Comparing Exhibition game results, UL looks like the next national champs, UK is garbage of course.

A few things they missed, or purposely left out..

A- this is a seasoned UL team made up of a lot of upper classmen, meaning they have no where near as much potential to improve throughout the season as the UK team who basically just played their first game together.

B- Pikeville is just not very good, they dropped 12 games last year to schools you have probably never even heard of.  The headline reads "louisville romps 2010-2011 NAIA champion Pikeville", what it should read is "Louisville romps 2011-2012 twelve loss Pikeville that has zero starters left from their championship team from 2 years ago".

U of l will be lucky if they have 1 playeron there roster picked in the first rd of the nba draft,uk has atleast 5. It may take us till feb or march but we will be a far better team than them

BeepThaCreep83 wrote: U of l will be lucky if they have 1 playeron there roster picked in the first rd of the nba draft,uk has atleast 5. It may take us till feb or march but we will be a far better team than them

I agree, and it was just a real funny read on that thread.... they laughed at UK's 17 turnovers, yet their own team turned the ball over 18 times against a team that lost 12 games last year. 

They were 3 of 13 from 3 point land (21.3%), while we shot 6 of 9 (66.6%)
They wanted to laugh at rebounding bragging on their 55 to 32 advantage over a team that starts the front court of C- Setty- 6'8, 190lbs,  PF- Greene-6'6, 200lbs, and SF-Johnson- 6'0, 175 lbs. And Pikeville has no front court subs over 6'5, the 9 minutes Setty spent on the bench..Pikeville featured the rebounding force of Greene-6'6, Chapman- 6'5, and Johnson 6'0.  Not sure why these guys weren't able to grab more boards?????

The REAL funny thing is, Pikeville had 32 rebounds, and 6'8 Setty only had 7 of them....  6'6 Greene had 6, There was only one "team" rebound, so that means a bunch of guys 6'0 and under had 18 rebounds. Congrats, they out rebounded a team with a front court with an average height of 6'4.... NICE, they must be the greatest!!!!! They have 1 guy who is 6'8, and he weighs 190 lbs..

The real real real funny thing is, this short team got 13 offensive rebounds against Louisville, which was only 2 less than they got against Knoxville College... LMAO. Way to keep them of the boards Redbirds, you were two Orebs better than Knoxville.

Northwood starts Doumbe- 6'8, 235 lbs, Agne-6'8, 211 lbs, and O'keefe- 6'5 230 lbs, UK out rebounded them 42-30.... , Kentucky's Offensive rebounding may have been better but, OOOPS, we shot 61.4% overall, and  66.7% from the 3pt line....but of the 26 shots we missed, UK grabbed half of them, and Northwood got the other half, I guess if UK missed the same 40 shots that UL missed, we could have nabbed more offensive rebounds like UL did....

Also, I would like to talk about "team" rebounds, a little education for the redbird fans. 99.9% of all "team" rebounds are balls that were shot, came off the rim or backboard, and either went directly out of bounds, or was tipped around without anyone gaining possession and ended up going out of bounds.  5 of Northwoods rebounds were "team" rebounds.... so nobody actually rebounded those balls.

Northwood didn't actually get 17 offensive rebounds, 5 of those were just where the ball went out of bounds... I know that was a great laugh on your thread, how UK gave up 17 offensive rebounds, it was actually 12, which is exactly the same amount as Louisville gave up to a team that featured 1 guy 6'8, 1 at 6'6, and every other player on the floor 6'0 or under.

Now, they can keep looking at the games through red colored glasses...fact is, UK played the taller team, and better team...even though Northwood is NAIA Div 2, and Pikeville is NAIA div 1, Northwood would beat that Pikeville team by 20 points.

Great post. There isn't any blue tinted glasses on in this post whatsoever. It's all facts about the games played. We don't give much credit to redbird fans so I wouldn't worry to much about what those whacko fans say. Everyone knows that Northwood is way better than Pikeville and that only helps our team progress... with our two early games against Duke and Maryland will even further prepare us and I think we beat UL in December.

UL is deep and talented. I believe UK will struggle greatly dring the first half of the season, including a big loss to UL.

No one is gonna beat us bad. We may lose a few but it will be close because we will play d and cal is to good of a coach.

Why a UK fan would concede victory to lville of all teams is beyond me.

Especially since we will have a great chance to win.

I honestly think that Louisville and Indiana are overrated. UK might be too, but not as much as those two, in my opinion. And I'm a Louisville fan, secondarily.

I do not think you know the meaning of the word "concede."

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--- Kingrexchapman3 wrote:

Why a UK fan would concede victory to lville of all teams is beyond me.

