KSR - KSR Postgame UK MBB vs Duke 11/13/24

Episode Date: November 13, 2024

Matt, Billy and Mark Pope recap the Cats' 77-72 win vs Duke in the Champions Classic.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 I-Heart 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 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 Slica Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Life is full of hurdles. So how do you keep going? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we're talking with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness from professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions about the challenges that shape them and the mindset that keeps them moving forward. At our level, at this scale, being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hardway with your favorite therapist and host, Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you're not to be played with.

And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen and learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on. A Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman. Multi-million dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me?

Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome, everyone. It is the local Toyota dealer's KSR postgame show. How about that one? We're going to approach record numbers tonight as Kentucky beats Duke for the first time since 2015, 78, 74 in the Champions Classic. in Atlanta and it is an absolutely awesome night. I've been sitting here watching sort of online and getting messages and it's like it's the best of BBN tonight.

This fan base that is so excited and so refreshed and so into it comes out and gets the win that it deserves with a massive victory in Atlanta. We're going to get you ready. We're going to open up the phones here in just a minute. But I just want to take a second just to think about what we saw. in Atlanta. A huge win against a very, very talented Duke team. They are, that is an excellent young team of guys that play, that have unlimited potential. But this Kentucky team that we've been waiting all year to go, okay, we know they're good,

but how good are they? Well, tonight you saw them beat as talented a team as there is in the country. Matt, we've got a special guest on the line. Well, I'll just go right in. For the first time ever on the KSR post. game show. We are joined by Mark Pope. Mark is on the team bus on the way to the plane. Mark, how excited are you right now? Well, guys, man, we're excited. We're just enjoying this process of growing together as a team and it was a great menu and BBN showed out in massive ways. It made it feel like a home game and so special night for us. Let's keep going. I've always believed that the best of Big Blue Nation is when you actually get out on the road,

especially in like Nashville and Atlanta, where it's close enough that people can drive. Did you feel that tonight? Yeah, you guys, I have, I mean, I'm talking about 30 years ago, but I have such incredible memories of games in the George Dome. I mean, this is Catlanta to me. Like, it's always been Catalan. It just is, and it certainly excelled that way again tonight.

It's a really special city. I think our, I think, BVN, I said, There's a beautiful presence here, not just traveling, but also living here. And it's a special city. It's very much a second home for all of all BBA. You, listen, you're one of us. You know what this means. You know what, I mean, you know what Duke is to this group going back all the way to 92,

hadn't beaten them in 10 years. Also, just, they've had a lot of games like this we've lost in the last however many years. What do you feel for the fan base in this? and getting this victory. Well, I love it. You guys know I just love this place so much. I love the history of Kentucky. So actually, we, you know, on Sunday night,

we met as a team to kind of do our first breakdown. No, I'm sorry, it was early Sunday morning, I guess. We meant to do our first breakdown of this game after the Bucknell game. And we started with a little bit of a hype video and just gave our guys context. So the beginning of the video was actually a bunch of, Jack Givens highlight about his national championship against Duke. And then we kind of went through, you know, of course,

the spectrum was Christian Laytoner, and then the comeback cast, Master's Championship, in 98, and just gave our guys a sense of the context that they were walking into in this game. So our guys were very, very aware of what this means, how fun this matchup is. It's special. This is special for Kentucky, man. We all feel the same way.

And I'm hoping that everybody in BB has going to bed with a smile on our face tonight. Well, I want to say something to you about that because, you know, sometimes you're there and you're with the fans there. But I was in Lexington. Mark, I saw more blue today than I've seen in a decade for regular season games. My restaurant was full to the max on a Tuesday night of people. I don't know if you've heard. they're doing the street parties on State Street Tonight and this is a November game

but like I know you're kind of happy that we're this happy That is actually Man that's actually the best part of the whole thing right It's the best part Just just walk around the arena afterwards And just getting that kind of wave It everybody that was there and just knowing that Everybody in our you know this beautiful

Big Blue nation is feeling great That's the whole point right hopefully everybody's got a little memory they can put in their pocket now just like you know that was you know third game it's only a third game in the season but it's a it's a it's a great winning it's a terrific team and in a huge setting and that's our job and the guys that the guys are guys were terrific tonight give me one quick basketball point you know i i watched in the first half you're having trouble guarding the ball screen there was some stagnant parts of of the offense you came out in the second half to me like guarded the ball screens differently.

You saw, you had guys like Carr, and Oway step up and Garrison. Tell me just from a basketball standpoint what you thought changed. Yeah, so for me, I probably should have got a little more aggressive in the first half. But you're just collecting data, right? You get kind of a couple data points. You're not sure if adjustments are needed or if it's just anomalous. But, you know, we just got polarized in transition, isolation, and ball screens. We're both of those.

We're close to a worse than a 1.5 per multiple possession defensively at half-time. So we just knew we had to take shots of being more aggressive. So we tried to bunch of stuff. We tried to kind of tandem eagle, which is a zone that we play, trying to scourge a high ball screen. We tried the blitz. We were in a blitz a few times, and surprisingly, it didn't hurt us. You know, we were concerned about it because they're so good once they get into a power play. and they shot the ball so well.

But we blitzed four or five times throughout the course of the time. It was good. And then we switched a lot more. We started switching one to five and even down weak switches. So we kind of went to a bunch of things in our bag. And maybe it was good fortune. Maybe it was the changes. Maybe it was fatigue.

