KSR - 2025-09-16- KSR - Hour 1

Episode Date: September 16, 2025

KSR is Live at KSBar & Grille talking with Jeff Goodman and Rob Dauster of "Field Of 68."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 Slic Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. What's up, guys? This is Clivert 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 42. A rep. My mama want you to wave at her.

What? Where's he at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifferts show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or 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 harmed. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming till.

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. From hit comedy specials and social media, comedy off Broadway and Lexington, welcomes Kelsey Cook. September 11th through the 13th, and gets rising comedy star and UK grad, jowying summers. September 19th and 20th.

And from TV and the movies, don't miss Kevin Farley. December 25th through the 27th. For tickets to all comedy off-Broadway shows, call E-5-9-271 joke, or visit Comedyoff-Broadway.com. This is Kentucky Sports Radio presented by Stockton Mortgage. Now, here's Matt Jones. All right, good morning. Welcome in, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls,

grandpaws and grandmas, aunts and uncles. This is the Tuesday edition of Kentucky Sports Radio, Tuesday, September 16th. Ryan Lemon here live at KS Bar and Grill today, and we've got a crazy show today, Shane. And there's a lot of musical chairs going on today. Shannon, the dude back in studio in Louisville. As always, Kentucky Sports Radio, sponsored by the T.J. Smith Law Office called T.J. Shannon, what's he do?

He'll make them pay. He'll make them pay. We've got the Clark Publish Shop phone line, 859-2802-287. And the A-Vision Glass text machine, Shannon, do you remember that one? 5027-30-80. There you go. Very good. Very good. You nailed it.

You nailed it. Very good. So here's what's going on. Matt has scheduled a couple of special guests today, Matt, Drew. Drew scheduled a couple special guests today. Drew's going to be out for a couple days. So we went to the bullpen. First, got it called in Jack Pilgrim, a guy whose arm is always loose in the bullpen.

Are you ready to go? Always. You don't seem like you're too ready to go. My arm is always loose for you. Anytime you call, anytime you text, I'm here for you, buddy. Ryan shot out of a cannon this morning. I think it's what it is. You got too much energy.

I've had a little coffee. You've got a coffee right now. Yeah, very good. So our two special guests, the world famous guys from the field of 68, Jeff Goodman and Rob Doster. Drew set this up. You guys are in town to watch practice today or UK basketball. So we'll talk a lot of basketball with you guys.

But, man, welcome in. We appreciate you guys coming to KS. Bar to join us this morning. I'm just glad we can finally get Goodman back here. Amen. He's invited back to Lexington again. This is awesome. This is just, it doesn't feel right.

Like something, I feel dirty right now that I go around Lexington and I don't get called names. Everywhere I go. Okay, we're going to just jump right in there. I mean, you've had this hot, cold relationship, not just with UK fans. UK coaches, and us at KSR. So it's kind of surreal to see you sitting right there on KSR here at KS Bar this morning. It's crazy because since I got into this, really back in like early 2000s, I haven't really gotten along with the coaches.

You know, it started with Billy Clyde, I'm sorry, I can never call it. It's always bully Clyde. And I remember going on a show with Matt early days and telling him, what a Billy Clyde was. And I was a Fenway Park doing the radio show. And it was before a Red Sox game that I was covering. And he's defending Gillespie. And I'm trying to tell him why it was such a bad hire, which we know why now.

And then Cal came along, and I wasn't good with Cal dating back to the Memphis days. He once told me that I wasn't welcome in Memphis. Yeah. I told him you can't ban me from an entire city. So I went for that Memphis Tennessee game. It was one verse two. And it carried over to here. And actually, Cal and I had a sit down.

I think I've talked about it, right? Well, it's a couple of years ago. We had a sit down about four years ago. Eric Lindsay set it up, the former S-I-Decchio. Oh, yes, good guy. Sat down, went in his office, the three of us. And after about 30 seconds, I was like, why the hell did I do this? Oscar year, right?

You were there for Oscars me today? Yeah, I remember that. That was awesome. How good was Oscar? Well, that was before we even knew Oscar was going to be Oscar. That was just like, because he said it's between. He's going to get every rebound or something. It's between me and God for every single rebound.

We're like, oh, that's. And little did we know. He was phenomenal. And again, I think the hard part for me is, you know, I love the passion of a big blue nation. Nobody loves it better than me. Now, again, I've been drawn the eye of Kentucky fans a lot of times because, again, I felt like I was pretty much down the middle when it came to Cal. And I think now people can kind of see that.

I wrote some really good things about Nick Richards and John Wall and all the players. And even Cal a few years ago coming out of the pandemic, I said he should get another year. Like there were some people at that point that were like, let's get rid of them. And I'm like, give him another year. And then I think maybe two years ago, I was like, all right, it's time. It's time for both sides to go their own way. So, yeah, it's weird being back like this. It's weird walking in, you know, last year with Tennessee, the game.

