11-06-24 LEACH REPORT

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Bingie Beef Jerkey podcast of the Leach Report is
also presented by Boons Butcher Shop, one hundred old Bloomfield
Pike in Barnestown, fresh meat cut on location daily and
they're family owned and operated, have been since nineteen forty six.
Good day, everybody, Welcome in to the Leech Report, presented
by Bobcat Enterprises. And we are going to be talking

(00:23):
for the rest of this hour about UK sports with
Dick Gabriel, our UK football broadcast colleague and host of
the Big Blue Insider Show here in Lexington each weeknight.
David Sisk from Katz Illustrated. I want to talk a
little bit with David about the Acaden Lewis commitment among

(00:43):
other things. And Maggie Davis from BBN Tonight. So that's
the lineup for this Wednesday edition of the Leach Report.
Opening segment as presented by Giuseppes of Lexington And would
last night be an election night? Just not a whole
lot going on. No big games in college basketball. The

(01:06):
women get back in action tomorrow night. The men of
course play on Saturday afternoon. We did get the college
football playoff rankings coming out for SEC teams four Big
Ten teams among the twelve that would be going into
the College Football Playoff today if those rankings held. One

(01:27):
thing that seems clear is that it's unlikely a nine
to three team from the SEC or the Big Ten
would be able to make it, at least this year.
Some thought, I think going into this first playoff that
you might be able to get in on the very
back end of it as a nine to three team.
Maybe that won't happen until they expanded to sixteen teams,

(01:50):
but right now, one from the Big Twelve, one from
the ACC, one independent, one group of five, and then
four each from the SEC and the Big Ten. Kentucky
basketball back on the practice court, of course, is the
Cats prepare to face Bucknell on Saturday. One guy who

(02:10):
has been I think probably a bit of a surprise
to a lot of Kentucky fans is a Tega Oway
to transfer from Oklahoma. Seventeen points a game and the
two exhibitions. It was very good in the opening game
and even made three threes in the second half. And
as i'mntioneering in the broadcast, you only have twenty one
and two seasons at Oklahoma, and Mark Pope talked about

(02:35):
that in the postgame news conference on Monday night, and
just how Oway has developed since coming to Kentucky.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
As a player, there's always this process about about limiting
your game just a little bit, just slightly, so that
your game can expand massively, and that process takes a
ton of trust.

Speaker 3 (03:00):
Fox has done.

Speaker 2 (03:01):
An unbelievable job mentoring Otake. He spends a lot of
time with Otag and Otega has done an unbelievable job
and trusting and being receptive. And so he's just simplified
his game just a little bit in just a couple
very specific areas and he's become a brilliant decision maker.
And tonight he was incredible defensively, clearly shot the ball

(03:23):
really well. He was great down hill, he was pretty
pretty good in every single fast of the game.

Speaker 3 (03:27):
But he was.

Speaker 2 (03:28):
Really electric and extraordinary on the defensive end against the
terrific Uh you know, with a really tough matchup most
of the night.

Speaker 1 (03:35):
See, you've got with Oway and Butler, a pair of
really strong defensive guards, but always showing us a lot
on the offensive end as well. So it's gonna be
interesting to see how his game grows. That's the thing
about this group. That Pope has put together. We'll we'll
talk about a little bit about this with some of
our guests, but you know how will guys emerge as

(03:58):
maybe better players than they were before when put in
a new system and with a new group of teammates.
One of the note from sports yesterday, Zadarius Smith, the
former Wildcat, has been traded. And I would think this
is a good thing for Sadarius because he's going from
the Cleveland Browns to the Detroit Lions, a team that

(04:20):
has a chance, I think, to win the Super Bowl.
So Zadaria Smith has been productive wherever he has been
and now picked up by the Detroit Lions. So congrats
and good wishes to Zadarias Smith links to the stories
that we talk about each day. You can find them
on the bud Light Leach Report page at Tom leachky

(04:40):
dot com. Our opening segment presented by Just Sepees of Lexington,
and they have gift cards for the holidays. If you
have somebody that's hard to buy for, you can go
to the website Jo Sepies Lexington dot com order the cards,
they'll mail them out to you, or better yet, plan
it evening at Giuseppes go to open tables. Set that
up to go out with family and friends for a

(05:01):
fantastic meal and just pick up those gift cards.

