Wildcats Thunder Blog: February 2008

Friday, February 29, 2008

Patterson Injured: The Season Is Not Over!

Today Patrick Patterson received some bad news about his ankle and will be out the rest of the season according to reports.

Yes, the loss of Patterson is a huge blow.....no one questions that! But, if anyone thinks that Billy Gillispie and these gutty Cats are going to throw in the towel or make excuses....then you haven't been watching BCG and the Cats this year. Despite the worst series of injuries to key players.... probably in the history of UK basketball....not once has BCG or the players made excuses.

I couldn't be more proud of Coach Gillispie or the entire UK team the way they have handled incredible adversity and battled back.
This team was 7-9 and virtually everyone in the basketball world was writing BCG and the Cats off as an absolute failure. Well, since then.....these Cats have gone 9-1 defeating both Vandy and Tennessee.

My guess is that BCG will challenge Carter and Stewart to step up and take advantage of this opportunity to get some significant playing time. In fact, each and every player will be challenged to take their game up another notch. Jasper, Harris and Stevenson must bring more offense. Hopefully, Meeks might make it back to the lineup, but regardless, these Cats will need to circle the wagons and do their best to make up for the loss of Patterson.

No, this season is not over.....you can bet that BCG and his gutty team will go to war each remaining game and play their best. However, this season ends.....BCG and this UK team has earned the respect of all UK fans....they certainly have earned mine! Now let's all give these well deserving Cats all our support in these remaining games....as Billy has said before...."My team is on the floor"! Go Cats!

Enough! By Truzenzuzex @ SeaofBlue

We are the Kentucky Wildcats, the winningest college basketball team in the United States. We do not hang our heads when players get hurt. We tend to our wounded, and we tend to our business on the court. Yes, this is a blow, but we still have a bunch of determined, hard-working players out there who deserve every iota of support we can give them. These kids have busted their behinds this year to try to pull off the improbable, and by God, I will not give up on them.

Coach Billy Gillispie:

Opening Statement …
“(It was a) tough day for us; losing Patrick Patterson. It’s unfortunate mostly for him as a person. He meant so much to our team as a player and a person. I have not been around a freshman that’s been asked to do more and has done more for a team. From day one he’s been expected to be a great player and he’s done that and more as a freshman. It’s a very, very tough day for him personally and a very tough day for us as a team. We’ve already had a practice and our guys understand how tough it’s going to be and it’s going to be a lot tougher, but not impossible. Our team has played a special way of basketball in the conference season; we’ll just have to be a little bit more special without him. We’re going to miss him, but it’s not the end of the world; he’ll be back before too long, unfortunately not this season. Just a tough day, but we’ll make the most out of it.”

#54 Patrick Patterson, Freshman:

On how he discovered the injury …
“I woke Tuesday morning and had some pain in my left ankle. It was on the inside, right on the tip of my bone. I reported it right away to the trainer and told Coach in practice. We treated it like a regular ankle injury. It started feeling better progressively and so I played in the (Ole Miss) game, but it started to hurt more towards the end. So when I woke up this morning we decided to get it x-rayed. We then found out I had a stress fracture. I was shocked. They told me I had to wear a cast for six to eight weeks. I started crying when I found out I couldn’t play for the rest of the remaining season. I was disappointed when I had to tell my teammates and my coach.”

Around the SEC Links 2/29/08

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Patterson's answer about the NBA

ukbrian32
Wildcats Thunder Administrator Video Specialist

Patrick Patterson says that he isn't concentrating on the NBA and that he's at Kentucky to stay.

Gillispie and UK Headline News

Gillispie reminds us that sports people are human beings, too [Nice article on Coach Gillispie by Gregg Doyel]
Former UK star enjoying being back in the Bluegrass [Scott Padgett comments on UK/Gillispie]
UK Notebook: Bradley knows Cats needed a blowout
Vaught's Views: Luck keeps Cats in SEC championship chase
10 SEC wins might not be enough for UK
Time to look out for No. 1 -- in the SEC

Around the SEC Links 2/28/08

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Around the SEC Links 2/27/08

Mississippi vs Kentucky....A Preview!

