like you Tru, when it looked dire, i dreaded the end of the season and what was to come.

when meeks hit the free throw, i thought we had left too much time on the clock.

but, deep, deep down inside, i just believed (maybe hoped) that after espn has showed the 3 last second losses, that it would be OUR turn to come out on the long end.

when meeks rebounded that last shot, i jumped like i have not in a long time over a game. i sort of felt foolish because it was just to get to the elite 8 of the NIT.

and, yes, it is just the NIT, but for these kids and this coach – who have worked so hard – i was very very happy for them

lets keep the fun going into south bend!!

Tru,

I discovered your site a year ago about this time. I can read how difficult (at times) writing your Kentucky A Sea of Blue is for you this season.

I grew up in Lexington and now live and work in Oregon. Every several years, I get to visit KY and see the Cats in person. I got to see a game over the Christmas holiday this season. I also travel to see the Cats when I can (Aneheim CA last year). I truly love and honor the tradition of my Wildcats like you and thousands of others do.

Your words are always respectful, insightful, logical, full of KY basketball history and lots of basketball data (like your postmortem) that makes reading your ASoB very enjoyable.

ASoB continues to be remarkably positive and yet honest, even during our disappointing season. As you have written all season, a good nights sleep and the light of day brings with it promise.

There is promise for Kentucky Basketball. I like to believe that we have seen a significant step of promise this evening.

As my father, a Kentucky native (still lives there), always says: keep your chin up!!

UNLV and Creighton are both good teams.

Notre Dame is another. 3 W over those teams would (will) be nice.

I have spent many a sleepless night because of UK basketball. And several have been during this season. My wife likes to remind me that it is just a game. That seems to ring true when I read the first part of Tru’s post. All of us,including myself,can get too worked up about UK basketball. When watching UK becomes more of a chore than a pleasure,it may be time to take a step back.

As far as last nights win,I only got to watch the last 5 mins or so. Turns out it was the best part. Great win over a very good and well coached team at a tough place to play. Go Cats!!

But the players have to be able to run that defense correctly. Woodox and Stinnet’s defenders lost them while we were in that defense, and they both hit wide open 3’s, so BCG went back to man to man.

Just another example of why the players have to be accountable for some of the breakdowns on offense/defense. It’s not BCG’s fault all the time.

Getting some experience in A postseason tournament has to help our chances for next year. Every extra game is more experience for our returning players. Plus, I saw on ESPN the other day that 13 NIT champions have gone to the NCAA Final four the next year (don’t know how recent any of those were, but interesting none-the-less). Makes you think that maybe that extra experience matters.

Props to Ramon for handing out 8 of our 16 assists last night!

We’ve ended UNLV and now Creighton’s seasons so far, hopefully we can knock off a tough Notre Dame team next.

I agree with the Stevenson and Miller evaluations. For Perry, 2 plays last night summed up his season:

• A Creighton player got an offensive rebound on the baseline close to the basket, but Perry was in between. Instead of standing his ground and putting his hands up to force the guy to either take a difficult, high arcing shot or move the ball out and reset the offense, Perry reached in to do – well, I’m not sure really – but it had the predictable effect of getting a foul called.

• On offense, Perry got the ball at the elbow with about 6 seconds left on the shot clock and wide open. His first look was inside to Patterson – that was a good idea, but Patterson was double teamed and Creighton had the passing lane cut off so Perry looked at the basket and made that pseudo-shot-fake-that-isn’t-really-a-shot-fake motion of his. That was a perfect time to take that shot – one that we have seen Perry hit a lot, but instead he brought the ball down again, made a pass to Patterson at which point there was about 1 second left on the shot clock and Patterson had to take a quick, off balance, poor shot that bounced off the side of the backboard and resulted in a violation.

The team is doing exactly what you would hope they would in the NIT – they are getting better and we’re starting to many of the other guys take steps forward in their development. Harris and Miller are both getting better. Porter is continuing the good outside shooting from the end of the season and Liggins is giving the team solid minutes and showing what he can do from the PG spot – plus he’s hit a 3 in two straight games!

