Kentucky Sports Radio
[Moderated by Matt Jones]
[Moderated by Matt Jones]
I like to think this was the actual logo for this year’s game, but for some reason I doubt it. Maybe it’s because there is a woman there, but more I think it’s because the man is balancing on gymnastics rings.
Got to see alot of the Derby Classic live from Freedom Hall tonight, and there were alot of interesting notes from the game:
1) UK fans outnumbered UL fans AT LEAST 3 to 1, maybe more. It was a great show of support from the Big Blue Faithful. Loudest cheer of the night had to go to Darius Miller or Louisville’s Terrance Jennings, but I think Miller was just a little louder. Also, the Florida guys were booed mercilessly, that was kinda cool because they played along doing the Gator chomp.
2) I did not get a final stat sheet, so I cant give you the final numbers on all of UK’s guys, but I will give you what I thought of their games. Let me first start off by saying this was much like every all-star game, meaning poorly defended, lots of horrible passes, and only seeing guys for 3-4 minute stretches.
Darius Miller: First time I had seen him in person, very silky smooth, nice mid-range game, great build, should be a very nice contributor next season.
Ater Majok: Of the 3 UK targets at the game, Majok was certainly the most impressive. In the first 4 minutes of the game, he hit a mid-range jumper, a 3-pointer, and had a dunk. He’s very long and lanky, you can tell he still is a little rough around the edges, but you can also tell that he has NOT reached his potential which I think is a good thing, would be a steal this late in the recruiting process
Paul McCoy: Very quick, ran the point most of the time, had one nice move in the first half where he weaved through about 15 guys and scored, never saw him take a jump shot so don’t know if he has one, tough to say how good he is because once he passed the ball he wasn’t getting it back in this type of game.
Maurice Sutton: he was actually better than most people make him out to be, but still needs a bunch of work, i know this really doesn’t matter in an all-star game, but he was the only guy I saw get burned a couple times on defense, he actually did a nice job of finishing around the basket but he’s that type of guy that looks uncomfortable going up for a layup and it almost surprises you when it goes in, he is tall and you can also see potential, but I would label him as a project if he comes to UK.
Deandre Liggins: Much like McCoy, I didnt feel like we saw much from him because he just wasn’t getting a ton of touches, what I did see was he was tall for a point guard and passed the ball well, beyond that I wouldn’t make any more judgements
3) I hate to say this on a UK blog, but Terrance Jennings is really, really good. Earl Clark, Jennings, and Samuardo Samuels will make a very, very good frontcourt next year. Just to make you feel better, UL’s other recruit in the game, Jared Swoopshire(sp?) looked terrible. If his jumpshot is supposed to be his specialty, he sure didn’t bring it tonight, I saw him shoot 2 airballs, which is more embarrasing considering no one is defending you.
4) I was a little disapointed not to see any UK representation there, whether it be Gillispie, an assistant, or one of the players. UL brought a couple guys from the team, thought it would be nice to see a UK person there also, but oh well, I will just imagine they were out busting tail on more recruits.
5) A couple other guys were impressive: Travis Releford (Kansas) and Yancy Gates (Cincinnati). One guy who wasn’t: Tyler Zeller. Majok looked better than Zeller, so Cats fans shouldn’t feel too bad about missing out on him.
Now, like I said, I never got a final stats sheet, so guys like Liggins and McCoy may have scored 25 points for all I know. And I can’t reitierate enough how bad a judge watching an all-star game can make you. But, you want it so I give it to you. And for those of you that went, congrats because you rocked the place.
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April 20th, 2008 at 1:42 am
Bryan the Intern, I think there is a rule about coaches not attending all star games
April 20th, 2008 at 1:47 am
yea but it seems like a player or someone to represent us could have been there…i hope that doesn’t leave a bad impression on any of our recruits we’re goin after.Majok esp.
April 20th, 2008 at 2:07 am
here is what Demling was reporting on his blog:
I did want to pass along that all three schools had assistant coaches in the house today! Richard Pitino was here following Mike Marra and Rakeem Buckles among others for Louisville, while Tracey Webster was around and about for Kentucky.
