This is what they are talking about in Tennessee about the matchup today between the Cats and Vols.
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“They’re best friends,” UT senior Prince said with a mischievous smile. “They talk all the time. They have lunch together. Y’all just don’t know it.”
Nobody went for the pump fake. We know better. Pearl and Calipari approach each other with equal parts distrust and disdain.
When Calipari was at Memphis, the state wasn’t big enough for the two of them. With Calipari now restoring Kentucky to national prominence, the SEC isn’t big enough for the two of them.
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If Cal and Pearl were friends it would take away from the rivalry. I am so glad they hate each other. I just hope we shoot the fire out of the 3 so Cal can put it back on the Bruce.
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This should be interesting. After splitting games in the regular season, the first semifinal of the SEC Tournament today will serve as the 2010 rubber match.
Vols guard Bobby Maze said it is “destiny that Kentucky and Tennessee would end up playing” in the semifinal.
“It’s for SEC bragging rights,” Maze said. “It’s to try to win an SEC championship. This is the tie-breaker. This will determine who is the better team.”
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The media wants to change the way the tournament is seeded and have spoke of it constantly during games. Jimmy Dykes thinks they should seed the tournament top to bottom no matter the division. It doesn’t really matter to me when the Cats beat the Vols, just beat them, championship game or not!!
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“We know it’s going to be an extremely tough matchup, but I look forward to it,” said ’Cats forward Patrick Patterson, who scored 20 points in Kentucky’s 73-67 win over Alabama in the first quarterfinal Friday.
Likewise, UT knows what it’s getting into. Prior to their 76-65 victory over Ole Miss on Friday, the Vols were in the stands for the first half of the Kentucky-Alabama game and saw the blue permeating Bridgestone Arena.
Look for more of the same today. Regardless of the site, Kentucky fans turn the facility into an extension of Rupp Arena.
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No neutral site game is a neutral site when Kentucky strolls in to take over the town. Nashville is a great place to host the SEC, and while watching the game today you will see why. It will be ALL BLUE!!
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“I thought by the tournament being in Nashville that we would have the most fans but clearly it wasn’t even close,” Maze said. “Against Alabama, it seemed like they were the hometown favorite.
“From the rumors I heard, Kentucky bought all the tickets. They rented all the clubs. They rented all the this-and-that. They travel like the Million Man March.”
Said UT’s Wayne Chism, who has compiled 33 points and 26 rebounds in two tournament games: “We’ve really got to come out and be very patient against these guys because they’re going to have the crowd on their side.”
Sounds like a turf war – SEC style
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[URL=”http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100312/COLUMNIST0202/100312077/2072/SPORTS”]Read Full Article[/URL]
I look for an awesome environment today and it should be very interesting to see how Kentucky shoots the basketball early in the game. The way Pearl has been talking, he is going to let the Cats shoot as much as they want from the perimeter. I expect a huge game from DeMarcus Cousins and I think he will have a double double, for the first time in a long time. Go Cats!!
