KSR Postgame UK MBB vs Florida 3/07/26

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Finished the season 19-12 and now depending on what happens in the Oklahoma-Texas game tonight will either be the 9 or 10 seed in the SEC tournament playing on Wednesday for what I believe is the first time in the history of Kentucky basketball. I don't think we've ever played on Wednesday before. Of course, more teams play on Wednesday now because the conference has expanded, but nevertheless. 859-280-2287. Kentucky really never had a shot in this game, and part of what is disappointing is they have now played 80 minutes of basketball against Florida this year, and they have not led for one second of those 80 minutes. Florida is better, and as my friend Aaron Fleener said in a tweet, Florida is what Kentucky used to be at various points in our history and certainly in the last 35 years. Kentucky just, you know, fell down 11-0, fought back, made it 11-9, and then at one point 20-19, but then gave up another 13-0 run and ended up with being down 33-19 and then really never was over. As a matter of fact, the closest they got was at the end of the game when really it was just about whether or not they would cover the spread. I was there for the beginning. I love senior day. I'm a sucker for everybody's families being there, and I'm a sucker for my old Kentucky home. And it was a great Kentucky pregame atmosphere, I will say. Once again, you know, we have had some really, really exciting. I mean, I've gone to three of the home games before just to experience the atmosphere in Tennessee, Vandy, and Kentucky. And they all have – or excuse me, Tennessee, Vandy, and Florida. And they've all been amazing. I mean, the fans showed up 45 minutes before the game. I mean, the place was full. It was electric in there. And then just completely deflated at the beginning. I told Billy, you know, it's hard enough for me to – watching the games, in the arena. I just don't, especially at Rupp because we're not allowed to sit close, so we're way up. And I ended up leaving right after that 11-0 run. It was like, I'll just watch it at home. And it was bad. You can give Kentucky credit for fighting back, but I'm sort of tired about being down huge in the first half. This has been a problem under Mark's Pope for two years. To their credit, they fought back and won some of these games, but they have gotten down double digits in the first half. I kept the stat for a while, and then I stopped. But, I mean, literally, I think it's like 15 times in two years. It's a crazy amount, and it's ridiculous for Kentucky to do that, and it's ridiculous. They ended up not getting blown out on the score, but if you watch the game, you know we were blown out, and it's ridiculous to get blown out at home. Kentucky should not get blown out at home. by anyone. You know, occasionally you might get blown out on the road, but you should never, ever, ever get blown out at home. And while we only lost by seven, that's not how the game played. The team way too often takes, essentially, breaks. A perfect example to me was the play, I believe, Mohamed Diabate hit a three that I want to say cut it to 11 to nine. I think that was the three. 14-9. Well, no, he cut it to 11-9. And then they got the rebound, and Kentucky was celebrating, and they got the rebound and pushed it down and shot a three within seconds. And it was 14-9. Am I right about that? Is that the sequence? I think so. I think I'm right about that. I think it was 11-9, and rather than getting back, Florida, who's Florida is so well coached, gets the ball out of the net, comes down and hits a three within three seconds. And it's 14-9. And the excitement you got from a Diabate three, which is rare, and the crowd is just gone, immediately gone. And the key sequence in the game, obviously the start is bad, but they did come back from that. The key sequence in the game is that 20-19 to 33-19. and Florida went on a 13-0 run in two minutes and 20 seconds. Two minutes and 20 seconds. That is a Kentucky team not paying patiently, not getting back. Florida killed them in transition, just killed them. And a couple times, maybe three times, it was literally just because we didn't run back on defense. It wasn't turnovers. We only had nine turnovers for the game. it was just not getting back. It's the first time all year. We've lost when we had fewer than 11 turnovers. Just did not get back on defense. And then Florida's really good. Don't get me wrong. Florida's really good. But you did it to yourself to get that gap. So, for me, this is where we are. Kentucky Finch is 19-12 in the regular season. We've talked a lot about this on KSR. I judge a team on three things. The non-conference, I want you to be play good teams, win games that matter, and be competitive. But ultimately, it doesn't really matter as long as you play good. I want to beat Duke. I want to beat Louisville, Kansas, North Carolina, et cetera. But it doesn't really matter. But if you look at the non-conference, we went two and four against good teams. Beat St. John's, beat Indiana. Indiana's not that great, but beat St. John's, who won the Big East. But got blown out by Michigan State, blown out by Gonzaga, lost it home to North Carolina, and didn't really get blown out by Louisville, but it was a game very similar to this one, where we really weren't in it, and then made a little bit of run at the end. So two and four. Then you get to conference play. And in conference play, it's the second straight year we finish 10-8. last year we were the 8th seed, or excuse me, the 7th seed, and now this year the 10th seed. Mark Pope at Kentucky has been 20-16 in the SEC. That's not what you do at Kentucky. You don't go 20-16. You don't. So the SEC to me is not only a disappointment, I would say the regular season this year is at best like a C-minus, D-plus. I'm not going to say it's an F, but it's barely passing. And the only reason I even give it a passing grade is you did lose your point guard at the beginning, and you did lose your sixth man. I've said to you, I don't put anything on Jaden Quaines. I never expected him to