KSR - KSR Postgame UK MBB vs South Carolina 02/08/25

Episode Date: February 8, 2025

Matt and Billy recap the Cats' 80-57 win vs South Carolina.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome, everyone. It is the local Toyota dealers, KSR post-game show. The Cats get a big win tonight at home, which they needed against South Carolina, 80 to 57, on a rainy day in Lexington, but one that still led to a good result. You can give us a shout.

859-280-2287. I am at the KS Bar and Grill, where it is a full house of happy Kentucky fans getting ready to enjoy right now, I guess Kansas State and Kansas, but soon they will have Florida and Auburn here in just a little bit. Super Bowl tomorrow, but the Super Bowl for Kentucky fans was today

because the Cats had to get a victory. There was no, this was not one you could play around with, even though South Carolina had not. won a game in conference. Kentucky, after what Mark Pope himself said, maybe had been the two worst performances of the year by the basketball team, they came out, played, I thought, excellent defensively, pretty good offensively, not their top, but good enough,

but a really good defensive performance. I guess the South Carolina team that does struggle to score, but Kentucky, to their credit, didn't really give them a chance to get going at any point. 859-280-2287. I think the big story today for Kentucky is probably the bench because Kentucky had 39 of their 80 points off the bench. At one point they had 29 of their first 34 off the bench, which is a pretty astounding a number. Kobe Brea, maybe one of his best overall games at Kentucky, and it wasn't just because he shot well. Yes, he had 10 points, but he had six assists, he had two steals.

five rebounds. I just thought it was his best overall game. It's one of the first games I've seen where he didn't get taken off the dribble. Instead, he was able to kind of stay in front of his man pretty well, cut off passing lanes. I thought it was a really, really good game for Kobe. And then Brandon Garrison still does a lot of good stuff. The things that are negative can frustrate you, but when he can come out and score 15.7 of 8 shooting, got to get him to get more than one rebound.

but the 15 points he finished at the rim, hit a three. We'll give him a replay on the technical. That happens out of excitement. But I thought he gave him some good minutes, especially in the second half. The other big storyline besides the bench is Lamont Butler. I mean, Kentucky is just a different team with Lamont Butler, even if he's at 60%. The way he affects both ends of the floor, I think his effect on defense is even more important than his effect on offense because he's able to get out, get pressure on guards, so they don't get a chance

of the point guards. They don't get a chance to get the offense initiated. He allows everyone on the Kentucky defensive end to take a guy that's a little bit less good than they would have to otherwise. So, you know, Jackson Robinson can take the second best player. No way can take the third. And then Braya can take the weakest offensive player. And all of a sudden, everybody's in a lot more comfortable role.

And then on the offensive end, look, he doesn't, he didn't score. a lot, but it doesn't really matter. I mean, you had eight points, but he gets, he gets, as Jack Given said, he gets guys into the position with which they are more comfortable. And I think that's especially true about Oway and Brea. I think those two guys are much more comfortable, kind of not having to be one of the primary scores, and they're able to do that with him. And you saw that with O'A having 17 points and really playing excellent in the second half. Lamont Butler is, I think Jackson Robinson is the best player, but Lamont Butler is the most important player of the team. They're just not the same team without him.

And I thought it was great to get to see him play, but not only play to have 25 points or excuse me, 25 minutes in the game. He didn't just play. He was able to stay out there for long runs. And I think that is really crucial. I thought it was also interesting. Mark Pope played the starters a lot of minutes. And even though, look, Garrison and Carr and Brayor were good coming on. off the bench. He until the very end kind of limited his rotation. You had you had Brea play 30 minutes.

You had Robinson with 20, 08 29, Butler 23, Almanore 24, Williams 21. He was able to kind of take a group of seven, play them a lot. And I think that's what you're going to have to do because I think after we get past those seven, we start to see a bigger drop off. Also shout out Trent Noah, who I thought had some really good minutes. He is probably the best player on the team at getting after loose balls and actually, you know, hustling and not avoiding contact, which I think is a weakness from some of the other guys on the team. So they won by 23. I mean, the spread was 11 and a half.

So this was a definitive victory for Kentucky. But they just had to get a win. As I was watching the game, I was just wanting the clock to tick down because ultimately all I wanted was to see them win. And they did. So now you got Tennessee coming in Tuesday night. I think that's going to be a really difficult game considering we beat them down there. And then next Saturday, you'll have a game at Texas.

