Providence vs Kentucky

[Bill Marsh]

I know this game's not 'til tomorrow night, but I've been emboldened by the Villanova win over Kansas to focus on this game as the conference's next big opportunity. Here are some things to ponder about Kentucky:

1. They have had the #1 recruiting class in the country for 5 straight (per Scout). How have they come away with only one national championship and one other Final Four?

2. After being upset in the first round of the SEC tournament, they weren't even selected for the NCAA tournament last year and exited the NIT in the first round as well. After that abysmal record of failure, why were they handed the #1 ranking on a silver platter. They showed their disdain for the gift by immediately kicking it to the curb by losing to Michigan State in their first opportunity to play a good team. (UNC Asheville and Northern Kentucky had been their 2 previous opponents.)

3. The only one of their 6 wins that has come against a team with a winning record this year was against Eastern Michigan, a game which they led by only 3 points at the half.

4. They did manage to avenge their NIT loss to Robert Morris 2 weeks ago by getting them to play the at Rupp. Injuries and having to play RMU on the road were last year's excuses for losing to Robert Morris. Can you imagine Kentucky having to make excuses for losing to Robert Morris anywhere? Kentucky went into that game built on the talent of 4 straight #1 recruiting classes. The next time that Robert Morris sees a top 100 recruit on their roster will be their first time.

5. Kentucky players must be sky high coming off the Robert Morris and the Eastern Michigan wins.

[GumbyDamnit!]

Bill I would cool the jets just a bit. They have 5 straight #1 recruiting classes and have also sent about a dozen kids to the NBA in the first round. So it's not like those kids have stayed and played together. It works for Calipari so he's sticking with the strategy. Some years it works and in other years the inexperience kicks in (see last year). In his defense his best player went down and the team fell apart. That has happened to many programs, many times. In terms of them being preseason #1, I agree that it was a bit much. Glad MSU won but lets be honest that Kentucky gave them all they could handle.

This is going to be a big test for Prov. Randle is a monster. If they win this it will be against one of the best teams in the country, not a paper tiger. By March UK will be really tough. Get 'me now. Good luck Friars!

[ChelseaFriar]

I have zero hope for this game with the way the Friars, including Cotton, have been shooting. Just terrible, terrible shooting.

I will be attending the game, but not hopeful.

Also, Dunn did not play vs. Fairfield yesterday so it remains to be seen if he plays vs. Kentucky. Not to mention, Dunn looked horrible vs. Maryland. It's starting to become obvious that we are likely not getting a healthy Kris Dunn this season.

I thought we had slight chance in this game if Cotton was shooting like Cotton, Dunn was healthy, and freshmen Austin was available to add depth. None of these are now true.

For those keeping score, our best recruits under Cooley (Ledo, Dunn, Austin) have not played a full season. Not good.

[TheHall]

I have zero hope for this game with the way the Friars, including Cotton, have been shooting. Just terrible, terrible shooting.

I will be attending the game, but not hopeful.

Also, Dunn did not play vs. Fairfield yesterday so it remains to be seen if he plays vs. Kentucky. Not to mention, Dunn looked horrible vs. Maryland. It's starting to become obvious that we are likely not getting a healthy Kris Dunn this season.

I thought we had slight chance in this game if Cotton was shooting like Cotton, Dunn was healthy, and freshmen Austin was available to add depth. None of these are now true.

For those keeping score, our best recruits under Cooley (Ledo, Dunn, Austin) have not played a full season. Not good.

I agree with this tough assessment to a point. Then again, Butler made no such excuses going into yesterday, even though they had plenty they could use. Yet they out-played the #5 team in the country with it's lottery pick PG. Let's see what PC does on the big stage for the first time before we start making excuses (legitimate) for them. They may not need any excuses, even if they loses, just like BU. Remember Cleveland st played UK tough. They had that game although they wound up losing by 7 in the end.

[Bill Marsh]

Bill I would cool the jets just a bit. They have 5 straight #1 recruiting classes and have also sent about a dozen kids to the NBA in the first round. So it's not like those kids have stayed and played together. It works for Calipari so he's sticking with the strategy. Some years it works and in other years the inexperience kicks in (see last year). In his defense his best player went down and the team fell apart. That has happened to many programs, many times. In terms of them being preseason #1, I agree that it was a bit much. Glad MSU won but lets be honest that Kentucky gave them all they could handle.

