2025-11-06 - LEACH REPORT

Tom talks with Jack Givens, Justin Rowland, and Pat Dooley.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Godday. Everybody will welcome into the Leech Report, presented by
Bobcat Enterprises this chilly Thursday. Unfortunately, I fear since the
cold weather is coming anyway, would it be better for
Kentucky's chances against the Gators if it came earlier? What's

(00:21):
not gonna happen? Apparently it's going to be fairly pleasant
on Saturday night and then the bottom is gonna fall
out temperature wise on Sunday for Kentucky and Florida should
be okay on Saturday night out at Kroger Field. We'll
talk about that matchup today with Pat Dooley, longtime sports
columnist in the Gainesville and now retired, but still has

(00:45):
this duly noted podcast, so we'll get his take on
the Gators the Ghost. Jack Givens will join us to
talk Kentucky basketball. Next game for the Cats coming up
tomorrow night against Valparaiso, and then Justin Rowland from Cats Illustrated.
That will wrap up on this Thursday. Wildcat News of
the Day presented by Juseppes of Lexington, start with the

(01:06):
availability report. Some bad news for the Gators. Their top
two pass catchers. Trey Wilson is out and the leading receiver,
Renald Brown, is questionable. And then Dallas Wilson, another guy
who's had some big games for them. He's their fifth
leading receiver. He'd been declared out earlier in the week,

(01:27):
so the wide receiver position is quite thin for the Gators.
For Kentucky, it actually looks pretty good the report. Several
names listed as out, but these are guys that have
been out for a while anyway, including to Ryan Nichols
who missed last week. But the guess like Troy Stillado's
been out for two or three weeks, so nothing new there.

(01:50):
And then on the probable list, DJ Waller shows up,
so maybe we'll get to see Dj in action for
the first time since Week one. He was supposed to
come back for Texas and then his injury leg injury
was aggravated during warm ups, so it looks like he
may be able to take a shot at it on
Saturday night. And then Tavian Gadson also listed as probable

(02:13):
coming out of the Auburn game, but he was able
to play in that game. Yesterday was the day when
defensive coaches players talked to the media and we get
a chance to visit with David Gusta, the outstanding noseguard
for the Wildcats, and he talked about what it's been
like on the practice field this week, coming off that
big win over Auburn that snapped a four game losing streak.

(02:36):
How does it felt just this week being out in
practice that turn win.

Speaker 2 (02:41):
Well, first, I would, like I said.

Speaker 3 (02:43):
I'm very proud of all the boys because even though
like the season hasn't gone as we wanted to, I'm
just proud that no one quit and like it really
showed last week and came together as a team. So
this week has been great, Like I'm not like this
week practicing has been the more like ecstatic, Like it's
just been great practice with there it's something that we
want to keep going because because you know, we still

(03:03):
have a chance to make a bull game, and again
being this be my last year, like I really want
that bull game like more than anybody, and then so
and as we have a bunch of old guys too,
and then so like so it's just it's serious too,
like like basically you can have fun, but again, like
we have goals. Again, like a bowl game is an
accomplished is accomplishment that all like all of us want
and and and and I've been at three ball games

(03:25):
and I've get to win. I get to win one,
So I gotta I gotta win at least one in
the in my college. But overall, like the older guys,
like this is just something huge that we just need
to like do it. Just went out and and again
just to be like one to know every single.

Speaker 1 (03:38):
Week David Gusta yesterday talking to the media, and so
you tell that where their mind is. They they think
they've got a chance to play themselves into a bowl game,
and it's crucial to do that. In order to be
able to do that, it's crucial they get this win
on Saturday night. Mathematically it would still be possible, but

(04:00):
the scenario would look more possible with a win over
the Gators. Certainly, the number one prospect in the twenty
twenty six class, Tyranne Stokes, has withdrawn from his high
school in California. Sports Illustrated says there were some disciplinary
issues at the school involving Stokes and says he will

(04:21):
most likely move on to a prep school. Kentucky's one
of the three finalists to land him, so we'll see
where he ends up, probably before too long, as far
as the transfer links to the stories that we talk
about each day, you can find those on the bud
Light Leach Report page at town Leachky dot com. Coming up,
we'll chat with Pat Newley about the Florida Gators. Our