And I think I look at next week for Kentucky and say, hey, if you can get both of them, then we're going. But if you can get one of them, we're kind of still where we need to be heading, getting ready for March. Because I think what's clear is when this team is healthy, when every member of the team is healthy and is playing, they're as good as anybody in the country. But as we've talked a lot about the holes greater than the sum of the parts, If you take a couple those parts away, the hole takes a big drop,

at which point then they're susceptible to losing to anybody. This is the first time we've seen everybody back together, and it worked out great. A couple things going forward. Jackson Robinson, a little worried about his wrist. I didn't like when they put him back in, and he had that play where he went up for a rebound, and then he came down holding his wrist. You know, he made shots today, actually. I mean, he was, what was his percentage?

He went two for eight. Well, that's not great. But he did make two threes. So I don't think his wrist is, you know, broken. But we got to keep him help. I mean, he's another one. If you don't have him, then this is a completely different basketball team. So I think his health is one thing to watch.

And it was also good to see Andrew Carr. Only played 14 minutes, but it didn't seem like, you know, during that time he was in pain. And he had nine points. I thought he got a lot of easy baskets, which is what you need from him. going forward. So Tennessee Tuesday night, Kentucky goes to now 5 and 5 in the SEC, still in the top half as we get ready for the SEC tournament and a good showing by Kentucky and the BBN today

on what was a nasty day, especially this morning in Lexington. 859-28027. I'm here at KS. Barr. Miami, Billy, giving Louisville a little more than maybe we thought they would. Did that game get close again? It's 72, 66. with six minutes to go. Louisville has different kind of uniform on today,

but this is, you know, we've got to be careful. This would be a terrible loss, but I think they'll probably pull it out. Their guy, Chuckie Hipbert, I think is out today, though. 859-28027. We will take a break. Be right back.

This is the local toy dealers, KSR post-game show. Welcome back. It is the local toy dealers, KSR post-game show. 859-28027. If you've ever thought to yourself, I'd like to get in on the show. Now's your time. You know, last couple losses, we were phone lines packed, got one or two open, which is rare.

So get in. 859-2-80-20-287. Text machine 772-745-254. One person writes, Matt, my big takeaway from the game is I could not believe the announcer said Isaiah Briscoe was one of his favorite players in UK history. I noticed that same thing. Billy, I don't know. You may not have heard that because you were. not you were listening to radio broadcast, but Damian Fischbeck was talking about who had

triple doubles in UK history. Right. And he said, look at that list. Look at those amazing names. Chris Mills, Deeran Fox, Isaiah Briscoe, and then he goes, one of my favorite players of UK history. And I was like, wow. Would anyone outside Isaiah Briscoe's family say that?

Like that was one of the most surprising things I've ever heard. Yeah, odd selection there. like Isaiah Briscoe. I'm just not sure I would have ever thought of him as someone of someone's favorite UK players of all time. But good for Isaiah getting the shout out there during the game. 859-280-2287. Let's get started. Who's up first? David. David. Go ahead, David. Hey, Matt. Thanks for taking my call. Thanks. I appreciate it.

I just wanted to call in. I have to listen to the podcast every day because I'm a principal at a middle of school. I always have to listen to the podcast on the way home. But you asked a question yesterday, just kind of related to, we all love Pope and have faith in Pope, but how did we feel about the team? And especially with a big win today, which we all need, not know we need it, I started thinking about our records. And if you take our losses that we had, and we had just lost to the teams that we thought we might lose to,

if our losses had been against Duke, Gonzaga, Louisville, you know, Florida, Tennessee, would we all go to strike now? And I don't think we say, no, we think we can play with the teams on our level, but the ones that are at the top we just really can't stand up against, which is what we all thought we'd have at the beginning of the season. But now it's like we said, we know we can go toe to toe with anybody. Yeah, it is a flip. I mean, it's exactly, it is a very, like, you can look at our record,

and you can kind of see what you want to see. All right? So the optimist would say, man, if we just beat Ohio State, Vandy, Georgia, Arkansas, we only have three losses and we're ranked in the top three in the country. Correct. Another person could go, if we didn't win those close games against Duke, Tennessee, Gonzaga, and Florida, we're on the bubble from getting in the tournament. So I think it actually ended up evening out to probably what it should be,

but it's one of the weirder paths that I think I've ever seen a Kentucky take in history Kentucky team take in history. He's gone. He's having a phone issue. I mean, it really is odd. I mean, Mark Pope has gotten maybe the best section of wins of a Kentucky team in a long, long time. But we've also taken some really weird losses.

But if you look at it, I'd say 16 and 16. seven, maybe we're a game. Maybe we should be like 17 and 6. But like, that's about where I thought we'd be at this point. But our path to getting there has been really odd. And so just interesting. Who's up next? Ed.

Ed. Go ahead, Ed. Hey, Matt. I saw enough today where I'm confident that going in Tennessee is going to be the sweet. Go cats. So you like us beating Tennessee for the sweet? sweep. Yes, I do. I saw enough improvement. It's encouraging. Well, listen, I've never thought we couldn't win. I just wanted, I just want us to get enough wins to get in the March and then come what may, we're ready to rock. Oh, absolutely.

