Lessumat: Less Suppressed Motives and Thoughts

Archie Goodwin: UK Wildcat

2011-09-21T17:26:00.003-04:00

Archie Goodwin
SG - 6'4" 181 lb. from Little Rock, Arkansas
#9 Overall in 2012 Class (Composite)
Averaged 28.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 3.0 steals as a junior with Arkansas Wings travel team.

Rivals Profile
#2 SG, behind Ricardo Ledo
#12 Overall

Scout Profile
#3 SG, behind Rasheed Sulaimon and Gary Harris
#13 Overall
Strengths: Attack Mode, Competitiveness, Defensive Presence
Areas for Improvement: 3-Point Range, Strength

One of the better two-guards in the 2012 class, Goodwin, who stands 6-foot-4, possibly 6-foot-5, made his bones by attacking the basket and always playing an aggressive brand of basketball. Goodwin gets after it on both ends and plays with intensity of the defensive side of things. At this stage, Goodwin is a good shooter, but could still extend his range. Overall he's a talented scorer with some serious potential.

ESPN Profile
#4 SG, behind Gary Harris, Marcus Smart, and Rasheed Sulaimon
#13 Overall
Grade - 97
Strengths:

The long athletic small forward has brought back comparisons of the last great player from the state in Joe Johnson because of the smooth way he plays the game. Goodwin is a multi-skilled forward who can put the ball on the floor to attack the rim or spot up for knock-down jump shots out to the 3-point arc. He has tremendous length on his side which he utilizes to rebound and defend. It looks as if all facets of the game come easy to him. Goodwin has a nice handle that gets him where he needs to go, and has improved his perimeter stroke from behind the arc.

Weaknesses:

Goodwin's game is tight for a young player with no glaring flaws. However, because he is so difficult to defend off the dribble he needs to continue to groove his shot from behind the arc and perfect his pull-up game as opponents give ground. He has all to tools to play the shooting guard position if he can be more consistent with his stroke and create for others off the bounce. Natural maturity will add 10-15 pounds to his long frame, but Goodwin needs to sell out in the weight room and he should make a major impact on the next level.

Bottom Line:

No player has taken advantage of the spring and summer evaluation periods to burst onto the national scene than Goodwin; this kid is a player and a winner. His team always seems to be in the final game of the tournament thanks in part to his competitive nature and unselfish play. Goodwin has blown up on the radars of major colleges simply because he played his way there. He is a producer that continues to climb the recruiting ranks.

Additional Profiles
MaxPreps:
#1 SG, #5 Overall

24/7 Sports:
#3 SG (behind Marcus Smart and Ricardo Ledo), #12 Overall, Grade - 97

Hardwood Elite:
#3 SG (behind Ricardo Ledo and Rodney Purvis), #9 Overall, Grade - 97
Evaluation:

Archie Goodwin is a skilled shooting guard with good length and athleticism. He is a solid ball handler who does a good job of getting to the rim and finishing. He also has good range and is capable of knocking down three pointers. Goodwin has potential to be a very good defender and rebounder as well, but should work on getting stronger to maximize that potential.

... and Free Enes.

Uncommitted 2012 Recruiting

2011-08-24T10:45:00.006-04:00

The only thing dampening the outlook of the upcoming championship-potential season for the UK basketball squad is the fans worrying about the Wildcats' nonexistent 2012 recruiting class. Ryan Harrow will be a monster ... but the surround cupboards are currently bare. Never fear, though. Here's a quick post to relax your nerves ever so slightly.

Committed:
Ryan Harrow (PG, #24 in 2010) - 6'0" 160 lb.

Potential Commits:
Shabazz Muhammad (SF, #1 in 2012) - 6'6" 215 lb. (UK in top 8)
~~Andre Drummond (C, #2 in 2012) - 6'10" 275 lb. (UK in top 5)~~
Mitch McGary (PF, #3 in 2012) - 6'10" 225 lb. (UK in top 6)
~~Brandon Ashley (PF, #6 in 2012) - 6'8" 215 lb. (UK in top 4)~~
Kaleb Tarczewski (C, #7 in 2012) - 7'0" 220 lb. (UK in top 4)
Anthony Bennett (PF, #8 in 2012) - 6'8" 230 lb. (UK in top 10)
Archie Goodwin (SG, #9 in 2012) - 6'5" 181 lb. (UK in top 8)
DaJuan Coleman (C, #11 in 2012) - 6'10" 280 lb. (UK in top 3)
~~Ricardo Ledo (SG, #12 in 2012) - 6'6" 180 lb. (UK in top 5)~~
Robert Carter (PF, #18 in 2012) - 6'8" 250 lb. (UK in top 7)
Alex Poythress (SF, #19 in 2012) - 6'7" 215 lb. (UK in top 5)
Devonta Pollard (SF, #21 in 2012) - 6'7" 200 lb. (UK in top 6)
~~Perry Ellis (PF, #27 in 2012) - 6'8" 220 lb. (UK in top 4)~~
T.J. Warren (SF, #30 in 2012) - 6'7" 205 lb. (UK in top 8)
Willie Cauley (C, #38 in 2012) - 6'11" 210 lb. (UK in top 5)
Torian Graham (SG, #41 in 2012) - 6'4" 200 lb. (UK in top 8)

Here's my hope for UK's incoming class. I'd absolutely lose my ish if we wound up getting Shabazz, Drummond, or McGary, but it's not sounding like we're really any of their priorities. So let's "settle" for these guys:

PG - Ryan Harrow - freak super-athlete who gets anywhere he wants to, ACC-experienced, plus a reliable jumper.
SG - Archie Goodwin - elite slasher with a long frame and spot-up long-range shooter.
SF - Alex Poythress - athletic defender with good hands who can finish at the rim and rebound.
C - DaJuan Coleman - slightly undersized, super heavyweight rebounder with good hands and polished post game.
C - Willie Cauley - extremely lanky shot-blocker who can run the floor, though extremely unpolished.

... and Free Enes.

UK Legends vs. Dominicans

2011-08-17T14:24:00.000-04:00

I went to both Pros exhibitions on Monday in Lexington and Tuesday in Louisville. Had an incredible time seeing my beloved UK guys again in person, a few for the first time. I'm still quite the young'n, after all. Starting with our championship year in 1996, every single year of Kentucky basketball, except '03-'04, was represented by one or more legends in these games. Too bad Chuck Hayes couldn't have made it and bridged the gap completely. The eleven returning legends served a collective total of 26 years wearing the blue and white all for our fans' pleasure and allowing us to have argumentative dominance over pretty much every university out there. They've moved on to be drafted by and/or play for 17 of the 30 NBA franchises between them. And there are still and handful of unaccounted for UK players in the last decade that could've bumped that total up significantly. Regardless, here's a quick recap reference of our heroes this week.

#13 Nazr Mohammed
Played 1995-1998 (3 years) for University of Kentucky
Drafted #29 overall by Utah. Played for Philadelphia, Atlanta, New York, San Antonio, Detroit, Charlotte, and Oklahoma City
16 minutes in Rupp: 11/6
20 minutes in YUM: 13/10 with 1 block

#32 Tayshaun Prince
Played 1998-2002 (4 years) for University of Kentucky
Drafted #23 overall by Detroit
24 minutes in Rupp: 8/4/1 with 2 threes, 1 steal

#10 Keith Bogans
Played 1999-2003 (4 years) for University of Kentucky
Drafted #43 overall by Milwaukee. Played for Orlando, Charlotte, Houston, San Antonio, Chicago
23 minutes in Rupp: 3/1/2 with 1 three

#9 Rajon Rondo
Played 2004-2006 (2 years) for University of Kentucky
Drafted #21 overall by Phoenix. Played for Boston
33 minutes in Rupp: 3/7/7 with 2 steals
35 minutes in YUM: 14/5/4 with 6 steals

#23 Jodie Meeks
Played 2006-2009 (3 years) for University of Kentucky
Drafted #41 overall by Milwaukee. Played for Philadelphia
29 minutes in Rupp: 14/1 with 3 threes, 2 steals

#55 Josh Harrellson
Played 2008-2011 (3 years) for University of Kentucky
Drafted #45 by New York
20 minutes in YUM: 4/3 with 1 three

#34 DeAndre Liggins
Played 2008-2011 (3 years) for University of Kentucky
Drafted #53 overall by Orlando
14 minutes in YUM: 0/2

#11 John Wall
Played 2009-2010 (1 year) for University of Kentucky
Drafted #1 overall by Washington
28 minutes in Rupp: 15/3/2 with 1 three, 1 block
35 minutes in YUM: 26/8/2

#15 Demarcus Cousins
Played 2009-2010 (1 year) for University of Kentucky
Drafted #5 overall by Sacramento
29 minutes in Rupp: 28/14/1 with 3 steals
35 minutes in YUM: 20/15 with 2 blocks, 5 steals

#5 Eric Bledsoe
Played 2009-2010 (1 year) for University of Kentucky
Drafted #18 overall by LA Clippers
18 minutes in Rupp: 3/2/1 with 1 block, 1 steal
14 minutes in YUM: 4/4

#7 Brandon Knight
Played 2010-2011 (1 year) for University of Kentucky
Drafted #8 overall by Detroit
28 minutes in YUM: 5/2 with 1 steal

... and Anthony Davis just blocked you.

Consistent Tournament Success

2011-05-04T17:30:00.008-04:00

Let's talk about unadulterated results. Simply winning games in the NCAA tournament. That's it. No qualifiers. No situational analysis. Which coach has won more games in the tournament year-in and year-out with their squads? Last 5 years? Last 10 years?

Who'da thunk it? Coach Cal wins. In the last five years, Calipari's got a Runner-Up, a Final Four, two Elite Eights, and a Sweet Sixteen. Looks good moving into the future. His team (every single year) is in a major position to do some damage in the tournament. You can claim that he has put together a roster or two or three that's underperformed to its talent level ... but he still wins more games consistently once he reaches the postseason than any of the other coaches out there. The crazy one in this span is the fact that Coach K is sixth even with last year's championship. He'd be going on a near disastrous run since 2004 if it wasn't for that one. Calhoun is the coach that's the most bi-polar. His rosters are built to compete for championships and then completely fall apart and take a few years to even sniff competing again. The only other thing you need to note is that Bruce Weber blows.

Over a full decade's span, Roy Williams displays his dominance despite a fluke NIT appearance two years ago. Calhoun, K, and Self round out the multi-round winning elite. Calipari drops harshly from first to sixth because of his pre-Rose Memphis seasons. I calculated these by awarding a point for every tourney win and a negative point for every non-tourney appearance and averaging that crap. Technical stuff. The sad thing for this decade span is the Pitino-era in Louisville. He averages simply getting to the second round in any given year. Not very good. And I killed off Brad Stevens for this ranking since he's only coached the last four years. Sean Miller's the only other asterisk guy because he started at Xavier in '05.

Regardless ... I just wanted to add another bullet into your Coach Cal argument pistol moving forward. The championship ring is coming. It has to be. Please.

... and Free Enes.

Eric Bledsoe: Wildcat Forever

2011-04-27T23:12:00.001-04:00

Little video I put together the last two days strictly off YouTube rips. I just wanted to compile stuff from our dude for the people that don't follow the league on a daily basis to see Bledsoe's highlights off a surprisingly killer rookie year. We would've loved to have him back in blue and white this year next to Knight, but the kid achieved his dream and has his family in a position a million times better than it was for the first 20 years of his life.

Bledsoe and Griffin are the future for L.A. ... after Kobe wraps up this three-peat right quick, of course. Oh, and the music is the instrumental to my "Hold On" joint, composed by the masterful Steven Gilpin.

... and Free Enes.

Final 2011 Compiled Recruiting Rankings

2011-04-27T15:53:00.000-04:00

Let's just grab Lacey, too. Please.

... and Free Enes.

Two Weeks

2011-04-25T16:27:00.005-04:00

Here's a follow-up indie post to "Crown on the Ground" from the other day. But this time it's Donald Glover and brandUn DeShay going over a song from that band that Jay-Z went to a concert of and everyone called him fake. Otherwise known as the band that's gonna beat the Spurs in the first round.

brandUn DeShay - I'm Puttin' My Two Weeks In
Childish Gambino - B**** Look at Me Now (Two Weeks)

... and Free Enes.

2011 NBA Predictions: Review

2011-04-20T20:32:00.001-04:00

I'm almost equally stupid and smart. Maybe.

I'm actually gonna hold myself accountable for my preseason predictions. I predicted not a single team perfectly, which is really weird, but I nailed seven squads within a single game of their season record. I'll take it. I super-underrated the Philadelphia JodieMeekses, the Golden State JumpShots, and the San Antonio Geriatric while super-overrating the Rockets (stupidly assuming Yao would be healthy) and Bucks. Oh well.

... and Free Enes.

Crown on the Ground

2011-04-20T16:22:00.000-04:00

I'm not an indie rock guy. Obviously. And I kind of think this Sleigh Bells joint sucks. But oh well. When a break-off faction of the Roots plus Donald Glover jump on the beat independently, I'll get over it. Even if it's Gambino in his I am Just a Rapper phase.

Money Making Jam Boys - Crown on the Ground
Childish Gambino - New Prince (Crown on the Ground)

... and Free Enes.

The Lost Recruits: 2011

2011-04-20T12:12:00.006-04:00

I love the heavy months of high school basketball recruiting. Having John Calipari as your head coach will make you obsessive about that kind of thing. So many kids become the most important thing a UK fan could possibly keep tabs on, only to fade from our entire conscious the second they pick the hat of another program. I wanted to bring back our old temporary dudes to give a perspective on if Coach Cal has been making the perfect recruiting pulls that we assume he's been making as our infallible grand puba. I covered the 2009 class here and the 2010 class here.

All of the given rankings are according to Rivals.

#5 (PF) Quincy Miller - Baylor
Before Anthony Davis burst into everyone's collective attention, Quincy Miller was the guard-like skilled forward who everyone was ogling over. He even crept into being the number one overall prospect at one point on Rivals, all while notoriously sporting UK gear everywhere he seemed to show up for a while. Everyone thought Miller was the third in line to join Michael Gilchrist and Marquis Teague at UK to form potentially the greatest class of all-time. Enter the aforementioned Anthony Davis as well as Kyle Wiltjer. Miller then became the odd big out. The rumblings then turned to the possibility that despite all of his unlimited potential and talent, Miller may be a little ... extra. So instead of completely overloading the talent bus with a questionable character, Cal took the safer Wiltjer commitment and moved on. This lead to a noted "death stare" that Miller gave to Calipari as he walked past him at the UK-UL football game while Miller was on a recruiting visit at Louisville. There was also complications involving Miller's coach Brian Clifton, who originally came into the UK conscious when he openly tried to steer John Wall away from Calipari to Duke. That's a double-fault, sir. You lose. Anyway ... Miller ended up spurning even UL, choosing to pair up with surprise returnee Perry Jones at Baylor next season.

#9 (SF) DeAndre Daniels - Undecided
DeAndre the Second flirted with enrolling early at UK to possibly play midseason last year. Who knows how it would've affected our team, but I would've loved the position that would've put Daniels in going towards his pseudo-sophomore season with the rest of Kentucky's monster class. But either way, DeAndre never enrolled anywhere early and has now moved on from making UK fans sweat to probably choosing between Kansas and Duke. He's a slick, super-athletic wing with a jumper who would've fit perfectly in Cal's system, but we'll see how he does elsewhere. He'll probably be one of the lasting grudges that the Big Blue Nation holds out of this class.

#23 (PF) Chane Behanan - Louisville
Here's the one recruit Pitino managed to snag in the Bluegrass battle from Cal. The local Bowling Green power forward looked like the one in-state talent who was good enough for Calipari to pick up and appease a certain branch of the fan base who want Kentucky boys to so desperately actually hit the floor. Even thought Pitino had made Behanan a major priority, it seemed like Cal was in a great position to do so, adding him to UK's already-established 2011 triumvirate. But then Calipari took a verbal from Kyle Wiltjer. Minutes gone. No one knows for sure if Cal thought Kyle was the better option or if he knew Chane was leaning elsewhere, but it happened. Behanan hasn't been shy with Wayne Blackshear to stoke the future flames of the UK-UL rivalry, so we'll see if they can actually back it up. And four years from now, we'll check back on the impact of Behanan versus Wiltjer to see the direct results of one of the few Player A-or-B recruiting decisions by Calipari.

#30 (PG) Tony Wroten - Washington
As a dominant multi-handle Twitter personality, Wroten tweeted himself onto the UK recruiting scene by teasing fans about his possible impending UK commitment. Fans checked his awesome highlights on YouTube and immediately envisioned a Wall-Bledsoe 2.0 backcourt between point guards Teague and Wroten. But as this drug on, the assumption became that Wroten was a little too loose with his words and attitude and Coach Cal preemptively backed off Wroten despite his friendship via the USA U17 team with Gilchrist and Teague. Wroten eventually chose to stay home at Washington, but not without fanning the UK flame one last time by lamenting to the Twitter universe: “@UKCoachCalipari aye coach. I just wanna know why u stopped recruiting me?” I still expect him to be a major player, but it'll be away from the spotlight in Washington. We'll see if he can stay away from trouble.

#33 (PF) Kadeem Jack - Rutgers
Once it became apparent that Kentucky wasn't going to fill out the extent of its roster for the 2010-2011 season, Calipari took a quick look at Kadeem Jack as a potential addition. After a short flirtation period, Jack spurned spots in Lexington and Chapel Hill to go to a year of prep school. I kind of wish he would've snagged Eloy's spot on the roster, but that unfortunately speaks to how Calipari had genuinely put his hope in Vargas being a contributor. Regardless, Jack reclassified to the 2011 class and picked Rutgers as his destination.

#34 (SG) Trevor Lacey - Undecided
If he doesn't commit to UK, he's immediately the most high-profile, dwelt-on miss since Jai Lucas jump-started the KSR movement. Everyone's wanted Lacey to commit for a full year now. He seems like the single missing piece to a monster recruiting class to make it the single all-time greatest. They would become the first ever legit Fab Five 2.0 with a guy at every position: Teague-Lacey-Gilchrist-Wiltjer-Davis. Lacey is a pure shooter even steps beyond the line (a la Knight and Jodie Meeks). The only reason he's not a unanimous top-15 talent is because he's somewhat limited athletically. If the going assumption is that Knight stays in the draft this summer, Calipari needs to go all-in on snagging Lacey. Since Daniels seems to be a sailed ship, Lacey is easily the top uncommitted talent left in America. One of the possible hang-ups that's been reported is Lacey's potential academic issues that may prevent him from gaining eligibility initially. Here's hoping he gets those straightened out and doesn't sign with Arkansas, Auburn, Kansas, or Connecticut.

#47 (C) Michael Chandler - UCF
Chandler de-committed from Louisville over the summer and it was quickly rumored that UK might take a major look at the big man. He was always considered an academic risk, but that hadn't previously kept Cal from getting recruits he really wanted. Some blame the Eric Bledsoe algebra situation for changing that whole angle. So Kentucky backed off of him and Chandler committed to Xavier before switching his mind quickly and heading to UCF. Chandler was once considered a top-10 prospect for the 2011 class, which originally made him a pivotal cog in UL's class, but has since fallen to the back of a loaded graduated class of big men. Hence the whole Central Florida thing.

#56 (SG) Kevin Ware - UCF
Ware was a Bruce Pearl commit who opened his recruitment back up after the annual backyard barbecue was canceled. I think that's what I read. He floated out UK as a possible destination along with Louisville and UCLA once the media swarmed to him as a newly available 2011 piece. With Lamb staying at Kentucky, the assumption is that Coach Cal never really looked in his direction all that much. Even though we were never serious with Ware, he made UK fans smirk slightly by spurning Louisville to go to Central Florida. Michael Chandler, anyone?

#92 (C) Joseph Uchebo - Undecided
Baru is from John Wall's high school, but we never got around to knowing him like C.J. Leslie because Baru committed non-dramatically to Sidney Lowe at N.C. State. But then Sidney Lowe got fired and Baru says the new coach doesn't like fancy lil' in-state talent and sent him packing. Paraphrasing. So of course Coach Cal sent a quick phone call in the direction of the kid's high school coach. This is a developing scenario.

#122 (SG) Achraf Yacoubou - Villanova
The funny-named shooter was the least known name of the immense talent that came to visit for Coach Cal's inaugural State of the Big Blue Nation speech. Weirdly enough, non-commits Harris, Leslie, and Irving all were in attendance as well ... so I guess it's safe to say that Calipari simply can't seal the deal. While it was an initial disappointment that he committed so quickly to Villanova before we even got to know him, he plummeted (un-)mightily in the rankings across the board after a less-than-stand-out senior year of high school.

Uunranked (PF) Braeden Anderson - Kansas
Anderson committed to DePaul last year and no one cared. Then he de-committed when most all of the other big men prospects were off the board and everyone cared. After seeming like an inevitable UK pick-up for awhile, it came to be known that Calipari never really went after him that hard as anything more than a last option. Hence the eventual Kansas commitment. It may have been much ado about nothing, since he's an undersized big who's not actually that talented. Unranked and all.

It's hard to even fathom wondering about players we didn't get when our class is currently the four-man juggernaut of (#2) Marquis Teague, (#3) Michael Gilchrist, (#6) Anthony Davis, and (#25) Kyle Wiltjer along with transfer (2008 3-Star) Twany Beckham. And we'll probably get one more guy. Anyways ... we'll see what happens.

... and Free Enes.

Doron's Coming Back

2011-04-19T16:45:00.000-04:00

Waiting for Rivals' update and then this spreadsheet can go official.

I almost feel like we pulled another brand new all-star recruit since Doron didn't even test the draft this year. It's a beautiful, beautiful miracle. Add him in spotting up with those pretty blue rows on my Excel spreadsheet.

... and Free Enes.

2011 Playoff Predictions

2011-04-18T19:58:00.001-04:00

They're two days late, but I swear these were chosen before.

West
1) Spurs vs. 8) Grizzlies in 7
2) Lakers vs. 7) Hornets in 6
3) Mavericks vs. 6) Blazers in 7
4) Thunder vs. 5) Nuggets in 6
----
4) Thunder vs. 8) Grizzlies in 6
2) Lakers vs. 6) Blazers in 6
--
2) Lakers vs. 4) Thunder in 6

East
1) Bulls vs. 8) Pacers in 5
2) Heat vs. 7) Sixers in 6
3) Celtics vs. 6) Knicks in 7
4) Magic vs. 5) Hawks in 6
----
1) Bulls vs. 4) Magic in 5
2) Heat vs. 3) Celtics in 7
---
1) Bulls vs. 3) Celtics in 6

Finals
1) Bulls vs. 1) Lakers in 7

Three-peat. Kobe.

... and Free Enes.

One-and-Done Effect on Calipari's Teams

2011-04-18T13:44:00.005-04:00

#1 pick, a coach, #1 pick

You probably think the one-and-done thing is a really big deal that is possibly responsible for destroying college basketball.

It's not. But for this post I'll just focus on the slick-haired Italian not named Pitino who's the lightning rod for all things one-and-done.

John Calipari - Memphis (4), Kentucky (4)
(2002, #6 pick) Dajuan Wagner
(2006, #17 pick) Shawne Williams
(2008, #1 pick) Derrick Rose
(2009, #4 pick) Tyreke Evans
(2010, #1/5/18/30 picks) John Wall, Demarcus Cousins, Eric Bledsoe, Daniel Orton

So Coach Cal is the evil face of this system, right? He's runs an NBA farming squad that fast forwards guys right into the pros, right? Or maybe his first year at Kentucky was simply an outlier. An anomaly. A crazy happenstance. Calipari coached nine seasons in Memphis and churned out an enormous quantity of ... four freshmen NBAers. He also happened to send one early-entry sophomore and one early-entry junior, Darius Washington and Chris Douglas-Roberts, to the professional ranks. How many pros do you think he had spend a full four seasons in college? None or maybe a single random guy, right? This one-and-done recruiter can't have possibly developed players over the extent of their college careers and put them into a positive position maybe even beyond their natural capabilities, right? Five Memphis seniors under Cal have played in the NBA. Robert Dozier, Joey Dorsey, Rodney Carney, Antonio Burks, and Earl Barron.

And what about Cal's success in post-1&Done seasons? Surely if players leaving too early is such a monumental problem then it would create a noticeable correlation to the following season's detriment. Memphis went from 27-9 NIT Champions with Dajuan Wagner to 23-7 making the NCAA Tournament in 2003. They went from the 33-4 Elite 8 with Shawne Williams to the 33-4 Elite 8 in 2007. They dropped from 38-2 losing the championship game with Derrick Rose to dropping 33-4 in the Sweet 16 in 2009. Calipari left Memphis after Tyreke Evans' single season to start over at UK, remolding a team that went straight to the Elite 8 in 2010.

