2024-11-20- KSR - Hour 1

00:00:00
Speaker 1: This is Kentucky Sports Radio presented by Stockton Mortgage. Now here's Matt Jones.

00:00:06
Speaker 2: Welcome everyone, Kentucky Sports Radio.

00:00:08
Speaker 3: Wednesday, November the twenty f I'm Matt Jones here at the KS Bar and Grill in Lexington, Kentucky on a partly cloudy day. It is wings day, dollar wings seventy cent. Boneless had a guy write me and say, Matt, question for you, my buddies and Iron in a debate. It was like, college student, is wings day seventy cents? A wing for Boneless or for all ten?

00:00:35
Speaker 2: I was like, it's a week. If we were to charge.

00:00:39
Speaker 3: Seventy cents for ten wings, I think it would be hard to keep this place open.

00:00:44
Speaker 2: That would be seven cents a week.

00:00:47
Speaker 4: Not a very good businessman.

00:00:48
Speaker 3: I've ben go ahead and say I wouldn't need a seven cent wing, would you?

00:00:52
Speaker 2: I think it would be from a seventh.

00:00:54
Speaker 3: I mean, first of all, that chicken is only worth what twenty eight cents.

00:00:57
Speaker 2: Or fourteen cents? Like you know I would neat that.

00:01:00
Speaker 5: I'm kind of with you there. I want to know what was up with that show?

00:01:03
Speaker 2: I want to know why is it a seven cent wink?

00:01:05
Speaker 3: So yes, it is seventy cents ah wing still an amazing deal, But I'm just saying Clark's pupping chop phone line eight five nine two eight twenty two eighty seven Avis Auto Glass text machine seven seven two four five two five four In this disition sponsored by the t J Smith lowf you call Tj'll make them pay. Wake up, guys, let's go both. Look like you're asleep. Let's go up for three hours. I'm ready.

00:01:29
Speaker 2: All right, what's going on? Nothing?

00:01:30
Speaker 4: We're ready to go.

00:01:31
Speaker 2: Well, why do you look like you're so tired? Wait? What's wrong?

00:01:33
Speaker 4: You know it's wind.

00:01:34
Speaker 2: You look like you've I'm not say this with love. You look like you've been beat up? Good? What? What what happened?

00:01:40
Speaker 4: It's funny. I mean I didn't sleep well last night.

00:01:42
Speaker 3: I'm not trying to beat like, but you look like.

00:01:45
Speaker 4: You've been beat up. I was up from like two to four last night. I could not go back to sleep doing what just up? I just woke up, couldn't go back to sleep.

00:01:53
Speaker 3: About Seattle? Yeah that's what it was. Yeah, Well, I'm excited about it. Should have been excited about that win. Last night I was very.

00:02:00
Speaker 4: Excited about listening to your post game show last night to see what you guys want to talk about, because I figure it wasn't gonna be much about the basketball game.

00:02:06
Speaker 2: Well, we only talked about the best I know.

00:02:08
Speaker 4: Usually when it's a blowout, he goes kind of got out the rails.

00:02:10
Speaker 2: Still excited.

00:02:11
Speaker 3: There's no reason, in my opinion, to deviate yet. I mean, win by thirty Drew game was never in doubt. It wasn't like you had like a first half or a ten minute stretch where you weren't sure. Honestly, we were up almost forty and then uh, you know, at the end they put the guys in and it got a little closer. I think Pope was upset in the postgame press conference that we did that because he goes, you know, I try to keep him under thirty nine percent, and we did all we could at the end to get him over thirty nine percent.

00:02:41
Speaker 2: But I thought it was as good a night as you could have had.

00:02:44
Speaker 6: Yeah, very fun night, like we all wanted. Jackson Robinson told everybody to eat it. Yes, don't you worry about me. I'm fine. Wasn't that good to say his first twenty point game as a cat. They almost shot fifty percent from three and Trent Noah missed the three that would have given him one hundred and kept them over fifty percent and dropped them a little bit.

00:03:01
Speaker 5: But that's what makes it fun.

00:03:02
Speaker 6: You've got where I sit there some kids around me, and they're rooting to get to one hundred every game.

00:03:06
Speaker 2: Now, yeah, I like it.

00:03:07
Speaker 6: When's the last time we've been Yeah, it just adds to the excitement over there.

00:03:11
Speaker 3: So just let's go over some some parts about it. First of all, Lips can miss their first thirteen threes. Here's how you know. If you're a negative UK fan. If when I wrote, hey, we're playing good defense, you go, well, they're just missing open shots. Well maybe we gave it to them because we thought they'd miss it. You, I mean, you can't stop everything unless you're like, you're not gonna be able to stop everything, So you have to figure out what you're gonna give people.

00:03:37
Speaker 2: Pope will give any long two free.

00:03:39
Speaker 3: Yes, and he is okay doing what the sort of whiff by three and he says if you make it, you know you make it now. They did hit more as a game of on They didn't hit many. No I thought Kentucky, Uh, second half they did a little worse about the back door cuts. But first half, especially when you were getting their lead them from getting one of their signature things, which is the back door cuts. And then offensively, you know, Jackson Robinson Butler hits goes three for three from three Brea once again. Bray is sixteen of nineteen from three point that's pretty good. Crazy, I mean, that's an insane number. Like, that's an insane number. I mean, if he keeps that up, Drew, I think that's a record.

00:04:23
Speaker 4: So Reed Shepard just set the record last year for highest three point percentage in a season at Kentucky. It was like fifty two. It may last one year.

00:04:32
Speaker 5: Yeah, those two were one and two in the whole country last year.

