Hello Louisville faithful! To finish the thought in the headline, I'd just like to invite us all, Cardinal and Wildcat fans alike, to take a moment and revel in the fact that the Commonwealth is providing half the final four this year. Sure, we'll be at each other's throats for the next week and one group of us will be licking our wounds 7 days from now.

But for the time being, let's all be proud of the fact that we have accomplished what we've accomplished so far. To think -- we were this close in 1975 when the Cardinals lost a heart-breaker to UCLA in the national semifinal (an errant inbound pass gave UCLA the opening it needed to win in a very tight contest). But for that, we would have a national title game between us. Well at least this time, we'll all be able to meet and duke it out (no pun intended -- well, maybe a little one) on the national stage in what promises to be the best game of the tournament. Go Big Blue!

"Let's double these..." he said.  Obviously Cal knows what Kentucky fans want.  The question is, will the man commit himself to delivering?

Look at the layups, the 10 foot jumpers, the free throws.  We won over 30 games last season with freshmen, and stand to win around 25 this year with more freshmen.  Barring a lockout, we can only guess the number of wins we'll accrue next year with - you guessed it - freshmen.  We'll get highlight reel slam dunks but no 3's.  We want the April 3 - the kielbasa, the salami, The Banner.

Listen John my man - Kentucky fans, come early April, don't care if they have 30 victories so long as they finished the season with a victory in that week.  The Banner, John!  You won't double up on the rafters at Rupp with freshmen, and believe it or not, Kentucky is the place where you'll find that 30 wins don't count for a hill of beans without that banner. 

Whatever your long term strategy is, if it doesn't include you keeping the promise to try and double the banners, you'll find what Bush#41 found out - "no new taxes" indeed!

All of us are on the outside of Calipari's mind.  For those who seem to have forgotten that, his "farm system" recruiting (so called) has been rich grist. 

Wooden and Coack K are both mentioned by Cal's supporters as examples of coaches who put their players first, as all of us agree Calipari does.  Fine, I accept that comparison, but only so far.  One must remember that Wooden couldn't even put a true freshman on the floor in his day, and that players at Duke tend to stay around for awhile as did players in general in Wooden's day.  That made for Wooden, and makes for Duke, a situation in which the coach can develop the talent over at least two years in pursuit of a title.  Not so for a model such as the one UK had last season under Cal.

But is that the model that Cal truly has in mind for the future of UK while he is coach?  None of us knows.  The Angst comes from the perception that freshman talent is to be our fare as UK fans for the long term, and that the chances of hanging banners decrease during any given season because of a lack of seasoning, if you'll pardon the pun.

My view is to wait for a few seasons and see how it all shakes out.  Calipari is a magnet for super talent, so let's all just live with the fact that one-and-dones will look to Lexington as their launch pad into the NBA for some time to come.  How that situation is to be handled is something that Coach Cal is undoubtedly learning just as we fans are.   Memphis and UMass are not Kentucky, so the situation is also new to him.  I say calm down Big Blue Nation, and let's see if Cal is the rare Royal Flush we all hope he is, or whether he'll be an ace short of taking the pot.

There are worse things to have happened to us, right?  We send them to Texas when we they arise.

Last year's house cleaning at the epicenter of college basketball set forces in motion the scale of which are only now beginning to become clear.  When the plates slipped the first casualty was Billy Gillispie, swallowed up by the shifting, buckling earth.  The fans meanwhile rose and shook off the brick facades of mediocrity which had been mortared onto their exteriors to reveal the true and solid wall of their expectations.  Unbeknownst to even the experts, a tsunami was triggered that has taken a year to break upon the shores of the college game.

As life continued throughout the season to imitate art, aftershocks occurred in nature's inevitable purpose to constantly and sometimes violently adjust the balance of the planet.  On January 26th, the President called to congratulate the team on their efforts vis-a-vis the Haiti earthquake, and an aftershock occured on the court following the call in one of two events that served to correct the minds of the Kentucky Wildcats.

February 27th, 2010 -- another binary event occurred as Tennessee volunteered to make the final correction in the tectonic sequence leading up to March, and Chile shook with dreadful violence.  Warnings were sent to the Pacific rim and heeded by that region, but apparently went unnoticed by NCAA schools as the larger, more catastrophic tsunami rolled with slow and powerful inevitability toward the shores of Indianapolis.

