Something strange... is going on, in the neighborhood, something ominous maybe.

Something that I can’t remember ever having witnessed or felt before is going on... there appears to be a paradigm switch happening... right now in Chapel Hill, NC... perhaps over the past two college basketball seasons.

Who you gonna call? Dukes zone-busters?

As far back as I can remember watching, Carolina does not blow 10 point leads in the Dean Dome over the last two minutes of any game. Didn’t happen before... But it just did.

And even further back... Carolina does NOT get blown out by over 30 to Florida State or anybody else for that matter. Didn’t happen... just happened.

Perhaps fittingly on the night the iconic Dean Smith was passed by a Coach from... huh, Syracuse? on the all-time win list, UNC melted like the normal Hot-Buffalo-Wing-Dings late Spring fold-thing. Syr-excuse? Don’t they play in a giant air conditioner or something? Didn’t...do.

True, Duke has beaten Carolina in the Dome before, but never and NOT like this. Once upon a time the story of a game like that would be safely sent to the Daily Tarheel with two minutes left, and them up 10 with..."North Carolina holds off furious late Duke rally to remain atop the ACC standings". Or better yet, it was usually ..."North Carolina rallies from down double-digits, erases (fill-in-the-blank) lead, and wins by five in the final two minutes".

Seriously, I’ve hated and respected the Tarheels for so long I could write the script for most of their games in the past... or during the Dean Smith era at least. Dean awed and annoyed me more times than I can count, but... I always felt it the moment the momentum had swung back toward the baby blue direction, and always knew that I would be soon disappointed... and, that they would win like that AGAIN. Disgusting!

Maybe it would be a charging call, a missed free throw, a clumsy turnover...something... which would spell the opponent’s eventual doom, but you could ALWAYS feel it... everyone ALWAYS KNEW the Heels would rally to win the close games when they NEEDED to win.

As College basketball fans have long expected, I ALWAYS KNEW the Heels would win, and I hated them for it. Has Duke flipped the script?

But listen; Something has definitely changed down on Franklin Street... and it isn’t very good for the Heels. But, what is it really?

Has Ole Roy finally shined his sterling good-ole-boy legend so much so that it doesn’t REALLY matter to him as much? He has alluded to this post-game weak think after some painful season ending losses... that either way he is ALWAYS proud of his team, dadgummit!

It seemed to salve their pain, especially when Tar Heel fans could always point to... NEXT YEAR.

The fever pitch in NC this year had never been so high during an off season as any that I can remember... beginning immediately when most of the team that lost to Kentucky in last year’s NCAA decided to forego the NBA and remain in Chapel Hill for "some unfinished business".

Around Chapel Hill it has been a foregone conclusion that Roy was going to work his magic again this year and the Heels would skate on ice all the way home with a Natty banner from "The BIG Dance".

But so many of them had forgotten (or chose to forget) their embarrassing late-mid-season smackdown from Georgia Tech, literally last year’s perfect version of The Rambling Wreck. Right then... last year I felt a crack... something was amiss in the Hill after that lopsided game... something unkindly and sinister. The floors didn’t creek at the Four Corners bar anymore. I loved it.

Then I felt the icy cold blast when Florida State made a Seminole and Swiss with Bacon of their once vaunted, now Laissez-faire defense, en route to the ass-thumping-bone-jarring-rim-shakin’-twine-smokeout... the likes of which the ACC (nor anybody else) had ever seen until a just few short weeks ago. NEVER... NOW.

Something critical is missing but it ain’t mass. In fact there may be too much mass when you stack them butt-to-butt. I happen to think it’s more like "sass" that’s missing in these Heels. They’re just too nice, too likeable, too in love with the word Tarheel.

Everyone knows that Roy Williams has a dark side to his Andy of Mayberry routine. But does his team know it yet?, the way he runs to their defense to protect them from so many real world threats, like EVIL alumni ticket buying fans who sold their seats in Vegas, choosing the lure of the Strip over the gym while in LV town? C’mon Roy... do you walk your boys to class too?

