September 18, 2025 • 37 mins
Lee K. Howard, WKYT Sports Director, talks about the Field of 68 visit with Mark Pope. Jack Givens gives his insight from Kentucky Men`s basketball practice. Justin Rowland breaks down what he saw in Kentucky`s win over Eastern Michigan.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good day everybody. Welcome into the Leech Report, presented by
Bob Kat Enterprise is coming up today. We will chat
with the goose Jack Gibbings as always on Thursdays, justin
Rowland from Cats Illustrated and leading us off will be
Lee K. Howard from WKYT TV. Here in Lexington wild
(00:22):
Cat News of the Day. It is a service of
Giuseppees of Lexington and tonight top ten matchup in volleyball
taking place down I sixty four in Louisville where the
third ranked Cardinals will host the sixth ranked Wildcats of Kentucky.
It'll be on ESPN U and the UK Radio Network.
I think it's a six o'clock start for Kentucky volleyball tonight.
(00:44):
So Coach Skinner's club continuing to play this incredibly challenging
non conference schedule and faring quite well so far, Thank
you very much. Mark Stoops did a media session yesterday
also the SEC teleconference, as it's the open week for
the Wildcats. Coach Stoops talked about Cutter Bowley and just
(01:05):
said you can see him getting better, getting more comfortable
with the extra reps that he's getting with the ones.
Now that Zach Calzada, the starter through two games as
that shoulder injury. Stoops also was asked about how the
teammates have rallied around Cutter Bowley, and he said he
was not surprised to see that because Cutter's a popular
(01:27):
guy and making his second start getting his opportunities, so
it's good to see his teammates stepping up to encourage him.
I would imagine come Monday, that'll be about the first
question of the news conference. Will Cutter in fact be
starting down at South Carolina? The game Cocks play at
Missouri Saturday, and I didn't see off to look, I
(01:53):
didn't see anything about the SEC first SEC injury report
of the week regarding Sellers, the quarterback for South Carolina
who suffered an injury last week, initially reported as a concussion.
I don't know that that's ever been confirmed, but I
would imagine he would be at some level on that
(02:14):
first availability report for the SEC. NCAA has eliminated the
spring transfer portal window for college football. It's the one
where Seth mcgallan ended up coming to the University of Kentucky.
So now it'll be just at the end of the
regular season and presently that's in January. They're still trying
(02:37):
to lock down exactly what the timeline is going to
be on that particular transfer portal window because of the
fact that you've got the playoff going on and some
teams involved in that, and they're trying to but you
also get classes that start in the early part of
a new calendar year, so they're still working through the
exact dates on when that first and only poor Wind
(03:00):
window will take place. But teams will have to be
extra detailed, I guess and doing their their planning, and
you know, once the season's over, you'll have to know
quickly who's staying, who's going, because you're only gonna have
(03:22):
one chance. You know, with the spring window, you did have,
like mcgallan, a chance to you know, shore up a
particular position group if something if you needed it, or
something could happened in the spring. So that's not going
to be available anymore. Links to the stories that we
talk about each day you can find those on the
bud Light Leach Report page at Tom leachky dot com.
(03:43):
Opening segment of Wildcat New is always presented by just
Sepiees of Lexington. Sepiees has been doing it right for
almost thirty years now. They have the pasta that is homemade,
the steaks are handcut right there on site, the seafood
shipped in fresh a regular basis that us a lot
of local ingredients for the sides that are on the
(04:04):
menu at Giuseppes. And then the ambiance is just off
the charts one hundred and thirty seven different bourbons that
they have at the bar. So check it all out
at Giuseppes Lexington dot com and get to open table
and make a reservation. We'll be right back with Lee K.
Howard from WKYT on the Leaks Report Radio Network. Leach
(04:24):
Report coming to you each day from the Clarks Pumping
Shop studio, Return, Refresh and refuel at Clark's and we
are joined by Lee K. Howard from WKYT TV. Talk
a little bit. We'll start with Kentucky basketball since the
guys at the Field of sixty eight went over and
covered a practice for the Wildcats, Lee K. And they
(04:46):
had a lot of content out of that with interviews
with players and with Mark Pope. And I'm sure you've
seen a lot of that. What were some of your
things that you found most interesting?
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Hey, Tom, Yes, I did see some of that, and
I think the most interesting thing, unfortunately, was kind of
the turf turf toe situation maybe that Otega Oway is
dealing with. But by the sounds of it, it doesn't
seem like a something that would be lingering or nearly
as big of a issue as say, well like what
Joe Burrow is dealing with with the Bengals. But it
(05:18):
sounds like that's that's on track. And then I just
love hearing Pope talk about this team when he discusses,
you know, like Jalen Lowe and how he's embracing the
role and how you know, he's really become kind of
the alpha leader of this group. And you know, when
you get Jalen to Otega on the floor together as
(05:40):
you're one two punch and then fill in a variety
of different lineups around those two. I think Pope has
so many really good options of lineups that he can
put on the court this year, and so that's that's
fun to see. And then you know, I like to
see some of these reports about Jay Quaintance getting closer
(06:01):
because I think everybody projects that to be something that
will maybe get him on the court in the December range.
Just as a guess, and so every report from the
field of sixty eight and different ones like that seem
to be like he's on track to kind of hit
that mark. And so those were some of the biggest
takeaways that I took from from that field of sixty eight.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
The point guards considered the equivalent of the quarterback in football,
I guess, And yeah, ideally football quarterbacks just naturally is
going to be in a somewhat of a leadership role.
I think that's probably the same for the point guard position,
just because you're going to be the guy that has
the ball in his hands the most and will set
up a lot of your teammates. So I think it
(06:45):
doesn't have to be your leader, doesn't have to be
the point guard. But I always think that's a good thing.
When the point guard is comfortable with leadership skills.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Yeah, it certainly does not hurt. And I think maybe
different systems the point guard is maybe value a little
bit more than others. And I think in Pope's system,
the way that they like to move the ball up
and down, move it around the horn, get guys open,
get guys shots, I think it's very important. And we
saw the value of the point guard last year when
(07:16):
Lamont Butler was healthy as opposed to when he wasn't,
And of course with Kerkkrisa not being able to be
the backup for the majority of the season, that also
affected the lineups. And so, you know, I think what
Jalen is able to provide so far has been great.
We did get a chance to sit down and talk
with him this summer, and I was as impressed tom
(07:38):
with him as a as a person as I was
in watching the videos of him at Pitt and how
he plays. And so I think he naturally kind of
has that personality that players kind of are attracted to.
And I think, as you mentioned a quarterback, I think
those positions a point guard, a quarterback, you know, kind
(07:58):
of maybe the setter of volleyball team, Like you've got
to have a certain skill set and you've also got
to have a certain personality that guys want to play
around you. And I think Jalen is really looking forward
to being that distributor, like kind of that past first
point guard. We know he can shoot, but I think
he is loving the thought and the idea of having
(08:19):
so many guys around him that he can get the
ball too, and really make some place.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Yeah, the storyline from Pitt is that I guess he
was so clearly their best player. He and Pope has
talked about the percentage of bad shots basically that low
had to take in his role there. He may be
really enjoying not having to carry as much of the
(08:45):
burden and having so much help.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Yeah, I think so, you know, it's that that is
definitely the storyline with Jalen, and I'm sure we will
hear that exact storyline because we've all said it, myself
included throughout the first part of the year. It's kind
of like last year everyone wanted to talk about Colin
Chandler was coming off of a mission and when when
would he get back. I think that's going to be
the narrative that Mark Pope pushes for jalend is. You
(09:10):
know here here he was at Pitt last year and
he had all the attention on him, and he took
a lot of terrible shots, and all of a sudden,
you know, he doesn't have to take those terrible shots.
