Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the home of the Wildcats. Six thirty WLAP
Welcome in Stockyards Bank, Sunday Morning Sports Talk on Anthony
White along with Larry Vaught and Jack Pilgrim, coming to
you from Snowy Clark's Main Street Market studios and Snowy Downtown.
A lets to Kentucky. With that being said, we have
(00:21):
a winter weather advisory out, so if you do not
have to travel, please do not sit in, turn your
radio on, get yourself some some soup, chili, and do
not because by the time the show is over and
Bow and I are done, it is supposed to be
several inches of snow and possibly ice will start to
accumulate underneath. So we want as less people on the
(00:44):
road it's possible, So please stay safe.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
You're gonna be done a lot earlier than me. Well,
I'll still have I won't have as bad of a
risk as you will. But I think the majority of
it's supposed to come down while we're on air between
nine and noon. So we will try to reach out
with Chris Bailey at some point after we get done
and reach out, but we're not worried about that right
(01:08):
now because the Cats had a huge win in a
brawl with the Florida Gators yesterday at Repperina one o six,
one hundred victory. A lot of things went well, Jack
Larry Vaught, glad to have you back. You were not
with us last week, but if you have an opportunity
to go back and listen last week's show, Jack Pilgrim
(01:28):
was spot on about a lot of things that had
happened for us to get a win. I'm not certain
that he was certain we would get the win, but
a lot of things that he and I discussed for
us to get the win against Florida had to happen,
and Jack Pilgrim, a lot of them happened.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
It was beautiful, wasn't it, And just as beautiful as
a snow coming down. You're you're talking talking about the weather,
and I looked outside, and I spent the morning. I've
been scrambling trying to get the remnants of the Christmas
lights down and you know, get the house and weather prepared.
So appreciate the heads up. However, everybody stay stays safe.
We're kind of hunkering down watching football as long as
(02:05):
our power stays on. So I hope everybody stays safe
out there. But it was beautiful. It was you know,
it felt like a true heavyweight battle, you know between
you know, Ali enlisted. It was one of those just
like you know, big time. You know, you get the
undefeated thirteen and oh Florida Gators. You know, a team
(02:27):
that has so much talent in the back courd just
as good as it gets, you know, a true contender
to win the sec and you get this, you know,
the new hot commodity and Mark Pope and you know
they're kind of taking the world by storm. Have a
couple of big time wins, a couple some stinkers along
the way, but everybody, folks on the top ten wins
seeing those two go at it and see the best
(02:48):
of the best version of both teams. Like it'd be
different if Florida came in here and just didn't make
shots and it just kind of sunk up the place
and we steamrolled to you know, fifteen twenty twenty five
point wins something like that. Then you got, well, it's
Florida any good or you know what, did we just
catch him on a bad day. We caught Florida on
its best day and we just had a better day,
(03:10):
and it just it had just that feel of the
you know, top tier heavyweight battle where one team had
to be standing over the top, like Ali Listen had
to be standing over the top flexing, and it just
so happened to be Mark Pope doing that. So it
was just a really really cool environment. We were talking
with Bo before the show started about we're gonna where
it stacks up among you know, all time environments. We
(03:33):
had Dan Shulman on Twitter say that, you know, he's
been doing this for thirty years and he can count
on one hand how many environments in you know, on
court products were better than what we experienced a reparrena
on Saturday. So very very cool to be a part
of that, and even better that we got to witness.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
The victory Larry Vaught. We talked about last week if
you did not catch the show to Clayton Junior and
Martin would be as advertised. They were as advertised for
more than fifty up sixty points, and we knew that
they would get off. We didn't know how well we
would shoot. We thought that we'd have to hit a
lot of three pointers or have to make a lot
(04:11):
of outside shops. Because Florida struggled against North Carolina on
the perimeter, and we also thought that there would be
there bigs would be maybe a little more physical because
our guys are not used to playing on the box,
bumping and grinding. I think Williams took a lot of
flat for some of the things he did, but you
look at the stat line and just possession by possession Omari,
(04:31):
I think he did make make the game whereas winnable
for us because he mucked it up enough that Florida
we won a couple of those possessions. Larry, were you
surprised at the out output of the Florida game?
Speaker 4 (04:47):
No, I just enjoyed every bit of it. It was just
a fun game to watch. I love the really good
offense that both teams had. I think both teams offense
was just better than the defense they As Jack said it,
some incredible shots on both ends. Kobe Brio was magnificent
for Kentucky. But O taga Oway had a stretch, he
(05:07):
was magnificent. Butler had a couple of stretches. He was magnificent. Again,
I thought, I'm already like you said, he catches a
lot of flack, but he also does a lot of
things you gotta have to win games. They did that yesterday,
So just a great way for Kentucky to start a SEC.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Play and Jack, that's kind of where I'm at. Great win.
I know we weren't optimistic when we left last Sunday
about the game. Does the change is the optimism because
that's going to be I think the theme of the
show because two weeks ago or before the Ohio State game,
we thought we were championship material. After the Ohio State game,
everybody was questioning was this the right hire and they
(05:42):
knew that this may not be the coach and the
team's going to take some time. Where are we at
after a big, big time win over Floord?
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Well, it did just kind of have the feel that
you know, the Duke game felt like it's on a
champions Classics, felt like its own event. You pour everything
into that one in Atlanta. You know, that game was
so much on the line with history and okay, you know,
can Mark Pope prove himself as a blue blood and
Kentucky still you know, the modern blue blood after you know,
(06:15):
some couple of years down, you know it. It was
easy to invest everything in that one, so that one
made sense. The Gonzaga win, you know, you get down
eighteen points. You know, it's an all system of failure
in the first half and you just kind of scrape together,
you know, a late win, and it kind of you know,
there was a chance. It was fluky, like you just
(06:36):
kind of had that in the back of your mind
of you know, how good is this team actually, and
then you see them regress against Clemson, you see him
regrets against Ohio State. They kind of just sputter offensively
the last couple of weeks and you know, really just
don't have one of those performances that make you go, oh,
there is the you know, the Mark Pope team we
know in love that's the shooting, scoring, offensive sets, the beautiful,
(06:58):
you know, well oiled machine that we've scene at times,
but that was kind of at the start of the year.
Is the you know, have other teams figured this, you know,
this group out and this coaching out, and you know
you just kind of had that uncertainty. So that's why
it was really important with you know, the SEC at
an all time high. I mean, it's gonna shatter the
all time record. Eleven was a previous record set by
the Big East, and twenty eleven a chance to get
(07:20):
as many as thirteen, and if you look the on
the bubble two teams are the last the first four
out in the latest bracketology, so you could get as
many as fourteen of the sixteen teams in the SEC
in the NCAA tournament. So when there's so much invested
in the league this year, and you know, just this
juggernaut after juggernaut after juggernaut, I think there's five more
(07:42):
Top ten opponents coming up, you just kind of had
in the back of your mind of man, what we
do go to the s into these SEC games and
just get smacked in them out? But what happens we
just don't know because the league is so good and
we've had just so many up, up and down performances.
So to see them go in and make a state
the way they did and dominate the way they did offensively,
(08:03):
get back to you know, the shooting success and the
efficiency and the offensive sets and the things that kind
of made you know, Mark Pope such an appealing higher
in the offensive scheme, so appealing for just the casual
fans is seeing all of that in motion. And then
obviously Kobe Braa going for a career high twenty three
career most seven makes from three. It was just it
(08:24):
was beautiful as everything that we promised, and there was
a sense of validation going into that one that we
just wanted to see them do it against, you know,
an elite SEC opponent to get the thing role, and
he just kind of can affirm everything that we thought
about this group. We finally got to see it in action.
And you just add another top ten win under your belt,
the most in college basketball in the first since Adolf
(08:45):
rup Anthony to start three and zero in your coaching
career against top ten opponents. So that's if you can
join Adolf Rupp and pretty much anything, it's a pretty
good sign from Mark Pope.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
It's funny you bring Adolf rough because the first thing
I'm thinking about for my next question. My next question
was is this It seems kind of football ish to
me and Jack you were on you were on this
side of the coin as well. So we shoot forty
eight percent and you said that all year in our
fan basis, thought, well, do we have to shoot almost
fifty percent? Tom, you know, to to win big games?
