Phriday Photoshop Phun

In Thursday's Lexington Herald Leader Jerry Tipton noted how injuries have plagued this team... well no shit Jerry. Billy Clyde refuses to call it an excuse, and I respect him for that. However it is clear that injuries have played a fairly substantial role in this 4-5 start to the Billy Clyde regime. (As well as turnovers, see below) Maybe we should move the games over to the corner of Nicholasville Rd. and Rose Street and rename the hospital.

Anatomy of a turnover

turn·o·ver (tûrn'ō'vər)-noun

1. Sports A loss of possession of the ball to the opposing team, as by a misplay or an infraction of the rules.

CBC has said that he has been looking for something that this team can hang its hat on; well I believe that they have found that "something." I'm not sure that there is a better team in the country that has exhibited the ability to turn the ball over as good at Kentucky does. They excel at the inept ability to pass the ball. The 18 balls displayed here represent the number of turnovers the Cats had in their most recent 83-69 drubbing at the hands of the Houston Cougars. In fact in UK's 5 losses they have turned the ball over an absurd 85 times, thats 17 a game! I don't care how great you shoot the ball, if you turn the ball over at that rate, you will lose. This is clearly evident in the past two games. Against UAB the Cats shot 52.8% for the game and nearly 70% in the second half, and lost. Against Houston they shot 50.0% for the game and lost. You simply have to take care of the ball.

On a positive note, it was nice to see Jodie Meeks back. However karma reared its ugly head with a Patrick Patterson injury. I wonder if we will ever field a complete healthy roster. I don't even want to fathom what this team would look like without a healthy Patrick Patterson for a substantial amount of time. His presence was sorely missed last night; not so much for his offensive production, but for REBOUNDING. We were absolutely hammered on the offensive boards last night.

Bomani Jones, of ESPN and Kentucky Sports Radio, has already called into comparisons of the 8-20 North Carolina team of 2001 - 02. While I hate to see that comparison made, can we really say that its unrealistic? Hardly. We as Cat fans have to stay supportive, as much as it pains us, we need to be "True" Blue Fans. We were True Blue Fans for the football team, and the dividends have paid off immensely. We just need to grin and bear it, and know that greener pastures lie in the not too distant future. But Hey! Cheer up...its still football season. Nashville will be rocking in a few weeks. In fact (or not), I think FSU just suspended another 25 players for cheating on their end-of-the-semester professor evaluations.

Oh Darius, can't wait to get you in Lexington

After seeing and listening to the debacle in Freedom Hall, I was afforded the opportunity to revive my Cat fandom with a viewing of future Cat Darius Miller. Miller's Mason County Royals were playing Nashville's Christ Presbyterian Academy in the 2007 Farm Bureau Classic at the Eastern Kentucky Expo Center, in Pikeville, KY. It just so happened my nephew was playing in the game before Miller took the floor; so I decided to stick around and watch Darius play.

First off, in a great move (but kind of bittersweet after the UAB loss) when Mason County took the floor they played the UK fight song over the PA. I closed my eyes and imagined the scene next year with Darius, DeAndre, and Patrick warming up before a game. It almost brought tears to my eyes. On the first defensive play Darius stole the ball at mid-court and went uncontested to the basket for the first 2 on only 12 points in the game. Now while he only totaled 12 points, his team seemed to never trail by more than 10 or 12 points. What was great about Darius Miller tonight was that he never pressed and never tried to showcase. He was a "TEAM" player. He didn't even win the game MVP award. He is a member of a very talented team, that doesn't require his star like playing ability every trip down the court. He has good complement of players around him that can be just as dangerous.

He was silky smooth with the ball at times. He showed great ability to beat a press and create an open shot, or lure defenders to him which in turn opens up a player under the basket. We sure could use that type of play given the Wildcats inability to break a zone defense. He did have a couple of turnovers, but it wasn't the type cause by sloppy play, rather the type by maybe trying to make a tough assist that may be too tough to attempt. In the end he impressed, not on the stat sheet, but as a team player. Its easy for a star player to dominate around inferior talent and fill up the stat sheet. Darius showed tonight how he can be a cog in a well oiled machine, playing against good competition. I look forward to seeing him in Rupp next season amongst DeAndre Liggins, Patrick Patterson, and hopefully Scotty Hopson. Its always darkest before dawn. The future does indeed look bright.

Jumped the gun

Okay...okay...I get it. My bad. When I saw the breaking news on NFL network I jumped right onto Photoshop prematurely. Now I'm reading that he is negotiating with Arkansas. WOW. The SEC is just sick. Can we officially give the SEC Champion an automatic bid to the BCS National Championship game. Its only fair.

Petrino Resigns

The second that I saw that Petrino resigned only one thought jumped into my head. My Photoshop skills again on display. If he is not at the head of Michigan's wish list now that Les Miles has again said for the second time now that he is coaching LSU; then Michigan has not a clue on what it's doing. Bringing the exciting spread offense which made Louisville a threat could be pretty potent in the "3 yards and a cloud of dust..." Big 10. This would be a great hire for Michigan. I can't be the only one thinking this.

Monday Night Quick Hitters

Its Monday night and you all know what that means. On to the hitters...

• After watching the UK - IU game at the Fox and Hound in Louisville, I am here to set a rule that should be followed by any sports bar. If you have HD Televisions, you need to pony up for the HD package. I couldn't believe a place with so many HD capable TV's did not have a single broadcast in HD. Pathetic.

