Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This podcast of the Leech Report is presented by Boone's
Butcher Shop in Barnstown at one hundred old Bloomfield Pike,
family owned and operated since nineteen forty six, with fresh
meat cut on site daily. Boone's Butcher Shop, Good Day,
Everybody welcome in. It is the Leitch Reports, presented by
Bob kat Enterprises for a Friday and two big games
(00:26):
coming up this weekend for UK athletics. The women have
number five Oklahoma. On Sunday, the men taken on Mississippi State,
and it's big not because of Mississippi State being ranked,
but because Kentucky sits at zero to two and SEC
play and a second straight home conference loss would be devastating.
(00:48):
So that's what the Wildcats need to get taken care of,
and we'll talk about that as we move through the program. Today,
Neil Price is going to join us former colleague here
in on the UK Sports at Work, who's now the
longtime voice of Mississippi State football, men's basketball, baseball now,
so we'll catch up with Neil Mike Corsi in the
(01:09):
second half of the show per usual. On Friday's wild
Cat News of the Day presented by Giuseppes of Lexington
started with the college football playoff. They kept me up
late last night. A great game. Miami prevailed thirty one
to twenty seven on a Carson Beck scramble for the
touchdown when they got down around the ten yard line
(01:29):
and couldn't have anybody to throw it too, and so
the left side of the field opened up and he
took advantage of it. Miami felt like a game that
Miami was very much in control of all night, but
they kept being their own worst enemy with some penalties.
They had the one turnover in the game, and they
(01:52):
had a missed field goal earlier. So Ole Miss hung
around and for a moment it looked like they might
we have one of those find a way to win
kind of games, even though they weren't the better team
that night. And the interesting angle is that Miami is
the ten seed that basically got in because Duke upset
(02:13):
Virginia in the ACC title game. I think if Virginia
had won that I think this is the prevailing opinion,
then the ACC would have had Virginia in and Notre
Dame would have been the last at large team because
they were ahead of Miami going into the last rankings.
But when the ACC didn't have somebody in there, Miami
(02:37):
got in and boy have they taken advantage of it.
So Miami against either Oregon or Indiana. They play tonight
and Miami will get to basically play at home for
the National Championship game because it's in Miami this year.
Kentucky men's basketball against Mississippi State. That's eight thirty Eastern
(02:57):
time tomorrow, so a later tip. Six straight wins for
the Bulldogs heading into this one. Kentucky won last season
and that was the game that Jackson Robinson had his
breakout performance. He'd gotten off to a slow start, and
I remember Mark Pope talking about Jackson coming up to
(03:18):
him to shoot around and he was just gonna tune
everything out and just laser focus on his job with
the team and not worry about, you know, any distractions
and the next level all of that. Because he had
come back from the NBA draft evaluation and he had
a tremendous game and then got injured shortly there after.
(03:40):
Shortly thereafter, I think he was probably on track for
a huge first year at Kentucky, and you know, he
had to play out a position a little bit when
having to play point guard, and so he I think
that Mississippi State game was going to be a breakout
performance for him, and then sadly we didn't get to
see that. We've seen otega Oway this year struggle a
(04:04):
bit coming back from the NBA process. Part of it
may have been his injury that he had with a toe,
but he has played well of late, for twenty or
more point games in the last six getting the free
throw line with regularity. So it'll be Kentucky against State
(04:24):
and Josh Hubbard, who is tearing it up right now.
So we'll talk more about that with Neil when he
joins us here in just a bit. The women lost
last night for the first time in SEC play, having
to play without Tianni Key after her injury last Sunday
in the Missouri win, Kentucky goes down to Alabama and
falls sixty four to fifty one. Couldn't make a shot,
(04:45):
thirty two percent from the field, twenty turnovers, and minus
two on the board. So just a lot of bad
stats in that box score for coach Kenny Brooks and company.
But they're fifteen to two on the season, so it's
the end of the world. However, Alabama did a really
nice job on Clara Strack, one of Kentucky's best players.
(05:06):
Really did a nice job on both of the players
who've been playing the best for Kentucky. Strack was one
for thirteen from the field and then point guard Tony
Morgan did have fourteen points, but she also had five
of the twenty turnovers for Kentucky last night. So Alabama
gets the upset win. Kentucky's back home to take on
number five Oklahoma on Sunday against and it'll be at
(05:27):
historic Memorial Coliseum we think, on the SEC network, and
of course or Man Darren Hendrick will be on the
call on the UK Radio network. So Kentucky and Oklahoma
coming up on Sunday. And in good news for the
football team, Willie Rodriguez officially announcing his return to the
Wildcats and the way that will Stein utilizes the tight
(05:49):
ends at Oregon should be very exciting for Willie and
probably part of the reason that he is recommitting to
Kentucky football. The young man from Covington Catholic had a
very good season this past year, building on his first season,
and if he's as good as we all think he is,
(06:09):
it might be just one more season for him in
this offense because he seems to be an ideal fit
for it. So that's very good news for Kentucky football.
Links to the stories that we talk about each day,
Well not that, Actually, I need to tell you about
the Giuseppes. Giuseppes is our presenting sponsor for this opening
segment of Wildcat News. You go to open Table, you
(06:32):
can make a reservation for a really special night out.
The food's fantastic at Giuseppes. You'll have your favorites if
you go often. The lasagna is one of the best
in town. I love it, but you'll have your favorites.
The main thing is to just get something on the
books for a special night out with family and friends.
Maybe you're celebrating a special occasion. Giuseppes Lexington. You can
(06:55):
see the menu open Tables where you make the reservation.
We'll be right back with Neil Prices Leach Report Radio Network.
Lietrickpore comes to you from the Clarks Poppin Shop Studio, Return,
Refresh and refuel at Clark's all across the Commonwealth. So
we welcome in Neil Price, the longtime radio voice for
(07:16):
University of mississis Mississippi State University athletics, and we want
to talk about the men's basketball team specifically, but we
remember all you fans do Neil's time call it Kentucky
women's basketball and Kentucky baseball, and so you have a
lot of fond memories I know of your time here
and Neil.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Right, yeah. I tell people all the time, and I
think I've told you this before that anytime that state
in Kentucky play and you know, they played football every
year for the first several years I was here, and
then obviously there's at least one basketball game every years.
It's one of the best days and one of the
toughest days for me because it's always fun to come
(07:56):
back to Lexington and see a lot of people. And
I don't know that you can leave many places and
when you go back, have people that we'll look forward
to seeing you, that will embrace you like you never left.
And that's been my experience now nine years removed from
(08:19):
being a part of what was going on with the
UK network and living there, so you know, and then
the other part of it is is you go in
there hoping your team's going to win, and you think
about all those good memories, but you go, Okay, you
got to put those aside because you're here to do job,
you know. So I'm looking forward to being back up
there though. It's been a couple of years since I've
(08:40):
been back to Lexington, so it'll be good to see
a lot of people when we get up there later today.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Back in I think this was twenty sixteen, when you
were still here at the UK working with UK. You
were helping us out on the football broadcast and for
the longest time we had a memory of you in
the drywall there at broadcast. Tell fans so that story.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
So that was actually against State. Yeah, so there's a
football game at at Well at Kroger Field. I'm sorry,
I still the fault to Commonwealth. I'm yeah. So we
had just gotten into the new press box upstairs, the
new radio booth. The game came down to a kick late,
(09:28):
and for the life of me, I can't remember the
Kentucky kicker, Austin McGinnis, that's right. And they had had
a reunion that day of the two thousand and five
or two thousand and six SEC Baseball championship team, and
I had my SEC Championship ring on that day because
(09:51):
I'd been, you know, a part of that. And when
Austin McGinnis nailed the field goal that put Kentucky in front,
I punched the wall right beside of me. I'm standing
behind you. I punched the wall and there was there
was a UK imprinted in the wall from the front
of that championship ring. And I think it stayed for
(10:12):
about a year or two and they came in and
fixed the dry wall, but it hadn't been there. It
was a new place and I accidentally left a mark
on it.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
I think they should have left it. I was I
would have been a proponent of leaving it as a
permanent marker, but was. I remember coming back the next
season after they'd repaired it being disappointed. So yeah, that
was a fun memory. Let's talk about the Bulldogs and
coming into this game tomorrow night, because they're off to
a good start at two and oh in the league.
