Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good everybody will welcome into the Leads Reports.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Happy to have you on board.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
For another week of UK sports conversations, presented as always
by Bobcat Enterprises. It's Shuffle being Coffee Monday morning, Quarterback
Day with Van Hiles and we'll lead off with Van
and we'll do the first half of the show with him.
Second half, we're gonna bring in Ben Roberts since there's
no game to talk about from last weekend for the
(00:26):
football team, and we'll talk with Ben who covers Kentucky
e men's basketball for the Hair Leader here in Lexington.
So that's the lineup for today. Wildcat News of the Day,
always presented by to Sepees of Lexington. College basketball teams
get to increase their practice time as of you've yesterday,
(00:46):
twenty hours per week they get, and then about a
month from now, middle of October, a little less than
that maybe they will begin the regular in season practice
time rules that will will be in place throughout the season.
So it's just about to ramp up a bit, I
(01:07):
guess is the easiest overview for the Kentucky men's basketball
players ahead of the upcoming season. And gosh, Madnes's been
blue Man it's just two weeks from Saturday. South Carolina
has been installed as an early six and a half
point favorite for the football matchup in Columbia on Saturday.
The game Cocks lost in the other Columbia to Missouri
(01:28):
on Saturday night. Had to lead in the fourth quarter
I think it was twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen, and Missouri
came back and won. South Carolina drops to two and
two overall and zero to two, and the SEC coach
Shane Biemer said afterward, we have to look at everything schematically, personnel,
everything we're doing. So a little bit of a crisis
(01:49):
mode for the Game Cocks heading into this matchup with
Kentucky on Saturday night. And we will talk about all
of that as we get into a little football discussion
with Van Hiles here in just a bit. Kentucky volleyball
picked up a three to nothing sweep of Washington on Saturday.
Kentucky number six at the moment, but I would think
(02:10):
Mike might move up after that win at Louisville midweek.
Ava Hudson had twenty eight kills in that match on Saturday.
It's a three set record at UK and the first
time it's happened nationally since twenty nineteen. Links to the
stories that we talk about each day. You can find
those on the bud lightly Treport page at Tom leachky
(02:30):
dot com. Man Hiles join us when we come right back.
Our opening segments always presented by Giuseppes of Lexington. You
know the holidays, believe it or not or not that
far away. You may want to go ahead and get
on the books for some something at Giuseppes. Make your
plans to go to Open Table and pick a couple
of nights they get on the books for Giuseppes because
(02:52):
it's just a really special dining experience around a big
event day at Keeland, a UK game, just a birthday
and anniverse something you're celebrating.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Make it Giuseppees.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
It'll be special for you and your whole group. It's
the Leach Report and we will be right back with
Van Hiles. It's always a good day for an earth
Winding Fire, but especially on the day after the twenty
first night of September.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
We were on the air yesterday. We couldn't play yesterday.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
If you're a podcast listener, you're not hearing September by
Earth Wind and Fire but it got plenty of play
yesterday on social media, and I got to catch a
two hour special last night on Earth Wind and Fire
from the Hollywood Bowl.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
That was fantastic. Did all the hits.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Van Hiles joins us now for the Shuffle being Coffee
Monday Morning Quarterback Show, Earth Winding Fire Fan Van, Yes.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
No, that's the day after my mom's birthday, so yeah, wow, yeah, yes.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Me too.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
I had Derrick Ramsey on the show week and we
were talking afterward about a little bit about music. He's
I think just been to a concert up in Boston
on a trip and somehow we got onto Earth Wind
and Fire and I said, yeah, I was at a
concert at rupp Arena on New Year's Eve in nineteen
seventy seven to see earth Wind.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Derek said, I was at that concert.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Wow, that is crazy. Yeah, that was cool.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
They were fantastic. Then they are fantastic.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Now let's talk a little football then, as we get
back into game week mode with Kentucky going on the
road for the first time and it's an SEC game
at South Carolina, which is struggling a little bit right now,
and you know, in the preseason reading about the different
opponents South Carolina. The I think one of the question
(04:50):
marks was their offensive line and how was that going
to hold up? And it looks like that was a
legit question mark for the game Cocks, doesn't it.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
Yes, it is, and they have I think they've had
some injuries and I think that's that's a concern. Plus
I've said before introducing a new office of coordinator, that
is that is a big deal that people are not
mentioning more about. I think all that is causing issues
with just it's not causing issues like they don't have
(05:21):
the talent, but it's causing issues as as them carrying
on from last year, like moving Contee. That momentum that
they created last year, I think it was kind of
halted be because of this new office of coordinator.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Yeah, and clearly they have some issues. They have a
very good quarterback Sellers some reports say might be the
first quarterback taken in the draft, and he played really
well coming off that, you know, getting beat up a
little bit in their loss to Vanity. Whether it was
a concussion or not, I don't know if that was
ever really settled, but nevertheless, he came back through for
(05:55):
over three hundred yards.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
But he's getting hit a lot.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Yes, and I mean he is. As I said, he's
the Cam Newton of of this era right now. He's
a big quarterback who can handle that kind of abuse
because he's he's very he's a he's the tallest stature
thinker quarterback, has a great arm. He is he is
the engine of that offense. And if we can do
like all these other teams that have done Vandy South
(06:22):
Carolina minimized the run game and forced them to pass,
So then you can call a defense that that is
past oriented, and then that's when you can get an advantage.
You can put a little pressure on him because the
interior that old line is not very strong. I think
that's kind of our strength. With Housta and Grace and
and Sondras and those guys, I think if we can
force them to pass, hopefully we can create some pressure
(06:44):
and cause them to make a mistake, because he will,
he will make a mistake or two.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Missouri got to him for five sacks on Saturday. They
are last in the league and giving up sacks, and
Humphrey Grace coming in from South Dakota had some big
sack numbers.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
I'll be at at the.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
FCS level, But really speed is his game and and
he I'm sure lost a little of that with the
ankle injury he suffered in the opener. But I think
we saw it on the on the big play against
Eastern Michigan that he had the big sack. And he's
a guy that now if back to after this open date,
(07:25):
could be a real factor of the pass rush in
this game.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
Yes, and and it's gonna start with with Gusta and
Hayes if he's back of putting that pressure up the medal.
So now longing sell us a step up in the
pocket off find a windw to run. If we can
push the pocket, and then we can give those guys
on on a perimeter, maybe Steven Souls, maybe Green and
Olds who have a day too, because we need to
put pressure on them, make him make quick decisions and
(07:52):
maybe make a mistake. But Race and those guys are
going to be instrumental in us pulling off on hand
and cut a bowl his first roll game. So it's
going to be huge for us.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
And then on the other side, when Kentucky has the ball,
Missouri ran for two hundred and eighty seven yards, averaged
almost seven yards of carry in this game, and that
certainly matches up with what Kentucky would like to be
able to do.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
You know what, a Missouri actually almost played a Kentucky
type of game. They possessed the ball. I think the
first five they had for almost a whole first quarter
like those are that game kind of mimic what I
think what we want to do offensively. I think we
can we can replicate that and do a little bit
(08:37):
better than they did on defense because they gauge Sellers
a lot of big plays in the middle quarters, and
we can minim minimize those explosive plays because there were
some plays that sell Us left out on the field
because of pressure and he missed a couple of open guys.
And we can minimize their explosives and put pressure on
them and do what they and do it and Missouri
did on offense. I think we can have a very
(08:59):
good game and hopefully we can pull out that win
because it'll be big for us.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
We are talking with Van Hiles. It's at v Styles
seventeen on x and he and his former teammate Anthony
White have The Locker podcast on Wednesday nights at nine
Eastern on YouTube and other podcast platforms, and he joins
us here on Mondays for the Shuffle Being Coffee Monday
Morning Quarterback edition of The Leach Report, and we will
(09:23):
be right back and continue our conversation. Second half of
the show. Ben Roberts is.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Going to join us.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
We'll talk about the upcoming Kentucky men's basketball season and
story that Ben has out today about one on one
with Jaylen Low. It's all coming up here on The
Leach Report presented by Bobcat Enterprises. They have four locations
around Kentucky. So google Bobcat when you need to buy
or rent heavy equipment and they will have what you
need and fantastic service after the sale.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
They've been known for that since day one at Bobcat Enterprises.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Josh Katis Kentucky tight End on the Sunday Morning Sports
talk show yesterday here in the Lex scenes in market
and talking about the upcoming matchup at South Carolina on
Saturday night. And we're talking about that with Van Hiles
on our Shuffle Being Coffee Monday Morning Quarterback Show. We
talk a little bit about the big plays that have
hurt Kentucky when the team has the ball. Van you
(10:16):
played in the secondary here and at the next level.
