Was at the game, this will be last post for a long time ...

[Runnin'Ramel]

-Can we stop playing in Indy? The crowd clearly doesn't help UK as much as everyone wants to believe. It was LOUD when it needed to be, but this team didn't respond. So, Indy has given us Wisconsin, the Duke/Zion ass-kicking, and now arguably the biggest upset in NCAA history. Lovely. And it was Wisky all over again with the stall ball nonsense once a lead was finally in place late.

-Murray State fans were cheering for St. Peters, obviously. They were celebrating UK's loss as if they beat UK. Their attitude about it is what bothered me. People like upsets, yes. But they were sort of nasty about it. Remember that when you cheer for Murray State against St. Peter's.

-I think I was one of Cal's biggest defenders, especially because I live in Indy and have to deal with so much hate daily, but it's over. Every other coach in the SEC would have won that game last night. Cal was just ridiculously bad. Won't re-hash all of the examples, because they've been said on this board since the game started. But ho-lee sheet that was one of the worst coaching performances in ages. And Shaheen Holloway was ready for it.

-Wheeler kept us in the game for a couple of minutes late, but overall, he was abysmal. Our point guard was dreadful last night. Turnovers, bad passes, missed free throws, what in the hell was he doing? When Cal went into his predictable stall ball mode up 6 w/ 3:30 to play, Wheeler had no idea what he was doing ... and nobody wanted to touch the ball. Cal must scare the sh*t out of his players with some kind of nasty threats when he tells them to go into stall mode.

-Ty Ty Washington was so bad it was a joke. Cal couldn't even play him .... and then, of course, he throws him back in cold off the bench to take the last shot in regulation. Savvy move.

-Oscar deserves so much more. Will miss him.

-UK was bad at the rim all night. You could just sense "something" was off from the tip. Felt it in the air. Lay-ups, free throws, everything.

-Worse, UK was TERRIBLE on the fast break. Ty Ty was the worst. Felt like I was watching a point-shaver.

-Watching Sharpe in warm-ups, dunking, just pissed me off. I didn't even care about the whole Sharpe debacle until I saw this.

-Cal didn't even have the boys come out to warm up until about 4:00 left before the 2H. St. Peter's was out there for a full 10 extra minutes warming up. I think this kind of stuff matters. Cal just kept them back, probably allowing them to get more nervous/tight as he yelled nonsense at the whiteboard.

-Season had some fun moments .... but UK looked like a 6-7 seed the last month of the season and we all know it. The hype was a shame, because they didn't deserve any of it. The final four picks, the title predictions, all complete nonsense based on fool's gold from an outlier performance against Kansas in January. No other way to look at it.

-Not sure how much I'll care about this stuff until Cal is gone. 2015 broke something in me as a fan, probably for the better (less emotional about losses), but last night just felt like this weird sense of completeness .... I realized I'm just totally done w/ the Cal era and ready for a fresh start.

 

[jedwar]

-Can we stop playing in Indy? The crowd clearly doesn't help UK as much as everyone wants to believe. It was LOUD when it needed to be, but this team didn't respond. So, Indy has given us Wisconsin, the Duke/Zion ass-kicking, and now arguably the biggest upset in NCAA history. Lovely. And it was Wisky all over again with the stall ball nonsense once a lead was finally in place late.

-Murray State fans were cheering for St. Peters, obviously. They were celebrating UK's loss as if they beat UK. Their attitude about it is what bothered me. People like upsets, yes. But they were sort of nasty about it. Remember that when you cheer for Murray State against St. Peter's.

-I think I was one of Cal's biggest defenders, especially because I live in Indy and have to deal with so much hate daily, but it's over. Every other coach in the SEC would have won that game last night. Cal was just ridiculously bad. Won't re-hash all of the examples, because they've been said on this board since the game started. But ho-lee sheet that was one of the worst coaching performances in ages. And Shaheen Holloway was ready for it.

-Wheeler kept us in the game for a couple of minutes late, but overall, he was abysmal. Our point guard was dreadful last night. Turnovers, bad passes, missed free throws, what in the hell was he doing? When Cal went into his predictable stall ball mode up 6 w/ 3:30 to play, Wheeler had no idea what he was doing ... and nobody wanted to touch the ball. Cal must scare the sh*t out of his players with some kind of nasty threats when he tells them to go into stall mode.

