OFFICIAL UK BASKETBALL THREAD!!!!!!!

[|Bunghole|]

[quote name='Vol_Bengal' post='631926' date='Feb 13 2008, 07:14 AM']Vandy's court has been like that for a lot years... for whatever reason it seems to give teams problems because for at least 1 half your coach is like 94 feet away and not able to scream at you... it gives a lot of teams trouble every year.

I don't know about 41 points worth of trouble but trouble none the less




[b]Another issue that Kentucky is going to have to realize now is that Vandy has written the book on how to effectively beat them. Always have a man on Patterson and shading him with at least one other guy so he can't even get the ball. Made Crawford / Bradley / Jasper, et al beat you. Just force Kentucky to play on the offensive end without Patterson.[/b][/quote]
I don't see that as being an issue at all, really. UK was terrible for a game and failed to adjust their offense. We beat Vandy earlier in the year with the same players...Patterson is a stud and had a bad game and we kept trying to force him the ball. I think this was a case of Billy G learning a lesson in not being obstinate about his gameplan and needing to be more flexible when things go against you.
Like Steggy said, throw away the tape, admonish the players and use the humiliation of the worst loss EVER to an SEC opponent to motivate.
UK is far from out of it. Despite their bad overall record, they are still 6-3 in the SEC, and can do themselves a service in the eyes of the selection committe if they finish strong in reg season play and make some kind of a run in the SEC Tournament.
At least, that's what I'm hoping for.

UK's biggest issue in my mind is if the outside shooting is off, we're toast, especially if Patterson is taken away or gets into foul trouble. We lack depth and have been marred by injuries all year.

I thought this was turning around with the 5 game win streak before Vandy, but maybe a humiliating loss is just what this group (and new coach) needs.

We'll see.

If not, NIT, here we come, and maybe we can face and beat UC in the Final!

[|Bunghole|]

Well, aside from the Vandy game, we seem to be getting a team together. What have we won now, seven of eight? I tell you what, if we run the table and show up in the SEC tournament, by God, we'll get into the NCAA tourney, where I believe we can be dangerous.

[|Bunghole|]

Patrick Patterson out for the year with a broken ankle....FUCK FUCKITY FUCK FUCK FUCK!!!!!!!!!
After we've clawed our way back into this shit, won 9 out of 10, we're 10-3 in the SEC and we play the NUMBER ONE team in the country tomorrow and now THIS!!!!

[size=6]GODDAMMITTT![/size]
If the Bengals hadn't signed Rogers today, I might have just slit my wrists....

[size=7]FUCK!!!!!![/size]

[CTBengalsFan]

[quote name='Bunghole' post='637276' date='Feb 29 2008, 07:46 PM']If the Bengals hadn't signed Rogers today, I might have just slit my wrists....

[size=7]FUCK!!!!!![/size][/quote]

welp, you know what that means

[#22]

and DeMarcus Cousins, the #2 Center of 2009, signed up with UAB. Kentucky would have been his other choice.

[bengalrick]

now THAT was a game...

your team pulled it off and played well today, vol...

[#22]

Kentucky came out with a great game plan, though. The NCAA Selection Committee has to be impressed with our performance in that one.

I know I was.
I am pumped about next year, though. Especially after seeing what Jasper, Harris, and Stevenson are capable of. These are guys who haven't played most of the year (Jasper only because he's been hurt, and Stevenson has been increasing his play lately).
Their lines looked like this today, though:
Harris had 12 points (4-5 FG, 1-1 3pt, 1-1 FT), 5 Rebounds, an assist, a block, and three steals in 40 minutes.
Jasper had 9 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, and a steal. Jason Kidd numbers.
Stevenson had 13 points, 14 rebounds, and 2 blocks.
all three played excellent defense, as well

In addition, we get both Jodie Meeks (who averaged about 9 ppg in 11 games this year) and Patrick Patterson (16 ppg, ~8 rebpg)


BCG already has #45 ranked Darius Miller, a 6'6" Forward with as much potential as any one in the class, and #21 DeAndre Liggins, a 6'5" PG/F who draws comparisons to Scottie Pippen with his passing, and who coach has encouraged to take 300 shots a day until he gets on campus.
#9 Scotty Hopson was at the UT game, and could very well commit to UK following the game today.

Michael Porter has potential, too, and coach uses him quite a bit. Hopefully AJ Stewart, Mike Williams, Mark Coury (who also gets significant PT), or Jared Carter can turn themselves into serviceable inside guys, too.

To paraphrase the color guy for Knoxville's radio station:"We better celebrate while we can, because Billy G is bringing his own guys in next year".

