Louisville Basketball Postgame Show - Tennessee

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
The Louisville basketball game just ended, and now it's time
for you to react. It's the Louisville Basketball postgame Show
on Sports Talk seven nine days now. Here's Nick Coffee.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
All right, good afternoon, Welcome in to the Louisville basketball
postgame show here on Sports Talk seven ninety Nick Coffee.
That is me the company man John Alden alongside as
we discuss what happened this afternoon at the KFC Center.
Louisville loses big time, seventy seven to fifty five. Tennessee
clearly a much better team, and I know this audience

(00:46):
is probably a little bit different than what I get
each weekday from three to six. So if you were unaware,
I will just say it because I'm sure there'll be
some that want to remind me of it, and trust me,
I'm well away. I was wrong. I thought Louisville would
win today, and it was because I just didn't think
Tennessee was all that impressive when it comes to personnel,

(01:08):
when it comes to just what they brought back and
what they brought in. But man, I was wrong, and
I really really hope Tennessee is a really good team,
Like I hope Tennessee is like, I hope this is
Rick Barnes' best team ever. They look good today, and
I know Louisville was a factor in that, but I

(01:28):
hope that today is not a sign of what happens
when you play good teams, because Louisvill's got a lot
of good teams on the schedule this year, and a
lot of those teams that are probably better than Tennessee
or at least in that range, you play them in
the next eight weeks. I mean, that's that's how the
schedule sets up. So I've got a lot of I

(01:52):
got a lot of things I just want to throw
out there. But I you know, this is another reminder
that when we do these shows right after the game,
you know, I want to I want to, I want
to have a strategy, and I do, but as soon
as it ends, I just want to unload. But I don't,
you know, I should be more prepared, and I am.

(02:14):
We'll get through it. I mean, I mean, I'm not
gonna not share my exact thoughts, but it made me
realize that in the last couple of years, really, since
we stopped carrying Louisville basketball games on this station, I've
not really had to do a show right after the
game where I'm trying to in real time, you know,

(02:35):
assess on my end, like what I think. I mean,
I know what I think, but you know, I like
to think, Okay, here's the immediate thoughts, here's the big
picture stuff. Here's something that I'm worried about. But maybe
I'll look at two of those things that I'm worried
about and realize, Okay, maybe I'm overreacting. And you know,
I'm going to try to piece it together as we
as we move on here in this next hour or so,

(02:56):
but we will have Pat Kelsey's press conference for you.
I have a prediction this is what I think Pat
Kels's gonna do today. I think he is going to
go above and beyond to praise the opponent, Tennessee. And
I don't have any issue with that. Tennessee was great today,
and that's why I started the show by saying, man,

(03:17):
I hope they're really good. I hope that Louisville played
a team today that, like other teams, are going to
get the same type of ask whooping. I mean, I
hope that happens. I don't know if it's going to,
but that would be obviously best case scenario. I also
think he's going to really really praise the crowd, and
he should because that place was rocking. That was the
best atmosphere at the Young Center that I can think

(03:40):
of since when Louisville played as the number one team
in the country against Michigan back in the fall of
or I guess, yeah, around this time five years ago.
So they showed up and everybody knows it, and I
hope they continue to show up. You know, today wasn't
a good result. Clearly not a great outcome, but I

(04:02):
was happy that when there was a real push to
get people there, they were there, and that I mean
even even when you're down double digits. And I was
at the game, so I literally just left after the
under eight time out to get back here in time.
And I got here as soon as I mean I
literally walked in, got set up, and there was thirty
seconds left, so it was right on time. So this

(04:23):
is an unusual thing for me where I have no
clue what it looked like on TV. I have no
clue what the broadcaster said where I was sitting, and
I had, you know, I was in I was I
was in seats with my with my son and my wife.
So I wasn't courtsiuted like I like I usually am
or have been previously. So there's some things that like
I missed out on by being there, But you know,
I wouldn't trade it for the world. I'm just saying, like,

(04:44):
you know, the crowd, I feel like from from being there,
myself was ready and will and and I mean they were.
I mean, louis was down double digits at times, and
there'd be a couple of plays where momentum was established
for Louisville, and you know, Tennessee came back and just
silenced you That that ziggler three the end of the
shot clock early in the second half, when Louisville cut

(05:04):
it to eight. I think might have been six, but
I think it was eight. I mean that when he
hit that three, that was that was humongous. That was huge.
Like that that that you know, that was that was
an answer. So you know, pack Kelsey's going to prop
up Tennessee, prop up the crowd, which I think are
both necessary. But what I'm curious, I mean, I have

(05:26):
I have a guess, but I don't really know what
he's going to say about his guys because you know,
they got they got, they got bullied today And as
I did, pull up the YouTube TV feed here on
the ACC network and who was a devendorf on the
on the color which is a wild thing to think about.
But he's praising Louisville talking about how they didn't quit,

(05:50):
they competed, and I felt like that was that wasn't
an issue when I was watching. But you know, I
got to remind myself if you're just you know, looking
for if you're looking for somebody that's going to overreact
in an emotional way on Twitter in real time, that's
where you that's where you go to. I mean that
you can find that easily. So like I don't I
don't feel like what I saw in person was a
team that like laid down and was just you know,
not trying. But they got bullied. Like they mean, Tennessee

(06:12):
came in here and they were the grown ass men.
Lowell's got a lot of guys on this team that
are grown men. I mean they're twenty three, twenty four
years old, They've played a lot of basketball. They're old
for college basketball players. And I don't think that they quit,
but like they get pushed around, and I'm curious what
he says about his guys, because I don't he's not

(06:34):
gonna throw under the bus. Here's the reality. This is
the first time everybody involved, fans, administration, players, coaches, this
is the first time everybody involved has hit any level
any level of adversity in the Pat Kelsey era. And
it's only a second game. So I wasn't happy with

(06:57):
what happened today. I'd be a lot if I told
you that I now view this team like the same
way that I did twenty four hours ago. But I
also know that we're gonna really learn about him in
these coming weeks because they're gonna have more games like this,
and you know, using the portal and going and getting

(07:17):
all the guys that filled up this roster. I mean
that's a godsend because in the previous world, you probably
would have made a coaching change. And if you and
if that's the but if you did, who would come
and take take the job? I mean, you could have
got somebody. But I'm just saying, like Pat Kelsey being
able to come in and bring in his own guys

(07:38):
and build a roster that fits what he wants to do,
like that that's best case scenario, that's a benefit from
the new world that we're in in college basketball. But
what I'm really gonna pay attention to is it's all
been a honeymoon for everybody involved. There's a lot of
these guys that got one year left. There's a lot
of guys on this team that only have another. They're

(07:59):
only eligible to play because of a global pandemic that
happens once every one hundred years. So how much do
they have left to where they're going to really be
all right? Because because here's the I think all these
guys are good dudes, and I mean it, I think
and you know, I'm trying not to to get to
the point where I'm like acting like things are terrible

(08:20):
and this is going to be a terrible season because
we have no clue. But you know what hit me
today was Okay, the you know, these aren't guys that
have been in front of these fans, that have been
around here for many years that like understand man, today,
you know today isn't it? And I have no reason
to think that they won't be humbled, be hungry, be

(08:41):
ready to bounce back. I think the guy leading them
is the perfect guy to get that result. But this
is the new world. These guys are here because they
wanted to utilize the new world money. Uh better program

(09:03):
than where most of them came from as far as history, tradition,
all that kind of stuff. So you know, I think
that what I'm most worried about, and there's there's a
lot of things I'm worried about, but I just I
hope that when you have a bunch of journeymen essentially
in college basketball, that that don't know each other longer

(09:24):
than a year. I mean they met when everybody decided
to come to Louisville, So without having years of continuity
connection and you know, you know buy in. Can this
type of adversity can can this type of a loss.
Is it going to bring them together to where they
get they get better and they end up becoming a

(09:45):
really good team and this is something that they really
benefit benefited from happening an ass whooping like today or
is it you know, the opposite? And again I hope
and I believe you are in a good position with
the guy leading the ship to where it's not the latter.
But we'll have to see, because today Tennessee one, they

(10:07):
were physical They were grown ass men. They were well
aware of what Pat Kelsey wants to do. They were
well aware of what a lot of people have said.
And I haven't used this word yet, but I'll say
it now, gimmicky. Your offense is gimmicky, and it could
work if you got the dudes, and if you are
going up against a team that isn't Tennessee. Tennessee was

(10:28):
so impressive today. And I know it sounds like I'm
trying to just say, what are you going to do?
You're lost to such a great team, and I hope
they're great, But what I mean by impressive, they knew
every thing what Louisville was going to try to do.
And they set back and they said, we're here. Go ahead,
We're here, do what you want to do. We've got

(10:49):
back on defense, we've closed out, you're not getting anything
in rhythm, go ahead, take your shot. And I don't
mean a field goal attempt, I mean kind, but I mean, hey,
we're here, go ahead and do your thing. And there
was no like louisll didn't have a formula offensively, you know,
what they tried to do was taken away and they
were in a half court set with guys who aren't

(11:13):
natural creators offensively, and they got they got to be bad.
Like that's what happened. So you're not gonna play teams
every night that are like Tennessee. But I will stand
corrected one because I thought of it would win. But
I also stand corrected, and like there are other like
Brick Barnes is the and I should have seen this coming.
Rick Barnes is the coach, the guy that's been doing
this so long, that knows the new wave, knows what

(11:35):
pack Kelsey and a lot of other coaches are trying
to do. And look, coaches have had success with it.
I mean Nat Oates. He plays a very similar style
to what you what you're gonna see that Pat Kelsey
wants to do. But he's also got four and five
star players doing it or transfers that you know are
probably a little more proven at a higher level than

(11:56):
what Louisville has this year, So it can work. I'm
not saying, like all we got to be worried what
he's trying to do is going to be terrible, but
you got to have certain dudes, and you gotta be ready.
My biggest criticism today, among many things, is that when
somebody like Tennessee takes you away from what you want
to do, you gotta have something in the bag. You
got to get into something and generate.

