UK v. Seattle: Smells Like Teen.....

When I think about Seattle, I think of a few things: Starbucks, the movie Singles, rain, grunge music, and, of course, Nirvana. I guess it could have been “of course Pearl Jam”, but for The Kid and The Lon the 90’s were all about Nirvana. The kids today may not remember, but at the time, you had to choose. You couldn’t like both Pearl Jam and Nirvana. I guess it would be like today’s tweens having to choose between “High School Musical” and “Hannah Montana”. Anyway, maybe the Rupp Arena PA guy will surprise us and play a little old school grunge for us. But, I doubt it.

Anyway, what do we know about the University of Seattle? Not much. UK's
"Fiddlin' Five" beat them in 1958 for the NCAA Title, a tourney run that saw
UK never leave the state. So, what do we know about current D-II and on the
way to D-I Seattle? Not much. The LHL did its usual stellar job of giving us
the starting five, their height/weight, and........well, that's it. I guess
it is just another tune-up/exhibition/sure-fire blowout?

Not so fast my friend! Yes, I know that is Lee Corso's line, but he doesn't
know who I am so who cares. Before you dismiss these type of games, go
and read this story about how Tom "Whtie Tubby" Izzo and Michigan State lost to D-II Grand
Valley State in OT. According to reports, GVS got the Minnesota Screw Job in regulation, but
still managed to hold on for the victory. Personally, I believe the Big 10(11) is perpetually overrated in pretty much every sport, except for NCAA Hockey. MSU is the Big 10(11) favorite
and they lost and got out rebounded by a D-II school at home. The moral of the story, besides that MSU is overrated, is that you should take nothing for granted.

Seattle went 23-9 last year and made it to the 2nd round of the D-II
tournament. And that's all I know. If UK plays as well as they did against
Pikeville, they will win easily, but I will be disappointed. What do I want to
happen, besides a 30+ point victory, to be happy? Here's my wish list:

1. Less turnovers- Ramel Bradley is going to turn the ball over, I'm not worried about him too much. Ramon Harris and Perry Stevenson, however, do not need to combine for double digit turnovers.


2. More rebounds- Patrick Patterson is going to get his. I would like the see the guards, Jodie Meeks, Joe Crawford, etc. to get a little more involved.


3. More scoring beyond the Top 4- Bradley, Meeks, Patterson, and Crawford should score. I would like to see more from Harris, Stevenson, Alex Legion, and others.
   

There you go. I have some Ken Pomeroy stats I will throw at you next week,
as well as an updated Stock Report. Go root on the Cats and be sure to give a
standing ovation to the Fiddlin' Five.


Yours truly,


The Kid

Welcome to the Jodie Meeks Show! Starring: Jodie Meeks!!

Last night UK won the first exhibition game of the BCG era 99-64 over Pikeville. You can read about the game here, but the headline to the post says it all. At halftime, Meeks had 27 and Pikeville had 27. In the 2nd half he did not attempt a 3 point shot, presumably to give Pikeville a chance. It was unreal. I only wish it had been a real game so that his 1st half performance could be put up there with Tayshaun Prince’s game against North Carolina. Anyway, here is a rundown, in order, of the best players on the team and a grade of their performance last night.

1- Jodie Meeks- Unreal. See above. 7-9 from 3 point range. Great defense. Didn’t really like him at the point at the start of the 2nd half, but you can’t fault BCG for trying something. Grade: A+

2- Ramel Bradley- 15 points, 9 assists, 5 boards, and 5 turnovers. I think this is about what you can expect from Ramel. Facts are facts, as a PG he will turn the ball over. But if he can keep it hovering around a 2-1 assist to turnover ratio, the team should be OK. He played within the system and the amount of useless dribbling has dropped, but not altogether disappeared. Oddly, I think he should have looked for his shot a little more. He is a good 3-point shooter and passed up a couple of open looks. Grade: A-

3- Patrick Patterson- 21 and 9, not to mention a couple of blocked shots. Started the game slow, but ended strong. The only problem for PP is that there is no one in the frontcourt for UK that is even close to his talent level. UK tried to run the high-low, with some success, but you can only imagine how much better it would have looked with Randolph Morris still on the team or another talented forward/center. Also, played defense and blocked shots without foulding. That is very impressive for a freshman. Grade: A