Speaker 3 (05:04):
While you're there.

Speaker 1 (05:05):
Giuseppi's of Lexington, just off Dicklasville Road, will be right
back with Dick Gabriel. It is the Leech Report Radio Network.
Quarter past the top of the hour. Leach Report coming
to here from the Clarks Public Return, Refresh and refuel
at Clark's and download the app. Get the monthly specials
that just came out for November, going to the Club

(05:27):
Blue andil dot com hotline. Bring on Dick Gabriel. You
hear him working on our UK football broadcasts on Saturdays,
although not this one because the Wildcats have a Saturday
off from the gridiron. But you also hear in weeknights
on the Big Blue Insider here in the Lexington mark Game.
Let me start with the Kentucky women's game because I

(05:48):
know you were there, so I was getting ready for
the men's game. I saw the posts that you were
doing from there, and you know you and I were
at UK at a time and women's basketball was had
some of its best times. I saw a picture with
the Valerie still PJ in the other night. There were

(06:09):
two great players on some great Kentucky teams there in
the early eighties. What's your take on the excitement level
for Kentucky women's basketball.

Speaker 4 (06:21):
Well, in fact, I talked to PJ after the game,
said a little valve, of course, and I bumped into
PJ on the way out, and she really liked what
she saw after just the one game, I tweeted, I
think I know. I talked to people about George A.
Moore and I said, you know, PJ, for my money,
is still the best point guard who ever played here.

(06:41):
And it had some good ones. You know, Stacey Reid
was a really good one. But she's excited about the
same things that I was, and that is that they're
really well coached because they're older, but there are some
young talent. They play really aggressive man of men defend,
and they got a lot of size. And the emergent
star in this game on this night was Clara Strack,

(07:05):
who is a six to five post player, still young,
but according to both Kenny Brooks and George Amore, just
gets better literally every.

Speaker 3 (07:14):
Day in practice.

Speaker 4 (07:15):
They can just see it before their eyes. They've got
a lot of size. Her backup is also named Clara
post player Clara Silva from Portugal. She's not physically strong
enough yet. I think they're really bang in the SEC
and I'm not sure about Clara Strack either, but they'll
be competitive. They play an up and down style. It's

(07:37):
not frenetic. They don't shoot as many threes as the men,
but they played with a lot of tempo and yeah,
they totally overwhelmed their opponent, but it was a great start.

Speaker 1 (07:50):
Kentucky will be back in action tomorrow night against NKU,
and they think Kenny Brooks may have talked about this
how the scheduling came about and they ended up playing
on the same night as the Men opened up for
just a couple hours before the men's game started, so
not conducive to getting the best possible crowd for their

(08:13):
opening game. But tomorrow night, there's no conflicts for anybody
to get out to the new version of Memorial Coliseum,
and for anybody hasn't done that yet. You've been there
for games, so what's that like.

Speaker 4 (08:29):
It's incredible. It looks like if you blindfolded and dropped
in there, you probably wouldn't know where you were based
Somewhat the old arena looked like. And when I was
working the TV for the men's day to Pro Day,
it was so great for me, Tom because and I
know you probably did two of the kid I attended games.

Speaker 3 (08:48):
They're watching the.

Speaker 4 (08:49):
Varsity play basketball. So Jack Gibbons sitting next to me
on the broadcast, I played his first two years of
varsity basket the coliseum and I shared that with a
couple of the men's and they looked around and they're like,
how that work as well? There used to be eleven
thousand seats here, but now that they've made the improvements
and it's a bit more intimate, I think it is

(09:12):
going to be one of the great home court advantages
for the UK women in the SEC because you still
got the lower ceiling compared to Rupp Arena. You're you're
right on top of the floor of the amen airback seats.

Speaker 1 (09:24):
They did it right.

Speaker 4 (09:24):
In or they did it right you know the lighting
and all that. So yeah, you're right. If you have
the opportunity to go on Thursday and didn't go on
Monday either because of the doubleheader you wanted to stay
home and watch or whatever, this is a great opportunity
to six o'clock start and you'll really enjoy it.

