I’ve ranted, I’ve raved, I’ve yelled obscenities at the tv at some of the horrendous efforts of this team, yet at times I saw a glimmer of hope in the way they played Tennessee & a few other outings. But, after last nights horrible impression of a Kentucky basketball team I have nothing left. No hope for the future. No expectations of any kind. The roller-coaster of a season has left me emotionally drained until I have sunk, and you used the perfect word, into abject apathy. I never in my adult life thought I would feel this way about the Kentucky Wildcats, but this team and this coach had led me here. It is not a comfortable place.

I could write a chapter, or maybe a book, about this team (it wouldn’t be a good read).

In short, I had middling expectations for this team to start the season, and then they looked pretty strong in the exhibition games, so my hope jumped, and then came VMI. . .and UNC. . .

Despite some solid games against terrible teams during the OOC, overall I expected very little of this team in the SEC. And then we went 5-0 to start, including the thumping of Tennessee on their home court. “Hey,” I said to myself, “we could really kick some ass in the SEC. I can’t see how we can lose more than 2 or 3 games!”

And here we are. When it’s all said and done, am I that surprised that we’ll likely end the season somewhere in the neighborhood of 21 or 22 wins and 12-14 losses? Not really. In the big picture, that’s about what a lot of folks expected. It’s just this team has shown flashes of potential to be a very top team. They just have shown no ability for consistency, or ability to sustain that level of play, and our coach just doesn’t seem to get that out of them for more than 4 or 5 minute stretches.

Is the season an utter disappointment? Absolutely. Nevertheless, all there is to do now is cheer on the team for each and every remaining game, support the team AND the coach, and hope that the internal strife can be fixed, not so much for this season, but for the future of the program.

Regardless of whether it’s the NCAA or the NIT, all I want to see is this team play hard and finish strong, and lay it all on the line.

To continue it further, I don’t think this plane crashed in a cornfield…instead I think it augered into Barnhart’s house. I wonder how badly he was hurt, as well?

is probably the most accurate description of my mood during and after that game. I didn’t even yell at the TV after the mass substitution in the second half. When the game was over, I just didn’t care. I’ve never felt that way about a Kentucky team before, even football.

… as an outsider, you look at Meeks and Patterson and you can’t help but think, “How do these two guys, two of the best players in the SEC, fail to reach their full potential on such a regular basis?” And then you look at the whole roster and, save the obvious exception of Michael Porter, who really should never play meaningful minutes in a basketball game for Kentucky ever again (sorry), you see a lot of raw talent and athleticism. The freshmen aren’t perfect but have the ability to contribute if coached correctly.

Gillispie talks about his team’s toughness and competitiveness. Hey, I don’t see your squad giving up. I see a group of kids trying hard. It looks to me like they’ve been given the hopeless task of executing a nonsensical and pointless gameplan which can only produce results if factors out of their control happen to line up — like good matchups, or teams that shoot well from the perimeter.

You only have so much effort to give if you’ve been given a fool’s errand and the way it looks from here, that is what has happened to these kids. They try. They want to believe. But let’s face it. Gillispie’s coaching does not give them a chance. I feel badly for them.

You look at Billy Donovan’s kids. Not as athletic. Not nearly as athletic, to be bluntly honest. And they’ve lost a lot of games. But they’ve been in them all and most objective fans can see that they are a well-coached group who desperately needs maturity and size in the post. Add Marreese Speights back in and I honestly believe Florida runs away with the SEC crown this year.

My point is this. Does anyone really doubt that Billy Donovan would have swept the SEC if he had this Kentucky team? And I had to bring up the “Tubby” word, but wouldn’t he have done that, too?

This is on Gillispie and you’re right, he has been damaged professionally. Whether he realizes this or not and makes adjustments has yet to be seen. Surely his assistant coaching staff has the chops, X/Os and knowledge to help him maximize what he can get from his team.

Clydethorpe……..ouch…….

You’re full of it man. Billy D is overrated, I told you last year that this would happen to Florida. Billy D gets top recruiting classes nearly every year and yields few results outside of the back to back championships, which was totally on those players. As for Tubby, he started this downward trend three years ago and let’s not forget who recruited many of these players.
We can blame Billy G till we’re blue in the face, and he deserves blame most definitely, but when you have players that continue to make the same stupid mistakes every game I don’t know what you can do. Will somebody explain to MEEKS the court isn’t 100 foot long, and to Miller that you have to guard your guy all the time, and to our entire team that passing the ball to a guy with four defenders on him is a no-no. These are Junior Pro fundamentals that a coach shouldn’t have to waste his time on.
I wasn’t really riled up until reading some blog comments. Apathy is right. Let’s get over it. I was bummed last night too until immediately after the game when a commercial came on for Kosair Hospital and I saw the disabled children struggling just to walk. I looked at my girl and said you know what, there’s a lot more important things in life than this and I know one day we’ll be back. It kills me to become indifferent but when the players don’t have enough guts to step up on senior night and say hey, this team ain’t going to beat us, why should we keep caring about this team?

