The Big Blue Daily Mail -- Post-UConn Edition
by Glenn Logan on Dec 10, 2009 8:10 AM EST
in Kentucky Wildcats News
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PrintWe'll have a look back at the UConn game a bit later, but I just wanted to get you up to date on the news, which has lagged a bit due to the pace of the season and my busy schedule.
Obviously, most of this is hyperbole directed at John Wall, but it's always fun to read. It pleases me no end to avenge the 2006 loss to the Huskies, even if the game was anything but a thing of beauty.
The news follows the jump.
- Sprints Is Not Surprised that Tennessee Is Under Investigation // 12.10.09 - Team Speed Kills
Team Speed Kills considers it an inevitability, and I suppose it is with all the secondary violations the team had to admit earlier this year. Is it just me, or does this look somehow like UT was running a brothel to aid their recruiting? I'm sure that's not the case, but if I were a late-night comedian, I would be having a field day with this. - Rush The Court " Blog Archive " ATB: John Wall is College Basketball
John Wall (25/2/6 stls) scored twelve of the last fifteen points of the game for his team, and as our RTC Live correspondent Ballin is a Habit put it at the game, "Garden security should kidnap Wall and throw a Nate Robinson jersey on him. Who will know?"
Heh. Indeed. - Rush The Court " Blog Archive " Morning Five: 12.10.09 Edition
Memphis filed an appeal against the NCAA’s decision to vacate its 2008 season based on the Derrick Rose SAT scandal, even with the distinct possibility that the school could face a harsher punishment than currently imposed if they did so. We’re not really keen on the NCAA Committee on Infractions using this heavyhanded method of leverage to try to force schools to swallow their initial decision just because they said so. Memphis correctly argued that this creates a "chilling effect" for schools that wish to use their legal right to appeal, and even cited language from a 2001 case against UNLV to that effect. We’re starting to wonder if someone at the NCAA lost a lot of money on Memphis that season, because this is taking the appearance of vindictiveness.
Indeed it is. Somebody needs to explain to the Committee on Infractions that they are making the NCAA look like Tomás de Torquemada. - " BBL: Wall wows a Madison Square Garden party John Clay’s Sidelines
John Clay's Big Blue Links. - UK beats UConn as Wall takes over | KentuckySports.com
Liggins at home
UK sophomore DeAndre Liggins did not make the trip. He also did not travel to Mexico for the Cancun Challenge.
What does this mean? I don't know. - John Wall is one tough Cat; late heroics lift Kentucky basketball past UConn 64-61 | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal
Jay-Z was nowhere to be seen. Spike Lee apparently was absent. There was no sign of Woody Allen courtside Wednesday night in Madison Square Garden. Still, "The World's Most Famous Arena" didn't lack for star power in the University of Kentucky's 64-61 win over Connecticut in the SEC/Big East Challenge. - John Clay: Big stage exactly where Wall belongs | KentuckySports.com
And down low, the Huskies gashed Kentucky on the glass 26-14 in the first 20 minutes. The Huskies taught the Cats a thing or two.
Ah, but the Cats showed they can be quick learners. Kentucky learned how to take a punch, even on the biggest stage, the one where they used to hold all those classic heavyweight fights.
Just barely quick enough. - Dana O'Neil: Too much hype? John Wall is well worth it - ESPN
If there was a halfcourt offense being run by either team, it was well-disguised.
Truth, forsooth. - In crunch time, Calipari not afraid to go to the Wall - NCAA Division I Mens Basketball - CBSSports.com
You want a crazy statistic?
Consider that Wall has played eight games and scored key points in the final minute to help win four of them. Some great college players will go entire careers without doing that. But Wall has already hit a game-winning jumper to beat Miami of Ohio, hit a pull-up jumper followed by free throws with 0.5 seconds remaining to force overtime in an eventual victory against Stanford, made two free throws with 4.3 seconds remaining to secure a win over North Carolina, and converted an I-can't-believe-he-just-made-that three-point play with 30.8 seconds remaining to beat UConn.
If it sounds amazing, that's because it is amazing.
If he sounds awesome, that's because he is awesome.
I think he's said it all.
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Just read
Jay Mariotti’s slanderous article in fanhouse. If I were Coach Cal I would consider legal action. I believe the true intent of this article is to discourage young players from signing up under the UK coach. Of course that would be predicated on the assumption that anyone takes his ridiculous drivel seriously. There are some limits to free speech.