People were coming up to you asking for pictures in Lexington. I don't know if I'd ever thought that was ever going to happen. I know, right? You know, my favorite part is. Generally very in person, like we did the Kentucky Derby, my wife and I years ago, seven, eight years ago, and I had a ton of Kentucky fans come up to me and be nice. In person, generally you're getting like. The other day at the Bourbon, whatever, Beyond Festival, people coming up to me all the time.

And, again, Kentucky fans, Louisville fans, whatever. But I think the difference now is feeling welcome by Mark Pope and the staff. It's different now. With Cal, he never trusted me. I never trusted him. I always felt like, again, whatever he said was, you know, listen, it was, whatever he wanted to get out there, that's what he would try to turn the message. to whatever you'd ask him jack knows this better than anybody whatever you'd ask him he had a narrative

already in mind it didn't matter the question was irrelevant it didn't matter he was going to answer it the way he wanted to answer it so i just think kentucky fans have slowly come to realize what i always thought of john calipari best recruiter in the country great use car salesman average to above average coach who again i think has lost his his fastball a little bit. Yeah. And the work ethic that drove him to be a dominant coach, and I think his staff needs reshaping.

Let me just kind of, I'm going to take what Goodman just said and translated for you guys. All right. Kentucky fans, it took a while, but I was right. That's a hell of a translation. Absolutely right. So your relationship with Cal is what it is, and it's not just a neutral replacement with Pope.

You go from foe to friend with Mark Pope. How did that kind of work out where you guys already have your friendship, your relationship, and now you do have a friendship with a head coach of Kentucky where you're welcome into practice to do a live show with all the players and all the staff members? Yeah, I mean, I've just known Pope for a long time and know a lot of people around Pope, known Mark Fox forever. So can I tell the story, the Arizona story about Pope that I told last night? If you want to, if you want to.

Might as well. There's not anybody listening right now. I'll leave the name out. It's just us. I'll leave the one coach's name out. Anyway, I went to school at Arizona. I rarely get involved in any of these things. Arizona, a couple years ago, when they were going to hire Tommy Lloyd, came out.

It was going to be Tommy Lloyd. And then they kind of ran the AD at the time, Dave Heiki. They didn't want to make it look like it was already wired for Tommy Lloyd. So they started saying another name. Not going to say who the name. name was at that point another name was going to be in the mix i kind of freaked out because it was like a bully clyde type right so i'm like called i called steve kerr Arizona guy i'm like steve this guy yeah no it shouldn't happen so steve anyway steve kind of got that guy out and then

i said to davyke you should look at mark pope and the next day he actually had an interview with Arizona and I guess he crushed it. But again, didn't get the Arizona job. It was already hooked up for Tommy Lloyd. But he well could have had the Arizona job. Wow. But that's how much I thought of Mark Pope at the time. Think about it.

It's my alma mater. And I'm not well-liked by my alma mater at all. They hate me there. Hate me right now. Did you say something bad about them also? Yeah, I mean, I'm, is he breathing. My favorite part about Goodman is he's like, oh, these people don't like me. I'm not well like there.

I'm not well liked here. I'm not well liked in this college town. And he's like, I'm just such a victim. You love poking the bear. I would love poking the bear. I would love to go back to Tucson and not have to, you know. I've had to actually check in under other names in Tucson. That's how bad it is in the hotel.

Well, the thing with Matt here in KSR, you guys had a good relationship. We did. Then it kind of went south. But you've mended fences. We made up. We kissed and made up. Yes, you did last year. Tennessee game.

We had breakfast. And, you know, I think part of it honestly goes back to, again, I wasn't on Team Cal. Yeah. He was on Team Cal. Heavy. Heavy. Heavy for a long time. And then it flipped.

And he apologized for some things. I apologize for some things. And, you know, I'm getting older. I'm getting a little softer, a little nicer. I moved to Charleston, right? The Bostonian to me is gone. Yeah. So I got to be a little bit nicer.

You got a souther. You got the beach. I'm a souther now, so I can't be an asshole all the time. So, no, I think it was good to sit down with Matt. It was good to sit down with Matt. I love Jack. I think Jack's one of the most talented people. Oh, look at this.

Baby-faced Jack Pilgrim. I mean that. I mean that sincerely. I've watched you, you know, from far and up close for a long time. There aren't many like you out there. I know how old are. How old are you now? 28.

He's got babies now? He's like growing up right in front of our eyes. I know he does. But he is a worker. He is a worker. He's smart. I would say that if he were here or not here, there aren't many like Jack out there right now.

How about that? I appreciate that. You advocated for Mark Pope with Arizona, but I think the Kentucky job was a little bit of a different story. It was such a polarizing just decision in real time where fans had the Hurleys and the Billy Donovan's and just dreaming as big as possible. Scott Drew,

and then it felt in real time that it was, they settled. So you advocated for him at your alma mater. Did you advocate for Pope in real time with Kentucky? And did the year one result? Did it shock you at all? And how well he kind of embraced it and reached history. I thought it would be higher than Mark Pope.

