Todays News

[ukfaninva]

Did Cats find key to solve Gators?



Florida seemed vexed by defensive pressure

By Brett Dawson
bdawson@courier-journal.com (mailto:bdawson@courier-journal.com)
The Courier-Journal



LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Twenty-one days ago the Florida men's basketball team was on a roll. Billy Donovan's Gators were the nation's No. 1 team and had won 15 straight games by an average of 16.4 points. Only three of those games had been decided by fewer than 10 points.

They won 21 days ago, too, in Rupp Arena, but were pushed to the limit by Kentucky before winning their 16th straight game, 64-61.

Since then they have lost three of five, the losses by an average of 11 points. Mere coincidence, or something more?

"They actually were playing extremely well, but I think the way we pressured them and got them out of their comfort area let other teams know, 'This is how you've got to play them,' " UK center Randolph Morris said. "We were just a couple of shots away from sealing the deal. They just found a way to win."


http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070302/SPORTS03/703020536/1002/SPORTS (http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070302/SPORTS03/703020536/1002/SPORTS)

[ukfaninva]

Donovan sings Tubby's praises



Both served under Pitino at Kentucky

By Brett Dawson
bdawson@courier-journal.com (mailto:bdawson@courier-journal.com)
The Courier-Journal



LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Though speculation about Tubby Smith's job status has run rampant this week, the University of Kentucky men's basketball coach found a defender yesterday.

On the Southeastern Conference coaches' teleconference, Florida's Billy Donovan -- who once served with Smith as an assistant to Rick Pitino at UK -- said the Wildcats' coach has done "a wonderful job" during his tenure.

"I think in life -- and I really believe this, I think it's true about our team -- when you feel like you have to live up to expectations of other people, you really go through life unhappy," Donovan said. "And I think Tubby, as a man, knowing him, is very, very proud of what he's done at Kentucky, the character and integrity (with) which he's carried himself.

"And ultimately, the only person that really needs to be happy is Tubby. I think he probably is and should be."


http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070302/SPORTS03/703020550/1002/SPORTS (http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070302/SPORTS03/703020550/1002/SPORTS)

[ukfaninva]

Losses put Gators on the defense



FLORIDA'S FOES SHOT 55.6 PERCENT IN 3 LOSSES
By Jerry Tipton
HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER
After losing only two games in the season's first three months, Florida lost three times in the last two weeks.

That's the trajectory the Gators take into Sunday's regular-season finale against visiting Kentucky.

"I don't think we're playing our best basketball," Florida Coach Billy Donovan said on a Southeastern Conference teleconference yesterday. "The biggest thing is to get the players to understand where they need to get better."

That area is defense. The Gators' defensive performance mirrors its win-loss efficiency this season.

Take three-point shooting: Until the recent losses at Vanderbilt, LSU and Tennessee, Florida had held opponents to 29-percent shooting from beyond the arc. In the three losses, the opponents shot 55.6 percent overall (84-for-151) and 42 percent from three-point range (21-for-50).

After noting that Florida leads the nation in shooting, Donovan said, "Our guys need more defensive stops. We allow teams to shoot such a high percentage."


http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/sports/16816117.htm (http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/sports/16816117.htm)

[ukfaninva]

Wildcat Nation needs jolt of fun



UT COACHES' STUNTS RECALL UK'S ZANY '90S
By Mark Story
HERALD-LEADER SPORTS COLUMNIST
If you're like me, the sight of Pat Summitt in a cheerleading outfit is an image you could have happily gone for all eternity without.

For that matter, a shirtless Bruce Pearl ranks even higher on the list of things I never needed to see.

Yet, watching Summitt lead a Thompson-Boling Arena in a (horrid) rendition of Rocky Top during Tuesday night's Florida-Tennessee men's game, it took me a minute to recognize what I was seeing.

Old-fashioned F-U-N.

Whatever the self-promotional aspects involved, when Pearl showed up with his chest painted orange to root on the Lady Vols against top-ranked Duke earlier this season, it was a blast. It said, "Here is a guy not treating what he does like it is World War III."

When Summitt paid back the UT men's coach by donning a cheerleader outfit and going to the top of a pyramid during the first TV timeout Tuesday night, I didn't see a single face in the crowd that didn't sport a smile.

So when's the last time anyone in these parts had reason to feel envious of Tennessee men's basketball?


http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/sports/16816090.htm (http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/sports/16816090.htm)

[UK Lola]

ukfaninva wrote:
If you're like me, the sight of Pat Summitt in a cheerleading outfit is an image you could have happily gone for all eternity without.


Will,looks like you and Mark Story are in complete agreement!

[ukfaninva]

UK Basketball: Perry has friendly rivalry with Florida's Humphrey
By LARRY VAUGHT
larry@amnews.com

LEXINGTON - Normally Bobby Perry would cherish any moment he's not in the spotlight because of his status as a University of Kentucky basketball player.



Sometimes there are moments, though, he wishes he could share with UK fans - or basketball fans in general.



One such time was last summer when he went on a Sports Reach mission trip to Brazil with other Southeastern Conference basketball players.



"The trip to Brazil was a life-changing experience. I wish the cameras were there to see players from Florida, Georgia, Vanderbilt, Mississippi and Kentucky get together and share the most wonderful experience," said Perry. "That's something everyone should see and understand."

http://www.amnews.com/public_html/?module=displaystory&story_id=29654&format=html

[catmandoo25]

ukfaninva wrote: Wildcat Nation needs jolt of fun



UT COACHES' STUNTS RECALL UK'S ZANY '90S
By Mark Story
HERALD-LEADER SPORTS COLUMNIST
If you're like me, the sight of Pat Summitt in a cheerleading outfit is an image you could have happily gone for all eternity without.

For that matter, a shirtless Bruce Pearl ranks even higher on the list of things I never needed to see.

Yet, watching Summitt lead a Thompson-Boling Arena in a (horrid) rendition of Rocky Top during Tuesday night's Florida-Tennessee men's game, it took me a minute to recognize what I was seeing.

Old-fashioned F-U-N.

Whatever the self-promotional aspects involved, when Pearl showed up with his chest painted orange to root on the Lady Vols against top-ranked Duke earlier this season, it was a blast. It said, "Here is a guy not treating what he does like it is World War III."

When Summitt paid back the UT men's coach by donning a cheerleader outfit and going to the top of a pyramid during the first TV timeout Tuesday night, I didn't see a single face in the crowd that didn't sport a smile.

So when's the last time anyone in these parts had reason to feel envious of Tennessee men's basketball?


http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/sports/16816090.htm (http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/sports/16816090.htm)
this is the most true article I may have read all year. HAVE SOME FUN PEOPLE!:beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer:: beer: It's Kentucky basketball. Love it, live it, no need to fight over it!