Especially since we will have a great chance to win.

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Verb
Admit that something is true or valid after first denying or resisting it.
Admit (defeat) in a contest: "he conceded defeat".
Synonyms
admit - allow - grant - acknowledge - recognize - accept

my sentence works just fine.

You can accept/acknowledge/recognize we will lose to lville but as for me and my family ....... Never

Congrats, now look up "believe" on your computer and you may understand the ridiculousness of your comment.

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--- Kingrexchapman3 wrote:

Verb
Admit that something is true or valid after first denying or resisting it.
Admit (defeat) in a contest: "he conceded defeat".
Synonyms
admit - allow - grant - acknowledge - recognize - accept

my sentence works just fine.

You can accept/acknowledge/recognize we will lose to lville but as for me and my family ....... Never

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I can always count on you for a good laugh bad. Thanks.
As for the game. I have to disagree that lville will win as you said.

Even though i didnt major in english at UK (finance) i understand the language just fine. No need to look anything up.

Louisville should have a good defense again this season, but their offense is another story.  I think this season will come down to UK and IU.

I get it. You and your family do not have honest discussions about UK basketball and you are proud of that fact.

But, even as a finance major, you must understand that having and expressing a belief about your team early in the season is not conceding victory. You get that, right?

There was no need to take a shot at me just because I honestly expressed an opinion about an early season game.

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--- Kingrexchapman3 wrote:

I can always count on you for a good laugh bad. Thanks.
As for the game. I have to disagree that lville will win as you said.

Even though i didnt major in english at UK (finance) i understand the language just fine. No need to look anything up.

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CatFansince73 wrote: Louisville should have a good defense again this season, but their offense is another story.  I think this season will come down to UK and IU.

Offensively, Louisville is not very good... 

True stats

In the paint Louisville shot 33 of 44  (75%)
Outside the paint Louisville shot 6 of 35. (17.1%)

Pikeville features a 6'8 190lb center, a 6'6 200lb PF, and they play a 3 guard set using a 6'0 guard to defend the 3 spot. Pikeville is too small to take away the paint and force Louisville to continue to shoot shots from spots on the floor where they were making 1 of 6 from. But a bigger team, for instance UK, will take all those bunnies in the paint away from Louisville.

Louisville also had 21 second chance points, which again was a benefit of playing such a small Pikeville team, a good rebounding team isn't going to allow the other team to nab 25 offensive rebounds. Honestly, when you miss 40 shots and come down with the ball 25 times, that might help you blow a team off the floor.... but does Louisville get 25 offensive rebounds against a team that has at least average sized div1 players at the 3,4 and 5 spots?

I am not posting to predict the UK/UL game, or where either team will finish the season, I am simply trying to find the logic in "we played great in our opening exhibition game, and UK/IU played horrible"

If I were a Louisville fan, after watching this game... my analysis would be.

A- We are not going to get 33 of 44 shots to fall in the paint versus an average sized DIV 1 team, especially shooting 6 of 35 outside the paint because teams will pack the paint and force us to beat them by making shots that apparently, we can't make.

B- As stated, not being able to shoot outside the paint is going to allow defenses to pack the paint. If we shoot 6 of 35 from outside the paint on half of the opponents on our schedule And don't pull down 25 offensive boards, we will lose games by double digits.

C- If we allow defenses to pack the paint, we aren't going to get 25 offensive rebounds, nor or we going to get 21 second chance points.

D-Given our overwhelming size advantage, Pikeville only attempted 15 shots in the paint, and were forced to take lower percentage shots because if they tried to drive they would get fed the ball. Bigger teams will bring the ball at us more in the paint.

E- Despite our overwhelming size advantage, Pikeville somehow managed to make 53% of their shots in the paint (8 of 15), again, bigger teams will bring the ball at us in the paint more, and if we couldn't hold a small team like Pikeville to under 53% shooting in the paint, what will we do against bigger, more skilled front courts?

F- We turned the ball over 18 times

G- We forced 23 turnovers, which is great, until we realize Pikeville turned the ball over 17 times to St Andrews, 23 times to Knoxville, and 20 times to Ohio Midwestern. As a Pitino team, we should be able to force more turnovers on a team than Knoxville college.

Good points.

UL arguably has a better team this year than last. Last season they made it to the final four. They have a lot of bodies with experience. They play UK at home this year (realizing your post was not a prediction). I think UK's potential, both individually and as a team, exceeds UL, but I think this very young UK team is going to take more time than some in the past. Part of that has to do with my perception of the point guard position. I think our floor general has a bit of a multi-personality on the floor. I think the PG position can overcome youth at other positions.

