December 22, 2025 • 38 mins
Holiday week edition of the Leach Report featuring Maggie Davis talking Kentucky Volleyball along with Ben Roberts from the Herald Leader and Darryl Bird from the Cats Pause.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Good day, everybody. Welcome into the Leach Report for Christmas Week.
We are presented each day by Bobcat Enterprises. This week
we will be live with you today, Tomorrow and Friday.
Wednesday and Thursday will be best of shows. The Wednesday
(00:23):
show on Christmas Eve. This has become something we've made
into a tradition. I think it's I think it's the
second half of the show. Several years back, I did
an interview with Coach Hall. We had it was the
Coaches Show with cal was going to air on Christmas
Eve the way the calendar fell, and so we were
(00:45):
looking to pre record the show, and so I went
out and did about a half hour interview with Coach
Hall about the only game Kentucky ever played on Christmas Eve.
And there's some great stories around that game that Kentucky
won at the Buzzer at Illinois on Christmas Eve of
nineteen eighty three, and Joe told them with great flair
(01:07):
as he always did, and so we always replay that
on Christmas Eve and tell some of those stories, and
so we will do that on Wednesday. Coming up today,
We're going to catch up to Maggie Davis on her
drive home from Kansas City. She'll be reporting on BBN
tonight about her work out there covering Kentucky volleyball, which
(01:29):
came up one win short its quest for a second
national championship. We'll talk with Maggie about that. Ben Roberts
from the Herald Leader, Darryl Byrd from The Cat's Pause,
and we will get deep into that Kentucky win over
Saint John's at the CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta on Saturday,
Wildcat News of the Day, presented by just Sepis of Lexington.
(01:51):
It was a sweep for Texas A and M three
to zero over Kentucky yesterday. Kentucky jumped out to a
big lead early in the first set. You think that,
and then Texas A and M slowly started to chip away,
and still Kentucky did have it to set point and
couldn't close the door. An A and M rally to
win twenty six twenty four, and they you could just see.
(02:15):
I mean, I'm not going to try to break down
the x's and oh's of volleyball. I just got into
following this group just strictly as a as a fan,
so they I'll leave that to others. But Maggie can
maybe tell us a little bit about how Texas A
and M did that, But you could just see, as
a sports fan of any sport, you could see the
momentum turning to Texas A and M and just the
(02:37):
confidence starting to grow for their players. They had been
down two sets to none in the sweet sixteen to
Louisville and came back and got the reverse sweep and
then follow that up by beating three straight one seeds.
It's reminiscent of what Arizona did in the men's basketball
Tournament in ninety seven. I think they upset Kansas in
(02:58):
the sweet sixteen and then rolled three straight or maybe
it was in the Elite eight where they got Kansas. Anyway,
they rolled three straight one seeds to win the national championship,
in the last one being Kentucky. So it was an
impressive run for A and M and a tremendous season
that came up one win short of the goal for Kentucky.
(03:21):
So certainly congratulations to coach Skinner and his squad on
their season thirty and three and gave Kentucky fans some
amazing moments. People calling in the radio shows talking volleyball.
We were at a Christmas party yesterday. People were talking
volleyball had to get out of there and get home
to see the match. So I'm sure Kentucky volleyball picked
(03:46):
up some new fans on this run that will carry
over into next season. And if they don't get hurt
in the transfer portal. The only player there slated to
lose is Eva Hudson. Now that's quite a loss, but
if everybody comes back, they could be quite formidable again
next season. Men's basketball was quite formidable on Saturday afternoon
(04:06):
in Atlanta, coming from ten down in the first half.
They were seven down at the half, still seven town
with about fourteen to play, and then it seemed like
Saint John's didn't make a basket for about an hour,
and Kentucky rolls the Red Storm seventy eight to sixty six,
and the big storylines were Jalen Lowe and Jaden Quaintans.
(04:29):
J Lo coming back from an early reaggravation of that
right shoulder injury to lead Kentucky in the second half.
Scored all thirteen of his points in the second half,
second straight game with no turnovers, three assists in his
I think about fifteen minutes of action and just a
tremendously gutty performance because one would think he was sort
(04:52):
of playing through some level of pain. Jaden Quaintan's made
his debut, and quite a debut. It was ten points,
eight boards, two blocks. They talk in football about affecting
the quarterback. Even if you don't get a sack, you
affect the quarterback, and Jaden Quainton's affected Zubiegia for the
five man for Saint John's in a lot of different ways.
(05:15):
We'll get into that with Ben Roberts what he joins
us here in just a bit. Otega Oway led the
scoring with twenty and five boards and three steals as well,
and some impressive numbers for Kentucky and some impressive numbers
to have overcome in terms of negative numbers for Kentucky
that they overcame with the way that they played. Let's
(05:37):
listen to Mark Pope talking about the impact of Jalen Lowe.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
You saw the impact that he can have on our team.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
I mean you saw one half without without j Loo,
and he saw one half with j Loo. I'm voting
for the half with j Loo actually because he just
changed everything we do.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
So we're gonna proceed with caution.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
He's gonna he's gonna fight through this deal and and
he's gonna be great.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
He's been great certainly the last two games for Kentucky.
It's just everybody can see it at a night and
day difference with a true point guard out there for
the Wildcats, and that's the hope for their offense starting
to click if he can stay on the court. As
for low Well, he talked about his decision to return
after the game, and he also talked about playing in
(06:20):
front of all of those Kentucky fans who were in
the building and making so much noise.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Did definitely look like Catlan out there. They felt like
a home game, and that just goes to show how
great of a fan base we have and the support
that we have no matter what we're going through.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
You know, it's amazing to see.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
And I've never been around anything like this, and I'm
gonna try and soak it up as much as i
can because I know that at no matter what level,
I don't think anything has ever gone touch this.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
You get that, right, That's Jalen Lowe. After the game.
We'll get into more of that in a little bit later,
but when we come back, Maggie Davis will join us
and we'll recap an amazing run for the Kentucky volleyball team.
And we'll do that when we return. It's the Leech Report,
our opening segments presented by Giuseppes of Lexington, and they
have their very own bullet barrel pick that you can
(07:09):
buy and take home, and they're working on the new
Russell Reserve barrel pick. And if you need a gift
card for a last second gift, you can get them
via email or you can pick them up at the
restaurant this week. Giuseppes Lexington dot com to get details.
We'll be right back with Maggie Davis. It is the
Leech Report. We are coming to here from the Clark's
Pumpin' Shop studio, Return, Refresh and refuel at Clark's as
(07:35):
we welcome in Maggie Davis from BBN tonight and l
e X eighteen, making her way back from Kansas City
where she's been covering Kentucky volleyball. Maggie, as you were
sitting in the arena there in case watching this Kentucky
gets off to a great start. When did you first
start to think, uh oh, this could be a bit
of a problem.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
Yes, good morning, down from somewhere in Missouri. Sorry it
sounds like a highway. We are just on the road
home after along couple of days in Kansas City. Thankfully
our photographer Nick Lazarov is driving, so don't worry about that.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Made the trip many times my daughter that I could
do this. My daughter went to school at the University
of Denver, so I've been on I seventy slash A
sixty four many times. So it's pretty much you go
to sleep and just set the car on cruise. It's
straight though.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
Well, I'll let me tell you this first in terms
of when I figured out the first set was going
Texas A and M's direction. The Aggies went on a
four nothing run thereabout just past the midway point in
the first and to your point, UK Yes, had built
up a precize lead early on, at one point as
much as five points, but the way A and M
(08:42):
was playing, really it wasn't just a difference in the
points they were putting on the board. Kentucky had come
out looking like the composed team and Ann were playing
a little bit on their heels, trying to catch their
breath there for the first ten to fifteen points or
so of the game. However, once they went on that run,
you saw the confidence com flipped, the momentum switch sides
that it truly never switched back. It was a four
(09:04):
to nothing run, and then it really was back and
forth from there, except when you look at the final
twenty points of the first set, Texas A and M
won fourteen of them, and that was really the big
difference in the game. The second set. You know, we've
seen Kentucky drop the first a couple of times this season,
most recently just in their most recent game against Wisconsin
at that point, so you didn't.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Feel like hope was lost even though they really did
give that first set away.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
But in the second set, I remember sitting there thinking, Man,
I haven't seen them look like this all season.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
What's the difference? And I thought that.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
I hadn't seen them look like that because I had not.
