Last night sucked but the lineup just released for Bourbon and Beyond.........it's insane!!!!!! (sorry I can't figure out how to post the image)

Tyler Childers
Neil Young
DMB
Zach Bryan
Beck
Tedeschi Trucks Band
My Morning Jacket
The War on Drugs
Mt. Joy
Dinosaur Jr.
Fleet Foxes
Cody Jinks
Lyle Lovett
M. Ward
Matchbox Twenty
Black Pumas
Whiskey Myers
Young the Giant
Futurebirds
The Beach Boys
Bruce Hornsby
Hiss Golden Messenger
50 more......

Super Excited!!!!!

QUICK TAKES: South Carolina 79, Kentucky 62​

South Carolina's Jacobi Wright launched one of his four made 3-pointers in the Gamecocks' 79-62 win. (Jeff Blake/USA Today Sports)

Jeff Drummond • CatsIllustrated
Managing Editor Edit
@JDrumUK

In our regular postgame feature, the Cats Illustrated staff offers its first impressions from Kentucky's 79-62 loss on Tuesday night at South Carolina...​

TRAVIS GRAF:

That was just an embarrassing all-systems failure from Kentucky. They got punched in the mouth and never responded with toughness. The offense regressed to more one one-on-one looks and players struggled to get open. South Carolina provided teams with the blueprint for March, which is be physical and slow down the game. Kentucky was never able to play their game as it was dictated entirely by the Gamecocks. The defense is still not good, and the offense finally laid an egg. Reed Sheppard has to find a way to be more than just a catch-and-shoot guy against SEC athletes, while Justin Edwards’ minutes seem really close to being squeezed as he provided very little in 20 minutes. This is one of those beatdowns where players and coaches have to look themselves in the mirror and question their toughness because there was an alarming lack of it tonight.

DAVID SISK:

In our prediction piece earlier today I said I was waiting to see if a defensive-minded team could slow the Kentucky offense down. I thought it would be tough, but I ended up on the wrong side of history. I didn’t think South Carolina would do it to the Cats. They punched UK in the mouth and made them like it. My one concern has been about the physicality. They didn’t have it on either side of the ball tonight. SC won the individual matchups and contested everything. Kentucky had several players who were no-shows against that style. Defensively it was more of the same. They gave up 48.3% shooting and 45.8% three-point shooting. My concern going forward is how they bang with tough units like Tennessee and Auburn, and even on the road against Mississippi State.

JEFF DRUMMOND:

As we discussed in the pregame, Columbia has often been a trouble spot for even the best John Calipari teams over the years. For whatever reason, the Cats never seem to go into Colonial Life Arena ready for the fight they're going to get from the Gamecocks. South Carolina played great. Gotta give those guys credit for executing a nice game plan and hitting some tough shots. But UK got pushed around on both ends of the floor, and the defense continues to border on embarrassing. During the key stretch of the game, South Carolina scored 22 points over a 6:57 span. That's just unacceptable. Kentucky's offense was probably due for an off-night, but I don't think anyone ever saw this team being held to 62 points, even on a bad night. The Cats should never finish with 13 attempts from the arc. One of the best shooting teams in UK history took a minus-21 from the arc tonight.

JUSTIN ROWLAND:

On the one hand, I typically don't read much at all into road conference losses in college basketball. South Carolina is a pretty good team and they played at a high level tonight. At the same time, some of the things that happened tonight reinforced some lingering concerns folks might have had about this Kentucky team. I have always assumed the defense is just going to improve, the only question is how much. But they gave up a lot of open looks tonight. They also didn't respond well to South Carolina playing very physically and contesting everything on defense. They looked young and didn't respond to the toughness challenge. Those are cliches, there's a lot more basketball stuff that many of you will pick up on yourselves, but I'm inclined to think this game is a reminder that while this team may be a contender, it's a team with real questions and potential pitfalls.

Let that sink in.

Prediction:

After being called out by the broadcasters for having a crappy defense, Cal will run a zone for one play next game. Then, if we give up an easy basket, he'll bleat in the postgame "I ran a zone and we gave up a three so I switched back, BennieZZZ!" And if it's effective, he'll still switch back to M2M but won't say anything in the postgame.

