Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
From the Tri Countyboard dot com studios. This is Sports
Talk seven nine day. It's time for coffee and company,
fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine day. Now
here's Nick coffee.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
All right, let's get it start at five o'clock hour
here on a Monday afternoon. Hopefully you had yourselves a
very good Thanksgiving break. I assume everybody got a break,
but I know that's not the reality of it. A
lot of people probably had to work the day after
Thanksgiving or maybe over the weekend. I guess technically I
worked over the weekend, but it didn't feel like it
felt great to be able to go on the air
on Saturday after Louisville reclaimed the Governor's Cup. But then
(00:52):
there's other people that probably work Thanksgiving because you know,
there's certain jobs that you don't get days off. So
I'm very thankful that I had a good Thanksgiving and
thanking that I got to spend a lot of time
with the family. You'll know this at some point in
your life, Austin. But when you spend four straight days
with your with your kids, yeah, and you're just as
a family, you know, just NonStop around each other. It's
(01:14):
it's it's wholesome and it's great. But then you kind
of like, you know, you remind yourself. Man, the kids
go back to school Monday, this goes back to daycare.
I could kind of need a little breathing room. But
then you get to Monday and you miss them. And
that's that's kind of how it is today for me.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
So always, how I always hear how how they say,
you know, kids are the greatest blessing I guess you
can have in your life. And I mean I grew
up with a brother and sister and you know, they
have so many days off fall break, this break or whatnot,
so it it's fun to spend time with them while
they're in the house. But then like after four or
five days of it, and where I'm like, shouldn't you
be in school?
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Yeah, And then you do it and then you'll end
up missing them. Yeah. It's just usually how it works.
That's that's how it works. So gross, I'm glad. I'm
I'm glad to be back to because I love the holidays.
Who doesn't, right, you get some time off, you can
just spend time with family. Thanksgivings great. Tab absolutely can't
wait for Christmas. But I am someone that is so
dependent upon routine and structure to where like if I'm not,
(02:08):
like if I've got a short week or you know,
just different things going on, I just feel like I'm
out of rhythm. But I love being back here to
start a week, and you know, we'll be here all week,
so hopefully you guys will be with us. But we've
all you know, it's just nice to get It's nice
to start this week knowing that I've you know, we
got the monkey off our back. We were able to
finally break the streak. And I say we like I
(02:29):
was out there making plays. I mean, I would have
been out there if Jeff needed me anything he wants.
I mean, I think one of the times I've asked,
remember who might have been Michael Bush? Asked Michael Bush
we were at a golf course doing a show on
tom and asked him, you know, if you were coaching, like,
how would you utilize me if I was on the roster?
And he told me I could be the guy that
runs and picks up the tee after they kick it off.
(02:49):
And I felt very humbled to know, like, yeah, that
probably would be the best fit for me. Cup My
got cup did gass me up when Tom and said
he could hide me on special teams, and I really
appreciated that. Be a gunner something like that, just running around,
like just run down and not have any contact with
the once like the play's over, like the kickoff's over,
then you bounce around like you did something like That's
what all special teams guys seem to go.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Dap up the person that's like the zone.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Did you know the cameras on them because they got
to stop, So you just go to run there and
you know, slap their helmet like yeah, just so you
can tell people like I don't get in the game,
but you saw me out there. I was bringing the energy.
I could go on the highlight reel exactly. It'd be great,
like if you were in the portal and like that's
all that was in your in your highlights that you
were sending out, like your tape, like you just sent
tape of you finding the guy who made the play
(03:33):
on Special teams just to gas him up. Like that
would be if I was a coach and somebody sent
me that I might let that guy come and walk
on or just take a scholarship that we weren't going
to use because like I could appreciate the effort there or.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Being the guy that's like so close to him, but
the kick goes to them anyways, and you're the one
kind of telling them to take the knee.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Oh yeah, that's huge.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
That's that's a big role there, Actually teammate right there.
Think about that's what teammates are for, no doubt about it.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
And and it's.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
Not like you weren't out there, but you were selected
upon a few of a journalist here in Louisville to
give you your Courrier journal prediction. Now, then what was
that prediction? Again? Was that did the game turnout as closed?
When't it like thirty seven seventeen or something?
Speaker 2 (04:12):
So my prediction I put twenty seven sixteen for Louisville.
And here's what I gave John Hale to use in
my inclusion in the media predictions for the Governor's Cup game,
Louisville twenty seven Kentucky sixteen. And this is what I wrote.
Louisville has proven they can score points. Jeff Browns offenses
(04:33):
averaging thirty six points per game overall thirty two points
per game against four Top twelve teams. The Cards defense
has been shaky at times. Both they'll do enough to
contain Kentucky's offense, which ranks dead last in the SEC.
So I was wrong. Louisville scored forty one and could
have scored sixty, and Kentucky scored fourteen, and they did
earn those fourteen points. I mean, I'll give them that.
It was a really good play. In fact, two really
(04:54):
good balls that were thrown by Gavin Wimsat, who was
thrown into the game because Cutter Bowlie hurt. So you know,
Kentucky and I said this at the beginning of the show,
the best feeling is relief from Saturday, knowing that you
now have reclaimed bragging rights and you don't have to
hear them live in their own world of delusion as
(05:16):
if their football program was anything special. And I'm not
here to tell Louisville's a special program, but I mean
them winning five in a row and being able to
say scoreboard, it gave them a false sense of accomplishment.
And it really was the best example I can think
of in the rivalry where we were your super Bowl
(05:36):
and they can act like no, no, but like there's
evidence that says otherwise. You can't point to anything you've
done in most of the stoop seasons that were successful,
that was any big deal, Like you just didn't suck
like you once did. You took advantage of teams that
were firing coaches that season and you beat them, like
you know, and now those programs, a lot of them
have caught back up and passed you by by mile.
(06:00):
So without a win against them, it just kind of
felt like they were gonna continue to live in their
own alternate universe and we would just have to hear it.
I mean, you could, you know. I know Louisville fans
do go back and forth with them all the time,
and I don't blame you, but like when they can
go scoreboard, it just makes it like, can we can
we eliminate that factor? And look, they're still gonna We're
still gonna rival, They're still gonna act like there's you know,
(06:21):
this is one out of the last six games. Congratulations,
you feel good you beat a one, because again I
already know, like, yes, we do feel good. I don't
have to check the text line. I know there's people claiming, like,
how is that where your super Bowl? You beat a
one in subbing Kentucky team and Yeah, we didn't do
anything special. We just we just finally got the cup
back and we'll probably keep it for a long time
and then you'll go back to realizing who has been
(06:41):
the better football program in our lifetime? I mean any
by the way, Like again, I'm not gonna these results happen,
So therefore I can't sit here and tell you know
that it's fake news and this these are just games
that didn't actually happen. Although like, who out there can
prove to me that Kentucky beat Louisville in nineteen thirty team,
nobody around to tell me. There's no evidence of it.
(07:02):
We just claimed that it happened. I mean, I'm baking
a bad joe. Clearly it did happen. But like when
the rivalry restarted in nineteen ninety four. Before that, you know,
the last time they played one hundred years ago today, wow,
nineteen twenty four they played in Kentucky won, because Kentucky
won the first I guess seven when they played from
(07:24):
nineteen twelve to nineteen twenty four. From then on, Louisville
still went into the game this past Saturday with the
lead in the modern series. Despite losing five in a row.
I mean, but they felt superior. Why because they started
beating Louisville. And to be fair, they did beat Louisville
at times when Louislle was pretty good, but like you know,
(07:45):
they also beat Louisville when Sadderfield was here. They also
beat Louislle when Bobby Patrino got fired and they had
a guy named Whammy or Wham wham as the end.
I'm not kidding you go back and look it up.
The guy who Lorenzo something took over as interim coach
because Bobby got canned and got that. Louisville had a
tight end fighting one of the coaches on the sideline.
It was a mess. And again like Kentucky was a mess. Saturday,
(08:05):
they had guy's going to the concession stand. How about
I talked about that yet today That's all the funniest
things I've ever seen.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
I saw that earlier.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
I had a gummy on Saturday evening and I finally
saw that picture that had been circulating for a while.
Somebody said, have you seen the guy at the concession stand?