Speaker 1 (09:44):
My growing up and part of it is, you know,
just your memories. Listen, it was hard to get uh ticket.
Every game was on TV, so it's hard to get
tickets to a game. I had an uncle who was
fortunate enough to work for a company the head season tickets,
so he would take by Dad and I through four
times a year, and it was such a treat to
get to go to a game at the coliseum. And

(10:05):
so maybe that's you know, where this feeling comes from,
but that's was always my favorite place to watch a
basketball game. And came down that little ramp, the place
shook in. Yep, that you know, lower ceiling, your reference,
maybe that is what held the sound in. But man,
oh yeah, cool place.

Speaker 5 (10:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (10:24):
And one of my favorite memories there, Tom was I
was at the very first Madness at night madness and
as you said, when they came running out of that tunnel,
it actually was at midnight and when Winston Bennet and
Kenny Wark dunks the likes of wich Uk fans had
never seen. I thought that roof was going to come off,
but no. Some of those great games, you know, Tennessee

(10:45):
games in the building were just incredible, and Jack and
I talked about the very last game that his team played.
Of course, Gillespie's team played in an n I game
there and people loved it. But the last game for
Kentucky there was remember they were down what nine or
something with two minutes to play against Mississippi State and
some of their kids are already on the radio with

(11:06):
Jack crist Hey, mom, we beat Kentucky, and Kentucky got
it into Jack hit a shot, got it into overtime,
and they came back and one. So there's a lot
of a lot of great history there.

Speaker 1 (11:16):
Let's talk about the what you are from the debut
of the Kentucky men's team from Mark Pope more.

Speaker 4 (11:22):
The same that we had seen against Wesleyan and Minnesota State,
but against the better ball club. But just the way
the ball moves, I mean, it's I really love what
they do offensively. Other and the fact that you know,
Jack talked about it was you on one of the

(11:45):
broadcasts already. The fact that they can make adjustments on
the fly because they're more mature, they're because they're older,
and you know, the experience counts. Experience shows. But I
think it's just uh gonna be a fund of your
symbols on the way. But every time they stumble, they'll
learn and they'll get better. So, uh, you know when

(12:07):
when Amari Williams for crying to lead your fast break,
what did I tell you?

Speaker 1 (12:12):
Come on?

Speaker 5 (12:13):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (12:13):
I mean I remember James Lee doing that as a
left hander, but he wasn't six eleven.

Speaker 3 (12:20):
Ye did it?

Speaker 4 (12:22):
Eric Daniels did it?

Speaker 1 (12:23):
Yeah, comes pretty drop off to oh way for a layup.
So that was one of the things I noticed when
I watched practices for the first time back in July.
I guess was how uh there was a whole lot
more passing than there was dribbling.

Speaker 3 (12:42):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (12:42):
Yeah, And you've talked about it before, so have I
about the Popovich drill. You know where the balls in
your hands for the morn and you've already got to
know when it touches your hands where you're going to
go with it. And as I've said before, you know,
anybody who's played organized basketball, you know, whether it be
the Gray School of High school, Church League, has run

(13:03):
that drill, but not with that set of parameters. And
and that comes back to play I think in every
game really exciting.

Speaker 1 (13:12):
Uh, backcourt, I know you have Seawan Woods on regularly
on your Big Blue Insider Show, and I think of
Seawan and Dale Brown that was, you know, as good
a pair of defensive guards set as Kentucky's had and uh,
Butler and Oway could could be that kind of pairing defensively.

Speaker 4 (13:37):
That's a great point. And Oway to me has been
the wise because in doing the research on him, watching
some practices, I knew he was good, but I thought,
you know, he'll be good. He'll be a guy that
that will develop and and you know, in the starting
lineup getting it done both ends of the floor, you
wonder which of these guys can finish when they really

(13:59):
need a bucket?

Speaker 6 (13:59):
He to one of them.

Speaker 4 (14:00):
I think you get at least two or three. Who's
gonna be the punch?

Speaker 3 (14:03):
He could be it.

Speaker 4 (14:05):
And he's the guy I think you can, as much
as anybody make you sit up straight say did you
see that? So I'm excited to watch him develop.