For most of this season Kentucky's offense has looked phenomenal. Occasionally, they have been weirdly ... not ... and it has looked nothing like what you typically see.

I think you have to give South Carolina a lot of credit for the way they played defense tonight. They were really tough and physical guarding the ball and contesting everything Kentucky attempted near the rim. At the same time, you don't expect Kentucky to miss that many shots from outside.

Will have to go back and figure out how much this factored in, but did seem like UK played with much bigger lineups at time. It's a situation where they have three big men and Cal is trying to keep them all happy, find how they can help, etc., but I'm sure some will believe UK should have played smaller lineups at times.

Thought David made some good observations during the game about UK needing to finish through contact. Expect opponents to really body Kentucky moving forward and they will have to respond better than they did tonight.

Kentucky gave up a bunch of open three point attempts tonight. The concern in the big picture is that sometimes Kentucky feels like Gonzaga. Typically great offense, but are they tough enough against an athletic, physically mature team that can disrupt their typical stuff. Maybe it's just one loss. Road conference losses aren't something I ever put a lot of stock into on the surface.

Very interesting that John Calipari said pre-game that he thinks Adou Thiero should be playing based on what he's watched him do in practice. Read that like Calipari isn't going to take the blame for all of these lingering situations anymore.

Will be honest, this performance does impact my opinion in the big picture a little bit just because it reinforces some of the concerns that you might have had going in.

Hello HOB. I'll be following along with Cal's weekly radio call-in show tonight and sharing all the main talking points with you guys here for those who may not be able to listen along with it live. Show starts at 6 ET. Stay tuned for updates...

* Cal starts out with the Greatest Hits tonight. (lol) Says he's had friends calling him saying that didn't look like his team. Notes that they did not push the ball like they have been all season. A lot of that had to do with getting manhandled physically. "We have to figure it out how to combat it."

* Says this young team doesn't quite understand yet that you can lose a game in a minute and a half, making 3-4 bad plays in a row and getting down 11-12 points facing a team that plays like that.

* Another Greatest Hit: "We win or we learn." Says the thing they have to learn from this is they have to play a certain way, and it can't change because the opponent approaches you like SC did. Even if you can't always throw it ahead on the break, you can play fast by cutting harder, initiating the physical play against the defender.

* Cal actually teased playing some zone. (Yeah, yeah, I know.) But he thinks that may be the best way to play Big Z in the middle of the zone. Says Z is a little behind defensively, where he needs to be. Needs to catch up if he's going to play more this weekend. Ugo is doing a better job with his defensive positioning. Also told Z don't try to live up to your first game. People want to do a movie about that. Just do your thing, play hard, rebound.

* If I had to do it over, I would have posted Tre 100x. Says some fans will say "He's getting away from what he was doing." But that's what they needed to do in this game. Also gotta start throwing some lobs, Cal says. SC switched a lot and had guards on bigs. Need to take advantage of it.

* Cal says Adou Thiero should play Saturday at Arkansas if he practices these next two days and doesn't have setbacks. Need him back.

* Arkansas game will be "50% one on one," Cal says. If you can't guard, you can't play. Cal frustratingly adds that they can't get on the floor for a shootaround in the arena because they're doing College GameDay.

* Listener asks what's going on with OB plays... Cal laments getting dunked on so much. Says guys are just breaking down and leaving their man. "It takes the wind out of your sails, and for no reason." Just something they have to keep working on in practice.

* When young guys play so poorly individually, the team concept breaks down, Cal notes when asked about some of the defensive problems. They're thinking too much about playing bad on the other end of the floor.

* Caller asks why they didn't press to speed them up and get them out of that grinding tempo, suggesting it felt like facing a Bo Ryan Wisconsin team... Cal says SC's press attack is kinda like what John Cheney did at Temple. Wanted to trap them after they cleared halfcourt, speed up their offense. Our guys were running around crazy, unable to get them into those situations. They kinda passed it to whoever they wanted to, whenever they wanted to.

* SC played as if they didn't worry at all about fouling us. UK did not play that way. Let the officials call it how they're going to call it, but that's how you have to play, too. SC played 12 minutes without a foul to start the game. His guys shoulda been playing the same way. They're going to have a bit of a "rough house practice" on Thursday.

