December 15, 2025 • 38 mins
Tom talks with Jeff Drummond, Kendrick Haskins, and Dick Gabriel.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good day. Everybody. Welcome into the Leech Report, presented each
day by Bob Cat Enterprises. Coming up today, Jay Drumming.
Jay Drumm will lead us off. He's with Cats Illustrated
Kendrick Haskins from Wave three in Louisville. Both were in
rapp Arena Saturday night watching Kentucky's win over Indiana, so
(00:23):
we'll get their take on that, and then also Rob
Doster from Field of sixty eight will join us. And
if you are a follower of the Field of sixty
eight after Dark podcast, you would have seen the guys
talking about the Saturday games, including Kentucky. I you and
Rob seemed to think that this was a significant win
(00:45):
for Kentucky in more ways than just getting a quality
win on the resume, in terms of maybe getting them
on the right path, So we'll get his take on
that when he joins us a little later on the program.
Wild Cat News of the Day is a service of
Giuseppees of Lexington. It's one of the biggest stories of
the weekend for UK Athletics was volleyball punching a ticket
(01:10):
to the Final Four for just the second time ever.
The Wildcats will be in Kansas City to play on
Thursday night as they continue their quest for a second
national championship, and they will be playing Wisconsin, the three
seed which upset Texas yesterday the one seed and another
one seed was ousted undefeated Nebraska upset and both of
(01:34):
these were on the one seed's home courts. Texas A
and M did the deed out in Lincoln, Nebraska. So
you have Kentucky against the three seed Wisconsin, pit a
one seed against the three seed Texas A and M.
So Kentucky's the highest seed left because they were the
number two overall in the tournament to Nebraska. So one
would think that's mikes Kentucky the de facto favorite to
(01:56):
win the title this week, but four very good teams Wisconsin,
Texas A, and M getting hot at the end of
the year, and Kentucky and Pitt have been outstanding from
the start. So congrats to coach Craig Skinner and his crew,
and good luck on the trip to Kansas City. Kentucky
men's basketball a win that to say it was needed
(02:20):
would be a massive understatement. Look, this was the next
to last chance to get a quality non conference win,
and you need something on the resume in that area
to balance whatever you do in the league. And it
wasn't like it was do or die for making the tournament,
but it certainly took a big step toward putting that
(02:42):
issue to rest for a while. And as long as
Kentucky continues to play well and continue to get better
do well in the SEC, then you start focusing on
things like how good can they get? And they took
some major steps in the right direction. On Saturday. We'll
talk about some of this with our guests. But Mohammed
(03:05):
Diabat was tremendous. In the pregame show, Coach Pope told
us that he was going to see how it winning
warm ups for MO and that the yeah, they thought
he was going to try to go, but they wanted
to wait and see how it looked in warm ups
and how he moved, and when they put him in
a game he started to make an impact and then
(03:27):
the second half he was tremendous. There's one play videos
out there on social media. I think it was Low
missed a shot. Kentucky's down one Low got a nice
drive but missed the shot. There are five Crimson jerseys
underneath the basket and one white jersey and Modabate comes
out with the ball and scores to go ahead basket
(03:48):
and Kentucky never trailed again. He finished with fourteen points
and twelve rebounds in his first game since the eighteenth
of November when he was injured against Michigan State, and
low didn't play in that game, so this was a
point that probably deserved more mention that Kentucky the best
game they had played against a high rated opponent Louisville,
(04:13):
was when they were the closest to full strength. Low
played I think thirty minutes in that game, Diabat was
at full strength, and Kentucky had a chance to win
that game with four minutes to play on the opponent's
home court. Otherwise, they hadn't had the whole band, hadn't
had the band back together again until Saturday night, and
Jalen Lowe played twenty four minutes. He had thirteen points
(04:33):
and did not turn the ball over and was a
tremendous leader for his team down the stretch and defended
well against Wilkerson too. The Kentucky held Wilkerson and Devrees
to three of fourteen at the three point line. Both
got into foul trouble. Wilkerson in particular, had to sit
for a long time in the second half, but still
Indiana had a seven point lead. He went out two
(04:55):
minutes into the second half. They were up seven at
the half. They were still up seven with fourteen to go,
and Kentucky was able to then come from behind and win,
going away only four turnovers in the game. They forced
Indiana into four of twenty four three point shooting. It's
the worst mark for the Hoosiers this season, a team
that really thrives on the three point shot. And Kentucky
(05:17):
women's basketball beats Belmont seventy seven to sixty nine. Amelia
Hassett with nineteen points and ten rebounds to pace Kentucky
to that victory. Wildcats had a plus twenty advantage on
the boards. Thanks to the stories that we talk about
and you can find them on the bud Light Leach
Report page at Tom leachky dot com or hed No
break Back with Jeff Drummond. Opening segment presented by Juseppes
(05:38):
of Lexington. Still time to get gift cards for your
holiday shopping. If there's somebody hard to buy for, a
Juceppe's gift card could be the ticket. You can pick
them up in the restaurant. You can get them at
Guseppes Lexington dot com and have them delivered via email,
and there's probably still time to get them in the mail.
If you want something that looks really extra nice, they'll
(05:59):
prepare them in a really nice envelope with a gift card.
You can do them three emails, I said, but if
you want the full treatment, you can go to Giuseppes
Lexington dot com and do that or go to the restaurant.
We'll be right back with Jay Drumm quarter past the
top of the hour. It's the Leads Report, presented by
Bob Kat Enterprises each day. As we welcome in Jeff
(06:19):
Drummond to the program. You read it at Cats Illustrated
dot com. As the Wildcats picked up a much needed
win over Indiana on Saturday night, let's listen to Jalen
Lowe after the game. Kentucky's point guard got twenty four minutes,
his longest stint since he played thirty against Louisville, and
then was injured again shortly thereafter with that right shoulder.
(06:42):
This with Jayalen Lowe talking about the significance of the win.
Don't see if we get that the fire away there,
which Shannon, when it gets when it starts working, holler,
we'll play it then as me and DEVI will welcome
in after rum into the program from Katzillustrated dot Com
(07:03):
uh Ja Drum. This was a when Kentucky really needed
to get it, wasn't It was as close to a
must win as it could be in December.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
I guess right, Yeah, you took the words right out
of my mouth. Tom. I'm not a big believer in
the must win concept at all until you get into
the tournament and it's you know, win or go home.
But this was probably as close to it for the
overall feel and operation of this team right now as
(07:36):
you can get, because they really needed a shot of confidence,
not only for themselves but for their fans, maybe even
for the you know, looking down the line in the
tournament committee because you know, they didn't have much work
done on the resume prior to doesn't know, and this
this gave them a really nice win. It's a all
(08:00):
that Indiana team and you look forward to you know,
SEC play on the horizon. It's a little bit of
a double edged sword this year. You it's not as
strong of the league on paper, right now as it
was last year, but that also means you have fewer
opportunities to rack up some of those wins, like Kentucky
(08:21):
had to really improve its resume. So I'm a little
apprehensive about what that's going to mean when they get
in the league play. But as for now, you know,
you stop the bleeding a little bit, and if you
wake up and click on the Kim Palm standings, you're
a pretty good, pretty good position right now for a
(08:43):
team that's seven and four.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Okay, now, let's listen to Jalen Low after the game.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
We absolutely needed this tonight just to show that the
guys that we have to fight in us that we're
capable of doing this. You know, it's been it's been
rocky and hard for us so far on this journey,
but I'm just showing these guys that we can show
up and do it in every aspect. Tons is huge
for us.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Absolutely can't be overstated what he said. And this was
a game where two guys that they've figured to lean
on really heavily and haven't had for much of the
season to this point were played huge roles. Low the
way he ran the team in the second half, in particular,
and then Mohammed Diabate.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Yeah, that's one of those deals where it really makes
you wonder, now after seeing them play Saturday, what if
they had those guys healthy for a whole season Today
today have flipped a couple of those close games in
their favor, and you see a little bit on both
(09:47):
ends of the court. I think with Jalon Lowe at
the point just gives them so much more stability on offense.
