2026-04-29- KSR - Hour 2

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00:00:59
Speaker 4: Welcome to our two of Kentucky Sports Radio presented by Stockton Mortgage. Now here's Matt Jones welcome back.

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Speaker 5: I have re number two Kentucky Sports Radio eight five, nine two eight, twenty two eighty seven. I'm gonna go the phone here in just a minute. The NCAA Tournament expanded to seventy six or is in the process of doing it. It would start next year. It'll be twelve games on instead of the first four. It's basically the first twenty four because you're gonna go from four games to twelve games with the addition of teams. Half of the new games will be the low seeded teams.

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Speaker 3: Half will be.

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Speaker 5: Basically bubble teams, so there will be eight new bubble teams get in. I hate it. I think it's terrible. The tournament to me does not need to be messed with. But more specifically, I don't think we need more mediocre big conference teams. I mean I looked at who would have been in last year. We're able to have been like Auburn and Indiana, and like, did you need those teams in the tournament?

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Speaker 3: So I don't like it, but it is what it is.

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Speaker 2: I guess I'm with you. Don't like it, but we knew it was coming. We saw it coming.

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Speaker 5: Why I go from sixty eight to seventy six. Could we have had an interim step of like seventy two? I mean twelve games on Tuesday and Wednesday, that's six games each day.

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Speaker 2: It's all about the money factor, you know, trying to make them figure out way to make more money with more games.

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Speaker 3: Do you like it, Shannon? No, I hate it.

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Speaker 4: I mean, this is the best thing they have in all of sports in my opinion, and it feels like there's always somebody that has to come in and fix something that isn't broken. And this is what the NCAA is doing here.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I just I don't get it.

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Speaker 5: I mean their argument for it is, well, there used to be this many teams in Division one and sixty four was this percentage of it, and now there are more teams, but we haven't added But here's my issue with it. You're not adding more teams from bad conferences. All you're doing is making the bad teams and the big conferences get in.

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Speaker 3: That's all you're quality.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 5: I mean, did you all feel like last year Indiana and Auburn.

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Speaker 3: Needed to be in the tournament? Absolutely?

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Speaker 5: I mean that's what you're doing now is you're basically making sure that Indiana and Auburn get in.

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Speaker 2: I think the fact that the first four has been such a success there in Dayton.

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Speaker 3: But why was that successful?

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Speaker 5: Like the Miami game last year was successful because it was small conference versus big conference. It was Miami versus SMU, and that was like an exciting game. And you could root for the small conference. If you could convince me that like the new teams they'd add in, they'll add four from small conferences and four from big conferences, then I might could get more excited about it.

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Speaker 3: That smart thing to do. But that's not what they're going to do.

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Speaker 5: And so you're gonna end up with this situation where you can come in ninth in the ACC and you get in. So the regular season, I mean it matters, Like I still think it matters, but it matters a little less, especially you know at the end of the year, it's gonna matter a lot less the bubble games, cause like you're gonna you know.

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Speaker 2: They're both gonna be in.

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Speaker 5: If you're one of the better teams, you're gonna be playing for a top seed.

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Speaker 3: But I don't know.

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Speaker 5: I mean, I just think, like take Kentucky last year, there would have been no stress last year for Kentucky at all, right, we would have been in the tournament the whole time.

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Speaker 2: But the way I play that, we were a little stressed.

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Speaker 5: We were a little stressed we had there's a couple of games we had to win, and now that wouldn't really be the case.

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Speaker 2: Did you see if they're going to try to have like one centralized location for the other I haven't see what they were gonna say about that, because, like I said, it's been such a success at dayton O, there's gonna be another city that may host, you know.

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Speaker 5: I mean one positive is the games against the fifteen and sixteen seeds. Those will probably be better games now, yeah, because you're gonna eliminate six or seven of the bad teams. So you know, when when No. One seed plays at sixteen, they're gonna play a sixteen that's already beaten somebody, and they're gonna be some teams, like think about the teams that are seated like fourteenth.

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Speaker 3: Some of those are now gonna be seated like fifteenth.

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Speaker 5: So I think I do think one if there is a positive, I do think you know, in the last few years, the ones, the twos in the threes really have not been it's been a last three years. They really haven't been stretched. I think they'll get stretched a little bit more now because there's gonna be better teams fall farther.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Does that make sense, Yeah, it does make sense. I guess now the possible would be those teams now gonna play two games make more money for their school.

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Speaker 3: So think about it like this.

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Speaker 5: I don't remember what the bracket was, but the teams that were seeded fifteenth and sixteenth this past year, they would all be in playing games now, right, So some of those teams seeded thirteenth and fourteenth would now be fourteen and fifteen seeds, and so that's gonna be tougher.

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Speaker 3: Games for those teams. So it's just I mean, that's a.

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Speaker 5: Minor thing, but that may help a little bit, goes into effect win next year, next the next tournament. Yeah, and you know we've talked over the years, you'll talk about five twelves and four thirteen's. I mean, they did the bracket as to what it would have been. I mean, like last year, Auburn would have been a thirteen seed. So if you were a four seed, you would have drawn Auburn.

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Speaker 2: That's a tough, tough draw. Maybe the expansion may help us get in the tournament.

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Speaker 5: I think we'd be in that with the roster we have, I think we'd be in the tournament. I just wonder, are we gonna just have another season where we lose twelve games.