Speaker 1 (12:19):
A look.

Speaker 2 (12:20):
Because dudes just having a little bit of visibility and
being guys that are good shooters for the most part
as far as their percentages and their whole career, Tennessee's
gonna take that away. So again, Louisville loses today seventy
seven to fifty five, a humbling experience for everybody involved, fans, players, coaches, everybody.

(12:43):
And I still think this team has a chance to
be good, you know, I said, since the roster was assembled,
I think from a personnel standpoint, this can be a
tournament team. Still believe that. I don't know what's gonna happen.
I'm not as confident, but like I'm not looking at
today and saying, Okay, we should prepare for like the
ultimate rebuild kind of thing. I'm not doing that, you know.

(13:06):
I mean, if there's any season, I'm sorry, if this
season is anything like the previous three seasons, that would
be a big red flag. There's no excuse for that,
and I don't think it's going to be that way.
But I'm also willing to acknowledge, like we'll see. We're
gonna have to wait and see. So my biggest concern
is as far as personnel, you don't have any physical bigs.

(13:30):
I mean, you just don't. I mean James Scott, I
think he plays hard, but he's not. I mean Tennessee
went out there with dudes that were just I mean,
they look like you're they look like at times, and
I don't mean, I don't mean this to be to
make fun of anybody, and it's not really a joke,
but it's the best comparison I can think of at
times physical and when it comes to, you know, just
the interior play. From a physical standpoint, I felt like

(13:52):
some of our guys were playing against their older uncle
and just got pushed around, like that's what happened. And
that was always something that I think we were well
aware of, but maybe he didn't want to talk about
because of the honeymoon phase that you didn't really you
didn't go get a really good big The bigs you
got that were that were you, that we were, that
you were justifiably excited about, are hybrids. I mean, they're

(14:16):
guys that fit what Pat wants to do case and
prior can step outside knock down a shot. Noah Waterman,
his biggest strength is behind the three point line, and
that's that's not really a compliment for a guy that's
nearly seven foot tall. It's just it's just who he is. So,
you know, not great by any means. I think I've

(14:39):
laid out for the most part my thoughts and and
you know clearly it's it's all raw, it's all in
the moment, heat of the moment. So I still think
this team can be good. I think Pat Kelsey is
the guy that can take a team and and really
grow from this. But you're going to play teams that,
as of right now are maybe not the style that

(15:00):
Tennessee is. Maybe they don't have the same build as
far as their roster when it comes to personnel. But
they had dudes that made some tough shots tonight. And
I don't know if that's because they're just that much
better than our guys, because Louisville tonight missed some shots
that you feel like they on any given like next
time up they get the same exact shot, they might

(15:20):
make it. However, they had some ability on their end
to kind of break you down a little bit and
just go go get something, Go get a bucket. And
Louisville not only doesn't do that, I'm not sure if
they have that. So when you are so reliant upon
a system, a formula, a style working, this is what

(15:44):
happens when it doesn't work. And the coach. A lot
of respect for Rick Barnes. When the coach comes in
and knows what you're gonna do and he's ready to
expose you, and Rick's a classic guy. I'm not acting
like he's gonna like he had some kind of personal
vendetta at all. I'm just saying it's quite clear what
Pat Kelsey is going to do every time out. Doesn't
matter who you play, doesn't matter what they're gonna do.

(16:06):
He's going to bring that same style every night and
it's gonna work great at times, and then it's gonna
get it's gonna get blasted at times. And today that's
what happened. All right again, we're gonna go to Pat
Kelsey as soon as he is live. I would imagine
that'll happen with them the next ten minutes or so.
So until then we'll go to the phone lines and

(16:27):
let you guys react to what you saw. So let's
do that fibo two five to seven to one again,
five oh two, five to seven to one, seventy nine hundred.
Five o two, five to one seventy nine hundred. That's
the number if you want to call we uh, we've
got loaded lines.

Speaker 3 (16:43):
Now.

Speaker 2 (16:43):
When somebody drops off, that's your chance to uh to
jump in. So we'll start with Jerry, Jerry, what's up.

Speaker 4 (16:51):
We'll make you said a lot of the things I
was gonna say. I mean, we're looking at it the
same way when I watch a game like this, I'm
not gonna be ultra negative. I think we can be
be pretty good still. But by the first TV time out,
it was jav versus Varsity. I mean they looked longer,
just more physical, more mature. I mean, there was no

(17:13):
way around it. I thought we were very fortunate to
only be down fourteen and a half when you go
five for twenty three behind the line, and some of
those looks were pretty dark. One. They were not bad looks,
and you got to knock them down. If that's the
style you're gonna play, you gona knock him down. I'm
not convinced that this team is as good a three
point shooting team, as we've been led to believe or

(17:33):
sold or we think. I'm not convinced. I tell you what,
I was disappointed. I will say this. I was disappointed
in Edwards. There was multiple times, two to four times
where he caught behind the three point line and wasn't
ready to shoot the dagone ball. If you're going to
camp out out there, because we've already got Trey or

(17:53):
in the game release, yeah, so Edwards has got to
be ultra ready on the catch. He wasn't. He turned
down threes and and that's just that's just unacceptable. Chucky Hetborne.
I thought he had a terrible game. I mean, I
just did. I was very disappointed. Uh, I just thought
he was really They said at one point Ziggler had

(18:15):
ten turnovers. I was shocked by that. I haven't looked
at the stat sheet.

Speaker 2 (18:18):
But I felt like, I felt like, and I hate
to cut you off, Jerry, I'm gonna let you keep going,
but I gotta I gotta say this. I I had
I would have never believed that he had five turnovers.
He had eleven. That's one of those things that when
you're there and you don't, you're not looking at stats
every time you're not here in the broadcasters. That blows
my mind.

Speaker 4 (18:38):
Well, I was shocked, I mean, but but Hepburn started
out the game with three straight turnovers. If I'm not mistaken, Yeah,
it was.

Speaker 2 (18:44):
I don't I don't know if he was specifically in
charge of it, but yes, the start of it was
was a mess.

Speaker 4 (18:50):
Uh. By the by the first TV time out again,
I felt like our our physical strength, our lengthd and
and here's another glaring thing about this team. And like
I said, I still think we can make the turn,
but our athleticism is not the greatest.

Speaker 2 (19:03):
I mean, can I ask you this, Jerry, because because
because I said this here and there throughout the last
I don't know, however many months since the roster's been together,
and I said, there's gonna be some times where you
play teams and you feel like, hey, these guys are
solid players, but you recognize why they were where they
were before they were here. I felt, I'm not saying
you said that, but I felt like today it was

(19:24):
one of those days.

Speaker 4 (19:26):
Oh, no doubt about it about Tennessee. I think they're
damn good. I hope they're I hope they're really, really good,
as you said, because it'll make us feel a little
bit better about today. And then hang on a second,
I'm sorry. Good, yeah, I'm good. There was What was

(19:50):
disheartening was there was like three to five times where
we took them all the way to the end of
the shot clock and they scored I think on every
day on one of them. So we're doing some good things.
We'll be okay, hopefully we make the tournament. It was
you used the right word earlier, very humbling. You know,
got to look in the mirror. One concern though, you

(20:11):
talk about Kelsey playing this style, playing this style, playing
the style, how do you ever get that type of big,
that type of thick forward that can play in this system.

Speaker 2 (20:20):
It's a great point.

Speaker 4 (20:21):
I mean, is always going to be an issue.

Speaker 2 (20:23):
It's a great point. And Jerry, I appreciate the call.
I want to get to some more callers before we
get to Pat Kelsey. But yes, just to react to
to Jerry, you know, Chucky from when I saw you know,
eight points, two of seven from the floor, four rebounds,
four assists just in four tournovers as well, so so
certainly not a great game for him. Ziggler got the
best of him really really, I mean, I feel like

(20:45):
in a major way. But when I see he had
eleven turnovers, like I don't remember a third of though,
I don't remember half of those. So as far as
the point Jerry made about how do you go get
a big it's a great point. Like if this is
what you play and you're a true like if you're
an omar a ballo, do you cancel your visit to

(21:05):
Louisville Because where you're at now, they're gonna utilize you.
They're gonna play through you. And I'm you know again,
Pat Kelsey's gonna have the opportunity to build what he
wants to do and bring in the best players possible
to do that. I think this roster, this team still
has ability and talent to where you can be a
tournament team. I don't think that today. When I mean

(21:27):
Tennessee made a lot of tough shots, I must say
that Tennessee made a lot of really tough shots. Now,
they also bullet you at times to get those shots.
There were some plays that you're thinking, Okay, how's that happen?
But that's basketball. I think we were way more focused
on some of the things they did offensively because we
looked on our end and we couldn't buy a basket
at times, and it's because they dared you to. Okay,

(21:50):
well you know we I mean Rick Barnes. I feel
like put on a clinic today as far as how
you stylistically take a way what a team like Pat
Kelsey's teams want to do. Now, if Lowell starts raining threes,
then maybe it's different. But yeah, let's go back. Let's
go back to the phones. I'll let you guys react

(22:10):
here before we get to Pat Kelsey. Let's go to
Phil Phill. You're on Sports Talk seven ninety. What's up?

Speaker 5 (22:18):
Hey, nick Man? Hey, what's going on you? He was
saying some of most of my points, and Jerry was
as well. I was just my concern man about the team,
is that Chucky? Yeah, I don't know what was going
on with him. He definitely wasn't playing like Peyton Siva
and uh, so many threes.

Speaker 2 (22:40):
Meaning meaning so many threes taking Bisval.

Speaker 5 (22:43):
Yeah, so many threes by the older guys too, like
most of the guys on the team, they're older, and
it's like, why are you guys taking so many threes?
When Chucky sometimes was getting in the lane and he
just dished it out and it's like he's throwing to
the other team and it's.

