Say it ain't So-sa!

03.08.2007

The Cards just survived again. Its hard to kill them. Like Michael Corleone in the Godfather they just survived. Their coach, Rick Pitino is known for surviving in the tournament and he did it once again tonight. It's like he's the Godfather of College Basketball and its always good to be a part of the family.

They didn't make it look easy, but Pitino's kids pulled out a win against West Virginia 82-71 in double overtime of their first game of the 2007 Big East Tournament. As predicted the young Cardinals struggled with West Virginia's akward 1-3-1 zone defense, seriously slumping in the second half after a big lead early. On the other hand, the kids were strong defensively, giving up only 7 three pointers to a Mountaineer team that sunk 17 last night.

If, like most of the crew watching the game tonight, you were expecting a replay of the OT 3-point shootout these two teams played in the Elite Eight of the NCAAs two years ago, you were probably let down. But if you're a fan of traditional "grind-it-out" Big East basketball like my little homie Sooper Cooper Bolton, who was visiting the 'Ville for th first time after growing up in Philly, then you just witnessed a classic. When his babygirlfriend, Jane tooKute, was so bored she slept through the entire second half, Coop stayed up late with his parentals and cheered us on into overtime. Or maybe his "cheering" was actually just "crying" because Jane's momma wouldn't let her babysdaddy T-Dog hookemupwit sumadat Bud Select they waz sippin on. (And you know this...Man!)

This game didn't necessarily go as planned, though. U of L jumped out to a big lead in the first half, going to the break with an 8 point lead. The lead then stretched to 17 points just a few minutes into the second half...then the 'Eers decided to start playing some ball. WVU ramped up its pressure on the perimeter and completely denied the entry passes to David Padgett in the low post. This defensive combination and a complete lack of outside shooting ability led to the Cards going on an 8 minute scoring drought. They lost their commanding lead and actually fell behind late in regulation.

Cooper's Mom ( yUK fan) and Pop (uber Card fan) also watched the game with us and were glad that TWill only jacked up 5 three balls (and actually made 2 of them). Terrence showed his maturity with plenty of strong drives to the hole. He played under control and helped keep the youngsters in line. TWill led the Cards with 21 points and 9 boards. His sidekick for most of the night was E5, Earl Clark. Starting for the first time in his career, and infront of tons of family and friends, Earl had the best performance ever with 17 points and 9 rebounds. His athleticism and toughness was very impressive tonight.

Meanwhile, Megan stuck Bailey in the dog house all night to protect her from the babies. This was much like Derrick Caracter who was in Pitino's doghouse to protect him from being a baby. He played only 7 minutes due to a complete lack of defensive skills. Coack Rick decided that an immobile David Padgett was a better option against the back door cuts. I guess he's not quick enough to jump out on the up-screen so he's always in position to defend the back cut. Still, Padgett stepped up when needed and finished with 16 points, 6 boards and a team leading 5 assists. His ability to pass out of the double team made the difference tonight.

The play of the game was again made by a U of L freshman. At the end of regulation, WVU hit a layup with just 4.3 seconds left on the clock. With no hesitation, TWill inbounded to Edgar "Say hello to my little friend" Sosa who took off up the sideline. He cut to the middle of the court and was stopped by 3 Mountaineers at the free throw line, or so it seemed. Out of nowhere, with less than a second left on the clock, the little guy squirted through all three defenders and glided down the lane for a left handed scoop shot at the buzzer.

Although it didn't win the game, it signaled that these Cardinals won't go down quietly. They stuck to their guns, ran off 9 straight points to start the second OT and sent the 'eers packing. Great win, our first in Madison Square Garden in 20+ years. One more win and we've got a streak going...who knows what that could lead to!

The good...the bad...Senior Day

So the Cards continued their winning ways on Senior Day. They took a good shot in the mouth early when Seton Hall came out swinging, literally. Jamar Nutter, a senior playing the last game of his career shoved Terrance Williams in the back while he was walking to the bench during an early timeout. TWill's response was to get in his face and let him know who he was dealing with. Both players received technicals and they both went on their merry ways...kind of.

