KSR Postgame UK MBB vs Ohio State 12/21/24

Summary

KSR Postgame UK MBB vs Ohio State 12/21/24 - Detailed Summary

Release Date: December 22, 2024

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Episode Overview

In the December 21st episode of KSR’s Postgame Show, hosts Doug Gottlieb and Billy delve deep into the University of Kentucky (UK) Wildcats' men's basketball (MBB) performance against Ohio State. The episode, aired on iHeartPodcasts and Sports Talk 790 (WKRD-AM), provides an in-depth analysis of the game held at Madison Square Garden, exploring the team's strategies, execution, and areas needing improvement. Additionally, the hosts engage with listeners through caller interactions, offering diverse perspectives on the Wildcats' current season trajectory.

Game Recap

The Wildcats faced a tough showdown against Ohio State, culminating in a significant loss with a final score of 85-65. Doug Gottlieb sets the tone by expressing his disappointment:

"Kentucky gets absolutely destroyed in Madison Square Garden. 85-65. It was a pretty brutal performance by the Cats and I don't know, not one that it's certainly the first dud of the Pope era."
(00:54)

Billy further elaborates on the abruptness of the defeat, highlighting the team’s struggles both offensively and defensively:

"Kentucky was really, really bad, both offensively and defensively. It was a complete meltdown."
(01:26)

Hosts' Analysis

Team Building and Expectations

Doug Gottlieb reflects on the team's construction under Coach Mark Pope, noting that initial expectations were high with the belief that the Wildcats were "one player short from being really good." However, the game against Ohio State raised concerns about the team's athleticism and adaptability against more physical opponents.

"There has been kind of a blueprint on how to play Kentucky now, really starting with Billy's Western Kentucky team all the way through Gonzaga and Clemson and now Louisville and this game, even Colgate."
(02:13)

Offensive and Defensive Breakdown

The hosts dissect the Wildcats' offensive woes, particularly their poor shooting performance—shooting only 28% from the field and 19% from three-point range:

"We didn't have one guy on the team shoot 50% from the field. Not one."
(11:48)

Defensively, Ohio State exploited Kentucky's vulnerabilities by effectively switching defenses and forcing layups, overwhelming the Wildcats' defensive setup.

"Ohio State shot 58% as a team, so... they're better than their 40 point loss to Auburn would show. But they are athletic and they are physical and that just seems to really give this group difficulty."
(21:02)

Strategic Adjustments and Future Outlook

Both hosts agree that strategic adjustments are crucial moving forward, especially as Kentucky prepares for SEC play. They emphasize the necessity for the team to develop systems that can counteract athletic and physical playstyles prevalent in the conference.

"We're going to have to out scheme these teams and tonight it just didn't happen."
(28:09)

Caller Highlights

Throughout the episode, various callers share their insights and frustrations, contributing to a multifaceted discussion on the Wildcats' performance.

Positive Support and Optimism

Caller Brian offers a balance of criticism and optimism, acknowledging the loss but maintaining faith in Coach Pope’s leadership:

"Listen, it's so. Well, I am pretty close to being over Jackson Robinson... I feel like Pope is going to do the best job he can do teaching these guys going forward."
(60:55)

Critiques on Player Performance

Another caller, Zeke, points out specific player decisions that may have contributed to the loss, such as Amari Williams' questionable shot choices:

"There is one thing about him, like, I feel like he's making some bad decisions. Like when we were down by nine, instead of like passing it out or doing something, he just drove in and like took a bad show."
(43:32)

Key Insights

1. Athleticism Deficit: A recurring theme is the Wildcats’ lack of athleticism compared to their opponents. This deficit hampers their ability to defend effectively against more physical teams in the SEC.

2. Shooting Efficiency: Kentucky's shooting woes are highlighted as a critical area needing improvement. Consistently low three-point percentages undermine their offensive potential.

3. Defensive Strategies: The need for strategic defensive adjustments is emphasized, with the current setup unable to contain athletic teams like Ohio State.

4. Team Depth and Rotation: The hosts discuss concerns regarding the team's depth, particularly when primary players are substituted, leading to significant scoring runs by opponents.

5. Coach Mark Pope’s Leadership: While the loss is disappointing, both hosts express confidence in Coach Pope's ability to navigate the team through these challenges and implement necessary changes moving forward.

Conclusions and Future Outlook

Despite the heavy loss to Ohio State, Doug and Billy maintain a cautiously optimistic outlook for the Wildcats. They acknowledge that while the team faces significant challenges, especially in adapting to the SEC's competitive landscape, there is hope for improvement. The upcoming game against Florida is poised to be a pivotal moment, testing the team's resilience and strategic adaptability.

"I have to be optimistic going forward. I feel that with this loss, Pope is going to do the best job he can do teaching these guys going forward."
(41:22)

The hosts conclude by reiterating the importance of refining offensive efficiency and developing robust defensive strategies to enhance the Wildcats' performance in future games.

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Notable Quotes

• Doug Gottlieb (00:54): "Kentucky gets absolutely destroyed in Madison Square Garden. 85-65. It was a pretty brutal performance by the Cats and I don't know, not one that it's certainly the first dud of the Pope era."

• Billy (01:26): "Kentucky was really, really bad, both offensively and defensively. It was a complete meltdown."

• Doug Gottlieb (21:02): "I don't think we have, but I do think that's what we look like tonight. And you know, when Pope was hired, I went back and watched some of his BYU games because I had seen them play a couple of times."

• Billy (11:48): "We didn't have one guy on the team shoot 50% from the field. Not one. And Ohio State shot 58% as a team, so..."

• Brian (Caller) (60:55): "I'm still excited for what the future is going to be because I think. I feel like Pope is scheming. Maybe we didn't do good in this game, but I think he's trying to teach a lesson."

• Zeke (Caller) (43:32): "I feel like he's making some bad decisions. Like when we were down by nine, instead of like passing it out or doing something, he just drove in and like took a bad show."

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Final Thoughts

The KSR Postgame Show effectively encapsulates the multifaceted challenges facing the University of Kentucky's basketball team this season. Through comprehensive game analysis, thoughtful critiques, and engaging listener interactions, Doug Gottlieb and Billy provide listeners with a nuanced understanding of the Wildcats' performance and prospects. While acknowledging the setbacks, the hosts emphasize the potential for growth and strategic improvements as the team navigates the demanding SEC play ahead.

Transcript

[Doug Gottlieb]

This is Doug Gottlieb from All Ball with Doug Gottlieb. Listen, I'm get serious for a minute and talk about something personal. The hate in our country is getting out of control. In fact, it's at an all time high and people are facing just too much hate. A lot of people don't think it's a problem, I can tell you. I've experienced it firsthand, you know, living outside of the country in Russia when my teammates found out I was Jewish and at the time, granted this is 25 years ago, I couldn't get into the country of Dubai. They just treated me differently. I knew what they were saying in Russian because I could speak it, but they didn't know I understood that they were talking behind my back. Look, there's lots of examples of it, but it's going to take all of us to stop this sort of hate because we're all on the same team in this country. So let's take a break from our hate so our team can regroup and regain our momentum. We need to take a timeout against hate. Visit stand uptoallhate.org to help and join me in calling for timeout against hate by following the or posting the blue square emoji. Stand up to allhate.org, that's the place to go if you wanna help. Holiday magic is in the air and.

