I’m a basketball junkie. It’s the one thing I don’t enjoy about July through September. I’m desperate to get a basketball fix in, but luckily, there are a couple of outlets that will keep me from losing my mind. The first is the occasional pickup game report that you get by reading message boards. I know you can’t make judgments on players based on their performances in these pickup games because there are no coaches, no defense and no structure. But let’s just suspend all disbelief and pretend that Jules Camara did play like a lottery pick and Josh Carrier did have the ability to hit dozens of threes in a row. Based on the handful of reports I’ve read, here are the five players who will impress you the most.

5. Jodie Meeks – If you believe the reports, Mr. Meeks has only been playing in these games for a couple of weeks now, but it was as if he had never been injured. He was spotting up and nailing threes, and even taking it to the rack and getting tough scores inside, which hasn’t been a major staple of the Jodie Meeks repertoire. If he’s back to 100%, I think we’ll see more of the player we saw in the first exhibition when he hit eight threes.

4. Josh Harrellson – I probably know less about him than any player on the roster, but all I know is that the staff loves him. He has excellent range for a big man, but still has the ability to bang because he’s 6’10” and 260 pounds. I don’t know if it was Coach Gillispie who said this or Harrellson himself, but one of them said that if Harrellson doesn’t start, that’s his own fault. I think this is more of a praise of Harrellson than a knock on Perry Stevenson.

3. Kevin Galloway – The more I read, the more this kid reminds me of Derrick Jasper, only more confident in his abilities on offense. He’s been the guy in the pickup games who does all the intangibles – making the extra pass, grabbing the big rebound, blocking the big shot and making the key deflection. This kid is going to be a very effective player for this team, and his length will create some serious matchup problems on defense.

2. Ramon Harris – We all knew that Razor was an exceptional defender, but apparently he’s taken it to a whole new level this season. I’ve also been pleased with the reports that his handle has improved and he has become more aggressive on offense. These were his biggest flaws last season along with FT shooting, and the more complete his game becomes, the better off everybody will be.

1. DeAndre Liggins – This is just a conjecture, but I’m pretty sure that Liggins moved from George Washington HS in Chicago to Findlay Prep in Nevada to get his academic situation fixed, and basketball didn’t have much to do with the decision. By the way, I’ve always been under the impression that as far as Ligging, Galloway and eligibility are concerned, no news means good news. Anyway, Liggins has shown why he was once a ***** prospect and considered to be the 2nd best player in Chicago behind Derrick Rose. He has generally been regarded as the best on the roster in these games (keep in mind Patrick Patterson hasn’t played in one game yet).

I use the phrase “best on the roster” because the best player in these games is not actually on this roster, and that’s Matt Pilgrim. I was as shocked as you are. Apparently, this guy is a Patterson clone, only a couple inches shorter. Again, take all of this with a grain of salt, but July and August can be boring.

Now then, I want to say a few words about USA basketball. For starters, I am thrilled that Tayshaun Prince has been chosen to represent his country in these Olympic Games. Not only am I happy for Tayshaun that he was chosen, but I am happy for Team USA because they are finally figuring out how to compile one of these teams. I remain convinced that Isiah Thomas put together the 2004 squad that won the bronze in Athens. Whoever was in charge of it epic failed like nobody else. He included Tim Duncan to play center, even though the international style of play doesn’t cater to what Duncan does best. He started the backcourt of Allen Iverson and Stephon Marbury, and you can imagine how that went. The rest of the players were chosen after Isiah went to various playgrounds across this great country. He visited a playground a day for a whole month, then he counted the jerseys that were being worn. He must have spent a lot of time in New Jersey, because how else can you explain starting Richard Jefferson? Finally, USA basketball put Larry Brown in charge of the team, and defensive coaches like Brown just struggle in international play.

