9 Questions From the Week That Was

Last week was one of the more exciting sports weeks in recent Cintucky memory. There were big games, big names, and plenty of action for all of the teams in the area. Whether you watched it all or missed a few things, we've got it all covered in our first installment of "Questions From the Week That Was."

No sense in keeping you waiting....

What do the three wins over UNC, UConn, and IU really mean?

In terms of this season, the three wins really don’t mean that much to me. They will help with our RPI come selection Sunday, they will provide a confidence boost to the team (which they would have either way), and they will allow us UK fans to talk more smack than before (which we would have done either way). They essentially proved what we already knew. The talent level is insanely high.

The true importance in the wins is that is proves that UK is back as one of the nation’s premier programs. Although Indiana is down, these are still 3 of the marquee programs in the NCAA, and in Tubby’s last years and during the Gillispie sh*tshow, we would have had no chance of running the table against such competition. Calipari has brought a sense of comfort to the UK fan base in that we feel we have a chance of winning every game we play. I couldn’t say that the previous 4 years.

Where is the love for Patrick Patterson?

Look, no one loves John Wall more than I do. I talk/think/write/argue about him every day, and can often be found perfecting my John Wall Dance in front of the mirror. He is the best player in college basketball, but PPatt is not very far behind. If I got to vote for National Player of the Year right now, it would go John Wall, Luke Harangody, and Patrick Patterson. (Note: Evan Turner from Ohio State would have been ahead of PPatt and Harangody had he not gotten hurt.)

Not only does he put up 17 and 10 a night (rounded to my preference), but he does so with minimal looks in the post. Most of his points have come off of transition finishes and that beautiful 15 footer he has developed. He is the defensive centerpiece and his leadership, behavior, and constant professional demeanor on and off the court can not be overlooked. Wall may be the face of the team, but Patterson is the heart. If this team were the TV show Seinfeld, Wall would be George, and PPatt would be Jerry. Big Cuz would obviously be Kramer.

How does Bob Bratkowski still have a job?

In hopes that someday Bratkowski will stumble upon this site after googling himself and want to take a read I’ll address this towards him. You, sir, are terrible at your job. Every week, you do at least 3 or 4 things that make absolutely no sense. You refuse to throw the ball deep, and insist that a power running game will be enough to win. Well, it wasn’t enough to win against the Raiders, it was barely enough to beat Cleveland and Detroit, and sure as h*ll wasn’t going to cut it against the Vikings. Listen up you over-the-hill, game has passed you by, trainwreck of an offensive coordinator: YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO PASS AND RUN TO BEAT GOOD TEAMS!

Is that concept really that hard to understand? It is painfully fascinating how for years the passing game was the heart of our team and now that we have a defense to go with it, we insist on playing this clock controlled slugfest of a game that, yes, will win against crappy teams with no heart, but doesn’t stand a chance against complete teams.

If our QB was David Garrard or Jake Delhomme, or someone equally as sh*tty, then I could understand our methods. In case you haven’t noticed Bratkowski, we have Carson Palmer.. a Pro-Bowler who throws one of the best deep balls in the league. Let him air it out every now and then. If nothing else it will keep defenses honest. I am tired of seeing opposing safeties jump our 15-20 yard routes because they know there is NO threat of a deep pass. Get your head out of your a$$ Bratkowski.

Will a draft error ultimately be the undoing of this Bengals team?

To expand upon the previous statements, it would be a whole lot easier to throw a bomb every now and then if we had a legitimate deep threat. This in no way excuses Bratkowski’s game managing, but is a point that should be made nonetheless. Who recognizes the name Jerome Simpson? Who recognizes the name DeSean Jackson?

Jackson would be the speedy receiver/return man, that is leading Philly’s offensive this season. Jackson is having a Pro-Bowl season with 947 receiving yards, and 7 TD’s with three games to go. He will easily eclipse the 1,000 yard mark in only his second year. Just for fun lets compare careers. DeSean Jackson has 1859 receiving yards, 9 receiving TD’s, and 3 return TD’s. In that same amount of time, Jerome Simpson, the guy that Mike Brown selected ahead of Jackson has 1 catch for 2 yards. I swear, you can’t make this sh*t up.

So what’s the big deal? Teams miss on players all the time. Especially the Bengals. The big deal is that Jackson was the clear 100% number 1 receiver in the 2008 draft. Simpson was a no name player from a no name college that just happened to be a physical specimen. This pick was not nearly as publicized as the Heyward-Bey over Crabtree pick from Oakland this season, but may end up actually being worse. Thank you, Mike Brown. Your horrible decision (one of many) has officially come back to bite us in the a$$. I’ve said it many times, and will say it again, any success this team has deserves to go to Lewis and Zimmer (the DC), and regardless of what happens, this franchise will be better without Brown.

