KSR - 2025-02-18- KSR - Hour 1

Episode Date: February 18, 2025

Matt, Ryan, Drew, and Shannon talk UK's loss to Texas, injury updates, and take your calls.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 podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. 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 part of it. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to. 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.

What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. 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 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. A rep. My mama want you to wave at her. Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliffer Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Comedy Off Broadway and Lexington welcomes Dale Jones, February 14th and 15th. Then catch Lucas Zellick, February 21st and 22nd. And Don't Miss Club favorite Ian Bagg, February 27th through March 1st.

Comedy of Broadway opened in downtown Lexington in 1987, and they're still bringing the best and stand-up comedy to the area 38 years later. Call 859-271 joke or visit Comedyoff-Broadway.com. This is Kentucky Sports Radio presented by Stockton Mortgage. Now here's Matt Jones. Welcome, everyone. It is Kentucky Sports Radio Tuesday, February the 18th. I am Matt Jones here in Dallas, Texas,

where as soon as this show is over, I'm going to be flying back to Kentucky and be there all week. Getting ready for the game tomorrow against Vanderbilt at home. You can give us a child on Clark's Pump and Shop phone line 859-2-80-2-8-2-8-8-7. A-Visian Auto Glass text machine is 772-7-4 in this edition. It's sponsored by the T.J. Smith Law Office you call T.J. He'll make them pay. Ryan and Drew are in Lexington. Shannon is in Louisville. Guys, yesterday was President's Day where I went back and listened a little bit to the show the day the day after Pope was hired.

And it was, I will say, Ryan, just as entertaining as I thought it would be to go back and hear our reactions. A couple things stuck out to me. I forgot how Ryan negative Shannon the dude was the next morning. Like I'd forgotten Shannon, you were, I mean, we all were worrisome. You were pretty negative. And then by the end, you were positive. I think you should be studied as to how you changed your mind in two hours. Well, honestly, that's how I felt that morning.

I go, man, we just ran off a Hall of Fame coach for this guy who hasn't even won a game in the NCAA tournament. But then you hear Mitch Barnhart come on. And I think it was Barnhart's interview, which I think might be his most important interview he's ever done on KSR that morning to sort of flip the fan base and make everybody positive about the higher. I think it's one of the best PR things he's ever done, period. I mean, you know, I've never really thought him to be great at PR, but I thought he was that morning. but listening to it, and I did listen to most of the show, Ryan, it really is a fascinating case study in group think being changed in a short period of time. I'm telling you something, that show was amazing. I was listening to it yesterday, and even though I knew the result, I couldn't quit listening to it.

Every caller that came in, I forgot about this. We were expecting a lot of negative calls. It was positive after positive after positive. I'd forgotten that the kid called in that played for Pope. He was good. Jack Givens at the end. Oh, that's right. I missed that part yesterday, the kid at Georgia that played for him.

That's right. Yeah, he called in, and he was good giving some updates what it's like kind of a coach he is. And then Jack called in at the end, but you and Shannon are right. Mitch Barnhart's interview may be the best thing he's ever done as far as the PR goes, because it was fantastic. Well, I don't know if we need that level of PR today, Drew, but there is, I think, some frustration in the fan base after the game Saturday night. We haven't been on the air.

since the game. Ryan was on a little bit on the postgame show. But, you know, Drew, I think the frustrating part about that game is not even the loss, although you wanted to win. It's that you're up four, four minutes to go, and then just kind of four minutes of a collapse. I mean, not just losing, but losing, you know, by seven points and just looking unable to do anything in the last few minutes, mental mistakes, turnovers. It's just, I'm not sure that last four minutes, Drew, could have gone much worse. No, that was pretty terrible and hard to watch. I felt good about that game all week.

I felt good about that game for 35 minutes of the game. And then at the end, it's just the flip the switch to off and everything was going wrong. And it's, you know, they're obviously very hurt by not having a primary ball handler. They can't get in the flow of their offense. But that doesn't excuse like that inbounds where you just stare at the ball. or giving up offensive rebounds on free throws. There was just like a almost seems like a mental collapse between everyone.

They couldn't do anything right. It was just mistake after mistake after mistake. Do you think there was just, Ryan, like not a leader or something? I mean, you know, the turnover that everybody focuses on that possession at 7470, where Perry makes a turnover and then on the inbound pass. But, you know, we were, there was a seven point. swing before that, where it just didn't look like Kentucky was able to get off a good shot. I mean, Brea, you know, Brea takes a huge deep three.

