KSR Postgame UK MBB vs Georgia 2/18/26

00:00:00
Speaker 1: Welcome everyone. It is the Local Toy Dealers KSR postgame show. The Cats with an extremely disappointing loss at home eighty six seventy eight to Georgia, their second home loss in the SEC this season, and a loss that, as we'll talk about in just a couple of minutes, I think will have major ramifications for Kentucky even if they do finish the season well. This was I think a game where Kentucky made way too many mistakes to win, and the mistakes, in my opinion, were the exact mistakes that Kentucky has made all season long. The same issues that have plagued them all year showcased themselves in this game. And I think it's probably like six things, but the sixth one, to me, is the biggest issue. So I'll finish with that. The first is these firstt haves in general. I'm gonna give you some stats that are pretty amazing Kentuck. I mentioned this this morning. Kentucky now has been losing by twelve points at some point in the game in thirteen of its nineteen games against major conference opponents this year. That's over sixty six percent of Kentucky's games when they have played a team from a major conference. Okay, not even necessarily good teams, just teams from a major conference. They have been trailing by at least twelve points thirteen to nineteen. They have been trailing at halftime, Billy, in fifteen of the nineteen games.

00:01:43
Speaker 2: That's unbelievable.

00:01:44
Speaker 1: Fifteen of the nineteen games Kentucky has played this year against major conference teams, we have been losing at halftime. That is atrocious. I mean atrocious. That is that stat. It is almost shocking how bad that stat is. So when you keep giving yourself a deficit to come out of, they're going to be games that, even if you start playing well, you're just not gonna be able to do it. And this was one of those. And the reason gets to my second point, which is consistently this year against teams that they can't do it against, they do not guard the three point line. Well, I don't understand. Looking at Georgia. The only way Georgia is going to beat you tonight. And George is not bad, but you're at home. They're small. Samtau and his backup are really the only bigs they have, and they actually play the best when they have four guards out there. The only way they're gonna beat you is if they hit threes. That's how they're gonna beat and we do not guard the three well. Now granted they're like two hundred and ninetieth in the country, and threes they actually don't shoot the ball very well, but they take a lot of them and then they get out in transition. Those are the things that they really like to do. But for the second straight game, Kentucky has played a team that doesn't shoot threes great but has given them wide open looks at it by playing poor defense, and then they don't adjust. They never adjust during the game. Georgia's threes they hit a few in the first half, but in the second half. We started playing pretty well offensively in the second half, and every time we made a run, they had somebody to hit a three. You play, you play against teams that are this much smaller than you, and we back way back off the shooter and just let these guys take shots. It drives me crazy. Or we don't fight through screens and we give shots, which gets me to my third. Earlier this year, I thought effort was an issue in every game in SEC play, especially recently. I think they've been pretty good at giving consistent effort, but they have these moments in games where, to quote Mark Pope, they take plays off, and they do. They take plays off. Almost every player on the team has possessions where they take plays off. The only couple of exceptions. I don't feel like Moreno takes a lot of plays off. I think Aberdeen rarely does. But most of the other guys will take plays off defensively, and when they do, we get burned. And you saw it in that run at the end of the first half Kentucky. If you were to go back and watch those plays, because I did at halftime, you can find on nearly every possession a player who either can't guard or is taking is like taking a possession off. And Mark, to his credit, said it after the game, but it happens. You can wantch and that lack of consistency on defensive effort kills us. Fourth. We miss too many free throws. We're twelve of twenty from the free throw line. We're shooting Billy sixty nine percent from the free throw line in SEC play. Not good enough. That's not good and it's not just it's not like our bigs or our guards are missing them. You know, it's not just that like Mody Abatte gets found and he's not a good free throw shooter, everybody misses him. I mean, at one point in the first half, we were one for four from our in what should on paper be two of our best free throw shooters away and Noah, you can't miss those. You can't miss those in big games. And we twelve of Twenty's not good enough when you're in a game that's gonna come down to the to the wire turnovers. I mean, you could probably say that if you just saw one stat at the stat that defines the game is Georgia had twenty assists and seven turnovers and we had thirteen assists and thirteen turnovers, which means we didn't share the ball and we were sloppy with the ball where they shared the ball and we're not slopping. The only reason we were really even in the game is that Colin Chandler shot the ball amazing and Oway carried us for a few stretches. That's the only reason we're in the game. I mean, those two guys. Not for those two guys, we get run off the court on our home court. So the sloppiness and turnovers. We've been an issue all year, and then I think six is and to me, the most important thing was Pope's substitution pattern, specifically at the end of the first half. I I'm a big numbers guy, like I believe numbers don't lie. I believe. I believe even the idea of analytics. Not only do I believe in it, I think if you look at the coaches and the programs in the NBA and college basketball, really every sport that master it. If you look at the best teams, they've also mastered analytics. So I am for it. But I admit that I don't understand the way Mark uses analytics. Not that he shouldn't use them, but I don't understand. It's like he and I see the same numbers, and it feels like we come to completely different conclusions. It is objectively true that if you have been down at halftime fifteen of the nineteen games against power conference teams, Billy, wouldn't you say you need to adjust what you're doing in the first half. Yes, I mean to me, that is like it's obvious we are ten and nine in games against power conference teams, which, by the way, isn't good good, But we are four and fifteen in the first half, so that would tell you we've got to do better in the first half. And yet he just keeps doing the same thing we play. It's almost like we we live in a let's distribute equally during the first half minutes and it never works. And I don't want to read that like I'm not I'm not trying to be like harsh, but numbers, to some extent are numbers. The plus minus for this game, only two players had a positive plus minus, Colin Chandler and Mo Diabatte. Colin Chandler's plus one, Diabate was plus two, Yellowvitch was minus one, Aberdeen was minus two, Garrison was minus two moreno and oeh mine five. Tritt Noah's minus thirteen in eight minutes of action. Jasper Johnson is minus sixteen in fourteen minutes of action. If you go back and look at that run, we had our two worst defenders in my mind are Yellovich U and Jasper. Yellovich can sometimes be good guarding sliding his feet, but he gets lost off the ball and his help defense is bad. And Jasper just does not I mean Jasper's just a bad defender at least at this point in his career. And they played those guys together and there was a nine to zero run, and then after the game, Mark is asked about substitution patterns and he said, well, the numbers show us that if we play guys thirty six to thirty eight minutes a game, they will be tired and their performance will go down at the end. Right. I believe him, but I'd like to really see it happen, because what I have seen happen is we play we don't do that and we fall down in the first half. If we play Oay, Aberdeen and Chandler huge minutes and at the end they kind of wear down, so be it. But I know what doesn't work is the substitution pattern that we've seen four and fifteen at halftime. So I don't understand how Mark can look at those numbers. And he said about Jasper specifically, I thought he did really well and played really well for us tonight when he was minus sixteen and fourteen minutes. I no offense. I'm not criticizing the kid. I'm criticizing what are you seeing, Like, how are you looking at those numbers and coming to those conclusions two for eight from the field minus sixteen I don't understand. So I it is without question a problem that in the first halves during the Mark Pope era, Kentucky has been bad. They've just been bad. If I told you were four and fifteen in the first half, I don't care what school you're coaching at, that's a disaster. And you're at Kentucky now in the second half, they've played, for the most part, really well. But that is you lose games like tonight because you got down so much in the first half. The deficit halftime is why we lost tonight. And then at the end of game, we had some chances. Chandler had two open threes. Can't criticize him for miss him because he was five or six before that, but they were opening, just didn't go in or six to seven before that, two open looks just missed away, had to drive to the basket. He was there. He's had twenty eight, another huge night scoring for him, just dribbled it off his foot. Three big opportunities by your two best offensive players and it just didn't happen. But the reason we were in that situation is all that stuff that happened in the first half. So you know, now Kentucky has put themselves in a spot. I said after the game, we're seventeen to nine, but we're not certain to make the tournament. I think we will, but we're not certain. We have five games left. We will be the underdog in four of those five games. We'll be the underdog Saturday at Auburn, We'll be the underdog at A and M. We'll be the underdog at home to Florida, and we'll probably be the underdog at home against Vandy, although that one maybe it goes the other way, but we're probably the underdog. Will probably be a favorite at South Carolina. We should win that game. And if you win that, but if you lose the other four, you'd be eighteen and thirteen. I think that would get you in, but I'm not certain. You probably at least would need to win one in Nashville. And by the way, if we lose four or five, we might be playing on Wednesday in Nashville. So this was a huge game. I thought, if you won tonight, you're in the tournament, and we didn't, And now you go to Auburn Saturday and you're probably looking at it and saying, you know, you need to steal that one, and maybe they will. I mean, they are perfectly capable of going to Auburn and winning. But the problem so far into Mark Pope era has not necessarily been the fact that we can't go to Auburn and win. We went to Arkansas, one, we went to Tennessee and one. The problem is we can't keep losing to Georgia and Missouri at home. George has won three of the last four games against Kentucky. They hadn't done that since the twenties, Wow, since the twenties. I was encouraged by how they played against Florida. But one of the things Drew said, I do think has some validity. We can't just accept that like this stuff happens. No, it doesn't. You don't lose. You really shouldn't lose any home games at RUP. But if you're good, you shouldn't lose to anybody at RUP. That's not great, and you certainly shouldn't lose twice to midpack SEC teams at home. And that's what we've done. And that's very disappointing. And at some point I hope Mark Pope who is an immensely smart guy and is a good coach. At some point. These numbers that he always talks about, it's not just about looking at the numbers, it's what you do with them. And I just don't see how a coach can justify the way we play in the first halves of these games and when asked about it, refer to numbers. I just don't know what set of numbers he's looking at, because the one I'm looking at is four and fifteen in the first half this year, eight five, nine, eight, twenty two, eighty seven. It's a big loss. It's not the end of the world. They can still come back from this, but there are some possibilities they are now in play that I thought when we beat Tennessee at home, we're kind of off the table. Now I think, unfortunately, they're back on. We'll take a break. Be right back. It's a Local Toy Dealers KSR postgame show. Welcome back. It is the Local toylet Dealers KSR postgame show. There's a video. I can't just be bummed all night. You gotta play this video Billy of Mick Cronin talking about the Michigan getting asked a question and maybe being the biggest jerk I've ever seen on an answer.

00:16:16
Speaker 2: I saw him like kick out his own player. But this is the postgame press conference.

00:16:20
Speaker 1: You're saying, Yeah, just just just google cronin Michigan State student section and we gotta play that. Make sure there's not a cuss word. But then I just want you to hear like.

00:16:31
Speaker 3: That.

00:16:31
Speaker 1: May that may be one of the biggest jerk answers I've seen a coach you do ever, like see if you agree when if we play it all right? It's a late night show and we lost a disappointment. So this is one of those shows where like a lot of people probably said, you know what, I'm going to bed, and I understand that. So if you called, this is a good chance to get in and probably a good chance to let me have me let you talk longer than I normally would, so that would be nice. Who's up next?

00:16:59
Speaker 2: Yeah?

00:17:00
Speaker 1: Jack, go ahead, Jack?

00:17:03
Speaker 4: Hey, Matt, Uh, just want to see if I'm crazy?

00:17:07
Speaker 1: Uh.

00:17:08
Speaker 4: The last two games I've been to, when we've been down, we've called these timeouts and it's Mark Pope and all the other coaches are standing to the side of the huddle for the first minute of the three minute timeout, the players are just sitting in the circle, sitting with their hands. So I don't know if I'm crazy because you look over at the Georgia coaches in their grill. Uh, So, I don't know what the deal is with that stuff.

