5.27: Last Week - Hour 1

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
It's time for Coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's on
Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Holy crap, I don't know who the hell we think
when we are gettle off our show, idiot.

Speaker 3 (00:15):
The kids are playing or tail off.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
The countries are screwing it up.

Speaker 1 (00:18):
Gold Play Inner Murals, Brother, gold Play Inner Murals.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
They're supposed to be mature adults, but they're really not.
Who's the kid here?

Speaker 1 (00:27):
Who's the kid here?

Speaker 2 (00:28):
Are you kidding me? Now? Here's Nick Coffee?

Speaker 3 (00:45):
All right, let's get it started. Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome
in the final week of Coffee and Company, fueled by
Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven ninety. My name's Nick Coffee,
Austin Montgomery alongside they strange here been a while, this
is this guy new here. Yeah, we had we had

(01:06):
a moment in the parking garage where you knew I
was thinking it and you said it, and I couldn't
disagree that because we had the nice holiday weekend off
on Monday, which was great, and then you were out
on Friday. Feels like it's been forever since we since
we were, you know, in this position hopefully creating some
magic today. That's what we try to do every day.

(01:27):
But there's only a few more shows with us left
because Austin's actually going to be out on Friday. So
I'm gonna make the most of what we have and today,
you know, throughout the week, I just want to give
people heads up there. This will still be a show
I do in fact prepare and we'll continue to do that,
but I also want in my mind to just not

(01:47):
really have any any map, if that makes sense, right.
We're gonna end up where we end up in the
three hour experience, and I don't really know where that
could take us, but hopefully we'll enjoy ourselves and have
some fun. And I do also feel like the end
of May early June is usually the as far as
sports for me specifically, and I know I'm not alone,

(02:09):
but when it comes to like what we really are
interested in when it comes to sports in this market,
it's pretty dead right now. I mean, you do have
college baseball postseason getting underway, and that's actually grown in
popularity over the years, but we don't talk. Even if
you end up getting into it more so than you
typically would and you watch it on TV now more
than you did a few years ago. It still isn't
necessarily like a big sports talk radio kind of thing,

(02:32):
but nonetheless, college basketball, college football, the NFL. I mean,
that's really kind of what we eat off of around
here for a good chunk of the year. And it's
pretty dry right now. Right the dust is pretty much
settled when it comes to the portal. We've pretty much
exhausted a lot of the different talking points out there
when it comes to the college football season coming up here.

(02:52):
So we'll continue to you know, I'm sure get into
some of that throughout these next four days at some point,
But what I'm getting at is this is usually the
time of year where I'm like, all right, we got
from now until mid August where it's you know, you
can you can basically take the guardrails off a little bit,
if you will, and just end up in places that

(03:13):
you know, people would typically say, what the hell are
they doing? Why are they not talking about the depth
we have on the defensive line this year? Or why
are they not talking about you know, major League baseball?
And I'm not really sure if anybody who says those
things they're regular listeners, because I mean, you've never got
that here. But it's a really long winded way of
me putting it that it works out well for this
being the last week because this is typically the time

(03:34):
of the year on the calendar where I feel more
comfortable and I'm not in my own head as much
as far as bringing up anything, right, It's not like,
well you need to only only you know, if you're
gonna you're gonna talk about this, you know, do it
when you have a five minute segment and not whenever.
You know, it's prime time drive time listening, and you know,
I'm just gonna try to not have any awareness of

(03:54):
that and see where we where we end up. But
you can listen to us wherever you are, whatever you're doing,
as long as you have some type of connection, because
you can listen live on the Aheart Radio app also
listen live at seven to ninety Louisville dot Com. Certainly
a lot on the docket today to react to from
the long weekend. We'll get into the NBA playoffs because
we have I mean, we've got my Pacers doing what

(04:16):
the Knicks did, blowing a game that now has me
worried about what happens tonight, because I mean, the Pacers
have been the better team in this series for a
good chunk of it. It's kind of tricky because they
weren't really the better team for probably sixty five to
seventy percent of Game one, but they pulled off an
insane come back, and then also in Game two they

(04:38):
were better and really kind of you know, it was
a close, a really good game by the way, but
the Pacers end up pulling it out and go up too.
Oh and then of course Game three, I mean it's
an endy. It looks as if the Knicks have decided, Okay,
let's just go ahead and throw in the towel and
see if we can survive Game four, send it back
to New York with new life. Well then, you know,

(04:58):
the Pacers let me down. That's not really what I'm
sure they're thinking about letting me down, But they let
themselves down because they should have won the game and
they got sloppy. The Knicks give them credit. Carl Anthony
Towns is a rare guy in a lot of ways,
but man, he's a hell of a player, super skilled
and just just a tough tough dude. And sometimes he

(05:19):
doesn't necessarily sound like a tough tough dude, but he's tough.
He's a really tough matchup, So I really, I mean,
I'm if. I mean, I don't want to. First of all,
I know a lot of you probably don't really care
as much about the Nicks and the Pacers like I do.
But I kind of feel like a loss here it's over.
I mean I shouldn't say it's over, but like New

(05:39):
York stole two back from you, and then you go
into the garden needing to win two of the last
three here, and you do. You will get a trip
home in game in game six if we get there.
But letting that one slip away when it was right
there you were blowing them out, I'd be a liar
if I said, as a Pacers fan, I haven't been
thinking like that could have when that lead slipped away