You know, maybe as our guys getting used to matchups. But clearly we have way more success guarding them in the second half in the first half. We were really disappointed with our defense better than the first half. and the guys came in response really well. I'll leave you with this. You know, we probably have, I'm sitting here looking, we may have more people listening to this post-game show at 1 o'clock in the morning than we've had for a regular season game,

maybe since I've been doing it. I mean, you have to go to March to see numbers like this. What's your message to this fan base that's all staying up in the middle of the night to hear you? Man, listen, to every single person at BBN, I just hope everybody feels how much we love them and how much we feel like is the community deal.

This is us. This is us. It's not about me. It's not about our players. It's about Kentucky that will never change as long as I'm here, as long as you guys on this team are here because we feel it. And so, man, be safe, celebrate like crazy. The best thing I heard I got on the bus today,

I'm going to throw Kurt Chris under the bus. So we got on the bus tonight. And all of a sudden, Kurt Chris, he yells at the back. He's like, I'm going to class tomorrow. I'll be a class person. He had some great interviews after he had some great interviews after it was over too. Mark, I'm happy for you, but I'm also happy for this fan base. I hope your team isn't enjoying it as much as we are and we will talk to you soon.

I guess. Appreciate y'all. There you go. Mark Pope. Thanks to him for calling in and coming on. That's a special night. It is. And you heard him say, I can't tell you how much I loved hearing him say.

I did not know that they showed the 1970. 1998, 1992, and 1998 tape, so that the players could get an understanding of what this means. And I'm going to give you my summary of the game, but to me it's almost more than actually winning the game and breaking it down. It's just the feeling in the fan base. But for me, I would summarize it like this. This is the last seven or eight years of the Champions Classic, but reversed. Right. They were the young team that we were, the last seven.

or eight years. Really talented, guys making plays, maybe even getting an early lead. And we were the team that the last few years has beat us. More veterans kind of making it out-coaching down the stretch, making plays, making decisions, and then being tougher at the end. It's like the reverse of what the last few years. We talked about that going into the game, that in some ways, this Kentucky team is like the Kansas and Duke teams we've played some the last few years and this Duke team was like us the last six or seven and the results were similar. I have to tell you, watching even early when we got the lead, I kind of thought, I don't know if we're going to win this game. I mean, it felt like our baskets when we scored, it was hard.

When they scored, it was easy. They were really having their way with our defense. We hit our, we went five for five from three to start. I kind of thought, well, they're not going to I'm able to keep that up the whole time. And I don't know that we ever got easy baskets the entire game, but that's almost what makes it more gratifying. We don't really have a player on this team who can just clear a guy out, at least an elite defender, because I think Duke is a really, really good defensive team. We don't have guys who can just clear people out and take it to the basket and get an

easy basket. We really don't have that, which means every basket has to really be earned. and it was. I mean, you got guys like Andrew Carr taking it, the huge and one down the stretch that gave us the lead. You got guys like, Oway, Butler getting the steel. I thought Garrison was huge. And when he hit that, I think it ended up a two,

but I thought it was a three when he took it. Also, he got a cut to the basket and a pass and a layup. I mean, Kerr, Kreisa hits a big three at a time we needed it. I thought Duke had a number of times in the game that they had shot that if they had hit, I think we might have not been able to win, but they missed. We got some big rebounds after early on. I thought we struggled a little bit on the glass. We got some big boards down the stretch.

Little guys, Kobe Brea, who is not necessarily known as a rebounder, got a big rebound. How about the pass on the inbounds play? I assumed it was a set play. Pope said it's a read. Well, that's a gutsy pass by Brea to make on a read, and he throws it like Mahomes, right? right in Butler's hands away with the rebound on the free throw. I mean, pretty much every guy on the team had a massive play at some point. The only guy that really didn't play well was Jackson Robinson.

And while I do hope we get to, because I think he's got to be the guy who gets you buckets at the end of the game. So, I mean, you know, there's a little concerned. Like, I want to see him have that happen in a game. But at the same time, it's very encouraging that. on paper your best player has one point and you beat the number six team in the country in Duke. That's unbelievably encouraging. I'm just happy for this fan base. You know, the last few years, really post-COVID, I think have been really hard on this fan base. It's been divided. It's been

split. It's been, you know, it's just been stressful. The games weren't as fun. it just didn't feel like it felt here for so many years. You know, I've been a fan my entire life, but I've been doing this the way I've been doing it now since like 05. And even during the negative years, it always felt like the Big Blue Nation was rowing down the same path. And it didn't really feel like that the last couple of years. But it feels like it tonight.

I mean, I said that to Mark. The town today in Lexington, there was blue everywhere on a Tuesday. I had more people come up to me. I always joke that like when I go out, people only ask me how I think Kentucky's going to do. And sometimes I'm like, well, can you ask me anything else? But today I loved it. Everywhere I went. And I, because I was around a lot today.

Everybody's like, are we going to win? We're going to win? Are you excited about the game? Excited about the game? The bar was full and rowdy. Rowdy in a way that it really hasn't been for basketball since we opened. It was tonight. Ryan Lemon, Billy, took his shirt off tonight.

That's what you're talking about. And then the arena in Atlanta looked awesome. I'm sure some of you that Cal will have been there and can talk about it, it looked awesome. I think the fans that go to the SEC tournament and in Atlanta, that's the best of Big Blue Nation. They were loud. Playing Duke brings it out. you know, we're irrational about Duke. Tennessee and Louisville are our rivals, but we have like this irrational thing about Duke thanks to Christian Leitner, and we got to win. Only the fourth time we've

beaten them in 60 years. Wow. 60 years. This is the fourth time we've beaten them, and two of them were 78-98 title years. So this joins Jamal Murray as the only time we've beaten them in the regular season since the 60s. We also, by the way, we're up 12, 11 all time going into the night. If we lost, they would have evened the series, but we stay up 13 and 11. So we stay up all time on it. But more importantly to me, we get this win. We came in thinking this Kentucky team was good.