I'm like no, And I couldn't stop laughing, Like I
thought was hilarious, And I don't know why it was
as funny as it was. Probably the gummy was a
big factor. But I'm just saying, like, you know, like
I know that they've been embarras, they were embarrassing, and
they hated their team this year and we beat a
(08:33):
bad team, Like I know all that, But the relief
is just knowing that, like we now should keep this
thing on our side for a while and then they
can still claim that they were on top from two
thousand and what two thousand and six, Yeah, from let's
see here they Yeah, Well, the reason it looks funky
(08:56):
is because in fact, the only one four in a
row because one was vacated. The one they went in
twenty twenty one didn't happen according to Wikipedia. So when
I say that they they, I mean Stoops got the
bag where he ain't leaving a nine million dollar a
year job because nobody would pay him close to that.
His buyout is insane. Which here's a detail that I've
(09:16):
heard enough UK media reference it to where I believe it,
but I haven't seen proof, and I don't need to
see proof. But he fleeced Mitch Barnhart, not only with
the contract that really wasn't deserving of the amount of money,
not to say he should be fired, but like to
give him that much. Nobody was gonna pay Mark Stoops
that much money. The only school that was remotely ever
interested in Stoops that would have taken him realized what
(09:37):
they were getting into and backed out, and God bless
their happy they did. That's Texas A and M last year.
So like, you got to make it right to where
he doesn't look to leave because you want to keep him,
but you also have to understand where is he going
to go? Like if Stoops's agent put fear into Barnhart
to give him that contract and to give him that situation,
(09:58):
and I buy this detail. A lot of guys like Bobby.
We could pay Bobby, and we could pay Chris Mack
over time when they got bought out. Right, if you
fire Mark Stoops, he's owned forty four million dollars in
full in thirty days. Like nobody's gonna fire a coach
that can do that. Nobody. So like you're stuck with him.
So like the contract just wasn't necessary. But there was
(10:19):
a new life within Kentucky football. One they weren't terrible
and they were actually at times not only just really
good for Kentucky's standard historically, but also pretty good, like
they were not a bad team at all, but it
didn't warrant the rays that he got. But I think
because they also started to kind of own the state
(10:39):
in football, that made it to where, okay, we can't
lose this. Like I think a caller earlier said this,
and we'll never know. Only one person can answer it,
and that's Minch Bartnhart will never hear from him because
like he just doesn't exist. He's a guy in charge,
but like you never hear him receiving I mean, like
he doesn't do any kind of media availability. You know,
he's just kind of sitting back doing his own thing.
And he got lucky as hell that Cal bailed him
(11:01):
out and just left and found a new job that's
gonna pay him a lot of money. That didn't happening
with Stoops. So to give him what they gave him,
like it clearly wasn't a good thing to do. It's
one thing to like say, well consider what you would
because I hear this a lot. Well, hey, if you
think Cal's about to go to UCLA, what are you
gonna do if Stoops? You know, because the time he
got his extension. I don't really know what jobs were
(11:22):
coming after him, because again this is puts it in perspective.
Nobody's ever come after your coach. I think your his
agent made Barnhart scared that that was happening, but it
never happened, Like is he I mean Florida State had
a courtesy because he was the DC. They had a
conversation with him, but they didn't interview when they didn't from
the job, Like he doesn't mean he's a bad coach,
but for him to be one of the top ten
(11:43):
highest paid coaches in the country and have a forty
four million dollar buyout at Kentucky with those results is
flat out in confidence from an ad And when people say, well,
what was he supposed to do? Let him walk? Where's
he going? And with Cal, maybe Cal would have left
call the bluff. You can give him a new deal,
but don't give him a lifetime contract where he's entitled
(12:04):
to that ambassador role. Like that's just crazy. And again,
Barnhart was lucky that Cal found a landing spot. He's
not gonna be lucky with Stoops. He's gonna have to
have Stoops succeed or you know, he's gonna be there
for a long time and fans are gonna be not
interested in football and probably blaming, Like the blame will
if Stoops is back next year and they're remotely as
(12:24):
bad as they were this year, He's still gonna get criticized,
But that heat's gonna shift to Barnhart and it already
kind of has in a way, but like it's gonna
be like because football needs to be successful. Football is
important in Kentucky. Again, this is Stoop to Stoops his credit.
He actually gave them a sign of what life can
be like if your football program isn't in the gutter,
(12:46):
and it clearly is beneficial for every program within your
university as far as every sport. But their momentum has
never seemed worse than it is right now, and their
competition's only getting better, right like Shane Beemer owns him now,
make no mistake about it, he does. Florida, I mean
Florida all year one of their coach fired. They finished strong,
(13:08):
obviously compared to what they were supposed to do, but
like Florida in a year where like if you were
going to beat Florida, this was the year they beat
you bad, beat you by twenty eight, Auburn didn't win
a game in the SEC till they played Kentucky like
and these are programs that, again, historically speaking, more often
than not, if you're gonna beat some of these teams,
I'm mentioning, you're gonna have to beat them while they're
(13:28):
down right like, you're gonna have to beat them when
they're struggling. They're not really like Vandy. Vandy is superior
than you right now, and again, it can all change
in a year. There's there's examples of teams out there
that absolutely have been able to use the portal and
really just kind of, you know, flip it quickly, and
maybe that happens with stoops, but it really didn't look
like it's gonna happen. All right, quick break, We'll come
(13:49):
back on the other side, talk a little basketball. I
still view the Battle for Atlantis despite that loss to
Oklahoma and it was right there. I still view the
Battlefort Lanta has a real big positive for this team.
But man, losing case in Pryor is tough, and there's
many many tough games left, not only on the schedule
for the year, but I mean like in the next
(14:10):
few weeks they got a big game tomorrow night, taking
on Chris Beard and Ole Miss, so we'll get into
that in a lot more. Keep it lock right here.
It's coffee and Company. Felbout Thornton's on Sports Talk seven.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Ninety Now back to Coffee and Company. Fueled by Thornton's
on Sports Talk seven nine day Man.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Every time I refresh Twitter during the breaks, the majority
of what I see posted is a report or a
player himself declaring they're entering the transfer portal. That's what
this day is going to look like. I think every
year the first Monday, or maybe some I mean sometimes
you can see it happen right after a game, but
I think Monday, the Monday following the regular season finale
(14:48):
for college football teams, will be the day where a
lot of players make it public that they're intending to
enter the portal. I don't think it actually opens up
until later in the week, But for Louisville, I could
have missed one. But the only one I know of
right now now is Donald Cheney, Miami running back, who
you know, wish him the best. But when you are
or a fourth year senior and you're falling, you're falling
(15:09):
back on the depth chart because it's clearly become two freshmen.
I mean, I don't know why any running back. And
I hate saying this because you know you want to
have depth. But if you're in the portal, and or
even if you're a high school recruit and you know
what Louisville has with Isaac Brown and Duke Watson, I
mean I could get why you wouldn't consider Louisville. And
(15:30):
if you're on the roster and you're behind those guys,
and there again, eighteen year old true freshman, I can
totally see why he would look to leave. So that
does open up some Nile money and it opens up
a scholarship, which obviously Jeff Brom's going to use both
those things to try to go build this roster for
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all right, So back to basketball. I know we've talked
(17:36):
a lot about it throughout the show, but we've got
our five o'clockers out there that are probably just now
with us. Maybe they're just getting off work or whatever
it is they're doing that. Maybe didn't hear that, and
maybe don't even know the big news. The big news
is not good news, it's bad news. And that's the
case in pryor out for the year with the torn
acl I feared that was exactly what happened, really as
soon as he went down, and he'll have surgery and
(17:57):
be out this season. People have asked me about is
he going to take a medical red shirt? I don't know.
He will be able to qualify for a red shirt
if he wants to, because he and maybe they changed
the rules. But in football it's you know, you play
four games and that's it. You play more than that,
then it counts as a year. In basketball, I think
it's the percentage of games your team plays, So him
(18:19):
playing in what six games, seven games, maybe it'll still
fall below the percentage that it's always been in place
with basketball when it comes to being granted a medical
red shirt because you played in such few games. So yeah,
he played in seven games this year, and Louisville will
play more than thirty, so he'll be able to do
it if he wants to. What I don't know is
(18:41):
will he want to and if he does, will he
come back to Louisville. I think he's somebody that you'd
want to keep around for sure, if you can. But
he's also one of those guys that the recent trend
tells me he'd stick around in college because he'll play
and he'll make money, and his professional career he's going
to have one probably isn't in the NBA therefore, or
he might be more comfortable, and he might. I mean, look,
(19:02):
he's gonna play on national TV in college and make
a lot of money. I mean I would do that
before getting into the pro game elsewhere, because you know,
I mean, people can do what they want. But you see,
guys now stay in college longer and stay as long
as they possibly can because of this new world that
we're in. So Cayson's been in college a long time.