And I'm with you 100%. But I'm confident. Mark it down. Sweet. I got the broom ready. I hope you're right. I appreciate the call. I think Tennessee, it's interesting. On paper, Tennessee should be a terrible matchup for us. They really should. But we won down there and pretty much led the whole game. They missed like 40-3s, right? Well, they did, but that's what we wanted them to do.

We wanted them to take those threes, you know? Now, do I think they'll miss 40 again? No. But, I mean, we didn't shoot great down there. You know, we shot, what would we go? 13 of 35 or something? That's okay, but it's not, you know, we didn't have Butler either. Yeah, it wasn't great.

We didn't have Butler. I don't think we had Carr. We didn't have Butler or Carr, and we still won. They're going to have to start starting games better. They were one of nine to start even this one. They were, but their defense was fine. Much better. Yeah, we'll see.

I mean, who does Tissy's already beaten Oklahoma. Yeah, they wanted that. But that really good freshman didn't play for Oklahoma. So that's kind of a weird game. Who's up next? Zach. Zach, go ahead, Zach. Hey, Matt, just wanted to call and brag about the bench.

I was really happy with their production today, right? You start 1 and 10, and then within that was maybe the first or second TV timeout. We go from 1 and 10 to 5 out of 5 and Phil goes, and that's all goes to Kobe, right? And then Brandon was absolutely just magnificent. Hate that he only got one rebound, but I think there's a lot of potential in his game for Pope to build on. Well, you know, Brandon is not as good a defender as Amari Williams. I think it's a step down in defense. So he's got to make it up in offense because he can hit that three,

and he's shown a pretty good ability to finish at the rim, and that's exactly what he did today. He didn't have as many mistakes on defense as he has, but he brings you down a notch defensively, so he's got to make that up on offense, and today he was able to do that. He was. He was. Appreciate the call.

859-280-2287 it's uh this place got i think when the show started got crowded billy i think that's because of you you know because of me yeah when people are waiting to get a table here they look at me like it's almost like they give me puppy dog eyes trying to save them but i don't know what i'm supposed to do do you um i think they want you to sit them at a table right there's other people in line ahead of them what am i i mean they just want me like i feel bad. I want to like go, I'm sorry. I wish I could carry you all over there, but I can't. Who's next? Yeah, that is an awkward eye lock. Wilson. Because I'm looking right at them and I can't look away. Wilson, go ahead, Wilson. Hey, Matt, first time, long time. Who are? So I was at the game.

Atmospheric solid despite the slow start. And I know it was South Carolina, but it was clear, like, Vermont Butler's impact, even though he didn't have a ton of points or stats and statutes, I feel like he can beat the on-ball pressure. And when Robinson's at point guard, it just feels so, like, hard to get the ball at the court sometimes. So it was just nice to have him out there. And just nice to have an easy win. And with him being back, I feel really good about the rest of the season,

as long as you can stay healthy. And we're going to beat to the peace. I think he changes the game on a pressure standpoint on both ends. You're exactly right. He handles pressure better than Robinson and O.A. And Perry, but he also gives pressure better, too. And so he makes it, oddly, I think what's interesting about Lamont Buller is he makes the part of the court from the top of the three point line on each side, that area from one top of the three point line to the other top. He owns that area in a way that our other players, I think, really struggle.

And I think it makes it a huge difference when he's in the game, whether he scores or not, just his ability to navigate in between both halves. Definitely agree that. Appreciate it to call. I mean, we got, you know, we got a lot of guys who do, I think, pretty good work in the half court with the ball. But I do think that, you know, what killed us in the game at Ole Miss especially, but also against Arkansas was we would just cross half court. And our guys just really struggle getting the ball from half court to the three point line. And that's where I think Butler really is, makes a huge, huge impact. Who's next?

Alan. Alan. Go ahead, Alan. Just to continue on Lamont Butler, there's some things I noticed right around today when South Carolina was really keeping it at 10 or 11 points there, kind of the first of the second half. And during our motion offense, when stuff wasn't opening up, Butler would just seem to drive down the lane and the defense would collapse

and he'd get a handoff or they would kick it back out. And just his ability to make things happen when it seems like nothing else is happening is pretty remarkable. And that doesn't always say. show up as an assist or a stat, but just watching that today at the game, it was pretty remarkable because in these last few games, sometimes our offense just looks clueless and nothing happens as the shot clock runs out. I completely agree with you. And he also has the ability, whether it's himself or dropping it off to finish. I mean, like, we got some guys. Like,

O way, I think he can get a step on most guys, but he's actually not great finishing. But Buller, I think, finds a way he's good at jumpstop, kind of head faking, getting it in. I agree. I just, I think he makes such a difference on both ends. You really could see it today. I felt like the team was a lot more in control in this game maybe than I did in the other one since. Yep. Appreciate the call.

