Three Point Shooting In Rupp, So Easy, A Caveman Can Do It

Ever since the Crispin Brothers came into Rupp and lit it up, Rupp Arena has been a shooter’s delight for opposing players.  It does not matter, whether it’s Tubby, Billy G, or Coach Cal at the helm.  In fact, with Coach Cal, it has become much worse.  After Winbush and complany lit it up like nobody’s business, everyone seemed to believe that that was a fluke.  When Allmond missed his first shot, things seemed to turn to normal.  Allmond, then proceeded to hit eight three point shots, including a double pump three pointer toward the end the half.  Allmond knocks down 11 three point shots, scoring 37 points, eclipsing his career high by 12 points.  Winbush shoots 80 percent, scoring 26, while eclipsing his previous career high by 10.  He had set a new career high in the first half.  This has happened numerous times in the most overrated venue in basketball.  This is the third time in four home games that the opposing team has hit at least 11 three point shots. 

Players that have scored career highs in Rupp:

Corey Allmond (Sam Houston)-37 points
Nick Winbush (Miami)-26 points
Nick Calathes (Florida)-33 points
Phil Turner (Miss State)-18 points
Paul Graham (Florida Atlantic)-31 points
Travis Holmes (VMI)-30 points
Brandon Johnson (San Diego)-27 points
Mike Ginty (San Diego)-18 points
Danny Green (UNC)-20 points
Grayson Flittner (Gardner Webb)-22 points (was a coming out party game for him)
Tre Kelly (South Carolina)-36 points
Arizona Reid (High Point)-29 points
Jamareo Davidson (Alabama)-28 points
Chris Lofton (Tennessee)-31 points
Rayshawn Terry (UNC)-25 points

Other players who hit at least 5 threes in Rupp:

Adam Leonard (EKU) 6-6
Ryan Bogan (Longwood)-6-12
James Life (UMASS) 6-13
JaJuan Smith (Tennessee) 5-11
Chris Warren (Ole Miss) 5-12
DeWa

Teams who have hit at least 9 threes in Rupp:

North Carolina (2006) 10-23
South Carolina (2006) 11-26
Arkansas (2006) 9-16
Tennessee (2006) 10-26
EKU (2007) 10-24
Houston (2007) 11-24
Auburn (2007) 9-32
Mississippi State (2007) 9-19
Vanderbilt (2007) 11-22
South Carolina (2007) 12-30
Georgia (2007) 11-31
San Diego (2008) 9-16
Vanderbilt (2008) 9-24

NFL Picks 9/27/09

Packers -7 @ Rams

Rams offense isn’t as bad as it has looked, but the Packers will score 5 times on the Rams. No way the Rams score 4 times.

Vikings vs. 49ers +7 and take the under on 39.

This is going to be a war fought on the ground. Neither team gets ahead by more than 7 at any point. Plus, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Niners win outright. And that Viking D isn’t the same as last year.

Falcons +5 @ Pats

This one is a little more risky because if the Pats happen to come out of their funk, they could cover easy. But honestly, the Falcons are a great team all the way around and simply are better than the Patriots. Even if the Pats win it’ll be by 3. No way it is over 5.

Bears -3 @ Seahawks

If this game is in Chicago, they’d be favored by 14. The 12th man is hard to beat, but I believe the Bears could be the best team in the NFC now that Cutler has actually showed some growth.

Saints at Bills for 52 points – Take the over

Both teams score a lot of points, and give up a lot of points. Saints scores for 2 games = 45-27, 48-22. Buffalo scores for two games = 25-24, 33-20. Don’t worry about Fred Jackson grinding this game to a halt. As soon as the Saints score, the Bills will start trying to toss the ball all over the place.

If you parlay these and win, I get my usual 5%. Thanks.

UK vs. UF Recap

So let’s see how close I was to calling this game…

What is the one thing I said UK could not do? Let Florida get up big, early. Bingo.

Our scheme has to be flawless…Wait a sec, did we even have a scheme? Our guys were lost out there.

