UK Basketball 8th Edition

[delphineboom]

Yay I'm glad there's a UK football thread! Been looking for a proper one for ages

[LexRedsFan]

Originally Posted by Revering4Blue

Playing the game in Louisville for four years -- both teams alternating yearly as the "home" team -- would have been fine with me. Alas, that ship has sailed.

No joke...I always wondered why it rotated between Indy and Louisville, honestly. Louisville was a perfect location for the game if you ask me.

Obviously no one did though, since the Gillipsie-Sampson games were the first time I saw games in Assembly and Rupp. It's part of why I liked the neutral site games better.

[gilpdawg]

Originally Posted by LexRedsFan

No joke...I always wondered why it rotated between Indy and Louisville, honestly. Louisville was a perfect location for the game if you ask me.

Obviously no one did though, since the Gillipsie-Sampson games were the first time I saw games in Assembly and Rupp. It's part of why I liked the neutral site games better.

I don't know why everyone acts like it was some breach of tradition to start playing on campus sites. They didn't start the neutral thing until the 90s, except for that Big Four Classic thing in the late 80s but that didn't last long.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[Revering4Blue]

Originally Posted by gilpdawg

I don't know why everyone acts like it was some breach of tradition to start playing on campus sites. They didn't start the neutral thing until the 90s, except for that Big Four Classic thing in the late 80s but that didn't last long.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

That's true. But while it's not the end of the world that UK and IU are no longer playing each other on a yearly basis, I still believe that an annual neutral game is a reasonable compromise and that Louisville is the perfect location for such an annual match up, logistically and otherwise.

As an aside, I'm not buying the argument that playing in Louisville gives UK an advantage, though, to the credit of all Redzoners, I've heard no such argument on this board.

[WMR]

Who knows if UL would even let the game happen. It would have to be at the YUM! Center and UL is intent on driving that building into bankruptcy ASAP.

I'm guessing they would use their "scheduling priority" to make scheduling the game there an impossibility.

[New York Red]

Originally Posted by gilpdawg

I don't know why everyone acts like it was some breach of tradition to start playing on campus sites. They didn't start the neutral thing until the 90s, except for that Big Four Classic thing in the late 80s but that didn't last long.

UK was the true home team in two of the first three UK/IU games (1924-1926), but then the series was played on UK's home floor only twice between 1928 and 1976. At that point the two teams had played 18 times, with only four of the games being played at UK. The first yearly "home and home" series began in 1969, but it wasn't a true "home and home". IU's home games were played in Bloomington, while UK's home games were played on a neutral floor in Louisville.

It wasn't until 1976 that it truly became a home and home series, with each team playing on the other's home floor. That ended after the Bloomington game in 1986, with Bobby Knight saying he would no longer play in Lexington. They did agree to a four-year series that went from Indy (Big 4), to Lexington, back to Indy (Big 4) then ending in Bloomington in 1988 -- the last time Knight would bring his team to Lexington.

Starting in 1991, the series went back to neutral sites only, until 2006 when the latest, brief, home and home series started. So if you look at it closely, there's really never been a time when the series was a true home and home, other than just a few years a couple different times. They've played 56 times, with exactly half of them (28) being played on neutral courts.

[WVRed]

In other news, the SEC-Big East Challenge has been canceled due to conference realignment. Taking its place is the SEC-Big 12 challenge.

With that said, Kansas, Texas, or West Virginia would be the likely matchups next season.

[WMR]

Nerlens Noel might actually end up being better than Anthony Davis.

I cannot believe I typed that.

He would be my #1 pick if I was a GM in charge of the decision.

[Scrap Irony]

Originally Posted by WMR

Nerlens Noel might actually end up being better than Anthony Davis.

I cannot believe I typed that.

He would be my #1 pick if I was a GM in charge of the decision.

His upside is enormous.

But his body language sucks.

11 blocks. I'm still amazed at the two blocked dunks with four fouls. Those were nasty as any since Patrick Ewing. (Who he reminds me of.).

