Kentucky Sports Radio
[Moderated by Matt Jones]
[Moderated by Matt Jones]
It was an unusual Sunday for Cats fans as for the first time since the pre-probation era, we watched the Selection Show not 100% sure that Kentucky’s name would be called. When Joe Lunardi had the Cats safely in (he did get 65 of 65), one had to feel good, but after the first two regions came on the board, there was certainly some pacing going on in homes across the Commonwealth. But after all that handwringing, worrying and following of scores from the West Coast Conference to the MAC, the end result was positive. Kentucky meets its old friend Marquette in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at 2:30 pm on Thursday in Anaheim, California. The Cats will travel across country to play against the team that knocked Kentucky out of the Big Dance in 1994 and 2003, the latter of those victories being one that still sticks with a lot of Kentucky fans to this day. After the initial glee of finding out that Kentucky was indeed in the tournament, most Cat fans I spoke with tonight had the same, “Marquette again?” outlook, although the mood was cautiously optimistic.
To the extent this game gets noticed by the national media, one of the storylines could be on the coaching end as Billy Gillispie takes on Tom Crean. For those of you that dont remember, last summer Crean’s name was really the first non-Billy Donovan name to make the rounds when the UK job came open and many believed that he was an early favorite of Mitch Barnharts. While it isnt really clear who Kentucky interviewed or had discussions with at the time, there is little doubt that Crean was involved to some extent in that process and his name was associated publically with the job for some time. Kentucky ended up of course with Gillispie, but I suspect some analysts will remember those days and mention Crean’s connection to the UK job.
As for his team, from a matchup perspective, UK matches up well with Marquette. Most of the strength of Marquette comes from its perimeter players, which is perfect for Kentucky, where perimeter defense has been a strong point. I expect Ramon Harris to be assigned again to guard the other team’s best perimeter player, which in this case is Dominic James, a do-everything guard who has had a great career for the Big East school. The gameplan on beating Marquette this year has been simple….play zone to cut off their ability to penetrate in the land as their perimeter people are great at getting to the basket and then let them brick three pointers. That is likely not how Gillispie will play the game, as he will force the defense with pressure and hope to cut off drives with turnovers and help defense. The Cats shouldnt get killed on the offensive glass, as against Georgia, as the front court of Marquette has had much difficulty scoring and playing defense….as seen in their two losses to Louisville. From a matchup perspective, this is a good draw for Kentucky and definitely a winnable game. Marquette will likely go in the favorite, but Kentucky can easily win and I think will win if Crawford and Bradley are hitting their shots. Coach Gillispie tonight mentioned that UK already had 29 tapes of Marquette and would begin the process of scouting tonight and I am sure a solid game plan will be in place. Bottom line, there are teams with athleticism and height that could give Kentucky major fits….this isnt one of those teams. And as for Stanford in the next round….well we will get to them later.
— UPDATE: Read Andy Katz’s Conversation with the NCAA Tournament Director who had interesting things to say about Kentucky. He says the Cats were in before their Quarterfinal game and were “strong but not a lock.” However due to the odd circumstances of Friday night, the loss to Georgia was not held against them. Interesting stuff….
Over the next three days, we will break down Marquette further, including Dominic James, who seems to have been in school forever. We will have an extensive KSR-type look at the brackets (Mosley — East, Matt — West, Turkey Hunter — South, Intern — Midwest) beginning on Tuesday. Before that however, a few preliminary thoughts on the brackets….(and I reserve the right to change ALL of these picks)
EAST: Probably the best bracket as pertains to the top 3 seeds, with UK opponents UNC, Tennessee and Louisville all placed in one region. Washington State is awful as a four seed and Notre Dame is vastly overrated in my view. I would not be surprised to see either Winthrop or George Mason head to the Sweet 16 from that pod. UNC will destroy Indiana in Round 2 and walk to the Final 8. Waiting there will be Louisville who will destroy Boise State and then take out St Josephs in a “closer than people think” 2nd Round game. UT will win barely against Butler (down to the last minute) and then get schooled by Ricky P in the Sweet 16. UNC takes the region even though UL would have been deadly in another region.