Oh my Roy... did a fan just call Barnes "a lump of brick-laying coal?" Somebody call security! Ban him from Franklin County. Harrison is a nice young man, just nervous about his future...

How bout this Roy...?

The next time a Duke... or worse... a Kentucky smacks your little boys down till they bleed dark blue... at the post-game press conference... leave off the "it hurts sooo bad whimper"..

Try out a "I’m SOOO f&^K*n pissed!" instead.

Maybe then they’ll get the picture?

-UNC hater who feels their fan’s pain.

While it's typically bad form for one to pronounce their favorite team as being better than one that the consensus crowd have already crowned as "odds-on favorite to win it all", (a team that one irrationally exuberant blog-spert suggested could be UNC'S "best" ever), form isn't what I'm after here.

I also understand that the so-called experts, most of conventional wisdom, and the gasified pundits of any group, are almost always wrong. That is a fact, based on a number of recent scientific studies and books detailing those startling results.

And so, since I have always thought to call it like I see it after taking in all the information available to me despite a chorus of boos, nay-sayers, bombastic homer-screamers and the like; these ideas are my own objective/subjective viewpoint.

With all homer-ism aside, and with an honest almost-certainty, I believe Kentucky will be better than North Carolina once again this year, and most particularly by this season's end (that is in College Basketball of course).

TAKE SPECIAL NOTE that I am not so arrogant to say that "Kentucky will beat UNC this year". God only knows, but we can all agree that the best TEAM does not always win the National Championship (as my mind drifts to counting out a stack of Benjamins after a certain 1995 Cats vs.UNC NCAA game).When these titans lock horns, both teams and fans KNOW that each are CAPABLE of winning or losing it all, (as my mind now drifts to a bar in Hilton-Head, SC in 1984, as I'm counting out even more Benjamins after a second half meltdown in a UK-Georgetown NCAA tilt)

No, here I am talking about which team is/will be better by season's end, this year.

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Smart money and Shaka Smart coaches know that college basketball can be pretty simple when it all shakes out.

It’s a game of "possession basketball".

Meaning... so far as your team has the basketball, your opponent cannot score, while your team has at least some percentage chance of doing so... as long as they hang on to the rock.

Therefore, a team’s offensive efficiency is extremely important. Keep the ball. Then make the shots.

Of course, there are also some important intangibles, but ultimately, even they add up to a team's efficiency of scoring when in possession.

For those who doubt these assertions read post "A View from the Catbird Seat" from last season during Kentucky’s nasty February slump. While "almost" everyone else had given up on the Cats chances of a deep NCAA run, this writer argued that it was the most underrated Kentucky team I had watched since becoming a Kentucky fan, which began when I watched the Cats lose to Texas Western in 1966. I felt they could win the NCAA tournament, and explained why it wasn’t just a bad case of "homerism".

Then, compare how high Kentucky ranked in the Pomeroy statistics all season, versus their AP or ESPN rankings. We were one of a few teams who legitimately had a shot to win the tourney all year long when statistically considering the game of possession basketball per the Pomeroy. And, the sublime chemistry John Calipari was building in the lockeroom was showing signs of coming to fruition.

First, looking at how possession basketball works using efficiency statistics:

Three point shots do not have to be shot at as a high percentage of twos, yet twos are easier shots (especially if you’re loaded down low with big strong dunkers). Of course, these are mitigated when the opponent has a big inside front line whose defensive efficiency is high, or a high three-point defensive efficiency. Getting fouled and sent to the line is even better... you’re open and have time to shoot without jumping (see offensive free throw percentage). Does your opponent have a tendency to foul?

Shooting the ball and making shots is highly dependent on how "open" the man is. An example of how an intangible like "teamwork" can be quantified to a degree. We know that how open a man is helps determine his shooting percentage. Three-point defensive efficiency can be measured against three-point offensive efficiency. Good passing can be measured in turnovers.

