But at a fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine day Now, here's Nick Coffee.
If you've listened to me over the years, rather it be here in the afternoon on Sports Talk seven ninety or the previous eras here of Cards Radio seven ninety kr d Gosh. I felt it's weird saying that, but I've been on midday's mornings afternoons here on the station for going on nine years now, and I remember about midway through that whole, this whole journey, I became a cord cutter. It was a experimental thing. We moved out
of our first house. We'd had direct TV. We paid a lot for it, but you know, we had what we wanted. And I just thought, anybody that's relying on the internet to watch TV is going to be, you know, having issues and they're just you know, they're they're they're
just trying to be hip. And sure enough, my wife, you know, mentioned how much we were paying, and I thought, okay, well we're going to move and what I'm going to do is I'll this will give me a chance to give one of these a shot to see if it's possible maybe save some money, and if not. I'll just create a new account with DirecTV and start over and you know, maybe even get like some you know, new member pricing.
Because I left previously. So we tried YouTube.
TV and it was like at the time, gosh, I want to say, it was like, I mean, could it have been like thirty dollars a month? Like I kind of feel like that's what it was, but that just sounds crazy cheap. But we made the switch to YouTube TV. This was in like two thousand and eighteen maybe, and we've been with YouTube TV ever since. I've never once really considered making any kind of change. I've promoted it to other people. In fact, I'm sure they would still
be making a lot of money without me. But I know a lot of people personally and just people that I've talked talked about this with the on the show, like that they've tried YouTube TV and they've never gone back. So I've been a defender, but they they've made some crazy increases when it comes to do you have you two TV?
No, I did a couple of years ago. I'm on I'm on a Hulu TV guys.
Okay, hululv TV. Yeah, So right now, I mean, like I guess this is what. Yeah, thirty four ninety nine was the entry pricing about seven years ago, and that's that's what I paid. And then it quickly went up to thirty nine to ninety nine, and then by twenty nineteen, two years in, it went up to fifty bucks, and I kind of I guess that's when I stopped even paying attention like what it costs. You know, I'm not
I've talked about this before too. It's not something I'm proud of, but like, I have no clue about my finances. My wife takes care of all of that. I have this plastic card that I swipe it when I need to, you know, survive, get gas and feed myself and then everything else she just handles. So it's probably not what I should do. But you know, I don't really know what we pay for anything. Again, that's embarrassing to say,
but I'm just being transparent with you. So, but now it's gone from forty nine ninety nine and twenty nineteen and here we are in twenty twenty four it's going up to eighty two ninety So I still think that doesn't sound like a crazy amount of money to pay per month to get all these television stations, but to see how much it has jumped in that time, I guess that is a little surprising, and you know, I I'll probably keep it, but it did for the first
time make me realize, what do I need YouTube TV for? Like what? Because I don't, like, what do I need live TV for? Like, you know, can't you? I mean, obviously you can watch most games are on ESPN, but if like something's on CBS or Fox, like you can still access that without paying. Actually, I don't know how would you do that.
I know that YouTube TV doesn't have access to the local sports anymore, right, No, No.
YouTube TV has live sports. Okay has live local channels. Okay, they have all that. But I'm just saying, like the only thing I would don't think I never I ever need anything live for is sports. And if a game is on ESPN and any ESPN channel, if I've got ESPN Plus, I can watch all of them. Yeah, I won't need you know, I don't need to sign in with a TV provider. So I'm trying to think of what what I watch on sports when I sign went in with the TV provider, Like if a game is
on Fox, meaning like Fox forty one. Can I just down down with the wd r B app and watch it because you don't have to pay for the local channels just to you know, at least I don't think you do, so I probably won't just eliminate it. But I only watch sports when it comes to anything live, and the majority of that is on an ESPN owned channel and if I and I already have access to that regardless because we have d Disney Plus and ESPN Plus.
So who's your internet provider, Spectrum? It's Spectrum, So I know that you can go on the Spectrum app. They got a Spectrum watch and you can just watch all the local channels.
Oh even if you just have the internet, yes, I'm pretty sure, as long as you have to log in, yeah, and you're at and pay like your local stuff. But nothing like none of the packages that it right, like viacom stations and all that exactly that makes sense, So you know, when it comes to just you know, everything, I like, I've got a bo like there's some that I probably don't need, but I do have access to
Paramount Plus, Peacock, HBO, Showtime, Paramount Plus. And it's usually because there's been at least one or two shows on one of those streaming providers that I that I really get into. And then there's also I mean I could find something to watch on any of those, not that I not that I really need it, sure, but like if I got rid of.
