KSR - 2025-02-06- KSR - Hour 1

Episode Date: February 6, 2025

Ryan, Drew, and Shannon talk Kentucky Basketball and Matt's colonoscopy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. 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 SportsSlice 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 headlines. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories,

their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramers sending on to Ernie Stewart the chip. Score! I'm Tab Ramos.

I'm Tom Boca. On our podcast, inside American soccer, you'll get the real storylines, the biggest decisions, and the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals. or potentially a great run into the semifinals. Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas.

And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season, and I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was funny. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow.

Then after that game seven, Marquis come. until he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Comedy Off Broadway and Lexington, welcomes rising comedy star and social media sensation

Renee Vaca, January 23rd through the 25th. Then catch Urban Comedy Legend Arnese J. January 30th through February 2nd. And welcome back, Billy Gardell, the star of Mike and Molly, and Bob Hart's have a show. February 6 through the 8. Four tickets, call 859-271 joke, or visit ComedyoffBroadway.com. Comedy of Broadway. All right, good morning, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls.

Welcome to this Thursday edition of Kentucky Sports Radio. It is Thursday, February 6th. We are missing our big toe this morning. We'll get to that in just a minute. But as always, the Kentucky Sports Radio, sponsored by the T.J. Smith Law Office. Call T.J. What happened, Shannon? He'll make them pay. He'll make them pay.

And unless you go out with T.J., then you make him pay. He did pay for you. He paid for dinner a couple of days ago. You made him pay. That's right. There we go. That's what we need to do, Shannon the dude law office. He'll make you pay.

We'll have our Whiskey Thief call today. Our Kentucky branded tweet of the day. And of course, the Aviation Glass text line is out of commission today. Unless you have my cell phone, you can text it. We'll go with some of that. But we're kind of, we've called an audible again today. Our big toe, Matthew Harper-Jones, as he announced yesterday, He's going to have a colonoscopy this afternoon.

Thought he was going to try to, you know, make it a go this morning. Thought he could come in, do the show, and then have his colonoscopy, which is this afternoon. We kind of raised a red flag, warned him a little bit. That may be a little tough. But he sent us all text this morning, group texts that, hey, man, I'm okay. I'm just not feeling the greatest. I think I'm going to tap out. Totally get it.

Totally understand. Don't you? Oh, yeah. You warned him. Tried to warn him. He was going to try to walk, you know, several blocks downtown. to be here. I actually would have liked to have seen that where he would have stopped along the way. They pulled it over McCarthy's over there. That's where I knew you couldn't do that. So I was offering to come

pick him up this morning. I said, hey man, I'll just come pick you up because that walk from his house to here after you just took one of those clean out pills. Yeah. It wasn't going to be nice, Shannon. Well, as Drew said, somebody tried to warn him. You know, like you've done this before. You know from experience. Not a good idea. Not going to work. But, wait, Matt Jones didn't listen to somebody you're telling me. Come on now. Come on. He always takes your advice, Ryan. Surprised he didn't listen. Well, he's kind of in a, he's just in a real stinky situation right now.

Oh, here we go. There we go. We're going to do this all day? Might as well, why not? You know, he would like to be here, but there's just a lot of movement in his world going on. Most of it's already behind him, hopefully. Ah, good, good. So if you want to call him with your Matt Jones puns today for his colonoscopy,

859-2-802-287. That's our phone number if you want to call and get aboard. It's Ryan Drew and Shannon here. We'll get you through today. That Thursday in-between games is always a slow day anyway. Coming off the loss to Ole Miss, well, now they've lost two in a row. They've lost four of their last five. They've got a home game against one of the worst teams in the SEC,

and probably the worst team in the SEC, South Carolina on Saturday. Drew, it's almost like the perfect medicine. Kentucky needs a win. They need a feel-good win, and they've got the worst team in the conference coming in on Saturday. Can they pull it off? Can I can I crap on your medicine? An unintentional pun there.

It is a crappy situation to be in it. South Carolina has won two in a row against Kentucky, and they won their last game in Rupp Arena. And those weren't good teams. And I know that was a different era. There's a different coach. There's different players. But to have a two-game losing streak, South Carolina is kind of silly in itself.

But that's what we're staring at now. And they haven't won an SEC game yet. They're in dead last. But if you look at their results, they've lost by like three, two, one, three, five, even played Auburner within a possession. So they've been very close and just about all their games just haven't been on the right side. But, you know, it'll be a test. If Kentucky plays defense, anything like it, or doesn't play defense, anything like it didn't in Ole Miss,

could be another long day. Shannon? Well, I mean, you can't ever take a night off in the SEC. So even though they haven't won any games, you can't just take for granted that they're going to win. I think, you know, if they hadn't dropped four out of their last. five, I don't think there would be any pressure going into this game, but I feel like there's a little bit of pressure, a little bit of lingering pressure going into this game. Even though it's a home game, you still feel good about it.

This is one of those games you absolutely cannot drop. And I think it may be a little bit tougher than what some people think it's going to be. I'm with Shannon. I think there's a little pressure on Kentucky. You can't lose this one. You can't. You have to win this one. And you mentioned those two losses in South Carolina beat Kentucky the last two years.

after maybe the first one, we talked about how that Ferris, his last coach Ferris, is that his name of South Carolina? P.H.A. Paris. Yes, like the city. Out-coached Cal. Like, we didn't even know who this guy was. First time to play against Kentucky, and he literally out-coached Kentucky that night. He's still there.

