A Sea Of Blue

Cat Vegas

2008-12-01T04:27:33Z

After winning at Rupp in game one and game two,

The Cats headed to Vegas - and were followed by Tru ;)

Kansas State was up first in our Vegas showdown.

The crowd made them feel like they were in our hometown!

The first half was great. Meeks played like a dream!

Going in at the half, he had outscored their whole team!

The second half was different, and not in a good way.

K-State was coming back. They had turned up their play.

Their shots started falling. Their defense got mean.

Soon they were back from being down seventeen!

Coach G went to Liggins to come into the game

Who stayed in his seat saying, "Thanks all the same."

But the Cats scratched and clawed and won according to plan

WIth Meeks our "High Roller" and Billy G. our stickman.

A close win by two and 20 hours gone by,

It's the Cats and the Mountaineers coming in off a high.

So, we won by two and they crushed their opponent.

A win here makes us champions so we need to own it.

The game started out, our Cats came out slow.

Our turnover total, continued to grow.

Bad pass by Porter. Harris gets stuck.

For being in Vegas, we arent having much luck.

Both teams playing sloppy, struggling to score.

We'd get in a few shots, but they'd get a few more.

Down by 10 at the half - Will the Cats win???

Hell yeah - this is Vegas! Now, hit me again!

Somewhere in the second half, we decided to play

With sophomore Josh Harrellson leading the way!

Pat Patterson, double-double in the City of Sin

And tonight even Liggins agreed to come in!

They dug in and fought. Our team scored at the line

And since Huggy Bear's couldnt, the score realigned.

Nine minutes to play and we take the lead!

A roar goes throughout the great Big Blue sea!

54-43, Kentucky is the winner!!!

Champions in Vegas - Winner winner, chicken dinner!!!

Sunday Open Thread: Las Vegas Invitational Champions

2008-11-30T18:46:33Z

I woke up this morning trying to remember when the last time we won any kind of tournament was. Believe it or not, it has been almost five years ago -- the SEC Tournament in 2004 where we beat Florida.

That is simply amazing to me, and quite frustrating as well. But it was a real pleasure to be on hand when Kentucky finally brought home a trophy after a long drought. To bring that home to everyone, I have a couple of photos I took (please excuse the poor quality as I had to use my phone for these. I'll have more when I get back and have time to clean them up:

'Cats hold the trophy high in triumph.

Your 2008 Findlay Las Vegas Invitational champions!

Here are some news articles of interest as well:

Discuss. Enjoy your Sunday, and the this excellent victory. For me, it's off to the casinos for some fun and games.

Kentucky 54, West Virgina 43: Post mortem

2008-11-30T07:42:02Z

Congratulations to the West Virginia Mountaineers for a hard fought game that Kentucky was fortunate to win.

I must confess, I did not think UK could pull this off. West Virginia looked like world beaters against an obviously inferior Iowa Hawkeyes team. Yet, that same Iowa team managed to pull out a last-second victory over what seemed to me as a clearly superior Kansas State team. Such is college basketball.

Kentucky came into this game with the clearly tougher road. Barely squeaking by the K-State Wildcats last night, the Kentucky version was obviously tired and energy-depleted, and it really showed in the first half , where the Mountaineers physically dominated Kentucky and took a 10-point lead into the locker room.

The first seven minutes of the second half were more of the same. then, at about the 13:00 mark with the 'Cats down ten, something happened. Kentucky sullenly caught a second wind, and the Mountaineers obviously hit a wall. UK began sending Huggin's charges back onto defense after repeated empty possessions. Not only that, but the Mountaineers began to foul UK over and over again, and it was that foul disparity that would eventually make the difference. WVU kept sending UK's best free-throw shooters to the line, and Kentucky made them.

I can't tell you how exciting it was to sit among so many of the Big Blue Faithful so far away from home. You have all heard that Kentucky travels well, but until you have experienced the camaraderie of a UK tournament on the road, you really have no understanding of the concept. It was life-changing for me, and both me and my wife have vowed to do it again as soon as practicable.

As far as the game went, here are my perceptions:

Evidently, Liggins and Gillispie are back on the same page. Liggins was teriffic tonight, and a big reason why UK won, both offensively and defensively.
Jodie Meeks, despite being obviously leg-weary and less than 100%, never gave up. In fact, at the end of the second half, he really shone through on defense.
Josh Harrellson was, next to Jodie Meeks, probably the MVP of the tournament. Patrick Patterson had a good game tonight, but Harrellson was everywhere, and absolutely played as hard as any player I have seen all year.
Michael Porter once again gave a good effort, but he is nowhere near as talented as Liggins, and that made all the difference.
Perry Stevenson continues to play very passively except on defense. He had a number of emphatic blocks during this tournament, but did very little to help the team on offense.
Ramon Harris played OK. He is definitely capable of better.
Darrius Miller did a great job on Ruoff, particularly in the second half.
UK really needs to learn to get a step or two closer before trying that lob pass into the post.
Free throw shooting was the difference in this game.
At the end of the game, UK looked like the fresher team. I would never have believed that given their trials of last night.
The lack of layoff clearly showed in Meeks' shooting.
Patrick Patterson needs to familiarize himself with the two-handed slam.

That's it for now. Add your comments in.

Tennessee Volunteers 28, Kentucky Wildcats 10: Post mortem

2008-11-30T07:19:40Z

I will offer very little here, as this game was just a repeat of recent futility by the Kentucky Wildcats.

Congratulations to the Tennessee Volunteers for sending their national championship coach out in style. Phillip Fulmer deserved a rousing sendoff for all the hard work he has done for the Orange and White, and he got one tonight in the form of a convincing victory over Kentucky

For Kentucky, it was another excercise in offensive futility. Despite a game effort from the defense, the Kentucky offense simply failed to give them time to catch their breath, and when that happens, they get worn down. Today, the Vols wore the 'Cats down to a nub, and ended up scoring despite themselves.

