College Basketball

[Guest]

He did allow Anderson to shoot the technical foul shots near the end of the Elite Eight game against Utah.

Wait a minute, I do remember Anderson going in to shoot free throws only, but I couldn't tell you what game. But when they played Utah, it was in the finals the next year, the year Tubby won it. The year they lost to Arizona, they played Minnesota in the final four.

[Rhom]

I can see how you would be confused. The NCAA has had some sort of perverse desire to match up Utah and Kentucky with a marvelous job of bracketing ever since the early 90's.

1993: Kentucky was a one seed and ran over number 8 seed Utah on the way to a final four.

1996: Kentucky was the one seed and Utah the four. They met in the Sweet Sixteen.

1997: Kentucky was the one seed and Utah was a two seed. Utah lost to Kentucky in the Elite 8.

1998: Utah finally escaped Kentucky by being seeded as a three in a bracket opposite the 2 seed Kentucky... we all know how that ended.

1999: Utah was the 2 seed and Kentucky was a three... the two would have met in the Sweet Sixteen, but Utah lost to Miami (OH) to foil that little match up.

2000: Kentucky was the 5 seed and Utah the 8 in the same bracket, but did not meet.

2003: Kentucky was the 1 seed and beat 9 seed Utah by 20 in the second round. (This is known as the "Year that could have been" in Kentucky due to Keith Bogan's ankle sprain and an unreal night from Dwayne Wade in the Elite 8. Its also the best example ever of Tubby's Ball Line Defense actually working.)

2004: Kentucky was the 1 seed and Utah was the 11 in the same bracket; both lost early and never met.

2005: Kentucky was a 2 seed and beat 6 seed Utah in the Sweet Sixteen.

[Guest]

I can see how you would be confused. The NCAA has had some sort of perverse desire to match up Utah and Kentucky with a marvelous job of bracketing ever since the early 90's.

1993: Kentucky was a one seed and ran over number 8 seed Utah on the way to a final four.

1996: Kentucky was the one seed and Utah the four. They met in the Sweet Sixteen.

1997: Kentucky was the one seed and Utah was a two seed. Utah lost to Kentucky in the Elite 8.

1998: Utah finally escaped Kentucky by being seeded as a three in a bracket opposite the 2 seed Kentucky... we all know how that ended.

1999: Utah was the 2 seed and Kentucky was a three... the two would have met in the Sweet Sixteen, but Utah lost to Miami (OH) to foil that little match up.

2000: Kentucky was the 5 seed and Utah the 8 in the same bracket, but did not meet.

2003: Kentucky was the 1 seed and beat 9 seed Utah by 20 in the second round. (This is known as the "Year that could have been" in Kentucky due to Keith Bogan's ankle sprain and an unreal night from Dwayne Wade in the Elite 8. Its also the best example ever of Tubby's Ball Line Defense actually working.)

2004: Kentucky was the 1 seed and Utah was the 11 in the same bracket; both lost early and never met.

2005: Kentucky was a 2 seed and beat 6 seed Utah in the Sweet Sixteen.

OK, thanks for clearing that up. Damn, that crazy you've played them that often in this stretch of time.

[Lint]

So the ACC reigns triumphant once more in the ACC/Big Ten challenge. Though I was rooting hard for the conference, I did cheer against Duke. Unfortunately, Duke took Wisconsin to the woodshed. Either Wisconsin is over-ranked, or I underestimated how good the dookies would be this year. I'm inclined to believe the latter, and it looks like we're going to face some stiff competition from them this year.

I should go ahead and express my exasperation at dropping to number 2, despite not losing any games yet. For a minute there, I thought we were channeling the BCS. Still, I have to admit that we don't look like a number 1 team at this point. We played an especially ugly game against Ohio State tonight without Ty Lawson. I know a win is a win, but I would have preferred that we had beat them more handily considering that they're not that great of a team. I thought that Koufos would have given us a lot of trouble tonight, but he played rather poorly. I've only watched minutes of some Ohio State games, but Koufos always seemed to play pretty well. Tonight, he was terrible though. I believe he only made one shot the whole night. Diebler, on the other hand, killed us in the first half with plenty of threes, which worries me because that other school down the road has some pretty good shooters as well.

So looking ahead, we got UK on Saturday. I hear that you guys have a couple of guys injured - Meeks and Jasper? I guess having Lawson out negates the loss of one of your players but how about the other? Which player will UK miss the most?