Play clean football, limit penalties. Ouch. 2 penalties that cost us first downs. 1 that caused us to re-punt and the 2nd punt was blocked for 6.

Play creative, yet conservative. I’ll give them credit, they tried. Sort of. They were conservative in not letting Hartline throw the ball all over the yard. But I really didn’t see any real plan of attack. It looked like simple plays. Run twice, throw on third down, punt. Cobb did throw the ball out of the Wildcat, once. Just a total disappointment on the gameplan.

Conservative alright: 2.8 yards per play.

And listen, anyone that says we played better in the 2nd half, knows very little about football. Florida backed off. They could have scored a hundred if they wanted.

Mike Hartline was the 3rd best QB to play in the game.

I totally missed my final prediction. But then again when the first thing I say is don’t let Florida jump out to a huge lead, and the 1st quarter ends 31-0, I should get a do-over.

P.S. Yes, it’s Florida. But from the play I saw tonight, don’t expect ANY of the SEC games to be any better.

P.P.S. Tebow ran the option 5 or 6 times tonight. As a defensive player, you’re taught to commit to one guy and stick with it. If I’m on D, and Florida runs an option and I have the chance to stick Tebow,  I don’t care if he pitches it and the guy gets a 90 yard touch, you’d have to surgically remove my lid from Tebow’s sternum.

Kentucky vs. Florida

Listen, I know this site is defunct, but I don’t give a s—. I’ve listened to morons all week make their predictions about this game and none of them have any idea what they’re talking about. So I have to get this out of my system — and put it on record so I can come back and say I told you so just in case I’m right.

Florida is massively overrated. With that said, they’re still better than UK. Kentucky has forever been inferior to UF and it kills me, but this year is the first year that the Cats have the personnel to hang with the Gators. If our Cats have any hope of winning this game, they have to keep from getting into a shootout. The fewer points scored, the better for us. UK will have to fight to stay in it with X’s and O’s, not Jim’s and Joe’s. Our scheme has to be nearly flawless. So does our play. Limit turnovers and penalties, but that’s the key to just about any upset.

So that means, keep the ball out of Mike Hartline’s hands. If you do let him throw it, you have to make him look good. Make reads easy because last week Hartline was staring down receivers last week. He needs to work his progression. Last week against Louisville, he knew where he was going with the football before the snap and against Florida, he can’t do that. Coack Brooks and Joker Phillips are gonna have to be creative, yet conservative. Sounds tough, but expect a ton of screens, draws, shovel passes, a couple trick plays, and more “Wildcat” formations than we’ve seen against Miami and Louisville. I expect Randall Cobb to throw the ball at least once out of that Wildcat. I think you allow Hartline to take his shots, but only 2 or 3 times and only in the right situations. Give him three shots and if he hits one, it will be HUGE.

So there’s the gameplan… Now how does it work?

Kentucky has to fight early. Fight hard. Play like you only have 3 quarters to play. Because if they can do that, the 4th quarter can be played on pure adrenaline. In any upset, if the favorite lets the underdog hang around, the chances become higher and higher that David slays Goliath the longer that David isn’t knocked out of the fight, e.g. the Louisville game last week.

In the end, UK makes a name for itself by sticking around, but not by winning. Florida wins, 20-17 and the Wildcats still move UP in the polls.

Whew! I feel so much better.

45-game hit streak

Tonight, James McOwen of the High Desert Mavericks, the single-A affiliate of the Mariners, will attempt to record a hit in his 46th consecutive game. That’s nothing. I could totally do that.

For real though, good luck. I wanna see how far this guy can take it.

Guess My Age…

This is LPGA golfer, Alexis Thompson. She was born February, 10th, 1995. Feel like a dirty old man now?

Trading the Gorilla Press for a Machete

For my money, the Ultimate Warrior is the best wrestler of all time. I mean did you see him take The Pedigree and get right back up? No one survives the pedigree. And actually, I thought the Warrior was dead and gone like T.I. and JT. But thanks to our friends over at SPORTSbyBROOKS for pointing out that he’s still shaking the shit out of those ropes.