Now, of course, he's made those shots before, so it's hard to get frustrated at the shot, but then not getting the rebound. I mean, Amari played pretty well, but that was a pretty bad rebound to give it. What do you think was the cause there as it fell apart? I think you kind of hit on it. There was nobody out there to kind of take charge and rally the troops and get them back in line because it was just collapsing in front of our eyes, and nobody stepped up and tried to stop the bleeding,

not blocking out on a free throw. Andrew Carr threw one in the stands. Bad shots, bad turnovers. I mean, it was just a total collapse. And I think if Butler was healthy, he may have been somebody out there and kind of stopped the bleeding a little bit. You know, we talked about not having Butler doesn't really hurt you necessarily unless a team pressures intensely,

which Texas does not, but maybe Drew it hurt you in the last few minutes because the idea that anyone can kind of get the offense going maybe is not the case when a team is completely locked in, like defensively as Texas was, those last couple minutes. Yeah, I think it was obvious they were missing some leadership. I mean, Amari's your best player, but respectfully to Mari, he doesn't speak. Like Pope even says that, he gave a pre-game speech a few weeks ago. Pope said it was two sentences and that was it. I mean, he's just not going to be the guy to call everyone in a huddle and get on him about doing things.

You know, Kobe Brea, you kind of want him to be that guy, but he was too busy going 0 for six. I don't know if in that moment, he's looking to rally the troops. Travis Perry, a true freshman, probably uncomfortable in that spot already. They just needed someone to kind of get everybody together and say, hey, we were up five. Let's not blow this, but instead it just was one after another. All system failure in the last three minutes and 45 seconds. Up five with the ball. I mean, and before the four-minute time out, I mean, that's a, I think our win percentage chance at that point, Shannon was 86% on the, and that's even on the road.

So, I mean, you let it slip away. Ultimately, does it matter? It maybe matters a little bit. You were projected to be the three-seed. I think if they did it now, it's probably four, maybe even five. The schedule coming up is four-winnable games. games and then two games it's going to be really hard to win. But you could also, Shannon, you could lose all those games, right? There's not, I think LSU at home I feel like as a, but without Butler and Robinson, I don't know that you can look at any game and say it's certain, which is why getting that win was such a big deal to me if they'd gotten it on Saturday. Yeah, I mean, Alabama, Auburn, I mean, I'm just going to go ahead and write those off as losses. Oklahoma on the road, that's not going to be easy.

Missouri coming up. LSU, you feel like that's a, you win that game. And you got to get Vanderbilt tomorrow night. I mean, that's a huge game now all of a sudden. Tomorrow night's a huge game. Yeah. Huge game. I mean, I think tomorrow night, you know, we said this, what was it, for South Carolina.

And they won and won relatively easily. But Ryan, I think, but we had our full roster. People forget during that game. I think Ryan, tomorrow night is massive. I mean, I'm going to assume Butler doesn't play. I think we got to talk about what Robinson's situation is going to be for the rest of the year. But regardless, I mean, tomorrow night ride must win, right? Especially since, you know, they got you at Vanderbilt when you didn't play very well at all.

So now you got them on your home court. Time to man up, man. Time to win these games. You got to protect your home court. Beat a team like Vanderbilt that's coming in a lot. But do we have enough to win? Do we have enough to win those games? Because it sounded like last night Pope said, you know, Butler has not practiced at all. Robinson hasn't done done anything since he hurt that. So, Drew, do we have enough to win those games? Yes. It just beat Tennessee by 11 in Ruppering of that same roster.

I think they'll be all right. It's clear, though, in games, when they don't have their offense, they are missing a point guard badly. Travis Perry just started the game, played pretty well. Didn't hate him in that role early, but at the end of the game, he just, he wasn't it. He's not the leader, the floor general they need in those moments when the game's tight and the pressure's on like that on the road. I kind of wondered, I kind of thought Pope maybe should make the Noah switch.

There was only like two instances in that game I got frustrated with Pope. One was not playing Noah down the stretch. I mean, they did it against Tennessee. I think it would have been good to do. And then second, I mean, I don't know how many times I have to say this, Drew, but the line change has got to stop. I mean, we got off to what? What was our start?

8-0-60, what was the start? And then line change again. And the next thing you know, it's a tie game. Why do we insist on doing that? It has not worked at any point. this year. I remember Travis Perry hitting a three early to go up nine to two. Texas took a time out.