They looked completely different, even the guys around him being
different with their confidence level when he's out there at
the point. And then on on defense and the glass, uh,
(10:08):
two areas that have given the Cats problems and in
some of their you know, p five games, Mohammed Diabat, Oh,
just a phenomenal effort against the Hoosiers reminded me a
little bit tom of of what we used to see
from Chuck Hayes. You know, he's not the biggest guy.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
People.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
People kind of assume that he's a little bit bigger
because he's played the four spot of power forward, but
he's he's a bit undersized, uh in terms of hype
that man, the heart and the motor and the toughness,
there's that uh. One picture out there. I think that's
circulating on Twitter and other social media where there are
five Indians under the basket with Mohammed Dibade and I
(10:58):
think the caption said who do you think got the rebound?
And it was him. I'm against basically against five guys.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
It's a tremendous comparison to Chuck because he was, you know,
undersized for what he was being asked to do, and
it didn't matter. I think of a game. There's a
game at Old Miss. I don't know if you'll remember
this sequence. They were struggling against the point of the
game where they missed I think three or four consecutive
(11:26):
shots on one possession, and Chuck got the offensive rebound
every time. And I remember telling Mike Pratty was as
if he was saying, this ball's not leaving this end
of the court until we score, and they kept missing
and he kept getting it and they finally scored, and
that's that was that kind of effort we saw from Diabate.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Yeah, and I think another thing that's kind of contagious
for his teammates. You know, you saw some big moments
like that from from Brandon Garrison out there too, who
came to rut Arena with a newfound determination. You know,
after a few tough days that he's endured, you could
(12:09):
even say, you know, a few tough weeks for him,
maybe he found himself in this one. And you know,
I came away from that game thinking that did Kentucky
find a new identity or maybe an identity period? Yeah,
because they really haven't shown one to date. And they
found that they can win a game when they're not
(12:31):
shooting the ball. Well, the ball doesn't have to go
in the hole like they thought it was going into
the season for them to be able to have success
against the quality opponent.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
Well, the storyline on the team that Mark put together
for his second season was that it was going to
address some of those issues of defense and atlanticism that
where they fell short last year in some of the
matchups against the best teams. And that's what we hadn't
seen a lot of, but again hadn't had the whole
(13:03):
band together. So this looked like a team to your
point of finding an identity that could maybe find some
element of that identity on that defensive end. And you know,
they thought they were going to be a much better
offensive rebounding team and would be able to score some
that way, and that hadn't happened until this game. So
those are things where maybe they did take a significant
step toward finding their way to win most of their games, right.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
And we still haven't seen the guy in Jaden Quainton's
who could be the biggest impact on defense and rebounding
and from when they get him back, And it feels
like it's going to happen sooner rather than Layden, And
you know, it's just a different I think we'll go
into the SEC schedule with a different mindset. If they
(13:53):
can build on this, I mean, they can't backslipt and
find themselves down fifteen to twenty points in the first
half against Saint John's, they might be back at square
one if that happens. But if they can build on
it and uh maybe even pick up a win and
this next one, you've got to feel good about the
direction of going at that point.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
That's Jeff Drevin Jay Drubb Fromcatzillustrated dot Com. Uh, Jeff,
appreciate the time as always, Thank you, all right. That's
Jeff Drubbing on the Leads Report presented by Bob Kat Enterprises.
Kendrick Casks from Wave three on deck. What do we return?
It's nothing like playing with my brothers every night.
Speaker 4 (14:32):
F you know, I know the and that you got
on the team, so you know, if it was good
to like have some joy after the game, and you know,
we're just gonna keep doing that.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
What was it like the last almost months now?
Speaker 4 (14:45):
Just having to kind of sit and launch this sucked?
I'm god, every day suck, just doing rehab, trying to
get better. You know, it was games where we lost, well,
I feel like I could have been an impact, you know,
into where the results would be different, but you know,
I couldn't really do anything about it. But you know,
now I'm back, you know, I just hope to keep
(15:06):
the same momentum going forward.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Ken Kendrick Haskett joining his staff from Wave three. That
was Mo Diabante after the game. I loved his answer
to what was it like sitting out? It suck? And
he played like he had a renewed passion by being
back out on the court. And Low had talked about
this even after the Gonzaga gave you know, but you know,
(15:30):
he was kind of learning how much he appreciated being
able to play basketball at this level When he didn't
get the chance to do it for a while, So
having those two guys do their thing in that second
half was I guess what Kentucky's supposed to look like
this season.
Speaker 5 (15:45):
Right, Yeah, they looked so good in that second half.
I mean there was a stretch for Diabatte pretty much
just took over the game, and then Lowe took him
to the finish line. It was like a great one
two punch and the things that that was coming off
the bench, that was great to see that second half.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Yeah, I have to think that a lot of what
they were going to do was built around what Jayalen
low could do. It's a different kind of point guard,
probably the mark Popes played with in his system. This
was going to be a guy that could get into
the heart of the defense and score, but also set
up teammates, and they nobody's really been able to get
(16:23):
anywhere close to that in the absence of low right.
Speaker 5 (16:27):
Right, He's the one guy that can just blow past
his man at any point in the possession, not even
just in transition, but even if you need a shot
at the end of the shot clock, he can get
past his man and need to set something up or
score himself. So yeah, he's definitely mean, he's definitely a
difference for the team Indiana.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Having Wilkerson get into early foul trouble in the second
half was certainly a help for Kentucky, but Indean was
still up seven with about fourteen to play, And I
thought Kentucky when Wilkerson and Devrees run on the floor together,
did a a really nice job of keeping Indiana's you know,
fastball from them being able to get much out of it.
Speaker 5 (17:09):
That and they pretty much contained everyone else because Wilkinson debres.
I mean, they're they're good enough to where they're going
to get theirs because even even his limited time in
the game, Wilcason still had what twelve fourteen points in
they came, but they're going to get theirs. But yeah,
they did a great job of containing everyone else, and
they did a great great job on the boys and
(17:29):
keeping Indian African too many second chance points. So they
do tend to thrive on that.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Yeah, and that had hurd Kentucky frequently this season. So
that was an area where they were expected to be better,
especially on the offensive last two and that's where Diabate
made them a lot better. We're coming up on the
heartbreak at the bottom of the hour, so we'll hold
Kendrick over continue this discussion about Kentucky basketball and what
it might look like moving forward into the game against
(17:58):
Saint John's this week. It's the Leech presented by Bobcat
Enterprises and they have four locations around Kentucky. So when
you have a need to buy or rent heavy equipment,
or you know someone that does something for snow removal,
that'll come in handy before long, Bobcat Enterprises needs to
be the go to guy for you. Second half of
(18:18):
our show coming to you from the Clark's Pumping Shop studio, Return,
Refresh and refuel at Clark's. We're chatting with Kendrick Caskins
from Way three in Louisville and Kendrick Mark Pope put
together a roster that was designed to be better defensively
to make Kentucky more competitive from an athletic standpoint. I
(18:42):
think that they were last year in some of their matchups,
and this was one of the few times when we've
seen that roster, especially the second half, playing together for
long stretches. Acquaintance could be added later, but he was
always going to be a late addition, and it seems
to me, and you can expound on this, that Mark
is is moving choosing to move, chose or chose to
(19:05):
move out of his comfort zone a little bit in
terms of what his systems always look like because in
low he has a different kind of point guard, but
we just haven't seen a lot of him yet. Uh
in to run his offense, and you know, their best
defensive team is probably not going to include the number
of three point shooters that he's used to having, and uh, well,
(19:27):
it's gonna be interesting now to see what they can
be if they can keep everybody healthy.
Speaker 5 (19:31):
Right, And you know, it's one of those seasons it's
hard to you have to reserve judgment on the team too.
