10.21: Hoops Is Back - Hour 3

Like because of how bad things were for a couple of years there, it did make it a point where people wanted to tune in to the misery, the you know, shenanigans because it became really a comedy hour at certain times, and you know, it wasn't it wasn't just me, by the way. I mean, it's a caller driven show, and you know the era that was the Kenny Payne era. If you've never experienced the postgame shows, then you know

you didn't miss a whole lot. I mean, it was if you're a Louisville fan, it was just, you know, a very miserable experience where we just collectively complained and we're sad about the state of Louisville hoops. And you know, I'll be honest with you, I think I'll remember it for a long time, and in a weird.

listening right now. But if there is one, uh, I guess silver lining, which I hate calling it that because I was just as miserable as anybody to see how bad Louisville was in those two years. But excuse me getting choked up because I miss Kenny Pain so much. Not really, I got a peanuts stuck in my throat.

I hope that in a few years we look like a team that you know, is in a spot to maybe annually be looked at as a team that should always be in contention for the ACC. I mean, clearly getting ahead of myself here the guy who coached the game yet But like, I believe that Louisville basketball is going to be in a good spot with Pat Kelcey. But you know what you went through recently, Like it was nobody ever thought we'd live to see how bad

it was. So I don't know, I probably overdo it a little bit because I know that it was just a couple of years. It wasn't But to be fair, it wasn't just the Kenney are It was the end of the my care too. Like you throw in really the last three and a half years, and it's been lower than we would have ever expected it to be.

So I look at it as a positive that. Yeah, usually I'm kind of bored with these kind of games, right, I Mean, it's always fun to see your team in action for the first time going up against somebody else. But I'm not I mean, I'm not gonna be bored at all. I mean, it's brand new, it's a new era. We're gonna get a chance to see what Pat Kelsey's like on the sideline. We're gonna get a chance to

see the type of basketball he wants to play. I mean, we got a glimpse of it in the Bahamas, and that was awesome, Right, That was a nice little appetizer, if you will, when it comes to just seeing what this team was gonna, you know, who they wanted to

be as far as an identity. And yes, it was just two exhibition games against inferior competition, but I happen to think what you saw as far as the way they were playing as far as style, I mean, I think that's what they're gonna try to do against everybody. And if you win by fifty points tonight, I mean I'm not saying they will, but if they did, yeah, towards the end, it's probably not gonna be super entertaining

for you. It'll be you know, you just dominating an opponent like you're supposed to in these kind of games. But one we didn't do that in recent years. And also, I think you're gonna see this team like avoid any kind of a random ass upset. I mean, I don't want to jinx him, but when Pat Kelsey said last week at media Day that he's going to prepare for a young Harris, their opponent tonight, just like he'd be

preparing if it was Duke on the schedule. He didn't just say that to sound like a coach who's being serious and giving you coach speak like that's just how I think, that's how this staff operates, right. They are very very detailed, very organized, very much about routine, and that excites me one because I think that's the right way to go about it. But also I think it's just gonna be fun. Man, It's gonna be a lot of fun. And the last few years were the exact opposite.

Not a lot of fun, a lot of misery, a lot of sadness. So good stuff again, Tonight tip offs at seven. As soon as it ends, we'll go live right here, and I hope you guys will join us. I'm not really sure what there is going to be to react to. Hopefully it's not a close game, Hopefully it's a blowout. But what I'm you know, things I'm looking for in this kind of game is just to see what the rotation is, because again, I believe what you see tonight would be the rotation if you were

playing Duke or Kentucky or North Carolina or Tennessee. Who's your second opponent, because that's just how this staff's gonna go about it. So as far as who's the starting lineup is, I mean, my guess would be that it'll be Terrence Edwards, Chucky Hepburn, Cason Pryor, and then at the other spots, like I don't know, like I could see Cater Treire coming off the bench and really being like you're ultimate six man, a guy who doesn't start but still plays a lot of minutes and does a

little bit of everything. You know. Javon Hadley though, like he's a guy that I think will prop me, you know. So there's a lot of options as far as what you do with starting lineups. But I think you're gonna see a lot of guys play and a lot of

three point shots. They're gonna play really really fast. And what I saw in the Bahamas and it's a little thing like it's not it's it's not like a it wasn't some kind of a sign that I that I viewed as Okay, this tells me not only is Louisville going to be pretty good under Pat Kelsey, they're going to be great, Like they're going to be elite.

energy man, he's always on. And I think this team is going to be exactly like that, and that's a good thing. And I go back to when they played Leonora Ryan and I'm not joking. I mean it wasn't like I'm telling you, these guys kind of looking asleep out there in the first exhibition game, the first time we're watching Kenny Payne coach this team against somebody else, even though it's an exhibition. I mean, like I remember thinking, like, why do they look like they're half asleep, Like they

don't really seem to be locked in like this. They seem to kind of be going through the motions. And sure enough, they were a reflection of the guy coaching them. Now, it didn't mean that I was well, I try. Nobody could have seen them being as bad as they were. Nobody could have predicted that at all, especially when you consider they actually had some pretty good players, which, by the way, I don't know if you guys saw, but apparently Brandon Huntley hadfield for NC State in one of

their charity scrimmages, like was insanely awesome. I don't know what his numbers were, but like that doesn't surprise me. So little things tonight that I'm looking for I mentioned, I just want to see what the rotation looks like as far as who he's got in the starting lineup. Who are the first guys that are coming off the bench, are they?

