Let’s address the turnover problem first. I’ve heard lots of people blame the coaching staff for the turnovers, but in my opinion, the only thing the coaches can do about that is sub for players who are struggling in an attempt to fix the problem. Only problem was, everybody was turning it over for Kentucky in Vegas. I feel perfectly justified in criticizing a coach if I feel I can come up with a solution to a problem or figure out an obvious coaching error like playing two post players against VMI. I can’t come up with a solution to the turnover problem. Maybe there are some drills that can be run in practice to help the guys take better care of the ball, but there’s no guarantee how those will pay off in game situations, and for all I know, they’re running those drills already. My point is, the coach can’t prevent the players from turning it over. The solution to the problem lies in every single player on the team. Remember last year when Joe and Ramel were playing like knuckleheads. Once the SEC schedule began, in that first game against Vanderbilt, the light came on in both seniors, and they played like world-beaters for the rest of that year. This is what needs to happen with our ball handlers. Once it does, this will be an extremely dangerous team.

Now I want to take care of this DeAndre Liggins situation. There’s a good chance that the only people who know what this thing was all about are Liggins and Coach Gillispie. If reports are accurate, Gillispie told Liggins to come into the game in the second half of the Kansas State game and Liggins refused to go in. That’s why Mike Porter played the entire second half against K-State. According to Eric Crawford (whose blog on the subject I strongly recommend), the decision was based on personal reasons. Well, whatever those reasons were, things must have worked themselves out well enough for Liggins to play most of the second half against West Virginia last night. I’ve heard that the players may have voted on the decision as to whether or not Liggins would play, but don’t write that one down in blood. Maybe the situation was being blown out of proportion. Maybe Liggins and Gillispie worked things out in between games. It was certainly a bad judgment by Liggins to do what he did, and at some point, comeuppance needs to happen, most likely in the form of lots of running. Regardless of what’s to come, I’m glad that enough peace was made for Liggins to play the minutes he did against West Virginia.

The one thing about having a team with as big a flaw as Kentucky’s turnover problem is that positives can often get ignored. In the case of Kentucky, nobody is talking about the defense, which is unfortunate, because it is the big reason why this team won its first preseason tournament since the ’96 Alaska Shootout. Kansas State had two extremely quick guards in Denis Clemente and Jacob Pullen. They couldn’t get by their man when they had the ball. Kentucky’s help defense was great in closing out on shooters. In both games, the other team had a very hard time getting anything going in their halfcourt sets, especially Kansas State. When teams tried to pound it inside, they found the going extremely difficult. Every time it looked like one of our leads was going to slip away, there was a huge steal. Meeks, Harris, Liggins, Miller, Stevenson and Harrellson all had huge steals in the clutch. This team is light years ahead of where last year’s team was defensively, at least at the end of November.

The double double recorded by Josh Harrellson might be the most important thing that happened all weekend. For one thing, it showed that Josh was willing to bang down low, grab rebounds and get garbage points. I always get a bit skeptical of the ability of a guy to play physical ball down low when he misses as many bunnies as Harrellson has missed, but Josh served up a huge plate of crow in my direction against the Mountaineers. Maybe more importantly, it should light a fire under Perry Stevenson, who has played as soft as my belly after Thanksgiving dinner since the VMI game. I have confidence that the light will turn on with Stevenson because it did last year after a bad start. This should be a big motivating factor for the thin man, knowing that even though he’s a good post defender, he sat pretty much the entire second half because his play has been so weak.

What was DeSean Butler thinking drawing the ire of Patrick Patterson? For those of you who didn’t get to see it, Patterson and West Virginia’s Wellington Smith exchanged pleasantries at a dead ball, but the situation resolved itself. Then Butler and Patterson started yapping, and Patrick looked angrier than I’ve ever seen him, and given how horrible his teammates are at feeding the post, I can definitely see him getting angry in practice. It took a while to calm Patterson down, but once he did, he took over the game. On the next UK offensive possession, Patterson got an offensive rebound and an and1. On defense, he crashed the boards and got any 50/50 ball that was within his reach. The lesson in all this: do not fury Patrick Patterson.

