Good win for UK over Vandy, but I've stopped rooting for this team. I've been anti-UK from birth, however this season I was willing to lay that down and pull for the youngsters. I was captivated the first few games because of John Wall. When Bledsoe and Cousins flashed what they could do, this team owned me. But the chippiness and sorry attitudes of Cousins and Bledsoe have turned me off completely. Bledsoe needs his head examined just like Cousins. I think Bledsoe also got out of control in the Louisville game. Of course it won't happen, but I'm back to wanting UK to crash and burn. Some things are just natural for this Indiana boy. It's hard to believe (for a few games) I had actually adopted them figuratively as "my" college team. These guys have the dreaded "sense of entitlement" attitude that I detest and it really comes out whenever they face tough, physical opposition. I hope this bites them hard early in the NCAA tournament. I still like John Wall and want to see him at the next level, but Cal needs to get a better grip on the other guys. How a player reacts to adversity says a lot about them.
Don't watch much college basketball but I saw the second half of the Vanderbilt game. And John Wall didn't do much. It looked like Cousins was carrying the team. John Wall did pull off 1 clutch defensive play (block and steal) but other than that nothing.
Vandy student here. That loss was so, so painful to see especially after waiting to get in since 8 AM. Anyway, self-pity aside, I was thoroughly unimpressed by pretty much all the Kentucky players, at least relative to their hype. Cousins played well, but was such a head case and Bledsoe's forearm to Taylor was just absurd and the result of frustration from Taylor shutting him down. Wall was especially disappointing. Maybe you just chalk it up to an off day, maybe to suffocating defense from a jacked up opponent, but he just flat out didn't play well on offense and was the cockiest player I've ever seen during pregame warm ups (yeah, I know, he's good, he can act that way if he wants...). I really do question how beneficial it is for guys to go play for Calipari if they want to maximize their potential, however. While his system may be fun to play in, he has proven, IMO, that he can't keep the reins on his players pretty much everywhere he's been and this year just seems like an extension of the trend. The talent of his players is pretty much unquestionable, but their discipline and ability to play team basketball is still very much up in the air. Take a guy like Tyreke Evans for example. Insanely talented, but just dominates the ball and doesn't look to get others involved much. Rose is a bit of a different situation, but for some reason he just hasn't seemed to be able to make that next step as an NBA point guard yet (Still too early to judge his career, I get it). Anyway, all this is to say that I think at this point, I'd rather take Evan Turner at number one than Wall. And that Jeffrey Taylor is a lottery pick a year from now. Dude plays some salty defense and has mad hops and quicks.
He also missed the playoffs last season. Again: I don't see John Wall being a better NBA player than Rose. The categories where he DOES top Rose are confidence and bluster. In spades. Time will tell.
there are some things I just have to share because their absurdity knows no bounds... <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/eFPpKoTpURM&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/eFPpKoTpURM&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> these kids got people on hollywood blvd to do the "John Wall"
I like John Wall but based on what I have seen I don't think he will be better than Derrick Rose or Tyreke Evans. I just don't see it.
I never saw it, especially the comparison to Rose. I definitely don't see him doing in his 2nd year in the NBA what Rose is doing now. Regarding today's game, if Tennessee was just a little more mature, they would be up over 20 points now instead of 16
He's going off right now. He has to remain this aggressive. He needs to improve his jumpshot. I think he will be a very good NBA player though. We can't hit a 3 to save our life though. That could come back to hurt us in the Tourney. Our defense has been horrible to. We need to get Cousins and Patterson going.
Tennessee has really gone away from what was working for them. Their players have to realize a missed long-jumper is equivalent to giving up fast break layup at the other end. I know Tatum is important to them but he has mush for brains. UK should expect to see a lot of zone defenses from now on. I take it for granted Wall will improve his jumper after coming to the NBA. Today, clanking jumpers are just killing UK.
UK is so good in transition it's disgusting. The zones give them problems for sure, but you have to play SO disciplined against these guys to avoid the run outs. Bruce Pearl draws up a nice zone, though - Tenn hung right with UK for 32 minutes in Lexington earlier this month.
I admit I didn't watch Rose that much, but I gotta think John Wall is clearly better. Kid's hit multiple game winners already - just a flat out stud. The one thing I would worry about with Wall is his attitude. Rose was always pretty humble -- Wall knows he's a stud. That worries me.
Very surprised Tennessee was able to get their legs back under them and finish the game on that 9-0 run after UK tied it. I don't think anyone on either side expected that to happen. Still can't believe it ended that way. They fought hard but this was probably about the worst way for UK to lose this game.
I thought we had all the momentum when Cousins got the dunk to tie the game, but then we allowed Prince to get a bucket and made back to back dumb turnovers. For a young team in a hostile environment it was good to see such a young team not give up when falling down by 17 points on the road. Eric Bledsoe has been in a slump as of late. Coach Cal might should bring him off of the bench. Darnell Dodson was horrible. He was suppose to be a pretty good 3 pt. shooter but he has lost his touch the last few games. Hopefully they bounce back.
I mark this loss up for two reason... 1. couldn't hit the broad side of a barn tonight... tired legs from only having a day and a half between games 2. well executed plan by tennessee... they ran backdoor cuts and took mainly smart shots for the entire game. yeah TN had a stretch where they sort of panicked, but having the game in their gym helped them a lot = though I did hear a bunch of UK fans as well.
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Am I the only one seeing a Steve Francis clone here? No one can deny his talent and athletic ability, and I have no doubt he will be averaging close to 20-5-5 for years to come, but I am having a really hard time seeing him as a winning basketball player. Also this might be a little harsh, but who was the last great player as articulate as a bumbling idiot? I mean has anyone heard this guy in an interview? You don't need to be Einstein to play basketball, but he is giving me Marbury flashbacks. Honestly I would take an Evan Turner(Brandon Roy) over a John Wall(Marbury/Francis) any day of the week.