859-280-2287. Who you like tonight, Billy, Florida and Auburn. That starts here in just a few minutes. That's a big one. It's hard to pick against Auburn. Where's it at? The game is at Auburn. Yeah.

It's hard to see Auburn losing at home. But Florida can put up, when they get hot, they can put up big points. What about Duke? Do they go down at Clemson? No, no. I think this note card you saying they go undefeated in conference is going to be true. Well, this is the last time they can lose. So I guess in theory they could lose it, North Carolina.

But North Carolina is not good. I mean, I think tonight is really the only chance. And then does Cal get it done tonight against Alabama? This would be, I mean, if they win tonight, this would probably put them on the right side of the bubble right now. Yeah, hogs are back if they beat Alabama tonight. They've looked a lot better since that Kentucky game, but I think Alabama does get the best of them here.

There's no way you're picking Arkansas, is there? I mean. Maybe against the spread? Well, the spread's only four. Yeah, I mean, I think either Alabama runs. him off the court or Arkansas wins. You know, I mean, people forget, Cal did a pretty good job against Nate Oates here.

You know, I mean, we beat them last year by like 30. And they went to the final four. So I think he kind of likes playing against Nate Oates team. So, you know, we'll see. 859-28027. Who's next? Lee. Lee, go ahead, Lee.

Hey, Mac, good to hear your voice. and go cast. One comment I like to make but y'all been talking about the defense, it was great to see the defense causing a good scoring spurt there that laid in that second half when they kind of put them away. We hadn't been getting

that the last few days. You're exactly right. On that point, they cut it tonight, right? It was 50 to 40. It was 50 to 41. And, you know, that's close to being a game. And then we went on a 15 to 2 run in three and a half minutes of games. game action. And that, I was clapping at my house because that's what I want to see this team do.

You know, teams are going to make runs get close, but they just put their foot on the gas and basically finish the game. Hey, two quick questions. I hang up. I want you to elaborate on them if you would, if you got time. Real one, who do you think is the MVP on the UK team at this point in the season? And the second question, I want to hear you ask, what do you think about the rumors about Bruce Pearl going to Indiana? Yeah, I think if Indiana is serious about basketball, they hire Bruce Pearl. I mean, if you're Indiana, you are in desperation mode to save that program.

Because that program... Will he leave Auburn? Yeah, I think he would. That's a school. I think he, I think there's, Bruce appreciates the history of the game. He's, he coached at Southern Indiana. I think he would. I think he would do great at Indiana.

To me, that's, to me, if you're Indiana and you don't hire Bruce Pearl, at least try to hire Bruce Pearl, then you're not serious about basketball. And then if you can't get Bruce Pearl for whatever reason, let's say he stays at Auburn. Then I think you have to hire Chris Beard because, you know, he's a Bobby Knight. He loves Bobby Knight. He's got like, I don't know if he coached for him or whatever. Those are two dudes that I guarantee to make you. relevant. And if you don't end up with either one of those guys, if you cannot take those guys from football schools,

then you're not Indiana anymore, right? Yeah. Let's get them out of SEC too. Yeah, no, I agree. So as far as your first question, so yeah, I appreciate the call. I mean, if I'm Indiana, Bruce Pearl's first call, Chris Beard's a second call, and then, you know, and remember, when those guys were choices here, you know, there were some character questions, but Kentucky was not in desperation mode. They are in desperation mode in Indiana. Indiana. They're in the mode we were after Billy where like there were some questions about Cal but like you just had to do it. You just had to do it. And so same thing here. They just got to do it.

As far as your first question who the MVP is, the most consistently good player on this team this year has actually probably been O way. The best player is Robinson and maybe the most important player is Butler. So it just depends on what you're, you know what it just depends on what you're asking, Right. But I would say if you're talking about who has played the best the most consistently for Kentucky, I actually think the answer is probably Oway, 23 straight games in double figures. That's a pretty amazing number. And I think in the Cal era, there were only like four guys to do that. And OA's done it this year, and he is by far the least predictable one to do it. Well, think about this team without Amari.

Yes, none of this is to downplay Amari. I just would put him a notch below. those guys. Sure. But, I mean, look, he's played well, too. I mean, all those guys, all for the, Andrew Carr, when he's healthy, he has played well. All these guys have played well. I just think I would put them, you know, a notch, a notch below a head-old Marry.

859-2-8027. Text machine is 772-744-5-254. We'll take a break. We'll be right back. This is the local toy dealers, KSR post-game show. Welcome back. It is the local toy dealers KSR post-game show. 859, 280, 2287.

