Kentucky vs UNC, A Look Back

One year ago: The Kentucky Wildcats were in much better shape going against the same opponent, the University of North Carolina Tar Heels. The 2007 BillyGillispie2.0 version is playing like......well $h!t. Last year Kentucky was unranked; they had a record of 6-2, with the losses coming to #5 UCLA and #12 Memphis in the Maui Invitational. Don't get me wrong, they were not playing great, but at least they were playing hard. I don't even know how to analyze this years team because they are still adjusting to a new system and overall they are young.

I can't help but think that Randolph Morris is an idiot. I picked up on some signs as early as November 2004 but after researching this game, I am positive, he makes bad decisions. Last year Morris was the leading scorer (16 ppg) and rebounder (8 ppg). His season was up and down, but overall he played well. Against the Tar Heels last year he scored 23 points and pulled down 7 boards; Tyler Hansbrough was limited to 7 points and 3 boards. The Tar Heels controlled the game winning 75-63, but Morris kept the Cats competitive despite Joe Crawford's 7 turnovers.

We all know that Morris was a free agent and signed with the New York Knicks. One word, Dumb. Of all the teams, he picked the worst managed franchise possible, I guess the Detroit Lions did not have a roster slot. How is that working out for him? First off the Knicks are horrible; they lost by a record 7 million points to the Boston Celtics. Isiah Thomas is horrible, as coach, person, talent evaluator, accountant, etc. Stephon Marbury is horrible; everywhere he goes they get worse. Zach Randolf and Eddie Curry are probably not the guys you want mentoring a young guy. Morris has played in only 1 game. His line is 5 minutes and 5 points. He was placed on the inactive roster November 7th.

Not saying that I want Morris back, but just think of the team Kentucky would have if he was in the middle.
PG Ramel Bradley
SG Joe Crawford
SF Insert Player of Choice (he has to be healthy)
PF Patrick Patterson
C Randolf Morris

Instead Morris is doing God knows what, and Kentucky is left with 2 options for a pure center:
JR, Jarod Carter: He is tall...................really tall.
FR, Mike Williams: He may become a contributor but not for a couple of years.

We will see what they are made of tomorrow on ESPN.

Why we are right

This is Islam:

Thousands of Sudanese men, many armed with clubs and knives, protested in Khartoum today calling for the execution of the British teacher who allowed a teddy bear to be called Mohamed.....

Ms Gibbons was sentenced to 15 days in jail after being convicted of inciting religious hatred for letting her pupils at one of the city’s schools name a toy bear Mohamed......

Some protesters taunted Western journalists by drawing a finger across their throats......

Ms Gibbons, from Liverpool, was found guilty yesterday of insulting Islam but escaped conviction on a more serious charge of inciting hatred, which could have earned her 40 lashes, a fine and a six-month jail term......

She insisted that she had never wanted to insult Islam.......

Each of her students at the school took the bear home to write a diary entry. The entries were then compiled into a book, with the bear’s picture on the cover, which was titled “My Name Is Mohamed”..........

Is Mark Krebs Real?

I have often wondered if Mark Krebs is real? I have only seen his photo a couple of times so I cannot be sure. There are so many advancements with computers and Photoshop these days. In an interview on Ukathletics.com, Michael Porter confirmed that Mark Krebs does exist:

Who’s the most thoughtful guy on the team?
A: That’s a tough question. It would probably have to be Mark Krebs, just because every time I get hurt he’s always texting me or calling me to make sure I’m okay.


Jerry Tipton has more.

News and Rumors for Wednesday

Here you go, News and Rumors for you viewing.

SamBowieKnife at SECSportsNation inquires about the rumor that Jared Carter transferring. In same post they also wonder if Billy Gillispie hangs out too much in bars.

Kentucky will play in the 2008 Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Invitational. Other teams are West Virginia, Iowa, Kansas State, Delaware State, Southeast Missouri, Longwood, and Oakland.

Bobby Petrino says he will be back with the Atlanta Falcons. He might be slightly retarded.

Donovan McNabb for 3 first round draft picks. Is it 2000 again?

