November 20, 2024 • 39 mins
Tom talks with Kyle Tucker, Eric Lindsey, CJ Moore, Craig Skinner.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
The Leech Report Radio Network is on the air with
the voice of the Wildcats, Tom Leech. It's the daily
gathering spot for the Big Blue Nation to hear the
latest news and views on the Cats. If you have
a question for Tom, email Leech Report at gmail dot
com or send a tweet to add Tom Leech Ky.
(00:23):
Now here's Tom good Day.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Everybody. Welcome in to the Leech Report, presented by Bobcat Enterprises.
And today we will talk a lot of Kentucky men's
basketball after the Wildcats went to four to oh last night,
Rowty and Lipscomb ninety seven to sixty eight at rapp Arena.
We're gonna lead off with Kyle Tucker. For several years
we had Kyle Tucker on with us on Wednesdays, and
(00:51):
he retired from the sportswriting profession to move into corporate communications,
but said he would come back and visit from time
to time. So we're gonna get Kyle on to get
some of his thoughts watching UK sports basketball team, in
particular from outside the day to day coverage of it.
(01:12):
We'll talk with UK volleyball coach Craig Skinner. They have
a home match tonight, just two of those left. Also,
we'll talk with CJ. Moore. He's the College Basket or
a college basketball writer for the Athletic and after the
Champions Classic games, he did an analysis of the tape
of all four teams and talked about the upside for
(01:34):
those four teams. And we'll get some of his thoughts
on what Heath had to say about Kentucky after the
extended review of the tape of the win overdue. So
that's what's coming up on the show today as we
get into the Wildcat News of the Day presented by
just Sepis of Lexington. Kentucky beat Lipscomb ninety seven to
sixty eight last night and the Wildcats want it just
(01:59):
as handle as that sounds. No let down from the
big win over Duke. Kentucky jumped out to a thirteen
to four lead, a forty three to twenty six at
the half, and led by as many as forty late
in the game. And this is the Lipscomb team, mind you,
I mean, they're not Duke, but they are the preseason
(02:21):
favorite to win their league, the Atlantic Sun, So it's
potentially a team you could face in an NCAA tournament matchup.
They also have played some good teams to this point
in the season. They had played and lost to Arkansas
by sixteen, but led by five at one point, and
(02:42):
in fact, they had double digit leads on the other
four teams that they played. Now, they lost close games
to Belmont and Western, they haven't shot it as well
as they typically do. They had wins over Ducane and Wafford,
so those are a solid schedule. So the bottom line
is this was not the three hundred and fiftieth ranked
(03:05):
team in the country and Kentucky just annihilated them last night.
With how efficient the Wildcats were offensively, first Kentucky team
ever to make at least ten threes in the first
four games. They hit twelve out of twenty five last night.
Mark Pope said he wanted to see them shoot more threes,
(03:25):
and if you're making twelve out of twenty five, that's
probably a good thing to keep shooting more. As far
as the letdown, we were shoot around yesterday Goose and
I and Travis Ford and Andrew Cappus who were doing
the TV games, and Cameron Mills was there, and Cameron
asked Pope, his former teammate, about a potential letdown off
(03:47):
the big duke Win and Mark gave a really interesting
answer to that in terms of how he approaches that
kind of situation with his team. He acknowledged that it's
something that is a coach he you know, thinks about
those that could happen, you know, not just gonna totally
deny it could happen. But he didn't talk about it
(04:09):
with his guys because in the analogy he used, he said,
if I tell you don't look at that big white
polar bear over there, that's all you're gonna do is
look at that big white polar bear over there, he said,
if you and he's talked about the neuroscience of this,
he said, if you talk about something you don't want
to happen, you can sometimes speaking into existence. So he
(04:30):
says they just focus on talking about what they want
to do and not what they want to avoid, and
that approach, he thinks serves and Wells certainly did last night.
And the Lipscomb coach Lenny Akeff, been at this a
long time, six years at Lipscomb, and he talked about
how impressed he was with the Kentucky offense after the game.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
It's really tremendously impressed they we play a lot of
a lot of these games. Unfortunately, tremendously tremendously pressed.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
On these games.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Unfortunately, we play a lot of them, and we've done
well in a lot of them. But that's the best offensive,
powerful team we played.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Robinson, and he went on to talk about how he
thinks Kentucky has underrated defensively as well. So some nice
comments there from the Lipscombe coach. After the game, Jackson
Robinson was the leading scorer with Kentucky. He had twenty,
so nice to see him bounce back after that one
point game against Duke in the Champions Classic last week.
(05:51):
We'll talk a lot about Kentucky Ben's basketball here on
this first half of the show when Kyle Tucker joins
the program. Our opening segments presented by Giuseppes of Lexington
and they have gift cards for the holiday season. They
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(06:13):
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Giuseppes Lexington dot com. They'll mail it out to you.
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The food is off the charts. It's just tucked away
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(06:33):
tradition to get to Giuseppes. We'll be right back with
Kyle Tucker on The Leach Report Radio Network sixteen past
the top of the hour. Here on the Leach Report,
we bring you the guests each day via the Club
Blue nil dot com hotline and Club Blues, the official
(06:55):
collective partner of UK Athletics. And obviously this is a
big part of college sports right now as the NIL
funds and it is a way for fans to be
involved at whatever level you choose to be involved at.
You can go and start as low as twenty five
dollars with a membership. You can go to Club blueanil
(07:15):
dot com and find out more about how you can
participate and the level at which you can participate. And
then you also see some of the perks that you
get as a member. You meeting greets with players before
the football games this season, got one more of those
coming up and when you're a Club Blue member, you
get to move to the front of the line and
(07:36):
you get unique opportunities like that all throughout the season.
So Club Blue nil dot com and they help all sports.
In the UK Athletics department, we're working to land Kyle
Tucker for some of his thoughts on UK men's basketball.
Let's get a comment from Mark Pope after the game
(07:57):
last night. Now, this was on the postgame radio show
where he was finishing up with us and talked about
a sequence that he saw at the end of the
game was something they were doing offensively and how it
excited him for the future.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
Finally had some moments in fact, we had to play
in front of our bench finally in the second half
where we got to a third side, we got to
a third live and then Jackson was calling for the
ball just for a second, but then he went and
set the flow screen and raced off and ended up
getting the lob to the rim. And it was finally
started to feel like us. We were a little bit
molasses offensively early on, but proud of our guys for
(08:38):
making plays. And then listen, we have so much growing
to do. We have a chance to become a great team.
We really do. We have a chance. If we'll keep
folks on getting better every day, this team could become
a great team.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
I would like that a lot.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
He wouldn't be the only one, and he is clearly
very excited about the upside that is there for this team.
And we were talking about this with Mike de Coursi yesterday.
Even though Kentucky is one of the oldest teams in
the country, there is a lot of growth, more than
you would think with a team that old, because they
are all in their first year of playing together and
(09:13):
playing in the system. As we welcome Kyle Tucker to
the program, and I I can't say with the athletic
anymore because you've dropped out of the sports writing game.
But who are you with give us the day?
Speaker 5 (09:26):
I work for Elevate. It's a sports marketing and design firm,
and actually our company does a whole lot of different
things in the sports world, but my division of it
is the creative side.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
So you're now looking at this Kentucky basketball and all
sports just as a fan after covering it for so
many years and how many years covering UK.
Speaker 5 (09:46):
Sports thirteen years.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Thirteen years and it's football, men's basketball. So now just
looking at it from a different perspective, I think you're
seeing some of the things is in terms of the
approach to the game that you wrote about in recent years.
What are your thoughts on what you're seeing so far
from Mark Pope's first team.
Speaker 5 (10:09):
I believe the term is fomo. Yeah, I'm feeling for
For the first two or three months, I didn't I
didn't miss a whole lot. It was it was refreshing
to sort of do something different and new and kind
of get out of the grind of what I did
for twenty plus years in sports writing. But now that
(10:31):
I'm watching this, uh, this brand of basketball that I
advocated for for the last several years, and I'm hearing
this coach come and talk about it in a way
that is intelligent and coherent and and refreshing in its
own right, I am. I am feeling a little twinge
of this would be really fun to cover. But it's
(10:53):
it's cool to see. It's like having a theory and
watching somebody else prove it, you know. It's it's been
cool to see the Pope. Pope looks to me in
every way like exactly the right guy I was talking
to I have a lot of friends and family that
are still deeply interested in and connected to Kentucky, and
(11:16):
so I have a lot of conversations even in even
now that I'm out of it, about the program and
just taking stock of it, like Okay, Kenny, Kenny X
and O coach absolutely, Yes? Uh, you know, is he
built for the modern game? Yes? Does he? Does he
love Kentucky and care about it in a way that
almost no other coach you could hire Wood?