Then there was the 2011 mass exodus. But I've already covered that enough.

So Calipari hasn't won a championship. If that's your end-all-be-all argument, then you win. If all of Derrick Rose, John Wall, and Demarcus Cousins came back for multiple follow-up seasons, then yes, Calipari probably would've claimed a title by now. But then again, maybe not since proceeding recruits might've looked elsewhere for more prevalent playing time. Then there are always freak injuries, chemistry problems, and situational transfers ... so ... there's no guarantee either way. Calipari has milked pretty much every ounce of blood, sweat, and tears out of his roster every year. I honestly think the only underachievement you can mark him for is his first Kentucky squad not at least making a Final Four. But even with that, you're talking about a team with a brand new coach who's starting three freshmen with a single returning contributor from the previous season. So it's strictly off talent and will that they were a favorite at all.

Bottom-line: There have been two seasons where a one-and-done departure has seriously affected a John Calipari team. 2009 without Derrick Rose and 2011 without Wall, Cousins, Bledsoe, and Orton.

The 2008-2009 Memphis starting five could have hypothetically been Derrick Rose/Tyreke Evans/Antonio Anderson/Robert Dozier/Shawn Taggart ... but is that even a guaranteed championship contender in a year with Hansbrough's Tar Heels stomping the field? The 2010-2011 team would've hypothetically been an all-time juggernaut if any two of the four departures would've stayed ... but then you don't know who stays healthy or if Brandon Knight and Terrence Jones wind up here at all. And we made the Final Four as constituted. Sooo ...

Calipari's career in summary
19 years coaching [8 at UMASS, 9 at Memphis, 2 at UK]
509-152 (77%) record [193-71 (73%) at UMASS, 252-69 (79%) at Memphis, 64-12 (84%) at UK]
13 NCAA Tournaments [5 at UMASS, 6 at Memphis, 2 at UK]
9 Sweet Sixteens [3 at UMASS, 4 at Memphis, 2 at UK]
7 Elite Eights [2 at UMASS, 3 at Memphis, 2 at UK]
3 Final Fours [1 at UMASS, 1 at Memphis, 1 at UK]
1 Championship Game loss [Memphis]

... and Free Enes.

Who's That Talking in My Library?

2011-04-11T11:33:00.000-04:00

On my Twitter, I've claimed to be on a strictly Childish-Gambino-and-Frank-Ocean music binge. True.

Frank Ocean has come out of nowhere strictly off the underground word-of-mouth passing of his supposed-to-be debut album Nostalgia,Ultra. This Odd Future-associated singer/songwriter resings/rewrites songs by Coldplay, MGMT, and the Eagles to great effect. This guy's writing is insanely stellar. I'll prolly write a post detailing the epic message of each individual track, because it's sincerely worth it. If this were an actual disk instead of a free mp3 download, I would've melted it by now.

Frank Ocean - Nostalgia,Ultra.

Tracklisting:
1. Streetfighter (Intro)
2. Strawberry Swing
3. Novacane
4. We All Try
5. Metal Gear Solid (Interlude)
6. Songs for Women
7. LoveCrimes
8. Goldeneye (Interlude)
9. There Will Be Tears
10. Swim Good
11. Dust
12. American Wedding
13. Soul Caliber (Interlude)
14. Nature Feels

... and Free Enes.

My Clique Should Be Canceled

2011-04-10T17:28:00.000-04:00

Freaks and Geeks from Donald Glover on Vimeo.

... and Free Enes.

CG: EP

2011-04-09T17:23:00.000-04:00

This is perfection. Pure, unadulterated perfection. Best collection of music I've heard since last year's VS EP by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. PERFECT, I tell you. That's why it doesn't even have a name: it can't be contained or expressed by mere words, fool.

Childish Gambino - EP

1. Be Alone
2. Freaks and Geeks
3. My Shine
4. Lights Turned On
5. Not Going Back (feat. Beldina Malaika)

... and Free Enes.

CG: Culdesac

2011-04-08T17:09:00.001-04:00

This is where Gambino makes the turn. This post-I Am Just a Rapper mixtape is the manifestation of a monstrously talented artist who found the right way to channel his gifts. His squeak leaves his voice for the most part and he starts singing for the first time. And the boy can actually sing. For SAT purposes, Culdesac is to Donald Glover as So Far Gone is to Drake. By that, I mean they finally found their voice and produced a product infinitely better than all their previous material. Forget the whole actor/rapper/singer similarities; that's got nothing to do with it. In 2010, Gambino decided to drop all the peripheral collaborations and just go all in himself. And it worked.

Childish Gambino - Culdesac

1. Difference
2. Hero
3. I Be On That
4. Got This Money
5. So Fly
6. You Know Me
7. Let Me Dope You
8. Do Ya Like
9. I'm Alright
10. Glory
11. F*** It All
12. I'm On It
13. Put It in My Video
14. These Girls (feat. Garfunkel & Oates)
15. The Last
16. Got This Money (Acoustic at Ace Hotel)

... and Free Enes.

CG: Poindexter

2011-04-07T16:51:00.003-04:00

Poindexter is the second Childish Gambino tape, between the previously posted Sick Boi and I Am Just a Rapper. He's still got the nasally voice, but the general musicality of his whole sound is changed for the better. He has follow-up collaborations with MC Chris, DC Pierson (from Derrick Comedy), and Amber Petty to provide continuity from his debut.

Childish Gambino - Poindexter

Tracklisting:
1. Extraordinary
2. So Much Better
3. Phat People (feat. Billy Scafuri)
4. The Awesome (feat. MC Chris)
5. Yes
6. Hawk Jones
7. Almost There
8. Hollerin' (feat. Dean)
9. My Name Bam-B (feat. G.E.T.H.)
10. Grind
11. The Rocker
12. I'm So Focused (feat. Truff Syrum)
13. Starlight (feat. DC Pierson & Amber Petty)
14. Sunshine (feat. Dean)

... and Free Enes.

The Lost Recruits: 2010

2011-04-06T18:03:00.004-04:00

#4 (PG) Kyrie Irving
NCAA - Duke (2010-2011): 18/3/4 1-2 with (53/46/90)% at 28 MPG in 11 games
NBA - Declared for 2011 NBA Draft (#1 by Chad Ford)
Back when Irving spurned Kentucky and Indiana to sign with Duke, he was assumed to be in the second tier of top talent in his class. Brandon Knight was leaning towards UK at the time and was the top 2010 prize in most fans' eyes at the time, so everyone quickly got over the Irving defection. Irving pretty much universally jumped to the top of the heap as a potential world-class playmaker after his commitment. Irving proved everyone right as he was an absolute sensation from the very second he stepped on the court. He scored and got to the line with ease, never forgetting to set up his teammates along the way. The only force that could take the super-frosh down a notch was when a structural foot problem flared up, killing his toe and requiring surgery. There goes the youngster's season. Except he popped right back up at tournament time playing at near-full strength and was able to get to the rim with the exact same ease as before, netting 28 points in his possible final game as an amateur ballplayer.

Bottom-line: Situational toss-up. The problem here is the word "structural." I give the hypothetically-healthy Irving the "best freshman in the world" award, hands down. In that case, he's a huge miss for Calipari who's made his living on securing those guys. But if we travel down the road of what-ifs ... what if Irving selects UK and Knight decides he doesn't want to play off-ball, heading up to Connecticut or down to Florida? Kentucky breaks out of the gates in monstrous fashion to secure a top-5 early season ranking, but Irving's inevitable foot problem shows up less than a month in. We're sunk the rest of the season with an inadequate point-guard-by-committee line-up since we have no clear back-up. That's a disaster. If his toe was bound to be a problem, it's a miracle we passed on him. Amazing player and, by all accounts, a great kid, but we couldn't have survived signing him and not Knight.

#7 (PF) Tobias Harris
NCAA - Tennessee (2010-2011): 15/7/1 1-1 with (46/30/75)% at 29 MPG in 34 games
NBA - Declared for 2011 NBA Draft (#29 by Chad Ford)
Harris dropped Kentucky and Syracuse for Tennessee before his future Vol teammates were caught with a gun and other inappropriate things to have in a car you're driving, but stuck faithfully to his commitment. The kid was obviously a big Bruce Pearl guy and is now set to head to the NBA since Pearl got the boot from TN. Harris was one of UK fans' original big men to fawn over (along with Terrence Jones and C.J. Leslie) before he instantly became hated for picking our SEC rival. He kept a much lower profile than we're accustomed to seeing from Tennessee players off the court. And while he was highly ignored in the grand scheme of things with UK's freshman stealing all the SEC attention for the second straight year, he might've been the second-best frosh after Brandon Knight in the conference.

Bottom-line: Miss. I think Harris would've been a more consistent force in UK's system than what Jones turned into late. He was lost amidst a disorganized and troubled Tennessee squad all season, yet still managed to be one of their few bright spots as the team's second-leading scorer and rebounder. He's a hard worker who would've fit in seamlessly with any squad he chose to commit to. Plus, if he had come to UK then he might've been the type of guy who'd be more inclined to stay longer than just his freshman season. At worst, fans would've thrown less things at their TVs than Jones caused in the second half of the season.

#11 (SG) Will Barton
NCAA - Memphis (2010-2011): 12/5/3 1-2 with (43/27/70)% at 31 MPG in 35 games
NCAA - Will return to Memphis for 2011-2012
Numerous sites reported Barton as Calipari's first 2010 commitment before he'd ever even coach a game wearing a UK blue tie. Fans were relieved because we have a penchant for stressing about stuff years before it even affects us. Then Barton signed right away ... with Memphis. A year later as he was finally getting out of high school, the NCAA declared him academically ineligible. But then they cleared him before the season started. That minor crisis was averted and he took his top-10 talent and played great all year, forcing his way into the starting line-up after only a few games. His only misstep along the way was guaranteeing a championship for the Tigers in the preseason.

Bottom-line: Toss-up. It depends on what you value out of the off-guard position as to whether you'd prefer Barton or Lamb with UK's 2010-2011 squad. Barton is much more dynamic and a freak athlete, but Lamb shot nearly twice Barton's percentage from deep. Both seem set to come back for their sophomore seasons, so you can't even weigh that into the long-term debate. Do you want the benefit of the potential superstar-type slasher or the long-range stud role player who accidentally drops seven 3s one night? Though Barton was an eligibility risk at one point, he would've been a great plug-in addition to our squad.

#14 (PF) C.J. Leslie
NCAA - NC State (2010-2011): 11/7/1 1-1 with (43/25/54) at 25 MPG in 30 games
NBA - Expected to enter 2011 NBA Draft (#37 by Chad Ford)
Most UK fans assumed that John Wall's high school teammate was a shoe-in to follow his foot steps to Lexington. Little did they know that Wall helped talk Calipari off recruiting Leslie. While a number of writers questioned Cal for "losing" Leslie to N.C. State, it's pretty obvious that Cal was actually the one doing the spurning. On the basketball side of things, Leslie has limitless athletic potential and a natural NBA-type body, but his skill set itself is much less defined. He had quite a few solid scoring games this year, but was wildly inconsistent with nine games of 5 or less points. He was also suspended on the eve of his squad getting blown-out by Duke for an unspecified violation of team rules.

Bottom-line: Great pass. On the court, Leslie would've been a downgrade across the board from Terrence Jones (16/9/2 2-1). Off the court, he would've brought character issues to a team who pretty much succeeded solely on the basis of team chemistry. UK detractors would've had a field day with Leslie, but he's gone essentially unnoticed in the less-than-bright lights of N.C. State.

#16 (C) Fab Melo
NCAA - Syracuse (2010-2011): 2/2/0 1-0 with (61/0/36)% at 10 MPG in 33 games
NCAA - Expected to return to Syracuse for 2011-2012
Melo eliminated Kentucky when he cut his list down to his final four schools. It was always an outside shot of getting in close with him, but Calipari and his staff were found at quite a few of his games. He's a mammoth of a center who was pegged for U of L for quite awhile, though Jim Boeheim ended up pulling him for Syracuse. Now that I think about it, once getting a Melo commitment wouldn't result in spiting Rick Pitino, maybe Calipari simply lost interest and let Boeheim keep him. Melo also did little for the majority of the season to show his potential as a legitimate post presence, failing to even put up Daniel Orton numbers off the Orange's bench in his freshman season. He was also suspended toward the end of the regular season for missing practice.

Bottom-line: Irrelevant. Though Cal switched up his offense to allow Cousins to flourish last year, Melo isn't half as talented as Demarcus and probably would've been a rough squeeze into the dibble-drive motion offense. While he may have had a major opportunity in the wake of Enes' ineligibility and Harrellson's graduation, it seems as if UK didn't miss out on too much by not snatching Melo. He would've been a tremendous upgrade over Eloy Vargas, though, and is a player that people still believe could be an NBA prospect.

If you can think of any other 2010 guys, let me know. Even though we missed out playing the big guy, Cal's seven-man class of (#3) Enes Kanter, (#6) Brandon Knight, (#13) Terrence Jones, (#21) Doron Lamb, (#33) Stacey Poole, (#26 in 2008) Eloy Vargas, and (not ranked) Jarrod Polson proved to not be too shabby. None of the other guys I just discussed are getting sized for their Final Four rings this year. Next time I'll tackle the upcoming class of 2011 ... even though we can't even begin to evaluate them yet. Ha. Oh well.

... and Free Enes.

CG: Sick Boi

2011-04-06T16:35:00.018-04:00

Stupid me didn't realize the correct chronology of Childish Gambino's releases. That's what ya get when you don't look at Wikipedia before posting any piece of information ever. Oh well. I'll improperly post Donald's debut mixtape Sick Boi now ... after already posting his third and fourth ones. You'll notice on these songs that his voice is super nasally and he relies on punchlines way less while the beats are more naturally hip hop than the indie rock music that he favors in his later music. Either way, it's all about building up to being one of the most promising emcees around in the year 2011. But you gotta develop from 2008 (this tape's release year) to get to that point.

Childish Gambino - Sick Boi

Tracklisting:
1. Easy (Intro)
2. Fire
3. I'm a Winner (feat. Amber Petty)
4. Tru Dudes (feat. MC Chris)
5. Red Alert
6. Love is Crazy (feat. Eugene Cordero)
7. My Hoodie (feat. Chaz Kangas)
8. Fresh
9. Til I Die
10. So Sick Wit It
11. Assassins (feat. DC Pierson & Nick Packard)
12. Baby Doll

... and Free Enes.

CG: I Am Just a Rapper 2

2011-04-05T16:16:00.023-04:00

Day 2 of the CG Experience. Honestly, these aren't the best introduction to Donald's music because he's gotten infinitely better, but it still puts his ability in perspective once you listen to his whole collective. Once you reach EP ... it's completely over. On the two Just a Rapper collections, Gambino's the high-pitched voice and relies nearly exclusively on punchlines every single bar. The parentheses for each track represents the indie track he's rapping over.

Childish Gambino - I Am Just a Rapper 2

Tracklisting:
1. The Real (Infinity Guitars)
2. Get It (Tightrope)
3. Different (Feel It All Around feat. DC Pierson)
4. What the F*** Are You? (Colouring of Pigeons)
5. Both Hands (Black Rainbow)
6. For the Fans (Warm Heart of Africa)
7. Nowhere to Go (Disaster Babe)
8. What the F*** Are You? (Exhibit C Remix)

... and Free Enes.

Cal's First Two Years (in a Graph)

2011-04-05T15:09:00.001-04:00

Interpret how you like.

Best Songs of '10

2011-04-04T17:42:00.000-04:00

Super late. Yeah, I know.

Beyonce's super annoying "Single Ladies" joint may have won the Grammy for best song of 2010, but my Top 10 list goes in a little different direction. We'll back away from pop bull crap and focus on the records that meant something without overused claps on every single 8th note. No offense Mrs. Hov. I take that back: much offense intended. Now stop reading my blog, Beyonce, and get back to making crappy music that's forcibly inserted into 45% of all radio transmissions every year. Moving on ...

10. "Erase Me" - KiD CuDi featuring Kanye West
9. "Light Up" - Drake featuring Jay-Z
8. "The Train, Pt. 2 (Sir Lucious Left Foot Saves The Day)" - Big Boi featuring Sam Chris
7. "25 to Life" - Eminem
6. "I'll Kill Her" - Cee-Lo featuring Soko
5. "Hustle Blood" - Big Boi featuring Jamie Foxx
4. "Choices (A Wave for Alex)" - Charles Hamilton
3. "Find Your Love" - Drake
2. "Lost in the World" - Kanye West featuring Bon Iver
1. "Blame Game" Kanye West featuring John Legend & Chris Rock

I know it features pretty much no parity when Kanye, Big Boi, and Drake represent 60% of the list, but I'm just being honest. These songs are the most epic joints I listened to last year and begged for that replay button. Ye forced me to replace his own damn song as the single best joint once "Blame Game" was the final Dark Fantasy track to leak. Somebody on Twitter that night said the song demanded an "Album of the Year" Grammy by itself. I agree.

... and Free Enes.

CG: I Am Just a Rapper

2011-04-04T16:12:00.000-04:00

So my new favorite rapper in the world is Childish Gambino. I only gave the stuff a listen because Community is the greatest show on television today and Donald Glover is a genius. Turns out it was a great choice. I'm gonna throw up one of his mixtapes every day until I run out of his material. All of this is in anticipation of IAMDONALD. Can't frickin' wait.

Childish Gambino - I Am Just a Rapper

Tracklisting:
1. New Prince (Crown on the Ground)
2. B**** Look at Me Now (Two Weeks)
3. 49ers (Orange Shirt feat. DC Pierson)
4. My Girls (My Girls)
5. I Can Hear Your Feet (Sunrise)
6. The Truth (Goth Star feat. DC Pierson)
7. I Love Clothes (Deadbeat Summer)

... and Free Enes.

The Lost Recruits: 2009

2011-03-30T15:57:00.005-04:00

#11 (SG) Lance Stephenson
NCAA - Cincinnati (2009-2010): 12/5/3 0-1 with (44/22/66)% at 28 MPG in 34 games
NBA - Pacers (2010-2011): 3/2/1 0-0 with (33/0/79)% at 10 MPG in 12 games
Lance had his fair share of image issues in high school that left him as the last beauty pageant contestant on the runway. Before Cincinnati accepted him an entire month after the last day of the late signing period, not a single flagship program was willing to take a chance on Stephenson's elite talent after Kansas, St. John's, Maryland, and Arizona all severed ties after he floated them as his "finalists." He was an ineligibility risk at one time due to his involvement in a documentary following his high school basketball exploits. Beyond that, his personal reputation was sullied to begin with due to being suspended as a high school senior for fighting with a teammate as well as facing a misdemeanor sexual assault charge in the same year. Before his first season as a Pacer even started, he was arrest for third degree assault in an incident involving his girlfriend. Lance was always slated as a probable one-and-done guy and he upheld that by bolting for the NBA right away, being selected in the second round by the Indiana Pacers with the 40th pick. Just months earlier he told reporters: "I don't think I have had an NBA season this year so the best choice is for me to stay."

Bottom-line: Great pass. It's undeniably a good thing we skipped giving "Born Ready" a chance. His rap sheet reads as every problem people thought Demarcus Cousins would be. Great talent, but an eligibility risk and would have caused chemistry problems for the single season he would have spent at UK. He also was a mediocre long-range shooter and would have required the ball to be taken out of John Wall's hands.

#19 (SF) Royce White
NCAA - Minnesota (2009-2010): did not play, left team
NCAA - Iowa State (2010-2011): did not play, sat out due to transfer
Royce was originally a Tubby commit who never suited up for Minny due to a mall arrest because of shoplifting and misdemeanor assault on a security guard. This was followed up with him being mentioned in the case of a stolen laptop from a dorm. White left the team after the hard stance Minnesota took with him, though he claimed to know nothing about the laptop. All of this has temporarily stymied the basketball career of a McDonald's All-American who was renowned as a monster rebounder who can score from anywhere on the floor as a combo forward. White originally vowed that he was quitting basketball altogether because of the way he was treated at Minnesota, but Coach Cal highly considered adding him to UK's 2010 class once he reneged and started looking for a school to transfer to. In later interviews, White said that he felt Iowa State was a better fit than Kentucky even though Calipari offered him a scholarship. However, it's contrastingly been reported that Kentucky pulled back on its pursuit of White before he committed to the Cyclones.

Bottom-line: To be determined. White could have been an invaluable frontline addition to create a legitimate big man trio with Terrence Jones and Josh Harrellson in 2010-2011, but his ability has yet to be shown against collegiate competition and his possible character issues could have plagued the team through media scrutiny. Once he hits the court and stays out of trouble, we'll see if we actually missed out on a ball player.

#58 (SG) Nolan Dennis
NCAA - Baylor (2009-2010): 2/1/1 0-0 (44/29/50)% at 8 MPG in 25 games
NCAA - Baylor (2010-2011): 2/1/0 0-1 (41/23/50)% at 8 MPG in 15 games
Dennis was supposed to be great slasher with a solid shooting stroke coming into the collegiate ranks. Calipari obviously agreed by making Dennis part of his broken-up Memphis class (along with Cousins, Henry, Darnell Dodson, and Will Coleman). Everyone out of that class except for Coleman bounced to another team, with Dennis heading to Baylor. He's barely made a ripple of an impact since, only hitting his career high of 10 points in two separate games and not even stepping on the floor for a large percentage of the games beyond that. There's always room for him to carve out his role as an upperclassman, but he simply hasn't shown his talent as of yet.

Bottom-line: Irrelevant. Maybe Baylor's just the wrong system for Dennis and he could've made a bigger impact under Calipari, but the evidence is that he's just not that good yet. He probably would've never seen rotation minutes at the off-guard position over Bledsoe/Miller/Liggins in his freshman season, nor Liggins/Lamb/Miller this season. He might've been an all-world bench cheerer a la Stacey Poole, though.

If you can think of any other 2009 guys, let me know. I don't expect there were many more since Cal had to completely gut his inaugural UK roster just to fit in the six newcomers of (#1) John Wall, (#2) Demarcus Cousins, (#22) Daniel Orton, (#23) Eric Bledsoe, (#40) Jon Hood, and (#130 in 2007) Darnell Dodson. Next time I'll tackle the super-messy class of 2010 ... where Cal pretty much swung for everybody in the top 15.

... and Free Enes.

Analyzing UK's 2011 Schedule

2011-03-28T16:32:00.001-04:00

So everybody and their mom can look at the end-of-season records/rankings of any team and interpret whatever they want from that. But I want to go a lil' deeper. I want to go back through our season and genuinely analyze our worthwhile games. There needs to be a more significant perspective put upon the ups-and-downs of the full season that you don't get from simply looking back on the internet schedule. For instance, who knew back on the fateful day of December 8th that UK demolished a newly-ranked squad on a "neutral" floor that would go on to tear up the rest of their schedule and be in contention for a number one seed at the end of the year? When our schedule dropped in the summer, absolutely no one had the non-Harangody's pegged for our signature win of the season, but it actually turns out to be so in retrospect.

I'm gonna give you the full range of all of Kentucky's significant victories as well of all their losses and rate them accordingly. I want to save us from the snap judgements that have rendered our match-up against North Carolina as a must-see clash of titans turned into a miserable foretelling loss turned into a strongly competitive road miss against an immensely talented squad. We need perspective people! Note: this only analyzes our scheduled regular season games.