[Billy]

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[Doug Gottlieb]

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[Billy]

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[Billy]

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[Doug Gottlieb]

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[Billy]

And it's only on Prime Video. Breaking the tackle touchdown this week, keep the holiday celebration going as the Seattle Seahawks take on the Chicago Bears.

[Doug Gottlieb]

You're gonna love this.

[Billy]

Coverage begins with TNF tonight. Not a Prime member sign up for a 30 day free trial to stream the game. It's the Seahawks and Bears Thursday only on Prime. Video restrictions apply. See Amazon.com amazonprime for details. After investing billions to light up our network, T Mobile is America's largest 5G network. Plus right now you can switch keep your phone and we'll pay it off up to 800. See how you can save on every plan vs Verizon and at&t@t mobile.com KeepAndSwitch.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Up to four lines via virtual prepaid card.

[Billy]

Allow 15 days qualifying unlock device credit.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Service ported 90 plus days with device ineligible carrier and timely redemption required. Card has no cash access and expires in six months. Welcome to TGL presented by SoFi, golf's newest league. It's sharp and it's electric. How is it sharp?

[Billy]

How is it electric?

[Doug Gottlieb]

Good questions. Try this on for size. Two hours of hammer dropping, overtime forcing playoffs on the line Golf with 24 of the best players from the PGA Tour split into six teams. Atlanta, Boston, Jupiter, Louisiana, New York and the Bay. This isn't your average Sunday pickup game. Catch the inaugural TGL match January 7th, only on ESPN. Keep up.

[Billy]

It's gone. Welcome everyone. This is the local toy dealers KSR post game show. Kentucky gets absolutely destroyed in Madison Square Garden. 85 65. It was a pretty brutal performance by the Cats and I don't know, not one that it's certainly the first dud of the Pope era. 859-280-2287 will be taking your calls through the next hour or so. So I mean there's. It's hard to approach a game like this because it was a complete meltdown. I mean, Kentucky was really, really bad, both offensively and defensively. I, there's a lot of different ways you can go with this, but I'm going to take a little big picture here at the beginning, you know, when this team was, was built and sort of Pope created it, I said at the time it was built, I thought we were one, one player short from being really good. And you know, at times this year it's felt like maybe away could be that guy and that they could, they could go and he still may. I mean it's, it's hard to tell, but it was, honestly, when I looked at the roster, it was games kind of like this that, that I was worried about because while I don't think Ohio State is necessarily good, they are athletic, they are physical and there is clearly a blueprint on how to play Kentucky now, really starting with Billy's Western Kentucky team all the way through Gonzaga and Clemson and now Louisville and this game, even Colgate. There has been kind of a, the way to play this team is get physical with them, make them beat you off the dribble and then let them see if they can finish at the rim. And we've had halves where we've been successful. Second half against Gonzaga scored 93 against Louisville. I think in general they scored pretty well. But we haven't. It has definitely caused us problems. And today was, was the worst. They shot 28% from the field, 19% from three. And you saw, I think for the first time this year this team looked like a team of mid major guys playing against guys who are significantly better athletes. I was worried that we might look like that quite a bit this year. I don't think we have, but I do think that's what we look like tonight. And you know, when Pope was hired, I went back and watched some of his BYU games because I had seen them play a couple of times. I watched when he beat Kansas at Kansas at one point. I think he was up like 20 in that game. And then I watched a game where they played on the road to maybe Baylor where they lost by like 20. And I went back and watched those games and it was very, and you may remember in the preseason me saying, I think there are going to be some times we demolish teams. I think there's going to be a couple times where we beat teams that maybe are better than us. And that's happened with Duke and Gonzaga. But there are also going to be times, if you look at Pope's record, where they just lay an egg. And if you go back and look at Pope's time at BYU and even at Utah Valley State, sometimes they just would lay an egg. And tonight was one of those, those eggs. I think this is going to be an issue going into SEC play. There are going to be a lot of teams we play, maybe most teams we play that are more athletic than us. And that physical athletic style just really seems to give this team trouble offensively. Now the defensive end, that was a total demolition. I mean Ohio State kind of got whatever shot they wanted and we just couldn't. I mean they would switch ball screens, make sure they got Brea Robinson or Carr on whoever they wanted to have the ball. And it was layups, I mean layups. The, the defensive drop from Butler away and to some extent Williams, although even Williams is a step slow to the, to those other guys is pretty significant. And if they get them isolated at the top or off a screen, they just get taken and Mark's going to have to adjust to that. I, I don't know if this team, you know, at Gonzaga they played a little zone. I kind of thought we might see that at some point, but then we didn't. So just both sides a collapse, you know, and there's, I think you can write. Look, I thought I said before the season started if they went 11 and 2 in the non conference. That would be great. Well, that's probably gonna go. So you gotta be happy about that. And they've beaten the two harder teams and lost to the two worst teams. But I'm a little concerned about, you know, they haven't shot threes well. You know, it's like six or seven games in a row. They, they haven't shot threes well. You know, Pope talked a lot about in the post game of them trying to do what they're not good at. And I think what he's getting at is they were trying to basically Pete, beat their guys off the dribble and that's not the strength of the team. And he's completely right about that. I don't know that any of our guys, except maybe Butler are really good going off the dribble, but I do. You know, against, against Gonzaga, they beat, they beat them back door. That was part of what made them. They just made great cuts the basket. But Ohio State had clearly scouted that and they were not allowing that to happen. And we just really struggled finding a way to score. And it's just something to watch going forward. You know, this Florida team that we play, it's going to be two weeks from today. It's going to be a great test. You're at home in this sec. Kentucky is going to have to hold serve at home. They're going to lose a bunch of road games. So they're going to have to hold serve at home. It's 11:00am It's a Florida team that plays physical. Right? We got two weeks to get ready for that. Because I think that is going to be a real like sort of symbol of what SEC play is going to be like. This Ohio State team isn't good, although with Bradshaw and the way the Thornton guy played, they're better than their 40 point loss to Auburn would show. But they are athletic and they are physical and that just seems to really give this group difficulty. So I'm not giving up on the season. You know, I, I'm not giving up on, certainly not giving up on Pope. I mean, this year already been significantly more successful than I even thought it would be. But as far as this team and what they can do this year, it is a little concerning to see five or six games in a row where a certain style of defense has clearly worked against us, where it's likely the case. We're going to see this all year and we're in a conference that has a lot of teams built to play exactly as Ohio State played, the question is just going to be, are we gonna be able to rise to that task? You know, Pope said he thought this would be the sort of linchpin or turning point of the season. You know, I think I agree with him. He is obviously hoping and I'm hoping and I'm even expecting then it will be a turning point for the positive that they sort of realize, look, this is what we're going to see. We've got to find a way to scheme around it. We can't break down, try to go one on one. You know, to use a term we're used to, we can't play like Cal's teams did. We don't have the dudes to do that. Our guys aren't good enough to play like that. But the question is, can we come up with a system to counter it? Because at least as of today, we didn't, we didn't have that. 859-280-2287. We'll take your calls. You know, I try to find something positive to say. Shout out to Otega O way. Who went, Billy. 13 for 13 from the free throw line. That's pretty good.

[Doug Gottlieb]

That is pretty good.

[Billy]

But. Yeah.

[Doug Gottlieb]

That all you got that?

[Billy]

Well, I mean, I don't know what else you do. We didn't, we didn't have one guy on the team shoot 50% from the field. Not one. And Ohio State shot 58% as a team, so. And Aaron Bradshaw, a former player, had his best game maybe of his career. Yeah, I'm not sure he's. I mean, I don't know. Maybe he had one game at Kentucky last year that was that good. I can't remember one. And of course, he played excellent. Joel justice sitting over there on the sidelines. What is that? Was that him?

