Kentucky Sports Radio
[Moderated by Matt Jones]
[Moderated by Matt Jones]
Ok, I can’t seriously write about Oprah. Sorry.
Onto a couple of notes…
(1) As everyone comes back down from their disappointmen/rage/over-reaction/whatever from the loss at Ole Miss, I think what we’re all wondering is if UK is still the favorite in the SEC or if we might have been living in a dream a bit after Jodie went for 54 and the Cats beat a pair of mediocre teams in ugly games. I think, like all things, the truth is somewhere in the middle and there isn’t really any reason to panic. But, what do I know? I’m just a guy with a computer and no social life. Here is how the East is sitting currently:
- Florida 5-1 (18-3 overall)
- Kentucky 5-1 (16-5)
- South Carolina 4-2 (15-4)
- Tennessee 3-2 (12-7)
- Vanderbilt 1-5 (12-8)
With Tennessee suffering their second conference loss tonight and seeming to be a team that could be on the verge of folding and with Vanderbilt pretty much eliminated, it looks like it could be shaping up to a race between the Cats and the Gators in the SEC East - as long as UK can close out South Carolina at home on Saturday in a game that isn’t going to be easy at all. I’m sure we’ll break it down more as we get closer to the game with the Gamecocks, but I like the way the Cats match up with both South Carolina and the Gators and I’d be shocked if another SEC team shreds UK’s defense like Ole Miss did. That had to be a fluke, right? Feel free to argue/complain/speculate/tell me I’m stupid in the space below.
(2) Another thing that got lost in the shuffle a bit because of the despair after the loss - or possibly because I’m the only one that got his feathers ruffled about it - was the decision by Ramon Harris to switch his jersey to #5 because he has five brothers and sisters. I’ll admit that this should be a non-story probably. But, for some reason, the old man inside of me (that’s what she said!) is irritated by it a bit. Unless there is some major reason (his siblings are ill or something), then I feel like this is the type of thing that is slightly on the “there is a ‘me’ in ‘team’” side. The fact that it’s a high-quality human like Ramon Harris is probably why its such a tempered irritation rather than just straight anger, but I can promise you if DeAndre Liggins showed up wearing #122 because “that’s how many people are in the ‘DeAndre Liggins should be the Cats starting point guard’ group on Facebook”, it would bother you too. Hey, who deleted my Matlock off of the Tivo?
(3) There was some good news on the academic front today as the SEC released their Fall Academic Honor Roll and the Cats finished #1 with 60 athletes named to the list. Over half (31) were from the football team, including Dicky Lyons, Corey Peters and Raycom favorite Tim Masthay. Someone being fair would mention that UK tied with South Carolina for that title, but I’m pretty sure they all cheated. Plus, I’ve never claimed to be fair.
(4) If you’re still keeping up with that guy that used to coach basketball here and were hoping you might see him in Rupp again on a semi-regular basis, I have some bad news. Tubby Smith publicly stated that he’s not leaving Minnesota for any other coaching position after online speculation that Alabama could pursue him. This is most likely because the high on Thursday will be reaching a toasty 14 degrees in Minneapolis. Break out the swim trunks. You can, however, expect Rick Pitino coaching Arizona next year because my mom said so and I never question my mother.
(5) Duke lost. That’s never a bad thing.
That’s it for now. I promise you that a good day is on the horizon and, with power returning to many parts of the Bluegrass, you’ll finally see an end to the Ripken-like streak of mediocre “Thomas Beisner” posts on here. Stick around today and take part in the LiveBlog with Gregg Doyel at noon and find out how many rounds he would last on Tool Academy. So far, that’s the only question I’ve thought of. See you in a few…
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January 28th, 2009 at 11:28 pm
Ole Bruce Pearl might be the most overated coach the NCAA has ever seen. All I heard was how great this team was going to be this year and watch out SEC the Vols are going to kick everyones ass! Since starting the season 5 and 0 they have since gone 7 and 7. Freakin pitiful!
January 28th, 2009 at 11:41 pm
I had to fact check the “122″ members, because surely there couldn’t be that many. It was spot on.
January 28th, 2009 at 11:42 pm
Anyone notice the “Woo Me” ad to the right. I swear that thing is doing a “Judy Chop.”
January 28th, 2009 at 11:47 pm
sorry if i’m being cap. obvious but he kinda needed a change with all his bad luck. maybe billy and the staff see it as a way of starting fresh, to forget what happened, go forward, move ahead etc. saw it on the tube and kinda laughed cause i’d change my number too. i’d make pat pat give me 54 though.
January 28th, 2009 at 11:49 pm
the reasoning he gave is a cop out i believe. unfortunately i have to replace my #22 jersey.
January 29th, 2009 at 12:40 am
1) Speaking of “overated” I say Liggins is DEFINITELY the most overated player UK has ever had. I honestly don’t see UK talent in him. I see talent, but not UK talent. Now I see how much Jasper meant to UK.