And so I think just him knowing that he can
move more freely about the offense when opposing defenses aren't
going to lock in on him near as much. I
think it's going to really elevate his game, and in
(09:32):
turn he'll be able to elevate the guys around him.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
It is really going to be interesting how the how
the rotation shakes out. Mike. Of course, he and I
have talked by this a couple of times in chats
this summer. You know, you would think, certainly O Way
and Low are going to be the two guys they
get the most minutes, but it's probably going to be
I would think, somewhere in the high twenties, not like
(09:58):
you know, thirty five a game or anything like that.
And then after that it will really be interesting because
I went back, said, then looked at the minutes breakdown
for the ninety six team that Pope played on, and
there were you know, that team was so deep and
ten of the of the guys played in thirty four
of the thirty six games, and you had the seventh
(10:22):
most minutes was nineteen. The most minutes was just under
twenty seven. And I could see this kind of team
having something similar to that.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Right, Yeah, I mean, you don't go out and stack
a roster full of scholarship players if you don't intend
to play them you know, we never saw that with
Cali Perry because he never intended to play that many players,
so he was never going to fill that many scholarships.
Pope has the idea that he's going to put almost
all these guys on the court, and we kind of
(10:52):
saw a taste of that last year. I think injury
somewhat limited his ability to do that in some games.
But yeah, I think that you're going to see Low
and Otega dominate some of the guard minutes, but you've
got to get guys like Aberdeen and Colin Chandler. I
even think, you know a lot of these other guys
are going to have opportunities to get in there and
(11:14):
get those minutes. And you know, I think Brandon Garrison
starts out as you're five, and then how much can
Jayden push him once he gets healthy. And there's just
so many options. I could see them going with a
ten man rotation, which sounds crazy because you still have
two or three guys on the bench that could play,
and I forgot Jasper Johnson. You've got to put Jasper
(11:36):
in there somewhere. So the rotation that's going to be, Honestly,
I think one of Mark Pope's biggest challenges is figuring
out how to get all these guys on the court
and get them minutes. And if I'm a coach, that's
a good problem to have. I'd rather deal with that
problem than deal with the one of who in the
world can we insert into this game that we can't
drop off when that person touches the floor. I think
(11:58):
it's going to be the opposite problem Pope and his
coaching staff this year.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Yeah. I guess we're all to a certain extent products
of our past, and you affected by it or influenced
by it. You mentioned the way Cal approached it with
tighter rotation, and I know he told the story many
times about you know, John Wooden told him he was
still playing too many guys when they talked early in
his time here. But you think about the places he coached.
(12:23):
I don't know what it was like in his playing days,
but the places he coached were not places where you
were going to get ten guys that you could feel
comfortable using. Whereas Mark Pope comes from a background as
a player here where he was on that kind of
team and saw how well it could work. And you know,
(12:43):
I wonder if that you know I have to ask
him sometime if that impact impacted how he wanted to
approach the game once he got a chance to be
a coach, to be able to have a team with
you know that kind of depth.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Yeah, And I think so you talk about the product
of your own upbringing or your experiences. And you know,
Pope was not the best player on the Kentucky team
that he played on, and he was not the best
player on the Pacers or the Bucks, and so he
probably values more the role player than maybe some do,
just because of his playing experience. He understands that there
(13:19):
are role players on every team that provide a lot
of experience, a lot of value rather past just your stars,
past just your your your top guys. And so I
think he values having the ability to insert those guys
and carve out roles for those guys. And you know,
I think the other cool thing about this roster, Tom
(13:41):
is there's so many like just interchangeable, different things players.
And Pope such a smart guy. I'm sure he loves thinking. Okay,
I could put Mo Diabat in at the at the
four position, and he can provide so many great things,
especially in the SEC play when you need someone who's
physical you need someone to just put their head in
there and and go after the ball. And then I
(14:02):
can sub him out and put Andrea Yelovich in there,
and he provides a completely different skill set, but we
can still run this offense around his position over there
at the fore position. So I just think that there
are so many unique little pieces. And we talk all
the time about coaches adapting to their roster instead of
adapting their players to their system. And I think Pope
(14:23):
is as good as anyone in the college basketball world.
Of Okay, here's who I got on this roster. Now,
let's figure out how we can make all this work
together and get guys involved and get players on the floor.
And I think he's one of the best, if not
the best, at that in college basketball.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
You know, And at some point down the road when
he's accomplished great things and they write a book about
it or something, that first season at Kentucky may be
the best illustration of the point you just made.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, and you're right when you deal
with injuries and you're trying to figure out how we're
gonna piece this thing together, and you look at your
roster and you say, Okay, here's who I got. Here's
how we're going to get guys involved. And I think
you could say this about every player on the roster.
This is all last year. This is a good mark
of a good coach. Does every player on the roster
(15:13):
improve from day one to the end? And I think
you can say, certainly, a guy like Colin Chandler, I mean,
think about how much he improved. Think about you know,
Amari Williams. Yeah, Andley Almonor, he became such a big player.
Trent Noah, you know, we didn't know if he would play,
and by the end of the year, I mean, he's
(15:35):
He's a valuable part of the rotation. I think every
player on last year's roster improved from day one, and
so yeah, a lot of that's those guys getting in
in the practice gym and improving, but a lot of
that's coaching too and being put in the right positions
in the right spots. And so I think as long
as Pope is here, he's going to continue to do that.
(15:57):
And Kentucky will be a favorable destination for guys if
they think I can go there and really improve my
game and become a better player.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Lee K. Howard the new sports Stretcher WKYT TV. Congrats
on that, by the way, and thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
All right, Thanks Tom, Talk to you later.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Lee K. Howard here on the Leach Report presented by
Bob Kat Enterprises, and we'll be back with the Goose
Jack Gibbings in just a moment, Lee Tripart Welcome in
the Ghost, Jack Gibbons, Goosnower. We're at practice on Tuesday
watching the guys and Mark Pope when he went on
with those the show on Field of sixty eight, he
(16:33):
one of the things he talked about was the shooting
goose and he thinks that they're gonna it's really improved
from the start of workouts back earlier in the summer.
He said, last week they had six guys make seventy
percent or more of their threes over the course of
a practice. I know you and I've talked. You said
Aberdeen was a guy that is a better shooter than
(16:53):
you realized. Who else has impressed you just as a
shooter beyond the ones you would expect, like Cam Williams.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Well, Tom, you know it's interesting when you think about it,
and he has a lot of guys who make shots
Kobe Burry is not out there on the floor, that's
for sure. But it's interesting because so many of the
guys have been looking good. You know, Trendoah shot the
ball well, a lot of the names that we've talked
(17:23):
about already. I'm a little surprised that Jalen Lowe shoots
it as well from behind the line as he has
been shooting it. I didn't I didn't know that that
was a part of his game, but he shot it well.
I mean, I thought it was interesting at practice a
couple of days ago when we were there, and we'll
talk about it more that Mark puts a lot of
(17:45):
emphasis on the shooting and it was interesting how he
charged that.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Yeah, we'll talk about that when we come back. It's
the Goose. Jack Evans will us if you are looking
ahead for the holidays, they call me Goose. This with
Doug Bronk still available if you haven't picked it up
for a Wildcat fan on your list, So keep that
in mind. We'll be right back on the Lake Report
Radio Network. It's the Leak Report presented by Bobcat Enterprises.