(09:18):
And it reminds me of football. Whenever when we beat
Old miss Or we take Georgia to the to the
wire or you know, you play a good game, Well,
we didn't deserve to win, so you kind of get that. Well,
if we got to play, but we got to hit
forty eight percent of our threes, almost fifty percent of
our threes for us to win, we can't. This is
not sustainable. But we don't get credit for making those
as if you know, we shouldn't like we're we shouldn't
(09:39):
make him, we don't get credit for that. And I say,
because Larry Vault stated Andrew Carr did not play a
very well game. He comes up big at the end
of the game. Old Way probably wanted to play a
better game than he played, but he stopped a couple
of runs that they had. There were every things he
did to stop runs. We got a we got good
we got good money, we got good minutes from Garrison.
(09:59):
So so all the things we had to do to win,
everybody contributed so that we can win. Is there still
that mindset of well we got out there, lucky, we
had a hit forty eight percent, uh and Bria had
bread had to go seven to nine for us to
get the win. Or are we past that or are
we still in the football mode? Where we're lucky when
(10:22):
we pull out a tough one. Uh Jack, I.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
Thought that one was going there to Larry, Sorry about that. No,
I don't see it that way, And you know, I
appreciated that in the you know, kind of when the
game flip, when the momentum kind of just shifted entirely
Florida's direction is a you know, eleven point lead in
the first half, he kind of started getting those those
scaries a little bit like, oh, are we going trending
(10:54):
back in the right direction? You know, kind of felt
like that Ohio State game where it's like, uh, oh,
what if they just have the horses that we've done
and this is gonna you know, trend toward a twenty
point lost, Like you kind of had that early feel.
And then otega Oway that was getting downhill and finishing
through physicality and you know, getting in ones and just
kind of getting the momentum back with you know, some
(11:14):
some tough physical plays. And it wasn't just you know,
Kobe Braa going nuclear from three. That helped, obviously, but
it wasn't just the shooting that kind of separated Kentucky
and Mario Williams after just a disaster start. You know,
getting out worked on the glass. That was kind of,
you know, one of the arguably the top item on
(11:37):
the scouting report of something that if Kentucky was gonna win,
they had to compete on the glass. And they didn't early.
I mean, they got down pretty substantially. I think it
was seventeen to four split, fourteen to four split something
like that to start the game, in the first seven
minutes or so on the glass, and just it was
a disastrous effort to start with. They kind of chipped
back away. Mario Williams being kind of the catalyst for that,
(11:59):
just kind of using his size. I mean, like he's
a grown man man like I mean that's a seven
foot two hundred and sixty pound you know, just absolute
monster with athleticism and just you know sometimes I'm like, man,
use it, go go outwork these guys because you have
the physical tools, and just feel like sometimes he doesn't go,
you know, go put forth the effort to do it.
(12:20):
So he kind of unlocked himself and you know, got emotional.
He was, you know, looking at the crowd and you know,
throwing it, you know, fift in the air, like hey,
you know, I am here, this is my high energy moment.
So it wasn't just you know, a flukey oh well,
when you make fourteen threes, what are you going to
do against this Kentucky team. It was is that Kentucky
found ways to win in other ways, because that's how
(12:42):
you get to one hundred and six points. That it
wasn't just the fourteen threes. It was a lot of
other interesting stuff that they kind of added to it.
But I think otego Away was the biggest catalyst for it.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Yeah, and our bigs may have not have been as
physical as we would like to have been on the blocks,
but thirteen assists from that position or just from Biggs
in general, is a whole lot. We will continue this
conversation on the other side of this break. You're listening
Stockyards Bank Sunday Morning Sports Talk on news radio six
thirty WLAP. This is the home of the Wildcats, six
thirty WLAP. Welcome back Stockyards Bank Sunday Morning Sports Talk.
(13:18):
I'm Anthony White along with Jack Pilgrim and Larry Vaught.
Stockyards Bank is your trusted partner since nineteen old fors
ahead on over to syb dot com for all your
banking and financial needs. Larry Vaught. I was asking Jack
the question, but he also thought that was a good
question for you. That is this team for real? Is
(13:38):
this a recipe to make a deep run in March?
Is this a recipe to be competitive maybe top three
in the SEC this season where changing offense, is changing personnel,
making adjustments. Or is this our football team that we
were lucky to get there? This is not gonna work.
The SEC is too tough. Are you do you subscribe
(14:00):
to the whole idea that it's not flu best Mark Pope.
His adjustments to things he does are good coaching which
we may we may just not be accustomed to. Or
do you think it is luck.
Speaker 4 (14:13):
Well? I don't think it's like last year's football team.
I think it's way different than that. I think it's
much more real than that. I think they just played very,
very well. I think there's just gonna be a lot
of games in the SEC that you're gonna have to
play that well to win, and whether they're real or not,
I don't know. When you've got three wins over top
ten teams and it's the first week in January, that
(14:36):
seems pretty real to me. And I don't think that
I don't think I saw anything out of Kentucky yesterday
that I thought was just out of their capabilities that
if we watch them play the rest of the season,
that we'll say, well, we'll never see them do this
or never see them do that again. So yeah, I
think it's real.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Now.
Speaker 4 (14:52):
Do I think it helped a lot being at home yesterday? Yeah,
I sure do, because I'm not sure maybe Jack knows.
I'm not sure if an SEC road team won a
game yesterday, did they, Jack.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
I'm not sure. But it was definitely tough to letting
for just about everybody, including a former friend of ours
that made his way to Knoxville and got his teeth
knocked in. That was not a very impressive performance for
some of our old friends down in Fayetville. So yeah,
it was not a very good showing for road teams yesterday.
(15:25):
So I was very grateful to be on the home
side of the conversation yesterday. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
And I think you were talking earlier say about how
the fans feel. I think the van Wagen's kind of
waiting list to get on again right now. I think
I think it's pretty filled up, and I think is
what Jack this alluded to. I think what happened the
couple of hours after Kentucky game ended, if you stayed
on the ESPN and watched that next game, probably helped
(15:52):
the van wagon fill up even more.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Yeah, it's but we have to we have to get
away from that. I think that Mark Pope has done
within the first these first games that I think we
get away from it. I listen to a lot of
talking heads. Now, the last conversation is going to be
when we play Arkansas. That would be I think that
should be the last conversation about cal versus Pope, the
new system versus the old system. So if the bandwagon
(16:18):
is waiting to and you know what, I think some
people were apprehensive about jumping off the bandwagon because they
were loyal to our past coach and they loved our
past coach, which I love the excitement that he brought
here as well. But Mark Pope should not have to
keep waiting to be supported just because your loyalty to
another coach, which you could still be loyal to that
coach and still be a UK fan. I've said that
(16:40):
for years. I was loyal to Rick Patino for years.
I love Rick Patino style. I like what he did
while I was here in college watching those guys win games.
So I think you can be loyal to both if
you want to do it. But I don't think Mark
Pope should have to wait or do something extra to
prove that he's better than the past coach. He's already
proven right now. I was a Jack stated three top
(17:02):
ten wins. Maybe we need to wait for all the
teams to get into the top ten now, Jack, One
thing you did point out last week that is even
more interesting based off of Larry's comments, You thought that
we would have to win all the SEC home games,
still one or two on the road after you seen
what you saw yesterday. Do you think that's possible? Because
Big Blue Nation was rock and rolling, So let me
(17:22):
give you all the plause. You came early. We didn't
know what the what the the attendance would be like
at eleven o'clock, but you came early and from when
Bo told me you all stay late. So kudos for
that rock and rolling. Can we win them all at home? Jack,
and still want to still a couple on the row
and not won a couple on the road.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
And I think that kind of helped set the tone
a little bit where we got you know, we saw
the best of the best come in the sec. We
saw them play to their best. You know, we got
punch in them mouth on the glass, Like you still
lost that rebounding battle and it wasn't particularly close. You've
got your flaws exposed quite a bit and you still
(18:05):
won your way. And I think that was a really
important kind of telltale sign of like, hey, this is
sustainable against the Auburn This is sustainable against you know,
the Tennessees and the Alabamas and even you know in
the next year, missip stage a steam roll yesterday. So
just go down the list. This is a really really
tough league. So to expect or demand a win in
(18:27):
every single home game, you know, I would love that.
And if they if they managed to do that, that
would be one heck of a feather in the cap
for Mark Pope and in his you know, first year,
and then steal a couple on the one, you know,
if you get to the double digit win total. You know,
I did the math on my show this past week,
but bark Torvik does a you know, if it spits
(18:50):
you out, you know, if you put in input data
of okay, let's say they go you know ten and
eight in the SEC. If they go eleven and seven,
if they go twelve and six. You go down the
list and it spits you out like what the projected
seed line is. And you know you could lose seven
SEC games and still be a two seed. You can
lose six and be a you know, for the potential,
a one seat. So right, hold that though it's so tough.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
But we know we got to pay bills. Hold that thought.
