Lots going on in the UK world, anyone seeing my headlines on Facebook today could contest to that…The biggest news is coming out of the Tennessee basketball program. 4 UT basketball players were arrested last night for drugs, weapons and open alcohol in a vehicle: Sr. Tyler Smith, So. Cameron Tatum, Jr. Brian Williams, and Jr. Melvin Goins.
Tatum is charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and having an open container of alcohol. Smith is charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of firearm with an altered serial number. Goins is charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of marijuana.
Williams is charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of a firearm with an altered serial number and possession of marijuana.
According to a source, each player refused to claim ownership of the guns, which is why all four are facing gun charges. The reason Smith and Williams got additional charges is because the gun with the altered serial number was under the seat in which Smith was sitting and accessible by either him or Williams, who was seated behind Smith.
Guns were under both front seats and one under a seat in the back. Smith and Williams face felony and misdemeanor charges. Goins and Tatum face misdemeanor charges.
Pearl has suspended the four indefinitely which just means they are suspended until further notice, so Pearl making this statement sheds little light on what the ultimate status will be for the four. I would be surprised if Smith and Williams are convicted of felonies that either would be able to play this year. Goins and Tatum may end up with a slap on the wrist and return, but we shall see.
So how does this hurt UT? Smith leads the team in minutes and 2nd in scoring, Tatum 5th in minutes and 4th in scoring, Williams 7th in minutes and 8th in scoring, Goins 8th in minutes and 6th in scoring.
So all four are important for the team and Smith is one of their best players. Tyler Smith was a 4 star recruit and recruited by UK and ended up going to Iowa before transferring to Tennessee.
-The SEC was supposed to be much better then last year and now outside of UK, they seem to be falling apart. First the top freshman outside of UK Renardo Sidney for Miss. St. is still not clear to play and many believe he will not become eligible this season despite NCAA not making public anything that would prove he shouldn’t be eligible. It basically comes down to a house in California the NCAA believes was paid for by agents because his family do not have the financial means to afford it.
Then South Carolina loses two of their best players not named Devan Downey. Archie and Holmes are out, both out with injuries then Holmes was dismissed from the team for unsaid violation of team rules. Now UT is likely going to be out some players…
Florida maybe UK’s biggest competition for an SEC title and they are playing pretty sad ever since they beat an overrated Michigan St. team.
-Pitino has said Siva is likely to not play tomorrow because of a stomach flu which I would call the “I’m so afraid of John Wall I’m sick to my stomach flu.”
Pitino is also known for exaggerating the injuries of his players, I remember one year he claimed Palacious may be out for months up to the rest of the season and he played in the next game against UK and showed no signs of any injury. So we shall see if Siva plays or not.
Siva hasn’t been getting many minutes of late so I don’t know how much of a factor he would have been anyways but Louisville fans have already created threads entitled “If we would have had Siva we would have won.” They are just waiting for the score to go final tomorrow before hitting send. ..
-A surprise recruit will be visiting UK for tomorrow’s game according to Maggard at Truebluekentucky.com. He is reporting #3 in the 2012 class J.P. Tokoto will be visiting UK tomorrow for the UK/UofL matchup.
-Can’t wait for the beat down tomorrow, UK is currently favored by 8 according to Vegas.com.
I’ve found a trend with UK/UofL matchups: UK vs. Louisville has had a recent pattern, UofL wins 2 in a row, then UK wins 3 in row
97&98 UofL wins two in a row
99-01 UK wins three in a row
02&03 UofL wins two in a row
04-06 UK wins three in a row
08&09 UofL wins two in a row
guess who's turn it is to win three straight???
I’m hoping for a blowout but with a rivalry game you just never know what’s going to happen. We outmatch them in every position except for maybe Smith vs. Bledsoe.
Bledsoe to my knowledge plans to play but isn’t at a 100% with his ankle and Smith being a senior I can see a Cardinal fan arguing they have the advantage at that position but its close and we have the other four spots and our bench is much better.
I know they lost some games against weak teams but as of late they have improved so I doubt we will see the team that was drilled by Charlotte by 22.
I’m picking UK by 15 when it is all said and done but the only thing that would surprise me tomorrow is UofL blowing us out, other than that I will not be surprised. I believe UNC and UCONN are more talented then Louisville but this is a rivalry game. UofL was not a great team in 97-98 season but on the day they played us they couldn’t miss…so expect the unexpected.
There is going to be a ton of media there tomorrow so I hope the fans are crazy loud but shows class. There will likely be some Karen Sypher chants from the student section but it will not be something I would want to see.
Despite it showing very little class but Pitino isn’t even on the court so it isn’t going to make the UofL players play worse. If anything it would make me want to play that much harder in defense of my coach…so I hope the chant dies down quick if it does start.
Anyone going to the game I encourage you to start screaming really loud if you hear a chant, to continue Rupp being loud but you can also drown out the inappropriate chants.
I would love for the media to leave feeling like UK is not just a great team with a crazy fan base but a fan base they would want to be part of.
Don’t give the media who does not like UK negative material to share to the world.
Go Cats! Beat Cards! Beat them badly!
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