with you on all counts except one……….this season can be salvaged. If we win out and make the tourney and make it to the sweet sixteen. All is better. But I DON"T think this is likely. They are a head case right now and its going to be heard to overcome. I do think that all this piling on by fans is not helping matters. When the chips are down, you must show your support. Now, I don’t mean here because frankly I would hope they would not come to this site or any other site to read all this. This is our venue. Our venting ground. I do wish though that Kentuckians would organize a rally and go to the lodge and cheer for them. I think that is the best medicine? What ? They don’t deserve it? Remember they are human. They feel the same things we do. Hurt and pain and whether we believe it or not…………I feel that they are in alot more pain then we are right now.

… what does this say about Tennessee? We whipped them twice, handily. They must REALLY suck.

We as a program have been fending off rock bottom for about 5 years, beginning with the surprise run to the Elite Eight with a freshman dominated team that had a Chuck Hayes soul as its center. The next season saw us begin this struggle, but throughout the last four years we’ve watched last second wins over Central Floridas, miracle finishes … all just to keep us barely above water.

Perhaps it’s time for this to all sink below the line, to erase those “historical” markers that we all hold on a little to dearly to. Maybe the fans will open their eyes a little to what the expectations games really mean. If it’s never enough to just make the tournament, well how does it feel to sit out again? Won’t you enjoy victory more when you have forgotten what it looks like?

This is all silver lining stuff. We have watched a team lose interest in playing for the Blue and White, and that’s sad and it’s lots of people’s fault. Can you imagine what it must feel like to play on the Rupp court and sense that every person in the gym is waiting for you to fail? EXPECTING you to fail? How can you, in the end, not fail?

Gillispie’s look last night said it all: chewing his lips and gums without a single answer to stop what was happening on the floor. He has no answers, as he has assembled/been dealt a team that simply does not grasp or does not care to buy what he’s selling.

Last though: I don’t want to hear a single person tell me Kevin Galloway should play more. He helped lose that game as much or more than any player out there with careless passes in the clutch. You have got to understand that there’s a time for the highlight pass and a time — with 2:25 left — for something resembling composure.

Enough with the backseat coaching.

Well folks, there’s no denying it now. It’s high time for “Coach Bullwinkle,” Mr. Know-It-All Himself, to take his smug attitude (along with his impolite mouth) and leave Lexington. Like everyone else, I had a lot of hope for our new coach. However, (in addition to 2 gut-wrenching seasons of highly questionable decisions) he has consistently treated call-in fans on radio talk shows and other venues as if they were ignorant bumpkins. It’s obvious that he still fails to understand that many Wildcat fans are far more knowledgeable about sports than fans in any other part of the country. He just doesn’t get it.

Good-bye “Billy G” – "THE" University of Kentucky can do MUCH better. And we will.

And to think, we thought Tubby was bad…

Jeffrey W. Smith of LetsWorkSmart.com

Show em all the door but Patterson. If Gillespie goes, most of these players should too. I had bad teachers but it didn’t keep me from learning.

Most BBN bloggers agree that we have 2 of the best players in the SEC in Meeks & Patterson but what about the TEAM? Other than the show of admiration for Jodie’s 54 at Tennessee, I haven’t seen any real bonding between this group of players. I suspect that the chemistry, ahh that elusive component, is sorely lacking and is a major reason that this team doesn’t pass well, rebound well, shoot well, defend the 3 well, etc. But maybe it has a little to do with coaching as well. Oh well back to speculating. This team would be a good study in some of the Psychology courses at UK. I would love to see the results of that!

So I caught the game on tv but dont really care too much about it right now. My son Jude Patrick Waters was born on the third and we are going home from the hospital today. He was dressed in his little KY outfit last night cheering on the cats for his first game but alas they didnt pull it out. He was 9lbs 2oz and 20 and a half inches. His hands and feet are huge. If this kid has any coordination I see him being a great power forward.

don’t believe it………sorry I don’t believe it at all. KSR needs to watch that. I mean if it were true……….who would know. I don’t think PP is going around telling his buddies about it. Just another rumor.

thought here……..some of yall who want BIlly gone. Who do you think would come here right now? For four years now under two coaches this program has not played up to “Kentucky Standards”. Don’t you think that it send a red flag to other coaches that maybe Kentucky has some internal issues?

In these economic times, how is the university going to afford it? They will need to pay the buyout for BCG. Given the upheavel in the program over the past 4 years, they will also likely need to pay well above market to recruit a top-flight coach. So where is this money coming from?

The question is not a simple matter of getting the dollars – I’m sure enough people could be persuaded to give the dollars needed to get it done. The question is more about perception – is this the type of spending that the university/state wants to be doing when there are budget cuts, unemployment, etc. Look at the blowback from the Calhoun salary question. That heat will be multiplied in spades if multiple millions are needed to get rid of one coach and bring in another (all, of course, with no guarantee of improvement).

