KSR - KSR Postgame UK MBB vs Texas AM 01/14/25

Episode Date: January 15, 2025

Matt and Billy recap the Cats' 81-69 win vs Texas AM.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Kentucky goes to 3 and 1 in the SEC. And now with its fifth one, win this year against a team ranked in the top 15. Pretty amazing run for Kentucky. Five and all against ranked teams. That's the best record of any team in the country. 8.59-280, 2287. We'll open it up. As you know, when we do these late nights during the week in SEC play, I really like to hear from you all because it's usually been a long day. But tonight was, I thought, you know, it wasn't the best game Kentucky's played all. year but in some ways i think it was one of the more impressive and important wins and the reason

i say that is kentucky won without playing its best and without in one a different way basically if you go look at the games they've played against really good opponents they've won about scoring the other team the duke the duke game was a little strange but still in the end made plays down the stretch that Duke did not make. Gonzaga, we score in the 90s, we score 106 against Florida, we score in the 90s against Mississippi State. This game, even though we scored 81, a lot of that was free throws at the end. This was a game played in the 60s and 70s, and as we've talked about, I wasn't sure

if this team could beat a good team in a game that's in the 60s and 70s. Well, they did. And for me, the story was defense and rebounding. I mean, it's the first time I can say that all year. Offensively, they were, they weren't bad, but they were kind of a notch down from them at their full power. Obviously, started one for 11 from the line, shot a lot better after that. But even in the second half, it just didn't feel like the offense had complete flow. But defensively, you know, they really made Texas A&M take the shots they wanted them to take.

and what I mean by that is they wanted A&M to take threes. They didn't feel like A&M could make them. They made some at the beginning, but in the second half they adjusted a little, and A&M just had a hard time getting good looks the entire game. And then we outrebounded A&M. And if you had said to me, you're going to out rebound A&M, I would have been surprised. If you're going to tell me you're going to essentially keep them off the offensive glass,

I would have been even more surprised. and they went and did it, and I think that makes this win extra special. Texas A&M is a tough team. They're physical. Without Wade Taylor, they don't have the explosive scoring boost. But it was easily a game that we could have lost if we didn't play tough, and we did. A couple people I thought were especially impressive. For me, the player, the game was Amari Williams.

You know, we've talked a lot about how, you know, a mom. I don't say I've been hard on him, but like his limitations have frustrated me, but tonight I thought he was excellent. Rebounded well. He's passed well, really, all year and distributed, but also thought his defense was good. He only played 23 minutes, but had eight points and 12 rebounds, three blocks. I really just loved the way he played the entire game. I thought it was probably his best performance of the year to me that we've seen.

Jackson Robinson, obviously great in the first half. 15 points in the first half, 22 overall. I think he hit the biggest shot in the game, which was the little pump fake three that then became a two. I thought that was kind of the shot that sealed the game. But in the first half, when Kentucky was really struggling, he ended the first half hot. And when Kentucky had the lead at halftime,

after I thought they hadn't played well, I felt really good about the game. So, you know, excellent win. Travis Perry, six points, two big threes, ten minutes with Butler. You know, first of all, Butler got banged up about as hard as somebody's going to get banged up in a game. I think Billy heard his shoulder. He heard his ankle and he heard his D and he heard his face. I think he heard everything in the game.

But Perry had 10 minutes and I thought he did really, really well in those 10 minutes. Andrew Carr looked a little limited just in terms of how he was able to move so other guys came in Almanor had really good minutes you know one of the things I promise you that like I know I'm repeating myself

but when one of the things I love about Mark Pope is and it sounds simplistic but we haven't seen this in recent years he sees mistakes and deficiencies and rather than just saying, you know, we'll get them in March or we'll cover it up, he works on it. So a huge problem for this team has been boxing out.

So what do they do? They create an award for whoever boxes out the best in a game. I mean, Billy, that's awesome. That's the one thing this team was deficient at. So they create an award. Ansley Almanor wins it the first two times. But the mere fact that they create an award for it says, They recognize the problem and they fix it.

They don't just double down on poor decisions. So I just, I love that. It's so refreshing to see a coach who is not stuck in his way, but is actually willing to change. And listening to Pope on the post game, he talked about how he, A&M's weakness was shooting threes. So he wanted to have guys shoot threes, but he wanted the right guys to shoot threes.

And at the beginning, a couple of those guys made them, but they thought it would even out over time. And then it did. And, you know, they hit seven threes in the first 18 minutes of the game. I think I tweeted out at that moment. They're averaging five a game in SEC play. Now they have seven. They didn't hit another one, Billy, the rest of the game. Is that right?

That's why we went. A single one in the second? They didn't hit another one. So when I tweeted out that they had seven, they didn't hit a number one. another one the rest of the game. Well, that's how you win, right? So big time victory, cats three and one in the SEC. Doesn't get any easier.

Alabama comes in here Saturday for what should be an awesome environment. They lost tonight at home to Ole Miss. Kind of a surprising result, not kind of definitely a surprising result. Ole Miss is now 4-0 in the conference tied for first place in the conference with Auburn. Alabama now, they have one loss. So they're three and one. So the game Saturday, yet another biggie. But I really believed you've heard me talk a lot on the show about how kind of think there's tier one, tier two, tier three, tier four teams. And I kind of thought we were in the tier two and it was important we beat those teams. Well, we've now played three of those

teams with Florida, Mississippi State and A&M, and we're three and O. And that's going to be huge come tournament time, seating time. You know, maybe Old Miss is in tier one. Maybe we're in tier one. We'll see. But winning all three of those is big. Now, two big results that could be happening right now, Florida is losing at home to Missouri.

