9-16 team and roster.

Not quite as bad but good Lord, those guys stink. El Ellis, really. See Deebo Davis finally hit the door, what an asshat he was.

The freshman wall, a period characterized by mental exhaustion by a roster's freshman, usually taking place between January and February. Remember this with John Wall, among others.

Excerpts from various articles.

---

"In my experience,” Self said at a weekly media availability (in 2023), “it comes in early February, or late January, so now's the time that they would start hitting it."

----
The freshman wall is no myth, and Thornton said he ran straight into it at the start of the new year.

“It definitely hit me. You get to a point where you start doubting yourself,” Bruce Thornton said in an interview at the Schottenstein Center Tuesday. “Me, it took some maturing, especially (when coaches asked me to step up as a leader). I need to keep my head high. I know if I keep working, do everything I do every single day, I’ll get out of it.”
-----
YaleDailyNews

So what exactly does it mean to “hit the freshman wall?” Consider the athlete who, on the strength of the raw talent, instincts and athleticism that got him recruited in the first place, excels immediately during his initial season in college. An extraordinary showing during preseason camp lands him a significant role for the start of the season, which he dominates in the limelight. As a result, there comes the media hype, the awards talk, the coronation as the big man on campus, the comparisons to Reggie Bush, Kevin Durant, Stephen Strasburg — life is good for our young up-and-comer.

Then, out of nowhere, bam! The budding athlete slams right into the wall. And suddenly, he falls back to earth, disoriented. Be it the onset of increasingly unbearable fatigue, the discovery of a certain predictability in his game, or a sudden sense of anxiety in the face of all the pressure that comes with such high praise, he struggles to get back on track. Should he fail to replicate the heroic deeds of his pre-wall career, this athlete is reduced to nothing more than yet another ex-phenom who couldn’t hack it on the big stage. A bust.

---

Jan 27, 2020
ATHENS — For once, it seemed, Georgia basketball freshman Anthony Edwards was not at ease talking basketball on Saturday evening.

The Bulldogs had just dropped their third game in a row, falling at home to an Ole Miss team that had lost six straight and was sitting last in the SEC.

Edwards squirmed, he fidgeted, he smiled and he frowned. An 18-year-old young man who should still be in high school by birthdate, Edwards didn’t know what to do or what to say in this curious, awkward and pressure-filled situation.

Four nights earlier, Edwards was held scoreless in the first half at Kentucky and committed five turnovers.

---

In 2013, Willie Cauley Stein said:

"Huh," he said. "There's no — how can I say this? — there's no chance to hit a freshman wall here."

"I don't know what a freshman's wall is," Cauley-Stein said. "I don't think it's possible to hit it here. He'll make sure that in practice you don't hit a freshman wall."

Absolutely massive week coming up.

If we can hold serve against Florida, Saturday night will be one of those atmospheres we only get once every 3-4 seasons.

Probably the biggest home game and best atmosphere since we steamrolled #1 UT in 2019?

What in the world?

Put the Fighting K.D. Johnsons’ down. Keeping us in the race for the SEC championship.

Welcome to the Official Kentucky @ Arkansas SEC Regular Season Prediction Contest!

Follow the rules below and make your prediction. I'll publish the results after the game. You can put any comment you would like below your score prediction (put '***' after your prediction to make it easier to separate the comments) but try not to put anything above as my scripts may not be able to find your prediction. This is the 2nd of three prediction contests this season: the OOC Contest, the SEC Regular Season contest, and the Postseason Contest.

Whoever predicts the score closest to the actual score wins. I take the absolute value of the difference of your guess of the Kentucky score and the actual plus the absolute value of the difference of your guess of the opponent score and the actual. There is a penalty for picking the wrong winner. That penalty is the worst score among those who predicted the correct winner. In case of a tie, the tiebreaker is used. In case of a tie in the tiebreaker, we have more than one winner.

I will be awarding points for the first 10 places, including a 3 point bonus for a perfect prediction. I will track cumulative point totals and the number of games you make the top 10. This contest ends with the end of the SEC Regular Season.

Your post should look something really close to the example below. Remember the ":"s and the word "Tiebreaker:"! Do not!! use a "-" as a separator because some of our tiebreakers will be negative.

This game's tiebreaker is Arkansas Blocks.