Job 1: Gain Readers/Followers
No secret (especially evident if you’ve watched ATH) that Jay Mariotti’s life goal is to gain fame, fortune and followers. All in all though I thought the piece — considering its main purpose — was a net positive, especially for John Wall.
"Learn(ing) without thinking begets ignorance. Think(ing) without learning is dangerous."
-Confucius
Agreed
But how about instead of legal action, we just hit “ignore”?
by ukbulldog on Dec 10, 2009 10:38 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
My problem
with ignore is that young people may read this and think that Cal would be horrible to play under.
Embrace the hate
First time I shot her, shot her in the side.
Hard to watch her suffer, but with the second shot she died...
There's is definitely hatred...
But Cal is pretty tough on his players, and rightfully should have been at the half yesterday.
I posted it yesterday in the game thread and I’ll say it again. John Wall is a good and a soon-to-be great player, but the never ending sportscenter news cycle coupled with the internet have put unheard of labels on the kid. Vitale said while we were still down like 8 that Wall is already better than D. Rose. Rose was the top pick and got his team to a title. Two minutes later Wall got his pocket picked on two of four possessions. This morning one of the talking heads said he’s the best college player in 10 years. Better than durrant? Not yet, not yet. The kid has played eight games so far, why are we as society so quick to label everybody? lebron was the next jordan, brady is the best qb ever, arod is the best hitter ever…on and on and on. Of course he scored 12 of the last 15, he took almost every shot at the end. But it was Patterson and Cousins that kept us in the game for the first 10 minutes of the second half. We have to get it to Patterson more, he has a jumper now and he’s always been a beast in the paint.
So far I can def. say Wall is up there with Lawson in terms of the best transition guards I’ve seen in a decade, but we have witnessed enough of a body of work to say he’s the best in 10 years or anything of the sort. He still gets himself into trouble trying to break ppl down off the dribble, still gave up quite a few baskets to his man on d, still doesn’t get his teammates as involved as you’d like to see. If we put all our eggs in the Wall basket, I’m concerned we’ll be disappointed in March.
As Tru correctly stated in another post, we beat UConn and UNC because we are more talented. It’s a great feeling to know we probably played at 80 percent of our capability in those games and won, but we have a long way to go to maximize the talent on this team. Anything less than a final four is underachieving if they utilize all the weapons on the team, and I really think hood deserves some of Miller’s minutes.
Daniel, you are 28,
that means Wall is the best transition guard you have ever seen play college ball. Jason Kidd was also fantastic but you would be to young to remember him playing in college. No player is perfect, even Jordan screwed up at times. Lawson is not Wall, even though Lawson was fantastic at NC. Lawson was a senior loaded with talent around him and it was seasoned talent unlike what Wall is playing with. The hyper-bold does get old (try living in the heart of Gator country the last 4 years), but this is our guy and as an older person, I know these type of players do not come along to often, so don’t fight it, enjoy our journey this year. PP with one of my all time favorites at UK by the way, it is not his style to be the main focus and it wasn’t his style in high school either. He is the most sound fundamental player I recall seeing at UK since Kyle Macy.
by Grasslands1 on Dec 10, 2009 12:39 PM EST up reply actions
I still am.....it started at midnight,
well a little before with that great win. :-)
Blue... there is no other color to Bleed !!!
Happy 24th birthday!
First time I shot her, shot her in the side.
Hard to watch her suffer, but with the second shot she died...
Happy B day a2d2
Mine was last Sunday and I got the N. Carolina win. Your present was the U. Conn victory! GO CATS!
"You are what you are and you ain't what you ain't"
Thanks.....and happy belated B day to you
We had awesome presents, huh? :-)
Blue... there is no other color to Bleed !!!
Thanks....it has been a great day
Maybe the way it started off helped a lot. That was my birthday wish. :-)
Blue... there is no other color to Bleed !!!
I remember Kidd at Cal
Young doesn’t equal dumb all the time. I just don’t think you can say any player is the greatest after 8 games. We will learn much more after he matches up with Rivers saturday. A sound Big East experienced guard that’s just as big and strong as wall, but a little slower. As for Lawson, you have to look at the entire career, not just last year. He made most of his teammates look better than they actually were.
He's
talking about Jeremiah Rivers. Rivers transferred to Indiana from a Big East school, Georgetown.
I just witnessed
John Wall walking across the Ohio River a second ago with a kitten in one hand and a balanced health care reform bill in the other…..