play. You sign a guy with a torn ACL, you have to understand there's a possibility he won't play. so not having Jalen Lowe and Cam Williams matters but that still doesn't excuse the record we got more talent than teams that are going to finish ahead of us in the SEC we have enough talent to beat Georgia at home we have enough talent to beat Missouri at home right so I just I don't accept that it's a factor but it's still a bad regular season C minus D plus Now, the next thing is the SEC tournament. And it matters more to me than it has to our coaches over the years. I was glad to hear Mark Pope say we're going down there to win. You know, I'm glad we have a coach that cares about it. I care about it. But we haven't been good in this tournament. We haven't been to the weekend since 2019. And we are going to have to win three games to get to the weekend this time. We'll see what happens. If Texas beats Oklahoma tonight, you might avoid Florida. You're kind of looking at a path. I think I don't know where it fits out, but it looks like maybe LSU or South Carolina or Ole Miss in game one. I don't know who that would be. Then probably, you know, I don't know where the tiebreakers get. It'll be Tennessee, Vandy, Georgia, somebody like that in round two, and then Alabama in round three. Not exactly an easy path just to get to the weekend. That's just to get to the weekend. And then you get the NCAA tournament. I would say, unless Kentucky wins multiple games in the SEC tournament, you're probably looking at a seven. Maybe if you win two games in the SEC, maybe you get to a six. But that means you're going to have a hard first-round game in the NCAA. You're going to play somebody good. So there is a chance to change the narrative on the season. but there are no more room. There's no more room for mistakes. Kentucky finishes the year. Disappointing 19 and 12 is not acceptable. And I'll give you a stat that's sobering in two seasons. Mark Pope's regular season record is now only two games better than Billy Gillespie's was two games. so SEC's better than it was then but still two games that's frustrating and it should be frustrating to all fans and now we see over the but things can change in March the 2014 team is an example but then a lot of times March just backs up what you saw all season we'll see what happens this year. 859-280-2287. Want to hear what you think about this? You know, what was your take on the game if you were there? I thought, oh, take away, by the way, went out playing the way he's played all year. Gave it his all. Aberdeen started slow, played well in the second half. But we've learned when they shut down Colin Chandler, this offense drags. Happened tonight, and this happened a lot of the year. We'll take your calls. 859-280-2287. a very disappointing loss, and a disappointing regular season for Kentucky. We'll be right back. This is the Local Toyota Dealers KSR Post Game Show. Welcome back. It is the Local Toyota Dealers KSR Post Game Show, 859-280-2287. Some good questions on the text machine. One person writes, Matt, I hadn't realized we were only two games better than Billy Gillespie. Billy Gillespie didn't come back. Do you think Mark Pope should come back? Well, should is a complicated conversation. I don't think he shouldn't. I think you do it for a variety of reasons, including the fact that there are a lot of reasons. One is the contract. One is the NIL situation across. One is our athletic department budget. One is he went here and we want it to work. But I do think next year is the year. I mean, I do think next year is the year, and he has no players. So it's understandable to be pessimistic. I think Billy would have been here a third year, if not for the off-the-court stuff. But Billy would have been in the same situation, where it would have been, okay, we'll see what happens in year three. I would actually go so far as to say if Billy didn't have his meltdown at the end of that season, where you may remember he said, I'm not an ambassador for the school, and he said crazy stuff. I think he probably would have been back for a third year then. So, yes, he will be back for a third year. I support him being back for a third year. But the third year will decide it, at least for me, going forward. One person writes, Matt, let's say all those guys were healthy. What would our record be? All those guys were healthy, could be better. I not counting like I said I not counting Quaintance because when you recruit that guy you can like when you recruit a guy that has that injury you taking a chance and you know it If you had Lowe and Williams, maybe you win one or two more games. I don't think you, look, I mean we lost four before that, right? We got blown out to Louisville with Lowe and Williams. maybe you win one or two maybe you don't lose to Georgia at home maybe you don't lose to Missouri at home but you weren't beating Florida probably either way it was not a well constructed roster so maybe you go 21 and 10 which is better but not what we want alright who's up first Brennan go ahead Brennan hey Matt what's going on man what's up hey just uh so i'm having trouble watching these games i need you to kind of pick me up here they feel so cumbersome when we're sitting here watching them and they are cumbersome it's hard not to feel cumbersome when you get down so much i mean you know just think about the last two games we've been down so much so early in these games that it is cumbersome and even remember even in games we've won we've been down i mean we've just i don't know what the minutes i'd like to see maybe somebody will do this how many minutes have we led in the sec versus how many have we been behind i think it's probably the case we've been behind significantly more than we've been ahead and i think that's probably why it feels so cumbersome sure and one more thing just hypothetical Well, I'm on board with Pope. If he can get it going, I'm fully behind him. But what would you say right now, Todd Golden or Bruce Pearl after year three of Pope? Yeah, you know, I appreciate the call. I mean, both those guys have issues. I mean, I think the fan base