There are a lot of reasons why Kentucky has lost the last three games. They’ve lost their defensive intensity, teams are really starting to defend Patterson and Meeks well, and to show off my history degree, there seems to be a general feeling of malaise surrounding the team. But there are more reasons than that, the biggest of which is the ice storm and Time Warner not allowing me to watch the games on TV in my own house. You may think this is just some freaky superstition, but the numbers speak for themselves. Kentucky is 16-4 when I watch the game on my TV. They’re 0-3 when I do not have this capability. Another reason is that I haven’t done a column on most hated players in a long time. I did it for Indiana and Tennessee, and those were two of our best performances of the year. So, with that in mind, here are a few of my least favorite Florida Gators.
Andrew DeClercq
It’s hard to put into words why I don’t like Andrew DeClercq, but I’ll give it the old college try. Andrew DeClercq should have played for Duke. He had that Duke personality – overly enthusiastic, loved hacking and flopping. He reminded me a lot of Matt Christensen, one of my least favorite players ever and my most hated Dukie ever. Only DeClercq had more talent than Christensen. He torched Kentucky for 20 rebounds in the worst game ever played back in 1994, a brutal Gator win.
Jason “White Chocolate” Williams
They call him White Chocolate for reasons you can figure out. He’s from rural West Virginia, and other than Kevin Federline, is the closest real life example of the main character of “Malibu’s Most Wanted.” I can’t stand people like that. Also, in the Cameron Mills Game from 1998, his range began at about 50 feet and he must have made all 2,795,382,036,978 of his shots that day. I’m glad we only played him once. When we got them back in Gainesville, Williams was suspended and we won by 25 points. Go figure.
Dametri Hill
I know what you’re thinking if you’re a Florida fan. “How can you hate Dametri Hill? He was fluffy! He was lovable! He was Da Meat Hook!” And he also couldn’t make a move in the paint without walking. Also, “Da Meat Hook” was more than just a baby hook shot in the lane. It was also what he used to clear the paint when he went up for rebounds. He got away with more than DeClercq did, and Declercq was a violent basketball player.
Joakim Noah
David Stern probably has enough pull that he can ensure that no team with Noah on its roster will ever win a title. We don’t have to worry about that with the Bulls, but you can just tell on Stern’s face that he wishes he were anywhere else with anybody else than right there with Joakim Noah. He’d rather be with Jeffrey Dahmer in a room with an empty fridge. Noah was the only one of the ’04 class that I didn’t like, but those games are so fresh on everybody’s minds that I don’t need to elaborate on this. I respected Horford, Brewer and Green, just like I respected Dan Cross and Craig Brown from those 90s teams.
Nick Calathes
Nick is a great player. It’s a free country, which means it’s his right to look like Butt-Head from “Beavis and Butt-Head” if he wants to. He should have gotten a technical foul for shoving Ramel Bradley after a dead ball in Gainesville last year. He’s too good of a player to be a punk like that.
Teddy Dupay
Teddy Dupay is a convicted rapist. I have to put him in this piece, or I’m saying I don’t mind a convicted rapist.