[Vol_Bengal]

[quote name='bengalrick' post='638590' date='Mar 2 2008, 02:39 PM']now THAT was a game...

your team pulled it off and played well today, vol... [/quote]
Thank you sir... I've not been in this thread since Sunday - our ballpark had baseball tryouts Sunday afternoon and didn't get to see the game. Only could keep updates via the phone!!!


My boys aren't playing their best ball right now - I don't know if it has been this past two week swing with Memphis, Vandy, Kentucky, Florida or what. We've won 3 of the 4 but they've all been close games. Don't feel as comfortable about the SEC tourney and/or the NCAA as I did earlier.

We'll see I guess... A lot will depend on how the officials are calling games, call em tight and we're in trouble (that is what cost us the Vandy game) keep it wide open and we'll be alright I think.


Not pointing at any particular games this year but in the SEC what have you thought about the officiating?

[|Bunghole|]

WOOT!
We took it to SC last night, babeeee!
We HAVE to beat Florida (that is our next and final game, right?) and make a good showing in the SEC tourney (like losing in the champ game or winning it all) and we should get into the dance as about an 11-12 seed. Man, if we pull this off and get into the tourney, that would be something!
And you know what? I bet we could get into the Sweet 16 if we do get in...this team is starting to play like a TEAM!

[#22]

Things are brighter than they were in Catland.
The Baseball team has gone up to No. 9 in some national polls, being 10-0 and outscoring opponents 136-22 overall.

Basketball has had 22 blocks in the last three games and has been dominant on defense. I'm not sure about the Sweet 16, but I fell really good about next year (even though we'll lose Crawford and Bradley). Think about these 2 kids under 4 years of BCG, though. Crawford went from looking hopeless at the beginning of the year (being a 6th man), to being the star of the team with 35 points tonight.


and this there's this:

[Khatmandude]

[quote name='#22' post='638646' date='Mar 2 2008, 06:34 PM']Kentucky came out with a great game plan, though. The NCAA Selection Committee has to be impressed with our performance in that one.

I know I was.
I am pumped about next year, though. Especially after seeing what Jasper, Harris, and Stevenson are capable of. These are guys who haven't played most of the year (Jasper only because he's been hurt, and Stevenson has been increasing his play lately).
Their lines looked like this today, though:
Harris had 12 points (4-5 FG, 1-1 3pt, 1-1 FT), 5 Rebounds, an assist, a block, and three steals in 40 minutes.
Jasper had 9 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, and a steal. Jason Kidd numbers.
Stevenson had 13 points, 14 rebounds, and 2 blocks.
all three played excellent defense, as well

In addition, we get both Jodie Meeks (who averaged about 9 ppg in 11 games this year) and Patrick Patterson (16 ppg, ~8 rebpg)


BCG already has #45 ranked Darius Miller, a 6'6" Forward with as much potential as any one in the class, and #21 DeAndre Liggins, a 6'5" PG/F who draws comparisons to Scottie Pippen with his passing, and who coach has encouraged to take 300 shots a day until he gets on campus.
#9 Scotty Hopson was at the UT game, and could very well commit to UK following the game today.

Michael Porter has potential, too, and coach uses him quite a bit. Hopefully AJ Stewart, Mike Williams, Mark Coury (who also gets significant PT), or Jared Carter can turn themselves into serviceable inside guys, too.

To paraphrase the color guy for Knoxville's radio station:"We better celebrate while we can, because Billy G is bringing his own guys in next year".[/quote]


Hey #22, I see in your above post about #9 player in 2008 Scotty Hopson..........he was at the UT game but he was there as a guest of the UT basketball team. His final 2 choices are Tennessee and UC with his mother pushing him to go to UC. UK could still be in it though as recruiting news on an 18 yr old kid can change by the day or hour even but I think he signs with UC or UT. Darius Miller and Liggins should give UK a nice boost next year playing alogside Patterson.

ETA: I've also heard that Hopson will not make a decision until April or so when his team is out of the KY state playoffs either as a champion or due to loss.

[|Bunghole|]

And the Gator Monkey is off our back! 12-4 in the SEC baby!
NCAA's, here we come...[size=1]provided we advance a couple rounds in the SEC tourney[/size]

[|Bunghole|]

What happened to all my bretheren?
We're as good as in the NCAA's, motherfuckers!
Buncha old ladies, I tell ya.
And we are a team nobody wants to play as an 8 or 9 seed, SEC Tourney results depending...cuz we be gooder than the rest of the 8 seeds, nigga!

[#22]

I keep hoping we play some small ass school in the Tourney (like Butler, Drake, Davidson, San Diego U , etc.).

I also hope we don't wind up with an 8 or a 9 seed, since that's instant death in the 2nd round.