with Todd Golden has a lot of issues, including is clearly a jerk. It is funny how the two best coaches in college basketball right now are tremendous jerks. Well, maybe you don't need to be that guy. Danny Hurley, Ty Gold. I mean, Ty Gold was screaming at everybody at the game. I had a friend sitting behind that said he yelled at the clock people. He yelled at fans in the front row. Like, he's just a jerk. Now, he's an amazing coach. Like, shockingly amazing to me how well prepared his teams are. And he could win a second title this year. so you know we'll see i would have always said mitch barnhart will never hire todd golden but mitch barnhart will not be the ad whenever a new coach comes up who's next skyler skyler go ahead skyler hey matt how's it going uh my my thought the whole season has been um mark pope isn't the guy and i don't want to turn this into a show about that but i think um you know the difference you just mentioned Tom Golden and Bruce Pearl or whoever, there's like a dog to him. And you sit there and you watch Mark Pope on the sidelines coaching. We're getting run off the court for the first half. And he's there with his arms crossed. He's standing. There's nothing on his face. That's why we've seen these, I would say, performative, overdramatic, grasping for who he is kind of post-games. Did I see that he only spoke for four and a half minutes after the game today? Or is that just a YouTube thing that I saw? I don't know how long he spoke after the game. I mean, he normally does three segments on the postgame. He only did two. He's not – listen, he is – he's kind of a poor loser, at least in terms of the media part of it. I don't think he's a poor loser in a lot. It seems like he's kind to the other coaches and all that. But I think when it comes to the media part, he's been a poor – he's been really bad after games this year, like really bad all year. And I don't know why, because it doesn't seem to fit what I know of his personality. But I'll remind you, when he left BYU, I've told this a couple times, that was when we were trying to figure out about Mark Pope, and I talked to a couple people who knew him well at BYU, and they said, look, great guy, awesome person, fan base will love him, blah, blah, blah. Loses very poorly. Takes it personally. Loses very poorly. And I think we've seen that to be true. but but you're right he doesn't show that during the game which is interesting but but think about john shire at duke he doesn't either and he has success but but i coach a sixth grade girls basketball team and if we're starting to get run and i can feel the momentum swing you call a time up you switch something up you put you you look the girls in the eye and you say hey let's let's lock it in right here and and you're not down 20 these are like d1 basketball players that we've spent a lot of money on you can motivate them a little better and I think it takes a dog and I'm not sure Mark's a dog I mean appreciate the call I mean that's I understand what you're saying I think there's multiple ways to do it right I think there is the it seems like right now the coaches that are excelling for the most part are these relatively younger guys who have this passion who have embraced this whole NIL era and who are fiery. But it hasn't always been like that. And I also think, you know, just to me, the best coaches in the country right now are Danny Hurley, Todd Golden, John Shire, and Dusty May at Michigan. I don't know as much about the guy at Arizona because I don't watch them as much because they're late at night. But those just seem like the guys who are – it's just rolling, and they're getting the players for next year. and I want to see Mark in that group. He should be in that group. They're his age bracket. They're at programs like he is. He should be in that group, but he hasn't been. Who's next? Curtis. Curtis. Go ahead, Curtis. Hey, Matt. Was at the game today. Been at most of every home game this year, and I've been all on board trying to support Pope for the last two years, spent tons of games, trying to give him every benefit of the doubt, But I think today and this week in general has been the breaking point. I know what you said earlier, that next year is going to be the tipping point. And we all know for a lot of reasons he's going to get year three. Could lose the next two games, still going to get year three. But I have to ask you this. What gives you any hope that this guy can do it? I mean, today and this week just broke me. The absolute number of things for first time, things happening for the University of Kentucky basketball program, program, giving up 27-3 run, going down 11-0 at home in Florida, just knowing you're going to lose, his excuses about being, everybody's tired, and then his players going on to say, I don't know if you saw it, but Yelovich's quote saying, no, that's not the problem. All these kids are used to playing 35 minutes a game. You look across the country, they're doing it. Pope just seems like he's clueless and lost and in over his head here, and this whole week has just been the absolute breaking point for me, and I don't know how anybody else could actually believe that this guy is the right man for Kentucky basketball. I would love to hear your thoughts, but I just can't see it, and I've tried to give him time, and I've tried to give him a chance. I just can't see it. Well, first of all, I think you articulate all that very well. I understand what you're saying, and let me be clear. I'm not saying I believe he is, okay? Okay, good. I'm not saying that. I mean, I probably thought that. Okay. Let me put it like this. I certainly thought that going into the year. This year has very much disappointed me in really every way possible. It's disappointed me in roster management. It's disappointed me in performance. It's disappointed me in off-the-court media, just things that the way you kind of run a program like this. And early in the year, although I haven't heard as much of this recently, early in the year it kind of disappointed me in what I was hearing behind the scenes with the team. That seems to have