KSR - 2024-04-16- KSR - Hour 1

Episode Date: April 16, 2024

Matt, Ryan, Drew, and Shannon talk Mark Pope's comments from his first radio show as the new Kentucky Men's Basketball Coach and all the latest transfer portal news.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Now, here's Matt Jones. Welcome, everyone, Kentucky Sports Radio. Tuesday, April the 16th. I am Matt Jones on another beautiful day here in Lexington, Kentucky. It is absolutely perfect outside, and you can come out. and see us here at the KS Bar and Grill. We got me, Ryan, and Drew Shannon is in Louisville, and you can give us a shout on the Clark's Pump and Shop phone line.

We'll go ahead and take your calls. I mean, I feel like there'll be a lot of people as every day so far in the last six days. 859-2-80-2287. A-Vision Auto Glass Text Machine is 772-7474-5-254 in this edition. And sponsored by the TJ's middle office. Call T. TJL make them pay. The play-in tournament begins tonight. Yes, it does.

Do you have any idea, Ryan, Who's play? Bulls and Hawks. That's the only my only playing game I know because we talked about Billy Donovan.

Bulls and Hawks. Yeah, so no. Tonight's the Western Conference. Okay. You got the Lakers and the Pelicans, the winner's in, and then you got

the Kings and the Warriors, and the winner of that will play the loser of the Lakers and the Pelicans. Very confusing. It's not that confusing. It's pretty easy.

So did you know that was going on? I knew it was happening, admit this is about the time I start to pay attention to the NBA. Like I watch the standings and I know who's good, but as far as sitting down and watching NBA, this is about when I actually get into it. Yeah, I was very excited last night. I was like, I'm going to sit down, you know, take my mind off of everything UK basketball,

watch the Reds. First three batters, three runs for the Mariners, and we were pretty much over right there. It was over. There's a new kind of bet, though, they have at Draft Kings. I like this one, Shannon, which is you can back. a team to win and if they ever get up by two runs you win the bet. Oh, really? That feels like a good bet.

So, you know, I emotionally hedge and bet against the Reds. Yeah. I won within five minutes. Really? Two run home or a bet? It was two run home and games offer. You know, so then I can like, double-dub. That's actually the best because I'm emotionally hedging with the bet.

Yeah. But then if I've already won, then I can fully be like, now the Reds win two. That's a great. Shannon, that's a double dip of happiness. We could call it a win streak being a Reds fan. If you win, too, that's a streak, baby. That is. And by the way, I will talk about later, I have my favorite bet maybe I've ever made is for today. Baseball today?

No, no, no, no, something else. Okay. You'll see. I'll talk about it. We've got to start with UK basketball, right? So let's go over a lot of news since the last time we've been on the air. Probably more things have happened since the last time we got on the air than anything. Let's talk roster.

First of all, the guys that were on the team and are not on the team. Let's go through them. Big Z transferring to Arkansas. On all of these, I want you to give me your five-second thoughts. Big Z to Arkansas. I'm surprised. I thought after talking to Mark Pope, he's perfect for Pope's system. I thought it might convince him to stay here.

I'm not surprised with Cal getting him over here and all he did to get him able to play last year. I assumed he'd stay loyal to him if he stayed in college. Yeah, I am not surprised. A little disappointed. And at the same time, though, if he's the one that brought you over here, you can see why you would end up going to Arkansas. You have to live in Arkansas, though. I hope they have better food down there in Arkansas. He didn't love that, right?

He's a little tummy. Buzzard's luck. Get sick a lot when he was here. All right. Hugo to the draft. That surprises me. And not coming back. Not coming back.

That's the biggest shocker, the biggest surprise of anything that happened to me yesterday, Hugo. I knew he wasn't coming back to Kentucky, but I thought he'd go to the portal and find another home in college. I'm pretty surprised that he said he is staying in the draft. Yeah, I mean, I wish him the best. Like, this is not the time for him to go to the NBA just in terms of style of play. Like, it's going to be an uphill road. But I hope he makes it. And I knew he wasn't going to stay here as well.

But I'm surprised draft and no consideration of anything else. What about you, Shannon? I'm with you. That was a shocker for me, a little bit of a headscrack. He's a guy that, you know, provide a good defense for Kentucky, but was he, did I hear that he's billing himself to the scouts as an offensive powerhouse? Nobody's firing that. Well, how do you bill yourself to the same? That's what Billy was telling me that, I guess the communication was that he has a great offensive game. And I'm thinking, no way. When you say that communication was Billy like, who was he talking to? Would did Billy have people on the phone? I'm not sure. Maybe that was, maybe that was from his scouts.