(06:03):
and the Knicks came back and took it from us
and won. Credit to them again. And I think it
was a collective effort on both sides, the Pacers doing
things that left the door open for the Knicks, but
also credit to the Knicks. They took advantage of it,
and if they were able to win tonight, it changes everything.
I think a win tonight for the Pacers is I

(06:23):
mean it almost means the series might be over it.
That sounds like an extreme thing. But look, if you
can get up three to one, yeah, I guess then
if you slip up, then the pressure's there, like there's
always gonna be some some some components or some pressure
components as far as Okay, if you lose this one,
then Mann, the pressure's on. But still to tonight just
seems like an insanely important game in this series. Every

(06:47):
one of them is right, you got to get best
of boar out of seven. But if the Knicks win tonight,
they actually have taken back all the momentum plus some right,
because being tied to a piece wouldn't typically be what
the Knicks would be view. I don't think the Knicks
would look at that as like a great position. But man,
after they got down oh two and had an old

(07:07):
time melt down in Game one, if they can then
just a week later find themselves with a best two
out of three series where they get home court advantage,
it's new life for them. So if you can't tell
I'm a little scared about tonight, I mean, would you agree,
Austin Like the Pacers lose this, then they get tight
the butthole gets tight. Oh yeah.

Speaker 4 (07:28):
If there's any series I think from that that still
left from either the Eastern Conference or Western Conference that
I think is going to go to seven. I don't
mean that the the Scaria. I think it might be
this one. Oh dude, this this worries me. Bro'll lead
is safe in the series. It hasn't been any game.

Speaker 3 (07:43):
Yep, that's so true. And I'll admit maybe there was
just a you know, I don't think I had any
factor in the loss, but karma, Like I thought to myself,
we were watching the second half on the on the
back porch, and they had such a nice, comfortable lead.
I guess it was the end of the first half actually,
and I'm thinking, like it's over and they're going to

(08:04):
kill them. And sure enough, I look up, you know,
midway through the second half and it's it's still in
a good position for the Pacers. But then that fourth
quarter it was a much different thing. I hate that feeling. Yeah,
oh yeah, it makes it you know, it makes me
feel alive. It's a little it's a little bit of
a rush on the hammock. No hammock. I wish we
had a hammock, but uh, just imagine you yeah, hammock. Yeah.

(08:24):
I just realized I probably need to just in my
mind think of things that I typically would say on
this show that I need not to do when I
moved to eight forty whas because I don't know if
it would be a good thing. Probably would not be.
In fact, I know it wouldn't be a good thing,
and I need to not do it. Like imagine me, Hey,
let's throw it to Scott Fitzgerald. The buttholes are going

(08:47):
to get tight, right like that's you know, it was
just it was a It was a It stood out
to me as something that you know, probably shouldn't say anyway.
There's no real added benefit, but you know sometimes there's
just not I didn't even notice it. Yeah, well, because
again that's just our style, right, you know, just shed
some light on it, be to be clear. What I
mean is is, and I think most people know, is
that you're gonna get like, you're gonna get nervous, You're

(09:07):
gonna get tight because you realize we had a momentum
and now we've let it slip away. Uh oh, we're
you know, we're up against it here. They've got us
on our heels and I guess I should have said
that rather than mentioning butthole being tight. But you know, again,
sometimes it's just, you know, we're lawless at times around here.

Speaker 4 (09:22):
My old football coach used to say, so tight you
couldn't put a nail with the jackhammer through it.

Speaker 3 (09:28):
I like that saying that's very very tight too. By
the way, coach, shout out coach Stalworth. I'm always down
for shouting out high school coaches. Good stuff. All right,
So tonight again, we've got Game four of the Eastern
Conference Finals. Last night, it was the Thunder that moved
to a three to one lead after they got blown

(09:48):
off the floor in Game three, that first game in Minnesota.
And I kind of feel like the Tea Wolves are
a little bit dead now. And for as much as
we and I say we, I know I'm not alone
have hyped up Anthony Edwards. And I don't mean just
like around here on this show. I mean like he's
one of the he's one of the bigger stars in
the NBA. Is really really, really good. I do think

(10:11):
it's gonna be something I remember for a long time,
just because it seemed like a big moment one in
his career. But also just in kind of the passing
of the torch, if you will, when it comes to
new stars of the league. But when Anthony Edwards participated
with Team USA last year in the Olympics, it was
it was a known thing. In fact, many of the
superstars that represented Team USA would come out and say,

(10:32):
he's our best player. He's that he's that special, which
he is, but you know, he he doesn't have an
element to his game that is that is, you know,
super important this day and age. I know people call
him a free throw merchant meaning shay Jodis Alexander, but
he's a three level scorer. And I heard a really

(10:52):
good breakdown and I do think at times it is
almost it makes it watchable at times if you're if
you because it's not uncommon to tune into the NBA
and for you know, three four minutes of action with
very little to no stoppages in that time. It's a
rare thing for you to not see somebody really just

(11:13):
selling a foul and just trying debate people into contact
and manipulating the defender, which technically there's nothing against that,
there's no rule against that, but like it's just it's
not really entertaining to watch, but it's a huge part
of the NBA now And for all these players that
you know play above the rim and are vertical, guys
like you know Anthony Edwards, who is just a specimen,

(11:36):
just a freak athlete, can do can you know, can
do a lot of things. But then you have guys
like Sga who he's a he's a three level scorer.
He's certainly a good athlete. He's really quick. But what
makes him such a special player is a lot of things.
But I think he can get to the line as
good as anybody. But also with that, it's because he
has phenomenal footwork, right Like he you can't speed him up.