Will the XU/Cincy Crosstown Shootout go down as one of the most exciting games this season?

Hell yeah it will! Most people probably missed it because it was shown on ESPNU, and that is unfortunate. This rivalry may not be as well known as UNC/Puke or UK/UofL, but it is just as heated, and just as exciting. Between the two near brawls, the constant barking between players and coaches, the two overtimes, and big play after big play, this game will go down as one of the year’s best.

A few thoughts on the teams and players: Lance Stephenson is one of the 5 best freshmen in the country. He is also one of the 5 dumbest. Just shut your mouth, play the game, and learn how to pass the ball. Jordan Crawford is a gun. He may get his points, but he’s going to need volume to do so. 16 points on 16 shots isn’t going to get it done. Jason Love and Yancy Gates are two absolute beasts. Terrell Holloway won that game for Xavier, and his 26 points, including 11-11 from the FT line should go down as one of the better games this season. Congrats to XU and their fans for a huge win against a very tough opponent.

What is wrong with the UofL basketball team?

Pitino teams are notorious for starting slow, but this year has taken it to a whole new level. It is easy to blame Pitino’s off-season on the team’s struggles but I don’t think that’s the problem. The problem as I see it is simple: There is a lack of talent on the team. Don’t get me wrong there are a lot of solid players, but up and down the line up there isn’t one guy who can create his own shot, minus the freshman Siva.

The center, Samuels is undersized for his position, and does not have a go to post move. It’s easy to score when you are getting open dunks/layups because other teams were double teaming Clark and T-Will. His lack of any real post skill has been evident this year. He is also extremely soft. Need proof? Look at his rebounding numbers. Rebounding is all about toughness and effort, two things Samuels thinks he can do without.

Jerry Smith looks slow, Knowles looks solid but not unstoppable, and Swopshire, Jennings, and Delk are nothing more than role players. The freshmen look promising but aren’t close to being there yet. Finally that leaves Edgar Sosa. Anyone that knows me knows that my hate for Sosa is.. extent.. to say the least. Putting that hate aside, it is simply time for UofL fans and anyone else who hasn’t noticed yet to realize that he is not a top level talent. Sosa has game, but to think that a team can win with Edgar “I’ve been ridiculously over rated my whole career” Sosa as your best player, is ridiculous.

Pitino is a great coach, and should have this team playing competitive basketball by the end of the season, but judging on talent alone this is a Sweet 16 team at best, and a possible NIT team if they don’t shape up soon.

Is Brian Kelly a piece of sh*t?

Yes. Next question.

Who will replace Kelly at UC?

There have been a lot of rumblings that Mike Zimmer, current Defensive Coordinator for the Bengals, may be interested in the job. All Bengals fans really need to pray that Zimmer stays. Seriously, go do it now. I’ll wait.

Ok now that we’ve all joined together to keep the best DC the Bengals have had in 20 years where he belongs lets move on to the other candidates. UC has kept it pretty quiet, but speculation would lead toward Butch Jones out of Central Michigan, Skip Holtz (son of now insane Lou Holtz) from East Carolina, Al Golden from Temple, or they could stay in house and go with assistant coach Kerry Coombs, or OC Jeff Quinn. My money is on Holtz or Combs. If they decide to go outside the team, Holtz is an obvious choice with clear pedigree. If they want to stay inside the team I think Coombs gets the nod over Quinn, despite the fact that he was coaching high school football at local powerhouse Colerain only 2 years ago.

Could this week possibly be as exciting as last week in the world of Cintucky sports?

Doubtful. Last week was nuts for Cintuckians, and was a great example of why we all love sports so much. While this may be a slower week there should still be plenty of action to wet your appetite as UC has a match up with UAB and UL plays Oral Roberts on Wednesday. On Saturday we have the intrastate match up between WKU and Louisville. Also on Saturday, Xavier takes on the #17 Butler Bulldogs, and the UK Wildcats play Austin Peay in an attempt to move within 1 game of 2,000 all time wins. All of this leads us up to the Bengals HUGE match up against the Chargers that could go along way towards determining playoff seeding. Be sure to check back in daily for all of your Cintucky previews, recaps, and everything in between.


Brian “seriously.. Kelly is a d!ck” Reinhart