Thanks for everything

The up and down journey came to an end yesterday, but it wasn’t without a fight. Joe and Ramel carried this team and left it all out there until the very end.

I thought we gave a great effort, but Marquette made the plays when they needed. Our defense was solid most of the time, but we did allow too many drives to the basket and their rebounding also killed us. We also couldn’t match player for player out there with them. If we could of had Jodie and Patrick out there then things may of been different.

What can you not say about our seniors Joe Crawford and Ramel Bradley? These guys just left it all out there. They weren’t going to go out without a fight.

This season we really got to see your heart, guts and determination. For anyone that had doubts, I think you two provided the answers.

I thank you two for everything and wish you all the success in future endeavors. You have represented this program well and will be missed.

This season may now be over, but the future looks bright for the Wildcats.

NCAA Tourney Picks: I say what?

Let’s have a little fun and make some tourney predictions. I’ll break them down regionally, then continue on to the semifinals and final.

I don’t claim to foretell the future, so don’t take these picks literately.

East Region

First Round

• UNC over Mount St. Mary’s - You don’t really expect an upset..do you?
• Indiana over Arkansas - The Hoosiers have struggled of late, but I think they’ll pull this one out.
• George Mason over Notre Dame - No 12/5 upset last year, how about this year?
• Washington St. over Winthrop - The Cougars are too much.
• Oklahoma over St. Joseph’s - The Sooners will rebound from the blowout to Texas.
• Louisville over Boise State - Sounds like a football matchup. The Cardinals will be too much in the end.
• Butler over South Alabama - Could be an upset, but I’ll sticky with the Bulldogs.
• Tennessee over American - No way the Vols drop this one.

Second Round

• UNC over IU - Indiana’s journey will simply end here.
• Washington St. over George Mason - I just see the Cougars getting this one.
• Louisville over Oklahoma - Possibly an upset, but believe the Cardinals are better.
• Butler over Tennessee - An upset special. I think Butler will shine in this game and send the Vols home.

Regional Semifinal

• UNC over Washington St. - They may give them a game, but UNC prevails.
• Butler over Louisville - Poor shooting will do the Cardinals in.

Regional Final

• Butler over UNC - The Bulldogs are riding high and nip the Tar Heels.

Midwest Region

First Round

• Kansas over Portland St. - No upset here.
• Kent St. over UNLV - No particular reasoning.
• Clemson over Villanova - The Tigers have been playing well.
• Vanderbilt over Siena - SEC wins.
• Kansas St. over USC - Beasley, Mayo? Mayo, Beasley…take your pick.
• Wisconsin over Cal St. Fullerton - The Badgers are simply better.
• Davidson over Gonzaga - Who doesn’t like upsets?
• Georgetown over UMBC - Too much good size.

Second Round

• Kansas over Kent St - Too much Jayhawks.
• Clemson over Vanderbilt - The Commodores won’t have it.
• Wisconsin over Kansas St. - Beasley goes Pro.
• Davidson over Georgetown - What the Hell? Continue the streak.

Regional Semifinal

• Kansas over Clemson - On there way.
• Davidson over Wisconsin - The streak continues.

Regional Final

• Kansas over Davidson - The luck runs out.

South Region

First Round

• Memphis over UT-Arlington - No chance.
• Mississippi State over Oregon - It’s an SEC team.
• Michigan State over Temple - Hoot, Hoot
• Pittsburgh over Oral Roberts - The better team wins.
• Kentucky over Marquette - My Wildcats will prevail.
• Stanford over Cornell - Size wins.
• St. Mary’s over Miami (Fla.) - I like some upsets.
• Texas over Austin Peay - No Governing here.

Second Round

• Memphis over Mississippi State - The Tigers want to make a point.
• Pittsburgh over Michigan State - Pitt will be too much.
• Kentucky over Stanford - United We Stand.
• Texas over St. Mary’s - The slipper doesn’t fit.

Regional Semifinal

• Memphis over Pitt - The Tigers run up and down over the Panthers.
• Kentucky over Texas - The Wildcats surprise everyone to stifle away the win.

Regional Final

• Memphis over Kentucky - Would like to pick my ‘Cats here, but the fatigue will set in.

West Region

First Round

• UCLA over Mississippi Valley St. - The Bruins are too much.
• Texas A&M over BYU - Gillispie’s old team gets it done.
• Western KY over Drake - An upset that’s waiting to happen.
• UConn over San Diego - Better team wins.
• Baylor over Purdue - I just see another upset here.
• Xavier over Georgia - The SEC Tournament momentum doesn’t last.
• West Virginia over Arizona - Tricky game, wouldn’t be surprised at an upset.
• Duke over Belmont - Hate to pick them at anything, but I’ll be fair.

