Changes to tradition!

Not playing IU and UNC was a bombshell to many and ruffled some feathers, but not me. A week has passed and it seems most have accepted the fact and life has gone on. We will have a new rival in Missouri. I may be wrong, but I see that game as a good rival perhaps better than any we currently have in basketball. They aren’t going anywhere either so that will be a yearly home and home game and it will be a good one.

I look forward to playing games in other areas for recruiting purposes. Places like Chicago, NYC, LA, Vegas, Phoenix and Dallas to name a few.

I would also like for us to drop UL and pick up another school that has better recruiting implications for us as well. Perhaps I am in the minority of that one, but that is how I feel.

Another topic today in the Herald Leader was transfers by coaches and players. I sometimes like Mark Story and sometimes I don’t, but today I like him.

I came away with an agreement that players should have to sit out a year to remove the yearly shuffle that would surely occur if players could play immediately for a new school. I do agree that players should be allowed to transfer to any school of their choice without restraint by their former school.

Schools spend a lot of money recruiting players and they invest a lot of time and effort to develop those players so there needs to be a little hold back with transfers, but they should have free reign to go wherever they desire.

Players are immature and make rash decision where they want to attend. Many athletes choose a school because they are a fan of the school rather than what will be the best choice for them. Many times they will choose a school because of past tradition which is a good indicator of the schools commitment to their sport, but they don’t really delve into the coach as much. Ah, the coach, yes when they get to campus they find the coach lied to them or they find he really can’t develop players very well.

Tubby comes to mind in that regard (Mark mentioned him). Great guy, talked a good game, gave constant accolades to players in post game interviews, etc., but player development not so much.

I just wonder where Randolph Morris would be playing today if Cal had been given the opportunity to coach him. I bet he wouldn’t be in China! Imagine Rondo playing for Cal, wow!

The coach then is really the best reason for a player to pick a school rather than the school itself. When an athlete has a school with tradition and a great teacher-motivator like Cal and UK to pick from it is no wonder success is a given. Also, no wonder Cal was so excited to come to UK. He knew what he could do and with the facilities, tradition and fan base at UK he knew success was imminent.

After that it is up to the player to do his part. He has to be able to take criticism along with the good. He has to be able to withstand or grow into the onslaught of expectations by all including the fans. If they can’t perform on stage then a transfer is in their best interest and also the schools best interest.

Coaches leaving a school for another is another thing, though, because it is their living at stake. However, the school invests time and money to recruit them. The school also invests resources, and institutional integrity with their hire. That coach owes the university something for their faith in them. A coach shouldn’t be just allowed to walk away leaving the school holding the bag for all that whether he was good for the school or not. Perhaps there should be an insurance instrument for all parties concerned when it comes to coaches and schools. Donnie Tyndall left Morehead State to coach another school. You couldn’t blame Donnie, but Morehead had just stepped up a notch or two in the eyes of recruits and boom he leaves for greener pastures so what about Morehead State and their fortunes!?

The move gave Shawn Woods a chance to move up, but now Mississippi Valley State will definitely be starting over. I don’t know the answer, but coaches moving have more to to with disruption than a single player transfer. Therefore, I feel something needs to be done in that regard.

Closer to home for us is most of us were happy to see Cal come to UK, but perhaps we can now better understand the acrimony at Memphis because Cal left them.

One day UK and the BBN will be facing a new hire again!  As for me, I started dreading the day Cal would leave the day he was hired.  I did, really, just like the day coach Hall retired, because I knew even though many didn’t like him he would be very, very difficult to replace.  I was right because it gave us Sutton and shame until Rick came along.  Rick left us abruptly and Tubby took over his recruits giving us a championship and then down we go.

I remember Rick Stansburg saying something like ‘we don’t fear KY anymore’.  That said a lot and then we get BCG.   Well now we have Cal and we are on top of the world.  Yes, on top of the world, but one day Cal will be gone and I dread it!

What’s For An Encore?

Number 8 is hanging in the rafters, some of the team is already signing autographs to earn some cash, Cal has been out recruiting, rumors have him going to the Knicks, recruits are getting serious, two of them have the same signing dates for starters to keep us going for a little while.  Whew does it ever end at UK?  Well, uh…NO!!!  Yes, isn’t even an alternative at UK!

What a championship game it was.  Actually what a tournament it was.  The Cat’s were prohibitive favorites from the get-go of the season, well almost!  UNC had some backers until the bitter end.  Kenny Smith said right up to the game they lost that UNC had the best front line in college basketball.  Well, Kenny was wrong, UK did, period, end of story!  They proved it head to head early in the season while UK’s young guys should have faltered, but they didn’t.