Okay, Billy has scouts? I didn't know Billy had scouts. I didn't know Billy had scouts. Billy R Scouts? Is that what is? Okay, got you. All right, so there were those. Then Boogie Flann this morning is asking out of his letter of intent. This is just further what I said, the moment Cal left, which is assume none of these people are coming back. And I don't think any of them are. I think it's going to be Travis Perry and a bunch of new guys, true. Yeah, what we've seen so far, I'm not surprised at all. of the guys on the last team. We also had Bradshaw going to Ohio State.

He's one. I'm also not surprised he went to a different school. I didn't know that it would be Ohio State, though. We will play against him next. And Joel Justice will be his coach. Oh, was Joel Justice going to Ohio State? That's right. That's right.

So will Joel Justice be with Aaron Bradshaw on draft night next year? Wow, we will get Joel Justice and Aaron Bradshaw next year. Hope Bradshaw plays well. He's the one guy on the team that I think is a lot better than what we saw for whatever reason. I mean, you know, is he an NBA player? We'll see. But I do think he's the one player that we did not see nearly to me, Ryan, what he can be. Yeah, he started out. He had the foot surgery in the summer and it just seemed to never get back to where we thought he was going to be all season. Like it is. Yeah. And I'll say for my view watching that kid, he had a great attitude

going back to last summer when he was injured. People compared him to Shaden Sharp just because that was still kind of fresh, what Sharp did. Aaron Bradshaw seemed like a great teammate from start to finish when he lost his minutes. Not one time did he seem like a negative player. So I hope everyone roots for him. Even when he played very little, he was a guy that was very into the team. So I root. I'm pulling for that kid to do well.

So now let's talk about the staff. Sources tell KSR, today's a big day for the staff. Okay. one way or the other. So, you know, cross your fingers. But they are, they're going after a pretty big staff member. I think we'll know very soon, if not today, tomorrow, but it wouldn't shot me if it was today. But it'll be very soon. And then I think there's still one or two positions that there's a lot of different things they're looking at. There's at least one potential staff member that if he comes, I think a couple of guys come with him. So you'll start to fill out the roster a

little bit. So I think the next 48 hours are big for the staff. Players, Kentucky gets their first Mark Pope commitment this morning, Colin Chandler, number 35 in America two years ago, and then he went on a Mormon mission to Sierra Leone for the last two years. There's a sentence we haven't said about UK basketball players before. He was probably one of the two or three fastest rising players in that high school class. He was like ranked out of the top 100 and then the final one was number 33 and people said maybe should have made the McDonald's game. Then he's gone.

So he hasn't played basketball in two years, at least on an organized scale. I'm sure he picked one up when he was down there. He went to Sierra Leone. So I don't think he's going to be scared of a road game in Knoxville when you go to Sierra Leone for your mission. The kid is modern basketball in a nutshell. And what I mean by that is he can score every way. He can score at the basket.

He can shoot threes. He has got a good mid-range. Like, he really is a great score. His defense will still have to see. But this is the kind of kid that you've probably wondered. Why don't we ever get like a kid with size who can really shoot and be versatile? Ryan, now you're going to have one. I think this is a huge commitment for Kentucky and for Pope to get started in the right direction.

Yeah, it sounds like it's perfect for the Pope's system. that the guy can do that so now we have a roster of one we have one guy two to two travis perry we have two uh let's go i i noticed today it's going viral there's a rule that on your missions you can play half court but not full court that's a rule i could yeah that's not a rule i mean unless the internet i'm with you i'm learning all this is so mormons say you can only play basketball in the half court i worry a little bit about endurance and uh getting up and down the court but it sounds like he has been playing in Sierra Leone. Shannon, I need you to look up and see if Drew's right. How can that be a rule?

There cannot be a rule that on the mission you can only play half court. What would be, what would be the reason. Reddit does not lie to me. That is a lot. Everything on Reddit is true. You see what you can find. I don't, I don't believe that there's a rule you can only play half court. But maybe he only played half court for space reasons. Maybe they only had half court. But I don't know that, but seriously, a kid that spent two years in Sierra Leone where I know for a lot, of the last few years there's been civil war. I don't know if there is right now, but I know there has been a lot. I'm sure we're going to get a tough kid 20 years old who's going to be ready to do whatever. There's also a clip.

He played against Reed Shepard before he went on his mission. He gets a steel and goes up for a big two-handed dunk. So just seeing those two on the court together. But, you know, maybe Reed, even though Pope had that connection, maybe Reed could offer a little more too if he knows him. I was going to say I found it here. This is on Reddit, taking for what it's worth here. Mormon missionaries can play half court but not full court basketball and cannot swim. That's rule.

