After playing the best it had all season during the SEC Tournament, not to mention pushing the #1 team in the country to the limit eventually losing by one, Kentucky was rewarded punished (apparently) with an unbelievable 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Their first opponent? #9 seed Kansas State.
Kansas State comes into the game with a record of 20-12, 10-8 (Big 12) with wins over Ole Miss, Gonzaga, Oklahoma, Texas, Oklahoma State and Iowa State just to name a few, so it's safe to say that they aren't exactly a bunch of chumps.This will be a tough first round match-up for the Cats and with the game being played in St. Louis you can expect a large pro K-State crowd to be on hand. But, you know Kentucky fans won't be out done so I would expect to see a lot of blue in the building come Friday night.
Here's a look at some stats so you can be better prepared for what you're going to see come 9:45pm tomorrow night...
(click to enlarge)
As you can see, if Kentucky comes out and takes care of business like they did during the SEC Tourney, this game should be no problem. However, if the Cats come out and let K-State gain confidence early then it could be a very long night for Kentucky and the BBN. Rebound, hit Free Throws, Limit Turnovers and guard the three point shot. Those are all things Kentucky MUST do to win this game.
I'll be honest, I don't know a whole heck of a lot about this team as I very seldom watch any Big 12 basketball. But I do know this, this is not a very big team with their tallest player being listed at 6'9 250lbs. They do however have several guys listed at 6'7 and they are a very physical team to play against. They will throw a body on you and check you hard when boxing out for a rebound and we all know it's teams like this that given Kentucky fits all season long, i.e. LSU. As Calipari says, the Cats will have to match their intensity and physicalness to be able to stay competitive, if they get pushed around and shy away from contact, then that's when things could get dangerous.
Tomorrow will mark the 9th time that these two teams has played each other with Kentucky dominating the series with a record of 8-0. The last meeting came in 2008 when Kentucky defeated K-State 74-72 in Las Vegas in the Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Invitational.
If you're even the tinniest bit of a college basketball fan, then the next few weeks is like Christmas in Spring time for you. The first few days, games come on at noon and go off at mid-night leading to a lot of people being utterly useless at their jobs, but come quitting time, I be damned if we don't go home and do it all over again knowing just how badly we will pay for the decision to stay up to watch two teams you've never even heard of in fear of missing one of the many great moments that the NCAA Tournament is known for. Add in the fact that you get to root for your favorite team, then it just seems unfair that we get to enjoy this type of thing once a year for free.
While rooting for your team in the tournament is great, it's also nerve racking as hell because from this point on it's "one and done", "survive and advance". You just live in fear that maybe this will be the last time you get to watch your team play for what seems like an eternity. You almost just wish you could fast forward through your game just to see how it ends then go back and watch it from the beginning in pure peace and relaxation knowing your team has lived to fight another day.
Kentucky fans are no different, despite the false sense of confidence they may display before the Cats take to the floor. I don't care what they say, come tomorrow night, they will be sitting on the edge of their seats, chewing their fingernails just like every other college basketball fan silently thinking "is this the last night I get to watch my team play?" That's the beauty of this obsession known as "March Madness", it makes you want to stab yourself in the eye with a fire poker when things don't go the way you want.
So go indulge in more college basketball than you can handle, and get ready to watch the Cats tomorrow night at 9:45pm and hopefully we'll see you here tomorrow night and we will talk about the win over Kansas State....HOPEFULLY
GO CATS AND BELIEVE IN THE TWEAK!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment