Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
God Day, Welcome in Friday edition of the Lead Report
presented by Bobcat enterprises, Man, what a game last night
out in Kansas City as Kentucky goes five sets to
beat Wisconsin and advance to play for the national championship
and volleyball on Sunday afternoon. And we'll talk a little
bit about that to lead off the show. And then
(00:21):
when we get into our guests, we'll have CJ. Moore
from the Athletic, an interview that I taped a couple
of days ago. He had a story on Kentucky basketball's
early season struggles heading into the Indiana game, and so
I talked to him after that to get some thoughts.
And then Mike de Coursia, regular Friday College hoops guest,
will join us. And then I'm gonna see if we
(00:42):
can find somebody who's up in Kansas City that covers
volleyball and get them on the show. With the time
change and the late night, I gonna wait just a
little while to reach out to somebody, so we'll see
if we can pull that off. But first let's get
to the Wildcat News of the Day, a service of
(01:03):
Giuseppes of Lexington. So Wisconsin comes out and just spanks
Kentucky in the first set twenty five to twelve. Dominated
Kentucky and it looked like, oh no, this could be
a very disappointing into a tremendous season. Well, Kentucky showed
its grit and came back and even the score, then
(01:26):
lost the next set, had to battle back and then
win by two points to force a fifth set, and
then Kentucky jumped out to an eight to two lead
held on to win fifteen thirteen. Eva Hudson delivered the
winning blow for Kentucky and talked with ESPN on the
court after the match.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Eva headed to the national championship in your senior season,
I saw some emotions from you.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
What is going through your head right now?
Speaker 4 (01:56):
I'm honestly just shocked right now, Like I can't even
have tears this moment because I don't even know what's
going on. But I'm just so happy to do it
with this group.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Saw a lot of yelling and motivation before that fifth set.
What was said to come out and dominate.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
I just said, no one.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
Wants to play us in the fifth sex.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
That's when the lights get Brian.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
We play our best volleyball so I knew we'd come
out and we did.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
How did you see your freshman setter grow and get
better throughout that match to come up big in the fifth?
Speaker 4 (02:24):
I mean, it is so it is so hard as
a freshman setter, and that I even had so much nerves,
and to see her continue to grow and really just
lean into our team, it was really awesome.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
In your senior season to know you're going to the
national championship.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
How is this setting in?
Speaker 2 (02:41):
What are your emotion My.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
Gosh, I don't even know.
Speaker 5 (02:44):
I probably won't even be.
Speaker 4 (02:44):
Able to sleep tonight, so i'll tell you tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Going up against Texas A and M a hot team.
What are your thoughts on the matchup in the Championship?
Speaker 4 (02:53):
I think it'll be so fun and they have such
a really good block and they have so much energy.
Speaker 5 (02:57):
So yeah, I think it'll be a fun game.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Eva, go celebrate, Thank you.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
A very happy Eva Hudson after the match. A couple
of points she was talking about freshman center Cassie O'Brien.
She had fifty four assists in the match, setting up
some of the twenty nine kills for Hudson. Brooklyn delay
was really good. Fifteen kills and fourteen digs for a
double double thrown around these terms like I've been colored
(03:23):
in volleyball all my life, but it is fun to
watch just as a fan and not be working at
Kentucky now five and one in five set matches this season,
so congrats to coach Skinner and company. They'll play for
the title against Texas A and M, which upset Pitt
in the first match last night in casey and the
match will be at three thirty on Sunday, and UK
is going to open up Historic Memorial Colisseum for a
(03:46):
BBN watch party. It'll be free. Doors will open at
two thirty Eastern. Match starts at three thirty and that'll
be a Historic Memorial Colisseum. You can get together with
other Wow Cat fans and watch it on the big
screen and hopefully cheer could Tucky onto a national volleyball championship.
We'll get more into the Kentucky Saint John's matchup a
little bit later on. Right now, we need to get
to a break so we can get rolling on the guests.
(04:07):
It'll be Cjmore from the Athletic dot Com. Will he
come right back? Opening segment presented by Giuseppes of Lexington,
and it's probably too late to get gift cards mailed out,
but it's not too late to go buy the restaurant
and pick them up if you need them, or they
can email them to you Giuseppes Lexington dot Com. If
you need a last minute item to put in a
stocking or any gift box for somebody that's hard to
(04:28):
buy for, Giuseppes gift cards would be fantastic. Giuseppes, Lexington
dot Com.
Speaker 6 (04:34):
We'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
It's the Leads Report coming to you from the Clarks
Pumpin' Shops studio, Return, Refresh and Refuel. It was a
week ago today that CJ. Moore came out with an
outstanding article at Theathletic dot Com about the Kentucky basketball
teams struggles through the first month of the season. CJ
came on with us last year to talk about a
story he did for The Athletic after Kentucky had upset
(04:57):
Duke in the Champions Classic. So we recorded this a
couple of days ago. Here's CJ Moore from The Athletic
dot Com. CJ, you did an extensive look at Kentucky's
team in a piece for The Athletic last week at
the Athletic dot Com. And if I I don't have
it in front of me, but.
Speaker 6 (05:18):
What I recall is that you were.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Talking about why it's not working for Kentucky as well
as hoped at this point, and you talked about the
roster the Mark put together, et cetera.
Speaker 6 (05:29):
And it seems.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Like that you believe that they need to lean into
the defensive end of the court. I've told friends of
mine they need to get good at something, And from
your piece, it seems like you and the people that
you heard from think maybe what they need to really
try to get good at first is defense.
Speaker 6 (05:49):
Is that right? Yeah?
Speaker 5 (05:50):
For sure. I think if you look at the way
Mark put this roster together, it was almost a response
to last season where they were elite on defense or sorry,
they were lead on offense, but they you know, their
their defense that at one point I remember putting in
my top twenty five last season that there was a
stretch I think in early February where they were on
(06:11):
track to have the worst in conference defensive efficiency and
then Ken palm Era so like it wasn't it was
pretty dire there for a little bit you know that
was but lachamp or not Lachan Lamon Butler was out
and you know, he was a big part of their
defense last year, but they were they were a mediocre
team on the defensive end, and I thought that a
(06:32):
lot of the guys he got this this transfer portal
season were guys that have traditionally been able to guard
tough dudes that had brought the energy levels up of
their teams, and that's what they kind of need to
lean into. And that's what's maybe been so surprising about
their struggles is the like effort level, intensity, focus just
(06:57):
hasn't been there where you know, and I know guys
like Mota Bote have been out and he's one of
the big ones that you saw on Saturday, Like he
can bring that for them. But that's probably what's been
disappointing watching them, as you haven't seen that effort level
that I think it takes to be a really, really
good defensive team. But you know, on the positive side,
(07:19):
I think they showed some of that on Saturday. I
didn't get to see the whole game, but I saw
a good chunk of the second half, and so I
do think there's a way to salvage this. I think
that Jalen Low's a big part of that on the
offensive end, and he had some nice stretches on Saturday
as well. So while it's not all his loss, you know,
there's a lot of season left. I definitely think the
(07:41):
defensive ends where it needs to start.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
In thirteen steals in the win over Indiana, they held
Indiana at a four of twenty four three point shooting,
which was the worst for the Hoosiers this season, and
they're a very good three point shooting team. So did
those numbers suggest that maybe that Mark and his staff
are either if not making the transformation with this group,
getting the group to buy into what the path needs
(08:05):
to be.
Speaker 5 (08:07):
Yeah, certainly. I mean it's one game, so so you know,
you gotta pump the brakes a little bit, but it's
at least a start. You got to start somewhere, and
it's a good win. Indiana has been a hard team
to guard this year and put up really good offensive
numbers to shoot a ton of three, you know, made
a ton of threes, and so it was a really
really good start to against a good offensive team. And
(08:27):
when they had all their pretty much all their pieces
back and you know, they still had a big piece coming,
so I think that it was a it was a
good sign. You know, Modiabade is the guy that, like
I thought would be a difference maker for them on
that end coming into the year. And even when he was,
you know, before his injury, I didn't think he was
(08:48):
maybe bringing it like you you would expect him to
bring in that. I thought he raised their intensity level
in that game. And so yeah, it was it was
a It was a promising.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Start, and the return of jayden Quis when that happens,
could only kick that up a notch or two. Given
his defensive numbers from Arizona State right.