(11:59):
He can speed you up, slow you down, and make
you foul him. And sometimes it is just him, you know,
he doesn't do it as bad as Brunts and Brunson
is the worst I've ever seen, and just laying his
big frame on somebody and falling down and then getting
a call, and then at times he'll hook and holt.
I mean, he's gifted at it. But you know, it's
if you can do it and it helps you win
and it's not technically against the rules, then I see

(12:20):
why people are doing it. But what I'm getting at
with SGA and Anthony Edwards, both phenomenal players, both are
probably I mean those guys right there might be the
two faces of the NBA in five years. I mean,
that's just how good they are. So it's not like
one's way better than the other. But I think the

(12:40):
supporting cast that Shay has is actually better than what
Anthony Edwards has. But also to me stands out in
this series that Edwards is just not quite there yet.
And look, we'll see, I mean SGA is in the
Western Conference Finals. I mean they still have to win
this series and then potentially beat the Pacers or the Knicks,
and then if you win a ring, it does change
everybody looks at you. But I just I've been really

(13:02):
impressed with SGA in this entire postseason. And there's been
a lot of talk about again free throw merchant and
wanting to discredit how good he actually is by mentioning, well,
he just gets to the free throw line a lot. Well,
that's that check. That's a big part of basketball. And
if you or somebody that can get to the free
throw line a lot and score a lot of points,

(13:24):
because you know, you make a lot of your free throws.
In turn, you know what that does, It makes you
a really really good basketball player. I mean, when you
think of the guys in the NBA over the years,
or even guys in college that were really really good
at getting to the line and they shot a lot
of free throws, they made a lot of free throws,
how many of those guys would you classify as not

(13:47):
good players? And I don't mean like I mean, anybody
playing in the NBA or high level college is technically
a good player. But when you can, i mean take
all levels of it, high school, college, NBA. If there's
somebody that is getting to the free throw line more
than anybody else and it's not even close, that person's

(14:07):
a good player, right because they're they're able to get
to the line score a lot of points. So it's
just one of those things that how that's now being
used as well, he's really not that good he can
just get to the free throw line. Well, it kind
of works together. That's that's you know, that's kind of
how it works. So anyways, NBA playoffs again, who knows
what we'll get tonight because you just never know what
This series in the East it's not. I haven't put

(14:27):
any I haven't had any action on it. The last
couple of days, I did a I did a player
prop bet with Halliburton and Nie Smith and on Sunday
and it did not didn't go well for me.

Speaker 4 (14:40):
Yeah, so I've been on. I've been off the last
couple of days too. It's been pretty eat.

Speaker 3 (14:43):
But we get back on it tonight. Pretty mean you work?

Speaker 2 (14:45):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (14:46):
Why not? Why?

Speaker 3 (14:47):
Exactly right? Why not? It's something to do. It's a
it's Tuesday, right, that's right. It feels like it feels
like a Monday, but it's a Tuesday, which it.

Speaker 4 (14:55):
Feels like it's a Monday. But I already feel halfway
through the week.

Speaker 3 (14:57):
Since I think we just recently had this converse, let's
have it again because I'm having a brain fart. If
we had four day work weeks and not five, wouldn't
you agree that Friday off would be more preferable than
Monday off, even though it's the same Technically it's the
same schedule. It's three days off with four work days,

(15:19):
but there's just something like Monday's Monday's great. Having off
any off days a great day, right, Like we love
off days and spend time with your family, especially when
it's a holiday, that kind of stuff. But I think
if you just have a shorter work week and the
weekends extended in that regard, like what you do by
adding Monday is just making it to where we get
a little bit of a delay in having to return

(15:39):
to our normal schedule and work week, whereas if we
get Friday, it's like we got we got out early,
you know what I mean. And really, again, let's be honest,
it's the same exact thing as far as the amount
of time you're working and the amount of time that
you're not working. But the way you can manipulate it,
I just think it'd be if we did go to
I don't think we're going to it. If we already
to go to a four day work week, I would

(16:00):
be all in on making sure that's a Friday that
we don't work. I mean, look, I think you use
this I try platform somehow, trust me. The amount of
people who don't follow at all anything politically, and look,
if you don't, more power to you live your life,
do your thing. But and you just heard there was
somebody out there that was like, yeah, I'm all about
everybody getting three day weekends, there'd be enough people to

(16:21):
where that you hit, you'd hit the ballot like you'd
appear as receiving votes because enough people who don't care
what he say. Hey, if all I gotta do is to,
you know, go vote for this guy and there's a
chance that he may win and eliminate a work day
out of the week, I'm all in.

Speaker 4 (16:33):
Like that would be like the new legalized marijuana trend.
And yeah, this generation everyone's gonna jump on that. No,
I know, I listen. I absolutely agree because Monday for me,
fundamentally in my mind, like that's to get back to
work day. I enjoy having it off on days that
we do, and I'll my goodness, I'll take advantage of it.
I'll sleep in and the whole nine. But like it

(16:55):
just messes up the rest of your week. We're having
that Friday off. It doesn't do nothing. Like said, It
feels like getting off early and then Monday. Now, give me,
give me Friday off. Let me have my Monday that
that kind of mental get back to work type of day,
and I'll enjoy the Friday.