I think we all did. I think we all thought, hey, man, it's not going to fall that far. But it fell that far, you know, obviously with Billy Clyde years ago. Like the landscape is different. These guys have huge buyouts now. Yeah. Right. Nate Oates was kind of immoving.

at that point. I thought he would have been the perfect guy, right? Imagine Nate Oates in Lexington. Yeah. With the style of play and with his personality. Perfect. It would have worked. It would have worked. So I didn't think it would be Pope when at first everything.

I thought maybe Scott Drew and then obviously his family. That didn't work out. I wonder if Scott has some regrets now with the way the landscape has changed and Baylor doesn't have money and now Kentucky's going to have money. Right. If he had known this, where we are. in the world of college basketball. I'm not sure he would have turned it down.

But again, I think it was more a family decision. Pope's perfect, man. He's perfect for the job because he knows it. He embraces it. And he won enough to be able to now walk around and be beloved. Because I think a lot of people a year ago today, Rob, we all were like, hope it works. But I'm not sure yet.

Not sure whether Pope can do it in Kentucky. They won so many close games early that got him that momentum. him had a good year and now everybody's all in a Markle. I think part of it too is that he understands when you come here you're going to be living in the fishbowl, right? Like that's just what it is.

When you are the head coach at Kentucky, you are the head coach at one of the biggest, probably the biggest college basketball program in the country, right? And I think that there's an element of when you are, let's just take Nato's. You gave that example, right? When you're the head coach to Alabama, it's not, it's different because you're not the football.

ball coach. You know what I mean? When you're the head coach at Baylor, it's not, the fan base is different, the pressure is different. The way that you can go out to dinner and not have 25 people come up to you and ask you for pictures is different. And you have to want to be a part of that and understand what it means.

And he does. You know, he's been here, he played here, you won a championship here, and I think that that we undervalued the importance of being able to embrace that part of the job. And I think that Mark Pope does it as well anybody. He's so authentic.

He is. That's the thing. Going from Cal to him? Night and day, in a lot of ways. Yeah. Well, because you, again, I always said, like, U's car salesman for Cal, you don't feel like you're being sold anything by Mark Pope, right? It just feels real. Here's the perfect example

of who Pope is in my eyes, right? I brought my son to Peach Jam this year. He's nine years old. And the first day that we were there, he's walking with me and Jeff, and we walked by, and we're watching, like, some U-16 game, and Pope was literally the only guy sitting there on the front row at Peach Jam. And we go and we sit down next to him.

And my son sits down right next to Pope. And he just ignores me and Goodman, just talks to my son for like 10 minutes watching the game. That's kind of guy he is. About like baseball or pitching. I don't even know what they were talking about. So we go and then we get lunch. And then we walk back into the gym. And I don't know if you've been there, Ryan.

You've been there, Jack. You know how when you walk into the main gym, you walk down those steps? And then there's like 30 people that just kind of stand at the bottom of those steps. And I got caught up talking to someone. And I thought Chase was right next to me. I turned around like five minutes later. I'm like, where did he go? I look over.

Pope was still sitting there courtside. Chase had walked up and sat right next to him. And they're just sitting there talking again. And I'm like, where did this come from? Like, why are you over there? That's the head coach. You don't even know what you're doing right now. You don't even know that you're not supposed to be doing that as a nine-year-old.

But Pope just sat there and talked to him. It was great. We've got to take a break. But before we go to the break, Jack, I've got to tell you the aviation glass tech machine. I've got like eight or nine messages on the text machine. Every one of them is about Jeff Goodman's potty mouth. Uh-oh.

Do I not allowed to swear? No, you can't. You can't say the poopie word. I can't? Uh-uh. Can't say any bad words? Live radio. Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, I'm going to take a break. I got Jeff Goodman, Rob Doster. We're going to take a couple calls real quick. If you want to call and talk to these guys, we can talk football later, but you want to talk to these guys. 859-280-2287. Ryan and Jack here at KS. Barn Grill. We'll be right back.

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 SportsSlice 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 athletes 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 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. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games.

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And this Mental Health Awareness Month, there's no better time to pour back into yourself. Listen to cultivating her space on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. 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, 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 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What?

Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clivert. show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Welcome back, Kentucky Sports Radio. Ryan Lemon, Sharon the dude, and Jack Pilgrim, joined by special guests from the field of 68, Jeff Goodman and Rob Doster. You guys can only stay with us for a little bit because you're actually going to practice. What do you hope to see or what are you excited to maybe see from this UK basketball team?

Let's get into the weeds a little bit. Rob? I mean, just the depth, man. The depth. No, he goes second. Rob? Rob, here I go. Respect your elders.

That's what it comes down to. It's the depth of this team. How much firepower. We just came from Louisville. They're loaded, guys. Yeah. They're really good. We got to talk about that.

I know. Fans aren't happy about your debut on three preseason poll, so we got to get into that. First the good stuff. I love that the rivalry is back. Like, it's officially back this year with both teams being preseason top 10, both having a chance to get to a final four. We're both having a chance to maybe cut down the nets in Indy this year. But I think it's just the depth and talent and the way this roster was put together.

