's some scary, scary dudes. Now, this is what's wild about Luca because I this confirms for sure that there was no scenario he was trying to get out of Dallas. And I don't think anybody did think that he's wanting to leave. But Chandler Parsons, who played with Luca, I believe early in his time

in Dallas. He now works for FanDuel TV and has a show, and he's close to Luca, sounds like, and he said that he cried when he found out he was being traded, and that he just bought a fifteen million dollar house in Dallas like last week. So I mean, I don't have a ton of sympathy for him as far as like his life, because my man is doing a lot better than most. But yeah, I mean, not ideal, not ideal at all. All Right, we got to run one hour in the books. Can I believe how quickly

that went by? That's what she said. We got two more hours to go, though. We'll finish strong, at least we'll try. We'll give you what you got, what we got thanks to my friends at the louisvill Men's Clinic. I feel pretty good about our ability to be able to finish strong here, so right, stick around right here on Sports Talk seven ninety