The text machine is 772, 774-5254 here at KS Bar and Grill. Auburn and Florida about to tip off. Mississippi State leads Texas, excuse me, Texas A&M leads Missouri on the road 2720. That would be a pretty big victory if A&M can get it there on the road two ranked teams going at it. A lot of people don't realize A&M and Missouri, two ranked teams playing each other. But they are.

there's another rank game like that later on tonight. So I think Texas Tech and Arizona, which might not be two teams people realize. Texas Tech's top 15 in the country this year. 859-280-2287. Who's up next? Jordan. Jordan. Jordan.

Hey, Matt. Two things. First, a lifelong Kentucky fan, a listener of your show. My papal passed away last Saturday at 93 years. and when I would go visit him, something he would ask me, did you hear what Matt Jones is saying? And he's a big reason of why I am a Kentucky fan and in my dad.

So I want to one shout out Fred Stephan. All right. He was just a funny side note on his, when he was on his deathbed, the one thing that got the strongest reaction out of them with my dad asked him. Did you know that Cal's coming in today? And so he said, oh, yeah. So, you know, it's more than a game. You're exactly right. And God bless your grandfather, Mr. Stefan. And yeah, I appreciate him listening and getting you to be a fan and be praying for your

family. Thank you. That means a lot. And then how about, you know, Williams is not that flashy and sometimes when he's scribbling from the top of the court, it feels like he does have hands of stones, but when you have a plus minus of 32, there is nothing to complain about. And then I loved just the dunks and the way they attacked, I mean, they attacked the basket. And that was really fun to see. You could tell that the hustle and the effort was there in a way it just wasn't last game against older. It did look to me like there was much more of an emphasis placed in this game on attacking the basket.

You could see it in the way the game was, you're exactly right. Just the way the guys seemed to go at the rim in a kind of much more concrete way. And I thought that really paid off dividends. Drew some more fouls to get to the line. and then those dunks in the second half, they had three or four, like power dunks back to back to back. Well, thanks for what you do on your show. It means a lot. Thank you, sir.

And I hope you'll have a blessed Saturday. Appreciate it. 859-280-2287. Who's up next? Matt. Matt. Go ahead, Matt. Hey, how you doing, Matt?

How you doing, Billy? This is Matt. Good. Doing good. Matt up in Madison, Wisconsin. Good. A couple of quick things. one, seeing Butler back today, the cats just looked comfortable again.

Their energy was good again. The effort was there on both sides. They just looked more focused. They looked so much more comfortable. And if we assume that that is going to be, you know, we've got a regular lineup back more or less for the rest of the season, what do you all feel like the final record looks like compared to, you know, a few days ago when we didn't know when Butler would be back?

Well, if you tell me, let me do the first one, then we'll do the second one. If you tell me that we get all of these guys healthy for the rest of the year, okay, if you tell me that that is happening, and all year they are healthy, then I would say to you, I think we finish, we've got what, eight games left, we probably finish five and three in the last eight games, and then that would make us, what, 21 and 10? If we're not healthy, then it could be any. thing. But I feel pretty good about winning LSU and Vandy. And I think we get two of the three at

Oklahoma, at Missouri, at Texas. I think we get two of those three, and then we steal one at home against either Tennessee or Auburn. Right on. Yeah, that would be a good outcome. I think everybody would be pretty happy if we could do that. Second thing, I wanted to thank you all for the KSR interview with Georgia Amor a few weeks back. It was, she was great. like a natural. That team is so fun. I live up in Wisconsin, but I was down in Georgia for work, and I had the opportunity just kind of on a whim to go see them in Athens. And I got to see it right behind the bench and was just able to see the interaction between Coach Brooks and the players and the players amongst themselves. And man, it's a special team, you all. I think, I think

sky's the limit for this team. And I don't know when we're going to see another point guard like Georgia, A more again. So, Thanks to you all for starting to talk about them more and also, you know, to the team and Coach Brooks. I mean, it's so much fun to watch them. Totally agree with you. I'm going to talk more about the women's team after this break because they have big game tomorrow. They got a lot coming in the next couple weeks. We're going to take a break.

859-280-2287. We'll do a little extra long final segment and be right back. This is the local toy dealers KSR post-game show. Welcome back. It is the local toy dealers KSR post-game show. 859-2-80-22-87. Cats win 80-57 against South Carolina. Now move to 16 and 7 on the year.

Eight games left. All right, so, Billy, let me go through the last eight games, and you tell me win or loss. Are you ready? Okay, yes. Let's assume a full roster. Everybody's healthy. Let's assume a full roster.