But we didn't really know. We didn't know these guys. We had no basis to compare. there's no stars next to their name. We didn't really watch most of these guys play at their other schools. Well, tonight we know. This team is good. Big Blue Nation is back.

This is going to be a fun season. And no matter what happens over these next few weeks, next few games, the non-conference, this is a signature win that will look huge on our resume. And let's be real, this is a game we've lost for a decade. now we've won it. And I couldn't be more happy for Mark. He gets it. He is smart, but he also cares about this place.

And there's no saying like, oh, don't get too excited. Oh, don't be to whatever. He said, I'm happiest because of how happy this makes everybody else. That is what you want to hear. And that's what makes me happy. If I say how giddy, I am giddy. I was excited. I was nervous about this game.

Billy, I was pacing. I haven't paced in a game that wasn't an NCAA tournament game since, I don't know, maybe Fox Monk. What'd you do? So you left the bar? You just couldn't take all the time? Well, I left the bar. I left at halftime. And I went home and I was like, well, you know, because I didn't really, I didn't think we were going to win.

Went home. I was like, I'll get ready. I kind of wish I'd stay. But you know what? Then it's one of those things they start coming back. And you're like, well, maybe I was bad luck. You know. Yeah.

So I watched the second half here just pacing back and forth in my house. You know, I have a hurt wrist. And I was clapping so hard. I think I didn't help my wrist healing, but I don't care. Worth it. It was worth it. All right. We'll open up the phones.

859-280, 2287. I'm sure many of you are as happy as I am. We'll take as many calls as we can. I know this is what tomorrow will be like on the morning show as well. We'll take a break. Thanks to Mark for coming on. This is the local Toyota dealers, KSR, post-game show. Welcome back. It is the local toy dealers KSR post game show. Nice to have Mark call in.

So exciting. All right. I've talked a lot. I'll have a lot of time to talk tomorrow. Let's get to you guys. Phone lines. It's 1 a.m. There are tens of thousands of people listening to this. So let's just go. Who's up first? Let's start with Edward. Edward. Edward. What's up, Edward? Hey, Matt. How are you, brother? Doing great. Good, good to hear. Hey, listen, I had no idea when you guys were going to open up the phones. I dialed 210 times worth every single dial. Good. Two hundred-tenth time is a charm. Wow.

Love, Matt. I got two quick things. I want other people to get on. I'm sitting here with my UK pajama pants on, with my UK pillow pet, if you remember those. I'm 23 years old, feeling like I'm 10 again. This is what we've been waiting for. I am ecstatic. Two keys to the game that we don't win without Otega and Andrew. Just whether it was big plays and consistency, they held it down. They delivered every single time we needed them in the stretch, even when stuff got tight, props to them and the other guys as well.

Second thing, which was extra sweet, I think Pope saw at halftime that Duke was really leaning on their freshman. I don't really know the one shooter kid's name, so I called a nipple. I didn't really know how to say the full name. It's something like that. I think that's what it is, yeah. Well, there's like something before that. And then he leaned on pooper flags, who, you know, as advertised, but it turned the ball over. And that is something we would have seen on the opposite end from a Kentucky team going back.

Leaning on freshman against experience. We came out on top this time. We did it. Caleb Wilson, get your bags packed, buddy. You're coming back. He seemed pretty happy. He said, appreciate the call. Good stuff.

He seemed pretty happy on his social media post. I think you hit the two guys. I mean, car, no way. are the huge parts to me. You know, we knew there was more from car offensively than we had seen in the two exhibitions in the early games, and he had it. He didn't look scared. He made, I thought his hand won plays the biggest play of the game.

And then O'Way, of course, getting his hand in there and getting the steel on the first of the two flag turnovers. You know, Carr, they picked on Carr a lot at the beginning of the game. Those first four or five minutes, he kind of got isolated a lot on defense. but he kept fighting, played better in the second half. I mean, he wasn't able to stop flag, but he made him work for it. And he stayed in front of him on that last play where Oway reached his hand in. That was, you know, Carr stayed in front of him, which allowed O'A to come over and get the steel.

So I thought, those to me are the two stars of the game. Also, you know, Brandon Garrison with that little run. But just overall, you won this game, in my opinion, because of those. two guys. But really, and I'm not trying to pick on Jackson Robinson on this because, you know, he's going to have games where he's huge. But they, the other eight guys all made key contributions. You don't win without any of the other eight guys because they all did something that was key to win in that game. And Pope even said there were things we didn't see that Jackson did too, and I trust his judgment over mine. Who's up next? Yeah, you mentioned it. Cooper Flagg had two

turnovers in the final 30 seconds. Boy, was that sweet. Yeah. And look, I mean, I'm, I'm, you know, give a Duke fans a hard time, but that he's awesome. I mean, he's awesome. He's 17 years old. You know, I mean, he's 17 years old. He's awesome. Now, I think Duke's the starting five is really talented. I don't think they have much of a bench, which may be a problem for him during the year, but their starting five is good. We, you know, their big guy stayed cramped a lot in the second half so he wasn't in there a lot but they're starting five that's a good team who's next Alex Alex go ahead Alex hey Matt I want to tell you why I'm so excited about this team I mean not only did we beat the most talented Duke team since 2001 according to Jay Williams on the halftime show

but we well by the way I don't think that's crazy I don't think that's a crazy statement by the way if you're just talking raw talent they've got four first round picks and maybe three top 10 picks So like everybody's making fun of him for that. I don't think he was saying this team is as good. But they are talented. And they are good defensively. I mean, I'm not a Duke. I'm not trying to sing Duke's praises.