00:04:36
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:04:36
Speaker 3: I mean, if you historically, three of our top six ever were last year, and they may never.

00:04:41
Speaker 2: That's true, but you know, I think that's a good way to say.

00:04:47
Speaker 3: I was thinking about this last night as I you know, Dalton connect for Tennessee had this had this crazy, crazy game.

00:04:53
Speaker 2: Lest I had thirty seven points, which is amazing.

00:04:56
Speaker 4: Oh yeah.

00:04:59
Speaker 3: You know, as college basketball has become more like the NBA, because it has in terms of play styles outside of Fayetteville, Arkansas. I mean more now the players aren't as good, but the play styles and is In some ways college NBA has gone away from what we used to think the NBA was, where guys just broke people down and all that, to a little bit more of a team's concept. Although they'll still do ISO because those dudes are so talented. The difference between what's a good college player and what's a good pro player has changed a little bit. I mean, right now, probably the two dudes who have had the best year in the NBA were Dalton connect and.

00:05:35
Speaker 2: Zach Edies seniors.

00:05:37
Speaker 4: Yeah, from lastyear.

00:05:37
Speaker 2: When's the last time the two best guys in the.

00:05:39
Speaker 4: NBA we're seniors.

00:05:42
Speaker 3: I mean, you'd have to go way, way way back. Similarly, though, on the college level, through this team. Maybe exactly what you want in college basketball now maybe your short one superstar, but like these guys seem to fit in perfectly together.

00:06:01
Speaker 6: Yeah, a lot of that's the spacing how the game's gone to. I mean, when they'll play five out in all the motion they do, it's just so fun to watch. And I know we all worried about a guy that could attack, but I think Otega always kind of shown a little bit leading scorer, right, yeah, yeah, I mean that's if you say, maybe they were missing something and he's competition, you have to keep doing it. But so far, I mean, he's shown he can go to the rim, which was one of the things you wondered if they had that kind of playmaker.

00:06:24
Speaker 3: Always the leading scorer, Bray as the leading shooter. Uh, Butler's probably the better best defender. Carr leads the team in plus minus, and Jackson Robinson might be our best overall player.

00:06:39
Speaker 2: And I just mentioned six different guys.

00:06:41
Speaker 4: It's amazing. If you're an opposing coach, it's almost impossible to gain plan to try to stop Kentucky because of what we just said. I got so many weapons, so many guys that can shoot outside. But last night I was almost as more impressed with the defense. I looked up late in the first half and Lipscomb had nineteen points. You know, they just completely I think came out made an effort to lock them down. Last night.

00:07:01
Speaker 3: In the first half, we won the game from defense, and then in the second half it was offense. Basically, we our defense was really good in the first half, and in the second half we turned up and scored.

00:07:11
Speaker 2: Uh what do we score?

00:07:12
Speaker 3: I mean halftime we had what forty two, So we scored fifty five points.

00:07:15
Speaker 2: In the second half. That's a lot that'll win most games.

00:07:18
Speaker 6: Yeah, and with about six seven minutes ago, you've already putting in the end of the bench and have kind of taken your foot off the gas a little bit too pretty early into that second half. If they had been playing full speed and kept in the main rotation, and it could have gotten real ugly.

00:07:32
Speaker 2: I talked about this on the postgame show.

00:07:34
Speaker 3: I won't totally repeat myself, but the Lipscomb coach said after the game best offense he's coached against in a Power four team basically said, you can't make one mistake against this Kentucky team. If you make one mistake, you're giving them an open three. And they have a team full of guys who could all make it. That was interesting to me. Yeah, that's what I say.

00:07:54
Speaker 4: Math, if you're a posing coach trying to game plan to stop Kentucky, you gotta it'll keep you up at night because it's what you do.

00:08:00
Speaker 3: Who do you I mean, I was sitting there thinking I'd probably say I'm gonna make the bigs beat us.

00:08:06
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's how you're gonna have to do it.

00:08:08
Speaker 3: I mean, I'm gonna make a Maury Williams and Brandon Garrison beat us. But you know, when Garrison gets going, his little hook shot is pretty solid. So I don't know if those dudes, we haven't seen a ton of them going back to the basket a little bit, but if they do that consistently, then I don't know what you.

00:08:24
Speaker 5: Do be a hacking of Mari's strategy.

00:08:27
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, no, I think you're probably right. But for me, I mean, this to me was the ultimate uh Matt Jones nerd game because of his comments after the okay, you know, because I, like I said, I'm a little bit Shannon, you know, of of of a door. I mean just a little bit, like not not much like it's not it's just like that much, just a little bit.

00:08:52
Speaker 2: You know.

00:08:53
Speaker 4: I take a book and read baseball game.

00:08:55
Speaker 2: I read it halftime last night. What are you laughter that we.

00:09:01
Speaker 4: We Danny dork. There's no doubt about her.

00:09:04
Speaker 3: My name is not Danny, all right, don't we call me Danny. I did not look like Danny's got a mullet and a Danny can fix your car and I can't.

00:09:17
Speaker 2: Okay, that's what a Danny could do. I was. I read Jill Lapour book at Halftimes.

00:09:22
Speaker 3: That's a great book. You know, here's completely off topic. Jill Lapour has a new set of essays. I recommend him, not for you, but for other people. But you know what I realized is I looked at her author photo.

00:09:35
Speaker 2: On the back.

00:09:35
Speaker 4: What was that?

00:09:36
Speaker 2: I went back?