Yes, Rivers has made Indiana a much better team than last year. He played in some big games at Gtown. BigSky knows her hoops.
I still think
We win by 20 plus. At least I hope so, have five bucks riding on that with a few of these hater Southern Indiana residents.
Ha.
That’s quite an amazing feat you just witnessed. However, knowing you, Daniel, you probably think Wall stole the cat, don’t you? ; )
I agree that the labeling of Wall might be a bit out of hand at present, but just remember that it’s other people that are putting the labels on him. I think he’s actually a pretty humble kid (as evidenced by his lovely interview on ESPN First Take this morning, did you catch it?) and he’s certainly not claiming to be the second coming himself, so don’t come down too hard on him personally.
About Rivers. At the time, I remember being so surprised that he would transfer to Indiana from Georgetown, as it seemed like a step down two years ago, but whatever works, I guess. And yes, I think he does make them much better as he is a good player, but then again, his dad can afford to hire him a personal trainer in the summer, so he really should be better than average.
Oh, and I think that was 5 bucks well spent. You should have no problem seeing a return. : )
I think Rivers left
Because he was going to be behind a couple of pretty good pg’s last year, if memory serves me correct.
I don’t think Wall stole the kitten, I just think he illegally entered the house to procure it, sorry couldn’t resist, just joking.
I think he will live up to most of the hype, I just feel we are a bandwagon society and we blow things out of proportion. Every time I start to think otherwise, I turn on the TV and have to listen to Tiger Wood’s mother-in-law’s 9-1-1 call on replay on ESPN.
Agree-
Hood should get more minutes and experience. Sometimes, Miller just looks lost…
"You are what you are and you ain't what you ain't"
Hood must not be ready
or Cal would have him out there. Hoods time will come. Even if Miller is not getting the minutes, it probably won’t be Hood getting them this year. Miller did a good job on defense last night even though he didn’t have a strong game on offense. One thing about Miller is he doesn’t do to many stupid things that cost ball games.
by Grasslands1 on Dec 10, 2009 12:49 PM EST up reply actions
i can't stand mariotti
living here in chicago, i am sure no one does. he writes to incite, and and the players on every team hate him, which is why he’s too afraid to go into any clubhouse, especially the white sox. www.jaythejoke.com is a good site that shows you how 2-faced he is.
anyway, i took a quick look at the article and saw it was completely devoid of facts, and clearly he didn’t talk to anyone. but as is his MO, he writes opinion and presents it as fact.
but my absolute favorite part is this:
(Wall) drove to the basket without a challenge and jammed home the ball with a semi-whirlybird dunk.
this is funny to me (besides the dunk not being at all “whirlybird-like”) because the white sox tv announce ken “hawk” harrelson can’t stand marioot, and always call him a whirlybird. By hawk’s own definition, a whirlybird is:
It’s a bird that flies around in perfect concentrical circles until he flies up his own ass and disappears."
I’ve always loved that quote!
GO BIG BLUE!! GO BIG BLUE!!
by UKWildCatFanatic on Dec 10, 2009 3:26 PM EST up reply actions
Yeah.
You wonder what game this guy was watching. Probably didn’t. What a loser.
A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan
I See What You Mean
What total BS. Or as writers say, fiction. Mariotti completely ignores fact and goes on to make up some of his own. Every interview I have ever heard so far of Wall, he talks about doing what “Coach asks”. I have a hard time with ignorance but it does so often seem to pay to be.
I know the mantra is "Embrace the Hate" but must we embrace arrogance and ignorance too?
wait a minute! hold on!
they went to journalism school?
GO BIG BLUE!! GO BIG BLUE!!
by UKWildCatFanatic on Dec 10, 2009 11:48 PM EST up reply actions
What is Liggin's eligibility situation?
If he doesn’t play can he transfer and not have to sit out another year? Could that be the case? Otherwise I have to think it is a grades thing and Cal is just not publicizing it.
"Come test me every day if you want," says Pujols, "Everything I ever made in this game I would give back to the Cardinals if I got caught."
He has been practicing and I
don’t think you can practice if you are academically ineligible. Who out there knows the rule?
How
can you be academically ineligible until you fail and you do not fail until the final grades are in. I think he was not keeping up with his academic responsibilities and was told to get his house in order.
my thought is he let his work slip in the spring
before he knew BCG was out and Cal was in….
only one rule in my house - uk has to be your favorite college bball team
by memphis wildcat on Dec 10, 2009 10:52 PM EST up reply actions
If he had failed in the spring
then I don’t think he could be practicing with the team, not sure though.