As the water became a shallow 64 feet deep, the powerful wave rose, and is even now sweeping life and property before it.  We are presently witnessing its devastation of regular tournament dancers and their Cinderella dates as well. 

Will the wave collapse in some sudden and inexplicable loss of momentum on the ever shallowing seashore, or will it roll onwards in its ghastly and awesome power?  The next two weeks will tell the story.  In my mind, no matter what happens, this team will forever be known as The Tidal Cats.  Let's all hope that April 5th will give a second spelling to the name.

Apparently, the contest to which Allblucat and I were admitted is having a few difficulties of the "genuineness" variety, and is stalled after some very deep pockets reportedly took action against it.  So here, for whatever benefit it may deliver to the BBN, is the only article I was able to get published there.  Hopefully it will stimulate some conversation.

Mob Rule, By Popular Decree

After the debate reached the level of deadly earnestness on the blogs of the bluegrass last winter regarding Billy Gillispie's future in Lexington, the last corpse of an argument was finally thrown into the fray by the BBN's more timid fans (few though they are) -- "...fire Gillispie after only two years, and nobody will come to UK to coach. After all, UK is not what it once was, good coaches go to the real up and coming programs. Too much pressure, too little upside, unappreciative fans..." etc etc etc. Still the real fans insisted at the castle doors of Von Lexingstein, with pitch forks and fagots afire, on change. And change they got -- enter John Calipari, arguably the most successful college basketball coach in America over the last few years. So much for the timid and mediocre viewpoint that UK is not a place that the best coaches want to coach.

What is in the water that Kentucky fans drink to so deprive them of common wisdom and reasonable expectations? Nothing. As was recently pointed out on A Sea of Blue, "High expectations are the very vat in which UK basketball ferments." Kentucky fans have been reared for three generations on top caliber basketball. Nothing is in the blue water of Kentucky but a healthy, and (until the last 4 seasons), high-quality concoction of success. Kentucky has had its share of moonshiners, so surely most UK fans would agree with the analogy.

Now here we are one year after after even the most fervent UK fans spoke of a speedy return to the Sweet 16 being the top level of expectation and satisfaction (with even this wish only whispered piningly to trusted readers and kindred souls) to find that UK is a number 1 seed sharing the best record in the nation with KU, a mirror image rival in more than just initials. It's as if the pitchforks and flaming torches of fanatical fans has reimposed popular will in Lexington. Despite the paradigm of parity, despite having opened the exit door to Tubby Smith with his unquestioned reputation as a good and honest man, despite the natural tendency to deny mistakes like having hired Gillispie in the first place, Kentucky exercised the "Nuclear Option" to clean their house and redecorate it as well at one stroke of the broom.

Perhaps this is what drives John Wall to display superior maturity to match his superior basketball skills. Perhaps it's what has awoken the Sleeping Giant that wears number 15 and channeled his emotion into fierce competitiveness on the court. Certainly, it is what has inspired Patrick Patterson to quietly, unassumingly play-act this class of super freshmen away from the expectations of NBA scouts and into the loving arms of the Big Blue Nation with its high expectations. Whatever the dynamic involved in this young team's march to March, one can be certain that no formula is involved. The Cats play with a pure will which harnesses enormous talent in pursuit of an impossible dream.

Who'da thunk it?

That's the name of the only article about our beloved Wildcats that I've been fortunate enough to write for lastfanstanding2010.com, so I thought I'd share the link with y'all here since from now on my blogging has to be about the Wofford Terriers.  Allblucat has also submitted a very nice article about this Kentucky team's drive to win.  It appears that A Sea of Blue is well represented in the tournament this year!

First, KU will not make it to the final four.  They have a lack of character that is more a matter of personality than ability on the court.  A sort of sneering superiority that exists in a few of their players which works well for the class bully, but not so well when facing the less predictable milieu of serious competition of the do-or-die NCAA tournament.  This self-deluding contempt for opponents will leave them open for a blind-side from a team with a big right hook.  I say, look for Kansas to falter in the Sweet 16 if not earlier. 