Today, it’s a different story. Jerry Colangelo, one of the best personnel handlers in NBA history, compiled the team. He put Mike D’Antoni on the coaching staff with Coach K, which is perfect because nobody knows the international style better. He loaded up the team with specialty skill players. Tayshaun Prince is the token lockdown defender because that’s what he does. Michael Redd is the shooter, and so on. The mix of role players like Prince and focused superstars like Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony have convinced me that this is going to be the best incarnation of Team USA since the original Dream Team back in 1992. And it will feel good to be on top of the world in our game (we claim Naismith) once again.

I’m Seth Stogsdill, ready for the butt kicking to commence.

It’s no secret that Rich Brooks and Co. have been working the recruiting trail hard recently, grabbing a slew of three star recruits and in-state talent before fall practice even starts. Pretty good considering the rest of the SEC has decided to come out firing as well.

And now, UK has another kid from the city of Louisville on the verge of committing to the Wildcats.

Jordan Tennyson is a defensive end from Louisville Central high school, last year’s state 3A football champs. While most people hear Central and think of UK commit Mister Cobble and target Ridge Wilson, Tennyson is a fellow senior teammate flying under the radar.

I talked with Tennyson today before practice where he told me that he was going to UK. He said the coaching staff in Lexington is a little leery of his weight, because he looks small for a SEC defensive end. But Tennyson said the staff told him that if he has a good first set of games this season, he can expect an offer by the third or fourth game. Once UK offers, he won’t hesitate to commit on the spot.

Tennyson would be the fourth defensive lineman from Central to UK. Corey Peters looks to contribute heavily at DT, while walk-on Joe Scott (DT) is also a Central alum. Cobble (DT) is already committed and confirmed that he will not waver in his commitment.

Central head coach Ty Scroggins said that a lot of the Central to UK pipeline had to do with Joker Phillips, who constantly makes Central a recruiting stop.

As for three-star linebacker Ridge Wilson, Louisville has dropped from the leaderboard, but he’s now added Auburn and Oklahoma. He maintained that UK was still a strong option, but he will wait until taking all of his official visits before making a decision. Ridge also added that it is his great relationship with Phillips that is playing a big part in his recruiting process.

The views I’m about to express are not necessarily those of anybody else but me, but they ought to be, and as a matter of fact, they probably are. The year was 1997. Tennessee basketball sucked something terrible on the court, but not in recruiting. Kevin “Mad Dog” O’Neill was pulling in some amazing classes for such a bad team that played such a horrific style. Remember how awful it was to watch O’Neill’s Tennessee teams? People have said that Tubby Smith played plow horse basketball, but Kevin O’Neill utilized an offense that wouldn’t attempt a shot until the last second of the shot clock – on every possession. Just to show you how good the 1996 Kentucky team was, they beat Tennessee by 40, which is almost impossible considering the ball control style O’Neill used. Well, O’Neill and Tennessee parted ways after the 1997 season, and the university hired Jerry Green to right the ship using O’Neill’s recruits. Tennessee finished 3rd in the East in 1998, won the division in 1999 and 2000 and went to the Big Dance all three of those years, making the round of 16 in 2000. You know the names: Tony Harris, CJ Black, Vincent Yarbrough, Ron Slay, Jon Higgins, Charles Hathaway and Isiah Victor. Marcus Haislip was a lottery pick. People thought Tennessee was here to stay. They were set for life and would emerge as a permanent power in the SEC, possibly overtaking Kentucky as the class of the conference.

Then Tony Harris injured his ankle in 2001, Tennessee forgot how to play together, they stumbled into the Dance as an 8-seed and lost. Tennessee fired Green because he was a terrible coach, then they hired an equally horrible coach in Buzz Peterson. Four years of basketball purgatory followed, as nether Green nor Peterson’s recruits could get the Vols back on the level where O’Neill’s recruits had them. The highlight of the Peterson era was one of his last actions as coach, the recruitment of Chris Lofton before his final season. Peterson’s final season coincided with an energetic coach named Bruce Pearl taking UW-Milwaukee to a magical sweet 16 run in the 2005 Tournament. Tennessee pounced on Pearl, and now here we are in the present. The point of this history lesson is that we’ve seen this before. Tennessee thought they were going to be on top of the world in the 70s with Ernie & Bernie and Ray Mears rocking the original orange blazer, and they thought they were going to be on top of the world in the late 90s and early 2000 with the Harris/Black/Yarbrough group. What happened each time? The Vols couldn’t maintain their success over a sustained period of time and they came crashing back down to earth. And if I wasn’t so cheap, I’d wager that this will once again happen to Tennessee in the near future. Sorry, UT fans, but I don’t think Bruce Pearl is good enough to stay on top of the SEC much longer.

