2024-12-31- KSR - Hour 2

00:00:00
Speaker 1: Welcome back, have number two Kentucky Sports Radio.

00:00:02
Speaker 2: If I'm nine two eight oh twenty two eighty seven. There we go here at the KS Bar and Grill as we get ready for Kentucky and.

00:00:11
Speaker 1: Brown sec versus the IVY League.

00:00:15
Speaker 2: The Cats come in as a now a twenty five point favorite. The line has risen for Kentucky up to twenty five points today playing against Brown. The bar is open and uh, it's a packed house here. I think it's gonna be a fun day in Lexington. This is our first game since the whole set versus stand.

00:00:39
Speaker 1: Thing of the Louisville game. What's it gonna be like in there? Drew?

00:00:43
Speaker 2: Do you think there's gonna be many standing warriors out there?

00:00:48
Speaker 3: I think there are. I think some will just be general excitement, but I think there might be a couple trolls mixed in. I don't know anything, but it just seems like a situation where someone might do some some attention seeking or maybe look for a little conflict afflicted. I don't want that to be the case, but I will be keeping a close eye on section fifteen.

00:01:05
Speaker 2: Do you remember you remember the Georgia State game, the way the crowd was different because it was the Thanksgiving holiday.

00:01:14
Speaker 1: It's gonna be like that today too.

00:01:15
Speaker 2: I think there's a lot of people at this game that they don't go to a lot of games. You know, this is there in town for the holidays or they're off work today. I think you're gonna see some of that, a lot of that. I think it's gonna be a much rowdier crowd than a game against Brown normally would be.

00:01:34
Speaker 4: You hit on it, I mean just walking around. I think these are folks that aren't normally have a chance to have tickets to go to a game. A lot of out of town people here for the holidays, so yes, they're gonna be very excited. You can feel it in here. So I think there'll be a lot of people stand up, some people out of spite, but a lot of people just because they're excited to be at Rupperen and watch his team play.

00:01:51
Speaker 3: It's a big Christmas gift game. You got your family, You go to Brown in a few days. We got New Year's ey, we got plans, we're gonna be with Ryan Lemon downtown. Why don't you go to the game instead? And then you get the energetic person who isn't in there much not the person that's in that seat every every night.

00:02:06
Speaker 2: Definitely, this is definitely a giving away at Christmas game. So you're gonna you're gonna have a different You're gonna have a different kind of crowd.

00:02:15
Speaker 1: You know. We've talked over theres.

00:02:17
Speaker 2: About the football team coming off long layoffs has been absolutely awful over the last few years. Be interesting to see what Pope teams are like Ryan after layoffs for them, you know what things during the cow years, Hello to the guy Ferry Stay, those teams usually would see improvement after this period of time.

00:02:39
Speaker 1: This was his.

00:02:39
Speaker 2: Famous like Camp col times, and they usually did show a lot of improvement after this ten days.

00:02:45
Speaker 1: Do you expect to see that with Pope. I think we will.

00:02:49
Speaker 4: You know it, you hated to get your butt kicked right before Christmas then have to sit on that for the next ten days.

00:02:55
Speaker 3: That horrible feeling you.

00:02:56
Speaker 4: Have because you just got run off the court at time by Ohio State. So yeah, I think the intensity level has been there. And just from hearing the guys said yesterday, and I think they're really looking forward to finally getting back on the floor.

00:03:07
Speaker 1: He said.

00:03:07
Speaker 2: They Pope said they spent a lot of time during the break doing ball screen defense, which is good because we were awful at it. Last year's Kentucky team was terrible at the ball screen. This one actually thought we guarded it really well early in the year, but then just completely seemed to lose it, starting really with.

00:03:26
Speaker 1: The Louisville game.

00:03:27
Speaker 2: The Louisville and the Ohio State game, we just could not seem to guard any ball screen.

00:03:34
Speaker 1: Do you expect that to get better?

00:03:36
Speaker 3: I think so, because it's pretty obvious he's drilling that home. I didn't need to hear Pope live last night, but Jackson Robinson and Lamon Butler did interviews. It's twenty minutes long. They must have said ball screen defense a hundred times, and it's the answer to Jackson's first three questions. Seems like that's all they've worked on since that game. So I think even though Stink's having a drought, as a fan, you want to see him more and you want the players to go get a rece that. I think maybe losing that bad it might be more laser focused during the break because they know they got to correct some things.