-Ty Ty Washington was so bad it was a joke. Cal couldn't even play him .... and then, of course, he throws him back in cold off the bench to take the last shot in regulation. Savvy move.

-Oscar deserves so much more. Will miss him.

-UK was bad at the rim all night. You could just sense "something" was off from the tip. Felt it in the air. Lay-ups, free throws, everything.

-Worse, UK was TERRIBLE on the fast break. Ty Ty was the worst. Felt like I was watching a point-shaver.

-Watching Sharpe in warm-ups, dunking, just pissed me off. I didn't even care about the whole Sharpe debacle until I saw this.

-Cal didn't even have the boys come out to warm up until about 4:00 left before the 2H. St. Peter's was out there for a full 10 extra minutes warming up. I think this kind of stuff matters. Cal just kept them back, probably allowing them to get more nervous/tight as he yelled nonsense at the whiteboard.

-Season had some fun moments .... but UK looked like a 6-7 seed the last month of the season and we all know it. The hype was a shame, because they didn't deserve any of it. The final four picks, the title predictions, all complete nonsense based on fool's gold from an outlier performance against Kansas in January. No other way to look at it.

-Not sure how much I'll care about this stuff until Cal is gone. 2015 broke something in me as a fan, probably for the better (less emotional about losses), but last night just felt like this weird sense of completeness .... I realized I'm just totally done w/ the Cal era and ready for a fresh start.

Great post. 100% how I feel but I can't articulate it as well as you did. It's time for a divorce before it truly gets ugly for all parties.

 

[FurdTerguson]

-Can we stop playing in Indy? The crowd clearly doesn't help UK as much as everyone wants to believe. It was LOUD when it needed to be, but this team didn't respond. So, Indy has given us Wisconsin, the Duke/Zion ass-kicking, and now arguably the biggest upset in NCAA history. Lovely. And it was Wisky all over again with the stall ball nonsense once a lead was finally in place late.

-Murray State fans were cheering for St. Peters, obviously. They were celebrating UK's loss as if they beat UK. Their attitude about it is what bothered me. People like upsets, yes. But they were sort of nasty about it. Remember that when you cheer for Murray State against St. Peter's.

-I think I was one of Cal's biggest defenders, especially because I live in Indy and have to deal with so much hate daily, but it's over. Every other coach in the SEC would have won that game last night. Cal was just ridiculously bad. Won't re-hash all of the examples, because they've been said on this board since the game started. But ho-lee sheet that was one of the worst coaching performances in ages. And Shaheen Holloway was ready for it.

-Wheeler kept us in the game for a couple of minutes late, but overall, he was abysmal. Our point guard was dreadful last night. Turnovers, bad passes, missed free throws, what in the hell was he doing? When Cal went into his predictable stall ball mode up 6 w/ 3:30 to play, Wheeler had no idea what he was doing ... and nobody wanted to touch the ball. Cal must scare the sh*t out of his players with some kind of nasty threats when he tells them to go into stall mode.

-Ty Ty Washington was so bad it was a joke. Cal couldn't even play him .... and then, of course, he throws him back in cold off the bench to take the last shot in regulation. Savvy move.

-Oscar deserves so much more. Will miss him.

-UK was bad at the rim all night. You could just sense "something" was off from the tip. Felt it in the air. Lay-ups, free throws, everything.

-Worse, UK was TERRIBLE on the fast break. Ty Ty was the worst. Felt like I was watching a point-shaver.

-Watching Sharpe in warm-ups, dunking, just pissed me off. I didn't even care about the whole Sharpe debacle until I saw this.

-Cal didn't even have the boys come out to warm up until about 4:00 left before the 2H. St. Peter's was out there for a full 10 extra minutes warming up. I think this kind of stuff matters. Cal just kept them back, probably allowing them to get more nervous/tight as he yelled nonsense at the whiteboard.

-Season had some fun moments .... but UK looked like a 6-7 seed the last month of the season and we all know it. The hype was a shame, because they didn't deserve any of it. The final four picks, the title predictions, all complete nonsense based on fool's gold from an outlier performance against Kansas in January. No other way to look at it.