They had not hit in the negatives as a team
for the entirety of a set a single time all
season long, and they did in the second frame, and
ultimately it was just too big of a hole to
dig themselves out of.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Tom yep, I mean, you see it in a lot
of sports that you cover the power of momentum, and
it is it is a force and you can't hold
it or point to it, but you could certainly feel it.
Speaker 4 (10:05):
You can, and I think volleyball is a great example
of that. I think that's why so many fans have
been drawn to this team and this sport, especially this
year with Kentucky on such a great run, is you
pick up on it really quickly as a viewer, whether
you're a person or watching on TV. There is this
real palpable momentum, and it makes it fun because you
don't normally feel like you're out of it unless you
(10:26):
feel like that margin becomes too much to overcome, which
in my head is normally around the ten point mark,
and Kentucky unfortunately hit that in the second set.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Twenty five fifteen was the final, but it.
Speaker 5 (10:38):
Really on in that one.
Speaker 6 (10:39):
It was like eight to eighteen, and that's really when
I think this one was solidified despite everything that Kucky
had going for him. I mean, after theeless in Wisconsin,
so much of a talking around that game.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Was the fact that how did Kentucky win? How did
they beat this Badger's team?
Speaker 4 (10:54):
Because you look at the box score and it sure
looked like Wisconsin had come away with the win. They
had the advantage in almost single stat when you look
at the Kentucky Texas A and M box score, and
it's almost the complete opposite it was. I don't want
to take anything away from Texas A and M. This
is a great team, a great run to win this title.
They had one of the hardest pats and they beat Louisville,
Wisconsin or excuse me, Louisville, Nebraska Pits, and Kentucky. They
(11:17):
swept the final four. That's an amazing team. But if
you look at what they did just last night, it's
not an incredible box score. Kentucky actually had more kills,
they had a very average hitting percentage, so it wasn't
anything just remarkable that's going to jump out off the
page at you. But their service pressure kept Kentucky uncomfortable
all night, and in talking with the Wildcats post games,
(11:37):
that was really the standout point to me was just
they never found their rhythm and even once they got down,
they weren't able to come back enough to have enough
time to get it going again.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
As the reporter, you have a job to do when
you're there, but it's it's not a lot of fun
when the team you're covering has gets right there to
the Yeah, the one step away from what they've been
pursuing since, you know, the well before the season started,
and they're always just devastated.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
Yes, absolutely, And you know, I think especially every year,
like fans of this team, this program are so used
to us having to do that in the NCAA Men's
Basketball Tournament, and there's always a lot of conversations about
the pictures of them crying in the locker rooms and
it's devastating.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
It's hard for anybody, and it's.
Speaker 4 (12:28):
No different no matter what the sport is to your point,
So yes, it was a crushed locker room. In that fact,
they have about a ten minute cooling off period before
we go in, you know, for good or for bad,
we have to do it.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
I think the fans deserve to hear from the players.
Speaker 4 (12:41):
I think the players have They have a lot to
be proud of of that exactly.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
It's part of the job.
Speaker 4 (12:47):
And I think for me, even in that moment, yes,
they were heartbroken, but you could still feel the pride
in this team, especially when I asked almost everybody about
Eva Hudson and what she's just meant to them and
of course everyone's so emotional with her being the only
senior on the team, but really such a force for
this Wildcat group all season long.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
But she has completely changed this group.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
Everybody on this team was elevated this year by playing
with Eva Hudson, not just because of how good she
is at volleyball, but because of her personality and what
she brought to the locker room. And I think that's
what they're going to miss as much as anything.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
I would think if Kentucky brings everybody else back other
than Eva, they'd be one of the favorites to be,
you know, back in this spot again in a final
four with who they have coming back. But still it's
only one player. But it's not just only one player.
Speaker 4 (13:38):
It's not just only one player. I completely agree, especially
like if you're kind of new to volleyball, like Eva
Hudson plays all six rotations, so that's a massive part
of your entire rotation. She played all three spots in
the back row as well, she served, so obviously we
talk about the Kills a lot, but she was a
great all around player for them this year.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
ESPN did already put out a way too early.
Speaker 4 (14:00):
I don't know if the top ten or top twenty
five for next year, and they did have UK in
the top ten again again. Like you said, Eva's the
only one they're officially losing as of right now, so
you lose one. But Craig Skinner does have a signing
class A five freshmen coming in. So I think I've
seen a lot of kind of chatter about the portal already,
and I don't know how much Ruler're going to have
(14:20):
to add anything via the portal unless they lose a
couple of pieces, which I haven't heard.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
To this point.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Maggie, thank you so much for jumping on with us
on your drive back, and we will see you on
BBN tonight.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Thanks Tom, appreciate you so much.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
And it's Maggie Davis does a fantastic job covering the Cats,
but there's been the exceptional this season with the volleyball
covers because she's done some play by play as well.
So Maggie Davis joining us here on the Leach Report,
coming to you courtesy each day of Bobcat Enterprises. We'll
be right back with Ben Roberts from the here.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
I was even a little bit good to be able
to play. I was gonna give it a go I
told these guys at halftime, so Y'a'm gonna go out there.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
I'm gonna live with it.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
So you know, like I said to everybody, like no
matter what day it is, every day I step on
the court, it's a risk, but I know what comes
with it, and my guys know what comes with it.
At the end of the day, Man, I'm a competitor
and I just want to go out there and play.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
A few years seventeen season, Kentucky's playing Tennessee. Stephen Johnson,
the quarterback built about like Jayalen Lowe, gets his shoulder injured,
goes to the locker room, you think he's done, and
then he runs back out onto the field and there's
a roar that goes up, similar to when Jayalen Lowe
(15:40):
came back out in his uniform to warm up for
the second half on Saturday down in Atlanta and Stephen
Johnson dove into the end zone on that injured shoulder
for the winning touchdown in the game. And Jayalen Lowe
made a lot of winning plays for Kentucky. As we
welcome in Ben Roberts from The Harold Leader, Kentucky Sports
dot Com and one in particular, Ben that I'm thinking about, didn't.
(16:05):
Joe doesn't show up at a box score. But late in
that game, there's a long rebound and the ball is
coming out and guys are running to it from both sides,
and Jalen Lowe reaches into that pray with his right
hand and his right shoulder and knocks the ball over
(16:25):
to Cam Williams and a goose. And I talked about
it on the air. Again, didn't show up at a
box score. But if you have anything that's hurting you
on that team and that guy does that, and he's
already been out there with you, you can't not play hard, right.
Speaker 5 (16:44):
Yeah, I think that's right. I think that'll sto gives
you some Lamont Butler Tennessee flashbacks seeing something like that.
And I know when he barreled into the broadcast table
against Indiana, you know, thinking the same thing for that
that split second before he got up. But yeah, I
mean he I don't think anybody can question his toughness.
(17:06):
And I don't know I haven't watched the broadcast at halftime,
but I don't know what they showed on TV, but
he went through just an absolutely rigorous routine. You know,
toward the end of that halftime, before the second half started,
I mean they were tugging on that arm. They were
hooking him like he would hook on a on a
well an illegal hook on a rebound, and just really
(17:28):
jerking that shoulder. And then obviously he's he's coming off
the bench right now. So even while the second half
had started, he and Brandon Wells and I think it
was his father. I couldn't see his face because I
was behind him, but they had a conversation almost in
the stands. Jalen and be Wells were up against the
bleachers talking to him for about two minutes or so,
(17:52):
just kind of going over I guess what what would
happen next? And obviously he went out there and played
most of the second half and and was was clearly
a made your major factor in that victory.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
We will talk more about that when we come back.
Ben Roberts with us from the Lexington Herald Leader, Kentucky
sports dot Com. It's the Monday edition of the Leach Report.
It's the Leach Report, and we are chatting with Ben
Roberts from the Lexington Herald Leader Kentucky sports dot Com.
