Back to Kentucky. I am very much looking forward to more pictures and your experiences with Big Blue fans in Vegas.

to the rebirth of Kentucky basketball!! I feel it too, Tru!

having read several of the chat boards around, I was surprised by how many Cat fans (or pretenders) seemed to be complaining because neither game was a “pretty” win. I know there are tons of problems… we all know what they are and I won’t waste time naming them… but I saw the positive quality that I consider to be the more important than any of the basketball 101 mistakes that were made… I saw lots of heart.
The team maintained enough composure in the first half of each game that they didn’t get buried when they fell behind, and when the going got really tough, they just got tougher. (maybe not more talented or skillful, but at least tougher).

Crawford and Bradley showed us last spring just how very far you can go with lots of heart and little manpower. Sure a seasoned man at the point would solve a multitude of woes, but as these guys proved this weekend, the willingness to throw your body on floor for every loose ball and perhaps to even throw an elbow or two (that you hopefully get away with) also counts for much.

I think they played with amazing passion and aggressiveness, and they had some priceless learning time in Las Vegas, and oh yeah, they brought home the trophy!

i find myself disagreeing with you several times today…

But, are you saying that both those players did not show heart last year..??? I hope I’m reading that wrong… My God, both those kids left it all on the court last season after having to go through a coaching change in their senior season… Crawford especially gave everything he had and then some in the final lose… Ans Bradley gave it all year, while trying to keep everyone together…

I was hard on Crawford for being selfish at the start of the season, but man did he ever turn it around and carry this team late…

I feel we as fans owe both those young men a lot for staying at UK after tubby left and giving everything that they had…

Once again, just my opinion…

isnt saying they showed no heart.

He is saying they are talented and dont typify players that arent talented that only play with heart.

…that’s the problem with blogging sometimes… It’s hard to read the raw emotions at times… lol

if instead of saying that Crawford and Bradley had lots of heart and little manpower, I changed it to read, lots of heart, and talent… and little manpower?

by “little manpower….” I didn’t mean JC and RB lacked talent; I meant we were never all healthy at the same time, and we played with some huge holes in our lineup.

What does UK do with the pre-conference tournament trophies? Do they still display them next to the NCAA, NIT, and SEC trophies?

FG Shooting ? ……..Come on guess, you got it, the CATS! We are also shooting almost 76 from the free throw line. But there is a glaring area of opportunity for us in regards to turnovers. We are averaging, wow, 23.0 turnovers per game. Wow, this is craaaaazzzy! Our assists aren’t all that bad at 15.5/game, which is 5th in the SEC.

I know, I know, this is an obvious issue, but I thought it was interesting to actually put into perspective. Also, we average 6.8 blocks per game, which is 3rd in the SEC, but only 7.2 steals per game (9th in SEC)

So looking at this tells me what I already knew. That we are a talented team, that doesn’t always play smart. For example, if we can learn to keep some of our blocks “in play”, then our steals will go up. This will give us additional posessions, and when you are shooting 50%, this can only help.

We have to reduce our turnovers, and I think by giving Liggins more playing time, this is very possible. As Patterson continues to heal, and Josh, Deandre, and Darius continue to gain playing time and confidence, we will keep getting better.

WE WILL BECOME A GOOD TEAM, THAT WILL LEARN HOW TO WIN, AND GO FAR IN THE TOURNAMENT THIS YEAR! YES I SAID THIS YEAR! 2008! WE WILL CUT DOWN THE NETS IN THE SEC TOURNEY, AND WILL ALSO BE SEC REGULAR SEASON CHAMPS! AM I CRAZY, YES, BUT WE WILL BE GOOD THIS YEAR! TOO MUCH TALENT FOR US NOT TO! COACH IS ALSO LEARNING AS HE GOES, BUT HE’S TOO PASSIONATE NOT TO BECOME ONE OF THE GREATEST COACHES EVER!

GO BIG BLUE! I LOVE THE CATS! I BLEED BLUE, AND TO ALL OF YOU PESSIMISTS, GO SHOPPING WITH YOUR SPOUSE OR SOMETHING, BUT GET THE HELL OFF OF THE GREATEST WILDCAT SITE EVER! A SOB THAT IS!

In all honestly I have experienced very few fans of that sort here. The only one I can remember was Paris10 and he has not been here for a while.

The majority of members on this site are true blue fans and have been for many years. We’ve been through the ups and downs of the basketball and football programs and I think most are optimistic yet realistic.

I will agree this is the greatest UK site around for intelligent commentary and hearing other opinions on our teams. It’s a community of intellectual people who have followed the Cats for years and love our guys and gals that wear the Blue.