00:04:05
Speaker 2: I'm a little more confident about the ball screen defense than the one on one defense, because they actually played pretty good ball screen defense against Gonzaga and Duke. You know, they were We've seen them be good at that in other games. Whereas I still don't know that we're ever gonna be able to guard people one on one off the dribble, but against the ball screen, I do think maybe we'll see some improvement.

00:04:26
Speaker 4: Yeah, I don't know how much. You know, you can improve as a defensive player during the course of a season, and you can work on your fundamentals and try to, you know, make things a little better.

00:04:35
Speaker 1: But some of these guys are just not very.

00:04:38
Speaker 4: Good defenders, but they got to be on the court because they're good on the offensive end.

00:04:41
Speaker 3: Robinson said, Pope's been telling them that they can be the best ball screen defensive team in the country. Now as a coach. As a coach, you kind of have to say that's get them to try. But I mean it is very obvious that's the messaging right now in practice.

00:04:53
Speaker 1: That's in the country.

00:04:54
Speaker 3: That's what he's telling them. I mean, that's what you gotta tell them if you want him to strive through that. But that's if we were go look at the dry race board behind the scenes right now. I bet that's in the biggest letters of ball screen defense.

00:05:06
Speaker 1: That's in the country.

00:05:07
Speaker 3: That's what he said. I'm just telling you what Jackson Robinson, there's.

00:05:10
Speaker 4: You know, like I said, they've got some guys that got some defensive liabilities on this team that just they're not gonna magically improve and get better.

00:05:16
Speaker 2: If I'm nine two eight oh twenty two eighty seven, one person rights Matt during SEC play, rank our three best players in order, how do you think they'll play?

00:05:26
Speaker 5: All?

00:05:26
Speaker 2: Right, So we we did this a lot before the season, but now we've actually seen ten games. If you were to say, for the for SEC play, who will be our three best players in order?

00:05:36
Speaker 1: Ryan, what are you gonna say?

00:05:37
Speaker 4: I'm gonna go to three perimeter players. Actually, I'm gonna go Lamont, Otega and Jackson. I think those three guys, you know, the SEC has kind of been a perimeter oriented league for many years, and I think those are the three guys are gonna have to step up and play well if they're gonna do some stuff in the SEC season.

00:05:51
Speaker 3: I have Butler and Oway written in sharpy on that list. I think I'll go Robinson too, but I could put Car in my in my third spot to make it three. But oh, Butler, certainly.

00:06:02
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go Butler.

00:06:06
Speaker 2: Car Robinson, which is a surprise because I've had Robinson as our one.

00:06:11
Speaker 1: I think Robinson's gonna have a to me.

00:06:14
Speaker 2: The key to the season is, now, what does Robinson do the last rest of the year. I think I kind of know what I'm gonna get from Butler. I kind of know what I'm gonna get from Car for the rest of the year. I need to see what am I gonna Am I gonna get like star level play from Robinson? Or am I just gonna get okay play? I think that's what I'm gonna need to see.

00:06:33
Speaker 4: If you're gonna be the guy okay, now's the time to step up and be the guy Jackson Robinson. If you want to improve your NBA stalk, now's the time go be that guy.

00:06:42
Speaker 1: A five nine, two, eight, oh, twenty two eighty seven. Who's up next? Lee? Is up next? Lee? Go ahead? Lee?

00:06:49
Speaker 6: Hey, Matt. With all the n I L money, so you know, maybe being a little higher than we all anticipated. Do you think Division one schools are going to run out of money? You think that they may have to do away with some minor men's sport, not the women's because they're gonna have stay Title nine compliant, but like do away with golf.

00:07:11
Speaker 1: Yeah, so I think that's a great question. Here's here.

00:07:13
Speaker 2: I think they're gonna be three things happen because of this new revenue share coming. Number one is there are going to be some sports go away. It's probably gonna start with one or two men's sports, but I think it'll be men's and women long term. I mean they will have to they'll have to kill the same amount of women's sports as they do men, right, So like you can't you can't kill a women's soccer team but then leave the same so you have to kill the same amount.

00:07:45
Speaker 1: But they are gonna be sports go away. Just a fact. You know, you said men's golf.

00:07:50
Speaker 2: If I if I were, if I were thinking about what are the sports on the chopping block, golf is probably towards the top.

00:07:58
Speaker 1: I think that.