I like where you're going with that. Just hold it.
We'll get back to it. You're listening to Stockyards Bank
Sunday Morning Sports Talk on news Radio six thirty WLAP.
This is the home of the Wildcats, six thirty w LAP.
Welcome back Stockyards Bank Sunday Morning Sports Talk on Anthony
White along with Larry Vaught and Jack Pilgrim. This our
(19:34):
Sunday one in Sports Talks, brought to you by Country
Boy Brewing. If you like to join the Big Ass
Fans Hotline, you can reach us at eighty five nine
to eight zero two to eighty seven, that is eight
five nine to eight zero. Cats. We are talking about
Kentucky's win over number six Florida Gators one hundred and
six to one, one hundred. It was a It was
a shootout, the same way the snow is coming down
(19:55):
in beautiful Lexington, Kentucky. It's the same way those jumpers
was ran from Clayton, Bria and Martin. It was a
lot of shots being made. But before I cut you off, Jack,
you were explaining how many wins were needed and how
does breakdown this equation system that you put together to
find out how many wins we had to have a sec.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
Yeah, and it was just really favorable to Kentucky based
on the strength of schedule. Like when you build up
so much, you know, goodwill with the you know the analytics,
with winning three, you know your first three top ten opponents,
and you build quality. You know, e quality resume this early,
like nobody else in college basketball has has racked up
(20:39):
three top ten wins, and that's going to go such
a long way where you don't want it to happen,
but you can afford a slip up here and there.
You know, everybody wants to go underfeat. Everybody wants to
finish the year thirty eight and two. Like I'm sitting
there right there with you, I will be disappointed with
the next game we lose, and I will be rooting
for a win in every single game that we experience
(20:59):
from now until hopefully April. Like, I'm right there with you.
But when you you kind of have to adjust your
you know, move I hate moving goalposts, but you kind
of have to this year with this league because of
how strong the league is. Where you're going to go
to Starkville next week, taking on a Missisippi State team
that's just absolutely pounding its competition, and like there's a
(21:24):
chance that Kentucky goes down there as an underdog and
like most years, you know, I don't think Cal ever
lost to Mississippi State and Starkville because usually Mississippi State stinks.
So you just kind of have to go in and
go whoa like the team that you know, we're a
top ten team and you just beat a you know,
number six team at home and you know we're going
down to Starkville as an underdog. How does that happen? Well,
(21:45):
it's because the league is just that good and you
kind of have to just move the goalpost ever so
slightly and just know that, hey, we're probably gonna have
to take a loss here and there on the chin
and it's not going to hurt you in March, like,
this is a program capable of losing five in the
SEC and still be in a one seat six potentially
and being you know, on that one to two seed
(22:06):
line and you know, go down the list. You can
lose as many as you know, eight SEC games and
still be a three seats. So it's just a really
favorable schedule. It's a you know, a blood bath of
a schedule, but it's favorable for some some some highs
and lows that that are, you know, what we should
probably expect with this this type of schedule. It's really
(22:28):
really hard. But when you you know, sack up early
wins the way Kentucky has, you kind of give yourself
a little bit of cushion room. And that's exactly what
you hope for for a first year head coach going
into his very first SEC.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Larry Vaught say, show the postal the people. I do
have a question and it may ruffle some feathers. It
should ruffle our fans feathers because most of the people
who listen to this show it's pretty optimistic. But Larry Vaught,
we have not got any calls in the first half
an hour, and yesterday the game started eleven o'clock. I
don't know everybody came early. They stayed late so they
they have plenty of time to watch the game, celebrate, enjoy,
(23:03):
watch the game after once you get home, watch the
second half of the game that happened after the Kentucky game,
and still get your items and things together for the winner.
Advisory that we have going on now because of the
state of emergency in the state. But no one is
calling in or I'm not hearing anyone complain that they're
(23:24):
not convinced about this team or that they are not
entertained by this team. But once we lose Ohio State,
once we lose whatever next game we lose, they will
be the first ones to jump out of the woodworks
to say, see, I knew that will. That's why didn't
jump on the back. Why not stand behind your money?
You're the post of the fan. Why do you think
people are not speaking out loud now? Are they scared?
(23:45):
Are they scared to put their money on the on
the table, or is it that they really are not convinced,
Or they could be sleeping because they celebrated all.
Speaker 4 (23:54):
Day, or they could just be watching the snow in
wondering what's coming. I mean, just listing and enjoying your commentary, Anthony.
But I think in general, you tend to have more
response when things aren't going well that when things are
going well and there's really nothing to be unhappy about.
Right now, maybe it's still a little bit early for
(24:15):
folks because I'm assuming probably most church services, everything were
probably called off today, So maybe the calls will come
a little bit come a little bit later for you.
But I don't think there's any uneasiness in the big
Blue fan base right now, based on the messages and
responses I was hearing last night. As I said, I
think the bandwagon is overflowing again. I think that was
(24:36):
the game that Kentucky fans needed to see to feel
really good about Kentucky basketball again now. And kind of
following up on what Jack said, I think if you
could tell somebody they'd be thirteen and five a sec play,
I'd take that right now, wouldn't even play another game.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
I think everybody should be shouting from the mountaintops. One
thing that Mark Pope says, and I really love be
in the moment, don't wait until that was a heck
of a game. We play. Everybody contributed. There were a
lot of things that went on. I did want to
ask you, Larry vaut about and I said this, for
the past couple of weeks, Bread shoots so well. I'm
(25:13):
not certain that he shouldn't be on the court more.
And the question stems from on this show and a
lot of pundits last year got all over the last
coach because we had two first rounders lottery picks coming
off the bench. There's no question you have to have
a different defensive skin when Bread is on the court.
(25:34):
If he gets a half of a look, a third
of a look, he has an opportunity to make it.
So I just think you have to do a lot
of things differently. I don't think we lose as much
defense bringing him on and taking someone else off the court,
but just his ability to put the ball in the bucket.
I don't think it's fair that last year everybody said, well,
(25:54):
Rob Dillingham and Reeed Shepherd, they should have started when
I feel the same way about Kobe, like the guy
whenever you get him in a lot of minutes, he's
cool with coming off the bench. I guess I don't
want to have a jack Pilgrim moment from a couple
of weeks ago where you just keeping him on the
bench until you need him and we get into deep
(26:14):
of a hole and now he either comes out tight
shooting or cannot shoot us out of a slump.
Speaker 4 (26:19):
Larry Vault, Well, I think he's very comfortable in his role.
I don't think he has any problems with that. And Kobe,
I mean, he's not always going to shoot like he
did yesterday with you, all right, just a thread of
him being out there does spread that floor out even more.
But I think he's probably getting adequate minutes. I don't
(26:41):
think he's a guy that you're probably gonna play thirty
four minutes a game now with the way they kind
of try to spread things out. So I'm not going
to second guess that. I think if he's happy, Pope's happening,
the team's winning, I'm happy see.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
He danced around that. Jack Pilgrim, I like his answer.
I do agree with this answer. I don't want you
don't want to mess up to chemistry. One of my
best friends, James, supposedly was six Men of the Year
in college and wound up playing a long, long, extensive
NBA career but my only my question was Jack pilgri
Moore to the point of all the arguments that Reed
(27:17):
and Rob didn't get to play a lot last year,
as productive as they were. And you may agree with Larry,
you may agree that our bread should continue to come
off the bench. He doesn't need those type of minutes. Uh.
But that's the first thing I thought about whenever how
effective he typically is, I'm not like most people say
he's not. I think he's gonna shoot sixty percent from
three most of the time. I'm giving more value. Maybe
(27:38):
that might change, But I disagreed Jack Pillar.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
We asked him about that exact question after the game ended,
where you know, hey, you're you know, shooting like the
greatest shooter to walk the face of the earth right now.
Do you think that, you know, it would be beneficial
for you to play more, get more reps, or you know,
whatever the case is. And he said, and you know,
(28:04):
more specifically, like hey, are you gunning for you know,
six Man of the Year honors or something to that effect.
And he was like, man, I don't care at all
about I don't care at all about you know, the
individual accolades. I don't care about how many minutes I get.
I don't care how many shots I get. He said.
My role is to come in and be a spark plug.
