North Carolina v Kentucky

   

This Saturday...for the sixth straight year...the two winningest programs in NCAA hoops history will do battle. 

North Carolina v Kentucky.  They have played 27 times...with North Carolina holding the edge, 17-10.  They have 11 National Championships between them.  Tons of Final Four appearances, All Americans, future NBA stars, etc, etc, etc.

And it is odd that they aren't really rivals.  Well, not on the hardwood.  But Carolina and UK are certainly rivals in the big picture.  Nearly every season they are among the elite.  In fact, if the Wildcats could've found some way to top Michigan State in that Elite 8 thriller last year....they would've met in the Final Four.  They play in two conferences that jockey for position among the top status in the country.  They fight for recruits.  In the rankings.  For NCAA tournament seedings.

Hard to believe that 70 years ago....Kentucky and North Carolina were conference rivals.  They both belonged to the Southern Conference [which still exists]...which then was made up of essentially what the ACC and SEC are today.  Duke, hated by both UNC and UK, was also in that conference.   The first ever conference tournament was won by Kentucky in 1921.  The next year, North Carolina won it. 

                             

The first time the schools met was in the Southern Conference Tournament in 1924 [a year that UNC would later win a retro "Helms National Championship"] with the Heels winning 26-15.  Despite being in the same conference, they only met once during the regular season [in 1929, again a UNC victory].   From 1959-1974, the two met nearly every season.

In 1977, the two met in the East Regional Finals in Maryland.  North Carolina won that game and went on to the Final Four.  In 1995, the two met again in a Regional Final...with the Heels winning yet again and going to the Final Four.  That was the last of a six-game winning streak the Heels had on the Cats.

Now the series has been reborn.  Kentucky won the first four...with North Carolina winning last season. 

                              

To me, personally, this is a bitter game.  I am a Tar Heel fan.  Um...I'll be nooooooooooooo where near as bitter as a Duke-Carolina game...but bitter.  See, I grew up in Charlotte, NC.....but now live in Northern Kentucky.  And I did quite a bot of mouthing off when North Carolina won the NCAA title in April.  So when this game comes along the schedule, it does get my mouth chattering.  And that's always a good thing.  For my Wildcat friends...it gives them a chance to jaw with someone [since the SEC has never really produced a true long term rival for Kentucky].  For me, it's a great early season test to see where my team is at. 

So how do I see this game going??  Well, to be perfectly honest...in the five recent meetings between the two schools....the better team has won.  Every year.  So I expect the same to happen this year.  The Heels lost their top 7 scorers and play four freshmen [Hansbrough, Frasor, Green and Ginyard] quite a bit.  Kentucky isn't overly talented...but they have a wealth more experience...and the home crowd. 

Kentucky 71-North Carolina 66.  I hope I get to eat crow on that...lol

written by The Sportz Assassin

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TREESOUP

When I was asked by arguably the best sports blogger on AOL if I was going to write something on the UNC-UK game this week, it inspired me to sit down and think about both these teams and write something about the game Saturday. You see, the Sportz Assassin is a huge fan of North Carolina, and I originally wasn't going to hype this game up any this week with any sort of entry, so I thank Sportz for the inspiration and reminding me that this Saturday's game isn't just another game because UNC isn't as strong as last year, but this is a game between two of the most winningest programs in NCAA history who have a lot of history behind them. That's why you should watch it. So enjoy my take followed by the Sportz Asassins' take on the game to be played this weekend. Anyone up for a game of horse 'round this place?

So why do I love Kentucky so much? Well the answer to that has to go back to my parents and the many trips I remember as a kid going up to Lexington to visit family. If you've never visited Lexington, you are missing out on a great place to be. From Lexington you're always just minutes away from the countryside, and the great Bluegrass Parkway that gets you to Lexington via I65, and Versailles Road where just past the airport I'd always be fascinated with that huge castle just off to the side of the road, when you reach New Circle Road, you know you're officially in basketball heaven. They say from above in an airplane if you look down at New Circle Road, it's the shape of a basketball and all the tallest buildings inside the circle form the letters U and K. Ok, I made that up, but it sounds like it could be true. I remember as a kid in my teens, every summer between me and my three other brothers we would take turns spending the summer in Lexington with ourgrandmother and I remember always spending the early evening outside on the porch with a mason jar waiting to catch fire flies. It was good times. Yeah, the unfortunate part was not being able to go to any games since it was the off-season {now I know that getting tickets to Rupp Arena is almost hereditary lol}, but I have a personal attachment to Lexington, and with much credit to my parents, I grew up a Kentucky fan.