(04:43):
opening segment presented by Giuseppes of Lexington. The holidays are
just around the corner, so there's two things you need
to remember. First of all, get to open table and
get something on the books at Giuseppes for yourself for
a night out with family or friends or both. And
then secondly, the gift cards from Giuseppes. They'll fix them

(05:04):
up very nice for you mailed them out to you.
Go to Giuseppes Lexington dot com you can get more
details about those and we will be right back on
the Leach Report Radio Network fourteen past the top of
the hour at Leach Report presented by Bobcat Enterprises with
four locations around Kentucky. If you have to buy or

(05:24):
need to rent a piece of have you equipment for
a job, know somebody that does. Bobcat Enterprises needs to
be the call. Google them. You'll find the one that's
closest to you and they will take great care of
you as we welcome in. Pat Dooley, longtime sports columnist
in the Gainsville area, covered the Gators for many years,
still doing the duly noted podcast, right.

Speaker 4 (05:44):
Pat, Yeah, that's fun. We get Coach fur every Monday,
so you know, I'm good.

Speaker 1 (05:50):
That has to be fun. And there was a legendary
broadcaster here named Sue Ley who hosted a political show
and the promo for it was always interesting and very
often explosive that you can use that.

Speaker 4 (06:09):
Yeah, you're absolutely right. And it's funny because all the
guys that write for all the different websites around, you know,
the Gator websites and everything, they just listen to the
show and they go, Okay, there's our story. Here's Coach Spurrier.
He just said this about Art Manning, or he just
said this about Billy Napier. So yeah, it's great. And
he has a hole back a little bit since he's

(06:30):
technically the ambassador, so but you know, it's fun. It
is a lot of fun. We love talking about stuff
because I have not very good short term memory, but
my long term memory is terrific and I can tell
him scores of games, so he appreciates that.

Speaker 1 (06:47):
Well. When coach Spurrier arrived on the scene. Was about
the time they expanded the league and changed the schedules,
and so this will be the first time the Gators
have come to Lexington since in November. Since nineteen ninety
the game always used to be in Lexington in November
every other year, and they can.

Speaker 4 (07:09):
Jeremy Polly is the one who pushed to get that
move because he felt like it was not fair for
Florida have to go up there November. You're right though,
that was the game was always in November, and he
somehow got the league to move the game to earlier
in the year. And now it's back because now we
have no idea when anybody's playing or who they're playing.
It's kind of crazy. Now.

Speaker 1 (07:30):
Yeah, Gators come with an interim coach and they come
off a tough loss to the big rival Georgia their
last Saturday. Where do you think the Gators' heads will be?
Looks like the receivers are beat up on the availability reports,
So where will the Gators' heads be for this matchup?

(07:50):
Do you think?

Speaker 4 (07:52):
Well, it'd better be give the ball to Jade and
ball and get out of the way, because yeah, their
receiver and situation is not good. Obviously. Trey Wilson, who
had a big game finally in that game against Georgia,
is out now for this game. Dallas Wilson's out for
the year with a foot injury, and you know that's
probably their two best receivers. So and then aide Myzelle's questionable.

(08:15):
So I don't even know who they're going to put
out there. Why receive restirred event and Trey Hawkins and
you know guys that haven't really done a whole lot.
So yeah, that's I mean, Jayden Ball is I think
one of the best running backs in this in this
league and maybe in the country, and they don't use
them enough, to be honest with you. So those I
think you could be in in luck and that you're

(08:38):
going to get about a two hour and fifty minute
game because I know that Kentucky is going to pound
it with those two running backs as well. So I
don't think the ball is going to get in the
air as much as we would like to see it
in the air.

Speaker 1 (08:51):
It'll be, uh, it won't be like that first quarter
of the Tennessee game week before last week lasted. The
first quarter was an hour.

Speaker 4 (09:00):
Yeah, maybe Tom, you can explain how a team can
give up fifty nine points one game and three the
next on the road.

Speaker 1 (09:06):
Well, i'll give you. I'll give you a better one
than that. I always cite this every year as the
strangest set of scores I've ever seen, and the last
two weeks would have to be a contender. But in
nineteen it was nineteen sixty nine. Kentucky had a new
coach and opened the season against Indiana and lost fifty
eight to thirty. And the next week they beat Archie
Manning and Ole Miss and Lexington and Archie Manning led

(09:29):
team that would win the Sugar Bowl beat them ten
to nine. So you have a fifty eight to Indiana
and nine to Archie Manning a week later. It makes
no sense sometimes, Well.