Speaker 2 (22:57):
Like Phil, Phil, I hear you man totally, But I
will say this. You know that that's that's that's what
this coach Pat Kelsey is going to do. And he
built a team that has guys that that that are
shooters that like that's that's that's in their bag. That's
why they have been successful as college players to where
they can get a look at a place like Louisville.
But when you've got a team that can take that away,

(23:19):
you've got to have some other recipe. You've got to
have some other formulator where you can get into some
kind of of of us. You know, I don't want
to say a system like you don't have to change
your identity, but you have to have something in the
back pocket that Okay, they've taken away what we want
to do. Now we're going to do this. And I
think these guys, you know, I think these players that
did take a lot of threes and missed them, and
sometimes you're questioning, Okay, was that a good shot. I'll

(23:40):
be honest with you. Their coach that's what he wants
them to do. Uh, I mean and and and that.
That's a scary thing when you're in a game like this.
But I just I would have liked to have seen
there been a all right, here's here's what Tennessee's doing now.
We need to we need to revert, not to just
abandon our identity, but go to something a little bit different.
Pat Kelsey has had a lot of succes us, but

(24:01):
from an I understand Phil, it's been because he doesn't
He doesn't really. I mean, they follow game plan, they scout,
but as far as their identity, they're not changing it
regardless of who they play. And when you do that,
that leaves you vulnerable if somebody's capable of taking you
out of what you want to do. Rick Barnes did
it today. That's why you lose seventy seven to fifty five.

Speaker 5 (24:22):
Yeah, it's tough man. Hopefully, hopefully Pat Kelsey and a
team worse than this and they get better.

Speaker 2 (24:29):
Yep, no doubt, Thank you, Phil. I appreciate the call,
my man. I'll say this, I have no doubt that
Louisville has a guy that when you're in this situation
and you have, you know, honeymoon phase, everybody's feeling great
and this kind of adversity hits. I think Pat Kelsey
is quite literally the perfect guy to not feel sorry
for himself, not feel sorry for his guys, challenge them

(24:51):
and they grow together. Now will that result in Louisville
being a good enough team to make the field? I
don't know. But these are things that like we should
not take for granted because you know, he's been here before,
like he's had see I mean, they've had losses like
this and we've all I mean, I don't think Pat

(25:14):
Kelsey after a loss like today, becomes a different dude
when it comes to his energy, when it comes to
his positivity. Now he's gonna have to challenge I mean, like,
these guys are going to be challenged in a way
they haven't been challenged before by him, and I hope
that they grow from that. All Right, We're going a lot,
Pat Kelsey. If you're on hold, stick with us. We'll
get to you on the other side.

Speaker 6 (25:33):
Obviously, extremely disappointed. Young center was electric. You know, we
asked people to come out, they came out big. It
was zez elite of a college basketball atmosphere as you're
gonna find anywhere you know, and the fact of the
matter is is, uh, they were the better team tonight.

(25:57):
Punched us in the mouth from the very beginning. You know.
The only way to describe it is they beat us
in almost every single facet of the game.

Speaker 7 (26:08):
My message to the players after the game was.

Speaker 6 (26:13):
I told them the one thing that they don't have
to worry about is us being good. The one thing
they don't have to worry about is us being good.
We're going to become a good team. I believe that
deep down in my soul, with every single fiber of
my being. And we got a long way to go,
so a heck of a test. Obviously, You've got to
credit coach Barnes and his staff and his players. You know,

(26:36):
like I said, we take pride in rebounding effort, deflections,
those type things. And you know, we got our butt
kicked on the glass. I don't know what it was exactly,
but it was like plus fifteen. I think it was
on the glass.

Speaker 4 (26:53):
You know.

Speaker 6 (26:53):
I felt like there, you know, their physicality on the
defensive end really disrupted our rhythm. You know, we're a
rhythm offensive team. I thought they took us out of
what we wanted to do. And it forced us and
not forced us, but it turned into too much one
on one, too much dribbling, which is one not how

(27:17):
we play on the offensive end. You know, it's it's
the first time this team has gotten punched into mouth
and faced adversity. Since June fifth, when I stood up
here at my press conference and we signed this team,
they've had a lot of ATA boys and a lot
of pats on the back and a lot of high fives.

(27:37):
And you know, I mean what I've said over the
last eight months or whatever it is five months since
this team's been together, they've been they've been a phenomenal
it's it's a really really good group, and I do
I believe with everything I got that this team's gonna
end up being really good. But for the first time,
you know, get hit in the mouth and they're going
to face adversity.

Speaker 7 (27:58):
And my challenge to.

Speaker 6 (27:59):
That in the locker room was not the x's and
o's that we have to clean up because there's a
lot of them. Like I said, almost every single fast
of the game, I thought they were better than us today.

Speaker 7 (28:10):
But that's for tomorrow.

Speaker 6 (28:11):
That's for tonight at two am when I'm watching tape
and I'm breaking down, I'm cleaning up the X and
o's and fall screen execution, both ends of the floor,
our defensive ball screen, whatever it is. But that meeting
in there was about walking out and having our circle
tighter than ever.

Speaker 7 (28:29):
Walking out of.

Speaker 6 (28:30):
That room and having a resolve about them, you know,
as they go back to their dorms and like all
kids do, and they check their social media and all
the people that've been telling them how good they are,
just crushing them.

Speaker 7 (28:42):
Because that's how it is.

Speaker 6 (28:43):
That's that's the world, you know.

Speaker 7 (28:47):
I just told them, don't blink. Don't blink, Look to
the guy.

Speaker 6 (28:51):
The right of you, look to the guy the next
to you, loving more than ever, don't blame anybody else,
don't complain about anything else, don't get defensive. Just know
that we got to go back to work on Monday
and get better, and we will.

Speaker 8 (29:06):
That's it, uh Pat, I guess an acclamation process or
something getting used to that. Just the crowd, atmosphere, physicality
of Tennessee. Was there any point, maybe late first half
or any point in the game where you felt like
your guys kind of started to kind of kick in
a little bit and get a little bit more with
the challenge that was being thrown.

Speaker 7 (29:26):
Yeah, I mean yeah, I think yeah they did.

Speaker 6 (29:31):
They punched us in the mouth, were on our heels
at the beginning of the game, and obviously the crowd
was repped up like crazy, and you know, they got
off to a pretty significant lead at the beginning. But
I thought our guys rallied, you know, for a couple
of times where it was getting close to ten or
single digits, and you could feel the crowd just wanted
something and get a little bit of momentum, and we

(29:53):
just couldn't get over the hump. They would make a play,
they would make a big shot, they would get a
big stop, and you know, but you know, and then
late in the game we called that time out with
I don't know what it was, four or five minutes left.
There was you know, two or three possessions where it
looked like, you know, the five guys that were on
the floor, you know, had given up, right, I mean,

(30:14):
no pun intended, but it looked like, you know, we
waved the white flag and we called a time out,
got after him, and they responded, went out, played hard
and continued to compete right down to the very end.
We're gonna play the Tennessees moving forward, We're gonna play,
you know, teams of that standard, and we're gonna be
ready for it next time.

Speaker 7 (30:33):
I can promise you that, coach.

Speaker 9 (30:36):
In terms of your half court execution. Offensively, it really
seemed like Tennessee's physicality at the point of attack kind
of flustered some of the guys. What needs to happen
to get better offensive executions just seemed like you guys
couldn't get easy hit.

Speaker 6 (30:51):
Yeah, stunk, It's stunk. And again, you have to give
credit to Tennessee. They're very, very sound defensive team. They're
extremely physical and didn't allow us to get into a rhythm.
Blue up, trible handoffs, were very aggressive on ball screens,
just muddied up the game and it forced us to
be to play without the normal flow. You know, I

(31:14):
thought early on we were, you know, settling for just
okay instead of trying to hunt great as we say
on the offensive end, we talked about playing on the attack,
getting downhill, touching the paint, putting foul pressure on him.
I felt like we were playing around the perimeter a
little bit too much in the first half.

Speaker 7 (31:31):
So you know, I have to watch the tape.

Speaker 6 (31:33):
But you asked what we need to improve on on
the offensive end, I would answer.

Speaker 7 (31:37):
You everything everything.

Speaker 6 (31:39):
Our set play execution was porous, you know, our flow
or kind of play after the play was was was
wasn't good enough. Our special teams execution on baseline out
of bounds was subpar. I mean, I could go on
and on. The one thing I will never ever ever
do as a head coach is ever blame the players, right, you.

Speaker 7 (31:59):
Know, I start with me first and foremost could have done.

Speaker 6 (32:01):
A better job of getting our guys ready and preparing
them and putting them in better positions. But you know,
we got a group of guys that that are gonna
come back to practice on Monday, bright eyed and bushy tailed,
leaning forward, and nothing, nothing, nothing will change in terms
of the energy at practice, in terms of our attention
to detail and striving for excellence. But they exposed some things,

(32:24):
There's no question about that. They expose some things today,
and what's going to allow this team to take the
next step is to learn from the things right that
they exposed.

Speaker 7 (32:36):
And then make sure that they don't happen again. That's
my job.

Speaker 6 (32:39):
And then we have we have a veteran group with
a lot of leadership that will make sure that they
have that same mentality as well.

Speaker 10 (32:48):
Uh, out of all the things, you know, you know
they thought that you know, they got like they got
like exposed today on defense. I mean, you guys forced
that twenty turnovers, but they still shot you know, close
to fifty.

Speaker 7 (32:59):
Five percent from the field. Just what on that and kind.

Speaker 10 (33:02):
Of you know, you know, you know I stood out
to you just you know, yeah in terms of them
just you know, I still getting their shots.