It's at Ben Roberts HL on X if you want
(18:22):
to follow, if you're not already doing that, we're talking
about Kentucky's seventy eight sixty six win over Indiana on
Saturday in Atlanta. Remember one of the losses earlier this season, Ben,
where after the game Mark Pope looked at the assist
turnover numbers and said, that's not Basically, we don't win
when the numbers look like that. On Saturday, they had
thirteen assists, sixteen turnovers. They were four sixteen threes. That's
(18:46):
not a typical line in that category for a Mark
Pope team in terms of either makes or attempts. And
yet they did win, and they won convincingly. And Ben,
I think back to Tuck to did an interview Cody Fieger.
I went back and found it this morning, and I'll
try to find the SoundBite and use it on the
air maybe tomorrow. But he talked about two areas where
(19:09):
they were they thought they were going to be much
improved this season with the team they put together, and
one of them was the I think it was either
two point field goal percentage by the opponent or just
overall defensive field goal percentage. Saint John shot thirty three
percent on Saturday. He said they're going to be a
much improved offensive rebounding team. They had sixteen on Saturday,
fourteen the game before in the win over Indiana. So
(19:32):
now that they've got all their pieces together, they're starting
to look like the team that they built.
Speaker 5 (19:37):
I guess right, yeah, I mean, I think you know,
you certainly understand all the doubters and the skeptics about
this season to this point. But you look at that
second half against Saint John's and you know, Jalen played
seven seconds one defensive possession in the first half. So
the second half against Saint John's is the first twenty
(19:58):
minutes of basketball that the team that that Pope and
these guys envision was out on the court, and that
looked like a pretty good basketball team to me. You know,
it wasn't. It still wasn't the most beautiful style, but
I don't think it's gonna be the most beautiful style
of this season if you can keep those guys healthy.
I mean, that's a team that that just that imposed
(20:20):
its will on a on a you know, still not
put together Saint John's team. They're trying to figure it
out too, with a lot of really great pieces, but
really pushed around a tough group of players. You know what,
you know what Jaden Quainton's did. I'm I'm still trying
to wrap my mind around, especially that second half. You
(20:41):
don't expect, even in knowing as talented and as strong
as he is, you don't expect a guy to come
out and look like that against a really good team.
And he did, and and you know, he and Load
together just kind of changed the entire dynamic of that game.
And it allows when you have those two guys out
on the court, it allows everybody else on that team
to play the role that you know, you think they
(21:04):
should play that they were put on this team to play.
It opens up the court for Oway and Cam Williams more,
it takes a little weight off the shoulders of Modia bat.
You know, I think that that Diabate Quaintin's tandem going
forward could be amazing. He played a lot of two
big sets really throughout the entire game, throwing, throwing, beg
(21:25):
and moreno in there, h It's just you get it
when you see that second half at Saint John's. Now,
the flip side of that is Jaln Lowe. You know,
that shoulder, as we saw in the first half, that's
going to be a precarious situation, I think for the
next three months, and I think fans are going to
be holding their breath whenever he hits the floor takes
a knock, which is going to be several times a
(21:45):
night the way he plays.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Goose on our broadcast talked about this because and everybody's
injuries different. Goose stressed that, but he just talked about
what he went through and this was in seventy eight
and he had a shoulder injury. He don't know if
it you know how similar, but had a shoulder injury.
His shoulder would you know, quote unquote pop out after
it was first injured during that season, and he dealt
(22:10):
with it all through the season to the point it
popped out in a practice the day before the National
Championship game in Saint Louis in seventy eight, and he
scored forty one the next night. So he talked about,
you know, it's it's it can be really painful and
they can give you, you know, something for the pain,
but there's gonna be some level of pain you probably
(22:30):
have to play through. Uh, he said, it can go numb,
you know, for a while, but it comes back. And
if you can get comfortable with that, it's through an
odd feeling and you manage some of the pain that
you can you know, play through it. Uh and uh
and and be effective as we're seeing with with Jalen
(22:52):
this season and he uh it just makes such a difference.
And you know, you talked about Saint John's having their struggle.
Theirs are primarily from the point guard position too, or
lack thereof. And there you know, there was really only
one true point guard out there and he was out
there for about fifteen minutes on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (23:13):
Yeah, I mean Rick even said after the game, you know,
we we don't have a point guard and that's gonna
be our problem all season long and it's not gonna
fix itself. A lot of other really great players and
and you know it could be a really good team,
but but they don't have a point guard. And that
he's you know, he said that was their fault by
not getting one out of the portal and missing.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
On some guys.
Speaker 5 (23:32):
But Kentucky does have a point guard. They just need
to figure out a way to keep him on the court.
And yeah, I mean there's just nobody else on this
team that can penetrate the way he can, that can
get him out and transition the way he can. He
just he just completely changes the you know, the dynamic
of the entire game. And I go back to that
play against Indiana that ended up being modiabat putting them
(23:55):
ahead for good. You know, Jalen Low misses a bunny
of a layup on that play, but it doesn't it
doesn't happen if anybody else gets the ball where Jalen
got it, because he you know, there was nobody behind
him when uh VG got that uh got that loose
ball and handed it to him, and Jalen just took off,
sliced his way through the entire defense, turned what wasn't
(24:18):
really a transition opportunity into a transition opportunity. And when
he missed that lay up, you know, Deobante had to
make a terrific play to out rebound everybody on the
Indiana team to get the ball. But he was able
to do that in part because everybody nobody was set
uh because Jaln just just made made a play out
of nowhere and that was the go ahead bucket and
(24:41):
they won the game and that's what he can do,
and nobody else on his team could do that.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
Let me give you a couple of football analogies and
see if they work for you. For Jalen Low, guarding
him is like trying to tackle Barry Sanders. The way
he moved back and forth and in and out and
slow and fast.
Speaker 5 (24:58):
That Yeah, before he even said the name, I knew
who you were going to go with there, because he
is he just he just can change directions so quickly,
and he can keep his speed with the ball, which
is amazing to be able to do that. And it
seems like he either he knows where he's gonna go
or he doesn't, and he's able to just use his
instincts to uh to figure it out in the moment,
(25:18):
which you know, and that's something I know pooping those
guys saw when they were looking to tape him and
wanted to bring him out of this team. And you know,
he's not Lamar Butler, he's not Dollan Hall. He's a
he's a different kind of point guard than they've had,
but man, he can be effective if if he can
stay on the court.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
The other football analogy is if you're the opposing five
man and Kentucky has Jaden Quaint's on the floor. You
feel like a left tackle. When Josh Allen was playing
football at Kentucky.
Speaker 5 (25:46):
Yeah, my favorite UK football player to ever watch. I
just trained it on him every possession because he would
throw guys aside. And that's a good one too, because
watching I was I was, I couldn't take my eyes
off JQ in the second half, especially Saturday, and what
he was doing to Zubie off the ball. And we're
talking about a two hundred and forty five pound dude
who's known for his toughness. I mean literally just throwing
(26:08):
him to the ground and they I mean they were battling.
I thought we were going to get some double foul calls.
They were going at it and he seemed like he
won every battle. And you know, this is an eighteen
year old guy who hadn't played a game in ten months,
so he's doing that against you know, a guy who
has the reputation to be one of the one of
the toughest guys in the Big East. Yeah, well, what's
(26:30):
he going to do when he really gets his legs
underneath him.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
There was a play in that second half where Edgy
four had tried to post him, tried to drive on him,
and finally he was just moved out and faced up
at the high post and they were posting Hopkins. It's like, okay,
let's just let's let Edge four feed the ball in
to Hopkins and try to find that mismatch. And Quaintins
(26:55):
then breaks down and with that seven to four wingspan
Edgy four throws the ball out of bounds. But because
he couldn't get the angle to get it to Hopkins.
Speaker 5 (27:03):
Yeah, I mean, and you could tell it frustrated him
so much, Oh my lord. Yeah, And obviously it ended
with the technical foul with Diabase. Now, I don't think
Pope wanted wanted motive to score that last bucket with
three seconds last, But I don't I don't think Zubi
gets the technical or gets in his face and starts
jawing unless he was just absolutely frustrated for the previous
(27:25):
twenty minutes with Kayden Quainton's You know, there was that
other one where I mean they were just bouncing off
of each other in the paint and Zubi gets the
ball and tries to back him down, back him down.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
Back them down.