Speaker 4 (09:39):
That's my one of my ten commandments of college football
is that every game is its own game. And look,
you just said, where is Florida's head? I think they
put an awful lot of energy and effort, and you know,
not play calling, because the play calling was the same
crap we've been seeing forever. But you know, they put

(10:03):
a lot into this game emotionally because they had to
buy a week before it. Now they're gonna go on
the road. It's going to be a I call it
a fifty to fifty game. It's supposed to be fifty
degrees and fifty percent chance of rain. So that's a
fifty to fifty game. And you know, they it's gonna
be a tough, tough game for them to try to win,
but they've got to They've got to win it the

(10:23):
way Kentucky wants to win it, because that's the only
way they can win it. They're not gonna be able
to sit back there and throw the ball over the place.
They don't have anybody to go get it and don't
have anybody to separate from receivers, you know, So that's
gonna be uh, it could be a ten to nine
games maybe in shape for that one.

Speaker 1 (10:41):
Ball had his breakout game against Kentucky last season then
Gainsville with one hundred and six yards on twenty two carries.
But DJ Lagway also had his big breakout that night.
They completed seven passes, but he averaged almost twenty yards
per attempt, and the expectations bar was set pretty high
for him given the way last season finished. What's been

(11:02):
the problem there?

Speaker 4 (11:04):
Well, I think It goes back to the fact he
had no spring, he had no pure offseason because he
was hurt during that as well. At one point he
had surgery on a hernia situation. They kept it quiet,
and they've kept it quiet, but we know what happened,
so I'll tell you guys. But I mean, look, the

(11:25):
bottom line is he hasn't been one hundred percent healthy.
It's weird that in the last week's game they decided
to make the quarterback run part of the offense, which
should be I mean, he's a two hundred and forty
five pound guy. You know, you saw him a couple
of times break tackles. But I think I think Napier

(11:46):
was afraid if he gets hurt, we're screw. We can't win,
you know, And he's probably right. I mean, they their
backup quarterback is a guy who played the second half
of the first game against Long Island hadn't played since.
So yeah, there, they put all their eggs in that basket,
and the eggs have been broken. I mean they're not
they're not good. I mean, he's been very erratic. His

(12:09):
footwork is terrible. I don't think he's getting coached well,
to be honest, with you. You know, it's just not
it's just it's it's really one of the great busts
of all time. I will say this, though, I think
last year's DJ Lagway was a little bit romanticized in

(12:30):
that he wasn't great. Last year, they were playing great
defense down the stretch and that's how they won all
those games, and he was good enough. But I mean
he was like a twelve touchdown, seven interception guy. I mean,
he wasn't like he was lighting up the skies. But
everybody thought coming into this year he'd be ready, all right,
but then he wasn't. He wasn't even ready, you know.

(12:51):
He do only played the first half of the first game,
which he probably should have played more. But it just
hasn't been very good. And I think maybe he's one
of these what I would call an nil casualty too,
you know, where he's gotten so much attention and so
much stuff he's got to do outside of football that
maybe it's getting in the way of some things. Who's

(13:13):
gonna be the next coach of the Gators? Well, if
you know, Tom, I would love it if you'd share
it with me, because I get asked that question four
times a day. I can't even go to the you know,
the minute mark, you know, and get a diet coke
and without three people ask me about it. And look,
everybody knows that Florida would love to get Lane Kiffin.

(13:35):
But I don't know what Lank Kiffin's gonna do. Link
Kiff's gonna have a lot of options. He can go
to LSU, he can stay at Old Myths, he can
come here. He can stay at Ole Miss and win
nine or ten games a year and be a hero.
Or he can come to go to LSU, or go
to Florida, not make the playoffs and get fired in
three and a half years. So I mean, I don't

(13:55):
know what he's gonna do. My gut is gonna be
that he's gonna stay there. And then where do you go?
You go drink? Which do you go? Can you talk
Jeff Brohman to coming leaving his alma mater? You know,
I don't know. The bran Key is a guy that
would be in the mix just because Florida wants to
see a guy who can generate some offense. I mean,

