It seems that the transfer portal, NIL and early NBA entry have brought a wild season of parity. Good coaching is essential, but then things like good health, that dreaded 'peaking at the right time' ( yep it happens) and just plain crazy luck happen all the time now. Couple bad calls, missed free throw, banked in 3s, half court shots at the buzzer, that horrid injury word...
This could be the most exciting upcoming NCAA tourney ever.
....or UCONN and Duke run the table to the title game at which I put on mt 'I don't care' sweatshirt and watch Godzilla movies.

This game will certainly give you thrills as a fan. It will also serve you humble pie a couple times a week.

Noticed that WRA will be playing in Dayton at Flyin to the Hoop so I grabbed a ticket to see Thompson play live. Bonus is they are playing my hometown team here in Delaware, Ohio!

Even though I didn’t expect us to be this good when the season started.

Even though I know we can beat Alabama on any given night.

This loss stings. I’ve been stewing on it all day and can’t let it go.

Anytime we play a coach who is constantly in the ear of the officials, we are going to lose the game if we don't play perfect. Mark has got to get a little more animated with the zebras. Oats was in their ear all day long and it paid off in the end.

Illinois out to a quick start behind Freshman phenom Will Riley. He sure would GREAT in BLUE.

Brea, Robinson, Perry and Carr targeted by Bama

Can’t have too many on court together at once

He cannot continue to have the opposing coach work the refs while he stays silent. No time more obvious than today, Ala in double bonus while they only had 2 fouls. I know they closed the gap later, but the damage was already done.

GO CATS

According to this article we have the 6th best portal class so far. 5th best in the SEC. Just trying to find some positives. Hoping we have a few more coming to improve it even more.

UK ranked 6th best portal class so far

Improved a bit through the week with our split. A lot of teams starting to get dinged up and come back to earth in conference play.

Only 3 remaining at 3+, which is what we saw in 2019 going into the tournament. Of those three, one was the champion (Virginia) and the other two lost in the Elite Eight (Duke and Gonzaga).

Latest and Greatest:

1. Auburn 4.62
2. Duke 3.42
3. Tennessee 3.30
4. Houston 2.88
5. Iowa St 2.84
6. Kansas 2.68
7. Michigan 2.64
8. Gonzaga 2.55
9. UConn 2.53
10. Kentucky 2.50
11. Arizona 2.44
12. Texas Tech 2.37
13. Mississippi St 2.36
14. Alabama 2.30
15. Florida 2.29
16. Mississippi 2.24
17. Purdue 2.14
18. St John’s 2.07
19. Marquette 1.98
20. Maryland 1.93
21. Michigan St 1.91
22. Missouri 1.824
23. Illinois 1.816
24. Vanderbilt 1.748
25. Georgia 1.743
27. Clemson 1.64
33. Ohio St 1.44
35. Arkansas 1.40
36. BYU 1.37
39. Texas 1.34
40. Texas A&M 1.32
41. Louisville 1.30
43. Oklahoma 1.18
44. N Carolina 1.17
58. LSU 0.86
65. Indiana 0.71
94. S Carolina 0.36

* Disappointing loss by the Cats to Bama. Need to protect the home court, didn’t get it done. The Tide won the end of both halves … and that proved to be the difference. Cats needed to win one of the two end of half segments, but lost both …

* Despite the Cats age, disappointingly, Bama played smarter and more mature, they didn’t make the mistakes the Cats did … their stars were better today.

* Cats made a lot of mistakes … whether caused by physical or mental fatigue, the lack of situational awareness and value of the ball was costly today. As important as Butler is the Cats, and he is, 17pts and 8 assists, made some critical mistakes today … got too deep under the basket a few times, forced some things, and some timely errors. The Cats had a lot of opportunities today, but couldn’t take advantage. Couldn’t make the big shot, couldn’t get the defensive rebounds.

* Oweh got us back in the game in the 2nd half (21 and 6), Williams (13 and 11) did alright, Carr was not effective today, Robinson was okay. Our Bench did alright in a game of fatigue and foul attrition …

* Tide +4 on the glass, +6 pts from 3pt line (13-34) with a couple of daggers late that sealed the game.

* Up Next: Cats go on the road to take on Vandy next Saturday. Cannot lose two in a row in this league …. Cats need to get healthy and get a road win. The Cats follow that game with a road trip to Tenn.

I completely understand the frustration of our fans. I have been a UK football fan since I was a kid. I will be 60 this year. I am a season ticket holder and have multiple children who have graduated from UK, both undergraduate and graduate school so from a cash standpoint I am all in!!