You see Quinton does when he does come back, because
I do think he changes everything, especially defensively in the
interior right around the bass, because he is such a
great shot blocker. The thing that was just concerning to
me most of the season, which took a vast improvement,
(19:53):
especially in that Indiana game, with them closing out on
three point shooters, because those early games, I mean Vaga
and I mean as many threes as Louisville hit and
they missed about four or five wide open looks, but
the Indiana's looks were not nearly as clean on Saturday Night,
which has been a big improvement for this team as
the season has progressed. And so it is a conundrum
(20:16):
for him because, yeah, his best defensive team is a
team that doesn't have many three point shooters out there,
So if how does he kind of integrate that? Hopefully,
I think if he's probably thinking hopefully he doesn't get
to the point where he had to have just that
defensive squad out there and he can in a couple
three point shooters in there. But it is going to
be interesting to see how he navigates that throughout the season.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
One guy who could really help him in that area
would be Cam Williams. If he could start to make
three he's like he did for Tulane last year. Because
Goose and I were talking in the pregame and you
you know, he had Cam hadn't played much the game before,
didn't come in until late in the second half against
North Carolina Central, but it just been looking at wilkerson
sixty six and degrees sixt's eight. Uh No, Goose and
(21:00):
I were saying that a guy like Cam Williams could
be really helpful because it was going to be hard
for Trent Noah to be at the four for long
stretches with the size that Indiana had. And I thought
Cam played really well defensively before he did anything offensive.
Lady gave him a little bit of He hit one
three at a nice cut to the basket for a
layup in the second half. But he was really good
(21:21):
defensively for against the Indiana three point shooters.
Speaker 5 (21:25):
With his length, Yeah, he's so long, he could get
out there at least get a hand up and then
you talked about that moved to the basket. It was
a great cut he had Yes on that play, he
showed flashes. I think consistent playing time would help him
a little bit. But yeah, he just his length alone
to get out on those shots. And I think that
(21:46):
was a big difference is they really did get out
on those three point shots on Saturday.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
Another guy that a lot of fans have been down
on is Brandon Garrison that played really well in this game.
And I have to think coming into the year without
knowing we're gonna have quaintance for some amount of time
that the plan slash hope for the coaching staff was
that Brandon's gonna play like he did in this Indiana game,
and he's going to play twenty five minutes a game
(22:13):
at the five, and then the freshman Marino is going
to be played fifteen something like that. I'm just guessing,
but uh, and you know you're gonna get a guy
who's really active in garrison and you know, really good
off the pick and roll, catching lobs and getting rebounds,
and you know he could make the occasional three and
all of that. And you know the other night he
(22:33):
had a drive in the first half where he turned
down an open three and made a tremendous drive to
split a couple of defenders and get to the rim
that you know, not a lot of big guys, you know,
make that play, but he hadn't made that play for
very much.
Speaker 5 (22:47):
Of the time, right, And he slashed his ball handling skill.
But he's really he does such that he doesn't matter
so much of this season, especially on that play. And
then I think it was that he just kind of
didn't need a wake up call. I think he came
in knowing that he was probably going to get majority
of the minutes because his only competition in the middle
(23:09):
was a freshman, and so I think he felt like
he kind of rested on his laurels a little bit.
I think when Pope finch him the other night, I
think that may have been a wake up call because
he did look like a totally different player on Saturday night.
He's active, he's getting out there. He's not kind of lollygagger.
And say he flashed that move at the top of
(23:29):
the key where he pumped they goes between his leg
and drives drives to the basketball a layup. That was
an awesome move that we saw a couple of times
last year, but we hadn't seen it all this year.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
And then the lob that he caught for the dunk
in the second half, that's that's a play he can
be effective on in the pick and roll.
Speaker 5 (23:47):
Heed. His arms are so long he could throw it
up to the top of the square and nobody else
is going to be able to reach it because he's
not only is he tall, he's got really long arms.
Like he's one of the few people to catch that lob.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Canipals, shift gears and talk just a little football and
the hiring of will Stein at Kentucky and what you
like about that matchup or that match between will Stein
and Kentucky football.
Speaker 5 (24:13):
I like will because he makes me feel old because
when he was at high school.
Speaker 6 (24:19):
So uh.
Speaker 5 (24:20):
But I think he's gonna be a breast of fresh airs.
He's gonna see more entertaining offense or put it. Put
it like that, and and he's a guy that comes
in he gets it, kind of like Mark Polton, you know,
they just get what it means to be a part
of Big Blue Nations. And he's gonna come in there
and he's gonna light a fire. He's gonna be a
(24:43):
fiery guy. And I think it's gonna But looking at
their schedule, it's gonna be a bit of a struggle
this season, regardless who's the head coach. But they probably
have to have one of the tougher schedules in the country.
So I don't think wins is going to be necessarily
how you measure this first season. It's going to be
a feel and a look to see how they look,
(25:04):
to see how competitive they are in this season.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
The way he's putting his staff together and a few
guys from Oregon are coming with him. But he's got
an oc that has been at LSU and a d
C that's been a Texas A and M kind of
feels like to me, I'll see if you agree that
he's been, you know, thinking about this for for more
than just a few months in terms of what he
wanted to look like when he finally got his chance,
(25:27):
because he's been on the fast track now for at
least a couple of years.
Speaker 5 (25:31):
Yeah, because you would expect when the staff hirings are
that fast, it's just people who bringing with him, but no,
he's got people up of other people's staff. So yeah,
Will's had this in his head and had his plan
for a little while now, and it kind of fell
coming into this season regardless of Kentucky or whoever, that
Will was probably going to get a shot this year,
(25:52):
and so he probably was planning ahead of that, regardless
of who is a Kentucky or whatever it was, that
this year was going to be the year he's final
gets that pay closer job.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Kendrick Haskins ways Stree TV.
Speaker 5 (26:03):
In Louisville, Thank you, sir, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
Sounds good. Quick break eighteen away from the top of
the hour on the Leech Report Radio Network. Coming up,
Bob Oster for the Field of sixty eight quarter before
the top of the hour here on this Monday edition
of the Leech Report. And unfortunately, it's a good rule,
always check your phone. I didn't. I didn't realize that
(26:29):
the unopen text was one from Rob. So I looked
at that. He's got a little issue with the kids
and getting to school with little snow delays, so we
will get him rescheduled. Dick, Gabriel is always our guy
who can come through in the clutch, and I think
we have Gabe available now. Gave you there. I look
(26:50):
at that coming through as always. Gabe was there for
Kentucky's matches in the volleyball tournaments. We'll start with a
little bit about that, as Kentucky has punched its ticket
to the final four, and I guess, well not, I
guess they do become the favorite now because of the
highest seed left of the four teams. Were you surprised
that well, that Texas and Nebraska both lost at home yesterday?
Speaker 6 (27:15):
Beyond surprise. You know the fact that they both lost
was amazing to me. But you know, A and M
maybe now called them to Cinderella the way they came
back against Louisville. I mean, I'm watching their match, and
you know they're they're facing match point with U of L,
but took set three and then made the reverse sweep happen.
So it was just an incredible run to knock both
(27:38):
of those teams out, especially Nebraska which was so perfect
for so long.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
And they had how many did they wanted a row
at home? Like sixty some?
Speaker 6 (27:47):
Did? I see?
Speaker 7 (27:48):
They hadn't lost in more than eleven hundred days.
Speaker 6 (27:51):
It was incredible, and again Kentucky had them down lost
in a reverse sleep earlier this year.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
So crazy. So I've to say the Kentucky's chances of
getting a second national championship improve a little with those
two teams out. One would think, but what do you
know about the matchup with Wisconsin.
Speaker 6 (28:12):
I don't know much about Wisconsin at all yet except
Wisconsin's Big ten And I remember when a Big ten team,
I don't remember which one, but when Kentucky was hosting
n state tournaments, you know, fairly regularly, when the Big
ten teams began to show up, you could tell they
were Big ten when they got off.
Speaker 7 (28:29):
The bus because they were just big and physical, and
that's the way they play.
Speaker 6 (28:34):
But I'll tell you I can't imagine any team in
the final four place defense any better than Kentucky does,
you know? And you obviously called the basketball game and
that was a turnaround for the basketball cast.
Speaker 7 (28:47):
But it always whatever the sport.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
You know, you got to play defense.