(28:25):
He said, I think that's where I'm most valuable. I
was where I come in and you feel like I
do the most damage when you know, I kind of
get the lay of the land, get to see the
vibe of the game, and I can come in and pounce,
and I can come in and be my like, Okay,
now is my chance to kind of shift shift the momentum,
to change its tone of the game. I know it's
(28:45):
kind of PTSD from last year where we had some
of these exact same conversations with Robin Reid and oh my,
oh my gosh, how do we keep starting these games
so slow? And it's you know, it's been a disaster
to you know, start the year with you start these games,
you know, digging out of a hole, and we're kind
of experiencing the exact same thing. You need the bench
(29:06):
pieces to come in and you know, dig you out
of a sixty you know, eleven eleven point rut and
you know go on a sixteen zero run to retake
the lead. So I get it. I understand why we're
having these conversations, but the players themselves are saying that
they're comfortable with the role they're playing right now, and
most comfortable as a spark plug. Because you also don't
want to take away Kobe's magic, like you don't want
(29:28):
to insert him in early and have that kind of
mess up with the funk and mess up with the
vibe of the game and what he does best too,
and take away you know, his biggest strength as a
spark plug. So there's kind of a given in pool
with it, unfortunately, that you don't want to mess up with.
You know, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. And
as of this point, I would not say it's broken
(29:50):
after seeing the encore product yesterday. So until we have
more reason to pull our hair out wondering why Kobe
Bray is on the bench and you know, Kentucky's losing
by twenty points, yeah, I think we'll stick with it right.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
Now, Larry Vaught, before we go to break, I'm gonna
try to break you one more time. Since you don't
want to get Kobe Bray at his you don't want
to give him his credit. Well, how about Lamont Butler
six of nine, one of three from three point range,
six or seven from the free throw line, eight assists
or three steals, nineteen points that the ever average Davy
(30:23):
Dad at the office for him, Right, We're gonna expect
that every game.
Speaker 4 (30:26):
Right, I think it would be fine. Especially even more
impressive that he didn't score to what the last two
minutes of the first hand when he scored his first point,
but then when he came out he was really really
dynamic there at the end of the first hand and
at ninety second stretch he had when he got seven points.
I still think looking back, that probably separated the game,
(30:47):
and it was maybe the biggest factor in Kentucky's winning.
And I'm not knocking Kobe. I like Kevin. He come
off the bench and add that offense, and he seems
really comfortable to doing that. So I'm just one of
these guys. If it's working, don't mess with it.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
And second part of that, before we go to break
Larry Vaught, is that Lamont Butler even more probably and
you said that on the onset of the show, which
is probably more impressive, was that he was chasing those
Florida guards around all day and doing like now thirty
twenty some points sounds like a whole lot of points,
but he was in there making those shots tough for
(31:23):
those guys, and those guys had to expend a lot
of energy getting those shots.
Speaker 4 (31:27):
Yeah, and they just made great shots. And I think
that was one thing that I heard Mark Pope talk
about with Tom after the game, that the Lamont's defense
was really good most of the game. Those guys just
made tough shot after tough shot, and you sometimes you
just have to give them credit. I mean, in both teams.
I think, as Jack mentioned when we started out, it
was just great offensive performances on both sides. And sometimes
(31:49):
when the offense is clicking, like when that air raid
offense you ran was clicking, it didn't matter what the
defense did, you couldn't stop them. And that's kind of
what it was yesterday. It was just great offense for
two teams, a really fun game for folks like us
to watch.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
We'll continue to talk about this tremendous wind when we
come back from this break. You're listening to Stockyards Bank
Sunday morning Sports Talk when News Radio six thirty WLAP.
This is the home of the Wildcats, six thirty WLAP.
Welcome back, Stockyards Bank, Sunday Morning Sports Talk. I'm Anthony
White along with Jack Pilgrim and Larry Vaught. Still snowing
(32:27):
is coming down, and unfortunately this snow has messed up
our calling lines. So I apologize you. You are not
calling because we are not able to get you on
because these lines are a little shook up and they
are having difficulties of navigating through all this snow as well.
So if we get the lines back up, I will
continue to offer you the number so you can let
(32:48):
me know how you feel about it. Are you convincing?
Are you entertained by this team? But until that point
we will continue the conversation with this Jack Pilgrim, one
thing to caught a lot of steam that did you
talk about the tough SEC road and how great our crowd?
Was a sixteen point a sixteen point run? And was
it two ten point runs or elevens to eleven?
Speaker 3 (33:14):
There were three? It was sixteen ten and then I
think the next one was eleven. I'm not remember what
the third one was, but yeah, third three, three kill shots.
I believe Evan Maya Kawa on Evanmaya dot Com does
an unbelievable job with advanced analytics but he calls those
kill shots and he said that there's like a two
(33:35):
hundred and ninety nine in OH winning streak for teams
that that I think it's either two or three kill
shots in a game, and that's a ten OH run.
So he's done the math on it, and Kentucky added
to that very very long list of of unbeatens. If
you're able to pull off runs of that magnitude.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
I would love to see. Is that a home team thing?
That's why I kind of asked, is that something that
you can expect to do on the road, especially in
the SEC? Or is that I would love to see
the numbers if that how many of those two ninety
nine were home teams with the runs?
Speaker 3 (34:12):
I would love to see it too. And I think
that's something that you know factor in and that's why
you know, kind of had that conversation earlier about just
the strength to schedule and you know these home and
away games where unfortunately you're gonna be on the you know,
receiving end of that sometimes where you know you're going
to go down to I mean just even Starfield like
(34:34):
this next this next week shoot Georgia might be even
a pretty rowdy environment Georgia is really solid team this year.
Not great, but you know, very solid team. And Missippi
State especially knowing what's on the line. They haven't beaten
Kentucky in a million years, even in their own home gym.
So there's a lot on the line there, and you're
(34:54):
gonna be on the receiving end. They're gonna be the
crowd is gonna get rowdy, They're gonna, you know, get
the momentum going in a crazy way. Shoot, we almost
saw it last year. I remember Josh Hubbard was going
absolutely nuclear down there in Starkville, but unfortunately Reachefford exists
and we decided to go nuclear himself and decided to
(35:14):
will Kentucky to a victory himself. But I was down
there in Starkville and it was just a ridiculous environment.
So you're going to see a lot of that where
sometimes you get a Josh Hubbard going for thirty five
and you know it's just his day and he's gonna
go on individual runs himself, and there's nothing you can
do about it other than just kind of just pray it,
(35:34):
you know, the next shot doesn't fall. We kind of
had that yesterday where Walter Clayton Junior is going nuclear
in the second half, but you know, Lamont Butler's chipping
away at him, chipping away at him, getting in with
physicality and making him run one hundred miles and really
kind of wear and tear him down over the course
of the game. And then he doesn't have the legs
to hit some big free throws late and doesn't have
the legs to hit it a wide open three lates.
(35:57):
So little things like that can really go a long
way in terms of big momentum shifts and you know,
being home and away. So I just got to, you know,
buckle up and prepare for an absolute outlet of an
etude schedule.
Speaker 1 (36:07):
Larry, before we go to break your thoughts. A three well,
three double digit lead run, three double digit runs, one
of them being sixteen. Is that an effect of possibly
just rupp Arena or a home team or is that
something that will be concerning to you on the road,
or do you think Pope has just put his team together?
(36:28):
And because I don't think he made a whole lot
of changes in the first especially the biggest run, I
think the guy is just kind of locked in. And
but Jack Pilgrim doesn't like to wait and assess the situation.
He wants to he wants to jump on him from
the beginning. He don't want to wait to the second half.
Speaker 4 (36:45):
I think it's just life in college basketball now. Those
big runs the teams have. Florida had a couple of
good runs of their own to get back in the
game of time or two. So I think it's just
part of what we what we live with now. But
I think when Kentucky gets hot, going to run like
that against anybody. And I really do like the adjustments
(37:05):
Mark Pope makes. Like I nearly fell out of my
chair when I was listening to him tell Tom after
the game at the three that Butler hid from the
corner as the shot clock was about to expire late
in the game. Was a play that just drew up
in the huddle for the first time, and then these
players went out there and executed it perfectly. I thought,
man drawing up a play in a huddle for baseline
(37:27):
out of bounds play, they got you a wide open three.
I forgot you were allowed to do that.
Speaker 1 (37:32):
Yeah, and you were right. That had to be something
he saw because the defender never even tried to close
out on him, which was which was ridiculous, but we'll
take it. That is one hour in the books. We
will be back after this. You're listening to Stockyards Bank
Sunday Morning sports talk on news radio six thirty WLAP
This is the home of the Wildcats. Six thirty WLAP
Welcome in Stockyards Bank, Sunday Morning Sports Talk on Anthony
White along with Larry Vaught and Jack Pilgrim, coming to
you from Snowy Clark's Main Street Market studios and Snowy Downtown.