Lwcat
Wildcats Thunder Administrator

Mississippi vs Kentucky
(2/27/08-Wed.-8PM-Raycom)

Mississippi

Head Coach: Andy Kennedy

Asst Coach at S. Alabama: 1 year
Asst. Coach at UAB: 5 years
Asst. Coach at Cincinnati: 4 years
Interim Head Coach at Cincinnati: 1 year (21-13..NIT)
Head coach at Mississippi: 1 year (Record 21-13..NIT)

2007/08 Record: 18-8
SEC Record: 4-8

Mississippi 97 Mississippi Valley State 63
Mississippi 81 S. Alabama 78
Mississippi 108 Lamar 70
Mississippi 94 Louisiana-Monroe 70
Mississippi 102 Troy 76
Mississippi 85 New Mexico 77
Mississippi 76 UCF 67
Mississippi 76 Winthrop 71
Mississippi 69 DePaul 63
Mississippi 84 LaSalle 77
Mississippi 85 Clemson 82
Mississippi 78 Southern Miss 58
Mississippi 86 Alabama A&M 50
Tennessee 85 Mississippi 83
Mississippi 74 LSU 71
Mississippi 89 Florida 87
Auburn 80 Mississippi 77
Mississippi State 88 Mississippi 68
Mississippi 74 Vanderbilt 58
South Carolina 80 Mississippi 77
Arkansas 75 Mississippi 69
Mississippi 66 Presbyterian 55
Alabama 76 Mississippi 67
Auburn 90 Mississippi 78
Mississippi 74 Mississippi State 63
LSU 69 Mississippi 49

Projected Starting Lineup

Chris Warren G 5’10” Fr. (PPG-15.2) Ave. Minutes PG:30.7
Dwayne Curtis C 6’8” (PPG-14.1) Ave. Minutes PG: 29.4
Eniel Polynice G 6’5” Soph. (PPG-11.6) Ave. Minutes PG: 28.7
David Huertas G 6’5” Jr. (PPG-9.2) Ave. Minutes PG: 23.7
Kenny Williams F 6’8” Sr. (PPG-7.9) Minutes PG: 25.7

Team Stats:

PPG: 79.5
FG%: 45.5%
3 Point FG%: 35.6
FT%: 63.7%
Rebounds PG: 41.2 (+5.6)
Assists PG: 16.1
TO’s PG: 12.8
Steals PG: 7.2
Blocks PG: 3.7

Ole Miss started the season like a house of fire winning their first 13 games and 15 of their first 16 games. Since then, the Rebels have dropped 7 of their last 10 games. The big problem for Ole Miss this year is getting wins on the road….they are a miserable 0-6 in SEC road games thus far. Still, Ole Miss has quality wins over Vandy and Florida at home, and lost to Tennessee by only 2 points at home. So, although the Rebels have not done well on the road, they are still a formidable opponent. Ole Miss is lead in scoring by Freshman Chris Warren…he is shooting 37.4% from the 3 point line and leads the team in assists averaging nearly 5 per game. Dwayne Curtis is deadly in the paint shooting 64.5% while leading the Rebels in rebounding with 9 boards per game. In addition, senior Kenny Williams is a big strong inside player who is hitting over 50% inside the paint and pulling down 7 rebounds per game. Trevor Gaskins comes off the bench and hits 42.6% of his 3 point shots….very dangerous from the outside. The Rebels essentially use an 8 man rotation with all getting 13 plus minutes. Certainly, Andy Kennedy is one of the bright young coaches in the SEC and he will have the Ole Miss ready to play…as they hope to capture their first SEC road win at legendary Rupp arena!

