2025-11-06 BBI

A quick show ahead of UK women's basketball with comments from UK volleyball coach Craig Skinner, men's basketball coach Mark Pope and Defensive Coordinator Brad White.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Big Blue and sider Dick Gabriel with
you on a Thursday edition of our show. This Game night,
UK Women's basketball coming up in just a few minutes,
so we've only got a few minutes to spend with
you now. Darren Headrick's got the pregame that it's the
Wildcats and Monmouth at Historic Memorial Coliseum, Kentucky looking to
follow up on its season opening win over Morehead State.

(00:22):
Darren Hedrick has all the action and coming up you'll
hear from Darren and head coach Kenny Brooks. We're going
to go in chronological order because it's a big weekend
starting tonight with women's basketball also tonight coming up at
seven o'clock, it's UK volleyball. Wildcats are in Missouri to
take on those Tigers who are not as good as

(00:42):
they've been in the past. But you can look at
this as a trap game, coming off to win over Texas,
heading into the home match with Tennessee, which is going
to be huge. Missouri fully capable of springing and upset.
Although Missouri last time out lost to Vandy, which is
right now one of the teams at the bottom of
the league because they just are getting their program off
the ground again for the first time in forty five

(01:04):
years or so. But again, if Kentucky doesn't play well,
Wildcats could stumble and ruin their perfect record. Kentucky has
the outside hitters Eva Hudson and of course Brooklyn Delay,
but also strong in the middle now. Lizzie Carr has
been really good in the middle, Kennedy Washington and so
Craig Skinner says, it's been a big help to the

(01:26):
outside hitters.

Speaker 2 (01:27):
It's a threat now, so we need to get better
out when you get more fishing at it, you know, consistently.
But every team we play knows it's a threat now.
So it just creates space along the net, you know,
so we can attack the middle third, we can attack
the right third, and we can attack the left third,
and you know, there's there's still some things that we

(01:47):
have to smooth out, but it's come longer.

Speaker 1 (01:51):
Yeah, posing defenders have to honor the players in the middle.
That just makes the outside hitters that much better. Seven
o'clock Kentucky Volleyball Tonight. It is on on ESPN Plus.
Tomorrow Night, Men's basketball Kentucky at Valparaizo, seven o'clock start.
Our coverage begins at five thirty Here on six thirty WLAP.
Gonna be interesting to see if and how much Trent

(02:13):
Noah plays after spraining his ankle, and it was really
really evident he was in a lot of pain. But
believe it or not, Mark Pope after the game, after
the win over Nichols said that Trent Noah was ready
to go back in the game.

Speaker 3 (02:26):
Trent's the toughest dude. I know he was in a
lot of pain on the floor, and he doesn't ever
show that. So I went to our uh, I went
to Brandon Wells, walked down the sideline of the Brandon
Wells and like, Brandon, is he ready to go? And
he's like, yeah, we just tested him. He cut, he ran,
he said he's feeling fine. And my direct quote was like, well,
Trent Noah is a liar. I think I yelled at

(02:48):
probably louder than I should have. He just such a
tough kid. So I'm glad we were able to get
through the game and not have to put him back in.
We got to get him healthy because he's an important
part of this team. But you know, one of the
luxuries we have is we have guys and we have guys,
and we have a lot of guys that go play
and go compete, and so you know, we have some
depth that we didn't have last year.

Speaker 1 (03:10):
That is a fact. Although this Kentucky team so far
has not yet shown the capability of shooting the basketball
anywhere near as good as it was last year, and
I didn't expect it to be as good when it
comes to shooting as last year's team. It is still
way too early to judge. But Trent Noah is one
of the better shooters on this team, so you know

(03:31):
you're gonna have to have him in the lineup, I
think if you expect to hit anything from the outside.
But they have other guys who need to heat up
as well. Uk Valparaizo tomorrow night at seven o'clock. One
other basketball note, A couple of Wildcats find themselves on
watch lists. Take Oway and Jasper Johnson. This is par
the United States Basketball Writers Association, which I am a member.

(03:54):
Oway one of fifty preseason candidates for the Oscar Robertson Trophy.
Johnson one of twenty five freshmen to watch for the
Wayman Tisdale Award. The Robertson Trophy is the nation's oldest award.
It goes to the national player of the Year. They've
been giving it out since the fifty eight fifty nine season.
There are eleven SEC players on this watch list. Oscar

(04:18):
Sheebwey and Anthony Davis both have won this award. Wyman
Tisdale Award goes to the nation's top D one freshman.
Since eighty eight eighty nine, three Wildcats have won it,
John Wall, Davis, and Reed Sheppard Jasper one of four
other SEC freshmen on the list. My sincere hope is
that both of these guys know who these players are.