A lets to Kentucky. With that being said, we have
(00:21):
a winter weather advisory out, so if you do not
have to travel, please do not sit in, turn your
radio on, get yourself some some soup, chili, and do
not because by the time the show is over and
Bow and I are done, it is supposed to be
several inches of snow and possibly ice will start to
accumulate underneath. So we want as less people on the
(00:44):
road it's possible, So please stay safe.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
You're gonna be done a lot earlier than me. Well,
I'll still have I won't have as bad of a
risk as you will. But I think the majority of
it's supposed to come down while we're on air between
nine and noon. So we will try to reach out
with Chris Bailey at some point after we get done
and reach out, but we're not worried about that right
(01:08):
now because the Cats had a huge win in a
brawl with the Florida Gators yesterday at Repperina one o six,
one hundred victory. A lot of things went well, Jack
Larry Vaught, glad to have you back. You were not
with us last week, but if you have an opportunity
to go back and listen last week's show, Jack Pilgrim
(01:28):
was spot on about a lot of things that had
happened for us to get a win. I'm not certain
that he was certain we would get the win, but
a lot of things that he and I discussed for
us to get the win against Florida had to happen,
and Jack Pilgrim, a lot of them happened.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
It was beautiful, wasn't it, And just as beautiful as
a snow coming down. You're you're talking talking about the weather,
and I looked outside, and I spent the morning. I've
been scrambling trying to get the remnants of the Christmas
lights down and you know, get the house and weather prepared.
So appreciate the heads up. However, everybody stay stays safe.
We're kind of hunkering down watching football as long as
(02:05):
our power stays on. So I hope everybody stays safe
out there. But it was beautiful. It was you know,
it felt like a true heavyweight battle, you know between
you know, Ali enlisted. It was one of those just
like you know, big time. You know, you get the
undefeated thirteen and oh Florida Gators. You know, a team
(02:27):
that has so much talent in the back courd just
as good as it gets, you know, a true contender
to win the sec and you get this, you know,
the new hot commodity and Mark Pope and you know
they're kind of taking the world by storm. Have a
couple of big time wins, a couple some stinkers along
the way, but everybody, folks on the top ten wins
seeing those two go at it and see the best
(02:48):
of the best version of both teams. Like it'd be
different if Florida came in here and just didn't make
shots and it just kind of sunk up the place
and we steamrolled to you know, fifteen twenty twenty five
point wins something like that. Then you got, well, it's
Florida any good or you know what, did we just
catch him on a bad day. We caught Florida on
its best day and we just had a better day,
(03:10):
and it just it had just that feel of the
you know, top tier heavyweight battle where one team had
to be standing over the top, like Ali Listen had
to be standing over the top flexing, and it just
so happened to be Mark Pope doing that. So it
was just a really really cool environment. We were talking
with Bo before the show started about we're gonna where
it stacks up among you know, all time environments. We
(03:33):
had Dan Shulman on Twitter say that, you know, he's
been doing this for thirty years and he can count
on one hand how many environments in you know, on
court products were better than what we experienced a reparrena
on Saturday. So very very cool to be a part
of that, and even better that we got to witness.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
The victory Larry Vaught. We talked about last week if
you did not catch the show to Clayton Junior and
Martin would be as advertised. They were as advertised for
more than fifty up sixty points, and we knew that
they would get off. We didn't know how well we
would shoot. We thought that we'd have to hit a
lot of three pointers or have to make a lot
(04:11):
of outside shops. Because Florida struggled against North Carolina on
the perimeter, and we also thought that there would be
there bigs would be maybe a little more physical because
our guys are not used to playing on the box,
bumping and grinding. I think Williams took a lot of
flat for some of the things he did, but you
look at the stat line and just possession by possession Omari,
(04:31):
I think he did make make the game whereas winnable
for us because he mucked it up enough that Florida
we won a couple of those possessions. Larry, were you
surprised at the out output of the Florida game?
Speaker 4 (04:47):
No, I just enjoyed every bit of it. It was just
a fun game to watch. I love the really good
offense that both teams had. I think both teams offense
was just better than the defense they As Jack said it,
some incredible shots on both ends. Kobe Brio was magnificent
for Kentucky. But O taga Oway had a stretch, he
(05:07):
was magnificent. Butler had a couple of stretches. He was magnificent. Again,
I thought, I'm already like you said, he catches a
lot of flack, but he also does a lot of
things you gotta have to win games. They did that yesterday,
So just a great way for Kentucky to start a SEC.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Play and Jack, that's kind of where I'm at. Great win.
I know we weren't optimistic when we left last Sunday
about the game. Does the change is the optimism because
that's going to be I think the theme of the
show because two weeks ago or before the Ohio State game,
we thought we were championship material. After the Ohio State game,
everybody was questioning was this the right hire and they
(05:42):
knew that this may not be the coach and the
team's going to take some time. Where are we at
after a big, big time win over Floord?
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Well, it did just kind of have the feel that
you know, the Duke game felt like it's on a
champions Classics, felt like its own event. You pour everything
into that one in Atlanta. You know, that game was
so much on the line with history and okay, you know,
can Mark Pope prove himself as a blue blood and
Kentucky still you know, the modern blue blood after you know,
(06:15):
some couple of years down, you know it. It was
easy to invest everything in that one, so that one
made sense. The Gonzaga win, you know, you get down
eighteen points. You know, it's an all system of failure
in the first half and you just kind of scrape together,
you know, a late win, and it kind of you know,
there was a chance. It was fluky, like you just
(06:36):
kind of had that in the back of your mind
of you know, how good is this team actually, and
then you see them regress against Clemson, you see him
regrets against Ohio State. They kind of just sputter offensively
the last couple of weeks and you know, really just
don't have one of those performances that make you go, oh,
there is the you know, the Mark Pope team we
know in love that's the shooting, scoring, offensive sets, the beautiful,
(06:58):
you know, well oiled machine that we've scene at times,
but that was kind of at the start of the year.
Is the you know, have other teams figured this, you know,
this group out and this coaching out, and you know
you just kind of had that uncertainty. So that's why
it was really important with you know, the SEC at
an all time high. I mean, it's gonna shatter the
all time record. Eleven was a previous record set by
the Big East, and twenty eleven a chance to get
(07:20):
as many as thirteen, and if you look the on
the bubble two teams are the last the first four
out in the latest bracketology, so you could get as
many as fourteen of the sixteen teams in the SEC
in the NCAA tournament. So when there's so much invested
in the league this year, and you know, just this
juggernaut after juggernaut after juggernaut, I think there's five more
(07:42):
Top ten opponents coming up, you just kind of had
in the back of your mind of man, what we
do go to the s into these SEC games and
just get smacked in them out? But what happens we
just don't know because the league is so good and
we've had just so many up, up and down performances.
So to see them go in and make a state
the way they did and dominate the way they did offensively,
(08:03):
get back to you know, the shooting success and the
efficiency and the offensive sets and the things that kind
of made you know, Mark Pope such an appealing higher
in the offensive scheme, so appealing for just the casual
fans is seeing all of that in motion. And then
obviously Kobe Braa going for a career high twenty three
career most seven makes from three. It was just it
(08:24):
was beautiful as everything that we promised, and there was
a sense of validation going into that one that we
just wanted to see them do it against, you know,
an elite SEC opponent to get the thing role, and
he just kind of can affirm everything that we thought
about this group. We finally got to see it in action.
And you just add another top ten win under your belt,
the most in college basketball in the first since Adolf
(08:45):
rup Anthony to start three and zero in your coaching
career against top ten opponents. So that's if you can
join Adolf Rupp and pretty much anything, it's a pretty
good sign from Mark Pope.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
It's funny you bring Adolf rough because the first thing
I'm thinking about for my next question. My next question
was is this It seems kind of football ish to
me and Jack you were on you were on this
side of the coin as well. So we shoot forty
eight percent and you said that all year in our
fan basis, thought, well, do we have to shoot almost
fifty percent? Tom, you know, to to win big games?