Billy, that would be a huge upset if it ends like that. Missouri, by the way, could end up three and one in the SEC. see. And I mean, I don't know what the coach's name, but a guy at Arkansas is if he's not careful staring 0 and 4 in the conference in the face. They are down seven with two minutes to go at LSU. I feel like, Billy, I'm watching every Kentucky road game in the last three or four years. I mean it. Like, it is every Kentucky road game of the last three or four years besides this one. if they lose this i mean Arkansas i'm not going to say they're cooked but they're pretty cooked if they can't pull this out chance to go oh and four in conference all right we'll take a break

859-28027 cats with a big time win against buzz williams who a lot of people were saying to me after the after the game they thought looked like ryan lemon do you agree with that no but there was also another character on the a and m sideline who i did not know his name but he looked like a i love that he looked like georgetown he did though no no no He looked like a professor at like a northeastern, like liberal arts school. Like he, he looked like an English professor. Jimmy Dyke set him up to say something to show that thing where he does the fouls during the free throws. And then he didn't do it.

But that dude got a lot of airplay in his. It's a nice suit he wore. But he did look like a professor. 859-280-2287. We will take a break. We'll be right back. It's the local toy dealer's KSR Post-Gam. Welcome back. It is Local Toy Dealer's KSR Postgame Show.

859-28027. Cats with a 81-69 win. We will take your calls and get to it. Let's see what else is going on in basketball. Indiana, they were booing Mike Woodson, chanting Firewoodson tonight at Indiana. Yeah, that's a bad look. You know, I mean, I don't want to say I told you. but I always thought that Mike Woodson hire was a terrible hire.

Indiana fans crowed it. And in the next 56 seconds, there might be another one that falls into that mark. I feel bad, though, for those Indiana fans, usually such reasonable people, right? Is that right? Well, you know, Kentucky plays them next year, right? Yeah, yeah. I bet we'll be playing them with a new coach at this rate. All right, who's up first?

Let's start with Travis. Travis, go ahead, Travis. Hey, man, thanks for taking my call. Shout out to Dave White, driving back to Brookville, Indiana tonight. Matt, I love to listen to your trends. Are we at a point now where if Brea or Jackson and Robinson have big games, it's almost a guaranteed win or we're getting close to it? Yeah, you know, I think Robinson's the key one.

Butler, you know, appreciate the call. It is, it's interesting. We've now beaten Mississippi State and Texas. A&M back to back and I don't really think Butler played well in either game. So, I mean, I still think there's a notch above for this team what we've seen. By the way, how do we not talk about always dunk, Billy? I mean, that's, that goes up there as one of the best ones we've ever had, don't you think?

Yeah, that was a really, really good one. I mean, he's tried to jam on people like four straight games and not done it. Well, he got it tonight. He got his body tonight. I mean, it was, that was a absolute. throw down in your face dunk and that's that'll be a poster I mean that the video's

great the still frame picture is pretty awesome too you got to give that'll be one one we remember dude he always goes to the rim with such authority. It's a little chippy out there don't you think? Yeah I mean the Jackson first of all those officials they shouldn't have called the technical

on the kid from A&M and they shouldn't have called it on Jackson Robinson like we do not want to see you call technicals unless you have to call. And both those technicals were cheap. Both of them. They called the A&M when first, but the Robinson one was too, you know, clearly, though, there's something there.

You know, I said that today on the pregame show, Billy. Something's there with Robinson and Buzz. You know, Buzz says the right things, which is what he should do as an adult. But there's clearly something there, right? Yeah, yeah. He was at A&M for a year or so. He was at A&M for a year. And, you know, Buzz said, oh, he's a great.

And I, that's what he should say. But I had heard Robinson had been pointing at this game all year. There's got to be something there. You don't jaw at your coach twice. Former coach unless, unless there's something. But good for Robinson. Nothing better. I mean, Damien Collins right now is playing really good in this game against Arkansas

against Cal. I think, you know, Aaron Bradshaw played really well against us. I think guys just have an extra, an extra ounce of excitement when that happens. Who's next? Dawson. Dawson. Go ahead, Dawson. What's up, Matt?

Obviously, there's a lot of good things to talk about tonight, like Jackson's performance, Otega's Duck, and whatever. But I also want to bring up how, because I know you mentioned it, I hope I'm not the only one who would get enough to it, but Jimmy Dykes was unbearable tonight. Yeah, I mean, I'm going to talk a lot about this tomorrow, because on a personal level, I like Jimmy Dykes. But he was on one tonight, wasn't he?

Like, you know. Yes. I mean, he was just kind of on one. Like, what was his Kirkreisa thing? Like, whatever language he speaks? I mean, he speaks English. Listen to his interviews. He speaks English.

And at the end, like, I think it was like 10 minutes left. We were up, I think six. He was like Kentucky's third by 15, but a lot of time left. Like, LeMont shoot his free throws. First of all, that was that last free throw. That last time out by Buzz was stupid. And I don't know why Jimmy took up for it. Like, that was a dumb foul.

There's 14 point game. I mean, that's, that was dumb. I'm with it. One minute. Yeah. Yeah, like it's for the future. No, it's not. You're down 15.

Just let it play out so we go to bed, man. It'd be for the future if it was like six or five. Yeah, but when it's 14, I'm with you. That was ridiculous to me. Yeah. Well, I appreciate the call. By the way, all of you driving home, I mean, it's like five degrees outside. Andy, I'm sure there's still, it's still slippery.

