Cats Double Up Drexel, Remain Perfect

Cal's Cats put a bruising on his former assistant, as Head Coach Bruiser Flint and his Drexel Dragons left Lexington as the 2000th victim of Kentucky's vaunted, historic Wildcat basketball program. The final was 88-44....and it seems odd to say, but it wasn't even that close.

UK turned up the defense tonight, in a way that has to strike fear in its future opponents. I don't want to get too carried away with this 12-0 start, but seriously, if these Wildcats start checking teams consistently the way they held Drexel to 20 at the half tonight....well, they're going to be on their way to the next millennium's worth of victories in very short order.

Let's not forget, the last time a Kentucky team started a season with 12 straight W's, it reached the Final Four (losing to *ugh* Georgetown in Seattle, 1984.) UK held Drexel under 30% from the field in the opening frame, and looked like they could have named the final score tonight.

Rather than rhapsodize about Cousins' 18 and 13 on the game (in only 14 minutes, natch), or about J. Wall's behind the back, Globetrotteresque layup, I'd rather spit a few words about the whole game scene and the after-party.

Coming across the TV signal this evening, the overall atmosphere just seemed 2000% electric at Rupp. One of those games where you really wish you could have been there-- and 25 years from now, about a million people will undoubtedly claim that they were. You had Jamal Mashburn calling the game for the worldwide leader, you had interviews with Sky Walker, and Joe B., and this grown-up kid's idol, Kyle Macy.

The confetti. The streamers. Herky Freakin' Rupp. Richie Farmer's beard.

Man, what a production.

And as usual, Calipari nails the interview, staying humble about this team, and yet showing the pride that he has to have with their progress in these first dozen games. Of course a mention of Mr. Wildcat was in order, and handled perfectly, and just basically the school and the marketing people did everything right in celebrating this milestone. (See above t-shirts handed out to the team as the clock wound down, and already available for sale online. Great Christmas gift. I'm a large.)

Was it all a little crass, a smidge over the top? Maybe. But hey, it is a significant and wholly legitimate accomplishment for the University and the Commonwealth. For the fans. For all the former players and coaches. 2000 wins, man. Like Joe B. said...that's 20 a year for a CENTURY.

Worth celebrating, I say. And 'tis the season to celebrate.

UK Downs Austin Peay for Program's 1999th Win

Just a little Prince Rogers Nelson for ya to celebrate the fact that John Wall did NOT get hurt in the victory yesterday. I don't know exactly how quiet it got at Rupp, but the 'ol Fox & Hound was certainly relieved to see him finish the game.

Mr. Wall is so enigmatically creative with the basketball that maybe someday down the road he will decide to change his name to a symbol...

Wall In An Empire State of Mind, Leads UK Over Huskies

Giga-frosh John Wall played the first of what should be many games in New York's Madison Square Garden Wednesday night. He scored 25 points-- in myriad ways -- against 14th-ranked Connecticut. His "old-fashioned three-pointer" with half a minute remaining sealed the deal in the Kentucky victory, and he once again displayed a breathtaking athleticism and basketball wisdom that belies his years.

I think it would be safe to declare that Mr. Wall has a fully stocked arsenal in terms of offensive moves, and he demonstrated that with a varied assault for the patrons at the Garden. Your pull-up jumper. Your two-handed jam. Dagger trey. Cool as an igloo free throw at the end.

And yes, I've got a bigger man crush on the guy than Dick Vitale does right now.

Kentucky certainly needed every bit of Wall's production to top UConn. That's back-to-back December games for the Cats that felt a little more like March matchups. And they go to Bloomington this weekend. Oh my.

UK cooled off quickly (to put it kindly) after a white-hot start against Jim Calhoun's squad. That 12-0 lead was nice, but perhaps a bit too good to be true. Unfortunately, it seems like Kentucky tends to let its collective foot off the pedal after building early margins over decent opponents. I don't know that you can call it a pattern just yet, but we'll keep an eye on it.

The early foul trouble was a big reason that the Huskies were able to claw back and take a first half lead, as Cal's starting five seemed to get caught flat-footed frequently and were also caught hacking away by the officials. Wall, Cousins, and Bledsoe all spent extended time on the bench for their transgressions. (Due credit to Dyson for driving effectively and aggressively.)

