2025-11-04 - LEACH REPORT

Tom talks with Larry Vaught, Ben Roberts, and Keith Farmer.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hey, everybody, Welcome in. Head is the Tuesday edition of
the Leech Report, presented by Bobcat Enterprises, and it is
the official opening night for the Kentucky men's basketball team.
So they will play the Colonels from Nichols formerly Nichols
State University and in Louisiana, and we'll be talking a

(00:25):
lot about Kentucky men's basketball opening night for the women
football volleyball, it is a lot of things going on.
Busy week for UK athletics. We'll talk about it with
Larry Vought to lead us off, Ben Roberts from the
Herald Leader and Keith Farmer from LAX eighteen and BBN tonight.

(00:47):
So let us jump right into the Wildcat News of
the day. It is a service as always of Giuseppees
of Lexington. Kentucky is facing a Nichols team that has
recorded back to back twenty win seasons but has only
three returneys. It's the way of life for college basketball

(01:09):
coaches these days with all the roster turnovers, so there's
not a lot that is known about Nichols. Several transfers,
as you would expect. One of them, z Aden Cross,
sixty seven wing player coming up from the NAI level
at Texas Southern. I believe it was twenty point per
game average last season for Kentucky. The big question mark

(01:30):
is who will be on the court. Jalen Lowe Denzel
Aberdeen did not play against Georgetown last week. John Rothstein
of CBS put out a post yesterday on X saying
he had talked to Mark Pope and that Pope was
unsure if either would be able to play tonight. If so,
one would assume that will mean Colin Chandler Jasper Johnson

(01:54):
will be handling the point guard chores again for the Wildcats.
So we'll know at seven Eastern time at tips pregame
coverage at five point thirty on the UK Radio Network.
Few first game notes. This is a record that I
was site every year when the first game rolls around,
because with all of the great freshmen that have come

(02:14):
through in the last decade and a half and then
scattered once before that, the most points in a first
varsity game is a record still held by Mike Casey
of Shelby County at twenty eight at Michigan on December second,
nineteen sixty seven. And even though Danisel ended up the
all time leading scorer at UK when he played alongside

(02:39):
Mike Casey, and like Pratt, Casey was actually the leading
scorer in the sophomore season for all of them because
freshmen didn't play in those games, so that's the important distinction.
The first varsity game now the most points ever by
a freshman Tyrese Maxi twenty six in the Champions Classic
against Michigan State back in twenty twenty season. It would

(03:02):
have been November of twenty nineteen. And then this is
the fiftieth season of Kentucky basketball in Roupp Arena, so
we note that the Wildcats won their first game over Wisconsin.
They had played an exhibition game, but that was at
Memorial Coliseum, so this was literally the first game in
the new arena. Rick Roby had thirteen points, and I

(03:22):
was trying to find this yesterday. I couldn't, but I
think he actually scored the first basket as well. Goose
will be able to confirm that, and Goose had twelve
in the game. It was on November twenty seventh, so
it was a little later when they started things, but
that was the first game in Roupp Arena, and there'd
be a lot of historical talk around this season's home

(03:44):
games because of the fact that it is the fiftieth
season in that building for Kentucky men's basketball. The Kentucky
women opened their season last night over at Historical Memorial
Coliseum and beat Morehead State seventy five to fifty nine.
Clara Strack had fit fifteen points, fifteen boards, three brought
three blocks three steals. Pretty good stat line twelve blocks

(04:06):
in all of the Wildcats, limiting Morehead to thirty six
percent shooting, but the Eagles made ten to twenty seven
threes to Kentucky's four of twenty four to keep things interesting.
Tony Morgan, they transfer point guard from Georgia Techi, led
Kentucky with sixteen points but also had five of the
cats eleven turnovers. Yesterday was media day for Mark Stoops,

(04:28):
and he talked about the big win at Auburn. Talked
about it was Kentucky's most complete game, getting all three
phases offense, defense, special teams to compliment each other. He
also talked in the radio show and in his news
conference yesterday, but just how much he appreciates how his
players have continued to battle through adversity this season. So

(04:51):
next test comes Saturday when the Florida Gators roll into town.
Links to the stories that we talk about each day.
We can find them on the bud Light Leechs Report
page at toky dot com. We'll ahead to break our
opening segments presented by Giuseppes of Lexington. If you have
somebody in your world that is a challenge when it
comes to finding the right Christmas present, how about a