So everybody be careful. those are you driving all across the state. I know I got a crew of guys heading back to Glasgow who were at the bar tonight. So it's good seeing all of you all. 859-280-20-287. LSU is up two on Arkansas, 20 seconds to go, and LSU will go to the line. Missouri is up four on Florida with four and a half minutes to go. Florida was down 20 in that game trying to scrap their way back.

Who's next? Jordan. Jordan. Go ahead, Jordan. O.A is one of those players, while he may not be our most skilled or most consistent. He's one of those gets you out of your seats and flex at the TV players. Yeah, he's like, he's the only one of those guys we got. He's the only one of those guys we got, and you're right.

He does it. And then I was going to see in who are your favorite players like that who may not be our number one or even two or three guys. the man when they get to it, they just get you riling up. The first name that comes to my mind like that was Azabuki. You know, Ozabuki, I don't know if he was ever the best player on the team, but he would just dunk in people's faces and he would make you, you know, he would make you sort of scream and get excited. Yeah, I don't know.

I mean, last year do had a little bit of that in him. But yeah, you're right. O'A. Reed when he was high. Oh, way, is definitely like that. Who? And then we're a game away from four and no in conferencing or a coach away from O'N's four.

That's all I got for you getting that. Well, I mean, you can't help but notice it since it's happening right here. I mean, it is. LSU is up four with five seconds left. And I don't know. Did they call on a foul here? So I guess Arkansas is still theoretically in it. But I, listen, I mean, this was the right, it was the right move.

and it had to happen. I will tell you, I did not think, oh, and Damien Collins gets the game-winning block, Billy. Poetic. Wow. Damien Collins gets the game-winning block. I thought it was the best move long-term, but even I am surprised at what's happening this year.

I really am. I'm surprised at how good Mark's doing, Mark Pope. I mean, this team, Buzz Williams said after the game, he thinks he can win the national championship. You know, I don't know, but just that having a conversation is pretty amazing. And then what's happening in Arkansas, they're 0 and 4. And LSU's the worst team in the conference. And the thing is, look at that arena, Billy.

There's nobody there. Like the year, everybody's Super Bowl, you think if we were there, is that place packed? They're lined around the block. They're lined around the block. There's nobody there. So it's a dead atmosphere. and they still lose. You know, I don't want to,

I don't take glee and other people suffering, but I will say this, if you remember what this show was like and what things were like last year, when we even dared suggest that maybe it was time for a separation to now, I mean, it's pretty amazing. Who's up next?

Thank you, Jack Golki. We'll go to Brandon. gulky. Well, you know, maybe that was, although I still don't. How's it going, Matt? What's going on? You know, I'm only 25, so I haven't been watching Kentucky basketball as long as most people have, but I can't remember a team that could be down eight to 12 points and that you actually feel confident that they're kind of come back. You know, I hate the hate on the other guy, but I feel like when we were down the last few years, that there was absolutely no chance we're coming back.

And I actually never feel like we're out of the game with Pope. Yeah, I don't either. I think you're right about that. I feel like the only game I just never felt like we were going to come back was the Georgia game. But in general, I agree with you because you feel like you're one run away. I mean, look at tonight. We're down for that period of time.

Robinson gets hot on like a two-minute stretch. Next thing you know, we're leading at halftime. So, I mean, with Robinson and Brea especially, but even throw in Butler and Carr and Perry and the guys that can hit, you know, though, with Robinson and Brea, you're one little two or three, three-pointers in a row flurry from being right back in the game. Absolutely. My only question I have is, can you remember a guy that was more important to a team defensively in both as a point guard as Lamont Butler is? and I'll hang up and listen. You're, I can't. No, he is the most, defensively,

he's the most important player on the team. Yeah, I don't, I can't think of it. I mean, Tyler Ulyss had a little bit of that where like, if he didn't play defense, you'd wonder who would. But no, he's hugely important defensively. But this whole team played well defensively now today. I mean, I mentioned Amari. I thought Oway played really good defense.

I thought Robinson played good. defense. But when they crashed the glass, you know, Almanor rebounded well, Garrison, all this team, the very few offensive rebounds we gave up were because of shots that just, you know, went in weird places, long threes, et cetera. We gave up that one, we got two free throw rebounds, which you shouldn't do, but A&M, I guess that's their specialty. But in general, the offensive glass was not an issue, which I think, we all were worried that it would be.

Do you have Tyson Foods address? Should I send them? We're getting a little chesty sending all that stuff to the bar. They sent them something back? They sent a package of chicken nuggets to the bar as a thank you package. I mean, I feel like I should send them a package back, right?

We could send them, you know. A dead hog? I could send them a dead hog. No, I mean, I can send them a dead hog. What is the? The godfather? I mean, come on now. Something playful.

I mean, they were being playful. I don't know that we have to sit a dead hog. What you're buying that, Billy? Who's next? Thomas. Thomas. Go ahead, Thomas. I just, there's a thousand points I want to make, but you don't want to make?

We beat the 11th ranked in the country tonight. When these teams started in April, it was equal. Calgary had his team. He pulled these kids in. Pope had nothing Tonight LSU Us

Let's bring team the country Oh my gosh I don't know where to start If Pope loses Three in a row We would at least say He's doing the best he can do Yeah

I love this guy Well I You know Here's what you ought to do sir Because I did this As I was waiting for this post game The show If you go to KSR

There's the video of Buzz Williams press conference. And Buzz Williams can be annoying. He was whining about Jackson Robinson and all that. But put that aside. I think he's a good coach, and he's a smart guy. And Buzz Williams was talking about studying Mark Pope's offense.

