Coach Joker

As I have sat back over the last few days to enjoy the fact that Coach Brooks got to retire on his own terms I have had to read countless articles and blogs about Joker Phillips and his dream coming true being the head coach at the University of Kentucky. But my number one concern is who will be his assistants and if he will be making any major changes. As much as I appreciate what Coach Brooks and his staff has done I have some questions about whether if this staff stays in takt that UK will make any major improvements over the next 4-5 years which could end Joker's dream. UK needs to beat the South Carolinas and Tennessees of the SEC East and the Mississippi States and Mississippis of the SEC West. So the biggest question I see that needs to be answered is how does Joker intend to get the Wildcats past these major hurdles?
Of course everybody has their own opinion on this question, but I will go ahead and give my two cents worth on this subject. First let the offensive coordinator call the plays. As a head coach he will have so much more responsibilities that he needs to let the OC call the plays and make suggestions. Hire a younger recruiting coordinator with UK ties such as Moe Williams, Tim Couch, Craig Yeast, Dennis Johnson or Marlon McCree. Basically anybody that is young enough to relate to the player but profeesional and speaks well enough to convince the parents. Next UK really needs a new special teams coach! I don't have the time or space to write all the times over the past 4 years that special teams have really hurt us but 2008 Florida is the easiest target. There is never an excuse for block punts but two is ridiculus! So finally Joker what is your plan to take UK to the next level?

Louisville game

OK, I know we have a few days to go before UK and U of L get down to business in the hardcourt version of the "Bluegrass Brawl". Heck U of L still has to play their conference opener against South Florida before they can start planning for the Cats. At 9-3 and 0-1 on the road the Cards are not the team that was expected going into the '09-'10 season. But after an early season loss to UNLV on the road, and back-to-back home losses to Charlotte and Western Carolina the Cards have dropped out of the top 25 and has shown that they have along way to go to meet their pre season expectations. Now in my opinion the Cards have plenty of talent to make a run at a Big East title and a Final Four, but they need to get more production from their Freshman Siva and Buckles. After watching Siva play last year in the High School All-Star games I could not wait to see him go up against John Wall in the upcoming game, But with Siva only getting around 13 minutes a game it doesn't look like he is adapting to Pitino's system. If Peyton can step up and be productive he would offer some much needed help at the guard position to releave some of the pressure off Sosa. And Buckles needs to step up on the inside to another long lean player that can be productive on the inside. Right now this years cards have the make-up of last years Cats with Sosa playing the role of Meeks and Samuels playing the role of Patterson, but I see Pitino developing his team into a much better finishing product then last year's version of the Cats.
The Calipari Cats are in my opinion (not Coach Cal's) right on pace development wise with where I thought they should be at this point in the season. No, I did not think they would be undefeated, but I also though Stanford and UConn would have been playing better going into those games and UNC is not last year's version by any stretch of your imagination. But I also never expected John Wall to be the closer as a Freshman that he has been all season. As I have mentioned before UK fans need to just sit back and enjoy the time we have with Wall, and hopefully we will get to witness a triple-double as that is one of his goals.
I want to also congratulate and thank Patrick Patterson for all his hard work as he climbs up the all-time scoring rankings here at UK. Patrick is now 33rd and will most likely jump up to 31st Saturday since he only needs 9 points to pass John Pelphry. If he continues at this pace he will easy break the top 15 at UK in scoring in only two and a half years! Then if he can match his 316 rebounds from last year he will break into the top 10 in that category surely solidifing his spot as one of the greatest players to ever put on the real blue and white.
Again UK fans jus sit back and enjoy!

Entertaining

Wow, oh my gosh, awesome, fabulous, holy sh*t, are just a few of the many reponses I heard tonight as the University of Kentucky's men's basketball team dismantled Hartford 104-61. I knew when DeMarcus Cousins stole the ball and took it all the way in for a dunk to put UK up by ten early in the game that UK came to play! In a game that no one would have blamed UK for coming out flat against a far inferior team the Cats came out and played tough defense, holding Hartford to under 38% shooting and outrebounded the Hawks by 16 and many times were on the ground fighting for the ball. Dotson, in the first half, and Miller in the second half showed UK can shoot from beyond the 3 point line combining to shoot 10 for 16 from beyond the 3 point line. Definately not what U of L and Ricky P wanted to see on the game film! The interior passing reminds me of the days of Chuck Hayes and Erik Daniels, but with athletic players! I can not imagine how fun it has to be for the players to play on a team that on any given play they know they could make a SportCenter highlight play. After 14 games I have a feeling that Calipari's hardest job of this year is going to be how to keep all his players happy with playing time. It is nice to have that problem at UK again!

Christmas List

Merry Christmas all, I hope everybody is having a great Holiday season and is ready to relax and watch all the great sports action that accompanies the Holiday season. In the spirit of Christmas I have made up my Christmas list for the Kentucky Wildcats for the next year.

12 4 star recruits or better for the football team
11 game lead over UNC in all-time wins in basketball.
10 wins over the SEC East in basketball.
9 victories in the regular season for the football team in 2010.
8 teams in bowl games in the 2010-11 season.
7 teams in the NCAA tournament for the SEC.
6 wins over the SEC West in basketball.
5 SEC wins in football for the Cats.
4 straight bowl wins from the Wildcat football team.
3 UK football players drafted in the first 2 rounds of NFL draft.
2 years out of Wall and Cousins. (I don't think even Santa can pull that off!)
1 National Title for the Wildcats men's basketball team.

Well it looks like Santa will have his hands full filling my CHristmas list this year, but hopefully I was a good enough in 2009 to get most of my list filled!

Merry CHristmas to all and I hope Santa brings everybody all they asked for this Christmas season.

The new Cats!

OK how exciting is this new season for Cat's fans? I can remember back when a certain coach named Rick something and I was working at Circuit City. Our managers use to plan the workers schedule around the UK basketball schedule because they knew nobody would be shopping during that time. From what I have seen and heard from my friends in the retail business UK is getting back to that status again! It has been over 10 years since I can remember being excited about the next UK basketball game, but yet I can't wait until Saturday! I'm not sure if it is the players we have now or the style of play, but either way it all comes down to Calipari! He is taking us to a level that will make UK fans forget the last 10 years of being mediocre. Welcome back Cats and Cat's fans! Enjoy the ride!

UConn in-game thoughts 2

OK these officials are bad on both sides! They let slaps to the face go, they let holds of the arms go, but they have called the worse blocking fouls of the year! 2 against UK and 1 against UConn! Wow UConn is taking it straight to the Cats and laughing at them now. Amazing how fast the Cats get out of control and start turning the bowl over like the ball is a live handgrenade! Coach Cal needs to settle them down. Although I am not real sure Coach Cal cares that bad if they lose a game soon.
UConn is just plain making UK look like a bunch of street players with no clue!

UConn in-game thoughts

Wow! What a start from the Cats! Is there any doubt Wall is an All-American! TO by the Huskies after 33 seconds! I love this pace!
The Huskise are back! Dyson is proving to be as good as advertised. Mr. Roberts hasn't shown up yet!
This is going to be one heck of a showdown. Which team stays under the most control wins, I predict.