But, will an open player his shot, or would he pass to a better shooter if one were equally open? Do some players tend to quit when behind or play harder? Does a team seem to let up when ahead, sometimes letting their opponents mentally back into games? Do they pout when reprimanded or get pulled from the game? These are "Chemistry" issues which cannot be quantified, but which carry vital importance in the larger scheme of things.

Of course there’s coaching; both in x’s and o’s, game situation, and off-court. Chemistry and these vital aspects are discussed in Part 2.

But Part 1 is about possession basketball:

Dean Smith, legendary coach, embarrassed the NCAA into instituting a shot clock during the mid-80’s when he began to install his famous "four corners" offense in more situations and for more reasons than it was initially designed. It had always been a late game lead preserving strategy in order to eat clock, waiting until extremely high percentage shots were available. But he began to see more reasons to use it, and not always at the end of games.

For example if he felt that his opponent had a much stronger offense against his defense, than would his defense against their offense, he simply played forty minutes of ultimate possession basketball, or keep away. If an important player got in early foul trouble, or they grabbed an early lead he might stall most of the game to keep his strongest team on the court and preserve the lead.

It was excruciating and boring to watch, considering the sport’s unique ability to entertain on-watchers. He wanted to prove that a shot clock would make the game better for everyone. He was right. In 1982 the ACC adopted the shot clock and the NCAA followed in 1985, adding the three-point line to spread defenses. Also, without the three, teams had begun to pack the lane against his bigger teams, forcing them to shoot lower percentage shots. His four corners attempted to force opponents to come out and defend.

The shot clock required that teams who were overmatched beat their opponent in the game of basketball, not keep away. Coaches like Smith long realized that every possession must count, or at least a high percentage of them, if to compete successfully against super talented basketball teams. Like Adolph Rupp’s teams, Smith’s legendary teams used teamwork to achieve his goal of getting open high percentage shots, hopefully inside the lane nearer the basket.

Possession basketball is an extension of his theory. In other words, to get and keep possession you must reduce turnovers and grab more offensive and defensive rebounds. Then find and take a high percentage shot. That meant unselfishly passing the ball, blocking out, and executing set plays to find an open man.

In essence, they needed to play extremely "smart" basketball, not unlike Virginia Commonwealth did during their incredible NCAA run last March. Of course, brainy coach Brad Stevens of Butler acknowledges that being a disciple of Pomeroy’s statistical system of possession basketball is one major key to his success.

These coaches are examples of today’s data-miner coaches: those who study mountains of statistics to find slight differences in teams and players, which they might exploit to advantage. There may be small differences in teams and players that only statistical information will reveal and support. Scouting games in person require heavier travel and administrative budgets too, usually in the form of travel expenses and assistant coaches. Coaches are turning more to the computer for answers.

With access to the plethora of information found easily on the internet at sites like KenPom.com and BasketballProspectus.com and others, a coach can hammer out a game plan against anyone in a few hours, by studying comparisons in how their opponents have performed against others thus far during the season in several important key aspects of the game.

Many very successful sports bettors use this information (and create even more of their own) to determine their ideas on how games, thus their fortunes will turn out. That is "if" the teams perform similar to their past performances. They use sophisticated algorithms to play thousands of virtual games, honing in on the minute probabilities.

Of course, that "if" is why we still play the games. The game isn’t played on paper.

In a Nostradamus-esque post on SEA OF BLUE the morning of the UNC game titled Crunching Carolina from the Catbird Seat, one astute writer correctly predicted not just the outcome of the Kentucky-Carolina tilt, but described almost exactly how the game would be played using the Pomeroy.

An egotistical chest thump, you say? Perhaps, but...

 After losing a night’s sleep, I mean, who could sleep that Sunday? analyzing every single statistical difference in these two titans, it was plain to me that I had to write a Post, if only to justify to my girlfriend how much time I’d spent on the internet, or later gloat some I told-you-so z with some old UNC fans/friends. My effort was bombarded by an astounding 2 comments, both gratuitous back-slaps from Ken Howlett, and only after I emailed him and bitched about it. It shows how one can analyze these statistics to predict outcomes, and I invite you to re-read it now and provide any useful comments or critiques.