(14:15):
at one point Florida was laughing the SEC and scoring
a couple of weeks ago. I think they're now up
to fourteenth, so but I mean, look, that's a bottom line.
They also need a coach who comes in here with
a winning attitude. This team doesn't know how to win.
And you saw that, Tom in the Georgia game. Georgia

(14:36):
knew how to win, They expected to win, they knew
it the fourth quarter they would win the game. Florida
just doesn't know how to do it yet, and they
find a way to lose. I mean, obviously the long
touch what would have been a long touchdown pass lagway
way under through. It probably was a cats but I
understand why they didn't overturn it. So you know, they

(14:57):
got to have a guy who comes in here like
Spurri or did and changed everybody's attitude, you know, change
the way they felt about everything, changed the way they
went about their winning. And now you know, obviously he
was very successful at it. And then Urban came in
and I didn't think I'd ever see this, Tom, But
Florida's about to have their six losing season in the

(15:18):
last thirteen years. Wow. I never thought Florida would have
six losing seasons in forty years. After covering Spuryer, covering Urban,
even Ron Zook had winning seasons every year, so but
they're about to have their six and three of them.

Speaker 1 (15:33):
You have to blame Billy Naperd for Pat Appreciate the
time as always the duly noted podcast. I'm sure it's
on Apple and everywhere else fine podcasts are found.

Speaker 4 (15:43):
It's everywhere. Yeah, yeah, I appreciate it. Appreciate it. You've
given it a plug and we're banging along. We're about
to have our five hundredth episode coming up with Urban
Miners going to join us for that one, so it'll
be fun.

Speaker 1 (15:56):
Well, and you can catch Coach Spurrier every Monday with
Pat Dooley. Thanks every Monday.

Speaker 4 (16:00):
Yep, thank you, buddy.

Speaker 1 (16:01):
See it heading to a break. When we come back
the Goose Jack Gibbings, it's the Leads Report presented by
Bob Cat Enterprises. Plea Sure Park comes to you from
the Clark's Pumping Shop Studio. Return, refresh and refuel at Clark's.
We welcome in the goose Jack Gibbings and Goose What
were your takeaways from that opening night win on the

(16:22):
for the Wildcats.

Speaker 5 (16:25):
Well, I took away there that you look really a
whole lot better when you have a point guard out
there to kind of run things and don't want to
slight Colin Chandler, but what made a big difference getting
him back in his natural position, which is more of
a two guard. So I'm hoping to see both of

(16:49):
those guys, both of those point guards tomorrow. Hopefully j
jylewis back, Denzel has played well, and I think we'll
get our first look of more of what our team's
gonna look like. Of course JQ is not there, but
I'm looking forward to the game tomorrow night.

Speaker 1 (17:10):
I mentioned Coach Pope your comment during the broadcast of
that there was too much dribbling, and he said, there's
one hundred percent true. Uh, And he said there, you
watch a lot of the practices. He said, they've spent
most of their time on defense and they probably need
to spend a little more of the time on offense.

Speaker 5 (17:25):
Now, well, that's true, I mean, and I was a
little bit surprised about what I've seen, especially the first
well during the summer and then even the first few
weeks of this fall practice. It has been more defense focused,

(17:46):
and I know Mark understands that we need to be
a lot better than we were last year. I think
and you know, Tom, if you're playing defense, that leads
to offense. So he was wanting more than that kind
of stuff.

Speaker 1 (18:00):
Yeah, he talked about that after the game too. We'll
pick up on that when we come right back with
the Ghost. Jack Evans on the Leach Report Radio Network.
Leach Report presented by Bob Kat enterprises, we roll into
the second half of the show chatting with a Goose,
Jack Givens says the Wildcats will return to the court
tomorrow night against Valparaiso and maybe we'll get a glimpse
of Jalen Lowe. Coach Pope suggested that could be the case.

(18:25):
We talked on the broadcast Goose about how much moved
much more smoothly things flowed in the second half with
Colin off the ball, and Coach Pope mentioned after and
he Colin really hadn't done much work at all at
the point because they felt they were fine there until
they had a couple of their top two guys get injured.
So but he what he went back over to play

(18:48):
in primarily too he took off.