What are you seeing in terms of what Kentucky needs
to do to get back to what has been its
norm for many years of limiting those big plays.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Yeah, is for an ole misgame. It's a tackle like
that's you have to tackle. All big plays came off
of yours after they catch. Other than that, I think
the defense have played well as far as the past explosives,
but it's usually I disciplined guys not being where they're
supposed to be when the type of defense we are
(10:50):
playing kind of like what I played when I was
at Kentucky is a zone oriented defense, which means guys
have eyes on quarterback and you have to break on
the ball and do your job when ball is thrown.
And this year we have been a little less than
what we did last year, though a little better than
last year. Is that our eye discipline is not slowly
clear as much as it should be when you play
its own defense, that is a big thing amy have
(11:13):
to tackle. If we do those things, then this defense
is good enough to prevent an expose to play this
defensive better than last year's defense, and last year defense
kind of did a good job of preventing it. For
the most part. We have to get back to that
level of great eye discipline during your assignment, and we
can make teams make mistakes anywhere when that drives. And
(11:33):
that's the that's the call. That's the name of the
game when you're playing that defense, is to make the
offense continue to snap the ball and they're gonna make
a mistake. And once they make a mistake and get
behind the chains, that's when you pounce on them.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
When it gets to the third down.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
Another there's some fans that get antsy because Kentucky Corners
aren't playing as tight as they would like. Uh is
that part of the scheme or do you see that
or is it something it could improve on or is
that part of what the way they're trying to play it?
And what do you see?
Speaker 3 (12:05):
Yes, that is the name of the game when you're
plan zon defense. If I mean I lived at nine yards,
I lived at nine yards on when I played defense,
I had eight picks. So I don't think that is
the reason why things are happening. And I don't think
I was ever labeled as soft. I think that was
one pa I was not labeled as. I don't think
(12:26):
people recognize that I that I had eight picks. I
had a lot of picks, but I was recognized as
being a physical player. I was secondary sometimes getting an
issue of we have a big cushion, and if you
have a big cushion, there's no there's no reason to
explore our backpedal. Since you have nine yards, slow your
back pedal, reach the quarterback, and you should be ablenna
(12:47):
break on any hits. I've gotten interceptions on five yard
hits playing nine yards off. It's the guys when they
get into that arena. It is far playing a corner
in this conference, you're always afraid of getting beat deep.
So therefore, or when you're playing on Saturdays, you are
trying to prevent and be deep. And that's why we hit.
We give up some things that we shouldn't. But if
(13:07):
we tackle, it's gonna limit plays to four yard games.
And if you limit hits the four yard games, quarterbacks
are not gonna want to throw that consistently throughout the game.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
They kind of get get bored with it.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
They get exactly and not only quarterbacks, offensive coordinator shit
get bored with it. So it is a thing and
not I would say this. There's no perfect defense, and
there's definitely no perfect coverage in football, so you gotta
give up something, and what are you gonna give up?
You're gonna give up the long throw because people. The
other thing is, even though it's a five yard hitch,
(13:42):
if the quarterbacks on the opposite hash, it's like a
thirty yard throw. It's a long throw. So playing at
nine yard is not too far it because you shoot
baby to react and make a tackle a possibly pick
it off if it's a bad throw. So it's a
thing of the corners have to do a good a
better job of reading a quarterback and getting a jump
on the ball, and that is the name of the game,
getting the jump on the ball when he plans own.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Kentucky is at thirty two percent in third down conversion
defense and that includes Ole Miss only going three for
thirteen against him, so the US have been solid in
that area. Let me ask you about you mentioned Cutter
Bowley that we expect he'll be the starter on Saturday.
It would be his first start on the road.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Now, he played.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
The second half down at Texas, got his baptism at
Florida in a mop up role, so he's played in
road environments, but this would be the first one that
again we expect he'll be the starter, that he would
be the starter from the first play. Is that a
lot different for a young quarterback from say his since
(14:48):
he's had the Texas experience.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
Yes, it's a big difference. One thing is the team
game plans against you for a whole week. The analysts
has been game planned for you for a couple of weeks.
That's a difference. The other thing is as a quarterback,
and I don't think Cutter is gonna have this issue
because it seems like he doesn't get twelve anyway. But
as a quarterback, it's you are taking a first nap
(15:12):
in your extra amp period. Now can you get in
a rhythm to harness that excitement to still make great
throws early in the game, because sometimes when young quarterbacks,
when they're totally amped up, if they don't start the game, well,
it's just snowballs. So hopefully he can harness that that
energy where it remain calm and be successful early. I
(15:36):
think that's a big thing for Bushes to find a
way to get him successful early so then he's not
pressing late. I think if we can be successful early,
then he can gain that confidence in that in that
in that swag that he has, and that can prolong
great plays out the great players of the great plays.
Because one thing goes downhill, as Sandstorm starts playing, it
(15:57):
can get small in there. So give him some confidence,
pros and we have a chance to be okay.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
You know you make that point.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
I went back before last week or two weeks ago,
when he was going to make his first start here
this year, second overall, and I went back to the
Louisville game where he got the chance to start last
year after that good second half of Texas.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
And he didn't play well.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
His numbers were not good, and I in watching that
he was missing everything high early, which suggested to me
he was what you're talking about. He was amped up
and got got off his game, maybe got in his
head a little bit. And you know, I would think
he'd be better for that experience with a second, with
the first start on the road, having been through that
(16:41):
experience a year ago, because it's gonna be a much
better team, much better defense than he saw from Eastern
Michigan exactly.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
And I hope so, you know, I don't know what
kind of quarterback he is, like some quarterbacks like myself,
I need to get hit once and then that kind
of had released that that that energy. I don't know
if he needs to throw a deep ball whatever. That
communication between him and Bush's is key for us to
be successful in this game. Is we got to start greaked.
(17:10):
We can start great, minimize that standstorm because those fans,
if you can get on them early, they can quiet
down a little bit. I mean, I know it was
thirty years ago when we did it, but if you
can get on them early, it can minimize that crowd noise.
And I don't know what we can do that. I
know the run game is important, but maybe cut him
(17:32):
might need a deep ball, see if that can calm
him down. But somehow we gotta find a way to
get him settled down and and so our offense can operate.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Smovie Man, Thank you much. Talk next Monday.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
Anytime MITCHI Bark comes to each day from the Clark's
Pump and Shop Studio, return refresh, refuel at Clark's, and
make sure you sign up for their Loyalty rewards program
so you can get discounts when you return to refuel
and dis counsel on items in their stores as well.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Ben Roberts joins us.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
He covers Kentucky men's basketball for the Lexington Herald Leader
Kentucky Sports dot Com as a story out a new
one at Kentucky sports dot Com after doing a sit
down one on one with Kentucky's new point guard Jalen
low so Ben, he was one of the more engaging
guys in the media sessions that UK basketball did with
(18:28):
their players over the course of the summer, and from
reading your article, sounds like you came away feeling that
you found a really interesting guy again to talk to.
Speaker 4 (18:39):
Yeah, he was no less engaging when I sat down
with him a few days ago. Yes, when he you know,
everybody on the team except for Yellowvich, who obviously wasn't
in town. I met with us two at a time
over the summer, and I apologize I do not I
did not get over to whoever was there with the
(19:00):
Jalen because you could not pull yourself away from me.