All right, it is coffee and company. We are fueled by Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven ninety eight the five o'clock hour, rolling along here. Usually we don't start with basketball conversation on a Monday in the five o'clock hour, but it is a game day for Louisville, and maybe I was just trying to avoid talking about what happened against Miami once again, because it wasn't a loss to a bad team, and I don't even think Louisville played

terrible football. I mean, they were right there in a shootout. But it felt like the frustration with what went wrong against Notre Dame and what went wrong against SMU, it really it just turned to sadness after the Miami game because yeah, yeah, I mean, and I did this on the postgame show and I stand by it. I mean it was a very I mean, the special teams penalty on the kickoff that had you snapping the ball from what your own three yard line or something like that,

and then the fumble from Isaac Brown. That was this team showing us their identity again as far as not being able to avoid some crucial mistakes. That will absolutely be a backbreaker for you. And they've done that all year. And I'm not asking them to be perfect like that, like not not doing that, meaning not not committing that silly penalty and then not coughing it up. And I love Isaac Brown, I don't. I mean, it happens, man, I mean terrible timing, but you know what happens. He's

been great. But like, avoiding those two things would not mean, oh, they're perfect. It would just be, hey, let's not make such a critical mistake that can really cost you. And they've done that all year at times. And I don't mean they do it every play, but in every game you'll go back to a backbreaking mistake they made that that really hurt them. And it happened against Miami, and you were able to, you know, claw back in it, right, I mean, you were able to tie that thing up.

And you know, it looked like we had a ballgame on Saturday, right, and sure enough, you just couldn't hold on. And that's a game that you never want to lose. I mean, let's say Louisville took their first loss of the season on Saturday. We'd all still be really, really sad, because one it would be the first loss, and we would have probably already been thinking about a potential perfect season. So like we still would have been doing what you do after a loss, right, nobody wants it.

to be played. And if they somehow went out, I don't know how anybody would say it wasn't a good year, because if so, then I think you're probably somebody that just thinks Louisvill's got to be in the College Football Playoff or at least be in the race for it every year, or it's or it's going to be viewed, you.

good football. All you can do is play is on your schedule. But they've only got one win against a team with a winning record. And that's not to say that they stink, but like, as much as it's unlikely for them to win there, at least in my opinion, like it's not it's not like you're asking them to

do something that is just downright impossible. It's just when you're seven games in and you've established an identity, it's just hard for me to think that they won't have a backbreaking mistake in a close game that you just have to avoid if you want to win close games against good teams. And they've lost three games that were close against good teams.

beating Miami because they're that good. But I think there's a lot of teams that would not have one hundred and fifty five rushing yards after contact, because that's what Miami did. They ran for many more than one hundred and fifty five yards in the game total, but one hundred and fifty five yards on the ground after their running backs and cam Ward made contact with the Louisville defender one hundred and seventy five yards after the catch.

I mean, this team was not tackling well. We played Jeff Bromps press conference earlier today and you know you can you can hear it in his voice, like having to in in you know, mid to late October, talk about.

because you know you just lost. And I'm not saying that like Ron English is not I mean, I think Ron English is deserving of a lot of blame because you know, at the end of the day, he's in charge of the defense. And even if in fact they go into the film room and these guys that missed these tackles or tried to arm tackle and just got trucked over about these Miami running backs, they're always going to be held accountable. But you know who is responsible

for making those guys not do that? Coaches and he's the divinsive Courton. You know who's responsible for the defensive coordinator, the head coach. So like there's blame that could be thrown everywhere. And if you want a point, a finger this way or point it that way, do whatever you want. Like, if you want to put it all on Bram, knock yourself out. I just I don't think getting rid of Ron English now would accomplish anything at all.