I'm surprised they're struggling as much as they are. Yeah, his first, is he undefeated against Kentucky? He might be. He's been in two years. He might be. He's one in the last two. I mean, they were a 19.5 point underdog when they won. one in Rupp Arena two years ago.

Paris was like in Coach of the Year conversation in his first season. Obviously not in that conversation this year without winning any games. But he's been all right there. I just don't think he has the horses this season. I have a little bit of a soft spot for him. He went to my wife's high school and I met him at the SEC or NCAA tournament recently. We were like name dropping local ice cream shops and stuff in Finley.

So part of me, I mean, I wanted to lose by a million. But I've rooted for him from afar as much as one can being a Kentucky fan. but I hope Saturday Mark Pope beats him by a million because Kentucky needs to write this ship. I do think he's a good coach. I've always thought he's a good coach. And if you watched the SEC last night, John Caliperi got his second win in a row. Went on the road to Texas, Shannon.

Yeah. One at Texas last night. You think maybe there's a little bit of confidence that the team got after winning at Kentucky over the weekend? And, you know, there's still a chance that he can turn this thing around. They're three and six. But, you know, there's still a chance that they could fight back and possibly finish at 500, which if you get to 500, I think you're in the NCAA tournament. I got to take the blame for last night.

That's all on me. Don't you all get excited about Arkansas turning around. I bet on Texas. I am on a historically cold run. It is unbelievable. Unbelievable how bad I am. And I wasn't going to bet on Texas because I knew that would just be an automatic Arkansas win. Arkansas went up eight or something early.

And then the line dropped to where Texas was plus money. And I couldn't help myself. And then they just continue to pummel them. So more money down the drain from me, and I really think my jinx played a role in that. I'm with you. I've been on a very cold streak on the draft game. I have a dollar and 16 cents in my account right now. That's it.

I got to redeposit for the Super Bowl this weekend. Last Saturday I bet on Florida at Tennessee before all the Tennessee injuries came out, and I thought I had beaten Vegas. I was so excited that I got in before everything moved. No, Tennessee goes and blows them out. Unbelievably bad. But all seriousness with Arkansas, it looks like not that Boogie Flan wasn't doing well, but it looks like that

getting rid of that log jam in the back court there has opened them up, and Davis has been playing a lot better since he's been out. I got a text. We'll say it's the Aviation Glass Text Machine. The guy said, look, this was typical cow. He's got his favorites. He plays his favorites. Boogie Flame was one of his favorites. Cated everything around him to keep him happy. He's now removed from the lineup,

and he has to play the guys that deserved to be playing in those spots, and look what's happening. They're playing a lot better. Is there any buy-in to that at all? I mean, Boogie was the best on the team when he was playing. So I don't think it was like Cal playing favorites, but I think it could have been the case just with three guards that, you know,

like to have the ball and like to create. They just had too many people. I mean, they're still very thin, but Davis has turned it on since Boogie Flam went out because he had been pretty bad all year. He had 18 last night. DJ had another big game. So, yeah, I mean, Arkansas is still on the bubble

and still heading towards playing on Wednesday, but having one, two in a row, both road games, heavy underdogs in both. You do wonder if it's another they had their back against the wall, and here goes Cal motivating him again. You look at the SEC standing, Shannon. Arkansas is just one game behind Kentucky in the SEC standing right now. Isn't that scary?

It just goes to show you. I mean, one game could be the difference between being in the top four and the bottom four of the SEC. Matt and I were just having that conversation a couple of days ago. You know, if you beat Tennessee, or you beat Arkansas, excuse me, you could be in the top four. You would have been in that situation.

if they had lost a game against Tennessee, then all of a sudden you're in the bottom four. So one game can have a big swing and where you end up in the standings and what day you play in the SEC tournament. So right now, Kentucky's 10th in the SEC standings, which puts them playing on Wednesday night? Well, we have a...

They're actually the eighth seed. We have a projected bracket on KS Board now. Go join KS Board. Everyone should do that. Let's see it. Kentucky right now would be the eight seed playing on Thursday. they would get the winner of South Carolina and Mississippi State. Those are the noon games, first game of the day.

But then if you beat Mississippi State or South Carolina, you have Auburn on deck. So it's not the best draw. It's better than playing on Wednesday, but we'd still like to move up a little bit. That has Arkansas as the 14 seat. You know, it's something I think we've got to keep an eye on now, the way the season play is going to play out and who Kentucky still has yet to play. You want to stay away from that Wednesday night game and try to get at least first round by. I think the double by

is now probably is out of the question but they still I hope still get at least a one game by they'd have to get really hot to get the double by beat Tennessee

Alabama the teams in front of yeah I'm just wondering what this tournament's going like are we going to go on Tuesday like what are we doing shows if they happen to play on Wednesday and if they get knocked out what do we do on Friday

for our big show at Tinroof this is just the tournament is so different this year I'm looking at the bracket and there's looks like four good games on Wednesday I mean you got Arkansas Georgia LSU Texas Vandy, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Mississippi State.

