UK 61 UA 51

It was another ugly half. Meeks was having to fight and claw for everything, Patterson was pretty much no where to be found, and other Cats were again being put in a position to step up. And they were not. The Alabama game plan was simple. Try to restrict Patterson’s touches, assign a guy to Meeks full time, and don’t worry much about anyone else. We are used to seeing people attempt to limit Patterson’s touches. What we haven’t been used to is seeing people actually do it until the last few games. We are also not used to seeing Patterson out worked on the boards as he has at times, and it happened again in the first half. Giving up offensive rebounds, turning the ball over and poor execution by anyone other than Meeks pretty much tells the tale of the first half.

Then halftime came. And this half time was nothing close to ordinary. The half ran longer than normal, then it was announced that a Cat had collapsed during the half. Turns out, it was Harris. Also, no coach at the start of the half and the first thought was that there wouldn’t be a coach sighting in the second half. But, as things usually do work themselves out, coach did reappear. That pretty much told me that Harris was doing OK. His status was, and at the moment is, still a mystery but at least the young man is home safe and sound. And in times like these, basketball is nothing compared to the health of a player.

Coach had hinted that he may change his substitution pattern around. I understood why he had not before and I understand why he thinks it might be time to now. Harris and Porter do give you everything they have but they are limited in what they can offer. And Porter didn’t have a bad game. But with all the focus on Meeks and Patterson, its very easy for me to link the forced play trying to get them shots directly with many of the turnovers. The problem to date has been that guys like Miller and Liggins are also limited but in different ways and for different reasons. And their limitations to date have far outweighed Porter and Harris. But as that gap closes, UK needs to reach a point where they rely more on Liggins and Miller, because UK will need some of the added skills they can offer if they are not hurting UK in other areas as much. And yesterday, in the second half, we saw the result of this change in thought by coach. Miller, out of necessity due to Harris, but also Liggins out of necessity simply because UK needs to be able to make plays by guys other that Patterson and Meeks. Consider it done. Meeks did get his. He always does. Miller didn’t do anything flashy, but he did provide solid D, some great passing and solid play that helped get UK into an open court game. Liggins did provide some needed scoring and overall good D. The major contribution came from Stevenson who, in my opinion had a monster second half and was the key to the game.

I don’t know what is going on with Patterson. I know he has a sore finger, but six points, five boards, two turnovers ZERO assists and five PFs is NOT a Patterson game even if he didn’t have a hand. This is a guy that rarely got in foul trouble last year but it is the case this year. I know he’s the focus of defenses, and I know the team is going to Meeks as much as possible, but he has to keep his head in the game. And I think the others like Porter, Harris (if possible), Miller and Liggins need to make teams pay for showing so much attention to Patterson. They get open shots, and this team will not rise to the next level until those guys knock down those shots.

But, UK continues to plow forward. No one thought it would be as easy as the first two games and it certainly has not. And in the big picture, UK will enter the top 25 on Monday, has total command of the SEC. It’s on to Ole Miss. Go Cat!

UK 73 UA 64

1:41 That is a time to remember. That is the time left on the clock in the first half when the one and only moving pick call was made on UA. And that simply amazes me. I hardly ever complain about how a game is called, but the moving picks from UA were so blatant and across the board that I am floored three grown men standing on the floor couldn’t see it. They weren’t the lean in kind. They weren’t the get there late and not be set up kind. They were the wait till the offensive player who is using the scree goes by then play offensive lineman by continuing to move your feet to stay in front of a guy type. Some coaches teach it I guess because UA performed it to perfection and only got dinged once for it. Alrighty, I spoke my piece on it, I am done..

