College basketball thread...

Gardner-Webb's hometown paper, obviously, thinks this is BREAKING NEWS!

http://www.shelbystar.com/

 

C'mon .... couches and anything else the natives can get their hands on are going up in flames in Boiling Springs.

And Billy Gillispie's "For Sale" collection in the front yard just got a lot bigger.

 

Actually, I give the paper a lot of credit for getting it up on the web that quickly.

 

Hahahahahahaha

 

We had a local kid playing in the game. Had it on our web site within five minutes after it went final.

 

Good thing Kentucky ran that Tubby Smith guy out of town, they'll no longer have to deal with embarrassing losses

 

But given their idiocy, would it surprise anyone that UK basketball fans are blaming Tubby for this mess, similar to the fools that back Notre Dame football who hold Tyrone Willingham responsible for the disaster in South Bend?

 

It was blue on Tuesday night. I haven't seen him yet tonight. I'm betting it's green.

 

Not at all. If you thought Kentucky fans have been unbearable in years past, you ain't seen nothin' yet.

And I so can't wait until UNC comes to town and beats the living Tar out of Billy Clyde and the Cats.

 

A) UNC, Louisville and Indiana are going to beat the living piss out of Kentucky.

B) Gillispie has maintained that it's way too early for UK to be playing -- and apparently, he's right. Plenty of time to practice now.

C) This should be a completely different UK team by the time the SEC season starts. UK has been killed by injuries from the off-season, it has major holes at PG and inside, and Gillispie had two weeks to practice before the first exhibition. Not excuses for losing to G-W, but pretty solid excuses for why UK looks pretty shitty.

I don't think the reaction in KY is too bad (I don't know, I'm not there), at least among rational fans (I know, I know, "rational UK fan" is an oxymore ). They were going get their asses handed to them in New York anyway.

EDIT: Oh yeah, the SEC isn't looking too good this year. Outside of Tennessee, the league doesn't have a legit team. Arkansas will hold steady in the bottom half of the top 25 most of the year and maybe make a decent run in March. Mississippi State and Alabama should make the tournament, and I think Kentucky will rebound and have a solid season, all things considered. And Florida and Vandy could be good.

But there isn't really one team in the conference that is downright scary-good. Even UT has a pretty big question mark when it comes to how they'll fare on defense.

 

1. That's a given, especially this year.

2. UK has always played games this early in the year, either at Maui or in some other tourney (unless Maui is after Thanksgiving, in which case I'd be wrong here, but you get my drift).

3. I don't know if UK will be a "different team" by then, if by different you mean better. Someone told me it would have been funny to see UK football win the SEC and UK basketball not do shit this season.

4. What the hell is a rational UK fan? There is no such thing, my friend.

 

--UK has never played an exhibition game on Oct. 31. And last night was the earliest UK has ever started the actual season.

I understand that's not a huge difference, but it is a little different when you've got a team adjusting to a new coach with an entirely different system.

--UK will be better. Will they actually be good? I doubt it. Too many holes. But I think they'll start showing signs of improvement come the turn of the year.

--By rational, I mean the people who aren't necessarily already pissed off to no end, of which I'm sure there are plenty. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to realize this team isn't that talented.

Again, not saying UK is in position where it should ever lose to Gardner-Webb. But anyone who really had big goals for this season was smoking some of that hay Rich Brooks always talks about.