I can't remember if the line change was right there. That's when the line change occurred. Yeah, it was right there in media time coming out. But, I mean, you were playing well, had a good lead. Even with Travis Perry making his first start, he wasn't hurting you. In fact, I just said he was helping you hit the three to add to the run and then you make the big switch. I don't understand because Pope came up in the Petino conditioning where you hear about

guys throwing up in trash cans and that's what Petino is known for. and that's obviously his mentor, but then it's like, can no one play more than, you know, 27, 28 minutes a game? I mean, substitute one guy. I just don't understand the desire to put a swarm. We are not good enough to put four reserves in at once, and especially when we're playing well. I just, I don't get it, and it has not worked. I would love to see our plus minuses, Ryan, on the second four minutes of each half. It's got to be minus infinity. because we start these halves usually pretty good. And then here comes the line.

And he's a smart guy. He has to see that analytically. He was asked about it before the Texas game. And he was like, yeah, I think we're going to do it more. And it was the first time I heard a little cow stubbornness in him, Ryan. And I was like, now, wait a minute, Mark. If the numbers say don't work, don't just double down on it. And it didn't work again in another game.

I didn't hear that. don't like hearing that because like you said why don't it just rotate them one at a time i know want to get the guys you know get a couple minutes in get them you know knock the rust off before it's occasioning him late in the game do it one at a time don't do all three but he's you think he's got some analytics on his side that's why he's doing this because he's definitely i don't know i mean i don't know if he does if he does i'd love to see it i i all i know is what the score is when they come in and when they don't um but you know maybe there's something i'm not seen, I'd love to hear what it is. Let's talk about the injuries. So listening to Pope,

Pope with injuries is hard to figure out either, because I think he almost sometimes makes them, whereas Cow, I think, used to not make them sound as bad and then they were. I sometimes can't tell Drew if I think Pope makes them sound worse than they are, so it's hard for me to know. I got the sense listening to him, though. We will see Butler before the end of the year. But when he said Jackson Robinson is not using his wrist at all. And then said he's shooting left-handed in practice. I don't know. Drew, that was the first really made me nervous.

Do you think there's a world where we don't see Jackson Robinson again? I'm expecting him only because I'm to the point where Pope's injury reports are what you just said. Everything is the absolute worst. I mean, he made it sound like Andrew Carr was going, you know, going to the hospital. to stay there for months and then he played two weeks later. There's a video of Robinson dribbling in their walkthrough yesterday, so he's using it a little.

That doesn't mean he's shooting and he's close. So I'm having a hard time interpreting Pope. I did like what he said about Butler that he hasn't practiced yet with loud play, but it's a matter of just him kind of playing through it whenever they do need him. That was a little comforting that sounds like he might be closer than Robinson, but I don't know what to expect with Robinson. It's just hard for me to read his injury. I wonder if he's a little bit of a gloomer, doom and gloom.

I can't really tell. Now, he did say Kirk Crea can get a medical red shirt. It'll be interesting to see. I assume Pope's going to want him back. It is interesting, though, with the roster bringing him back, you could almost argue we have too many point guards, but after this year, Ryan, we need too many point guards, right? Because we can't have another year where we don't get point guards.

Yeah, we're basically playing our fourth point guard right now, Travis Perry. Counting Jackson is one. So I kind of agree with you guys about Robinson, man. They've said they've got three different opinions, which means they must not like what they heard in the first two opinions. It's not like he went and got a third opinion. I just wonder, like, even if he does come back and let's say he does play left hand, is a left hand at Robinson better than what you got on the bench? I don't know. I don't know. I mean, just learned to shoot left hand.

First of all, I can't imagine he's going to come in and shoot left hand. He's not going to play left hand. I can't imagine that. Was he practicing that way then? But like there is a world where he could play if he just not be as good a shooter. I think that could happen. But not,

Pope throwing in, he's shooting left-handed was weird to me. I don't know if that was supposed to be like a joke, but like, I thought he was joking because I said to people with that. You think he was joking? Okay. I said to people with me like, Pope, we're not laughing at Robbins and playing left-handed.

Like, obviously he's not going to go play left-handed. It's different when you read it in text and then hear it. Yeah, that's true. I didn't hear it. Yeah. That's a great point. I didn't hear it. So I don't know his tone.

Maybe somebody that heard his tone can be more clear. 859-2-80-2287. Text machine is 772-7-7-4-5-254. Where do you think about what happens? And then let's talk about what it's going to take to get where we need to be in the tournament. Before the game, we found out we were the number 10 overall seed, which looked great. We're not that now. So where's this team going to end up?

We'll take a break. back. It's Kesar. 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. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing,

we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth?

Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway.