(09:18):
And it reminds me of football. Whenever when we beat
Old miss Or we take Georgia to the to the
wire or you know, you play a good game, Well,
we didn't deserve to win, so you kind of get that. Well,
if we got to play, but we got to hit
forty eight percent of our threes, almost fifty percent of
our threes for us to win, we can't. This is
not sustainable. But we don't get credit for making those
as if you know, we shouldn't like we're we shouldn't
(09:39):
make him, we don't get credit for that. And I say,
because Larry Vault stated Andrew Carr did not play a
very well game. He comes up big at the end
of the game. Old Way probably wanted to play a
better game than he played, but he stopped a couple
of runs that they had. There were every things he
did to stop runs. We got a we got good
we got good money, we got good minutes from Garrison.
(09:59):
So so all the things we had to do to win,
everybody contributed so that we can win. Is there still
that mindset of well we got out there, lucky, we
had a hit forty eight percent, uh and Bria had
bread had to go seven to nine for us to
get the win. Or are we past that or are
we still in the football mode? Where we're lucky when
(10:22):
we pull out a tough one. Uh Jack, I.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
Thought that one was going there to Larry, Sorry about that. No,
I don't see it that way, And you know, I
appreciated that in the you know, kind of when the
game flip, when the momentum kind of just shifted entirely
Florida's direction is a you know, eleven point lead in
the first half, he kind of started getting those those
scaries a little bit like, oh, are we going trending
(10:54):
back in the right direction? You know, kind of felt
like that Ohio State game where it's like, uh, oh,
what if they just have the horses that we've done
and this is gonna you know, trend toward a twenty
point lost, Like you kind of had that early feel.
And then otega Oway that was getting downhill and finishing
through physicality and you know, getting in ones and just
kind of getting the momentum back with you know, some
(11:14):
some tough physical plays. And it wasn't just you know,
Kobe Braa going nuclear from three. That helped, obviously, but
it wasn't just the shooting that kind of separated Kentucky
and Mario Williams after just a disaster start. You know,
getting out worked on the glass. That was kind of,
you know, one of the arguably the top item on
(11:37):
the scouting report of something that if Kentucky was gonna win,
they had to compete on the glass. And they didn't early.
I mean, they got down pretty substantially. I think it
was seventeen to four split, fourteen to four split something
like that to start the game, in the first seven
minutes or so on the glass, and just it was
a disastrous effort to start with. They kind of chipped
back away. Mario Williams being kind of the catalyst for that,
(11:59):
just kind of using his size. I mean, like he's
a grown man man like I mean that's a seven
foot two hundred and sixty pound you know, just absolute
monster with athleticism and just you know sometimes I'm like, man,
use it, go go outwork these guys because you have
the physical tools, and just feel like sometimes he doesn't go,
you know, go put forth the effort to do it.
(12:20):
So he kind of unlocked himself and you know, got emotional.
He was, you know, looking at the crowd and you know,
throwing it, you know, fift in the air, like hey,
you know, I am here, this is my high energy moment.
So it wasn't just you know, a flukey oh well,
when you make fourteen threes, what are you going to
do against this Kentucky team. It was is that Kentucky
found ways to win in other ways, because that's how
(12:42):
you get to one hundred and six points. That it
wasn't just the fourteen threes. It was a lot of
other interesting stuff that they kind of added to it.
But I think otego Away was the biggest catalyst for it.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Yeah, and our bigs may have not have been as
physical as we would like to have been on the blocks,
but thirteen assists from that position or just from Biggs
in general, is a whole lot. We will continue this
conversation on the other side of this break. You're listening
Stockyards Bank Sunday Morning Sports Talk on news radio six
thirty WLAP. This is the home of the Wildcats, six
thirty WLAP. Welcome back Stockyards Bank Sunday Morning Sports Talk.
(13:18):
I'm Anthony White along with Jack Pilgrim and Larry Vaught.
Stockyards Bank is your trusted partner since nineteen old fors
ahead on over to syb dot com for all your
banking and financial needs. Larry Vaught. I was asking Jack
the question, but he also thought that was a good
question for you. That is this team for real? Is
(13:38):
this a recipe to make a deep run in March?
Is this a recipe to be competitive maybe top three
in the SEC this season where changing offense, is changing personnel,
making adjustments. Or is this our football team that we
were lucky to get there? This is not gonna work.
The SEC is too tough. Are you do you subscribe
(14:00):
to the whole idea that it's not flu best Mark Pope.
His adjustments to things he does are good coaching which
we may we may just not be accustomed to. Or
do you think it is luck.
Speaker 4 (14:13):
Well? I don't think it's like last year's football team.
I think it's way different than that. I think it's
much more real than that. I think they just played very,
very well. I think there's just gonna be a lot
of games in the SEC that you're gonna have to
play that well to win, and whether they're real or not,
I don't know. When you've got three wins over top
ten teams and it's the first week in January, that
(14:36):
seems pretty real to me. And I don't think that
I don't think I saw anything out of Kentucky yesterday
that I thought was just out of their capabilities that
if we watch them play the rest of the season,
that we'll say, well, we'll never see them do this
or never see them do that again. So yeah, I
think it's real.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Now.
Speaker 4 (14:52):
Do I think it helped a lot being at home yesterday? Yeah,
I sure do, because I'm not sure maybe Jack knows.
I'm not sure if an SEC road team won a
game yesterday, did they, Jack.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
I'm not sure. But it was definitely tough to letting
for just about everybody, including a former friend of ours
that made his way to Knoxville and got his teeth
knocked in. That was not a very impressive performance for
some of our old friends down in Fayetville. So yeah,
it was not a very good showing for road teams yesterday.
(15:25):
So I was very grateful to be on the home
side of the conversation yesterday. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
And I think you were talking earlier say about how
the fans feel. I think the van Wagen's kind of
waiting list to get on again right now. I think
I think it's pretty filled up, and I think is
what Jack this alluded to. I think what happened the
couple of hours after Kentucky game ended, if you stayed
on the ESPN and watched that next game, probably helped
(15:52):
the van wagon fill up even more.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Yeah, it's but we have to we have to get
away from that. I think that Mark Pope has done
within the first these first games that I think we
get away from it. I listen to a lot of
talking heads. Now, the last conversation is going to be
when we play Arkansas. That would be I think that
should be the last conversation about cal versus Pope, the
new system versus the old system. So if the bandwagon
(16:18):
is waiting to and you know what, I think some
people were apprehensive about jumping off the bandwagon because they
were loyal to our past coach and they loved our
past coach, which I love the excitement that he brought
here as well. But Mark Pope should not have to
keep waiting to be supported just because your loyalty to
another coach, which you could still be loyal to that
coach and still be a UK fan. I've said that
(16:40):
for years. I was loyal to Rick Patino for years.
I love Rick Patino style. I like what he did
while I was here in college watching those guys win games.
So I think you can be loyal to both if
you want to do it. But I don't think Mark
Pope should have to wait or do something extra to
prove that he's better than the past coach. He's already
proven right now. I was a Jack stated three top
(17:02):
ten wins. Maybe we need to wait for all the
teams to get into the top ten now, Jack, One
thing you did point out last week that is even
more interesting based off of Larry's comments, You thought that
we would have to win all the SEC home games,
still one or two on the road after you seen
what you saw yesterday. Do you think that's possible? Because
Big Blue Nation was rock and rolling, So let me
(17:22):
give you all the plause. You came early. We didn't
know what the what the the attendance would be like
at eleven o'clock, but you came early and from when
Bo told me you all stay late. So kudos for
that rock and rolling. Can we win them all at home? Jack,
and still want to still a couple on the row
and not won a couple on the road.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
And I think that kind of helped set the tone
a little bit where we got you know, we saw
the best of the best come in the sec. We
saw them play to their best. You know, we got
punch in them mouth on the glass, Like you still
lost that rebounding battle and it wasn't particularly close. You've
got your flaws exposed quite a bit and you still
(18:05):
won your way. And I think that was a really
important kind of telltale sign of like, hey, this is
sustainable against the Auburn This is sustainable against you know,
the Tennessees and the Alabamas and even you know in
the next year, missip stage a steam roll yesterday. So
just go down the list. This is a really really
tough league. So to expect or demand a win in
(18:27):
every single home game, you know, I would love that.
And if they if they managed to do that, that
would be one heck of a feather in the cap
for Mark Pope and in his you know, first year,
and then steal a couple on the one, you know,
if you get to the double digit win total. You know,
I did the math on my show this past week,
but bark Torvik does a you know, if it spits
(18:50):
you out, you know, if you put in input data
of okay, let's say they go you know ten and
eight in the SEC. If they go eleven and seven,
if they go twelve and six. You go down the
list and it spits you out like what the projected
seed line is. And you know you could lose seven
SEC games and still be a two seed. You can
lose six and be a you know, for the potential,
a one seat. So right, hold that though it's so tough.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
But we know we got to pay bills. Hold that thought.