(10:43):
Won at Texas and then beat Oklahoma convincingly on Wednesday night,
and Josh Hubbard is doing his Josh Hubbard thing. There
was that great shootout he had done in Starkville a
couple of seasons ago between him and Reed Shepherd and
He's coming off two games with and I think, what
sixty four points thirty and one thirty four in the.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Other Yep, that's it. And it's been It's been impressive
to watch Josh because you think, man, he's done it all,
and then the next night he will do something you
haven't seen before. And there was a stretch against Oklahoma
the other night tom where State couldn't score, and all
(11:24):
of a sudden, here comes Josh Hubbard and he scores
twelve out of fourteen points to kind of help him
open that game up and pull away. And it's not
just shooting threes, it's not just mid range jump shots.
He's developed a way to score at the rim. A
finished package is what Chris Jans has called it. So
(11:47):
you're seeing him score at all three levels now and
I think that's one of the areas where he's really
improved his game. The other is he was guarding Nigel
Pack most of the night on Wednesday, and he did
a pretty good job defensively, and that was an area
I think where he was probably deficient in the first
(12:09):
two years of his career. He just wasn't a great defender.
So he's trying to put both sides of the floor
together and become a more complete player. And I think
about what his path could have been coming out of
high school, and I just sit there and go, man,
I'm glad he wound up playing a Mississippi State because
he has certainly changed this program in a positive way.
(12:32):
And I can't imagine him being on the other side
of it somewhere, you know, and thinking about having to
go up against him every year.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
Yeah, he has a bit of a unicorn third year
at the same school.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Yeah, so you know, you've got Josh Hubbard here, whose
third year Sean Jones is a four year player. You
just don't see a lot of that anymore. And not
shocking that those two guys have kind of been the
leaders now. They're very different players. I mean, you know,
Josh clearly a big score. Sean doesn't score a ton,
but he impacts the game in a lot of different
(13:07):
ways with his defense, and he just a guy who
gets his hands on the basketball a lot. He's always
around the loose ball, you know. So you'll look at
the box score and you go, you know, it's got
to blow you away. But then if you go back
and you watch the game, you can see that he
finds ways to create chaos and make some things happen
(13:27):
for his team. He takes a lot of pride in
doing that. So they've got two guys that have been
great leaders and two guys who've kind of helped him
turn things around after a rocky start because they they've
had to get guys to buy into accepting roles on
this team. And Seawan's a good example of that because
you know, when it's not going well early and State's
(13:50):
dropping games, Sean Jones is out there trying to be
a three point shooter. Ball goes to him. He's going
up with it, you know, on that wing as fast
he gets his hands on it. Well, nobody's guarded. And
the reason they're right guard and him is because you
look at his numbers. He's not a great shooter. So
he learned to adapt. Okay, it's not my job to
shoot the ball. It's Josh Hubbard's job to shoot the ball.
(14:10):
It's Jade Nepp's job to shoot the ball. So you
get him to buy into that a chore, a chores.
Another guy who I think has bought into a new role.
He was a guy who liked to shoot it early,
It wasn't working for him. Now he's become a really
good rebounder. In the last three or four games, He's
getting his points inside, he's driving the ball a little
bit more. I think all of that has kind of
(14:30):
helped this team start to understand who it is and
who it could be. But you got to do that consistently,
not in and night out.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
So look at some Ken Palm numbers and the effective
field goal percentage of their opponents is forty seven percent,
and that's significantly down from last season. Now, you know,
at this point is Mark Pope often points out, you know,
you're just two games in the league play. You've played
a lot of teams that everybody's you know, all these
(15:00):
Power Conference teams have played a lot of teams that
they're much better than. So the numbers can get a
little skewed. But are they better defensively?
Speaker 2 (15:09):
I don't think that they are the same defensive team
that Chris Jans has had the first three years is
here and the biggest thing I point to is they
don't turn people over like they did in the past,
So they're defending better, but it's in a different way
like they turned Oklahoma over. I think thirteen times the
(15:31):
other night, and that's one of the best nights they've
had with regard to turning people over. But what they
did is contested shots, finish possessions with defensive rebounds, block
some shots. It's not just this kind of swarming trapping,
you know, like they did, you know, the first two
or three years and a half court. So they've had
(15:52):
to reinvent it a little bit because the personnel that
they have. Could they be a good defensive team by
the end of the year. I think they could be.
I just don't know that they're there yet. So that's
something that again they got to really lock in on
and and focus on night in and night out to
try to build some consistency at that end.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Neill Price, the longtime radio play by play voice for
Mississippi State men's basketball, who well unfortunately will not see
see on press row. I will try to get up
there tomorrow night before the game. Or you can throw
something down and hit me in the back of the head
if I forget, because you're up behind us now, but
you better have a r so not okay.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
So not only I was I was looking forward to
I was kind of looking forward to looking across at you.
I thought I was up.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Behind You're up behind us.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
So I don't know. You know, in all the years
I was up there, twelve years, I don't think I
ever went to that side upstairs.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Seat on the other side upstairs.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Yeah, I always sat up there. Dick Gabriel would sit
up there with me a lot of night. Hint Spencer
would sit up there with me many nights. One of
the great lines I've ever heard. When Billy Gillespie was
coaching at Kentucky, he had he had a point guard
and I won't name names, but in a game against
(17:16):
Old Miss, I think Tubby's son was still playing guard
for Ole Miss at that time, Brian Brian turns it over.
This guy makes a great play, dives down on the floor,
saves the ball, you know, it gets to his knee,
throws it right back to Brian Smith who goes down
and dunks it. And kent Spencer looks at me and says,
(17:37):
player X is going to heaven. And I said, why
is that ken? He goes because I have cussed the
hell out of him, and that was it, you know,
and I just last the rest of the night.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Well, hopefully somebody I'll give you a good line while
you're there. Tomorrow night, I know you'll have some of
your own. Thank you, Neil, See you tomorrow. See you
Tom and Neil Price. We'll be right back on the
Leach Report. It's the Lakes Report presented by Bob Kat
Enterprises and UK men's tennis preseason number four in the
SEC Coaches Poll, so hopefully they'll have another big year.
(18:08):
And Kentucky Football is bringing Courtney Love back, former linebacker
who basically went into the front office, so to speak.
He's coming back as director of player development for Coach Stein.
Great news. He is a great guy and really good
at his job.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
So happy to.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
See Courtney back. We'll be right back. Lad Reports presented
by Bobcat Enterprises with four locations around Kentucky. Google Bobcat
when you need tractors, a fork, lyft, maybe excavators, whatever
it might be, they will have it. Great service after
the sale or the rental deal is executed from Bobcat Enterprises,
so google them when you need what they have. Mike,
(18:46):
of course, he joins us from Sportingnews dot Com at
TSN Mike on X. You see him on the Big
Ten Network and see his brackets for Fox Sports college
basketball coverage, and the new one comes out today. Mike,
what's the the site on x where people can find it?
