Shannon The Dude (2:20)

Well, honestly, that's how I felt that morning. I go, man, we just ran off a Hall of Fame coach for this guy who hasn't even won a game in the NCAA tournament. But then you hear, you know, Mitch Barnhart, come on. And I think it was Barnhart's interview, which I think might be his most important interview he's ever done on KSR that morning to sort of flip the fan base and make everybody positive about the hire.

Matt Jones (2:38)

I think it's. I think it's one of the best PR things he's ever done, period. I mean, I, you know, I, I've never really thought he. Him to be great at pr, but I thought he was that morning. But listening to it, and I did listen to most of the show, Ryan, it really is a fascinating case study in group think being changed in a short period of time.

Ryan Lemond (2:59)

I'm telling you something, that show was amazing. I was listening to it yesterday and I. Even though I knew the result, I couldn't quit listening to it. Every caller that came in, I forgot about this. We were expecting a lot of negative calls. It was positive after positive after positive. I'd forgotten that the kid called in that played for Pope. He was good. Jack Givens.

Matt Jones (3:19)

Oh, that's right. Yes. I missed that part yesterday. The kid at Georgia that played for him. That's right. Yeah.

Ryan Lemond (3:24)

He called in and he was good, giving some updates. What it's like kind of a coach. He is. And then Jack called in at the end. But you. You and Sharon are right. Mitch Barnhart's interview may be the best thing he's ever done as far as the PR goes, because it was fantastic.

Matt Jones (3:37)

Well, I don't know if we need that level of PR today, Drew, but there is, I think, some. Some frustration in the fan base after the game Saturday night. I. We haven't been on the air since the game. Ryan was on a little bit on the postgame show, but. But, you know, Drew, I think the frustrating part about that game is not even the loss, although you wanted to win. It's that you're up for four minutes to go and then just kind of four minutes of a collapse. I mean, not just losing, but losing, you know, by seven points and just looking unable to do anything in the last few minutes. Mental mistakes, turnovers. It's just. I'm not sure that last four minutes, Drew could have gone much worse.

Drew Franklin (4:24)

No, that was pretty terrible and hard to watch. I felt good about that game all week. I felt good about that game for 35 minutes of the game. And then at the end, it's just that they flipped the switch to off and everything was going wrong. And it's. You know, they're obviously very hurt by not having a primary ball handler. They can't get in the flow of their offense. But that doesn't excuse like that inbounds where you just stare at the ball or giving up offensive rebounds on free throws, there was just like a. Almost seems like a mental collapse between everyone. They couldn't do anything right. It was just mistake after mistake after mistake.

Matt Jones (4:55)

Do you think there's just Ryan, like not a leader or so? I mean, I, you know, the, the turnover that every. Everybody focuses on that possession at 74, 70, where, where the Perry makes a turnover and then on, on the, on the inbound pass. But you know, we were. There was a seven point swing before that where it just didn't look like Kentucky was able to get off a good shot. I mean, Brea, you know, Brea takes a huge deep three. Now, of course he's made those shots before, so it's hard to get frustrated at the shot, but then not getting the rebound. I mean, Amari played pretty well, but that was a pretty bad rebound to give. What do you think is the caught was the cause there as it fell apart?

Ryan Lemond (5:39)

I think you kind of hit on it. There was nobody out there to kind of take charge and rally the troops and get them back in line because it was just collapsing in front of our eyes and nobody stepped up and tried to stop the bleeding. You know, not blocking out on a free throw. Andrew Carr threw one in the stands. Bad shots, bad turnovers. I mean, it was just a total collapse. And I think if Butler was healthy, he may have been, you know, somebody out there and kind of stopped the bleeding a little bit.

Matt Jones (6:05)

You know, we talked about not having Butler. Doesn't really hurt you necessarily, unless a team pressures intensely, which Texas does not. But maybe Drew, it hurt you in the last few minutes because the idea that anyone can kind of get the offense going maybe is not the case when a team is completely locked in, like defensively, as Texas was those last couple minutes, I think it was obvious.

Drew Franklin (6:32)

They were missing some leadership. I mean, Amari's your best player, but respectfully, tomorrow he doesn't speak. Like Pope even says that. He gave a pre game speech a few weeks ago. Pope said it was two sentences and that was it. I mean, he's just not going to be the guy to call everyone in a huddle and get on him about doing things. You know, Kobe Braya, you kind of want him to be that guy, but he was too busy going over six. I don't know him for that moment. He's. He's looking to rally the troops. Travis Perry, a true freshman, probably uncomfortable in that spot already. They just needed someone to kind of get everybody together and say, hey, we were up five, let's not blow this. But instead it just was one after another. All, all system failure in the last three minutes and 45 seconds.