Does Bobby Bowden need a raise? If he gets one, I am tanking it at work for the rest of my life. Is it 1994?

Dick "Hoops" Weiss says that Billy G's lawyer is unhappy with the contract. You think.

It is Ohio State versus UNC. Got to Run. Peace Out.

Kentucky Beats Stoney Brook, 62-52

Ugly. Very Ugly. There are few positives to take away from this victory. I will get to that in a bit. With play like that, they will lose against North Carolina. If UNC is ranked number 1, SBU is ranked number 341; Kentucky can be found somewhere in the middle.

Unforced turnovers. Uninspired play. Kentucky had 23 TOs, that number is horrible considering SBU played zone most of the games and the Cats were never really pressured. Kentucky started slow, continued slow and ended slow. Here is the box score breakdown:

Team Notes

• Kentucky had 23 TO, to 11 Assist. Worst A/T ratio in 2 years.
  
• 1-10 from the 3 point line
• First basket came at 16:13
  
• Only had 4 points at the 9:30 mark
• Kentucky's first led was at 7:09 in the first half
• Boo Birds were out with 4 minutes remaining in the first half
• UK 41% FG / SBU 20% in the first half
• 15:17 in Second half UK hits first 3 pointer
• UK led by only 6 with 5:55 Remaining
• Attendance 19K plus, smallest Rupp crowd since December, 2004

Player Notes

• 4 different starting lineups on the season (8 different players)
  
• Perry Stevenson had career highs with 18 points and 10 boards in 27 minutes
• A.J. Stewart was MIA. He fell asleep during a film season this week. Wait till he gets a look at this game.
• Mark Coury continues to do his best David Copperfield, he started but disappeared early in the first. He returned shortly with about 14:00 minutes to go in second half. Played only 7 minutes.
• Patrick Patterson had 3rd Double/Double of season, 19 points and 12 boards
• Patterson played every minute.
• Ramel Bradley only had 2 points, 0 field goals.
• Bradley had 2 assist and 5 turnovers
• Ramon Harris made season debut, 4 points, 3 boards, and 4 turnovers.
• Michael Porter had 0 points, 4 assist and 5 turnovers

Player Overview
Ramel Bradly: It was obvious that he was in the doghouse. In the first half he played out of control and had some sloppy passes. He started the game but did not start the second half. "Smooth" was anything but.

Joe Crawford: Played mostly uninspired ball. I thought he could exploit the soft zone but he just faded into the background.

Alex Legion: He had the same turnover bug that all the other guards had. He had some bad passes and a couple of bad shots. But he does have a beautiful jumper; it just needs to go in the basket.

Patrick Patterson: He was a man amongst boys tonight. There were not a lot of plays for him, he got most of his points off of rebounds hustle.

Perry Stevenson: Best game yet by far. Look good around the glass. He was able to use his athletic ability to get some easy baskets. His hands are bad and he needs to work on his game from 15 feet to the basket.

Ramon Harris: Played aggressive in first appearance.

Michael Portor: He looked horrible. He is only credited with 5 TOs but his poor passing was responsible for more than that. He was able to get into the lanes but his passes were normally intercepted. All around horrible game.

Coach Overview: Billy Gillispie's mannerism by half crack me up. During the first half he sits in his seat; during the second half he moves from his seat into a crouch on the baseline. You could almost see the rage boiling inside. One thing I do like is that when he yanks someone, he addresses them before they enter the dog house. His substitution patterns are a little odd, meaning that it does not seem like he has one. Also, it seems that he does not like to stop the flow of the game, no matter how bad it is going. He would rather see his guys play through it.

Don't know where I stand with the Stewart and the press conference. I think he embarrassed Stewart; right or wrong, I do not know. It seemed like something I would do, but then again, I am not teaching young men about basketball and life.

Conclusion
Things don't look good. We will know were the Cats stand on Saturday.