And, again, they have more money than everybody else. So to be honest, if you look at it, Rob said when we were at Purdue, what did you say? What's your quote, Rob? It's national title or bust for Purdue. Okay. So if you agree with that, then I think you have to agree with its final four or bust. For Kentucky? because they have 20-ish million dollars.

That is probably 30% more than any other team in the country with an NIL payroll. Somewhere at 25, 30%, something like that. So to me, you've got pressure. And I talked to Mark Pope about it a couple weeks ago in Charlotte. He knows it, and he embraces it. That's the best part of Mark Pope. Now, he's not saying what the number is, but he's saying, yeah, we got money. And I'm glad we got money.

And I want that. I want the resources and I want the pressure. Now, again, easier to say before the season, if you don't live up to it, at the end of the season, we'll see how he deals with it. I think they're going to be awesome. That's like point, point, period. I think the fact that Otega Oway came back is something that has gone way under the radar nationally. He's got who he's SEC preseason player of the year, right?

And that's no question, no doubt about it. Is there anyone else he's been in the conversation? I don't think that there is. Not to the point of your nitpicking at that point. Yeah, so he's preseason SEC player of the year, preseason first or second team All-American, wherever you want to put him, a guy that averaged 16 a game for a sweet 16 team, right? And I just feel like when he decided that he was coming back to school,

it was something like, yeah, I'll take us back, when it should have been, okay, this just changed what the trajectory of Kentucky season could end up being. Now, the one concern I do have is that it feels like the best Pope teams get up and down, space the floor, and have a lot of shooters. And I'm not convinced that they have the shooting that you would normally want for a Mark Pope team, right? Like Jalen Lowe, part of the – he shot – what was it, 26 percent from three last year. Part of that is probably the difficulty of the shots that he was getting when he was at pit.

I think he's probably a better shooter than 26. But Otego O'Way is a guy – he can make shots. I don't think you necessarily call him a shooter. right how are they going to get that floor spacing how are they going to be able to get that movement offensively who's going to replace some of the shooters that they lost last year will that work for pope but that's a I mean they think of what 9 10 deep they got multiple guys they can be all league guys Pope will say 11 12 deep but it'll end up being 9 10 they got multiple ball handlers um the other thing and this will be a more interesting uh dynamic is how how do

they adjust when jade and quaintant comes back right because he'll probably be healthy We'll talk to him today and get an answer from somewhere, but mid-December, January, by the time he's like full-ball. Probably, yeah. Somewhere around there. At that point, your rotation is set. At that point, you have guys that are expecting a certain amount of minutes. At that point, B.G. But you keep people happy until then.

To me, keep them happy. Can you keep him happy when he gets back, and all of a sudden, the guy that was playing 25 minutes a game is now playing 12 minutes a game and coming off the bench, right? If you're winning. Yeah, if you're winning, it might not matter. but also that's a big step down for players when they know that if they perform well, it could mean NBA in their future, it could mean a bigger payday next season. So that's going to be something. I'm not saying he can't do it, but that's going to be something you've got to navigate

when you get to that point in the season. What kind of needle mover is Jaden Quentin's, assuming he plays at full strength and becomes kind of the guy we're all hoping and dreaming? I mean, look, he's big, he's athletic, he can protect the rim, and he is a guy that can be that five man that is out on the perimeter. as a ball handler and a distributor and an initiator that can do some of the things that Amari Williams did last year. And when you pull that five men away from the basket and you can use him in offense and he can be

the passer and you throw those backdoor cuts, that changes what Pope's offense can be. How many times they get layups last year just because Amari Williams had the ball at the top of the key? Yep. Time the back door cut at the right time you've got a layup out of it. I think Quaitons can be that guy. And if he's back and he's healthy and is a rim protector and he's effective defensively, You can rebound, you can get out and go.

There's a, you know, grab and go five, man. It changes a lot of things. An elite kid. The Arizona staff, I should read you what, I'm trying to find it right now. What, what I, here's, I'm going to read you from one of the Arizona assistants, what he said. Okay. How about Jane Quayton? He's unbelievable.

Gets up every day and run a mile. We come back at night and shoot. Only drinks water, not on social media, reads books, big time chess player. has never smoked or had a drink. Yeah, he actually beat Pope and chess, I think, a couple times. I think he has a winning record against Pope and chess. Which has something, because Pope is brilliant as we know.

So we're about to run out of time with you guys, but we all like to think about who's going to play. The question for most fancied to be, who's going to win the four job? Who's going to be he's going to be at the four? How do you guys foresee that working out? I think it's going to be a rotation there. I think you're going to see lineups where you have Diabate there.

I think there's going to be lineups where you see Cam Williams, playing at the four and you put more shooters out there. I think there's going to be lineups where you try to go big and maybe play Quaintons and Vigi together when they're both healthy. I think that you're going to see who's the shooter, the Mountain Mamba. Trenoa.