00:09:37
Speaker 3: Jill Lapour interviewed you. What I do you remember that? The case is like an author who has like she's I think she's one of the best authors about America that exists right now. She writes for The New Yorker. But she interviewed you at the twenty sixteen Republican convention. Do you remember that? No, you remember that I couldn't. They walked around, they walked around the first day and he would remember this is when Trump was still considered controversial even with the Republicans, and there were people at that convention who didn't want him, and they were interviewing the average convention goer.

00:10:14
Speaker 2: And I looked up and she was interviewing you.

00:10:17
Speaker 4: Not a convention goer, No, not at all.

00:10:20
Speaker 3: Remember she found you so amusing because you kept saying you didn't know anything about it.

00:10:26
Speaker 4: Yeah, I kind of remember that.

00:10:27
Speaker 3: I have a picture of that you and I didn't realize that was the same person until halftime of last night. I'm off topics shockingly, let's get back. So what I was saying the nerd in me after the game, his Ted Lasso meets you know Jill Lapour tweets about neuroscience and positivity. They couldn't have made me happier, in part because I feel like I took a lesson from it.

00:10:55
Speaker 4: It's right, it's like he was kind of educating all of us. I think at that time.

00:10:58
Speaker 3: Yes, I mean when he said, and I talked about this on the post game show, but when he said, the neuroscience is one hundred percent clear. We don't spend time talking about what we don't want to have happened. We talk about what we're trying to do. The neuroscience is one hundred conclusive that the best way to success is to focus on what you want to have happened, not what you want to not have happened.

00:11:26
Speaker 4: Your night is complete.

00:11:28
Speaker 3: There's never been a basketball coach never, certainly in the Southeastern Conference, maybe the IVY League coaches talk like that, Like, I haven't heard of Cornell press conference. I do remember DeMarcus Cousins saying this ain't no spelling bee.

00:11:43
Speaker 2: But you know I heard that first of all, it.

00:11:47
Speaker 3: Makes complete sense, yes, right, rather than focus on oh no, what could happen wrong?

00:11:52
Speaker 2: Go what am I trying to do?

00:11:53
Speaker 3: But he said neuroscience, And I was like, I think we found the perfect coach for me.

00:11:57
Speaker 2: Drew.

00:11:58
Speaker 3: He's smart, he's he's entertaining, a little goofy, and yet he really knows basketball.

00:12:06
Speaker 2: I think he's how's he is? He not?

00:12:09
Speaker 6: Has he perfect? So far, he's been perfect. I've been trying to keep a record of his motivational quotes. I mean it's won every interview, every press conference. It's good to the point we almost have like our own little inspirational like.

00:12:21
Speaker 5: Kind of like a self help guy.

00:12:22
Speaker 6: Like but I don't think he's cheesy, No, but I mean he he almost always has some message that's bigger than basketball every time.

00:12:28
Speaker 2: I don't think he's cheesy.

00:12:29
Speaker 3: Like I don't like the people like when people hang up on their mirror.

00:12:35
Speaker 2: In yourself and no one believes in you, and you're like, okay, dude, shit stop it right, like you can just just slow down.

00:12:41
Speaker 5: Like the old posters.

00:12:42
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't like that.

00:12:43
Speaker 3: I don't like the rip something off on your calendar and it comes up a Vince Lombardi quote like I'm a little that's a little much for me.

00:12:51
Speaker 2: But the fact that he.

00:12:52
Speaker 3: Blends that kind of hokeness with being like with science, I just not think.

00:12:59
Speaker 4: Now, I think that's a great it's awesome, and that's I think something that's so refreshing to hear. From what we've been been through. Pope can reach his guys. Maybe you know, these fifty year seniors have probably been through everything, but now he's reaching them in a different way that nobody talked to him.

00:13:15
Speaker 3: And he explains his thought process with God going did you know what I did?

00:13:20
Speaker 2: I did? You don't know basketball what I did?

00:13:25
Speaker 1: This is like, this is like Goofus and Gallant on the Highlights? Anybody remembers and Gallant Gallant Highlights?

00:13:33
Speaker 2: Max?

00:13:34
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I remember that as a kid. You know, Guphus is cal and you got Gallon over here, Pope, and there was always a comparison to Gallon. You don't remember, how do you not remember that from highlight?

00:13:43
Speaker 3: I don't I think I skipped I went Shakespeare. You were reading the highlights. I do remember, how I don't remember Goofis and Gallon. Yeah, some highlights on the trip, Shannon, we'll read it, okay.

00:13:53
Speaker 2: The difference.

00:13:54
Speaker 3: There's something about a guy who goes the neuroscience is clear that we're going to focus on positivity, and then he's like, I wanted to shoot thirty nine percent. We went or the other team to shoot less than thirty nine percent. Thirty eight point eight percent is what Lipscom shot. If we keep it behind the blow thirty nine percent, we feel like we're winning.

00:14:09
Speaker 2: As you see what I did Tweak Drink tweek. I just think this it's just more my style. I'm not saying the other thing can't work.

00:14:20
Speaker 3: I'm just saying Ryan hearing these logical explanations rather than peek a boo to me is a lot more entertaining.

00:14:28
Speaker 4: This has been one of my favorite segments we've done in a long time, just watching you and your antics.

00:14:33
Speaker 2: Hey, you know basketball. You know you're not listening to me to day.

00:14:40
Speaker 4: Welcome back, Danny Dork.

00:14:51
Speaker 3: Yeah, my name's not Danny. I'm okay with the dork. I don't want to be called Danny Danny boy. Yeah, I'm not not a Danny guy.

00:15:00
Speaker 7: Uh.

00:15:00
Speaker 3: I just I just found the picture I just tweeted out of Jill Lapour.

00:15:03
Speaker 2: We also found out I didn't realize this.