HOME TEAM: Kentucky 4-1
                      TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
01 Legion, Alex........ *  3-8    0-2    0-0    0  3  3   1   6  1  2  0  1  20
03 Bradley, Ramel...... *  0-3    0-2    4-5    0  1  1   2   4  2  5  1  0  22
32 Crawford, Joe....... *  4-12   1-4    2-3    1  5  6   2  11  0  0  1  0  29
42 Coury, Mark......... *  0-0    0-0    0-0    0  2  2   2   0  0  2  1  0   7
54 Patterson, Patrick.. *  9-13   0-0    1-1    6  6 12   2  19  1  1  2  3  40
13 Porter, Michael.....    0-4    0-2    0-0    0  3  3   4   0  4  5  1  2  34
21 Stevenson, Perry....    8-11   0-0    2-4    7  3 10   2  18  2  4  1  3  27
34 Harris, Ramon.......    1-1    0-0    2-3    0  3  3   2   4  1  4  0  2  21
TEAM................
Totals..............   25-52   1-10  11-16  14 26 40  17  62 11 23  7 11 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-27 40.7%   2nd Half: 14-25 56.0%   Game: 48.1%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  0-5   0.0%   2nd Half:  1-5  20.0%   Game: 10.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  4-6  66.7%   2nd Half:  7-10 70.0%   Game: 68.8%    2


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: Tim Higgins, Ed Corbett, Jeff Nichols
Technical fouls: Stony Brook-None. Kentucky-None.
Attendance: 19269
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Stony Brook...................   14   38  -   52
Kentucky......................   26   36  -   62

Points in the paint-SNBK 16,UK 44. Points off turnovers-SNBK 24,UK 16.
2nd chance points-SNBK 8,UK 18. Fast break points-SNBK 2,UK 10.
Bench points-SNBK 15,UK 22. Score tied-3 times. Lead changed-1 time.
Last FG-SNBK 2nd-00:06, UK 2nd-00:56.
Largest lead-SNBK by 4 1st-16:34, UK by 18 2nd-10:14.

Rest In Peace Sean Taylor

More on this tomorrow evening.

Basketball Notes

Kentucky freshman Kerry Benson has left the basketball program, Billy Gillispie said today. As far as we know he is staying in school at UK and does not plan to play basketball elsewhere.

See ya Kerry, hardly had time to know you.

Other Notes: Patrick Patterson was named SEC Freshman of the Week.

Off the Subject: Best Wishes to Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor.

GSP vs Hughes at UFC 79

GSP and Matt Hughes will fight for the interim title at UFC 79 December 29.
This is the match everyone wants to see anyway. They have split the previous 2 fights.

Kentucky Hammers Texas Southern, 83-35

There was no doubt in this game. Kentucky led from the opening tip. It is starting look like the G-Webb game was more of a fluke than the standard. It is hard to judge the game because the Cats dominated.

• Largest margin of victory since beating Vanderbilt 106-44 on Mar. 5, 2003.
• First time the Cats held an opponent below 40 points since a 96-32 win over Morehead State on Dec. 16, 1995.
• Joe Crawford had a career high 32 points, 3 less than the entire Texas Southern team.
• First time a Cat scored over 30 since Kelenna Azubuike had 30 against Auburn on Feb. 23, 2005.
• 3rd Starting lineup (3 in a row).
• It was Crawford's first start of the season.
  
• Perry Stevenson only played 3 minutes, Jared Carter 3.
• Ramel Bradly had 9 assists to only 3 turnovers.
• Patrick Patterson had 21 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals.
• Dusty Mills made his UK debut.
• Led by as many as 53.
• Tigers managed to shoot only 20.8 percent from the field, including 9% from behind the arc.
  
• The Tigers made just five field goals in the second half.

Why I love Billy Gillispie
His thoughts on the 5 field goals surrendered by the Wildcats in the second half,

"We just went over every basket they made in the second half. I thought four out of the five could have been eliminated."