We're used to just seeing the four bottom feeders ready to go home on that day. It's just going to be a whole different experience down there. So wait, where we got a Friday? Is it still, the remote still on for Friday? Because that would be a problem if you don't make it to Friday. Yeah, that's what I'm asking. What would we do if they play on Wednesday? Hope they go through them?

Wednesday Alice Bluegown concert. Is it Thursday night? Yeah, Thursday night? Yeah. There is a lot to consider in all this. It's just so different. You can think about being on Wednesday in the past, really even on Thursday. And if you did, it'd be a game you'd win.

But as we know, the conference is so loaded this year in this new format, it's just going to be completely different. It'd be like this moving forward to. That would be awful. We have a show on Tin Roof on Friday and they lose on Thursday. And Arkansas fans show up. Awful. Let's not speak that into existence. How about they run through all of it?

But right now it's good to see them in the noon Thursday game. So we've got a lot to talk about. I also want to talk to you guys about some things that Mark Pope said last night on his Coach's show. Found out a couple interesting things last night from the coaches show from what he did in the locker room, maybe at the Ole Miss game, maybe a little blood involved. So we'll talk about that and take your calls. Let's make it an Ask Anything Thursday.

I mean, Matt's not here. All right. Kind of a slow day. Ask anything Thursday. Did you hear the coaches show? I heard the part, no, I read the part that Jack Pilgrim and Tyler Thompson posted. They've got to get that podcast up sooner. I don't know who does that, but like that should be there this morning.

I tried to catch it. There's like a video of Randall Cobb from an Arkansas game. Really? I read the stories, but I wanted to hear it myself. See, that was me. I just read what Jack and Tyler posted last night this morning. Not the fastest. All right, well, take our break, come back.

Kind of stinks around here. That's out Matt, doesn't it? Here we go. Are you going to do this for two hours? I might as well. This is Kentucky Sports Radio. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind.

Highlights are trending. opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear.

The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what.

He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid.

He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash will get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers

why he got the ball. Like, after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Oh, yeah. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

What? Quarterback on office blue of 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. American soccer is about to explode.

The World Cup is coming. Ramos sending on to Ernie Stewart for Chip. I'm Tad Ramos. I'm Tom Boe. On our podcast, inside American soccer, you'll get the real storylines. I'm not worried about Policic. I'm not worried about Balagan. I'm not worried about McKinney.

My only concern is what happens in the back. The biggest decisions. If you're going to look at stats and numbers, he has no shot at making this World Cup team. and the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals. The World Cup is almost here.

Experience it all with us. Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. Shannon, the dude is so good. Folks on the podcast, we can't hear that, but Shannon, so good. Welcome back. Kentucky Sports Radio, Ryan, Drew, and Shannon. Matt is taking the morning off for his colonoscopy this afternoon. Matt had to bow out gracefully.

Oh, man. He's going to end up being the butt of all these jokes, isn't he? Yes, he is. So if you got your Matt pun, we'd like to take it today. 859-2802-287, our Clark's Publishop phone number, Ryan Drew and Shane. Okay, let's talk about what Matt, Matt, Mark Pope said last night on his coaches show. I'm going to read you a couple quotes, and then we'll go talk about him.

The one quote is, there may or may not have been some furniture destroyed in the locker room after a recent game. Drew, somebody called in and said they saw blood on his hand coming out of halftime. Do we think maybe some furniture got destroyed at halftime in the Ole Miss game? According to Pope, it got completely destroyed. We don't know what pieces of furniture. We don't know what got moved around. We don't know what kind of bill they racked up in the Ole Miss visiting locker room. but even said something about maybe some replacements that will be made in Ole Miss's locker room.

So whatever happened behind closed doors, anyone that says Pope is too nice and he's Ted Lasso. That's been the case up until Ole Miss, but it sounds like we got a little dark Pope behind the scenes and he might have snapped on him a little bit. It'll be good for him. They needed it after the way they played in that game. What do you think about that, Shannon? Sounds like Ole Miss is going to get a little bit of furniture upgrade, right? I think I would say, yeah, that chair was worth $5,000.

give me an upgrade, like an insurance claim. You know, I know another caller was asking about him being too soft, not stern enough. And I'm sure there's a lot of those moments that happen behind the scenes. I just don't think Mark Pope is the type of coach that's going to, you know, scream in a guy's face in public in front of everybody. So I'm sure the players are getting that. I just don't think they're getting it during the game. Of course, that's what we see. And that leads to some of our fans thinking, well, he's just being too soft.

I don't think that's the case at all. His way in explaining it was very Mark Pope, though. He said something like, sometimes we have to run extremely white-hot. And that's his way of saying I snapped, I think. He's come up with these phrases. Like one time he's talking about his cerebral cortex. One day was his chest confidence. Championship chest.

Championship chest. Last night it was burn white-hot. I think that's what he said that a couple times. Explain that. Well, I'm assuming it just means he yelled and really lit into him something. and I don't think he's had to do much in the past. He just kind of said, you know, sometimes it's got to get to that point to get your message across,

and he burned white hot at Ole Miss, maybe burned a few things else. I don't know. What do you think he broke in the locker room? You got chairs in there? Whiteboard. There's a famous guy Morris incident when he was a head coach of Kentucky, went into halftime over there at Commonwealth Stadium when it was Commonwealth,

punched a whiteboard, broke a bone in his hand. Like he coached the second half with a broken bone in his hand and his wrist or something. So it happens. It's not the whiteboard spot. It's not the whiteboard do to you. I think a lot of it's like parents with your kids, you do have to pick and choose your battles.

