2012-2013 College Basketball

[YimYodd]

It warms my heart to see all the KY/Coach Cal hate around here. 

Love the haters!!!

[Tracy 2112]

I got my eye on your Illini

The Zags on Saturday will be a big test.  We've played them well since this matchup became annual thing.  Thing is we started 10-0 last year.  Michigan is living up to the preseason billing.  You got some talent and pedigree in Ann Arbor there ILB

I'm jumpin' on the wagon!

[Ruckus]

I got my eye on your Illini

The Zags on Saturday will be a big test.  We've played them well since this matchup became annual thing.  Thing is we started 10-0 last year.  Michigan is living up to the preseason billing.  You got some talent and pedigree in Ann Arbor there ILB

I'm jumpin' on the wagon!

Good times, good times!  They really didn't play all that well but Brandon Paul was just unbelievable and Gonzaga just couldn't make a shot in the second half.  Then again, since the Zags took that early 11 point lead in the first half, the Illini outscored them by 22 on the road.  That's impressive.

The Illini have great length, quickness, and depth among their guards and wings and cause a lot of problems for teams with their defense on the perimeter.  This really seemed to frustrate the Zags who seemed to abandon the one advantage they had, their overwhelming size advantage.  We rely too much on the three but when you don't have any true low post threats, you might as well stick with what you do best.  So long as we continue to attack the basket, I'm cool launching all the threes that we do.

Last year we started 10-0 as well before the team inexplicably just quit on Bruce Weber.  I don't see that happening under Groce and he seems to be utilizing the talents of Brandon Paul more effectively.  It's rare to see a 4 year starter truly arrive in their senior season but it looks like it may be the year Paul takes over.

If I have one complaint about this team, it's that they have not showed up for non premier matchups, barely squeaking by Western Carolina and Gardner-Webb.  Bring on the conference games!

[iLikeBeer]

It looks like I am in the minority here, but I live for and love The University of Kentucky Men's Basketball Team!

I also love The University of Louisville Men's Basketball Team!

I am from Kentucky and love all of our state's teams! It makes no difference to me who coaches my teams. I will back them until the day I die!

I sure hope Louisville can win it all this year! (It looks like UK will be a little weaker than expected. However, they will still win several quality games later in the season.)

Always stay true to your team!

Aren't Louisville and Kentucky HUGE rivals?  I can't comprehend how you could be a fan of both?  That would be like me (a Michigan fan) saying I also like Ohio State or an Alabama fan saying they will root for Auburn.  Ain't never gonna happen!!!   

[ItBeats4Jew]

It looks like I am in the minority here, but I live for and love The University of Kentucky Men's Basketball Team!

I also love The University of Louisville Men's Basketball Team!

I am from Kentucky and love all of our state's teams! It makes no difference to me who coaches my teams. I will back them until the day I die!

I sure hope Louisville can win it all this year! (It looks like UK will be a little weaker than expected. However, they will still win several quality games later in the season.)

Always stay true to your team!

Aren't Louisville and Kentucky HUGE rivals?  I can't comprehend how you could be a fan of both?  That would be like me (a Michigan fan) saying I also like Ohio State or an Alabama fan saying they will root for Auburn.  Ain't never gonna happen!!!   