gotten better. So, no, I'm not confident. I would look at it and say in year one I considered it a success. In year two I consider it, unless there's a big change, I would consider it a failure. so that then leads to me to year three breaks the tie does that make sense that's probably where i it's not no that's well put that's that's well put i think we're both kind of on the same level but i i'm glad to hear you say that because you know i follow you on twitter i get emotional and stuff during games and whatnot but i kind of feel like and tell me if i'm wrong or you can just kind of plead the fifth but i feel like you have even said this even with cal you got to be careful about call him for somebody's job and your position. And I get it. But I've kind of got the hint from you and even Drew and whatnot. And I see that you guys have kind of said a lot of things. Well, Drew's much more negative about it. I mean, Drew's much more negative about it than I am. If there's a scale, I would say Drew is maybe not where you are but close. Ryan still believes. And I'm kind of in the middle because I see a lot of troubling concerns. but I can't overlook that I actually think he did a really good job last year. So, you know, so I appreciate the call. That's a good conversation. In terms of calling for somebody's job, I wouldn't call for his job either way this year. But I will know, like, it is different when I talk. I can't just go online. Any criticism that we at KSR, but I specifically do, it resonates and it's not like, it's one of those things you can't take the genie out of the bottle. I don't have the, you know, so I try to consider that. That's what makes me so frustrated when coaches or the AD, you know, say, oh, there's a couple people doing this. They're knuckleheads. What makes me frustrated is I bite my tongue. I mean, ask Billy in our group text. I bite my tongue. And, like, they get mad at the smallest criticisms. Just going, hey, where's this money coming from for $950,000 leads to in his goodbye press conference calling people knuckleheads. knuckleheads that's what we've dealt with since covid our coaches starting with cal stoops in the last year or so he wasn't like that before mitch like everybody gets you they are all so on edge about everything that i try to be responsible and like not say it until you can't not say it. And even then you see the result. But I'm still going to do the same thing. I'm going to be responsible and then when I say it, like I eventually did with Mark Stoops, and like I eventually did with John Calipari, and like I did with Mitch, I mean it at that point. And I think when I've said it, like 70% of the fan base has agreed at that point. Now, on this, I think it's a lot closer, and I think people are all over the place. Who's next? Ryan is next. Ryan, go ahead. hey Matthew Harper Jones I was just calling to see what kind of success do you need to see from coach Mark Pope in order to be excited for season three we got recruiting it's a giant issue talent is an issue we're outmatched in every game we play he's been on can I be honest with you on that question there will be almost nothing that can happen in the NCAA tournament that will change my mind and i know and let me say why i think the tournament there's a lot of randomness so let's say we make a run to the elite eight do i still think this roster was well put together no i don't do i still not have problems with his coaching i do so what would make me feel better going into next year them going out and getting a good roster and not striking out with every recruit and striking out with all of their top portal attempts. That's what's happened last year. They lost their top three guys in the portal, and they got probably their second choice on like three different guys. And they've got no recruits. So you want me to have excitement? Let's see what you do. You know, if we make the Final Four, I'll be excited. If we make the Elite Eight, I'll probably be excited. But my view's probably not going to change much based on what happens in the next few weeks. the big issue i'm seeing is our guy's getting out coached every game it doesn't matter if we're on every game but a lot of games it doesn't matter if we're in rep arena a lot of games he's getting out coached he looks out match looks like he can't coach out of a paper bag to me at times we are not vanderbilt we are not omis to quote marcus teague we is kentucky and right now it feels like we are Mississippi State. Appreciate the call. I don't disagree with you. A couple things here before we take a break. Moorhead State's playing for a tournament berth tonight. The OVC Championship is here relatively soon. Who do they play? Do you know who they play? I don't. Let me just look it up right now. They play tonight for the first official bid, and there actually is one bid that's already been decided. Long Island plays Mercyhurst tomorrow in the Northeast Conference, and Mercyhurst is not eligible for the tournament this year because they're still transitioning from Division II. So Long Island automatically has the bid. And do you know who coaches Long Island, Billy? No, who? That would be Rod Strickland, former U.K. assistant coach, who has built that team from his first year they won three games to this year they won, I think, 23, and they're going to the NCAA tournament. Tennessee State is who Moorhead State plays. Tennessee State, yeah. I think Tennessee State may be the one and Moorhead the two or something. So good luck to Moorhead tonight. We'll take a break and be right back. This is the local toy dealers KSR postgame show. Welcome back. It is the local toy dealers KSR postgame show. One person writes, Matt, you really need to hear Yelovich postgame answers. They were very telling. What did they say? I haven heard these Do you know what they said I haven been able to hear it He said they said that they were not tired By the way I never bought the tired I wish Mark Pope he said that at the game tonight He was like you know we start making turnovers when we tired Ridiculous. Ridiculous statements. It continues the I don't know what he