00:17:33
Speaker 1: You're they. I don't love that. I agree with you again. Okay, So he's like an I'm sure what he would say is that he's discussing with his coaches. What's happened. They're getting collective intelligence of what they're going to say to the to the to the players, and in general, I think that's not the worst thing in the world. But I agree with you. I don't know if it makes sense right off a timeout to just have them sitting by themselves for it all seems to me about half of the time out, so I find it odd. Now, with that said, there's a lot of different ways to coach a team, and so maybe you know, maybe that can work, I think, but I've found it odd. I don't think other coaching staffs do that, at least as long as that. So I've noticed the same thing. But you know, if it were working, I guess I wouldn't care. But I can understand why people would wonder about that when we're losing.

00:18:28
Speaker 4: Yeah, exactly, you'd think when you call the time out down nine, you'd want to get in them right away, start motivating them or something. And I don't know, it's just disheartening, honestly seeing that, and as a fan, it's definitely not what you want to see from from your leader, you know, yeah, yeah, well yeah.

00:18:49
Speaker 1: Well I appreciate the call. I mean, I understand why you say that. And I would say, like I said, I don't know, I don't know. I would want to hear what his explanation is for them at and uh and and but I'm sure that would work on some teams. Maybe this is a team where it doesn't work uh quite as well. I felt all year that, like sometimes I just it seems to me this team has never been totally connected, but then there are moments where they do look connected. So it's I have found this team impossible to understand. I cannot think of a Kentucky team that I feel like I have a less of a grasp on what motivates them and how that you never really know how they're gonna play in any given moment. So it's been hard to understand. Who's next. Peyton, Peyton, go ahead, Peyton, Hey man, what's up?

00:19:42
Speaker 5: Do you have like any explanation why all these teams come in here that shoot like poor because we don't like lights out every every single time.

00:19:58
Speaker 1: Well, we don't guard them. I mean, Rupp is not a great shooting gym, just visually, but we don't guard them. We leave these guys wide open, and then I'm sure they step up their game when you come to Rupp. I mean, like, you know, if you're George, this is most people are gonna see you play all year, right, this is will be George's This will be George's most watch game, both in person because they're not gonna play it arena bigger than ours, and on television because it's primetime on ESPN. So for them, this is their biggest game of the year in terms of how they're gonna be. So like, they're gonna want to play well. But when you don't get when you don't get a hand of the phrase, you're not gonna You're not gonna stop them, but go ahead.

00:20:40
Speaker 5: Well, I didn't want to use tel Perry's Super Bowl announce right, that's right about that, but I didn't I didn't know if that would reflect to the Pope era that we could just keep using that as an excuse that this is every team super Bowl game.

00:20:56
Speaker 1: But of course all these kids, all these kids, even the ones that are on teams that are better than us, still probably wanted to play here, or at least at some point in their life thought they did. Like that's yeah, and then you know there's a money But even like Abert, yeah, I appreciate the call. Even like Aberdeen and Diabatee, both those guys played for Alabama and Florida, and Florida won the national championship. But there's still is value in playing at Kentucky. There just is. Especially I think a big part of it is because how many of our guys in the NBA, we we are associated with that, so like you step up, but still when we're not guarding them, that's part of why they make so many And that also then you know our crowd if it's not if we're losing, the crowd can't be as loud, and that affects it too. Do you have the cronin audio? I do.

00:21:55
Speaker 2: That was a bit much by him, all right, So.

00:21:57
Speaker 1: This is I guess this kid asked a question and this is like forty five seconds ahead and play it in the.

00:22:02
Speaker 6: Student section, channing Booker's name. I could give a rats ass about the other team student section.

00:22:08
Speaker 1: I just got the overall the way that.

00:22:10
Speaker 6: I would like to give.

00:22:11
Speaker 7: You a.

00:22:14
Speaker 6: Kudos for your worst question I've ever even asked.

00:22:18
Speaker 3: Did you like it?

00:22:19
Speaker 1: You should take it? The preparation.

00:22:21
Speaker 6: Do you really think I care about the other I care about the Yeah, you are here, you are Come on, dude, no reason, Yes you were. Everybody's standing here listening to you. Everybody this is on camera, they can hear you. I answered the question. I could give a rat's ass about the other team student section. I coach UCLA. I don't care about Michigan State students. Who cares the preparation there?

00:22:47
Speaker 1: What a jerk? Jeez, don't you think what a jerk? I mean? The reason he asked the question is a kid from Is it a kid from UCLA transfer to Michigan State or Michigan State transferred to.

00:23:00
Speaker 2: One of those stay forward now plays for UCLA?

00:23:03
Speaker 1: Okay, so they were The student section was focused on him, and he was asking the guy. It's a perfectly reasonable question. I mean, maybe it's not the best question, but it's a question. And if you look at the video, he's staring at him like he wants to fight him.

00:23:15
Speaker 2: Yeah, he keeps looking back at him.

00:23:16
Speaker 1: He keeps looking at him, and then he goes, that's the worst question I've ever heard. And then he picks at the kid again and goes, you don't you don't think it was and then he gets mad because he raises his voice. What a jerk. Mick Cronin is a jerk, And unlike some other jerks in college basketball, like Danny Hurley, he didn't even win. At least Danny Hurley wins. What a jerk. That's like, I don't know why it makes me so mad, but it does. Who's Next?

00:23:45
Speaker 2: I would have melted if he would have came back at me.

00:23:47
Speaker 1: No, I mean if I was let me tell something, if I was in college or whatever, and he did that, I would have melted. If he did that to me, now, I would have been fireworks. You it might have been a different video. He's also like three feet tall, you know, all right? Who's next? Aiden? Aiden? Go ahead? Aiden?

00:24:14
Speaker 8: Hey, how you doing, Matt good?

00:24:16
Speaker 1: What's up?

00:24:18
Speaker 8: I'm just disappointed in the UK fan base tonight, I thought Rupperena was really lackluster from being there at the game.

00:24:26
Speaker 1: Well, okay, so we have this conversation a lot. Tom mentioned that when U when we were coming back, they were loud. I don't I have complaints about the rough crowd sometimes, but I really don't know what people want them to do when we're losing, Like what do you want him to do? Like when we when they go on that seventy seventy to five runs, are supposed.