[Doug Gottlieb]

Oh, I didn't see Joel on the sideline. Was he there?

[Billy]

There was a guy that looked like him. I know Joel was at NC State last year, but I think look up and see if that was him. If he, if it wasn't him. His twin was sitting there on the sideline. I hadn't followed where he was.

[Doug Gottlieb]

I saw she had coach at Ohio State.

[Billy]

I thought that was him. I thought that was him sitting there on the sideline. Yeah. So, you know, a couple guys with UK ties got the last laugh and kind of what's, what's disappointing is, you know, our fans took this game seriously. We had a lot of big Blue nation in the crowd. You know, Ohio State there might have had. They might have seven fans there because they were all caring about this football game and yet they still, they still ended up winning. 859-280-2287. Tennessee, after an absolutely horrible start at Ohio State has just made it 2110 going into half. You know, if they cover seven and a half, Billy, this will be one of my better gambling days in history. So oddly I'm kind of, I want Tennessee to lose, but I need to get them within seven. We'll see what you think. Rest of the playoff games kind of been a dud, but the Cats also threw up a dud. We'll take a break and be right back. It's a local Toyota dealers KSR Post Game Show. Welcome back. It is the local toy dealers KSR Post Game Show. Two things before we go to the break. First of all, I'm going to read you a quote that Mark Pope said on the the post game show. If you on the official one. A lot of you all listening on podcasts may have not heard that. So let me read this. He said we're gonna this way. He said to Tom Leach, we're gonna lose a lot of sleep over this. It's hard to go into a break with a loss like this. We got to find a way to do better when we are under duress like this. Three like this is this is gonna be one of the linchpin moments in the season that's going to change us for the better. So, you know, that's, that's definitely different than we're fine, we're built for March, but you know, we'll see what, what ends up happening. Secondly, somebody sent me a picture. Billy. The college game day bus and crew. Not, not the Herb street people, but like the, the people who literally drive it around. Right. They are that they are in Corbin right now. They, they showed me. The bus is parked at like a, a. Well, I don't want to say where it's parked because I don't want people to all like show up there. But it's parked in Corbin right now.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Wow. What a place to visit on your way.

[Billy]

Well, I mean, probably I'm sitting there thinking what they're going to do. So where's the best game next week? The best game next week will probably be whoever wins Ohio State. Tennessee versus what, Oregon maybe in the Sugar bowl or whatever it is that's in New Orleans.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Or Georgia. Notre Dame.

[Billy]

Or Georgia Notre Dame and Atlanta. So they probably left Columbus. The easiest way to get there, right is to probably drive through Corbin right down through Tennessee. Wouldn't you think?

[Doug Gottlieb]

Yeah. Now that checks.

[Billy]

Or they might be based in Charlotte. That may be another thing. They might be based in Charlotte. And so. Because ESPN has a lot of production stuff in Charlotte and they're driving back to Charlotte. But either way, if you drive around Corbin tonight, you might get to see the game day bus. Is that exciting?

[Doug Gottlieb]

Yeah, only if I can see the guys, you know, the equipment managers.

[Billy]

You don't think seeing the truck would be exciting?

[Doug Gottlieb]

No, I'd like to yell at the bear, you know, or something like that.

[Billy]

He doesn't work. He hasn't worked for game day in like two years.

[Doug Gottlieb]

What?

[Billy]

Yeah, he's. He. I think he's been on Fox for at least.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Well, that's news to me. As somebody that watches game day every.

[Billy]

Saturday, you clearly don't watch it much. Who's up first?

[Doug Gottlieb]

Casey is.

[Billy]

Casey. Go ahead, Casey.

[Doug Gottlieb]

What's going on, boys? Sitting here watching the game tonight. How you doing, fellas?

[Billy]

Doing good. What's going on?

[Doug Gottlieb]

Not too much soaked in this. L didn't feel good about it. Just on the Internet, taking in the vibe tonight wasn't too good. From the nation tonight.

[Billy]

Yeah. I had somebody write me during the break and say, what do you think about the fans on the Internet? This is just my take on. On Internet comments after the game. I've watched this for. For since Twitter started. I think they're getting worse by the day, and I think that's a pretty award, by the way. I don't think it's just Kentucky fans. I think it's fans in general. I think the toxicity of, especially Twitter, but even Facebook, that has been part of politics, is now coming to sports in such a crazy way that, like, it's just who can be the most outrageous. And I, I looked at it for a minute and then I was like, man, why am I looking at that? No, there's no reason to look at that. So whatever is the reaction, I was in a bar full of Kentucky fans at KS Bar tonight, and people were disappointed, but they were not like, cussing or anything. They were just like, well, I hope we get better. So I, I don't think that's representative of the fans.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Oh, yeah, exactly. I mean, like, last week we was the stray cats, and this week we were two games to the, to the negative. I. I guess, so to speak. And now the world's ending. Like, what? What do you mean? We're straight cats now. We're only two Ls, and now, now we can't do anything.

[Billy]

What.

[Doug Gottlieb]

What do you want us to do.

[Billy]

Yeah. I mean, there's some concerning stuff from tonight, but, you know, let's say we had beaten Ohio State. Let's say we had beaten Ohio State, beat Clemson, lost to Gonzaga, lost to Duke. Like that's what we thought was going to happen. Well, now the opposite happened. Right. But we ended up kind of with exactly the record we hoped.

[Doug Gottlieb]

But what Twitter had rather the. The other happen. Would they. Would they have been happy?

[Billy]

Yeah. You. I just don't. I think you have to remember it's still a relatively small set of people that's on social media and it is not representative.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Yeah. Fact. Well, me and my boy Darren. I just wanted to give you a shout out. Glad you're doing what you do. Keep. Keep be being happy. Do your thing. Love y'all boys.

[Billy]

Appreciate it. Thank you very much. Yeah, I. I will say, though, Billy, I'm not sure that me watching the games like at KS Bar, I. I don't feel like I have a very good record with that.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Are you. Is. Are they losing when you watch the game at the bar?

[Billy]

They got destroyed today. And I watched the whole game against Duke. I was there the first half, got nervous, went home, and then we came back and Missouri last year, remember, we all got there and watched it to try to turn the vibes around, and that was bad. We lost by about 50, if you remember. So I don't feel like I have the best record there. I think the bar maybe does better without me watching there.

[Doug Gottlieb]

The owner of a sports bar not watching the games at his sports bar. That's.

[Billy]

Well, I mean, it's like. It's like when. It's like when the teachers. If the teacher's there, the kids won't speak freely. Maybe that's the problem.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Okay. They're playing tense because you're at the bar watching them.

[Billy]

I think they know I'm at the bar and it makes them play tense. Yes. Who's next?

[Doug Gottlieb]

Bill.

[Billy]

Bill. Go ahead, Bill.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Hey, Matt. How you doing?

[Billy]

Good.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Yeah, the. That was. I mean, as poorly as we played, I cannot believe how many layups we missed.

[Billy]

We missed a lot.

[Doug Gottlieb]

I mean, that alone. That alone could have made a difference.

[Billy]

I think Robinson missed, too. Robinson missed, too. Where there was no one near. Like, he literally just. The ball slipped out of his hands twice.