-Not sure how much I'll care about this stuff until Cal is gone. 2015 broke something in me as a fan, probably for the better (less emotional about losses), but last night just felt like this weird sense of completeness .... I realized I'm just totally done w/ the Cal era and ready for a fresh start.

Agree with everything you said

 

[CatsFan4Evr.]

I thought I'd wake up this morning pissed off, and strangely I'm not. I just feel so...apathetic as a whole. I really don't care. And that makes me sad, because I'm as die-hard a fan as anyone. I have some kind of weird relief that I won't have to watch this team anymore this year. What the hell is that?

 

[Wildcat Sheli]

Thanks for your honest thoughts.
Maybe we should start spelling Indy “Endy” instead.

 

[jedwar]

I thought I'd wake up this morning pissed off, and strangely I'm not. I just feel so...apathetic as a whole. I really don't care. And that makes me sad, because I'm as die-hard a fan as anyone. I have some kind of weird relief that I won't have to watch this team anymore this year. What the hell is that?

Yep. Feel the same. It's like the realization of a relationship that has run it's course and you accept it and ready to move on.

 

[WolfTix]

Spot on post. That is exactly how I feel. I live in Atlanta…but I have been emotionally attached to UK hoop for the past 40 years-living and dying on every game. A peaceful level of Apathy has set in to where I just don’t care as much. I even missed watching a few games this year because of the disdain I have towards Cal and his style/failures of the past. I am over it and now just laugh at the BS i see/hear from him. Its sad but this is where most fans are mentally.

 

[TOMCATS1990]

ESPN said the loss is the 4th biggest upset in the history of the tourney. OP great post.

 

[shaudyshaud]

Sorry you had to witness this in person .

 

[jimmybuffet123]

Great post, apathy is now how I will treat UK until football season. At least we have 1 real coach

 

[AGEE11]

Good post, sums it up very well.

Was more in shock and sad last night and today than mad.

I screamed my head off when there was no TO and we went to Tyty instead of Oscar at the end of regulation. Then seeing Oscar was rough. Then apathy.

 

[Catfan2226]

I thought I'd wake up this morning pissed off, and strangely I'm not. I just feel so...apathetic as a whole. I really don't care. And that makes me sad, because I'm as die-hard a fan as anyone. I have some kind of weird relief that I won't have to watch this team anymore this year. What the hell is that?

This is me..I used to get so upset but I just dont get that way now.Clearly it's time for change.A divorce must happen before this really gets ugly.Truth is,it will likely get ugly anyway but this is unacceptable and can not be allowed to continue.
The program is bigger than any coach or player and currently our program is playing 3rd fiddle.

 

[CHAMPCAT11]

I thought I'd wake up this morning pissed off, and strangely I'm not. I just feel so...apathetic as a whole. I really don't care. And that makes me sad, because I'm as die-hard a fan as anyone. I have some kind of weird relief that I won't have to watch this team anymore this year. What the hell is that?

I feel the exact same way.

 

[UK90]

-Murray State fans were cheering for St. Peters, obviously. They were celebrating UK's loss as if they beat UK. Their attitude about it is what bothered me. People like upsets, yes. But they were sort of nasty about it. Remember that when you cheer for Murray State against St. Peter's.

It was a choice between facing St. Peter’s or UK in the next round, so can you really blame em? In their mind, they just got an easy pass to the Sweet 16.

There are some circumstances where I think an in-state school cheering against UK would be bad form, but in this case I get it.

 

[DanCat17]

Great post that pretty much sums up my thoughts to the T, as well.

One thing you said about how this game just felt off from the tip. You are right, watching it on TV I got the same feeling. Everyone seemed to not want to have the ball. Seemed like guys would get the ball and look to pass instead of score.

I wouldn't say 2015 broke me. I've been pretty heavily invested and would get more angry than I should when we would lose up until last year. Last years squad numbed me to losing(which honestly is a good thing as my anger after a loss was excessive). This years loss, in my eyes, solidifies that Cal time at Kentucky has run it's course. It's time for a change.

 

[Runnin'Ramel]

It was a choice between facing St. Peter’s or UK in the next round, so can you really blame em? In their mind, they just got an easy pass to the Sweet 16.

There are some circumstances where I think an in-state school cheering against UK would be bad form, but in this case I get it.