Speaker 5 (09:07):
For for sure. I mean that's that's a front line
defensively that that can really wreck Havoc. You know when
when they're turned up and their motors are high. Now
you don't know what he's gonna what kind of shape
he'll be in when he gets back, or or you know,
how how long of stretches he can play, and it
could take a little while, but if they can get
him to playing to his ceiling on the defensive end
(09:30):
and most stays healthy and he can play, you know,
like he's shown in the past, then yeah, that's a
that's a really good start of a of a good defense.
And I mean they've got the pieces there defensively. Now offensively,
I question whether they can ever get to the elite
level offensively with this this team. And I think that's
(09:50):
where when people look at their roster and look how
expensive it was, you know, you start to question, like, what,
you know, you'd expect to have some NBA level dudes
when you're when you spending that kind of money. But
I think, you know, for Kentucky, they've got to kind
of rechange, you know, to look at it in a
different way and say, Okay, here's what we got. What
can we lean into that that this team can be
(10:11):
a lite at and defensive end, judging by the pieces
they have, I think is the best shot.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
One conundrum that they seem to face is that by
deploying their best defensive team can't be the best shooting
team that they have, right.
Speaker 5 (10:28):
Yeah, for sure, And and and that's that's something that
they're gonna have to figure out. I mean, maybe you
have one at least one or two good good shooters
out there at all times. You know, you know, there's
guys like Otega who can make a three. That's certainly
not his strength, but he's part of that best defensive team,
and you know he can make a wide open shot.
(10:49):
I think even you know, like Colin Chandler is a
good enough athlete to you know, be out there and
be on a really, really good defensive team. And he
obviously can shoot the ball. So you know, you're not
going to have five elite defenders out there at all times,
but if you have three or four that are pretty
good ones and other guys that you can kind of hide,
you can still have a really good defensive team.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
I would think for a new coach coming in, with
the way college basketball teams are built these days, it's
probably going to take you, I don't know what the
number is, three years or to get it to the
point where you don't have to do as much in
the transfer portal every year and you have a little
more carryover of your best players.
Speaker 6 (11:30):
Is that something Mark's dealing with too, Yeah?
Speaker 5 (11:33):
I think so. You know, you have to high school
recruiting is still part of this right and it still
has to be part of it. And I think that's
what's hard when you take over a job like Kentucky.
Is there this desire to get really good, really quickly.
And I think where they're maybe hurting is like this
freshman class nationwide is insanely good. And the fact that
(11:58):
usually Kentucky's gonna and one of those really really good guys.
You know, if you put like an Aj Debatsa on
this team, then it's a whole different boggame. So you know,
the fact that they maybe didn't get one of those guys,
it hasn't you know, they haven't been able to win
with freshmen like they have in the past. But there's
some guys on the roster now that could be two,
(12:19):
three four year guys. You know, someone like Jasper Johnson,
he could be there a few years, the big fella Mano, Yeah,
Malchi Marino, he could be there three four years. Then
you have guys that can kind of carry over your
culture year to year and and then you're you know,
(12:40):
you're not starting at the start line every single season.
So I do think that'll be important going forward for
them to you know, be able to have some program
guys the Trevor Noah types or not sorry, not Trevor
Trick right, yeah, trit nootypes that that can carry over
and and you know, have some stability to your roster,
(13:02):
and then you you know, bring in a couple you know,
expensive guys right that they can have like big impacts
right away.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
Now one would think that they probably came into the
year on the offensive end anyway, building around having a
guy like Low, a much different kind of point guard
than they had last year, and then you don't have
him until, uh for a long stretches until as you played,
twenty four minutes last week was the most most he
played other than the one game against Louisville, and those
(13:30):
were the two quote unquote big games where they look
the best, winning one and having a chance to win
at the four minute mark and the other.
Speaker 5 (13:38):
Even if you go back and watch stretches of the
Gonzaga game when he played, even when they weren't making shots,
they were getting some quality looks, great points when he
was on the floor. So I think he helps them.
It's you know, it's also an adjustment marks best teams
I think have had play making fives like a Mario
Williams last year, and they don't really have that right now.
And you know, his offenses is so much built for
(14:01):
those guys to be triggers and be able to hit
cutters and stuff like that, and that's also another adjustment.
You know, you're gonna have to maybe kind of adjust
how you play based on the personnel you have. And
you know, he's smart guy. I think he'll eventually figure
it out and SADAY look like a step in the
right direction.
Speaker 6 (14:18):
Thank you for the time.
Speaker 5 (14:20):
I appreciate you having me on.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
It's CJ. Moore from the Athletic. It's the Leach Report
and we are presented by Bobcat Enterprises for locations in Kentucky.
So google Bobcat Enterprises. When you need to buy or
rent a piece of heavy equipment, they will have what
you need and they have been known from the start
for fantastic service after the sale or the rental agreement
is executed. So give them a call and they will
(14:43):
take great care of you. It's the Leads Report Radio Network.
Speaker 6 (14:46):
We'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
It's the Lead's Report twenty six past the top of
the hour and we are coming to you from the
Clarks Pumping Shop Studio, Return, Refresh, Refuel at Clark's. We
welcome in Mike Coursi Sporting News at TSN.
Speaker 6 (15:01):
Mike on X.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
You see him on the Big Ten Network. He does
brackets for Fox Sports college basketball coverage and Mike. Let's
start with Kentucky's win over Indiana since we last talked
a week ago. Kentucky gets the quality rent well that
was missing from its resume, played its best defensive game
when you talk about the five highest regarded teams that
(15:25):
they faced. So what were your takeaways from what you
saw in the Indiana win?
Speaker 7 (15:29):
Well, the first one for me was I've been using
the word and I still am working to find a
better one.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
But Kentucky played like.
Speaker 7 (15:39):
A desperate team. They understood in the second half what
was at stake. They understand the advantage they had in
terms of the crowd, and they played harder in the
second half than Indiana could match or would match, And
that was a huge factor. I mean, they did not
play a great forty minutes. Let's not tend that was.
(16:02):
That was like exactly what this Kentucky team can be
or should be. But the first step was that understanding
of the consequence of a defeat.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
There was to basically put your.
Speaker 7 (16:13):
Nearly your entire season now on Southeastern Conference play. And
although the league is still very, very good, I don't
know that you want to roll the whole dice on that,
because it's not what it was a year ago. There
may be fewer opportunities there, and if you miss some
of those, goodness, now you're really in trouble. So I
(16:33):
think there was an understanding in the way they played
of that. To outscore Indiana basically double in the second
half showed a team that understood was what was at stake.
And then I also thought the secondarily, and not that secondarily.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
A very important component of this was how.
Speaker 7 (16:51):
Important the return of the two injured players so far was.
When I wrote a tweet a few weeks ago about
after I don't know which defeat, but one of the
one of the several disappointing defeats that the Cats had
had suffered, that that there needed to be some grace
given for the fact that they were down three protect
(17:13):
projected starters. And I got some responses that debaate didn't
really mean that much. Okay, twelve points, fourteen rebounds, five steals,
that didn't matter. Uh, And then that and that Jalen
Lowe wasn't all that.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
I got a lot of that.
Speaker 7 (17:28):
Now, some of that came from Lowell fans. I recognize
it because they acknowledged it. But I knew that they
you know, they remembered the idea that that a year
ago their guy scored thirty six on him or whatever
and there, and their position was that he didn't matter
that much, But in reality he mattered a ton.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Absolutely. We'll pick up on that and more with Mike.
Of course, he when we return halfway home on this
Friday edition of the Leach Report presented by Bob Cat Enterprises.
Speaker 6 (18:00):
We'll be right back Mike.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Coursey with us on the Least Report presented by Bob
Kat Enterprises for this Friday and Mike. This was a
Kentucky team that Mark Pope built, surely knowing that it
was going to be much different from his first one.
But they wanted to get better defensively, wanted to be
(18:23):
being better in terms of being able to play against
physical teams, really athletic teams. But as this is playing out,
it certainly looks like the best version of that kind
of team is not going to be the best version
of the way his teams have historically played offense. So
how does this balance out over the course of the
(18:44):
next few months. If Kentucky gets to the best version
of itself.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
Yeah, I think that if you look at this roster.
Speaker 7 (18:53):
I mean, even even though there may be another piece
out there, Jayden Quaints is not known for three points shooting,
you can be a better three point This team can
be a better three point shooting team than it has been.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
But it's still not going to.
