Kentucky 117, Clarion 52 -- Postmortem
by Truzenzuzex on Nov 7, 2009 1:20 AM EST
in Basketball
1 comment
Thanks to the Clarion Golden Eagles for coming into Rupp Arena and giving a game effort against the Wildcats. John Calipari's alma mater came in and gave a good account of themselves versus a vastly superior team, and did both the school and our coach proud with their relentless effort.
Examine the score.
Kentucky has played many exhibition games over the years. The last time Kentucky scored over 110 points was just last year, versus Missouri-St. Louis, 111-53. Two games later, Kentucky allowed 111 points in a loss to VMI.
I mention this only to focus the mind of the Big Blue Nation. This victory, and the size of it, is as ephemeral and meaningless as the pixels on your screen. Well, maybe the pixels mean a bit more.
No matter what, this was a much more impressive game than versus Campbellsville. The Wildcats played with more skill, more cohesion, and an equivalent level of intensity and determination. When big guys like DeMarcus Cousins start taking charges, that is motivation and determination. Kentucky has quite possibly taken more charges in two exhibition games this year than they did in the first four games last year. Maybe that is a comment on the disparity of the skill level. Maybe it is a comment on the determination of the team.
My observations follow the jump.
1 comment | 0 recs |
Kentucky vs. Clarion -- Analysis and Open Game Thread
by Truzenzuzex on Nov 6, 2009 6:14 PM EST
in Open Thread
318 comments
Since SB Nation doesn't provide a special open game thread for exhibition games, it's just more convenient for me to combine all that into one.
Tonight, the Kentucky Wildcats face off against the Clarion Golden Eagles, John Calipari's alma mater. The particulars of tonights game are as follows, courtesy of UKAthletics.com:
- Time & Place:
- Gametracker
. - Live audio
- Subscribers on Extreme Access
(delayed per SEC rules) -
Cable TV: FSN-South: 7:00 p.m. ET (Live)
Footprint includes the states of Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee.Broadcast TV/BBSN
Market Station Time (all times local) Bowling Green WBKO-CW 9:00 p.m. (delayed) Evansville WTVW-TV 10:00 p.m. (delayed) Hazard WYMT-TV 11:35 p.m. (delayed) Huntington, W.Va. WSAZ-My qZ 11:30 p.m. (delayed) Hopkinsville WKAG-TV 10:00 p.m. (delayed) Lexington WKYT-TV 11:35 p.m. (delayed) Louisville WMYO-TV 11:00 p.m. (delayed) Paducah, Ky./Cape Girardeau, Mo. WDKA-TV 9:00 p.m. (delayed)
318 comments | 0 recs |
Is Your Team the Kentucky Wildcats? No? Then You Are Irrelevant
by Truzenzuzex on Nov 6, 2009 9:41 AM EST
in Basketball
40 comments
All the media cares about is Kentucky this season. Well, that's the message for the last couple of days, anyway.
According to this piece over at SI.com, Kansas may be #1 in the rankings, but UK is #1 in the minds of college basketball watchers:
Yes, Kansas was the runaway No. 1 choice in the preseason Top 25. And sure, the Jayhawks had two players on the preseason All-America team.
But it's Kentucky that's generating all the buzz. With one of college basketball's storied programs now being run by John Calipari, what else are people going to talk about?
Aside from the obvious schadenfreude toward the Jayhawks that many UK fans will feel (especially since UK has lost its past three meetings with the Jayhawks), the media narrative this season seems to be focused squarely on Lexington.
The interest seems to be multi-dimensional -- yes, the media see UK's fanstastic freshman class which includes at least two and possibly three sure-fire lottery picks (DeMarcus Cousins, John Wall and Eric Bledsoe) in the next year or three, not to mention Patrick Patterson, but they also seem fascinated by the cult of personality that is developing around John Calipari with his near-million Twitter followers and hundreds of thousands of Facebook devotees.
As if that weren't enough, some of the media feel like they are watching a slow-speed train wreck with a coach known for having his teams forfeit wins now coaching at a school formerly known for rule-breaking and general acts of poor NCAA citizenship. Add to that Calipari's remarkable personal and social media strategy, his new book, Bounce Back, and his absolutely ubiquitous nature on sports shows, interviews and public appearances combined with Kentucky's storied history, and it's easy to see why the sports media is drawn to Bluegrass like David Letterman to a pretty production staffer.
As a long-time fan of Kentucky basketball, it is amazing to me watch the current media fascination with a team that was an absolute non-entity for the last four years except as a cautionary tale. First it was all about how Tubby Smith's team was struggling and how unhappy the fans were, then there was the whole Billy Gillispie fiasco that turned out to be all about offering scholarships to middle schoolers, angering the NABC over that and his moving of the date of Big Blue Madness, making rude comments to female reporters during halftime interviews and winning fewer and fewer basketball games.