Mississippi State is in.  Count on it. 

Texas will make it to the Elite Eight.

Duke will make it to the Final Four instead of faltering early, as they have done the last few years.  They won't win it, though.

About all I have time for right now.  My baby doll is sick and needs attention.  Let's see what happens.

I believe it was Gary Parrish who said recently that the Mountain West would have 4 teams in the tourney, which would be more than (among others) the SEC.  Really?  Florida is going to be in.  The bubble would have to shrink drastically for that not to happen, and there isn't a lot of bubble left to shrink that far.

Let's do the math, shall we?  the SEC has three locks: UK, Vandy, and Tennessee.  Florida, in my opinion (as well as a few pundits' opinions), is in as well.  That makes 4.  Mississippi State, with a win over Vandy today, would certainly play their way in.

Let the rebuttals begin!

who have had more consistent success than DeMarcus Cousins, game for game.  The only name that comes to mind for me is Dan Issel.  In Dan's sophomore year (as you know, freshmen were not allowed to play varsity at that time) he averaged 16.44 ppg over 27 games.  From there he steadily improved until during his senior year, he averaged 33.85 ppg over 28 games - only twice that year did he score under 20, both of them 17 point efforts.  Unfortunately, I can find no rebound statistics (I don't think they were even kept then, were they? - forty?) but it seems likely he would have posted similarly impressive statistics there. 

Of course, Dan had nothing like Cuz's remarkable footwork, or his size, for that matter.  He also didn't have anything like Big D's repertoire of moves.  But he had one great one -- Dan's goofy looking head fake would often as not put a defender in the air, and I emulated it myself from the time I was a boy through my entire "career" into high school.  Believe me, it works.

At any rate, how fortunate we are to have another legendary calibre talent and fierce competitor at the post.  I can only imagine what DeMarcus could do over three seasons at UK, but alas, I'm sure we won't get to keep big Cuz for that long.  I have no doubt that if he were to stay healthy and at UK, we would be talking about him 40 years from now -- a real pity for us as fans.

I know that being ranked #1 in January means about as much in real terms as what Barbara Boxer puts on her hot dogs.  But we like it, don't we?  Being number one is a nice perk for the fans of any program, and it is in that spirit that I express this little piece of optimism which follows.

There is a lot more going for our hopes as Wildcat fans this season than we have lately appreciated -- at least that's been true of me.  We UK fans were overwhelmed by real grief after the South Carolina game, and a lot of the expression of that grief was voiced in the form of lamentation over our loss of the #1 ranking.   Most of us assume that we'll see our beloved 'Cats fall out of number 1 in monday's polls, so we dread it's forthcoming publication.  But I want all of you to take a moment to really think that over, and you may realize that the dread is premature.  We're actually in a good position to maintain the top ranking, as only two things have to happen for us to have a legitimate chance of finding ourselves still atop the polls this week. 

First, most obviously and most importantly, we have to give Vandy a real wedgie.  If we can truly dominate a good Vandy team it will show that we've bounced back and are for real.  Secondly, Kansas has to lose tonight.  Think that's not likely?  The Jayhawks are visiting a vicious and hungry Kansas State team on the road.  Now, I know that KU has owned KState over the last 25 years, even in Manhattan.  But this is NOT the same old KState that other Big 12 teams have wiped their feet on for so long.  Any team, and I truly do mean ANY team, that visits Manhattan this year is in for the fight of their lives.

Don't believe me?  Ask Texas.

In reading the posts here lately I see that a firm foundation of mere cautious optimism is the prevailing attitude.  You like the team.  Most of you seem, by my reading, to not recall any precedent for the magic, the fun, the outright gravitas that surrounds this team. 

We could easily lay this off to being snake-bit by the last dozen or so years of disappointment.  We could also throw in the youth of the team as an additional reason to be cautious.  But good night folks, what's it gonna take to make you believe that this team is something special?  What will convince you of this team's destiny?

Blow out Tennessee?

Blow out Vandy?

Twice?

Handily drub the entire state of Mississsippi?

All of the above?