The you know, now it's probably it's easily going to be the most expensive thing that I have, which is my YouTube TV. That's going to be eighty bas basically eighty five bucks a month, like you know, like I don't I don't know if I need that, but I
don't know. It would probably take my wife telling me, like, hey, let's just get rid of it, and then I'll because I just would have to make that decision exactly because it does just it does scare me if I'm trying to find because that's what kept me from like not wanting.
To cut the cord and stick with direct TV.
Yeah, because just.
The thought of like not knowing where to find it or if I have access to it, like just get you know, especially if it's a if it's a sporting event I wanted to watch. But clearly now like there's there's ways around it. Have you used all your free subscriptions everywhere else? I know sling TV is a really good one if he wanted to try that one out for him on Yeah, so we we went straight from
direct TV to YouTube TV. So I've never tried any of the other ones and it and it may be, you know, it may be worth doing it, but I feel like in the end like it. You know, I probably don't need one of those probably scheme of things. And if it's gonna save me, you know, eighty five bucks a month, and then then heck, yeah, I will say a former radio loudmouth like like we are now mister Lockelan McClain, who now is uh don't try line is exactly shout out Lochlan McClain and an iHeart legend.
And of course now he's doing his thing on television. Of course you'd expect that with a with a handsome face like his. But he is now at Spectrum News here locally, and of course you know he's being a honk for his employer because you know he works for Spectrum. But he did bring up something that that is valid if you have you know, if you have the standard cable subscription with with Spectrum, it now includes Disney plus ESPN plus paramount Plus, Discovery Plus, a MC plus, Peacock
BT Plus, so you know, like what's happening. And I read about this earlier what YouTube TV and Hulu Live, like what these streaming services are now paying per you know, paying to to to be able to have those channels as part of their what they sell. Their prices are now going up to where it's really it's gonna be the same, like you probably can can can much more.
I don't know if we're there yet, And I guess it all depends on like what you really need to have, Like are you somebody that doesn't care about sports, so you don't want ESPN Plus? Do you not need Disney Plus because you don't have kids? Like you can kind of pick and choose. But I think the whole joke about like, well, in the end, we ended up getting rid of cable and getting all these individual subscriptions, and now it's harder to keep up with it. It's actually
just as expensive or more expensive. Like I don't think we're that far from there, but having at two TV on my phone and being able to pop it up like that's that's so convenient. But I'm sure I can do that with Spectrum to be honest with you, well.
In the convenience of it, because I get what these Hulu, Peacock, YouTube TV, I don't know what fubo. You heard of Fubo Fubo, Yeah, I've heard it. But YouTube TV doesn't have any like specific like programming right where you can just go to like, hey, go watch this a YouTube because you obviously you get it for all the other live streaming but I know.
Like it to me, it's the it's the it's this live streaming TV service that looks as the most like what you used to have when you would go to direct TV.
So there's no like YouTube TV like exclusives like Netflix has like Stranger Things or something like that.
Yeah, yeah, you're right.
They don't have any of their own original programming. Yeah yeah, that's all I meant to say, original programming. And it's turned into getting those apps strictly for original programming, binge watching it, paying less for it, cutting the chords. Now it's all come back to most of these places will release episode where you can't binge watch it. I know.
We had that discussion about the Yellowstone not too long ago, and then it's just like they release it in weeks and then you got to wait that week for it, and it just makes it completely inconvenient. The reason that we signed up for them and cut the cable cords in the first place.
Yeah, so we didn't have to rely on a weekly live schedule. We could we could just watch it.
We're back in a circle.
Yep. And by the way, the there are certain shows that I know that if I had to wait and I couldn't just roll through at my own pace, I would have never ended up watching all the way through. And some of these are like my favorite shows. Ever, so I'm glad that some of these shows I was able to binge through. You know, I either watched them later or uh, you know, they didn't do that at
the time. I can't think of what the first it was a Netflix did it first with one of their big popular shows where they split up the two seasons, and then it just became a thing everywhere, and you know, I don't I don't like it.