00:07:59
Speaker 2: I think there's a lot lot of schools where golf is, you know, probably in trouble. I think tennis is probably in trouble in some of these schools where I think you really are gonna see this something like swimming where the cost is huge, the roster size is huge. I think you're gonna see a lot of schools that are kind of in the business of swimming but not really competitive. I think you're gonna see a lot of those schools just get out of it. That's number one. I think number two, you're going to see the monetization of everything, like everything, So you know, I don't know that it'll be r reperena forever, right like it's gonna be everything. But then third, and I think this isn't talked about a lot. Coaches salaries are gonna come down, Like your coaches salary, The days of coaches making ten to twelve million dollars are gone. Like and this is I'm not trying to pick on Mark Stoops, but Mark Stoops making nine million.

00:09:00
Speaker 1: The next dude.

00:09:01
Speaker 2: In college football that's as good as Mark Stoops. He ain't making nine million dollars anymore. He's making five or six. And the rest that money's going to nil. They'll say to him, Mark, we want you to stay here, will give you six Really it's nine, but three of that we're putting in the nil fund. That's where I think it's gonna have to be a Belichick Saban, you know, Dan Hurley kind of guy.

00:09:28
Speaker 1: To get ten million dollars.

00:09:29
Speaker 2: I think you're gonna see the average coach salary go down and a lot.

00:09:33
Speaker 1: More of that money Ryan going to the pool for players. And that's what it's gonna be up to that coach. You want to take that hit, But I think there. I think the schools are gonna unit. I think there's gonna be an informal agreement.

00:09:45
Speaker 2: Let's just all cool it with the coaches because we gotta do this with the players.

00:09:49
Speaker 1: Huh.

00:09:51
Speaker 2: I really believe. I think the days of these the days of these football coaches going seven and five and getting nine or ten million dollars, they're gone. I mean, look, Mike Gundy already readjusted his contract, Mike Norvale readjusted his contract.

00:10:06
Speaker 1: You're gonna see more of that, especially in the ACC and Big twelve.

00:10:09
Speaker 2: Now, the SEC and Big ten may take longer, but Drew, I think it's happening in all of them because the money's gonna be going to the players.

00:10:16
Speaker 3: Yeah, I agree with you. When you're paying zero dollars to your entire locker room, there was a big pot of money to get to the coaches and the assistant coaches, their travel, all that. But now the people actually out there with the ball in their hand, they're winning and losing these games. They need to slice the pie. And there's just not nearly enough to go around to pay many coaches outside of legends, like you said, what they're getting.

00:10:35
Speaker 2: Well, let's just I mean, let's say you were in charge of an athletic department. Let me just put you the listener, in charge of an athletic department budget. Most athletic departments outside of the big schools were already losing money. But let's just say you're Mitch Barnhardt and at Kentucky you were making a little bit of money. I don't know what it was, but let's say you had two million extra in revenue. All right, So the SEC increases your contract and now you're getting let's say, fifteen million dollars a year more from your television contract. Well that's good, but now you have to spend twenty three million dollars more in player payouts. Where's that eight million dollars coming prove? Now, at least with Kentucky, you're getting an extra fifteen million year in a TV revenue. What if you're Louisville and you're only getting three million more dollars in TV revenue, but you still have to find that twenty two million dollars. Where you getting that nineteen million dollars? You gotta get it from somewhere. And I think those are the schools that are looking at the Mike Gundies and saying, you know what, can you take a little bit less money because we got to find nineteen million dollars run somewhere.

00:11:48
Speaker 4: I think it's become to come more commonplace. Exactly what Mike Gundy did. Readjust his contract. He wants to steal coach. He knows the only way you can be successful is to do something like that.

00:11:57
Speaker 2: And one of these schools drew and it's just a matter who does it first. And I'm gonna make you a prediction. I think our friends down the road are gonna be one of the first ones to do it. They might even be the first one to do it, because I know Louisville's looking at it. They're gonna take on private equity money. One of these schools is going to sell a percentage of their athletic department to private equity. It is going to happen. It is going to happen soon. It's probably gonna happen in the next couple of years. And I'm gonna make you a bead that Louisville is one of the first ones to do it because the people that run that school, they got some smart business people on there, and I know they're looking into it.

00:12:39
Speaker 3: The other jersey will have the Planet Fitness logo right next to them.

00:12:42
Speaker 1: Yes, you see logo.

00:12:43
Speaker 3: I think that the days of because we already see it in pro sports. You got the Wish symbol on Celtics or whatever it is, all the ge they all have the logos on these jerseys. Now, I think that's gonna come to college.

00:12:53
Speaker 2: What would you think about if Kentucky was like, you know, Kentucky and Wendy's. I'm not kidding you see it's it sounds crazy until it's not.

00:13:06
Speaker 3: No, no, but it's I think it's coming. But it's the's hilarious to think that my favorite team is the Kentucky Clark's pumping shops.

