There is no way around it. The South Eastern Conference appears down this 2008-2009 basketball season. And as Kentucky heads into their conference opener against the Vanderbilt Commodores, it is easy to see that the east division and conference as a whole is up for grabs.
The pre-season media choice to win the conference, the Tennessee Volunteers have struggled and opponents have found weaknesses in their game.
The choice for second in the East, the Gators have again shown their youth, as it appears Billy Donavan still has a long way to go before they can be true contenders once again.
So with the main competition seemingly struggling and lacking dominance, this might be Kentucky’s year to win the Eastern division and regain national status as a basketball power.
After losing to VMI at home and the North Carolina Tarheels a little less than a week later, the Kentucky Wildcats went to the Las Vegas Hoops Invitational and took down a Kansas State and a strong Big East West Virginia squad.
Following the tournament the Cats stumbled against a then ranked #20 Miami Hurricanes. But again Kentucky rebounded, going on a seven game winning streak, a streak never reached in the Billy Gillespie era.
Finally, Sunday Kentucky battled the cross-town rival #18 ranked Louisville Cardinals to the wire only to lose by a 3 point shot with .02 seconds remaining to lose 74-71.
Kentucky’s heartbreaker still might give the Cats hope. In the game, the Wildcats turned the ball over 21 times and still had enough talent to take Louisville down to the wire. If Kentucky can lessen the turnovers, the SEC can be their conference to win.
The pre-season media choice to win the conference, the Tennessee Volunteers have struggled and opponents have found weaknesses in their game.
The choice for second in the East, the Gators have again shown their youth, as it appears Billy Donavan still has a long way to go before they can be true contenders once again.
So with the main competition seemingly struggling and lacking dominance, this might be Kentucky’s year to win the Eastern division and regain national status as a basketball power.
After losing to VMI at home and the North Carolina Tarheels a little less than a week later, the Kentucky Wildcats went to the Las Vegas Hoops Invitational and took down a Kansas State and a strong Big East West Virginia squad.
Following the tournament the Cats stumbled against a then ranked #20 Miami Hurricanes. But again Kentucky rebounded, going on a seven game winning streak, a streak never reached in the Billy Gillespie era.
Finally, Sunday Kentucky battled the cross-town rival #18 ranked Louisville Cardinals to the wire only to lose by a 3 point shot with .02 seconds remaining to lose 74-71.
Kentucky’s heartbreaker still might give the Cats hope. In the game, the Wildcats turned the ball over 21 times and still had enough talent to take Louisville down to the wire. If Kentucky can lessen the turnovers, the SEC can be their conference to win.
No comments:
Post a Comment