Speaker 6 (28:50):
It wins championships in Kentucky's is as good as anybody in.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
The country talking to you, as some others. When I
was over there Thursday watching the the match against cal Poly,
one of the things that more than one person tell
me was because Lizzie Carr had her best game, I
guess in that matchup with cal Poly that her play
of late has helped take Kentucky to another level. Why
is that.
Speaker 6 (29:16):
Because she's doing more than defense, ironically enough, you know,
we just talked about it and they thought she would
be outstanding as a six to five middle blocker, you know,
by you know, just listening to the name, you know,
just providing that kind of action in the middle.
Speaker 7 (29:30):
But her offense has really picked up.
Speaker 6 (29:33):
She is I think the surprise teams by how much
she's been able to score and how they've been able
to set her. And Cassie O'Brien has really developed the
connection with her. So she's dangerous in so many ways,
and you know, received served well, she's just playing her
best volleyball. They thought she'd be a complimentary player coming
(29:53):
in this year, but I know that Craig Skinner's got
more out of her than he ever thought he could.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
I guess was We're a potent starting to maybe learn
a little bit about how to defend the one two
punch of Delay in Hudson in terms of the Kentucky's offense,
and that's where Carr kind of causes now new problems.
Speaker 7 (30:13):
Yeah, exactly right, you know, and watching.
Speaker 6 (30:18):
Creighton returns some of those back row rocket shots from
both Delay and Hudson was really impressive.
Speaker 7 (30:24):
I mean, those are you know, if they can get
those shots, those.
Speaker 6 (30:27):
Are the ones where you know, they have to set
up from behind the ten meter line and then they
come flying to get more momentum on them, and they're just,
you know, the hardest shots that are to defend, and
Crayton was sending them back. So you know, that's why
some of those long defensive rallies happened that fans just
loved in the coliseum. But then they could go to
(30:47):
Lizzie Carr and she could finish things off and you know,
and plus Kentucky serving kept really every team they faced
in the tournament so far off balance, which gave car
more lanes and more opportunity used to catch people out
of position.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
I guess I didn't obviously get to watch a lot
of the match. Well, I guess I most of the
first couple sets on Saturday. But thick Pin played well too, right.
Speaker 7 (31:12):
She has throughout the entire turn really all year long.
Speaker 6 (31:16):
Just amazing five foot ten And I asked Brooklyn Delay
after one of the broadcasts I did about Asia Thik
Penn says, she's so fearless, you know, which is great
because when you're literally banging heads with somebody on the
other side of the net who might be six feet tall,
six to two, she's five to ten, but you'd never
(31:36):
know it. I mean, she's just phenomenal, great athlete and
a really smart player. So you know, it's starting to
shape up like that team in twenty twenty that won it.
Speaker 7 (31:46):
That team was so deep, and we used to look at.
Speaker 6 (31:49):
The kids on the sideline and say the subs, and
it was kind of like Patino's ninety sixteen. You could
take the backups and make an NCAA tournament team out
of it. But that's what they've got, right Kennedy Washington,
Jordan Daily, Brooke Baltimore hasn't even played yet, or she's
played very.
Speaker 7 (32:05):
Little in the NCAA tournament.
Speaker 6 (32:06):
She was preseason All Conference, so you know, you never
know where they're gonna plug her in. So it's a
great advantage for Craig Skinner.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
Did you get to see much of the basketball game Saturday?
I did. I was.
Speaker 6 (32:18):
I was so long getting out of volleyball that instead
of fighting up hill to get there, I just came
home and watched it. And I was impressed but not shocked,
because you know, we've kept saying all along, you know,
when he has his full roster, this is a team
that doesn't even have quaintance hit. And somebody posted video
(32:38):
a Quaints doing great things at Arizona State, and I
was even more amazed. But Jalen Lowe makes a huge difference. Diabate.
His toughness I think was contagious, and I was surprised
they were able to handle you, and I use that
word deliberately in the second half as well as they did.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
But now that.
Speaker 7 (32:57):
Doesn't mean they're gonna do it every game, but they
need to figure out how.
Speaker 1 (32:59):
To do it every game if they can stay healthy.
You know, in the second half, he pretty much leaned
heavily on a small rotation of guys, and I would
suspect that again, if they can keep everybody available, it'll
stay somewhat. It'll stay like that. But I think it
(33:22):
could change from game to game, not in terms of
how he rotates guys. I think low otega Oway, Diabatee
or three guys in particular that are going to you know,
carry most of the load. But like Cam Williams played
a lot of minutes in that game and played like
fourteen in the second half because he was defending well
(33:43):
and his length was a good matchup for the Indiana players.
There will be games, I think where you know, Chandler
and Noah play a lot more than they did in
the second half of that game, and Aberdeen plays a
lot more. There's a you know, I think probably maybe
those three core guys ideally would play the biggest the
biggest chunk of the minutes, but otherwise he could mix
(34:03):
and match from game to game depending on circumstances and matchups.
Speaker 7 (34:07):
That's just it.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
Mix and match.
Speaker 7 (34:09):
Depends on who they're playing what they need. But yeah,
I agree with you. You know, get a rotation that
clicks and stick with it. You know, we know the.
Speaker 6 (34:20):
Guy's not dumb, you know, and we know the guy's
a smart guy. But and that's what most coaches do.
You know how many coaches. I always go back to
what John Wooden said that John Calipari, you play too
many players, you know, so I wouldn't knew what he
was doing.
Speaker 7 (34:34):
So we'll see if that works out.
Speaker 6 (34:36):
I think it will for Kentucky. But the first thing
he said was accurate.
Speaker 7 (34:39):
If they stay healthy, and that's the key.
Speaker 6 (34:42):
And I was discussing on Twitter, which is kind of
a fool's are in a time with somebody They said,
well the guys, you know, why aren't the subs doing it? Well,
you know, some guys are better than others. Some guys
have different skill sets, you know, they just got to
figure it out.
Speaker 1 (34:55):
And there may be guys. I mean, Yelvis didn't play
the other night. Could well be it's only because of circumstances.
I mean number one, Diabat is a new guy eating
up minutes at Yellowitch's spot, so you know he he
gets half the minutes there. They didn't know how much
he would play going in, and then Williams happened to
give them really good minutes. They he got a shot
(35:16):
because of the matchup in Indiana size with Wilkerson and Devrees,
and so Williams gave you what you thought maybe he could.
And so you stick with that because it was working.
Speaker 7 (35:26):
Yeah, yeah, stick with what's working.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
You know.
Speaker 6 (35:28):
That's the It's not complicated, is it. But they've got
to get the effort. To me though, would impress me?
Was the effort was there? And I give the crowd
a lot of credit for that.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
I really do. Good point. No, it was a great crowd.
It was one of those you know, I think number one,
it was the resumption of the rivalry, but then also
the need for Kentucky to get a big win and
maybe the crowd sensed a little bit and they were
trying to help as much as they could. Gabe, thank
you much, No problem. It's Dick Gabriel. You hear him
on Big Blue Insider weeknights here in Lexington, Big Blue
(36:00):
Insider one on X and we will be right back
to wrap up this edition of the Leach Report, presented
by Bobcat Enterprises shoffle Bean Coffee is the official coffee
of the Leach Report, and you can make it the
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Pick some up today at a central Kentucky Myers store,
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wild Cat history. Nineteen seventy nine, Fifth ranked Kentucky defeated
number one Indiana at ropp Arena, sixty nine to fifty eight.
Kyle Macy with twelve points to lead Kentucky. Levon Williams
added eleven. A couple of Wildcat birthdays from basketball, Ted
(37:03):
Jaris from football, David Hopewell David the Center on those
great teams for Kentucky in the mid seventies. Just saw
him recently. I think it was at the announcement of
Will Stein as the new coach. So happy birthday to
that and David Wildcat History. That's presented by Kentucky road
Show Sports Cards and Memorabilia. They are on Romney Road
in Lexington and at roadshowcards dot com and Wednesday night,
(37:24):
Kentucky road Show's hosting Mohammed Diabate for an autograph signing
and you can get a picture in an autograph with MO.