I loved the toughness of this team when faced with adversity. It would have been easy for them to close up shop when faced with the 12-point deficit early in the second half against WVU. Instead, Coach Gillispie channeled the spirit of Adolph Rupp and went with what essentially mounted to an iron man five of Liggins, Meeks, Harrellson, Miller and Patterson, and those guys willed their way back into the game. Kentucky got seemingly every loose ball down the stretch against WVU after giving up way too many rebounds the previous night against K-State. They went 17-17 from the FT line against West Virginia in the second half. Coach did a masterful job of substituting in the second half. The offense for defense subs that occurred after Meeks’ fourth foul were all great. The way he gave Patterson short breathers before the TV timeouts is one of the best strategies I’ve ever seen, and I don’t see it too often in college ball. Those breathers could have made a difference in the play of Patterson down the stretch, as he looked like he had fresher legs than the WVU bigs. I could keep pointing out these things, but the piece is getting a bit long. Anyway, you get the idea. This team’s toughness increased by a large exponent from halftime of the Carolina game.

Tom Leach is the man, but if you get a chance, go to Yahoo and check out the radio broadcast of the Vegas games. Neil Price worked the games in Tom’s place because Tom had to go to an abortion in Knoxville, and I thought he did a great job.

I’m Seth Stogsdill, and these late games are killing my sleep schedule.

I know that Kansas State lost Mike Beasley and Bill Walker to the NBA last year. I know that last year, at least on TV, it appeared that Frank Martin couldn’t coach his way out of a paper bag. But that was last year, and the 5-0 Wildcats are not to be taken lightly.

K-State has jacked a lot of threes because they’ve faced several zone defenses so far this season. They haven’t hit the threes at an exceptional clip, except for Fred Brown, who is shooting 50% on the year. It’s a stone cold lock that K-State will not see a zone tonight from Kentucky, so it will be up to Jodie Meeks and whoever plays point guard to keep speedy Denis Clemente out of the lane. Clemente is a transfer from Miami by way of Puerto Rico, and he is a blur. I want to say he played for the Puerto Rican national team this past summer, but don’t hold that against me if I’m wrong. If he can take his man off the dribble and kick out to Brown and Jacob Pullen, they’re going to win this game.

The one huge advantage Kentucky does have is on the inside. Darren Kent is the biggest K-State player to get major minutes, but he’s more of a face-up guy, so whoever is guarding him needs to stay out on him if he spots up from the top of the key, as big shooters tend to do. Luis Colon is the other player on the team from Puerto Rico. He has more of a traditional post game than Kent, but he seldom plays. Jamar Samuels is super athletic, but he’s also wiry and doesn’t have a polished offensive game. According to K-State fans, Ron Anderson is the team’s best interior player on offense, but Coach Martin doesn’t like his defensive effort, so his minutes are way down from what was expected. My point is this: it looks like Patrick Patterson should have his way if he gets it down low against any of these guys.

However, you should be worried about the ability of the UK players to get Patterson the ball in this game, because K-State likes to press. That’s the scariest notion in the world when thinking about this team. These guys have not shown the ability to handle a press so far. What’s scarier about this group of guys from K-State is that Beasley and Walker are gone. That means there aren’t any superstars on the roster. They’ve been playing much better as a team without Beasley and Walker than they did with them. Last year, they relied on Beasley and Walker so much that it probably got into the heads of the other guys and ruined their confidence. That problem doesn’t exist this year because there is no go-to guy.

I think that Coach Gillispie has done a good job of getting the objective of this team across to his players, which is, in all caps, GET THE BALL TO PATRICK PATTERSON. All due respect to Meeks, and I’m well aware that the competition in the last two games has not been at a high level. But in the last two games, Patterson has been the center of attention for the offense. In the first two games, it was Meeks. When Meeks is the center of attention for the offense like he was against Carolina, he ends up taking shots that don’t come within the flow of the offense. With Patterson getting the most touches and shots, Meeks got off more of his shots in the rhythm, hardly anything forced. That’s when Kentucky starts living up to the potential. If Patterson is getting the ball and scoring, eventually he’ll be able to kick out of double teams to open shooters, and this is when the offense will become the most efficient. But if the guards can’t break the K-State press, this absolutely will not happen, and the good guys will lose by double digits.