And he said, I get actual real joy out of studying Mark Pope's offense to get ready for this game. And he was saying this very respectfully. So, I mean, I want to be clear, he was being very respectful. But he basically was saying like, he gets these dudes to execute at such a high level. It's unbelievable. And he didn't say this, but implicit, I think,

in what he was saying, sir, is like, this is not an Uber talented team, but he just takes it and they execute to their ability so well that they just become really fun to watch, and he said really fun to scout. It is so refreshing and fun to watch that. We are not watching guys and saying, student has so much potential, I hope he gets to it.

We're watching guys who are giving 100% of what they have, and we're watching, like, everything they have to give is on the floor. And I just, I really think that's refreshing and exciting. So don't you think if he fails, the people of Kentucky would say, but he's giving, this coach is giving us all he has. I don't know. It's hard for me to see, it's hard for me to see him failing. You know what I mean?

I mean, this will be, this will be, okay, this team will be the least amount of basketball, like, well, I don't want to say talent, because they're very talented, but like, we're going to have a lot higher ranked players in the future. Now, will they be better than this? We'll see. But we're going to have a lot higher ranked players. But it's hard for me to see him failing because I feel like, and maybe I'm wrong, again, He hasn't won a tournament game ever, which is, it's important to remember that. He's never won an NCAA tournament game yet.

But it's hard for me to see him failing because he's so smart that, like, I just feel like if something's not working, he'll change. And that'll make it work. You know what I mean? Yeah, oh, yeah. I think no matter what he does at this point, we forgive him because nobody could do anything more than what he's doing for this state. I think we're more forgiving than just wins and losses. Maybe I'm naive. Well, I think we can say that now because we're winning.

If we have a year where we lose, it might be different. Three, three years, maybe. Yeah. No, I appreciate the call. I mean, this year, this year, unless it's a complete collapse, I don't think anybody will be anything but happening. You know, Billy? I mean, like, there was a part of me,

when I thought about these last two games, I think we had, didn't Madison or somebody call and say, somebody called the pregame show before Mississippi State Billy and said, like, is there a chance we don't make the tournament? You remember that? Yeah, yeah, we talked to me. And I thought to myself, no, not likely. But if we were to lose to Mississippi State and A&M with Alabama next,

that would at least be a conversation that you might start having. I don't think you have that conversation now, even if you lose to Alabama. And now it's really about seating and matchups. And, you know, I don't know what's going to happen in the tournament. Tournaments are won and done. But I do know this. We're going to be prepared.

And I've had so much, we're halfway through the year. I've had so much joy with this group that I can't imagine being angry or upset about anything. I might be disappointed, but I don't know how you could be upset. Who's next? Todd is next. Todd, what's up, Todd? Hello, man. I think you should celebrate this win tonight with a good old cold glass of milk.

That's gross. But I can't think of anything worse, but I still will celebrate it. Well, that would be good. Just ask Billy. I wanted to say that I am very thrilled with the improvement on defense tonight. It seemed like we were more aggressive. and grabbing rebounds. Instead of grabbing it and coming straight down,

we turned away from the defender with it and protecting the ball. And I was just really thrilled. You remember there was that play in the first half. I did think we were getting out hustled and out tuffed a little bit in the first half. And there was that play where the A&M player dove on the floor and Braya just kept bending down to try to get it.

Braya just bent over. He just been over. me too and then they went to break and honestly I don't know if if Pope I mean I know a lot of our fans noticed it I I tweet about it but we went there was a timeout and then all of a sudden the next time they I don't I feel like the energy was different after that I wonder if Pope pointed that play out because you're right I felt like after that our effort and toughness was as good as it's been all year right and I hope we We can keep it up.

Yeah, I do too. Thank you for taking my call. Appreciate it. Missouri now up five at, or up six at Florida with two minutes to go. This has to be a huge upset for Missouri to win on the road. You know, Missouri I kind of had as one of the bottom teams in the conference, but they beat Kansas earlier this year. They win at Florida.

Those are two pretty great wins. Maybe you have to start moving Missouri up a tier of the SEC. 859-2-80-2-87. Let's 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.

859-2-80-2287. Cats get a big victory. Nine guys play double-digit minutes tonight. You don't see that a lot, actually. But, you know, right now there's not... One of the problems I thought early in the year is that there would be a significant drop-off when they would go to the second team guys. I don't feel like that's happening as much.

You know, Al-Manoor had six points in the first half. Perry obviously hit those two-threes, and I thought played well. Garrison, I feel like now when they go to the second group, you're not seeing the kind of dramatic down-play. And maybe that's nobody. No one is that true for more than Al-M-M-Nor who obviously, you know, won the game at Mississippi State with his shots. You know, he scored six points when we were having a hard time scoring in the, in the,

in the first half. And then, you know, he wins the boxout award two games in a row. Like that kid has really improved and been a big, big boost to the team in these last two games. Who's next? Yeah, and two games Kobe Bray hasn't played very well. Yeah, I mean, that's part of why I'm excited. They've beaten two top 20 teams.

and I don't even know that we've played great. So I certainly don't think we played great tonight offensively. I actually don't think we played well offensively. Now, we were great defense. I'm not sure this team can play much better defensively and rebounding than they did tonight. Who's next? Brandon.

