The Big Blue Nation: The Kentucky Wildcats Thread

If you have it you don?t need it. If you need it you don?t have it. If you have it you need more of it. If you have more of it you don?t need less of it. You need it to get it. And you certainly need it to get more of it. But if you don?t already have any of it to begin with, you can?t get any of it to get started, which means you really have no idea how to get it in the first place. Do you? You can share it, sure. You can even stockpile it if you?d like, but you can?t fake it. Wanting it, needing it, wishing for it? The point is if you?ve never had any of it ever, people just seem to know.

Does Kentucky have "it?" We'll find out.

 

The resounding answer to the above is "no." At least not today. Which means, we can't get any of it to get started, so we have no idea how to get it in the first place.

Bottom line: We lost to Vanderbilt. And I was there. Fifth row. I need to simmer down a bit before I post my analysis, otherwise I could end up cursing and spewing hatred a bit more than is acceptable. Game analysis coming tomorrow. I just hope I've calmed down a bit.

 

You know, usually I'd be pulling for Vandy over UK, but this time I was pulling for UK because Vandy's the only team USC would have had any chance at possibly finishing ahead of in the East... so of course Vandy wins and pretty much guarantees USC a 6th place finish in the East.

Oh well.

 

Vandy is dangerous

 

Yeah, Vandy's dangerous, but I don't think they're as dangerous as Florida, Kentucky, Georgia, or Tennessee.

Still, thats an indication of the SEC's depth.

 

All right, here it is. The game analysis from the game I'd rather forget. Coming to you from the fifth row in Rupp Arena, this was the game as I saw it: Kentucky never looked in sync. Ever. And that isn't all on Kentucky. With Derrick Jasper not posing much of a scoring threat, the 'Dores took the extra defenive player and put him on Morris, effectively denying him the post. Thus, Morris didn't get it done, and by extension neither did anyone else. Except Sheray Thomas. He was the lone bright spot the entire day, playing perhaps the best game of his career.

Kentucky was careless, once again creating too many turnovers, and really made no effort to get the ball to Morris after about the first five minutes. Defensively, it was the worst game since they returned from Maui, allowing Vandy to shoot 48% from three and 50% overall. If the 'Cats are to begin another winning streak, they must tighten the defense, get the ball to Morris consistently, and start taking better care of the basketball. Period. Failure to do these things will result in more than a loss to Vandy.

 

Alirght, I'm back, and I'm slightly less melancholy. Despite the fact that calls to the suicide hotline have tripled in Kentucky since Saturday, all is not lost. A win tomorrow against Georgia and a good performance Saturday against Lofton-less (I hate to hear that, he's a Kentucky boy after all) Tennessee will go a long way toward making me forget that awful game Saturday. Keys to the game: Morris MUST be more active. He needs to work to get open, which is something he didn't do against Vandy. Offensive execution is a must, and that boils down to taking care of the ball. If we can do those two things, we will come away from Athens with a win.

 

$#@$%$##@@%^&^$#$%^&*)((&*&%$#@@!@!#%%#@!@@#$$@@%^^#@! AARRRGGGGHHHHH! For those who don't read symbol, that was a heck of alot of swearing.

 

Losses to Vandy and Georgia with Tennessee coming to town. Dear God, the world is edning. That's the word in Lexington, anyway. The game last night is causing many 'Cats fans to utter this previously unthinkable phrase: When does football start? No game analysis this time. It's just too painful.

 

Is Tennessee still without Lofton? If they're still missing him, I think Kentucky will bounce back with a big win over UT, especially at home. With Lofton... Kentucky may still win, but it'll be a lot tougher and closer.

 

No, Rogue! All is lost! Even against a Lofton-less Tennessee team we have no hope! Actually, that may not be true. Come to think of it, we will probably beat Tennessee at home. After all, you can't listen to all the fans around here. It's just two games, and I'm convinced we're better than that.

Congrats on the win against Arkansas!

 

Thanks, and good luck against Tennessee. Thats this Saturday, right?

 

I think so, but for some reason I'm thinking Sunday, too. It's definitely this weekend. Who you got coming up?

 

Huge win for Kentucky today. I know Tennessee didn't have Lofton, but a blowout is a blowout. Ramel Bradley pretty much did things on his own today, as Randolph Morris didappeared after getting into early foul trouble. The defense was great, and the rebounding was very good. Much improved over the Georgia game. Jodie Meeks is quickly becoming a primary go-to guy, and that's outstanding heading into the meat of the schedule. Hopefully this game will give the 'Cats confidence and they start another streak. Go Big Blue!

 

Thank you for helping SC go from 6th in the East to tied for 5th...at least temporarily.

If I'm looking at this right, your next game is Saturday at Arkansas? You should be able to win that game, even on the road.

 

That's right. There is no such thin as an automatic win in the SEC, especially on the road. Here's hoping we can win, and here's hoping South Carolina stays out of the cellar, simultaneously keeping Tennessee there.

 

True, and Arkansas has had some good games, witness Alabama. But overall, they aren't particularly impressive, and I think Kentucky is clearly the better team of the two.

Do you know what the record is between the SEC East and West is so far this season? I know the East is easily ahead, but I haven't seen the actual numbers on this.

 

The West has been disappointing, but I don't know the overall record.

 

Did my own research, tallying it game by game, the SEC East is 15-4 against the West so far this season. And some people were saying the West was deeper than the East earlier this season... so much for that.

Even SC, 0-4 against the East, is 2-0 against the West.

The West has a combined conference record of .359; the East is at .641. Overall, the West's record is .642; the East at .730. Pretty significant different there.

Interesting thing is that right now, who from the West would make the NCAA tourney? LSU and Alabama are both struggling and likely to be NIT teams if they don't get back on track (though I think both will enough to make the NCAAs but not as high seeds), Arkansas is probably an NIT team as well right now, and same with MSU and Auburn. Auburn right now might not even make the NIT.

 

I was thinking about this today. Who are the best teams in the SEC? Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee (with Lofton), Georgia and Vanderbilt are all in the top six. That doesn't do much for South Carolina, I'm sorry to say, but the West doesn't even enter into the equation here. LSU may be number six, but I'm not convinced of that.

 

Right now I'd say it goes Florida, Vandy, Kentucky, Georgia, Tennessee (without Lofton, hence 'now'), then LSU (end top 6), Alabama, then maybe USC and the rest of the west. But only the first 5 of those (all East) are NCAA-worthy right now. However, I see it finishing closer to Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee (with Lofton here), Georgia, LSU, Vandy, and Alabama. But there will be a lot of good games in the East down that road that will determine that.

 

I'll agree with that. Vandy is incredible right now, and I don't think anybody could have seen this coming.

 

Certainly not me. I just hope they cool down before we play them on Feb 14 (and Feb 28).

 

This just in: Kentucky football coach Rich Brooks signed to a 4 million dollar contract. Details pending.

 

Do you know how long the deal is for?

And I assume the $4 million figure is total, not per year, as there is no way Kentucky would pay that much per year. If I had to guess, I'd say maybe $4 million over 4 years, or something close to that.