Marching On

I was really impressed with Patterson last night against SC. He started the game off with a bang. We didn’t have to wait long until we got the three from him to extend that streak. He got the open look and just stuck that shot. I am sure Darin Horn said Uh Oh! If he didn’t he should have, because it was apparent PP was focused for the game.

That was the PP we were expecting every game all year. For two years we had been so spoiled with the man and his exploits on the court. Everybody just expected to see him dominate every game this year because he finally had great talent to play with him. I was just so thrilled to see him take command last night, but he didn’t just demand the ball he went and got it.

I know it has to have been hard for him to learn the new position(s) all year and it took mental adjustments to step back and let the younger guys have their day. In the grand scheme of things stepping back was probably a plan all along. I know he had been beat upon for two years and there is no doubt in my mind that he dreaded the beating he took every game, but it is a testament to the man that he never backed down. Fast forward to this year and we can see that he was glad to allow his team mates to be in the spotlight, but again it was probably more than that. I know that if he hadn’t stepped back somewhat I don’t feel the team would have been where they are now. Oh yeah, it is miracle that a team that young even with all that talent has only 1 loss to date.

Coach knew what he was doing all along. He was willing to sacrifice a few losses to bring all the team along rather than just a player or two, but the team won anyway. The one that has benefited as much as anyone has been Patrick. He now has much more in his arsenal that makes him much harder to stop or defend.

The title of the post was marching on, but it was a play on words, because March is right around the corner and the team seems to be in March form or getting very close to where he wants them to be. I am so happy to see them gel the way they are, but I am absolutely thrilled to see Patrick decide that now is the time to be assertive.

I would be remiss to not mention the awesome defense the cat’s played last evening. If not for those miracle shots once again from Downey it would have been a 40 point beat down, but I’ll take a 20.

Marching on, yes indeed!

Hartline Hurt Spurrier Slithers Again

Damn again the old balls coach slithers out of a loss. I had this nice graphic made for the Cats victory but old balls managed to put his hand over his mouth so he didn’t have to bite it. Once again the football gods have delivered him from having to choke on Wildcat football.

Now to talk about the game. Hartline may not be the best quarterback in the SEC but he did what a leader is supposed to do he played a good first half and when injured he got up and tried to hop off the field like a true leader.

How do I talk about the game. We came in without 2 defensive backs lost a 3rd and got burned by a 6′3″ freshman for 3 tds. We had 155 yds passing 139 of which were from Hartline on 9/14 and a 9.9 average before he got injured. We ran for 205 yds. with 89 yds. by both Locke and Cobb.

Once again though mistakes hurt us. Two dropped passes on sure touchdowns killed us. A penalty on a 50 yd play and on two fourth down tries sealed our fate. The fake field goal hurt but it was a gamble that if successful gets high fives from fans and moves us closer to a touchdown.

Can someone tell me why Cobb wasn’t at qb on the two point conversion with Locke at rb and Connor at fb?

At least the loss gave me a chance to do another graphic and lead in to the story with a nice couple of lines about how Spurrier bites.

USA Today Poll

USA Today has released there preseason top 25. The Cats got 9 votes and are ranked 42 in the nation.

What shouldn’t surprise anyone is that there are no Big East teams ranked to start the season. Cincinnati, Pittsburg, W. Va, Rutgers and S. Florida all got votes. Its hard to see anyone besides Cincinnati or W. Virginia making a climb in to the top 25 due to the strength of their non-conference schedules.

The MWC and the WAC have four teams in the top 25 and a fifth Nevada got a few votes. Its easier to see some of them staying in the top 25 since they have teams that stand a fair chance of winning games against the BCS teams on their non-conference schedules.