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Speaker 4: In like yeah, and it won't matter, because we'll be in the tournament and.

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Speaker 5: It won't matter, and we'll be in a you know, we'll be in an eight seed or something, and we're just gonna be as you know, fair to Midland.

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Speaker 3: Right.

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Speaker 2: I think that's what's staring us right in the face at the current moment.

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Speaker 3: Is to be fair to Midland. Yeah, yeah, do you agree? Yeah? I mean, right, the roster as it is right now now, it's.

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Speaker 5: Not over true, and they have a lot of money, So they do have a lot of money.

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Speaker 3: They get some good players. But I don't know who you go spend it on.

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Speaker 2: Is there are there any of these guys that entered the NBA Draft that are maybe gonna come back to school, And I.

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Speaker 5: Mean I think there's a few, But but I don't know who's coming here, you know, Yeah, I mean yeah, I don't know. I do think Mark Pope and his group are smart enough they had a backup plan, but again we.

00:07:23
Speaker 3: Don't know what it is because we don't. We just don't know. We don't, we don't know what it is.

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Speaker 5: So one person writes, Matt, I still believe in Pope and still think it can work. If you were in charge of messaging going forward, what would you do? I would say the first thing, I as soon as Mark's just gonna have to finish this class, there's not gonna be anything he can do that's gonna change the perception of this class. So I would say, at this point, Mark, the strategy you've used, finished this class with it, chips will be where they may.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 5: Next, bring you an assistant coach who is not like you. Whatever it is you think you want, go get the opposite. Okay, so that there's somebody somebody here said earlier group think there's somebody else in the room. Hire a GM and let them do their job. And then, from a pr perspective, start spending the next few months reaching out to the people directly. Go on all the shows. Change the way you show the real Mark Pope. Because the real Mark Pope, I think is an awesome dude.

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Speaker 2: He won us over when he got the job by being Mark Pope.

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Speaker 5: Show the Mark Pope from year one. Yes, let's get away from the Mark Pope from year two of you know, I'm curling up in a ball. I don't believe what's on the internet, like this sort of you know, the refs are screwing us, Like, get away from that.

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Speaker 2: And like I've said this before, as our leader, we need to hear from him. This is kind of a you know, it's such a pivotal season for him. We need to know we're gonna be okay. We need to hear that from him.

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Speaker 6: Uh.

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Speaker 3: One person, rights, Matt, Do you think the n I T will go away? Maybe? Or it might be in a different form.

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Speaker 5: Probably won't go away, but it'll probably be something different than it is. Maybe it'll be the small small school tournament now or something like that.

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Speaker 2: They moved it to, you know, the final the Final four. They moved into Hickelfield House in Indianapolis.

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Speaker 3: That helped.

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Speaker 2: That definitely helped so bad they do something like that, go to some historic arenas across the country to help generate a little more interest for it.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, who's up to next? Shannon?

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Speaker 5: Ed?

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Speaker 3: Go ahead?

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Speaker 7: Ed, Hey, guys, I got just a couple of questions. It's not about basketball on the football side, I understand, you know why they didn't put it on TV? Though, Why didn't they broadcast it on the radio?

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Speaker 3: Let's spring game? You know, I don't totally know why they did.

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Speaker 5: I don't think they usually do the spring game on the radio, so that maybe why I was a little you know, I was a little surprised it wasn't anywhere. I think they were trying to get people there, and then of course it rained, So yeah, I don't really know. I mean I didn't I don't know why they didn't really do a lot of broadcasting with it.

00:10:13
Speaker 7: Yeah, and then the other quest is the Power K coming back?

00:10:18
Speaker 8: Well?

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Speaker 5: Will Stein wore the Power K on this show and he said that he loved the Power K.

00:10:24
Speaker 3: So I could see it. I appreciate the call. I could see them doing that.

00:10:26
Speaker 2: Oh, I think there's no doubt, and it's coming back in some capacity. Maybe they have a throwback game when they will put it on the helmet.

00:10:32
Speaker 5: It's coming People love it, especially like the generation one older than me, so really your generation.

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Speaker 2: That's Ready Maggart when he played.

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Speaker 5: There's generation that loves its yes, and especially football because it was more of a football thing. So I think are fans that are very football centric are the ones I think that really really want it.

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Speaker 2: And I think the fans will react to it. That's why will Stein his staff they get it. They understand they're one of us, so they get it.

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Speaker 3: Yes, they are one of us, that's true. Who's next? Jay? And Lyndon? How are you? Man?

00:11:08
Speaker 8: Hey?

00:11:09
Speaker 9: I never thought said this word about Mark Pope.

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Speaker 2: It all this seems so unorganized.

00:11:14
Speaker 3: Has me the first end of an auction fantasy football draft. Here's the first, Jay, your phone's breaking up. I'll tell you what. If you get in a better slot and call back, we'll we'll, We'll take it. I'm sorry, Jay, appreciate you. Good call back. Who's next, Joe? Joe? Go ahead, Joe.

00:11:34
Speaker 10: Yeah, Matt the pulp fiction reference, Mark Pope needs the wolf as the wolf You're right, yeah, but here, I don't think the Tyran Stokes thing is any different in what's been going on all year. I think the issue going forward and I hate it. I don't think it's recoverable, is that Mark Pope has no respect from the coaches in college basket that are going up against them, the other schools, and now the recruits. He's a pawn and he's going to have to do something so outside of the box, going overseas and build a team to be successful. And I'm just not sure that's sustainable for the long term.