I’m Seth Stogsdill, and I’m full.

I’d normally do “Make My Day” since there’s a game tonight, but the answer is really simple: Kentucky just needs to do what they did against Delaware State. The slower pace was just what the doctor ordered, so hopefully that’s what Longwood does and hopefully the execution is the same. Let’s just get to Vegas without anymore injuries or humiliation and I won’t complain.

Now, onto the random thoughts.

* I don’t know what to make of the Jai Lucas situation. If you believe sources, Lucas has said that there is mutual interest between him and Kentucky. This situation is a double-edged sword. On one hand, Kentucky needs another guard that can shoot the ball. DeAndre Liggins and GJ Vilarino might make some shots, but they won’t be classified as shooters. Lucas can command the respect of defenses with his shot. On the other side, when you’ve got somebody that small, you had better hope he’s a blur so he can still be a defensive presence. Unfortunately, Lucas’s speed isn’t what you would expect from somebody under six feet. Also, it might put a wrench into some of the recruiting plans Coach Gillispie may have had for the next couple of years. In the end, I still maintain that Coach Gillispie made the right move accepting the commitment from Liggins. Remember, back when Liggins committed, Lucas was still up in the air in his decision. One final argument against going hard after Lucas is his father, John Lucas. I’m always a little uneasy when it comes to players with extremely active parents (Mrs. Legion, anybody?). I think they can be bad influences and can screw up the chemistry of the team. John Lucas seems very active to me, at least for a parent.

* Gardner-Webb led Oklahoma for the entire game until losing 80-76. Had it not been for a superhuman 30-20 game from Blake Griffin, GW would have crushed the Sooners. That doesn’t excuse us losing to them last year or VMI this year, but games like these are happening all over the place. Either way, Oklahoma is going to be just fine unless Griffin gets hurt. Griffin is one of maybe seven guys who can carry their team to six wins in March when nobody else on the team plays well.

* I wonder if Indiana wishes Sean Miller had taken them up on their offer. Miller won the Puerto Rico tournament last night with an upset victory over Memphis. Xavier had to beat Virginia Tech on a halfcourt shot just to make it to the finals of said tournament, but you get wins however they may come. Memphis is still loaded despite losing three guys to the NBA, and X lost a huge amount of talent (Drew Lavender, Stanley Burrell, etc.), but those guys slowed it down (the time-tested way to beat Memphis), and after a few missed free throws, they managed to make enough big plays down the stretch to get the upset. Sean Miller is not going to be with X for much longer. He has East Coast roots. More specifically Big East roots, so all that has to happen is for a more prestigious program on the East Coast to fire its coach. I think it will be either St. John’s or Seton Hall. There is enough talent in New York and New Jersey that you don’t have to leave the area in order to recruit well at either one of those schools.

* How can you tell college basketball season is here? Today’s the opening round of the Maui Invitational! Remember when people thought that teams that played in Maui got head starts on the season? I miss those days. Alabama, Chaminade, Indiana, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Oregon, St, Joe’s and Texas comprise one of the most loaded Maui fields ever. At the same time, you’ve got Florida vs. Syracuse and Kansas vs. Washington in the CBE tournament at Kansas City. What a great lineup of basketball for such horrible weather.

* Florida went way down in the BCS this week because they played The Citadel. I’m starting to worry about something. If Florida beats Alabama in the SEC Championship game and Texas and Oklahoma each win out, is it conceivable that Texas and Oklahoma could meet again, only this time for the National Championship? If that happens, I think the SEC should just secede from FBS and form its own league that awards its own championship. Have every team play each other in an 11-game season and see who wins.