Speaker 7 (19:09):
Ever be what last year was, and it probably won't
be in the upper echelon of three point shooting teams
this year.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
But it can be better.
Speaker 7 (19:18):
And that starts with more high quality opportunities for those
who are good shooters. A Colin Chandler, for instance, a
guy who's got significant numbers, enough of a sample size
to know and and and enough comfort in the the
substitute type role. Not that that would necessarily be where
(19:38):
he is, but he hasn't. What I mean by that,
it's unlike some players, he hasn't needed consistent minutes to
make to be a consistent shooter. I think that's a
that's a that's a hurdle for Jasper Johnson still to
to climb over. Is that he's not used to this.
He's not used to saying okay, Jasper, go on and
get out there and him being ready to go. It's
(19:59):
you usually him out there on the floor from the
beginning of every game he's almost ever played, and so.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
He's got to get used to that.
Speaker 7 (20:07):
But the biggest ingredient of this is Jalen Lowe being
able to play as much as and as effectively as
he did Saturday night, being able to elevate the quality
of shots for everyone.
Speaker 3 (20:23):
And I think he still has a way to go
with that.
Speaker 7 (20:26):
I thought that he pushed action a little bit to
his own shot on Saturday night. I thought there were
probably he shot five or thirteen. I'd say out of
the eight misses, I'd say probably four to five were
shots he shouldn't even have bothered with that. He could
do better than either himself or finding a teammate to
(20:46):
start another action. But it was a huge step in
a positive direction for him and for the team because
the definition he brought to the offense while he was
on the floor. I mean, he was a plus two
twenty four, and that's without being a truly effective defender.
That shows how much better the offense can be when
(21:08):
he's out there and comfortable enough to play.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Yeah, I mean Mark and his staff, I'm guessing looked
at this and looked and saw. You know, I think
when Acquaintance is back, you know, he could even take
the defense to a higher level. So you've got Diabatee
and Acquaintance and Oway and Aberdeen and even Cam Williams.
They like what he's doing defensively in his length and size.
So you have a really good defensive group there that
(21:36):
doesn't shoot it all that well from outside. So the
guy who would seemingly help fix that is a you know,
the best version of Jayalen Lowe running the show. So
you change your offense and you kind of run a
lot of pick and roll with him, and he gets
into the paint and creates and kicks out and guys
(21:57):
are able to make enough threes to give you a
chance to win with the better defense, and you sacrifice
a little defense with low but Quaintance eventually and Diabatee
help cover for that.
Speaker 6 (22:10):
Is that kind of what it looks like.
Speaker 7 (22:11):
Yes, yeah, I think that's right. I think that's exactly right.
And I thought Jalen could improve this year. I'm and
he still may, but I wouldn't hold it against him
if he didn't because of the injury. That's in terms
of trying to improve defensively, when you've got a shoulder problem.
I mean, the only thing that's likely to limit your
(22:33):
physicality more.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
Than that would be a back issue, and you probably
don't even get on the floor with a back issue.
Speaker 7 (22:38):
So in terms of being out there and being able
to go as much as he did against Indiana, that's
probably the worst injury he could have relative to defense.
And so it's going to be a challenge for him
and they have to adjust for that. But like I said,
we haven't even seen the best version of him, But
(23:00):
even that version that we saw Saturday night improve them
enough offensively to account for whatever he might give up defensively.
And when you play, just to use an example, if
somebody whos already played, when you play a Michel Brown,
let's when you play a LeBaron Fylon, for instance, down
the road, Denzel Aberdeen will guard.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
LeBaron Fylon even if Jalen's in the game.
Speaker 7 (23:22):
That's that you just go in knowing that because he's
so important to their offense, and he is one of
those point guards like mikel was, who is not only
their creator, but he's also their their best scorer. So
you don't want him to get going in either of
those directions and for that reason, you just changed the matchup.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Gentleman named Brandon Ramsey who covers the Cats locally and
is a former college coach.
Speaker 6 (23:51):
He had an interesting post yesterday.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
I'll get your take on it as far as how
does Kentucky get to what it needs to get to
in terms of three point shooting? They don't, you know,
they don't have corea that can make six in a
game or something like that. So here's what his formula
looks like. This is interesting, Okay. See, Chandler makes two
threes a game. You get two from a combination of
Williams and Noah, one from Aberdeen, one from Oway, one
(24:15):
from the combination of Low and Johnson, and then one
from the combination of Diabate, Garrison and Yellovich. That get
you eight per game. He says that hopefully between thirty
three to thirty five percent feels fairly realistic.
Speaker 6 (24:27):
Makes sense?
Speaker 3 (24:29):
Oh, I think so.
Speaker 7 (24:30):
I think that the way us customarily is going to
work is that is that somebody one of those guys,
whoever you pick out, is going to have a rough day, either.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
Because he's guarded well or just just not his day.
Speaker 7 (24:46):
I always say, Steph Curry has had days where he
missed most of his shots, so you're.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
Going to have guy.
Speaker 7 (24:51):
Even your best shooters, Colin was only oh of two
from deep against Indiana. He's probably the most accurate shooter
on the team. He's going to have bad days and
then somebody has to make up for that.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
And Jasper, I still think that there's good basketball out
there for him.
Speaker 7 (25:09):
He's done some things early this year that indicate that
he certainly has the past in terms of his high
school and international competition.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
That shows that.
Speaker 7 (25:21):
And I think he's somebody that you could get into
a game and on a night when Colin might not
be making his shots, Jasper might be able to make
three or four.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
That wouldn't shock me at all. It's just him getting
used to the action. And I thought that.
Speaker 7 (25:36):
I thought the way they played in the second half
against Indiana, there was no need to do a lot
of rotation there just to keep guys fresh, but you
didn't need to change your lineup much because it was
working so well.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
Job and Mike the course, he will continue doing that
whill he come right back. It is the Leach Report
from the Clark's Pumping Shop Studio. Return Refresh and refuel
is how do they sees it at Clark's quarter before
the top of the And we're back with Mike Decursi
from Sportingnews dot Com at TSN Mike on X one
follow up on Jasper Johnson. Mike, it seems with what
(26:09):
we were talking about how Kentucky is built and uh
offensively to play through low that Jasper's got some of
that skill set in terms of getting two feet in
the pain against his defender. He's just got to be
better about reading things when he gets there in terms
of when to try to score and when to kick it.
(26:30):
I think he's got one assist against five big time opponents.
Speaker 7 (26:35):
Yeah, I think that's absolutely true, and I think that
comes from not really having a lot of experience at
that position.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
At true, at a.
Speaker 7 (26:44):
Significant level, he's he's always kind of uh operated as
a scorer. And I mentioned I mentioned in the past
his experience with the U nineteens, and he was definitely
an off the ball guard in that in those games
when they wanted to play make they went through Mike
cal Brown or even aj Debatsa.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
So he was not out there to do that. He
was out there to get buckets.
Speaker 7 (27:10):
But part of being able to get buckets for him
is understanding that when the defense attacks you, that means
your teammates are open and if you give it up,
it'll come back if it's necessary. And I think he
needs to understand and get comfortable with that that when
he's going in and he's getting his feet into the paint,
(27:32):
his eyes shouldn't only be on the basket. His eyes
should understand where the defense is coming from. If they
leave him unchallenged, yeah, go straight up take the shot,
but that's rarely going to happen. Most of the time,
you're going to force defensive action, and then it's just
a question of whether the prudent thing is to try
to float it over a defender because it's just you
and him and he's not that much bigger than you
(27:54):
and there's no help coming, or to find someone on
the opposite wing. Perhaps it might be called wide open
for a shot whatever it might be, or a dumpover
to someone like Malachi, who is a very effective finisher.
There are just so many different plays you can make
if you have the ability to get the ball into
the lane, and he certainly does.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
Let's talk about the match up with Saint John's tomorrow
in Atlanta, and Saint John's has played one hundred and
eighty degrees different defensively than what they played out in Vegas.
They played three games out there, lost two of them,
gave up eighty three, ninety six, and gave up eighty three,
(28:36):
eighty one, and eighty five points in those three losses.
Since then, they've given up fifty eight, sixty four, and
sixty six, albeit against Old miss Iona and to Paul,
but still they've blocked like twenty six shots in that time.
So it seems like coach p has they have gotten
the message on defense.
Speaker 3 (28:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (28:54):
I think that's true, and they should be effective defensively.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
They've got veteran bigs.