Yes, there are some great Cats fans... and Ken Howlett’s definitely one of ‘em.

Note a classic example of this coaching by data thinking at the post game press conference with Roy Williams of North Carolina last March after their epic Elite Eight loss to Kentucky. Some of the media seemed baffled by Carolina’s inability to make threes, or stop the Cats from shooting lights out from behind the arc. It clearly was the difference maker in the game as the Cats hit twelve 3-point field goals, their most since hitting 12 against Winthrop on Dec. 22, 2010.

Williams was reminded by a reporter about some of the trouble his team had all season "from behind the line". Carolina had not defended the three particularly well last season, nor had they drained a high percentage of them, as is easily noted by their season’s numbers. They simply didn’t shoot or guard well from outside.

To me, he seemed a little irritated as he began discussing what he had felt they would need to do to win before the game:

"...and I think and so do you, you have to -- there are some parts of the game that you're not going to do as well and you hope that that's not the part that will determine the outcome of the game. And you look at our stat sheet, their team averages 39.6% from the three-point line and we don't have anybody shooting better than 39.6% on our team. I think Kendall is 39.6% exactly. So their whole team shoots better than anybody on our team. And we didn't want to work and make sure that we got there and had a hand up and hoped that they didn't make some..."

And it's hard trying to overcome some things that are that big advantages. They scored 36 points from three-point line and we score nine. But that's the game of basketball!

 And for us, I think Z and Dexter both said it, in the first half we didn't get very good movement. Because of that we didn't get very good shots..."-Coach Roy Williams on the defeat to Kentucky

He went on say that their game plan was to use their strengths inside, get fouled, and hope they could neutralize Kentucky’s outside shooting. But John Calipari teams are defensive ones too. The numbers had indicated that we might do a decent job stopping their formidable inside game, especially if we could stop their quick run-outs and trademark easy transition baskets. In the first half we did.

So, he knew the game would likely be decided if we shot from the 3, unless they could manage to play better 3-point defense. John Calipari understood that open 3s are nice trades for contested twos, so he put Liggins on Marshal (in the backcourt) to slow him down and exploit their poor outside shooting.

In the end Kentucky won that day because of one important factor: They were the better team.

Part 2 explains the reasons why this writer feels Kentucky will be better than UNC this year as well. Stay Tuned...

I remember the moment I became an ABC'er (anybody but Carolina) as clear as if it were yesterday, although it happened over 33 years ago.

It was March 3rd, 1978...

Ripe with a BA from J-school at Morehead State University, I had three days earlier piled everything I owned into my 1973 Chevy Impala, weathered 30" inches of fresh Kentucky snow through the craggy West Virginia coal country, zagged Southerly down Interstate-77, and finally zigged over the foggy Southern Virginia Appalachian mountains.

In a lush green North Carolina valley I finally unloaded my gear to begin my new life, and new job in Greensboro, NC. Though I'd only been there briefly in the month before (for my job interview), it had then seemed to me to be a friendly, habitable place.

This was my first day in my new position as Sales Trainee for a small fast growing real estate publisher. It was around 4:30 p.m. as I sat in my barely furnished office, shuffling papers around wondering what I might pretend to be doing for the next hour or so.

After an eager tap on my door, a toothy well-dressed man slid in, smiling and shaking hands.  "Hi I'm Geoff Wolfe, the VP here. I hear you're from Kentucky? Me? I graduated from Chapel Hill, that's as in No..r..th Ca..ro..li..na. Basketball," he offers and grins Cheshire cat-ishly.

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Though I usually can't pick my nose in the NCAA's, this time i predicted that only one-1 seed and no two seeds would see the final four, and the Cats can make that happen today with a win.  Before the tourney started, I also predicted this year to be "The Perfect Storm" for Kentucky; with OSU, Carolina, (I said Duke but i'll take UConn), then the boys from you know where all going down at hands of these dreamers. 