(05:13):
gift card from Giuseppes. They'll make it look really nice,
prepare it for you, send it out to you. You
know they can mail them to you can go buy
the restaurant, pick them up to off Nicholasville Road out
past man O War here in Lexington. And also make
a reservation for yourself for a special night at Giuseppes
through Open Table and send in the lounge area. Enjoy
the live jazz music from Dave Hall while you have

(05:34):
a fantastic meal at Giuseppes. Larry Vatt when we come
right back, Leans Report comes to you each day from
the Clark's Pump and Shop studio. Return, refresh and refuel
at Clark's and we welcome in Larry Vaught to the
program from your sports edge dot com. Voughts Views let's see, Larry,

(05:56):
We'll start with football and the win at Auburn. You
see that one come.

Speaker 2 (06:02):
Now, I was hoping and it didn't stun me, But no,
I didn't see it. But it was terrific performance by
that defense and offense did just enough to get the win.
And you saw a bunch of happy Wildcats for a change.

Speaker 1 (06:16):
Yeah you did. It was good for them. There's always
a nice contingent of Kentucky fans that are there at
Auburn because there's so many people have connections. Either there's
students down there. There are a lot of Kentuckys their
students at Auburn, and then you know family that are
there with current students all that. So there was a
nice night for As the players were leaving the field,

(06:38):
they had to celebrate with the Kentucky fans who were there.
Incredible performance by Kentucky's defense coming off its worst game
of the season. So that was just particularly impressive in
terms of being able to bounce back.

Speaker 2 (06:51):
I thought, yeah, and that's two of the last three games.
With the way the defense played against Texas, they fent really,
really good, which hopefully gives you some cura meant for
the game this Saturday night.

Speaker 1 (07:02):
Yeah, Florida coming in for November game, first one since
nineteen ninety, first time to have the Gators in Lexington
in November. When they expanded the league in ninety two,
that games moved to September. And I was mentioning this
last night on the Coaches Show. You and I go
back to the time when the grass turned brown for

(07:22):
the Florida and Vandy games every other year in November. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (07:26):
And also I remember when Florida would come up here
in November and they'd put him on the normal UK
sideline so they'd be in the shade instead of in
the sun if it was an afternoon game.

Speaker 1 (07:35):
Yes, that was coach Kersey's move. And I remember one
year Florida came in, they were nashally ranked, maybe headed
to the Sugar Bowl, and first passed West Chandler who
went on to play in the NFL for a long time,
because wide open on a post pattern, hits him right
in the hands and he dropped it because I don't
think the Gators liked that cold weather and it set

(07:56):
the tone for a big Kentucky win.

Speaker 2 (07:59):
Yeah, and unfortunately, I guess it's gonna be a little
warmer than normal, maybe this Saturday, so we'll get the
full effect of it this year, but still nice to have.
Will come into November, big chance for Kentucky against the
Florida team that at times has played really well this season,
other times hadn't played so well.

Speaker 1 (08:13):
Let's shift over to women's basketball. With a win last
night to open the season, and the Morehead team, coached
by a young lady with a lot of Kentucky connections,
thirty year old Ashton Feldhouse, with their team played very
well I thought last night.

Speaker 2 (08:31):
Sure it didn't, had a lot of her family members
sitting right behind the bench, and more hit. Not a
very big team, but before there, I think they'll be
fun to watch if you're a Morehead fan for the
rest of the season. Really are scrappy. They put up
a lot of three point shots, played with no fear whatsoever,
and gave Kentucky a really good better game than I expected.

(08:52):
I mean, they opened the first half of the thirteen
to four run, and they opened the second half of
the thirteen to four run. Now, the other thirty two
minutes of the game they didn't hang with Kentucky too well,
but those two four minute spurts they look pretty impressive,
and Ashton was pretty happy with the way her team played.
And I think on the Kentucky side, Jordan Obie is
everything we had been told about, how she could this

(09:14):
kind of bully people around and be able to do things.
For a guard to open up with fifteen points and
fifteen rebounds not exactly what we're used to.

Speaker 1 (09:24):
Yeah, and they have some new faces there. I mean,
it was all built around Georgia Amore last year in
the backcourt, and so it's going to be interesting to
see what kind of identity is carved out for this group.