Speaker 5 (18:51):
Yeah. Yeah, you can see how much more comfortable he
was playing playing that position. And along with being comfortable
comes confidence and what he was taking shots, and still
I don't know exactly how he got up from where
he did to dunk that ball. You know, it was

(19:14):
it was just an amazing play.

Speaker 1 (19:19):
How quickly you got up?

Speaker 5 (19:21):
Well, hey, do you I jumped up out of my seat.
I don't know that I've done that very often. I
used to when I was watching shock break break backboards
and Penny Hardaway, uh taking off from the free throw
line and dunking and some of those things. When I
was working for the Magic, Yeah, I would get up out.

Speaker 4 (19:40):
Of my seat.

Speaker 5 (19:41):
But boy, that hadn't happened in a long time. That
was sweet, And I just loved the way the other
guys on the bench reacted. And I think that kind
of showed me how much they really enjoy each other.
I mean, I knew that because I've watched them and
I see how they get along. But the whole house

(20:01):
just kind of went crazy, and the bench was the
craziest part of the house. I think. Well, the reaction
from his teammates.

Speaker 1 (20:10):
Let's talk a little bit about a couple other guys.
Cam Williams shot forty three percent last year, so you
know he's an outstanding shooter. Before you're at Tulane. He
was doing that at high school, at the high school level,
and yet I'm sure his head swimming a little bit
with being asked to do a lot more things than
he was at Tulane. Is it just simply a matter

(20:33):
of the game slowing down for him to start making
those shots.

Speaker 5 (20:38):
Look, I haven't talked a whole lot to Cam, of course,
introduced myself and shared a moment here in a moment there.
But I get the impression that he is. He's very quiet,
and he's very he's a shy kind of guy, and
he's not been in a situation like this before, certainly

(21:02):
playing that Kentucky, and I, Yeah, I just think he
needs to see one shot go down. I mean, you
watch him in practice and you see how freely he
shoots the ball, doesn't even think about it. And I'm
watching him in games and it's kind of like I

(21:25):
am with my golf game. When I'm not hitting it well,
I try to guide the ball. I try to hold
on to it, keep it on that clubhead a little
bit longer, and you end up pushing it and it
gets worse. When I'm really on I just swing at it.
And that's kind of the way he is. He's thinking about, man,

(21:47):
I gotta make a shot. Come on, when is this
thing gonna go as opposed to just letting it go?
And I think, I think, and I'm pretty sure about it.
Once he makes one, and if he makes in a row,
then we're gonna start getting what we knew we were
going to get. I like that Mark and his staff
as not putting any extra pressure on him. They'll stay

(22:10):
and shoot as much as he wants to after practice,
but they're just letting him work through it because they
have confidence that he's able to do it. I think
he's gonna do it because he just shoots it too well.
Same thing with Trent Noah. Trent hadn't shot the ball
well yet like he has. I mean, it was amazing
how well he shot the ball in the summer, and

(22:32):
then also this here in the fall when he's been practicing,
but he's not made one either. So I mean, he
made a shot, but he's not made him the way
we all thought he would. So I look for both
of those guys to get going.

Speaker 1 (22:45):
I remember talking to Cody Fieger this summer for an
interview we played here on the show, and I think
he mentioned two of the stats they thought would really
be significantly improved this year would be the field goal
percentage defense for the opponent or for Kentucky against the opponent,
and certainly that was the case the other night. And

(23:05):
then the other one was the offensive rebound percentage, that
they'd be a much better offensive rebounding team, and Mark
talked about how you know that how important that is,
and he also talked about, you know, being able to
have the buy in on defense to where they're being
able to thrive off on the offensive end by what

(23:26):
starts at the defensive end. And that's where I guess
a big, you know, focal point has been in the
lead up to this season. So you have to figure
that once the normal pattern of Coach Pope's offense kicks
in to go along with those two things, is when
they really start to roll.