You can't just yell and scream and be burn white hot every time they do something wrong. That's all you would do all day. But if you pick the spot where they really need some adjustments or some guidance, that's maybe it may be more of a learning tool for them. I think that's what Pope is trying to allude to. And hopefully that carries over to South Carolina and it wasn't wasted in a blowout. You don't want to tear down a locker room and then just still leads to loss and nothing happened.

So hopefully that team takes it with them and responds on Saturday. Who knows? Maybe we need a little more Dark Pope. I like this. But you know, if someone's constantly screaming at you, after a while, that wears you down. It does.

Pope was saying, you know, like you guys were saying there, you got to kind of pick and choose those moments. You don't want to be constantly screaming at your players. There's a time and a place for everything. And I think Pope realizes that. I got the quote. He even said, Okay.

He said he might have gone a little coach Pee maybe, pulling Pettino into it. Yeah, he did say that. It's got to be for a purpose. It can't just be an emotional release. That's not the productive thing. We try and make sure it's something that's always really, really personal and not just indulgent. Like an indulgent emotional outburst. It's not functional.

That's such a nerdy way to say I broke something, but that's Pope. Well, bringing Coach Pee, you know, the stories about Coach Pettino around here are famous. Like he went into the locker room. I think it was at Vanderbilt. I'm not for sure about that. took his shoe off and threw it at Sean Wood's head bounced off the wall in the locker room I've heard Sean tell that one fairly recently

I don't know if it's with us on pregame or whatever but yeah you've already got two of these you got any more in there in that brain of old UK memories well there was a I know Coach Pettino got on the team plane and walked the aisle of the team plane and just took turn chewing everybody I just went down the aisle chewing and them out before they could take it

take off. This is like before they even left the airport that day. The Kentucky Louisville game, basketball in Indianapolis, the Harrison shot, you know, part of that big run. Tyler Thompson and I got to sit right behind the bench, which is pretty rare. We're usually up on the moon. But Robic broke a clipboard. I can't remember if it's over his knee or he just slammed it down. It landed right in front of us and we each took half with us. They left it there. So got a little souvenir of a broken John Robic clipboard. You know, Shannon and I both played for a college baseball coach that was kind of that way. Yet it made me and a lot of our players mad.

We wanted to prove him wrong. I think maybe is that the thought process when you get to do that? I feel like for us it made us play more timid. Like we were so afraid to make a mistake. We were tight. And, you know, it depends. Like some players react differently, you know. Some players, if you get in their face and you yell on them, they play better.

Other players, I feel like, go into their shell. And I think that's part of being a coach. You have to manage those unique personalities for each person. You know, what may make you, Ryan, play better, may make me play worse. Yeah. Yeah. My dad always used to say he would yell at me instead of yelling at the other guard because the other guard was kind of emotional. So he'd yell at me so to kind of scare the other guard.

Right. Some players just completely shut down and don't respond to that, you know, being screamed at at all. Well, here's the other half of Pope's quote. Pope says Henne Staff are trying not to be emotionally belligerent. This game begs you to lash out at your play. but that has limited short-term short-term returns. So I think, you know, there is a, I guess he's trying to say there's a time to get mad to

motivate, but it's not going to help you long-term. It's just to get them out of their funk or get a snap him into something at the moment, right? Is that how I read it? He doesn't believe in just screaming all the time. He doesn't say Hurley, but I'll use Hurley as an example of a guy that just seems to always be on fire. That's not Mark Pope, but it is good to know that he has it in him when necessary because I think a lot of the fans after Tuesday night were,

We're wondering if that's in him because the team play a little soft and trickle-down effect from your coaching staff. It's good to know he has that white-hot fire when he needs it. Now, let's see what that turns into. Yeah, because just me hearing this story that he got upset at halftime, justified the way they played in the first half. If he's got to break a whiteboard or a chair or whatever happened in that locker room to fire his team up, they did play better than the second half. No doubt. What, they score 53? 53 points in the second half.

Ole Miss got money too. They'll be fine. They can get some new furniture. I just wish it had been in a win. So those journey videos they put out, we might actually get video evidence of it, even though it sounds like maybe a bit of a crime of destruction of property there. But it would be cool to see what actually happened by that'll probably stay in house forever. So I guess now that it's out there, do you think it'll happen again? or does that with his personality I almost have a hard time believing

that's going to be a regular occurrence Yeah if it happens again I worry what kind of situation we're in Yeah Hopefully he doesn't need to do it again Let's go beat South Carolina on Saturday by 20 And move on to the next game But if he needs to tap into it, it's there

Shannon what do you think? Yeah I mean again like for fans Seeing Mark Pope and not seeing him outraged I feel like it's easy for us on the outside looking in to go, well, he's not showing a lot of passion, a lot of emotion over there on the sideline. But as long as he's getting the message across behind scenes, I'm totally fine with it. And like we said, obviously it worked because they came out in the second half. They look like a completely different team than they did in the first.

