Blue White Game

Boy was that fun. The blue white game just finished and a Realtor came to show the house I’m in to a nice couple. She is from Louisville and we had fun dissing each other. Next to the game and her nose ring it made my day.

How do you start to describe the potential this team has. I haven’t seen the final stats yet but #8 could happen this year if things go right.

Start with Patrick Patterson. If he isn’t first team All American this year there should be a lynching at some news outlet. He did everything in this game. Faced the basket, made the outside shot, rebounded, played with his back to the basket, ran the break and dunked for a total of 24 points.

The competition between Wall and Bledsoe was fun to watch. Both look to score or make sure someone scores every time they touch the ball. The only person thats gonna stop them is themselves.

Josh Harrellson prove again that the coach with no name was out of his frickin head not to use the kid. He made 3′s, rebounded on both boards and proved hes going to be an asset to this team. He simply plays the game the right way considering his physical abilities. He finished the game with 13 points and 14 rebounds and wont have to sit in the bathroom this year.

Darnell Dodson showed us he can shoot, run the floor and will thrive in coaches offense with 23 points. He needs to work a little more on his penetration but hes gonna score the points outside to keep teams honest.

Darius Miller was quiet in the first half but showed he will do what is needed on defense. He came alive at the start of the second half using his shot game well.

Jon Hood missed most of his 3′s but he sure has a beautiful floater on the drive and is gonna be hard to keep on the bench.

Harris shot his 3′s with confidence and played good defense. He still looks a little clumsy on his drives but will see some playing time.

Cousins and Orton can clog up the middle against big teams, have the ability to score on both the run and on the drive. They combined for 30 points and several nice passes. Both their weaknesses seem to be stopping Wall and Bledsoe on the drive but who’s gonna do that.

Mark Krebs showed he can shoot and looked a lot more comfortable than he did at midnight madness. Did Perry Stevenson play?

And finally DeAndre Liggins had to have fouled out twice but looked a lot more in control than last year.

Defensively this team is going to be real good with the press. The starting Blue team showed they will be the same in the half court game.

The second half showed that these players are able to play togeather no matter who is in the game.

John Wall and Eric Bledsoe are gonna be important to this team but the key player is still Patrick Patterson.

JON CALLS JOHN- Hood to Wall

As gifted as Jon Hood is, he knows it would be great if UK could garner even more talent to go with the recent signing of John Calapari as his new head coach…That is why Jon called John Wall about coming to UK…. The Raleigh, N.C., senior is rated by Rivals.com as the No. 1 point guard in the class of 2009”. Wall listed Memphis, formerly coached by Calipari, as his top collegiate choice even after visiting Duke last weekend. He’s also considering Baylor, North Carolina State, Kansas and Miami.

“Me and John were real close over the summer. We played against each other a few times, exchanged phone numbers, kept up with each other,” Hood said. “I talked to him some, not a lot. But I kind of urged him. … I said, ‘Hey, buddy, why don’t you come over to the Bluegrass and play with us?’

“He said, ‘I don’t know. We’ll have to see. I’m still going to look, see what happens.”

Hood, a 6-foot-7 Madisonville guard, will be presented with the award as the state’s Mr. Basketball, and the No. 1 jersey, as the top player in the state, at a news conference in Madisonville at 2:30 p.m on Wednesday afternoon.

JON HOOD

Status: Signed with Kentucky

Position: Guard/Forward

Rivals: No. 32 overall, No. 7 SG

Scout: No. 36 overall, No. 8 SF

Last school: Madisonville (Madisonville, Ky.)

Height, weight: 6-6, 185

2008-09 stats: 29 ppg, 13 rpg

Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes

…nothing remains quite the same”…so sang Buffet, and it’s true in basketball, just as in life. Patrick Patterson, like many of us UK fans, disdained playing in the NIT should UK not make the NCAA tournament. Now Patrick, like many of us, welcomes the chance to play more basketball. Consider his latest statements,““If we could win the NIT that could carry over to next year,” Patterson said. .”That would be a huge confidence boost and a weight lifted off our shoulders. We’ve had a not-so-good season and everyone is frustrated. But making a run in the NIT would help.”

This has been one of those zany basketball years in the history of UK basketball where accurate predictions regarding UK’s future success have been in short supply…Indeed, for one who loves to speculate about how good their beloved CATS will be; it’s been as difficult as herding cats. I am one who believes that it takes both the players and a good coach to win it all.

There is no more humbling game than basketball when things don’t work out. Consider that Billy Donovan may be making his second straight trip to the NIT, after winning back to back NCAA Championships! HE is a great coach and HE had great players to win it, but if you remove that team from his resume, he might be job searching right now! Since I like to give credit to the aforementioned players and coach when things go well, then I must assign the blame to BOTH the coach and players for a poor season. It’s only logical. You could have done better.

Given the players have backed their coach , especially Patterson, one must think that Mr. Gillispie Will return next year along with Patrick and Jodie Meeks.

BCG will bring the 14^th rated class to the table next year and I feel we will get some immediate help from the group in the form of Matt Pilgrim and Orton. I can see Patrick Patterson moving to the Power Forward with Orton managing the middle. Pilgrim brings a nice face up game that we don’t have on this current team. Jon Hood, state high jump champ, will provide another outside scoring threat, as well a his 6’6” length on the defense. G.J. will be the prototypical point with some things to learn about the college game.

The NIT offers the fans a chance to see the UK Wildcats play, and play right here at home. I dare say some fans may get a chance to see them that would not normally be able to…This alone makes a strong case for our backing the NIT, especially here in Lexington. From the players perspective it looks like 2Pat is the elder spokesman of the group when he says “LETS PLAY”!

GO WILDCATS!

NEXT YEAR….AND THIS ONE.. OLE MISS vs. KENTUCKY

Some things that will probably happen next year…Patrick Patterson will be back, he said so…Jodie will be back…and BCG and Mitch. All will be well next year with UK basketball from the eternal optimist. If you need convincing, think about it. Consider, if you will, what one more year under their belts will do for this bunch of green frosh and Juco’s. Darius Miller is barely 18 yrs old.

One more year of life and maturity and this will be a completely different TEAM. Really, it will be, considering the players will be a year older, wiser, and better. The level of talent that we have coming in; which I feel is vastly superior to this year’s group, will bolster next year’s experienced squad. I expect UK to put three (3) new starters on the floor next year in additon to the BIG 2…They have too, in my opinion, to be competitive.

Matt Pilgrim and Orton will make a BIGGG difference in this program…Perry S. Would be well served to work on his game…Looking at Jon Hood film reminds me a little of a kid we had in here by the name of Rex…Really, the kid is a player and can shoot the basketball. Any contribution from him next year would be the icing on the cake.

Now as for Ole Miss, I look for UK to take this game rather handily using a strong defense on the point of attack which was our Achilles heel in the last game with Ole Miss. David Heurtas, their leading scorer is said to be “day to day” with a foot injury and UK is primed to bust O-U-T…

Let us not forget this is the same UK team that started this season at 5-0 and took #5 Louisville to the wire and the top twenty LSU team as well.

Having a lack of balanced scoring has been a hallmark of the team of late; that and an inordinate number o f turnovers have often been the catalyst for defeat. To secure a victory our Cats must cut back on the turnovers and find scoring from other sources. But, they can and will do it today by 13 points! One Game A t A Time~