(18:13):
They have four locations in Kentucky, so if you need
to buy or rent a piece of heavy equipment for
a job, or you know someone that does. Send them
to Bobcat Enterprises. Go there yourself if you need the
excavators and the forkliffs and those kinds of things. They'll
have what you need. Great service. After the sale to
a Bobcat Enterprises, we're talking talking with the goose Jack.
(18:34):
Give it you on a golf course today?
Speaker 3 (18:37):
Actually, yes, Tom, I'm at the golf course over here
in Georgetown, the Scott County Samberg is playing there outing
today and they were really really hurting and they needed
a player. So somebody called me in say can you
stand in for somebody? And I said, sure, as long
(18:58):
as you understand what you're getting. But yeah, we're playing
golf today here in Scott County.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Uh, you shot left handed, but you do you play
right handed? I can't remember, you know, Tom.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
It's interesting because the only thing I do left handed
is shoot a basketball and throw a baseball. I don't
know how that happened. But everything else I do I
do right handed. I play golf right handed. I would
when I was hitting, I would hit baseball from the
right side. I played tennis and racquetball and now pickleball.
(19:34):
Everything I do is from the right side with my
right hand. I eat with both hands, so I don't
be surprised if if I'm out to dinner and you
see me shoving it in with both hands. But yeah,
that's the only thing I do left handed. I'm not
sure how that worked out.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Let's talk a little bit about what you were talking
about with the shooting, because Mark and his staff are
obviously very deep into analytics and that comes not just
with the games, but with their practices too, right.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
Yeah, And you know, probably the biggest part of shooting
is confidence to take the shot. And Mark wants everybody
on the team feeling comfortable taking the shot. And you know,
if you know that, you're not going to get shooed
out by the coaching staff or taking a shot if
you're open, if it's a good shot, he wants you
(20:27):
to taken the shot. And I think that's one thing
they try to build on. But it was interesting he
called them all together before practice started. After they warmed up,
they went over and they were talking and numbers were
up on the screen and the guys, he's the guys.
We shot the ball lest practice. We shot the ball
better than we've shot it since we've started, and we
(20:51):
shot the ball deeper than we've shot it since we started.
So he was really really pleased with that, and the
guys were happy with the report. So he's putting a
lot of emphasis on shooting the three and he wants
everybody comfortable shooting it. And I will say this Tom,
because I haven't mentioned this name, but what I've seen
(21:14):
from Yellovic the last couple of times i've been in
there has been really really and I might even throw
another really in impressive. And I think the reason is
he's getting in better shape. His conditioning is almost not
quite but almost caught up with the other guys. He's
(21:35):
been putting in a lot of extra work. And I
remember the play that I remember as much as anything,
and you and I watched an hour and a half
of practice. Was low. I think it was driving in,
one of the guys driving into the basket, the defense
converges on the paint and whoever it was found yellowing
(21:58):
out in the corner, and boy, without any hesitation, he'd
let that thing fly and it was all bottom. And boy,
that's going to be a huge part of what Mark
wants done.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
You know that.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
So I'm glad to see him coming along as well.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Yeah, he looks like those classic European big guys for
years that have come over and played college basketball that
just really are comfortable shooting it from distance. And he's
a nice looking shot.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
Yeah. And the other thing is I think, and like
I say, I'm just learning him. But the other thing
it looks to me is he's very comfortable in his skin,
if you will. He's very confident in his talent, and
I think that comes from playing against some of the
pros he's played with in other countries. But he seems
(22:49):
to be very comfortable out there and right now for him,
like I say, the main thing is getting in condition,
getting caught up all the way, But then the other
thing will be learning the offense, and as he becomes
even more comfortable with that, I think we're gonna be
really really happy with what we see from him.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
He posted something on X yesterday from Michelle Kenzevik at
the UK Sports Network and she did one of her
cats by ninety walk and talk deals for ninety seconds.
She did it with Andrea and you know, he's a
guy that fans haven't been able to meet through the
media like they did the rest of the players over
(23:27):
the course of the summer, and so it was interesting
to get just at least ninety seconds of insight on him.
He talked about he played soccer like so many of
the guys do that are coming over from Europe, and
I would assume that is very beneficial for the footwork
that goes with being a basketball player too, right, Oh.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
Yeah, yeah, at the footwork is really important when it
comes to soccer, and I think that's why a lot
of guys coming from overseas are pretty skilled. Even though
they may not look to be the best physical specimen,
they they're able to move and get open at not
(24:09):
a hive speed. If you think about some of the
some of the guys playing now in the in the NBA,
the better players, they're not the fastest, not the biggest,
not the strongest, but they always seem to be able
to get to where they want to get to on
the court because of their footwork and the way they move.
So yeah, that should help him. It also helps you
(24:30):
get in a little better condition, so he'll know what
that feels like when he gets there.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Got a text from a buddy of mine who must
have been at an event you were at and you
can comment on this. He said, you have not seen
someone cheer hard until you have watched Goose cheer for
his granddaughter playing high school volleyball.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
Oh my goodness, man, I get so embarrassed because you know,
I react to plays and it's like, I mean, I
I just get embarrassed sometimes with as much as I
get in those games, man, But it is. It is
just a fun sport. And even when I mean I
(25:09):
do for her, but for all of her teammates, you know,
they know what they go through together, and it's just
a fun game. But yeah, I'm trying my best to
calm down a little bit on the sideline and not
react so much to the to the slams and the
blocks and all that kind of stuff. But man, I
(25:31):
have as much fun as I can have at those games.
And every now and then my granddaughter will look up
at me and she'll give me the look and she'll
say pop, you know, just kind of mouth it out,
and I don't know, I need to calm down just
a little. But it's so much fun. Man, it's so
much fun.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
I think I'm going to suggest to Michelle that could
be a nice social media feature for the UK Sports Network,
just put do a goosecam at one of the volleyball
matches my granddaughter.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
Well, it would be fun, but I would just rather
not because I will be embarrassing myself, no question about that,
and maybe embarrassing my granddaughter. I know my daughter sometimes
won't sit next to me, but Linda stays there just
because she pretty much has to. But but yeah, that
would be fun.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
Goose, Thank you much. Straight Jack Givings. Yeah, heading to
the golf course now, and we appreciate him jumping on
with us. We are coming up on eighteen away from
the top of the hour, Justin Rowland from Cats Illustrated Jores.
When we come right back, it's the Leach Report from
the Clark's Pumping Shop studio. Return Refresh Refuel at Clark's
(26:42):
Quarter before the top of the hour as we bring
in Justin Rowland from Cats Illustrated and on three Sports
at Roland Rivals on X. Let's start with Kentucky football.
Justin and your reviews on what you saw from Cutter
Bowlly in his second career start.
Speaker 4 (27:02):
Yeah, no, I thought it was a pretty complete performance,
you know, just to get the bad out of the way.
To begin with, there was a two play sequence when
things were dicey, he had a short pass that could
have been picked by a defensive lineman that dropped into coverage.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
And then on the very.
Speaker 4 (27:18):
Next play, I think he kind of floated one to
the opposite sideline, knew he had the arm strength to
make the throw. Probably wasn't the wisest, but everything else
was great. It was some of the most pinpoint accuracy
we've seen on deep balls from a Kentucky quarterback. There's
a rapport with the tight ends and with Hardley Gilmour.