Speaker 3 (17:11):
Are you kidding me, dude? I mean when it comes
to Mondays, I gotta be honest with you. When I've
got something really important that I have to do on
a Monday, it changes my Sunday, Like i can't enjoy
Sunday as much because I'm thinking of, you know, the
Sunday scaries kick in, and I'm starting to think like,
man if I could put that off till Tuesday or Wednesday,

(17:31):
I need Monday to kind of to kind of reset,
you know what I'm saying. I need Monday to ease
back into the work week. Whereas when you just hit
the ground running, I mean it's it's a little much.
And again, the Sunday sun Sundays are gonna be different
from me moving forward because now you know, for the
last however many years, I get up like everybody else
does to start the week on a Monday. But you know,

(17:52):
it hasn't been at three point thirty in the morning.
Now it's gonna be that early, and it's just gonna
it's gonna be lunchtime on Sunday. I'm gonna be like, well,
you got enjoyed the rest of your weekend. I gotta
go ahead and start winding down because three thirty am
is gonna come really early tomorrow. So and by the
way this was. I was listening to the show that
I know Terry had stopped by the remote today with

(18:13):
Tony and Dwight out when you guys were there, and
I don't know if you caught the they were just
they brought up Tony retiring and how happy they were
for him and whatnot, and then they mentioned how he's
going to be able to, you know, sleep in a
little bit more now, and then each each of them
and I texted them all in a group shadow was like,
thanks a lot, guys, but they just like it wasn't
even as if they were. They they didn't spend any

(18:34):
time talking about it, but they were unable. Dwight went
and Tony Venetti and Terry Miners were all three unable
to reference the morning show and the morning job that
I just took that I'm now gonna, you know, do.
They couldn't just they couldn't just move on without acknowledging
how bad that would suck and how awful it would
be to have to get up early. Oh yeah, mornings,

(18:54):
that sucks. Mornings. That's awful. And I'm like, well, thanks, guys,
really look really looking forward to it, which I really am.
In all seriousness, but I'm well aware that here's my
plan for the mornings. By the way, and for those
who still haven't really picked up, or maybe you just
haven't been listening, I'm leaving after this week and just
moving down the hall and moving up your radio dial.
So at five am Monday through Friday, I will get

(19:17):
Kentucky in this morning news started as the host alongside
with Scott Fitzgerald, John Alden, and John Shannon is our
news anchor. It'll be from five to nine am. And
really looking forward to it, but obviously it's a big
lifestyle change to have to get up that early, and
I'm gonna do most of my preparation at night before
I go to bed. That way, I don't really have
a lot to do by the time I get here.

(19:39):
There may be some slight things to kind of just
double check. There are some things, I guess you know
when you go to bed early, there's things that could
happen over the night or late in the evening that
you missed if you went to sleeps Anyways, I'm gonna
try to get most of that kind of stuff done
in the evening and then I'm gonna try to get
here by about four fifteen, and after the show, I'll

(19:59):
probably stick around for an hour or two, talk to
some sales folks, maybe work on some some video content
that kind of stuff, and then I'm gonna like make
it a priority to wear it is part of my
daily daily job is to get an appen because if
I don't, then it just becomes to where like it's
just it's you know, eventually I'll hit a wall, and
I don't want to hit that wall. Because with this

(20:22):
big move, there's been many that have been happy for
me and congratulated me, and I'm greatly appreciate that, and
it's been it's been awesome to see how many folks are,
you know, telling me that they can't wait to listen
and that they're you know, they're they're happy for me
and all that, and that's great. But there's also been
mixed in some people who are like, just so, you know,
that kind of a shift can really mess with you mentally,

(20:43):
and then people are like, you know, I worked at
UPS overnights for a long time and there was never
a moment in my twenty years on third shift that
I was not tired. Look, thank you really making me
feel good. So again I.

Speaker 4 (21:00):
Used to work at a call center, and I would
I actually prefer coming in earlier. I think my start
time was five and I just got off at one,
either twelve or one, and I would just rather take that,
just go ahead and get my day out of the way.

Speaker 3 (21:12):
And there'd be some times or you'd just be hey,
you're probably a lot younger though, right, like you know
I was. I was like you could you had such
twenty years old? Yeah, Like that's the whole thing. Like
I if I didn't have a life, a lot and
a family and young kids that keep me busy, and
I wouldn't have it any other way. This really would
just be me individually adjusting, and I'll without even like

(21:34):
planning or having any thought towards it. If you just
you know, if it just becomes routine, then you know,
like I'll I'll create my own sleeping schedule without even
really knowing what it is. But you know, I don't
want to. My biggest worry is if I go sleep
during the day like I've never I don't know if
I've ever woken up from a nap and not been grumpy. Ever,

(21:54):
I don't know if I've ever woken from a woken
up from a nap and not been tired the rest
to the day, of course, So I don't have a
whole lot of experience with naps. I just don't. I don't.
I don't sleep very often during the day. But I'm
gonna have to and find some balance in.

Speaker 4 (22:11):
A little walk, little treadmillfaction or something just kind of.