He's actually a guy that started his career at Boise State.
(19:23):
I think people don't realize that, but yeah, he started
his career at Boise and it's a true freshman there
and didn't get a whole lot of didn't get a
whole lot of run, didn't play a whole lot and
then he went JUCO and I think he played two
years at Juco because of the COVID year, and then
he really kind of blossomed. Blake became a really good
player a little later in life than a lot of
(19:43):
guys do. And he ended up going to South Florida
and was a part of their really successful season a
year ago, was a big factor for their team. So yeah,
he's been in colle In fact, I'm sorry. He was
at Boise for two years and never played more than
four minutes per game, only played in thirteen games and
in two years there, then went Juco and then at
South Borider really kind of broke out last year and
(20:05):
ended up at Louisville in the portal. So he may
be one of those guys that's just been in college
so long he might just want to start his pro career.
He's probably a lot older than most college players. But again,
it wouldn't shock me in any way if he decides
to stick in college for another year, because again, there's
money to be made, and he'll he'll probably play a
lot for wherever he chooses to play, and I would
hope that it is here here at Louisville. So losing
(20:26):
him stinks, there's no way around it. But I am
not as gloom and doom about it as as some
you know, I don't. I mean, I'm only referencing the
people that I've heard on on you know, the call
in of the show, or that have you know, been
on Twitter and whatnot, and you know that's I need
to remind myself, as I remind other people of this
a lot as well. That's that can it can be tricky,
(20:49):
that can that can appear to be something that you
know you just can't help but think represents a huge
amount of people because you know, it's a constant thing.
You're refreshing Twitter all the time. But a lot of
people who have wrong opinions that are fans, they don't
they're not active on Twitter because a lot of people aren't.
So I don't want to make it sound as if
the entire fan base is gloom and doom thinking this
team's going to be underwhelming now that they lost Prior.
(21:11):
But I did see at least a few people who
act like this can't be salvage, and I just totally disagree.
I don't know how good they're gonna be. I don't
know goo they were gonna be with Prior, because you
just still you know, I think the Bahamas was a
really really good sign that they were able to get it.
They were able to beat Indiana the way they did,
and then they were able to win a game against
a good West Virginia team that was able to dictate pace.
You beat. You beat West Virginia at their game, and
(21:35):
I think that that is a really good sign for
this team. Now, I think you had a chance to
beat Oklahoma at their game, but obviously you fell short
and that was unfortunate. But no doubt in my mind,
that was a positive experience for this team. And it's
got me more optimistic about the rest of this year
because before they got to the Bahamas and played Indiana,
you only had one game to really know anything of
and you got blown out by Tennessee. And now here
(21:57):
you are, a week removed from your trip to the Bahamas,
and you went two out of three. You now find
yourself in the top thirty of the initial net rankings.
And oh, by the way, the team that beat you bad,
they're the number one team in the country. That's where
Tennessee ranks right now in the net rankings. So losing
prior is a negative. It is a loss. But I
still think there's enough on this roster even without I
(22:20):
mean it's not ideal by any means, but even without
Korin Johnson for who knows how long, and probably without
Trey Ora for another month or so. I mean, I
think Kahani Russ is a talented guy that probably won't
give you what Case and Pryor gave you, but he
may be able to do some things at times that
you didn't get from Case and Pryor. And shooting has
been not a weakness of this team, but they're built
(22:41):
to be able to just potentially light it up and
bury a team if they get a bunch of good looks,
and that just hasn't really happened yet. I mean, I
think right now, when you look at this team, statistically,
they're shooting as a team twenty eight percent from three. Now,
that's been asked twice to Pat Kelsey at least that
I know of, in his press conferences, and he's made
(23:02):
it quite clear he's not at all worried at all
about shooting, like he doesn't go to bed. I think
he actually used this, and I'm paraphrasing here, but he
made some kind of a comment saying that like the
last thing he worries about when he goes to sleep
and it comes to this team is their ability to
shoot it. And I think he does believe that. I
think he's always gonna want these guys to shoot it
with confidence. But at some point you may have to realize.
I mean, if we get to February and this is
a team shooting twenty six to twenty seven percent from three,
(23:24):
and they're still shooting as many as they're shooting, that's
an issue not only because like you probably won't be
very good, but also like you need to know that
that didn't work out the way you wanted it to.
And let's not keep trying to force you know, a
square peg in a round hole. And I don't mean like,
don't shoot threes, but this team shoots a lot of threes,
and there's certain guys that like are always gonna have
(23:44):
the green light. In fact, I think everybody has the
green light, and I get it, but I just think
you should develop a little bit more situational awareness when
it comes to it, because I think you could play
fast and get the game going at your pace without
just firing the first three that somebody has daylight. Now,
with Rain Smith, I'm letting him shoot it every time.
(24:05):
In fact, Rain Smith is a better shooter when he's
not wide open, I think, and right now, when it look,
when it comes to just percentages from three, Rain is
your best shooter, shooting forty percent. And by the way,
he's averaging thirteen points, three and a half boards and
shooting eighty three percent from the line forty percent from
from three. Rain's one of those guys that I think
(24:26):
people just kind of throw him in the Ryan McMahon
category because he's a white guy that shoots, and really
that's the weapon he's bringing to the fight. He's got
a he's got a he's got a weapon, and that
is his ability to shoot. But he's also a good player,
like he understands you can you can tell you understands spacing,
like things are better when he's on the floor, meaning
Rain Smith, So I mean I And he did it,
(24:47):
by the way, against good teams like that was what
really made me feel better about this team is that
they played three games against teams when it comes to talent,
like I think most of those teams you played in
the Bahamas. In fact, I think all three that you
played in the Mhamas are going to better than the
majority of the teams you play in the ACC this year. Now,
not a good look for the league, But you know,
I don't have I don't worry about going and playing Clemson,
(25:07):
are going and playing Miami, who stinks this year. I
don't worry about those games. Florida State they suck too,
I mean Virginia Tech. They lost by double digits to Jacksonville.
Like the ACC has got some teams that are going
to be really bad this year, but even in the middle
of the pack, Like, I don't worry about all right,
can we line up with him? And I probably shouldn't
have worried about that, But the only thing on my
(25:28):
mind was the Tennessee game, because that's the only game
where you really were tested. But then you go to
the Bahamas, you're tested, and man, I liked what I
saw CHUCKI Hepburn. He's got a chance to be one
of the best point guards in the country. He's a
special player. And nobody wants I mean, who would want
case in prior to not be able to play. Like
it's terrible, Like it's not a it's a negative. I'm
not trying to shine it up like it's a good
(25:50):
thing that happened. But if you are looking for some
potential positives that could come from this negative situation, not
to say that would make you a better team overall,
because prior without prior, I mean with or without prior,
you're clearly going to be better with him now without him,
regardless what other people do, because he's a talented player
that can do a lot for you. However, again, if
this means Chuck, he's going to be more aggressive offensively
(26:12):
because Prior's not out there.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
Hell yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
If this means Kahani Russ is going to be able
to cut his teeth and get a lot of reps,
play through some mistakes because of the lack of depth
they're going to have at that position, Hell yeah, because
he'll be better by the end of the year. He's
a talented guy. I mean, I kind of wish he
played more than he already has been playing because I
mean trying to find the right way to say, because
(26:36):
I don't want to act like I'm belittling some of
the guys on this team that I think are good,
but like there are plays out there here and there
where you can see, Okay, yeah, that guy. I can
see why he played four years out of mid major
and was a good player. And I can see why
this guy is a true freshman that had offers from
just about everybody in the country and was a top
forty player, one of the top ten highest rated kids
to ever commit to Louisville, Like, no matter what you
(26:58):
do in the portal, we're still going to be able
to see at times when it comes like this still
gonna be value with having young talent that can get
better playing alongside veterans and when you get to because
again I've always felt like with Russ, if it meant
putting somebody on the bench ahead of time, like just
to know, hey, we're gonna let this young guy, even
though he's probably not maybe deserved it or earned it,
(27:19):
will be better down the line if he gets a
lot of reps. Now, that's not how Pat Kelsey coaches.