Big wins:
Nov. 23 - Washington by 7
#11 when we played them
#17 Preseason
#11 Peak Ranking in week 3
#23 End of season, #7 seed in NCAA, second round loss
Bottom Line: Good Neutral Court Win (+2)

Dec. 8 - Notre Dame by 14
#23 when we played them
Unranked Preseason
#4 Peak Ranking in week 18
#6 End of season, #2 seed in NCAA, second round loss
Bottom Line: Terrific Neutral Court Win (+3)

Dec. 31 - Louisville by 15
#20 when we played them
Unranked (with votes) Preseason
#11 Peak Ranking in week 17, 19
#11 End of season, #4 seed in NCAA, first round loss
Bottom Line: Terrific Road Win (+3)

Jan. 29 - Georgia by 6
Unranked when we played them
Unranked (with votes) Preseason
Peak Ranking with votes in weeks 10, 11, 12
Unranked End of season, #10 seed in NCAA, first round loss
Bottom Line: Okay Home Win (+1)

Feb. 8 - Tennessee by 12
Unranked when we played them
#20 Preseason
#7 Peak Ranking in week 6
Unranked End of season, #9 seed in NCAA, first round loss
Bottom Line: Good Home Win (+2)

Feb. 15 - Mississippi St. by 6
Unranked when we played them
Unranked (with votes) Preseason
Never Ranked but with votes in weeks 2, 3, 4
Unranked End of season, no tournament
Bottom Line: Okay Home Win (+1)

Feb. 26 - Florida by 8
#13 when we played them
#11 Preseason
#10 Peak Ranking in week 2
#13 End of season, #2 seed in NCAA, Elite Eight loss
Bottom Line: Terrific Home Win (+3)

Mar. 1 - Vanderbilt by 2
#20 when we played them
Unranked Preseason
#18 Peak Ranking in weeks 15, 16
#21 End of season, #5 seed in NCAA, first round loss
Bottom Line: Good Home Win (+2)

Mar. 6 - Tennessee by 6
Unranked when we played them
#20 Preseason
#7 Peak Ranking in week 6
End of season, #9 seed in NCAA, first round loss
Bottom Line: Okay Road Win (+1)

Losses:
Nov. 24 - Connecticut by 17
Unranked when we played them
Unranked Preseason
#4 Peak Ranking in weeks 6, 7, 8
#8 End of season, #3 seed in NCAA, Final Four team
Bottom Line: Okay Neutral Court Loss (-2)

Dec. 4 - North Carolina by 2
Unranked when we played them
#9 Preseason
#7 Peak Ranking in week 18, 19
#7 End of season, #2 seed in NCAA, Elite Eight loss
Bottom Line: Good Road Loss (-1)

Jan. 8 - Georgia by 7
Unranked when we played them
Unranked (with votes) Preseason
Never Ranked but with votes in weeks 10, 11, 12
Unranked End of season, #10 seed in NCAA, first round loss
Bottom Line: Okay Road Loss (-2)

Jan. 18 - Alabama by 2
Unranked when we played them
Unranked Preseason
Never Ranked but with votes in weeks 14, 17, 18
Unranked End of season, #1 seed in NIT
Bottom Line: Okay Road Loss (-2)

Feb. 1 - Mississippi by 2
Unranked when we played them
Unranked Preseason
Never Ranked
Unranked End of season, #5 seed in NIT
Bottom Line: Terrible Road Loss (-3)

Feb. 5 - Florida by 2
#23 when we played them
#11 Preseason
#10 Peak Ranking in week 2
#13 End of season, #2 seed in NIT, Elite Eight loss
Bottom Line: Good Road Loss (-1)

Feb. 12 - Vanderbilt by 4
#24 when we played them
Unranked Preseason
#18 Peak Ranking in weeks 15, 16
#21 End of season, #5 seed in NCAA, first round loss
Bottom Line: Good Road Loss (-1)

Feb. 23 - Arkansas by 1
Unranked when we played them
Unranked Preseason
Never Ranked
Unranked End of season, no tournament
Bottom Line: Terrible Road Loss (-3)

So by my arbitrary mathematics, we came out +3 on our collective of 17 games that mattered in retrospect. This deems our additional 9 games (all wins) against East Tennessee State, Portland, Oklahoma, Boston University, Indiana, Mississippi Valley State, Winthrop, Coppin State, Pennsylvania, and LSU as irrelevant place holders. The closest of any of those contests was a 12-point victory over Oklahoma in our opening Maui Invitational game. If we hadn't have lost to Arkansas and Mississippi then they would've been reviewed as irrelevant games, as well.

So here's the easier review of our surprisingly legit regular season schedule that reframes our assumed meh 22-8 record into the #7 RPI ranking at season's end, significantly higher than our ESPN or AP poll slots at any given point of the year.

Preseason: games against 9, 11 (twice), 17, 20 (twice)
Only four of our opponents were ranked in the top 25 (North Carolina, Florida, Washington, and Tennessee) to start the season. Three teams (Georgia, Louisville, and Mississippi State) sat on the ranking outskirts with scattered votes. We went 4-2 in games against the anticipated top 25. That extends to 7-3 if you include the teams receiving votes.

End of Season: games against 6, 7, 8, 11, 13 (twice), 21 (twice), 23
See any kind of difference? We wound up playing nine games against seven opponents that finished in the top 25 (Notre Dame, North Carolina, Connecticut, Louisville, Florida, Vanderbilt, and Washington). We went 5-4 against these end-of-season elite and while that's a mile from great, anything over .500 against the top squads in the nation is nothing to overlook.

Peak Breakdown:
0-1 against UCONN who peaked at #4
1-0 against Notre Dame who peaked at #4
0-1 against North Carolina who peaked at #7
2-0 against Tennessee who peaked at #7
1-1 against Florida who peaked at #10
1-0 against Louisville who peaked at #11
1-0 against Washington who peaked at #11
1-1 against Vanderbilt who peaked at #18
4-3 against teams who were at one point in the top 10
7-4 against teams who were at one point in the top 18
9-5 against teams who at one point received top 25 votes

Now here's where we see the bigger deal and get a much better perspective than that given by UK's 2010-2011 schedule printout that only credits us with 5 snapshot wins against ranked opponents all outside of the top 10 and has us losing to the dually unranked-at-the-time UCONN Huskies and North Carolina Tarheels.

Bottom Line: we played a surprisingly blistering schedule this season and came away from it looking pretty sweet if you can possibly convince yourself to overlook the gutter road losses we endured to Mississippi and Arkansas. Looking at it this in-depth, maybe we were far better prepared for the deep tourney run we find ourselves in than even any of us Big Blue Faithful gave our boys credit for.

... and Free Enes.

Best Albums of '10

2011-01-07T12:00:00.003-05:00

I'm probably one of the only hip hop fans in the world who wasn't mad at Taylor Swift for taking home "Album of the Year" in 2010. That LP was great. It's that simple to me. You don't have to care for what you might label as soft teeny-bop country music, but the girl built her sound from the ground up and spills her life out into her lyrics. Oh well, let's move on into my more urban-tinged Top 10 list for albums these last 365 days.

10. The Adventures of Bobby Ray - B.o.B
9. Wake Up! - John Legend & The Roots
8. Man On The Moon II: The Legend Of Mr. Rager - KiD CuDi
7. Doo-Wops & Hooligans - Bruno Mars
6. The Lady Killer - Cee-Lo
5. How I Got Over - The Roots
4. Recovery - Eminem
3. Thank Me Later - Drake
2. Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty - Big Boi
1. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - Kanye West

... and Free Enes.

The Maui Invitational

2010-11-29T15:39:00.001-05:00

Us being all dejected ... (AP Photo/Eugene Tanner)

Terrence Jones
Game 1: 29/13/3, (12-17 FGs, 0-2 3PT, 5-9 FTs), 2 steals, 4 blocks in 35 minutes
Game 2: 16/17/2, (4-13 FGs, 0-2 3PT, 8-14 FTs), 1 steal, 4 blocks, 4 fouls in 36 minutes
Game 3: 24/4/1, (6-11 FGs, 4-4 3PT, 8-9 FTs), 2 steals, 2 blocks, 4 fouls in 27 minutes
You know what TJ got most hyped about in his Game 1 performance? Taking the ball off a rebound and sprinting with it across the entire court and throwing a no-looker to catch Josh Harrellson perfectly in stride for a lay-up. You couldn't erase that ensuing grin if your life depended on it. Terrence got the most buzz of anyone not named Kemba Walker in this tourney and even got the Chad Ford nod in his potential to be the top pick in the NBA draft. Crazy stuff. But it's undeniably justified when you see how thoroughly Jones seems to be able to do any and everything he wants to on the floor. Besides not get whistled for fouls. His tournament-concluding night of 4-for-4 three-pointers was nearly mind-boggling. He’s the heart and soul of our team right now.
Outlook: If it weren't for foul trouble, Jones' trip would have been flawless. While all of the calls against him weren't deserved, he has to get used to it and avoid the situations anyways. He’s averaging 21/10/2 on 50% shooting from the field … so why don’t we just go out on a limb and put the lofty expectations on him of maintaining that? Just to push meaningless what-ifs on you a little more: if Terrence made all of his free throw attempts so far, he’d be averaging 25.4 points a night in these opening 5 games. The kid’s slated as Kevin Garnett’s heir at that point.

Brandon Knight
Game 1: 13/2/3, (4-15 FGs, 2-8 3PT, 3-5 FTs), 5 TOs in 35 minutes
Game 2: 24/4/0, (10-17 FGs, 1-6 3PT, 3-6 FTs), 1 steal, 8 TOs, 4 fouls in 28 minutes
Game 3: 6/2/5, (3-15 FGs, 0-8 3PT, 0-1 FTs), 1 steal, 5 TOs in 38 minutes
He had the worst shooting night of his young career in the opening game and followed it by his worst ball-handling game in the semis. And then he followed it by an even worse shooting night. Not the greatest of vacations for our resident superstar point guard ... in fact, it was egregiously painful for the most part. He finished 3 of 22 three-pointers and averaged 6 turnovers a game compared to 2.7 assists. If it wasn't for his 24-point outing showing off his strong floor game against a strong Washington team, this would have been an unsalvageable trip for the guy.
Outlook: His shooting stroke was off and at times he almost looked selfish. He has to hone his confidence while understanding that he's not going to get the benefit of the doubt in throwing his body around recklessly in big games. He simply needs to keep his eyes open for kick-outs. I in no way think these rough games are a sampling of things to come for Knight. He's too intelligent on the floor for that.

DeAndre Liggins
Game 1: 12/5/4, (5-9 FGs, 2-4 3PT, 0-2 FTs), 3 steals in 35 minutes
Game 2: 7/4/2, (2-7 FGs, 3-6 FTs), 3 steals, 1 block in 26 minutes
Game 3: 8/3/1, (3-10 FGs, 0-2 3PT, 2-3 FTs), 1 steal, 4 TOs in 38 minutes
The stats aren't quite all the way there for Dre, but everyone watching the game knows he's been high impact every minute. And because of that, we’ll forgive him for not being able to shut down Kemba Walker while Walker was doing his best Michael Jordan impression. Most of DeAndre’s focus has been on the defensive end where he’s proven productive against such scorers as Jared Stohl and Isaiah Thomas, but his offensive output hasn’t registered with the same vigor. He’s only averaging 9 points per game in the early going.
Outlook: With Dre’s driving and shooting ability, he needs to up himself to around 13 or 14 points a night. His body’s big enough to where he should be a free throw shooting machine, but he’s only averaging 3.6 attempts per game. That could easily be doubled with how well he gets to the rim and absorbs contact. Since Dre is already the ultimate intangibles guy, there’s no need to harp on his peripheral stats. He’s going to give his all by being unselfish, hitting the boards, and digging in on defense no matter what the numbers tell you.

Doron Lamb
Game 1: 12/3/2, (4-8 FGs, 2-3 3PT, 2-4 FTs), 1 steal in 30 minutes
Game 2: 6/1/1, (2-10 FGs, 0-2 3PT, 2-2 FTs), 1 block, 4 fouls in 28 minutes
Game 3: 5/0/0, (2-5 FGs, 1-2 3PT, 0-0 FTs), 2 TOs in 14 minutes
After the Oklahoma win, Lamb was riding the waves of a magical early freshman run. After the pressure defense imposed by Washington’s guards, Lamb was brought back down to earth with exposed growing pains. Whether it was simply getting the ball ripped from him or being drawn into a charge, Doron couldn’t manage to handle the ball and get the team into its offensive sets. But what he could do, minus his awful Washington showing, is shoot the ball. He’s 9-of-16 so far on the year. That’s killer.
Outlook: His ball-handling woes have to be cured. The Washington game tape will be a how-to training video for all future opponents on how to guard Doron and try to entice him into turnovers. If that can be tightened, then the focus can turn back to how sharp and lethal his shooting stroke has looked. There’s no reason he can’t average 12 points off the bench with a 3-pointer (or five) nightly.

Darius Miller
Game 1: 5/5/0, (2-5 FGs, 1-3 3PT), 1 steal, 4 fouls in 26 minutes
Game 2: 8/3/1, (2-5 FGs, 1-2 3PT, 3-4 FTs), 1 steal, 1 block, 4 fouls in 24 minutes
Game 3: 15/4/2, (6-14 FGs, 2-5 3PT, 1-3 FTs) in 29 minutes
Darius has mysteriously looked lost since he made his way into the middle of the Pacific Ocean. If it weren’t for his more focused effort in the UCONN loss, fans would’ve probably wholly given up on Miller as major force. We thought he got caught in the headlights of last year’s freshmen and their collective shiny hype, but Darius has unfortunately seemed to take a firm backseat to this year’s group again.
Outlook: I like him taking around 15 shots a game far more than I like him watching the ball from the wing and accidentally throwing up 5 afterthoughts. Miller being offensively aggressive will make Brandon Knight’s job a whole lot easier going forward. If opposing defenses are taking note of Darius as a three-point threat (making a good 4-of-10 in the tourney), Knight will find himself with a lot more space on both his pick-and-rolls and simple drives. If Darius can focus on forcing himself to stay involved by creating his own shot opportunities, the rest of his game with naturally follow and he’ll be the do-everything 15/6/4/2/1 guy that we so desperately want him to be. And know he can be.

Josh Harrellson
Game 1: 2/3/0, (1-3 FGs), 4 fouls in 20 minutes
Game 2: 9/14/1, (4-6 FGs, 1-2 3PT), 1 steal, 2 blocks in 34 minutes.
Game 3: 0/6/0, (0-1 FGs), 1 steal, 2 blocks in 25 minutes
Game 2 was the best effort of Josh's career. Between the timely three-pointer, the gorgeous alley to TJ's -oop, and the 14 boards, we had ourselves an impact player. He didn't even get in foul trouble! But as soon as we thought he got himself into the swing of things, he comes up with a donut in Game 3 with only 6 meager boards to show for it.
Outlook: We simply need more of the Harrellson we got against Washington. I don’t care if he scores double digits for the entire season, but he just can’t be a guy who’s afraid to take shots, finish put-backs, or secure rebounds. He needs to nestle in around a 7-point, 7.5-board average and prove himself valuable enough to stay on the floor for over 25 minutes a game. The occasional surprise three-pointer will be awesome, too.

Eloy Vargas
Game 1: 2/4/1, (1-1 FGs) in 16 minutes
Game 2: 4/1/0, (1-1 FGs, 2-2 FTs) in 6 minutes
Game 3: 6/6/0, (1-2 FGs, 4-4 FTs), 1 steal, 2 blocks in 19 minutes
He's still incredibly irrelevant for the most part, but Vargas bookended Game 2 with a fantastic tip slam and two clutch free throw swishes. I'll take it. I’ll also take the confidence Vargas showed in calling his own number by backing down and taking a strong hook shot in Game 3. Those opportunities will be few and far between though if he’s not able to get stronger and give Coach Cal a reason to believe that he can hold his own and not be sent sprawling to the floor by any random opponent regardless of size.
Outlook: He has to simply be competent as Josh’s back-up since it looks like Coach is staying away from the small ball line-up for now. His offensive opportunities will continue to be few and far between, but his 5-of-7 field goal shooting and 6-of-6 free throw shooting for the season so far is definitely encouraging. He doesn’t quite look like he’s all the way there to be any more than a 3-board, 1-block a night contributor, but there’s always room for him to surprise us in a stretch run against the right team.

Jon Hood
Game 1: 1/2/0, (1-2 FTs) in 3 minutes
Game 2: 0/1/0, (0-3 FGs, 0-2 3PT), 1 steal in 9 minutes
Game 3: 3/3/0, (1-2 FGs, 1-1 3PT) in 9 minutes
He shows no confidence when he’s on the floor. He just looks like he’s fiending to get a shot up as quick as possible to prove his worth, even though making a jumper or two won’t be anywhere close enough of a reason to keep him out there in the wing rotation anyways.
Outlook: Jon doesn’t look like he’s taken the leap yet to be an NCAA contributor. The only way he sees the floor this season is with further significant foul trouble or an injury and a half to the rotation wings.

Stacey Poole
Game 1: DNP
Game 2: 0/0/0, (0-2 FGs, 0-1 3PT) in 8 minutes
Game 3: 0/0/0, (0-0 FGs) in 1 minute
Stacey only got into the action in Game 2 due to some unforeseen wing foul trouble, and he immediately attempted to jack up shots to make up for lost time. And he missed.
Outlook: He didn’t make anything of his Game 2 opportunity to close the first half. So we’ll just keep him in the non-factor folder until further notice.

Jarrod Polson
Game 1: DNP
Game 2: 0/0/0, (0-0 FGs) in 1 minute
Game 3: DNP
Outlook: None whatsoever.

... and Free Enes.

Weezy: Ode to 3000

2010-11-27T12:47:00.001-05:00

"Oh yes I love her like Egyptian
Want a description? Her body's sickenin'
I can be her prescription, I can be her physician
Sexual healing, I can be her religion ..."
-Lil' Wayne from "PMW (P****, Money, Weed)" in 2007

"Oh yes I love her like Egyptian
Want a description? My royal highness
So many plusses when I bust that there can’t be no minus ..."
-Andre 3000 from OutKast's "Jazzy Belle" in 1996

Jim Jonsin pretty much just sped up the entire song and added a raped-fire drum track (sounds like me) over "Jazzy Belle" for the beat to Wayne's "PMW". And Weezy F. Baby took that and ran with it, starting each of his verses with "oh yes I love her like ..." and that's a good enough tribute to me. Wayne knows who broke the doors open for southern rappers to have a viable presence in hip hop at all, much less sell a milli and be all over the radio and video channels.

... and Free Enes.

UK-Portland 11/19/10

2010-11-22T08:09:00.000-05:00

We started out 15-0 in a matter of minutes. That's all you really need to know about this game, but I'll go a little more in depth. We're gonna be giant killers this year.

Top Players:
1. Brandon Knight: 21 points (7-13 FGs, 2-5 3Pt, 5-5 FTs), 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks. Who cares if he didn't rack up Wall-like dime numbers? Knight is a scorer and will be against any player he opposes this season. I can't wait until he faces another top tier point guard and proves this point to everyone for good. His jumper is beautiful. Just plain gorgeous. And he's a fantastic layer-upper, too ... which real basketball fans understand. He plays all the angles perfect and seems to know exactly what he needs to accomplish with the basketball 95% of the time. People are discounting this kid's athleticism just because they don't think he'd match Wall's numbers at a football combine, but this Knight is a sneaky freak athlete in his own respect. I'd almost mark him down today as an All-American at the end of the season. As I said last time, his production's only going to go up from here.

2. Darius Miller: 15 points (6-7 FGs, 3-4 3PT), 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals, 4 blocks. Darius owned this game from the tip. He almost broke the stat sheet by getting close to an old Andrei Kirilenko/Shawn Marion 5x5. Add in the fact he only missed one of his seven shots, including three triples ... sickness. Nothing else to say besides that this is a perfect Miller game if there is one. Gave the team any and everything that they needed.

3. Doron Lamb: 13 points (4-5 FGs, 3-4 3PT, 2-2 FTs), 3 rebounds, 1 assist. In my opinion, our NY-representer didn't make a single mistake while he was on the floor. He filled in great once again as our spot-minutes secondary point guard and even better as our designated sharp shooter. Where he was taking his shots from in the exhibition games had fans scared that he wasn't the long ball shooter that everyone hyped him up to be, but Lamb made a statement against Portland, making threes look like lay-ups. He showed great restrain in picking his spots (that's how you wind up with 13 points on 5 shot attempts) and definitely didn't look like a freshman out there. Lamb can definitely be an X-factor all season as our resident "Microwave" off the bench if he proves his understanding of the game is already as developed as it's looked in the early going.

4. Terrence Jones: 12 points (5-14 FGs, 0-2 3PT, 2-5 FTs), 5 rebounds, 3 assist, 2 blocks. He made the first basket of the game and then struggled mightily after that. Foul trouble and an errant jumper plagued him, but he came back pretty nice in the second half to put up some highlights on both sides of the ball. He threw down a sick pump faking blow-by jam along the baseline, showcasing his bread and butter in being able to create unguardable mismatch situations on the floor at any given moment. TJ took the same kinds of shots that netted him 28 against ETSU, so you can't fault him in that department. He's just gotta make em from here on out against better opponents. Look for him to do exactly that. As a final note, his penchant for on-man shot blocking has been a notable surprise for me. Very few non-7-foot freaks can pull that off consistently.

5. DeAndre Liggins: 6 points (1-4 FGs, 0-1 3PT, 4-4 FTs), 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal. Our resident Kobe-stopper wasn't any kind of aggressive in taking shots himself tonight ... prolly cuz he was 100% intent on destroying All-NCAA shooter Jared Stohl into missing 7 of his 9 shots. Owned. Dre really is the do-anything, unselfish-to-a-fault glue guy who fits into Coach's on-court philosophy brilliantly. All he needs to do is smack his teammates around a little more to get him some shots on nights where he's rendering the other team's best player useless.

6. Josh Harrellson: 6 points (3-4 FGs), 12 rebounds. After a foul prone start to the season, Jorts came into Oregon and fulfilled everyone's hopes for his best case scenario in production on a game-by-game basis. He grabbed every single board that he could have, he didn't turn the ball over, and he actually was aggressive on his limited touches and put back opportunities. We don't need Harrellson to be Enes Kanter and score any amount of points consistently. We just need him to be a big body on the floor that the other team actually recognizes as a big body. Here's hoping that the rest of Josh's senior year brings a lot more of these kinds of games.

... and Free Enes.

CyHi: Ode to 3000

2010-11-20T12:16:00.001-05:00

"... I told him, 'make no free sacks,
I need 60.' He said, 'Damn, shorty, I'll be back'
Then I replied that I'd been goin through tha same thing that he had
True I got more fans than the average man but not enough loot to last me
to the end of the week, I live by the beat like you live check to check
If you don't move yo foot then I don't eat, so we like neck and neck
He said, 'we thought you was rich ever since you left the deck'
I said, 'I am, aggin, that's the catch' ..."
-CyHi da Prynce from "Hear Me Out" in 2010

"... and he kept askin me, 'what kind of car you drive? I know you paid
I know y'all got buku of hoes from all them songs that y'all done made'
And I replied that I'd been goin through tha same thing that he had
True I got more fans than the average man but not enough loot to last me
To the end of the week, I live by the beat like you live check to check
If you don't move yo foot then I don't eat, so we like neck to neck
Yes we done come a long way like them slim ass cigarettes
From Virginia, this ain't gon stop so we just gonna continue ..."
-Andre 3000 from OutKast's "Elevators (Me & You)" in 1996

Not so much a tribute as it is a blatant re-usage, but it's nice for CyHi to convey that Dre's '96 truth spitting still applies for a newly signed G.O.O.D. Music rapper 14 years later. I really hope Kanye uses his John Legend/Common type of management on da Prynce more-so than his GLC/Consequence/Really Doe type of management. Cuz he's got bars and I actually wanna hear legitimate music from the dude.

... and Free Enes.

Dream Job Article Homework Assignment

2010-11-18T20:00:00.000-05:00

Calipari Ups the Ante for Journalists, Not Just Basketball Team
by Chris Campbell / cdcamp3@uky.edu

When John Calipari signed his contract on March 31, 2009 to be the head coach of the University of Kentucky Wildcats mens basketball team, he immediately changed expectations. Expectations in the sports section of the school paper, that is.

Kenny Colston, a sports columnist for the Kentucky Kernel at the time of Calipari’s hiring, remembers the stark difference in handling Wildcat fans’ expectations for their daily basketball news once former coach Billy Gillispie’s replacement was inked. “It was a new era,” Colston said. “The gloom was traded in for joy … it was important to signal that.”

The passion of Kentucky basketball fans has been written about for years, but Colston says Calipari took the public’s thirst for constant updates to a higher level in the new millennium. “I'd say I wrote 90 percent of my column on Cal or the basketball team during that first month,” Colston said. “There was a lot of ground to cover.”

The significance of this change in coverage was not lost on Ben Jones, former sports editor for the Kernel. In retrospect, he said the story of Calipari’s hiring was “bigger even than when (UK President) Lee Todd announced he would be retiring shortly.” The Twitter account of the Kernel’s sports section has over 1,200 followers, nearly 400 more than its news account.

“You have to cover it like it's the most important story you'll ever write,” Jones said. “It means that much to readers and the fan base.”

“The Calipari hiring was dynamic because it happened over a period of time,” Jones said, “and more information kept coming out that you had to report on.” In the opening weeks of Calipari’s tenure, the Kernel ran a constant flow of stories such as a history of his coaching stops, a one-on-one interview, an explanation of his dribble-drive offense and a breakdown of his $31.65 million contract.

“There was an expectation of covering all angles of Calipari,” Colston said, “and to do so quickly.”

Recognizing that Calipari is no fool to the fan base’s obsession, Aaron Smith, assistant sports editor for the Kernel, enjoys “how Calipari handles the media and how he sets up what he wants, and needs, to say.”

Not to be outdone by UK fans wanting and expecting immediate access to everything about their basketball coach, the school reporters covering Calipari share the same enthusiasm and take great pride in their coverage.

“Everyone expects this to be the biggest story you'll ever work on while covering UK,” Jones said, “and it really was.”

... and Free Enes.