* Says he wouldn't want to coach any other team. Loves this team. Losing stinks. It's awful. Takes him awhile to get over it, even longer the older he gets. He's got to get over it fast for the kids' sake. They have to learn from these mistakes and get better against the way people are going to play them. "I believe in this team. Let's go."

Bama just got a horrible call against them in the final seconds. Guy kicked his leg way out and initiated the contact on a 3

Podcast listener
Haven’t seen yesterdays showed dropped
Anyone know what’s up?

Welcome to the Official Kentucky @ South Carolina 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 kentucky Turnovers.

Kentucky @ South Carolina game:

--------------------------
Kentucky: 79
South Carolina: 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 vs Georgia (tiebreaker was 35 Georgia Free Throw Attempts):

10 1 . cat888 : 11 points, tiebreaker=15
9 2 . drew_ukfan : 17 points, tiebreaker=20
8 3 . lyngz : 20 points, tiebreaker=19
7 4 . Roe07 : 23 points, tiebreaker=18
6 5 . kennyskywalker34 : 25 points, tiebreaker=12
5 6 . wfm101981 : 26 points, tiebreaker=16
4 7 . SWVA WildcatFan : 27 points, tiebreaker=18
3 8 . TexKat : 28 points, tiebreaker=18
2 9 . Rideordiewildcat : 29 points, tiebreaker=20
1 10 . blubo : 29 points, tiebreaker=16
.. 11 . BlobUK : 29 points, tiebreaker=11
.. 12 . KY Long Rifle : 30 points, tiebreaker=18
.. 12 . kywildcatsfannumber1: 30 points, tiebreaker=18
.. 14 . the nail at the foul line: 31 points, tiebreaker=19
.. 14 . kybloo92 : 31 points, tiebreaker=19
.. 16 . Blueisbest : 31 points, tiebreaker=18
.. 17 . ukfan041 : 31 points, tiebreaker=16
.. 17 . BlueWorldOrder74 : 31 points, tiebreaker=16
.. 19 . $Z71$ : 31 points, tiebreaker=13
.. 20 . jrm693 : 32 points, tiebreaker=16
.. 21 . rivercatinfl : 33 points, tiebreaker=22
.. 21 . Jazzycat : 33 points, tiebreaker=22
.. 23 . ORCAT : 34 points, tiebreaker=20
.. 24 . kyfanrob : 34 points, tiebreaker=19
.. 25 . M4CAT : 34 points, tiebreaker=18
.. 25 . Wildcat_In_Florida: 34 points, tiebreaker=18
.. 27 . _Rooster : 34 points, tiebreaker=17
.. 28 . *CatinIL* : 34 points, tiebreaker=16
.. 29 . kywildcat41086 : 34 points, tiebreaker=15
.. 30 . Shep2win : 34 points, tiebreaker=13
.. 31 . UKCatWoman : 35 points, tiebreaker=22
.. 32 . Hang_Time_2 : 35 points, tiebreaker=18
.. 32 . ukypug : 35 points, tiebreaker=18
.. 34 . warrior-cat : 35 points, tiebreaker=15
.. 35 . Hargyt13 : 36 points, tiebreaker=20
.. 36 . Jperry1987 : 36 points, tiebreaker=18
.. 36 . cat tat2 : 36 points, tiebreaker=18
.. 38 . Old_Red : 36 points, tiebreaker=17
.. 39 . RMorris33 : 36 points, tiebreaker=14
.. 40 . Kycatspaws : 37 points, tiebreaker=16
.. 41 . North Carolina Blue Wildcat: 37 points, tiebreaker=15
.. 42 . TOMCATS1990 : 38 points, tiebreaker=22
.. 43 . truckbrandon : 38 points, tiebreaker=20
.. 44 . MidseasonTweak : 38 points, tiebreaker=15
.. 45 . YardCat : 39 points, tiebreaker=16
.. 46 . Lovebaskelball : 40 points, tiebreaker=19
.. 47 . coolfred : 40 points, tiebreaker=18
.. 47 . Oldbluefart : 40 points, tiebreaker=18
.. 49 . BigBlueFanGA : 40 points, tiebreaker=15
.. 49 . Bigblueincincy : 40 points, tiebreaker=15
.. 49 . onearmedjesus : 40 points, tiebreaker=15
.. 52 . pappy52 : 41 points, tiebreaker=20
.. 53 . number8please : 41 points, tiebreaker=19
.. 54 . OldEvilleCat : 41 points, tiebreaker=16
.. 55 . docholiday51 : 42 points, tiebreaker=20
.. 56 . AFSTALLION13 : 43 points, tiebreaker=22
.. 57 . GoBIG BLUE : 43 points, tiebreaker=21
.. 58 . LogicalCat : 44 points, tiebreaker=15
.. 58 . UK Cats1 : 44 points, tiebreaker=15
.. 60 . yes_takeaside : 45 points, tiebreaker=14
.. 61 . ThreeHogNight : 48 points, tiebreaker=18
.. 62 . Chad Rock : 49 points, tiebreaker=15
.. 63 . UK96GOAT : 81 points, tiebreaker=20
.. 64 . howercat : 87 points, tiebreaker=17