Brandon, go ahead, Brandon. Hey, can you hear me? Yes, sir. Yes, go ahead. Hey, Matt, first time, long time. Who are? Hey, I just, I got a few things real quick. I just want to say section 241 we sat near the top, but we're up in like Road G or whatever,

and the crowd was crazy tonight. It was amazing. And I got a couple things real quick. Travis Perry gives us really good minutes off the bench. He's ahead of schedule. He's not like a future NBA player by any means, but he is way ahead of schedule. He handles the ball against pressure. He sets screens, and he does.

well. He does what he's supposed to do. He does good for us off the bench. It's interesting. He, he, here's where he is. Here's where he is with me. I, when he first committed, and then when Pope became the coach, I kind of really didn't think we were going to be very good. And so I thought he was going to play a lot. And I thought he, and so then when he first came out, I thought he might be a little disappointing because then I saw how good these older guys were. Now he's kind of getting to kind of where I thought he'd be. A guy coming off the bench playing 8 to 12 minutes, giving you bucket. So I actually think he's kind of right on schedule.

But he is ahead of schedule where I thought he'd be when we watched those first few games of the year where I really didn't think he was going to play at all. And, you know, part of that is Kerr got hurt, which I think is giving him a chance, and he stepped into it. Yeah, when Kerr Kreeza comes back, he's definitely going to still be in the rotation. thing, but Cur's probably not going to come back. Just for the record,

I don't think Kerr's going to come back. I mean, that's just my take. I would be very surprised if we see him the rest of the year. Really? Yeah, I mean, that's just my take. I mean, he's still not walking under his own. Like, he's still not, he's still hopping when he walks.

You know, we're going to be seven weeks from the tournament. Even if he comes back, I don't know how much he's going to play. You know, he's got another year, though, if he wants to. By the way, as does Almanor, under the new rules they both conceivably could come back. But go ahead. In the Clemson game and the Ohio State game, I thought maybe that we would struggle in like muddy games.

But today taught me, because we didn't score 98, 96 points, and we still managed to win the game. Today he taught me we can win in a different manner. We didn't have to score 90 plus to win the game. Yeah, no, I think that's the key. The key takeaway. You only get three things. That was three.

That's a lot. We're going to have to go to other people. I appreciate the call. I mean, I'll take three. I usually like one or two. That was three. But I do appreciate the call. Florida's trying to come back here, 797.

They're going to do it. They have not led this entire game. That'd be brutal loss from Missouri. That'd be a brutal loss from Missouri. Lead the entire game until the last 30 seconds. Who's up next? We have another Todd on the line. Todd.

By the way, that was the line. I guess it didn't get fixed, right? The one that pops? Did you hear that? I heard it a lot on that one, but that was not the same line as last time. But I did hear it. Oh, no, that's not a good sign. All right.

Who's up next? Todd. Todd. Todd. Todd. Hey. Hey, what's up? So, Pope, I was in Mexico, and I heard Pope was our coach, and I was kind of like dumbfounded by it.

And I was like, whatever. but he really brings patino ball back to Kentucky. It's fun to watch. It's Petino Ball, though, updated for the modern era. People hate Patino. Yeah, but it's not, but it's Petino Ball. I kind of love it. I mean, he.

Okay, good. I'm 45. I'm 45. He brought Kentucky back for me as a young kid. It's Patino Ball, though, for the modern era, because it is he is he is not just he's not like we don't press for instance which was a big part of patino stuff because you can't really do that anymore guys are too good of ball handlers so he is running motion sets it's not you know when tino was shooting threes he in arkansas

we're like the only one's doing that and now everybody does it but he runs these these sets that are just different and they get guys open and include back cuts it's almost like a mixture of the way Patino plays with a little bit of the Princeton offense, with backdoor cuts and and overplays. And I just, it's so, it's really high level basketball. I just love how he plays through his big men. Yeah, I appreciate the call. I don't, I don't know, you know, with Amari and Brandon, like sometimes, you know, you go, man, they dribble a lot. They also, like, when they're up at the top of the key, it opens up the court so much. So, I mean, Pope kind of knows what he's doing.

And wait until he gets big guys that he gets to train in that system. Remember, these dudes played in other systems last year. Wait, wait till he gets guys who he gets them from moment one and does it. I think that's going to be even better. Who's next? Randy. Randy, go ahead, Randy. Hey, Matt.

I think it was a couple years ago after a rough South Carolina loss that I called and was very emotional on the radio. It's amazing what a different. two years will make for us as Kentucky fans because, you know, the adjustments that Mark Pope makes as a coach, he changes everything up, and we're three and one, the SEC, you know, nobody knew where we's going to be with this group. And, I mean, they're just an exciting bunch. The crowd tonight was amazing. And I just, I don't want to wish my life away, but I can't wait to March. I'll hang up and listen, sir. Thank you. I mean, I, I, I, I, I,

I don't think I've ever said this before, and I appreciate the call. I don't, like, I'm not looking forward to March because I really enjoy this team playing. I want to keep watching them. You know what I mean? Like, I don't want it to end. I look forward to these games. Last few years, if I'm being honest, I did not look forward to most games. I found them brutal, you know.

Last year's team was a little better because I really liked Antonio Reeves, Reed, Rob was fun. So last year's team was a little more fun. fun to watch. But a lot of these teams last few years have not been fun to watch. And I look forward to this group, man. I mean, they're just fun. Like, they seem like good guys. And that whole ability to get a greater hole than some of the parts is just a really, really cool thing. Missouri's got a free throw here, Billy, that if they hit, they're going to be hard for Florida to beat them. We'll see if he makes it. Let's see. It's up. And good. So they're up four. 28 seconds to go. Who's next? So you're saying right about at the time I joined the post game show is when you stopped enjoying watching Kentucky basketball games.