Speaker 4 (11:35):
Yes?
Speaker 5 (11:36):
Is he winning hearts and minds in the press conference?
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Yes?
Speaker 5 (11:40):
And then you know the one big question, could he recruit? Well,
it looks like he's going to have a top two
recruiting class on top of all those things. You don't
even really lose the sort of the the joy that
a lot of people took in always being able to
get the best players in America. It looks like he's
going to be able to do that too. I mean,
(12:01):
he's ticked every box and now it's just postseason wins
that we won't know that till March, but that's that's
the last frontier for him.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
I was talking to somebody affiliated with the Lipscomb program
before the game, and you know, again, They've played Arkansas, Caine,
Belmont Western. They played some good teams and Arkansas the
only one at Kentucky's level in terms of, you know,
an SEC team, that caliber of league. But still typically
they play these kinds of teams every season. And anyway,
(12:32):
the editors what I was talking to was just raving
about what Kentucky was doing and said that, you know,
I don't know if we can stay with these guys
because of how potent Kentucky was offensively. And he said
that what was so impressive is how he's getting them
to share the basketball, and you know, you got all
(12:53):
these guys. I got asked him last night about that,
and I said, you know, Noah and Perry are they
euth eleventh guys on the team. And I think if
they were under a circumstance where they were playing more,
they'd be capable of having a twenty point game either
one of them. I think he has twelve guys on
his team that could on a you know, if they
(13:13):
were getting enough minutes, could have a twenty point game
during the season. I don't think there's probably a whole
lot of teams that can say that. I mean, Amari
Williams is a you know, probably more pass first defensive specialists,
but you know he's he's gonna have a you know,
a twenty point game at some point this season. So
it's to have all those different guys that could have
big scoring nights, to be willing to be like Andrew
(13:36):
Carr and score you know what, whatever he scored last night,
single digits after the big game he had against Duke.
To get them to play seemingly ego freeze. Very impressive.
Speaker 5 (13:46):
Yeah, and also when you when you say that out loud,
there's twelve guys who can really play when they had
zero to start with. Yeah, when Pope took over, to
get that many quality players in such a short period
of time is impressive.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
It's own right.
Speaker 5 (14:00):
It's interesting you mentioned talking to somebody affiliated with Lipscomb.
So my brother in law is uh is actually associate
a d there. He was there last night and my
sister got my baby sister, my last, the last of
my three sisters, got married over the weekend. And one
of the grooms men on that for the man she
(14:21):
was marrying is Will Prewitt, who was a Lipscomb star player.
He's actually from Mountain here where we are, and I
was talking to to Will Prewitt's dad over the weekend
and he said, yeah, you know, we played Arkansas last
year under Musclelman. Then we played Arkansas this year, played
them pretty close with cal and he said, I gotta
be honest, I kind of wish we were playing going
(14:41):
up to play Kentucky, uh still with with Callous the coach. Uh.
You know, they were they they had studied the film
and they could tell that that this Kentucky team was
going to be a challenge for all the reasons you
outlined that. You know, there are a lot of weapons,
there's a lot of shooting in the style of play,
was just going to be really difficult for really anybody
(15:02):
to play with. But I think definitely when there's a
big talent gap, that's going to be a huge challenge.
And you know, that was another thing I started getting
messages from from my many Kentucky fan friends last night, say,
you know, it's nice to just drop the hammer on
these teams that we you know, from a talent perspective,
(15:23):
overmatch as opposed to letting them hang around in these games.
And that was what Kentucky did, certainly from from the
jump last night. It was it was not close.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Tam with Kyle Tucker will take a quick break and
come back and do one more segment here on the
Leach Report, coming to you from the Clark's Pumping Shop studio. Return,
refresh and refuel. Chad with Kyle Tucker and Kentucky men's
basketball blew out Lipschool last night ninety seven to sixty
eight to approve the four to oh on the season
(15:56):
you know had the week before. I think everybody was
eager to just see how good the team was and
they got tested against Duke. What were you expecting and
then what were your thoughts on what you.
Speaker 5 (16:07):
Saw Duke specifically in the new game or just so
far to g Yeah, I mean, well, I was not
wrong about one assumption, which was gonna be that they
were it was gonna be very difficult for them to
find somebody could stop Cooper Flag. I started following him
closely when he was sixteen, and you watched him for
(16:27):
a two, like a week or two at Peach Jam
a couple of years ago, and then you know, I
think a lot of people took notice of him when
he went out to the USA Olympic training camp and
was lighting up the best players in the world, and
he was, you know, he was everything he was advertised
to be. But you know, I was really impressed with
just sort of the the adjustments that were made. When
(16:51):
you go back and watch that video, you know, the
the Journey, I think it is what they're still calling it.
You know, that might have been a long one in history.
I think it was fourteen minutes or something, but it
was really good. And you know that scene where you
see Mark Pope in the huddle basically telling them what
Cooper Flag is about to do. It's it's pretty impressive.
(17:13):
I mean, I think that is as much as anything
is what is winning people over. Anybody that had any
skepticism left to watch, you know, and the way he
spoke to the team at halftime when they were I
think down nine against a team like that, against a
player like that, and frankly in a talent mismatch, I
mean that Duke is more talented than Kentucky. And so
(17:36):
to see the adjustments there, to see sort of but
also sticking to you know, who they are in some
ways identity wise. To see him drop an insane out
of bounds play, which you know, people clamored for for.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
A long time.
Speaker 5 (17:52):
I mean to go small, to make an adjustment, and
go small and start playing through Andrew Carr as a
five man instead of a four. All those things pushing
to watch Pope push those buttons, but also to see
how quickly, how smart, and how quickly that the players
on the floor were able to adjust to those you know,
to take those adjustments and implement them tells me that
(18:14):
he he had a kind of player. He wanted that
and got them, and I'm just super impressed by that.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Kyle, appreciate you jumping on with us. We'll do this
once once in a while, but for now, Happy Thanksgiving
to you and.
Speaker 5 (18:25):
The family you too, This was great, Thanks.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Kyle Tucker joining us here on the lead triport presented
by Bobcat Enterprise. It's the lead tripport presented by Bobcat Enterprises.
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(18:49):
Google Bobcat Enterprises to find one of the four locations
here in Kentucky. That is closest to you when you
have that need. Let us bring Eric lindsay On from
the Kentucky Blood Center and Eric and competition. Sometimes, you know,
the players just have to roll up their sleeves and
answer the challenge. And your fellow Kentuckians literally did that
(19:12):
yesterday right in the Big Blue Crush.
Speaker 6 (19:15):
Yeah, Tom, you hit the nail on the head. This
is a this is a competition, a rivalry where everybody
can get involved. And we you know, for for this
competition that we're trying to put blood on the shelves
during a really important time on the collections calendar, for
the for.
Speaker 5 (19:29):
The Thanksgiving holiday week.
Speaker 6 (19:31):
You know, we need folks out to come out in
big numbers, and we try to plug into big blue
nations to help us get there. And through the first
two days of this five day competition, Bbian does what
it always does. It flexes its muscle, it shows its passion,
and we've had a great start to this competition with
an early lead over ar Rival Tennessee over.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Five hundred donors yesterday and I saw in the release
that's the best numbers since COVID.
Speaker 6 (19:57):
Yeah, really encouraging sign. I mean, we everyone else the
pandemic affected our industry. To see the numbers start to
return to pre pandemic levels is really encouraging for our
business that really needs donors to come out like they
used to five years ago. So yeah, we eclipsed the
five hundred donor mark yesterday. We had a really good
(20:17):
day on Monday as well. It's critical for an event
like this. You know, we are trying to collect blood
for for next week when we know folks just simply historically,
folks don't come out. We're gonna be closed on Thanksgiving,
although we'll be open on Tuesday and Thursday or Tuesday
and Wednesday. We know those are big travel days. So
this is a proactive push to make sure that blood
is on the shelves because the need for blood never stops.