Perfect timing with that deal getting him to be there
with the way he played, and you just need to
bring an unwrapped toy in there. Kid's Toy Drive that
they're organizing around the autograph signing with Mo. If you
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See you tomorrow.
Good day. Everybody. Welcome into the Leech Report, presented each
day by Bob Cat Enterprises. Coming up today, Jay Drumming.
Jay Drumm will lead us off. He's with Cats Illustrated
Kendrick Haskins from Wave three in Louisville. Both were in
rapp Arena Saturday night watching Kentucky's win over Indiana, so
(00:23):
we'll get their take on that, and then also Rob
Doster from Field of sixty eight will join us. And
if you are a follower of the Field of sixty
eight after Dark podcast, you would have seen the guys
talking about the Saturday games, including Kentucky. I you and
Rob seemed to think that this was a significant win
(00:45):
for Kentucky in more ways than just getting a quality
win on the resume, in terms of maybe getting them
on the right path, So we'll get his take on
that when he joins us a little later on the program.
Wild Cat News of the Day is a service of
Giuseppees of Lexington. It's one of the biggest stories of
the weekend for UK Athletics was volleyball punching a ticket
(01:10):
to the Final Four for just the second time ever.
The Wildcats will be in Kansas City to play on
Thursday night as they continue their quest for a second
national championship, and they will be playing Wisconsin, the three
seed which upset Texas yesterday the one seed and another
one seed was ousted undefeated Nebraska upset and both of
(01:34):
these were on the one seed's home courts. Texas A
and M did the deed out in Lincoln, Nebraska. So
you have Kentucky against the three seed Wisconsin, pit a
one seed against the three seed Texas A and M.
So Kentucky's the highest seed left because they were the
number two overall in the tournament to Nebraska. So one
would think that's mikes Kentucky the de facto favorite to
(01:56):
win the title this week, but four very good teams Wisconsin,
Texas A, and M getting hot at the end of
the year, and Kentucky and Pitt have been outstanding from
the start. So congrats to coach Craig Skinner and his crew,
and good luck on the trip to Kansas City. Kentucky
men's basketball a win that to say it was needed
(02:20):
would be a massive understatement. Look, this was the next
to last chance to get a quality non conference win,
and you need something on the resume in that area
to balance whatever you do in the league. And it
wasn't like it was do or die for making the tournament,
but it certainly took a big step toward putting that
(02:42):
issue to rest for a while. And as long as
Kentucky continues to play well and continue to get better
do well in the SEC, then you start focusing on
things like how good can they get? And they took
some major steps in the right direction. On Saturday. We'll
talk about some of this with our guests. But Mohammed
(03:05):
Diabat was tremendous. In the pregame show, Coach Pope told
us that he was going to see how it winning
warm ups for MO and that the yeah, they thought
he was going to try to go, but they wanted
to wait and see how it looked in warm ups
and how he moved, and when they put him in
a game he started to make an impact and then
(03:27):
the second half he was tremendous. There's one play videos
out there on social media. I think it was Low
missed a shot. Kentucky's down one Low got a nice
drive but missed the shot. There are five Crimson jerseys
underneath the basket and one white jersey and Modabate comes
out with the ball and scores to go ahead basket
(03:48):
and Kentucky never trailed again. He finished with fourteen points
and twelve rebounds in his first game since the eighteenth
of November when he was injured against Michigan State, and
low didn't play in that game, so this was a
point that probably deserved more mention that Kentucky the best
game they had played against a high rated opponent Louisville,
(04:13):
was when they were the closest to full strength. Low
played I think thirty minutes in that game, Diabat was
at full strength, and Kentucky had a chance to win
that game with four minutes to play on the opponent's
home court. Otherwise, they hadn't had the whole band, hadn't
had the band back together again until Saturday night, and
Jalen Lowe played twenty four minutes. He had thirteen points
(04:33):
and did not turn the ball over and was a
tremendous leader for his team down the stretch and defended
well against Wilkerson too. The Kentucky held Wilkerson and Devrees
to three of fourteen at the three point line. Both
got into foul trouble. Wilkerson in particular, had to sit
for a long time in the second half, but still
Indiana had a seven point lead. He went out two
(04:55):
minutes into the second half. They were up seven at
the half. They were still up seven with fourteen to go,
and Kentucky was able to then come from behind and win,
going away only four turnovers in the game. They forced
Indiana into four of twenty four three point shooting. It's
the worst mark for the Hoosiers this season, a team
that really thrives on the three point shot. And Kentucky
(05:17):
women's basketball beats Belmont seventy seven to sixty nine. Amelia
Hassett with nineteen points and ten rebounds to pace Kentucky
to that victory. Wildcats had a plus twenty advantage on
the boards. Thanks to the stories that we talk about
and you can find them on the bud Light Leach
Report page at Tom leachky dot com or hed No
break Back with Jeff Drummond. Opening segment presented by Juseppes
(05:38):
of Lexington. Still time to get gift cards for your
holiday shopping. If there's somebody hard to buy for, a
Juceppe's gift card could be the ticket. You can pick
them up in the restaurant. You can get them at
Guseppes Lexington dot com and have them delivered via email,
and there's probably still time to get them in the mail.
If you want something that looks really extra nice, they'll
(05:59):
prepare them in a really nice envelope with a gift card.
You can do them three emails, I said, but if
you want the full treatment, you can go to Giuseppes
Lexington dot com and do that or go to the restaurant.
We'll be right back with Jay Drumm quarter past the
top of the hour. It's the Leads Report, presented by
Bob Kat Enterprises each day. As we welcome in Jeff
(06:19):
Drummond to the program. You read it at Cats Illustrated
dot com. As the Wildcats picked up a much needed
win over Indiana on Saturday night, let's listen to Jalen
Lowe after the game. Kentucky's point guard got twenty four minutes,
his longest stint since he played thirty against Louisville, and
then was injured again shortly thereafter with that right shoulder.
(06:42):
This with Jayalen Lowe talking about the significance of the win.
Don't see if we get that the fire away there,
which Shannon, when it gets when it starts working, holler,
we'll play it then as me and DEVI will welcome
in after rum into the program from Katzillustrated dot Com
(07:03):
uh Ja Drum. This was a when Kentucky really needed
to get it, wasn't It was as close to a
must win as it could be in December.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
I guess right, Yeah, you took the words right out
of my mouth. Tom. I'm not a big believer in
the must win concept at all until you get into
the tournament and it's you know, win or go home.
But this was probably as close to it for the
overall feel and operation of this team right now as
(07:36):
you can get, because they really needed a shot of confidence,
not only for themselves but for their fans, maybe even
for the you know, looking down the line in the
tournament committee because you know, they didn't have much work
done on the resume prior to doesn't know, and this
this gave them a really nice win. It's a all
(08:00):
that Indiana team and you look forward to you know,
SEC play on the horizon. It's a little bit of
a double edged sword this year. You it's not as
strong of the league on paper, right now as it
was last year, but that also means you have fewer
opportunities to rack up some of those wins, like Kentucky
(08:21):
had to really improve its resume. So I'm a little
apprehensive about what that's going to mean when they get
in the league play. But as for now, you know,
you stop the bleeding a little bit, and if you
wake up and click on the Kim Palm standings, you're
a pretty good, pretty good position right now for a
(08:43):
team that's seven and four.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Okay, now, let's listen to Jalen Low after the game.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
We absolutely needed this tonight just to show that the
guys that we have to fight in us that we're
capable of doing this. You know, it's been it's been
rocky and hard for us so far on this journey,
but I'm just showing these guys that we can show
up and do it in every aspect. Tons is huge
for us.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Absolutely can't be overstated what he said. And this was
a game where two guys that they've figured to lean
on really heavily and haven't had for much of the
season to this point were played huge roles. Low the
way he ran the team in the second half, in particular,
and then Mohammed Diabate.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Yeah, that's one of those deals where it really makes
you wonder, now after seeing them play Saturday, what if
they had those guys healthy for a whole season Today
today have flipped a couple of those close games in
their favor, and you see a little bit on both
(09:47):
ends of the court. I think with Jalon Lowe at
the point just gives them so much more stability on offense.