A dream yes, but one that as of today is alive... 

Let's take a look at some numbers and facts borrowed from kenpom.com: 

Generally, the Heels play faster paced than does Kentucky, thus scoring more points per game.  Carolina wants to push the ball looking for open 2pt shots, and I doubt  that Calipari will mind too much if a fast pace that should free the three ball.  Carolina plays its offense primarily through their bigs; they are monster offensive rebounders, while Kentucky is slightly better at defensive rebounding.  Keeping the Heels off their offensive glass is crucial. 

The two teams are fairly equal at offensive shooting % inside the arc, but Carolina scores most of its points inside the arc, as they shoot fewer threes than Kentucky, and those are not shot that well (33.2%).  Kentucky shoots the three very well (39.2%), and relatively more often, though they are not simply a three-point shooting team that lives (and dies) by the three.

Kentucky shoots free throws better (71.7% vs 67%), but Carolina does not foul nearly as much as Kentucky, and relatively little ... period.  Kentucky takes care of the ball much better (makes fewer turnovers), ranked #9 in Division 1 vs #166 in offensive TO%.  Kentucky defends the three about the same as Carolina (opponents shoot 33.2% vs 32.5%), but defends inside the arc better (opp shoot 41.7 vs 44.4%).   Kentucky's opponents shoot fewer threes than Carolina's opposition.  Kentucky typically blocks a slightly higher percentage of shots than Carolina.

Kentucky's effective field goal % is higher than Carolina's (52.5 vs 49.2).  This factor is calculated combining 2pt and 3pt shooting %, and its adjusted offensive efficiency (all factors combined - shooting %, TO%, OR%, FT%), is better (ranked #7 in division 1 vs #39), although Carolina has a better adjusted defensive ratio (same factors only defensively - ranked #5 div 1 vs #20).  Yet, Kentucky's effective defensive field goal % is bit higher than is Carolina's (i.e. guarding 2pt and 3pt shots combined). 

This adds up to a game likely being decided on how well Kentucky can shoot the three against a Carolina defense that does not guard the three extremely well, and then defend their own basket in the paint against Carolina's bigger frontline, and how well Carolina's somewhat shaky guards take care of the basketball against a formidable defender in kentucky.  Also Carolina's free throw shooting may become a factor, since they are likely to be at the line more often. 

Based on the games importance, it is likely to be a dogfight through the end with the numbers suggesting (to me) Kentucky winning by 2-3 pts, say 76-74.  Of course, we all know how the game is not played on paper, but in the hearts and minds of the players, and at the coaching box.  For my money, I like Kentucky here too, with the 4 seeding being a large factor in the chip they seem to be wearing on their shoulders.  To me, the Heels seem satisfied to just have the monkey off their backs from last year's debacle season, and seem a bit soft.  Getting pounded by Duke and Georgia Tech this year shows they are vulnerable to a blowout.

Look for Liggins to possibly step out on Marshal early to test his fortitude, then settle in with defending Barnes.  If Kentucky goes cold from the three point line, look for a long afternoon watching Carolina rebound and head off to the races, ending in many contested layups, dunks, and foul trouble for the Cats.  This will not end pretty for our boys, and we go home to watch on TV.  The play of Terrence Jones and Darius Miller seems important here in how well we can contain the big Carolina frontline.  We already know Harrelson, Liggins, Lamb, and Knight will show up ready to play.

What's wrong with these Cats?

I've read a lot from a number of fans, sites, supposed experts, and coach's about this year's Wildcats.  Usually I have my own, sometimes overly harsh theory of why they aren't playing the way I want them to, but this year is different.  From the beginning I've liked this team better than most teams of the past.

The first crack I saw was in Maui like many of us. But, as the great Leonard Cohen says, "Everything has a crack in it, that's how the light gets in."  The team I saw playing was not the same team I had been watching several nights in a row before that game.  They were slow to react defensively and didn't seem to want to make the extra pass on offense.  UConn toyed with them and there was no obvious response.  And there went the light ... that they were just plain tired.