Speaker 2 (09:40):
Yeah, it is. Tony Morgan's a new point guard and
her and Jordan I think it's going to take a
little bit of time to kind of get used to
each other playing together. And the big three inside Claria
Strack have kind of heard normal game. Tony Key and
Ama Hasset a little bit off last night on their
shooting and stuff. Still the pieces are there. It seems

(10:02):
like for Kenny to have a really, really good team again,
they need to get a few things kind of ironed
out in the next couple of weeks. But he seemed
overall pretty okay with how they played last night.

Speaker 1 (10:15):
Let's touch on Kentucky volleyball, which could not have been
more impressive on Sunday with what they did down at
number two Texas with a three to zero sweep.

Speaker 2 (10:25):
Yeah, it's time to admits of audig Off school. You
get in position now to when you're ninth straight SEC title.
The numbers, the numbers say it all. And I mean
I thought Kentucky had a chance to win at Texas.
I thought maybe the chance was gonna be a little
more difficult after Texas got upset at Texas A and M.
On Friday night, another school that Kentucky had got on

(10:47):
the road early in the season at won in four cents.
But for Kentucky to come in they got off to
such a dominant start against Texas and then really had
to fight in sets two or in three. But every
time they needed a big point, they either got the
kill from Eva Hudson or the kill from Brooklyn Delay,
and Texas just couldn't quite hang with them. And now,

(11:09):
I mean, you got to think unless the bottom just
falls out on Kentucky volleyball, they're gonna be playing as
long as they're winning. They'll be playing a Memorial Coliseum
until they get to the final four.

Speaker 1 (11:20):
They're out of Missouri on Thursday, and then they close
with three matches at HMC, starting with this Sunday at
five against number nineteen Tennessee. It's going to be on ESPN,
it's gonna be on the UK radio network, and it
gives you plenty of opportunity to follow it. But coach
Greig Skinner made it clear yesterday he wants you there

(11:42):
because it's packed the house day.

Speaker 2 (11:44):
It's packed the house and he's gonna buy but he's
only he's going to pull a Mark Pope and buy
five hundred blue shirts with his own money to the
first five hundred people there. And he stood up on
the podium there at the press conference to make his point,
the kind of thing you don't often see out of Craig,
but probably tells you why players enjoy playing for him

(12:05):
so much. And it's just a lot of fun. And
I'm really glad the game is going to be on
the radio this week because with the current state of affairs,
radio plays getting a lot of I'm ready just to
go back to where it's all. I listened to it all,
so I'm glad that was already scheduled. I'm looking forward
to listening to you and Jack tonight because I want

(12:26):
anything to watch. So I'm happy I'm going back. I
grew up listening to radio. I think I was fine,
so I'm ready just to go back and stay that way.

Speaker 1 (12:34):
Well, good for you. I made sure to thank ESPN
and YouTube TV for not working and playing well together
and sending us a lot more listeners on Saturday.

Speaker 2 (12:43):
So yeah, I don't think they're going to play well together.

Speaker 1 (12:47):
No, it doesn't look like they will. What about Kentucky
men's basketball. They seem to usually work and play well
together pretty.

Speaker 2 (12:53):
Well, they do. I'm anxious to see if there's any
chance that didn't tell Aberdeen or Jayalen Lowe play tonight.
I think they'll be okay if they don't, But again,
it's you're less then you're not very far away from
that Louisville game. You'd like to see them back out
there having a chance to play, and Mark's been kind

(13:14):
of vague with both of them, so I don't know
if they'll be back out there tonight or not. If
they're not, then Colin and Jasper just have to play
a little bit better than what they did the other night.
And anxious to how Kentucky bounces back after kind of
a little bit of a learning lesson for them, which
is what you want out of your exhibition games.