* Finally, here’s a funny video that has nothing to do with anything I just said. It’s one of the greatest falls I’ve ever seen, and before you ask, she was okay. Enjoy

I’m Seth Stogsdill, and this weather sucks. If it’s going to be cold, it might as well be snowing.

That’s what yesterday was. Don’t get me wrong, Delaware State was terrible. I’m well aware of that. However, it was just what this team needed. I want to thank Delaware State for not forcing the tempo and actually taking lots of time off the shot clock. That allowed Kentucky to avoid getting into a panic, and the result was only 12 turnovers. This team is not yet ready to push the pace of the game. There needs to be more stability at point guard before that happens. I can definitely see more stability coming with DeAndre Liggins, but it’s just not quite there yet.

When your team wins a game by 29 points, it’s difficult to find fault, so I went over to talk with my friends at Cats’ Pause, and it turns out a lot of posters on that board think that Patrick Patterson was not giving maximum effort. Most UK fans from this state aren’t big fans of the NBA because there aren’t any teams within range except the Indiana Pacers, and really, who wants to cheer for them? I enjoy the NBA, and I always have. I bring this up because I’ve seen enough NBA games to know when a player is dogging it, like the people of TCP are accusing Patterson of doing. The best example of this was Vince Carter when he wanted out of Toronto. He mailed it in every single night. He stood around on offense, jacked a bunch of threes and generally played with zero enthusiasm. That’s why he’s my least favorite professional athlete. Patterson just had a rough day against Delaware State, and if anything, I don’t think his legs are actually 100% like he claims they are. You could just tell he was playing tentatively (NOT lazily) on defense, almost like he was watching the legs of his man and worrying that his legs were going to come into contact with them. In other words, I’m not concerned and I think he’ll be okay. You should too.

Darius Miller has the basketball savvy of a fifth-year senior. He just does little things that impress you. He had a bad game against North Carolina, but freshmen will do that sometimes. Yesterday he did everything right. I don’t know when I last saw a Kentucky freshman play so smart – maybe Chuck Hayes in 2002, but before then, you probably have to go back to Antoine Walker. Miller is always getting deflections on defense. He just bugs guys when he’s guarding them. He had a nice hesitation move on a driving score in the first half and a sweet assist to Patterson when he pulled up and looked like he was going to shoot the three, but threw a bullet pass in midair instead.

In the words of Herm Edwards, “WE CAN BUILD ON THIS!” They built on the performance of the second half against Carolina. Delaware State couldn’t throw it in the ocean, but the Cats did defend them very well, both in terms of FG% defense and forcing turnovers. For those of you who are a little dismayed at the 71 points we scored, Kentucky missed its fair share of bunnies around the rim, I would say maybe 20 points’ worth. Also keep in mind the patient approach DSU utilized. It was like playing a Kevin O’Neill team. Kentucky shot well from the perimeter. Jodie Meeks looked way more under control in this one, taking his shots within the flow of the offense and making most of them. Hopefully this will be another thing from which we can build. Only way we can tell is if we have another good game tomorrow against Longwood before heading out to Vegas.

I’m Seth Stogsdill, thanks for reading.

This is a step beyond “Make My Day.” I’ve gone past the point of wanting the team to make my day. I defend this staff to the death because of the incredible recruiting we’ve seen, but in the first three halves of this season, it’s been tough to defend their coaching ability. Now, in the second half against Carolina I saw some signs of life that I think will carry on throughout the season. The interviews Coach Gillispie did with Mike Pratt and Andy Katz after the Carolina game helped cement those feelings, so here’s what the guys need to do to keep from failing me.

* Better control from Jodie Meeks. I have no problem at all with Jodie Meeks taking a lot of shots. He’s the best shooter on the team, and the coaches have given him the green light to pull the trigger, which is usually good. But much like Joe Crawford and Ramel Bradley this time last season, the ball sticks in his hands. I remember another shooter from Georgia who had this problem his entire career – Derrick Miller. Meeks has a higher ceiling than Derrick because he’s better in all other facets, but I see a lot of the same problems Miller had. When Meeks hit shots against Carolina, those shots came in the flow of the offense. When he was chucking and missing, he was forcing the issue way too much. I want to see the former tomorrow and not the latter.