Speaker 1 (14:13):
Gabe, thank you for the time. All righty at Big
Blue Insider one on X and hear him on the
Big Blue Insider Show weeknights and the Lexington Market on
WLAP and then with us with the Pick and Eye
and Gabe on the sidelines for weeks, which we'll be
back coming on the sixteenth when they host Murray State.

(14:33):
We'll get to a break. David Sisk joins the program.
When we return, It's they Triport. We're presented by Bob
Kat Enterprises. It's Sley Triport Radio Network on this Wednesday,
and we go back to the club blueenil dot Com hotline.
Bring on David Sis from Katz Illustrated dot Com. Talk
about the Acaden Lewis commitment with you, David here in

(14:54):
a bid But let's start with what you saw out
of Kentucky basketball in the first official game of the
Mark Pope era.

Speaker 3 (15:01):
That was impressive to you, Well, there was a lot impressive.

Speaker 7 (15:07):
I think just everything that we thought just from a
positive standpoint.

Speaker 5 (15:12):
People were energized, you know.

Speaker 7 (15:14):
By Marco what his team would look like, what his
offenses would look like, and.

Speaker 6 (15:19):
I think we saw that probably not as many.

Speaker 7 (15:21):
Three shot as what we felt it would be, but
they basically took what the defense gave them, so you know,
they really right State.

Speaker 6 (15:29):
Really sold out on the three pointers.

Speaker 7 (15:31):
That's why you saw the lane open for back cuts
and drives as much as you did. So just great
movement about the ball. Like I said, ball movement. It
was a lot of different players got in on the act.
They played fast, they executed in half courts. So I
felt like all.

Speaker 3 (15:49):
The reasons fans were excited.

Speaker 7 (15:52):
About Mark Pope probably showed Monday night.

Speaker 1 (15:56):
It is a style of play that, uh, we've been
talking about this for a long time. I think that
people the fans are gonna like and how much ball
movement there is just player movement and uh, you know
they're obviously going to shoot a lot of threes, but uh,
as you said, some nights, maybe not as many as

(16:18):
you would think.

Speaker 7 (16:20):
Yeah, and that is that all goes, like I said,
compared to how the defense uh defends you.

Speaker 3 (16:27):
That's going to be the interesting.

Speaker 5 (16:28):
Thing for me.

Speaker 7 (16:30):
Well not for me, but I think you know, watch
going forward is you know how teams adjust and how
they defend them. So, like we said, if you watch
right State and go back and look at some of
the just from the you know the television angles where
it's up over the floor.

Speaker 3 (16:45):
You can see some screening rolls, some just.

Speaker 7 (16:48):
Straight backcuts, uh you know, just just jail breaks to
the rim and you're like, where's the help at Well,
they're out there faced up well perimeters h at the
three point line, and there no help side, there's no
pat guys, So they're gonna be.

Speaker 3 (17:04):
Teams with just at as we go board.

Speaker 7 (17:06):
I be interested to see how they be in Kentucky
and then how Mark Pope would just.

Speaker 6 (17:10):
It, but I would think that would come with more
the reporters take.

Speaker 1 (17:13):
We'll talk more about that with David Sis when we
come back. It is the Leech Report coming to you
from the Clark's Pumping Shop studio. Return, refresh and refueal
at Clark's Leach Report coming to you from Lexington, Kentucky
on this Wednesday, as we are chatting with David Sisk,
he writes for Cats Illustrated dot Com and coach, let's

(17:36):
talk a little bit more about what you're seeing and
just the system that Kentucky runs with Mark Pope. A
lot of we were talking about all the player and
movement movement of the basketball. They obviously want to play
fast and shoot a lot of threes. What's gonna be
the biggest test when they go up against a team

(17:57):
like Duke next week?

Speaker 7 (18:01):
Obviously it'll be the first team that they've played through
two exhibitions and the first regular season game, and probably
you said the same thing little up down where they're
going up against a team who's just as athletic, maybe
a little bit more athletic. I'll be honest with Avy,
I think Minnesota State was probably better than Right State,

(18:24):
to be honest to Avy, I just wasn't impressed with
their athletic ability or just conditioning because they didn't even
make an attempt to sprint back and run back. So,
you know, teams that can get them deep into the
shot clock. And the bottom line is the way that
Kentucky's gonna play offense. The defense is gonna have to

(18:47):
win one on one battles and they've not been able
to play anybody that can do that yet, and I
think there'll be most nights it's gonna be hard for
a defense to do that. So, you know, when you
can actively adjust on all the zoom and stagger action,
effectively switched, keep the ball in front of you on
the dribble, and you know, be able to help and

(19:10):
recover do some of those things, you know what's the
reaction so far, because honestly, they've not been able to
play anybody that can do that yet. So let's see
what happens once they do.