40 comments | 0 recs |
The Big Blue Daily Mail -- The Gates of Delirium
by Truzenzuzex on Nov 5, 2009 10:15 AM EST
in News
17 comments
The flu bug has assailed the football Wildcats, and the prospect of watching John Wall finally lead the basketball Wildcats into battle has me delirious with both pleasure and pain. It drives me crazy when so many players are hit with injury and illness all at once, and I suppose I should be thankful that we are not going into the Vanderbilt game this weekend. But at the same time, it drives me nuts that we seem to wind up in this same situation every year at this time. Maybe it's everybody, but it just doesn't seem that way.
Moving on to basketball, UK welcomes John Calipari's alma mater, Clarion University, into Rupp Arena tomorrow night. We'll have much more on that in due course, but I highly recommend this Jerry Tipton article (even to the anti-Tipton crowd), which has lots of great background on Calipari's time at Clarion, and how it helped shape him into what he is today.
I am a big fan of coaches playing their alma maters, particularly when they are small schools like Clarion. It may not continue for Calipari, though, but I have to admit, I do like the practice.
Speaking of practice, how is that Dribble Drive Motion offense working out for the 'Cats? About like Calipari predicted it would early on -- balls flying everywhere but in the basket, turnovers, etc. It will get better, and when it does, this team will be really dangerous.
And now, for the news:
Top Stories
17 comments | 0 recs |
Overlooking Eastern -- Can UK Win Two More SEC Games?
by Truzenzuzex on Nov 4, 2009 7:06 PM EST
in Football
27 comments
I'm going to do something here, for the sake of discussion, that the team cannot afford to do -- assume a win versus Eastern Kentucky. If that assumption is wrong, the rest of this discussion is still relevant, and would become urgent. So let's do the uncharacteristic, just for the sake of conversation.
The quick answer to my lede is, "No." No because UK has to play perennial powerhouse Georgia on the road. No because Tennessee looks like it is rising, having played Alabama and Florida tough, beaten Georgia and South Carolina. No because Vanderbilt may be finding answers to season-long questions. No because, well, UK fans are all down in the mouth about the lousy, confusing performance against Mississippi State that took away any momentum that may have been building up in the program to that point. No, because UK is...well, UK.
But I refuse to accept that. This team has, as is usual this time of year, been riddled with damaging injuries including its only All-American candidate, Trevard Lindley, who has been out for a month. The starting QB, Mike Hartline is down and most likely out for the year, being replaced by true freshman Morgan Newton. Derrick Locke is likely out this week, and Micah Johnson is far from 100% and may also sit. Offensive lineman Jake Lanefsky is lost for the season. Kentucky is banged up big time.
In spite of all that, this team has shown a lot of potential this season, and the biggest problem has been continuity from game to game. Part of that has to do with the quarterback situation, but Lindley's absence has also been a big factor, especially when it comes to confidence in the defensive secondary. But despite all that, the Wildcats have not been out of any games this year except Florida, and have proven that they can play very clean and efficient football. That portends well for the rest of the season.
27 comments | 0 recs |
SEC Power Poll Ballot -- Week 9
by Truzenzuzex on Nov 4, 2009 1:19 PM EST
in Football
17 comments
As we all know, and have said over and over, Kentucky took a big step back on Saturday versus Mississippi State, the second time in three years that the Bulldogs have come into Commonwealth Stadium and left with a Wildcat scalp.
Naturally, that did not help Kentucky in the Power Poll ballot, but some other teams' poor performance did (or in the case of Vanderbilt, lack of sustained performance). The top spot keeps flip-flopping back and forth between Florida and Alabama, and Florida's abuse of the Bulldogs in the World's Largest Cocktail Party makes it hard not to put them in the top spot, even if the Elephants did not play last week.
South Carolina also benefits from the failure of other teams recently even though they were bitten in the hind parts by Ol' Smoky, and Auburn returns to the top half of my ballot with an impressive win over the Ole Miss Rebels on the Plains. All in all, the entire thing is a mess south of the top three teams, and there is very little separating 4-7 and 8-11 as discrete subgroups. Vanderbilt is clearly the weakest team, and Florida or Alabama clearly the best with LSU remaining in the conversation. Beyond that, it's anyone's guess.
The aggregated results from all voters are at Team Speed Kills, as always. My ballot follows the jump.
17 comments | 0 recs |
The Big Blue Daily Mail -- Blog Refresh Edition
by Truzenzuzex on Nov 3, 2009 9:56 AM EST
in News
41 comments
SB Nation has performed what they are calling a "visual refresh" of the blogs, and I hope you love it as much as I do. To me, the the site looks much cleaner and more readable. Great job by the code magicians at SBN.