thinks when he says stuff. I mean, he may actually believe that. But, I mean, we were down 11-0 to start the game. Were we tired? The game was just starting. And then the 13-0 run that changed the game was with it 20-19. Were we tired? We were still 10 minutes into the game. If we aren't so tired all the time, I don't believe we're tired, by the way. I watch it. I sometimes see the bigs get tired, but the guards never look tired to me. Chandler looked a little tired one of those games. I can't remember which one. I have yet to see O.A. and Aberdeen look tired. But the tired is ridiculous. But if they are tired, then that's on your conditioning. Yes. If they really are tired, then that's on you. Because these are crazy good athletes. Almost every player on this team is at least a good athlete, and some of them are great athletes. So don't give me the tired. It's just, I'm tired of the tired, Billy. I'll be honest with you. Yeah, tonight was demoralizing for me. I will say that 11-0 run to start the game, the game wasn't even on TV yet. I know. I couldn't even watch it. And by the time it came on, they were down double digits. I got to see it up close. It was like watching chill. I thought we were going to lose by 40 after watching the first few minutes because it looked like we were pathetic. But, you know, he did fight back on it. One person writes, Matt, if you say Drew is the one that is most negative. It's looked like he's the only one that understands what Kentucky basketball is. No, I mean, I understand. This has not been Kentucky basketball. It's not. Like, this has been – but it's not been Kentucky basketball really for six years. I mean, if we're really honest with ourselves, we've had one good season in six years in the regular season, and in that year we lost to St. Peter's in the first round of the tournament. So think about it. Kentucky basketball has not been Kentucky basketball since COVID. So the question is, when's it going to change? But we have to – but I also accept the realities of, you know, there are people who want to just fire people all the time and think that's going to help. I think what's got to help is a complete change of mentality at the university. That's what has to start. The university – well, I mean, that's a conversation. and we'll save it for the offseason. But, no, this isn't Kentucky basketball. It has not been Kentucky basketball since they shut down that SEC tournament in Nashville. It really hasn't. Who's next? Mike. Mike. Go ahead, Mike. This is Mike, E-Town. What's going on? A couple points. The Billy Gillespie comparison to Mark Pope, college basketball is in a different landscape now. Well, okay, but I don't disagree with that, but so what? So what? You've got to adjust, right? I mean, yes, it is different. The SEC is better. NIL exists. You are exactly right. It's different. But you know who I'm watching play right now? Duke. They're number one in the country. They're 28-2. who it's they're winning by 20 against North Carolina, and they don't even have the coach that built the program. So guess what they did? Yeah. They adjusted. Oh, yeah, but that's just true. You know who else has been good the last six years? Kansas. You know who else has been good the last six years? UConn. You know who made a national championship in the last six years, a national championship game? North Carolina. They adjusted some. Why can't we? All right. So another point is – But answer that question because I'm not trying to, like, go at you. But when I hear that conversation quite a bit, college basketball is different. Okay. But why have all the other powers adjusted and we haven't? Why is Florida going for a back-to-back title with a completely different roster? Well, you definitely have to get out there and find some good talent. but we also have them do it. But what's the excuse? There's no excuse. There's no excuse. That's right. There is no excuse. If I was looking at the top 25 in college basketball and the top five teams were Minnesota, LSU, like just complete random teams, then I might agree with you. But they're the same teams that have been good all time. It's just we're not there. Correct Now my last point And then I'll hang up Hope is Soft when it comes to the officials You see John Shire You see Hurley You even see Florida's coach tonight They whine All the time Todd Golden And they get Todd Golden and they get All the calls And so why couldn't we get a review tonight? That's what I want to know. Well, we were out of timeouts, and we had used our – so, like, that's why. When you take your last timeout, then the only way you can get a review is if the ref initiates it himself. And he has the ability to do it in the last two minutes. So I think it's fair to criticize that they didn't do it. But at the same time – Yes. But at the same time, if you watch college basketball, for the most part, on things like out of bounds. They almost never initiate it unless a coach challenges it. Well, but you've got Duke's coach, UConn's coach, and Florida's coach putting pressure on the referees to look at it. And they get it, and they get it. Well, I appreciate the call. I mean, that's true. I don't disagree with that. He yells at refs. He just does it a different way. I don't know what the right strategy is with the refs, but I will say this. Todd Golden does not shut up during a game. Who's next? Neither did Cal. No, he didn't. Neither did Mark Stoops. And sometimes we thought Cal hurt himself by doing that. Correct. So who knows? You know, who knows what works? Who's next? Another Mike. Mike. Go ahead, Mike. Hey, I'll tell you, man. There's nobody that's been a bigger Pope supporter than me, but he's about to lose me. I hear all these people talking about our talent. And, yeah, it's not the most talented, but I do believe it's talented enough to compete in the SEC. And I think his management of the roster is worse than the actual roster. I agree with that. I agree with the second point. And I actually agree with the first point. He may not have the talent to be as good as Florida, but we have just as much talent as probably everybody in the