I know you can't hear everybody, but I think one person wanted to just act like, you know, it wasn't his fault, which I thought was kind of odd either way. I mean, the defense was not effective and he's the guy in charge of, you know, the defense, and there was some person that just wanted to say, why are we putting it on him.

two sides is underperforming, you're gonna throw criticism at those coordinators. Now, sometimes, like in Jeff's case, if you're critical of the offense, you know you're being critical of the head coach because he's in charge of the offense. So you know, I don't think anybody's picking on ron English. I mean, it's quite clear he's not been good enough, and that doesn't mean that it's all his fault and not player. The

player's fault. They got to take some accountability. That's never not the case, but his The reason I talked about his background a few weeks ago was that he really kind of just it timed out well for him, right. He'd been kind of a career journeyman as a defensive coach, where he used to be a CODEC at Michigan, and if you remember, then he got the job here working for Crackthorpe. He was here, I believe, one year, and then after that he ended up getting a head coaching

job at Eastern Michigan. He was really really bad there in five seasons, and I mean really really bad. And then he was the DC at San Jose State for a year, coached the safeties at Mississippi State, coached the safeties at Florida, and then he got a CODC job with Jeff at Purdue. And in his second and final season for Jeff at Purdue, their defense was pretty good, and I think at that point Jeff just decided, Okay, well I'm going to bring what I had in place as far as my staff with me and try to

keep this thing rolling. And last year it worked. I mean, the defense last year was good, and this year, you know they're not. They make timely plays here and there. I still think you see some of the talent that they have at times with some big play, but I just don't think that they're like, they don't have much of an identity and and I don't really think they know who they are and that the one person responsible for that is the guy who's orchestrating the defense, and

that's around English. So again, I know I sound like I'm talking that of both sides of my mouth here. I'm not defending him as if he's doing a great job, but I still just don't know what you would ultimately accomplish if you made a move like right now. I just don't think that would really benefit anybody. I mean, maybe it would, right maybe it would.

that are doing great. Man, I think it's whack them mo. I think it's the look of the draw, you know, because you can't realistically now, okay, like IU, they put together a team one year. Okay, but think about it, it was the mercy of those players coming in. It's not like I recruited that kid at seventeen and he matured a twenty.

great coaches who are like, screw it. I meant I don't care, you know, So you get kind of what I'm saying.

that's not legitimate, right. I don't think they went out there and got players from the portal and are now learning that they're not as good as we thought they were, because that is gonna happen like that, like if you are going to be dependent upon the portal heavily, like Jeff and this staff are going to. I mean, let's be real, there a lot of schools are. But Jeff in his first couple of years has brought in more

players in the portal than nearly every program. Now last year he took over, so it made sense to you know, when you go through a coaching change, it makes a little more sense for you to have a roster that is honestly mostly built with new guys.

be an issue. So yeah, I mean I think what you said will as far as you know, not really knowing what you're getting and it being kind of, you know, luck of the draw, I'm with you. But I just don't think here locally, there's been a really good example of that. Like I think both teams locally that are struggling as far as Louisville and Kentucky, I mean, I don't really think it's personnel related. I mean, Kentucky's offensive

line has struggled. Louisville, They've got some issues defensively, but like, I don't know, I mean, maybe we could get really deep with it, and maybe it's the fact that like these coaches now are having a tough time really coaching guys knowing that they're like maybe it's not that they're resistant to guys making money, but maybe the same coaching practices just aren't as effective because these guys are not just college players anymore. They're employees. I mean, that's what

they are. All right, quick break, we'll come back on the other side. Keep it rolling along. It's Coffee and Company. We are fuel about Thorton's right here on Sports Talk seven ninety. That's right, Coffee and Company fueled bout Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven ninety. We got about twenty five minutes left before we wrap it up, and we are about an hour and a half away from from tip off. Louisville and and Young Harris, that's the name of the team.

with this this program. And again last year, let's see, I think they were like a few games above five hundred. Maybe I'm not giving them, you know, maybe I'm not giving them a whole lot of Maybe I'm not.

you know, put up, you know, just play. I mean, because again, his roster, his personnel is I mean, he was able to go out and literally build a team that for the most part, everybody he brought in rather it be somebody he he brought in from Charleston with him. There's obviously a few guys only two are playing this year, but obviously James Scott and Rain Smith came with him and played for him at Charleston. All the other guys

that you brought in via the transfer portal. Maybe outside of frank anslom Ivy, all those guys are guys that you brought in because you feel like they can play for you and maybe play a lot like.

You couldn't understand. I'm going to be bringing in like a whole new team and everybody's gonna have to compete and basically get what they earn. Like your playing time is going to be based upon you know how much you work and you know where you stand. It's all going to be earned, right, you earn everything within the program.

That's one of the things that they emphasize. So maybe we find out midway through the year that, Okay, there is a bigger gap between this guy and that guy than we anticipated, right, Like, maybe now I think you can play Case and Pryor and Noah Waterman together.