Yeah, that correlation was probably correct. But no, I mean, I enjoyed, look, it's not like I hated it. But the games were tedious, man. It's like, it felt like, I mean, it's like, honestly, it's like watching Arkansas play right now. Like every basket, it's a slog. That's what it was. And now they're just so free-flowing. When they're just so free-flowing. When they're have one or two plays where they get bogged down, you're like, oh, this is weird. And then he usually calls time out. And next thing you know, they're right back to the flow. Let's do one more and we'll take our final break. Who's next? Kevin. Kevin, go ahead, Kevin.

Matt, great to hear from you as always. I always like to think that the KSR postgame show is sort of like going to the DMV in the sense that, you know, it takes all types. I love it. It is absolutely the best. I mean, but going to the DMVs, no one likes that. Well, I said in the regard of the fact that you get, it's all tight, you know, you get all sorts of different. Okay, all right.

I love that. It's a lot of, it's a lot of time. All right. Got you. Any case. Tonight, I think the biggest takeaway, one, we got to find out what is going on with Lamont Butler's shoes. I don't think I've ever seen a guy have more blowouts in my life than this guy. I mean, his shoes are slipping out from under him every other play.

He does slip a lot. I hadn't thought about that. but you're right. And he gets hit in the face a lot, too. I don't know. He needs to move his face back and maybe he's wearing those shoes eye and wore it Duke. I don't know. He's a handsome guy. I don't want, I don't want the complexion getting banged up too much. But I got to say, shout out Jackson Robinson, found his edge, I feel like, tonight. Getting in that little extra curricula with buzz, unbelievable. I feel like he needed that. We needed to see that killer attitude from him. That that was what we need it big time i just need to know what that what that drama is because there's certainly

some drama there because like that was uh that was a little personal and when he did it twice after having gotten the technical the first time that means it was uh it was extra special i appreciate the call i listen jackson robinson the last two games that's two games in a row where he's looked like a star and i continue to believe for this team to be great jackson it has to be great, and he's been great these last two games. So I really like that kid. Kind of like with Antonio Reeves last year. I think I like him even more than he is good,

just because for some reason I just really want him to succeed. And I really like watching him play. Man, he's not Braia, but he's close in terms of when he's open. That thing is good. It looks like Missouri is going to beat Florida on the road. That's a huge. huge surprise. 8379.

Well, I guess they're about to, it's not over yet, but for the most part, it is. We'll take a break 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. You know something I just realized, Billy, that I had forgotten. There's a guy named John Neighbors who does a daily show, a daily Arkansas show. Okay.

And he's always been nice to me going back. however long he's done it five or six years i think i've been on this show a few times and uh he's coming to town for the for the kentucky game and he asked me i guess he's getting here thursday morning he asked me if he could do his afternoon arkansas show at the bar on thursday and i said you know sure if you want to i mean he needs a place to do it and it's like at like three in the afternoon or something like that and now he asked me that like maybe when he thought they'd be good. I wonder what that'll be like now.

He can just interview Kentucky fans all the time if he wants. Or we could all just bring him thank you gifts. That'd be a miserable show doing that in enemy territory too. You think we could all bring him thank you gifts. That would actually be nice. It'd be like a peace offering to the Arkansas host. That would be nice. Thank you for taking $40 million off of our books and helping us out.

Who's up next? James is next. James, go ahead, James. Yeah, this is James from Johnson County, first time caller. Who are? Yeah, I was, uh, took my son tonight to his first, uh, basketball game, and we had a, we had a great time. Uh, it was great atmosphere.

We, we, uh, really, uh, really enjoyed watching them, uh, play, uh, hard on defense and, uh, do a lot better on rebounding. And, uh, I have one question, uh, we do, uh, uh, car. seems to be not getting a whole lot of minutes. And I know he was getting a back heat at Mississippi State, and he seemed to be stiff tonight, a little bit stiff. No, he's clearly got a back. He's got like a back spasm or something like that.

He's got some kind of back issue that is, I think he's had a lot of the year, but it's apparently been worse. He was on the injury report the last two games. I think it was Jack Givens, who's around practice every day, said after the game that Andrew basically wants to get through the Alabama game and then, you know, we have a week off. We don't have a midweek game next week and then rest it during that. So, no, he's definitely hindered a little bit with his back. And, you know, if you've ever had back pain, you know that can linger for sometimes. Yeah, definitely, definitely.

but he just seemed to be a little stiff and we was uh that we would just figure and uh we would ask about him and see if you knew uh no i appreciate any further than yeah yeah i think i think he's going to be for taking my call appreciate the call i hope he i hope he ends up uh getting better and you know i mean look he's still playing pretty well considering the pain i mean he's it clearly has affected his jumping and his quickness. But, you know, when he gets the ball in the paint, he's made, he's finished on some, both in Mississippi State and the night, some big place. Yeah, Goose called him the key to the second half.

