Oscar

Has Darner improved from last season when he pitched? I could see him as maybe the 3 or 4. I hope he does great though, it will be nice to be deep in pitching.

Yeah, but that would be impressive. Considering not many freshman get a chance to play varsity, and two of those few that got the chance are on this years team, it'd be a pretty impressive kid. Eager to see!

Honestly, we've heard the Maile pitching thing for two years now and it's yet to happen. Don't see it this year either. But who knows.. Really looking at it, aside from Isler, Nutini and Gerwe..pitching might be weaker than I thought.

He was throwing harder than mid 80s this summer. Obviously his arm is only getting stronger especially now that he is fully through his surgery and gaining strength back, but I sat behind two people clocking him at the regional semi's last year before summer even began and he was consistently throwing 86 and 87, lowest was 84. I believe same game Matt Nichols came in and I saw what they clocked him at as well. He has been throwing upper 80's and touching 90 consistently from what a couple of people he works with have told me. If his off speed stuff is any good, he should be top notch. Anyone know how hard Smith throws? I saw someone say he throws 93 on here?

How hard does he throw exactly? I'd highly doubt he is the hardest thrower/pitcher in NKY. And throwing hard doesn't make you better than anyone.

Holmes will win and I want them to win, but they really need to pick it up on the offensive side of things, or it could be a short trip. I see Pittman's size advantage being a big difference.

Oh my. Smith is not better than all of them, not even close. Someone just hit the nail on the head. Without his large drame, he isn't pitching at a D1 school. Good player, not top 50 and not the best in NKY.

Looked to me like he was pointing to the student section.

Agreed, he spent some quality time on the sideline. I think his third foul was cheap though and took him to the sideline a bit longer than necessary. He was still leading them from the side though, and despite having no points tonight, I'm still glad he got POY and I still think he is Holmes true floor leader this year. Ricardo Johnson can be the leader too, and he knows how to take over a game, just needs to be more aggressive offensively at times.

Yeah, that makes sense. And maybe I imagined that his feet were moving, I don't know. lol it all happened pretty fast. Agreed there is no pivot foot on the floor, which is why the slide didn't constitute the travel I had in mind. Good thing we weren't the refs out there, lol.

To me, and others around me, he did not have control of it and the TO should have never been awarded. He def. slid, yes, but there was some foot movement. The slide was not what constituted the travel call, his feet touching the floor did. It was a tough call, no doubt, but he didn't have control of the ball so either way the TO should not have been awarded. But Holmes got one their way too, so it all washed.

I mainly attended CovCath games, and it was in those games I saw it. But I guess they blew it then lol, just going by what I heard.

Because, if he didn't have control of the ball he couldn't call the TO right? But if he DID have control, then he moved an awffffuuulll lot to not be called a travel. Tough call to make, but it has to be one or the other.

I also thought that letting the kid come down the court and take a three, basically uncontested, or little contested, was a risk by Holmes. It would have only tied the game, yes...but he dribbled down the court and actually could have even come in closer a bit, and if he had, he probably would have nailed it.

Hmm, there were a couple of HS games I watched this year, where kids did that and the TO was not awarded because they were going out of bounds. I guess it's different for each ref then.

Yeah, he didn't have control, and it looked as though he was out of bounds. I also was under the impression that you can't call timeout going out of bounds like that...heard they changed that rule. But then again earlier in the game, Cotton didn't have control and looked like he traveled when calling a TO near half court.

I think that was changed. I recall someone tell me that it was no longer allowed. Not sure, but overall either way the refs did fine.

I think UK is wasting a scholly on Euton. =/ And I think Scott Co. probably missed Phares pretty bad tonight..

There were some missed calls, but nothing too outrageous. Though there was one where I believe it was R. Johnson was going out of bounds with the ball and called a time out, and they awarded Holmes with the TO and the ball. You can not call a timeout going out of bounds like that, and it sent Boone into an uproar lol. Other than that, I loved that they let them play.

And I've said, if they can continue this defense, which I think they can, but get some type of offense and better offensive game plan, then I think they'll continue to win. If their offense doesn't pick up, nope it just won't happen. I'm in agreement with you about their defense, no need to get defensive.

I understand how many minutes he played. That does not mean he "came to play" for an entire game. When he actually plays, like I said, he is a force.

No, I think youre misunderstanding. Everyone wants to see them bring home the championship. They are now "our" team. CovCath lost a couple weeks ago. I'm now rooting for Holmes. I came tonight to root for Holmes. But if they play like they have been, they just aren't going to do much damage, that's a fact.

I think giving him more of a shot when Isler was down maybe could have been a good idea, but he was not the better qb out of him and Isler, so if you think the coaches really wish they would have played him over the starter for two years, you're mistaken. Timmerman is the better qb option next year, but he is also a great LB. So we'll have to see. I just think it's wrong to falsely say we have a mini brett favre sitting on the bench, when clearly we don't. Anyone who saw him play knows it..

Exactly. It was a terrible offense. No movement. If they can play the defense they play and somehow get ANY type of offensive movement and game plan, I think they'll do some legit damage down at Rupp.

Also, I don't know about the rest of the games, as I only attended this one, but the atmosphere was great! I REALLY want Holmes to bring this one home to NKY, but it just isn't going to happen with how they are playing offense right now. Pittman could be so dominating if he wanted to be...I just don't think he wants it bad enough yet. I'm a huge fan of his, and hope he brings it! And I really thought Riley albeit not being in the game at the end, getting up and leading his team from the sidelines says a lot about him. So glad he got POY!