00:12:17
Speaker 5: Yeah, I don't know. I mean, it's hard to know. I appreciate the call. I mean, I don't talk to other coaches or recruits, Ryan, so I can't say what they think. I know what the national media thinks. It was very eye opening to me when I was at the East Regional and you can you know, I think I told this story. But on the East Regional was Friday night and Sunday in DC. Saturday night, I watched games with probably fifteen national media members and they were talking to each other, they weren't just talking to me, and they talked about a lot of things.

00:12:51
Speaker 3: It was fascinating. I got to learn, you know, what.

00:12:53
Speaker 5: Coaches, what coaches cheat on their wives, and oh I got to learn about stuff all over not not here, just all over the country.

00:13:02
Speaker 3: Right.

00:13:03
Speaker 5: But when they talked about Kentucky, the universal theme is they were all baffled at how Kentucky runs the program. I mean, they all and to some of their credits, they predicted what was gonna happen in the portal. One of them said to me, they're an unorganized mess. And remember this was before the portal even opened.

00:13:24
Speaker 3: And you know, my natural inclination is I'm mister Kentucky. I want to take up for him. And I was like, oh, it's gonna be fine, shut up. But they were right. They were right, and they called it before it happened.

00:13:37
Speaker 5: I mean they were like, you know, one of them said, once the portal happens, it's over, meaning like all the business has already been done. And he was like, what if you wait till the portal happens, you've already lost. And he said, I think Kentucky, you know, he just hired Keegan Brown like three weeks before. He was like, it's too late, They've already lost.

00:14:02
Speaker 3: And it turned out to be correct.

00:14:04
Speaker 2: I think that's kind of what Jay and Lennon was trying to say for his phone broke up. He can't believe he's saying this about Mark Popany's staff, that they seemed so unorganized, and they you know, there's some nerdy, analytic guys. You think they'd be extremely organized.

00:14:17
Speaker 3: Yeah, who's next, Brandon, Brandon? Go ahead, Brandon, Hey, Matt.

00:14:23
Speaker 8: If we have another coach and starch next spring, which unfortunately looks more likely every passing day, the next ad cannot repeat Mitch Barnard's biggest mistake, and that's if we don't get our biggest target next time. Say it's Simpally Donovan. We can't just go way down the list to a nice guy who know who we know is going to say yes to us. And I think what we ended our situation was that we kept crossing off names for vague morality reasons, whether it's a Nato Oates or Sean Miller or Bruce Pearl. I'm not saying any one of those guys was the answer then or is the answer in the future, But we just need to not tie our hands in the process. And yeah, prioritize, we need to prioritize being a winner, being first, second, third consideration here.

00:15:04
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think the I think the next a D. It's gonna be fascinating Ryan to see you appreciate the call. Who they hire for the next day D. That's gonna be fascinating because it's gonna be a complete culture change.

00:15:15
Speaker 11: This.

00:15:15
Speaker 3: I mean for.

00:15:16
Speaker 5: Twenty four years, this university has been run a certain way with a certain kind of person who hired certain kinds of people under him.

00:15:24
Speaker 3: Now, what's the new one gonna do? I think it'll be fascinating.

00:15:27
Speaker 2: And you know, Mitch Barton did a great job hiring some of those coaches we're talking about, you know, Craig Skinner and volleyball. I mean he's hit a home run with Kenny Brooks with women's basketball right now.

00:15:36
Speaker 5: Yeah, But but who's gonna hire the next generation? I think that's gonna be a'ter.

00:15:39
Speaker 2: Your flagship athletic program, men's basketball. You want to hire your own guy? Maybe so.

00:15:46
Speaker 5: Well, I think we're a long way away from that. Tell me about Stockton mortgage.

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00:16:24
Speaker 5: We'll take a break and very back here at KOs Bars, Kentucky Sports Radio. Welcome back, Tucky Sports Radio. Can we talk about one thing that's kind of funny?

00:16:32
Speaker 2: Please? We need it today.

00:16:34
Speaker 5: Did you read, well, I guess funny it may or may not be the word, but interesting. Did you read the story about the woman and they got in the fight at McDonald's on Versail I mean Frankfort. No, there's the McDonald's on Versales Road in Frankfort and she came outside. I guess she got into it with a with someone that worked at McDonald's. Okay, okay, and someone that worked at McDonald's gets mad, and I don't know, maybe I can't. The story said something like maybe kicked their car got upset, so the woman hits Shannon, the woman at McDonald's, she hits her and she goes on to the front of her car, so she's on the front hood of her car.

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Speaker 2: She hit her with her car, hit her with.

00:17:19
Speaker 3: Her car, and the woman is now on the front hood of the car, and then.

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Speaker 5: The woman drives off, leaving her on the front end of the car. Shannon, she hangs on, according to the article in the Herald, for six miles.

00:17:31
Speaker 2: No, no, well.

00:17:35
Speaker 3: This is in the article traffic.

00:17:38
Speaker 5: She hangs on to the front of the car for six miles, and the woman drives into on a street, stops, then she jumps off the car and then punches her in the face when.

