Check out the latest news on:

http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/

Heck yeah Cal.  Keep on bringing them in!  Pretty soon, every single one of us is going to become spoiled with getting all of these top recruits, and I'm not saying that's a bad thing.

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The title of this fanshot is a tribute to one of the greatest professional entertainment wrestlers there ever was...that's right, The ROCK, but I digress.  It's time for me to get my butt back on ASOB and start keeping up with the Big Blue Nation as we roll into the upcoming football and basketball seasons.  But basketball can wait for a little while longer as some of us look to take in the much anticipated cooler weather of fall and helmet smashing helmet on the Commonwealth gridiron.  I'm curious as to what most of my fellow UK fans are excited about for the upcoming football season?

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This post is dedicated to celebrating our seniors and their years of hard work, all the minutes played and grinding it through one of the toughest stretches of being a UK basketball player.  I wanted to dedicate this post to the seniors who haven't been getting a lot of attention this year and who will for sure be celebrated on Senior Day.  I personally hope that if Patterson doesn't come back next year he is allowed to be celebrated along with our seniors but this post is dedicated to the memories we have of Ramon, Perry and Mark as seniors we KNOW will be recognized on Senior Day. 

Please take some time to show some love to and memories of our Seniors...

Since most of us have a good grip on reality and the things that matter most when it comes to UK winning, what are the things that we allow ourselves to FEAR too much?  3s (I'm sick of this debate)?  Poor perimeter defense?  Too many unforced turnovers? etc.

The answers to most of these questions and questions like these revert back to the past few years where being stagnant and mediocre was more of a state of being for the BIG BLUE Nation.  To make matters worse, rather than a notable confidence in a historic program that makes our opponents fear us, instead, we have feared our opponents. 

"What's the point?", you might be asking...

Well, I'm not saying that we fear our opponents anymore (especially given our talent, coach, and record), but I find myself wanting to challenge this mindset of fear that plagues us as spectators and doesn't allow us to have a confidence knowing that a championship is coming.  Maybe not this year (which would suck), maybe not next year, but believe me, it will happen. 

Basketball is beautiful because it challenges our inherent tendencies for order, comfort, and control.  We as fans cannot control what a player does or how the coach coaches or the outcome of any given game.  We are simply left with this feeling of exuberance if our team wins because behind that win came a requirement to lose order, comfort, and control so that we might enter the gates of celestial celebration.  If we as fans begin to let our fear of not winning another championship rise within us, we have succumb to our tendencies of control which makes us lose the very thing that makes a good story...overcoming conflict to get the prize. 

Going into March, let us go in confidently, courageously, and knowing that whatever happens, "The only thing to FEAR is FEAR itself!"  GO CATS!

After having to endure a game between VCU and George Mason for aprox. 12 minutes of the UK game-time clock, we were finally able to enjoy our team on live television.  The sad thing is, I wish I could've enjoyed it a little bit more than what I did along with my other ASOBluers, but unfortunately our team played reminiscent of some of the games earlier on in the season.  I guess I'm starting to get a bit spoiled for thinking we should have blown them out, and the final score reflected our intensity of play.  In addition to the post-game synopsis, let's share our thoughts of the game against Alabama and what we did good vs. what we didn't do so good.

To start it off...I thought our defensive execution wasn't the greatest.  Overall, there was a lot of guys standing around, missing pick and rolls and just not defending very well. 

I thought we did a good job at ball movement on offense at times though.  Obviously, our turnovers were killing us in putting the Tide away, but when the guys passed well, they were getting the ball inside, just not inside enough.  I would still like to see Patterson get much more active on offense.

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In reaction to True's article about sportsmanship, I completely agree with his sentiments on the issue among fans.  Another thing that came to my mind when reading about conduct issues among fans is the conduct in players too.  Obviously, we have seen players show unsportsmanlike conduct for as long as we can remember, but I wanted to bring up my observation of the "Excessive Celebration" issue among players today. 

We've seen the yellow flag thrown in football after a touchdown and unsportsmanlike conduct called for too much celebration on the sidelines.  We've seen players stick out their chests and pound them like a babboon after every made shot or QB sack.   Has this type of behavior become so typical and reoccuring that we have truely undervalued the significance of a great play?  Is it part of sports-culture these days or do we have an excessive celebration issue or not?  I see the comparison between fans rushing the court after a mediocre win the same as a player who acts like they've never made a great play before.  If you are a great player, do you need to pound your chest or do a dance evertime you do something?  Don't get me wrong.  I love seeing players play with emotion and energy, and sometimes the fans need that from the players to get them out of their seats, but come on!....are the fans really that impressed with a play that would make a player act like he's never been there before? 

Throughout this whole season, I have had to listen to more commentary about KU basketball than probably our Kentucky boys, since I live in Kansas City.  My father-in-law and brother-in-law are KU fans, some of my friends are KU fans, and I work at a high school in Kansas City, so I see a lot of fans everyday who live, breathe, and sleep KU.  This is all well and good from a geographical standpoint, but needless to say, I have been drawing comparisons upon comparisons between these two teams since the beginning of this season.

This is what I've gathered from my over-generalized perspective...(trying to stay unbiased as well):

1)  I have not been impressed with them as much as the media.  (By the way, they had to go into OT last night against COLORADO!!!)