For Kentucky, it is a .500 regular season, and although that seems like kissing your sister, it is probably all that this injury-riddled team deserved. I am not happy about losing to Tennessee for the 24th straight time, but quite frankly, it is asking a lot for a team like this one to go anywhere in the SEC and win other than Commonwealth Stadium. The fact that they were able to accomplish one road win with so many injured players on both sides of the ball is something worhty of grudging praise.

There is not really much more to say right now. It's time to wait and see what the post season has to offer. No matter what it is, I am confident next year's team will be much better overall.

Las Vegas Invitational: Championship game -- Kentucky vs. West Virginia

2008-11-30T02:30:05Z

This is the official A Sea of Blue Open Game Thread for the West Virginia Mountaineers versus the Kentucky Wildcats at 10:30 EST tonight.

Here in Sin City, there is a quiet but hopeful feeling about tonight's game between the Kentucky Wildcats and Bob Huggins' West Virgina Mountaineers. West Virginia looked very good in their dismantling of Iowa yesterday, and the most troubling thing for the Kentucky Wildcats is the fact that they play an in-your-face pressure defense that, believe it or not, is far superior to what we saw last night from Kansas State. West Virginia is currently undefeated and has the 12th most highly ranked defense in the entire nation points-wise, holding opponents to a mere 53 points/game. Compare that to Kentucky's 241st ranking surrendering 72 ppg.

Kentucky and West Virginia have one common opponent, Longwood University. The Mountaineers beat LU 86-54 and UK beat them 91-57, so the margin of victory is similar. Kentucky and West Virgina are very similar teams, for that matter, in a variety of ways.

The 'Eers get their points from Alex Ruoff, a dangerous 6'6" shooting guard who can put the ball in the basket from anywhere on the court, and Da'Sean Butler, a 6'7" swing forward who plays with great intensity. But the unsung star of yesterday's game against the Hawkeyes was John Flowers, a skilled, 6'7" small foward who can handle the ball and makes really good decisions with it. He can shoot, but rarely takes a bad shot and shoots a very high percentage. Wellington Smith and Devin Ebanks round out the front court for the Mountaineers. Smith is a 6'7" junior power forward, and Devin Ebanks is an extremely skilled 6'9" 5* small forward who originally committed to Indiana University before the coaching change, then changed his mind and relocated to Morgantown.

This game will be very difficult for the Wildcats, as my impression of the two teams after having seen both play is that West Virginia is further along at this point than Kentucky is. West Virginia is just as athletic as Kentucky, although UK can throw quite a bit more beef on the front line if they choose. But the thing that really stood out is the really excellent and disciplined defense that the Mountaineers played against the Hawkeys. They are no slouch on offense, either, and if UK thinks that the K-State 'Cats screened them, they are really in for some bumps and bruises tonight, as Huggins' group really sets hard picks, and sets them everywhere.

For Kentucky to win this game, they must:

Find a way to decrease their turnovers. There is no way Kentucky can beat WVU with 30 turnovers. In fact, they'll get blown out no matter how well they shoot if that's the best the 'Cats can muster.
Find a way to get more players on the floor. Huggins is not afraid to play his young guys, and they are all pretty good.
Get more shots for Patrick Patterson. Meeks is a great player, but he turns the ball over way to much. Meeks must touch the ball a bit less and Patterson a lot more.
Perry Stevenson must show up. I'm tired of playing "Where's Perry?" He is a junior, and we need a lot more out of him than we have received in the last two games.
Pressure WVU. Pressure teams like West Virginia often hate to be pressed, and I don't think WVU has been pressured this year.
Rebound. West Virginia is currently the third best rebounding team in the NCAA.

With the DeAndre Liggins drama still up in the air, and the 'Cats exhausted from a very late night and an intense effort by a game K-State team, this is a very tough spot for Kentucky, quite frankly. The Wildcats have the talent and the skill to beat the Mountaineers, but WVU had an easy game yesterday and Kentucky a tough one. Bob Huggins has this team playing very, very well, and it's not hard to visualize Kentucky winding up on the short end of this one. I have seen both teams play, and believe me, West Virginia is definitely capable of handling the Wildcats in their current state.

But they don't play the game on paper, and even if they did, this would be a toss-up. A win here and UK will certainly have turned a corner. A loss is not the end of the world, though, especially in the current state of flux this team suddenly finds itself in and the difficulty in recovering from last night's efforts. But if Kentucky can get the ball to Patterson with regularity, take care of the ball and hit the glass, they just might get this job done.

Go, 'Cats!

Kentucky at Tennessee: Open Game Thread

2008-11-29T23:00:06Z

Due to the short amount of time I have and the large amount of stuff I have to do, this one will be short and sweet.

The 'Cats need this game for many reasons, not the least of which is the pride of snapping a 23 game losing streak to a team that was once considered our major rival in football. It's hard to say that is true now given the dominance that UT has displayed over Kentucky for the past 2+ decades, but it would be wonderful if we could call this a rivalry again sometime.

I will be posting in this thread and watching the game (hopefully) down at the sports book. Enjoy the game and get ready for yet another UK game, this time in roundball, tonight at 10:30 PM EST against the West Virginia University Mountaineers.

Go, 'Cats!

Kentucky @ Tennessee: UT stats, personnel, commentary, and a prediction

2008-11-29T18:28:16Z

UK's football 'Cats once again enter the final regular season game with high hopes of victory. Kentucky, coming off a bye week, has had two weeks to put into place new plays, new looks, and hopefully a game-winning attitude, because gaining a victory won't be easy (it's never easy when a team has lost 23 straight to the same opponent).

Emotions are running high in Knoxville. The players seem to have conquered their disappointment over Phillip Fulmer's dismissal of a few weeks ago, and with a victory over Vanderbilt last weekend, and their strong week of practice, they seem focused on winning their last game for the soon-to-be deposed Fulmer.