Speaker 1 (19:21):
I mentioned this yesterday that Pope is a coach, but
his general manager skills look pretty impressive at the moment
from the group that he's put together because and you
can speak to this from your coaching background, but it
seems like a group that was put together in a
short amount of time that ended up being very complimentary

(19:42):
in terms of the skill sets of the players.

Speaker 5 (19:45):
Yeah, I agree with that.

Speaker 7 (19:46):
And you know, you see it in all sports where
you know, a team struggles for.

Speaker 6 (19:52):
A year or two and the big issue is.

Speaker 5 (19:56):
You'll see one reason, Well, coach has.

Speaker 7 (20:00):
This guy there, he doesn't have his players yet, or
he doesn't have his uh his coaches there yet or
what have you. And like I said, we we can't
crown them yet because you know, they're not they've not
played to they've not played the strong teams. They're gonna
play in the non conference and Andy as he sees,

(20:20):
so we'll see how this goes. But it just appears
to me that they've been able to take players and uh,
they've been able to take players that kind of do
what they do and uh that he.

Speaker 5 (20:33):
Wants to do, uh that compliment that.

Speaker 7 (20:36):
His style because you know, he wants to have people
that can shoot. He wants bigs that can handle the ball.
He wants high IQ guys that can make reads. So
if you look at everything that he tries to do well,
then his team philosophy, you know, he's got guys that
can do that.

Speaker 3 (20:52):
So, yeah, that is impressive.

Speaker 7 (20:53):
Just to be able to come in on a spring,
have nobody returning and be able to put all that together, and.

Speaker 1 (20:59):
With Butler in o way on the perimeter and then
Williams and Garrison at the five spot to protect the rim,
is this going to be maybe significantly better defensive team
than what might have been expected coming in.

Speaker 5 (21:14):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (21:14):
Butler noway made outside shatsa the other night, and that
was one thing too.

Speaker 5 (21:18):
So if they do that, then then you've got.

Speaker 7 (21:21):
To look out because other teams are going to have
to decide who they're going to guard outside who.

Speaker 5 (21:26):
They're not going to guard.

Speaker 7 (21:27):
You know, sooner or later you're just gonna have to
play off somebody and leaves some help in the lane,
so you know, and will it be one of those guys,
we don't know. But on the defensive end, yeah, they
right now, I think they could really get into players
and perimeters.

Speaker 6 (21:43):
They had that reputation.

Speaker 7 (21:44):
They came out strong defensive programs at Oklahoma and San
Diego State, but they had never really been anywhere where
they were utilized offensively and then anything side standing in
the corner. So they've got to enjoy their freedom that
they have. But yeah, I think what they're really able
to start out with defensively, you know, and put that

(22:06):
pressure on get into passing lanes, really get on the ball.

Speaker 3 (22:09):
I like that.

Speaker 7 (22:10):
I think there's a reason that you see them early
in the games is because they.

Speaker 6 (22:14):
Set the tone.

Speaker 3 (22:15):
They don't you know.

Speaker 7 (22:17):
They can kind of set a defensive tone defensively for
Kentucky that kind of puts of opposition on their heels,
you know, from the get go.

Speaker 1 (22:25):
At twenty one away from the top of the Hours,
we visit with David Sis from Cats Illustrated dot com
and on the Rivals Network. David, you cover recruiting, among
other things for Cats Illustrated. So give me your take
on the player that Kentucky got the commitment from A
Katan Lewis last Saturday.