I thought the most interesting fact was cutter Bowley climbed
(27:41):
the pocket significantly better than a twenty four year old
seventh year quarterback that started the season ahead of him,
who kind of had a tendency to flush out of
the pocket even if the protection was holding up. Bowley
navigated the pocket very well, and I didn't know how
he's going to do it that because he's got those
huge less eggs and this big stride and it doesn't
(28:03):
look as fast, but because he has a really quick
release and keeps his eyes down field, he was able
to do really well.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
And it was a promising game. All really good points.
I had Bush Hampden on The Stoop Show Monday, and
we were talking a little bit about this, and I
had gone back and looked at my notes from the
Louisville game last year when Cutter got his first started.
One of the things Bush had said was he described
Cutter as sneaky athletic, and that's kind of what you're
talking about. That looked like he's, you know, a sprinter
(28:31):
that would you know, be in one hundred. But with
those long legs, he can cover a lot of ground
and with the abundance of man coverage they're likely to
see for the time being, that could be a dangerous
addition to the Kentucky offense. Absolutely, yeah.
Speaker 4 (28:47):
And it's the fact that his release is quicker than
it looks like it's going to be really helps him.
Like there are a couple of times that looked like
he's going to get drilled in this last game, but
he was able to quickly get the ball out with
a different arm angle or just the ball just comes
out quicker than you think it's going to. But the
(29:08):
big thing about staying in the pocket is it leaves
the entire field open. And when Calzada was rolling out,
rolling out, flushing out of the pocket, you know it
that turns into you running towards the sideline and kind
of lofting it out of bounds, and when there's not
a lot of separation. But you saw Boldley take advantage
of off schedule plays and he really pushed it down
(29:30):
the field. That that long ball that he has is
a singular gift, and I think I think that'll carry.
It might be every week, but he's always throwing a
good deep ball. And the question was he going to
be a spark plug or was he going to be
a solution, you know, like Barker they tried at the
end of the twenty fifteen season when things weren't working.
But I think he just has some natural throwing ability
(29:51):
that does give him some potential for the future.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
I have thought coming into the season, I can't remember
for you and I talked about this that there might
be some similarities for this team on the offensive side
and the twenty sixteen group because of the strength of
the running game, yeah, and an emerging offensive line at
that time. And then also the fact that I remember
(30:15):
saying it reminded me of the Oakland Raiders from the
late sixties and seventies. Going way back when they had
a quarterback named Darryl Monica that they called the Mad
Bomber and he had two white outs. You know. Basically,
they had a power running game complimented by a great
deep passing game and maybe they could be the how
this team develops offensively.
Speaker 4 (30:36):
Yeah, and that's really what they what they look like
they could be. The tight end involvement has been the
best part of Hamden's second year, so for Hamden two
point zero, the involvement of the tight ends. So either
Marrow left him with some good players, or Shay is
doing a great job developing those guys, or some combination
(30:58):
of both. And but I think that'll be an emphasis
as well. I think that their their usage of the
tight end shows you that they came into the season
maybe not overly confident with the wide receiver room, and
they're going to ultimately have to get those guys more involved.
But I mean, at Kentucky, it's going to be really
hard to replace two receivers like the ones they lost
(31:21):
from the transfer portal. But but yeah, those tight ends
have had a fantastic scene. Their last game against Eastern
Mission was the highest graded Pro Football Focus game for
Kentucky's tight ends in the Mark Stubes era, really that
was very, very strong. It was both Caddis and Willie
Rodriguez had outstanding games.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
You know, Caddis and Willy I think are showing that
they have the potential of, you know, being guys that
could play at the next level. And if you're looking
at you know, the offensive side or you know, if
you're kind of if your coach trying to come with
a game plan, not the worst place to start by
getting the kind of making the part of the main
(31:59):
focus the guys that are your future NFL players. And
you know, last year we'd have been guys like Key
and Brown, but this year it's maybe the tight ends and.
Speaker 4 (32:10):
What you really have would Cutter is a quarterback who
really likes throwing to those guys. He really likes lofting
it up. The guys are a big catch radius that
it doesn't look like their separation, but those contested balls
that you saw that Katis was ripping them down against
smaller defensive backs. And Henry Boyer, to his credit, has
(32:30):
played as much as he's played in his college career
and he's been in on some of the biggest blocks
and running plays that they have had, and I think
the guards maybe a little stronger than the tackle play
for Kentucky, but you don't see that because the tight
ends or are blocking really well too. And Boyer would
have had a touchdown if they hadn't blown to play
dead mid play really against Eastern Michigan. And so it'll
(32:54):
be interesting to see what mckel skinner does coming along
in the offense, because you know, he was right there
on the Dutch chart or close to being on it,
I think. And he's a great receiving threat, so that'll
be interesting too.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
Yeah, nice if he could come along, because he's a
little bit of a hybrid, more like a Jacob Tamming
type of hybrid now tight end wide out guy. Yeah,
it could be interesting to see how it goes for
Cutter at South Carolina because one would think for a
team like Eastern Michigan that was really struggling defensively, when
teams struggle, coaches simplify things, and down at South Carolina,
(33:30):
Cutter one up against an SEC defense that had its
way with Kentucky last season. They will throw everything they
can think of to throw at him in terms of
looks and disguises. Yes, that's right.
Speaker 4 (33:43):
And you know we've seen Kentucky go to South Carolina
before when it's kind of a fifty to fifty game,
or we know it's a big one and there's like
a big tome setting play early in the game, maybe
like South Carolina picks off a pass or they have
a big kickoff return or receiver takes a big game,
And it's come down to how does Kentucky respond to
(34:03):
those big momentum plays in that stadium early in the game.
Do they settle into their kind of game or do
they find themselves behind the eight ball and playing an
uncomfortable game. And so it's going to be huge on
the offensive line against South Carolina. And the offensive line
has been great in protection against two mac teams, a
little bit less great in protection against old mess So
(34:25):
it'll be their biggest sets of the season.
Speaker 1 (34:27):
As well. I did see Leonora Sellars. He's listed questionable
on the first availability report for South Carolina for their
game at Missouri. So we will see how it looks
as the next couple of days play out. Justin, as always,
thanks for the time. Thanks a lot of that is
Justin Rowland Katz illustrated on the on three Network. Interesting
(34:51):
note there from the Pro Football Focus analysis of the
play of the Kentucky tight end group in the win
over Eastern Michigan, and those guys will be a crucial
element to what Kentucky can do against South Carolina. You know,
thinking back to last season, Willie Rodriguez was just a freshman,
(35:12):
so he wasn't as much in the rotation at that time.
Boyer wasn't here. They have a dingle who's down at
South Carolina now, but the tight ends might be a
real crucial piece, not only as pass catchers but as
blockers against South Carolina and those defensive ends next weekend.
(35:34):
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Cat History is presented by Kentucky road Show Sports Cards
and Memorabilia on Romedy Road here in Lexington and at
roadshowcards dot Com. Nineteen ninety nine, This day, Kentucky went
up to Indiana beat the Hoosiers forty four to thirty five.
James Whalen had his first one hundred yard receiving game
(36:38):
ten catches for one hundred and twenty one yards on
passes from Dusty Bonner as Whalem will go on to
be a first team All American at tied end with
ninety receptions that season. Happy birthdays to former Kentucky point
guard Dicky Beal, to former Kentucky QB Shane Boyd, and
to former Kentucky men's basketball coach Rick Patino, all sharing
(37:00):
a birthday today. Shufflebean coffee is the official coffee of
Rapparita and the KFC Young Center, and it can be
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or going to the company's website Shufflebean dot us and
you can order the products there and you can also
(37:21):
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Thanks for giving us a try today, We'll see you tomorrow.