Growing up in a small town in Florida, there wasn't much to do but play basketball in the back yard and work in the back yard. At least that's what it seemed like. And when Kentucky basketball was on tv, and if any of us in the house were watching something, my mom would take the remote and switch the channel and UK hoops it was. She owned the remote for about 3 hours. That's how I remember becoming a fan of UK basketball. As a kid with parents who loved Kentucky basketball, let me just say that you could get away from doing some pretty bad stuff if Kentucky won that day, and you would eat pretty good, too. If they didn't win, you had to be on your best behavior and dinner would be something like liver 'n onions with mashed potatoes. I know, the taste left in your mouth was just about as bad as watching Kentucky lose a basketball game.

I was only about 11 until my interest in sports and realizing that Kentucky basketball was the only team I was ever going to root for, and I remember Kenny Walker just couldn't miss at all in the paint. I've only watched Kentucky win two national titles in my lifetime, so I missed out on the really good years when Adolph Rupp won 876 games and 4 national titles. Rupp won 397 conference games, winning 13 conference titles coaching the Wildcats for 41 years. I think one of the most important reasons why I respect North Carolina as a fan more than any other team is the fact that former UNC head coach Dean Smith broke Rupp's record of 876 wins by 3 more wins. An interesting fact is that Dean Smith's 879th victory came by defeating Louisville by 23 and reaching the Final Four for the 11th time in his career in 1997. There's a level of respect that I think UNC fans and UK fans have for each other because Dean Smith broke Rupp's record. UNC has something like 1,860 all time wins and by sometime during the 2006-2007 season, I expectthem to join Kentucky as the only two teams to reach 1900 all time wins. It's like a race to 2,000.

Kentucky is the only school in Division 1 history to have four coaches that have won a national title, that's also something else as a fan to pride ourselves on, but again, I'm only in this world so far to only see Rick Pitino win it in '96 and Tubby Smith in '98. Joe B. Hall won a national championship with Kentucky in 1978{wait I was alive but I was only 5}, and he coached from 1973 to 1985. He left and Eddie Sutton took over a couple years after I began watching UK Basketball as a kid. I remember watching Eddie Sutton and that full court press Kentucky always seemed to have the best of in 1980's, and I do remember when Sutton resigned shortly before or during the NCAA investigation on them. Then came Rick Pitino. I still admire the guy no matter what any other UK fan says out there. Rick Pitino is a class act, he just made a very tough decision coaching Louisville. Pitino coached for 8 seasons and has the highest winning percentage since Adolph Rupp. And now, Tubby Smith is right up there with the best coaches UK has ever had.

So what did I miss? Whether it be the other 5 national titles, or when Basil Hayden became UK's first All America basketball player in 1921, most of Kentucky's rich memories are way before my time. I didn't get to see Dan Issel become UK's all time leading scorer in just two seasons, or his season record of 948 points scored in just 28 games in '69-'70, or his performances of dropping 41 points vs North Carolina, 40 vs Navy, 40 vs Georgia, 53 vs Ole Miss, 51 vs LSU, 47 vs Alabama, 42 vs Auburn, and 44 vs Notre Dame between December 8, 1969 and March 12 of 1970. I can only read about the history that has made UK what it is today, like the Fabulous Five that won the title in 1948 and was also a part of the Olympic team that won a gold medal that same year. Or the Fiddlin' Five in 1958 that won the fourth and last national title for Adolph Rupp, and the famous 1966 title game that featured Rupp's Runts against the all-black starting lineup of Texas Western which UK ended up being on the losing end of one of the greatest upsets in college basketball history. That story of the destined Texas Western team will be shown in a movie this January called Glory Road. There's a lot of great moments in the history of Kentucky basketball, and afew I remember watching.

I grew up loving Kenny Walker play. Winston Bennett, Ed Davender, and Rex Chapman are some of my old time greats that I grew up watching. One of my greatest memories growing up is after watching UK play on tv, I'd go outside in my backyard with my brother and we'd reenact some of the plays Kentucky made. I usually sank some long balls just like Chapman. I was Chapman, my brother was more like Kenny Walker though blocking half my shots. He was a better Rex Chapman than I was, but we had fun. I had a nice 3 point jump shot back in the days. Nothin' but net. Number 3 was special.


"I'll be Chapman, who are you?"

And some of the other great Wildcat players I enjoyed watching include Rob Lock, Jamal Mashburn, Travis Ford, Rodney Dent, Tony Delk, Jared Prickett, Jeff Sheppard, Ron Mercer, Antoine Walker, Derek Anderson, Scott Padgett, and Jamaal Magloire through the 1990s. And even in this 'blogging' era, as I like to call it, Sparks, Rondo, and Chuck Hayes are right up there with Gerald Fitch, Tayshaun Prince, Keith Bogans, Erik Daniels, and Cliff Hawkins. Tubby Smith sure has made some stars out of a lot of kids at Kentucky, especially since 2000. It's been a treat to watch them play and be a fan of a team that's had some great coaches.