Speaker 3 (22:14):
Yeah, like if I can, if I can get a
nap in after I leave here whenever that maybe sometimes
it might be eleven o'clock, so no, it might be noon.
But if I can then get a little nap in
and then get some some workout in rather it be
the gym or just going for a run, I feel
like that'll kind of be me restarting the second part
of my day. That makes sense. Yeah, I'll find balance,

(22:35):
but you know, we'll make it work. All right, Let's
get to a quick break. But before we do that,
let me set the table for you guys. There's a
lot we can get into, and including Greg Sanky as
he is h he's clapping back taking shots at the
ACC and the Big Twelve, which I shouldn't even say
clapping back, because I don't think the ACC took any
shots at Greg Sanki or the Big twelve took any
shots at Greg Sanky. They're just basically like, yeah, we're

(22:57):
not gonna We're not just gonna agree with anything you say,
because clearly you work for one league, we work for
another league, and what you may think is best for
yours may not be best for ours, and vice versa.
And yet he's in full defense mode. And yet it
just brings me back to what I've said for a
long time now, how could anybody think this would ever
work without real issues? Because again, everybody's out for themselves,

(23:21):
as they should be because it's their job. So we'll
get into that. Also, how about this. I never even
realized it at all, never even thought about it. But Indiana,
the Hoosiers, they've never had a mascot. Did anybody know that? Well,
now they're getting a mascot, and I think it's you know,

(23:44):
at this point, Indiana's such a brand in college athletics,
and the Hoosiers such a rare thing. Like, I don't
really know what you could do that wouldn't seem weird
and unusual to start, but everybody needs a mascot to
an extent. So we got a lot to get to
stick with us. It's coffee and company the final week,
and we're feel about Thornton right here on Sports Talk
seven ninety.

Speaker 1 (24:02):
Now back to coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on
Sports Talk seven nine day.

Speaker 3 (24:11):
That's right, coffee and company fuel about Thornton's here on
Sports Talk seven ninety. Thanks for hanging out with us
here on a Tuesday afternoon. It feels great to say
that it's Tuesday, because it certainly feels like a Monday.
But short weeks are always great, and it is our
final week here, at least for me, so I'm going
to make the most of the time that we do have.
And I didn't mention this in the first segment, as

(24:32):
far as things we can we can get into and discuss,
and I guess there really isn't any There isn't really
anything to there's no breaking news or anything like that.
But Mark Pope yet to hear, and maybe he's heard
and just isn't public yet, but there's not been any
official public acknowledgment that that Kentucky's getting back their star player.

(24:56):
And I feel like, you know, maybe there's a chance
that he's already told Pope. He just wants to wait,
and I don't even really know what the deadline is,
but it's got to be getting close. At least I
would assume that it's getting close as far as the deadline,
because you're seeing a lot of guys who participated in
the draft combine that didn't get great feedback or maybe

(25:17):
they just wanted to go through the process and did
not expect at any point, you know, to get any
type of indication that the right time to go pro
would be now, But they just wanted to go through
that experience because there's a lot of value that comes
with it. But anyways, as far as what happens with
with you know, the guys that are left, I feel

(25:37):
like the majority of them, I mean, there can't be
many that have that have I mean as far as
guys who have a really tough decision to make, I mean,
I feel like most of those guys have already decided
what it is that they're going to do. But otega
Oway is clearly Kentucky's top player next year, regardless of

(25:57):
who they brought in. And maybe I'm wrong, like maybe
one of these guys who transferred in, like Jalen Low,
who was really really impressive, It sounds like at the
g Lee combine and then that got him an opportunity
at the actual NBA Draft combine. Like maybe he's their
best player. But I always felt like otakea Away was
their best player last year, but like nobody really acknowledged
it because I guess they were of the belief that
it was going to be either Jackson Robinson or maybe

(26:21):
even Lamont Butler. But Go Takeaway has does not have
really any I mean, it says here that the draft deadline,
let's say, let's see here, it says the college eligible
prospects have until May twenty eighth at eleven fifty nine pm,

(26:41):
So it's tomorrow night at midnight is the deadline to
submit paperwork stating they no longer intend to go through
the process. So Kentucky is going to know one way
or the other. And I don't know enough about otake
Away if he's somebody that has the personality or maybe
he's shown to really I don't want to say take
advantage because that sounds like I'm being critical, and I'm

(27:03):
really not. If you have this moment and you realize
it's such a big deal that you're coming back to school,
I mean, for you to, I guess play into that
now if you if you start messing with fans and whatnot,
that's that's a little bit of a different situation. But
I think most would love the thought of knowing you
can announce, hey, I'm coming back, and you're just going

(27:23):
to get showered with nothing but love and praise because
people are so excited that you're back. So if a
lot of us were, you know, in this position when
we were a lot younger, I think we probably would
do a lot of these things that current players and
recruits do because you know, I think it's human nature
to want to be wanted. And clearly I think otega
Oway knows that him coming back is going to be
a big, big deal and he's going to make fans

(27:44):
wait till the last minute. I guess to have it
because there doesn't seem to be any real fear that
he will not be back yet as of right now,
at three point thirty three, he is not. I guess
made it official as far as letting anybody know. And
this goes back to the awkward conversations that that you know,
we've had over the years. As far as I guess
recent years, more than anything, is if somebody is not

(28:06):
going to hit the portal, do they need to tell
us that? Right? Used to be well, why would they
go anywhere? Why do they need to say anything? Well now,
because it's a reset every year, meaning you can do
whatever you want. You do feel as if guys would
need to say something for you to feel.

Speaker 2 (28:22):
Sure.