Kentucky @ Arkansas game:

--------------------------
Kentucky: 86
Arkansas: 72

Tiebreaker: 7
--------------------------

Just cut and paste everything between the lines above into your reply and then modify the scores and tiebreaker as you see fit. If you don't know how to do that, type very carefully. Remember to type in the word "Tiebreaker:" so that I can find it. Anything my scripts can't figure out will not count.

Don't edit your post or try to post a score after the game has started.

BTW I really would prefer exact names for the teams, but will try to be accommodating as long as it doesn't create too much work for me. If we are playing Louisville, just about anything not obscene will be OK.

--------------------------
SEC Regular Season Basketball Prediction Scores - Kentucky @ South Carolina (tiebreaker was 8 Kentucky Turnovers):

10 1 . howercat : 16 points, tiebreaker=9
9 2 . Jamal Mercer : 17 points, tiebreaker=8
8 3 . Chad Rock : 18 points, tiebreaker=9
7 4 . coolfred : 24 points, tiebreaker=14
6 5 . UK96GOAT : 25 points, tiebreaker=12
5 6 . Bigblueincincy : 45 points, tiebreaker=11
4 7 . OldEvilleCat : 47 points, tiebreaker=8
3 8 . number8please : 47 points, tiebreaker=11
2 9 . TOMCATS1990 : 47 points, tiebreaker=12
1 10 . Old_Red : 49 points, tiebreaker=7
.. 11 . truckbrandon : 49 points, tiebreaker=10
.. 11 . docholiday51 : 49 points, tiebreaker=10
.. 13 . LogicalCat : 50 points, tiebreaker=9
.. 13 . ukfan041 : 50 points, tiebreaker=9
.. 15 . ORCAT : 50 points, tiebreaker=10
.. 16 . AFSTALLION13 : 50 points, tiebreaker=14
.. 17 . pappy52 : 51 points, tiebreaker=9
.. 17 . warrior-cat : 51 points, tiebreaker=9
.. 19 . cat tat2 : 51 points, tiebreaker=10
.. 19 . ukypug : 51 points, tiebreaker=10
.. 21 . Jazzycat : 51 points, tiebreaker=13
.. 22 . Wildcat_In_Florida: 52 points, tiebreaker=8
.. 23 . MidseasonTweak : 52 points, tiebreaker=9
.. 23 . yes_takeaside : 52 points, tiebreaker=9
.. 25 . Rideordiewildcat : 52 points, tiebreaker=10
.. 26 . kywildcatsfannumber1: 53 points, tiebreaker=10
.. 27 . wfm101981 : 53 points, tiebreaker=11
.. 28 . M4CAT : 54 points, tiebreaker=9
.. 29 . Jperry1987 : 54 points, tiebreaker=10
.. 30 . Blueisbest : 54 points, tiebreaker=12
.. 31 . onearmedjesus : 55 points, tiebreaker=9
.. 31 . KY Long Rifle : 55 points, tiebreaker=9
.. 33 . Oldbluefart : 55 points, tiebreaker=11
.. 33 . ThreeHogNight : 55 points, tiebreaker=11
.. 35 . Kycatspaws : 56 points, tiebreaker=7
.. 36 . UK Cats1 : 56 points, tiebreaker=10
.. 37 . TexKat : 57 points, tiebreaker=8
.. 38 . kyfanrob : 57 points, tiebreaker=9
.. 38 . $Z71$ : 57 points, tiebreaker=9
.. 40 . Hang_Time_2 : 57 points, tiebreaker=12
.. 41 . BlueWorldOrder74 : 58 points, tiebreaker=8
.. 41 . BigBlueFanGA : 58 points, tiebreaker=8
.. 43 . *CatinIL* : 58 points, tiebreaker=9
.. 44 . jrm693 : 58 points, tiebreaker=10
.. 44 . SWVA WildcatFan : 58 points, tiebreaker=10
.. 46 . rivercatinfl : 58 points, tiebreaker=11
.. 47 . UKCatWoman : 58 points, tiebreaker=12
.. 48 . Lempface : 59 points, tiebreaker=9
.. 49 . Hargyt13 : 59 points, tiebreaker=11
.. 50 . Roe07 : 59 points, tiebreaker=12
.. 51 . BlobUK : 60 points, tiebreaker=9
.. 51 . North Carolina Blue Wildcat: 60 points, tiebreaker=9
.. 53 . kybloo92 : 61 points, tiebreaker=11
.. 54 . lyngz : 62 points, tiebreaker=7
.. 54 . drew_ukfan : 62 points, tiebreaker=9
.. 56 . YardCat : 62 points, tiebreaker=12
.. 57 . GoBIG BLUE : 63 points, tiebreaker=8
.. 58 . the nail at the foul line: 63 points, tiebreaker=9
.. 59 . sg24 : 64 points, tiebreaker=8
.. 60 . kywildcat41086 : 64 points, tiebreaker=11
.. 61 . blubo : 65 points, tiebreaker=9
.. 62 . kennyskywalker34 : 67 points, tiebreaker=8
.. 63 . RMorris33 : 67 points, tiebreaker=11
.. 64 . _Rooster : 68 points, tiebreaker=6
.. 65 . LXWildcat : 69 points, tiebreaker=9
.. 66 . cat888 : 71 points, tiebreaker=10
.. 67 . Shep2win : 73 points, tiebreaker=11