USA Today Poll

1. Florida (53) 0-0 1,466

2. Texas (4) 0-0 1,386
3. Oklahoma (1) 0-0 1,358
4. USC (1) 0-0 1,321
5. Alabama 0-0 1,134
6. Ohio State 0-0 1,126
7. Virginia Tech 0-0 1,020
8. Penn State 0-0 988
9. LSU 0-0 917
10. Mississippi 0-0 889
11. Oklahoma State 0-0 861
12. California 0-0 711
13. Georgia 0-0 707
14. Oregon 0-0 694
15. Georgia Tech 0-0 559
16. Boise State 0-0 542
17. TCU 0-0 461
18. Utah 0-0 404
19. Florida State 0-0 371
20. North Carolina 0-0 293
21. Iowa 0-0 257
22. Nebraska 0-0 236
23. Notre Dame 0-0 194
24. Brigham Young 0-0 178
25. Oregon State 0-0 165

Others Receiving Votes: Kansas 138, Michigan State 136, Texas Tech 114, Cincinnati 90, Pittsburgh 64, West Virginia 55, Rutgers 51, Miami (FL) 46, Missouri 44, Illinois 38, Clemson 30, South Carolina 18, UCLA 14, Auburn 12, South Florida 11, Nevada 11, Kentucky 9, North Carolina State 7, Wisconsin 6, Arkansas 6, Northwestern 5, Southern Miss 4, Wake Forest 4, Arizona 3, Boston College 3, CENTRL MICHIGAN 3, East Carolina 3, Colorado 2, Maryland 2, Navy 2, Tennessee 2, TROY 1, Minnesota 1, Michigan 1, Houston 1.

Is it time to worry yet

Looking at the 2010 recruits signed so far you have to wonder if its time to worry yet. There is a lot of time before we need to worry but from looking at the SEC schools so far we should at least think about worrying. Its been said that we are recruiting players who are ranked higher than we normally do and they tend to sign later so there is no need to worry yet. Here is what scout.com is showing about the SEC teams recruiting so far.

Alabama: 16 HS players. 7 ranked top 150, 7 ranked in the 70’s and 2 ranked 40’s. They also have 2 JC commitments.

Arkansas: 8 HS players. 1 ranked top 150, 4 ranked in the 70’s and 3 ranked in the 40’s. They have 1 JC commitment.

Auburn: 8 HS players. 2 ranked top 150, 5 ranked in the 70’s and 1 ranked in the 40’s.

Florida: 14 HS players. 9 ranked top 150. 1 ranked in the 80’s, 2 ranked in the 70’s and 3 ranked in the 40’s.

Georgia: 13 HS players. 7 ranked top 150, 4 ranked in the 70’s and 1 ranked in the 40’s. They have 1 JC commitment.

Kentucky: 1 ranked in the 70’s and 1 ranked in the 40’s.

LSU: 14 HS players. 7 ranked top 150 and 7 ranked in the 70’s. They have 1 JC commitment.

Mississippi: 2 HS players. 1 top 150 and 1 in the 40’s.

Mississippi St: 5 HS players. 2 top 150 players and 3 ranked in the 70’s. They also have 1 JC player.

South Carolina: 12 HS players. 4 ranked in the top 150, 5 ranked in the 70’s and 3 ranked in the 40’s. They also have 1 JC commitment.

Tennessee: 9 HS players. 3 ranked in the top 150 and 2 in the 40’s. They also have 3 JC commitments.

Vanderbilt: 13 HS commitments. 1 top 150 commitment. 11 ranked in the 70’s and 1 in the 40’s.

Scouts.com shows 84 players still considering the Cats including 4 top 150 players who are being recruited by teams we should be able to out recruit. Given the odds we should sign some good players but still we need to start worrying a little.

Never to early to go out on a limb

With a little over two months left till the football season starts its time to talk about what sort of season the Cats will have this year.

Starting off the season with Miami of Ohio 2-10 last year should give the Cats an easy win although the hiring of Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Haywood as head coach should put a little spunk in the Redhawks offense. Haywood has worked as an assistant at Texas, LSU, Ball State, Ohio, Army and Minnesota and in 2005, he was named NCAA Division I-A assistant coach of the year by the American Football Coaches Association. Kentucky 1-0.

Louisville 5-7 last year should be another win but this is a rivalry game. With Hunter Cantwell’s back up Matt Simms transferring Louisville has no experience at quarterback making it a little more difficult for Louisville to come away with win. Kentucky 2-0.

The third game of the season brings Florida 13-1 to Lexington. The best we can realistically hope for is that the Gators stomp Tennessee the week before and the Cats play the Gators much better than they did last year. A good game could be a launching board for a great season. Kentucky 2-1.

