College Basketball Time!

Cafe Society
1

How’s your team look?

Kentucky opened their exhibition schedule tonight with a 40-point pasting of Lindsey Wilson College. The freshmen were impressive: Derrick Jasper had 7 assists, Jodie Meeks tied for top scorer, putting up 17 points, Perry Stevenson had 3 blocks and Michael Porter had a 3 to stretch the lead to 20 going into halftime.

This team finally has a little size: the shortest player on the squad is Porter at 6’2". The real questions are:

  1. Can Lukasz Obrzut demonstrate proficiency at basketball in his senior season?

  2. Can Perry Stevenson put on 50 lbs. and not get pushed around by SEC power forwards?

  3. Will Joe Crawford and Jodie Meeks provide the scoring to replace Rajon Rondo and Patrick Sparks?

  4. Is Jared Carter ever going to be anything more than a huge, goofy white guy?

2

Lukasz. Aargh.

3

[QUOTE=Snooooopy]
Lukasz. Aargh.
[/QUOTE]

Only played 10 minutes tonight, and put up a tremendous 2 points and 3 rebounds.

Carter had 6 and 4 in 13 minutes.

4

UNC is ridiculously loaded. Freshmen appear to be as good as advertised.

It remains to be seen whether they can gel as a team and play defense, but they should be a ton of fun to watch.

5

[QUOTE=awldune]
UNC is ridiculously loaded. Freshmen appear to be as good as advertised.

It remains to be seen whether they can gel as a team and play defense, but they should be a ton of fun to watch.
[/QUOTE]

If you guys could wait until after December 2nd to get things together, we’d appreciate it.

6

I vote ‘not likely’ to questions 1,2, and 4 in the OP…and ‘maybe’ to #3. Kentucky will have a solid season but I don’t like our chances against UNC and Florida.

Lukasz is a hilarious motherfucker to chat with in real life, but I usually cringe when he is on the court. He almost always gets more fouls than points!

7

By the way, Kentucky fans: if you’re not commenting at A Sea of Blue (and by the looks of it, you aren’t) you’re missing out. We have an opportunity to make the place the Viva El Birdos of Kentucky basketball, and nothing makes games better than having a couple hundred people to talk to.

I figure Kentucky gets around 20 wins, but I’m a lot less optimistic about our SEC chances than a lot of people. I think LSU, Alabama, Vandy and Tennessee are going to cause us some trouble, and Florida’s probably a lost cause until Noah graduates.

And watch out for Georgia: they’re going to be a lot better than anyone thinks, I have a feeling.

8

[QUOTE=brianjedi]

  1. Can Lukasz Obrzut demonstrate proficiency at basketball in his senior season?
    [/quote]
    No.

No.

No.

No. I actually graduated high school with Jared, and I can confirm: nothing more than a huge, goofy white guy. But he’s tall!

This UK fan is not optomistic at all. I predict finishing fourth or so in the SEC and a second round NCAA exit. And I hate to be “that guy,” but Tubby Smith has only had one good recruiting class (the juniors) and more duds than I would have thought possible. I’ve been watching Jared Carter play basketball since we were in the eighth grade. He sucks! And on a team that already had more than its fair share of tall guys who can’t play, what was the point in adding one more? I really don’t think Tubby is good at identifying what kind of players he needs or finding players to fill those needs.
As for Louisville, we beat Georgetown College 94-92 to open the exhibition season. I’m from Georgetown, so I love to see GC putting up a good fight. But one of my rules of thumb is that if you let an NAIA team score 92 points against you, you might not be looking at a Sweet Sixteen Season. It’s not looking good for basketball in the Commonwealth.

9

[QUOTE=Mayo Speaks!]
This UK fan is not optomistic at all. I predict finishing fourth or so in the SEC and a second round NCAA exit. And I hate to be “that guy,” but Tubby Smith has only had one good recruiting class (the juniors) and more duds than I would have thought possible. I’ve been watching Jared Carter play basketball since we were in the eighth grade. He sucks! And on a team that already had more than its fair share of tall guys who can’t play, what was the point in adding one more? I really don’t think Tubby is good at identifying what kind of players he needs or finding players to fill those needs.
As for Louisville, we beat Georgetown College 94-92 to open the exhibition season. I’m from Georgetown, so I love to see GC putting up a good fight. But one of my rules of thumb is that if you let an NAIA team score 92 points against you, you might not be looking at a Sweet Sixteen Season. It’s not looking good for basketball in the Commonwealth.
[/QUOTE]

So who’s going to beat us in the SEC East? Florida, obviously, but are there two other teams who will definitely beat us?