4- Joe Crawford- 15 and 4 assists. People worried how Crawford would do coming off the bench. He seemed to be OK with it and the crowd gave him a very nice ovation when he checked in. Late in the 2nd half, he turned back into the no purpose dribbling Crawford, but hopefully BCG will break him of that habit. Because of the weak outing by Alex Legion, I think it is safe to say that if Crawford does not start, he will be the first guy off the bench. Grade: B

5- Ramon Harris- 0 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 steals. This one is a bit of a reach, and has more to do with how I think Perry Stevenson played poorly. What can Harris do that other cannot? He can play extremely tough man to man defense without fouling. Harris WILL play a lot this year, especially when the other team has a high scoring small forward (Terrence Williams of Louisville for instance). However, he will need to attempt more than 1 shot and MUST cut down on turnovers. He had 5 in 14 minutes. Grade: C

6- Perry Stevenson- 9 and 6 with 4 blocked shots. On paper it looks OK, but in person he was very unimpressive. I was hoping to see Stevenson dominate Pikeville the way he did Miami of OH and some of the other teams from early in the year last year. He did not. He had trouble finishing around the rim and had some silly fouls. PP is going to need some help down low, and Stevenson is the guy, athletically, who should be providing it. Grade: C-

7- Mark Coury- 2 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists. The frustrating thing about Coury is that he seems to know what to do, but he is sometimes just not physically capable of doing it. I may start calling him “White Sheray Thomas”. That is who he reminded me of. But, considering he is a walk-on but is going to play some minutes, he wasn’t too bad. Grade: C

8- Alex Legion- 0 points. Very disappointing. It is only the 1st exhibition game, but since I think UK is going to have to be a guard oriented team, the more guards we have who can fill it up, the better. Grade: D

9- AJ Stewart- 0 points, 1 rebound. He did dive on the floor, but he also shot a jumper off the side of the backboard. Extremely athletic, but I still don’t think he helps much this year unless it is a massive foul trouble or injury situation. Grade: D

10- Michael Porter- 0 points. It appears he may be the main back up to Bradley at PG, since he is the only other true PG on the roster. He still makes me nervous when he tries to bring the ball up against pressure. I also heard he got married, which would be the dumbest thing in the world. If you are a scholarship basketball player at UK, enjoy the time. Marriage will always be there. Hot ladies throwing themselves at you won’t. Think about it. Do you think Patrick Sparks is hooking up with any hotties wherever the hell he is? I doubt it. Grade: D- (Sorry, but the marriage is a reflection of his decision making)

11- Dwight Perry- 3 points. Dwight Freakin’ Perry?!? I thought the start against ‘Nova would be his career high point, but he almost had the chance to push UK over 100 points. That would have been a close 2nd. Because he missed 2 free throws, he denied us the Century Club. Grade: D

12- Jared Carter and Mike Williams- These 2 combined for less than 1 minute. Williams did not play at all. This does not bode well for the future. I am very shocked that Williams did not see the court. Grade: Incomplete

As far as Coach Gillispie, he gets an “A” for his first exhibition game. I have to be honest. It was odd at the beginning when they introduced the coaches and I did not hear, “Orlando Tubby Smith”. Although BCG has been there since April, it still caught me off guard. Also, you would be surprised how noticeable the absence of the Tubby Foot-Stomp is when you are at the game.

As far as the complaints on the message boards:
1. Too many turnovers- Agreed. UK needs to cut those down.

2. Front court worries- Agreed. If something happens to PP, we may as well run a 5 guard lineup.

3. BCG wore a yellow tie and not a blue tie- Seriously? That is just dumb. Quit complaining about stupid crap like this.

Until next time,
The Kid

BREAKING NEWS!!!!!!

The Lon here with an urgent sports update....The Cats are better than Pikeville College! The Cats are also probably better than The Kid, Weatherly, me, and 2 drunk guys we push off bar stools at Two Keys. Watch this space for more shocking developments.

All Buy Starting Five!!

If you go here, you can see that BCG has named the starting five for the first exhibition game tonight, a game I will attend in person.

All five starters, Bradley, Meeks, Harris, Stevenson, and Coury were listed as BUY in the pre-season BUY/SELL. So, I guess I'm pretty damn smart. A few other notes of interest from the CJ story linked above:

1. There will be a 1 hour full speed practice before the game.

2. Patterson is not starting b/c of missed practices, but expect to see him play a lot

3. Jasper is being praised more highly than I would have expected

4. Carter is not. At all.

My thoughts:

1. This sounds like a good idea, but if UK looks tired or sluggish in any of their games, this is what will be attacked on the message boards. Speaking of message boards, the ones at the CJ have to be the worst I have ever seen. I know newspapers are dying and they are trying to integrate the digital age into all their platforms (Check out all those buzz words!!), but there has to be some sort of regulation. Unfortunately, it is not all UL fans. The UK fans are just as bad.