The Cats continue to play inspired and tough minded basketball which has paid off in garnering a number of hard fought wins in close games. UK continues to ride on the great performances of Bradley, Crawford and Patterson. However, Stevenson, Jasper and Harris are playing very well defensively while adding occasional offense. Importantly, Stevenson hit some key buckets in the Arkansas game and he appears to be gaining more and more confidence on the offensive end. UK has now won 8 of their last 9 games….they aren’t always pretty, but these Cats are more and more taking on the tough mindedness of Coach Gillispie and they are seeing very positive results. Bradley and Crawford are now taking the ball to the basket more and more and the payoff in many instances has been buckets scored or free throws. Both Bradley and Crawford are very good free throw shooters so this has helped the Cats in many of these close wins. The Cats are still eyeing a possible NCAA bid and they know the importance of continuing to add more wins to their resume. The Ole Miss game will likely be a hard fought contest, but the Cats are playing with increasing confidence and I like UK over Ole Miss in another close game. Go Cats!

Ole Miss vs UK Gameday Chatroom Link

The chat room will be open for those who want to join in tonight during the Ole Miss Rebels (18-8, 4-8 SEC) vs Kentucky Wildcats (15-10, 9-3 SEC) on Wednesday Feb. 27 at 8:00pm-est/7:00pm-cst in Lexington, Ky at Rupp Arena on Raycom. Tom Hammond and Larry Conley will call the game for the Southeastern Conference network. The chat room will open 30 mins before game. You can Click here for the chat room, we'll have the chat room open every game before tip off and through out the whole game. We look forward to seeing you there. So be sure to bookmark the chat room. If you can't get the game in your area you try these radio stream feeds 630 WLAP, 590 WLVK as they'll be streaming todays game. Also you can watch the Ole Miss vs UK Yahoo Live Audio/Video Stream Feed. Be sure to follow the Chatroom Guideline(Link) and have fun. GO BIG BLUE!

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Links from Around the SEC 2/26/08

Kentucky vs. Arkansas Highlights (2008)

ukbrian32
Wildcats Thunder Administrator Video Specialist

Watch some great plays as Kentucky gets an important win and remain perfect at home in the SEC. This video is some of the Cats biggest plays against Arkansas and is just under four minutes. Enjoy!

Monday, February 25, 2008

Patterson SEC Freshman of the Week

SEC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Patrick Patterson, Kentucky
6-8 * 232 * Fr. * Huntington, W.Va.

Averaged a double-double on the week helping Kentucky to a weekly sweep of Georgia and Arkansas and a 6-0 record at home in league play.

Recorded his ninth 20-point game of the season against Georgia.

Hit two key free throws with 51 seconds left against Arkansas to give UK a 59-55 lead and put it out of reach.

Recorded his sixth double-double of the season against Arkansas tying him with Jamal Mashburn for fifth on UK's freshman double-double list.

Moved to fifth on UK's all-time freshman scoring list with 396 points.

Patterson's Season Stats
PPG: 16.5 RPG: 7.8 APG: 1.7 BPG: 1.3 SPG: 0.8

Around the SEC Links 2/25/08

2008 SEC Mens Basketball Tournament

The conference battles are heating up and SEC Men's Basketball is as competitive as ever. As the teams race toward the end of the month and into March, fans from all SEC schools should make sure they are set to attend the 2008 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament at the Georgia Dome.On March 13-16 in Atlanta, SEC teams will square off for the SEC Tournament Championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. If the season ended now the 2008 SEC Tournament byes would go to the following teams: [E1] Tennessee, [W1] Mississippi State, [E2] Kentucky, [W2] Arkansas

2008 SEC Women's Basketball Tournament

2008 SEC Women's Basketball Tournament March 6-9
Sommet Center Nashville, Tenn.
This year the SEC Women's Basketball Tournament returns to Nashville for the third time. The winner of the SEC tournament will receive the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The tournament seeds and conference champion will be determined by the 14-game regular-season SEC schedule. The top four seeds will earn a first-round bye.