By the endo of the season, I like UK's chances. But, at this very young time, I think we are going to take more lumps than UK fans are used to. But, it is early and teams will grow quickly from one game to the next early in the season. Anything is possible.

Badinage wrote: UL is deep and talented. I believe UK will struggle greatly dring the first half of the season, including a big loss to UL.

I don't see where Louisville is all that "deep".

Their obvious starters are

PG- Siva
SG-Smith
SF- unsure
PF- Behanan
C- Deing

Their bench consists of

Blackshear
Harrell
Both of these guys are studs, but one of them has to plug into the starting line up, either Harrell goes to the 4 and pushes Behanan to the 3, or Blackshear starts at the 3 and Behanan stays at the 4. That leaves one pretty good bench player of these two.

Luke Hancock, is not great, he isn't real good, he wasn't great at GMU against lesser competition, wasn't great against Pikeville, he is a minute stealer...if Luke Hancock starts getting double digit minutes per game, Louisville is in trouble.

Angel Nunez is also not great, he is a 6'8 , 200 lb forward who doesn't bang, doesn't rebound, gets pushed around, wants to stand outside and shoot 3's, and he isn't very good at standing outside shooting 3's. He wasn't great in high school, and he isn't very good now.

Stephen Vantreese, is also just a minute stealer...he will not provide offnse while on the court, and isn't a great defender either. There is a reason a 6'8 235lb forward comes out of high school not ranked in the top 150, Vantreese is it.... he was a project, that didn't work out, and will not work out.

Zach Price, Will not provide offense when in the game, Kid can rebound, kid can play defense, but he can't score, and Louisville needs scoring.

Kevin Ware- Wasn't able to steal minutes away from anybody last year, he was supposed to be one of UL's top rated recruits last year...remember that one good game he had for UL last year? Yeah, I know, I don't either... when Ware shows me something, I will add him to the "Louisville has depth list" until then, he is just a player who rides pine, and when he gets opportunities for double digit minutes he doesn't produce.

Baufman
Bond
Henderson
Baffour

I don't see any of those guys getting more than 2 minute scrub time at the end of games.

So...

PG- Siva
SG-Smith
SF- Lets say Blackshear
PF-Behanan
C- Dieng

Bench-1- Harrell
Bench-2- Lets pretend Hancock turns into a decent option from the bench

I have 7 deep, who else adds quality depth, and why?

Thing is this, Louisville scored 68 PPG last year, they lost about 26 of that with 3 players... you have to be able to get those points back....

Plug Russ Smith into Chris's spot
Plug Blackshear into Kyle Kuric's spot

Call that a wash, Smith may put up slightly better numbers than Chris, but Blackshear probably won't get Kyles 12.6 back.

But now you have to replace those bench points. I have no reason to believe Louisville will be better defensively this year than last, they lost 2 senior starters who knew Pitino's system very well....Russ Smith will struggle against traditional 2 guards defensively, he is 6'0 tall and more suited to guard the 1 than the 2.

I also can't see Louisville being more offensive this year than last, they lost two of their top 3 scorers, and their best two 3 point shooters. 

That is a problem, if Louisville gives up more points, and scores less points, its a problem. They won 14 games last year by 10 points or less, including 11 games by 8 points or less. They can't afford a 4 point swing in each direction.... even a 3 point swing in each direction would have lost them 7 games last year.

To be as good as last year, Louisville has to be as good defensively without Seniors Chris Smith and Kyle Kuric... not to mention 4 year Junior Jared Swopshire, who wasn't an offensive force, but gave good quality defensive minutes because again, he was in his fourth year under Pitino and knew the system. And they have to replace the 25.6 Points and 10.6 rebounds they lost in Smith, Kuric, and Swopshire. 

If they can't be as good defensively, and replace those 25.6 points per game, then all of those close games they pulled out last year, they will lose this year.

It never surprises me that UK fans expect their players to improve over the offseason, but give very little credit to other teams.

Harrell reportedly looks very good. Ware is also reportedly playing well. If Hancock is not good, that will be the first I have heard. Blackshear, Siva, Smith, Djieng, and Behanan are all experienced (three of those guys probably make an NBA roster someday, maybe four). Kansas wanted Nunez. I think he will be okay. Most freshmen do not thrive in RP's teardown.

Vantreese can bang, if they need a big body. The kid does not do what he cannot. They can go 8 deep, maybe 9, without losing much.

I guess Phil Bond's son got minutes in the exhibition. He is a practice player, good athlete, but not Div. 1 material.

Badinage wrote: It never surprises me that UK fans expect their players to improve over the offseason, but give very little credit to other teams.