I have a feeling about this team.  They seem to be on their way to being a legend in college basketball lore, not least because they themselves seem to want it to be that way, and they have all the chutzpah they need to make it so.

I for one am a believer in this car.  I own one myself, and it's parked right there outside the window.  ;)

UK garnered ALL first place votes in BOTH polls.  In checking this, I find that no other team has accomplished this honor all year.  What does it mean?  It means, to me, that we of the BBN are not living in a state of blue intoxication.  All of our fondest hopes are in fact based on something real. 

Of course, it could mean that even the national media and coaches have been sipping out of the same punch bowl as us.  Occam's Razor, anyone?

They really are something this year, aren't they?  I've just been reading some of the things said about them, and I can't help but feel like The King of Beasts (or at least a reasonably ferocious nephew of said cat) is taking the college basketball world by storm this year.  The 'Cats have done serious damage to opponents, a few highlights of which are:

*Upset the number one team in the country

*Gone undefeated

*Two of the litter are perfect in the Big East! (that would be both UK and Villanova, of course)

*Beat up two neighborhood dogs in close fights (that is a canine in the hoya costume, isn't it?)

*Risen from "The Dead"

Yes folks, I have a feeling that there better be at least one litter box in Indy this spring.

I am the son of this member who is teaching me about Kentucky basketball, I live in the San Francisco bay area and I am 12 years of age I started getting attached to basketball when I was about 8 years old,

My dad was explaining the DDMO in terms of an immune system. He says that it makes defenses collapse like an immune system onto a disease. But I think that other teams are the disease and Kentucky is the cure!!!!!!!

Do any of us, when reading the articles being written about how one and done is ruining the world as we know it, ever stop and say to ourselves "Wow, it's amazing just how street-rat-crazy our society has become!"? 

I'm seeing some out there who are apologists, pointing their fingers at everything and everyone but the cheaters.  The cheaters are being represented in some quarters as being products of their times, under enormous pressure and victimized by a system that rewards greed and cheating.  Call me crazy, but isn't that the same tone used by apologists for inner city drug gangs, apologists for Auschwitzt guards, apologists for ante-bellum slave holders, and apologists for the bushido code?

It boils down to the character of the individuals involved.  If Derrick Rose did indeed cheat, does anyone really want him?  The sad truth is "yes", and the inevitable and equally sad coda to that truth is that he knows it. 

Are there any more Ralph Beards out there, who possess the character to man up and take the consequences?  It seems doubtful, and that sort of character is unlikely to be emergent with so many apologists out there carrying the "Product of their times" card.

Derrick, if you cheated, man up about it.  Don't let the University of Memphis take the blame for your lack of character. 

NCAA, if you were incompetent in vetting Derrick's academics, man up about it.  Don't lay the blame on the University of Memphis.

Memphis, if you knew Derrick cheated, man up about it.  Don't throw your hands in the air and look dumb.  Sure that tactic works, but is that who you really want to be?

I wonder....

Congressman Steven Cohen would be a lovely BlackJack dealer in a crooked casino. He deals from the bottom of the deck. Being interviewed for cbssports.com, Cohen revealed the ax he is grinding with the request to the NBA to change their "one-and-done" rule, the age limit of 19 plus one year removed from HS graduating class - and it has nothing to do with restraint of trade:

'This (baseball) is a white sport. And tennis is a white sport. And golf is a white sport. And swimming is a white sport. And hockey is a white sport. And they don't have these restrictions. But basketball and football are predominantly African-American sports, and that's where they have the rule that forces players into college [instead of] going straight to the pros. Something here doesn't compute."

Continue reading this post »

Here's to Internationalization!!

I love the way Calipari is promoting the UK "brand".  It speaks well of his future here at UK that he wants to place UK not only at the forefront of college basketball, but of sports franchising period.  But with regard to his comment about "1000 7-footers", I'd like to suggest to Cal that he deepen his potential talent pool in China by recruiting point guards from that nation.  After all, the Chinese have surely produced many thousands of agile 6-footers.  (Now, before anyone starts thinking that I'm having a poke at racist fun, let me here say that one of my ex-wives is chinese, and my son is half chinese, so there!)  I for one would love to see two chinese guards on the floor at the same time, dishing the ball to an awesome front line.  So, let's see some Yao Ming Lite, huh?

