Perry Ellis: small update

Perry Ellis was at Kansas over the weekend, but it wasn't planned visit. Sort of a spurt of the moment thing from his AAU coach. But he does have some visits planned later this month for K-State on the 19th and OU on the 26th

It's going to be really interesting to see how his recruitment plays out. I still say it will be hard to get him out Kansas, but if we do man what a pick up that will be!!! This kid is the real deal and any school will be lucky to land him!!

GC

UK dominates McD AA teams

All of Kentucky's recruits for 2011 have been named to the McDonald's All-American team.

1. Michael Gilchrist
2. Anthony Davis
3. Marquis Teague
4. Kyle Wiltjer

That's four in the same game pretty impressive stuff. Other teams had multiple recruits invited as well

Duke 3
UofL 2
Syracuse 2
UNC 2
Ohio State 2

Now if we can get some of the freshman we have this year to stick around, next year could be pretty special

UCONN "BACKUP" Quarterback

This is pretty impressive if you haven't seen it all ready. This is a video I saw on Yahoo.com of UConn's backup Quarterback showing off his passing accuracy.

  If this guy is a "backup" then maybe UK should try to steal him away.

Check it out


http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/Video-UConn-s-backup-QB-is-a-Jedi-master-of-mea?urn=ncaaf-318722

Kentucky vs. Vandy preview





  Saturday afternoon Kentucky faces an always dangerous Vandy team, at in my opinion the second toughest venue in the SEC behind the "O" dome in Florida.  In the past Kentucky has fared pretty well at Vandy (41-25) winning the last meeting at Memorial Gym by the score of 58-56.  But they had lost their previous 4 meetings in Nashville, one of them being a 41 point beat down in 2008 under former coach Billy G. 

  The crowd at Memorial is always loud and obnoxious, and the strange setup of the raised floor and the benches being under each basket makes it tough for any opposing team coming in.  And it always seems that when Kentucky comes to town every player on Vandys team even on the bench becomes Ray Allen from 3 point range.  But to echo the words of coach Cal, "we are every teams Super Bowl", and we should expect their best shot every night.

  Now that is where the players who have been to Vandy before and know what to expect need to step up and help calm what I'm sure will be a bunch of nervous freshman.  The "upperclassman" seemed to do just that on Tuesday night in a big win over the always annoying Vols of Tennessee.  Now if they can just have the same effect Saturday, then the Cats should be fine.  But if they resort to their old habits then we could be in for a long day.

  Let's take a look at what the Cats will be up against come Saturday:


Vandy is setting at 16-6 and a conference record of 4-4 and beating some decent teams along the way.

Here is some stats for the Vandy starters:

                                          PPG         RPG
(F) Lance Goulbourne:         7.7            7.6

(F) Jeffery Taylor               14.9             5.2

(C) Festus Ezeli                12.8             6.1

(G) Brad Tinsley                10.5             4.1

(G) John Jenkins                19.2            3.3

Key Reserves:                    PPG         RPG

(F) Rod Odom                       4.7            2.8

(F) Steve Tchiengang            5.2            3.4

  I for one am dreading this game more than any other.  I think it's just because I hate playing at Memorial more than any other place we go.  But if everyone stays focused, plays with the intensity we saw Tuesday, then we should see a great game from the Cats.  But once again if they come out slow, and with careless mistakes, then it will be a loss.

Barnhart gets contrat extension

 

  Well looks like Mitch Barnhart got a 3 year contract extension worth about $600,000 a year, up from his measly $475,000 a year.  Is that what we pay to have an Athletic Director who can not get along with any basketball coach since he has had the job?  It's clear and understandable that he couldn't get along with former coach Billy G.  But lets be honest, how in the world do you not get along with Tubby Smith? I'm not saying that Tubby and Mitch hated each other, but I have heard that there was some tension between the two.  And let's face it, there isn't a nicer classier person in the biz the Tubby Smith.  It's also known that Mitch a Calipari don't exactly see eye to eye as well.

  It also seems to me that Mitch in my opinion isn't as worried about getting a new basketball arena, as he is upgrading the football facilities.  Again that's just my opinion and if my feeling is right, that is not the right way to win over the commonwealth.  We will just have to wait and see what happens.

  I know he did some good things for the football and baseball programs but call me crazy, I'm just not a football or baseball kind of guy.

  Here's hoping for the best!!

Kentucky spoils Pearls welcome back party

  Last night Bruce "Coppertone" Pearl was looking for his welcome back party.  Instead all he found besides pending NCAA punishment, was a loss to the Kentucky Wildcats.  Kentucky  was slow out of the gate to start , but then settled into what would turn out to be one of the most complete games the Cats have played all year.

  They played great defense, shot the ball well from the floor (45%) and rebounded the ball at both ends of the floor.  Another great stat is the free throw shooting, Kentucky shot a blistering 81.5% from the line.  But all of this wasn't the real story of the game.