TWill poured in 15 points and grabbed 11 boards for his 7th double-double of the season while being named player of he game. On the other hand, the crowd hounded Nutter with barrages of Boos every single time the jackass touched the ball. He looked completely flustered and got rid of the rock immediately to avoid the embarassment...Good Stuff.

"Cheaton" Hall was shooting off the charts hot in the first half, though. They hit well over 50% from the field and knocked down 8 of 9 three pointers. I mean really, who comes out and nails 89% from behind the arc. The good sign from the Cards was that even though they were hit in the mouth time and time again, they never stepped down.

The young Cards, led by Edgar Sosa's 18 points, stayed in the lead throughout most of the game. Padgett and Caracter were monstrous, combing for 28 points and 14 rebounds. The team never looked rattled and passed the ball well (20 assists on 32 buckets) while also playing solid defense. When Seton hall tried to get tough, the Cards looked tougher with 6 steals, 7 blocks and a +10 rebounding margin.

The Cards earned the 2nd seed in the Big East Tourney and look like a team that other just won't want to play in the Big Dance...Great Stuff.

The 2007 Cardentals' Senior day went down in the wrong direction. They fell in the first round of the intramural tournament. Playing without the services of two regular starters (Benihan Taylor and Nate Cotton) and their reliable sixthman (Jace Hansen) , the Dentals were forced to bring in some outsiders, Gus Ramirez and Fatt Matt Bently, to fill the roster.

Without much of their offensive production, the Cards fell behind early 14-4 and then fell subject to the lamest gameplan in the history of intramurals. With a full 14 minutes left in the first half, a mere 6 minutes into the ball game, the Wombats began their stall tactics. The floppy haired point guard proceeded to stand/dribble for 60-75 seconds per posession.

Although the Cardentals fought back, their comeback effort was stymied by the retards they were palying. Will the thrill Whiteside looked solid on both ends of the floor while I contributed 8 points and 4 assists in my final game of my U of L intramural career.

The season ended too early, but screw it. That intramural program was one of the most poorly run organizations I have ever had the displeasure of being involved with. I'm glad to be done with them and moving on to bigger and better things...bad stuff.

Good Stuff...Bad Stuff...Great Stuff

The Dore's held off South Carolina in OT behind Shan Foster's 33 points. We shouldn't have let them get that close, as we were up by double digits in the second half. But at this point in the season a win is a win. We've got the inside track for the 2 seed in the east and a first day bye in the SEC tourney...good stuff.

UK beat another SEC lowlife playing without their best player. Beating georgia without their leader, Levi Stukes, at Rupp may have saved Tubby's job. If they had lost tonight they would have been swept this year by Florida, Vandy, and the Dogs...bad stuff.

But the real story of the night is the ridiculous Texas-Texas A&M game. The game was won by the Longhons 98-96 in double OT. the end of regulation was outrageous with 3 longballs in the last 30 seconds including shots by both team's superstar All-Americans, Kevin Durant (30pts 11rbs) and Acie Law (33pts 4rbs 5ast). Law's shot over Durant with 1.8 seconds would have been the shot of the year if the Aggies had pulled it out...good stuff.

Both these teams are final four contenders. in the tourney i always like the team with the single best player on the court. In Durant and Law, neither team will see an opponent with a player that is more dominant at their position and more clutch at the same time. These guys are studs, no doubt about it...great stuff!

There is a traitor in our midst

I never thought that it would come to this, but I am sad to report that we have a traitor in our midst. My father (of all people) went to coRUPPt Arena on Wednesday night with a friend and ended up with one of the best seats in the house at UK's senior night.

He sat courtside in what he called the "best seats I've ever had at any sporting event." Although he never made a TV appearance, the Courier Journal documented his treason against Cardinal Nation. I present the evidence for you to make a decision for yourself.

On top of that we're going to need to rehabilitate this Cardinal fan before our senior day on Sunday...I hope he loses his blue sweater before then too.

By the way, what's with the dude on the other side of the sign lady. Is his cell phone vibrating in his pants or is he having an appendicitis? Somebody should check on him.