[Doug Gottlieb]

You know, it's just. It's. You know, it's one of those things. I mean, the really bad thing about it is I grew up in Ludlow, Kentucky. Been. But I moved to Columbus 30 years ago, so I get to hear this, about this tomorrow at church. So I'm thinking about staying.

[Billy]

You think they're gonna care though? You think they're gonna talk about this tomorrow?

[Doug Gottlieb]

They know. They know I love my Wildcats. They were telling me last week, you know, take it easy on us, take it easy because of what happened with Auburn, you know, and I'll tell you one thing. If, if. I mean, I saw what Auburn did to Purdue today, and Purdue's not a bad team and they beat him by, I think, over 20.

[Billy]

So, I mean, you know what's odd though is I think we're actually good. They're great. I think Auburn's the best team in the country. But I actually think we're going to match up better with Auburn than some of these other teams because Auburn still wants their physical, but they're going to play faster. I mean, Ohio state, they scored 85, but their tempo, I mean, they slowed it down and we were never really able to get in a rhythm.

[Doug Gottlieb]

We couldn't get into a flow, we couldn't get into rhythm. I mean, it was, you know, and it's just, you know, I mean, it's frustrating but like you said, it's one game. If you would have said going in, getting ready to go in NC play, if we'd be 11 and 2, which is where we should be, we probably thought we would have, you know, won maybe one of the. One of either Duke or Gonzaga and then either Clemson or Ohio State. And so, you know, it's just, it's just, I don't know, it just makes you. And you can hear it in Mark's voice in the press conference or in the post game show with, with Tom just, I mean, he just sounded like he was, you know, totally lost almost. I mean, it was surprising.

[Billy]

It's surprising. I mean, and I appreciate the call. I mean, they cut it to six in the second half. They've gotten down 15 and they cut it to six and that was their moment, right? Like that was their moment if they were gonna have a shot to win. That was their moment to either, you know, just keep it around six and then make a run. And then Ohio State called a timeout, great timeout by their coach and scored eight straight points. And then it was basically over. At that point, by the way, Billy, I was going crazy in the bar when I saw they screwed up the score.

[Doug Gottlieb]

The three pointer that they didn't call or. Are you talking about.

[Billy]

No, they had a free throw that we made that they gave to Ohio State. So it was, we were supposed to be down 10, or we were supposed to be down 8 or something, and they had us go down 10, and then they came and hit a 3, and, like, the score was wrong on the screen for multiple minutes. And it was driving me crazy because I wanted to tell someone, but there was no one for me to tell. And I was looking around at everybody at the bar going, their score is wrong. And they were looking at me like you would a drunk lunatic, like, on the street going, the score is wrong. And I said, I know it's wrong. I know it is wrong. And then, like, five minutes later, they changed it and it was wrong.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Yeah, that's probably the worst part, is being the only one.

[Billy]

I feel like I was the only one that noticed. Like, it stayed on the screen forever. Everyone watching the game seemed to think that was the score. And I'm like, I know this score is wrong. And then finally, they. They did finally change it, which made me feel better. Who's next?

[Doug Gottlieb]

Michael is next.

[Billy]

Michael. Go ahead, Michael.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Hey, Matt. I want to start out by saying Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you at KSR and appreciate everything you do.

[Billy]

Thank you.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Tonight actually reminded me of the Patino days where we're going to live and die by the three. But also, I think tonight we actually missed Kurt.

[Billy]

Tonight was the one night that I.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Think her could have made a difference.

[Billy]

Yeah, I mean, you may be right. You know, I. We do live and die by the three, but I don't think we lost this game because we didn't shoot threes well. I mean, mo. A lot of our threes were not good. Like, they were contested. You know what I mean? Like, it wasn't. Like, we got a ton of open looks and just missed. We missed a handful, but I don't think we got a lot of good shots, to be honest with you. And. And we. We were not good. And let's be real, we haven't shot over 30% from three in six games, you know, so that worries me a little bit, I'll be honest. Yeah. Appreciate the call. I mean, I. You know, this team looks so good from three early on, just. Just, you know, making it left and right, and they're just not there, and they're not even getting off. We took 22 threes. That's, you know, that's not a ton for the style we play. I. I don't know. They're not shooting the ball well, which is weird because they've got good shooters. But I also. Billy, there's a huge drop when we go to our bench just a. Oh, yeah, yeah. And, and I think the, you know, all coaches do this, but we got to really reconsider the. Put the whole second string in six minutes into the game. That has now cost us in multiple games this year. I don't think this team's good enough to just take all the starters out and go and put in four reserve guys at once. They just, I mean we went from up. I think we were up four to down five in like two minutes.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Well, like Chandler and Perry, they just, they don't seem ready.

[Billy]

Well, but I mean Almanor wasn't good. I don't think Garrison played well at all. And Brea is good as a complimentary piece, but when he's the centerpiece of the offense, I mean that, that lineup, they went, it was, it was Perry away, Brea, Garrison and Almanor. That, that, that lineup, it was like a 90 run immediately. I mean, you basically took your three best players off the court. I just don't think you can do that with this team. You can't take Car, Robinson and Butler. I don't think they should ever be off the court at the same time. All three of them. And, and you know, if you look at the numbers, our four best players for plus minus are Butler, Carr, Amari, Williams and Robinson. And all four of them were on the bench at the same time and they went on a 90 run.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Yeah, I was surprised by Butler tonight. I mean he did get in some foul trouble, but I mean he had 33 in the previous game and his guy.

[Billy]

But, but really they would switch. They did a good job of. They would get Butler's that Thor. They would get him off of him. They would, they would do a ball screen and all of a sudden somebody else would be guarding him and it was, it was over. Just, nothing worked. Who's next?

[Doug Gottlieb]

Matt.

[Billy]

Matt. What's up, Matt? Hey, Matt. How you doing? Doing good. I, I think the big thing when we talk about like this team just doesn't have a go to bucket getter, I think we initially thought that that was going to mean like more in crunch time.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Like game tighter down one. Who's going to go get a bucket.

[Billy]

To go win the game? I think where it shows up mostly is that when we just go on.

[Doug Gottlieb]

These long like cold spouts where we.

[Billy]

Just can't get a bucket because running the zoom action is so hard.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Like Mark Pope's offense is so hard and exhausting.

[Billy]

If we're just missing shots and getting beat on defense, I think our team.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Just gets tired at times. It's so hard to continuously run the.

[Billy]

Zoom action, run through screens, set screens. And I think our team gets tired and they get a little selfish. That's when we get a little shot chucking at the end, which is why they. Our huge scoring ground today. I don't. I think that's pretty good analysis. Honestly. I think I. We really struggle. I appreciate the call. We really struggle to get our own shot when we need a basket. You know, if you think about the Cal years, the difference between the really good teams and the teams that weren't as good is if they had a guy who could go get his own shot in key moments. And when we didn't have that, those were the teams that lost in the first round or the second round. When we did have that, we were tough to beat. We just don't have that right here. And you know, he runs such a crisp offense that most of the time it's okay. But tonight we had, we didn't have a guy to do it and we had a lot of guys who were trying to do it and it wouldn't work. Who's next?

[Doug Gottlieb]

Gary.

[Billy]

Gary. Go ahead, Gary.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Hey, Matt. Thanks for letting me in. I appreciate it. I hear, I hear other callers and I hear you calling in and, and I just feel like I got a different take on this game. We definitely played bad, but I, I feel like that, that they played like an NBA team that was in the playoffs and we played like a regular NBA team that's playing any regular NBA game.