league except Florida, Arkansas, and Alabama. And guess what? We beat Arkansas. We have more talent than Georgia. Oh, without question. More talent than Georgia, Missouri, Texas. All these teams we've lost to. We beat Texas. But A&M, we have more talent than all those teams. You're exactly right. And shout out to Oscar Combs for calling for some of these upper guys to step aside. I thought that was a bold take, but also the correct take. Appreciate the call. Who's next? Andrew is next. Andrew, go ahead, Andrew. Hey, Matt. I called you after the Louisville-Kentucky football game, and I kind of have the same question again. Like, what's, like, the sales point if you're the AD? Obviously, it won't be Mitch, but, you know, a few of the season tickets to football, as I do, and basketball both. What's, like, the sales point for me to renew again? They got it with football because they fired Ceeps or whatever. Well, basketball, my sales point would be we're going to be good at basketball again. And we're going to be really good. Now, is it going to be with Pope? I don't know. Yeah. Yeah, we will. This school, there's too much. There's only. Next year we will? No, no, no, no, no. Oh, well, I mean, the reason you would renew is if you lose your season tickets, next year you're going to be sitting up in the rafters. Unless you're already sitting in the rafters, and then maybe you don't renew. I don't know. But I'm just saying, like, it's the same reason I renewed for the Reds when I knew they were going to be terrible, because I wanted to keep my seats for if they got good. That's the reason. But, and again, before when you say, would you renew next year, let's see what the roster, we don't even know what the roster is. Like, we don't know one person that's going to be on the team next year for sure. Yeah, but we'll probably have to renew before that's known. You'll know. We're going to know pretty quick. We're going to know by probably May 1st most of the roster. Should we? Okay. Okay, so maybe the roster will be fine. I guess I just feel you can't really feel optimistic about it. I do. I want pros to succeed more than anyone. I just don't think how you can feel optimistic about, like, the direction of the program. I understand that. Same as football. And it changed after I talked to you in that game. so I kind of think what can basketball do to change the direction and I don't want it to be a coach change like it was for football I want there to be something else well that's not going to happen so and I appreciate the call that's not going to happen so you'll have to decide if you're positive enough without that who's next let's give our Johnny Rocker personal injury attorney moneymaker of the game next Matt injured get small town compassion with big city results when you call the rocker at 270-321-4429. And tonight it goes to Otega Owe. 28 points, was four of eight from deep, eight of eight from the free throw line. In 38 minutes, he had only one turnover. And to add to the stat that you shared on the pregame show, Owe has now scored double digits in 63 of the 67 games that he's played with at Kentucky. He is our moneymaker of the game tonight. All right, sounds good. 859-280-2287. By the way, well, let's do one more call real quick. Who's next? Okay, Chris is next. Chris, go ahead, Chris. Hey, Matt, I kind of like where the conversation's going because I got program concerns. Two years ago, we made a reach hire, but I was one of 24,000 people at Rupp to welcome Pope with open arms. We flash forward these two years. The record is what the record is. We have no recruits. We have no sight of hiring a general manager to run this thing. We have JMI, who just canned Baker, who I love. We have Mitch, who's stepping aside, but he's in another role, but he's not going to be the AD. Okay, great. Where is my hope for this program coming from? well i mean i i can't determine your optimism or not but everything you just questioned i have the same questions mark story wrote in the herald leader just a week ago these next two months are mark pope's career i completely agree with that i'll go further these next six months are massive for the future of Kentucky basketball. Not just Mark Pope. I would make an argument that if Kentucky doesn't get its act together in the next four to six months and does not make the right decision, then that will become a three- or four-year process that's hard to get out of. The AD hire is going to be crucial. there are many things happening behind the scenes that are not part of the issue is I can't just talk about them because me talking about them will change everything. We'll change things, not change things, but we'll make it completely different. But they're happening. Quick follow-up, Matt. Well, I mean, I just can't. Yeah, I can't. But Mark Pope, whether he's going to succeed, what kind of roster are we going to have? Are we going to hire a GM? Is it going to be the right hire? I would argue that when we get to the decisions that will be made from today until August 31st of next year, or I'll even say July 1st, because we'll have to have an AD then, the decisions from March 7th to July 1st are going to determine the next five years of Kentucky basketball. And so I'm nervous about it, but I'm not giving up, but I am nervous about it. are you hopeful there are folks in the room that i don't know i don't know who's bringing this i'm gonna be honest with you i don't know who's making decisions i'm gonna i if i'm being honest is 108 years old is not eli capoludo i no offense to him because i like eli capoludo i think he's done a good job i don't even know if he's making decisions i doubt i i kind of don't think he'll be the president next year that's just my guess that's that's not inside information it's just a guess. I mean, so, you know, Eli Capilouto spends a lot of his time in Alabama. I don't know. So I honestly don't know who's making the decision. So when you ask me, are the people in the room, I don't even really know who's in the room. I mean, I was shocked today to see WKYT say the board of trustees of the university did not know about the Mitch