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 three issues, that my little internal cooling fan just can’t handle it. Time to shutdown and reboot later to go over some more.

How much do I love this game? I thought Tubby Smith did such a good job coaching in this one that it bought him almost six extra years of me having his back. In 2001, Kentucky was once again the victim of the Larry Ivy schedule, as it was as brutal as ever in the non-conference slate. This team had yet to find its leaders and Saul Smith was the lone senior, so they got off to a brutal start at 3-5. I think the five losses were by a combined 15 points. It was just awful. But the team turned it around in a strong SEC and was right in contention in the East when it became time to go to inhospitable Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville. Tayshaun Prince and Keith Bogans had become bonafide superstars. Gerald Fitch was inserted into the starting lineup after the Michigan State loss, and he sparked the turnaround. Jason Parker was as beastly a freshman big man as you’ll ever see. Other key supporting players included Cliff Hawkns, Erik Daniels, Marquis Estill and the late Marvin Stone.

Tennessee was #4 in the country and had a 15-1 record or something similar when they traveled to Lexington to face Kentucky. Keith Bogans guaranteed a victory, and he delivered. After that loss, the bottom began to drop out for the Volunteers. There were suspensions, maybe even a dismissal, then team leader Tony Harris injured his ankle, and nobody was left on the team that could pass the ball. Based on pure talent alone, Tennessee was probably the best in the conference. Besides Harris, there was Ron Slay, former ***** recruit Charles Hathaway, Hopkinsville native Isiah Victor, sharpshooter Jon Higgins and the always dangerous Vincent Yarbrough. Tennessee’s bench included two guns named Harris Walker and Terrence Woods, plus future NBA lottery pick Marcus Haislip. Yes, that guy was drafted ahead of Tayshaun Prince. So with all of that talent, what was Tennessee’s problem? Besides the lack of Tony Harris, coaching was the problem. Jerry Green sucked. Ask any knowledgeable Tennessee basketball fan (all 19 of them) and they’ll tell you the same thing. He was fired after this season when Tennessee just barely made the Big Dance then laid an egg against Charlotte in the opening round. This is a Jefferson-Pilot broadcast, so I don’t expect good quality. Our announcers are Tom Hammond and Larry Conley, and there is a wonderful assortment of mullets in the crowd.

As much as Tennessee had struggled coming into this game, they were still unbeaten at home and had beaten Kentucky each of the last two years in Knoxville. As expected, Tennessee jumped out of the gate like their lives depended on this game. Tennessee decided to press, and it was very effective, helping Yarbrough score six straight points. After Bogans hit a three, Victor scored inside, Hathaway flung one off the glass and in, plus the foul, then Slay scored and drew a foul as well. They missed the free throws, but it was 12-3 three minutes into the game. It’s amazing how quickly the tide can turn against an undisciplined team. In this case, Bogans hit a three off of a Prince screen, and Tennessee was called for a foul when they tried to fight through the screen, so Kentucky got to maintain possession. Parker made a jump hook, and the five-point possession switched the momentum. A three by Prince capped off the 11-0 run, and it was anybody’s game. JP Blevins came in and nailed a three from the corner, and I’m keeping note of all the threes we hit for a reason. Prince buried another three with a hand in his face, and it was looking like it might be one of those nights for the offense.

As Kentucky continued to increase its lead, Tennessee really started to show that they missed Tony Harris, as a typical Tennessee possession consisted of a random player jacking a horrible shot about four seconds into the shot clock. Smith, Hawkins and Stone all made key buckets during this run. Tennessee cut the lead to four, but Bogans silenced the crowd (about 65-35 for Tennessee) with another three. Green inserted Woods into the lineup, and instead of jacking up terrible shots four seconds into the shot clock, it was closer to two seconds. Because Jerry Green is a terrible coach, the Vols switched to a 2-3 zone and Prince immediately hit a three to make it 34-24. The crowd is just dead at this point. Fitch made another one of those vintage Fitch plays where he took it inside amongst the trees and grabbed two offensive rebounds before scoring. A three by Fitch made it 41-29. Smith spotted up and buried a three from NBA range. Stone scored on a high-low feed from Estill (I love that set and think we have the personnel to run it), then Bogans made yet another three and the lead was 14. Tennessee hit a three at the buzzer to close out the scoring in the first half with the good guys leading 50-39.