Open your free, Our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ 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 Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball. Like, you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, 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 Clever Taylor the 4th. 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 walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

What? Quarterback on office blue of 42. Hey, rec, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Welcome back. I have to tell you, Shannon, the whole, first of all, that's a great pick on a music right there,

playing leaving bus from Dallas. I got to tell you, me and you, we're not flyers, right? We don't love it. No. Right? Is that fair to say? Yeah. I got to tell you, it feels like there's a lot more plain stuff going on right now than I like.

Did something happen with a Delta plane over the weekend? Yeah, it flipped. Yeah. In Toronto airport. Oh, my God. Now, everybody was okay. Right. But the video is out this morning.

I didn't see a video yesterday, but it's out this morning. And it just flipped over while it was landing. Just completely flipped. And, yeah, I don't know. I don't know what's going on. Like, rationally speaking, you know, we hadn't had a crash in like, 20 years, and they had, I get it rationally, Shannon. Yeah.

But I'm not rational about flying or I wouldn't be so nervous to begin with. No, it only takes one and the wrong one to be on. That's exactly right. So then you see the flip, and then I see, like, they fired all these, like, what do you call? Air traffic controllers. I don't understand. You know, whatever everybody thinks about cutting all these jobs in the government, that's a place. I say we get more of them, right?

I feel like they need as many of those as we have. So you get it, Shannon. You and I are on the same thing. I just, I don't know what it is, but I'm just a little. I want my- I see about flights right there. Yeah, I want my pilots and my air traffic controllers to have a backup and that backup to have a backup to that backup.

Exactly. This just doesn't feel like the time for us to go. I think we can get rid of some of these people. Like I just, you know, this is, I don't know. So anyway, one person writes, Matt, I think you guys are a little overreacting. We're out without three of our six best players, it happens. Well, yes, at the end of the year, Ryan, I think it's fair for us as we're judging the season,

to look at the injuries and all that. But the reality is we have who we have right now. And like there's no, like we might as well talk about what we have. I'm kind of with Pope. Pope after the game, somebody said something like, well, you don't have your guys. And he said, I don't care, no excuses. We're up five with four minutes to go. You got to win that game.

And I agree with him, Ryan. I mean, ultimately, yes, the reason we're not up 15 is the fact we don't have everybody. But when you're up five with four minutes to go, you can win that game. You've got to go win it, right? That's my point. So even though it's true, we don't have all our guys, you still got to go win that game. You do. Like Drew said, that team beat a really good Tennessee team without those two guys.

And when you had that lead down at Texas, you've got to close it out. And we're talking about, you know, fifth year senior. some veterans, some guys that made some really awful, awful mental mistakes late in the game. That just can't happen. One person writes, Matt, what do you think is the effect of 60% or less Andrew Carr? I think that's a huge thing, Drew, especially offensively. I mean, I think what we've lost with Carr is that he was like a guaranteed 15 points a game. And I've said this a bunch, but really like a guaranteed three easy layups every game.

and we lose that now. Maybe, you know, now get one. But, like, I think him being limited, I almost feel like we're down two and a half players when you're talking about him, because I don't think he's, I don't think he's yet to get back to what he was pre when the back flared up.

Yeah, they're missing him a lot, even though he's out there. He wasn't what he was in the non-conference. Like, you go back to Duke and Zaga, those big wins. He made big plays down the stretch. And at Texas, he got a big bucket that put him up five with five minutes left and I kind of thought uh-oh, cars turn in a corner, Kentucky's turning a corner, let's put this away and then

he fouls out a minute later and you don't see him again. So he made the one play, but that was his only real big contribution. Had a bad turnover. It's just, you know, it's obviously the back. I mean, lines up perfectly statistically with when he stepped out it and then came back. But, I mean, he's half of what he was in the non-conference.

One person writes, Matt, I was watching the live feed of Pope talking. He seemed very serious to me when he said playing him left-handed. I think they're looking of any way to get him on the court. That would be Shannon an unbelievable thing if you ended up playing a lot of left-hand. And what if he's actually good? What if he's better left-handed than he's right-handed? Stop as you kidding. He's not going to be better left-handed. He just discovers this out of nowhere. I'm actually left-handed. I didn't know it.

Can you can you all shoot with your off-hand? Either of you, any of you? Not very well. No. I'm technically amidextrous a little bit. I can do some things with both. Shooting a basketball, probably not, not that I throw it well, but if I throw a football right and left, it looks about the same. See, we've talked about this, Ryan. I'm weird in the sense that I dribble left-handed, but I couldn't shoot left-handed. So I dribble left-handed, shoot right-handed, kick left-footed. That's crazy.