I don't believe that. I don't believe that. I think you two have fallen for a Reddit conspiracy. There is no way that there is a rule you can only play half court. And the not swim, I don't believe that either. But actually, I believe that more than the half court and full court because half court full court doesn't make any logical sense. No, I'm taking all this in. This is new to me too.

I like you two. your source. Reddit. That's where I get my alien updates and my Mormon missionary basketball court link updates. It's on Reddit. It was in the Facebook comment section. I've also got Onenzo's quote of him saying, okay, what was Hugo's quote? He says I'm excited to show people my ability to shoot, put the ball on the floor, and create for myself. All right. Well, I'm excited to see it too. I hope we didn't see it last year. I have a new source. Do you believe npr.org? I do believe NPR. Basketball is one of the few sports that Mormon missionaries are allowed to play, but if they

decide to play basketball, they should not allow the situation to become too intense or competitive and should only play half court. Are you serious? That you believe it. Okay, now we got to get him in shape if he's only been playing half court. All right, that's it. I did. I mean, I could still play half court. It's a full court that it starts to get a little, get a little tiring. At least we know he's still playing or has been playing basketball. So that's interesting. So the Mormons don't want them to be competitive on their mission. They want them to, like, I guess, reach out and be non-competitive.

And save their strength. No swimming, no sports except half-court basketball. And no sex. Well, but that's given. Of course, that would be what you would say. Oh, no. Well, anyway.

It's a good deal. Yotsie. Again, why do I, why do I challenge Reddit? Of course, why wouldn't it be true? All right, so then Matt Jones of Kentucky Sports Radio. I've heard of him. He reported last night that Liam McNeely, who's the last great uncommitted McDonald's All-American from this year. So, like, he's the one guy that is uncommitted, had his first conversation with Mark Pope last night.

I hear it went very well. He's choosing between Yukon, Alabama, Michigan, and now Kentucky. And now Kentucky is trying very hard to get him in. for a visit, and we should know if that's going to happen probably later today. But apparently Pope made a, from sources who tell Matt Jones, he made a very good impression. Now, I don't expect them to probably be able to get him just because they're late coming in, et cetera. But if you could, if you could go steal Liam McNeely from the defending two-time defending

national champs, Drew, that would be quite a statement. And he's another guy like Colin Chandler that is perfect for Mark Pope's system. I mean, Neely was already posting some positive U.K. things before Cal even went to Arkansas. He was kind of one of the late additions they were trying to add. So it's a matter of what was in his brain. Was he looking at Kentucky or looking at Cal? But it was already heading that direction a little bit before everything changed. It's just a matter of can Pope pick up some relationships that were already there and keep them going.

So we'll see what happens there. I thought it was very encouraging when you tweeted that out last night. You know, because we know we bring these transferred guys in the top of him. I didn't tweet it out. Did you, does that mean you actually got on KSR plus? That's where it was. It was KSR. Oh, look at this.

Did you get on the board? Somebody sent it to me. That's how I saw it. So the whole thing about you were going to be on the board some has it. I don't think I've got on the board yet. He has a middle person to send him what's on the board. But you know, you just sign up. We have them on there.

I have a free account. I know, but do you have to log in? It doesn't just go automatically into your brain. You have to look at it. I'm spending all my time on Facebook right now. No, you're not. I haven't seen any post. Oh, yeah, I have.

What'd you post? I posted the stuff about Mark Pope. What did you post? I think I posted the picture of us at Channel 18. Oh, well. Don't over-exert yourself. Yeah. I did like the inside Matt Jones Nuggets last night on the board.

Yeah, I had a couple. Dusting off that keyboard here lately. No, it's funny. It's when people return your calls, all of a sudden you start to hear stuff a little bit more. 859-280-2287. We will talk more about all that is going on, roster we will take your calls and I'm going to give you the the bet of the century it's not

baseball it's I'm not even going to tell you what sport it is you wouldn't be able to guess wow maybe if you log on the KsR you know it we'll take a break very back so Kentucky Sports radio commitment that's right someone who will go the distance we might have a way might have an ability to have a player for more than a year they'll go a distance we'll be playing a lot of this song we're going to be playing a lot of this it's exactly right over the weeks, I hope at least. So there's a big debate on the text machine about this half court rule. Okay. One person was right, Matt, I was an LDS missionary. We did only play half court. I'm not sure if it was an official rule, but it was understood that that was what we were allowed

to do. So what if you just broke out a full court game, what would happen? Well, I mean, it's like any sin, like it's a sin, but that doesn't mean like you're going to be like people. kicked out. Yeah, people sin. I mean, we all, we're all sinners. That's what the Lord says. I played a lot of full court. I've seen a lot. You have played a lot. That's the least of your worries. What was the story that you read?

