Kentucky Ink

East Tennessee State is not a traditional member of the NCAA Tournament, so first, let's look at the facts.

Mascot: Buccaneers 

Head Coach: Murry Bartow, son of former great, Gene Bartow

Location: Johnson City, TN

Distance From UK: 249 miles

Conference They Call Home: Atlantic Sun

East Tennessee State actually finished fifth in their conference. Nothing else matters though if you can win your tournament, and they did. The Bucs finished with a 20-14 record overall, while going 13-7 in conference. The Buccaneer's inspiration to prevail may have come earlier in the season, when something unexpected happened.

7-foot sophomore, Seth Coy, was traveling to visit his former high school in Indiana when he got involved in a car crash that took his life. Coach Bartow had nothing but great things to say about the young man and even went as far to say that Coy would have likely won Player of the Year honors in their conference. The Buccaneers also lost their best player to a season-ending injury during the first practice of this season. As you can expect, Murry Bartow's team is hungry. And a hungry team, is a dangerous team in the NCAA tournament. The 16th seeds record against #1 seeds (0-100)  hangs ominous, but there is a first time for everything. The Wildcats better come prepared, because you can expect 110% from East Tennessee State.

The Buccaneers boast three players averaging double digits, Junior Forward #13 Tommy Hubbard (14.1), Junior Guard #30 Micah Williams (12.5) and Junior Guard #3 Justin Tubbs (12.0). However, Justin Tubbs is said to be the one to look out for. Bartow's team averages 36.4 rebounds per game compared to Kentucky's 41.5.

UK should win this game handily, but they shouldn't overlook a team who Joe Lunardi calls "by far the best 16 seed."

Previous Game: N/A

*Tip-Off is set for 7:15 PM ET Thursday.

Over the past five seasons, the eventual National Champion has not lost more than three games through the first twenty-four games of the regular season.

2009: North Carolina- 22-2

2008: Kansas- 23-1

2007: Florida- 22-2

2006: Florida- 21-3

2005: North Carolina- 21-3

Four of the past five seasons, the National Champion has been a #1 seed entering the NCAA Tournament, with the exception being the University of Florida in 2006 (#3).

Between the criteria above, it leaves five legitimate title contenders; Kansas, Kentucky, Purdue, Syracuse and Villanova. Could the National Champion once again be found in this group? If Kansas wins, then three teams will have won two National Championships apiece in the past six seasons (UNC, Florida and Kansas).

Here is how the previous five National Champions have finished their seasons,

2009: North Carolina- 27-3

2008: Kansas- 28-3

2007: Florida- 26-5

2006: Florida- 24-6

2005: North Carolina- 26-3

John Wall Sweepstakes- All*Star Update

Remember, being the worst team in the league doesn't guarantee a pick that correlates to a team's ineptness in the league. The fourteen teams with the worst records in the league are designated a set amount of ping pong balls relative to their record. The worse your record is, the more chances a team gets. We will start with the front running nets.

1. New Jersey Nets: 4-48 (.077)

2. Minnesota Timberwolves: 13-40 (.245)

3. Golden State Warriors: 14-37 (.275)

4. Washington Wizards: 17-33 (.340)

5. Sacramento Kings: 18-34 (.346)

6. Indiana Pacers: 18-34 (.346)

7. Detroit Pistons: 18-33 (.353)

8. New York Knicks: 19-32 (.373)

Jeff posted his article saying that UK will be hosting Tyler Brause and Teven Eatmon this weekend for their official visits. I have since been able to confirm a few more. Five Stephenson (GA) High School teammates will be making their official visits to UK this weekend.

Kentucky commitments, Raymond Sanders, Jabari Johnson and Ronnie Shields, will be dragging along at least two teammates. DT Michael Thornton and CB Chris Sharpe are scheduled to fly in with their teammates early this afternoon for Kentucky basketball's contest with Arkansas tomorrow.

Thornton is 6'1, 273 and ranked as the 18th defensive tackle on ESPN's prospect list. He's taken a number of visits to this point, but as was said on the message boards, he doesn't seem to have found a place to call home yet. I would not be shocked if he committed to us. At the same time, I would be ecstatic. Sharpe stands at 5'10 and weighs in at 158. He's also the 102nd ranked cornerback in the country per ESPN. He tried to commit to Louisville a few weekends ago, but the Cards turned him down. Thus, starting a spat between the school and the Cardinals. I'm sure they would jump at the chance to stick it to them on an annual basis.