Speaker 3 (28:23):
I mean, Casin Pryor is a good example. He announced it,
I think on I mean he think he announced it
right as the portal closed, because that was the you know,
he didn't mention anything about going pro or even entering
the portal. It just was an announcement with a very
nice cinematic video put together that told us he's coming back,
And there was never really any mention or acknowledgment of

(28:46):
a real tough decision. But because of the new world
and what it is, I think everybody can read the
room right like, we know you can leave if you want.
We know if you did leave, you would have a
lot of options and probably a lot of potential, you know, money,
So what are you gonna do? I do believe I
tend to side more so with let's not let's not

(29:07):
be stupid here, meaning let's not insult people's intelligence. You know,
the whole Like, why would I need to say anything
until he's.

Speaker 2 (29:14):
Hit the portal?

Speaker 3 (29:15):
He's here, You're right, but you're not you know what
I'm saying. It's just it's it's different. So anyway, so
take Away may not have any kind of a plan,
but I suppose there is. This isn't one of those
things where you you you just ride it out and
if he's still on campus in June, then you know,
you're good to go with this. He does actually have

(29:36):
to do something. There's actually something that needs to be
done in order for him to be able to come back,
and that is submit paperwork stating that they no longer
intend to go through the process. And I would assume
he's either done that or he's doing it now. And
it's just kind of a waiting game, I know. With
with Mark Pope, he he did his interview with KSR
last week, and it sounds like he wanted to do

(29:58):
that interview once he knew for sure what his roster
was going to be. And I guess that doesn't mean
he couldn't have a last second, you know, change of
the roster, because maybe Away had had the decision to
you know, maybe Away to change his mind and told
him at the last second. Who knows. I guess that's possible,
but I'd be highly, highly, highly shocked if he doesn't

(30:18):
come back to Kentucky because again, the amount of money
he's gonna make is more than he would make even
if he probably gets drafted in the early second round
or late first round. So it says here that the
when it comes to the different mock drafts that are
out there, the vast majority of them don't have him

(30:38):
getting drafted. However, Sports Illustrated they have, They've all, they've
they've been the one that seemingly has had him in
the second round for quite some time. They currently have
him going fifty eighth overall, and you've got let's see
CBS Sports Updated is its latest mock draft, but always

(30:59):
not in it. Same thing with Clutch Points, which is
actually a pretty now reputable NBA outlet. But nonetheless, I
would say he comes back to Kentucky. But I'm trying
to think. If I'm a Louisville fan and I'm in
this position, I'm sorry. If I'm a Kentucky fan and
I'm in this position, I think I would be comfortable
and not worried about it, but you know, just knowing

(31:20):
that he could have a last second change of heart
that would be that would I guess that would probably
make me a little more nervous. Then again, like to
go back to what we talked, what was a couple
of weeks ago, we played the sound as somebody was
doing the somebody was doing on NBA TV. They were
having the five on five scrimmages and they had not

(31:42):
only the play by play guy and a guy doing color,
but they brought in I think it might have been
Jonathan Givoni of Draft Express. I'm not sure who it was,
but it was an analyst. It was basically stating that
now with guys like oh, take away, the decision becomes
much easier because you might get drafted, or you can
for sure go back to college and make more money
than you would make even if you did get drafted.

(32:03):
And that was him. So it really came down to
the only scenario where he's not at Kentucky next year
would be that he got some kind of a late
guarantee from a team that they're going to take him
in the first round, or that he just hates being
at Kentucky. And I don't think that's the case at all.
But even if he did, I think the amount of

(32:23):
money he's going to make to be at Kentucky would
make him not hate it as much. Again, if he
even did, and I guess the other scenario would be
that he would be worried that his draft stock may
actually be better now because he doesn't think Kentucky's going
to be very good next year, and that could that
could hurt him. I don't think that's true, and I
don't think he would see it that way. So again,
I would say all signs point to him to him

(32:45):
coming back now one of the probably one of the
best players that hit the portal, But yet there really
wasn't a whole like PJ. Haggerty was at Memphis with
Penny Hardaway last year and was a first team All
the mayor I believe, if not first team, he was
the second team All American. And he committed to Kansas
State today. And this is a guy who really the

(33:09):
momentum in the coverage of his recruitment would have been
so different had he not or I guess his agency
is representation as handlers, had they not handled it the
way that they did, right, because when you come out
of the gate, entering the portal and having your representation,
your agent. I guess let guys like Gary Parrish, Matt

(33:32):
Norlander and Jeff Borzello, Jeff Goodman, let those guys know, Hey,
you're requesting at minimum four million dollars and you want
to run the show, you want to be the point guard.
I mean, I think even though we're all about getting
good players in the portal that can help you win,
I think a lot of people realized there's not going
to be many programs that'll that'll that'll take that right

(33:53):
that not only is that way too much money for
a player, even if you gave him half of that,
that's still an insane amount of money that I'm not
sure many if any, actually get for nil. But also
you're bringing in a guy to your locker room. Let's
say it's a locker room that's already kind of in
place with some guys returning, and you know, this guy's
showing up and there's no competition because he's already been
given the point guards by like, that's just not an

(34:15):
ideal scenarios. So he did not get pursued heavily by
many big time schools. And I think it's for those
reasons I just mentioned, and I think there were a
couple of schools. It sounds like they did try to
pursue him with a look, we know what you're asking for,
but like, let's let's let's have a conversation here, Like
you're not getting that anywhere, and we can give you

