Welcome to the Guess the Outcome Game, or GOG for short!  The GOG is a season-long series in which we will see who possesses the most clairvoyant Magic 8 Ball by predicting the outcomes for games before they are actually played.  Intrigued?  Read On!

Continue reading this post »

The California teen who dropped out of high school after his junior year in order to chase his dream of NBA fame and millions has found Europe not quite what he expected. Whether the one-time UL commit will see the error of his ways and accept the advice of his coach and his agent is an ongoing question. A larger question is what effect Tyler's early experience will have on other, pardon the expression, scholastic stars.

 “The question is whether he’ll take responsibility of his career,” Haifa Coach Avi Ashkenazi said. “If he thinks he’s going to be in the N.B.A. because his name is Jeremy Tyler and he was a very good high school player, he will not be.”

via t1.gstatic.com

How do we guess the outcome on this one? Will Kentucky take out their frustrations on the Colonels or will Kentucky work on passing the ball, making in-game adjustments, giving starters some rest, learning to tackle better and learning to cover? Hopefully the latter. The coaches have a great opportunity to perfect their game and I'd hate to see it go to waste. Steve Brown should get the defense to absolutely shut down EKU for the whole game by continually tweaking the defense, not just at halftime. Offensively, let Newton and Cobb throw the ball - a lot. We need to see confidence building improvement in all aspects of the game to carry us into three critical bowl determining SEC contests to finish the season.

If we can: contain their quick quarterback (watch the counters!), not throw in Jeremy Caldwell's direction, don't take EKU too lightly I still see a pretty low scoring contest - Kentucky 27, EKU 13. Prove me wrong and score 50 Cats.

Log in your guestimate and how you predict the game action then we'll see who gets this weeks bragging rights. The winner will be closest and when it's too close to call between entries we'll look at the "game action" summary. The decision will be as accurate as any SEC official. (Due to the horrible loss last week, there were no bragging rights this past week.)

We beat Louisville by four after having an extra week to prepare. Check Vanderbilt's bye week.

Continue reading this post »

via gate21.net

There's been a considerable amount of fallout after Kentucky's disappointing loss at home to the hands of Mississippi State last Saturday. Before the game, a good percentage of Big Blue Nation had reason to believe that their Wildcats could win 9-10 games, beat Georgia and/or Tennessee, and travel to the Chick-fil-A or Outback Bowl.

Fans now question the Cats' chances at Vanderbilt and whether or not they'd travel to Shreveport or Memphis instead of Atlanta or Tampa. Who's to blame? Take your pick:

1. The players

Kentucky had consistently demonstrated quite a formidable defense the past few weeks. In the Cats' last four games before taking on MSU, they'd held Alabama, South Carolina, Auburn, and Louisiana-Monroe to under 5.0 yards per carry. Mississippi State, however, managed to rack up an alarming 7.7 yards per rush, led by SEC Player of the Week Anthony Dixon's career day (33 carries for a school-record 252 yards).

Inconsistent quarterback play has also hurt the Cats. Freshman Morgan Newton led UK behind center against MSU, completing 11 of his 18 passes for 119 yards, no TDs, and a game-changing interception inside the Bulldog 20 yard line. UK's 'Wildcat' formation was also held in check on Saturday, as Randall Cobb was held to 25 yards on eight carries.

Argument against: Fatigue. The Cats are banged up, and have faced numerous injuries to key players (Micah Johnson, Derrick Locke, Paul Warford), some of which has caused them to miss considerable amounts of time (Mike Hartline, Trevard Lindley).

2. The coaches

Rich Brooks has tried to shoulder most of the blame for Saturday's loss, claiming that it was the coaching staff's fault for lack of preparation, so take that for what it's worth. Brooks has rightfully been able to avoid the negative talks that surrounded him during his first few seasons as head coach in Lexington. Joker Phillips, the Offensive Coordinator and Head Coach-in-waiting, has not. Questionable playcalling, specifically in the opponent's red zone, has been a hot topic in both of UK's last two losses vs. MSU and South Carolina.