I had so many interesting things to say, and obviously,
as the you know, we all presume that the starting
point guard on this Kentucky team, I think he's going
to be something of a spokesman for this team throughout
the season. But yeah, I sat out with him Thursday
morning over the Craft Center and went over a lot
(19:22):
kind of about his history, but he also shed quite
a bit of light on this team and what he saw.
You know, he talked to us pretty early in summer practice,
so he kind of talked about what he saw over
those eight weeks kind of bonding off the court, and
then you know what he's seen these past two or
three weeks since they got back on campus.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
Coach Pope at some point, I can't remember which venue
he said this or which setting, but was talking about
Jalen Lowe as being a guy who wasn't afraid to
make other people.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
Mad as a leader.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
Yeah, and he the I've heard that from other others
around the program as well. He seems to be a
guy for whom the leadership role comes very easily.
Speaker 4 (20:09):
Yeah, we we talked about that, actually that particular quote.
Had heard that yet when I brought it up last
week to him, but he did not disagree, and he
knew that that was a compliment coming from coming from
Coach Pope. You know, he he he's the son of
a of a guy. If if you know you travel
(20:29):
on the AAU circuit, in the grassroots circuit, Marlon Lowe
is a name that that you probably know.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
You know, he's a he's.
Speaker 4 (20:36):
A fixture, uh, you know, coached a lot of teams,
been around a lot of teams, and knows a lot
of people. And as a result, his son has been
around a lot of a lot of famous players and
coaches from a very young age. And Jay when talked
about growing up in in Texas, you know, at Texas
basketball community, it's so big, the state's so big, and
(20:57):
there's so many you know, large city and in such
a large population, but it's a very tight knit group.
You find, uh when when you cover recruiting that everybody
seems to know everybody and that extends to guys like
Alvin Brooks and Michel McLain and you know a lot
of a lot of Texas ties on this Kentucky team.
So Jalen talked to her about being in the gym
(21:18):
with you know, his godfather's John Lucas, you know, former
number one NBA draft pick and a guy who's been
a mentor to to so many currents and and and
former NBA players. So he grew up around a whole
lot of basketball and as a point guard and as
a smart kid and and as obviously a very very
(21:38):
good player. You know, I think a lot was kind
of thrust upon him from an early age. And he
has certainly the type of personality to uh to accept that.
And and you know from watching others, know that you
can't always be mister nice guy when when when you're
the team leader, that you have to be a leader
and you have to keep guys on the same page
and get him on the right track. And and that's
(21:59):
what he came here to do.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
I have to ask him if he crossed paths with
one of my all time favorite Kentucky players, Dirk Minifield,
because Dirk did a lot of work with John Lucas. Uh,
so they give a cross pass at some point.
Speaker 4 (22:14):
Yeah, he didn't mention. He didn't mention Dirk, but he
he he dropped quite a few days when we were
talking about that aspect of of of coming up through those.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
Ranks in uh the story he could read this at
Kentucky sports dot com with Ben and his one on
one with Jalen Lowe. Jalen talked about wanting to come
to Kentucky for an opportunity to play with a lot
of other great players. He wasn't in that situation at
(22:45):
at pitt. I think Mark Pope, in one of his
interviews about Lowe, noted that Jalen took a a lot
of his shots, of a high percentage of shots were
bad shots because he was the circumstances he was in.
Somebody had to had to take it at the end
of a shot clock whatever. So Lowe was really looking
(23:06):
for a place where he wouldn't have to be doing
carrying all that load.
Speaker 4 (23:11):
Right, Yeah, And I mean he talks about this team
like a like a kid in the candy store. Basically
is the point guard, you know. He he specifically said
that he and Otega have really bonded both on the
court and off the court. They spend a lot of
time off the court together and then on the court.
It sounds like it's been those two and Brayden Hawthorne,
a freshman who I don't think is gonna play a
(23:31):
ton this season, but they have very high hopes for,
you know, in the future, and so it sounds like
that little group's been been playing a ton before. You know,
take a tweaked the tweak the foot late in the summer.
But yeah, he you know, when he goes down this lineup.
I mean, his his eyes just light up when he
(23:52):
talks about all of the different outlets that that you know,
his playmaking can can lead to points for you know,
one of the one of his big goals. I mean,
obviously you know when you talk to him about it,
he starts with national championship and team goals, but you
know that one of his goals is to prove to
these NBA decision makers that he can be an NBA
(24:13):
level point guard. And if you're going to be an
NBA level point guard, you're you're going to be playing
around a lot of other good players and really you
hope players that are better than you. So that's the
kind of situation he wanted to walk into. He knows
kind of what his rep was really more that second
year Pitt than the first because the first he was
(24:34):
around quite a few good players and then they had
a lot of turnover and basically everything just fell on
his shoulders in year two and he played thirty five
and a half minutes a game. It took fourteen shots,
and a lot of those shots, as you said, we
were you know, not maybe the best looks. So he's
he's really looking to turn the page on that and
(24:55):
get in a spot where you know, he cannot only
show people that that's not his game. He's not a
guy who's just out there chucking shots whenever he wants to.
He's a guy that's trying to help his team win.
And you know, I think he's looking forward to just
doing that a little bit differently this season than he
did last.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
Tom with Ben Roberts from the Lexington Herald Leader in
Kentucky Sports dot Com about his story on Jalen Low.
That's in the paper and online right now. You can
go find it and you can hang around for one
more segment with Ben when we come right back. It's
the Leech Report. It's presented by bobcat Enterprises a quarter
(25:33):
before the top of the hour. Leach Report presented by
bobcat Enterprises. As we visit with Ben Roberts, he covers
Kentucky men's basketball for the Lexington Harold Leader, talking to
him about this story he has up at Kentucky Sports
dot Com right now. It's the first one you'll see
if you go to the UK sports page. It's about
one on one he did last week with Jalen Low.
(25:53):
The Kentucky Point Gardner's a quote in here that's really interesting.
You can maybe elaborate a little bit on what Jay
was uh thinking here. He said, a lot of guys
have personal agendas and vendettas that they want to accomplish.
But when you have a whole team that's dedicated to winning,
it makes you feel a lot more confident. It makes
coming to work every day a little bit more fun.
(26:14):
And it sounds like he didn't have a very good
experience maybe last season to pit.
Speaker 4 (26:19):
Yeah, I mean he uh that wasn't a direct answer
to any question about Pitt or anything, but I probably
think it's fair to to read into it that way.
And and again, you know, he he played with some
really good players in year one, and you know his
usage was not nearly as high, and then just the
(26:40):
amount of turnover that that they had going into year two.
If you watched any of those games that it was
not a fun watch. It was. It was just not
a great situation, especially for the point guard to be in.
And I think he felt just like that if if
he couldn't get things done, they weren't gonna get done.
And on a team sport, in a five on five game,
(27:02):
that's usually not a great mentality to have to have,
especially when you're playing the type of high level competition
they were, you know, sometimes playing up there. But yeah,
I think he's found kind of the total opposite this
season again talking about I mean, he went down the
roster basically and said that, you know, there's you know,
(27:24):
some of these guys aren't going to play a ton
this season, I would imagine, because that would be impossible
given the numbers. But he said, there's fourteen guys who
can play at a very very high level on this team,
and it's going to be up to obviously Pope to
try to figure out how those rotations work, and it's
going to be up to Jalen to to put everybody
(27:44):
in the best situation. I don't think the quote made
the story, but he did talk about you know, I
kind of talked about asked him, but if that was
difficult as the point guard to have not only so
many quality players but so many different skill sets. You know,
you got a lot of guards, but none of them
are the same. You got a lot of six eleven
through seven to one guys, but none of them play
the same. So how to the point guard? How do
(28:06):
you how do you learn? How to get these guys
in the right situations, and he talked about it like
it was a positive, Like he he just loves watching highlights,
he loves watching them in practice, playing with them in practice,
and trying to figure this stuff out in these next
six weeks before the season opener six weeks from tomorrow,
he was really looking forward to that challenge of continuing
just to get everybody on the same page and kind
(28:28):
of sew it all into one unit.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
I G.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
It's really going to be interesting to see how this
all plays out because of just what you're talking about there,
with the depth of talent and the versatility of skills,
and you know, how do the minutes break down. I've
I've said several times I went back and looked at
the ninety six team that you know, different time in
(28:51):
college basketball. Those were all, you know, veteran guys, but
it was Mark Pope's championship team, and they ten guys
played in thirty four of the thirty six games. I
could see some kind of stat like that for this group.