Tennessee in Lexington. Win. win. All right. At Texas. Loss. I'm going to flip those. I think Tennessee gets us Tuesday. They've been flipping it all year. I think we win in Austin. Vandy at home. Win. All right. At Alabama.

Loss. At Oklahoma. Win. At Auburn. Or, excuse me, Auburn here. Excuse me. Loss. LSU. Win. At Missouri. Win. All right. So you've got. So you've got.

five and three like me, just different games. Five and three. Five and three. I think five and three, which would finish, make this team finish 10 and 8 in the SEC, I actually think that would be a really good, a really good result for the, for the team. I think that would be a really good result if they could finish 10 and 8. I think that would put them with at least one buy in the, in the SEC. And I think that would be a really good result for the team. Yeah, with Butler healthy. I mean, it's a completely different team. without it feels like.

Yeah, 859, 280, 2287. Who's up next? Tommy. Tommy. Tommy. Hey, Matt, thanks for the call. Thanks, Billy. I was just looking, you know, Super Bowl weekend,

looking at the AFC with the Chargers, the Bengals, Raven, Steelers, bills. I mean, it's a very competitive chasing KC. Is that league so good because they, you know, they're chasing Kansas City? And is that why the SEC is so good? Because for a decade and a half, we've been such a dominant program and I'll take your thoughts off there.

Well, no. I think the reason the SEC is so good is that the schools seven or eight years ago decided to really invest in and focus on basketball. I mean, there was a time seven or eight years ago where you could make an argument. The SEC was the best league in every sport, but was like fifth in basketball. And then all of a sudden, you know, think about the coaches. Think about just the coaches that have been brought in in the last seven or eight years. They've brought in, you know, Rick Barnes, Bruce Pearl, Nate Oates, Chris Beard, Mike White, the guy that's now Todd Golden that's at Florida, you know, Gates at Missouri. They've just replaced, they've replaced coaches that were mediocre,

and they've decided we're going to spend money on and get top-level coaches. And then the other thing is the way the revenue sharing's worked, the schools in the SEC and Big Ten now have twice the money. The other conferences do. So there would have been a time that a dude like Bruce Pearl, if he was at Auburn, there would have been eight Big Ten and six ACC schools that would have come and taken him. But now Auburn can keep their coach.

Now, will they be able to keep them from Indiana? We'll see. But just think about us. I mean, we were looking for a coach last year. there would have been a time you wouldn't have been able to, you'd of course could have gotten Baylor's coach and you of course could have gotten Yukon's coach, but that's changed now.

So all of that, I think, has made the SEC good. And then there's always, the athletes have always been here. Even when the SEC stunk, the athletes in this conference were great. Now we have talent to match the athletes, and that's the league you get this year. Then you throw in Texas and Oklahoma, who aren't even particularly that good this year,

but you throw them in and all of a sudden the league is just stacked. He's gone. So I think those things all combined have led to what we have now, which is not only do, I think the SEC is the best league this year. I think it's going to be the best league from now on. I mean, I don't know why it wouldn't. I mean, these coaches, just think about the coaches. With the exceptional Rick Barnes, most of these dudes got like 10 years left in their coaching lives. Unlike, say, in the ACC and Big Ten and even Big East, where the best coaches are old, our coaches are all pretty young.

And that doesn't even include Cal, right? I mean, Cal goes to Arkansas, so you end up with a really good coach there. So the league decided used to be Kentucky and like two other schools would care about basketball. Now the league's decided everybody cares about basketball And that makes That's why you get a league like this I mean we're never going to have What we had for a number of years

But I do think it will make us better as we go forward Who's next? Unfortunately this league has officials that want to have Seven reviews in a single half at times Yeah I didn't bother I mean There was only that Was there any reviews besides that hook and hole?

It was a two and a half hour game It was but that's just because they called a ton of fouls at the end There were too many fouls called. We got to clean this up. Yeah, there were, it was a 25-point game, and they were calling touch fouls. I feel like they needed some camera time or something at the end. Let's do five more. Okay, Dale.

Dale, go ahead, Dale. Dale, you there? Dale? And I, hey, Matt, hey, Matt, sorry about that. Yeah, anytime you're ready, Dale, or you can finish your other conversation before you, come on. Look, man, I love Ruff Arena, man. why, with all these renovations, why didn't they put more urinals up in there, man? Like, they made everything nice, but they didn't.

The bathrooms are still like you're going to Powell County. What gives? I'll hang up and listen. All right, I appreciate the call. I'm not counting that as one of the five. Oh, come on. We don't get a urinal call. He's asking the important questions.

He's actually right, though. He's not wrong. We are the only, both football and basketball. We improve everything, but we, We do not improve the urnals. And it does feel like we should stand up and, you know, single users, please. But that doesn't count. Five more.