10

Arizona Wildcats.

Anything is better than the embarassment last year.

11

[QUOTE=Mayo Speaks!]
And I hate to be “that guy,” but Tubby Smith has only had one good recruiting class (the juniors) and more duds than I would have thought possible. I’ve been watching Jared Carter play basketball since we were in the eighth grade. He sucks! And on a team that already had more than its fair share of tall guys who can’t play, what was the point in adding one more? I really don’t think Tubby is good at identifying what kind of players he needs or finding players to fill those needs.
[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I’ve been “that guy” for a few years now. A Tubby Smith kind of player is like the direct opposite of the kind of player that every other team is looking for. Winning teams are running multiple scoring guards and big men who can handle the ball, and Tubby collects 7-foot stiffs like they’re on clearance (which they are, because they’re useless). Not only am I not optimistic about Kentucky finally having some size (a statement with which I have a bit of a problem – they’ve had multiple seven-footers for years now, they’ve just been awful), I want less size and a little genuine scoring ability. And some athletes, for Christ’s sake; this is Kentucky basketball we’re talking about, and they’ve turned into a grind-it-out, bleed the clock, throw it up and go for the offensive boards because we don’t have the offensive firepower to play any other way old-Big-10-style nightmare. Bobby Perry was the number one option down the stretch in the tournament last year! So, yeah, not optimistic, and I couldn’t be less happy about it.

12

[QUOTE=Jimmy Chitwood]
Yeah, I’ve been “that guy” for a few years now. A Tubby Smith kind of player is like the direct opposite of the kind of player that every other team is looking for. Winning teams are running multiple scoring guards and big men who can handle the ball, and Tubby collects 7-foot stiffs like they’re on clearance (which they are, because they’re useless). Not only am I not optimistic about Kentucky finally having some size (a statement with which I have a bit of a problem – they’ve had multiple seven-footers for years now, they’ve just been awful), I want less size and a little genuine scoring ability. And some athletes, for Christ’s sake; this is Kentucky basketball we’re talking about, and they’ve turned into a grind-it-out, bleed the clock, throw it up and go for the offensive boards because we don’t have the offensive firepower to play any other way old-Big-10-style nightmare. Bobby Perry was the number one option down the stretch in the tournament last year! So, yeah, not optimistic, and I couldn’t be less happy about it.
[/QUOTE]

With size, they can rebound. Say what you want about last year’s “21 Feet of Worthlessness,” but none of the front line were a rebounding threat. Hell, we haven’t had one since Chuck Hayes graduated.

I have a theory on Kentucky’s recruiting during the Tubby Smith Era: the first Team Turmoil scared the hell out of him. He recruited that team for talent rather than character, and it blew up in his face. As a result, he started recruiting for character rather than talent.

The ball-line defense is part of the problem, because it stifles the offense. I’d like to see us go more uptempo, but we haven’t had the team speed to do it in years. Bradley’s got some wheels, and Meeks is solid, but Morris, Perry, Thomas and Woo can’t get up the floor with any sort of speed.

13

[QUOTE=brianjedi]
So who’s going to beat us in the SEC East? Florida, obviously, but are there two other teams who will definitely beat us?
[/QUOTE]

I said fourth in the SEC, not the SEC East. I predict Florida, Tennessee, and LSU will probably go 1-3 in some order, then UK at fourth. Alabama and Arkansas could possibly be up there, too, but I don’t know much about them. South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi State, Auburn, Vanderbilt, and Ole Miss will continue to stink.

14

[QUOTE=Mayo Speaks!]
I said fourth in the SEC, not the SEC East. I predict Florida, Tennessee, and LSU will probably go 1-3 in some order, then UK at fourth. Alabama and Arkansas could possibly be up there, too, but I don’t know much about them. South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi State, Auburn, Vanderbilt, and Ole Miss will continue to stink.
[/QUOTE]

So you’re saying we’ll be the fourth-best team in the SEC, not finish fourth in the division.

I’d say I probably agree with that, actually, although I doubt Tennessee will be in the top 3. I’d say Alabama is likely to be up there, because they’re returning a bunch of guys and they’ve added some depth.

News of interest to Oklahoma State and Kentucky fans:
Sutton found unresponsive, treated and released

The fact that Eddie Sutton got another job still makes me sick. He should have been banned from the NCAA after what he did here in Lexington.