They looked completely different, even the guys around him being
different with their confidence level when he's out there at
the point. And then on on defense and the glass, uh,
(10:08):
two areas that have given the Cats problems and in
some of their you know, p five games, Mohammed Diabat, Oh,
just a phenomenal effort against the Hoosiers reminded me a
little bit tom of of what we used to see
from Chuck Hayes. You know, he's not the biggest guy.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
People.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
People kind of assume that he's a little bit bigger
because he's played the four spot of power forward, but
he's he's a bit undersized, uh in terms of hype
that man, the heart and the motor and the toughness,
there's that uh. One picture out there. I think that's
circulating on Twitter and other social media where there are
five Indians under the basket with Mohammed Dibade and I
(10:58):
think the caption said who do you think got the rebound?
And it was him. I'm against basically against five guys.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
It's a tremendous comparison to Chuck because he was, you know,
undersized for what he was being asked to do, and
it didn't matter. I think of a game. There's a
game at Old Miss. I don't know if you'll remember
this sequence. They were struggling against the point of the
game where they missed I think three or four consecutive
(11:26):
shots on one possession, and Chuck got the offensive rebound
every time. And I remember telling Mike Pratty was as
if he was saying, this ball's not leaving this end
of the court until we score, and they kept missing
and he kept getting it and they finally scored, and
that's that was that kind of effort we saw from Diabate.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Yeah, and I think another thing that's kind of contagious
for his teammates. You know, you saw some big moments
like that from from Brandon Garrison out there too, who
came to rut Arena with a newfound determination. You know,
after a few tough days that he's endured, you could
(12:09):
even say, you know, a few tough weeks for him,
maybe he found himself in this one. And you know,
I came away from that game thinking that did Kentucky
find a new identity or maybe an identity period? Yeah,
because they really haven't shown one to date. And they
found that they can win a game when they're not
(12:31):
shooting the ball. Well, the ball doesn't have to go
in the hole like they thought it was going into
the season for them to be able to have success
against the quality opponent.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
Well, the storyline on the team that Mark put together
for his second season was that it was going to
address some of those issues of defense and atlanticism that
where they fell short last year in some of the
matchups against the best teams. And that's what we hadn't
seen a lot of, but again hadn't had the whole
(13:03):
band together. So this looked like a team to your
point of finding an identity that could maybe find some
element of that identity on that defensive end. And you know,
they thought they were going to be a much better
offensive rebounding team and would be able to score some
that way, and that hadn't happened until this game. So
those are things where maybe they did take a significant
step toward finding their way to win most of their games, right.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
And we still haven't seen the guy in Jaden Quainton's
who could be the biggest impact on defense and rebounding
and from when they get him back, And it feels
like it's going to happen sooner rather than Layden, And
you know, it's just a different I think we'll go
into the SEC schedule with a different mindset. If they
(13:53):
can build on this, I mean, they can't backslipt and
find themselves down fifteen to twenty points in the first
half against Saint John's, they might be back at square
one if that happens. But if they can build on
it and uh maybe even pick up a win and
this next one, you've got to feel good about the
direction of going at that point.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
That's Jeff Drevin Jay Drubb Fromcatzillustrated dot Com. Uh, Jeff,
appreciate the time as always, Thank you, all right. That's
Jeff Drubbing on the Leads Report presented by Bob Kat Enterprises.
Kendrick Casks from Wave three on deck. What do we return?
It's nothing like playing with my brothers every night.
Speaker 4 (14:32):
F you know, I know the and that you got
on the team, so you know, if it was good
to like have some joy after the game, and you know,
we're just gonna keep doing that.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
What was it like the last almost months now?
Speaker 4 (14:45):
Just having to kind of sit and launch this sucked?
I'm god, every day suck, just doing rehab, trying to
get better. You know, it was games where we lost, well,
I feel like I could have been an impact, you know,
into where the results would be different, but you know,
I couldn't really do anything about it. But you know,
now I'm back, you know, I just hope to keep
(15:06):
the same momentum going forward.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Ken Kendrick Haskett joining his staff from Wave three. That
was Mo Diabante after the game. I loved his answer
to what was it like sitting out? It suck? And
he played like he had a renewed passion by being
back out on the court. And Low had talked about
this even after the Gonzaga gave you know, but you know,
(15:30):
he was kind of learning how much he appreciated being
able to play basketball at this level When he didn't
get the chance to do it for a while, So
having those two guys do their thing in that second
half was I guess what Kentucky's supposed to look like
this season.
Speaker 5 (15:45):
Right, Yeah, they looked so good in that second half.
I mean there was a stretch for Diabatte pretty much
just took over the game, and then Lowe took him
to the finish line. It was like a great one
two punch and the things that that was coming off
the bench, that was great to see that second half.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Yeah, I have to think that a lot of what
they were going to do was built around what Jayalen
low could do. It's a different kind of point guard,
probably the mark Popes played with in his system. This
was going to be a guy that could get into
the heart of the defense and score, but also set
up teammates, and they nobody's really been able to get
(16:23):
anywhere close to that in the absence of low right.
Speaker 5 (16:27):
Right, He's the one guy that can just blow past
his man at any point in the possession, not even
just in transition, but even if you need a shot
at the end of the shot clock, he can get
past his man and need to set something up or
score himself. So yeah, he's definitely mean, he's definitely a
difference for the team Indiana.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Having Wilkerson get into early foul trouble in the second
half was certainly a help for Kentucky, but Indean was
still up seven with about fourteen to play, And I
thought Kentucky when Wilkerson and Devrees run on the floor together,
did a a really nice job of keeping Indiana's you know,
fastball from them being able to get much out of it.
Speaker 5 (17:09):
That and they pretty much contained everyone else because Wilkinson debres.
I mean, they're they're good enough to where they're going
to get theirs because even even his limited time in
the game, Wilcason still had what twelve fourteen points in
they came, but they're going to get theirs. But yeah,
they did a great job of containing everyone else, and
they did a great great job on the boys and
(17:29):
keeping Indian African too many second chance points. So they
do tend to thrive on that.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Yeah, and that had hurd Kentucky frequently this season. So
that was an area where they were expected to be better,
especially on the offensive last two and that's where Diabate
made them a lot better. We're coming up on the
heartbreak at the bottom of the hour, so we'll hold
Kendrick over continue this discussion about Kentucky basketball and what
it might look like moving forward into the game against
(17:58):
Saint John's this week. It's the Leech presented by Bobcat
Enterprises and they have four locations around Kentucky. So when
you have a need to buy or rent heavy equipment,
or you know someone that does something for snow removal,
that'll come in handy before long, Bobcat Enterprises needs to
be the go to guy for you. Second half of
(18:18):
our show coming to you from the Clark's Pumping Shop studio, Return,
Refresh and refuel at Clark's. We're chatting with Kendrick Caskins
from Way three in Louisville and Kendrick Mark Pope put
together a roster that was designed to be better defensively
to make Kentucky more competitive from an athletic standpoint. I
(18:42):
think that they were last year in some of their matchups,
and this was one of the few times when we've
seen that roster, especially the second half, playing together for
long stretches. Acquaintance could be added later, but he was
always going to be a late addition, and it seems
to me, and you can expound on this, that Mark
is is moving choosing to move, chose or chose to
(19:05):
move out of his comfort zone a little bit in
terms of what his systems always look like because in
low he has a different kind of point guard, but
we just haven't seen a lot of him yet. Uh
in to run his offense, and you know, their best
defensive team is probably not going to include the number
of three point shooters that he's used to having, and uh, well,
(19:27):
it's gonna be interesting now to see what they can
be if they can keep everybody healthy.
Speaker 5 (19:31):
Right, And you know, it's one of those seasons it's
hard to you have to reserve judgment on the team too.