Speaker 1 (13:32):
One week from tonight and I'll be talking about the
Cats and the Cards in the eleventh number. Had to believe. Yes,
it is Larry, Thank you much. See tonight all right, Tom,
That is Larry Vaught from your sports edge dot com.
You hear them here on Tuesdays. Also, you hear them
on Sundays of the Sunday Morning sports talk show here
in Lexington with Jack Pilgrim and Anthony White O Robinson,

(13:54):
so make sure you catch them there as well. We'll
be right back from the Lead's Report, presented by Bob
cat Enterprises Ben Roberts in the Ondeck Circle. It's the
Lake's Report. We welcome Ben Roberts to the program. You
read a at Kentucky Sports dot com and in the
pitches of the Lexington Herald Leader where he covers Kentucky
men's basketball. So it's the official opening night, Ben, And

(14:17):
after Kentucky's lost to Georgetown in the second exhibition game
last week, what do you think beyond the whether or
not we see lower Aberdeen out there? Obviously, that's a
big talking point. But beyond that, what are the things
to watch for tonight?

Speaker 3 (14:34):
You know, that's that's obviously a big part of it.
I think it'll be interesting just to see this team
against outside competition, obviously in a game that matters. You know,
Matt Painter talked about Purdue not really prepping a ton
for Kentucky, and I think the same was true the
other way around. Ed Cooley talked about prepping quite a

(14:56):
bit for Kentucky, and I don't think Kentucky maybe prepped
as much for Georgetown as is the other way around there.
So obviously you're getting a game where you know, both
teams are preparing going in for it, they know what's real.
On Kentucky side, I think they've got a little more
to prove now. Just judging from talking to the guys

(15:18):
after the Georgetown loss, they were eager to get back there,
eager to get into film Friday morning. Sounds like some
spirited practices over the weekend. So yeah, I mean, I
think it's just the normal regular season opener, you know,
anticipation here.

Speaker 1 (15:35):
And interesting second season starting for a guy like otega
Oway who's came in last year more under the radar,
whether you had any level of expectations for him that
ended up being close to what he did. Bottom line is,
there was a lot of widespread acclaim for him, like

(15:56):
there is now and he is. You know, it's for
kind of challenge I guess for a player.

Speaker 3 (16:02):
Right it is. I mean, you know, he's such an
even keeled guy that I don't think all of the
stuff around the preseason accolades and Maysmith watch list and
all that, you know, sec preseason Player of the Year,
I don't think that's going to affect him too much.
I think his focus has mainly been on getting healthy.

(16:23):
You know, he was still on a minutes restriction in
the exhibition season. I know he wanted to be out
there for the full fall, for the you know, to
end the summer with the team. So you know, just
from talking to him the several times over the last
few weeks, it sounds like he's he's also just eager
to get out there, eager to stay healthy and you know,

(16:44):
start building the chemistry in these ro game situations with
his new teammates.

Speaker 1 (16:48):
It's a different kind of challenging the lead up to
this season. Last year they had injury issues, but those
were primarily during the season. I think Kobe braddle was
something he was dealing with in the lead up to this,
but by the you know, the by the time they
got to about the last month or so, I think
he was was fine and practicing a lot. So here
you've had so many guys out for different stretches, with

(17:11):
Otega and Jalen and Denzel, and then you're still waiting
on Jaden Quainton. So you know, at some point, probably
here soon, you're gonna get low and Aberdeen back Oways
still ramping up. Quaintance Uh at some point joins the
party as well. So it's gonna be interesting to see
what it all looks like. But it may be, you know,

(17:34):
a while before, which could be a good thing. Maybe
a while before they really come together and start to
approach a peak. We'll talk more about that we come back,
because they're coming up on a hard break. Ben Roberts
is with us from the Lexington Herald Deer and our
show is presented each day by Bob Cat Enterprises with
four locations around Kentucky buying, renting heavy equipment. These are

(17:56):
the folks you need to see. Give them a call.
They'll take great care of you after the sale as
well at Bob Kat Enterprises back with Ben Roberts from
the Lectionton Herald Leader Kentucky Sports dot com. So, Ben,
talk to us a little bit with your take on
how this may unfold with the guys coming into the
lineup at intervals.