Alabama 12-2 last year is the next visitor to Lexington. Last year with one or two breaks the Cats could have beaten the Tide. Having them in Lexington and without an experienced quarterback they can be beaten. If Mike Hartline can connect with our receivers and couple of defensive stops go our way and this could be a big upset. Kentucky 2-2.

OK the Really Ole Ball Coach thinks he’s finally found his quarter back at South Carolina 7-6 last year. The Cats are due to win this game. Kentucky 3-2.

Auburn 5-7 last year had a problem the Cats use to have. According to Gene Chizik “Depth is an issue at this point, and I think that’s glaring”. Their offense also stinks so this is close but another winnable game. Kentucky 4-2.

We then get Louisiana Monroe 4-8 last year at home. The Warhawks beat Alabama in 2007 but wont beat the Cats in Lexington. This will be the game where a freshman quarterback gets a decent amount of playing time. Kentucky 5-2.

Mississippi State 4-8 last year doesn’t come to Lexington and win. Kentucky 6-2.

Eastern Kentucky 8-4 won the OVC last year but don’t look to match up with the Cats although they might play them better than people expect. Kentucky 7-2.

Vanderbilt 7-6 came into Lexington and beat the Cats. Mackenzi Adams is a good quarterback and running back Jared Hawkins should be much improved as a senior. This game is a toss up but I think injuries will be starting to plague the Cats by this time of the season. Kentucky 7-3.

Georgia 10-3 last year will be a tough game for the Cats. If they can go thru the season without as many injuries as last year they should beat the Cats. Kentucky 7-4.

The final game of the season is against Tennessee 5-7 last year. With Lane Kiffin bringing the Vols to Lexington the Cats welcome him to Kentucky. I’m gonna get out on my limb and say the Cats win with Morgan Newton running for a touchdown and tossing a touchdown to Cobb with little time left in the game. Kentucky 8-4.

SEC Coaches Awards

From SECsports.com The SEC Coaches awards were announced today. Patrick Patterson and Jodie Meeks both were named to the all SEC first team.

Birmingham, Ala. — The Southeastern Conference unveiled its men’s basketball coaches postseason awards Tuesday to cap off another exciting season of SEC basketball.

LSU’s Trent Johnson earned SEC Coach of the Year honors and LSU senior guard Marcus Thornton was selected SEC Player of the Year by the league’s coaches. Ole Miss’ Terrico White took the SEC Freshman of the Year award and Alabama’s Justin Knox earned SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors. Jarvis Varnado of Mississippi State was picked as the SEC Defensive Player of the Year for the second year in a row. South Carolina’s Brandis Raley-Ross earned SEC’s Sixth Man of the Year honors.

In his first season at LSU, Johnson led the Tigers to their first SEC championship since 2006 with a 13-3 mark in league play.

Thornton garnered SEC Player of the Year honors in leading LSU to a 25-win season and the SEC championship. One of five unanimous All-SEC First Team selections, Thornton ranked second the league in scoring with 20.9 ppg.

White led all SEC freshmen with 18.4 ppg in league play. White was among three unanimous All-Freshman team members.

Knox earned the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, sporting a 3.219 grade-point average in Pre-Business.

Varnado leads the nation in blocked shots (4.6) and is 15 blocks shy of the breaking the single-season SEC record of 157. Last year he tied the record Shaquille O’Neal set in 1992.

Raley-Ross won the SEC’s Sixth Man of the Year award. A key part of South Carolina winning a share of the SEC East Division title, he is averaging 7.2 points per game.

Coaches voted on eight member teams for First Team All-SEC, Second Team All-SEC and for the SEC All-Freshman Team. They voted on a five-player squad for the SEC All-Defensive Team. They were not permitted to vote for their own players and ties were not broken.

A complete list of the 2009 SEC Men’s Basketball postseason awards follows.

First Team All-SEC
*Nick Calathes, Florida – G, 6-6, 194, So., Casselberry, Fla.
*Jodie Meeks, Kentucky – 6-4, 208, Jr., Norcross, Ga.
Patrick Patterson, Kentucky – 6-9, 235, So., Huntington, W.Va.
Tasmin Mitchell, LSU – F, 6-7, 240, Jr., Denham Springs, La.
*Marcus Thornton, LSU – G, 6-4, 205, Sr., Baton Rouge, La.
Jarvis Varnado, Mississippi State – F/C, 6-9, 210, Jr., Brownsville, Tenn.
*Devan Downey, South Carolina – G, 5-9, 175, Jr., Chester, S.C.
*Tyler Smith, Tennessee – F, 6-7, 215, Jr., Pulaski, Tenn.