The Enes Kanter Crap

2010-11-18T16:01:00.001-05:00

Photo by Lexington Herald-Leader's Mark Cornelison

Barring a shocking appeal overturn on the grounds of "logic" and "human feeling", Enes Kanter will be permanently ineligible to play any form of NCAA basketball. That sucks. For us and him. Here's why ...

For Us
No matter what you're hearing from fringe reactant stories by certain writers, Enes would be the best player in college basketball this season. He is a workhorse like few you've ever seen at his age, most likely due to his priming in the Turkish junior leagues practically since he hit puberty. He's chiseled out of granite in the form of an NBA All-Star at the age of 18 since he spends countless hours voluntarily weightlifting beyond the normal basketballer's regiment. Juggling the randomness of the NCAA allowing and then not allowing him to practice with the team on a daily basis, Kanter has become best friends with the ball-return machine. I once witnessed knock in 20-foot jumper after 20-foot jumper while yelling across the court at Brandon Knight's assigned rebounder, jokingly insulting him the entire time. He's a complete goofball who has more fun with his mildly broken English than anyone has a right to. It's a shame that he's been mostly kept under wraps from the media by the athletics association due to the ongoing eligibility concerns; by now he would even more of a national celebrity and UK advocate by way of his hilarious irrelevant commentary on all things in life.

And none of this even speaks to how he makes the full-team practices a joke. In case you thought Kanter's 34-point/13-rebound domination in at the Nike Hoop Summit (mostly against Terrence Jones) was a fluke ... it wasn't. Kanter scores at will in every way imaginable, pushing Harrellson, Vargas, and Jones into a constant game where it's a braggable badge of honor whenever someone's able to score on him. Kanter breaks up every alley-oop, pins every driving lay-up on the backboard, and makes attempts at post-up scoring irrelevant. In fact, the only thing Kanter hasn't seemed to master yet is the art of not goaltending. He seems dumbfounded every time he's reminded that you ... um ... can't do that in America.

Here's the bottom line: if Kanter (being a hair in front of Jared Sullinger as the most dominant post presence in college basketball) were available in this Wildcat line-up, we'd be a top-4 team all year and a feared championship contender by April's end. It sucks that we have to now play small ball for 70% of the game now and have to simply try and make it work instead of playing small ball for 10% of the game when Enes takes a breather to go and lift some weights. We would even more-so be the national headline-dominating squad of the year, seamlessly transitioning from the Wall/Cousins era and perfectly priming the public for the unimaginable Gilchrist/Teague/Davis era of next season. But now we're going to have to settle for being a top-15 squad who relies a little too heavily on massive amounts of 3-pointers and prays that the opposition doesn't dump it down in the post too often. We're still in for a highly entertaining year with some great personalities on a team that seems to genuinely enjoy playing with each other, but with Enes in the fold ... it would have been legendary.

For Him
He's a good kid. No matter how slimy you think Coach Cal's recruiting tactics are, no insinuated amount of improper benefits could compare to what Kanter could have made simply by staying home and playing overseas on a real contract for two or three years until he wanted to make NBA money. Instead, Kanter came to America for the hope of playing as an amateur and being part of the amazing college basketball system we have. Instead of being the completely unknown and uncared-about Andrea Bargnani pick, Kanter wanted to be the locally relevant and massively popular Shaquille O'Neal of the 2011 NBA Draft.

Here's the random facts of his case: Kanter never signed a professional contract with Fenerbahce, he played as a barely-used reserve with some professionals for 9 games two years ago, he left that club to play a year of high school prep ball in America in hopes to play basketball in the NCAA, and his parents are rich. He didn't need any extra amount of money, much less $33,033. If he was really looking for a quick cash in, he would've stayed in Europe for millions and not wasted his time playing in an American high school. And this is even furthered by the fact that $20,000 was said to be used on educational expenses and the remaining $13,033 is sitting unused in the bank. The Kanters have offered to pay it all back and anything else the NCAA wants them to. What is the principle under all this? Yes, Kanter was "paid" but Kanter was not bought by some high-reaching sports agent hoping to sway all future 15-year-olds to sign under the table with their agency and sponsored shoe contracts to make millions off children. It's not like that. This crap was an innocent mistake that the Kanters didn't know would jeopardize their son's future basketball plans. It's not about the money. No one can disagree with that at this point.

For the NCAA
So what's it about? Is it about standing by the dry ink printed on a million-page document hoping to keep morals in check at the collegiate level? What morals were shattered by Kanter? Enes is an 18-year-old kid who's made his life and all its happenings completely transparent for the mythical NCAA people to judge him by. His parents received money in excess of what the NCAA deemed necessary and that's why he's not allowed to play. But they are willing to pay it all back because they don't need it and never did need it. Enes wants to play college basketball after doing no more than being an afterthought on a foreign team where he happened to mingle with Turkish professionals for 9 games. What about this seems subversive and ill-intentioned? What is the wrong-doing in this very specific case of Enes Kanter? He's offered to do every single thing the NCAA potentially would ask him to do to achieve eligibility, including willingly being suspended x amount of games with no questions asked. He just wants to be able to spend time practicing and traveling with these other 18-, 19-, and 20-year-olds that he's become close with and wants a chance to contribute to and be a part of Kentucky basketball lore.

He's a human being. So I really hope human beings consider his case and make a final ruling with this impending appeal. And that's all I'll have to say about that.

... and Free Enes.

Not "The Blow Up"

2010-11-17T00:28:00.001-05:00

The original Roc Nation signee (who's now amazingly flanked by Jay Electronica and ... Will Smith's daughter) dropped his Friday Night Lights mixtape this last week, discontinuing his The Come Up/The Warm Up/~~The Blow Up~~ potential mixtape trilogy. [I was originally going to put "The" then all the different words of those three tape titles slashed together and then "Up", but I got grossed out as I was typing it.] Oh well. The music's still killer. Cole's flow may be somewhat formulaic and his subject matter falls back on old rap cliches, but his style is all his own, his lyrics are always on-point and rewindable, and his beat are ear-catching. He's one of my favorite artists out and I, along with everyone else, am crazy looking forward to his proper debut under Jigga's tutelage.

J. Cole - Friday Night Lights

Tracklisting:
1. Friday Night Lights
2. Too Deep for the Intro
3. Before I'm Gone
4. Back to the Topic
5. You Got It (feat. Wale)
6. Villematic (Devil in a New Dress Freestyle)
7. Enchanted (feat. Omen)
8. Blow Up
9. Higher
10. In the Morning (feat. Drake)
11. 2Face
12. The Autograph
13. Best Friend
14. Cost Me a Lot
15. Premeditated Murder
16. Home for the Holidays
17. Love Me Not
18. See World
19. Farewell
20. Looking for Trouble [Kanye West feat. Pusha T, Big Sean, CyHi Da Prynce, & J. Cole)

... and Free Enes.

G.O.O.D. Fridays

2010-11-16T22:00:00.000-05:00

I'm gonna bring this post back up to the top for however many new G.O.O.D. Friday joints Kanye has left. This is pretty much the best thing to happen in commercial hip hop in a minute. Ye basically releasing posse cuts with a random combination Jigga, Mos, Wu-Tang, and the entire G.O.O.D. Music roster every single week? Keep it going. But why can't Swizz Beatz keep away just spend more time with his wife?

14. Kanye West - Chain Heavy (feat. Talib Kweli & Consequence)
13. Kanye West - Looking for Trouble (feat. Pusha T, CyHi Da Prynce, Big Sean, & J. Cole)
12. Kanye West - The Joy (feat. Pete Rock, Jay-Z, Charlie Wilson, & KiD CuDi)
11. Kanye West - Don't Look Down (feat. Mos Def, Lupe Fiasco, & Big Sean)
10. Kanye West - Take One for the Team (feat. Keri Hilson, Pusha T, & CyHi Da Prynce)
9. Child Rebel Soldier - Don't Stop!
8. Kanye West - Christian Dior Denim Flow (feat. KiD CuDi, Pusha T, John Legend, Lloyd Banks, & Ryan Leslie)
7. Kanye West - So Appalled (feat. Jay-Z, Pusha T, CyHi Da Prynce, RZA, & Swizz Beatz)
6. Kanye West - Lord Lord Lord (feat. Mos Def, Swizz Beatz, Raekwon, & Charlie Wilson)
5. Kanye West - Good Friday (feat. Common, Pusha T, KiD CuDi, Big Sean, & Charlie Wilson)
4. Kanye West - Devil in a New Dress
3. Justin Bieber - Runaway Love (feat. Kanye West & Raekwon)
2. Kanye West - Monster (feat. Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj, & Bon Iver)
1. Kanye West - Power (Remix feat. Jay-Z, John Legend, & Swizz Beatz)

... and do the John Wall.

UK-East Tennessee State 11/12/10

2010-11-15T21:27:00.000-05:00

UKAA swirly green dots picture

We made 13 of 26 three-point attempts. What?!?! Hence the 88-65 final score thing we had going for us. Imagine if we hadn't have shot 9 of 23 free throws ... why does Coach still not make any of his guys practice freebies, again?

Top Players:
1. Terrence Jones: 25 points (10-19 FGs, 2-3 3PT, 3-10 FTs), 12 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, 2 blocks. How do you miss that many free throws? Oh well. Jonesy put on what was probably up there with the best first game of any UK frosh ever. Especially considering that he could've notched a big 30 if he's just made 5 of those 7 missed freebies. When he wasn't busy getting fouled, he was knocking down threes, finishing off alley-oops, driving past his man to the bucket, and swishing midrange pull-ups that you simply never see college ballplayers even attempt. He looked every bit the tempo-pushing, mismatch-creating enforcer on opening night that most people expected to finally see from him around February. If we get this kind of effort from Terrence on a nightly basis, maybe the 2010-2011 season will be remembered for who was actually on the roster as opposed to the big Turkish-accented elephant in the room who wasn't.

2. Doron Lamb: 20 points (7-10 FGs, 3-5 3PT, 3-5 FTs), 5 rebounds, 3 assists. We all knew TJ had that kind of potential in him, but Lamb was the real opening night eye-opener. He only hit 70% of his shots, including three triples, and filled in valiantly in his first duty as falling down the position ladder as the resident back-up point guard when Knight takes a breather. My favorite shot was his late-game 18-foot pull-up jumper. Nobody does that in college basketball (as previously noted a paragraph up). Doron can get a little lazy with his handle, but when he's going full force he's bound to cross his opposition something hard. Be sure and double-knot those laces. He nearly dropped an ETSU guy who had tracked him down on a fast break runout, but instead settled for leaving him stapled to the floor and scoring on an uncontested lay-in. If we can get high-teen to twenty-point nights on a regular basis from our resident New Yorker, we've got a potential monster on our hands between all these stellar wing scorers.

3. Brandon Knight: 17 points (6-13 FGs, 4-7 3Pt, 1-4 FTs), 4 rebounds, 5 assists. In what easily could have been Knight's statement opener, our resident point guard sensation relinquished ball-dominating duties to the hot hand. Knight spent all of his time effortlessly setting the tone early by dropping jumper after jumper, and pretty much just handed over the keys after that. He could've gone for 30 and easily gotten it like he did pretty much every single game in high school, but Knight is taking the Cal-induced facilitator thing seriously. If he can be this efficient while trying to develop and understand his role on the squad, imagine how deadly he'll be once he figures everything out. I promise you that this is going to be considered quite tame in comparison with future college games by Knight.

4. DeAndre Liggins: 14 points (5-10 FGs, 2-4 3PT, 2-3 FTs), 3 rebounds, 6 assists. Dre was perfect for all intensive purposes. He tried to get his long-range stroke going a little late in the game, and if it wasn't for those jacks then he might've gone 100% on the floor. He got to the rim at will and showed off his superb vision and team-oriented nature in donating out a team-high 6 dimes. He was aggressive without ever forcing the issue, only attempting 10 shots, but look for that number to creep up and he figures out that he's mistakenly one of the last Wildcats that opposing defenses will be specifically be paying attention to. This game was a great sign of things to come from the new statistically adept DeAndre. Last year he fell into the category of impact players with no actual discernible box score contribution. Not now. Look for this man to be the Tayshaun Prince/Andrei Kirilenko-type stat filler as the team's most aggressive wing defender.

5. Darius Miller: 8 points (3-9 FGs, 2-5 3PT), 10 rebounds, 1 assists, 1 steal, 1 block. While he looked a little timid on offense (which I only hate because that was the egregiously regurgitated story line on the dude), but the truth is that UK really didn't need Darius to assert himself this game. All you really need to know is that he put in 2 threes and got double-digit rebounds. That'll definitely be the Miller stat to keep track of this season as he's our pseudo power forward. The guy needs to pull boards. Pat barely even did that with any consistency his junior year (only 11 double-digit rebounding games).

... and Free Enes.

My Concert Catalogue

2010-11-13T22:00:00.000-05:00

This is from MY OWN CAMERA

There are really only four kinds of people in the world: musicians, comedians, poets, and presidents. And I just wanted to throw together a post I'll update randomly whenever I see a new one of those kinds of people. Alphabetically, of course.

And I enjoy my list, but you gotta cut me some slack. I have the disadvantage of living in Kentucky ... who wants to come to the neutral Civil War state? I'm exaggerating, of course, as I've missed Weezy, Jeezy, Macy Gray, and Mike Posner shows recently between Louisville and Lexington that I can think off the top of my head. And then there's the unfortunate misses such as the fact that Wale should be in there, but he was stupid and performed at the BET Awards last year instead of fulfilling his portion of the Jigga show at Northern Kentucky University. Hopefully UK can keep up its stellar scheduling to add to the Drake and B.o.B shows that I was able to attend across the street from my dorm. But the real hype comes after the second week of November 2010 when I'll really have a significant comedy list as I got tickets for Jeff Dunham and Dane Cook with my girlfriend. So yeah ... that's all.

Musicians
Audio Adrenaline
B.o.B
Big Daddy Kane
Dana Dane
Doug E. Fresh
Drake
Francis and the Lights
J. Cole
Jason Derulo
Jay-Z
k-os
KJ-52
N.E.R.D
P.O.D.
Playboy Tre'
Reliant K
Slick Rick
Tanya Morgan
tobyMac
Trey Songz
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Whodini

Comedians
Sarah Colonna
Dane Cook
Jeff Dunham
Chris Franjola
Zach Galifianakis
Tim Meadows
Robin Williams

Poets
Ken Arkind
Black Ice
Shihan
Panama Soweto

Presidents
Bill Clinton

... and Free Enes.

Em & Nas: Ode to Rakim

2010-11-13T12:13:00.001-05:00

"And I am, whatever you say I am
If I wasn't, then why would I say I am?"
-Eminem from "The Way I Am" in 2000

"I'm the N, the A to the S-I-R
And if I wasn't, I must've been Escobar ..."
-Nas from "Got Ur Self a Gun" in 2001

"I'm the R, the A, to the K-I-M.
If I wasn't, then why would I say I am?"
-Rakim from Eric B. & Rakim's "As The Rhyme Goes On" in 1987

Just a quick little quip, but when you could manage pulling nods from Slim Shady in his prime and Nasir Jones on his second best album, can you getter any higher of a compliment?

... and Free Enes.

Best/Worst/Probable Case for UK 2012 Roster

2010-11-11T16:25:00.001-05:00

Signing day was yesterday for all the high school seniors who wanted to ink themselves to their basketball school, which of course has the most impact for UK fans as we're the rabidly drooling rankings perusers ever since Cal didn't walked through that one door we watched live feed of. So here's my personal opinion on the different scenarios that will form our roster for our predestined 2012 national championship.

Best Case: NBA LOCKOUT!!! I hate the notion as a pro fan, but UK fans want to personally go to David Stern and talk ish to ensure that he takes his wrath out on the Players Association. In this case, our only roster departure would be our resident senior, Josh Harrellson. Enes, Brandon, and Terrence would have no choice but to remain as the greatest sophomore class of all time and not take their talents straight to the lottery (as they'll pretty much be guaranteed to be drafted in, otherwise). Darius and DeAndre, who'll both have the NBA itch due to their breakout 2010-2011 campaigns, won't even have to send out draft feelers and put their names in for consideration. All the incoming freshmen will simply have to accept and make the most of their unexpected secondary roles since ... well, they've already signed in blood on their letters of intent. Besides, this would be the single most talented team in college basketball history. Ever.

C: Enes Kanter/Anthony Davis/Eloy Vargas
F: Darius Miller/Terrence Jones/Kyle Wiltjer
F: DeAndre Liggins/Michael Gilchrist/Jon Hood
G: Brandon Knight/Doron Lamb/Stacey Poole
G: Marquis Teague/Jarrod Polson

Calipari would have quite a job on his hands to define the roles and playing times for all the eligible ballers on this squad. There are literally ten starting-caliber players on this roster, so he gets to divvy up the new and experienced guys in whatever fashion he deems best. My guess is that the main starting line-up shake-up is Knight sliding to the 2-guard to take advantage of his scoring prowess and Teague's pass-first mentality. It would be the ultimate Wall/Bledsoe version 2.0 combo, though I would venture to say this incarnation would be more lethal due to Knight's consistent shooting stroke over Bledsoe's streaky one.

The front court would be where all the tough choices would lie. It would be hard to bench the two seniors in Miller and Liggins, especially considering their expected stellar production along with them earning their stripes in every way imaginable. So in this case I see the 4-wing/1-big combo being used at its finest. Terrence would have to take a slight back seat after being a freshman starter, but the promise of him being the leader of the second team should still hold appeal. His skill-set sure isn't going anywhere, so neither is his draft stock even if he comes off the bench. At this point, Cal can throw out any combo of skill sets that he wants. Defense? Kanter and Davis become the longest and most feared shot-blocking tandem since Alonzo Mourning and Dikembe Mutombo. Shooting? Kanter and Wiltjer can pick and pop with the best, even extended to the three-point line. Small ball? Jones and Miller have the versatility to handle the ball with ease as well as the size to give nothing up to opposing big men. The best part about it all is that Eloy Vargas wouldn't be relied on to produce in any greater capacity than Perry Stevenson in 2009-2010. And that induces a sigh of relief.

The fact that Liggins and Gilchrist are interchangeable parts at this point is about the greatest situation you could ever have at the small forward position. Maybe Cal wants Dre's defensive intensity to head the back-up attack and Mike even gets the start on most nights. It wouldn't matter because they're both going to see monstrous amounts of floor time and have an impact every second. Perimeter shooting would never be a problem ever when you have the likes of Knight, Miller, Liggins, and Lamb still around in addition to Kanter, Jones, and Wiltjer being able to step out. This squad could literally put eight guys in the first round of the 2012 NBA Draft. As long as they won a championship, not a single fan in the world should be disappointed in those decision. But maybe one or two of either Gilchrist, Teague, or Davis would want to stay that extra year to jump from the 25th pick to a top-5 guy the next draft. You never know at that point. Every kid who dons the UK jersey doesn't have the same mind state as Daniel Orton, ya know?

Bottom line ... this squad should and would run the table. I don't see how anyone could disagree at that point. High quality senior leadership? Two full #1 recruiting classes? Two elite, interchangeable point guards? Easily the best big in the nation? Over two-and-a-half deep at every single position? Perfection.

This is all assuming Kanter gets cleared to play college ball at all, of course. Sorry to pull you back into reality for a second ...

Worst Case: The crazy thing is that the starting line-up for our absolute worst case is still absolutely sick. That's the kind of thing you get when you net three of the top six freshmen basketball studs in the nation. But I'll focus on why we lose on everybody at this point ...

Enes, whether or not he's cleared to play a single game, is a top-3 draft pick next year. Most likely he's going to in the consensus 1-2 combo with Harrison Barnes a la Oden/Durant a few years back. It's that simple ... he's gone. Next is Terrence Jones who has far too much potential to not be capable of immediately making the jump. He really is a Lamar Odom clone; and with how well LO is killing it this season, teams will no doubt put a premium on that kind of contributor. He's got by pick #7. Next up is Brandon Knight. There's a reason why he used to be the best ranked player in his class across the board. The kid will put up monster scoring numbers, probably be the SEC player of the year, and on one of the All-American teams. Avery Bradley put up mediocre numbers as Texas' lead freshman guard and went #19 in the 2010 draft. Knight is picked by #15 in 2011.

Now for the unexpected departures. Miller and Liggins will both test the waters and will thoroughly enjoy what they hear. Both guys will be told that they're mid-first round picks due to their NBA size, skill sets, and winning mentalities displayed in UK's surprising 2011 season. Both will play the Jodie Meeks undecided game and finally choose to stay in the draft last-minute. Liggins goes #24 off the strength of his individual workouts, still farther back than he was initially told, and Miller slips to the #36 in the second round, having to fight his way into earning a guaranteed contract. But the fact remains ... the NBA stole five of our guys for the second straight year!!!

C: Anthony Davis/Eloy Vargas
F: Kyle Wiltjer/Trans. or Freshman
F: Michael Gilchrist/Jon Hood/Stacey Poole
G: Doron Lamb/Trevor Lacey
G: Marquis Teague/Jarrod Polson/Trans. or Freshman

Even with our roster being overturned on its second straight binge-and-purge, the remaining guys are still contender quality in the same way as Michigan State's Fab-5 was right off the bat. Gilchrist and Teague already have proven their unselfish chemistry on the U17 Olympic team this last summer together. Neither is your traditional high school blue chipper. Gilchrist didn't notch 50-point games, he wowed the scouts with his warrior-mentality of doing every single thing necessary to win, showing off his skill set and basketball IQ across the board. He's already got a pro's mentality to the game, he didn't have to show off and shoot 40 shots a game to prove to the recruiting gurus that he was a top-ranked guy. Teague also has lesser stats than other elite league guards of the last few years, but his outrageous yo-yo handling combined with his speed and pass-first mentality has him in the position as the best point guard coming out of high school, anyway. Davis is a guy who's going to come out as an elite shot blocker immediately and be a match-up nightmare who can fit in with whoever he's put out on the floor with. Wiltjer is simply a bonus at that point who switches up the looks from the bench as a more prominent shooter than low-post guy. With this roster-gutting, though, Coach Cal will have to work his magic to pull at least shooter Trevor Lacey and one or two more recruits we haven't heard of yet. We can't be going into the 2011-2012 season expecting to even hold a complete practice with 9 guys.

Even if Doron Lamb goes off this year, he's definitely not a sneak-in NBA guard in the mold of Eric Bledsoe. People question if Lamb can even dunk or not. Ha. So he'll be back as ... *gulp* ... the most experienced leader on the floor. But it will definitely be a pain with having to put 85% of our hopes on freshman production. The '10 team had Patterson, Miller, and Liggins as prominent experienced contributors while '11 had Miller, Liggins, and Harrellson in that same role. I sure don't wanna put all that weight on Lamb, Hood, and Poole. We'd still be insanely fun to watch and a threat to win any game we play, but the lack of depth will hurt us in the long run. I love our freshies, but for them to be required to put up transcendent numbers every single game is a stretch. Wall had a couple minor struggles while Cousins and Bledsoe had quite a few major struggles. So unless Anthony Davis is Greg Oden, Mike Gilchrist is Carmelo Anthony, and Marquis Teague is John Wall, we simply can't put up a transcendent sub-3-loss season like everybody's going to be wanting out of this squad.

Bottom line ... we're a sneaky Elite 8 team fighting the odds all season since we're too incredibly thin at all positions. A single injury would be crushing, and you definitely don't want to be sitting on a roster where you stress out every single drive and rebound over a sprained ankle.

Probable Case: The NBA isn't gonna lockout, so we'll meet somewhere in the middle. Enes, Knight, and Jones will all be beckoned away. But Miller and Liggins will stay after testing the draft waters and throw their names in as a 4-year UK legends. This slates our top three freshmen as starters to go with them and Doron Lamb as our bonafide scoring 6th man. We still need to get Trevor Lacey to have any level of depth at all and probably one additional big man recruit or transfer. We definitely still have title hopes with the talent on this squad, but we'll need Jon Hood to turn the corner as a legitimate college player and for Eloy to be able to pull down boards in spot minutes during his senior campaign. But simply noted, we will still have the most feared starting line-up in the NCAA with talent bulging out the seams.

C: Anthony Davis/Eloy Vargas
F: Darius Miller/Kyle Wiltjer
F: DeAndre Liggins/Jon Hood/Stacey Poole
G: Michael Gilchrist/Doron Lamb/Trevor Lacey
G: Marquis Teague/Jarrod Polson

Bottom line ... we're a definite Final Four team. We probably stay top-3 in the rankings for the entire season and are the favorites at tourney time. It's that simple.

... and Free Enes.

Lakers: 8-0 Perfection

2010-11-10T15:55:00.003-05:00

The Lakers are winning basketball games. That's all you really need to know.

Win vs. Rockets by 2
Win @ Suns by 8
Win vs. Warriors by 24
Win vs. Grizzlies by 19
Win @ Kings by 12
Win vs. Raptors by 5
Win vs. Blazers by 25
Win vs. Timberwolves by 5

So half their wins were by double-digits and three of them were last-minute competitions. What's good about that is the fact that every significant contributor on the roster besides Bynum is healthy and we've been able to see the situational line-ups for the squad.

For the last 6 minutes against the Rockets: Blake/Brown/Bryant/Odom/Gasol.
For the last 6 minutes against the Raptors: Fisher/Brown/Bryant/Odom/Gasol.
For the last 6 minutes against the Wolves: Fisher/Bryant/Artest/Odom/Gasol.

I think it's pretty much all mind games for PJ at this point. He knows he can't hurt Derek Fisher's psyche, so he gave Blake the ultimate confidence boost by putting him in a position to make a big play at the end of his very first Laker game ... which he perfectly did by sealing the game with a three off a Kobe kick-out. And then Phil knows he has complete mental dominance over Ron-Ron, so he's not afraid to play the hot hand and stroke Shannon Brown's ego when he's having a productive night. Not many people thought Brown would be logging heavy minutes with the Blake and Barnes additions, but he's proven to be far too valuable to ride the pine in the early going.

And it's only up from here. When Bynum gets in game shape, the NBA collectively goes on big-man-potential watch. He's strickly a role whenever he's hobbled by a knee injury, but he's still got the skill set, size, and intelligence to be an All-Star center. I still believe it, at least. Regardless, he'll instantly bring the team defense up a significant notch with his interior rotations and intimidating shot-blocking presence. Pau and him haven't seen many days where their offensive games clicked perfectly on the same night, but as long as the two of them add up to around 1.5, the Lakers are sitting pretty. Lamar seems more focused than at any point in his entire career, so a soft 6th man demotion should do none to deter his stellar production so far this year. It's crazy how those World Championship games seemed to prime him perfectly in a strange pre-training camp way to get him in amazing shape with a clear mind. His minutes won't even see a real drop with Bynum back since Ratliff/Caracter's collective floor time and a little bit of Matt Barnes' clock will make up the difference.

I got a great feeling about this team. Screw all the pre-season commentators trying to make Kobe's knee and age the non-LeBron headline as a reason why the Lakers weren't going to be able to three-peat. Maybe the stats simply don't compute as pretty for the squad with a top-two shooting guard of all-time, the best post player in the world, the most versatile 6'10" big ever seen, three of the grittiest perimeter defenders in NBA today, and a flurry of outside threats and veteran leaders that are collectively headed by the greatest coach in any professional sport ... ever. Maybe. But who cares? Does the computer get sad when it gets its calcumatated numbers wrong (just go with me on that one word)? The answer to that question is "no." Unless they wire those kinds of computers to have emotions now. Which is entirely possible with John Hollinger and Kevin Arnovitz' conniving asses. I don't even know. But even if that reference is rendered completely superfluous, the Lakers are a band of killers. No Brandon Flowers. Get ready for #17.

Team Highlights:
Scoring - 1st in the league at 112.1 points per game
Rebounding - 4th in the league at 46.1 rebounds per game
Assists - 4th in the league at 24 assists per game
Points Allowed - 11th in the league at 99.6 points given up per game

Individual highlights:
Kobe Bryant
Averages: 24.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1 steal
Best Game: 30/10/12 triple-double with 3 threes against Sacramento
Pau Gasol
Averages: 23.4 points on 55.1% shooting, 10.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.5 blocks
Best Game: 20/14/10 triple-double on 9-13 shooting with 3 steals against Portland
Lamar Odom
Averages: 15.8 points on 62.1% shooting, 10.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.3 3PM on 66.7% shooting
Best Game: 18/17/5 double-double on 8-12 shooting with a steal against Phoenix
Ron Artest
Averages: 10.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
Best Game: 17/1/4 on 7-11 shooting with 3 threes and 2 steals against Sacramento
Derek Fisher
Averages: 8.9 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.38 steals, 1.0 3PM on 57.1% shooting
Best Game: 14/1/3 on 5-6 shooting with a three against Golden State
Steve Blake
Averages: 6.9 points, 1.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.8 3PM on 50% shooting
Best Game: 14/1/2 on 4-6 three-point shooting against Toronto
Matt Barnes
Averages: 9.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists
Best Game: 16/14/2 double-double with a block and steal against Memphis
Shannon Brown
Averages: 9 points, 1.6 rebounds, .9 assists, 1.13 steals, 1.5 3PM on 50% shooting
Best Game: 16/1/1 on 6-9 shooting with 4 threes and 4 steals against Houston

... and Free Enes.

Give in to Me/Human Nature

2010-11-10T14:36:00.000-05:00

Charles Hamilton released a project recently featuring MJ samplings, which is cool and all, but I'm kinda weirded out hearing two joints that I already reinterpreted on there. Ha. He obviously in no way was biting off me since he's never even heard of me and my sampling wasn't that original to begin with, but it's still ... weird. Ya know?

Michael Jackson - Give in to Me (feat. Slash)
Chris Campbell - Giving In (feat. Aaronn Ralph)
Charles Hamilton - Elisa

Michael Jackson - Human Nature
Chris Campbell - Why Oh Why (feat. Aaronn Ralph)
Charles Hamilton - Kat Stacks is My Oasis

Full Mixtape:
Charles Hamilton - Mic Check (LWord3)
Tracklisting:
1. Anyone
2. Myongii
3. Kellye
4. SimoneNation
5. Elisa
6. Kat Stacks is My Oasis
7. Ce
8. Celia (Inst.)
9. Tricia (Inst.)
10. [Interlude]
11. Zoe Saldana (Inst.)
12. Rihanna (Inst.)
13. Shanelle (Inst.)
14. Truer Feelings About Shantel (Inst.)

... and Free Enes.

J. Cole: Ode to 3000

2010-11-09T20:16:00.000-05:00

"This is my story, this is my song
If you ain't got the heart, don’t attempt to try this at home
It’s just a poem from a man once living wrong
Now I’m in the zone, tell the world I’m coming home ..."
-J. Cole from "I'm Coming Home (Demo)" in 2010

"Yo, this is my story, this is my song
And to them rudy poots, don't attempt to try this at home
It's just a poem until y'all learn right from wrong
Know when to bless a situation, when to grab the chrome ..."
-Andre 3000 from OutKast's "Chonkyfire" in 1998

I think all the hip hop heads in the world can agree that up-and-comers tributing legendary emcees is a great thing. So when I heard Cole spit start off a verse old school Andre 3000-style on his Diddy reference track, I got the hint that hip hop wanted me to start a new segment on here. And here we have it. I'ma keep it super simple.

Look Ma, no pics ...

... and Free Enes.

DeShay Catch-Up: An Actual Post

2010-11-09T16:35:00.002-05:00

I've been slacking as a number have brandUn DeShay joints have been spread to the world recently. He says he's artistically holding off on releasing a personal project for a little while, but by the looks of it he'll be leading his continued hip hop assault with production credits, features, and music videos. What else do ya need from the man who's already given you the best indie trilogy of mixtapes you'll ever hear?

Tyler, the Creator - BFF (feat. brandUn DeShay)
LaVish – Life (feat. brandUn DeShay)
brandUn DeShay - OMG An Actual Freestyle
Rockie Fresh - I’m Rollin’ (feat. brandUn DeShay)
Raz Fresco – Super Smash Bros. (feat. brandUn DeShay)
brandUn DeShay - The Sun Goes Down
ChillxWill – The Landng (feat. Ayomari & brandUn DeShay)

... and Free Enes.

Opening 5 Games for UK NBA Guys

2010-11-08T19:36:00.002-05:00

Maybe I'll make this a recurring thing too, but here's a post on all 10 of our current Wildcats in the NBA at the start of the season.

Eric Bledsoe - Baron Davis, Eric Gordon, and Randy Foye took up all but 39 seconds of the guard rotation in the Clippers debut. But Bledsoe showed up in a nice suit, so what's it really matter? He missed his only attempted 3 in those 39 seconds, but that's it. He increased it to 16 legitimate minutes by the third game and is trying to figure out what to do with his small windows of floor time. His big early season break came in the form of Baron Davis and Randy Foye both coming up lame with injuries for the fourth game of the season. Being the only other lead guard on the roster, Bledsoe got the starting spot and a monstrous 40 minutes of playing time. He was aggressive early and often, dazzling the Clipper crowd with his fearlessness and sense of purpose on the floor. The second half caught up to him a little bit, though. Moving into the next game against the Thunder, he outplayed his own 9/5/3/4/2 line against the Spurs to go for 17/4/8 plus 2 more blocks while notching 2 threes with great shooting from the floor. Eric's made a complete turnaround from the preseason already and this production bodes perfectly for his career that some (including me) were projecting shakily around draft time. We'll see if Vinny Del Negro has that same kind of trust in him when the full rotation's healthy moving on.

L vs. Blazers: 1 minute, 0 points (0-1 FGs, 0-1 3PT)
L @ Warriors: 5 minutes, 1 points (0-1 FGs, 1-2 FTs), 1 assist
L vs. Mavericks: 16 minutes, 6 points (3-5 FGs, 0-1 3PT), 3 rebounds, 2 assist, 1 steal, 4 TOs, 3 fouls
L vs. Spurs: 40 minutes, 9 points (4-11 FGs, 1-1 3PT), 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks, 3 TOs, 5 fouls
W vs. Thunder: 38 minutes, 17 points (7-10 FGs, 2-3 3PT, 1-2 FTs), 4 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 blocks, 3 TOs, 3 fouls

Keith Bogans - Until Ronnie Brewer or Kyle Korver prove to Coach Thibodeau that they can play defense, Bogans has the starting shooting guard spot for the Chicago Bulls. He played a monster 36 minutes in the season debut against the Thunder contributing in every way across the boards besides buckets. With Rose putting up 31 shots, Keith didn't have much of an opportunity to do so, but defense is his calling card so he did nothing to hurt his starting status. He's had a rollback in floor time ever since and consistently puts up bland numbers. Hopefully he can notch a few more three pointers going forward so he actually is looking like he contributes on that side of the ball. I haven't read anything saying that Bogans is in danger of losing his starting role, but it sure is a head-scratcher to say the least when you see him pretty much non-existent numbers.

L @ Thunder: 36 minutes, 3 points (1-4 FGs, 1-2 3PT), 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block, 1 steal, 1 TO, 2 fouls
W vs. Pistons: 23 minutes, 2 points (1-5 FGs, 0-4 3PT), 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 fouls
W vs. Blazers: 16 minutes, 3 points (1-2 FGs, 1-2 3PT), 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 fouls
L vs. Knicks: 25 minutes, 4 points (2-4 FGs, 0-2 3PT, 0-1 FTs), 1 rebound, 1 assists, 1 block, 1 TO, 1 foul
L @ Celtics: 22 minutes, 4 points (1-3 FGs, 0-1 3PT, 2-2 FTs), 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 TOs, 2 fouls

Demarcus Cousins - Who'da thunk it? Demarcus got in foul trouble immediately but still produced a monster debut effort against the hapless Wolves. Then his preceded to foul out the next game in 21 minutes against the Nets. But still, Cousins has shown off the whole offensive package, including some nifty wing jumpers. Hopefully he can adjust to the foul calling (not likely) and stay on the floor. His stat lines so far look eerily UK-like, but we'll see if he can keep up with some higher quality front lines that don't involve Darko. He notched his first double-double in only his third game, so now the floodgates are open for him to produce like that on a nightly basis. He followed that up with a much rougher game of (*ahem*) foul trouble against the Raptors where he only managed 17 minutes and 4 boards, though he made up for it by putting up 10 quick points in the fourth quarter to fuel a Kings comeback win. No such luck the next night as Pau abused him (as he abuses everyone) and held him to 3 of 13 shooting with night-long foul trouble. I think we all know what Cousins has to work on ... but hey, at least he swished a spot-up 3-pointer!

W @ Timberwolves: 27 minutes, 14 points (5-10 FGs, 0-1 3PT, 4-6 FTs), 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 TOs, 5 fouls
L @ Nets: 21 minutes, 12 points (3-8 FGs, 6-6 FTs), 4 rebounds, 6 fouls
W @ Cavaliers: 28 minutes, 14 points (5-10 FGs, 0-1 3PT, 4-6 FTs), 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 5 TOs, 3 fouls
W vs. Raptors: 17 minutes, 16 points (6-10 FGs, 4-4 FTs), 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 steal, 5 fouls
L vs. Lakers : 20 minutes, 11 points (3-13 FGs, 1-4 3PT, 4-6 FTs), 6 rebounds, 1 block, 1 TO, 5 fouls

Chuck Hayes - Chuck got limited run against the Lakers since you definitely don't want him out on the perimeter against Lamar Odom. But against the Warriors' Lee-Biedrins front court tandem, Hayes did work. He started center in Yao's second half of the back-to-back sit-out. Even though the Rockets had to suffer through a legendary Monta Ellis night, you can't fault Hayes for it. His teammates have always raved that he has a hidden offensive game that he hasn't shown the world, so maybe Yao's off-nights will finally bring that out of him. With Yao back in the line-up against the Nuggets, Hayes once again disappeared in limited run. But he's one of the few role players in the league who knows exactly what's expected of him when he does get in there, and Rick Adelman knows his contributions to the squad have nothing to do with his numbers, even though it was pretty sweet he pulled 13 boards against the Spurs. The Rockets just gotta start winning games. That's all that really matters.

L @ Lakers: 15 minutes, 0 points (0-0 FGs), 1 assists, 1 block, 3 fouls
L @ Warriors: 39 minutes, 16 points (8-12 FGs, 0-2 FTs), 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 3 TOs, 5 fouls
L vs. Nuggets: 16 minutes, 2 points (0-1 FGs, 2-4 FTs), 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 3 TOs, 2 fouls
L vs. Hornets: 12 minutes, 4 points (2-3 FGs), 2 rebounds, 1 foul
L @ Spurs: 27 minutes, 8 points (3-7 FGs, 2-2 FTs), 13 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 TO, 3 fouls

Jamaal Magloire - The former All-Star, who somehow fell all the way down to being Joel Anthony's back-up, only gets spot minutes for the LeBron/Wade show and he's only responsible for doling out a few bruises in those minutes. It's pretty much been that way ever since he left New Orleans. I just don't understand what happened. He'll show his worth though in potential playoff match-ups against Dwight Howard, the O'Neals, or Pau/Bynum. Those are probably the only teams Magloire will get extended run against.

L @ Celtics: DNP
W @ 76ers: DNP
W vs. Magic: 5 minutes, 1 point (1-2 FTs), 1 rebound, 1 foul
W @ Nets: 3 minutes, 0 points (0-2 FTs), 1 rebound
W vs. Wolves: DNP

Nazr Mohammed - The starting center on UK's last championship winning team has had a rough early go. He's simply not getting minutes in favor of a Boris Diaw/Tyrus Thomas front court. He's started all the games but is consistently getting pulled early. Nazr's always been hit-or-miss for his entire professional career, but hopefully he can get his game on track to be a more reliable contributor for the ill-fated Bobcats this season. They look really ugly so far. His highest point production was netting 6 of 8 shots in only 14 minutes in a win against the Nets. If that doesn't tell ya how things are going, I don't know what will.

L @ Mavericks: 18 minutes, 10 points (3-8 FGs, 4-4 FTs), 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 TOs, 1 foul
L vs. Pacers: 13 minutes, 5 points (2-4 FGs, 1-2 FTs), 4 rebounds, 1 block, 1 TO, 4 fouls
L @ Bucks: 22 minutes, 3 points (1-4 FGs, 1-2 FTs), 3 rebounds, 1 block, 2 TOs, 3 fouls
W @ Nets: 14 minutes, 12 points (6-8 FGs), 1 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 TO, 1 foul
L @ Pistons: 9 minutes, 6 points (3-5 FGs), 3 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal, 2 TOs

Tayshaun Prince - Who even knows why he's still on the Pistons? Tayshaun's game becomes unimportant with surrounding players such as Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva, and Tracy McGrady. This team has no identity so Prince just has to be content with going out there and trying to fill in wherever he can. He'll always be a great one-on-one defender, but his true value was made through the team's defensive system. It doesn't have one anymore, so he'll just continue to do what he does until some other team appreciates him enough to trade for him. His play has been pretty inconsistent besides his point production in the teens. This Pistons squad sucks and is in total disarray. #FreeTayshaun

L @ Nets: 31 minutes, 14 points (5-10 FGs, 4-7 FTs), 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks, 2 fouls
L vs. Thunder: 38 minutes, 12 points (6-11 FGs), 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, 3 TOs, 4 fouls
L @ Bulls: 42 minutes, 15 points (7-17 FGs, 1-2 FTs), 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 TO, 3 fouls
L vs. Celtics: 32 minutes, 10 points (4-8 FGs, 2-2 FTs), 1 rebound, 1 assist, 2 TOs
L @ Hawks: 37 minutes, 17 points (8-14 FGs, 1-1 3PT), 5 rebounds, 1 TO, 1 foul

Rajon Rondo - Rondo may very well be the first week MVP based on a single stat. If it weren't for his ungodly assist numbers, everyone would instead be talking about how terrible Rajon is shooting from everywhere on the floor. And that's even with him putting up a far more efficient game in game 2, albeit in a losing effort. Rondo has dropped 17, 9, 24, 17, and 15 assists so far, the third one being part of a Jason Kidd-like triple double of 10/10/24. It's completely nuts and I refuse to believe that somebody didn't mix up an NBA 2k11 video game box score with the real one. Rondo's only cementing his reputation as a top-3 point guard from here on out. He's blowing league records out of the water and it looks like there's no stopping him from keeping it going. He's a legit MVP candidate from here on out and I think he's actually unquestionably the frontrunner for the award in these first 2 weeks. He playing that crazy.

W vs. Heat: 41 minutes, 4 points (2-9 FGs), 5 rebounds, 17 assists, 2 steals, 3 TOs, 1 foul
L @ 76ers: 38 minutes, 18 points (8-12 FGs, 1-1 3PT, 1-2 FTs), 4 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 steals, 4 TOs, 1 foul
W vs. Knicks: 45 minutes, 10 points (4-12 FGs, 0-1 3PT, 2-6 FTs), 10 rebounds, 24 assists, 1 steal, 7 TOs, 1 foul
W @ Pistons: 36 minutes, 9 points (3-7 FGs, 1-1 3PT, 2-2 FTs), 3 rebounds, 17 assists, 4 steals, 1 foul
W vs. Bucks: 47 minutes, 17 points (7-10 FGs, 3-4 FTs), 8 rebounds, 15 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 6 TOs, 3 fouls

John Wall - So let's just mark it down now ... second halves in the NBA now belong to John Wall. He single-handedly almost brought his team back against the Hawks in every way he could. He swished in two 3s, got fouled at will, hit multiple mid-range pull-ups off screens, consistently finished directly at the rim, and through perfect lead passes on the go. What's simple consensus is that Wall is prolly the fastest thing with a basketball, period. That's all the commentators could talk about. Even though he took a beating to the Magic and got his fair share of rejections by premier swatters Dwight Howard and Josh Smith, John's picked the NBA pace up easily. What's sick is that his beastly effort against the Hawks was surpassed in nearly every single way the very next game. Wall led his squad to their first win in an overtime session with a Wiz-record 9 steals to tack onto his 28/13 points-assists double-double. He hit all of his big shots, he made all the right passes, and he swished every late free throw. It was great to see how perfectly that aspect of his game has already transitioned to the pros. John's simply a forceful creator, as shown by his assist numbers and shot attempts early on. When he's out of the game, nothing happens for the Wizards. It'll be really interesting to see what effect Gilbert Arenas will have on Wall's production when he gets back on the floor. Everyone's let out a collective sigh since his turnover numbers skyrocketed after two pretty alright games in that category to start the season. It wouldn't be such a big deal if the Wiz were winning their games ... but they're not. So John has to stop saying he's gonna cut down on them and actually cut down on them.

L @ Magic: 35 minutes, 14 points (6-19 FGs, 2-3 FTs), 1 rebound, 9 assists, 3 steals, 3 TOs, 3 fouls
L @ Hawks: 42 minutes, 28 points (9-17 FGs, 2-3 3PT, 8-10 FTs), 5 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 TOs, 1 foul
W vs. Sixers: 45 minutes, 29 points (9-16 FGs, 0-1 3PT, 11-14 FTs), 2 rebounds, 13 assists, 9 steals, 8 TOs, 5 fouls
L @ Knicks: 35 minutes, 13 points (4-11 FGs, 0-2 3PT, 5-6 FTs), 4 rebounds, 7 assists, 9 TOs, 2 fouls
L vs. Cavaliers: 43 minutes, 13 points (5-14 FGs, 0-1 3PT, 3-4 FTs), 4 rebounds, 10 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 6 TOs, 4 fouls

Yet to play:
Kelenna Azubuike - recovering from knee surgery
Daniel Orton - rehabbing left knee
Jodie Meeks - out of the rotation
Patrick Patterson - out of the rotation

... and Free Enes.

Journalism & Democracy

2010-11-08T01:48:00.000-05:00

Comedian Zach Galifianakis interviewing a UK student

As a child, did you ever feel like you had that one groundbreaking argument to end all arguments right when your parents disallowed you from saying a single word more? Some of the brightest minds in America would permanently remain on that very cusp of enlightenment if it weren’t for the First Amendment. Without the collective rights of the First Amendment protecting journalism, the people of a democracy could never be represented in an uncensored or balanced way that aids them in making informed decisions on a daily basis.

Journalism is the broadcasting of public issues to an audience, informing them to the happenings of their own community and the world around them by the use of articulate writing along with whatever demonstrative aid is required. The necessity of journalism within a democracy begins with its enlightening form of storytelling to the citizens. If this storytelling were compromised in a way where necessary information could be legally censored, the effects would be devastating and difficult to recover from. News of any political or cultural happening cannot effectively be conveyed to the entire body of people without journalism reaching those willing to perceive it. Journalism ensures the opportunity for the public to divulge in anything that should be public knowledge.

The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States is needed for journalism to be expressed and presented at all, guaranteeing its freedom to speak on any pertaining matter even if critical of the very government protecting its right to exist. Without this natural check by the journalists of a democracy, any issue could be skewed by the influence of those in power and presented without anyone to fight that unbalanced message with truths. If this were to become a common occurrence, the governing of the democracy would immediately leave the hands of the people. A disconnect with the citizens at a level of that magnitude would cease to be a democracy in any way at all.

Journalism is sometimes the most accessible teacher a person could have. Without the front pages of newspapers on street corners or the headlines filling our Internet home pages, a deep void would exist in the commonality of our lives as Americans. With the collective newsfeed spread to the public by journalists, everyone has access to the facts at any given moment to any given story. Journalistic writing doesn’t just allow us to know random happenings, it gives us the tools to make decisions and have an educated perspective on the goings-on of our world. A journalist’s duty is to fight to put out the kernels of truth on a daily basis that the public needs to hear, and the First Amendment ensures that no one can get away with cupping the mouth that spews out those truths. We just cross our fingers and hope that our trusted journalists are considerably more well-versed in their arguments than we were as a child trying to one-up our parents.

On Journalism
1. Now tell me again, what is your definition of journalism?
Journalism is the broadcasting of public issues to an audience, informing them to the happenings of their own community and the world around them by the use of articulate writing along with whatever demonstrative aid is required.

2. How many different models of journalism exist today?
There are three models of journalism: advocacy, traditional elite, and public/civic.

On Democracy
3. What is your definition of democracy?
Democracy is a form of government that hinges on the principle that all of its citizens are to be considered equal and have extensive freedoms protected by a governing power that is derived from the people.

4. What is the difference between "election politics" and "public policies"?
Election politics are the issues that candidates push to the forefront of their campaigns to gain the public's support to win their electoral race, whether or not they have any real intention of aggressively implementing their platforms. Public policies are the actual courses of action taken by the state for a particular issue.

5. What was the Lippman v. Dewey debate?
Walter Lippmann, a writer, and John Dewey, an American philosopher, engaged in a debate in the 1920s about the role of journalism in a democracy. Lippman wrote of the grand ideals of an enlightened public making good decisions, comparing the average citizen to a deaf spectator in the back row of a sporting event. Dewey disagreed with the necessity of omnipotence for the process to work, valuing the culture created by communication over the need for an all-encompassing "right answer".

Me performing at a spoken word poetry competition

On the First Amendment
6. What does the First Amendment say exactly?
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

7. Are any of those protections important in your life?
All of these protections are important to me. Because of them I'm allowed to practice my personal faith without fear of persecution, I was able to join a union that fought for my well-being while I worked at UPS, and I'm allowed me to write this very blog on a daily basis without my opinions being censored or rewritten.