So maybe there are some guys that can or will respond to that kind of coaching. But what is the thing is we've got a couple guys that are so quiet in their own, just their personality, you know, Jackson Robinson, Kobe Brea, these guys are kind of quiet guys. You know, Amari, especially. Amari, yeah. I don't know if they're still doing it, but they've been rotating who gives the pregame speech. Kirk Cressa was assigned on them there for a while. And it's been a month or so, but Pope, when it was Amari's turn, his pregame speech was like two sentences.

Yeah, that's just, that's just his personality. Well, you mentioned Lamar Butler. Pope said last night, he was the heart and soul of our team. You take that away. You can kind of see why you may have some struggles when it comes to passion, emotion, getting ready for a big game. Yeah, I'm going all the way back to the summer when we were doing the first interviews. Everyone talked about Lamont being the on-court leader, very vocal, kind of hyping him up a bit. I think they're missing that just as much as his actual play and defense out there because, you know, I don't know if he would have made a difference Tuesday.

That was a whooping. I don't know if he could have changed the outcome much, but he might have gotten guys a little more dialed in defensively and giving him a chance. I felt like he would have helped probably a lot more at the Arkansas game. Yes. Guarding DJ and gardening the perimeter out there for sure. But the Ole Miss game, they were just hitting everything. We talked about how well they shot. They had some wide open looks.

They also hit shots with guys right in their face. Yeah, I mean, Pope has been a big thing as he wants the guys who can't shoot to shoot. They're allowing it, but this is two straight games with the guys who can't shoot are lights out. So I don't know if that strategy can keep going on. Maybe it's the case these guys are seeing in Kentucky, and we all know everybody plays their best when that Kentucky logos across from them. But I'm a little done with just letting the non-shooters shoot willingly because they're knocking them down lately. Well, I don't want to poo-poo on what Funk Pope did in the locker room, but I think it

maybe it worked. All right, we'll take our break. We'll come back. Don't forget we're Kentucky branded on Friday. Tomorrow. Tomorrow. My gosh, tomorrow is Friday. Come out and see us out there.

Always a good show. And I'm going to ask you guys a question. I want you to make a hot take on the Kentucky basketball season this year. The dude predicted a triple double. Can you guys predict something else that's going to happen? we'll get your hot takes. We come back here, Kentucky Sports Radio.

We've talked about this song before. I can't believe that. This is like the early 70s. I can't believe they played that on the radio. I think a lot of stations refuse to play it. Think about that. In the early 70s, and this song comes out.

Yeah. About being on the pill? That's a little, that's pushing the envelope quite a bit. I was planning for Matt Jones and his pill that he's on today. A little bit different pill. Speaking of Matt Jones.

Yeah. text machine. I'm surprised Matt missed today as anal as he is. That's true. If he keeps missing, he'll have to slot over to number two in the show. I like this. 859-2802-287. That's our Clark's Pumpin-Shop phone number. Before we go to the phones, we'll get to you, I promise you.

But I ask you guys to come up with a hot take on the basketball season for the rest of the year. Because the reason I thought of this, the guy that called in the pre-game show Tuesday night, Drew, called the Amari Williams triple double. That's a heck of a, that's a heck of a pool to call that out there. So we're all going to make ours right now in case we hit something. You know, that guy now will remember forever, Mason, I think was his name. He'll be remembered forever for his hot take saying Amari Williams is going to get a triple double in the game. We all need to go on record right now. Mario, we might get you to do one too. They got your hot take, Mario? Hot take of the

UK basketball this year. So though if it happens, we can go back and Shannon can play it. Like you remember when you said that on that day Matt was out? Yeah. So you got one? Yeah, we're going to beat Auburn. That was going to be mine. That was literally going to be mine. Let's just speak it into existence. I have some logic behind it.

We wasted our best effort in the Arkansas game. Rup Arena was so good. The whole town was excited. Pope knows he dropped the ball on that one. We run it back for number one, Auburn. I'll throw in that game day is in town. Or wait, we're at Auburn, aren't we? No, it's here.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, it's here. Yeah, Game Bay is coming here. Sorry. I was getting confused there. Yeah, game day will be in town. We redo our fastball at Rupp Arena and win that game as a 7-5-point underdog. All right.

Shannon? Okay, I made my take, I guess, back in November, but I'll double down on it. I said going into the SEC, Kentucky was going to finish 11 and 7. They're 4 and 5 right now. It doesn't look like they're going to be able to do that, but I think they still will. I think they're going to get white-hot to use Mark Pope's phrase. and I think there's still a world where they can get hot and finish 11 and 7 and finishing the top five of the SEC standings.

All right says Drew stole mine. Just stick with it. Just double down. I like that one. That's what I was going to pick. What was your reasoning? Did you have anything behind it? Mine is just the crowd and a second chance at a big Saturday game.

Mine was going to be, yours was a lot better than mine. My reasoning was Pope's teams, even at BYU, win the games they're not necessarily supposed to. It seemed like they lose some games they should win. I think that's a game. Everybody's going to pick Auburn to win, and there's going to be at Rupp. And like you said, it'll be a crazy environment. Kentucky will win it.

And even though they just destroyed Oklahoma, they've had two close games recently. They're going to slip up somewhere. They will. Just hopefully it's in Lexington. They'll have an off shooting night. Those guys can, like all five of them can shoot. They'll have a night where somebody or most of their teams off. So I'm going to go with this one, because this is one I kind of floated with.

