I say over : 32
I think UK can win the game; but he's gonna have a monster game; UK might play hack-a-Marco, though, b/c his free throw shooting is pretty poor, which could keep him under and UK certainly has a lot of big man fouls to give...
I say over : 32
I think UK can win the game; but he's gonna have a monster game; UK might play hack-a-Marco, though, b/c his free throw shooting is pretty poor, which could keep him under and UK certainly has a lot of big man fouls to give...
I was at the game last Tuesday where Indiana lost to Indiana State. They shut Marco down.
I've been to dinner at Jimmy Buffet's house, and I've eaten it at a homeless shelter. And there's great joy and harrowing terror to be found in both places.
-Todd Snider
I say over...by halftime....points and rebounds.
IU up 25-12 right now.
Killingsworth has 12. 4/4 from the field.
Complete 1st half domination by the Hoosiers. UK can't do anything on offense and they can not stop Killingsworth down low.
IU also doing a great job making sure Sparks can't get off good shots.
35-19, but still a whole half left.
Wow, yeah, and it seemed like Marco only played about 10 mins. that half; he could've easily scored twice that many had Davis left him in.
Can somebody tell Tubby that subbing every 2 seconds will prevent anyone from reaching any sort of comfort level?
I understand you're looking for a spark, but you can't be subbing your entire team in and out every other minute!! Jeez.
UK deserves to lose with play like this.
Will a loss today drop them out of the top 25?
Last edited by WMR; 12-10-2005 at 04:47 PM.
Kentucky + Texas =
I was in Kentucky yesterday, and lets just say Tubby's name is not one of proud mention right now.Originally Posted by WilyMoROCKS
I'm not calling for the guy's job or anything, but just what is his contract situation? How many years? I seem to remember him being given a l-o-n-g deal not too far back?
Also, Blimpie, please give us your esteemed analysis of yesterday's debacle.
Last edited by WMR; 12-11-2005 at 01:10 PM.
I dunno how "esteemed" my analysis might be, but here it goes...
One of the reasons for the mass substitutions yesterday may have been because Tubby knew that the frontline matchups were awful and we would be spending the majority of the second half pressing. Strategy almost worked, but IU stayed fresh enough to handle the press and hit the free throws when they needed to do so.
I am not buying this whole "Morris distraction" garbage as any type of excuse. These guys have known for a long time that he probably was gonna lose his appeals. They should've been grateful to have had him in practice so far this season. Can you imagine what Woo and Shagari would look like if Morris weren't banging on them in practice each and every day?
Finally, Rondo is starting to call some folks out in the locker room. I think Tubby has been waiting on one of the players to step up and do so for him. The articles today pretty much confirm that there is a huge chemistry problem within the locker room. The way that Ramel Bradley and Joe Crawford seemed to take offense to Rondo's quotes about "Egos on the locker room" is pretty telling in my opinion.
This UK team is probably the most selfish one I have ever witnessed in watching UK basketball over the last thirty years. Four assists..Nineteen turnovers. That's really all that one needs to read. Rondo might even become a target around here before long if people start to worry that it is HE that is causing the locker room riff. Personally, I think he's the only thing keeping the team together at this point.
The frontline is not going to be fixed this year. Tubby has already played more zone in ten games than what he played all of last year. No matter. These 7 footers are ill suited for ANYBODY's offensive plans in D-I basketball; thus, they darn well better be out there playing defense and rebounding. They are not--primarily because they are too easily baited into foul trouble. I'm not yet ready to say that Jared Carter won't help this year. As a true feshman, he may be the best option at scoring from the five spot that UK has on their roster at this stage of the game.
Pitino will be licking his chops--next Saturday cannot come soon enough for him. Tubby better at least be COMPETITIVE at home against that team or else it will start to get real, real ugly in these parts.
Last edited by Blimpie; 12-11-2005 at 01:05 PM.
Tubby couldn't lose his job if UK went on a long losing streak, could he?
I mean, what ramifications could we actually see if this continues?
No way he loses his job over this mess, but that doesn't mean he won't soon leave the program on HIS own terms. "The fellowship of the miserable" has already started in with their smear campaign (recruiting misses, style of offense, etc) but Tubby has all the support he needs in the place where he needs it: the UK Athletics Department. In recent years, he has really done Barnhardt's bidding, and the benefits reaped will be in the form of a lavish new practice facility (among other things).