(20:39):
So it's been really great. The thing I would tell
listeners is just like it just like a football game
or a basketball game. Although we've got an early lead,
this thing's not over yet. You know, we have a
slip up here the next couple of days. Tennessee is
still right in this thing, and we certainly don't want
to let our rivals back in this. So we know
there's a threat of winter winter weather coming in on Thursday.
(21:00):
We'd like to have another big day today, build a
big lead and to borrow football analogy, let's go into
the fourth quarter with an insurmountable lead.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
There you go. How do folks take part?
Speaker 6 (21:12):
So you can donate at any of our donor center locations.
We've got to in Lexington and Beaumont andover if you're Louisville,
we got one in Middletown in Hillview, one in Pikeville, Corbin,
Somersets and Frankfurt. Those are open from nine to six.
We'd love for you to make an appointment, but we'll
also take walk in and then we also have got
mobile drives throughout the states. If you got our website
at Kybutcenter dot org, you can see if we're going
(21:33):
to be in your area for the day. Donations only
take from registration refreshmen only take about forty five minutes
to an hour, so it's really easy process. And obviously
we want to beat Tennessee, so we want you to
come in for those reasons, but we also need you
to help save lives, so we hope you can make
time this week.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
And there's actually a health benefit for people who donate
blood right, there is.
Speaker 6 (21:53):
There is, you know there there has been some data
that proves that regular blood donation kind of helps reset
your system. When you come in, you're gonna you're gonna
get an also any damn that's gonna it's gonna read
your cholesterol, see what rahiemoglobin is. So obviously there's anything
going on too with the test will do we'll be
able to tell you that.
Speaker 5 (22:10):
So it there.
Speaker 6 (22:11):
There's definitely some benefits to to to come in donating blood.
And of course you're not gonna walk away empty handed.
We're gonna give you a big blue Crush T shirt.
You're gonna be enter to win two tickets to the
UK Mobile Game on November thirtieth, and then if you
donate at one of our donor centers, you're also gonna
cupe on for a free pint of bluebo ice cream.
And obviously everybody loves ice cream.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
You can't beat free ice cream for anything. So this
is going on through Friday through Saturday, and hell long.
Speaker 6 (22:36):
Yeah, this is going on through Friday. So we are
through two days of the five day competition. So yeah,
we talked about obviously we've got a greatly nine hundred
and eighty six donors to eight twenty four. It is
far from over yet, so knowing that you know, we
could be looking at some nasty weather on Thursday, obviously
we want folks to come in if Thursday is the
best day for you. But yeah, this is this is
(22:57):
gonna be a five day battle, and so if you
have come in yet, we hope you can carve out
time here in the next three days. Plenty of appointment
spots are open to Friday.
Speaker 5 (23:07):
Eric, thank you much to get to talk to you.
Speaker 6 (23:10):
Tom, have a good one.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
That's Eric Lindsay with Kentucky Blood Center. We are heading
to a break about twenty two before the top of
the hour. Come back, we'll talk some more Kentucky men's
basketball with CJ. Moore from The Athletic, who did a
deep dive on the Cats and the teams participating in
the Champions Classic last week. It's coming up next here
on the Leech Report, and Cat fans don't forget this
(23:34):
holiday season. Kentucky Eagle and Anahauser Bush want you to
plan ahead and decide to ride. Never an excuse to
drink and drive, enjoy the holidays, and river to decide
to ride. Go Cats. We'll be right back. Let your
pork comes to you from the Clarks Pumping Shop studio. Return,
Refresh and refuel at Clark's download the app to get
(23:55):
the monthly specials, we go to the Clublueinile dot com
hotline Bring On.
Speaker 4 (23:59):
CJ.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
Moore covers college basketball for The Athletic and CJ. You
had a great article last week after the Champions Classic,
breaking down the tape on all four teams and giving
readers some analysis of what you saw on obviously want
to talk about Kentucky for our audience primarily what were
(24:21):
your primary takeaways in what you saw in real time
and then how that differed when you watch the tape.
Speaker 7 (24:27):
Well, you know, obviously a really really impressive win to
be a very talented do team this early, And you know,
I had Kentucky in my preseason top twenty five. Felt
fairly good about the team that Marpope put together, and
you know how the pieces fit together, but you never
(24:49):
really know until you get to watch them on the floor.
And I think my concerns coming into the year for them,
if I had any, were shot creations from let's say
it's late clock and you just have to have a
guy go attack one on one. You know who's going
to be that guy. I know Mark Run's beautiful offense.
(25:09):
I knew he was going to get some shots just
based on their designs, just similar to his BYU team
last year. But that was the one thing I thought
they were missing at b YU last year was with
shot creators that could just kind of create on their own.
And I thought Lamont Butler and Otigua Away, I think
(25:30):
I'm saying that right, we're terrific in that game and
kind of showed me a little bit extra than than
I may be anticipated out of them. And then also,
you know, I think that it's so important in his
offense to have big men who can pass and who
can facilitate from around the top of the key on
(25:51):
the perimeter. And I thought Amar Williams, while he wasn't
very efficient, showed me something. I think he had a
very very tough matchup to score over in the post,
but his ability to put the ball on the floor
get deep. You know, I think he's gonna have some
really really good games and be able to take advantage
of maybe some either slower centers or smaller centers. And
(26:13):
then also Andrew Carr, you know Kentucky went to a
smaller lineup late put him at the five for the
first time, and I thought that was a really really
smart move by Pope, and he was able to create
on his own and for others, and I just I
just liked how the parts blended together. Where usually this
time of year, when you have that many new guys,
(26:34):
I think it kind of it can look a little
off at this point, like it just doesn't quite it
can be clunky, and I don't I haven't seen that
with Kentucky. I think it's been really fluid and you
know that they're running good stuff right right here off
the bat.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
In your piece, you said that you think Amari Williams
is represents the ceiling what the ceiling can be for
this Kentucky.
Speaker 7 (26:56):
Team, Right, Yeah, I do. I do. I think that
if he has a really really good season where he's
averaging let's say, fourteen fifteen points a game, doesn't even
have to be that, maybe even thirteen, but pretty efficient
and you know a handful of assists per game, I
think that he with his athleticism and his ability to
(27:18):
put the ball on the floor, I think he can
be such a mismatch And like I said earlier, I
think that five spot and marsh offense is so important,
kind of the hub of what they do. And that's
why I feel like, you know, if he's really good,
he controls their ceiling and you know, he's got to
be more efficient than three of twelve, but I think
(27:40):
he will be.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
It's the Leads Report coming to you from the Clark's
Pumping Shop studio or chat with CJ. Moore from the
Athletic dot Com. Kentucky is one of the oldest teams
in the country, so you one would think that Duke
with three freshmen in the starting lineup has way much
more upside, and they do have a lot of upside.
(28:02):
But I would think you'll agree with me that Kentucky
has a lot more upside than a team that old
would normally have because it's a new team, right.
Speaker 7 (28:10):
For sure, for sure, And that's why that's why I
was so impressed, just because they're they they feel so
far along already at this point to where you know,
obviously there's gonna be room for improvement, just because this
group hasn't been together very long and and I think
it can when you when you go this model where
and I don't think Mark will do this all the time.
(28:30):
You know, he's gonna be able to get young guys
in there and develop them and and you know, he's
got a few young guys that should be able to
stick around for a few years. But they're gonna have
to turn this thing over again next year. But still,
you know, I don't think he'll have this many transfers
every single year. But to be able to to get
it to where it is already with this many new
(28:50):
faces is really impressive. And yeah, you're right that that
they they can continue to get better just because they're
gonna get more familiar with each other, and you know,
people will slide into roles and become even more comfortable
in their roles.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
My broadcast partner is Jack Gibbons, star of the seventy
eight Championship game, and he made the point twoly weeks
ago on this show that one thing that maybe has
been underappreciated about this Kentucky team from what we were
expecting we would get, is how good they can be defensively.
And I thought that was shown in the Duke game
(29:26):
in that second half.