I would like to add my congratulations to coach Fulmer on an exceptional reign at UT. He's been associated with the Tennessee program for 32 years, beginning with his time in Knoxville as a player (four years), then as an assistant to Johnny Majors. He's of course served 16 years (plus four games) as head man of the big orange (he's 16-0 versus UK). He guided UT to their first national championship in like a hundred years, in 1998. He posted a 151-52 career mark ... here's hoping he ends up 151-53.

Tennessee Schedule

This year UT has wins versus UAB (35-3), Northern Illinois (13-9), Mississippi State (34-3), and last weeks road win against Vandy (20-10). The Vols losses shape up this way: @UCLA (27-24 in ot), home against Florida (30-6), @ Auburn (14-12), @ Georgia (26-14), home against Alabama (29-9), @ South Carolina (27-6), and at home against Wyoming (13-7).

Tennessee Offensive Personnel

Quarterback Jonathan Crompton: 6'4", 220 lb junior -- This year Crompton has thrown for 788 yards and three touchdowns, while going 80 for 159 and five interceptions. For his career Crompton has completed 118 of 267 passes for 1,286 yards, eight touchdowns, and nine interceptions.

Fulmer said this week that Crompton will be the likely starter this week versus UK.

Quarterback B.J. Coleman: 6'3", 210 lb red-shirt freshman -- In three games this year, Coleman is 4 for 8 passing, for 21 yards, one interception and zero touchdowns.

Coleman was limited this week in practice with a foot injury. Fulmer said this week that Coleman would probably see action against Kentucky.

Running back Arian Foster: 6'1", 215 lb senior -- The '07 Second Team All-SEC selection has rushed 110 times for 511 yards (4.6 yards per carry). He's run for one touchdown. He also has 18 catches for 149 yards (8.3 yards per catch), but no receiving touchdowns. For his career Foster has rushed for 2,905 yards, which is good for second place all-time in Tennessee history. Foster has proved to be multi-talented, evidenced by his 82 career receptions for 685 yards. The senior is third all-time in UT history with 3,804 all-purpose yards, behind Stanley Morgan ('73-'76) and Willie Gault ('79-'82).

Foster as made a nice living at UK's expense over the years: In '05 versus the 'Cats he carried the ball 26 times for 114 yards and caught five passes for 44 yards. Last year he rushed 27 times for 118 yards and caught 9 passes or 98 yards and a touchdown, on UT's first play from scrimmage.

Running back Lennon Creer: 6'1", 210 lb sophomore -- This year Creer has rushed 67 times for 364 yards (5.4 yards per carry), and three touchdowns. For his career Creer has ran the ball 103 times for 578 yards (5.6 yards per carry), and four touchdowns. He was honored as a PrepStar All-America coming out of high school in Texas. He was also named the Old Spice Redzone Player of the Year in Texas.

Running back Montario Hardesty: 6'0", 210 lb junior -- Hardesty has 69 rushes for 252 yards (3.7 yards per carry), and six touchdowns. He's also caught four passes for 24 yards. For his career Hardesty has 270 carries for 1,027 yards (3.8 yards per carry), and 13 touchdowns.

Wide receiver Gerald Jones: 6'0", 185 lb sophomore -- Jones has made 27 catches for 308 yards (11.4 yards per catch).

Last year versus UK, Jones caught a touchdown pass in the first overtime.

Wide receiver Lucas Taylor: 6'0", 185 lb senior -- Taylor has made 26 catches for 372 yards (12.8 yards per catch), and one touchdown this year. For his career he has 113 receptions for 1,43 yards, and six touchdowns.

Last year against Kentucky Taylor had six catches for 103 yards and one touchdown.

Wide receiver Austin Rogers: 6'2", 185 lb senior -- Rogers has made 14 catches for 180 yards (12.9 yards per catch). For his career he has 76 receptions for 891 yards (11.7 yards per catch), and four touchdowns.

Rogers was the cause of much pain for UK fans last year when he rushed 13 yards for a touchdown, and later caught the game-winning two-point conversion in the fourth overtime.

Wide receiver Josh Briscoe: 6'3", 183 lb senior -- This year Briscoe has made 14 catches for 176 yards (12.6 yards per catch), and one touchdown. For is career he has 79 receptions for 866 yards (10.9 yards per catch), and eight touchdowns.

Wide receiver Denarius Moore: 6'1", 185 lb sophomore -- Moore has 10 catches for 208 yards (terrific 20.8 yards per catch), and one touchdown. In his short career he has caught 24 passes for 420 yards (17.5 yards per catch), and one touchdown.

Tight end Luke Stocker: 6'6", 245 lb sophomore -- The Madison Central High School grad, and Berea native, has made 13 catches for 139 yards (10.7 yards per catch). For his career he has 17 receptions for 150 yards (8.8 yards per catch), and a touchdown.

Placekicker Daniel Lincoln: 6'0", 204 lb sophomore -- On the year Lincoln has made 10 of 17 field goal attempts. From 20-39 yards he's 8 of 11, and from 40-49 yards he's 2 of 3. For his career he has made 31 of 46 attempts. Lincoln was honored last year as an All-America by the Football Writers, and a Freshman All-America. He was also named Second Team All-SEC. Lincoln was a Groza Award semifinalist in '07( which goes to the nations top placekicker).

Tennessee Defensive Personnel

UT's defense is loaded with talent. They possess size, speed and experience. So it should not come as a surprise that the Vols rank very high nationally in nearly every statistical category: Total Defense - 6th (269.9 yards allowed) ... Scoring defense - 16th (17.4 points per game) ... Passing defense - 9th (166.2 yards per game) ... Rushing defense - 14th (103.7 yards per game).

Tennessee's defensive dominance begins with all-world ...