Second Team All-SEC
Alonzo Gee, Alabama – G, 6-6, 219, Sr., Riviera Beach, Fla.
Michael Washington, Arkansas – F, 6-9, 239, Jr., McGehee, Ark.
Korvotney Barber, Auburn – F, 6-7, 225, Sr., Manchester, Ga.
^Garrett Temple, LSU – G, 6-6, 190, Sr., Baton Rouge, La.
David Huertas, Ole Miss – G, 6-5, 200, Jr., Humacao, Puerto Rico
Terrico White, Ole Miss – G, 6-5, 211, Fr,. Memphis, Tenn.
^Dominique Archie, South Carolina – F, 6-7, 200, Jr., Augusta, Ga.
^Zam Fredrick, South Carolina – G, 6-0, 203, Sr., St. Matthews, S.C.
Wayne Chism, Tennessee – F, 609, 242, Jr., Jackson, Tenn.
A.J. Ogilvy, Vanderbilt – C, 6-11, 250, So., Sydney, Australia

SEC All-Freshman Team
*JaMychal Green, Alabama – F, 6-9, 220, Fr., Montgomery, Ala.
Courtney Fortson, Arkansas – G, 5-11, 180, Fr., Montgomery, Ala.
Erving Walker, Florida – 5-8, 161, Fr., New York, N.Y.
Trey Thompkins, Georgia – F, 6-8, 245, Fr., Lithonia, Ga.
*Terrico White, Ole Miss – G, 6-5, 211, Fr,. Memphis, Tenn.
*Dee Bost, Mississippi State – G, 6-2, 170, Fr., Concord, N.C.
Scotty Hopson, Tennessee – G, 6-7, 185, Fr., Hopkinsville, Ky.
Jeffery Taylor, Vanderbilt – G/F, 6-7, 210, Fr., Norrkoping, Sweden

SEC All-Defensive Team
^Quantez Robertson, Auburn – G, 6-3, 200, Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio
Garrett Temple, LSU – G, 6-6, 190, Sr., Baton Rouge, La.
Chris Johnson, LSU – C, 6-11, 210, Sr., Montross, Va.
*Jarvis Varnado, Mississippi State – F/C, 6-9, 210, Jr., Brownsville, Tenn.
^Dominique Archie, South Carolina – F, 6-7, 200, Jr., Augusta, Ga.
Devan Downey, South Carolina – G, 5-9, 175, Jr., Chester, S.C.

SEC Coach of the Year: Trent Johnson, LSU
SEC Player of the Year: Marcus Thornton, LSU
SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Justin Knox, Alabama
SEC Freshman of the Year: Terrico White, Ole Miss
SEC Sixth-Man of the Year: Brandis Raley-Ross, South Carolina
SEC Defensive Player of the Year: Jarvis Varnado, Mississippi State

*-Unanimous selection
^-Ties are not broken

Bubble Bursting? UK loses to LSU 73-70

It was another heartbreaking loss for the UK Wildcats, one that saw their coach bench his starting point guard and starting power forward to start the second half, for the more defensive minded Ricky Galloway and Darius Miller. Perhaps frustrated with our inability to shut down more athletic point guards we have encountered at South Carolina and now LSU, BCG went with the taller, quicker, Galloway and he and Miller immediately made their presence felt. Playing a team that is ranked 18th in the land; and looking much better than that, UK battled back from a first half deficit and ALMOST pulled it out…But alas, it was not to be.

The first half found UK trailing and in danger of getting blow out like they did at SC…Patrick Patterson came up big in the first half to keep it closer than it should have been. Even at that, UK again suffer a 1^st half scoring drought of over 4 minutes that would ultimately doom them.