Oh, he did? Yeah, really. Did he say why? Yeah, because they put him in different action, I guess. They put him up top instead of Amari, and that led to them scoring a little bit more. Okay. Well, there you go. Goose knows more than I do.

five more and we'll go to bed who's next Todd Todd go ahead Todd hey Matt I appreciate you taking my call I called after the Georgia game and kind of got on Robinson a little bit so I'll gladly come on here and eat my crow if he's going to keep continue playing like that um well I mean those are three big games there's three big games with this Mississippi State and Gonzaga that we don't win any of the three of them if he doesn't have big games so while he's not going to do this every game. I do think he deserves some praise for us. Three of our five biggest wins of the year have really been directly attributable to how he's played. Yeah, yeah, and you're right. I really think he's the, kind of the key to the team. He's that one guy that we kind of got that can get his own or create

for someone else. You're exactly right. It was good to get a, to get a win without Butler and OA playing overall really good. I mean, they did, they played okay. I mean, especially did. I mean, defensively, but offensively, they were pretty russed tonight. A question, though, is with Butler, to me, he seems to over-penetrate or to get too deep a lot of times for his size. Is that something coach, want him to do, like, lay-up or three? I don't know. He misses a lot of layups. He misses a lot of lay-ups, and I think you're right that he misses a lot of them, and he gets blocked a lot, probably because he gets so deep.

I did notice, and I appreciate the call. One of them, he missed the free throws, but he's been, tonight he drew a couple more fouls, which is what I think he's actually pretty good at if he wants to. But finishing is an issue with him. And it surprises me a little bit because he's, you know, he feels like he can handle contact. He clearly gets hit a lot, but he does struggle finishing. And he has all year.

but but you know he's a tough kid and defensively we got to have him four more who's next Dave Dave Dave what's up Dave taking my call I just I know you got to talk a lot about how the SEC is so tough this year and to really kind of be expecting you know a team that has a lot of losses to do well in the tournament and I was thinking about I get encouragement about that because I was thinking about wasn't Dan Hurley's first Yukon championship didn't they go through the Big East and they had a bad record going into the lost. I think they lost. Well, they had a good record. I think they were like a four seed. But I think maybe in January or early February, they may have lost like four straight games

or something. And then they got really hot at the end of the year. I think they came in as a four seed, but we're playing as well as anybody in the country at the end of the year. And it wouldn't shot me if there's an SEC team like that, right? That gets. Yeah. I'm sorry. No, go ahead. Yeah, I was thinking like, I remember Dan Hurley was saying in a press conference, like the Big East prepared us for this, and I was just thinking about, I'm not saying we're going to win a national title, and we're definitely exceeding expectations. But, man, I'm just encouraged about that because I think the SEC is definitely the best conference. And Kentucky, I think if Final Four is definitely reasonable for real.

Oh, wait, we're certainly going to be a contender for it. I agree. And I appreciate the call. And that year, the Big East was really, really good. that was two years ago and I don't remember but there were a bunch of teams that year the Big East

was really good and you're right that was kind of how that Yukon team was I you know what's crazy is

okay we've won five games against teams in the top 15 but what if I told you Billy I think we're going to play six more games against teams in the top 50 six more

two against Tennessee two against Alabama, one against Auburn, and then I think by then Old Miss might be in the top 50. It's unbelievable. You know, so we're going to take, I mean, we're three and one in conference. We still got two against Alabama, two against Tennessee, one against Auburn, one at Old Miss. We still got six really hard games.

And that doesn't even count like at Missouri, you know, at Vandy, you know, other games that like if you're not ready, you could lose. So there's still a lot of at Texas, at Oklahoma. I mean, it's not going to get easier in any of these games. And we're going to take a bunch of losses, which is why I think when you can, you got to hold serve at home and you got to steal a couple on the road

and we've done that in the last week. What was it? Three more. Three more. Who's next? Bones is next. Bones. Go ahead, Bones.

Hey, what's going on, man? Thanks for taking my call. What a great win tonight, man. Just another great win. It was exciting. Finally got back to Rupp since 2018, and man, that place jumps now. It was just a really exciting game. But just two quick things, man.

I was really, really, really impressed with Travis Perry, but it wasn't his offense. He actually started to show his defense and wasn't such a liability. He had a big steal. It was on the floor. You can tell his confidence. is growing fast. And then the other thing is I was talking to somebody the other day and about the officiating. I don't want to sit here and complain, but that's like three games with a lot of phantom

crazy calls. And I know the coaches can't really criticize it. I think there ought to be some kind of like, I guess I don't know what you're going to call punishment rule, whatever, that the NCAA after each game reviews. And obviously you're going to miss some calls. But they should have started putting notice on these guys about the egregious calls. Maybe like, hey, here's your warning. Here's your second warning.

And if it happens a third time, you know, there's got to be some kind of fine. But it'll also help them to keep an eye on which officials constantly do it or whatever. But that's all I got, man. Go, Kat. Appreciate the call. I didn't think the officiating was bad tonight. There was one bad call against Amari early in the game, if you remember that? Which one was that?

He was just, he was mugged in the corner, and they called an offensive foul on him. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I didn't like that call. You're right. But I also noticed in like two of the first four place, Andrew Carr and Amari threw a guy out of balance both. They did. And they didn't call any day.

I actually thought the officiating was, you'll listen. I mean, I could get every call right. Like they're just like they're not. What I think is the mark of bad officiating is when it is clear an official does not like a coach, which I don't think is going to happen to us with Mark Pope. I can't imagine an official not. And there were guys that did not like hell. And then I also hate when it's like inconsistent,

like they're calling everything and then they're calling nothing and then they're calling everything. That's what bothers. That's what drives me crazy. And I didn't feel like any of that was really the case tonight. The only thing that really annoyed me was calling those technicals. I mean, I didn't complain when they called it on A&M, but they probably shouldn't have called it on them.