* Communication on offense. Freshmen will make freshman mistakes, that’s a given. But when they do, their teammates need to be there to minimize the effects of those mistakes. Against Carolina, Darius Miller had a couple of bad turnovers where he picked up his dribble in no man’s land. Unfortunately, the other four guys bailed on him and left him for dead, which was the main reason why the turnovers occurred. This team has to start communicating better, or else this problem will never get fixed.

* Continued offensive aggression and execution from the second half of the Carolina game. I cannot stress this enough, DeAndre Liggins looked great in the second half. The team executed what should be their primary objective on offense (get the ball to Patrick Patterson every time down the court) when Liggins was on the floor. I don’t know anything about Delaware State except that their mascot is the Hornets and they’re in Delaware. But I can guess that if Patterson can play as well as he did against North Carolina, he should be able to do it against Delaware State. But this hinges on how many minutes Liggins gets in relation to Mike Porter’s minutes.

* Be in position instead of blocking shots. I love a good block as much as the next guy, and so do Perry Stevenson and Patrick Patterson. But when post guys go for blocks on every drive to the basket, it allows the guy penetrating to dump off to the guy underneath the basket with nobody near him. There’s a time and a place for a big block, but not every possession. And I guarantee that if the guys stay in position and force difficult shots, that will produce more defensive stops than going for blocks every time.

If I do anymore, my head will explode. My beloved New York Knicks made a trade today (Jamal Crawford to Golden State for Al Harrington) that does not please me. All due respect to Harrington, who I like and think will be a great fit in New York’s style, but Crawford was probably the least dispensable member on that team, and I wish they didn’t have to let him go. So I’m already seething. But hopefully we’ll have a comfortable win on a cold Saturday afternoon to ease the pain of eight days’ worth of every one of my teams (UK, Knicks, Minnesota Vikings) lose every game.

I’m Seth Stogsdill, and these guys had best not fail me.

There’s nothing on the UK front today, so what else could I (or anybody else who cheers for Kentucky, for that matter) do for today than hate on Louisville? Specifically, the target of my rage is Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich. In terms of building his programs, Jurich has done a fine job, but that isn’t what this is about.

Does the name Patrick Hughes ring a bell? It should if you’re from this state. Patrick Hughes is the blind kid who plays trumpet in the Louisville marching band. He gets to go out on the field and march because his father pushes him in formation in his wheelchair. It’s one of the most inspirational stories you’ll ever hear, no matter who your favorite team is. His family even got a visit from the people at ABC’s Extreme Home Makeover. Hughes was the classic ambassador for the university, but now he no longer plays in the band. It would be hard for me to explain why this is, so I think I’ll let Hughes do it himself. This snippet is from his website, and you can read the whole piece HERE.

My relationship began to turn south with Athletic Administration shortly after the Pittsburgh game in 2006. An away game at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, I really looked forward to sitting with my band mates at this pro football stadium and cheering on our CARDS!

By the way, Athletics was able to send their pep band to the Pittsburgh football game this past weekend and sit in the field level seats they sold out from under the marching band. I guess it’s only a matter of time before they replace the marching band, as well. The process is already happening.

The rest of the piece that I linked speaks for itself. The athletics department pretty much treats the band like garbage, but I quoted that piece for a reason. If you want to sell the band seats to fans, that’s your prerogative, but if one of the band members is in a wheelchair, you had best not put the band in an area of the stadium that is not accessible. As a fellow handicapped person, I have to say I was incensed at this. It’s just another reminder that people take their ability to walk for granted, and it happens way too much in life. I just hope it was worth the few extra bucks to make this kid feel inferior because he’s in a wheelchair. To the person responsible for this decision (safely assuming it is Tom Jurich), congratulations, you sorry sack of crap. Hope this site doesn’t get torn down like 93.9 FM did because somebody was critical of the department and its chair.

That’s all I have to say about that. Tommy Turtleneck and his Julius Caesar haircut can go suck one.