Safety Eric Berry: 5'11", 195 lb sophomore -- Berry has recorded 67 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, seven interceptions (265 INT return yards and two touchdowns) and six pass break-ups. Berry was named SEC Defensive Freshman of the Year in '07. He was also a consensus Freshman All-America and of course made Freshman All-SEC. In '07 he was voted Second Team All-SEC, and he led all SEC freshman with 86 tackles. Berry has 487 career interception return yards in only 24 games played. He's threatening the NCAA record of 501 yards, set by Florida State's Terrell Buckley. He is one of three finalists for the Thorpe Award, which goes to the nations top defensive back, and he's the reigning SEC Defensive Player of the Week. Needless to say, Berry has to be accounted for on every UK offensive snap.

Last year versus UK he recorded a season high 14 tackles and one pass break-up.

Linebacker Ellix Wilson: 5'10", 225 lb senior -- Wilson leads the Vols with 80 tackles. He has recorded 4.5 tackles for loss, one sack, one interception, and two pass break-ups.

Wilson recorded one sack last year versus UK.

Linebacker Rico McCoy: 6'1", 221 lb junior -- McCoy has 79 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, one sack and three pass break-ups. He was named Second Team All-SEC in '07.

Last year against UK McCoy recorded nine tackles and one pass break-up.

Defensive back Dennis Rogan: 5'10", 185 lb sophomore -- Rogan has 50 tackles, one tackle for loss, one interception, and five pass break-ups. Rogan also returns kick-offs, averaging a solid 24.9 yards per return.

Last year versus Kentucky, Rogan had three tackles and one tackle for loss.

Linebacker Nevin McKenzie: 6'2", 215 lb senior -- McKenzie has made 46 tackles, eight tackles for loss, four sacks, one interception and one pass break-up. He's a JUCO transfer.

Defensive tackle Dan Williams: 6'3", 310 lb junior -- Williams has 46 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, and one pass break-up.

Last year Williams blocked a Lones Seiber field goal attempt, which ended up costing UK the football game.

Defensive end Robert Ayers: 6'3", 275 lb senior -- Ayers has 43 tackles, a team leading 14.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, one interception, one pass break-up, and eight quarterback hits (tied for team lead).

Last year versus UK he recorded four tackles and one tackle for loss.

Defensive end Wes Brown: 6'4", 256 lb junior -- Brown has 37 tackles. 6.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and eight quarterback hits (tied for team lead with Ayers).

Punter Britton Colquitt: Colquitt has punted 38 times for a 43.2 average. He's had no punts blocked. Colquitt was selected Second Team All-SEC in '07.

Kicker Chad Cunningham: He's kicked-off 37 times, and recorded three touch-backs.

How did Tennessee beat Vandy ...

After UT's home loss to Wyoming (13-7) a few weeks ago, many thought the Vols may very well 'mail in' the remainder of the season ... 'many' would be wrong. Tennessee responded with defensive gusto in their 20-10 victory over Vanderbilt last week. Let's take a look at what enabled UT to come out with that seemingly improbable victory:

UT ran the ball, Vandy did not -- The Vols rushed for 222 yards on 51 carries (4.4 yards per carry), while limiting Vandy to only 25 yards on 28 carries (0.9 yards per carry). Tennessee was led in rushing by Lennon Creer with 80 yards on only 13 carries (6.2 yards per carry). Arian Foster and Montario Hardesty chipped in with 53 yards and 41 yards respectively.
UT contained Vandy's passing game, and the Vols weren't forced to pass -- Vandy quarterbacks Chris Nickson and MacKenzie Adams were a combined 19 of 44 for 188 yards, and two interceptions. Tennessee's D-line and linebackers pressured the Vandy QB's all day, finishing with six sacks. Fulmer went with the run game almost exclusively (he did say this week that he would like to throw more against UK). The two UT quarterbacks finished the day only 4 of 9 for 21 yards, and two interceptions (let's HOPE they throw more).
UT didn't have to go far to score -- UT managed only one sustained drive: a nine play 65 yard drive, which resulted in the only offensive touchdown of the day for the Vols. UT's other 'drives' and scores: five play 27 yard drive, which resulted in a field goal -- this drive was facilitated by a Vandy eighteen yard punt. Eric Berry returned an interception 45 yards for a touchdown, and after a 69 yard interception return by Brent Vinson, UT ran two plays for zero yards and again kicked a field goal. All of UT's scoring occurred in the first half.

Final Thoughts

It will take a tremendous offensive and defensive effort to beat the Vols in Knoxville. But it can be done: UK must force Tennessee to pass the ball, and there are only two ways to do that -- Shut down the UT ground attack, or score early and often, putting the Vols in the position of having to throw the ball in order to play catch up.

Neither of those scenarios are highly likely to happen though, after-all, UK's 50th ranked run defense gives up 136 yards per game on average, and we've seen a number of backs post huge numbers against the 'Cat's defense this year. Getting off to a quick offensive start has also not been UK's forte this year; they've been outscored 98-31 in the first quarter, with many of those points coming off of UK turnovers, or other, more creative methods.

Kentucky's only real hope (other than forcing a multitude of turnovers) is for Randall Cobb to play out of his mind. With UK decimated by injuries to so many offensive players, Cobb will be the one looked toward to provide energy and creativity within the context of the offense. In order to fully utilize Cobb's multifaceted offensive arsenal, I feel that the run to pass ratio should be around 60-40 or 65-35, run. Kentucky has the talent to wear down UT's defensive unit, but the coaches have to stay with the run. UK has been far too successful running the spread/option sets to give up on the tactic if early success is not forthcoming. As an aside, I would really be pleased if 6'5" TE Maurice Grinter was utilized more when UK opts to throw the ball. He's a nightmare match-up for a linebacker, because of his size, athleticism and speed, plus he as Charmin-soft hands, and he gains yards after the catch.