But I'm gonna be at that crossroads with Peacock coming up, because obviously I'm a big wrestling fan in WWE is going to Netflix. Well, they just announced, or at least it's it's it's the rumor is they're not gonna have the ww network because they usually they have that section on the Peacock when you just go on you could watch any old school pay per view. Well they're not. Netflix isn't going to get that library, They're not the archive. No, they're not getting any They might have like a couple
old like WrestleMania's or raws. But if you're a wrestling fan and loves to watch that like me, you just better get out your watch. And now that and The Office were the two main reasons that sold me on Peacock. Now that they're losing that, it's gonna be pretty hard. Now still watch The Office, and I like the other NBC So King of Queens is a great show. I love to go back and watch some of that. But
that is huge WWE lifer. That's gonna be taking a blow because you know, I like to I like to watch them old old grappling every now and then.
So what you're saying is the only thing keeping you with the Cock is the old WWE, hcw wrestling right, Yes, absolutely, yeah, I think a lot of people are with you. To be honest with you, I know you're not alone there all right, it's coffee and company. We are fueled by Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven ninety. I just heard during the break there that people are paying over five thousand dollars a year now for gas. I actually would
have guessed that it would cost more. But in the end, gas is not super cheap, and you know it's an expense that you don't like. But what if I told you could save money every time you go to the gas pump. As a member of the Refreshing Awards program at Thornton's, you're saving money and not just the three cents every time. Occasionally you'll be able to qualify to get twenty five cents off. I think they've had some real special or opportunities to save up to fifty fifty
cents off per gallon. So you know, take advantage. Sign up right now. If you have an Android or an iPhone, you've download the app. It's free and you will be good to go.
All right.
So one of the things I've talked about when it comes to the Transfer portal is that you know it's not just about who you go out there and ad, it's who you retain, and you just know you're going to lose players every year, and the hope is that the guys that leave, more of them are not guys that you wanted to be gone, but you understand why they're leaving, and you see them gone as an opportunity for Jeff Brohm to go get somebody to replace that person,
maybe not even at the same position, but maybe you've got a weakness elsewhere because somebody you did want to keep ended up leaving to go play you know, tight end elsewhere. So anyways, Louisville I feel like had had done really, really well because they've had a lot of guys into the transfer portal, just like everybody else. I don't think they're up there. I know, Kentucky and Arkansas were the two teams that had more guys leaving than anybody else from.
The port but Louisvill's had their fair share of guys at the portal.
And you know, there's certain guys that I think, are you know, fine players, you know, I you know, but I totally think Louisville can be fine without him, and I get while they're leaving. But Mason Rager is the easy to forget because he didn't play all this year. He got hurt, But he's the first one where I'm like, Okay, it didn't really hurt because again, Louisville didn't have him this year, so you already win a year without him. But like to know, oh yeah, that guy was pretty
damn good in Brahm's first year. To know that he was leaving that that that kind of sucked, But it wasn't as bad as the news I got yesterday. Jamari Johnson, the tight end who showed a lot of upside, a lot of talent that he has, and it really started to show before he got hurt in that game against Virginia and then missed the rest of the season. So he is without question.
In the group.
And I don't I mean, maybe he's alone because I feel like not to say that you can easily just move on with Mason riger but again you've already gone a year without him. But I think Jamari Johnson, wherever he ends up, is going to be really, really, really good, and he may in fact end up being one of those those guys that you you really, you know, like didn't think to me, there's no reason for him to leave, But again, he has the choice, and it's his choice.
He can do it. I'm not bitter, I'm not angry at him. It's his life and he wants to go elsewhere, so that's his decision. But you know, Nil clearly is it was something he could have gotten here. And I don't get the sense at all that it's about Anil. I don't know what it's about. But you know, he would have played a lot here, and he would have played in an offense that really really utilized him, and he would have had a chance to have some pretty
good numbers and statistics. So you know, he may be one of those guys that you don't know who to blame, You don't know who to be mad at. Maybe you're gonna be mad at him because he dumped you essentially, but like I would be shocked if he's not really successful elsewhere. There's been some other guys that have had, you know, some success that moved on, like Caleb Banks
at Florida has has has done well for himself. But I think again, the majority of the guys that you've ended up losing, you know, they've kind of ended up showing that there was a reason they left louisvill because they tell to a lower level or they went to maybe a similar level and we're kind of the same player. But yeah, Jamar Johnson, that one hurt. All right, quick break, We'll come back on the other side. Keep this thing
rolling along. It is Coffee and Company, and we are few about Thorntons right here on Sports Talk seven ninety.