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 The following thread comments were taken from ESPN "Conversation" after the Kentucky-Penn game. Only those parts relevant to my discussion are included (i.e. there were other contributors in-between these comments). It begins after a number fans/haters insisted on making a litany of derogatory remarks about Kentucky's past issues, which we have all heard countless times and in varying formats and degrees:

thom_adams ME (1/4/2011 at 12:10 AM)

•  

  For homers and haters and master(de)baters, liars and losers, from the citrus to the Cusers...

  1998-99 - Won 28, Lost 9
  SEC Tournament Champions 2nd SEC East (11-5) Ranked 8th AP, t5th USA Today

  1999-2000 - Won 23, Lost 10
  Co-SEC Champions (12-4) So-SEC East Champions Preseason NIT Runner-Up Ranked 19th AP, 20th USA Today

  2000-01 - Won 24, Lost 10
  Co-SEC Champions (12-4) CO-SEC East Champions SEC Tournament Champions Ranked 9th AP, 8th ESPN/USA Today

  2001-02 - Won 22, Lost 10
  Co-SEC East Champions (10-6) Ranked 16th AP, 13th ESPN/USA Today

  2002-03 - Won 32, Lost 4
  SEC Eastern Division Champions (16-0) SEC Champions SEC Tournament Champions Ranked 1st AP, 4th ESPN/USA

  2003-04 - Won 27, Lost 5
  SEC East Champions (13-3) SEC Tournament Champions Ranked 2nd AP, 8th USA Today/ESPN

  2004-05 - Won 28, Lost 6
  SEC Champions (14-2) SEC East Champions Ranked 7th AP, 5th USA Today/ESPN Coach

  2004-05 - Won 28, Lost 6
  SEC Champions (14-2) SEC East Champions Ranked 7th AP, 5th USA Today/ESPN Coach

  2005-06 - Won 22, Lost 13

  2006-07 - Won 22, Lost 12

  2007-08 - Won 18, Lost 13

  2008-09 - Won 22, Lost 14

  2009-2010 - Won 35, Lost 3 SEC East Champions Ranked 2nd AP, 2nd ESPN?USA Today

  These ten years render us irrelevant? I don't think so... I think you are.

  collagehoops52 (1/4/2011 at 2:44 AM) Report Violation

• im not disagreeing with UK being talented .... im not targeting "UK" .... but reality is that if a "foul" is called then the shot on the other end of the floor in transistion "never happens" ... the game wasnt called fairly ... and as for CAL ... if somebody else offers him more money to coach somewhere else he will go .. just like UK did for him to leave memphis ... he provides a University for players to do theyre one year of collage and get to the NBA ... that's his recruiting method .... the countless amounts of agents and NBA coaches that he knows is a garentee for these kids to get in the pros ... same thing anywhere he coaches ... he was fired from the NETS bc the players didnt want to listen to him anymore ....he was hired in NCAA bc he can garentee schools great incomers so the teams are good ...and the fans come ...so the school can make MONEY !! .... if yould like to follow a real coach .... make a trip to durham .... meet coach K ... he acctually has his name on the court......and his player 95% of the time graduate from DUKE..... thats why they win championships.... and thats why they are the #1 team in the country... the game against penn is over and will b a memory now ... CAL brings these guys in to get them to the NBA not to win a championship at UK

thom_adams (1/4/2011 at 3:09 AM)

collagehoiops52 - i assume with your atrocious spelling you are not one of those fortunate enough to have graduated from that esteemed university? As such, what is your argument about not finishing school? How many DUKE grads will be making more money than John Wall, Demarcates Cousins, and that fellow poor speller Eric Bedsore? Or is there some higher, more esoteric reason one should earn their degree... like learning to spell?