Speaker 6 (33:09):
Just like the question he just asked. On the offensive end.
On the defensive end, everything everything to start with it.
Guard the ball, high hand closeouts, ball screen execution or
transition defense, not allowing second shots, hitting, attacking the ball.
I mean again I have to watch the tape, but

(33:31):
the answer is everything and and it'll be addressed and
will be better because of this look stinks and it hurts,
but if you attack it the right way, it becomes
a positive down the road. You know, Like my mentor
used to say, there's this sound thumb thumb thump, thump,
thumb thumb, and that's you know, there's a there's there's

(33:53):
there's a bandwagon, right and then there's not not that
we have bandwagon fans. I'm not saying that in any way,
shape or form, but like it, what happened today will
be a positive for Louisville basketball moving forward. You know,
I would ask our fan base, I would ask our fans,
I would ask our donors, just like I told our
guys in that locker room, don't blink, don't blink. Right

(34:18):
this this team and I believe it again. I'll say this,
with everything I got is gonna be really, really good.
And if our guys do that, they put blinders on,
they go back to work, they attack the next thing
with excellence, the results are gonna come, and then you
know we'll have that same, that same energy that we

(34:38):
had in here today. I told them there's a good
chance that the next game won't have that many people
at the game, but if they're gonna come back, they're
gonna be there again. So you know, again, I always
praise our opponents. Tennessee was the better team and we're
gonna learn from it.

Speaker 1 (35:02):
Yes, Yeah, as.

Speaker 6 (35:10):
I sit here looking at you guys and looking at
a box score where we just got our stinking butts kicked,
and it hurts like crazy, there's no question We needed
that today. You know, Josh, we're walking in, he's talking
about He's like, man, that's a tough second game. Like
you know, I know I pushed you for that. I said,
thank you, thank you. That's exactly what this team needed

(35:34):
because the things that ailed us today were exposed today
by Tennessee.

Speaker 7 (35:38):
And now we get a chance to fix it.

Speaker 6 (35:40):
You know, when you're playing the team in the Bahamas,
or whether you're playing our two exhibition games, or you're
playing you know, and in more heads a new team
with a new coach, and all those things we didn't
get exposed the way we did today. And I will
embrace this butt kicking. I've had my butt kicked before,
and I'll probably have my butt kicked again. We've done

(36:01):
a little butt kicking as well. But you know, the
response and what you learn from getting your tailkicked is
the mark of a really, really good team. And I
believe in those guys in that locker room, you know,
the normal feel or tendency or the human nature. And
me wanted to go in and just pound my fist

(36:23):
and throw my notebook down and lose it.

Speaker 7 (36:26):
That's not it walking out of that room.

Speaker 6 (36:28):
It's about the resolve of our twenty five strong and
then Monday at practice, we're gonna have a phenomenal stinking
practice and we're gonna get better because of it.

Speaker 11 (36:39):
Pat, When you have an all new roster and new environment,
don't you have to isn't when you face adversity for
the first time, you've learned probably a lot about your team,
and don't you kind of have to at some point
go through something like this one hundred percent.

Speaker 6 (36:56):
That's exactly right. You know, Adversity is a great educator.
Adversity is a great teacher. But if you don't look
at it that way, and you feel sorry for yourself,
and you put your tail between your legs and you
look down when you walk into the and you walk
into the student center, you walk into the grocery store,

(37:18):
like you're not getting you're not approaching it the right way.
Unbelievable adversity for our team, and it's great and we're
gonna learn from it.

Speaker 4 (37:27):
Pat.

Speaker 12 (37:28):
Even with all the adversity, all the things that went
against you, you still, I mean, you got within nine.
When rain hits that three, building's got a bunch of
energy and then Ziggler hits the three, kind of the
effect he had on the game as a point guard.
I'm sure you can appreciate all the I know he
had eleven turnovers, but he did so much for them
and hit some huge yeff.

Speaker 6 (37:47):
Yeah, you know, I appreciate the beginning of that question
because you sounded like my mom, who's going to try
to make me feel good when I walk out of
this press conference. So you blew some sunshine at me
there at the beginning. You know, but number five is
a phenomenal stinking player. He was dominant today. He's the

(38:09):
preseason defensive player in the year in the SEC for
a reason, he reeks Havoc. You know, I believe in
our guys. I believe in our guards. I know what
they're capable of. Those guys feel terrible right now, and
they're better than how they played today. I'm better than

(38:29):
how I coach today. But you give that kid credit.
You tip your cap to him in big moments when
we had a little bit of momentum and the youms
start rocking. He answered, I mean, even if it was
a little bit of a prayer shot, like at the
end of the shot lock and he put it's what
big time players do. They step up and make big
time plays in big time moments, and that's what that

(38:51):
cat did.

Speaker 7 (38:51):
So I have a lot of respect for him.

Speaker 6 (38:53):
And there's probably a really good chance that we'll see
these guys again down the road, and next time we'll
be better.

Speaker 4 (39:02):
All right.

Speaker 2 (39:03):
So we've got to get to a commercial break here
in just a moment, our first break, and if you're
on whole, I promise you we're gonna get to you.
We have to get a break in and if you
want to join in you can. We have some people
drop off because of the press conference, which typically happens
the numbers five x two, five, seven, one, seventy nine hundred.
This is the lousvill Basketball post game show here on
Sports Talk seven ninety. However, I do want to say
one thing that you know, really stood out to me,

(39:24):
and this is this isn't a new observation. This is
something that has really been clear since the first time
Pat Kelsey showed up here and got the job talk
to fans, and I hate the thought of making a
comparison to what previously was in place, but it's I'm

(39:45):
gonna do it anyway. And this is not a well, hey,
at least we don't have that guy because nobody, No,
there's not a single person on planet Earth that thinks well,
Louisville went out and hired a new coach, Aynteatic Kenny Payne,
because they just when they in twelve games in two years,
they wanted to win. They wanted to win fourteen in
two years. Like it's we all know that. But disclaimer,

(40:08):
none of us really know how well or bad the
Pat Kelsey era is going to go at Louisville. But
what I learned as a as a talk show host,
as a basketball fan, as a human being, I learned
this throughout the Kinney Payne experience. There's a lot of
ways to be a coach. You're a human, different personalities,

(40:29):
different style, different preferences, different demeanor, and there's all kinds
of different ways to be successful. But at the end
of the day, the root of a coach, the core
of that job, that responsibility. You are what.

Speaker 7 (40:48):
A leader.

Speaker 2 (40:50):
Pat Kelsey's a leader. He leads by example, And that
doesn't mean that everything's gonna be okay. This will be
the only type of loss we have like this, But
I am encouraged to know that he under you know
he was. He was pretty clear to these guys, they
got they got their butt kicked. But hey, let's let's
let's be together. Let's let's collectively figure this thing out

(41:15):
and and and get better. Now will they do it?
None of us know, We don't know, but I think
that this really can be a good thing for this group.
And I should have seen it coming when it comes
to the honeymoon. I mean nothing, Pat Pat said it nothing,
but you know, at a boys and Pat's on the
back and all that stuff, even for him himself even

(41:36):
acknowledged it. But today it wasn't good enough. And everybody
knows it. And he's not going to blame anybody. He's
not gonna he heard him, he's not gonna blame players,
he's not going to make excuses. He's going to try
to get better. And again if they do, you know,
if if they get better to a point where you're
in a position like this against the really good team,
which to be honest, you probably will pretty soon because
of your schedule, I don't I don't know, none of

(41:57):
us know if if we're gonna end up seeing a
a better result where they did grow from this. But
I don't have much doubt that the guy that is
in charge of doing what's needed to grow from this
experience is the guy that we have in place in
Pat Kelsey. So I was trying to be I was
trying to be pretty measured there in regards to like,

(42:18):
I'm not going to tell you, hey, this will be
the best thing that ever happened and they're gonna go
on to win twenty five games. I'm not saying that
none of us know, none of us have a clue,
but I'm not worried about the guy that's in charge
being able to utilize what happened today and get better
from it. And they have to get better from it,
because you know, I hope Tennessee's really good because they

(42:38):
look really good day. And I'm somebody that told you
guys pretty directly, I didn't think that they were all
that impressive when it comes to their personnel and when
it comes to just production on their roster. But they
have a coach who I believe came in today and
knew exactly what pack Kelsey wanted to do, and he said,
go ahead, go ahead, we're ready, we're set, we're defensive,

(42:58):
we're back defensively, we're ready. You go do what you
want to do and our guys are going to be
ready to stop you, and they were. They dared them
to beat them one on one defensively, and little didn't
half guys that today were able to do that in
any way. All right, quick break, if you want to
stick with us, please do because I know we got
some people on hold. Billy Tanner, Austin. We'll get to you, guys. Austin,

(43:19):
You'll be up first and you've been holding patiently, So
stick with us. Quick break. We'll come back on the
other side. Five of two, five seven seventy nine hundred
is the number. This is the Louisville Basketball postgame show
here on Sports Talk seven ninety. Welcome back into the
Louisville basketball postgame show here on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Nick Coffee with you the company man mister John Allen
alongside as we react to the first loss of the

(43:40):
Pat Kelsey era. And it wasn't a good one. I
mean it wasn't like you lost to a bad team,
but you lost bad to a good team. Seventy seven
to fifty five was the score. As Rick Barnes and
Tennessee came in and they were really impressive. And there's
no scenario where I don't think they're deserving of a
lot of credit and praise for what happened today, But obviously,

(44:00):
moving forward, I would hope that today was a lot
more about them than it was about Louisville. So if
you are just not joining us, and that could be
the case, I know some people, you know, maybe just
getting into the parking garage, maybe just now heading out,
So welcome in. If you want to join us, you can.
We've got full phone lines. We'll get to you, guys
in just a moment five or two, five' seven one
seventy nine hundred, But I do want to quickly before

(44:20):
we get to the phone lines, just praise the folks
that came out today and brought the energy. You know,
the result wasn't great, but everything before it got off
the rails. How fun was that we missed? That, didn't we?
And I would encourage you to for games like this,
And you know, I hope everybody goes to any game

(44:40):
they can, but we care about basketball around here, and
you know, I got to take my son today. He
got to experience a Louisville basketball game with that kind
of juice, that kind of crowd, and he was into it.
You know, he's not paying attention to the score. He's
you know, he's just asking, Hey, we went in, and
we went in and his mother and I had to

(45:01):
tell him, well, you know, not not not yet, not
not right now. It's close. They're playing hard and you know,
and then he realized that that there's a clock, that
that matters, and you can't just keep playing. You gotta
you gotta, you know, you gotta, you gotta have more
points than the other team when forty minutes of play
has happened. And disappointing, but you know, I'll just be

(45:21):
I mean, if people think I'm you know, lame for
doing this, that's fine. But I needed that today. It's
a little of a basketball fan. I'm just being honest with
you guys like that. You know, little loss sucks, uh,
but let's be real. I'm I'm kind of I'm kind
of used to losing like it was. It was a
letdown today, but like today, losing twenty by twenty two

(45:44):
to Tennessee again. No, I'm not trying to tell anybody
this is good. But if there is a silver lining
for me as an individual, and I'm only one person,
if you all disagree, that's fine. This didn't hit me
today like I haven't been through the worst three years
any of us have ever gone through as a little
basketball fan. Now, hopefully it gets better and they start
winning and uh, you know, only time will tell when

(46:04):
it comes to that. But what a great atmosphere and
and it was nice to be in the YOUM Center
with a a juiced crowd that was really into it.
And you know that that that's certainly a positive despite
the result today. All right, five two, five, seven hundreds
of the number Austin has been holding a very long time. Austin,
I appreciate you, man. How you doing good?