You're listening to Coffee and Company with Nick Coffee on Sports Talk seven to night.
I think it was on Monday. We were discussing the board meeting, the UFL Board of Trustees meeting for the athletic Department. I guess it's the ULEA board. They had scheduled a meeting or some kind of a get together. I'm sure it was a meeting or something. There's a lot of steps and going to get something done at u of L and most universities to where there's a few different meetings that are really all just part of a process. I'm not sure what part of the process was.
But initially when you see just the public record of the meeting happening, you know there's no details, but I don't know if I guess it wasn't expected, so there was some worry.
Okay, what is this about? Because what they were going to discuss could have, you know, gave.
The indication that it was going to be either some kind of a hire or some kind of a disciplinary thing, something in that, you know, in that world, and nobody had a clue. I didn't even see anybody making any kind of guess or speculation. But what it ended up being was a contract extension for Josh Hurd And I don't think the final steps have happened yet, but it
is happening. Josh Hurt is getting a contract extension. And I don't know what to compare this to as far as like the terms, but it's twenty twenty four, about to be twenty twenty five, and I was surprised. But again, don't I don't reference athletic director contracts when it comes to the amount of years and the amount of money, just because you know, it's not something that's publicly covered. And I've never really given a damn and I really
don't care. But to me, I felt like to see that the extension goes through twenty thirty that sounded like a really long time, So I'm not maybe maybe that's normal, Maybe it is lengthy. I don't know, maybe it's on the short end. I'm not sure. But for those asking what would have warranted that, I have no clue, but I wouldn't be shocked if it's because maybe Josh knows that he has other option. Maybe he knows he could go work elsewhere. I don't have I don't have a clue.
You know that he that he'd ever leave, or that he wanted to leave, or that he was looking. But you know, for him to get a contract extension with still some time left on the deal and one that runs through twenty thirty, maybe that's just his superiors wanting to let him know how much they value him. Or maybe he was looking for a new contract and it got to the negotiation table and that's where they ended up. I really don't know, but I understand that there's some
people that maybe still are. Here's what I'll tell you about Josh Hurd, just from from you know, my thoughts. I think he's done a fine job. I think anything that you'd be really critical of about U of L, you could also understand that that outcome, that result, that that that got you there was more than just him. You know, he made the decision to hire Kenny Payne. I really respected that he wanted to make it clear
that he did it. It was his choice, but we also know and you know he was that was that was the move that people wanted him to make, and you know he was influenced. I don't mean, I don't mean that he was forced to do it, but there's no doubt about it. People who you know, their approval of him, would would really would really benefit Josh. That's what they wanted him to do. And people can say
whatever they want now. I didn't like the idea of hiring a first time head coach because you know, I felt like there was never a time where you needed more of a proven guy at that time, just because of how things ended with Mac. But whenever I and again it's funny to say now because Kenny was proven to be one of the worst coaches or maybe the
worst coach of all time in college basketball. But if we're talking about going and getting Matt McMahon at Murray State, Greg Gard at Wisconsin, or let's take a chance on this Kenny Paine guy who played here, won a championship and apparently is this ace recruiter, then we'll do that.
And clearly I would have been wrong, just like Josh and everybody else I mean, maybe others would have said no, but I just felt like Louiell wasn't gonna be able to go get a big name, and I was willing to take a chance on Kenny more so than somebody that we didn't know, and clearly that was a terrible mistake. So, you know, maybe you want to see how well Pat does before you feel like Josh is capable to make these kind of decisions and these kind of hires.
And if that's your if that's where you stand, then I don't think that's crazy.
But I also don't think, you know, to Josh's benefit, to Josh's credit, I don't you know. People can say that that Brohm would have come here regardless if Josh was the ad or not.
They're probably right.
In fact, I think they are right, But that's also not a negative to Josh. That's just the situation, right. It doesn't mean, you know, doesn't mean if Jeff Brom was not Jeff Bram who played here at Louisville and had any connections, maybe Josh would has been able to persuade him. So like, just because something, just because he benefited from something, doesn't mean it should be held against him.