I like where you're going with that. Just hold it.
We'll get back to it. You're listening to Stockyards Bank
Sunday Morning Sports Talk on news Radio six thirty WLAP.
This is the home of the Wildcats, six thirty w LAP.
Welcome back Stockyards Bank Sunday Morning Sports Talk on Anthony
White along with Larry Vaught and Jack Pilgrim. This our
(19:34):
Sunday one in Sports Talks, brought to you by Country
Boy Brewing. If you like to join the Big Ass
Fans Hotline, you can reach us at eighty five nine
to eight zero two to eighty seven, that is eight
five nine to eight zero. Cats. We are talking about
Kentucky's win over number six Florida Gators one hundred and
six to one, one hundred. It was a It was
a shootout, the same way the snow is coming down
(19:55):
in beautiful Lexington, Kentucky. It's the same way those jumpers
was ran from Clayton, Bria and Martin. It was a
lot of shots being made. But before I cut you off, Jack,
you were explaining how many wins were needed and how
does breakdown this equation system that you put together to
find out how many wins we had to have a sec.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
Yeah, and it was just really favorable to Kentucky based
on the strength of schedule. Like when you build up
so much, you know, goodwill with the you know the analytics,
with winning three, you know your first three top ten opponents,
and you build quality. You know, e quality resume this early,
like nobody else in college basketball has has racked up
(20:39):
three top ten wins, and that's going to go such
a long way where you don't want it to happen,
but you can afford a slip up here and there.
You know, everybody wants to go underfeat. Everybody wants to
finish the year thirty eight and two. Like I'm sitting
there right there with you, I will be disappointed with
the next game we lose, and I will be rooting
for a win in every single game that we experience
(20:59):
from now until hopefully April. Like, I'm right there with you.
But when you you kind of have to adjust your
you know, move I hate moving goalposts, but you kind
of have to this year with this league because of
how strong the league is. Where you're going to go
to Starkville next week, taking on a Missisippi State team
that's just absolutely pounding its competition, and like there's a
(21:24):
chance that Kentucky goes down there as an underdog and
like most years, you know, I don't think Cal ever
lost to Mississippi State and Starkville because usually Mississippi State stinks.
So you just kind of have to go in and
go whoa like the team that you know, we're a
top ten team and you just beat a you know,
number six team at home and you know we're going
down to Starkville as an underdog. How does that happen? Well,
(21:45):
it's because the league is just that good and you
kind of have to just move the goalpost ever so
slightly and just know that, hey, we're probably gonna have
to take a loss here and there on the chin
and it's not going to hurt you in March, like,
this is a program capable of losing five in the
SEC and still be in a one seat six potentially
and being you know, on that one to two seed
(22:06):
line and you know, go down the list. You can
lose as many as you know, eight SEC games and
still be a three seats. So it's just a really
favorable schedule. It's a you know, a blood bath of
a schedule, but it's favorable for some some some highs
and lows that that are, you know, what we should
probably expect with this this type of schedule. It's really
(22:28):
really hard. But when you you know, sack up early
wins the way Kentucky has, you kind of give yourself
a little bit of cushion room. And that's exactly what
you hope for for a first year head coach going
into his very first SEC.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Larry Vaught say, show the postal the people. I do
have a question and it may ruffle some feathers. It
should ruffle our fans feathers because most of the people
who listen to this show it's pretty optimistic. But Larry Vaught,
we have not got any calls in the first half
an hour, and yesterday the game started eleven o'clock. I
don't know everybody came early. They stayed late so they
they have plenty of time to watch the game, celebrate, enjoy,
(23:03):
watch the game after once you get home, watch the
second half of the game that happened after the Kentucky game,
and still get your items and things together for the winner.
Advisory that we have going on now because of the
state of emergency in the state. But no one is
calling in or I'm not hearing anyone complain that they're
(23:24):
not convinced about this team or that they are not
entertained by this team. But once we lose Ohio State,
once we lose whatever next game we lose, they will
be the first ones to jump out of the woodworks
to say, see, I knew that will. That's why didn't
jump on the back. Why not stand behind your money?
You're the post of the fan. Why do you think
people are not speaking out loud now? Are they scared?
(23:45):
Are they scared to put their money on the on
the table, or is it that they really are not convinced,
Or they could be sleeping because they celebrated all.
Speaker 4 (23:54):
Day, or they could just be watching the snow in
wondering what's coming. I mean, just listing and enjoying your commentary, Anthony.
But I think in general, you tend to have more
response when things aren't going well that when things are
going well and there's really nothing to be unhappy about.
Right now, maybe it's still a little bit early for
(24:15):
folks because I'm assuming probably most church services, everything were
probably called off today, So maybe the calls will come
a little bit come a little bit later for you.
But I don't think there's any uneasiness in the big
Blue fan base right now, based on the messages and
responses I was hearing last night. As I said, I
think the bandwagon is overflowing again. I think that was
(24:36):
the game that Kentucky fans needed to see to feel
really good about Kentucky basketball again now. And kind of
following up on what Jack said, I think if you
could tell somebody they'd be thirteen and five a sec play,
I'd take that right now, wouldn't even play another game.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
I think everybody should be shouting from the mountaintops. One
thing that Mark Pope says, and I really love be
in the moment, don't wait until that was a heck
of a game. We play. Everybody contributed. There were a
lot of things that went on. I did want to
ask you, Larry vaut about and I said this, for
the past couple of weeks, Bread shoots so well. I'm
(25:13):
not certain that he shouldn't be on the court more.
And the question stems from on this show and a
lot of pundits last year got all over the last
coach because we had two first rounders lottery picks coming
off the bench. There's no question you have to have
a different defensive skin when Bread is on the court.
(25:34):
If he gets a half of a look, a third
of a look, he has an opportunity to make it.
So I just think you have to do a lot
of things differently. I don't think we lose as much
defense bringing him on and taking someone else off the court,
but just his ability to put the ball in the bucket.
I don't think it's fair that last year everybody said, well,
(25:54):
Rob Dillingham and Reeed Shepherd, they should have started when
I feel the same way about Kobe, like the guy
whenever you get him in a lot of minutes, he's
cool with coming off the bench. I guess I don't
want to have a jack Pilgrim moment from a couple
of weeks ago where you just keeping him on the
bench until you need him and we get into deep
(26:14):
of a hole and now he either comes out tight
shooting or cannot shoot us out of a slump.
Speaker 4 (26:19):
Larry Vault, Well, I think he's very comfortable in his role.
I don't think he has any problems with that. And Kobe,
I mean, he's not always going to shoot like he
did yesterday with you, all right, just a thread of
him being out there does spread that floor out even more.
But I think he's probably getting adequate minutes. I don't
(26:41):
think he's a guy that you're probably gonna play thirty
four minutes a game now with the way they kind
of try to spread things out. So I'm not going
to second guess that. I think if he's happy, Pope's happening,
the team's winning, I'm happy see.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
He danced around that. Jack Pilgrim, I like his answer.
I do agree with this answer. I don't want you
don't want to mess up to chemistry. One of my
best friends, James, supposedly was six Men of the Year
in college and wound up playing a long, long, extensive
NBA career but my only my question was Jack pilgri
Moore to the point of all the arguments that Reed
(27:17):
and Rob didn't get to play a lot last year,
as productive as they were. And you may agree with Larry,
you may agree that our bread should continue to come
off the bench. He doesn't need those type of minutes. Uh.
But that's the first thing I thought about whenever how
effective he typically is, I'm not like most people say
he's not. I think he's gonna shoot sixty percent from
three most of the time. I'm giving more value. Maybe
(27:38):
that might change, But I disagreed Jack Pillar.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
We asked him about that exact question after the game ended,
where you know, hey, you're you know, shooting like the
greatest shooter to walk the face of the earth right now.
Do you think that, you know, it would be beneficial
for you to play more, get more reps, or you know,
whatever the case is. And he said, and you know,
(28:04):
more specifically, like hey, are you gunning for you know,
six Man of the Year honors or something to that effect.
And he was like, man, I don't care at all
about I don't care at all about you know, the
individual accolades. I don't care about how many minutes I get.
I don't care how many shots I get. He said.
My role is to come in and be a spark plug.