You know, it's always important to do your research. Found a second source. Is the L.A. Times good for you. Dot com. Are you familiar with that website? L.A. Times? Yes. It is a story from 1992.

Okay. So it might be dated. A little dated. But it says, George Bush was president. It's about missions and sports. Okay. And it says other rules include no full court basketball.

And then parentheses, it says, missionaries are considered more prone to injuries playing anything beyond half court and no swimming. Wow. I don't know about the injuries beyond half. That seems a little weird, but yeah. Well, listen. But LA Times.

So we just got to make sure he stays in shape. That's the key. It's going to be, I don't know when he comes back, but he's going to be here all summer. I also know, you know, he was in Sierra Leone, Ryan. There's a horse named Sierra Leone in the derby. Oh. What do we think here? There we go.

There's going to be some synergy of C.R. Sierra Leone wins the derby, then like we know he's going to be great. We win a title. It's going to be to close the program down in Fayetteville. I think that's all going to happen. Maybe he comes out onto the track meets Sierra Leone. That might be against his stuff. I don't know.

I'm not even kidding. You spend two years in Sierra Leone. I am not worried about that kid's toughness. You got to have like to go to because, again, I don't know what it's like now. But wasn't that, isn't that the country in Blood Diamond? Yeah, I only know it from Kanye. Yes, and then Sierra Leo, I know they were in Civil War for a long time. They may not be now, but I know they were for a long time.

So I think he'll be good. And now we got to keep adding players. I do want to say one thing about players. I know we said this earlier. It's still true now. You got to stop judging whoever we get by the standards we use during the Cal era. Cal was looking for something else. We'll talk more about what Pope said he was looking for in a minute.

But Cal was looking for something else. Cal was looking for raw talent superstars. We are not going to get the commitments that we got last time. But the question is, are these guys who can win in this system? I still think you need one or two big-time talents. But like the days of us getting five of the top 12, that's not going to happen. But, Ryan, I would argue recently it didn't do anything for us anyway. Well, what's your feeling about the transfers guys that are coming in to talk to him

this weekend. Kentucky, if they're in good position with any of those guys? Oh, I think from what I've heard, this is kind of how Mark Pope's going to work. He has like 15 guys, and he kind of has them in an order.

So what is that order? I do not know, but they got the kid from Drexel coming in. I know they want him, right? They got, I think they want at least two guys from BYU. One of them, I don't think, is in the portal yet.

And then they'll be. be a bunch of others. But you're also going to have dudes who just, you have to fill up a roster. Right? Like, I mean, like, there's, let me just give an example of the guys that left. I was looking at Andy Katz's list, or not any cats, ESPN's list of the top transfers. Okay, so they had

like Hugo, or excuse me, they had like, Hugo is now not on the list because he's leaving. So they had like Dialla, uh, ado, excuse me, a do at like 38th. And then they had Bradshaw at like 39th. Okay, so it may hurt us that they go, but that means there's

37 players out there better. And the Drexel kid is ranked like 11. So according to ESPN, if you get the kid from Drexel, that's better than these guys we just saw leave, right? So I do think that's important to remember when you're judging this stuff. Just because you don't know the guy that went to Pepperdine, doesn't mean he's not better, Drew, than the guys that were here. There were guys all over the country last year. Kentucky played against several of them, where they were at a mid-major and just took up a step and didn't really lose a step in basketball, but Florida was full of mid-major guys, and we saw them come into Rupp and winning game.

A do the arrow is a perfect example. We all like to do, right? Would we all have liked to do to stay? Yes. Sure. But I think there's a hundred a do's out there in the country. I do. I think there's a hundred of those guys.

Now, there's not a hundred DJ Wagner's, but there's a hundred of du Thieros. And so we might lose a du Thierro, but we'll go find a different Addu Thierro. He just may be played last year at Oregon State. you know, we just didn't know who he was. Who's next? Court. Court. Go ahead, Court.

Hey, Matt. How are you guys doing? I was just, y'all were talking yesterday about how you all were, you know, or Matt said he was surprised at the, uh, plaza got a Rupp Arena. But I was thinking about this. And I got to tell you all, I think you all don't realize how much you all need to the BDN. Like, you all are such a, I mean, you all are like a sitcom every day. And people love you all.