And I do think he deserves a lot of credit for how he handled Scott's Saderfield that couldn't have worked out better. He didn't bluff and and Scott read the room and left and found a new landing spot. A lot of AD's I don't think would have done that. So I'm not here to tell you that Josh is the best athletic director the world. But I also don't think there's anything that's transpired other than the Kenny Payne
higher that would like, really be alarming. But I also, you know, know that he would you know, that wasn't I mean, that was a mistake, and he's the one who ultimately had to say so. But there's way more to it than that, and I think we all know it. So to see that the contract extension is apparently to twenty thirty again, I think it shows that the people who are in charge of his you know, people who are above him, people who he works for essentially that
decide these kind of things, they really value him. And I you know, there's not been any big, big, big moment to where I'm like, Wow, what a phenomenal move by this AD. But I also think he's done some pretty good things that are pretty obvious, and there's really nothing that would make me think, oh goodness, this guy is terrible. He's incompetent. And again, you talked to me a year ago during this exact time actually with Kenny,
I maybe would have said different. But you know, there's a lot of things going on that people don't have a whole lot of you know, info.
About, and that that matters.
But also, you know, Josh can't put a motion into the decision, although we wanted him to because we were you know, his fans just thinking you can't get rid of this guy faster. But I also don't think that Louisville benefited in any way last year if they would have gotten rid of Kenny beforehand, so you know, meaning if they got rid of in midseason. So you know, the only thing that surprised me in regards to the
contract was just how long it was. But I'm willing to say that that may just be the norm, and if that's the case, then you know, that's just how it works, all right, Coffee and Company, we are feel about Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven ninety. Appreciate you hanging out with us. We're about halfway through here. In fact, we were exactly halfway through here, taking you up until six o'clock, and you can take us with you wherever you go. Listen live on the IUT radio app. Also
listen live at seven ninety Louisville dot com. All right, so we talk a lot about sports wagering here. It's a big part of our of our culture when it
comes to watching sports. I know there are people that don't, you know, get involved in sports betting and don't wager, but you know, degenerate they clearly know all about it now because it's it's very much in your face that sports betting is a humongous industry, and you know, it used to be something that you know, was illegal and it was frowned upon, and now you can't watch a love sporting event without being bombarded with advertisements from these
sports books. And these sports books are you know, essentially in bed with the NBA, the NFL, that kind of stuff. So, you know, even people that don't do it, I mean, I would imagine it hasn't been such an issue that they don't watch sports anymore. But this is good, a good breakdown from Legal sports Report dot Com that kind of just tells you some some information and some numbers when it comes to the demographic that is in sports betting.
So young betters in the twenty one to thirty four age range remain very much like the bigger you know, the people who do it the most. Probably not the most money, I guess. But it says at least sixty percent of people from twenty to twenty one to thirty four are placing at least three bets a week, compared to the overall average of forty seven percent. It says the age group also led in average bet size, wagering approximately fifty eight dollars per bet compared to forty nine
to fifty overall. Better sixty five or older tend to place the smallest bets. Man, I feel like a real poor here, Austin. I don't want to get into my I don't want to get into unit size, you know, because you know some of us aren't as blessed when it comes to unit size. But you know, when I'm laying down a couple of units on something, I'm talking
like twenty bucks, that's a steep bet for me. Yeah, And here we got the average age of people, you know, younger than me, their average bet is fifty eight bucks per bet. They're probably not doing parlays, right, No, those are straight betters and hey, and if I was just and I do both, although I do tend to be more of a parlay guy. I just do fewer legs
with a little bit more unit unit level on it. However, if I was, like if parlays didn't exist, I would imagine that my unit size would would would probably go up, maybe maybe substantially. But you know, a fifty eight dollars bet on anything for me is it sounds steep?
But again it's a lot. I'm not as blessed as others.
And the sportsbooks have it right with you call it breathing stupid air. Right, It's like the same thing that you do when you walk into a casino. Oh yeah, and how you build your parlay like they do a great job. They make all their money on parlay, Yeah, because they you can see, like you increasing your odds and what that twenty dollars can turn into Like that twenty dollars off a single bet. It's just the turnout
is only forty bucks. But the more you add to it all, just twenty dollars could be three hundred and forty seven because you don't up the odds to yeah plus thirteen.