Shield your eyes, Marian!

Let’s start with defense. You have to find a happy medium on defense. If you stress it too much, you will turn out like the last three UCLA teams that were good enough to get to the Final Four with their defense, but not good enough to win at that level with their offense. If you don’t stress it enough, you’re like this past year’s North Carolina team who shot lights out in the regionals and couldn’t stop Kansas to save their lives in the national semifinals. With Bruce Pearl’s defensive system, it’s feast or famine. Tennessee uses the full court press, which makes some UK fans giddy because it’s the system that was employed when REECHIE played, but there is a huge difference. If Tennessee can’t force a bad offensive possession or a turnover with their press, they most likely won’t force a bad possession against an efficient offense. I reference the game UT played last year against Vanderbilt when they were #1 in the country. Kevin Stallings runs the most efficient offense in the SEC, and every time Tennessee tried to make a run, the Commodores slowed the pace of the game down to make Tennessee play 25-30 seconds of solid halfcourt defense, which they could never do. Vandy had an answer for Tennessee every single time it looked like Tennessee was ready to take the momentum. All those Mason County turncoats who envy Bruce Pearl because of the full court press and it reminds them of what Kentucky used to run in the 90s couldn’t be more wrong in that assessment. Kentucky could play halfcourt defense as well as they pressed. If you need proof, pop in a tape of UK playing – guess who – Tennessee under Kevin O’Neill! My team had to play 35 seconds of solid defense against UT, and they did it every single time, as O’Neill was 0-6 against UK as Tennessee’s coach.

On offense, you have to be balanced to win. You absolutely have to have guys who can hit the three, and Tennessee has had loads of those guys in Pearl’s three years. Chris Lofton is one of the best shooters to ever play college basketball, and I hope he has enough success in Turkey that an NBA team gives him a chance next season. Jajuan “Chuck” Smith was a volume shooter if there ever was one, never gun shy, but generally effective every third or fourth game. Both Lofton and Smith thrived on hitting the impossible shot. I’ve never seen guys hit tough, contested threes at the end of the shot clock as those guys. However, there is a huge drop-off after those two in terms of good shooters. In fact, of the returning players for Tennessee, their best shooter is probably power forward Wayne Chism, but more on him later. Of their 2008 recruits, most are slashers and scorers, but only okay shooters. There definitely isn’t a Chris Lofton in this group, and I don’t even think there is a Jajuan Smith.

So, when the shooters aren’t as good as they were in years’ past, you have to take it inside some, something that has not been a staple of the Tennessee offense since Bruce Pearl arrived. It is going to be even tougher now that Duke Crews was dismissed from the team. Crews was Tennessee’s best interior player, and I don’t count Chism because he’d rather stand out by the top of the key and launch terrible threes. Brian Williams looked good at times and is a pure center in an age where that s a dying position, but he still has a long way to go. Tyler Smith could probably post up, but he’s better served taking it to the rack and providing weak side rebounding. I will readily admit that I do not know as much about Tennessee’s freshmen as I should, but the only one with decent size is Phil Jurick, who I’ve been told is “pretty good.” Still, If the threes aren’t falling, Tennessee is going to look absolutely terrible in their halfcourt offense this season. They weren’t too good in the set offense last season, often relying on Lofton and Chuck Smith to bail them out. I know Tennessee fans will tell me about how they were one of the leaders in the country in assists, and I will grant you that, Tennessee fans. I’m also aware that most of those assists came from turnovers created by the press. That’s where a player like JP Prince can thrive offensively because of his size and court vision. But he’s just not very good in a slower paced game, and neither are the rest of the Tennessee Volunteers. For whatever reason, only Billy Gillispie and Kevin Stallings have been able to figure it out.