Spoken word poets Ken Arkind and Panama Soweto

On Diversity
8. Everybody keeps talking about diversity: Why is diversity in religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition so important to democracy?
Any form of consistent slant from all angles of a news story lends itself to the story being irrelevant. As soon as a powerful "in-group" is able to limit the perspective of a story to exclude anyone, the story ceases to be founded in truth and integrity. Diverse points of view are absolutely necessary in reaffirming the legitimacy of any ideal.

9. How do journalists and the First Amendment ensure that people hear diverse voices in the marketplace of ideas?
Since the world of journalism is free of restricting qualifiers, lesser-represented minorities can become journalists themselves and promote their own voice. Those in power cannot legally muffle the voice of truth, no matter where that voice is coming from or any other superfluous issue of its origin.

10. Can you speak from personal experience about how diversity, protected by the First Amendment or championed by journalists, made a difference in your life?
A former Sunday School teacher of mine, Mickey Sampson, moved to Cambodia to help better the physical and spiritual lives of the poverty-stricken natives of the country. Since Cambodia is under a constitutional monarchy, the people in power have a much stronger say in what is allowed to be expressed through the media than they would in America. Due to Mickey's roots as an American writer, he had a much clearer sense of entitlement to not be afraid of exposing the truth and how to go about doing so in a safe manner. If he had grown up somewhere without laws protecting his foremost freedom of spreading truths, he never would have had the courage to go about changing lives as he did.

... and Free Enes.

UK-Pikeville 11/1/10

2010-11-02T15:05:00.001-04:00

Our opening pre-season game smiled highly upon my Blue-White notes. The only early whiff was Terrence Jones, but I don't expect that to be the case in the future. I ventured a guess to expect around 24 points a game from B. Knight and the kid dropped 22 without even looking for his shot in the second half. I said that for all intensive purposes this was Darius' squad, and he went out there and notched 21/10/3. I hyped Liggins' all-around offensive game and he dropped 2 jumpers to go with his 5 lay-ups. I noted that Hood will probably fail to make it in the rotation and Coach Cal kept him benched the entire second half after a failed first half run. I said Vargas still can't absorb contact and he got proceeded to get rag-dolled by opponents half his size. I know that none of those predictions were anything life-changing or even that notable, but I'm just saying that these guys already have their roles cemented more than we give them credit for and are ready to contribute.

Top Players:
1. Brandon Knight: 22 points (6-11 FGs, 1-3 3Pt, 9-10 FTs), 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals in 37 minutes. Knight saw the team couldn't get the ball in the basket in the early going, so he took over and put it in the hoop. Over and over again. He knocked in two great jumpers (a three and a long two) coming off picks which will keep the defense honest all the time and help his penetrating attack as well. He forced the action on a lot of breaks and forced the team to match his pace. His high-flying highlight of the night came in a clean swipe at the top of the key leading to a one-on-none fastbreak that he punctuated with a standing ovation-worthy slam. We'll be relying on Knight a lot to get us out of the occasional offensive funk. The game's just too easy for him. 2-Eezy. That's what I'll call him.

2. Darius Miller: 21 points (5-12 FGs, 0-3 3PT, 11-12 FTs), 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, 1 steal in 36 minutes. Darius brought it all game long. If he could've dropped one of his attempted threes then his game would've been simply perfect. He got to the bucket at will and either finished creatively with a floater or got fouled. He looks like he definitely understands how to use his size now, as exemplified by his double-double production. Miller also showed off his confidence in isolation situations where he made big-time moves on the wing freeing him up for midrange jumpers. He's primed to have quite a few 20-point explosions this year.

3. DeAndre Liggins: 18 points (7-10 FGs, 0-1 3PT, 4-6 FTs), 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 steal in 34 minutes. Dre is our leader on the defensive end. He never gives up anything easy and never saw a loose ball that he didn't think he had a great shot at tracking down. All that's a given on every single night, but Liggins made a point to show off his offensive repertoire tonight. He only took a handful of shots between the Canada games and the Blue-White scrimmage, but he called his own number last night. Maybe the highlight of the game was his backdoor cut where he caught a perfect Miller pass and finished with a winding reverse lay-up as he crashed to the floor. Liggins is going to be bigger than a lot of the wings who are slated to guard him and he showed an understanding that this size differential aids him highly in sealing off his man and forcing his way towards the rim. There's absolutely nothing you could complain about with Liggins' decision-making or production last night.

4. Doron Lamb: 16 points (4-10 FGs, 0-1 3PT, 8-10 FTs), 5 rebounds, 1 steal in 28 minutes. He came on heavy late in the game with reckless abandon attacking the rim. He surprised everyone multiple times by crashing the offensive glass and mixing it up with the bigs. He looks to be the smallest guy on the floor a lot of nights, but that's great if he can keep up that fearlessness and cause random havoc down there. As with Knight and Miller, he was rewarded with double-digit free throw attempts due to his attacking mentality. We didn't get to see any of his patented floaters or midrange game last night, but that was because he got to the rim every time and never needed to pull those out of his arsenal. He didn't do much in the passing department, but if he can produce without a terrible shooting percentage, no one's going to complain.

5. Terrence Jones: 9 points (2-9 FGs, 0-3 3PT, 5-6 FTs), 7 rebounds, 1 block in 22 minutes. He had a hard time, but still contributed. Coach road him heavier than any of the other guys, but that's a good thing. It shows Jones that he has high expectations for him. We'll chalk this one up to nerves and hope TJ makes more of a concerted effort to be an inside force and never throw another inbounds pass turnover. (UPDATE: and as Ethan brought to my attention in the comments, Terrence doesn't want your freakin' water bottle, Tristan!!!)

6. Josh Harrellson: 3 points (3-4 FTs), 7 rebounds, 2 blocks in 16 minutes. Josh came in and controlled the boards from the minute he stepped on the floor. He got a monster ovation on a possession where he got consecutive offensive boards, kicking it out one time and putting it up to get fouled the second time. The opponents were undersized, but Josh made all the right decisions in his time off the bench.

7. Eloy Vargas: 5 points (1-1 FGs, 3-4 FTs), 6 rebounds, 2 blocks in 11 minutes. His only field goal was a botched alley-up where he just kind of bobbled it in since couldn't quite catch and dunk it. He let a smaller guy score right in his area about four times, which was very painful to watch, but he filled in pretty well in his limited time. His did get hyped on a nice blocked shot, but there were two separate occasions when he got possession of the ball and through a terrible outlet pass resulting in a turnover. He's gotta get his decision-making tighter and work on keeping his position.

... and Free Enes.

My 2011 Fantasy B-Ball Roster

2010-10-28T14:44:00.001-04:00

All of my hopes rely on that loose ball

We got the league together a little late so my fantasy basketball season commenced this morning with a 5:00 A.M. auto-pick draft. I absolutely skewered my draft board, though, so none of these picks were accidents. I'm in love with my roster. Last year my consistent headliners were LeBron, Steve Nash, Monta Ellis, Amare, Russell Westbrook, Al Jefferson, Tyreke Evans, Marc Gasol, and Joakim Noah in a 6-person league, but this year we upped it to 10 players (all close friends). So obviously than nearly cuts my elite options in half and I have to go with more specialists than last year, but I gotta a killer base to build around.

PG: Chris Paul
SG: Monta Ellis
SF: Brandon Roy
PF: Danilo Gallinari
C: Andrew Bogut
G: John Wall
F: Luol Deng
Util: Kevin Martin
Util: Eric Gordon
Util: Yao Ming
-----------------------
Bench: Jose Calderon
Bench: Anthony Tolliver
Bench: Taj Gibson

Only transactions so far are picking up Tolliver and Gibson by dropping my last two automated picks, Jameer Nelson and Wes Johnson. I had all the multi-faceted point guards I needed already between Paul, Ellis, Wall, and Calderon, so Nelson was superfluous. And I'm stocked on scoring wings too between Roy, Gallinari, Deng, Martin, and Gordon, plus I just don't think Wes Johnson's gonna be that good in general.

The only guys I'm completely sore about not getting are Blake Griffin, Demarcus Cousins, and Russell Westbrook. I had all these guys skyrocketed up my draft board even before all of their impressive debuts. I actually drafted Griffin last year an entire day before he was announced a scratch for the entire season. That blew. My friend Jarod must've bumped them up even more than I did because he got Cousins and Griffin. Oh well.

I'm actually the league manager this season and I kept the same categories and rules we were under last season. It's a weekly head-to-head match-up with 10 categories: points, rebounds, assists, FGs made, FG%, FT%, 3-Pts made, steals, blocks, and turnovers. The only place I see myself legitimately struggling on a weekly basis is in rebounding and blocks. Since pretty much all of my forwards are of the small instead of power variety, I gotta rely on my monster guards to each collect those extra scrap rebounds to build on Bogut and Yao's production in that area. But if I can win the other 8 categories every single week I think I'll be content. Ha.

Last year I was the runaway regular season champion. I think it was something crazy like 23 wins ahead of second place. I never lost in points on the entire season, which made up for the fact that I only won the TO category a single time. But I actually went down in the playoffs in the championship round to my friend Ethan. He beat me 5-4. And there were three categories that were entirely and grossly winnable on my side. I'm pretty sure we tied on assists, I was literally .001 behind him in FT%, and he had 2 rebounds on me. For a basketball junkie/enthusiast/freak like myself, I couldn't have been more pissed off. But I still made some money off it since we agreed before the season to put half the pot on the regular season and half on the playoffs, even though I should've had all of it.

I don't know if it'll be interesting enough for me to throw up a bunch of updates on here, but I'll consider it. I definitely will be on here bragging if John Wall kills, Monta keeps spewing out 46-pointers, and Paul keeps dropping 16-dimers.

... and Free Enes.

NBA 2011 Opening Night Notes

2010-10-27T13:15:00.001-04:00

Hand gesture ... TECHNICAL!!!

The Heat lost and the Lakers won. Get used to hearing that once the playoffs roll around.

With all eyes on LeBron for his Miami Heat debut, he proved the old adage that you can take the King out of Cleveland, but you can't take the underachievement out of his teammates. I've heard that since I was a kid and never quite understood it until last night. James attempted to carry the team with his shooting touch in the second half and wound up with 31 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 8 turnovers in a loss to the defending Eastern Conference champs. Those were the kind of stat lines that Kobe initially got killed for in his early post-Shaq seasons. But oh well, it was just one game against a tough defense and Miami's got 81 more games to figure out how to creatively come up short before the postseason begins. Having the rest of his team shoot a collective 38% from the field? That's just unoriginal. Props to Chris Bosh for being scared to death by his twin Predator KG (8 points on 3-11 shooting) and Dwyane Wade for having a rusty hamstring (4-16 shooting and 6 turnovers). With James Jones slated to get all of Mike Miller's shots, it's going to be a long road to recovery hinging on that thumb.

Two Celtics notes: Shaq gained 100 pounds since his Cavalier postseason debut and Paul Pierce pulled off a day one version of his oh-my-God-I'm-injured-and-embarrassed-in-a-heap-on-the-ground-so-I-better-be-dragged-back-to-the-locker-room-so-I-can-make-my-triumphant-reentrance-two-minutes-later-with-no-ill-effects-of-my-potential-career-ending-injury shtick. It's pretty much what he's known for now.

Now onto the Lakers-Rockets! Yao is gonna be good, even in his limited minutes. He managed to foul out in his short stay, but he did all of the incredibly Ming-y things last night that made him such a pivotal force before his foot collapsed. Kevin Martin will effortlessly thrive as mass point producer as long as he has Yao and Brad Miller at the high post looking for him on cuts. He's always been a great scorer, but now he'll prolly finally be efficient. Aaron Brooks resumed his role as a Laker killer with 24 points and 9 assists, so that was refreshingly painful.

But the Lakers found a way to prevail. Shannon Brown pulled off his best Kobe impression in the fourth and notched 4 threes to finish with 16 late points. Thankfully, Kobe also pulled off his best Kobe impersonation throughout the first three quarters and managed 27 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, and only 1 turnover. I was gonna write a column about how stupid it was for everyone and their mom acting like KB's crappy preseason shooting was an actual issue that proved his decline with age, but Kobe replied last night with his game and a win so I wouldn't have to. They're the two-time defending world champions, three-time defending western conference champions, and now they've upgraded their roster. Steve Blake surprisingly took over for Derek Fisher in crunch time and knocked in the dagger to add to the last of his three triples on the night. Matt Barnes worked his butt off and forced some action while he was in there, pulling down 5 boards and finishing with a +12 plus/minus score in his 16 minutes of playing time. Theo Ratliff notched two blocks in his limited time and will continue to do that every night in relieving Pau until Bynum makes his way back. The Lakers have their eyes past the Heat already. Get ready for the three-peat.

Oh, and Gasol had 29 points and 11 rebounds. That's pretty good too. And nobody cares about the Suns-Blazers.

... and Free Enes.

2010 Blue-White Notes

2010-10-26T23:22:00.002-04:00

What do we take from the UK-on-UK basketball tune-up for the 2010-2011 season? Terrence Jones and Brandon Knight are gonna be better than whoever you think is gonna be good from another team.

Everyone always gets in a tizzy whenever you attempt to extrapolate information from a practice/scrimmage/exhibition, but I'm just telling you what I see out of these guys' skill sets and level of performance in this Blue-White game. So ... don't tell me I'm looking too much into a game that doesn't count. Because I am looking too much into it.

It was basically the expected starters for the season versus the back-ups with a few minor trade tweaks throughout the game, which accounted for the Blue team winning 101 to 74. Even though Knight had an insanely efficient night of a sick 37 points (reinforcing his astronomical scoring potential that has now become an expectation since the Canada games), it was TJ who had me the most excited. He (don't kill me for saying it) reminded me of a 6'9" John Wall. If Jones got the ball on the run, no one had a chance to stop him from advancing the ball wherever he wanted. His speed and handle will leave no chance for anyone at his position to compete with him in open-court scenarios. He's ridiculously quick off his feet for on-ball blocks and aggressive on the boards. Once Jones got into the painted area, he consistently found a creative way to get the ball in the rim. He utilized pump fakes well (which you rarely see from young players) and showed a deft touch on close-range jumpers. He finished off three separate alley-oop lobs with the full-body flair and excitement that Wall exhibited on every dunk last year and tossed in a 3-pointer to boot. And to finish off the number-one-pick-in-the-2010-NBA-Draft comparison, Terrence pulled of a slick behind-his-back maneuver off a low-post catch that completely freed him for a vertical dunk. Terrence had the crowd at his beckoning with every amazing play and you could tell by his body language that he was feasting off of it. UPDATE: He had 29 points.

But now to the silent assassin who's prolly gonna match Jodie Meeks for UK's all-time single game scoring record at some point in the early season. If a box score becomes available then I'll update, but I'd venture to say that Brandon Knight made close to 70% of his shots tonight for those 37 points (UPDATE: 14 of 20 FGs). And he did it every way imaginable. He showed off the spot-up three point stroke off an interior pass as well as when coming off a pick and receiving the inbounds pass. He swished a rhythm step-in 18-footer with a hand right in his face. He showed his amazing ability to absorb contact in the paint despite his wirey frame and finished on both sides of the bucket with either hand. The game's almost too easy for him. And we saw both sides of Knight in this scrimmage: the facilitator of the first half who only scored 9 points while content to simply run the offensive sets and the unstoppable attacker of the second half who took every opportunity to create a great look for himself. With this year's team extensively lacking the depth of their '09-'10 predecessors, Knight will be needed to frequently channel his second-half mentality for us to have any hope as a top ten team nationally. It was only fitting that Brandon was also the alley to T-Jones' monster oops and that he finished off his own fastbreak jam in astounding fashion as well. Brandon won't have the SportsCenter coverage that our own John Wall had last season, but I'll be damned if he doesn't average over 24 points this year. Mark it. And I might still be underestimating the man.

Off course, all of these assessments and predictions come at the cost of Enes Kanter's assumed ineligibility. If he's cleared somehow, then this team's potential shoots up exponentially. But as of now, our only reliable big men are Jones and Darius Miller. Yes, you heard me right ... Darius the two-guard is our second best big man. Eloy and Harrellson are going to be contributors, but coming off a season where we had a trio of first round NBA bigs with a senior shot-blocker behind them, this year's going to be tough to watch in the paint. I expect Jones and Miller to fill in at the 5 spot quite a bit this season unless the opponent just has a big plodding Zydrunas Ilgauskas-type center that Harrellson could match up against perfectly. But Dexter Pittman's in the NBA now, so there aren't any guys like that left in college ...

He couldn't get a jumper to fall in the game, but trust in DeAndre Liggins' long range shot. In warm-ups, he was an absolute machine. He was dropping 22-footer after 22-footer after 22-footer with absolutely no effort. His form is still slightly jerky and erratic-looking, but he'll prove over the course of the season that his 66-threes-in-5-minutes drill wasn't a fluke. Beyond that part of his game that we can expect to skyrocket, Dre has shown that he'll be relentless in attacking the basket. He is making himself the prototypical Dribble-Drive athlete with his ability to force his way to the hoop and contort himself in a way to either finish or get fouled. But where his real bread and butter will continue to be is with his hyper-defensive instincts. I don't know if I've ever seen anyone else in college basketball who takes such visible passion in hounding his opponents. He's a scrapper who actually has other skills, which is innately rare. We're not talking Bruce Bowen, we're talking Ron Artest in his prime. (UPDATE: He had 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists.) That's why Liggins is going to be a proud UK alum in the National Basketball Association either this year or next.

Darius Miller inherited Patrick Patterson's "favorite child" status amongst UK fans this season. His cheers took it to another decibel level between Madness and this game. If Darius had shown this level of confidence last season, you would have seen him knocking down threes left and right against West Virginia and we would've been in the Final Four. But alas, now that he has the shadow of last year's freshman class off his back and two years of NCAA experience under his belt, this is his breakout season. Even though there will prolly be other guys surpassing in most all statistical categories, this is Darius' team. (UPDATE: He had 20 points and 6 rebounds.) When he gets rolling and controls the ball on certain possessions, you can just tell. He's a guard with the size of a forward who can score from anywhere and rebound against anyone. Between this, Madness, and the open practice last week, you can tell there's a great personal competition between Jones and Miller. They are almost always matched up against each other and are close to the same size. The both shared in moments of trying to force it against the other on the offensive end and getting blocked, but they also showed each other up on quick-trigger jumpers and blow-by drives. It's great to watch and will probably continue on over the season in a similar fashion to the way Daniel Orton and Demarcus Cousins continually made each other better. In a lot of cases, that practice match-up may be significantly tougher than the weekly game opposition.

To sum everyone else up ... Vargas showed off a nice interior passing touch but still can't absorb contact, Polson can't bring the ball up against NCAA defenses but he can surprisingly finish at the rim pretty well, Harrellson is confident with his hook shot from either hand but still can't seal in rebounds with consistency (UPDATE: hard for me to believe from watching it, but he apparently had 26 rebounds), Lamb will be an effortless scorer from day one but often attempts to be too creative and over-dribble (UPDATE: 16 points and 6 assists), Hood still has no stand-out skill and will likely see little playing time (UPDATE: shot 6-20), and Poole simply doesn't know where he can contribute to the team yet since he has a miserable long-range shooting stroke. There ya go.

... and Free Enes.

Comeback #8: So Like a Pip, I'm Glad it's Night

2010-10-20T13:43:00.000-04:00

Even though 1/3 of them didn't rap on it, 2007 brought about a song combining three of the biggest southern hip hop groups ever. Too bad they didn't throw the Geto Boys on there somehow. Without even the slightest hint that Pimp C was on the last limb of life, UGK had the only charting hit of their career in "International Players Anthem (I Choose You)", which was produced by Three 6 Mafia and featured OutKast. Bun B x Pimp C x Andre 3000 x Big Boi x Juicy J x DJ Paul. Texas, Georgia, and Tennesse stand up.

In going the reverse order of UGK and OutKast's previous collaboration, Dre started things off before the drums even kicked it ...

UGK - International Players Anthem (I Choose You feat. OutKast)

So, I typed a text to a girl I used to see
Sayin' that I chose this cutie pie with whom I wanna be
And, I apologize if this message gets you down
Then I CC'd every girl that I'd see see round town and
Hate to see y'all frown but I'd rather see her smilin'
Wetness all around me, true, but I'm no island
Peninsula maybe, makes no sense. I know, crazy
Give up all this pussycat that's in my lap, no lookin back. Spaceships
Don't come equipped with rearview mirrors, they dip
As quick as they can. The atmosphere is now ripped
I'm so like a Pip, Im glad its night (Gladys Knight)
So the light from the sun would not burn me on my bum
When I'd shoot the moon high, jump the broom
Like a premie out the womb, my partner yellin' "Too soon!
Dont do it! Reconsider!
Read some litera - ture on the subject."
You sure? F*** it
You know we got your back like chiroprac-
-tic. If that b***h do you dirty
We'll wipe her a** out as in detergent
Now hurry hurry, go on to the altar
I know you aint a pimp but pimp remember what I taught ya
Keep your heart 3 Stacks, keep your heart
Aye, keep your heart 3 Stacks, keep your heart
Man, these girls is smart, 3 Stacks, these girls is smart
Play your part, play your part

Only Dre can rub in the fact that he's leaving all these other girls dry and still sound like a gentleman. It's the same ole pimp-turned-husband story but 3000 articulates it better than anyone else ever could. The wetness/island/peninsula/makes-no-sense lines are ridiculous, the spaceships/rearview mirrors/atmosphere lines are monstrous, the premie/too soon lines are sick, and the sounding-out of Gladys Knight just takes the cake. It completely went over my head on first listen, which makes the replay value that much more enjoyable. And even though Big Boi pulls out the big guns with some chopped-n-screwed bars to close out the song, no one was able to steal the spotlight from Dre. It was his fake wedding, so it's only appropriate.

... and Free Enes.

Kanye vs. T-Pain

2010-10-18T12:56:00.000-04:00

Once the year 2007 rolled around, there were two people dominating radio music with hit after hit after hit. It was the irrepressible Louis Vuitton Don and Teddy Penderassdown.

Though their early careers couldn't have been any more independent from one another, their unrelenting commercial stardom caused the crossing of paths. Now everyone can attach them effortlessly with the single degree of autotune usage. Simple enough. The first collaboration was gifted to us by Ye relieving Yung Joc of his "Buy U a Drank" rapping duties. Then when Graduation and Thr33 Ringz made their hyped releases, of course both men had to obligingly feature on each others' tapes. Understanding the resulting formula was a monster, DJ Khaled, GLC, and Rick Ross all managed to get the vocally adjusted duo on board for some tracks together before Pain went on his recent self-imposed exile. Who knows what the future holds for the two working together, but Kanye was adamant about making sure the world knew Teddy was a genius in his recording process, so the respect should always be there ... unless Pain's post-"D.O.A." Jigga shots muddied up the waters a little.

2007
T-Pain - Buy U a Drank (Remix feat. Kanye West, UGK, & Trey Songz)
Kanye West - Good Life (feat. T-Pain)
2008
T-Pain - Therapy (feat. Kanye West)
DJ Khaled - Go Hard (feat. T-Pain & Kanye West)
2009
GLC - Flight School (feat. T-Pain & Kanye West)
Rick Ross - Maybach Music 2 (feat. T-Pain, Kanye West, & Lil' Wayne)

... and do the John Wall.

UK-Associated Celebs

2010-10-17T03:14:00.003-04:00

Ever since Coach Cal rolled into town, the University of Kentucky basketball squad has extensively added to its celebrity rolodex. Whether it's the fact that he's simply reignited the dormant part of the fan base or he just brought along a sizable bandwagon behind him, a lot of people have suddenly claimed UK as their own. I wanted to take some time to highlight those people.

1. Ashley Judd - She wins out because she's been the vocal celeb endorsement since day one. She was a French major at UK and found time to collect minors in anthropology, art history, theater, and women's studies. Well crap. And she's been hitting up basketball games ever since (whenever she could fit 'em in between filming Kiss the Girls and Double Jeopardy and getting her masters degree at Harvard and being a Global Ambassador for YouthAIDS and little stuff like that. Even though there's been intrapersonal fan squabbles amongst the mostly conservative fan base and her outspoken liberal support, she's still majorly beloved for the fact that she's always and will always claim UK as her home. Half the restaurants in Lexington have her risque hockey poster hanging on their walls, so I think pretty much all is forgiven when you're an attractive woman who wears nothing but a jersey in support for one of your college's obscure sports clubs. And she killed it with The Rock in that Tooth Fairy movie last (... which I haven't seen).