Speaker 4 (19:03):
Yeah, it is on foxsports dot com, but also all
of the Fox Sports social sites specific to college basketball,
and the handle for that is CBB on Fox which
will that that'll connect you on Instagram or Twitter or Facebook.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
Of course, Kentucky fans may not want to look at
it right now.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
Right well, they I will say that they'll still see
They'll still see them hanging around. But obviously the Wildcats
have to do better in the future to continue to
feel secure. It's the good news for Kentucky right now
(19:43):
is that their struggles are mirrored by most of the
teams at the back of the field, in part because
the top of the field. My first three lines are
as glittering as I've done.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
I've dot this is my seventh season.
Speaker 4 (19:56):
I think I've never seen a top three lines that
are so solid and all with either championship contenders or
very close to championship contenders. Even down in the heart
of the three line has teams like BYU and Houston
that no doubt could win it.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Kentucky was expected to be there coming into the season
and that group you're talking about from your perspective of
watching them and reading about them, why aren't they there?
Speaker 3 (20:28):
I think a couple of things.
Speaker 4 (20:30):
First of all, I think the injuries were a significant
factor and not their development. Off course, I still don't
believe that they have a handle on how to be successful,
and I think the Missouri game is highly reflective of that.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
They played some very good basketball in that game.
Speaker 4 (20:47):
They got up eight points, laid in the game and
should have been able to put it away. They have
not been able to find a formula that works for them,
and I think some of them that comes from even
when players like Jalen Lowe and Jaden Quaintan's are able
to play, how much are they able to play and
(21:09):
how are effective are they able to be for long stretches?
And they are probably the two most important players on
the team because one.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
Is your last line of defense in.
Speaker 4 (21:21):
An ideal world, and your other the other is your
is the start of your offense in an ideal world.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
And you're not getting either of that on a thirty
to thirty five minute basis. You're not getting that from them.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
The second element, I think is otega Oway is kind
of showing that he is what he was a year ago,
and that's there's nothing awful about that, except that when
when it was examined in the off season and you
saw his ability, and it's like all he needs is
the opportunity and the mentality to take over and to
(21:56):
be a first option, to be an All America candidate
and those things. I think he was the preseason SEC
Player of the Year if I remember, yes, and and
and he's not embraced that, and like it's not for everybody.
Not everybody has the game or the temperament to handle that.
Speaker 3 (22:15):
He's still having a good year. He just would need
other players to have better years for his good year
to be part of a successful collective. Diabate has not
been elite. He's had good moments, but there are moments
when he doesn't play with confidence. Some of the what
would I secondary rotation players.
Speaker 4 (22:35):
I don't want to call them fringe players because I
think Brandon Garrison is it shouldn't be that Cam Williams
shouldn't be a fringe in any case. But Brandon played
probably his best basketball of the season on Tuesday night,
and then and then made a very unfortunate pass, one
(22:56):
that probably shouldn't be making in that circumstance that with
you know, twelve minutes left in the first half and
you see that, Okay, if you miss it, whatever, but
this is this is the.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
Game, and you're not Jokic.
Speaker 4 (23:13):
It's not it's not an impossible pass to make, but
you're not an elite big man passer. It's I don't
think he has really found comfort in his role. I
think he thought, I it's hard for me to say this,
but he plays like he thought that his assent to
a more prominent place in the rotation would be a
(23:36):
given and and and that the competition he faced, particularly
from Malachai Marino, he didn't embrace the competition.
Speaker 3 (23:45):
That's what this is what I this is what I'm
observing from Afar.
Speaker 4 (23:48):
I don't see a player who said, I'm beating that
guy out, that he's he's he's pretty good and I'll
fight him every day, but I'm beating him out. I
don't see that when I watched Brandon. I've seen some
light recently and then and what happened at the end
of the Mizoo game happened. So there are many different
reasons why this hasn't quite worked. And I think I
(24:08):
think as well, the expectations.
Speaker 3 (24:11):
Are really hammering them. The whole thing about the money.
Speaker 4 (24:15):
I don't get it, Like, I don't care how much
money they spent.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
I don't care if they spent one hundred million dollars.
It doesn't matter because it's not my money. All that
matters is you went out and you tried to build
a championship contending team, and for various reasons, it's not working.
But how much you spent I think. I think it's a.
Speaker 4 (24:36):
Lazy narrative, to be honest with you, and I see
it everywhere. It just it's inconsequential to anybody but the
people writing the checks.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
That's true. One thing on the Garrison pass, because that
kind of had the same instinct initially as well. And
then asked Mark about it after the game, where I said,
you know, down that the last few minutes was it
You know, there were turnovers and I guess bad decisions
and I was thinking about that play and he said, actually,
he said, he said, that's because basically they did the
(25:07):
same thing on the other side and Otego went back
door and the pass was there and he cut to
the basket, but then he fumbled the ball out of bounds.
But watching the past that Garrison made for whatever reason,
I mean when the play when the defender turned his head,
Cam's supposed to cut back door in their system. That's
(25:28):
what Pope was saying. That's one of their their standard actions.
Except that he didn't cut to the basket. He cut horizontally.
Brandon threw it where he should have cut to because
there was a path. There was an opening there because
the defender of the basket was also turning his back
to Williams. So it was I mean, certainly it is
a it's a riskier play than other passes you could
(25:50):
have made. But his Pope said it is part of
their offense. And but it just kind of as an
example of they're they're not getting everybody on the same page.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
Yet.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
Yes, you know, I look.
Speaker 4 (26:02):
At that and like I said, it's not a play
that would be bothersome to me in any other context.
There was a play in the ninety five ninety six
Super Bowl decisive play Neil O'Donnell threw an interception and
the wide receiver from Georgia named Andre Hastings went the
wrong way on the route is what was reported later.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
But you can't throw the ball there just because.
Speaker 4 (26:27):
You think he's going to be there when you're trying
to drive for the winning touchdown in the Super Bowl,
And that's kind of the same thing. You can't go
off what you're what's supposed to happen in that circumstance.
It's got to be there, and then it happened, and
then you make the play. And if you don't see
him cut the past, it's just in that circumstance. It's
(26:48):
just you have to be precise. If if that's what,
if that's the circumstance, then Brandon shouldn't have the ball
up there on the wing. It should be in the
hands of a more reliable ballhand.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
Mike, I thought there were some Oh I'm sorry, no,
go ahead, finish up. I was going to say, I
thought that, you know, I thought Mark did some things
as well that were uncharacteristic of him, and I think
he's searching as well for some answers. We could talk
about that on the way back.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
Yeah. No, I think you're spot on with that, and
we will pick up on that when we return. It's
Mike de Coursey Sportingnews dot Com joining us here on
the Leech Report. And we'll be right back. It t
report from the Clark's Poppa Shop Studio. Return, Refresh and refuel.
I'm going to get back to what we were talking
about with Mike Corsey in just a moment, but I
want to detour to something else with Mike because of
(27:35):
something is happening this weekend around the Kentucky Mississippi State
game and they're honoring the sixty six Kentucky National Championship
Game runner up team RUPs Runs and according to something
Oscar comes put out on ex earlier this week, pat
Riley's expected to be in the house, who has said
wonderful things to say about his alma mater over the years,
(27:56):
but hasn't found his way back here too often because
of what goes on in his work. But he's supposed
to be here, I think unfortunate. Larry Connelly has some
health issues he's dealing with, and he's supposedly the only
one that is still with us that is not going
to be able to make it. But if you list
the top ten most important games, maybe even top five
in the history of the sport, Mike Kentucky's involved in
(28:18):
two of them. Unfortunately, on the short end, both times
in the Duke Game in ninety two and the sixty
six game against what was then Texas Western now UTEP
and Don Haskins team and starting five African American players
for the first time in the championship game. And the
team that we will be honored here for Kentucky for
(28:40):
what they did. They became a fan favorite because of
how well they passed the ball. And that's kind of
what will eventually segue back to with this Kentucky team, right.
