Hump Links : Game Day!

Finally it’s that time where some ball is to be played. Don’t forget that Kentucky kicks off with an exhibition game against Pikeville College tonight at 7:00 EST.

Lineups For Tonight

I guess coach Gillispie awards those who show game in practice. The starting lineups were released and may surprise some.

Ramel Bradley
Jodie Meeks
Ramon Harris
Perry Stevenson
Mark Coury

No Patrick Patterson or Joe Crawford.

Jasper Out

As expected, PG Derrick Jasper will not be available for any action.

Return To Rupp

Here’s an article on Pikeville coach Kelly Wells, who returns to Rupp where he guided Mason County to a state championship in 2003.

Coverage

UKAthletics.com, has coverage on tonight’s game, which includes press conference quotes, live game audio and stats links.

A Long Time

Espn has a story on Seattle U and Kentucky playing 50 years after their title game.

Face-Off

SU forward Ryan Coldren…

To play in Rupp Arena with the tradition they have there and to honor the old Seattle University when they challenged a powerhouse like Kentucky, it’s a honor to be in the same sentence with that group.”

SU forward Leigh Swanson…

It’s amazing. It’s a cherry-on-the-top kind of thing,” said forward Leigh Swanson. “I didn’t expect it. It’s exciting to go play in front of 23,000.”

Potty Mouth

With the NCAA’s plan on cracking down on foul language this season, coach Gillispie may experience an technical challenge.

Former Gillispie player Acie Law IV on hearing about technical fouls given on coaches who curse during games this season…

Coach is going to get a few techs this year.”

Also noted: Recruit Chris Singleton may be down to Kentucky or Florida State.

Rupp Arena

Coach Gillispie likes to practice in Rupp and has been using the facility to get familiar with it.

Lets see what others around the Blogosphere are sayin’

The Known Caucasians, gives a little BUY and SELL action on Kentucky players with Stock Report #1.

A Sea of Blue, has an Alumni report on former Cat Keith Bogans.

Headlines

Here’s a late post on some of the stories from the past few days.

Let’s Get It Started

With all eyes upon him and the expectations of Wildcat Nation…Billy Gillispie is ready to get started.

That’s where you want to coach,” Gillispie said. “I’d much rather coach at a place that expects to win every game than a place where it’s OK for you to lose. That’s why you coach. You coach to get to a position like this so you do have the expectation to win every single game. That’s not being cocky, that’s why you coach.”

USA Today-ESPN Pre-season Poll

The Cats received a ranking of No. 22 in the USA Today-ESPN pre-season poll.

Miracle Worker

Here’s an article on Billy Gillispie, including comments from some of the other SEC coaches. Some of the things covered include his hiring, fans believing in him, his prior accomplishments and ESPN’s Steve Lavin calling Gillispie a “miracle worker”.

Overachieve

Some items from the “SEC Media Days” held the other day.

Billy Gillispie know what’s the fans expect and will try to overachieve this season.

Believe me, whoever plays for us, we’re expected to win, and nobody expects to win more than my players or me,” he said. “We’re not looking for any sympathy from anybody.”

We’re going to try to overachieve every single day in practice, every single time we play.”

Also of note is Derrick Jasper has not been recovering as expected. He’s experiencing swelling in his knee and has sat out practice.

Stutz Update

Still no offer from Kentucky, but Garrett Stutz has left Kentucky in, after trimming his list to three.

Another List Trimmed

Kentucky has made the “Elite Eight” of recruit Jamil Wilson. Others making the cut were North Carolina, Duke, Ohio State, Michigan, Purdue, Wisconsin and Marquette.

Hump Links

Media Picks

Kentucky was picked to finish second behind Tennessee in the SEC’s east division.

Related: UK gets modest all-league vote

Patterson Update

After many rumors earlier in the day, news has come out on the Patrick Patterson scare.

It looks like Patterson in suffering from an upper respiratory infection and is getting treatment for it.

This is good news considering all the false information that was floating around. Here’s hoping to a speedy recovering.

Related: Patterson has respiratory infection

Alex Legion

There’s a story on new Cat Alex Legion, covering a few different subjects. Comparing his arrival at UK to that of Joe Crawford’s, the expectations at UK and his role this season.

Jinxing

There was a poll conducted that found 1 in 5 avoid Jinxing their favorite team.

What does one Wildcat fan do?

Todd Williams, 33, of Lexington, Ky., likes to watch University of Kentucky games clad in Kentucky blue-and-white apparel — and clutching his lucky basketball.

What others are blogging about

A Sea of Blue: Tru is lookin’ at the hardwood cats

Wildcats Thunder Blog: Giving his inside take on BCG’s coaching clinic and practice.

KentuckySportsRadio.com: They are posting their UK basketball player previews. First up is Ramel Bradley.