Matt Jones (7:10)

Up five with the ball. I mean, and before the four minute timeout, I mean that, that's a, I think our win percentage chance at that point, Shannon was 86% on and that's even on the road. So, I mean, you let it slip away ultimately. Does it, does it matter? It maybe matters a little bit. You were projected to be the three seed. I think if they did it now, it's probably four, maybe even five. The schedule coming up is four winnable games and then two games. It's going to be really hard to win. But you could also, Shannon, you could lose all those games. Right. There's not a. I think LSU at home, I feel like is a. Without Butler and Robinson. I don't know that you can look at any game and say it's certain. Which is why getting that win was such a big deal to me. If they had gotten it on Saturday.

Shannon The Dude (8:01)

Yeah, I mean Alabama, Auburn, I mean, I'm just going to go ahead and write those off as losses. Oklahoma on the road, that's not going to be easy. Missouri coming up, lsu, you feel like that's a. You win that game and you, you got to get Vanderbilt tomorrow night. I mean, that's a huge game.

Matt Jones (8:15)

Now all of a sudden tomorrow night's a huge game. Yeah, huge game. I mean, I, I think tomorrow night, you know, we said this, what was it for South Carolina, and they won and won relatively easily. But Ryan, I think, but we had our full roster. People forget during that game. I think Ryan tomorrow night is massive. I mean, I'm going to assume Butler doesn't play. I think we got to talk about what Robinson situation is going to be for the rest of the year. But regardless, I mean, tomorrow night Ryan must win, Right?

Ryan Lemond (8:47)

Especially since, you know, they got you at Vanderbilt when you didn't play very well at all. So now you got them on your home court. Time to man up, man. Time to win these games. You got to, you know, protect your home court. Beat a team like Vanderbilt.

Matt Jones (9:00)

But do we have enough to win? Do we have enough to win those games?

Ryan Lemond (9:03)

Because it sounded like last night, Pope said, you know, Butler has not practiced at all. Robinson hasn't done anything since he hurt that.

Matt Jones (9:10)

So Drew, do we have enough to win those games?

Drew Franklin (9:12)

Yes. It just beat Tennessee by 11 in repairing that same roster. I think they'll be all right. It's clear, though, late in games when they don't have their offense, they are missing a point guard badly. Travis Perry just started the game, played pretty well, didn't hate him in that role early, but at the end of the game, he just. He wasn't it. He's not the leader then the floor general they need in those moments when a game's tight and the pressure's on like that on the road, I kind of wondered.

Matt Jones (9:36)

I kind of thought Pope maybe should make the Noah switch. There were only. There was only like two instances in that game I got frustrated with Pope. One was not playing Noah down the stretch. I mean, they did it against Tennessee. I think it would have been good to do. And then second, I mean, I don't know how many times I have to say this, Drew, but the line change has got to stop. I mean, we got off to. What was it? What was our start? 8, 060. What was the start? It was. And then line change again, and the next thing you know, it's a tie game. Why do we insist on doing that? It has not worked at any, any point this year.

Drew Franklin (10:11)

I remember Travis Perry hitting a three early to go up nine to two. Texas took a timeout. I can't remember if the line change was right there.

Matt Jones (10:17)

That's when the line change occurred.

Drew Franklin (10:19)

Yeah, it was immediate time coming up. But, I mean, you were. You were playing well, had a good lead, even with Travis Perry making his first start. He wasn't hurting you. In fact, I just said he was helping. You hit the three to add to the run, and then you make the big switch. I. I don't understand, because Pope came up in the Patino conditioning where you hear about guys 3 throwing up in trash cans, and that's what Patino is known for, and that's obviously his mentor. But then it's like It's. Can no one play more than, you know, 27, 28 minutes a game?

Matt Jones (10:45)

One guy. I just don't understand the desire to put a swarm. We are not good enough to put four reserves in at once. And especially when we're playing well. I just. I don't get it. And it has not worked. I would love to see our plus minuses, Ryan on the second four minutes of each half. It's got to be minus infinity because we start these halves usually pretty good. And then here comes the line, and he's a smart guy. He has to see that analytically. He was asked about it before the Texas game, and he was like, yeah, I think we're going to do it more. And it was the first time I heard a little cow stubbornness in him, Ryan. And I was like, now wait a minute, Mark. If the numbers say don't work, don't just double down on it. And it didn't work again in another game.

Ryan Lemond (11:36)

I didn't hear that, but I don't like hearing that because like you said, why not just rotate them one at a time? I know you want to get the guys, you know, get a couple minutes in, get them, you know, knock the rust off before it's. In case you need them late in the game. Do one at a time. Don't do all three. But he's. Do you think he's got some analytics on his side? That's why he's doing this? Because he's definitely obvious.

Matt Jones (11:55)

I don't know. I mean, I don't know if he does. If he does, I'd love to see it. All I know is what the score is when they come in when they don't. But, you know, maybe there's something I'm not seeing. I'd. I'd love to hear what it is. Let's talk about the injuries. So listening to Pope, Pope with injuries is hard to figure out either because I think he almost sometimes makes them, whereas Cal, I think, used to not make them sound as bad and then they were. I sometimes can't tell Drew if I think Pope makes them sound worse than they are. So it's hard for me to know. I got the sense listening to him, though. We will see Butler before the end of the year, but when he said Jackson Robinson is not using his wrist at all and then said he's shooting left handed in practice, I don't know. That Drew, that. That was the first really made me nervous. Are you. Do you think there's a world where we don't see Jackson Robinson again?