[steggyD]

Keep the jitters away and play the same ball we've played the last few games and we'll do some damage. Sweet 16 at least, maybe one better.

Of course, I'm hoping for the whole damn thing! Let's go Big Blue!

[Khatmandude]

[quote name='steggyD' post='642984' date='Mar 13 2008, 02:25 AM']Keep the jitters away and play the same ball we've played the last few games and we'll do some damage. [b]Sweet 16 at least, maybe one better.[/b]

Of course, I'm hoping for the whole damn thing! Let's go Big Blue![/quote]

You can't be serious.........I like the optimism but come on man

IF UK makes the tourney field......Patterson's injury is pretty big and the selection committee has been known to take injuries into account and allow them to weigh heavily in some instances although UK played Tenn pretty tough without him. UK will be lucky to have a seeding above 8 or 9 and more than likely will face the #1 or #2 seed in the second round......if they can advance past the first if they do in fact make the field which think they should. Not having Patterson is going to hurt bigtime in the tourney though.

[steggyD]

Have you seen them play the last few games? They could've beat Tenn without Patterson. It comes down to one play, the 3 hits and it's OT. Plus it was their first game without Patterson, took them a few minutes to figure things out. They have it down now, they can do it. And in case you forget, Tenn was #1 team in the nation at that time. If UK comes out without jitters, they can handle any other team out there on the court. The game can go either way.

[|Bunghole|]

[quote name='steggyD' post='643063' date='Mar 13 2008, 10:34 AM']Have you seen them play the last few games? They could've beat Tenn without Patterson. It comes down to one play, the 3 hits and it's OT. Plus it was their first game without Patterson, took them a few minutes to figure things out. They have it down now, they can do it. And in case you forget, Tenn was #1 team in the nation at that time. If UK comes out without jitters, they can handle any other team out there on the court. The game can go either way.[/quote]
Yeah, I agree, they've really seemed to "figure it out" and buy into Gillespie's system, with or without Patterson. Speaking of which, Perry Stevenson has stepped up HUGE in Patterson's absence.
And the caveat to my friend Ikota is, of course, [i]even when we're in rebuilding mode[/i], we're still in the tournament.

UC--

[bengalrick]

Who cares who we play or where we're seeded? As mentioned on here, our team is breaming with confidence, we have are game plan set in stone everyday, we have senior leadership to execute the plan, we have one of the best free free shooting teams in the country, and our freshman and sophemores are starting grow up... life is good in Lexington...

i hope everyone has the attitude of ikota, b/c then noone will see it coming... they will be laughing about gardner webb and san diego while we're laughing at the results

Go BIG BLUE BITCHES!!!

[Khatmandude]

[quote name='Bunghole' post='643079' date='Mar 13 2008, 01:17 PM']Yeah, I agree, they've really seemed to "figure it out" and buy into Gillespie's system, with or without Patterson. Speaking of which, Perry Stevenson has stepped up HUGE in Patterson's absence.
And the caveat to my friend Ikota is, of course, [i]even when we're in rebuilding mode[/i], we're still in the tournament.

UC--[/quote]

A little different "rebuilding modes" going on here. Try losing 2 years of recruiting and having 3 different head coaches in a 3 year span, try having to pick up JUCO's who otherwise wouldn't have been recruited by any major schools just to fill your roster. The only "rebuilding" UK is doing is getting adjusted to a new coach.............yeah pretty similar situations there fickle Steve

[Khatmandude]

[quote name='steggyD' post='643063' date='Mar 13 2008, 12:04 PM']Have you seen them play the last few games? They could've beat Tenn without Patterson. It comes down to one play, the 3 hits and it's OT. Plus it was their first game without Patterson, took them a few minutes to figure things out. They have it down now, they can do it. And in case you forget, Tenn was #1 team in the nation at that time. If UK comes out without jitters, they can handle any other team out there on the court. The game can go either way.[/quote]

UK cannot handle any team out there......if the opposing team has a good big guy, UK will be at a disadvantage, severe disadvantage......unless you think Stevenson and Curry can handle say, an Ogilvey type. They've proven that they can't. Again, I like the enthusiasm and the confidence you have in your team but I am an impartial observer who has a good freind who makes me watch UK games with him so that's the opinion I've formed of them through that viewing.


[quote name='bengalrick' post='643094' date='Mar 13 2008, 01:46 PM']Who cares who we play or where we're seeded? As mentioned on here, our team is breaming with confidence, we have are game plan set in stone everyday, we have senior leadership to execute the plan, we have one of the best free free shooting teams in the country, and our freshman and sophemores are starting grow up... life is good in Lexington...

i hope everyone has the attitude of ikota, b/c then noone will see it coming... they will be laughing about gardner webb and san diego while we're laughing at the results

Go BIG BLUE BITCHES!!![/quote]

It's not my attitude, it's reality......UK's playing much better, like a different team but they're still not going to be able to advance to the sweet 16. If I was a UK fan, I'd be happy if you got to the second round. Don't make me come back to this thread when my words are proven to be correct.....because I will.