Speaker 5 (23:44):
Yeah, I think for sure. One of the reasons he
said that was Jaden Quaintans when he gets back because
he is such a strong offensive rebounding rebound there. But
it's interesting, Tom because one of the other reasons he
said that was Cam Williams and he is so good
around the basket at rebounding the basketball and especially on

(24:05):
the offensive end and putting it back in. Look, I said,
he just needs to see a shot go in, an
offensive rebound or run out dunk like he had the
other night. Is a ball going through the basket. I'm
not necessarily talking about a three point shot. And I'm
an old school guy, and I'm one of these who

(24:26):
think may get closer. Make that closer when and then
you can stretch it out a little bit and get
back out there. I think an offensive rebound or two
and a putback for for Cam would would do wonders.
But certainly they're on the ball. Defense as well as
their help. Defense has been a lot better than it

(24:46):
was last year, and that's going to continue to get
better because I think Jalen Lowe is gonna make him
a little bit better on defense. Now, No, he didn't
have that reputation coming in, but he's really really worked
hard and improved on defense. So yeah, rebounding the basketball

(25:07):
all guys, everybody has to get in there and rebound
the ball. We've seen some of that, and and like
I say, just continuing to improve on defense, get some
takeaways and go down and get some easy ones on
the other end is what Mark's kind of been working on.

Speaker 1 (25:23):
Really looking forward to seeing low play. I was listening
to the.

Speaker 5 (25:29):
Well and understand, understand now it's it's not gonna be.
It may not. I'm not saying it not, but it
may not be very smooth even with him in there
yet because it's been what three weeks back in the
Blue White game, so there's gonna be a little bit
of adjustment time. I will say this. I saw what

(25:51):
I saw him practicing with the team and doing a
little bit of up and down and a little bit
of contact stuff earlier this week. Well, he he can't
wait to get out there. He looked really really good
and you saw that too, I'm sure, but yeah, it
may not be the most smooth outfense even yet, even
though he might play.

Speaker 1 (26:12):
I was looking back at an interview he did back
in the summer, one of those media sessions, and he
was just talking about you know, yeah, something to the
effect of and I know, just had a reputation as
a scorer and shot a lot in my last stop,
but I am a pure point guard first. I love
to pass it. It was just the circumstances of the

(26:33):
situation I was in last year, so I liked you
know what he was talking about there. I love, you know,
guys that love to pass the ball, and so just
eager to even if it's a little bumpy out of
the gate, just eager to see him get out and
get going hopefully tomorrow night goes. Appreciate the time as always.

(26:54):
Got any events coming fut of the book or alumni association.

Speaker 5 (26:58):
Well, I have a couple of I was at the
Florence Rotary Club and I have Frankfurt Rotary Club next week.
I don't have any other events. I'll sell books there,
but Lexington Rotaries coming up. So I'm making that circuit
right now, which is great. But I'll keep everybody posting

(27:20):
on social media when these events events are coming out.

Speaker 1 (27:24):
Thank you Goose. It's at Goose Giving.

Speaker 5 (27:26):
Thank you Tom.

Speaker 1 (27:26):
Follow on X We'll be right back with Justin Rowland
from Cats Illustrated here on the Leech Report from the
Clark's Pumping Shop Studio. Return Refresh and refuel fourteen away
from the top of the hour as we roll on
with his Thursday edition of The Leach Report, and welcome
in Justin Rowland from Cats Illustrated and on three Sports

(27:48):
at Roland Rivals on X start with the basketball win
and the opener against Stickles, and now the matchup with
Louisville is less than a week away. So what do
you need to see if you're a Kentucky fan tomorrow
night justin to feel good about Tuesday night?

Speaker 6 (28:05):
I think you'd like to see him come out more
focused on the offensive end. You know, some of it
was just for shooting, some of it was probably taking
shots that they could have waited on, just generally out
of sync.

Speaker 1 (28:18):
Not quite the level.

Speaker 6 (28:20):
Of christness and execution and precision that we saw from
Pope's offense at times, even early last year when they
had just like an insanely experienced team. They weren't experienced
in Pope's system, but they were very experienced, like the
most experienced Kentucky basketball team of all time. And so
it'll be interesting to see if the offense is going

(28:41):
to be a big work in progress over the course
of the season or as they get everybody back in
the game action, they still have some of that explosiveness,
that firepower they can lean on a top ten offense,
top fifteen offense early in the season.

Speaker 4 (28:53):
We're gonna wait and see.