Now, to business. The game last night drew pretty predictable commentary from around the Big Blue Nation, mostly expecting the ugly, disjointed nature of the game while marveling at the talent and athleticism. I think that's the best way to look at it, and I'm sure Coach Calipari learned a lot about his team last night. We will learn even more on Friday when John Wall gets to suit up and take the floor for the first time versus outside competition.
At the end of the day, I was not unhappy with what I saw. I expected this game to be ugly, and it did not disappoint. But I loved the way the team tried to play together, and the effort on defense was really quite remarkable, with a number of players hitting the floor hard trying to draw charges, and getting floor burns chasing after loose balls. You have to really admire all that effort, and even if the execution was sloppy, it was really good to see how hard the team played.
Now, for the news:
Top Stories
-
UK commitments update
Great stuff from Jody Demling. -
UK's debut displays 'good, bad & ugly' " Evansville Courier & Press
"If they had 58 possessions, we guarded about 10 of them just the way we want to do it," Calipari said. "The problem is the other 48. They missed a lot of open shots. When we watch the tape, we'll see we didn't communicate. We missed on some switches. But there were other times I looked and said 'That's exactly how I want my team to play."'
That's the way I saw it as well. - " Audio: John Calipari’s post-game press conference John Clay’s Sidelines
-
Bluegrass State Basketball: UK/Campbellsville Quotes, Analysis and More
Some nice observations from BSB. Always worth a read.
41 comments | 0 recs |
Kentucky 74, Campbellsville 38 -- Postmortem
by Truzenzuzex on Nov 2, 2009 9:52 PM EST
in Basketball
57 comments
First of all, thanks to Campbellsville University for coming into Rupp Arena and fearlessly taking on the much bigger and more athletic Wildcats. The Tigers were full of hustle, effort, and teamwork, and they helped contribute to forcing the Wildcats into 23 turnovers and making them look quite a bit less impressive than their press clippings have been.
Well, John Calipari said it would look ugly early, and he was not kidding. This was as ugly as the north end of a south-bound camel, and take it from a guy who has seen that far closer than anyone would want to, that's ugly. No ice cream there, and no ice cream here tonight.
But.
This is a big, big "but." This is a euphoric "but" rather than a damning one. This team was more fun to watch at its worst than last year's team was at it's best, excepting Meeks' lights-out performance at Tennessee. This was an ugly game, but it was incredibly beautiful in that this was clearly the kind of team that can crush people into the dust when they finally figure it out. It is a thing of beauty to see a team that clearly has no clue still recognize that they are so superior to the other team that it really doesn't matter what the other team does.
Ugly, yes, but like a nasty, hairy caterpillar that you know will turn into a beautiful butterfly. More thoughts after the jump.
57 comments | 0 recs |
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Wildcats Football Schedule
| @ Miami (Ohio) | Sat 09/05 | W 42 - 0 |
Louisville
|
Sat 09/19 | W 31 - 27 |
|
Florida
|
Sat 09/26 | L 7 - 41 |
|
Alabama
|
Sat 10/03 | L 20 - 38 |
|
@
South Carolina
|
Sat 10/10 | L 26 - 28 |
|
@
Auburn
|
Sat 10/17 | W 21 - 14 |
| Louisiana-Monroe | Sat 10/24 | W 36 - 13 |
|
Mississippi St.
|
Sat 10/31 | L 24 - 31 |
| Eastern Kentucky | Sat 11/07 | 1:00 PM EST |
| @ Vanderbilt | Sat 11/14 | 12:21 PM EST |
|
@
Georgia
|
Sat 11/21 | TBA |
|
Tennessee
|
Sat 11/28 | TBA |
Next Game
Southeastern Conference Standings
(updated 11.1.2009 at 5:54 AM EDT)
| East | Conf | Overall | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | W | L | |
|
Florida Gators
|
6 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
|
South Carolina Gamecocks
|
3 | 3 | 6 | 3 |
|
Georgia Bulldogs
|
3 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
|
Tennessee Volunteers
|
2 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
|
Kentucky Wildcats
|
1 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Vanderbilt Commodores | 0 | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| West | Conf | Overall | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | W | L | |
|
Alabama Crimson Tide
|
5 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
|
LSU Tigers
|
4 | 1 | 7 | 1 |
|
Auburn Tigers
|
3 | 3 | 6 | 3 |
|
Mississippi Rebels
|
2 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
|
Mississippi St. Bulldogs
|
2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|
Arkansas Razorbacks
|
1 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Certain photos copyright © 2009 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