(34:36):
something we think is not only a good deal for
you from a money standpoint, but also you'll play in
a really good system with a really good team and
get a whole lot of notoriety. So we got that off.
We can we can talk about that type of an
arrangement if you're interested. But it sounds like he stuck
to his guns and did not And I kind of
respect it because I get the feeling this guy, who

(34:57):
by the way, is a this will be his sixth
year playing I believe, started at TCU, then went to Tulsa,
they went to Memphis. Now he's going to be at
Kansas State. So maybe he knows he'll never play in
the NBA, and he's not worried about anything other than
cashing in as best he can making money in college
because when he plays pro, rather it be in you know,

(35:18):
the G League or in Japan, China, somewhere in Europe.
He knows the big payday is now, so he's just
gonna do whatever he can and basically just pick whichever
program pays him the most money. And I'm not sure
if Kansas State and Jerome Tang were able to do that,
but it went from being PJ. Haggerty is likely going
to end up going to NC State to play for

(35:40):
will Wade, and then I guess they wouldn't. I guess
they wouldn't give him the amount. I mean, it sounds
to me like this guy really did, in fact, try
to just squeeze out the biggest payday he could get.
N C State wasn't willing to pay I guess what
he wanted, and I think they were initially going to
be his biggest offer, and yet they ended up taking

(36:01):
the guy from Texas Tech who transferred last week, who
announced his decision in C State. So although there are
two different players, right, Haggard, he's a point guard, this
guy from Texas Tech's more of like a wing or
a hybrid four. But now it's not about competing for roles,
it's about competing for the budget. Right, who you know
if you're paying this guy who just played in a
find or an Elite eight with Texas Tech. He's not

(36:22):
coming for cheap, so that I guess eliminated NC State's
ability to pay him what he wanted. So then it
was he's going to go back to play for penny
and he may not get the most money, but he'll
get a lot of money and it'll work out well.
Then Kansas State steps in, So I think just maybe
I'm forcing it here as far as connecting dots, but
I think this guy just went to the highest bidder

(36:44):
and Kansas State was able to find the money and say, hey,
let's let's make this work. So, I mean, there's still
such a a stenshet of negative tone when you talk
about guys just out out for the money, just chasing
the bag, going to the highest bidder. Right, there's a

(37:07):
tone of it as if they're doing something wrong. But
I surely that will eventually fade with college sports fans,
right because this is this is their job. Like you
at your job, you're gonna do whatever you can to
make the most money, right, I mean, maybe not everybody.
Maybe there's maybe there's a compromise to where you will
take a lower salary because you don't get responsibilities that

(37:27):
bring you stress. Like everybody's got to find their own balance.
But at some point, we as a society will no
longer have that negative tone to the conversation about guys
just doing whatever for the money, because hey, that's this
is their job. They'd be I mean, if you really
consider it, you're not being responsible for your future if

(37:48):
you're not constantly resetting and I don't mean constantly transferring,
but I mean constantly reevaluating your worth and what you
can get. Because from here on out, when these guys
leave after a four or five or sometimes now six
year stent of playing college sports, they're gonna be starting
their professional life. Maybe it'll be playing pro in another country.

(38:12):
Maybe it'll be playing pro in the NBA, you know,
or maybe it'll be maybe on the football side. You know,
you just there's just no market for you in the NFL.
You're a great college player, but you just don't translate
to the NFL. Well, you can leave college after four
years and say, yeah, I'm not going to go to
the get you know, maybe you do the undrafted free
agent thing for a year and then you know you're
out of football and you can go play in the

(38:34):
XFL or the UFL. But if you've stacked up a
ton of money because you play four years of college
football and you had a big time an IL deal,
you can just start your life, and you know, maybe
you are more able to just walk away from competing
in the sport you grew up loving because you know what,
you got five million in the bank and you can
go start a business, right you can invest in things
like I just I think in the you know, twenty

(38:56):
years from now, if I mean, I just think there's
going to be so much that these guys have available
to them to start life that really won't have anything
to do with them playing pro sports. It'll be them
maybe being businessmen. You know, who is it? The guy
who played at North Carolina for twenty years and just

(39:16):
just finished school recently. I can't think of his name, Bakhat.
I don't know if people know the story. It's not
super interesting, but you know, it's not something you typically
hear about from a college player ending his career. But
he did not get drafted. He has been in the
G League, but he made an insane amount of money
at Carolina. Right well, he's buying hotels like apparently he
is investing in buying hotels and that you know, he's

(39:40):
gonna I don't know if he's gonna have his own
chain or what it is. I'm not sure if he's
like a minority owner and like a company or what
it is. But he's using a lot of money he
made in college to be in the hotel business. And again,
that's not super interesting. It's not something you typically hear about.
But I think that's just an example of that anybody
who's out here just trying to get as much money

(40:02):
as they can during this period of their life. Not
only is there nothing wrong with that, I think it's
foolish if you don't, to be honest with you, all right,
quick break, we'll come back. We've got a lot more
to get into, including Greg Sank. Really, I think just
confirming that there needs to be somebody above all of
the conferences, you know, maybe a commissioner of college football,

(40:27):
not a commissioner or four commissioners of different conferences trying
to work together when clearly they aren't and they shouldn't.
It's not their job. So we'll get to that in
a lot more. Keep it locked right here on Sports
Talk seven.

Speaker 1 (40:40):
Ninety now back to coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's
on Sports Talk seven nine day.