00:15:05
Speaker 3: We interviewed her for Crackle Cracker Barrel versus out Back during that era.

00:15:10
Speaker 2: I was in twenty sixteen.

00:15:11
Speaker 3: We did the fast food bracket and at the Republican Convention, think about we asked just off my memory, we asked her Don King, King, Herman Kane, Yes, Van Jones. I think we even asked Tucker Carlson. I have a picture with Tucker Carlson.

00:15:29
Speaker 6: Scott Bao got bail. Yeah, you introduced me to Tucker Carlson. I had no idea who I was meeting.

00:15:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, who would have known eight years later he would have I have a picture with him from that. I have a picture with a lot of people from that.

00:15:42
Speaker 5: We just went around asking anyone.

00:15:43
Speaker 2: Anyone that would talk to us.

00:15:45
Speaker 3: And the thing is about those conventions is they were like you could talk to anybody pretty much. I have a picture of Trump accepting the nomination. I'm in the first row. Yeah, there's a picture of him talking to me. Just looking up admiring Nah.

00:15:59
Speaker 4: Of all of our that one still may be my favorite.

00:16:02
Speaker 2: They gave us a lot more access.

00:16:03
Speaker 4: We had complete access. We were kind of loopy and drunk the whole time. It seemed like you were drunk. I was not drunk.

00:16:12
Speaker 5: Respecting the process, we were drunk.

00:16:14
Speaker 2: You were drunk.

00:16:15
Speaker 3: I wasn't drunk, one person, writes Matt on the morning or excuse me on the pregame show, Cameron, I did not hear this. By the way, Cameron Mills said, Mark Pope has the players memorize the scouting report. He will walk up to random players during practice, say a number of the team they're playing, and ask what that player's report is.

00:16:36
Speaker 4: The players got to say three things about that player. I heard Cameron talk about it. I'm like, I was blown away. That's unbelievable to me, especially for like, you know, no offense, But for the some of these teams we're playing right now, they got three you know, no offense to David Lipscomb, well, I mean, but.

00:16:51
Speaker 3: The principle you want to get them in that mode of we take these guys all seriously. But the idea that you would walk up and practice and say number twenty three and everyone would have something Drew. That's kind of unbelievable, isn't it.

00:17:05
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean I've heard Cameron talk about it last night. I heard Travis Ford said in another interview it'd all kind of start with Patino. He'd give him like twenty pages of information about the other team and do some of the same things. Now Pope's done his own style, but has kept about that preparation giving him so much information.

00:17:21
Speaker 2: Travis Ford was good last year.

00:17:23
Speaker 3: He was really good, Like I thought he was really good, like for somebody who he has to have done that somewhere because he had a presence about him.

00:17:32
Speaker 2: I thought Drew like I thought he was really good at that.

00:17:35
Speaker 5: I was at the game.

00:17:36
Speaker 6: I got home and caught the replay, but only the first few minutes. But no, I'm excited to watch more of it. But I have nothing but good reviews online. People seem to really like.

00:17:43
Speaker 3: Usually the first few times people do it, they sound nervous and whatever.

00:17:47
Speaker 2: He was on it.

00:17:48
Speaker 4: I really I thought Cameron, Robbie and Travis, all three of them have done a good job doing color commentary or in the early season games back to the.

00:17:55
Speaker 6: Pope asking players things about, you know, just getting them prepared, noticing that journey video. We might have already said this, but he starts as halftime playing, he asked them what did you all see? So it's like, really player empowerment. He's like asking them about number forty one, what's he or at halftime he's like, what are we not doing right now? I think Carr maybe speaks up transition defense, but it's a lot of asking the players things.

00:18:18
Speaker 3: Also, Jackson Robinson last night apologized for his body language during the Duke game.

00:18:24
Speaker 2: That was interesting.

00:18:25
Speaker 4: What the guy so mature to stand up and apologize for his body language from the Duke game. You know, he was still though busted, he's been on the defensive end, still did a lot of things to help the team just because the shot wasn't falling. But it was pretty admirable for him to stand up and say that.

00:18:40
Speaker 3: Neuroscience neuroscience, I mean, I look, I haven't heard I don't remember Gary DeNardo, Jerry DeNardo mentioned in neuroscience at Vandy. I don't remember a Sonny Smith or Wimp Sanderson.

00:18:55
Speaker 2: Talking about that over the years. Kind of neat who's up first, Richard? Richard, go ahead, Well, it's just breath.

00:19:05
Speaker 7: The fresh sure of watching this team. I just hope reminds This team reminds me of old teams under Patino. Shoot the three, play good defense, mix it up. This is my kind of basketball.

00:19:20
Speaker 2: Joe with Cope here.

00:19:21
Speaker 7: It's free at last year, body, free at last right, half a last.

00:19:25
Speaker 2: Date, Appreciate it. Thirty.

00:19:27
Speaker 3: He said he wants to take thirty seven to thirty nine threes a game. I mean, that's just gonna be a huge, a much different style. You may remember last year after we beat Alabama where we played really well. You may remember Cal kind of made some comment like, oh, other teams can just shoot thirty five threes a game, and he was like saying that like it was absurd. Mark Pope is saying, yeah, me, we're gonna shoot those threes thirty eight to thirty nine a game.

00:19:54
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:19:54
Speaker 6: They were almost fifty percent last night, hit twelve of twenty five, and I think he's disappointed that they only took twenty four. He said he wanted to take more, shooting forty eight percent from three, and he's disappointed that they weren't shooting enough.