Speaker 4 (46:23):
Are you? Brother?

Speaker 2 (46:24):
I'm doing okay all things considered, I'm doing fine.

Speaker 3 (46:27):
Hey, I appreciate you taking my call. I had a
few I had a few points I wanted to make first,
you know, kind of bringing it up because you you
did bring it up before the commercial break about the
previous regime, and I just want to touch on that
real quick. Sure, listen, Pat, Pat. Pat brought up that
in the press conference, you know, adversity as a teacher

(46:47):
losing his learning, and I felt like with the previous regime,
you know, we didn't get that. It was just it
was just losing. We didn't learn anything coming.

Speaker 2 (46:55):
They blamed it on everybody else.

Speaker 3 (46:57):
Absolutely yes, and it was it was never learning anything.
And I felt a little bit relieved to hear pat say,
you know we're learning. We're gonna learn it. And one
of the points I wanted to bring up, it's game two.
You know, I understand the frustration of the fan base.
You know, even myself, I tweeted out last night. I

(47:19):
couldn't go to sleep, man, I was so excited for
this game. And I'm a big Devil's advocate guy, you know,
I like to look at the at the brighter, the
brighter star.

Speaker 13 (47:29):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (47:30):
It's game two packed Kelsey's tenure. I mean, and I
know I've already made the comparison with with Kenny Payne,
but I mean Rick Bettino his first game when he
coached a ranked team, he lost eighty two to sixty two.
I mean it if we're looking for bright spots in
a dull moments, you know. And he even his second game,

(47:51):
Rick Patino lost a rank to a ranked team seventy
seven to fifty. I mean, I hate making those comparisons.

Speaker 2 (47:57):
No, No, I think it makes sense, Austin, And I'm
glad you brought that perspective to the show because you know,
like I think it's natural, it's a it's human instincts
too realize what you have now compared to what you
just came from. So you know, Pa, Pat Kelsey's got
to win. We all know that. But I do believe
that you're in a good position to where there may

(48:18):
not be many better. To mean, Pat's humble. He knows
that Louisville is a job that a year ago he'd
have told him he'd be the coach here. He probably
wouldn't believe you, but it worked out that way. I
think he's going to do everything he can to make
the most out of the situation. And this was going
to happen at some point, right we knew that Austin
they were going to lose a game where you realized, okay, yeah,
we're excited, but you know, this still isn't the type

(48:40):
of you know, roster and team that Louisville Basketball has
had previously. When the ceiling is super high, and you know,
it's a humbling experience in every aspect, and only time
will tell if they really grow from it. But I
believe that you know, these guys are fortunate. I think
they believe that they're fortunate to be here. I think
their coach feels the same way. And that's a good energy.

(49:02):
That's a good vibe to have given given the circumstance. Again,
doesn't mean that they're going to get better and be
able to win these kind of games going forward, But like,
I still feel a level of positivity after today, And
I know people are going to use that and weaponize
it against me, make me sound like a moral victory
kind of guy and whatever. I don't care. I'm just saying,
like what you have gone through the previous years, I

(49:22):
think it's almost impossible not to have that in mind
as we move forward here.

Speaker 4 (49:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (49:27):
Absolutely, you know, I'm I'm kind of with you on
on the positivity aspect. I just think we, like you said,
we're numb. We are so numb to losing that it
almost feels like, oh, this is just another season. It's
like I don't believe it's that way. Yeah, I think
it's different this time. And like I said, it was
refreshing to hear Pat Kelsey talk about how oh this

(49:48):
is learning. It's you know, adversity is a teacher, and
it feels.

Speaker 2 (49:54):
Not blame anybody right that was That was refreshing.

Speaker 3 (49:58):
Absolutely so.

Speaker 4 (49:59):
Like I said, I'm a big Devil's advocate guy.

Speaker 3 (50:01):
I wanted to come on here and just give a
little bit of positivity to everyone and let everyone know
it's okay. It's game two. You know, let's not freak out.
Let's let's still let's still go to the games. We'll
still pack that young center.

Speaker 2 (50:11):
Yes, sir, we're gonna be okay. Thank you. I appreciate
the call, Austin. Let's keep it rolling here. I want
to get to as many of you guys as we
can here. Let's go to Tanner. Tanner, you're on Sports
Talk seven ninety. How are you?

Speaker 14 (50:21):
What's going on?

Speaker 4 (50:22):
Nick?

Speaker 15 (50:23):
How?

Speaker 4 (50:23):
Brother?

Speaker 14 (50:24):
I'm doing good. Two things before I kind of talk
about my takeways from today's game. One, shout out to
all the little fans that came today. I drove in
from Bowling Green. I'm a shooting down at Western, so
it was so good to feel an atmosphere like when
I was a kid. It was really good to see
everybody back. And Two, Rick Barnes is a Hall of
Famer for a reason. Like Austin just said, it's only
game two, but Tennessee did not play like they were
in their second game. They were ready from the tim

(50:47):
and they were guns blazing from the start. So and
they called time out after Ziegler hit that three at
the end of the shot clock, after we cut it
to nine and went on a twenty two to five run.
There's a reason he's a Hall of Famer.

Speaker 2 (50:58):
So well.

Speaker 14 (50:59):
So Tennessee is a great team, and there is a
lot to look forward to this year for Louisville. The
ball move, it's gonna get better. Everything's gonna get better.
It's a team full of transfers playing in a new system.
We're gonna be all right. I don't believe in more victories.
This is Louisville. Everybody knows that though, and of course
I'm never gonna tell anybody how to stand. But I
would hope that our fan base, can, you know, really

(51:22):
think about this loss in the terms of We've got
a long season ahead. This is not the same coaching
staff that's been here the last twenty four months. This
is nothing like that. This is a team that's going
to get better. They're going to learn Pat Kelsey's offense.
We did not shoot the three ball well today, and
that can be for multitude reasons with shot quality and
forcing bad shots, but also we're gonna hit some of
those shots going forward. We're gonna get better. We're The

(51:45):
one concern that I do have is, and Tennessee really
did kind of expose us today, is we don't really
have a big big man that like really forces the
defense to defend inside. So we're gonna need a lot
of guard penetration, and I think Chucky and Korn can
do that, but Tennessee that's completely away with their mand
man defense today and physicality on us. So that's a
little bit concerning. Because James got the big I mean,

(52:07):
they say he can play in the NBA, but he's really,
you know, he's more of a stretch guy.

Speaker 2 (52:12):
Every big guy on this team that you would consider
a front court player at best is a hybrid big.
Their strengths and what makes them, you know, the caliber
player they are is not because of girth and physicality.
You know, that's just that's just I mean that, and
that was something that I think a lot of us
kind of saw on the roster before we you know,
it was exposed like it was today. And there's some

(52:33):
things you can do to get around that. But Tennessee's
the really you know and this is something I should
have seen coming. But Tennessee is the exact opposite team
to play. If that's your weakness, yep.

Speaker 14 (52:44):
Yeah, And honestly, you know what, And maybe that's why
this is such a good game for us to learn from.
Because Kelsey said it in is a postgame presser, this
was this was a butt kicking. But this exposed all
of our flaws and they took away everything. I mean,
it literally looked like they knew exactly what we were
trying to do on every possession, and so that's what
this team needed, so they got. It was a humbling loss,
but as a fan, I can't wait to see what

(53:05):
we do this year. I can't wait to watch the
ball movement get better. I hope that. I hope we
can get a lot of guard penetration and swing the
ball because that's going to generate a lot of open
threes for our shooters. And I think we're going to
be all right. I was really high on the team,
kind of like you've mentioned a lot with the honeymoon
face saying oh, we're going to be back in the
tournament this year. So I'm definitely gonna pump the brakes.
I definitely think this team can make the tournament, and
I certainly hope that we do. But let's just let's

(53:27):
just watch the process, see how they respond this year.
Hopefully we keep supporting them, and I think the future
is definitely bright under this leadership with Kelsey and his staff.

Speaker 2 (53:35):
Totally agree. I appreciate the call, Tanner. Really good to
hear from you, and I really I really like what
what you put out there, because I mean, I don't
think I could have said it better as far as
just assessing what what what we learned today and and
having the belief and the positive, you know, the the
the power of positivity to hope that it does in
fact get better and they grow from it. And I

(53:55):
think they you know, what they're ceiling is that's that's
the ALS's been unknown right now as far as a team,
but there's no doubt in my mind that this will
be something that like they collectively coaches players, everybody like
nobody's nobody's pleased with today to the point where they're like, well,
what are you gonna do? It's Tennessee. Like they're not
victims the previous regime in every aspect what they were victims.
I don't know if players came here feeling like that,

(54:16):
but they felt like it because, you know what, they
were a reflection of the guy coaching them. He felt
like a victim. He felt like we should have been
thanking him for just being here. He wasn't appreciative of
the job or anything like that. That's not what we
have now, and that's clearly a positive again in comparison
to what we just went through. So I will say
this when it comes to three point shots, I was
really you know, I wasn't happy with what I saw,

(54:37):
but it was as a basketball nerd like myself, what
Rick Barnes did today. He didn't run guys off the
three point line to where you had to smother them
if they got the ball. But what he did is
he took away rhythmic opportunities. And what I mean by
that is if you're playing high level division in basketball

(54:59):
and you are somebody that is viewed as a guy
that his weapon, right if he's pulling something out of
the bag, that is his calling card. Essentially he's a shooter.
Most of these guys on this team, they are that
because that's what Pat wants, but it's one thing to have,
Like these guys don't need a ton of space. I mean,
you don't want to have somebody blocking your shot. But
if you're a good shooter, you know it's rhythm in

(55:21):
my set? Am I getting it off of a good rotation?
Is it inside? Is it out? Is it picking pop
that I beat the guys up the floor and I'm
waiting for my point guard or anybody to kick it
up to where I'm ready. Tennessee took all of that away.