Well, it's like this... Kentucky has ZERO professional teams (there was an old ABA basketball team - The Kentucky Colonals - in Louisville back in the 1970's), so... we have to really get behind our college teams. I lived in a rural part of Western Kentucky until I was 35 years old. The local TV stations ALWAYS  showed the Kentucky games. It was very hard to find a Louisville game on TV until ESPN came around. Everyone loved UK (even when we were having a "bad season". I noticed that Louisville was pretty good too when they won their 2 championships (1980 & 1986). Those NCAA Tournament games were on TV, and some of the weekend games featured on CBS were too. I figured I should like them too since they were representing my state so well. (There wasn't an annual rivalry game back in those days, so UK never really had to play UL.) Plus, I like to go against the grain a bit and be into obscure things like music most people have never heard of before. I thought it would be cool if I could like both teams (why shouldn't I!?!). I went to UK for 1 year right out of high school (1985-86) but withdrew due to personal reasons and joined the U.S. Navy for 6 years. I have a lot of pictures of me wearing my bright red Louisville Cardinals sweatshirt in various Asian and Middle-Eastern countries. I always loved (and still do love) Kentucky the most. In 2001, I moved to Central Kentucky and commute to Louisville every week-day for work. I have worked in Louisville for almost 8 years now. I work in an elementary school, and when we have days where we can wear our favorite team's shirts, I rotate teams. One year for Halloween at our school, I had on a Louisville hat, a Kentucky shirt, a pair of Louisville sweat pants, and Kentucky house-slippers. I wear glasses and happen to have a red pair and a blue pair of sunglasses that I will rotate as well. A co-worker said she knew what I was supposed to be. She said I was "a confused fan". She was right, I guess. Plus, I get the local TV stations out of Louisville, and they seem to show both UK and UL games pretty equally. About 80% to 90% of the people I have worked with over these last 8 years are Louisville fans, but every now and again I will come across someone like myself - A TRUE FAN OF BOTH THE KENTUCKY WILDCATS AND THE LOUISVILLE CARDINALS. I always tell those who don't understand, that I am lucky in the fact that I can (and do) watch twice as many college basketball (and football) games as the average fan does. If they are on at the same time, I record one and watch the other live. If I have to, I pause the live game to check in on the recorded game because so many stations run the scores of other games across the bottom of the screen. With all of this in mind, my favorite team would have to be Kentucky, but that doesn't mean I am automatically for them when they play each other around Christmas or New Year's each year. I am usually for the team that has the best chance to "go all the way". I don't want them to have a bad loss to hurt their ranking too much. I still want the game to be close - overtime with a 1 or 2 point victory would be ideal! Also, I love ALL the teams in Kentucky: Western Kentucky University (where I graduated), Morehead, Murray State, Eastern, Northern, Kentucky Wesleyan, Bellarmine, all of them. I love Kentucky teams so much that there is plenty of hate to go around to all of the biggest out of state rivals my teams have and any neighboring state (I hate Indiana, North Carolina, Duke, and Vanderbilt the most!).

If this doesn't square with those who think you can't be for both UK and UL...I don't know what else to say...

who did you pull for in the final four this year? 

[YimYodd]

It looks like I am in the minority here, but I live for and love The University of Kentucky Men's Basketball Team!

I also love The University of Louisville Men's Basketball Team!

I am from Kentucky and love all of our state's teams! It makes no difference to me who coaches my teams. I will back them until the day I die!

I sure hope Louisville can win it all this year! (It looks like UK will be a little weaker than expected. However, they will still win several quality games later in the season.)

Always stay true to your team!

Aren't Louisville and Kentucky HUGE rivals?  I can't comprehend how you could be a fan of both?  That would be like me (a Michigan fan) saying I also like Ohio State or an Alabama fan saying they will root for Auburn.  Ain't never gonna happen!!!   

As a lifelong IU fan(and alum) It's always been "SCREW PURDUE".

I always watched the Hoosiers rivals play - Michigan, OSU, Illinois, etc, -  to hopefully  see them lose.
No offense, you other BIG10 guys.....just agreeing that I can't see rooting for a rival -  unless it helps IU in the conference standings.
Obviously I really hate UK too

[YimYodd]

Mr. White

I grew watching the old ABA w/ the red/white/blue ball...back when the Pacers were winning championships!
My favorite player was DR. J. even though he killed the Pacers ( & every other team).
Of course I hated the Colonels, but looking back ....man, they had some great players.
Artis Gilmore was a monster, Dan Issel seemed unstopable, Louie Dampier( Indiana native) drilling 3 pointers !!!
I'm sure there were others that escape my memory now, who were some of your favorites?

[YimYodd]

Mr. White

I grew watching the old ABA w/ the red/white/blue ball...back when the Pacers were winning championships!
My favorite player was DR. J. even though he killed the Pacers ( & every other team).
Of course I hated the Colonels, but looking back ....man, they had some great players.
Artis Gilmore was a monster, Dan Issel seemed unstopable, Louie Dampier( Indiana native) drilling 3 pointers !!!
I'm sure there were others that escape my memory now, who were some of your favorites?