Harrell reportedly looks very good. Ware is also reportedly playing well. If Hancock is not good, that will be the first I have heard. Blackshear, Siva, Smith, Djieng, and Behanan are all experienced (three of those guys probably make an NBA roster someday, maybe four). Kansas wanted Nunez. I think he will be okay. Most freshmen do not thrive in RP's teardown.

Vantreese can bang, if they need a big body. The kid does not do what he cannot. They can go 8 deep, maybe 9, without losing much.

I guess Phil Bond's son got minutes in the exhibition. He is a practice player, good athlete, but not Div. 1 material.

Are you not a UK fan?

[EDIT: cool it with the slurs and attacks]

Well....I suppose some of you can start lobbing grenades at me...because I'm with Badinage. And I have been for a while now. I think a lot of UK fans are spoiled with recent results and the thought of actually losing a few games is inconceivable to them. This team will struggle early...especially with Duke and Louisville. And I think that Maryland is going to give them all they want. It would not surprise me at all if at least two of those games end up in the L column.

That does not make me (or Badinage) a bad fan. It makes me a realist.

Now...with all that being said, I think that at the end of the year they would hand Duke or Louisville their testicles in little jars after the game. But not quite yet. They just need time to work out the chemistry and gel together as a team. Once that happens, the talent is there to take them to another FF.

Badinage wrote: It never surprises me that UK fans expect their players to improve over the offseason, but give very little credit to other teams.

Harrell reportedly looks very good. Ware is also reportedly playing well. If Hancock is not good, that will be the first I have heard. Blackshear, Siva, Smith, Djieng, and Behanan are all experienced (three of those guys probably make an NBA roster someday, maybe four). Kansas wanted Nunez. I think he will be okay. Most freshmen do not thrive in RP's teardown.

Vantreese can bang, if they need a big body. The kid does not do what he cannot. They can go 8 deep, maybe 9, without losing much.

I guess Phil Bond's son got minutes in the exhibition. He is a practice player, good athlete, but not Div. 1 material.

Siva is a Senior, had 3 years to improve, did he? How much more will he improve in the off season between his Junior and Senior years? As I stated, not only did he NOT improve as a scorer from his Sophomore to his Junior year, he went backwards. But now all of a sudden I am to think he will improve in the off season?

Harrell is a stud, gave you that one.

Angel Nunez- Played 16 minutes against Pikeville, any indication he has improved?

VanTresse- Is a senior, had 3 years in college to improve to the point of getting minutes, I don't think he all of a sudden becomes solid between his junior and senior years.

8 or 9 deep without a loss of talent isn't a real statement

Siva
Smith
Blackshear
Behanan
Dieng

Harrell
Hancock

That's seven, are you seriously suggesting that you could plug Vantreese, Nunez, or even Ware into that starting line up anywhere and its "not much of a drop off"?

Wow. Did not think this would generate this much discussion. Instead of estimating improvement and their lineup, I will wait a few games and see how things payout. Not really interested in discussing UL basketball this much.

I think UK has the potential to win it all. Just not sure it comes easy early.

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--- CatFan67 wrote:

Well....I suppose some of you can start lobbing grenades at me...because I'm with Badinage. And I have been for a while now. I think a lot of UK fans are spoiled with recent results and the thought of actually losing a few games is inconceivable to them. This team will struggle early...especially with Duke and Louisville. And I think that Maryland is going to give them all they want. It would not surprise me at all if at least two of those games end up in the L column.

That does not make me (or Badinage) a bad fan. It makes me a realist.

Now...with all that being said, I think that at the end of the year they would hand Duke or Louisville their testicles in little jars after the game. But not quite yet. They just need time to work out the chemistry and gel together as a team. Once that happens, the talent is there to take them to another FF.

---------------------------------------------

Who are you?

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--- CatFever49 wrote:

Badinage wrote: It never surprises me that UK fans expect their players to improve over the offseason, but give very little credit to other teams.

Harrell reportedly looks very good. Ware is also reportedly playing well. If Hancock is not good, that will be the first I have heard. Blackshear, Siva, Smith, Djieng, and Behanan are all experienced (three of those guys probably make an NBA roster someday, maybe four). Kansas wanted Nunez. I think he will be okay. Most freshmen do not thrive in RP's teardown.

Vantreese can bang, if they need a big body. The kid does not do what he cannot. They can go 8 deep, maybe 9, without losing much.

I guess Phil Bond's son got minutes in the exhibition. He is a practice player, good athlete, but not Div. 1 material.

Are you not a UK fan?