You see Quinton does when he does come back, because
I do think he changes everything, especially defensively in the
interior right around the bass, because he is such a
great shot blocker. The thing that was just concerning to
me most of the season, which took a vast improvement,
(19:53):
especially in that Indiana game, with them closing out on
three point shooters, because those early games, I mean Vaga
and I mean as many threes as Louisville hit and
they missed about four or five wide open looks, but
the Indiana's looks were not nearly as clean on Saturday Night,
which has been a big improvement for this team as
the season has progressed. And so it is a conundrum
(20:16):
for him because, yeah, his best defensive team is a
team that doesn't have many three point shooters out there,
So if how does he kind of integrate that? Hopefully,
I think if he's probably thinking hopefully he doesn't get
to the point where he had to have just that
defensive squad out there and he can in a couple
three point shooters in there. But it is going to
be interesting to see how he navigates that throughout the season.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
One guy who could really help him in that area
would be Cam Williams. If he could start to make
three he's like he did for Tulane last year. Because
Goose and I were talking in the pregame and you
you know, he had Cam hadn't played much the game before,
didn't come in until late in the second half against
North Carolina Central, but it just been looking at wilkerson
sixty six and degrees sixt's eight. Uh No, Goose and
(21:00):
I were saying that a guy like Cam Williams could
be really helpful because it was going to be hard
for Trent Noah to be at the four for long
stretches with the size that Indiana had. And I thought
Cam played really well defensively before he did anything offensive.
Lady gave him a little bit of He hit one
three at a nice cut to the basket for a
layup in the second half. But he was really good
(21:21):
defensively for against the Indiana three point shooters.
Speaker 5 (21:25):
With his length, Yeah, he's so long, he could get
out there at least get a hand up and then
you talked about that moved to the basket. It was
a great cut he had Yes on that play, he
showed flashes. I think consistent playing time would help him
a little bit. But yeah, he just his length alone
to get out on those shots. And I think that
(21:46):
was a big difference is they really did get out
on those three point shots on Saturday.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
Another guy that a lot of fans have been down
on is Brandon Garrison that played really well in this game.
And I have to think coming into the year without
knowing we're gonna have quaintance for some amount of time
that the plan slash hope for the coaching staff was
that Brandon's gonna play like he did in this Indiana game,
and he's going to play twenty five minutes a game
(22:13):
at the five, and then the freshman Marino is going
to be played fifteen something like that. I'm just guessing,
but uh, and you know you're gonna get a guy
who's really active in garrison and you know, really good
off the pick and roll, catching lobs and getting rebounds,
and you know he could make the occasional three and
all of that. And you know the other night he
(22:33):
had a drive in the first half where he turned
down an open three and made a tremendous drive to
split a couple of defenders and get to the rim
that you know, not a lot of big guys, you know,
make that play, but he hadn't made that play for
very much.
Speaker 5 (22:47):
Of the time, right, And he slashed his ball handling skill.
But he's really he does such that he doesn't matter
so much of this season, especially on that play. And
then I think it was that he just kind of
didn't need a wake up call. I think he came
in knowing that he was probably going to get majority
of the minutes because his only competition in the middle
(23:09):
was a freshman, and so I think he felt like
he kind of rested on his laurels a little bit.
I think when Pope finch him the other night, I
think that may have been a wake up call because
he did look like a totally different player on Saturday night.
He's active, he's getting out there. He's not kind of lollygagger.
And say he flashed that move at the top of
(23:29):
the key where he pumped they goes between his leg
and drives drives to the basketball a layup. That was
an awesome move that we saw a couple of times
last year, but we hadn't seen it all this year.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
And then the lob that he caught for the dunk
in the second half, that's that's a play he can
be effective on in the pick and roll.
Speaker 5 (23:47):
Heed. His arms are so long he could throw it
up to the top of the square and nobody else
is going to be able to reach it because he's
not only is he tall, he's got really long arms.
Like he's one of the few people to catch that lob.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Canipals, shift gears and talk just a little football and
the hiring of will Stein at Kentucky and what you
like about that matchup or that match between will Stein
and Kentucky football.
Speaker 5 (24:13):
I like will because he makes me feel old because
when he was at high school.
Speaker 6 (24:19):
So uh.
Speaker 5 (24:20):
But I think he's gonna be a breast of fresh airs.
He's gonna see more entertaining offense or put it. Put
it like that, and and he's a guy that comes
in he gets it, kind of like Mark Polton, you know,
they just get what it means to be a part
of Big Blue Nations. And he's gonna come in there
and he's gonna light a fire. He's gonna be a
(24:43):
fiery guy. And I think it's gonna But looking at
their schedule, it's gonna be a bit of a struggle
this season, regardless who's the head coach. But they probably
have to have one of the tougher schedules in the country.
So I don't think wins is going to be necessarily
how you measure this first season. It's going to be
a feel and a look to see how they look,
(25:04):
to see how competitive they are in this season.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
The way he's putting his staff together and a few
guys from Oregon are coming with him. But he's got
an oc that has been at LSU and a d
C that's been a Texas A and M kind of
feels like to me, I'll see if you agree that
he's been, you know, thinking about this for for more
than just a few months in terms of what he
wanted to look like when he finally got his chance,
(25:27):
because he's been on the fast track now for at
least a couple of years.
Speaker 5 (25:31):
Yeah, because you would expect when the staff hirings are
that fast, it's just people who bringing with him, but no,
he's got people up of other people's staff. So yeah,
Will's had this in his head and had his plan
for a little while now, and it kind of fell
coming into this season regardless of Kentucky or whoever, that
Will was probably going to get a shot this year,
(25:52):
and so he probably was planning ahead of that, regardless
of who is a Kentucky or whatever it was, that
this year was going to be the year he's final
gets that pay closer job.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Kendrick Haskins ways Stree TV.
Speaker 5 (26:03):
In Louisville, Thank you, sir, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
Sounds good. Quick break eighteen away from the top of
the hour on the Leech Report Radio Network. Coming up,
Bob Oster for the Field of sixty eight quarter before
the top of the hour here on this Monday edition
of the Leech Report. And unfortunately, it's a good rule,
always check your phone. I didn't. I didn't realize that
(26:29):
the unopen text was one from Rob. So I looked
at that. He's got a little issue with the kids
and getting to school with little snow delays, so we
will get him rescheduled. Dick, Gabriel is always our guy
who can come through in the clutch, and I think
we have Gabe available now. Gave you there. I look
(26:50):
at that coming through as always. Gabe was there for
Kentucky's matches in the volleyball tournaments. We'll start with a
little bit about that, as Kentucky has punched its ticket
to the final four, and I guess, well not, I
guess they do become the favorite now because of the
highest seed left of the four teams. Were you surprised
that well, that Texas and Nebraska both lost at home yesterday?
Speaker 6 (27:15):
Beyond surprise. You know the fact that they both lost
was amazing to me. But you know, A and M
maybe now called them to Cinderella the way they came
back against Louisville. I mean, I'm watching their match, and
you know they're they're facing match point with U of L,
but took set three and then made the reverse sweep happen.
So it was just an incredible run to knock both
(27:38):
of those teams out, especially Nebraska which was so perfect
for so long.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
And they had how many did they wanted a row
at home? Like sixty some?
Speaker 6 (27:47):
Did? I see?
Speaker 7 (27:48):
They hadn't lost in more than eleven hundred days.
Speaker 6 (27:51):
It was incredible, and again Kentucky had them down lost
in a reverse sleep earlier this year.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
So crazy. So I've to say the Kentucky's chances of
getting a second national championship improve a little with those
two teams out. One would think, but what do you
know about the matchup with Wisconsin.
Speaker 6 (28:12):
I don't know much about Wisconsin at all yet except
Wisconsin's Big ten And I remember when a Big ten team,
I don't remember which one, but when Kentucky was hosting
n state tournaments, you know, fairly regularly, when the Big
ten teams began to show up, you could tell they
were Big ten when they got off.
Speaker 7 (28:29):
The bus because they were just big and physical, and
that's the way they play.
Speaker 6 (28:34):
But I'll tell you I can't imagine any team in
the final four place defense any better than Kentucky does,
you know? And you obviously called the basketball game and
that was a turnaround for the basketball cast.