Speaker 5 (27:35):
Doesn't really take him anywhere turns around for a little
jumper and Jayden just goes straight up with that wingspan
and just blocks it and corrals it and goes the
other way. I mean, if he can do that on
a nightly basis, then this the whole everything about this
team changes and it just allows other people to do
what they need to do. And it was really, it
(27:57):
was really a revelation for this team seeing him out there.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
Last thing we think back, I think back to a
phrase we used as kids. If you're a Kentucky player,
you look at those four losses and you think, could
we get a do over?
Speaker 7 (28:11):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (28:12):
And well that's the other thing is you know, you
never you lose by a thirty five to Gonzaga. Okay,
no player is gonna make up thirty five points, but
you have Jayden Quaint. So let's says he's a starter
at that point. He's he's got his legs underneath him.
He's playing twenty five plus minutes a game, and he's
out there on the court for that first you know,
(28:33):
a few minutes when when Huff and e k and
and everybody, we're you know, really getting in motion for
that Gonzaga offense. I mean, that can totally change the
tone of entire games. Yeah, they probably be North Carolina
if they have him or Mo. Louisville looks a lot
more competitive. So yeah, I mean it's you know, they
(28:54):
they might play the toughest game in the SEC the
first one bag, which is gonna be at Alabama. They're
not gonna get much tougher than that the rest of
the way. But you know there, if those guys are healthy,
they're they're absolutely in every ball game, and they're a
much much better team than they are if those two
aren't on the court.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
We'll be talking about that a lot over the course
of the next few months. Ben, Thank you much, Mary Christmas,
then Ben Roberts, lexingtont Herald Leader, Kentucky Sports dot Com.
Here on the Leach Report presented by Bobcat Enterprises, and
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(29:55):
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(30:19):
And let's hear from Jaden Quaintance. Rick, I forgot to
tell you to play that as we came back in,
so hit that forest down Quaintance one on his postgame comments,
it's not firing. We'll get back to it here in
just a second. We'll hear from JQ. Darryl. He was amazing.
(30:42):
We're just talking about with Ben Roberts, and you know,
nobody really quite knew what to expect. Number one for sure,
if he was going to play you know, the reports
came out on Friday that he was going to but
I know from talking to Mark, if if Jaden had
woken up Saturday and not it had any kind of
twins at all in that the they wouldn't have played him.
But he felt fine, and obviously he looked really fine.
Speaker 8 (31:06):
I was stunned, I guess I was. I joined everybody else.
I just I couldn't believe what I was seeing, and
not so much that, Okay, he could make a nice
little play here and there, but he hasn't played a
game since February. He's not in basketball shape. He's not
gonna be able to run up and down the floor
and do this for any length of period at all
before he has to come back out. And it's a
(31:29):
little bit of that in the first half, but the
second half and he just locked in and played and
played and played, And I really, I just I was
stunned that he was able to go for that long
and perform at that level that he did. I guess
the probably one of the more physical teams he's gonna
have to face all year.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
Here's the SoundBite from after the game with AQ.
Speaker 7 (31:48):
I've been a competitor in my whole life. I was
always raised just compete, and that's always what I wanted
to do, So it always kind of sucked having to
watch my team go and compete without me, and I'll
be able to help just kind of be a voice
on the sidelines. So I continue to trust my guy
and I feel like that trust in that I've built
just being here on the bench trying to support that
way showed on the court, and it kind of translated
over all. My guys trusted me and we just were
(32:09):
able to show out at the Highes at a high
level of to night. So I feel like it's been
too It's been good.
Speaker 1 (32:15):
Jake and Quayton's after the game, and Daryl, you've been
around this like I haven't another's for a long time. Yeah.
I don't think Kentucky fans biggrudge guys getting paid now.
They deserve to share in the wealth of the sport.
I think what offends them is when they don't see
them see a team or in some moment playing like
(32:38):
they played against Gonzaga and you know they may have
been a hangover from North Carolina. You know, it has
nothing to do as we're seeing now. It has nothing
to do with with who they are. But it was
a really bad night down there in Nashville, and they
heard about it from their fans, and like I said
on the air the next game, it was like the
(32:59):
fans and the team had a fight that night. And
I think they've worked through it now, they've worked through
their troubles and they're all back on the same page
because of you know, the what they're seeing from their
guys right now. And you know, quaintans could have you know,
some people didn't think he'd ever played this season, but
clearly he wanted to play.
Speaker 8 (33:18):
Yeah, it was you know, you're right and on all
of those points I was. I was in Nashville and
they started showing their displeasure in the first half. It
didn't it didn't think along and you're probably right. It's
probably the best way to put it that. I've had
a lot of UK fans who weren't there, who are
you know, old school fans that they're like, ah, so
you do not boo your team, don't you dare think?
(33:40):
I said, well, it's a it's a different world. They're
getting paid now. That that opens up a lot and
we will never know, unfortunately, how much of that booing
raining down that day was because of the sports gambling
and I'm getting crushed. I'm losing money on this. Not
only are you making billions, I'm losing money. So now
I'm really mad. That's a part of it, you know, there's Yeah,
(34:03):
it is. It's part of it. That's going to be
really interesting to see how they go forward from here.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
You're right, Let's talk about the post you have at
catspaus dot com where you are drawing comparisons to the
twenty fourteen team that came out of a deep hole
and made it all the way to the championship game.
Speaker 8 (34:20):
Yeah, it was really weird because I've someone asked me
at one point, I said, are the Cats that ever
going to turn it around? I said, well, you better
hope for a twenty fourteen magical run. And it's just
kind of off the cuff, and I started thinking about it,
and I started digging into it, so I still got
all those stories I wrote from back then, and I
was just kind of floored how similar, I mean, that
(34:40):
team was. He was trying cal Perry was trying to
blend a starting lineup that had four freshmen and a sophomore,
and Mark's trying to blend the lineup that has some mixture,
but he's also got the injuries that are making it
impossible to get any kind of chemistry going. And the
twenty fourteen team lost its first three ranked games, Michigan
(35:03):
State being Michigan State North Carolina. Michigan State was the first.
And this team lost its first four rank games. Michigan
State was the first, and Cal Perry. I found comments
where Cal said, you know, I tried to coach them,
let them, let them be their personality, let them be
who they wanted to be, and I wasn't getting the effort,
so I had to get mean. And I thought that
(35:23):
just jumped out of me because I'm like, you know,
all of last year and Mark Pope was all about
positive reinforcement, we only do positive reinforcement, and he got
mean this year and just trying. He said, we're not
taking this anymore, and just the Similars just kept going
and going. And I had forgotten the twenty fourteen team
once they got into postseason. That Andrew Harrison, a point guard,
(35:45):
of course, hurt his elbow in the first game against
Kansas State. It was kind of deemed the rest of
the term. And then Willie coley Stein broke his foot
and the couple games later he was out, so they
really scrambling it just the more the similarities just kept
popping up, like this is pretty cool how these two
match up.
Speaker 1 (36:03):
You can read that at catspause dot com. Unfortunate, Daryl,
we're in a short on time, so we'll sh you
go and we'll direct fans to go read that and
see the full analysis of that comparison as we'll look
for just similarities to pass Kentucky teams as this one
tries to find its identity. Darryl, thank you much, and
(36:24):
Merry Christmas. All right, man, you too, Darryl, Bert katzpause
dot com. We'll be right back on the Leach Report
Radio Network presented by Bobcat Enterprises. Looking for a last
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(37:07):
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can find out about it at CORNBREADTHEMP dot com. There
are reports that Kentucky's found It's cornerbacks coach Alan Brown,
who was at Cal in that role last season. He
(37:29):
reportedly worked one season at the Jay Bateman and New
DC when they were at Florida together. Nineteen seventy nine
on this day was the final of the Ukit and
Rupp Arena. Kentucky beat Purdue, a team that would make
it to the Final Four later that season, coached by
Lee Rose. Sixty one sixty was the final. Kyle Macy
(37:49):
Freddy Cowen had eighteen apiece Joe Barry Carroll had twenty
five for the Boilermakers. Wildcat History notes presented by Kentucky
Roadshow Sports Cards at Memorabilia and at roadshowcards dot com.
A Happy Birthday to a great Kentucky running back, George
Adams have a great day. Everybody will talk to you
tomorrow for game day for Kentucky and Bellarman
Good day, everybody. Welcome into the Leach Report for Christmas Week.
We are presented each day by Bobcat Enterprises. This week
we will be live with you today, Tomorrow and Friday.