Speaker 7 (29:01):
Zubi Edgy four is not Uh, he's not Jayden for instance,
if you ever get it, if you ever watched his tape,
you obviously haven't seen him out there, or even Brandon
in terms of length, he's not really that guy. But
he has great understanding of how to defend. He got
four in the DePaul victory that was earlier this week,
and and he's a very effective player. And Bryce Hopkins
(29:23):
is a pretty dynamic guy when he's healthy.
Speaker 3 (29:25):
Uh as a four man. UH, what what they have
struggled with to this.
Speaker 7 (29:29):
Point in the year is is the definition of their offense.
And it's a little bit different in that their guys
have been available. It's just that Rick has not yet
been able to invent a consistent point guard.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
Uh. He gave up.
Speaker 7 (29:44):
He's sort of or seemed to surrender on Dylan Darling,
who was who was the choice through part of the
pre conference.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
Uh.
Speaker 7 (29:52):
He He originally had said Ian Jackson, the transform from Carolina,
was going to be his point and then after practicing
for a while, he looked at it and thought Dylan
Darling would be the guy. And then Dylan didn't handle
it very well against some of those high major opponents
that you talked about, and so he went in entering
the DePaul game, he said, now it's going to be Ian,
and then Ian didn't play.
Speaker 3 (30:14):
Ian played fine, but he didn't run it well.
Speaker 7 (30:16):
And then Dylan came off the bench and the offense
flowed better. And so it'll probably be Dylan Darling to
be the primary point guard. But that's one area where,
however Mark wants to arrange it, they need to attack
that position because that's the position where obviously everybody's offense
is going to start, and for Saint John's it's been
(30:38):
one that has been highly inconsistent.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
With Kentucky's matchups as they stand. Now, you know Low's
you're thinking excuse me? With Low and Diabate, probably mid
twenties and minutes at best, I would think, So, how
does Kentuck what's the formula look like for Kentucky to
win this game?
Speaker 6 (31:02):
Well?
Speaker 3 (31:02):
I think it starts with, uh, with.
Speaker 7 (31:07):
Getting the high quality minutes out of those two guys,
because they they have struggled against their high major opponents,
even to stay in all but one of the games, uh,
the the Carolina game, UH, without without getting much from
either of them. They they they could have and should
have won. But it starts with getting high quality minutes
(31:29):
out of those two players, because they do elevate the
whole unit.
Speaker 3 (31:32):
UH.
Speaker 7 (31:33):
And then I think defensively, as I mentioned before, you
want to be really effective, and I think this would
be a great game for Denzel to show what he's
capable of defensively. If he's able to do that, he's
going whether it's he's playing against Ian Jackson or Dylan Darling. Uh,
he's got to be effective in that. I think that
(31:54):
you can maybe get away at times when when when
uh Jalen's in the game against playing him against sellers
who can be prone to have He's a very fine
player and a really important part of their defense, but
he can be prone to having an off night. If
you can, if you can keep him bound to the perimeter,
you can he can have an off night.
Speaker 3 (32:15):
So I think that's how it starts.
Speaker 7 (32:17):
That it starts, and then the most important element is
to is to do it solid effective job against edgia four,
who is a very versatile player. He's an excellent passer
for a big guy. He can score inside, he's going
to rebound. He's one of those players who is whatever
Patino might need at a given moment. Zubi edgia four
(32:41):
is going to give as much of that as possible.
And I highly respected player in the Big East, a
guy a lot of people had a third team type
preseason All America. So one of the fifteen to twenty
five best players in college basketball. So you can't let
him get really comfortable leaning into the rim. You need
(33:02):
to try to limit his field goal opportunities.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
Back to Jaylen Low and you watched him a lot
since he played it piped the last couple of seasons.
One thing I really we saw a good bit of
this in the Indiana game. I like about the way
he plays the position is he seems to read the
game really well in terms of understanding when to get
to the rim himself or when to jump stop, kick
(33:28):
it out to somebody. His decision making maybe he's the
best way to phrase that is very good. Yeah.
Speaker 7 (33:35):
Absolutely, And like I said, even though he made them
way better against IU, that was far from what he's
capable And I think even with the injury, I think
it's far from what he's capable of.
Speaker 3 (33:45):
Because my concerns about his performance.
Speaker 7 (33:48):
The majority of them early but even some of you late,
it was that he made some decisions that I know
he's better than that.
Speaker 3 (33:57):
I've seen him be better than.
Speaker 7 (34:00):
Maybe some of the reason why he didn't complete those
plays is because of the injury, but part of it
is understanding, Okay, what am I good at right now?
Speaker 3 (34:09):
If that's if that's an issue, I don't know.
Speaker 7 (34:11):
He said earlier this week he feels great and the
shoulder feels amazing, and I don't one hundred percent by that.
I think he's trying to mentally power through it, but
he showed in the Indiana game that that he can
power through it even against a high quality opponent.
Speaker 3 (34:29):
So it's a little bit more in terms.
Speaker 7 (34:32):
Of of his level of decision making. He's a He's
a really smart point guard in terms of running offense.
He understands defensive action, he understands who among his teammates
is effective.
Speaker 3 (34:47):
And he is.
Speaker 7 (34:48):
He is a very eager passer, is a high end passer.
He's not elite, but he's a high end passer. And
he really is a very eager passer as well.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
You're a movie guy, and so whether it be Jalen
and dealing with the shoulder or Mark Pope and dealing
with not having everybody at full strength yet I think
of the dirty Harry line from one of those movies
for Clint Eastwood, Man's got to understand his limitations. There
you go, That is a great line.
Speaker 3 (35:18):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
Hey, a quick question with the sad passing of Rob
Reiner and his wife. Best Rob Reiner movie?
Speaker 7 (35:26):
Yeah, I think I think it's probably when Harry met
Sally because there have been a zillion rom coms made
and and I love the genre from I was when
I was a teenager. I used to watch the Debbie
Reynolds movies and the Doris Day movies on the Channel
two here late at night on Saturday night. I've always
(35:47):
loved the genre, and he made the definitive movie of
the genre. I challenge anybody to say that that anybody's
ever made a better romantic comedy than that. Some you know,
some movies now are classified as that when they're really
just romances. You can't be a great romantic comedy if
it's not funny, and it was hilarious as well as
(36:10):
being a wonderful romance story.
Speaker 3 (36:13):
So that would be the one that I would pick.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
I'll have what she's having, one of the great lines
to go into a romantic movie. Mike, thank you so much.
We'll talk next, I guess the day after Christmas. So
have a wonderful Christmas for you and your wife and
all your friends and family.
Speaker 7 (36:32):
Oh, Merry Christmas to you, Tom, and the happy Holidays
to everyone in BBN. It's always a pleasure to get
to communicate with them every week.
Speaker 6 (36:41):
Thank you, Mike.
Speaker 1 (36:42):
It's Mike the course. Read them at Sporting News dot
com at Tsnmike on X. We'll finish up. We'll we
come right back on the Leach Report.
Speaker 6 (36:49):
This day in Wildcat History.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
It is nineteen seventy five and the final ukit the
University of Kentucky Invitational Tournament that was played in Memortal
Callis and it started with a sixty six sixty four
win over Georgia Tech. So Kentucky was that close to
losing in the first round of its own tournament, the
final one that was played at the coliseum, but they
pulled it out. Rick Roby had eighteen points and ten rebounds.
(37:13):
We were talking about Jalen Lowe, great Kentucky point guard
right now, great Kentucky point guard of the past from
the eighties. Roger Harden celebrating a birthday today. If you
see Roger, tell him happy birthday. Sure he enjoyed the
resumption of the Indiana rivalry last week since he's one
of those Indiana boys that matriculated to Lexington, Kentucky. So
happy birthday to Roger. The Wildcut History Notes presented by
(37:36):
Kentucky road Show, Sports Cards and Memorabilia. They're on Romedey
Road here in Lexington and at roadshowcards dot com. Ukwomen
playing tonight at Historic Memorial Coliseum six thirty tip against
Wright State. If you can't be there, tuning Darren Headrick
with the call on the UK radio network Kentucky Saint
John's tomorrow in Atlanta. Tip time twelve thirty on CBS
(37:58):
UK radio network coverage we'll start at eleven am. We'll
see it from the State Farm Arena in Atlanta tomorrow
for Kentucky Saint John's. Should be a lot of fun
and we'll see you back Monday here on the Leach Report.