UK has shown interest in a few of Stephenson's younger players, but unless they are traveling on their own dime, they will not be joining their teammates this weekend. It's not a big problem though, because having five hosts on their visits next year, likely wouldn't hurt.

I have not been able to confirm if DJ Howard will be on campus as originally planned. I assume Jeff will catch up with him after his visit though. This could be a HUGE weekend for Joker and the fans can certainly help.

The basketball team can become #1 overall for the first time in a long time. A rowdy, raucous crowd could give the potential UK players a look into their future. So, I advise everyone to enjoy the game and stay loud.

It's time to execute 'Operation Win'.

*FL DE Tim Jackson is looking towards the ACC and thus, has removed UK from contention.

*2011 IN DE Joel Hale has visited UK twice this year. I'll have an update on him before long.

Hello Cat fans. First, I want to wish everyone that is traveling for Christmas to drive carefully and to enjoy their break.

Now down to business. Today's game and the upcoming game against Hartford are two games that I don't expect much from. The team was c0ming off the emotional high in win #2,000 and heading into their Christmas break. They will have a few days off from practice, before coming back and getting short preparation prior to the Hartford game on the 29th (ESPN 2, 7PM ET). I expect the Louisville game to be the first test in what I am going to call the "new season". All the distractions will be behind them and they will be focused on the task at hand.

I do not hold today's game in high regard. I knew it was going to be a letdown. However, I would like the team to start developing their "muscle memory". When this team gets to the point where they are acting, instead of overthinking and trying to make plays, we will be seeing something special. We've seen flashes against North Carolina, Drexel and Indiana. It's obvious that the guys don't have the dribble drive down to a T...YET.

DeMarcus and Daniel need to gain a better understanding as to when to dish the ball to the corners. I've seen a number of times where they try to take on a number of defenders only to leave a wide open jump shooter screaming for the ball.  I know the big men need their love too, but hitting the open men leads to breaking the zone. Guards and post men are mutual benefactors. When the shooters hit their shots, guards collapse less on the big men. I'm not trying to single out those two guys, because I've seen guards try to make too much out of something that wasn't there also.

On defense, we have to start playing smart basketball. Eric gambles a lot and gets caught on the backdoor. There's a lot of unnecessary slapping at the ball which leads to chippy fouls. Even with guys getting into foul trouble today, I thought we were very fortunate. That is the glass half empty outlook.

At the same time, enjoy the moment. Kentucky basketball IS BACK and that is something we can all rejoice in. I just want to keep everyone in perspective. There are distractions and this is a very young team, there are going to be growing pains. Grow with them. The guys are really coming together and are having fun out there. That's something we haven't been able to say in a long time, so appreciate it. This is the most talented team in the country. Bar none. Teams like Kansas and Texas (I think Texas is the best team in basketball, by the way) are better right now, because they are more comfortable playing with each other in their system. Our team will be SCARY once we get there. But for the time being, embrace the present.

Update on the JOHN WALL NBA SWEEPSTAKES

Remember, the NBA employs the lottery system, so the worst team doesn't automatically receive the top pick. The following is a list of the teams that will receive the most ping pong balls based on their record.

1. New Jersey: 2-26 (shoutout to T-Will for keeping the bench warm)

2. Minnesota: 5-24

3. Philadelphia: 7-21 (props to AI for un-retiring within a week of retiring)

4. Golden State: 7-20 (Because Kelenna is done for the year)

5. Indiana: 9-18 (rejuvenated by the arrival of Psycho T)

6. Washington: 9-17

Other Worthy Notes

-Music City Bowl: Sunday (December 27th) at 8:30 PM ET on ESPN vs. Clemson.

-Morgan Newton will get the start at quarterback.

-Randall Cobb is shaving his head to honor a boy named Bradley, who is in a bout with leukemia.

-Coach Cal visited Ironton, OH last night to catch a glimpse of shooting guard, Doron Lamb.