2. The University of Kentucky. If the Kentucky administration has off-court or philosophical issues that explain why Billy Gillispie’s hold on the UK coaching job seems so tenuous, so be it. They presumably are in position to know things about how Billy G. has gone about his job that are not fully apparent to the rest of us.

1. Billy Gillispie. But if it is a basketball decision being made, two years are not a fair trial upon which to render a final judgment on a coach.

Lets face it. Coaches, Athletic directors and UK presidents come and go. It is the fan base that makes UK basketball what it is. Mitch went out and signed a coach with very little success to a 2 million a year contract. You would have thought he was Slick Rick or Wooden with the long terms.When anyone throws that kind of money around it should be to someone with along proven record. His wasn’t and still isn’t. Mitch always heads out West where he came from to find a coach for a major sport. Are there no good coaches in the east or central areas. UK is one of a kind and yes the coach must please the fans or he is gone. The fans are ones who pay the salary and make the program what it is.At this time Mitch’s decision looks bad. Billy has done a poor job of coaching this year. But 2 years isn’t enough time to judge.The thing that bothers me is recruiting. I am not sure he is bringing in enough talent to take us back into the top 10 again. Recruiting will to improve or Billy ability to coach wont matter. Other schools sign 3 or 4 All Americans a year and we have a hard time getting one. Of course this is a hangover from the last coaching staff failures who were allowed to stay to long. Mitch you are 0 for 2.

Section 13 Row 14. The Cats are coming baby woohoo. I love how they are in my home state and its just as far as driving to Rupp.

Hopefully PPat and Frankengody stay out of foul trouble, it could be epic.

is a priority. Looking at the seating it looks like we are right across from the visitors bench. I need some good ideas for a pro-BCG sign.

In the Indianapolis area…sorry.

I live outside the U.S. with questionable satellite TV service and the need to share the TV with my wife thus required to go to some trouble to watch UK, usually on SlingBox from a choice of U.S. locations. Nevertheless I’ve missed few telecasts of UK sports and don’t recall actually completely shutting down computer and leaving game completely. Did last evening with about 10 minutes remaining, it was just too painful to endure such mediocrity in execution another second. Tru is absolutely correct, my feeling of despair and torment was a result of the continual abrading commentary concerning UK BB, its future and its recent underachieving, but that doesn’t absolve me of the guilt of capitulation. So this morning I forced myself to view the latter parts of the game that I chose not to view — much less painful, of course, knowing the outcome. Did it alter my perception? Not as much as I had hoped. No doubt the Cats played hard and with resolve but that’s been the case for most of the season. But did they play smarter? With more confidence? With more precision and understanding of, as Coach so often states time, score and momentum? My perception is yes to all those but, alas, not nearly as much as should be expected at this time of the season. Tru pointed out some shortcomings so some of my observations will be redundant. Rebounding : 34-37 but more critical 10-17 offensive resulting in 19 second chance points for Bluejays, considering UK’s size advantage that is just ridiculous, unacceptable and apparently uncorrectable; Defensive lapses : while Cats defend hard and effectively for periods they still have breakdowns inexplicable after 35 games, and most notably versus the 3, Jays were 8/19 an unacceptable 42.1% especially when it was well known it was their strength, perhaps most disturbing — I’m glad I didn’t have to suffer the suspense — was Woodfox’s last shot, everyone listening, watching, in the stands knew who would take the last shot and yet he was undefended, that it missed was fate and UK had no impact; Offensive execution: that Cats were for the most part able to execute out of timeouts is a major accomplishment and improvement, however rules don’t permit a time out during each possession, the inability to free players for shot attempts within the context of the offense shows little amelioration over the season. Summarizing my feelings, considering that Creighton, as have nearly all UK’s recent opponents, decided to make players other than Meeks and Patterson beat them, I conclude that the other Cats played to their limited abilities — perhaps slightly better — and it was enough to win over a good mid-major on their home floor; about as much as one can hope for considering the circumstances. Sufficient to win over a major conference team on their home floor? Skeptical. Sufficient that I’ll watch the entire game? Good intentions but no promises.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/11543311

I saw Seth play in person earlier in the year when Liberty played Clemson. He’s a great shooter and does a number of other things well too. I drool at the idea of him transferring to UK, he’d be a perfect candidate to step in for Meeks after next season.