Speaker 4 (28:48):
And that's they were the runs because they didn't have
great size, but they had just some absolutely wonderful players,
Pat being among them. And Pat went on to not
only have an absolutely ridiculously legendary career as a coach
and executive. It was a very fine player for the
Lakers in his time.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
It was. It was a great team.
Speaker 4 (29:10):
And uh, you know, obviously being on the opposite side
of the UTEP game in various articles and uh and
uh and of course the movie Uh, it can be
you know, a circumstance where they're not looked upon well,
but that's that should not be reflective of the players
that were involved in that team. Yea, they went on
(29:32):
to do great things in basketball Larry you mentioned.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
I've talked to Larry about it, like they're honored to
have been in part been a part of that game.
Speaker 3 (29:40):
Yeah, exactly, that's that's a wonderful thing.
Speaker 4 (29:43):
And and so many of the people that played in
that in that game for Kentucky went on to have
significant careers in the game and beyond.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
And uh and I think.
Speaker 4 (29:53):
That you know, it's it's similar to what happened in
sixty three with the Game of Change and how Mississippi
State wanted to compete. The players and the coaches went
to great lengths to compete against Loyola in that season,
defying state orders and such, and those those players, you know,
(30:16):
they were important part of changing the game as well.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
And there's a Kentucky that was on that sixty three
Missippi State team, Joe dan Gold from Fleming County.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
There you go.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
Yeah, so the Kentucky and so Mississippi State's the opponent
tomorrow night. So maybe that's all kind of appropriate. It
comes together. But the segue I was begging as far
as this Kentuck Kirk Kentucky team is they have had
issues with passing the ball and playing together on the
floor and the opposite of what's always talked about with
(30:47):
that sixty six group. You were saying some uncharacteristic things
that you're seeing Mark Pope try to work his way through.
So take us through all of that with what you're
seeing with Mark, and then how this team can find
its way to pass the ball better.
Speaker 4 (31:05):
Yeah, I think I think part of the problem in
the injury issues that they've had is that they haven't
been able to build any sort of rotational pattern at all.
And you saw that really reflected in the Miszoo game.
Colin Chandler, who had started several previous games barely played
(31:28):
in the first half, played some crucial minutes in the
second half and obviously made that tremendous defensive play when
they really needed it and nearly got them, you know,
certainly got them a chance to tie or win it,
but it didn't come to fruition. But I thought that
there were moments when he might have been able to
(31:48):
be out there and do what he does do what
he does best, which is provide some stretch to the
to the offense.
Speaker 3 (31:55):
But he wasn't deployed a lot.
Speaker 4 (31:58):
The Brandon Garrison thing we talked about before, But his
minutes are are odd and sporadic.
Speaker 3 (32:05):
I thought that there was a play.
Speaker 4 (32:07):
There was a time when they went offense to defense
late in the game, and I don't remember the exact
time or score, but it was very late.
Speaker 3 (32:17):
Out.
Speaker 4 (32:18):
Yeah, and they got the they got the stop, but
then he immediately when they got to stop. I don't
I don't register in my mind timeouts like that. So
I looked at the screen right away, Okay, how many
to call it?
Speaker 3 (32:31):
And he didn't uh that.
Speaker 4 (32:32):
He let that trip go without Jalen on the floor
and it didn't become a good trip.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
That was a Garrison play we were talking about that
happened on that possession.
Speaker 4 (32:41):
Yeah, So I thought there were things that he didn't
do or could have done or did do that were different.
And I think he's searching a little bit too. I
think the one thing that would make Kentucky better is
if everybody sort of just like relaxed a little bit
and didn't worry about trying to win the chance Wampionship
of the of the SEC or the NCAA in January,
(33:06):
but just tried to figure out how to get how
to get a win, and how to get better getting
a win.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
He uses the word pace a lot is something that
is a source of frustration for him. And it's not
just you know, fast breaking, he's talking about spreading to
screens in the half court for example. Is that something
that could come from that not having them all together,
the group that is his best group for a long
(33:33):
stretch yet and there's still a lot of uncertainty among players.
Speaker 3 (33:37):
Yeah, I think that.
Speaker 4 (33:39):
When players have their roles adjusted a lot because of
those situations, they don't always understand exactly where they're supposed
to be in a given moment, in a given circumstance
because their role on a particular they they may have
the same sets to run, but their role within that
set might be a little different, expectation might be a
(34:01):
little different. And I always say that if you if
you run in a straight line, you're going to run
a lot faster than if you can see the finish line.
Speaker 3 (34:09):
Then if you don't know where you're running to.
Speaker 4 (34:11):
And even though that's not like it's not exact circumstance,
it's not strictly about how fast you are in a
basketball game, but how quick you get to a spot
can make the difference in whether or not you that
play is successful. And in certain circumstances, Like you said,
with that back door set not going to the right
(34:33):
place right there is a perfect example of how a
play can be detonated by one's own inaction or one's
own poor action.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
Yeah, that's that's a good point because Cam's was in
playing the three in that particular grouping where a lot
of times he's well, say some of the times he
plays the four when they go a little smaller. So
that's yeah, that's an example of what you're talking about.
It is we're done to better our final minute here.
It's just at this point, everybody, to your point, everybody
(35:07):
fans get caught up in you know, not going to
make the tournament, really make the tournament. You know, look
at it. How many games you look at this schedule,
how many can they win? Just worry about winning the
one Saturday night against Mississippi State.
Speaker 3 (35:18):
One hundred percent. That's exactly what this team needs.
Speaker 4 (35:21):
They could have really used Tuesday night because they played
well enough to win a lot of the game, but
then didn't play well enough in the final minutes.
Speaker 3 (35:31):
But they were good enough to win that game. And
Missouri is is not a great.
Speaker 4 (35:35):
Opponent, but a quality opponent, and Mississippi State's played a
little better lately. They had not been significant for a
lot of November and December, but have played better lately.
So you have to be good enough, and you have
to do a good job guarding Josh Hubbard. But really
it comes down to how everybody embraces their role and
(35:55):
worries about each other and not about the people yelling
they're making too much money or or you know, this
isn't the right coach or any of that stuff, like
you're you're what a year and a third into the
Mark perp the Mark Pope regime. We don't need to
be talking about that now. I mean, it's it's too
much of that gets amplified. It's it's the second year,
(36:19):
and in his first year was a spectacular success. Why
would anybody believe that this year can't be successful or
that next year can't be a spectacular success again.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
Mike cursysporting News dot com. Look for his latest edition
of the Brackets for Fox Sports coming up later today.
Speaker 3 (36:34):
Thank you, Mike, Thanks Tom.
Speaker 1 (36:36):
Final segment of the Leads Report when we come right
back Stan Wow Cat History Present about Kentucky road shows,
sports cards and memorabilia. Here in Lexington roadshowcards dot Com.
In nineteen ninety six, Kentucky Mississippi State both made the
final four. Of course, the Cats won the title. They
played three times. Stayed upset the Cats in the SEC
Tournament final, but the first of their meeting is occurred
(36:56):
on this day in ninety six, Number two Kentucky over
number twelve State seventy four fifty six as Kentucky held
the Bulldogs to thirty five percent shooting. And Happy birthday
to Terrence Jones Late trimpart presented by Bob kat Enterprises.
Have a great weekend everybody, and we will see you
on Monday.
This podcast of the Leech Report is presented by Boone's
Butcher Shop in Barnstown at one hundred old Bloomfield Pike,
family owned and operated since nineteen forty six, with fresh
meat cut on site daily. Boone's Butcher Shop, Good Day,
Everybody welcome in. It is the Leitch Reports, presented by
Bob kat Enterprises for a Friday and two big games
(00:26):
coming up this weekend for UK athletics. The women have
number five Oklahoma. On Sunday, the men taken on Mississippi State,
and it's big not because of Mississippi State being ranked,
but because Kentucky sits at zero to two and SEC
play and a second straight home conference loss would be devastating.