Speaker 7 (29:28):
Yeah, yeah, I agree there. You know, I think that
somebody at a game the other day or maybe is
a day after compared Lamont Butler a little bit to
what Jamal said was at Houston. And you know, when
you have a point guard that can really disrupt the
timing and give troubles to the other point guard like
(29:51):
Butler can can do. And you know, San Diego State
is such a great defensive program. He comes comes from
good stock, and I think that's a huge weapon. And
then you know the size and athleticism they have upfront,
with guys like Amari, guys like Brandon Garrison Ansley, I
think they can be a very good defensive team. And
(30:13):
then I thought Otega did a really really nice job
in that game and and took on the kind of
the responsibility of being another stopper. So so when you
have two guards like that and you have the athleticism
they have up front, yeah, I do think the the
ceiling for this team offensively is is fairly high. Defensively.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Defensively, Duke for a second, uh, Cooper Flagg sort of
looked as good as advertised, had some mistakes late, not
surprising for a young guy against veteran players, but obviously
h he is outstanding. Uh, what kind of a year?
Do you think he will have.
Speaker 7 (30:51):
I think he's gonna have a really really good year
where they just you know, stuffed the stasheet like he
did in that game. I wouldn't be surprised if Kanka
Nipplin's leading them and scoring, just because I think he's
more wired to score. I wouldn't be surprised if he's
the leading scorer. But I think Cooper will be their
most impactful guy. He did shows you maybe a little
bit in that game, just taking some risks, taking some
(31:13):
chances defensively that left him out of position, and then
you know, offensively getting a little loose with it late.
I watched the video this morning of Kentucky's I'm not
sure what they call it, they're behind the scenes type thing,
and you know Mark had talked about when he spins,
go in there with two hands and get the ball,
and that was another, you know, testament to Kentucky's guys
(31:34):
listening to that and Otega coming away with the biggest
play of the game late. But also, you know, Cooper's
got to be careful spinning there in the middle of
the floor. I think he'll learn lessons like that as
he as he progresses. But he's going to be one
of the best players in college basketball year long.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
It's admittedly very early in the season, but is there anybody,
and we already talked about Kentucky we think can be
maybe better than people thought coming into the year, anybody
else that you think maybe he's a good bit maybe
underappreciated at this point.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (32:04):
One thing, I'm really really high on a sex a
sec I got him, I think twelve in my rankings
this week. They're not even ranked in the AP pole there.
They lead the country in effective field goal percentage. You know,
they were pretty dang good offensively last year, and they
got some good transfers in JP Toppin from New Mexico
has been really really good. They can shoot it. That's
(32:24):
the team I really like. Cincinnati is another team out
of the Big twelve that I think is has a
chance to have a pretty good year. They returned a
lot and you know, both those teams are beating kind
of crummy competition so far, but they're they're kicking the
crap out of them. So those are two teams I
like a lot that are maybe a little bit off
the radar.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
You can read C. J. Moore's work at the Athletic
dot Com and friend Kyle Tucker was there for many months,
did great works.
Speaker 7 (32:51):
Don't don't call him great. I don't want to get ahead.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
I can appreciate that. Uh. CJ's doing great work himself
there now. And where can people find you? On X
or Twitter?
Speaker 7 (33:03):
I am at cjmore hoops on on Twitter. And then
the uh was a new one called the Blue Sky.
I got the same name over there, and I've wandered
over there as well. So cjmore hoops at both places.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
And the Athletic great subscription for the holidays. As we
always said when Kyle was a regular on the show,
you get some great deep analysis in that particular platform. CJ,
thank you very much, thank you thanks for having me on.
That's Cjmore from the Athletic dot Com. Before we hit
the break, let me tell you about Cornbread Hemp. They're
spreading holiday cheer without the hangover this season. You can
(33:37):
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enjoy a care free moment, just in time for family
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We'll be right back. We welcome coach Craig Skinner into
(34:20):
the program as Kentucky Volleyball has two home matches left
and one of them is coming up tonight against Mississippi State. Coach,
your team's won eight matches in a row, but I'm
sure you're concerned. They lost a set on Sunday that
hadn't happened in a while.
Speaker 8 (34:37):
Well, you know, that was a tough match, and that
Georgia team was the one we expected at the.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
Beginning of the year.
Speaker 8 (34:44):
They were, I believe in the top twenty twenty five
something like that, and but you know, super proud of
our team the way they responded down eighteen to twelve
in a second to come and win. That was that
was impressive.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
You're the driver's seat to win another SEC title if
you can take care of the business down the stretch
and the regular season. What is it that that kept
your team together through the very brutal schedule that you
lined up for them where they get you know, testing
sometimes that can beat you down. Instead, it seemed to
you know, make your team sharper.
Speaker 6 (35:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (35:16):
A lot of credit to our to our senior the
whole team actually, I mean they just got in, gotten
in the gym and got to work. And we lost
to Auburn first match of the league. I believe in
five we're up to zero and lost, and we had
a pretty you know, you know, serious heart to heart
meeting about what was important and and uh, you know,
I think our team realized and we realized we were
(35:36):
playing privileged and and uh we needed to get back
to the blue collar mentality that's built this program and
and stay you know, keep our values intact. And they've
done a great job.
Speaker 2 (35:46):
Since Anyboddy individually that's made a significant move for you
over the course of the season.
Speaker 8 (35:55):
You know, it's it's it's a great question. You know,
volleyball sets a team sport because they're can find in
the nine hundred square feet a court on the same
side of the net. And you know, the obvious answer
is Brooklyn Delay, who was you know, you know, leads
to the league or close in the top ten of
the country and kills per set. But you know, every
and I'm not cliche in this, every player in every
(36:17):
position has improved. And you know, just from all the
injuries that we've had to people stepping in and getting done.
For example, Kennedy Washington freshman got our first start ever
against George on Sunday and hit almost five hundred and
you know, eight kills, And we just had moments like
that where individuals made a difference. But I think the
two people on our floor that make the difference every
(36:39):
single match are to Libero's and Molly Tezzo and Eleanor Bevin.
They're just so good at what they do and it
makes it so difficult for teams to play against us.
And I think that's a frustrating thing. When you line
up against this, it's really hard to put the ball away.
Speaker 2 (36:52):
There's that old saying that which doesn't kill you makes
you stronger, and it seems like that's appropriate for your
Now do you see them playing with the good kind
of swagger and confidence that coaches like to see.
Speaker 8 (37:08):
Well, if yesterday's practice is any indication, it's you know,
an incredible uh uh you know way that we go
about business and the way we train and the way
we compete together in practice settings. And you know, at
times like this, when you win eighth straight, you know,
do you lose the edge? Do you lose your fight?
And yesterday's practice was really good. So right now I
(37:31):
think they're in a good spot and they're they're walking
with you know, with their heads high and and know
they're earning what they get, and you know, just the
key is keep us focused on what we're doing next.
Speaker 2 (37:41):
All good to hear. So Mississippi State tonight seven eastern
at the Cottiseum and then Sunday afternoon against Arkansas wraps
up the home season in the regular season.
Speaker 8 (37:51):
Right, yes, there are three left and and uh three
tough ones and should be excited and can't wait to
see our fans next to us tonight. Should be excited.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
Thanks coach, good luck, appreciate Tomass coach Craig Skinner joining
us on the Club BLUEINIL dot com hotline. Here on
the Leech Report, take a second to talk about Shufflebean Cooffee.
You need to have some great coffee around for the
holidays when you have family and friends coming over after
a meal. People love a cup of coffee. Maybe you
needed to get your day started. Make it Shufflebean coffee.
(38:22):
It's the best. They start with the very best coffee beans.
You can read all about it at Shufflebean dot us.
Order some product there. You can order it through Amazon Prime.
You pick it up at Central Kentucky myerstores too. At
Shufflebean Coffee. Fun show today. We'll see you tomorrow on
the Leech Triport.
Speaker 1 (38:37):
Have your day Tom or seven ninety Louisville dot com,
and anytime you're out of range of the stations, catch
the show via the iHeartRadio app. If you have any
questions for Tom, email Leach Report at gmail dot com
and check out his website at Tom Leach Kwy dot
com
The Leech Report Radio Network is on the air with
the voice of the Wildcats, Tom Leech. It's the daily
gathering spot for the Big Blue Nation to hear the
latest news and views on the Cats. If you have
a question for Tom, email Leech Report at gmail dot
com or send a tweet to add Tom Leech Ky.
(00:23):
Now here's Tom good Day.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Everybody. Welcome in to the Leech Report, presented by Bobcat Enterprises.