SEC Mens/Womens Standings and Schedule 2/25/08

SEC Mens Basketball Standings 2/25/08
East

Tennessee (2) 11-1 25-2
Kentucky 9-3 15-10
Vanderbilt (20) 8-4 23-4
Florida 7-5 20-7
South Carolina 4-8 12-14
Georgia 3-9 12-13

West

Mississippi St. 9-3 18-8
Arkansas 7-5 18-8
Mississippi 4-8 18-8
Auburn 4-8 14-11
Alabama 3-9 14-13
LSU 3-9 10-16

SEC Men's Basketball Games 2/26/08-3/2/08
February 26 (Tuesday)

Tennessee at Vanderbilt [ESPN] 8:00 p.m. CT

February 27 (Wednesday)

Florida at Georgia [#SUN] 7:30 p.m. ET
LSU at South Carolina 7:30 p.m. ET
Arkansas at Alabama [RAY] 7:00 p.m. CT
Auburn at Mississippi State 7:00 p.m. CT
Ole Miss at Kentucky [RAY] 8:00 p.m. ET

March 1 (Saturday)

Alabama at Ole Miss [RAY] 1:00 p.m. CT
Vanderbilt at Arkansas [RAY] 3:00 p.m. CT
Mississippi State at Florida [CBS] 4:00 p.m. ET
South Carolina at Auburn [FSN/SUN] 5:00 p.m. CT

March 2 (Sunday)

Kentucky at Tennessee [CBS] Noon ET
Georgia at LSU [RAY] 1:00 p.m. CT

KEY
#Taped Delay; FSN/SUN includes FSN South, FSN Southwest and SUN Sports; CSS: Comcast Sports Southeast; CST: Cox Sports Television; FSN: Fox Sports Net; FSNS: FSN South; FSN Fla: FSN Florida; FSNSW: FSN Southwest; RAY: Raycom Sports; SS: SportSouth; SUN: Sun Sports;

SEC Womens Standings 2/25/08

LSU (6) 12-0 23-3
Tennessee (3) 11-1 25-2
Vanderbilt (25) 9-3 20-7
Kentucky 8-5 14-13
Georgia (24) 7-5 20-7
Auburn 6-6 18-9
Mississippi 6-7 12-14
Florida 5-7 16-11
Mississippi St. 4-9 16-12
South Carolina 3-9 14-13
Arkansas 2-10 17-10
Alabama 1-12 8-20

SEC Womens Schedule 2/25/08-2/28/08
February 25

Connecticut at LSU [ESPN2] 6 pm

February 28

Arkansas at LSU [COX] 2 pm
Florida at Tennessee 7 pm ET
Georgia at South Carolina [RSN] 7 pm ET
Vanderbilt at Auburn [RSN] 8 pm

KEY
All times central unless noted. RSN - Fox Sports Net South, Fox Sports Net Southwest, Sun Sports; CSS - Comcast Sports Southeast; FSN - Fox Sports Net National; BBSN/FSNS - Big Blue Sports Network/FSN South; COX-TD - Cox Sports Tape Delayed.

Coach Gillispie call-in show 2/25/08

Coaches call in show will be on tonight at 6PM-EST/5PM-CST, if you would like to listen you can use one of this links or radio stations YAHOO STREAM LINK and this STREAMING LINK you can also try www.wlap.com WLAP630AM Stream Feed Link; www.wvlkam.com WVLK 590AM Stream Feed Link; www.wggc.com WGGC 95.1FM.

If you have questions or comments call: 1-800-249-CATS

Also if you would like to discuss any comments during the coaches show you can click here and join in. We look forward to seeing you there.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Late UK/SEC Headline News-2/24/08

UK Baseball

UK/Arkansas Basketball game

UK/Arkansas Womens Basketball game

UK Football

Around the SEC

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Links Around the SEC-2/23/08

Arkansas vs UK Gameday Chatroom Link

The chat room will be open for those who want to join in tonight during the Arkansas Razorbacks (18-7, 7-4 SEC) vs Kentucky Wildcats (12-9, 6-2 SEC) on Saturday Feb. 23 at 2:00pm-est/1:00pm-cst in Lexington, Ky at Rupp Arena on CBS. Tim Brando and Mike Gminski will call the game for CBS. The chat room will open 30 mins before game. You can Click here for the chat room, we'll have the chat room open every game before tip off and through out the whole game. We look forward to seeing you there. So be sure to bookmark the chat room. If you can't get the game in your area you try these radio stream feeds 630 WLAP, 590 WLVK as they'll be streaming todays game. Be sure to follow the Chatroom Guideline(Link) and have fun. GO BIG BLUE!