(00:48):
So that's what the Wildcats need to get taken care of,
and we'll talk about that as we move through the program. Today,
Neil Price is going to join us former colleague here
in on the UK Sports at Work, who's now the
longtime voice of Mississippi State football, men's basketball, baseball now,
so we'll catch up with Neil Mike Corsi in the
(01:09):
second half of the show per usual. On Friday's wild
Cat News of the Day presented by Giuseppes of Lexington
started with the college football playoff. They kept me up
late last night. A great game. Miami prevailed thirty one
to twenty seven on a Carson Beck scramble for the
touchdown when they got down around the ten yard line
(01:29):
and couldn't have anybody to throw it too, and so
the left side of the field opened up and he
took advantage of it. Miami felt like a game that
Miami was very much in control of all night, but
they kept being their own worst enemy with some penalties.
They had the one turnover in the game, and they
(01:52):
had a missed field goal earlier. So Ole Miss hung
around and for a moment it looked like they might
we have one of those find a way to win
kind of games, even though they weren't the better team
that night. And the interesting angle is that Miami is
the ten seed that basically got in because Duke upset
(02:13):
Virginia in the ACC title game. I think if Virginia
had won that I think this is the prevailing opinion,
then the ACC would have had Virginia in and Notre
Dame would have been the last at large team because
they were ahead of Miami going into the last rankings.
But when the ACC didn't have somebody in there, Miami
(02:37):
got in and boy have they taken advantage of it.
So Miami against either Oregon or Indiana. They play tonight
and Miami will get to basically play at home for
the National Championship game because it's in Miami this year.
Kentucky men's basketball against Mississippi State. That's eight thirty Eastern
(02:57):
time tomorrow, so a later tip. Six straight wins for
the Bulldogs heading into this one. Kentucky won last season
and that was the game that Jackson Robinson had his
breakout performance. He'd gotten off to a slow start, and
I remember Mark Pope talking about Jackson coming up to
(03:18):
him to shoot around and he was just gonna tune
everything out and just laser focus on his job with
the team and not worry about, you know, any distractions
and the next level all of that. Because he had
come back from the NBA draft evaluation and he had
a tremendous game and then got injured shortly there after.
(03:40):
Shortly thereafter, I think he was probably on track for
a huge first year at Kentucky, and you know, he
had to play out a position a little bit when
having to play point guard, and so he I think
that Mississippi State game was going to be a breakout
performance for him, and then sadly we didn't get to
see that. We've seen otega Oway this year struggle a
(04:04):
bit coming back from the NBA process. Part of it
may have been his injury that he had with a toe,
but he has played well of late, for twenty or
more point games in the last six getting the free
throw line with regularity. So it'll be Kentucky against State
(04:24):
and Josh Hubbard, who is tearing it up right now.
So we'll talk more about that with Neil when he
joins us here in just a bit. The women lost
last night for the first time in SEC play, having
to play without Tianni Key after her injury last Sunday
in the Missouri win, Kentucky goes down to Alabama and
falls sixty four to fifty one. Couldn't make a shot,
(04:45):
thirty two percent from the field, twenty turnovers, and minus
two on the board. So just a lot of bad
stats in that box score for coach Kenny Brooks and company.
But they're fifteen to two on the season, so it's
the end of the world. However, Alabama did a really
nice job on Clara Strack, one of Kentucky's best players.
(05:06):
Really did a nice job on both of the players
who've been playing the best for Kentucky. Strack was one
for thirteen from the field and then point guard Tony
Morgan did have fourteen points, but she also had five
of the twenty turnovers for Kentucky last night. So Alabama
gets the upset win. Kentucky's back home to take on
number five Oklahoma on Sunday against and it'll be at
(05:27):
historic Memorial Coliseum we think, on the SEC network, and
of course or Man Darren Hendrick will be on the
call on the UK Radio network. So Kentucky and Oklahoma
coming up on Sunday. And in good news for the
football team, Willie Rodriguez officially announcing his return to the
Wildcats and the way that will Stein utilizes the tight
(05:49):
ends at Oregon should be very exciting for Willie and
probably part of the reason that he is recommitting to
Kentucky football. The young man from Covington Catholic had a
very good season this past year, building on his first season,
and if he's as good as we all think he is,
(06:09):
it might be just one more season for him in
this offense because he seems to be an ideal fit
for it. So that's very good news for Kentucky football.
Links to the stories that we talk about each day,
Well not that, Actually, I need to tell you about
the Giuseppes. Giuseppes is our presenting sponsor for this opening
segment of Wildcat News. You go to open Table, you
(06:32):
can make a reservation for a really special night out.
The food's fantastic at Giuseppes. You'll have your favorites if
you go often. The lasagna is one of the best
in town. I love it, but you'll have your favorites.
The main thing is to just get something on the
books for a special night out with family and friends.
Maybe you're celebrating a special occasion. Giuseppes Lexington. You can
(06:55):
see the menu open Tables where you make the reservation.
We'll be right back with Neil Prices Leach Report Radio Network.
Lietrickpore comes to you from the Clarks Poppin Shop Studio, Return,
Refresh and refuel at Clark's all across the Commonwealth. So
we welcome in Neil Price, the longtime radio voice for
(07:16):
University of mississis Mississippi State University athletics, and we want
to talk about the men's basketball team specifically, but we
remember all you fans do Neil's time call it Kentucky
women's basketball and Kentucky baseball, and so you have a
lot of fond memories I know of your time here
and Neil.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Right, yeah. I tell people all the time, and I
think I've told you this before that anytime that state
in Kentucky play and you know, they played football every
year for the first several years I was here, and
then obviously there's at least one basketball game every years.
It's one of the best days and one of the
toughest days for me because it's always fun to come
(07:56):
back to Lexington and see a lot of people. And
I don't know that you can leave many places and
when you go back, have people that we'll look forward
to seeing you, that will embrace you like you never left.
And that's been my experience now nine years removed from
(08:19):
being a part of what was going on with the
UK network and living there, so you know, and then
the other part of it is is you go in
there hoping your team's going to win, and you think
about all those good memories, but you go, Okay, you
got to put those aside because you're here to do job,
you know. So I'm looking forward to being back up
there though. It's been a couple of years since I've
(08:40):
been back to Lexington, so it'll be good to see
a lot of people when we get up there later today.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Back in I think this was twenty sixteen, when you
were still here at the UK working with UK. You
were helping us out on the football broadcast and for
the longest time we had a memory of you in
the drywall there at broadcast. Tell fans so that story.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
So that was actually against State. Yeah, so there's a
football game at at Well at Kroger Field. I'm sorry,
I still the fault to Commonwealth. I'm yeah. So we
had just gotten into the new press box upstairs, the
new radio booth. The game came down to a kick late,
(09:28):
and for the life of me, I can't remember the
Kentucky kicker, Austin McGinnis, that's right. And they had had
a reunion that day of the two thousand and five
or two thousand and six SEC Baseball championship team, and
I had my SEC Championship ring on that day because
(09:51):
I'd been, you know, a part of that. And when
Austin McGinnis nailed the field goal that put Kentucky in front,
I punched the wall right beside of me. I'm standing
behind you. I punched the wall and there was there
was a UK imprinted in the wall from the front
of that championship ring. And I think it stayed for
(10:12):
about a year or two and they came in and
fixed the dry wall, but it hadn't been there. It
was a new place and I accidentally left a mark
on it.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
I think they should have left it. I was I
would have been a proponent of leaving it as a
permanent marker, but was. I remember coming back the next
season after they'd repaired it being disappointed. So yeah, that
was a fun memory. Let's talk about the Bulldogs and
coming into this game tomorrow night, because they're off to
a good start at two and oh in the league.