So I don't know why that is, but if you asked me to swing a golf club or shoot a basketball or throw a ball left-handed, I can't do it. But if we were to just play basketball and I was dribbling it, up the court, I would dribble it left. So I, but you know, some people, some people, maybe he can do it. I don't know. And you know, these high level basketball guys, they can use their off hands often just as good as they can use their dominant hands. So he can probably use his left hand better than we think, but I don't know if he can step out and

knock down threes like a man. I don't know about that. I want to, before we go to the phones, I do want to talk for a second about the flooding in the mountains. Governor Bashir said this morning 14 people have passed away I was talking to somebody who does work in that area that said

the death toll will be less than the last one but that the long-term damage may be just as bad if not worse because it hit a wider swath of area you know there is flooding from Pikeville all the way down to Clay County and there's flooding in other parts of the state, right? I mean, there are a couple people who lost their lives in Hart County and just all kinds of places.

So while the death, I mean, I think 45 people passed in the flooding in 2022, it's 14. I bet that number will increase. But the actual long-term toll may be just as bad, if not worse. And, you know, not only are our prayers to everyone that's involved, but this will be another case where I think the state, we will have to step up for our fellow people. We're going to try to find ways to help. I think it's one of the things you have to kind of assess with people what the need is. But in the immediate term, I think the Appalachian Regional Health, those folks are kind of taking care of immediate needs if you're looking for someone to donate.

I know UK athletics put something out. But Ryan, it's obviously a terrible scene. then you have some bitter, cold, and snow coming late tonight and tomorrow that will not make it any easier. So I hope everyone, A, will check on your neighbors, especially if you live in those places. But also, Ryan, pray for these folks, because this will be a rough night tonight and day tomorrow upcoming. It's awful. I mean, it's devastating again for that area down there. And, you know, we've seen the stories where, you know, schools again getting flooded, nursing homes getting flooded.

People have to make water rescues. And now you're right. Now the temperature is going to be in the teens. The next couple days, it's awful. It is. So please check on your neighbor and just check on things you can do, and we'll be keeping you up to date on here as well. We'll take a break and be right back.

This is KSR. 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. It is Kentucky Sports Radio.

859-280-2287. The text machine is 772-7-7-4-5-254. Ryan, one person writes, Matt, do you think with all the injuries we've had there's something to be said about trainers or the way Pope prepares the team? No, I think the injuries are fluky. I think injuries in general are fluky, but especially the ones we've had. Falling a weird way, back pain, et cetera. I think it's just, it's just, it's just, one of those things. I also think, you know, this is, we've played how many games this year, Drew, 27? I mean, just for sake of argument, that's 20, that's what, 30% of an NBA season. These dudes play more games like this. They're not hurt either because of how Pope trains or doesn't train. Injuries to some extent, now, if this happened every year, year after year

for seven or eight years, I think you'd ask yourself, but for the most part, Drew, I think these injuries are random in all unique circumstances that just happened, you know? I mean, Kurs was a non, like, Kurs was like just the way he landed. It happens, you know? Yeah, we didn't see Robinson's. It happened in practice, but it's obviously very bad. Curz, we saw in real time. We knew what happened immediately.

That can't be prevented. And Lamont Butler, his is because Texas A&M came and played a football game in Roperina. And then he had to try to give it a go against Tennessee. And they also tried to play college football instead of a basketball game. He just got completely roughed up in those two. Another right in front of our eyes. And Carr, he's just an old man. I mean, they're all four completely different.

Two of them, we saw exactly what happened. Thank goodness the ankle doctor left or we know, we haven't had any ankle injuries. Yeah. Yeah, how about that? The ankle doctor, though, I mean, we miss him. Maybe that's somebody we should have kept in it because he was really good. And he left and now we have zero ankles turned. Zero.

The tracker has zero. The guy that was here that was supposed to help all that. We had like 20 last year. Knock on wood, Shannon. You just never believed in the Aikul Guy. I felt good about the Aikul guy. All right, who's up first? Is he?

Yep. Let's go to Bluegrass. Bluegrass, how are you? What's going on, fellas? Yeah, you all said it. The prayers go out to my neighbors here. It's pretty bad up here in Floyd County, fellas. Yeah, so when you say pretty bad, I mean,

hang on just Bluegrass, when you say pretty bad, give people a day, Give me an example what you're talking about. You know, now that the water's gone, the mud is everywhere. Like, homes that just got built back are just destroyed again. Like, yeah, it's downheartening, fellas. Like, really, it's the bad as you can think about mud and slush. And when water comes in your home, it's just done. You know, it's just, you've got to start over.