PS: I’m really wanting to attend the UK Vs UAB game, being held at Freedom Hall Dec 15th. If anyone has 2 affordable lowers that they can part with please let me know.

Plans for new arena to replace Rupp

Plans are in the works to replace Rupp Arena with a new downtown arena in Lexington. They are looking at a seating capacity of between 24,000-30,000, with a completion date of 2015.

Update: Injuries and Rumor

The injury bug seems to continue with the Wildcats. Ramon Harris and Perry Stevenson have both suffered broken noses during practice. They both will wear protective mask while their injuries heal. They are the latest casualties, joining Joe Crawford, Derrick Jasper and Jared Carter, who are still recuperating from their injuries.

Also of note is the possibility of Jasper and Carter having to redshirt. Coach Gillispie said a decision will be made in 3-4 weeks.

BCG sure is working these guys like crazy. Looks like we will be limping into the start of the season. This team should be a tough one, hopefully it all pays off.

Rumor:

Other news out there is that Kentucky is going to offer big man Garrett Stutz and that he will accept.

This might very well be possible. It was reported that Kentucky pulled it’s offer to Ralph Sampson III, over his non-committal after Big Blue Madness.

Kentucky wants a big man, so if the offer was indeed pulled, landing Stutz would make sense.

This is currently all rumor, so TIFWIW.

Hump Links

Under Pressure:

The Kentucky Kernel talks with Patrick Patterson about him embracing the stardom and understanding the pressure playing at Kentucky.

Patterson on the stardom…

When you play on the basketball team, you’re a local celebrity. “My first day, I was late for class because I had a guy ask for my autograph.”

Patterson on the pressure…

It’s a lot of pressure. “Kentucky basketball is known for winning, so that’s a lot of pressure right there. People come in and expect me (to help win). It’s a lot of pressure for me and the team.”

Preview:

Collegehoops.net, gives their 2007-08 preview for the Kentucky basketball team.

Their “Final Projection” on success or failure include…

Whether Patterson and Stevenson can bring it offensively and defensively. Bradley, Crawford and Meeks hitting the outside shot. If improved = Extremely Dangerous, If not = limping into tournament and lucky to win a game.

UK Notebook:

Here’s are some leftovers from Tipton’s UK Notebook.

There was mention of why G.J. Vilarino didn’t attend Big Blue Madness. There is speculation that his commitment was only to create a buzz and that he’ll never play for for Kentucky.

Also mentioned was SI’s book “The Basketball Book“. Unfortunately, Kentucky is not prominent. There are 76 photographs of players on the cover, none played for UK.

It was noted that Wolff recently completed an essay on the history of Kentucky basketball. It’s planned for a commemorative issue when UK wins a national championship.

Recruiting Update:

Over at Aaron’s UK Blog, we learn that Kentucky is looking at a couple of new players.

First is C.J. Henry, who’s considering changing sports.

Another is Diamond Taylor, a guard out of Chicago.

BCG loves guards

Random Linkage: Madness, Gillispie etc.

First…let me congratulate the Kentucky football team on the HUGE win over LSU. It sure was a nail biter! Gators up next.

Here are some random headlines covering last night’s Big Blue Madness. Also some other stories mixed in concerning the Kentucky basketball team.

• Big Blue Madness: Taking on the naysayers and pumping up the Big Blue Nation
• Kentucky welcomes new savior Gillispie
• Solid Blue Madness
• Forde: Kentucky goes gaga over Gillispie
• UK braves Gillispie’s ‘boot camp’ in sneakers
• Gillispie says Cats not 100 percent healthy
• These five Cats are anything but sophomoric
• Young team talks title
• Patterson fits Gillispie’s plan

UK Athletics has their online photo gallery up with photos covering both the media day and Madness. You can find the gallery here.

Post Madness Player Observations

Big Blue Madness for this year has come and gone.

I know you can’t really gauge a whole lot from a scrimmage. So, with that said here are some player observations from my point of view.

Jodie Meeks - The kid is a stud and I look for big things from him this season. This of course is no surprise to many, after what was seen from him last season.

“Big” Mike Williams - This was the Tubby recruit as many know. I was impressed with his touch in the paint. He needs to work on his body and get more fit though. He is slow and I think he will benefit from doing so. He does give us a big body to bang with inside.

Derrick Jasper - Didn’t really see enough, but it did look like he’s still favoring his injury. More time to heal will do him good. I heard he’s been working hard on his shooting, hopefully it pays off.

Patrick Patterson - Fans are crazy about him, so much pressure on this guy. From what I could tell, he did look fine and could be the beast from the east.

Alex Legion - Fans are also taking well to him. His stroke looks real good. He was known as someone who could shoot and he showed it.

Next Page »