This game got off to a very unique start. Minutes after tipoff I got a text message from former free agent blogger Ho that read "WTF is this crap?". I responded with "a battle, and I love it". This was quite possibly the ugliest game ever between the 2 rivals, at least as far as the game goes. Both offenses were pretty bad, but it could also be said that both defenses were pretty good. The refs were horribly inconsistent. It was obvious from the get go that the filthy Cards were going to make it a physical game and try to rattle the young Cats, and it worked. However, when one team is supremely talented, and the less talented team takes this approach, the talent usually wins out. That was the case last Saturday. I gotta give Rick credit though. His team didn't have a chance if they played their normal style, so he uglied it up. It almost worked for him. After the game Rick compared Wall to Jordan and Kobe with the way he stepped up. For most of the game the filthy Cards kept Wall in check. He was having a pretty bad game. Then UL took the lead and we saw what a star is supposed to do when his team needs him. Wall put in 6 straight points and the game was basically over. All that was left was for Patterson to throw home the exclamation point fast break jam. Oh wait, that didn't go so well did it?In a nutshell these are my final thoughts on the game: I'm glad the Cats won. I thought it was ugly. Wall is a stud. Cousins is a stud. Patterson is a stud. Bledsoe wants to kick Reginald Delk's ass. Tony won't let him. I thought Cousins should not have been thrown out after hearing all that went on during warmups. I thought the Swopshire knee to the cheek was unintentional. I thought the Cousins forearm was intentional. I still think the refs handled that situation the right way. I thought Cal was definitely talking trash to Reginald Delk after the first foul of the game when Bledsoe was so hot. I became more worried that teams will try to rattle Cousins early and often each game from here on out. I became even more worried that Boogie won't be able to show restraint. I think the Cats would have won even if Boogie had been tossed. I know he had a huge game. A combination of Wall and Patterson would have made up for his points. A combination of Patterson, Orton, Stevenson, and Razor would have made up for his rebounds. I still don't like Edgar Sosa. Rick has aged a whole lot in the last few years. I think the Cards don't have a single future NBA player on their team and they will struggle to make the tournament this year. I do think they will do enough to get in. I just think it will come down to the wire. Samardo Samuels might have an outside shot to ride the pine in the league. I hope he does. He seems like a decent guy, but he doesn't appear to be as tall as listed (6'9") and he is a "below the rim" player with no face up game at all. He is their best player though. Rick has lost a lot of his mojo. Matt Smith sucks. Wall is a stud. Cousins is a stud. Patterson is a stud. Thanks for reading.