I mean, you all just, so that doesn't surprise me one bit. Well, thank you. I appreciate it. And then I was going to say another thing about here Mark Pope talk so sophisticated about offense and defense. That's a nice face. Dude, I thought during the, and I appreciate the call, that was very kind of you, sir. I thought during the coaches show last night, I was sitting there listening to him,

and I was like, I can't believe I'm listening to this. It's like I'm listening to a different thing. I'm going to go through some of these statements. Feel free to chime in on what you think about them, but I just want to go through. I tweeted what I thought were his most important comments. He said, we aren't going to go out just to get the most raw talent possible. We're going to find the pieces that come together to make the best team.

I thought that was the most interesting thing he said all night. I think the raw talent was definitely a shot at our former coach. I don't know if it was a shot. I just think it's a different philosophy. I mean, Cal's philosophy is get the best talent, it'll work itself out. Mark's Pope philosophy is get the players that fit my system, and it'll work itself out. Yeah, that's what you were just saying. Like Pope, his big man, he brings him out to the high post and they pass.

He might not want the number one center if it's just a bruiser that goes in the downlow and just don't. Yeah, that throws off what he's doing. Ogo would not help. It would be a hindrance to what Pope does. Now, there are teams that Ogo would be very helpful for, but a Mark Pope team, you couldn't play Ugo. Like, it just wouldn't work. Then he said his offense will have a ton of motion. Guys will cut and stay constantly on the move.

We are trying to create space and make teams pay for switching. Our goal is to keep defenses working by moving the entire shot clock. Again, exact opposite of what we saw last year, which the idea was to create individual driving lanes and then either kick out or get to the basket. They're going to move. Again, go watch that video of their arm. offense. They will move nonstop. It will be basketball like to use a phrase. Some people use the old heads used to use. Now, is that what we're going to like? We will if it works. But it's going to be

completely different from what we're used to. We'll take a break. Talk more about Pope's comments after this. T.J. Smith, personal injury attorney. Call T.J. He'll make them pay. Now, more of Kentucky Sports Radio presented by Stockton Mortgage. Here's Matt Jones. Welcome back. Kentucky Sports Radio. Playing little Steve Earle, Shannon. They just announced he's coming to Lexington to the Opera House. I would actually like to see that show. I would love to see that show. Problem is I'm gone.

It's the night before my birthday. And I'm going to be at my fellowship, you know, creating a civil society, which people need nowadays. That's the next one? What is the next one? Your fellowship? Yes. It's the week before the first game of the football season.

So I'm actually going to be gone that week. I have to – it's in Aspen, though. So it's not like I'm going. You know, it'll be nice, but I'm going to that. You go from Montgomery, Alabama was the first one, right? Then Aspen's the second one? It's crazy. All those people I were in that with, they're all like, every time I turn on,

I feel like somebody I was in that fellowship with is doing something awesome. Like a woman just had a book come out. She was on NPR this week. One of the dudes I was in it with just won a big lawsuit against Carrie Lake, the woman who ran for governor from Arizona. He just won a big lawsuit against her because she defamed him. Another guy, I saw just guys. appointed to this big international board. And then I'm like, we got a new coach.

Did any of them get cheered in Rupp Arena? Yeah, that's right. That's true. I guess that's a good point. Somebody just asked me here real quick about NIL and kind of how it worked. And it's still crazy. But it did make me think about something. You know, they're going to create federal legislation at some point to govern NIL. And here's a little interesting factoid. Probably the person that will be one of the two or three main drafters is the person who kind of wrote the Kentucky rule and is now in Congress and is a Kentucky fan. KSR fan. So Morgan McGarvey, who I started with at Frost Brown Todd in 2005, he was in my starting class and he's a friend of mine, is likely going to be one of, if not the head drafters of the NIL legislation. And he has called me 35 times

in the last two weeks to ask me about who was going to be the coach. So I just think that's really interesting. The Big Blue Nation, the laws that are going to probably govern all of college athletics for the next 25 years are very likely to be written through by Kentucky fan who was in this bar three weeks ago. Well, when this country was founded, I'm sure that's what they wanted. All of our basketball decisions should be made by Kentuckians. It's better than not having a Kentucky and do it. So I trust he'll do the right thing keeping Kentucky in mind.

And also, it's not forget he has the amazing dad jokes. Yes, he's the one. Just so you all know he is, remember at the SEC tournament, we talked about his absolutely horrific dad jokes. Oh, I loved him. Great dad jokes. They were so awful. And we told them, and everyone groaned, that is your NIO. That's our guy.

Yes. Obviously, I guess what he wrote for Kentucky, the state of Kentucky, was that something that is looked upon us? Our law was one of the first state laws in the country. And he and I believe Max Wise wrote it. So Morgan's a Democrat, Max Republican. I believe they were the two that wrote it. Maybe somebody else was involved too. And now on the federal level, because he did it on the state level,

I think they're kind of assigning it to him on the federal level. Good for him, man. Yeah. A little KSR action going on there. Who would have thought the dude I ate at Skyline with twice a week and he'd go, we got to get rid of Billy Gillespie. This is absolutely ridiculous. Who would have thought that guy is now going to be the one to do it?