The best way I can put it is; Different year, same end to the Cats regular season.  We had so much riding on this game.  How could we need any more incentives than second place in the SEC East and a trip to Tampa?  When was the last time we were in the position to do that? The team has had the desire to go to a beach bowl for years.  We have the opportunity and it’s going to happen, right? Wrong. What happened? UT happened. Lane Kiffin and the Tennessee Volunteers clearly wanted this game more than we did.  They were excited, energetic and united. I hated it.  Our team looked like they were still trying to find their sea legs.  I saw numerous attempts at arm tackles. Whiff! In the first half, I saw the offense successfully run the screen and the Wildcat offense. I saw Morgan Newton put a nice touch on his throws. We were rolling. It was a tale of halves however. The aforementioned plays vanished in the second half.  We played conservative again, and failed. By the way, is anyone else sick of seeing a Tennessee running back run all over us? Last few years, it was Arian Foster, and then Montario Hardesty goes off for 179 yards and 3 touchdowns.  I have a theory that in the future we should start covering the opponent’s tight end as well.  In a night where the SEC proves to the country (Clemson and Georgia Tech) that they are top dog, the Cats are looking at the Chick-fil-A bowl or the Music City Bowl.  The Tennessee loss remains large in the back of every Wildcat mind and all I can say to soothe that pain is, “maybe next year”.  Sleep good, Cat fans.  We will live to fight another day.  This one certainly hurt though.

We are now a little over a full month into the young NBA season.  Here is the first of many looks into the John Wall sweepstakes.

New Jersey Nets: 0-16

Minnesota Timberwolves:  1-15

New York Knicks: 3-13 (rights traded to Utah)

Philadelphia, Detroit, Washington and Golden State join a conglomerate of teams sitting at five wins on the season.

THE STYLE

Big Blue Madness is a scrimmage.  People tend to forget that.  There is slightly more structure than a pick-up game, but the concept remains the same, ‘Get up the court’.  Turnovers are going to happen regardless of the coach.  The whole team will be gunning up and down the court for the entire length of the game. While it is a scrimmage, the score hardly ever reflects that.  The games are usually low scoring, so what can we expect this year? More scoring.  Wall and Bledsoe will get their teammates open shots and there will be turnovers that lead to fast breaks.  Opponents will be running from us as if they were in the running of the bulls. The saying is somewhat fitting given we have as much talent on our team as the Chicago Bulls. As proof, Joakim Noah played significant minutes for them…A more athletic team should lead to fewer turnovers and more points.

THE RECRUITS

Recruits will be clearing their calendars as if Lil’ Wayne was coming to town.  Anybody who is anyone will be there. CJ Leslie, Michael Gilchrist, Kyrie Irving you name them, they will most likely be there.  Gone are the days when our VIP list was highlighted by Florida State’s Chris Singleton (who made the wrong initial choice, btw).  Why wouldn’t they show up? There’s a chance they could be sitting next to Ashley Judd, Drake or even LeBron James.  Maybe Coach Cal’s bud Hall of Fame Coach Larry Brown will be there.  Former players like Rajon Rondo, Tayshaun Prince, etc… may also be in attendance. What if the Pistons gameday announcer Mason came back down? What if Drake performed sometime during the night’s festivities?  The night is surrounded by what-if’s, but one thing is certain and that is that there will be some big-time recruits there.

THE CROWD

What more could you ask for outside of having thousands of Big Blue fans in a packed arena on a much anticipated night? How about a Coach Cal led team that features John Wall in a packed gymnasium on such an exciting night.  The crowd was amped up for the debut of Billy Clyde….can you imagine now? Go ahead, I’ll wait……Yeah, kind of like that.  The #1 recruiting class, Patrick Patterson, Coach Cal and the rest of the guys almost ensure that the crowd will be on the edge of their seats the whole night.  Chills will crawl up and down the spine of every man, woman and child that watch the past and present Cats try to make an impression on the future crops of Wildcats.  The dunk of the night will draw a roar that would make a lion cower.  

THE NIGHT

When is it easy to find parking for Rupp Arena? When you know where to go, I guess, but that is a different story.  Traffic will be reminiscent of the crowd waiting to catch the Monstars vs. Looney Toons in Space Jam as “Pump up the Jam” blares in the background.  Fans will wait anxiously to catch the first open practice in the era of Kentucky basketball led by Coach John Calipari. When the lights go out, the fire goes up and the team comes out, then that can mean only one thing…it’s basketball season in the Bluegrass.

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***Confirmed Attendees***

2011 SG Achraf Yacoubou

2010 PF CJ Leslie

2010 PG Kyrie Irving

2010 PF Tobias Harris

2011 SF Michael Gilchrist

2011 SF Quincy Miller