The Season is Upon Us

After a disapointing season, our UK Wildcats look to have a bounce back year. WI's own Administrator Richard tries to answer key questions that loom into this season.

The Season is Upon Us
By: Richard
WI Administrator
9-26-06

As the season approaches closer and closer, the Big Blue Nation continues to get ready for another year of basketball. It is this time of the year when expectations are the highest and fans look for anything to give them hope that this could be the year that leads us to #8 or at least another Final Four. What are our expectations this year? Where do we stand as the largest group of fans in the country? Will this team live up to expectations?

This off-season has seen more fans divided than ever. On one end of the spectrum there are fans that want Tubby Smith gone from his position to the other end of the spectrum that would support him regardless of the outcome. It is kind of weird to think about how far apart some fans are on this. There where rumors of Smith leaving for the NBA, rumors of the University buying out his contract, and rumors of him being fired. None of these came true and he is here for his tenth season. He is a very solid coach but even this writer still has doubts if he is the right man for the job. With that said, I will support him as the coach of our beloved Wildcats as long as I feel confident that he can win games and improve (that did come into question this year as very few changes where made to his staff). He is the coach and I want UK to win no matter what, so I will show my support for this team and this coach.

Now that we have that out of the way, what are out expectations this year? I have a feeling that there will be a lot of surprised people out there in the big blue nation as well as the world of college basketball. I see this team as a group of players that want to prove that this is still Kentucky and that we are still the team to beat in the SEC. I think that we go into Maui Invitational and come out either as the Champion or suffer only one loss. I think that we do not lose again until we play UNC. I also think that this game will be closer than some think and if it were at Rupp, I might give the Cats a better chance. But since it is at the Dean Dome, I think that this will either be the first loss or the second loss of the young season depending on what happened at the Maui Invitational. We then kick off conference play without another loss. I think that we take care of a young but talented group of Cardinals at Freedom Hall and make it three in a row against our rivals to the west.

Once we hit SEC play, we have a very favorable early schedule which will get us off to a great start. We will go all the way to Feb 13th before we get our first loss in the SEC when UF comes to Lexington. I was torn on this game but just do not think that we have the front court personnel to compete with UF this year. I do think that this game will be much closer than last year but we will not have enough at the end to win it. Then we lose the next game at Tennessee. That will be the only time this year that we lose two games in a row. We then run the table until we meet UF in Gainesville where they take care of us again.

We go into the SEC Tournament with 4-5 losses at this point and make it to the final game where, guess what, we face UF again and they will win it again. This will not sit well with the big blue nation, as UK should never lose to the same team 3 times in one year, but I have a feeling that this UF team has our number and will win in a very close game that may even be one of the best games all year. We enter the NCAA Tournament with a 26-6 record at worse with a top 4 seed. This is where it gets iffy as anything can happen in March Madness. I believe that we will at least make it to the Elite 8, so I will go with that. After all of this we finish with a 29-7 record for the year. Now, will this happen? I have no idea but this fan likes to think in positive ways so this is my take on it.

The final part to all of this talk comes to us now. Can this team live up to the expectations that one fan has put on them? I think so. First of all, we have a very solid group of returning players. The three juniors (Morris, Bradley, Crawford) will have great years. With the new conditioning that they are receiving and the bad taste of defeat and disappointment from last year, they will finally live up to the hype that brought them to UK as the #1 overall class in 2004. You then have a senior in Bobby Perry that will want to go out in a positive light. He is our leader and is very intelligent. I really believe that he will push this team to work as a group and make them want this more than anything. These four players will be the heart and soul of this team. They will have to be as they are the leaders. UK also has Obrzut and Thomas that should also bring some leadership to the team. Although I do not think that they have the skills of the other four mentioned above, but I believe that their experience will be the key in helping this team through tough times. Woo may not have great numbers all year, but I have a feeling that he will give us something to cheer about at some point this year. As for Thomas, I think that he gets more grief than he deserves sometimes. I do not expect him to have a great year, but he will still contribute to this team and provide very valuable minutes.

This leaves us with the young guys on the team. As I talk with other fans about this team, one name continues to creep up as someone that everyone thinks could have a great season. That name would be one Jared Carter. He is the only sophomore on the team and people feel that he could be the back-up to Morris that we need. Some feel that he could be the starting Center to allow Morris to take care of the Power Forward spot. If he can get the plays down, we might see a whole new Carter this year which would give some hope that the world will not be over when Morris leaves for the NBA, as we know we will have a solid player to replace him with. Then you have the new comers (Jasper, Meeks, Porter, Stevenson, and Coury). With these young players, you have three very well know players in Jasper, Meeks and Stevenson (all of whom are 4-star recruits that can make an impact this year). Then there is Porter who most thought would be a football player instead of a basketball because of the schools that where recruiting him and Coury who no one had heard of until he decided to walk on this year. Of all of these new players on this team, the only one that I am not sure about how he will do is Coury. I think that the other 4 can and will be productive for the Cats this year as they give rest to the upperclassmen.

So, with these group of kids in the Blue and White our Cats can and (according to this writer) will be able to get the job done as I only see one weakness on this team and that is the PF. If Carter (by allowing Morris to move to the PF), Stevenson or Thomas can provide enough to keep UK from loosing games, then the other players can carry UK to wins. Points will come from the first four mentioned and I feel they will come at a rate higher than we have seen in the past. If that is the case look for a great year and some very happy Big Blue Fans as we at least reach the Elite 8 and possibly the Final Four. And remember, if you are going to dream, dream big.