In short, all I’m trying to say is that Tennessee’s style of play stands a very good chance of being exposed as nothing but smoke and mirrors without Chris Lofton and Chuck Smith. If Tennessee proves me wrong over the next few years, then by all means, Tennessee fans, please serve me the crow and make me look like a jackass. Still, history shows that teams will come and go in the SEC, but there will be one constant. It wasn’t Tennessee with Ernie & Bernie. It wasn’t Georgia with Dominique Wilkins. It wasn’t LSU at Dale Brown’s peak. It wasn’t Arkansas with 40 minutes of hell. It wasn’t South Carolina w
ith their three-guard lineup. It wasn’t Tennessee with Tony Harris. And it won’t be this Tennessee team either.

I’m Seth Stogsdill, and the big orange still sucks.

You know, we here at UK Wildcat Country have been a little hard on you, the common UK fan. We may have said that you aren’t hyped enough about football season. That you can’t color-coordinate enough to do a blue- or white-out.

And then we got wind from UK Athletics that the lower level of Commonwealth Stadium is completely sold out. And now, we apologize for our harsh words. It seems there are THOUSANDS of people hyped for football season by buying season tickets for the whole lower level. Golly gee mister, we sure are sorry we said what we said.

Anyway, there are still opportunities for upper level tickets along the sidelines and in the upper corners. And please, please, please sell those out too. 70,000 rocking on a football Saturday in Commonwealth may be a necessity this year every game, not just the ones that fans think we can win.

So keep making us put our feet in our mouths, we really don’t mind… as long as it’s for the good of the team.

This is nothing more than a list of things in the world of college basketball that really grind my gears, but not so much that each thing deserves its own episode of “The Shoot.” Still, I have a lot on my mind, so let’s get on with this.

*Most coaches don’t have a lick of common sense, and I have one play in mind when I say this. Here’s the situation: A team is up by three and the other team has the ball with five seconds to go and no timeouts remaining. 95% of coaches let the other team go the length of the court and take the three. Billy Donovan let Ramel Bradley take the three in Gainesville this season. Tubby Smith let Jamont Gordon take the three during that SECT game. Common logic dictates that with five seconds or less remaining on the clock, you foul the other team. Why don’t more coaches do this?

How many times have you seen the team shooting the free throws make the first, miss the second, rebound the miss and score before the time runs out? I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen this pulled off successfully, and that’s including NBA games as well. Conversely, I’ve seen the opposing team hit the tying three dozens of times, the most recent and notorious one being the national championship game. There was plenty of time for Memphis to foul several Kansas players before Mario Chalmers came off the pick. If that happens, Lawrence, KS doesn’t get to be a finalist for “Title Town” on ESPN (for what it’s worth, everybody knows that the real “Title Town” is Danville, KY – not Valdosta, not Green Bay, not Boston – Danville). It’s called common sense, 95% of coaches. Try using it every once and a while.

*I don’t know why the NCAA insists upon trying out experimental rules at the beginning of each year. Basically, the NCAA comes up with 3-4 stupid rules that they will enforce with an iron fist…until the Maui Invitational is over. I’ve been following college basketball since 1992, and since that time, I’ve seen one experimental rule stick, and that was when they moved the shot clock from 45 seconds to 35. By looking at old tapes and studying Jon Scott’s site, I’ve managed to pick out a couple of the dumbest rules they tried to enforce. Remember in 1998 when they made college teams play four 10-minute quarters rather than two 20-minute halves? There are too many commercial breaks in college basketball as it is, but this was just ridiculous.

Remember the two or three times they tried to enforce the trapezoidal paint like in international play? Not to get all xenophobic on you, but the United States brought basketball to the rest of the world, and the rest of the world changed the dimensions of the paint, not the United States. There is no need for us to change the rules just because everybody else does. If the rest of the world decided to jump off a bridge, should the United States? Remember in 1999 when they tried to make the jump ball a judgment call and award the ball to the defense if the defense created the jump ball? Do you have any idea how hard it is to make that call?