Tennessee started out the second half as aggressively as they had began the game. This time Isiah Victor led the charge, drawing fouls left to right. Parker posted up Slay using his 270 pounds and turned around and dunked on him. Slay picked up a couple of quick buckets, but Prince threw water on the fire with his trademark lefty hook, then he followed it up with a huge transition jam. Somehow, Prince found himself open from three once more – release, rotation, splash. Bogans was also on fire in this game, just like he was every time he went up against Tennessee, knocking down shot after shot against awful defense. Smith made another open three, and the lead was once again 14 as the Tennessee fans started to get a little unruly. A jump hook by Stone gave the Cats their biggest lead at 68-52. Marvin didn’t have too many good games at UK, God rest his soul, but this was one of them. A perfectly executed fast break and a Prince basket made it 18, then after Victor scored, Prince pulled up from the elbow and made yet another bomb, allegedly the 9th of the game for Kentucky. Stone’s 15-footer made it 19 once again, then Yarbrough put on a one-minute show, knocking down a three from the left corner, a three from the right corner and a three from straightaway. Unfortunately for Tennessee, they couldn’t cut into the lead all that much because Kentucky scored in between those threes, including a sweet tip jam by Quis Estill.

Vincent Yarbrough continued his offensive outburst, cutting the lead to 12 with a putback. Fitch answered back with a tough drive to the rack (that rhymed!), then Prince knocked down one last bomb to finish the Kentucky barrage from three at 14 overall. As Prince made the shot and jogged back on defense, you could see him shaking his head as to say, “they cannot and will not stop me.” Tennessee finally started to chip away at the lead, mainly from the FT line. Consecutive buckets by Bogans made it 88-73, then Parker threw down a gorilla dunk. Fitch missed a shot in the lane, but Parker followed it up with a vicious tip jam, one of the nastiest you’ll see in the UK tape archive. With five minutes to go and the lead at 92-77, it looked like Kentucky tried to call off the dogs, as there was a marked decrease in intensity. Tennessee took advantage with a flurry. Slay made a couple of buckets, Kentucky missed a couple front ends, then a Walker three made it 92-84. Fitch made one of two from the line, but Victor drove and scored, and it was 93-86. A FT by Victor cut it to six. Then Kentucky turned it over on the inbounds pass. A driving bucket by Victor cut it to 93-89, then something crazy happened.

A miss by UK created a 50-50 ball, and Bogans and Slay went after it. Keith got the ball, but Slay got Keith, the bodies got tangled up and it ended with Slay throwing Bogans headfirst into the UK bench. Slay went down too, and I’m pretty sure both Hawkins and Cory Sears kicked Slay from the bench. The rest of UK’s bench tried to play peacemaker, and Tennessee’s bench didn’t clear, but Tony Harris came running into the melee (on an injured ankle, mind you). I believe the term “thug” is tossed about far too liberally in college basketball, but I’ll make an exception for Tony Harris. I think he would have
stabbed somebody had he had a sharp enough object in his possession. After everything was cleared up, the officials decided that the bench thing wasn’t malicious, and they just charged Slay with a personal foul. Tony Harris limped back to the Tennessee bench, realizing that he was supposed to be injured. It was a hilarious sight, and both Hammond and Conley (openly cheering for their alma mater at this point) called Harris out on it. Bogans hit both shots and it was 95-89, but it wasn’t over yet.

As the officials tried to sort out the fracas, a LOUD “Go Big Blue” chant rang throughout Thompson-Boling Arena. If an audible “Go Big Blue” chant in a road venue doesn’t get you fired up as a UK fan, your wood must be wet. When play resumed, Harris Walker put it in off the glass, and it was as if that play by the UK bench had no impact on Tennessee’s momentum whatsoever. The Tennessee press forced another Kentucky turnover, and Yarbrough scored, plus the foul. He missed the FT, however (Tennessee missed a lot of clutch shots at the line during the comeback, otherwise they probably would have won the game), and Fitch grabbed a huge offensive board, got fouled and made the shots to make it 97-93. Tennessee turned it over on their next possession and Prince hit free throws to ice it. Kentucky shot poorly from the line in this game, but they made their last eight when it mattered the most. The good guys prevailed in Knoxville. 103-95 was the final score. Kentucky shot 14-21 from three for the game for a cool 67%. Not bad at all.