Speaker 4 (29:08):
Yeah, I think as long as everybody stays healthy, that's
the way it's gonna be. And that's you know, we
didn't see it all of last season because of the injuries.
But he wants to play fast. He wants to play
as fast this season as he wanted to play last
season before everybody got hurt. And he's got the bodies
to do it. And don't I don't think they're gonna platoon,
(29:28):
and I don't think they're gonna full court press like
Patinos teams did, you know, as often as they did.
But he's gonna want to run, and he's gonna want
to use a bunch of different guys and a bunch
of different lineups. And I think depending on the matchup,
you might see different combinations, even in crunch time.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
You know.
Speaker 4 (29:48):
I was talking to some smart basketball people last week
who thought there might be situations where Jalen might not
be playing at the end of games and they might
go with the bigger wind up, with like an Aberdeen
O Way Cam Williams of the three type deal laid
in games if they feel like Denzel is that far
along as a one. So you know, they've got just
(30:10):
so many different looks they can go with. And I'll
go back to that first Alabama Kentucky matchup in roup
last season. It was such a great game and NATO's
called it a chess match after the game. Obviously two
of the I think two of the great minds in
college BASKETBUA right now, Oates and Pope. And I feel
like Pope's gonna have a lot of chess matches on
(30:31):
his hands because he's got so many interesting pieces, uh.
And he's gonna obviously have so much good competition that
he could really get creative over the course of the season.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
And in terms of what you're talking about playing fast,
it's again the current climate or where we are with
college basketball now, with the way teams that you'll want
to attack offensively, the full court press is maybe an
offensive term.
Speaker 4 (30:57):
Now, yeah, yes, absolutely, And you know, you you saw
that quite a bit when when things were clicking with uh,
with Pope's team last season. I mentioned Theydoes. You see
that with the way Alabama plays with a lot of
you know, these other teams that are you know, consistently
going deep in the tournament or consistently having good seasons
(31:17):
these past few years where college basketball has changed quite
a bit. Uh, they do that kind of stuff. And
and you know Pope has you know, he's got one
clear number one point guard. He's got a few guys
who can be a fill in behind Jalen Lowe but
wouldn't necessarily be categorized as point guards. But he's got
(31:38):
a whole lot of players on this team. I would
venture to say, basically everybody who could bring the ball
up the quarter, or who could push the ball up
the court, or you know, who could just get that
ball moving, either after a made basket or you know,
after a long rebound. And I think this team is
going to be really looking to run and and kind
of like how they did last season. They they certainly
(32:00):
have the personnel.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
To do it. T with Ben Roberts from the lexingon
Haroleader Kentucky sports dot Com, I got to ask you
about this Pope Pat Kelsey story around to take Anny recruitment.
I don't think you've done anything with it. I have,
I don't know if I've even mentioned it to this point,
but it seems to be the perfect internet driven sports
talk kind of story. It's juicy, there's no evidence of
(32:24):
any juice. Nobody's going to give you any details, but
it's the kind of hold the cat and call the
dog kind of story that works well for the sports
talking in the Internet.
Speaker 4 (32:37):
Yeah, no evidence of any juice would be the reason
I haven't done anything with it. But yeah, I mean,
you know, everybody's heard a little different thing about it.
I you know, it's interesting that it happened on the
on the front porch of a guy who's probably going
to neither school, so his camp's a little more free
to talk about what happened, or maybe even in bellish.
Speaker 3 (33:00):
To what happened.
Speaker 4 (33:00):
Then, yes, with no consequences, Yeah, then they might be
otherwise if you're you know, if you're leaving the state
and not not going to commit to either coach. But
you know, I think it uh, and I from what
I've heard, it doesn't quite go as far as as
a lot of the conjecture on the internet.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
Would I believe.
Speaker 4 (33:21):
Yeah, yeah, but I do think it does speak to
both to the competitiveness level, if you didn't know it already,
of both Mark Pope and Pat Kelsey, and as nice
as they've played over the first twelve eighteen months or
how long they've both been employed at these schools, I
(33:41):
do think in their heart of hearts, they would love
to be best friends and continue on and be worst
enemies for two and a half hours and November or
December every year and be best friends after that. But
I think, as we always find with this rivalry, that
that becomes impossible at a point. And I do think
they'll they'll try to keep things, you know, they'll they'll
(34:06):
try to keep great relations for as long as they're here,
But I do think that's difficult when you have the
fan bases and the Internet and social media and all
that thrown together.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
There was never any scenario which there could have been
a Coach Patino and Coach Cal version of the joe
By and Denny Show. But maybe someday Mark Pope and
Pat Kelsey could revive the joe By and Denny Show.
Speaker 4 (34:29):
I think that would be about a four hour episode
every every show. I mean, Joby and Denny could could
certainly get off topic and uh and and and talk
quite a bit. But Pat and Mark those could be marathons.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
Oh it's uh fun to imagine. Ben.
Speaker 1 (34:49):
Thank you for the time and for catching up the
story with the Jala. You can find it at Kentucky
sports dot com and in the Lexington Harold Leader right now,
Ben Roberts, thank.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
You much, all right, thanks a lot onme at Ben
Roberts HL on X.
Speaker 1 (35:03):
It is the Leech Report, presented each day by Bobcat Enterprises.
Speaker 2 (35:08):
We'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
Let's talk about Shuffle Being Coffee four minutes, the official
coffee of rapp Arena as well as the KFC Young
Center and a lot of Lexington restaurants too. And you
can make it the official coffee of your home by
picking some up today at a central Kentucky Myers store
or ordering through Amazon or through the company's website Shufflebean
dot us. This is a company based here in Kentucky,
(35:31):
formed by Kentuckians with a commitment to making the very
best cup of coffee. Starts with the best of coffee beans,
and they have hit their mark with Shuffle Being Coffee.
So put some hustle in your shuffle today with Shufflebing Coffee.
This Stan Wildcat History nineteen ninety eight, Keith Bogan's committed
to play for Tubby Smith and it worked out really well.
(35:53):
Keith's one of the all time greats for the Wildcats.
And on this day in two thousand and seven, Kentucky
went out to Arkansas beat the Hall for twenty nine.
It's kind of the breakout game for Derek Locke in
the fourth quarter, they turned to him to help get
the running game to run out the clock, and he
came through and went onto a fantastic career with the Wildcats.
(36:13):
Kentucky Roads Show Sports Cards and Memorabilia presenting our Wildcat
history notes there on Romedy Road here in Lexington at
a roadshowcards dot Com. Happy birthday to Cary Johnson today
and a belated happy birthday to the goose Jack Gibbons
who celebrated yesterday. Corn Brad Hemp is one of our
great partners here on the Leech Report, and with fall
(36:34):
officially here now, it means it's time to get cozy
and what better way to do that with the with
some corn Bread Hemp products. They're infused Seltzer's to help
you celebrate on game day. They're sleep gummies for a deep,
restorative sleep. They're infused gummies in the new cherry lime
chill flavor that's been so popular. Or they're oils and topicals.
When this cooler weather has you feeling a little stiff
in the joints, perfect time to try something or grab
(36:57):
something new from corn Bredamp. And for a limited time
you get to twenty percent off their site when you
put in the word cozy at checkout. That said cornbreadhamp
dot com put in the word cozy at checkout, You'll
get twenty percent off everything at their site. All Kentucky
grown hemp and third party lab tested for safety and
purity at cornbreadhamp dot com. Keelan yearling sale wrapped up
(37:19):
on Saturday. Sales of over five hundred and thirty one
million dollars of year links and it's the highest ever
at any thoroughbred auction. Kentucky women Soccer a one nil
win over Missouri. Gabby Barretto a goal in the eighty
ninth minute to win it for Kentucky. Adallod for us
see tomorrow on the lead report presented by Bob Kat
Enterprises
Good everybody will welcome into the Leads Reports.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Happy to have you on board.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
For another week of UK sports conversations, presented as always
by Bobcat Enterprises. It's Shuffle being Coffee Monday morning, Quarterback
Day with Van Hiles and we'll lead off with Van
and we'll do the first half of the show with him.