God Day, Welcome in Friday edition of the Lead Report
presented by Bobcat enterprises, Man, what a game last night
out in Kansas City as Kentucky goes five sets to
beat Wisconsin and advance to play for the national championship
and volleyball on Sunday afternoon. And we'll talk a little
bit about that to lead off the show. And then
(00:21):
when we get into our guests, we'll have CJ. Moore
from the Athletic, an interview that I taped a couple
of days ago. He had a story on Kentucky basketball's
early season struggles heading into the Indiana game, and so
I talked to him after that to get some thoughts.
And then Mike de Coursia, regular Friday College hoops guest,
will join us. And then I'm gonna see if we
(00:42):
can find somebody who's up in Kansas City that covers
volleyball and get them on the show. With the time
change and the late night, I gonna wait just a
little while to reach out to somebody, so we'll see
if we can pull that off. But first let's get
to the Wildcat News of the Day, a service of
(01:03):
Giuseppes of Lexington. So Wisconsin comes out and just spanks
Kentucky in the first set twenty five to twelve. Dominated
Kentucky and it looked like, oh no, this could be
a very disappointing into a tremendous season. Well, Kentucky showed
its grit and came back and even the score, then
(01:26):
lost the next set, had to battle back and then
win by two points to force a fifth set, and
then Kentucky jumped out to an eight to two lead
held on to win fifteen thirteen. Eva Hudson delivered the
winning blow for Kentucky and talked with ESPN on the
court after the match.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Eva headed to the national championship in your senior season,
I saw some emotions from you.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
What is going through your head right now?
Speaker 4 (01:56):
I'm honestly just shocked right now, Like I can't even
have tears this moment because I don't even know what's
going on. But I'm just so happy to do it
with this group.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Saw a lot of yelling and motivation before that fifth set.
What was said to come out and dominate.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
I just said, no one.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
Wants to play us in the fifth sex.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
That's when the lights get Brian.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
We play our best volleyball so I knew we'd come
out and we did.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
How did you see your freshman setter grow and get
better throughout that match to come up big in the fifth?
Speaker 4 (02:24):
I mean, it is so it is so hard as
a freshman setter, and that I even had so much nerves,
and to see her continue to grow and really just
lean into our team, it was really awesome.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
In your senior season to know you're going to the
national championship.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
How is this setting in?
Speaker 2 (02:41):
What are your emotion My.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
Gosh, I don't even know.
Speaker 5 (02:44):
I probably won't even be.
Speaker 4 (02:44):
Able to sleep tonight, so i'll tell you tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Going up against Texas A and M a hot team.
What are your thoughts on the matchup in the Championship?
Speaker 4 (02:53):
I think it'll be so fun and they have such
a really good block and they have so much energy.
Speaker 5 (02:57):
So yeah, I think it'll be a fun game.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Eva, go celebrate, Thank you.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
A very happy Eva Hudson after the match. A couple
of points she was talking about freshman center Cassie O'Brien.
She had fifty four assists in the match, setting up
some of the twenty nine kills for Hudson. Brooklyn delay
was really good. Fifteen kills and fourteen digs for a
double double thrown around these terms like I've been colored
(03:23):
in volleyball all my life, but it is fun to
watch just as a fan and not be working at
Kentucky now five and one in five set matches this season,
so congrats to coach Skinner and company. They'll play for
the title against Texas A and M, which upset Pitt
in the first match last night in casey and the
match will be at three thirty on Sunday, and UK
is going to open up Historic Memorial Colisseum for a
(03:46):
BBN watch party. It'll be free. Doors will open at
two thirty Eastern. Match starts at three thirty and that'll
be a Historic Memorial Colisseum. You can get together with
other Wow Cat fans and watch it on the big
screen and hopefully cheer could Tucky onto a national volleyball championship.
We'll get more into the Kentucky Saint John's matchup a
little bit later on. Right now, we need to get
to a break so we can get rolling on the guests.
(04:07):
It'll be Cjmore from the Athletic dot Com. Will he
come right back? Opening segment presented by Giuseppes of Lexington,
and it's probably too late to get gift cards mailed out,
but it's not too late to go buy the restaurant
and pick them up if you need them, or they
can email them to you Giuseppes Lexington dot Com. If
you need a last minute item to put in a
stocking or any gift box for somebody that's hard to
(04:28):
buy for, Giuseppes gift cards would be fantastic. Giuseppes, Lexington
dot Com.
Speaker 6 (04:34):
We'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
It's the Leads Report coming to you from the Clarks
Pumpin' Shops studio, Return, Refresh and Refuel. It was a
week ago today that CJ. Moore came out with an
outstanding article at Theathletic dot Com about the Kentucky basketball
teams struggles through the first month of the season. CJ
came on with us last year to talk about a
story he did for The Athletic after Kentucky had upset
(04:57):
Duke in the Champions Classic. So we recorded this a
couple of days ago. Here's CJ Moore from The Athletic
dot Com. CJ, you did an extensive look at Kentucky's
team in a piece for The Athletic last week at
the Athletic dot Com. And if I I don't have
it in front of me, but.
Speaker 6 (05:18):
What I recall is that you were.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Talking about why it's not working for Kentucky as well
as hoped at this point, and you talked about the
roster the Mark put together, et cetera.
Speaker 6 (05:29):
And it seems.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Like that you believe that they need to lean into
the defensive end of the court. I've told friends of
mine they need to get good at something, And from
your piece, it seems like you and the people that
you heard from think maybe what they need to really
try to get good at first is defense.
Speaker 6 (05:49):
Is that right? Yeah?
Speaker 5 (05:50):
For sure. I think if you look at the way
Mark put this roster together, it was almost a response
to last season where they were elite on defense or sorry,
they were lead on offense, but they you know, their
their defense that at one point I remember putting in
my top twenty five last season that there was a
stretch I think in early February where they were on
(06:11):
track to have the worst in conference defensive efficiency and
then Ken palm Era so like it wasn't it was
pretty dire there for a little bit you know that
was but lachamp or not Lachan Lamon Butler was out
and you know, he was a big part of their
defense last year, but they were they were a mediocre
team on the defensive end, and I thought that a
(06:32):
lot of the guys he got this this transfer portal
season were guys that have traditionally been able to guard
tough dudes that had brought the energy levels up of
their teams, and that's what they kind of need to
lean into. And that's what's maybe been so surprising about
their struggles is the like effort level, intensity, focus just
(06:57):
hasn't been there where you know, and I know guys
like Mota Bote have been out and he's one of
the big ones that you saw on Saturday, Like he
can bring that for them. But that's probably what's been
disappointing watching them, as you haven't seen that effort level
that I think it takes to be a really, really
good defensive team. But you know, on the positive side,
(07:19):
I think they showed some of that on Saturday. I
didn't get to see the whole game, but I saw
a good chunk of the second half, and so I
do think there's a way to salvage this. I think
that Jalen Low's a big part of that on the
offensive end, and he had some nice stretches on Saturday
as well. So while it's not all his loss, you know,
there's a lot of season left. I definitely think the
(07:41):
defensive ends where it needs to start.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
In thirteen steals in the win over Indiana, they held
Indiana at a four of twenty four three point shooting,
which was the worst for the Hoosiers this season, and
they're a very good three point shooting team. So did
those numbers suggest that maybe that Mark and his staff
are either if not making the transformation with this group,
getting the group to buy into what the path needs
(08:05):
to be.
Speaker 5 (08:07):
Yeah, certainly. I mean it's one game, so so you know,
you gotta pump the brakes a little bit, but it's
at least a start. You got to start somewhere, and
it's a good win. Indiana has been a hard team
to guard this year and put up really good offensive
numbers to shoot a ton of three, you know, made
a ton of threes, and so it was a really
really good start to against a good offensive team. And
(08:27):
when they had all their pretty much all their pieces
back and you know, they still had a big piece coming,
so I think that it was a it was a
good sign. You know, Modiabade is the guy that, like
I thought would be a difference maker for them on
that end coming into the year. And even when he was,
you know, before his injury, I didn't think he was
(08:48):
maybe bringing it like you you would expect him to
bring in that. I thought he raised their intensity level
in that game. And so yeah, it was it was
a It was a promising.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Start, and the return of jayden Quis when that happens,
could only kick that up a notch or two. Given
his defensive numbers from Arizona State right.