Chuck Hayes epitomizes what Kentucky basketball and college basketball is all about. Here is a guy who loves to play the game, is respected by everyone, and played all four years at Kentucky. Once in a blue moon there's a player that comes along that just catches your heart and soul, Chuck Hayes did that for me.

One of the most crushing loses in my time watching UK basketball that ranks among the top of my memories has to be the year Laettner dropped the bomb. Duke defeated Kentucky by one point off a last second inbound pass to Christian Laettner who turned around and shot the ball that dropped the hearts of Kentucky fans nationwide. I still remember what that felt like ... it's the opposite feeling of Patrick Sparks dropping the three against MSU in last season's Elite Eight to tie them in regulation only 1000 times worse. Seeing this picture makes me just want to say, 'Just shut up already!'.



Last year's Elite Eight game against MSU is right up there in UK memories.How can you not love the kid from Western Kentucky walking over to the sidelines to give Billy Packer a high five and reportedly had said, 'Take that!', to take the game into overtime?

1998's Comeback Cats! Their ability to overcome large deficits through the NCAA tournament was something special to watch but nerve racking. The 'Comeback Cats' overcame a 10 pt halftime deficit to Utah in the championship game to give Tubby Smith his first national title win and UK's seventh all time. It was the end of a three year span of going to the national title game, pulling out number six and number seven.



Or how about the 2003-'04 UK team that was one of the best Kentucky teams that didn't win a title in my lifetime that lost to UAB in the second round of the NCAAs? The loss was worse than losing to Duke in overtime because of the expectations. No one imagined Kentucky losing to UAB in the second round with Gerald Fitch, Erik Daniels, Kelenna Azubuike, Chuck Hayes, and Cliff Hawkins all averaging double digits. The next year Kentucky lost Fitch, Daniels, and Hawkins. A missed opportunity for an eighth title.

But yet, as a Kentucky fan, I am reminded how fortunate I am. I mean, seven titles. I got to watch Kentucky win two of them. Some fans don't even get that. The tradition of always winning and dominating the SEC. Kentucky is the team to beat or they are contenders in the SEC practically every year. Being a Kentucky fan, I get spoiled by the 43 regular season titles, and 25 SEC tournament championships. In fact, Kentucky enjoys a 79 percent winning percentage vs SEC opponents. And since 1983 when I first started catching on to Kentucky basketball, Kentucky has won the SEC tournament 12 times and has reached the Final Four 5 times. Since the loss to Duke in the 1992 Elite Eight game, the University of Kentucky has done this in the NCAA tourney ... Final 4, 2nd rd, Elite 8, National Champs, Runner-ups, National Champs, Sweet 16, 2nd rd, Sweet 16, Sweet 16, Elite 8, 2nd rd, Elite 8. All in all, Kentucky has a record 46 appearances in the NCAA dance with a 96-41 record, and has made it to the dance every year since 1992. Seven titles, Runner-up three times, 13 Final Fours, and 28 Elite Eights, and they have more 30-win seasons than any other school in the NCAA {11}. Am I not lucky to be a fan of a team that has done most of this before I was even born? I really like Tubby Smith and what he's done with his teams. He gets the most out of his players and has always kept UK competitive enough to make a run. I hope Kentucky never gets rid of him, and hope Tubby never wants to leave, because I appreciate what he's done not only with these kids but the message he sends them and the rest of us off the court as well.

So why is the North Carolina | Kentucky game so important to watch this Saturday? Well if you're just a college basketball fan you appreciate the matchup because North Carolina is right up there with Kentucky in terms of history. These are two of the winningest programs in the nation. Between them, over 3,700 wins and over a 70 percent winning percentage. Between them, 11 national titles, 83 NCAA Tournament appearances, 261 Tournament games, 184 Tournament wins, and 29 Final Four appearances. Kentucky and North Carolina are #1 and #2 in tournament appearances, tournament games, and tournament wins. So you can see why every time these two teams meet up in the regular season, it IS like a Final Four game. If you ever want to talk about the all time programs who've made it to the NCAA Tournament, UNC and UK are on the Top 5 list easily. When these two teams meet, it's the two best programs in history going against each other. You can argue that but the amount of games both these teams have won speaks for itself. There's a lot of respect in that when you realize what you're witnessing, not to mention that the best NBA player of all time came from Chapel Hill.