Second half, we're gonna bring in Ben Roberts since there's
no game to talk about from last weekend for the
(00:26):
football team, and we'll talk with Ben who covers Kentucky
e men's basketball for the Hair Leader here in Lexington.
So that's the lineup for today. Wildcat News of the Day,
always presented by to Sepees of Lexington. College basketball teams
get to increase their practice time as of you've yesterday,
(00:46):
twenty hours per week they get, and then about a
month from now, middle of October, a little less than
that maybe they will begin the regular in season practice
time rules that will will be in place throughout the season.
So it's just about to ramp up a bit, I
(01:07):
guess is the easiest overview for the Kentucky men's basketball
players ahead of the upcoming season. And gosh, Madnes's been
blue Man it's just two weeks from Saturday. South Carolina
has been installed as an early six and a half
point favorite for the football matchup in Columbia on Saturday.
The game Cocks lost in the other Columbia to Missouri
(01:28):
on Saturday night. Had to lead in the fourth quarter
I think it was twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen, and Missouri
came back and won. South Carolina drops to two and
two overall and zero to two, and the SEC coach
Shane Biemer said afterward, we have to look at everything schematically, personnel,
everything we're doing. So a little bit of a crisis
(01:49):
mode for the Game Cocks heading into this matchup with
Kentucky on Saturday night. And we will talk about all
of that as we get into a little football discussion
with Van Hiles here in just a bit. Kentucky volleyball
picked up a three to nothing sweep of Washington on Saturday.
Kentucky number six at the moment, but I would think
(02:10):
Mike might move up after that win at Louisville midweek.
Ava Hudson had twenty eight kills in that match on Saturday.
It's a three set record at UK and the first
time it's happened nationally since twenty nineteen. Links to the
stories that we talk about each day. You can find
those on the bud lightly Treport page at Tom leachky
(02:30):
dot com. Man Hiles join us when we come right back.
Our opening segments always presented by Giuseppes of Lexington. You
know the holidays, believe it or not or not that
far away. You may want to go ahead and get
on the books for some something at Giuseppes. Make your
plans to go to Open Table and pick a couple
of nights they get on the books for Giuseppes because
(02:52):
it's just a really special dining experience around a big
event day at Keeland, a UK game, just a birthday
and anniverse something you're celebrating.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Make it Giuseppees.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
It'll be special for you and your whole group. It's
the Leach Report and we will be right back with
Van Hiles. It's always a good day for an earth
Winding Fire, but especially on the day after the twenty
first night of September.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
We were on the air yesterday. We couldn't play yesterday.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
If you're a podcast listener, you're not hearing September by
Earth Wind and Fire but it got plenty of play
yesterday on social media, and I got to catch a
two hour special last night on Earth Wind and Fire
from the Hollywood Bowl.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
That was fantastic. Did all the hits.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Van Hiles joins us now for the Shuffle being Coffee
Monday Morning Quarterback Show, Earth Winding Fire Fan Van, Yes.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
No, that's the day after my mom's birthday, so yeah, wow, yeah, yes.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Me too.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
I had Derrick Ramsey on the show week and we
were talking afterward about a little bit about music. He's
I think just been to a concert up in Boston
on a trip and somehow we got onto Earth Wind
and Fire and I said, yeah, I was at a
concert at rupp Arena on New Year's Eve in nineteen
seventy seven to see earth Wind.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Derek said, I was at that concert.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Wow, that is crazy. Yeah, that was cool.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
They were fantastic. Then they are fantastic.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Now let's talk a little football then, as we get
back into game week mode with Kentucky going on the
road for the first time and it's an SEC game
at South Carolina, which is struggling a little bit right now,
and you know, in the preseason reading about the different
opponents South Carolina. The I think one of the question
(04:50):
marks was their offensive line and how was that going
to hold up? And it looks like that was a
legit question mark for the game Cocks, doesn't it.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
Yes, it is, and they have I think they've had
some injuries and I think that's that's a concern. Plus
I've said before introducing a new office of coordinator, that
is that is a big deal that people are not
mentioning more about. I think all that is causing issues
with just it's not causing issues like they don't have
(05:21):
the talent, but it's causing issues as as them carrying
on from last year, like moving Contee. That momentum that
they created last year, I think it was kind of
halted be because of this new office of coordinator.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Yeah, and clearly they have some issues. They have a
very good quarterback Sellers some reports say might be the
first quarterback taken in the draft, and he played really
well coming off that, you know, getting beat up a
little bit in their loss to Vanity. Whether it was
a concussion or not, I don't know if that was
ever really settled, but nevertheless, he came back through for
(05:55):
over three hundred yards.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
But he's getting hit a lot.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Yes, and I mean he is. As I said, he's
the Cam Newton of of this era right now. He's
a big quarterback who can handle that kind of abuse
because he's he's very he's a he's the tallest stature
thinker quarterback, has a great arm. He is he is
the engine of that offense. And if we can do
like all these other teams that have done Vandy South
(06:22):
Carolina minimized the run game and forced them to pass,
So then you can call a defense that that is
past oriented, and then that's when you can get an advantage.
You can put a little pressure on him because the
interior that old line is not very strong. I think
that's kind of our strength. With Housta and Grace and
and Sondras and those guys, I think if we can
force them to pass, hopefully we can create some pressure
(06:44):
and cause them to make a mistake, because he will,
he will make a mistake or two.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Missouri got to him for five sacks on Saturday. They
are last in the league and giving up sacks, and
Humphrey Grace coming in from South Dakota had some big
sack numbers.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
I'll be at at the.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
FCS level, But really speed is his game and and
he I'm sure lost a little of that with the
ankle injury he suffered in the opener. But I think
we saw it on the on the big play against
Eastern Michigan that he had the big sack. And he's
a guy that now if back to after this open date,
(07:25):
could be a real factor of the pass rush in
this game.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
Yes, and and it's gonna start with with Gusta and
Hayes if he's back of putting that pressure up the medal.
So now longing sell us a step up in the
pocket off find a windw to run. If we can
push the pocket, and then we can give those guys
on on a perimeter, maybe Steven Souls, maybe Green and
Olds who have a day too, because we need to
put pressure on them, make him make quick decisions and
(07:52):
maybe make a mistake. But Race and those guys are
going to be instrumental in us pulling off on hand
and cut a bowl his first roll game. So it's
going to be huge for us.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
And then on the other side, when Kentucky has the ball,
Missouri ran for two hundred and eighty seven yards, averaged
almost seven yards of carry in this game, and that
certainly matches up with what Kentucky would like to be
able to do.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
You know what, a Missouri actually almost played a Kentucky
type of game. They possessed the ball. I think the
first five they had for almost a whole first quarter
like those are that game kind of mimic what I
think what we want to do offensively. I think we
can we can replicate that and do a little bit
(08:37):
better than they did on defense because they gauge Sellers
a lot of big plays in the middle quarters, and
we can minim minimize those explosive plays because there were
some plays that sell Us left out on the field
because of pressure and he missed a couple of open guys.
And we can minimize their explosives and put pressure on
them and do what they and do it and Missouri
did on offense. I think we can have a very
(08:59):
good game and hopefully we can pull out that win
because it'll be big for us.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
We are talking with Van Hiles. It's at v Styles
seventeen on x and he and his former teammate Anthony
White have The Locker podcast on Wednesday nights at nine
Eastern on YouTube and other podcast platforms, and he joins
us here on Mondays for the Shuffle Being Coffee Monday
Morning Quarterback edition of The Leach Report, and we will
(09:23):
be right back and continue our conversation. Second half of
the show. Ben Roberts is.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Going to join us.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
We'll talk about the upcoming Kentucky men's basketball season and
story that Ben has out today about one on one
with Jaylen Low. It's all coming up here on The
Leach Report presented by Bobcat Enterprises. They have four locations
around Kentucky. So google Bobcat when you need to buy
or rent heavy equipment and they will have what you
need and fantastic service after the sale.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
They've been known for that since day one at Bobcat Enterprises.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Josh Katis Kentucky tight End on the Sunday Morning Sports
talk show yesterday here in the Lex scenes in market
and talking about the upcoming matchup at South Carolina on
Saturday night. And we're talking about that with Van Hiles
on our Shuffle Being Coffee Monday Morning Quarterback Show. We
talk a little bit about the big plays that have
hurt Kentucky when the team has the ball. Van you
(10:16):
played in the secondary here and at the next level.
