As a quick preface to this post, we here at KSO have cut back on the posting this summer given that UK sports news is slow during the summer but as things get rolling again in the UK sports world, we'll be here to deliver you with the important news, tidbits, game previews, post game analyses and all the things you look for in sporting news. UK fans live UK football and basketball and we want to help satisfy your needs for information! We also thank ALL of our loyal followers who have even stuck with us during the slow summer and welcome back those who start visiting us again.
For nearly every die-hard UK fan, I think it is fair to say that at some point we have all wondered what it would be like to have some of the best UK players from the past decade or before all on the same team. What would it be like to have Rondo and Wall playing together or Bogans and Cousins together down low? And then top off that dream with a well respected coach from UK's past like Joe B. Hall coaching that team and throw in Denny Crum as an assistant for a laugh. Is that all? No, we'll even throw in John Calipari as the 'other' coach! Crazy, right? That would never happen, right? Wrong, that's exactly what we all just saw tonight.
To help prepare the Dominican Republic team that Calipari is currently coaching for their upcoming games, our coach who fully gets what it means to be UK's coach gave us what we have always dreamed of. Tonight Calipari coached his DR National Team against a team of UK 'Legends' (which called themselves simply Pros in the game) from our past led by Joe B. Hall and Denny Crum. We got to see Wall, Bledsoe, Cousins, Rondo, Meeks, Prince, Bogans, and Mohammed go up against a DR team containing foes from our past like Edgar Sosa and Al Horford and even our current player Eloy Vargas.
As the post title says, this was almost what every fan has dreamed of because I don't think many of us would have us playing against Calipari or that team of 'Legends' losing but the game was still very fun to watch nonetheless. While it may be difficult to understand at first why that team of greats lost you have to remember that Calipari has had some time to work with the DR team and get them playing together while the Legends didn't really have the much time to play together and learn to mesh (or re-mesh) as a full unit. Also, the DR team was playing for their country and had a lot of pride going into this game and on the line. It was fun for the UK players but the need to win wasn't quite the same and I don't doubt some desire for individual attention didn't hurt the Pros unity a little. Even with all this, it was still very entertaining and fun to watch. I caught myself thinking several times "is this real? It's absolutely crazy to see all these guys playing together and at Rupp again".
A couple notes from tonight's game are that 1.) John Wall got his first loss at Rupp and 2.) Calipari is still unbeaten at Rupp. To add onto point 1, Wall made a pre-game comment that he never lost at Rupp and Prince said in response that he had stayed around long enough to get a loss (a little jab at Wall's one-and-done time at Rupp).
If you missed tonight's game or aren't ready for this dream to end (especially on a loss for our UK players) there is another game tomorrow night in Louisville for these two teams although the Pros team gets modified some. Remember back when we kept wondering what it would be like if Wall, Bledsoe, and Cousins had stayed and got to play with Knight? Well tomorrow night we get to see a blend of the 09-10 and 10-11 teams as Wall, Bledsoe, Cousins, Knight, Harrellson, Liggins, Mohammed, and Rondo all suit up tomorrow night to make up tomorrow night's 'Pro' team.
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