Speaker 3 (18:18):
You mean guys coming back from injuries, right, yeah, I
think you know, I was told that both the injured
guards practiced, you know, pretty much in full yesterday. I've
watched Aberdeen down on the court Thursday before the Georgetown
game and talked to some people around him, and it

(18:39):
sounded like he might have played if that had been
a regular season game. So, you know, I think those
guys will be back pretty quickly and possibly tonight. It's
you know interesting. Obviously a lot of attention paid to
defense this preseason. That's that's a big point emphasis for
Mark Pope for this team. And obviously they had a

(19:02):
lot of breakdowns against Georgetown again exhibition game. Not sure
about the you know, the amount of prep theyer, But
talking to Otega after the game, he talked about still
trying to find that that connectivity which they talked about
a lot last season, just being on the same page
with your teammates, not necessarily, you know, not knowing what
you're supposed to do on defense, just just reading your

(19:23):
teammates and being in the right position as a collective unit.
So I think that's they This team does have a
lot more upside. Obviously defensively, they're a lot more physical,
they're longer, they're more athletic. I think anybody who watched
those two games could see that. But they're still going
to have to get that chemistry down and you know,
Tega made that pretty clear Thursday night after the game.

(19:46):
So that's something I'm going to be watching when these
guys do get back in the lineup, you know, especially Denzel,
I think he's going to be a uh, you know,
a real key part of that Kentucky defense, and so
will Jalen. You know, that's not his strength, but I
think he can be a really pesty, testy defender out
there at the kind of the point of the attack,

(20:07):
and especially if they're they're picking up teams full court.
So those are the short term I guess. And then
when Jayden Quainton's comes back, he adds a whole whole
another level on both sides of the ball. But especially defensively,
and it'll be interesting to see how they kind of
turn him loose in the middle of that defense.

Speaker 1 (20:24):
It's uh, I think probably for fans been a little
surprising that the best shooters haven't shot the ball well yet.
I have to think, I mean, those two guys that
can make Cam Williams and Trent no in particular, but
that there's gonna be maybe as soon as tonight, a
night when it starts to click for them, one would think, Yeah.

Speaker 3 (20:45):
I think with Trent, just larger sample size, you know,
shows what he's going to be able to do. And
I think the same thing with Colin too. Obviously they've
both been in the system. Cam's the really interesting one
to me because as I talked to coaches teams late
summer and especially into the fall, they really talked up

(21:05):
what he was able to do in spots as as
kind of a disruptor defensively and especially a rebounder from
the back court spot. But and they talked about how
great of a shooter he was, but that he was
still trying to kind of find that that right fit
in Pope's system as far as you know, having the
ultimate green light basically getting those shots up quick, you know,

(21:28):
not necessary obviously taking good shots, but not necessarily settling
or waiting for those great, great shots. You know, you
want to get those shots up, get some offensive rebounds.
That's the style Pope wants to play. And he just
had struggled to find that. And then I hear that,
and he goes out and takes one shot in the
entire Blue White game, and then he comes back in

(21:50):
the exhibitions and takes a whole lot more. But he
just didn't look super comfortable with a lot of those
a lot of those three point shots. So that's another
one of these first few regular season games. I'll be
interested to see if he kind of settles into that group,
because by all accounts over there, when he does, they
expect him to just be an absolutely prolific three point shater. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (22:12):
Yeah, I can understand why his head might be swimming
a little bit, because I think at Tulane he was
primarily just a catch and shoot guy did very well
forty three percent threes. One of the things about coming
into this situation is that you're going to be you
want your game to expand, and but in doing that,

(22:33):
it takes a while to kind of get comfortable in
that due role of having more on your plate and
trying to understand the system and then try to play,
you know, with all of your teammates, and you could,
I think understand why his head might be a little
bit cluttered.

Speaker 3 (22:52):
Yeah. Absolutely, And he says the sophomore you only had
that one year in Tulaine, obviously a different level of competition.
And yeah, you're you're catching, you're catching off the move,
you're catching off the bounce. Here, you're you know, you're
you're you're having different looks offensively, but you're also learning
an entirely new defensive system with an entirely new set

(23:12):
of teammates. You're still an underclassman. Everything's new. So yeah,
it makes a lot of sense that that maybe those
shots are looking exactly right in October and he's still
trying to figure out, you know, kind of mentally how
to go through that process of all right, this is
a good shot, this is what he really wants. We
saw this with basically everybody but Jackson Robinson this time

(23:35):
last year. Even Kobe Brea talked about, you know, taking
a little bit of time, especially against the better competition,
of settling into exactly what Mark Pope wanted him to
do and really embracing that freedom that that a lot
of these guys struggled with the entire season.