  The real story is that a couple of "upperclassman" finally stepped up with some production.  DeAndre Liggins was the star of the night setting a career high with 19 points, going 7-8 from the charity stripe and 2-2 from behind the three point line.  His defense was stellar to say the least.  Liggins hounded Tennessee star Scotty Hopson all night and held him well below his season average.  It was obvious that Liggins got into Hopson's head, because late in the second half Hopson got frustrated and shoved Liggins to the floor and picking up his 4th foul of the night.

  The other great story of the night was the emergence of the one known as "Jorts" (Josh Harrellson).  Jorts hadn't done much since his 23 point 14 rebound effort against Louisville.  But he came up big for the Cats Tuesday night scoring 16 points and grabbing six rebounds.  What didn't show up on the stat sheet was the great defensive job Jorts done making opponents adjust shots, and his all around energy on the court.
I know I'm not the only one who loved the play late in the second half when Jorts went up for a layup scored got knocked to the floor, and came up screaming like a a wild man.  It's great to see these kids having this much fun and showing that kind of passion for the game.

  Terrence Jones didn't perform particularly well, but he still ended with a double double. Terrence shot 6-6 from the free throw line and went 2-9 from the field to get 10 points and 11 boards.  For those of you keeping track that is his 8th double double of the season.

  There was also a visit from former Kentucky PG John Wall. He got to do what he said he couldn't wait for and that was being the "Y" during the second half timeout. It's always good to see former players come back and show support for the program. 

  Another great story was Coppertone Bruce exchanging words with a couple of fans in the stands. He even went as far as to try and have Campus Police throw the hecklers out.  But when security came over and asked UT fans if there was any profanity used, they said no.  So they told Coppertone to get a grip and that a couple of college kids should be the least of his worries with the NCAA breathing down his spray tanned neck.

 All in all we saw a little of what this team could be if everyone puts forth a little effort and plays to their potential.  And maybe, just maybe last night they found  the elusive "killer instinct" this team has been missing all year.

  Kentucky goes on the road again Saturday where they are 1-4  when they visit Nashville and Memorial Gym to take on an always dangerous Vanderbilt team.  Let's just hope the kind of play we saw last night can carry over so the Cats can get a much needed road win in the SEC!

 

Kentucky Falls To Rebels

  

  Last night Kentucky played it's worst game of the season as Ole Miss downed the Cats by the score of 71-69.   The loss was much worse than the score indicated, as we saw upper classman play like freshman and vice versa. Once again, there were turnovers that made you want to eat broken glass and decisions that made the turnovers look brilliant.

  Sure the freshman had a lot of turnovers but none near as costly as the one's the "experienced" players had in the final minutes of the game. First, there was the crossing the inbound line before inbounding the ball.  Then, the stepping out of bounds on the way to an open layup. Oh and lets not forget the passed up  WIDE OPEN three with 21 seconds left in the game, while nursing a one point lead. All of these mistakes were made by players that have been playing on the college level long enough to know better.  But the so called "EXPERIENCED" players were perfectly content deferring to the freshman on the team for plays down the stretch.

  I keep hearing people say "you can't win with freshman" but I'm telling you this is not true. Take last night's game for instance. Kentucky scored a total 69 points for the game, and the freshman accounted for 59 of them led by Terrence Jones with 22, Doron Lamb 20, and Brandon Knight 15. ALL FRESHMAN!  Darius Miller (JR) had 3 points, DeAndre Liggins (JR) had 5 and Josh Harrellson (SR) had 2. None  played  less than 22 minutes and this is all they could produce? It's  frustrating when I know Darius Miller could be the best player in the conference, but he just doesn't put forth the effort.  I'm not saying DeAndre Liggins should be a scoring machine, but he should be able to get at least double digits every night just by driving to the basket.  As for Harrellson, I guess he thought the season ended with  his brilliant performance at Louisville. If either one of these juniors or seniors had given just a little help Kentucky would have won the game going away.

  I know we had a lot of turnovers in the first half  five of them coming  at the hands of Brandon Knight. He more than made up for them in the second half.  He did what he does best, slashing to the basket and
finding ways to score.  Doron Lamb showed he could be the kind of player to hit big shots when Kentucky needs them most, and Terrence Jones done what he always does.  But it was too little too late as the final score would indicate.

  Now, what can we take away from this game?  One things for sure, Kentucky has a lot to work on. They cannot have players  unwilling to take wide open shots at the end of the game! They've got to have more scoring and leadership from the older players.  And they cannot turn the ball over 18 times, especially on the road and expect to win the game. Just not gonna happen.

  Kentucky travels to Florida on Saturday.  Let's hope Coach Cal  gets things figured or things will get ugly in a hurry in Gainesville!