2. Drake - Canada's half-Jewish rapper son spent every free moment in his April 27, 2010 Memorial Coliseum concert shouting out Lexington as his "second home". It must be true then, right? Hip hop's newest poster child, between his So Far Gone mixtape and Thank Me Later album, made sure to be the head coach opposite Tayshaun Prince at 2009's Big Blue Madness and then attend four additional contests, including the Wake Forest NCAA tournament game, throughout the year. He started his relationship with the ball club through a chance hook-up with John Calipari through their mutual friend LeBron James. Yeah, that LeBron James. In the aforementioned concert, Drake brought all of Coach Cal, John Wall, Demarcus Cousins, Patrick Patterson, Ramon Harris, Perry Stevenson, Mark Krebs, and even former star Ramel Bradley out as "his family" for his performance of "I'm Goin' In". This relationship made its rounds on MTV and every major newspaper publication in the world. One of the world's biggest rap stars with the world's greatest basketball university? That's a big deal.

3. LeBron James - I'm pretty sure Coach and LBJ are simply BFFs. They meet on recruiting trips, summer camps, facility visits, playoff games, and one can only assume for $100 million buy-in poker nights switching back and forth between Jay-Z and William Wesley's houses. Once The King made his way to Lexington for the summer to hang out with the newly assembled ball club and tour the Joe Craft Center before they ever even had an official scrimmage, the "LeBron Watch" was on. He was supposed to make it for Big blue Madness ... but he missed it. And this isn't openly known, but I dead serious know for sure that it's because he stayed too late at a crazy Jay-Z party off on some tropical island the night before. Quote me. And then LeBron was supposed to make it for the big North Carolina game ... but he missed it. That one was during the regular season of the NBA, though, so it's a little more understandable. There were a few more false starts, but James finally made his way to Rupp Arena's front row for a publicity shoot during our Vanderbilt game, which completely (non)coincidentally coincided with the debut of the basketball team's official new kicks, the custom blue Air Max LeBron VIIs. I'm sure he didn't even know. Though Cal didn't quite leave to any random team that LeBron was randomly gonna sign with, they're insanely close and that sense of family extended down to Wall, too. I have a guess who the second-most called person on Wall's cell phone is after his mom. Drake's prolly third.

4. Magic Johnson - We'll pretend this one was strictly about basketball even though it wasn't. He was Kentucky that afternoon supporting a bill raising the HS dropout age from 16 to 18 in the Commonwealth and came to our home game against South Carolina as Governor Steve Beshear's guest. Magic's history of collegiate run-ins with UK is what makes this visit so intriguing. In his freshman year at Michigan State in 1978, the Spartans lost to UK (the eventual champions) in the Elite 8. What makes that sting even further is that just a month later, Magic was relegated to second string status to those same UK players on a team coached by Joe B. Hall in the amateur World Invitational Tournament. In Magic and Larry Bird's book When the Game was Ours, both speak very scathingly about Hall's neglect of reaching out to them and their lack of playing time whatsoever during that summer tournament. But that just shows you Magic's love of the game and maturity level at this point in his life. He spoke glowingly of John Wall after this game as "the best player in the country."

5. Mike Tomlin & Ben Roethlisberger - Even though the Cincinnati Bengals hold the hearts of the majority of locals, Calipari's Pittsburgh roots have brought around a friendship with that particular faction in the NFL. Tomlin may have been upstaged by Ashley Judd at the Georgia game and Big Ben may have been upstaged by Magic at the South Carolina game, but they still let their friendship to our Coach be known. And the best part? Both guys were halfway cheered and openly booed when they made it onto the Jumbotron. Big Ben may be the one guy moreso than LeBron that Kentucky may want to distance themselves from in the public's eye ... but oh well. Americans forgive everybody who's slightly famous, so it'll all be good. With Cal's recent visit to Bengals training camp, maybe he'll pull Ochocinco and other more locally favored footballers this upcoming year.

6. Josh Hopkins - Though I've seen a single YouTube clip of it, Hopkins stars in the ABC sitcom Cougar Town. He's a career TV film, short film, and guest starring actor who's finally been given his major break on the Courtney Cox-led major network show as a major character. He was born in Lexington and is the son of a former Kentucky Congressman. He's most famous for actually incorporating the "John Wall Dance" into an episode of Cougar Town, the aforementioned YouTube clip. And then he took it a step further and got a picture out in the world of Cox doing the signature arm move as well. But his highest form of UK fandom came when he followed Kyle Wiltjer, one of our 2011 recruits, to a high school Elite 24 game "just in case" he committed to UK that day at the event. Kinda creepy. Kinda awesome. Either way, the guy's a rising star who's got local roots, which makes him a big deal. I'll never watch the current show he's on, but I'll still vaguely care about him anyway.

7. Irv Gotti - Who even knew this guy was still alive? The guy who composed "Can I Get a ... **** You?" The guy who started Murder Inc. The guy who originally shoved Ja Rule, Ashanti, and Lloyd down commercial radio's throats. The Hollis, Queens producer donned his John Wall jersey and sat front row for College Gameday against Tennessee. Even though Irv got arrested and such on crack-related money laundering ... it's kinda cool that he's close with assistant coach Orlando Antigua, right? That's some heavy street cred. Sure, he hasn't made a hit in years, but when I walked out of the Wildcat Lodge that morning to see one of the biggest hip hop presences from the '90s cheesing like a mug while watching Coach Robic lecture the guys over some game tape, it felt pretty cool. Then he gave me a head nod. I'm pretty sure that means that he wanted to sign me.

8. Charles Barkley - It's pretty crazy, but Chuck (a very proud Auburn alum) decided not to travel a little ways over for the final game in his alma mater's ancient arena, the very one he spent his playing days in bulldozing over SEC competition in the early '80s. Instead, he visited Athens to see the Kentucky Wildcats. Undeterred by all of his DUIs and recurring mishaps, I was enlightened to the fact that he showed up to the game plastered. Even though he kinda talked us down after the game as still being a step behind Kansas and Syracuse, you can tell he was still there to witness the John Wall show. And I'll choose to assume that his later disparaging remarks about Cousins' readiness for the pro level were due to the same ethanol-related influence. But Charles did take the time to meet and take a picture with Coach in the tunnel, so all's forgiven.

9. Big Tigger - I just remember the guy from being the host of 106 & Park back when I used to watch BET for anything other than their award show cyphers. What he's known for now is being the Washington Wizards' resident in-game DJ. Hmmm ... now what is the connection between the University of Kentucky and the Wiz? Just a minute ago, Big Tigg hosted John Wall's personal professional Midnight Madness in the District of Columbia. So since Wall couldn't make his way back to Lexington other than by video message this last weekend for our Big Blue Madness, he sent the BET host to us in his place. And, in my professional opinion, he did a pretty great job. "Big Blue Nation" (as he called us a minimum of 75 times for response) approves.

10. The NBA - Kelenna Azubuike, Eric Bledsoe, Keith Bogans, Demarcus Cousins, Chuck Hayes, Jamaal Magloire, Jodie Meeks, Nazr Mohammed, Daniel Orton, Patrick Patterson, Tayshaun Prince, Rajon Rondo, and John Wall. Enough said.

... and Free Enes.

Comeback #7: Take Your Corn on the Cob

2010-10-15T13:41:00.001-04:00

After another super long delay and even three entirely new Dre verses making their way to the surface, I'm finally making my way back onto "The 3000 Tour".

Even though Devin the Dude is notoriously redundant, he's always got some super slick joint that creeps its way into the forefront conscious for hip hop heads. In 2007, that song was "What a Job". Off of his Waitin' to Inhale LP, this joint (no pun) was hailed as an instant classic by any and everyone in the know. While the initial breakthrough of this project was the Weezy and Bun B-featured "Lil' Girl Gone", it was quickly usurped by "What a Job" and two other legends who joined the Dude to lend their vocal prowess. It had the jagged off-key crooning sample laced in the easy riding beat, a smooth Devin chorus singing about (of course) the substances needed to get through the night of recording, one of the few recent inspired Snoop verses, and the already-assumed genius of a closing verse tinged with a couple falsetto bars by Dre. Plus it didn't hurt to bring together Los Angeles with Houston with Atlanta for creative hip hop's sake.

Devin the Dude - What a Job (feat. Snoop Dogg & Andre 3000)

We work nights, we some vampires
Aggins gather round the beat like a campfire
Sangin' folk songs, but not no Kumbaya my Lord
You download it for free, we get charged back for it
I know you're saying, they won't know, they won't miss it
Besides, I ain't a thief, they won't pay me a visit
So if I come to your job, take your corn on the cob
And take a couple kernels off it that would be alright with you
Hell no! Yeah, exactamundo
But we just keep recordin' and it ain't to get no condo
And Candy Bentley, fanny with no panties in Miami
And that cute lil' chick named Tammy that you took to the Grammys
See we do it for that boy that graduated
That look you in yo eyes real tough and say 'preciate it
And that he wouldn'ta made it if it wasn't for your CD number 9
And he's standing with his baby momma Kiki and she cryin' talkinbout
That they used to get high to me in high school
And they used to make love to me in college
Then they told me 'bout they first date, listenin' to my tunes
And how he, like to finger nail polish
I say hate to cut you off but I gotta go
I wish you could tell me mo', but I'm off to the studio, gotta write tonight
Hey, can you put us in your raps? I don't see why not
Devin, it's the Dude, you gon' probably hear him talking 'bout ...

I guess the key is that you're only able to not sound like a douchebag while complaining about illegal downloading if you sing about it and metaphorically compare it to corn kernels. Bingo. And who else could talk about some fans he encountered and how they wanted to randomly be dropped in his song ... thereby officially being randomly (yet seamlessly) dropped in his song! And then there's the implementation of different flows and shock bars that turn out to just be about ... nail polish. Crazy stuff. 3000 stays unblemished on his slow-rolling comeback tour.

... and Free Enes.

G.O.O.D Music Cypher

2010-10-14T16:35:00.002-04:00

Somehow the BET Awards outdid themselves on this year's incarnation of the Cypher series. No one else in the world, nor I, thought they could one-up the Mos Def/Black Thought/Eminem viciousness, but they did. I'm gonna start by going in on the world renowned G.O.O.D. Music cypher. BET definitely owes Kanye big for wanting to push his collective through their channel's otherwise crappy award show. And just to add a little flavor, I'll rank the performances of the emcees in each one.

Kanye West - Cypher 2010 #5 (feat. Pusha T, Big Sean, CyHi Da Prynce, & Common)

5. Common - Sorry, OG. The sucky thing is that I thought he performed an insanely great verse for seeming to be out of his element amongst these youngsters. The main thing he gets graded off for is the painful "the incomparable ... remarkable ... articles ..." dictionary reading in the early going. Ugh. But then he picks it up even with a recycled ESPYs bar. He personally struck a chord with the hardest with the "cold to myself" line. He ended it as strongly as possible "Requested from the the years I invested/Arrested, developed, addressed it, enveloped/the body of the black party from Farley to Bob Marley/Go home or go hard, at home is life hardly."

4. Pusha T - He did all he could, throwing around effortlessly smooth movie references (Book of Eli, Street Car Named Desire, Jerry McGuire) as well as slickly fluid song weavings of Bone Thugs, Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, and even his new label head. But the competition was just that sick. He kinda left it hanging though without that one stand-out punchline that cypher audiences so sickly crave. And it also doesn't help that he was the first to be introduced and everyone else after was able to eclipse him. Newbies first, I guess. "With good company, and better jewelers/to the good life, we G.O.O.D. Music ..."

3. Big Sean - Even though I wholeheartedly disagree with his LeBron-related championship ring prediction, Big Sean killed it as Pusha's follow-up. At that point, I was feeling like Sean was going to go down as the champ, hands down. That's how dope this cypher event was. He even through in a little change-of-pace on his goofy motorboating line, and that's especially notable because Sean is famous for never switching up his flow ever. Add that into his shock "wet dream" opening, his sick banana clips/guerrilla warfare line, admitting he watched last year's cyphers on his couch, and his Mercedes 700 CLK nastiness and you got yourself some pre-debut album hype "I'm Big L, Notorious, Big Pun/Shawn Carter, Sean Combs, and Connery all in one/Whoever told you sky is the limit is lookin' dumb/Cuz I'm 22 and I'm moonwalkin' on the sun."

2. CyHi Da Prynce - While he started off a little too simple with the bread/Quiznos line, he destroyed every bar from there out. Major ups for referencing himself as "MJ with the big nose", making a dually hilarious hanky/lanky rhymed, the "can't bleep it out" genitalia line, and the run-off of eight straight bars of rhymes starting with "flexible" and ending with "federal". Intrinsic rhymers, take notes. This was as big a coming-out party as you could get for a slick street spitter like CyHi. I'm sure 80% of the audience had never heard of him before. Mission accomplished. "Let me stop it, I forgot this was a big show/If bein' dope made ya broke, I am piss po'/I'm Big Poppa plus I'm 2Pacalypto/My mind is a weapon, what I need to pop a clip fo'?"

1. Kanye West - Could it be anyone else? Even though he cheated by spitting a freestyled intro and a sick closing verse (assumingly one from his new album). Just focusing on his closer ... it was perfect. There's not a guy who can put together such relatable and sick sounding bars like Kanye does so consistently. I don't know if it's because he has such gifted lyricists around him again such as Mos Def and Pusha replacing slackers like Jeezy and Wayne, but whatever it is happens to be working. He sets up the sickest childhood metaphor to his life remarking on him being an only child lost in the world, asking where the lonely kids go when the bell rings, and saying if he didn't have ends then he wouldn't have as many imaginary friends. His deeply thought reflection as well as vocal inflection play up the performance to an unimaginable degree. It's not the normal cypher braggadocio, but it definitely is Kanye West. And there's nothing out at the current moment better than that. "Fresh air, rollin' down the window/Too many Erkels on your team that's why your wins low (Winslow)/I sold my soul to the devil, that's a crappy deal/Least it came with a few toys like a happy meal."

... and Free Enes.

Bobby vs. Charles

2010-10-13T13:48:00.000-04:00

Bob was prolly the only guy that Charlie wound up not getting pissed of at from the '09 Freshman Class. And Asher, too. I guess no one else wanted to hop on the "Change Gonna Come" joint with 'em. Regardless, you prolly already know that B.o.B and Charles hold high honors in my book as some of the freshest newcomers possible. And as soon as I type that I regret it and wanna throw KiD CuDi, J. Cole, and (most of the time) Wale in there. Dah ... the painstaking choices of doling out tips of the hat ...

Moving beyond the XXL cover, B.o.B and Charles shared some studio time and came up with "Fool for Love" off Bob's pre-Adventures mixtape, May 25th, plus CH's loose "Paperboy" joint back when he was temporarily playing the whole scarcity card. Now all that's come to the forefront of my mind due to the first incarnation of All City Chess Club being released on the masses with the newly minted "We Beamin'" remix. Enjoy.

2009
B.o.B - Change Gonna Come (feat. Asher Roth & Charles Hamilton)
2010
B.o.B - Fool for Love (feat. Charles Hamilton)
Charles Hamilton - Paperboy (feat. B.o.B)
All City Chess Club - We Beamin' (Remix with Asher Roth, Charles Hamilton, Lupe Fiasco, The Cool Kids, Blu, Diggy, Dosage, & B.o.B)

... and do the John Wall.

2010-2011 Portland Trailblazers

2010-10-10T03:12:00.000-04:00

The question: how many games is Greg Oden gonna play? The answer: who cares? The Blazers are made to be awesome with or without him. Of course they'd rather have him shatter all expectations and come through with abandon to be an MVP-caliber center, but that's probably never going to be in the cards. Honestly, Nate McMillan would be completely happy if he just got 10 rebounds and 2.5 blocks for 70 games.

2010-2011 Portland Trailblazers

Point Guard: Andre Miller/Jarryd Bayless/Patrick Mills
Shooting Guard: Brandon Roy/Wesley Matthews/Elliot Williams
Small Forward: Nicolas Batum/Dante Cunningham/Luke Babbitt
Power Forward: LaMarcus Aldridge/Jeff Pendergraph
Center: Marcus Camby/Greg Oden/Joel Przybilla

For all intentional purposes, Rudy Fernandez won't be a rotation player in Portland or any other squad on this side of the Atlantic Ocean. So they've pretty much swapped out him for rugged, fit-in-the-system wing defender Wes Matthews. Along with Nicolas Batum, that's quite the perimeter defensive combo. And even in his old age, Marcus Camby is still the best defensive mistake eraser in the game. With that core plus whatever spot minute contributions come from Oden and Joel Przybilla, the rest of the lineup can concentrate on the offensive side of things. And that's good, because Andre Miller, Brandon Roy, and LaMarcus Aldridge are definitely prone to focusing on that aspect of the game a little more intently.

The lead guard tandem of Miller and Jarryd Bayless brings a nice change-of-pace component to the Blazers' offensive attack. Miller is big bodied and pounds the ball with intent and makes the team run smoothly while Bayless is a speedy attacker who can force his way to the rim and finish with power. Both guys work well with Roy as the do-anything wing scorer to complement them, and Bayless is especially glad that Steve Blake slid his way over to the champs' roster to free up backcourt minutes. Coming back from a summer resting since his surgery, Roy should be able to get back on track as an elite all-purpose scorer. He's so hard to check for the fact that he came into the pros with an insanely balanced and smooth game and has steadily improved every aspect of it. If he can keep healthy, he fits flawlessly in with this group and makes everyone else a bigger threat. The one drop off on this year's Blazer squad is going to be the long ball with the departure of Fernandez and sharpshooter Martell Webster, so Roy will have to take the initiative to force the action and create even better opportunities for this team. With a lot to prove from not being able to effectively finish out last season's early playoff exit, Roy will be up to the challenge.

LaMarcus Aldridge is the most important guy during any given Portland game. If his confidence is high then he's capable of scoring every single possession. He puts up 18/8/2/1/1 on 50% shooting as a lanky 6'11" big who can maneuver his way inside just as well as step out with considerable range. It's a nightmare matchup for pretty much any squad he faces. With all the other bigs on the team more capable of tangling it up under the basket, Aldridge has free range everywhere else to mess up the defensive schemes. He's due for an even bigger breakout year to replace Zach Randolph as a natural All-Star forward in the Western Conference, minus all the known drug habit baggage. And the funny thing is that I think a healthy Greg Oden on the floor would make Aldridge's game shine even better. Their skill sets are so complementary of one another that you would think they should vie for top front court duo in the league. But nah, they're still behind Pau & Bynum, Yao & Scola, (one would assume) KG & Shaq, (one would assume) Griffin & Kaman, (one would assume) Boozer & Noah, and (one would assume) Big Al & Okur. So on second thought, maybe they're not even close to being the best ...

I think the no-longer-nicknamed-Jailblazers should improve about 4 games to be in the mid-upper tier of the West and get past the first round as a highly competitive dark horse. Roy should return to elite form, LaMarcus should up the ante, Greg Oden has about a 51% chance of playing 50% of the season, and the rest of the role players should all continue their seamless blue collar work under Nate McMillan's direction. So there ya go.

Prediction
Regular Season: 54-28
Playoffs: Eliminated in Western Conference Semi-Finals

... and Free Enes.

Woody's Produce

2010-10-09T17:20:00.000-04:00

The premier Demevolist producer just released a project called LoveLife and he's got a monster collection of blogosphere emcees gracing his instrumentals. Of course there's his running mates SHow TuFli, Yung Nate, and Charles Hamilton, but it certainly doesn't stop there.

Woody - LoveLife

Tracklisting:
1. What Would You Do (feat. SHow TuFli, Yung Nate, & Steve Wilkin)
2. Brand New (feat. Gerald Walker & Nero)
3. Leave Me Alone (feat. Casey Veggies)
4. Hey Girl
5. Racing
6. Over & Over Again (feat. ESSO)
7. Make-Up Sex (feat. JY & Kyle Lucas)
8. Summer's Day (feat. ADD-2)
9. LOVE Interlude
10. Puppy Love
11. Make Believe (feat. Charles Hamilton & XV)

... and Free Enes.

2010-2011 Dallas Mavericks

2010-10-07T15:41:00.000-04:00

So they added Tyson Chandler and ... that's it. I just have an inkling that Mark Cuban blows this squad up '04-style sometime before the trade deadline. And it's absolutely crazy because this roster has two Hall of Famers, two additional All-Stars, and then even four other guys who could start on the majority of teams in the league. Along with the Lakers and Celtics, the Mavericks have talent oozing at least two deep from every single position. How did they get bounced in the first round last year again?

2010-2011 Dallas Mavericks

Point Guard: Jason Kidd/Rodrigue Beaubois/J.J. Barea
Shooting Guard: Caron Butler/Jason Terry/Dominique Jones
Small Forward: Shawn Marion/DeShawn Stevenson
Power Forward: Dirk Nowitzki/Alexis Ajinca/Brian Cardinal
Center: Brendan Haywood/Tyson Chandler/Ian Mahinmi

90% of the Mavericks every single year is how much Dirk has left to contribute. The guy's an MVP (even though it should have been Kobe's first) and one of the most deadly efficient mass jump shooters ever. But now he's 12 years into his NBA career at 32 years old with mass extra mileage from pro teenage years in Germany and all the World Championships/Olympics he's participated in over that span. The good thing shown on his career stat sheet is that the only drop-off in production has been his rebounding slightly decreasing for five straight seasons now. He's the most awkwardly talented 7-footer ever and has been remarkably healthy, missing a whopping average of a 2.7 games per season. Defense has never been his calling, so the only thing that could hurt his game with age is if he can't get his lanky frame up and down the court for extended periods of time. His jumper will always be there and he'll always be able to get it off. And while it may seem like a great thing that he has so much firepower around him to help nowadays, it's been increasingly clear that no matter who's around him, the fate of the Mavericks is always defined by Dirk. It was Dirk who missed all five of his overtime shots in the deciding game against the Suns in 2005. It was Dirk who was singled out for losing his confidence after Dwyane Wade began his 2006 Finals onslaught to come back after a 2-0 Mavericks lead. It was Dirk who couldn't averaged under 20 points on 38% shooting against the Warriors in the first round loss of his 2007 MVP season. So ... if he doesn't have an interstellar campaign, the Mavs find a way to lose. It's that simple.

Jason Kidd is still sick. He may never take a shot besides spot-up 3s anymore, but the guy averaged 9.1 assists with a 3.71 assist-to-turnover ratio. He runs the team perfectly. Jason Terry is in the upper echelon of the sickest scorers ever to be constantly withheld on the bench, averaging 19.6 just two years ago, even though he's regularly timid in crunch time. Caron Butler and Shawn Marion are two swiss-army wings who can each slide in wherever necessary. Look for them to be much more efficient and comfortable with a year of continuity under their belt (unless everyone gets traded like I previously mentioned). In all honesty, they should never leave a possession without a made bucket between Kidd's passing, Dirk's shooting, Terry and Caron's general bucket-making ability, and Marion hustle.

At the center position, Haywood and Chandler make a very intriguing combo. Both are high profile shot blockers, but Haywood's more proficient at creating his own occasional offensive opportunities while Chandler's specialty is finishing lobs and outreaching his competition for every rebound. Health has been a plaguing issue recently for both guys, but together they should be 48 minutes worth of quality center play. That's something Erick Dampier definitely didn't give them.

So why do I think they actually do worse in the regular season this year and repeat their first round blunder? Because the Mavericks are prime time underachievers. Since 2001, they've lost in the Semis, Semis, West Finals, first round, Semis, NBA Finals, first round, first round, Semis, and first round. All of those seasons they won at least 50 games, six of those at least 55, and three at a clip of 60 or more culminating in the monstrous 67-15 season where they had the best record in the league. In my little glass ball, I see a lot of injuries in their short term future and a general sense of malcontentedness. Marion's been a baby his entire career and he's not gonna enjoy losing minutes in favor of Butler when certain line-up adjustments are going to be made. Rodrigue Beaubois is as intriguing a young point guard prospect as their is the NBA, but Rick Carlisle inexplicably gave the kid no minutes once the playoffs came around until the elimination game, which he responded to by putting up 16/5/1 in 21 minutes. Carlisle can't make that mistake again. But in that same sentence, how do you still keep Jason Terry's minutes high enough to take advantage of his offensive production when you also gotta keep your resident Hall-of-Famer Jason Kidd (who chose to finish out his career in Dallas instead of signing elsewhere) happy running the squad? I don't know. This team literally has too much talent. But, unlike the players that make up the exceedingly deep Lakers and Celtics squad, this isn't the personnel who's going to be content with compromising roles. That's why I have them on the brink of a highly entertaining implosion and first round exit. Sorry, Dirk. Should've made Dwyane Wade or Joe Johnson go with you to Chicago.

Prediction
Regular Season: 51-31
Playoffs: Eliminated in first round

... and Free Enes.

More Sir Lucious Left Foot

2010-10-07T00:14:00.002-04:00

Today's "Bonus" segment takes us to the newest output by half of OutKast. The album would have featured both halves, but you know how label politics go. Good thing we got the internet giving us the concealed collaborations for free, right? Since Sir Lucious Left Foot was rumored to be almost-released for three straight years, there were plenty of tracks that fell through the cracks of getting stale or simply replaced. This is the place for those tracks. And I decided to throw in "Lookin' 4 Ya" as track 10, which Big said on Twitter is where it should have been anyways. Adjust everything else accordingly, Kast heads.