Speaker 7 (22:45):
A guy that came out of nowhere that really nobody
knew of a year ago and is now a you know,
by no matter who the service is that you read,
you know is across the board, a top twenty player,
a player that's going to compliment Jasper Johnson. Well, he's

(23:07):
going to be able to play together with Jessper Johnson.
I mean, if you look at them, they're both top
twenty guards, you know, and I've talked to both individuals,
both families, and this was even before Caden committed, and
they had no issue of them playing together. They thought
they would do well. And you know, you're talking about

(23:28):
Pope system and you're talking about multiple guards and multiple
ball handlers out there on the floor together.

Speaker 3 (23:33):
You have to have that.

Speaker 7 (23:35):
So you know, there's really not an on ball off
ball guard for them because everybody's got it.

Speaker 6 (23:41):
In their hands at one time or another.

Speaker 5 (23:43):
So both those guys, you know, can fill that role.

Speaker 7 (23:47):
Both can score, both can pass the ball, handle it,
you know, and do all the things that you would
expect the top twenty player to do. So once they've
gone out, done is get one of the best guards
in the country, and who's probably a multiple year guy.
That's a big thing too. He's not a one that done.

(24:07):
He'll probably be there at least two years. So he's
going to grow and develop, so you've got to look
on down the road at the future and see what
he does as well. But he'll definitely be able to
play next year. And fit's what Mark Cope wants to do.

Speaker 1 (24:20):
As someone who covers the recruiting scene, what's your observation
on how Mark is approaching that part of it and
doing in that world since coming from BYU to UK.

Speaker 7 (24:34):
Well, he's still limited a little bit because these our
players that are really good. Like I said, he's got
everybody courting the rivals that he's got. Top twenty seven
Caleb Wilson is going to be a big one because.

Speaker 6 (24:51):
I don't know that any of these guys are lottery.

Speaker 7 (24:54):
Pick types, you know after year one, So in the
twenty twenty draft, I.

Speaker 6 (25:00):
Don't know that you've got anybody in.

Speaker 7 (25:02):
The first whatever it is thirteen or fourteen picks that
walks across the stage and when Nil is so big now,
but there's still the part about ten a coach develop
players and get them into the NBA lottery into that
first round. He's not really been in a place like
at BYU or he's been able to do that. Nat

(25:24):
Oates wasn't in a position to do that before he
got to Alabama. Bruce Pearl wasn't in a position to
do that before he got to Tennessee. So a lot
of these coach that coaches that come from lower levels,
they have that used against them early, but it turns
out not to be an issue because when they win
and they start developing players, then it's one of those

(25:45):
if you're going to get them, you better get them quickly.
And I think that's the case of him. But you
look now, I mean, they've got the number two recruiting
class in the country. If they get Caleb Wilson, you
know that they may go into number one, they're gonna be.

Speaker 6 (25:58):
Number two at worse. I think that's amazing that the
coach can.

Speaker 7 (26:02):
Come in out of nowhere, put together the team that
he put together in the spring where nobody returning. We've
already spoken about how it fits.

Speaker 5 (26:09):
And how well he was able to.

Speaker 7 (26:11):
Do, and then turn around and get a top two
recruiting class. And if you get a Caleb Wilson, then
you've got that guy that's going to go in the lottery.
So I think all the boxes definitely being checked.

Speaker 1 (26:22):
At coach David sisk On x or Twitter and readam
acats Illustrated dot com.

Speaker 3 (26:27):
David, thank you all right, thank you Tom, and it's David.

Speaker 1 (26:31):
Sisk joining us on the Club blueinil dot com hotline.
Club it was the official collective partner for UK Athletics.
They work with all of the sports on campus and
you can join for as little as twenty five dollars
a month if you have the budget for it and
if you are inclined to help out, this is the
way to do it for UK sports and you can

(26:53):
be part of the effort to raise the funds for
NIL to bring in the talent that it takes to
compete in men's basketball, women's basketball, football, all the sports
on the UK campus. And there are some special benefits
that you get as a member. Go to Club blueanil
dot com and see what that looks like and meet

(27:13):
and I means can start with meet and greets with
players and just social outings with other Club Blue members,
but even more than that, Club blueenil dot com. We'll
be right back with Maggie Davis here on the Leach
Report thirteen away from the top of the hour. Back
to the Clublueanile dot com hotline we're going Maggie Davis
from the BBN Tonight Show in l e X eighteen,

(27:35):
and Maggie, what was your takeaway from what you saw
in opening night of the Mark Pope era at Raporina
Opening night?