I have been in positions in the past where I replaced people who were not very well thought of and because of the dislike of those individuals that opinion was initially moved to me. I feel many of us are doing that to a lot of our players both returning and new. I am like most of this board, highly frustrated with how the team has performed recently; and frustrated with the reports of internal issues with some of the players and some of the coaches. I have had a very difficult time "turning the page" and looking forward to next season. I do not believe I ever remember a time in the past when I was this frustrated with the team and again I have been following UK football for almost 50 years. With all that said, I believe it is time we set all the frustration from last season aside. I believe there comes a time when we have to say, "It's time to move on."

These young men who stayed and who have decided to come to play here are asked to put in untold hours of lifting, training, watching film etc. I know there is a financial piece to some staying and many coming, but that is part of the game today. I also understand with the financial component comes performance expectations. However, many of the players on our roster had nothing to do with last season. I feel the board has become so angry and frustrated with last season's player issues and what we feel are coaches not living up to their end of the bargain that it has become toxic. I think it is time we put the toxicity aside and look to next season. I know the schedule looks daunting; however, we need to get back to supporting our players and our team. We have beaten the horse to death with frustrations, anger and straight-up negativity. I know it's human nature to be disgusted with how last season went, but the players who are here now need our support. I implore everyone on the board to try and take a little more positive approach to the team and these players. Time to bury the past and all the negative vitriol.

Sorry for the long post I am just tired of coming here every day and every post turns negative. With that said I will be in the stadium on Saturday in the Fall, GBB!!!

But, we are still miles ahead of where I’d thought we be in year one with Pope (and 100 miles ahead of where we’d be with Cal).

Alabama is damn good and we were right there with them on an off day. We just don’t have their athletes….yet.

Give Pope a little time and the tide will literally turn.

Cheers to where we are. It could be so much worse.
KB

This was a hard fought basketball game between two really good college basketball teams. Alabama played at a high level and you knew they would coming off that loss. My view is if Sears is hot in March they probably aren't losing. Big if but this team has all the parts.

Yes, Kentucky struggled to defend them. That could be their undoing against a team like Alabama. But not many teams have the skill, quickness, and athleticism that Bama has.

Grant Nelson was an absolute terror in the first half. UK mixed up the lineups but they didn't have an answer for him. Thought at times that Amari Williams pressed a little hard trying to match him bucket for bucket. But we have seen Kentucky take a strong punch from a very good opponent and hold strong. Kentucky shot the ball well in the first half (6/12 3-pointers, 10/13 FT) and they also shared and took care of the basketball.

Refs really let the guys play through a lot of contact on both sides today. Until the second half. Alabama got into the bonus very early in the second half. Thought Bama came out and showed tremendous fight in the second half. They were the more aggressive team after halftime. The foul count stacked up against the Wildcats but that spoke to how aggressive Alabama was.

Bottom line, thought Bama came out and set the tone in the second half and Kentucky was responding to Bama's tone and intensity more so than setting it themselves. But Alabama played very well and might have beat anybody today.

Great News.

"The Ludlow-Bromley Yacht Club, which was struck by a barge and largely destroyed in 2019, is on track for reopening sometime in late spring of this year, staff members confirmed with LINK nky.

Located along the Ohio River on Elm Street in Ludlow, the club suffered heavy damage following the barge accident and much of the structure ended up sinking into the river. Now roughly five years later, the club is seeking applications for workers to staff it once it reopens. An exact re-opening date has not yet been ironed out, but staff confirmed in a phone call with LINK nky they were shooting for late spring."

The wasn't a credit card it ever took. Cash on the barrelhead only. Great for underage drinking 50+ years ago. The Lagoon Saloon for landlubbers was the replacement till this comeback.

Statistics for 2024-25

Still a top 15 team and it’s been a fun season.

The worries I have are Carr (injury, not himself), and our defense is the worst I’ve ever seen at UK.

Williams sorta went back to the bad position rebounder again, but he was still aggressive blocking shots.

Don’t panic
Don’t panic
Don’t panic

Nm

Anybody betting anything?

Hate how all the matchups got jumbled up. Way worse than it should've been....if I could stream one for free it would be this one but I guess I'll pay. Always do plus I have stock in TKO.

Moicano gonna get destroyed

Thinking I'm gonna stick with Merab bc of the odds. 5 rounds of Merab is absolutely grueling I think he can wear him down like he does.

Lots of new fighters. Anybody seen any of these guys? A lot of times there will be new guys that you can get nearly even odds on that come in and turn into the next merab or umar and you can ride them for a few fights. If anybody knows of any of those type guys fighting tonight let us know.

What's the deal with Zach Reese? First he was a favorite -225 against Dumas and now he's a -175 underdog against the LFA champ that UFC brought in? Hard to keep up with it all.

Really wanna talk about something other than that depressing ass game. Would love to win some money tonight as well. All discussion is welcome not just a betting thread.