On a positive note; UK does have one aspect of this game going their way, and that's the fact that they've had an extra week to prepare. Hopefully, we will see some new looks from Joker Phillips and Rich Brooks, if not, it could be a very long evening for the boys in blue.

Most prognosticators are predicting a low scoring affair. I say ...

Kentucky -- 20 Tennessee -- 17 ... hope springs eternal, and 7-5 looks a lot better than 6-6.

Tim Masthay

UK punter Tim Masthay has been named a First Team Academic All-America, and he currently ranks third in the NCAA in punting with a 45.6 yard average.

Congratulations to the UK senior. Truly, a job well done.

Thanks for reading, and Go 'Cats beat Tennessee!

Kentucky 74, Kansas State 72: Post Mortem

2008-11-29T09:26:42Z

Well, it's 1:00 AM here in Las Vegas, and even though I am tired, I figure I owe all you intrepid Wildcat fans a report on how the game went live.

First of all, I want to congratulate Kansas State on a hard-fought game that they nearly pulled out in the end. As a Kentucky fan, and a fan of college basketball, I really appreciate how Kansas State relentlessly attacked UK's weakness and in the end, nearly overcame a deficit that got to as large as 17 points. Toward the end of the game, Kentucky's players were visibly more fatigued than those of K-state, and that allowed open 3-point shots and offensive rebounds which really hurt Kentucky.

In the end, though, UK made just enough rebounds to send the K-State 'Cats to tomorrow's consolation game vs. the Iowa Hawkeyes, who were handily defeated by West Virginia in the first game of the evening session.

Some observations from the bleachers. A note -- I have not looked at the statistics, as I find they tend to color my observations.

As good a game as Jodie Meeks played in the first half, he played an equally poor game in the second half. He was repeatedly beaten off the dribble, had the ball stolen from him over and over again, and just generally stunk in many ways.
Michael Porter played about 15 minutes of good basketball, and the rest was abysmal. One thing I will give him credit for (and the reason he stayed in the game so much despite his obvious failings to handle the ball at times) was his defense. It was notable, and impressive against some guards who, quite frankly, are significantly better than he is.
Perry Stevenson starred in this game as the Invisible Man. He did have one block in the first half that almost brought Orleans Arena to the ground with a roar that would have deafened a man at 100 yards.
Darius Miller played a very strange game, almost Porter-esque. Up and down. In the end, he fouled out.
The officials failed to call two indisputable, prima facia intentional fouls. The officiating in this game would perhaps generously be described as "uneven."
Kansas State has some really good players. If they had either Beasley or Bill Walker back, they would surely be a top-25 team. With both, they would be top 5.
At times, UK's defense was worthy of a top 5 club. In the beginning and in the end, it wasn't worthy of a top 100 club.
I like the way Frank Martin coaches. They guy is a real up and comer, and will one day be a star.
Gillispie did a very smart thing at the end of the game when UK was up by five. He basically told his players that if anyone guarded K-State over half court, they may never see the floor again. UK players literally ran away from Jacob Pullen as he lined up and made the last, meaningless three.
Patrick Patterson struggled to rebound. That's not good.
Ramon Harris worked hard on defense, but struggled handling the ball and making free throws.
Patrick Patterson ran the floor like a gazelle. Maybe that's why he was so tired at the end.
Billy Gillispie has a deep bench which is utterly wasted, because he almost never used it. That has got to change.
UK fans were at least 5-1 more numerous than K-State fans, although K-State was much better represented than any other fan base besides UK. That says a lot for them, and how seriously they take their team.
Man, the blue. Wait until you see the pictures. For an arena that seats about 7,000, the first game had maybe 1500 people in the stands. For the UK game, there were at least 3500 and maybe 4000.
UK fans were passionate and pretty darn fair. It was a pleasure being with them so far from home. I have had many interesting conversations.
I was very impressed so many of you stayed up and blogged the game. Give yourselves a pat on the back.

That's all for tonight. Tomorrow, Ken has an awesome preview of the UK-Tennessee game and I will have an open thread up as always. I'll be watching that game (UK doesn't play until around 7:00 Las Vegas time) and will try to participate in the conversation.

Kentucky vs. Kansas State: Open Game Thread

2008-11-29T03:00:06Z

This is the official A Sea of Blue Open Game Thread for tonight's game between the Kentucky Wildcats and the Kansas State Wildcats. Two Wildcats for the price of one, you could say.

Your humble correspondent will be covering the game live from Las Vegas and attempting to post observations from the game if they are possible. If not, please do not let that dissuade you from staying up until the wee hours of the morning and posting comments about the game yourselves.

As I said earlier, the UK fans are here in force, primed and ready for action. I will open this thread around 10:00 to give those who just can't stay up too late a chance to make a comment or two, but as I write this I am about to adjourn for a dinner of prime rib before easing on over to the arena for the first game.

For Kentucky to win this game, they need to:

Limit turnovers -- K-state is a good ballhandling team, and a big disparity in turnovers could be the difference.
Get the ball into the post where they have an advantage -- K-State is big but athletically challenged compared to Kentucky.
Be aggressive on defense -- The K-State Cats have not been challenged in the tough, man-to-man manner of a Billy Gillispie coached team.
Utilize depth -- Kentucky is a deeper team than Kansas State, and utilizing that depth will be an advantage. This game is likely to be played up-tempo, but nothing like what North Carolina or VMI would like to play.
Get offensive rebounds -- Kentucky should be able to rebound on the offensive glass against this team, and if they do, it would be a huge advantage.