So you're saying there are some people, there's some people who had just rebuilt their homes from the last. one and it happened again? Yes, sir. Yes, Matt. Like just, I'm talking about months ago got finished. And yeah, like, yeah, pretty bad, pretty bad. But let's, I guess this might be a little bit more positive. I don't know, but let's go.

I'm watching this Texas game. And I couldn't happen to think back at when Mark was talking to you, when Pope was talking to you about having this white board, you know, and there's all intricate pieces to make this team what it was going to be. And remember when the whole coaching staff went out like their hair was on fire to get Butler because he was that winner and he was that dog. I think when you start taking those pieces away, you've got a lot of two stars out there and three stars that just. No, you do. You do.

You're exactly right. You know, we talked to Bluegrass about how the sum was greater than the, or excuse me, the hole was greater than the, or excuse me, the hole was greater than the sum of the parts. But then you take some of those parts away and that hole comes. comes down quite a bit. Yes. So I think we're kind of lucky we are where we're at right now, fellas. Even if we go, let's say we win two more, then we're probably what we thought we were to begin with, right? Well, it's hard to say.

I appreciate the call because, Ryan, I mean, on the one hand, let's say we only won two more. We'd be 19 and 12. That's probably not as good as I thought we'd be. but I also didn't think the SEC was going to be as good as it is. I mean, even after the game against Texas, Ryan, we're still a three-seat in Lannardi's thing. Did you see that? We only went down from 10 to 11. So, I mean, you know, we could, there's a world where we end up 20 and 11 and lose in the second round of the SEC tournament

and are like a four-seat or a five-seat. I mean, that's a real distinct possibility because of the street. of the wins that we have on our resume. That's it. You know, we're all disappointed by some of these losses, you know, Vanderbilt and Texas and Ohio State and some of these losses we should have won. We forget about it. We've got some really, really, really good wins this year. I just, with six games left, I won't be shocked if we win three and lose three.

I won't be shocked if we win two, lose four. I mean, I think it could go either way. I, it was interesting to me when you watch the NCAA tournament thing Saturday, Drew. Bubba Cunningham, the North Carolina AD, mentioned our injuries in saying that we're a three-seat. So clearly that is going to be something they look at. He mentioned it on the show. We're still projected even after Saturday as a three-seed. A lot of the teams that were booked around us in that NCAA thing all lost as well.

So I think that was part of it. And then if you look at the SEC tournament, you know, unless we collapse, we're probably going to to be an eight or a nine either way. Like unless we collapse, like it's going to, I think, hard for us to get to seven, six. I think the other teams that are 10 and lower are going to lose more games. So I think we're kind of playing, Drew, to see, are we getting a buy and playing Thursday at one, or are we playing Wednesday at one? It almost looks like that's going to be what it is.

Yeah, of all the seeds to be a fringe, either or. That's the direct line of Wednesday or Thursday, so hopefully it's an eight. After the game Saturday, I had to tell some people to go to bed on their message board. They're talking about the NIT. Fans just need to realize that Kentucky's record is really good. They've been calling them a lock in the tournament for weeks. That Texas game barely impacted the tournament seating if it did at all. And if you lose to Auburn, Missouri, and Alabama, that's not really going to hurt you that much either.

That's two top five teams and then Missouri's in the top 15 of the net. So as long as you handle business tomorrow against LSU and maybe win that Oklahoma. in Oklahoma, those three, the other three really aren't going to hurt you too bad long term. Kentucky's in the tournament. Now it's a matter of where you're seeing going to be. I think they'll be fine. I think they still got to win at least. I still think they got to, I mean, I don't think they can lose all these games. All right. So I think they got to win, like, I think they got to win tomorrow. I think tomorrow's a big game. I think if you win tomorrow, then I'm going to be like, okay, fine. But if we were to, like, look, if we were to not win another game, that might be

different. But if we went, but I, tomorrow, to me, is the, but you make a really good point. We could lose to Auburn, Alabama, Missouri, and really not hurt our seat at all. They won't move them one bit if they lose those games. Because those are all teams that are ranked ahead of us. Leonardi still has them as a three. Yeah, well, I said that a minute ago. I'm sorry, I was answering the phone.

That's all right. Don't you worry about it. I just wanted to make fun of you. Who's next? Todd. Todd, go ahead, Todd. Hey, good morning, Matt. I just want to say, have a prayers for the people affected by these floods.

And, man, I appreciate you all being honest about Kentucky basketball, the good and the bad. And get to my point real in a second. I want to say that when a Pope was announced on that Sunday, that made a big statement to Barnhart. And then because of what Big Blue Nation had gotten sick of. And I'm proud of what Pope did. But y'all keep hitting the nail in the head about the lineup. We had a lead going against Florida. He made wholesale substitutions.