• I know we have to be patient with the Cats during this transitional period. However during the games, I'm allowed to be completely irrational.

• Did anyone else find themselves laughing because it was so bad against the Hoosiers?

• Who would have thought 5 years ago that UK would be a FAVORITE against Florida State on a New Years Eve bowl game?

• Watching Dayton beat UL in Louisville before the IU game, made that pill a little easier to swallow.

• I thought it was hilarious that Arthur Blank commented on the possibility of Vick getting out of shape in prison because of "fried chicken and fries." I'm sure Jesse Jackson will make a comment in the very near future.

• I hope to find out this week if I get a job I interviewed for in Louisville last Monday. Everyone keep their fingers crossed.
  

Phriday Photoshop Phun

Here's another new feature to Ruppsrhetoric. Every Friday I will use my rather pedestrian Photoshop skills to doctor some images to help make fun of some issues; usually relating to UK in some way shape or form. This weeks image pokes fun at IU Coach Kelvin Sampson. We all know his history with cell phones and illegal phone calls, but we never knew it would get this far out of hand. I suppose this gives new meaning to on the court "communication."

Monday Night Quick Hitters

Last week a few of my points were valid and a few were proved to be wrong. Oh well you can't win em all. Here's the second installment of the Monday Night Quick Hitters. Enjoy.

• Indiana Football is the feel-good story of the year. Lets all cheer them on in the Insight bowl against Oklahoma State. Congrats Hoosiers!
  

• This years Music City Bowl is even better than last years considering the fact that we are playing FSU and Bobby Bowden. Win this game and its instant national recognition coupled with a huge recruiting boost.

• Ohio State will be a career 0-9 against SEC opponents in bowl games after the Bayou Bengals take care of business in their back yard. My how Ohio State had hoped that Mizzou would have won.

• Anybody think that West Virginia had already reserved their hotel in New Orleans BEFORE they played Pitt? I can't say that I blame them, but come on boys you have to show up, especially for the "Back Yard Brawl".

• Hawaii and Georgia is quite an interesting match up, and should be a hell of a game... maybe.

• Alex Leigon... we hardly knew ya.

• Patrick Patterson is a beast and WILL BE an All-American in the future.

• Rupp Arena was Rupp Arena on Saturday, at least for a half.

• For once Rich Brooks will be the young guy.

• As of this very second while typing this, the Pats are getting beat 17-10. I have this little feeling deep inside that tonight could be the night that Don Shula pops the champagne, however it could just be the Chipotle I ate tonight.
  

The Music City Bowl: Part Deux

While the Peach Bowl would have been nice, I'm still pretty pumped about the Music City Bowl. This is me last year, and we can only hope that we can duplicate the weather. For those of you who made it down the Catsville last year, you all know how much fun we had. I have a free place to stay, thanks Adam, and a ticket reserved, thanks Bart.

We have a little more high profile opponent in Florida State this year, but since we beat his son last year; it shouldn't be too hard to beat up on his old man. While Florida State isn't the Florida State of years past it is still a great opponent for Kentucky in terms of recruiting and program prestige. The Cats will need to be ready to play though, the 'Noles will be no pushover. This is a big opportunity for the Cats. Its a chance to show the rest of country just how far we have come as a program. I am eagerly looking forward in seeing the "Blue Mist" descend on Nashville ;and spending another New Years in Tennessee. Hey, at least its not Knoxville. Congratulations to the Cats on back-to-back bowl appearances.

Tar Heeled

You have to pleased with the effort shown by the Cats Saturday afternoon. While obviously it would have been nice to pull out a victory, a nine point loss is nothing to be ashamed of, considering all the circumstances. The number one team in the country came into a Rocking Rupp and only pulled out a nice point victory. Does that mean that Gardner-Webb could beat UNC by seven points?

The Cats continued its three year streak of keeping "the best college basketball player" Tyler Hansbrough in check. If the refs didn't blow the whistle every time he touched the ball he would have been severely ineffective. However I do give the kid credit for seemingly always being in the right place at the right time. I do have a growing suspicion that our own Patrick Patterson will become just as good, and probably a lot better than Mr. Hansbrough. Again I was thoroughly impressed with our freshman extraordinare.

I was proud of the crowd on Saturday except for a few instances. The chanting of "Alex Leigon" was classless; as well as booing Michael Porter when he came in for Alex. Now I know the Cat fans weren't actually booing Mr. Porter, but more or less the substitution in general. I was sitting next to several annoying Michael Jorda...I mean UNC fans and they were pretty amazed at the crowd for the booing. The only thing I could counter with was, well you fired Matt Doherty after he recruited the greatest class of all time. While it was great to have a raucous crowd, we need to think before we act. But at least it was all in unison. Nothing is quite like a big time opponent in Rupp. Probably the only thing that rivals the atmosphere is beating Louisville and LSU in football :)

It was an overall respectable effort on the side of the Cats. There is a bright future ahead. We need to stay patient and supportive, these kids are only going to get better. We could have very easily folded once they were up by twenty. They didn't and fought back to make it a single digit defeat. Billy Clyde was pleased with the effort and I can see why. While they did make a lot of careless mistakes, they never gave up. This team may have some fight in it yet. Onward to Hoosierland and the Indiana Cell Phones. I hope somebody gets that.

photo courtesy of ukathletics.com