And today we will talk a lot of Kentucky men's
basketball after the Wildcats went to four to oh last night,
Rowty and Lipscomb ninety seven to sixty eight at rapp Arena.
We're gonna lead off with Kyle Tucker. For several years
we had Kyle Tucker on with us on Wednesdays, and
(00:51):
he retired from the sportswriting profession to move into corporate communications,
but said he would come back and visit from time
to time. So we're gonna get Kyle on to get
some of his thoughts watching UK sports basketball team, in
particular from outside the day to day coverage of it.
(01:12):
We'll talk with UK volleyball coach Craig Skinner. They have
a home match tonight, just two of those left. Also,
we'll talk with CJ. Moore. He's the College Basket or
a college basketball writer for the Athletic and after the
Champions Classic games, he did an analysis of the tape
of all four teams and talked about the upside for
(01:34):
those four teams. And we'll get some of his thoughts
on what Heath had to say about Kentucky after the
extended review of the tape of the win overdue. So
that's what's coming up on the show today as we
get into the Wildcat News of the Day presented by
just Sepis of Lexington. Kentucky beat Lipscomb ninety seven to
sixty eight last night and the Wildcats want it just
(01:59):
as handle as that sounds. No let down from the
big win over Duke. Kentucky jumped out to a thirteen
to four lead, a forty three to twenty six at
the half, and led by as many as forty late
in the game. And this is the Lipscomb team, mind you,
I mean, they're not Duke, but they are the preseason
(02:21):
favorite to win their league, the Atlantic Sun, So it's
potentially a team you could face in an NCAA tournament matchup.
They also have played some good teams to this point
in the season. They had played and lost to Arkansas
by sixteen, but led by five at one point, and
(02:42):
in fact, they had double digit leads on the other
four teams that they played. Now, they lost close games
to Belmont and Western, they haven't shot it as well
as they typically do. They had wins over Ducane and Wafford,
so those are a solid schedule. So the bottom line
is this was not the three hundred and fiftieth ranked
(03:05):
team in the country and Kentucky just annihilated them last night.
With how efficient the Wildcats were offensively, first Kentucky team
ever to make at least ten threes in the first
four games. They hit twelve out of twenty five last night.
Mark Pope said he wanted to see them shoot more threes,
(03:25):
and if you're making twelve out of twenty five, that's
probably a good thing to keep shooting more. As far
as the letdown, we were shoot around yesterday Goose and
I and Travis Ford and Andrew Cappus who were doing
the TV games, and Cameron Mills was there, and Cameron
asked Pope, his former teammate, about a potential letdown off
(03:47):
the big duke Win and Mark gave a really interesting
answer to that in terms of how he approaches that
kind of situation with his team. He acknowledged that it's
something that is a coach he you know, thinks about
those that could happen, you know, not just gonna totally
deny it could happen. But he didn't talk about it
(04:09):
with his guys because in the analogy he used, he said,
if I tell you don't look at that big white
polar bear over there, that's all you're gonna do is
look at that big white polar bear over there, he said,
if you and he's talked about the neuroscience of this,
he said, if you talk about something you don't want
to happen, you can sometimes speaking into existence. So he
(04:30):
says they just focus on talking about what they want
to do and not what they want to avoid, and
that approach, he thinks serves and Wells certainly did last night.
And the Lipscomb coach Lenny Akeff, been at this a
long time, six years at Lipscomb, and he talked about
how impressed he was with the Kentucky offense after the game.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
It's really tremendously impressed they we play a lot of
a lot of these games. Unfortunately, tremendously tremendously pressed.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
On these games.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Unfortunately, we play a lot of them, and we've done
well in a lot of them. But that's the best offensive,
powerful team we played.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Robinson, and he went on to talk about how he
thinks Kentucky has underrated defensively as well. So some nice
comments there from the Lipscombe coach. After the game, Jackson
Robinson was the leading scorer with Kentucky. He had twenty,
so nice to see him bounce back after that one
point game against Duke in the Champions Classic last week.
(05:51):
We'll talk a lot about Kentucky Ben's basketball here on
this first half of the show when Kyle Tucker joins
the program. Our opening segments presented by Giuseppes of Lexington
and they have gift cards for the holiday season. They
could be a great stocking stuffer or perfect gift for
somebody that's hard to buy for in your family, at
your office. Get a Giuseppes gift card, go to the
(06:13):
restaurant pick one up, or you can get it through
Giuseppes Lexington dot com. They'll mail it out to you.
You'll have it in plenty of time for your holiday needs.
Giuseppes Lexington dot com and the restaurant fantastic ambiance at Giuseppes.
The food is off the charts. It's just tucked away
off Nicholasville Road. And make it part of your holiday
(06:33):
tradition to get to Giuseppes. We'll be right back with
Kyle Tucker on The Leach Report Radio Network sixteen past
the top of the hour. Here on the Leach Report,
we bring you the guests each day via the Club
Blue nil dot com hotline and Club Blues, the official
(06:55):
collective partner of UK Athletics. And obviously this is a
big part of college sports right now as the NIL
funds and it is a way for fans to be
involved at whatever level you choose to be involved at.
You can go and start as low as twenty five
dollars with a membership. You can go to Club blueanil
(07:15):
dot com and find out more about how you can
participate and the level at which you can participate. And
then you also see some of the perks that you
get as a member. You meeting greets with players before
the football games this season, got one more of those
coming up and when you're a Club Blue member, you
get to move to the front of the line and
(07:36):
you get unique opportunities like that all throughout the season.
So Club Blue nil dot com and they help all sports.
In the UK Athletics department, we're working to land Kyle
Tucker for some of his thoughts on UK men's basketball.
Let's get a comment from Mark Pope after the game
(07:57):
last night. Now, this was on the postgame radio show
where he was finishing up with us and talked about
a sequence that he saw at the end of the
game was something they were doing offensively and how it
excited him for the future.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
Finally had some moments in fact, we had to play
in front of our bench finally in the second half
where we got to a third side, we got to
a third live and then Jackson was calling for the
ball just for a second, but then he went and
set the flow screen and raced off and ended up
getting the lob to the rim. And it was finally
started to feel like us. We were a little bit
molasses offensively early on, but proud of our guys for
(08:38):
making plays. And then listen, we have so much growing
to do. We have a chance to become a great team.
We really do. We have a chance. If we'll keep
folks on getting better every day, this team could become
a great team.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
I would like that a lot.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
He wouldn't be the only one, and he is clearly
very excited about the upside that is there for this team.
And we were talking about this with Mike de Coursi yesterday.
Even though Kentucky is one of the oldest teams in
the country, there is a lot of growth, more than
you would think with a team that old, because they
are all in their first year of playing together and
(09:13):
playing in the system. As we welcome Kyle Tucker to
the program, and I I can't say with the athletic
anymore because you've dropped out of the sports writing game.
But who are you with give us the day?
Speaker 5 (09:26):
I work for Elevate. It's a sports marketing and design firm,
and actually our company does a whole lot of different
things in the sports world, but my division of it
is the creative side.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
So you're now looking at this Kentucky basketball and all
sports just as a fan after covering it for so
many years and how many years covering UK.
Speaker 5 (09:46):
Sports thirteen years.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Thirteen years and it's football, men's basketball. So now just
looking at it from a different perspective, I think you're
seeing some of the things is in terms of the
approach to the game that you wrote about in recent years.
What are your thoughts on what you're seeing so far
from Mark Pope's first team.
Speaker 5 (10:09):
I believe the term is fomo. Yeah, I'm feeling for
For the first two or three months, I didn't I
didn't miss a whole lot. It was it was refreshing
to sort of do something different and new and kind
of get out of the grind of what I did
for twenty plus years in sports writing. But now that
(10:31):
I'm watching this, uh, this brand of basketball that I
advocated for for the last several years, and I'm hearing
this coach come and talk about it in a way
that is intelligent and coherent and and refreshing in its
own right, I am. I am feeling a little twinge
of this would be really fun to cover. But it's
(10:53):
it's cool to see. It's like having a theory and
watching somebody else prove it, you know. It's it's been
cool to see the Pope. Pope looks to me in
every way like exactly the right guy I was talking
to I have a lot of friends and family that
are still deeply interested in and connected to Kentucky, and
(11:16):
so I have a lot of conversations even in even
now that I'm out of it, about the program and
just taking stock of it, like Okay, Kenny, Kenny X
and O coach absolutely, Yes? Uh, you know, is he
built for the modern game? Yes? Does he? Does he
love Kentucky and care about it in a way that
almost no other coach you could hire Wood?