2)  I really like Xavier Henry as a play-maker (I wish he would've came to Kentucky)

3)  Cole Aldrich has dragged his feet for most of the season and I've heard KU fans complain about his offensive    efficiency, although he is now starting to pick it up

4)  Sherron Collins is a clutch player when he needs to be and he talks like Michael Beasley :)

5)  Bill Self almost always has a smirk on his face

6)  The Morris twins look more like each other than any other twins I have ever seen.  Do they even have the same tattoos?

7)  On a serious note...the only thing KU has more of than Kentucky is experience.

Would Kentucky have enough talent to beat KU's experience if they met in the tournament?  Your thoughts...

My loving K-State alumni wife emailed me this article yesterday and I didn't quite get around to reading it until today.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/12841602/thought-of-unbeaten-season-for-kentucky-just-perfectionist-fallacy

There's some good perspective to be gained from it, particularly like this quote:

"Lest we forget the North Carolina team that featured four subsequent draft picks and won last season's NCAA tournament lost to Boston College and Wake Forest in January, then lost to Maryland in February. Just like the Kansas team that featured five subsequent draft picks and won the 2008 NCAA tournament lost to Kansas State in January, then lost to Texas and Oklahoma State in February. Just like the Florida team that featured five subsequent draft picks and won the 2007 NCAA tournament lost to Kansas and Florida State in December, then lost to Vanderbilt, LSU and Tennessee in February."

Too bad a majority of the article was written about being undefeated...

I'm writing this as a coping mechanism for dealing with the loss of tonight and from the crappy fanpost that I wrote earlier this week.  I'm not apologizing for the fanpost "South Carolina...The Perfect Storm???," nor am I saying "I was right" about the "Perfect Storm" that did happen.   I just wish it wouldn't have happened!  DANG IT...THIS SUCKS!!!  

Well, there goes an undefeated record, but getting that monkey off our back could pay huge dividends to come.  Let's continue to rejoice in OUR Wildcats and what they've done so far as well as cheering them on for whats to come.  All I have to say from now on is..."Opponents - BE AWARE." 

Given the events that have occured recently and looking to UK's next opponent South Caronlina, it seems that the stars may be aligned for a very tough game for the Wildcats.  South Caronlina is coming off three straight losses to SEC opponents Vandy at home and road losses against Ole Miss and Florida.  By the way, if you saw the end of the USC vs. Florida game the other day, you'll note that it was a really HARD loss for USC with Florida winning by a last second shot.  It reminded me of a stereotypical crazy game late in March. 

I believe South Caronlina would be hungry for a win even if they weren't playing UK tomorrow, but since they are and UK will be No. 1, it might be a knock-down slug-fest for the Cats tomorrow night.  I hope that I'm wrong, but I do believe that USC has the talent to give Kentucky a good fight.  Devan Downey is DANGEROUS behind the 3-point mark if he gets on a roll and his ability to cut to the lane will make our front court stay on their toes when he has the ball.  I believe, one of the keys for UK to win emphatically is to shut Downey down behind the 3-point line and to knock off all interior cuts when he drives to the lane. 

Call me crazy, but is this the "Perfect Storm?"    

I've been hearing rumors about Patrick Patterson coming back to play for his senior year.  Is this true or has anybody else heard this too?  That would be AMAZING if he chose to come back for his last year of eligibility!

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The following is the link to the post Auburn game press conference:

http://kentucky.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1040746

Cal obviously showed his concern about our unique ability to continue in losing our leads in the 2nd half.  After reading fellow Cat fan's concerns about the blowing 2nd half leads, I myself am getting weary of hearing about it since we are still young and winning is winning right?  Our team is young and I believe they will only continue to get better.

I will be posting these links whenever I can to those who are interested.  This FanPost mainly serves to gather feedback from the fans about Cal's thoughts from each post-game press conference.

Here is the link to the Calipari press conference after the Florida win Tuesday night:

http://rivals.yahoo.com/video/press-and-news-basketball/Kentucky/Calipari-post-Florida-press-conference-59320

What I especially like from all of the good things he had to say about the game was his praise to Daniel Orton.  I really believe in Daniel Orton as a strong true freshman who I know will be an amazing weapon for UK basketball in the years to come.  Calipari's encouragement to Orton should definitely serve as an identity lifter for Daniel and his place on this Kentucky squad.  Good coaching Cal! 

As we all watched the "Boys In Blue" take care of business last night becoming the first team to win 2,000 games, our hearts pounded through our chests with joy, jubilation and pride for our historic basketball program.  Part of the thing that makes games like this so special are the memories that are formed from the long strides it took to get here. 

Join in our 2,000 Wins Celebration by posting 1 or 2 of your favorite memories as a UK Wildcats fan... 

As most dedicated UK fans are, we love all of our players as well as the most outstanding (to say the least) like the likes of John Wall.  We love the hype and the attention that Kentucky is now receiving in the media (as it should receive), and we are all completely giddy about the euphoria that's surrounding our beautifully storied program. 

But my question is this:  Am I the only one who is worried about the love affair with Wall even though I'm participating in his unprecedented skill as a freshman and (the coined phrase) "saviour" for Kentucky basketball? 

As I read article upon article today about Wall's amazing talent, I want to be wide-eyed in love with Wall, but my skepticism creeps up in me begging the question: When will Wall miss the huge shots when the game is on the line, and if that happens, what will people's reactions be to the team's performance VS. Wall's performance? 

I'm not a naysayer by-no-means, but I feel like our Wall "Never NeverLand" fantasy might take some of us off our feet if we aren't ready for it.  Thoughts...