Speaker 4 (55:37):
Ann.

Speaker 2 (55:37):
I actually think the majority of the threes that Louisville
made tonight and their numbers today because again it's not nine,
it's three o'clock. Why I feel like it's midnight. This
is insane, but that's the day that it's been. Louisville
made a total of ten threes. Tennessee made ten to nineteen.
Louisville made ten to thirty nine and Tennessee, man, they
knocked him down, but they took good ones. There were

(55:59):
a couple that hit they hit at the end of
the shot clock, which that's just a tough player making
a tough shot. But they they they're not a team,
like their style. The way they play, they're not they're
not initiating offense to get somebody in rhythm to knock
down a three. They're gonna try to break you down.
They're gonna utilize the shot clock. And when they did
get looks, they made them. That's why they shot fifty

(56:21):
three percent from three, which is insane. Louisville shot twenty
six percent ten of thirty nine. And I give all
the credit to Tennessee because again, it wasn't like, hey,
we got we gotta make sure they weren't doing boxing
one on an elite shooter. They were making sure that
you didn't like. They were disruptive in every aspect defensively.

(56:41):
And that's that. That's a recipe for a disaster for
a team like Louisville with how they want to play.
And I give Rick Barnes a lot of credit. And
here's the thing. Rick Barnes has pieces. He built his
team for what he wants to do, just like Pat
Kelsey did. So you're not going to play teams that
have the personnel and the pieces and the coach to

(57:02):
take Louisville away from what they want to do like
Rick Barnes did. But here's one thing that is clear.
The evidence is out there. Here's what you do. And
that worries me a little bit because I don't know
how versatile this team is when it comes to how
they're going to score points. They're built to play the
way Pat wants to play, and if other teams have
the ability to take that from you, you've got to
have a formula to revert to, to try to get

(57:25):
guys to the free throw line, to try to get
you know, a different look. I mean, clearly, there's no
physicality in the post when it comes to life. I mean,
there's nobody you can play through in the post. And
that's a worry. I mean, people act like big guys
are just extinct. You know, go watch some really good teams.

(57:45):
Here's what and I promise you we're gonna get the
Thowe lines in just a second. But I just want
to say this because this is something that I really
it eats me alive as a basketball fan. Take Louis
of All out of the picture. The NBA does not
want traditional bigs, right, they don't. When's the last time
you saw the NBA have a guy where he just
you know, I mean, obviously Jokich is the best player
in the league. But he can do everything. He can
shoot it, he can pass it like he's he's a

(58:07):
he's an alien compared to other basketball players. So because
the NBA doesn't cater to traditional bigs that you can
play through like one hundred Dickenson, which is why he's
still in college, people act like there's no value there.
There's still valuable in college basketball because it opens up
things for everybody. The best guy that Louisville has that
you could give the ball to or he's posting somebody

(58:29):
up to some extent is Javon Hadley, and I mean that,
and he did that at Colorado, But like that can't
be your best way to play through somebody on the
interior when you're playing Tennessee. So that's my worry is
that I think it's pretty clear what you can do
to expose this Louisville team. How they counter that, that's

(58:52):
what they got to work on. That's what Pat Kelsey's
got to figure out. And I know one thing he's
going to try to figure it out. Now, will it work?
We'll see. All right back to the Let's go to Billy,
who's been waiting patiently. Billy, how you doing this afternoon.

Speaker 16 (59:04):
Good afternoon, and thank you for the pregame and postgame show.

Speaker 4 (59:08):
We do appreciate you spending all the time on that.

Speaker 2 (59:10):
Thank you, sir.

Speaker 16 (59:11):
I just had I had a couple thoughts. Mostly I
was a little more disappointed after the press conference. You
know when when I heard we needed this loss. I
certainly understand when when coach says we're going to learn
from this loss and this loss will make us a
better team and better men. But when I first heard
him say we needed this loss, it reminded me of

(59:33):
a coach we had that stated two years and nine
days ago we needed this loss. I'm glad we got
our butts kicked today. Well, well, Billy, I don't want
to be reminded of that coach.

Speaker 2 (59:44):
Billy. I understand I would, and you're entitled to your opinion.
I'm not saying that you're wrong. I think from a
context standpoint, I think what he meant more so was
that it's been and this was inevitable, right because, like,
I'm not going to hold it against Pat and and
everybody involved that they've literally checked every box until today.
They played a team that was better than them, and

(01:00:05):
they got their butts kicked. So I think when he
says we needed it, he knows that they eventually were
gonna get it, and that's when he liked, he's going
to learn about these guys now, Like as we speak,
he is, he's probably already watching film and he's probably
already looking at something he never could assess until today,
right because he saw these guys get the butts kicked

(01:00:26):
today and that never presented itself. So I assume that's
what he meant. I don't. I would hope, and I
don't believe, and I mean this, I don't think that
he was saying we needed this because we were too
cocky and we felt like we were great. I mean,
maybe he did, but I don't think it was. It
was a well, these guys have been feeling arrogant, they've
not been putting in the work. And I'm not saying

(01:00:47):
that you said that, but I didn't take what he
said the same way you did. That's my point, fair enough.

Speaker 16 (01:00:53):
The second thing that bothered me was he referred to
this loss as heartbreaking. There was nothing heartbreaking about this loss.
We didn't hit on a crazy three at the buzzer.
This was a confidence breaking. Doesn't mean it can't be restored.
But there's nothing I see in that team. And let's
don't talk about well Rick Barnes as a potential Hall
of Fame coach. He knows how to defend us. Everybody's

(01:01:15):
going to know how to defend this Trendy Haskell knows
how to defend us. So it's not a hall of
fame coach that stopped us today. What did you see
on the court that gives you confidence going forward?

Speaker 2 (01:01:26):
Thank you, Billy? I love I love that call. I'm
not kidding you.

Speaker 4 (01:01:29):
I do.

Speaker 2 (01:01:30):
I will say I don't. I don't think what he
took Pat saying was in any way what he meant,
and I don't think that many people did. But that's
just my opinion reacting to it live on the air.
I've not seen anybody's reaction to it other than hearing
from Billy. I'll start with with the heartbreaking thing. I
think he wants you to know that he like and

(01:01:52):
this is the truth. This doesn't And again this is
not me acting like this guy's the best coach of
all time, meaning Pat like, we'll see he's We're gonna
find out how good he is, Like it's gonna be
it's gonna be evident, and I don't mean in the
next couple of months. I just mean over time. But
he wants people to know that he cares and that

(01:02:12):
he's heartbroken because he packed the Young Center for the
first big game and then lost by twenty two points.
I'm sure he's heartbroken in that aspect, but he's not
a victim. He's not going to go home and cry.
I mean, I think I don't know what the other
regime did, but like I will defend the staff and
everything with this, with the current regime that there's nothing

(01:02:33):
today that they're you know, like, I don't think. I
think he said a couple of good things there that
I do want to get to just a second, But
as far as like what Pat's like, I think you're
minsing words. And look, we're probably programmed to do that,
because when you don't win and you're beside yourself as
to what's happened previously, you're gonna pay attention to every
little thing that a coach says. And I think the

(01:02:54):
heartbreaking thing is he wanted people to simply know that
he cares and he's he's upset. He's as upset as
they are broken and I'm not going to weaponize that
against him. I think that's that's him. I mean I
would probably do the same thing. He also knows that
by saying that his heart broken doesn't mean that you're
gonna be okay. Well, at least he's sad. Then you know,
now we don't care now what you said about Rick Barnes.

(01:03:19):
It's one thing to know what you have to do
to take Louisville away from what they want to do.
And you're right about that. Rick Barnes builds his teams
not because he's out recruiting, thinking, hmm, this guy, let
me offer him a scholarship. He might be able to
help me beat Pat Kelsey at Louisville. It's not that,
but that's styling the way he wants to play. If

(01:03:42):
he can get it working, and he did today, that's
what kills what Louisville wants to do. Now, your other question,
it's a great one, and what I mean by that
is I don't have the answer. Other teams are gonna
now see what you can do to take Louiell out
of what they want to do. And I'll add something
to what was said by Billy. It was Billy right,

(01:04:04):
because I appreciate Billy's call, I really do. He brought
a lot to the table and in a short amount
of time, and and and he was great. But when
it comes to Pat winning at Winthrop, winning at Charleston,
he's a winner. He's got a winning formula. He's a
good leader. But when he played other teams that did

(01:04:24):
have better players, more physically built, more talented, they always
tried to be the same team and they and it,
and it usually didn't work when you played teams like Tennessee.
And I think he has a roster here at Louisville
that he does have talent better than what he had
at Charleston. I believe that, trust me. But you've got

(01:04:44):
to you've got to be able to adjust if something
is taken away. And that's that's what we're gonna see,
Like is he going.

Speaker 14 (01:04:51):
To do that?