Speaker 4 (11:35):
Yes?
Speaker 5 (11:36):
Is he winning hearts and minds in the press conference?
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Yes?
Speaker 5 (11:40):
And then you know the one big question, could he recruit? Well,
it looks like he's going to have a top two
recruiting class on top of all those things. You don't
even really lose the sort of the the joy that
a lot of people took in always being able to
get the best players in America. It looks like he's
going to be able to do that too. I mean,
(12:01):
he's ticked every box and now it's just postseason wins
that we won't know that till March, but that's that's
the last frontier for him.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
I was talking to somebody affiliated with the Lipscomb program
before the game, and you know, again, They've played Arkansas, Caine,
Belmont Western. They played some good teams and Arkansas the
only one at Kentucky's level in terms of, you know,
an SEC team, that caliber of league. But still typically
they play these kinds of teams every season. And anyway,
(12:32):
the editors what I was talking to was just raving
about what Kentucky was doing and said that, you know,
I don't know if we can stay with these guys
because of how potent Kentucky was offensively. And he said
that what was so impressive is how he's getting them
to share the basketball, and you know, you got all
(12:53):
these guys. I got asked him last night about that,
and I said, you know, Noah and Perry are they
euth eleventh guys on the team. And I think if
they were under a circumstance where they were playing more,
they'd be capable of having a twenty point game either
one of them. I think he has twelve guys on
his team that could on a you know, if they
(13:13):
were getting enough minutes, could have a twenty point game
during the season. I don't think there's probably a whole
lot of teams that can say that. I mean, Amari
Williams is a you know, probably more pass first defensive specialists,
but you know he's he's gonna have a you know,
a twenty point game at some point this season. So
it's to have all those different guys that could have
big scoring nights, to be willing to be like Andrew
(13:36):
Carr and score you know what, whatever he scored last night,
single digits after the big game he had against Duke.
To get them to play seemingly ego freeze. Very impressive.
Speaker 5 (13:46):
Yeah, and also when you when you say that out loud,
there's twelve guys who can really play when they had
zero to start with. Yeah, when Pope took over, to
get that many quality players in such a short period
of time is impressive.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
It's own right.
Speaker 5 (14:00):
It's interesting you mentioned talking to somebody affiliated with Lipscomb.
So my brother in law is uh is actually associate
a d there. He was there last night and my
sister got my baby sister, my last, the last of
my three sisters, got married over the weekend. And one
of the grooms men on that for the man she
(14:21):
was marrying is Will Prewitt, who was a Lipscomb star player.
He's actually from Mountain here where we are, and I
was talking to to Will Prewitt's dad over the weekend
and he said, yeah, you know, we played Arkansas last
year under Musclelman. Then we played Arkansas this year, played
them pretty close with cal and he said, I gotta
be honest, I kind of wish we were playing going
(14:41):
up to play Kentucky, uh still with with Callous the coach. Uh.
You know, they were they they had studied the film
and they could tell that that this Kentucky team was
going to be a challenge for all the reasons you
outlined that. You know, there are a lot of weapons,
there's a lot of shooting in the style of play,
was just going to be really difficult for really anybody
(15:02):
to play with. But I think definitely when there's a
big talent gap, that's going to be a huge challenge.
And you know, that was another thing I started getting
messages from from my many Kentucky fan friends last night, say,
you know, it's nice to just drop the hammer on
these teams that we you know, from a talent perspective,
(15:23):
overmatch as opposed to letting them hang around in these games.
And that was what Kentucky did, certainly from from the
jump last night. It was it was not close.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Tam with Kyle Tucker will take a quick break and
come back and do one more segment here on the
Leach Report, coming to you from the Clark's Pumping Shop studio. Return,
refresh and refuel. Chad with Kyle Tucker and Kentucky men's
basketball blew out Lipschool last night ninety seven to sixty
eight to approve the four to oh on the season
(15:56):
you know had the week before. I think everybody was
eager to just see how good the team was and
they got tested against Duke. What were you expecting and
then what were your thoughts on what you.
Speaker 5 (16:07):
Saw Duke specifically in the new game or just so
far to g Yeah, I mean, well, I was not
wrong about one assumption, which was gonna be that they
were it was gonna be very difficult for them to
find somebody could stop Cooper Flag. I started following him
closely when he was sixteen, and you watched him for
(16:27):
a two, like a week or two at Peach Jam
a couple of years ago, and then you know, I
think a lot of people took notice of him when
he went out to the USA Olympic training camp and
was lighting up the best players in the world, and
he was, you know, he was everything he was advertised
to be. But you know, I was really impressed with
just sort of the the adjustments that were made. When
(16:51):
you go back and watch that video, you know, the
the Journey, I think it is what they're still calling it.
You know, that might have been a long one in history.
I think it was fourteen minutes or something, but it
was really good. And you know that scene where you
see Mark Pope in the huddle basically telling them what
Cooper Flag is about to do. It's it's pretty impressive.
(17:13):
I mean, I think that is as much as anything
is what is winning people over. Anybody that had any
skepticism left to watch, you know, and the way he
spoke to the team at halftime when they were I
think down nine against a team like that, against a
player like that, and frankly in a talent mismatch, I
mean that Duke is more talented than Kentucky. And so
(17:36):
to see the adjustments there, to see sort of but
also sticking to you know, who they are in some
ways identity wise. To see him drop an insane out
of bounds play, which you know, people clamored for for.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
A long time.
Speaker 5 (17:52):
I mean to go small, to make an adjustment, and
go small and start playing through Andrew Carr as a
five man instead of a four. All those things pushing
to watch Pope push those buttons, but also to see
how quickly, how smart, and how quickly that the players
on the floor were able to adjust to those you know,
to take those adjustments and implement them tells me that
(18:14):
he he had a kind of player. He wanted that
and got them, and I'm just super impressed by that.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Kyle, appreciate you jumping on with us. We'll do this
once once in a while, but for now, Happy Thanksgiving
to you and.
Speaker 5 (18:25):
The family you too, This was great, Thanks.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Kyle Tucker joining us here on the lead triport presented
by Bobcat Enterprise. It's the lead tripport presented by Bobcat Enterprises.
Google Bobcat Enterprises. When you need to buy or rent
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(18:49):
Google Bobcat Enterprises to find one of the four locations
here in Kentucky. That is closest to you when you
have that need. Let us bring Eric lindsay On from
the Kentucky Blood Center and Eric and competition. Sometimes, you know,
the players just have to roll up their sleeves and
answer the challenge. And your fellow Kentuckians literally did that
(19:12):
yesterday right in the Big Blue Crush.
Speaker 6 (19:15):
Yeah, Tom, you hit the nail on the head. This
is a this is a competition, a rivalry where everybody
can get involved. And we you know, for for this
competition that we're trying to put blood on the shelves
during a really important time on the collections calendar, for
the for.
Speaker 5 (19:29):
The Thanksgiving holiday week.
Speaker 6 (19:31):
You know, we need folks out to come out in
big numbers, and we try to plug into big blue
nations to help us get there. And through the first
two days of this five day competition, Bbian does what
it always does. It flexes its muscle, it shows its passion,
and we've had a great start to this competition with
an early lead over ar Rival Tennessee over.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Five hundred donors yesterday and I saw in the release
that's the best numbers since COVID.
Speaker 6 (19:57):
Yeah, really encouraging sign. I mean, we everyone else the
pandemic affected our industry. To see the numbers start to
return to pre pandemic levels is really encouraging for our
business that really needs donors to come out like they
used to five years ago. So yeah, we eclipsed the
five hundred donor mark yesterday. We had a really good
(20:17):
day on Monday as well. It's critical for an event
like this. You know, we are trying to collect blood
for for next week when we know folks just simply historically,
folks don't come out. We're gonna be closed on Thanksgiving,
although we'll be open on Tuesday and Thursday or Tuesday
and Wednesday. We know those are big travel days. So
this is a proactive push to make sure that blood
is on the shelves because the need for blood never stops.