(04:41):
They know who Oscar Robertson is. They know who Wayman
Tisdale was. He has passed away, but they need to
know the greats who preceded them. On Saturday, as you
well know, the Wildcats take on the Florida Gators at
seven thirty. Our covers begins at five point thirty here
on six thirty. Wlap White, whose defense played so well

(05:03):
at Auburn, talked yesterday about what is going to take
to beat the Florida Gators. He basically said more of
the same. You know, is it x'es and O's, is
it Jimmy's and Joe's. It is a combination of both,
you know.

Speaker 4 (05:15):
We I have to do a good job of trying
to you know, mix some coverage and some relief downs
in there for those guys, and so it's a combination
and everything.

Speaker 3 (05:24):
You know, But at the end of the day, you know.

Speaker 4 (05:27):
What stood out the most on Saturday was the effort
in which they played. And there was effort, there was energy,
there's enthusiasm. They were pulling for each other the whole nine.
So we need to we need to repeat performance of that,
and then you you tack on, you know, execution.

Speaker 1 (05:44):
It's gonna all have to come together if the Wildcats
are going to beat the Florida Gators with a dangerous
quarterback and DJ Lagway and a team, a Florida team
that is really fighting for its life right now coming
off a bitterly disappointing loss to the Georgia Bulldogs, a
game that Florida led in the fourth quarter and then
let it get away and had a wide open receiver
that could have led to a go ahead touchdown late

(06:06):
and the guy the pass never got to him. Lagway
underthrew it. So it's going to be a dangerous, dangerous
Florida team. A couple of stories from beyond the UK,
and a couple of them were super sad. Marshawn Neelan,
a Dallas offensive lineman a Cowboy, dies at age twenty four.
No cause of death, but his agent released the news

(06:28):
a late Wednesday night, and the Cowboys, of course releasing
a statement as just a tragic that the guy at
age twenty four, and this is a guy who scored
Dallas' first touchdown on Monday night against the Cardinal scooped
up a block pun in the end zone and scored.
Played at Western Michigan. No cause of death yet immediately
revealed by his agent or by the team. And you

(06:50):
got to feel for Eric Spolster, the head coach of
the Miami Heat. His house in Coral Gables caught fire.
He was in Denver at the time. When he got home,
he finds there twenty emergency units around what's left of
his house and there isn't much left. Sadly, so you
feel for Eric Spolstra. On a lighter note, the house

(07:11):
reportedly worth six point six million dollars. On a lighter note,
we don't talk a lot of hockey, but Alex Ovechkin
gets goal number nine hundred. Everybody knew it was coming,
but he became the first player in the history of
the league to score nine hundred goals. He did it
in the Washington Capitol six to one win against the
Saint Louis Blues last night at Capitol One Arena. This

(07:35):
guy is incredible. Alex Jovechkin is in his twenty first
NHL season. He became the eighth player league history to
play fifteen hundred games with one franchise. That mark came
earlier this year, but now he's got the nine hundred
goals to go along with that record. Because of men's basketball,

(07:56):
no show tomorrow night were preempted. Usually this is when
Billy and I make our picks. Billy Rutledge and I,
so we've got the speed round. Billy just sent me
his picks for this week. Falcons at Colts favored by
six and a half billion, and I both taking Indy
at home. Buffalo on the road in Miami favored by
nine and a half. We are both taking the Bills there.

(08:17):
That's a lot of points, but we don't like the Dolphins.
Ravens at Minnesota. Ravens are favored by four and a half.
BILLI and I both taking Minnesota. I don't know if
the Vikings win, but they cover that one. Lions at Washington.
The Commanders at home are getting eight and a half.
The Lions are favored, but Billy and I are gonna
lay the points and we're both taking the Lions. My

(08:39):
beloved Packers are home with the Philadelphia Eagles. Green Bay
is actually favored by two and a half. I say,
actually because they haven't been playing well. Billy likes the Eagles.
I will stick with my Packers, so we split on
that one. Billy's Buccaneers are at home. They are laying
two and a half to the hot New England Patriots,
but Billy and I are both taking Baker Mayfield and

(09:03):
the Buccaneers. I want to wrap up with a note
about an event coming up on Monday. It is the
Walker Bueller Celebrity Charity Golf Outing, the sixth annual event.
And of course Walker Bueller is the Big league pitcher Phillies,
Red Sox Dodgers, two time World Series champion. This is
his opportunity and along with his family, to give back

(09:25):
through the Bueller Family Foundation. The proceeds from the tournament,
which we've played at Keene Trace Golf Club. Proceeds go
to local first responders, but it comes up on Monday
at Keene Trace Golf Club. And to find out more
go to Buellerfamilyfoundation dot org. That's v U e h

(09:45):
l e R Family Foundation dot org. All right, that
nex Kentucky women's basketball, the Wildcats taking on Monmouth. Aaron
Hedgwick has a call next on six point thirty.

Speaker 5 (09:56):
Wlap Tatatatta.

Speaker 1 (10:42):
Sat back to.

Speaker 4 (11:07):
Pat to the tip.

Speaker 2 (11:27):
And it don't don