Friday, February 22, 2008

Kentucky vs Arkansas....A Preview

Lwcat
Wildcats Thunder Administrator

Kentucky vs Arkansas
(2/23/08-Saturday-2PM-CBS)

Arkansas

Coach: John Pelphrey
Career Record: 80-67 in 5 seasons
1st Year at Arkansas

2006/07 Record: 21-14
2006/07 SEC Record: 7-9 (3rd-West)
2006/07 Postseason: 0-1 (Lost in NCAA 1st Round)

2007/08 Record: 18-7
SEC Record: 7-4

Arkansas 67 Wofford 45
Arkansas 75 College of Charleston 49
Providence 67 Arkansas 51
Arkansas 70 Va. Commonwealth 60
Arkansas 89 Delaware State 67
Arkansas 94 Missouri 91
Arkansas 62 Oral Roberts 51
Arkansas 70 Missouri State 51
Arkansas 67 Texas-San Antonio 42
Oklahoma 83 Arkansas 72
Arkansas 90 Northwestern St. 59
Appalachian State 74 Arkansas 67
Arkansas 85 Louisiana-Monroe 60
Arkansas 85 Baylor 78
Arkansas 76 Auburn 70
Arkansas 71 Alabama 67 (OT)
South Carolina 70 Arkansas 66
Georgia 82 Arkansas 69
Arkansas 68 LSU 52
Arkansas 78 Mississippi State 58
Arkansas 80 Florida 61
Arkansas 75 Ole Miss 69
Tennessee 93 Arkansas 71
Mississippi State 80 Arkansas 74
Arkansas 87 LSU 61

Projected Starting Lineup

Sonny Weems G/F 6’6” Sr. (PPG-14.9) Ave. Minutes PG-30.8
Patrick Beverley G 6’1” Soph. (PPG-11.8) Ave, Minuts PG-33.4
Steven Hill C 7’0” Sr. (PPG-5.1) Ave. Minutes PG-17.2
Charles Thomas F 6.8” Sr. (PPG-9.3) Ave. Minutes PG-21.8
Gary Ervin G 6’0” Sr. (PPG-9.5) Ave. Minutes PG-27.1

Other Key Players

Darian Townes F 6’10” Sr, (PPG-11.0) Ave. Minutes PG-21.5
Michael Washington F 6’10” Soph. (PPG-5.6) Ave. Minutes PG-15.4
Stefan Welsh G 6’2” Soph. ( PPG-5.2) Ave. Minutes PG-21.2

Team Stats

PPG--74.4
FG%--46.5%
3 Point %--33.8%
FT%--67.6%
Rebounds PG—37.7 (Margin-+5.5)
Assists PG—14.9
TO’s PG—16.1
Steals PG—7.2
Blocks PG—5.4

UK leads all-time series 21-7 over Arkansas
UK is 9-2 in Lexington
UK has won 7 straight over Arkansas

John Pelphrey, a beloved UK former player with his name hanging in the rafters, brings his Arkansas team into Rupp Arena to face the Cats. Pelphrey has previously been at Rupp Arena as an assistant under Florida’s Billy Donovan, however, this is his first trip to UK as an opposing head coach. Pelphrey will definitely get a very warm welcome by UK fans, but then all will turn their attention to the business at hand….getting a victory. As one looks at the Arkansas roster you quickly see a veteran team that returned their 9 top scorers from last year….6 of whom are seniors. The Hogs have size, good athletes and good quickness. Sonny Weems is Arkansas’s top scorer and shoots a solid 48% from the field and 39% from 3 point range. Also, Weems has been outstanding in SEC play scoring at just under 20 points per game. Patrick Beverley is shooting 38% from 3 point range and amazingly leads the Hogs in rebounds averaging 6.9 per game…despite being only 6’1” tall. Pelphrey uses his deep bench and 8 players average over 15 minutes per game. Arkansas will want to do their coach proud and will be highly motivated against the Cats. Arkansas wants to add to their NCAA resume and not slip up as the SEC winds down. Make no mistake….the Hogs will be a very tough opponent.