Re: Memphis
I liked the way Dicky V. weighted in last night, saying something to the effect that the punishment was ridiculous because everybody thought Rose was eligible. That Memphis and Calipari only played him BECAUSE the NCAA told them Rose was eligble.
I really hope Memphis wins its appeal.
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
--O.W.
I don't know.
Memphis may take that case to court. Sure, the court does not do anything with the wins that are being stricken (as well as the final four), but the NCAA is also saying Memphis must pay to it all of the money received from the NCAA tourney that year and that amount is quite large. At least it is large enough to fight over in court when you feel you are being shafted to begin with.
You Omitted "Executioneer"
"Learn(ing) without thinking begets ignorance. Think(ing) without learning is dangerous."
-Confucius
by Wild Weasel on Dec 10, 2009 12:09 PM EST up reply actions
Hope Memphis wins its appeal
Would be nice to know that the C in NCAA doesn’t stand for cretins, but I wouldn’t bet on it. As I read it, the NCAA clearing house certified Rose to play so he did. Then the NCAA received reports of SAT discrepancies and sent a letter to Rose at his old address demanding his response. Since Rose didn’t see the letter in time, he never responded and the NCAA declared him guilty of a SAT violation because of his non-response. And now Memphis has to appeal to the very organization that made such an illogical decision? Isn’t this out of some totalitarian legal handbook?
I can't wait for
John Wall to have two great halves in a game. We are so lucky to have this guy for a year. Could a one and done actually have his jersey raised to the rafters in Rupp?
i like john wall
as much as everybody else, but no way do i believe a one-and-done should get his jersey on the rafters.
not even if the cats go undefeated and win the NC.
GO BIG BLUE!! GO BIG BLUE!!
by UKWildCatFanatic on Dec 10, 2009 3:35 PM EST up reply actions
if the cats go undefeated and win the NC.....
they can hang ME in the rafters to sing his praises
save me a seat
if that were to happen, it’s going to get crowded up there!
GO BIG BLUE!! GO BIG BLUE!!
by UKWildCatFanatic on Dec 10, 2009 6:25 PM EST up reply actions
If
John Wall takes us to #8 and puts us back on top, he has done his job and deserves recognition. I think he still has a good long way to go to get to that honor but lets hope he does.
absolutely agree that he'll deserve recognition
or rather, more recognition ;)
but i just can’t see a program like UK putting a one-and-done’s jersey up no matter how good he is. especially not when there are others that probably should go up first, Tony Delk, being just one example.
GO BIG BLUE!! GO BIG BLUE!!
by UKWildCatFanatic on Dec 10, 2009 11:51 PM EST up reply actions
How good is UK?
Coach Cal says we are not a very good team.
Has Coach been reading the Pomeroy Ratings
www.kenpom.com
The updated pomeroy ratings has UK 9-0 and ranked #58 in the country. Isn’t that strange?
UCONN is ranked #45 and UNC #51
So I guess that explains the internal consistency of the Pomeroy Rankings.
The computer is saying “you haven’t beaten anybody good,”
“you have barely beaten some teams that are bad,” and
“losing to you proves UCONN and UNC aren’t very good”
Meanwhile the Sagarin Ratings
has UK at #10, UNC at #14 and UCONN at #24.
Quite different.
I don't get it
I have never looked at his site before, but from a quick glance over, it appears to be using a pythagorean calculaion base on strength of schedule.
What is weird, is that Kansas (ranked #2) has a weaker strength of schedule than Kenucky (ranked #58). Why the extreme difference?
I see now...
It is how he is weighting margin of victory.
I would love to hear Nate Silver’s comments on the guy’s system.
Look At 2004-05-06-07-08-09 Ken Pom Ratings
Check back on www.kenpom.com and you’ll see his system works BETTER at EOY rather than earlier in the season.
by FortyYearCatFan on Dec 10, 2009 2:00 PM EST up reply actions
His system is good after about 50% of the season.
Before then, it is pretty worthless as a ranking system, but he explains a lot of that on the site if you have time to read it.
A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan
hmmm, those football rankings must be worthless then
since they only play 12 games
I did say 50% of the season, didn't I?
A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan
by Glenn Logan on Dec 10, 2009 10:58 PM EST up reply actions
I had figured the numbers were worthless after 3 or 4 games
But I figured after UConn, UNC, UK had played 8 or 9 games, against both good and bad competition, and starting to get some W’s and L’s against quality opposition, that the data would support a good ranking.