I don’t know when I’ll get to these, but I think I’m going to do a run of games from 1994 next, possibly starting with the Mardi Gras Miracle.

I’m Seth Stogsdill, and I double lock my door because of Tony Harris.

Since spring football opened, the quarterback position has been a wide open race according to Rich Brooks.

sophomore Mike Hartline and junior Curtis Pulley have been switching between running the first and second team offenses. They played each other to a virtual tie in the spring game. It’s a dead heat.

Brooks has even constantly put sophomore Will Filder into competition as well, even if no one else will. But now, Brooks should name a starter.

Why? Because, the two quarterbacks in competition with Hartline have discipline problems. Fidler was arrested over the weekend for disorderly conduct, a.k.a. someone was drunk and got into a bar fight. It’s a first offense for Fidler, but still a stupid offense. With that one arrest, Fidler should officially regulated himself to holding a clipboard all year as the third-stringer.

Pulley, on the other hand, has plenty of problems. In the same situation two years ago, Pulley pissed away his chance to start after beating out Andre Woodson. Pulley lost focus during the summer, lost the job, quit school and then came begging back. As punishment, he was regulated to the scout team all last year. Now, he has had run-ins with the law twice in the past two months. Caught with weed in Louisville and caught speeding 50 mph over the limit, on a suspended license, with suspended registration and tags, in Elizabethtown.

Just writing that makes me disgusted. Pulley constantly pisses away his talent and personally if I was Brooks, I’d cut his ass. Yeah, he’s not that good to the team if he’s a constant distraction. But I’m sure both Fidler and Pulley will just see temporary suspensions, which is fine.

But Brooks needs to come out and name the starting quarterback. The only quarterback who hasn’t had run-ins with the police this summer. A guy that Joker Philips said was leading the team during summer workouts. A better drop-back passer, a decent runner… Brooks should name Mike Hartline the starter at the same time he announces the suspensions for his other two quarterbacks.

Hartline has earned it and should thank his teammates for screwing up so bad that Brooks has to confirm it. Pulley obviously is not a leader and someone who makes questionable decisions. Not quarterback material, so line him up at wide out. Fidler should hold a clipboard all year.

And Mike Hartline should start. No more waiting.

I have always had a somewhat mixed opinion of Rupp Arena. I think that the building and the crowd can energize a team and will that team to win like no other gym in college basketball, but at the same time, I’ve been to games where people are wearing red and yellow sweaters. What’s up with that? Can’t you at least wear white if you don’t think you look good in blue? At least white blends in better than yellow or red. These are also the same people that sit on their hands for 40 minutes, and they probably booed Sheray Thomas at the scorer’s table during the Indiana game two years ago. But I’m not here to dwell on the negatives. It’s a beautiful Sunday in July and I’m just a big ball of sunshine, so let’s get on with this list. I should note that all of these games are good contenders for future WGCGA columns.

10. March 2, 1994: Kentucky 80, Florida 77

The ’94 Cats didn’t match up well with Florida because Rodney Dent tore his ACL and Florida had a huge size advantage. This was actually a huge game because the SEC East was still up for grabs and it was Senior Night. Florida shot lights out in the first half, jumping out to a 19-point lead. Kentucky wasn’t even playing that poorly. Florida was just on fire. In the second half, the crowd came alive as Kentucky made its run, and by the end of that game, they were actually causing the Gators to turn the ball over and miss shots. I am convinced of this.

9. February 23, 2008: Kentucky 63, Arkansas 58

This one is fresh on your memory, I would hope. This was really a pretty boring game. The atmosphere of John Pelphrey coming back to Rupp as an opposing coach created the atmosphere, and the Kentucky comeback made it one of the best crowds ever. In fact, it was the 5th largest crowd in UK history. One moment stands out. CBS cut away from the game with a minute to go and the outcome very much in doubt to show Duke vs. St. John’s. I turned on the radio as Patrick Beverley stepped up to shoot free throws that could put the Razorbacks within a possession of the lead. The crowd was so loud that it drowned out Tom Leach on commentary. The roar was so deafening that it sounded like static, even though the radio was coming in clear as crystal. Beverley missed the first one, which all but secured the win. That’s a great crowd, people.