To close out the week here on the Leach Report
(37:42):
presented by Bobcat Enterprises
Good day everybody. Welcome into the Leech Report, presented by
Bob Kat Enterprise is coming up today. We will chat
with the goose Jack Gibbings as always on Thursdays, justin
Rowland from Cats Illustrated and leading us off will be
Lee K. Howard from WKYT TV. Here in Lexington wild
(00:22):
Cat News of the Day. It is a service of
Giuseppees of Lexington and tonight top ten matchup in volleyball
taking place down I sixty four in Louisville where the
third ranked Cardinals will host the sixth ranked Wildcats of Kentucky.
It'll be on ESPN U and the UK Radio Network.
I think it's a six o'clock start for Kentucky volleyball tonight.
(00:44):
So Coach Skinner's club continuing to play this incredibly challenging
non conference schedule and faring quite well so far, Thank
you very much. Mark Stoops did a media session yesterday
also the SEC teleconference, as it's the open week for
the Wildcats. Coach Stoops talked about Cutter Bowley and just
(01:05):
said you can see him getting better, getting more comfortable
with the extra reps that he's getting with the ones.
Now that Zach Calzada, the starter through two games as
that shoulder injury. Stoops also was asked about how the
teammates have rallied around Cutter Bowley, and he said he
was not surprised to see that because Cutter's a popular
(01:27):
guy and making his second start getting his opportunities, so
it's good to see his teammates stepping up to encourage him.
I would imagine come Monday, that'll be about the first
question of the news conference. Will Cutter in fact be
starting down at South Carolina? The game Cocks play at
Missouri Saturday, and I didn't see off to look, I
(01:53):
didn't see anything about the SEC first SEC injury report
of the week regarding Sellers, the quarterback for South Carolina
who suffered an injury last week, initially reported as a concussion.
I don't know that that's ever been confirmed, but I
would imagine he would be at some level on that
(02:14):
first availability report for the SEC. NCAA has eliminated the
spring transfer portal window for college football. It's the one
where Seth mcgallan ended up coming to the University of Kentucky.
So now it'll be just at the end of the
regular season and presently that's in January. They're still trying
(02:37):
to lock down exactly what the timeline is going to
be on that particular transfer portal window because of the
fact that you've got the playoff going on and some
teams involved in that, and they're trying to but you
also get classes that start in the early part of
a new calendar year, so they're still working through the
exact dates on when that first and only poor Wind
(03:00):
window will take place. But teams will have to be
extra detailed, I guess and doing their their planning, and
you know, once the season's over, you'll have to know
quickly who's staying, who's going, because you're only gonna have
(03:22):
one chance. You know, with the spring window, you did have,
like mcgallan, a chance to you know, shore up a
particular position group if something if you needed it, or
something could happened in the spring. So that's not going
to be available anymore. Links to the stories that we
talk about each day you can find those on the
bud Light Leach Report page at Tom leachky dot com.
(03:43):
Opening segment of Wildcat New is always presented by just
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(04:24):
Report coming to you each day from the Clarks Pumping
Shop studio, Return, Refresh and refuel at Clark's and we
are joined by Lee K. Howard from WKYT TV. Talk
a little bit. We'll start with Kentucky basketball since the
guys at the Field of sixty eight went over and
covered a practice for the Wildcats, Lee K. And they
(04:46):
had a lot of content out of that with interviews
with players and with Mark Pope. And I'm sure you've
seen a lot of that. What were some of your
things that you found most interesting?
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Hey, Tom, Yes, I did see some of that, and
I think the most interesting thing, unfortunately, was kind of
the turf turf toe situation maybe that Otega Oway is
dealing with. But by the sounds of it, it doesn't
seem like a something that would be lingering or nearly
as big of a issue as say, well like what
Joe Burrow is dealing with with the Bengals. But it
(05:18):
sounds like that's that's on track. And then I just
love hearing Pope talk about this team when he discusses,
you know, like Jalen Lowe and how he's embracing the
role and how you know, he's really become kind of
the alpha leader of this group. And you know, when
you get Jalen to Otega on the floor together as
(05:40):
you're one two punch and then fill in a variety
of different lineups around those two. I think Pope has
so many really good options of lineups that he can
put on the court this year, and so that's that's
fun to see. And then you know, I like to
see some of these reports about Jay Quaintance getting closer
(06:01):
because I think everybody projects that to be something that
will maybe get him on the court in the December range.
Just as a guess, and so every report from the
field of sixty eight and different ones like that seem
to be like he's on track to kind of hit
that mark. And so those were some of the biggest
takeaways that I took from from that field of sixty eight.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
The point guards considered the equivalent of the quarterback in football,
I guess, And yeah, ideally football quarterbacks just naturally is
going to be in a somewhat of a leadership role.
I think that's probably the same for the point guard position,
just because you're going to be the guy that has
the ball in his hands the most and will set
up a lot of your teammates. So I think it
(06:45):
doesn't have to be your leader, doesn't have to be
the point guard. But I always think that's a good thing.
When the point guard is comfortable with leadership skills.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Yeah, it certainly does not hurt. And I think maybe
different systems the point guard is maybe value a little
bit more than others. And I think in Pope's system,
the way that they like to move the ball up
and down, move it around the horn, get guys open,
get guys shots, I think it's very important. And we
saw the value of the point guard last year when
(07:16):
Lamont Butler was healthy as opposed to when he wasn't,
And of course with Kerkkrisa not being able to be
the backup for the majority of the season, that also
affected the lineups. And so, you know, I think what
Jalen is able to provide so far has been great.
We did get a chance to sit down and talk
with him this summer, and I was as impressed tom
(07:38):
with him as a as a person as I was
in watching the videos of him at Pitt and how
he plays. And so I think he naturally kind of
has that personality that players kind of are attracted to.
And I think, as you mentioned a quarterback, I think
those positions a point guard, a quarterback, you know, kind
(07:58):
of maybe the setter of volleyball team, Like you've got
to have a certain skill set and you've also got
to have a certain personality that guys want to play
around you. And I think Jalen is really looking forward
to being that distributor, like kind of that past first
point guard. We know he can shoot, but I think
he is loving the thought and the idea of having
(08:19):
so many guys around him that he can get the
ball too, and really make some place.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Yeah, the storyline from Pitt is that I guess he
was so clearly their best player. He and Pope has
talked about the percentage of bad shots basically that low
had to take in his role there. He may be
really enjoying not having to carry as much of the
(08:45):
burden and having so much help.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Yeah, I think so, you know, it's that that is
definitely the storyline with Jalen, and I'm sure we will
hear that exact storyline because we've all said it, myself
included throughout the first part of the year. It's kind
of like last year everyone wanted to talk about Colin
Chandler was coming off of a mission and when when
would he get back. I think that's going to be
the narrative that Mark Pope pushes for jalend is. You
(09:10):
know here here he was at Pitt last year and
he had all the attention on him, and he took
a lot of terrible shots, and all of a sudden,
you know, he doesn't have to take those terrible shots.
And so I think just him knowing that he can
move more freely about the offense when opposing defenses aren't
going to lock in on him near as much. I
think it's going to really elevate his game, and in
(09:32):
turn he'll be able to elevate the guys around him.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
It is really going to be interesting how the how
the rotation shakes out. Mike. Of course, he and I
have talked by this a couple of times in chats
this summer. You know, you would think, certainly O Way
and Low are going to be the two guys they
get the most minutes, but it's probably going to be
I would think, somewhere in the high twenties, not like
(09:58):
you know, thirty five a game or anything like that.