I was a bit too young to have watched many of the ABA games (or at least I hadn't gotten into it at that point much, but my parents saved me a souvenir Kentucky Colonels RC Cola bottle with the autographs of the players stamped on the label. I still have it in a box in my attic. My favorite player is/was also Dr. J! He is the reason I started watching the NBA a little later on, and my favorite team is still Philadelphia 76ers. I even went to the theater to see "The Fish That Saved Pittsberg" that he stared in when I was a kid! I have stayed loyal to the 76ers all these years. (I may start a separate link where Forum members can list all of their favorite teams from various sports later on tonight.)

Yeah, that would be a neat link - sure to get some trash-talk going.
I also followed the Sixers when DR J moved to NBA.
I lived in Terre Haute, IN  (home of Indiana State - Larry Birds' school)at the time and after he joined the Celtics the local radio station quit broadcasting the Pacers games and broadcast every Boston game.
Always thought that was crazy but it meant I could listen to those great DR J vs. Bird matchups. The two of them actually got into a fist-fight one night!

[iLikeBeer]

Also, I love ALL the teams in Kentucky: Western Kentucky University (where I graduated), Morehead, Murray State, Eastern, Northern, Kentucky Wesleyan, Bellarmine, all of them.

How about the small schools like Transylvania, Centre and Georgetown to name a few... 

As an alum of a DIII school and living in a DIII college town of the 2nd winningest all-time college basketball program (College of Wooster), I follow DIII basketball almost as closely as I do DI basketball...

Still waiting for that thread where we can list all of our favorite sports teams and get into some friendly trash talking!   

[iLikeBeer]

Also, the "What are your favorite sports teams?" thread is up.

[Ruckus]

So besides ILB with the Wolverines and Penny with the Buckeyes, we now have YimYodd, a Hoosier in our midst?!

[iLikeBeer]

So besides ILB with the Wolverines and Penny with the Buckeyes, we now have YimYodd, a Hoosier in our midst?!

And if mjk were still around, we'd have Nebraska represented which would be nearly half of the B1G...  Well at least before Maryland and Rutgers officially join?!

[Ruckus]

So besides ILB with the Wolverines and Penny with the Buckeyes, we now have YimYodd, a Hoosier in our midst?!

And if mjk were still around, we'd have Nebraska represented which would be nearly half of the B1G...  Well at least before Maryland and Rutgers officially join?!

There was a dude Tower that used to be around that was a Spartan.  Obviously Hawkeye is a Hawkeye and Scotty is a Penn State guy and aLady is a Badger

[Ruckus]

BHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  One week away!  Braggin' Rights!

[BH]

BHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  One week away!  Braggin' Rights!

   I'm worried about us this year.   We have great size and athleticism, but not a lot of pure shooters.    We do have Jabari Brown eligible soon but braggin' rights will only be his second game.    Should be exciting!   Two equally ranked teams.     We need the win since the SEC is down this year in the rpi.   Strength of schedule is going to hurt us.

[Tracy 2112]

Early season OT thriller in Indy as Butler prevails over Indiana. I told my mom on the phone last night that Butler would win; call her if you don't believe me.

[BH]

Tracy, I was at your mom's house last night, and the phone NEVER rang.

Mr. White, I see nothing wrong with being a fan of Kentucky AND Louisville.   The fact that they are not in the same conference makes ALL the difference IMO.    I've been a fan of St. Louis University since my dad (an alum) started taking me to games when I was 6 or 7.   I went the Mizzou and have since become a BIGGER fan of the Tigers but I love them both still and root HARD for both.    Seems similar.   However SLU and MU have only played each other a couple of times.   An annual matchup would spice it up a bit.

[Tracy 2112]

Tracy, I was at your mom's house last night, and the phone NEVER rang.

yep, she said you were there for about 20 seconds... I must have called after you left.

[Tracy 2112]

I love Kentucky teams so much that there is plenty of hate to go around to all of the biggest out of state rivals my teams have and any neighboring state (I hate Indiana, North Carolina, Duke, and Vanderbilt the most!).

You hate Vanderbilt?

[Ruckus]

BHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  One week away!  Braggin' Rights!

   I'm worried about us this year.   We have great size and athleticism, but not a lot of pure shooters.    We do have Jabari Brown eligible soon but braggin' rights will only be his second game.    Should be exciting!   Two equally ranked teams.     We need the win since the SEC is down this year in the rpi.   Strength of schedule is going to hurt us.

I haven't seen you guys play yet but it sounds like you are the exact opposite of us.  We need this one.  I'm still salty about last year.