00:24:47
Speaker 8: To yell, they get they get told to sit down. I mean, you want to be a good environment, right, Well.

00:24:53
Speaker 1: Did that happen? Did that happen to you? Did you? Were you?

00:24:56
Speaker 3: Yeah?

00:24:57
Speaker 8: It happens every game.

00:24:58
Speaker 1: Where do you sit? Where do you sit?

00:25:01
Speaker 8: I mean I sit all over?

00:25:03
Speaker 1: But I mean are you were you told to sit down? Tonight? My buddy was okay. I mean, I don't think people should tell people to sit down, and I know that does happen, But I also like, when you're losing, it's hard to know what. I mean, what are you going to cheer for?

00:25:23
Speaker 8: I mean we were up a little bit when we were standing up and people told us to sit down. We went down a little bit.

00:25:29
Speaker 1: Oh you snuck down. Well I'm alright with that.

00:25:31
Speaker 8: No, I'm not saying we snuck down. I'm saying like we were up in the game to sit down.

00:25:36
Speaker 1: I see, I got you. Okay, Well that's I mean, I agree if people shouldn't tell you to sit down. I'm a big believer that, like, if people want to stand during the game, they should, as long as they're courteous, like you don't have like a disabled person or something behind you.

00:25:49
Speaker 8: But makes a bigger point that Repperina and Kroger Field especially need a better environment from DBN, and that comes from the Athletic department as well.

00:25:58
Speaker 1: So all right, I appreciate to call it. I don't disagree. I mean I don't totally. I certainly don't disagree about the environment visa VI the athletic Department. I have some sympathy for fans who come at nine o'clock at night and get rewarded with some of that effort that we saw at the end of the first half. But I get it. I do think you know, the rough environment is it's frustrating sometimes, but I that's not what frustrated but me the most tonight it was the what we talked about in the first segment. Who's next, Drew, Drew, Go ahead, Drew.

00:26:38
Speaker 3: What's up, Matt?

00:26:39
Speaker 1: How are you doing good? What's up? Bro?

00:26:43
Speaker 3: I just I feel like we need to address this free throw issue man, Like it's ridiculous. I've been a UK fan all my life and I've never seen a team struggle so poorly at the line on such a consistent basis, and it's really aggravating as a fan.

00:26:58
Speaker 9: I feel like it's the reason.

00:26:59
Speaker 3: Why we're well while we're a lot of these close games, Like it would change a lot of these games outcomes.

00:27:05
Speaker 1: I agree with you, I'm surprised how bad are on paper? Who should be our good free throw shooters are? Like, that's what I that's what surprises me. So like, oh Way is three for six, Aberdeen is four for seven, Noah is zero for one. So I bet you and Colin Chandler didn't have any free throws. So those are probably our four best free throw shooters. Chandler, Away, Aberdeen, Noah they combined tonight, I agree to go seven for fourteen, so are so the misses were not our bigs. Garrison was two for two moreno was two for two. Diabonte was one for two, So that means our bigs went five of six from the line, but our guards and Noah went seven for fourteen. Guys, what are you doing. You're you're the You're the guys that are supposed to make it. The other guys are supposed to be the one that strung. So I'm with you that that is very frustrated. You cannot have your guards go seven to fourteen from the free throw line. You just can't.

00:28:08
Speaker 3: I'm on the same page as you, Matt. Also, I wanted to say something about the Last Caller Aiden. I was at the game as well, and there was no energy in rough tonight. I was at the Tennessee game too. It was probably one of the loudest games I've.

00:28:20
Speaker 10: Ever been to.

00:28:20
Speaker 3: It was awesome, but I don't understand why we're not that loud every night. There was a minute left in the game and it was a three point game and we were on defense after the way turnover, and nobody was yelling. It was so frustrating, Like, I don't understand.

00:28:34
Speaker 1: So you talk about after after Oway turned it over.

00:28:37
Speaker 8: Yeah, yeah, yeah, that game and we were on defense.

00:28:41
Speaker 1: Because we got to stop before. Yeah, No, you're right, you're right, that play should If that play wasn't loud, that play should have been loud because it was loud to play before I got when we got to stop, and you're right. I appreciate the call. I think when Oway dribbled it off his foot, I guess that probably deflated the crowd. Yeah, so what's the problem. Maybe? I mean those both those guys sounded like young callers. And I understand, like if you're young, if I was a young Kentucky fan, a college fan, or just out of college, and I saw the environments that are at some of these other schools, they want that at rough and I can and I can see why they're not wrong. So I may have made it sound like with the first guy that he's wrong. I do think he's wrong. He's right. The environment needs to be better, and if it wasn't loud on that play, it should have been. I guess the other stuff just frustrates me a little more. Let's do one more and we'll take a break.

00:29:36
Speaker 2: Darlene, Darlene, how are you.

00:29:38
Speaker 1: Darling you?

00:29:40
Speaker 11: Matt Jonesyboddy Good, how are you.

00:29:44
Speaker 7: Okay?

00:29:45
Speaker 11: I'm just arguing with you a little bit tonight. I listen to all of your you know, analyze and everything. I'm not an analyst like you guys, but I just wanted to speak up because I'm just this big cat fan. Have a hard time seeing that glass half empty. And I'm just thinking, you know, Kentucky was down fourteen seventeen with Tennessee. We come back, we beat them, We won at Arkansas, we beat Rick Petino. I'm sorry, I just have a hard time feeling like a big loser tonight.

00:30:18
Speaker 1: Well a big loser thought. Well, Darlene, I appreciate your positivity and you should and listen. You just mentioned four really good wins, right, I mean, we came back against uh, we came back against against Rick Patino, came back against Tennessee twice, came back against Arkansas. So that's great and I but we also can't lose to Missouri, lose to George at home. We can't lose by forty Againstzaga.

