The best thing now

[LeonThe Camel]

is to congratulate the team for doing 1) not as well as wanted but 2) doing better than many of you expected.

When the season started, hopes were high. The media and fans were talking about how much Hump had improved. That Monk and Fox were the best back court tandem in Kentucky history. That Bam was so good, he would dunk on the world. All 5 starters were first round picks. The recruits were so good that 2 subs would possibly be first round picks. In other words, we were giddy as heck.

The season started and we played that way for a while. Then lost to UCLA and Louisville. had one of the best games of the year against UNC. Hit a stretch where we lost to Tennessee, Kansas, Florida. And went to OT to beat Georgia.

Fans got weary and many started questioning and getting down on the team. So of us stayed the course. Knew we had talent but were not playing as well as we could.

Then the season righted itself and we took care of SEC business.

So we went high/low/high. We actually finished much better than most thought mid-season.

UNC is the odds on favorite. And we played them to a stand still 2x. Ok, we do not get to say we went to the FF this year, but still the kids played hard and did the best they could.

Hump showed up at the end of the season and gives hope of being a usable backup next year. We will be loaded at the 4/5 spots if no one leaves unexpectedly, Hump, Wynyard, SKJ, Gabriel. And unless 3 of them leave, we will have sufficient depth.

 

[kydmb99]

I'm proud as hell of this team. Absolutely played their asses off yeaterday and represented the university with class. The last few weeks were super fun.

 

[jrpross]

A lot of people on here didn't think we'd make it past the first weekend. And they're undoubtedly the ones saying we blew it in the elite 8.

It hurts like hell to lose, but man I'm proud of those kids. They never quit, even down 7 with 45 seconds or whatever it was.

 

[irishcat1965]

Hell of a run by this team. Great group of kids who cared a lot by winning and the name across their chest. I hate it more for them than I do myself. Thanks for a great year!

 

[katwest]

I'm proud of the team and they laid it on the line, winning 32 games is not easy. We had a tough bracket and a lot of things go against us. It's the way we lost and who is was to the still irks me, when Carolina gets beat is when I will feel better, hopefully next game.

 

[docholiday51]

They had a great year,they deserved a fair shake yesterday but didn't get it.Nothing that happened yesterday diminishes in any way the season ending run that they had.Think about what we saw from Hawkins and Willis late in the year,the emergence of Fox,the grit of Briscoe and Humphries coming out of nowhere to play a major role in a game on the biggest stage of the year.

Shades of 92',I know OAD makes it different, but what we saw yesterday has a place in the UK history book.The SEC regular season championship,the SECT championship and the NCAAT tournament run in the toughest region by far speaks volumes about these players.They can stand along side any of the UK teams of the past and say we have earned our place here we belong to the ages.