Daily Archives: January 22, 2013
Wide Open
Jason A. Hatcher II @ROCK_NATION_6
I official de-committed from USC #WideOpen
With that announcement Jason Hatcher, the 247Sports 4 Star Defensive End, has the Kentucky football fan base going crazy with the hopes of landing the 6-3 240lb Trinity High School product. Hatcher visited UK on an official visit the weekend of January 12th and it has been rumored he had an in home visit with the coaching staff this week. This past weekend Hatcher was in California on an official visit to USC.
Florida is rumored to be in the mix and he has an official visit setup with Louisville on February 2nd. Also, keep in mind that just because he “de-committed” from USC does not rule them out. Anything apprears possible at this point but if you bleed blue you have to like our chances.
I cannot stress enough just how important Hatcher would be to UK. Hatcher is the kind of player who can be a program changer for UK. Some may wonder what the pull is for UK in the fight between UK and Louisville, USC, and the answer is simple. Stoops and Eliot both coached Tank Carradine and Bjoern Werner, two very highly rated Defensive Ends, and Werner is projected to go in the top 10 of the draft. That, combined with his mother wanting him to stay close to home, and his new relationship with Stoops and Eliot, and you may have the perfect recipe to land one of the state’s top prospects.
Stay tuned…
Go Big Blue!
Cats can’t stem the Tide, fall 59-55
Hard to argue that this guy was effective in the Second Half.
It was a game of two halves.
The first half, you saw how good UK can be. We moved the ball. Kyle shook defenders. Nerlens blocked shots, and UK generally kicked butt. Then towards the end of the half, things kind of came to a lull.
Then the Second Half started and UK got punched in the mouth and never recovered. Slowly and steadily, the Tide crept back in the game, and finally took a lead the never relinquished.
It’s worth noting that UK was playing again without one of their starters, Willie Cauley-Stein. Alabama thrived off of put backs in the Second Half and you have to wonder how the game would have been different if he had been there.
Archie continues to frustrate everyone. Losing the ball going up for layups, missing put backs, getting blocked, things aren’t looking really great for him right now. But I’ll say this; he’s not getting any help. Most of the team is standing around, waiting for someone to make a play, and Archie is at least trying to make the play. Hate on him all you want, and it’s fair to say he’s missed some open guys, but he’s trying to make a play, not trying to play hero or ball-hog. There was no offensive rhythm in the Second Half, that hurt even worse than Archie.
Kentucky has struggled with two types of teams this year, small teams, and physical teams. Alabama featured both, and it hurt UK again.
The Cats were led on the night by Kyle Wiltjer who scored 14, and Julius Mays who had 12. Nerlens Noel continued his stellar play with 7 blocks on the game.
The KYCS player of the game is Nerlens Noel, who scored 8 points, had 13 rebounds and 7 blocks, and 1 steal on the game.
The Cats are back in action on Saturday when they welcome LSU to town. Game tips at 4 pm.
Go Big Blue!
UK vs Alabama (Beat the Tide!)
Hilarious!
Today UK goes against the Alabama Crimson Tide. Two games down in Alabama in 4 days, I wonder if the boys even came back home. Kentucky is now trying to go 4-1 in the SEC, after easily beating Auburn by 22.
It’s very likely that we are playing against today without freshman center Willie Cauley-Stein. He will likely set out a few more games, to ensure he heals properly from his minor knee surgery he had last week. The Wildcats will do their best again to play without him as they take on the guard heavy Crimson Tide. It will be a tough away game, but if they play anything like did on Saturday then they should be able to handle business again tonight.
Vegas Line: Kentucky is favored by -4.5 points.
Don’t forget to leave your score prediction on the “Ky Cat Stats Facebook page“ score prediction contest, sponsored by: Kennedy’s Wildcat Den.
Television/Event Info: Tuesday, January 22, 2012 | 9:00 p.m. | TV = [ESPN] | Tuscaloosa, Alabama | Coleman Coliseum
Staff Predictions:
Tyler Mounce = 77-71
Brad Woodcock = 74-62
Marcus Owens = 60-51
Braxton Howard = 64-58
David Stevens Jr. = 75-69
Ken Meadows = 71-68
Adam Weaver = 76-66
Joseph Thompson = 75-60
Go Big Blue!
Beat the Tide!
Wiggins, Randle, or Gordon???
We are still a long ways away from this being final, but just figured I would throw out the question and give my prediction. Let me know what you think after reading what I have below.
Here is my take on the whole situation.
Andrew Wiggins:
Has lot’s of questions about recruitment, himself, his game, does he want all the attention, what does his parents want, what’s best for him, what fits him best, etc… I am sure that he is driving himself crazy asking himself all the questions that comes to his mind. Certainly, he has a lot of aspects that he has to see this from. It’s a big decision that impacts a lot of people.