They know that people can't resist seeing Okay, these are these are this is all likely, so yeah, let's do this, let's do it, you know. And that's all true. And I'm a sucker that does that pretty frequently. So yeah, you're welcome, FanDuel. But when it comes to the ride of a parlay, that's also a factor for me too. Yeah, it's not just that you get more I mean, it makes sense if you get more bets correct and it's all one bet essentially, that's what a parlay is, then
you know you're you're going to get more money. But it also you know, I'm willing to say that the mond even if even if I want a parlay and let's just say the put it this way. Let's say whatever I bet the winnings were going to be twenty bucks, if it was a parlay that had three legs, or if it was a straight bet they gave me those same winnings, I would have more joy and feel more like.
Hell yeah if the parlay hit. Yeah, so it's more of a ride, you know.
That's that's that's kind of why I really do like doing parlays. But you know, I'm well aware that the you know, and I'm part of it, that that's how they make a lot of money. In fact, too, parlays are the most popular with younger folks. This is roughly sixty percent of folks that are in the age range of twenty one to fifty four said parlays are same game parlays are their favorite type of wager, which was
the highest percentage of any of the demographics. Now, as far as sports betting demos by app, this one, I really wouldn't have had a clue because I don't think of a certain sports book and think, Okay, they reach this demo or that demo. But ESPN bet has the largest proportion of younger users, with forty four percent of its audience in that twenty one to thirty four age range, followed closely by Bet three sixty five at forty three percent.
I've never used Bet three sixty five. I don't think the homies like BET three sixty five, do they?
No, No, that's one of the one of the apps that I'm shunned from.
I didn't know if you were gonna put it out there That's why I said what I said. But yeah, that's uh, they'vey've banned my man. Uh and they can't you know.
They lift it, lift it. I'll come back.
Yeah. So, uh, Caesars and BETMGM, which are those even available here in Kentucky?
MGM is I don't know that the Caesars one.
When I think of Caesars, I just think of the boat, you know cross, Yeah, that's their that's their sports school. But Caesars and BETMGM. They that says they've honed in on marketing strategies tied to their physical properties. Over the last few years, had the highest percentage of the sixty five plus demo at five percent each. That makes total sense because again, like the only casino that's near us
there's their sports book is is Caesars. So I guess if you're somebody that's been betting physically at locations for a while and you tend to you know, then it becomes legal to do it online, like in Indiana a few years ago. Maybe you've just stayed loyal to that same that same sports book says here the Fanatics boasts the largest share of women betters at thirty nine percent.
Just to as Caesars, which is a thirty eight percent, and bet three sixty five has the most male dominated user base, which is twenty one percent of the betters being female. DraftKings and FanDuel were next when it comes to women, with the twenty two percent of each of their books players being on the female side. Now no surprise, NFL remains the most popular eighty five percent of the people who bet are betting on the NFL and shocking, and the NBA is at fifty five which speaking of
the NBA, I want to get to this later. I watched the NBA last night for the first time in a long time, and I mean, the product is trash.
Yeah, I agree.
I feel like I feel like I'm the boomer that used to just say the NBA all they do, they don't call all walks and nothing to do with that. The product's is not good.
It's not good.
It's it's really tough to watch. So we'll talk about that and a lot more baseball. Yeah, I mean, I never watched baseball, but he still loved the NBA. What happened to the game?
I love? Yeah? What happened that? Mark the Mark?
Mark Jackson? What happened to the game I once loved because it's not good right now, all right, quick break, don't go in where, keep it locked right here on Sports Talk seven.
Ninety you're listening to Coffee and Company with Nick Coffee on Sports Talk seven nine day.
So I guess while we were discussing the Josh Hurd contract extension, it did get the final stamp of approval in u of L has sent out a press release and it is a deal that will pay him or that will that will employ him up until twenty thirty. So again I have no clue if that is a you know, standard amount of time, or if if he got a deal that was lengthier than others because they just want to make sure they lock him down because they value what he does. And again, you know, I
don't need to get into it. I just did about twenty minutes ago. But yeah, it is now. It is now official, and I'm looking. This is a quote from the This is a quote from President Kim Shatzel. The contract extension is a great signal of the confidence that the university has in Josh is tremendous leadership. He's the right person and the right leader to take you athletics toward its very bright future. Not only does Josh care deeply about our athletics department, but he also cares about
the university and our community. We look forward to supporting him and his role for many years to come. So that's a deal that says here that, Yeah, he was the interim athletic director. That's what I couldn't remember is how long ago it was when he became the interim, which was in December of twenty one, and then he was elevated to the full time spot in June of twenty twenty two. So lockdown now until twenty thirty. All right,
it's coffee and the company. We are feel about Thorton's here on Sports Talk Setnay ninety thanks for hanging out with us here on a Thursday afternoon, so I know that when it comes to let me see him pull it up here? Where did it go?