859-2-80-22-887. Let me read you a couple more Mark Pope quotes real quick. He then says, and of course, I lost it as soon as I pulled out. I have one that stood out. Go for it. Which one stood out for you? I was very worried because there's evidence of him telling fans not to do the horns down that he would kind of tell us not to L's down, but someone asked last night,

and he said, I'm not touching that. I'm not telling Big Blue Nation what to do. He said, I will not tell him. Big Blue Nation what to do on Ells down, which means we're keeping the, I was keeping the L's down regardless, Mark, but yes. That was my biggest takeaway. I love this quote, and you were talking about if you want to read these as changes from the last coaching staff you can.

He says, I used to play defense with my team the same way, but then I realized that once I read the data, it became clear that changing defenses occasionally forces the most turnovers. We chart how many possessions a game deviating and changing defenses. will distract teams, and we try to do it that amount to create turnovers. How many times have we heard that over the Cal era? Do you know, just mix it up just a little bit to throw the other team off? I mean, we've heard Mike Pratt, Jack Givens, these guys know a lot more basketball than we do,

kind of even say something like that. And then he talked about data. Yeah. Like if you listen, it was all about that. He said every game he gets his coaches together, and they look not just at the film, but at the data to decide what they need to change. I say this with all due respect. John Cal Perry didn't do that one time in, I mean, he didn't.

That doesn't mean he didn't look at game tape, but they didn't look at data and say, oh, the efficiency is here and that. We've got a science nerd as a coach. But I'm glad because here's a little secret. Nerds are taking over everything. Like, nerds run the world, except at the presidency level. But at every other level, nerds run the world, and I actually think the best basketball coaches in the next 25 years are going to be nerds. I mean, Nate Oates just went to a final four. He's a high on the list.

He was a high school math teacher a decade ago, and I noticed the press conference. Danny Hurley, his second in command is a nerd. Before Nate Oates went off about how great Kentucky looked in Big Z, when he talks about his own team, he wouldn't even talk about the game until someone handed him a box score and some analytics. and he was just rattling off all kinds of numbers, and it was like half his press conference was math, and it was just so different than what we had heard when Cal would speak about what Kentucky would do. Pope said, the number, quote,

the numbers don't lie. We do an autopsy after every game so we can grade ourselves in what we do. The goal is to make sure we're always doing what is most efficient, and that way we can get better. I mean, those are one efficiency. I mean, those are like, just,

that makes me. me happy because I think there was a time in basketball that you could win by motivation and all that. And that still matters. But nerds are now go look at, take a take some time during the NBA playoffs and go look at the dudes standing on the sidelines. With the exception of a couple like Steve Kerr, none of them look like they can play basketball, even if they can, because that's not what you do anymore, Ryan? Modern basketball. And when I heard the things he was saying, you know,

they do scout the other team. They do game prep. They do game plan try to make for their opponent. Where I think in the past it was just like, hey, we just worry about ourselves. We don't even, you know, study game film or have a game prep. Well, that story, which he told as like bragging, but he told that story about the Auburn game

where Welch wrote a game plan up on the board and he came in and turned it over and just said fight. And he was, Cal was bragging about that. Well, I know they won that game, but I don't know that that's the way I would. There was a substitution. I can't remember if you put Big Z in or moved someone over and he was asking the press conference and he was like, gut feeling. Okay, all right.

Who's next? Chip. Chip, go ahead, Chip. Hey, Matt, first time, long time. Who up? Hey, I just want to say, I haven't been this excited about Kentucky basketball. since I watched to win the title in Helmand Province Afghanistan in 2012. Oh, wow.

One of the highest points of my life, even though it was a horrible deployment. So let me ask you a question about that. You watched the 2012 title game in Afghanistan. Were you by your set, like, were there other Kentucky fans there? No, not around me at the moment. Did you watch it by yourself? Yeah, they knew I was passionate enough about this program, and they could see it in my eyes.

they were going to be there for me and support me. That had to be wild. That is wild. And so like you're in Afghanistan, you win the title, we win the title, and then what do you do? Like, how do you celebrate? I don't know. You just pump your fist in the air and go for it. Well, good.

All right, what else you got? Yeah, I just wanted to say, too, everything you got the other day as far as recognition during the press conference, you deserve it. I love KSR. I love the way you guys keep us talking. connected. I haven't lived to Kentucky now for close to 20 years, so thank you for all that you guys do, and I appreciate you taking my call. Well, God bless you. Thank you very much, sir. That would be crazy. I'm trying to think where's the biggest game in the oddest place that I've watched.