00:17:52
Speaker 3: She earned So they've gotten.

00:17:53
Speaker 5: According to this article, they got in a fight six miles away from the Frankfurt McDon donald's on Versales Road where they originally where it originally happened.

00:18:05
Speaker 2: First of all, that woman is superwoman to hang on in a car for six miles on the hood of a car.

00:18:09
Speaker 3: Imagine you're driving through Frankfurt.

00:18:13
Speaker 2: And hey, look over and you see that and you.

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Speaker 3: See a woman hanging on the car.

00:18:17
Speaker 2: What are you doing?

00:18:17
Speaker 4: What's going on in Spider Woman, not Superwoman. She's able to grip that.

00:18:21
Speaker 3: I mean, are you how impressive is that?

00:18:24
Speaker 2: It's unbelievably impressive?

00:18:26
Speaker 3: Scary?

00:18:27
Speaker 2: Maybe that's why the woman didn't stop, like this was a this is a crazy strong woman. I'm not gonna stop cause she's gonna kick my butt.

00:18:33
Speaker 3: Yes, well I'm slamming on the bricks. Absolutely amazing that that.

00:18:38
Speaker 5: Occurred McDonald's drive through McDonald's drive through in Frankfort. So if you're if you're if you're in Frankfort and you see someone hanging on a car for six.

00:18:47
Speaker 3: Miles, maybe you will understand why.

00:18:49
Speaker 5: EF I'm nine two eight oh twenty two eighty seven.

00:18:52
Speaker 3: Who's up next, David? David?

00:18:53
Speaker 12: Go ahead, David hey Man, thanks for taking my call. I was you know, you're talking about the General Man this morning and the need for it. You put me in mind of something I think Pope and the coaches being at the negotiating table is very detrimental because you've got the coaching staff trying to talk down the numbers instead of the GM. So that means the coaching staff is sitting there saying we don't think your client.

00:19:16
Speaker 6: Is worked, but he won.

00:19:17
Speaker 13: Yeah, yeah, that's a bad look.

00:19:19
Speaker 3: I don't you're exactly right.

00:19:24
Speaker 12: Yeah, thanks, yeah, I agree.

00:19:26
Speaker 5: This reminds me of a lesson. I appreciate the call. I think I told this story. I get asked a lot by young younger people who are in TV or whatever, should I get an agent, Because when you have an agent in media, it can kind of stink because you're you're giving part of your salary to them, and especially when you're first getting started, you don't make a lot of money. Right, Remember Diego Pavia didn't hire an agent. But then somebody and so said to me, Matt, here's a reason why you you should do it. You need your agent to kind of be a jerk with your boss. But if you have an agent, your boss won't hold it against you, correct, They'll hold it against the agent. So when you're sitting there arguing with them, it's very hard to argue with somebody who's like you're not worth this and you go yes I am, and then I'm like you're being whatever, and then you have to go work with them, whereas with the agent, they can just hate your agent and you can just come in and work.

00:20:24
Speaker 2: I think there's a lot of truth to that, Like, there's a lot of truth to that, and I.

00:20:27
Speaker 5: That that actually so like on most of the stuff I do, with the exception of iHeart, I let somebody else do it because then I don't have to be the bag uh huh. I do wonder if you're having everyone internally in a room make the negotiations, it's kind of hard for you not to seem like the bad guy, or you might just get taken advantage of because you're like, I can't upset this person. I got to coach him next year.

00:20:49
Speaker 2: I think that's the exact position Mark Pope is in. He's like a good guy and nice guy. He can't be the jerk guy, the heavy, the heavy.

00:20:56
Speaker 3: That's right, who's next? Mark Anthony, Mark Anthony.

00:20:59
Speaker 6: Go ahead, Hey, Matthew, Ryan, Shannon Matthew to know when the kid comes to Kentucky nowadays, it ain't what it used to be. We ain't the shining star anymore. I mean we're swelling up stream. And for the last for his for his memory of college basketball, Pepall told me Kentucky used.

00:21:19
Speaker 3: To be good.

00:21:19
Speaker 6: That's what they're looking at now. And then they get you to come to the school and you meet coach Mark Pope, who is I'm sure you'll agree, not a charismatic man.

00:21:31
Speaker 3: And I don't agree with that.

00:21:33
Speaker 5: I think he's charismatic. I'm margetting. I disagree. I think he's charismatic in his own way. I think Mark is very charismatic. But is he charismatic in a way that connects to eighteen year olds. I don't know, but I definitely think he's a charismatic man, but not in the.

00:21:50
Speaker 6: Way that they understand. They don't want. He don't light a fire with these cats.

00:21:54
Speaker 7: He don't light a fire.

00:21:55
Speaker 6: He don't excite him and for whatever, and the fact that he doesn't have a GM agy inexcusable to me. You've got to have a GM, You've got to have somebody to talk numbers. All you need to do is showing, look, this is how we play, this is where I want you, this is what I need you to do, and talk to him that way. I mean, for godness sake, maybe he needs to grow his hair out and wear it in a ponytail or diet line.

00:22:16
Speaker 3: He needs to. I appreciate the call. I think there's a lot of guys that are.

00:22:21
Speaker 5: Coaches that don't necessarily relate to the players. But that's why you have people on your staff who do.