Oh, my goodness. What a dunk by Florida. Who's next? Moffat. Moffitt. Moffitt. Hey, Matt. Man, these days right here are what makes life worse living.

I don't know what's doing Lexington, but we've got a beautiful day here in Bowling Green, 70 degrees. The cast one. I'm out here with my girls. We're picking up sticks. All right, girls. Let's sweep Tennessee on Tuesday. Go Big Blue.

Let's do it. That would be awesome if we could get a sweep of Tennessee. I mean, we already, we're going to go into Selection Sunday. We could not win one other good game, and we can still go into Selection Sunday with, you know, more great wins than all but a handful of teams. But if we could get one against Tennessee, Alabama, or Auburn before the year ends, and you have like eight high-level quad-one wins,

then we're going to get seated much better than our record is just because of those wins. Four more. Who's next? Tracy. Tracy. Go ahead, Tracy. Hey, well, I'm not going to pee on anybody's parade.

I want you to know that right off the back. Also, are you going to be on with my run in the morning? I will, yes. Okay, next thing. I know that it says that our bench outscored them, and that's a little bit skewed because you've got Carr coming off the bench now, and I'm just wondering how quick do we have to make the move for Angeley to go back to where he's comfortable, and Carr come back in because Angeley has not been himself since he's been put into that role.

So are you asking, like, how long is it going to be until Carr starts? Is that what you're asking? Yeah, pretty much because, I mean, I mean, the truth is forever. Every team is just one twisted ankle away from being a lot less than they were unless you happen to be Auburns because they've already proved they can get by that. But, I mean, I just want Anzley to do back what he was and for Carr to take back over the start, maybe to take a little bit of the heat down the road. Yeah, I mean, I think Carr will be starting in March. I mean, I assume they're just trying to get him work.

I mean, we may only have a car that gets 20 minutes a game. I mean, that may just be what his role is going forward because of his injuries. So, you know, we'll see. I appreciate the call. I think you have to understand. Almanor is what he is. Like, his job is to shoot threes. He's not fast.

He's not a particularly good defender. His job is to be the eighth or ninth man in shoot threes. With Carr's injuries, having to play a little bit more, I've noticed they've been playing too big some. I mean, they've been playing Williams and Garrison some. I don't love that, but because Garrison can shoot threes, you can. can get by with it for a handful of minutes here and there if you want to. So we'll see.

But for this team to be where it needs to be, you probably need to get 25 or 30 minutes from Carr. I'm hoping by the time we get to March, he'll be able to do that. In his first few games back, he looked to me like a dude playing who had back trouble. I didn't feel like that today. He didn't run and he didn't look like a guy whose back was hurting, which I think is a good sign. I'm not a back doctor, but I've had back pain, and I know what running with back pain looks like.

And he was doing that early in the last few games, not so much today. So to me, that's a positive sign. 859-28027. Who's next? Cindy. Cindy. Go ahead, Sydney. Hey, Matt.

I haven't heard anyone mention today that it seems like Trent Noah was originally going to go to South Carolina. He was. We mentioned it on the pregame show. No, Sidney, you didn't listen to the pregame show like you were supposed to. I listened. I was running, so that's my excuse. And then the next question is, is it possible that we could bring out the denims on Tuesday? And I'll hang up and listen.

I mean, we thought it was going to be Arkansas, so maybe it will be Tennessee. I would venture to say that the game they're shooting for would be Auburn, because I think we'll probably get game day. Auburn will probably be number one when they come in. So if I were to guess, that would be my guess as to when it happens, Sydney. I would think that's Saturday. I think, I believe that games at 6 o'clock, which is the ESPN Prime slot now. They're putting their big games at 6.

So I'm going to say we see them just a guess, but I'm going to say we see it for Auburn. All right. Thank you so much. And I love KSR and listen every day. Appreciate it. Thank you very much. 859-280-20-82-87. I didn't realize Todd Golden, the Florida coach, did you know he coach?

under Bruce Pearl at Auburn? I did not. I just saw that same montage. I didn't know that. I knew he was at San Francisco, but I didn't know he was a Pearl disciple. So, you know, I know he ended up getting cleared of the thing, whatever that was. Stalking. Yeah.

But I will say he's a very good coach. And Pearl, man, you got to give him a lot of credit. I mean, Auburn is now consistently, in the last eight years, a consistent top program and that's him and again if indiana's serious about basketball you got to make him say no because he in my opinion bruce pearl he has he built tennessee from nothing he built auburn from nothing he almost certainly would bring indiana back uh as well who's next two more craig Craig Craig go ahead Craig mr jones thank you sir i am uh first time long time who are and I mean by a long time I was on campus in the 70s with Goose so I just want to say we love Mark Pope we love this team but buddy we really love your show it is it is a it is a blessing to us that's very kind of you thank you

I mean people have stressful lives brother and following and cheering the cats is just a great stress relief I got to tell you it's like that seasonal effective disorder where sunlight exposure affects people's mood My wife has what I call BBN effective disorder. I mean, when the catch lose, she is morning for days. Well, she's not the only one. You wouldn't want to be around me on Sunday after we lost that game Saturday night to Arkansas. So she's not the only one. There are times I sit and go, you know, man, I'm 46 years old. I should not have my mood affected by kids playing basketball like this.