We were coming back against Clemson. Vandy, I think we should have won against Texas. The other night, Perry, Noah, Williams, Oway, and I can't remember the guy number 15 was our best lineup on the floor. But I felt, yeah, we gave the game away.

That's what hurts the worst. I know we got any injuries and we're doing the best we can. But if we can see it, you can see it. I don't know why these coaches don't see it. Cal was the world's worst. I still, it sticks in my crawl last year. Dillingham hit 3.

three threes against Kansas, and Cal pulled him. I don't know how many games he lost with a 10-point lead or more, and I'm not comparing him to him, and I'm glad we got Polk. I'm glad it's a change. But I'm just, if you get a chance to talk to him, asking why they make these wholesale substitutions, these boys should be playing more than three minutes at a time. The other schools, like Duke and them, they play eight-man rotation for years.

You know, they got better players, maybe there's not as big a drop off coming off the bench. But these guys should be playing more than minutes than they should, I feel. I agree. I totally agree with you. I appreciate the call. And I especially don't understand it right at the beginning of the game. Like the game just started.

They can't be tired yet. Right. So, I mean, that I don't get. We have so we have a number of games where in the first and second half, we start out like wildfires and then take the guys out. And the thing is, the other team leaves their short. starters in. So we're playing starters versus second team. Let's at least go as long until they make substitutions. I don't understand our desire to be. I would get it if at the end of the game we were

wearing the other team out. But our guys look worn out at the end. So I, you know, I don't, I don't really know. Estate renovation isn't just for go-to kitchens, baths, and basements. They also bring top quality craftsmanship to decks. So if you're looking to up rebuild or create a new outdoor space for this spring season, get a deck or renovate your home with estate renovations. They're locally owned by KSR listeners. A lot of you have called them and they can think, you know, get like a cool KSR house community. Visit estate renos, r-enos.com. Learn more. Estate renoes, r-enos.com and turn your house into a home with estate renovations. We'll take a break and be right back.

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. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase

that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid?

Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free, our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now.

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 gonna 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 would get that thing.

That man, hell get the flying. He running the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball. Like, you go through a training camp with that Isaiah, 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 Clever Taylor the 4th. 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 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? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Park. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Welcome back. It is 859-280-2287. I'm going to do something, Shannon, here, that you're not going to believe. Oh, okay.

Not just you. Not just you. Everybody. But most of the listeners won't believe. I'm going to take up for Donald Trump off this text message. How about that? How about that? How about that?

One person writes, Matt, I'm kind of mad. I voted for Donald Trump. I live in Eastern Kentucky, and I'm a Republican. But I was mad that he was riding around the Daytona 500 while our floods were happening. I think the president should have been more considerate. Now, see, I'm agreeing with a liberal for the first time. You're actually not because I actually disagree with you. Like, I don't care if he went to the day coming 500 or not.

But I always hate when this happens, Shannon, when like some disaster happens and people get mad at presidents for like not being in their office. What did you really want Donald Trump to do, honestly? All he could do is go there and look at it. Do you think he know, which also he should do, but not in the moment, right? Then he's, that's a, like, that's a, that's a distraction. You're in the way, right. You're in the way. So like the same thing, when the floods happened a couple years ago, people are like, oh, Joe Biden,

you don't want Joe Biden there. And you don't want Donald Trump there. They'd be in the way. And honestly, he is not the one that we want making those decisions. he doesn't know how to manage a flood. We want the people in the jobs to do it. So I think it's a little different when you're like a mayor or even a governor. But the president, what's he going to do, Shannon?

He's not going to do anything. He can't do anything in that moment. So I don't care if he's a Daytona or not. That's irrelevant. But like, I do think we sometimes, if we don't like the president, are like, why aren't you doing, they're not going to be able to do anything. Like the people who are the experts, they are the ones working anyway. So I don't know why we expect somebody to like, I felt the same way in 2020 when people go on about Biden not being there.

They don't need to be there. They'll be in the way, Shannon. That's the reality. He can see the situation. He can see what the damage done without being there. What's he going to even do? He doesn't know what to do. You just hire the people who know what to do and then they do it.

Right. They don't know. I mean, so, yeah, I think that's an unfair criticism that we always put. on politicians that we don't like. Now, the mayor, and like, when the fires happened in California and the mayor of L.A. wasn't there, and that's a bad look. But the president, like, what are they?