2. I am more excited to see PP than any othe player. I will repeat my prediction that he will average more rebounds than Morris from last year.

3. Glad I put him at BUY, but I will be very surprised if he plays at all this year.

4. Not good. It is too late to change to SELL, but........not good.

Maybe more later. Defintiely more after the game.

The Kid

WE'RE BACK!!!- Stock Report #1

Pre-Season Stock Report- Stock Report #1

Because I am borderline obsessive when it comes to UK Basketball, even more so than UK Football (Did you know the basketball team will play 4 times before the football team plays again?), I can hardly wait until Wednesday night for the first game, even it is only an exhibition. And, since I am not The Lon, I can successfully follow two different UK sports at the same time.

Therefore, I have scoured the internets, blogs, and message boards looking for any and all scraps of information that might be floating out there. Some of it sounds good (Ramel Bradley being a leader), some it sounds bad (Joe Crawford possibly being a problem), and some of it is…..well let’s just go with interesting (Ramon Harris and Mark Coury playing a lot of minutes?!?!).

Anyway, before the season officially starts, and despite this being an exhibition game this is it, here is my own personal view on each of the scholarship players and Mark Coury. I am excluding our 27 walk-ons b/c I expect them to be nothing more than cannon fodder for practice. If a player is a BUY I expect him to do better than last season or if he is a freshman to be a major contributor. A SELL is a player I expect to do less than he did last year or if he is a freshman to be a minor contributor. I am assuming that all players will be healthy. That is to avoid putting a HOLD on anyone, such as Derrick Jasper or Jared Carter, whose health and playing status for the season is in question. So, in order of jersey number, here is the first stock report of the 2007-2008 Kentucky Wildcats, including the new head coach Billy Clyde Gillispie and staff.

#1- Alex Legion- BUY- I expect the better known new Wildcat from Oak Hill Academy (Bonus points if you can name the other one. Answer at end), to be a major contributor this season, although I do not expect him to be a starter. Legion can shoot. Period. He has the potential to be the best shooter on the team. Hopefully, a Rashard Carruth without the attitude. (The other new Wildcat from Oak Hill is walk-on Matt Scherbenske)

#3- Ramel Bradley- BUY- I believe Ramel will have a better year than last year, across the board statistically, and could possibly develop into a 1st team All-SEC’er. His turnovers will go down and his 3 point percentage will go up. Ken Pomeroy’s analysis of UK points out that it will be almost impossible to shoot from 2 as well as they did last year. They can make up for this with fewer TO’s and a better 3 point percentage. Bradley will be the leader of this team.

#5- Derrick Jasper- Mild BUY- It is hard to put out of my head that Jasper is hurt. Honestly, I think he will red-shirt. That is why he is a BUY. In reality, he is probably a SELL. If he is healthy, he is a BUY. He will not start games, but, if healthy, will score more than last year and will be the main back-up at point guard.

#13- Michael Porter- SELL- He didn’t play much last year and he is being recruited over as we speak. The only chance that Porter has is that he is the only “true” point guard on the team. BCG does not really require a “true” PG, but if he needs one Porter is the only choice. He moves up if Jasper is out the whole season.

#15- AJ Stewart- SELL- I think Stewart will be the Perry Stevenson of this year. He is extremely athletic and will make some impressive plays, but he will also be out of position a lot. This guy has potential, but I don’t expect him to be a major contributor.

#21- Perry Stevenson- BUY- I am basing this on the reading between the lines of BCG’s comments. When he talks about this team being a great shot-blocking team, I can only think that means “The Octopus”, my wife’s nickname for Stevenson, is going to play a major part. If he can be a major contributor, UK could be a lot better than their preseason ranking of #22.

#23-Jodie Meeks- BUY!!!!- I don’t follow the stock market enough to make the proper comparison, but if there was a stock that you could buy and it had the potential to make money for the rest of your life (Microsoft? Google?) that is what Meeks is. He is a star. His junior year, he will be the leading scorer for UK and a possible All-American.