Speaker 1 (28:55):
Yeah, last year's team didn't figure to be the you know,
a defensive juggernaut. They figured to be stronger on the
offensive end just because of the makeup of the team.
And that was the case certainly from from the numbers.
And and now he has a team that is built
differently in terms of the assets that it has to

(29:17):
be really good defensively, and they've spent a lot of time,
as he pointed out, working on that and also focusing
on the rebounding, and he said they admitted they needed
to probably work a little bit more on the offensive end,
but that makes sense given you know what, there's you
need to get your strength to be your strength first

(29:37):
and foremost, I would think, and that's what they did
in terms of focusing on the defense and offensively, his
teams have more often than not been very good, so
you have to think that will come along pretty quickly.

Speaker 6 (29:48):
Yeah, I think instinctively, you just have more trust that
they're going to be okay on offense than.

Speaker 2 (29:53):
Defense, all things being equal.

Speaker 6 (29:55):
And that's not a knock on the defense, or it's
not blind trust in the offense, but marked offense. I mean,
they we saw them run good offense enough times last
year without even a working point guard and you just
get trust in him on that side. But they cut
so hard and they expend so much energy on that
side of the court. I do feel like there is
baked in with Pope a little bit of favoring the Oup,

(30:18):
kind of like with Stoops, how the approach to the game,
everybody's got to win a certain way. The approach to
the game with Stoops is kind of setting up the defense,
and the approach to the game with Pope Hope is
kind of setting up the offense. So that actually feel
more confident in a Pope team that's better on paper
on defense.

Speaker 2 (30:37):
As long as this.

Speaker 6 (30:38):
Step back the pendulum swinging back the other direction with
link and athleticism and defense doesn't hurt you too much.
They still probably need to be a very good shooting
team to be elite under Mark Pope.

Speaker 2 (30:49):
That's just such a big part of what he emphasizes.

Speaker 6 (30:51):
Them, and they need to be better than they've been
at that early on.

Speaker 1 (30:56):
So let's shift to football. Another big opportunity game for
the Wildcats. They took advantage of one last week at Auburn.
What do you expect? What do they need to do
to take advantage of this opportunity against the Gators and
get an sec home win.

Speaker 2 (31:12):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (31:12):
I mean, I think if you just look at the
trend line for the team, it would not be surprising
if they came out.

Speaker 2 (31:17):
And they won, right. Like, So, Florida doesn't have a coach, and.

Speaker 6 (31:20):
That can take a toll. It's a series where Kentucky
has played well. You just you have a lot more
confidence that Kentucky's gonna play well against Florida than you
do against Tennessee.

Speaker 2 (31:32):
Sometimes the only explanation.

Speaker 6 (31:33):
Is who's who's on the other sideline because it carries
from year to year almost as long as they don't
have big breakdowns on the back end of the defense.
I feel like it's it's a game where you run
conservative offense and hope that you just have a chance
in the fourth quarter because Florida. Florida's big problem is
losing situations, kind of like Kentucky's losing third down plays,

(31:55):
big people, forced down plays, big momentum person leverage moments,
and so I think you just want to keep it
close and hope Florida shoots themselves in the foot because
that's kind of what they've been in most close games.

Speaker 1 (32:08):
Yeah, and they're not scoring a lot of points other
than what they did in their opener against it out
match foe. They've scored sixteen, ten, seven, twenty nine against Texas,
then seventeen, twenty three and twenty and you know it's
you know, when you face the balls the Tennessee falls,
you figure it's you know, probably the winning score is

(32:30):
going to be at least in the thirties if you
be yeah. And so it's a different deal going into this. Plus,
Florida's beat up at the receiver position, and this game
is just on paper, there's a lot to like. I
thought that was the case last week. I think it's
the case again this week. With the the issues the
Gators have with their receiver position, they may have to

(32:51):
lean heavily on the run. Kentucky's defensive line is its strength,
and Kentucky may it waller back. It looks like from
availability report. Plus, they've just got to be in a
really good place. I would think, given the fact that
they fought so hard through the adversity and kept battling.
Now that they've had the payoff of success, one would

(33:13):
think that they might really And David Guesta talked a
little bit about this yesterday, how the practices have been
really kind of take that and run with it.

Speaker 6 (33:23):
Yeah, well, they're inside those walls working every day and
they're trying to block out the noise and they're trying
to create their own narrative essentially, And you know, guys
everywhere have incentive to keep playing hard no matter what
things look like because essentially they're pros now and that's
going to reflect back on them and what's open for
them next year.