He is right.
But there are few good teams right now. Everyone will get better, and they are. UConn played as badly (or as well, depending on your perspective) as we did.
A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan
California has 3 losses, Memphis?
Those ratings didn’t have NC #1 last year. I think they had them #3 or #4. Heck, it didn’t take a genius to very out who was the best.
UNC Was Rated #1 In 2009 (EOY) Ken Pom Ratings
http://kenpom.com/rate.php?y=2009 UNC was NCAA champion in 2009.
by FortyYearCatFan on Dec 10, 2009 5:12 PM EST up reply actions
That's somewhat misleading...
That’s EOY…as in after the tourny. That includes all the tourny games in the calculations. End of regular season they were #2 or #3 in Ken Pom….I have the file around here somewhere. I did a comparison beween the end of season ranking against the actual tourny results….I know, I know…I should get a life :)
Yes EOY
EOY means End Of Year, not almost End Of Year.
UMass was rated #1 (UK #2) headed into NCAA in 1996 but not at EOY.
by FortyYearCatFan on Dec 10, 2009 9:36 PM EST up reply actions
I want a win for my birthday..
Feb. 9th vs Alabama. But I really want a win for my brother-in-law’s birthday…early April.
John Wall
will leave after this season as the “best basketball player” to ever wear a Kentucky uniform. And it will not even be close.
You can either say it now, or wait and say it later. No problem.
Long after he has left our tiny little town for the bright lights of big cities and national stardom in the league, he will probably still put on some UK gear every once in a while at a press conference in New York or Los Angeles, and talk about how much he loved his time in Kentucky.
Young impressionable players from across the country (and globe) will be watching, and it will pay huge dividends. For years. And years to come.
So if some of us want to take time to compare how many turnovers he has compared to Michael Porter, or say he doesn’t deserve a banner in the rafters simply because he is a “one and done” player.. then so be it. To me that is a little like not seeing the forest for the trees.
Does he need to improve? Of course.
Will he improve? Count on it.
Are we going to be glad that to the rest of the basketball world (and yes, there is a “rest of the world”) John Wall is going to be the most instantly recognizable “face” associated with UK Basketball for many years to come? I know I am.
by Sonic on Dec 10, 2009 6:14 PM EST reply actions 5 recs
great, great points Sonic
I think you nailed it.
by blue kentucky girl on Dec 10, 2009 6:48 PM EST up reply actions
Yep, another rec from me, too.
You are insanely popular with the ladies today, Sonic? Must be all that sensibility and the positive vibes radiating from your post. : )
The reality of the matter is that the basketball season is way too short, and as you mention, John Wall’s time at UK is short, and for me to spend my time finding fault and criticizing just seems like a waste.
so true
“for me to spend my time finding fault and criticizing just seems like a waste.”
I would rec this too, but I don’t want to wear out the button : ) It’s the holiday season, and we’re undefeated, for heaven’s sake! To each his own of course, but I personally really wish we’d do our part to fight that stereotype of the unreasonable, unplease-able Kentucky fan.
by blue kentucky girl on Dec 10, 2009 7:07 PM EST up reply actions
And to you blue ky girl
If you think me expecting us to: win every game, shoot 96 percent from the field, have no turnovers, never miss a free throw, have at least one tech a game that involves us slamming the most annoying player from the other team to the floor and have at least three of our players admit in postgame news conferences that offense is superior to defense is unreasonable, than you’re just being nonsensical.
by daniel81 on Dec 11, 2009 1:06 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
haha
You’re only expecting 96% from the field, that’s hardly unreasonable! 100%, now that would be unreasonable. On a team with an actual, real live deity running the point, surely 96% shooting isn’t too much to ask? ; )
by blue kentucky girl on Dec 11, 2009 10:29 AM EST up reply actions
Well, shoot, daniel,
that leaves another 9 or so players to claim defense is superior. Not having that WOULD be unreasonable. I do kinda like the one tech a game idea, though. Think we could do some retroactive work and get Noah onto the court for Bad Cuz to do the honors? Or Laettner? Just an idea, you know.
No moral victories--it's all about Ws and Ls!!!
I'm going to agree with you
So we can keep our streak of agreeability going. From here out I’m agreeing with everything you say, even if I have to misinterpret what you say in order to agree with it. Like if you say d is more important than o, I’ll take that you mean the lack of d by the other team is most important to our o and so on.