00:30:47
Speaker 11: Mat you're a lot younger than me. I've seen this for a lot four years, and you have I've seen I mean, I understand, I know, I know what you're saying is so true, but I can't help but still stay on this positive. I'm just tolling. I still I steal and seeing the end of the tunnel, I'm feeling like we're gonna get there.

00:31:07
Speaker 12: Baby.

00:31:08
Speaker 1: I love it all right.

00:31:08
Speaker 7: Good.

00:31:09
Speaker 1: Well, that's we need people like you to be positive. Uh too. I appreciate the call. We uh we we need those people too.

00:31:16
Speaker 2: I like Darlene love that positivity.

00:31:20
Speaker 1: Everybody needs a fan at one am calling to say keep your head up and be positive. I mean it. That's say we need that. So we'll take a break. Eight five nine twenty two eighty seven. Be right back to the Local Toy Dealers KSR post game show. Welcome back Local Toy Dealers KSR post game show. Getting some good comments from people saying their team Darlene, so uh Darlene adding positivity. One person writes, Matt, I was like those kids at the game tonight. I was kind of disappointed with the crowd when we were making runs. I agree with you, you can't be loud the whole time, But I think on the play they were talking about the fans were not as loud as they could have been.

00:32:00
Speaker 7: Yeah.

00:32:01
Speaker 1: Probably people just got deflated by after that Old Way turnover. I thought, oh we played very well. I mean, twenty eight points. They're not in the game without him. He carries him on his back like he does sometimes. He had four turnovers, but y'all said forces. But I mean, I thought he played really well. It's unfortunate the he had a couple of defensive plays that weren't great. But I mean I thought he was. He was really good. He played thirty five minutes. You know, I sit here and I look at the minutes, and you just go. You know, they these guys, they do play a lot of minutes. But I almost wonder if you just have to play, can't take him out? We just we just we take such a do we. I mean, when they go out, we just take such a drop Moreno too, I think when we lose him, we take a drop. But now he he's got to get tougher with the basketball. He gets the ball and he brings it down. He had Blue Ain't on him. He needed to dominate Blue k But he brings the ball down. When you bring it down, you're bringing it to his level. He's got to be a little strong with the basketball. I think he will get that in the offseason, which is why I think he's gonna be so good next year. But you know, I think Pope went to Garrison and Diabate a little bit, because you got it. He's you have to be able to lock that rebound up. You know. Diaboate had nine rebounds in nineteen minutes, including a couple of big offensive ones at the end.

00:33:26
Speaker 6: Uh.

00:33:26
Speaker 1: He was a beast man. I wish he could shoot, because then he would be a complete guy because he really gives you effort on the glass. Who's next, Tyler, Tyler, go ahead, Tyler.

00:33:37
Speaker 9: Matt Jones A good good to talk to you tonight.

00:33:39
Speaker 1: Man.

00:33:40
Speaker 9: So I feel like since the previous callers have said something about it, I feel like I need to mention it. And I got one thing after this, But I will say I haven't been to a game, and I'm in a little while. I think I was. I was at the Missouri game, which is which was a loss, but that was pretty close coming down the stretch. But I I remember the guy sitting next to me. One of the people behind us said, boys, we can't see. And I didn't turn around and say it, but I said it out loud. I said, Hey, just because you can't see doesn't mean we had to sit down. I don't know if I was out of line for saying that, but I was like, leave us alone, Like if we want to stand up and chair, we can that kind of thing. I don't know what your opinion on that is.

00:34:22
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, you know, I think people should be able to stand, but also you know, we've got some older folks down low, so it's a tough thing. I am on the side generally of don't tell people to sit down. I've also been the guy sitting behind looking at people standing up and it does frustrate you. But we need the energy, so I'm more on your side than the other. But what's your second thing?

00:34:45
Speaker 9: Okay, Well, and I don't want you to bs me when I asked this, but I feel like we're at a point now after last year, which wasn't insanely bad, but now we're at a point this year where it's like, Okay, what are we doing? And we have no recruits as of now coming in next year. Obviously the transfer portal is something we could work with. But October of twenty twenty eight, Mark Pope isn't or is head coach.

00:35:16
Speaker 1: I think it's more I think it's more likely than not he is, let's the twenty twenty eight, So that would be after next season, which would be twenty seven. Oh wait a minute, twenty seven. So that's that. That would be like the start of year year of the poem five, right, because next year would.

00:35:33
Speaker 2: Be oh, he said October of twenty seven or.

00:35:35
Speaker 1: Twenty six, twenty seven. Year four would be twenty seven of twenty eight. I thought he's I think he said twenty eight October of twenty eight, So I'd think the start of year five. I'm gonna say more likely than not, yes, But it's all gonna come down the next year. I mean, I actually don't think year four equates for me. Now, if we go on to this year and we make the second weekend in the tournament, than what I'm saying is not true. But let's assume we go out in the first weekend. Next year will decide his fate, because I don't think in October of twenty twenty seven, Mitch Barnhart will be the athletic director, and so it's gonna be a different situation. So I think more likely than not, yes, But next year will be crucial for Mark, and I am worried that we don't have recruits and all that, but we'll have plenty of time to talk about when the season ends. I do think in October of twenty twenty eight we will need to have a new athletic director. I mean I've made my thoughts about that fairly clear over the last few months. Who's next? K?

00:36:50
Speaker 7: C K?

00:36:50
Speaker 1: What's up?

00:36:55
Speaker 7: C K?

00:36:57
Speaker 2: All right?

00:36:58
Speaker 1: All right? No? Ck?

00:36:58
Speaker 2: Who's next?

00:37:00
Speaker 1: Chad? How are you? Chad?

00:37:04
Speaker 12: Hey?

00:37:04
Speaker 5: Matt?

00:37:05
Speaker 8: First time, long time?

00:37:06
Speaker 1: Who are what's up?

00:37:09
Speaker 7: Hey?

00:37:10
Speaker 1: Uh?

00:37:10
Speaker 13: Just let just got home from the game.