That's the second game of the season when they played Tennessee. So maybe even at that point, we aren't going to know exactly where everybody stands as far as like the rotation, because Patt will be trying to figure it out. But it wouldn't shock me if you get, you know, midway through the year and it really varies, because you have a lot of guys that are not kind of I don't want to act like they're all the same, Like you got a bunch of robots that are the exact

same players. But I think if there's a night where let's say Chucky Hepburn just doesn't have it going and he's in foul trouble, maybe Koran Johnson runs the show for you, and like whatever game that is, it just happens to be a game where he goes off for twenty something points because he's feeling it. Like, you know, I the biggest concern I have, and I guess I can't even call it a concern until I, you know,

see that it could be a potential issue. But you have a lot of guys that have never really been the man for their team, if that makes sense, and maybe they don't have to be. Maybe it's a collective effort and this team ends up being really good and they've got a good record. They look like a tournament team by the month of February. And it's not because of one guy. It's because of a collection of guys

that are all pretty solid. And when you got sometimes five guys on the floor that can all knock down threes, like it just you're not worried about Louisville because of this guy or that guy. You're worried about their collection of talent, their collection of players that just are hard to match up with because no matter who you put out there, they got dudes who can again stretch the floor and and make you have to, you know, pull your big guys out and really have to defend picking rolls.

So again, I'm rambling here because it's the ultimate unknown, right, I mean, we're gonna learn a little bit tonight. We'll learn a little bit in the next next deshibition game next week when they play Spalding. Then it's more head state than it's Tennessee, and you know it's gonna be a learning experience. But I don't say that to act like, hey, they could end up being terrible.

feel like, hey, we've got a team that looks like a safe bet to make the tournament and maybe we get a decent seed if we end up getting there, not saying for sure that we will, but if we do, I think fans will feel maybe not confirmed, but like that's not gonna be such a big surprise, right because I think when you look at the type of players you brought in where they come from, if this team ends up being super successful this year, and I guess

everybody's definition of what super successful would be is probably different. But like all I've said since the roster was complete is that this is a team that, on paper, as far as the pieces they've added and the coaching staff and Pat Kelsey himself as the coach, this should be a tournament team. And I'm gonna run with that until I see something that tells me, you know.

a Ravens fan before Lamar. They've got the Buccaneers tonight in a pretty good Monday night football matchup. I would I'm curious, would you want to continue to watch Louisville basketball.

Let's say they're up forty at halftime or something, which is an exaggeration, but let's just say, they're up twenty at halftime twenty five, and it's and it's a blowout from the beginning, and it looks like it's going to stay that way, knowing that it's not a knowing that it's not a real game, knowing that your team's not

going to really be challenged. Would you still watch this based off the fact that it's new and it's exciting and it's your first chance to watch this team, or would you be more inclined to go right to a good Monday and a football game between your Ravens and the Buccaneers. I mean, only you can answer that question.

In fact, with technology, you can do both. To be honest with you, like, to me, this is an if you're really big on one of the NFL games, not because we have two, don't we Yeah, we've got Chargers and Cardinals that doesn't start till nine o'clock and then Ravens Buccaneers at eight fifteen. But you, like, this is an iPad in your hand, or maybe you know, you near your recliner and then the TV on a game like that's what I would do. But I don't really care a whole lot about these And I mean I

hope Lamar and the Ravens wins night. I'm gonna be keeping with it to an extent because I'm probably gonna bet on it. But I mean, I'm going to be locked in and watching this exhibition game closer than honestly, probably closer than I've watched a Louisville basketball game in years. Right, Like, I can't remember the last time I was excited for a game, like not to pile on the previous regime and not to go back down that depressing road. But I can't remember the last time I was excited to

watch Louisville play. I mean, I guess it was when they were in the Bahamas just a couple of months ago. But like last year, you had a better team. And I don't know if anybody truly believed that with that coaching staff that Louisville was gonna be much better than they were the year before.

feel like Louill would never lose to. So you know, I mean when that happens, like you're just like all of your fear and you're worry about how disastrous, Like your hope of year one just being the ultimate fluke is gone once you realized they brought out a team full of only I mean they like Kenny only played four and five star players against Kentucky Wesleyan and lost last year, Like I mean, so that made it to where the rest of the way, like let's just end

this thing. This is disastrous. But now we're over that and you got a new era and it's exciting. I'm excited and maybe this this may tonight may be the most excited I'll ever be about an exhibition game, given the circumstances. So the Cards and the young Harris. What a weird name for a team. What's their mascot look?

panic attack. So thank you to It looks like Timothy on Twitter sent me a screenshot from The Courier Journal that says the Young Harris is a D two program coached by Jeremy Currier, who has ties to pack to member who has ties a little typo here for the CJ. In fact, kind of kind of scary to think about Jeremy Currier, who has ties members of Kelsey's staff. So there's some kind of a connection here with the staff.

I don't know what it is. But as somebody h pointed out on this on this tweet sent to me by Timothy, that just explains the connections.

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