#25-Morakinyo Williams- SELL- I liked him better when he was Mike. Hopefully, he will not have to play a lot this year. That would mean Jared Carter was healthy and producing. Although Williams had a good showing in the Big Blue Madness so did Woo. Ideally, he will continue to lose weight, gain muscle, and learn the game of basketball. When the SEC rolls around, he will not be a major factor.

#30-Dwight Perry- SELL- Dwight started the NCAA Tournament game against Villanova, and I think that will be his career highlight.

#32-Joe Crawford-SELL- Sad, but true. No transition goes completely smooth and I am worried that Joe C. will be the odd man out. In a traditional 2 guard lineup, Joe will have Meeks and Legion breathing down his neck. He is the leading scorer amongst those returning, but I do not think he will hit that average this season. If I’m wrong, which I hope I am, it will only mean good things for the Wildcats.

#34-Ramon Harris- BUY- Rumors run rampant (that’s alliteration!) about Razor Ramon (more alliteration!). If they are true, you could be looking at the newest Wildcat in the starting lineup. I am hoping this is true, b/c Harris gives UK a true SF who can match up against the other big and quick SF’s. It has been proven that Joe cannot guard these guys, and as awesome as Meeks is, it is asking a lot of him as well. A 6-7/216 SF who can “D” up and score a bit makes UK a very dangerous team.

#42- Mark Coury- BUY- Coury fits every stereotype you have about white players. He is “smart”, he “knows his role”, he “hustles”, and he appears to be able to knock down an open J. Because of the lack of depth in the front court, and b/c internet reports continue to say it is so, I expect Coury to be a major contributor this year. I refuse to believe he will start, but a key backup is extremely possible.

#43-Jared Carter- BUY- If he is healthy, it would be impossible for him not to improve. The only native Kentuckian on the roster is also the best chance for a true center. Like Stevenson and Coury, a good season from Carter means a GREAT season for UK.

#54-Patrick Patterson- BUY- Is he really going to get 20 shot attempts per game? If he is anything close to the real deal, he will. UK needs PP to have a Tyler Hansbrough type freshman year. If he does, UK wins the SEC. Not just the East. The SEC. To judge how important PP is, simply consider the reaction when rumors started swirling that he had some sort of medical ailment that would keep him from playing. Panic. Full scale panic. Bradley will be the leader, Meeks will be the best guard, but Patterson will be the key. He doesn’t have to equal the scoring of Randolph Morris, but he does have to match or better the rebounding.

Billy Gillispie- BUY- Seriously, until he wins an NCAA title, this is the most popular he will be. However, I do believe he is still an improvement over the Tubby Smith of the past few years.

Staff-BUY- If anyone on Tubby’s staff was any good he would have taken them to Minnesota.

And there it is. Stock Report #1. Tune in after the game against Pikeville for an updated ranking as well as a player ranking, 1-13, done by some of my students.

Yours truly,

The Kid

Ummm...

Wow, did Vandy totally get hosed or what!

Lost in the euphoria of G'Town's memorable comeback against UNC on Sunday is the fact that G'Town was beaten by Vandy in the Sweet 16. That's right, Vandy won the game, and the refs stole it from them by allowing G'Town's Green to travel not once, but at least twice on his "game winning" shot. A couple of blogs have some good takes on this:

http://ncaabasketball.aolsportsblog.com/2007/03/23/blown-call-sends-wrong-team-to-elite-eight/

http://www.wearethepostmen.com/?p=1633

This was really, REALLY blatant folks. I immediately rewound the TIVO because I was like "That guy couldn't have just taken 5 steps on that shot, could he?" I mean, there are 3 freakin' refs out there who are supposed to be the best the NCAA has to offer, right. Maybe you let the first sliding/shuffling of the pivot foot go (Travel # 1). Maybe. But the "game winning" shot was taken off a completely new pivot foot, which was certainly the most obvious travel in the history of college basketball.

Can you even imagine if the SEC East team who got hosed on this call was UK, instead of the pussies (pussys?) at Vandy? Holy crap, those refs' houses would each have been burned down with "On, on, U of K" blaring in the background. It would have made the fans in "All the Right Moves" look like they were from San Diego.

Just please don't let G'Town win this thing now. They just can't.

Hey, at least we didn't kill him!!!

