None of this Fahr HowLaNDs!!!11! crap.
First, let me say, I don't believe in moral victories. We shouldn't be playing for moral victories. We should be playing to win. But I give a lot of credit to our players and coaches for last night's game. They came out and went toe to toe with one of the top handful of teams in the country. Usually, when UK takes the court they've already won. The other team is intimidated by them. Not us. Not our players. I was there and haven't watched the replay yet, so I don't know exactly what went on to cause the skirmish at the end, but I have to think it was partially because UK players aren't in the position that we put them in and they got frustrated.
So I'm going to give out grades.
Players and coaches - A-. They could have gotten an A+, but they didn't win. They played their hearts out and when we went down big, there was a UK fan next to me that said he had a lot of respect for us. We got punched in the mouth and got back up and even had a chance to win there at the end. Not many teams can say that or do what we did.
Students - A-. Every seat in the student section was filled. Every one. That may be the first time that's happened in quite a while. And you know what? I think most of the students came to see us play, not the other team. They were involved and loud. That's what we need. That's what this team needs. The rest of the crowd pours off the energy of the students and that creates a home court advantage. So why not give them an A+? Two reasons. First, I saw a handful of our students with UK gear on. WT17? It needs to be 100%. If you are a student at State, you should cheer for State. The other reason, and this has been discussed, is you don't chant "Over-rated" when you are losing by 7 with under a minute to go.
Season ticket holders - B- or C+. I am one. I go to every game. I started getting them last year because when we hired Howland, I knew it a was a homerun hire and we were going to be very good again. When I was a student, there were a few years where it was us and Kentucky in conference and then it was everybody else. We could have had a game at 2:30 AM on a Wednesday morning and it would have been filled. Because I don't have the highest ever bulldog club ranking and haven't been getting seats for decades, I have to sit in the upper deck. I am not complaining about that, but I would love to sit in the lower deck. I saw several UK fans in the lower deck last night. And there were a lot more in the upper deck. I heard the attendance was something like 9,700. I believe it, and for those that weren't there don't get the wrong impression about it. We still had far and away more fans than they did, even in the upper deck. There were whole rows in the lower deck that maybe had 1 or 2 person in them. For these reasons, I have to knock off some of our grade.
Going forward, if we can put that kind of crowd for a weeknight game, then we can do that for every game we have left. We only have 2 more weeknight games. Missouri and Ole Miss. Missouri is at the same time (6:00 PM) and Ole Miss is at 8. All of the weekend games are accessible. There is no excuse not to fill up the Hump and make it loud. This team deserves it. We are about to be really good again and next year, I expect us to compete for the conference title and a high seed in the NCAA. I said when Howland got here I thought we could make the Final Four again if he were to stay here 5 years. I stand by that. I want to be a part of that. You should too.
First, let me say, I don't believe in moral victories. We shouldn't be playing for moral victories. We should be playing to win. But I give a lot of credit to our players and coaches for last night's game. They came out and went toe to toe with one of the top handful of teams in the country. Usually, when UK takes the court they've already won. The other team is intimidated by them. Not us. Not our players. I was there and haven't watched the replay yet, so I don't know exactly what went on to cause the skirmish at the end, but I have to think it was partially because UK players aren't in the position that we put them in and they got frustrated.
So I'm going to give out grades.
Players and coaches - A-. They could have gotten an A+, but they didn't win. They played their hearts out and when we went down big, there was a UK fan next to me that said he had a lot of respect for us. We got punched in the mouth and got back up and even had a chance to win there at the end. Not many teams can say that or do what we did.
Students - A-. Every seat in the student section was filled. Every one. That may be the first time that's happened in quite a while. And you know what? I think most of the students came to see us play, not the other team. They were involved and loud. That's what we need. That's what this team needs. The rest of the crowd pours off the energy of the students and that creates a home court advantage. So why not give them an A+? Two reasons. First, I saw a handful of our students with UK gear on. WT17? It needs to be 100%. If you are a student at State, you should cheer for State. The other reason, and this has been discussed, is you don't chant "Over-rated" when you are losing by 7 with under a minute to go.
Season ticket holders - B- or C+. I am one. I go to every game. I started getting them last year because when we hired Howland, I knew it a was a homerun hire and we were going to be very good again. When I was a student, there were a few years where it was us and Kentucky in conference and then it was everybody else. We could have had a game at 2:30 AM on a Wednesday morning and it would have been filled. Because I don't have the highest ever bulldog club ranking and haven't been getting seats for decades, I have to sit in the upper deck. I am not complaining about that, but I would love to sit in the lower deck. I saw several UK fans in the lower deck last night. And there were a lot more in the upper deck. I heard the attendance was something like 9,700. I believe it, and for those that weren't there don't get the wrong impression about it. We still had far and away more fans than they did, even in the upper deck. There were whole rows in the lower deck that maybe had 1 or 2 person in them. For these reasons, I have to knock off some of our grade.
Going forward, if we can put that kind of crowd for a weeknight game, then we can do that for every game we have left. We only have 2 more weeknight games. Missouri and Ole Miss. Missouri is at the same time (6:00 PM) and Ole Miss is at 8. All of the weekend games are accessible. There is no excuse not to fill up the Hump and make it loud. This team deserves it. We are about to be really good again and next year, I expect us to compete for the conference title and a high seed in the NCAA. I said when Howland got here I thought we could make the Final Four again if he were to stay here 5 years. I stand by that. I want to be a part of that. You should too.