This is going to be a big test for Prov. Randle is a monster. If they win this it will be against one of the best teams in the country, not a paper tiger. By March UK will be really tough. Get 'me now. Good luck Friars!

Cool the jets on what? I hardly expressed an opinion. I listed some interesting facts about Kentucky. Make of them what you want.

I'm well aware that they've lost kids to the NBA. I wouldn't have even mentioned it had they not been ranked #1. But seriously how has it worked for Calipari? I mean that as a question, not a rhetorical statement. Every year he gets picked by a bunch if prognosticators, who are impressed with his recruits, to win the championship. He's won one. That's a 25% success rate.

And now Kentucky's using injuries as an excuse? They didn't even make the tournament. They didn't win a single game in either the SEC tourney or in the NiT. With the kind of talent they bring in, they should be able to win games with their secon or third team. Tell Wichita State or VCU that Kentucky couldn't win because their talent pool was reduced by injury.

I admit that I hate the program. When they have a coach with some integrity, I can overlook the flaws and give them their due for what they achieve. but they had that kind of coach when Tubby Smith was there. Even won a national championship with him at the helm. But they let him go. That was bad enough, but hiring Calipari was about the most despicable move they could have made. They were telling the college basketball world: "We couldn't beat you by competing fair and square, so we're going to win by bringing in a cheater."

Isn't it at Kentucky that they invented the saying: "If you ain't cheatin', you ain't try in'."?

[Bill Marsh]

I have zero hope for this game with the way the Friars, including Cotton, have been shooting. Just terrible, terrible shooting.

I will be attending the game, but not hopeful.

Also, Dunn did not play vs. Fairfield yesterday so it remains to be seen if he plays vs. Kentucky. Not to mention, Dunn looked horrible vs. Maryland. It's starting to become obvious that we are likely not getting a healthy Kris Dunn this season.

I thought we had slight chance in this game if Cotton was shooting like Cotton, Dunn was healthy, and freshmen Austin was available to add depth. None of these are now true.

For those keeping score, our best recruits under Cooley (Ledo, Dunn, Austin) have not played a full season. Not good.

We know that Cotton's a better shooter than he's shown recently. Let's hope that he was just getting some bad games out of his system. Too early to give up on him.

I thought they said during the Fairfield game that Dunn is expected to play tomorrow night. I think that Cooley is just limiting his playing time. He wasn't needed against Fairfield, so why not give him a rest? Maybe Cooley was just going easy on his old school. LOL.

When I've seen Dunn play, he showed me that he can impact a game without scoring a single point. His speed and his ability to find people for good shots are weapons all by themselves. I don't think he has to be 100%. I hope he plays tomorrow night. Frankly, having him in the game makes cotton a better shooter. I think part of the reason for Cotton's shooting problems is his dual responsibilities.

[ChelseaFriar]

I have zero hope for this game with the way the Friars, including Cotton, have been shooting. Just terrible, terrible shooting.

I will be attending the game, but not hopeful.

Also, Dunn did not play vs. Fairfield yesterday so it remains to be seen if he plays vs. Kentucky. Not to mention, Dunn looked horrible vs. Maryland. It's starting to become obvious that we are likely not getting a healthy Kris Dunn this season.

I thought we had slight chance in this game if Cotton was shooting like Cotton, Dunn was healthy, and freshmen Austin was available to add depth. None of these are now true.

For those keeping score, our best recruits under Cooley (Ledo, Dunn, Austin) have not played a full season. Not good.

I agree with this tough assessment to a point. Then again, Butler made no such excuses going into yesterday, even though they had plenty they could use. Yet they out-played the #5 team in the country with it's lottery pick PG. Let's see what PC does on the big stage for the first time before we start making excuses (legitimate) for them. They may not need any excuses, even if they loses, just like BU. Remember Cleveland st played UK tough. They had that game although they wound up losing by 7 in the end.

To be clear, my comments were not intended to be an excuse. I said I felt we had a slight chance for an upset with a full roster available. I didn't say we would have won with a full roster. Kentucky is the more talented, deeper team even if we had Ricky Ledo back.