Speaker 7 (28:47):
But it always whatever the sport.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
You know, you got to play defense.
Speaker 6 (28:50):
It wins championships in Kentucky's is as good as anybody in.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
The country talking to you, as some others. When I
was over there Thursday watching the the match against cal Poly,
one of the things that more than one person tell
me was because Lizzie Carr had her best game, I
guess in that matchup with cal Poly that her play
of late has helped take Kentucky to another level. Why
is that.
Speaker 6 (29:16):
Because she's doing more than defense, ironically enough, you know,
we just talked about it and they thought she would
be outstanding as a six to five middle blocker, you know,
by you know, just listening to the name, you know,
just providing that kind of action in the middle.
Speaker 7 (29:30):
But her offense has really picked up.
Speaker 6 (29:33):
She is I think the surprise teams by how much
she's been able to score and how they've been able
to set her. And Cassie O'Brien has really developed the
connection with her. So she's dangerous in so many ways,
and you know, received served well, she's just playing her
best volleyball. They thought she'd be a complimentary player coming
(29:53):
in this year, but I know that Craig Skinner's got
more out of her than he ever thought he could.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
I guess was We're a potent starting to maybe learn
a little bit about how to defend the one two
punch of Delay in Hudson in terms of the Kentucky's offense,
and that's where Carr kind of causes now new problems.
Speaker 7 (30:13):
Yeah, exactly right, you know, and watching.
Speaker 6 (30:18):
Creighton returns some of those back row rocket shots from
both Delay and Hudson was really impressive.
Speaker 7 (30:24):
I mean, those are you know, if they can get
those shots, those.
Speaker 6 (30:27):
Are the ones where you know, they have to set
up from behind the ten meter line and then they
come flying to get more momentum on them, and they're just,
you know, the hardest shots that are to defend, and
Crayton was sending them back. So you know, that's why
some of those long defensive rallies happened that fans just
loved in the coliseum. But then they could go to
(30:47):
Lizzie Carr and she could finish things off and you know,
and plus Kentucky serving kept really every team they faced
in the tournament so far off balance, which gave car
more lanes and more opportunity used to catch people out
of position.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
I guess I didn't obviously get to watch a lot
of the match. Well, I guess I most of the
first couple sets on Saturday. But thick Pin played well too, right.
Speaker 7 (31:12):
She has throughout the entire turn really all year long.
Speaker 6 (31:16):
Just amazing five foot ten And I asked Brooklyn Delay
after one of the broadcasts I did about Asia Thik
Penn says, she's so fearless, you know, which is great
because when you're literally banging heads with somebody on the
other side of the net who might be six feet tall,
six to two, she's five to ten, but you'd never
(31:36):
know it. I mean, she's just phenomenal, great athlete and
a really smart player. So you know, it's starting to
shape up like that team in twenty twenty that won it.
Speaker 7 (31:46):
That team was so deep, and we used to look at.
Speaker 6 (31:49):
The kids on the sideline and say the subs, and
it was kind of like Patino's ninety sixteen. You could
take the backups and make an NCAA tournament team out
of it. But that's what they've got, right Kennedy Washington,
Jordan Daily, Brooke Baltimore hasn't even played yet, or she's
played very.
Speaker 7 (32:05):
Little in the NCAA tournament.
Speaker 6 (32:06):
She was preseason All Conference, so you know, you never
know where they're gonna plug her in. So it's a
great advantage for Craig Skinner.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
Did you get to see much of the basketball game Saturday?
I did. I was.
Speaker 6 (32:18):
I was so long getting out of volleyball that instead
of fighting up hill to get there, I just came
home and watched it. And I was impressed but not shocked,
because you know, we've kept saying all along, you know,
when he has his full roster, this is a team
that doesn't even have quaintance hit. And somebody posted video
(32:38):
a Quaints doing great things at Arizona State, and I
was even more amazed. But Jalen Lowe makes a huge difference. Diabate.
His toughness I think was contagious, and I was surprised
they were able to handle you, and I use that
word deliberately in the second half as well as they did.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
But now that.
Speaker 7 (32:57):
Doesn't mean they're gonna do it every game, but they
need to figure out how.
Speaker 1 (32:59):
To do it every game if they can stay healthy.
You know, in the second half, he pretty much leaned
heavily on a small rotation of guys, and I would
suspect that again, if they can keep everybody available, it'll
stay somewhat. It'll stay like that. But I think it
(33:22):
could change from game to game, not in terms of
how he rotates guys. I think low otega Oway, Diabatee
or three guys in particular that are going to you know,
carry most of the load. But like Cam Williams played
a lot of minutes in that game and played like
fourteen in the second half because he was defending well
(33:43):
and his length was a good matchup for the Indiana players.
There will be games, I think where you know, Chandler
and Noah play a lot more than they did in
the second half of that game, and Aberdeen plays a
lot more. There's a you know, I think probably maybe
those three core guys ideally would play the biggest the
biggest chunk of the minutes, but otherwise he could mix
(34:03):
and match from game to game depending on circumstances and matchups.
Speaker 7 (34:07):
That's just it.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
Mix and match.
Speaker 7 (34:09):
Depends on who they're playing what they need. But yeah,
I agree with you. You know, get a rotation that
clicks and stick with it. You know, we know the.
Speaker 6 (34:20):
Guy's not dumb, you know, and we know the guy's
a smart guy. But and that's what most coaches do.
You know how many coaches. I always go back to
what John Wooden said that John Calipari, you play too
many players, you know, so I wouldn't knew what he
was doing.
Speaker 7 (34:34):
So we'll see if that works out.
Speaker 6 (34:36):
I think it will for Kentucky. But the first thing
he said was accurate.
Speaker 7 (34:39):
If they stay healthy, and that's the key.
Speaker 6 (34:42):
And I was discussing on Twitter, which is kind of
a fool's are in a time with somebody They said,
well the guys, you know, why aren't the subs doing it? Well,
you know, some guys are better than others. Some guys
have different skill sets, you know, they just got to
figure it out.
Speaker 1 (34:55):
And there may be guys. I mean, Yelvis didn't play
the other night. Could well be it's only because of circumstances.
I mean number one, Diabat is a new guy eating
up minutes at Yellowitch's spot, so you know he he
gets half the minutes there. They didn't know how much
he would play going in, and then Williams happened to
give them really good minutes. They he got a shot
(35:16):
because of the matchup in Indiana size with Wilkerson and Devrees,
and so Williams gave you what you thought maybe he could.
And so you stick with that because it was working.
Speaker 7 (35:26):
Yeah, yeah, stick with what's working.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
You know.
Speaker 6 (35:28):
That's the It's not complicated, is it. But they've got
to get the effort. To me though, would impress me?
Was the effort was there? And I give the crowd
a lot of credit for that.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
I really do. Good point. No, it was a great crowd.
It was one of those you know, I think number one,
it was the resumption of the rivalry, but then also
the need for Kentucky to get a big win and
maybe the crowd sensed a little bit and they were
trying to help as much as they could. Gabe, thank
you much, No problem. It's Dick Gabriel. You hear him
on Big Blue Insider weeknights here in Lexington, Big Blue
(36:00):
Insider one on X and we will be right back
to wrap up this edition of the Leach Report, presented
by Bobcat Enterprises shoffle Bean Coffee is the official coffee
of the Leach Report, and you can make it the
official coffee of your home for the holidays and beyond.
Pick some up today at a central Kentucky Myers store,
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wild Cat history. Nineteen seventy nine, Fifth ranked Kentucky defeated
number one Indiana at ropp Arena, sixty nine to fifty eight.
Kyle Macy with twelve points to lead Kentucky. Levon Williams
added eleven. A couple of Wildcat birthdays from basketball, Ted
(37:03):
Jaris from football, David Hopewell David the Center on those
great teams for Kentucky in the mid seventies. Just saw
him recently. I think it was at the announcement of
Will Stein as the new coach. So happy birthday to
that and David Wildcat History. That's presented by Kentucky road
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(37:24):
Kentucky road Show's hosting Mohammed Diabate for an autograph signing
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