Click on the Title for the full story, but Kentucky fans can thank the Cricket world for making them look at lot more well-adjusted. Cricket is having their World Cup tournament, and Pakistan, the pre-tournament favorite, was bounced out of the World Cup by unheralded Ireland. Pakistan are apparently known in the Cricket world as always having the most talented team, but always underachieving. (kind of like the USA Basketball team).

Anyway, the day after the game, Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer was found unconscious in his hotel room, and soon pronounced dead. It was initially thought the guy had a heart attack from the stress of the colossal upset, but an autopsy revealed somebody STRANGLED him!!! And based on the lack of signs of a forced entry, it looks like it was somebody he knew.

So, Kentucky fans may have some figurative "blood on their hands" from Tubby Smith's ouster, but at least we didn't kill him! And no burning Crosses either! I feel good about that.

The First List!

Gary Parrish, who spends a little too much time whitening his teeth, has unleashed a ginormous list of candidates. Here they are, in no particular order with my view if it would be a good or bad choice.

Billy D- Good
Billy G- Good
Calipari- Good, but shady. Seriously, with UK's probabtion history, we should probably cross this guy off.
Crean- Eeeh. UK can do better.
Jay Wright- Good.
Thad Matta- Good
Mark Few/Rick Barnes- Bad. I am combining these two guys, b/c they are probably at the bottom of my list. Barnes is a GREAT recruiter, but a weak coach. Few, I just don't think he would leave or handle the pressure.
Countless others- Good. I guess.

And the kicker, Rick Pitino- Good. I am not a UK fan that is pining for Ricky P., but the guy is a great coach. Sure, he cheats on his wife, wears some sort of rug, and spins the truth worse than Bill O'Reilly, but he is a great coach.

I am sure more names, if that is possible, will be added to the list soon.

Tubby Watch-Over!! New Coach Watch Begins!!

Tubby Smith is out at Kentucky and headed to the University of Minnesota.

He is taking about a $1 million dollar paycut, so I doubt this is completely voluntary. Fox Sports is reporting that he was told to fire his staff or leave. I guess he didn't decide to fire his staff. I don't know if this means that Hanson, Hobbs, Rigot, etc. are going to UMinn also, but if they aren't I'm sure the other major programs will be beating down the door to hire these guys. That last part was sarcasm.

So, what does this mean? As predicted, catspause.com set a new record with over 9,000 visitors. That might not even last the rest of they day. (Update: New Record, over 10,000) Some people are reporting that Marquette's Tom Crean will be the guy, and that hasn't exactly fired up the Wildcat Nation. I think UK can probably do better, and they should probably wait until after the NCAA Tournament so they can contact any coach in which they might have interest.

Guesses from The Kid:

1. Billy Donovan
2. Billy Gilliespie

Outside Shot: Mike D'Antoni

If not one of the two Billy's, a lot of fans want John Calipari. I don't know about that, he seems a little shady to me.

Anyway, The Lon will have some viewpoints later, but for now, just know that Tubby Watch is done.

VCU-Later!!! (Lamest Headline Ever)

The Kid here and while it was not the most exciting first day in the NCAA Tournament, a bad day with the NCAA Tournament is better than your normal Thursday. Unless of course you are Coach K, in which case Thursday was pretty much a shit day all around.

So, what about the games? Each one taught us a little something to remember as the tournament progresses, chief among these is that the Pac-10 is probably horribly overrated. So, what else?

Virginia Commonwealth 79—Duke 77: This was the only big upset of the day and, for 99% of America, the best outcome. Unfortunately, there is not some sort of clause with CBS that allows them to pull the Coach K commercials after his team loses, so we will just have to put up with that a little longer. At least they’re not as bad as those Applebee’s commercials from last year. Yet. Anyway, Duke ended the season on a 4 game losing streak and validated those who thought a 6 seed was a little high. On a day when the other 6 seeds playing completely destroyed their opponents, VCU got up and Duke’s grill and literally punched them in the face (see Eric Maynor pulling a “Kobe” and bloodying up Jon Scheyer on a shot follow through). Credit where credit is due, I knock Greg Paulus a lot, but he had a pretty good game.

Boston College 84—Texas Tech 75: Poor Bobby Knight. I guess we learned that just b/c you have more wins than anyone else, doesn’t mean much come tournament time. With the Duke loss and Knight out, I doubt Dick Vitale will even watch the rest of the tournament.

The rest:

It was nice of Georgetown, since there were no upsets, to let Belmont hang around for about five minutes. Thanks Georgetown!