Those who picked the wrong winner: ORCAT, OldEvilleCat, kennyskywalker34, truckbrandon, docholiday51, kywildcatsfannumber1, kyfanrob, warrior-cat, ThreeHogNight, BigBlueFanGA, M4CAT, $Z71$, TOMCATS1990, North Carolina Blue Wildcat, Kycatspaws, UKCatWoman, ukfan041, sg24, ukypug, yes_takeaside, the nail at the foul line, blubo, Roe07, TexKat, cat888, kybloo92, Jperry1987, Old_Red, Blueisbest, GoBIG BLUE, Rideordiewildcat, Shep2win, kywildcat41086, cat tat2, Lempface, Hang_Time_2, *CatinIL*, MidseasonTweak, AFSTALLION13, RMorris33, LXWildcat, _Rooster, lyngz, drew_ukfan, Oldbluefart, Hargyt13, LogicalCat, SWVA WildcatFan, rivercatinfl, jrm693, pappy52, wfm101981, YardCat, number8please, Jazzycat, BlobUK, Wildcat_In_Florida, onearmedjesus, UK Cats1, Bigblueincincy, BlueWorldOrder74, KY Long Rifle

SEC Regular Season Basketball Prediction Contest Leader Board:

17 : drew_ukfan
17 : Hang_Time_2
17 : howercat
14 : ORCAT
14 : UK96GOAT
14 : wfm101981
13 : Jamal Mercer
12 : MidseasonTweak
11 : cat888
11 : truckbrandon
10 : kybloo92
10 : UK Cats1
10 : UKCatWoman
9 : coolfred
9 : docholiday51
9 : jrm693
9 : kywildcatsfannumber1
9 : number8please
9 : TexKat
8 : Chad Rock
8 : lyngz
7 : Roe07
7 : TOMCATS1990
7 : Wildcat_In_Florida
7 : yes_takeaside
7 : _Rooster
6 : *CatinIL*
6 : kennyskywalker34
5 : Bigblueincincy
5 : LogicalCat
5 : Oldbluefart
5 : ThreeHogNight
5 : TNCatfanforever
5 : ukypug
4 : BlobUK
4 : OldEvilleCat
4 : SWVA WildcatFan
3 : JFCats22
3 : Rideordiewildcat
2 : Jazzycat
2 : Kycatspaws
1 : blubo
1 : North Carolina Blue Wildcat
1 : Old_Red
1 : ukfan041


Players Who've Made the Top Ten at Least Once:

3 : MidseasonTweak
2 : *CatinIL*
2 : cat888
2 : coolfred
2 : drew_ukfan
2 : Hang_Time_2
2 : howercat
2 : Jamal Mercer
2 : number8please
2 : ORCAT
2 : Rideordiewildcat
2 : TexKat
2 : TOMCATS1990
2 : truckbrandon
2 : UK96GOAT
2 : UKCatWoman
2 : wfm101981
1 : Bigblueincincy
1 : BlobUK
1 : blubo
1 : Chad Rock
1 : docholiday51
1 : Jazzycat
1 : JFCats22
1 : jrm693
1 : kennyskywalker34
1 : kybloo92
1 : Kycatspaws
1 : kywildcatsfannumber1
1 : LogicalCat
1 : lyngz
1 : North Carolina Blue Wildcat
1 : Oldbluefart
1 : OldEvilleCat
1 : Old_Red
1 : Roe07
1 : SWVA WildcatFan
1 : ThreeHogNight
1 : TNCatfanforever
1 : UK Cats1
1 : ukfan041
1 : ukypug
1 : Wildcat_In_Florida
1 : yes_takeaside
1 : _Rooster