00:22:27
Speaker 2: That's exactly, and you know we did.

00:22:30
Speaker 3: We just brought on my Williams.

00:22:32
Speaker 5: Yes, I think that was probably the hope with Jason Hart. Who knows whether that worked or not. To me, the best explanation is this Mark is really good at connecting to guys who have been told they don't deserve to be at a school like Kentucky, and he makes them believe they do.

00:22:50
Speaker 2: That's what happened the first season.

00:22:52
Speaker 5: The question is how does he do with guys who believe they should be here, who have the talent to be here. How does he connect to them? Yes, Tyron Stokes doesn't need to be convinced he needs to play be good enough for Kentucky.

00:23:07
Speaker 3: He knows he's good enough. How do you do with that guy?

00:23:10
Speaker 5: I think he's great with Anamari Williams who's been discounted his whole life.

00:23:15
Speaker 2: All right, yeah, allergies, that's all.

00:23:17
Speaker 5: He's allergy who's been discounted his whole life, and can make him convinced he can believe here.

00:23:23
Speaker 3: We'll take a break very back. It's chaoson TJ. Smith personal injury attorney called TJ. He'll make him pay.

00:23:31
Speaker 4: Now more of Kentucky Sports Radio presented by Stockton Mortgage. Here's Matt Jones.

00:23:37
Speaker 5: We're go back at his Kentucky Sports Radio A five nine two twenty two eighty seven. The text machine is seven seven two seven seven four five two five four.

00:23:46
Speaker 3: The chaos bar open in his wings day. Are you excited for bowling tonight? Mario? You ready to go? We're gonna bowl. You're gonna come by hopefully.

00:23:57
Speaker 2: It went to the practice round last week. They were like over twenty teams there for the practice round. I mean, it's a really fun event throughout the summer and then shot La Lanez does a great job with it. So looking forward to it again this year.

00:24:07
Speaker 3: Yeah?

00:24:07
Speaker 5: Uh seven seven two seven seven four five two five four. On the text machine, one person says Matt, I'm pulling for Pope and I think he can turn it around. What is our excitement level about the team as it stands? Well, I'm gonna talk myself into it as we go. I mean, I think they're gonna be some good play. I think they got some good guys. I think Alex Alex Wilkins's gonna be really good. I think z Zoom Diallo is gonna be good. You know, I think an X factor is Braydon Hawthorne, Like, how good is he?

00:24:38
Speaker 3: We don't know.

00:24:39
Speaker 5: If that kid ended up being really good, that would be they clearly like him. I mean they got his brother for goodness sake, so they clearly have some affinity for him if they're also gonna bring in his brother. But it's hard for me because I don't know how good he is, right, So it's hard for me to know off the top of my head.

00:24:59
Speaker 3: So we'll see. That's that's That's probably the best way I can say. It is a we'll see.

00:25:04
Speaker 2: The roster's not set yet. We'll talk all of us will talk ourselves into getting excited about next season. But let's do we have to give be patient, give him time to maybe see what he can put together here before we make a final judgment.

00:25:16
Speaker 3: Yeah, but you know, not a lot of time left. But yes, I mean we don't. We won't know until we know, I mean until it's over.

00:25:26
Speaker 2: I did get excited this morning. Shannon's buddy Michael de Courci was on the Leech Report.

00:25:29
Speaker 3: What did he say?

00:25:30
Speaker 2: He said, if Braden Hawthorne was a true freshman this year, he would have been a McDonald's All American. Last year's class was just so loaded he kind of got lost in the shuffle. He was like, thank thirty fifth or thirty six. But in this year's freshman class, if he'd come out with them, he'd be a McDonald's All American.

00:25:44
Speaker 3: That's good. That's good.

00:25:45
Speaker 2: He got me a little excited.

00:25:46
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's good. Who's next? Mark, Mark? Go ahead and Mark.

00:25:51
Speaker 2: Hey.

00:25:52
Speaker 13: Three questions real quick. One, who's the basketball coach in twenty twenty seven? To what other schools use the interlocked you?

00:25:59
Speaker 3: That good? And three?

00:26:02
Speaker 13: If Pope can't relate to the five star all we I mean, all we care about is winning, per se. I mean, if you've got to win with the three stars, that's fine. Just make sure you win the last six games.

00:26:13
Speaker 3: What do you mean by interlocking you?

00:26:15
Speaker 7: All?

00:26:15
Speaker 3: Right? Well, tell me what you're talking about there.

00:26:18
Speaker 13: Where it says uk Alabama is just a big a Michigan is just the big.

00:26:22
Speaker 3: Am Oh okay, well, Houston.

00:26:24
Speaker 13: Oklahoma's the only one that Oklahoma is the only one they know that interlocks the U and their advertising? Why you never any advertisements well that's commercials.

00:26:37
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think that's their choice, though I think they they have a you know, I think UK has a as I understand it.

00:26:46
Speaker 3: I appreciate the call.

00:26:47
Speaker 5: They don't do their rights so schools can join this group that sell the rights of the university logos and marks and stuff. And I think Kentucky does their separately.

00:27:01
Speaker 2: That used to be our we always were on the NCAA tournament commercials.

00:27:05
Speaker 5: I think they do it separately though, So I think you I remember because we had that happen with the EA Sports thing, right, like all those teams agreed and UK kind of held out for a little while.