Everybody earns their minutes, and that matter if you're young
or if you're ancient, Your playing time is earned. And
I have no problem with that. But I also know
that they understand that with Ru's out there now probably
gonna be getting a lot more minutes than he was previously,
that's gonna benefit him and this team down the line.
(27:41):
So again, they got a tough task tomorrow taking on
Ole Miss Chris Beard's team. I don't know where they
came in because they play I don't know if it's
his doing or the guy he inherited, but man, they
played an awful schedule to start an awful non conference
schedule last year in his first year, which is why
they were off to such a good start as far
as the numbers, but like it never really panned out
for him. So the early edition of the NET rankings is,
(28:03):
by the way, came out today and I'll run through
some of those numbers in just a second here, but
really right now and then this has been the case
since these NET rankings existed for the last I don't know,
five six years. The first edition of them is always
a little wonky, like there's always teams that end up
ranked where like just to be give you an example,
this is an example of two things. One that they
don't factor in winning and losing as much as they
(28:25):
probably should with this formula. But also you can play
a loaded schedule, lose every game, and it initially is
going to make it look like you're probably really better
than you are. Like, for example, you see Irvine is
the number twenty four team in the NET rankings. That's
because it's it's there's not enough data, there's not enough
results to really make it make sense. Yukon they fall
(28:48):
in the number thirty nine because you know, they lost
three in a row. And by the way, I said
this last week, and it's true, Dan Hurley's the new
villain of college basketball. He was hard not to respect
and still as. He's a hell of a coach who's
won back to back national championships. And I wouldn't be
shocked if they get it corrected and they go to
another Final four. But like the way he acted like he,
(29:08):
I mean that, what a baby, what a lunatic? Actually,
I mean I swear out again. It was the gummy
the other night, Austin. I was just having one of
those nights. Yeah, things that usually aren't as funny, but
they were because of the of the influence of a
nice gummy. One was the Kentucky football player at the
concession stand during the game. I thought that was really funny,
And then I read a tweet from a guy covering
Yukon who they were playing like Connecticut butt crack State,
(29:34):
like a team that might not even might not even
have been Division one, And they were up ninety five
to like forty two with like ten minutes left, and
they gave up an offensive rebound to this crap team,
and the guy who's a beat writer for Yukon, tweeted out,
Yukon up this much, just gave up an offensive rebound.
Dan Hurley punched himself in the face and called a
(29:54):
time out like he's a maniac and I'm loving it.
I mean, like he's a lunatic. So and he goes
and says, we'll never do that again, talking about the
MTE will never will never do that again whenever, We'll
never go play one of those events again because you
lost and got embarrassed, dude, Like what what's the issue
with those events? Dude? You just got your ass kicked,
like that's what happened, like and you acted like a
fool Like that's I mean to me, that's like the
(30:15):
victim of like we were wronged. We won't do it again,
like your team lost and you acted like a fool.
So I kind of like this guy being the new villain,
because you know, he's pretty easy to dislike when he
acts like that, and he's gonna be really good. Let's
not act like that's not a factor in villains. Man,
people we love to see lose is because we don't
(30:36):
get to see it often enough. Tom Brady, I mean
that guy, he's pretty charming. Now, right, but when he
was with Belichick in New England, like the hell with him?
All right? Some other teams here, by the way, the
lowest Power Conference teams in the first net rankings, Virginia
Tech is two thirty three. That's last place. Miami is
one ninety one, Syracuse is one seventy seven, Georgia Tech
(30:59):
is one seventy five. So again, of the six lowest
ranked teams from the Power conferences, that's the Power for
in football, and then you throw on the Big East
in basketball. Half of them are from the I'm sorry,
no more than half of them. Four of the six
are from the ACC, which again I'm not bragging about that.
That's not ideal. But again, if you could take advantage
(31:19):
of it in your first year with Pat Kelsey, then
hell yeah. Like, if you're playing these teams close that
are really good and you lose, it's gonna suck because
you don't want to lose. But if you're taking care
of business against these bumps, you could end up having
a good enough record to where the numbers are going
to be. Like you, Louisville could have a win, could
have a season this year where they look like a
bubble team and they don't have really any monster wins,
(31:41):
but they also don't have any losses to terrible teams.
And they may be like the best example of a
bubble team, but because you played a really challenging schedule
and as of now, the games you've lost have been
against good teams and they've been competitive. Tennessee wasn't, but
they're Number one. Like you could end up getting the
benefit of the doubt where the numbers like you so
much because you were competitive against a loaded early slate
(32:03):
where you've got Ole miss tomorrow, You've got Duke coming up,
a top five Duke team on Sunday. Then you play Kentucky,
then you play North Carolina on New Year's or New
Year's Eve, one of those two. Like, you're gonna be
challenging a major way, and I'm eager to see what happens.
And I don't have any real big concerns about the
lost to Oklahoma. I mean, you don't want to lose,
(32:24):
especially when you're there and you know it was there
to win. But I hope that's not one that haunts
you because that would have been a valuable win and
you had it and you just couldn't. You couldn't claw
back enough to get it done, and obviously a questionable
no call late where that guy was just hovered over
the line something you clearly can't do. I don't expect
to get that call in that moment. But to be fair,
(32:45):
Kelsey was hot about it and that was a rule
that was broken that they didn't pay attention to. So
I get his frustration there, and I also love that
he was salty after the game. I love that. I mean,
some people probably want him to be a little bit
more classic and professional, and I mean he didn't make
a fool of himself. But like, he's not gonna smooch
smooch with Porter Moser Nah in the handshake line after
(33:08):
a tough loss. He's just gonna shake the hand and
keep walking because he's a competitor. If he's gonna be
smooth smooching, he's gonna do it with the real star
from that Loyola Marymount run Porter. That's Sister Jean. That's right,
get her old ass back with you. Maybe you can
ride some magic. Do people get hot when I talk
about Sister Jean? Why is that such? They don't like it,
They don't like the truth. Austin yeah. I mean, they
don't like to hear that an old woman robbed a
(33:32):
mid major Cinderella story, not even a mid major and
no major go to the final four. You can't name
a player on that has someone named me a player.
Speaker 3 (33:40):
I'm surprised even some people even remember Porter Moser as
a coach.
Speaker 2 (33:43):
They don't. That's what I'm saying, Like, I want to
be able to say, well you, because I do think
he's a good coach, especially in the half court, like
with his offensive sets, he was impressive. But you know what,
like we don't get the benefit of claiming, hey, we
lost to a coach who's a good coach because nobody
knows who he is. You know why, because Sister Jean
got all the credit for that Final Four. You don't
have to like it, but it's you can't dispute the facts.
Stick with us right here. We got one more segment left.
Speaker 1 (34:09):
Now back to Coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's on
Sports Talk seven nine day.
Speaker 2 (34:16):
Oh man, I gotta tell you this is actually probably
one of my favorite songs of all time. Just a vibe,
just like a sound that I just want to like.
I know, they make music videos and they're like not
real moments there. You know, it's a video project, it's
not real. But like, I just want to live in
a moment where like you could be living and people
would think, Yeah, I could see this being the music
(34:37):
video for this song because the money is the man.
That money is money. I mean, it's good stuff. All right.
We're very low on time, so I'll use this time
to give some good info to you guys. So Louisville
did open up as four point favorites against Ole Miss tomorrow,
which also kim Palm projects this as a seventy six
to seventy two victory for Louisville. So you know, the
(34:57):
numbers are a little bit the kimbo m this early
are a little bit inflated. However, you know, it kind
of feel like you're supposed to win when you see
it that way. But drey Davis, remember him, He's coming
back to Louisville. Oh yeah, he's gonna be He plays
for all Miss still, so so we'll see him tomorrow.
But nine o'clock tip, And for what it's worth, Ole
Miss is currently ranked in the net and I knew
(35:18):
that their numbers were probably not going to be great
they're at number fifty five, and it's because their non
conference schedule before they had their MTE was brutal. I mean,
they didn't pay anybody, and then they did beat BYU
in overtime and then lost by just two points to produce.
So a battle tested Ole Miss team coming in here
tomorrow night, big opportunity for Louisville and we'll see what happens.