In the end I think he will land at FSU, just because it could be the school that feels most suitable and comfortable for him for a one year basis. I still say things can change and he can end up at Kentucky, especially after he visits officially. More info on him below.
Aaron Gordon:
As Wiggins does, Gordon has lots of questions to ask himself. Most analysts think his questions are about minutes at UK. I feel that is not the question he is asking. He will play regardless of who is on the team or who commits. The only way he get’s less minutes next year would be if Alex Poythress comes back. Gordon has been told he will get lots of minutes regardless of who commits. The real question here is how far is he willing to go from home to play basketball?
He is a great player and is a winner. I would love to have him at UK, but I think in the end he is going to stay out West and go to Arizona. If he feels confident about Wiggins going elsewhere, he could change his mind and make that decision to attend school at Kentucky. Things can always change, but for now I would say he is expected to chose Arizona.
Julius Randle:
Listen here, he loves UK. His mom loves UK as well. Everything fits right for him at UK. I still do not believe he dislikes a commit on the Kentucky team, as has been the speculation seemingly since the Harrison twins committed last year. He loves Andrew Harrison, but may not like Aaron Harrison, trust me if he likes UK and Coach Calipari enough, it wont matter. Coach Cal will get the both of them on a three way phone call and hash things out. That is not the problem in my eyes.
I believe Randle sees himself at Kentucky. I think he wants to go there. I feel if he knows AW is going elsewhere and Alex Poythress is going to NBA, then it’s a done deal for Randle to UK. I think those are the only two things holding him back right now. If things happen like my predictions as of right now, then he will end up at Kentucky.
(As for competition for Randle, I wouldn’t buy the Texas/Florida smokescreen. Watch Kansas. Bill Self has a long history of putting Power Forwards in the NBA. Just a hunch.)
Final Thoughts:
I do want to say that I know things can change. Wiggins can decide to embrace the hype that is coming his way, and realize maybe it’s better to share that hype with other top talent at UK. In my eyes, it is very likely that AW does decide to get over the attention issue and realize going to UK will best suit him. It is only for 1 year. He may end having to make that so called, “business decision” to go to UK that everyone talks about. It’s worth noting, and Brad has written about before, it’s not out of the realm of possibility for him to drop below the #1 pick if the players immediately behind him progress. Remember, Harrison Barnes was projected to be the #1 pick no matter when he came out when he went to college. (Also, you have to wonder how Florida State feels about Leonard Hamilton on the heels of a season that may not even see him land in ANY post-season tournament. At some point you have to ask yourself, if this man can recruit this well,why aren’t our teams ever any good?)
Anyway you slice it, I feel like we still get one of these guys. I know Coach Cal would love have to like all three, but he will have to settle for one of the three. With the current class we have and a few possible returnees, we could have one of the best years ever in college basketball history.
Great things are on the horizon at UK.
Who is the scariest SEC opponent?
Which one is scarier?
It looks we have came to somewhat of a definitive answer for the question, who is the opponent you fear the most in SEC season. Florida is definitely going to be UK’s toughest opponent this season. They have destroyed several teams this year already, including a 31 point beat down against Missouri.
The SEC is definitely down this year, because Missouri is supposed to be our 2nd toughest opponent and the have not played that great this season. Someone that is tougher than Missouri and almost as tough as Florida is Jadaveon Clowney. He is one scary dude. Just look at this picture below and you will know how scary he is.
All in all the SEC will be tough and not so tough at the same time. I just do not look forward to the game against Florida, it will be a slobber knocker.
Kentucky vs Alabama History
Today Kentucky is set to play a late Tuesday game down in Alabama against none other than the BCS Football National Champions the Alabama Crimson Tide. This is Kentucky’s 2nd straight SEC road game in Alabama. We have dominated the Crimson Tide in basketball over the years. Let’s hope we show up and play hard, unlike Notre Dame did.
Record: 102-36 (All Time)
- 2 Game Winning Streak against Alabama
- Longest Win Streak was 14 in a row from 2/6/1943 to 2/28/1955
- Notable Alumni – Active NBA Players: Gerald Wallace, Portland Trail Blazers; Maurice “Mo” Williams, Utah Jazz; Jermareo Davidson, Charlotte Bobcats; Alonzo Gee, Cleveland Cavaliers
- Notable Alumni – Retired NBA Players: Robert Horry, Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, 11th pick overall, 1992; Latrell Sprewell, Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves, 24th pick overall, 1992
First Game Against Alabama: 1/25/1923 (L 35 – 45)
Last Game Against Alabama: 1/21/2012 (W 77 – 71)
Highest Kentucky Scorer: Dan Issel (2/23/1970) - 47 Points
Kentucky vs Alabama Rivalry Overview
Go Big Blue!
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