00:20:04
Speaker 4: I mean, you know, like you said, Butler came out Boom knocked down a couple, then Jackson Robinson knocked down a couple. Every time Kobe Brayat throws one up, I think it's going on.

00:20:14
Speaker 2: Okay, is he the most money of all time? He is right now?

00:20:18
Speaker 3: I mean he's more money if it like, would you rather have a layup from the other guys or.

00:20:26
Speaker 2: Three from break?

00:20:28
Speaker 5: Actually heard Travis Ford say that the braid at three is.

00:20:33
Speaker 2: I'd rather have a brain lay at three.

00:20:34
Speaker 3: He might miss a couple more, but you get an extra point. So you tell me I got Lamont Butler driving for a layup?

00:20:41
Speaker 4: Or open three from Breya, give me the open three from bra It's money. I mean it is. As soon as it leaves his hand. I think everybody in the arena is like, oh that's good because it just looks so good.

00:20:50
Speaker 2: He shoots it so easy, he doesn't even hit the rim. No, like it's it is. It is splash from moment one. I like that.

00:20:58
Speaker 6: You know some guys that needs be a catching shooter. They need to take a little step. He seems to just throw it in. However, you're getting it to him where he's running in transition catching shoot. He created that time he's created his own a couple of times, like a jab step the pump fig It's like, however you want it, Kobe Bray can shoot it.

00:21:15
Speaker 2: That's right, A nine eight twenty two eighty seven. I love Mario.

00:21:19
Speaker 3: He doesn't let anything get in the way of the game. In the camera, there's one guy sitting right there. He just stood right in front of him for that. This whole restaurant he could have stood at. He just looked and stood right because he's like, I'm getting the perfect shot no matter what, even and if you can't see, sir, that's just gonna be the way it is.

00:21:36
Speaker 1: Who's up first the second?

00:21:38
Speaker 2: Yeah, same thing?

00:21:39
Speaker 8: Yeah, go ahead, Hey man, Hey man, I got my swagger back. So what I mean by that is I used to sing another one bites the Dust before and after the game because that's what exactly what happens to him, and they bike the dust. So I'm going to be singing all the way until we lose.

00:22:00
Speaker 3: Okay, Well, so how many how many do we win? I mean we get do you think now? Do you think we beat Clemson on the road? I feel like this one of those two. That's a tough week at Clemson at Gonzaga. I feel like one one of those two. But if so, I don't care. We're too good. Yeah, I don't think it really matters if you lose one of them.

00:22:20
Speaker 2: All right, I appreciate the call. Do you what about you?

00:22:21
Speaker 5: I think they'll split. Do you have a preference of what you'd want to win?

00:22:26
Speaker 3: Well, I think you'd want to win Gonzaga just because it would be a better win for your resume.

00:22:29
Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure.

00:22:30
Speaker 3: I mean I I think if yeah, you'd want to win Gonzaga of those two. We'll take a break. Very back to Kentucky Sports Radio.

00:22:39
Speaker 1: TJ Smith, personal injury attorney, called TJ.

00:22:42
Speaker 2: He'll make them pay.

00:22:43
Speaker 1: Now more of Kentucky Sports Radio presented by Stockton Mortgage. Here's not Jones.

00:22:48
Speaker 3: Welcome back Tekey Sports Radio. We're gonna get back to basketball in just a second. But Justin Rowland, I guess just reported that that Vince merrow had been a candidate for the Southern Miss job. It looks like Justin said that Vince was candidate for the Southern Southern Miss head coaching job. Uh, and that they reached out, but that well, he actually he did. He doesn't, he doesn't say so. He just says that Vince was is a candidate for I think I can add to that to say that I think he was a candidate. I think he talked with him, and I don't think he's going to do it. I think it's fact their head coaching job is actually less money than I think the job here. But there there was I think some interest there. And there you go. I wouldn't want to live in Hattiesburg, MISSISSIPI would you.

00:23:37
Speaker 5: I got a good food down there, do they?

00:23:40
Speaker 2: Oh?

00:23:40
Speaker 5: Yeah, great Cagun food, good seafoods.

00:23:42
Speaker 2: What's your favorite Hattiesburg restaurant?

00:23:44
Speaker 5: We've been to one together.

00:23:45
Speaker 3: We went to We left Nick Rouse dancing on the middle of an empty dance floor.

00:23:50
Speaker 6: I do remember that happens in most cities, but Brad White's name has been thrown around and in some coaching searches. H it's you know, just getting to that time of the year where we're about to hit the chaos.

00:23:59
Speaker 2: It's there's speaking of chaos.

00:24:01
Speaker 3: There's a lot of chatter out there right now in the the not the the official world, but the unofficial UK world, So like the unofficial world, And what I mean by that is, you know there are.

00:24:14
Speaker 2: There are group chats, right, and they're like, you know, there's just.

00:24:17
Speaker 3: This this like sort of off the grid UK basketball and football scene.

00:24:23
Speaker 2: I don't think you've really ever talked about it on here.

00:24:25
Speaker 3: I'm on some of them, but you know, they try to keep me off that scene because like I'm in the media, but you can't keep me off.

00:24:33
Speaker 2: There's people on.

00:24:34
Speaker 9: The scene sending me the scene. Okay, so I see the scene. The scene, there's a there's a football. There's at least one to want a big one kind of football.

00:24:45
Speaker 3: Donor chat, right, there's that sounds like his crowd I'm ry is like naked in its text in it you're the reason the Texas agree.

00:24:56
Speaker 2: Okay, I was wondering what it was. Uh.

