Kentucky at Vanderbilt -- Ok, so spotting them 30 at half wasn't such a hot idea.

by Glenn Logan on Feb 12, 2008 11:29 PM EST in Kentucky Wildcats Basketball

This is truly not what I hoped to see tonight. But, they say that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and if that's right and the saying is proportional, Kentucky should emerge from this game as strong as the Hulk.

Congratulations to Vanderbilt on one of the great overall efforts I have seen this year. Vandy did whatever they wanted as though they were playing a high school team, and not a very good one at that. All the things that have kept us from recent success at Memorial Gym rose up and smote us tonight with the force of a hydrogen bomb, and after it was all said and done, scorched wreckage was all that was left of Kentucky's hopes for creating a buzz for this season. No matter how many games we win from here on out, this game will be right there along with Gardner-Webb to either be the greatest mountain climbed in history, or the epitaph of UK's 2007-08 season.

There are so many things to criticize in this game, it is simply meaningless to do so. This reminds me very much of the clunker that Florida threw in at Arkansas the other day, only on steroids. Never have I seen Patrick Patterson less interested in a game, and by the time he got interested, the outcome was no longer in doubt. Sometimes, success can be a burden, and our recent success seems to have weighed a bit too heavily on our shoulders tonight.

In the end, I think this is just one of those games you walk away from and say, "Oh, well." This did not resemble the tough-minded Wildcats that beat the Commodores a month ago, nor even the ones who lost in overtime to Florida. This was either a huge regression to San Diego form, or more likely, an aberration. For the sake of sanity, I will declare it the latter and starting right now, file it away under "Sh*t happens."

Well done, Commodores. Moving right along ...

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Comments

this was up quick

get this done during the half?

GO BIG BLUE!! GO BIG BLUE!!

by UKWildCatFanatic on Feb 12, 2008 11:32 PM EST reply actions

Nah ...

I type fast for an old guy.

:-)

by Glenn Logan on Feb 12, 2008 11:37 PM EST up reply actions

Too fast for me

I almost posted a "quick impressions" column here and had the foresight to double-check if you had already done so. Curses and double-drat!

The Online Home of the Big Blue Nation...

by TheFakeGimelMartinez on Feb 12, 2008 11:57 PM EST up reply actions

Congrats Billy G.

You now have on your Kentucky resume:

The worst lost to unranked team - Gardner-Webb who had an rpi of something like 280

The lowest output total since the shot clock era at 11 points

And the biggest conference blowout in Kentucky's history.

Well done. Glad to have you on board.

"The three point line should be moved back. It shouldn't be the same in Division I as it is for eighth-grade girls."

by MNBlue on Feb 12, 2008 11:37 PM EST reply actions

All a part ...

of the game of life.

Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. And sometimes, you get eaten.

by Glenn Logan on Feb 12, 2008 11:39 PM EST up reply actions

Now, now

That is NOT what we need to do - start attacking Billy G. Also on his resume:

The first double overtime win at Rupp Arena

Having Bradley show that he IS a leader and a team player

Taking an unbalanced and injury-ridden team and teaching them to dig deep and overcome

Turning a losing season into a 6-3 SEC record - second place in the SEC East.

We will overcome this and Billy G. will be there at the helm when we do!

by kentuckygirl0724 on Feb 12, 2008 11:43 PM EST up reply actions

Well...

...he IS the coach, or he is suppose to be. What do you want me to do? Blame the towel boy?

So when is it right to start blaming Billy? Let me know the appropriate timeline for when a coach takes over a new program, and is responsible for the actual games he's coaching.

(sorry, just REALLY angry about this loss. A loss I can take, but an absolute ass-whipping by a team we at least should have competed against is unforgivable)

"The three point line should be moved back. It shouldn't be the same in Division I as it is for eighth-grade girls."

by MNBlue on Feb 13, 2008 8:38 AM EST up reply actions

The buck stops over there...

Certainly Billy Gillispie gets credit for the loss. I don't think anyone denies that. In a couple years when they list Gillispie's record at Kentucky, one of those numbers on the far side of the "-" will be this game. And it will be one of several others... no more, no less. He'll lose some close ones, he'll lose some blow-outs... but one thing is for certain, he's not going undefeated from here to retirement.

What your original post tried to do was begin to put together a "resume of failure" and I don't think that's fair. Rupp had bad losses. Hall had bad losses. Sutton had bad losses. Pitino had bad losses. Smith had bad losses. So what are you trying to say? Gillispie has a bad loss or two? I kinda think we all expect that at some point or another.

by chirop1 on Feb 13, 2008 8:48 AM EST up reply actions

Blame whoever you want ...

heaven forfend that we can't place blame on somebody. We can't have all those Vandy fans mocking us, those Louisville fans, Duke fans, etc. That just hurts too much. Let's fire everybody and start all over. And if that fails, we'll do it again. And again ad infinatum.

C'mon, man, buck up. This was a loss, not NCAA sanctions. Losses happen, even to Kentucky, and sometimes really bad losses to boot.

