UK1679666180

Walter McCarthy

UK isn't KU. I expect more than what you listed in this past decade, there should be no reason why UK is not a legit national contender. Looking at some of the mediocre programs (GT, Ohio St. Illinois, UF 3 times, etc) that have been to the title game is terribly frustrating.

You have got to be kidding. Not at all. 9 players on that squad played in the NBA. 6 1st rounders. Now dispute it. You take a team with players drafted at Nos. 6, 6, 13, 16, 19, 29 and 52; I'll take a team that had players drafted Nos. 1, 2, 3, 11, 14, and 18. Oh, did I mention that the No. 1 pick was someone named Lew Alcindor? I only needed to look up one team to dispute it. I must also wonder how 1996 Kentucky, being the most talented ever, lost two games and failed to win the SEC Tournament. Cause they lost to 2 final four teams that they ended up beating with Miss. St. and UMASS . In fact, that 96 team has the highest sagarin rating dating back to the UCLA days.

Dumb play, mistake, flaw in judgment, like I said its all a matter of the adjective you want to use. I think the people that could best gauge his aptitude would be the people that he spent the most time with, mainly Lou, Hendry, other coaches, his teammates, beat writers, etc. Bruce is pretty reserved in his criticism of players, so I would tend to think that if Bruce was insinuating that Cedeno was viewed as not very bright, that would be closer to the truth than any of us posters on a message board. Where did I say anything about Cedeno and his intelligence or lack of? To try and insinuate that a player oversliding a base is somehow part of a mental flaw, I doubt that person has really spent much running the bases in a live game but if they don't overslide it while playing The show then it must not occur in real life. What is "The Show"? Oversliding a base, per se, is not generally a mental flaw. Not comprehending the situation in the game or understanding that the ball is live if you overslide, is a mental flaw. It's live regardless if it's ball 4 or strike 3, it's not like he decided to overslide the base because it was ball 4. He was running aggressively to avoid the strike em out/throw em out and his hand slipped off the bag on the outside of the base.

Maybe a little bit, but that '96 team is still the most talented team of all-time. you could make a valid case for the Tar Heels of the early 80s obviously.

Dumb play, mistake, flaw in judgment, like I said its all a matter of the adjective you want to use. I think the people that could best gauge his aptitude would be the people that he spent the most time with, mainly Lou, Hendry, other coaches, his teammates, beat writers, etc. Bruce is pretty reserved in his criticism of players, so I would tend to think that if Bruce was insinuating that Cedeno was viewed as not very bright, that would be closer to the truth than any of us posters on a message board. Where did I say anything about Cedeno and his intelligence or lack of? To try and insinuate that a player oversliding a base is somehow part of a mental flaw, I doubt that person has really spent much running the bases in a live game but if they don't overslide it while playing The show then it must not occur in real life.

All, they all had 1st round talent.

Oversliding a base is a physical mistake and is likely mechanical flaw as far as deciding when to slide and the inability to put yourself in position to stop your momentum, which doesn't detract from a player's intelligence.

You have got to be kidding. Not at all. 9 players on that squad played in the NBA. 6 1st rounders. Now dispute it.

I'm not lamenting the loss of Olson, but what you described is what they got for him, only older, more expensive and closer to free agency. Despite last year, Heilman still has a plus FB, he just lost all command of it as well as his splitter, espec. against lefties. If Olson had that FB and that 3rd pitch, he would still in Baltimore's rotation. That's nice and all, but he's a long-reliever who might sneak into a 5th starter role. Heilman is more likely to end up in the 7th inning than Olson was to have made the roster and Heilman is more likely to become a productive starter based on what I had mentioned compared to Olson, which is more than nice it provides valid reasoning as to why I expect Heilman to outproduce Olson throughout their careers.

I'm not lamenting the loss of Olson, but what you described is what they got for him, only older, more expensive and closer to free agency. Despite last year, Heilman still has a plus FB, he just lost all command of it as well as his splitter, espec. against lefties. If Olson had that FB and that 3rd pitch, he would still in Baltimore's rotation.

I wouldn't get upset over Olson, he had a below avg. FB, good slider and no change-up. he projected as a #5 or long-relief, eh.

Here is my scouting report for Aaron Heilman: 2 seam FB (sink): 91-94 MPH above average velocity and average movement for a sinker. Splitter: 82-85 MPH average velocity and average downward movement for a split-finger. Slider: 82-85 MPH appeared to use it much more in ’08 and was an effective pitch. Heilman definitely has the stuff to be a set-up man as he has 2-3 plus pitches, but struggled last year his command and likely his confidence while struggling mightily in the second half of last year. He has never been real solid vs. LH’ers, but last year his splitter and FB whether it was lack of command or mechanical flaw, they were just teeing off on him. In 149 Abs, left-handers hit 8 HRs and drew 24 BBs for a line of (.308/.425/.567). There are some encouraging signs if he does stick with the Cubs, he used his slider very well against RH’ers and with Rothschild I expect his slider to become an even more effective weapon. I don’t expect Heilman to do as poorly as he did, but I don’t expect him to be much better than Luis Vizcaino or Mike Wuertz. Also, I can’t see his plus FB or his plus splitter to be as hittable as they were in ’07, but that will depend on his command more than anything else. I’m hoping SD covets Heilman more than Olson because that is the only logical explanation I have for this trade from the Cubs’ standpoint. I’m not against this trade as I explained why I’m not that high on Cedeno or Olson just that all previous signs were pointing towards SD wanting Olson which is why I thought the Cubs traded for Olson in the 1st place.

Pitino recruited top classes and didn't cheat, UK standards are much higher than what Tubby delivered as well as what Gillespie has delivered so far 9although, he has plenty of time to improve). There is no reason why UK should not produce top 10 recruiting classes every year.

2) Seattle Mariners - Grant Green, SS - USC Top position player in the country and should rise quickly thru the M's farm system. 5 tool SS who seems to a cross between Tulowitski at SS with Longoria's hitting abilities. Clearly the best player in the Cape Cod last year.

No, I wanted nothing to do with Pitino for several years. '04 was the only great class, the rest were not up to UK standards or the same standards that Pitino set. I'm not expecting the 96' Cats (by far the most talented team in college history) but I expect better than what they under Smith and so far under Gillespie. Smith ain't good enough for UK and Gillespie still has to prove that he is and I liked the hire at the time.

Tony Delk's not walking through that door. Jamal Mashburn isn't walking through that door. Rodrick Rhodes isn't walking through that door. Smith couldn't recruit the ones replacing them. It ain't luck that the 3 consecutive years that UK went to the title game (96'-98') winning two of them were Pitino teams and that Smith didn't do anything with his classes for the decade he was here. You're lying to yourself if you don't think Pitino leaving UK when he did and then hiring Tubby completely stalled what they were doing.

I hate the Boston Celtics, they killed the next UK dynasty.

Good for Gillespie, good thing they didn't interview him after the game like that after that miserable performance or him why UK didn't put more pressure on the ball or why they got destroyed on the boards or allowed 85 points to a bad SEC team.

Peter Ifft should be their Friday starter. He has a possibility of being drafted.

The Horizon league is a terrible conference, they have a good Friday starter and a decent SS and that's about it.

How much was the card?

I don't have the right graphics card for the damn thing, so I couldn't tell you. I'm returning it, likely for the baseball mogul 2009.

I just bought it today. They need it to be like the Show where you can work your way up the Front office ladder from say an area scout to GM.

I'd appreciate that.