Michigan State v. North Carolina in the 2nd round might be a little closer than I thought. Especially since Eastern Kentucky was only down 4 points early in the 2nd half.

Oral Roberts losing means a lost opportunity for some completely inappropriate jokes

Poor Vanderbilt. They got the shit game that is on during the one 2 hour block where CBS is not televising nationwide. At least their 33 point win sounded impressive

Louisville is good. Or Stanford is really, really bad.

Acie Law IV chasing Penn defenders around in the final minute, daring them to foul him, had to be the funniest moment of the first round. If you missed it, it was almost like a game of tag with the Penn defenders trying desperately not to touch him.

A&M v. Louisville will be one hell of a game. If UL wins, I think Billy Gillespie will see his name slide down the list of potential Tubby replacements

Ohio State took care of business. And they looked like they were having fun, which could be good news for their next game.
Their next game will be an emotional Battle of Ohio, as Thad Matta goes up against players he recruited. OSU should win easily.

Butler won and most picked them to lose. Good for Butler.

Maryland won. No one really cares. At least no one I know.

I work with a guy who had Wright State (owners of the most generic unis in the game) beating Pitt and advancing to the Sweet 16. He’s not having a great morning.

Indiana avenged last year’s lost to Gonzaga, which was easier than last year because Adam Morrisson is in the NBA and their starting center is ‘shrooming in his dorm room, jamming out to a 23 minute version of “Box of Rain”

“Box of Rain” is the only Grateful Dead song I like.

UCLA was down for a little bit to Weber State. I didn’t see hardly any of this game, so I will assume Darren Collison’s ankle injury was not much of a factor, since they won by 28.

My picks for today will come later. I gotta eat!

Louisville v. Stanford

This is a complete rolling. The only way Stanford covers the spread is if UL refuses to shoot in the 2nd half, and even then I don't like their chances.

The Kid's Picks!

It’s the most wonderful time……….of the year! Happy March Madness everybody! I hope you all have the opportunity to watch TV at work, or in some other way avoid doing anything that distracts from watching and enjoying the tournament. Even if your team doesn’t win, you can always root for teams you hate (Louisville, Duke, Tennessee, Florida, etc) to lose.

Tubby Watch will be up later, with Pitino and other weighing in, but now…….my picks!!

ODU +1.5 over Butler
Marlyand -7 over Davidson
VCU +6.5 over Duke
Pitt -9.5 over Wright State
IU +1.5 over Gonzaga
UCLA -20 over Weber State
UNC -27.5 over EKU
Mich. State -2 over Marquette
Texas Tech +2 over BC
Georgetown -17 over Belmont
Vandy -3.5 over GWU
Oral Roberts +7 over Wash St.
OSU -21 over Central Conn.
Xavier -2 over BYU
Stanford +5.5 over UL (Although UL will win)
Texas A&M – 13.5 over Penn


There you go. Now, go make some money!!

Friday’s picks will be up tonight.

The Kid

End Our National Nightmare. Send Sanjaya Home!

If you do not know who this is, consider yourself lucky. For the rest of us, those who watch American Idol, he is simply the worst singer ever to advance this far in any sort of singing competition. Let's put it this way, Sanjaya making the Top 12 on American Idol would be like UK Basketball's coaching staff being named one of the Top 12 best recruiting staffs. It just would make no sense.

So, I implore you, please say a little prayer that when Ryan Seacreat announces who will be cut, that he simply says one word, "Sanjaya". And this will all come to an end.

Please.

Tubby Watch--Day 10

Sorry about the delay folks, but I was out of town with my other job and when you are trying to chaperon (doesn't have an "e" on the end, which I think is weird) a bunch of high school kids, you don't always have time to get to a computer. I would like to thank The Lon for texting me all the relevant UK info, of which there was plenty. So, let's get to it.

First, UK Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart had an interview with an AP writer about Tubby. This was apparently to clarify the position he stated earlier about Tubby. The last statement was taken as both a vote of confidence and absolute proof that Tubby was gone. This one will probably be taken the same way. Click here to read the whole interview. http://blog.kentuckysportsradio.com/?p=1833The big thing is that the writer used the Rick Brooks situation to give Mitch the opportunity to state without a doubt that Tubby will be back. Mitch did not.