00:27:14
Speaker 3: Yes, So to answer your question, I think that has something.

00:27:17
Speaker 2: To do with it. So like yesterday just kind of added that that used to be us in those commercials that used to be our moment with Charles Barkley and Shack when I'm recruit picks Kentucky and we're missing those moments now. It's a good punch.

00:27:30
Speaker 5: Yeah, No, I mean I don't think though, Like I think if he had picked Kentucky, they still had him on there. I don't think they had him on there because he was picking Kansas. He just did pick us. Didn't pick us.

00:27:40
Speaker 3: Yeah, who's next, Luke? Luke, go ahead, Luke.

00:27:44
Speaker 9: Hey, guys, just wanted to say, obviously, I'm pretty negative right now, not really sure what there is to be positive about. Considering Mark Pope's the coach. I mean, he's a dead man walking, just like Percy said in The Green Mile dead Man, we have a man walking here. I mean he's going to lose ten games. He's done that basically his entire career, and that's just never going to work here. And so I mean, I don't really know what you talk about. We're going to talk ourselves into getting excited about what?

00:28:15
Speaker 7: What are we going to be excited about?

00:28:16
Speaker 9: Mark Pope's the coach man, There's nothing to be excited about, you reputs, you sew. And when you hire a guy that has absolutely no business being the coach in Lexington, he's going to prove to you that he has no business being the coach in Lexington.

00:28:29
Speaker 7: I mean, this guy has done nothing.

00:28:30
Speaker 9: His entire coaching career has been a failure by Kentucky standards. He has accomplished nothing in his entire career.

00:28:37
Speaker 13: So you magically think.

00:28:39
Speaker 9: We should be excited that he's going to achieve something that he's never achieved in his life, not a chance. And when it comes to recruiting, you have to ask yourself this, I don't fit with Mark Post's a nice guy, Okay, I'm not. You know this is not personal, it's business, right, But when you have to think, if you were eighteen to twenty two years old, which you want to play for that guy? And the answers are resounding, no, I wouldn't touch the guy with a ten foot pole.

00:29:02
Speaker 13: You don't want to.

00:29:02
Speaker 9: Play for a dork.

00:29:04
Speaker 3: I want to play for.

00:29:07
Speaker 5: It's a lot, you know. I think there before he came here, he had not won an NCAA tournament game, not one. I mean that's a reasonable thing to mention. Now, he did go to the sweet sixteen his first year, Yes, with second round this year.

00:29:30
Speaker 3: I don't. I don't adhere to the he can't coach or he's accomplished nothing. I don't. I don't really adhere to that.

00:29:39
Speaker 5: I think the second part of if you were an eighteen to twenty one year old kid, would you want to come play? I think that's a reasonable question.

00:29:46
Speaker 3: You know this job, so to me, this job winning.

00:29:52
Speaker 5: Is the most important thing. But there's there are other parts to this job. We've talked about this. Yes, I mean this is a rock star job. This is a job that is more than just showing up and punching the clock, right, This is a rock star job. You have to be part of the personality. This is a place that wants you to be larger than life.

00:30:11
Speaker 2: To sit in that chair, you have to be you.

00:30:13
Speaker 5: Almost and you, and especially in today's world where there's so much everything with with with the media and social media and just just everything like this is you got to be larger than life in some ways. And I think Kentucky basketball should have a larger than life coach.

00:30:31
Speaker 3: And I think Mark.

00:30:34
Speaker 5: I don't know if that's him, but if he's gonna do it a different way, an analytic sort of nice guy way, it has to work, you know what I mean. The nice guy only takes you so far. You've got you gotta win.

00:30:49
Speaker 3: I mean, you ask people, would you like to have somebody that you would want to marry your daughter and we lose twelve games, or would you like to have somebody that you think is kind of a little sleazy? But we go to the final four? What are our.

00:31:04
Speaker 5: Fans gonna choose final four, and they're all gonna choose Final four.

00:31:08
Speaker 3: Yeah, like that's what everybody's gonna choose, you know. So he's gotta win and and you know, look if he go, if he takes this group and they're great, it'll be fun.

00:31:19
Speaker 2: Yes, but winning cures all.

00:31:23
Speaker 3: I said this.

00:31:24
Speaker 5: I don't think it's just the Sweet sixteen in law. I think it's that we've had these years where during the season.

00:31:29
Speaker 3: We get pummeled sometimes. You know, we're not used to losing like that. And this is a little part of it too.

00:31:37
Speaker 5: College basketball had a resurgence in popularity last year. Yes, last year was probably when college basketball was in the national collective sports mindset the most it had been in a decade. Certainly the most sension probably so college basketball, highest ratings, hot like, college basketball.

00:31:56
Speaker 3: Was rolling, and we just weren't part of it. And that annoys us.

00:32:02
Speaker 5: Because we've always been a part They've always been part of it, and here was this thing and everybody was part of it, right. Duke was great, Uh, Caleb Wilson was at North Carolina, Darren Peterson was at Kansas. Michigan won the national championship, Arizona got good again, like all of even Louisville had Michale Brown for a while, and it was like Darius acuff cal has a top five pick, and like college basketball, everybody's talking about it and how good it is and the most talent ever. And then we're just kind of there and we're not really part of the conversation. And I think that for our fan base, they feel we gotta They.