Jackson Robinson is about to go off. He's figured it out. and he will be an NBA draft pick. Everybody keeps saying he's not, we have no NBA guys. Jackson Robbins is going to finish so strong he's going to play his way to be in an NBA draft pick. That's what I'm going with.

He's turned it on lately since that dud at Georgia, he's been so good. He's been so good. He's had 47 at Mississippi State. He's had four threes in just about every game in SEC play. I think Vandy had three, but he's lighting it up. His problem is, on the other end, we're losing him. He's one of the guys that just aren't defending well.

Early in the season, he was good at getting deflections, getting his hand in places. The last two games, he's been guilty of being one of the offenders that is just getting blown by play after play. You're coming over here, Mario? You can borrow my microphone. Remember the day we did this? He's hot takes. If one of them hit, we can play it back and say, oh, remember, look how smart we were. All right, Super Mario, what's yours?

My hot take is going to be that Kentucky's going to meet up with Arkansas and the SEC tournament, and we're going to win. That's a good one. That's my hot take. Leaving it on that. That's a good one. Yeah. There's a very strong possibility they could definitely meet. you know what?

And then in the NCAA tournament, they're going to play St. John's in the second round. Oh, my goodness. You're just trying to set up all the... Count on that one. All the awkward things. Here's from the Aviation Glass Tech Machine. I'm just glad Matt is getting this colonoscopy,

so now you can put it all behind him. I think it's fair, fair to say. All right. 859-280-2287. Who's our first caller, Shannon? Ted. Ted. Go ahead, Ted.

Hey, good morning. First of all, Jackson is definitely an NBA prospect. I agree with that. you know what guys i want to make this clear good athletes like elite athletes and i you know kentucky any of these guys at this level they want to be coached hard and then what i mean is they want to be held accountable because they know if they're going to win and win championships they need to be held accountable and be coached now i'm not saying pope doesn't coach them hard i'm not watching practice i'm not in the locker room but the talk that these guys want to be

treated with kit gloves is completely flawed when you're at this level even if you're at this level even and especially at the pro level these guys want to know that if they're held accountable and their coached, they're going to win. They're not there to like take second place and third place. We just went through this with our head coach for the bearer. Eber flus.

He was fired mid-season. Heck of a nice guy. Actually a pretty good coach. He didn't hold anybody accountable. He was way too soft on these guys. And as the players kept speaking and speaking about him throughout the season, the same things have coming out. He's too easy on people.

He's not holding guys accountable. and they knew they weren't going to get to the next level. Now, I'm not saying Pope's not doing any of this, and I'm glad to hear that maybe something went happening in the locker room, but I just want everyone to know, and you guys know this, elite athletes want to be coached hard. They don't want to be treated softly because they're that good. They can take it.

They're not taking it personally, and I think these guys on Kentucky are much better than what we've been seen the last two games. I'm personally a little concerned, like, what is going on behind the scenes? Because I've seen them with some tough games. and maybe they've figured that out now, but hey, you guys do players on this team. Let's see, they can put it together as we get close to the tournament. That's really all that matters. Perfect.

Good call, Ted. Thank you. I appreciate the phone call. I mean, I think he said a lot of things I agree with right there. And maybe Pope getting into him a little bit will pay off for some of these guys. Yeah, I agree with the caller. I mean, you can only do the add-a-boy and we'll get them next time and keep your head up so many times. So you've got to light an actual fire under them.

Again, I'm surprised it hasn't happened before Old Miss. Maybe it has. We didn't hear about it because there were some bad losses before that. At least it finally happened. And to his point about there's good players, still a good team, I think a lot of our fans completely forgot December. I've seen people just like,

it's just not working. It's like, yes, it has been bad. And I'm as mad at Ole Miss as anyone. That was a horrible game. But, I mean, the wins, did anyone have Mark Pope beating Duke Gonzaga, Louisville, Florida? I'm not trying to crown him and say this is a great.

season because of those games, but you can't just pile on the losses and not at least give them credit for what they did earlier. Now, they need to get back to that. They're obviously turning the wrong direction. You've got guys regressing. They shouldn't be in the spot after starting so well. But we do have to acknowledge that they have won those games. They're capable of it.

They just need to find out how to do it again. And Shannon, just a week ago, they won at Tennessee when they was short-handed. They didn't have Carr or Butler in the Tennessee game and go down there and beat a team that was number one in the country for several weeks. Right. I mean, for Mark Pope to come in and build this team from the ground up with all transfers and, you know, some Kentucky guys, all new coaching staff, I feel like he has still exceeded expectations.