(10:43):
Won at Texas and then beat Oklahoma convincingly on Wednesday night,
and Josh Hubbard is doing his Josh Hubbard thing. There
was that great shootout he had done in Starkville a
couple of seasons ago between him and Reed Shepherd and
He's coming off two games with and I think, what
sixty four points thirty and one thirty four in the.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Other Yep, that's it. And it's been It's been impressive
to watch Josh because you think, man, he's done it all,
and then the next night he will do something you
haven't seen before. And there was a stretch against Oklahoma
the other night tom where State couldn't score, and all
(11:24):
of a sudden, here comes Josh Hubbard and he scores
twelve out of fourteen points to kind of help him
open that game up and pull away. And it's not
just shooting threes, it's not just mid range jump shots.
He's developed a way to score at the rim. A
finished package is what Chris Jans has called it. So
(11:47):
you're seeing him score at all three levels now and
I think that's one of the areas where he's really
improved his game. The other is he was guarding Nigel
Pack most of the night on Wednesday, and he did
a pretty good job defensively, and that was an area
I think where he was probably deficient in the first
(12:09):
two years of his career. He just wasn't a great defender.
So he's trying to put both sides of the floor
together and become a more complete player. And I think
about what his path could have been coming out of
high school, and I just sit there and go, man,
I'm glad he wound up playing a Mississippi State because
he has certainly changed this program in a positive way.
(12:32):
And I can't imagine him being on the other side
of it somewhere, you know, and thinking about having to
go up against him every year.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
Yeah, he has a bit of a unicorn third year
at the same school.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Yeah, so you know, you've got Josh Hubbard here, whose
third year Sean Jones is a four year player. You
just don't see a lot of that anymore. And not
shocking that those two guys have kind of been the
leaders now. They're very different players. I mean, you know,
Josh clearly a big score. Sean doesn't score a ton,
but he impacts the game in a lot of different
(13:07):
ways with his defense, and he just a guy who
gets his hands on the basketball a lot. He's always
around the loose ball, you know. So you'll look at
the box score and you go, you know, it's got
to blow you away. But then if you go back
and you watch the game, you can see that he
finds ways to create chaos and make some things happen
(13:27):
for his team. He takes a lot of pride in
doing that. So they've got two guys that have been
great leaders and two guys who've kind of helped him
turn things around after a rocky start because they they've
had to get guys to buy into accepting roles on
this team. And Seawan's a good example of that because
you know, when it's not going well early and State's
(13:50):
dropping games, Sean Jones is out there trying to be
a three point shooter. Ball goes to him. He's going
up with it, you know, on that wing as fast
he gets his hands on it. Well, nobody's guarded. And
the reason they're right guard and him is because you
look at his numbers. He's not a great shooter. So
he learned to adapt. Okay, it's not my job to
shoot the ball. It's Josh Hubbard's job to shoot the ball.
(14:10):
It's Jade Nepp's job to shoot the ball. So you
get him to buy into that a chore, a chores.
Another guy who I think has bought into a new role.
He was a guy who liked to shoot it early,
It wasn't working for him. Now he's become a really
good rebounder. In the last three or four games, He's
getting his points inside, he's driving the ball a little
bit more. I think all of that has kind of
(14:30):
helped this team start to understand who it is and
who it could be. But you got to do that consistently,
not in and night out.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
So look at some Ken Palm numbers and the effective
field goal percentage of their opponents is forty seven percent,
and that's significantly down from last season. Now, you know,
at this point is Mark Pope often points out, you know,
you're just two games in the league play. You've played
a lot of teams that everybody's you know, all these
(15:00):
Power Conference teams have played a lot of teams that
they're much better than. So the numbers can get a
little skewed. But are they better defensively?
Speaker 2 (15:09):
I don't think that they are the same defensive team
that Chris Jans has had the first three years is
here and the biggest thing I point to is they
don't turn people over like they did in the past,
So they're defending better, but it's in a different way
like they turned Oklahoma over. I think thirteen times the
(15:31):
other night, and that's one of the best nights they've
had with regard to turning people over. But what they
did is contested shots, finish possessions with defensive rebounds, block
some shots. It's not just this kind of swarming trapping,
you know, like they did, you know, the first two
or three years and a half court. So they've had
(15:52):
to reinvent it a little bit because the personnel that
they have. Could they be a good defensive team by
the end of the year. I think they could be.
I just don't know that they're there yet. So that's
something that again they got to really lock in on
and and focus on night in and night out to
try to build some consistency at that end.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Neill Price, the longtime radio play by play voice for
Mississippi State men's basketball, who well unfortunately will not see
see on press row. I will try to get up
there tomorrow night before the game. Or you can throw
something down and hit me in the back of the head
if I forget, because you're up behind us now, but
you better have a r so not okay.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
So not only I was I was looking forward to
I was kind of looking forward to looking across at you.
I thought I was up.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Behind You're up behind us.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
So I don't know. You know, in all the years
I was up there, twelve years, I don't think I
ever went to that side upstairs.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Seat on the other side upstairs.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Yeah, I always sat up there. Dick Gabriel would sit
up there with me a lot of night. Hint Spencer
would sit up there with me many nights. One of
the great lines I've ever heard. When Billy Gillespie was
coaching at Kentucky, he had he had a point guard
and I won't name names, but in a game against
(17:16):
Old Miss, I think Tubby's son was still playing guard
for Ole Miss at that time, Brian Brian turns it over.
This guy makes a great play, dives down on the floor,
saves the ball, you know, it gets to his knee,
throws it right back to Brian Smith who goes down
and dunks it. And kent Spencer looks at me and says,
(17:37):
player X is going to heaven. And I said, why
is that ken? He goes because I have cussed the
hell out of him, and that was it, you know,
and I just last the rest of the night.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Well, hopefully somebody I'll give you a good line while
you're there. Tomorrow night, I know you'll have some of
your own. Thank you, Neil, See you tomorrow. See you
Tom and Neil Price. We'll be right back on the
Leach Report. It's the Lakes Report presented by Bob Kat
Enterprises and UK men's tennis preseason number four in the
SEC Coaches Poll, so hopefully they'll have another big year.
(18:08):
And Kentucky Football is bringing Courtney Love back, former linebacker
who basically went into the front office, so to speak.
He's coming back as director of player development for Coach Stein.
Great news. He is a great guy and really good
at his job.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
So happy to.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
See Courtney back. We'll be right back. Lad Reports presented
by Bobcat Enterprises with four locations around Kentucky. Google Bobcat
when you need tractors, a fork, lyft, maybe excavators, whatever
it might be, they will have it. Great service after
the sale or the rental deal is executed from Bobcat Enterprises,
so google them when you need what they have. Mike,
(18:46):
of course, he joins us from Sportingnews dot Com at
TSN Mike on X. You see him on the Big
Ten Network and see his brackets for Fox Sports college
basketball coverage, and the new one comes out today. Mike,
what's the the site on x where people can find it?
Speaker 4 (19:03):
Yeah, it is on foxsports dot com, but also all
of the Fox Sports social sites specific to college basketball,
and the handle for that is CBB on Fox which
will that that'll connect you on Instagram or Twitter or Facebook.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
Of course, Kentucky fans may not want to look at
it right now.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
Right well, they I will say that they'll still see
They'll still see them hanging around. But obviously the Wildcats
have to do better in the future to continue to
feel secure. It's the good news for Kentucky right now
(19:43):
is that their struggles are mirrored by most of the
teams at the back of the field, in part because
the top of the field. My first three lines are
as glittering as I've done.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
I've dot this is my seventh season.
