bugatti

Now THAT would open up the field.

Izzo is always good for a game like this. It has become the norm. His team underperforms all year, wins a mild-upset game in the tournament, and people convince themselves he is one of the greatest coaches to ever live. "You never count out Izzo in March." We generally can, actually.

It is always refreshing to bring Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and the rest of the TNT NBA folks to discuss teams in the tournament when it is obvious they have not watched more than five minutes of college basketball collectively all season.

I'll admit. I am not feeling good about this one. Mostly it is because I do not like how UK is constructed, but I am holding out hope that NBA talent (albeit, not great NBA talent) will rise and carry UK for as long as this goes.

"Bizarre story indeed." - Pete Rose

I hear you. As much as I rail on the poor play of college basketball and the tournament being an inverted pyramid of excitement, I am a sucker each year for these first four days of the tournament.

Touché.

I think you’re missing the entire point. Zero people believe Sheppard is not one of UK’s best players and worthy of starting in a traditional sense. He’s awesome. And no, it’s not customary to have he and Dillingham checking in at the 17:43 mark of the first half. But, trying to say UK’s struggles are largely due to him - not necessarily playing more minutes (2nd most in SEC play) - but him being in the lineup at the tip, is like me saying I’m running slower because I’ve changed running shoes. Completely ignoring my weight gain and the fact I’ve gotten older. Him starting might be the correct thing to do… he would start if I were coaching. But it is far from UK’s biggest problems and ranks about 700 in Calipari’s coaching blunders through the years.

I like it! Fun fact. UK would be 34-0 had Sheppard started every game this season.

Purely theoretical here... Oddly, as the season progressed UK looked better on the road than at Rupp. It makes no sense. Last Friday was practically a home game; hence, why they played so badly. I am holding out hope the further from Lexington they are, the better. 🙂

I get that, but I am not worried about UK scoring. I am worried about UK needing to get stops. Now maybe every other team is the same as UK (until Houston), but history shows if the game plan is to outscore everyone, they could just as easily go home in the next few days. Many are acting like this will be a waltz and we have no evidence of this.

And I am not saying Kentucky can't find its way through the bracket, but this team has given zero evidence it can manufacture enough stops. But it is the NCAA tournament, the most exciting tournament for all the wrong reasons, most notably the uncertainty of it all. Putting 18-20-year-old kids in weird arenas at weird times of the day, madness happens. In short, who knows?

Are you kidding? I'll give you a big reason: they are putrid on defense. UK's top two draft talents are their worst on-ball defenders and a 4 mph wind could knock their post-defenders off the block. It's been a literal expressway to the rim half the season. I am looking at the opposite from all these "UK should make a run or the Final Four" people. I believe the other (potential) opponents, beginning Thursday, genuinely believe this team can be had if you bring the physicality to UK and licking their chops for a chance to play them.

2014 UConn was 40th*. I couldn't find the others. I assume the other UConn team from 2011 and probably Syracuse from 2003? *I was looking at something different because 25th is later referenced.

Saw that. I wonder if it was partly due to his former employer bypassing the invite so it was his chance to fire back at them. It is easy to take shots from the cheap seats. I do not support it, but I get it because the transfer portal opens today and procuring talent for next year's squad is much more important than playing an NIT game.

Exactly. I am not saying I am happy with where things are with UK basketball, as a whole. But you would think the '23-'24 basketball team was a preseason top-5 squad the way some are acting. Based on pre-season rankings and national buzz, this team is about where we thought they would be if not a smidge better.

My phone was catching fire as I was typing that 🙂

Not sure how hot of take this is, but the women’s tournament is much more compelling than the men’s.

Oh wow. I just saw 20-1 on ESPN.

There is history for the West traditionally being the “easiest” of the regions. It’s normally the last #1 seed and the fact the committee does their best to keep teams geographic. There simply isn’t enough teams west of the Mississippi to draw from.

Yeah, I’m taking this one game at a time. Calipari returns to his hometown for the first weekend.

Again showing conference tournaments mean very little for seeding. I have no doubt had UK went 3-0 this weekend they would be in the same spot.

4 seems about right. That’s about where they were before the UT result. Had they won Friday, it probably would have clinched a 3 seed, regardless of a Saturday or Sunday result.

Like you, not sure why we didn’t get more Bradshaw minutes. I assure you, he would have fouled 🙂 At the least, he would have provided some energy.