A nervous energy filled the room as the Kentucky basketball team gathered around a big screen in coach Billy Gillispie's home. The Cats were firmly on the NCAA Tournament bubble and two of the four brackets had already been revealed. Billy Gillispie will take his first UK squad into the NCAA Tournament after leading Texas A&M on a deep run last year. Knowing there was a sincere chance the bubble would burst after a trying 18-12 season, senior Joe Crawford admitted he was getting a little anxious. When the Cats were unveiled as the No. 11 seed in the South regional - the final team shown in the third of four brackets - they could finally relax. The concern now is a Marquette team that spent most of the season in the Top 25, won 11 games in arguably the toughest conference in the nation and reached the Big East Tournament semifinals. The Golden Eagles are similar to UK in that they are a perimeter-dominated team, which UK began breaking down immediately upon hearing the match up thanks to team audio-visual guru Tim Asher's due diligence. "We know Marquette has a great team and it will be a major undertaking for us but we've faced a lot of great teams and major undertakings and we haven't backed down from any of them."Gillispie heaped praise upon Marquette coach Tom Crean, who he knows fairly well through the coaching ranks.
"They have a fantastic coach that has done a fantastic job of restoring Marquette basketball," Gillispie said. "Year after year they are one of the best teams in the country. What jumps out at you is their athleticism, they have great guards and great role players inside and they compete hard for every single play. I've always admired how hard his teams play." Crean returned the graciousness. "There's never anything that is remotely comfortable or easy when you get to this time of the year. Everything's a challenge," Tom Crean said. "Certainly Kentucky will be that way. They play incredibly hard. They are great competitors. Their coach is outstanding and they've had an outstanding year. (www.CatsPause.com)
3 comments:
No doubt the Marquette game will be tough, but more importantly, "What does a single guy in his 40's do with such a huge house?" All a guy needs is his recliner, big screen, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and garage. I'll bet there are rooms there he never goes in.
I agree with you and we could probably get by without the bathroom but I guess when you make over 2 million a year it's all relative.
Uh, I think I'd need the bathroom just to keep up with my reading, but I could trade the kitchen for a fridge and a microwave.
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