On a side note, I find it funny how I've started to tune out Vitale. Personally, I don't dislike the guy, but he seems to have gotten so senile that it's embarrassing to listen to him rant. I can't count the amount of times that he got the names of players wrong tonight.

hear me roar, it's JJ Hickson at NC State.

[Rhom]

So looking ahead, we got UK on Saturday. I hear that you guys have a couple of guys injured - Meeks and Jasper? I guess having Lawson out negates the loss of one of your players but how about the other? Which player will UK miss the most?

Both of them would be major contributors. Jasper was starting point guard all last year as a freshman (even though he was more of a forward sized body). He had good control of Tubby's offense. Remains to be seen how he'll fit in with Gillispie. Meeks came on strong last year and looked to be UK's number one outside threat this year. He put up 30 some odd points in an exhibition game before he came down with a stress fracture in his groin. (Don't even want to contemplate that one...)

Basically, Kentucky is a very thin team. We have two seniors who should be phenomenal talents... but aren't. And we have one Junior who will be lucky if he plays 10 minutes total this year. Tubby always played his seniors and juniors more than others and it really shows this year. Other than those three players and the two that were injured, the rest of the team are sophomores who never played or the four freshmen. Out of those four freshmen, Patrick Patterson is the real deal at the power forward position (he's already logged three 20/10 games) and I look forward to seeing how he matches up with Psycho T. It will be a good challenge for a freshman.

If the seniors (Bradley and Crawford) play well... then we can give UNC a game. If they play like they did against Gardner Webb or Stony Brook... then UK is prepping for a blowout.

Ahh yes. Wade put up a triple double with 30 something points when he was playing for Marquette right? I remember watching the highlights from that game thinking "That guy is going to be a star when he makes league." You can just tell some players are going to be good by the way they play (see Brandon Roy not Adam Morrison). I don't know what it is, the hustle, the tenacity.. just something that makes them look like NBA material.

Yeah, that game was the coming out party for Wade. He was amazing that night and there was nothing we could do to stop him. That's the great thing about the NCAA tournament, sometimes a great player goes on one of those unstoppable streaks and really leaves a lasting impression.

[WarGalley]

2003: Kentucky was the 1 seed and beat 9 seed Utah by 20 in the second round. (This is known as the "Year that could have been" in Kentucky due to Keith Bogan's ankle sprain and an unreal night from Dwayne Wade in the Elite 8. Its also the best example ever of Tubby's Ball Line Defense actually working.)

Ahh yes. Wade put up a triple double with 30 something points when he was playing for Marquette right? I remember watching the highlights from that game thinking "That guy is going to be a star when he makes league." You can just tell some players are going to be good by the way they play (see Brandon Roy not Adam Morrison). I don't know what it is, the hustle, the tenacity.. just something that makes them look like NBA material.

[Guest]

I look forward to seeing how he matches up with Psycho T. It will be a good challenge for a freshman.

Who is Psycho T?

Rhom, I feel, since we are some of the only big college hoops people on the board, that I should tell you, that UK used to be my favorite team. It started in 92/93 with the Mashburn/Ford team. Tony

Delk is one of my favorite players. The '96 team is to this day one of the most ridiculously loaded teams I've ever seen.

I loved Tubby's team that one the first one in '98, but I have hated them ever since Tubby took over. Somehow, they just had a different type of player that I couldn't get into. Hayes, Fitch, Kamara, Bogans, Saul Smith, Bradley, I just never liked any of these guys.

Under Pitino, I loved

Mashburn

Delk

Ford

McCarty

Anderson

Epps

Mercer

Shepard

Padgett

etc...

I always knew there was something wrong with Antoine Walker though...

[RedEyedGhost]

Who is Psycho T?

Tyler Hansbrough ("psycho" b/c of his crazy facial expressions).

Good game between Oregon and K-State. K-State sucks at FTs, and it's amazing how human Beasley looks when playing against a good team.

[Lint]

Both of them would be major contributors. Jasper was starting point guard all last year as a freshman (even though he was more of a forward sized body). He had good control of Tubby's offense. Remains to be seen how he'll fit in with Gillispie. Meeks came on strong last year and looked to be UK's number one outside threat this year. He put up 30 some odd points in an exhibition game before he came down with a stress fracture in his groin. (Don't even want to contemplate that one...)