Mountain Mamba. You know. You don't even need to say it as well. Mountain Mamba. I think you're going to see him there at times as well. I think the Abate's got to play. Yeah. I just think he's a guy that Pope hasn't had. You know, it's not a

big time shooter, but man, he is elite defensively, tough as you know what. Good leader. Yeah, I think he's going to find a way to get on the floor and stay on the floor as long as you have enough shooting around him. And like Rob said, this is not a traditional Markov team, but he's got enough pieces that he can move it around and get it to where he's got enough shooting on the floor. We'd love to talk to you for a couple hours.

We know you got to go, but listen, congratulations. Joining the On-3 family are now a co-worker of Mr. Babyface Jack Pilgrim now. That was announced earlier this week, so I know you guys are excited about it. I know Aunt 3 is excited about it. Is that his official nickname Mr. Babyface? Yes. Is that what we call him? He's been calling me that for seven years.

Babyface Jack Pugam. It threw me off when you said that you've been here since 2016. 2016. Wow. Because I swear, I thought you just graduated college last year. Well, look at him. He looks like he's in high school. And he's got six kids.

All right. Two kids. So congratulations on three. Thank you for coming on. I wish we could talk to you a lot longer. But we'll be back. Send us a note what you see from practice today, maybe. We will do that.

We'll do something with Jack after practice. My guys. We're right back. This is Kentucky Sports Radio. 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. Being brought back in by the greatest singer in the history of music, Darius Rucker. Well. Yes.

Ryan Lemon, Jack Pilgrim, Shannon, the dude. We twisted Rob Doster's arm to stay one more segment. Jeff is meeting with a UK student right now, so Rob you do nice enough to sit and join us. Because we were, like I said, it's like we talked to you guys for like two hours trying to get into the weeds and stuff about UK basketball. I mean, they're what? A couple weeks away from Midnight Madness. I mean, it's sneaking up on us, and you guys are doing your tour going to some different camps. We said you went to Purdue. You went to that other school down the road a little bit.

Are you excited to see what this team, this Kentucky team can do this year? I am. I am. I'm really excited to see. I'm very curious to see how the rotations play out. I'm very curious to see how you play, for example, Denzo. and Jalen together. Or is there going to be a situation where you have a starting point card

and a backup point card with those two? But I'll be honest, Ryan, the biggest reason why I'm back here again is that I feel like I said three words. Goodman was here. No kidding. I got thoughts, man. He totally monopolized your airtime there a little bit, I think. Hey, this happened yesterday, too, where I would ask a kid a question and Goodman would

answer the question. You asked me a question. That's true. You didn't answer the question. Even a Rob, what do you think about this? Jeff, well, it's clearly my turn here. I just, I love how he was like, you got to respect your elders. And so there must be a lot of respect because as young as you look, that's the opposite of what we got with Jeff over there.

All right, I'm done, I'm done, I'm done making fun of this. All right, but I stepped up and make fun of you because I watched your interview yesterday. Great job with Pat Pat Kelsey, by the way. But point guard you, how do you, when he says something as egregious as that, you don't, like your head doesn't fall off. your neck how does that happen it it took me a second to kind of register what like point guard you is this point or chucky is that is that see what look and i'll maybe michael brown i i get what i get what he's doing right like he's he's trying to brand it as that sure they're probably targeting a a point guard in the class of 2026 that that they just whiffed on would take any

that they would like to have come in that they would like to have come in that they would like to have come So I think that that's probably what he's doing. But, I mean, listen, we spent, we had, what, 15 years of Cal here, branding Kentucky is whatever he wanted to brand it. That's just what coaches do, man. It's the world that we live in. You hosted this show twice. You and John Fanta hosted this show a couple times. Got to take calls.

So you're kind of familiar with kind of what we do. You know, we're kind of fan boys. But I can't help it get more than that, Ryan. Come on, man. Well, you know, I'm the dumb buddy. Duff is on the show. but I can't help but get excited about what this basketball season could be. I mean, I just, are we just being too much of a fanboy,

or is there a legit reason to be excited about this team? No, no, all the way in. I say this all the time. The best part about being a fan is the build, right? The best part is when you start in the place where you don't feel good about the program, and then that energy comes back, and then you get a guy like Pope coming in, and then you go through a year where, I don't know what you guys were expecting last season. I don't know, I wasn't expecting too much.

I thought, like, tournament would be good. Then you're a top 10, top 15 team. You make it to the Sweet 16, right? Now you've got a preseason top 10 team. Dream, have fun with them. And the best part is when you are on that growth pattern. When you are getting better and when there's reason to be excited, that's when it's that the best.

And then eventually you're going to hit that peak. That's what I wanted to hear. That's exactly I wanted to hear. We're not crazy for feeling this way. Yeah, I think that's kind of when you got the foundation, with year one, kind of the high floor guys were just loading up on portal talent. Now he could kind of handpick the guys that fit the returning talent, the incoming freshmen, hey, let's go get Andrea Yellovich from Croatia, see where he fits in.