All right, I know we got to get out of here,
(35:38):
so thank you all for hanging out with us, big
big thanks to Austin once again holding it down. Thank you,
and we'll have the podcast up here shortly and we're
back at it tomorrow, so come on back. We'll be
here to on Sports Talk seven ninety
From the Tri Countyboard dot com studios. This is Sports
Talk seven nine day. It's time for coffee and company,
fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine day. Now
here's Nick coffee.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
All right, let's get it start at five o'clock hour
here on a Monday afternoon. Hopefully you had yourselves a
very good Thanksgiving break. I assume everybody got a break,
but I know that's not the reality of it. A
lot of people probably had to work the day after
Thanksgiving or maybe over the weekend. I guess technically I
worked over the weekend, but it didn't feel like it
felt great to be able to go on the air
on Saturday after Louisville reclaimed the Governor's Cup. But then
(00:52):
there's other people that probably work Thanksgiving because you know,
there's certain jobs that you don't get days off. So
I'm very thankful that I had a good Thanksgiving and
thanking that I got to spend a lot of time
with the family. You'll know this at some point in
your life, Austin. But when you spend four straight days
with your with your kids, yeah, and you're just as
a family, you know, just NonStop around each other. It's
(01:14):
it's it's wholesome and it's great. But then you kind
of like, you know, you remind yourself. Man, the kids
go back to school Monday, this goes back to daycare.
I could kind of need a little breathing room. But
then you get to Monday and you miss them. And
that's that's kind of how it is today for me.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
So always, how I always hear how how they say,
you know, kids are the greatest blessing I guess you
can have in your life. And I mean I grew
up with a brother and sister and you know, they
have so many days off fall break, this break or whatnot,
so it it's fun to spend time with them while
they're in the house. But then like after four or
five days of it, and where I'm like, shouldn't you
be in school?
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Yeah, And then you do it and then you'll end
up missing them. Yeah. It's just usually how it works.
That's that's how it works. So gross, I'm glad. I'm
I'm glad to be back to because I love the holidays.
Who doesn't, right, you get some time off, you can
just spend time with family. Thanksgivings great. Tab absolutely can't
wait for Christmas. But I am someone that is so
dependent upon routine and structure to where like if I'm not,
(02:08):
like if I've got a short week or you know,
just different things going on, I just feel like I'm
out of rhythm. But I love being back here to
start a week, and you know, we'll be here all week,
so hopefully you guys will be with us. But we've
all you know, it's just nice to get It's nice
to start this week knowing that I've you know, we
got the monkey off our back. We were able to
finally break the streak. And I say we like I
(02:29):
was out there making plays. I mean, I would have
been out there if Jeff needed me anything he wants.
I mean, I think one of the times I've asked,
remember who might have been Michael Bush? Asked Michael Bush
we were at a golf course doing a show on
tom and asked him, you know, if you were coaching, like,
how would you utilize me if I was on the roster?
And he told me I could be the guy that
runs and picks up the tee after they kick it off.
(02:49):
And I felt very humbled to know, like, yeah, that
probably would be the best fit for me. Cup My
got cup did gass me up when Tom and said
he could hide me on special teams, and I really
appreciated that. Be a gunner something like that, just running around,
like just run down and not have any contact with
the once like the play's over, like the kickoff's over,
then you bounce around like you did something like That's
what all special teams guys seem to go.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Dap up the person that's like the zone.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Did you know the cameras on them because they got
to stop, So you just go to run there and
you know, slap their helmet like yeah, just so you
can tell people like I don't get in the game,
but you saw me out there. I was bringing the energy.
I could go on the highlight reel exactly. It'd be great,
like if you were in the portal and like that's
all that was in your in your highlights that you
were sending out, like your tape, like you just sent
tape of you finding the guy who made the play
(03:33):
on Special teams just to gas him up. Like that
would be if I was a coach and somebody sent
me that I might let that guy come and walk
on or just take a scholarship that we weren't going
to use because like I could appreciate the effort there or.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Being the guy that's like so close to him, but
the kick goes to them anyways, and you're the one
kind of telling them to take the knee.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Oh yeah, that's huge.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
That's that's a big role there, Actually teammate right there.
Think about that's what teammates are for, no doubt about it.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
And and it's.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
Not like you weren't out there, but you were selected
upon a few of a journalist here in Louisville to
give you your Courrier journal prediction. Now, then what was
that prediction? Again? Was that did the game turnout as closed?
When't it like thirty seven seventeen or something?
Speaker 2 (04:12):
So my prediction I put twenty seven sixteen for Louisville.
And here's what I gave John Hale to use in
my inclusion in the media predictions for the Governor's Cup game,
Louisville twenty seven Kentucky sixteen. And this is what I wrote.
Louisville has proven they can score points. Jeff Browns offenses
(04:33):
averaging thirty six points per game overall thirty two points
per game against four Top twelve teams. The Cards defense
has been shaky at times. Both they'll do enough to
contain Kentucky's offense, which ranks dead last in the SEC.
So I was wrong. Louisville scored forty one and could
have scored sixty, and Kentucky scored fourteen, and they did
earn those fourteen points. I mean, I'll give them that.
It was a really good play. In fact, two really
(04:54):
good balls that were thrown by Gavin Wimsat, who was
thrown into the game because Cutter Bowlie hurt. So you know,
Kentucky and I said this at the beginning of the show,
the best feeling is relief from Saturday, knowing that you
now have reclaimed bragging rights and you don't have to
hear them live in their own world of delusion as
(05:16):
if their football program was anything special. And I'm not
here to tell Louisville's a special program, but I mean
them winning five in a row and being able to
say scoreboard, it gave them a false sense of accomplishment.
And it really was the best example I can think
of in the rivalry where we were your super Bowl
(05:36):
and they can act like no, no, but like there's
evidence that says otherwise. You can't point to anything you've
done in most of the stoop seasons that were successful,
that was any big deal, Like you just didn't suck
like you once did. You took advantage of teams that
were firing coaches that season and you beat them, like
you know, and now those programs, a lot of them
have caught back up and passed you by by mile.
(06:00):
So without a win against them, it just kind of
felt like they were gonna continue to live in their
own alternate universe and we would just have to hear it.
I mean, you could, you know. I know Louisville fans
do go back and forth with them all the time,
and I don't blame you, but like when they can
go scoreboard, it just makes it like, can we can
we eliminate that factor? And look, they're still gonna We're
still gonna rival, They're still gonna act like there's you know,
(06:21):
this is one out of the last six games. Congratulations,
you feel good you beat a one, because again I
already know, like, yes, we do feel good. I don't
have to check the text line. I know there's people claiming, like,
how is that where your super Bowl? You beat a
one in subbing Kentucky team and Yeah, we didn't do
anything special. We just we just finally got the cup
back and we'll probably keep it for a long time
and then you'll go back to realizing who has been
(06:41):
the better football program in our lifetime? I mean any
by the way, Like again, I'm not gonna these results happen,
So therefore I can't sit here and tell you know
that it's fake news and this these are just games
that didn't actually happen. Although like, who out there can
prove to me that Kentucky beat Louisville in nineteen thirty team,
nobody around to tell me. There's no evidence of it.
(07:02):
We just claimed that it happened. I mean, I'm baking
a bad joe. Clearly it did happen. But like when
the rivalry restarted in nineteen ninety four. Before that, you know,
the last time they played one hundred years ago today, wow,
nineteen twenty four they played in Kentucky won, because Kentucky
won the first I guess seven when they played from
(07:24):
nineteen twelve to nineteen twenty four. From then on, Louisville
still went into the game this past Saturday with the
lead in the modern series. Despite losing five in a row.
I mean, but they felt superior. Why because they started
beating Louisville. And to be fair, they did beat Louisville
at times when Louislle was pretty good, but like you know,
(07:45):
they also beat Louisville when Sadderfield was here. They also
beat Louislle when Bobby Patrino got fired and they had
a guy named Whammy or Wham wham as the end.
I'm not kidding you go back and look it up.
The guy who Lorenzo something took over as interim coach
because Bobby got canned and got that. Louisville had a
tight end fighting one of the coaches on the sideline.
It was a mess. And again like Kentucky was a mess. Saturday,
(08:05):
they had guy's going to the concession stand. How about
I talked about that yet today That's all the funniest
things I've ever seen.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
I saw that earlier.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
I had a gummy on Saturday evening and I finally
saw that picture that had been circulating for a while.
Somebody said, have you seen the guy at the concession stand?
