Cats unravel, Nerlens Noel goes down and the C-J game coverage applauds the Florida crowd

Obnoxious, but affective.

(Editor?s note: University of Kentucky officials stated this afternoon that Nerlens Noel will be out for the remained of the season with a torn ACL. Noel was considered a leading pick in the 2013 National Basketball Association draft before the injury.)

I was stunned this morning to pick up the Courier-Journal and read Adam Himmelsbach?s lead for the abysmal Kentucky-Florida basketball game.

The Wildcats? promising reemergence had completely come apart even before Nerlens Noel hit the backboard standard. The Cats were exposed finally as young, inconsistent, hesitant, confused, erratic and not particularly good.

Big Blue Nation, which hands over its heart to this group of youngsters every year for safekeeping, had to confront the fact that there will be no title, as in 2012, and not even an unexpected Final Four run, as in 2011.

We may even be back in Billy Gillispie territory.

And Himmelsbach?s story led with ? the Florida crowd?

?Florida fans in the O?Connell Center spent two hours yelling and roaring and making their arena shake as the Gators defeated the University of Kentucky 69-52 on Tuesday night. But with 8:03 left in the game, the cacophony was suddenly silenced.?

Not just him, by the way. Tom Leach, on Wildcat radio, and the unbearable Brad Nessler-Dick Vitale team on ESPN, both credited the Florida fans with politely applauding Nerlens as he was being carried from the floor.

Yes. Sportsmanlike. That?s the picture in the dictionary: People with orange and blue hair clapping their arms like alligator jaws.

Though that does beat a bunch of fools holding up their index fingers in ?we?re Number One? gestures as the camera zooms by.

Maybe, sometimes, you are Number One. But there?s only one Number One, so chances are your team is not it.

And, a side gripe: Who was the first TV sports producer who decided we fans sitting at home needed endless shots of the crowd to make our football, basketball and baseball viewing complete?

Right. The crowd?s where the action is. Although, to read Adam Himmelsbach?s lead, you might think that?s exactly true. (By the way, the rest of his article was pretty good ? worth reading.)

Finally, Cats fans, even if Nerlens? injury is not as bad as feared, it?s time to come to grips with this season. Were you among those who cheered when Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist went one and two in the NBA draft? And Terrence Jones, Doron Lamb and Marquis Teague followed? (So did Darius Miller, of course, but he was leaving anyway.)

Well, this is the payback.

Calipari?s a genius recruiter, and last year he finally got his creds as a coach. But he?s not good enough to take a bunch of inexperienced 18-year-olds with lousy habits and turn them into a national contender year after year after year.

Last year, he promised us that Kyle Wiltjer would return with a bulked up body and more experience to be the veteran leader Miller ? and, before him, Deandre Liggins, Patrick Patterson and Ramon Harris ? had been.

Unfortunately, the veteran leader has turned out to be Jarrod Poulson. And while I love his story, and he seems like a terrific kid, the more minutes Jarrod Poulson plays on a regular basis, the more likely we?re headed for an 11th seed in the tourney.

The only freshman whose game, maturity, intensity and competitiveness were developing was Nerlens Noel. And when he was carried from the floor last night, so were Kentucky?s expectations for yet another wonderful season.

No wonder the Florida fans were respectful. They were enjoying the Wildcats suddenly going toothless.

If my face were painted orange and teal, I?d have been applauding, too.

Source: http://insiderlouisville.com/news/2013/02/13/cats-unravel-nerlens-noel-goes-down-and-the-c-j-game-coverage-wants-to-applaud-the-florida-crowd/

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