[Billy]

What do you mean we didn't have. You don't think we played hard?

[Doug Gottlieb]

They were up on us on every exchange, on every pick. I mean, they were up on us. They were physical. They're putting hands on us. Referees were letting them do it, which is fine, but they were all up on us and we couldn't get an inch. And I feel like on defense we weren't doing that to them. And I feel like it was night and day.

[Billy]

Well, but I mean that's how everybody's going to play us. I mean, you know, I think you're. I would disagree that they weren't like. If you're suggesting it was like an effort thing, but I do agree with you. Yeah, I would disagree. I think we were giving effort. I just think we have got to find a way to score when they are, when play teams that are extending out past the three point line. We, we scored in the second half against Gonzaga a lot using cuts. We scored against Louisville. We scored against Louisville. In part because our guys were as good, if not better than the Louisville guys. But in this game we could not get free. And I worry about that because these other. Because these other, these teams in the SEC are going to be like that. Even the bad teams in the SEC are going to be really athletic. And I just, I worry a little bit that this team has the looks of like a really, really, really good. Like, you know how sometimes in the NCAA tournament a team like Creighton will make it and they might be top 10 and then they play like Mississippi State and Mississippi State just beats them because they're so much more athletic than they are. I, I kind of worry about that with this team. I'm not sure we have the kind of SEC level athletes, so we're going to have to out scheme these guys and tonight it just didn't happen.

[Doug Gottlieb]

So you feel like it's an athleticism?

[Billy]

I do. I think this is the least athletic Kentucky team in a long time. I mean, I. Now that doesn't mean that they're not good. I think they're better than like the last four Kentucky teams probably, but they are probably the least athletic Kentucky team. I'm trying to think what was the least athletic Cal team? Was it maybe the Oscars? 2021 was severe and all those guys, that's probably the least athletic team. But you had a dude like Oscar, you could just go get a basket. We just don't have that dude. And I think it's strategic. I don't think we're athletic and I think when we play these teams that are super athletic, we're just struggling right now.

[Doug Gottlieb]

I sure do love Pope and I love his team. I really do. But tonight was, was disappointing because the whole time I'm like, all right, we've done this against Gonzaga, we've done this against other teams, but we're going to, you know, the second half, we're going to, you know, we're going to switch it up. We're going to change something. And I just felt like, and I don't feel like Pope did anything wrong. I just feel like that the intensity didn't change. They kept hitting shots and they were, they were hitting some great shots, but they played us like a top 10 team. So I feel like either we're not a top 10 team or they are. Does that make sense?

[Billy]

Yeah. Well, I appreciate the call. I think it's in the, it's somewhere in the middle. I don't think we're not like, I don't know what we are yet ask me after the Florida game. I want to see how we do against Florida. I'm going to be, I think the Florida game is a big test. I mean if you're good, you got to win that game at home. And let's see how we do though, because they, they will be athletically a tough match for us. Do you agree with me, like that this is the least athletic Kentucky team in a long time?

[Doug Gottlieb]

Yeah. I was thinking about the Oscar teams as well. Jacob Toppan, was he around for that?

[Billy]

But he was a, he was a great athlete. Yeah. I mean, like, just think about how many dudes we have that don't go up and dunk.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Amari needs to dunk a lot more.

[Billy]

I mean, like, like, like even guys like Jackson Robinson, who does dunk sometimes and, and bray and like they'll dump, but like they don't get high above the rim. Like, do we have anybody that you think is like a high flyer?

[Doug Gottlieb]

No, no, not really.

[Billy]

And, and now and I, and on defense, Lamont Butler is an elite defender and always a pretty good defender. But the other guys get beat athletically, so we're just not very athletic. But we're very skilled and we're very smart. So it's, it's literally the mirror opposite of a John calming. I mean Cal had these elite athletes who when he could bring them together and they were had high basketball IQ because they could be, could be really good, but they weren't. There was a lot of scheming going on. Well, this is a lot of scheming. Really, really skilled, really smart. But I just don't think they're very athletic. Whereas I think Pope in future years will have good athletes, but this group is just not great athletes. 859-280-2287 let's take a break. We'll be right back at the local Twitter dealers KSR post game show. Welcome back. It is the local Toyota dealers KSR postgame show. 859-280-2287 text machine. 772-7745-2541, person writes. Matt, do you think you cannot watch the games because you don't have a shower to get into at KS Bar? Yeah, I mean I, well, the thing was all my friends were there. It was like our Christmas party. So I, I, I talked them a lot of the game. Apparently I did miss, we did play once. 3 1. A couple plays. I must have missed that because I was hanging out with my friends. But if I had not, if they had not been there, Billy, there's no way I could have stayed when we were losing. I would have gotten up and left.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Well, I'm glad you stayed for your friends. But I can't watch the game.

[Billy]

I cannot watch a game in public when we are losing. I just can't on television. If I met the game, for some reason, that doesn't bother me. But on tv, in public, if we're losing, I can't watch it. And that's ridiculous because I'm a grown man and it should not affect me like it does. But it's just ridiculous. It's ridiculous that I let this stuff affect me like it does. But I know I'm not the only one listening. That is. That is like that one person writes. Matt, do you think it was the Wilson basketball that caused the problem? You know, college basketball should have one ball, but they don't. The Wilson ball, we've talked about this before, is very slick, right? Like, it's a very slick basketball. It's very different than the ball they use that Kentucky uses during the sec. They don't use it anywhere, really, except in the. In the. In postseason play because that's in. I guess it's the NCAA basketball, which is NCAA sanctioned for the tournament. But then in the regular season, the home team gets to pick the game, the ball. So the ball does matter. Now, with that said, Pope talked after the Champions Classic. I believe it had a unique ball. It was like a fright. Was it a Franklin ball or something, Billy, that they used in that one. Something they don't use in anything else. And Pope said they practiced with it to get ready. So presumably they did that with this Wilson ball, too. So I know I can't. That's a long way of saying it. I cannot blame the basketball. What's next?

[Doug Gottlieb]

James is next.

[Billy]

James, go ahead.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Hey, Matt, thanks for taking that call. Don't ever feel bad. Don't ever feel bad to going home during a game because I almost got kicked out of the bar six minutes ago in the first half. I went home, watched the rest of it. I feel like we should have went zone way earlier.

[Billy]

Yeah.

[Doug Gottlieb]

And we shouldn't do one. Three, one. At that point, there was 30 field goals made by Ohio State. Four was some three point. If that's not. If that's not a recipe for two, three, zone, I don't know what it.

[Billy]

Yeah, I kind of agree. First of all, clearly I didn't even realize they played, though, because I. In the second half was kind of hanging out, talking a lot with my friends. But in the but you're right about. We went 1 3, 1 in part against Gonzaga because we couldn't stop their drive and kick. That really wasn't the issue. This might have been a 2, 3. It might have been like a 2, 3 zone kind of game because they.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Made so many 6 to 8 foot jumpers. I think they still, I think they're making them right now. I don't know.

[Billy]

They did make a bunch of those, but it was usually after having beaten our guy off the dribble and then just that kind of shot that, you know, Romel Bradley was really good at and Reed last year was good at. Yeah, that little shot is, is what killed him.

[Doug Gottlieb]

But don't ever get upset to going home with her. It was, it was awful.

[Billy]

Well, I appreciate the call. It was a shame because I. The atmosphere was great at the bar. I mean, it was full, like, but not just full people standing. It was excited and they just, they could never get. It could never get really rhythm going or noise in there. I probably like what it was like at Madison Square Garden. Who's next?