contract. What? like Eli did that on his own but did Eli do it did somebody else tell him I don't know so to answer your question I don't know who's making the decision so it's hard for me to know well Matt thanks for being a voice piece I appreciate you I appreciate what you do we need some hope man I appreciate the call I have hope because I'm an optimistic person but you know I'll be real with you on July 1st I'll tell you how positive I feel. And that doesn't mean I'll be right. Like, you know, my initial reaction to the Pope hire was negativity, and then I switched. Maybe my initial reaction was right. Maybe my switching will have been right Who knows But we see We take a break come back final segment local toy dealers ksr post game show welcome back uh local toy dealers ksr post game show did you say lsu and a&m's in triple overtime 87 85 triple overtime three minutes left yeah i don't know low scoring i don't know what the uh what what what that game impacts who we who we would play first. I'm sitting here looking at the SEC standings. LSU is 3-14. LSU looks like they, well, so if they win, then they would get into a tie with South Carolina and Ole Miss. So I think we can say with confidence that we are either going to play South Carolina, Ole Miss, or LSU in the first round. Do you have a preference as to which of those you would play? Not Ole Miss because I know Travis Perry scored 20 in that game. So, yeah. I think LSU is the best of those teams. Oh, they're the best. I think South Carolina is awful. But, so, I mean, we should beat all of those teams. But LSU is probably the best of that group. One at South Carolina already. And it looks like we're going to be either the 9 or the 10. So, that will be us. or it would look to me like if we are the nine, we would play Missouri in the next round. And if we were the 10, I think we would play Georgia in the next round. So it looks like we're going to get a chance to avenge one of those home losses. We'll see, though. I can't. The tiebreakers are so weird. So would you Arkansas or Alabama? Who won when Arkansas played Alabama this year? That's who the two would be. I don't know. I'm guessing Alabama, but let me check. Let's see. Alabama beat Arkansas. So that means Alabama will be the two seed, assuming they beat Auburn tonight, which would make Alabama our team we would play on Friday. So it looks like we will play either South Carolina, Mississippi, or LSU. then in the next round either Missouri or Georgia and in the next round either Florida or Alabama. That looks like the path. Yeah. But that's what happens when you go 10-8. Who's up next? Stubb. Stubb. Go ahead, Stubb. Hey, Matt. So Colin Chandler is way too easy to take out of a game. He is, unfortunately. Yeah. Yeah. it's unfortunate. Well, that's two straight games, and that is worrisome for the postseason. He's been essentially taken out of both of those games. Yeah, he's just – bless his heart, he's just soft. But what frustrates me, Matt, is these teams – like you ask the average Florida fan, they would trade in a heartbeat. if you said, hey, if we would trade your three basketball national championships to even make the football playoffs, they would trade it without even batting an eye. Same thing with Alabama. I agree with you. I totally agree with you. I totally agree with you. That's so frustrating. And you're right. I thought that today. I was looking at the Florida fans there, and they had so few fans there. And I was sitting there thinking, man, they don't even care. And they're good. And we would give anything to be good, and we're not. And same thing with Alabama fans with whatever success they've had in Alabama football. I don't know. No, that is without question. I completely agree with you. I completely agree with you. I appreciate the call. I thought about that tonight. It's frustrating. Who's next? Jeremy. Jeremy. Jeremy. Go ahead, Jeremy. Hey, what's up, Matt? What's going on? So two things. Not much, man. Rough night. I think I'm going to hit on a couple things that some other callers have already hit on, and they've been good calls. But I think what we're talking about is uncertainty. Yes. There's a ton of uncertainty surrounding the state of the basketball program with a new AD coming in, you know, Pope to some level on the ropes game to game, I think it's fair to say. There have been times that this program has faced uncertainty, but I don't think they've ever faced it in the types of times that we're in where you've got NIL, you're paying players, but we don't have a recruit, man. We don't have like a top 20, 25 kid out of high school coming in next year, and that's uncharted territory. Well, part of the uncertainty for me is the fact that the entire system is changing, and if you look throughout history when the systems change okay so when college sports has undergone massive institutional change the teams that figure it out the best are not only good immediately they tend to become the teams that are good for the next 10 to 15 years right so they write the rules basically and they do write the rules and so think about when the one and done era started, we took advantage of it first, and we kind of owned the sport for a few years and for a decade. You know, this next iteration of college basketball, it feels like UConn and Florida and Duke and Houston have kind of figured it out, and they're kind of being good every year no matter who they have, and I worry we're getting left behind. Now, there's another change coming, which is whatever college sports looks like after Congress passes whatever legislation they pass. And so that is the next thing. But I'm with you. Part of the uncertainty is it feels like it's a crucial time to be good, and we're not good. That's right. And the only other thing was, and this just literally gets back to fundamental coaching. you know and even even jimmy dykes pointed out today you know there was a couple different instances where you know todd golden calls plays right like they they set up three dudes on the right side of the court uh it's a smoke screen that dude said a simple pick handed the ball to