If you said going in, you know, what Drew just laid out there, you win all those games, I think most of the fan base would probably be happy. Wouldn't you? I mean, you know, what were your expectations going into the season before we tipped off the first game? Well, I'm with you. I think I picked 11 and 7 in the SEC. Well, I just mean just overall the entire season,

like before we played the first regular season game. I remember thinking, I think we said on this show, I wanted just to get to the second weekend of the NCAA tournament. And play on Saturday in the SEC tournament and get to the second weekend of the NCAA tournament. That's why I wanted to see this first year. I feel like Kentucky fans forgot what we were saying in April. I mean, people just wanted to win a game in Nashville

and win a game in the NCAA. And now I'm seeing stuff like, this team can't go to the Final Four. He can't do it. It's like, well, did you expect that? may. I mean, we're Kentucky. We want to be there, but I'm not going to beat him up for not going to the final four this year. Now, if he goes on and doesn't win a game in the SEC or NCAA, that's a conversation we'll have. But right now, I'm not just throwing this aside. They could still go on

and run and have a lot of fun moving forward. Heck, they could make the final four. Someone just predicted their hot take. They tweeted in. They said, Kentucky, men and women in the final four this year. I love that. That's an extremely hot take. But that was a submission here on Twitter. The women are what? Now, 20 and 2, 19 and 2? Something like that. That's crazy. We really don't talk about them as much as we should have because they are, they got the best player on campus and right now they got the best team on campus and they deserve their flowers.

Yeah, earlier this week, Georgia was named Ney Smith Player of the Week. She's a point guard of the year finalist, SEC Player of the Week. I mean, as you said it, who's the best basketball player in Lexington right now? Georgia Amor. Exactly. And they are so fun to watch. I hate that there's not a Thursday game tonight. They have a full week off.

They don't play until Sunday or Monday. I'll be tuned in for that one. but I can't wait for them to get back to Memorial Coliseum and get over there and watch them in person. They've got LSU and Tennessee around the corner back to back. Not easy. The SEC women's schedules as hard as the SEC men schedule every year. All right, let's take one more call, Shannon.

Who we got? All right. Let's go to Rob. Rob, go ahead, Rob. Yeah, I just had a comment and then a question. A comment was I was privileged enough to be in the locker room for Coach Hall on the 83 team in the 84 team.

And the psychology of the players is interesting. I'm not sure that I'm not sure back then that it was realized. You could tell Charlie Hurd, get on him, he couldn't do something, and he would run through a wall. If you got on Derek Hoare, Derek would believe you, and he couldn't do it. Sam just was to himself, and Sam had to motivate himself. And what you said to him didn't matter. And Melbourne was just, you know, Melvin sometimes.

didn't know who we were playing, and that is a truth. I don't mean that negatively. I also told Coach Hall one time, not really destroy anything, but hit something. He was at the chalkboard, and there was a Coke there, and he took his program and went across and knocked a Coke across the room, and it landed in one of the assistant coach's chest. And then my question was, and I was talking to some people earlier, and I know this was brought up on the Leach Report,

court earlier. First of all, what Pope has done is amazing. Coming in after the portal was partially full or taken and come up with the team he has. My question is he can teach great offense, but can he teach great defense, or is it just the fact that we don't have Butler? I mean, getting beat 106 to 100 by Alabama just shouldn't happen. So that's my question. Thank you. Okay. All right, Rob, appreciate that. We'll get to that after the break. We need to take a break. that as well. Shannon, you got something you need to read here before we go to break. Yeah, Ryan, you know, Valentine's Day is coming up and you're probably still looking for gifts for your special someone. And our friends at Cornbread Hemp have gifts that will really improve

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milligram gummies with a purchase of $75 or more. It's cornbread hemp.com. This is The Good Life. He is Shannon the dude. We're here with Drew Franklin. Ryan Lemon. We'll take our break at Kentucky Sports Radio. We'll eventually stop making Matt the butt of all jokes. Last night,

a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, Nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines.

We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answers. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsLice on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 and the TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed.

And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we're We've never seen before. And he knows. Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective

on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by,

like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball. Like, you go through a training camp with that, I said, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court,

and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee.

We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker. You know these kids. This linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42.

Hey, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHeart Podcast presents soccer moms. So I'm Leanne. Yeah. This is my best friend Janet.

Hey. And we have been joined at the hips since high school. Absolutely. Now a redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips, wider. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. With all the snacks and drinks.

Sidebar. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? Oh, they had a bogo. Well, then you got it. Do you want a white collar or something here? Just hit it. Oh, what are y'all doing? Microphones?

Are you making a rap album? Oh, I went on. Could you imagine? I would buy it. Cuts through the defense like a hot knife through sponge cake. That sounds delicious. Oh, you're lucky. I'm not a drug addict.

You're lucky I'm not an alcoholic. You are. I'm lucky I'm not a killer. I love this team and I'm really trying to be a figure in their lives that they can rely on. Oh. Listen to soccer moms on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, welcome back, Kentucky Sports Radio. Ryan Lim and Drew Franklin, Shannon, the dude.

We have breaking news, Shannon. The bar stool guys, Dan and Big Cat and PFT have officially put Matt Jones on the hot seat. Oh. Yeah. So look out for that. Listen, Drew has a friend that is on fire right now. Can I just read all of his that he just sent during the commercial break, his puns? Well, he sent them to you, not me, so I don't know what it's on there.

I thought you got them also. No, you have green text. I'm not in any groups with you. Is today the only day that Matt is allowed to be a duke. You do like that with Shannon? It's all right. He's going to be so mad if he sees these jokes. If he sees...

Oh, boy. Oh, Lord. These procedures are normal once you hit farty. I like that one. You are laughing at these during the break, like it was the... funniest thing you had ever read in your life. That's the one I like. I read them and they're not that good.