Wednesday and Thursday will be best of shows. The Wednesday
(00:23):
show on Christmas Eve. This has become something we've made
into a tradition. I think it's I think it's the
second half of the show. Several years back, I did
an interview with Coach Hall. We had it was the
Coaches Show with cal was going to air on Christmas
Eve the way the calendar fell, and so we were
(00:45):
looking to pre record the show, and so I went
out and did about a half hour interview with Coach
Hall about the only game Kentucky ever played on Christmas Eve.
And there's some great stories around that game that Kentucky
won at the Buzzer at Illinois on Christmas Eve of
nineteen eighty three, and Joe told them with great flair
(01:07):
as he always did, and so we always replay that
on Christmas Eve and tell some of those stories, and
so we will do that on Wednesday. Coming up today,
We're going to catch up to Maggie Davis on her
drive home from Kansas City. She'll be reporting on BBN
tonight about her work out there covering Kentucky volleyball, which
(01:29):
came up one win short its quest for a second
national championship. We'll talk with Maggie about that. Ben Roberts
from the Herald Leader, Darryl Byrd from The Cat's Pause,
and we will get deep into that Kentucky win over
Saint John's at the CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta on Saturday,
Wildcat News of the Day, presented by just Sepis of Lexington.
(01:51):
It was a sweep for Texas A and M three
to zero over Kentucky yesterday. Kentucky jumped out to a
big lead early in the first set. You think that,
and then Texas A and M slowly started to chip away,
and still Kentucky did have it to set point and
couldn't close the door. An A and M rally to
win twenty six twenty four, and they you could just see.
(02:15):
I mean, I'm not going to try to break down
the x's and oh's of volleyball. I just got into
following this group just strictly as a as a fan,
so they I'll leave that to others. But Maggie can
maybe tell us a little bit about how Texas A
and M did that, But you could just see, as
a sports fan of any sport, you could see the
momentum turning to Texas A and M and just the
(02:37):
confidence starting to grow for their players. They had been
down two sets to none in the sweet sixteen to
Louisville and came back and got the reverse sweep and
then follow that up by beating three straight one seeds.
It's reminiscent of what Arizona did in the men's basketball
Tournament in ninety seven. I think they upset Kansas in
(02:58):
the sweet sixteen and then rolled three straight or maybe
it was in the Elite eight where they got Kansas. Anyway,
they rolled three straight one seeds to win the national championship,
in the last one being Kentucky. So it was an
impressive run for A and M and a tremendous season
that came up one win short of the goal for Kentucky.
(03:21):
So certainly congratulations to coach Skinner and his squad on
their season thirty and three and gave Kentucky fans some
amazing moments. People calling in the radio shows talking volleyball.
We were at a Christmas party yesterday. People were talking
volleyball had to get out of there and get home
to see the match. So I'm sure Kentucky volleyball picked
(03:46):
up some new fans on this run that will carry
over into next season. And if they don't get hurt
in the transfer portal. The only player there slated to
lose is Eva Hudson. Now that's quite a loss, but
if everybody comes back, they could be quite formidable again
next season. Men's basketball was quite formidable on Saturday afternoon
(04:06):
in Atlanta, coming from ten down in the first half.
They were seven down at the half, still seven town
with about fourteen to play, and then it seemed like
Saint John's didn't make a basket for about an hour,
and Kentucky rolls the Red Storm seventy eight to sixty six,
and the big storylines were Jalen Lowe and Jaden Quaintans.
(04:29):
J Lo coming back from an early reaggravation of that
right shoulder injury to lead Kentucky in the second half.
Scored all thirteen of his points in the second half,
second straight game with no turnovers, three assists in his
I think about fifteen minutes of action and just a
tremendously gutty performance because one would think he was sort
(04:52):
of playing through some level of pain. Jaden Quaintan's made
his debut, and quite a debut. It was ten points,
eight boards, two blocks. They talk in football about affecting
the quarterback. Even if you don't get a sack, you
affect the quarterback, and Jaden Quainton's affected Zubiegia for the
five man for Saint John's in a lot of different ways.
(05:15):
We'll get into that with Ben Roberts what he joins
us here in just a bit. Otega Oway led the
scoring with twenty and five boards and three steals as well,
and some impressive numbers for Kentucky and some impressive numbers
to have overcome in terms of negative numbers for Kentucky
that they overcame with the way that they played. Let's
(05:37):
listen to Mark Pope talking about the impact of Jalen Lowe.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
You saw the impact that he can have on our team.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
I mean you saw one half without without j Loo,
and he saw one half with j Loo. I'm voting
for the half with j Loo actually because he just
changed everything we do.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
So we're gonna proceed with caution.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
He's gonna he's gonna fight through this deal and and
he's gonna be great.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
He's been great certainly the last two games for Kentucky.
It's just everybody can see it at a night and
day difference with a true point guard out there for
the Wildcats, and that's the hope for their offense starting
to click if he can stay on the court. As
for low Well, he talked about his decision to return
after the game, and he also talked about playing in
(06:20):
front of all of those Kentucky fans who were in
the building and making so much noise.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Did definitely look like Catlan out there. They felt like
a home game, and that just goes to show how
great of a fan base we have and the support
that we have no matter what we're going through.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
You know, it's amazing to see.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
And I've never been around anything like this, and I'm
gonna try and soak it up as much as i
can because I know that at no matter what level,
I don't think anything has ever gone touch this.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
You get that, right, That's Jalen Lowe. After the game.
We'll get into more of that in a little bit later,
but when we come back, Maggie Davis will join us
and we'll recap an amazing run for the Kentucky volleyball team.
And we'll do that when we return. It's the Leech Report,
our opening segments presented by Giuseppes of Lexington, and they
have their very own bullet barrel pick that you can
(07:09):
buy and take home, and they're working on the new
Russell Reserve barrel pick. And if you need a gift
card for a last second gift, you can get them
via email or you can pick them up at the
restaurant this week. Giuseppes Lexington dot com to get details.
We'll be right back with Maggie Davis. It is the
Leech Report. We are coming to here from the Clark's
Pumpin' Shop studio, Return, Refresh and refuel at Clark's as
(07:35):
we welcome in Maggie Davis from BBN tonight and l
e X eighteen, making her way back from Kansas City
where she's been covering Kentucky volleyball. Maggie, as you were
sitting in the arena there in case watching this Kentucky
gets off to a great start. When did you first
start to think, uh oh, this could be a bit
of a problem.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
Yes, good morning, down from somewhere in Missouri. Sorry it
sounds like a highway. We are just on the road
home after along couple of days in Kansas City. Thankfully
our photographer Nick Lazarov is driving, so don't worry about that.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Made the trip many times my daughter that I could
do this. My daughter went to school at the University
of Denver, so I've been on I seventy slash A
sixty four many times. So it's pretty much you go
to sleep and just set the car on cruise. It's
straight though.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
Well, I'll let me tell you this first in terms
of when I figured out the first set was going
Texas A and M's direction. The Aggies went on a
four nothing run thereabout just past the midway point in
the first and to your point, UK Yes, had built
up a precize lead early on, at one point as
much as five points, but the way A and M
(08:42):
was playing, really it wasn't just a difference in the
points they were putting on the board. Kentucky had come
out looking like the composed team and Ann were playing
a little bit on their heels, trying to catch their
breath there for the first ten to fifteen points or
so of the game. However, once they went on that run,
you saw the confidence com flipped, the momentum switch sides
that it truly never switched back. It was a four
(09:04):
to nothing run, and then it really was back and
forth from there, except when you look at the final
twenty points of the first set, Texas A and M
won fourteen of them, and that was really the big
difference in the game. The second set. You know, we've
seen Kentucky drop the first a couple of times this season,
most recently just in their most recent game against Wisconsin
at that point, so you didn't.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Feel like hope was lost even though they really did
give that first set away.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
But in the second set, I remember sitting there thinking, Man,
I haven't seen them look like this all season.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
What's the difference? And I thought that.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
I hadn't seen them look like that because I had not.
They had not hit in the negatives as a team
for the entirety of a set a single time all
season long, and they did in the second frame, and
ultimately it was just too big of a hole to
dig themselves out of.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Tom yep, I mean, you see it in a lot
of sports that you cover the power of momentum, and
it is it is a force and you can't hold
it or point to it, but you could certainly feel it.