Blaming Gillispie will not help, and even if it makes you feel better in the near term, it's just like drinking to fend off depression -- feels better when we do it, but in the long term it does more harm than good.

Hang in there. There is still a lot of basketball to be played.

by Glenn Logan on Feb 13, 2008 8:53 AM EST up reply actions

Now I can sleep...

That's what I needed - the wise words of Tru! That is the way I am going to choose to look at this game. It SUCKED and its OVER. I wont need to take my lunch to work tomorrow, however, there will be plenty of humble pie and crow for me to feast upon!

by kentuckygirl0724 on Feb 12, 2008 11:38 PM EST reply actions

Things I would rather have done...

...but didn't, instead of watching the brutal display of basketball tonight.

Have my septum removed.
Have dinner with Bruce Pearl.
Have breakfast with Courtney Love.(shudder)
Sew a quilt.
Watch a tape of the '97 Championship game.
Be roomies with Christian Laettner.
Dry clean Rick's pimp suit.

Ahh, the committment of being a fan.

by Ken Howlett on Feb 13, 2008 12:06 AM EST reply actions

Diet Coke

...is a tough stain to remove.

The Online Home of the Big Blue Nation...

by TheFakeGimelMartinez on Feb 13, 2008 12:25 AM EST up reply actions

I'm not thinking Diet Coke...

...I think a DNA test may be in order.

by Ken Howlett on Feb 13, 2008 12:52 AM EST up reply actions

#3 = Hilarious

by wldcatsfreak on Feb 13, 2008 8:36 AM EST up reply actions

White Suit Problems

The latest spin I heard from Ricky P on Pardon the Interruption was that he actually was wearing blue boxer shorts under the suit and after sweating through the first half, he took off his coat in the locker room and discovered that you could see through his pants. He subsequently changed suits. He said he didn't feel comfortable talking to Erin Andrews about it on national TV. Heh.

(Now I'm wondering if these blue boxers were Kentucky underwear... deep down does he wish he were still at UK? Does he wear UK underwear much like a grown man keeping a faded picture of his high school sweetheart? The world may never know.)

by chirop1 on Feb 13, 2008 8:41 AM EST up reply actions

Ha Ha

I guess Rick doesn't bleed blue anymore; he just sweats blue.

Stinky Blue

by Stinky Blue on Feb 13, 2008 10:15 AM EST up reply actions

Well no more asking...

...what happened to the Ramel Bradley and Joe Crawford that played against Gardner Webb and San Diego. Heads down, taking bad shots instead of making the extra pass, ugh.

And of course they weren't the only ones in the time warp. Our new man Stevenson was also playing like he was at the beginning of the season. Patterson was acting like a freshman, not like himself. Jasper was playing afraid like last year.

We didn't look prepared at all.

Now we're pretty much going to have to win the SEC tournament to get in to the NCAAs.

What else can you say, but "oh, well!"

by EEWildcat on Feb 13, 2008 1:17 AM EST reply actions

20-12 On Selection Sunday

Gets UK an NCAA bid without winning SECT.

1 more L (Tennessee) and 1 L in SECT.

by FortyYearCatFan on Feb 13, 2008 6:30 AM EST reply actions

Perfect Storm.

I almost got on here yesterday and posted my feeling that we would lose this game in horrendous fashion. I didn't because I was afraid to jinx us. Turns out just thinking that jinxed us so oh well. But look at this rationally. We've just won 5 games straight and honestly each one of them was a nail biter and emotionally charged. We are still not completely healthy and we rely on a freshman to control our games. We were playing in what is typically one of the toughest places to play in the SEC. We ended Vandy's unbeaten streak earlier this year. Vandy is finally home after one of the toughest SEC schedules of the season. It was a perfect storm. An ugly but perfect storm. Let's just take it one game at a time, just like we did the last five. This team is still improving and there were even positives about last night (AJ got some needed playing time). So..bring on the next one!

Xbox Live Gamertag: Rone Tyr

by hoopchi on Feb 13, 2008 8:12 AM EST reply actions

Penance

I don't know about y'all, but I felt compelled to watch the entire game - it felt like my penance for being a UK fan. If I couldn't sit through it all, I don't deserve to be happy when (eventually) the shoe is on the other foot. Apparently, Ashley Judd thought the same - HUGE props to her for actually showing up and sitting through it. How many Hollywood types would have sat through that type of Lakers game?

C! A! T! S! CATS! CATS! CATS!

by NYCCats on Feb 13, 2008 8:14 AM EST reply actions

I watched every minute ...

painful as it was.

The time will come when we will drub Vandy and all of us who remembered this loss will feel much better. But we may have to wait a while ...

by Glenn Logan on Feb 13, 2008 8:55 AM EST up reply actions

Piling on

Not only do we take a complete ass whipping last night but freakin espn has to be asking "what is the greatest highlight" and up for discussion today is A-hole #1 c. laettner and his shot against UK.

I've got a dog here, anyone want to come over and kick it too?

by wldcatsfreak on Feb 13, 2008 8:43 AM EST reply actions