(20:39):
So it's been really great. The thing I would tell
listeners is just like it just like a football game
or a basketball game. Although we've got an early lead,
this thing's not over yet. You know, we have a
slip up here the next couple of days. Tennessee is
still right in this thing, and we certainly don't want
to let our rivals back in this. So we know
there's a threat of winter winter weather coming in on Thursday.
(21:00):
We'd like to have another big day today, build a
big lead and to borrow football analogy, let's go into
the fourth quarter with an insurmountable lead.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
There you go. How do folks take part?
Speaker 6 (21:12):
So you can donate at any of our donor center locations.
We've got to in Lexington and Beaumont andover if you're Louisville,
we got one in Middletown in Hillview, one in Pikeville, Corbin,
Somersets and Frankfurt. Those are open from nine to six.
We'd love for you to make an appointment, but we'll
also take walk in and then we also have got
mobile drives throughout the states. If you got our website
at Kybutcenter dot org, you can see if we're going
(21:33):
to be in your area for the day. Donations only
take from registration refreshmen only take about forty five minutes
to an hour, so it's really easy process. And obviously
we want to beat Tennessee, so we want you to
come in for those reasons, but we also need you
to help save lives, so we hope you can make
time this week.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
And there's actually a health benefit for people who donate
blood right, there is.
Speaker 6 (21:53):
There is, you know there there has been some data
that proves that regular blood donation kind of helps reset
your system. When you come in, you're gonna you're gonna
get an also any damn that's gonna it's gonna read
your cholesterol, see what rahiemoglobin is. So obviously there's anything
going on too with the test will do we'll be
able to tell you that.
Speaker 5 (22:10):
So it there.
Speaker 6 (22:11):
There's definitely some benefits to to to come in donating blood.
And of course you're not gonna walk away empty handed.
We're gonna give you a big blue Crush T shirt.
You're gonna be enter to win two tickets to the
UK Mobile Game on November thirtieth, and then if you
donate at one of our donor centers, you're also gonna
cupe on for a free pint of bluebo ice cream.
And obviously everybody loves ice cream.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
You can't beat free ice cream for anything. So this
is going on through Friday through Saturday, and hell long.
Speaker 6 (22:36):
Yeah, this is going on through Friday. So we are
through two days of the five day competition. So yeah,
we talked about obviously we've got a greatly nine hundred
and eighty six donors to eight twenty four. It is
far from over yet, so knowing that you know, we
could be looking at some nasty weather on Thursday, obviously
we want folks to come in if Thursday is the
best day for you. But yeah, this is this is
(22:57):
gonna be a five day battle, and so if you
have come in yet, we hope you can carve out
time here in the next three days. Plenty of appointment
spots are open to Friday.
Speaker 5 (23:07):
Eric, thank you much to get to talk to you.
Speaker 6 (23:10):
Tom, have a good one.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
That's Eric Lindsay with Kentucky Blood Center. We are heading
to a break about twenty two before the top of
the hour. Come back, we'll talk some more Kentucky men's
basketball with CJ. Moore from The Athletic, who did a
deep dive on the Cats and the teams participating in
the Champions Classic last week. It's coming up next here
on the Leech Report, and Cat fans don't forget this
(23:34):
holiday season. Kentucky Eagle and Anahauser Bush want you to
plan ahead and decide to ride. Never an excuse to
drink and drive, enjoy the holidays, and river to decide
to ride. Go Cats. We'll be right back. Let your
pork comes to you from the Clarks Pumping Shop studio. Return,
Refresh and refuel at Clark's download the app to get
(23:55):
the monthly specials, we go to the Clublueinile dot com
hotline Bring On.
Speaker 4 (23:59):
CJ.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
Moore covers college basketball for The Athletic and CJ. You
had a great article last week after the Champions Classic,
breaking down the tape on all four teams and giving
readers some analysis of what you saw on obviously want
to talk about Kentucky for our audience primarily what were
(24:21):
your primary takeaways in what you saw in real time
and then how that differed when you watch the tape.
Speaker 7 (24:27):
Well, you know, obviously a really really impressive win to
be a very talented do team this early, And you know,
I had Kentucky in my preseason top twenty five. Felt
fairly good about the team that Marpope put together, and
you know how the pieces fit together, but you never
(24:49):
really know until you get to watch them on the floor.
And I think my concerns coming into the year for them,
if I had any, were shot creations from let's say
it's late clock and you just have to have a
guy go attack one on one. You know who's going
to be that guy. I know Mark Run's beautiful offense.
(25:09):
I knew he was going to get some shots just
based on their designs, just similar to his BYU team
last year. But that was the one thing I thought
they were missing at b YU last year was with
shot creators that could just kind of create on their own.
And I thought Lamont Butler and Otigua Away, I think
(25:30):
I'm saying that right, we're terrific in that game and
kind of showed me a little bit extra than than
I may be anticipated out of them. And then also,
you know, I think that it's so important in his
offense to have big men who can pass and who
can facilitate from around the top of the key on
(25:51):
the perimeter. And I thought Amar Williams, while he wasn't
very efficient, showed me something. I think he had a
very very tough matchup to score over in the post,
but his ability to put the ball on the floor
get deep. You know, I think he's gonna have some
really really good games and be able to take advantage
of maybe some either slower centers or smaller centers. And
(26:13):
then also Andrew Carr, you know Kentucky went to a
smaller lineup late put him at the five for the
first time, and I thought that was a really really
smart move by Pope, and he was able to create
on his own and for others, and I just I
just liked how the parts blended together. Where usually this
time of year, when you have that many new guys,
(26:34):
I think it kind of it can look a little
off at this point, like it just doesn't quite it
can be clunky, and I don't I haven't seen that
with Kentucky. I think it's been really fluid and you
know that they're running good stuff right right here off
the bat.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
In your piece, you said that you think Amari Williams
is represents the ceiling what the ceiling can be for
this Kentucky.
Speaker 7 (26:56):
Team, Right, Yeah, I do. I do. I think that
if he has a really really good season where he's
averaging let's say, fourteen fifteen points a game, doesn't even
have to be that, maybe even thirteen, but pretty efficient
and you know a handful of assists per game, I
think that he with his athleticism and his ability to
(27:18):
put the ball on the floor, I think he can
be such a mismatch And like I said earlier, I
think that five spot and marsh offense is so important,
kind of the hub of what they do. And that's
why I feel like, you know, if he's really good,
he controls their ceiling and you know, he's got to
be more efficient than three of twelve, but I think
(27:40):
he will be.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
It's the Leads Report coming to you from the Clark's
Pumping Shop studio or chat with CJ. Moore from the
Athletic dot Com. Kentucky is one of the oldest teams
in the country, so you one would think that Duke
with three freshmen in the starting lineup has way much
more upside, and they do have a lot of upside.
(28:02):
But I would think you'll agree with me that Kentucky
has a lot more upside than a team that old
would normally have because it's a new team, right.
Speaker 7 (28:10):
For sure, for sure, And that's why that's why I
was so impressed, just because they're they they feel so
far along already at this point to where you know,
obviously there's gonna be room for improvement, just because this
group hasn't been together very long and and I think
it can when you when you go this model where
and I don't think Mark will do this all the time.
(28:30):
You know, he's gonna be able to get young guys
in there and develop them and and you know, he's
got a few young guys that should be able to
stick around for a few years. But they're gonna have
to turn this thing over again next year. But still,
you know, I don't think he'll have this many transfers
every single year. But to be able to to get
it to where it is already with this many new
(28:50):
faces is really impressive. And yeah, you're right that that
they they can continue to get better just because they're
gonna get more familiar with each other, and you know,
people will slide into roles and become even more comfortable
in their roles.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
My broadcast partner is Jack Gibbons, star of the seventy
eight Championship game, and he made the point twoly weeks
ago on this show that one thing that maybe has
been underappreciated about this Kentucky team from what we were
expecting we would get, is how good they can be defensively.
And I thought that was shown in the Duke game
(29:26):
in that second half.