To think
I spent 20 cents on kool aid today when I could have slurped it down for free here. I was checking the league of heroes meeting earlier today and I saw john wall pimp smack batman.
Sonic is already declaring wall the best cat ever after a 7 turnover effort. Did you watch the same game? The one where ppat and cuz saved us at the start of the second half? Prob hard to miss with vitale drooling and all. I don’t know how you can say with a straight face that john wall is better than rodney dent.
by daniel81 on Dec 11, 2009 12:36 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
Haha!
Good one.
Wall’s seven turnovers were mitigated by six steals, so even though your point is well-made, we have to avoid blinders when looking at a player’s game. Plus, when you have the ball as much as he did, you are going to make turnovers, and UK had only 14, which is just fine.
What should be troubling you, and what troubles me, are the 2 paltry assists Wall had. For a point guard, that is an embarrassment, and I’ll bet Calipari is reminding him of his role even as we speak.
A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan
drink the kool aid, daniel......
come on, drink it…..mmmmm, it’s so tasty and delicious….you know you want some….
by blue kentucky girl on Dec 11, 2009 10:30 AM EST up reply actions
ha ha...
Yes, Daniel, you should have definitely saved your money. I will always be willing to give you a complimentary glass of blue kool-aid. No worries. : )
Yes, I was watching the same game and I’m very well aware of the efforts of Patrick and DeMarcus, thank-you-very-much. Hello! Have you been in a hole? I’m DeMarcus Cousins’ personal cheerleader, and believe me, I do go out of my way to look for reasons to talk about how fabulous I think he is : ), but, we aren’t talking about our big men, I thought we were discussing John Wall and his point guard status at UK?
You want to hold your applause for Wall? Great, hold it, be stingy with your praise. You don’t see how I can proclaim him the best point guard prospect for UK in terms of talent that he possesses, the ridiculously high ceiling on that talent, the kind of person that he is and what his talent and uber-hyped status can bring to UK? You think Wall isn’t going to be the best point guard UK has had using the above criteria by the end of the season, well, that’s cool, but, since you seem to be in a betting mood these days, care to make a wager? Are you so sure that he won’t be?
Listen I don’t want to argue with you all day about this, it just seems to me that after the last couple of years, and as Sonic alluded to in his above post, it’s pretty obvious that we needed John Wall (or someone like him) more than he needed us and I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. I’m having a great time so far this season and quite frankly my biggest concern right now is that it’s eventually going to come to an end, and for me that end is going to come all too soon and I don’t want to spend one single nano-second not enjoying myself. So, on those days you feel a little thirsty and need a little positive UK-basketball-related type kool-aid injection, well, honey, I’m your girl and I’ll be here all season long. : )
Now the argument has changed
It went from: He’s already the best player in the history of the world(basically)
To, he’s our best point guard prospect ever.
I can agree with the latter, and I’ve said so. But he’s not there yet. Two assists to 7 to’s is not deity like and it will get us beat in the tourney.
My point through all of this is we have projected our expectations onto this kid so much that it’s not really fair to him or realistic. And ESPN is so giddy to find the next big thing(they dedicate an issue of ESPN the mag to it what, three times a year?) that we’re spooning down the hype like it’s the gospel. Believe me, I too will enjoy this season but I’m not going to forfeit my sense of reality over it, especially not for a guy who’s just going to be here a year and wouldn’t be here if he had a choice in the matter.
Ok,
you are right, I guess I did change the conversation a bit. It was good of you to roll with it. : )
Now, in fairness, I’ll address your point specifically:
Yes, the media is out of control. No doubt about it, but that’s just kind of what they do. They adopt the next biggest thing whoever that may be, and I’m just not into fighting society right now.
I have no resentment whatsoever towards Wall and don’t begrudge him his 15 minutes, so to speak. We all make choices in life and his choice was to work his darling little ass off honing his considerable basketball skills to get to this point, he’s paid his dues as far as I’m concerned and I think he probably deserves every minute of his day in the sun.
BigSkyCat, I think your approach to this season is spot on!
You know that feeling we get in that split second when we first see that a great running back has broken into the secondary, and in that split second we rise up out of our seats in excited anticipation about what might be about to happen as the back turns on the afterburners and starts flying by defenders in a blur…
Well, that is John Wall. Over and over again.
Maybe next year we can get back to REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING and start up the whole “everyone is equal with Kentucky written across their chests” thing, and that is fine because I am a Kentucky bred myself, and of course I love the program.