[Bill Marsh]

I have zero hope for this game with the way the Friars, including Cotton, have been shooting. Just terrible, terrible shooting.

I will be attending the game, but not hopeful.

Also, Dunn did not play vs. Fairfield yesterday so it remains to be seen if he plays vs. Kentucky. Not to mention, Dunn looked horrible vs. Maryland. It's starting to become obvious that we are likely not getting a healthy Kris Dunn this season.

I thought we had slight chance in this game if Cotton was shooting like Cotton, Dunn was healthy, and freshmen Austin was available to add depth. None of these are now true.

For those keeping score, our best recruits under Cooley (Ledo, Dunn, Austin) have not played a full season. Not good.

I agree with this tough assessment to a point. Then again, Butler made no such excuses going into yesterday, even though they had plenty they could use. Yet they out-played the #5 team in the country with it's lottery pick PG. Let's see what PC does on the big stage for the first time before we start making excuses (legitimate) for them. They may not need any excuses, even if they loses, just like BU. Remember Cleveland st played UK tough. They had that game although they wound up losing by 7 in the end.

To be clear, my comments were not intended to be an excuse. I said I felt we had a slight chance for an upset with a full roster available. I didn't say we would have won with a full roster. Kentucky is the more talented, deeper team even if we had Ricky Ledo back.

Let's get serious about this. Providence doesn't have a slight chance to win this game. They have a very good chance to win it.

Let's talk first about who these two teams are. Kentucky starts 5 freshmen. Count 'em. Five. Providence starts 2 seniors, a junior, and a third year sophomore, and a true sophomore. Carson Desrosiers, their 6th man, is a fourth year junior.The PC players are men playing with boys. The Kentucky players are still trying to learn each other's names and find out how to get to their dorm.

Let's look at what they've accomplished this year. PC already has wins over credible opponents like BC, Vanderbilt, and LaSalle. Other than Michigan State to whom they lost, Kentucky is untried and untested, having played a group of low majors. Against a weak Cleveland State team, they trailed at the half and fell further behind by as much 10 points late in the second half before they rallied to win. Do you think that PC has more weapons than Cleveland State?

Has Kentucky show any weaknesses? They sure have. They don't shoot the 3 well (29%), they're a poor free throw shooting team (67%), and they turn the ball over too much (93 vs 80 for opponents). This game could come down to little things like free throw shooting. For example, PC is one of the best FT shooting teams in the country (83%). Last game they made 14 straight FT's - 12 by Cotton who shoots 93% FT. But that isn't even the best on the team. Harris shoots 94%.

This is a very experienced Providence team - a group that plays well together, moves the ball well, and passes the ball exceptionally well. If the experience of a veteran team has shown itself to be a difference maker in march, wouldn't it be even more of a difference maker in December?

I have no idea why Kentucky would have been handed the #1 ranking on the strength of a top recruiting class. But it is indisputable that they didn't earn it. They are a group of very talented but very raw rookies. I'm not buying all of the hype until they show me that they can actually beat someone who's any good. Last year's Kentucky team, also the best recruiting class in the country, was also overhyped, so I'm not willing to concede anything to them until they've proven themselves.

This should be a dog fight. The Cleveland State game was played at Rupp Arena. Their should be a pro-PC crowd at Barclay, so I don't see any glorious come backs for Kentucky if Providence grabs the early lead. I give the edge to the team with the better basketball coach, not to the one with the better sneaker salesman.

[ChelseaFriar]

Just back from Barclays. I can say that the crowd was not even close to pro-PC. It was flooded with UK fans in NYC for the Thanksgiving weekend. I expected a big showing from UK fans, but even I was shocked at the showing by Big Blue. Absolutely a Kentucky home game. They even had their own PA announcer flown in from Lexington to get the Kentucky crowd fired up throughout the game.

I also learned that Kentucky had control of the tickets. PC got 1,000. I was sitting next to an older dentist from Lexington. I live in NYC so I shook his hand and said "welcome.". He looked at me and said, "well, it's our home game..." He was implying that he should be welcoming me to an arena in the city that I live.

[BillikenFriar]

The most shocking part of that story is that there are dentists in Kentucky.