Take for instance last season. UNC was a heavy favorite to win it all, and they had top players to back it up, meanwhile Kentucky was returning Hayes and Buike and starting junior transfer Sparks, and freshmen Rajon Rondo and Randolph Morris. Kentucky went into Chapel Hill and lost the game but what the stats don't tell you from that game is that Kentucky had at least 3 chances in the second half to make a run of it. Three times they reached within 10 points of UNC but the better team prevailed, and if you watched the game, you know that it sounded like a Final Four game and had that tournament feel to it. If you want a 'mascot' game that represents the end of the college basketballseason, UNC - UK wouldn't be a bad choice at all. When you hear North Carolina - Kentucky your eyes have to get a little big and wonder what time the tip off is going to be regardless where either team is ranked in the AP, and I don't expect anything less than a hard fought 40 minutes in a sold out Rupp Arena that will make me forget that it's just December!

So what's up with this game Saturday?

Well first of all, let's put national rankings aside. The defending national champions are coming inside Rupp Arena and will try to make a little noise. When you look at North Carolina's roster, you don't recognize them from last year's team at all, but they do have size and strength that will match up well against Kentucky. Freshman Forward Tyler Hansbrough is their leading scorer, and they start three forwards and two gaurds which consists three freshmen, a junior, and a senior. They have four players who have averaged double digits in their first three games of the season, and they've played a lot of freshmen so far. Freshman Danny Green and Junior guard Wes Miller have come off the bench to provide some scoring power for the Tar Heels, but their starting forwards, freshman Tyler Hansbrough, Junior Reyshawn Terry and Senior David Noel, are the top 3 scorers and rebounders for them. Their first three games have been against non ranked lesser teams and they lost to #12 Illinois by only 6 Tuesday night before they come to Lexington Saturday.

The outcome of this game will really depend on Kentucky's ability to rebound and being able to score in the paint, and their ability to pressure UNC's freshmen gaurds. If Rondo can put together a double-double and if Rekalin Sims and maybe Bobby Perry can somehow be a force down low against UNC's more experienced forwards, it will help Kentucky more, but until the game starts, Kentucky's starting lineup will be unknown, and even throughout the game, depending on how well UNC plays emotionally, Tubby Smith will tinker with the lineups. It's going to be an emotional game. Rondo and Sparks are returning starters from last year who played against UNC last year so they will be emotional and ready to play. A big key to the game is going to be how well Kentucky can create the easy basket against the defending national champions while forcing a lot pressure and creating turnovers and fast break points.

Top Things To Watch For

Rajon Rondo: Stay out of early foul trouble and keep playing your D! Help create turnovers and share the ball like you have! And playing that D is including crashing the boards like you have so far this season. Don't let up. Minutes. How many minutes will be important. In a game like this, emotions will be high, and Rondo has been averaging over 30 minutes a game anyways. Rondo is a huge key to Kentucky's success.

Rekalin Sims: UNC will have experienced forwards starting in this game in Senior David Noel and Junior Reyshawn Terry, and the play of Sims being able to score and contribute some easy baskets down low will determine whether Kentucky abandons any inside attack and panics with the ball like we saw against Iowa if the game is close towards the end of the game. Sims must be able to also help Rondo rebound the ball, and his ability to create fouls is important. Sims is a veteran at drawing a charge! Watch for Sims to take advantage of a young UNC team who will have three freshmen starting in a big game for Kentucky!

Patrick Sparks: Sparks has to be ready to step and create plays whether it be knocking down a three or sharing the ball on an inside dish if he or Rondo gets extra attention at any point in the game. Keep your cool, and know that you have a fellow Junior transfer in Sims who has the ability to create a shot and draw a foul.

Kentucky's Bench: The ability of UK's bench will play a major role in this game that will give guys like Rondo and Sparks and Sims some rest time, even if it to catch their breath for a couple minutes. Thomas, Perry, Moss, and Bradely are four guys that have the ability to step up their game if anyone is struggling. Lukasz Obrzut might play a key role off the bench if he can be physical enough in the paint to create a score. It's no secret that UK's bench has saved them in a lot of games last year ... and lastly ...

Turnovers: Keep your cool and turn the ball over less than North Carolina and you should win this game! You'll have a sold out Rupp Arena supporting you. Just play your game, play your game.

Prediction

I'm going to predict a close win for the Wildcats. In no way do I see Kentucky so much better than UNC, plus it's so early in the season. I think the Wildcats will win this game within 10 pts or less based on their ability to rebound and pressure UNC into some bad mistakes down the stretch. How well UNC can cover Rondo might be the difference from a huge win or squeaking the win out in the final minutes. There won't be anything sweeter though than to beat UNC, aside from beating L'ville of course. I just wish UNC had half their players from last year because it means more to me beating them when they're just as good or better than us, but it's still going to be one heck of a game. UNC 73 UK 79

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