I did watch us win the national championship in the parking lot of the Superdome. I watched it in a parking lot, looking through a gap in the parking lot, a window into a bar. Because I was so nervous. In Indianapolis, you watched a game. You were in like a small... In Indianapolis, I watched us beat Louisville in an exercise in a gym, in a hotel. In Dallas, I listened to us beat Wisconsin in the final four in my car, driving

down the interstate because I was so nervous. You've had a couple crazy ones. Yeah, it's usually random places. I could tell, though, I mean, this sounds sense. But I could tell I'd kind of become resigned to us losing with the fact that I sit there and watch that whole Oakland game on Press Row. I mean, I did. I just kind of become resigned like, we're going to lose this, so I'm not even going to get nervous about it. Even the Texas A&M game in Nashville.

Both of them. We all stayed there. I didn't leave. Drew kept looking at me and going, are you going to leave? And I was like, yeah, I think we're just going to lose. I think you're saying it is what it is. Yeah. Which is a big difference from earlier.

Big difference. Connor. Connor, go ahead, Connor. Hey, Matt, how's it going? Good. Just calling, man. I agree with the first caller. That ovation you got was awesome.

I agree with everything you said with y'all's show. I'm on my way back home now from Lexington. So what did you think of it? So you were there? What did you think of it? Yeah, I drove up Saturday. Like I said, I live in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Oh, wow.

for me. Last week was a very, yeah, last week was a very gloomy week there. And boy, right when he announced, I called my wife and said, I'm coming to Lexington. So, yeah, I mean, it was awesome. I'm on my way back now and I'm feeling enlightened and just so excited, man. That was awesome. It was like a refuel for the Big Blue Nation. I agree with that.

I agree. Yeah. It will be careful going back to Fayetteville. I appreciate it. And good luck dealing with all those people. I appreciate it. I love you guys, man. Got my heads are shirt on right now.

I do think it is a refuel. I think that's a good way of saying it. It's like new energy has been injected into the program. You know, they're still going to have to win, right? Like, I mean, this will only get you so far, but it is a good start. I got to admit, after they lost Oakland, I thought we're going to have a couple months of a lot of down depressing shows trying to talk about where we go from here. And just like that, a week later, I'm ready to start playing right now.

I wish we could play the season. Well, maybe with more than two players. Let's get a roster. Then we'll start playing. I didn't know how we were going to. Honestly, I didn't know how we were going to do this show. I was worried about it. I was thinking to myself, you know, I'm not going to be here in June and July,

but I don't even know if I can get to June. No, I'm in it because, like, I knew people didn't want to hear me be angry and upset the whole time, but I didn't know what to say. Like, how could I get excited? You know, I was just thinking, well, maybe when football gets here, it'll be different. but it gave me new energy. I felt like a huge weight had been lifted. Yeah, that was the main reason I wanted a split after the Oakland game.

I just didn't see a way the Kentucky fan base could be at 100% with that same formula. And now that the change has been made, we're seeing. I mean, it's uncomfortable with the uncertainty and, you know, only having two people on the roster. But there's also a little bit of excitement of that uncertainty. We're hearing new things about our new coach. We're learning who could be an assistant. It's like the reset gives you so many things to look forward to because it, Everything got very repetitive under Cal.

Even though players were changing, messaging was the same. Now it's like, what's next? We get something to be excited about. Hey, the Don Franklin's spring event is going on now. Sunshine and warmer days are here, so maybe you want a convertible, Ryan, right with a sunroof. Newer pre-owned cars, you can go cruising with your lady and with a local owner at Don Franklin Auto. They'll treat you like family. There's one near you, 27 dealerships across the state.

It's Don Franklin Auto.com. Shop online. It's Don Franklin, driven. by family. Do you like driving convertible? I've never had one. I think I've driven a couple. I drove a girl on a homecoming parade.

Let's take a break. You know, they sit on the homecoming parade. I was worried. That was good. We'll take a break and be right back. This is Kentucky Sports Radio. Welcome back, Techie Sports Radio. White and nerdy.

You don't have to be white. You just have to be nerdy. That's all you got to do. One person writes, Matt, I always told my daughter, marry a nerd. Yes. Like being smart and nerdy doesn't ensure you'll be successful, but you got a better chance.

