Cat’s beat determined Portland

UK beat a very determined Portland team that refused to just wilt, but in the end they had no choice in the matter.  UK had superior talent and superior quickness for the 3 point barrage from Portland to equal a win for the visitors.

The season will become decidedly more difficult this week with two good teams coming to town.  UNC has been the #1 ranked team from the last of the previous campaign and rightly so in my opinion.  They lost last evening to a supposedly inferior team and if they played 10 times UNC would probably win 9 of them.

That loss by UNC can’t be good news for UK.  Roy and company will now have the proverbial monkey off of their backs and it is squarely on UK right now.  I would normally welcome the #1 ranking, but I would have preferred it to come after the UNC game if UK would be lucky or good enough to win.  I say lucky because I feel UNLV was more lucky than good, because UNC has everything a coach could want for a college team except 5 starting seniors with the same talent.  On the other hand, UK doesn’t have that.  Sure UK is extremely talented and extremely quick which saved them last night, but UNC has more depth and experience and now they also have a wounded ego to bring with them.

UK will have their work cut out for them and they had better not be overlooking Steve Lavin’s boys from the City.  Steve’s boys are young but very talented.  If UK brings their A game they should win that game, but it is a trap game.  I wish that game was on Wednesday instead of Thursday because of the youth on Cal’s team.

I like what I have been seeing in the growth of the team.  They are getting better and better each game.  They are becoming a team of extremely talented young men rather than just being extremely talented individuals.  The athleticism and length of the team disrupts every team they play and should (barring injuries) all year.

UK could lose 2 games this week split the games or win two.  I feel they can get two, but they need to grow even more this week before facing two good teams.   Don’t worry about Harrison Barnes not being in the lineup, because he will be there at full strength and I want it that way.  Even if he wasn’t there UNC has great talent to fill the spot.

One great sign from the Portland game was Darius Miller once again brought a great game with him.

We have been waiting for almost 8 months for this week.  I know I am excited so bring it on!

 

 

Basketball is finally here!

I have been anxiously waiting for the basketball season to get under way since the final 4 ended the wrong way. I was certainly disappointed with the finish, but I was so happy those guys reached the final four.

They over-achieved (I know that term is usually a misnomer, but not this time) and reached a height that only the most ambitious prognosticator would have dared voice to anyone. However, that season is over and a new one begins.

I have posted about most of those players and how excited I am to see them take the floor. It is hard to pick a single player as your favorite player on this team at least it is for me. All of them seem to have a great personality and have accepted the team concept so how do we or should we pick a favorite player.

I mean how could we not pick Jones, Lamb, Miller or Davis as our favorite player. Gosh if one didn’t have Miller up there before the exhibition they should have now. I mean he was unconscious and seemed so relaxed. The same goes for Lamb. I believe he would be comfortable shooting from half court.

Jones drove faster than the wind and finished around the basket with authority (I know it was only an exhibition), but WOW he exploded and stuck it more than once. Just when I thought I had him pigeon-holed he stuck a long three. How are you going to defend that. It will be very difficult one on on one so double team him, right?! How can a team do that with speed burners that can shoot (or pass) at every position.

Anthony Davis has arms so long every loose ball is in range and he can run like a deer and jump like one as well. Not many players like him anywhere in basketball.

Teague will have so much fun getting the ball to those guys knowing that they can make him look good with every pass. Well if nothing else works for you just give it to Kidd-Gilchrist. That young man is only a freshman and freshman are not supposed to be able to do what he does and hold onto the ball in traffic much less finish the play.

I am so excited to watch him play. I will watch every game with anticipation for the unexpected from every one of those players, but when something goes awry with the play I know who will be in the mix for the ball.

He will do what he does and immediately sprint down the floor looking for a loose ball or to catch an unlucky opponent not paying close attention. He will do it without fanfare, but he will do it!

It is going to be a fun season and certainly makes it easier to be a catfan4life!

What Would You Do?