Give me Jones, MKG and Davis any day over those guys, but enough of that.  I want to talk about Cal a little bit.  I listened to a talk show on Sirius the next day after the championship game that had Bruce Pearl as one of the commentators.  Bruce was good, but some of the callers showed their jealousy toward Cal which is typical, but one of them was never challenged.

He is now:  The guy started his condescending speech by trying to talk down Cal’s recruiting of all things and his coaching ability as well.  He tried to say that Cal won with BCG’s recruits and that now Cal would HAVE to get the #1 recruit every year to be successful.   Hello fella, where ya been bubbuh?  I bet you have been under a rock in Bloomington (I know you were an Indiana fan) and just saw the light of day.

Yeah he did have some BCG recruits on the team each year.   First of all Patrick Patterson had been recruited heavily by Tubby Smith for years so BCG did have some work to do to keep him, but he was successful although he was a Tubby recruit.  Billy Clyde also recruited Liggins, Orton and Harrellson with Orton never having played for Billy Clyde.

Mr. Bubbuh, Cal kept those players on board and sent the rest of the team packing including every recruit that had committed to play for UK.   Cal had work to do with their psyche if they were going to contribute.  He told them they were somebody that could play for UK, but they had to work hard.  For those players to be successful they had to come out of their shell and it took a while.  Cal forced them to earn playing time.  It took Liggins a while to decide if he was going to make it and also for Cal to decide if he was worth retrieving.  Cal is a people person a player first type of person and he rescued Liggins.  Many coaches would have let him leave.

Liggins had a hard life growing up and he had to depend upon himself for survival for the most part.   The year under BCG had only made him mentally more reclusive.  Many inner city kids are that way, but Liggins had withdrawn himself to such a degree he was almost unreachable, however; Cal made him realize he had a chance, a small chance, to play professionally if he played defense like no other.  Liggins blossomed into a player everyone wanted on the court instead of the one everyone dreaded.   His defense became outstanding and he contributed offensively as well, but his defense was almost good enough to give Cal his first championship.  If not for an errant shot as time ran out he would have had it too.

I was and am so proud to see him get the opportunity to play in the NBA.  When he was awarded the spot as a keeper I was elated for him.  The transformation of an irresponsible me first type of person was complete.  He put his family first, loves his child, and has realized his dream.  Good job Cal and a loss for you Mr. Bubbah!

Jorts as we all affectionately call Josh Harrellson was recruited as a shooter, but never got the opportunity under Billy Clyde.  He was way down on the depth chart and never had the best of seasons his first year under Cal.   After seeing what Cal did with Cousins, Wall, Bledsoe, Patterson and for Orton Jorts decided (with Cal’s urging) to go for broke and remake himself.  Jorts did and became a terror on the court figuratively and in reality (anybody remember a guy named Sullinger.  Well Jorts reduced him to a mere mortal and punched his ticket to the NBA at the same time).  Jorts realized his dream and was drafted in the 2nd round.  His newly found work ethic propelled him into an NBA career.   Cal two, Bubbah zero!

Patrick Patterson was asked to take a back seat to some great talent.  PP is a young man of high character and remains one of the most beloved Cat’s of all time.  His talents would have allowed him to be drafted anyway, but under Cal he was a lottery pick at #14, but should have gone higher.  If Patrick had stayed for this 4th year this UK team would have been the best all time without a doubt.  They were great anyway, but with him the sky would have been the limit.  Along the way Patrick received his degree in three years and is pursuing his dream playing in the NBA while still representing UK well.  Cal 3, Bubbah 0.

Darius Miller, oh yes that Darius Miller!  Miller time, Mr. Enigma!  One of the greatest personalities ever at UK.  That is some company he is now keeping among UK players.  A continual work in progress to get him to showcase his immense talents rather than defer to other talented players.  He took everything BCG did to him and returned to UK to complete his career.  Cal wanted him on the team from the get go, but pulling him out of that shell and getting him to become, Miller Time, was a challenge for Cal.

This past season found UK flush with talent as good or better than any previous UK team had ever possessed to which Darius said, “This is my team”!  Yes he did prior to the season starting!  He knew what he needed to do to help bring his team along.  Yeah, Cal could do a lot of it, but the team needed a steadying force and steadying hand from within their ranks and he was it.  Not only did he accept the role, but he wanted the role of leader and flourished in his role.  He also proudly gave up his starting position for the better of the team.