January 29th, 2009 at 2:11 am
Why doesn’t someone tell bTi to grow some balls and leave his post up even if it gets feedback that causes him to break his hand punching his forehead?
If you post it, at least leave it up. You could always say that it was a joke.
January 29th, 2009 at 3:00 am
6. You can see why he was highly ranked. He has a long athletic body- and he really can see the court. He makes jaw dropping nice plays from time to time.
Unfortunately there are about 5 bad decisions or lapses of lazy ball handling in between each nice play. I’m just not sure he has his head on straight- and he may never.
Miller is definitely the freshman I have the most hope for.
January 29th, 2009 at 6:41 am
The weather? Not so good in Alabama for a black man.
January 29th, 2009 at 7:22 am
Everyone, PLEASE notice that Porter is NOT on this list so can we FINALLY put to rest the talk of him going on Academic Scholarship? There seems to be at least one person every few days that brings it up.
January 29th, 2009 at 7:37 am
6. Come on dude, you’re wrong. He is trying too hard, remember ‘95. Walker had the same discipline.
As far as Harris changing his number there may not have been a choice. Medical staff may have cut his old one off and UK has not recieved the replacement. Maybe the Kid is trying to change his luck!
January 29th, 2009 at 8:03 am
#1–you weren’t listening to Pearl pre-season then. He told anyone who would listen (apparently not many) that the Vols weren’t the Vols of old. He was correct.
January 29th, 2009 at 8:06 am
I’d like to make a point: Tubby also said he wasn’t leaving Kentucky… like 6 hours before he left for Minnesota. I don’t believe the Tubster.
Alas, I also think he fears playing against UK.
January 29th, 2009 at 8:07 am
#12 - macon_volfan - You listen to Pearl and keep believing what he says. It’s all truth.
January 29th, 2009 at 8:09 am
Pearl does all his interviews with one hand on his crotch. He says: “If my hand is on my testicles, I have to be telling the truth.”
Hm… he might have something going for him (thinks of all the wild and sexy co-eds Pearl buddies with)…
*places hand on crotch*
January 29th, 2009 at 8:11 am
A sort of humorous article about the Gillispie halftime own-fest of the interviewer:
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Billy-Gil lispie-hates-your-question-Ms-Sidelin;_ylt=AqJNfP2Ye5kp9gwrQNYPcnvevbY F?urn=ncaab,137355
January 29th, 2009 at 8:15 am
#12 - If everyone looks at your bench and says you should be good and you end up sucking ass then there are several things that could be concluded:
1. Your recruits are overrated
2. Your coach can’t get the job done
Now, to take some of the pressure off and to give yourself a chance to win the coach of the year award, don’t you think it would be a good idea to downplay the calibur of your team in the pre season?
It’s another season where Pearl squads peak in the beginning of December. Who’s fault is that?
Please, go have a double espresso before you answer.
January 29th, 2009 at 8:17 am
By Vol’s of old, do you mean the past couple seasons? Other than that there isn’t really any Vols’ of old that are worth much of a mention as relevant to his quote.
January 29th, 2009 at 8:23 am
I have to put this out there, because it’s been on my mind since the Ole Miss. game. Ramon Harris gets no passes.
for his pathetic play. Use injury or sick excuses all you want, but if he’s well enough to be placed on the court to represent the jersey, then by God he should play like it. He is now among the ranks of those that preceeded him as Summer wonders that don’t produce when the season rolls around. Against Ole Miss, he may have very well been te worst player on the entire court at any one time. Not only did he play like he had zero skill, he kept looking around after mistakes like a little kid that shat his pants. He needs to come off the bench…period! Taht is all for now. Let the backlash vs. me begin.
January 29th, 2009 at 8:23 am
18) LOL.
Aww, give macon a break. He’ll see the light and come over to the good side soon enough.
January 29th, 2009 at 8:27 am
Re: Ramon Harris, I believe the announcers said that he changed his number because of all the bad luck he had had this year. That is the primary reason, and the choice of numbers was likely because he was looking through the available numbers that were left to choose from and decided 5 could work because he had five siblings, which I guess is still a little random, but not quite as random as was implied in the OP.
January 29th, 2009 at 8:28 am
19) I’m beginning to agree. Start Miller until Harris can prove he’s the better player. I’ve not seen it the entire season… but Gillispie’s the coach, as you know.
January 29th, 2009 at 8:34 am
#18-yes the last 3. UK fans clamor for the Vols of Buzz and Wade (but not the Vols of Don and Ray)
January 29th, 2009 at 8:43 am
After the last year, I would want a fresh start too if I were Ramon Harris!
January 29th, 2009 at 8:52 am
Tubby may say he’s staying put during the season, but I’m sure his agent will have plenty of contact with Bama and others.
January 29th, 2009 at 8:56 am
# 11, yeah they probably had to cut his jersey off and the athletic department is so short on funds that they don’t have 25 more in storage. You know how Mitch and the athletic department cut corners financially and skimp on amenities.