At a minimum, I think that costs Barnhart his job, and potentially all the way up to Lee Todd.

would we want as coach?

As a birthday present to myself ……. ha HA! And I must say that the loss didn’t bother me as much as having to sit next to THE MOST obnoxious “UK fan” of ALL TIME. What does that tell ya?

The highlight of the night was that guy dancing with the mascot AND Scott Padgett winning the young lady another 5,000!

I think a lot of people jump the gun when they are hollering for Gillispie to leave. But you’re also entitled to your opinion. I say give him a couple of more years.

To quote a fan behind us last night “NIT here we come!”

He was saying the other day we should play in the NIT if invited. The Big Baller in the sky is now making that come true, Tru, haha. See man, I told you the NIT was responsible for wrecking the lives of kids, the recession and now Jon Hood’s stress fracture. Isn’t UK’s baseball team supposed to be awesome this year? The sun is shining and the diamond is calling.

After getting drowned with another heavy rain of 3s last night I was curious as to exactly how well our opponents shot the trey against us in our 11 losses. Yep, it’s depressing. Our opponents including the OOC losses have shot 104-223 for a whopping 46.6%.

and you were talking about how offense is more important than defense. For our opponents that’s definitely been true, but in our case we only have one real three point threat so perimeter defense is key for us…………..and obviously very lacking. If ya got no shooters you’ve got to make up for it somewhere. Damn, I miss the days of Farmer, Delk, Mills, and company……….

Some of it is bad defense but we seen a lot of crazy contested shots game after game too. I mean, my God, that’s a little over 28 points a game average over those 11 games. Givin up 9 threes a game……………..that’s just ridiculous. Man, we need some good shooters badly!

Weren’t that highly recruited, but they could fill it up. Sometimes I think you should take a chance on a kid if he’s a great shooter. They say slone is but he’s never in the game long enough to tell.

highly recruited or not, they had conrfidence shooting the ball and didn’t think about it when they were open. We are seriously lacking that and have been. Porter sure did look much more comfortable in that shooting position last night though eh?

…there seems to be some speculation as to whether they would. I assume this is mostly internet rumor

…what a lowlife classless thing to do if true:((

I am a loyal fan and long time fanatical supporter of UK. Most of you have seen me post here for the last year. My birthday is Saturday and my friends have put together a great day and night of events so it should be fun. I have come to the conclusion that I am NOT going to watch the Florida game. I am sick to my stomach that UK is in the position they are in and the loss last night was totally unacceptable. If UK can’t beat a UGA team on Senior Night, a team that had not won a road game all season, a team with an interim coach and the worst team in the SEC then I see no way they can go into Florida and beat them. Others will point to past scenarios to try to prove me wrong but I say save it.

This UK team is no fun to watch and the coach is unlikable IMO. I am going to save myself more grief and skip the game so that I can enjoy my birthday without worrying about who starts, what bad substitution coach will make and how UK will screw the game at the end. Sorry I have just had enough. I will get back to watching them come November 2009.

I wouldn’t miss BDAY fun for this group either.

What about Him being a “jerk” He can’t answer a question without popping off. He’s made more problems for himself by his on mouth.

Tink will love you as well.

I’m not sure if this is a forum for Kentucky basketball or an Opra blog. Believe me when I say I don’t need nor want any group hugs. Nor do I think anyone needs to make up or invent any excuses for Ky great Mike Casey. When he gave his opinion, you can be sure it wasn’t given lightly. If Adolph Rupp was not in his grave, this last yr would surely put him there.
All the records and respect he earned for the the great state of Kentucky and its die hard fans, is slowly going up in smoke. The loss to Ga on senior night and its implications for UK was barely noticed outside the state. My guess is that not too many were really surprised.
To the Kernal, coach says we were’t playing physical enough, there’s no maturity, this team doesn’t know how to accept a challange. He goes on to say he couldn’t find 3 or 4, much less 5 guys that play together. Again it the players fault. After assigning the blame he says he had some fault also. YA THINK. He has two of the hardest working, talented,
players in the country. Any decent coach can put up W’s, just by consistently calling their number. This has been the story all yr. A real coach shows his worth when he doesn’t have the talent, but gets the best out of what he has to work with. HE COACHES.
Sadly, a costly mistake was made that need to be addressed. Gillispie needs to be the big fish in the little pond, he’s proven he can succeed in that environment. The insecurities, too many to mention, that we never knew about when bringing him aboard, have been in plain view for all to see this yr. Patterson and Meeks commited because they wanted to play for the University of Kentucky, not coach Gillispie. If Barnhart and Todd come to their senses and make a change, there may be a chance they would both stay. If not, they’re both gone and only in our history books.

I don’t think this blog could handle THAT discussion. Need a much bigger server. lol