SOUTH: The most wide open of all the regions and the best one for a sleeper team to make a run (hear me Cats?). Memphis will have a tough test with Mississippi State, who will be physical with the Tigers in Round 2, but fall a bit short. I like Michigan State in the tournament no matter what and see their second round game with Pitt as being a classic, which they win. Cats beat Marquette with a gritty win at the end and play Stanford. That game could go either way, with Stanford either dominating on the glass and winning by 12 or losing a close won. Texas has a close game with St Marys in Round 2 but goes to the Final 8 to play Michigan State, who knocks off Memphis. Michigan State wins to go to the Final Four….even though they arent that good. Seriously from this bracket, any of the Top 6 seeds could make the Final Four and I wouldnt be shocked.
MIDWEST: Kansas dusts off Kent State in Round 2 and pounds an overrated Clemson team to get to the Final 8 (Vandy may lose to Siena). Mayo vs Beasley in Round 1 is an absolute basketball gift as I saw these two play against each other once in the summer and it was great. The winner of that game takes out Wisconsin, who will choke away another Big 10 title team. Davidson takes out Gonzaga and plays Georgetown tough before going down. Georgetown loses by 10 to Kansas who doesnt make Bill Self look too stupid.
WEST: UCLA rolls. BYU plays UCLA in a game no one watches to get to the Sweet 16. Western Kentucky loses to Drake in the best game no one will see before falling to UCONN in the 2nd Round. Purdue takes out BAylor and Xavier, who earlier ended the Georgia run. Arizona beats West Virginia and gives Duke all they want before falling at the end. Duke gets the only team they can beat in the Sweet 16 by taking out Purdue and then gets drilled by UCLA in the Final 8.
UCLA then beats Michigan State, UNC takes out Kansas in an absolute classic and UCLA hangs banner #13. Tournament is top heavy with UCLA, UNC and Kansas a lot better than everybody else and Georgetown, Louisville and Texas one notch below, Tennessee, Duke and Stanford two notches below. After those top 6 however, everyone can be beaten by anyone….so I expect lots of potential 3 seeds losing to #6s or #11s while #7s give #2s a run as well.
We will wrap up the Atlanta trip tomorrow, which was as crazy as it was memorable. Plus I was fortunate enough to, amidst the craziness, talk to some national folks about the UK program, recruiting and the team the next couple of years. We will get to that tomorrow.
Finally Bobby Perry will be in studio with me tomorrow night on my radio show from 8-9 pm breaking down the brackets. Over the next three days, Gregg Doyel of CBS Sportsline, Chris Dortch of Blue Ribbon Yearbook, Mike Decourcey of Sporting News, Bomani Jones of ESPN fame, Pat Forde of ESPN and Kige Ramsey of YouTube Sports will all pick brackets on the show. Check it out….
And in case you missed it, our podcasts live from Atlanta the night of the storm (and includes the only time you will ever hear a recording of me singing)…
Part 1 (On Tonight’s Events)….
Part 2 (On Tomorrow’s schedule)….
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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March 17th, 2008 at 12:14 am
Good Stuff!
March 17th, 2008 at 12:14 am
we will beat Marquette. this one’s for Bogey.
March 17th, 2008 at 12:19 am
Jones I saw you talking to Farmer in Ga Tech’s stadium just to my right. When I spoke with him he was mighty proud about the idea of Friday’s CATastrophe. Out of curiosity did he run that by you? He’s a comical fellow.
March 17th, 2008 at 12:25 am
This blog’s coverage of the conference tourney was highly outstanding. Nobody, nobody covered that event anywhere near like this site - coverage that I can understand. It seemed, sitting from here, that you stared into the eye of that tornado, typed stories, and not only didn’t flinch but let it know that no man, woman, bear, nor twister could move you out in front of the Big Blue - while that sissy Macon ran like he was taught growing up in the trailer.
March 17th, 2008 at 12:42 am
I’ve discovered that Marquette has an asst. coach that was an of asst. to BCG for two years at T A&M.
In this Marquette blog(linked from John Clay’s blog) the asst, “Buzz” Williams is talking about knowing how BCG coaches. Buzz off Buzz.
http://blogs.jsonline.com/muhoops/
he starts about 10 paragraphs down.
March 17th, 2008 at 12:46 am
Would only be title #12 for UCLA, lets not give em more than they have already! But I do agree, UNC, UCLA and KU seem a notch above everyone else.
March 17th, 2008 at 1:04 am
Gotta love the $$$ in the Craft Center. Some may not know, but over $750,000 went into to audio/video equipment in that building, much of that going into an UNREAL film room, with endless racks of cable and satellite boxes that digitally record and archive EVERY college basketball game that is broadcast anywhere. 29 Marquette games just like that. Very underrated advantage. Marquette may get 29 of our films, but its going to take some work.