UK let a 10 point second- half lead get away, that they had build on the strength of a stiff defense led by new starters Galloway and Miller. UK came out on fire defensively, and their offense began to click. The newly minted defense seemed to inspire the Cats, as they mounted a second half lead that saw them seemingly take the game in hand…But the guys from LSU hung tough, and riding the hot hand of Marcus Thornton tied the game up in the final seconds with possession. Thornton milked the clock to seven seconds before passing Tasmin Mitchell who hit the game winning shot.

For the most part in the second half, the fans were treated to some inspired basketball by some players that wanted to win…Alas; they just came up 3 points short; Jodie Meeks missing an off-balance 3 that would have tied it at the buzzer.

For UK, it was another disappointing finish, now losers of 6 of their last 9 SEC games, and needing a super effort in the SEC tournament, not to mention finishing the season with two wins.

Gamecocks Flog Cats 77-59

The South Carolina Gamecocks showed us all last night why they should be in first place in the SEC East – and not us…They outplayed us…They outhustled us…and worse, they humiliated us. SC, not accustomed to being in this spot this time of the year, made the most of it last night, beating UK for the second time this year, and showing us what a matchup problem UK has with SC’s guards. Native son, Darrin Horn, must be basking in the glory after defeating UK twice in one season…SC, riding the wave of 16 blocked shots on the inside by its big men, and 9 alone on 2Pat, flogged UK for the second time in a row this season, and this one’s going to “hurt us for a long, long, time”….

For as good as UK looked on Saturday in the confines of Rupp; that’s how bad they looked on the road before a packed house of screaming Gamecock Fans…Indeed, UK showed it has the youth and immaturity to lose at any time should they not play with the passion commensurate with the situation. Playing for 1^st in the SEC East, UK looked like a bunch of high-schoolers getting their dose of humble pie before a packed house of screaming “I told you so’s….. We came out and looked rigid and tight and never really had a chance. Patrick Patterson was the only player that I could discern that played very hard while he was out there.

Sc rode the heady play of guard Devan Downey and came out and hit 4 of their first 6 three’s and the game was over for all intents and purposes. In my pre-game pep-talk I suggested that Porter might need lots of help with Downey. He did, and he didn’t…He did need help; he didn’t get it, in anyone that BCG put on Downey. He is just too quick and too good. The substitution pattern on this night went beyond logic into bizarre world…I don’t have the numbers on minutes played, but it looked as if Galloway could have been uses if available, for all those useless 30 minutes or so that Liggins stood out there. And, to play Porter and Sloan at the same time on SC’s guards was the biggest mismatch since Hawaii took on……just kidding Bill!,,, you guys know what I mean…There isn’t a way that those two can handle SC’s two at any time. Nuff Said!

Since BCG is always eager to take the blame for a loss, I will eagerly give him some of it; given he played the same defense against SC he played in Lexington and lost worse here than there…I wonder how BCG wanted us to double down on Downey and Frederick as they drove the lane when we couldn’t do it in Lexington and prevent them from the kick out pass to the man with the open 3.

BCG did have this to say about the game:

“They have a point guard; we don’t”

On Perry Stevenson: “He is just not playing hard enough”, Gillispie said. “That’s two times in the last, what, week or eight days that I’ve said something about a guy not playing hard enough and that’s the first two times in my career I’ve ever said that. That’s shameful, in my opinion, to everyone involved.”

SC and Darrin Horn, had the easy, logical, perfect game plan, and we had the task to crack it. We did not. We let them run the ,”drive and kick”, on their first 6-3 balls and they hit 4 of them. It would be better to let the guards go on those drives than the wing defender to collapse on him and let Downey kick to the open shooter…..But that is what happened last night and that is how they took us out in Lexington….

AND, don’t get me started on the substitution patterns…Can we hire Bruce Pearl’s guy who does his for him..BCG’s patterns were illogical based on even his last game and I don’t think that anyone did anything in practice since Saturday to radically change the way one would expect it would be. I suspect that after BCG watches last night’s game for the 20^th time, maybe he would concede that.

UK needed a “team effort” to play in this game, and they hardly looked like one all night. As bad as we made UT look on Saturday, SC made us look last night. That is basketball, but this glaring weakness is one that teams will exploit until BCG and Co. Stops it. Maybe we don’t have the personnel to stop it. Maybe we do not have the point guard the SEC requires to overcome it. We shall see.