00:37:12
Speaker 1: Uh.

00:37:13
Speaker 3: You know.

00:37:13
Speaker 14: I'm trying to not.

00:37:15
Speaker 13: Be super negative, Matt, but I gotta tell you, this one is like a knife in the heart, man, I'll tell you. And because I think what really affects me the most is it feels like we have two players away and Chandler just given their all, and it feels like their teammates just aren't putting the same effort out there. The second thing that I really want to say, I agree with you.

00:37:44
Speaker 1: I'm gonna let you say the second thing, but I don't. I don't. I don't totally agree with you on that. I think I think there's nobody on the team that I don't think gives effort. I think some people take plays off, including oh Way sometimes. So I think effort was a big issue early in the year with with Garrison and Oway, and there was a couple other guys like I think Aberdeen plays hard the whole game. I don't think that. I actually think he If you were to tell me who gives effort the whole game, I would actually say Chandler, Moreno and Aberdeen the other guys. It comes and goes in my opinion, but so but I don't think any of them are dogging it. I just think some of them do some really dumb things and then occasionally have little lapses of effort. But go ahead with your second thing.

00:38:37
Speaker 14: Yeah, you kind of hit the nail on the head on the second piece. It's it's around the Moreno piece. It's it's so frustrating for someone that is that large and stature, You know what is he seven foot probably two point fifty two seventy to.

00:38:51
Speaker 13: Bring the bull down almost consistently every single time when he does high just dun.

00:38:58
Speaker 8: The ball, dun the ball.

00:38:59
Speaker 1: It's it's so weird to me. Garrison does the same thing. He's not as talented as Moreno, but they both do it, and I don't understand. You make yourself three feet tall when you do that right, And they're both bad about it, and I appreciate the call. I mean, that's one thing. Diabyte's not nearly as tall, but he doesn't really do that. He'll keep the ball high. But that it's a consistent issue. And let me say they were really really good at the start of the game. Dame Bradshaw noted this at getting went inside and when cut off, kicking it out, and then sometime in the middle of the first half that just went away and it was like they got to a point when you were in that point that they were shooting and they missed a lot doing that. Early in the game, they were really good about getting two feet in the paint and then kicking. And in the second half we ended up with these one foot floaters and it just it didn't work. One more Who's and then we'll take our last break. Who's next?

00:40:00
Speaker 15: Before that, let's give our Johnny Rocker personal injury attorney, moneymaker of the game. Injured, get small town compassion with big city results. When you call the Rocker at two seven zero three two one four four two nine and the moneymaker has to be Colin Chandler. Eighteen points, six of ten from three. That's a career high six to three pointers for Colin. He had four rebounds and one crucial steal that led to an O way and one in thirty four minutes. The last two games, he's been great shooting the ball. Colin Chandler is money and he is our moneymaker of the game. Besides the shot that would have tied the game.

00:40:33
Speaker 1: Did you did you write that? That was? That sounded like you were reading like a pre written script.

00:40:38
Speaker 2: Just the uh, the info about Johnny Rocker. The rest was all off the dome.

00:40:43
Speaker 1: Look at you, Billy, such a such a talent coming through in his old age or young age. Who's next?

00:40:50
Speaker 2: Teddy? Is next?

00:40:51
Speaker 1: Teddy? Go ahead, Teddy?

00:40:53
Speaker 7: Hey, Matt.

00:40:54
Speaker 16: So, I've been positive about the turnaround with injuries and when we were slipping then we got on this little ro But we don't have someone like you know, the Allen Iverson, like who cares about practice practice whatever that quote was. We don't have a suid like that. And there just seems like there's no discipline on this team. Like every start has been a repetitive theme, every single time, and that is coaching, and I think he's made a good change to where they're using the best of their abilities. They're getting effort and they're trying, but they're not executing. They're not doing the X and those they're not run like I'm a football guy myself, and practices are like I mean drills like something like in the army, and everything is to a tee. And I just feel like this team is not in February. We're having the mistakes that a team in.

00:41:47
Speaker 7: November would have.

00:41:48
Speaker 16: Well, I feel like Pope is two months behind. Well, yes, he's figured out this team and gotten the lineup, but he hasn't gotten the exits and nose. He hasn't gotten everything lined up to where people can actually execute and to start off a game. And that's just a common problem.

00:42:03
Speaker 1: Yeah, Well they started pretty well tonight. It was the last eight minutes of the first half. I mean they started, we were up, we were up eight with like eight and a half minutes to go, and then we were down five at halftime. So they actually started I thought, all right, but the first halves. I That's why I say, and I appreciate the call, That's why I blame the substitution patterns because somebody counted and I don't know if this, if this is correct, so I'm quoting someone else's numbers. But somebody wrote online sixteen substitutions in the last six and a half minutes of the game or the first half, Billy, that's crazy. Sixteen subs in six and a half minutes.

00:42:51
Speaker 2: Is that right?

00:42:52
Speaker 1: That's what they said. Now that could be wrong, but let's say that's right. That's well, but that's it felt like that they were just shuttling guys back in and out. And I don't know how you expect a team to have rhythm when you do that, and you know, I mean, what what do you how do you expect the guys to be connected? I also think that when you're when you're talking Aberdeen, Chandler Oway and Moreno, I just think it's hard not to have like three of those four on the floor at all times. I mean, I just do not think you can have two of those guys out at once. And at one point, Billy, we had all of them out, like you just this team is not good enough for that. Or no, we had three of the four out. I don't think we had all of them out, but we had three of the four out. I just don't think you can do that for me Oi Chandler and uh Oi Chandler and Aberdeen. I'm never not having two of those guys on the floor.

00:44:03
Speaker 2: Well, we're collecting data in the first half.

00:44:05
Speaker 1: Yeah, but I'm done with the data. We got plenty of data. Here's the data. We're four and fifteen at the half. That's the data I care about. Figure it out, yeah, to some extent, figure it out right. Yeah, I mean at the end of the day, you could make a strong argument the only stat that matters is your record at the end of the year. Like, we don't sit there after a doctor performs an operation and go where did he make the mistake with the scalpel? We just say am I cured or not?