UK is continuing to try and finish out the SEC season with a bang and keep their NCAA hopes alive. The Cats must get first rate performances from their big three offensive guns…Bradley, Crawford and Patterson. In the Georgia game, those 3 players accounted for 51 of UK’s 61 points…in other words….83% of the offense. Harris, Coury, Jasper and Stevenson totaled 80 minutes in the Georgia game, but together they scored only 10 points. The Cats must get some significant improvement in offense, particularly from Jasper, Harris and Stevenson. While the Cats big three offensive guns have played very well in most games and are having a great year, if one or more have an off game…the Cats are in trouble. Importantly, UK is playing good solid hard nose defense and they cut their TO’s to just 8 in the Georgia game. As always, the margin for error is small in each and every UK game because they too often play 3 against 5 on the offensive end of the court. Arkansas plays 3 players 6’10” or taller, so this will be a real challenge for UK’s frontline. A.J. Stewart might get some playing time because of his height and athletic ability, although he still has a lot of improving to do on both the offensive and defensive ends. In any case, Patterson will need some solid support from Harris, Stevenson and maybe Stewart if he plays. This should be a very entertaining game and it’s one that the Cats definitely need to win. If Patterson, Bradley and Crawford all have very good games, the Cats have a great chance of increasing the winning streak over Arkansas to 8 games. Go Cats!

UK vs Arkansas Links-2/22/08

Kentucky Wildcats (14-10, 8-3 SEC)
vs.
Arkansas Razorbacks (18-7, 7-4 SEC)
Saturday, Feb. 23 • 2:00 p.m.
Lexington, Ky. - Rupp Arena (23,000)
TV: CBS

UK Hoops fall to LSU in a close one

The University of Kentucky womens basketball team fall to No. 6 LSU in a low scoring game. The Cats keep the score close and had a chance to tie the game and go into overtime, when Chelsea Chowning's missed a basket. Instead the ball bounced off the rim, and the Cats were forced to foul a LSU player and send her to the FT line where she hit two free throws with 5.5 seconds to go and iced a 52-48 victory.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

UK Hoops vs LSU Lady Tigers Rematch

Kentucky Wildcats (13-12, 7-4 SEC)
at
LSU Lady Tigers (22-3, 11-0 SEC)
Thursday, Feb. 21 • 8:07 p.m.
Baton Rogue, La. - Pete Maravich Assembly Center
Radio: Big Blue Sports Network
Live Stats | Live Audio
The University of Kentucky womens basketball team takes on the LSU Lady Tigers tonight in Baton Rouge, La. The game will be a rematch from earlier in the season at Rupp Arena on Jan. 27. In the last meeting between UK and LSU, UK lost 72-46 to then-ranked No. 9 LSU after falling behind 12-0 to start the game. Tonight the UK womens team hope to pay back LSU with a loss and UK also has junior guard Carly Ormerod back who missed the first match up. After LSU, the Wildcats head to Fayetteville, Ark., to take on the Lady Razorbacks Sunday, Feb. 24 before returning to Rupp Arena for Senior Day vs. South Carolina on March 2 at 3 p.m. EST.

Kentucky Head Coach Matthew Mitchell Quotes

“We are going to play, in my opinion, the team that is playing the best basketball in the country right now in LSU. Our team had a tough time with them last time. When we looked at the film we allowed a really big run at the start of the game. For us to have any chance to be competitive with them, we have to find a way to prevent those big runs from happening. That is going to be from taking better care of the basketball from last time and a lot better shot selection. It is going to be a tall order and a tough task but our team is ready to go down and give it our best shot and see how it works out because I didn’t feel like we played our best basketball last time we played them. We obviously need to do a better job.”