"Kentucky overwhelming favorite to win NCAA tournament"

[Knicks411]

I really want to see UK up against some real competition. I find myself in awe of them sometimes and then I remember we would look the same if we were in the SEC.

Well, it was only one game, but we beat Florida by 4 (7 if you throw away the 3 at the end), and UK killed them. Only one game.

I think Kentucky is the team with the best chance to win the title, but overwhelming favorite seems a little much. There's gotta be what, at least a 75% chance they lose.

 

[longislandcuse]

Well, it was only one game, but we beat Florida by 4 (7 if you throw away the 3 at the end), and UK killed them. Only one game.

I think Kentucky is the team with the best chance to win the title, but overwhelming favorite seems a little much. There's gotta be what, at least a 75% chance they lose.

Yea but UF couldnt hit the ocean from the beach against UK and they were hitting NBA and beyond threes with hands in their faces against us. They miss the threes against us that they missed against UK and its massacre as well. This is why im saying they are all about the 3 ball. If they are hitting they are good, if they are not they will lose to Georgia and Rutgers.

 

[SmilinBob]

Kentucky reminds me of the past teams slick had over at Memphis, talented but didn't have a quality conference to really challenge them.

 

[priestp]

I guess senior leadership is overrated?

 

[Knicks411]

Yea but UF couldnt hit the ocean from the beach against UK and they were hitting NBA and beyond threes with hands in their faces against us. They miss the threes against us that they missed against UK and its massacre as well. This is why im saying they are all about the 3 ball. If they are hitting they are good, if they are not they will lose to Georgia and Rutgers.

Florida is definitely a high variance team because of the 3. (They made 9-26 against us, it isn't like they shot the lights out, but it's better than 6-27 which they shot against UK. They made 16-36 2's against UK, 17-31 on 2's against us)

But I think if it was the other way around, and we killed Florida on a day they shot 6-27 from and UK beat them close on a day they were 9-26 from 3, ,you might not be making that argument. Maybe I'm wrong.

SEC is definitely not as strong as the BE. Kentucky is pretty much running roughshod on the conference though. I think Kentucky is the team with the best shot to win the title, but as I said before, they are much more likely to not win it than win it.

 

[Marsh01]

Kentucky's downfall (if they actualy have one) is the game where Davis gets into foul trouble and/or they cant throw it in the ocean. When they played Indiana, he got into early foul trouble (ended up with 4 fouls) and only played 24 minutes. They also only shot 7 three pointers that game (making only 2).

If I am a team that is trying to beat them I would take it right at him. I dont care if he blocks 14 shots that game. Keep attacking him. You need to get him into foul trouble and off the floor if you want to disrupt what they do.

I actually think Florida will beat them this weekend.

 

[690West]

Well, it was only one game, but we beat Florida by 4 (7 if you throw away the 3 at the end), and UK killed them. Only one game.

I think Kentucky is the team with the best chance to win the title, but overwhelming favorite seems a little much. There's gotta be what, at least a 75% chance they lose.

I think the betting public believes they have a 67% chance to lose, which is hardly overwhelming

 

[longislandcuse]

Florida is definitely a high variance team because of the 3. (They made 9-26 against us, it isn't like they shot the lights out, but it's better than 6-27 which they shot against UK. They made 16-36 2's against UK, 17-31 on 2's against us)

But I think if it was the other way around, and we killed Florida on a day they shot 6-27 from and UK beat them close on a day they were 9-26 from 3, ,you might not be making that argument. Maybe I'm wrong.

SEC is definitely not as strong as the BE. Kentucky is pretty much running roughshod on the conference though. I think Kentucky is the team with the best shot to win the title, but as I said before, they are much more likely to not win it than win it.

Agree with the last part.

When we played UF, we kept almost blowing them out and then someone would hit a ridiculous shot that brought them back so I guess it seemed like they were hitting everything. Bottom line though, UF never contended against us and we were clearly the better team.

I would say UK is the favorite but I also wouldnt be suprised to see them struggle and maybe even get knocked out before the Final 4 when they start playing some teams with actual talent. Honestly, the winner of their 8/9 game will probably be as good the best teams not named Kentucky in the SEC.

 

[Knicks411]

When we played UF, we kept almost blowing them out and then someone would hit a ridiculous shot that brought them back so I guess it seemed like they were hitting everything. Bottom line though, UF never contended against us and we were clearly the better team.

I think there was like a 3-4 minute stretch where Boynton was hitting some bombs on us. (looked it up; we were up 41-35 with 13:07 left. They made 4-4 3's in the next 5 possessions, plus Walker made a 2 pointer.)

I might disagree a little with your contention of the game; agreed we are a better team, but it was 51-49 at the under 8 TO in the second half, and I believe our biggest lead to that point was 6. We did pull away at the end.

I would say UK is the favorite but I also wouldnt be suprised to see them struggle and maybe even get knocked out before the Final 4 when they start playing some teams with actual talent. Honestly, the winner of their 8/9 game will probably be as good the best teams not named Kentucky in the SEC.