But I don't think Jay was crazy with that statement. But go ahead. Yeah, no, I was just going to say, I honestly, I thought, you know, we won in a style of play that I did not imagine going into the game, you know, would be very effective for us. I think Duke essentially took away the three-point shot from us in the second half. We only made, I think, one three-hand. in the last 12 and a half minutes of the game.

We were down six times. Oh, is that right? We only made one three in the last 12 minutes. Wow, I didn't realize that. You know, we won a, it was just to grind it out inside the arc game. And, you know, arguably our best player, as you mentioned, was a non-factor. So I just, I couldn't be, you know, more impressed with how the team fought back tonight. And, hey, we actually close it out at the end.

So you got to love that. I love it. I mean, I appreciate, I appreciate the call. It did feel like we've lost a version of this game. a lot over the years. And we won this one. And I don't think we had more than a handful of easy baskets. I feel like they worked and clawed for every single one of those points.

Just right now on the ESPN, they're showing the end. You know, the shot flag hit, the AN1 to go up 70, 69 was a great shot. But then to come back, Carr gets his AN1. that that's just a huge play you just had the number one picking the draft come take you and and get an N1 to take the lead and then you come back and do it back to him that's just that's a gutsy play andrew car man you know he'd been the one guy that people were like I don't know well he showed tonight why he's so important and effective who's next Lee Lee go ahead Lee Hey, man, I'm like you.

I was pacing the floor, and I was even sneaking, turn the radio on to get a quicker updates of what was happening on the TV the last minute. That's funny. You wanted to have a head start. There you go. And that first caller is 23. I'm 69 right now, and when I was 23 years old, I was sitting on a second row in the national championship game against Duke, and I saw Cal Macy.

a pass to giving that was just like that pass that was only the last seconds of the game tonight. And man, it just, I just sat there and said, it's good to have a game coach again at the University of Kentucky, you know, out there doing this stuff. A couple of things, and I shut up. Okay, before you, on that point, let me just say, if you go back and listen to what Mark said about adjustments to Tom, and then even what he said to me, you're exactly right. This is a smart dude who makes in-game adjustments, and it is fun to see it. It's no coincidence.

And a couple of things that I'm going to hang up, and I'm just glad to be up. We got great big Valentine's on this team, and that's going to go a long way. They play hard, and they've got good hearts. And the Duke team seem really exhausted that last five. I'm glad you said that. I'm glad you said that. I do think we warm down. I think we warmed our depth, because, you know, they really only play.

six guys and one of them was hurt a lot, or, you know, cramped in the second half. Our depth really showed itself, because I agree with you, I think they were tired at the end. And we didn't miss much when we put it in our second five is don't man. And we outscored them 40 to 26 in that second half. And you could just see their legs, Duke's legs gone that last 10 minutes, five minutes of the game. But I tell you what, that car is a stud. He is a stud, and we're lucky to have him. And, yeah, nobody's overlooking this team anymore.

Go cats. And Pope is our hope, and he shall prove the nation tonight, what kind of team we got. And, man, is that unbelievable and not having a player on that team last year? What he's already done. No, it's amazing. To bring a team who could win that game, I appreciate the call. I mean, literally, look, this is, Duke's got three top ten picks. And we have no first round picks.

I think that's fair to say. And but we want. And that's, it's just, it's just fun. And it's, it's what Kentucky fans want. It's, it is what they want. There's such happiness around this, this group and felt like they had to earn it. By the way, we bench points, we outscored in bench points, Duke, what is it, 29 to 6. 25.

25? Why you got to correct me? Can we just say 209? We just want to get it right for all the thousands of people listening. Okay, well, 29. Who's next? Skyler. Skyler.

Go ahead, Skyler. Hey, this is Brent. I'm calling in. Shout out to Skylar Dean Davis. Hey, this call is for all you basketball bennies out there who have been berated and belittled for so many years. This is what it looks like to believe in a great. of young men, pull them together, unify them, to give them a shot to wear a jersey that they

never thought they could wear and to see what they could do together. I was so happy for Mark Pope. And all Mark Pope did on the postgame interviews is deflect to what a blessing it was to be a part of the BBN and what a blessing it was to coach those guys. I have sat with my two sons for the past eight years and tried to talk to them about team while listening to some of the rhetoric of our coach over the past couple years trying to get behind him. And it is so refreshing to see a humble man who leads well, who believes in his kids. And we're sitting out here in California right now. Shout out to everybody who knows who this is.

And we are elated at watching team basketball again. And Matt, I just want to – Billy, shout out to you, man. You're great. And I just appreciate you guys doing this. We're staying up late out here too, listening to you. Well, thank you very much. I appreciate the call. Yeah, it, you know, it was charming at first, the basketball mini stuff.

But there was a part of it that was like, you know, a little bit like, don't question us. Well, this is what this fan base likes being talked to where Mark explains everything, right? Like where he explains what's going on and we see it. This group, you know, we'll see. This is a long year. Who knows what it'll be like at the end? but this group has the potential to be special for UK fans in the way that first group with Rick was because there is a sense of this team's more talented than Rick's first team,

but there is a sense of like what Mark said, none of these guys thought ever dreamed they could be here. And that's probably true. I don't think there's one person on this roster except maybe Gary. just because of where he was recruited, who probably at any point in their high school or college career thought they would play here amongst the guys that are playing. And there's something kind of cool about getting to see them do it and have success. Because in the future, we're going to have guys of a different high school pedigree so that

they did think it. But this one, they didn't. and it makes it kind of extra special watching them get to do it. Who's next? Pat. Pat. What's up, Pat? Pat.