Speaker 4 (19:56):
I think I've never seen a top three lines that
are so solid and all with either championship contenders or
very close to championship contenders. Even down in the heart
of the three line has teams like BYU and Houston
that no doubt could win it.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Kentucky was expected to be there coming into the season
and that group you're talking about from your perspective of
watching them and reading about them, why aren't they there?
Speaker 3 (20:28):
I think a couple of things.
Speaker 4 (20:30):
First of all, I think the injuries were a significant
factor and not their development. Off course, I still don't
believe that they have a handle on how to be successful,
and I think the Missouri game is highly reflective of that.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
They played some very good basketball in that game.
Speaker 4 (20:47):
They got up eight points, laid in the game and
should have been able to put it away. They have
not been able to find a formula that works for them,
and I think some of them that comes from even
when players like Jalen Lowe and Jaden Quaintan's are able
to play, how much are they able to play and
(21:09):
how are effective are they able to be for long stretches?
And they are probably the two most important players on
the team because one.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
Is your last line of defense in.
Speaker 4 (21:21):
An ideal world, and your other the other is your
is the start of your offense in an ideal world.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
And you're not getting either of that on a thirty
to thirty five minute basis. You're not getting that from them.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
The second element, I think is otega Oway is kind
of showing that he is what he was a year ago,
and that's there's nothing awful about that, except that when
when it was examined in the off season and you
saw his ability, and it's like all he needs is
the opportunity and the mentality to take over and to
(21:56):
be a first option, to be an All America candidate
and those things. I think he was the preseason SEC
Player of the Year if I remember, yes, and and
and he's not embraced that, and like it's not for everybody.
Not everybody has the game or the temperament to handle that.
Speaker 3 (22:15):
He's still having a good year. He just would need
other players to have better years for his good year
to be part of a successful collective. Diabate has not
been elite. He's had good moments, but there are moments
when he doesn't play with confidence. Some of the what
would I secondary rotation players.
Speaker 4 (22:35):
I don't want to call them fringe players because I
think Brandon Garrison is it shouldn't be that Cam Williams
shouldn't be a fringe in any case. But Brandon played
probably his best basketball of the season on Tuesday night,
and then and then made a very unfortunate pass, one
(22:56):
that probably shouldn't be making in that circumstance that with
you know, twelve minutes left in the first half and
you see that, Okay, if you miss it, whatever, but
this is this is the.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
Game, and you're not Jokic.
Speaker 4 (23:13):
It's not it's not an impossible pass to make, but
you're not an elite big man passer. It's I don't
think he has really found comfort in his role. I
think he thought, I it's hard for me to say this,
but he plays like he thought that his assent to
a more prominent place in the rotation would be a
(23:36):
given and and and that the competition he faced, particularly
from Malachai Marino, he didn't embrace the competition.
Speaker 3 (23:45):
That's what this is what I this is what I'm
observing from Afar.
Speaker 4 (23:48):
I don't see a player who said, I'm beating that
guy out, that he's he's he's pretty good and I'll
fight him every day, but I'm beating him out. I
don't see that when I watched Brandon. I've seen some
light recently and then and what happened at the end
of the Mizoo game happened. So there are many different
reasons why this hasn't quite worked. And I think I
(24:08):
think as well, the expectations.
Speaker 3 (24:11):
Are really hammering them. The whole thing about the money.
Speaker 4 (24:15):
I don't get it, Like, I don't care how much
money they spent.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
I don't care if they spent one hundred million dollars.
It doesn't matter because it's not my money. All that
matters is you went out and you tried to build
a championship contending team, and for various reasons, it's not working.
But how much you spent I think. I think it's a.
Speaker 4 (24:36):
Lazy narrative, to be honest with you, and I see
it everywhere. It just it's inconsequential to anybody but the
people writing the checks.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
That's true. One thing on the Garrison pass, because that
kind of had the same instinct initially as well. And
then asked Mark about it after the game, where I said,
you know, down that the last few minutes was it
You know, there were turnovers and I guess bad decisions
and I was thinking about that play and he said, actually,
he said, he said, that's because basically they did the
(25:07):
same thing on the other side and Otego went back
door and the pass was there and he cut to
the basket, but then he fumbled the ball out of bounds.
But watching the past that Garrison made for whatever reason,
I mean when the play when the defender turned his head,
Cam's supposed to cut back door in their system. That's
(25:28):
what Pope was saying. That's one of their their standard actions.
Except that he didn't cut to the basket. He cut horizontally.
Brandon threw it where he should have cut to because
there was a path. There was an opening there because
the defender of the basket was also turning his back
to Williams. So it was I mean, certainly it is
a it's a riskier play than other passes you could
(25:50):
have made. But his Pope said it is part of
their offense. And but it just kind of as an
example of they're they're not getting everybody on the same page.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
Yet.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
Yes, you know, I look.
Speaker 4 (26:02):
At that and like I said, it's not a play
that would be bothersome to me in any other context.
There was a play in the ninety five ninety six
Super Bowl decisive play Neil O'Donnell threw an interception and
the wide receiver from Georgia named Andre Hastings went the
wrong way on the route is what was reported later.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
But you can't throw the ball there just because.
Speaker 4 (26:27):
You think he's going to be there when you're trying
to drive for the winning touchdown in the Super Bowl,
And that's kind of the same thing. You can't go
off what you're what's supposed to happen in that circumstance.
It's got to be there, and then it happened, and
then you make the play. And if you don't see
him cut the past, it's just in that circumstance. It's
(26:48):
just you have to be precise. If if that's what,
if that's the circumstance, then Brandon shouldn't have the ball
up there on the wing. It should be in the
hands of a more reliable ballhand.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
Mike, I thought there were some Oh I'm sorry, no,
go ahead, finish up. I was going to say, I
thought that, you know, I thought Mark did some things
as well that were uncharacteristic of him, and I think
he's searching as well for some answers. We could talk
about that on the way back.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
Yeah. No, I think you're spot on with that, and
we will pick up on that when we return. It's
Mike de Coursey Sportingnews dot Com joining us here on
the Leech Report. And we'll be right back. It t
report from the Clark's Poppa Shop Studio. Return, Refresh and refuel.
I'm going to get back to what we were talking
about with Mike Corsey in just a moment, but I
want to detour to something else with Mike because of
(27:35):
something is happening this weekend around the Kentucky Mississippi State
game and they're honoring the sixty six Kentucky National Championship
Game runner up team RUPs Runs and according to something
Oscar comes put out on ex earlier this week, pat
Riley's expected to be in the house, who has said
wonderful things to say about his alma mater over the years,
(27:56):
but hasn't found his way back here too often because
of what goes on in his work. But he's supposed
to be here, I think unfortunate. Larry Connelly has some
health issues he's dealing with, and he's supposedly the only
one that is still with us that is not going
to be able to make it. But if you list
the top ten most important games, maybe even top five
in the history of the sport, Mike Kentucky's involved in
(28:18):
two of them. Unfortunately, on the short end, both times
in the Duke Game in ninety two and the sixty
six game against what was then Texas Western now UTEP
and Don Haskins team and starting five African American players
for the first time in the championship game. And the
team that we will be honored here for Kentucky for
(28:40):
what they did. They became a fan favorite because of
how well they passed the ball. And that's kind of
what will eventually segue back to with this Kentucky team, right.
Speaker 4 (28:48):
And that's they were the runs because they didn't have
great size, but they had just some absolutely wonderful players,
Pat being among them. And Pat went on to not
only have an absolutely ridiculously legendary career as a coach
and executive. It was a very fine player for the
Lakers in his time.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
It was. It was a great team.
Speaker 4 (29:10):
And uh, you know, obviously being on the opposite side
of the UTEP game in various articles and uh and
uh and of course the movie Uh, it can be
you know, a circumstance where they're not looked upon well,
but that's that should not be reflective of the players
that were involved in that team. Yea, they went on
(29:32):
to do great things in basketball Larry you mentioned.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
I've talked to Larry about it, like they're honored to
have been in part been a part of that game.