[Doug Gottlieb]

Brian.

[Billy]

Brian. Go ahead, Brian.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Hey, Matt Jones. This is, this is my fifth call. I don't know. Anyway, the thing of it is, is like, you know, I'm excited for this team. This is the greatest team I've had since I've had season takes and I've been a season ticket holder since 2019. And I think of it is like I, I've not been. This might be the most upsetting game that I've had in terms of my expectations for the teams because I've had Calipari's expectations going forward and I kind of knew what they were. You know, you kind of knew what you were going to get. And this one here, maybe I build it up a little bit more, but this one kind of slammed me down. And that being said, I'm still excited for what the future is going to be because I think. I feel like Pope is scheming. Maybe we didn't do good in this game, but I think he's trying to teach a lesson. Lesson. I didn't believe that this team was going to be 38 and 1 or 37 and 1. They're going to drop a couple games and I feel like this is a part of this game.

[Billy]

Well, I mean, I don't think losing by 20 in New York is a part of Pope's scheme or plan. I mean, I think they just got beat. But I also agree that they can still be good, really good. I mean, I, you know, I picked Kentucky this week to go 12 and 6 in the SEC. I still probably would say the same thing when I said it. It's funny how people's emotions change. When I said it two days ago, I had a ton of people say, why are you so pessimistic? And now I bet I had people go, we're not going to win eight games. I mean, people overreact so much. I still think 12 and 6 is a good, is probably a good number. But I don't think they, this was part of a grand plan. They just got their tails kicked tonight.

[Doug Gottlieb]

No, you're not wrong. And I guess that's my point is, like, as a fan, I expect them that there's going to be some losses, we're going to drop some losses. But as a fan, I have to be optimistic going forward. I feel that with this loss, Pope is going to do the best job he can do teaching these guys going forward.

[Billy]

Of course, I agree. Yeah, I agree.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Right. And that's my thing is, like, you know, I have to be more optimistic than I was. We knew what was going to happen with Caliperi. We knew how we were going to progress forward in the future. And with, with Pope, maybe there's more, some kind of just, you know, some kind of optimism that's there that wasn't with Califare because we knew what was going to happen was 15 years in, in.

[Billy]

Yeah, well, I mean, look, I, I, I, I appreciate the call. I think we're going to be fine. I, I do want to see how they've got to find a way to score against these teams that play the defense at Ohio State. Play. I'm going to be honest with you. I think defensively we're not going to get a whole lot better. Okay. I feel about, I feel defensively about this team, kind of like I felt about last year's team. Last year's team was a lot more athletic than this team, but they couldn't guard anybody, and they never were able to guard anybody all year. And I, and I, people didn't like that. I said all year, I don't think they're going to get better defensively. Now that's the reason they weren't good defensively is different reason than this. We didn't have rim protectors. We have rim protectors, but I'm not sure all of a sudden our defenders are going to be able to, to guard, you know, slide their feet and stay one on one better. So I have a feeling we're going to give up high 70s, low 80s, pretty much every game. But we've got to find a way to score because when we're scoring 65, we're not going to be the anybody. I mean, anybody scoring 65, because we're going to be giving up 65 or more almost every game in the SEC. Who's next?

[Doug Gottlieb]

Zeke.

[Billy]

Zeke. What's up, Zeke? Hello. How are you, Zeke?

[Doug Gottlieb]

I'm doing well. How about you?

[Billy]

Good. What's going on?

[Doug Gottlieb]

Well, first off, I just want to say I am a kid, so, you know.

[Billy]

That'S okay. What? What, what? What? What? So what. I'm glad I like what kids call it's Billy that hates you.

[Doug Gottlieb]

So first off, I just want to say about. Oh, what's his name?

[Billy]

Who are.

[Doug Gottlieb]

God from Drexel? Amari Williams.

[Billy]

Amari Williams. Okay.

[Doug Gottlieb]

There is one thing about him, like, I feel like he's making some bad decisions. Like when we were down by nine, instead of like passing it out or doing something, he just drove in and like took a bad show.

[Billy]

That was a bad shot. That was. That was a big possession. I. It's interesting you bring up that possession. That was a big possession. I appreciate the call. It's. You're getting, I'm getting feedback. I'm sorry, Zeke, I can't keep you on there because there's something in your background there. That was a big possession, though, what Zeke's talking about. We'd cut it to six. They call cut timeout, they come down, get an and one, cut it to nine. We really need a basket on the next possession. And he does one of his back to the, you know, back, back, back, hook shot, doesn't even hit the rim, leads to a fast break and they score and it's an 11 point game. And I remember thinking, that's such a terrible shot in. In that scenario. I don't know what he's doing. And then the next time down, he got the ball at the top of the key and I thought he was going to dribble down and shoot a layup. Instead, he dribbled down, got trapped through a pass and it ended up in a contested jumper. And. And you know, I know a big part of this offense is the idea that the center, you know, initiates a lot, but man, when it looks bad, it looks really bad. Who's next?

[Doug Gottlieb]

Tim.

[Billy]

Tim. Go ahead, Tim.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Hey, Matt.

[Billy]

Hey, what's up?

[Doug Gottlieb]

Yeah, so I was wondering if you had watched Auburn tonight.

[Billy]

It was on one of the televisions for. At the bar and I would check the score, but I Didn't really watch any of the game. I know they won by like 30. Yes, they're great.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Absolutely. They absolutely crushed Purdue. And my other point was, if you had been told that you started that Gonzaga, you started 11 and 2 to start the season, would you have taken that?

[Billy]

Of course.

[Doug Gottlieb]

No matter the losses?

[Billy]

Yeah. I mean, I thought we were going to lose three. I thought we were going to lose three. I said two would be a huge success. So, yes, I would. Certainly now the SEC is better than I thought it was going to be. I thought it was going to be really good, but it's even better than I thought. So whereas I thought we would lose five or six, I still think we're going to lose six, but I think it becomes a lot harder. Like we're going to have to be better to lose six than I thought. I mean, bottom line, we're halfway through the season or at least, you know, we're through the non conference.

[Doug Gottlieb]

I agree.

[Billy]

Except for one game, we are better than I thought we would be when the season started. So I can't help but be happy about that. But are we as good as maybe people thought we were after the Gonzaga game? Maybe not?

[Doug Gottlieb]

I agree, Matt.

[Billy]

Yeah, appreciate the call. But we are. If I were to go back to when the season started as to what I thought this team was going to be, I think we're better than what I thought that we were going to be. So I do consider that a success. And I also think we are better than the sum of our talent. I think part of why this game, I mean, this game was a bad loss. But part of why I'm not shocked is I don't think our individual players are that great. I think what they have become collectively is really impressive because as I said all year, we don't have one pro on this team. So to be as good as we are without one pro, I think is pretty, pretty impressive. We'll take a break. 859-280-2287. Ohio State driving again on Tennessee. I have mixed emotions. I'd love to see Tennessee get destroyed, Billy, but I need plus seven and a half.

[Doug Gottlieb]

So that's a touchdown. So that's going to be tough to get.

[Billy]

Oh, did they just score a touchdown? Spoiler alert. You're ahead of me. All right, we'll take a break. We'll be right back. There it is. Local Toyota Dealers KSR Post Game Show Final segment. Local Toy Dealers KSR Post Game Show. 8592802287 One person writes Matt Billy was on vacation all of last week. Do you think he was as soft as our basketball team was tonight? That's rude.

