Kentucky, Indiana hurting

Vandy 93, Kentucky 52. Need I write a third BWAHAHAHAHAHA post about Kentucky’s miserable first year under Billy Gillispie? No, probably not. That would be piling on. After all, it’s Tubby Smith’s fault anyway. Thanks to a thorough investigation by Tophery, a poster on Mudlizard’s Virtual Swamp , we now have actual evidence that Tubby is the mastermind behind this plot to derail Big Blue basketball:

Thanks for the laugh, Tophery.

In other news, Kelvin Sampson has Indiana in NCAA trouble again. Already. After three decades of a clean program under a known asshole but fair player in bob Knight, Sampson has gotten Indiana in trouble twice in two years, and apparently these violations may be big. Brace yourselves and hope the allegations don’t stick, Hoosier fans.

Sampson is just a sleazy guy. I have a soft spot for Oklahoma so I gave Sampson the benefit of the doubt while he was there, but come on . . . the track record is out there for everyone to see. Will IU take a hard line with Sampson like they did with Knight? I doubt it. They brought this trouble to town, so I don’t feel sorry for them.

BWAHAHAHAHAHA, part 2

Kentucky lost a squeaker to Houston last night, 83-69. The final margin was pretty indicative of the game– a game in which Kentucky was never competitive beyond the 10:00 mark of the first half. That makes four losses in a row for the Wildcats, and back-to-back losses to Conference USA teams. It’s not that often that we get to laugh so hard at our enemies to the north, so I will relish every opportunity and just hope we do not return the favor anytime soon. Kentucky is now 4-5, including losses to Gardner-Webb, UAB, and now Houston.

If the Wildcats’ internet presence is indicative of the way their fanbase feels, they don’t fault Billy Gillispie for these losses at all. They fault the players, and especially they fault Tubby Smith. They say he left the program with no talent, and didn’t coach the players that he did recruit. Let’s see.

• Last year’s UK team went 21-11 and earned an NCAA tournament berth.
• From that team, UK only lost Randolph Morris, Bobby Perry, Sheray Thomas, and Lucasz Obrzut.
• To replace those guys, Kentucky signed Patrick Patterson (*****), Alex Legion (****), and A.J. Stewart (***).

I’d take that trade. Morris was only so-so at UK and was a cancer. Perry was a decent player and the other two were warm bodies. Patrick Patterson is a major upgrade over Morris and the Wildcats had plenty of returning wings to replace Perry’s 8.4 PPG.

Yet somehow the ‘Cats are 4-5 and look as bad as their record would indicate, and Gillispie gets none of the blame? Tubby had these guys at 21-11, the talent was arguably upgraded, and they are getting blown out by C-USA teams? Hm. I’ll say no more and you can draw your own conclusions.