Setting the tone in year one to kind of get to what I think Pope, you know, a full recruiting period to work with. It gives you a chance to dream, right? You can say, oh man, how great is it going to be if Mark Pope brings us back to the final four? If he brings us back another championship, if he gets us that next national championship, P.H. a banner that we can hang and rub, right? Whereas, once you reach the end of a coaching cycle, you're not excited.

You're going to watch them because that's your team. Yeah. And you love them and you want them to win more than anything. But at the end of the Calaiser, I can't imagine that you were excited to go watch John Caliperian coach basketball teams. It was painful at times. Yeah, they were won and you happy, but it wasn't what you wanted out of your program. And I feel like you guys have that now.

So embrace it, man, dream. Nice. That's what we need to hear. That's what being a fan is about. Yeah. You know? 859-2802-287. That's our phone number.

We got a caller online. So who we got, Shannon? Let's go to Bluegrass. Bluegrass. You're on with Rob Doster. Go ahead. What's going on, fellas? Hey, Rob, big fan of the field of 64.

I guess I was 68 now. When I'm not listening to sources say, I'm definitely over there on your all's channel. So, big up, man. I love what you're all doing. I appreciate that. Thank you. Hey, I just got one little simple stuff. Thank you so much for leaving Tyler Hansborough at the house.

Oh, my good. Thank you. Appreciate it, Bluegrass. When I heard that, when I heard that, I was like, oh, I'm all in. What a great trip. No, Tyler Hansborough. I'm loving it, fellas. Has he replaced Goodman as public enemy number one?

Maybe. For us, for sure. Yeah, there's no doubt. For many years, just to see him Jeff Goodman sitting here on this show is a little kind of surreal a little bit. Did I bring Tyler next year? No. No, I don't think we're there yet with him. We're not there yet.

Now, Jack mentioned Yelovich. That's something you guys didn't put on your rotation. Is he still a long ways away, or do you feel like that he is a guy that could contribute this year? I honestly don't really know. That's part of why I like going on these trips and why I like getting onto these campus and being able to talk to the coaches and kind of see it for yourself. Because all of these Euro guys, it feels like with a lot of them, you hear about how he's older. He just played professionally for this many years.

he's this, he's whatever, he's this kind of NBA draft prospect, and then they get here, and it's not just the adjustment to a different style of play. It's a completely different culture. It's different food that you're eating, right? We learned out the hard way with Big Z last year. Yeah, right? It's a different way of life. It's a different language for a lot of these kids when you're coming in.

So I feel like the adjustment process is going to be much more difficult and there's going to be bigger swings, right? You're going to see guys that are just maybe they already speak English because they grew up in Lithuanian. and they were playing in Spain, right? There's going to be guys that have already adjusted to living away from home, whereas someone that maybe came from their local club when they were 19 years old and coming here, it's going to be different, right? So it's very hard to get a feel for what those European guys are going to be when they adjust because so much of it is beyond just what they can do as a basketball player.

Right. How does that human being fit when you have that big of a cultural change in your life? So that's one of the things that I'm going to be looking for today when we get to practice. My prediction for you is when we talk after practice on your way out on your way to the airport, that's going to be the first thing you bring up. So, whoa, I didn't realize because I've heard great things about Yellovich. I think he's kind of, if we look at what Andrew Carr was for the team last year in terms of role, I think that's kind of what they're hoping he becomes, maybe even a better version of that. So I'm excited for you to see what Yelovich looks like. And maybe talk to him.

I mean, we haven't even gotten to meet that kid yet. So Purdue is the first exhibition game. They're, like you said, already predicting championship robust. It could be the most hyped up exhibition game in the history of college basketball, and they come here to play Kentucky at Rupp Arena. It'll be sold out packed for an exhibition game. You know what I love about that is that Painter said the reason why he's doing that is because he wants to throw his guys into the fire, basically.

Let's go show them the most difficult experience that they can have as a college basketball player, and let's basically see what they got. Let's see how they're going to be able to handle that. Let's get that out of the way at the start of the season so that when you actually play the games that matter, you'll be able to, it won't be as bad. So he's like, yeah, we're going into the hornet's nest. We're going interrup. Didn't they play at Bud Walton last year? Right?

Oh, I think they did. That's right. Yeah. He's like, my exhibition games. Let's go. Let's go see how badly we can get our, I'm trying not to curse here, our tails whipped. See that? See that?

Some of us are professional. Yes. It's not. In terms of the returning talent, you can't say Otega Owe. Is there a player that you're most looking. looking forward to saying, hey, I'm expecting a Colin Chandler jump or a Trent Noah Mountain Mamba. What, what is there a guy that you're kind of, you know, keeping a close eye on to say, hey, he could be the breakout candidate that we're waiting for for the Wildcats.