00:13:12
Speaker 4: What would people think if also there's the Wendy's logo on their basketball jersey of their Kentucky Wildcats.

00:13:18
Speaker 2: I don't know it's it's I don't know if the SEC is more immune, but these ACS, I don't think people realize the crisis that the ACC and Big twelve teams are about to hit. They're going to be expected to compete with the SEC and the Big ten but with half the revenue and the same cost because they have to spend that twenty two million dollars and they don't have the same revenue coming in. I don't know what the ACC and Big twelve teams ryan. I don't know what they can do. That's why Clemson and Florida State are suing to try to get to move because they don't know how financially they're gonna.

00:13:57
Speaker 4: Do it with. For a school like Clemson, I can see why. Yeah, you want to compete for a national level, if you don't have the finances of the money to go get your players and pay your coaches, you got to move to a different conference.

00:14:07
Speaker 2: And if you you know, they can spend up to twenty two million dollars, but if you only choose to spend ten, how you're gonna be able to compete with the guys that are spending twenty two.

00:14:15
Speaker 3: It'd be tough.

00:14:16
Speaker 1: You're not gonna be able to.

00:14:17
Speaker 3: Yeah. I even wrote a story recently from a national person that slipped my mind who wrote it. But they were talking about how you know now they have these locker rooms are so extravagant, and there's all these things they provided the players. They'll dial that back and say, look, you're getting paid without question. You don't need a barbershop. Go get a haircut. You're getting you are exactly right. All that stuff's gonna go away too. So for you know, let's look at UK.

00:14:40
Speaker 2: You know, there's been a lot to talk about getting a new basketball practice facility. I'm not sure how high that was up on the radar, but it just went down because because that money that was gonna be spent creating this great facility, they have to.

00:14:55
Speaker 1: Use it to actually give the players in there.

00:14:59
Speaker 3: Now they're gonna tell the players the money for that facilia is in your pocket.

00:15:01
Speaker 1: That's right.

00:15:02
Speaker 2: You don't have a barber shop because you got that car, So go get your own haircut. Yeah, so af, I'm nine two twenty two eighty seven. Who's next? John is up next?

00:15:10
Speaker 1: John? Go ahead? John?

00:15:15
Speaker 5: Yes?

00:15:15
Speaker 7: Man? Yeah, back there that which you've just I've been talking about it would be that that is something that needs to be done. Coaches make a lot of money, and uh, today in the Brown game, it will be a trap game. Probably looking ahead a little bit too. Uh Florida the main game, of course for the whole season, and yet boring the main games for the whole season in the SCU Sea and that one guy really pretty good, pretty good player, yeah for Brown, and so you know how to be a closer game than what people playing, probably especially twenty five points.

00:15:50
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree. I appreciate the call. I don't think I'm ryan.

00:15:53
Speaker 2: I'm not worried about being a trap game because we haven't played in so long. I think the guys are going to be excited to play. So I don't think it's like one of those things where you look past them because these guys haven't been on the court in a while. But I just think Brown's good enough that it'll be competitive for a lot of the game.

00:16:08
Speaker 4: Yeah, if we had just gotten beat by Ohio State, like on Monday or something, and then you're looking ahead to Florida, may be a trap game. The fact it's been so long, these guys are chomping at the bit to get back on the court regardless if it's Brown Florida, who are they just want to get back on the court and play somebody.

00:16:22
Speaker 3: Kansas played Brown last weekend. They were calling it a trap game. It's right before the holiday, other games around it. I think, like Matt said, with the gap here, I don't think you sneak up on them in this one. I thought the callers said it's gonna be a track game, like fast paced, and I was gonna add Brown as one of the slowest teams, so it's not gonna be a track meet. They're gonna slow it down like we've seen a lot of teams.

00:16:43
Speaker 2: They're very slow exactly. I mean, they're exactly what we don't want to see. They're slow, they're physical, they're thankfully they're not athletic. You know, Ohio State kills us with athleticism. I don't think Brown's gonna kill us with athleticism. But they do block shots. I gotta see how who are these dudes that are six six leading the country in block shots.

00:17:03
Speaker 1: I gotta see these guys, Dre how does that.

00:17:05
Speaker 3: I wrote down there? Starting line up, it goes six foot, six foot sixty four sixty five sixty seven that's and then is one.

00:17:11
Speaker 1: Of the top. How are they blocking shots?

00:17:14
Speaker 3: It's impressive. And the guy blocking the shots. They had a three time captain, big guy go down right before the year, has surgery and they didn't know how he was gonna replace him. And his name's Landon Lewis has stepped in and he's putting up crazy numbers and kind of a filling role. He was on the team last year, played barely at all, and he's been good for him, he's been the leaders.