And then the one on Jackson was just stupid. You got to let guys have fun. Who's next? Trey. Trey, what's up, Trey? What's going on, Phyllis? Hey, so, Matt, we talked about this. I don't know.

It was last week about how many opportunities Kentucky's going to get to correct this whole physicality in the league. And here we are now. Yeah, two games back to back when they've done it. Yep. Exactly. Hey, so I've been thinking about this for a while. Let's do a hypothetical real quick. All right.

Does Kentucky under John Calipari with this current regime and they beat Duke this year? All right. So, I mean, you'd have to figure out like, okay, who's the roster, right? This exact roster. With this roster? Oh, Cal would have been terrible with this. roster.

I mean, with this roster, he would have been awful. Now, if you take the roster, if you take the roster, he would have had, which I still don't think would have been a good roster. But if you take the roster, he would have had, he'd be better. I can't imagine a group of players he'd have been worse with than this one, because his whole theory of offense is beat your man off the dribble. And we don't really have any guys who do that. So we would have been terrible.

Okay Gensaga No we wouldn't want any of those games I mean we'd be O and four in conference probably right now No we would Exactly my point Yeah we'd be O and Four in Conference I'm gonna finish out with Mississippi State and A&M

Yeah we'd be O and Four in Convin With this roster But he would to be fair to him He wouldn't recruit this roster Like this is not a rock He I don't think there's any guy on this team That would be on one of his teams The better question is let's say he had the roster

that he would have had here, which is basically the roster that he has at Arkansas minus take out Trayvon, Brazil, and maybe put in somebody else. I don't know. Would he, we'd be having the same result, you know, so. Okay. Hey, how about this?

On a contrarian thought, what would Mark Pope do? He wouldn't be good with Calpard roster. He wouldn't be good with it either, though. because he needs guys who can shoot, and that's a team full of guys that can't shoot. So now, there are dudes on that team that would play better for Pope. Like, John L. Davis would be better with Pope because he's just lost down there.

And, you know, Pope considered trying to get him. John L. Davis would be a lot better off here. But, like, again, trying to be fair, a kid like, you know, Jackson Robinson or Andrew Carr's not even going to play for Cal, right? So, like, there's, it's just, you know, they just recruit different kind of dudes. No, that's good food for thought. And, hey, lastly, I'm no genius when I come to this. But with the phone popping and everything like that, I do work for the telecommunication company.

You guys probably have damaged copper on your, on your line. So have somebody look at damaged copper. All right. I appreciate the call. Will you tell Gus and Nathan to look for the damage copper, Billy? Yeah, but we don't have phone lines. We do this all on, like, digitally. But there's probably something in there that's copper.

I mean, there has to be something, right? Like it's digital, but like there's a phone somewhere, isn't it? Yeah. I don't know what I'm talking about. Like, the only thing I know about copper is that people in the mountains steal it. That's all you know about copper? Yeah, it's people like go up. You know, when I was a lawyer, I remember.

represented a certain power company, and people were always stealing our copper. And sometimes they would hurt themselves stealing the copper, and then they'd sue us. How can they do that? Well, they couldn't. I'd win. There you go. I really only had one of those cases, but we won. I'll tell you that story one day.

Probably shouldn't say it on the year. Who's next? Last one, Barry. Barry. Go ahead, Barry. Hey, Matt. I would try to be coherent air. I had a whiskey fee fit. I forgot it's full proof a little while ago.

But the question I have is, with a 14 and 3 record, do the three kind of considered kind of bad losses way more than the good wins? No, the NCAA, because you may remember many years ago, I don't know how long you've been listening to this, but in 2013, I was part of the NCAA. They do this media mock bracket process where they bring the media up and teach them about how brackets go. and they bring like 15 every year, and they picked me that year, and it was oddly the year Kentucky didn't make the tournament. But I went through the process, and it was very interesting. It was very instructive on how they do it. But basically, they obviously consider who you beat and who you lost.

But when it comes down to it, if there's a tie break, they are more interested in who you beat than who you lost to. Does that make sense? So I think a win is worth maybe one and a half points more than a bad loss. So if we were going to lose three games and win, or if we were going to lose three games, we've done it the right way. We've beaten the good teams.

Well, that's what I was thinking. I would rather have these good wins and forget about the bad loss. You don't want to take the one thing you don't want to do, you get punished for taking bad losses. So like you don't get punished for losing at Georgia, that will not be a punishment. At Clemson will not be a punishment. The Ohio State game will probably be a little bit of a punishment because it's a neutral court and we got crushed and they're not good. So the Ohio State game is probably the only game that on Selection Sunday they will hold against us at this point at all.

But we will way outweigh it with these wins. I'm so excited. This team seems to every game they seem to fix an issue that they had previously. And I think by the end of the year, you know, with the defense we played tonight and with, You know, it just seems like it seems going in the right direction. I love his coaching and the way he fixes things. And it's exciting. Totally agree with you.

Appreciate the call. I still don't know how we lost an Ohio State game like we did, Billy. How do we lose that game by 20 points? Georgia in Ohio. Georgia and Clemson, I understand. Their home court, crowds crazy. I get it. How did we lose by 20 to Ohio State?

I don't know. I mean, the bench play has stepped up a lot since then. Rebounding's gotten a lot better. But that's going to be one of those that you're like. Like, I remember one year, I think last time Duke won the title, they lost that year at home to like Miami by 25. And I was like, how did that happen? I wonder if that'll be like that with this game.

Hey, folks, thank you all very much for listening. We will be back tomorrow morning at KS Bar. This has been the local Toyota 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.

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