He's still there. Do you meet your phone, Pat? All right. Put Pat on hold. We'll give him another chance. Who's next? Joe's next. Joe, go ahead, Joe.

Thanks a lot, Matt. I'll give Mark Pope a lot of credit. Jackson Robinson was having an off game, Matt. But that score was tied, and he threw that ball. Our team did to Jacksonville. action and I thought that ball was going in. God loved the young man. He had at least he had Gus to take the shot.

It did not go in. But that told me. No, I'm glad he took that shot. He was open. He needed to take it. It would have given us the lead. He missed it. But he needed to take that shot.

He missed it, but he at least did. Because I was worried in the first half, Joe, he looked nervous and scared to me. And I was glad to see him take that shot, even if he missed it, because if he passed it up, that wouldn't have been a great sign. and hopefully the recruiting will pick up. Lord knows, Matt, we're going to need a few players.

I know we go to the transfer portal, but if we could get the Wilson kid, that would help a whole lot. And my last thing I'll get off, we got a big game for the ladies on Friday. Well, I was getting ready to say something bad against the Louisville, but I'm not going to do it. We need Coach Brooks to get.

Yes, we do. We'll talk about the Louisville game. We got plenty of time because that Louisville Women's Games Friday, and I think that's, we need to make that a special, atmosphere as well. I appreciate it, Joe. Who's next? 859-2-80-22-87.

Moose. Moose. Go ahead, Moose. Hey, Matt. My dad's been calling it a local sports show since I was a kid, so I figured I'd be the first time, long time. The thing about tonight was

when Jacks got the foul on a three and he went one or three at the line, and then down the court a couple of plays later, we filed him a three. He went three for three. I was like, oh, no, here we go again. The players were resilient.

We went to halftime, and I knew the coaching was going to be all about Pope. Because I thought Shire was a player, then coach. But Pope was a player, then coach, coach, and then had a head coach opportunity. And I texted my dad, he said, these players are fighting. And I was like, I think these guys are going to pull it off. Yeah. Well, I will say I didn't really know that we ever would. But, you know, I think we were down, what, six maybe with seven minutes to go.

And they had a couple, they had three open looks to go up eight or nine, including two back-to-back open threes. They kept getting offensive rebounds. And they missed them all. And then we came down and got back-to-back buckets and cut it to two. and then we were right there. So, you know, I'm impressed. I appreciate the call with the halftime adjustments, especially defensively.

I mean, they were just, you heard him. I mean, he said I probably should have adjusted quicker in the first half. Well, he adjusted in the second half because they started coming out on the ball screens. They started pressuring up top. They didn't. In the first half, they were kind of sagging off going under. Seth Greenberg pointed that out at halftime. You can't do that against guys that are this talented.

If you go under on Uber talented guys, you're cooked, especially somebody like Flag and Knieple. But in the second half, they played it differently. Duke didn't adjust. Duke was not able to adjust to our adjustments, and they were able to have the success. Who's up next? Let's give Pat one more try. Pat, what's up, Pat? you there?

Yes, go ahead. Can you hear? All right, here you go. Awesome win. They got a lot of versatility. I call it H-T-G, hard to guard. I was in a bar and a guy told me, what do you think? I said, he'll make adjustments at halftime.

They'll be fine. Heck of a job. And the thing about it is, we beat them, and our best player had one point. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I mean, that's, you know, if we had lost, it was going to go, I was going to say, oh, no, you know, another close loss. But we should be positive because we didn't get anything out of Jackson-Robson. We won and didn't get anything out of it, you know. And we shot well, we shot well from three.

We shot well from three, but we didn't shoot crazy. We shot 40% from three. We hit 10 threes. That's probably low. I would have thought we needed to hit 13 or 14. We got out rebounded only by four, but at one point, Duke's rebound advantage was 12. So, I mean, I think there's still a lot of – now, granted, they shot four for 23 from three. They're not going to do that a lot, but we took advantage of our opportunity and won.

Yeah, very seldom, are you going to hold him under 10? No, no, I agree with that. I appreciate the call. He was off, and he was kind of timid. I mean, he only took four shots, Jackson Rob. but, you know, we want. And hopefully it'll be a good learning adjustment for him going forward. I will say, Billy, the only thing I saw tonight that I'm okay with us doing less of is having

Amari Williams initiate the offense at the top of the key. Yeah. Like there was too much. Like I get that they're going to have him out there and that he does handoffs and he's a good passer. But there was too much of him just like clear it out and dribbling. Now, he did have 10 points in eight boards, and I thought I actually had a couple big buckets, but there was also too much going to the basket.

And then Garrison came in and provided a spark in relief. Let's take a break. 859-280-2287. Cats get a big win. We'll take your calls. We'll go to at least two. Billy always kicks me off at two because what happens at two? Like something happens.

Our day changes in the logs and it deletes. Stupid days. logs. We'll take a break of a beer back because KSR. Welcome back. It is the local toy dealers KSR postgame show. 859-28027. Since Billy's kicking us off at two, I don't want to waste time. Who's up next? All right. Let's go to Jake. Jake, how are you, Jake? Jake. All right. We'll try him later. Brad. Brad. Go ahead, Brad.

