The freefall has started. Rondo is all the way down to #24 this week. He was 16th the last time I checked in about a week ago. On the other front Shagari is surging upward in next years draft up to #56. Good to see Shagari have another solid week. 
update:
nbadraft.net article regarding the Rondo slippage.
It appears that incoming freshman Jodie Meeks has his very own website. I have to say it’s actually pretty nice. He didn’t design it himself though. Checking out the source code of the site it was designed by a company called Athlete Web Services, Inc. Hmm.
He does update it though; he has a news section where he posts articles about himself and his team(s). He also has a journal where most recently he discusses his experience at the Derby Festival. He really does seem like a nice guy, this being my first impression of him.
Now as always here on firetubby.com we try to have a little fun. Let’s compare an excerpt from Jodie Meeks’ site to a selection from all-world basketball star O.J. Mayo’s myspace page. I’ll let you guess who each quote came from.
Quote #1
Well today is game day. I have had a wonderful time. This morning we heard a motivational speaker named Jim Fannin. He was VERY good. He talked about getting and staying in “The Zone”, both on the court and in life.
Quote #2
I am just a guy from
redactedthat loves sports and to hangout with friends. There isnt nothing better than home cooked meals. My favorite food is Fried Chicken. I hate school.
As I’m sure you could easily guess, the first quote was from possible new fan favorite wildcat Jodie Meeks. Hmm, which player would want to play for Bob Huggins at Kansas State? I wonder.
On the same day that the projected overall #1 Tyrus Thomas announced that he will be entering the draft and Big Baby announced that he won’t, Rondo’s projected position is back to #16. The previous mock draft had him at #18.
Shagari is #57 this time around on the 2007 board. Up two spots from #59. Way to go big guy. Keep up whatever you are doing. I think I’ve said this before, but wow. Just wow.
Here is the firetubby.com interpretation of the HL article by Chip Cosby covering the Derby Festival Basketball Classic.
Louisville recruits
“Both U of L signees were impressive. ”
“Derrick Caracter, a 6-foot-9, 295-pound manchild with uncanny perimeter skills…”
“Flashy New York point guard Edgar Sosa, another Rick Pitino recruit…”
Kentucky recruits
“Meeks struggled with his outside shot…”
But he finished with 17 points and showed his moxie by knocking down the game-tying free throws.
Jasper: “Not overly flashy,…”
“Perry Stevenson, scored 10 points, grabbed five rebounds and had a block in 26 minutes.”
———————————-
The only picture in the online version of this article is “UK signee Perry Stevenson had his shot blocked by Tennessee recruit Wayne Chisim”.
So to further deduce this article the incoming Cardinals looked exciting, flashy, uncanny, and even manchildian (ha, let’s see Dick Vitale or Jay Bilas use that in a sentence).
The future Wildcats struggled, weren’t overly flashy, displayed a complete floor game and a willingness to play defence, and (wait for it) showed his moxie.
That’s right it breaks down as Pitino = EXCITING!!!
Tubby = boring
By the way the final score in overtime was White (with UK signees) 118 - Black (with LOU signees) 106. 
Let’s hope they become accustomed to losing to the big blue.
All emphasis by me - Thanks for the tip CE
I’m always entertained every couple of days when I check out the statistics for the site. One of the cool features is that I can see the things people searched for to get here. Some of them are what you would expect, some of them not so much. Enjoy.
The most searched for phrase used to reach this site currently is:
None of the other search phrases are really more than 5% each so here is a list of some others used.
It’s a blog post that says Tubby is leaving town for the Bobcats and that the FBI and NCAA is on campus investigating the “point shaving” situation. They clearly state that it’s just rumor. The articles author says that he is “just a regular guy who heard this RUMOR from someone who said”, yeeaaahhh so who knows what if anything will come of this.
Others on the list include:
and last but definitely least
If anyone besides me enjoys reading this stuff let me know, leave a comment. If not, I won’t …, who am I kidding I’ll probably do it again anyway but it would be nice to know if anyone else gets a kick out of it.
Adam Williams has chosen Marshall as the best school for him to continue his basketball career. In a quote from the HL Adam said:
“I have a great amount of respect for Kentucky basketball,” Williams said in announcing the decision to transfer. “But my love of playing basketball is even higher.”
Like I mentioned before, a school the caliber of Marshall is a much better fit for him considering how guard heavy the recruiting has been lately.
I know everyone just can’t enough of Joakim Noah. I mean come on, after having to watch him when UK played Florida this past season, and then going on to win the SEC championship you would think that would be enough exposure for this annoying guy. Nope, Florida goes on to win the NATIONAL championship and Noah becomes the star during all of this. Unbelievable. I’ll give him credit that he played outstanding during their run but it’s just his attitude I can’t stand.
Not only do you get to see Joakim pound his chest with his fist over, and over, and over again on all the highlights but you get to see his father the Tennis star every five minutes and his about his mother the former Miss Sweden. Ok Jim Nantz we’ve heard this story already, back to the game. So to move along to what this article is all about, more exposure for the Noah family!!! YEAH! Yannick Noah is Joakim’s father. Blah, blah, blah former Tennis star turned hit musician, you’ve heard this I know. But haven’t you wondered what his music sounded like? Well, its your lucky day. I happen to have found a video. Here it is. Enjoy. I guess.
The interview is in French, singing in English.
Adam Williams has announced that he has asked for and been granted a release from his scholarship. This one day after Rondo announced he is going pro. I believe this still puts the cats one scholarship over considering the incoming freshman next year. I wouldn’t be surprised to see at least one more player leave.
Adam’s father was quoted as saying that “Kentucky could recruit 200 to 300 Adam Williams’”. He is probably right. I have no doubt that Adam could be very productive somewhere like Marshall or Morehead State. I saw Adam get some playing time in the Blue/White scrimmage before last season and he seemed quite athletic. Good luck to him and it’s good to see an athlete that isn’t content to just wear the jersey. I wish some of the other players on the team had his desire to be successful.
Rondo has decided to enter the 2006 NBA draft. He will be hiring an agent. Two years and done for Rondo. He says he believes his position in the first round is strong. Read more about it here.
If he really has heard from specific teams about his draft position I don’t blame him one bit. The chance to make that amount of money is a once in a thousand lifetimes opportunity. If he is indeed drafted in the first round, his very first contract will change his life and the lives of everyone in his family. I hope he got better advice than Randolph Morris. Good luck.
It’s a good day for the SEC. Florida looked utterly dominating in the tournament. LSU made a strong run all the way to the final four. The SEC outperformed the mighty ACC. No Duke, no UNC. Felt good didn’t it.
It’s a bad day for Kentucky fans. Whether you like Tubby or not, it’s never fun to see an SEC team besides Kentucky win a championship. More later.