Basically, Kentucky is a very thin team. We have two seniors who should be phenomenal talents... but aren't. And we have one Junior who will be lucky if he plays 10 minutes total this year. Tubby always played his seniors and juniors more than others and it really shows this year. Other than those three players and the two that were injured, the rest of the team are sophomores who never played or the four freshmen. Out of those four freshmen, Patrick Patterson is the real deal at the power forward position (he's already logged three 20/10 games) and I look forward to seeing how he matches up with Psycho T. It will be a good challenge for a freshman.

If the seniors (Bradley and Crawford) play well... then we can give UNC a game. If they play like they did against Gardner Webb or Stony Brook... then UK is prepping for a blowout.

Looks like Ty Lawson will be playing against UK this Saturday. I think we should have an interesting game on our hands, I'm curious to see what Gillispie's offense looks like. Tubby seems like a classy guy and all, but I have to admit that last year's game was somewhat of a snoozefest. So if your point guard is out, who's starting in his place?

Your injuries are unfortunate, I would rather face a healthy team any day. That way, who ever wins or loses won't have any excuses (though some fans will find some anyway). I've browsed your rivals board, and a lot of people seem to echo the same sentiments about your upperclassman. I'm guessing that there are probably a lot of "Tubby can't recruit" complaints floating around huh?

I've almost forgotten about Patterson. I recall there being a good amount of buzz around him during one of the off-seasons. Did the dookies recruit him? If so, I offer my late congratulations on stealing him away from K.

Anyway, we've definitely struggled in our last couple of games. If you guys can come out on fire and use that momentum to carry you (amongst other things), then I think we can get a fairly good game on Saturday. I'm sure that Rupp will be rockin' from the very start, so I hope our boys can weather the hostile environment and just do their thing. (Will Ashley be there for this game? I think I recall seeing some clips of her a couple of years ago leading a cheer at halftime when we played you guys)

So here's to a good one this weekend.

hear me roar, we call him Pyscho T because of his tenacity, his motor, persistence and determination. He may not be as offensively skilled as some other guys out there, but we know that there's no doubting his heart or effort. He lays it out there every game, hence the nickname Psycho T.

REG, I find it funny that you've interpreted his name as such because of his facial expressions. Have you seen the Scheyer thread on the Maryland board? Talk about crazy facial expressions.

[RedEyedGhost]

hear me roar, we call him Pyscho T because of his tenacity, his motor, persistence and determination. He may not be as offensively skilled as some other guys out there, but we know that there's no doubting his heart or effort. He lays it out there every game, hence the nickname Psycho T.

REG, I find it funny that you've interpreted his name as such because of his facial expressions. Have you seen the Scheyer thread on the Maryland board? Talk about crazy facial expressions.

When he gets that twinkle in his eye after being fouled (of course he probably walked twice before he was fouled j/k), he really looks like he could kill somebody - he does his little pump-up scream and just looks plain psychotic. Tenacity, motor, persistence, and determination =/= psycho. Crazy look in his eye = psycho.

Did anybody watch the end of the Oregon/KSU game? Freaking hilarious. KSU had a chance to tie it in OT, but they drove in for a layup and then he kicked it out when he realized there wasn't any time left, and they didn't have enough to to shoot the three. Great coaching, Frank!

ETA: and to add, one of the strangest things in CBB this year ever. Apparently Bill Walker urinated on himself at the end of regulation, and had to towel off. Info initially came from a KSU board - so no KU bias here. Here's a link to the moment with some graphics added (I guess by another KU fan) - link

:sick:

[Rhom]

Wife and I were moving all weekend, so I didn't actually get to see much of the game. From the snippet I saw on TV (I had the TV set up... but would she let me sit down for 2 hours to watch??? noooooooo) and heard on the radio, the UK/UNC turned out about how I expected. Patrick Patterson was the only good thing we had going. When Bradley/Crawford were playing well (i.e. the first half) we hung with much more talented Tarheels. The team overall was playing harder than they did under Tubby. I'm in for a long year.

Hear Me Roar... it would be tough not to love those Kentucky teams of the early-mid 90's. Pitino had them playing incredibly tough and had a level of talent that you will never see equaled again. Ordinarily, I can't stand listening to Dick Vitale's self-promoting rants, but I remember him talking about the 96 team and saying that the second 5 could be ranked in the top 25 of the country, and I believe him whole-heartedly. Pitino's style of ball coupled with talent that stayed for four years and played hard made for a brand of basketball that could be enjoyed by even the casual fans of the game. He has said in numerous interviews in the last few years that in hindsight he obviously never should have left Kentucky.