Speaker 3 (29:40):
Yeah, exactly, that's that's a wonderful thing.
Speaker 4 (29:43):
And and so many of the people that played in
that in that game for Kentucky went on to have
significant careers in the game and beyond.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
And uh and I think.
Speaker 4 (29:53):
That you know, it's it's similar to what happened in
sixty three with the Game of Change and how Mississippi
State wanted to compete. The players and the coaches went
to great lengths to compete against Loyola in that season,
defying state orders and such, and those those players, you know,
(30:16):
they were important part of changing the game as well.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
And there's a Kentucky that was on that sixty three
Missippi State team, Joe dan Gold from Fleming County.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
There you go.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
Yeah, so the Kentucky and so Mississippi State's the opponent
tomorrow night. So maybe that's all kind of appropriate. It
comes together. But the segue I was begging as far
as this Kentuck Kirk Kentucky team is they have had
issues with passing the ball and playing together on the
floor and the opposite of what's always talked about with
(30:47):
that sixty six group. You were saying some uncharacteristic things
that you're seeing Mark Pope try to work his way through.
So take us through all of that with what you're
seeing with Mark, and then how this team can find
its way to pass the ball better.
Speaker 4 (31:05):
Yeah, I think I think part of the problem in
the injury issues that they've had is that they haven't
been able to build any sort of rotational pattern at all.
And you saw that really reflected in the Miszoo game.
Colin Chandler, who had started several previous games barely played
(31:28):
in the first half, played some crucial minutes in the
second half and obviously made that tremendous defensive play when
they really needed it and nearly got them, you know,
certainly got them a chance to tie or win it,
but it didn't come to fruition. But I thought that
there were moments when he might have been able to
(31:48):
be out there and do what he does do what
he does best, which is provide some stretch to the
to the offense.
Speaker 3 (31:55):
But he wasn't deployed a lot.
Speaker 4 (31:58):
The Brandon Garrison thing we talked about before, But his
minutes are are odd and sporadic.
Speaker 3 (32:05):
I thought that there was a play.
Speaker 4 (32:07):
There was a time when they went offense to defense
late in the game, and I don't remember the exact
time or score, but it was very late.
Speaker 3 (32:17):
Out.
Speaker 4 (32:18):
Yeah, and they got the they got the stop, but
then he immediately when they got to stop. I don't
I don't register in my mind timeouts like that. So
I looked at the screen right away, Okay, how many
to call it?
Speaker 3 (32:31):
And he didn't uh that.
Speaker 4 (32:32):
He let that trip go without Jalen on the floor
and it didn't become a good trip.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
That was a Garrison play we were talking about that
happened on that possession.
Speaker 4 (32:41):
Yeah, So I thought there were things that he didn't
do or could have done or did do that were different.
And I think he's searching a little bit too. I
think the one thing that would make Kentucky better is
if everybody sort of just like relaxed a little bit
and didn't worry about trying to win the chance Wampionship
of the of the SEC or the NCAA in January,
(33:06):
but just tried to figure out how to get how
to get a win, and how to get better getting
a win.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
He uses the word pace a lot is something that
is a source of frustration for him. And it's not
just you know, fast breaking, he's talking about spreading to
screens in the half court for example. Is that something
that could come from that not having them all together,
the group that is his best group for a long
(33:33):
stretch yet and there's still a lot of uncertainty among players.
Speaker 3 (33:37):
Yeah, I think that.
Speaker 4 (33:39):
When players have their roles adjusted a lot because of
those situations, they don't always understand exactly where they're supposed
to be in a given moment, in a given circumstance
because their role on a particular they they may have
the same sets to run, but their role within that
set might be a little different, expectation might be a
(34:01):
little different. And I always say that if you if
you run in a straight line, you're going to run
a lot faster than if you can see the finish line.
Speaker 3 (34:09):
Then if you don't know where you're running to.
Speaker 4 (34:11):
And even though that's not like it's not exact circumstance,
it's not strictly about how fast you are in a
basketball game, but how quick you get to a spot
can make the difference in whether or not you that
play is successful. And in certain circumstances, Like you said,
with that back door set not going to the right
(34:33):
place right there is a perfect example of how a
play can be detonated by one's own inaction or one's
own poor action.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
Yeah, that's that's a good point because Cam's was in
playing the three in that particular grouping where a lot
of times he's well, say some of the times he
plays the four when they go a little smaller. So
that's yeah, that's an example of what you're talking about.
It is we're done to better our final minute here.
It's just at this point, everybody, to your point, everybody
(35:07):
fans get caught up in you know, not going to
make the tournament, really make the tournament. You know, look
at it. How many games you look at this schedule,
how many can they win? Just worry about winning the
one Saturday night against Mississippi State.
Speaker 3 (35:18):
One hundred percent. That's exactly what this team needs.
Speaker 4 (35:21):
They could have really used Tuesday night because they played
well enough to win a lot of the game, but
then didn't play well enough in the final minutes.
Speaker 3 (35:31):
But they were good enough to win that game. And
Missouri is is not a great.
Speaker 4 (35:35):
Opponent, but a quality opponent, and Mississippi State's played a
little better lately. They had not been significant for a
lot of November and December, but have played better lately.
So you have to be good enough, and you have
to do a good job guarding Josh Hubbard. But really
it comes down to how everybody embraces their role and
(35:55):
worries about each other and not about the people yelling
they're making too much money or or you know, this
isn't the right coach or any of that stuff, like
you're you're what a year and a third into the
Mark perp the Mark Pope regime. We don't need to
be talking about that now. I mean, it's it's too
much of that gets amplified. It's it's the second year,
(36:19):
and in his first year was a spectacular success. Why
would anybody believe that this year can't be successful or
that next year can't be a spectacular success again.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
Mike cursysporting News dot com. Look for his latest edition
of the Brackets for Fox Sports coming up later today.
Speaker 3 (36:34):
Thank you, Mike, Thanks Tom.
Speaker 1 (36:36):
Final segment of the Leads Report when we come right
back Stan Wow Cat History Present about Kentucky road shows,
sports cards and memorabilia. Here in Lexington roadshowcards dot Com.
In nineteen ninety six, Kentucky Mississippi State both made the
final four. Of course, the Cats won the title. They
played three times. Stayed upset the Cats in the SEC
Tournament final, but the first of their meeting is occurred
(36:56):
on this day in ninety six, Number two Kentucky over
number twelve State seventy four fifty six as Kentucky held
the Bulldogs to thirty five percent shooting. And Happy birthday
to Terrence Jones Late trimpart presented by Bob kat Enterprises.
Have a great weekend everybody, and we will see you
on Monday.
Popular Podcasts
Two Guys, Five Rings: Matt, Bowen & The Olympics
Two Guys (Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers). Five Rings (you know, from the Olympics logo). One essential podcast for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. Bowen Yang (SNL, Wicked) and Matt Rogers (Palm Royale, No Good Deed) of Las Culturistas are back for a second season of Two Guys, Five Rings, a collaboration with NBC Sports and iHeartRadio. In this 15-episode event, Bowen and Matt discuss the top storylines, obsess over Italian culture, and find out what really goes on in the Olympic Village.
iHeartOlympics: The Latest
Listen to the latest news from the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Milan Cortina Winter Olympics
The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina are here and have everyone talking. iHeartPodcasts is buzzing with content in honor of the XXV Winter Olympics We’re bringing you episodes from a variety of iHeartPodcast shows to help you keep up with the action. Follow Milan Cortina Winter Olympics so you don’t miss any coverage of the 2026 Winter Olympics, and if you like what you hear, be sure to follow each Podcast in the feed for more great content from iHeartPodcasts.