Look at Mike McDaniel, the coach of the Miami Dolphins. Sean McVeigh. You know, Andy Reid's kind of an old school guy, but if you listen to him, I heard right after they won the Super Bowl, I heard Mahomes, he pointed to some dude who looked like he'd just gotten, you know, his snot was frozen on his nose, and he was like, that's the guy that tells us what we should do mathematically all the time.

I mean, they all, they have those guys. You know, everything I do, everything I do is driven by either A, entertainment, or B, numbers, right? So I look and see what, back when I was on the website all the time, what posts work, right? What the engagement is on social media. Like, everything's got a, it's nerds rule. And so, Mark Pope's a nerd. You're a nerd. I didn't say that.

But Mark Pope's a nerd. No, of course I am. Yeah. And that's what you, I think that's what you want. We do need to talk for just saying about what's happened at U of L. Seven players transferred today. And there are rumblings that maybe some of the NIL promises haven't happened. Now, I don't know if that's true.

Let me be very clear. I don't know. But you lose seven players in one day. All of them are offensive linemen or defensive linemen. And you do start to wonder, Drew, why. And all of them were guys who had just transferred in. So you got to think, eh. It might be something.

It's one of the schools that was making lots of NIL promises, so I could believe that. I don't know what's going on there, but today is the first day of the portal. For football, yeah. They have two weeks to make moves, so you might see news on the Kentucky front. I don't know anything in there.

I'm just saying that it can start now. But the portal opened and had a lot of Louisville folks look in that direction. A lot of Louisville guys at once. I'm sure we'll probably hear a couple of Kentucky guys, too. We haven't yet, but I'm sure that'll happen. And they'll probably add a couple. Yeah, just two weeks of it. considering the way that it goes.

859-280-22, but you think something's happening there at Louisville, Shannon, maybe something's going on? Sounds like it, yeah. You got that many guys jumping in the portal, probably some empty promises that they were giving. Maybe some checks that didn't quite clear? Yep. What's going on? It sounds like. You know, speaking of checks, by the way, I went to the bank yesterday, and I said, hey, can I have some checks?

And they're like, you can get $40 for $15. I was like, it's pretty expensive. And they're like, yeah, nobody uses checks anymore. And I was like, nobody? And they said, nobody. And that was, I mean, I don't write checks very often, but I had to write, yesterday I had to write checks to the IRS. And like, who knew?

Like, now checks are, like, you just, people, no one have checks? Do you have a check? Two of the four of us write checks daily on this show. Who are you writing checks to daily? Water company? daily. You pay the water company debt by the day. Monthly. Monthly. You write you a check. 32 cents for Monday, 38 cents for Tuesday. Shannon and I are two of the dudes that still write checks.

No, no. I've modernized. I go online now. I'm electronic now. I did write a check to the IRS. I, yeah. The IRS is the only thing I write checks for her. So I guess I can write 40 years worth of, well, the state, too. So 20 years worth of tax payments. I did my taxes. And most of the time that it took was me looking for my check. book because I don't think I've used it since last April 15. I'm exactly the same. I don't know where it is. But I didn't realize checks had gone away so quickly that they're like, yeah, it's kind of like gold.

We just don't have them. Oh, good. I still have a lot of them. Got an old address on them. Like three addresses ago. Who's up next? Eric. Mario, have you ever written a check?

Mario's never written a check. Have you seen a check? Do you even know what a check is? Okay, he knows what a check is. All right. Well, I just wonder. Go ahead. Eric.

Hey, yeah, I'm a Mormon and I served admission years ago, and it is true that there is only half-court basketball. Wow. And no swimming. So help me understand. Let me ask you a question, because, and I mean this like with sincerity, I'm not trying to be mocking at all. Why? What's the thought process behind that? I'm going to be honest.

It's been so long since I've served admission, and I don't remember exactly what I was told. but I think it's more of safety reasons. Okay. When we go on a mission, we're there for two years. We volunteer it. We don't get paid. So if you ever see a missionary out of the side of the road, be nice to them. We're there 100% to serve, to help people.

So let me just tell you this. He's probably going to be a little rusty because you only get one day off a week, too. The rest of the time, you know, you're in a suit and tie all day. But you have to be dedicated to do it. and I guarantee, I think he gets back in June or July sometime. He's probably going to do nothing but hit the gym. I'm sure he'll be ready to go. Well, that's interesting.

I appreciate the info. Are you excited as a Mormon to have Mark Pope as the coach? Yes. I'm a big cat fan too. I'm excited about it, but I'm a little nervous too because I really want it to work. Me too. I think we're all like that. It's fair.

I think we all really want it to work and probably that caller as much as anybody. So we'll take a break. Hour number two, I'm going to tell you about the best bet of the century and more UK basketball news. KSR. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel.

help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind,

and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source the athletes themselves.

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