What's next for Coach Cal, a Hooter's Team?  That one might be best filed under the heading "Collagen Basketball".  ;)

"When you add this to borderline academics and the probability that he may play only one year — and will he play for the good of his college team or for his NBA Draft status?..."  -Jerry Tipton on John Wall

Personally, I hadn't thought of this.  Shocking, I know.  However, with the roster we have coming in, and given that so much of that roster is green, how about the prospect of Meeks and Wall (due to his flashy style and dios reputation) drawing defenses like a swarm of bees, only to dish off, either to each other or to Pat, or Cousins, or...  well, you get the point there.  It would give the green players a year to mature without the irritating prospect of being automatically double-teamed.  Then if Mister Wall wants to go NBA, fine.  He will have materially contributed to the long term success of the Cats.  So, you see, I do have a brain.  It's just a slow-cooker rather than a grill.

We are in the enviable position at UK of having a debate on whether it would be better to sign the #1 or the #3 point guard prospect in the country.   When you get right down to it, is there a real difference to a UK program that lacks a true point guard?  If we look at it that way, either prospect can only be a boon to us.  So the debate might be better framed in terms of the future of UK basketball for the next two-to-four years. 

Wall, as I understand it, has made it clear that he's one and done.  Has Bledsoe?  I honestly don't know if he has or hasn't , but I have not seen that phrase associated with his name in the reading I've done over the last few days, so I'll proceed on the assumption that he's a two-year man at least.  That gives him a clear lead in desirability for the program which, in spite of all the euphoric talk about FF potential in Cal's first year, will in all probability need at least two years to become serious contenders.  A point guard carousel would be a disaster for the rebuilding process, given that the PG position is key to the entire offense.

My thinking is that it might be better to forget Wall altogether and focus on Bledsoe and one other slightly lower rated PG who can then work together to provide stability in that position over the next few years.  Bledsoe, in my view, would be the starting PG and this other hypothetical recruit would share floor time.  Both would learn the DDMO and how to run it at the same time, which would in my mind be a more solid foundation for the long haul.

Don't get me wrong about Wall, he's fantastically talented and will be a real thrill to watch wherever he goes.  But is UK thinking it through by recruiting him heavily?  I wonder...

Pat Riley.

Oh, I know, "he won't walk through that door".  Well, has anyone opened it for him?  I'm just curious if anyone from UK has ever approached him.  I know he is in the midst of a good run with the Heat, but hell, it's worth a phone call.

Does anyone on ASOB truly believe he wouldn't be an exceptionally good candidate for the job?  People talk about the "Big Guns" out there, but in my opinion, even the dream candidates like Pitino and Calipari are tainted.  Rick is tainted by his having had the absolute gall to walk out on the best coaching job in college basketball, and Calipari by just being Calipari.  I just don't have a good feeling about him, and he's touched by some smarmy situations that haven't stuck.  Camby taking money, some discipline problems with players, etc.  Donovan?  He's a welsher -- ask the Orlando Magic. 

Who of all of these names mentioned has EVERY qualification for the job, to include a stellar reputation?  Pat Riley.  As I've said before, someone write that man a check.

I'm probably behind the curve here, but ESPN just announced 5 minutes ago that Billy has been fired. Why?  Look at this board, ladies and gents.  It's all been covered.

Speculation is suspiciously ramapnt regarding the replacement as being none other than Billy Donovan.  This was covered briefly in the report, but nothing firm was mentioned.  It smells right, though.  I would have loved to see a Kentuckian at this post, rather than a transplant ex-UK assistant.  Big gun, I'll admit it.

When I first started posting here, I received lots of guff from fans who thought I was being overly negative about Billy G.  I'm a fan, and as I saw forty post in another thread here, we have the right not to settle for the mediocrity of the NIT.  Agreed.

But the NIT is where we are right now.  It's post-season and the team is playing well, in my opinion, particularly for such a young team.  So why not celebrate a little here? 