As for UK, the bodies showed up but they left their heads somewhere else. It was across the board, aside for maybe Stevenson. Porter, Meeks, Harris and Patterson were equally inept, to go along with the typical ineptness of Liggins. I actually liked Miller in this game, but his D just isn’t where it needs to be. Of course I am sure the boards will be filled with Porter hate, and probably some Harris hate as all those who said neither would ever amount to much and wish to be “right” get to blow their horns. I think there should be a rule that if you can’t acknowledge when a kid does good things, then you can’t bang on them when they screw up, so people should be glad I’m not the one making up the rules. BUT, I have been in Porter and Harris’ corner all along (I’m actually in every cat’s corner) so I get to bust them good. It starts with Porter, who had his head firmly planted up somewhere else. One of his intangibles of late has been to supply the steadying force on the floor. That went way out the window last night. Harris followed suit and looked like it was the first time he’s ever stepped on a college floor. Patterson and Meeks were just as bad, but when your role is to score, people tend to give you a break. Not me. Those two deserve to run the stairs until they fall down. If you wish to be the corner stones of this team, you must take more than your share when you don’t bring it like you should. People worried the Georgia game could have been a trap game. turns out, it was UA.

Turnovers, turnovers turnovers. They continue to plague this team. And the UA game showed the worst kind which are the fumble, bumble not trying to do the right thing kind. Its one thing to make a bad pass when you are trying to run a set. Stuff happens. But its quite another thing to just drop the ball in traffic, throw it somewhere no one expects you to throw it, or dribble off your own leg. This team can be very good, but they have got to learn how to value the ball. And I am not giving UA credit for those turnovers. It was all on the Cats.

So what did go right? Stevenson. Easily my player of the game. Yeah, Meeks got 31 and Patterson got 21 and 18. But Stevenson was the only one that I thought was actually into the game. Stevenson had some turnovers as well, but three of them should not have been called. Most probably did not even notice his game. He had to guard both at the basket and away from the basket. He had to usually guard a smaller guy, which typically means a quicker guy. Not when you are talking Stevenson. That could be a major match up problem for other teams. But it becomes a match up problem in favor of UK when Stevenson is on the floor because UK makes you pay by taking full advantage of Stevenson’s length. That, to me, was the difference in UK being 4-0 or being 3-1 in the SEC.

Liggins. If Porter played so poorly, and he certainly did, why did Liggins not get more time? Because he played much worse. His problems continue on the defensive end, and they start with those picks. Not just in this game, but in every game save three. Players usually note a pick and either fight high or low, depended on what D is called. Liggins is like a fly to fly paper when it comes to screens. He is tractor beamed right into the middle of the screen and sticks to it like glue, leaving the other defender to have to decide at the time make a switch that is only supposed to happen for a split second. Instead, Liggins is STILL stuck to the screen. That could very well be the one and only reason he doesn’t get more time. That and he seems to think you aren’t doing anything if you aren’t jacking up shots even if they are not in the flow and you shouldn’t be taking them. He’s staying in front better now, but he has got to figure out how to handle screens properly. And he has got to understand that his primary job should be to make others better on the floor. And stop jacking up 17 % shots.

All in all, I guess this is one more sign that this team is, in fact, getting better. In the recent past, the margin for error was so slim that to play as they did last night would have been a double digit loss to a lesser team than UA. As it is, it was a nine point W and the game wasn’t really in doubt coming down the stretch. And I never really felt like the game was ever in doubt in the first place. But the Cats will not be able to get away with this type of an effort come Saturday.

UK 68 UGA 45

So what does UK do if it goes down to UGA, UGA wants an ugly game and UK obliges? You beat the snot out of them at their own game. THAT is a sign a team is getting really good. Its one thing to have a game go as you like and pound someone. Its quite another when you can beat them at your game AND at theirs. Meeks returned to earth, Patterson returned to being Patterson and UK beat up on Georgia from start to finish. There is plenty not to like about this game. UK usually doesn’t take too many bad shots but they did in this game. UK hasn’t turned the ball over as much of late but turned it over and over and over in this one. Why? I think there is a direct correlation between Coaches pre-game comments about returning to Patterson as the focus and many of the turnovers. Not all but a good portion. When UK wants to go to Patterson, they do it on one block or the other. You know it, I know it, the whole world knows it and especially the opposing coaches know it. It’s pretty easy to draw up a D when you know right where the other guy wants to go. Many of those turnovers were on entries when it simply isn’t there. Patterson is a hos, but he isn’t big enough to entry to with two guys within range every time down the floor and I think its a mistake to keep trying. The good news is UK did adjust by going to other places on the floor. I liked the pick and role game Porter and Stevenson played. I liked getting Patterson looks at the elbow. He needs to knock those down. Doing things like this pro actively will help keep turnovers down and get Patterson higher quality looks.