00:17:32
Speaker 2: They were an out can contender to be an outside top twenty five candidate if that guy hadn't gotten hurt.

00:17:39
Speaker 1: I mean they thought they thought they could be good this year.

00:17:42
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00:18:01
Speaker 1: It's the good life. Who's next? Drew the Drew go ahead?

00:18:05
Speaker 5: Drew Hey Hey, good day, gentlemen, Matt, if you has missed this second on forgive me. But as far as the private equity, does that change tax and Sennas if you mentioned that, I'm sorry, it just now be able to tune in. But as far as like people donating money or we're buying into the game, is there something that would would cause people to do that quicker than just giving to nil?

00:18:28
Speaker 2: Well, remember that when they changed the tax code the last time Trump was president, they took away the uh, the what do you call it, the incentive to give the athletic foundations. You used to be able to write that money off, and then when they did the they you can't do that anymore. That changed, uh in like twenty eighteen or twenty nineteen. So I don't think it will change anything when you give. If you give to a universeity to like the General Fund, you can get a tax right off. But if you give to the UK Athletic Department it is now not a ride off anymore. So I don't think that it would I don't. I don't think it would make any difference.

00:19:14
Speaker 5: Okay, The reason I was one, I mean, if I'm if I'm rich enough to give millions of dollars or five hundred grand and I'm losing that on a tax benefit. You really have to trust the coach or you do program to be able to do that. All right, Thanks man, I.

00:19:26
Speaker 1: Appreciate it, Cad, No, you do. I mean the.

00:19:30
Speaker 2: Like I you know, if you've listened to show, I'm a big believer in the revenue sharing.

00:19:36
Speaker 1: Nil, I'm for all of it.

00:19:37
Speaker 2: I think most of the whining about it is missed is incorrect.

00:19:43
Speaker 1: And I do think there's gonna.

00:19:44
Speaker 2: Be a system put in place that's actually gonna make it significantly better.

00:19:49
Speaker 1: But the reality is this is.

00:19:52
Speaker 2: Going to become the equivalent of a professional sport, and as such, the way we look at it is going to be different, including for players. You know, I saw there's a guy Indiana has Diallo or whatever. He transferred from Arizona State. He's not even playing and he missed a game. He got suspended for a game because he was late because he was at a bar the night before. They're paying two million dollars, like, people look at that differently. Ryan, When they're paying you two million dollars, they start to look at it like a pro.

00:20:23
Speaker 4: That's why you've talked a lot about eventually that you you just need some contracts, you need something in writing, or maybe if he you don't show up for a game and you get suspended, you don't get some of that money.

00:20:32
Speaker 1: And then that a player.

00:20:33
Speaker 3: They're fired up because he's like laughing on the bench and a clip. So the fans are seeing this guy took millions from two billion dollars and he's out the night for a game and cutting up on the bench. You're just gonna start seeing a little more criticism involved too. Yeah, expecting more of these guys. You should expect your guy to not sty out tonight for a game, even that game.

00:20:51
Speaker 2: It is just gonna be a different thing, all right. So we're gonna lose some people here now. As we will lose a lot of the people, we will move to the pregame show. If you are at one of our affiliates that does not take the pregame show, you can go online right now to WLAP dot com and you can hear we're gonna shift to the pre pregame show. We will be playing the best of for the last thirty minutes. So let's do this. I'll save the MVP. But do you feel good about a victory today.

00:21:20
Speaker 3: I feel good about a victory, but I also think Brown will keep it close for a little while. I think it'll be similar to Kansas. It'll be close for half and then Kentucky will pull away.

00:21:29
Speaker 1: You know.

00:21:29
Speaker 4: Kentucky's had some slow starts, you know, and so I expect it to be a relatively close game by halftime, but Kentucky pulls out and wins it.

00:21:37
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think this will be I think it'll be a good game.

00:21:39
Speaker 2: I think Kentucky's gotta Kentucky will win, but Kentucky's gonna get challenged a lot of this game, and I think this is I'm really intrigued to watch this to see how I feel about the game on Saturday, which I think Saturday to me, Saturday, like I've said, is.

00:21:56
Speaker 1: One of the two or three biggest games YEP of the year. Right, we're gonna take a break.

00:21:59
Speaker 2: We'll be right back and then well it will be a few minutes and then we'll be back for the pregame show to kentucky'selegt Chevy Dealers KSR pregame

00:22:09
Speaker 5: H