What I DO see happening is the possibility of Tubby starting to listen (again) once the NBA suitors come calling. Much like the year(s) when people around here were torching his son, Saul Smith, Tubby will quietly stew on his place in UK history-yet entertain offers behind the scenes. I had heard from some pretty reliable sources in the past that Tubby was the one putting out feelers with NBA teams back then--not the other way around. What resulted from that were some pretty intriguing offers (allegedly) from Atlanta and New Jersey. Of course, things have cooled off with the haters because over the last three or four years Tubby has quietly become one of the winningest coaches in all the land.....But this year already has a different feel.
The Louisville game will always be the Louisville game, but Saturday seems to mean a whole lot more than any matchup since Pitino returned. When Pitino made the Final Four last year and Tubby did NOT, the clock had essentially been started by the Tubby haters. This ain't the kinda clock that has a snooze alarm either....
This is the first time in a long time that I've looked towards big games with more dread than excitement. This team is so selfish, it really does suck to watch this type of basketball. It's like an NBA team w/o the NBA-caliber talent (excluding Rondo, who isn't NBA caliber yet looking at his entire game). I can think of so many players who are out there just playing like selfish jerks.
Yes, I say jerks, b/c you've got to be a jerk to play basketball the way these guys currently are playing.
What is up with Bobby Perry? The guy thinks he's Kobe Bryant.
Bradley? Did he suddenly morph into Allen Iverson?
Crawford? He's basically a black hole; the ball goes in, never to return.
This team needs to realize that they aren't really that good. If they're going to win any meaningful games this year, it's going to come through teamwork, not through the selfish crap we've had to endure up to this point.
Thought this was a great article. You have to be a subscriber to read it, however.
http://kentucky.scout.com/2/477432.html
VAUGHT: Cats had no business losing by 26
By Larry Vaught
Date: Dec 11, 2005
Maybe the Wildcats don’t have the talent to be a Final Four team, but these Cats certainly didn’t have any business losing by 26 points to Indiana or being schooled by a young North Carolina team at Rupp Arena.
Something is not right with the University of Kentucky basketball team.
Maybe the Wildcats don’t have the talent to be a Final Four team, but these Cats certainly didn’t have any business losing by 26 points to Indiana or being schooled by a young North Carolina team at Rupp Arena.
So what’s wrong? Why can’t this team play better together than it has been?
First, it appears that the team is not playing with the traditional passion and energy of a Tubby Smith team. “We need to play our absolute hardest,” senior walk-on Ravi Moss said. “If you guys (in the media) think we are not doing that, then we probably aren’t no matter what we think.”
Second, team chemistry might be an issue. Sitting behind the UK bench at the RCA Dome Saturday it became obvious that the Cats were not a team all thinking alike. Few players stood during the game to applaud teammates. Players seldom looked at the UK coaches -- or teammates -- when they came out of the game.
“The body language is just not good,” said former UK All-American Kenny Walker. “When you get beat like this, you want to see a guy or two at least up in the other players’ faces. But no one is talking. Even arguing would show some passion. But they just played like a beat team.”
Want more? Point guard Rajon Rondo said after the game that the Cats are the not the same team as last year and had a “couple of ego problems.” He wouldn’t identify specific players, but just the accusation is an endorsement of team disharmony.
“A guy’ll have a good game and everybody’s high on him and stuff and they’ll stop going to the gym, stop working out. You’ve got to stay humble,” Rondo said.
Considering the way center Shagari Alleyne had played a game earlier against Georgia State and then disappeared again at Indiana, one couldn’t help but wonder if Rondo meant him. Or maybe since he went on to say that the team had “no leadership”, maybe he was faulting Moss and senior Patrick Sparks.
In fairness to Rondo, he did also admit that he needed to show more leadership. He got frustrated Saturday at times and his emphasis on scoring this year seems to have taken away from his ball-hawking defense. And he did have six of UK’s 19 turnovers.
Third, Smith has to decide what kind of team he wants. He needs to either go with his 7-foot centers and be willing to let them make mistakes and keep playing, or he needs to go with a smaller lineup and let Rekalin Sims know that ready or not, he’s got to be UK’s next Erik Daniels. Going small, then big, then small and then big again just isn’t working against quality teams. Remember, if not for a 20-0 run against West Virginia -- and how often will that happen -- the Cats would be 0-4 against quality opponents.
Sure, it’s too early to write the season off. But it’s not too early to worry that this team has a lot of problems.
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