And then after that it will really be interesting because
I went back, said, then looked at the minutes breakdown
for the ninety six team that Pope played on, and
there were you know, that team was so deep and
ten of the of the guys played in thirty four
of the thirty six games, and you had the seventh
(10:22):
most minutes was nineteen. The most minutes was just under
twenty seven. And I could see this kind of team
having something similar to that.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Right, Yeah, I mean, you don't go out and stack
a roster full of scholarship players if you don't intend
to play them you know, we never saw that with
Cali Perry because he never intended to play that many players,
so he was never going to fill that many scholarships.
Pope has the idea that he's going to put almost
all these guys on the court, and we kind of
(10:52):
saw a taste of that last year. I think injury
somewhat limited his ability to do that in some games.
But yeah, I think that you're going to see Low
and Otega dominate some of the guard minutes, but you've
got to get guys like Aberdeen and Colin Chandler. I
even think, you know a lot of these other guys
are going to have opportunities to get in there and
(11:14):
get those minutes. And you know, I think Brandon Garrison
starts out as you're five, and then how much can
Jayden push him once he gets healthy. And there's just
so many options. I could see them going with a
ten man rotation, which sounds crazy because you still have
two or three guys on the bench that could play,
and I forgot Jasper Johnson. You've got to put Jasper
(11:36):
in there somewhere. So the rotation that's going to be, Honestly,
I think one of Mark Pope's biggest challenges is figuring
out how to get all these guys on the court
and get them minutes. And if I'm a coach, that's
a good problem to have. I'd rather deal with that
problem than deal with the one of who in the
world can we insert into this game that we can't
drop off when that person touches the floor. I think
(11:58):
it's going to be the opposite problem Pope and his
coaching staff this year.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Yeah. I guess we're all to a certain extent products
of our past, and you affected by it or influenced
by it. You mentioned the way Cal approached it with
tighter rotation, and I know he told the story many
times about you know, John Wooden told him he was
still playing too many guys when they talked early in
his time here. But you think about the places he coached.
(12:23):
I don't know what it was like in his playing days,
but the places he coached were not places where you
were going to get ten guys that you could feel
comfortable using. Whereas Mark Pope comes from a background as
a player here where he was on that kind of
team and saw how well it could work. And you know,
(12:43):
I wonder if that you know I have to ask
him sometime if that impact impacted how he wanted to
approach the game once he got a chance to be
a coach, to be able to have a team with
you know that kind of depth.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Yeah, And I think so you talk about the product
of your own upbringing or your experiences. And you know,
Pope was not the best player on the Kentucky team
that he played on, and he was not the best
player on the Pacers or the Bucks, and so he
probably values more the role player than maybe some do,
just because of his playing experience. He understands that there
(13:19):
are role players on every team that provide a lot
of experience, a lot of value rather past just your stars,
past just your your your top guys. And so I
think he values having the ability to insert those guys
and carve out roles for those guys. And you know,
I think the other cool thing about this roster, Tom
(13:41):
is there's so many like just interchangeable, different things players.
And Pope such a smart guy. I'm sure he loves thinking. Okay,
I could put Mo Diabat in at the at the
four position, and he can provide so many great things,
especially in the SEC play when you need someone who's
physical you need someone to just put their head in
there and and go after the ball. And then I
(14:02):
can sub him out and put Andrea Yelovich in there,
and he provides a completely different skill set, but we
can still run this offense around his position over there
at the fore position. So I just think that there
are so many unique little pieces. And we talk all
the time about coaches adapting to their roster instead of
adapting their players to their system. And I think Pope
(14:23):
is as good as anyone in the college basketball world.
Of Okay, here's who I got on this roster. Now,
let's figure out how we can make all this work
together and get guys involved and get players on the floor.
And I think he's one of the best, if not
the best, at that in college basketball.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
You know, And at some point down the road when
he's accomplished great things and they write a book about
it or something, that first season at Kentucky may be
the best illustration of the point you just made.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, and you're right when you deal
with injuries and you're trying to figure out how we're
gonna piece this thing together, and you look at your
roster and you say, Okay, here's who I got. Here's
how we're going to get guys involved. And I think
you could say this about every player on the roster.
This is all last year. This is a good mark
of a good coach. Does every player on the roster
(15:13):
improve from day one to the end? And I think
you can say, certainly, a guy like Colin Chandler, I mean,
think about how much he improved. Think about you know,
Amari Williams. Yeah, Andley Almonor, he became such a big player.
Trent Noah, you know, we didn't know if he would play,
and by the end of the year, I mean, he's
(15:35):
He's a valuable part of the rotation. I think every
player on last year's roster improved from day one, and
so yeah, a lot of that's those guys getting in
in the practice gym and improving, but a lot of
that's coaching too and being put in the right positions
in the right spots. And so I think as long
as Pope is here, he's going to continue to do that.
(15:57):
And Kentucky will be a favorable destination for guys if
they think I can go there and really improve my
game and become a better player.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Lee K. Howard the new sports Stretcher WKYT TV. Congrats
on that, by the way, and thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
All right, Thanks Tom, Talk to you later.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Lee K. Howard here on the Leach Report presented by
Bob Kat Enterprises, and we'll be back with the Goose
Jack Gibbings in just a moment, Lee Tripart Welcome in
the Ghost, Jack Gibbons, Goosnower. We're at practice on Tuesday
watching the guys and Mark Pope when he went on
with those the show on Field of sixty eight, he
(16:33):
one of the things he talked about was the shooting
goose and he thinks that they're gonna it's really improved
from the start of workouts back earlier in the summer.
He said, last week they had six guys make seventy
percent or more of their threes over the course of
a practice. I know you and I've talked. You said
Aberdeen was a guy that is a better shooter than
(16:53):
you realized. Who else has impressed you just as a
shooter beyond the ones you would expect, like Cam Williams.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Well, Tom, you know it's interesting when you think about it,
and he has a lot of guys who make shots
Kobe Burry is not out there on the floor, that's
for sure. But it's interesting because so many of the
guys have been looking good. You know, Trendoah shot the
ball well, a lot of the names that we've talked
(17:23):
about already. I'm a little surprised that Jalen Lowe shoots
it as well from behind the line as he has
been shooting it. I didn't I didn't know that that
was a part of his game, but he shot it well.
I mean, I thought it was interesting at practice a
couple of days ago when we were there, and we'll
talk about it more that Mark puts a lot of
(17:45):
emphasis on the shooting and it was interesting how he
charged that.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Yeah, we'll talk about that when we come back. It's
the Goose. Jack Evans will us if you are looking
ahead for the holidays, they call me Goose. This with
Doug Bronk still available if you haven't picked it up
for a Wildcat fan on your list, So keep that
in mind. We'll be right back on the Lake Report
Radio Network. It's the Leak Report presented by Bobcat Enterprises.
(18:13):
They have four locations in Kentucky, so if you need
to buy or rent a piece of heavy equipment for
a job, or you know someone that does. Send them
to Bobcat Enterprises. Go there yourself if you need the
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have what you need. Great service. After the sale to
a Bobcat Enterprises, we're talking talking with the goose Jack.
(18:34):
Give it you on a golf course today?