Defensive Coordinator Steve Brown has also faced a considerable amount of Anthony Dixon-caused scrutiny, as the Cats were simply baffled by the relative simplicity of MSU's offensive gameplan. Anybody recall the shotgun-counter running play the Bulldogs ran over and over?

Argument against: Kentucky wouldn't be where it is today (three consecutive bowl wins) without the help of Brooks & Co., so cut 'em some slack. Right?

3. The fans

Perhaps the most perplexing part of UK's struggle on Saturday was its lack of fan support. Setting aside the half-hearted 'blackout' effort inspired by A.D. Mitch Barnhart, only 67,953 showed up to Commonwealth for the Mississippi State game. That's less than the attendance for the Louisiana-Monroe game last week. Assuming that the Bulldogs travel much better than the Warhawks (they do), a lot of UK fans seemed to have had better things to do on Halloween.

In a most disturbing scene, a steady flow of UK faithful could be seen heading for Commonwealth Stadium's exits after Newton's interception in the fourth quarter. Mind you, there was still 10:47 left on the game clock of a one-possession game.

Argument against: I'll give Big Blue Nation the benefit of the doubt this time. Ticket prices, bad weather, and Halloween may have deterred many from attending on Saturday. But enough of declaring that the players need to 'show up' more often; if fans want Kentucky to climb into SEC football notoriety, they're going to have to spin the proverbial turnstiles as well.

The test

How  to test the aformentioned 'weaknesses' displayed by UK football of late:

1. The players- quarterback play will continue to be spotty until Hartline returns (bet you never thought you'd read that). However, pay close attention to how well the Cats play against Eastern Kentucky, an FCS opponent. Kentucky will get the Colonels' best shot, but should be able to handle their intra-state foe from Richmond. The Cats are also preparing for their fifth contest in as many weeks, and are in the middle of a stretch in which they play nine Saturdays in a row.

2. The coaches- how well a team is prepared is tough to gauge. Playcalling, however, is not: hope for a more efficient performance from the Cats in their next few red zone possessions offensively. On the defensive side of the ball, Steve Brown will have to rally his bruised & battered troops; after UK's contest against EKU, Vanderbilt, Georgia, and Tennessee loom.

3. The fans- I can't blame Big Blue Nation for being hopeful of double-digit wins and a New Year's Day Bowl. However, it appears that a few too many clad in blue-and-white (and black) expected their Cats to accomplish those lofty expectations. Four bowl games in a row is an attainable and respectable goal, one which Brooks-backers can embrace.

So I leave it up to you, Big Blue Nation. Who's to blame? Anybody? Everybody? Post your comment(s) below.

This is something I found,that rates the Top 20 basketball programs this decade.

The point structure.

2 points NCAA Tournament appearance

5 points Regular season conference title

5 points Conference Tournament title

5 points Sweet 16

10 points Elite 8

20 points Final Four

30 points Runner-up

50 points National Championship

Here are the numbers-

1.North Carolina 366

2.Florida 336

3.Kansas 325

4.Michigan State 310

5.Duke 255

6.Uconn 231

7.UCLA 201

8.Maryland 176

9.Syracuse 169

10.Memphis 157

11.Arizona 145

12.Illinois 126

13.Gonzaga 125

14.Ohio State 107

15.Texas 105

16.Loiuisville 104

17.Oklahoma 103

18.Wisconsin 100

19.Kentucky 93

20.Xavier 91

Some things that I would like to point out.This point structure places a high emphasis on making a deep run NCAAT.I am ok with all the numbers except 30 pts for a runner-up.I would give 25 pts for a Final Four,and 50 for a National Championship.Some other things I disagree with,I would give more than 2 pts for a NCAAT appearance,would change that to 10 pts.Why?Because teams from non-BCS conferences can win the regular season title(5 pts) and still not make the tourney.I would give 10 pts for a NCAAT appearance.Also,I would subtract -5 pts for failing to make the NCAAT.

Bonus points.This would be in addition to the current point structure.

5 points Winning Regular Season Conference Title/Conference Tournament

5 points Getting a 1 seed

Any Ideas?