00:25:00
Speaker 3: And their chatter is all about stoops. Yeah, in the future of stoops. And there there's not a consensus. I got sent a big flurry of messages and there's not a consensus of people wanting him to stay or go. I mean, I don't think I don't think there is any I've heard people go the boosters want I don't think that's true. I think it's mixed. I think some people are very very loyal to Mark very.

00:25:26
Speaker 2: Loyal to him.

00:25:27
Speaker 3: Some people really like Mark but are like eh, and then there are a couple people who probably wish it would go the other way. But I think there is a general sense of among this group of people, many of whom know Mark very well. There they don't know what's going to happen, and they're like, what are we doing?

00:25:45
Speaker 2: Right?

00:25:46
Speaker 3: And I think there is a sense of Okay, let's assume he comes back, does he really want to keep doing this?

00:25:53
Speaker 2: And there is an.

00:25:54
Speaker 3: Uneasiness, let's put it. I think in sort of the donor class of UK fans. I think if there are people insinuating that folks want him to go. I don't think that's true, at least from the people that matter. But I do think there's an uneasiness about Okay, you know, if he stays, what's this gonna look like?

00:26:15
Speaker 2: Right?

00:26:16
Speaker 3: Because, by the way, in three weeks we got to sign people with their money?

00:26:20
Speaker 2: True? So what do you make of that? Drew?

00:26:24
Speaker 3: I know you hear some of this same stuff as well. Ryan probably does too. We actually, oddly in the donor world, have three different communities.

00:26:31
Speaker 2: We talk to.

00:26:31
Speaker 6: So what do you think, Yeah, i'd have on the underground occasionally pop my head in some places see what people are saying and that you're right. There's a lot of a lot of speculating. There's a lot of debating. Like you said, some people want Stoops to stay. Stoops and Eddie Grand specifically have built a lot of good relationships around town with some big donors, and even though those people are disappointed.

00:26:52
Speaker 2: Eddie's a huge party. I mean, they are.

00:26:54
Speaker 6: Very good friends and they they might want to break up, but you know they're hurt to do it because they're so well like personally. So I think everyone just kind of waiting. We all see Stoops press conferences and here's interviews where he doesn't feel like he's all the way in it. I think we're all just ready for some assurance, like are we, you know, tying our shoes back up will Cox and doing this again next year? Or is it do we need to start shopping?

00:27:16
Speaker 2: Yeah? I think that's right.

00:27:17
Speaker 3: I mean there is I think everything you just said there is exactly correct.

00:27:21
Speaker 2: You know, the for many years, Ryan, I would say for.

00:27:28
Speaker 3: Since the nineties, the donor class has kind of not mattered, or they've mattered a lot less than they thought they did. And then UK football kind of made some of those people matter more and then brought in new people. But in the NIL era, we're kind of back to the eighties where the donor class does really matter because they got to raise money from these people. You know, college sports had made so much money, and cal specifically, but Mitch as well had pushed donors away from running anything that really they didn't matter for a long time. But I think they kind of do again. And it's interesting, like that train is out there now. Mark couldn't have handled that class better. So probably no one has a higher approval rating as a human being than Mark does with those guys. But he's still gonna have to convince him. I mean, these are still people. They're gonna have to write a check, and I think they've probably promised some money out there that they still got to raise and that there's a lot of concerns with that.

00:28:29
Speaker 4: I think you're right. Mark Stoops is the main reason a lot of these boosters have come over to football. He's been great at it. Actually, he's done things that with the booster class that we had never seen here before. But I think there's also a little underlying talking like these next two weeks may determine what he does.

00:28:45
Speaker 3: I think these next two weeks are huge, you really do. And I think they're huge also for how Mark is personally gonna see. But I do want to note that if you hear people say the donors or boosters want stoops on, I think that's going to probably never be true because they're just too good a friends. That's gonna be like saying Matt wants Ryan or Drew Gunk. That would never Now, there might come a day where Ryan or Drew like does something where I just have to go, but I'm never gonna want it, And that's how these boosters are.

00:29:19
Speaker 4: I think that's accurate that they're never.

00:29:21
Speaker 3: Gonna want it because they're friends with him. I mean, when he wins a big game, they're at his house right like that. It's not like a theoretical friendship, it's a real friendship. We were at Vince's wedding, it was it was the whole Kentucky football world, like so that's a key thing to remember as you're thinking about Stoops's future.

00:29:42
Speaker 2: Who's up next, Derek, Derek, go ahead, Derek.

00:29:47
Speaker 10: A lot of media and stuff about how this team is going to probably perform at mediocre level and as analytical and methodical as Pope has been. I think this team have been built to suit him.

00:30:02
Speaker 2: Oh, no doubt.

00:30:04
Speaker 10: It's not filled with the scholarships. It's it's built, and it's gonna be performed at that peak level like he's performing right now. With that being said, I was one of the guys that really wanted cow back for at least one more year. I have been totally proved wrong, and I am so glad he's Tarkansas and we have markin.

00:30:25
Speaker 3: See, there's nothing wrong with him. But you see that's a great call, because there's nothing wrong with being wrong.

00:30:30
Speaker 2: Right, appreciate that wrong.

00:30:32
Speaker 3: I mean I was wrong about like we all should at some point confess our sins of wrongness.

00:30:37
Speaker 2: I mean I was. I wasn't wrong about there needing to be a change. By the way, a lot of.

00:30:43
Speaker 3: You all who were hideously nasty to us, y'all ata meant you were wrong. But I will admit I was wrong about my initial reaction about Pope because my initial reaction, which I got over in twenty four hours, but my initial reaction was no. I remember when I got the phone call. I listen, I'm You're gonna be you. You listeners are gonna be my What is that? Catholics do they go through confession? Y'all are gonna be my confession?