Hey, I'm partying down here in Allen County. I just got to say, Cooper Flagg, if you're listening, you poop your pants the whole way home back to North Carolina and Jay Billis I hope you never get another ice cream cone at Rupp Arena and I'm just so proud to be a cat fan and I'm gonna stay up all night and party maybe even have a bonfire see you go I like it you know what I said this this morning and then actually Drew said it this morning then I said it on social media after we're going to be so obnoxious Billy the BBN over the next few weeks like we are But, you know, that's us at our best. I have hanging in my house in Louisville, an article that the New York Times did in 2015 at the final four.

Maybe it was 2012. It was one of those two years. And it said the headline is something like true to itself, BBN toots its own horn or something like that. And it really means a lot to me because it quotes Oscar Combs and me talking about Big Blue Nation. but the point of the article is we're the loudest fan base in college basketball and it's not even close well that's true but it's been kind of difficult in the last few years it ain't'll be difficult right now who's next leslie leslie go ahead leslie hey hey hey were you laughing at how subdued mark seemed to be on the call for mr hype when he called in he seemed so subdued i was a little surprised by that well it's weird he's like you're like half subdued and half cerebral, or excuse me, half like crazy excited kid and half cerebral. You know what I mean? And I think we saw the cerebral side tonight. Well, I will say that he is the master. I will call him the doctor. I know Dr. Jay wasn't

really a doctor yet he was called the doctor. So I'm calling Pope. He was close to a doctor, Pope. Because he was three years. He's got three years. He was close. three years at Columbia. Not just. Yeah. Not, not. And then he dissected Duke's defense and he stitched together the perfect remedy. So he is literally so perfect.

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. But the one thing I'm looking forward to is I can't wait to see the video of the lady from Cynthia running naked and a holler. Oh, yeah. We got some videos coming. That's right. And I got to tell you, I'm going to say this tomorrow. I appreciate the call.

The woman in Cynthia. who said she was going to go naked in the hauler, you know, and you got to send it to us in a way that I can use it. I can't put like. Oh, you want the video. Okay. Well, yeah. I mean, it does.

Like, we don't have to see things. Like you can do, you know, Billy, like you, you do tastefully nude sometimes. Oh, I do. Yes, that's kind of what we're talking here. But like, if you're going to be naked in the holler, you got to be naked in the hall. Yeah, I don't, I don't send out my tasteful nude times. That's what I've heard. Who's next?

BT. BT. Hello, BT. Hey, man. What's going on, man? How are you doing? Doing good. Man, I'm doing great as well.

I got a couple quick points for you, man. So just to sum it up, you know, I'm 24. So this is probably what the second time of my lifetime I've seen us be Duke. It is an amazing feeling, man. It's absolutely awesome. Yeah, that's true. You've only seen it twice. That's right, because you weren't alive for 98.

but you also don't have the pain of the 92 game. So it's kind of a, it's a watch. Oh, don't worry, Matt. I've seen it. My dad had it on VHS and I watched it when I was like five years old. I know all the pain, man. I get it. But I got another point, too, dude.

Yes. Yeah, so I'm a big WWU fan. And I'm looking on Twitter and I'm looking on Instagram. People are saying, oh, the Pope era begins. But I think this is also the attitude era of Kentucky basketball. there were plenty of times in this game where we could have given up and I think other teams in the past would have given up but we fought hard and we were strong and we were physical

and we did not give them anything. I mean, I think it shows so much about our team and about our coaching that, you know, while it looks down and, you know, we gave them the entire paint in the first half. No, they got some great players on that team, but we did not give up. and I think it means so much to just where we are right now as a team.

Totally agree with you. I think they give, I didn't expect this team would give up, but I think there were a bunch of times, I appreciate the call, that there were moments that I thought it was going to get away from us. You know, the lead, I don't think it ever got to 10. It may have once, but it was mostly hovered at 9, and I think we got to 9, three different times where then we hit a,

three to cut it to six. And that was a big difference. And, you know, we won ugly. We've talked so much about how Mark Pope basketball is fun to watch and pretty. This wasn't really pretty. This was gutsy. And the caller's right. I think at one

point Duke was up like 28 to six in points in the paint. But in the second half, I don't know what it ended up. But we made that a lot closer because we started getting easier baskets and getting to the rim ourselves. Who's next? Wade.

Wade. How are you, Wade? I'm good. How are you? Good. I've got two things for you real quick. I want to touch on one thing you said in the first segment. You talked about how hard it's been the last few years for Kentucky fans just with how basketball is gone. I really resonated with that because in 2020s when I married my wife and I've been trying to show her the joy of Kentucky basketball. But all she's been able to have is heartbreak and frustration.

disappointment. And I've just been trying so hard to give her something to hold on to. And I know that this game is only the third game of the season, but it just feels so much more than that. I totally agree with that. I like that word joy because there hasn't been a lot of joy in the last few years. You know, there have been moments that were good. You know, I think of the win at Kansas that one year. the win at Tennessee a couple times I think we won there in games we didn't think we would but it just there hasn't there just hasn't been a lot of of joy this is like joy you know this is a joy this is the fun part of being a fan and you know it has it has been a while since we've had that and it's been honestly a long time since we've had it in the regular season we

just we just have not won these especially non-conference games a lot that have been like this, and it's awesome to get won. Yeah, it is. It's huge, and I've been able to celebrate with my wife and my daughter. My other thing is, I just, in the last few years, I've always gotten this feeling when we're on the verge of a loss, just this gut feeling. I feel like I had that in the first half, and I don't know if that's just me conditioned to feel like, oh, we are outclassed.