halk and he nailed a three i mean that's it's fundamental basketball right it's coaching and i think there's a level like i think mark pope may be too smart i think he gets locks he gets locked into these mental battles in his own head, man. Yeah, he doesn't know what to do. I think he's free. I've been around those. Yeah, I appreciate the call. I was around a lot of those people when I was in law school, people who were really, really smart, and they almost were so smart that when they got in front of a courtroom, they couldn't do it because they couldn't make oral arguments because they were almost too bookish. I'm not saying Mark Pope is like that, but that does exist in some form. Who's next? Cletus. Cletus. Go ahead, Cletus. Cletus. All right, no Cletus. Who's next? I have a feeling that was probably a fake caller. Just a guess. Who's next? Jen May. Jen May, how are you? Hey there. I'm doing okay. Really sad about the loss. I listened to the show yesterday and was really excited when I heard Jasper Johnson and Moreno talk about the game. And they were really pumped up about it. And I really thought that we were coming in. I thought it would be really close. I didn't think they'd stop us like we did. But I give a shout-out to O.A. He keeps been carrying us, and he did a fantastic job tonight. Yeah, I agree with you. And Jack Gibbons apparently said in the postgame show that he didn't think Kentucky believed it could win. I hope that's – I didn't hear him say that, but I hope that's not true. Right. I know, right. I thought they would. I also thought that Jasper Gaunton, like when he came out, there was like a momentum change. He kind of was a little bit selfish there. Well, you know, his plus minus was interestingly not that bad. I mean, Billy was telling me the plus minus. You said only one player had a positive plus minus, and I appreciate the call. Billy, tell everybody who the one player that had a positive plus minus. Brandon Garrison in 14 minutes was plus five. Only person in the plus. Or that stat. That's interesting. Sometimes you never know. Who's next? Bob in Jamestown. Bob, go ahead. Matt, we could have. I mean, the way that game played out, that clock business, we had a very good chance. I'm not blaming the clock or the ref. We were completely outplayed. There were a couple of bad calls down the stretch. The clock thing was an issue. But you know what? But I kind of feel like this game, the way I did, I'm trying to think, was it Auburn or one of those games where we had no business winning and if we had won, it would have been lucky. Oh, it would have been a stunner. I mean, I can say it. But it would have been lucky. It was lucky. We got completely outplayed the entire game. Oh, yeah, I agree. But, I mean, look, the last minute to the game. Well, how about those Miami Redhawks? Now, I got my fingers crossed. I appreciate the call. I'm not worried about your Miami Redhawks. It's a UK postgame show. I think that was the only reason he wanted to call. You know we're seeing them in the tournament, right? The thing is, I want to root for Miami, but then that's Bob, right? So that makes it hard. Who's next? We're getting matched up with them. How many more do you want to take here? Let's just do one more. Who's next? Okay. Dirk. Dirk. Go ahead, Dirk. Hey, Matt. I got a couple thoughts, and I'll try to be brief before I hang up and listen. And, you know, to the point at the very beginning of the show about getting in these deficits and then coming back for a lot of games this year. You know, as my buddy Nick from Paris said, we're in a bit of a rinse and repeat cycle with this team. And unfortunately, the way the game's changed, I don't think you can draw any positive lessons from coming back the way you could 10 years ago. You say you got a second year coach rebuild or, you know, building back the program. But now you've got to forget all the lessons year to year because you've got total roster turnover. Every team is a new team. You're exactly right. And the coaches that will adapt are the coaches that can take a new group and go. I don't think there's any doubt about that. And the games themselves, I think, are playing out more like – and this is not bad. This can be fun to watch. They're playing out a lot more like NBA games where you have wild lead changes. Everybody's shooting 25 to 33s a game. So it's not uncommon to just turn a game on and see a team up 17 in the first half, and then you look back at the TV and it's a tie game, just like in the NBA. And so, unfortunately, I mean, of course you'd like to see a team fight back when they're down 20 and they lose by seven instead of giving up and losing by 40. But I'm just not sure what kind of lessons you can draw. So I'll hang up with that. And I also, yeah, I agree with all that. And I also would say, you know, if you fall down 20 every game, yeah, you come back and steal a couple. but what about the other six? How many games this year have we gotten up a lot at the end of the first half? Not many, but we've been down a whole lot. So Kentucky will either play at 1 o'clock, or actually noon, or 7. It will all come down to the Oklahoma-Texas game tonight, and they are in the first half, and I'm going to give us a score before we get out of here. 12-7, Oklahoma. Yeah, so really not much to say yet. Oklahoma wins. We play at noon. If Texas wins, we will play at 7. Thank you folks very much for listening. We appreciate it. Tough end of the regular season. The cats go down. We will see you on Monday morning. This has been the Local Toyota Dealers KSR Postgame Show. The human body is a beautiful machine and keeping it running. It means understanding how it actually works, which is why this podcast will kill you is doing a multi-part series on sleep, what it's for, why our bodies don't follow neat rules and why modern life is not helping. When you consider what we know about sleep in humans, there's one rule that comes out. We are predictably unpredictable sleepers. We'll continue exploring how the body works with a multi-part series on digestive function. 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