Speaker 5 (09:07):
For for sure. I mean that's that's a front line
defensively that that can really wreck Havoc. You know when
when they're turned up and their motors are high. Now
you don't know what he's gonna what kind of shape
he'll be in when he gets back, or or you know,
how how long of stretches he can play, and it
could take a little while, but if they can get
him to playing to his ceiling on the defensive end
(09:30):
and most stays healthy and he can play, you know,
like he's shown in the past, then yeah, that's a
that's a really good start of a of a good defense.
And I mean they've got the pieces there defensively. Now offensively,
I question whether they can ever get to the elite
level offensively with this this team. And I think that's
(09:50):
where when people look at their roster and look how
expensive it was, you know, you start to question, like, what,
you know, you'd expect to have some NBA level dudes
when you're when you spending that kind of money. But
I think, you know, for Kentucky, they've got to kind
of rechange, you know, to look at it in a
different way and say, Okay, here's what we got. What
can we lean into that that this team can be
(10:11):
a lite at and defensive end, judging by the pieces
they have, I think is the best shot.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
One conundrum that they seem to face is that by
deploying their best defensive team can't be the best shooting
team that they have, right.
Speaker 5 (10:28):
Yeah, for sure, And and and that's that's something that
they're gonna have to figure out. I mean, maybe you
have one at least one or two good good shooters
out there at all times. You know, you know, there's
guys like Otega who can make a three. That's certainly
not his strength, but he's part of that best defensive team,
and you know he can make a wide open shot.
(10:49):
I think even you know, like Colin Chandler is a
good enough athlete to you know, be out there and
be on a really, really good defensive team. And he
obviously can shoot the ball. So you know, you're not
going to have five elite defenders out there at all times,
but if you have three or four that are pretty
good ones and other guys that you can kind of hide,
you can still have a really good defensive team.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
I would think for a new coach coming in, with
the way college basketball teams are built these days, it's
probably going to take you, I don't know what the
number is, three years or to get it to the
point where you don't have to do as much in
the transfer portal every year and you have a little
more carryover of your best players.
Speaker 6 (11:30):
Is that something Mark's dealing with too, Yeah?
Speaker 5 (11:33):
I think so. You know, you have to high school
recruiting is still part of this right and it still
has to be part of it. And I think that's
what's hard when you take over a job like Kentucky.
Is there this desire to get really good, really quickly.
And I think where they're maybe hurting is like this
freshman class nationwide is insanely good. And the fact that
(11:58):
usually Kentucky's gonna and one of those really really good guys.
You know, if you put like an Aj Debatsa on
this team, then it's a whole different boggame. So you know,
the fact that they maybe didn't get one of those guys,
it hasn't you know, they haven't been able to win
with freshmen like they have in the past. But there's
some guys on the roster now that could be two,
(12:19):
three four year guys. You know, someone like Jasper Johnson,
he could be there a few years, the big fella Mano, Yeah,
Malchi Marino, he could be there three four years. Then
you have guys that can kind of carry over your
culture year to year and and then you're you know,
(12:40):
you're not starting at the start line every single season.
So I do think that'll be important going forward for
them to you know, be able to have some program
guys the Trevor Noah types or not sorry, not Trevor
Trick right, yeah, trit nootypes that that can carry over
and and you know, have some stability to your roster,
(13:02):
and then you you know, bring in a couple you know,
expensive guys right that they can have like big impacts
right away.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
Now one would think that they probably came into the
year on the offensive end anyway, building around having a
guy like Low, a much different kind of point guard
than they had last year, and then you don't have
him until, uh for a long stretches until as you played,
twenty four minutes last week was the most most he
played other than the one game against Louisville, and those
(13:30):
were the two quote unquote big games where they look
the best, winning one and having a chance to win
at the four minute mark and the other.
Speaker 5 (13:38):
Even if you go back and watch stretches of the
Gonzaga game when he played, even when they weren't making shots,
they were getting some quality looks, great points when he
was on the floor. So I think he helps them.
It's you know, it's also an adjustment marks best teams
I think have had play making fives like a Mario
Williams last year, and they don't really have that right now.
And you know, his offenses is so much built for
(14:01):
those guys to be triggers and be able to hit
cutters and stuff like that, and that's also another adjustment.
You know, you're gonna have to maybe kind of adjust
how you play based on the personnel you have. And
you know, he's smart guy. I think he'll eventually figure
it out and SADAY look like a step in the
right direction.
Speaker 6 (14:18):
Thank you for the time.
Speaker 5 (14:20):
I appreciate you having me on.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
It's CJ. Moore from the Athletic. It's the Leach Report
and we are presented by Bobcat Enterprises for locations in Kentucky.
So google Bobcat Enterprises. When you need to buy or
rent a piece of heavy equipment, they will have what
you need and they have been known from the start
for fantastic service after the sale or the rental agreement
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(14:43):
take great care of you. It's the Leads Report Radio Network.
Speaker 6 (14:46):
We'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
It's the Lead's Report twenty six past the top of
the hour and we are coming to you from the
Clarks Pumping Shop Studio, Return, Refresh, Refuel at Clark's. We
welcome in Mike Coursi Sporting News at TSN.
Speaker 6 (15:01):
Mike on X.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
You see him on the Big Ten Network. He does
brackets for Fox Sports college basketball coverage and Mike. Let's
start with Kentucky's win over Indiana since we last talked
a week ago. Kentucky gets the quality rent well that
was missing from its resume, played its best defensive game
when you talk about the five highest regarded teams that
(15:25):
they faced. So what were your takeaways from what you
saw in the Indiana win?
Speaker 7 (15:29):
Well, the first one for me was I've been using
the word and I still am working to find a
better one.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
But Kentucky played like.
Speaker 7 (15:39):
A desperate team. They understood in the second half what
was at stake. They understand the advantage they had in
terms of the crowd, and they played harder in the
second half than Indiana could match or would match, And
that was a huge factor. I mean, they did not
play a great forty minutes. Let's not tend that was.
(16:02):
That was like exactly what this Kentucky team can be
or should be. But the first step was that understanding
of the consequence of a defeat.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
There was to basically put your.
Speaker 7 (16:13):
Nearly your entire season now on Southeastern Conference play. And
although the league is still very, very good, I don't
know that you want to roll the whole dice on that,
because it's not what it was a year ago. There
may be fewer opportunities there, and if you miss some
of those, goodness, now you're really in trouble. So I
(16:33):
think there was an understanding in the way they played
of that. To outscore Indiana basically double in the second
half showed a team that understood was what was at stake.
And then I also thought the secondarily, and not that secondarily.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
A very important component of this was how.
Speaker 7 (16:51):
Important the return of the two injured players so far was.
When I wrote a tweet a few weeks ago about
after I don't know which defeat, but one of the
one of the several disappointing defeats that the Cats had
had suffered, that that there needed to be some grace
given for the fact that they were down three protect
(17:13):
projected starters. And I got some responses that debaate didn't
really mean that much. Okay, twelve points, fourteen rebounds, five steals,
that didn't matter. Uh, And then that and that Jalen
Lowe wasn't all that.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
I got a lot of that.
Speaker 7 (17:28):
Now, some of that came from Lowell fans. I recognize
it because they acknowledged it. But I knew that they
you know, they remembered the idea that that a year
ago their guy scored thirty six on him or whatever
and there, and their position was that he didn't matter
that much, But in reality he mattered a ton.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Absolutely. We'll pick up on that and more with Mike.
Of course, he when we return halfway home on this
Friday edition of the Leach Report presented by Bob Cat Enterprises.
Speaker 6 (18:00):
We'll be right back Mike.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Coursey with us on the Least Report presented by Bob
Kat Enterprises for this Friday and Mike. This was a
Kentucky team that Mark Pope built, surely knowing that it
was going to be much different from his first one.
But they wanted to get better defensively, wanted to be
(18:23):
being better in terms of being able to play against
physical teams, really athletic teams. But as this is playing out,
it certainly looks like the best version of that kind
of team is not going to be the best version
of the way his teams have historically played offense. So
how does this balance out over the course of the
(18:44):
next few months. If Kentucky gets to the best version
of itself.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
Yeah, I think that if you look at this roster.
Speaker 7 (18:53):
I mean, even even though there may be another piece
out there, Jayden Quaints is not known for three points shooting,
you can be a better three point This team can
be a better three point shooting team than it has been.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
But it's still not going to.