Second Round

• UCLA over Texas A&M - The Aggies can’t handle them.
• Western KY over UConn - Upset special.
• Xavier over Baylor - Just because.
• West Virginia over Duke - Surprise, surprise. The Blue Devils leave early.

Regional Semifinal

• UCLA over Western KY - The Hilltoppers head back home.
• Xavier over West Virginia - The Musketeers find a way to win.

Regional Final

• UCLA over Xavier - Won’t be able to stop them.

Final Four

Semifinals

• Kansas over Butler - The run of the Bulldogs will end here.
• Memphis over UCLA - An interesting game. A close one that goes down to the wire.

Final

• Kansas over Memphis - The Jayhawks get the monkey off their back and go all the way. (Final score: 85-77)

There you have the “Not so” perfect bracket.

UK/Georgia: Only fitting

I guess the craziness of this game was only fitting for this occasion. Just when we thought we were going to win… bang…Georgia knocks down the 3.

I was very disappointed with the refs for not calling a foul as Ramel Bradley was clearly knocked down. If you’re supposed to call fouls, call them. What’s done is done so it’s a mute point now.

The whole team for the most part seemed tired and out of sync from the start.

I thought it was a very classy move on the Georgia player clapping his hands during Ramon Harris’ free throw shots. Way to go, you ought to be proud…NOT!

Anyway…

It was a tough game and congrats to Georgia. They now face another battle later today with Mississippi State. No matter who it was going to be, that team was going into tonight’s contest with the odds stacked against them.

We now await our NCAA Tournament fate which we will learn tomorrow shortly after 6 pm. At this point nothing  seems to be guaranteed for us. Before the game most pundits said we were in and now it’s up in the air.

I don’t know about you, but I just feel deflated right now.

Kentucky over Florida: Total Team Effort

A very nice win to close out the regular season and to give the seniors a great, well deserved going away present.

I thought it was our best team effort game of the season. Many of the guys stepped up today and gave a great showing.

Wow! Perry Stevenson…how about that performance out there? An amazing job by the big guy. He was definitely a difference maker today and deserves a game ball.

Derrick Jasper showing again his improved shot making capabilities. Unbelievable three from the corner, did he call bank? I had commented just after the last game about his shooting and wanting him to do it more. I guess he caught wind of that.

Ramon Harris had another solid game and is improving game by game.

The seniors contributed as I expected they would, but did struggle a little at times. I thought Ramel was trying to force too much early in the game. Joe did also, but faired a little better. I know the pressures of it being Senior Day played a role and they wanted to go out with a bang.

We should of easily won this game, but as usual we let the other team come back and make it close at the end. Please, oh please quit doing this to us. I just don’t know how much more we can take.

Billy Gillispie looked fired up after the game. He wanted that win.

The bottom line is it’s a win. I now believe the streak will continue and we’ll be in the NCAA tournament once again. Who would of thought that back in January? It’s been a great turnaround by this team and just shows you how it’s not over till it’s over.

The ‘Cats now look forward to the SEC Tournament. They will next play Friday March 14th at 9:45 pm and will face the winner of that Thursday’s Georgia/Ole Miss game.

Cats and Gamecocks: Random Thoughts

Another win in the books for the ‘Cats. The seniors stepped up as they have been doing during this SEC run. I hope to see it continue at senior day and beyond for those guys.

I thought the ‘Cats did just what they needed to do, get the win. It did start to get dicey there for a little, which is nothing new for this team. It’s been said many times, they struggle playing with a nice lead. But usually they find the way to win at the end, something that matters the most at this point.

The defense was great in the first half. We blocked some shots, contested most everything inside, except for a few cuts they scored on. It was our Achilles’ heel, turnovers, which prevented us from blowing this game open more.

They second half looked like we were going to open it up. Joe Crawford scored like 5 straight points and Ramel had a three etc. South Carolina ended up getting hot there for a little down the stretch, but we kept them in check to take the victory.

The more I see Derrick Jasper, the more I see what he can and does bring to this team. It’s just good having him back and I hope his knee continues to get stronger. He’s not going light it up scoring wise, but it’s all the other things he can do. He’s can rebound, play defense and does all these little things that may not show up stat wise. He’s also shown he’s capable of hitting the three, something I hope he looks for more in the future. I feel he’s going to play a big role for the ‘Cats next season.

I’ve seen that many feel this win may have sealed an NCAA tourney bid. I’m not that confident just yet and I hope the team doesn’t feel that way either. We surely can’t look past the next game.

Speaking of the next game….

This Sunday we take on Florida, who will look to play spoiler on a couple different fronts.

First…It’s UK’s senior day where we will say goodbye to Joe Crawford and Ramel Bradley.

Second…Florida is still looking to earn a NCAA bid and it could come down to this game on whether we, or they get it.

The Gators will also be coming off a close loss to Tennessee and are probably not too happy about that. Then again, maybe that will work to our advantage. (Wishful thinking)

So, with all that said. This upcoming game may be the most important of them all.