It was the *way* they did it. There were many around me. Mocking us as we walked out was necessary? No. F*ck them all.

Ok, now that I've clarified that, I'm logging out of CATS Illustrated for the first time since Tubby's last year. Wow, this is going to be hard ... but I need it.

 

[Creed Bratton]

I told my wife last night that Cal has accomplished 2 things over the last 6-7 years. 1) Make me realize I cared way too much about UK basketball and let it affect things it shouldn't. 2) Helped Stoops turn UK into a football school.

 

[DanCat17]

I screamed my head off when there was no TO and we went to Tyty instead of Oscar at the end of regulation. Then seeing Oscar was rough. Then apathy.

Right there with you. The loudest I was during the entire game was screaming for Cal to call a timeout.

 

[Stonewall12]

-Can we stop playing in Indy? The crowd clearly doesn't help UK as much as everyone wants to believe. It was LOUD when it needed to be, but this team didn't respond. So, Indy has given us Wisconsin, the Duke/Zion ass-kicking, and now arguably the biggest upset in NCAA history. Lovely. And it was Wisky all over again with the stall ball nonsense once a lead was finally in place late.

-Murray State fans were cheering for St. Peters, obviously. They were celebrating UK's loss as if they beat UK. Their attitude about it is what bothered me. People like upsets, yes. But they were sort of nasty about it. Remember that when you cheer for Murray State against St. Peter's.

-I think I was one of Cal's biggest defenders, especially because I live in Indy and have to deal with so much hate daily, but it's over. Every other coach in the SEC would have won that game last night. Cal was just ridiculously bad. Won't re-hash all of the examples, because they've been said on this board since the game started. But ho-lee sheet that was one of the worst coaching performances in ages. And Shaheen Holloway was ready for it.

-Wheeler kept us in the game for a couple of minutes late, but overall, he was abysmal. Our point guard was dreadful last night. Turnovers, bad passes, missed free throws, what in the hell was he doing? When Cal went into his predictable stall ball mode up 6 w/ 3:30 to play, Wheeler had no idea what he was doing ... and nobody wanted to touch the ball. Cal must scare the sh*t out of his players with some kind of nasty threats when he tells them to go into stall mode.

-Ty Ty Washington was so bad it was a joke. Cal couldn't even play him .... and then, of course, he throws him back in cold off the bench to take the last shot in regulation. Savvy move.

-Oscar deserves so much more. Will miss him.

-UK was bad at the rim all night. You could just sense "something" was off from the tip. Felt it in the air. Lay-ups, free throws, everything.

-Worse, UK was TERRIBLE on the fast break. Ty Ty was the worst. Felt like I was watching a point-shaver.

-Watching Sharpe in warm-ups, dunking, just pissed me off. I didn't even care about the whole Sharpe debacle until I saw this.

-Cal didn't even have the boys come out to warm up until about 4:00 left before the 2H. St. Peter's was out there for a full 10 extra minutes warming up. I think this kind of stuff matters. Cal just kept them back, probably allowing them to get more nervous/tight as he yelled nonsense at the whiteboard.

-Season had some fun moments .... but UK looked like a 6-7 seed the last month of the season and we all know it. The hype was a shame, because they didn't deserve any of it. The final four picks, the title predictions, all complete nonsense based on fool's gold from an outlier performance against Kansas in January. No other way to look at it.

-Not sure how much I'll care about this stuff until Cal is gone. 2015 broke something in me as a fan, probably for the better (less emotional about losses), but last night just felt like this weird sense of completeness .... I realized I'm just totally done w/ the Cal era and ready for a fresh start.

There are so many fans that agree and feel the same way.

it was atrocious the way he can not coach. 9 million a year. Frustrating and depressing to see. Everyone has said it, but I feel horrible for Oscar. What a season he had, what a player but a better person with a huge heart. I am behind done with Cal. Sharpe is gone. I will never pay money to see Kentucky play again while he is coach. I have not in several years anyway. After 9 wins last year and the kneeling BS. This first round exit and Sharpe leaving , Oscar leaving. Next year will be no better. I am almost indifferent now.