00:32:41
Speaker 3: Want to be part of it. And also I want to say the media wants us to be part of it too.

00:32:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, they do TV ratings, definitely want it.

00:32:49
Speaker 5: I looked at on three yesterday. You know what the four most read posts that on three were. It was all about Kentucky. Wow, the post written by Kentucky people about Stokes were being read more than.

00:33:02
Speaker 3: The Kansas articles ESPN. Myron told me a couple weeks ago when Basher said the thing, huh, you remember when Basher said the thing about Mitch, Myron said, I just decided to write that as a story, and it was the most read story on ESPN that day.

00:33:24
Speaker 5: I want you to just think about that. A story about our governor criticizing the administration over a contract for the ad went on ESPN, where the NBA playoffs are going on, the NHL playoffs are going on, the NFL Draft is going on, and the number one story is about rad and governor. So ESPN is like, please Kentucky be good. Yes, you know, there's a rumor that's out there about them considering me for a job.

00:33:58
Speaker 3: Why do you think my name's even up there. It's just cause, like, we have this swarm of people that care, and but when we lose, that starts to like they So ESPN wants us to win. When people say esp want us to lose, I always find that hilarious.

00:34:21
Speaker 5: They want us to win. CBS wants us to win. They don't want us to lose.

00:34:26
Speaker 2: We're gold for them, ready to hire, more money coming in. I don't know if you heard this or not, but we are the needle.

00:34:33
Speaker 5: But we gotta be careful or we're gonna start being the scratch on the record. And we're not gonna be the needle unless we continue to unless we like step up and win. Don Franklin Odo Don Franklinado is number one place for vehicles in Kentucky. Five hundred thousand mile powertrain warranty, six thousand vehicles trucks, SUV Sedans experience the Don Franklin certified difference from our five year point part to Warney to our ten year, five hundred thousand mile powertrain warranty. It's all Don Franklin Auto dot Com and Don Franklin Outdoor dot Com, two sites, one name Don Franklin. By the way, what about Rondo May is up for the job with the Pelicans as the head coach.

00:35:12
Speaker 2: He's a he's a basketball savant. He's going to go into coaching at some point. Does he want to leave now? And his son's getting ready to go to high school?

00:35:19
Speaker 5: Well, I mean, but Chinnon, isn't it odd to hire a guy who's never coached at any level and make him an NBA.

00:35:27
Speaker 3: Everybody else? Yeah, I'd be surprised if he gets that job. I mean, he's never even been an assistant coach. No, to go from not even being an assistant to be an NBA head coach.

00:35:37
Speaker 4: Luke Walton to coach somewhere before he coached.

00:35:39
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think he was an assistant for a couple of years.

00:35:41
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:35:42
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, Rondo's very smart, very and I think he would be good.

00:35:48
Speaker 3: I think I just that that would.

00:35:51
Speaker 5: Be a pretty leaf. To go from never coach to NBA coach is quite a jump. We'll take a break. Very back, it's Kentucky Sports Radio. Look back, it is Kentucky Sports Radio. If I'm nine two eight oh twenty two eighty seven, the text machine is seven seven two seven to seven four five two five four. There are now highlights of this guy that Pope's going to see Marcio Santos online. I just tweeted him out. One person rides Matt. Do you think we get this kid or will it be another whiff? I would think so. I wouldn't think you would fly all the way to Israel to see someone unless you were pretty sure you were gonna get him. I wouldn't you agree, Yeah, that's making a pretty good effort to go out and get a kid. I mean, now, if they don't, that's a pretty that's a large whiff. Shannon, You fly across the world into a war zoned.

00:36:38
Speaker 3: Yeah, I would.

00:36:39
Speaker 4: Think that this is gonna be a commitment.

00:36:41
Speaker 5: I mean, fine, honey, I can just tell you, if I'm the coach, I'm gonna be like, we better get this kid.

00:36:46
Speaker 3: If I'm flying into an active war zone.

00:36:49
Speaker 4: Do you realize what I just went through to get here. You're gonna go to Kansas.

00:36:55
Speaker 3: Listen if he flies there and he's like, look kid, I'm going Look, Coach, I think I'm going to Seaton Hall, be like, all right, you know what I'm done.

00:37:03
Speaker 4: We've got eleven players.

00:37:04
Speaker 3: That's enough. That's enough.

00:37:06
Speaker 2: Well wishing well and safe travels.

00:37:08
Speaker 5: So we would have a Brazilian someone from the Senegal.

00:37:12
Speaker 2: Yes, in Harlan, Harlan County.

00:37:17
Speaker 5: That is something great about basketball. And what other world is Trent Noah and Usmann in Jai. When are they gonna you know, when are they.

00:37:26
Speaker 3: Gonna there be connected? Maybe at Onneita?

00:37:29
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's true. What was that Cordia. Cordia had some anina.

00:37:32
Speaker 3: Anina brings in people from all over the world.

00:37:35
Speaker 5: Anita by or Onada, Anita wherever they pronounce it every time. Yeah, so you go, uh, Marcio Meat Trent, Trent, Marcio So Marcio Santos by the way, would be twenty four when.

00:37:51
Speaker 3: The college season starts, and Usman is twenty two.

00:37:55
Speaker 5: You have some older players, yes, used to we used to always have eighteen ten year old Now we're gonna have uh, we're gonna have grown ups.