Those who picked the wrong winner: UK96GOAT, howercat
I couldn't figure out the following people's picks.
Did you follow the rules? 'BobbyBlue32'

SEC Regular Season Basketball Prediction Contest Leader Board:

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


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

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

Season Average for Players: 65.0


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

@Deeeefense

NM

… and do NOT have a CENTER, unless we find out whether Z can post up with a solid vocabulary of ways to score. We do not need another three-point shooter. His footwork off the high screen PNR was there last night, as he rolled to the basket, but we didn’t throw it to him. Let’s find out if he has a hook, finger-roll, step back Jokic baby-J, can use the square, etc …

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Could this be the same for college? I mean what he talks about is what our defense is struggling with.

what are UK's chances with Khaman Maluach, the big 7'2" kid that is supposed to be visiting UK?
everything I have read seems to indicate it is between UK & Duke, where he visited last week

Cal said today that they have been working on zone and they will throw some zone in there and find out……

Let’s see if this helps the defense…

Confirmed with Georgia Tech writer/insider Kelly Quinlan that the Yellow Jackets have had some interest in UK CBs coach Chris Collins.

He is one of about 10 guys that they have reached out to about the spot. Understanding is they have a lot of respect for him. Hairston was named a top-100 player in college football after his first year as a starter and Collins has been good at getting guys on campus, does a lot of recruiting down that way so it would obviously be a splash for them if they could attract him to take the open safeties coach position.

However, I have heard nothing about Collins' interest in the position so this is only about Georgia Tech's interest in him. Lot of guys they have looked at and as of yesterday it didn't seem like a hire was imminent.

And stopped just as Mitchell got the cylinder call. At that point Mitchell, if the call hadn’t been reversed, could have brought us within two.

What in the world happened to let us get so far behind?

Many of my Kentucky frIends may have heard this but it is new to me. I hope you like it.
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Yes, I said it!!!

There will be NO EXCUSE to lose on Saturday!!!

I wouldn't be surprised to see Auburn, IIlinois, and Colorado State to all go down tonight.

Interesting take:

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*****

A reporter who gave Joker tons and tons of crap for not being vaccinated (which kept Joker from a couple of GS tournaments, IIRC) dropped dead just a day or so ago (late 40s, supposedly in good health, fully vaccinated) from, yes, 'unknown causes'. Being a class individual, at least off the court, Joker did not make any comment other than to express his condolences to the family. A bigger man than I would have been, for sure.

While he plays the 'underdog' on the court at times, whining about fans cheering for the opponent, etc., he's always very gracious to his opponent when he wins and even more so when he (rarely) loses and never blames anything/anybody, giving the victor all the accolades vs saying he only lost because he played poorly.

Why do some left-handed players shoot with their bodies rotated – sometimes almost sideways to the basket - instead of being squared up with the basket? I was watching video of Billy Richmond and saw him do this prominently. I think Justin Edwards does it somewhat at times also, but he’s usually more square. Initially, I thought maybe it just appears that way to me since left handers are not as prevalent. But, looking at it closely, for example with Richmond, he did in fact turn his body sideways toward the basket when shooting from the perimeter – and he made the shot (of course, it’s a video highlight). I've noticed this sometimes with other left-handed shooters also, but not with right-handed shooters that I recall.

Anyway, just a question and something to divert my attention from the beat-down last night. I figured if anybody else noticed or wondered about this, or had an explanation for it, it would be the folks on this board.