If Kentucky can survive the rest of their SEC schedule with two losses, go to the finals of the SEC Tournament before losing again, they'll get a five seed, IMO.

And no one will want to play them in the tournament. Depending on their draw, they could very well do another Final Four.

Wiltjer's getting better and better by being tougher and tougher. Poythress is getting tougher too. Goodwin does't have to carry the team. Cauley-Stein comes back, Harrow continues getting better-- I'm telling you, this team could very well surprise.

[cumberlandreds]

Originally Posted by Scrap Irony

His upside is enormous.

But his body language sucks.

11 blocks. I'm still amazed at the two blocked dunks with four fouls. Those were nasty as any since Patrick Ewing. (Who he reminds me of.).

If Kentucky can survive the rest of their SEC schedule with two losses, go to the finals of the SEC Tournament before losing again, they'll get a five seed, IMO.

And no one will want to play them in the tournament. Depending on their draw, they could very well do another Final Four.

Wiltjer's getting better and better by being tougher and tougher. Poythress is getting tougher too. Goodwin does't have to carry the team. Cauley-Stein comes back, Harrow continues getting better-- I'm telling you, this team could very well surprise.

I don't know where you get his body language sucks. Interested to know why you think that. To me, the guy plays hard all the time. Always hustling and diving for balls. He probably takes too many chances for steals if anything.
He broke the UK single game record for block shots last night with 12. If UK could play 40 games this season he would have a chance at Davis single season record. I hope he gets that chance because it would mean UK is in the finals.

[bucksfan2]

Originally Posted by WMR

Nerlens Noel might actually end up being better than Anthony Davis.

I cannot believe I typed that.

He would be my #1 pick if I was a GM in charge of the decision.

I just watched a little of the game but he pretty much camped out in the paint.

What made Davis so unique is he could guard a guard after a pick on the high post and block an outside shot, mid range shot, and one around the rim.

I watched the first half and man was that some poor basketball. The refs sure dictated the pace of play in the 1st.

[Hoosier Red]

Originally Posted by Scrap Irony

His upside is enormous.

But his body language sucks.

11 blocks. I'm still amazed at the two blocked dunks with four fouls. Those were nasty as any since Patrick Ewing. (Who he reminds me of.).

If Kentucky can survive the rest of their SEC schedule with two losses, go to the finals of the SEC Tournament before losing again, they'll get a five seed, IMO.

And no one will want to play them in the tournament. Depending on their draw, they could very well do another Final Four.

Wiltjer's getting better and better by being tougher and tougher. Poythress is getting tougher too. Goodwin does't have to carry the team. Cauley-Stein comes back, Harrow continues getting better-- I'm telling you, this team could very well surprise.

Strong performance last night. Have to say I agree that no one would want to play them, but a lot of if's inherent in the scenario you described.

[dabvu2498]

Originally Posted by Hoosier Red

Strong performance last night. Have to say I agree that no one would want to play them, but a lot of if's inherent in the scenario you described.

Agreed. Their RPI was around 60 going in to last night and the rest of the schedule is weak enough that they can't sustain more than a couple losses and expect more than an 8-9 seed. Beating Florida is just about the only way to make it happen.

[Sea Ray]

Originally Posted by dabvu2498

Agreed. Their RPI was around 60 going in to last night and the rest of the schedule is weak enough that they can't sustain more than a couple losses and expect more than an 8-9 seed. Beating Florida is just about the only way to make it happen.

Oh they still have a game left with Tennessee. That'll help their RPI if they can upset those Vols...

[New York Red]

Noel is an amazing shot blocker. What he did last night after picking up his fourth foul was one of the great defensive performances I've ever seen, if not the best. He's on Davis' level defensively. However, offensively, Davis in on an entirely different planet than Noel is. It's not even close. Ball handling, passing, mid-range shooting, free throw shooting, etc. Davis had a huge edge (as a college freshman).

On a related note, Cal is known for the point guards he continues to recruit and develop, but I think his string of big men is equally impressive, if not more impressive. Cousins, Kanter, Davis, Noel, Dakari Johnson next year, then Karl Townes after that. That's ridiculous.