March 17th, 2008 at 1:18 am
Is the UK gametime eastern or pacific time??
March 17th, 2008 at 1:19 am
2:30 Eastern
March 17th, 2008 at 1:40 am
Good Golly Miss Molly!!! The Cats are playing in California!!!!
March 17th, 2008 at 3:03 am
[...] It’s Time to Go Dancing [...]
March 17th, 2008 at 6:21 am
Matt… your overhyping Mich St. and underhyping Pitt in your draw IMO.
Hey, could you put some advance notice on the website for when your going to post Kige Ramsey’s picks so I can make sure I don’t check the site that day. Thanks!
March 17th, 2008 at 9:09 am
Matt, check UK’s history. Marquette has been giving us fits almost as long as I can remember. When Al McGuire was young and a tough cookie no one in blue liked he took out UK and Coach Rupp and Joe B. I believe in the NCAA back in the early 70’s. Someone could look it up. They continue to scare me, but we can prevail …. Go Cats!
March 17th, 2008 at 9:14 am
Matt, I get the feeling that you wish BCG would at least give zone defense a chance, and I agree. A zone certainly is not a cure all. It allows opponents to get open 3’s and a lot of offensive rebounds. However, it can be useful in small doses, especially for a team that basically only plays 6 players.
I don’t care how good of an athlete you are, playing man to man defense for 40 minutes is grueling. Particularly for guards who have to fight through screens, deny the ball, slide their feet 25 feet from basket, and then box out.
At the end of games, during the most important offensive possessions, Crawford is usually in the corner hands on knees gasping for air…….
March 17th, 2008 at 9:38 am
James is not the key to Marquette’s team anymore. McNeal and Hayward are really the two driving forces. I think Ramon will have to guard Hayward. Ramel may end up having to guard James if Jasper doesnt. Either way, our guards will have to defend.
I may be wrong, but I seem to recall Marquette’s guards not being the best free throw shooters, so i think we have an advantage there too.
Wisco’s guards are better than they were the last two years.
March 17th, 2008 at 10:10 am
Did this post move? Trippy. Not fair either. I’ve been at work since 4:30 AM and am starting to get a little slap-happy. I thought I had totally lost it.
March 17th, 2008 at 10:13 am
I just did my bracket. I have U of L in the Final Four. I think I want to puke at my own bracket!
I also have Memphis going to the Final Four, even though I have said since yesterday they are the most beatable #1 seed.
I hope I’m wrong on that, too, and while I’m at it, I’m going to fill out another bracket!
March 17th, 2008 at 10:14 am
Is Jodie Meeks out for the tourney? Is there any chance he could get a medical redshirt?
March 17th, 2008 at 10:20 am
has anybody heard if perry got hurt when jackson rolled over on his leg?
i look for davidson to make a deep run. they played Carolina and other good
teams close early in the year and they have an explosive player in
stephen curry 25 ppg and 2 spg
March 17th, 2008 at 10:46 am
Does anyone else find it rediculously unfair that UNC gets a chance to play the East Regionals in their own backyard. Might as well let them play in the Dean Dome! Every year they put either Duke or UNC in that same position.
March 17th, 2008 at 10:50 am
20 - I think that’s why Tennessee was put in UNC’s region. Charlotte is the same distance from Chapel Hill as it is Knoxville.
March 17th, 2008 at 10:50 am
I think Vandy beats Kansas. Kansas and Bill Self will always delivered on their patented choke.
March 17th, 2008 at 11:01 am
18.
Probably and no.
20/21.
Being a #1 seed usually means you play close to home. Being THE #1 seed pretty much ensures you stay as close to home as possible until the Final Four. It is completely fair.
March 17th, 2008 at 11:33 am
I stopped and said hello to you guys at the CNN center during your webcast. You were chatting with a nice looking lady participating in your show. One question for ya…..how about that dental convention???? Free toothbrushes and all the eye candy you wanted!!!!
March 17th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
UL will not beat Carolina, if they get that far. No final four for the Tards.
March 17th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Hey Matt…any information on refunds for the tickets from the SEC tourney???
March 17th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
As for USC and K-State. I think the real matchup is Mayo vs. Bill Walker. I’m from the Cincinnati area and when these two played at North College Hill together it was like watching an And 1 mix tape vs the other team. I’m excited to see them play against each other.
March 17th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
7)I heard the previous staff used that audio/video equipment to record reruns of ‘Saved By The Bell’.