But for right now, after quite a few years of getting up out of my seat during UK basketball games primarily to take either a kitchen or bathroom break— I am just soaking in every second of having a much better reason to jump up and scream at the television… mostly just to say “Oh my God! Did you just see that..?!”
For those who do not appreciate these fleeting moments, fine. We will back to regularly scheduled programming soon enough. As a matter of fact, if you close your eyes tight enough—- you just might miss it.
Me? I am going to be keeping my eyes WIDE OPEN.
by Sonic on Dec 11, 2009 11:18 AM EST up reply actions
Don't
forget one of the great things about John Wall playing here is that we don’t have to face a team with him on it and try and stop him.
Don't you forget
That john wall can clone himself and play against us as a volunteer or blue devil if he gets bored with being the greatest cat ever before his first final. He might guard himself to show that he and only he can stop himself, or maube he will become a clone to take millers spot and play with himself:)
by daniel81 on Dec 11, 2009 12:42 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
(Late) Rec from me, too!
Great post. I fully and completely agree.
It is not worth an intelligent man’s time to be in the majority. By definition, there are already enough people to do that.
by kentuckygirl0724 on Dec 11, 2009 9:20 AM EST up reply actions
"we have a long way to go to maximize the talent on this team"
Daniel nailed it for me. That’s why I’m so concerned about this team’s performance so far. I know, I know, wineman, the sky isn’t falling (BTW, I’m gonna seriously get after that bottle of your cab tomorrow night!!). What is falling, though, is the slope of our learning curve. I thought we were really getting it early on, albeit against inferior competition. Now, I’m not so sure.
What I am impressed with, however, is this team’s ability, so far, to win close games. Last year’s team seemed (without going back through the stats) to have lost a lot of close games, but this year, it ain’t happenin’. Too much talent? Probably.
What I want to see, I guess, is a blue-collar dismantling of another talented team. No razzle-dazzle, no screaming when you get a dunk, no beating yourself on the chest, just performance and acting like you’ve been there before. Is that too much to ask? Probably so in the era of AAU/ESPN, but it doesn’t keep me from wanting to see it.
Let me say these things:
- John Wall probably (don’t know yet) has more natural talent than any other “lead” guard I’ve ever seen at UK
-We won’t know how good Eric Bledsoe is until John Wall is gone
-Dependence on the guards at the expense of getting everyone involved will cost us a game or two later in the season
-The bigs won’t develop their games until the ball gets shared more, particularly in crunch time
-If this team gets its chemistry right, nobody, even the mighty Jayhawks, will be able to stay with them
-It’s everybody’s job, but mostly Coach Cal’s, to develop that chemistry
-And finally, to agree with Sonic above, I’m REALLY glad John Wall is wearing UK blue, even if his presence might stunt the development of some of his teammates
No moral victories--it's all about Ws and Ls!!!
The sky is still up there
oldcat, and just keep on smiling. If Wall is still doing the same things that are worrying you in late January then we might just see some cracks in his superman image. Right now, I am thrilled at how every game has played out. There will be tougher games ahead but we will be better. Enjoy the ride and, hopefully, that bottle of Cab.
I like it when you agree with me oldcat
I like it a lot.
Seriously though, final four or bust.
by daniel81 on Dec 11, 2009 12:45 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
Yeah, I'm a little worried about agreeing with you too often,
but in this case . . .
For the record, if this team plays to its potential, a FF is a lock.
No moral victories--it's all about Ws and Ls!!!
Opinions...
Boy, they are really flying around today!! LOL That’s good, conversation stimulates the ol’ noggin… I’ll address something, then slink out the back door! :-)
Wall and the HYPE…
Is Wall a good player?? Heck yeah! Go back and look at some of the posts from the “old heads” and see what they’ve been saying… None of them have ever seen a point guard like Wall. I think we’re all agreed that the kid’s got talent.
On to the HYPE… Do you guys realize that it’s a reflection of the society we’ve become?? ESPN opened its doors in 1979, can you imagine life without it now?? How many of you had a computer in 1979?? I didn’t… For us Lexitonians, WLAP on the radio, WKYT for TV coverage and the LHL was our “coverage”! That’s all we knew, because that’s all we had. You were really "somebody’ if you got two newspaper subscriptions, that was almost unheard of. Again, the HYPE is the way we live now, get used to it, us ASOB’ers aren’t going to change it… We can’t control what the national media talks about!