Speaker 2 (01:04:52):
Because that's where Billy's right. Other teams are going to
know what you got to do. But how you know,
can Louisville still get in what they want to do
because some teams take the bait, they will try to
run with you and realize at the end of the
day they might have gotten a breakaway layup because of
you took a risk on defense, they might knock down
a couple of threes because that's just the way, that's

(01:05:14):
the way both sides are playing. But at the end
of the day, they're not built to do it the
way Louisville is, so maybe it'll it'll backfire on them
in a major way. Today Tennessee set back. And again
I'm not telling me. I hope Tennessee's great. I don't
know how good they are, but I hope they're great.
But Tennessee came in to day well aware of what
Louisville wanted to do, and they not only executed flawlessly

(01:05:36):
to take it away, but I think they're built to
do that. That's my hope. Maybe I'm wrong, Billy. Maybe
we'll see other teams that come in and take the
Tennessee game plan and it doesn't work out for Louisville.
I hope that's not the case, but only time will tell.
All right, let's go back to the phone lines. Let's
welcome in Marcus. Marcus, you're on Sports Talk seven ninety.
How are you.

Speaker 17 (01:05:55):
I'm good, sir. I'm more inclined to agree with austin
your previous call more than I am billy, because news flash,
Louisville was never gonna go undefeated. So let's get that
out of the way. And now we have I think
the fact that they had a poor shooting night from
the three. Obviously, if a couple more of those go
down at the right time, then we get momentum. I'm

(01:06:18):
a glass half fool guy versus half empty. It's not
doom and gloom. It's a second game.

Speaker 18 (01:06:25):
Of the season.

Speaker 17 (01:06:26):
They were never gonna go undefeated. And let's say they
learn from this game and they get better, and then
they compete with the Dukes North Carolina and they and
they compete.

Speaker 3 (01:06:35):
In the APC.

Speaker 17 (01:06:36):
This Tennessee lost today could be like the like he
said in the press conference, could be what Louisville needed
early in the season. It's good, it's good to get
it out of the way. And so all this doom
and gloom from some of these fans, come on, man,
it's the second game of the season.

Speaker 2 (01:06:53):
Wells Marcus, Marcus, let me ask you this. I agree
with a lot of what you said, but I don't
feel like you know, I'm only speaking for this. I mean,
you can go find it anywhere, but I don't feel
like the majority of what we've heard today. And I
don't know how long you've been listening. Maybe you went
to the game, maybe you just got in your car.
But I feel like Billy was kind of an outlier.
Like I don't think a lot of people are doing gloom,
at least from what we've heard today on this show.

Speaker 4 (01:07:16):
Yeah.

Speaker 17 (01:07:16):
Yeah, and you know.

Speaker 2 (01:07:17):
I know you're finding it on Twitter because that's what
Twitter is, right.

Speaker 17 (01:07:21):
Yeah, And I think we should keep the high expectations
for the team because if we lower the expectations, they'll
meet them every time. Yeah, keep the high expectations, keep
the energy going. We're going to get back.

Speaker 18 (01:07:33):
It's going to take time.

Speaker 17 (01:07:34):
It's not an overnight ding. It's a second game.

Speaker 4 (01:07:37):
Yep.

Speaker 2 (01:07:37):
And they played a good team today, Marcus. I appreciate
the call. I will say this when it comes to
them having a bad shooting night. You're right, they did.
And there were some shots tonight that I saw that
I would not be shocked at all if they had
gone in. But that's why i'm you know, and Pat
said it after they shot poorly but demolished Morehead State

(01:07:58):
by forty eight. They missed him. The percentage wasn't great,
but they got rhythmic threes tonight. Of the thirty nine
they shot, I think a certain percentage of them were
because Tennessee locked you up so much that you had
to fire it up. And that's what you have to
figure out what you can do. And I hope and
I believe that they can. Like I you know, I

(01:08:20):
said it as soon as the roster was completely set
that I think the personnel is there to where you
can be a tournament team, and I'm not Today didn't
change that. Now I'm a little more, you know, worried
about when you play teams with a traditional big that
can really just expose your lack of physicality. But not

(01:08:41):
everybody's going to be able to do that. I hope,
and you're going to play some teams that will be
able to do it, But you know, will they be
able to get the results that that that that we want.
None of us know. We only can hope. But I
don't have any doubt that they're gonna be humbled from this.
They're going to grow and they're gonna work like hell
to get it fixed. And let's hope that that works out.

(01:09:04):
And if they don't get it fixed and you continue
to get results like this, then we'll have to talk
about it. We'll have to discuss it. All right, let's
go to Connor. Connor, you're on Sports Talk seven ninety.
What's up.

Speaker 18 (01:09:15):
How you doing, Nick?

Speaker 2 (01:09:17):
What's up?

Speaker 4 (01:09:17):
Brother?

Speaker 18 (01:09:19):
I'm all good. I went to the game. I only
have like, I have one positive. I saw on Twitter
Tys Baulding post that he said that a expected shuttle
and I'm looking at now is that we won the
first half apparently just by shock quality, which I think
that's a good thing. You know, It's like, it's not
like we're taking bad shots, but shock quality. We won

(01:09:43):
the first half, So I'll think that. And I've been
a negative little fan here for the past few years.
Obviously it's a few of us have. I'm not going
to be negative, but I want your take on there
was a few few possessions there probably more than a
few where there was no flow.

Speaker 4 (01:10:01):
I feel like.

Speaker 2 (01:10:01):
If yeah, no ya, I'm all around.

Speaker 18 (01:10:05):
It was almost like we were playing hot potato until
the shot clock.

Speaker 2 (01:10:08):
N Tennessee was daring them to have a guy try
to break them down, and that that that's a worry
for me. Is I don't know if there's a single guy.
I think the one guy on this team as far
as having some tools in his toolbag offensively is Corn Johnson.
But I don't know if he's able to, Like I mean,
when you play a good defensive team, it's gonna be
easier said than done to actually go to just go

(01:10:29):
get a bucket. I've always felt like, who's the guy
that can just go get a bucket? And I don't
know who that guy is. And Tennessee's a team where
they're gonna they're gonna dare you to have somebody to
do that, and I'm not really sure who that is.
I don't think it's caseon. I think Cason can be
a good player, can be productive, and he's gonna have
mismatch opportunities. But like you know, when it comes to
just guys, you know, trying to break somebody down off

(01:10:50):
the bounce, I don't know who in the hell that
would be on this team, to be honest, which is
a little concerning. Now there's ways you can scheme around that,
but when you play teams like today, you're gonna get exposed.

Speaker 4 (01:11:00):
There's gotta be terns. No.

Speaker 2 (01:11:02):
Yeah, but and I'm with you, and he tried today
and he's done it before. But and maybe he proves
me wrong here because he's a good player. I don't
think he has the handle for that. Like, I just
don't think he's that good of a ball handler. And
he's got size, he can pick and choose his spots.
He's a smart player when it comes to kind of
you know, utilize. I mean, he's a savvy offensive player.

(01:11:23):
But I think Tennessee and some teams we're gonna play
moving forward, they're gonna back off and say, look, you
can dance with it, but like, you know, are we
going to the dance floor or not like that? You know,
are what you gonna do, like you're gonna make a
move or not like And today, I mean he to me,
he looked I felt for him a little bit because
he at least was trying at times to say, Okay,
we got nothing going on, let me go to work,
and at times it turned out where I mean, he

(01:11:44):
went two of twelve today. That's that's not good.

Speaker 18 (01:11:47):
Yeah, no, it was bad.

Speaker 4 (01:11:48):
And I agree, But I also.

Speaker 18 (01:11:50):
Think that that's almost a point where we need to
have Pat Chucky somebody, like where we can get a bucket, like,
you know, let's let's just get too we get somebody out.

Speaker 2 (01:12:02):
There was proof today that when you play a really
good team, what they were trying to do offensively is
not a good recipe. Now they got Now he's got
to figure out with his piece is what makes the
most sense. And I don't know what that is, but
you know, he knows a lot more about basketball than
a lot of us ever will. So it's on him
and and and I don't know if he's gonna fix it.
I know he's gonna die trying.

Speaker 18 (01:12:21):
Yeah, no, I agree. Well, I appreciate it than year.

Speaker 2 (01:12:25):
Hell yeah, good stuff, Thank you, Connor. I appreciate it. Man.
All right, let's get to a couple more calls then
we gotta we got to wrap it up here soon.
I appreciate you guys hanging out and keeping us loaded
with phone lines. But you know, my man, John, he's
he's he's got big plans today. And I'm kidding, it's
not I do. It's Indiana Michigan in a few minutes.
And I'm envious of you because you know that's a
big game and his team's under I mean, India, what

(01:12:46):
a bizarro world. Indiana is undefeated in football and I'm
jealous of an Indiana football fan, but here we are.
That's just that's the way it is. All right, let's
go to uh let's let's go to Troy. Troy, you're up,
what's up?

Speaker 4 (01:13:00):
Hey?

Speaker 13 (01:13:00):
Thanks for taking my call. First off, I just want
to say what you said about your boy right on.
I've been a fan of U of L graduate for
many years, and I just at halftime, my son looked
for me to bring me a T shirt. That he
stood in line to pay fifteen bucks to bring me
a T shirt. And it's been many years that my

(01:13:21):
son has looked for me at a football game or
a basketball games. That's exciting right in itself, right And.

Speaker 2 (01:13:28):
I because the energy and the emotions there, and he
knows that he has that emotion because of you, And
that's a special feeling.

Speaker 13 (01:13:34):
Exactly exactly what you mean when you said that about
your son. I couldn't get my son off my mind.
So thank you for saying that, first of all. Second
of all, I agree and disagree with some of the
guys on here, but understandable and their points are valid.
The one thing I'll say, just like the coach said,
it's a loss. It's heartbreaking. But we're going to learn

(01:13:56):
from it. The one thing that you can't teach is fundamental.
I'm sorry.

Speaker 14 (01:14:01):
We're all seniors.

Speaker 13 (01:14:02):
We got to get the ball in. We gotta do
the simple things right, and I feel like it's seniors.
You gotta be able to handle that. Against a top
rated team, I think we'll get better. I'm very excited
about this team. I'm very excited about our football team too,
and I'm just you know, I'm just pumped right now.
So these little things are not bringing me down. I
feel like we're gonna we're gonna get better. I feel
like we're gonna get We're gonna get a flow like

(01:14:23):
the gentleman was saying earlier. I think that's just gonna
get it's gonna be seen. The last thing I'll say
is our team is much faster than I saw today,
and that's credit to Tennessee. But we can play defense too.
We can play defense too. So thank you for taking
my call.