And those people are already there. They live in that community. You know, I think that's a big difference. And Bashir, I think that's something he does really well, is he's like in the office and doing press conference. That's what the governor, that's a governor role. I think the president, I just think that's a little bit different. Who's up next? John.

John. Go ahead, John. I was glad to see you're coming over to the right side now, Matt. That's only on this. Hang on, hang on, hang on. Hang on. Only on this issue. I got that wrong. That's called being fair and magnanimous. On every other issue, I can have a different conversation, but I'm talking about this because it affects Eastern Kentucky.

Now go ahead. Oh, I miss that. I'm sorry. A couple things. It's interesting that, yeah, it's interesting that Jackson's risk was, hurt in the South Carolina game. He obviously had x-rays, MRIs, and everything, and I'm sure they consult the doctors, and they probably said, it's not going to hurt him to go ahead and play.

And he fell again. And he fell again. But you remember, I mean, there's a play. He can see it. He heard it again when he came back in. And then he went out and didn't come back in because we said maybe they shouldn't have put him back in because we were up 20. But yeah, he came back in and hurt himself again.

I didn't know he fell again. I thought he was just from breaking his wrist from shooting. Also, you know, it's obviously the word is out on running this off the three-point line. It's like, are we going to go ahead and take the layups that they're offering this? Or, you know, or did he have a scheme to get more open shots? I don't know. So it's going to be interesting to see what happens there. Appreciate to call.

Drew, I don't know if the guys we have can take guys off the drill. Like that would be, I mean, Lamont Butler and Jackson Robinson would be two of the guys that if they had pressed out on us could get to the rim and finish. The problem is we don't have those guys, and I'm not sure our other guys can actually take advantage. Yeah, and it's obvious that Kobe Bray is struggling to get his own shot when they've jammed up this offense recently. You know, late in the game, he was just crossover, crossover, going off a screen, trying to get it. He'd step back, but to go over four, you know, I can go ahead and say what you like. I usually say, but you got to have to. Kobe Brad to win basketball games.

But just Kentucky as a team only hitting four in that game. I know their credit was six. They hit O.A. and Perry hit two meaningless wins in the last 30 seconds. Before that, they were four for 22. And I know we can debate everything that went wrong. But for me, if Kentucky went four for 22 from three in a game, I don't expect them to win. It's just the three matters so much. You've said that all year.

Yeah. You said all year. I mean, you've been dead on. When we make four threes, we ain't beating anybody, especially on the road. It's lazy to just say, did you hit threes or not hit threes? but that's the way Kentucky's offensive design, that's kind of how it goes. Yeah, I think you're right.

Who's next? Steve. Steve, go ahead, Steve. Hey, how y'all doing? Good. Okay, I'm a, yeah, I'm a big fan of KSR. I listen to as often as I can. You know, Matt, I think part of the problem

we have in this country is we don't really look at what causes things. We look at the aftermath and say, well, somebody ought to do something. But that I'm talking about, you know, the flooding. I mean, what caused that? Well, you know, we don't want to go there necessarily, but it's like so many things.

If you don't affect, go for the root cause, you're not going to save eastern Kentucky. You're not going to help us at all. We've got to get more proactive. And that's all I have. By the way, I totally agree with you about that. And people who care about the mountains. and I'm one of them and you're one of them

and there are people of all ilks on the far right and the far left who all care about the mountains because a lot of us have roots there we do at some point soon have to have like a real conversation

about what I mean we can't do anything about the past but about the future of rural eastern Kentucky and this is rural America in general and we have to be honest about it And we can't, we have to, what is next? Because you're exactly right. You know, we've had these kind of once in a lifetime storms,

but when you have two of them in three years, it's all of a sudden not once in a lifetime. And we have to start really thinking about what are we going to do going forward. Yeah, it's kind of funny when you have a hundred-year floods every 15 years, you know, five years for that matter. You know, it's, but anyway, eastern Kentucky needs our help. I hope that I haven't heard of it. anything going on when people could donate to Eastern Kentucky.

But if there is one, I'd like to donate. Well, there is. There is. There will be more. I'll have probably more information on that tomorrow for you, okay? I mean, I know, like, but there will be stuff. I think it's important in this moment to kind of figure out where needs are and make sure you're using the right organizations. But we should have more on that tomorrow.

We'll take a break and come back. Hour number two. This is KSR. Another podcast from some SNL, late night comedy. guy not quite on humor me with Robert Smygel and friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you

funnier. This week my guest, S&L'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 podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed the 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 headline. 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 SportsSlic on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo's Slice Life 12. and 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 hungry. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that Game 7, Marquis keep coming to. 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. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. 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 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? Where's he at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.