What are you seeing in terms of what Kentucky needs
to do to get back to what has been its
norm for many years of limiting those big plays.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Yeah, is for an ole misgame. It's a tackle like
that's you have to tackle. All big plays came off
of yours after they catch. Other than that, I think
the defense have played well as far as the past explosives,
but it's usually I disciplined guys not being where they're
supposed to be when the type of defense we are
(10:50):
playing kind of like what I played when I was
at Kentucky is a zone oriented defense, which means guys
have eyes on quarterback and you have to break on
the ball and do your job when ball is thrown.
And this year we have been a little less than
what we did last year, though a little better than
last year. Is that our eye discipline is not slowly
clear as much as it should be when you play
its own defense, that is a big thing amy have
(11:13):
to tackle. If we do those things, then this defense
is good enough to prevent an expose to play this
defensive better than last year's defense, and last year defense
kind of did a good job of preventing it. For
the most part. We have to get back to that
level of great eye discipline during your assignment, and we
can make teams make mistakes anywhere when that drives. And
(11:33):
that's the that's the call. That's the name of the
game when you're playing that defense, is to make the
offense continue to snap the ball and they're gonna make
a mistake. And once they make a mistake and get
behind the chains, that's when you pounce on them.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
When it gets to the third down.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
Another there's some fans that get antsy because Kentucky Corners
aren't playing as tight as they would like. Uh is
that part of the scheme or do you see that
or is it something it could improve on or is
that part of what the way they're trying to play it?
And what do you see?
Speaker 3 (12:05):
Yes, that is the name of the game when you're
plan zon defense. If I mean I lived at nine yards,
I lived at nine yards on when I played defense,
I had eight picks. So I don't think that is
the reason why things are happening. And I don't think
I was ever labeled as soft. I think that was
one pa I was not labeled as. I don't think
(12:26):
people recognize that I that I had eight picks. I
had a lot of picks, but I was recognized as
being a physical player. I was secondary sometimes getting an
issue of we have a big cushion, and if you
have a big cushion, there's no there's no reason to
explore our backpedal. Since you have nine yards, slow your
back pedal, reach the quarterback, and you should be ablenna
(12:47):
break on any hits. I've gotten interceptions on five yard
hits playing nine yards off. It's the guys when they
get into that arena. It is far playing a corner
in this conference, you're always afraid of getting beat deep.
So therefore, or when you're playing on Saturdays, you are
trying to prevent and be deep. And that's why we hit.
We give up some things that we shouldn't. But if
(13:07):
we tackle, it's gonna limit plays to four yard games.
And if you limit hits the four yard games, quarterbacks
are not gonna want to throw that consistently throughout the game.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
They kind of get get bored with it.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
They get exactly and not only quarterbacks, offensive coordinator shit
get bored with it. So it is a thing and
not I would say this. There's no perfect defense, and
there's definitely no perfect coverage in football, so you gotta
give up something, and what are you gonna give up?
You're gonna give up the long throw because people. The
other thing is, even though it's a five yard hitch,
(13:42):
if the quarterbacks on the opposite hash, it's like a
thirty yard throw. It's a long throw. So playing at
nine yard is not too far it because you shoot
baby to react and make a tackle a possibly pick
it off if it's a bad throw. So it's a
thing of the corners have to do a good a
better job of reading a quarterback and getting a jump
on the ball, and that is the name of the game,
getting the jump on the ball when he plans own.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Kentucky is at thirty two percent in third down conversion
defense and that includes Ole Miss only going three for
thirteen against him, so the US have been solid in
that area. Let me ask you about you mentioned Cutter
Bowley that we expect he'll be the starter on Saturday.
It would be his first start on the road.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Now, he played.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
The second half down at Texas, got his baptism at
Florida in a mop up role, so he's played in
road environments, but this would be the first one that
again we expect he'll be the starter, that he would
be the starter from the first play. Is that a
lot different for a young quarterback from say his since
(14:48):
he's had the Texas experience.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
Yes, it's a big difference. One thing is the team
game plans against you for a whole week. The analysts
has been game planned for you for a couple of weeks.
That's a difference. The other thing is as a quarterback,
and I don't think Cutter is gonna have this issue
because it seems like he doesn't get twelve anyway. But
as a quarterback, it's you are taking a first nap
(15:12):
in your extra amp period. Now can you get in
a rhythm to harness that excitement to still make great
throws early in the game, because sometimes when young quarterbacks,
when they're totally amped up, if they don't start the game, well,
it's just snowballs. So hopefully he can harness that that
energy where it remain calm and be successful early. I
(15:36):
think that's a big thing for Bushes to find a
way to get him successful early so then he's not
pressing late. I think if we can be successful early,
then he can gain that confidence in that in that
in that swag that he has, and that can prolong
great plays out the great players of the great plays.
Because one thing goes downhill, as Sandstorm starts playing, it
(15:57):
can get small in there. So give him some confidence,
pros and we have a chance to be okay.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
You know you make that point.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
I went back before last week or two weeks ago,
when he was going to make his first start here
this year, second overall, and I went back to the
Louisville game where he got the chance to start last
year after that good second half of Texas.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
And he didn't play well.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
His numbers were not good, and I in watching that
he was missing everything high early, which suggested to me
he was what you're talking about. He was amped up
and got got off his game, maybe got in his
head a little bit. And you know, I would think
he'd be better for that experience with a second, with
the first start on the road, having been through that
(16:41):
experience a year ago, because it's gonna be a much
better team, much better defense than he saw from Eastern
Michigan exactly.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
And I hope so, you know, I don't know what
kind of quarterback he is, like some quarterbacks like myself,
I need to get hit once and then that kind
of had released that that that energy. I don't know
if he needs to throw a deep ball whatever. That
communication between him and Bush's is key for us to
be successful in this game. Is we got to start greaked.
(17:10):
We can start great, minimize that standstorm because those fans,
if you can get on them early, they can quiet
down a little bit. I mean, I know it was
thirty years ago when we did it, but if you
can get on them early, it can minimize that crowd noise.
And I don't know what we can do that. I
know the run game is important, but maybe cut him
(17:32):
might need a deep ball, see if that can calm
him down. But somehow we gotta find a way to
get him settled down and and so our offense can operate.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Smovie Man, Thank you much. Talk next Monday.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
Anytime MITCHI Bark comes to each day from the Clark's
Pump and Shop Studio, return refresh, refuel at Clark's, and
make sure you sign up for their Loyalty rewards program
so you can get discounts when you return to refuel
and dis counsel on items in their stores as well.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Ben Roberts joins us.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
He covers Kentucky men's basketball for the Lexington Herald Leader
Kentucky Sports dot Com as a story out a new
one at Kentucky sports dot Com after doing a sit
down one on one with Kentucky's new point guard Jalen
low so Ben, he was one of the more engaging
guys in the media sessions that UK basketball did with
(18:28):
their players over the course of the summer, and from
reading your article, sounds like you came away feeling that
you found a really interesting guy again to talk to.
Speaker 4 (18:39):
Yeah, he was no less engaging when I sat down
with him a few days ago. Yes, when he you know,
everybody on the team except for Yellowvich, who obviously wasn't
in town. I met with us two at a time
over the summer, and I apologize I do not I
did not get over to whoever was there with the
(19:00):
Jalen because you could not pull yourself away from me.