I'm excited to see what Colin Chandler can be, you know, he had the two years off and he's back and he can shoot. He can kind of fill some of those roles. I really want to see something out of BJ. You know, he's a guy that was, he was like a top 25 prospect, five star kid, right? Top 30 McDonald's a burger boy though. Yeah. So he's big. he's athletic. You saw some flashes

last year where he kind of started to figure it out a little bit at that five spot, right? And I think with him, it's how well can he process the game? How well can he understand, okay, when I am here and there's this action on the week's side of the floor, this is where the ball is going to be open, this is

where I have an opportunity to attack, this is where the play I have to make is. And I think Amari Williams picked that up really quickly last year and I think that by the end of the year we saw it a little bit out of BG. Yeah. And when you have that much talent and you have of a coach that can get you to the point where you start understanding what you're supposed to be doing. He's a guy that I think can give you a little bit of a ceiling.

What about Jasper Johnson? Because he's a guy obviously we grew up here. We all know, we all seem to play since he was in elementary school. He has high expectations from a lot of fans. Are you watching him play in elementary school? Well, he's the same age as my son. Oh, okay. That's fair.

Played against him forever. Out of context, that really doesn't look good. I was scouting this kid when he was in the fifth grade. knew as a first grader, man, he just had that it factor. So a lot of people expect him to be a guy that's going to maybe surprise people and get on the floor a lot this year. Do you see that? I like Jasper. I think that when you are in this day and age, the only freshmen that are coming in and going to significantly impact the team to the point where we're like, okay, he's a difference maker are going to be the guys that are like the top two, three, four guys in each class.

And then beyond that, you're going to have some good role players. I think that when you have NIL keeping guys around longer, when you are bringing in transfers that are 22, 23, 24 years old, and that's happening everywhere across the high major level of college basketball, right? I think that asking an 18-year-old to come in to a program and compete with guys four, five, six years older than him, it's tough. It's a hard thing to do. So with freshmen, I'm always going to be like, give it time. It's going to take a little bit of while.

but the talent is there. When you're his size and you got his ability on the ball and he can score, lefty, there's just something about lefties that it feels like they're always that much more fun to watch. Were you a lefty? No, I was not. I wish I was.

Maybe I would have been good. Where did you play? Vassar College. Vassar, that's right, Vassar. Division III school. What's the opposite of a powerhouse? By the way, I have a record at Vassar College. And it is?

It's something for the basketball team. I'm the only player that's ever gotten kicked off the team twice. What did you do? Let's just say I was really good at college. He is Rob Doster. They're at the Field of 68. Newest members of the On Three family, man. Thank you so much for hanging out with us.

Kind of, like I said, send Jack a note after practice. We can kind of talk about what you saw and what you see from practice today. Oh, he's coming on supposed to say tonight. We're finally got the invite, man. There we go. I've been waiting for nine years. He's been here for. nine years and I finally got the invite. We'll be waiting for them outside the Joe

Craft Center like Alex and waiting for Bulley Gillespie. We're going to be waiting. They're going to come out where they're going to. Should we recreate that? Yeah. You're, you're, you guys can be sprinting to the Uber and we'll be, wait, whoa, whoa, hold on. What did you think of Andreye Yellowfish? He's not. He's good. He's Rob Dostro. We'll be back with Jack Perigman, a lot more coming up here on Kentucky Sports Radio. Don't go away. Last night, a blown call changed the 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 athletes 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, the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice 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 Slic Life 12 and 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, because 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. 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 IHeartRadio app. Search Learn the hard way and listen now. Agency, the ability to know that we're the experts in our own body. On the podcast, cultivating her space, Dr. Dom and Terry Lomax create a space where black women can show up fully and be heard. I wholeheartedly think, you know, you hit 30, you shouldn't have to share one with anybody.

Mm-hmm. From navigating friendships and healing to setting boundaries and prioritizing your mental health. These are real, honest conversations. We don't always get to have out loud. Totally unreasonable with different parts of life, right? Like, oh, have all three meals and make sure you're mindful during all of them? Absolutely not. During one meal, I'm standing.

I'm standing and handing my children food. Because healing and. Empowerment and resilience aren't just ideas. They're practices. And this Mental Health Awareness Month, there's no better time to pour back into yourself. Listen to cultivating her space on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

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. 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 of 42. Hey, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Ms. Parker.

Listen to the Clifford show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Welcome back, Kentucky Sports Radio. Ryan Lemon, Shannon T. T. Dude. and Jack Pilgrim here, just had to say goodbye to Jeff Goodman and Rob Doster. How good were those guys? I mean, it's weird, man. I'm just sitting here with all the KSR stuff and then having Jeff Goodman's face right next to me as it's like, these things don't belong, but it feels so right.

Because he was kind of public enemy number one, not just for the fans, but for KSR too for a long time. Not on good terms for a very long time. No. And good for him being a good sport to just kind of say, hey, It's a new era for all of us. It was weird. It was a weird time in the past. We know.

We acknowledge that, but we can just let bygones be bygones, move past the past, and, you know, have a bright future together. Now it's co-workers. Yeah, now, part of the on three team, you and I were talking during the break, and it went by, like, super fast. That first 30 minutes just, like, flew by. I feel like I've got so much more I want to talk to him about, but time just disappeared. Yeah, and I'm glad that we'll got to get a little post-practice recap. And again, they're going to be at the Joe Craft Center. They're going to be interviewing Mark Pope.

