Wildcats Quickies: State of The Union Edition

You may think by the title of these quickies that I am going to discuss politics... false.  I am going to discuss the state of the big blue nation union.  Kentucky squeaked out a win last night against a team that is not very good.  They were 16 point favorites and playing in Rupp Arena.

However, we saw the game come down to a 3-point lead and needing free throws to hold on to the victory.  You can say that a win is a win, and you would be right.  However, there are some major flaws on this team that I do not see getting fixed in time for a run at #9.

We simply have no low-post presence to help with the backcourt.  I wrote this article two days ago showing that for us to beat any quality team we have to have 26 points and 20 rebounds from Poythress, Skal, and Marcus Lee.  Last night we got 13 points and 21 rebounds and we nearly lost to a team we should have easily beaten.

Unless Tai Wynyard is exponentially better than we think he is, we are going to be in for needing a ton of threes in March to 'survive and advance'.

TWEETS OF THE NIGHT

YOUR WILDCAT QUICKIES

• KAT just did this to Russell Westbrook. #BBN #TWolves https://t.co/vIMsYwHPGr

  — Scott Charlton (@Scott_Charlton) January 13, 2016

• Another fine performance from Devin Booker. #BBN #Suns pic.twitter.com/IkXgcZ3Yh7

  — Scott Charlton (@Scott_Charlton) January 13, 2016

• Coach Calipari had the team over and showed them Powerball tickets he had purchased, then went on to try and teach them a lesson about the winning lottery ticket each of them already holds.

• Skal Labissiere is dropping in Chad Ford's mock draft projections, he is about to fall outside the top 10.  I am just going to say it now; barring a 180, Skal will be back next season.

• I spoke with a few former Tennessee players who were there when coach Eddie Gran and Darin Hinshaw were in Knoxville and they both could not be more complimentary of the two.  They loved both coaches and hated seeing them go when they did.  Nice to hear from former players that praise them so much.

• New State Auditor Mike Harmon has decided he will continue with the audit of the University of LouisvilleFoundation.  Get your popcorn folks.

• #OurTimeToShine Be sure to add one of @UKGymnastics 2016 posters to your collection #BBN #WeAreUK pic.twitter.com/p6UHl289jm

  — UK Creative Services (@GoCatsDesign) January 11, 2016

YOUR NON-WILDCAT QUICKIES

• The NFL in Los Angeles is back, in an expected voting result, the St. Louis Rams will be moving back to L.A. as early as this fall.  They are expected to be joined in the city of angels by the Chargers.

• The #1 Kansas Jayhawks went into Morgantown to face the #11 Mountaineers of West Virginia.  Both teams came into the game 14-1 but the Jayhawks left 14-2 as they were handled by West Virginia.  The 'Eers forced 22 turnovers and led by 6-10 points for most of the game.

• If you do not know the name Andrew Smith, he was the center for the Butler Bulldogs when they went to two national championships.  Smith passed away at the age of 25 from Leukemia.  It is always a sad time to lose someone to cancer, it is an altogether injustice when someone so young with so much promise succumbs to the terrible disease.

• Adam "PacMan" Jones is an idiot, plain and simple. His latest decision is to double down on his statement that Antonio Brown was 'faking' a concussion.  He has now said he would be willing to apologize for the statement... but only if Brown misses this weekend.

• In a way too early prediction, the odds-on favorites to meet in next season's national championship is... Alabama and Clemson.

• ESPN has put together what they think is the top-10 Point Guards of All-Time... good list.

• Pittsburgh Steelers Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has confirmed he has a sprained AC Joint and torn ligaments in his throwing shoulder.  He insists he is day-to-day and sources indicate he will certainly play this weekend.

• If you paid attention to golf at all in 2015, you know that Jordan Spieth had a helluva year... well, he made a cool 53 MILLION DOLLARS while doing it.

YOUR RANDOM QUICKIES