Speaker 3 (18:37):
Actually, yes, Tom, I'm at the golf course over here
in Georgetown, the Scott County Samberg is playing there outing
today and they were really really hurting and they needed
a player. So somebody called me in say can you
stand in for somebody? And I said, sure, as long
(18:58):
as you understand what you're getting. But yeah, we're playing
golf today here in Scott County.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Uh, you shot left handed, but you do you play
right handed? I can't remember, you know, Tom.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
It's interesting because the only thing I do left handed
is shoot a basketball and throw a baseball. I don't
know how that happened. But everything else I do I
do right handed. I play golf right handed. I would
when I was hitting, I would hit baseball from the
right side. I played tennis and racquetball and now pickleball.
(19:34):
Everything I do is from the right side with my
right hand. I eat with both hands, so I don't
be surprised if if I'm out to dinner and you
see me shoving it in with both hands. But yeah,
that's the only thing I do left handed. I'm not
sure how that worked out.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Let's talk a little bit about what you were talking
about with the shooting, because Mark and his staff are
obviously very deep into analytics and that comes not just
with the games, but with their practices too, right.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
Yeah, And you know, probably the biggest part of shooting
is confidence to take the shot. And Mark wants everybody
on the team feeling comfortable taking the shot. And you know,
if you know that, you're not going to get shooed
out by the coaching staff or taking a shot if
you're open, if it's a good shot, he wants you
(20:27):
to taken the shot. And I think that's one thing
they try to build on. But it was interesting he
called them all together before practice started. After they warmed up,
they went over and they were talking and numbers were
up on the screen and the guys, he's the guys.
We shot the ball lest practice. We shot the ball
better than we've shot it since we've started, and we
(20:51):
shot the ball deeper than we've shot it since we started.
So he was really really pleased with that, and the
guys were happy with the report. So he's putting a
lot of emphasis on shooting the three and he wants
everybody comfortable shooting it. And I will say this Tom,
because I haven't mentioned this name, but what I've seen
(21:14):
from Yellovic the last couple of times i've been in
there has been really really and I might even throw
another really in impressive. And I think the reason is
he's getting in better shape. His conditioning is almost not
quite but almost caught up with the other guys. He's
(21:35):
been putting in a lot of extra work. And I
remember the play that I remember as much as anything,
and you and I watched an hour and a half
of practice. Was low. I think it was driving in,
one of the guys driving into the basket, the defense
converges on the paint and whoever it was found yellowing
(21:58):
out in the corner, and boy, without any hesitation, he'd
let that thing fly and it was all bottom. And boy,
that's going to be a huge part of what Mark
wants done.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
You know that.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
So I'm glad to see him coming along as well.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Yeah, he looks like those classic European big guys for
years that have come over and played college basketball that
just really are comfortable shooting it from distance. And he's
a nice looking shot.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
Yeah. And the other thing is I think, and like
I say, I'm just learning him. But the other thing
it looks to me is he's very comfortable in his skin,
if you will. He's very confident in his talent, and
I think that comes from playing against some of the
pros he's played with in other countries. But he seems
(22:49):
to be very comfortable out there and right now for him,
like I say, the main thing is getting in condition,
getting caught up all the way, But then the other
thing will be learning the offense, and as he becomes
even more comfortable with that, I think we're gonna be
really really happy with what we see from him.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
He posted something on X yesterday from Michelle Kenzevik at
the UK Sports Network and she did one of her
cats by ninety walk and talk deals for ninety seconds.
She did it with Andrea and you know, he's a
guy that fans haven't been able to meet through the
media like they did the rest of the players over
(23:27):
the course of the summer, and so it was interesting
to get just at least ninety seconds of insight on him.
He talked about he played soccer like so many of
the guys do that are coming over from Europe, and
I would assume that is very beneficial for the footwork
that goes with being a basketball player too, right, Oh.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
Yeah, yeah, at the footwork is really important when it
comes to soccer, and I think that's why a lot
of guys coming from overseas are pretty skilled. Even though
they may not look to be the best physical specimen,
they they're able to move and get open at not
(24:09):
a hive speed. If you think about some of the
some of the guys playing now in the in the NBA,
the better players, they're not the fastest, not the biggest,
not the strongest, but they always seem to be able
to get to where they want to get to on
the court because of their footwork and the way they move.
So yeah, that should help him. It also helps you
(24:30):
get in a little better condition, so he'll know what
that feels like when he gets there.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Got a text from a buddy of mine who must
have been at an event you were at and you
can comment on this. He said, you have not seen
someone cheer hard until you have watched Goose cheer for
his granddaughter playing high school volleyball.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
Oh my goodness, man, I get so embarrassed because you know,
I react to plays and it's like, I mean, I
I just get embarrassed sometimes with as much as I
get in those games, man, But it is. It is
just a fun sport. And even when I mean I
(25:09):
do for her, but for all of her teammates, you know,
they know what they go through together, and it's just
a fun game. But yeah, I'm trying my best to
calm down a little bit on the sideline and not
react so much to the to the slams and the
blocks and all that kind of stuff. But man, I
(25:31):
have as much fun as I can have at those games.
And every now and then my granddaughter will look up
at me and she'll give me the look and she'll
say pop, you know, just kind of mouth it out,
and I don't know, I need to calm down just
a little. But it's so much fun. Man, it's so
much fun.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
I think I'm going to suggest to Michelle that could
be a nice social media feature for the UK Sports Network,
just put do a goosecam at one of the volleyball
matches my granddaughter.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
Well, it would be fun, but I would just rather
not because I will be embarrassing myself, no question about that,
and maybe embarrassing my granddaughter. I know my daughter sometimes
won't sit next to me, but Linda stays there just
because she pretty much has to. But but yeah, that
would be fun.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
Goose, Thank you much. Straight Jack Givings. Yeah, heading to
the golf course now, and we appreciate him jumping on
with us. We are coming up on eighteen away from
the top of the hour, Justin Rowland from Cats Illustrated Jores.
When we come right back, it's the Leach Report from
the Clark's Pumping Shop studio. Return Refresh Refuel at Clark's
(26:42):
Quarter before the top of the hour as we bring
in Justin Rowland from Cats Illustrated and on three Sports
at Roland Rivals on X. Let's start with Kentucky football.
Justin and your reviews on what you saw from Cutter
Bowlly in his second career start.
Speaker 4 (27:02):
Yeah, no, I thought it was a pretty complete performance,
you know, just to get the bad out of the way.
To begin with, there was a two play sequence when
things were dicey, he had a short pass that could
have been picked by a defensive lineman that dropped into coverage.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
And then on the very.
Speaker 4 (27:18):
Next play, I think he kind of floated one to
the opposite sideline, knew he had the arm strength to
make the throw. Probably wasn't the wisest, but everything else
was great. It was some of the most pinpoint accuracy
we've seen on deep balls from a Kentucky quarterback. There's
a rapport with the tight ends and with Hardley Gilmour.
I thought the most interesting fact was cutter Bowley climbed
(27:41):
the pocket significantly better than a twenty four year old
seventh year quarterback that started the season ahead of him,
who kind of had a tendency to flush out of
the pocket even if the protection was holding up. Bowley
navigated the pocket very well, and I didn't know how
he's going to do it that because he's got those
huge less eggs and this big stride and it doesn't
(28:03):
look as fast, but because he has a really quick
release and keeps his eyes down field, he was able
to do really well.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
And it was a promising game. All really good points.
I had Bush Hampden on The Stoop Show Monday, and
we were talking a little bit about this, and I
had gone back and looked at my notes from the
Louisville game last year when Cutter got his first started.