We're not going to be able to win this game. not as talented. And I guess I just have to recondition myself to. No, I do. We do have to re-condition ourselves. Yes. Because we want, we're not as talented as that. I mean, we're not. Like, they've got more talent than us. If I'm a Duke fan, I'm still optimistic about the year. They're good. And I had that same feeling of, well, we're just not as good these guys. And in the last few years when I didn't think we were as good, I just assumed we were getting beat. I don't think we can assume that this year. I appreciate the call.

I think we're like the teams, like it's, again, it's like a reversal. We're like a team, I don't know what the example of an example of an SEC team that's given us problems. Well, I mean, Tennessee in the last couple years has been really talented. But the first six, five to seven years of the Rick Barnes era, we worked. more talented than them every year and they usually beat us at least once and i think there was a sense probably of tennessee fans that yeah you all may have better players but we're going to beat you i think that's not something we're used to at kentucky is that feeling but we may have that some this

year where yeah okay you all have more talent but we have you know eight gritty seniors and mark pope that's that's just that's not something we've had in a long long time i mean you probably have to go back to like the tubby era to find times that it has felt like that uh and it does right now maybe you know oh three oh four oh five era of kentucky who's next cat daddy cat daddy how are you hey i'm great it's a wonderful night i just want to call in and say i'm really excited about our Unita roster. And when I say that, we have a roster of kids who have been told, you could be in the NBA except you need a jump shot.

You could be in the NBA except you need to be more physical. You could be in the NBA except you need to be able to handle the ball better. And Coach Pope has went out and got a roster of kids that says, you need to prove you can do this. And I think that they went out tonight and took the first step and proven that I can do those things. And you need to watch us for the rest of the year because we're going to try and do those things. I like it. Appreciate the call.

Nobody on this team is like perfect. Every player on the team has like, what's interesting, they all kind of have a glaring weakness, but Pope is able to scheme around it and make it work. And that's what what coaches do, right? Like all these guys have things you can exploit or things that they're not great at, but like they work around it and play to their player's strengths. You know, that's what you're supposed to do. And I don't know. I think it's funny. There's never been a Kentucky team. where the fans knew less about them before this started than this one. But I just have a feeling this is going to be a team that, like,

people look back on really, really fondly because, you know, we're going to, we know them now. I can tell you this, after tonight, everybody knows who those guys are. I hope those guys are else when they get back to Lexington. They're a lot more famous than when they left. Oh, yeah. Who's next? Hunter.

Hunter. What's up, Hunter? I'm grateful, Matt. This is, I'm going to be completely honest. I turned the game off at half time because I thought, you know, our offense is getting shut down. We weren't going to be able to do anything. I went and go play church basketball. I came back to check this score.

And I'm, I said to profanic words in the Lord's house. I got some repenting to do on Sunday. That's 100% sure. But just that, I had the Cal PTSD. And I feel like a lot of the fans have had it. It's like when we couldn't score an offense in that beginning half, I was like, we're not going to be able to change. because that's what we've been conditioned to do the last four or five years. And it's so relieving to look back and watch that second half and watch that adjustment

and watch us crawl back when most people have counted us out. And I am just so grateful. I am bought in as ever in the last six years of being a fan. And I'm so excited for what this season holds. Go cats. Love you guys. Appreciate the call. Totally agree with all that.

You know, we didn't win guys. games like this in the last decade. We just didn't. I mean, we just did, we would have lost this game by, well, we wouldn't have won if this had been a different year. But we adjusted. And I don't even necessarily think we played particularly well. Like, we beat the number six team in the country with three of the top eight picks.

And I don't even know that we played all that great. That's also pretty positive. 859-2-80-2-87. Let's take a break. We'll take our final segment. Billy, so the computer doesn't explode. Let's go to commercial. We'll take your calls.

Be right back. It's a local toy dealers, KSR post-game show. Welcome back, final segment. Local Toy Dealer's KS-Var post-game show. Great night in Lexington. Great night in Atlanta. Have we heard from somebody yet who was at the game? Oh, yeah, one person said they were at the game.

859-280-2287. We'll be back in the bar tomorrow. I got some good news, Billy. Oh, what's that? Guess who's going to be in the bar with us on Thursday? Who? Doran Lamb and Marcus Teague. Oh, yes.

Well, happy for Drew. Better have the dump button on. But Doran Lamb and Marcus Teague in, not in studio at KS Bar Thursday morning for the KSR show. That should be a lot of fun with those two guys. I know Drew especially will be very excited. Who's up next? Brody. Brody.

How are you Brody? Hey, what's up, Matt? I appreciate you taking my call. What's going on? I was thinking that I feel like over the past 10 years, I've been conditioned to think that a basketball team that will win comes off of extreme athleticism, a team that will just overwhelm you with talent. And my goodness.

tonight it's fun to see a team that is a bit deprived of those things that will fight and win off of just execution and making a jump shot it's a refresh a breath of fresh air for sure i agree with you i mean we in most years when if you go back and you look if we found out in the early games that the team wasn't as talented as we hoped it was kind of a bad sign for the year. You know what I mean? It was it. It never felt like we were going to overcome our talent level. I don't feel like that this year. I don't think this team is super talented, but I do think they are super like smart and play hard and fit well together. And that is it, and that's exciting. And those, and to see those things with the Cal teams were,

that was extremely exciting too. I mean, I've gotten behind a bunch of those teams. Yeah, for sure. I'm a cow believer. But it's super exciting to see this from this team at this point. And shout out to Coach Pope and Coach Figer. Like those guys are killing it right now. Yeah, you're exactly right. I appreciate the call. It was exciting in a different way.