Kentucky vs Tennessee random thoughts

I was so proud of this team today. They played with guts, hearts, determination, you name it. Nobody gave them a shot whatsoever, but somehow they came together as a team and almost pulled it off. It may go down as a loss, but it was a win in my book.

How about Perry Stevenson and Ramon Harris stepping up? These two worked their butts off and deserve a job well done.

It looked early that they were going to be blown out, but they persevered to make that comeback and had a chance at the end. It was simply amazing to watch!  These guys gave it their all, but fatigue simply set in. You had 3 guys playing all 40 minutes and one with 37.

The gameplan was to slow this game down and it worked for the most part. I think some key turnovers, especially the last five minutes or so may have cost us in the end. We had some momentum going, but just got sloppy, probably due to fatigue.

I think we still have a chance at making the tournament. A win would of been great, but the next two will be important. If we can pull out those and win one or two in the SEC Tourney, we may just go dancing.

Next up…at South Carolina on Wednesday. Game time set for 7:00 p.m. EST.

Thoughts: Patterson, remainder of season etc.

What a shock it was to see the news of losing Patrick Patterson for the season. I got online just as the news was breaking yesterday and had to do a double-take. There were many words to describe what I felt…disbelief, sadness and heartbreak, just to name a few. Patrick is a huge part of this team and will be sorely missed.

There are many questions that will have to be answered by this team in the few remaining games. It’s not over, not yet anyway. Players will have to step up, as I expect they will. These ‘Cats have shown this season that they’re fighters who do not quit. They have been finding ways to win and it should be no different with the loss of Patterson. Hell, who knows? Maybe their best is yet to come.

What will Kentucky do now? That’s the million dollar question at this point. Do Bradley and Crawford throw up threes left and right? Is Jared Carter the savior? You get the point, there’s simply no one answer right now.

Jared Carter 

Let’s talk about Jared for a moment. By now, everyone knows his story, the lack of career he’s had etc. If there’s one person right now who can step up and show something, it’s him. He now has the opportunity of a lifetime. But the question is…Will he take advantage of it? Lately, coach Gillispie has been saying great things about Carter. Just this Monday he said that there was going to be a game very soon where people were going say WOW! If this is indeed the case…the time has come now.

The Seniors 

Ramel Bradley and Joe Crawford have been huge for us this season. They’ve done just about everything at one point or another. I don’t know what else more they could really do, except just go out there and do what they’ve been doing. Anything extra will be a bonus, but I do expect them to do their damndest to carry the team.

Team Effort

I think it’s going to come down to a team effort. Everyone will have to step up. Stevenson, Carter, Stewart and on down the line. They’ve been faced with that reality more than ever now and need to take advantage.

Thanks 

I’ve already seen the headlines and dirty messages. The ‘Cats are dead…No way they make the tournament now, etc, etc.

We do know the true basketball fans out there. I would like like to say thanks to those fans of other programs that have shown their support through the message boards, radio and so on. It does mean alot to know that not all “Fans” are cruel, vulgar and just plain mean spirited.

For the Kentucky Fans 

This isn’t the time to mope, this team now needs your support more than ever. This season is not over, not by a long shot. We are still in this thing and you you should be too, I know I am.

Remember, we are the University of Kentucky Wildcats. Our nine lives haven’t run out just quite yet! There’s more scratching left to do.

As Billy Gillispie said…”Bring it on!”

Kentucky vs Ole Miss random thoughts

I was shaking my head with disbelief, but then again, this is something that’s been the norm. If we ended up giving that game away I don’t know what I would have done. Pull my hair out, put a hole in the wall…something.

I thought Kentucky had a great start, but they just lack that killer instinct. (We just can’t play with a big lead) When we started building a decent lead I thought we were tentative for a little stretch there. Just passing the ball around, not looking to take shots etc. You have them on the ropes, go for it!

Mark Coury does not look comfortable at all out there.

More erratic turnovers, many were simply unnecessary.

Ole Miss looked T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E in the first half (It was hard to believe that team started the season 13-0) and Kentucky’s defense was a large reason why. The ‘Cats were contesting everything, they had hands and arms all over the place.

Perry Stevenson looked great out there, doing a bit of everything. (The second half was a different story) If we could only get that out of him on an regular basis.

I knew that the Rebels were bound to come out better in the second half. How could they not, with how poorly they were in the first. That’s why there’s two halves of basketball!

Kentucky looked lost early in the second half. Started with more turnovers, one and done shots, we simply got killed on the boards.

At the end, a win is a win and one that we’ll gladly accept. I don’t know how we keep on winning down the wire like this, but we do.

Next up..Tennessee this Sunday in Knoxville. This should be a fun one with the Vols all fired up and ready to seek revenge.

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