[bengalrick]

I am not worried about injures and big men, b/c this team is based on mental toughness and knowing that we can and will win each and every game...

[#22]

I was laying on my floor thinking about this today. BCG took the A&M Aggies to the Sweet 16 last year (and lost by 1 point to Memphis).
How much better of a team did he have last year?
Well, I decided to look at the Top 7 Players of each team (by minutes), and here is what I came up with (obviously unable to take things like defensive presence into mind):
[u]
GUARDS:[/u][b]
TAMU[/b]
Acie Law IV:34mpg. 18+ppg, 3.3 rpg, 5 apg, 3.6 topg, 1.1 steals, 2.4 personal fouls .500fg%; .778ft%; .4583pt%
Josh Carter (g/f): 29mpg. 11.8ppg, 4 rpg, 4apg, 1.1topg, .7 steals, 2.0 personal fouls .492fg%; .778ft%; .500 3pt%
Dominique Kirk: 30mpg. 7.2ppg, 3.3 rpg, 3apg, 1.1topg, .9 steals, 2.6 personal fouls .436 fg%; .690ft%; .390 3pt%
Donald Sloan: 17.8mpg. 5.2ppg, 1.9 rpg, 1.8apg. 1.2topg, .7 steals, 1.3 personal fouls .489fg%; .667ft%; .333 3pt%

[b]UK[/b]
Crawford and Bradley are averaging 16 and 17 ppg, respectively, and I think we actually have a better backcourt than last years TAMU team if Meeks comes back (unlikely).


I'll post more of this witless insight later on.

[bengalrick]

[quote name='#22' post='643167' date='Mar 13 2008, 04:47 PM']I was laying on my floor thinking about this today. BCG took the A&M Aggies to the Sweet 16 last year (and lost by 1 point to Memphis).
How much better of a team did he have last year?
Well, I decided to look at the Top 7 Players of each team (by minutes), and here is what I came up with (obviously unable to take things like defensive presence into mind):
[u]
GUARDS:[/u][b]
TAMU[/b]
Acie Law IV:34mpg. 18+ppg, 3.3 rpg, 5 apg, 3.6 topg, 1.1 steals, 2.4 personal fouls .500fg%; .778ft%; .4583pt%
Josh Carter (g/f): 29mpg. 11.8ppg, 4 rpg, 4apg, 1.1topg, .7 steals, 2.0 personal fouls .492fg%; .778ft%; .500 3pt%
Dominique Kirk: 30mpg. 7.2ppg, 3.3 rpg, 3apg, 1.1topg, .9 steals, 2.6 personal fouls .436 fg%; .690ft%; .390 3pt%
Donald Sloan: 17.8mpg. 5.2ppg, 1.9 rpg, 1.8apg. 1.2topg, .7 steals, 1.3 personal fouls .489fg%; .667ft%; .333 3pt%

[b]UK[/b]
Crawford and Bradley are averaging 16 and 17 ppg, respectively, and I think we actually have a better backcourt than last years TAMU team if Meeks comes back (unlikely).


I'll post more of this witless insight later on.[/quote]

damn... nice work 22... can't wait for the full break downs... who was their C? Did you notice the 8-8 conference record this year, without billy and with DeAndre Jordan?

after rereading my post from earlier ikota, i seem to be a little cocky (which is a personal dislike of mine)... sorry to come acrossed that way, and maybe it is the mentality of UK fans, but i truly think that we can pull it off this year because we have been in these situations all year and our team is built to do good in the tournament...

[|Bunghole|]

[quote name='IKOTA' post='643129' date='Mar 13 2008, 01:49 PM']A little different "rebuilding modes" going on here. Try losing 2 years of recruiting and having 3 different head coaches in a 3 year span, try having to pick up JUCO's who otherwise wouldn't have been recruited by any major schools just to fill your roster. The only "rebuilding" UK is doing is getting adjusted to a new coach.............yeah pretty similar situations there fickle Steve [/quote]
Now now, don't get salty just because even when you had your glory years of Bob Huggins' JUCO-stuffed rosters the best you could muster was one Final Four, a bunch of one and dones and one year of "We would have won it all if Kenyon hadn't gotten hurt!!!1111"

I'm just giving you grief pal...don't take it personally. I'm just excited that we are even getting into the tournament because UK was so dead in the water not so long ago, and pulling out a 12-4 SEC record after a sub .500 nonconference schedule is pretty damn amazing.