Total Players:
Kentucky @ Florida : 67
Kentucky vs Missouri : 65
Kentucky @ Texas A&M : 67
Kentucky vs Mississippi State : 62
Kentucky vs Georgia : 64
Kentucky @ South Carolina : 67

Season Average for Players: 65.3


SEC Regular Season Basketball Prediction Champs:
Kentucky @ Florida : ORCAT: 2
Kentucky vs Missouri : UK Cats1: 1
Kentucky @ Texas A&M : truckbrandon: 27
Kentucky vs Mississippi State : kybloo92: 1
Kentucky vs Georgia : cat888: 11
Kentucky @ South Carolina : howercat: 16

@Deeeefense

Cats make late surge past Arkansas for 63-57 win​

Kentucky center Ugonna Onyenso blocked a shot by Arkansas guard El Ellis during Saturday's game at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville. (Nelson Chenault/USA Today Sports)

Jeff Drummond • CatsIllustrated
Managing Editor Edit
@JDrumUK

Shaking off its worst first-half offensive showing of the season, Kentucky found its familiar shooting stroke in the second half of Saturday's game at Arkansas.

The No. 6 Wildcats leaned on their much-maligned defense to hang in the game long enough to knock down seven of 11 shots from the 3-point arc in the second half of a 63-57 win at Bud Walton Arena.

Kentucky (15-4, 5-2 SEC) missed 15 of the first 16 shots it attempted in the first half and fell behind by as many as 10 points. But the Cats trimmed the deficit to two at the half and got into a much better rhythm in the second half.

"We did a couple of wrinkles (in the second half) offensively," UK head coach John Calipari said, "because, one, this team is smart. I can say we're going to play, if we don't get something, this is how we're going to play it to finish, even though we haven't work on it. (cont)

...

Dj
Reed
Reeves
Mitchell
Onyenso (surprisingly)

Rob (big minutes), Thiero (moderate minutes) and Pick one of Ivisic and Bradshaw off the bench and that’s it.

Gain another W on the “winningest program of all time”

Suck it HD.

It is clear who the 8 are in the mind of Calipari.

Wagner
Reed
Reeves
Dilly (DNP tonight)
Adou
Mitchell
Ugo
Bradshaw

Edwards down to a season low 9 minutes tonight even with Dillingham out. Ivisic barely saw the floor....don't really agree there but is what it is. Z needs to get a little run for Bradshaw disappearing acts and foul trouble. Otherwise I think this is the rotation.

He had his hands on him?

That's what they get.

We have no First Round Draft choices. If we do then it is a very very very weak draft.

Has lead in his pants. Never seen a 7 footer with such a low vertical. He makes Dakari Johnson look like Jordan.

Ugly as heck but we will take it...

Im not sure I’ve ever seen a more clean blocked shot, and they called a foul. I don’t think any part of Sheppard got within 6” of the Ark player. And the announcers barely even mentioned it.

about to come out of the traditional January swoon. We are freshman heavy and they are about to get through the "Freahman wall". Just have to refine roles and get ready for the tournament.

ago with the big sneakers?

GO CATS!!!
WOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

Reed needs to run our offense primarily. Wagner and Reeves OFF the ball.

He is so skilled at creating space and has eyes in the back of his head, he has a knack for finding the open man.

This is how we ended the last 8 mins or so of the game, and the proof is in the pudding.

Just my opinion but it is glaringly obvious

On FD. I'll take the Cats.

The first half fouls were even or maybe one team had 1 more than the other. Self gets a Technical at the end of the first half. 2nd half fouls is Iowa state 10 and Kansas has 4 with 6 minutes left. It’s comical the corruption with officials in college basketball

Not sure if he plays much tonight or at all