00:31:15
Speaker 2: You know? Forgive me, father, I have sinned? Isn't that what they say?

00:31:19
Speaker 3: Isn't is that what they say about I'm saying it to the pope.

00:31:24
Speaker 4: You are saying to the pope.

00:31:26
Speaker 5: Out of the pope.

00:31:27
Speaker 2: I'm saying to the pope, forgive me, father. I have seen it.

00:31:31
Speaker 3: When I got the phone call, which was about fifteen minutes before it broke, to say it was gonna be him, I just said no. And I think I was kind of being told to maybe even break the news and help like make it positive. And I thought, I'm not gonna be I mean, how am I gonna convince people of this? Everybody's gonna be upset. And I had about a five minute conversation. I think then like I paused and said, Okay, I know I've got ten minutes.

00:32:09
Speaker 2: Do I want to break this or not? I did.

00:32:14
Speaker 3: I still was like trying to process what am I going to say? And then I think, goodman or somebody put it out. And then when I put it out, you know, the Internet just went nuts and I.

00:32:24
Speaker 2: Did a.

00:32:26
Speaker 3: Threads or whatever my Space, Twitter space and like, I was like, I don't know this is so that was my natural reaction. I'm clearly wrong, and I think we all chances are through this whole process. I'd like to meet the person that wanted Cow gone and Pope was their top choice was that you, ma'am from moment one since Wisconsin. Okay, so there you go, So go, ma'am. You're the only person that doesn't have to apologize. Okay, you're the only one, like the people who said this program will break down if we don't.

00:33:06
Speaker 2: Have cow you you need to apologize.

00:33:10
Speaker 3: The people like me who thought hiring Pope was the wrong move on moment one, we need to apologize.

00:33:19
Speaker 2: Ma'am.

00:33:20
Speaker 3: You're the only person that doesn't need to apologize. You've always liked Pope. Well, clearly it's work. Do you agree with that?

00:33:26
Speaker 2: Yes?

00:33:26
Speaker 4: I remember exactly where I was when you called me and you're like, you're not gonna believe this. It's gonna be Mark.

00:33:33
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right. I called you before it got out. I think I called you both.

00:33:37
Speaker 5: You were like, what in the world is going on?

00:33:40
Speaker 2: But then you couldn't believe it.

00:33:41
Speaker 4: Yeah, you were kind of talking it through with me, like, Okay, how are we gonna do this? We gotta you know, we gotta do this.

00:33:45
Speaker 2: We gotta do this. No, I can.

00:33:47
Speaker 3: We're going to go a little long here, but I I can tell you exactly what my thought was. My thought was, I gotta be honest with the fans about what I think. Yeah, at the same time, this is gonna happen, and I want to have a good fresh start after these last few years of it being negative with cal So how do I be honest with the fans but then also not burn a bridge before it even is built?

00:34:16
Speaker 2: Yep?

00:34:17
Speaker 3: And that was not easy for me, and I slept on it all night, like what am I gonna do? And then the next morning I had a phone call from someone at UK who basically said, can we get Mitch on. I talked to Mitch like to sort of talk about you know, he want I understandably kind of wanted to know how's this gonna go. Found out about the donation from the craft and now I was like, you know what, this is, what it is, let's go. And then I think, as we've talked about, slowly over time, other people did. And guess what, Mitch Barnhardt was the most right of anybody. You talk about sticking your neck out if he makes that high and it's a disaster, like that's his legacy here and Drew, you gotta give him credit.

00:35:06
Speaker 2: That's gutsy.

00:35:07
Speaker 6: Yeah, that's why it was cool seeing Mitch kind of lead Pope in after the Champions Classic to the night end of the celebration. I even wrote like Mitch kind of earned that moment because his pick was the one that was right after all, when many people doubted him, and he made that hire knowing a lot of the fans have already been saying, I hope it's not Mark Pope. He went with it anyway, and now look what has he got one hundred percent approval rating? And that's because Mitch took that chance. He deserves that sold.

00:35:31
Speaker 3: Kenny Brooks was a great hire too, but like you knew that, like he'd already had a lot of success. This was a risk, was a risk, and so far it's worked. Stop over paying for sunglasses. If you're tired of buying expensive sunglasses only to lose or break them, go to Shady Rays, Independent American owned company right here in Lexington, premium polarized shades for every activity. Every member of the family can find their perfect pair. Shady Rais offers the best program and three hundred thousand and five star reviews. Shady is like this woman from Hopkins County, always correct.

00:36:03
Speaker 2: In their prediction.

00:36:04
Speaker 3: Yes, try the entire collection in person in Lexington, Louisville.

00:36:08
Speaker 2: Or at shady rays dot com. We'll take a break. Be right back. It's KASR.

00:36:12
Speaker 4: Yeah, welcome back.

00:36:15
Speaker 2: It is Kentucky Sports Radio.

00:36:18
Speaker 3: We got some good questions on the text machine about that last conversation that may have been.

00:36:22
Speaker 2: The most like behind the scenes nuggetsy we've done in a while.

00:36:26
Speaker 4: Right, Yeah, it really was, and it just took me right back to that moment where we all were honest with ourselves, really were questioning where we were headed as a program.

00:36:35
Speaker 3: I remember one time I was talking to Scottie Basler, former congressman, and he goes, people all think that Congress like it's some mysterious thing. He was like, you just I remember him going, you just gotta remember their people. And he was like, people do stupid stuff, and he goes, people can make decisions just cause a mad at you and I look at some of it and think sometimes we think there's always these master plots, and sometimes it just comes down to who you like and who you don't. So one person writes, Matt, I'm, I'm it's great to hear that we may end up continuing to spiral in football because of Mark Stoop's friends. Well, first of all, I don't know if we're spiraling, but if we weren't, you can't look at it like that, though, Drew. If I was given a lot of money to a program, wouldn't I want my voice heard? Yes, let's be real. I mean, just be real. If you're writing a check to a program, you're gonna expect to have some input.