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CatFan67 wrote: Well....I suppose some of you can start lobbing grenades at me...because I'm with Badinage. And I have been for a while now. I think a lot of UK fans are spoiled with recent results and the thought of actually losing a few games is inconceivable to them. This team will struggle early...especially with Duke and Louisville. And I think that Maryland is going to give them all they want. It would not surprise me at all if at least two of those games end up in the L column.

That does not make me (or Badinage) a bad fan. It makes me a realist.

Now...with all that being said, I think that at the end of the year they would hand Duke or Louisville their testicles in little jars after the game. But not quite yet. They just need time to work out the chemistry and gel together as a team. Once that happens, the talent is there to take them to another FF.

I think most fans feel somewhat like you do. UK fans are pretty smart about these things, we just get a bad rap because we're so passionate. But Badinage didn't say "most UK fans," or "some UK fans." He said, "UK fans." That includes us all.
It's popular to accuse KY fans of thinking they won't, or shouldn't lose a single game, thanks to guys like Dick Vitale and pretty much everyone on ESPN. But we know better than that, regardless of the stereotype.

Badinage wrote: Who are you?

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--- CatFever49 wrote:

Badinage wrote: It never surprises me that UK fans expect their players to improve over the offseason, but give very little credit to other teams.

Harrell reportedly looks very good. Ware is also reportedly playing well. If Hancock is not good, that will be the first I have heard. Blackshear, Siva, Smith, Djieng, and Behanan are all experienced (three of those guys probably make an NBA roster someday, maybe four). Kansas wanted Nunez. I think he will be okay. Most freshmen do not thrive in RP's teardown.

Vantreese can bang, if they need a big body. The kid does not do what he cannot. They can go 8 deep, maybe 9, without losing much.

I guess Phil Bond's son got minutes in the exhibition. He is a practice player, good athlete, but not Div. 1 material.

Are you not a UK fan?

---------------------------------------------

What are you getting at?

Well, with just over 150 posts, you are questioning whether I am a UK fan? And, I apologize for not saying the obligatory "most" or "some." Sorry if that offended you.

Finally, yes, I tend to think UK players will improve from year to year, expect as much, in football and basketball, but am often proven wrong. And, like MOST fans, I know a lot about my team, and not nearly as much about others.

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--- CatFever49 wrote:

Badinage wrote: Who are you?

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--- CatFever49 wrote:

Badinage wrote: It never surprises me that UK fans expect their players to improve over the offseason, but give very little credit to other teams.

Harrell reportedly looks very good. Ware is also reportedly playing well. If Hancock is not good, that will be the first I have heard. Blackshear, Siva, Smith, Djieng, and Behanan are all experienced (three of those guys probably make an NBA roster someday, maybe four). Kansas wanted Nunez. I think he will be okay. Most freshmen do not thrive in RP's teardown.

Vantreese can bang, if they need a big body. The kid does not do what he cannot. They can go 8 deep, maybe 9, without losing much.

I guess Phil Bond's son got minutes in the exhibition. He is a practice player, good athlete, but not Div. 1 material.

Are you not a UK fan?

---------------------------------------------

What are you getting at?

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Badinage wrote: Well, with just over 150 posts, you are questioning whether I am a UK fan? And, I apologize for not saying the obligatory "most" or "some." Sorry if that offended you.

Finally, yes, I tend to think UK players will improve from year to year, expect as much, in football and basketball, but am often proven wrong. And, like MOST fans, I know a lot about my team, and not nearly as much about others.

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--- CatFever49 wrote:

Badinage wrote: Who are you?

---------------------------------------------
--- CatFever49 wrote:

Badinage wrote: It never surprises me that UK fans expect their players to improve over the offseason, but give very little credit to other teams.

Harrell reportedly looks very good. Ware is also reportedly playing well. If Hancock is not good, that will be the first I have heard. Blackshear, Siva, Smith, Djieng, and Behanan are all experienced (three of those guys probably make an NBA roster someday, maybe four). Kansas wanted Nunez. I think he will be okay. Most freshmen do not thrive in RP's teardown.

Vantreese can bang, if they need a big body. The kid does not do what he cannot. They can go 8 deep, maybe 9, without losing much.

I guess Phil Bond's son got minutes in the exhibition. He is a practice player, good athlete, but not Div. 1 material.

Are you not a UK fan?

---------------------------------------------

What are you getting at?

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I didn't mean to question your loyalty as a fan...just tryin to make a point. Too many people are down on KY fans. "Fan" is short for "fanatic." Fans are fanatics anywhere you go. Yeah, we're passionate, and we like to do a little dreaming, but we do know reality from fantasy.

btw, what does my number of posts have to do with anything?