Speaker 1 (23:52):
See help talk a little bit of maybe is this
after the game I guess about that this is uh,
They've they've got to succeed as a team, and that,
you know, sounds like the you know, a normal coaching phrase,
but the point being, there's not you know, a I
don't know if you think back to like a Jamal
Mashford or somebody, just you know, everything can go with

(24:14):
you know, things aren't going well, just let mash take over.
Uh Otega is a guy that could be their quote
unquote go to guy. But ultimately they've got to do
this collectively with a lot of guys. It's gonna be
you know, should be a balance scoring for example, and
a lot of balance in the minutes.

Speaker 3 (24:29):
Right Yeah, yeah, I don't I don't really see a
guy like that on that on this team. And you
you know, it's strange to say when you have the
SEC preseason player of the year in the in the
strongest conference in the country. But in Otaga can do
that in spots. But yes, you're not You're not You're
not clearing out a defense or anything for the last

(24:50):
five minutes of the game and just letting Otaga take over.
I guess they did that at Oklahoma.

Speaker 1 (24:55):
Olahoma, I guess, but I don't.

Speaker 3 (24:58):
I don't think that's going to be a normal occurrence,
and I don't think they want that to be a
normal occurrence. And even Otega's talked about that that, Yeah,
you you know, you might not have just an absolute
superstar like like some of these other teams, but you
do have a team that can go ten deep every
single night and give you different looks from those ten guys,

(25:19):
and I think depending on the matchup, and then depending
on the situation, you've got a number of guys more
than five, I think that that could take that last
shot that you want with that last possession the ball
in their hands, and that affords you obviously a lot
of flexibility in those situations. It obviously also lets some
guys run cold every once in a while and you

(25:41):
have some others that can pick them up. So, yeah,
this is going to have to be an absolute team effort.
And Mark Pope, you know, knowing the Rostery put Together,
has been preaching that from the beginning.

Speaker 1 (25:52):
Here Georgetown game last week was certainly a learning experience
for the whole team. I would think, in particular for
the two freshmen that are playing a lot, Jasper Johnson
and Malachai Marino, to be able to, you know, face
a little bit of a different kind of a challenge.
Jasper in particular, because you know, he was thrust into
more of the point guard role in in that game,

(26:15):
backing up Colin and that that I would think both
would learn a lot from that experience.

Speaker 3 (26:22):
Yeah, we talked to Jasper yesterday and he really talked about,
you know, particularly the way the way Georgetown was switching
on them dosibly. It was something that I know, you know,
they they saw last season. Kentucky saw this last season.
Mark Pope knew it was coming at some point, and
I think he was glad that it came in an
exhibition game. That didn't matter because they're going to see

(26:43):
it a whole lot more of this season. And but
Jasper was seeing that basically for the first time, and
he talked about that really being a learning experience, going
through that, you know, physically Thursday night and then watching
it Friday morning on a film and then you know,
kind of practicing against over the weekend. You know that's

(27:03):
that's the beauty of these exhibition games in this new
NCAA rule is you play Purdue and Georgetown from the
Big East as opposed to Minnesota State and Kentucky Westland.
And Brandon Garrison talked about that, who obviously went through
it last season a lot yesterday too, Just that it

(27:23):
gets you better, It kind of speeds up that process
of improvement. And that's why Mark Pope scheduled these two teams.
And I think they got They got a lot out
of both situations there.

Speaker 1 (27:35):
Ben Roberts, thank you much. You can read him at
Kentucky sports dot com and in the Lexid and Harold
Leaders at Ben Roberts Underscore hl X. We'll be right
back with Keith Farmer. Here are the Leads Report, presented
by Bob Kat Enterprises fourteen away at the top of
the hour. Leach Report coming to you from the Clark's
Pumping Shop studio, Return, Refresh and Refuel. We welcome in

(27:57):
Keith Farmer from l e X eighteen BBN Tonight and Keith,
it is the official opening night. Although we've seen the
Kentucky men's basketball team in action twice in some higher
level exhibitions. Nichols did not play any exhibitions like that.
They had two of the older style secret scrimmages, so
we don't even know who they played. But what do

(28:18):
you know about.