Although a lot of people do not care for him, Rick Bozich of the Courier-Journal had a pretty good column about Mitch, Tubby, and the interview. What made it odd for me is that the CJ pretty much worships at the altar of Tom Jurich, as does the LHL know that I think about it, and this may be the first time one of the columnists actually views MB as a good AD. http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070313/COLUMNISTS01/703130480/1029/SPORTS03

Finally, the title of this post is a link to a Dan Wetzel column at Yahoo sports. It is probably one of the best out there dealing with UK, Tubby, and the UK fans. I liked it. A lot.

So, the next post will have to do with some NCAA picks and some thoughts on UK's actual game against Villanova, a game I predicted they would lose last week, but on which I am wavering now. There were a few other random Tubby shout-outs over the past few days (Scoop Jackson, who is terrible, says he's gone, Jay Mariotti, also terrible, says UK fans would be crazy to get rid of him and hints that Tubby at Michigan could be a possibility, and The Sports Guy cast him in an unfavorable light as compared to Rick Barnes of Texas. And The Sports Guy cannot stand Rick Barnes of Texas.

One thing a lot of these mentions and columns say to me is that if Tubby left at the end of the season, the backlash against UK might not be that bad. Smart basketball people, those who follow it for a living and not casual fans, recognize that UK is slipping and when a program is slipping the fault can like at the feet of only one person, the head coach. A lot of people seem to be worried about what others outside of the Commonwealth might say, but I think they may be worried about not that much at all.

Other interesting NCAA tidbits...Interesting DeCoury read!

SI.com has UK as a 10 seed playing Arizona. They also have Duke as a 6 seed, which makes little sense.

CBSsportsline.com has UK as a 9 seed playing either 'Zona, Duke, Butler, or 'Nova.

Mike DeCoury has a good read about Tubby and the UK situation. One of the more interesting things is his mention that even when UK was going through the SEC undefeated, a discerning eye could see the program was slipping due to disorganization of the court. Just click on the title.

The Kid is out!!

Tubby Watch Day Seven--Assistant Coaching Names!

Well, The Kid is here, getting ready to pack up and chaperon some high school kids on a little trip. That means that I will not be able to give you a Tubby Watch update until Tuesday. Hopefully, you can make it. Or maybe The Lon will once again try to advance his theory that "Scratch" will be UK's next head coach. Not that I have any real problem with Scratch, but his lack of coaching experience worries me.

Anyway, if you click the link above, Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader has a few names who could be UK's new assistant coaches. The general reaction amongst the Cat fans seem to be disappointment and the believe that Tubby is replacing his old buddies with some new buddies. Let's look at the names:

1. Jeff Schneider- Former Tubby assistant at Tulsa. Works with some kind of recruiting service. I guess his strength would be recruiting. His closeness to Tubby however, makes it unlikely that a lot of what you see on the court would change.

2. Rod Barnes- Former Ole Miss head coach. This is the guy I am the least excited about. Adding him to a staff with David Hobbs would give UK two fired SEC head coaches. And not to be flippant, but would probably lead to a third fired SEC coach, Tubby. Andy Kennedy has done 2 to 3 times the job at Ole Miss this year that Barnes had done. Before this year, no one on that roster had experienced a winning season. Once again, his closeness to Tubby makes any sort of on court change unlikely. Barnes is not an offensive guru.

3. Phil Cunningham- Mississippi State assistant coach. Actually, I have no problem with him. He is known as a recruiter and that is what UK needs. His hiring wouldn't really be about anything but recruiting. He appears to be the most promising of the three.

If those are the guys coming, I don't think UK fans will see any sort of change with the on-court product. Same defense, same offense, etc. That could be a problem. I am leaning more and more to the idea that just bringing in new assistants is only going to kick this problem down the road a year or two. In fact, if I could bet on "We will be having this exact same conversation a year from today", I would probably lay a couple of hundred on it. I would bet more, but I just don't have it, and although I could borrow it to bet, I don't want the Irish mob showing up at my house to break my legs. I like my legs, they're how I get around.

If I can get to a computer, I will try to give some feedback on Selection Sunday. I am still pulling for a Duke/UK 8/9 game. However, Joe Lunardi has Duke as rising 7 seed (based on what?!?!?) and UK playing Villanova, which would be nice for those who like Jay Wright as a potential UK replacement. Also, UK would probably lose that game, b/c UK has no one who can guard freshmen Scottie Reynolds. UL has a first round game with New Mexico St. and former UL assistant Reggie Theus. Whatever, Lunardi changes this shit all the time. 6:00 is just around the corner, if by just around the corner you mean 6+ hours.