March 7th

There are only 4 games left in the regular season. I eagerly anticipate and wait for each of them, but now that the end of the season is in sight I don’t want the games to stop for several reasons. One reason is that as soon as the final tourney game is over it seems an eternity before the season begins again.

This year I really hate it because it will be the last time we see several players play in the uniform in Rupp Arena. We have such special players talent wise and character wise that we will be saying goodbye to.

John Wall, what can you not like about the young man. He has withstood the pressure of being the #1 player coming out of high school and has not only exceeded expectations at the collegiate level, but has been humble and poised beyond his years. It is difficult to think of not having him around next year and how can we or anybody replace that talent.

Demarcus Cousins, he has been a delight to watch play the game. I have enjoyed him immensely. He has an easy going manner about him when he isn’t playing, but put him in uniform and he is a terror to anyone in his path. Even though we have Orton back next year and another young man I really like, it will be difficult saying goodbye to Cuz. Watching the maturity of the young man has been amazing to behold.

Ramon Harris, he is one of my favorite players. I feel that Ramon will be very successful in life. He seems to be well grounded and is extremely bright and articulate during interviews. He was basically cheated out of a year, but never complained and played hurt a lot of the time. I feel he has a good future ahead of him. I will miss him as well.

Perry Stevenson, Skinny as we all affectionately call him. How could you not like him. He of the quotes and mild manners. I hope he stays around Lexington and does well in whatever his chosen field is. He will be missed.

Mark Krebs, I wished that he could have played more this year. He has been rewarded with the scholarship for the final year and it was appropriate for his contributions to the team since he has been here. He too will be missed.

Patrick Patterson, I don’t know what to say to put into words about him. He has just been special. His immense talent is apparent to everyone and his unending motor on the court is just special. However, even more than that, he hasn’t faltered at any time in any way to deliver leadership, warmth and joy to the legions of fans that live and die Kentucky Blue. It is an impossible task to please all the fans all the time, but he has done that better than any player I can ever remember. That isn’t to slight any of the past players either. There are so many that I have enjoyed so much and will forever remember them. I would mention some of them, but it wouldn’t be fair to the others.

Patrick has done all that while carrying enough credits to graduate in 3 years. Don’t ask me how he has dug down deep many times when it must have appeared impossible for him to keep going. Don’t ask me how he how he has maintained his composure during difficult moments during the past three years as well. There will definitely be an empty spot in our big blue hearts next year and for years to come for these departing players, all of them.

Yes there are many other great players on the team that are representing the team well and will continue to do so and many will come that will do the same and we will hate to let them go when they graduate or decide to leave early for the NBA. But they will have big shoes to fill from the departed players.

There is going to be a lot of big blue tears come March 7 when they sing, “My Old Kentucky Home”!

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.