Speaker 4 (33:44):
And I think that.

Speaker 6 (33:47):
It does set up well for them. If they were
in a place where the offense was not doing well
and it was just we got to rely on the
defense for this this thing, I don't I wouldn't feel
as confident in that the offense is moving the ball,
and you do have some confidence that they can move
the ball even against quality defenses. So when you pair
that with DJ Lagway just came in with such a

(34:10):
bad preseason, like with injuries and setbacks, and he just
has never found his footing this year and it's never
been smooth around him. You trust Brad White in that
matchup much more than you did last year, and then
you start saying, maybe Kentucky's offense has as much of
a chance against Florida's defense as the other way around,
and then it kind of looks like.

Speaker 4 (34:30):
A fifty to fifty game.

Speaker 2 (34:31):
I will say Florida has been a little bit better
this year.

Speaker 6 (34:33):
I think whereas Kentucky played Texas closed, they should have
beaten them by two scores. And so there's a lot.

Speaker 2 (34:38):
Of talent on that Florida roster.

Speaker 6 (34:40):
So pick sixes, big momentum shifts, plays like that are
going to be big.

Speaker 1 (34:44):
That's a good point because the Gators, they doesn't show
up with the results, but they have recruited well, so
there should be a good bit of talent there, depending
on you know what place they're in in their own heads.
Justin appreciate the time as always, all right, thanks a
lot of time. You can read Justin's work at his
teams at Katzillustrated dot com. On the on three Sports network,

(35:09):
it is the Leach Report. And I want to take
a second to talk about Cornbread Hemp. They have a
brand new retail store and you can go and see
how all of these products are made and meet some
of the people behind the scenes. Was there earlier this
year and it's a really cool operation. At tremendous commitment

(35:29):
to quality and they're using all Kentucky grown hemp and
I would imagine all Kentucky grown employees. And you can
see it all for yourself at their facility. If you
can't make it there, you can go and go to
the website Cornbreadhemp dot com and find the closest retailer
near you for cornbreadhamp products, or you just order online
and if it's your first time to do that, put

(35:51):
in the code Tom and check out. You'll get an
extra twenty percent off on all of their products, like
the new four packs of their infused Seltzers. You'll get
one of each of the four flavors to try the
infused Seltzers if you have not done that yet, we'll
be right back on the Leach Report Radio network. It's
the Leach Report and it is Game two for the
UK women's basketball team. Tonight. They'll take on Monmouth six

(36:15):
point thirty at Historic Memorial Colisseum. Darren Hedrick will be
on the call on the UK Radio Network. Volleyball is
at Missouri tonight, that's on SEC Network Plus, and then
they'll be back home Sunday for the Pack the House
game at the Coliseum and Hopefully you can get out

(36:35):
and support the Kentucky volleyball team that is making a
serious run at a second national championship. Women's soccer lost
a penalty shootout with Georgia and was eliminated from the
SEC tournament. So they now wait for the word from
the NCAA Selection Committee on where they will be in
the national tournament and that show is coming up on

(36:57):
Monday for women's soccer Day in Wildcat history two thousand
and nine, John Wall scored twenty seven points in his
unofficial debut because it was in an exhibition game against Clarion.
And then happy birthday wishes go out, A good day
to be born, if you are a great if you

(37:18):
want to be a great shooter, Kobe Brea, Happy birthday,
Doron Lamb, Happy birthday today. Those notes presented by Kentucky
road Show Sports Cards at Memorabilia on Romney Road here
in Lexington and at Roadshowcards dot com. Shufflebean Coffee's been
with us for more than a decade here on the
Leech Report. Group of Kentuckians got together to form this

(37:38):
company with a commitment to excellence that you can read
about by going to Shufflebean dot us and see how
the process works and how they follow the process of
the quality of their coffee from seed to cup. And
then you can order some product while you're on the site,
or you can get it through Amazon or here in
central Kentucky, swing by a Myers store and you can
pick up Shufflebean coffee there. It's the official coffee of

(38:01):
Rapparna and the KFCM center that will do it for
the Leach Report. Back for football Friday tomorrow, plus game
day for Kentucky men's basketball, so lots to talk about.
We'll see you then on the Leach Report, presented by
Bobcat Enterprises.