Along the way it was apparent that we were going to get, Miller Time, at some point in every game.  Each time there was a need for a steadying hand in came Darius to make an immediate impact whether it was a dagger shot from three, a floater in the lane, a steal, a lob or a thundering dunk.  During one game Cal was on him hard to which he slammed home a one handed rebound to posterize the defender.  Darius let out a scream and yelled at Cal, “This is who I am”!   Well Darius was actually several players rolled into one, because he can play any position on the floor so that was actually only one of him.   He is that talented and I surely hate to see him go, but I am proud that he not only played for UK, but that he finished his career with a championship.

Darius finished his year (and will graduate) with more games played than any other Wildcat, ever.   He is a member of the 1000 point club!  He won Mr. Basketball honors in high school, won the state championship and the national title with ‘his team’!   Truly a great and talented player with extremely high character.  I am very confident that Darius will realize his dream of being selected in the NBA draft this year.  He will continue to represent UK well in years to come.  Darius has that special place in UK folklore secured that few will ever attain.   He should have his jersey, #1, retired and hung in the rafters immediately!   Cal 4, Bubbah 0!

The underlying premise to Bubbuh’s call was that Cal only won with another coaches recruits, but that isn’t true.  He took players that were failing or ready to fail and made them winners.   He has also turned recruiting upside down in the basketball arena.  It is now ‘who is Cal going to get’ or ‘accept’ (Sound like Rupp?) while other coaches watch and wring their hands, sound familiar?!

The other underlying point he was trying to make was that Cal wasn’t that good of a bench coach, but obviously that was pure jealousy talking.   Four final 4′s (yes NCAA 4 of them) and a championship should be enough to convince even the most diehard jealous fan.  A final 4 at UMass was huge and also at Memphis who hadn’t been a winner for many years.

I asked what is in store for an encore for Cal and UK?  Obviously, I don’t know, but if the past is any indication of the future it looks like fun to me.  Maybe after one more time Bubbuh will crawl back under his rock and take his red tribe with him.

catfan4life

 

“I’m The Better Player”!

During the Iowa State vs UK game Royce White could be seen mouthing the words ‘I’m the better player’ for the whole world to see.  It was the wrong words to say for more than one reason.

First of all he isn’t, period! Yes he is a great player with a load of talent and a large motor propelled by at least 270 pounds of muscle.  I give him all that and he did play well, but get real Royce come drafting time with the NBA your name will be called after other players on the UK team.  I ask the question if you are so great then why did your team have double digit losses during the season?  Something can be said about coaching and overall talent level on your team, but let us leave the best player proclamation to others.  That in itself said a lot to me.  It said to me I am glad you didn’t bring that attitude to come play for UK.  That statement also got you pretty much shut down for the rest of the game didn’t it big fella?

Now for best player mantra!  UK has a team of best players and they showed it collectively yesterday.  I will give Terrence Jones accolades for the game.  He didn’t score as many points as he usually does, but he was able to pull down 13 rebounds against you big guy.  He made life tough for you and it would have been worse if the terrible refs didn’t swallow their whistles the entire game when you were involved.  If the refs had called all those touch fouls or phantom fouls on you they called on TJ or Doron you would have been out of the game in the first 10 minutes.

To rant a little more about the officiating it was obvious Cal was having a difficult time not charging the floor on many occasions  during most of the game.  The relentless booing by the crowd was another telling sign of poor officiating.   On the other hand the reason for technical called on States coach was a smoke screen by him trying to intimidate the refs.  Why you ask, well it was because a real ‘whoppin’ was in the works and there was nothing he nor ‘I’m the better player’ White could do about it?

All game long UK was held, pushed, shoved, beat upon, tripped and verbally abused and the stripes let it happen until the game was practically out-of-hand. Kidd-Gilchrist didn’t have a great game scoring the ball, but that was because of the aforementioned sentence.  I am still burning inside those refs let that happen all game long.  To his credit he kept his cool.

Now for the reality of the game: UK was ready for that game.  They brought their A game with them.  They executed their plan almost flawlessly.  A few decent calls UK’s way and the game would have been over by halftime.

Miller was something special yesterday.  We have been waiting for that game for his entire career.  Oh yeah, he has had a bunch of really great games, audacious dunks, beautiful sticks from three and at the elbow not to mention those no-matter-who-you-are-guarding-me tear drop shots we have become accustomed to, he was a man yesterday.  It was clear that he had decided to make his presence known as soon as he entered the game.  There was no such thing as letting the game come to him.  The game was on and he guarded, deflected, harassed, blocked and scored at will.  It didn’t matter where he was when he decided to score he did.  Prior to yesterday when he willfully decided to show his immense talents his offense often suffered, but not yesterday.