One of the things Bush had said was he described
Cutter as sneaky athletic, and that's kind of what you're
talking about. That looked like he's, you know, a sprinter
(28:31):
that would you know, be in one hundred. But with
those long legs, he can cover a lot of ground
and with the abundance of man coverage they're likely to
see for the time being, that could be a dangerous
addition to the Kentucky offense. Absolutely, yeah.
Speaker 4 (28:47):
And it's the fact that his release is quicker than
it looks like it's going to be really helps him.
Like there are a couple of times that looked like
he's going to get drilled in this last game, but
he was able to quickly get the ball out with
a different arm angle or just the ball just comes
out quicker than you think it's going to. But the
(29:08):
big thing about staying in the pocket is it leaves
the entire field open. And when Calzada was rolling out,
rolling out, flushing out of the pocket, you know it
that turns into you running towards the sideline and kind
of lofting it out of bounds, and when there's not
a lot of separation. But you saw Boldley take advantage
of off schedule plays and he really pushed it down
(29:30):
the field. That that long ball that he has is
a singular gift, and I think I think that'll carry.
It might be every week, but he's always throwing a
good deep ball. And the question was he going to
be a spark plug or was he going to be
a solution, you know, like Barker they tried at the
end of the twenty fifteen season when things weren't working.
But I think he just has some natural throwing ability
(29:51):
that does give him some potential for the future.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
I have thought coming into the season, I can't remember
for you and I talked about this that there might
be some similarities for this team on the offensive side
and the twenty sixteen group because of the strength of
the running game, yeah, and an emerging offensive line at
that time. And then also the fact that I remember
(30:15):
saying it reminded me of the Oakland Raiders from the
late sixties and seventies. Going way back when they had
a quarterback named Darryl Monica that they called the Mad
Bomber and he had two white outs. You know. Basically,
they had a power running game complimented by a great
deep passing game and maybe they could be the how
this team develops offensively.
Speaker 4 (30:36):
Yeah, and that's really what they what they look like
they could be. The tight end involvement has been the
best part of Hamden's second year, so for Hamden two
point zero, the involvement of the tight ends. So either
Marrow left him with some good players, or Shay is
doing a great job developing those guys, or some combination
(30:58):
of both. And but I think that'll be an emphasis
as well. I think that their their usage of the
tight end shows you that they came into the season
maybe not overly confident with the wide receiver room, and
they're going to ultimately have to get those guys more involved.
But I mean, at Kentucky, it's going to be really
hard to replace two receivers like the ones they lost
(31:21):
from the transfer portal. But but yeah, those tight ends
have had a fantastic scene. Their last game against Eastern
Mission was the highest graded Pro Football Focus game for
Kentucky's tight ends in the Mark Stubes era, really that
was very, very strong. It was both Caddis and Willie
Rodriguez had outstanding games.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
You know, Caddis and Willy I think are showing that
they have the potential of, you know, being guys that
could play at the next level. And if you're looking
at you know, the offensive side or you know, if
you're kind of if your coach trying to come with
a game plan, not the worst place to start by
getting the kind of making the part of the main
(31:59):
focus the guys that are your future NFL players. And
you know, last year we'd have been guys like Key
and Brown, but this year it's maybe the tight ends and.
Speaker 4 (32:10):
What you really have would Cutter is a quarterback who
really likes throwing to those guys. He really likes lofting
it up. The guys are a big catch radius that
it doesn't look like their separation, but those contested balls
that you saw that Katis was ripping them down against
smaller defensive backs. And Henry Boyer, to his credit, has
(32:30):
played as much as he's played in his college career
and he's been in on some of the biggest blocks
and running plays that they have had, and I think
the guards maybe a little stronger than the tackle play
for Kentucky, but you don't see that because the tight
ends or are blocking really well too. And Boyer would
have had a touchdown if they hadn't blown to play
dead mid play really against Eastern Michigan. And so it'll
(32:54):
be interesting to see what mckel skinner does coming along
in the offense, because you know, he was right there
on the Dutch chart or close to being on it,
I think. And he's a great receiving threat, so that'll
be interesting too.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
Yeah, nice if he could come along, because he's a
little bit of a hybrid, more like a Jacob Tamming
type of hybrid now tight end wide out guy. Yeah,
it could be interesting to see how it goes for
Cutter at South Carolina because one would think for a
team like Eastern Michigan that was really struggling defensively, when
teams struggle, coaches simplify things, and down at South Carolina,
(33:30):
Cutter one up against an SEC defense that had its
way with Kentucky last season. They will throw everything they
can think of to throw at him in terms of
looks and disguises. Yes, that's right.
Speaker 4 (33:43):
And you know we've seen Kentucky go to South Carolina
before when it's kind of a fifty to fifty game,
or we know it's a big one and there's like
a big tome setting play early in the game, maybe
like South Carolina picks off a pass or they have
a big kickoff return or receiver takes a big game,
And it's come down to how does Kentucky respond to
(34:03):
those big momentum plays in that stadium early in the game.
Do they settle into their kind of game or do
they find themselves behind the eight ball and playing an
uncomfortable game. And so it's going to be huge on
the offensive line against South Carolina. And the offensive line
has been great in protection against two mac teams, a
little bit less great in protection against old mess So
(34:25):
it'll be their biggest sets of the season.
Speaker 1 (34:27):
As well. I did see Leonora Sellars. He's listed questionable
on the first availability report for South Carolina for their
game at Missouri. So we will see how it looks
as the next couple of days play out. Justin, as always,
thanks for the time. Thanks a lot of that is
Justin Rowland Katz illustrated on the on three Network. Interesting
(34:51):
note there from the Pro Football Focus analysis of the
play of the Kentucky tight end group in the win
over Eastern Michigan, and those guys will be a crucial
element to what Kentucky can do against South Carolina. You know,
thinking back to last season, Willie Rodriguez was just a freshman,
(35:12):
so he wasn't as much in the rotation at that time.
Boyer wasn't here. They have a dingle who's down at
South Carolina now, but the tight ends might be a
real crucial piece, not only as pass catchers but as
blockers against South Carolina and those defensive ends next weekend.
(35:34):
Summer's slowing down. That means harvest season is about here
for the folks at Cornbread. Hemp plants have been growing
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(36:18):
and all products are third party lab tested for safety
and purity. At Cornbread Hemp We'll be right back. Stay while.
Cat History is presented by Kentucky road Show Sports Cards
and Memorabilia on Romedy Road here in Lexington and at
roadshowcards dot Com. Nineteen ninety nine, This day, Kentucky went
up to Indiana beat the Hoosiers forty four to thirty five.
James Whalen had his first one hundred yard receiving game
(36:38):
ten catches for one hundred and twenty one yards on
passes from Dusty Bonner as Whalem will go on to
be a first team All American at tied end with
ninety receptions that season. Happy birthdays to former Kentucky point
guard Dicky Beal, to former Kentucky QB Shane Boyd, and
to former Kentucky men's basketball coach Rick Patino, all sharing
(37:00):
a birthday today. Shufflebean coffee is the official coffee of
Rapparita and the KFC Young Center, and it can be
your official coffee for your home by picking some up
at a central Kentucky Myers store, ordering it through Amazon,
or going to the company's website Shufflebean dot us and
you can order the products there and you can also
(37:21):
read a little bit more about the company. Group of
Kentuckians started it based right here in the Bluegrass, Committed
to excellence when it comes to making a great cup
of coffee, starts with the best of coffee beans. Shuffleban
Coffee has their plan down and they are executing a
day in and day out, So give them a try.
Thanks for giving us a try today, We'll see you tomorrow.
To close out the week here on the Leach Report
(37:42):
presented by Bobcat Enterprises
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