Speaker 8 (27:45):
I think really started off hot with the opening play,
and I know that it's so fun to talk about
the shooting on this team, the bald movement, the assists,
and will continue to do that this week and as
we see this team continue to grow. But just to
watch that first play go back, we watch it. It
is a beautifully designed play right from the jump. Nine

(28:05):
seconds into the game. You end up with a lob
from Lamari Williams to Andrew Carr and we're just off
to the races. And I think that was exactly the
kind of elaborate offensive scheme that is so simple when
you first see it, but you see it throughout the
course of a game and you understand, really that's the
way Mark Pope wants his teams to play ball. And
we saw that at a really good example of it earlier.

Speaker 9 (28:27):
This week in the first official game of the season.

Speaker 8 (28:29):
Obviously we'd seen it, you know, in the exhibitions, but
it does hit a little bit different once it's that
official start to the season, and I think that's some
things up very well, especially in a game where they
weren't taking or making quite as many three pointers as
what we saw early in those exhibitions. To still see
the Balld movement and to still see some of the
other things that have already started to define the Mark

(28:51):
Pope's system in play, I thought was very, very exciting.

Speaker 9 (28:54):
And of course you could talk about the shooting and
all of that too.

Speaker 8 (28:57):
I mean, thirty assists on thirty nine baskets is a
remarkable number and one I think we'll be talking about
quite a bit throughout this season.

Speaker 1 (29:04):
I remember his introductory news conference. One of the things
he mentioned in all the things that he had to
say that played so well to the crowd was something
to do with, you know, the importance of being a
good cutter in basketball and you know, you get and
he said, maybe even the cutters get paid, you know,
into the NBA, and that is you know, that's what

(29:28):
you saw the very first play you talked about that
was you know, you had Robinson backscreening a car's guy,
and so they had to stay out on Robinson for
his three point shooting. And Carr gets an open path
to the basket and Williams finds him and it works perfectly.

Speaker 9 (29:46):
Yeah, it was. It was beautiful. And like you said,
I mean you bring up Jackson Robinson. I think it's
worth pointing out that's.

Speaker 8 (29:51):
A guy who's coming off of an incredibly impressive performance
in the second exhibition game. Six Cats had double figures
on Monday night, and Jackson Robinson was not.

Speaker 9 (30:00):
One of them, with only eight points.

Speaker 8 (30:01):
So a quiet night for him and you still score
one hundred points is pretty impressive too.

Speaker 1 (30:07):
Rebounding is something that I don't think Coach Pope still
is satisfied with, so we'll see how that tracks it.
It's as we were doing the game. I think we
came out of a break late in the first half
and I looked at the staff monitor and brought it
up with Goose. I said, hey, Wright State only has
three offensive rebounds and they'd missed twenty some shots I

(30:31):
think at that point, so that you know, offensive rebound
percentage was very good at that point if you're on
the Kentucky side. And immediately, of course they get two
offensive rebounds on long missed shots and they ended up
with ten or eleven, But I think what he saw
in the first, say, you know, fifteen minutes of the game,

(30:53):
is closer to what he's looking for.

Speaker 8 (30:56):
I think so, And I think that's going to be
a really important part of this team's identity because you
could take the thirty five shots that Figure and Pope
have set all off season. That's how many they want
this team taking in an average game. But you're definitely
going to have some missage and you're going to have
to take some long rebounding and really see those efforts improve,
especially you know, on games where shooting isn't necessarily at

(31:18):
its best.

Speaker 9 (31:18):
That I think back to the second exhibition where KENTUCKI.

Speaker 8 (31:21):
Was two for nine, two for eleven something like that
to start that game, and everyone was sort of like,
oh my gosh, what does this team look like if
they're not making threes?

Speaker 9 (31:29):
And Pope, you didn't panic, didn't call them, you.