Miller was a game changer so I say to Mr. White, Miller was better than you. Can’t say enough about the rest of the team either.  All of them had great games.  Davis just alters games, but unnoticed is the altering of shots other team members cause.  Immense talent on this UK team and if they are to lose it will be because of injury, poor shooting or bad officiating or perhaps all three.

The UK team are singular in purpose and it showed yesterday.  Gone (at least for that game) was any arrogance or sell will, but rather, they played as a team. Couple great players playing team ball with a super coach spells a lot of wins.

Did I mention wins, oh yeah, there can be four more to go for this season?  No I am not about to jinx them by predicting wins, but one thing we can be assured of is that the players will bring it and coach will be coaching his best.

As for the best player tag goes I think Mr. Royce White brought attention to some other players on the floor who just continued to play their game.  For that I am thankful and have I said to the UK players I have enjoyed your talents beyond measure, but your character shines even above that!

Thanks guys and go Cat’s!

Its The Big One Jimmi

YahooSoprts is reporting the Syracuse knowingly failed to adhere to its internal drug policy while playing ineligible players. It looks like this goes back as far as 2001 and might include the 2002-2003 championship team.

Naturally Jimmi B had nothing to say and the school used the old we self reported it to the ncaa line.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=ys-syracuse_basketball_investigation_drug_violation_030512

 

 

 

 

Why I Hate Duke

When you think of UK rivals, it’s easy to think of a lot of teams that you hate:

1) Tennessee—Yes the orange is ugly and hated, but they haven’t been relevant for many years.

2) Louisville—They are getting better, but we have dominated them in recent years.

3) North Carolina—Great team and a great series; classy fans; and it is always a great game.

4) Indiana—Irrelevant for many years but now there is the revenge factor.

But then there is Duke (“Puke”). We don’t play them regularly (for reasons discussed herein), but I cannot help but hate them more than any team in any sport whatsoever. Here is why:

1) Culture—They think that they are smarter than anyone. Well, I graduated from Centre College of Kentucky (perennially ranked in the Top 40 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report) and UK College of Law (a nationally recognized law school). I’ll stack my Kentucky education against any Pukie any day. Puke is nothing special.

2) Ratface—When K was born, he probably came out face first as usual, but I swear that he must have been whining at the time (and ever since), so the midwife grabbed him by the face with forceps to pull him out. That’s the only explanation as to why his Ratface is so pinched in.

3) Scheduling 1—Ever notice how Puke never schedules good teams on a “home & home” basis? They refuse to do so. Kentucky has tried to do this for many years but Ratface will not do it. The reason is that Puke does not want to take an early season loss against a good team that will drop them in the rankings. The ONLY game they ever play on a good team’s home court is every other year when they are forced to do so in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge and they almost always lose.

4) Scheduling 2—The only time Puke will play a good team is very early in a tournament on a neutral court (such as MSG). Win or lose, they get the benefit of playing a top team. But if they lose, their ranking is not hurt.

5) Ratface Whiner—You have to watch Ratface during a game and really concentrate on him. He starts whining and cussing out the officials from the start and to their face (he is well known to have the foulest mouth in college basketball). It does not matter whether the call is valid or not. The refs let him get away with it. The reason is that if Puke wins, it makes no difference, but if they are losing it will have an effect in the second half. If Puke is down in the second half, the refs are afraid to call fouls on Puke. Their guards check with both hands, slap the opposing ball handlers, and foul with impunity. Don’t believe me, just watch their games.

6) Puke Players—Coach K obviously coaches his players to whine also. Because they do. A Puke player can Tomahawk an opposing player, but the Puke player acts like it is an absurdity that the refs actually called a foul. Again, this takes a toll on the refs. They are people too and are capable of being influenced. Puke will always get away with doing the same thing in the second half.

7) Puke Fans—Arrogant and obnoxious. They cry and whine over every call, no matter whether it is valid or not. It reinforces what Ratface and his players do and it works on the refs.

Miraculous Comebacks—Any good team will perform poorly in the first half and come back to win in the second half. But have you ever seen so many comebacks as Puke? It is uncanny how they can perform so dismally in the first half of so many games, yet come back to win late (See reasons 1-7).