There is a question that begs for an answer. If UK didn’t play all that hot in some key areas, then how did they blow the doors off of this one? Lets start with a bucket full of blocks. Meeks is something, Patterson is, well, Patterson, but the thing that probably causes opposing coaches more loss of sleep than anything is UK’s D. And that is across the board. It’s quite true that most teams do not get much inside on the Cats. Thanks to Stevenson and Patterson for that. But teams also don’t get much any where else either on most nights. The blocks were a team effort and came from many places on the floor and from seven different Cats. But Georgia didn’t get many open looks anywhere. UK also simply out worked Georgia. When there was a ball on the floor a cat was scratching and clawing for it. UGA didn’t seem to like the fact that the Cats wanted it more, but that is why they are UGA.

This was also a great game from a team aspect. And when I say team, I mean guys that do not get on the floor much. There was a Carter sighting, and you had to do a double take to see if it was the same guy. He actually looked great out there, aside from the play where he passed out instead of going up and dunking the ball. His block was as decisive as the one on Liggins in the open practice, and his rebounding was superb. I actually thought all the Cats contributed. Harrelson looked good and his block made me do a double take as well. Liggins was solid, Galloway still has the best vision on the team, Stewart blundered in the first half but came back to provide some solid relief. I think Miller looks more and more comfy every time out. Here is a valid list of Cats that could make good cases for more PT. The problem for them: There are five guys ahead of them that have even better cases. What a great problem to have.

UK didn’t look so hot going to its bread and butter. It’s gonna happen. Its real nice to have an off night and still be able to come out on top in a laugher..

UK 90 UT 72

UK beat the snot out of UT in their own house. OK, whatever, now lets get to the real story..

Jodie Meeks came to UK as a highly recruited, yet under the radar type of guy. He’s the kind of guy that UK fans have always known about, but no one outside of the big blue nation has given him much of a thought. That all changed in this year’s addition of UT hosting UK. You would think it would have happened before now. Meeks has led UK in scoring all year. He is a top five scorer in the country. But such is UK these days. The devil must do something totally off the chart to get his due. Consider it done. UK and Meeks, on a national stage, on the media’s SEC princess of the year’s home floor, in front of a total of 120 teeth (the announcers count too), even with that ugly orange blazer right there on the sidelines, took UT apart bit by but and piece by piece. And in the end, UT was nothing more than another junk car in the front yard of the trailer park.

So how did this happen? First, and foremost, Meeks accomplishments were a total team effort. From top to bottom, every Cat that hit the floor knew exactly who to guard close, who to give room to, who to double and who wanted to drive. The UK D was a thing of utter beauty. UT is a master of not allowing teams to get the ball in bounds. UK knew this and was ready for it most of the time. UK did a really great job of sticking to its sets until it got the shot UK (Meeks) wanted. Meeks has his team mates and coaching staff to thank. And we, the fans, have Meeks to thank. And when the talking heads speak of talent, UT is the team that is considered to have it. But I saw nothing that suggests UT has anything on UK in any area, including talent. UK’s may not have been recruited, but it was developed and it don’t matter which way get there.

Big Dan Issle’s single game scoring record has seemed untouchable for 38 years. Along the way UK has had many great scorers to come and go. Miller, Mercer, Givens and Chapman cover some of the greats from era’s gone by. But none have come close to doing what Meeks has done. And we all know that Meeks is not a one hit wonder. He’s flirted with these records more than once this year. But it was much more than just scoring. Anyone that has read my drivel knows how I feel about perfect games. It isn’t IF a player will make a mistake, its a matter of when and at what cost. Meeks didn’t play a perfect game this time either. But this is as close to perfect as anyone will ever see. He did so much more than score. He played D like a mad man, he had 8 rebounds, he had four assists, he had a steal, he helped break the press and he hit his free throws. He also had a turnover. Whatever… This was much more than an all time scoring effort. This was a total and complete game by a kid no one outside of Kentucky has thought about. And the result of his complete game will have far reaching implications on this season. UK is now noticed. I don’t know how you can have two of the best players in the country and not be noticed, but that just changed. UK will probably go from getting zero votes in the polls to being a unanimous top 25 pick, barring a let down this weekend. UK will go from being an after thought to being the odds on favorite to win the SEC East, and most likely the over all SEC pick. And I think all of these things are well deserved and long over due. Let’s face it, who else has Jodie?