April 20th, 2008 at 2:08 am
forgot the link:^^^
http://www.courier-journal.com/blogs/demling/blog.html
April 20th, 2008 at 2:09 am
5th
April 20th, 2008 at 2:16 am
earl clark is going pro i thought
April 20th, 2008 at 2:18 am
#6: He pulled out of the draft this week….good decision on his part in my opinion.
April 20th, 2008 at 2:25 am
#4
That was at the jamfest in Pitt.Coaches are not allowed to attend all-star games such as this or Micky D’s game.Hence the absence of Coaches.
April 20th, 2008 at 2:26 am
i grabbed a stat sheet on my way out…
ater majok
6-10 (2-2 3pt) 14pts, 4 rbs, 1 blk, 19 minutes
darius miller
3-4 (0-1 3pt) 6 pts, 3 rbs, 1 ast, 1 to, 23 minutes
deandre liggins
1-3 (0-2 3pt) 2 pts, 3 rbs 3 assist 4 TOs 16 minutes
paul mccoy
2-6 (0-3 3pt) 4 pts, 1 rbs, 2 ast, 1 to, 1 steal
maurice sutton
7-10 (0-1 3pt) 17 pts, 3rbs, 1 blk, 1 stl
April 20th, 2008 at 2:38 am
#8..my bad, just glanced at it real quick thought he was talking about the Classic. From what he says about Wall and what I’ve heard for a long time about him, I really hope UK can land him.
April 20th, 2008 at 5:51 am
Somebody needs to accidentally spill a big bucket of blue paint in the middle of Freedom Hall court one night when the security guard has gone to sleep.
Muslims have sucide bombers… it’s about time for white boys with nothing better to do to start working missions too.
Report back here with pic links/results. You will be a legend.
Next hit… Bruce Pearl just before the UK UT game (when he’s got his orange coat on). Again, without pics, you have failed.
OK, my dreaming is done. Good day.
April 20th, 2008 at 7:24 am
I wanted to thank Coach Gillispie for his actions at the Blue/White game. As he, players and recruits made there way along the sideline, children rushed to the front to get an autograph. He patiently took the time to sign every request. The kids and fans loved it. It was a very nice gesture and the kids were thrilled.
April 20th, 2008 at 8:13 am
I guess he may have had a thought about going to OK State but I think he is loving the worship he gets here at this basketball crazy place. He knows how to work it.
April 20th, 2008 at 10:33 am
Another thing that I thought was of note was that most of Majok’s shots were contested. Alot of his shots were him backing someone down, then shooting over them. I thought his shot was pretty high arcing, then would be all net.
Paul McCoy seemed to me to run a nice offense. He seemed to be in control, never intiminated, and got players the ball where they needed it. McCoy was also in the three-point shooting contest and tied for 3rd. I think you weren’t suppost to press except for the last 2 minutes, but McCoy was guarding full count the entire game. For any McCoy fans, he did walk out to the shoot around between Miller and Liggins, and Miller and McCoy were chatting it up the entire game…
Most of Sutton’s points came off lay-ups and dunks, but he did show a 10-15 footer shot that he did show some confidence in. He had a sneaky 17 points, as you never realized he did much until you saw the scoreboard.
April 20th, 2008 at 10:38 am
- MCCoy looked agressive with the bball, and he is not scared to run people that are in the way of him and the ball
- Sutton impressed me more. He showed some post up moves, getting out on the break, and put backs. My expectation was low on him, so maybe that is why I was so impressed. He would bullied underneath against some strong frintcourts, but over time I think he could be a player
- Miller was not looking to get his at all, but the few moves that he did have were (as the intern put it)silky smooth.
- Liggins can get to the hole, but there were sometimes when he got to the hole he would not know what to do with it.
- Majok looked good, but being 6-10, he plays well outside of the basket and did not appear to have a single post up move. If we are looking for a C or PF, he is not our guy, at all.
- UK fans started the Blue/White and Sutton was all into, great to see.
April 20th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Coaches are not permitted to attend (probably already been noted above).
I doubt UK fans outnumbered UL fans by that margin. It was very close, IMO.
April 20th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
How was Zeller not impressive? He has 15 won the 3 point contest. If he was going to UK he’d would have been a 1st round pick and the best prospect in the nation. But he’s not so he didn’t look that good huh. This is a classic case of someone trying to build a prospect who has UK on his list.