[Doug Gottlieb]

What?

[Billy]

Why would they say that? First of all, I don't know that our best. Well, our basketball team is a little soft tonight. Billy's not soft. He's taking vacation. How was your vacation, Billy? Where'd you go?

[Doug Gottlieb]

It was great. I went nowhere. I have not logged on to Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram for six days.

[Billy]

I mean, you didn't go anywhere?

[Doug Gottlieb]

No.

[Billy]

So you did. You didn't. You told me you didn't go online for six days at all.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Still haven't.

[Billy]

Okay, and then what did you do all day?

[Doug Gottlieb]

I did some Christmas shopping. I, you know, reconnected with my faith. You know, it was. It was a very introspective week for me. Old Billy, our sports.

[Billy]

Really?

[Doug Gottlieb]

Yeah.

[Billy]

What do you mean? What? What do you mean?

[Doug Gottlieb]

Like, I read a book and, like, it was.

[Billy]

What did you read?

[Doug Gottlieb]

Well, it was the one that I told you about on Fade this. You know, Bob Rotella's golf is not a game of. Perfect. Read that another time. And, you know, just watched a couple Christmas movies, relaxed.

[Billy]

Okay, well, good for you. Yeah. All right. Are you, like, becoming, like, a hippie?

[Doug Gottlieb]

No, no.

[Billy]

But, you know, start doing yoga or are you gonna.

[Doug Gottlieb]

I already do yoga, so I beat you there.

[Billy]

You already do yoga? Okay. You're gonna subscribe to Goop? Is that what you're gonna do?

[Doug Gottlieb]

No, no, not Goop. Okay. No, it was a good time.

[Billy]

All right, well, good. Well, you, I, I. I can see this is, like, I don't know, meditating. Billy.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Well rested, Billy.

[Billy]

Well, good. I'm glad. Well, now you get to pick up, and we actually don't. I mean, Kentucky only plays once from. In the next two weeks. You know, they play New Year's Eve, but otherwise, two weeks. And Pope said this is a hard loss to take with two weeks, and that's kind of true. It's tough to lose a game like this and then not get to play. Don't play again for 10 days and. And not until we play Brown next Tuesday. So who's up next?

[Doug Gottlieb]

Hunter.

[Billy]

Hunter. Go ahead, Hunter.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Hey, Matt. Hey, Billy. How you guys doing?

[Billy]

Doing good.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Yeah, I just got a couple points regarding the game, barring a couple plays, and then that stretch when we cut it to six, OSU just kind of dominated us both offensively, defensively. You know, when we have a guy, we got, we have a double team, and they're being able to beat that and get a jump shot. Like, there's just really nothing we could have done defensively, in my opinion. And this game really does. I'm not one of those people on Twitter. It's like, cancel the season. You know, I, not that at all, but it does concern me because all the SEC teams are going to look at this game and be like, this is how we beat them. And so we've got to learn to be able to over to counter these and be able to fight those teams, because these teams are really, we're going to struggle with.

[Billy]

I mean, I agree with you. I, I, we're going to see this all year, right? We're going to see this all year, and we're going to have to find a way to counter it. And we've seen it now a number of games in a row, I think when we're shooting well and some other things that we can. But tonight, what worries me about tonight is that we just couldn't even get shots off. You know what I mean? Like, we didn't even get good shots, much less didn't make them. We didn't even get good shots. And that's, that's a little worrisome to me going forward, but we'll see. Appreciate the call. Let's do four. Four more. Who's next, Bill?

[Doug Gottlieb]

Drew is next.

[Billy]

Drew. What's up, Drew?

[Doug Gottlieb]

What's up, Matt? What's up, Billy? Frustrating, frustrating game tonight, but at least the team in orange is getting smacked around on the gridiron.

[Billy]

Yeah, I do like that. Although there's not much trash. We can talk because when you lose like this. But I do like. Although they show the Tennessee fans in the crowd, they sure do look cold. I mean, Knoxville's not that far south, but anyway, go ahead.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Before I get into it, I, I've been thrilled with the Mark Pope era so far, so I want to give major props to a guy who's basically created a team from scratch in about two weeks. Definitely agree with you that I think we're, I think we're way ahead of schedule where we are, and I, I don't think this night changes that at all. But a couple things I just wanted to share. I feel like the dirty secret of kind of Kentucky basketball's decline, if you will, since 2018-19, hasn't really been an offensive problem. You know, it's easy to talk about offense, but we're still 10th in the country in offensive efficiency, efficient efficiency, according to Ken Palm. You know, I look around, you know, at everything, all the, all the numbers and things like that the reason for consistent inconsistencies. Shout out to Ryan Lemon. And like, it's been defense. The. You know, I know that you know that it's top 20 in offensive and defensive. Those are typically your best teams in the country. And we've only been top 20 in the, in the country since 2018, which was 2018, 19, the last time we went to the elite eight. This year we're 61st. Last year we were 100 something. It's been a real trend for us not to get stops over the years and obviously very concerned going into what might be the best league ever this year, being able to get stopped consistently.

[Billy]

Totally agree with you. I think defense is, I think, the common denominator of the last few years. I think you've hit it. You go look at the best Cal teams, they were always good defensively. This we haven't been in a while. I don't think this team is going to get a lot better defensively. I'm going to be honest with you. I just don't think they have the players. And so because of that, we're gonna have to be really, really good offensively and then hope we get matchups in the tournament that are favorable because I just don't. I mean, I. Again, this is not. I'm not trying to be disrespectful to any of these kids, but I don't think there's anything. Kobe, Braya, Andrew Carr, I don't think there's anything they can do to get better defensively at this stage of their careers. I really don't. I mean, I. They're both, they're who they are. Jackson Robinson, I think can be a little better, but not a ton. And so you got Butler. No way. They're pretty good, but the other dudes, they are what they are. And Williams is a rim protector, but he can't slide his feet, so when he gets put on a guard, he gets beat. So, like, I don't know how that's going to get much better. So I think our best chance of success is where our offense is going to have to get really efficient.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Completely agree. And that, that leads me into kind of the second point that I was going to bring up. And like I said, I hope this guy, I hope he turns it around because this team needs him desperately, especially in conference play. But I'm. I'm pretty close to being over Jackson Robinson. I mean, he's. He's Justin edwards with better PR through 12 games. If we go.

[Billy]

Look, I don't Think that's fair? I don't think. I mean, I don't think that's fair. I think he's a lot better player. I think he's. He's being asked to do stuff that like, you know, you're asking a guy who is very talented but was probably the third best player on his BYU team last year, well, maybe the second best player on his BYU team to ask him to be the best player on a top 10 team. And that's an ask I thought he could get. Maybe he can't, but he can still be really good. But look, if you're asking just Jackson Robinson to put a team on his back and win, I'm not sure that's going to happen. Although he played really daggone well against Gonzaga. Right. So like he's, he's won us games before. But I think if you're wanting him to be a first or second team all American, he's just not that good. If he was, he'd be in the NBA.

[Doug Gottlieb]

No, yeah, I completely agree. But would you, would you rather. I would almost rather go down swinging with Brea at that point?