I had so many interesting things to say, and obviously,
as the you know, we all presume that the starting
point guard on this Kentucky team, I think he's going
to be something of a spokesman for this team throughout
the season. But yeah, I sat out with him Thursday
morning over the Craft Center and went over a lot
(19:22):
kind of about his history, but he also shed quite
a bit of light on this team and what he saw.
You know, he talked to us pretty early in summer practice,
so he kind of talked about what he saw over
those eight weeks kind of bonding off the court, and
then you know what he's seen these past two or
three weeks since they got back on campus.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
Coach Pope at some point, I can't remember which venue
he said this or which setting, but was talking about
Jalen Lowe as being a guy who wasn't afraid to
make other people.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
Mad as a leader.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
Yeah, and he the I've heard that from other others
around the program as well. He seems to be a
guy for whom the leadership role comes very easily.
Speaker 4 (20:09):
Yeah, we we talked about that, actually that particular quote.
Had heard that yet when I brought it up last
week to him, but he did not disagree, and he
knew that that was a compliment coming from coming from
Coach Pope. You know, he he he's the son of
a of a guy. If if you know you travel
(20:29):
on the AAU circuit, in the grassroots circuit, Marlon Lowe
is a name that that you probably know.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
You know, he's a he's.
Speaker 4 (20:36):
A fixture, uh, you know, coached a lot of teams,
been around a lot of teams, and knows a lot
of people. And as a result, his son has been
around a lot of a lot of famous players and
coaches from a very young age. And Jay when talked
about growing up in in Texas, you know, at Texas
basketball community, it's so big, the state's so big, and
(20:57):
there's so many you know, large city and in such
a large population, but it's a very tight knit group.
You find, uh when when you cover recruiting that everybody
seems to know everybody and that extends to guys like
Alvin Brooks and Michel McLain and you know a lot
of a lot of Texas ties on this Kentucky team.
So Jalen talked to her about being in the gym
(21:18):
with you know, his godfather's John Lucas, you know, former
number one NBA draft pick and a guy who's been
a mentor to to so many currents and and and
former NBA players. So he grew up around a whole
lot of basketball and as a point guard and as
a smart kid and and as obviously a very very
(21:38):
good player. You know, I think a lot was kind
of thrust upon him from an early age. And he
has certainly the type of personality to uh to accept that.
And and you know from watching others, know that you
can't always be mister nice guy when when when you're
the team leader, that you have to be a leader
and you have to keep guys on the same page
and get him on the right track. And and that's
(21:59):
what he came here to do.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
I have to ask him if he crossed paths with
one of my all time favorite Kentucky players, Dirk Minifield,
because Dirk did a lot of work with John Lucas. Uh,
so they give a cross pass at some point.
Speaker 4 (22:14):
Yeah, he didn't mention. He didn't mention Dirk, but he
he he dropped quite a few days when we were
talking about that aspect of of of coming up through those.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
Ranks in uh the story he could read this at
Kentucky sports dot com with Ben and his one on
one with Jalen Lowe. Jalen talked about wanting to come
to Kentucky for an opportunity to play with a lot
of other great players. He wasn't in that situation at
(22:45):
at pitt. I think Mark Pope, in one of his
interviews about Lowe, noted that Jalen took a a lot
of his shots, of a high percentage of shots were
bad shots because he was the circumstances he was in.
Somebody had to had to take it at the end
of a shot clock whatever. So Lowe was really looking
(23:06):
for a place where he wouldn't have to be doing
carrying all that load.
Speaker 4 (23:11):
Right, Yeah, And I mean he talks about this team
like a like a kid in the candy store. Basically
is the point guard, you know. He he specifically said
that he and Otega have really bonded both on the
court and off the court. They spend a lot of
time off the court together and then on the court.
It sounds like it's been those two and Brayden Hawthorne,
a freshman who I don't think is gonna play a
(23:31):
ton this season, but they have very high hopes for,
you know, in the future, and so it sounds like
that little group's been been playing a ton before. You know,
take a tweaked the tweak the foot late in the summer.
But yeah, he you know, when he goes down this lineup.
I mean, his his eyes just light up when he
(23:52):
talks about all of the different outlets that that you know,
his playmaking can can lead to points for you know,
one of the one of his big goals. I mean,
obviously you know when you talk to him about it,
he starts with national championship and team goals, but you
know that one of his goals is to prove to
these NBA decision makers that he can be an NBA
(24:13):
level point guard. And if you're going to be an
NBA level point guard, you're you're going to be playing
around a lot of other good players and really you
hope players that are better than you. So that's the
kind of situation he wanted to walk into. He knows
kind of what his rep was really more that second
year Pitt than the first because the first he was
(24:34):
around quite a few good players and then they had
a lot of turnover and basically everything just fell on
his shoulders in year two and he played thirty five
and a half minutes a game. It took fourteen shots,
and a lot of those shots, as you said, we
were you know, not maybe the best looks. So he's
he's really looking to turn the page on that and
(24:55):
get in a spot where you know, he cannot only
show people that that's not his game. He's not a
guy who's just out there chucking shots whenever he wants to.
He's a guy that's trying to help his team win.
And you know, I think he's looking forward to just
doing that a little bit differently this season than he
did last.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
Tom with Ben Roberts from the Lexington Herald Leader in
Kentucky Sports dot Com about his story on Jalen Low.
That's in the paper and online right now. You can
go find it and you can hang around for one
more segment with Ben when we come right back. It's
the Leech Report. It's presented by bobcat Enterprises a quarter
(25:33):
before the top of the hour. Leach Report presented by
bobcat Enterprises. As we visit with Ben Roberts, he covers
Kentucky men's basketball for the Lexington Harold Leader, talking to
him about this story he has up at Kentucky Sports
dot Com right now. It's the first one you'll see
if you go to the UK sports page. It's about
one on one he did last week with Jalen Low.
(25:53):
The Kentucky Point Gardner's a quote in here that's really interesting.
You can maybe elaborate a little bit on what Jay
was uh thinking here. He said, a lot of guys
have personal agendas and vendettas that they want to accomplish.
But when you have a whole team that's dedicated to winning,
it makes you feel a lot more confident. It makes
coming to work every day a little bit more fun.
(26:14):
And it sounds like he didn't have a very good
experience maybe last season to pit.
Speaker 4 (26:19):
Yeah, I mean he uh that wasn't a direct answer
to any question about Pitt or anything, but I probably
think it's fair to to read into it that way.
And and again, you know, he he played with some
really good players in year one, and you know his
usage was not nearly as high, and then just the
(26:40):
amount of turnover that that they had going into year two.
If you watched any of those games that it was
not a fun watch. It was. It was just not
a great situation, especially for the point guard to be in.
And I think he felt just like that if if
he couldn't get things done, they weren't gonna get done.
And on a team sport, in a five on five game,
(27:02):
that's usually not a great mentality to have to have,
especially when you're playing the type of high level competition
they were, you know, sometimes playing up there. But yeah,
I think he's found kind of the total opposite this
season again talking about I mean, he went down the
roster basically and said that, you know, there's you know,
(27:24):
some of these guys aren't going to play a ton
this season, I would imagine, because that would be impossible
given the numbers. But he said, there's fourteen guys who
can play at a very very high level on this team,
and it's going to be up to obviously Pope to
try to figure out how those rotations work, and it's
going to be up to Jalen to to put everybody
(27:44):
in the best situation. I don't think the quote made
the story, but he did talk about you know, I
kind of talked about asked him, but if that was
difficult as the point guard to have not only so
many quality players but so many different skill sets. You know,
you got a lot of guards, but none of them
are the same. You got a lot of six eleven
through seven to one guys, but none of them play
the same. So how to the point guard? How do
(28:06):
you how do you learn? How to get these guys
in the right situations, and he talked about it like
it was a positive, Like he he just loves watching highlights,
he loves watching them in practice, playing with them in practice,
and trying to figure this stuff out in these next
six weeks before the season opener six weeks from tomorrow,
he was really looking forward to that challenge of continuing
just to get everybody on the same page and kind
(28:28):
of sew it all into one unit.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
I G.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
It's really going to be interesting to see how this
all plays out because of just what you're talking about there,
with the depth of talent and the versatility of skills,
and you know, how do the minutes break down. I've
I've said several times I went back and looked at
the ninety six team that you know, different time in
(28:51):
college basketball. Those were all, you know, veteran guys, but
it was Mark Pope's championship team, and they ten guys
played in thirty four of the thirty six games. I
could see some kind of stat like that for this group.