All I can say is that this is going to be a great team, one we’ll all remember for a long time, for alot of reasons. Sit back and enjoy it, I know I am! When the Cats are on the hardwood, “I’m tow up from the flow up”!! For those of you that don’t speak Southern, that would be “Tore up from the floor up”… :-)
If your wings don't sweep....
The Ridiculous And The Sublime
Thomas Paine, the author of “Common Sense” , had great insight to the American spirit and indeed into humanity. One of his lesser known statements says much about us UK BB fans:
"The sublime and the ridiculous are often so nearly related, that it is difficult to class them separately. One step above the sublime makes the ridiculous, and one step above the ridiculous makes the sublime again."
We can be ridiculous in our joy to the point of being blindly ignorant of shortcomings. Yet we can be ridiculously inappropriate and obtuse in our criticism (See comparison of LIggins/Porter to Wall in PG effectiveness). Yet, for the most part, we are remarkably sublime when adjudging the intricacies of the game — sometimes referred to as being knowledgeable fans. After watching the game 2+ times (the plus being a fast forward to selected critical moments) my observations, hopefully sublime, are:
1) What on the surface appeared to be an inability or unwillingness to pass into the post is instead a product of the DDMO (as I perceive it from a layman’s POV). Such is a major contributor to the fact that Patrick Patterson doesn’t get necessary touches. I expect improvement as players absorb the system and as Calipari adjusts to recognize the possibilities afforded by Patterson/Cousins/Orton.
2) Similarly the focus on the D&D of the system inherently limits the ball movement normally associated with an effective offense. Lack of complete familiarity with the scheme leads to, at least from an observer’s view, “standing around” or watching the player with the ball. Improvement should evolve as season and practice progresses.
3) My point of viewing emphasis was rebounding position and blocking out of opponents. As a grade I would say C with effort getting a B+, blocking out C- and maintaining positioning a D. Perhaps it is youth however Patterson is guilty as well, but UK does not get great position, is moved from the position and is not strong with ball. Their early rebounding advantage was almost entirely from superior height and they’re still relying on that when size is more equal.
4) Individually the temptation is to lean more to the ridiculous in both praise and criticism but striving for sublimity: Bledsoe looked less like he was trying to out-Wall Wall but still is miles away from harnessing his talent and needs to learn the adage: play fast but don’t hurry; it’s unfortunate that there isn’t two-platoon basketball since Harris is a huge defensive asset (his work on Dyson in second half was near textbook) but an equally large liability offensively; Cousins is the personification of a work in progress, near unlimited physical ability — great footwork for one so young, great hands, unusually soft touch for one his size, and most of all, coachable — but he’s a basketball neophyte; Miller remains an enigma for me and I would guess for Calipari as well, I thought a few times why couldn’t Darius MIller play with the same intensity and purpose as did Huskies Gavin Edwards, Edwards is a senior and bigger but his effort, focus and understanding allowed his contributions to exceed his talent, perhaps it is a ridiculous comparison or criticism but I wonder; Dodson, with the exception of shooting the 3, seems to not quite understand his place on the team but that too should improve with playing time, he is not fundamentally sound especially on defense; Orton fell victim to being in the wrong place at wrong time and perhaps trying to do too much, not unusual for a freshman big man, he is however limited offensively; Wall, hard to be completely sublime but he is obviously a marvelous athlete with a unique understanding of the game and has a better perimeter game than I anticipated. As far as UK’s team fortune riding on his performance perhaps we should get used to it — many great teams have go-to players in clutch situations but there has to be another option or two. My hope is to see them in coming games.
"Learn(ing) without thinking begets ignorance. Think(ing) without learning is dangerous."
-Confucius
All you can ask after Such a well written
And thoughtful post as da weasel’s is: is it just me or is the lady on espns sportsnation really hot? Something about her bossy yet friendly attitude just does it for me. I stalked her out and was able to get her cell number but when I called guess who answered? John wall. To quote the great happy gilmore, I hate that bob barker(john wall).
by daniel81 on Dec 11, 2009 12:57 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
A motion offense of any description ...
… should never lead to “standing around.” What we saw is a consequence of too much John Wall – other players watching him instead of going where they are supposed to go.
That will eventually stop, hopefully.
A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan
Breaking news at this hour
John Wall to coach Cincinnati in sugar bowl.
Ok I’m done, goodnight kids.
by daniel81 on Dec 11, 2009 1:20 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
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