They're going to be having the whole roster be coming through. If you watched what they did yesterday with Pat Kelsey, it was the interview with the head coach, and then had basically every single player on the Louisville roster come through. It's going to be a very similar format today. So should get a ton of great intel from the Joe Craft Center today. So you're going to be outside on the sidewalk, Mike in hand.

Stephen's going to be there with the camera, and you're going to get them for your source to say podcast, while they wait on their Uber. It's going to be a tight squeak. because they have a flight at 715, by the time they get out of practice, hoping that there's no traffic, hoping that the TSA line isn't too bad. I've never had a horrible experience again. We've got to knock on wood or whatever because I do not want them to miss their flight.

But if all goes as planned, we should get some immediately after the fact takeaways from the field of 68 guys. As long as the Uber, like, it's caught in traffic, the longer you get asked them questions about what they saw. That's what, it's kind of where we're interviewing before practice. I want to know what they say after they see practice. That's why they- That's why Sources Say podcast is doing it. That's why we're doing it. So how can people see the sources say this episode, how will they see it? Stephen, hoping sitting next to us,

we'll hopefully have everything set up with the pre-recorded segment, and then we'll be going live right at 8 o'clock on the PSR YouTube. Gotcha. What was your biggest takeaway about what they said about this basketball team? The quote from the Arizona State. staff about Jaden Quaint's. You know, the off the record, unfiltered, just, you know, a real takeaway of a, of their experience with Jaden Quaintance before he got to Kentucky, because it's everything I had heard about Jaden as well. Awesome kid coming from a great family that, you know,

really, you know, no drinking, only drinking water, you know, no smoking, all of an unbelievable kid on top of being a generational basketball town. True. Shannon. So what do you buy about this? They say Jaden Quaintence has gained 40 pounds already. I don't think that's necessarily the truth. I think it's a combination of what he. The pre-number, if I had to guess, was the, hey, this is what he was first when he stepped foot on campus at Arizona State, whatever he gained there, and then another full offseason. So I think that's like a two-year sample size that we're working with.

Not a, hey, over eight weeks in Lexington, the strength and conditioning staff put 40 pounds of good weight on this kid. I don't think that's a reality. things are going very, very well. Just the videos and clips that I've gotten and seeing with my own two eyes of how he's progressing. Jaden looks good. And I think he is definitely a needle mover for what this team can be in terms of that final four episode we were talking about earlier. Shannon, they're like the wrestling move.

You know, they said the one dude weighs 700 pounds. They're saying Jaden Quaidon's gained 40 pounds in like a month. You know, Richie and I were talking about this a little bit on the pre-show today. If you've gained 40 pounds, I don't think that's a good thing. I don't think you need to gain, I mean, if you're getting 40 pounds of muscle, and again, maybe we're talking about two years, and that's more understandable. But if you put on 40 pounds in the off season, that's not going to be all muscle. And, you know, I'm expecting them to come back and look like Zion, if that were the case.

So, yeah, I think you're probably right, Jack, and saying it's probably two years and not one year. That would make more sense. And before we go to the break, we need to say something here. We all kind of have a heavy heart here at KSR and KS Bar and Grill on our neighbors next door, tilted kilt. Good friend of the show. Mani Robertson passed away yesterday.

One of Drew Franklin's best friends. That's why Drew's not here today. Mani was really Drew's right or die. They went to all the games together and watched games together. Just kind of unexpectedly, Mani passed away yesterday. Drew's having a hard time,

so remember him and your thoughts and prayers. The Robinson family. It's tough. It's a tough day for everybody around here, and Manny was a good guy. It broke my heart when you said that yesterday again, when you, the reason why I'm even sitting here is due to that very unfortunate circumstance. And when you reached out and said, hey, something came up with Drew at first. It was like, oh, you know, hey, I'm ready.

But then when you, you know, the why behind it, it's just it breaks your heart. You know, love you, Drew, if you're listening to this. Or hopefully you're not. Hopefully you're taking some time to yourself and, you know, reflecting on a great relationship, great friendship that you had with Mandy. It's an awesome dude, diehard Kentucky fan, definitely one of us. We've all got that guy who's our rider die. And maybe this is the time we need to step back and, you know, it's okay to tell, guys are supposed to be so macho.

It's okay to tell your buddy you love them, you know? And it's also okay to show your feelings. We're supposed to be so macho and we can't show our feelings and tell men we love each other. Why not? And, you know, now Drew loses his ride or die, and I'm sure he's feeling that. You know, right now, it's tough to have to go through. So just remember Drew and the Robertson family and your thoughts and prayers. And rest in peace, man, he was a good dude.

All right, well, take our break. Come back, hour number two coming up here on Kentucky Sports Radio. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform?

We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in.

I'm Timbo. And every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source the athletes themselves. 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 Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. What's up guys?

This is Clivert Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being in internet. that 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? Time out. Quarterback on office blue of 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at?

Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the I-Hart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, Famis? 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 hungry. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to you. 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.