It was like, oh, what's going to happen next? What are they going to do? You know, this is just different. It reminds me, it actually reminds me of the tubby teams in the sense of when tubby was at his best it felt like the hole was greater than the sum of the parts and i kind of feel like that's what this is like uh as well who's next gregg gregg go ahead Greg matt i just want to say man i'm so grateful i was uh a senior in college when uh kentucky won in 2012. And that's not even what I'm calling about. I just want to say, this is a shout out to my dad

who's in the cardiac unit because he's the one who adopted me and took me to Kentucky in 1998, made me a Kentucky fan, and he told me tonight, cats are going to win, cats are going all the way. Love you guys. Thank you so much. Thank you. Prayers for your dad. If you're in the cardiac unit, listening now or on podcast. We're thinking about you and got this win for you. Let's see. I would do time. What time do we have to be out?

It's 151. We had to be at what time? 58. 57-58-ish. 57-58. All right. Let's just go until 57-58. Who's next?

Dave. Dave. Dave, go ahead, Dave. Hi, Matt. I live in California. I grew up in Lexington. I had to sell Cokes to get into the game. My dad was an husher.

And at 17, we moved to California, but I've been a Kentucky fan. Very, very serious Kentucky fan my whole life. My retirement dream was to get to go back to Kentucky during basketball season. And the last two years, we've gone back for a month, and it's been like being in heaven. I mean, I loved, loved the feeling. I had hope every year. I had hope and I got to see Oscar. Shebae play.

I got to see last year's fabulous team played. My bubble was burst, but, you know, the journey is what it's all about for me. And I want to remind you, in 1966, everybody remembers the Kentucky, Texas Western game. Yeah, but we beat Duke in the semifinals. Yeah. That was the big game, Kentucky Duke. And ever since watching that in black and white on my TV set, every Kentucky Duke game is huge.

And I just absolutely loved it tonight. It's a real treat. My wife and I do a bourbon and Coke toast after every game to salute the best players. Let me ask you two questions. Let me ask you two quick questions. Number one, are you going to get to come for a month this year? I definitely am. We're going to go to the bandy games down there.

Good. And number two, how? How many coax did you have to sell to get into a Kentucky game? Well, you just, you had to sell coax for the first half. And then if you had sold enough racks, you could go sit down. Is that right? Oh, wait a minute. So you would sell, hang on, you would sell them like where?

In the stands or outside? In the stands. I was going up and down the stairs selling coax. Oh, that's fair. If I had enough racks, I could go sit down. I'd go sit on the behind the standard, sit on the standard until a Kentucky state policeman would run me off. And my dad would watch me march down to the other end and sit at that standard. Until you got kicked out.

A man for my heart. Well, listen, that's very cool. Thank you very much for calling. And come see us when you're here for the Vandy game. I will. I love your shows, Matt. Thank you. Thank you, sir.

All right. That's a neat story. Who's up next? Nathan. Nathan, go ahead, Nathan. Hey, Matt, can you hear me? Yes, go ahead. I'm, how are you guys doing, first of all?

Great. First time, long time as well. Who are? Yeah, who are? Just giving you guys some more insight from actually being at the game, it was absolutely amazing atmosphere. It was just crazy. Oh, my gosh.

What percentage of the crowd do you do you do? What percentage of the crowd do you think we're Kentucky fans? Honestly, I would say it was probably like 60, 40 Kentucky, maybe. I was at the UNC Kentucky game last year, and it was probably like 75, 25, 25 UNC. Like, it was way different than this one. And there was a whole row of Duke fans in front of me. And a ton of Kentucky fans all around me. We were all just going crazy.

chanting. We were up in the 220. It was just absolutely amazing atmosphere. Well, awesome. Well, I'm glad you had a great time and this will be one you remember. I appreciate the call. Let's do one more real quick, Billy. All right. Let's go to Ron. Ron, real quick. Got about a minute. Matt, when Mitch Barnhart was interviewed about his coaching process, he said you had Hurley and then Drew. and if he was honest and he said Mark Pope was his third choice, my gosh, the ball's on this guy to make that higher. Give me five coaches right now currently that are better than him in college basketball. He's a top three coach in my opinion right now in college basketball.

The man is on fire. Go cats. The future is bright. I love it. Well, you're right. I mean, another person Mitch Barnhart, should take a bow because a lot of people, including the person you're listening to, questioned it at first. but he had conviction on it. You heard it on my show that morning, and what an amazing start.

Folks, these are great nights like this. We haven't had a lot of them in the regular season or in the postseason, honestly, for a number of years, but we had them tonight. This is the feeling that makes you excited to be a Kentucky fan. 2 o'clock in the morning, up, happy. I know I might have a hard time falling asleep, but we got to because we got to go do this again in the morning. It's so nice to get a victory like this, and it's especially nice to do it with a guy who bleeds it as much as we do.

Congrats to Mark Pope. Congrats to the players who all played great. Congrats to all the administration, all the people around the program. And congrats to this fan base. It's so nice to hear all of you happy. I'm excited. You're excited. We're in for a fun year.

Thank you folks very much for listening. I'll see you at 10 o'clock tomorrow from KS. Barr. This has been the local toy dealers, KSR, post-game show. 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 Hi 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 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 Slicel Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Life is full of hurdles. So how do you keep going?

On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we're talking with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness from professional athletes, coaches and Olympic champions, about the challenges that shape them and the mindset that keeps them moving forward. At our level, at this scale, being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Hey, what's good, y'all?

You're listening to Learn the Hardway with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen to learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on. A Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman.

Multi-million dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.