I think Florida and Vandy are better than 8-9 seeds though. Florida isn't as good as we thought (hoped for?) when we beat them back in December, but they are a pretty solid team and will probably give UK a good game this weekend. In Lunardi's last update, he had Purdue and K-State as the 8-9 in UK's region. That'll change, but I couldn't see Purdue beating them, K-State for sure would hae a chance.

I know they have been awful lately, but people on here have mentioned Uconn could be the type of team that gets an 8 or a 9 and scares/beats a top seed in the second round. They are probably below a 9 right now, so they'd need to string a few wins together, but they have the talent. (For whatever thats worth, since it hasn't gotten them much so far).

 

[longislandcuse]

UCONN in the 8/9 game would give some 1 seeds fanbase a heart attack.

 

[EastCoast2]

I've said this 20 times. I want to see UConn at the 9 seed in UK's region and watch UK fans *t bricks.

 

[Marsh01]

I think the betting public believes they have a 67% chance to lose, which is hardly overwhelming

Teams usually want to get away from the conference teams and start playing the non conference teams in the NCAA's. I think this helps teams like Syracuse, Michigan State, Ohio State as they are really in battles every game (well most games anyways) in conference. I think that could hurt teams this year like UNC, Duke and Kentucky because they havent been challenged many times this season because of the lack of quality teams in their confernece. More Kentucky than Duke/UNC.

I mean if I am Kentucky and I see a team like Purdue/KState/Uconn/Cincy/Washington on the 8/9 line I am a bit concerned.

 

[OrlandoCuse]

I'm a bit naive, but who is Ryan Burr? I've honestly never heard of him.

Son of Jim? Long lost relative of Aaron?

 

[cusetown1]

Syracuse is the Underwhelming favorite!

 

[Marsh01]

I'm a bit naive, but who is Ryan Burr? I've honestly never heard of him.

Son of Jim? Long lost relative of Aaron?

ESPN studio guy

 

[cusetown1]

I'm a bit naive, but who is Ryan Burr? I've honestly never heard of him.

Son of Jim? Long lost relative of Aaron?

he starred in the movie Robin Hood Men in Tights

 

[Knicks411]

Teams usually want to get away from the conference teams and start playing the non conference teams in the NCAA's. I think this helps teams like Syracuse, Michigan State, Ohio State as they are really in battles every game (well most games anyways) in conference. I think that could hurt teams this year like UNC, Duke and Kentucky because they havent been challenged many times this season because of the lack of quality teams in their confernece. More Kentucky than Duke/UNC.

I wonder if there is anything to this. I hear it for SU a lot, for instance, (especially because of the type of defense we play) but it isn't like we have a great tournament record. (I remember as a kid hearing the same type of thing about Temple and John Chaney, but I don't believe they had a great tournament record either) I think overall, we've played to seed, give or take a few games. The BE was a beast last year, and the conference did pretty poorly in the NCAA tournament as well. (Though Cincy and us both lost to fellow BE teams, so that somewhat mitigates things. I know UConn won it all, and maybe they would be an example of what you are talking about).

 

[nyhc666]

getting hired at the Bristol Clown College to work on television doesn't automatically make you an expert on sports...these idiots take themselves WAY to seriously...

 

[tbonezone]

I guess senior leadership is overrated?

i know talent's a great thing but big game experience is often the equilizer. the kentucky kids are tourney virgins (conf. or ncaa).

 

[strumpfasaurus]

i know talent's a great thing but big game experience is often the equilizer. the kentucky kids are tourney virgins (conf. or ncaa).

So was Carmelo Anthony.

 

[tbonezone]

were we the overwhelming tourney favorites that year i forget?

 

[realorange]

Agree with Marsh about going at them. They have a weak bench and would start getting out of sync quickly especially if it was Davis or Lamb that had to sit for meaningful time. I think Teague can be pressured into making mistakes by an in your face defense.
I'd love to see Florida take out UK. Their board would totally melt down, but then they would say the defeat showed how tough their conference is.

 

[tbonezone]

just looking at the stats kidd-gilchrist has fouled out 3 times,jones twice,davis and teague only once.
teague,davis,kiddg and lamb all average over 30 minutes a game so sitting out this season evidently hasn't been an issue. avg. # fouls per game mkg (2.3) davis (2) lamb (1.6) teague 2.3).

 

[IthacaMatt]

just looking at the stats kidd-gilchrist has fouled out 3 times,jones twice,davis and teague only once.
teague,davis,kiddg and lamb all average over 30 minutes a game so sitting out this season evidently hasn't been an issue. avg. # fouls per game mkg (2.3) davis (2) lamb (1.6) teague 2.3).

They really only have 6 1/2 guys. Davis foul trouble makes them a very beatable team. So does an off shooting night from Doron Lamb against our zone. If we can contain Gilchrist on the drive, and Jones doesn't go crazy on the offensive glass, we can live with Davis getting his. There are a few tricks we have that could give them trouble.