Kentucky is likely to lose this game if they:

Don't defend the three -- K-State is a good three-point shooting team, and UK is not exactly known for efficient defense beyond the arc.
Waste possessions -- Kentucky must value both the ball, and getting a good look every time.
Let the K-State guards get into the lane -- Kansas State's guards have a quickness advantage over Kentucky, and if they get in the lane, it will be a long night for the Blue and White.
Don't force Kansas State to beat them from inside the arc -- Kansas State has beaten most of its opponents by outshooting them from the perimeter. UK must force them to do something else.
Don't recover well on defense -- K-State will force UK to rotate on defense, and UK must do a good job of recovering from the rotation.

That's it. This is a big game, and we really need this win to prove to ourselves that Kentucky really is a better team than it showed in the first two games.

Go, 'Cats!

Kentucky Wildcats vs. Kansas State Wildcats: Las Vegas Invitational Semifinal

2008-11-29T00:39:29Z

Here we go, ladies and gentlemen of the Big Blue Nation -- the second semifinal of the Las Vegas Invitational. The first will be Iowa vs. West Virgina, which my wife and I will be attending as well. For most of you in the East, the UK vs. Kansas State game will begin at midnight EST. I know some of you will be up, and there will be an open thread as always for you to post your comments in. I will be showing up in there (Internet connection permitting) from the game if my reception is good enough.

I'll be posting some pics from the game later on or early tomorrow (time permitting). But right now, lets have a quick look at the player stats (all stats courtesy of StatSheet.com. Likely starters are highlighted as always. For more on the Kansas State Wildcats, be sure to check out the excellent Kansas State SB Nation blog Bring on the Cats.

Kentucky Player Stats
Player	GP/GS	MPG	PPG	FG%	3PTFG%	FT%	RPG	APG	TOPG	A/T	SPG	BPG
J. Meeks	4/4	35	24.3	42.10%	33.30%	84.00%	5	1.5	4.3	0.4	1.3	0.3
P. Patterson	4/4	32.8	16	67.50%	0.00%	76.90%	8.5	3.8	1.8	2.1	1.5	2.5
R. Harris	4/3	28	11	62.10%	0.00%	53.30%	3.8	1	3.3	0.3	1.3	0.5
P. Stevenson	4/4	26	7.8	47.10%	0.00%	88.20%	7.3	1.8	1.3	1.4	0.8	2.8
D. Liggins	4/0	20	4.8	50.00%	42.90%	0.00%	3	4.3	4	1.1	1	0.8
D. Miller	4/1	20	6.5	42.90%	14.30%	70.00%	3	1.8	2	0.9	0.5	0.3
M. Porter	4/4	19	4.3	40.00%	33.30%	66.70%	3.8	2.5	2.5	1	0.8	0.3
J. Harrellson	4/0	11.5	4.5	41.20%	0.00%	66.70%	3.5	0.5	0.3	2	0	1.5


Kansas State Player Stats
Player	GP/GS	MPG	PPG	FG%	3PTFG%	FT%	RPG	APG	TOPG	A/T	SPG	BPG
D. Sutton	5/5	27	10.4	52.60%	0.00%	70.60%	7	0.8	1.6	0.5	2.4	0.4
J. Pullen	5/5	26.2	14.8	35.30%	33.30%	77.80%	2	4.6	3	1.5	1.6	0
J. Samuels	5/0	22.6	11	64.70%	0.00%	44.00%	5.8	1.8	0.6	3	0.8	0.8
D. Clemente	5/5	21.6	13.4	44.70%	39.10%	84.20%	1.4	3.8	1.6	2.4	0.8	0
F. Brown	5/0	20.2	10	47.50%	50.00%	50.00%	1.6	2.2	1.8	1.2	0.4	0
D. Kent	5/5	20	9.8	50.00%	33.30%	65.00%	7	1.6	1.2	1.3	1	0.4
R. Anderson	5/0	18.4	4.8	47.10%	0.00%	50.00%	7.2	1.8	1.2	1.5	0.6	0.4
L. Colon	5/5	15.8	5.8	50.00%	0.00%	69.20%	4	0.8	0.4	2	0.2	1.2

Inside the paint

The main inside threat of Kansas State this year is 6'10" 230# Darren Kent, who is both an inside player and one of the leading rebounders. Kent is a senior out of Apple Valley, Minnesota.

From inside the arc, a major threat of Kansas State is Dominique Sutton, a smooth and powerful wing player with an excellent mid-range game. Sutton was a 4* Rivals player who joined the K-State Wildcats last year. This year, he is the third leading scorer nd second leading rebounder on the team.

Luis Colon starts at center, and he is a big guy at 6'10"/265#, but Ron Anderson, a 6'8" sophomore power forward and team's leading rebounder will do most of the time in that position if form holds, and neither of these two is a serious scoring threat although Anderson is a much better rebounder. Colon has a tendency to get into foul trouble. Jamar Samuels provides both rebounding and scoring from the bench.

I expect Kentucky to have an advantage at the 1-3 spots. Even though Sutton is a very dangerous player and Kent is big enough to post up, UK has more athletic and dynamic players in the 4 and 5 spot, and at the three, Ramon Harris is capable of handling Sutton.

Backcourt

Kansas State has a dynamic back court consisting of Jacob Pullen and Dennis Clemente, both dynamic scorers who can stroke it from three and score from everywhere else. These two guys will be the biggest challenge that UK will face, along with 3-point specialist Fred Brown who is shooting the long ball at 50% accuracy.

Unfortunately, neither Meeks nor Porter match up particularly well with these guys. Both Pullen and Clemente are small, quick and can penetrate the lane. Kentucky will have some difficulty this year handling smaller guard combos, and this could well be a very difficult team for UK to contain because of the guards. The back court play is likely to decide the game unless Kentucky dominates the front court, and I give the K-State Wildcats a slight edge in the back court.