Speaker 3 (40:49):
Who knows what ends up happening with the rest of
the NBA playoffs, but I'm glad that I've had the
last couple of weeks that I've had as a Pacers fan,
because I'm not to the less as far as excitement
that I would be if Louisville was playing in like
the ACC Tournament tonight or something. But it's been a
while since I've been into the the playoffs quite like this.

(41:11):
And yes, last year the Pacers beat the Knicks in
Game seven, but that was in the Semis, and if
you can get past the Knicks, which you still should
be able to do, I mean, you should take care
of business tonight and then really, you know, maybe you
end up you know, I think if you win the night,
you got a good chance of ending the series in
New York and that in game Game five. But we'll see.

(41:34):
But anyways, it's just been a lot of fun to
see them now have a chance to actually get to
the NBA Finals for the first time since they lost
to the Lakers, I think it was. And one of
that one of those three pet years that they had,
and then on the West, obviously the thunder are a
real scary matchup. They're that they're that good, but they're
not scary, and maybe they should be, right, maybe they

(41:55):
should be scary, but they're not scary like the Warriors
when they were rolling three through the NBA. Who else
on the West has just been in recent like really
it's been the Warriors, right like, even whenever there's been
like down years for them, you've had the Nuggets who
were in the Nuggets have been kind of a force,
I suppose for a little while. But anyways, it's open,

(42:16):
it's there if you can. I mean, this is the
first time really in my lifetime. My dad and I
we went to dinner on Saturday. Shout out to my
dad and happy sixty fourth birthday to the weekend. Yeah,
so we were talking. He had me as a friend
on Facebook. Hell yeah, I like to hear that. He's
he's the man, and he's of course somebody that got

(42:36):
me into the Pacers and that's why I'm a Pacers
fan of this day. But we were talking and he
said something that to me, it's so obvious, yet I
hadn't really even given it any thought, and that is
that this is the best opportunity for the Pacers to
win an NBA title in my lifetime. And I'm not
really sure it's close because their best chances when I
was a kid, you know, they had to get past Jordan.

(43:00):
That wasn't easy. Jordan, the Bulls, those teams were great,
but Michael and his crew in Chicago, they were pretty
tough to get to get passed. And then whenever Jordan
stepped away and the Pacers franchise was still in a
pretty good spot. One year they lost to the Pistons,
which really killed me because the Pistons, that's right when
they had it rolling and Tayshawn Prince, former Kentucky Wildcat,

(43:21):
blocked Reggie Miller on a breakaway lay up and changed
the entire series, and obviously they ended up losing. And
then at one point I think this might have been Yeah,
this was before the Pistons, but at one point they
did win the East and they went on to play
Kobe and Shack in LA. So, yeah, they've had other
good teams, they've made the finals in my lifetime, but

(43:41):
they're best teams. There's been a goliath in the way.
Jordan the Bulls, Scott, the Lakers teams that went on
with a three peat with Kobe and Shack, and then
also even the really good teams with Paul George what
roughly seven, eight, nine years ago, however long ago it was,

(44:05):
we had to get past Lebron in the heat. And
I know it sounds like, well, yeah, you got to
get past really good teams if you're gonna win the
freaking NBA title, and you're right, But I do think
there's a difference in getting past a team that's really
really good, like the Thunder or even the Wolves or
maybe the Knicks. That's a different thing. It's a different

(44:26):
type of challenge than having to get past the nineties Bulls,
Kobe and Shaq when they were in their prime in
LA in Miami, Lebron James. So it is more open
right now than it's ever been. And I'll say this,
I don't think they're that scary, but we wouldn't know
because we don't fear the Thunder because they've got SGA,

(44:50):
who's the MVP of the NBA, and I think it's deserved.
But the most talked about thing in regards to SGA
in the last week has been that he's a free
throw merchant. He's not really that good. I mean, that's
an outlets thing to say, but it's been said. People
don't seem to realize that if you are really really
good at getting to the line and you make a
lot of free throws that you shoot, that works out

(45:11):
to where that's an equation to where you're a really
good basketball player. And know, by the way, he's good
at a lot of other things too. Jalen Williams is
probably the best player in the NBA that nobody knows
who he is. This is such an overused thing as
far as a saying, but it's true. He could walk
into a lot of places nobody would know who he is,
and he averages twenty points per game on the best

(45:34):
team in the NBA. You would know who chet Holmgrin
is just because he's a giant and he was such
a phenom coming out of high school that he had
more I mean, this, dude, Jalen Williams, he would dis
Santa Clara. Nobody watched him in college, and then he
goes to Oka See, probably the smallest market in the league.
So I don't fear them like I do the other

(45:56):
great dynasties we've talked about, but maybe I should because
they look really, really good, although hard for me to
say somebody is that scary good. When they lost by
fifty points in Game three, I mean they literally did
loose by an insane amount, which tells me, yes, you're good.
But part of me says that you getting beat by
that amount in any point in the playoffs automatically keeps

(46:18):
you from being included into that group that you just fear.
And again, I think the nineties Bulls, Kobe and Shaq
in La and really, I still believe Miami Lebron was
the scariest Lebron we ever got to watch, just because
he was playing angry because he couldn't believe that people
were upset with him about the decision, which obviously didn't

(46:39):
work out for him. All Right, we'll talk a little
more about tonight's Game four between the Pacers and Knicks
in a little while. We got two more hours left,
and I hope you will stick around with us at
his Coffee and Company, Nick Coffee. That's me Austin Montgomery
alongside two more hours left on Sports Talk seven ninety