But to be honest with you, I can't help it. She can't either, brother. And she talks about you. She says, oh, Matt Jones. is having a hard time right now. He's walking around the block. When they win, it boosts her moods for days. Oh, this is great. See, we have a noon game. I'm going to be done here in a minute, and tonight's going to be the least stressful night in the world, so it's going to be awesome.

Well, only on your show is where she can find people that are the diehard fans like that that she can relate to. So just congrats to you personally for creating KSR and thanks to all your guys, Ryan, Billy, everybody, just keep up the good work, brother. Thank you very much. That's very kind of you and tell your wife, thank you as well. By the way, tomorrow from 2 to 3.30, Otega Owe will be doing a signing here at the bar. We had Jackson Robinson a few weeks ago. O'A is going to do tomorrow.

So 2 to 3.30 before the Super Bowl. Come on in. I think it's $20 for an autograph, but he will be here signing tomorrow from 2 to 3.30. So spread the word. They don't like to announce it because in case they lose, we were supposed to have him last week, but we push it back a week because we didn't win. So we'll have him this week.

Sunday 2 to 3.30 here at KS. Bar, Otega, Owe, come see him. And what times the women's team play tomorrow? That game may be on, I guess. I'm not sure. Let me check it for you real quick. Let's see. Come on. You're supposed to know these things, Billy.

Don't you work for the UK Radio Network? I'm in charge of all UK Sports Network games. 7 p.m. Oh, they play at 7 p.m.? That's on Monday, February 10th. they play Monday. You should know that UK plays on Monday, not Sunday. So they play at Ole Miss on

Monday. Yep, so we'll have the Mark Pope show and it'll go immediately into the women's game. All right, so never mind. Then you won't be able to watch the game here tomorrow, but you will be able to meet O.A. and you can watch the Super Bowl. The other thing is they wanted me to remind you, if you want wings or food for your

Super Bowl party, you have to have the order in, I mean, come watch the Super Bowl here and just order normally, but if you want it to go, if it's a big order, you have to have it in by noon. Okay? So what I would suggest is call tonight, maybe when it settles down a little bit here, get your order in, and by noon you can come and carry a big wad of, well, actually,

I don't know if that's the word we're supposed to use wad of wings. What would you say? Bundle. Flock of wings? Box. You can bring a flock of wings to your house. Florida, now ahead at Auburn. We'll see what that happens.

Who's next? Our last call are Knox. Knox. Knox. Go ahead, Knox. Hey Matt, love your show as well. I just had one comment. I feel like sometimes when I'm watching, especially this game, this afternoon,

just watching it, it looks like when every time of the South Carolina shot it, we didn't really get a body on someone, we didn't really boxed out to get the rebound. I noticed Trent Noah a few times while he was in there. He just kind of chased after the ball, just kept his eyes on it. I feel like we could get more rebounds by just boxing out our man and not allowing the opposing team to get more offensive rebound. You are 100% right about that. We do not box out well.

It's probably the thing this team does the worst, in my opinion. And if you want to drive yourself crazy, don't watch the shot when we're on defense. Watch the box out. You'll go a little inside. But they've gotten better at it. I actually think Garrison is the worst on the team at boxing out. Amari's not great either.

The car's pretty good at it, although none of them are great at it. But I will say this, they did a pretty good job in the second half of cutting down on second chances. South Carolina actually had a bunch of second chances in the first half. They just didn't make any of the second chances. But I thought they were better at that in the second half. But you're right, that's our weakness. I would say the two biggest weaknesses this team has is on ball defending because of quitness and boxing out. But we do some things really well.

We shoot the ball really well. We pass pretty well. And, you know, this is a resilient group. And they're fun. And now that they're all back together, hopefully they can get everything situated to head into March. Thank you all very much for listening. Otega O'Way here tomorrow.

Enjoy your Saturday night, everybody. You got Florida, Auburn, you got Duke Clemson, and you got Arkansas, Alabama. Enjoy stress-free basketball because the cats beat South Carolina. 80 to 57. We will see you all on Monday. Back here at KSR, this has been Kentucky Sports.

The local toy dealers, KSR, Post-Gay, 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

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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, this. They know these kids. This linebacker walks up to me.

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