Team stats

The team stats for these two contestants are as follows:

School	Kentucky	Kansas State	Comments
Conference	SEC	Big 12
State	KY	KS
Founded	1865	1863
School Type	Public	Public
Enrollment	26545	23182
Rankings
Conf Standing	N/A	N/A
AP Rank	0	0
RPI	0.48	0.56
RPI Rank	191	92	That's what 2-2 vs. 5-0 will get you.
SOS	0.52	0.42	UNC is why.
SOS Rank	146	258	Moving up, but still looks weak. KSU weaker, though.
Wins & Losses
Overall	2-2	5-0
Home	2-1	4-0
Away	0-1	1-0
Neutral	0-0	0-0
Conference	0-0	0-0
Top 25	0-1	0-0
Blowout (> 19)	2-0	3-0
Close (< 6)	0-0	0-0
Overtime	0-0	0-0
NCAA Tourney	0-0	0-0
Scoring
Pts Per Game	80.8	83.6	Both due to weak schedules so far.
Shooting
FG Pct	49.8	45.7	We shoot better because we have better inside players.
FT Pct	72.8	61.1
3pt FG Pct	29.9	34.7	This is where we are vulnerable.
Rebounds
Reb Per Game	43.5	46.2
Off Rebs Per Game	12	18	This is where their rebounding edge lies. We have to shut this down.
Def Rebs Per Game	29.3	25
Assists, Steals, & Blocks
Assists Per Game	17.8	19	Close.
Steals Per Game	7.5	9.4	Close.
Blocks Per Game	8.8	3.6	Not close. We are among the best in the NCAA.
Turnovers & Fouls
TO Per Game	21	12.8	Not close. If both are at season's average, KSU wins.
Fouls Per Game	19.3	18	Surprisingly close. Slight advantage UK if FT shooting holds to form.

Conclusion

Kentucky and Kansas State match up very well, and this is an excellent early-season test for the improving Kentucky Wildcats. Kansas State is not the team they were last year with Michael Beasly and Bill Walker, but they are very competent and more than sufficiently talented to test Kentucky, particularly in the back court.

This will be a very interesting game, and will tell us if the last two blowouts have actually included the signs of improvement we all think we see, or just the mirage of competence courtesy of inferior competition. This game will tell us much about the Kentucky Wildcats, for good or ill.

Las Vegas Invitational: Day One

2008-11-28T17:32:46Z

We are in and settled in our room here in the Orleans, and the Big Blue Mist is settling over the entire area. I have spoken with at least 20 Kentucky fans and given high-fives and knuckles to several more. All this way before anything has officially happened that I am aware of.

As I speak, I am sitting up in the room after struggling for over an hour with my Internet connection. The economy is suffering here in Vegas just like everywhere else, and there are no end to the little nickle-and-dime charges we must suffer for each amenity, and Internet access in unfortunately one of them. It seems that any more, the only thing that is free in this city is the air you breathe, and I'm not sure the $5 surcharge levied on each room per day isn't to cover just that. But as connectivity it is an absolute necessity for both my sanity and my work for A Sea of Blue, I pay, I pay ...

At this moment, I am going down to check out the activities and I will report back later on how all that goes, along with my usual pre-game look at Kansas State. Ken will be covering the big football game tomorrow, and I will definitely be watching and chime in on it as I can. Right now, though, I must give my attention to my dear wife until she is happily and firmly ensconced behind some high-tech one-armed bandit. After that, I will try to get some pictures of UK-related stuff going on here and post that up for your pleasure, as well as whatever news I can glean from around the hotel. Most of that will be from the iPhone, so don't expect a lot of text -- hunting and pecking is painfully slow for me, unfortunately, and typos may well abound. I ask for your forbearance for those inevitable lapses in quality.

It's exciting here, and the UK faithful are out in force, in a level you would expect. It's one thing to hear about how well a team's fans travels, and it is quite another to witness it first hand. I'll have more as time goes on.

While you are waiting for more from me, here are some bits and pieces that might interest you:

That's all for now. Treat this as an open thread.

2009 Recruiting Class Rankings Are Out

2008-11-27T14:09:52Z

Hoopmasters has UK class #21.

Rivals has it #13 and Scout #11.

ESPN rates it #27. HoopScoop #37.

Here is how they rate Louisville's class.

HM #17. R #15. S #22. E #12. HS #25.

North Carolina is rated #1 overall.

The wide disparity in UK ratings seems to come from the rating of Jon Hood. Some analysts (Rivals, Scout) rate him higher than others (particularly ESPN, HoopScoop).

The ratings ultimately don't matter as much as W-L record.

Leaving (for) Las Vegas: Happy Thanksgiving open thread

2008-11-27T12:22:08Z

In about an hour, we will be heading out for a little pre-flight breakfast, then on to the airport for a little Vegas Vacation action. I'll be posting more when I get out to Sin City, but for now, the most you will get from me will be a comment or two from my shiny new iPhone I purchased just so I could blog this trip a little better. No sacrifice is too great to keep my brothers and sisters of the Big Blue Nation well informed.

In the meantime, here are a few articles for discussion:

Gillispie wants the team to forget the past and focus on the games in front of them. That's always good advice. Coach says he doesn't believe in "redemption," at least when it comes to basketball. Just a note to Coach Gillispie -- most fans do.
I never thought of our losing streak to Tennessee in terms of lifetimes, but in reality, there are probably no UK players on today's team that were out of the womb for more than a few months the last time UK beat the Volunteers. Beating UT would really be a big deal.
Rajon Rondo continues to do the work for the Celtics. I always knew this kid was going to be a star.
This has been out there a while, but notice this FanPost, then read about Gillispie's dissatisfaction with the Las Vegas arrangements:

UK will play again on Saturday at 7:30 or 10:30 p.m. EST depending on the outcome Friday.

Why will Kentucky and Kansas State tip off so late?

Chris Spencer, the director of the Las Vegas Invitational, had a quick, easy-to-understand response.

"ESPN," he said.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Enjoy your turkey, dressing, and whatever. Use this thread to express thanks for your blessings or discuss anything Wildcat related.

