Deer Meat and Fried Taters!

Well, this is the week, my second annual deer hunting trip to Wolfe County.  Before I came to Kentucky I never indulged in any alcoholic beverage or pull the trigger on a real gun.  Well, I still haven’t pulled a trigger.  During my trip last year while walking along a path in the hills of Wolfe County we came up on three doe and I would have taken a shot but my buddy was standing right in front of me.  I don’t think I would have gotten off like Dick Cheney if I had capped him in his back.  The fact that I didn’t kill anything or even take a shot really didn’t matter to me.  I appreciate and enjoy the smaller things at the camp site.  Like the 1970 camper we slept in that smelled like Joe Crawford’s toe nails.  And the pinto beans and onions my buddy kept referring to as “soup beans.”  Or the iron skillet they refuse to wash after cooking deer meat and fried taters in for an entire week.  Nothing taste better than dried up deer juice on your fried taters!  Anyway, I am looking forward to it once again.

 

My thoughts on the two exhibition games

If I had to choose one word to describe this team right now it would be versatile.  I like the fact we 5 big men that bring something different to the table.  We know what Patrick will give us but let’s look at the other 4.  If A.J. Stewart can stay out of the dog house with Coach G he could see 20 to 25 minutes.  His athleticism alone causes problems for opponents.  I expect Perry Stevenson to continue his great play that he has shown starting from half way through the season last year.  His mid range jumper he has developed has allowed him to be a 8-10 point scorer instead of a 4-6 point scorer with just put backs and dunks off dishes.  Perry had 7 blocks in the second exhibition.  His ability to block shots could lead him to some elite company this year.  If anyone on this team can join Chris Mills as the only cat to record a triple- double it is Perry.  Now to Jared Carter.  I believe Jared can and will contribute this year.  I thought he had a good second exhibition game against the Baptist School.  Jared is a kid that has suffered from some unfortunate events during his career.  Saying that I think his shoulder injuries are behind him and he will have a solid year.  I can see Jared averaging 10-15 minutes, giving us a few blocked shots and 4-6 points off the bench.  If I were Coach G I would be thrilled with that.  I think it is too early to tell how good Josh Harrellson will be this year for the cats.  But one thing I do know, he can and will shoot the ball which is great.  If he finds significant playing time with Patrick Patterson, defenses will have to respect his outside shot and alleviate some of the double teams Patrick will see throughout the season.

 

I am not as impressed with our guard play.  We have to find a point guard who can handle the rock with confidence.  Michael Porter just doesn’t do it for me and Liggins seems a little shaky with the ball at times.  This is just my assessment after the Blue-White Scrimmage and two exhibition games against division II schools.  Another thing that scares me is our perimeter defense.  There were too many open three pointers and too many guards getting beat off the dribble for the caliber teams we were playing.  If this doesn’t stop Patrick will be in foul trouble before the first T.V. timeout.  Those were to the two biggest things that I saw from our guards, however, there were positives.  If this team wants to succeed and win ball games Jodie is going to have to continue to shoot and shoot some more.  Jodie is the key to this season and he has been lights out thus far so let’s keep it going Jodie.  I am expecting big things from Razor Ramon.  He seems to have a new sense of confidence this year.  He is going to be our vocal leader on the floor.  Almost all college coaches keep track of how many “deflections” players get throughout the game.  Ramon gets his hands on so many balls (no homo) throughout the game it is unbelievable.  His defensive play will make our team that much better.  Even though Krebs and Sloan have been shooting the ball well I wouldn’t get too hyped up on them seeing significant playing time unless Coach goes crazy.  They just can’t hold their own on the defensive end to compete with guys we will go up against in SEC play. 

 

You will agree that most of the times you know if a team is going to be great.  But I think the verdict is still out on this team.  There isn’t any way for anyone to judge this team based on these two exhibition games.  Exhibition games are treated as a practice.  We look to work on executing and getting a feel for a real game.  This team is young but has tremendous potential if we can find a way to bring some pieces together.

 

And guys cut me some slack on my spelling; after all I did choose Kentucky over Vanderbilt, Wake Forest and Stanford.  At those schools you actually have to go to class. 

 

Just kidding, seriously!  Go Big Blue!