Billy (8:20)
Yeah. And the bracket is the bracket. Right. Like, for me, like, that'll be the tangible element of this. Right. Does this make them a one seed or whatever it is? There's a very tangible component of this. But just in terms of, like, who you are, like, that's one of those. We blame coaches for everything. And I sometimes can't stand it, if I'm being honest. Right. Because we want coaches to do it all in moments like that. And certainly coaches deserve blame, you know, if teams lose to a certain degree. But I also think there are moments where, like, players got to look at themselves in the mirror and say, who are we? And I really thought it was that moment for Kentucky. I mean, I tweeted that I felt like no matter what Mark Pope said, the Kentucky Wildcats had to sit in that locker room and they had to say, who are we? Like, what are we going to be? We're down 16 and a half, right? Down by as much as 18. You have. Your starting point guard is out. And defensively, you could see what happened without Lamont and the challenges that they had in that first half. With Ryan Nemhardt and how good he was. Then Kirk Kreese goes out, and now he's, you know, scheduled for surgery and out indefinitely. You are shorthanded, and you have been punched in the face by a Gonzaga team that scored 50 points in the first half. And I don't care what Mark Pope said. I mean, meaning, I don't think that was the most important element. Mark Pope could have given a Rocky Balboa speech. He could have given a Vince Lombardi speech. He could have given the greatest speech in the history of speeches, right? That, to me, was secondary to what Kentucky and the players in that locker room and the decision they were going to make in that moment. How will we respond right now? And I think that changes the team. To go from down that big at halftime on the road away from home, and then you claw back into that game, and you could just see not only the momentum changing, you could see Gonzaga, like, you know what I mean? It was like, you know, I watch a lot of boxing, Billy, right? And you can see how, like, sometimes early, you'll. You'll have a fighter who's getting the best of the other guy for four or five, six rounds, and then, like in round seven, all of a sudden, the guy who's losing comes back and starts throwing haymakers. And you could see the fight change that happened against Gonzaga. All of a sudden. You could see how rattled Gonzaga was. You could see how much pressure they suddenly felt because they went from a team that had scored 50 points in the first half and was up by 16 to, wait a minute, guys. We can't lose this lead. And anytime you can make an opponent feel like the goal is to preserve a lead and not win the game, you got them. And I think Kentucky did that because they're shorthanded. And I think Gonzaga is looking at them and going, why are you all still fighting? Why are you still throwing punches in the ninth and 10th round? I thought we had you. This should be over. You should quit. And I think that's why that half and whatever happened in that locker room will be impactful for the rest of the year for this team, Billy. Because Mark Pope can only do so much. But those guys made a decision that they weren't going to go out like that, and that says a lot about who they are. Like, to me on the court, people will say, this is a national championship caliber team. I agree. When you can beat Gonzaga in that situation, when you can beat Duke, you are on that level. Beyond that, this is clearly a team that Has a level of fight and heart that Mark Pope can't do anything about. That's not about Mark Pope. That's about those guys. And those guys decided, you know, Jackson and Andrew Car and all those dudes said, you know what, we're better than this. And I think that is the strongest message that that team has sent. That's bigger than Duke. I mean, symbolically, that's a big win over Duke. Obviously in the bracketology, that's a big win over Duke. But in terms of, like, what's going to happen the rest of the way, you just lost to Clemson and now here you are down 16 points. 18 is the largest deficit you have, and you come back. That's some real stuff, man. That can change a team's outlook. And I think that second half was that important for Kentucky. Billy.