Speaker 4 (28:19):
Nichols only the very little bit that we've looked up
that you know, there's no freshman class. They've got a
lot of returners, a lot of transfers. Their coach is
also coaching at his alma mater, just like Mark Pope is,
so that makes it kind of interesting. I don't think
they've gotten a lot of size, So I think this

(28:39):
is going to be an interesting game tonight. See you
know how Kentucky matches up. I do know that that
Jasper said they have a lot of positionless players, and
so I expect a lot of you know, switching on
both ends taking place, and so that'll make for fun
to watch. On the defensive ends, a.

Speaker 1 (28:57):
Lot of five out for Nichols were told, so try
to maybe stretch out Kentucky defense a little bit. And
yeah they were heard that pick and roll with in
the Georgetown game. But two really good guards for the Hoyas.
But we'll see, you know what Kentucky's improvement looks like there.
I know Mark Pope said after the game that part

(29:17):
of the problem was there's like a third defender as
part of that equation of defending pick and roll. That
that's where they were having a lot of the breakdowns.
Somebody come in and helping.

Speaker 4 (29:26):
Yeah, yeah, exactly. And you know, not only that, but
just being able to play against those kind of teams
was good for like, you know, the Jasper Johnson's, Malachai Morenos,
the guys that are new into the program just to
you know, maybe haven't played that college level style. Instead
of going against you know, some of the smaller level schools,
they get a chance to go against you know, Georgetown

(29:46):
and Purdue and see how physical the game is going
to be at the college level and to have, you know,
it was something that was interesting to me. Lexi Blue,
who's you know, on the on the women's team, said
they were excited to play their first game because they
were going to put some tape on, you know, something
on tape where they can go back and look at
it and that's where you make your correction. So certainly,
you know, the Kentucky men have been working at that, uh,

(30:08):
you know, trying to figure out that third defender and
making sure they're ready for any of those picking rolls
going forward.

Speaker 1 (30:14):
And yeah, I think back to last year the Gonzaga
game where Kentucky was struggling to defend the Zags and
then switch to that zone and the second half and
completely turn the game around. If the Georgetown game had
been a real game, maybe Kentucky would have done something
like that. But you know, if it's an exhibition game's
not gonna hurt you. You know, keep your guys in

(30:35):
in the in the learning mode with their primary defense.

Speaker 4 (30:38):
I mean again, it is an exhibition for a reason.
It's like you're trying to, you know, find out more
about your team, more about how uh they're going to play,
react under the lights, how they're going to play when
you throw them with different combinations. So there was some
of that going on as well.

Speaker 1 (30:53):
Your take on the UK women's opener last night and
the win over Morehead.

Speaker 4 (30:56):
Yeah, a little bit of a slow start obviously with
the seven zero and I think they were down like
thirteen to four, but then certainly started coming into their own.
Jordan Obie is going to be a really fun player
to watch, a great addition after coming off the injury.
From last year. You know, to have two players go
fifteen and fifteen, I mean amazing, you know, to see

(31:19):
that effort. And obviously Tiani Key didn't have her best game,
but you know what she can do after we saw
what she did last year. And so I still think
it's those big three that are gonna, you know, the
lead things for Kentucky this year. But certainly good to
see you know, not only Jordan but also Tony at
the point guard position being able to get things done.

(31:39):
And that's game number one. And like I said, Lexi says,
now they can go look at the tape and see
what they need to do to make improvements off of it.
Even even coach Brooks said the other day he hates
game number one and two. He loves game three and
four because he's gonna know so much more about his
team and he's also going to have, you know, some
ways to make.

Speaker 1 (31:57):
Some corrections by then shifting gears to Kentucky football. Mark
Stoop's talked at length about how proud he is of
his guys, how they've continued to fight, and they certainly
showcase that in this performance at Auburn coming off the
Tennessee game the week before, but it I think it
is important to note that you need the payoff. I mean,

(32:21):
just you know human nature, you keep getting back up
when you get knocked down, and you can talk about
all of that. It gets harder and harder to do
without some kind of a reward. So it could be
interesting to see, you know, how that parlays into this
next game against Florida.

Speaker 4 (32:37):
Now that they've had that reward and that different filling, right,
So yeah, and I think you know, it was really
interesting to me how he said, you know, these guys
really have never let go of the rope. They've come
in every Monday, even though things haven't been going their way,
and they just look like they're ready to work, go
back to at it, and they're trying to improve and

(32:58):
do their best. So yes, to find see one payoff
has to be great for these players, and I think
that only spurs them to work even harder because they
want that filling again and have that chance against Florida
to celebrate, you know, at home in Crogerfield.