*With the NCAA moving the three point line back a couple feet, there are just two more rule changes I’d like to see, and they both come from the NBA. First, I’d like to see them institute the half-circle underneath the basket, meaning you can’t take a charge if you’re standing in the circle. My biggest officiating pet peeve ever is charge/block. It gets called incorrectly more than half the time, and there’s nothing worse than when a big guy takes a charge on a little guy. Most of these bad calls take place underneath the basket, and the circle would get rid of that. Also, I’d like to see them increase the foul limit to six. It makes for more aggressive play on both sides of the ball.

That’s all I’ve got for now.

I’m Seth Stogsdill, and I hope there’s some news soon. Nothing else is making me mad anymore.

If you believe the Gainesville Sun and ESPN.com’s Chris Low, then yeah… Jeremy Jarmon is UK’s best player.

The Sun released their list of the top 25 players going into this season in the SEC and Jarmon clocks in at 24 on the newspaper’s list.

ESPN’s Chris Low then took a crack at his own list, putting Jarmon at 23. You can view the newspaper’s list at that link as well.

It never dawned on me that Jarmon is probably our best player, offensively or defensively going into the season. If you would have asked me before today, I probably would have said Trevard Lindley. But Jarmon’s pass rush ability is going to make or break our defense — Lindley can’t cover all day.

Also, the only team that didn’t have a top 25 player on the list? Bobby Petrino’s Arkansas team. Ouch.

Curtis Pulley

Limit his options. Immediately. A kid like this has lost his privilege of choice due to his actions and history of poor choices. So, it’s time to make them for him. Pulley is not a QB, he will never sniff an NFL-related anything from that position. At WR however, the kid could be the next Moss, or something like him. If I’m Rich Brooks, I tell Curtis first thing in the morning that he can either move to wide receiver, walk-on the team at another position he would prefer, or not play for Kentucky. That is that. Why be so hard on him? CAUSE THIS AIN’T LOUISVILLE! Or Mississippi State for that matter (just kidding with ya dog fans).

Withering School Spirit

Go to any UK game and mingle with the students and you’ll witness a growing number of idiots with pink polos and ties with their backs facing the game. Go to a mid-level to big time game at Rupp Arena and you might notice a bunch of identical shirts neatly placed on every chair in the lower level. You’ll then notice a bunch of rich, old people using them as lap napkins. Look at a video board and listen hard enough to hear the music playing on the speakers on a Fall Saturday at Commonwealth stadium and you’ll notice cute little videos depicting a bunch of nothing with music that only gets the tone deaf attendees tapping.

My issue: fraternities, old farts, and poor gameday atmosphere are really starting to affect the play of our teams on the field. Solutions: there are more non-frat students than those that are…let’s make them feel stupid. Wear your blue, pay attention to the game and let them know why you think they are losers. Old people are easily intimidated as well. Give them a stern warning and get them on their feet with their free shirt wrapped tightly around their $200 suits. That third issue…well, some changes need to be made in the marketing department. I guess 80 year olds are running that show too. Just a suggestion…maybe the players should make more decisions in gameday activities. Afterall, it is simply meant to get them and the fans pumped and into the game from the get go.

Ailing Student Ticket Lottery

Ideals have been floating throughout cyberspace for eons about potential fixes to the boundlessly flawed UK Basketball student ticket lotteries. What’s the fix? …? …? All I can think of is a new on-campus arena in which seating arrangements can start from scratch with more ways to pack hungry students in. The ERupption Zone was a great idea as it fits more people in the same area…but it’s too small and poorly positioned. Moving it or reshaping it in Rupp will cause lightning bolts to fly from hundreds of Sith Lord looking UK geezers. A new arena means new seating assignments for everyone anyways.

That is all for now. I had a few more things I wanted to touch on…but I’ve gotten myself so heated over these thr