I'm like no, And I couldn't stop laughing, Like I
thought was hilarious, And I don't know why it was
as funny as it was. Probably the gummy was a
big factor. But I'm just saying, like, you know, like
I know that they've been embarras, they were embarrassing, and
they hated their team this year and we beat a
(08:33):
bad team, Like I know all that, But the relief
is just knowing that, like we now should keep this
thing on our side for a while and then they
can still claim that they were on top from two
thousand and what two thousand and six, Yeah, from let's
see here they Yeah, Well, the reason it looks funky
(08:56):
is because in fact, the only one four in a
row because one was vacated. The one they went in
twenty twenty one didn't happen according to Wikipedia. So when
I say that they they, I mean Stoops got the
bag where he ain't leaving a nine million dollar a
year job because nobody would pay him close to that.
His buyout is insane. Which here's a detail that I've
(09:16):
heard enough UK media reference it to where I believe it,
but I haven't seen proof, and I don't need to
see proof. But he fleeced Mitch Barnhart, not only with
the contract that really wasn't deserving of the amount of money,
not to say he should be fired, but like to
give him that much. Nobody was gonna pay Mark Stoops
that much money. The only school that was remotely ever
interested in Stoops that would have taken him realized what
(09:37):
they were getting into and backed out, and God bless
their happy they did. That's Texas A and M last year.
So like, you got to make it right to where
he doesn't look to leave because you want to keep him,
but you also have to understand where is he going
to go? Like if Stoops's agent put fear into Barnhart
to give him that contract and to give him that situation,
(09:58):
and I buy this detail. A lot of guys like Bobby.
We could pay Bobby, and we could pay Chris Mack
over time when they got bought out. Right, if you
fire Mark Stoops, he's owned forty four million dollars in
full in thirty days. Like nobody's gonna fire a coach
that can do that. Nobody. So like you're stuck with him.
So like the contract just wasn't necessary. But there was
(10:19):
a new life within Kentucky football. One they weren't terrible
and they were actually at times not only just really
good for Kentucky's standard historically, but also pretty good, like
they were not a bad team at all, but it
didn't warrant the rays that he got. But I think
because they also started to kind of own the state
(10:39):
in football, that made it to where, okay, we can't
lose this. Like I think a caller earlier said this,
and we'll never know. Only one person can answer it,
and that's Minch Bartnhart will never hear from him because
like he just doesn't exist. He's a guy in charge,
but like you never hear him receiving I mean, like
he doesn't do any kind of media availability. You know,
he's just kind of sitting back doing his own thing.
And he got lucky as hell that Cal bailed him
(11:01):
out and just left and found a new job that's
gonna pay him a lot of money. That didn't happening
with Stoops. So to give him what they gave him,
like it clearly wasn't a good thing to do. It's
one thing to like say, well consider what you would
because I hear this a lot. Well, hey, if you
think Cal's about to go to UCLA, what are you
gonna do if Stoops? You know, because the time he
got his extension. I don't really know what jobs were
(11:22):
coming after him, because again this is puts it in perspective.
Nobody's ever come after your coach. I think your his
agent made Barnhart scared that that was happening, but it
never happened, Like is he I mean Florida State had
a courtesy because he was the DC. They had a
conversation with him, but they didn't interview when they didn't from
the job, Like he doesn't mean he's a bad coach,
but for him to be one of the top ten
(11:43):
highest paid coaches in the country and have a forty
four million dollar buyout at Kentucky with those results is
flat out in confidence from an ad And when people say, well,
what was he supposed to do? Let him walk? Where's
he going? And with Cal, maybe Cal would have left
call the bluff. You can give him a new deal,
but don't give him a lifetime contract where he's entitled
(12:04):
to that ambassador role. Like that's just crazy. And again,
Barnhart was lucky that Cal found a landing spot. He's
not gonna be lucky with Stoops. He's gonna have to
have Stoops succeed or you know, he's gonna be there
for a long time and fans are gonna be not
interested in football and probably blaming, Like the blame will
if Stoops is back next year and they're remotely as
(12:24):
bad as they were this year, He's still gonna get criticized,
But that heat's gonna shift to Barnhart and it already
kind of has in a way, but like it's gonna
be like because football needs to be successful. Football is
important in Kentucky. Again, this is Stoop to Stoops his credit.
He actually gave them a sign of what life can
be like if your football program isn't in the gutter,
(12:46):
and it clearly is beneficial for every program within your
university as far as every sport. But their momentum has
never seemed worse than it is right now, and their
competition's only getting better, right like Shane Beemer owns him now,
make no mistake about it, he does. Florida, I mean
Florida all year one of their coach fired. They finished strong,
(13:08):
obviously compared to what they were supposed to do, but
like Florida in a year where like if you were
going to beat Florida, this was the year they beat
you bad, beat you by twenty eight, Auburn didn't win
a game in the SEC till they played Kentucky like
and these are programs that, again, historically speaking, more often
than not, if you're gonna beat some of these teams,
I'm mentioning, you're gonna have to beat them while they're
(13:28):
down right like, you're gonna have to beat them when
they're struggling. They're not really like Vandy. Vandy is superior
than you right now, and again, it can all change
in a year. There's there's examples of teams out there
that absolutely have been able to use the portal and
really just kind of, you know, flip it quickly, and
maybe that happens with stoops, but it really didn't look
like it's gonna happen. All right, quick break, We'll come
(13:49):
back on the other side, talk a little basketball. I
still view the Battle for Atlantis despite that loss to
Oklahoma and it was right there. I still view the
Battlefort Lanta has a real big positive for this team.
But man, losing case in Pryor is tough, and there's
many many tough games left, not only on the schedule
for the year, but I mean like in the next
(14:10):
few weeks they got a big game tomorrow night, taking
on Chris Beard and Ole Miss, so we'll get into
that in a lot more. Keep it lock right here.
It's coffee and Company. Felbout Thornton's on Sports Talk seven.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Ninety Now back to Coffee and Company. Fueled by Thornton's
on Sports Talk seven nine day Man.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Every time I refresh Twitter during the breaks, the majority
of what I see posted is a report or a
player himself declaring they're entering the transfer portal. That's what
this day is going to look like. I think every
year the first Monday, or maybe some I mean sometimes
you can see it happen right after a game, but
I think Monday, the Monday following the regular season finale
(14:48):
for college football teams, will be the day where a
lot of players make it public that they're intending to
enter the portal. I don't think it actually opens up
until later in the week, But for Louisville, I could
have missed one. But the only one I know of
right now now is Donald Cheney, Miami running back, who
you know, wish him the best. But when you are
or a fourth year senior and you're falling, you're falling
(15:09):
back on the depth chart because it's clearly become two freshmen.
I mean, I don't know why any running back. And
I hate saying this because you know you want to
have depth. But if you're in the portal, and or
even if you're a high school recruit and you know
what Louisville has with Isaac Brown and Duke Watson, I
mean I could get why you wouldn't consider Louisville. And
(15:30):
if you're on the roster and you're behind those guys,
and there again, eighteen year old true freshman, I can
totally see why he would look to leave. So that
does open up some Nile money and it opens up
a scholarship, which obviously Jeff Brom's going to use both
those things to try to go build this roster for
for next season. All Right, fellas, let's talk about something
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all right, So back to basketball. I know we've talked
(17:36):
a lot about it throughout the show, but we've got
our five o'clockers out there that are probably just now
with us. Maybe they're just getting off work or whatever
it is they're doing that. Maybe didn't hear that, and
maybe don't even know the big news. The big news
is not good news, it's bad news. And that's the
case in pryor out for the year with the torn
acl I feared that was exactly what happened, really as
soon as he went down, and he'll have surgery and
(17:57):
be out this season. People have asked me about is
he going to take a medical red shirt? I don't know.
He will be able to qualify for a red shirt
if he wants to, because he and maybe they changed
the rules. But in football it's you know, you play
four games and that's it. You play more than that,
then it counts as a year. In basketball, I think
it's the percentage of games your team plays, So him
(18:19):
playing in what six games, seven games, maybe it'll still
fall below the percentage that it's always been in place
with basketball when it comes to being granted a medical
red shirt because you played in such few games. So yeah,
he played in seven games this year, and Louisville will
play more than thirty, so he'll be able to do
it if he wants to. What I don't know is
(18:41):
will he want to and if he does, will he
come back to Louisville. I think he's somebody that you'd
want to keep around for sure, if you can. But
he's also one of those guys that the recent trend
tells me he'd stick around in college because he'll play
and he'll make money, and his professional career he's going
to have one probably isn't in the NBA therefore, or
he might be more comfortable, and he might. I mean, look,
(19:02):
he's gonna play on national TV in college and make
a lot of money. I mean I would do that
before getting into the pro game elsewhere, because you know,
I mean, people can do what they want. But you see,
guys now stay in college longer and stay as long
as they possibly can because of this new world that
we're in. So Cayson's been in college a long time.