Your type sicken me not because you combine enough basketball ignorance with arrogance to smell up cyberspace itself... but because you are "LIFE" ignorant and broadcast it and infect others who don't (or can't) see through your game.You know nothing about Coach Cal, or Coach K for that matter,,, and well... I've just realized it's not worth my sincere effort or time to educate you...so perhaps you'll #### before you embarrass yourself any further...

collagehoops52 (1/5/2011 at 2:14 AM) Report Violation

Bottom Line - UK is a circus....all of u fans are just so blind to see whats really going on here .... alls CAL needs to do is tell a HS player ...i can garentee you the NBA .... a true statement ....and they will reply ...where do i sign .....its actually a pretty genius idea ....UK basketball is an investment for the school to make money ... u people will respond harsh to this bc u love uk and they are your team..... but u will never win a championship and will b lucky to c a final four anytime soon....and Cal could care less if that happens anyway .... bc at the end of the day he still walks away with 35 million large...and everyone that he recruits gets to be a millionare playing basketball with no education......and its not just UK its all over ..... as for knight and jones returning to UK...theyre is a better chance of dartmouth winning the tourny ....i hope i had enough spelling errors this

thom_adams (1/5/2011 at 7:03 PM)

•  

  you really don't get it, do you? first, it's true that UK fans tend to feel more ownership in the program than they do elsewhere. why? i don't know but it probably has to do with the deep tradition we've built around the program. growing up in Kentucky one is brought up to feel that each of us have a say in what happens even if its critical of what IS happening. Cat fans feel its their god-given right to say whats on their mind about even the smallest detail... though its highly likely no one is really listening. So what? Its fun.

  Now, what is your hang up on education? Coach is worried about helping these young men to grow in more ways than mere book knowledge and wallet size. whether or not they graduate is left up to them after he has helped instill in them the need to be better PEOPLE. Not one of them will tell you they LEFT him a "worse" person than whence they came. I could go on here but I don't have the time...

  Whats important is: whats it to you how we feel and act if we aren't #U#King with you? We don't care about your team... why care so much about ours? I've been around DUKE more than I have UK basketball and i can say for certain:

  THERES NOTHING LIKE KENTUCKY BASKETBALL

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now... my reason for copying these excerpts is to point out some trends I've noticed when reading NCAAB threads, and to ask other fans about their own experiences and feelings toward these haters. Am I crazy, OR do my own impressions of these posters as being ignorant Haters match up with other UK basketball fan's impressions?

1. Why is ONE AND DONE considered solely a Caliper/Kentucky phenomena without seemingly touching other big time universities and programs? Are fans so ignorant that they don't realize that the 1-an-D issue is the result of an NBA ruling not the NCAA's, and certainly not Kentucky''s? And do they understand that it's completely within the guidelines and rules as set forth by the NCAA? Are we supposed to overlay some (better?) moral judgment against it and refuse to recruit players of this type?

    

2. Why do Calipari/Kentucky NCAAB discussions nearly always end up with "vacated" final fours and "probation"? Are these dim-wits afraid to admit or just unaware that Calipari was allowed to walk free in the same manner that Coach K has at Duke or Roy Williams at Carolina? Or that in the dynamic world of CB, cheater Universities get caught... do their probationary sentence... and move on (almost always Bruce Pearl) under new management? I mean, is it still my fault that Thomas Jefferson owned slaves?

    

3. By studying the above chart, is it fair to say that our past tens years have been "irrelevant".

    

4. Can a Coach (Calipari) be respected even if he doesn't win a Natty? Without it, are good recruiters destined to be considered poor bench coaches? Are there never enough years of great teams and good deeds to cover a few accusations of grey-area cheating?

    

5. In education, is finishing school by earning a degree the only way a man can achieve true respect from an ignorant hater? Is just helping young men mature into better people not worthy of one's respect? Do haters even realize that Calipari teams actually have a history HIGH graduation rates?

And then, in the end... is there a place (on the internet) one can go to discuss, argue, and debate college basketball with intelligent beings who are fans of other fine basketball traditions like Kentucky? If so... please point me to it.

(I apologize for the formatting, etc... as the FanPost Editor is far beyond my own comprehension)

Demarcus Cousins compared to Derrick Coleman? Rasheed Wallace?  I don't think so...

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