9) NCAA Tournament Favoritism (Part 1)—As a result of all of the foregoing, Puke always ends up playing the first two games of the NCAA Tournament in either Charlotte, Greensboro, or Winston-Salem. It doesn’t matter what their seed. Just watch. They will be a 2 seed this year and still play in one of those venues. UK will be a 1 seed and play in Atlanta. Check your geography.

10) NCAA Tournament Favoritism (Part 2)—The region in which Puke is placed will be denuded of any real competition. Unless they are placed in OUR REGION.

BRING IT ON!

Whos Going To Surprise Us This Year

The latest coaches poll is out and the Cats unsurprisingly got all the #1 votes. The other usual teams from the power conferences are near the top. Murray St is the highest ranked of the non BCS teams in the top 25 along with Wichita St, UNLV, N Mexico, Temple and San Diego St. Other non BCS teams getting votes are Creighton, Gonzaga, Saint Louis, Harvard 10, Drexel, Middle Tennessee, Long Beach State, Virginia Commonwealth, Weber State and Nevada.

There are still a few games and conference tournament games to go before the field is set and several of those teams aren’t going to be in the tournament. If the tournament started tomorrow which of those non BCS teams do you think could make it to the sweet 16. Do you think one of them is good enough to make it to the final four?

I can easily see Wichita St, Temple, UNLV, Murray St, Creighton and N Mexico in the sweet 16. Wichita St is the team that I think has the best possibility to go to the final four.

Of course making my picks on speculation never works for me during the tournament. Come to think of it it not much else does either.

Chink In Their Armor

I saw this morning where espn fired a writer for using this headline “Chink in the Armor,” when talking about the Knicks loss Friday. As some may know or guess by my handle I live in Hawaii. Over here using chink would just be describing a persons ethnic ancestry and no big deal even if used to their face. Now if the espn writer had used “F#&^ing Chink in the Armor,” then it would have been a racial slur.  Obviously in Connecticut things are different and the knights at the espn court are held to higher standards.

I dislike espn so much I very seldom use capital letters when typing espn. They are so two faced in the way they do things. Think Knight and Forde insulting Kentucky fans for years and being allowed to get away with it. Even Dickie V hinted around that we were hillbilly racists for wanting Tubby gone. Then they fire a writer right away for using “Chink in the Armor.” Sure it was dumb to use that headline, but firing dumb? Only if you take into account the free advertising mentioning espn when you do a search.

Bobby Knight still working for espn shows that they have a Chink in their Armour too. LOL

Once again they showed at least to this Kentucky fan that they deserve to have F#&^ing used in front of espn.

Big Blue Rules Top-25

Well here is the BBR-Top-25 for this week, I am thinking the SEC-West is looking pretty good right now.
01 LSU
02 Alabama
03 Arkansas
04 Va. Tech
05 Houston
06 South Carolina
07 Georgia
08 Oklahoma St
09 Kansas St
10 Oregon
11 Oklahoma
12 Boise St
13 Southern California
14 Michigan St
15 TCU
16 Baylor
17 Michigan
18 Penn St
19 Clemson
20 Wisconsin
21 Notre Dame
22 Tulsa
23 Virginia
24 Southern Miss
25 West Virginia

This is a lot different than the experts had figured out for the BCS, but the SEC is proving they are head and shoulders above the other conferences.

BBR top-25

Season is coming to a end, and if you are a UK Football Fan it can not happen fast enough.
1 LSU
2 Oklahoma St
3 Alabama
4 Arkansas
5 Oregon
6 Oklahoma
7 Clemson
8 Houston
9 Va Tech
10 Stanford
11 Georgia
12 Boise St
13 South Carolina
14 Michigan St
15 Wisconsin
16 Nebraska
17 kansas St
18 TCU
19 Southern Cal
20 Southern Miss
21 Michigan
22 Florida St
23 Notre Dame
24 Baylor
25 West Virginia.

This has been a very fast season, But I am ready for some Basketball

Out Of Sight Out Of Mind

Should the NCAA give Penn St the death penalty for covering up for former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky? It may not violate NCAA rules since it didn’t involve recruiting and I’m pretty sure that child sex isn’t covered in the NCAA rule book.

Considering that the president Graham Spanier, athletic director Tim Curley, vice president for finance and business Gary Schultz, football coach Joe Paterno and graduate assistant Mike McQueary — fail to turn this over to authorities it seems that there should be some sort of punishment handed out.

Joe Pa has been cleared because he passed it along to the AD but in reality he is as guilty as anyone for not speaking out when nothing happened.

I don’t think that the NCAA has any choice but to hammer Penn St hard for this. Other wise the out of sight out of mind mindset will continue in college sports.

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