Kentucky Basketball 2008: Looking at "Floor Value"

2008-11-26T17:00:07Z

Whenever I get into a basketball season, I start questioning authority. I usually reconcile myself to dealing with the conventional wisdom, but sometimes I feel unsatisfied with what conventional basketball stats tell us. So I find myself trying to invent new measures to describe trends that I think just might be relevant.

Today, I have invented a new "stat" called "Floor Value." Floor value is a weighted combination of several statistics: Offensive rebounds, turnovers, steals and assists. Why did I do this, you ask? Well, I got to thinking -- what is more valuable, a steal or a turnover? Generally speaking, steals lead to a possession change in which the defense is seriously disadvantaged -- i.e. they are set up for offense, and then possession is changed creating a transition play which favors the team that just got the steal.

Case in point -- on a turnover resulting from a violation, for example a walk, a palm, a double-dribble, 3-seconds, etc., the defense always has a chance to set, forcing the offense into the half court. On steals, the reverse is true -- the defense has to hustle to make a play, making scoring easier for the stealing team.

Additionally, I considered offensive rebounds. For some reason, the fact that the formula for calculating possessions from box scores always bugged me in that they consider an offensive rebound a continuation of the same possession. Now, that does make sense, except when you consider a non-trivial number of OR's occur very near the basket and result in a point-blank score. An offensive rebound, therefore, would seem to increase the chances of a successful possession significantly.

Putting all this together, what I have done is essentially multiply by a fudge factor to each of the statistics where there is added value in whichever direction. In the case of turnovers, I calculated the percentage of turnovers resulting from steals, averaged them, and adjusted the value of turnovers accordingly. This methodology is somewhat arbitrary, but produces an interesting result. What this really is intended to measure is who is doing the "little things" that add significant value to the team effort, but are hard to quantify specifically.

So let's look at my new creation, and see what it tells us:

Name	OR/40	Steal/40	TO/40	Asst/40	Floor value
Patrick Patterson	2.44	1.83	2.14	4.58	7.32
Perry Stevenson	4.23	1.15	1.92	2.69	6.88
Josh Harrellson	5.22	0	0.87	1.74	6.78
Darius Miller	3	1	4	3.5	3.79
Michael Porter	1.58	1.58	5.26	5.26	3.25
DeAndre Liggins	0	2	8	8.5	2.18
Ramon Harris	2.14	1.79	4.64	1.43	1.01
Jodie Meeks	0.57	1.43	4.86	1.71	-1.2
A.J. Stewart	3.33	3.33	13.33	0	-6.7

What I have done here is calculated each statistic as a "per forty-minutes" stat and multiplied each value-variable statistic such as steals, turnovers and offensive rebounds by a fudge factor. Assists are then simply added to the resultant calculation (turnovers are obviously negative) and the result is the floor value derivative statistic.

What is interesting about this is that big men have an advantage in this statistic, primarily because of two factors: They handle the ball less and are therefore less susceptible to turnovers, and they get more offensive rebounds. I have also discarded any players who have less than 10 minutes played so far in the season.

What I wonder is why players like Meeks and Liggins are so low down the totem pole. In Jodie's case, it is two major issues -- he has little value as an offensive rebounder and he turns the ball over a lot. Worse, Jodie is not a particularly effective defender when it comes to steals -- Michael Porter, DeAndre Liggins and Patrick Patterson all get more steals than Meeks. Meeks' overall floor value is far and away the lowest of any starter, or for that matter, significant bench player. I actually think this is a problem that needs some attention.

As far as Liggins is concerned, he has no offensive rebounds at all this year, which is not really a bad thing for a point guard -- his main responsibility is to provide defensive balance, not rebound. Liggins' main fault is an inordinately high number of turnovers, by far the most on the team other than A.J. Stewart, who we will discuss later.

Patrick Patterson's stats are interesting in that his assists vs. turnovers is extremely high, the highest on the team. Of course, we all knew that Pat was a very good passing big man, but just how good is illustrated here. Where Pat is not getting the job done is on the offensive glass. Perry Stevenson, though, is picking up that slack, almost doubling Patterson's OR output.

Josh Harrellson is a bit of a surprise in the higher reaches of this stat, but he is there primarily because he has turned the ball over so little and leads the team in offensive rebounds/40 minutes played. It is somewhat significant, though, that Harrellson has the lowest minutes played of anyone considered other than Stewart, and most of his time has been garnered against inferior competition.

Another surprise is how high Darius Miller is. He is contributing more overall in these "hustle" stats than any other non-front court player, and now we see why Gillispie has been so high on him.

Michael Porter also surprises a bit -- he is just below Miller on the wing-player totem pole. So while we have all been hard on Porter, in reality, he has only truly struggled in the North Carolina game. The other side of that coin is that Porter has yet to prove himself against high D-I competition.

A.J. Stewart is last on the list, and the reason is obvious -- turnovers. A.J. has an unacceptably high turnover rate per 40 minutes, and if he expects to get on the floor, he is going to have to fix this broken statistic. According to my measurement, both he and Meeks subtract value with their floor game, but Meeks offsets that by scoring lots of points. A.J. does not. To be fair, though, A.J. barely makes the cut minutes-wise with 12, and his relatively small number of stats are exacerbated because of that. In other words, it looks worse than it probably is.

So there we go. I have invented a stat that shows ... well who knows what, but it does seem to have some significance in the areas I consider important. Patrick Patterson and Perry Stevenson have inarguably played very good basketball. Ramon Harris winds up farther down this list than I expected, but that is because of his high turnover rate and relatively few assists. Harris does many good things that don't show up in the stat sheet, like forcing turnovers and getting deflections. My perception is that he does these things better than anyone, but there is no way for a layman like me to measure those intangibles. Jodie Meeks is offsetting some of his great work scoring by doing the little things poorly. Those are the extremes, and everyone else is somewhere in-between.