Drew Franklin (12:52)

I'm expecting him only because I'm to the point where Pope's injury reports are. What you just said, everything is the absolute wor. It sound like Andrew Carr was going, you know, going to the hospital to stay there for months, and then he played two weeks later. There's a video of Robinson dribbling in their walkthrough yesterday. So he's using it a little. That doesn't mean he's shooting and he's close. So I just. I'm having a hard time interpreting Pope. I did like what he said about Butler, that he hasn't practiced yet with loud play, but it's a matter of, you know, Just him kind of playing through it whenever they do need him. That was a little comforting. That sound like he might be closer to Robinson, but I, I don't know what to expect with Robinson.

Matt Jones (13:31)

Hard for. It's just hard for me to read his, his injury. I wonder if he's a little bit of a gloomer. Doom and gloom. I can't really tell. Now, he did say Kirk Cresa can get a medical red shirt. It'll be interesting to see. I assume Pope's going to want him back. It is interesting though, with the roster bringing him back, you could almost argue we have too many point guards. But after this year, Ryan, we need too many point guards. Right. Because we can't have another year where we don't get point guards.

Ryan Lemond (14:01)

Yeah. We're basically playing our fourth point guard right now. Travis Perry County Jackson is one. So I'm, I kind of agree with you guys about Robinson, man. You know, they've said they've got three different opinions, which means they did must not have liked what they heard in the first two opinions and I think went and got a third opinion.

Shannon The Dude (14:15)

I just wonder like, even if he does come back and let's say he does play left hand, is a left handed Robinson better than what you got on the bench? I don't know. I don't think so.

Matt Jones (14:23)

I don't know.

Shannon The Dude (14:24)

I mean, well, I don't know.

Matt Jones (14:26)

First of all, I can't imagine he's going to come in and shoot left hand. Like he's not going to play left hand.

Shannon The Dude (14:31)

I can't imagine that practicing that way then.

Matt Jones (14:34)

But like there is a world where he could play maybe just not be as good a shooter. I, I think that could happen. But not Pope throwing in. He's shooting left handed was weird to me. I, I don't know if that was supposed to be like a joke, but like I thought he was joking because.

Drew Franklin (14:52)

I, I said to people he was joking.

Matt Jones (14:54)

Okay.

Drew Franklin (14:55)

I said to people with me like Pope, now's not. We're not laughing at Robinson playing left handed. Like, obviously he's not going to go.

Shannon The Dude (15:00)

Play left handed in text and then hear it.

Matt Jones (15:02)

Yeah, that's true.

Shannon The Dude (15:03)

I didn't hear it.

Matt Jones (15:04)

That's a great point. I didn't hear it. So I don't know. His tone. Maybe somebody that heard his tone can Be more clear. 859-280-2287 Text machine is 772-774-5254. Where do you think about what happens? And then let's talk about what it's going to take to get where we need to be in the tournament. Before the game, we found out we were the number 10 overall seed, which looked great. We're not that now. So where's this team going to end up? We'll take a break. Be right back. Ksr. Welcome back. I have to tell you, Shannon, the. The whole. First of all, that's a great pick on a music right there. Playing Leaving bus on a. From Dallas. I gotta tell you, you know, me and you, we're not flyers. Right. We don't love it.

Shannon The Dude (15:50)

No.

Matt Jones (15:50)

Right. Is that fair to say?

Shannon The Dude (15:51)

Yeah.

Matt Jones (15:52)

I gotta tell you, it feels like there's a lot more plane stuff going on right now than. I lied.

Shannon The Dude (15:58)

Did something happen with a Delta plane over the weekend?

Matt Jones (16:00)

Yeah. It flip.

Ryan Lemond (16:01)

Yeah.

Shannon The Dude (16:03)

God.

Matt Jones (16:04)

Now, nobody. Everybody was okay.

Ryan Lemond (16:06)

Right.

Matt Jones (16:07)

But the video is out this morning. I didn't. I didn't see a video yesterday, but it's out this morning. And it just flipped over while it was. While it was landing. Just completely flipped and. Yeah. I don't know. I don't know what's going on. Like, rationally speaking, I. You know, we hadn't had a crash in like 20 years and they had. I mean, I get it rationally, Shannon.

Shannon The Dude (16:32)

Yeah.

Matt Jones (16:33)

But I'm not rational about flying or I wouldn't be so nervous to begin with.

Shannon The Dude (16:37)

No. It only takes one and the wrong one to be on.

Matt Jones (16:40)

That's exactly right. So then you see the flip and then I see, like, they fired all these, like.

Shannon The Dude (16:46)

What do you call air traffic controller.