HOME TEAM: Kentucky 3-1
                      TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
03 Bradley, Ramel...... *  6-10   5-8    0-2    1  6  7   1  17  9  3  1  4  38 
15 Stewart, A.J........ *  2-2    0-0    1-3    3  3  6   1   5  1  5  1  0  23
32 Crawford, Joe....... * 12-17   4-8    4-4    2  4  6   2  32  1  1  0  0  36
42 Coury, Mark......... *  1-2    0-0    0-0    1  0  1   3   2  2  0  0  0  20 
54 Patterson, Patrick.. * 10-12   0-0    1-2    1  6  7   2  21  5  0  2  5  35
01 Legion, Alex........    1-5    1-4    1-2    0  1  1   3   4  1  2  0  1  17
02 Scherbenske, Matt...    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
04 Mills, Dusty........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
13 Porter, Michael.....    1-3    0-1    0-0    0  2  2   2   2  2  0  0  0  14
21 Stevenson, Perry....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  3  0  0   3
25 Williams, Morakinyo.    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  0  0  0   4
30 Perry, Dwight.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   5
43 Carter, Jared.......    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
TEAM................                            2  2             1
Totals..............   33-54  10-22   7-13   8 25 33  15  83 21 15  4 10 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 17-22 77.3%   2nd Half: 16-32 50.0%   Game: 61.1%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  6-10 60.0%   2nd Half:  4-12 33.3%   Game: 45.5%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  3-6  50.0%   2nd Half:  4-7  57.1%   Game: 53.8%    2


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: Tony Greene, Antinio Petty, Pat Adams
Technical fouls: Texas Southern-None. Kentucky-None.
Attendance: 21445
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Texas Southern................   18   17  -   35
Kentucky......................   43   40  -   83

Points in the paint-TSU 16,UK 40. Points off turnovers-TSU 11,UK 29.
2nd chance points-TSU 6,UK 7. Fast break points-TSU 0,UK 10.
Bench points-TSU 8,UK 6. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-0 times.
Last FG-TSU 2nd-00:51, UK 2nd-02:37.
Largest lead-TSU None, UK by 53 2nd-02:37.

Your Boy Woo

Vols beat Kentucky in 4th OT

Final
Tennessee 52
Kentucky 50

Heartbreaking............

MMA News

UFC welterweight titleholder Matt Serra had to withdraw from his Dec. 29 title defense against Matt Hughes due to herniated disc in his lower back following a routine training session in his Long Island, N.Y. gym. The UFC has not confirmed whether or not Hughes will fight on the card.

A name from the Old USSR (JK), Oleg Taktarov UFC 6 Tournament winner makes return to ring after 10 years. He has been acting since then. He has been in the ring with the likes of Dan Severn, Ken Shamrock and David "Tank" Abbott.

Jackass Award – Bill Callahan

Bill you are Awarded the prestigious Jackass Award for completely dismantling a once proud program. The terms of his buyout have yet to be release but I am sure he is smiling all the way to the bank. And Yes Fat Boy, up there in South Bend, we see you on bended knee thanking the Lord that your season is over today.

Oh How the mighty have fallen:

Jan. 2, 1998: Nebraska defeats Tennessee 42-17 in the FedEx Orange Bowl, giving retiring coach Tom Osborne a share of the1997 national championship. Osborne ends his 25-year head coaching career with a record of 255-49-3 and all or part of 3 national titles in his last four years.

Dec. 4, 1999: Nebraska, under second-year coach Frank Solich, defeats Texas 22-6 in the Big 12 championship game.

Jan. 2, 2000: Nebraska defeats Tennessee 31-21 in the Fiesta Bowl to finish the 1999 season 12-1 and No. 3 in the AP Top 25.

Jan. 3, 2002: Despite the loss at Colorado 62-36 on November 23, Nebraska plays in the national championship Rose Bowl game and loses 37-14 to Miami.

Dec. 27, 2002: Huskiers lose 3 in a row including the Independence Bowl. Their 7-7 record is their first non-winning mark since 1961 and marks their first season with fewer than nine wins since 1968.

Nov. 29, 2003: Solich is fired after a 31-22 win at Colorado the previous day marks the end of a 9-3 regular season. Solich's 6-year record was 58-19.

Jan. 9, 2004: After a 40-day search in which at least four candidates turned down the job or pulled their names from consideration, Bill Callahan is hired. In the pass Happy West Coast Offense, Out the Option which had been in place since 1980.

Oct. 9, 2004: Nebraska loses 70-10 at Texas Tech, the worst beating in program history.