Speaker 4 (10:05):
You can, and I think volleyball is a great example
of that. I think that's why so many fans have
been drawn to this team and this sport, especially this
year with Kentucky on such a great run, is you
pick up on it really quickly as a viewer, whether
you're a person or watching on TV. There is this
real palpable momentum, and it makes it fun because you
don't normally feel like you're out of it unless you
(10:26):
feel like that margin becomes too much to overcome, which
in my head is normally around the ten point mark,
and Kentucky unfortunately hit that in the second set.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Twenty five fifteen was the final, but it.
Speaker 5 (10:38):
Really on in that one.
Speaker 6 (10:39):
It was like eight to eighteen, and that's really when
I think this one was solidified despite everything that Kucky
had going for him. I mean, after theeless in Wisconsin,
so much of a talking around that game.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Was the fact that how did Kentucky win? How did
they beat this Badger's team?
Speaker 4 (10:54):
Because you look at the box score and it sure
looked like Wisconsin had come away with the win. They
had the advantage in almost single stat when you look
at the Kentucky Texas A and M box score, and
it's almost the complete opposite it was. I don't want
to take anything away from Texas A and M. This
is a great team, a great run to win this title.
They had one of the hardest pats and they beat Louisville,
Wisconsin or excuse me, Louisville, Nebraska Pits, and Kentucky. They
(11:17):
swept the final four. That's an amazing team. But if
you look at what they did just last night, it's
not an incredible box score. Kentucky actually had more kills,
they had a very average hitting percentage, so it wasn't
anything just remarkable that's going to jump out off the
page at you. But their service pressure kept Kentucky uncomfortable
all night, and in talking with the Wildcats post games,
(11:37):
that was really the standout point to me was just
they never found their rhythm and even once they got down,
they weren't able to come back enough to have enough
time to get it going again.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
As the reporter, you have a job to do when
you're there, but it's it's not a lot of fun
when the team you're covering has gets right there to
the Yeah, the one step away from what they've been
pursuing since, you know, the well before the season started,
and they're always just devastated.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
Yes, absolutely, And you know, I think especially every year,
like fans of this team, this program are so used
to us having to do that in the NCAA Men's
Basketball Tournament, and there's always a lot of conversations about
the pictures of them crying in the locker rooms and
it's devastating.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
It's hard for anybody, and it's.
Speaker 4 (12:28):
No different no matter what the sport is to your point,
So yes, it was a crushed locker room. In that fact,
they have about a ten minute cooling off period before
we go in, you know, for good or for bad,
we have to do it.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
I think the fans deserve to hear from the players.
Speaker 4 (12:41):
I think the players have They have a lot to
be proud of of that exactly.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
It's part of the job.
Speaker 4 (12:47):
And I think for me, even in that moment, yes,
they were heartbroken, but you could still feel the pride
in this team, especially when I asked almost everybody about
Eva Hudson and what she's just meant to them and
of course everyone's so emotional with her being the only
senior on the team, but really such a force for
this Wildcat group all season long.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
But she has completely changed this group.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
Everybody on this team was elevated this year by playing
with Eva Hudson, not just because of how good she
is at volleyball, but because of her personality and what
she brought to the locker room. And I think that's
what they're going to miss as much as anything.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
I would think if Kentucky brings everybody else back other
than Eva, they'd be one of the favorites to be,
you know, back in this spot again in a final
four with who they have coming back. But still it's
only one player. But it's not just only one player.
Speaker 4 (13:38):
It's not just only one player. I completely agree, especially
like if you're kind of new to volleyball, like Eva
Hudson plays all six rotations, so that's a massive part
of your entire rotation. She played all three spots in
the back row as well, she served, so obviously we
talk about the Kills a lot, but she was a
great all around player for them this year.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
ESPN did already put out a way too early.
Speaker 4 (14:00):
I don't know if the top ten or top twenty
five for next year, and they did have UK in
the top ten again again. Like you said, Eva's the
only one they're officially losing as of right now, so
you lose one. But Craig Skinner does have a signing
class A five freshmen coming in. So I think I've
seen a lot of kind of chatter about the portal already,
and I don't know how much Ruler're going to have
(14:20):
to add anything via the portal unless they lose a
couple of pieces, which I haven't heard.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
To this point.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Maggie, thank you so much for jumping on with us
on your drive back, and we will see you on
BBN tonight.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Thanks Tom, appreciate you so much.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
And it's Maggie Davis does a fantastic job covering the Cats,
but there's been the exceptional this season with the volleyball
covers because she's done some play by play as well.
So Maggie Davis joining us here on the Leach Report,
coming to you courtesy each day of Bobcat Enterprises. We'll
be right back with Ben Roberts from the here.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
I was even a little bit good to be able
to play. I was gonna give it a go I
told these guys at halftime, so Y'a'm gonna go out there.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
I'm gonna live with it.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
So you know, like I said to everybody, like no
matter what day it is, every day I step on
the court, it's a risk, but I know what comes
with it, and my guys know what comes with it.
At the end of the day, Man, I'm a competitor
and I just want to go out there and play.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
A few years seventeen season, Kentucky's playing Tennessee. Stephen Johnson,
the quarterback built about like Jayalen Lowe, gets his shoulder injured,
goes to the locker room, you think he's done, and
then he runs back out onto the field and there's
a roar that goes up, similar to when Jayalen Lowe
(15:40):
came back out in his uniform to warm up for
the second half on Saturday down in Atlanta and Stephen
Johnson dove into the end zone on that injured shoulder
for the winning touchdown in the game. And Jayalen Lowe
made a lot of winning plays for Kentucky. As we
welcome in Ben Roberts from The Harold Leader, Kentucky Sports
dot Com and one in particular, Ben that I'm thinking about, didn't.
(16:05):
Joe doesn't show up at a box score. But late in
that game, there's a long rebound and the ball is
coming out and guys are running to it from both sides,
and Jalen Lowe reaches into that pray with his right
hand and his right shoulder and knocks the ball over
(16:25):
to Cam Williams and a goose. And I talked about
it on the air. Again, didn't show up at a
box score. But if you have anything that's hurting you
on that team and that guy does that, and he's
already been out there with you, you can't not play hard, right.
Speaker 5 (16:44):
Yeah, I think that's right. I think that'll sto gives
you some Lamont Butler Tennessee flashbacks seeing something like that.
And I know when he barreled into the broadcast table
against Indiana, you know, thinking the same thing for that
that split second before he got up. But yeah, I
mean he I don't think anybody can question his toughness.
(17:06):
And I don't know I haven't watched the broadcast at halftime,
but I don't know what they showed on TV, but
he went through just an absolutely rigorous routine. You know,
toward the end of that halftime, before the second half started,
I mean they were tugging on that arm. They were
hooking him like he would hook on a on a
well an illegal hook on a rebound, and just really
(17:28):
jerking that shoulder. And then obviously he's he's coming off
the bench right now. So even while the second half
had started, he and Brandon Wells and I think it
was his father. I couldn't see his face because I
was behind him, but they had a conversation almost in
the stands. Jalen and be Wells were up against the
bleachers talking to him for about two minutes or so,
(17:52):
just kind of going over I guess what what would
happen next? And obviously he went out there and played
most of the second half and and was was clearly
a made your major factor in that victory.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
We will talk more about that when we come back.
Ben Roberts with us from the Lexington Herald Leader, Kentucky
sports dot Com. It's the Monday edition of the Leach Report.
It's the Leach Report, and we are chatting with Ben
Roberts from the Lexington Herald Leader Kentucky sports dot Com.
It's at Ben Roberts HL on X if you want
(18:22):
to follow, if you're not already doing that, we're talking
about Kentucky's seventy eight sixty six win over Indiana on
Saturday in Atlanta. Remember one of the losses earlier this season, Ben,
where after the game Mark Pope looked at the assist
turnover numbers and said, that's not Basically, we don't win
when the numbers look like that. On Saturday, they had
thirteen assists, sixteen turnovers. They were four sixteen threes. That's
(18:46):
not a typical line in that category for a Mark
Pope team in terms of either makes or attempts. And
yet they did win, and they won convincingly. And Ben,
I think back to Tuck to did an interview Cody Fieger.