8. March 2, 1996: Kentucky 101, Vanderbilt 63

This was really the fans thanking the 1996 team for being the best team ever. Usually on Senior Night, Kentucky comes out flat because of the emotion of the Senior Night festivities. But even the spectacle of Senior Night couldn’t stop the 1996 team. They came out with guns blazing, and A breakaway 360 jam by Walter McCarty before the first TV timeout was almost like the team saying “You’re welcome” to the fans for such a great reception they got.

7. December 12, 1998: Kentucky 103, Maryland 91

Maryland came in at #2 in the country and had just been destroying teams all year. This was the year they had Steve Francis, and almost half of their points came from dunks. Jamaal Magloire laid down the gauntlet by pretty much guaranteeing victory, and he backed up his boast by blocking six shots. Scott Padgett made a three from halfcourt to close out the half, and it was pretty much over. The pace of the game energized the crowd something extra, so much so that I can’t imagine that team on that night losing to anybody.

6. December 23, 1999: Kentucky 60, Michigan State 58

As bad as this team was, it was the last Kentucky team that went undefeated at home. They had a lot to prove after getting destroyed by their brutal OOC schedule, and MSU didn’t have Mateen Cleaves, so the eventual champions were wounded, which meant that the Cats smelled blood. This game is what I call the JP Blevins game, because JP made three big threes, the last one putting Kentucky ahead for good in the second half. This was another game where I believe the crowd willed shots to rim out for the Spartans, as they had numerous chances to tie or take the lead in the second half, but they could never get over the hump.

5. March 9, 2008: Kentucky 75, Florida 70

I didn’t give Kentucky a chance in hell for this game. Florida beat Kentucky in Gainesville because Patrick Patterson fouled out and there was no answer for Florida when they took it inside or drove to the rack. With Patterson out for this game, I didn’t know how the good guys would prevail. Besides the usual rock solid performances from the two seniors, The Cats also got 32 points from Derrick Jasper and Perry Stevenson, not to mention a year’s worth of ungodly shots that the crowd forced in the basket with their minds. The postgame moment with Bradley, Crawford and Gillispie was so good that I’ll link it here.

“This team does not quit! They will NEVER quit!”

4. December 29, 2001: Kentucky 82, Louisville 62

The triumphant return of Rick Pitino to Kentucky as Louisville’s coach resulted in one of the best feelings in the world when the good guys won by 20 points. The big moment came in the second half when Cliff Hawkins crossed over Joseph N’Sima something awful and scored. If there was ever a moment where Louisville looked like little brother, that was it. The crowd soaked all of it up and didn’t give Pitino a chance to work any kind of magic.

3. March 7, 1992: Kentucky 99, Tennessee 88

This is the gold standard of Senior Day games. As far as I’m concerned, nothing will ever top this. It was the largest crowd in UK history for four whole years, and still ranks in the top ten. Not only did the Cats beat Allan Houston and the hated Volunteers, but they honored four unforgettable seniors who put the pride of the program ahead of individual achievement and withstood probation to put Kentucky back in its rightful place among basketball’s elite. There was also a special ceremony for Cawood Ledford after the game, paying tribute to the best basketball announcer who ever lived. The crowd soaked all of this up and responded in kind with an insane level of energy that is nearly impossible to duplicate.

2. February 15, 1990: Kentucky 100, LSU 95

The crowd got into the heads of Dale Brown and the Tigers from the opening tip, helping Kentucky get off to a huge lead. Then as the Cats started to tire, the crowd helped them come up with the energy necessary to hold off a late run by Shaq and Chris Jackson. I’ve mentioned the ability of Rupp Arena to will the home team to win games they have no business winning. This is the prime example. I was only three years old when this happened, so I can’t imagine how cool this must have been to listen to live on the radio. Watching the tape is exciting enough.

1.February 4, 2003: Kentucky 70, Florida 55

I’ve never been more pumped up for a regular season UK game. Florida was #1, and they were intimidated to the point of defecating themselves. Going into the game, An
thony Roberson talked about hoe he and the rest of the Gators weren’t scared of Rupp Arena or the UK fans. He must not have polled Matt Walsh or Brett Nelson. By halftime, Florida was like the Christian being thrown to the lions, and the crowd just kept on wanting more. This was one of the times where I wish Tubby Smith hadn’t called off the dogs, but it was still a special moment.

Well, where am I wrong?

I’m Seth Stogsdill, and I’m working on my application to back up Mike Hartline.