Gomez here...
Last night was stressful. I was absolutely spent after the game, and had to go bed without making a post afterwards; which in hindsight, revealed to me that I take all of this much too seriously. Oh well, there's no cure for this sickness, so like most of the Big Blue Nation faithful, I'm learning to live with the condition.
While most of the attention will most likely be thrown towards John Wall's near triple-double (18 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks), I was most impressed by Patterson's solid play. He finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks and 1 steal, and was a perfect 4 for 4 from the charity stripe. I think we've all been waiting for this type of a game from Patterson, and it was a hopeful sign of things to come. So far in SEC play, I've been vocal about our need to find ways to get Patterson more involved, and last night was a notch in that belt. Had Patterson disappeared last night, as he's been prone to do at times lately, we lose this game. Period.
Meanwhile, Cuz rebounded (pardon the pun) from his poor performance against Tennessee. He finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds, but that didn't stop Coach Cal from saying that Boogie didn't play very well. Clearly DeMarcus has set the bar high for himself, and it's a scary thought to think that the double-double machine still isn't playing to his potential. Still, putting aside Cal's post game comments, DeMarcus' play was mainly solid, and it was nice to see him get the final word in to all those MSU haters that had called and texted him before the game.
Speaking of those classless MSU fans, what was up with the thrown water bottles at the end of the game? Even Pat Forde (certainly not an expert on class) had to blog about the black eye that the MSU fans left on their program last night. Attention State fans! If Pat Forde is questioning your integrity and class, you're in trouble! Remember, this is coming from a guy that stood by his pal Rick Pitino during his beyond-nasty scandal last year. (insert Karen Sypher joke here)
I can only imagine how embarrassed Stansbury and the MSU athletic department are over both the pre-game fiasco directed towards DeMarcus Cousins and the post game classless that was shown by their fans with the thrown bottles. If they aren't troubled by the whole mess, and I'm sure they are, they should be, and should offer some sort of apology to the Kentucky program.
Next up on the Kentucky schedule is a visit to Nashville to face Vandy, which is always tough. We can expect another vicious crowd (hopefully, minus the thrown bottles) from the Commodore faithful. However, with last night's win, our boys in blue proved they can win in the most hostile of environments, and even when their backs are against the wall, they can rise to the occassion. It'll certainly take another round of that same grit and determination to win on Saturday.
We'll have more on that game in the days ahead, so as always, stay tuned for your UK news and views right here at BBNR.
Last night was stressful. I was absolutely spent after the game, and had to go bed without making a post afterwards; which in hindsight, revealed to me that I take all of this much too seriously. Oh well, there's no cure for this sickness, so like most of the Big Blue Nation faithful, I'm learning to live with the condition.
While most of the attention will most likely be thrown towards John Wall's near triple-double (18 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks), I was most impressed by Patterson's solid play. He finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks and 1 steal, and was a perfect 4 for 4 from the charity stripe. I think we've all been waiting for this type of a game from Patterson, and it was a hopeful sign of things to come. So far in SEC play, I've been vocal about our need to find ways to get Patterson more involved, and last night was a notch in that belt. Had Patterson disappeared last night, as he's been prone to do at times lately, we lose this game. Period.
Meanwhile, Cuz rebounded (pardon the pun) from his poor performance against Tennessee. He finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds, but that didn't stop Coach Cal from saying that Boogie didn't play very well. Clearly DeMarcus has set the bar high for himself, and it's a scary thought to think that the double-double machine still isn't playing to his potential. Still, putting aside Cal's post game comments, DeMarcus' play was mainly solid, and it was nice to see him get the final word in to all those MSU haters that had called and texted him before the game.
Speaking of those classless MSU fans, what was up with the thrown water bottles at the end of the game? Even Pat Forde (certainly not an expert on class) had to blog about the black eye that the MSU fans left on their program last night. Attention State fans! If Pat Forde is questioning your integrity and class, you're in trouble! Remember, this is coming from a guy that stood by his pal Rick Pitino during his beyond-nasty scandal last year. (insert Karen Sypher joke here)
I can only imagine how embarrassed Stansbury and the MSU athletic department are over both the pre-game fiasco directed towards DeMarcus Cousins and the post game classless that was shown by their fans with the thrown bottles. If they aren't troubled by the whole mess, and I'm sure they are, they should be, and should offer some sort of apology to the Kentucky program.
Next up on the Kentucky schedule is a visit to Nashville to face Vandy, which is always tough. We can expect another vicious crowd (hopefully, minus the thrown bottles) from the Commodore faithful. However, with last night's win, our boys in blue proved they can win in the most hostile of environments, and even when their backs are against the wall, they can rise to the occassion. It'll certainly take another round of that same grit and determination to win on Saturday.
We'll have more on that game in the days ahead, so as always, stay tuned for your UK news and views right here at BBNR.
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