I have read or heard many comments concerning coach Calipari about his recruiting/coaching methods.  Unfortunately, most of them are negative comments about him.  Writers and coaches have axes to grind and they grind away at Cal.  I am convinced that every one of them and I mean every one of them are just jealous of the man.  They are jealous of UK for the success they have had for many, many years.  However, even more importantly to them is the recent success of coach Cal, because UK had been relegated to an  afterthought until he came to UK.

Try as they might they can only come up with innuendo concerning his past.  They have no proof of misdeeds by him, because if they did where do you think he would be today?  There has been more trash thrown his way than at guys that have actually been caught making mistakes.

Backing up just a bit, I want to say that it is difficult and almost impossible to not do something wrong according to the hypocrites handbook (NCAA).  In my view a coach is a human being with his profession on the line if he doesn’t perform to expectations by his athletic director and fans alike.  They are under intense pressure to work in the “gray area” of recruiting, whatever that is!

It seems Calipari is one of the few that isn’t allowed (by the media) to work in that area.  Well there is no such thing as a gray area!  A violation has either been or hasn’t been committed every time they contact a potential recruit. As an example, recruiting is like a posted speed limit in that you don’t get a ticket unless you drive too slow or too fast.  Everything you do within your automobile while driving within that posted speed limit that isn’t specifically legislated against is legal, pure and simple.  Now, if coach is doing something different than other coaches and if it isn’t legislated against it is legal, period!

If he wants to work harder than other coaches or treat his players differently than they would it is his decision, and theirs.  If his success is better than theirs because of what he does that is their problem.  If they complain they are just eating sour grapes.  When they spit those seeds into the wind they get hit in the face with them.

Cal takes the high road and doesn’t respond very often to negative remarks and why should he?  He doesn’t need to give them any reason to latch on to a remark that would divert attention from their hypocrisy and jealousy.  Those same “sharks” (writers and coaches) hate each other, but they team up hoping to “share” in the kill.  After a kill they go back to looking for an opportunity to eat one of their own rather than improve their profession.

Having said all that, what would you do if you were Cal?  Would you respond to them, would you change your philosophy just because they are throwing darts your way.  Those darts don’t seem to be hitting the target because Cal keeps on going just like the Energizer Bunny.  He keeps banging the drum of successful recruiting year after year.  He keeps telling the recruits that he will look out for their best interests and he proves it year after year.

This year is no different  than the rest of them, because he has told his players what they needed to hear and now three of them are testing the waters of the NBA.  UK may lose all three of them and maybe not.  What if they do leave, what will happen next?  Recruits are listening and watching his every move.  Players now want to come to UK and the major part of it is because of coach Cal and his “gray area” of success.  Perhaps, that “gray area” is that he tells them the truth and watches over them like a father!

What would you do if you were in his shoes?  Would you be selfish and tell those young men that they aren’t ready and they should stay another year knowing they could move on to the NBA?  Other coaches are doing that very thing this year, in my opinion, and they are being watched by the recruits.  Oh yeah, they will get recruits going forward simply because Cal can’t take all of them and because the recruits have biases as well.  However, Cal will get the cream of the crop next year too.

Perhaps, just perhaps, the secret of his success isn’t all that “gray” after all, but just doing what is right for the young man and his future?  What would you do or perhaps I should ask what should you do under the same circumstances as Cal?

In my view,  UK will be a contender for the NCAA championship every year as long as he is coach.  UK may never get championship #8 while he is here, but perhaps #’s 9, 10 or 11!   What a ride we will have every year during that time.  UK basketball is fun again, period!  The young men that are “chosen” to come be a part of it receive an opportunity to see if  they can hear Cal tell them they need to test the waters of the NBA!

Those recruits were watching Cal and now what would you do if you were Cal?

catfan4life!

 

Wall skips US National Tryouts

John Wall skiped the US National tryouts for the U18 team to attend the LeBron James camp. “Kind of tough,” Wall said of the overlapping opportunities. “Playing for your country versus meeting LeBron James.” After reading that remark my first thought was I hope he decides to play for someone besides UK. Do we really need a one and done who thinks of himself first or does it even matter in todays society?