He's actually a guy that started his career at Boise State.
(19:23):
I think people don't realize that, but yeah, he started
his career at Boise and it's a true freshman there
and didn't get a whole lot of didn't get a
whole lot of run, didn't play a whole lot and
then he went JUCO and I think he played two
years at Juco because of the COVID year, and then
he really kind of blossomed. Blake became a really good
player a little later in life than a lot of
(19:43):
guys do. And he ended up going to South Florida
and was a part of their really successful season a
year ago, was a big factor for their team. So yeah,
he's been in colle In fact, I'm sorry. He was
at Boise for two years and never played more than
four minutes per game, only played in thirteen games and
in two years there, then went Juco and then at
South Borider really kind of broke out last year and
(20:05):
ended up at Louisville in the portal. So he may
be one of those guys that's just been in college
so long he might just want to start his pro career.
He's probably a lot older than most college players. But again,
it wouldn't shock me in any way if he decides
to stick in college for another year, because again, there's
money to be made, and he'll he'll probably play a
lot for wherever he chooses to play, and I would
hope that it is here here at Louisville. So losing
(20:26):
him stinks, there's no way around it. But I am
not as gloom and doom about it as as some
you know, I don't. I mean, I'm only referencing the
people that I've heard on on you know, the call
in of the show, or that have you know, been
on Twitter and whatnot, and you know that's I need
to remind myself, as I remind other people of this
a lot as well. That's that can it can be tricky,
(20:49):
that can that can appear to be something that you
know you just can't help but think represents a huge
amount of people because you know, it's a constant thing.
You're refreshing Twitter all the time. But a lot of
people who have wrong opinions that are fans, they don't
they're not active on Twitter because a lot of people aren't.
So I don't want to make it sound as if
the entire fan base is gloom and doom thinking this
team's going to be underwhelming now that they lost Prior.
(21:11):
But I did see at least a few people who
act like this can't be salvage, and I just totally disagree.
I don't know how good they're gonna be. I don't
know goo they were gonna be with Prior, because you
just still you know, I think the Bahamas was a
really really good sign that they were able to get it.
They were able to beat Indiana the way they did,
and then they were able to win a game against
a good West Virginia team that was able to dictate pace.
You beat. You beat West Virginia at their game, and
(21:35):
I think that that is a really good sign for
this team. Now, I think you had a chance to
beat Oklahoma at their game, but obviously you fell short
and that was unfortunate. But no doubt in my mind,
that was a positive experience for this team. And it's
got me more optimistic about the rest of this year
because before they got to the Bahamas and played Indiana,
you only had one game to really know anything of
and you got blown out by Tennessee. And now here
(21:57):
you are, a week removed from your trip to the Bahamas,
and you went two out of three. You now find
yourself in the top thirty of the initial net rankings.
And oh, by the way, the team that beat you bad,
they're the number one team in the country. That's where
Tennessee ranks right now in the net rankings. So losing
prior is a negative. It is a loss. But I
still think there's enough on this roster even without I
(22:20):
mean it's not ideal by any means, but even without
Korin Johnson for who knows how long, and probably without
Trey Ora for another month or so. I mean, I
think Kahani Russ is a talented guy that probably won't
give you what Case and Pryor gave you, but he
may be able to do some things at times that
you didn't get from Case and Pryor. And shooting has
been not a weakness of this team, but they're built
(22:41):
to be able to just potentially light it up and
bury a team if they get a bunch of good looks,
and that just hasn't really happened yet. I mean, I
think right now, when you look at this team, statistically,
they're shooting as a team twenty eight percent from three. Now,
that's been asked twice to Pat Kelsey at least that
I know of, in his press conferences, and he's made
(23:02):
it quite clear he's not at all worried at all
about shooting, like he doesn't go to bed. I think
he actually used this, and I'm paraphrasing here, but he
made some kind of a comment saying that like the
last thing he worries about when he goes to sleep
and it comes to this team is their ability to
shoot it. And I think he does believe that. I
think he's always gonna want these guys to shoot it
with confidence. But at some point you may have to realize.
I mean, if we get to February and this is
a team shooting twenty six to twenty seven percent from three,
(23:24):
and they're still shooting as many as they're shooting, that's
an issue not only because like you probably won't be
very good, but also like you need to know that
that didn't work out the way you wanted it to.
And let's not keep trying to force you know, a
square peg in a round hole. And I don't mean like,
don't shoot threes, but this team shoots a lot of threes,
and there's certain guys that like are always gonna have
(23:44):
the green light. In fact, I think everybody has the
green light, and I get it, but I just think
you should develop a little bit more situational awareness when
it comes to it, because I think you could play
fast and get the game going at your pace without
just firing the first three that somebody has daylight. Now,
with Rain Smith, I'm letting him shoot it every time.
(24:05):
In fact, Rain Smith is a better shooter when he's
not wide open, I think, and right now, when it look,
when it comes to just percentages from three, Rain is
your best shooter, shooting forty percent. And by the way,
he's averaging thirteen points, three and a half boards and
shooting eighty three percent from the line forty percent from
from three. Rain's one of those guys that I think
(24:26):
people just kind of throw him in the Ryan McMahon
category because he's a white guy that shoots, and really
that's the weapon he's bringing to the fight. He's got
a he's got a he's got a weapon, and that
is his ability to shoot. But he's also a good player,
like he understands you can you can tell you understands spacing,
like things are better when he's on the floor, meaning
Rain Smith, So I mean I And he did it,
(24:47):
by the way, against good teams like that was what
really made me feel better about this team is that
they played three games against teams when it comes to talent,
like I think most of those teams you played in
the Bahamas. In fact, I think all three that you
played in the Mhamas are going to better than the
majority of the teams you play in the ACC this year. Now,
not a good look for the league, But you know,
I don't have I don't worry about going and playing Clemson,
(25:07):
are going and playing Miami, who stinks this year. I
don't worry about those games. Florida State they suck too,
I mean Virginia Tech. They lost by double digits to Jacksonville.
Like the ACC has got some teams that are going
to be really bad this year, but even in the middle
of the pack, Like, I don't worry about all right,
can we line up with him? And I probably shouldn't
have worried about that, But the only thing on my
(25:28):
mind was the Tennessee game, because that's the only game
where you really were tested. But then you go to
the Bahamas, you're tested, and man, I liked what I
saw CHUCKI Hepburn. He's got a chance to be one
of the best point guards in the country. He's a
special player. And nobody wants I mean, who would want
case in prior to not be able to play. Like
it's terrible, Like it's not a it's a negative. I'm
not trying to shine it up like it's a good
(25:50):
thing that happened. But if you are looking for some
potential positives that could come from this negative situation, not
to say that would make you a better team overall,
because prior without prior, I mean with or without prior,
you're clearly going to be better with him now without him,
regardless what other people do, because he's a talented player
that can do a lot for you. However, again, if
this means Chuck, he's going to be more aggressive offensively
(26:12):
because Prior's not out there.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
Hell yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
If this means Kahani Russ is going to be able
to cut his teeth and get a lot of reps,
play through some mistakes because of the lack of depth
they're going to have at that position, Hell yeah, because
he'll be better by the end of the year. He's
a talented guy. I mean, I kind of wish he
played more than he already has been playing because I
mean trying to find the right way to say, because
(26:36):
I don't want to act like I'm belittling some of
the guys on this team that I think are good,
but like there are plays out there here and there
where you can see, Okay, yeah, that guy. I can
see why he played four years out of mid major
and was a good player. And I can see why
this guy is a true freshman that had offers from
just about everybody in the country and was a top
forty player, one of the top ten highest rated kids
to ever commit to Louisville, Like, no matter what you
(26:58):
do in the portal, we're still going to be able
to see at times when it comes like this still
gonna be value with having young talent that can get
better playing alongside veterans and when you get to because
again I've always felt like with Russ, if it meant
putting somebody on the bench ahead of time, like just
to know, hey, we're gonna let this young guy, even
though he's probably not maybe deserved it or earned it,
(27:19):
will be better down the line if he gets a
lot of reps. Now, that's not how Pat Kelsey coaches.