Nov. 26, 2004: Nebraska loses 26-20 to Colorado, marking the Huskers' third straight loss and giving them a record of 5-6, their first losing campaign since 1961. The Huskers' 35-year bowl streak ends.

Nov. 5, 2005: Nebraska loses 40-15 to Kansas, the first loss to the Jayhawks since 1968.

Nov. 24, 2006: Nebraska defeats Colorado 37-14 to win the Big 12 North for the first time since 1999.

Sept. 4, 2007: Oklahoma gives Callahan a 5-year contract that locks him up through 2011 season. Dumb.

Oct. 15, 2007: Steve Pederson is fired as athletic director. Smart

Oct. 16, 2007: Osborne returns as interim athletic director and says he will wait until after the season to make a decision on whether to retain the coaching staff.

Nov. 3, 2007: Kansas scores on 10 straight possessions while beating Nebraska 76-39 and racking up more points than any opponent had ever scored on the Huskers.

Nov. 23, 2007: Colorado beats Nebraska 65-51, eliminating the Huskers from bowl contention and giving them a 5-7 record. It's the Huskers' second losing season in four years.

Nov. 24, 2007: Callahan fired after going 27-22 in four seasons but 15-18 against the Big 12 and 3-10 against teams ranked in the Top 25.

College Game Day

Well the guys at ESPN College Game day are split. Oh how I would love to $h!t all over Rocky top. 2 hours! I hope the team is as pumped as I am . O

15 Freshman to Watch Update

This is a living document. It has expanded from 10 guys to watch to 17 top freshman. I have them ranked 1-15.

1 (1). Michael Beasley, Kansas State -. Oden Who? Forget Oden and Durant, this guy may be better than both. Averaging 30 ppg and 17.5 rpg. Shooting 63% from the floor.

2 (2). Eric Gordon, Indiana - Best Scoring guard in the field. Averaging an impressive 28.8 ppg with 4.0 rpg and 3.8 apg to go along with his scoring.

3 (4). Kevin Love PF, UCLA - Is a dominate force down-low averaging a double-double (19.3 ppg and 10.5 boards).

4 (5). O.J. Mayo SG, USC - Combo guard who is a better shooter, now. Averaging 24.3 ppg but needs to hang onto the ball.

5 (NR). Donte Greene SF, Syracuse – Might not be the best freshman on his team, but he is leading the Orangemen with 20.6 ppg.

6 (NR). Kosta Koufos C, Ohio State – Another One and done big man from Ohio State. Averaging 17.8 ppg and 6.8 boards

7 (NR). J.J. Hickson C, N.C. State – Big man is leading the Wolfpack with 18.8 points and 8.5 rebounds.

9 (3). Derrick Rose PG, Memphis – Needs to dish the rock more and work on outside shooting. Averaging 16.6 ppg, 5.6 rpg, but only 2.8 apg.

10 (NR). Blake Griffen PF, Oklahoma – Big body is leading the Sooners in points (15) and rebounds (9.2).

11 (NR). Jerryd Bayless SG, Arizona – Excellent passing shooting guard who is averaging 18.3 ppg and 6 dimes.

12 (8). Jonny Flynn PG, Syracuse – Maybe the Best Point guard in the class. Dropping in 9.8 ppg but dishing out 6.8 apg.

13 (7). Patrick Patterson PF, Kentucky - Smallest body of work. Last 2 games he had a double-double. Averaging 13.0 points and 8.3 boards in 3 games.

14 (9). Kyle Singler SF, Duke – Another white Duke stud. Leading Duke with 15.8 points and pulling down 6.6 boards per game.

15 (6). Nick Calathes G, Florida – Assist to Turnover ratio is very good. Also leading the Gators in ppg with 14.0.

NR (10). Jai Lucas PG, Florida – Dropped out of initial Top 15. Jai is averaging 9.3 ppg and 2.2 assist.

NR (NR). DeAndre Jordan C, Texas A&M – Remember him UK fans. We hoped that he would follow Billy. He is averaging 10.3 ppg and 8.3 rpg as a starter through 6 games.

NR (NR). Austin Freeman SG, Georgetown – Limited body of work so far this year. Averaging 6.0 ppg.