It's a mystery to me why my post "Congratulations to the Cats...", which I thought might be a positive thread for the die-hard optimists (ie, tink), has been bereft of comment.  While I posted it in true gladness for the success we seem to be enjoying so far in the NIT, it looks as though it has worked well in the role of a test for the people here who believe that the only fan worth his name is a Kool-Aid drinker, ie, one who supports the team no matter what.  Well, for those who have ever posted that viewpoint on this blog, let me say that your hypocrisy is showing. :P

Let me not ever again hear from anyone here that I should be a supporter without qualification - I'll quote this mammy-jammer in a heartbeat.  LOL

That said, I'll be watching tonight's game with a critical eye, but also with the understanding that this young team deserves support, even if the coach does not necessarily merit the same.

I was proud of our boys tonight.  It was a very tough fought battle, and they did not give up.  I thought the mistakes they made were, largely, youthful mistakes.  This is after all a young team -- a few lazy passes, some indecision, etc.  Nothing that time won't cure.

I was satisfied with Billy's handling of the situation at the end of the game.  

Overall, I'd have to say that I'm very pleased.  They made me proud tonight, as I said.  Way to go, guys!

It looks like we will have to accept that Billy G. will be the UK coach for at least another season.  If he produces W's I can live with that.  So I want to start floating some more constructive threads.  One never knows if something might find its way to his desk, and he actually likes the idea. 

There aren't a whole lot of pages I'd consider taking from Joe Hall's playbook, but one I'd take right now and put in front of BG is Joe's preseason conditioning program (which he sold to Rupp in '66 with terrific results) and the weights program, which I think had a lot to do with the '78 NC.  You wouldn't see Jodie Meeks with tired legs.  One of the members of the '66 team, and I don't recall which it was, said on the record that the players hated those drills, but when they hit the court that year, they literally ran over other teams.  He indicated it was the single biggest factor in the Runts making it to the National Title game against TW. 

So, if Billy likes his players to work hard, maybe Joe's conditioning and weights programs would interleave nicely with his philosophy (?).

Comments?

     Anyone who's read my posts here knows that I have been in favor of seeing Gillispie go his way.  Most of you, perhaps, have read "Breakfast at Epiphany's" in which I admit to the realization that Gillispie may simply be that rare great champion who don't give a hoot what others think.  So there is movement in my thinking. 

     Could it be that there is movement in Barnhart's thinking?  Tru's piece on the "Roaring Silence" is very well thought out.  One of the two things that stick in my mind as significant in this entire fiasco is Tru's point that Barnhart could easily put all speculation to a halt.  Like all ADs in big athletic programs, Barnhart must play politics,  the first rule of which is that you keep your options open.  The very fact that Barnhart has this job is evidence, in my mind anyway, that he has more than basic political skills.  After all, how else does a latte slurpin' west coaster from left wing Oregon land a job in conservative Kentucky at, of all places, the  Athletic Department of beloved UK?  It's enough to convince me that Mitch has competence in this area of the job.  So I tend to believe that Mitch is simply playing the smart card by keeping mum, and keeping his mind open until we see how far Billy takes our beloved Cats in the NIT.  An NIT title would surely soften the UK fan base's mein, and would make Mitch's job much less stressful.  So there is more than mere movement in Barnhart's thinking on this.  I would venture to say that Mitch is not only keeping his own mind open, he is trying to change Billy's on a very key point, namely, politics. 

     This brings me to the second thing that has stuck in my mind throughout the Billy saga -- the brown suit at Memorial Coliseum.  Could it be evidence of movement in Billy's thinking?  Let's remember that Billy is the one on record as not caring about history.  So whether or not there was any "throwback" motif involved, the fact that Billy had enough respect for the fans' view of history to wear it signals movement toward embracing UK tradition, or at least a minor acknowledgement of its importance to Kentucky.  Hey fans, it's better than what we've gotten from the man thus far.  I have to say I like it.  In my mind, it's a "high sign" easily missed amid the roaring silence.  I will be watching for others.

May email me at the address on my profile for a copy without the UK on it.  Put "Blue Cheeks" in the subject. No fair printing it out and putting it in your wallet.  But, if I see it printed on a tshirt at Rupp next season, I'll be very happy.

So, get your order in today while supplies last.  Then we can all get over it and move on to something else.  What, I don't know, but we'll  think of something.  ;-)