Where did it go? Oka?
Found it? Sorry, distracted by something that just came in, not on the text loan, but something that just sent to my phone.
Has that ever happened to you?
I'm sure it has. You just completely get lost on something that something ampletely you know, completely well, I mean I guess it could be something along those lines. But and it wasn't some kind of an emergency. But I just got just got a message from somebody that just literally made me block out for a brief second. And it's not even like I'm scared, It's just it was something really random that I wasn't expecting. And that's why I should turn my phone over, which I used to do.
I used to just turn my phone completely, uh, you know, facing down to where and it's on a table next to me, to where I don't hear it if it goes off, because that can easily, you know, easily get distracted. So apologies, but anyways, we'll get this thing back on track, all right. So last night Louisville and UTAP we did talk a little bit about just the overall you know, performance, and it wasn't great. I think it was probably the worst I've seen this team look thus far, and it
was because of a lot of reasons. Couldn't make shots, had some slobby turnovers earlier. But they did get a little bit better at taking care of the ball later on. But this was the this was the third game since you've realized that you don't have case in pryor and you know the third game where you know, hey, this is what you.
Have to work with.
So the ole Miss game in the Duke game, those were games clearly against you know, really good teams. And then you play utep a game the team that you're supposed to be regardless of your injury situation. So you know, the last three games, obviously I wanted Louisville to win all of them, and they did not. They went one and two. I'm still just trying to figure out, okay, if there's gonna be somewhat of a change in identity or at least just you know, adjustments made. What are
we doing right? Are we not going to play as fast? Are we not going to shoot as many threes? What's the core rotation going to be now that you're only playing seven guys? And I really feel like after the first three chances to see you know this, I mean, I want to call it a new Louisville team, but a new version that is, you know, not as it doesn't have as many guys. So you know, it's gonna be tough to play the way you want to play. And I do think against Duke, you saw some half
court sets that you know, we were effective. I thought, you know, there there was a there was and I don't when I say that there was much more. There was a much more. There was a higher level of
execution in the half court. I don't want to act like before that they weren't executing, but you know, it was more of a structured thing to where okay, instead of just knowing we can just you know, go fast and try to find somebody who can get a good clean look within rhythm from three, you know, we need to we need to be a little bit more patient and run something. Run a set that that's why it's called a set. So you know, you saw a little bit of a little bit of that, a little bit
of that last night. But you know, just the turn you know, again, the number the turnover, the amount of turnovers that Louisville had last night obviously wasn't alarming, but it was pretty sloppy early and actually, more than anything, I feel like the majority of their turnovers are unforced. Uh you know, it's it's somebody like getting in the way of a pass when Louisville's passing it to a teammate,
Like I think that happened twice last night. It's kicking it off your foot, it's stepping on the inbound line, it's just throwing it in, not you know, not being on the same page with your teammate and throwing it as he's running away. Like I feel like those have been maybe not the majority of the turnovers that they've had, but certainly way more of those you than you would expect.