Patrick Patterson seemed to be moving VERY gingerly in the second half. Vitale and Schulman kept calling for him to get more touches late in the game, but I think Pat was really hampered with what they were describing as a lower leg issue. Kudos to him for showing that toughness that Big Blue fans have come to expect, and checking the box score he wound up with 16 big points for the Cats tonight. Is that guy a gamer, or what?

Of course, you throw in another 10 for Big Cuz and that was about it for UK's offense. Young Cousins also had 10 boards, although Kentucky was outrebounded 42-34...to demonstrate another reason UK was fortunate to win.

Honestly, that was a "survival" type of win, considering Orton and Bledsoe both fouled out and contributed little to the stat line. Darius? Don't get me started. The game truly shaped up more like a Big East slugfest, which in my way of thinking would obviously favor UConn.

And yet, the Cats are now 9-0 with a couple of nice scalps in the win column now. Not a bad visit to New York, New York.

Sublime 20 minutes for UK vs. Huckleberry Hound

Kentucky fell behind at the start, and then absolutely blitzed North Carolina on its way to a 15-point halftime lead and eventual 2-point victory. For a very long stretch, the Cats looked every bit worthy of their top-5 ranking.

John Wall, the usual suspect, put together two MASSIVE fast break plays that turned the momentum early and sbsolutely jacked up the Rupp Arena crowd (a record 24 thousand and whatever.) Question: how does a facility that's over 30 years old continue to set attendance records? Folding chairs? Somebody call the fire marshal.

Anyway, Mr. Wall was perhaps working on one of his better performances of this young season before suffering from cramps that severely curtailed his minutes in the second half. Eric Bledsoe wasn't exactly at his best either, due to an ankle injury he picked up in practice on Friday. The hampered backcourt situation gets most of the blame for Carolina scratching their way back into this one. (I am loathe to give UNC Head Coach Huckleberry Hound credit for anything other than an astounding innate ability to cry --or alternately, cuss-- during his pressers after NCAA tournament losses.)

Wall's speed dunk on a breakaway, and his acrobatic, left-handed "and one" were also matched by a couple of big late free throws by the young man from Raleigh, who undoubtedly wanted to put on a show that the folks would remember back in his home state.

I suspect there will be much fretting from the UK faithful about how the team operates without Wall at full capacity, but to me the Bledsoe injury was just as critical. Neither player looked close to 100% down the stretch. Honestly, that makes their free throw shooting even more impressive, considering the Cats needed every one of them to put the Tar Heels away. (Combined total on the day: 10 of 13). And while UK's offense was held to 25 second-half points, there were still enough buckets to keep the rally at bay. Barely.

What I would hope that Kentucky gets from that second half is, again: stay hungry, guys. And stay humble. We still have 20 shopping days until Christmas. Your defense will create opportunities. Also, don't forget about #54...the man needs some more touches, people. Really. Darius: you can score yourself, buddy. Just get a step on your man, or use a pick to get within 12 feet or so, and I bet you hit about 80%. Heck, take a couple more threes whenever you can get clean looks. You can stroke it.

And a special word to the man they call Big Cuz....

Just. Settle. Down.

You are going to be great. You really are. Work on that basketball IQ, DeMarcus. Figure out when you're better off not forcing that sloppy half-hook shot. Let the offense come to you. Remain a beast on the backboards. Cut down your pouting by 47.5% You can do this. And keep taking all those extra free throws in practice.

*Steps back down off of soapbox*

Great win, though. GREAT win for the University of Kentucky Wildcats. Remember how bad Carolina thumped UK last year? (Actually, no, don't remember that.) Remember what you did in the first half today, Big Blue. Do that again. Do that consistently. This could be quite a season. Yes sir.

UK Wins Carolina Tune-Up in Freedom Hall

Coach Cal seemed unimpressed by Kentucky's blowout of UNC-Asheville. Listening to his post-game comments, he is obviously concerned that this team does not yet understand the urgency that they will need to play with, especially given that North Carolina (the REAL North Carolina; apologies to UNCA) is UK's next opponent.

What I did like from the stat line was only 8 turnovers on this game. You might chalk that up to the level of competition (again, apologies) but sometimes it can be more tempting to get loose with the ball when playing with 30- and 40-point leads. UK did its share of ally-ooping and highlight-reel dunking against the Bulldogs, but still managed to handle the rock with a decent amount of care.