Matt Jones (16:47)

Controllers. I don't understand, you know, what everybody thinks about cutting all these jobs in the government. That's a place. I say we get more of them. Right. Like, I feel like they need as many of those as we have. Chancellor, you get it? Shannon, you and I are on the same thing. I just. I. I don't know what it is, but I'm. I'm just a little.

Shannon The Dude (17:06)

I want my.

Matt Jones (17:07)

About flights right now. Yeah.

Shannon The Dude (17:09)

I want my pilots and my air traffic controllers to have a backup and that backup. To have a backup to that backup.

Matt Jones (17:14)

Exactly. This just doesn't feel like the time for us to go. I think we can get rid of some of these people. Like, I just, you know, this is. I don't know. So anyway, one person writes. Matt, I think you guys are a little overreacting. We're out without three of our six best players. It happens. Well, yes. At the end of the year, Ryan, I think it's fair for us to. As we're judging the season to look at the injuries and all that. But the reality is we have who we have right now. And, like, there's no. Like, we might as well talk about what we have. I'm kind of with Pope. Pope. After the game, somebody said something like, well, you don't have your guys. And he said, I don't care. No excuses. We're up five with four minutes to go. You got to win that game. And I agree with him, Ryan. I mean, ultimately, yes, the reason we're not up 15 is the fact we don't have everybody. But when you're up five with four minutes to go, you can win that game. You got to go win it. Right? That's my point. So even though it's true we don't have all our guys, you still got to go win that game. You do.

Ryan Lemond (18:13)

And like Drew said, that team beat tennis. A really good Tennessee team without those two guys. And when you had that lead down at Texas, you got to close it out. And there's. We're talking about, you know, fifth year seniors, some veterans, some guys have made some really awful, awful mental mistakes late in the game that just can't happen.

Matt Jones (18:30)

One person writes, Matt, what do you think is the effect of 60% or less? Andrew Carr. I think that's a huge thing, Drew, especially offensively. I mean, I think what we've lost with Carr is that he was like a guaranteed 15 points a game. And I've said this a bunch, but really like a guaranteed three easy layups every game. And we lose that now, maybe, you know, now get one may. But like, I think him being limited, I almost feel like we're down two and a half players when you're talking about him, because I don't think he's. I don't think he's yet to get back to what he was pre when the back flared up.

Drew Franklin (19:11)

Yeah, they're missing him a lot. Even though he's out there, he wasn't what he was in the non conference. Like you go back to Duke and Zaga, those big wins. He made big plays down the stretch. And at Texas, he got a big bucket that put him up five with five minutes left. And I kind of thought, oh, cars turning a corner. Kentucky's turn in a corner. Let's put this away. And then he fouls out a minute later and you don't see him again. So he made the one play, but that was his only real big contribution. Had a bad turnover. It's just, you know, it's obviously the back, I mean, lines up perfectly Statistically with when he stepped out it and then came back. But I mean he's. He's half of what he was in the non conference.

Matt Jones (19:45)

One person writes, Matt, I was watching the live feed of Pope talking. He seemed very serious to me when he said playing him left handed. I think they're looking of any way to get him on the court. That would be Shannon, an unbelievable thing if you ended up playing.

Shannon The Dude (20:01)

And what if he's actually good? What if he just like. What if he's better left handed?

Ryan Lemond (20:06)

Stop it.

Matt Jones (20:07)

You cannot.

Shannon The Dude (20:08)

He just discovers this out of nowhere. I'm actually left handed. I didn't know it.

Matt Jones (20:12)

Can you, can you all shoot with your offhand? Either of you? Any of you?

Ryan Lemond (20:16)

Not very well.

Shannon The Dude (20:16)

No.

Drew Franklin (20:17)

I'm technically ambidextrous a little bit. I can do some things with both. Shooting a basketball, probably not, but it. Not that I throw it well, but I can. If I throw a football right and left, it looks about the same.

Matt Jones (20:28)

See, not saying it's good. I'm weird in the sense that I dribble left handed, but I couldn't shoot left handed. So I dribble left handed, shoot right handed, kick left footed.

Ryan Lemond (20:40)

That's crazy.

Matt Jones (20:41)

So I don't know why that is. But if you asked me to swing a golf club or shoot a basketball or throw a ball left handed, I can't do it. But if we were to just play basketball and I was dribbling up the court, I would dribble it left. So I. But you know, some people, some people, maybe he can do it. I don't know.

Ryan Lemond (20:56)

And you know, these, these high level basketball guys, they can use their off hands often just as good as they can use their dominant hand. So he can probably use his left hand better than we think. But I don't know if he can step out and knock down threes.

Matt Jones (21:07)

Like shoot though and shoot threes. I don't know about that. All right, I want to. Before we go the phones, I do want to talk for a second about the flooding in the mountains. Governor Beshear said this morning 14 people have passed away. I was talking to somebody who, who does work in that area that said the death toll will be less than the last one, but that the long term damage may be just as bad, if not worse because it hit a wider swath of area. You know, there is flooding from Pikeville all the way down to, you know, Clay county. And there's flooding in other parts of the state.