15

[QUOTE=brianjedi]
With size, they can rebound. Say what you want about last year’s “21 Feet of Worthlessness,” but none of the front line were a rebounding threat. Hell, we haven’t had one since Chuck Hayes graduated.

[/QUOTE]

When was rebounding Kentucky’s big problem? They lost plenty of games where they outrebounded the other team by a pretty good margin, and off the top of my head, the LSU game was the only big one I can think of where the other team whipped them on the boards. And then in the tournament, they killed UAB on the glass, and the rebounds were even in the UConn game. I don’t think anybody’s going to accuse last year’s UConn team of a lack of big men. Nah, Kentucky’s problem has been, and will continue to be putting the ball in the basket. Part of that is focusing too much on recruiting big guys. Hard to win that way in college, especially now. Big-time post scorers are way too hard to find, and way too easy to defend against.

Of course, you don’t necessarily have to play a certain way to be successful, but you do need good players. Personally, I think he should be filling up the stables with thoroughbreds and three-point shooters out the wazoo, and destroy people with quickness and athleticism and depth and just an onslaught of pressure from both ends. And, I mean, to a Kentucky fan, it’s not like that’s some new brand of basketball heretofore unheard of. But that’s not to say you can’t win by playing a more controlled style; they were a great team just a couple of years ago playing Tubby’s brand of suffocation defense and interior passing. You just have to do it right, and you have to make damn sure you’re filling spots with the right people. It’d be one thing if Tubby kept bringing in 4’s and 5’s, and the guys he brought in were Tyrus Thomases and Tyler Hansbroughs and Greg Odens. Instead, we keep getting project after project lately. There’s really no excusing that. The head coach at Kentucky is operating from a position of incredible strength, and he should be able to recruit against anybody in the country to get the guys he wants. If the guys he’s been getting are the guys he wants, he’s got a terrible eye for talent. If he’s not getting the guys he wants, he’s not a good enough recruiter to be the head coach at Kentucky.

16

[QUOTE=Jimmy Chitwood]
When was rebounding Kentucky’s big problem? They lost plenty of games where they outrebounded the other team by a pretty good margin, and off the top of my head, the LSU game was the only big one I can think of where the other team whipped them on the boards. And then in the tournament, they killed UAB on the glass, and the rebounds were even in the UConn game. I don’t think anybody’s going to accuse last year’s UConn team of a lack of big men. Nah, Kentucky’s problem has been, and will continue to be putting the ball in the basket. Part of that is focusing too much on recruiting big guys. Hard to win that way in college, especially now. Big-time post scorers are way too hard to find, and way too easy to defend against.

Of course, you don’t necessarily have to play a certain way to be successful, but you do need good players. Personally, I think he should be filling up the stables with thoroughbreds and three-point shooters out the wazoo, and destroy people with quickness and athleticism and depth and just an onslaught of pressure from both ends. And, I mean, to a Kentucky fan, it’s not like that’s some new brand of basketball heretofore unheard of. But that’s not to say you can’t win by playing a more controlled style; they were a great team just a couple of years ago playing Tubby’s brand of suffocation defense and interior passing. You just have to do it right, and you have to make damn sure you’re filling spots with the right people. It’d be one thing if Tubby kept bringing in 4’s and 5’s, and the guys he brought in were Tyrus Thomases and Tyler Hansbroughs and Greg Odens. Instead, we keep getting project after project lately. There’s really no excusing that. The head coach at Kentucky is operating from a position of incredible strength, and he should be able to recruit against anybody in the country to get the guys he wants. If the guys he’s been getting are the guys he wants, he’s got a terrible eye for talent. If he’s not getting the guys he wants, he’s not a good enough recruiter to be the head coach at Kentucky.
[/QUOTE]

I think the idea of players coming to Kentucky because it’s Kentucky is long gone. This isn’t the 1960s, when Adolph Rupp could tell players they were coming to Kentucky.

I put a lot of the blame for the big men on assistant coach Reggie Hanson, who has done a piss-poor job of teaching. If I were Tubby, I’d call Sam Bowie or Dan Issel to come in and show these guys how to play the low post.

Do I think that the solution is going back to Pitino ball, with track-team speed and a ton of 3 point shooters, but questionable big men? I have doubts about how well that’s going to work, since it doesn’t seem to be working for Pitino at that community college he’s coaching at.

If this season turns out like last year, someone’s getting canned, be it the assistants or Tubby himself. If it’s Tubby, strap in for another 20 years of “UK is racist.”