SEC Basketball Rankings

Hear is our latest SEC Basketball Rankings. Things are starting to sort themselves out in the conference.

1. LSU: With wins over SC, Tenn and Miss St. twice along with the bottom of the conference LSU is showing they belong at the top. With 2 tough games left with Auburn and 1 with Tenn and UK they can cement there position with wins.

2. South Carolina: Sitting tied with UK and Tenn. in the east makes SC one of the three number 2 teams in the league.

3. Kentucky: Again tied with SC and Tenn. but with a spanking of Tenn. and a drubbing of Fla. on their record the Cats are number 3.

4. Tennessee: Starting to look like they were ranked earlier but still at 4.

5. Florida: Loosing 3 out of 4 drops the Gators to 5th and just when they were starting to get some media love.

6. Miss St: Loosing 2 in a row sends them down to 6th.

7. Auburn: Easily ahead of the bottom of the SEC and 2 games left with LSU to move up.

8. Vanderbilt: Interchangeble with Mississippi and Alabama but have games left with UK, LSU, Fla. and SC is going to make it hard for them to keep their ranking.

9. Mississippi: Near the cellar but stand a good chance of winning 3 of the next 6.

10: Alabama: Their next 2 games are Fla, and Miss St. Win those 2 and they stand a chance of moving up.

11: Arkansas: Been a up and down season for the Hogs but not at the bottom of the pile yet.

12. Georgia: A win over Fla. doesnt get them out of the cellar.

Latest Top 25

This weeks top 25. With a good week by LSU and a few losses by others the SEC could climb into the rankings

AP Top 25
1. Connecticut (67) 22-1 1,795
2. Oklahoma (3) 23-1 1,710
3. North Carolina (2) 21-2 1,672
4. Pittsburgh 21-2 1,583
5. Louisville 18-4 1,423
6. Duke 20-3 1,350
7. Wake Forest 18-3 1,242
8. Memphis 20-3 1,237
9. Michigan State 19-4 1,214
10. Marquette 20-3 1,137
11. UCLA 19-4 1,131
12. Clemson 19-3 1,097
13. Villanova 19-4 989
14. Xavier 20-3 893
15. Butler 21-2 762
16. Kansas 19-4 751
17. Missouri 20-4 395
18. Arizona State 18-5 389
19. Gonzaga 17-5 361
20. Purdue 17-6 353
21. Utah State 23-1 317
22. Illinois 19-5 303
23. Syracuse 18-6 280
24. Ohio State 17-5 216
25. Florida State 18-5 182
Others Receiving Votes
LSU 167, Washington 135, Texas 106, Florida 66, Minnesota 43, Dayton 31, California 16, Kansas State 8, West Virginia 8, South Carolina 7, Davidson 7, Miami (FL) 7, Utah 4, Arizona 4, San Diego State 2, Siena 2, Northeastern 2, Robert Morris 1, Boston College 1, Green Bay 1.
Dropped From Rankings
Texas 16, Minnesota 19, Washington 22.

ESPN/USA Today Poll
1. Connecticut (30) 22-1 774
2. Oklahoma (1) 23-1 735
3. North Carolina 21-2 711
4. Pittsburgh 21-2 689
5. Duke 20-3 604
6. UCLA 19-4 554
7. Louisville 18-4 553
8. Wake Forest 18-3 541
9. Michigan State 19-4 521
10. Memphis 20-3 486
11. Clemson 19-3 456
12. Marquette 20-3 446
13. Villanova 19-4 416
14. Xavier 20-3 375
15. Butler 21-2 346
16. Kansas 19-4 300
17. Utah State 23-1 258
18. Arizona State 18-5 214
19. Missouri 20-4 162
20. Illinois 19-5 143
21. Gonzaga 17-5 124
22. Syracuse 18-6 115
23. Purdue 17-6 114
24. Washington 17-6 86
25. Florida State 18-5 62
Others Receiving Votes
Ohio State 55, Texas 50, LSU 50, Dayton 34, Minnesota 30, Florida 26, Davidson 9, Utah 9, South Carolina 7, Saint Mary’s 5, Brigham Young 5, California 3, San Diego State 3, Penn State 2, UNLV 1, Arizona 1.
Dropped From Rankings
Texas 17, Minnesota 19.

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