 

[Creed Bratton]

-Murray State fans were cheering for St. Peters, obviously. They were celebrating UK's loss as if they beat UK. Their attitude about it is what bothered me. People like upsets, yes. But they were sort of nasty about it. Remember that when you cheer for Murray State against St. Peter's.

I noticed their fans openly rooting against UK. Also, for those people who always root for SEC teams when they are playing in the tournament and it isn't against UK, I can assure you that the UT fans were not rooting for UK and neither does any of the other SEC fans. I have saw this from various SEC teams for years so I don't get why our fans do it.

 

[phyrekat]

Let's keep Indy and jettison the bloviating buffoon who has given us so many "find memories" there.

 

[Seth_C]

Why in the name of holy **** is Sharpe taking up space in GAME warmups when he has made it abundantly clear he refuses to play this season?

I know of course, and the answer is basically Cal, but it’s completely ****ing stupid.

Want him working in practice? I get that. Warmups are for people who *might* actually play, Cal, you monumental ****ing useless sack of shit.

 

[UK90]

I noticed their fans openly rooting against UK. Also, for those people who always root for SEC teams when they are playing in the tournament and it isn't against UK, I can assure you that the UT fans were not rooting for UK and neither does any of the other SEC fans. I have saw this from various SEC teams for years so I don't get why our fans do it.

I’ve noticed this too. Our fellow SEC fans feel no sense of conference loyalty toward UK the way we do toward them. They love it when we lose …especially Tennessee fans.

 

[sam_o]

well put, it’s time for a change

 

[STL_Cat]

Why in the name of holy **** is Sharpe taking up space in GAME warmups when he has made it abundantly clear he refuses to play this season?

I know of course, and the answer is basically Cal, but it’s completely ****ing stupid.

Want him working in practice? I get that. Warmups are for people who *might* actually play, Cal, you monumental ****ing useless sack of shit.

I asked this question a month ago. What was the purpose of him wearing a uniform and going through pregame warmups? It makes no sense. The best answer anyone could give me was “well he’s on the team.” But he wasn’t. He refused to play so he wasn’t on this team. Makes no sense whatsoever. Practice with the team, fine, but then put on your street clothes on Gameday just like any other redshirt player would.

 

[GuyFromKY]

-Not sure how much I'll care about this stuff until Cal is gone. 2015 broke something in me as a fan, probably for the better (less emotional about losses), but last night just felt like this weird sense of completeness .... I realized I'm just totally done w/ the Cal era and ready for a fresh start.

Man, this absolutely sums it all up.

 

[Creed Bratton]

I asked this question a month ago. What was the purpose of him wearing a uniform and going through pregame warmups? It makes no sense. The best answer anyone could give me was “well he’s on the team.” But he wasn’t. He refused to play so he wasn’t on this team. Makes no sense whatsoever. Practice with the team, fine, but then put on your street clothes on Gameday just like any other redshirt player would.

So do we know he refused to play or that Cal was protecting his draft status? I could see it being either or both.

 

[thecatsareback#8]

I said I was done last year and this team suckered me back in with their mid season performance only to let me down once again.

St. Peter’s ran back door play after back door play it was like watching Garner Webb all over again. It was actually refreshing to see a team run some sort of offense as I haven’t seen it from Kentucky in god knows how long.

I don’t really understand why Cal refuses to run plays. He should watch this game and install the same offense for next yearThe “dribble drive” is exactly what it states. Dribble drive pass until the clock hits 5 seconds and then throw up a prayer and hope Oscar is somewhere to rebound. Wtf is that? How is that acceptable from a 10 mil/year coach?

Call’s late game adjustment included stalling the ball until 5 seconds left and throw up a prayer. RUNNNNN. GOOOOOO. Some ish you’ve seen for years folks.

The team played tighter than a crabs asshole because Cal was tense. He knew that seat is blistering hot if he lost that game. I’ve never seen the game pass by a coach so fast and it’s his own fault not the talent.

 

[NoDef]

I looked up Saint Peters's schedule just to give me a little bit of reprieve from the loss hoping I would see a team that was under rated. Unfortunately they had been beaten by a bunch of teams I had never heard of.

 

[STL_Cat]

So do we know he refused to play or that Cal was protecting his draft status? I could see it being either or both.