00:44:36
Speaker 2: Did it work right?

00:44:39
Speaker 1: I'm fine with whatever he wants to do with the data. But the data that matters is we are seventeen and nine and we have a really hard schedule with the rest of the year. We'll take a break and come back. Final segments A Local Toy Dealers KSR postgame Show, Welcome Back, Local Toy Dealers KSR postgame Show, Texas Tech just lost to Arizona State. But more importantly, J T. Topping got hurt, that's a big deal. Uh if he if he's hurt and out, because looks like a knee injury. I mean they're really good, but without him, they I mean, he's their guy. He came back for this too, so, like, you know, I would hate to see him go. He's a great player and and I like watching him play, So I hope he's okay. All Right, who's next? Michael, Michael, go ahead, Michael, Hey, Matt.

00:45:35
Speaker 10: I just think, uh, just two quick things. Number One, out of the blue Buds, Kentucky has the second worst home environment. Uh, it's just it's ridiculous. We are the second winning is.

00:45:50
Speaker 1: I don't agree. Who do you consider the blue Who do you? Who do you consider the blue bloods? Like? Who are you talking about?

00:45:56
Speaker 10: Kansas?

00:45:59
Speaker 1: We're worse? Yeah, well, UCLA's is pretty bad and UCI.

00:46:04
Speaker 10: Well I don't consider them a Blue Bud anymore.

00:46:06
Speaker 1: All Right, So you're talking about where ours is better than North Carolina. Danny Hurley just this week said he thought Yukon had its worst environment. It's like that their environment is terrible. He literally said that this week.

00:46:20
Speaker 10: He's yeah, but he's nuts. He thinks everything's terrible. I've watched their games at Yukon. Their environment is much better than Kentucky's there, but.

00:46:28
Speaker 1: They're also playing I mean to be fair. To be fair though, they play in like a non you know, a ten thousand seat gym. It's tough because rupp is all you can no that makes it easier, dude. A ten thousand seat gym can get a lot louder than our arena can. If you want environment, you want it to be nine to twelve thousand people. It's enough people for it to be loud, but it's enclosed, so the noise stays in. So that's why Kansas, Duke and Yukon you can's a little bit bigger than that. But that's why there's environments are so good as because they're small. Now pick these arenas that are big and you don't have environments like that. Now, you could say we should make we're up smaller, and I don't necessarily think that would be the worst thing, but it's you can't really compare a nine to eleven thousand seat gym with a twenty one thousand seat civic arena. It just you're just gonna have different environments, and Carolina, of all the ones you mentioned, is the only one whose arena is like ours and they have the same problem. Yeah, they're worse.

00:47:39
Speaker 10: I think they're worse.

00:47:39
Speaker 1: Than they are. I agree with it, but I mean, I'm just saying I don't. But again there it's much smaller and it's old, so like that makes it a lot easier to have a great environment.

00:47:55
Speaker 10: Okay, And my second point, and I'll hang out and listen to you on this one, is you you have said for since I've been listening to you since the very beginning, Ksar, since you have said the worst thing that a program can do, it's higher its own when its own hasn't proven to be a quality championship coach, We did it, and we we all hated it, and then we got on board with it and we gave Mark Pope a lot of grace for last year he had some big wins.

00:48:27
Speaker 1: Well, we went to Sweet sixteen. Yeah, it wasn't it wasn't a disaster. He we didn't. We didn't even grace a disaster. He went up to Sweet sixteen in his first year. Yeah, I mean that's good, it's good. Yeah.

00:48:39
Speaker 10: Yeah, Well, I mean, it's good, but with some really questionable losses, some questionable coaching decisions, things like that. Then he went out and said he had a Ferrari twenty two million dollars, that whole deal, and it's been an absolute disaster. I just do not think it is. It is showing over and over again that Mark po is not a coach to get Kentucky back to the gold standard. And how long do we endure this before?

00:49:10
Speaker 1: Okay, you're making me let me just let me address let me address. No, we're not. Let me address your Indiana. We are not Indiana territory. Indiana Territory is a program that hasn't really been relevant since the mid nineties. Okay, so no, Now, are we danger in danger of slipping? Yes, I'm totally with that, but Indiana is a whole different category. Okay, when's the last time Indiana made the Final four? Is it?

00:49:39
Speaker 7: Like?

00:49:40
Speaker 1: I don't even know? Anyway? Point me to your question about my stance for a long time about not hiring a guy who played here. I've always believed that. I still believe it. However, you have to go back to where we were when we made the hire. If we didn't hire Mark Pope. Do you know who the coach would be at Kentucky?

00:50:08
Speaker 10: Somebody I wouldn't have wanted.

00:50:09
Speaker 1: Shaka Smart. Shaka Smart would Yeah, that's who the coach would have been once they eliminated and I and we can have strong discussions about whether or not these people should have been eliminated. But once Bruce Pearl, NATO's Chris Beard, and Sean Miller, once the university said we're not we can consider those guys. We were down to Mark Pope and Shaka Smart. And so part of the reason I ultimately think that was the right decision is would you rather have Shaka Smart? I mean I wouldn't, So you have to consider, like now, the other option is they could have waited a couple of weeks and tried with Billy Donovan. But Billy Donovan told Mitch don Mitch Barnhardt twice no, So like waiting on a third time, you might have gotten to know again. So I'm not saying that that theory is wrong. I still think I'm right, But I think in this situation, because of the way the search went, it's what happened now before we say, like how long are we gonna give him? How many seasons has he finished one and three one and he went to the sweet sixteen. This season is not over. Okay, what if we go to the sweet sixteen again, by the way, which is certainly possible, we also could miss the tournament. So there's a wide variation in what could happen this year, and I do think we need to wait and see what I think. But so before you say how long are we gonna give him? How about we wait and see how this year ends? Right? I mean, we need to see what happens, and then I don't think there's any scenario at this point where he will not be the coach next year. But where you and I are so so we're agree is we have to see what happened like next year is his year. Next year is going to be crucial, and I think what I would say is I'll have a lot more thoughts on that once I see what happens next year, once I see what kind of team we get in this offseason. I'm worried about that too, But I'm not ready to go how much grace we're gonna give him? How long is it going to be? It's been a year and a half and this season is not over yet.