Speaker 8 (31:32):
Know, to the bench, didn't call it time now, didn't
freak everybody else out, said afterwards, I'm never going to
be stressed out by a number like that. BBN might
be stressed out, but I know that we can work
through that. And I think rebounding, especially on the offensive
side of the ball is a really key part of that,
because with a team designed to take that many three pointers,
there are certainly going to be games and situations where

(31:54):
you're not making the number of shots that you want
to see your team make. And when that is the case,
you have to redound and get your guys a better chance,
whether that means kick it out for another three or
see what Amari Williams or Andrew Carr, any one of
those guys is doing down low.

Speaker 9 (32:08):
That's, you know, just based on what the defense is
giving you.

Speaker 8 (32:12):
But you have to give yourself that second opportunity when
you are launching thirty five or so three pointers a game.

Speaker 1 (32:19):
Ty Maggie Davis from BBN Tonight on the Club Blue
and Ile Hotline, you were involved with the Hoops and
Heels clinic last Friday night, and I know you've been
involved in some similar events. So what was different unique
fun about this one?

Speaker 8 (32:35):
It was so much fun, and I'm truly not just
saying that. It was so wonderful. The Pope, the entire
Pope's family was there. All four daughters were able to
come into town. A lot of people probably know this,
but only one daughter is living here.

Speaker 9 (32:48):
Full time. The other ones have grown up and are
doing their own things, either still.

Speaker 8 (32:52):
In college or just out of college, so the only
one currently living in Lexington is the youngest one. But
all four were able to come to town for Leann's
first Hoops Heels women's event here in Lexington, so that
was really fun. I asked Leanne if they had done
anything like this at BYU and she said they really
had not done anything for the women's fans specifically, So
for them it was just so cool to see. Obviously,

(33:13):
they've gotten a good taste of big gluination over the
past six or eight months or so, and for Leanne,
I mean, she's been with Mark Pope for a long time,
she's gotten a good taste of it. But to see
five hundred women show up to talk about basketball, to
meet your family, to tell you how excited they are
that you're here and that your family is part of
this family, I think was really truly special to them.

Speaker 9 (33:34):
And they definitely did some different things.

Speaker 8 (33:36):
I know the Pope girls were very involved in the
planning of the event this year, so it was fun,
it was organized, it was it was just warm and welcoming,
and I know they had a great time, and from
what I gathered from all the women I was able
to talk to, I think the fans had a really
good time too. And hoops and Heels was a great
name for it, because only Leanne Pope, I've decided, can
show up in a sweatsuit and stilettos and absolutely rocket.

Speaker 9 (34:00):
It just looks fabulous and have so much fun.

Speaker 8 (34:02):
And I don't know how she does it, but I
respect the heck out of it, and it was so
much fun.

Speaker 1 (34:08):
Uh Coach's daughter.

Speaker 8 (34:11):
Yes, exactly, and she you can tell that when you
hear her speak to She was great about introducing the
other assistant coaches they had. The assistant coaches, most of
them were able to bring their wives and their children
to the event as well, so it was kind of
like a big informal secondary introductory press conference for some
of these guys, right just to be like, you know,
it's fun to see who this wife is and their

(34:33):
kids and where they're going to school, and it's it
just makes it feel like what big Bluemation is all about,
which is that this is one big, happy family. And
I think this year's event did a really good job
of capping into that.

Speaker 1 (34:43):
It's all new for men's and women's basketball, and certainly
is a lot of fun at the moment, right.

Speaker 9 (34:49):
Hey, that's the way we like it, right.

Speaker 8 (34:51):
It makes everybody's job easier and it always helps when
they win games. But I do think a fresh start
has been very positive, not just for.

Speaker 9 (34:59):
The fan base but for the media, for the athletics department.

Speaker 8 (35:01):
It's just there is sort of a breath of fresh
air around the whole thing. And you know, we have
a lot of fun on bb and Tonight regardless, but
it is always more fun.

Speaker 9 (35:10):
When they win.

Speaker 3 (35:11):
Maggie, thank you.

Speaker 9 (35:12):
Much, Thank you so much. Time. I'll talk to you soon.

Speaker 3 (35:15):
It's Maggie Davis.

Speaker 1 (35:16):
You can catch her on BBN Tonight usually with Keith
Farmer some other hosts that rotate in there as well.
On l EX eighteen, the official TV partner for UK Athletics,
We're going to get to a break and come back
with our final segment for the Leach Report. On a Wednesday,
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(36:42):
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