The good news:  we just held a team to 21% shooting on the night, forced them into 25 turnovers (against 6 assists), and had 10 blocks and 11 steals.  We out-rebounded them by 10, and had twice as many assists as they did and committed fewer turnovers than they did, all with our starting point guard on the bench (A:12, TO’s:23 – still a bad TO number, but vs. last year…).  They did not block a single Wildcat shot (but did get 10 steals).

In the first half, our defense was particularly outstanding – they missed 22 of the 25 shots they took.  Had they missed that surprise early three-pointer, they would have scored a grand total of eight points in the entire half, and folks would have accused us of rubbing it in.

Once again, despite all of the hoopla about Patterson, Orton, and Cousins, our most efficient rebounder proved to be Josh Harrellson, and as the Camels began wearing down our out-of-shape Golden Boys in the second half (actually beating them for a long stretch), it was the senior leadership and play of Krebs, Harris, and Perry Stevenson (and the 18 points and 4 assists they combined for) that kept the second half from being an absolute embarrassment.

I do not point this out to lament the less than anticipated execution of our supposed stars, but to say we may take some solace in the apparent indication that no matter how scatterbrained and flustered our new guys get over the course of this season, it appears we will be able to interject the Old Guard from the bench and take advantage of some good, solid experience, and some darned fine talent that will be sitting there all year. 

The play from Perry was especially welcome, as it reminded one of the five game stretch two years ago (after Pat hurt his ankle) during which Perry’s numbers, playing in Pat’s place, were actually better than Pat’s season averages.  Three coaches have tried to encourage Perry to play with more aggression; let’s hope the lessons have taken now that he is a senior, with so much basketball under his belt.  Let’s hope it wasn’t a fluke.

As an NAIA team, Campbellsville is not burdened by the NCAA’s practice time restrictions that faced our guys.  They have surely been practicing for much longer than we have this semester, and that put us at a competitive disadvantage.  Moreover, from last year to this, that team did not have 50% turnover with players, and 100% turnover with its coaches.  Advantage camels.  

On the other hand, that team sucked last year in a mediocre league, and I would have been more comfortable if the second half score had been more like the first: 36-11, not 38-27.  Our play on both sides of the ball during the second half was unexceptional.

Needless to say, that game came after only two weeks of practice between six new and seven old players in a new system with a new coaching staff.  There was no well of experience upon which we could draw.  Additionally, I have to believe that in practicing in this new system Coach Cal has NOT asked the team to spend a great deal of time practicing as though its starting point guard were on the bench.  Some time, yes, but I have to believe that this Wall-less episode was as new to the team as it was to us.  Maybe one practice was devoted to running the team without Wall.  We will have to see it for a few minutes every game while Wall takes a blow, but for 40 minutes last night, we were playing with one hand tied behind our back.

Our old guys are picking up the DDMO a lot quicker than the newbies are.  That could mean they are just smarter, or that a few more years on the court (and experience with three different D1 coaches) has given the gray beards a leg up on the new guys.  I will note that Cal has said Wall picked up the DDMO a lot quicker than Rose, etc., so it could be that there is a great deal more difference in the team’s play with Wall on the court that even the most optimistic among us might expect.

Perhaps Friday will answer that question.  I was not as wowed by the play of Bledsoe as some others, as it appeared to me he missed many opportunities to drive the lane that Wall would have exploited.  Again, Friday will give some insight on that point.

I need (4) tickets to Friday nights Ex. Game at Rupp.  I can get upper level tickets online but wanted to see if I could get lower level tickets to take the wife and parents.  We have been to a couple of games, but i have ALWAYS been in the upper level and would like to experience the cats up close.  let me know if you have tickets and are willing to sell them.

Let me know, nicholas_todd@dell.com

Thanks, cat fan in Nashville

In a story out this morning, ex-coach Gillespie changed his plea from "not guilty" to "guilty" to driving while under the influence.  He received a fine of (according the the article) $1,000.00 and a revocation of his driving privileges in Kentucky for thirty days.  I guess there was no extra consideration given for settling his civil case.  For the complete article go to www.sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=4615954

Thanks to Mr. SEC,  some stats to ponder

Continue reading this post »