00:52:29
Speaker 10: I hear what you're saying there. I totally hear you're saying. But I guess my counterpoint to you will be would be is you always say, this is Kentucky. This is Kentucky, this is the gold standard, this is the greatest tradition in college basketball history. If we keep settling for a Sweet sixteen, or we keep settling for well, we got to give him, like settling.

00:52:53
Speaker 1: For he's only been here. I mean to some extent, I want to say, he's only been here a year. He's finished one year.

00:52:59
Speaker 8: This is what did what did what?

00:53:01
Speaker 1: Let me go back to history. What what did cal do in his first year? Do you remember how far they went? Okay, and now they were great that but they still lost. But they were great that year. They were great. But there were people in that second year because I how were you? You were a little kid then, right, there were people in that life. Okay, so you're in college. There were people in that second year. In the middle of that year when Brandon Knight's team stunk because they did stink for part of the year, who go, I just don't know if he can win here. There were people who said that, And then when the season was over, they were in the final four. So I'm just saying, let's just be patient. There's only five games left. We're gonna know here in a few weeks and then I think that's a conversation for late March early April, and then we can evaluate what these two years were like. It's not looking great, but I'm shake the call. But I'm not giving up yet, even though I'm very frustrated about this game. Let's do two more. We'll call to night. Who's next, Kelly, Kelly, go ahead.

00:54:09
Speaker 12: Kelly, Hey, Matt, I'm going back and talking about the free throws shooting. Like Sington, Kentucky has two of the best SEC three thoo shooters and Kyle Macy and Jim Masters, and Pope likes to ask back all of these players too. By y'all, I have an idea. How about we invite Kyle Macy and Jim Master, who practice to teach him how to fundamentally shoot a free throw.

00:54:47
Speaker 1: Well, my guess is that we have people on staff who know how to shoot a free throw. And while you will while, but Jim Master is Kyle Macy was a coach. I don't know if Jim Master has been a coach. But regardless, like you and I know who Kyle Macy and Jim Master are, right and like they mean something to us. These kids don't know who.

00:55:12
Speaker 12: They are if you brought I mean, but someone has to teach them to shoot a free But I.

00:55:18
Speaker 1: Would bet you they have people who I mean, I would assume they have people do who do that. And at the end of the day, though the play I will say about free throws, that's ultimately on the player they got to execute. Mark Pope cannot make them make free throws, you know, I mean, and I appreciate tell otega Oway knows how to make a free throw. He went three for six. Denzel Aberdeen knows how to make a free throw, he went four for seven. That's on them. I think Denzel Aberdeen's like, what an eighty five percent free throw shoot or eighty two or eighty three, Like you gotta make a man. So I mean, I you know, if they if Pope wanted to do that before. But I don't think it's like a I don't think it's that they don't know how to make it. I think it's a matter of like mentally locking in and making it one more who's next, Mark, Mark?

00:56:11
Speaker 7: Go ahead, Mark, Hey, Matt fellow Middlesborough graduate here?

00:56:18
Speaker 1: Oh all right, Jackets, Jackets.

00:56:22
Speaker 7: I graduated in seventy nine. I was gonna use the word Mark Pope it's failing, but I think that's probably too strong a word because we have had some great comebacks this year. But I'm going to ask you here's another question about your opinion. I think he's in over his head, and a lot of the Kentucky fans that I talked to believe that. And if he don't get himself the right kind of help, especially in the recruiting apart, I don't think this is going to work. So my question to you is, do you believe he is in over his head?

00:57:07
Speaker 3: Man?

00:57:09
Speaker 1: I wouldn't use the term over his head, but I do think I might say this year it has felt like to me he was in his head right that. You know. Kyle Tucker, who's back covering college uh, covering college basketball, he had an article today about Mark that said, and it quoted Rick Patino as saying a lot of people close to Mark were really worried about him and the way he was talking and acting early in the year. And it's a good article you should. You should read it, and I agree with that. I think it is clear that he does need help on the recruiting stuff. On that, I totally agree with you. He needs a GM and it is clear Mark Pope has not recruited the level of player that he now needs to get at Kentucky and maybe the methods he used to recruit guys at Utah Valley and BYU is not what you do to recruit the top stars to Kentucky. And he needs help, and I'm disappointed he hasn't done that yet as far as a coach. As far as a coach, I don't think he's in over his head, but I think he's in his head and it is not working like I would have hoped yet. So now how do you fix that? I don't know him well enough to answer the question, but in over his head would almost mean like he's not intelligent enough to do this, and I don't think that's true.

00:58:37
Speaker 7: Okay, Well, thank you for your appreciation opinion.

00:58:42
Speaker 1: I'm not saying, and I appreciate the call, and I you know, listen, I'm disappointed by this loss, but I also would say, there are five games left. This is the kind of team that can lose this game, Billy, and then go to Auburn and win.

00:58:59
Speaker 2: Right, I've seen it.

00:59:00
Speaker 1: We've seen it. So this is the kind of team that you could argue, you should have beat Missouri, should bet in Georgia, you should have beat in North Carolina. We should be you know, twenty and six. You could also say we could have lost LSU, we could have lost Tennessee, we could have you know, we could be like not making the tournament. So let's see what happens. But this is a bad one. This is one that's gonna cost him. At best, it's gonna cost him a seed line at the NCAA tournament. And at worst, it might make us on that bubble and they're gonna have to go steal one. Thank you, folks very much for staying up late tonight, thanks to Billy as well. We'll be back on the radio here in eight and a half hours. This has been the Local Toy Dealers KSR postgame show.