So there's little things you can do, because here's the reality when it comes to Louisville, like being the best version of what they can be with the players that they have, and I don't even really know what that best version is, but you know you're gonna need to make shots. You can't have nights where you shoot thirty plus threes and you shoot less than twenty percent. That's just that's a recipe to get your ass kicked by anybody with a pulse, to be honest with you, that's
just that's just the reality of it. So but you can't go out there and add a player, and you can't you can't expect guys to like do something that they've never really been able to do. Like, here's there's not a guy right now that you can put in the game that you feel like is a real physical presence in the post. When it comes to physicality, when it comes to just presence or you know, the ability to score in the post, we don't have. But that
guy doesn't exist. And I don't think Noah Watermen or James Scott are going to turn into that guy at any point. So you know, given what you have, I think you got to you gotta really try to maximize and get every bit you can get out of three guys Chucky, Hepburn, Kahani ruths in, Terrence Edwards, and I'm
gonna throw Javon Hadley in there as well. I think Javaon is a little bit limited as far as just like being able to take a guy one on one or you know, he doesn't really have a he doesn't really have something in his bag offensively that like you know you can really lean on. But he's a he's pretty good at just about everything, and he plays pretty tough and you know, he's serviceable in every aspect. So like if he's just consistent, then that's okay. Same thing
with Rayn Smith. Like Rain Smith, smart player understands spacing is not as big of a defensive defensive liability as some people probably thought he would be. And if he's knocking down shots, he can change games for you. So, like you know those guys, I kind of feel like, you know, you're getting really the best of them that you can get now. Some nights that's not the case, but like I think it's not as if you need to really like reach in and figure out something they
can provide that they haven't provided yet. But I think with Terrence Edwards and you're starting to see it, you know, I know he drafts people crazy at times, but you know he can get to the free throw line and sometimes it takes him forever to get a shot off, but sometimes they go in. Sometimes he makes three point shots. So Chucky Edwards, Ruth's and did I say somebody else that they're like, like, I'm there's a name I just
mentioned that I'm kind of blanking on Rain Smith. No, Rain, I mentioned Rain for being the guy that like you know, you know you're gonna need him, but like the what you're getting now, like I kind of feel like you're getting really not all that he has. And there's gonna be some games where maybe he can make a ton of threes, and there may be some games where Hadley's gonna get eighteen rebounds, But like, I don't think you're reaching in to get something out of those guys we
haven't seen yet. I think if you just really try to focus your offense specific maybe not run your offense as far as a style and a system, but realize that the chances of guys being able to just go get a bucket and score on somebody or create their own offense, it's gonna be Chucky Terrence or or Can
I Ruth's. I mean, you know, last night, I feel like I'm nitpicking because I was a little you know, I felt like he should have played a little more than he did, especially early on, and you know, he does make mistakes, but I just feel like there's no like when he's not in the game, I'm sorry, when he's in the game, who are you looking at on the bench and thinking, man, we got to get him back in because he's bringing us this and that and
and can I can't do that? Like I don't so, I really it'd be different if he was playing behind somebody that I felt like legitimately was somebody years don't want to take off the floor, but I would give every minute to Can I rous because again I think he's talented. He showed it last night. I mean those two dunks, like nobody else on the team's doing that. And you know he's he's he's gonna make mistakes like anybody else, and sometimes his mistakes are going to look
more youthful. But if in the end it gets it to where he's a much different player in six weeks, then that's that's not only a benefit to him, it's a benefit to the team. But this is just something to be reminded of. And I know last night you did not play one of these great teams that's been on your schedule. But there's some analytics out here from Let's See this. The account is CBB Analytics on Let's See. I'll read you their bio just so I can cite
my source here. But it's says College Hoops number one stats platform, Gain an Edge and Scouting Strategy and Game Prep Power by NCAA Stats Live. So it's a formula that tracks defensive ratings, offensive ratings efficiency, just like it's a version of Ken Palm and the Bart Torvick and
that kind of stuff. So again, this does you know last night UTEP was not one of these teams, but it is important to consider Louisville has played the vast majority of of their schedules thus far against teams that are probably going to be in the INSTABA tournament. So you know, like I happen to think that that should be. You know, so if they do play well and start rolling through some of the bad teams in the ACC.
And again, last night's not a good indicator because that was not a good team and you could have easily lost. But right now, Louisville has played as far as the best defensive teams in the country. They've played the fifth toughest schedule as far as just tracking defense alone. I'm sorry I have it backwards. They've played they faced the tenth toughest defense so far, but they've played they've faced the fifth toughest offense so far in the country when
it comes to who they've played collectively. So you know, that didn't mean you're gonna win a bunch of games. But like to see the record being what it is isn't great. But like they've played a really challenging schedule thus far, and let's be real, it doesn't get any easier. On Saturday when you go play Kentucky, who I don't know where they are when it comes to to statistics. I think they've kind of underperformed when it comes to
shooting like Louisville. Probably not nearly as bad as Louisville, but still they're a really good team. They've proven that with their wins and their resume have to this point,
so you know, context always matters. Now, it doesn't guarantee that when you get to the acc section of the schedule you're much better, but you know, it wouldn't shock me if they are a team that can play like they did last night, or maybe slightly better and still roll through that league for the majority of it because the AEC is not that good, and every team that is beat level thus far right by now is considered to be a really good team or you know, maybe
the number one team in the country or top ten team like Duke. All right, quick break, We will come back on the other side with the five o'clock hours, So stick around. A lot more to go right here on Sports Talk seven ninety