January 29th, 2009 at 8:58 am
I thought some of our fans lived in the past. DeVoe and Mears? Really Macon. Okay. For all their combined greatness, excluding DeVoe of course, didn’t they only have Sweet 16 appearance between them? and your Vol’s of Ray and Don were a combined 26-29 vs. UK, so still a losing record.
January 29th, 2009 at 8:59 am
Michael Porter has got to start shooting the 3 more and presenting himself as a threat from behind the arc. If he doesn’t become that threat, we’re going to see more junk defenses like against Ole Miss. Harris and Liggins can’t hit it consistently. The only other one who MIGHT be able to pose a threat is Miller. Of course, if Slone ever saw the court again, he might.
January 29th, 2009 at 9:02 am
28) Who is this Slone fellow you speak of? =(
January 29th, 2009 at 9:05 am
+1 Reverend Blue!
I would love to see Slone get some court time. You cannot tell me that he would be any more a liability on the court than we have seen at times from others. Additionally, I like the confidence that Miller seems to be exuding on the court. You can see it on his face that he was “in the game” mentally the other night. The biggest part of the puzzle is a consistent Perry Stevenson. He got bullied the other night - straight up bullied. He needs to nut up and get to it on the court with Pat down low.
January 29th, 2009 at 9:07 am
#27–some of your fans?
Considering the dominance of UK bball, I’d say that 26-29 is pretty damn good. Lets not forget that during all of Mears tenure (I think) only 1 team from each conference got to go to the NCAA Tourney. I think the tourney was expanced to 64 towards the end of the DeVoe era. Also, DeVoe defeated UK 3 times in his first season. I’m not sure ANY other team has ever defeated UK 3 times in a season.
Still, I was responding to the comment about UT teams of old.
January 29th, 2009 at 9:11 am
I agree about Slone. Where the Hell has he gone? Is it that he is not “practicing well”. I bet he would not throw the ball away like liggins does. Or jack up 3 pointers like Liggins does. Liggins drives me crazy with those fall away 3’s. He is best when he drives and dishes. Porter wont shoot, at least Slone will have to be defended. With Porter and Liggins out front it, it is like 4 versus 5. At least Jasper kept people honest!
A team lives and dies with or without a pointguard!
January 29th, 2009 at 9:17 am
^^^^No way Slone doesn’t practice hard. No way. Defensively, he has already shown how aggressive he is when he had a chance to play. Now that doesn’t mean athletically, he is as talented as some of the Conference competition, but he will get after someone, AND like previously mentioned, make someone honest by having to cover him. If he is left open enough, he will bury shots.
January 29th, 2009 at 9:23 am
GEORGIA FIRES FELTON
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3868747
January 29th, 2009 at 9:27 am
I think we can all agree UK and UT both stink this year.
January 29th, 2009 at 9:28 am
Tubby’s going back to Georgia.
January 29th, 2009 at 9:34 am
Tubby will never coach in SEC again. He would not want to come to Rupp. The few “Loser fans” there would make jerks out of themselves and UK would look bad.
Tubby achieved much here at UK. The relationship simply had runs its course, just like a marriage……..
January 29th, 2009 at 9:41 am
My favorite play of the UT game last night was when Scotty Hopsin made the biggest bone head play ever, going wildly out of control, and throwing the ball right in to the hands of the defender, sealing the deal. The South Carolina game is going to be tough. This will be a defining game for the cats, seeing how they respond after the Ole Miss loss. There were a lot of weakness that reared their ugly heads in that game. Lets see how well we do at fixing them. Maybe it’s a good thing that they came out when they did, so we can be a much better team in Feb and March.
January 29th, 2009 at 10:07 am
[...] Kentucky is #1 in the SEC on the Academic Honor Roll. Congratulations to all! [Hat tip -- Matt Jones] [...]
January 29th, 2009 at 10:15 am
Landon Slone is just as good as Harris defensively and better offensively. So why no minutes for the pride of the mountains? I say the posters on here pool our money, hire Attorney Darrel Isaacs to drop his ambulance chasing for a while and form a dynamic duo with our own attorney friend Matt Jones to help us file a class-action lawsuit against BCG demanding that Slone get some clock. Maybe we could settle out of court with the concession that he at least put a cardboard standup of Slone at the 3 point line so a defender might mistakenly guard him. That would be more respect that Liggins and Harris are demanding from opposing defenses.
January 29th, 2009 at 10:31 am
I ain’t putting Slone down, heck, I live 10 minutes from Paintsville, but you can’t compare Slone and Harris, they are 2 different positions. Slone is not big enough to play a 3 spot. I would love to see him get some looks though, because he does play so hard and is a good shooter. Miller is going to step up at the 3 slot. He has the size and skills but he has got to pull his head from his reckom and show his cards. He wasn’t Mr. Basketball for nothing.
January 29th, 2009 at 10:06 pm
36 I hope not for BCG’s sake cause I dont think he would stand a chance if he had fifty all americans because 43 of them would never get off the bench because they wouldnt practice good enough