Kentucky Wildcats 5 for Monday: When the 'Cats and Cards get together, grace goes out the window

Face it.  The Kentucky Wildcat/Louisville Cardinal basketball rivalry is one of the greatest in the game.  The coaches don’t like each other.  The players hate each other.  And the fans despise each other.  But let’s be honest … the last few years in the rivalry have been less than pretty basketball.  Last years game at Rupp was as graceful as a rugby scrum and Eric Crawford points out that this has been a trend. 

"Last season was a street fight and one of the uglier exhibitions the two have managed. There were 51 personal fouls and five technicals. U of L missed 18 of its first 19 shots. You were almost as likely to see a turnover (the teams combined for 37) as a made field goal (they combined for 43) on any given trip.We’ve had mini-scuffles two of the past three meetings. Reginald Delk and Eric Bledsoe got into it last season, with UK coach John Calipari getting involved in the trash talk. Later there were technicals all around when DeMarcus Cousins appeared to lean a little too hard on Jared Swopshire’s neck with his forearm.In 2008, Terrence Williams drew a T for going after Ramel Bradley following a hard foul of David Padgett."

So what has happened to Tennessee?  Or to the rest of the SEC for that matter?  We have been hearing for a few years now that the SEC’s re-emergence as a powerful basketball conference was imminent and well, so far it has not happened.  I pointed out a few days ago that the SEC was more CUSA-like and now Glenn Logan of A Sea of Blue looks further at the decline of the SEC and brings up a disturbing prospect that makes the Louisville game that much bigger.  If the SEC continues on it’s present pace, exactly how many “quality wins” can Kentucky pull out of a conference that looks to send four … maybe five teams to the NCAA? 
 
 

I know that by now, you are getting sick and tired of all the negative news concerning DeMarcus Cousins.  Well, I am too and if Paul Westpahl has let the game pass him by to the point where he reprimands Boogie for refusing to take part in a high five during a losing game … well the Maloof brothers will have some cutting to do … and it won’t be Cousins.

Regardless, here is an awesome stories that talks about Boogie and his “homeboy” seven year old Jacob Hogan and how DeMarcus befriended the boy and continues the bond, even as a multi-millionaire.  It breaks to the heart of who DeMarcus really is and yes, I carry on the “Boogie is misunderstood” rallying cry. 

From Mew York, it seems that former Cat Kelanna Azubuike is not anywhere close to seeing the court for the Knicks and he won’t see it for a while:

"Kelenna Azubuike has been removed from scrimmages and is again working out separately with team trainers to fix what D’Antoni called his “mechanics.” Azubuike has spent the last year recovering from a severe knee injury. “It didn’t seem like he progressed as he scrimmaged,” D’Antoni said. “The trainers want him to have the right gait.”"

And finally a hat tip to Allkyhoops.com who has been reporting on the progress of former Kentucky big man Randolph Morris as he plays in the Chinese Basketball League.  His latest game saw him score 37 points and grab 8 boards.  For the season, he is third in the league in scoring with a 33.3 point per game average. 

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