Speaker 2 (01:14:39):
Thank you, Sory. I appreciate it. Yeah, not to get
sentimental here, but you know what he said. I mean,
I'm experiencing that for the first time to where uh
I'm you know, I've got a four year old son,
who just so happens to really start. He's getting into it,
and really, you know, for the most part, he knows
what's going on and he didn't in the previous regime,
which was a good thing. But you know, I I

(01:15:00):
love Louisville and I'm a lunatic for Louisville basketball, football,
like I'm die hard. I was able to take that
and be I'm fortunate to be able to be in
this position that I'm in. But it's because my dad.
My dad loved it and it just became second nature
to me. Same thing with his big brother, my uncle Wayne,
like it's part of it. And today sucked for sure

(01:15:23):
as far as the result, But we were lifeless for
a long time. And I don't mean just like we
stunk and we lost. We were lifeless, like it was
dead and there's gonna be there's gonna be steps within
this process to get back. And I know to some
it's like, wow, they lost by twenty two. They thought

(01:15:45):
they had a good team, Like man, these guys are pathetic,
And I if you feel that way, whatever, I mean,
like it's your opinion, but the human element in sports
is oftentimes ignored. What happened happened. We can act like,
let's not talk about Kenny Pain. It's not act it happened,
You experienced it, you went through it. It wasn't like
a traumatic experience because you know, those things really exist

(01:16:08):
in real life for people that are bigger than your
sports team losing. But it happened. So for you to
still feel like, hey, we got beat today, we got
beat bad, we got exposed, and still feeling the positivity
that comes within the program because of who's leading it in,
because of the direction. I mean, I feel still positive

(01:16:29):
about Louisville basketball in a major way based off of
everything involved, the guy that's here, his work ethic, his
track record, and also it's because of what happened before.
Like people claim you, well, we can't set the new
standard to just be better than Kenny Pain. That's not
what anybody's doing. But to act like Louisville fans emotionally

(01:16:52):
aren't going to be impacted to where you can still
know that you're in a way better place. I mean,
it's it's it's again, it's human element. We're all human beings.
Some of us are lunatics, myself included about all this stuff.
But you know, like I still feel very positive about
the direction of the program. Now, maybe in two months

(01:17:13):
when we're doing this exact show, I'm a beaten man,
and i'm and I'm I'm licking my wounds and I'm
a sad individual like I was previously. But I don't
think that's going to be the case. Only time will tell.
But I'm trying my This is a balancing act here
where I'm trying to understand the frustration, the concerns, and

(01:17:36):
maybe the doubt that's now there for the first time
because you saw what you saw today. But I know
that if they don't get better, and if they end up,
you know, having an underwhelming season based off of what
a lot of expectations were as far as being a
tournament caliber team, that's gonna be disappointment. But I'm gonna
choose to embrace the fact that, like again, Pat Kelsey

(01:18:00):
might die before he doesn't make this work out at Louisville,
and I don't want him to die and I want
Louisville to be good. So that's what I'm gonna believe
in happens. I'm gonna I'm gonna believe that that's what
ends up happening. But again, only time will tell. All right,
last call Red will close us out. Red, how you
doing this this afternoon?

Speaker 15 (01:18:22):
I'm doing all right. I got a couple of observations
on the team, y'all. There were seventeen turnovers. Didn't make
them pay for it. Number one player number one, not
sure his name. Actually, let me clarify. Yeah, I'm a

(01:18:43):
Kentucky fan before anything, but as my my critiques on
the team from what I saw, number one player number
one and number six if they're not scoring, liability on
defense a number I wanna say prior he claimed to
be the best player on the team.

Speaker 2 (01:19:03):
He claimed to be the best player on the team.

Speaker 15 (01:19:06):
Yeah, they said he to be the best player on
the team.

Speaker 2 (01:19:09):
You said he claimed to be the best player on
the team. Did he Did he tell you that, Red?

Speaker 15 (01:19:13):
Well, he didn't tell me that, but they said that
on the broadcast. Did he claimed to be the best
player on the team.

Speaker 2 (01:19:18):
Thank you for the call, Red. I don't I don't
believe for a second that that was ever said. But
I give Red credit acknowledge being a Kentucky fan. And
he's a Kentucky fan who called in as Red maybe
that's his real name, and he was giving like legitimate,
you know, like basketball points. But Cason Pryor, he might

(01:19:39):
I would have believed that he told Red he was
the best player on the team before. I believe somebody
in the broadcast, whether it be Paul and Bob or
whoever was doing play by play and Dieveendorf like, I
don't think they would come out. I mean I could,
I will stand corrected. Was that the game. I didn't
hear any of the broadcast in radio or TV, but
I've never heard any broadcaster in any way say he

(01:20:00):
told me he was the best player on the team
like that. That's not really how I mean, even if
he even if he even if a player said that,
no broadcaster would say that on the air. But look
Caseon Pryor today, his numbers one of seven, six points,
I mean, a very very uneventful, unproductive day for case

(01:20:22):
And and I thought that, I'm sorry, you had six
points in twenty four minutes, six points, two boards. Yeah,
I mean it was not his day. I thought I
saw four for twelve and I thought that was case
And no Caseon was over five. So look, Caseon, to
me is the exact player that when Pat Kelsey's style

(01:20:43):
in his and they're dictating the way the game's played.
He will thrive when you play a team that's going
to take that away. What's he doing. He's not quite
athletic enough to just take over. He's not. I mean,
he's he's got he's got some skill and some ability.
He's a good player, fine player, but you know, Tennessee's

(01:21:07):
the exact team that will take somebody like him away. Now,
as far as defensive liability, he mentioned Hadley and what
numbers did he mention? He said number one? He said
number one. Yeah, so that's Hadley and rain Smith. And look,
Hadley twenty eight minutes today, three points, four rebounds, again,

(01:21:27):
a pretty unproductive day for him. And then with rain Smith,
he made four threes. He made four of your ten
three pointers. And if Rain's making four of twelve, you
live with it. Now, I think with everything else going
on that it didn't feel like that was a good thing.
And in fact, he you know, he's out there to
do what he did today. Now, if you're going to
take twelve, you want to see a little bit more

(01:21:47):
than four made. But I think in a normal game,
if he's four for twelve, it's not even something that's
on the radar for anybody statistically, because that's just what
he's out there to do. In fact, he got you
a bucket that wasn't a three point shot. So Rain
kind of being your offensive guy was a concern for

(01:22:08):
me because he is somebody that is good, as Tennessee defends.
He doesn't need much rhythm, he doesn't need a lot
of daylight. He will fire it up and he'll make it.
Other guys today couldn't do that, and I'm not sure
that that's really in their bag. So the last thing
I want to say before we wrap this thing up is,
you know, I believe from a personnel standpoint that, like,

(01:22:32):
even though there's not anybody that I can look at
from a statistical standpoint and say that they had a
good game or even close to it, to be honest
with you, I still believe that you have good players.
But a collection of good players that doesn't have a
great player or anything maybe close to that is going
to leave you in a vulnerable spot. Now what I

(01:22:52):
don't know, And maybe I'll go back and look at it.
Pat Kelsey's got a lot of depth because of how
the roster's right. Like sometimes when you can play. Like,
maybe this is a bad analogy. If you've got a
two quarterback system, that usually means you don't have one
that's good enough. Right if you're playing ten guys, does
that mean that you don't have one in any position

(01:23:12):
that's that much better than the other. Again, it can
be viewed as as super positive or it can be
something that exposes you as you've got a lot of
solid players. But what does that really lead to? And
what Pat is going to have to learn from today
is who do I give minutes to? You know, you
had twenty eight minutes from Javon, twenty seven from Chucky,

(01:23:33):
twenty four from Case and off the bench, and then
it was really just everybody. It was kind of a
mixed bag. Like you got guys today that like Noah Waterman,
he can't play against Tennessee and defend. He just can't.
He can do some things for you, but like against
certain teams, you can't just rely on five out five

(01:23:53):
in that kind of thing. I mean you can, but
it's going to leave you vulnerable. So that's what I'm
most interested to see moving forward, when you get back
to a really good team that you're going to play
pretty soon, when you get to the Bahamas, are you
still just gonna just roll guys in and out or
do you now are you going to try to find
a better feel for who you have to rely on

(01:24:16):
more dependent upon the opponent. That's my biggest gripe about
the new age of coaching in basketball. And it's not
a path thing. It's it's it's it's everywhere. I can
appreciate coaches that are like, hey, we're going to do
what we do because that's where we win, that's where
we have our highest ceiling, that's when we're at our

(01:24:36):
best and we'll let it. We'll let it play out.
Or are you going to be a coach that realizes
I got to be able to do different things. I
got to be able to slow you. I got to
be able to do what I wanted. I got to
be able to get something working when we're slow. I
got to be able to compete whenever it's a track
meet kind of thing. And there's got to be a variety.
You know, you want to have an identity, but you

(01:24:58):
also need to have a little bit of flexibility depended
upon the way a game is played. And today Louisville
wanted to play at their pace. Tennessee from the jump said,
now we're not doing that. We're going to get back.
We're not letting you get in rhythm, we're not letting
you run, and we're going to dare you go to work.
We'll see what you can do. And they stopped them.
I mean, Louisville. Some of the buckets they got today
were really challenged, because that's how good Tennessee was defensively.

(01:25:24):
All Right, we're out of time. Thank you all for
hanging out and joining us here on a Saturday. Enjoy
the rest of your weekend. Don't let it get you down.
Seventy seven to fifty five is not what anybody wanted
today if you're a Louisville fan. But I still think
this team could be pretty good. But only time. We'll
tell We're back out on a Monday afternoon at three
o'clock right here on Sports Talk seven ninety