Back on the subject of general college ball... a couple weeks ago I heard Rick Barnes say that he had a better team in Texas this year than last. Its amazing that you can lose one of the best freshmen to ever play the game and come out better in the end. From all the accounts I've read, Texas looked like the real deal against UCLA. I'll enjoy watching them as they move forward.

[chionophile]

So the ACC reigns triumphant once more in the ACC/Big Ten challenge. Though I was rooting hard for the conference, I did cheer against Duke. Unfortunately, Duke took Wisconsin to the woodshed. Either Wisconsin is over-ranked, or I underestimated how good the dookies would be this year. I'm inclined to believe the latter, and it looks like we're going to face some stiff competition from them this year.

I think that Duke is just that good at home. The Badgers are a good team and have plenty of room to grow still. A bad, early loss to a highly ranked team can be a great learning experience. I think we'll bounce back just fine and lay a beating on Wofford tonight and Marquette on Saturday. Remember Ohio State got destroyed by Florida early in the season last year and they did pretty well. Definitely isn't a season ender for us.

[aeu]

Back on the subject of general college ball... a couple weeks ago I heard Rick Barnes say that he had a better team in Texas this year than last. Its amazing that you can lose one of the best freshmen to ever play the game and come out better in the end. From all the accounts I've read, Texas looked like the real deal against UCLA. I'll enjoy watching them as they move forward.

Texas looked good, but the real story is UCLA looked horrible on set offense. Horrible! Collison doesn't work with Love. It's hard to believe, but we played much better with Mata in there instead of Love.

I wanna believe this is because Collison had no chance to play with this team and still plays like last year when they never ever looked inside. Hopefully they will mesh better as time goes on. They have to, because the way they played yesterday (especially the first half) was a disgrace. If I were Love, I would have punched somebody in the face.

[Rhom]

Shit, meet fan.

Edit 1: Legion's mom is on record as having said that she has the gift of religious prophecy. She also is on record saying that she called her son every night to go over bible verses. Lastly (and this is the one I love) she is on record as having said that she sprinkles holy oil in the shoes of her son and his roommate (Patrick Patterson) every night. Members of the media in Kentucky have said that she was constantly yelling at the coaches to play her son during the UNC game on Saturday. I think that pretty much says it all.

I hate to see kids make poor choices like this. He commits to Michigan then backs out... he comes to Kentucky then backs out... I'm afraid that at some point in life, this kid will have to learn the hard way that you don't always get second chances.

Edit 2: In the category of news that I hate to see... but will chalk it up as good news on the court for Kentucky, Eric Gordon hurt himself last night and may not play on Saturday.

[The Wedge]

Tonight's the night we see how legitimate my Braves are as they take on Michigan State. Not getting my hopes up, but hoping for the best. Glad the game's at Carver Arena. It'll be packed to the rafters and hopefully the folks in Peoria will get a good show.

C'mon Bradley!

Edit the day after... Dang! Close game the whole way, but the Spartans hit their free throws down the stretch to win 66-61. The biggest lead of the game was 9 points, so it was back an forth all night. Dang! Gotta hold a small lead and beat the big boys to be considered legit and pump up the RPI, though. On to conference play after finals...

[Rhom]

I dunno if I ever want Kentucky to recruit another kid from Michigan. First Joe Crawford... now Alex Legion wants to come back. More waffling here than at Billy Donovan's house! If the kid does come back, I hope he gets his head in the game and plays like a top 50 recruit. He's got a lot of work to do.

Anyways, so UNC blasted Penn and Tennessee slipped past Chattanooga (oddly enough... their mascot is not a Choo Choo) last night. I must say, I'm surprised at just how far UCLA slipped in the rankings. 1st to 8th seems a bit drastic, but then again it is early in the year yet.

[The Wedge]

Chattanooga (oddly enough... their mascot is not a Choo Choo)

The Moccasins, or Mocs for short.

That's a GREAT nickname/mascot, even if it has all the un-PC Native American context going on with it.

[Guest]

Here's a question. If you game me a team of only freshman, so maybe I'd have Beasley, Singler, Love, Rose, Gordon, Mayo, Hickson, Flynn, Green, Harden, Calethes...or something like that and I gave you the rest of college hoops to choose anyone, which team would win?

[Rhom]

The obvious answer is "The rest of college hoops" but honestly... other than Tyler Hansborough, I'm not sure I can name any other upperclassmen I'd choose over them.

Damn that NBA draft.

[Rhom]

I found this interesting...

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3144989

Aparently Lute is taking the entire season off to deal with an undisclosed family matter. Very intriguing considering he only missed 6 games when his wife died a few years back...