Caller (21:49)

Right.

Matt Jones (21:49)

I mean there are a couple people who lost their lives in Hart county and kinds of place. So, so while the death, I mean I think 45 people passed in the, in the flooding in 2022, it's 14. I bet that number will increase. But the actual long term toll may be just as bad, if not worse. And you know, not only are our prayers to everyone that's involved, but this will be another case where I think the state we will have to step up for our fellow people. We're going to try to find ways to help. I think it's one of the things you have to kind of assess with people what the need is. But in the immediate term, I think the Appalachian Regional Health, those folks are kind of taking care of immediate needs. If you're looking for someone to donate, I know UK athletics put something out but Ryan, it's obviously a terrible scene. Then you have some bitter cold and snow coming late tonight and tomorrow. That will not make it any easier. So I hope everyone a will check on your neighbors, especially if you live in those places. But also, Ryan, pray for these folks because this will be a rough night tonight and day tomorrow upcoming.

Ryan Lemond (23:05)

It's awful. I mean it's just devastating again for that area down there. And you know, we, we've seen the stories where, you know, schools again getting flooded, nursing homes getting flooded, people have to make water rescues. And now you're right. Now the temperature is going to be in the teens the next couple days. It's awful.

Matt Jones (23:20)

It is. So please check on your neighbor and just check on things you can do. And we'll be keeping you up to date on here as well. We'll take a break and be right back. This is KSR. T.J. smith, personal injury attorney.

Shannon The Dude (23:32)

Call T.J. he'll make him pay. Now more of Kentucky Sports Radio presented by Stockton Mortgage. Here's Matt Jones.

Matt Jones (23:40)

Welcome back. It is Kentucky Sports Radio, 859-280-2287. The text machine is 772-774-5254. Ryan, one person writes. Matt, do you think with all the injuries we've had there's something to be said about trainers or the way Pope prepares the team? No, I think the injuries are fluky. I think injuries in general are fluky, but especially the ones we've had falling a weird way back pain, etc. I think it's just, it's just one of those things. I also think, you know, this is, we've played how many games this year, Drew? 27. I mean just for sake of argument, that's 20. That's what, 30% of an NBA season. These dudes play more games like this. They're not hurt either because of what. How Pope trains or doesn't train injuries to some extent. Now, if this happened every year, year after year for seven or eight years, I think you'd ask yourself. But for the most part, Drew, I think these injuries are random. In all unique circumstances that just happen, you know, I mean, Kerrs was a non. Like, Kerrs was like, just the way he landed. It happens, you know?

Drew Franklin (24:54)

Yeah, we didn't see Robinson's. It happened in practice, but it's obviously very bad. Kerrs we saw in real time. We knew what happened immediately that can't be prevented. And Lamont Butler, his is because Texas A and M came and played a football game in rap arena, and then he had to try to give it a go against Tennessee, and they also tried to play college football instead of a basketball game. He just got completely roughed up in those two. Another right in front of our eyes. And car. He's just an old man. I mean, they're all four completely different. And two of them, we got. We saw exactly what happened.

Ryan Lemond (25:23)

Thank goodness the ankle doctor left or, you know, we know any ankle injuries? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Matt Jones (25:29)

How about that? The ankle doctor, though. I mean, we miss him. Maybe that's somebody we should have captured.

Shannon The Dude (25:34)

And he left, and now we have zero ankles turned. Zero. The tracker has zero. The guy that was here that was supposed to help all that we had, like, 20 last year.

Drew Franklin (25:44)

Knock on wood. Shannon, you just.

Matt Jones (25:45)

You just never believed in the. The guy. I felt good about the ankle, guys. Is he.

Drew Franklin (25:52)

Yep.

Shannon The Dude (25:53)

Let's go to bluegrass.

Matt Jones (25:54)

Bluegrass. How are you?

Caller (25:57)

What's going on, fellas? Yeah, you all said prayers go out to my neighbors here. It's. It's pretty bad up here in Floyd county, fellas.

Matt Jones (26:06)

Yeah, so when you say pretty bad, I mean, give. Hang on. Just Bluegrass. When you say pretty bad, give people. Give me an example what you're talking about.

Caller (26:14)

If, you know, now that the water's gone, the mud is everywhere. Like, homes that just got built back are just destroyed again. Like. Yeah, it's Is down hardening fellas. Like, really, it's. It's. It's the bad as you can think about mud and slush, and when water comes in your home, it's just done, you know, it's just. You got to start over. It's just.

Matt Jones (26:35)

So you're saying there are some people there. There's some people who had just rebuilt their homes from the last one and it happened again?