Everybody earns their minutes, and that matter if you're young
or if you're ancient, Your playing time is earned. And
I have no problem with that. But I also know
that they understand that with Ru's out there now probably
gonna be getting a lot more minutes than he was previously,
that's gonna benefit him and this team down the line.
(27:41):
So again, they got a tough task tomorrow taking on
Ole Miss Chris Beard's team. I don't know where they
came in because they play I don't know if it's
his doing or the guy he inherited, but man, they
played an awful schedule to start an awful non conference
schedule last year in his first year, which is why
they were off to such a good start as far
as the numbers, but like it never really panned out
for him. So the early edition of the NET rankings is,
(28:03):
by the way, came out today and I'll run through
some of those numbers in just a second here, but
really right now and then this has been the case
since these NET rankings existed for the last I don't know,
five six years. The first edition of them is always
a little wonky, like there's always teams that end up
ranked where like just to be give you an example,
this is an example of two things. One that they
don't factor in winning and losing as much as they
(28:25):
probably should with this formula. But also you can play
a loaded schedule, lose every game, and it initially is
going to make it look like you're probably really better
than you are. Like, for example, you see Irvine is
the number twenty four team in the NET rankings. That's
because it's it's there's not enough data, there's not enough
results to really make it make sense. Yukon they fall
(28:48):
in the number thirty nine because you know, they lost
three in a row. And by the way, I said
this last week, and it's true, Dan Hurley's the new
villain of college basketball. He was hard not to respect
and still as. He's a hell of a coach who's
won back to back national championships. And I wouldn't be
shocked if they get it corrected and they go to
another Final four. But like the way he acted like he,
(29:08):
I mean that, what a baby, what a lunatic? Actually,
I mean I swear out again. It was the gummy
the other night, Austin. I was just having one of
those nights. Yeah, things that usually aren't as funny, but
they were because of the of the influence of a
nice gummy. One was the Kentucky football player at the
concession stand during the game. I thought that was really funny,
And then I read a tweet from a guy covering
Yukon who they were playing like Connecticut butt crack State,
(29:34):
like a team that might not even might not even
have been Division one, And they were up ninety five
to like forty two with like ten minutes left, and
they gave up an offensive rebound to this crap team,
and the guy who's a beat writer for Yukon, tweeted out,
Yukon up this much, just gave up an offensive rebound.
Dan Hurley punched himself in the face and called a
(29:54):
time out like he's a maniac and I'm loving it.
I mean, like he's a lunatic. So and he goes
and says, we'll never do that again, talking about the
MTE will never will never do that again whenever, We'll
never go play one of those events again because you
lost and got embarrassed, dude, Like what what's the issue
with those events? Dude? You just got your ass kicked,
like that's what happened, like and you acted like a
fool Like that's I mean to me, that's like the
(30:15):
victim of like we were wronged. We won't do it again,
like your team lost and you acted like a fool.
So I kind of like this guy being the new villain,
because you know, he's pretty easy to dislike when he
acts like that, and he's gonna be really good. Let's
not act like that's not a factor in villains. Man,
people we love to see lose is because we don't
(30:36):
get to see it often enough. Tom Brady, I mean
that guy, he's pretty charming. Now, right, but when he
was with Belichick in New England, like the hell with him?
All right? Some other teams here, by the way, the
lowest Power Conference teams in the first net rankings, Virginia
Tech is two thirty three. That's last place. Miami is
one ninety one, Syracuse is one seventy seven, Georgia Tech
(30:59):
is one seventy five. So again, of the six lowest
ranked teams from the Power conferences, that's the Power for
in football, and then you throw on the Big East
in basketball. Half of them are from the I'm sorry,
no more than half of them. Four of the six
are from the ACC, which again I'm not bragging about that.
That's not ideal. But again, if you could take advantage
(31:19):
of it in your first year with Pat Kelsey, then
hell yeah. Like, if you're playing these teams close that
are really good and you lose, it's gonna suck because
you don't want to lose. But if you're taking care
of business against these bumps, you could end up having
a good enough record to where the numbers are going
to be. Like you, Louisville could have a win, could
have a season this year where they look like a
bubble team and they don't have really any monster wins,
(31:41):
but they also don't have any losses to terrible teams.
And they may be like the best example of a
bubble team, but because you played a really challenging schedule
and as of now, the games you've lost have been
against good teams and they've been competitive. Tennessee wasn't, but
they're Number one. Like you could end up getting the
benefit of the doubt where the numbers like you so
much because you were competitive against a loaded early slate
(32:03):
where you've got Ole miss tomorrow, You've got Duke coming up,
a top five Duke team on Sunday. Then you play Kentucky,
then you play North Carolina on New Year's or New
Year's Eve, one of those two. Like, you're gonna be
challenging a major way, and I'm eager to see what happens.
And I don't have any real big concerns about the
lost to Oklahoma. I mean, you don't want to lose,
(32:24):
especially when you're there and you know it was there
to win. But I hope that's not one that haunts
you because that would have been a valuable win and
you had it and you just couldn't. You couldn't claw
back enough to get it done, and obviously a questionable
no call late where that guy was just hovered over
the line something you clearly can't do. I don't expect
to get that call in that moment. But to be fair,
(32:45):
Kelsey was hot about it and that was a rule
that was broken that they didn't pay attention to. So
I get his frustration there, and I also love that
he was salty after the game. I love that. I mean,
some people probably want him to be a little bit
more classic and professional, and I mean he didn't make
a fool of himself. But like, he's not gonna smooch
smooch with Porter Moser Nah in the handshake line after
(33:08):
a tough loss. He's just gonna shake the hand and
keep walking because he's a competitor. If he's gonna be
smooth smooching, he's gonna do it with the real star
from that Loyola Marymount run Porter. That's Sister Jean. That's right,
get her old ass back with you. Maybe you can
ride some magic. Do people get hot when I talk
about Sister Jean? Why is that such? They don't like it,
They don't like the truth. Austin yeah. I mean, they
don't like to hear that an old woman robbed a
(33:32):
mid major Cinderella story, not even a mid major and
no major go to the final four. You can't name
a player on that has someone named me a player.
Speaker 3 (33:40):
I'm surprised even some people even remember Porter Moser as
a coach.
Speaker 2 (33:43):
They don't. That's what I'm saying, Like, I want to
be able to say, well you, because I do think
he's a good coach, especially in the half court, like
with his offensive sets, he was impressive. But you know what,
like we don't get the benefit of claiming, hey, we
lost to a coach who's a good coach because nobody
knows who he is. You know why, because Sister Jean
got all the credit for that Final Four. You don't
have to like it, but it's you can't dispute the facts.
Stick with us right here. We got one more segment left.
Speaker 1 (34:09):
Now back to Coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's on
Sports Talk seven nine day.
Speaker 2 (34:16):
Oh man, I gotta tell you this is actually probably
one of my favorite songs of all time. Just a vibe,
just like a sound that I just want to like.
I know, they make music videos and they're like not
real moments there. You know, it's a video project, it's
not real. But like, I just want to live in
a moment where like you could be living and people
would think, Yeah, I could see this being the music
(34:37):
video for this song because the money is the man.
That money is money. I mean, it's good stuff. All right.
We're very low on time, so I'll use this time
to give some good info to you guys. So Louisville
did open up as four point favorites against Ole Miss tomorrow,
which also kim Palm projects this as a seventy six
to seventy two victory for Louisville. So you know, the
(34:57):
numbers are a little bit the kimbo m this early
are a little bit inflated. However, you know, it kind
of feel like you're supposed to win when you see
it that way. But drey Davis, remember him, He's coming
back to Louisville. Oh yeah, he's gonna be He plays
for all Miss still, so so we'll see him tomorrow.
But nine o'clock tip, And for what it's worth, Ole
Miss is currently ranked in the net and I knew
(35:18):
that their numbers were probably not going to be great
they're at number fifty five, and it's because their non
conference schedule before they had their MTE was brutal. I mean,
they didn't pay anybody, and then they did beat BYU
in overtime and then lost by just two points to produce.
So a battle tested Ole Miss team coming in here
tomorrow night, big opportunity for Louisville and we'll see what happens.
All right, I know we got to get out of here,
(35:38):
so thank you all for hanging out with us, big
big thanks to Austin once again holding it down. Thank you,
and we'll have the podcast up here shortly and we're
back at it tomorrow, so come on back. We'll be
here to on Sports Talk seven ninety
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On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!