All we know is the way things were handled through the media. Sharpe joined the team, Cal said for a couple weeks “he’s not ready but when he is I’ll put him out there” essentially. Really started hinting at the fact that he was going to get him out there after the news came out that he was draft eligible. Then, Cal posts a long tweet about how after meeting with Sharpe’s family aka handlers, he would not be playing this year. So if you’re reading tea leaves it was pretty clear that someone on Sharpe’s side shut down the idea of him playing this year. Whether it was Sharpe or one of his “people”, it sure looked like Cal was told “he’s not playing this year.”

 

[bnewt]

have also felt this way since 2015
UK is now a laughing stock - last year & now a loss to a mid major in the 1st round of the NCAA

time for a change

 

[bnewt]

All we know is the way things were handled through the media. Sharpe joined the team, Cal said for a couple weeks “he’s not ready but when he is I’ll put him out there” essentially. Really started hinting at the fact that he was going to get him out there after the news came out that he was draft eligible. Then, Cal posts a long tweet about how after meeting with Sharpe’s family aka handlers, he would not be playing this year. So if you’re reading tea leaves it was pretty clear that someone on Sharpe’s side shut down the idea of him playing this year. Whether it was Sharpe or one of his “people”, it sure looked like Cal was told “he’s not playing this year.”

who runs the UK program.......Cal & Barney or Sharpe & his handlers?
They should have been told that was not going to happen, he either plays or goes

 

[Untouchables22]

Cal’s buyout is too large for the school to afford at the current moment so being a pragmatist we as a fan base are going to need to LOUDLY demand change. He has to get over his arrogant stubborn streak. I’ve had it….with his refusal to prioritize shooting, his refusal to ever change up the defense, his bad inbounds plays and his terrible defense of the other teams inbounds plays. His lack of in game adjustments and his miserable half court offense that is consistently terrible. He can’t coach offense and he needs to look in the mirror and hire someone to help him. We have to (respectfully) but LOUDLY demand the program make these changes or we will find enough money to show him the door.

 

[Creed Bratton]

All we know is the way things were handled through the media. Sharpe joined the team, Cal said for a couple weeks “he’s not ready but when he is I’ll put him out there” essentially. Really started hinting at the fact that he was going to get him out there after the news came out that he was draft eligible. Then, Cal posts a long tweet about how after meeting with Sharpe’s family aka handlers, he would not be playing this year. So if you’re reading tea leaves it was pretty clear that someone on Sharpe’s side shut down the idea of him playing this year. Whether it was Sharpe or one of his “people”, it sure looked like Cal was told “he’s not playing this year.”

If that is how it played out then Cal should have announced the next day that Sharpe had left the program to prepare for the draft. But then again it would be one less player that Cal could claim he changed their life.

 

[Seth_C]

All we know is the way things were handled through the media. Sharpe joined the team, Cal said for a couple weeks “he’s not ready but when he is I’ll put him out there” essentially. Really started hinting at the fact that he was going to get him out there after the news came out that he was draft eligible. Then, Cal posts a long tweet about how after meeting with Sharpe’s family aka handlers, he would not be playing this year. So if you’re reading tea leaves it was pretty clear that someone on Sharpe’s side shut down the idea of him playing this year. Whether it was Sharpe or one of his “people”, it sure looked like Cal was told “he’s not playing this year.”

Basically, Sharpe or his team refused to let him play, or otherwise Cal is just straight throwing him under the bus. Usually Cal reserves that sort of shenanigan for people he lets clock in for a minute or two before yanking.

 

[Seth_C]

If that is how it played out then Cal should have announced the next day that Sharpe had left the program to prepare for the draft. But then again it would be one less player that Cal could claim he changed their life.

He can’t do that because he has to keep pretending it’s all part of some grand plan for him to be at his very best next year. To lead us to the promised land!

 

[STL_Cat]

If that is how it played out then Cal should have announced the next day that Sharpe had left the program to prepare for the draft. But then again it would be one less player that Cal could claim he changed their life.

Cal had himself painted in a corner because they could always still say “the plan was to practice this year and play next year!” but the problem with that was the change in draft status. Cal should have told Sharpe from the beginning, you’re welcome to join this team in the spring but if you do be prepared to play if I call your number. If you’re not willing to do that, we’ll see you in the summer with the class I recruited you to be in. But he let him come under this (false) assumption that he would be preparing for next season. A season that I think we all know will never come.