00:38:02
Speaker 2: So growing ups who have played professional basketball for a couple of years.

00:38:05
Speaker 5: I know, I will say, I still don't totally understand the rules about this guy's playing.

00:38:11
Speaker 3: This guy's playing in the top euro league, Like how's he getting to come to college? Like? What are the rules now with these guys? At least have some semblance what I mean? This kid is in the euro super League. Real.

00:38:28
Speaker 2: They wanted eni Is to pay back what he had earned for one season.

00:38:31
Speaker 3: If you remember, Yeah, Inn, it's just like got tuition. I guess if you can just get I mean I don't know, and I guess you can just get anybody now as long as you as long as you pay more money.

00:38:46
Speaker 4: Yes, and they can come in anytime they want to. We found out with Big Z. Doesn't matter if it's October November.

00:38:52
Speaker 3: We get five years. This did maybe twenty nine years old.

00:38:56
Speaker 1: That's different rules.

00:38:58
Speaker 5: When he leaves Hey Derby week here when it comes to bet in the derby, DraftKings is where you go bet five dollars or more on a horse on the Derby and you can win a share of a million dollars. Go to DraftKings horse Racing app. Use my code KSR Horse I've told you, I'm honest with you. The DK horse app wasn't good for a long time, but it has gotten better. So go to DK horse Racing app. The code is KSR horse to.

00:39:22
Speaker 4: Do DraftKings today?

00:39:23
Speaker 3: What do you do? What do you do? I'm not supposed to do drafting. Court Physical Therapy.

00:39:28
Speaker 5: You go to Court Physical Therapy. Their app has always been good.

00:39:33
Speaker 3: It is Wednesday, Wednesday, so okay, so spring is sprung.

00:39:41
Speaker 5: So go to Court Physical Therapy. Their apps are great. So are there ex pains? No, you don't want X pains an injury. That's where Court Physical Therapy can help. At court our therapists help make you heal over seventy locations.

00:39:52
Speaker 3: There's a center new you go to court dot com. It's k RT dot com. Also go to DraftKings. Yeah, you can do both of them. Who's next? Shit, Rusty, Rusty, go ahead, Rusty.

00:40:05
Speaker 11: Hey, guys, you talked about earlier Joe about had fourteen top twenty players on campus and Pope lift on all those. Yes, he is got not the same thing you did last year's Sucreme players. I'm seeing all these players.

00:40:23
Speaker 3: Well, we had a lot of visit. We didn't want last year.

00:40:25
Speaker 5: We did get Jasper and Malchai though last year that were both highly touted, but yes, we did lose.

00:40:31
Speaker 3: A lot as well. All right, guys, thank you appreciate it. No, I mean that's it's a fair, fair question.

00:40:38
Speaker 9: Yea.

00:40:39
Speaker 5: If you were to ask yourself, who are the high school players Kentucky has gotten? Think about it like this, Who are the high school commitments Kentucky has gotten since Mark Pope?

00:40:49
Speaker 3: Would you like to go through them?

00:40:51
Speaker 2: Trent Noah, Travis Perry, Trent Noah, Harlan, Kentucky.

00:40:54
Speaker 5: Yeah, Travis Perry, Eddieville, Kentucky, Malchi moreno Scott County, Kentucky, Jasper Johnson, Woodford County, Kentucky, Brandon Hawthorne, Beckley, West Virginia, which is not that far from Kentucky. Every single high school commit and Mason Williams, whose dad is on your staff. I just read you every high school commitment. Can every single high school commitment Pope's gotten has either been from Kentucky or his family is on the staff.

00:41:31
Speaker 3: I mean make of that what you will. I will say. I used to get calls all the time about can't we get a group of kids a team from Kentucky.

00:41:41
Speaker 2: Well you got your wish want Kentucky kids on the roster.

00:41:46
Speaker 5: I mean when you think about it like that, somebody sent that to me last night and I was like, that can't be right. It can't be the right. Right that every kid we've gotten is either from Kentucky borders, can Tucky or his dad is.

00:42:02
Speaker 3: On the staff.

00:42:03
Speaker 2: Yeah, because Colin chandlerin really committed to BYU coming in.

00:42:06
Speaker 3: Spot So wow, that's pretty eye opening.

00:42:11
Speaker 2: Yeah, in your freshman class coming in this year is.

00:42:13
Speaker 3: And it's not like you haven't tried to get the other guys.

00:42:16
Speaker 5: They had the top recruits on campus. You've recruited all of them. Yep, You've recruited every.

00:42:20
Speaker 3: Single one of the others.

00:42:22
Speaker 5: So look, starting tomorrow, I promise to be in a perkier mood.

00:42:28
Speaker 3: We're gonna laugh more. But you have to have this day.

00:42:30
Speaker 5: You can't go through the day Kentucky had yesterday, and you can't you can't not talk about it.

00:42:35
Speaker 3: Wild Eggs Wednesday, Wild Eggs Wednesday.

00:42:37
Speaker 5: Go to TikTok on the KSR show TikTok, we have it up. You can get you fifty dollars from Wild Eggs. The word Ryan picked, I'm not going to be certain it's spelled right, but go to Wild Eggs. I'll see y'all at bowling tonight. Tomorrow we'll be here at the bars to tell you Sports Radio