Speaker 7 (19:09):
Ever be what last year was, and it probably won't
be in the upper echelon of three point shooting teams
this year.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
But it can be better.
Speaker 7 (19:18):
And that starts with more high quality opportunities for those
who are good shooters. A Colin Chandler, for instance, a
guy who's got significant numbers, enough of a sample size
to know and and and enough comfort in the the
substitute type role. Not that that would necessarily be where
(19:38):
he is, but he hasn't. What I mean by that,
it's unlike some players, he hasn't needed consistent minutes to
make to be a consistent shooter. I think that's a
that's a that's a hurdle for Jasper Johnson still to
to climb over. Is that he's not used to this.
He's not used to saying okay, Jasper, go on and
get out there and him being ready to go. It's
(19:59):
you usually him out there on the floor from the
beginning of every game he's almost ever played, and so.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
He's got to get used to that.
Speaker 7 (20:07):
But the biggest ingredient of this is Jalen Lowe being
able to play as much as and as effectively as
he did Saturday night, being able to elevate the quality
of shots for everyone.
Speaker 3 (20:23):
And I think he still has a way to go
with that.
Speaker 7 (20:26):
I thought that he pushed action a little bit to
his own shot on Saturday night. I thought there were
probably he shot five or thirteen. I'd say out of
the eight misses, I'd say probably four to five were
shots he shouldn't even have bothered with that. He could
do better than either himself or finding a teammate to
(20:46):
start another action. But it was a huge step in
a positive direction for him and for the team because
the definition he brought to the offense while he was
on the floor. I mean, he was a plus two
twenty four, and that's without being a truly effective defender.
That shows how much better the offense can be when
(21:08):
he's out there and comfortable enough to play.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Yeah, I mean Mark and his staff, I'm guessing looked
at this and looked and saw. You know, I think
when Acquaintance is back, you know, he could even take
the defense to a higher level. So you've got Diabatee
and Acquaintance and Oway and Aberdeen and even Cam Williams.
They like what he's doing defensively in his length and size.
So you have a really good defensive group there that
(21:36):
doesn't shoot it all that well from outside. So the
guy who would seemingly help fix that is a you know,
the best version of Jayalen Lowe running the show. So
you change your offense and you kind of run a
lot of pick and roll with him, and he gets
into the paint and creates and kicks out and guys
(21:57):
are able to make enough threes to give you a
chance to win with the better defense, and you sacrifice
a little defense with low but Quaintance eventually and Diabatee
help cover for that.
Speaker 6 (22:10):
Is that kind of what it looks like.
Speaker 7 (22:11):
Yes, yeah, I think that's right. I think that's exactly right.
And I thought Jalen could improve this year. I'm and
he still may, but I wouldn't hold it against him
if he didn't because of the injury. That's in terms
of trying to improve defensively, when you've got a shoulder problem.
I mean, the only thing that's likely to limit your
(22:33):
physicality more.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
Than that would be a back issue, and you probably
don't even get on the floor with a back issue.
Speaker 7 (22:38):
So in terms of being out there and being able
to go as much as he did against Indiana, that's
probably the worst injury he could have relative to defense.
And so it's going to be a challenge for him
and they have to adjust for that. But like I said,
we haven't even seen the best version of him, But
(23:00):
even that version that we saw Saturday night improve them
enough offensively to account for whatever he might give up defensively.
And when you play, just to use an example, if
somebody whos already played, when you play a Michel Brown,
let's when you play a LeBaron Fylon, for instance, down
the road, Denzel Aberdeen will guard.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
LeBaron Fylon even if Jalen's in the game.
Speaker 7 (23:22):
That's that you just go in knowing that because he's
so important to their offense, and he is one of
those point guards like mikel was, who is not only
their creator, but he's also their their best scorer. So
you don't want him to get going in either of
those directions and for that reason, you just changed the matchup.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Gentleman named Brandon Ramsey who covers the Cats locally and
is a former college coach.
Speaker 6 (23:51):
He had an interesting post yesterday.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
I'll get your take on it as far as how
does Kentucky get to what it needs to get to
in terms of three point shooting? They don't, you know,
they don't have corea that can make six in a
game or something like that. So here's what his formula
looks like. This is interesting, Okay. See, Chandler makes two
threes a game. You get two from a combination of
Williams and Noah, one from Aberdeen, one from Oway, one
(24:15):
from the combination of Low and Johnson, and then one
from the combination of Diabate, Garrison and Yellovich. That get
you eight per game. He says that hopefully between thirty
three to thirty five percent feels fairly realistic.
Speaker 6 (24:27):
Makes sense?
Speaker 3 (24:29):
Oh, I think so.
Speaker 7 (24:30):
I think that the way us customarily is going to
work is that is that somebody one of those guys,
whoever you pick out, is going to have a rough day, either.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
Because he's guarded well or just just not his day.
Speaker 7 (24:46):
I always say, Steph Curry has had days where he
missed most of his shots, so you're.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
Going to have guy.
Speaker 7 (24:51):
Even your best shooters, Colin was only oh of two
from deep against Indiana. He's probably the most accurate shooter
on the team. He's going to have bad days and
then somebody has to make up for that.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
And Jasper, I still think that there's good basketball out
there for him.
Speaker 7 (25:09):
He's done some things early this year that indicate that
he certainly has the past in terms of his high
school and international competition.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
That shows that.
Speaker 7 (25:21):
And I think he's somebody that you could get into
a game and on a night when Colin might not
be making his shots, Jasper might be able to make
three or four.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
That wouldn't shock me at all. It's just him getting
used to the action. And I thought that.
Speaker 7 (25:36):
I thought the way they played in the second half
against Indiana, there was no need to do a lot
of rotation there just to keep guys fresh, but you
didn't need to change your lineup much because it was
working so well.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
Job and Mike the course, he will continue doing that
whill he come right back. It is the Leach Report
from the Clark's Pumping Shop Studio. Return Refresh and refuel
is how do they sees it at Clark's quarter before
the top of the And we're back with Mike Decursi
from Sportingnews dot Com at TSN Mike on X one
follow up on Jasper Johnson. Mike, it seems with what
(26:09):
we were talking about how Kentucky is built and uh
offensively to play through low that Jasper's got some of
that skill set in terms of getting two feet in
the pain against his defender. He's just got to be
better about reading things when he gets there in terms
of when to try to score and when to kick it.
(26:30):
I think he's got one assist against five big time opponents.
Speaker 7 (26:35):
Yeah, I think that's absolutely true, and I think that
comes from not really having a lot of experience at
that position.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
At true, at a.
Speaker 7 (26:44):
Significant level, he's he's always kind of uh operated as
a scorer. And I mentioned I mentioned in the past
his experience with the U nineteens, and he was definitely
an off the ball guard in that in those games
when they wanted to play make they went through Mike
cal Brown or even aj Debatsa.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
So he was not out there to do that. He
was out there to get buckets.
Speaker 7 (27:10):
But part of being able to get buckets for him
is understanding that when the defense attacks you, that means
your teammates are open and if you give it up,
it'll come back if it's necessary. And I think he
needs to understand and get comfortable with that that when
he's going in and he's getting his feet into the paint,
(27:32):
his eyes shouldn't only be on the basket. His eyes
should understand where the defense is coming from. If they
leave him unchallenged, yeah, go straight up take the shot,
but that's rarely going to happen. Most of the time,
you're going to force defensive action, and then it's just
a question of whether the prudent thing is to try
to float it over a defender because it's just you
and him and he's not that much bigger than you
(27:54):
and there's no help coming, or to find someone on
the opposite wing. Perhaps it might be called wide open
for a shot whatever it might be, or a dumpover
to someone like Malachi, who is a very effective finisher.
There are just so many different plays you can make
if you have the ability to get the ball into
the lane, and he certainly does.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
Let's talk about the match up with Saint John's tomorrow
in Atlanta, and Saint John's has played one hundred and
eighty degrees different defensively than what they played out in Vegas.
They played three games out there, lost two of them,
gave up eighty three, ninety six, and gave up eighty three,
(28:36):
eighty one, and eighty five points in those three losses.
Since then, they've given up fifty eight, sixty four, and
sixty six, albeit against Old miss Iona and to Paul,
but still they've blocked like twenty six shots in that time.
So it seems like coach p has they have gotten
the message on defense.
Speaker 3 (28:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (28:54):
I think that's true, and they should be effective defensively.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
They've got veteran bigs.