Turns out the Warrior has his own website. If that front page doesn’t get you fired up, check your pulse. Of course, UW has his own blog too, called the Warrior’s Machete.  In his blog, the ultimate one doesn’t pull any punches. In recent posts, he’s referred to Michael Jackson as a “drug-soused entertainment freak” and stated that we’re living, “under the watchful, vigilante eye of the Marxist Obama regime.” But what else do you expect from a blog that functions under the slogan, “Ockham had his Razor. He Shaved with Delicacy. I Sever with Blunt Force.”

Good for Jeremy Jarmon

UK Defensive End Jeremy Jarmon will enter the NFL’s supplemental draft on July 16th.

This is such good news. Jarmon is gonna get a good chance to play for a good team. RtW wishes him the best.

P.S. Anyone seen the Kid or Homebody lately? Homebody is our primary soccer correspondent, but I guess nothing important in U.S. soccer has happened lately, has it?

Tiger Woods only plays 7 tournaments, still highest paid athlete by 2.5x

Michael Jordan used to say that he had become a brand, not a person. Michael Jordan played basketball. Air Jordan made him the greatest ever.

Well, it seems like Tiger Woods was listening.

Despite an 8 month layoff and only competing in 7 events in the last year, Tiger Woods still topped Forbes.com list of highest paid athletes. Not only does he top the list, but he blasts the competition out of the sand, earning 2.5 times the next highest earner.

Tiger missed a number of tournaments after his one-legged win last year at Torrey Pines for the U.S. Open. Knee surgery also eliminated his overseas appearance fees. Oh yeah, and Buick pulled out of their contract with Tiger a year early because of the Chrysler debacle. But because of Nike, Tiger Gatorade, and AT&T — whose logo now resides on Tiger’s bag where the Buick logo used to be — Tiger still pulled in a staggering $110 million. Oh yeah, and now he has his own golf course design business.

Tied for 2nd on the list with a paltry $45 million in income are Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, and Kimi Raikkonen (highest paid Formula 1 driver). Rounding out the top 10 are Beckham ($42 million), Lebron, Phil Mickelson, Manny Pacquaio ($40 million each), motorcycle racer Valentino Rossi ($35 million), and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. ($34 million). A-Rod ranked 13th.

I think it’s safe to say Tiger has made himself into a brand.

High school baseball phenom Bryce Harper to leave school early

Smart guy. Honestly, he really is.

Bryce is 16-years-old and is leaving high school early to prepare himself for a major league baseball career. At first look, people are gonna bash this kid and say that he’s so stupid and he needs to get an education. Well, actually, that’s kinda the point of him leaving.

Bryce is dropping out of school, only to obtain his GED, so that he can enroll early in community college. Which means he’s actually dropping out of school to get a BETTER education, and in the process face better competition. So now Bryce will have two years of college under his belt when he’s drafted number one overall (most likely by the Nationals).

This is the road less taken and I totally give Bryce and his dad, Ron, props because they are actually setting Bryce up to be better prepared for a life in professional sports. Now, I would be totally against this if the kid were any less talented, but when you’re 16 and you can out hit 95% of Major Leaguers right now, you can do this.

If you haven’t gotten a chance to see Bryce yet, check him out here, here, and here. His bat speed is un-freakin’-believable. Notice the little knee jerk he has as a timing mechanism. That’s actually an extra hitch he has developed in his swing to slow down his body, but not his hands. In the last video, you can see how he launches himself off his back foot at every pitch, and his back foot comes completely off the ground, a la Frank Thomas.

He’s a catcher, shortstop, and a pitcher right now. He’s great defensively too, but I doubt that he’d ever be used as a catcher in the bigs. He’ll probably stick to short, third, or outfield on his short trip through the minors. He puts some serious torque on his shouler with his pitching motion, so he’s probably better served simply as a closer throughout “college” to save him any future arm troubles.

The Kid is putting Bryce Harper on his fantasy watch list right now.