I went back and found it this morning, and I'll
try to find the SoundBite and use it on the
air maybe tomorrow. But he talked about two areas where
(19:09):
they were they thought they were going to be much
improved this season with the team they put together, and
one of them was the I think it was either
two point field goal percentage by the opponent or just
overall defensive field goal percentage. Saint John shot thirty three
percent on Saturday. He said they're going to be a
much improved offensive rebounding team. They had sixteen on Saturday,
fourteen the game before in the win over Indiana. So
(19:32):
now that they've got all their pieces together, they're starting
to look like the team that they built.
Speaker 5 (19:37):
I guess right, yeah, I mean, I think you know,
you certainly understand all the doubters and the skeptics about
this season to this point. But you look at that
second half against Saint John's and you know, Jalen played
seven seconds one defensive possession in the first half. So
the second half against Saint John's is the first twenty
(19:58):
minutes of basketball that the team that that Pope and
these guys envision was out on the court, and that
looked like a pretty good basketball team to me. You know,
it wasn't. It still wasn't the most beautiful style, but
I don't think it's gonna be the most beautiful style
of this season if you can keep those guys healthy.
I mean, that's a team that that just that imposed
(20:20):
its will on a on a you know, still not
put together Saint John's team. They're trying to figure it
out too, with a lot of really great pieces, but
really pushed around a tough group of players. You know what,
you know what Jaden Quainton's did. I'm I'm still trying
to wrap my mind around, especially that second half. You
(20:41):
don't expect, even in knowing as talented and as strong
as he is, you don't expect a guy to come
out and look like that against a really good team.
And he did, and and you know, he and Load
together just kind of changed the entire dynamic of that game.
And it allows when you have those two guys out
on the court, it allows everybody else on that team
to play the role that you know, you think they
(21:04):
should play that they were put on this team to play.
It opens up the court for Oway and Cam Williams more,
it takes a little weight off the shoulders of Modia bat.
You know, I think that that Diabate Quaintin's tandem going
forward could be amazing. He played a lot of two
big sets really throughout the entire game, throwing, throwing, beg
(21:25):
and moreno in there, h It's just you get it
when you see that second half at Saint John's. Now,
the flip side of that is Jaln Lowe. You know,
that shoulder, as we saw in the first half, that's
going to be a precarious situation, I think for the
next three months, and I think fans are going to
be holding their breath whenever he hits the floor takes
a knock, which is going to be several times a
(21:45):
night the way he plays.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Goose on our broadcast talked about this because and everybody's
injuries different. Goose stressed that, but he just talked about
what he went through and this was in seventy eight
and he had a shoulder injury. He don't know if
it you know how similar, but had a shoulder injury.
His shoulder would you know, quote unquote pop out after
it was first injured during that season, and he dealt
(22:10):
with it all through the season to the point it
popped out in a practice the day before the National
Championship game in Saint Louis in seventy eight, and he
scored forty one the next night. So he talked about,
you know, it's it's it can be really painful and
they can give you, you know, something for the pain,
but there's gonna be some level of pain you probably
(22:30):
have to play through. Uh, he said, it can go numb,
you know, for a while, but it comes back. And
if you can get comfortable with that, it's through an
odd feeling and you manage some of the pain that
you can you know, play through it. Uh and uh
and and be effective as we're seeing with with Jalen
(22:52):
this season and he uh it just makes such a difference.
And you know, you talked about Saint John's having their struggle.
Theirs are primarily from the point guard position too, or
lack thereof. And there you know, there was really only
one true point guard out there and he was out
there for about fifteen minutes on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (23:13):
Yeah, I mean Rick even said after the game, you know,
we we don't have a point guard and that's gonna
be our problem all season long and it's not gonna
fix itself. A lot of other really great players and
and you know it could be a really good team,
but but they don't have a point guard. And that
he's you know, he said that was their fault by
not getting one out of the portal and missing.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
On some guys.
Speaker 5 (23:32):
But Kentucky does have a point guard. They just need
to figure out a way to keep him on the court.
And yeah, I mean there's just nobody else on this
team that can penetrate the way he can, that can
get him out and transition the way he can. He
just he just completely changes the you know, the dynamic
of the entire game. And I go back to that
play against Indiana that ended up being modiabat putting them
(23:55):
ahead for good. You know, Jalen Low misses a bunny
of a layup on that play, but it doesn't it
doesn't happen if anybody else gets the ball where Jalen
got it, because he you know, there was nobody behind
him when uh VG got that uh got that loose
ball and handed it to him, and Jalen just took off,
sliced his way through the entire defense, turned what wasn't
(24:18):
really a transition opportunity into a transition opportunity. And when
he missed that lay up, you know, Deobante had to
make a terrific play to out rebound everybody on the
Indiana team to get the ball. But he was able
to do that in part because everybody nobody was set
uh because Jaln just just made made a play out
of nowhere and that was the go ahead bucket and
(24:41):
they won the game and that's what he can do,
and nobody else on his team could do that.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
Let me give you a couple of football analogies and
see if they work for you. For Jalen Low, guarding
him is like trying to tackle Barry Sanders. The way
he moved back and forth and in and out and
slow and fast.
Speaker 5 (24:58):
That Yeah, before he even said the name, I knew
who you were going to go with there, because he
is he just he just can change directions so quickly,
and he can keep his speed with the ball, which
is amazing to be able to do that. And it
seems like he either he knows where he's gonna go
or he doesn't, and he's able to just use his
instincts to uh to figure it out in the moment,
(25:18):
which you know, and that's something I know pooping those
guys saw when they were looking to tape him and
wanted to bring him out of this team. And you know,
he's not Lamar Butler, he's not Dollan Hall. He's a
he's a different kind of point guard than they've had,
but man, he can be effective if if he can
stay on the court.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
The other football analogy is if you're the opposing five
man and Kentucky has Jaden Quaint's on the floor. You
feel like a left tackle. When Josh Allen was playing
football at Kentucky.
Speaker 5 (25:46):
Yeah, my favorite UK football player to ever watch. I
just trained it on him every possession because he would
throw guys aside. And that's a good one too, because
watching I was I was, I couldn't take my eyes
off JQ in the second half, especially Saturday, and what
he was doing to Zubie off the ball. And we're
talking about a two hundred and forty five pound dude
who's known for his toughness. I mean literally just throwing
(26:08):
him to the ground and they I mean they were battling.
I thought we were going to get some double foul calls.
They were going at it and he seemed like he
won every battle. And you know, this is an eighteen
year old guy who hadn't played a game in ten months,
so he's doing that against you know, a guy who
has the reputation to be one of the one of
the toughest guys in the Big East. Yeah, well, what's
(26:30):
he going to do when he really gets his legs
underneath him.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
There was a play in that second half where Edgy
four had tried to post him, tried to drive on him,
and finally he was just moved out and faced up
at the high post and they were posting Hopkins. It's like, okay,
let's just let's let Edge four feed the ball in
to Hopkins and try to find that mismatch. And Quaintins
(26:55):
then breaks down and with that seven to four wingspan
Edgy four throws the ball out of bounds. But because
he couldn't get the angle to get it to Hopkins.
Speaker 5 (27:03):
Yeah, I mean, and you could tell it frustrated him
so much, Oh my lord. Yeah, And obviously it ended
with the technical foul with Diabase. Now, I don't think
Pope wanted wanted motive to score that last bucket with
three seconds last, But I don't I don't think Zubi
gets the technical or gets in his face and starts
jawing unless he was just absolutely frustrated for the previous
(27:25):
twenty minutes with Kayden Quainton's You know, there was that
other one where I mean they were just bouncing off
of each other in the paint and Zubi gets the
ball and tries to back him down, back him down.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
Back them down.
Speaker 5 (27:35):
Doesn't really take him anywhere turns around for a little
jumper and Jayden just goes straight up with that wingspan
and just blocks it and corrals it and goes the
other way. I mean, if he can do that on
a nightly basis, then this the whole everything about this
team changes and it just allows other people to do
what they need to do. And it was really, it
(27:57):
was really a revelation for this team seeing him out there.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
Last thing we think back, I think back to a
phrase we used as kids. If you're a Kentucky player,
you look at those four losses and you think, could
we get a do over?
Speaker 7 (28:11):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (28:12):
And well that's the other thing is you know, you
never you lose by a thirty five to Gonzaga. Okay,
no player is gonna make up thirty five points, but
you have Jayden Quaint. So let's says he's a starter
at that point. He's he's got his legs underneath him.