[Billy]

No. If, like no way. No way. He can't, he can't create his own shot. I mean, Robinson at least can get his own shot. It doesn't always go in, but he can get it. Brea can't get his own. Kobe Braya open is one of the best shooters I've ever seen. But he's hit. He doesn't hit a lot of contested ones. He had a big one against Louisville, but generally whether or not it's in or not with Kobe Bray is a question of whether or not he's open. He's open in if it's contested. Less so. So no, I mean, I think you'd be better off with. With Butler or away as your main. Like Kobe Bray is a six man for a reason. That's what he is. And he's a great six man. But he. If he's the centerpiece of your offense, then we're really going to struggle.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Yeah, no, and I, I meant more Brea from, from, from more of a spacing perspective to open up the lanes more for away Butler to be able to be able to kick out of.

[Billy]

The corner because he's getting. And I appreciate the call he is getting. Watch, Watch Bray on offense the moment they get down the floor. His man is attached to his hip because they know he can't beat him off the dribble. So it's tough. Teams are keying in on him. Three more. Who's next?

[Doug Gottlieb]

You know, Pope has praised Robinson for his defense. A lot of games too.

[Billy]

He's been. He was not good tonight, but he's been better than I thought he would be on defense. He. He wasn't good tonight, though, and I'm not really sure why that is. Who's next?

[Doug Gottlieb]

Brandon.

[Billy]

Brandon. Go ahead, Brandon.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Hey, Matt. First time, long time.

[Billy]

Who are. What's up?

[Doug Gottlieb]

All right. Tonight. You know, I just, I think, like I was wanted to say, I'm from Hilton Head Island, South Carolina and I. We have two bars here. It's Captain Woody's and the snack bar. Big Kentucky fans come everywhere and I'm like you, when I go there and watch a game, it's pitiful. We are down by 18 or whatever else. And then I go home. We end up coming back going, that's what happened to Gonzaga, gang. But I just want to, with all these fans here, I just want to say that it's a one off. It was just a terrible game. Just a terrible game all the way across the board. And we'll rebound, we'll figure out a way. It's not that bad. I think your points on the athleticism and stuff, that's probably a good point defensively. If Bradshaw's got 11 points in the first half, we're not really good defensively. But when you shoot 23% and they're shooting 60%, that's true.

[Billy]

You're not going to win a lot like that. I appreciate, appreciate the call. Yeah, you're not going to win with that, with that shooting percentage. Like I said, go back and look at Mark Pope's history. He puts. He does about two of these a year. Just complete duds. And I don't know why that is, but, you know, that's just been his history. He throws up a couple of these. I think it was either last year or the year before. He lost by like 18 at home to like Central Florida or something. And you go, what? You were like a four seed in the term. What? But that's just what they do sometimes. And I, I don't know why that is, but. But it does seem like that's something that happens. Two more. Who's next?

[Doug Gottlieb]

Bones.

[Billy]

Bones. What's up, Bones?

[Doug Gottlieb]

What's going on, guys? So I just want to say, like, anybody that's worried or concerned about what's going on with Blood pro, like, just stop the thing. 99 of us were guilty the second he got hired. Then he goes 10 and 1 lose. The closing. It doesn't really matter. And then even losing to Ohio state tonight by 20 is terrible, but at least it wasn't at home. And like you said, if he throws like these two duds a year, now is probably the best time to do it. But I'm willing to bet by the end of the year we're not going to be great defensively, but we better than there are. And then on my last point, Billy, I'm glad you had a great vacation. In the book of Bone, you got to lose yourself to begin to find yourself. Love you guys. Thanks.

[Billy]

Wow. The book of Bone. Very nice to you families listening. Don't Google Book of Bone. Like, don't. That's not, that's not, it's not gonna be something you want to Google on a Saturday night. All right, one more. Who's next?

[Doug Gottlieb]

Jerry.

[Billy]

Jerry. Finish strong, Matt.

[Doug Gottlieb]

I'll do that. I'm a first time caller. Started listening. You would. I met you in Bowling Green when you all were down there and I mentioned to you that I was listening to you when you were interviewing Patrick Patterson. Oh, what an interview. Listen, I took an old radio out by metal pole, the only way I could get you, and I sat by that metal pole for an hour waiting for you to get on your. Oh, yeah, I love you, man. Listen to the show. Well, listen, you helped me get through cancer and as other people have said, you've helped me. I've kind of reaffirmed my faith in ways in politics. You really taught me about that. I was kind of a one sided hater until I listened to your explanation. But I've tried to call two or three times.

[Billy]

Let me just say God bless you, man. Though that's a very. That's one of the nicer things anyone has said to me. So thank you very much.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Well, I'm totally honest about that. And it really happened. I got to listening to you and to the other guys and thinking, wow, there's other views rather than mine. And they have good viewpoints. And as far as Mark tonight, I love the guys that coach. I've been through a lot of coaches. I'm 78 years old now and we, I, I might, I might think if I'm not trying to be negative. But I think the trip to New York, he and his wife meeting there and all of that, going to Hamilton to play and everything might have kind of got into him too, other than other things. Although as I was with the politics, it could be wrong about that. But listen, it's so.

[Billy]

Well, I mean, on that point, Jerry about being distracted. You know, I mean, I, I saw some people saying, ah, they shouldn't have gone to Hamilton or whatever. I mean, at the same time, you can't just sit around, sit in your room, stare straight ahead and go, what are we gonna do? But like, look, they, they may have just. The experience may have been too much in this case. You know, a lot of these dudes, I don't think any of them had ever played Madison Square Garden except for, except for Lamont Butler who's played in the Final Four. There's probably nobody who's even played in an environment like that with the history of a place like that. So, you know, that might have had a small impact. And Jerry, I don't know what your health situation is now, but I'll be praying for you. And thank you for your very kind.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Thank you. Well, thank you. And it's good to listen to the show. I listen to the morning show, all the shows that you do. Even do podcasts sometime.

[Billy]

Well, thank you very much. I appreciate it. So with that, Kentucky goes down to Ohio State 85, 65. Hopefully this is the least successful game we will have during the season and we won't have one like this, but I will say we'll probably have at least one of these during conference play where we go, what in the world just happened? I think that's just the way it's gonna be when you have a team like this. But I also think we're gonna have some big wins as the year goes on as well. Thank you all very much. Billy, nice to have you back. Our schedule next week we will do the show Monday from ksbar then we are off Tuesday and Wednesday for Christmas. Be back Thursday at KSBAR and then in Glasgow on Friday at Don Franklin. We will see you guys later if I don't talk to you on Monday, if you're not there, remember, I host trivia Monday but also have a Merry Christmas. We'll see you guys later on. This has been the local Toyota dealers KSR postgame show.

[Doug Gottlieb]

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[Billy]

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[Doug Gottlieb]

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[Billy]

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[Doug Gottlieb]

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[Billy]

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[Doug Gottlieb]

All right?

[Billy]

Get serious. The hate in this country is getting out of control. It's at an all time high. It's going to take all of us to stop it. I mean, think about it. We're all on the same team in this country, right?

[Doug Gottlieb]

Let's take a break from hate so.

[Billy]

Our team can regroup. We need to take a timeout against hate. Visit Stand up to all hate.org to.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Help and join me in calling for.

[Billy]

A timeout against hate by following at what's up with Hate or posting the blue square emoji. 70,000 people are here and Bob Dylan.

[Doug Gottlieb]

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[Billy]

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[Doug Gottlieb]

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[Billy]

Are you a freak? Hope so. Timothy Chalamet astonishes as Bob Dylan and critics rave Edward Norton is absolutely fantastic.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Turn it down pay lad.

[Billy]

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[Doug Gottlieb]

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