Week 2 SEC Basketball Rankings

1. Tennessee: Finishing strong gets Tennessee to the top. Games against Kentucky and South Carolina this week could cement their top ranking.

2. Kentucky: Cats held on to beat Vandy and get to rise one. They have a chance to move up with wins over Tennessee and Georgia this week.

3. Arkansas: Beat Oklahoma and Texas last week and loose to Miss St at home. Hard to figure out how good this team is.

4. Florida: Florida is floating right now. Still waiting to see if they can beat a good SEC team.

5. South Carolina: A 12 point win over Auburn helped to show that SC is for real.

6. Mississippi St: A win at Arkansas shows that Miss St is playing good enough to be ranked this high.

7. Alabama: Win over LSU has Alabama ranked above LSU.

8. Vanderbilt: I’m not sure that Vandy should be ranked this low.

9. LSU: Lots of easy wins except against decent teams has LSU dropping.

10. Georgia: Georgia showed a little spunk in their two loosses and move up two spots this week.

11. Mississippi: Not much of a difference between 11 and 12.

12. Auburn: A 12 point loss to South Carolina lands them in the cellar this week.

UK 70 Vandy 60

Did anyone wonder what would happen if UK hosted Vandy, Ogilvy had to sit out with a bum heal, and 2 Pat would pretty much take the day off? I didn’t. But if you did you now know the outcome. And to UK’s credit, it had enough to step up, make adjustments, and get the win. To be honest, UK still had plenty to bust the game open. It just didn’t have enough to sustain it. Or maybe, this is part of the learning process for these Cats. Lets face it, these guys aren’t used to having big leads on good teams.

To be honest, Meeks didn’t have a real good day but the hustle on offense was there. The D end? I thought he really stunk it up. Vandy did a lot of moving picks. UK (ie: Meeks) did a horrible job of staying close to his man as they moved and the picks came so late that it didn’t even matter. And when I say close, I mean he usually trailed his guy by four or five steps. Totally unacceptable..

But on to the good news. No, on to the absolute greatest of news, and it can be summed up in one word. Liggins. He was the difference maker. Not in the whole game, mind you, but in the second half. It reminded me of the year UK woke up at the half during Vandy and played an unrelenting finish up to NCAA tournament time. The spearhead then was Hawkins and the spear head this time was Liggins. In this game, we got to see what a difference Liggins can make when he plays stunning D, within the team concept, and looks to make others better. In the process of making others looked better, HE looked like an All Freshman candidate. The kicker? He did it scoring all of one point. The 20 point lead came as a direct result of his second half play. I also thought Miller looked much better and his rebounds were key. With both Patterson and Stevenson no where to be found on the boards, the others, including Miller did just enough to almost even out the rebounding battle. But if Liggins can give 20 quality minutes, UK would take one of the questions going in to the year and place a huge SOLVED stamp on it. I can certainly see Porter starting, Liggins in middle relief, and Porter closing as a huge weapon going forward if Liggins did, in fact, figure it out in the second half of Vandy.

I was worried about Vandy. UK hangs its hat on playing smart and so does Vandy. Sometimes these type games come down to who plays the smartest. So even when I heard Ogilvy would be out I was worried. And the way UK left guys open for 3s early was exactly what I was worried about. But UK adjusted and I thought the D, minus Meeks, was very good after the adjustments.

Now its on to the ugliest team in the league (country?). Their colors are ugly, their players are ugly, their house is an ugly Rupp knock off, their coach is butt ugly and their cheerleaders are ugly. Most importantly, their play is ugly. It’s sad when the best looking thing about your program is your hound dog mascot. It’s really really sad. Anyway, it’s time for Patterson to clock back in and go to work simply because UK is simply much prettier.