(28:25):
He said, I think that's where I'm most valuable. I
was where I come in and you feel like I
do the most damage when you know, I kind of
get the lay of the land, get to see the
vibe of the game, and I can come in and pounce,
and I can come in and be my like, Okay,
now is my chance to kind of shift shift the momentum,
to change its tone of the game. I know it's
(28:45):
kind of PTSD from last year where we had some
of these exact same conversations with Robin Reid and oh my,
oh my gosh, how do we keep starting these games
so slow? And it's you know, it's been a disaster
to you know, start the year with you start these games,
you know, digging out of a hole, and we're kind
of experiencing the exact same thing. You need the bench
(29:06):
pieces to come in and you know, dig you out
of a sixty you know, eleven eleven point rut and
you know go on a sixteen zero run to retake
the lead. So I get it. I understand why we're
having these conversations, but the players themselves are saying that
they're comfortable with the role they're playing right now, and
most comfortable as a spark plug. Because you also don't
want to take away Kobe's magic, like you don't want
(29:28):
to insert him in early and have that kind of
mess up with the funk and mess up with the
vibe of the game and what he does best too,
and take away you know, his biggest strength as a
spark plug. So there's kind of a given in pool
with it, unfortunately, that you don't want to mess up with.
You know, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. And
as of this point, I would not say it's broken
(29:50):
after seeing the encore product yesterday. So until we have
more reason to pull our hair out wondering why Kobe
Bray is on the bench and you know, Kentucky's losing
by twenty points, yeah, I think we'll stick with it right.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
Now, Larry Vaught, before we go to break, I'm gonna
try to break you one more time. Since you don't
want to get Kobe Bray at his you don't want
to give him his credit. Well, how about Lamont Butler
six of nine, one of three from three point range,
six or seven from the free throw line, eight assists
or three steals, nineteen points that the ever average Davy
(30:23):
Dad at the office for him, Right, We're gonna expect
that every game.
Speaker 4 (30:26):
Right, I think it would be fine. Especially even more
impressive that he didn't score to what the last two
minutes of the first hand when he scored his first point,
but then when he came out he was really really
dynamic there at the end of the first hand and
at ninety second stretch he had when he got seven points.
I still think looking back, that probably separated the game,
(30:47):
and it was maybe the biggest factor in Kentucky's winning.
And I'm not knocking Kobe. I like Kevin. He come
off the bench and add that offense, and he seems
really comfortable to doing that. So I'm just one of
these guys. If it's working, don't mess with it.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
And second part of that, before we go to break
Larry Vaught, is that Lamont Butler even more probably and
you said that on the onset of the show, which
is probably more impressive, was that he was chasing those
Florida guards around all day and doing like now thirty
twenty some points sounds like a whole lot of points,
but he was in there making those shots tough for
(31:23):
those guys, and those guys had to expend a lot
of energy getting those shots.
Speaker 4 (31:27):
Yeah, and they just made great shots. And I think
that was one thing that I heard Mark Pope talk
about with Tom after the game, that the Lamont's defense
was really good most of the game. Those guys just
made tough shot after tough shot, and you sometimes you
just have to give them credit. I mean, in both teams.
I think, as Jack mentioned when we started out, it
was just great offensive performances on both sides. And sometimes
(31:49):
when the offense is clicking, like when that air raid
offense you ran was clicking, it didn't matter what the
defense did, you couldn't stop them. And that's kind of
what it was yesterday. It was just great offense for
two teams, a really fun game for folks like us
to watch.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
We'll continue to talk about this tremendous wind when we
come back from this break. You're listening to Stockyards Bank
Sunday morning Sports Talk when News Radio six thirty WLAP.
This is the home of the Wildcats, six thirty WLAP.
Welcome back, Stockyards Bank, Sunday Morning Sports Talk. I'm Anthony
White along with Jack Pilgrim and Larry Vaught. Still snowing
(32:27):
is coming down, and unfortunately this snow has messed up
our calling lines. So I apologize you. You are not
calling because we are not able to get you on
because these lines are a little shook up and they
are having difficulties of navigating through all this snow as well.
So if we get the lines back up, I will
continue to offer you the number so you can let
(32:48):
me know how you feel about it. Are you convincing?
Are you entertained by this team? But until that point
we will continue the conversation with this Jack Pilgrim, one
thing to caught a lot of steam that did you
talk about the tough SEC road and how great our crowd?
Was a sixteen point a sixteen point run? And was
it two ten point runs or elevens to eleven?
Speaker 3 (33:14):
There were three? It was sixteen ten and then I
think the next one was eleven. I'm not remember what
the third one was, but yeah, third three, three kill shots.
I believe Evan Maya Kawa on Evanmaya dot Com does
an unbelievable job with advanced analytics but he calls those
kill shots and he said that there's like a two
(33:35):
hundred and ninety nine in OH winning streak for teams
that that I think it's either two or three kill
shots in a game, and that's a ten OH run.
So he's done the math on it, and Kentucky added
to that very very long list of of unbeatens. If
you're able to pull off runs of that magnitude.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
I would love to see. Is that a home team thing?
That's why I kind of asked, is that something that
you can expect to do on the road, especially in
the SEC? Or is that I would love to see
the numbers if that how many of those two ninety
nine were home teams with the runs?
Speaker 3 (34:12):
I would love to see it too. And I think
that's something that you know factor in and that's why
you know, kind of had that conversation earlier about just
the strength to schedule and you know these home and
away games where unfortunately you're gonna be on the you know,
receiving end of that sometimes where you know you're going
to go down to I mean just even Starfield like
(34:34):
this next this next week shoot Georgia might be even
a pretty rowdy environment Georgia is really solid team this year.
Not great, but you know, very solid team. And Missippi
State especially knowing what's on the line. They haven't beaten
Kentucky in a million years, even in their own home gym.
So there's a lot on the line there, and you're
(34:54):
gonna be on the receiving end. They're gonna be the
crowd is gonna get rowdy, They're gonna, you know, get
the momentum going in a crazy way. Shoot, we almost
saw it last year. I remember Josh Hubbard was going
absolutely nuclear down there in Starkville, but unfortunately Reachefford exists
and we decided to go nuclear himself and decided to
(35:14):
will Kentucky to a victory himself. But I was down
there in Starkville and it was just a ridiculous environment.
So you're going to see a lot of that where
sometimes you get a Josh Hubbard going for thirty five
and you know it's just his day and he's gonna
go on individual runs himself, and there's nothing you can
do about it other than just kind of just pray it,
(35:34):
you know, the next shot doesn't fall. We kind of
had that yesterday where Walter Clayton Junior is going nuclear
in the second half, but you know, Lamont Butler's chipping
away at him, chipping away at him, getting in with
physicality and making him run one hundred miles and really
kind of wear and tear him down over the course
of the game. And then he doesn't have the legs
to hit some big free throws late and doesn't have
the legs to hit it a wide open three lates.
(35:57):
So little things like that can really go a long
way in terms of big momentum shifts and you know,
being home and away. So I just got to, you know,
buckle up and prepare for an absolute outlet of an
etude schedule.
Speaker 1 (36:07):
Larry, before we go to break your thoughts. A three well,
three double digit lead run, three double digit runs, one
of them being sixteen. Is that an effect of possibly
just rupp Arena or a home team or is that
something that will be concerning to you on the road,
or do you think Pope has just put his team together?
(36:28):
And because I don't think he made a whole lot
of changes in the first especially the biggest run, I
think the guy is just kind of locked in. And
but Jack Pilgrim doesn't like to wait and assess the situation.
He wants to he wants to jump on him from
the beginning. He don't want to wait to the second half.
Speaker 4 (36:45):
I think it's just life in college basketball now. Those
big runs the teams have. Florida had a couple of
good runs of their own to get back in the
game of time or two. So I think it's just
part of what we what we live with now. But
I think when Kentucky gets hot, going to run like
that against anybody. And I really do like the adjustments
(37:05):
Mark Pope makes. Like I nearly fell out of my
chair when I was listening to him tell Tom after
the game at the three that Butler hid from the
corner as the shot clock was about to expire late
in the game. Was a play that just drew up
in the huddle for the first time, and then these
players went out there and executed it perfectly. I thought,
man drawing up a play in a huddle for baseline
(37:27):
out of bounds play, they got you a wide open three.
I forgot you were allowed to do that.
Speaker 1 (37:32):
Yeah, and you were right. That had to be something
he saw because the defender never even tried to close
out on him, which was which was ridiculous, but we'll
take it. That is one hour in the books. We
will be back after this. You're listening to Stockyards Bank
Sunday Morning sports talk on news radio six thirty WLAP
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