Speaker 1 (33:13):
It we'll talk more about the matchup and the show
here as we moved through the week, but I don't
think you know, the Auburn defense is one of the
top two or three in the league. So it should
be a few more offensive fireworks this week.

Speaker 4 (33:28):
I would think so. And then you know, coach Stoops said,
you're gonna face probably the best running back that they
faced all year, which he said is saying something. But
I do believe this offense for Kentucky has been getting
better and better each and every week. And we've seen
that in the fact that cutter Baldi has found so
many different receivers, and you've seen guys you know that

(33:49):
have really taken a step forward, some of the young guys.
It seems like it's just starting to click for him, right,
and they're being big contributors. And so I think it's
kind of gonna be hard for Florida look and say, hey,
let's stop this guy, because I mean, think about it,
the tight ends were so heavy early on, and now
you got the wide receivers into the mix, and and

(34:10):
you know, so I think it's gonna be tough for
Florida to figure out which one to stop.

Speaker 1 (34:15):
Yeah, and uh, you know, it certainly keeps guys pushing
each other, I would guess in that wide receiver room,
because you know, you have hester in the Tennessee game,
gets his first yeah catches and two of them go
for touchdowns. And then he does it. The ball doesn't
find his way to him the next game, but Fred Ferrier,
guy who'd been yeah falling down the depth chart, has
two huge catches on the touchdown drive, you know.

Speaker 4 (34:38):
And another thing that kind of speaks to that room,
as something coach Stoop said yesterday, was that a guy
like Fred Ferrier, he hadn't had the snaps coming his
way very much. And what does he do. He just
keeps putting his head down and working and working, and
then those balls come to him, you know at Auburn,
and you know, if he had just hung his head,
maybe he never even runs the perfect route to get

(34:58):
open for those I mean, you know, so he is
a guy that continues to work, and that room continues
to work to try and improve and help out, you know,
not just cutter, not just the offense.

Speaker 1 (35:08):
But in defensively. They got a lot of guys that
are playing well right now.

Speaker 4 (35:16):
Kentucky. Yeah, yeah, I mean what a performance, right, I mean, yeah,
what a performance?

Speaker 1 (35:21):
I mean it was.

Speaker 4 (35:22):
It was awesome and you know, again it's gonna be
a little tougher with Lagway and you know Florida coming in.
But again a performance to build off of, not just
for the team, but for each side of the football.
And heck, even coach Stops was talking about how well
the special teams did you know last week? So an
all around performance to really, I mean, when you know

(35:45):
Auburn was starting I think he said at the twelve
yard line on average. That's that's pretty tough. That's a
long way to go on a field. So you know,
so many times, Keith Farmer, thank you much, Hey, Tom,
thanks appreciate you.

Speaker 1 (36:00):
By the way, Cutter Bowley named co Freshman of the
Week in the SEC Jadal and Farmer co offensive Lineman
of the Week, and Aida la Ross Keith was referencing
special teams. He was one of Ray's eight. The Ray
Guy Committee releases those names each week of the top
punters in the nation. And six punts inside the twenty
yard line was very impressive for Aiden Laarross. Gotta get

(36:21):
to a quick break. We'll come back close out this
edition of the Leach Report in just a moment. So
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(37:25):
and six, Kentucky upset Georgia and the goalpost came down
at Croger Field twenty four to twenty. Tony Dixon had
the game winning TV td. Shortly thereafter, Trevard Linley picked
off Matt Stafford's pass to seal the win. And Happy birthday,
Tyree Specsey. Wildcat History Notes presented by Kentucky Roadshow Sports
Cards and Memorabilia there on Romney Road and at Roadshowcards

(37:47):
dot Com. Shufflebean Coffee longtime partner of ours here on
the Leech Report. Give them a try. If you haven't
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company and the commitment to excellence from Shufflebean Coffee. College
hoops got started last night for the men to Arizona

(38:10):
Number thirteen, Beat number three, Florida ninety three, eighty seven
Cats and Nichols tonight seven o'clock at rupp Arena. Hear
it on the UK Radio network. We will see you tomorrow.