Bonus Tracklisting
10. Lookin' 4 Ya (Jedi Remix feat. Andre 3000 & Sleepy Brown)
17. Theme Song
18. Shine Blockas (Remix feat. Gucci Mane, Bun B, & Project Pat)
19. Royal Flush (feat. Raekwon & Andre 3000)
20. Sumthin's Gotta Give (feat. Mary J. Blige)
21. Dubbz (feat. Backbone)
22. Follow Us (Remix feat. Vonnegutt)
23. Tangerine (Remix feat. Rick Ross, T.I., Bun B, & Khujo)

... and do the John Wall.

2010-2011 L.A. Clippers

2010-10-05T00:05:00.002-04:00

It seems like "this year" has been the year for the Clips every single year for the last 15 years. Years years years, in case I didn't have that word enough in the last sentence. With only one playoff appearance to show for it in the Elton Brand era, Blake Griffin is looking to define the franchise in a completely different fashion. It sucks that he lost an entire year of professional experience because of a fluke (cursed) injury, but he can still go a long way towards making this year the year for the Non-Lake Show.

2010-2011 Los Angeles Clippers

Point Guard: Baron Davis/Eric Bledsoe
Shooting Guard: Eric Gordon/Randy Foye
Small Forward: Rasual Butler/Ryan Gomes/Al Farouq-Aminu
Power Forward: Blake Griffin/Craig Smith/Brian Cook
Center: Chris Kaman/DeAndre Jordan/Jarron Collins

Let's start with the fundamentals for this money-pit franchise. Shooting: Davis, Gordon, Butler, Gomes can all extend to the 3-line. Rebounding: Kaman, Griffin, Smith, and Jordan are all workhorses on the glass no matter how many minutes they get. Ball-handling: Davis, Bledsoe, Gordon, and Foye can all get the ball up and down the court whenever needed. Now let's turn towards the potential (and probable) issues. Turnovers: all of those ball-handlers I just mentioned are all majorly TO-prone. Iso-Scorers: all the proven scorers on the squad (Davis, Gordon, and Kaman) are known for over-pounding the ball. Defense: nobody on the team plays any. This team can't be an selfish, isolation squad who turns the ball over every third possession and doesn't ever dig in for a stop. We already tried that with Team USA for about a decade a little while back. The Clippers definitely have all the talent you could want from top to bottom, but it's all on Vinny Del Negro to get them to actually work together. Hopefully Baron Davis understands this and pretends he's got Stephen Jackson and Jason Richardson flanking him. That way he might actually try to ... you know ... win a game or something.

Even though it's only his re-try at a rookie season, the success of the team really does hinge on Blake Griffin. He has All-NBA potential a few years into his career if he stays healthy and can build on the insane amount of game he showed at Oklahoma State. What's an even better sign for him is how meteorically he rose the level of his game from high school to his freshman season and then again for his sophomore year. The guy puts in the gym time, understands the game, and wants to improve. He probably would have been the runaway Rookie of the Year over Tyreke, but now he has to vouch for that title over the two UK guys. A little stiffer competition. But anyways, Griffin should seamlessly fit in with anybody on the floor. You don't come across many big men with his agility and speed who also know how to go through people to the basket. He should be able to be everything that Elton Brand was and significantly more for this franchise if he sticks around for awhile.

The guy who absolutely refused to wait on Blake Griffin was Eric Gordon. Gordon was a breakout star on the Olympic squad, with Russell Westbrook, of guys that the public had been highly underestimating. Yeah, he's undersized, but there's pretty much nothing else in Gordon's game that you can knock him for. He's got a sweet jumper improved to the point that he can shoot it from anywhere and he's a fearless attacker of the rim. He's got a strong frame at the two-guard, especially for his age, yet still has quickness to use in tandem with it. Gordon's been ranked as an elite wing man since high school, but it was never guaranteed that he would translate as well as he has to the pros. All you gotta know is that he can hoop. If him and Blake are still teammates four years from now, the Clippers will be a serious threat.

Why shouldn't the Clippers be able to sneak into the playoffs out West (besides the fact that they're the frickin' Clippers)? They're main obstacle to overcome is balancing their youth with their veterans. Eric Bledsoe and Al Farouq-Aminu can't come in thinking that they're the number 1 or number 2 (or number 3, 4, or 5) option. And along the same lines, Baron Davis and Chris Kaman need to know that they can't hold the ball for 19 of the 24 seconds and create everything on their own. If this team gels, they're insanely dangerous. I'm talking take-the-Lakers-to-seven-games-if-they-happen-to-meet-up-in-a-backyard-series dangerous. But if they don't gel ... then they're the Clippers. What did you expect? I personally think they make the playoffs and get bounced in the first round, but they're definitely on their way to assembling a power house. Mark it down.

Prediction
Regular Season: 44-38
Playoffs: Eliminated in first round

... and do the John Wall.

More Thank Me Later

2010-09-29T14:30:00.001-04:00

New segment here called "Bonus". It's real easy. I'll post all the bonus tracks, remixes, and unreleased joints from major albums that aren't part of the original track listing. The debut of this one'll be all about Drake's Thank Me Later album which may or may not be one of the top two LPs of the entire year so far. Guess you'll have to wait for January 1st for confirmation. Ha. Like you're really worried about what I think ...

Bonus Tracklisting
15. 9 A.M. in Dallas
16. Un-Thinkable (Remix feat. Alicia Keys)
17. You Know You Know
18. Fancy (Remix feat. Mary J. Blige & Swizz Beatz)

... and do the John Wall.

The Loneliest Number [Update]

2010-09-28T10:16:00.001-04:00

This is two perfect examples of how to kill a given sample. "One is the loneliest number ..." and you know the rest.

Charlie Hilton - One (feat. Khalil)
B.o.B - One (feat. Big Kuntry & Mac Boney)
Charles Hamilton - Beginner's Luck

They couldn't be any different from pacing and additional instrumentation to beats and vibe. It's a great thing to hear and take in samples flipped so ill while the tune is so very well known to everyone in the world. Lyrics, too. Khalil goes in about what it took to be that One that created everything and all the feelings towards Dude. While B.o.B and the rest on his people talk about singularity and looking out for yourself in an industry that doesn't really care about you. All while life itself doesn't seem to either. I approve of both. This would been a great 2dopeboyz battle, but oh well.

UPDATE: added Charles Hamilton's new joint to this year-old post. Nice little 7 degrees thing going between Charles putting Charlie in the spotlight with a blog post like two years ago and the to-be discussed B.o.B/Hamilton companionship. Yeah ... so there ya go.

Three Dog Night - One (is the Loneliest Number)

... put 'em both together and you got yourself a super spork.

Kweli vs. Kanye

2010-09-26T22:47:00.000-04:00

In Kanye's College Dropout outro, "Last Call", Ye says the following about Talib Kweli:

"My relationship with Kweli I think was one of the best ones to ever happen to my career as a rapper. Because, you know, of course later he allowed me to go on tour with him. Man, I love him for that."

That's enough for me to compile a "Favors" segment on them. From Quality to the aforementioned College Dropout to as recent as Ear Drum, this one-time underground duo traded bars. They have extensively more stuff together, but it's all Kweli over Kan beats on albums and unreleased compilations alike, like on "Young Man", "I Try", "What I Seen (Lonely People)", "Get By", "Good to You", and "Momma, Can You Hear Me". But I decided to just link up when they were both vocally on the same joint. You just gotta deal with it. Or utilize Google.

2002
Talib Kweli - Guerilla Monsoon Rap (feat. Black Thought, Pharoahe Monch, & Kanye West)
Talib Kweli - Get By (Remix feat. Mos Def, Jay-Z, Kanye West, & Busta Rhymes)
2004
Kanye West - Get 'Em High (feat. Talib Kweli & Common)
Consequence - Wack N****s (feat. Kanye West, Common, & Talib Kweli)
2005
Kanye West - We Can Make It Better (feat. Talib Kweli, Q-Tip, Common, & Rhymefest)
2007
Talib Kweli - In the Mood (feat. Kanye West & Roy Ayers)

... and do the John Wall.

Linkin Parkilton

2010-09-23T23:14:00.000-04:00

So Charles decided to do a little Linkin Park reinterpretation. It's called reIntervention. And there ya go. What else do you need to know? Well, for starters, he's got an "All That You Are" freestyle mashed in there which I sweat like none other. He lays off the crazy effects for a second (which I still mostly like) and just goes in on that Nicolay beat joining Drake and QuESt as artists to do such. That's gonna make a fantastic Chris Campbell Remix putting those guys with Phonte, Median, and Darien Brockington. FANTASTIC. Crazy track list below ...

Charles Hamilton - reIntervention

Tracklisting:
1. Track 01
2. Track 02
3. Track 03
4. Track 04
5. Track 05
6. Track 06

... and do the John Wall.

Classic: Crooked Booty

2010-09-23T15:19:00.002-04:00

Dungeon Family - Crooked Booty (with Cee-Lo, Andre 3000, Sleepy Brown, & Khujo)

I can't believe I haven't posted this song yet. Ever since I obtained a copy of the Dungeon Family compilation album Even in Darkness, one of my all-time favorite joints has been "Crooked Booty". Even though the majority of the songs unfortunately aren't actually that great when compared to the incomparable Goodie and Outkast (and even Witchdoctor) albums before this tape, I've still got a soft spot for it. On this joint, Cee-Lo goes in on the hardest eight bars you've ever heard darn near a cappella while ending each rhyme on an explosive singing note. Then Andre starts in sing-rapping the chorus as the music triumphantly comes into the picture. Between Sleepy Brown's signature crooning while trying to describe what the crooked booty actually is and Khujo's aggressive dance rapping, this entire song's just classic. I don't wanna think too much about Dre's bridge three minutes into the joint, but it's hilarious, nonetheless. Just remember that when the doctor tells you that you're coming down with a bad case of the crooked booty ...

... and do the John Wall.

Clock with No Hands

2010-09-23T14:49:00.000-04:00

I don't think this one is a legitimate "Sampled" feature as I think the first half of "P&P 1.5" actually just recuts The Roots directly, but it's all hip hop so we'll go with it. I'm not really feeling Kendrick Lamar's new O(verly) D(edicated) project like everybody else is ... but it's all cool. I'm reading comments on this guy like he's Common in '94, but I'm just not catching the vibe. I like individual songs alright though; just don't expect it to show up on my end of the year list ...

The Roots - Clock with No Hands (feat. Mercedes Martinez of The Jazzyfatnastees)
Kendrick Lamar - P&P 1.5 (feat. Ab-Soul)

... and do the John Wall.

2010-2011 Utah Jazz

2010-09-22T15:27:00.000-04:00

Deron Williams is still one of the top three point guards in the league with Andrei Kirilenko and Mehmet Okur consistantly by his side, but now he has to adjust to swapping out Carlos Boozer for Al Jefferson, Ronnie Brewer for Raja Bell, and Chris Matthews for Gordon Hayward. I think D-Will is gonna be able to handle it.

2010-2011 Utah Jazz

Point Guard: Deron Williams/Ronnie Price/Earl Watson
Shooting Guard: C.J. Miles/Raja Bell/Sundiata Gaines
Small Forward: Andrei Kirilenko/Gordon Hayward/Jeremy Evans
Power Forward: Al Jefferson/Paul Millsap
Center: Mehmet Okur/Francisco Elson

There's a very solid argument to be made that Al Jefferson will eclipse Carlos Boozer's impact on the floor with ease. I tend to vouch for that side of the argument. Jefferson is a monster. The point guards he's had over his career have been Delonte West, Sebastian Telfair, Marko Jaric, and Jonny Flynn. Taking in all that information ... I think AJ's in for a career year. He's mobile enough to be moderately effective in the pick-and-roll, but his main boost will simply come from Williams creating for him. With Jefferson's length, he'll be an easy target no matter where Williams is on the floor and he'll find him on target every time. This eliminates any excessive decision-making from Al's side (which is a good thing). Now he can just go in there to rebound and score. Okur's going to be giving him plenty of room to work as he'll be three miles down the road from the paint. Boozer already had a Malone-ish type build and game, but Jerry Sloan should be just as effective in finding Jefferson's best chance to put up All-Star numbers as an amazing second fiddle to his elite point guard.

Unless he's traded, it looks like Kirilenko will be back to full-time starting duties and have a more prominent role on the squad. He's never going back to most-underrated-player-in-the-game status, but he still possesses the capabilities to be one of the most feared defenders out. Assuming Raja Bell's fully recovered from his wrist injury, Bell will look to also help bring the Jazz's former elite defensive reputation back to the minds of competitors. C.J. Miles and Earl Watson are also capable of stifling any opposing wing on a given night, so I definitely see this incarnation of the Jazz being revitalized in their perimeter D.

Hopefully Mehmet Okur will be able to stay healthy for a little while after he gets back around Christmas, but Paul Millsap is absolutely (and desperately) ready to step into a full-time role regardless of Okur's status. The main value of Okur is that he forced a defensive shift that few teams can naturally adapt to with a big man on the 3-point line, but the Jazz will never be short on low post production between Millsap and Jefferson. They put the team together in a way where they really don't have that much of a falloff even though they lost three starters from free agency deflection. I do have them dropping five games off last season's win total and one seed back in the West, but that's mainly just from health concerns and the potential meteoric improvement of the Rockets and Thunder. They'll definitely be a threat come playoff time if Jefferson can fit in as great as I assume he will. Unfortunately for Utah, I got them running into the Oklahoma City juggernaut in the first round. And that means the Jazz will lose. Because the Thunder are gonna be better. Got it? Back to the drawing board if Jerry Sloan can still hold up his dry erase marker.

Prediction
Regular Season: 48-34
Playoffs: Eliminated in First Round

... and do the John Wall.

Game vs. Nas

2010-09-22T14:40:00.003-04:00

It's crazy to me that these guys got so many tracks together. The old school era-defining Queensbridge emcee with the cocky, name-dropping leader of the New West? Oh well. Their mic chemistry works crazy nice. Maybe it was their mutual hatred of 50 Cent that makes it work so well. Whatever it is, it started on Game's super long "Why You Hate the Game" cut and continued on the same Doctor's Advocate album with the monster "One Blood" remix. Then they just kept swapping cuts on every single release with Hip Hop is Dead, L.A.X., N***er, and most recently the Brake Lights project. They're apparently legally required by the Pac&Biggie Convention to collaborate on everything for the rest of their lives.

2006
Game - Why You Hate the Game (feat. Nas & Marsha Ambrosius)
Game - One Blood (East Coast Remix feat. Jim Jones, Fabolous, Clipse, Juelz Santana, Nas, Jadakiss, Styles P, Fat Joe, N.O.R.E., & Ja Rule)
Nas - Hustlers (feat. Game & Marsha Ambrosius)
2008
Game - Letter to the King (feat. Nas)
Nas - Make the World Go Round (feat. Game & Chris Brown)
2009
Busta Rhymes - Don't Touch Me (Remix feat. Nas, Lil' Wayne, Big Daddy Kane, Spliff Star, Game, & Reek Da Villain)
2010
Game - Street Riders (feat. Akon & Nas)

... and do the John Wall.

Jigga vs. Talib Kweli

2010-09-22T13:54:00.001-04:00

This one's a little more hypothetical, but I love the premise. Every Black Album aficionado should immediately recognize the line:

"If skills sold, truth be told, I'd probably be, lyrically, Talib Kweli."

And any Black Star aficionado should immediately remember the lesser known response in "Ghetto Show" where Kweli says:

"If lyrics sold then truth be told, I'd probably be, just as rich and famous as Jay-Z."

This all happened after Kanye helped to bridge the gap between these two Brooklyn emcees on the remix to Kweli's own Ye-produced single. And now you got enough music for a new "Favors" segment on this blog right here.

2002
Talib Kweli - Get By (Remix feat. Mos Def, Jay-Z, Kanye West, & Busta Rhymes)
2003
Jay-Z - Moment of Clarity
2004
Talib Kweli - Ghetto Show (feat. Common & Anthony Hamilton)

... and do the John Wall.

Jigga vs. Big Boi

2010-09-22T13:31:00.003-04:00

It's interesting to me that only 1/2 of OutKast has properly collaborated with Jay-Z and it's not the one of the "Hey Ya" variety. Back in 2002 and 2003, the Jigga Man and Big Boi swapped featured on each others' The Blueprint 2 and Speakerboxxx albums. And even more interesting is the fact that pre-Purple-Ribbon-beefing Killer Mike tagged along for both of the joints. Twista joins in to make "Poppin' Tags" a full posse cut between the four of them. The original Slaughterhouse, anyone? Down below in the "Izzo" video, Big and Dre both actually make a 2-second appearance at the 2:07 mark where I conveniently have it starting. I figure if you're going to take a couple songs off from rhyming with the greatest rapper of all time, why not go with the second greatest? Sir Lucious Left Foot knows what he's doing.

2002
Jay-Z - Poppin' Tags (feat. Big Boi, Killer Mike, Twista, & Sleepy Brown)
2003
Big Boi - Flip Flop Rock (feat. Killer Mike & Jay-Z)
Bonus Mrs. Jay-Z: Beyonce - Hip Hop Star (feat. Big Boi & Sleepy Brown)

... and do the John Wall.

Friends & Strangers

2010-09-21T21:38:00.000-04:00

Ronnie Law's "Friends & Strangers" sample caught my ear as I was listening back through Wale's newest More About Nothing mixtape and I immediately recognized it as the same sample on Charles Hamilton's Pink Lavalamp vicious "Brighter Days" joint. And then I had to be refreshed on the fact that Doom spun it before both of them. Now there's the most beefing-est, illegitimate trifecta ever! No need for C.R.S. or Center Edge Territory now. Ha.

MF Doom - Deep Fried Frenz
Charles Hamilton - Brighter Days
Wale - The Friends N Strangers (feat. Tre)

... and do the John Wall.

2010-2011 Orlando Magic

2010-09-21T16:19:00.002-04:00

The Magic decided to pretty much stand pat even though last year's watered down version of the Celtics pushed them straight into a 3-0 deficit in the Eastern Conference Finals. I guess they're banking on Dwight Howard continuing to meteorically improve and the hope that Year 2 of Vince Carter is a little more ... good. They did add a little more firepower in basically swapping Anthony Johnson and Matt Barnes for Chris Duhon and Quentin Richardson, but with an ever-improving Eastern Conference full of high-profile maneuvering, will it be enough?

2010-2011 Orlando Magic

Point Guard: Jameer Nelson/Chris Duhon/Jason Williams
Shooting Guard: Vince Carter/J.J. Redick
Small Forward: Mickael Pietrus/Quentin Richardson/Stanley Robinson
Power Forward: Rashard Lewis/Ryan Anderson/Brandon Bass/Malik Allen
Center: Dwight Howard/Marcin Gortat/Daniel Orton

Though he had his post-retirement moments, Chris Duhon is a big upgrade over Jason Williams as the back-up point. He regressed last season as a sometimes-starter for the Knicks, but his bounce-back is inevitable under a Stan Van Gundy-led system. And while Quentin Richardson has always been a natural 3-point threat and a solid defensive plug-in, I think they'll miss Matt Barnes' general craziness that he brought in certain situations. A Mickael Pietrus/Q-Rich combo isn't exactly a feared defensive tandem on the perimeter. That's one of the reasons that I see them having a slight drop-off this season. They'll still be a premier team bound to get top-4 home court seeding in the East, but all of their competitors made tangible improvements while Orlando went lateral.

Where they could make up that ground on their competitors is simple: Dwight. He shot a career high 61.2% from the floor last season, but he needs to get his scoring back over 20 points every game. As sick as it is to say, it would also be nice for him to up his 13.2 boards he pulled last season. He has the size and unheard-of physique to do it. As a matter of fact, he's already done it with 14.2 rebounds in '08. Basically, he just has to figure out a way to overcome Vince's presence and over-dribbling tendency to make himself a consistent force. I don't care how good the rest of his teammates chuck three-pointers, they're not gonna be anywhere close to a championship squad until Dwight puts at least 25 points on the scoreboard every night. 2004 aside, there needs to be a number one option on any great team, and Dwight needs to be that. You can't have Carter as 1A, Howard as 1B, Rashard Lewis as 1C, and Jameer Nelson as 2. It might go great for the majority of the year, but not when it really means anything.

There's not much of anything else to say about the Magic that isn't redundant of last year's squad. The guy with a surprising new contract, J.J. Redick, will be looking to prove he's valuable enough to possibly shake up the starting line-up at some point this year. He, Pietrus, Richardson, and Lewis will all be firmly planted at the 3-point line awaiting their 17 alloted chucks per game. Ryan Anderson will see if he can still naturally be such a valuable contributor that it's impossible to keep him on the bench. Marcin Gortat will probably force a trade at some point this season because there's honestly no room for him with how Van Gundy wants his team to play 48 minutes a night. Literally, his only usage would come if Dwight went down with a serious injury. And considering the fact that he's played in 489 of a possible 492 career games, that's not gonna happen. All-in-all, I think they wind up getting bitten again by the Celtics. I don't trust Howard or his back-ups enough to be able to overcome Kendrick Perkins, Kevin Garnett, Shaquille O'Neal, and Jermaine O'Neal being thrown at him. You gotta hit the free throws from those 24 fouls being dedicated to taking you out of the game, and that's something Howard hasn't proven he can do yet. Shaq got away with it in his prime because he was already putting in over 27 points and had Kobe to clean up the rest. And that's my motto for the Orlando Magic in 2011: Vince Carter is not Kobe Bryant.

Prediction
Regular Season: 56-26
Playoffs: Eliminated in Eastern Conference Semi-Finals

... and do the John Wall.

2010-2011 New York Knicks

2010-09-21T15:19:00.002-04:00

The goal for the Knicks this season is to attempt to not be a joke. That's all. Who cares about the playoffs? Just get off the late night monologues.

2010-2011 New York Knicks

Point Guard: Raymond Felton/Toney Douglas
Shooting Guard: Kelenna Azubuike/Roger Mason
Small Forward: Danilo Gallinari/Wilson Chandler/Bill Walker
Power Forward: Anthony Randolph/Ronny Turiaf
Center: Amare Stoudemire/Timofey Mozgov/Eddy Curry

Obviously the big addition is Amare Stoudemire, but the Knicks literally got rid of everybody on the team besides Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Bill Walker, and Eddy Curry's dead body. That's a crazy overturn, but warranted due to the Knicks' glorious state of sucktitude for the last 150 years. I absolutely love Raymond Felton as this team's fake Steve Nash waaay more than Chris Duhon or Sergio Rodriguez. Released from Larry Brown's general plodding-ness, Felton can potentially kill it as a tempo-pushing, pick-and-roll lead guard from day one even if he happens to be turnover prone. He sure isn't half the shooter of Nash, but he's got the speed, athleticism, and general unselfishness to still make it work.

Because of Richard Jefferson's underachieving self, Roger Mason fell off drastically last season for the San Antonio Spurs, but I still really like him lining up on the three point line next to Azubuike and Gallinari. Every single one of those guys can shoot absolute lights out; they've had 3-point shooting seasons of 42.1%, 44.8%, and 44.4%, respectively. Pretty sweet stuff. With D'Antoni's reputation of instilling a ~~crappy~~ revolutionary run-and-gun offense, all these shooters should be able to chuck plenty of opportunities. Just ask Quentin Richardson's previous NBA contract. (This is a failed joke; he signed his 6-year, $43.5 million contract in 2004 to play with D'Antoni and the Suns. But the premise was well-intentioned, so I'll leave it there with a self-enforced wrist-slapping reprimand.)

The complete unknowns here are how Anthony Randolph is going to respond to a prominent role. Will the increased minutes prove him as the next Lamar Odom-like anti-prototype power forward or will it expose him as an inefficient free-ranging lanky guy with no distinct position? If Randolph can flourish, then pairing him with Amare is an elite offensive frontline only cemented by Ronny Turiaf's relentless junkyard work and Timofey Mozgov's whatever-Timofey-Mozgov-brings. History would like to force me into believing that this team will absolutely blow on the defensive side of the ball ... and I guess I gotta just go with it. They definitely have the potential to be a gritty squad to compliment their guaranteed offensive proficiency, but when your coach mandates that you never box out or get into an elementary school summer camp defensive stance, I'll just give up on that hope. So I say all that to say this ... I will be completely baffled if the Knicks are unable to make it to the playoffs with this squad. Sure, they'll guaranteed to fizzle out in the first round since every other Eastern team actually guards people and pointless crap like that, but they have way too much talent to not break their 6-year playoff drought.

Prediction
Regular Season: 43-39
Playoffs: Eliminated in First Round

... and do the John Wall.