00:37:36
Speaker 2: Like That's just how it is, Drew, whether good or bad.

00:37:38
Speaker 5: It's just true. Yeah, that's where we are.

00:37:40
Speaker 6: And when Stoops moves on, whenever that is, those same people writing checks, we're gonna need them to keep writing checks.

00:37:46
Speaker 5: Is that's how you win in athletics. Now are the rich people in your community and your fan base have to keep sending those checks in.

00:37:52
Speaker 3: That's right, that's why they now have more power than they used to at least here. Another person writes, do you think you all are getting ahead of yourself.

00:38:00
Speaker 2: I'm saying Pope's a success. It's four games. Well, I mean I can't.

00:38:05
Speaker 3: I don't know if you can say like he's gonna be a success the whole time, Ryan, But I think you.

00:38:09
Speaker 2: Have to say it's a successful higher.

00:38:12
Speaker 3: Like I assumed when Cal left, we were gonna be a disaster no matter what, just because of the way he builds programs.

00:38:19
Speaker 2: The fact that we're this good it is successful.

00:38:23
Speaker 4: Isn't it hugely successful in my eyes? Anyway? Because I don't see how this team and how this program and I don't see how he was gonna let it fail. I think he's gonna work and do everything he has to to make sure this program does not fail.

00:38:36
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:38:36
Speaker 3: I mean, maybe it doesn't work, but it's about as good as it can be six months into it.

00:38:42
Speaker 2: Yeah, So we'll see what happens. Who's up next?

00:38:44
Speaker 1: Let's go to Rob, Rob.

00:38:46
Speaker 2: Go ahead, Rob.

00:38:49
Speaker 11: Hey, guys, I'm on my way from Owensboro down to Austin to watch the game thirday. I know it's the spread changed a little bit. Do you think this could be a chap game for Texas? Maybe since they got their big A and M right next week, I think we have a shot at all.

00:39:02
Speaker 2: Good question, Drew.

00:39:03
Speaker 3: Any chance this is a trap game for Texas and we play him close in the fourth quarter, there's a chance.

00:39:10
Speaker 6: If you want to be the optimistic fan, and he's driving there from Owensborough, so I'd say he's pretty optimistic. You can say they're looking at A and M. That rivalry is back now through the SEC next week. The winner of that game probably in the SEC championship. They could be looking ahead. You can also say Texas hasn't I mean, they've got one loss in their rank third, but their wins aren't that impressive. Their biggest win might even be Vanderbilt. So those those things could give you optimism in addition to how Kentucky's been punching up in these big games.

00:39:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, Texas doesn't have a lot of great wins, right.

00:39:40
Speaker 5: And I have to win this though, or they're out of the SEC.

00:39:42
Speaker 2: I think one of two things is gonna happen.

00:39:44
Speaker 3: We're either gonna get get the doors blown off of us, or we're actually competitive like the Tennessee game, right, I mean, that was a competitive game. If we if we had done a couple of things, we had a shot at the end. I think it, Scot. I think you're either going to be we're never in it, or we're like, we're surprisingly in this.

00:40:05
Speaker 4: So far on the road, they've played well. That's what foreign player told me that this yesterday. He goes, man, our best games we've played in the SEC all year, Georgia at Ole Miss at Tennessee probably are three toughest opponents, and those are the three games we played the best. Inn I think it's probably right.

00:40:21
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I mean those, no doubt, those are probably And even on the road games what we played pretty well against Tennessee, I've beat Old Miss and didn't play great against.

00:40:31
Speaker 2: Floridam who's next, Jacob, Jacob? Go ahead, Jacob?

00:40:36
Speaker 12: What's going on?

00:40:37
Speaker 2: Guys?

00:40:37
Speaker 12: First time caller. I'm calling from Chicago, but uh, I went to I'm from Kentucky. You went to undergrad and law school at UK.

00:40:46
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:40:46
Speaker 12: I just want to say. I think the two things that Mark coperly gives us is that he embraces analytics and modern basketball, and he's willing to make adjustments. And I think that's what we've needed in Kentucky sports, not just basketball, football and basketball. I think Stoops and col have both reacted defensively to the push towards modern trends, and they take suggestions for adjustments as kind of an attack on their their legacy and their credibility because their legacies are already cemented. But I think Mark Pope still has a lot to prove and is more of a student of the game. And it's just it's nice to have a coach like that.

00:41:20
Speaker 3: Always good to have somebody that has something to prove. Totally agree with you about that, appreciate the call. When somebody has something to prove, they tend to just It's like my view about rich people.

00:41:31
Speaker 2: The first generation makes.

00:41:34
Speaker 3: All the money, right, the second generation blows it, and then the third generation decides what your legacy is, right.

00:41:43
Speaker 2: I think that's kind of how I think that's generally how it kind of works.

00:41:46
Speaker 5: Where are we in the coaching order of Kentucky with the great Good?

00:41:51
Speaker 3: We don't think maybe he's better than good. I don't think Mark Pope's drunk, so I think I don't. I think he's uh. I definitely think he's he's good.

00:42:00
Speaker 2: To take a break.

00:42:00
Speaker 3: It's Wings day here at Kspar. Come on out, Dollar Wings. We'll be here, talk a little other stuff is take you. Sports radio