The farty was all right. Remember that that's the joke the guy told us we were in New Hampshire. Yeah. He said, why is there only 239 beans in this can of beans? Because if there was one more, it'd be too fawdy. The silence is deafening. 859-2802287. Let's go to the phone lines.

Who we got, Shannon? Jeff. Jeff. Jeff, go ahead, Jeff. Jeff, are you there? Jeff didn't like your joke. No, he must have hung up. All right.

Who's next? Let's try Joe. Joe. Go ahead, Joe. you all got to leave mj alone he totally drained and needed the day off yeah he is totally drained uh have you all seen i think i think it was drew the tweez have you all seen that daniel wolf kid at michigan oh yes he's my number one go get him pope portal target got to get him got to get him he fits the system perfectly and uh i think he'd be a great fit but that's the problem

for for next year i guess all right thank you appreciate to phone call. You know, next year I think it's going to be an interesting mix. He's already got the freshman, Jasper Johnson, Malachi Marino, and Acadon Lewis. He's going to have at least three guys probably come back, Brandon Garrison, Otega, and Kerr. And then he'll have another three or four portal guys. It's like it's going to be a mix of everything, I think, next year. I want Danny Wolf.

I know Garrison's coming back probably to take Amari's spot, but Danny Wolf's seven foot tall. He shoots the three. Last night, I tweeted it or retweeted it. He, playing against Oregon, he just put this dude in a blender and stepped back and hit a three in his face. I mean, he looks like a guy that was made to play for Mark Pope. He's having a great year for Michigan. If anyone's watched them, you know exactly who I'm talking about. And I know they already have Garrison Marino.

I don't feel that comfortable with only those two going into next year. So when it's time to go portaling, it's time to go shopping, I hope he's on the list. I failed to mention the three freshmen. So we have three recruits, three freshmen, three returning players, and then three or four portal guys probably. Yeah, they'll have to get some big portal guys. I mean, I like the pieces he already has, but I just don't think Pope's going to need a good year. I don't think you can trust the freshmen coming in and just what you've already named. He's got to go out and land some big targets. Who's next, Shannon? Scott. Scott, go ahead, Scott.

Hey, guys. I just got a comment about Coach Pope, and then I got a hot take for you. I'm actually the guy that called originally in the fall and compared Coach Pope to Ted Lasso. do you have to disagree that Pope busing furniture makes him a little less like Ted Lassow? You there? Yeah, go ahead. It does hurt your argument. Sorry. Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, if anything, in my opinion, it kind of makes me more like

Ted Lassow and that, like, I mean, kind of reminds me of when a scene where Ted Lassow got mad and, you know, I think one of the players not coming out for practice and kind of lights a fire. but I think it's calculated use of that emotion makes it so much more potent when it actually does come out. So that said, I kind of wish you would have done it a little bit more during the first half, during Mrs. During Old Miss, excuse me, rather than, you know, in halftime. But anyway, that's just my take on it.

I appreciate it. Go ahead. Go ahead. Oh, go ahead. No, I was going to say hot take. Yeah, hot take. Lamont returns for Alabama, and so we dominate and we beat Alabama on the road. So love to see it happen.

All right. Appreciate it, Rob. You know, Billy had a little hot take about Lamont Butler on the pre-show this morning, Shannon. Yeah. He said, I think he said next week he would expect Lamont Butler would be back. I have no idea what that's based off of. But he kind of said it confident, like he knew something. Yeah, but does he know something or is he just saying things?

He does work. Billy's got some unbelievable confidence. Yeah. We'll see. I mean, he might be right. I don't know. I don't know anything more than apparently. He knows more than I do if he knows that he's going to be back next week.

I think it was encouraging that he did the pregame shootaround and stuff with the team at down in Oxford or Ole Miss, where he was running up and down the field of the court trying to get his conditioning back in order. I think that's a huge positive step. Yeah, I mean, Kentucky was down by 27, so it kind of skipped right over that. But Jimmy Dyke saying Lamont was not a full participant, but was very active in shoot-around, running and doing his own drills, doing as much as he could. That's the first we've heard of that. So that's a good step moving forward.

I think Matt predicted the 22nd, February 22nd. That's Alabama. Alabama game, yeah. So I do think they'll have him back for March. When he comes back for regular season, I'm not sure. But they won him, I think, as healthy as possible when they go into March. Don't you think that's the plan? Yeah, and I'm to the point.

I expect him back just with all the comments and social media, him popping on that Brandon Garrison video. It's just a matter of when, but we haven't seen the last of him. That's why, as bad as this is, it's like there's a little light that we can hopefully get back to everyone healthy outside of Kerr, he probably won't be back. But at least have Carr and Butler back full in the rotation and see what can happen. Well, even with Kerr, he was out shooting around without a boot on. I mean, you know, he's still a long way away, but at least he's mobile enough where

we can shoot around a little bit in the shoot around and things. So we'll see. All right. We'll take our break. Come back. Hour number two. We'll take your phone calls and ask anything Thursday. 859-2802-287.

Ryan Drew and Shannon, don't forget, we're Friday tomorrow. We're at Kentucky branded out by the mall. We'll be right back. This is Kentucky Sports Radio. 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

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That's where SportsSlice 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 headlines. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you're get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our

podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was calling it. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come until he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming.

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