SEC Basketball Rankings

The SEC is about to get underway so here is the first of my weekly SEC rankings.

1. Arkansas: Not much of a schedule but they beat a real good Oklahoma team so they get the #1 this week.

2. Tennessee: To many losses to good teams considering how high they were ranked to be #1 this week.

3. Kentucky: A much better team than the 12-4 SEC team last year.

4. LSU: 12-1 but a loss to Texas A&M the only good team they played in the pre SEC games. This team has the potential to rise quickly in SEC play.

5. Florida: Florida could go either way after this weeks games.

6. Alabama: Losses to Texas A&M, Oregon and Mercer are keeping Bama down.

7. South Carolina: A win over Baylor has South Carolina ranked this high.

8. Vanderbilt: I’m not sure that Vandy should be ranked this high.

9. Mississippi St: Wins in the last two games over Houston and Western Kentucky make me think Miss St is gelling.

10. Auburn: A loss to 7-7 Mercer and a 10-4 record so far gets Auburn a #10 ranking.

11. Mississippi: Losses to every good team they have played so far have Mississippi near the bottom of the list.

12. Georgia: With games against Georgia Tech and Tennessee this week its going to be real hard to climb out of the cellar for Georgia.

UK 71 UL 74

In the end, it came down to one shot. UL was in the position to take the shot, and Sosa was able to hit the shot. That was probably the only thing that separates this UK team from this UL team at this point in the season.

Along the way, UK had many chances to either prove they were better or show they were not. And through the game, UK did its best at to prove both and Meeks is the finest of examples. His start to the game was nothing short of horrid. He was pressing too much and you could tell his mind was racing 90 miles a minute. He has GOT to find a way to calm himself down in these bigger games. UK just isn’t the type of team that can recover from a hole of the likes that Meeks put UK in at the start. To UK and Meeks credit, they did fight, scratch and claw to within 3 at the half, only to allow UL to punch them in the mouth at the start of the second half. Again, to their credit, UK fought and clawed to a draw at the 2-3 second mark.

So what did we learn from this game? First, this team will not give up. Next, Porter really is proving to be the leader of this team. He handled the pressure with ease on his way to a zero turn over day while also adding 8 points. You would like to see his assist total up more, but you could also easily credit UL for taking away the assist areas and making UK’s scorers get theirs on their own. The one mistake Porter made on the day was by far the biggest. You simply do not give a guy with the ball room when the clock is under five seconds. You just do not do it. We learned that UK’s frosh are still not quite ready for prime time. Liggins continues to remind me of jet the reindeer in Santa Claus II. Miller continues to think too much. Harrelson fell down big time in this game and Stewart continued to improve in very limited action. Galloway might be the biggest mystery, but the answer to why he only saw four minutes may be at the defensive end. While it was great getting major minutes from Harris again, he certainly didn’t tear it up on either end himself. As for offense, it looks like Patterson and Meeks will be carrying this team just like Bradley and Crawford carried UK last year down the stretch. And I think that will be enough if UK can shore up its defense, which I think still has the most room for improvement.

Now, it’s on to the most important part of the season. Every game now has season defining implications and UK will need to bring it every game. And I think UK is ready. Last year at this time, I didn’t think they were even close to ready. So with that said, I think this team is light years ahead of where they were at this time last year. IF they can improve as much as they did from this point forward last year, things could be getting in the real special area very soon.

Utah could be the NC

Unbeaten Utah’s still has a chance for a piece of the national title thru The Associated Press poll. The AP, not part of the BCS, awards its own national champion. Granted its a real slim chance.

Unlike unbeaten Hawai’i last year Utah beat a big boy in Alabama to finish the season 13-0. They beat Alabama at their own game with a dominating defense, intercepting John Parker Wilson twice and sacking him eight times.

Utah became the first school with two undefeated seasons in the BCS era (since 1998), extending its current bowl winning streak to an FBS-best eight games.

Got to give the Sugar Bowl credit for picking a non BCS team for the second year in a row and this year they got it right.

I also have to wonder if Nick Saban is thinking that maybe the MWC is a real BCS conference about now.