 

[JonathanW]

As for the Murray St fans. As a former-Kentuckian that went to another in-state school (WKU), I (and a lot of others there when I was at WKU) were BOTH UK and WKU fans. Would we have ever cheered against UK? Hell no. But I can understand their excitement for Murray, as this give Murray a hell of a lot better chance to make the Sweet 16 (playing SP instead of UK).

As an aside, when I was in graduate school, I went to the Sweet 16 in Charlotte (game 1, WKU vs FSU; game 2, UK vs WF). WKU lost in OT to a good FSU team, and UK demolished (was over in 10 minutes) a very good WF team. I had my WKU and UK shirts on, so between games took off the WKU shirt to reveal the UK shirt.

 

[Seth_C]

Cal had himself painted in a corner because they could always still say “the plan was to practice this year and play next year!” but the problem with that was the change in draft status. Cal should have told Sharpe from the beginning, you’re welcome to join this team in the spring but if you do be prepared to play if I call your number. If you’re not willing to do that, we’ll see you in the summer with the class I recruited you to be in. But he let him come under this (false) assumption that he would be preparing for next season. A season that I think we all know will never come.

You wish. Cal knew from moment one that he wasn’t playing next year. That’s WHY he enrolled early. Cal just hoped to get some run out of him this year, and that didn’t happen, and then he was painted into a corner.

 

[bigbluedon]

-Can we stop playing in Indy? The crowd clearly doesn't help UK as much as everyone wants to believe. It was LOUD when it needed to be, but this team didn't respond. So, Indy has given us Wisconsin, the Duke/Zion ass-kicking, and now arguably the biggest upset in NCAA history. Lovely. And it was Wisky all over again with the stall ball nonsense once a lead was finally in place late.

-Murray State fans were cheering for St. Peters, obviously. They were celebrating UK's loss as if they beat UK. Their attitude about it is what bothered me. People like upsets, yes. But they were sort of nasty about it. Remember that when you cheer for Murray State against St. Peter's.

-I think I was one of Cal's biggest defenders, especially because I live in Indy and have to deal with so much hate daily, but it's over. Every other coach in the SEC would have won that game last night. Cal was just ridiculously bad. Won't re-hash all of the examples, because they've been said on this board since the game started. But ho-lee sheet that was one of the worst coaching performances in ages. And Shaheen Holloway was ready for it.

-Wheeler kept us in the game for a couple of minutes late, but overall, he was abysmal. Our point guard was dreadful last night. Turnovers, bad passes, missed free throws, what in the hell was he doing? When Cal went into his predictable stall ball mode up 6 w/ 3:30 to play, Wheeler had no idea what he was doing ... and nobody wanted to touch the ball. Cal must scare the sh*t out of his players with some kind of nasty threats when he tells them to go into stall mode.

-Ty Ty Washington was so bad it was a joke. Cal couldn't even play him .... and then, of course, he throws him back in cold off the bench to take the last shot in regulation. Savvy move.

-Oscar deserves so much more. Will miss him.

-UK was bad at the rim all night. You could just sense "something" was off from the tip. Felt it in the air. Lay-ups, free throws, everything.

-Worse, UK was TERRIBLE on the fast break. Ty Ty was the worst. Felt like I was watching a point-shaver.

-Watching Sharpe in warm-ups, dunking, just pissed me off. I didn't even care about the whole Sharpe debacle until I saw this.

-Cal didn't even have the boys come out to warm up until about 4:00 left before the 2H. St. Peter's was out there for a full 10 extra minutes warming up. I think this kind of stuff matters. Cal just kept them back, probably allowing them to get more nervous/tight as he yelled nonsense at the whiteboard.

-Season had some fun moments .... but UK looked like a 6-7 seed the last month of the season and we all know it. The hype was a shame, because they didn't deserve any of it. The final four picks, the title predictions, all complete nonsense based on fool's gold from an outlier performance against Kansas in January. No other way to look at it.

-Not sure how much I'll care about this stuff until Cal is gone. 2015 broke something in me as a fan, probably for the better (less emotional about losses), but last night just felt like this weird sense of completeness .... I realized I'm just totally done w/ the Cal era and ready for a fresh start.

Great post