Speaker 4 (29:08):
Yeah, I think as long as everybody stays healthy, that's
the way it's gonna be. And that's you know, we
didn't see it all of last season because of the injuries.
But he wants to play fast. He wants to play
as fast this season as he wanted to play last
season before everybody got hurt. And he's got the bodies
to do it. And don't I don't think they're gonna platoon,
(29:28):
and I don't think they're gonna full court press like
Patinos teams did, you know, as often as they did.
But he's gonna want to run, and he's gonna want
to use a bunch of different guys and a bunch
of different lineups. And I think depending on the matchup,
you might see different combinations, even in crunch time.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
You know.
Speaker 4 (29:48):
I was talking to some smart basketball people last week
who thought there might be situations where Jalen might not
be playing at the end of games and they might
go with the bigger wind up, with like an Aberdeen
O Way Cam Williams of the three type deal laid
in games if they feel like Denzel is that far
along as a one. So you know, they've got just
(30:10):
so many different looks they can go with. And I'll
go back to that first Alabama Kentucky matchup in roup
last season. It was such a great game and NATO's
called it a chess match after the game. Obviously two
of the I think two of the great minds in
college BASKETBUA right now, Oates and Pope. And I feel
like Pope's gonna have a lot of chess matches on
(30:31):
his hands because he's got so many interesting pieces, uh.
And he's gonna obviously have so much good competition that
he could really get creative over the course of the season.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
And in terms of what you're talking about playing fast,
it's again the current climate or where we are with
college basketball now, with the way teams that you'll want
to attack offensively, the full court press is maybe an
offensive term.
Speaker 4 (30:57):
Now, yeah, yes, absolutely, And you know, you you saw
that quite a bit when when things were clicking with uh,
with Pope's team last season. I mentioned Theydoes. You see
that with the way Alabama plays with a lot of
you know, these other teams that are you know, consistently
going deep in the tournament or consistently having good seasons
(31:17):
these past few years where college basketball has changed quite
a bit. Uh, they do that kind of stuff. And
and you know Pope has you know, he's got one
clear number one point guard. He's got a few guys
who can be a fill in behind Jalen Lowe but
wouldn't necessarily be categorized as point guards. But he's got
(31:38):
a whole lot of players on this team. I would
venture to say, basically everybody who could bring the ball
up the quarter, or who could push the ball up
the court, or you know, who could just get that
ball moving, either after a made basket or you know,
after a long rebound. And I think this team is
going to be really looking to run and and kind
of like how they did last season. They they certainly
(32:00):
have the personnel.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
To do it. T with Ben Roberts from the lexingon
Haroleader Kentucky sports dot Com, I got to ask you
about this Pope Pat Kelsey story around to take Anny recruitment.
I don't think you've done anything with it. I have,
I don't know if I've even mentioned it to this point,
but it seems to be the perfect internet driven sports
talk kind of story. It's juicy, there's no evidence of
(32:24):
any juice. Nobody's going to give you any details, but
it's the kind of hold the cat and call the
dog kind of story that works well for the sports
talking in the Internet.
Speaker 4 (32:37):
Yeah, no evidence of any juice would be the reason
I haven't done anything with it. But yeah, I mean,
you know, everybody's heard a little different thing about it.
I you know, it's interesting that it happened on the
on the front porch of a guy who's probably going
to neither school, so his camp's a little more free
to talk about what happened, or maybe even in bellish.
Speaker 3 (33:00):
To what happened.
Speaker 4 (33:00):
Then, yes, with no consequences, Yeah, then they might be
otherwise if you're you know, if you're leaving the state
and not not going to commit to either coach. But
you know, I think it uh, and I from what
I've heard, it doesn't quite go as far as as
a lot of the conjecture on the internet.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
Would I believe.
Speaker 4 (33:21):
Yeah, yeah, but I do think it does speak to
both to the competitiveness level, if you didn't know it already,
of both Mark Pope and Pat Kelsey, and as nice
as they've played over the first twelve eighteen months or
how long they've both been employed at these schools, I
(33:41):
do think in their heart of hearts, they would love
to be best friends and continue on and be worst
enemies for two and a half hours and November or
December every year and be best friends after that. But
I think, as we always find with this rivalry, that
that becomes impossible at a point. And I do think
they'll they'll try to keep things, you know, they'll they'll
(34:06):
try to keep great relations for as long as they're here,
But I do think that's difficult when you have the
fan bases and the Internet and social media and all
that thrown together.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
There was never any scenario which there could have been
a Coach Patino and Coach Cal version of the joe
By and Denny Show. But maybe someday Mark Pope and
Pat Kelsey could revive the joe By and Denny Show.
Speaker 4 (34:29):
I think that would be about a four hour episode
every every show. I mean, Joby and Denny could could
certainly get off topic and uh and and and talk
quite a bit. But Pat and Mark those could be marathons.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
Oh it's uh fun to imagine. Ben.
Speaker 1 (34:49):
Thank you for the time and for catching up the
story with the Jala. You can find it at Kentucky
sports dot com and in the Lexington Harold Leader right now,
Ben Roberts, thank.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
You much, all right, thanks a lot onme at Ben
Roberts HL on X.
Speaker 1 (35:03):
It is the Leech Report, presented each day by Bobcat Enterprises.
Speaker 2 (35:08):
We'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
Let's talk about Shuffle Being Coffee four minutes, the official
coffee of rapp Arena as well as the KFC Young
Center and a lot of Lexington restaurants too. And you
can make it the official coffee of your home by
picking some up today at a central Kentucky Myers store
or ordering through Amazon or through the company's website Shufflebean
dot us. This is a company based here in Kentucky,
(35:31):
formed by Kentuckians with a commitment to making the very
best cup of coffee. Starts with the best of coffee beans,
and they have hit their mark with Shuffle Being Coffee.
So put some hustle in your shuffle today with Shufflebing Coffee.
This Stan Wildcat History nineteen ninety eight, Keith Bogan's committed
to play for Tubby Smith and it worked out really well.
(35:53):
Keith's one of the all time greats for the Wildcats.
And on this day in two thousand and seven, Kentucky
went out to Arkansas beat the Hall for twenty nine.
It's kind of the breakout game for Derek Locke in
the fourth quarter, they turned to him to help get
the running game to run out the clock, and he
came through and went onto a fantastic career with the Wildcats.
(36:13):
Kentucky Roads Show Sports Cards and Memorabilia presenting our Wildcat
history notes there on Romedy Road here in Lexington at
a roadshowcards dot Com. Happy birthday to Cary Johnson today
and a belated happy birthday to the goose Jack Gibbons
who celebrated yesterday. Corn Brad Hemp is one of our
great partners here on the Leech Report, and with fall
(36:34):
officially here now, it means it's time to get cozy
and what better way to do that with the with
some corn Bread Hemp products. They're infused Seltzer's to help
you celebrate on game day. They're sleep gummies for a deep,
restorative sleep. They're infused gummies in the new cherry lime
chill flavor that's been so popular. Or they're oils and topicals.
When this cooler weather has you feeling a little stiff
in the joints, perfect time to try something or grab
(36:57):
something new from corn Bredamp. And for a limited time
you get to twenty percent off their site when you
put in the word cozy at checkout. That said cornbreadhamp
dot com put in the word cozy at checkout, You'll
get twenty percent off everything at their site. All Kentucky
grown hemp and third party lab tested for safety and
purity at cornbreadhamp dot com. Keelan yearling sale wrapped up
(37:19):
on Saturday. Sales of over five hundred and thirty one
million dollars of year links and it's the highest ever
at any thoroughbred auction. Kentucky women Soccer a one nil
win over Missouri. Gabby Barretto a goal in the eighty
ninth minute to win it for Kentucky. Adallod for us
see tomorrow on the lead report presented by Bob Kat
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