Speaker 7 (29:28):
Yeah, yeah, I agree there. You know, I think that
somebody at a game the other day or maybe is
a day after compared Lamont Butler a little bit to
what Jamal said was at Houston. And you know, when
you have a point guard that can really disrupt the
timing and give troubles to the other point guard like
(29:51):
Butler can can do. And you know, San Diego State
is such a great defensive program. He comes comes from
good stock, and I think that's a huge weapon. And
then you know the size and athleticism they have upfront,
with guys like Amari, guys like Brandon Garrison Ansley, I
think they can be a very good defensive team. And
(30:13):
then I thought Otega did a really really nice job
in that game and and took on the kind of
the responsibility of being another stopper. So so when you
have two guards like that and you have the athleticism
they have up front, yeah, I do think the the
ceiling for this team offensively is is fairly high. Defensively.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Defensively, Duke for a second, uh, Cooper Flagg sort of
looked as good as advertised, had some mistakes late, not
surprising for a young guy against veteran players, but obviously
h he is outstanding. Uh, what kind of a year?
Do you think he will have.
Speaker 7 (30:51):
I think he's gonna have a really really good year
where they just you know, stuffed the stasheet like he
did in that game. I wouldn't be surprised if Kanka
Nipplin's leading them and scoring, just because I think he's
more wired to score. I wouldn't be surprised if he's
the leading scorer. But I think Cooper will be their
most impactful guy. He did shows you maybe a little
bit in that game, just taking some risks, taking some
(31:13):
chances defensively that left him out of position, and then
you know, offensively getting a little loose with it late.
I watched the video this morning of Kentucky's I'm not
sure what they call it, they're behind the scenes type thing,
and you know Mark had talked about when he spins,
go in there with two hands and get the ball,
and that was another, you know, testament to Kentucky's guys
(31:34):
listening to that and Otega coming away with the biggest
play of the game late. But also, you know, Cooper's
got to be careful spinning there in the middle of
the floor. I think he'll learn lessons like that as
he as he progresses. But he's going to be one
of the best players in college basketball year long.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
It's admittedly very early in the season, but is there anybody,
and we already talked about Kentucky we think can be
maybe better than people thought coming into the year, anybody
else that you think maybe he's a good bit maybe
underappreciated at this point.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (32:04):
One thing, I'm really really high on a sex a
sec I got him, I think twelve in my rankings
this week. They're not even ranked in the AP pole there.
They lead the country in effective field goal percentage. You know,
they were pretty dang good offensively last year, and they
got some good transfers in JP Toppin from New Mexico
has been really really good. They can shoot it. That's
(32:24):
the team I really like. Cincinnati is another team out
of the Big twelve that I think is has a
chance to have a pretty good year. They returned a
lot and you know, both those teams are beating kind
of crummy competition so far, but they're they're kicking the
crap out of them. So those are two teams I
like a lot that are maybe a little bit off
the radar.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
You can read C. J. Moore's work at the Athletic
dot Com and friend Kyle Tucker was there for many months,
did great works.
Speaker 7 (32:51):
Don't don't call him great. I don't want to get ahead.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
I can appreciate that. Uh. CJ's doing great work himself
there now. And where can people find you? On X
or Twitter?
Speaker 7 (33:03):
I am at cjmore hoops on on Twitter. And then
the uh was a new one called the Blue Sky.
I got the same name over there, and I've wandered
over there as well. So cjmore hoops at both places.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
And the Athletic great subscription for the holidays. As we
always said when Kyle was a regular on the show,
you get some great deep analysis in that particular platform. CJ,
thank you very much, thank you thanks for having me on.
That's Cjmore from the Athletic dot Com. Before we hit
the break, let me tell you about Cornbread Hemp. They're
spreading holiday cheer without the hangover this season. You can
(33:37):
skip the booze, go with the bread. Corn Bread Hemp's
new Blueberry Breeze products give you a healthier way to
enjoy a care free moment, just in time for family
gatherings and holiday parties. And they can get a little
stressful sometimes. We all know that, but that's not all
Cornbread Hemp is doing. To celebrate the season, Leach Report
listeners get early access to the Black Friday sale at
(33:57):
cornbreadthamp dot com with buy one, get one free deals
until midnight on Cyber Monday. Visit cornbredamp dot com. Put
in the code b O g O t O M
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cornbredamp dot com. When you check out, you'll buy one,
get one free. This is the good life cornbredhamp dot com.
We'll be right back. We welcome coach Craig Skinner into
(34:20):
the program as Kentucky Volleyball has two home matches left
and one of them is coming up tonight against Mississippi State. Coach,
your team's won eight matches in a row, but I'm
sure you're concerned. They lost a set on Sunday that
hadn't happened in a while.
Speaker 8 (34:37):
Well, you know, that was a tough match, and that
Georgia team was the one we expected at the.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
Beginning of the year.
Speaker 8 (34:44):
They were, I believe in the top twenty twenty five
something like that, and but you know, super proud of
our team the way they responded down eighteen to twelve
in a second to come and win. That was that
was impressive.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
You're the driver's seat to win another SEC title if
you can take care of the business down the stretch
and the regular season. What is it that that kept
your team together through the very brutal schedule that you
lined up for them where they get you know, testing
sometimes that can beat you down. Instead, it seemed to
you know, make your team sharper.
Speaker 6 (35:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (35:16):
A lot of credit to our to our senior the
whole team actually, I mean they just got in, gotten
in the gym and got to work. And we lost
to Auburn first match of the league. I believe in
five we're up to zero and lost, and we had
a pretty you know, you know, serious heart to heart
meeting about what was important and and uh, you know,
I think our team realized and we realized we were
(35:36):
playing privileged and and uh we needed to get back
to the blue collar mentality that's built this program and
and stay you know, keep our values intact. And they've
done a great job.
Speaker 2 (35:46):
Since Anyboddy individually that's made a significant move for you
over the course of the season.
Speaker 8 (35:55):
You know, it's it's it's a great question. You know,
volleyball sets a team sport because they're can find in
the nine hundred square feet a court on the same
side of the net. And you know, the obvious answer
is Brooklyn Delay, who was you know, you know, leads
to the league or close in the top ten of
the country and kills per set. But you know, every
and I'm not cliche in this, every player in every
(36:17):
position has improved. And you know, just from all the
injuries that we've had to people stepping in and getting done.
For example, Kennedy Washington freshman got our first start ever
against George on Sunday and hit almost five hundred and
you know, eight kills, And we just had moments like
that where individuals made a difference. But I think the
two people on our floor that make the difference every
(36:39):
single match are to Libero's and Molly Tezzo and Eleanor Bevin.
They're just so good at what they do and it
makes it so difficult for teams to play against us.
And I think that's a frustrating thing. When you line
up against this, it's really hard to put the ball away.
Speaker 2 (36:52):
There's that old saying that which doesn't kill you makes
you stronger, and it seems like that's appropriate for your
Now do you see them playing with the good kind
of swagger and confidence that coaches like to see.
Speaker 8 (37:08):
Well, if yesterday's practice is any indication, it's you know,
an incredible uh uh you know way that we go
about business and the way we train and the way
we compete together in practice settings. And you know, at
times like this, when you win eighth straight, you know,
do you lose the edge? Do you lose your fight?
And yesterday's practice was really good. So right now I
(37:31):
think they're in a good spot and they're they're walking
with you know, with their heads high and and know
they're earning what they get, and you know, just the
key is keep us focused on what we're doing next.
Speaker 2 (37:41):
All good to hear. So Mississippi State tonight seven eastern
at the Cottiseum and then Sunday afternoon against Arkansas wraps
up the home season in the regular season.
Speaker 8 (37:51):
Right, yes, there are three left and and uh three
tough ones and should be excited and can't wait to
see our fans next to us tonight. Should be excited.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
Thanks coach, good luck, appreciate Tomass coach Craig Skinner joining
us on the Club BLUEINIL dot com hotline. Here on
the Leech Report, take a second to talk about Shufflebean Cooffee.
You need to have some great coffee around for the
holidays when you have family and friends coming over after
a meal. People love a cup of coffee. Maybe you
needed to get your day started. Make it Shufflebean coffee.
(38:22):
It's the best. They start with the very best coffee beans.
You can read all about it at Shufflebean dot us.
Order some product there. You can order it through Amazon Prime.
You pick it up at Central Kentucky myerstores too. At
Shufflebean Coffee. Fun show today. We'll see you tomorrow on
the Leech Triport.
Speaker 1 (38:37):
Have your day Tom or seven ninety Louisville dot com,
and anytime you're out of range of the stations, catch
the show via the iHeartRadio app. If you have any
questions for Tom, email Leach Report at gmail dot com
and check out his website at Tom Leach Kwy dot
com
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