John Wall showcased his unselfish side with 14 assists, and threw down one of the flat nastiest (left-handed, baseline) tomahawks that you are likely to see in a college game. Also noteworthy was the fact that DeMarcus Cousins buckled down at the charity stripe to drain 8 of 10-- which shows how foul shooting is truly more of a mental exercise at this level, rather than a physical challenge. (I'm not buying the altered release point stuff. Seriously. It's all about concentration and confidence for a guy like Mr. Cousins.)

Being a Louisville native, I've always had a soft spot for the annual Freedom Hall game. I understand that attendance was down a bit for this one, but for crying out loud, it was a Monday night after a holiday weekend, and did I mention that the opponent was um, less than formidable?

Really not much else to take away from this one. In closing, back to Coach Calipari's wrap-up with Tom Leach... he wished both his wife and Joe B. Hall a happy birthday-- and he did it in his funny, sincere Cal manner that makes him the toast of Big Blue Nation these days. Cal will always win the press conference, won't he?

Early Season Thriller

I kind of like the idea of an overtime game in November for this UK team. Credit to Stanford for playing a very smart 45 minutes, with the game obviously much closer than the final, 8-point differential would indicate. So yeah, call me crazy, but I truly prefer a close one in this Cancun final rather than a Big Blue blowout. Keeps 'em humble.

The idea with these early tournaments is after all, to get players comfortable with one another, and in Kentucky's case, with the new coach and system. Well, the Cats looked anything but comfortable throughout most of this game. A lot of that was due to a very effective zone by the Cardinal, which UK had tremendous difficulty in solving. The early foul trouble for Patrick Patterson also contributed to the Wildcats falling behind in the first half.

In fact, if Landry Fields had not cooled off considerably in the second frame, UK could well have been looking at its first loss of the season. But taken along with the Miami game, at least Cal's Cats are learning how to pull out some close ones. Big props to Ramon Harris for coming up with some crucial boards and loose balls down the stretch, along with Bledsoe's 3-point dagger late, and of course Wall's clutch free throws to even send the game to OT.

I didn't think either of these matchups south of the border would get my heart going, but I truly had some jitters tonight that are normally reserved for games a little further down the schedule.

Los Gatos en Cancun Derrotan a Vikingos

What a funny little tournament this is. Some quirky opponents. Ballroom converted to a gym. Fourth-tier television coverage. Late afternoon tip-off? Sure. Whatever.

Well, UK survived 13 first-half turnovers and a real fit of over-passing vs. Cleveland State. Seems to me that the Cats are far too willing to share at times. If you're open from 8 feet, and you try to force it to a teammate who has a slightly better look from 6 feet, what have you really accomplished?

Let's just say that some of the lob passes and interior hand-offs near the basket were a bit of overkill in the first 20 minutes. I'm not so sure that the Vikings held UK to 35 points so much as UK limited itself to that figure, mainly with some decidedly bizarre passing.

Not that I would rather have the opposite problem. No sir. A team of me-first gunners would be a far worse issue-- and much more difficult to correct. So yeah, it is a much better thing to have a group that seems to enjoy feeding the rock to one another. Of course with all of the squad's newcomers, the key will be in learning when the extra pass is really necessary, and using it only at those times.

Kentucky seemed a little more settled in the second half, but the game was itself was still rather chippy and foul-filled. (My DVR cut off after 2 hours, so I missed most of the aftermath of the Cousins altercation.) Apparently no real harm done there.

The Big Blue scoring attack was certainly spread out, with Patterson's minutes limited due to an apparently balky ankle. John Wall tallied 15, and Cousins 14. I'll say that it was nice to have Josh Harrellson contributing 5 points in 11 minutes of action. (Cal may have wanted another rebound or two.)

Defense looked maybe slightly little better today, with UK limiting State to 26.6% from the field. Not sure how good of a shooting team the Vikings normally are though-- certainly a lot of their attempts were chucks and heaves.

But hey: it's a 24-point victory for the Cats. The fans looked to to be having a blast. I would imagine this is a great trip for team-building and hopefully for UK notching another win, this time vs. a BCS-conference school tomorrow.