Caller (26:44)

Yes, Sir. Yes, Matt. Like, just. I'm talking about months ago. Got finished and. Yeah, like, yeah, pretty bad. Pretty bad. But let's. I guess this might be a little bit more positive. I don't know. But let's go. I'm watching this Texas game, and I couldn't happen to think back at when Mark was talking to you, when Pope was talking to you about having his whiteboard, you know, and there's all intricate pieces to make this team what it was going to be. And remember when the whole coaching staff went out like their hair was on fire to get Butler, because he was that winner and he was that dog. Like, I think when you start taking those pieces away, you've got a lot of two stars out there and three stars that.

Matt Jones (27:29)

No, you do. You do. You're. You're exactly right. You know, we talked to Bluegrass about how the sum was greater than the. Or seen the hole was greater than the sum of the parts, but then you take some of those parts away, and that hole comes. Comes down quite a bit.

Caller (27:43)

Yes. So we're. I think we're kind of lucky. We are where we're at right now, fellas. Even if we go. Let's say we win two more, then we're probably what we thought we were to begin with, right?

Matt Jones (27:57)

Well, it's hard to say. I appreciate the call because, Ryan, I mean, on the one hand, let's say we only won two more, we'd be 19 and 12. That's probably not as good as I thought we'd be. But I also didn't think the SEC was going to be as good as it is. I mean, even after the game against Texas, Ryan, we're still a three seed in Lenardi's thing. Did you see that? We only went down from 10 to 11. So, I mean, there. You know, we could. There's a world where we end up 20 and 11 and lose in the second round of the SEC tournament and are like a four seed or a five seed. I mean, that's a real distinct possibility because of the strength of the winds that we have on our resume.

Ryan Lemond (28:42)

That's it. You know, we're all disappointed by some of these losses. You know, Vanderbilt in Texas and Ohio State, and some of these losses we should have won, we forget about. We've got some really, really, really good wins this year. I just. With six games left, I won't be shocked if we win three and lose three. I won't be shocked we win to lose four. I mean, I think it could go either way.

Matt Jones (29:02)

I It was interesting to me. When you watch the NCAA tournament thing Saturday, Drew, Bubba Cunningham, the North Carolina ad, mentioned our injuries in saying that we're a three seed. So clearly that is going to be something they look at. He mentioned it on the show. We're still projected even after Saturday as a three seed. A lot of the teams that were booked around us in that NCAA thing all lost as well. So I think that was part of it. And then if you look at the SEC tournament, you know, unless we collapse, we're probably going to be an 8 or a 9. Either way, like, unless we collapse, like, it's going to, I think, hard for us to get to 7 6. I think the other teams that are 10 and lower are going to lose more games. So I think we're kind of playing Drew to see are we getting a buy and playing Thursday at 1 or are we playing Wednesday at 1? It almost looks like that's going to be what it is.

Drew Franklin (29:59)

Yeah. Of all the. The seeds to be a fringe, either or it's. That's the direct line of Wednesday or Thursday. So hopefully it's an 8. After the game Saturday, I had to tell some people to go to bed. On our message board, they're talking about the NIT Fans just need to realize that Kentucky's record is really good. They've been calling them a lock in the tournament for weeks. That Texas game barely impacted the tournament seating, if it did at all. And if you lose to Auburn, Missouri and Alabama, that's not really going to hurt you that much either. Those. That's two top five teams and then Missouri's in the top 15 of the net. So as long as you handle business tomorrow against LSU and, and maybe win that Oklahoma one at home. Oklahoma, those three. The other three really aren't going to hurt you too bad long term. He's in the tournament now it's a matter of where's your seat going to be. I think they'll be fine.

Matt Jones (30:45)

I think they still got to win. At least I still think they got to. I mean, I don't think they can lose all these games. All right, So I think they got to win. Like, I think they got win tomorrow. I think tomorrow's a big game. I think if you win tomorrow, then I'm going to be like, okay, fine. But if we were to like, look, if we were to not win another game, that might be different. But if we went. But I. Tomorrow to me is the. But you make a really good point. We could lose to Auburn, Alabama, Missouri, and really not hurt our seat at all.

Drew Franklin (31:13)

They won't hold them one bit if they lose those games because.

Matt Jones (31:16)

Because those are all teams that are ranked ahead of us.

Shannon The Dude (31:19)

So Leonardo still has them as a three. His.

Matt Jones (31:22)

Yeah, well, I said that a minute ago.

Shannon The Dude (31:24)

I'm sorry. I was answering the phone.

Matt Jones (31:25)

That's all right. Don't you worry about it. I just wanted to make fun of you. Who's next?

Shannon The Dude (31:29)

Todd.

Matt Jones (31:30)

Todd. Go ahead, Todd.