He's playing twenty five plus minutes a game, and he's
out there on the court for that first you know,
(28:33):
a few minutes when when Huff and e k and
and everybody, we're you know, really getting in motion for
that Gonzaga offense. I mean, that can totally change the
tone of entire games. Yeah, they probably be North Carolina
if they have him or Mo. Louisville looks a lot
more competitive. So yeah, I mean it's you know, they
(28:54):
they might play the toughest game in the SEC the
first one bag, which is gonna be at Alabama. They're
not gonna get much tougher than that the rest of
the way. But you know there, if those guys are healthy,
they're they're absolutely in every ball game, and they're a
much much better team than they are if those two
aren't on the court.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
We'll be talking about that a lot over the course
of the next few months. Ben, Thank you much, Mary Christmas,
then Ben Roberts, lexingtont Herald Leader, Kentucky Sports dot Com.
Here on the Leach Report presented by Bobcat Enterprises, and
they are our presenting sponsor, and they need to be
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(29:33):
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up some coffee. We want you to make a shuffle
(29:55):
Being coffee. There the official coffee of the Leach Report,
and you could pick some up today at a Meyers
store in central Kentucky. You can order it through Amazon,
you can get it through the company's website Shufflebean dot
Us Kentucky based company and founded by Kentuckians, and they
have a commitment to excellence that is unrivaled. So check
out Shuffleban Coffee. Darryl Bird joins us from katspause dot com.
(30:19):
And let's hear from Jaden Quaintance. Rick, I forgot to
tell you to play that as we came back in,
so hit that forest down Quaintance one on his postgame comments,
it's not firing. We'll get back to it here in
just a second. We'll hear from JQ. Darryl. He was amazing.
(30:42):
We're just talking about with Ben Roberts, and you know,
nobody really quite knew what to expect. Number one for sure,
if he was going to play you know, the reports
came out on Friday that he was going to but
I know from talking to Mark, if if Jaden had
woken up Saturday and not it had any kind of
twins at all in that the they wouldn't have played him.
But he felt fine, and obviously he looked really fine.
Speaker 8 (31:06):
I was stunned, I guess I was. I joined everybody else.
I just I couldn't believe what I was seeing, and
not so much that, Okay, he could make a nice
little play here and there, but he hasn't played a
game since February. He's not in basketball shape. He's not
gonna be able to run up and down the floor
and do this for any length of period at all
before he has to come back out. And it's a
(31:29):
little bit of that in the first half, but the
second half and he just locked in and played and
played and played, And I really, I just I was
stunned that he was able to go for that long
and perform at that level that he did. I guess
the probably one of the more physical teams he's gonna
have to face all year.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
Here's the SoundBite from after the game with AQ.
Speaker 7 (31:48):
I've been a competitor in my whole life. I was
always raised just compete, and that's always what I wanted
to do, So it always kind of sucked having to
watch my team go and compete without me, and I'll
be able to help just kind of be a voice
on the sidelines. So I continue to trust my guy
and I feel like that trust in that I've built
just being here on the bench trying to support that
way showed on the court, and it kind of translated
over all. My guys trusted me and we just were
(32:09):
able to show out at the Highes at a high
level of to night. So I feel like it's been
too It's been good.
Speaker 1 (32:15):
Jake and Quayton's after the game, and Daryl, you've been
around this like I haven't another's for a long time. Yeah.
I don't think Kentucky fans biggrudge guys getting paid now.
They deserve to share in the wealth of the sport.
I think what offends them is when they don't see
them see a team or in some moment playing like
(32:38):
they played against Gonzaga and you know they may have
been a hangover from North Carolina. You know, it has
nothing to do as we're seeing now. It has nothing
to do with with who they are. But it was
a really bad night down there in Nashville, and they
heard about it from their fans, and like I said
on the air the next game, it was like the
(32:59):
fans and the team had a fight that night. And
I think they've worked through it now, they've worked through
their troubles and they're all back on the same page
because of you know, the what they're seeing from their
guys right now. And you know, quaintans could have you know,
some people didn't think he'd ever played this season, but
clearly he wanted to play.
Speaker 8 (33:18):
Yeah, it was you know, you're right and on all
of those points I was. I was in Nashville and
they started showing their displeasure in the first half. It
didn't it didn't think along and you're probably right. It's
probably the best way to put it that. I've had
a lot of UK fans who weren't there, who are
you know, old school fans that they're like, ah, so
you do not boo your team, don't you dare think?
(33:40):
I said, well, it's a it's a different world. They're
getting paid now. That that opens up a lot and
we will never know, unfortunately, how much of that booing
raining down that day was because of the sports gambling
and I'm getting crushed. I'm losing money on this. Not
only are you making billions, I'm losing money. So now
I'm really mad. That's a part of it, you know, there's Yeah,
(34:03):
it is. It's part of it. That's going to be
really interesting to see how they go forward from here.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
You're right, Let's talk about the post you have at
catspaus dot com where you are drawing comparisons to the
twenty fourteen team that came out of a deep hole
and made it all the way to the championship game.
Speaker 8 (34:20):
Yeah, it was really weird because I've someone asked me
at one point, I said, are the Cats that ever
going to turn it around? I said, well, you better
hope for a twenty fourteen magical run. And it's just
kind of off the cuff, and I started thinking about it,
and I started digging into it, so I still got
all those stories I wrote from back then, and I
was just kind of floored how similar, I mean, that
(34:40):
team was. He was trying cal Perry was trying to
blend a starting lineup that had four freshmen and a sophomore,
and Mark's trying to blend the lineup that has some mixture,
but he's also got the injuries that are making it
impossible to get any kind of chemistry going. And the
twenty fourteen team lost its first three ranked games, Michigan
(35:03):
State being Michigan State North Carolina. Michigan State was the first.
And this team lost its first four rank games. Michigan
State was the first, and Cal Perry. I found comments
where Cal said, you know, I tried to coach them,
let them, let them be their personality, let them be
who they wanted to be, and I wasn't getting the effort,
so I had to get mean. And I thought that
(35:23):
just jumped out of me because I'm like, you know,
all of last year and Mark Pope was all about
positive reinforcement, we only do positive reinforcement, and he got
mean this year and just trying. He said, we're not
taking this anymore, and just the Similars just kept going
and going. And I had forgotten the twenty fourteen team
once they got into postseason. That Andrew Harrison, a point guard,
(35:45):
of course, hurt his elbow in the first game against
Kansas State. It was kind of deemed the rest of
the term. And then Willie coley Stein broke his foot
and the couple games later he was out, so they
really scrambling it just the more the similarities just kept
popping up, like this is pretty cool how these two
match up.
Speaker 1 (36:03):
You can read that at catspause dot com. Unfortunate, Daryl,
we're in a short on time, so we'll sh you
go and we'll direct fans to go read that and
see the full analysis of that comparison as we'll look
for just similarities to pass Kentucky teams as this one
tries to find its identity. Darryl, thank you much, and
(36:24):
Merry Christmas. All right, man, you too, Darryl, Bert katzpause
dot com. We'll be right back on the Leach Report
Radio Network presented by Bobcat Enterprises. Looking for a last
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(37:07):
put in ky Cheer at CORNBREADHEMP dot com and you
can get the discount also up to fifty percent off
some products that they are retiring now right now. You
can find out about it at CORNBREADTHEMP dot com. There
are reports that Kentucky's found It's cornerbacks coach Alan Brown,
who was at Cal in that role last season. He
(37:29):
reportedly worked one season at the Jay Bateman and New
DC when they were at Florida together. Nineteen seventy nine
on this day was the final of the Ukit and
Rupp Arena. Kentucky beat Purdue, a team that would make
it to the Final Four later that season, coached by
Lee Rose. Sixty one sixty was the final. Kyle Macy
(37:49):
Freddy Cowen had eighteen apiece Joe Barry Carroll had twenty
five for the Boilermakers. Wildcat History notes presented by Kentucky
Roadshow Sports Cards at Memorabilia and at roadshowcards dot com.
A Happy Birthday to a great Kentucky running back, George
Adams have a great day. Everybody will talk to you
tomorrow for game day for Kentucky and Bellarman
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The Burden
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.