Speaker 7 (29:01):
Zubi Edgy four is not Uh, he's not Jayden for instance,
if you ever get it, if you ever watched his tape,
you obviously haven't seen him out there, or even Brandon
in terms of length, he's not really that guy. But
he has great understanding of how to defend. He got
four in the DePaul victory that was earlier this week,
and and he's a very effective player. And Bryce Hopkins
(29:23):
is a pretty dynamic guy when he's healthy.
Speaker 3 (29:25):
Uh as a four man. UH, what what they have
struggled with to this.
Speaker 7 (29:29):
Point in the year is is the definition of their offense.
And it's a little bit different in that their guys
have been available. It's just that Rick has not yet
been able to invent a consistent point guard.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
Uh. He gave up.
Speaker 7 (29:44):
He's sort of or seemed to surrender on Dylan Darling,
who was who was the choice through part of the
pre conference.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
Uh.
Speaker 7 (29:52):
He He originally had said Ian Jackson, the transform from Carolina,
was going to be his point and then after practicing
for a while, he looked at it and thought Dylan
Darling would be the guy. And then Dylan didn't handle
it very well against some of those high major opponents
that you talked about, and so he went in entering
the DePaul game, he said, now it's going to be Ian,
and then Ian didn't play.
Speaker 3 (30:14):
Ian played fine, but he didn't run it well.
Speaker 7 (30:16):
And then Dylan came off the bench and the offense
flowed better. And so it'll probably be Dylan Darling to
be the primary point guard. But that's one area where,
however Mark wants to arrange it, they need to attack
that position because that's the position where obviously everybody's offense
is going to start, and for Saint John's it's been
(30:38):
one that has been highly inconsistent.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
With Kentucky's matchups as they stand. Now, you know Low's
you're thinking excuse me? With Low and Diabate, probably mid
twenties and minutes at best, I would think, So, how
does Kentuck what's the formula look like for Kentucky to
win this game?
Speaker 6 (31:02):
Well?
Speaker 3 (31:02):
I think it starts with, uh, with.
Speaker 7 (31:07):
Getting the high quality minutes out of those two guys,
because they they have struggled against their high major opponents,
even to stay in all but one of the games, uh,
the the Carolina game, UH, without without getting much from
either of them. They they they could have and should
have won. But it starts with getting high quality minutes
(31:29):
out of those two players, because they do elevate the
whole unit.
Speaker 3 (31:32):
UH.
Speaker 7 (31:33):
And then I think defensively, as I mentioned before, you
want to be really effective, and I think this would
be a great game for Denzel to show what he's
capable of defensively. If he's able to do that, he's
going whether it's he's playing against Ian Jackson or Dylan Darling. Uh,
he's got to be effective in that. I think that
(31:54):
you can maybe get away at times when when when
uh Jalen's in the game against playing him against sellers
who can be prone to have He's a very fine
player and a really important part of their defense, but
he can be prone to having an off night. If
you can, if you can keep him bound to the perimeter,
you can he can have an off night.
Speaker 3 (32:15):
So I think that's how it starts.
Speaker 7 (32:17):
That it starts, and then the most important element is
to is to do it solid effective job against edgia four,
who is a very versatile player. He's an excellent passer
for a big guy. He can score inside, he's going
to rebound. He's one of those players who is whatever
Patino might need at a given moment. Zubi edgia four
(32:41):
is going to give as much of that as possible.
And I highly respected player in the Big East, a
guy a lot of people had a third team type
preseason All America. So one of the fifteen to twenty
five best players in college basketball. So you can't let
him get really comfortable leaning into the rim. You need
(33:02):
to try to limit his field goal opportunities.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
Back to Jaylen Low and you watched him a lot
since he played it piped the last couple of seasons.
One thing I really we saw a good bit of
this in the Indiana game. I like about the way
he plays the position is he seems to read the
game really well in terms of understanding when to get
to the rim himself or when to jump stop, kick
(33:28):
it out to somebody. His decision making maybe he's the
best way to phrase that is very good. Yeah.
Speaker 7 (33:35):
Absolutely, And like I said, even though he made them
way better against IU, that was far from what he's
capable And I think even with the injury, I think
it's far from what he's capable of.
Speaker 3 (33:45):
Because my concerns about his performance.
Speaker 7 (33:48):
The majority of them early but even some of you late,
it was that he made some decisions that I know
he's better than that.
Speaker 3 (33:57):
I've seen him be better than.
Speaker 7 (34:00):
Maybe some of the reason why he didn't complete those
plays is because of the injury, but part of it
is understanding, Okay, what am I good at right now?
Speaker 3 (34:09):
If that's if that's an issue, I don't know.
Speaker 7 (34:11):
He said earlier this week he feels great and the
shoulder feels amazing, and I don't one hundred percent by that.
I think he's trying to mentally power through it, but
he showed in the Indiana game that that he can
power through it even against a high quality opponent.
Speaker 3 (34:29):
So it's a little bit more in terms.
Speaker 7 (34:32):
Of of his level of decision making. He's a He's
a really smart point guard in terms of running offense.
He understands defensive action, he understands who among his teammates
is effective.
Speaker 3 (34:47):
And he is.
Speaker 7 (34:48):
He is a very eager passer, is a high end passer.
He's not elite, but he's a high end passer. And
he really is a very eager passer as well.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
You're a movie guy, and so whether it be Jalen
and dealing with the shoulder or Mark Pope and dealing
with not having everybody at full strength yet I think
of the dirty Harry line from one of those movies
for Clint Eastwood, Man's got to understand his limitations. There
you go, That is a great line.
Speaker 3 (35:18):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
Hey, a quick question with the sad passing of Rob
Reiner and his wife. Best Rob Reiner movie?
Speaker 7 (35:26):
Yeah, I think I think it's probably when Harry met
Sally because there have been a zillion rom coms made
and and I love the genre from I was when
I was a teenager. I used to watch the Debbie
Reynolds movies and the Doris Day movies on the Channel
two here late at night on Saturday night. I've always
(35:47):
loved the genre, and he made the definitive movie of
the genre. I challenge anybody to say that that anybody's
ever made a better romantic comedy than that. Some you know,
some movies now are classified as that when they're really
just romances. You can't be a great romantic comedy if
it's not funny, and it was hilarious as well as
(36:10):
being a wonderful romance story.
Speaker 3 (36:13):
So that would be the one that I would pick.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
I'll have what she's having, one of the great lines
to go into a romantic movie. Mike, thank you so much.
We'll talk next, I guess the day after Christmas. So
have a wonderful Christmas for you and your wife and
all your friends and family.
Speaker 7 (36:32):
Oh, Merry Christmas to you, Tom, and the happy Holidays
to everyone in BBN. It's always a pleasure to get
to communicate with them every week.
Speaker 6 (36:41):
Thank you, Mike.
Speaker 1 (36:42):
It's Mike the course. Read them at Sporting News dot
com at Tsnmike on X. We'll finish up. We'll we
come right back on the Leach Report.
Speaker 6 (36:49):
This day in Wildcat History.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
It is nineteen seventy five and the final ukit the
University of Kentucky Invitational Tournament that was played in Memortal
Callis and it started with a sixty six sixty four
win over Georgia Tech. So Kentucky was that close to
losing in the first round of its own tournament, the
final one that was played at the coliseum, but they
pulled it out. Rick Roby had eighteen points and ten rebounds.
(37:13):
We were talking about Jalen Lowe, great Kentucky point guard
right now, great Kentucky point guard of the past from
the eighties. Roger Harden celebrating a birthday today. If you
see Roger, tell him happy birthday. Sure he enjoyed the
resumption of the Indiana rivalry last week since he's one
of those Indiana boys that matriculated to Lexington, Kentucky. So
happy birthday to Roger. The Wildcut History Notes presented by
(37:36):
Kentucky road Show, Sports Cards and Memorabilia. They're on Romedey
Road here in Lexington and at roadshowcards dot com. Ukwomen
playing tonight at Historic Memorial Coliseum six thirty tip against
Wright State. If you can't be there, tuning Darren Headrick
with the call on the UK radio network Kentucky Saint
John's tomorrow in Atlanta. Tip time twelve thirty on CBS
(37:58):
UK radio network coverage we'll start at eleven am. We'll
see it from the State Farm Arena in Atlanta tomorrow
for Kentucky Saint John's. Should be a lot of fun
and we'll see you back Monday here on the Leach Report.
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