Caller (31:32)

Hey, good morning, Matt. I just want to say have a prayers for the people affected by these floods and going. Man, I appreciate y'all being honest about Kentucky basketball, the good and the bad. And I'm get to my point. Real second, I want to say that when Pope was announced on that Sunday, that made a big statement to Barnhart and then because of what big Blue nation have gotten sick of and I'm proud of what Pope did. But y'all keep hitting the nail on the head about the lineup. We had a league going against Florida, he made wholesale substitutions. We were coming back against Clemson. Vandy, I think we should have won. And against Texas the other night, Perry, Noah, Williams away and I can't remember the guy number 15 was our best lineup on the floor. But I felt, yeah, we gave the game away. That's what hurts the worst. I know we got injuries and we're doing the best we can, but if, if we can see it, you can see it. I don't know why these coaches don't see it. Cal was the world's worst. I still, it's a. It sticks in my crawl. Last year Dillingham hit 3, 3 threes against Kansas and Cal pulled him. I don't know how many games he lost with a 10 point lead or more. And I'm not comparing him to him. And I'm glad we got Pope. I'm glad it's a change, but I'm just. If you get a chance to talk to him, ask him why they make these wholesale substitutions. These boys should be playing more than three minutes at a time. The other schools like Duke and them, they play eight man rotation for years. You know, they got better players. Maybe there's not as big a drop off coming off the bench, but these guys should be playing more than minutes than they should. I feel.

Matt Jones (33:14)

I agree, I totally agree with you. I appreciate the call and especially don't understand it right at the beginning of the game like the game just started. They can't be tired yet. Right. So I mean I, that I don't, I just, I don't get. We have. So we have a number of games where in the first and second half we start out like wildfires and then take the guys out. And the thing is, the other team leaves their starters in. So we're playing starters versus second team. Let's at least go as long until they make substitutions. Like, I don't understand our desire to be. I would get it if at the end of the game we were wearing the other team out, but our guys look worn out at the end. So I, you know, I don't, I don't really know. Estate renovation isn't just for go to kitchens, baths and basements. They also bring top quality craftsmanships to decks. So if you're looking to upgrade, rebuild, or create a new outdoor space for this spring season, get a deck or renovate your home with estate renovations. They're locally owned by KSR listeners. A lot of you have called them and they, they think, you know, get like a cool KSR house community. Visit estaterenos R e N O s dot com Learn more estaterenos R e N O S dot com and turn your house into a home with estate renovations. We'll take a break and be right back. Kentucky Sports Radio welcome back. It is 859-280-2287. I'm gonna do something Shannon here that you're not gonna believe.

Shannon The Dude (34:49)

Oh, okay.

Matt Jones (34:50)

Not just you. No, not just you. Everybody, but most of the listeners won't believe I'm gonna take up for Donald Trump off this text message.

Ryan Lemond (34:56)

Oh, how about that chord, Shannon?

Matt Jones (34:58)

Yeah, how about that? One person writes, matt, I'm kind of mad. I voted for Donald Trump. I live in Eastern Kentucky and I'm a Republican. But I was mad that he was riding around the Daytona 500 while our floods were happening. I think the president should have been more considerate. Now, see, I'm agreeing with a liberal for the first time. You're actually not, because I actually disagree with you. Like, I don't care if he went to Dacoma 500 or not. But I always hate when this happens, Shannon, when, when, like, some disaster happens and people get mad at presidents for, like, not being in their office. What did you really want Donald Trump to do?

Shannon The Dude (35:33)

Honestly, all he could do is go there and look.

Matt Jones (35:36)

Do you think he know? Yeah. Which, which also he should do. But not in the moment. Right then he's, that's a, like, that's a, that's a.

Shannon The Dude (35:43)

You're in the way, right?

Matt Jones (35:44)

Yeah, you're in the way. So, like the same thing. When the floods happened a couple years ago. People were like, oh, Joe Biden. You don't want Joe Biden there and you don't want Donald Trump there. They'd be in the way. And honestly, he is not the one that we want making those decisions. He doesn't know how to manage a flood. We want the people in the jobs to do it. So I think it's a little different when you're like a mayor or even a governor. But the president, what's he gonna do, Shannon? He's not gonna do anything. He can't do anything in that moment. So I don't care if he's not that. That's irrelevant. But, like, I do think we sometimes, if we don't like the other. The president are like, why aren't you doing. They're not gonna be able to do anything. Like, the people who are the experts, they are the ones working anyway. So I don't know why we expect somebody to like. I felt the Same way in 2022, when people go on about Biden not being there. They don't need to be there. They'll be in the way, Shannon. That's the reality.

Shannon The Dude (36:44)

He can see the situation. He can see what the, you know, the damage done without being there.

Matt Jones (36:48)

What's he gonna even do? He doesn't know what to do. You just hire the people who know what to do and then they do it.

Shannon The Dude (36:53)

Right.

Matt Jones (36:53)

They don't know. I mean, so, yeah, I think that's an unfair criticism that we always put on politicians that we don't like. Now, the mayor and like, the mayor, like when the, when the fires happened in California and the mayor of LA wasn't there, that's a bad look. But the president, like, what are they.

Shannon The Dude (37:11)

And those people are already there. They live in that community. You know, I think they live in difference.

Matt Jones (37:15)

And Bashir, I think that's something he does really well, is he's, like in the office and doing press conference. That's what the governor. That's a governor role. I think the president. I just think that's a little bit different. Who's up next?