2.27.2007 - Louisville KY

The 2007 CarDentals go down in defeat for the first time on the S.A.C. courts this season. The match-up against Miller Time was apparently a mismatch. Miller Time came out firing, hitting a barrage of three pointers en route to a 66-44 victory.

The Cards were led as usual by Benihana Taylor who contributed somewhere in the range of 30 points. Official stats are hazy do to the ineptitude of the referee and score keeping staff.

Miller got off to a small lead in the first half that only increased as they were sent to the line after a series of touch fouls and no call turn overs by the Cards at the other end. By the second half, the dentites were ready to fight back.

Led by our leader, the fearless Benihana, the cards declared that they weren't gonna take it anymore. After he was clearly tripped (no more than 10 feet away from an official) and called for a traveling violation, Benihana made his statement. An honest question of the no call by the ref was answered with a quick technical. Taylor's response (which was the delivery of his jersey to the scorers table) showed his disapproval of the call and recieved an escort to the door.

The Cards should still be eligible for the playoffs. Stay tuned for more march madness action!

Sunday Sweep!

Alright Alright Alright! Let me tell ya what Melba Toast is packin' here. We've got a 7 point victory by the Cardinals in Hartford, Connecticut followed by a 2 point squeeker win by the Commodores over UK in Nashville. We're talkin' some Buckin' Muscle.

Though uncommon, but not necessarily rare these days, we witnessed a U of L and Vanderbilt win along with a UK loss...in the same day. Today's sweep is special because the Dores victory directly coincided with the UK loss. The win also completes a two year sweep of the Cats by this Vanderbilt team.

The Dores trailed the entire game. UK, and Bobby Perry(18 points), were shooting the lights out at Memorial Gymnasium, sinking baskets at a 60% clip. But the lack of a contribution from stars Ramel Bradely & Joe Crawford, and the complete no show from Randy "The Big?" Morris (4 measly points) meant the Wildcats could never completely put the home team in thier rearview mirror.

Again, Derrick Byars stepped up and refused to lose. He had 26 points, including 21 in the second half. His rebound of his own missed free throw and subsequent teardrop over Bobby Perry gave the Dores a one point lead with 25.5 seconds left. Shan Foster made a huge steal at the other end and was fouled with 9 seconds left. He made 1 of 2 free throws to get to 21 points on the day (with 4 three pointers) and gave the Dores a 2 point lead that finished out the scoring on the day.

The victory proved that the Dores could respond after a silly loss at Mississippi State earlier this week. They now control their own destiny in their search for a first day bye in the SEC tourney. They need to close out with 2 more wins against South Carolina and Arkansas. A run to the SEC semis or even the finals could get them a solid 4 or 5 seed in the NCAAs.

With Byars and Foster playing like this there is no telling how far this squad can go!

Cards hold off Huskies

I woke up this morning excited to catch the Cards in a nationally televised contest against UConn. I thought it would be a good chance to test our collective mettle in a hostile environment...and the boys did not disappoint.

Although we looked sloppy early, the Cards hung in there with another solid performance from Derrick Caracter. When David Padgett got into early foul trouble for the second consecutive road game, Caracter came into the game and dominated by scoring 16 first half points. After about 2 or 3 buckets in a row, I got a call from my dad. In the most obvious comment of the week, he said "I don't think we lose anything with Caracter in there instead of Padgett."

Caracter has been consistently outplaying Padgett both offensively and defensively. His combination of quickness and strength is unstoppable. Where Padgett has the size and skill to score over or around defenders, Caracter takes it right at you and beats you to the rim. Plus the 15 foot shot makes him nearly unguardable. The development of two legitamate interior threats is what makes us so dangerous down the stretch.

I'm proud to say that I've hung in there with these guys all season. We weathered the storm and come through even stronger. Our mental toughness showed in the second half. When UConn's new stud, Jerome Dyson, kept bombing threes, our team stood tall and ran our offense. Like Dave Padgett said earlier this week, we just have to run the plays to the end and good things will happen. We did just that, making the extra passes that led to big threes by Clark, TWill, and the dagger by Sosa with 1:30 left.

Way to go Cards, lets hope the Dores can pick it up and knock off the Cats in Nashville to complete the Sunday sweep!