Shannon The Dude (37:27)

John.

Matt Jones (37:28)

John, go ahead. John.

Caller (37:31)

I was glad to see you coming over to the right side. Now, Matt, only on this.

Matt Jones (37:36)

Hang on, hang on, hang on. I got that wrong. That's called. That's called. That's called being fair and magnanimous. On every other issue. I could have a different conversation, but I'm talking about this because it affects Eastern Kentucky. Now, go ahead.

Caller (37:51)

Oh, I missed that. I'm sorry. A couple things. It's interesting that. Yeah, it's interesting that Jackson's wrist was hurt in the South Carolina game. He obviously had X rays, MRIs and everything. And I'm sure they consult the doctors and they probably said it's not going to hurt him to go ahead and play or, you know, he fell again.

Matt Jones (38:14)

And he fell again. But you remember, I mean there's a he. He heard it okay. When he came back in that.

Drew Franklin (38:21)

Because.

Matt Jones (38:22)

And then he went out and didn't come back in because we said maybe they shouldn't have put him back in because we were up 20. But yeah, he came back in and hurt himself again.

Caller (38:31)

I didn't know. I didn't know he fell again. I thought it was just from breaking his wrist from shooting also. You know, it's obviously the, the word is out on running this off the three point line. It's like, are we going to. Gonna go ahead and take the layups that they're offering this or, you know, or, or does he have a scheme to get his more open shots?

Matt Jones (38:52)

I don't know.

Caller (38:53)

So it's gonna be interesting to see what happens there.

Matt Jones (38:56)

Appreciate the call through. I don't know if the guys we have can take guys off the drill like that would be. I mean Lamont Butler and Jackson Robinson would be two of the guys that if they had pressed out on us could get to the rim and finish. Problem is we don't have those guys and I'm not sure our other guys can actually take advantage.

Drew Franklin (39:13)

Yeah. And it's obvious that Kobe Bray is struggling to get his own shot when they've jammed up this offense recently. You know, late in the game he was just crossover, crossover, going off a screen trying to get it. He'd step back. But to go over four, you know, I can go ahead and say what you like I usually say, but you got to have Kobe, Brad, win basketball games. But just Kentucky as a team only hitting four in that game. I know their credit was six. They hit away. And Perry hit two meaningless wounds in the last 30 seconds. Before that there were four for 22. And I know we can debate everything that went wrong, but for me, If Kentucky went 4 for 22 from 3 in a game, I don't expect them to win. It's just the three matters so much.

Matt Jones (39:50)

Yeah, I mean you've been, I mean you've been dead on. When we, when we make four threes, we ain't beating anybody. Especially on the road.

Drew Franklin (39:57)

It's lazy to just say did you hit threes or not hit threes but that's the way Kentucky's offense is designed. That's kind of how it goes.

Matt Jones (40:03)

Yeah, I think you're right. Who's next?

Shannon The Dude (40:05)

Steve.

Matt Jones (40:06)

Steve. Go ahead, Steve.

Caller (40:08)

Hey, how y'all doing?

Matt Jones (40:10)

Good.

Caller (40:11)

Okay. I'm. I'm a. Yeah, I'm a. I'm a big fan of ksr. I listen to as often as I can. You know, Matt, I think part of the problem we have in this country is we don't really look at this, what causes things. We look at the aftermath and say, well, somebody ought to do something. But that. I'm talking about. You don't. The flooding, I mean, what caused that? Well, you know, we don't want to go there necessarily, but it's. It's like so many things. If you don't affect. Go for the root cause, you're not going to save Eastern Kentucky. You're not going to help us at all. We got to get more proactive. And that's all I have.

Matt Jones (40:54)

By the way. I totally agree with you about that. And people who care about the Mouse Mountains, and I'm one of them and you're one of them, and there are people of all ilks on the far right and the far left who all care about the mountains because all of a lot of us have. Have roots there. We do at some point soon have to have like a real conversation about what. I mean, we can't do anything about the past, but about the future of rural eastern Kentucky. And this is rural America in general. And we have to be honest about it. And we can't. We. We have to. What is next? Because you're exactly right. You know, we've had these kind of once in a lifetime storms, but when you have two of them in three years, it's all of a sudden not once in a lifetime. And we have to start really thinking about what are we going to do going forward. Yeah.

Caller (41:44)

It's kind of funny when you have hundred year floods every 15 years, you know, five years for that matter. You know, it's. But anyway, Eastern Kentucky needs our help. I hope that. I haven't heard of anything going on when people could donate to eastern Kentucky, but if there is one, I'd like to.

Matt Jones (42:03)

There is. There'll be more. I'll have probably more information on that tomorrow for you. Okay. I mean, I know, like, thank you so. But there will be, There will be stuff. I. I think it's important in this moment to kind of figure out where needs are and make sure you're using the right organization. Organizations, but we should have more on that tomorrow. We'll take a break and come back hour number two. This is ksr.